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Executive Summary 



The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established in 2000 with functions including the 

investigation of abuse of children in institutions in the State. It was dependent on people giving 

evidence which they did in large numbers. The Commission expresses its gratitude to all those 

who participated and contributed with their testimony and documents. The witnesses who came 

to  the  Confidential  and  the  Investigation  Committees  ensured  that  the  Inquiry  had  sufficient 

information to investigate the difficult issues that it was mandated to explore. The Commission 

was  impressed  by  the  dignity,  courage  and  fortitude  of  witnesses  who  endeavoured  to  recall 

events that had happened many years ago. 



This  Report  should  give  rise  to  debate  and  reflection.  Although  institutional  care  belongs  to  a 

different  era,  many    of the   lessons   to  be  learned   from   what   happened     have   contemporary 

applications for the protection of vulnerable people in our society. 



The expression “abuse” is defined in section 1(i) of the Principal Act, as amended by section 3 of 

the 2005 Act, as:- 



        (a)   the  wilful,  reckless  or  negligent  infliction  of  physical  injury  on,  or  failure  to  prevent 

              such injury to, the child, 



        (b)   the use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

              or another person, 



        (c)   failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, 

              in serious impairment of the physical or mental or development of the child or serious 

              adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare, or 



        (d)   any  other  act  or  omission  towards  the  child  which  results,  or  could  reasonably  be 

              expected    to  result,  in  serious   impairment    of  the  physical   or  mental    health   or 

              development of the child or serious adverse effects on his behaviour or welfare, 



                  and cognate words shall be construed accordingly. 



The Commission Report 



The Commission Report consists of 5 Volumes: 



 Volumes I and II:          The Investigation Committee Report on Institutions 

 Volume III:                The Confidential Committee Report 

 Volume IV:                 The Department of Education; Finance; Society and the Schools; 

                            Development of Childcare Policy in Ireland since 1970; Report on 

                            Witnesses Attending for Interview; Conclusions and Recommendations 

 Volume V:                  The ISPCC, Expert Reports, Commission Personnel and Legislation 



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Volume I 



Chapter 1 contains a general introduction to the Commission and its terms of reference. It explains 

the task it was required to do and how it set about doing it. 



Chapters 2 and 3 trace the historical background to the Industrial and Reformatory school system. 

They describe a Victorian model of childcare that failed to adapt to Twentieth Century conditions 

and   did not  prioritise the  needs   of  children.  Children  were   committed    by  the  Courts   using 

procedures with the trappings of the criminal law. The authorities were unwilling to address the 

failings in the system or consider alternatives. 



Chapter 4 sets out the Rules and Regulations for Certified Industrial Schools, which detailed what 

the Schools were required to do in terms of physical care for the children. These rules set out 

standards in respect of accommodation, clothing, diet, education and industrial training. They also 

set down strict guidelines for punishment that could be imposed by the Managers of residential 

schools. 



This  chapter  also  sets  out  fully  the  Department  of  Education  Rules  and  Regulations  regarding 

corporal  punishment,  which  were  contained  in  the  1933  Rules  and  Regulations  and  in  various 

circulars issued by the Department over the years. They all emphasised that physical punishment 

was to be a last resort and that it should be kept to a minimum. 



The Investigation Committee Report on Institutions 



The  period  covered  by  the  Investigation  Committee  Inquiry,  ‘the  relevant  period’,  is  from  1936 

to  the  present.  However,  the  complaints  come  mostly  from  a  period  during  which  large  scale 

institutionalisation  was  the  norm,  which  was,  in  effect,  the  period  between  the  Cussen  Report 

(1936) and the Kennedy report (1970). 



In  early  2004,  the  Investigation  Committee  engaged  in  a process  of  consultation  with  religious 

congregations, complainants and legal representatives seeking to establish procedures that would 

enable it to complete its work within a reasonable time. 



Investigations were conducted into all institutions where the number of complainants was more 

than 20. 



Chapter 5 outlines some preliminary issues with regard to the Investigation Committee Report, 

including the ways in which the investigation was conducted and the oral hearings were organised. 

This chapter also deals with the possible contamination of evidence and the impact of factors such 

as lobby groups, Statute of Limitation amendments and length of time had on the investigation. 



On  the  question  of  anonymity,  the  Commission  took  the  decision  to  give  pseudonyms  to  all 

respondents and potential respondents in the Report, including respondents who had been found 

guilty of offences in criminal trials. The identity of all complainants was also protected by the use 

of pseudonyms and by removing any identifiable biographical details. 



Chapters 6 to 13 contain the reports on the Institutions owned and managed by the Congregation 

of the Christian Brothers. This Congregation was the largest provider of residential care for boys 

in the country and more allegations were made against this organisation than all of the other male 

Orders combined. 



Chapter 6 gives an overview of the Congregation, including its foundation, its organisation and 

management and its funding. It also looks at the vows taken by religious Brothers and the impact 

of  these  vows  on  the  care  they  gave  to  children  in  their  Schools.  The  Chapter  examines  the 



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Congregation’s own Rules regarding corporal punishment and discipline in its schools and outlines 

the strict limitations imposed by the Authorities on its members in the way they could administer 

punishments in their schools. 



This  Chapter  also  looks  at  the  attitude  of  the  Congregation  to  allegations  of  abuse  and  the 

apologies it issued. These apologies acknowledged that some abuse had taken place but failed 

to  accept  any  Congregational  responsibility  for  such  abuse.  Finally,  this  chapter  examines  the 

Congregation’s engagement with this Commission which was co-operative in terms of production 

of documents but defensive in the way it responded to complaints. Chapter Six covers a number 

of issues that were common to all of the Christian Brothers’ Institutions that were examined in 

Chapters 7 to 13 of Volume I. 



Each of the individual school chapters follows a similar format. The School is described in general 

terms outlining its size, physical buildings, numbers of boys’ resident, and numbers of staff. The 

chapters then go on to look at allegations under the headings of Physical, Sexual, Neglect and 

Emotional    abuse.   The   report   firstly examines   the   documented     cases   of  abuse    that  were 

discovered  to  the  Committee  by  the  Congregation  and  then  looks  at  the  allegations  made  by 

complainants to the Committee. 



Chapter 7 deals with Artane Industrial School in Dublin. Artane was founded in 1870 and was 

certified for 830 boys. This was almost four times the size of any other school in the State. The 

size of Artane and the regimentation and military-style discipline required to run it were persistent 

complaints by ex-pupils and ex-staff members alike. The numbers led to problems of supervision 

and control, and children were left feeling powerless and defenceless in the face of bullying and 

abuse by staff and fellow pupils. Although physical care was better than in some schools, it was 

still  poorly  provided  and  so  imbued  with  the  harshness  of  the  underlying  regime  that  children 

constantly felt under threat and fearful. 



All  of  the  witnesses  who  made  allegations  against  Artane  complained  of  physical  abuse.  This 

abuse is outlined in full both from the documents and the evidence of witnesses. Conclusions on 

physical abuse are contained at Paragraph 7.311 of Volume I and state that physical punishment 

of  boys  in  Artane  was  excessive  and  pervasive  and,  because  of  its  arbitrary  nature,  led  to  a 

climate of fear amongst the boys. 



Paragraphs  7.312  to  7.548,  investigate  sexual  abuse.  Many  of  the  details  of  this  abuse  were 

contained in the Congregations’ own records that became known as the ‘Rome Files’ This chapter 

looks  at  these  allegations  and  how  they  were  handled  in  respect  of  Brothers  who  had  been 

assigned to Artane at any time during the relevant period. The Committee heard evidence from 

ex-residents  who  alleged  abuse  and  from  Brothers  and  ex-Brothers,  some  of  whom  admitted 

sexual abuse. 



The Conclusions on sexual abuse which are outlined at Paragraph 7.549 were that sexual abuse 

of boys in Artane by Brothers was a chronic problem. Complaints were not handled properly and 

the  steps  taken  by  the  Congregation  to  avoid  scandal  and  publicity  protected  perpetrators  of 

abuse. The safety of children was not a priority at any time during the relevant period. 



Neglect and emotional abuse were also found to have been features of Artane. The numbers of 

children made it impossible for any child to receive an adequate standard of care. 



The chapter on Artane contains an analysis of a 1962 Report written by Fr Henry Moore who was 

a  chaplain  in  Artane  in  the  1960s.  Fr  Moore  gave  evidence  to  the  Committee  and  much  of  it 

confirmed evidence of complainants who were pupils there. 



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A report by Mr Ciaran Fahy, consulting engineer, is appended to the Artane chapter and describes 

the physical layout and structures of the Institution and contains some photographic records of 

the school. 



Chapter 8 deals with another Christian Brothers’ school, Letterfrack, County Galway. The school 

in Letterfrack was founded in 1885 and was situated in a remote hillside location in Connemara, 

miles away from Galway or from public transport. The remoteness of Letterfrack was a common 

theme  of  complainants  and  of  Brothers  who  had  worked  there.  It  was  an  inhospitable,  bleak, 

isolated institution accessable only by car or bicycle and out of reach for family or friends of boys 

incarcerated there. 



Physical punishment was severe, excessive and pervasive and by being administered in public or 

within earshot of other children it was used as a means of engendering fear and ensuring control. 



Sexual abuse was a chronic problem. For two thirds of the relevant period there was at least one 

sexual  abuser  in  the  school,  for  almost  one  third  of  the  period  there  were  two  abusers  in  the 

school and at times there were three abusers working in Letterfrack at the same time. Two abusers 

were present for periods of 14 years each and the Congregation could offer no explanation as to 

how these Brothers could have remained in the School for so long undetected and unreported. 

Conclusions on Sexual Abuse in Letterfrack are outlined at Paragraph 8.461 of the Report. 



A decision in 1954 to reduce numbers in Letterfrack to a bare minimum had serious repercussions 

for the physical welfare of the boys. Children were emotionally and physically neglected throughout 

the relevant period and those children who could have benefited from family contact were deprived 

of this because of the remoteness of Letterfrack’s location. This isolation impacted on boys and 

Brothers who were posted there. 



Chapter 9 contains the report into St Joseph’s Industrial School, Tralee, Co Kerry. This School 

was established in 1862 and was certified for 145 boys. Serious allegations were outlined both in 

documents and in oral testimony about a Brother who was violent and dangerous over a number 

of  years  (Paragraph  9.46).  This  Brother  was  moved  from  a  day  school  because  his  violence 

towards  children  was  causing  severe  problems  with  their  parents,  and  was  moved  to  Tralee 

Industrial School. Such a move displayed a callous disregard for the safety of children in care. He 

went on to terrorise children in Tralee for over seven years. 



Children were left unprotected and vulnerable to bullying by older boys and this was stated to be 

a particular problem in Tralee both in terms of physical and sexual abuse. 



Sexual  abuse  by  staff  was  not  as  persistent  a  problem  in  Tralee  as  in  Artane  or  Letterfrack, 

although one Brother was cited by complainants and by Brothers who had been on the staff in 

Tralee  as  ‘behaving  inappropriately’  with  the  boys.  He  was  on  the  staff  for  20  years  and  his 

behaviour was known to at least three Superiors who did not attempt to stop it. 



One  ex-Brother,  Professor  Tom  Dunne,  gave  evidence  about  his  experience  of  Tralee  and  he 

described  a  cold  hostile  culture  where  the  boys  were  treated  with  harshness:  ‘It  was  a  secret 

enclosed world, run on fear’. 



Chapter 10 deals with Carriglea Park Industrial School in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. This School 

was established in 1894 and closed in 1954. The Investigation Committee did not receive many 

complaints  about  this  school  which  had  closed  early  in  the  relevant  period  but  the  documents 

and the limited evidence from complainants and ex-staff members give an important insight into 

management practices within the Christian Brothers. A period of near-anarchy was tackled by the 

imposition of a harsh punitive regime which was facilitated by the transfer of Brothers with a known 



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propensity for severe punishment to the school. There was some evidence of a more enlightened 

approach towards education and aftercare in Carriglea particularly in the preparation of boys for 

Post Office examinations. There were substantial surplus funds in the School accounts when this 

School closed in 1954. 



Chapters 11 and 12 deal with Glin and with Salthill Industrial Schools respectively. Both schools 

were  the  subject  of  a  documentary  investigation  by  the  Investigation  Committee  but  were  not 

included in the Schools designated for oral hearings by the Committee. 



Glin  was  a  large  Industrial School  in  Co  Limerick  with  a  population  of over  200  boys  during  a 

substantial part of the relevant period. It was the subject of two detailed reports commissioned by 

the Christian Brothers and these were used to provide background information about the school. 

The documents revealed that a system of harsh and pervasive punishment existed in Glin during 

the relevant period. The documents also revealed that Brothers with a known propensity for sexual 

abuse were transferred to Glin indicating a serious indifference to the safety of children. 



Salthill in Co Galway was the only Christian Brothers’ Industrial School to survive beyond the mid- 

1970s. The Congregation handed over management of the School to the Western Health Board 

in 1995. The documents showed that violent Brothers who were moved around from one school 

to another continued their violent behaviour. In Salthill, one Brother, who had been described as 

cruel in Letterfrack, continued his severe treatment of boys in Salthill and another continued his 

harshness    in  schools   he  was  assigned     to after  Salthill. Internal  Christian  Brothers’   Reports 

identified a ‘severity in attitude’ towards the boys in the 1950s and the records would indicate a 

concern with six Brothers who had served in Salthill with regard to physical punishment. 



The documents implicated five Brothers, one care worker who was a former resident, and another 

ex-resident  who  returned  after  discharge,  in  sexual  abuse  allegations.  In  particular,  the  Salthill 

report deals with a relatively recent allegation of sexual abuse against a Brother who had been 

transferred from Salthill ‘following a grave indiscretion with one of the boys’ in the early 1960s 

(Paragraph 12.63). The treatment of a boy who alleged sexual abuse against this Brother some 

twenty years later by Congregational Authorities was shameful and disturbing. 



Chapter  13  deals  with  the  final  Christian  Brothers’  School  investigated  by  the  Committee,  St 

Joseph’s School for the Deaf, in Cabra. This was not an Industrial School but was a residential 

school for boys from the age of eight who were profoundly or partially deaf. This school was also 

investigated on a document only basis. It was the subject of Eastern Health Board Investigations 

in the 1980s which revealed disturbing levels of sexual abuse and peer sexual activity amongst 

boys who were resident there. These documents reveal a persistent failure on the part of school 

Authorities to protect children from bullying and abuse. 



In addition, the documents revealed that physical punishment of these children continued into the 

mid-1990s and that staff were protected by management when physical abuse was discovered. 



It is significant that the Industrial Schools owned and managed by the Christian Brothers did not 

keep a Punishment Book as was required by the Rules. 



Chapter 14 looks at the career of a serial sexual and physical abuser, given the name of Mr John 

Brander, who taught children in the primary and secondary school sector in Ireland for 40 years. 

He was eventually convicted of sexual abuse in the 1980s. 



He began his career as a Christian Brother and after three separate incidents of sexual abuse of 

boys, he was granted dispensation from his vows. This chapter goes on to describe this man’s 

progress through six different schools where he physically terrorised and sexually abused children 



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in his classroom. At various times during his career, parents attempted to challenge his behaviour 

but he was persistently protected by diocesan and school authorities and moved from school to 

school. Complaints to the Department of Education were ignored. The Committee received a large 

number of complaints from individual national schools and the investigation conducted into the 

career of Mr Brander, apart from being shocking in itself, also illustrates the ease with which sexual 

predators could operate within the educational system of the State without fear of disclosure or 

sanction. 



Chapter 15 reports on Daingean Reformatory, Co Offaly. This was the only boys’ reformatory in 

the State for most of the relevant period and was managed by but not owned by the Oblates of 

Mary Immaculate. 



The physical abuse of boys in Daingean was extreme. Floggings which were ritualised beatings 

should   not  have   been   tolerated   in any   institution and   they  were   inflicted even   for  minor 

transgressions. Children who passed through Daingean were brutalised by the experience and 

some were damaged by it. 



Apart  from  a  cruel  regime  of  punishment,  Daingean  was  an  anarchic  Institution.  It  was  run  by 

gangs of boys who imposed their rules on the others and the supervision by the religious Brothers 

and Priests was minimal and ineffectual. 



Serious questions were raised about two Brothers who were in the school for long periods but in 

general allegations of sexual abuse were concentrated on abuse by older boys. The gangland 

culture  fostered   the  development     of  protective  relationships   between    the  boys   and   these 

relationships  sometimes  developed  a  sexual  aspect.  The  boy  seeking  the  protection  had  little 

option but to comply with the demands of the older boy and the authorities were dismissive of 

any complaints. 



Chapter 16 deals with Marlborough House Detention Centre in Dublin. Boys were remanded to 

Marlborough House either pending sentencing or whilst waiting for transfer to an Industrial School 

or Reformatory. The boys were left for long hours with no recreation facilities, no schooling and 

no  proper  supervision.  It  was  managed  by  the  Department  of  Education  who  appointed  a  lay 

supervisor to the role of Manager. 



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Volume II 



Volume II continues the Investigation Committee Report into individual institutions and begins with 

an investigation into the two institutions owned and managed by the Rosminian Order. 



Chapter I looks at the founding and organisation of the Rosminian Order and its involvement in 

residential care in Ireland. The Rosminians adopted a different approach to the Commission than 

other Congregations. They sought to understand abuse, in contrast to other Congregations who 

sought   to  explain  it. They   accepted    that  abuse   had   occurred   in  their Institutions,  that the 

Institutions  in  themselves  were  abusive  and  that  the  Order  itself  must  bear  responsibility  for 

what occurred. 



Chapter 2 deals with St Patrick’s Industrial School in Upton, County Cork which was certified for 

200 boys. Included in the documents discovered by the Rosminians were two Punishment Books 

for this school. One related to the 1889-1893 period and the other related to the period 1952 – 

1963. This latter book contained clear documentary evidence of a harsh regime in Upton. The 

Order conceded that punishment was abusive and at times brutal. 



The issue of sexual abuse in this institution emerged most strikingly through material that came 

to  the  Investigation  Committee’s  attention  following  a  search  by  the  Order  of  material  in  their 

archive  in  Rome,  which  disclosed  a  considerable  number  of  documents,  68  in  all,  dating  from 

1936 to 1968. They dealt with, among other things, 7 sexual abusers who worked in Upton. These 

documents provided a valuable contemporary account of how sexual abuse was dealt with. 



Chapter 3 covers Ferryhouse, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, which was the second Industrial School 

owned and managed by the Rosminian Order. It opened in 1885 and was certified for 200 boys. 

There  was  no  punishment  book  made  available  in  respect  of  Ferryhouse  and  no  documented 

evidence as to the severity of the regime there, although the Order have conceded that there was 

excessive and severe punishment in the Institution. Complainants spoke of a climate of fear and 

of harsh and at times brutal punishments. 



The  extent  of  sexual  abuse  in  this  institution  was  as  serious  and  disturbing  as  in  Upton.  Two 

religious members of the Rosminian Order and one layman were convicted of sexual abuse of 

boys   in  Ferryhouse.   Another    religious  who   served  in  Ferryhouse    was  convicted    of  a  crime 

committed elsewhere on a boy who had previously been a resident of Ferryhouse and who was 

then  living  in  another  Rosminian  institution.  These  three  religious  offenders  served  in  senior 

positions  in  Ferryhouse  and  the  layman  was  a  volunteer  there  for  different  periods  of  years 

between 1968 and 1988. 



During  almost  all  of  the  period  covered  by  the  inquiry,  there  was  at  least  one  sexual  abuser 

present in Ferryhouse. 



The living conditions in both schools were poor, inadequate and overcrowded although conditions 

in Ferryhouse did improve from the late 1970s. Children were underfed and badly clothed and 

received poor education and training. 



Chapter 4 deals with Greenmount Industrial School, Co Cork, which was owned and managed 

by  the  Presentation  Brothers.  This  school  was  founded  in  1874  and  closed  in  1959  and  was 

certified for 235 boys. 



For some specific periods during its history, Greenmount operated a harsh and severe regime. 

The level of corporal punishment tolerated depended on the attitude of management at the time. 

Some Resident Managers were more severe than others. 



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The  report  into  Greenmount  contains  a  detailed  analysis  of  an  investigation  into  allegations  of 

sexual abuse against two Brothers who were on the staff at the time. This matter was dealt with 

inadequately  at  the  time  and  one  of  the  Brothers  went  on  to  abuse  in  other  schools  he  was 

assigned to. 



Food clothing and accommodation were poor in Greenmount and education and aftercare were 

badly provided. 



Chapter 5 deals with Lota which was a residential school for boys with special needs run by the 

Brothers of Charity in Glanmire, Co Cork. 



The significant element in the account of Lota was the deeply disturbing accounts of sexual abuse 

of  vulnerable   children   by  religious   staff. In  addition,  the  indifference   of  the  Congregational 

Authorities in addressing the issue facilitated the abuse in Lota for many years. In one case, a 

Brother who was known by the Congregation to have abused in England and was known to the 

police  there,  was  brought  back  to  Ireland  and  assigned  a  teaching  position  in  Lota,  where  he 

worked for over 30 years. This Brother admitted to multiple sexual assaults of boys in the school. 

The circumstances of his return to Ireland and the handling of allegations against him whilst in 

Lota are a serious indictment of the Brothers of Charity. The Brothers have admitted that abuse 

took   place   but,  as  in  the  case   of  other   Orders,   they   have   not   accepted    Congregational 

responsibility for it. 



Chapters 6 to 16 of Volume II cover 8 Industrial Schools run by Orders of nuns which catered 

mainly for girls, and boys under eight years. The largest providers of care to these children were 

the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  who  ran  a  total  of  26  Industrial  Schools  in  the  State  during  most  of  the 

relevant period. 



Chapter  6  looks  at  the  foundation  and  organisation  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  looks  at  the 

personal vows taken by Sisters and the impact these had on the standard of care provided to 

children. It is a feature of the structure of this organisation that during the relevant period it was 

not a homogenous body but was made up of a number of separate convents each of which was 

independent of the other. It did not become a unified Congregation until the 1980s. 



Chapter 7 deals with Goldenbridge Industrial School which was located in Inchicore in Dublin and 

was certified for 150 girls. Boys under eight were admitted in the late 1960s. Goldenbridge was a 

controversial institution and had been the subject of television and media discussion from 1995 

onwards  when  the  ‘Dear  Daughter’  programme  had  been  broadcast  on  RTE.  Allegations  of  a 

severe, cruel regime were made where discipline was unrelenting and severe. 



Unlike the Christian Brothers and to a lesser extent the Rosminians, the Sisters of Mercy retained 

almost no records of complaints or allegations against the School, or even any reports of internal 

inspections or reviews. The Goldenbridge report relies heavily on the oral testimony of witnesses 

both complainants and ex-staff members. 



A high level of physical abuse was perpetrated by Religious and lay staff in Goldenbridge. The 

method of inflicting punishments and the implements used were cruel and excessive and physical 

punishment was an immediate response to even minor infractions. Children were in constant fear 

of beatings and in many cases were beaten for no apparent reason. A feature of this school was 

a rosary bead industry that was operated from the school. This industry was conducted in a way 

that  imposed impossible  standards  on  children and  caused  great suffering  to  many  of them.  It 

was a school that was characterised by a regime of extreme drudgery, both in terms of the rosary 

bead making and the daily workload of the children. 



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Goldenbridge  was  an  emotionally  abusive  institution.  Girls  were  humiliated  and  belittled  on  a 

regular  basis  and  treated  with  contempt  by  some  staff  members.  It  was  characterised  by  an 

absence of kindness or sympathy for the children. 



Chapter  8  considers  Cappoquin  Industrial  School,  County  Waterford  which  was  owned  and 

managed by the Sisters of Mercy. It was certified for 75 boys up to the age of ten. From 1970, it 

was allowed take girls as well as boys. 



This  institution  was  identified  by  the  Department  of  Education  Inspector  as  being  particularly 

neglectful of the children in its care in the 1940s. Children were described as malnourished and 

underweight. 



Cappoquin     adapted   to  the Group    Home    system   in the  1970s    but it was   marred   by  highly 

dysfunctional  management  throughout  the  1970s  and  1980s.  Alcohol  abuse  and  inappropriate 

relationships between senior personnel interfered significantly with the standard of care provided 

to the children. This period was marked by indifference on the part of the Community of Sisters 

in  the  convent  attached  to  the  school,  which  allowed  a  dangerous  and  neglectful  situation  to 

continue. 



This  chapter  also  deals  with  Passage  West  Industrial  School  Co  Cork,  in  the  context  of  an 

allegation of sexual abuse against a lay care worker who worked in both Institutions and who was 

subsequently convicted of abuse of children in Cappoquin. 



Chapter 9 deals with Clifden, another Sisters of Mercy Industrial School in Co. Galway. It was 

certified as an Industrial School in 1872 and catered for up to 140 children.. 



Clifden was an institution that was strongly affected by the personality of the Resident Manager 

who  was  in  office  from  1936  to  1969.  She  was  described  by  complainants  and  respondent 

witnesses as a strict, harsh woman who ruled and dominated all aspects of life in the institution. 

She treated the school as her personal domain and worked a punishing schedule with little help 

or support. She was unable to give the children the care they needed and used harsh physical 

punishment not just to correct misbehaviour, but also to enforce discipline and order. A significant 

feature of the evidence was the culture of detachment and lack of affection that was described by 

both respondent witnesses and complainants. Although there was a large community of nuns in 

the convent in the grounds of the industrial school, these Sisters had no contact with the children 

in care and appeared unable to help in the chronic under-staffing which was a problem in this 

school until the 1980s when numbers were reduced. 



Chapters 10 deals with Newtownforbes, a Sisters of Mercy school located in County Longford 

that catered for up to 175 girls from infancy to 16 year olds. It repeated many of the problems 

identified in Clifden. It was consistently under-staffed with a heavy workload falling to the Resident 

Manager and much of the day to day work being done by the children themselves. Newtownforbes 

was severely criticised by Department of Education Inspections in the 1940s for serious neglect 

and   abuse   of  children  who   were   found   with bruising   that was   not  satisfactorily explained. 

Conditions improved into the 1950s and 1960s but it was a strictly regimented school that used 

corporal punishment to punish and to maintain order. There was a heavy emphasis on domestic 

chores and this together with childcare duties impeded the education of many children. Children 

were   undermined     and   emotionally   neglected    by  a  regime   that  did  not  offer  kindness    or 

encouragement to children who had no-one else to look out for them. 



Chapter 11 considers Dundalk Industrial School which was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 

1881 and was located in the centre of town of Dundalk in Co Louth. It was certified for 100 children 

but  for  most  of  the  relevant  period  it  had  no  more  than  40  or  50  children  and  this  had  a 



Executive Summary                                                                                          9 


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considerable impact on the atmosphere in the school. Although like other Sister of Mercy Schools, 

Dundalk  came  in  for  criticism  in  the  1940s,  conditions  improved  in  the  1950s  and  1960s  and 

significantly there was some evidence that it did not depend on physical punishment to maintain 

order. Indeed it appeared to keep corporal punishment to a minimum and although there were 

individual  accounts  of  severe  punishment,  in  general  it  was  not  an  abusive  institution.  It  was, 

however, seriously understaffed and supervision and physical care was affected by this lack of 

staffing.  It  was  not  an  ideal  institution  but  it  was  a  more  benign  place  than  many  other  such 

schools. 



Chapter 12 gives an outline of the foundation and organisation of the Sisters of Charity who ran 

two Industrial Schools in Kilkenny, St Patrick’s and St Joseph’s as well as a review of its response 

to allegations of abuse that have arisen. 



Chapter     13  deals   with   St  Patrick’s   Industrial  School    which   was    founded    in  1879    and 

accommodated 186 boys up to the age of 10. A significant feature of this school was the very 

young ages of the children and the large group of them all being cared for by a small number of 

nuns. Because they were so young when they were there, witnesses tended to remember specific 

episodes rather than have overall memories of St Patrick’s. Some of these incidents pointed to a 

regime    that was   harsh   and   unpredictable    with  corporal   punishment     the  usual   response    to 

misbehaviour. Three male complainants described incidents of sexual abuse and the significant 

factor in each account was the child’s inability to confide to the Sister who was caring for him. 

Men who were employed in the school appeared to have ready access to these small boys and 

there was no awareness of the risks posed by this. 



Chapter  14  deals  with  St  Joseph’s  Kilkenny  which  was  founded  in  1872  and  catered  for  130 

children.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  were  unique  in  that  they  sought  out  training  and  guidance  in 

childcare and introduced innovations into their two schools in Kilkenny that were unusual at the 

time.  In  particular,  they  recognised  the  value  of  the  group  system  which  they  introduced  to  St 

Joseph’s in the late 1940s. 



In general this was a well run institution but it was dogged at two separate periods in its history 

by serious instances of sexual abuse and the Congregation did not deal with these appropriately 

or with the children’s best interests in mind. In 1954, a handyman who had been employed in the 

school for the previous 30 years was discovered to have been grossly sexually abusing girls from 

as  young    as  eight  years   old. An   investigation  which   was   conducted     by  the  Department     of 

Education,  confirmed  the  abuse  but  the  children  concerned  were  offered  no  comfort  and  the 

perpetrator, although dismissed from the school, was not reported to the Gardai. 



The second period in which sexual abuse arose in St Joseph’s was during the 1970s after the 

school admitted boys, when two care workers who were sexually abusing boys were dismissed. 

Both men went on to abuse again after leaving St Joseph’s and the failure of the Congregation to 

deal decisively with these men was a factor in this. 



Chapters 15 and 16 are brief reviews of documentary evidence in relation to two schools that 

offered residential care to deaf girls: St Mary’s Girls Cabra which was run by the Dominican Order 

of Nuns and Beechpark run by the Daughters of Liege. Oral hearings were not conducted into 

these schools and there was not a significant amount of documentary material discovered to the 

Committee. Most allegations of abuse referred to the harshness with which the policy of oralism 

was imposed on children who were deaf and who instinctively used sign language as well. Whilst 

the wisdom of imposing oralism was a separate matter and one which the Committee could not 

comment on, the methods of enforcing it were at times too severe. 



10                                                                                      Executive Summary 


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In general however, the standard of care in these schools was good and particular efforts were 

made to ensure that the children received the best possible education. 



In general, girls’ schools were not as physically harsh as boys’ schools and there was no persistent 

                                                                                                      ´ 

problem  of  sexual  abuse  in  girls’  schools  although  there  was  at  best  naivete  and  at  worst 

indifference  in  the  way  girls  were  sent  out  to  foster  families.  A  number  of  girls  did  experience 

sexual  abuse  at  the  hands  of  ‘godfathers’  which  they  were  either  unable  to  report  or  were 

disbelieved when they did report it. 



There was a high level of emotional abuse in  girls’ schools, which was a consistent feature of 

these institutions. 



Executive Summary                                                                                                       11 


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Volume III 



Confidential Committee Report 



The  Confidential  Committee  heard  evidence  from  1090  men  and  women  who  reported  being 

abused as children in Irish institutions. Abuse was reported to the Committee in relation to 216 

school and residential settings including Industrial and Reformatory Schools, Children’s Homes, 

hospitals, national and secondary schools, day and residential special needs schools, foster care 

and a small number of other residential institutions, including laundries and hostels. 791 witnesses 

reported abuse to Industrial and Reformatory Schools and 259 witnesses reported abuse in the 

range of other institutions. 



The 1090 witness reports relate to the period between 1914 and 2000, of which 23 refer to abuse 

experienced prior to 1930 or after 1990. 



Chapter  2 describes  the  methodology  used  by  the  Committee.  The  majority  of  hearings  were 

conducted in the CICA offices in Dublin. There were 166 hearings held in other locations in Ireland 

and  overseas..  396  witnesses  lived  overseas,  of  whom  328  travelled  to  hearings  in  Dublin. 

Witnesses who attended hearings with the Confidential Committee chose to give their evidence 

in confidence and their evidence was uncontested. The work of the Confidential Committee was 

bound  by  strict  rules  of  confidentiality  and  the  Committee’s  report  does  not  identify  or  contain 

information that could lead to the identification of witnesses, or the persons against whom they 

made allegations or the institutions in which they alleged they were abused, or any other person. 



The  most  frequently  cited  reasons  given  by  witnesses  for  attending  to  give  evidence  to  the 

Confidential Committee were to have the abuse they experienced as children officially recorded 

and to tell their story. Most witnesses expressed the hope that a formal record of their experiences 

would contribute to a greater understanding of the circumstances in which such abuse occurs and 

would assist in the future protection of children. 



Chapter    3  addresses     the  social  and   demographic     profile  of witnesses    from   Industrial  and 

Reformatory Schools. 



Over  75%  of  witnesses  to  the  Confidential  Committee  were  from  two-parent  households;  the 

remaining witnesses were the children of single mothers or had no information about their family 

of origin. Most witnesses had lived with their parents or extended family members for some period 

prior  to  their  admission  to  out-of-home  care  and  came  from  families  where  there  the  average 

family size was 6 children. The majority of witnesses reported their parents’ occupational status 

as unskilled. 



77% of witnesses were aged over 50 years and 3% were under 30 years of age when they gave 

their  evidence to  the  Confidential  Committee. More  than  50% of  witnesses  who  were in  out-of 

-home care placements for substantial periods of their childhood were first admitted when they 

were less than 5 years old and their average length of stay in out-of-home care was 9 years. 



Chapters 7, 9 and 13 to 18 set out the Confidential Committee abuse reports. 



Witnesses reported being physically, sexually and emotionally abused, and neglected by religious 

and lay adults who had responsibility for their care, and by others in the absence of adequate 

care and supervision. Many of the 216 named settings were the subject of repeated reports of 

abuse.  In  excess  of  800  individuals  were  identified  as  physically  and/or  sexually  abusing  the 

witnesses  as children  in those  settings. Neglect  and emotional  abuse were  often described  as 

endemic  within  institutions  where  there  was  a  systemic  failure  to  provide  for  children’s  safety 

and welfare. 



12                                                                                      Executive Summary 


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Witnesses gave evidence of abuse they directly experienced and also of abuse to others which 

they witnessed. A number of witnesses stated that they wished to report abuse in senior schools 

only as they had general but no detailed recall of abuse in their junior schools. Other witnesses 

wished only to report memories of extreme abuse. 



Physical abuse 



More than 90% of all witnesses who gave evidence to the Confidential Committee reported being 

physically abused while in schools or out-of-home care. Physical abuse was a component of the 

vast majority of abuse reported in all decades and institutions and witnesses described pervasive 

abuse as part of their daily lives. They frequently described casual, random physical abuse but 

many wished to report only the times when the frequency and severity were such that they were 

injured  or  in  fear  for  their  lives.  In  addition  to  being  hit  and  beaten,  witnesses  described  other 

forms of abuse such as being flogged, kicked and otherwise physically assaulted, scalded, burned 

and held under water. Witnesses reported being beaten in front of other staff, residents, patients 

and pupils as well as in private. Physical abuse was reported to have been perpetrated by religious 

and lay staff, older residents and others who were associated with the schools and institutions. 

There  were  many  reports  of  injuries  as  a  result  of  physical  abuse,  including  broken  bones, 

lacerations and bruising. 



Sexual abuse 



Sexual  abuse  was reported  by  approximately  half of  all  the  Confidential Committee  witnesses. 

Acute and chronic contact and non-contact sexual abuse was reported, including vaginal and anal 

rape, molestation and voyeurism in both isolated assaults and on a regular basis over long periods 

of  time.  The    secret  nature    of  sexual   abuse    was   repeatedly    emphasised      as   facilitating its 

occurrence. Witnesses reported being sexually abused by religious and lay staff in the schools 

and institutions and by co-residents and others, including professionals, both within and external 

to the institutions. They also reported being sexually abused by members of the general public, 

including volunteer workers, visitors, work placement employers, foster parents, and others who 

had unsupervised contact with residents in the course of everyday activities. Witnesses reported 

being sexually abused when they were taken away for excursions, holidays or to work for others. 

Some witnesses who disclosed sexual abuse were subjected to severe reproach by those who 

had responsibility for their care and protection. Female witnesses in particular described, at times, 

being told they were responsible for the sexual abuse they experienced, by both their abuser and 

those to whom they disclosed abuse. 



Neglect 



Neglect was frequently described by witnesses in the context of physical, sexual and emotional 

abuse in addition to accounts of inadequate heating, food, clothing and personal care. Neglect of 

a child’s care and welfare occurred both by actions and inactions by those who had a responsibility 

and a duty of care to protect and nurture them. Witnesses reported that the failure to provide for 

their safety, education, development and aftercare had implications for their health, employment, 

social and economic status in later life. The neglect reported by witnesses referred to the actions 

and  omissions  of  individual  staff  and  the  organisations  within  which  they  operated.  Untreated 

injuries and medical conditions were reported to have caused permanent impairment. 



Emotional abuse 



Emotional abuse was reported by witnesses in the form of lack of attachment and affection, loss 

of  identity,  deprivation  of  family  contact,  humiliation,  constant  criticism,  personal  denigration, 

exposure to fear and the threat of harm. A frequently identified area of emotional abuse was the 

separation from siblings and loss of family contact. Witnesses were incorrectly told their parents 

were  dead  and  were  given  false  information  about  their  siblings  and  family  members.  Many 

witnesses recalled the devastating emotional impact and feeling of powerlessness associated with 



Executive Summary                                                                                                13 


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observing their co-residents, siblings or others being abused. This  trauma was acute for those 

who were forced to participate in such incidents. Witnesses believed emotional abuse contributed 

to  difficulties  in  their  social,   psychological     and   physical    well-being    at  the   time   and   in  the 

subsequent course of their lives. 



Knowledge and disclosure 



Parents, relatives and others knew that children were being abused as a result of disclosures and 

their  observation  of  marks  and  injuries.  Witnesses  believed  that  awareness  of  the  abuse  of 

children  in  schools  and  institutions  existed  within  society  at  both  official  and  unofficial  levels. 

Professionals  and  others  including  Government  Inspectors,  Gardai,  general  practitioners,  and 

teachers had a role in relation to various aspects of children’s welfare while they were in schools 

and institutions. Local people were employed in most of the residential facilities as professional, 

care  and  ancillary  staff.  In addition,  members  of  the  public  had  contact  with children  in  out-of- 

home  care  in  the  course  of  providing  services  to  the  institutions  both  at  a  formal  and  informal 

level. Witnesses commented that while many of those people were aware that life for children in 

the schools and institutions was difficult they failed to take action to protect them. 



Contemporary  complaints  were  made  to  the  School  authorities,  the  Gardai,  the  Department  of 

                                                                                              ´ 

Education,  Health  Boards,  priests  of  the  parish  and  others  by  witnesses,  their  parents  and 

relatives. Witnesses reported that at times protective action was taken following complaints being 

made.  In  other  instances  complaints  were  ignored,  witnesses  were  punished,  or  pressure  was 

brought to bear on the child and family to deny the complaint and/or to remain silent. Witnesses 

reported that their sense of shame, the power of the abuser, the culture of secrecy and isolation 

and the fear of physical punishment inhibited them in disclosing abuse. 



Children with special needs 



Children with learning disability, physical and sensory impairments and children who had no known 

family contact were especially vulnerable in institutional settings. They described being powerless 

against adults who abused them, especially when those adults were in positions of authority and 

trust. Impaired mobility and communication deficits made it impossible to inform others of their 

abuse or to resist it. Children who were unable to hear, see, speak, move or adequately express 

themselves were at a complete disadvantage in environments that did not recognise or facilitate 

their right to be heard. 



Chapter 11 and Sections of Chapters 13 to 18 deal with the effects of abuse on later life. The 

Confidential  Committee  heard  evidence  both  of  childhood  abuse  and  the  continuing  effects  of 

such  abuse  on  witnesses.  The  enduring  impact  of  childhood  abuse  was  described  by  many 

witnesses  who,  while  reporting  that  as  adults  they  enjoyed  good  relationships  and  successful 

careers, had learned to live with their traumatic memories. Many other witnesses reported that 

their adult lives were blighted by childhood memories of fear and abuse. They gave accounts of 

troubled  relationships  and  loss  of  contact  with  their  siblings  and  extended  families.  Witnesses 

described parenting difficulties ranging from being over-protective to being harsh and commented 

on the intergenerational sequelae of their childhood abuse. Approximately half of the witnesses 

reported having attended counselling services, either currently or in the past. 



Witnesses  also  described  lives  marked  by  poverty,  social  isolation,  alcoholism,  mental  illness, 

sleep  disturbance,  aggressive  behaviour  and  self  harm.  Approximately  30%  of  the  witnesses 

described  a  constellation  of  ongoing,  debilitating  mental  health  concerns  for  example;  suicidal 

behaviour,     depression,     alcohol   and    substance     abuse    and    eating   disorders,    which    required 

treatment including psychiatric admission, medication and counselling. 



Many     witnesses    stated    that  their  childhood    experience     of  abuse     and   emotional    deprivation 

inhibited  their  capacity  to  form  stable,  secure  and  nurturing  relationships  in  adult  life.  They 



14                                                                                             Executive Summary 


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described a continuing sense of isolation and inability to trust others. However, a high proportion 

of male and female witnesses described marriages or long-term relationships that endured despite 

often severe interpersonal difficulties. 



70% of witnesses received no second-level education and, while many witnesses reported having 

successful  careers  in  business  and  professional  fields,  the  majority  of  witnesses  seen  by  the 

Committee reported being in manual and unskilled occupations for their entire working lives. 



Chapter  10  and  Sections  of  Chapters  13  to  18  deal  with  positive  experiences.  Among  the 

positive experiences reported by witnesses was the kindness of some religious and lay staff in 

the schools and institutions, including a number who provided support in times of difficulty after 

they were discharged. Many emphasised the enormous difference that just a kind word or gesture 

made to their daily lives. Family contact was greatly valued. Friendships and contact with kind 

‘holiday’ families sustained some witnesses at the time and in later life. 



In conclusion, the Confidential Committee heard evidence that children were severely abused and 

neglected by those with responsibility for their safety and welfare. Those in care without family 

contact and with special needs were most at risk. Witnesses reported that the abuse experienced 

in childhood had an enduring impact on their lives. 



Executive Summary                                                                                        15 


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Volume IV 



Chapter 1 The Department of Education 

The Department of Education had legal responsibility under the Children Act 1908 for all children 

committed to the Industrial and Reformatory Schools. The Minister had the power to grant and 

withdraw certification, and when certified the institution had to accept the Rules and Regulations 

set out by the Department. They defined the standards that were acceptable for accommodation, 

clothing, diet, instruction, training, visits by family and home visits, and the time of discharge. The 

Department’s inspectors had the duty of ensuring these regulations were complied with. 



The  Minister  also  determined  the  amount  of  money  paid  for  the  upkeep  of  the  children.  The 

amount was negotiated periodically with the Congregations. 



This  chapter  examines  the  extent  to  which  the  Department ensured  its  Rules  and  Regulations 

were upheld by the institutions, and the basic standards set for the children taken into the care of 

the State were being met. 



The Department had too little information because the inspections were too few and too limited in 

scope. If the Department had been in possession of better information about the Schools, it would 

have been in a stronger position to exercise control. The officials were aware that abuse occurred 

in  the  Schools  and  they  knew  the  education  was  inadequate  and  the  industrial  training  was 

outdated. 



The  Department  of  Education  should  have  exercised  more  of  its  ample  legal  powers  over  the 

Schools in the interests of the children. The power to remove a Manager given to the Department 

in 1941 should have been exercised or even threatened on more than the handful of occasions 

when it was invoked, which would have emphasised the State’s right to intervene on behalf of 

children in its care. 



The Department was lacking in ideas about policy. It made no attempt to impose changes that 

would have  improved the lot of  the detained children.  Indeed, it never thought  about changing 

the system. 



The failures by the Department that are catalogued in the chapters on the schools can also be 

seen  as  tacit  acknowledgment  by  the  State  of  the  ascendancy  of  the  Congregations  and  their 

ownership  of  the  system.  The  Departments’  Secretary  General,  at  a  public  hearing,  told  the 

Investigation  Committee  that  the  Department  had  shown  a  ‘very  significant  deference’  towards 

the  religious  Congregations.    This  deference    impeded    change,   and   it took  an  independent 

intervention in the form of the Kennedy Report in 1970 to dismantle a long out-dated system. 



Chapter 2 Finance 

It  was  the  responsibility  of  the  Department  of  Education  to  ensure  adequate  funding  for  the 

provision of minimum standards of care for children in the care of the State. This chapter examines 

the  system   for  funding   the  schools,  the  sufficiency   of funding,   the  way   the  funding  was 

administered and it looks at the relationship between the Department of Education, the Resident 

Managers and the Department of Finance. 



The system was based on the capitation grant, with the State paying a sum for each child in an 

institution. An important question is why this capitation system persisted in Ireland long after its 

abandonment  in  England  after  it  was  shown  that  a  budget  system  was  more  efficient  and  of 

greater benefit to the children. 



16                                                                                   Executive Summary 


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The  adequacy  of  funding  to  provide  for  the  care  of  children  to  the  standard  required  by  the 

regulations is examined in the Mazars’ Report, prepared for the Investigation Committee, and in 

the responses to it by the Congregations. 



Broadly,  the  Committee  concluded  that  large,  mainly  boys’  schools  with  big  productive  farms, 

industrial training geared to the needs of the school and sufficient numbers to allow economies of 

scale  to  apply,  were  well  resourced.  These  schools  should  have  been  able  to  provide  a  good 

standard of care. However, the evidence indicates that the children in these schools were some 

of the most poorly provided for. 



The Committee also concluded that some schools struggled valiantly to survive, some did not, yet 

the  negotiations  with  the  Department  of  Education  made  no  distinction  and  the  larger  boys’ 

schools dominated the debate. The Department of Finance could see that not all schools were 

the same and sought to distinguish those in genuine need. The Resident Managers Association, 

however, did not co-operate and thereby condemned many children  in the less well resourced 

Institutions to needless poverty. 



Chapter 3 Society and the Schools. 

This  chapter  by  Prof  David  Gwynn  Morgan  of  University  College  Cork,  discusses  the  social, 

economic and family background of children in the schools; other institutions for children in care; 

facts and figures about the system; independent monitoring; family links and the closure of the 

schools. 



Chapter 4 Residential Child Welfare in Ireland 1965 - 2008 

Dr Eoin O’Sullivan of Trinity College Dublin, prepared a report outlining the policy, legislation and 

practice in residential child welfare in Ireland, from the Kennedy Report to the present day. 



This paper provides a review of the evolution of policy, legislation and practice in relation to child 

welfare, with a particular emphasis on residential childcare from the mid-1960s to the present. It 

delineates a number of the key shifts in the organisation of child welfare in Ireland that have led 

to the current configuration of services. The paper focuses on the specifics of residential childcare 

and by utilising the archival records of the Government Departments centrally concerned with this 

area of public policy, the Departments of Health and Education, supplemented by a secondary 

literature, outlines the intent and shifting concerns of policy makers, policy activists and service 

providers during the period under review, in particular the period between 1965 and 1975. 



Chapter 5 Report on Interviews 

A large number of witnesses who did not proceed to oral hearing were interviewed by members 

of the Investigation Committee legal team and their untested evidence has been summarised in 

this section of the Report. Apart from Industrial Schools and Reformatories, evidence was heard 

in relation to orphanages, hospitals, national schools, special schools and other institutions that 

provided out of home care for children. 



Chapter 6 Conclusions of the Commission 

These Conclusions are included at the end of this Executive Summary. 



Chapter 7 Recommendations of the Commission 

These Recommendations are included at the end of this Executive Summary. 



Executive Summary                                                                                         17 


----------------------- Page 18-----------------------

Volume V 



The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) 

The primary purpose of the ISPCC was the protection of children. Two of its basic duties were: 



      To prevent the public and private wrongs to children, and the corruption of their morals. 



      To take action for the enforcement of the laws for their protection. 



Throughout most of the relevant period the Society appointed inspectors, usually recruited from 

retired police and army officers, who were answerable to a local committee of volunteers. Known 

colloquially as  ‘cruelty men’,  they  dealt  with problems  in   their area  arising from  social  and 

environmental deprivation. 



The  Committee  examined  the  evidence  for  the  allegation  that  too  many  children  were  sent 

needlessly to the Industrial Schools by the ISPCC. It concluded: 



      The extent of the ISPCC involvement in committing children to industrial schools cannot 

      be accurately ascertained but it can be stated as significant. 



      The lack of documentation available has rendered it impossible to determine precisely the 

      numbers of children who were committed to Industrial Schools by the Society. 



      The stated philosophy of the Society was to keep families together and committal to an 

      industrial  school was  seen  as  a   last  resort,  but there  was  no  proper monitoring  or 

      supervision of Inspectors, so Inspectors may have been overly zealous in sending children 

      to industrial schools. 



The Psychological Adjustment of Adult Survivors of Institutional Abuse in Ireland 

This Part contains the report on the research survey on institutional abuse that was announced 

at the first public meeting of the Commission in June 2000 and was carried out by Prof Alan Carr 

and his team from University College Dublin. 



Gateways to the Institutions 

This Part presents statistical information and analysis in relation to the committal of children to 

Industrial and   Reformatory   Schools   researched    by Prof  David   Gwynn    Morgan   of University 

College Cork 



Health Records of Children in Institutions 

This Part is a research paper by Prof Anthony Staines of Dublin City University and his team into 

health records of children in Institutions and it is followed by responding submissions. 



Review of Issues of Historical Context. 

This Part is a review by Prof Diarmaid Ferriter, University College Dublin that considers the issue 

of institutional abuse from a historical perspective. 



Residential Childcare in England,1948 – 1975: A History and Report. 

A review of developments in England in relation to residential childcare by Mr Richard Rollinson. 



The   remaining   parts  of the  volume   list the Commission     Personnel   2004   –  2009   and  the 

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Acts 2000 – 2005. 



18                                                                                Executive Summary 


----------------------- Page 19-----------------------

           Conclusions 



1.         Physical and emotional abuse and neglect were features of the institutions. Sexual abuse 

          occurred  in  many  of  them,  particularly  boys’  institutions.  Schools  were  run  in  a  severe, 

           regimented manner that imposed unreasonable and oppressive discipline on children and 

          even on staff. 



2.        The system of large-scale institutionalisation was a response to a nineteenth century social 

           problem, which was outdated and incapable of meeting the needs of individual children. 

          The    defects   of  the   system    were   exacerbated      by  the   way   it  was   operated    by   the 

           Congregations that owned and managed the schools. This failure led to the institutional 

          abuse of children where their developmental, emotional and educational needs were not 

           met. 



3.        The   deferential   and   submissive     attitude   of the   Department     of  Education    towards    the 

           Congregations  compromised  its  ability  to  carry  out  its  statutory  duty  of  inspection  and 

           monitoring    of  the   schools.   The    Reformatory     and   Industrial   Schools    Section    of  the 

           Department was accorded a low status within the Department and generally saw itself as 

          facilitating the Congregations and the Resident Managers. 



4.        The capital and financial commitment made by the religious Congregations was a major 

          factor in prolonging the system of institutional care of children in the State. From the mid 

           1920s in England, smaller more family-like settings were established and they were seen 

          as   providing   a  better  standard    of  care   for children   in  need.   In  Ireland,  however,    the 

           Industrial School system thrived. 



5.        The system of funding through capitation grants led to demands by Managers for children 

          to be committed to Industrial Schools for reasons of economic viability of the institutions. 



6.        The system of inspection by the Department of Education was fundamentally flawed and 

           incapable of being effective. 



          The Inspector was not supported by a regulatory authority with the power to insist on changes 

           being made. 



          There  were  no  uniform,  objective  standards  of  care  applicable  to  all  institutions  on  which  the 

           inspections could be based. 



          The Inspector’s position was compromised by lack of independence from the Department. 



           Inspections were limited to the standard of physical care of the children and did not extend to their 

          emotional needs. The type of inspection carried out made it difficult to ascertain the emotional 

          state of the children. 



          The statutory obligation to inspect more than 50 residential schools was too much for one person. 



           Inspections were not random or unannounced: School Managers were alerted in advance that an 

           inspection  was  due.  As  a  result,  the  Inspector  did  not  get  an  accurate  picture  of  conditions  in 

          the schools. 



          The Inspector did not ensure that punishment books were kept and made available for inspection 

          even though they were required by the regulations. 



          The Inspector rarely spoke to the children in the institutions. 



           Executive Summary                                                                                        19 


----------------------- Page 20-----------------------

7.         Many    witnesses     who    complained     of   abuse    nevertheless     expressed     some     positive 

           memories:  small  gestures  of  kindness  were  vividly  recalled.  A  word  of  consideration  or 

          encouragement,  or  an  act  of  sympathy  or  understanding  had  a  profound  effect.  Adults  in  their 

          sixties and seventies recalled seemingly insignificant events that had remained with them all their 

           lives. Often the act of kindness recalled in such a positive light arose from the simple fact that the 

          staff member had not given a beating when one was expected. 



8.         More kindness and humanity would have gone far to make up for poor standards of care. 



           Physical abuse 



9.        The Rules and Regulations governing the use of corporal punishment were disregarded 

          with the knowledge of the Department of Education. 



          The legislation and the Department of Education guidelines were unambiguous in the restrictions 

           placed on corporal punishment. These limits however, were not observed in any of the schools 

           investigated. Complaints of physical abuse were frequent enough for the Department of Education 

          to be aware that they referred to more than acts of sporadic violence by some individuals. The 

           Department knew that violence and beatings were endemic within the system itself. 



10.       The  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  depended  on  rigid  control  by  means  of  severe 

          corporal punishment and the fear of such punishment. 



          The  harshness  of    the  regime  was  inculcated     into  the  culture  of  the schools  by  successive 

          generations of Brothers, priests and nuns. It was systemic and not the result of individual breaches 

           by  persons  who  operated  outside  lawful  and  acceptable  boundaries.  Excesses  of  punishment 

          generated  the  fear  that  the  school  authorities  believed  to  be  essential  for  the  maintenance  of 

          order. In many schools, staff considered themselves to be custodians rather than carers. 



11.       A  climate  of  fear,  created  by  pervasive,  excessive  and  arbitrary  punishment,  permeated 

           most of the institutions and all those run for boys. Children lived with the daily terror of 

           not knowing where the next beating was coming from. 



          Seeing or hearing other children being beaten was a frightening experience that stayed with many 

          complainants all their lives. 



12.       Children who ran away were subjected to extremely severe punishment. 



          Absconders  were  severely  beaten,  at  times  publicly.  Some  had  their  heads  shaved  and  were 

           humiliated.  Details  were   not  reported   to the  Department,    which   did  not  insist on  receiving 

           information about the causes of absconding. Neither the Department nor the school management 

           investigated the reasons why children absconded even when schools had a particularly high rate 

          of absconding. Cases of absconding associated with chronic sexual or physical abuse therefore 

           remained undiscovered. In some instances all the children in a school were punished because a 

          child ran away which meant that the child was then a target for mistreatment by other children as 

          well as the staff. 



13.       Complaints by parents and others made to the Department were not properly investigated. 



           Punishments     outside   the  permitted   guidelines   were   ignored   and   even   condoned     by   the 

           Department of Education. The Department did not apply the standards in the rules and their own 

          guidelines   when    investigating   complaints   but   sought   to  protect  and   defend   the   religious 

          Congregations and the schools. 



          20                                                                                    Executive Summary 


----------------------- Page 21-----------------------

14.        The boys’ schools investigated revealed a pervasive use of severe corporal punishment. 

           Corporal punishment was the option of first resort for breaches of discipline. Extreme punishment 

           was a feature of the boys’ schools. Prolonged, excessive beatings with implements intended to 

           cause maximum pain occurred with the knowledge of staff management. 



15.        There was little variation in the use of physical beating from region to region, from decade 

           to decade, or from Congregation to Congregation. 

           This would indicate a cultural understanding within the system that beating boys was acceptable 

           and appropriate. Individual Brothers, priests or lay staff who were extreme in their punishments 

           were tolerated by management and their behaviour was rarely challenged. 



16.        Corporal punishment in girls’ schools was pervasive, severe, arbitrary and unpredictable 

           and this led to a climate of fear amongst the children. 

           The regulations imposed greater restrictions on the use of corporal punishment for girls. Schools 

           varied as to the level of corporal punishment that was tolerated on a day-to-day basis. In some 

           schools a high level of ritualised beating was routine whilst in other schools lower levels of corporal 

           punishment were used. The degree of reliance on corporal punishment depended on the Resident 

           Manager,  who  could  be  a  force  for  good  or  ill,  but  almost  all  institutions  employed  fear  of 

           punishment     as  a  means    of  discipline. Some     Managers     administered    excessive    punishment 

           themselves or permitted excesses by religious and lay staff. Girls were struck with implements 

           designed to maximise pain and were struck on all parts of the body. The prohibition on corporal 

           punishment for girls over 15 years was generally not observed. 



17.        Corporal punishment was often administered in a way calculated to increase anguish and 

           humiliation for girls. 

           One way of doing this was for children to be left waiting for long periods to be beaten. Another 

           was when it was accompanied by denigrating or humiliating language. Some beatings were more 

           distressing when administered in front of other children and staff. 



           Sexual abuse 



18.        Sexual  abuse  was  endemic  in  boys’  institutions.  The  situation  in  girls’  institutions  was 

           different. Although girls were subjected to predatory sexual abuse by male employees or 

           visitors or in outside placements, sexual abuse was not systemic in girls’ schools. 



19.        It is impossible to determine the full extent of sexual abuse committed in boys’ schools. 

           The schools investigated revealed a substantial level of sexual abuse of boys in care that 

           extended     over   a  range   from    improper     touching    and   fondling    to  rape   with   violence. 

           Perpetrators  of  abuse  were  able  to  operate  undetected  for  long  periods  at  the  core  of 

           institutions. 



20.        Cases    of  sexual    abuse    were   managed      with   a  view   to  minimising     the  risk  of  public 

           disclosure  and  consequent  damage  to  the  institution  and  the  Congregation.  This  policy 

           resulted  in  the  protection  of  the  perpetrator.  When  lay  people  were  discovered  to  have 

           sexually    abused,    they   were   generally    reported    to  the   Gardai.   When     a  member     of  a 

           Congregation was found to be abusing, it was dealt with internally and was not reported 

           to the Gardai. 

                          ´ 

           The damage to the children affected and the danger to others were disregarded. The difference 

           in treatment of lay and religious abusers points to an awareness on the part of Congregational 

           authorities of the seriousness of the offence, yet there was a reluctance to confront religious who 

           offended in this way. The desire to protect the reputation of the Congregation and institution was 

           paramount. Congregations asserted that knowledge of sexual abuse was not available in society 



           Executive Summary                                                                                            21 


----------------------- Page 22-----------------------

           at  the  time  and  that  it  was  seen  as  a  moral  failing  on  the  part  of  the  Brother  or  priest.  This 

           assertion, however, ignores the fact that sexual abuse of children was a criminal offence. 



21.        The recidivist nature of sexual abuse was known to religious authorities. 

           The  documents  revealed  that  sexual  abusers  were  often  long-term  offenders  who  repeatedly 

           abused  children  wherever  they  were  working.  Contrary  to  the  Congregations’  claims  that  the 

           recidivist nature of sexual offending was not understood, it is clear from the documented cases 

           that they were aware of the propensity for abusers to re-abuse. The risk, however, was seen by 

           the  Congregations  in  terms  of the  potential  for  scandal  and  bad  publicity  should the  abuse  be 

           disclosed. The danger to children was not taken into account. 



22.        When confronted with evidence of sexual abuse, the response of the religious authorities 

           was to transfer the offender to another location where, in many instances, he was free to 

           abuse again. Permitting an offender to obtain dispensation from vows often enabled him 

           to continue working as a lay teacher. 

           Men who were discovered to be sexual abusers were allowed to take dispensation rather than 

           incur  the  opprobrium  of  dismissal  from  the  Order.  There was  evidence  that  such  men  took  up 

           teaching    positions   sometimes     within   days   of  receiving    dispensations     because    of  serious 

           allegations   or  admissions     of  sexual   abuse.    The   safety   of  children  in  general    was   not  a 

           consideration. 



23.        Sexual    abuse  was     known     to  religious   authorities  to    be   a  persistent   problem     in  male 

           religious organisations throughout the relevant period. 

           Nevertheless,  each  instance  of  sexual  abuse  was  treated  in  isolation  and  in  secrecy  by  the 

           authorities and there was no attempt to address the underlying systemic nature of the problem. 

           There  were  no  protocols  or  guidelines  put  in  place  that  would  have  protected  children  from 

           predatory behaviour. The management did not listen to or believe children when they complained 

           of the activities  of some of the  men who had responsibility  for their care. At  best, the abusers 

           were  moved,  but  nothing  was  done  about  the  harm  done  to  the  child.  At  worst,  the  child  was 

           blamed and seen as corrupted by the sexual activity, and was punished severely. 



24.        In  the  exceptional  circumstances  where  opportunities  for  disclosing  abuse  arose,  the 

           number of sexual abusers identified increased significantly. 

           For a brief period in the 1940s, boys felt able to speak about sexual abuse in confidence at a 

           sodality that met in one school. Brothers were identified by the boys as sexual abusers and were 

           removed as a result. The sodality was discontinued. In another school, one Brother embarked on 

           a campaign to uncover sexual activity in the school and identified a number of religious who were 

           sexual abusers. This indicated that the level of sexual abuse in boys’ institutions was much higher 

           than  was  revealed  by  the  records  or  could  be  discovered  by  this  investigation.  Authoritarian 

           management systems prevented disclosures by staff and served to perpetuate abuse. 



25.        The Congregational authorities did not listen to or believe people who complained of sexual 

           abuse that occurred in the past, notwithstanding the extensive evidence that emerged from 

           Garda investigations, criminal convictions and witness accounts. 

           Some Congregations remained defensive and disbelieving of much of the evidence heard by the 

           Investigation Committee in respect of sexual abuse in institutions, even in cases where men had 

           been convicted in court and admitted to such behaviour at the hearings. 



26.        In general, male religious Congregations were not prepared to accept their responsibility 

           for the sexual abuse that their members perpetrated. 

           Congregational loyalty enjoyed priority over other considerations including safety and protection 

           of children. 



           22                                                                                        Executive Summary 


----------------------- Page 23-----------------------

27.        Older  boys sexually  abused younger  boys and  the system  did not  offer protection  from 

           bullying of this kind. 

           There  was  evidence  that  boys  who  were  victims  of  sexual  abuse  were  physically  punished  as 

           severely as the perpetrator when the abuse was reported or discovered. Inevitably, boys learned 

           to suffer in silence rather than report the abuse and face punishment. 



28.        Sexual abuse of girls was generally taken seriously by the Sisters in charge and lay staff 

           were dismissed when their activities were discovered. However, nuns’ attitudes and mores 

           made it difficult for them to deal with such cases candidly and openly and victims of sexual 

           assault felt shame and fear of reporting sexual abuse. 

           Girls who were abused reported that it happened most often when they were sent to host families 

           for weekend, work or holiday placements. They did not feel able to report abusive behaviour to 

           the Sisters in charge of the schools for fear of disbelief and punishment if they did. 



29.        Sexual abuse by members of religious Orders was seldom brought to the attention of the 

           Department  of  Education  by  religious  authorities  because  of  a  culture  of  silence  about 

           the issue. 

           When    religious  staff  abused,   the   matter  tended    to  be  dealt  with  using   internal  disciplinary 

           procedures  and  Canon  Law.  The  Gardai were  not  informed.  On  the  rare  occasions  when  the 

                                                           ´ 

           Department was informed, it colluded in the silence. There was a lack of transparency in how the 

           matter of sexual abuse was dealt with between the Congregations, dioceses and the Department. 

           Men with histories of sexual abuse when they were members of religious Orders continued their 

           teaching careers as lay teachers in State schools. 



30.        The  Department  of  Education  dealt  inadequately  with  complaints  about  sexual  abuse. 

           These complaints were generally dismissed or ignored. A full investigation of the extent of 

           the abuse should have been carried out in all cases. 

           All such complaints should have been directed to the Gardai for investigation. 



           The Department, however, gave the impression that it had a function in relation to investigating 

           allegations  of  abuse  but  actually  failed  to  do  so  and  delayed  the  involvement  of  the  proper 

           authority.  The  Department  neglected  to  advise  parents  and  complainants  appropriately  of  the 

           limitations of their role in respect of these complaints. 



           Neglect 



31.        Poor standards of physical care were reported by most male and female complainants. 

           Schools varied as to the standard of physical care provided to the children and while there was 

           evidence from many complainants that conditions improved in the late 1960s, in general no school 

           provided an adequate standard of care across all the categories. 



32.        Children were frequently hungry and food was inadequate, inedible and badly prepared in 

           many schools. 

           Witnesses spoke of scavenging for food from waste bins and animal feed. 



           In boys’ schools there was so little supervision at meal times that bullying was widespread and 

           smaller, weaker boys were often deprived of food. 



           The Inspector found that malnourishment was a serious problem in schools run by nuns in the 

           1940s  and,  although  improvements  were  made,  the  food  provided  in  many  of  these  schools 

           continued to be meagre and basic. 



           Executive Summary                                                                                             23 


----------------------- Page 24-----------------------

33.        Witnesses recalled being cold because of inadequate clothing, particularly when engaged 

           in outdoor activities. 



           Clothing was a particular problem in boys’ schools where children often worked for long hours 

           outdoors on farms. In addition, boys were often left in their soiled and wet work clothes throughout 

           the day and wore them for long periods. 



           Clothing  was  better  in  girls’  schools  and  some  individual  Resident  Managers  made  particular 

           efforts  in  this  regard  but  in  general  girls  were obliged  to  wear  inadequate  ill-fitting  clothes  that 

           were often threadbare and worn. 



           In all schools up until the 1960s clothes stigmatised the children as Industrial School residents. 



34.        Accommodation  was  cold,  spartan  and  bleak.  Sanitary  provision  was  primitive  in  most 

           boys’ schools and general hygiene facilities were poor. 



           Children  slept  in  large  unheated  dormitories  with  inadequate  bedding,  which  was  a  particular 

           problem for children with enuresis. 



           Sanitary protection for menstruation was generally inadequate for girls. 



35.        The   Cussen     Report    recommended         in 1936    that  Industrial    School    children    should    be 

           integrated into the community and be educated in outside national schools. Until the late 

           1960s, this was not done in any of the boys’ schools investigated and in only in a small 

           number of girls’ schools. 



36.        Where Industrial School children were educated in internal national schools, the standard 

           was consistently poorer than that in outside schools. 



           National school education was available to all children in the State and those in Industrial Schools 

           were  entitled  to  at  least  the  same  standard  as  that  available  in  the  country  generally.  Internal 

           national schools were funded by a national school grant and teachers were paid in the same way 

           as in ordinary national schools. The evidence was however that the standard of education in these 

           schools was poor. 



           There was evidence particularly in girls’ schools that children were removed from their classes in 

           order  to  perform  domestic  chores  or  work  in  the  institution  during  the  school  day.  In  general, 

           Industrial School children did not receive the same standard of national school education as would 

           have   been    available   to them    in the   local  community.     This  lack  of  educational    opportunity 

           condemned  many  of  them  to  a  life  of  low-paying  jobs  and  was  a  commonly  expressed  loss 

           among witnesses. 



37.        Academic education was not seen as a priority for industrial school children. 



           When discharged, boys were generally placed in manual or unskilled jobs and girls in positions 

           as domestic servants. There were exceptions, and particularly in girls’ schools in the later years, 

           some  girls  received  the  opportunity  of  a  secretarial  or  nursing  qualification.  Education  usually 

           ceased in 6th class, after which children were involved in industrial trades, farming and domestic 

           work   with  very   limited  education    thereafter.   Even    where   religious   Congregations     operated 

           secondary schools beside industrial schools, children from the Industrial Schools were very rarely 

           given the opportunity of pursuing secondary school education. 



           24                                                                                        Executive Summary 


----------------------- Page 25-----------------------

38.       Industrial Schools  were intended to  provide basic industrial  training to young  people to 

          enable them to take up positions of employment as young adults. In reality, the industrial 

          training  afforded  by  all  schools  was  of  a  nature that  served  the  needs  of  the  institution 

          rather than the needs of the child. 



          This was a problem that had been pointed out by the Cussen Commission in 1936 and continued 

          to be a feature of industrial training in these schools throughout the relevant period. Child labour 

          on farms and in workshops was used to reduce the costs of running the Industrial Schools and in 

          many  cases  to  produce  a  profit.  Clothing  and  footwear  were  often  made  on  the  premises  and 

          bakeries and laundries provided facilities to the school and in some cases to the general public. 

          The cleaning and upkeep of girls’ Industrial Schools was largely done by the girls themselves. 

          Some of these chores were heavy and arduous and exacting standards were imposed that were 

          difficult for young children to meet. In girls’ schools also, older residents were expected to care 

          for young children and babies on a 24-hour basis. Large nurseries were supervised and staffed 

          by older residents with only minimal supervision by adults. 



           Emotional abuse 



39.       A disturbing element of the evidence before the Commission was the level of emotional 

          abuse that disadvantaged, neglected and abandoned children were subjected to generally 

          by religious and lay staff in institutions. 



          Witnesses spoke of being belittled and ridiculed on a daily basis. Humiliating practices such as 

          underwear     inspections  and   displaying  soiled  or  wet  sheets   were  conducted    throughout   the 

           Industrial  School  system.  Private  matters  such  as  bodily  functions  and  personal  hygiene  were 

          used   as  opportunities   for degradation  and    humiliation.  Personal   and  family  denigration   was 

          widespread,  particularly  in  girls’  schools.  There  was  constant  criticism  and  verbal  abuse  and 

          children were told they were worthless. The pervasiveness of emotional abuse of children in care 

          throughout the relevant period points to damaging cultural attitudes of many who taught in and 

          operated these schools. 



40.       The system as managed by the Congregations made it difficult for individual religious who 

          tried to respond to the emotional needs of the children in their care. 



          Witnesses  from  the  religious  Congregations  described  the  conflict  they  experienced  in  fulfilling 

          their religious vows, whilst at the same time providing care and affection to children. Authoritarian 

          management  in  all  schools  meant  that  staff  members  were  afraid  to  question  the  practices  of 

          managers and disciplinarians. 



41.       Witnessing abuse of co-residents, including seeing other children being beaten or hearing 

          their cries, witnessing the humiliation of siblings and others and being forced to participate 

          in beatings, had a powerful and distressing impact. 



          Many  witnesses  spoke  of  being  constantly  fearful  or  terrified,  which  impeded  their  emotional 

          development  and  impacted  on  every  aspect  of  their  life  in  the  institution.  The  psychological 

          damage caused by these experiences continued into adulthood for many witnesses. 



42.       Separating siblings and restrictions on family contact were profoundly damaging for family 

          relationships.  Some  children  lost  their  sense  of  identity  and  kinship,  which  was  never 

          recovered. 



          Sending children to isolated locations increased the sense of loss and made it almost impossible 

          for family contact to be maintained. Management did not recognise the rights of children to have 

          contact with family members and failed to acknowledge the value of family relationships. 



          Executive Summary                                                                                        25 


----------------------- Page 26-----------------------

43.        The Confidential Committee heard evidence in relation to 161 settings other than Industrial 

           and Reformatory Schools, including primary and second-level schools, Children’s Homes, 

           foster  care,  hospitals  and  services  for  children  with  special  needs,  hostels,  and  other 

           residential    settings.   The   majority    of  witnesses     reported    abuse     and   neglect,   in  some 

           instances up to the year 2000. Many common features emerged about failures of care and 

           protection of children in all of these institutions and services. 

           Witnesses reported severe physical abuse in primary schools, foster care, Children’s Homes and 

           other residential settings where those responsible neglected their duty of care to children. 



           The   predatory    nature    of  sexual   abuse    including   the   selection   and   grooming     of  socially 

           disadvantaged and vulnerable children was a feature of the witness reports in relation to special 

           needs services, Children’s homes, hospitals and primary and second-level schools. Children with 

           impairments of sight, hearing and learning were particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse. 



           Witnesses reported neglect of their education, health and aftercare in all residential settings and 

           foster care. No priority was given to the special care needs of children who were placed away 

           from their families. 



           Children in isolated foster care placements were abused in the absence of supervision by external 

           authorities. They were placed with foster parents who had no training, support or supervision. The 

           suitability of those selected as foster parents was repeatedly questioned by witnesses who were 

           physically and sexually abused. 



           Many witnesses described losing their sense of family and identity when placed in out-of-home 

           care, they reported that separation from siblings and deprivation of family contact was abusive 

           and contributed to difficulties reintegrating with their family of origin when they left care. Witnesses 

           reported  emotional  abuse  in  institutions,  foster  care  and  schools  when  they  were  deprived  of 

           affection, secure relationships and were exposed to personal denigration, fear and threats of harm. 



           When witnesses left care the failure to provide them with personal and family records contributed 

           to disadvantage in later life. Many witnesses spent years searching for information to establish 

           their identity. 



           The failure of authorities to inspect and supervise the care provided to children in hospitals and 

           special needs services was noted as contributing to abuse which occurred in those facilities. The 

           absence of structures for making complaints or investigating abuse allowed abuse to continue. 



           When opportunities were provided for children to disclose abuse they did so. 



           Witnesses reported that the power of the abuser, the culture of secrecy, isolation and the fear of 

           physical punishment inhibited them in disclosing abuse. 



           26                                                                                        Executive Summary 


----------------------- Page 27-----------------------

           Recommendations 



1.         Arising  from   the  findings  of  its investigations   and   the  conclusions    that  were   reached,   the 

           Commission was required to make recommendations under two headings: 



                   (i)  To alleviate or otherwise address the effects of the abuse on those who suffered 



                   (ii) To prevent where possible and reduce the incidence of abuse of children in institutions 

                        and to protect children from such abuse 



           (i) To alleviate or otherwise address the effects of the abuse on those who 

                suffered 



2.         A memorial should be erected. 



           The  following  words  of  the  special  statement  made  by  the  Taoiseach  in  May  1999  should  be 

           inscribed on a memorial to victims of abuse in institutions as a permanent public acknowledgement 

           of their experiences. It is important for the alleviation of the effects of childhood abuse that the 

           State’s formal recognition of the abuse that occurred and the suffering of the victims should be 

           preserved in a permanent place: 



                 On behalf of the State and of all citizens of the State, the Government wishes to make a 

                 sincere  and  long  overdue  apology  to  the  victims  of  childhood  abuse  for  our  collective 

                 failure to intervene, to detect their pain, to come to their rescue. 



3.         The lessons of the past should be learned. 



           For  the  State,  it  is  important  to  admit  that  abuse  of  children  occurred  because  of  failures  of 

           systems and policy, of management and administration, as well as of senior personnel who were 

           concerned with Industrial and Reformatory Schools. This admission is, however, the beginning of 

           a process. Further steps require internal departmental analysis and understanding of how these 

           failures came about so that steps can be taken to reduce the risk of repeating them. 



           The Congregations need to examine how their ideals became debased by systemic abuse. They 

           must ask themselves how they came to tolerate breaches of their own rules and, when sexual 

           and physical abuse was discovered, how they responded to it, and to those who perpetrated it. 

           They must examine their attitude to neglect and emotional abuse and, more generally, how the 

           interests of the institutions and the Congregations came to be placed ahead those of the children 

           who were in their care. 



           An important aspect of this process of exploration, acceptance and understanding by the State 

           and the Congregations is the acknowledgement of the fact that the system failed the children, not 

           just that children were abused because occasional individual lapses occurred. 



4.         Counselling and educational services should be available. 



           Counselling and mental health services have a significant role in alleviating the effects of childhood 

           abuse and its legacy on following generations. These services should continue to be provided to 

           ex-residents    and   their families.   Educational    services   to  help   alleviate  the  disadvantages 

           experienced by children in care are also essential. 



5.         Family tracing services should be continued. 



           Family  tracing  services  to  assist  individuals  who  were  deprived  of  their  family  identities  in  the 

           process of being placed in care should be continued. The right of access to personal documents 

           and information must be recognised and afforded to ex-residents of institutions. 



           Executive Summary                                                                                           27 


----------------------- Page 28-----------------------

           (ii) To prevent where possible and reduce the incidence of abuse of children in 

                institutions and to protect children from such abuse 



6.         Childcare policy should be child-centred. The needs of the child should be paramount. 

           The overall policy of childcare should respect the rights and dignity of the child and have as its 

           primary  focus  their  safe  care  and  welfare.  Services  should  be  tailored  to  the  developmental, 

           educational  and  health  needs  of  the  particular  child.  Adults  entrusted  with  the  care  of  children 

           must  prioritise  the  well-being  and  protection  of  those  children  above  personal,  professional  or 

           institutional loyalty. 



7.         National childcare policy should be clearly articulated and reviewed on a regular basis. 

           It  is  essential  that  the aims  and  objectives  of  national  childcare  policy  and planning  should  be 

           stated as clearly and simply as possible. The State and Congregations lost sight of the purpose 

           for which the institutions were established, which was to provide children with a safe and secure 

           environment     and  an   opportunity   of  acquiring   education    and  training.  In  the  absence    of  an 

           articulated, coherent policy, organisational interests became prioritised over those of the children 

           in care. In order to prevent this happening again childcare services must have focused objectives 

           that  are  centred  on  the  needs  of  the  child  rather  than  the  systems  or  organisations  providing 

           those services. 



8.         A method of evaluating the extent to which services meet the aims and objectives of the 

           national childcare policy should be devised. 

           Evaluating the success or failure of childcare services in the context of a clearly articulated national 

           childcare policy will  ensure that the evolving needs of  children will remain the focus  of service 

           providers. 



9.         The provision of childcare services should be reviewed on a regular basis. 

           Out-of-home     care   services   should   be   reviewed    on  a  regular   basis  with   reference   to  best 

           international practice and evidence-based research. This review should be the responsibility of 

           the  Department  of  Health  and  Children  and  should  be  co-ordinated  to  ensure  that  consistent 

           standards  are  maintained  nationally.  The  Department  should  also  maintain  a  central  database 

           containing information relevant to childcare in the State while protecting anonymity. Included in 

           such a database should be the social and demographic profile of children in care, their health and 

           educational    needs,   the  range   of  preventative    services   available   and   interventions   used.   In 

           addition, there should be a record of what happens to children when they leave care in order to 

           inform future policy and planning of services. A review  of legislation, policies and programmes 

           relating to children in care should be carried out at regular intervals. 



10.        It is  important     that   rules   and   regulations     be   enforced,     breaches     be   reported    and 

           sanctions applied. 

           The failures that occurred in all the schools cannot be explained by the absence of rules or any 

           difficulty in interpreting what they meant. The problem lay in the implementation of the regulatory 

           framework.    The   rules  were   ignored   and   treated   as  though    they  set  some    aspirational  and 

           unachievable  standard  that  had  no  application  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  running  the 

           institution. Not only did the individual carers disregard the rules and precepts about punishment, 

           but their superiors did not enforce the rules or impose any disciplinary measures for breaches. 

           Neither did the Department of Education 



11.        A culture of respecting and implementing rules and regulations and of observing codes of 

           conduct should be developed. 

           Managers and those supervising and inspecting the services must ensure regularly that standards 

           are observed. 



           28                                                                                       Executive Summary 


----------------------- Page 29-----------------------

12.       Independent inspections are essential. 

          All services for children should be subject to regular inspections in respect of all aspects of their 

          care. The requirements of a system of inspection include the following: 



                 •    There is a sufficient number of inspectors. 

                 •    The inspectors must be independent. 

                 •    The inspectors should talk with and listen to the children. 

                 •    There  should  be  objective  national  standards  for  inspection  of  all  settings  where 

                      children are placed. 



                 •    Unannounced inspection should take place. 

                 •    Complaints to an inspector should be recorded and followed up. 

                 •    Inspectors  should  have  power  to  ensure  that  inadequate  standards  are  addressed 

                      without delay. 



13.       Management at all levels should be accountable for the quality of services and care. 

          Performance should be assessed by the quality of care delivered. The manager of an institution 

          should be responsible for: 



                 •    Making the best use of the available resources 

                 •    Vetting of staff and volunteers 

                 •    Ensuring that staff are well trained, matched to the nature of the work to be undertaken 

                      and progressively trained so as to be kept up to date 



                 •    Ensuring on-going supervision, support and advice for all staff 

                 •    Regularly reviewing the system to identify problem areas for both staff and children 

                 •    Ensuring rules and regulations are adhered to 

                 •    Establishing whether system failures caused or contributed to instances of abuse 

                 •    Putting procedures in place to enable staff and others to make complaints and raise 

                      matters of concern without fear of adverse consequences. 



14.       Children in care should be able to communicate concerns without fear. 

          Children in care are often isolated with their concerns, without an adult to whom they can talk. 

          Children communicate best when they feel they have a protective figure in whom they can confide. 



          The Department of Health and Children must examine international best practice to establish the 

          most appropriate method of giving effect to this recommendation. 



15.       Childcare services depend on good communication. 

          Every childcare facility depends for its efficient functioning on good communication between all 

          the departments and agencies responsible. It requires more than meetings and case conferences. 

          It should involve professionals and others communicating concerns and suspicions so that they 

          can act in the best interests of the child. Overall responsibility for this process should rest with a 

          designated official. 



16.       Children in care need a consistent care figure. 

          Continuity  of  care  should  be  an  objective  wherever  possible.  Children  in  care  should  have  a 

          consistent professional figure with overall responsibility. 



          The  supervising  social  worker  should  have  a  detailed  care  plan  the  implementation  of  which 

          should be regularly reviewed, and there should be the power to direct that changes be made to 

          ensure  standards  are  met.  The  child,  and  where  possible  the  family,  should  be  involved  in 

          developing and reviewing the care plan. 



          Executive Summary                                                                                      29 


----------------------- Page 30-----------------------

 17.       Children who have been in State care should have access to support services. 

           Aftercare services should be provided to give young adults a support structure they can rely on. 

           In a similar way to families, childcare services should continue contact with young people after 

           they have left care as minors. 



 18.       Children who have been in childcare facilities are in a good position to identify failings and 

           deficiencies in the system, and should be consulted. 

           Continued contact makes it possible to evaluate whether the needs of children are being met and 

           to identify positive and negative aspects of experience of care. 



 19.       Children  in  care  should  not,  save  in  exceptional  circumstances,  be  cut  off  from  their 

           families. 

           Priority  should  be  given  to  supporting  ongoing  contact  with  family  members  for  the  benefit  of 

           the child. 



 20.       The full personal records of children in care must be maintained. 

           Reports,  files  and  records  essential  to  validate  the  child’s  identity  and  their  social,  family  and 

           educational  history  must  be  retained.  These  records  need  to  be  kept  secure  and  up  to  date. 

           Details should be kept of all children who go missing from care. The privacy of such records must 

           be respected. 



 21.       ‘Children First: The National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children’ should 

           be uniformly and consistently implemented throughout the State in dealing with allegations 

           of abuse. 



           30                                                                                       Executive Summary 


----------------------- Page 31-----------------------

           Chapter 1 



           Establishment of the Commission to 

           Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) 



1.01       On the 11th   May 1999, the Government apologised to victims of child abuse and the Taoiseach, 



           Mr. Ahern, announced the establishment of a commission of inquiry and other measures. In the 

           course of a special statement, he said: 



                 On behalf of the State and of all citizens of the State, the Government wishes to make a 

                 sincere  and  long  overdue  apology  to  the  victims  of  childhood  abuse  for  our  collective 

                 failure to intervene, to detect their pain, to come to their rescue. 



1.02       Mr Ahern went on to outline a number of measures, including the setting up of a Commission to 

           Inquire into Childhood Abuse, chaired by Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, Judge of the High Court. Other 

           measures that were announced included the establishment of a national counselling service for 

           victims of childhood abuse, and the amendment of the Statute of Limitations, to enable victims of 

           childhood sexual abuse to make claims for compensation in certain circumstances. 



1.03       The  Commission was  initially established  on a  non-statutory, administrative  footing, with  broad 

           terms of reference given to it by the Government, which had as its primary focus the provision of 

           a sympathetic and experienced forum in which victims could recount the abuse they had suffered. 

           The Commission was required to identify and report on the causes, nature and extent of physical 

           and sexual abuse, with a view to making recommendations for the present and future. 



1.04       The   Commission     made    two  reports   to the   Government,     in September1     and   October2    1999, 



           outlining  how  these  terms  of  reference  could  be  implemented,  and  its  recommendations  were 

           embodied  in  the  Commission  to  Inquire  into  Child  Abuse  Bill,  2000  which  was  published  in 

           February  of  that  year.  The  Commission  was  established  on  23rd         May  2000  pursuant  to  the 



           Commission  to Inquire  into  Child  Abuse Act,  2000  as an  independent  statutory  body. This  Act 

           was  subsequently  amended by  the  Commission  to Inquire  into  Child  Abuse (Amendment)  Act, 

           2005 (the Act of 2005).3  The Act of 2000 is referred to as the ‘Principal Act’. 



1.05       The principal functions conferred on the Commission, as laid down in section 4(1) of the Principal 

           Act of 2000 and as amended by section 4 of the 2005 Act, were: 



               (1)  (a)  to provide, for persons who have suffered abuse in childhood in institutions during 

                         the relevant period, an opportunity to recount the abuse, and make submissions, to 

                         a Committee, 



                   (b)   through a Committee— 



                         (i)  to inquire into the abuse of children in institutions during the relevant period, 



           1 Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Initial Report on Terms of Reference, 7th September 1999. 

           2 Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Report on Terms of Reference, 14th October 1999. 

           3 Amendments were also made by the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002: See Section 32. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    1 


----------------------- Page 32-----------------------

                         (ia)  to  inquire    into  the   manner     in  which    children    were    placed    in,  and   the 

                               circumstances in which they continued to be resident in, institutions during the 

                               relevant period, 



                         (ii)  to determine the causes, nature, circumstances and extent of such abuse, and 



                         (iii) without prejudice to the generality of any of the foregoing, to determine the extent 

                               to which— 



                               (I)  the institutions themselves in which such abuse occurred, 



                              (II)  the    systems     of   management,       administration,     operation,     supervision, 

                                    inspection and regulation of such institutions, and 



                              (III)  the  manner  in  which  those  functions  were  performed  by  the  persons  or 

                                     bodies in whom they were vested, 



                              contributed to the occurrence or incidence of such abuse, 



                         and 



                    (c)   to prepare and publish reports pursuant to section 5. 



               (2)  Subject to the provisions of this Act, the inquiry under subsection (1) shall be conducted in 

           such manner and by such means as the Commission considers appropriate. 



               (3)  The  Commission       shall  have   all such    powers    as  are   necessary    or  expedient     for the 

           performance of its functions. 



               (4)  (a)   The Government may, if they so think fit, after consultation with the Commission, by 

                          order  confer  on  the  Commission  and  the  Committees  such  additional  functions  or 

                          powers    connected     with   their  functions   and   powers    for  the  time   being   as   they 

                          consider appropriate. 



                    (b)   The  Government  may,  if  they  so  think  fit,  after  consultation  with  the  Commission, 

                          amend or revoke an order under this subsection. 



                    (c)   Where an order is proposed to be made under this subsection, a draft of the order 

                          shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made 

                          unless a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House. 



               (5)  The Commission may invite and receive oral or written submissions. 



               (6)  In  performing its  functions the  Commission shall  bear  in mind  the need  of persons  who 

           have suffered abuse in childhood to recount to others such abuse, their difficulties in so doing and 

           the  potential  beneficial  effect  on  them  of  so  doing  and,  accordingly,  the  Commission  and  the 

           Confidential Committee shall endeavour to ensure that meeting of the Confidential Committee at 

           which evidence is given are conducted 



                    (a)   so as to afford to persons who have suffered  such abuse in institutions during the 

                          relevant  period  an  opportunity  to  recount  in  full  the  abuse  suffered  by  them  in  an 

                          atmosphere that is sympathetic to, and understanding of, them, and 



                    (b)   as informally as is possible in the circumstances. 



1.06       The term ‘abuse’ was defined by the legislation:4 



                    (a)   the  wilful,  reckless  or  negligent  infliction  of  physical  injury  on,  or  failure  to  prevent 

                          such injury to, the child, 



                    (b)   the use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                          or another person, 



           4 Section 1 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



           2                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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                    (c)   failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, 

                          in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                          serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare, or 



                    (d)   any  other  act  or  omission  towards  the  child  which  results,  or  could  reasonably  be 

                          expected     to  result,  in  serious   impairment     of  the   physical   or  mental    health   or 

                          development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare. 



           The legislation governing the Commission is set out in the Appendices at Vol V. 



           The structure of the Commission 



1.07       The Commission comprised two separate and distinct Committees which were required to report 

           separately  to  the  Commission  as  a  whole:  the  Confidential  Committee,  and  the  Investigation 

           Committee. Members of the Commission were assigned to one or other Committee. They could 

           not be members of both. 



1.08       The  principal  functions  of  the  Confidential  Committee,5          as  laid  down  in  section  15(1)  in  the 



           Principal Act as amended by section 10 of the 2005 Act, were: 



                    (a)   to provide, for persons who have suffered abuse in childhood in institutions during the 

                          relevant   period   and   who    do   not  wish   to  have   that   abuse    inquired   into  by  the 

                          Investigation Committee, an opportunity to recount the abuse, and make submissions, 

                          in confidence to the Committee, 



                    (b)   to receive evidence of such abuse, 



                    (c)   to make proposals of a general nature with a view to their being considered by the 

                          Commission in deciding what recommendations to make and 

                    (d)   to prepare and furnish reports.6 



1.09       The specific mandate of the Confidential Committee was to hear the evidence of those survivors 

           of childhood institutional abuse who wished to report their experiences in a confidential setting. 

           The  legislation  provided  for  the  hearings  of  the  Confidential  Committee  to  be  conducted  in  an 

           atmosphere that was as informal and as sympathetic to, and understanding of, the witnesses as 

           was possible in the circumstances.7 



1.10       The  Confidential  Committee  heard  from  1,090  witnesses  who  applied  to  give  oral  evidence  of 

           abuse  they  experienced  in  Irish  institutions.  Volume  III  contains  the  part  of  the  Report  that  is 

           based on evidence received by the Confidential Committee. 



1.11       The principal functions of the Investigation Committee,8  as laid down in section 12 of the Principal 



           Act, which was amended by section 7 of the Act of 2005, were: 



                    (a)   to provide, as far as is reasonably practicable, for persons who have suffered abuse 

                          in childhood in institutions during the relevant period, an opportunity to recount the 

                          abuse and other relevant experiences undergone by them in institutions, 



                   (aa)   to inquire into the manner in which children were placed in, and the circumstances in 

                          which they continued to be resident in, institutions during the relevant period, 



                    (b)   to inquire into the abuse of children in institutions during the relevant period, 



                    (c)   to determine the causes, nature, circumstances and extent of such abuse, and 



           5 Section 15(1) of the Principal Act, as amended by section 10 of the 2005 Act. 

           6 Section 16 of the Principal Act as amended by section 11 of the 2005 Act. 

           7 Section 4(6) as substituted by section 4 of the 2005 Act. 

           8 Section 12(1) of the Principal Act, as amended by section 7 of the 2005 Act. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                          3 


----------------------- Page 34-----------------------

                     (d)   without  prejudice  to  the  generality  of  any  of  the  foregoing,  to  determine  the  extent 

                           to which— 



                           (i)   the institutions themselves in which such abuse occurred, 



                           (ii)  the   systems      of   management,         administration,      operation,     supervision      and 

                                 regulation of such institutions, and 

                          (iii)  the manner in which any of the things referred to in subparagraph (ii) was done,9 



                                 contributed to the occurrence or incidents of such abuse, 



                          and 



                     (e)   to prepare and furnish reports pursuant to section 13. 



1.12        The powers of the Investigation Committee10  were, inter alia: 



                    •    to direct the attendance of witnesses,11 

                    •    to direct the production of documents,12  and 

                    •    to give such other directions that appear to be reasonable, just and necessary.13 



1.13        The Investigation Committee also had the power: 

                    •    to require the discovery of documents,14 

                    •    to furnish interrogatories (or questions) which must be replied to,15  and 

                    •    to require parties to admit facts, statements and documents.16 



1.14        The  evidence  obtained  was  presumed  to  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  the  matters  to  which  it 

            related.17  Finally, the Investigation Committee also had the power to take evidence of a person’s 

            conviction for abuse of a child as evidence before the Committee of that abuse.18 



1.15        The Principal Act also provided penalties, similar to those applying to contempt of court provisions, 

            for failure to comply with directions of the Committee.19 



1.16        Section 13 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 8 of the 2005 Act, dealt with the report of 

            the Investigation Committee, and provided that the report: 



                     (a)   may contain findings that abuse of children, or abuse of children during a particular 

                           period, occurred in a particular institution and may identify— 



                           (i)   the institution where the abuse took place, and 



                           (ii)  the person or, as the case may be, each person who committed the abuse but 

                                 only if he or she has been convicted of an offence in respect of abuse, 



                     (b)   may     contain    findings   in  relation    to  the   management,        administration,     operation, 

                           supervision and regulation, direct or indirect, of an institution referred to in paragraph 

                           (a), and 



                     (c)   shall   not  contain    findings    in relation   to  particular    instances    of  alleged    abuse     of 

                           children. 



            9 Section 12(1)(d)(iii), as amended by section 7(c) of the 2005 Act. 

           10 Section 14, as amended by section 9 of the 2005 Act. 

           11 Section 14(1)(a) of the Principal Act. 

           12 Section 14(1)(b)–(d) of the Principal Act. 

           13 Section 14(1)(e) of the Principal Act. 

           14 Section 14(8) of the Principal Act, as inserted by section 9 of the 2005 Act. 

           15 Section 14(9) of the Principal Act, as inserted by section 9 of the 2005 Act. 

           16 Section 14(11) of the Principal Act, as inserted by section 9 of the 2005 Act. 

           17 Section 14(10) of the Principal Act, as amended by section 9 of the 2005 Act. 

           18 Section 14(14) of the Principal Act, as inserted by section 9 of the 2005 Act. 

           19 Section 14 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 9 of the 2005 Act. 



            4                                                                   CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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1.17       The importance of the 2005 Act was that it amended Section 1320                of the Principal Act so that the 



           Investigation Committee could no longer identify a person it believed had committed abuse unless 

           that person had been convicted by a court. 



1.18       The term ‘institution’ was defined by the legislation to include: 



                 a school, an industrial school, a reformatory school, an orphanage, a hospital, a children’s 

                  home and any other place where children are cared for other than as members of their 

                 families.21 



1.19       The  ‘relevant period’  of  the inquiry  was  from  1940 to  1999,  but the  Commission  had power  to 

           extend it in either direction. The Commission exercised this power for the Investigation Committee 

           by extending the beginning of the period back to 1936, by a decision of 26th              November 2002. The 



           relevant period for the Confidential Committee was determined to be between 1914 and 2000, 

           being  the  earliest  date  of  admission  and  the  latest  date  of  discharge  of  those  applicants  who 

           applied to give evidence of abuse to that Committee. 



1.20       The Third Interim Report set out the history of the Commission from its inception as a statutory 

           body   in  2000   to  the  suspension     of  the  operations    of  the  Investigation    Committee     and   the 

           resignation  of  Ms  Justice  Laffoy  which  was  announced  in  September  2003.  Ms  Justice  Laffoy 

           stood down on 12th      January 2004 (see Appendix II). 



           Appointment of new chairperson to the Commission 

1.21       On 26th   September 2003, the Minister for Education and Science announced the appointment of 



           Mr Sean Ryan S.C. as chairperson designate of the Commission to succeed Ms Justice Laffoy. 

           The Government requested Mr Ryan to undertake his own independent review of the Commission 

           and to make all necessary recommendations having regard to: 



                   •   the interests of victims of abuse 

                   •   the requirement to complete the Commission’s work within a reasonable timeframe, 

                        which would be consistent with the needs of a proper investigation so as to avoid 

                        exorbitant costs. 



1.22       Mr  Justice  Ryan  furnished  his  review  of  the  workings  and  procedures  of  the  Commission  in 

           November 2003. 



1.23       In summary, he concluded that there were major problems facing the Investigation Committee. If 

           it were to continue unchanged, there would be no prospect of its work being completed within a 

           reasonable time and at an acceptable cost. He suggested a number of changes that were needed 

           to overcome the problems: 



                    (a)   Amendments to the 2000 Act so as to focus the Investigation Committee on its core 

                         function, which was to inquire into abuse of children in institutions. 



                    (b)   Changes to procedures which would enable allegations to be heard in logical units 

                         for hearings (Modules). 



                    (c)  Publication of interim reports as the work proceeded. 



                    (d)   Establishment of ‘trust’ between the parties as to the fairness of the hearings. 



1.24       The work of the Investigation Committee was suspended from September 2003 until March 2004. 

           Judgment was awaited in a High Court action brought by the Christian Brothers. This case sought 



           20 Section 13 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 8 of the 2005 Act. 

           21 Section 1(1) of the Principal Act. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        5 


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          judicial determination, inter alia, of the constitutionality of the Investigation Committee’s approach 

          to making findings of abuse against elderly or deceased Brothers or those who could not properly 

          answer the allegations. 



1.25      The work of the Confidential Committee continued throughout this time. 



          The work of the Investigation Committee post-2003 



1.26      The Investigation Committee began in March 2004 to engage in widespread consultations, to see 

           if an agreed way forward could be found. The aim was to accommodate the 1,712 complainants 

          who  had  come  forward  by  that  time,  together  with  respondent  witnesses,  within  a  reasonable 

          timeframe. 



1.27      The  Investigation  Committee’s  legal  team  met  with  representatives  of  over  20  special  interest 

          groups representing complainants, and no consensus emerged. 



1.28      The  legal  team  explained  to  the  groups  the  practical  and  logistical  problems  the  Investigation 

          Committee  would      face  if  every  single person  who  complained      to  it  were  to be  heard.  The 

           representatives were opposed to any form of selection of witnesses, even though they had no 

          solution to the problems that the requirement to hear every witness imposed. 



1.29      The   Investigation   Committee     also   met  the   solicitors representing    complainants.    A   further 

          complicating factor was that not all firms of solicitors were willing to communicate with the legal 

          team  as  a  collective  group.  This  may  give  some  idea  of  the  difficulties  that  the  Investigation 

          Committee faced in trying to get the Inquiry restarted. 



1.30      The Committee also had meetings with different groups representing respondents against whom 

          allegations of abuse had been made, to apprise them of the situation, to seek agreement, and to 

           invite their suggestions. 



1.31      There was no agreement or any realistic proposal acceptable to all of the stakeholders as to how 

          to proceed. However, these meetings revealed a general acknowledgement of the difficulties that 

           had to be overcome. There was consensus as to the problems, even if the solutions were elusive. 

          The  various  stakeholders  expressed  goodwill  towards  the  Committee  and  its  efforts  to  make 

           progress. They were, in addition, reconciled to the fact that they were not going to achieve all that 

          they wanted, and that the Investigation Committee would be obliged to decide on a way forward 

           if no agreement emerged. The majority of the representatives recognised that the Committee had 

          gone to considerable lengths to explore possible solutions and agreement on how to proceed with 

          the Inquiry. 



          The Investigation Committee Policy Paper – May 2004 

1.32      At a public meeting held in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, on 7th           May 2004, the Investigation 



          Committee announced its intention to make significant changes to deal with the obstacles to its 

          work.  The  chairperson  set  out  proposals  for  hearing  selected  witnesses  in  the  investigation  of 

           institutions  that  had  the  largest  number  of  complaints  made  against  them;  however,  the  larger 

           institutions had far more complainants wishing to give evidence. 



1.33      At that point in May 2004, the length and form that the hearings would take was difficult to assess. 

           It was not known what, if any, objections were going to be raised. These uncertainties gave rise 

          to some concern in the Investigation Committee, particularly in relation to larger institutions, and 

          whether all hearings could be completed within a reasonable time. This would leave other potential 

          witnesses out of the investigative process. 



          6                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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1.34      For most of the smaller institutions (i.e. those against whom a small number of complaints had 

          been  made), the  Investigation  Committee  believed it  could  hear all  those  who  had notified  the 

          Committee of their intention to give evidence and who had then followed up with statements. 



1.35      At the meeting on 7th   May 2004, the Committee published and circulated a position paper on the 



          question of ‘naming and shaming’ abusers, which stated that the Inquiry was not going to be able 

          to complete its work if it proceeded on the basis of naming abusers. The document suggested 

          that, because of difficulties of proof, there would probably be many abusers in respect of whom 

          the evidence fell short. There were risks that people not guilty of abuse could be named. A further 

          point was the disparity that would exist between people who were named – necessarily, a limited 

          number  –  and  the  larger  cohort  of  people  who  had  indeed  committed  abuse  (as  a  matter  of 

          probability) but who were not named. These and other points were made in proposing the policy 

          that the Investigation Committee would not name abusers in the report, and would proceed with 

          the investigation on that basis. 



1.36      Time   was   allowed  for  submissions    to be  made,   and   all parties  were  asked   to  assist the 

          Investigation  Committee  with  suggestions  that  would  allow  the  process  to  move  forward.  No 

          substantial submissions were received in respect of the policies outlined above. 



1.37      At a further meeting in June 2004, the Committee announced its decision to proceed on the basis 

          of selection of witnesses for the hearings. This applied only to the larger institutions, which were 

          Artane,  Letterfrack,  Ferryhouse,  Upton  and  Daingean.  The  policy  of  not  naming  abusers  was 

          applied generally. 



1.38      The Commission sought amendments to the legislation to incorporate these changes, and these 

          were set down in the Act of 2005. 



1.39      The  Investigation  Committee  at  this  time  wrote  to  all  complainants/solicitors  to  ascertain  the 

          number of complainants who wished to proceed with their application to be heard. As a result of 

          this, 143 complainants  withdrew their request to  give evidence to the  Investigation Committee, 

          while 174 other complainants transferred to the Confidential Committee. 



1.40      The Investigation Committee then proceeded with the work of the Inquiry. 



          The Emergence hearings 



1.41      The Emergence hearings began in June 2004. They were held in public at the Distillery Building, 

          Church Street, Dublin 7. The function of these hearings was: 



                 •   to re-commence the work of the Investigation Committee, 

                 •   to place the work of the Investigation Committee in historical context, 

                 •   to understand the reasoning behind the Government’s public apology, 

                 •   to understand the Government’s decision to institute a Scheme of Redress, 

                 •   to understand the reason why the Religious Congregations came to contribute to the 

                      Redress Scheme, and why some of them had also issued public apologies, 



                 •   to understand the reasons why support/survivor groups were set up, and how they 

                      were organised. 



1.42      The Commission wanted to assure the public and the various stakeholders that the work of the 

          Commission was resuming in full. The hearings were scheduled for June and July 2004, and took 

          place over a period of about four weeks. 



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1.43      In  advance    of the  Emergence     hearings,   the  Investigation  Committee’s     legal team   wrote   to 

          representatives  of  the  State  institutions,  the  Religious  Congregations,  and  to  survivor  groups, 

          setting out the types of questions that the Investigation Committee wished to explore. In the case 

          of the State and Religious Congregations, the Investigation Committee asked questions on the 

          following issues: 



                  (a)   insofar as the body concerned has ever issued a public apology in respect of child 

                        abuse, the reasons for issuing such an apology; 



                  (b)   the reasons why the body contributed to the Redress Fund; 



                  (c)   the timing and manner  in which allegations of child abuse  emerged as an issue in 

                        respect of institutions under the management or regulatory control of the body; 



                  (d)   a brief account of the protocols or procedures, which were in place from time to time 

                        within the body which were designed to prevent, investigate or deal with allegations 

                        of child abuse; 



                  (e)   the  extent  to  which  the  body  made  enquiries  as  to  how  other  similar  institutions, 

                        whether in Ireland or abroad, dealt with such matters and, if so, the result of such 

                        enquiries; and 



                   (f)  the  extent  to  which  any  enquiries  carried  out  within  the  organisation  (concerning 

                        whether there was child abuse within the institutions managed or regulated by it) led 

                        to it forming a view that such abuse did occur, together with the extent to which any 

                        such view may have contributed to (a) and (b) above. 



1.44      In the case of the survivor groups, the Investigation Committee asked questions on the following 

          issues: 



                  (a)   the timing and manner in which allegations of and knowledge of child abuse emerged 

                        as an issue in Ireland; 



                  (b)   how the group was formed; 



                  (c)   by whom the group was formed; 



                  (d)   when the group was formed; 



                  (e)   who   were  the  group's   members  (in    general  terms   without  any  individuals   being 

                        named); 



                   (f)  how did the group's members come to join the group; 



                  (g)   what the group had done since its formation; and 



                  (h)   how the group was funded. 



1.45      There   was   a  very  positive  response    to these   questionnaires,   and   the  Committee    received 

          comprehensive statements from the various State agencies, the Religious Congregations, and the 

          survivor groups. Statements were received from the Department of An Taoiseach, the Department 

          of Finance, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Education 

          and Science, and the Department of Health and Children. Statements were received from all of 

          the  18  Religious  Congregations  that  contributed  to  the  Redress  Fund,  and  statements  were 

          received from 10 survivor groups. 



1.46      In order to place the emergence of child abuse as an issue in Irish society in its historical context, 

          the  Investigation  Committee  invited  Dr  Eoin  O'Sullivan,  Senior  Lecturer  in  Social  Policy  at  the 

          Department of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College, Dublin, to give evidence, and this 

          is included in the historical overview. 



          8                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 39-----------------------

           State evidence 



1.47        In  order  to  explore  the  State’s  response  to  the  emergence  of  child  abuse  as  an  issue,  the 

           Committee called the Taoiseach, Government Ministers and senior department officials to give 

           evidence. 



1.48        In his evidence at the Emergence hearings, Mr Tom Boland, who was then Head of Legal Affairs 

           at the Department of Education and Science, provided a chronological account of the manner in 

           which the issue of child abuse was dealt with in his Department from 1998 to 2002. He stated 

           that institutional abuse first came to the attention of the Department of Education and Science as 

           an issue that they would have to deal with, as a result of the increase in the number of legal cases 

           being taken against the Department. There was also an increase in the number of Freedom of 

            Information requests coming into the Department from former residents seeking access to their 

           records. More generally, the Department was also aware of the fact that institutional abuse had 

           become  a  major  public  issue,  following  the  broadcast  of  television  programmes  such  as  ‘Dear 

            Daughter’22   and ‘States of Fear’.23 



1.49                                                                                                    ´ 

           Mr Boland said that the then Minister for Education and Science, Mr Micheal Martin, brought the 

           issue of institutional child abuse to Cabinet for the first time on 31st           March 1998, and the issue of 



           litigation  by   former   residents    of  reformatories     and   industrial   schools.   There    was    a  general 

           discussion at that meeting as to how the State might best respond to the emerging question of 

           institutional child abuse. There was some discussion of the possibility of dealing with the issue 

           through a Commission process, but at that stage the focus was on establishing a scheme that 

           would provide counselling for the victims of abuse. The matter was not significantly progressed 

           during 1998, but it was raised informally at a number of Cabinet meetings throughout that year. 



1.50        In December 1998, the Government decided to establish a Cabinet Sub-Committee to deal with 

           the issue of child abuse in institutions. The Committee was chaired by the Minister for Education 

                                                                   ´ 

           and  Science  and  was  composed  of  the  Tanaiste,  the  Ministers  for  the  Marine  and  Natural 

            Resources, Health and Children, Social, Community and Family Affairs, Justice Equality and Law 

            Reform, the Attorney General, and the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality 

           and Law Reform. 



1.51       Mr  Boland  said  that  the  Cabinet  Sub-Committee’s  remit              ‘was  to  bring  forward  proposals  to 

                                                                                                                                ´ 

            Government on how to deal with the issue of sexual abuse’. However, according to Mr Micheal 

           Martin, the then Minister for Education and Science, its remit was wider and ‘not just sexual abuse, 

           but the, I suppose, the broad abuse of children’. 



1.52       The    Cabinet    Sub-Committee        immediately      established    a   Working     Group    composed       of  the 

           Secretaries  General  and  related  officials  from  all  of  the  Departments  involved.  It  furnished  its 

           report  to  the  Cabinet  Sub-Committee  on  28th         April  1999.  The  report  was  entitled  ‘Measures  to 

           Assist  Victims  of  Childhood  Abuse’.  On  10th        May  1999,  the  Government  agreed  the  following 



           proposals: 



                   •    Establish a Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. 

                   •    Legislate within the then Dail session to extend the concept of disability under the 

                         Statute of Limitations to victims of child sexual abuse who, because of that abuse, 

                         were unable to bring claims within the normal limitation period. 



           22 ‘Dear Daughter’ was a dramatised programme broadcast in 1996 by RTE which featured Goldenbridge Industrial 



              School. 

           23 There were three programmes broadcast by RTE in 1999 in the ‘States of Fear’ series: ‘Industrial Schools and 



              Reformatories from the 1940s–1980s’, ‘The Legacy of Industrial Schools’, and ‘Sick and Disabled Children in 

              Institutions’. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                           9 


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                  •   Immediately refer the issue of limitation periods as they applied to non-sexual 

                        childhood abuse to the Law Reform Commission. 



                  •   Establish, over as short a timescale as practical, a dedicated professional counselling 

                        service. 



                  •   Provide for an effective programme of publicity for these services. 

                  •   Prepare and publish as soon as possible a White Paper on mandatory reporting of 

                        sexual abuse of children. 



                  •   Prepare the legislation for the establishment of a sex offenders’ register as a matter of 

                        high priority. 



                  •   Apologise to victims of childhood abuse. 

                  •   The Cabinet Sub-Committee to meet regularly, to review the implementation of the 

                        different elements of this decision. 



                  •   Accept the principle of the Labour Party Private Member’s Bill to amend the Statute of 

                        Limitations, but in the context that the Government was progressing its own 

                        comprehensive programme of measures, including legislation, in relation to child 

                        sexual abuse. 



1.53       Mr  Boland  explained  the  policy  basis  for  the  various  child  abuse  measures  adopted  by  the 

           Working Group: 



                 A point had come where there was a general acceptance in political and administrative 

                 circles that that process was not acceptable anymore, and that society and Government 

                 needed to engage with this problem in a much more proactive way. In the interests of the 

                 survivors of abuse themselves very definitely, but also in the interest of Irish society, that 

                 the boil of past abuse, if you like, would be lanced and we would find some answers as 

                 to what happened and explanation as to what happened. 



1.54       He said that this view was informed by ‘a folk memory, if I could use that word, that industrial and 

           reformatory schools were very harsh places’, and also by the report of the Kennedy Committee, 

           the media and, in particular, the ‘Dear Daughter’ RTE television programme. Mr Boland’s view 

           was further informed by meetings with former residents and, to a limited degree, the work done 

           by Dr Gerry Cronin, a social historian appointed by Minister Martin to review the Department’s files. 



1.55       On 11th  May 1999, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, announced the Government measures relating to 



           childhood abuse, as set out above. At the same time, he stated that  ‘the starting point for this is 

           simple, but fundamental. We must start by apologising’. 



1.56       In his evidence to the Investigation Committee, the Taoiseach described the thinking behind the 

           apology: 



                 Well, it was the State has let you down, the State should have done better. There were 

                 reasons why it didn’t, but they weren’t in our view justifiable. While times were different 

                 and it is never a good thing to try to put policy today to what policy would have been on 

                 another day, we still felt in this case that we had left a section of our community, who 

                 were  vulnerable,  exposed  in  a  way  that  would  affect  their  lives.  While  all  of  the  other 

                 measures in the report were measures of guidance, help, assistance and therapeutic and 

                 all of the rest, that sympathy wasn't just the only thing we could do, we actually had to 

                 express it in a way that the State does not normally do. These were our people, these 

                 were issues that were perpetrated against them and while not giving a judgment on any 

                 of the institutions or what people in the institutions were trying or trying not to do, obviously 

                 there were circumstances, circumstances of staff and resources and God knows what, 

                 and mentality of people. The reality is we were dealing with a group of victims who were 



           10                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 41-----------------------

                 decent honourable people, who had suffered and deserved the State's best apology the 

                 State could give. The best way of doing that, whether it is always accepted or not in life, 

                 is to do what you do in your own life, you would say sorry, and that is what we set out to do. 



1.57                  ´ 

           Mr Micheal Martin, the Minister for Education and Science at the time, said: 



                 Basically,  I  felt  at  the  time  that  if  we  stopped  short  of  issuing  an  apology  from  the 

                 perspective of the survivors it would have been a devastating blow. The package for a lot 

                 of them would have been meaningless if there wasn’t that State recognition that what was 

                 done to us was wrong and do you please believe us. 



1.58       The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, told the Investigation Committee that the apology was his and Minister 

           Martin’s idea: 



                 Yes, in fairness to the Working Group, I don't think they ever discussed the issue of the 

                 apology. The apology, Chairman, I remember how the apology [came] around very clearly, 

                 because while all of the issues that we were talking about; professional help and caring 

                 and trying to assist these people back who had been badly dealt with by the State in our 

                 view, the hurt was not going to be removed unless you said sorry. It was my view and 

                 Minister Martin's view, we made the decision. 



1.59       This was borne out by the evidence of Mr Tim Dalton, former Secretary General to the Department 

           of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Mr Dalton said that the apology did not emanate from the 

           Working Group, it was a political decision: 



                 It emanated at Cabinet level subsequently ... While the apology was very much in line 

                 with what the working group was saying the apology, as a matter of fact, arose later. Yes. 



1.60       He continued: 



                 I  mean  the  Committee's  working  group's  report  emphasized  the  need  for  what  was 

                 described as a proactive approach, a sympathetic approach, and an apology would have 

                 been  very  much  in  line  with  that.  Although  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  apology  came  up 

                 subsequently. 



1.61       The   Taoiseach    and   Minister  Martin   described    meetings   they   had   with  former   residents   of 

           reformatory and industrial schools at this time. The Taoiseach told the Investigation Committee: 



                 I had met a number of the individuals, individuals who lived in my own constituency and 

                 elsewhere as you travel around who made me aware of what they hoped and the concerns 

                 they had and, obviously, wanted to see us taking action, and I think were happy to see 

                 that we had set up a Cabinet Committee and that we had set up a Working Group that was 

                 representative of our most senior public servants ... They wanted to see a Government do 

                 something  about  it,  they  wanted  a  forum  where  they  could  express  themselves  if  they 

                 wished to do, some of them did, some of them didn't, and where they would be able to 

                 put forward what had happened in their lives, what had happened in institutions that they 

                 were sent to, as they saw it, totally as a matter of State action. They wanted to see us do 

                 something about correcting the hurt that they suffered. 



1.62       He continued: 



                 I met a number of these groups and met a number of individuals. I think I can say without 

                 exception, they struck me as being entirely genuine, entirely trustworthy and asking me 

                 for help, asking for assistance and wanting us to do it because many of them, it had been 

                 a long time since they left these institutions and their lives had been affected. Even those 

                 of them who had moved on and where their life was together, they believed that this was 

                 a hurt that had not been corrected and they were urging us to deal with it comprehensively. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 11 


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1.63      Minister Martin said that he first became aware of the issue of institutional abuse in his ministerial 

          capacity in early 1998. Prior to his appointment, he had watched the two television programmes 

          ‘Dear Daughter’ and ‘States of Fear’, and these programmes, particularly ‘States of Fear’, had a 

          profound impact on him. He told the Committee that, having viewed this programme, ‘... I was left 

          with the view they can’t all be wrong, they can’t all be false stories’. 



1.64      Mr Boland explained the factors that led to the establishment of the Commission to Inquire into 

          Child Abuse in 1999: 



                First of all, I think of primary concern for the sub committee would always have been the 

                victims themselves. The objective of a Commission would be that it would provide a place 

                where they could tell the account of their lives to a sympathetic panel. That element of 

                having  a  sympathetic  panel  was  always  very  important  in  the  whole  process  of  the 

                Commission. The hope was that in this way victims of abuse could be reassured that the 

                abuse they suffered was wrong and was utterly condemned by Irish society. There was a 

                very strong demand for that kind of listening forum from the victims themselves. 



                In addition then it was felt that a Commission could begin a process for victims of abuse 

                whereby  they  would  feel  more  able  to  approach  the  institutions  that  were  there  for 

                professional help so that they could work through their pain and trauma. 



                For Irish society the idea was – and this is rather like a truth Commission – that it would 

                establish for Irish society precisely what happened and establish as complete a picture 

                as possible of the causes, nature and extent of childhood abuse including why it happened 

                and also who was responsible. It was very much an important factor that the Commission 

                would establish at least at an institutional level what institutions were responsible for what 

                happened. It was also felt that this kind of process would help Irish society to come to 

                terms with a very negative, very black period in our history. And it would also give to those 

                who  were  involved  in  running  the  institutions,  primarily  the  religious  congregations,  an 

                opportunity to put their side of the case and show that in some cases, and maybe even 

                in many cases – that is a judgment for the Commission – that in fact they did good service 

                for the State too. 



                Perhaps  this  might  have  been  a  bit  naive,  but  nevertheless  it  was  an  opportunity  for 

                perpetrators of abuse, particularly those who felt appalled by what they had done, to come 

                forward and to give them an opportunity to relieve themselves of their burden. Very, very 

                importantly then a Commission would make recommendations for the future as to how to 

                prevent this happening again and what to do for victims of abuse going on into the future. 



1.65      Later in his evidence, Mr Boland went on to discuss how the issue of compensation came into 

          consideration. He said that  ‘a compensation scheme was very much in policy minds from a very 

          early  time’,  but the  Government     had   taken  the  view  that  they  would   deal  with  it once  the 

          Commission  had  concluded  its  work.  On  20th      July  2000,  the  chairperson  of  the  Commission 



          informed the Department of Education and Science that a number of solicitors representing clients 

          who alleged having suffered abuse as children had adopted a position, whereby they would advise 

          their clients not to cooperate with the Commission until the issue of compensation was dealt with. 

          The    chairperson   expressed     the  view   that  this  would   have    serious   implications  for  the 

          Commission’s  ability  to  carry  out  its  task,  and  asked  the  Government  to  make  a  decision  in 

          principle in relation to the setting-up of a compensation scheme as quickly as possible. On 27th 



          September     2000,   the  chairperson    criticised the  lack  of  action  in  relation to  the  issue   of 

          compensation at a public sitting of the Commission. On 3rd  October 2000, the Government decided 



          to agree in principle: 



                 •   to set up a compensation scheme, 

                 •   that the definition of abuse for the purposes of the scheme would be the same as in 

                       the Commission legislation, 



           12                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 43-----------------------

                   •   that compensation would be paid on an ex-gratia basis, without establishing liability on 

                         the part of State bodies, but subject to the claimant establishing to the satisfaction of 

                         the body that he or she had suffered abuse and resulting injury, and 



                   •   that the amount of compensation would be broadly similar to that which would be 

                         awarded to a claimant had he or she pursued successfully a claim for damages in 

                         the courts. 



1.66       Mr Boland outlined the policy basis for the compensation scheme: 



                  I suppose there were a number of reasons ... Allowing cases to proceed to litigation from 

                  a survivor's point of view and from a social point of view was simply the wrong thing to 

                  do in the view of Government. It would negate any real sense of meaning from the apology 

                  on behalf of the Irish Nation if then people who wanted to get compensation for the abuse 

                  they had suffered had to go through an extraordinarily lengthy process in the High Court. 

                  There was also of course the fact that many of those cases would fail not because they 

                  didn't suffer injury and not because they had not been injured, but because of what might 

                  be regarded as technical rules of evidence. And that was not acceptable to Government 

                  either. There was a pure operational issue for the courts. 800 cases at that stage, maybe 

                  a couple of thousand. Now we think maybe a few thousand. The effect it would have had 

                  on the administration of justice or from the court system would be enormous. 



1.67       Mr Boland pointed out that, in developing a policy on the compensation scheme, the Government 

           carried out a comprehensive review of the practice in other jurisdictions. 



1.68       Following a consultation process, the Minister for Education and Science returned to Government 

           with  a  set  of  proposals  for  legislation,  which  subsequently  became  the  Residential  Institutions 

           Redress Act, 2002 (the Act of 2002). 



1.69       Mr  Boland  discussed  the  indemnity  agreement24             with  Religious  Congregations  and  issues  of 



           apportionment of liability. He said that the Government's action in setting up the scheme was not 

           motivated to any significant extent by considerations of legal liability or culpability: 



                  the Government determined upon a redress scheme with an approach that said this was 

                  to be done regardless of the involvement of anybody else. And it was to be done by the 

                  State paying for full compensation. This was seen as an issue for Irish society. It was an 

                  issue that had to be dealt with fully and firmly for once and for all. Therefore, the most 

                  effective way in which Government could achieve that was that to take responsibility for 

                  it, and that is what it did. So the scheme was to be fully funded by the State. That was 

                  the starting position. And full awards were to be paid. 



1.70       He explained to the Committee how the Congregations became involved in making a contribution 

           to the scheme: 



                  Clearly there would always be a difficulty in the minds of many people, not least those 

                  who    had   suffered    abuse,    if the   Congregations      had    no   involvement     at  all  in  the 

                  compensation scheme. Therefore it was felt as a policy objective desirable that they would 

                  be involved. And in fairness to them they said quite early on that they would like to make 

                  a  meaningful     contribution    to  the  scheme.     That   was    finally  decided    with  them    and 

                  Government  made  a  decision  on  that  basis.  But  the  scheme  was  going  ahead  in  any 

                  event. 



           24 Under the terms of the indemnity agreement reached with the Religious Congregations on 5th June 2002, the 



              Congregations agreed to make a contribution of \128 million towards the redress scheme. This was broken down as 

              follows: cash contribution \41.14 million; provision of counselling services \10 million and property transfers \76.86 

              million. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         13 


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1.71      The   indemnity    agreement     between    the  State   and   CORI    provided    for  the  18   Religious 

          Congregations to make a contribution of \128 million to the Residential Institutions Redress Fund. 

          In return, the Government agreed to grant an indemnity to the Religious Congregations that were 

          parties to the agreement. However, the indemnity agreement of 5th          June 2002 was not based on 



          any apportionment of responsibility for abuse. 



1.72      Dr Michael Woods was appointed Minister for Education and Science on 27th                January 2000, at 



          which stage the Taoiseach had issued his apology and the decision had been taken to establish 

          the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. During his time as Minister for Education and Science, 

          Dr Woods was responsible for bringing proposals to Government regarding the Redress Scheme, 

          subsequently the Act of 2002 and the indemnity agreement with the Religious Congregations. 



1.73      Dr Woods gave evidence at the Emergence hearings, where he noted that Mr Boland had dealt 

          comprehensively with the Redress Scheme in his evidence but commented briefly on the matter 

          himself. He told the Investigation Committee that the more he became involved in the process 

          following his appointment as Minister for Education and Science, the more he became  ‘acutely 

          aware of the issues and the problems which were faced by the victims’. Dr Woods said ‘that the 

          early  establishment  of  the  scheme  was  seen  as  (a)  greatly  reducing  the  stress  of  survivors  of 

          abuse and, (b) it was to facilitate the progress of the Commission’. He said that the involvement 

          of the Congregations was seen by the State as a desirable policy objective but stressed: 



                as far as the State was concerned it was very firm in its decision that the State was going 

                ahead in any event with the Redress Scheme. That it was the right way to go. 



1.74      Dr Woods said that part of the Government's desire to get the Congregations to contribute was 

          to bring about a situation where there was closure to the whole issue of past institutional abuse. 



          Religious Congregations’ evidence 



1.75      The  two  major  topics  for  the  Religious  Congregations  at  the  Emergence  hearings  were  the 

          contributions they made to the State Redress fund of compensation to victims and the apologies 

          that  many  of  them  issued.  Contributions  to  the  State  fund  posed  much  less  of  an  issue  or  a 

          problem for them than the question of apology. They were largely in agreement on compensation. 

          Negotiations were carried out on their behalf by the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), 

          which   is an   umbrella   organisation   for the  various   Religious  Congregations     in  Ireland. The 

          agreement     reached    was   favourable   to  the  Religious   Congregations,    but   the  Investigation 

          Committee was not concerned with the wisdom or reasonableness of the agreement reached. 



1.76      It might   have   been   thought  that  Congregations    who   contributed   to  the fund   were  in  effect 

          conceding that there had been some abuse in their institutions. The agreement did not require 

          them to do so, but the mere fact of payment into the fund, in return for an indemnity in respect of 

          any  actions  that  might  be  taken,  could  have  been  regarded  as  an  expression  of  some  kind  of 

          admission or acknowledgement, but it was said not to be the case. 



1.77      The   position  with  regard   to apologies   was   more   complicated.    Some    Congregations     issued 

          apologies and some did not. Those that issued apologies used a variety of different expressions. 

          Through their spokespersons, they testified to the good intentions that lay behind the apologies. 

          Some of the apologies were more effective than others in meeting the needs of survivor groups. 



1.78      Congregations were fearful that what they said in order to assuage the feelings of victims of abuse 

          might be used to damage them, as they saw it. Their words might be taken as concessions or 

          admissions as to events that were alleged to have happened. The aims of acknowledging past 

          wrongs and assuaging  feelings of victims are at odds  with the desire to avoid  admissions and 



           14                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 45-----------------------

          concessions about abuse. Most of the apologies reflected tension between these objectives, and 

          were largely unsatisfactory as a result. 



1.79      The attitude of many of the Congregations was conditional. If their members committed abuse, 

          they expressed regret for it. They did not accept Congregational responsibility for any abuse that 

          happened. As to whether abuse had actually happened, they said they were leaving that to the 

          Commission to establish, because that was the function of the Commission, and because they 

          had contradictory information on the claims of complainants and in the responses of their own 

          members. 



1.80      On 31st  January 2002, CORI issued a general apology on behalf of its members: 



                We accept that some children in residential institutions managed by our members suffered 

                deprivation, physical and sexual abuse. We regret that, we apologise for it. We can never 

                take away the pain experienced at the time by these children nor the shadow left over 

                their adult lives. Today the congregations with the State are giving a concrete expression 

                of their genuine desire to foster healing and reconciliation in the lives of former residents. 



1.81      The Investigation Committee at the Emergence hearings heard evidence from representatives of 

          the following Religious Congregations that had contributed to the Redress Fund: 



              1.  The Rosminian Institute of Charity 



             2.  The Dominican Order 



             3.  The Sisters of Mercy 



             4.  Our Lady of Charity of the Good Sheperd 



             5.  The Presentation Brothers 



             6.  The Religious Sisters of Charity 



             7.  The Christian Brothers 



             8.  The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul 



             9.  The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge 



            10.  The Brothers of Charity 



            11.  The Daughters of the Heart of Mary 



            12.  The De La Salle Brothers 



            13.  The Sisters of St Clare 



            14.  The Presentation Sisters 



            15.  The Sisters of St Louis 



            16.  The Hospitaller Order of St John of God 



            17.  The Sisters of Nazareth 



            18.  The Oblates of Mary Immaculate. 



1.82      These representatives were examined as to the reasons underpinning the decision taken by the 

          Congregations to issue an apology, if they did so, and the reasons they contributed to the Redress 

          Fund,  if  they  did  so.  The  Investigation  Committee  also  heard  evidence  during  the  Emergence 

          hearings from representatives of Congregations involved in the management, care and control of 

          institutions that were not the subject of its investigations into individual institutions. 



          The Rosminian Institute of Charity 



1.83      The Rosminian Order operated two industrial schools, one at Upton in County Cork and the other 

          at Ferryhouse in County Tipperary, as well as a School for the Blind at Drumcondra in Dublin. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              15 


----------------------- Page 46-----------------------

           They had two post-primary schools, one in Omeath and one in Dublin. They also developed a 

           retirement  home  for  blind  men  in  Drumcondra,  and  a  centre  in  Cork  for  adults  with  learning 

           disabilities. 



1.84       In 1999, the Rosminians issued a public statement: 



                 The members of the Rosminian Institute are saddened and shamed that young people in 

                 our care were abused by members of our Order. We deeply regret not only the abuse but 

                 also the shadow cast on the lives of those abused. We abhor all mistreatment of children 

                 and we wish to express our profound sorrow. 



1.85       Fr Joseph O’Reilly, giving evidence on 30th         June 2004, said that the Order made that statement 



           because they felt it was the right thing to do: 



                 Fundamentally we felt it was simply the right thing to do and it was something over which 

                  we had no option to do. 



1.86       The Order was aware that children had been abused in at least one of their institutions in 1979: 



                  That was one of the reasons why we obviously felt that we would have to apologise. 



1.87       Fr O’Reilly told the Committee that the Order contributed to the Redress Fund because: 



                  We believed it was the right thing to do, it was the just thing to do, it was the natural thing 

                  when you recognise that you have been part of something that has caused hurt and pain 

                  to people in the past, that's fairly inescapable. I think there was a recognition on our part 

                  that to go another route that seemed to be the only other route available at the time in 

                  terms of litigation and going to the High Court, we felt that that would be disastrous for 

                 all concerned. 



1.88       He continued: 



                  I mentioned that we felt that the option of going through the High Court and denying -- I 

                 am not sure of the technical word -- denying complaints against us and being involved in 

                  that process, we felt that would not be the right way to go and it would be disastrous for 

                 all concerned. We felt it would be a hurtful, harmful way for all concerned ... We were 

                 advised it would have meant years, maybe a lot more years than anybody knew at the 

                  time ... Years of having to appear in court and putting people through questioning and 

                  cross-examination, and trying to provide proof on this, that and the other ... From our end 

                  we don't have the personnel to do that. We didn't have the inclination to do that. We felt 

                 also that we didn't have the finances to do that in a way. We also felt that it would not be 

                 at all consistent with what we had said by way of apology. It would not be consistent with 

                  the type of relationship that we had with many past pupils. Not with all admittedly. We did 

                 not want people to have to suffer on through that type of system ... It seemed that it would 

                 have been cruel to consider those type of things. We wanted to be involved in the process 

                 and we perceived the Redress Board as process that would offer a degree of healing, 

                 you know. Because it offered the opportunity for things to be dealt with in a short enough 

                 period of time in comparison to other options, and in a process that wasn't adversarial. 

                  So   we   felt it offered   much    more    of  an   opportunity    for healing    and,   perhaps    not 

                 reconciliation,  but  certainly  we  would  have  been  guided  by  the  maxim  of  do  no  more 

                 harm. Do no more harm. 



1.89       The Rosminian Institute approached this issue, conscious of the obligations and of the difficulties, 

           but also believing in the benefits that would accrue to victims, its own members and to the Order. 

           In  adopting  this  approach  and  pursuing  it  throughout  the  Inquiry,  the  Rosminian  Institute  was 

           unique, and its senior management and its members deserve acknowledgment and appreciation 

           in that respect. 



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          The Dominican Order 



1.90      The Dominican Fathers have a long tradition in education in Ireland. They operate a number of 

          schools throughout the country. They had one institution, an orphanage at Dominic Street, Dublin 

           known as St Xavier’s Boys Home. It closed in 1993, and the Order received their first complaint 

           in relation to this institution in 1995. Two further complaints emerged later that year and, in 2001, 

          legal proceedings were instituted by six former residents. 



1.91      The Dominicans did not make a formal apology: 



                 No, we didn't make a formal apology ... We didn't feel that a kind of a general apology in 

                 terms of our small group of people would be of any great benefit, but if I were to meet 

                 them I would be more than happy to do so. 



1.92       Despite their decision not to make a general apology, the Order contributed to the Redress Fund. 



          The Sisters of Mercy 



1.93      The Sisters of Mercy played a significant role in the industrial school system, as they had been 

           responsible for the management of 26 industrial schools. This is discussed fully in the General 

          Chapter on the Sisters of Mercy. They were also involved in numerous primary and post-primary 

          schools. 



1.94      The Sisters of Mercy issued an apology in 1996, following the broadcast of the ‘Dear Daughter’ 

           programme in 1995, which characterised a Sisters of Mercy Industrial School, Goldenbridge, as 

           having been abusive. The apology was as follows: 



                 In the light of recent revelations regarding the mistreatment of children in our institutions 

                we the Mercy Sisters wish to take this opportunity to sincerely and unreservedly express 

                our deep regret to those men and women who at any time or place in our care were hurt 

                or harshly treated. The fact that most complaints relate to many years ago is not offered as 

                an excuse. As a congregation we fully acknowledge our failures and ask for forgiveness. 



                Aware of the painful and lasting effect of such experiences we would like to hear from 

                those who have suffered and we are putting in place an independent and confidential help 

                 line.  This  help  line  will  be  staffed  by  competent  and  professional  counsellors  who  will 

                 listen sympathetically and who will be in the position to offer further help if required. In 

                this way we would hope to redress the pain insofar as that is possible so that those who 

                 have suffered might experience some peace, healing and dignity. 



                 Life in Ireland in the 40s and 50s was in general harsh for many people. This was reflected 

                 in orphanages, which were under funded, under staffed and under resourced. It was in 

                this climate that many Sisters gave years of generous service to the education and care 

                of  children.  However,  we  made  mistakes  and  irrespective  of  the  passage  of  time  as  a 

                congregation we now openly acknowledge our failures and ask for forgiveness. 



                 Regretfully we cannot change the past. As we continue our work of caring and education 

                today  we  will  constantly  review  and  monitor  our  procedures,  our  personnel  and  our 

                facilities. Working in close cooperation with other voluntary and statutory agencies we are 

                committed to doing all in our power to ensure that people in our care have a protective 

                and supportive environment. 



                We were founded to alleviate pain, want and misery. We have tried to do this through our 

                work in health care, education, child care, social and pastoral work. Despite our evident 

                failures which we deeply regret we are committed to continuing that work in partnership 

                with many others in the years ahead. 



1.95      Sr  Breege  O’Neill,  then  Congregational  Leader  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  told  the  Investigation 

          Committee  that  the  Congregation  hoped  that  the  apology  would  ease  the  pain  and  trauma  of 



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          former residents, and help to restore their relationship with the Congregation. She said that the 

          apology was not successful, because it was perceived as being conditional or incomplete. After 

          the  apology,  the  amount  of  litigation  involving  the  Congregation increased,  and  the  Sisters  felt 

          that this inhibited them in their dealings with former residents. 



1.96      On  5th  May  2004,  the  Congregation  issued  a  second  apology,  the  circumstances  of  which  are 



          discussed in full in the General Chapter on the Sisters of Mercy. 



1.97      Sr Breege O’Neill also discussed the reasons the Congregation became involved in the Redress 

          Scheme: 



                 Our decision to become involved in the Redress Scheme, it came out of, I think, all of 

                 what I have said up to now. Out of the experience for four years of trying to respond in 

                 the different arenas to what was coming to us. I am talking about the litigation. I am talking 

                 about the Commission. But also knowing that in some way those of themselves were not 

                going to bring closure ... Our decision was also informed by a pragmatism in relation to 

                 the  litigation.  The  sense  that  long  drawn  out  litigation  proceedings  would  be  what  we 

                 would be putting our energy into for years and years and years. 



                 Our decision to become involved in the Redress was not informed by an assessment of 

                 the  potential  outcome    of  each   individual  case.  It was    a  scheme    the  Government 

                 announced. They invited our contribution or our involvement in it and we welcomed that 

                 ... But it wasn't an easy decision for the Congregation to take at the time because there 

                 were many voices holding different views and we had to in some way come to our own 

                place of resting with it as being the best way forward at this time. That we did. Out of that 

                 the decision was taken that we would contribute. 



          Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd 



1.98      The Good Shepherd Sisters had four industrial schools in Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Wexford, 

          as well as a reformatory school in Limerick. 



1.99      The Congregation did not issue a public apology: 



                 We have not issued a public apology, no, but when we have met ex-residents and talking 

                 to them and listening to how it was for them and how they experienced it, you know, it 

                has really saddened us a lot and we, like, we would always say, well, look, we are really 

                sorry that these are your memories, that this is how it is, that this was your experience, 

                 we are really sorry about that. 



1.100     The  Congregation took  the  view that  the  public  apology issued  by  CORI covered  all  of the  18 

          Congregations involved in CORI: 



                 we agreed with the publication of the apology, as we see it as conveying our regret and 

                 our sorrow that those who were in our care have painful memories and have been upset 

                by their time there. 



1.101     The  Congregation  also  contributed  to  the  Redress  Fund.  Sr  Claire  O’Sullivan,  a  designated 

          spokesperson for the Congregation, outlined the reasons why as follows: 



                 Well, firstly, we decided in principle in October 2000 that we would make a contribution 

                 and,  like,  we  did  it  for  a  few  reasons.  In  response  to  the  Government's  invitation  to 

                 Congregations  to  contribute  to  the  scheme  was  one  of  the  reasons.  Also,  it  was  a 

                 combination of our pastoral and practical considerations ... Practical considerations were 

                because of the financial restraints. If we went down the road of litigation, it would have 

                 cost a huge amount of money and would have gone on for years, as we would see it ... 

                Also, we just didn't want to get ourselves into confrontation with our ex residents at all. 



           18                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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                  There was also the practical thing, that it would lead to a better use of the resources that 

                  are available to us, resources that could otherwise be used to help us to assist former 

                  residents and for other charitable works, rather than expending resources on preparing 

                  for litigation, as I would have said there. It would also, instead of members being very 

                  much involved in court cases, it would free up people, our Sisters, to spend time assisting 

                  former residents and meeting with them and engaging in other charitable works. So that 

                  would  have  been  another  reason  for  us.  Also,  we  were  glad  to  be  able  to  get  the 

                  indemnity, that we could obtain indemnity from the State, as it is better to contribute to 

                  the  scheme,  rather  than  processing,  as  I  would  have  said,  down  the  very  costly  road 

                  of litigation. 



           The Presentation Brothers 



1.102      The    Presentation     Brothers    operated    one   industrial   school,   St   Joseph's    Industrial   School, 

           Greenmount in Cork. The Presentation Brothers are currently involved in numerous primary and 

           post-primary schools in Ireland. 



1.103      The Anglo-Irish Province of the Presentation Brothers has not issued a public apology, but the 

           Congregation      issued   the   following   statement    on   its website,   which    was   referred   to  at  the 

           Emergence hearings: 



                  It was along the lines of, “we apologise for any wrongdoing or any abuse that occurred to 

                  any  person  while  in  our  care”.  That  was  done  for  two  reasons.  First  of  all  to  give  our 

                  regret. Secondly, to encourage anybody out there who is hurting to come and make that 

                  complaint. 



1.104      The Congregation also contributed to the Redress Fund: 



                  Well,  we   were    members      of  CORI    and   in  2000   when    this  came    up   first we   were 

                 participating in the Faoiseamh25       help line and we contributed to the Faoiseamh help line. 



                  We were a member of the 18 Congregations and when the question of the contribution 

                  came up we felt that especially because of our 1955 incident26               that we would feel very 



                  exposed if all this went to litigation. We felt that it was prudent management to make a 

                  contribution to the Redress Board. 



           The Religious Sisters of Charity 



1.105      The Sisters of Charity operated five industrial schools, including St Joseph’s and St Patrick’s in 

           Kilkenny  and  a  group  home,  Madonna  House  in  Dublin.  The  Religious  Sisters  of  Charity  also 

           operate 19 primary schools and eight post-primary schools, and provide special needs education 

           to a small number of schools. 



1.106      The Sisters of Charity have never issued a public apology in respect of child abuse. However, the 

           Congregation has issued three specific apologies relating to the criminal convictions of three of 

           its staff, one in Madonna House and two in St Joseph's, Kilkenny. 



1.107      The apology in relation to Madonna House was issued in 1994 and read: 



                  The   Religious   Sisters   of  Charity   are  deeply   concerned     and   saddened      by  what   has 

                  happened to the children at Madonna House. We offer our heartfelt apology to each and 

                  every person who has suffered in a situation where we tried to ensure that they would 

                  experience warmth, care and support. 



           25 An organisation funded by the Congregations that provides counselling for persons who have been abused by 



              religious Orders and Congregations. 

           26 This is dealt with in full in the chapter on St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount. 



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1.108       The second apology was issued at the sentencing of a male childcare worker in St Joseph’s in 

                              ´ 

            1997, and Sr Una O’Neill, Superior General of the Religious Sisters of Charity, stated in respect 

            of it: 



                   While  other  Orders  might  have  found  that  the  “States  of  Fear”  programme  or  other 

                  publications  or  broadcasts  was  their  moment  of  realisation,  I  think  it  was  the  criminal 

                  conviction  of that  childcare worker  that was  a very  significant moment  certainly for  me 

                  and those other Sisters who attended and for the Congregation subsequently. For us it 

                  was a brutal initiation into the reality of sexual abuse of the most depraved kind. While I 

                  would  have  read  the  Garda  statements  that  the  children  made  against  this  childcare 

                  worker,  it  became  very  real  when  the  boys  were  asked  to  speak  in  Court  and  they 

                  described     a   most    horrific  litany  of   terror  and    hurt  and    humiliation    and    pain   and 

                  powerlessness. It was at that moment I think for us as a Congregation it became real. I 

                  am not saying we accepted it or understood it, but it became real for us then. 



1.109       The  third  apology  was  issued  when  another  childcare  worker  from  St  Joseph's,  Kilkenny  was 

            convicted: 



                  We are appalled that a care worker employed at St. Joseph's for 9 months from '76 to '77 

                  abused children in his care and we are offering counselling services etc. 



                  He came to St. Joseph's as a qualified care worker, had excellent references from his 

                  former employees in the UK, and was interviewed by representatives from St. Joseph's 

                  and from the Department of Education ... 

                  Peter McNamara’s27        abuse of the children at St. Joseph's has caused untold misery for 



                  the men involved. Nothing can make up for what happened to them and we deeply regret 

                  their suffering. 



                ´ 

1.110       Sr  Una  O’Neill’s  evidence  on  the  background  to  these  apologies  is  dealt  with  in  detail  in  the 

            chapter on the Sisters of Charity. 



                ´ 

1.111       Sr Una O’Neill said that the Congregation contributed to the Redress Fund because: 



                  we    had  a   number     of  civil cases    before  the    Court   at  that  time   ...  We  had    had  the 

                  experience, I had the experience of attending these court cases and I had seen what that 

                  process  had  done  particularly  to  the  men  who  had  taken  the  cases  against  us.  I  had 

                  spoken to them about the experience with both of them. I saw what it did with both the 

                  volunteers and the staff who had to testify. There was a strong pastoral reason for us not 

                  subjecting anybody to that kind of process if we could avoid it. 



                   We also felt the definition of abuse was so broad that it would invite many more cases 

                  against  us  and  in  fact  that  has  proved  to  be  the  case.  There  has  been  a  very,  very 

                  significant increase in the number of cases that have come in from 2000 up to today, very 

                  significant increase for those that had come in beforehand. 



                   We also felt that if we didn't contribute to the scheme, maybe we were wrong in this, we 

                  felt that perhaps the Redress scheme would give a partial payment to the children and 

                  then they would seek the rest from us through legal means and that would have been the 

                  same reason as I have given beforehand. 



            The Christian Brothers 



1.112       The Christian Brothers were involved in six industrial schools and one residential school for deaf 

            boys,  as  well  as  numerous  primary  and  post-primary  schools  throughout  the  country.  This  is 

            discussed fully in the General Chapter on the Christian Brothers. 



            27 This is a pseudonym. 



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1.113      The apologies issued by the Christian Brothers are dealt with in full in the General Chapter on the 

           Christian Brothers. On 29th     March 1998, the Christian Brothers issued the following apology: 



                 Over  the  past  number  of  years  we  have  received  from  some  former  pupils  serious 

                 complaints    of  ill-treatment  and   abuse    by   some    Christian   Brothers   in  schools    and 

                 residential centres. We the Christian Brothers in Ireland wish to express our deep regret 

                 to  anyone  who  suffered  ill-treatment  while  in  our  care  and  we  say  to  you  who  have 

                 experienced physical or sexual abuse by a Christian Brother and to you who complained 

                 of abuse and were not listened to we are deeply sorry. 



                 We want to do much more than say we are sorry. As an initial step we have already put 

                 in  place  a  range  of  services  to  offer  a  practical  response  and  further  services  will  be 

                 provided as the needs become clearer. 



1.114      The Christian Brothers told the Committee that they welcomed the establishment of the Redress 

           Scheme. Br Gibson stated that: 



                 We would have welcomed it because, I suppose, fundamentally we, ourselves, had tried 

                 to set up a mediation process and when the Government approached CORI and asked 

                 CORI would they be prepared to donate a sum to that fund, we were happy to be involved 

                 in doing that. 



1.115      He continued: 



                 And, of course, the most important thing, I suppose, was it was going to be set up on a 

                 statutory basis, which we hadn't been able to do. Maybe, just to say also we were aware 

                 that because of the serious nature of the complaints that had come, it was very difficult 

                 to make a judgment about these. The Redress Scheme was not going to make a judgment 

                 on those.  We found particularly  ourselves that a  lot of the  people being accused  were 

                 dead   ... And   a  lot of  people   that  had   complaints   against   them    were   denying   them 

                 vigorously,   Brothers  were    denying    them  vigorously.    We   were  in   the  middle  with   an 

                 allegation and a person who was saying this did not happen. We had many Brothers who 

                 had  spent,  say,  three  or  four  years  in  institutions  and  then  subsequently  had  spent, 

                 maybe, 30 to 40 years teaching outside the institutions. During their time in the schools, 

                 there had been no complaints against them, but subsequent to the apologies, allegations 

                 had come. So we felt that long drawn-out process of legal litigation would not help anyone. 

                 So because of that, we were quite happy to join with the Congregations in supporting the 

                 Government  scheme.  When  the  Taoiseach  in  October  of  2000  announced  in  principle 

                 anyway that he was going to establish a body to compensate people, quite quickly we got 

                 an  additional  380  complaints.  By  the  time  the  Agreement  was  signed,  we  had  roughly 

                 about 800 complaints, 791 potential complaints ... So we felt that the Redress Scheme 

                 was an opportunity to assist those who had been in institutions to come to closure in a 

                 difficult experience that they had had ... Also, that it wasn't making a judgment because 

                 – judging something that took place 40, 50, 60 years ago was very difficult to judge. So, 

                 in a sense, what we would feel is that from the very beginning of child abuse coming to 

                 our  attention  in  1990,  we  have  tried  to  be  proactive  in  setting  in  place  structures  that 

                 would  assist  people  to  come  forward  and  would  help  them  to  come  to  terms  with  the 

                 experience of abuse that they have suffered. We also put in place supports for people 

                 who were accused of abuse, who were traumatised by the allegations of abuse and the 

                 fact of setting up independent advisory panels and child protection services helped us in 

                 doing that. 



           The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul 



1.116      The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul operated one industrial school, four orphanages, 

           five  centres  for  people  with  intellectual  disability,  an  orthopaedic  residential  children’s  hospital, 

           and a mother and baby home. 



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1.117      Sr   Catherine    Mulligan,    a  former    Provincial   Leader    of  the   Congregation,      stated   that  the 

           Congregation did not give a public apology for the following reason: 



                  that was a considered stance on our part, again because of what we considered to be 

                  the lower number of cases against any particular institution and ... having gathered the 

                 information that we gathered, we could not say that we ran an abusive system. 



1.118      However, the Congregation did contribute to the Redress Scheme, and Sr Mulligan gave reasons 

           for this. She said: 



                  I think there was a general feeling that we should become part of that insofar as we could. 

                  We were invited by the Government to become part of it and I don’t think there was any 

                 sort of hesitancy about becoming part of it. 



           The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge 



1.119      The  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity  of  Refuge  operated  an  industrial  school  in  Drumcondra  in 

           Dublin, and a reformatory school at St Anne’s, Kilmacud, Dublin. 



1.120      Sr Lucy Bruton gave evidence on behalf of the Congregation, and reiterated that they wanted to 

           be associated with the CORI apology of January 2002, which stated: 



                  We accept that some children in residential institutions managed by our members suffered 

                 deprivation, physical and sexual abuse. We regret that, we apologise for it. We can never 

                  take away the pain experienced at the time by these children nor the shadow left over 

                  their adult lives. Today the congregations with the State are giving a concrete expression 

                 of their genuine desire to foster healing and reconciliation in the lives of former residents. 



1.121      She added that: 



                 At that time this expressed for us the feeling we had for people, complainants, and for 

                 people  who  felt  they  had  been  abused  or  badly  treated  and  we  associate  ourselves 

                 positively  with  that  statement  today.  We  also  welcome  the  reconciliation  aspect  of  the 

                  Commission and we hope that this would help us to move forward and move on. 



1.122      Sr Bruton gave a number of reasons why the Congregation decided to be part of the Redress 

           Scheme: 



                 First  of  all,  CORI  invited  us  to  be  part  of  the  group  of  18  Religious  Orders  who  were 

                 involved in childcare and the Government invited that group to participate and contribute 

                  to the Redress Fund and in solidarity we decided to participate in the scheme ... 



                  We were conscious of the five litigation cases that were pending against us at that time 

                 and obviously we felt I suppose because there were some that we might hear of others. 

                  We felt that it would be easier and quicker and less adversarial than the court process. 

                  We  would  have  indemnity  following  on  the  litigation  which  would  mean  that  funds  that 

                  would be contributed would be directed towards former residents rather than in legal costs 

                 and in long trials. We felt that it would give a measure of closure and that we would be 

                 enabled to move forward without the long process of legal trials which are hard to prove 

                 either way and particularly with so many of the people involved not actually being there. 



           The Brothers of Charity 



1.123      The Brothers of Charity operated two schools for children with learning disabilities: Our Lady of 

           Good Counsel, Lota in Cork, and Holy Family School in Renmore, County Galway. They also ran 

           an adult psychiatric hospital in Belmount Park in Waterford, which included an adjacent service 

           for  adults  with  intellectual  disabilities.  A  similar  service  for  adults  with  learning  disabilities  was 

           established    in  Clarinbridge    in  Galway,    and   another    in  Bawnmore      in  Limerick.   Today,    the 

           Congregation is the largest provider of services for people with an intellectual disability in Ireland. 



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1.124      The  Brothers  issued  a  public  apology  in  1995.  Br  John  O’Shea,  the  Regional  Leader  in  the 

           Congregation, gave evidence at the Emergence hearings: 



                  We offered an apology and we offered counselling to people who had been abused while 

                  in our services, and we encouraged that other people who had been abused would go to 

                  their local Garda Station or whatever, and make their allegations known there ... I feel for 

                  us  that  1995  was  the  watershed  in  the  sense  of  our  awareness  that  we  had  a  fairly 

                  significant  issue  with    abuse.  I  suppose  because        the  thing  came  to  light,    there  was 

                  obviously a public interest in it, and I think while I wouldn't have the exact wording for 

                  1995,  but  the  general  sense  that  we  had  was  look,  this  has  happened.  It  was  quite  a 

                  shock to us really because it wasn't something we were prepared for, and certainly the 

                  individual incidents we would have known of previously didn't add up to a comprehensive 

                  picture, if you like, of widescale abuse. I think when we became aware of this and the fact 

                  that it was a significant issue, our apology and, again, as I say, it was in the context of 

                  maybe responding to what was at this stage in the public domain and, I suppose, maybe 

                  articulating our response to it, that was to be one where we wanted to be open about it, 

                  we  wanted to  encourage people  who had  complaints to  make that  it was  better to  get 

                  them    out  in  the  open   and    that  there  were    proper   channels     for doing    this, and   we 

                  particularly  encouraged  people  to  report  their  allegations  to  the  Gardai.  Because  the 

                                                                                                           ´ 

                  service we provide would have resources in counselling and so on, we encouraged people 

                  that felt they needed that to look for support, if you like. 



1.125      Explaining why the Congregation contributed to the Redress Scheme, he stated that, prior to the 

           Redress Scheme, the Congregation was facing approximately 50 civil claims: 



                  I suppose one of the things we felt if we were to go down a legal route, that it would be 

                  a very long and complex thing and very difficult, and maybe particularly again for people 

                  that  were  abused,  it  would  be  putting  them  through  extra  trauma  and  confrontation. 

                  Certainly  our  approach  was  that  we  wanted  whatever  we  were  doing  to  be  as  least 

                  confrontational as possible ... Redress would have provided an opening to us that would 

                  have many advantages that the legal route wouldn't have. I suppose taking the population 

                  that we are dealing with again, that it would be difficult for people with a disability to maybe 

                  articulate their case, particularly if it had been done in a confrontational setting ... 



                  Redress offered the more acceptable forum, if you like, for dealing with the issues that 

                  we had to deal with. I suppose another issue would be where people are denying that 

                  any abuse took place, that it also affords the person making allegations, that if they feel 

                  that they are entitled to compensation for maybe the general institutional atmosphere that 

                  they lived in or whatever hardship or deprivation might go with that, where it mightn't be 

                  a specific allegation of a particular misdemeanour by anyone. 



           The Daughters of the Heart of Mary 



1.126      The  Daughters  of  the  Heart  of  Mary  operated  one  institution,  St  Joseph's  Orphanage,  Dun 

           Laoghaire from 1860 to 1985. The Sisters also operated a school, a retreat house, and two guest 

           houses for retired women. 



1.127      The Congregation had not issued a public apology. Sr Anne Boland, Provincial of the Daughters 

           of the Heart of Mary, gave evidence to the Emergence hearings that, in 1971, a resident of one 

           of the schools disclosed to the Sisters that she had been sexually abused by a man who, along 

           with  his  wife,  took  some  of  the  girls  out  for  weekends.  The  Sisters  reported  the  matter  to  the 

           Gardai. In 1997, a former resident instituted legal proceedings alleging abuse against a visiting 

                   ´ 

           priest. The Sisters believe that this priest was convicted of charges relating to the abuse. 



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1.128      The Congregation contributed to the Redress Fund. Sr Boland stated: 



                 when the Redress Scheme was being drawn up, at that time we had one set of allegations 

                 against us, and we also had a number of records or requests for records, small in number, 

                 asking for records. In view of the fact that we had over 2,000 children in our care down 

                 through the years, we felt more claims could come in. But I would have to say also we 

                 found there were very few. At that point, there was only one allegation. Since then, two 

                 other allegations have come to us and we felt the best way to compensate, even though 

                 we realise the care was good, and, you know, that would be from talking to the Sisters 

                 and,  indeed,  from  the  past  children,  that  it  was  a  place  that  they  were  happy  in.  But, 

                 nonetheless, we felt we could not meet their needs in a way that an ordinary family would. 

                 So in order to redress that or compensate, we felt it would be better to go down the line 

                 of entering the Redress Scheme. It would be less adversarial or conflictual to them and 

                 to us for them to have to come or to put a claim for money to us individually. So that is 

                 really why we entered the Redress Scheme. 



           The De La Salle Brothers 



1.129      The  De  La  Salle  Brothers  had  significant  experience  of  residential  care  in  England.  They  first 

           became involved in residential care in Ireland in 1972, when St Laurence’s School in Finglas in 

           Dublin was opened. They were involved in the school until 1994. The De La Salle Brothers also 

           operate numerous primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. 



1.130      The De La Salle Brothers considered issuing a public apology but decided against it, preferring 

           instead to issue individuals apologies. Br Pius McCarthy, the Provincial Secretary of the Order, 

           gave evidence at the Emergence hearings: 



                 After the Christian Brothers made their apology, we thought about something similar, we 

                 questioned whether we should do it or not, but we decided against it, we decided to deal 

                 with each case individually, because at the time there was the Garda investigation going 

                 on  and  we  weren't  quite  sure  what  the  outcome  would  be.  We  felt  that  by  making  an 

                 apology,   we   might   be  indicating  or  influencing   one   way   or  the  other.  So  we   have 

                 apologised in individual cases where somebody has come to us and said that they were 

                 abused.  We  just  decided  that  it  would  be  better  not  to  go  down  the  road  of  a  public 

                 apology. 



1.131      The Order contributed to the Redress Scheme for the following reasons: 



                 In April 2001, we were invited by CORI to become part of the group of congregations who 

                 were   then   negotiating   with  the   State  with   regard   to making    a   contribution  to  the 

                 compensation  scheme  that  had  been  announced  in  October  2000.  The  Congregations 

                 who were negotiating had agreed in principle to make a contribution to the scheme and 

                 details of the same were being discussed. We were approached, because there was at 

                 that time litigation in existence relating to Finglas Children’s Centre, and even though we 

                 didn't own the centre nor did we manage it in the strict sense, the Resident Manager was 

                 a De La Salle Brother throughout the years and we had an involvement in administration 

                 and also De La Salle Brothers had worked in it ... 



                 We were also aware that some of the complaints made were specifically directed towards 

                 members of the Congregation. At the time we were approached by CORI, we were aware 

                 of eight claims arising from the centre. Really we were made aware of them by CORI, 

                 they  got  the  information  for  us.  We  were  advised  that  any  contribution  made  by  the 

                 Congregations would be in consideration of an indemnity from the State and this would 

                 bring some certainty with regard to future litigation. We were also aware of the ongoing 

                 Garda investigation into St. Laurence's which began in 1995 ... Also, we had come into 



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                 the negotiations at a late stage and accordingly we were guided to some extent by what 

                 the other Congregations had done and we also wanted to show solidarity with them. 



          The Sisters of St Clare 



1.132     The Sisters of St Clare, or the Poor Clares as they were also known, operated two institutions, an 

           industrial school in Cavan and a private orphanage at Harold’s Cross, with a primary school and 

          a commercial school attached. 



1.133     They  did  not  issue  a  public  apology.  Sr  Patricia  Rogers,  Congregational  Leader,  outlined  the 

           reasons for this as follows: 



                 We have not issued a public apology, but we have associated ourselves with the CORI 

                 apology, because we would accept that for many years the daily routine in the institutions, 

                 they just didn't take account of the needs of children. The life was too regulated and too 

                 disciplined  to  allow  for  differences  in  their  physical  and  emotional  development.  While 

                 Sisters  and  the  lay  staff  who  worked  in  the  institutions  made  attempts  to  improve  the 

                physical  surroundings  in  which  the  children  lived,  it  seems  clear  that  there  was  less 

                 understanding  of  the  children’s  need  for  affection  and  emotional  support  ...  The  State 

                provided very little at that time by way of support services, and access to psychologists 

                 and social workers was very limited. I think as a result of that, both the children and their 

                 carers suffered. 



1.134     Sr  Rogers  stated  that  the  Congregation  contributed  to  the  Redress  Scheme  for  the  following 

           reasons: 



                 ...  we  felt  that  we  would  be  assisting  people  who  had  been  in  our  care  during  their 

                 childhood  and  who  are  now  experiencing  difficulties  in  their  lives.  We  believe  that  the 

                 Redress Scheme presented an opportunity for ending litigation in a quicker and in a less 

                 adversarial manner than would be the case in court. We wanted at all costs to avoid a 

                 confrontation situation if that were possible. 



                 We also believe that the money expended by the Congregation would go directly to the 

                residents rather than be absorbed by legal fees. 



                 We  were  aware  that  the  Redress  Scheme  was  going  to  have  a  far  lower  threshold  of 

                proof than the courts in that no blame was going to be apportioned to any individual or 

                institution as a result of that. 



          The Presentation Sisters 



1.135     The Presentation Sisters operated two industrial schools, St Francis’s Industrial School, Cashel, 

          County  Tipperary,  and  St  Bernard’s  Industrial  School,  Dundrum,  County  Tipperary,  which  later 

           moved to Fethard in County Tipperary. The Presentation Sisters in Ireland continue to have strong 

           links with both primary and post-primary schools. 



1.136     Sr  Claude  Meagher,  Provincial  of  the  South  East  Province  of  the  Congregation,  informed  the 

          Committee that the Sisters decided to contribute to the Redress Scheme because: 



                 CORI  invited  the  Congregations  to  participate  and,  I  suppose,  there  was  quite  a  lot  of 

                 discussion and reflection went into that, and we made a decision because we had those 

                 two industrial schools and we were aware that claims were now being initiated by former 

                residents, those made over the phone and those who had looked for records. We were 

                 aware too that in one of the institutions certainly, the regime might have been described 

                 as harsh, but the building and all about it prior to 1954, it wouldn't meet present standards 

                 or anything near present standards, but renovation was done there in 1974. I suppose 

                 our own enquiries and reading records would lead us to believe that the School wasn’t 

                 adequate, so we feel that people would have suffered there, they may have suffered ... I 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               25 


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                 suppose we believe too that protracted litigation isn't in anybody's interest and we know 

                 there would be huge difficulty, on the advice of our legal advisers, in following cases that 

                 are dating back to the past, particularly where the Sisters who may have been involved 

                 are dead and it is difficult to establish what happened. So in that sense we would feel it 

                 is important we would be part of the Government Redress Scheme. I suppose there would 

                 be considerable expenses involved in that, and that it is better to maybe direct the money 

                 to the Redress Scheme rather than maybe trying to pursue legal issues in court. 



           The Sisters of St Louis 



1.137      The Sisters of St Louis operated one industrial school, St Martha's Industrial School in Bundoran, 

           County   Donegal.    Sisters   from  the  Congregation     also  worked    at  St  Joseph’s   Orphanage      in 

           Bundoran, which was under diocesan management. The St Louis Sisters are involved in primary 

           and post-primary education in Ireland. 



1.138      The Sisters of St Louis have not issued a public apology. 



1.139      Sr  Noreen  Shankey,  Regional  Leader  for  Ireland,  outlined  the  reasons  why  the  Congregation 

           contributed to the Redress Scheme: 



                 central to our participation in the Redress Scheme was a desire to prevent the ordeal of 

                 past residents and ourselves having to go through the courts. As I mentioned, we had no 

                 cases against us until after the Taoiseach's apology and the redress had been announced. 

                 We also felt that the way of redress was a more humane way and that it would lead in 

                 the direction of healing and reconciliation, and I welcome this emphasis with the present 

                 Commission and the approach you are taking. 



                 We were also  advised by our legal people of  the difficulty of prosecuting cases  of this 

                 nature  before  the  courts,  we  could  have  long  drawn  out  cases.  Because  the  events 

                 happened so long ago and with the Statute of Limitations, most of the people are dead, 

                 in fact all except one person. We felt that the money would be better spent on redress 

                 than in legal fees. 



                 There  was  also  an  element  of  support  from  the  other  congregations  because  these 

                 discussions    were    already   underway     when    we    joined  in,  there   were    already    12 

                 Congregations, so we came in late in the day, but there was a supportive element being 

                 with the other Congregations as well as learning from their experience. 



                 There was also the advantage that if people went to redress, we would be indemnified 

                 against other claims in the courts. 



           The Hospitaller Order of St John of God 



1.140      The  Order  of  St  John  of  God  operated  a  day  and  residential  school  for  children  with  learning 

           disabilities  at  St  Augustine’s  in  Blackrock,  County  Dublin  and  other  institutions.  In  Ireland,  the 

           Order provides mental health services, care for older people, and services for children and adults 

           with disabilities. 



1.141      Fr Fintan Whitmore, Provincial of the Order, said that the Order had not issued a public apology: 



                 No,  no. We  have not  been able  to establish  as a  fact that  what was  said  has actually 

                 happened.     Therefore,   we   have   no  way   of  corroborating    that. There    have   been   no 

                 convictions,  there  have been  no  proceedings  that have  arrived  at  any court  processes 

                 and so on in relation to that, and nobody has come forward with a confession that these 

                 things  have   happened     or  that  they  were   perpetrators   of  these   acts  within  our  own 

                 organisation. 



                 What we would say though, and I think what we have said in most cases, in all cases I 

                 would say if it were true that abuse had taken place, then it is a most regrettable thing 



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                 and  we  would  regret  that  any  such  happening  could  have  happened  or,  indeed,  that 

                 anything could have happened to people that would leave them disturbed as a result of 

                being in treatment or in care with us or during their time with us. 



1.142      However, the Order did contribute to the Redress Fund. Fr Whitmore outlined the reasons why, 

          as follows: 



                 There are a number of reasons. One is the way in which we felt a lot of this could go 

                 without something like the Redress Board was that it could get into litigation that would 

                be  an  adversarial  system,  that  the  people  who  were  coming  forward  with  accusations 

                 were vulnerable people who had difficulties with life in general, and neither for themselves 

                nor for ourselves or anyone else would a long process involving court appearances and 

                 denials and statements and so on and so forth have been beneficial to anybody, so we 

                 felt that a process which would try to ascertain the truth without going through what could 

                have been very difficult processes for all concerned would have been a better way to go. 

                 We also felt that we should act in solidarity with other religions at the time. The indemnity 

                 was also an attractive proposition. They would be the principal reasons. 



          The Sisters of Nazareth 



1.143     The Sisters of Nazareth provided services for children and the elderly in Ireland. The Sisters of 

           Nazareth operated a residential home for boys and girls, called the Nazareth House, which was 

          situated in County Sligo. 



1.144     The Sisters of Nazareth have not issued a public apology. 



1.145     Sr   Cornelia   Walsh,    Sister  Superior   of  the   Congregation,    outlined   the  reasons    why   the 

          Congregation contributed to the Redress Scheme: 



                 Yes, we did, we joined. As a congregation we are a member of CORI and have been for 

                many years. And as such we were aware of and involved in the contacts between CORI 

                 and the government representatives, which culminated in the setting up of the scheme. 

                As I said, we are one of the contributing Congregations. We welcome the Government's 

                initiative and have been dismayed at the obvious pain felt by so many of the country’s 

                 citizens recalling a period in their lives when the pain of poverty, abandonment and loss 

                 was  worsened.  We  consider  that  the  Government's  initiative  in  recognising  the  shared 

                involvement of the State and those who sought to supplement and provide care which the 

                 State could not, was a very worthy one, particularly as it offered a non-adversarial and 

                speedy avenue for those seeking and needing redress. We felt that the desire to heal and 

                provide help was defeated by the necessary rigours of the adversarial process which was 

                neither  in the  interests of  the genuinely  hurt and  also the  elderly and  sick Sisters  who 

                 would  have  been  required  to  attend  hearings.  And  it  is  for  that  reason  that  we  joined 

                 the scheme. 



          The Oblates of Mary Immaculate 



1.146     The Oblate Order operated Daingean Reformatory School in County Offaly [formerly Glencree] 

          and a detention centre at Scoil Ard-Mhuire in Lusk, County Dublin. 



1.147     The  Oblates  issued  a  press  statement  following  the  broadcast  of  ‘States  of  Fear’  on  28th  April 



           1999. It read: 



                We are asked to comment on the programme “States of Fear”. We would firstly say that 

                the abuse of young people is always abhorrent and abuse of young people in confinement 

                 is  doubly  so.  The  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate  deeply  regret  that  any  young  man  was 

                 mistreated while in their care and offer sincerest apologies. 



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                At  the same  time  we  cannot accept  certain  of the  assertions  made  by the  programme 

                particularly in relation to funding. However, before commenting further, a more detailed 

                study of the available records would be required. We are glad the point was made that 

                many  boys  did experience  kindness.  This  programme has  lifted  a  veil  on the  way  that 

                disadvantaged children have been treated in Irish Society. Hopefully it will prove to be a 

                step in a continuing work of research and healing. 



1.148     Fr  Tom  Murphy,  a  member  of  the  Order,  said  that  the  Oblates  contributed  to  the  Redress 

          Scheme because: 



                We felt that the redress procedure was best for the claimants and that it was better that 

                the money should go to them rather than for legal expenses. We also felt very strongly 

                that this would be and should be a pastoral reaction, a pastoral action if you like, in relation 

                to the whole question of abuse. We also saw a certain value in being one in solidarity 

                with  other  religious  Congregations  who  were  supporting  the  contribution.  It  would  also 

                save surviving members, now elderly, and staff members from the trauma of maybe long, 

                litigious lawsuits. And it  would also sort of avoid any  excessively adversarial modes of 

                civil courts which would give rise to further alienation of claimants. In addition we hope 

                that it would speed up and facilitate a process of closure around this whole question. We 

                also needed to justify pledging funds that we held for our mission for this special purpose 

                of  contributing,  and  after  legal  advice  which  we  felt  we  had  to  have,  we  made  the 

                contribution. 



          Evidence from representatives of the survivor groups 



1.149     Ten groups representing survivors of child abuse were invited to attend the Emergence hearings. 

          These were: 



             (1)  The Irish Deaf Society 



             (2)  Irish SOCA 



             (3)  SOCA UK 



             (4)  Right to Peace 



             (5)  One in Four 



             (6)  Right of Place 



             (7)  Alliance Victim Support 



             (8)  Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International 



             (9)  The Aislinn Centre 



            (10)  The London Irish Women’s Group. 



          The Irish Deaf Society 



1.150     Mr Kevin Stanley gave evidence on behalf of the Irish Deaf Society, a representative body which 

          has a number of umbrella groups within its organisation; one of these is for survivors of abuse 

          who are deaf. This was set up following the broadcast of ‘States of Fear’ and was designed to 

          ‘give deaf people an opportunity to discuss things, their experiences and really to assist in part of 

          the healing process, healing from the pain that they would have experienced’. 



1.151     The  long-term  objectives  of  the  Society  are  to  raise  awareness  that  abuse  has  taken  place  in 

          schools for the deaf, which they believe was directly linked with the introduction of oralism and 

          the banning of sign language, that led to physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. 



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          Irish SOCA 



1.152     Mr  Patrick  Walsh  is  a  member  of  a  survivor  group  known  as  Irish  SOCA  (Survivors  of  Child 

          Abuse), and he was nominated to represent it for the purpose of the Emergence hearings. After 

          the Taoiseach’s statement of 11th  May 1999, a number of firms of solicitors placed advertisements 



          in various  newspapers    in  the  UK  and  Ireland, and   public  meetings  were   organised.  SOCA 

          (Survivors  of  Child  Abuse)  was  established  at  a  meeting  in  London  on  19th June  1999.  Soon 



          afterwards,  SOCA  split  into  two  groups,  Irish  SOCA  and  SOCA  UK.  The  two  groups  were  not 

          mutually exclusive, and many of SOCA’s members belonged to both organisations. 



1.153     Mr Walsh said that the purpose of the group was to act as a support group for survivors, so that 

          they could make representations to the Irish Government on the proposed Commission to Inquire 

          into Child Abuse and Residential Institutions Redress legislation. It has also participated in various 

          consultative processes and made submissions to the Law Reform Commission during its work on 

          the Statute of Limitations. The group also assists its members in seeking access to information 

          and operates a legal referral service. 



1.154     Mr Walsh said that Irish SOCA is funded from ‘the personal resources of the executive members 

          of  Irish SOCA‘.   He   said  it is not  funded   by  the  State, the  Roman     Catholic  Church,   or 

          membership fees. 



          SOCA UK 



1.155     Mr Michael Waters gave evidence on behalf of SOCA UK (Survivors of Child Abuse – UK). He 

          traced the origins of the group to meetings that he used to have with other former residents of 

          Artane at social occasions. These meetings were initially very informal and in the nature of an 

          Artane Old Boys School. 



1.156     In the early years, there were three to four meetings a year. They wrote to everybody they thought 

          might be able to help. The broadcast of ‘Dear Daughter’ in the mid-1990s marked a watershed 

          for them: 



                This without doubt was groundbreaking stuff ... This was the flagship overall, this was the 

                one that now had brought it all mainstream ... 



1.157     He said that it had a major impact on his members: 



                It certainly did because although we were supporting each other and coming up into the 

                mid-90s now you had a mixed group of people. It was no longer a sort of -- although it 

                still had a title until into the mid-90's, the Artane Old Boys, but that was really redundant, 

                that was defunct as such because there was women that was involved as well that had 

                been in the institutes. 



1.158     The first big meeting was in Coventry in 1998, and this venue was chosen to facilitate members 

          travelling from all over the UK. They advertised the meeting in the  Irish Post, and the meeting 

          was  attended  by  approximately  100  people.  That  meeting  was  followed  by  more  meetings  in 

          Coventry and in Birmingham. Numbers had grown to over 500, and the idea to form a group was 

          emerging. Eventually, a meeting was held on 19th  June 1999 in London, and SOCA was launched 

          at this meeting. A constitution was adopted on 27th    June 1999. 



1.159     Mr Waters explained that his organisation has made representations to the Commission to Inquire 

          into Child Abuse and the Redress Board. They also worked towards developing an independent 

          counselling service, as many of their members did not wish to avail of the counselling provided 

          by the Religious Orders. SOCA UK continued to have regular meetings and assist their members 

          in tracing their family of origin, and they also refer people for legal advice. 



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1.160     The group is funded by the Department of Education and Science. 



          Right to Peace 



1.161     Mr Michael O’Brien gave evidence on behalf of ‘Right to Peace’. He said that the origins of his 

          group could be traced back to 1999, when a lady named Josephine Baker organised a meeting 

          to discuss institutional abuse for people who had attended Ferryhouse Industrial School. Following 

          the meeting, a group of approximately 13 former residents of Ferryhouse decided to establish a 

          group ‘to see what we could do about the abuse that we suffered while children, sexual, physical, 

          traumatic and verbal abuse in an institution where we were sent to be cared for, in an institution 

          where  we  were  supposed  to  be  taught,  cleaned,  looked  after  and  fed’.  After  the  meeting,  Mr 

          O’Brien  said   that  he  tried  to promote  his  group   in  the  media  by  placing  advertisements  in 

          newspapers and giving interviews on local radio. He said that the group has approximately 300 

          members and its aim: 



                was to get the State to do something about this abuse. Why? That it would never again 

                happen in this country that any child would be abused again in this country. That was our 

                main aim. Every obstacle that you can think of was put in our way, no help from nobody. 



1.162     He continued: 



                 That's why we set up our group to see can we get our rights back, to see can we get 

                redress for what happened for those of us who didn't do so well after coming out. 



1.163     Mr O’Brien said that Right to Peace engages in counselling, giving advice and holding meetings. 

          The group is funded by the Department of Education and Science. 



          One in Four 



1.164     ‘One  in  Four’  is  a  service-based,  non-profit  organisation  and  a  registered  charity  that  provides 

          support to men and women who have suffered sexual violence or sexual abuse. It was founded 

          by   Mr  Colm   O’Gorman      in the  UK   in  1999.  Mr   O’Gorman     outlined  the  background     to its 

          establishment and its early development as follows: 



                 The charity was originally founded in the UK in 1999 ... It became a registered charity in 

                the year 2000 and it launched its services then. In Ireland I had been personally involved 

                in the making of a documentary with BBC television in relation to clerical sexual abuse. 

                 When that documentary aired we found that our office in London was being inundated 

                with calls from Irish people, people both living in Ireland and in the UK, talking about their 

                own experiences of sexual violence. 



1.165     He continued: 



                 We subsequently in late April 2002 had a meeting with officials of the Department of An 

                 Taoiseach. As a result of that meeting we felt very encouraged to perhaps proceed more 

                speedily than we had first anticipated towards the establishment of an organisation. We 

                submitted proposals to Government and were told to go ahead with the establishment of 

                the Irish organisation. We secured offices in November 2002 and started to see the first 

                clients of the service in about February 2003. 



1.166     The   organisation   provides   a  psychotherapy     programme      and  an   advocacy    programme.     Mr 

          O’Gorman said that the organisation is funded through a variety of means, including grants from 

          the Department of Health and Children and by fundraising. 



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            Right of Place 



1.167       Mr Eugene Tracey gave evidence on behalf of ‘Right of Place’, an organisation established on 



               th 

            10   July 1999 to help survivors of institutional abuse. Following the Taoiseach’s apology, he and 

            another man decided to place an advertisement in the  Cork Examiner, inviting former residents 

            of St Patrick’s Industrial School, Upton to a meeting in Cork on 10th                July 1999. At this meeting, a 



            committee was elected and it was mandated to approach the Government: 



                   with a view  to securing primarily education because a  lot of us people were  lacking in 

                  education through no fault of our own. A lot of us needed counselling and we didn't know 

                  how  to  access  it,  and  it  was  literally  nonexistent.  Housing,  social  housing  situations  – 

                  people  were  living,  including  myself  at  the  time,  in  rat-infested  bedsits.  We  took  all  of 

                  these sort of situations on board. 



1.168       They met with the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Micheal Martin, and a number of officials 

                                                                                           ´ 

            from his Department, and they had discussions about how their aim of providing education and 

            improving conditions for survivors could be achieved. To assist them in their objectives, premises 

            were secured in Cork and leased by the Department on behalf of the group. The premises was 

            used by the group to hold meetings, so as to keep their members informed, and it was also used 

            to provide evening classes and literacy classes for its members. They worked in conjunction with 

            the CORK VEC,28        who provided them with an educational facilitator. The six staff in the building 



                                   29 

                               ´ 

            were paid by FAS. 



1.169       Mr Tracey told the Committee that the education programme had been a great success and had 

            provided courses for many people in schools and universities and trades. 



1.170       The group also became aware that many people who came to give evidence to the Commission 

            needed somewhere to stay before and after they had given their evidence. Having identified this 

            need,  the  organisation  obtained  a  house  with  the  assistance  of  the  Department  of  Health  and 

            Children, and this can accommodate around 30 people. This house is also used for short-term 

            stays for members awaiting housing. In addition, the group received a grant from the Department 

            of Environment,  Heritage and  Local Government,  to build  10 apartments  for the  repatriation of 

            former residents who were living outside Ireland. 



1.171       The organisation was initially funded by the Department of Education and Science, but it is now 

            funded by the Department of Health and Children. 



            Alliance Victim Support 



1.172       Mr   Tom    Hayes    gave    evidence     on   behalf   of  Alliance   Victim    Support.    They    are  a   voluntary 

            organisation. They provide support to survivors in Ireland, particularly those who live in isolated 

            areas. The type of support consists of establishing the living conditions of these people and putting 

            them in touch with professional help and advising them of their statutory entitlements. 



1.173       They receive some funding from the Department of Education and Science. 



            Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International 



1.174       Mr  Tom  Cronin  gave  evidence  on  behalf  of  this  group.  They  were  established  in  the  UK  as  a 

            result of a split with another group in 2002. He identified a number of issues that they would like 

            the Commission  to consider, such  as State financing  of industrial schools  and how the  money 

            was  spent,  the  role  of  medical  personnel  within  the  industrial  school  system,  and  the  role  of 

            the ISPCC. 



            28 Cork VEC – Cork Vocational Education Committees. 

            29  ´ 

              FAS – Training and employment authority. 



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1.175      The group do not receive any funding. 



           The Aislinn Centre 



1.176      Ms Christine Buckley, who is the Director of the Aislinn Centre, gave evidence to the Investigation 

           Committee. She described how, following the broadcast of the programme ‘Dear Daughter’, she 

           and two fellow survivors organised an event in the Royal Dublin Society called ‘A Happy Day’ in 

           April 1996. The purpose of this event was to put former residents in contact with each other, and 

           to  enable  them  to  get  in  touch  with  siblings  with  whom  they  had  lost  contact.  The  event  was 

           attended by 550 people. She spent the next few years raising awareness of the issue of child 

           abuse. After the Taoiseach’s apology in 1999, the Aislinn Centre was established. She said that 

           the Centre operates an  ‘open door policy’, where membership is not required. She insisted that 

           they  do   not  operate    on  a   membership      basis,  but  acknowledged       that  they  had   assisted 

           approximately 3,500 individuals who had made contact with the Centre. 



1.177      The work of the Centre is to promote healing through a variety of ways: counselling, education, 

           and activities which help with self-development. They offer courses in art, music, creative writing, 

           swimming lessons, driving lessons, financial advice through the Money Advice Budgetary Service 

           (MABS), computers, and drama, all with a view to confidence building. 



1.178      The group receives some funding from the Government. 



           The London Irish Women’s Group 



1.179      Ms  Sally  Mulready  gave  evidence  on  behalf  of  the  London  Irish  Women’s  Group.  The  group 

           emerged  from SOCA  UK,  where  many of  the  women who  attended  these  meetings wanted  to 

           meet  and  talk  and  share  experiences  that  were  personal  to  them  as  women,  mothers  and 

           grandmothers. It was set up in November 1999 and is not a rival group, and many of the members 

           are members of other organisations. They have a mailing list of 380 women and hold monthly 

           meetings. The group was involved in negotiations that led to the setting-up of outreach services 

           for survivors in the UK, which is funded by the Department of Education and Science. 



1.180      The organisation does not receive any Government funding. 



           Experts and their assignments 



1.181      The Commission engaged experts to assist in the investigation and to report on a number of areas 

           as outlined below. 



           Physical surroundings – Ciaran Fahy 



1.182      The  Commission  appointed  Mr  Ciaran  Fahy,  Consulting  Engineer,  to  report  on  the  physical 

           environment in which the children resided. His brief was to examine the physical surrounding with 

           particular reference to the buildings in Artane, Clifden and Ferryhouse Industrial Schools as well 

           as  Daingean  Reformatory  School.  His  reports  are  annexed  to  the  chapters  dealing  with  those 

           institutions. 



           Finance – Mazars 



1.183      At the Emergence hearings in July 2004, it was clear that the Congregations would be making 

           the case that they had not been provided with adequate funds to enable them to look after the 

           children properly. Although the representations by the State at the Emergence hearings, and in 

           later submissions,     seemed    to  accept   that  there   was   inadequate    financial  provision   for the 

           institutions, the Committee wished to have this matter explored to try to assess to what extent the 

           lack of finance caused or contributed to failures of care in the system. 



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1.184     The firm of Mazars, Chartered Accountants, was engaged to report on funding. Mazars’ brief was 

          to examine the accounts of a number of specific institutions: Artane, Goldenbridge, Ferryhouse 

          and Daingean, and also to  consider the question of funding more generally, and  to review the 

          adequacy or otherwise of the capitation payments made in respect of children in industrial and 

          reformatory schools. 



1.185     Because of the general importance of the issue of finance to the investigation of the institutions, 

          and  specifically  in  respect  of  those  that  Mazars  examined,  a  full  discussion  of  this  topic  is 

          contained in Vol IV, Chapter 2 of the report, where the Mazars Report is annexed, together with 

          all the submissions that were made in response to the first draft of the report that was circulated. 



          Health records – Professor Anthony Staines 



1.186     The Committee appointed Dr Anthony Staines, formerly of UCD, now Professor of Public Health 

          Medicine in Dublin City University, to lead a small group of researchers in a project to examine 

          health records relating to the children in institutions. It became clear that it was impossible in any 

          reliable way to study the health of children in the institutions on the basis of the limited and variable 

          records that were available. 



1.187     The Committee has not taken the results of this study into account in its analysis of individual 

          institutions, but it recognises and appreciates the assistance that it has received from Professor 

          Staines  and  his  team  in  their  examination  of  the  available  material.  The  study  undertaken  by 

          Professor Staines and his team is annexed at Vol V of this report. 



          Dr Eoin O’Sullivan 



1.188     Dr Eoin O’Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the Department of Social Work and Social 

          Policy, Trinity College Dublin, gave valuable assistance to the Commission in two areas. First, he 

          gave evidence at the opening of the Emergence hearings on 21st            June 2004, where he outlined 



          the history of industrial and reformatory schools in Ireland and helped to establish the historical 

          context of the institutions. 



1.189     The second task undertaken by Dr O’Sullivan was to report on developments in the area of child 

          protection and care in the State, from the time of the Kennedy Committee Report in 1970 to the 

          present day. Dr O’Sullivan’s report is contained in Vol IV of this report. 



          Dr Diarmaid Ferriter 



1.190     Prior to the Phase III hearings, a firm of solicitors representing a large number of complainants 

          commissioned Dr Diarmaid Ferriter, Senior Lecturer in Irish History at St Patrick’s College, Dublin 

          City University, to produce a report. 



1.191     Dr Ferriter set out to: 



                attempt to put more historical context on the events discussed in the public hearings by 

                drawing attention to issues of class, gender and sexuality generally in Irish society, and 

                more specifically, sexual abuse in relation to the State and the legal system, as well as 

                looking at the manner in which information emerged, and was sometimes suppressed. By 

                extension, it will also touch on the institution of the family, emigration and how the State 

                and   the  Catholic  Church    perceived   its role in  relation to  the  moral  welfare   of Irish 

                Catholics. 



1.192     Because Dr Ferriter had already been engaged, the Investigation Committee received his report 

          as a useful document containing expert research and opinion. 



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1.193      Dr  Ferriter’s  report  is  of  interest  and  value,  but  the  Investigation  Committee  was  aware  that, 

           because it deals with many of the questions that are at the very core of the Inquiry itself it could 

           not   be  used   as   the  basis   of  making    conclusions.    Recognising      the  value   of  the  work,   the 

           Commission took over as sponsor, and it also is annexed to Vol IV of this report. 



           Mr Richard Rollinson 



1.194      Mr Richard Rollinson is a retired Director of the Mulberry Care Centre in Oxford. He is an expert 

           in the field of residential childcare in the United Kingdom. The Committee asked him to furnish a 

           brief history of residential childcare in England, as it developed in the later part of the twentieth 

           century, and the report he furnished covers the period 1948 to 1975. Mr Rollinson’s report provides 

           valuable comparative and contextual information on the English system, and is annexed to Vol IV 

           of this report. 



           Professor David Gwynn Morgan 



1.195      Professor  Morgan  is  a  Professor  of  Law  at  University  College,  Cork.  He  provided  enormous 

           assistance to the Committee in research and analysis that extended over a wide area of interest 

           to  the  Committee  and  the  Commission.  His  work  did  not  extend  to  the  individual  chapters  on 

           institutions, nor to the investigation of abuse in them. His particular contributions are reflected in 

           the   chapters    entitled  History   of  Industrial   Schools    and    Reformatories,     Gateways      and   the 

           Department of Education. Professor Morgan conducted original research into material that would 

           have been very difficult to access without the assistance of Mr Jimmy Maloney of the Department 

           of Education and Science, whose contribution is acknowledged. 



           Research project – Professor Alan Carr 

1.196      In  its  Opening  Statement  and  at  the  Second  Public  Sitting  on  20th      July  2000,  the  Commission 



           announced  its  intention  to  conduct  a  research  project.  The  Third  Interim  Report  outlined  the 

           proposed project.30     Difficulties were encountered in setting up the project, and the Commission 



           under Mr Justice Sean Ryan revised the scheme in consultation with Professor Alan Carr of the 

           Department of Psychology, University College Dublin. It was undertaken in 2005 and 2006. There 

           were 247 residents of institutions who gave evidence to the Commission and were interviewed by 

           Professor    Carr’s   research    team.   The   report   containing   the   results  of  the  research    study   is 

           published in full in Volume IV of this report. 



1.197      The  ‘research  study’  stands  alone  and  separate  from  the  work  of  the  Commission,  and  its 

           conclusions were not taken into account in the reports submitted by the two Committees to the 

           Commission. The ‘research study’ comprises original research which adds to the knowledge of 

           this field of study. 



           30 See Third Interim Report, chapter 4. 



           34                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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            Chapter 2 



            History of industrial schools and 

            reformatories1 



           An early nineteenth-century social problem 



2.01       The earliest provision in Britain and Ireland for destitute children is to be found in the Act for the 

            Relief of the Poor of 1598. It provided for the appointment in every parish of ‘overseers of the 

            poor’ with, among other specific duties, those of ‘setting to work the children of all such whose 

            parents shall not be thought able to keep and maintain their children’. In 1771, legislation was 

           enacted, under which overseers were appointed to arrange for the maintenance and education of 

           orphaned or deserted children out of money raised by the parish. It was envisaged, too, that work- 

            houses were to be built, financed either by voluntary contribution or, if these were not forthcoming, 

            by official grants. In fact, neither was available on anything like the scale necessary to meet the 

            need. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in both Ireland and Britain, the rapid 

           growth of populations meant that the parish ceased to be a viable unit for the administration of 

            relief. Destitute children roamed the countryside or streets, foraging for food and pilfering for a 

            livelihood. In Ireland, the Famine (1845–1849) made a bad situation immeasurably worse, leading 

           to the desertion of children by parents. 



2.02       On an official level, the response to this significant social problem was the Poor Relief (Ireland) 

           Act, 1838. This established or confirmed a system of workhouses throughout the country, under 

           the   central  authority   of  the   Irish Poor    Law   Commissioners       (replaced    in  1872    by  the  Local 

           Government Board for Ireland). By 1853, 77,000 children below 15 years of age (one third of them 

           orphans), which was 6.5% of the age cohort, were living in workhouses, while an unknown number 

           of ‘street urchins’ were still living wild in the towns. 



2.03       One of the workhouse system rules was that families were forced to split, with children seeing 

           their  parents  only  once  a  week.  Moreover,  in  the  workhouses,  the  children  had  to  mix  with  all 

           types  of  adult  paupers  and  vagrants,  giving  rise  to  the  real  possibility  of  abuse.  No  effective 

           education  was  provided.  In  addition,  the  stigma  attached  to  workhouses  meant  that  they  were 

            perceived as providing charity for ‘the shameless, the idle and the shiftless’. 



2.04        It  might  have  been  thought  that  an  alternative  policy  to  the  workhouse  could  have  been  tried, 

            namely  to  make  direct  contributions  of  money  or  necessities  to  those  in  need  (a  policy  then 

           generally known as ‘outdoor relief’), since this would allow the poor families involved to be assisted 

           outside the workhouse system. However, this was unpopular in official quarters, because of the 

           danger that it would be taken advantage of by persons who in fact had their own resources on 

           which to draw. It was partly to reduce the chance of this that workhouses had been established: 

           for the orthodox thinking was that charity should be extended only to those who were prepared to 

           accept the harshest and most overcrowded of conditions. 



2.05       Apart    from   these   official efforts,  charitable    organisations    and    individual   philanthropists    also 

           attempted to alleviate the problem by gathering some of these children into orphanages, charity 



           1 This historical overview has drawn extensively on the research provided to the Commission by Professor David 



             Gwynn Morgan, Dr Eoin O’Sullivan; Professor Seamus O’Cinneide; Dr Moira Maguire (who along with Professor 

                                                            ´             ´ 

                    ´ 

             O’Cinneide compiled reports to the Sisters of Mercy); Professor Dermot Keogh (who wrote a report for the 

             Presentation Brothers on Greenmount) and Ms Sheila Lunney (who wrote an MA thesis entitled Institutional Solution 

             to a Social Problem: Industrial Schools in Ireland and the Sisters of Mercy 1869 to 1950). 



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            schools, ‘ragged schools’2         – all institutions depending on voluntary contributions and, often, on 



            voluntary labour. 



2.06        However, neither workhouses nor voluntary efforts were equal to the scale of the problem, and it 

            came to be accepted that something more was required. In the first half of the nineteenth century 

            in Britain and in Ireland, there were several commissions and committees to investigate both the 

            broad subject of poverty3        and the particular needs of poor children. The industrial school system 



            was  proposed  as  a  solution.  This  idea  was  based  on  a  Continental  model  and,  by  the  1850s, 

            Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia had nearly a hundred institutions for criminal and destitute 

            juveniles, whose achievements were well known in Ireland and Britain. The thrust of the education 

            provided in these schools, some of which were called ‘Farm Schools’, was in favour of practical 

            training,  which  would  equip  the  children  for  employment,  rather  than  academic  learning.  This 

            approach fitted in well with the Victorian idea of utilitarian progress, and also helped to provide 

            skills to fuel the Industrial Revolution. The motivation for these reforms has also been variously 

            attributed to the desire to help the needy, or the need to control those whom the authorities viewed 

            as a threat to the existing order. 



            Legislation and establishment 



2.07        This  Continental  model  was  put  into  legislative  effect  and  was  implemented  in  Britain,  in  the 

                     4 

            1850s.    In Ireland a little later, the reformatory system was established by the Reformatory Schools 

            (Ireland) Act, 1858. A decade later, the industrial schools came too, this time by way of a Private 

            Member’s  Bill  introduced  by  The  O’Connor  Don,5              which  became  law  as  the  Industrial  Schools 



            (Ireland) Act, 1868. The reformatories were for those guilty of offences; and industrial schools for 

            those  neglected,  orphaned  or  abandoned;  in  other  words,  not  for  criminal  children,  but  those 

            potentially exposed to crime. This dichotomy was in line with a fairly well-established distinction 

            between a penal school for youthful offenders and a ‘ragged school’ for the poor or vagrant. 



2.08        In Ireland, the initial result of the 1858 and 1868 Acts was that a number of existing voluntary 

            schools and homes applied for and were granted certificates as reformatories or industrial schools. 

            These were for the reception of children committed by the courts, and they became eligible for 

            grants  from  public  funds  for  the  maintenance  of  such  children.  The  next  few  decades  brought 

            extensive  new  buildings  and  institutions.  Although  reformatory  schools  were  established  first, 

            industrial schools soon surpassed them, both in numbers of schools and of pupils. In the seven 

            years after 1858, 10 reformatories (five for females) were certified. By the end of the century, only 

            seven of the 10 original reformatories survived, some of the former reformatories having been re- 

            certified as industrial schools; and, by 1922, only five remained (one of which was a reformatory 

            for  boys    in   Northern     Ireland).   The    reformatory      school    population,     which    was    nearly      800 

            immediately after the passing of the 1858 Act, fell to 300 in 1882, and to 150 in 1900. 



2.09        On the other hand, however, by 1875, there were 50 industrial schools, and the highest number 

            of industrial schools was reached in 1898, when there were a total of 71 schools, of which 61 (56 

            schools for Catholics and five for Protestants) were in the 26 counties. At its height, in 1898 the 



            2 The idea of ‘ragged schools’ was developed in 1818 by John Pounds, a shoemaker. He began teaching poor children 



              without charging fees. 

            3 For example, Royal Commission (Nassau, 1832) to review the working of the Act for the Relief of the Poor, 1601 in 



              England (1832); Royal Commission for Ireland under Archbishop Whately of Dublin (1833–36) to inquire into the 

              conditions of the poor and to ameliorate them; others according to Caul 12, in 1804, 1819, 1823 and 1830. Mary 

              Carpenter’s seminal work, Reformatory Schools for the children of the perishing and dangerous classes and for 

              juvenile offenders (1851)  was among the causes of the Commission of Inquiry into Criminal and Destitute Children 

              [HC 1852–53], before which Mary Carpenter was the principal witness. 

            4 In Britain, the schools were established by way of the Reformatory Schools (Youthful Offenders) Act, 1857 and the 



              Industrial Schools Act, 1854, though the latter applied only to Scotland. The legislation was consolidated in 1866. 

            5 A liberal Catholic described by Cardinal Cullen as ‘the only good man’ in Parliament; and a member of the House of 



              Commons Select Committee of 1861, which studied the problems of educating the destitute. Neilson Hancock, a 

              statistician and social campaigner, was able to show that, although the juvenile crime rate in Ireland was half that of 

              Britain, this proportion was reversed with regard to vagrants under 16 years of age; for Ireland had almost double the 

              British rate of juvenile vagrants. These statistics provided The O’Connor Don with the intellectual ammunition to argue 

              his case for the extension of industrial schools to Ireland. 



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            population in the industrial schools was 7,998 residents, compared with the 6,000 children in the 

            same year in the considerably less salubrious conditions of the workhouses. Moreover, in the late 

            nineteenth century, social and economic conditions in Ireland were such that many children had 

            to be refused places in the schools. In 1882, over 70% of committal entries to industrial schools 

            were made under the category of begging.6 



2.10        The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were eras when social reformers began to notice 

            children as individuals susceptible to neglect and ill-treatment. In Edwardian England, reformers 

            like  Charles  Booth  and  Sebohm  Rowntree  were  attempting  to  quantify  poverty,  analysing  its 

            causes and characteristics. One consequence of this thinking was that all the nineteenth-century 

            legislation in this field7  was replaced by the Children Act, 1908, popularly known as the Children’s 

            Charter. While making relatively slight substantive amendments,8  this Act applied a unified system 



            of  law  to  both  types  of  schools  in  Britain  and  in  Ireland.  The  Children  Act,  1908  dealt  with  a 

            number of topics, among them the prevention of cruelty to children, protection of infant life, and 

            provision  for  juvenile  offence.  However,  its  most  important  provisions  were  in  Part  IV,  which 

            provided the constitutional basis for reformatories and industrial schools. It continued to be the 

            primary legislation for vulnerable children in Ireland until it was amended by the Child Care Act, 

            1991 which was not fully operational until 1996. The 1991 Act was replaced by the Children Act, 

            2001 which was signed into law in July 2001. 



2.11        The 1908 Act was one of a trio of measures introduced by the Home Secretary, Herbert Gladstone, 

            and justly regarded as a late flowering of Victorian reformism. The other two measures were the 

            Probation  of  Offenders  Act,  1907  and  the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  1908,  which  established 

            borstals. Another reform in a slightly earlier period was that the National Society for the Prevention 

            of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) was first established in 1875 in the United States, and then in 

            Britain in 1884, and in Ireland in 1889. 



2.12        It may be worth quoting from section 44 of the Children Act, 1908 since this is the closest the 

            legislation comes to what later generations would call a mission statement for the schools. This 

            section states: 



                   The expression “industrial school” means a school for the industrial training of children, in 

                   which children are lodged, clothed and fed, as well as taught. 



2.13        The definition of a ‘reformatory school’ is defined in the same terms by section 44 of the 1908 

            Act, but, with the substitution of ‘youthful offenders’ for ‘children’. 



            6 The Aberdare Commission of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools 1884, which dealt with the British and 



              Irish systems separately, warmly endorsed the schools. Partly as a result of this, there was a considerable expansion 

              in industrial schools in the 1880s and 1890s. See Jane Barnes, Irish Industrial Schools, 1868–1908 (Irish Academic 

              Press, 1989), p 64. The Cussen Report 1934–1936 credits the early spread of the schools to a speech by the Lord 

              High Chancellor of Ireland, Lord O’Hagan, to the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland (of which he was 

              president), in which he drew attention to the advantages to the social order which would follow on the establishment of 

              the industrial schools: JSSIS Part XXXIX, 1870, 225. 

            7 By 1908, for Ireland alone, the legislation comprised: the Industrial Schools Act, 1868, the Industrial Schools Acts 



              Amendment Act 1880, the Industrial Schools (Ireland) Act, 1885 and the Industrial School Acts Amendment Act, 1894, 

              and the Reformatory Schools (lreland) Act, 1858. Other minor amending Acts were passed in 1893, 1899 and 1901. 

              The 1908 Act substituted the Chief Secretary for Ireland in place of the Home Secretary. 

            8 However, there were two significant improvements in the Act which never received a fair trial in Ireland: day industrial 



              schools, and release on licence. Questioning the advantages of institutional life and perceiving the value of keeping a 

              child in a family environment (unless this was wholly evil) in the late nineteenth century, the Philanthropic Reform 

              Association proposed the establishment of day industrial schools: Jane Barnes, Irish Industrial Schools, 1868–1908 

              (Irish Academic Press 1989), pp 85–86. 



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            Policies underlying the School system 



           Intervention in the family 



2.14        Until the legislation establishing the schools, the law seldom intervened in the affairs of a family. 

           The new legislation, however, gave Magistrates’ Courts (the pre-Independence equivalent of the 

            District Court) jurisdiction to intervene in the interest of the child, usually of the poorer class, to 

            protect their physical or moral wellbeing. Doing so meant a major interference with the family and 

            parental rights. 



2.15        Barnes9   states that, as originally conceived, industrial schools had two objectives: the first being 



           to  provide    appropriate     skills and    training  to  enable    children   ‘to  be   capable    of  supporting 

           themselves by honest labour’; the other being to reform the child’s character. To achieve these 

           ends, it was considered necessary that ‘the links between child and home [be] ruthlessly cut’, on 

           the basis that the home was a bad influence. For this reason, committal was generally imposed 

           for  the  maximum  period,  correspondence  between  the  children  and  families  was  vetted,  and 

            parental visits were allowed only at the discretion of the Manager. 



           Religious ownership and management 



2.16        Each type of school was to be independently managed and run, though subject to State approval 

           and inspection. Thus, a fundamental feature was private, largely religious philanthropy. It seemed 

            natural that churches should take responsibility for providing assistance to the poor. In Ireland, 

           Catholic emancipation in 1829 made the Church a central institution. It was powerful both at the 

            level  of  the  Hierarchy  and,  even  more  so,  at  grassroots  where,  in  the  absence  of  a  trusted 

            landowner class, the priests who were educated and nationalistic were regarded as community 

            leaders.  Apart  from  religion,  the  main  focus  of  the  Church’s  influence  lay  in  education.  The 

            burgeoning character of the Catholic Church in the post-Famine period may be illustrated by the 

           simple  fact  that  the  number  of  nuns  increased  eightfold  between  1841  and  1901.  There  was 

            huge growth in the numbers of priests and Brothers as well as nuns, and the establishment of a 

           comprehensive range of services in the fields of education, health and social services. Moreover, 

           there was even surplus capacity, so that many of the Orders exported personnel and services to 

           America, Canada and Australia. 



2.17       A related issue was the fear of each of the major religions of proselytisation by the other side. On 

           either side, this was not an unreasonable fear: Catholics were moved by the fact that the last relic 

           of Catholic subservience was not gone until 1829. The ‘established Church’ was Protestant, in 

            particular Anglican, and Protestant institutions were more richly resourced. Thus, a major concern 

           of the Catholic side, which persisted into the twentieth century, was to keep Catholic orphans from 

            being taken into the ‘Birds-nests homes’ run by the Protestant orphan societies. On the other side, 

           the immense potential of the Catholic Church as the church of the great majority of the people 

           was  evident.  From  the  perspective  of  both  sides,  the  schools  allowed  an  opportunity  to  imbue 

           children with religion and to present a caring image of the Church.10 



2.18        In response to these considerations, the main modification of the English model, contained in the 

            Irish Industrial Schools Act of 1868, concerned safeguards to prevent any change in the religion 

           of a child committed. Catholic and Protestant children had to be committed to separate schools. 

           The control of the religious was also copperfastened by a provision that State funds could be used 

           only for  maintenance and  not for  capital expenditure  to set  up State  schools; and  that funding 

           would  be  on  a  capitation  basis.  This  avoided  any  suspicion  of  the  Government  favouring  one 

           denomination, which might have existed had payments been based on the institution as an entity. 

            In addition, this met Catholic resistance to State ownership. From the perspective of the State, 

           the  cost  would  be  less,  and  it  was  believed  that  schools  conducted  by  voluntary  management 

           would  retain  an  adaptable  character,  and  that  their  pupils  would  have  better  opportunities  for 

           employment than those afforded by juvenile houses of correction under official management. 



           9 Jane Barnes, Irish Industrial Schools, 1868–1908 (Irish Academic Press, 1989), pp 85–86. 

           10 Brid Fahey Bates, The Institute of Charity: Rosminians, Their Irish Story 1860–2003 (Dublin: Ashfield Publishing 

                ´ 

              Press, 2003), pp 68–69. 



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            Finance 



2.19        A   distinction    that  was    observed      in  the   financial   regime     of  the   schools     was    that  recurring 

            expenditure on food, staff equipment, etc was the responsibility of the State. This was funded by 

            central and local government on a capitation basis,11  whereas capital expenditure was funded by 



            the owners of the schools. This was an incentive to maximise numbers and not to spend money 

            on capital items such as buildings, sports facilities or other benefits for the children. 



2.20        A check was imposed by the Treasury on the granting of new certificates between 1875 and 1879, 

            in  order  to  keep  down  its  contribution.  As  a  result  of  this  policy,  admissions  were  restricted. 

            Moreover, several new schools were built, their founders being  under the impression that they 

            would  be  certified  on  completion,  yet  they  failed  to  receive  certificates  immediately.  One  such 

            school  was  built  for  Roman  Catholic  girls  at  Mallow.  The  building  was  erected  in  1873,  but 

            certification of this School was refused for six years after its completion.12 



2.21        The Children Act, 1908 dropped the restriction on the use of public funds for capital expenditure 

            but, in contrast to the position in England and subject to one or two exceptions, Irish local or, until 

            the  1940s,  central  government  did  not  use  this  power.  Indeed,  the  reality  is  that  Irish  local 

            authorities were often overdue in paying the contributions, even to maintenance, which they were 

            legally obliged to make. 



2.22        The  schools  were  founded  either  by  the  philanthropic  donation  of  a  premises  and  land  by  a 

            concerned       land   owner,     or  the   capital   required     to  build   the   schools     was    raised   by   public 

            subscription from a group of community-minded citizens, with the major impetus in collection and 

            spending      coming     from    the  religious    authorities.    For   instance,    almost     immediately      after   the 

            legislation was enacted, the Dublin Catholic Reformatory Committee was established to meet this 

            financial challenge. 



2.23        Another example was the Cork Reformatory Committee,13                         set up by the Cork Society of the St 



            Vincent de Paul in 1858. They purchased a 112-acre farm at Upton, 14 miles from Cork City, for 

            use as a reformatory school, and they asked the Rosminian Order to take charge of it, as they 

            had experience of operating reformatories in England. A building was completed on the site in 

            1860  at  a  cost  of  £5,000,  and  the  lease  of  the  lands  and  buildings  was  transferred  to  the 

            Rosminians in 1872.14         This operated as St Patrick’s Reformatory School in Upton, County Cork 

            until 1889 and, thereafter, as an industrial school.15 



2.24        In 1869, Lord Granard, the local landowner, invited the Sisters of Mercy to establish a school in 

            Newtownforbes, County Longford. He gave the Sisters a house for use as a convent and gardens, 

            rent free, and an annual cash donation of £90.16  In the same year, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour 



            Industrial School, Newtownforbes, was certified for the reception of 145 girls. 



2.25        One  of  the  legacies  of  this  piece-meal  way  of  establishing  the  schools  was  that  there  was  an 

            uneven geographical distribution of schools throughout Ireland, which had a considerable impact 

            on whether children were likely to end up in an industrial school. 



            ‘Industrial’ training 



2.26        The principal virtue claimed for the schools, by the utilitarian thinkers who championed them, was 

            that they would equip the residents with skills, which would enable them in later life to survive by 



            11 The Children Act, 1908, ss 73–75. In the nineteenth century, most of the recurring expense fell on central government 



               [the Treasury paid 5s/week for each child]. Local authorities’ contribution ranged from 1 shilling to 2/6. Voluntary 

               contributions were very small. The result was that, for example, in 1880: the contributions were as follows: treasury 

               (£68,000); local authorities (£23,000); other sources (parental contributions, voluntary subscriptions and industrial 

               profits): £16,000. 

            12 Barnes, p 50. 

            13 Brid Fahey Bates, p 72. 

                 ´ 

            14 Brid Fahey Bates, p 71. 

                 ´ 

            15 Brid Fahey Bates, p 79. 

                 ´ 

            16 Taken from: The Parish of Clonguish: Its People and its Culture (December 2005), p 15. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                                  39 


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              steady, if humble, employment. In the nineteenth century, this was accomplished in the case of 

                                                                              17 

                                          ´ 

              girls. According to O Cinneide and Maguire: 

                                                    ´ 

                      Girls’ schools provided a narrower range of industrial training than boys schools, focusing 

                      on domestic service, laundry, and sewing. The majority of girls who left industrial schools 

                      went into domestic service. Indeed the schools were a vital source of domestic servants, 

                      particularly because the schools were among the few institutions that provided a coherent 

                      training    program  for        domestic       servants.      Some  schools,          including      High  Park       and     St. 

                      George’s  in  Limerick,  were  particularly  noted  for  their  training  program,  and  girls  from 

                      these schools had no trouble securing work as servants. Goldenbridge Industrial School 

                      was also an important source of trained domestic servants. Mona Hearne, author of Below 

                      Stairs, shows that of the 877 girls discharged from Goldenbridge between 1880 and 1920, 

                      over 300 were placed in service; the nuns kept in touch with these girls for at least three 

                      years after discharge, and only rarely were bad reports received. 



2.27          As to the boys’ schools, they commented: 

                      the [Samuelson Commission’s]18  remit was to examine industrial and technical training in 



                      all   schools,      including       industrial     schools,       throughout        the    United      Kingdom         ...  The 

                      Commission’s  report  was  extremely  critical  of  the  general  standard  of  training  in  Irish 

                      schools generally; the one exception was Irish industrial schools, which they found to be 

                      models of technical and industrial training.19 



2.28          Barnes acknowledged that some schools did in fact excel in providing children with the skills and 

              training which enabled them to support themselves once they were discharged. She took the view 

              that,  in  the  early  years  of  the  system’s  existence,  there  was  some  tension  between  providing 

              industrial training to ameliorate poverty, and the general feeling that industrial training should not 

              facilitate upward social mobility.20 



2.29          Barnes  claimed  that  only  a  small  percentage  of  boys  entered  trades  for  which  they  had  been 

              trained, and that the majority ended up working as unskilled labourers, mainly on farms. However, 

              this could be the result of the general lack of opportunities for poor people in Ireland in the late 

              nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.21 



2.30          Barnes  and  most  other  writers  give  a  largely  favourable  impression  of  the  nineteenth  century 

              industrial  schools  system.  On  the  other  hand,  John  Fagan,  who  was  appointed  Inspector  of 

              Reformatory and Industrial Schools in 1897, criticised virtually all aspects of the system at the end 

              of  the    nineteenth       century,      especially      the   physical      conditions       in  the   schools      and     the   overall 

              condition of the children. He was particularly critical of the poor hygiene and lack of cleanliness 

                                                            22 

                                                                 ´ 

              in  the  majority  of  the  schools.              O  Cinneide  and  Maguire  summarise  Fagan’s  criticisms,  and 

                                                                           ´ 

              comment:23 



                      conditions  in  many  of  the  schools  seem  to  have  deteriorated  around  the  turn  of  the 

                      century, in what Barnes termed a spirit of “complacency and a resistance to change”. 



              17 

                            ´ 

                   ´                ´ 

                 Seamus O Cinneide and Moira Maguire, The Industrial Schools Over A Hundred Years: A Monograph, p 20 

              18 This was a Commission established by the British Parliament to examine industrial and technical training in all 



                 schools throughout the UK. It reported in 1884. 

              19 

                            ´ 

                   ´                ´ 

                 Seamus O Cinneide and Moira Maguire, p 19. 

              20 

                            ´ 

                 Seamus O Cinneide and Moira Maguire, p 19, p 20. 

                   ´                ´ 

              21 

                            ´ 

                   ´                ´ 

                 Seamus O Cinneide and Moira Maguire, p 20. 

              22 

                            ´ 

                   ´                ´ 

                 Seamus O Cinneide and Moira Maguire, p 21. 

              23 

                            ´ 

                 Seamus O Cinneide and Moira Maguire, p 21. 

                   ´                ´ 



              40                                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 71-----------------------

           Chapter 3 



           Gateways 



3.01       Over the period from 1936 to 1970, a total of 170,000 children and young persons (involving about 

                                                                                                     1 

           1.2% of the age cohort) entered the gates of the 50 or so industrial schools.  The period for which 

           they  stayed  varied  widely,  depending  on  the  ground  of  entry;  but  the  average  was  more  than 

           seven years. 



3.02       The result was that, although the population of the schools at any particular time fluctuated widely, 

           it remained above 6,000 from 1936 to 1952, peaking at 6,800 in 1946 partly as a result of the 

           wartime emergency conditions. Thereafter, the improving economic conditions of the 1950s, and 

           even more so in the 1960s, meant that the population in the schools fell steadily to 4,300 in 1960 

           and 1,740 in 1970. This amounted to an average reduction, over the period from 1950 to 1970, 

           of 250 per year. 



3.03       Although the balance varied from decade to decade, the great majority of children were committed 

           because  they  were  ‘needy’.  The  next  most  frequent  grounds  of  entry  were  involvement  in  a 

           criminal  offence  or  school  non-attendance.  Each  of  these  grounds  involved  committal  by  the 

           District Court. The remaining two grounds, which over the entire period from 1936 to 1970 were 

           less frequently used, were being sent by a Health Authority and voluntary entry. 



3.04       The figures for reformatory residents were much smaller than those for industrial schools. There 

           were  only  three reformatories,  and  their  populations (most  of  whom  were offenders)  fluctuated 

           between 100 and 250. Although the average length of stay was one year, this meant that, in the 

           period from 1936 to 1970, a total of approximately 2,000 to 3,000 children and young persons 

           spent time in a reformatory. 



           ‘Needy’ children 



3.05       For the entire period under consideration, the governing law was section 58(1) of the Children 

           Act, 1908 (as amended by the Children Acts, 1929 and 1941). A child could be committed to an 

           industrial school if he or she, inter alia: 



                    (a)   was found begging or receiving alms; 



                    (b)   was  found  not  having  any  home,  or  visible  means  of  subsistence,  or  was  [found] 

                          having no parent or guardian, or a parent or guardian who did not exercise proper 

                          guardianship; or 



                    (c)   was  found destitute,  not  being an  orphan  and  having both  parents  or his  surviving 

                          parent, or in the case of an illegitimate child, his mother, undergoing penal servitude 

                          or imprisonment; or 



                    (d)   was  under  the  care  of  a  parent  or  guardian  who,  by  reason  of  reputed  criminal  or 

                          drunken habits, was unfit to have the care of the child; or 



                    (e)   was the daughter ... of a father who had been convicted of an offence of [sexually 

                          abusing his daughters]; or 



           1 Section 44 of the Children Act, 1908 (as amended by section 6 of the Children Act, 1941) defines ‘child’ as one under 



             the age of 15 (originally 14); and a ‘young person’ as one between the ages of 15 and 17 (originally 14 and 16). This 

             is pursuant to section 57(1) of the Children Act, 1908 as amended by section 9 of the Children Act, 1941. The 

             umbrella term ‘young offenders’ comprehends any offenders between the ages of seven and 21 years. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        41 


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                      (f)   frequented the company of any reputed thief or of any common or reputed prostitute 

                            (other than the child’s mother); or 



                      (g)   was lodging or residing in a house used for prostitution. 



3.06        Section 58(4) of the 1908 Act stated: 



                   Where the parent or guardian of a child proves to a [District Court] that he is unable to 

                   control the child, and that he desires the child to be sent to an industrial school ... the 

                   court, if satisfied on inquiry that it is expedient so to deal with the child, and that the parent 

                   or  guardian  understands  the  results  which  will  follow,  may  order  him  to  be  sent  to  a 

                   certified industrial school. 



3.07        Subsequent legislation expanded the 1908 Act in two main respects. In order to come within the 

            ‘destitute’ category, a child’s parents had, under the 1908 Act, to be in prison or be deceased. The 

            Children Act, 19292       in effect widened this category by providing that a child could be committed if 



            its  parents  were  unable  to  support  it,  in  circumstances  where  both  parents  consented,  or  the 

            court was satisfied that a parent’s consent could be dispensed with owing to mental incapacity 

            or desertion.3 



3.08        Yet, the precise scope of these legislative categories probably did not make a significant difference 

            in  the  numbers  of  children  committed.  Whatever  the  basis  of  the  committal,  these  children  all 

            came  under the  category of  ‘needy’, and  the majority  of them  were as  a result  of  poverty, but 

            some were committed because of other social circumstances such as illegitimacy. 



            Offenders 



3.09        The second largest category of those committed were children or young persons who had been 

            involved  in  an  offence.  Section  57  of  the  Children  Act,  1908  as  amended  by  section  9  of  the 

            Children  Act,  1941  governed  the  law  relating  to  young  offenders.  The  first  issue  was  on  what 

            basis it was decided to send a young offender to a reformatory rather than an industrial school. 

            The main ground was age, although the seriousness of the offence was also a factor. The practice 

            can be best explained in this area by considering the cases in three categories, according to age: 



                     (1)    A  child  under  the  age  of  12  could  not  be  sent  to  a  reformatory  school,  only  to  an 

                            industrial school; and, indeed, the records show relatively few children below the age 

                            of 12 being committed for offences, even to an industrial school. 



                     (2)    A child of (after 1941) 12, 13 or 14 could be sent to an industrial school provided that: 

                            the child was a first offender; there were ‘special circumstances’ as to why the child 

                            should not be sent to a reformatory; and the child would not ‘exercise an evil influence 

                            over  the  other  children’.4     In  fact,  despite  these  conditions,  children  under  15  years 



                            were usually sent to industrial schools. 



                     (3)    It was not open to the court, under the Act, to send the offender aged (after 1941) 15 

                            years and upwards to an industrial school.5               Thus, if a custodial sanction were to be 



                            selected, the only option was the reformatory. 



            2 Later re-enacted in section 10(1)(d) of the Children Act, 1941. 

            3 The full wording of section 10(1)(e) of the 1941 Act was as follows: 



                ‘Provided also that the Court shall not make an order that a child be sent to a certified industrial school on the 

                grounds stated in paragraph (h) unless— 

                    (i) the child’s parents consent or his surviving parent or, in the case of an illegitimate child, his mother consents 

                       to such order being made, or 

                   (ii) the Court is satisfied that owing to mental incapacity or desertion on the part of the child’s parents or his 

                       surviving parent or, in the case of an illegitimate child, his mother, the consent of such parents or parent may 

                       be dispensed with, or 

                   (iii) one of the child’s parents consents to such order being made and the Court being satisfied that, owing to 

                       mental incapacity or desertion on the part of the other parent or to the fact that the other parent is undergoing 

                       imprisonment or penal servitude, the consent of that parent may be dispensed with’. 

            4 Section 58(3) of the Children Act, 1908 as amended by section 10(2) of the Children Act, 1941. 

            5 Section 57(2) of the Children Act, 1908 as amended by section 9(2) of the Children Act, 1941. 



            42                                                                   CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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3.10        Into category 2 above came girls who were regarded as having been ‘morally corrupted’. In 1944,6 



            St  Anne’s  Reformatory  School  in  Kilmacud  was  established  to  accommodate  girls  who  were 

            considered a risk to other children because of sexual experiences. As can be seen in the chapter 

            on St Joseph’s Industrial School, Kilkenny,7 girls as young as eight who had been raped or abused, 



            or  even  those  children  in  contact  with  such  girls,  were  considered  unsuitable  for  an  ordinary 

            industrial  school  and  were  sent  to  St  Anne’s  Reformatory  School.  Unlike  boys,  girls  who  were 

            sent to reformatories were usually sent until their sixteenth birthday. 



3.11        The  reformatory  school  was  reserved  for  the  tougher  type  of  boy,  who  became  eligible  for 

            committal between the ages of 12 and 17 years. After the Children Act, 1941 took effect, the legal 

            period of detention was between two and four years.8                   However, the period of actual detention for 



            boys    was    often   no   more     than   one    year,   provided     that  the   offender’s     behaviour     and    home 

            circumstances  were  satisfactory.  Before  1941,  the  equivalent  period  of  detention  was  between 

            three and five years.9 



3.12        By contrast, boys committed to industrial schools were invariably sent until they were 16 years old. 



3.13        The practice was that offenders were committed to a reformatory only following a straightforward 

            conviction, whereas those sent to an industrial school were sent when charged ‘with an offence 

            punishable  in  the  case  of  an  adult  by  penal  servitude  or  a  less  punishment,  and  the  court  is 

            satisfied that the child should be sent to a certified school’,10  with no conviction being recorded.11 



3.14        Between  1923  and  1943,  the  most  common  offence  for  which  juvenile  males  were  sent  to 

            reformatories  was  larceny;  subsequently,  house-breaking  overtook  larceny  in  the  share  of  the 

            committals.12 



3.15        The position was complicated by the fact that several ways of treating the offender were open to 

            the District Court. Committals to a reformatory or industrial school were just two among several 

            possible sanctions within the range of sanctions that were available, irrespective of the particular 

            offence committed13  since, in the case of young offenders, the law was more concerned with the 



            offender than the offence. 



3.16        A detailed statistical analysis of the use of alternatives to committal shows that, between 1948 

            and 1957, out of 21,000 charges against juvenile offenders, only 701 or 4.5% of those against 

            whom a ‘charge was proved but no order made’ were committed to an industrial school, whilst 

            916 or 18% of those convicted were sent to a reformatory school. 



            6 Kennedy Report, p 1. 

            7 See chapter on St Joseph’s, Kilkenny. 

            8 Section 65(a) of the Children Act, 1908 as amended by section 11(1) of the Children Act, 1941. 

            9 Section 65(a) of the Children Act, 1908. 

            10 Section 58(3) of the Children Act, 1908. 

            11 See sections 57 and 58(3) of the Children Act, 1908. 

            12 Annual Figures for the JLO for 1968–2003 are given in O’Donnell, O’Sullivan and Healy (eds), Crime and Punishment 



               in Ireland 1922 to 2003: A statistical Sourcebook (IPA, 2005), Table 5.3. 

            13 What follows is a paraphrase of section 107 of the 1908 Act where the available sanctions are summarised. Section 



               107 states: 

                  ‘Where a child or young person charged with any offence is tried by any court, and the court is satisfied of his guilt, 

                  the court shall take into consideration the manner in which, under the provisions of this or any other Act enabling 

                  the court to deal with the case, the case should be dealt with, namely, whether— 

                    (a) by dismissing the charge; or 

                    (b) by discharging the offender on his entering into a recongizance; or 

                    (c) by so discharging the offender and placing him under the supervision of a probation officer; or 

                    (d) by committing the offender to the care of a relative or other fit person; or 

                    (e) by sending the offender to an industrial school; or 

                    (f) by sending the offender to a reformatory school; or 

                    (g) by ordering the offender to be whipped; or 

                    (h) by ordering the offender to pay a fine, damages, or costs; or 

                    (i) by ordering the parent or guardian of the offender to pay a fine, damages, or costs; or 

                    (j) by ordering the parent or guardian of the offender to give security for his good behaviour ...’. 



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3.17        The conclusion that may be drawn is that, in general, many District Justices did exercise some 

            care and discrimination before they sent an offender to a school. The question of whether the two 

            most  viable  alternatives,  probation  and  a  ‘fit  person’  order,14            were  under-utilised  is  discussed 



            below. 



            Non-attendance at school 



3.18        For the period under review, the governing statute was the School Attendance Act, 1926. This 

            Act15  made it an offence for a parent to fail to send to school any child below the age of 14 years, 

            it became 15 years after 1972.16  More significantly, if the parent was convicted of a second offence 



            within three months of conviction for the first, the court could ‘if it thinks fit’ either send the child 

            to an industrial  school or make a  ‘fit person’ order. The  thinking seems to have  been that this 

            would be a way of ensuring an education for such children. 



3.19        The annual number of prosecutions of parents ranged between 6,000 and 7,000 for most of the 

            1930s.     This    figure   peaked     in  the   early    1940s,    and    reached      just  below     13,000     in    1944. 

            Subsequently, the numbers fell to the level of the 1930s, before beginning a steep decline in the 

            early 1950s. 



3.20        Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Dun Laoghaire had dedicated full-time School Attendance Officers 

            (SAO). Outside these centres of population, however, the SAO was a local Garda who took on 

            this duty, as one among his many tasks. This was undoubtedly one of the reasons why so many 

            children  committed  under  this  heading  came  from  urban  centres,  as  can  be  seen  from  the 

            statistical analysis below. 



3.21        It seems reasonable to infer from the figures, for both the nation as a whole and Dublin, that the 

            children  committed  under  the  1926  Act  were  not  the  victims  of  a  policy  of  pouncing  on  a  few 

            arbitrarily chosen children. Rather, there was a process with some flexibility and with intermediate 

            stages before the point of committal was reached. Yet, while not arbitrary, the system was severe 

            and  far-reaching:  from  visits  to  parents  to  formal  warnings,  through  prosecution  of  parents,  to 

            eventual  committal.  A  striking  point  of  contrast  appeared  from  Table  IV  of  the  Tuairim  Report, 

            showing that those admitted to approved schools (equivalent of industrial schools or reformatories) 

            in  England  in  1964  for  ‘truancy’  numbered  45,  compared  with  66  in  the  same  year  in  Ireland, 

            although England had 16 times the relevant age cohort. 



3.22        Committal  to  an  industrial  school  was  most  extreme  in  the  case  of  non-attendance  at  school. 

            Neediness could have complicated causes that were hard to resolve. It could be argued that there 

            needed to be some sanction for juveniles who offended. However, non-attendance at school was 

            not so heinous that it called for sanction of such severity. The enormity of committing a child for 

            several years, simply for failure to attend school, began to be appreciated more as time went on. 



3.23        A major issue was the fact that it was a court which was selected as the agency through which 

            children and young persons were directed to a reformatory or an industrial school. Historically, 



            14 Section 17(4)(a) and (b) of the School Attendance Act, 1926. 

            15 Section 17 of the School Attendance Act, 1926 states: 



                   ‘(1) Whenever a parent fails or neglects to cause his child to whom this Act applies to attend school in accordance 

                 with  this  Act  and,  so  far  as  is  known  to  the  enforcing  authority  of  the  school  attendance  area  in  which  the  child 

                 resides, there is no reasonable excuse for such failure or neglect, such enforcing authority shall serve on such parent 

                 a warning in the prescribed form ... 

                   (2) If a parent does not comply with a warning duly served on him under this section, he shall, unless he satisfies 

                 the Court that he has used all reasonable efforts to cause the child to attend school in accordance with the Act, be 

                 guilty of an offence under this section ... 

                   (4)  If  in  any proceedings  against  a  parent  under  this section  the  parent  satisfies  the  court  that he  has  used  all 

                 reasonable efforts to cause the child to whom the proceedings relate to attend school in accordance with this Act or 

                 the parent is convicted of a second or subsequent offence under this section in respect of the same child, the court 

                 if it thinks fit may— 

                      (a) order the child to be sent to a certified industrial school ...’. 

            16 SI 105/1972: School Attendance Act, 1926 (Extension of Application) Order, 1972 raised the school leaving age from 



               14 to 15. 



            44                                                                   CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 75-----------------------

           the reason for this seems to have been the simple, human rights point that, given the significant 

           deprivation of liberty involved, it would have been inappropriate if this important decision had been 

           vested in, for example, a local health authority. However, the court was known to the residents 

           themselves, and everyone else, principally as a place in which minor criminal offences were tried. 

           The inevitable result was that those committed were unfairly stigmatised as criminals whereas, in 

           fact, their only ‘crime’ was poverty. The fundamental unfairness of this was raised consistently by 

           witnesses before the Commission. 



3.24       In  addition,  most  of  the  usual  safeguards  which  are  the  hallmark  of  the  adult  criminal  justice 

           system were denied to those whom a court was considering sending to an industrial school. There 

           was next to no legal representation, and the facts relied on by the Garda/ISPCC Inspector/SAO 

           were seldom contested, so that the issue of whether they had to be proved beyond reasonable 

           doubt scarcely arose. Although there was an appeal process, it was seldom used. 



3.25       Although some ex-staff members stated that they did not like this method of committal, there is 

           considerable evidence, both from documents and oral testimony, that children committed to these 

           schools were seen as being criminals by staff, and that a lot of the mistreatment experienced by 

           the   children   emanated      from   this  perception.    Staff  recalled    that  even   very   young    children 

           remembered appearing in court and talked about it among themselves. The general view was that 

           committal through the courts was logical only if the schools were regarded as places of detention. 

           In England, the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933 had established a radical distinction. It 

           confined  the  courts’  involvement  with  children  or  juveniles  to  those  who  were  accused  of  an 

           offence. 



3.26       The Courts of Justice Act, 1924 made provision for the setting-up of Children’s Courts in separate 

           buildings, in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. However, only one such court came into being, 

           in Dublin:17  the Dublin Metropolitan Children’s Court, which was established in 1923. 



3.27       The case for committal of a child was presented to the court by an Inspector of the ISPCC, who 

           was  also  colloquially  known  as  the  ‘cruelty  man’,  or  less  often  by  the  Catholic  Protection  and 

           Rescue Society, or by an SAO or a Garda (depending on which ground was being relied upon). 



3.28       The main factor shaping the procedure was that the child was almost always unrepresented. A 

           parent (or guardian) was required by law to be present, and the mother frequently appeared before 

           the  court.  The  parent  was  usually  uneducated  and,  in  an  age  of  deference,  dominated  by  the 

           circumstances of the proceedings. They were unlikely to be able to make the best of any case 

           against  committal.  As  regards  facts,  the  evidence  of  the  ISPCC  Inspector  or  the  SAO  was 

           seldom contested. 



3.29       The schools deplored the reluctance of District Justices to make committals or, alternatively, to 

           do so before an offender had committed so many crimes that a school would have no rehabilitative 

           effect on him. In the 1960s, they complained, too, that committals were for too short a period for 

           any good to be done. There were fundamentally different understandings of the objectives and 

           potentials of the school. Some District Justices seem to have disapproved of the schools as places 

           of ‘containment’, to which children were to be sent only as a last resort. By contrast, the schools 

           themselves,  or  at  least  the  managers  speaking  in  public,  would  claim  that  the  schools  were 

           primarily educational not penal institutions, which could be successful  in educating a child and 

           saving him or her from a life of crime or misery. The Managers18                 claimed, too, that the District 



           Justices’   view    had   the  potential   to  be   a   self-fulfilling prophecy,    since   it meant     that  only 

           ‘incorrigibles’ would be sent to the schools. 



3.30       The    number    of  adjournments      which   were    granted   before    the  committal    was   actually   made 

           suggested a judicial reluctance to commit. 



           17 Section 80 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924. 

           18 ‘Managers’ was the term used under the 1908 Act. This later became more commonly referred to as ‘resident 



              manager’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         45 


----------------------- Page 76-----------------------

3.31        Of equal importance with the numbers involved was the length of time for which each child was 

            committed. 



3.32        For reformatories, the ‘period of detention’ was laid down as not less than two, or more than four, 

                    19                                                        20 

            years,     or  in  any  case  not  beyond  the  age  of  19.         In  practice,  the  period  of  actual  detention 

            was  usually  about  one  year,  provided  that  the  offender’s  behaviour  and  home  circumstances 

            were satisfactory.21 



3.33        The  position  in  regard  to  industrial  schools  was  more  complicated.  As  regards  the  children 

            committed by the courts, the almost invariable practice was to commit until the age of 16. The 

            legislation22  appeared to allow the court some discretion in committing children. Nevertheless, up 



            to  the  1960s  in  the  thousands  of  cases  which  have  been  checked,  in  both  the  Dublin  County 

            Borough and provincial courts, the District Justice always made the order apply right up to the 

            time when the child would be 16 years. 



3.34        Given that committal was until 16 years, the length of time for which any child or young person 

            was committed by a court depended on their age at the time of committal. It is significant that 

            those children who were committed for being ‘needy’ were often committed at very tender years. 

            Thus, they had to reside for many years in both a junior industrial school and senior industrial 

            school. 



3.35        The net result was striking. In the case of a reformatory school, an offender was sent away usually 

            for about one year (which was in line with a normal criminal sanction). By contrast, for committal 

            to an industrial school, the age of release was fixed at 16 years, and the length of the committal 

            period varied depending on the age of the child at the date of committal. The justification offered 

            for this anomaly was that committal was seen not as a punishment but as a period for which the 

            child or young person needed protection (or education), until they were old enough to fend for 

                                                                                                    ´ 

            themselves. In any case, the reality comes through in the following Dail exchange: 



                   Deputy Dillon: “May I bespeak the good offices of the Minister with special reference to 

                   this category of children so that they will not be left permanently in industrial schools ...?”. 



                   J Lynch: “... the word ‘permanently’ might create a wrong impression. They would all be 

                   entitled to be released at 14 years of age. For the purposes of childhood, that is surely 

                   permanently”. (DD: vol 166, col 779) 



3.36        These figures varied slightly from decade to decade; however, the average committal period for 

            the period from 1951 to 1960 was: 



                    •    ‘needy’: 8.8 years 

                    •    school non-attendance: 4.2 years 

                    •    offences: 4.1 years. 



3.37        Children  were  occasionally  removed  from  school  by  their  parents  without  the  consent  of  the 

            Minister for Education or the school. For example, some just failed to return from holidays; some 

            parents removed their children from the jurisdiction; and some absconded. 



            19 Section 65(a) of the Children Act, 1908 as amended by section 11(1) of the Children Act, 1941. 

            20 Originally (under the 1908 Act) this was three to five years. However, the 1941 Act reduced this period from two to 



               four years. It also raised the upper age limit of committal to a reformatory from 16 to 17 years, and reduced the 

               period of detention, after which managers could release on licence, from 18 to six months. 

            21 In The Irish Press 27th June 1967, Joseph O’Malley gives the eventual average length of stay in Daingean 



               Reformatory as about 15 months. 

            22 Section 65(b) of the Children Act, 1908 states: 



                   ‘The detention order shall specify the time for which the youthful offender or child is to be detained in the school, 

                   being— ... in the case of a child sent to an industrial school, such time as to the court may seem proper for the 

                   teaching and training of the child, but not in any case extending beyond the time when the child will, in the 

                   opinion of the court, attain the age of sixteen years’. 



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3.38         However,  more  official  removals  could  be  made  by  the  exercise  of  the  Minister’s  discretion  to 

            order early discharge, usually because there had been a change in family circumstances or where 

            a parent made a complaint about abuse. 



3.39        A parent or guardian of a child detained in an industrial school had the right to apply to the Minister 

            for Education for the release of the child.23  The relevant legislation was, in the first place, section 



            69(3) of the 1908 Act, which gave the Minister discretion to release any child or young person 

            committed. Following the constitutional challenge in the Doyle case,24                        the law was amended by 



            the Children (Amendment) Act, 1957 which made the exercise of this discretion mandatory where 

            the circumstances that had given rise to the committal order had ceased and were not likely to 

            recur; and, further, where the parents were able to support the child. This change did not apply 

            to offenders or those committed for non-attendance at school. 



3.40        This  trend  in  favour  of  early  discharge  was  intensified  following  the  Kennedy  Report  in  1970, 

            which stated: 



                   The  whole  aim  of  the  Child  Care  system  should  be  geared  towards  the  prevention  of 

                   family  break-down  and  the  problems  consequent  on  it.  The  committal  or  admission  of 

                    children  to  Residential  Care  should  be  considered  only  when  there  is  no  satisfactory 

                    alternative.25 



3.41        One of the most influential of the persons consulted, though his authority did not always carry the 

            day, was the Manager of the relevant school. Their counsel was usually against early discharge: 

            no case of the school authorities taking the initiative to secure a release has been found in the 

            documents. Leaving aside any financial disincentive, the Resident Manager would probably have 

            considered  that  the  best  option  for  a  child  was  staying  in  the  School  and  would  have  been 

            inherently  unlikely  to  draw  back  and  determine  dispassionately  that  any  child  would  be  better 

            off elsewhere. 



3.42        The  average  percentage  of  applications  for  early  discharge,  as  compared  with  the  average 

            percentage  population  in  the  schools,  was  6.1%.  Of  these  applications,  an  average  of  72% 

            succeeded. This was a fairly small number of applications, and may suggest that the system of 

            early release was not well known. 



3.43        Throughout the 1950s, the number of successful applications increased. This trend was in line 

            with the general improvement in economic and social conditions in the country over the course 



            23 Section 69(1) of the Children Act, 1908 states: 



                ‘The [Minister] may at any time order a youthful offender or a child to be discharged from a certified school, either 

                absolutely or on such conditions as the [Minister] approves ...’. 

            Section 5 of the Children (Amendment) Act, 1957, which superseded the 1908 Act provision, in the case of children 

            committed under [section 58 of 1908 Act], stated: 

                ‘(1) Where— 

                    (a) a child has been committed to an industrial school under section 58 of the Principal Act, and 

                    (b) an application is made to the Minister for Education by a parent or guardian for the release of the child, and 

                    (c) the Minister is satisfied that the circumstances which led to the making of the committal order have ceased 

                       and are not likely to recur if the child is released, and that the parent or guardian is able to support the child, 

                       the Minister shall order the discharge of the child. 

                (2) The Minister may, if he so thinks proper, refer the application to the court. 

                (3) If the Minister refuses the application, the parent or guardian may refer it to the court. 

                (4) The court, if satisfied in regard to the matters referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (1), shall have jurisdiction 

              to order the discharge of the child. 

                (5) A reference to the court under this section shall be made to the District Court in the District in which the 

              committal order was made or, if the applicant resides in another District, in that District. 

                (6) The order for the discharge of the child, whether made by the Minister or the court, shall operate to revoke the 

              detention order. 

                (7) (a) Where the District Court or, on appeal, the Circuit Court, orders the discharge of a child, the court may award 

                       costs and expenses to the successful applicant ...’. 

            This provision was introduced in response to the Doyle case discussed at Appendix, para (iii). 

            24 Doyle v Minister for Education. The case was decided in 1956 but not reported until 1989 at [1989] ILRM 277. The 



               Supreme Court decided that, because of the wording of Article 42.1 of the Constitution, the right of parents to raise 

               their children was inalienable and could not be transferred to the State, even with the consent of parents. 

            25 Kennedy Report, p 6. 



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            of the  decade. There  were, however,  notable exceptions:  Artane and  Letterfrack for  boys, and 

            Goldenbridge for girls, stand out in terms of the high percentage of refusals. 



3.44        The  figures  for  reformatories  differ:  St  Conleth’s,  Daingean,  as  the  only  reformatory  school  for 

            boys, had, by its remit, different criteria in relation to the release and discharge of the children, 

            not  least  because  young  offenders  were  committed  by  the  courts  for  a  relatively  short  period, 

            compared to other categories of offender, so the vast majority of applications were turned down. 

            Thus,  there  were  relatively  few  applications,  even  compared  to  the  population  in  the  School. 

            Furthermore, the success rate, at an average of 24%, was much lower than for industrial schools. 



3.45        The process had to be initiated by the parents, who would often have been uninformed as to how 

            to do this. What is missing is any reference to residents whose parents or guardians never applied 

            for  early  discharge  in  the  first  place  or  who  had  no  parents  to  apply.  This  meant  that  children 

            without parents or guardians to apply had no chance of being released. The documents do not 

            contain any reference to release being considered for such children. There was no official agency 

            charged with the  duty of reviewing each case, either  periodically or where there were  signs of 

            a  change  in  the  child  or  in  family  circumstances.  This  was  a  serious  and  fundamental  flaw  in 

            the system. 



3.46        As  mentioned,  there  were  three  paths  to  the  schools,  of  which  the  first  was  committal  via  the 

            District Court, and was by far the most frequently used and has already been covered. At the time 

            of the Kennedy Report, there were 97 (or 4%) of the industrial school population in the voluntary 

            category, with 80% and 16% in the court and health authority categories respectively. However, 

            in an earlier period, when those committed by the court would have been more numerous, children 

            maintained  voluntarily  were  even  less  significant.  For  the  period  1949  to  1969,  the  average 

            ‘voluntary’ population figure was 101 or 2.2% of the entire schools’ population. 



3.47        The  remaining  major  category  was  children  placed  in  certified  industrial  schools  by  the  health 

            authorities. As with children placed voluntarily and directly in the schools, by parents or guardians, 

            such children entered without the involvement of a court and could be withdrawn without legal 

            formality;26  if and when family circumstances permitted. 



3.48        Until it was repealed in 1991, the statutory authority of a health authority or board to place a child 

            in an industrial school was section 55 of the Health Act, 1953 (or its precursors). By this provision, 

            a health authority was empowered to provide for the assistance of a child by boarding the child 

            out, by sending him to an industrial school approved by the Minister for Health or, where the child 

            was not less than 14 years of age, by arranging for his employment.27 



3.49        These powers applied only to two rather narrow categories of child. In addition to a means test, 

            the child had to be either an orphan or had to have been deserted by his parents or parent; and, 

            in the case of an illegitimate child, whose mother was dead or was deserted by the mother, or the 

            parent/guardian had to consent.28 



3.50        The Cussen Report in 1936 took the view that local authorities/health authorities: 



                   as a whole [they] would appear not to have sufficiently appreciated their responsibilities 

                   under law in regard either to the schools or the children, and the evidence which we have 

                   adduced indicates that they still display little interest in the work of the schools beyond 

                   the payment of a weekly capitation grant ... 



            26 Section 56 (2) of the Health Act, 1953 states that: 



               ‘Where a health authority have sent a child to a school approved of by the Minister, the authority— 

                   (a) may at any time, with the consent of the Minister, remove the child from the school, and 

                   (b) shall remove the child from the school if and when required so to do by the Minister or by the managers of the 

                      school, or upon the school ceasing to be approved of by the Minister’. 

            27 Section 55(1) of the Health Act, 1953. 

            28 Section 55(1) and (2) of the Health Act, 1953. 



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 3.51      In the early 1950s, the number of children sent to the schools by boards of health increased for 

           such reasons as the need to find somewhere to house children who would earlier have lived in 

           county  homes.  Whatever  the  causes,  a  pattern  developed  in  the  late  1940s  by  which  health 

           authorities sought to put children in industrial schools, despite the preference of the Department 

           of Health   for  boarding   out  (this tension   between    the  two   authorities  is discussed    in  Eoin 

           O’Sullivan’s chapter). 



 3.52      Accordingly,   the  health   authorities  encouraged     existing   industrial  schools   to  apply  to  the 

           Department of  Health for  the necessary  certification to  enable them  to receive  health authority 

           referrals. 



 3.53      Equally, because of the falling numbers of residents being committed by the courts, schools were 

           actively looking for children, and made the health authorities aware of this. 



 3.54      Little seems to have changed during the quarter of a century up to 1970, when the health boards 

           were established, and they increasingly employed social workers to work with children in care and 

           their families. The social workers saw it as their duty to try to avoid breaking up the family, unless 

           there was no alternative. Where there was no alternative, then fostering was the preferred option. 



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           Chapter 4 



          What the schools were required to do 



4.01      The  Children  Act,  1908  described  in  very  broad  terms  the  functions  of  industrial  schools  and 

           reformatories. The duties and responsibilities of owners and managers of these schools were set 

                                                                                                       ´ 

          out in the Rules and Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Saorstat Eireann which 

                                                                                                   ´ 

          were approved by the then Minister for Education in 1933. 



4.02      The 1933 Rules are set out in full as follows: 



                            RULES AND REGULATIONS 



           FOR THE 



           CERTIFIED INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS 



                         ´   ´ 

           IN SAORSTAT EIREANN 



          Approved by the Minister for Education, under the 54th 



           Section of the Act, 8 Edw. VII., Ch. 67. 



           1. NAME AND OBJECT OF SCHOOL. 



           Date of Certificate. 



           Number  for  which  Certified....Accommodation  is  provided  in  this  School  for  only         children. 

          This  number  shall  not  be  exceeded  at  any  one  time.  No  child  under  the  age  of  six  years  is 

          chargeable to the State Grant, and of the children of the age of six years and upwards not more 

          than         are chargeable to that Grant. 



          2. CONSTITUTION AND MANAGEMENT. 



          3. CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION. 



           Being [Roman Catholic Girls/ Boys] sent under the provisions of the Children Act, 1908, or the 

           School Attendance Act, 1926, or the Children Act, 1929, or otherwise as the Management may 

          determine. 



          4. LODGING. 



          The children lodged in the School shall have separate beds. Every decision to board out a Child, 

           under the 53rd Section of the Children Act, 1908, shall have received previous sanction from the 

           Minister for Education, through the Inspector of Industrial Schools. 



           5. CLOTHING. 



          The children shall be supplied with neat, comfortable clothing in good repair, suitable to the season 

          of the year, not necessarily uniform either in material or colour. 



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6. DIETARY. 



The Children shall be supplied with plain wholesome food, according to a Scale of Dietary to be 

drawn up by the Medical Officer of the School and approved by the Inspector. Such food shall be 

suitable in every respect for growing children actively employed and supplemented in the case of 

delicate or physically under-developed children with special food as individual needs require. No 

substantial  alterations  in  the  Dietary  shall  be  made  without  previous  notice  to  the  Inspector.  A 

copy of the Dietary shall be given to the Cook and a further copy kept in the Manager’s Office. 



7. LITERARY INSTRUCTION. 



Subject to Rule 8, all children shall be instructed in accordance with the programme prescribed 

for  National  Schools,  Juniors  (that  is,  children  under  14  years  of  age)  shall  have  for  literary 

instruction and study not less than four and a half hours five days a week and Seniors (that is 

children of 14 years of age and upwards) shall have for the same purpose not less than three 

hours,  five  days  a  week;  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  periods  mentioned  to  be  at  suitable  hours 

between breakfast and dinner, when the most beneficial results are likely to be obtained. Religious 

Instruction may be included in those periods, and, in the case of Seniors, reasonable time may 

be  allotted  to  approved  general  reading.  Should  the  case  of  any  individual  pupil  call  for  the 

modification  of  this  Rule  it  is  to  be  submitted  to  the  Inspector  for  approval.  Senior  boys  shall 

receive  lessons  in  Manual  Instruction  which  may  be  interpreted  to  mean  training  in  the  use  of 

carpenter’s tools. 



8. SCHOOLS. 



The Manager may arrange for children to attend conveniently situated schools, whether Primary, 

Continuation, Secondary or Technical, but always subject to (a) the sanction of the Inspector in 

each case, and (b) the condition that no increased cost is incurred by the State. 



9. INDUSTRIAL TRAINING. 



Industrial employment shall not exceed three and a half hours daily for Juniors or six hours daily 

for Seniors. The training shall, in the case of boys, be directed towards the acquisition of skill in 

and knowledge of farm and garden work or such handicraft as can be taught, due regard being 

given to fitting the boys for the most advantageous employment procurable. The training for girls 

shall in all cases be in accordance with the Domestic Economy Syllabus, and shall also include, 

where practicable, the milking of cows, care of poultry and cottage gardening. 



Each school shall submit for approval by the Inspector a list setting forth the occupations which 

constitute the industrial training of the children and the qualifications of the Instructors employed 

to direct the work. Should additional subjects be added or any subject be withdrawn or suspended, 

notification shall be made to the Inspector without delay. 



10. INSPECTION. 



The  progress  of  the  children  in  the  Literary  Classes  of  the  Schools  and  their  proficiency  in 

Industrial Training will be tested from time to time by Examination and Inspection. 



11. RELIGIOUS EXERCISES AND WORSHIP. 



Each day shall be begun and ended with Prayer. On Sundays and Holidays the Children shall 

attend Public Worship at some convenient Church or Chapel. 



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12. DISCIPLINE. 



The Manager or his Deputy shall be authorised to punish the Children detained in the School in 

case of misconduct. All serious misconduct, and the Punishments inflicted for it, shall be entered 

in a book to be kept for that purpose, which, shall be laid before the Inspector when he visits. The 

Manager must, however, remember that the more closely the School is modelled on a principle 

of judicious family government the more salutary will be its discipline, and the fewer occasions 

will arise for resort to punishment. 



13. PUNISHMENTS. 



Punishments shall consist of:— 



        (a)   Forfeiture of rewards and privileges, or degradation from rank, previously attained by 

              good conduct. 



        (b)   Moderate childish punishment with the hand. 



        (c)   Chastisement with the cane, strap or birch. 



Referring to (c) personal chastisement may be inflicted by the Manager, or, in his presence, by 

an Officer specially authorised by him, and in no case may it be inflicted upon girls over 15 years 

of age. In the case of girls under 15, it shall not be inflicted except in cases of urgent necessity, 

each of which must be at once fully reported to the Inspector. Caning on the hand is forbidden. 



No punishment not mentioned above shall be inflicted. 



14. RECREATION. 



Seniors  shall  be  allowed  at  least  two  hours  daily,  and  Juniors  at  least  three  hours  daily,  for 

recreation and shall be taken out occasionally for exercise beyond the boundaries of the school, 

but shall be forbidden to pass the limits assigned to them without permission. 



Games, both indoor and outdoor, shall be encouraged; the required equipment shall be provided; 

and supervision shall be exercised to secure that all children shall take part in the Games. 



Fire Drill shall be held once at the least in every three months, and each alternate Drill shall take 

place at night after the children have retired to the dormitories. A record of the date and hour of 

each Drill shall be kept in the School Diary. 



15. VISITS (RELATIVES AND FRIENDS). 



Parents, other Relations, or intimate Friends, shall be allowed to visit the children at convenient 

times, to be regulated by the Committee or Manager. Such privilege is liable to be forfeited by 

misconduct or interference with the discipline of the School by the Parents, Relatives, or Friends. 

The Manager is authorised to read all Letters which pass to or from the Children in the School, 

and to withhold any which are objectionable. 



Subject to approval of the Inspector, holiday leave to parents or friends may be allowed to every 

well  conducted  child  who  has  been  under  detention  for  at  least  one  year,  provided  the  home 

conditions  are  found  on  investigation  to  be  satisfactory.  Such  leave  shall  be  limited  to  seven 

days annually. 



In a very special or urgent case, such as the serious illness or death of a parent, the Manager 

may also, at his discretion,  if applied to, grant to any child such  brief leave of absence as will 

enable  the child  to  spend not  more  than  one night  at  home: the  circumstances  to be  reported 

forthwith to the Inspector’s Office. 



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16. CHILDREN PLACED OUT ON LICENCE OR APPRENTICED. 



Should the Manager of a School permit a Child, by Licence under the 67th Section of the Children 

Act of 1908, to live with a trustworthy and respectable person, or apprentice the Child to any trade 

or  calling  under   the  70th  Section   of  the  Act,  notice  of  such   placing  out  on   Licence,   or 

apprenticeship of the Child, accompanied by a clear account of the conditions attaching thereto, 

shall be sent, without delay, to the Office of the Inspector. 



17. STATE GRANT. 



Under the present financial arrangement no Child will be paid for out of the Funds voted by the 

Oireachtas until it has reached the age of Six Years. A Child, however, under the age of Six Years 

may be sent to the School under an Order of Detention signed by a District Justice; but in such 

case the State allowance for maintenance will not be made until it shall appear from the Order of 

Detention that the Child is Six Years old – from that date only will it be regularly paid for. 



18. PROVISION ON DISCHARGE. 



On the discharge of a Child from the School, at the expiration of the period of Detention, or when 

Apprenticed, he (or she) shall be provided, at the cost of the Institution, with a sufficient outfit, 

according to the circumstances of the discharge. Children when discharged shall be placed, as 

far as practicable, in some employment or service. If returned to relatives or friends, the travelling 

expenses shall be defrayed by the Manager, unless the relatives or friends are willing to do so. A 

Licence Form shall be issued in every case and the Manager shall maintain communication with 

discharged Children for the full period of supervision prescribed in Section 68(2) of the Children 

Act,  1908.  The   Manager    shall  recall from   the  home   or  from  employment      any  child  whose 

occupation or circumstances are unsatisfactory, and he shall in due course make more suitable 

disposal. 



19. VISITORS. 



The School shall be open to Visitors at convenient times, to be regulated by the Committee (or 

Manager), and a Visitors’ Book shall be kept. The term “visitors” means members of the Public 

interested in the school. 



20. TIME TABLE. 



A Time Table, showing the Hours of Rising, Work, School Instruction, Meals, Recreation, Retiring 

etc., shall be drawn up, shall be approved by the Inspector of Industrial Schools, and shall be 

fixed in the Schoolroom, and carefully adhered to on all occasions. All important deviations from 

it shall be recorded in the School Diary. 



21. JOURNALS, etc. 



The  Manager  (or  Master  or  Matron)  shall  keep  a  Journal  or  Diary  of  everything  important  or 

exceptional that passes in the School. All admissions, discharges, licences and escapes shall be 

recorded  therein,  and  all  Record  Books  shall  be  laid  before  the  Inspector  when  he  visits  the 

School. 



22. MEDICAL OFFICER. 



         I.  A Medical Officer shall be appointed who shall visit the school periodically, a record of 

             his visits being kept in a book to be provided for the purpose. 



        II.  Each child shall be medically examined on admission to the School, and the M.O.’s. 

             written report on the physical condition of the Child should be carefully preserved. 



        III. A record of all admissions to the School Infirmary shall be kept, giving information as 

             to ailment, treatment, and dates of admission and discharge in each case. Infirmary 



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              cases of a serious nature and cases of more than three days duration shall be notified 

              to the Inspector’s Office. 



       IV.   The  M.O.  shall  make  a  quarterly  examination  of  each  child  individually,  and  give  a 

             quarterly  report  as  to  the  fitness  of  the  children  for  the  training  of  the  school,  their 

             general health, and the sanitary state of the school. The quarterly report shall be in 

             such  form  as  may  be  prescribed  from  time  to  time  by  the  Minister  for  Education. 

             Application shall be made to the Minister for the discharge of any child certified by the 

             M.O. as medically unfit for detention. 



        V.   Dental treatment and periodic visits by a Dentist shall be provided and records of such 

             visits shall be kept. 



In  the  event  of  the  serious  illness  of  any  child,  notice  shall  be  sent  to  the  nearest  relatives  or 

guardian and special visits allowed. 



23. INQUESTS. 



In the case of violent death, or of sudden death, not arising in the course of an illness while the 

child is under treatment by the M.O., a report of the circumstances shall be at once made to the 

local Gardai for the information of the Coroner, a similar report being at the same time sent to 

              ´ 

the Inspector. 



24. RETURNS, etc. 



The Manager (or Secretary) shall keep a Register of admissions and discharges, with particulars 

of  the  parentage,  previous  circumstances,  etc.,  of  each  Child  admitted,  and  of  the  disposal  of 

each Child discharged, and such information as may afterwards be obtained regarding him, and 

shall regularly send to the Office of the Inspector the Returns of Admission and Discharge, the 

Quarterly  Accounts  for  their  maintenance,  and  any  other  returns  that  may  be  required  by  the 

Inspector. All Orders of Detention shall be carefully kept amongst the Records of the School. 



25. INSPECTOR. 



All Books and Journals of the School shall be open to the Inspector for examination. Any teacher 

employed  in  the  school  who  does  not  hold  recognised  qualifications  may  be  examined  by  the 

Inspector, if he thinks it necessary, and he shall be informed of the qualifications of new teachers 

on   their  appointment.     Immediate     notice   shall   be  given    to him    of  the  appointment,     death, 

resignation, or dismissal of the Manager and Members of the School Staff. 



26. GENERAL REGULATIONS. 



The Officers and Teachers of the School shall be careful to maintain discipline and order, and to 

attend to the instruction and training of the Children, in conformity with these Regulations. The 

Children    shall  be   required   to  be   respectful   and    obedient    to  all those   entrusted    with   their 

management and training, and to comply with the regulations of the School. 



27. REMOVAL TO A REFORMATORY. 



Whenever  a  Child  is  sent  to  a  Reformatory  School,  under  the  provisions  of  the  71st  or  72nd 

Sections  of  the  Children  Act  of  1908,  the  Manager  shall,  without  delay,  report  the  case  to  the 

Inspector. 



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           28.  CHILD     NOT    PROFESSING        RELIGIOUS       PERSUASION         OF   THE    MANAGER        TO   BE 

           REMOVED BY THE SCHOOL. 



           In order to insure a strict and effectual observance of the provisions of the 66th Section of the 

           Children Act of 1908, in every case in which a Child shall be ordered to be detained in a School 

           managed by Persons of a different Religious Persuasion from that professed by the Parents, or 

           surviving Parent, or (should that be unknown), by the Guardians or Guardian of such Child; (or 

           should that be unknown) different from that in which the Child appears to have been baptized or 

           (that not appearing), different from that professed by the Child the Manager or Teachers of such 

           School shall, upon becoming acquainted with the fact, or having reason to believe that such is 

           the fact, give notice in writing, without delay, to the Inspector, who will thereupon immediately take 

           any necessary steps in the matter. 



           29. ESCAPES. 



           Should  any  Escape  from  the  School  occur,  the  Manager shall,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible, 

           notify the particulars to the nearest Gardai Station, to the Gardai Superintendents of the County 

                                                           ´                         ´ 

           and adjoining Counties, and to the Inspector’s Office. 



           These Rules have been adopted by the Managers of                                                     Industrial 

           School. 



           Corresponding Manager 



                                                     19 



           Approved under the 54th Section of the Children Act of 1908. 



           Minister for Education 



                                                     19 



           Discipline in schools 



4.03       Discipline  was  an  important  issue  in  all  the  schools,  and  excessive  corporal  punishment  for 

           breaches  of discipline  was the  most common  complaint of  former pupils.  Unlike sexual  abuse, 

           which was in all circumstances wrong and unlawful, physical abuse arose, amongst other reasons, 

           out of the then legal entitlement of school authorities to chastise pupils physically. It is important, 

           therefore, to set out fully what the law was in relation to punishment, and to ensure that actions 

           are judged by standards appropriate to their time. 



4.04       The basic law was set out in the Children Act, 1908 which recognised the existing common law 

           right of a parent or teacher to punish a child. Section 37 provided: 



                 Nothing in this Part of this Act shall be construed to take away or affect the right of any 

                 parent, teacher, or other person having the lawful control or charge of a child or young 

                 person to administer punishment to such child or young person. 



4.05       The common law position was that a teacher was entitled to punish a child if the child was of an 

           age when he or she could appreciate the correction; when the punishment was both moderate 

           and reasonable; when the implement used was fit for the purpose and not inappropriate. As to 

           the amount of punishment, that varied with the age, sex and physical condition of the child. 



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4.06        The Children Act, 1908 recognised the existing right to punish children but did not alter it. The Act 

            brought  together  and  consolidated  the  provisions  relating  to  industrial  schools  and  reformatory 

            schools,  and  also  authorised  the  making  of  rules  and  regulations  for  running  such  institutions. 

            Pursuant to that statutory authority, rules and regulations were produced in a form that remained 

            substantially unchanged during the lifetimes of the schools. The Manager of the School signed 

            the certification form containing the rules and regulations and returned it to the Department. The 

            result was that there was official acceptance by the School, through its Manager’s signature, of 

            the rules and regulations contained in the certificate. This was the system that operated until the 

            early 1930s. 



4.07        In  1933,  instead  of     sending  separate  documents  for  signature  to             each  school,  the  Minister 

            embodied the rules in one standard form that was sent to the schools, and these rules are set out 

            in full above. Although the precise form of the document changed over the years, from the late 

            nineteenth century until 1933, when it crystallised into its final shape, the terms and conditions 

            were essentially the same. The regulations governing the schools during the period of this Inquiry 

            are those in the standardised form of 1933. 



4.08        The relevant sections of the 1933 Rules and Regulations relating to corporal punishment are set 

            out again in full below. 



            Rules and regulations governing corporal punishment 



4.09        The 1933 Department of Education Rules and Regulations for Certified Industrial Schools were 

            aimed at reducing corporal punishment to a minimum, and to controlling as far as possible such 

            punishments as were inflicted. 



4.10        Regulation 13 stated: 



                   Punishments shall consist of:— 



                     (a)   Forfeiture of rewards and privileges, or degradation from rank, previously attained by 

                           good conduct. 



                     (b)   Moderate childish punishment with the hand. 



                     (c)   Chastisement with the cane, strap or birch. 



                   Referring    to  (c)  personal    chastisement      may    be   inflicted  by  the   Manager,     or,  in  his 

                   presence, by an Officer specially authorised by him, and in no case may it be inflicted 

                   upon  girls  over  15  years  of  age.  In  the  case  of  girls  under  15,  it  shall  not  be  inflicted 

                   except in cases of urgent necessity, each of which must be at once fully reported to the 

                   Inspector. Caning on the hand is forbidden. 



                   No punishment not mentioned above shall be inflicted. 



4.11        This regulation was prefaced by a clause which counselled caution in its use. It said: 



                   The  Manager or  his  Deputy  shall be  authorised  to punish  the  Children  detained in  the 

                   School in case of misconduct. All serious misconduct, and the Punishments inflicted for 

                   it, shall be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be laid before the 

                   Inspector when he visits. The Manager must, however, remember that the more closely 

                   the School is modelled on a principle of judicious family government the more salutary 

                  will be its discipline, and the fewer occasions will arise for resort to punishment.1 



            Instructions in regard to the infliction of corporal punishment in national schools 

4.12        The 1946 Rules and Regulations for National Schools applied to the ‘education provision’2  within 



            the industrial and reformatory schools. Regulation 96 of these Rules gave specific instructions for 

            the use of corporal punishment in national schools. It stated: 



            1 

                                                                                                         ´ 

                                                                                                      ´ 

              Regulation 12 of the Rules and Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Saorstat Eireann, 1933, approved by 

              the Minister of Education under the Children Act, 1908. 

            2 The Department submits this wording ‘education provision’ means, in other words, the internal national school. 



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                96.(1)    Corporal  Punishment  should  be  administered  only  for  grave  transgression.  In  no 

                          circumstances      should    corporal   punishment      be   administered     for  mere    failure   at 

                          lessons. 



                    (2)   Only   the   principal  teacher,    or  such   other   member     of  the  staff  as   may   be   duly 

                          authorised by the manager for the purpose, should inflict corporal punishment. 



                    (3)   Only a light cane or rod may be used for the purpose of corporal punishment which 

                          should be inflicted only on the open hand. The boxing of children’s ears, the pulling 

                          of  their  hair  or  similar  ill-treatment  is  absolutely  forbidden  and  will  be  visited  with 

                          severe penalties. 



                    (4)   No teacher should carry about a cane or other instrument of punishment. 



                    (5)   Frequent  recourse  to  corporal  punishment  will  be  considered  by  the  Minister  as 

                          indicating bad tone and ineffective discipline. 



4.13       This regulation did not permit the use of the leather strap in the classroom. 



                                                                                                         ´ 

4.14        In  November  1946,  Circular  No  11/1946,  which  was  signed  by  Michael  O  Siochfhrada,  the 

                                                                                                              ´ 

            Department     of  Education     Inspector,    gave   more    detailed   guidelines    on   the  use   of  corporal 

            punishment.  It  was  directed  to  the  Managers  of  all  industrial  schools.  The  title  of  the  Circular 

           was ‘Discipline and Punishment in Certified Schools’. It impressed upon Resident Managers their 

            ‘personal   responsibility    to  ensure    that  the  official  regulations’   on   matters    of  discipline  and 

            punishment  were  ‘faithfully  observed  by  all  the  members  of  the  staffs  of  these  schools’.  The 

           Circular stated that corporal punishment should only be used as a last resort, where other forms 

           of punishment had been unsuccessful as a means of correction. 



4.15       The Circular went on to stipulate: 



                   •     Corporal punishment ‘should be administered only for grave transgressions, and in no 

                         circumstances for mere failure at school lessons or industrial training’. 



                   •     ‘Corporal punishment should in future be confined to the form usually employed in 

                         schools, viz slapping on the open palm with a light cane or strap’. 



                   •     ‘This punishment should only be inflicted by the Resident Manager or by a member of 

                         the school staff specially authorised by him for the purpose’. 



                   •    Any other form of corporal punishment which tends to humiliate a child or expose the 

                         child to ridicule before the other children is also forbidden. Such forms of punishment 

                         would include special clothing, cutting off a girl’s hair, and exceptional treatment at 

                         meals. 



4.16       The Circular attempted to marry the provisions of the 1933 Rules and Regulations for Certified 

           Schools with the new 1946 Rules and Regulations for National Schools. In so doing, a certain 

           amount  of  ambiguity  arose  with  regard  to  the  use  of  a  leather  strap,  which  was  clearly  not 

            permitted in the classroom by the 1946 Rules and Regulations. 



4.17        In December 1946, Circular 15/46, signed by Michael Breathnach, Secretary of the Department 

           of Education, and entitled ‘Circular to Managers and Teachers in regard to the infliction of Corporal 

            Punishment in National Schools’ was sent to all national schools. It appears from this document 

           that two additions were made to section 96(1) and (3) which did not appear when the original 1946 

            Rules and Regulations were circulated to the schools (these additions are identified by italics): 



                  Rule 96(1): Corporal punishment should be administered only for grave transgression. In 

                  no   circumstances      should    corporal   punishment      be   administered     for  mere    failure  at 

                  lessons. 



                  (3) Only a light cane or rod may be used for the purpose of corporal punishment which 

                  should be inflicted only on the open hand. The boxing of children’s ears, the pulling of their 

                  hair or similar ill-treatment is absolutely forbidden and will be visited with severe penalties. 



4.18       The  Circular  did  not  authorise  the  use  of  a  leather  strap  as  an  implement  of  punishment  in 

            national schools. 



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4.19        In 1956, a further Circular from the Department of Education, Circular 17/56 entitled ‘Circular to 

            Managers and Teachers of National Schools in regard to Corporal Punishment’, was issued. This 

            Circular was in response to publicity which had been given to the matter of corporal punishment 

            in national schools, and was issued to re-affirm the Department’s policy with regard to corporal 

            punishment and to give guidance to those ‘who may be disposed to contravene Rule 96 of the 

            Code’. The Circular stated: 



                   In  re-issuing  that  rule,  set  out  hereunder,  opportunity  is  being  taken  to  announce  an 

                   amendment, printed in italics, of Section (3). 



4.20        The full Rule 96 was then set out, with the amendment to section (3) as follows: 



                   (3)  Only  a  light  cane,  rod  or  leather  strap  may  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  corporal 

                   punishment  which  should  be  inflicted  only  on  the  open  hand.  The  boxing  of  children’s 

                   ears,  the  pulling  of  their  hair  or  similar  ill-treatment  is  absolutely  forbidden  and  will  be 

                   visited with severe penalties. 



4.21        This amendment is significant, in that it authorised at an official level the use of the leather strap 

            in national schools after a 10-year gap. The evidence would indicate, however, that the leather 

            strap was used in schools throughout this period. 



4.22        The status of these Circulars could be debated. They were not statutory provisions, neither were 

            they   regulations    or   statutory   instruments     made     under    legislative   authority   conferred     on   the 

            Department.  The Department  was, however,  the relevant  regulatory body  and was  clearly in  a 

            position to issue guidelines and recommendations and instructions. It appears that a school could 

            not be prosecuted for breach of instructions contained in such Circulars. Neither, it would appear, 

            could the Department enjoin observance by way of court order. The Circulars can be regarded as 

            possessing a certain authority, on the basis that they represented the thinking of the Minister and 

            the Department of what constituted reasonable and moderate punishment in schools at that time. 

            Such  views  would  not  be  binding  on  a  court,  but  it  would  appear  that  they  would  have  been 

            relevant to the consideration by a judge or jury as to what was moderate or reasonable in the way 

            of punishment in a school. 



4.23        Abolition  of  corporal  punishment  did  not  occur  in  Irish  schools  until  1st          February  1982,  when 



            Department  of  Education  Circular  9/82  stated  that  any  teacher  who  used  corporal  punishment 

            was now to be ‘regarded as guilty of conduct unbefitting a teacher’ and would be subject to ‘severe 

            disciplinary action’. 



4.24        Although this Circular could have provided grounds for a civil action against a teacher who acted 

            in breach of it, it was not until 19973         that physical punishment by a teacher became a criminal 



            offence. 



4.25        Submissions made by the Christian Brothers and other Congregations on the subject of corporal 

            punishment      and    physical    abuse    emphasised       that  the   historical   context    is essential    to  any 

            investigation.  In  particular,  the  fact  that  such  punishment  was  permissible  and  widespread  in 

            schools  and  homes  at  the  relevant  time  needed  to  be  taken  into  consideration.  The  rules  and 

            prohibitions set out what was permissible or recommended in using corporal punishment, but it 

            did  not  follow  that  departure  from  them  constituted  physical  abuse.  Neither  did  it  follow  that 

            conduct that was occurring in other schools or in families at the time could not be abusive. 



            3 Section 24 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997 provides: 



               ‘The rule of law under which teachers are immune from criminal liability in respect of physical chastisement of pupils 

               is hereby abolished’. 

            With the removal of this immunity, teachers are now subject to section 2(1) of the 1997 Act, which provides that: 

               ‘A person shall be guilty of the offence of assault, who, without lawful excuse, intentionally or recklessly— 

                   (a) directly or indirectly applies force to or causes an impact on the body of another ...’. 

            Teachers who physically chastise pupils may now be guilty of an offence and liable to 12 months’ imprisonment and/or 

            a fine of £1,500, pursuant to section 3(1) of the 1997 Act. 



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4.26       The complexities of this question can be exaggerated and are, in fact, more theoretical than real. 

           People who lived during the time when corporal punishment was legally permissible in schools, 

           and was acceptable in family circumstances, have no difficulty in deciding whether punishments 

           that they experienced or witnessed were excessive. Teachers, parents and children knew what 

           was acceptable, and were able to condemn excesses. They also knew what amounted to cruelty 

           and brutality. The documentary, and much of the oral evidence about physical abuse related to 

           instances that were considered at that time to be wrong, judged by contemporary standards, not 

           by those of today. The term ‘physical abuse’ was not used, but the concepts underlying the term 

           were well understood. 



           Punishment book 



4.27       Pursuant to regulation 12 of the 1933 Rules and Regulations for Certified Industrial Schools, all 

           industrial  schools  were  required  to  keep  a  punishment  book,  in  which  all  serious  punishments 

           were to be recorded. Only two such books, relating to a short period of time,4  were discovered to 



           the Investigation  Committee in the  course of its  inquiries, indicating that  there was a  complete 

           disregard for this requirement on the part of school Managers. This had serious implications for 

           the work of this Committee. Any investigation into historical abuse depends, amongst other factors, 

           on  proper  records  being  maintained;  and  the  information  gleaned  from  one  of  the  punishment 

           books, from St Patrick’s Industrial School, Upton, would indicate that such records would have 

           been a very important reference for the investigation. 



           4 St Patrick’s Industrial School, Upton, County Cork and St Joseph’s Industrial School, Dundalk, County Louth. 



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           Chapter 5 



           Investigation Committee Report – 

           preliminary issues 



5.01       The work of the Committee from late 2004 covered over 20 industrial and reformatory schools. 

           Further modules included the investigation of the career of one abuser, who was employed in a 

           succession of national schools. In addition to these inquiries, other areas examined included the 

           role of the Department of Education, and the funding of the schools. 



5.02       The work of preparation for the hearings was extensive and time-consuming. The steps included: 



                  •    Obtaining statements from the complainants. 

                  •    Locating respondents and obtaining responses from persons named by the 

                        complainants. 



                  •    Obtaining responses from Religious Congregations and Orders affected by the 

                        allegations. 



                  •    Inviting responses from relevant Government Departments. 

                  •    Extensive discovery of documents was also obtained from: the Director of Public 

                        Prosecutions (DPP); An Garda Siochana; the Health Service Executive; and the Irish 

                                                              ´ 

                        Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC). Discovery was also obtained 

                        from: the Department of Education and Science; the Department of Health and 

                        Children; the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform; the Orders and 

                        Congregations and some dioceses; and, occasionally, from the complainants 

                        themselves. 



5.03       A vast amount of material was received through this process, and over a million documents had 

           to be analysed in detail by the legal team in order to ascertain the relevant information needed 

           for the hearings. 



5.04       Individual  books  of  evidence  and  material  were  produced  and  furnished  for  each  hearing,  and 

           circulated to the numerous parties involved in each particular case, including complainants and 

           respondents and Congregations. 



5.05       The  Investigation  Committee  had  sought  to  limit  the  number  of  lawyers  present  at  the  private 

           hearings, in the belief that that would have assisted complainants giving evidence about sensitive 

           or private matters. The Committee referred the matter to the High Court under section 25 of the 

           Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act, 2000 for a decision as to whether its proposal was 

           lawful,  and  the  court  decided  that  it  was  an  interference  with  the  constitutional  rights  of  the 

           respondents  and  Congregations.1       As  a  consequence,  it  was  impossible  to  limit  the  number  of 



           lawyers  who  attended.  A  typical  Phase  II  private  hearing  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of 

           persons at very considerable cost. For example: 



           1 In Re Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse [2002] 3 IR 459. 



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                  •    Chairperson and two Commissioners; 

                  •    Registrar; 

                  •    stenographer; 

                  •    sound engineer; 

                  •    senior and junior counsel and solicitor for complainant; 

                  •    three members of the Investigation Committee’s legal team; 

                  •    two senior members of the particular Congregation or Order; 

                  •    senior and junior counsel and solicitor for an individual respondent plus the individual 

                        respondent; 



                  •    the same for a second named respondent if there was one; 

                  •    the complainant witness. 



5.06       The result was that it was a daunting experience for a witness to come to the Phase II private 

           hearings. The Committee was conscious of this, and tried to make the occasion as informal as 

           possible and to reduce areas of conflict. Counsel co-operated with the Committee in this respect, 

           and  the  Committee  was  appreciative  of  the  manner  in  which  the  lawyers  for  all  the  different 

           interests conducted themselves in the hearings. 



5.07       A small number of institutions were the subject of a more limited form of investigation than by way 

           of full hearings. In the case of St Joseph’s Industrial School, Salthill and St Joseph’s Industrial 

           School, Glin, both run by the Christian Brothers, the institutions themselves and the system of 

           management and the nature of the complaints were all very similar to the matters that had been 

           investigated in all the other Christian Brothers’ schools; and, as a result, it was unnecessary to 

           have full hearings. Instead, the discovered documentary materials were examined for information 

           as to abuse during the relevant period. Significant documents were sent to appropriate parties for 

           comment,  where  those  parties  had  not  produced  the  discovered  material,  and  any  comments 

           received  by  way  of  submission  were  then  taken  into  account  in  the  chapters  on  these  two 

           institutions. 



5.08       A similar method was adopted in investigating Our Lady of Good Counsel, Lota. This institution 

           was  the  subject  of  a  series  of  six  separate  Garda  inquiries,  which  were  continuing  while  the 

           Committee was pursuing its work. A limited number of witnesses had already been heard by the 

           Investigation Committee prior to 2003, and that testimony, together with documentary evidence, 

           formed the basis of the chapter on the institution. 



5.09       One   category    of  institution that  was    not  included   in  full Investigation   Committee     hearings 

           comprised  three  schools  for  deaf  children.  It  was  clear  that  members  of  the  deaf  community 

           wanted to participate. In the consultation period that took place in early 2004, Mr Kevin Stanley 

           and other officials of the Irish Deaf Society attended meetings and offered assistance, and were 

           enthusiastic about their members’ desire to be part of the investigation process. The numbers of 

           persons (109 in total) who notified the Investigation Committee that they wished to participate in 

           its proceedings in respect of deaf schools were as follows: 



                  •    St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, Cabra – 65 

                  •    St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls, Cabra – 23 

                  •    Mary Immaculate School for the Deaf, Beechpark, Stillorgan – 21. 



5.10       Unfortunately,  it  proved  impossible  to  arrange  full  hearings  for  these  institutions.  The  principal 

           difficulty was   in  getting  statements    from   a  sufficient  number     of former    residents   of these 

           institutions.  There   had   been    a  protracted    and   unproductive    correspondence       between    the 



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           Committee and solicitors representing the great majority of the deaf complainants about the taking 

           of statements, and the period of time that was necessary for that purpose, and the cost of doing 

           so. The result was that little had been achieved even by late 2005. It was impracticable to prepare 

           all the necessary materials and to arrange hearings in these cases. Obtaining statements from 

           complainants was only the first step in putting all the pieces together to enable full investigative 

           hearings to take place. Since that first step was not satisfactorily completed in a reasonable time, 

           there was no question of  all the other necessary procedures being completed so  as to enable 

           hearings to take place. 



5.11       The   Investigation   Committee     had,   since  early  2005,    been   implementing     a  programme      of 

           interviewing witnesses who were not heard in private hearings, and decided to offer that facility 

           to all of the deaf complainants. The Committee put in place appropriate interpretative services, 

           and witnesses responded in considerable numbers. A total of 78 persons in this category were 

           interviewed. 



5.12       In  the  circumstances,  limited  investigation  of  these  institutions  was  also  carried  out  by  way  of 

           analysis of documentary material. 



           The programme of interviewing witnesses 



5.13       A  scheme  of  interviews  was  introduced  in  early  2005,  following  the  hearings  into  St  Joseph’s 

           Industrial  School,  Ferryhouse  and  St  Patrick’s  Industrial  School,  Upton.  Selection  of  witnesses 

           had  previously  been  made  in  those  investigations  by  examining  the  documents  that  had  been 

           submitted,  and  a  proportion  of  the  potential  complainant  witnesses  had  been  called  to  testify. 

           There   remained    a  substantial  body   of  witnesses    who   had  the  option   of transferring   to the 

           Confidential Committee, but whose first choice was to contribute to the work of the Investigation 

           Committee. 



5.14       In early 2005, the Committee devised another means of including complainants in the work of the 

           Investigation  Committee:  in  a  progress  report  and  outline  of  work  to  be  done,  the  Committee 

           published  on  its  website  details  of  an  interview  process  that  it  was  introducing.  It  proposed  to 

           invite complainants for interview, which would be carried out by members of the legal team. 



5.15       For  those  institutions  which  the  Committee  was  not  investigating  by  way  of  hearings,  all  the 

           complainants were invited for interview. 



5.16       In respect of three large institutions – Artane, Letterfrack and Daingean – all complainants who 

           were not called to give evidence before the investigation into these institutions were invited to be 

           interviewed by a member of the legal team. 



5.17       In respect of the inquiries into the remaining institutions heard by the Investigation Committee, all 

           complainants were invited to give evidence, and those that did not want to proceed to the hearing 

           were offered an interview. Many complainants proceeded in this manner. 



5.18       The   interviews  had   two   primary   purposes:   first, to furnish   a  means    of checking    or  cross- 

           referencing, to ensure that all relevant topics arising in an institution had been properly considered; 

           and, second, to give everyone who wished to do so a means of participating in the work of the 

           Investigation Committee. 



5.19       The interview process was greatly valued, and witnesses participated in substantial numbers. A 

           total of 552 people ultimately attended for interview. 



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          The Investigation Committee’s method of investigation 

5.20      The  Committee  made  clear,  at  the  meeting  of  7th   May  2004,  the  difficulties  of  identifying  and 



          naming individual respondents accused of abuse. Having considered all the issues, the Committee 

          abandoned  the  policy  of  naming  individual  abusers.  This  policy  change  paved  the  way  for  the 

          Committee to concentrate on the area of investigating further into neglect and emotional abuse 

          issues. 



5.21      The  investigation  into  most  schools  consisted  of  a  Phase  I  public  hearing,  which  allowed  the 

          Congregation involved the opportunity of presenting their case as to how their institutions were 

          managed. It also gave the Congregation the opportunity of making any concessions or arguments 

          that it thought relevant before the hearing of the evidence in private. 



5.22       Most Congregations made concessions of some kind at these hearings, particularly in regard to 

          questions of emotional abuse and neglect. They also furnished useful background materials which 

          it would have been difficult for the Investigation Committee to assemble about the history of the 

           Institution and relevant administrative details. Above all, the Phase I hearings outlined the position 

          that the Congregation was adopting on the questions of abuse in the Institution. 



5.23      There was no cross-examination at the Phase I hearing. Counsel for the Investigation Committee 

          took   the   Congregation     witness   through    the  evidence    and    invited  responses,    and   the 

          Congregation’s own counsel was then able to examine the witness further to clarify any matters. 

          Complainants  and  their  legal  representatives  were  present  at  these  hearings,  but  they  did  not 

          have a role in questioning the witnesses. 



5.24       Phase  II  hearings,  the  private  hearings  into  specific  allegations  of  abuse  in  institutions,  then 

          commenced. When the private hearings were completed, the Phase III public hearings enabled 

          the Congregations to respond to the evidence. 



5.25      The Phase III public hearings also included the Departments of Education and Science; Justice, 

           Equality and Law Reform; and Health and Children, as well as hearings into the Irish Society for 

          the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC). 



5.26      At   these  Phase    III hearings,   legal   teams   that  had   represented    substantial   numbers     of 

          complainants were engaged by the Investigation Committee to cross-examine relevant witnesses. 

          Counsel and solicitors on those occasions took the role of amicus curiae, which is that of a person 

          whose role is to assist a court in a case where it is thought necessary to have interests represented 

          when they are not parties in the action. The Committee expresses its gratitude to counsel and 

          solicitors for performing this role so ably and helpfully.  Submissions were sought and received 

          from complainants and respondents heard following these hearings. 



           Hearings 



5.27      The   Rosminian    Institute was   unique   among    the  Religious   Congregations    and   Orders   in its 

          approach. Management and members were candid in their admissions, they were supportive of 

          the   work   of  the   investigation,  and   they   were   sympathetic    to   their ex-residents.    Other 

          Congregations adopted a more defensive attitude and were more sceptical of evidence of abuse. 



5.28      Some    Congregations  appeared       more  concerned     with  discrediting  the complainant  than    with 

          finding  out  what  had  happened  in  its  institution.  No  person  or  body  should  have  been  more 

          concerned  with  uncovering  instances  of  abuse  than  the  Religious  Congregations  that  ran  the 

          schools.   However,    some    Congregations     perceived   allegations   as  an   attack  on  the  whole 

          Congregation and adopted a defensive position, which militated against the truth emerging. 



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           Contamination 



5.29       Difficulties  arose  from  the  matters  being  investigated  and  the  circumstances  surrounding  the 

           establishment of the Commission and the Residential Institutions Redress Board. 



5.30       The events in question happened a long time ago. Most industrial schools had been closed by 

           the  mid-1970s.  When  the  Investigation  Committee  hearings  took  place,  many  of  the  incidents 

           recalled had taken place at least 40 years prior to that. 



5.31       The Investigation Committee heard from witnesses some of whom had endured lives of hardship 

           and poverty, and many had been afflicted by physical illnesses and psychological problems. Some 

           had experienced substance addictions that tended to impair memory. Many witnesses at private 

           hearings acknowledged such misfortunes. 



5.32       Outside events had the potential to influence evidence given by witnesses. Following the ‘Dear 

           Daughter’ programme in 1996, which documented allegations of abuse in Goldenbridge Industrial 

           School,   there   was    a  flood  of  publicity  about    abuse   in  institutions.  There    were   television 

           programmes such as ‘States of Fear’, which were broadcast by RTE in April and May 1999 dealing 

           with  institutional  abuse,  which  attracted  enormous  public  interest  and  comment.  The  largest 

           institutions such as Artane and Goldenbridge were often discussed in all the media, including the 

           internet. Books of reminiscences appeared, and one major study, ‘Suffer the Little Children’ by 

           Raftery and O’Sullivan,2  was published. 



5.33       The campaign for recognition and redress continued after the establishment of the Commission. 

           Many  meetings  were  held  by  victims’  groups  in  Ireland  and  the  UK.  They  were  also  used  to 

           organise    complainants    to  participate   in the   Commission’s     work.   These    meetings    were   well 

           attended. Members of the audience participated and, on occasions, recounted their experiences 

           of  abuse  in  the  institutions.  These  meetings  were  another  source  of  potential  influence  and 

           suggestion to witnesses. 



5.34       Attending meetings to press for a Redress Scheme, and to provide generally for advantageous 

           conditions for  victims of abuse,  was not  wrong, and it  was entirely to  be expected  that people 

           would  attend  and  would  describe  their       experiences.  Witnesses  who  attended  the  meetings, 

           however, were very defensive and reticent about what went on. The Committee is satisfied that, 

           at some of these meetings, individual accounts of abuse were recounted in detail and individuals 

           were identified. 



5.35       Yet another source of potential pressure and influence on witnesses complaining of abuse was to 

           be found in the developments that led to the enactment of the Statute of Limitations (Amendment) 

           Act, 2000. 



5.36       The story of the amendment to the Statute of Limitations Act, 1957 can usefully begin with the 

           Taoiseach’s  announcement  of  the  package  of  redress  measures  on  11th            May  1999,  when  this 



           Commission was also announced. The Taoiseach announced that the Government would amend 

           the 1957 legislation to enable victims to bring claims for sexual abuse, but it was not anticipated 

           at the time that physical abuse would be included. The progress of the Amendment Bill through 

           the Oireachtas was followed closely, and was discussed at meetings of victims groups all over 

           Ireland and the UK. The Government referred the question to the Law Reform Commission, whose 

           consideration and report also gave rise to public interest. The solution that was put in place in the 

           Statute  of  Limitations  (Amendment)  Act,  2000  was  confined  to  sexual  abuse.  The  Residential 

           Institutions Redress Act, 2002 was not so confined, and extended to the full range of abuse with 



           2 Mary Raftery and Eoin O’Sullivan, Suffer the Little Children (New Island, 1999). 



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           which this investigation is concerned. There was an important period during which there was real 

           concern that compensation might be restricted to cases of sexual abuse. 



5.37       The  amendment  to  the  Statute of  Limitations  conferred  an  entitlement  to  bring  a late  claim  on 

           persons who, by virtue of the trauma associated with sexual abuse, had been unable to bring a 

           claim within the existing limitation period. In addition, it provided for an extension of time to claim 

           for victims who had spoken about their experiences and who therefore would have had difficulty 

           in proving the necessary psychological impairment required by the Act. Such a person qualified 

           by fulfilling one of two conditions, namely: (a) the claimant had consulted a solicitor and had been 

           advised that the  claim was statute barred;  or (b) the claimant  had made a report  to An Garda 

           Siochana about sexual abuse within one year prior to the enactment of the legislation. 

             ´ 



5.38       People giving evidence about events that occurred many years ago in their childhoods might not 

           be precise on detail. Many of them were young children in large institutions, in which the adults 

           dressed the same and were known as ‘Sister’, ‘Brother’, ‘Father’ or by surnames, religious names 

           or nicknames. In addition, staff came and went, and sometimes stayed only for very short periods 

           of time. 



5.39       Potential distorting influences  on evidence were not  confined to complainants. While  some ex- 

           staff members were extraordinarily candid in their acknowledgment of abuses in institutions, others 

           were  unable  to  recall  major  incidents  or  practices  that  were  features  of  them.  There  was  a 

           tendency to shut out unpleasant and embarrassing incidents. The inability of some former staff 

           members to recall any unfavourable aspects of their experiences in institutions was not inspired 

           by a desire to mislead the investigation. It was, rather, incapacity to accommodate the fact that 

           people whose mission was spiritual and religious could have behaved cruelly, basely and self- 

           indulgently, and that colleagues might have stood by or covered up such wrongdoing. 



5.40       It was    not  always    easy   for  respondent     witnesses    to  testify to  the  shortcomings,      either  of 

           themselves or of their colleagues, when they had to do so in the presence of senior members of 

           their own Congregations. 



           Anonymity 



5.41       In the Position Paper published in May 2004, the Investigation Committee considered the question 

           of  naming  individuals  who  were  believed  to  be  guilty  of  committing  abuse  of  children.  The 

           Committee subsequently decided to implement the policy that was set out in the Position Paper. 



5.42       The amending legislation in 2005 only permitted the naming of persons who had been convicted 

           in the criminal courts of abuse of children. The legislation did not require that the person to be 

           named should have been convicted of the specific abuse that was the subject of the report. In 

           other words, if a person had been convicted of abuse of children of some nature at some time, it 

           was permissible under the legislation for him or her to be named as being responsible for abuse 

           in some quite different circumstances or at a different time. 



5.43       Even under the unamended legislation, naming some individuals was always going to be fraught 

           with difficulty and inconsistency. The probability was that only a very small number of persons 

           would actually be named. This issue was debated in the Position Paper, and outlined to the public 

           meeting of the Investigation Committee. The supposed benefits of being able to name persons 

           who committed abuse were outweighed by the disadvantages. 



5.44       The Report does not identify individuals by name in respect of any abuse that they committed. 



5.45       The anonymity of complainants is guaranteed under the Act. 



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 5.46     Although the process is called anonymising, that is a relatively convenient and pronounceable, 

          but somewhat misleading, way of referring to the actual process, which is protecting persons living 

          or  dead  by  giving  them  pseudonyms.  The  mechanics  of  the  process  are  that  respondents  are 

          given  names  from  a  catalogue  of  names  that  have  a  common  source.  For  example,  all  the 

          Christian Brothers are given names of French origin. In other cases, Spanish or Italian names are 

          used. As far as possible, the names have been chosen with a view to emphasising the fact that 

          they are pseudonyms. 



 5.47     Some names have not been anonymised. Officials of the Department of Education are generally 

          described by the names they used in correspondence or reports. 



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68                                                 CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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           Chapter 6 



           The Congregation of Christian 

           Brothers 



           Introduction 



6.01       This preliminary chapter deals with topics that are of general application to the consideration of 

           abuse in industrial schools run by the Christian Brothers. 



           Foundations 



6.02       Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762–1844), a wealthy import and export trader in the city of Waterford, 

           opened a school for poor children in that city in 1802. He began recruiting men who shared his 

           ambition to provide a free education for the poor Catholic children of Ireland. By 1803, a monastery 

           was  built  in  the  city  and  more  young  men  joined.  In  this  way  he  founded  the  Institute  of  the 

           Brothers of the Christian Schools, which became known as the Irish Christian Brothers. 



6.03       His inspiration had come from a remark made by the sister of the Bishop of Waterford, with whom 

           he  was  discussing  his  ambition  to  become  a  member  of  a  religious  Congregation.  A  band  of 

           ragged boys passed by and, pointing to them, she exclaimed, ‘What! would you bury yourself in 

           a cell on the continent rather than devote your wealth and your life to the spiritual and material 

           interest of these poor youths?’ Inspired by these words, Rice talked to other friends, all of whom 

           advised him to undertake the mission to which he was being called. He settled his business affairs 

           in 1800, the most profitable year he had known, and two years later opened his first Christian 

           school. 



6.04       The schools were open to all comers and were free to the poor. He developed a system whereby 

           one Brother, sometimes with a monitor as assistant, would teach about 150 boys who were graded 

           not by age but ability. He was adamant there should be no physical punishment, which he found 

           contrary to his own spirit. In 1820 he wrote, ‘Unless for some faults which rarely occur, corporal 

           punishment is never inflicted’. 



6.05       His  schools  were  a  success  and,  as  Edmund  Rice’s  reputation  spread,  his  Community  grew 

           rapidly  in numbers.    By   1806,   schools   were   established   in  Waterford,   Carrick-on-Suir,    and 

           Dungarvan, and by 1808 the Community had Houses in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Initially, they 

           adopted,  with  modifications,  the  Rule  of  the  Presentation  Order  of  nuns  and,  like  them,  were 

           subject to their local bishops. In 1820, however, the Order now known as the Christian Brothers 

           became  the  first  Irish  Community  of  men  to  be  granted  a  charter  by  the  Holy  See1   and  to  be 



           recognised as a Papal Institute. This new status meant that the Brothers were no longer under 

           the authority of local bishops, and could develop their own internal management, under the overall 

           authority of the Holy See, through the Secretariat of State for Religious. Br Rice was unanimously 

           elected Superior General, and all the Houses were united under the new regime except for Cork, 

           as the local bishop there refused his consent. In 1826, they too joined the greater Congregation, 

           although one member, Br Austin Reardon, opted to remain under the old Order and founded the 

           teaching Congregation of Presentation Brothers. 



           1 The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope. 



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6.06        From 1802 to 1868 the Christian Brothers remained a small group of men who managed only day 

           schools for poor Catholic boys. It was the introduction in 1858 of the industrial school system into 

            Ireland that led to the Congregation moving into the management of residential schools. The new 

           industrial  schools  fitted  in  with  their  charism  of  educating  and  helping  the  poor.  Moreover,  the 

           schools were being subsidised by the State, through a capitation system, whereby a sum was 

           paid for each boy placed in the school. It was a system that for the first time would provide the 

           Christian Brothers with a guaranteed income to feed, clothe, house and educate the boys. 



6.07       The Brothers opened their first industrial school in Artane in 1870. It was a purpose-built school 

           for 825 boys, built to the highest specifications. From that date, there was a rapid expansion of 

           the Christian Brothers throughout Ireland and Great Britain. In 1868 a small number were sent to 

           Australia, and the Congregation rapidly flourished there. In 1875 they moved to Newfoundland, 

           where  they opened  another school.  By 1900  there were  Christian Brothers’  schools in  Ireland, 

            Britain, Australia, Newfoundland, Gibraltar, New Zealand, India and Rome. Soon after that, the 

           Congregation developed in Africa, the USA and later in South America. The Brothers are today a 

           worldwide organisation with institutions in more than 26 countries on all populated continents. 



6.08        In  Ireland,  the  Christian  Brothers  soon  occupied  the  dominant  position  in  the  industrial  school 

           system.  Between  1868  and  1894  they  had  control  of  six  industrial  schools  spread  across  the 

           country, certified to take in a total of 1,750 boys. In 1831 the residence of the Superior General 

           of the Irish Christian Brothers and the centre of teacher training was moved to North Richmond 

           Street (O’Connell Schools) Dublin from Our Lady’s Mount (North Monastery) in Cork. In 1874 it 

           was  transferred  to  Belvedere  House  in  Drumcondra,  now  the  residence  of  the  President  of  St 

            Patrick’s  College,  Drumcondra.  In  1875  the  Brothers  moved  to  Marino  House,  on  the  original 

            Lord Charlemont demesne, and established their Generalate there. They recruited boys for their 

           novitiates in schools across the country and sent them to their boarding schools, such as the one 

           in Baldoyle, where they studied for the Leaving Certificate. 



6.09        In 1956 the Irish Province divided into two, St Helen’s Province and St Mary’s Province. 



6.10       The  growth  in  numbers  of  Christian  Brothers  was  remarkable.  In  1831,  there  were  only  45 

           Christian Brothers. By 1900, there were almost 1,000; and by 1960, there were 4,000 Christian 

            Brothers in Ireland.2 



6.11       The six Christian Brothers’ industrial schools in Ireland were as follows: 



                      Name of School                       Years of operation                 Certified number of boys 



            Artane Industrial School for                        1870–1969                                  825 

             Senior Boys 



             St Joseph’s Industrial School for                  1870–1970                                  145 

             Senior Boys, Tralee 



             St Joseph’s Industrial School for                  1871–1995                                  200 

             Senior Boys, Salthill 



             St Joseph’s Industrial School for                  1872–1966                                  190 

             Senior Boys, Glin 



             St Joseph’s Industrial School for                  1887–1974                                  165 

             Senior Boys, Letterfrack 



             Carriglea Park Industrial School                   1896–1954                                  250 

            for Senior Boys, Dun Laoghaire 



            Total                                                                                         1,750 



           2 B. Coldrey, Faith and Fatherland. The Christian Brothers and the Development of Nationalism, 1838–1921 (Dublin: Gill 



             and Macmillan, 1988), p 22. 



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6.12       The  Congregation  operated,  in  addition,  two  day/boarding  schools,  for  orphans  –  namely,  The 

           O’Brien Institute and St Vincent’s, Glasnevin – and a school for the deaf, St Joseph’s School for 

           the Deaf, Cabra, as well as over 100 primary and secondary schools.3  While the Sisters of Mercy 



           managed  a  much  greater  number  of  industrial  schools  than  the  Brothers,  they  were  diocesan 

           congregations that were not under central management until the  mid-1980s and were in effect 

           independent institutions until then. The Brothers, by contrast, were a unitary organisation under 

           central management and control from 1820. 



6.13       The  Christian  Brothers  became  a  powerful  and  dominant  organisation  in  the  State  and  were 

           responsible for providing primary and post primary education to the majority of Catholic boys in 

           the country. Their greatest involvement was with non-residential education, and only a minority of 

           Brothers were involved in industrial school work at any time. 



6.14       The  extent  of  the  Congregation’s  involvement  in  residential  care  was  reflected  in  the  number 

           of  complaints  (over  700)  received  by  the  Investigation  Committee  from  former  residents  of  its 

           institutions, and in the number of hearings held (149) and interviews given (220). 



6.15       The  Investigation  Committee  conducted  full  investigative  hearings  into  four  of  the  institutions: 

           Artane, Letterfrack, Tralee and Carriglea Park. Limited inquiries by way of analysis of discovered 

           documents took place into the remaining two industrial schools, Salthill and Glin, and St Joseph’s 

           School for Deaf Boys, Cabra. 



           The Christian Brothers’ mission 



6.16       In 1923 the Christian Brothers set out a new Constitution and Rule that reiterated the mission of 

           the Congregation: 



                  The main end of the Congregation is that all its members labour for their own sanctification 

                  by the observance of the Evangelical Counsels and of these Constitutions. The secondary 

                  end is that they endeavour to promote the spiritual good of the neighbour by the instruction 

                  of youth, especially the poor, in religious knowledge, and their training in christian piety. 



                  The Brothers conduct Schools in which they teach the poor gratuitously; Institutions for 

                  orphan and neglected children; Day Schools and Boarding Schools which are maintained 

                  by the fees of the pupils; and other educational works.4 



6.17       The majority of the Brothers who had worked in the industrial schools and who gave evidence 

           made the decision to join the Congregation when they were 13 or 14 years of age. Some spoke 

           of having joined the Christian Brothers at such a young age out of a spirit of adventure and a 

           desire to do good in the world. They received instruction in theology and philosophy, and believed 

           in  the  message  of  salvation  through  good  works  that  was  the  cornerstone  of  the  Christian 

           Brothers’ mission. 



           Organisation and management 

6.18       Supreme authority in the Congregation is vested in the General Chapter5  which is held every six 



           years.  It  is  composed  of  former  senior  office  holders, former  Superiors  General  and  delegates 

           from  each  Province.  The  General  Chapter  is  also  the  Congregation’s  legislative  body  whose 

           statutes  are  known  as  Acts  of  Chapter.  Outside  the  periods  when  the  General  Chapter  is  in 

           session, authority is vested in the Superior General and his Council as the governing body. 



6.19       The General Chapter elects the Superior General and four assistants to serve for a period of six 

           years on the General Council. The Superior General may serve for no more than two consecutive 

           terms. The assistants remain in office until a new General Chapter is convened. 



           3 There are currently 122 schools in the Christian Brother network in Ireland, according to the Marino Institute of 



             Education website. 

           4 Constitutions (1923). 

           5 The general assembly of representatives from the Congregation of the Christian Brothers. 



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6.20       The General Council appoints the Provincials and their assistants, who in turn appoint Superiors 

           to Communities. The basic organisational unit is the Community. Each Community is headed by 

           a Superior, assisted by a Sub-Superior and a local council, all appointed by the Provincial Council. 

           The Superior is appointed for a three-year term and may be reappointed, but, like his superiors, 

            he may only serve two consecutive terms. 



6.21       When a Community of Brothers operated an industrial school, the Provincial Council ensured that 

           their Superior was also the Resident Manager. These dual roles are relevant when considering 

           the statutory demands of the position of Resident Manager. The practice also made it difficult for 

           the  Brothers  to  accept  the  recommendation  of  the  Cussen  Commission6                  that  the  Minister  for 



            Education should control the appointment of Resident Managers. The Congregation was obviously 

           going to guard its right to appoint Superiors of its own Communities. 



6.22        Brothers appointed to the position of Superiors, who thereby became ex officio Resident Managers 

           of the institutions, assumed a very large responsibility but received no training for the role, even 

           though the calibre of the manager affected the whole institution. A good manager not merely ran 

           the  school  well,  but  improved  the  living  conditions  for  staff  and  boys.  A  poor  manager  had  a 

           serious impact on an institution. 



6.23       Although the Congregation was well organised at a national and provincial level, local organisation 

           was  often  unsatisfactory.  There  was  no  discernable  management  structure  in  place  within  the 

            industrial  schools  looked  at  by  the  Committee.  Individual  post-holders  were  appointed  by  the 

            Superior, but there was no system of monitoring or support once the appointment had been made, 

           and there was no obvious system of consultation with younger members of the Community who 

           were often responsible for the day-to-day running of the school. There was no formally recognised 

           complaints     procedure     within   the   local  Community.       This  was    evidenced     by   the   number     of 

           complaints communicated to the Visitor7  that had not been voiced by the Brothers to the Superior 



            in the community. 



6.24       The lack of any safe, secure method of making a complaint was a serious difficulty for the boys. 

            Boys  could  only  speak  about  the  actions  of  a  Brother  to  another  Brother  and  were  naturally 

            reluctant to do so, fearing that they would be disbelieved or reported back to the Brother about 

           whom they complained of. In the 1940s, a sodality8              in Artane allowed boys to make complaints in 



           a safe and confidential environment. Four sexual abusers were uncovered as a result, and were 

            removed  from  the  institution.  This  facility  was  discontinued  and  was  never  introduced  into  any 

           other industrial school run by the Brothers. The obvious success of this initiative was not perceived 

           as  such  by  the  Congregation,  and  it  is  probable  that  a  great  deal  of  the  sexual  abuse  that 

           continued  unchecked  for  many  decades  in  some  schools  could  have  been  prevented  by  the 

            introduction of a simple complaints mechanism. 



            Christian Brothers managers’ meetings 



6.25        Meetings were held annually by the managers of the Congregation’s six industrial schools together 

           with the O’Brien Institute, St Vincent’s, Glasnevin, and St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, Cabra. 

           They  discussed  general  issues  affecting  the  operation  of  their  institutions,  and  little  attention 

           appears to have been focused on the affairs of individual schools. From a review of the minutes 

           of  these    meetings    held   between     1936    and   1965,    it can   be  seen    that  among     the   matters 

           considered were: 



                   •     Dealings with the Department of Education and its policy regarding the institutions. 

                   •     Numbers in the institutions and the impact of decreasing numbers. 



           6 Commission of Inquiry into the Reformatory and Industrial School System Report, 1936 (the Cussen Report) (Dublin: 



             Stationery Office). 

           7 A Visitor was a Congregational Inspector who reported back to the leadership of the Congregation. See 



             Supervision/Visitations below. 

           8 An association where the main object is the well-being and improvement of a different group of persons, such as men, 



             women and children, or more specially, priests, youths, church helpers, prisoners, immigrants, nurses, married people, 

             couples, etc. 



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                  •    Matters concerning the welfare of the children, including health, education, and 

                       aftercare. 



                  •    Financial affairs of the schools including the manner in which accounts should be 

                       maintained and presented, determination of the level of income to be taken by 

                       brothers (stipend) from the school income, payment of teachers; approach to be 

                       adopted in seeking increased grants from the Department. 



                  •    Consideration of issues to be discussed at Resident Managers’ Association 

                       meetings. 



                  •    Other significant issues that might affect the institutions from time to time, for 

                       example the response to the Cussen Report. 



6.26      These  meetings  were  held  in  advance  of  the  annual  meeting  for  Resident  Managers  of  all 

           industrial schools and reformatories, which were convened by the Resident Managers Association. 

          This   association   was   a  means    whereby    industrial schools    could  present   a  united  front  in 

           negotiations with the Department of Education. 



           Funding 



6.27      The Christian Brothers contended that the quality of care provided in their industrial schools was 

          the  best   they  could  provide,   because    the  State  funding   was   significantly below    what  was 

           necessary to provide a proper standard of care. 



6.28      The funding from the State was by the capitation system, whereby a fixed sum was paid to the 

           Congregation for each boy in the institution. Part of the grant was paid by the State and part by 

          the local authority from whose area the child came. 



6.29      According to the Department of Education and Science in its statement furnished in advance of 

          the Phase III hearings, the payment was intended ‘to cover the expenses incurred in maintaining 

          the children in the schools, including clothing, footwear, food, general medical care, staffing and 

           accommodation’.     The   Department    of  Education   and   Science   also  explained   that,  under  the 

           legislation that set up this system, ‘the school premises were owned and provided by the religious 

           orders. The schools provided their own buildings, farms and plant without the aid of the State and 

           local Authorities’. 



6.30      The main disadvantage of the capitation system was that the financial position of the institution 

          was determined by the number of children committed. As a result, there was pressure on schools 

          to maximise numbers and there was no incentive to allow early release of children. 



6.31       In their Opening Submission for the Artane hearings, the Congregation dealt with the question of 

          funding  in  general  terms,  which  applied  to  all  their  industrial  schools.  It  made  two  important 

           assertions: first, it stated that the Kennedy Committee found that the grant aid paid to industrial 

           schools in Ireland was ‘totally inadequate’; and, secondly, it compared the capitation in the State 

          to funding in Northern Ireland and found that the former rate was significantly below the allowance 

           in the neighbouring jurisdiction. 



6.32      With  regard  to  the  Kennedy  Report  finding,  however,  it  must  be  noted  that,  at  the  time  of  the 

           publication  of  that  report  in  1970,  numbers  in  industrial  schools  had  fallen  dramatically  and 

          therefore  the system  of capitation  that depended  on large  numbers of  children in  care was  no 

           longer an appropriate method of funding such schools. Kennedy recommended that the capitation 

           system be replaced by an annual agreed budget, and this was ultimately put in place. 



6.33      Throughout the 1940s and 1950s and for some of the 1960s, capitation was a reasonable method 

           of financing because schools had large numbers of children and the fixed costs associated with 

          the running of these schools could be spread across a larger pupil population. 



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 6.34      The industrial schools run by the Christian Brothers, with the exception of Letterfrack after 1954, 

           had  sufficient  numbers  of  boys  for  economies  of  scale  to  be  an  important  factor  in  assessing 

           adequacy  of  funding.  Farms  provided  food  for  the  institutions  and,  in  some  cases,  additional 

           income. Trades such as tailoring and boot-making provided cheap clothing and could also be a 

           source of additional income. 



 6.35      The chapters on the individual schools reveal that food, clothing, accommodation, education and 

           aftercare were poorly provided. When the Department Inspector raised any of these issues with 

           a Resident Manager, the standard response was that funding was inadequate to provide a higher 

           level of care. 



 6.36      For most of the relevant period funding was adequate to provide basic care for children in industrial 

           schools, particularly during periods of high occupancy. By the late 1960s, falling numbers made 

           it  impossible  for  all  six  industrial  schools  to  stay  open  and,  by  1973,  only  Salthill  continued  to 

           operate. 



 6.37      The Brothers who lived in the monastery, even those with little or no involvement with the school, 

           were assigned a stipend out of the capitation grant. This money was not paid to them personally 

           but put into a fund for the maintenance of the Community. 



 6.38      The level of stipend to be taken from the school was determined internally by the Congregation 

           and on occasion was discussed at the Annual Managers’ Meeting. The 1940 minutes stated: 



                 The Community income is made up mainly by the brothers’ Stipends. The following scale 

                 was decided upon. 



                 Artane: Manager: £500 



                 Sub-Manager: £300 



                 And each of the brothers (engaged in the institution) £120 



                 For all other institutions: 



                 Manager: £300 



                 Sub Manager: £200 



                 And each Brother: £120. 



 6.39      The minutes went on: 



                 The  Community  Expenses  would  not  include  ordinary  “Rations”  such  as  Bread,  Flour, 

                 Meat, Milk, Butter, Fish, Eggs, Vegetables – Laundry, Fuel & Light. Any Balance (cr.) is 

                 to be treated as an Advance from Community to Institution as is done in case of ordinary 

                 House Loan A/c. 



 6.40      By 1954, the stipend had increased to £250 per Brother, and was £400 per Brother in 1964. 



 6.41      The stipend was the same amount irrespective of how much work the Brother did in the institution 

           or in caring for the boys. 



 6.42      Stipends  were  in  effect,  in  the  nature  of  salaries  that  the  Brothers  paid  themselves  out  of  the 

           school income and amounted to a substantial proportion of it. These stipends could represent up 

           to 15% of the total capitation grant received by an institution. 



 6.43      The stipend was sufficient to enable some Communities, notably Artane, Carriglea and Glin, to 

           invest money in the Congregation’s Building Fund and to make payments to the Congregation by 

           way of annual Visitation Dues. 



 6.44      Details of the Building Fund requested by the Committee were furnished between July 2007 and 

           February 2008. 



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6.45      The Congregation stated: 



                The Building Fund consisted of monies which were forwarded to the Provincial Councils 

                by  communities  for  use  in  refurbishing  existing  schools  and  building  new  schools.  A 

                Community submitted excess funds to the Building Fund, which funds could be called on 

                for refurbishments and/or erections of new buildings. 



6.46      This contrasted with the Congregation’s Opening Statement for Artane in which they stated: 



                the Brothers, in keeping with their vocation, lived frugal lives and surplus monies thus, 

                generated in the Community Accounts were lodged to a Building Fund established by the 

                Congregation for use on capital expenditure on Artane. It is quite clear, therefore, that the 

                financial contribution from the Community in Artane to the Institution was substantial. 



6.47      The Congregation was not in a position to say how much money in total was paid into the Building 

           Fund  by their  industrial schools,  but the  accounts furnished  show that  Artane was  consistently 

          one of the largest contributors. Visitation Reports show payments into this fund by all the industrial 

          schools at some point. There was also some evidence of payments out of this fund to the industrial 

          schools,  but  these  were  relatively  small  sums  and  were  generally  concentrated  in  the  period 

           immediately prior to the closure of the institution as an industrial school. 



          Visitation Dues 



6.48       In  the  Phase  III  public  hearing  for  Tralee,  Br  Nolan  was  asked  to  explain  what  the  Visitation 

           Dues were: 



                 The  Brothers  in  the  Community  maintained  their  House  through  taking  a  stipend  and 

                taking a salary from the money available. So also would the Provincial Council, they had 

                no  means  of  support  other  than  putting  a  stipend  on  each  House.  It  is  a  few  hundred 

                pounds. It changed with time of course. It was a levy on each Brother to contribute to the 

                Provincial Council. 



6.49      The accounts for Artane show that the greatest expense in the House accounts over the period 

           1940 to 1969 was annual Visitation Dues. In that period the non-capital expenditure of the House 

          was £236,000, and approximately one-third of this, £82,575, was sent to the Provincial towards 

          the support of the Congregation by way of Visitation Dues. 



6.50       In all of the correspondence between the Department of Education and the Orders on the question 

          of finance, the financial needs of the Community or the Congregation were never discussed. The 

           Department of Education’s understanding of its role as set out above was to pay capitation grants 

           in respect of youthful offenders and children committed to their schools under the provisions of 

          the Children Acts, 1908 and 1941, and the School Attendance Act, 1926. 



6.51      The  stipends  paid  to  all  Brothers,  out  of  which  Visitation  Dues  and  payments  to  the  Building 

           Fund  account  were  made,  represented  a  drain  on  resources  available  for  the  maintenance  of 

          the children. 



          Supervision/Visitations 



6.52      Supervision  of  Communities  was  the  responsibility  of  the  Provincial  Council  for  the  region  and 

          was exercised by way of annual Visitations by a member of the Council. The Visitor stayed with 

          the Community for a number of days, following which he sent a written report to the Provincial 

          Council,  which  was  copied  to  the  Superior  General.  The  Provincial  or  another  member  of  the 

          Council sent a follow-up letter to the Superior of the Community referring to salient points in the 

          report, but the report itself was not given to the Superior. 



6.53      Visitations were a requirement of Canon Law, and their primary objective was to ensure that the 

           Brothers were acting in the spirit of their vocation and observing the rules of the Congregation. In 

          addition, the Visitor was required to inquire into the condition of discipline in the Community, its 



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          finances,  and  its premises.  Although  his  function was  primarily  to  inspect,  the Visitor  was  also 

          required to take immediate action if, during the course of his inspection, he encountered ‘anything 

          of a serious nature ... opposed to the religious spirit’ in the Community. 



6.54      Visitations proceeded according to a formal pattern laid down in the Constitutions of the Order. 

          The Visitor had a preliminary meeting with the Superior and then he had individual meetings with 

          the Brothers. These conversations were confidential, and the Superior was expressly prohibited 

          from attempting to influence what Brothers said in their conversations with the Visitor. The Visitor 

          then  met  the  Superior  for  a  second  time  to  discuss  his  administration  of  the  Community.  The 

          Visitor did not routinely speak to the boys, and only met individual boys on exceptional occasions. 



6.55      Visitation  Reports  for  Communities  attached  to  industrial  schools  followed  the  same  general 

          pattern, dealing with topics of Community observance and usually including comment on some or 

          all of  the  following  topics:  health  and   diet, schools,  premises,    trades,  aftercare,  statistics, 

          recreation, and finances. 



6.56      The rules of the Congregation required that, if ‘serious irregularities’ reported at the time of the 

          Visitation had not been remedied within a period of two months, the Brothers who reported them 

          were to write to the Provincial or the Superior General directly and inform him of their continuance. 



6.57      The Visitations were thorough, and the reports provided a good deal of detail about the operation 

          of the various Communities. Although their purpose was primarily religious and concerned with 

          the  Community,  the  reports  usually  contained  information  about  the  industrial  school  and  the 

          children. Some Brothers were candid in reporting problems to the Visitor, as is demonstrated in 

          the  individual  chapters  on  institutions.  The  system  also  enabled  a  Brother  to  circumvent  his 

          Superior by making a complaint to the Visitor if he felt that the former would not believe him. A 

          number of cases of sexual abuse became known in this fashion. 



6.58      Visitors often made frank observations and they could be severely critical in their reports, although 

          the  summaries  that  the  Provincials  sent  to  the  Managers  were  usually  much  more  discreet  in 

          their comments. 



6.59      Visitation Reports are the single most valuable source of documentary evidence about life in the 

          Brothers’ industrial schools. They were written during inspections or shortly afterwards. The writers 

          were senior members of the Congregation. Reports were intended for internal use by the Council 

          of which the Visitor was a member. Where they contain criticisms of Brothers or institutions, the 

          reports can therefore be considered reliable. 



6.60      The  Visitation Reports  often contain  information and  comment that  are much  more critical  and 

          disapproving than the Department of Education Inspector’s reports, which were also supposed to 

          be  conducted  annually  and  were  focused  on  the  health  of  the  boys  and  the  conditions  within 

          the school. 



6.61      The system had its limitations. In Communities where there were no personnel problems, the staff 

          tended to close ranks. Visitors were more likely to  get a realistic picture of an institution when 

          there were problems in the Community, such as when relations were strained among the Brothers. 

          Some Brothers testified that they were reluctant to complain to the Visitor for a number of reasons, 

          including lack of familiarity with the Visitation system or feeling too junior to report. Others feared 

          they might jeopardise their careers by complaining or that the complaint would get back to their 

          Superior who would react badly to it. Furthermore, there were no objective standards applied to 

          these reports and so different Visitors inspecting within months of each other could come to quite 

          different conclusions as to the adequacy of the management. 



6.62      The major deficiency of the Visitation system was that, while it was able to identify problems in 

          an institution, it did not provide solutions or ensure that changes were put in place. In some cases, 

          the Visitation Report was highly critical of a particular Resident Manager or member of staff, but 

          the Council did nothing to remedy the situation, and the Provincial in his follow-up letter did not 

          even mention the problem. A member of the current Provincial Leadership Team was asked to 



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           explain this failure to act on Visitors’ complaints, and he attributed it to the fact that the Visitation 

           was  a  personal  inspection,  the  report  was  a  discussion  document,  and  the  Provincial  Council 

           might not necessarily agree with all of its conclusions. 



6.63       Even if this interpretation is accepted as applying in certain cases, it does not explain why the 

           Provincial authorities remained inactive in cases where they and the Visitor were united in their 

           criticisms  of  a  particular  staff  member.  The  records  of  the  Congregation  do  not  disclose  any 

           instance when a Superior/ Resident Manager was removed from his post for failing in his duties. 



           Joining, leaving and transferring 



           Joining the Congregation 



6.64       Christian Brothers were recruited when they were very young. Most of the Brothers and former 

           Brothers who gave evidence joined in their early teens, many when only 14 years of age. Brothers 

           known  as  Postulators  travelled  around  the  country  visiting  primary  and  secondary  schools  to 

           recruit boys. The new recruits were then sent to boarding schools operated by the Congregation, 

           where they studied and sat for their Intermediate and Leaving Certificates, before beginning their 

           preparation     for life in  religion.  Brothers    who   were   not   suitable   for teacher    training  became 

           Coadjutor  Brothers  and  worked  as  cooks,  gardeners,  farmers  or  general  support  staff  in  the 

           schools. 



6.65       Many of the Brothers and former Brothers who gave evidence to the Committee described the 

           education and standard of care that they received in these schools as excellent. Conditions were 

           good,  the  quality  of  care  they  received  was  of  a  high  standard  and,  while  life  was  extremely 

           regimented, there was no corporal punishment. 



6.66       One former Brother described his experiences as follows: 



                  [it was a] well run [boarding school] ... much better run school than the one I had left ... It 

                  was immensely pleasant and companionable and I have nothing only good memories of 

                  it.  I  had  no  trouble  about  it  I  think  in  my  mind  ...  When  I  went  to  the  juniorate,  to  Old 

                  Connaught, there was no corporal punishment, there was no sense of fear. They were 

                  much better. I think I had a particularly bad set of teachers in [a named National school], 

                  but there was good teaching and everything was structured. I think again, a good boarding 

                  school operates on keeping you busy all the time and we were certainly kept busy all the 

                  time ... 



6.67       Other  Brothers  described  a  similarly  positive  experience.  One  Brother  said  that  ‘the  staff  were 

           very good, they were very good teachers ... they were excellent teachers’. Another former Brother, 

           who was critical of many aspects of the training process, said that; 



                  ‘I have very happy memories of Baldoyle. It was a very friendly place. We got on very 

                  well with each other. It was happy go lucky. We were very well treated. I have no particular 

                  axe to grind about ... Baldoyle’. 



6.68       In his article ‘Seven Years in the Brothers’, Professor Tom Dunne described the contrast between 

           the juniorate he attended and his old schools as ‘remarkable’: 



                  Here there was no corporal punishment and bullying was not tolerated. We were treated 

                  fundamentally as adults who had taken on immense responsibilities, and as new members 

                  of  the  Community.      The   teachers    were    all Brothers,   and   were    among     the  best   the 

                  Congregation  had.  It  was  all  profoundly  civilised,  carefully  disciplined  and  immensely 

                  caring. 



6.69       A boy could not enter the Novitiate until he was 15 years of age, at which point he wore the habit 

           of  the  Congregation.  When  he  had  completed  his  Leaving  Certificate,  he  spent  a  year  in  the 

           Novitiate  studying religion.  He took  his  first religious  vows on  the  first Christmas  Day after  the 

           completion of the Novitiate. These were temporary vows and were renewed annually. 



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6.70      Having completed the Novitiate, the temporarily professed Brother was sent to the Congregation’s 

          Teacher Training College in Marino to study primary school teaching. The course was two years 

          in  length,  but  the  Congregation  was  given  a  dispensation  from  the  Department  of  Education 

          whereby its members left the college when they completed their first year to work in schools run 

          by the Congregation. After a number of years working in the field, the Brothers returned to college 

          to complete their second year and become fully qualified National Teachers. This arrangement 

          with the Department delayed the acquisition of the National Teacher qualification. 



6.71      The  rules  of  the  Congregation  provided  that  a  temporarily  professed  Brother  could  not  take 

          perpetual vows until he was 25 years old and had made temporary vows for at least six years. In 

          this regard, the rules of the Congregation differed from the requirements of Canon Law, under 

          which an individual could make permanent vows at 21 years of age. 



6.72      The  combination  of  these  provisions  meant  that  young  Brothers  were  unable  to  acquire  their 

          qualifications as teachers until they were well advanced towards a binding commitment to their 

          vocations. These young, temporarily professed Brothers were often sent to industrial schools to 

          teach for a number of years before returning to Marino. They were put in charge of large classes 

          of boys and were also expected to perform supervisory duties in the afternoons and evenings and 

          throughout the weekend. They had neither the teacher training nor the childcare training to equip 

          them for this task. 



          Leaving the Congregation 



6.73      An  individual  could  leave  the  Congregation  voluntarily  or  he  could  be  dismissed.  The  rules 

          governing the departure and the dismissal of religious are contained in the Constitutions of the 

          Congregation and the Code of Canon Law 1917. 



6.74      The rules  draw a  distinction between  Novices, temporarily  professed Brothers,  and perpetually 

          professed Brothers. Novices could leave voluntarily at any time, as they had not taken any vows. 

          The  General  or  Provincial  Councils  could  dismiss  them  for  ‘just  reasons’,  and  there  was  no 

          requirement  to inform  the Novice  of the  reasons for  his dismissal.  The decision  to dismiss  the 

          Novice was taken by the General or Provincial Council. 



6.75      A temporarily professed Brother could leave voluntarily at the expiration of his annual vows. The 

          Superior General or the General Council could dismiss him for ‘grave reasons’. He was entitled 

          to be told the reason for his dismissal, and had the right to have an opportunity to defend himself 

          and to appeal to the Holy See. The Congregation also had the power to refuse to permit a Brother 

          to renew his vows for ‘just and reasonable motives’. The evidence before the Committee indicated 

          that the latter was the preferred method of removing temporarily professed Brothers. 



6.76      Having taken perpetual vows, a perpetually professed Brother could only leave the Congregation 

          voluntarily by applying to be dispensed from his vows. In Pontifical Congregations such as the 

          Christian Brothers, only the Holy See could grant a dispensation from perpetual vows. This power 

          was  sometimes  delegated  to  an  Apostolic  Visitor,  who  could  grant  a  dispensation  where  he 

          considered it wise and necessary to do so. If Rome granted it, the local Bishop formally executed 

          the indult. The discovery material indicated that Brothers who wished to be dispensed applied first 

          to the Provincial Council who, if they voted in favour of the request, would forward it to the General 

          Council. If they in turn voted in favour, it was sent to the relevant Secretariat in the Vatican. A 

          dispensation was not automatically granted. 



6.77      The dispensation procedure was often utilised in cases of suspected sexual abuse. Where the 

          authorities  were satisfied  that a  particular individual  had committed  the acts  complained of,  he 

          was encouraged to apply for a dispensation instead of having to undergo the dismissal procedure. 



6.78      This  method  of  dispensation  was  also  employed  in  cases  where  the  dismissal  procedure  had 

          been  instituted and  the General  Council had  taken the  decision to  dismiss the  Brother but  the 

          decree of dismissal had not been issued. The Brother would be invited to pre-empt the dismissal 

          by applying for voluntary dispensation and could leave the Congregation without stigma. 



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6.79       If a Brother was accused of a serious offence under Canon Law or the rules of the Congregation, 

           and the authorities were satisfied as to the truth of the allegation, but the Brother refused to apply 

           for  a  dispensation,    they  were    left with  no   option  other   than   to  institute formal   dismissal 

           proceedings. A perpetually professed Brother could not be dismissed unless he had committed 

           an ‘external grave delict’, had received two warnings about his conduct and had failed to correct 

           his behaviour. These admonitions were known as Canonical Warnings, and the immediate major 

           Superior  administered  them  personally  or  had  them  administered  by a  colleague  acting  on  his 

           instructions. The warning was composed of two parts: the first was a call to correct the offending 

           activity and to do the appropriate penances; and the second was a threat of dismissal. In addition, 

           the Superior was ‘bound’ under Canon Law to remove the offending Brother ‘from the occasion 

           of relapse even by transfer if it is necessary to another house where vigilance is easier and the 

           occasion of delinquency is more remote’. The Canon Law set out what constituted a ‘grave delict’ 

           and it included sexual offences against minors. The rules required that each of the three offences 

           must have been of the same type, or, if different, have been ‘of such a nature that when taken 

           together  they  manifest  the  perversity  of  the  will  resolved  on  evil’.  The  rules  also  provided  that 

           one continuous offence could give rise to dismissal if it ‘from repeated admonitions, has virtually 

           become threefold’. 



6.80       If a Brother had been issued with two Canonical Warnings and had committed a third delict, his 

           case  was  forwarded  to  the  Superior  General  and  the  General  Council,  who  then  considered 

           whether he should be dismissed. The Brother was given the opportunity to defend himself, and 

           Canon Law required that his responses be entered in the records. The General Council then voted 

           on whether the Brother should be dismissed. If a majority of the votes was in favour of dismissal, 

           the Superior General issued a formal decree of dismissal, which was forwarded to the Holy See 

           for  confirmation.  The  Brother  had  a  right  to  appeal  the  decision  to  the  Holy  See.  Even  if  the 

           dismissal was confirmed, the Brother remained bound by his religious vows until he applied for, 

           and was granted, a dispensation by the Holy See. 



6.81       Canon Law and the Constitutions of the Congregation also provided for immediate dismissal in 

           the  case  of  ‘grave  external  scandal,  or  of  serious  imminent  injury  to  the  Community’.  In  this 

           situation the decree of dismissal was issued by the Provincial with the consent of his Council, or 

           ‘if there is danger in delay’ by the local Superior with the consent of his Council and the Local 

           Bishop. The case was then forwarded to the Holy See for judgment.9 



6.82       The dismissal process which took place in the General Council, and which was often described 

           as a canonical trial, is different from the formal canonical trial provided for in the Code of Canon 

           Law,  which  describes  the  procedure  for  the  dismissal  of  religious  priests  or  members  of  non- 

           exempt    religious   orders,   and   the   procedure    for  the   dismissal    of  members     of  diocesan 

           congregations. 



           How Brothers were transferred 



6.83       The Congregation was a large national organisation that moved its members around periodically. 

           The regularity with which Brothers were moved depended on the functions they performed and 

           where they were working. Teaching Brothers were moved more regularly than Coadjutor Brothers. 



6.84       Industrial schools were perceived as hardship postings and they had a high turnover of staff. The 

           vow of obedience meant that Brothers had to accept their postings no matter how unpleasant they 

           found them to be. 



6.85       Young Brothers were often appointed to teaching positions in industrial schools. The posting of 

           Brothers happened at the same time each year, at the start of a new academic year. Brothers 

           transferred outside of this period often excited comment, because the sudden transferring of a 

           Brother could signal a serious punishment. No contemporaneous information exists concerning 

           the criteria that were used to assess the suitability of Brothers for particular postings. However, 

           the  records  of  the  Congregation  show  that,  on  a  number  of  occasions,  individuals  who  were 



           9 Cn 653. 



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           accused  of  sexual  abuse  were  transferred  to  other  residential  or  day  schools.  In  some  cases, 

            Brothers who had been sexually abusing children were, in their later careers, appointed to senior 

           positions  within the  Province. When  asked at  the Phase  I hearing  for Letterfrack  how this  had 

           happened, Br Gibson explained that, because the leadership in the Congregation changed every 

            12  years,  there  was  no  memory  within  the  organisation  of  offences  committed  before  that.  He 

           acknowledged that there was a personal file for each Brother and concluded that these files were 

           not consulted in making appointments. 



6.86        If Br Gibson’s theory is correct, it means either that the Provincial Council made its decision to fill 

           senior posts without reference to the Brother’s history or to his personal file, or that the Council 

           made its assignment in the knowledge of the man’s previous trouble. 



            Impact of religious life on institutional care 



            Vows 



6.87       Christian  Brothers took  the  traditional  vows of  poverty,  chastity and  obedience,  as  well as  two 

           additional vows, namely ‘perseverance in the congregation’, and, for teaching Brothers, ‘teaching 

           the poor gratuitously’. They differed in this regard from the Coadjutor Brothers, who did not teach, 

           and whose commitment was to domestic chores in communities. 



            Poverty 

6.88       The vow of poverty required Brothers to deprive themselves of the right of disposing of anything 

           of  monetary value  without  the  permission of  their  Superiors. They  were  not  allowed to  accept, 

           take or retain anything for themselves save what they were allowed by their Superiors. They were 

           required to give to the Congregation whatever they acquired by their industry or ability while under 

           temporary or perpetual vows. 



           Chastity 

6.89       Constitution  87  relates  to  the  vow  of  chastity.  It  ‘not  only  obliges  the  Brothers  to  celibacy,  but 

           also imposes upon them the obligation of avoiding everything contrary to the sixth10                     and ninth11 

           Commandments  of  God’12.  In  addition  to  the  injunctions  against  adultery  and  coveting  one’s 



           neighbour’s     wife,  the   Brothers    were   to  restrict  communication       with   women     to  a  minimum. 

           Constitution 89 spelled out what was required: 



                  The Brothers, in their interviews with the mothers or female friends of their pupils and in 

                  all conversations with females, must observe great reserve and modesty and make the 

                  conversations as brief as possible. 



6.90       Constitution 91 deals with relations between Brothers and their pupils. It states: 



                  Whilst the Brothers should cherish an affection for all their pupils especially the poor, they 

                  are forbidden to manifest a particular friendship for any of them. They must not fondle 

                  their  pupils;  and  unless  duty  and  necessity  should  require  it,  a  Brother  must  never  be 

                  alone with a pupil.13 



6.91       The  meaning  of  the  word  ‘fondle’  was  discussed  during  the  public  hearings  into  Letterfrack 

            Industrial School, when Br Gibson, on behalf of the Congregation, argued that the word did not 

           have a sexual connotation, notwithstanding its location in the chapter of the Constitutions dealing 

           with chastity. 



6.92       A circular letter from the Superior General, Br P. J. Hennessy, in 1926 went into the nature of the 

           vow of chastity in some detail. He wrote: 



           10 You shall not commit adultery. 

           11 You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. 

           12 Congregation of the Christian Brothers 1962, Chapter VIII ‘Chastity’, p 23 section 81. 

           13 Const 8 of the 1923 Constitutions. 



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                  In a discourse on “The Education of the Child”, Pere Lacordaire says: “It is necessary, 

                  above all, to love one’s pupil: to love him in God, not with a weak and sensual affection, 

                  but with a sincere affection which knows how to preserve firmness”. 



                  The child’s spiritual endowments and the end to which he is destined naturally cause the 

                  thoughtful religious to “love him in God”, while his natural charms tend to excite that “weak 

                  and sensual affection” that may easily prove to be ruinous to the child and teacher. Here 

                  is a DANGER SIGNAL that should never be lowered and should ever be heeded. The 

                  teacher who allows himself any softness in his intercourse with his pupil, who does not 

                  repress the tendency to “pets”, who fondles the young or indulges in other weaknesses, 

                  is not heeding the danger signal and may easily fall. Disastrous results for teacher and 

                  pupil  have  sometimes  resulted  from  such  heedlessness  and  effeminacy.  Chapter  VIII, 

                  Part I, of our Constitutions in its different articles, sets forth salutary precautions in this 

                  connection. 



6.93       Assertions by some members of the Congregation that they had no awareness of the possibility of 

           Brothers sexually abusing boys were not supported by the Acts of Chapter or the documentation. 



6.94       Br Hennessy went on to exhort teachers to impress on their pupils the importance of purity: 



                  They must rigidly refrain from all unnecessary freedoms with their persons at all times. In 

                  bed they ought  to fold their arms  over their breasts in  the form of a  cross, and before 

                  falling asleep pray to their Guardian Angel to preserve them from every dangerous thought 

                  or act during the night. 



6.95       As early as 1887, the Superior General was explicit in pointing out the danger of sexual activity 

           amongst the boys: 



                  With  vigilance  in  the  playground  is  intimately  connected  watchfulness  in  regard  to  the 

                  conduct of boys in and about the water-closets ... Much harm may be done, and sin not 

                  unfrequently committed, in those places, if the necessary precautions be not taken, and 

                  if  wholesome  discipline  be  not  strictly  enforced  ...  A  serious  responsibility  rests  on  the 

                  Brothers in this matter, if through their carelessness or want of proper caution any of their 

                  pupils should come to learn evil they knew not before. 



6.96       Although these advices were sent out to all Communities, they do not appear to have formed part 

           of  the  training  Brothers  received.  Some  Brothers  spoke  of  their  lack  of  any  awareness  of  the 

           possibility of peer abuse among the boys in their care. The Committee heard evidence, however, 

           that peer abuse was a constant and serious problem in industrial schools. 



           Obedience 

6.97       The vow of obedience required Brothers to obey their Superiors in all things that pertained, directly 

           or indirectly, to the life of the Congregation, as well as their vows and the Constitutions of the 

           Congregation. They owed their entire obedience to the Superior General of the Congregation and 

           to their immediate Superiors. The reason for this total obedience was explained as follows: 



                  The motive of obedience should be the spirit of faith whereby the Brothers consider their 

                  Superiors as the representatives of Jesus Christ in their regard; hence they must always 

                  show them honour, esteem and reverence.14 



6.98       This vow of obedience permeated every aspect of life within the Congregation and was something 

           the Brothers and former Brothers who gave evidence to the Committee spoke about at length. 

           Apart from the obvious implications of the vow, the main way in which it affected Brothers was in 

           their interactions with their seniors, in particular their reluctance to criticise them. The chapters on 

           specific schools disclose cases where the obligation to be subject to the will of the Superior and 

           to  serve  the  interests  of  the  Congregation  discouraged  or  prevented  Brothers  from  reporting 

           abuse,  or  making  protests  about  objectionable  behaviour,  or  even  making  suggestions  as  to 

           improvements.      In  some    circumstances,      it inhibited  the  reporting   of  suspicions    about   sexual 

           misconduct on the part of other Brothers. 



           14 Const 97 of the 1923 Constitutions. 



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6.99       The importance of the vow is emphasised by Constitution 62, which requires the General Council 

           to be careful not to admit to the profession of vows by any Brother who in his conduct shows a 

           ‘want of submission, and due respect for, those placed over him’ or a ‘litigious and critical spirit’. 

           A Brother who deviated from this duty to obey was quickly reminded of his position. One former 

           Brother described his experience of obedience thus: 



                  I  think  the  vow  of  obedience  was  conceived  of  as  being  partly  like  military  discipline. 

                  Indeed, the priests who gave the Brothers their retreats and so on, and the 30-day retreat 

                  we had in the novitiate, all from Jesuits, and they’d famously have a military metaphor for 

                  what they’d do. I think there was a certain amount of that, this was like the army and you 

                 just obey. 



                  But that’s not what I understood as the vow of obedience, I think the vow of obedience 

                  was an internal – if I can use the kind of language that I think would have learned – an 

                  internal resignation of your will to the will of your Superior. The most important thing about 

                  obedience was not what you did but how you thought. I certainly would have believed that 

                  when I was that age, yes. 



6.100      The same witness described some of the more unusual ways in which obedience was tested while 

           the Novices were in training. He recalled how Novices were made to walk about with no coats or 

           hats in bad weather, and he went on to describe one incident when he was put to the test. He 

           told the Committee: 



                  The one I remember in terms of work was being told to move a pile of stones in part of 

                  the garden, I think, an old shrubbery from there to literally the far side of the table and 

                  spending several days doing it with an old wheelbarrow, when it was all finished he came 

                  around and said, “That is very good now. Excellent. Now would you move them all back 

                  again please”. You were meant to say, “certainly, Brother”, which I did being a very good 

                  boy.... It was a bit silly really but we just accepted it. 



6.101      This unnecessary labour had a function: it was an exercise in discipline and obedience. The vow 

           of obedience taken by all perpetually professed Brothers required them to obey their legitimate 

           superiors. The Superior was empowered to impose ‘such penances or humiliations as his faults 

           or the usage of the Community may require.’15 



6.102      The Brothers and former Brothers who gave evidence recounted a number of examples of the 

           punishments,  often  humiliating,  that  were  meted  out  to  Brothers  who  disobeyed.  A  number  of 

           respondent     witnesses     described    how   their  Superiors    verbally   admonished      them.    Discipline 

           seemed to be harder on the younger Brothers. 



           Discipline 



6.103      Brothers were required to exercise discipline in their daily lives. They rose early for prayer and 

           Mass, and were required according to the rules of the Congregation to live an asectic and spiritual 

           life with few comforts. They practised fasting, and mortification of the flesh, in order to perfect their 

           communion with God. Visitation Reports contained long and detailed accounts of the Brothers’ 

           religious  observances,  and  any  laxity  on  the  part  of  the  Superior  in  enforcing  the  Rule  was  a 

           matter for comment. 



           Retirement from the world 



6.104      The   Christian   Brothers    were   obliged   ‘not  to  maintain    any  intercourse    with   externs’  without 

           permission from their immediate Superior. Brothers were not allowed to read newspapers, listen 

           to the radio, visit friends or attend outside functions or sporting events without express permission. 

           Walks had to be taken in the company of at least one other Brother. 



6.105      Correspondence from lay people, particularly containing complaint or criticism, was treated with 

           suspicion and hostility. The documents revealed an anxiety on the part of the Congregation to 

           avoid scandal or adverse comment, which dominated its relationship with the outside world. 



           15 Congregation of the Christian Brothers 1962, Chapter XIII ‘Mortifications & Humilitations’, p 30 section 128. 



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  6.106    The  injunction against  undue  familiarity  with lay  people  was even  more  strictly  enforced in  the 

           case of women. Brothers were instructed to keep all conversations with mothers or female friends 

           of  the  children  in  their  care  to  the  minimum.  One  consequence  of  this  was  that  the  Christian 

           Brothers’    institutions  became      all-male   worlds.   Numerous      witnesses     gave    evidence    to  the 

           Investigation Committee about the problems caused by the lack of female involvement in the day- 

           to-day operation of the schools. 



           Modesty and silence 



  6.107    According  to  Chapter  XIII  of  the  1923  Constitutions,  ‘The  Brothers  shall  observe  silence  at  all 

           hours out of recreation. If, however, duty or necessity require a Brother to speak at such times, 

           he should do so as briefly as possible and in a subdued tone’. This necessity for silence affected 

           the  general  atmosphere  of  the  schools  and  was  often  imposed  on  the  children  as  well  as  the 

           Brothers. Justice Cussen16 was particularly critical of the practice of imposing silence during meal 



           times  and  recommended  that  it  be  discontinued.  Some  complainants  recalled  silence  during 

           mealtimes into the 1950s, and many recalled that there was a general rule of silence when moving 

           through the building and in the dormitories at night. 



  6.108    A consultant psychiatrist who regularly visited Artane in the 1960s told the Committee: 



                  On average my general impression, well; with the greatest respect to everybody, it was a 

                  daunting institution. The abiding impression I had was that during the school hours my 

                  biding impression was the silence. The silence. So you had all these children, young boys, 

                  and virtually not a sound. 



  6.109    In his evidence to the Committee, he said, ‘it was one of an intimidatory type of silence’. 



  6.110    Numerous  complainants  spoke  of  the  insistence  on  silence  in  the  daily  tasks  of  eating  and 

           preparing for bed. Silence was a rule strictly adhered to in everyday life. Whistles were used in 

           some cases to signal to the children when they were to move from one activity to the next. 



  6.111    There were several warnings in the Visitation Reports referring to the neglect of the rule of silence 

           in the school. 



           Impact of vows on institutional life 



  6.112    The adherence by the Christian Brothers to their vows, and the monitoring of such adherence by 

           senior Brothers, led to the application of these principles to the day-to-day care of the children. 

           The virtues of obedience, chastity and hard work had to be inculcated in the children for the good 

           of their souls, and for the good of society as a whole. 



  6.113    Obedience and discipline were part of the life of the institutions. The daily timetable provided the 

           framework     for  a   closely   controlled   and   well-orchestrated      routine.  The    whole    system    was 

           regimented, but Artane with its large numbers was particularly so. 



  6.114    The regimentation and discipline were needed not just to keep order: it was, the Christian Brothers 

           believed, a necessary lesson to be learned by boys who had never been properly controlled by 

           their parents. 



  6.115    There were, however, doubts within the Congregation about the efficacy of the industrial school 

           regime as the best way to prepare children to become upright and decent citizens in a Christian 

           society. These reservations were sometimes expressed in Visitation Reports but were not acted 

           upon by the authorities. 



  6.116    This  concern,  that  the  needs  of  the  boys  were  not  being  met  by  the  school,  clashed  with  the 

           philosophy  of  the  Congregation  and  the  way  of  life  they  advocated  for  themselves.  The  boys 

           needed to be prepared for the day ‘when they pass through Artane gates into the wide world’, 



           16 The Cussen Report 1936 – Commission of Inquiry into the Reformatory and Industrial School System, para 74. 



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           but the Brothers needed to keep their minds on the spiritual way of life and withdraw from that 

          wide world. 



6.117     The importance of all the vows taken by the Brothers was emphasised in a circular letter dated 

          3rd  October 1958 from the Superior General to each Christian Brothers’ Community. The Superior 



          General wrote: 



                 It is evident that in many of the houses of our Province the rule of silence is not being 

                well observed. The observance of silence has always been regarded as essential to the 

                 Religious Life ... 



                Silence is necessary for the practice of recollection without which there can be no spirit 

                of prayer or true holiness of life... 



                The cause of these defections [from the Brothers] is to be found in the loss of the religious 

                spirit due to such secularizing influences as too great intercourse with externs, frequenting 

                places of public resort and undue preoccupation with the news of the day. 



                Our rule  warns us against  the danger to  vocation of holding  too great intercourse  with 

                externs.  The sentiments  and  outlook  of people  who  live in  the  world  are, of  necessity, 

                very different from those of religious. A Brother who frequents the company of seculars 

                either by visiting them in their homes or by holding long and unnecessary conversations 

                with teachers, parents, or domestics will be in danger of imbibing the spirit of the world 

                and losing his esteem for his vocation ... 



                Too  great  preoccupation  with  the  newspaper  or  with  radio  programmes  can  also  be  a 

                cause of the loss of the religious spirit by diverting attention from the affairs of the soul 

                and diminishing interest in the spiritual life. 



6.118     These are values for a spiritual life of religious meditation, but they do not form a basis for training 

          young boys to enter the outside world. 



6.119     To counteract the attraction of the outside world the Brothers lived a life of religious and secular 

          study. It was not surprising that they applied the same way of life to the boys in their care. Through 

           moral  teaching,  religious  observance  and  hard  work  in  the  school  and  in  the  workshops,  they 

          sought to change and reform the children. Young boys from poor families were confronted with 

          this regime, and found it arduous. It not merely clashed with the culture from which they came, 

           but it placed them in an all-male world that did not meet the emotional and developmental needs 

          of children and adolescents. 



6.120     The strict regime, the routine that took away all initiative and placed all its emphasis on following 

          orders, led to the boys becoming institutionalised. Many left to join the army, or drifted into other 

           institutionalised occupations,    and  far  too  many    ended   up  in  institutions like  prisons  or  in 

           psychiatric care. 



           Evidence of Brothers 

6.121     A  recurrent  complaint  made  by  Brothers  in  their  evidence  to  the  Committee  and  found  in  the 

          documentation was the unequal division of work. 



6.122      In his evidence at the public hearing into Letterfrack during Phase I, Br Gibson stated: 



                 You  see  the  Brothers  who  were  teaching  in  the  school,  who  were  mainly  the  young 

                Brothers, they were with the boys almost 24 hours a day; in other words, from 6:00 to 

                 10:00 at night. They would have had very little free time during that period. They slept 

                then in small bedrooms at the end of one of the dormitories. Often those rooms were very 

                simple. There wasn’t heating for a lot of the time. That was their place of living and then 

                they went up to the  house for a short period of recreation at  night-time, but effectively 

                speaking they were on the job seven days a week. 



6.123     The vow of obedience made it difficult for these Brothers to voice their disquiet. Junior Brothers 

          were in awe of their seniors in the Community. Each Community that operated an industrial school 

           had  senior  Brothers  who  did  not  work  in  the  school  or  act  as  carers  but  who  nevertheless 



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           exercised authority and influence over those who fulfilled those arduous duties. Many Brothers 

           spoke    of  how   they   resented    this unequal     burden   of  labour   when    they   were   juniors  in  the 

           institutions,  but  felt  they  could  not  challenge  the  system  by  asking  the  senior  Brothers  to  do 

           more. Some junior Brothers felt that, because of their lack of seniority, there was no point making 

           suggestions for reform. 



6.124      Many of the Brothers who gave evidence complained about the difficulties they had in carrying 

           out the onerous dual responsibilities of teaching and caring, which inevitably had an adverse effect 

           on the children. 



           The failure to train Brothers in childcare 



6.125      In  their  Opening  Statement  on  Tralee,  the  Christian  Brothers  defined  the  purpose  of  industrial 

           schools as being: 



                  To cater especially for neglected, orphaned and abandoned children, to safeguard them 

                  from developing criminal tendencies and to prepare them for industry. 



6.126      To achieve this end, children were removed from the backgrounds of neglect and poverty, given 

           a basic education and were taught a trade. In the process, it was believed that they were improved 

           by  hard  work  and      religious  observance.  These  objectives  remained  central           to  the  Christian 

           Brothers’ thinking, and became the basis of the training given to the new recruits. The teaching 

           Brothers were trained as national school teachers, and received no special training in childcare. 

           Many Brothers deplored this fact. 



6.127      The Brothers explained that this failure to give specialist training was due to the fact that ‘there 

           existed no special training system in Ireland for carers in Industrial Schools’ and that there was 

           no awareness of the emotional needs of children. They had a ‘physical care philosophy’. 



6.128      In fact, ideas on how to provide better care were being developed abroad. As early as 1943, Dr 

           Anna  McCabe,  the  Medical  Inspector  of  Industrial  Schools,  attended  a  course  in  England  and 

           recommended  the  establishment  of  a  child  guidance  clinic,  but  her  advice  was  ignored.  The 

           Carysfort  Conference  of  1951  revealed  that  there  was  expertise  in  the  State  on  care  issues. 

           Members of the Sisters of Charity went to England to do Home Office courses and returned with 

           schemes to reorganise the system of care homes they provided. 



6.129      No such training was undertaken by the Christian Brothers until, in the early 1970s, Br Burcet17, 



           who  had worked  in senior  positions in  both Letterfrack  and Artane,  attended the  course in  the 

           School of Education in Kilkenny in 1973, and implemented some of what he had learned in the 

           last  remaining industrial  school operated  by the  Brothers, Salthill.  He recalled  his frustration  in 

           Artane  in  the  mid-1960s  when  he  was  trying  to  change  teaching  methods  and  to  introduce 

           psychological expertise. He felt that he was engaged in an uphill struggle and that there was no 

           understanding      of  the   importance     of  this  kind   of  approach     among     the  Leadership     of  the 

           Congregation. 



6.130      New ideas had the potential to undermine the institutions and the Brothers who worked in them. 

           It was this fear of change that ensured that the institutions run by the Christian Brothers remained, 

           in all essential respects, unchanged from their foundation in the 19th century to their closure. 



6.131      One effect of the belief that teacher training and the religious way of life were an adequate basis 

           for training and caring for children was that the Christian Brothers never passed on their expertise 

           in a formal way. They were experienced in dealing with boys in institutions; their own members 

           had  taught  and  cared  for  boys  for  years.  They  should  have  been  in  a  position  to  pass  on 

           information and advice to those coming after them, yet they produced no written texts, nor did 

           they give formal lectures on the subject even to their own members. Brothers testified that they 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 



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           were  given  no  guidance  on  childcare  issues  during  their  training  in  Marino.  Brothers  learned 

           techniques of control from older Brothers, in an ad hoc way. 



6.132      It  is  unfortunate  that  a  Congregation  dedicated  to  the  education  of  the  poor  never  devised  a 

           system of education for their own members, which would have prepared them for the demanding 

           care work they did in these schools, in addition to their teaching duties. 



           How the Brothers responded to the allegations of abuse 



6.133      During   the  Investigation  Committee’s     Emergence     hearings,   Br  David   Gibson,   then  Province 

           Leader of St Mary’s Province of the Christian Brothers, outlined the response of the Congregation 

           to the issue of child abuse in Ireland. 



6.134      He said that allegations of child abuse first arose as an issue in the 1980s, when four allegations 

           of child abuse were made against Irish Christian Brothers. Following an official inquiry into child 

           abuse  at  an  orphanage  run  by  the  Congregation  at  Mount  Cashel  in  Canada,  the  Canadian 

           Leadership highlighted the issue at the 1990 General Chapter of the Congregation. The Province 

           Leader from Canada presented a graphic picture of what it was like to have to deal with allegations 

           from  the  past  in  a  public  inquiry  and  the  subsequent  litigation  under  the  full  glare  of  media 

           exposure. He also referred to the need to look at institutions and the protocols that were in place 

           to deal with the issue of abuse. 



6.135      After the General Chapter concluded, the Congregation leader urged its various Provinces to issue 

           guidelines and protocols on child protection. The leadership teams of the Irish Provinces drew up 

           guidelines based on international best practice and published them in 1993. 



6.136      Between 1990 and 1996 the Congregation received approximately 30 allegations of child abuse. 

           Because    of these   complaints    and  the  increasing   publicity, the  Congregation     established   an 

           independent advisory group to which it passed the complaints, and received advice on how to 

           respond. A further 52 complaints were received between 1996 and the Christian Brother Public 

           Apology issued in March 1998. 



6.137      Br  Gibson  said  that  the  Congregation  had  great  difficulty  in  coming  to  terms  with  the  fact  that 

           Brothers could have abused children. ‘It was something totally contrary to the whole vocation of 

           a  Brother  and  yet  we  were  getting  detailed  accounts  of  how  Brothers  abused  children’.  It  had 

           particular difficulty in accepting that members of its Congregation had engaged in sexual abuse, 

           ‘[This] was creating the greatest problem and difficulty for us to come to terms with’. 



6.138      It is difficult to understand why allegations of abuse should have come as such a shock to the 

           Congregation. The documentation made available to this Committee disclosed that allegations of 

           child  abuse,  and  particularly  child  sexual  abuse,  were  a  recurring  and  persistent  problem  for 

           the Congregation. 



6.139      In  1995,  St  Mary’s  Province  organised  seminars  about  the  nature  of  child  abuse  which  were 

           conducted by Dr Art O’Connor, a consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in the Central Mental Hospital, 

           and  Ms  Kate  Keery,  a  social  worker  from  Temple  Street  Children’s  Hospital,  and  they  were 

           attended by individual Brothers. A similar exercise was carried out in the Southern Province. 



6.140      Child abuse was a major issue at the 1996 General Chapter of the Congregation, which was held 

           in  Johannesburg,  South  Africa.  The  Chapter  issued  a  document  entitled  ‘New  Beginnings  with 

           Edmund’ in which it stated: 



                 There are signs of that death [in not living the Gospel vision] in our congregational story. 

                 Such signs include undue severity of discipline, harshness in Community life, child abuse, 

                 an  addiction to  success,  canonizing  work to  the  neglect of  our  basic  human needs  for 

                 intimacy, leisure and love. To-day we have been made painfully aware of these aspects 

                 of our sinful history. 



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6.141      The Congregation appointed a full-time Director of Child Protection Services, and set up an office 

           called the Westcourt Child Protection Service to deal with allegations of abuse. 



6.142      On 14th  April 1997, on the occasion of his receiving the Freedom of Drogheda, the Congregation 



           Leader, Br Edmund Garvey, expressed an apology and asked for forgiveness from former pupils 

           who had suffered abuse at any of the schools or institutions run by the Congregation. 



6.143      In October 1997 the Congregation asked Dr Robert Grant, a psychotherapist, to come to Ireland 

           to speak to the Brothers and school principals on the issue of child protection and abuse. During 

           its meetings    with   Dr  Grant,   the  Leadership     Teams    considered    making    a   public  apology 

           acknowledging certain failures on the part of the Congregation and expressing a willingness to 

           meet with complainants and to deal with their complaints. 



6.144      According to Br Gibson: 



                 He [Dr Grant] was emphasising the need to really take this on board, that child abuse had 

                 taken place in our institutions. Through his help but also from our own realisation of this, 

                 we felt the time had come to make some form of apology. 



6.145      In order to consider what form the apology should take, the Leadership held a retreat in November 

           1997 and invited an Australian Brother, Br Paul Noonan, to attend. Br Noonan had been leader 

           of the Melbourne Province in Australia when it responded to allegations of child abuse in Australian 

           Christian Brothers’ institutions and had issued its own apology in 1993. Br Noonan outlined the 

           impact of the apology and encouraged the Irish Provinces to follow suit. The Australian apology 

           included the following: 



                 We have studied the allegations available to us, and we have made our own independent 

                 inquiries. The evidence is such as to convince us that abuses did take place, abuses that 

                 in some cases went well beyond the tough conditions and treatment that were part of life 

                 in such institutions in those days. 

                 While the extent of the abuse appears to have been exaggerated in some quarters, the 

                 fact  that  such  physical  and  sexual  abuse  took  place  at  all  in  some  of  our  institutions 

                 cannot be excused and is for us a source of deep shame and regret. Such abuse violates 

                 the child’s dignity and sense of self worth. It causes psychological and social trauma that 

                 can lead to lasting wounds of guilt, shame, insecurity and problems in relationships. 



6.146      There followed a paragraph entitled ‘Our Apology’, which read as follows: 



                 We, the Christian Brothers of today, therefore unreservedly apologise to those individuals 

                 who were victims of abuse in these institutions. 



                 We  do  not  condone  in  any  way  the  behaviour  of  individual  Brothers  who  may  have 

                 perpetrated such abuse. 

                 In  apologising,  however,  we  entreat  people  not  to  reflect  adversely  on  the  majority  of 

                 Brothers and their co-workers of the era who went about their work with integrity and deep 

                 regard for the children entrusted to their care. 



                 Their work and dedication are reflected in the numerous students who, despite deprived 

                 backgrounds, went on to take their places as successful members of Australian society. 

                 We are deeply grateful for the very many expressions of thanks and support we have had 

                 from former students. 



6.147      Br Gibson said that the Irish Leadership Team decided to issue a public statement: 



                 because we felt that there was a need for healing and we felt that no healing would be 

                 possible unless we were prepared to accept the fact that it happened, number one, and 

                 to say that we know it happened, we are sorry it happened and to be open and honest 

                 with that. 



6.148      He added that the Congregation intended its public statement to be more than an apology: it was 

           to  set  out  various   mechanisms      to  promote    healing,   such   as  mediation,    counselling    and 

           reconciliation.  The  leaders  engaged  in  a  widespread  consultative  process  before  issuing  the 



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           apology.    It met   with   individual   Brothers,   the   advisory   group,    the  Archbishop     of  Dublin,   the 

           Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), the Government and legal experts. The statement was 

           issued on 29th    March 1998 and read: 



                  Over  the  past  number  of  years  we  have  received  from  some  former  pupils  serious 

                  complaints     of  ill-treatment   and   abuse    by   some    Christian    Brothers    in  schools    and 

                  residential centres. 



                  We  the  Christian  Brothers  in  Ireland  wish  to  express  our  deep  regret  to  anyone  who 

                  suffered ill-treatment while in our care. And we say to you who have experienced physical 

                  or sexual abuse by a Christian Brother and to you who complained of abuse and were 

                  not listened to, we are deeply sorry. 



                  We want to do much more than say we are sorry. As an initial step we have already put 

                  in  place  a  range  of  services  to  offer  a  practical  response  and  further  services  will  be 

                  provided as the needs become clearer. 



6.149      The Congregation subsequently received a further 260 complaints which ranged from ‘allegations 

           of a harsh regime or of inadequate schooling to very serious allegations of abuse’. In consultation 

           with the independent advisory group, the leadership teams asked 18 individual Brothers against 

           whom allegations were made and who remained in active Ministry to withdraw from work. Three 

           subsequently returned to work. 



6.150      The Congregation in 1998 established an independent pastoral service, to respond to the needs 

           of those alleging abuse and to provide practical and financial support to those coming forward, 

           but did not proceed with a mediation and conciliation scheme on the advice of a task force. 



6.151      Another part of the Brothers’ reaction to the issue was its contribution to the Residential Institutions 

            Redress  Scheme.  In  its  statement  to  the  Commission  prior  to  the  Emergence  Hearings,  the 

           Congregation stated that it had wished to make ‘a meaningful contribution’ to the scheme, but this 

           decision was not based on a sense of culpability or negligence but on a pastoral desire to bring 

           healing and closure. Other reasons included: 



                   •    A greater number of former residents would get redress from the scheme than they 

                         would through the courts; 



                   •    The experience would be less adversarial and less stressful; 

                   •    The money would go directly to the former residents; 

                   •     It would be faster than the courts; and 

                   •    The scheme would be set up on a statutory basis. 



6.152      Br  Gibson  described  a  change  in  attitude  in  the  Congregation  following  the  ‘States  of  Fear’18 

           television programmes in 1999 and the publication of  Suffer the Little Children19                  in 2000, when 



           the  Brothers  became        more  sceptical  and  disbelieving       of  claims  of  abuse.  He     said  that  the 

           Congregation  was  ‘alerted  ...  to  the  danger  of  exaggerated  allegations,  false  claims,  and  false 

           memory’.  It  believed  that  many  of  the  allegations  contained  in  the  programme  and  book  were 

            ‘inaccurate and grossly exaggerated’, and the Leadership Teams became concerned that ‘every 

           allegation was being viewed as the absolute truth’. The Congregation also complained that their 

           submissions were not taken into account by the Government in the drafting of the Commission to 

            Inquire into Child Abuse Act, 2000. ‘The Act that was passed failed to provide protection to those 

           who could be wrongfully accused.’ 



6.153      This  account  of  the  Brothers’  odyssey  on  abuse,  particularly  sexual  and  physical,  traces  their 

           journey from shock and dismay at the allegations, through a period of acceptance, which gave 

           way ultimately to scepticism and suspicion, which were the characteristics of the stance taken by 

           the Congregation in the Investigation Committee’s proceedings. 



           18 There were three programmes broadcast by RTE in 1999 in the ‘States of Fear’ series: ‘Industrial Schools and 



              Reformatories from the 1940s-1980s’, ‘The Legacy of Industrial Schools’, and ‘Sick and Disabled Children in 

              Institutions’. 

           19 Suffer the Little Children, by Mary Raftery and Eoin O’Sullivan, 1999, New Island. 



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6.154      A closer examination of the Brothers’ March 1998 public statement of apology shows that it was 

           not at all apparent what conduct was regretted. The ‘formal apology’, instead of making clear the 

           Congregation’s regret for abuse that had happened in its institutions, gave rise to considerable 

           problems of interpretation and called into question the nature of their attitude to the complaints. 

           Indeed, it was not even clear that the statement could properly be called an apology. It did not 

           expressly    acknowledge      that   abuse    had   occurred    and   did   not  accept    any   Congregational 

           responsibility for what had taken place in its institutions. 



6.155      If the  Brothers intended this document  to have substantial  meaning, they should have  made it 

           clear that they were apologising for abuse that they believed and accepted had happened. This 

           they notably failed to do. A public apology that required scrutiny to discover whether it actually 

           contained a meaningful expression of regret failed in its purpose. 



6.156      This  first  public  step  that  was  taken  by  the  Brothers  was  couched  in  guarded,  conditional  and 

           unclear terms, and did not actually acknowledge that Christian Brothers had committed abuse of 

           children in their care or that the Congregation bore any responsibility. This was before ‘States of 

           Fear’ was broadcast in 1999 which was, according to Br Gibson, the catalyst for a more defensive 

           approach by the Congregation. 



6.157      The   statement     compared     unfavourably     with  the   Australian   version,   which   may    have   some 

           difficulties of interpretation but which did expressly admit that abuse happened and apologised 

           to victims. 



6.158      The  Australian  Brothers  also  stated  that  they  had  conducted  their  own  independent  inquiries, 

           which   had   yielded   convincing    evidence.    If the  Irish  branch    had   examined     the  records   and 

           consulted members and former Brothers, it would also have discovered convincing evidence that 

           serious cases of abuse had occurred in the Irish institutions. 



           Rome Files and documentary evidence 



6.159      In the Emergence hearings in July 2004, Br Gibson described how files, which came to be known 

           as ‘The Rome Files’, came to the attention of the Leadership Team in Ireland. 



6.160      In 2003, the Leadership Team took the decision to employ an archivist to look at all the documents 

           in the possession of the Congregation. This archivist was asked to go to Rome to look at the files 

           there that related to the Irish Communities for any references to abuse. He explained that, in the 

           early 1960s, a decision was taken to move the Congregation’s headquarters from Dublin to Rome. 

           The  management team  brought with  them the  relevant archives  for their  own work,  and left  in 

           Ireland the files and records that dealt with the Christian Brothers in Ireland. 



6.161      Br Gibson explained: 



                  However, when our archivist went to Rome, she came across their minute books of their 

                  Council decisions, the General Council decisions. In those, she came across details of 

                  allegations of abuse in the institutions in Ireland that did not exist in our files ... Yes, all of 

                  these dealt with incidents of child abuse in our institutions between, say, 1930 and when 

                  they closed. 



6.162      Br Gibson outlined the number of allegations recorded in respect of residential schools: 



                  ... we came across details of incidents of abuse in our institutions in Ireland. We came 

                  across   eleven   incidents   of  child  abuse    in  Artane,   ten  in our   day   schools,   three   in 

                  Letterfrack, two in Tralee, two in the OBI,20       and two in Glin. Now, what we came across 



                  was that there had been information given to the Leadership Team at the time when they 

                  occurred. These allegations had been investigated. The investigation included getting the 

                  boys to write out what had happened to them and the boys had done that in some cases 

                 – well, in one case at the moment we have one incident of that. Then they had at the end 



           20 O’Brien Institute. 



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                  of what they called a trial, they had a decision made, and the decision was either to give 

                  a Canonical Warning to the person, they were dismissed from the Congregation or they 

                  were rejected for the application for vows that year. Now, we wouldn’t have the details of 

                  all the allegations, but a lot of material has emerged there which we didn’t know about ... 



                  It shows that there were individual cases of abuse. It wasn’t, in a sense, systematic or 

                  widespread,     but  over   30   years   in  Artane   there   were   eleven    cases    that  had   been 

                  discovered at the time they had occurred. 



6.163      Br Gibson went on to state that, in 1990, the Leadership Team in Ireland was not aware of the 

           existence  of  these  files  at  all.  He  asserted  that  it  was  only  when  he  saw  these  files  that  he 

           understood     the   comments      that  he  saw    in the   Constitutions    and   Acts   of  the  Congregation 

           emphasising that a Brother should never be alone with a child. He said: 



                  That makes sense in the light of this discovery of complaints where children were abused 

                  in the institutions. 



6.164      He confirmed that there was no mention of the children in these records: 



                  The focus was on the culpability of the person who did it and I am not sure how much 

                  was done for the children who suffered. 



6.165      The Rome Files were made available to the Committee after the Emergence hearings had been 

           completed.  They  contained  details  of  applications  for  dispensations  or  disciplinary  hearings  in 

           respect of more than 130 Brothers. At least 40 of these cases referred specifically to improper 

           conduct with boys. In the majority of cases, the actual crime being investigated was not detailed, 

           and  phrases  such  as  ‘evidenced  unsuitable  moral  character’  or  ‘grave  misconduct’  or  ‘caused 

           scandal’ were used when recommending a dispensation. 



6.166      The Rome Files were by no means exhaustive. Brothers who left the Congregation before any 

           allegations came to the attention of the authorities would not appear in the Rome Files. 



6.167      In addition, the Brothers who left following allegations of abuse did not appear in these files. For 

           example,     Mr  Brander21    a  former    Christian   Brother,   did  not  feature   although    he   received   a 



           Canonical Warning for sexually abusing boys in 1953 and was ultimately dispensed from his vows 

           in the late 1950s. 



6.168      The Rome Files make it impossible to contend that the issue of abuse and, in particular, sexual 

           abuse of boys was not an urgent and continuing concern to the Congregation. In circumstances 

           where the issue of abuse in institutions had been the object of so much media attention from 1995 

           onwards, it is surprising that these files were only discovered to the Committee in 2004. 



6.169      The scale of the problem as revealed in these documents was very serious. When other features 

           of abuse are taken into account, there is reason to believe that the amount of such abuse was 

           substantially greater than is disclosed in these records. First, there was the recidivistic nature of 

           child abuse; secondly, children were frightened and reluctant to speak about it; and thirdly, many 

           adults experienced difficulty in dealing with it. 



6.170      In light of the investigations that had taken place in other jurisdictions and the evidence contained 

           in their own archives, together with the complaints received, the Leadership Team in this country 

           could be in no doubt that sexual abuse of children in their care had occurred at an unacceptably 

           high level in their institutions. 



6.171      In the circumstances, although it was legitimate to protest about exaggerated allegations and false 

           claims, which were undoubtedly made in some instances, it was also the case that an attitude of 

           scepticism and distrust of all complaints was unwarranted and unjustified. 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 



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           The Congregation and the Commission 



6.172      The Christian Brothers, like every other Congregation coming to the investigation, had to decide 

           what position to adopt on the various issues that arose including: 

                  •    The quality of life generally for the children in its institutions; 

                  •    How it would approach the issue of whether abuse of children took place in the 

                       institutions; and 



                  •    How it would conduct itself at the private hearings. 



           The Christian Brothers on the nature and quality of institutional life 



6.173      The apologies issued by the Christian Brothers of Australia and Ireland said nothing explicit about 

           the nature and quality of life in their institutions. The evidence of the Irish Christian Brothers to 

           the Investigation Committee helped to clarify their position on this matter. 



6.174      The Christian Brothers submitted that their schools provided positive experiences for the boys in 

           them  and  that  they  offered  a  generally  good  standard  of  care,  education  and  training  when 

           considered in the context of the time, having regard to shortages of resources and finance, and 

           lack  of  training  for  the  Brothers.  Br  Gibson  expressed  this  in  his  evidence  in  Phase  I  of  the 

           Letterfrack hearings. He said: 



                 I think also it is important to remember that we are talking about a time in the 40s, 50s 

                 and 60s where now there is a tendency to judge life at that time from the viewpoint of 

                 how life is now. What I would be hoping to show is that the Christian Brothers provided a 

                 very  necessary     service  to  the  State   in  caring  for  children   who   themselves     were 

                 marginalised.  The  financial  support  provided  by  the  State  will  show  that  it  was  grossly 

                 under funded and that the Brothers had to go to enormous lengths to provide adequately 

                 for the needs of the pupils. 



                 I suppose what we are pointing out in fact is that the funding level was very difficult and 

                 it meant that literally the Brothers had to provide a quality education and a care of children 

                 on funding that was very inadequate. 



                 The emotional impact of residential care, and we will deal with that later on, was not really 

                 understood  and  certainly  separation  from  home  and  from  the  family,  however  bad  the 

                 home    was,  and   unfortunately    some   of  them   were   very   inadequate,    it wasn’t  fully 

                 understood the impact of that on children separated from their families. 



                 Well, I suppose what I would say is this: Brothers were trained to be teachers. There was 

                 no  training  for  residential  childcare.  There  was  no  State  training,  there  was  no  State 

                 funding ... I think the first course in childcare, serious course, was in Kilkenny in 1970 and 

                 one of our Brothers went on that course when it started. There wasn’t any form of childcare 

                 formation. There were occasional day courses or day seminars in childcare in the 1950s, 

                 but other than that there was no proper training available and certainly no funding for it. I 

                 would say the Brothers who went to these institutions were chosen specially, a lot of them 

                 were of the highest calibre. 



6.175      This view, that the emotional needs of children and the effects of residential care and separation 

           from family were not really understood, was reiterated in the oral and written submissions made 

           by  the  religious  Communities.     Issues   raised  in  these  submissions     include  the  lack  of  any 

           appreciation for the emotional needs of children in care, the inadequate funding from the State, 

           and  the  lack  of  childcare  training  until  the  1970s.  Each  of  these  is  examined  in  the  chapters 

           dealing with individual institutions. 



           Philosophy of care 



6.176      The Congregation accepted that a focus on physical care was not sufficient to care for a child 

           fully  and  properly,  but  they  stressed  the  prevailing  economic  and  legal  climate  in  which  the 

           industrial schools operated as being the reason for this emphasis. In particular, they emphasised 

           the extreme poverty of the country during the relevant period. They contended that there was no 

           awareness anywhere prior to the early 1960s of the need for developmental or emotional care of 



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           children. The Closing Submission for Artane quoted one senior member of staff who served in 

           Artane from 1954 to 1969: 



                  I knew absolutely nothing about this, the philosophy of Artane when I was there was a 

                  physical  care  philosophy.  Look  after  the  health  of  the  boys,  look  after  their  physical 

                  education, like by drill and so on. Look after their health and so on. But it was a physical 

                  education philosophy. There was no understanding and I had no understanding at the time 

                  about any kind of emotional education, psychological education, I had no understanding of 

                  that at the time. 



6.177      In  1927,  the   Superior  General,  Br  P.  J.  Hennessy,         set  out  the  obligations  on    Superiors  of 

           orphanages, industrial schools and schools for the deaf and dumb:22 



                  Because of their forlorn and afflicted condition, the children of our orphanages, industrial 

                  schools and schools for the deaf and dumb are specially dear to the Sacred Heart of Our 

                  Lord, and the Brothers who are assigned to labour in these schools may truly feel that 

                  they are specially privileged ... Superiors and Brothers must hold in respect the inmates 

                  of these institutions, manifest sympathy in their lowliness and afflictions, and at all times 

                  treat  them   with  consideration     and   kindness.    Severity   and   sternness    would    produce 

                  ruinous results on the character of these afflicted ones. 



                  The Superior, showing himself as a kind father, should set the standard of conduct to his 

                  Brothers  in  their  regard.  He  should  be  generous  in  supplying  their  temporal  needs  – 

                  abundance  of  wholesome,  well-prepared  food  of  which  pure  milk  should  be  a  large 

                  constituent,  decent  clothing  suitable  to  the  season,  tender  care  in  their  ailments,  and 

                  kindly provision for their recreation and pastimes. He should, as far as he can, secure for 

                  them suitable employment when they must leave the school, and they should know that 

                  kindly sympathy in difficulties they may encounter after having left school will be gladly 

                  extended to them by Superiors and Brothers. 



6.178      The circular went on to recommend that the Superior should address the boys once a week and 

           give  guidance  on  the  importance  of  cleanliness,  truthfulness  and  honesty,  and  should  impress 

           upon them the meaning of ‘moral courage’ and the ‘love of truth’. 



6.179      Although     the  words    ‘emotional    care’   were   not   used,   the   obligation   of  love,   respect   and 

           consideration for their vulnerability outlined by Br Hennessy encompassed much of what would 

           now be regarded as ‘emotional care’. In advocating that the Superior ‘should set the standard of 

           conduct to his Brothers’ by being ‘a kind father’, it is clear that the idea was to nurture children 

           through love, kindness and good example, and not just through punishment for infringement of 

           rules. 



6.180      The   contention    in  the  Opening     Submission     for  Artane   was    that  emotional    needs    were   not 

           considered at all in the caring of children, because such needs were not recognised in society as 

           a whole. It was clear, however, from the Cussen Report which was published in 1936, and even 

           from earlier Department of Education23  Annual Reports dating back to 1926, that the vulnerability 



           of  children   who   were    removed     from  their  parents    and   placed   in  care  was    recognised    and 

           understood well before the 1940s. These reports advocated the requirement for something more 

           than mere physical care. 



6.181      The 1926 Department of Education Report stated: 



                  When children have to depend entirely on a school for what their homes should give them, 

                  much more than efficient instruction and material comfort is of importance, and it will be 

                  obvious that, apart from arrangements for education and physical wants, there is good 

                  reason  to  avoid  any  exaction  of  a  hard  and  fast  uniformity  in  other  phases  of  school 

                  activity and to encourage whatever may relieve the institutional features of such schools.24 



           22 P394 Circular Letters 1821–1930 

           23 Department of Education Annual Report 1925/1926. 

           24 Report of the Department of Education for the School Years 1925–26–27 and the Financial and Administrative Year 



              1926–1927, p 83. 



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6.182      This Report went on to state: 



                  Interwoven with all activities of the schools is the moral training of the pupils, each child’s 

                  circumstances      having     to  be   taken    into  account     –  physique,     intelligence,    habits, 

                  recreations, surroundings and the effect of home influences before and after the school 

                  period being recognised as factors in the formation of character. Individual tendencies are 

                  noted,   and,    together   with   character    developments,       are   briefly  recorded    to   enable 

                  responsible  members  of  the  staffs  to  draw  out  the  best  qualities  and  to  overcome  the 

                  weaknesses of their pupils as well as to aid managers in making prudent decisions for 

                  disposal on discharge. 



6.183       In 1936 the Cussen Report stated at paragraph 69: 



                  It must be borne in mind that the children committed to these schools have been deprived 

                  of parental control, where such control existed, and that, in many cases they are children 

                  requiring special study and care. It is, therefore obvious, that the person in whose charge 

                  they have been placed should be carefully selected for the work which, because of its 

                  difficult and peculiar nature, demands qualifications and gifts that might not be considered 

                  indispensable in ordinary schools. 



6.184      The  Congregation  correctly  pointed  out  that  an  emphasis  on  physical  care  was  echoed  in  the 

            Department  of  Education  inspections.  The  inspection  reports  dealt  with  material  and  physical 

           aspects of the care of the children with little mention of their emotional well-being. Emotional well- 

           being could have been assessed by talking to the children and the Department Inspectors did not 

           generally do this. 



6.185      The Christian Brothers stated that the failure of the Department to address this aspect of the work 

           being  carried  out  ‘...  gives  an  indication  of  how  even  at  that  time,  the  Department  viewed  the 

           purpose and function of industrial schools’. 



6.186      The Department of Education’s Annual Report for 1924–1925 set out its function: 



                  These schools came under the control of the Department of Education on 1st  June 1924. 



                  The function of the Department is to certify that the schools are fit for the reception of the 

                  young persons and children committed to them. This is carried out by inspection and while 

                  the Certificate is in force, State contributions in the form of Capitation Grants are made 

                  towards the maintenance of the inmates.25 



6.187      The Report went on to state: 



                                 ´ 

                              ´ 

                  In  Saorstat  Eireann  all  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  are  conducted  by  voluntary 

                  managers, who own the Schools and are responsible for the upkeep of the buildings, the 

                  appointment  of  the     staff,  the  expenditure  of     the  funds  and  all  details    of  the  school 

                  management. 



6.188      The Department did not assert control over the daily management of the schools or the way in 

           which    care   was   provided.    The   Department      was   at  fault  because     it failed  to  supervise    the 

           institutions to ensure that the emotional needs of the children, which it had recognised from 1925, 

           were being met. That did not exempt the Congregation from responsibility for its own failure in 

           this regard. Moreover, the Christian Brothers had been educating children and managing industrial 

           schools since the preceding century and were therefore, in a position to identify the failings of the 

           system and to address them. 



           25 Report of the Department of Education for the School Year 1924–1925 and the Financial and Administrative Years 



              1924–25–26, p 84. 



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           The Christian Brothers’ position on whether abuse occurred in their 

           schools 



           Physical abuse 

6.189      Br  Reynolds  gave  evidence  in  public  to  the  Investigation  Committee  on  15th            September  2005 



           regarding Artane. He prefaced his evidence with his general view that the picture presented of 

           Artane  from  the  late  1980s  through  media  coverage  and  publicity  was  largely  negative  and 

           seriously unbalanced. He stressed the need for balance because,  ‘the Congregation’s position is 

           that Artane in the whole and in the round was a very positive institution’. 



6.190      This was a position adopted in the Submissions in respect of the four Christian Brothers’ schools 

           examined in detail by the Committee. 



6.191      The basic stance that their institutions were not abusive and provided a positive experience for 

           the boys led Br Reynolds to be sceptical of evidence to the contrary. As far as the Congregation 

           were concerned, when something was documented it was more likely to make some concessions 

           but not otherwise. An example of this was when he was asked about boys being punished for 

           bed-wetting.  Even  though  individual  Brothers  had  conceded  that  this  occurred  and  many  ex- 

           residents had testified about their experience, he was unable to accept that punishment for bed- 

           wetting was a feature of life in industrial schools: ‘Yes, they may have happened in instances, and 

           all I am saying is I haven’t any documentary evidence’. 



6.192       Evidence from Brothers and ex-Brothers was regarded as potentially fallible unless backed up by 

           documentation. For this reason, in preparing their Submissions, the Congregation stated that they 

           took no account of the statements of complaints made by former pupils. They confined themselves 

           for this exercise to the archive material. He accepted that they had cross-checked documented 

           evidence with people in the Congregation as a separate exercise, but these results did not form 

           part of the public statement, and were a matter for private hearings. He was challenged about the 

           limited picture that the 11 instances documented in their records for Artane gave of the situation, 

           and his response was that he depended only on what he could find in the documentation and 

           these were presented to the Commission, and thereafter it was up to the Committee to decide. 



6.193      On the issue of corporal punishment, the Christian Brothers submitted that the industrial schools 

           were no different from other schools in that they all accepted the use of corporal punishment. 



           Rules and regulations governing corporal punishment 

6.194      The  official  rules  and  regulations  governing  corporal  punishment  are  set  out  above.  For  the 

           convenience of the reader they are repeated in this section. There were two sets of rules for the 

           use    of corporal    punishment,     one    consisting   of  the   rules  and   regulations    produced     by   the 

            Department of Education,26       and the other was set down by the Congregation. 



6.195      The 1933 Department of Education Rules and Regulations for Certified Industrial Schools were 

           aimed at reducing corporal punishment to a minimum and to controlling as far as possible such 

           punishments as were inflicted. Regulation 13 stated: 



                  Punishment shall consist of:— 



                    (a)   Forfeiture of rewards and privileges, or degradation from rank, previously attained by 

                          good conduct. 



                    (b)   Moderate childish punishment with the hand. 



                    (c)   Chastisement with the cane, strap or birch. 



                  Referring    to  (c) personal    chastisement      may    be  inflicted  by  the   Manager,     or, in  his 

                  presence, by an Officer specially authorised by him, and in no case may it be inflicted on 



           26 

                                                                                  ´ 

                                                                               ´ 

              Rules and Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Saorstat Eireann Approved by the Minister of Education 

              under the 54th Section of the Act, 8 Edw VII., Ch 67, clauses 12 and 13 (see DES chapter). 



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                   girls over 15 years of age. In the case of girls under 15, it shall not be inflicted except in 

                   cases of urgent necessity, each of which must be at once fully reported to the Inspector. 

                   Caning on the hand is forbidden. 



                   No punishment not mentioned above shall be inflicted. 



6.196       This regulation was prefaced by a clause which counselled caution in its use. It said: 



                   The  Manager or  his  Deputy  shall be  authorised  to punish  the  Children  detained in  the 

                   School in case of misconduct. All serious misconduct, and the Punishments inflicted for 

                   it, shall be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be laid before the 

                   Inspector when he visits. The Manager must, however, remember that the more closely 

                   the school is modelled  on a principle of judicious family  government the more salutary 

                   shall be its discipline, and the fewer occasions will arise for resort to punishment.27 



6.197       The 1946 Rules and Regulations for National Schools applied to the education28                         provision within 



            the industrial and reformatory schools. 



                                Instruction  in  regard  to  the  infliction  of  Corporal  Punishment  in  National 

                                Schools 



            96.(1)  Corporal      Punishment       should    be    administered      only    for  grave    transgression.      In   no 

            circumstances should corporal punishment be administered for mere failure at lessons. 



                (2)  Only the principal teacher, or such other member of the staff as may be duly authorised by 

            the manager for the purpose, should inflict corporal punishment. 



                (3)  Only a light cane or rod may be used for the purpose of corporal punishment which should 

            be inflicted only on the open hand. The boxing of children’s ears, the pulling of their hair or similar 

            ill-treatment is absolutely forbidden and will be visited with severe penalties. 



                (4)  No teacher should carry about a cane or other instrument of punishment. 



                (5)  Frequent recourse to corporal punishment will be considered by the Minister as indicating 

            bad tone and ineffective discipline. 



6.198       This rule did not permit the use of the leather strap in the classroom. 



                                                                                               ´ 

6.199       In  November,  1946  a  circular  Cir.  11/46  prepared  by  Michael  O Siochfhrada,  the  Department 

                                                                                                   ´ 

            Inspector, gave more detailed guidelines. The title of the circular was ‘Discipline and Punishment 

            in Certified Schools’. It impressed upon Resident Managers their ‘personal responsibility to ensure 

            that official regulations’ on matters of discipline and punishment were ‘faithfully observed by all 

            members of the staffs of their schools’. The circular stated corporal punishment should only be 

            used  as a  last  resort where  other  forms  of punishment  had  been unsuccessful  as  a means  of 

            correction. 



6.200       The Circular went on to stipulate: 



                    •     Corporal punishment should be administered for very grave transgressions and in no 

                          circumstances for mere failure at school lessons or industrial training. 



                    •     Corporal punishment should in future be confined to the form usually employed in 

                          schools, viz., slapping on the open palm with a light cane or strap. 



                    •     This punishment should only be inflicted by the Resident Manager or by a member of 

                          the school staff specially authorised by him for the purpose. 



                    •     Any form of corporal punishment which tends to humiliate a child or expose the child 

                          to ridicule before the other children is also forbidden. Such forms of punishment 

                          would include special clothing, cutting off a girl’s hair and exceptional treatment at 

                          meals. 



            27 

                                                                                      ´ 

                                                                                   ´ 

               Rules and Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Saorstat Eireann Approved by the Minister of Education 

               under the Children Act, 1908. 

            28 The Department submit this wording ‘education provision’ in other words the internal national school. 



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6.201      The Circular attempted to marry the provisions of the 1933 Rules and Regulations for Certified 

           Schools  with  the  new  1946  Rules  and  Regulations  for  National  Schools.  In  so  doing  a  certain 

           amount of ambiguity arose with regard to the use of a leather strap in the classroom which was 

           clearly not permitted in the classroom by the 1946 Rules and Regulations. 



6.202      In  December  1946 Cir.15/46  prepared  by  Michael Breathnach,  Secretary  of  the Department  of 

           Education and entitled ‘Circular to Managers and Teachers in regard to the infliction of Corporal 

           Punishment in National Schools was sent to all national schools’. It appears from this document 

           that two additions were made to Section (1) and (3) which did not appear when the original 1946 

           rules and regulations were circulated to the schools: 



                  96.(1) Corporal Punishment should be administered only for grave transgression. In no 

                  circumstances should corporal punishment be administered for mere failure at lessons. 

                  (3) Only a light cane or rod may be used for the purpose of corporal punishment which 

                  should be inflicted only on the open hand. The boxing of children’s ears, the pulling of their 

                  hair or similar ill-treatment is absolutely forbidden and will be visited with severe penalties. 



6.203      The  circular  did  not  authorise  the  use  of  a  leather  strap  as  an  implement  of  punishment  in 

           national schools. 



6.204      In  1956  a    further  circular  from   the  Department  of      Education    Cir.  17/56   entitled  ‘Circular  to 

           managers and teachers of national schools in regard to corporal punishment’ was issued. This 

           circular was in response to publicity which had been given to the matter of corporal punishment 

           in national schools and was issued to re-affirm the Department’s policy with regard to corporal 

           punishment and to give guidance to those ‘who may be disposed to contravene Rule 96 of the 

           Code’. The Department stated: 



                  In  re-issuing  that  rule,  set  out  hereunder,  opportunity  is  being  taken  to  announce  an 

                  amendment printed in italics, of Section (3). 



6.205      The full rule 96 was then set out with the amendment to Section (3) was as follows: 



                  (3)  Only  a  light  cane,  rod  or  leather  strap  may  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  corporal 

                  punishment  which  should  be  inflicted  only  on  the  open  hand.  The  boxing  of  children’s 

                  ears,  the  pulling  of  their  hair  or  similar  ill-treatment  is  absolutely  forbidden  and  will  be 

                  visited with severe penalties. 



6.206      This amendment is significant in that it authorised at an official level the use of the leather strap 

           into  national schools  after  a  ten year  gap.  The evidence  of  the  Investigation Committee  would 

           indicate that the leather strap was used in Christian Brother schools throughout this period. 



6.207      The Christian Brothers had their own rules and regulations in their Acts of Chapter and circular 

           letters and, from the earliest days of that organisation, minimal use of corporal punishment was 

           advocated. In the regulations made at the annual meetings of the Managers between 1881 and 

            1906, the position was clearly stated: 



                  8.  No  instrument  of  punishment  is  to  be  allowed  in  the  institution  except  the  strap  of 

                  leather. No boy shall be punished therewith on any part of the body save on the palm of 

                  the hand. 



                  10. Extraordinary punishments are to be inflicted by the Manager only, or by some one 

                  specially appointed by him, and in his presence. 



6.208      The    dangers    of  excessive     or  abusive    physical    punishment      were    well  understood     by   the 

           Congregation. In 1900 the Superior General, Br Moylan, wrote on the topic of corporal punishment 

           in his first circular letter: 



                  Though the Rule (Const 180, Acts of Chapter 65; D and R Chap L.1) contains definite 

                  instructions relative to the use of Corporal Punishment in our School, the Chapter desired 

                  I should refer to it in this Circular. Indeed, there are few matters I wish to urge with greater 

                  insistence upon the attention of the Brothers and especially of the young Brothers, than 

                  the evil done by the use of injudicious punishment when correcting faults of their pupils. 



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                  Corporal punishment is always degrading, and is more or less so according to the nature 

                  of the corrective used. Apart from the physical pain endured, the child’s nature shrinks 

                  from the shame which its infliction inspires; the boy’s incipient manhood revolts against it. 

                  Given in excess or when undeserved, it does harm which runs through a whole lifetime; 

                  it is never forgotten and sometimes never forgiven. The remembrance of such punishment 

                  sinks into the retentive memory of childhood, and there remains in clear outline and with 

                  every  aggravating  detail,  when  even  the  wrongs  of  after  years  have  been  well  nigh 

                  forgotten. 



                  Corporal punishment should be resorted to only when every other means of correction 

                  has failed. In some instances it should not be employed at all, as it serves only to render 

                  the delinquent more obdurate, and to hurry him more rapidly along the evil course from 

                  which it was intended to turn him aside. 



6.209      Br Moylan continued with an uncompromising indictment of unfair or excessive punishment that 

           echoed through the century that followed and has immediate resonance with the work that was 

           undertaken by the Commission: 



                  He does far worse who punishes when punishment is not deserved, or exceeds what the 

                  child’s  own    consciousness      of  justice   tells  him   should    not  be   overstepped.      Such 

                  chastisement is brooded over and resented as a wrong which, perhaps, even years of 

                  kindness may not entirely obliterate. Sometimes it does incalculable injury. Long after it 

                  is  recalled  with  bitterness,  and  associated  unhappily  not  merely  with  the  teacher  who 

                  inflicted it, but with religion itself. 



6.210      Br Moylan’s words were not generally adhered to, as was clear from the circular written by his 

           successor, Br Whitty, in 1906: 



                  At  the  General  Chapter  of  1900,  Acts  were  framed  to  lessen  the  amount  of  corporal 

                  punishment  in  the  schools.  Conditions  were  prescribed  for  the  use  of  it;  and  various 

                  restrictions   imposed     to  prevent    its abuse.    In   many    schools,    and   even    in  many 

                  establishments, these regulations faithfully were carried out, in the proper spirit, and with 

                  the best results. In other schools – the minority truly, but still, I regret to say, too large 

                  minority – it was not so. In these schools much of the old spirit continued to prevail. The 

                  restrictions, laid down by the Chapter, were either ignored, or but half observed, and even 

                  that grudgingly. The Brothers in these schools set up a standard to suit their own ideas 

                  of what was, and what was not, legitimate punishment in given cases. These Brothers 

                  also decided for themselves the proper times and occasions for administering corporal 

                  punishment-and not in accordance with Rule. This course of action was very improper, 

                  very censurable and could not have the blessing of God. 



6.211      Br Whitty went on to recount the consequences of such behaviour as including discontent in the 

           classrooms and even petitions from parents calling for the removal of Brothers. 



6.212      He concluded with a strong exhortation to his members to restrict corporal punishment ‘within the 

           narrowest limits’: 



                  The Brothers generally would do well to bear in mind that the growing spirit of the times 

                  is opposed to corporal punishment in the schools. The tendency is to abolish it. In some 

                  countries it is  positively forbidden, and illegal, for the  teacher to punish a child  for any 

                  cause. He must find other and more rational methods of dealing with him. Other countries 

                  are  much  ahead  of  Ireland  in  this  respect;  but  even  in  Ireland  the  same  tendency  is 

                  manifesting itself – to restrict corporal punishment in schools within the narrowest limits. 

                  It would not be to the credit of the Brothers, as educators, to be found at the rear of this 

                  movement when they should rather lead the way. 



6.213      The 1920 Chapter was even more specific. It set down guidelines for corporal punishment which 

           included the advice that it should not be administered within one hour of starting or finishing school 

           and that numbers of boys should not be punished at the same time. It stated that: 



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                  the strap ... shall not exceed 13 inches in length; 11           in width and 1    inch in thickness; in 

                                                                                 4                 4 



                  junior schools the strap is to be of smaller dimensions ... No child shall be punished on 

                  any part of the body save on the palm of the hand. 



6.214      The rules were revised in 1930 and stated: 



                  It  must  be  the  aim  of  every  Brother  to  reduce  corporal  punishment  to  the  minimum. 

                  Frequent     recourse     to  corporal    punishment      indicates    a   bad   tone    and   ineffectual 

                  discipline ... 



                  Corporal  punishment should  be administered  only for  grave transgressions  – never  for 

                  failure in lessons. 



                  The principal teacher only, or a Brother delegated by a Superior, shall inflict the corporal 

                  punishment. An interval of at least ten minutes should elapse between the offence and 

                  the punishment. 



                  Only  the  approved  leather  strap  may  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  inflicting  the  corporal 

                  punishment. The strap is to be left on the master’s desk except when in actual use. 



                  The   boxing    of  children’s   ears,  the   pulling  of  their  hair  and   similar  ill treatment    are 

                  absolutely forbidden. 



                  The  particulars  required  by  the  headings  in  the  corporal  punishment  book  should  be 

                  entered in that book before the infliction of the punishment. 



6.215       Residential institutions were specifically brought within these Acts of Chapter relating to corporal 

           punishment, which were the rules applying to Christian Brothers throughout the period relevant to 

           this inquiry. 



6.216      The prohibition on striking a child on any part of his body other than the palm of the hands, which 

           was reiterated in the 1910 and 1920 Chapter, was omitted in the 1930 rules and did not appear 

           again in any of the rules set down by the General Chapters until 1966. 



6.217      As  long  as  corporal  punishment  was  tolerated,  the  possibility  of  abuse  existed  and  this  was 

           recognised by Br Noonan, Superior General, in 1930: 



                  The opinion amongst educators that corporal punishment should be altogether abolished 

                  in schools is hardening. While admitting its decline in our schools, the Committee felt, and 

                  the Higher Superiors are aware, that abuses have arisen; and they will recur, I fear, as 

                  long as our regulations give any authority for the infliction of corporal punishment. Let us 

                  aim at its complete abolition in our schools and anticipate legislation which would make 

                  its infliction illegal. 



6.218      The 1930 rules were adopted verbatim in 1947 and in the 1960s, and circulars were sent to all 

           institutions requesting moderation and decorum in the use of the strap. In 1966, for example, the 

           Acts of General Chapter stated: 



                  It must be the aim of every Brother to reduce corporal punishment to a minimum. It should 

                  be administered for serious transgressions only – never for mere failure in lessons. Only 

                  the approved leather strap may be used for the purpose of inflicting corporal punishment. 

                  Not  more  than  two  strokes  on  the  palm  of  the  hand  are  to  be  administered  on  any 

                  occasion.  The  strap  is  to  be  left  in  the  Master’s  desk  except  when  in  actual  use.  The 

                  Department’s regulations should be borne in mind. 



6.219      This was the first time that Government regulations were referred to, but the recommendation was 

           that they should be borne in mind rather than adhered to as a legal obligation. This was addressed 

           in 1968 when the Acts of Chapter stated: 



                  Government regulations must be observed in the administration of corporal punishment 

                  and it must be the aim of each Brother to reduce it to a minimum. 



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6.220      Abolition of  corporal punishment  did not occur  in Irish  schools until 1st            February 1982,  when a 



            Department  of  Education  circular  stated  that  any  teacher  who  used  corporal  punishment  was 

           now to be ‘regarded as guilty of conduct unbefitting a teacher’ and would be subject to ‘severe 

           disciplinary action’. 



6.221      Although this circular could have provided grounds for a civil action against a teacher who acted 

           in breach of it, it was not until 199729 that physical punishment by a teacher became a criminal 



           offence. 



6.222       For  over  100  years  the  Acts  of  Chapter  recommended  that  corporal  punishment  should  be 

           minimised and ultimately abolished. It is inexplicable, therefore, that Brothers who were in serious 

           breach  of  the  Congregation’s  own  rules  were  tolerated  and  protected  by  the  Congregation. 

           Complaints by parents or lay-persons were discounted, even when these complaints reached the 

            Provincial Leaders, notwithstanding the clear understanding the Congregation had of the danger 

           posed by abuse of this rule. 



6.223      As already cited a submission made by the Christian Brothers and other Congregations on the 

           subject of corporal punishment and physical abuse is that the historical context is essential to any 

           investigation, and particularly the fact that such punishment was permissible and widespread in 

           schools  and  homes  at  the  relevant  time.  The  chapters  that  follow  recount  details  of  corporal 

           punishment which by any standards, at any time, amounted to physical abuse. 



            Punishment book 

6.224       Under  the  1933  Rules  and  Regulations  for  Certified  Industrial  Schools,  all  such  schools  were 

           required to keep a punishment book in which all serious punishments were to be recorded. 



6.225      There was no evidence that the Christian Brothers kept such a book in any of their residential 

           schools during the relevant period. To require exclusive reliance on records and documentation 

           was a difficult position to justify, because the Brothers themselves failed to keep the records that 

           were required by law, and which were intended to allow external inspectors to see that regulations 

           were being complied with. 



6.226       However, such documents that do exist are an important source of information. In the chapters 

           on each individual institution that follow, a detailed examination of the records precedes the oral 

           evidence heard by the Committee in the hearings. 



           Sexual abuse 



6.227      The Congregation’s approach to allegations of sexual abuse of pupils was broadly similar for all 

           its schools. It was set out by Br Michael Reynolds in a representative capacity in September 2005 

           and may be summarised as follows: 



                   •    The Congregation accept that there were instances when members of the 

                         Congregation and members of staff engaged in the sexual abuse of boys while in 

                         their care. 



                   •    That such instances took place is a matter of great regret to the Congregation. 

                   •    That there was no systemic sexual abuse of boys in their institutions. 

                   •     Brothers who did sexually abuse boys betrayed the trust given them and thereby 

                         caused pain to the great number of Brothers who honoured this trust and devoted 

                         themselves to the education and welfare of the boys in their care. 



           29 Section 24 of The Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 provided: 



               the rule of law under which teachers are immune from criminal liability in respect of physical chastisement of pupils 

               is hereby abolished. 

           With the removal of this immunity, teachers are now subject to section 2(1) of the 1997 Act which provides that: 

               a person shall be guilty of the offence of assault, who without lawful excuse, intentionally or recklessly, directly or 

               indirectly applies force to and causes an impact on the body of another.Teachers who physically chastise pupils may 

               now be guilty of an offence and liable to 12 months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of £1,500. 



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6.228     It is stated in the Congregation’s Artane Opening Statement that: 



                 •    The Congregation endeavoured to ensure the safety of the children in its care, 

                      whether in day schools or in residential institutions. 



                 •    Brothers, during their training as teachers, were not given specific instruction in child 

                      protection, and such instruction is relatively new in the training of teachers and 

                      others involved in the education and care of youth. 



                 •    The issue of sexual abuse was seen as a moral one where such abuse was seen as 

                      a grave moral failing. It was the cause of scandal and a moral danger both to the 

                      child and to the abuser. 



                 •    Long-term psychological damage caused by sexual abuse was not understood by 

                      society at the time. 



                 •    The recidivist nature of child sexual abuse was, likewise, not understood by society at 

                      that time. 



                 •    The response of the Congregation to instances of sexual abuse was conditioned by 

                      this inadequate understanding of the issue. 



                 •    Procedures were in place for dealing with abuse, but they were of their time and were 

                      therefore very inadequate by current standards. 



6.229     The Congregation’s statement describes how Brothers guilty of child sexual abuse were dealt with: 



                 •    A Brother not yet a finally professed member of the Congregation was usually 

                      dismissed. 



                 •    A finally professed Brother was summoned to the Provincialate and either given a 

                      formal Canonical Warning or dismissed. 



                 •    A repeat offender was dismissed. 



6.230     The source material referred to and analysed by the Congregation in making its submission was 

          identified as  contemporaneous      documentation    extracted   from  the  Provincial Archives   of  the 

          Christian Brothers in Ireland and the General Archives of the Christian Brothers in Rome. As in 

          the case of its submission in relation to corporal punishment, the Congregation does not in this 

          submission place reliance on other possible sources of information such as the recollections and 

          accounts of those who lived and worked in the institutions during the relevant period, nor on the 

          accounts contained in the statements of complainants furnished to the Commission. 



6.231     The documents extracted from the Christian Brothers archives in Rome were not comprehensive; 

          in most cases, they did not contain statements of the evidence; they sometimes referred to the 

          offence under scrutiny in oblique terms and they referred only to those cases where the allegation 

          against the Brother was considered well founded. 



6.232     Having analysed the documented cases, the Congregation concluded that the approach to sexual 

          abuse was that it was seen as a moral issue. Such abuse was seen as a grave moral failing on 

          a number of grounds: 



                 •    It was morally wrong, sinful in itself. 

                 •    It was a cause of serious scandal to and endangered the morals of the child. 

                 •    It damaged the reputation of the individual offender, the institution and the 

                      Congregation. 



6.233     Its analysis of these cases also leads the Congregation to comment that there was no adequate 

          understanding  either  of  the  emotional  impact  which  sexual  abuse  caused  the  child  or  of  the 

          recidivistic nature of the abuser. The Congregation agreed with a suggestion by counsel for the 

          Commission that the fact that the abuse was a crime should have been added to this list. 



6.234     It was submitted by the Congregation that, while the approach to instances of sexual abuse of 

          children was very inadequate by present-day standards, the manner in which the Congregation 

          did respond was characterised as follows: 



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                   •    There was no cover up of the issue. 

                   •    When personnel became aware of the issue they reported it to the Congregation 

                         authorities. 



                   •    Structures in place made it possible for boys to bring such issues to the attention of 

                         the Resident Manager or other personnel, and this in fact happened. 



                   •    The Congregation removed the abusers from the institution and in most cases from 

                         the Congregation. 



                   •    The Congregation Visitor was attentive to the dangers of sex abuse. 

                   •    Guidelines and recommendations were issued to assist with child protection. 



6.235      In its investigations into individual schools, the Committee found that the Congregation’s response 

           to sexual abuse fell short of the measures outlined above. 



6.236      After  the  conclusion  of  the  evidence  given  in  Phases  I,  II  and  III  hearings,  the  Congregation 

           furnished written submissions setting out its position in relation to various aspects of the evidence 

           heard by the Investigation Committee. 



6.237      In essence, the submissions made by the Christian Brothers at this stage in relation to allegations 

           of  abuse were  that the  quality and  reliability of  the evidence  given by  complainants during  the 

           Phase II hearings had been undermined owing to a broad range of significant factors. The effect 

           of these undermining factors was to render much of the evidence (particularly in respect of sexual 

           abuse) implausible, inconsistent, contradictory, and therefore unreliable. 



           Assessment of evidence 



6.238      The Congregation emphasised in its submissions the impact that publicity and lobby groups had 

           on  the  reliability  of  evidence  about  abuse.  It  also  outlined  concerns  regarding  the  Statute  of 

           Limitations  (Amendment)  Act,  2000  which,  it  submitted,  affected  the  reliability  of  allegations  of 

           sexual abuse. 



6.239      Many     witnesses    were   questioned     closely   by  counsel    for  the  Christian    Brothers   about    their 

           association  with lobby  and support  groups. There  was a  clear implication  by the  Congregation 

           that  active  association  with  a  lobby  group  was  indicative  of  a  lack  of  objectivity  on  the  part  of 

           the witness. 



6.240      The Committee recognised there were grounds for concern that some complainant witnesses had 

           been influenced by events at meetings. For example, lists of names of Brothers who were present 

           in the institutions were distributed at some meetings so that ex-residents would be able to name 

           abusers.  Issues  such  as  this  diminished  the  credibility  and  reliability  of  the  testimony  of  some 

           witnesses. 



6.241      The Christian Brothers were able to cross-examine all the complainants who came forward, and 

           the  issue  of  collusion  was  fully  explored  by  their  counsel.  Evidence  of  some  witnesses  was 

           discounted by the Committee where these issues arose. 



6.242      The  Statute  of  Limitations  (Amendment)  Act,  2000  was  also  cited  by  the  Congregation  as  a 

           significant factor, in that it granted extension of time for bringing claims for damages in respect of 

           sexual abuse in circumstances that did not apply to other forms of abuse including physical abuse. 

           One of the conditions for getting an extension was making a complaint to the Gardai. 

                                                                                                                 ´ 



6.243      In their final Submission for Artane, the Christian Brothers stated: 



                  it  is  likely  that  complainants  were  aware  of  the  possibility  of  this  requirement  being 

                  incorporated into the pending legislation. Indeed ... many complainants went to the Gardai 

                  at the suggestion of their legal advisors. 



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6.244      The Submission went on to state: 



                 A substantial number of the other allegations of sexual abuse which were made to the 

                 Commission  (including  allegations  where  the  complainant  ultimately  chose  not  to  give 

                 evidence) were first made to the Gardai around 1999/2000 also and it is not unreasonable 

                 to  infer  that  some  of  these  complainants  may  have  been  influenced  by  the  prevailing 

                 perception  as  to  what  they  would  have  to  allege  so  as  to  be  eligible  to  make  a  claim 

                 for compensation. 



6.245      Matters affecting weight and transparency of evidence were not confined to complainants. On the 

           respondent side, some members and ex-members of the Congregation were reluctant to speak 

           openly and frankly about their memories of the industrial schools in which they worked. They were 

           reluctant to criticise the Congregation or their colleagues, and the defensive attitude which was 

           adopted by the Congregation in its Opening Statement was mirrored by some of the respondent 

           witnesses. 



6.246      These and other considerations were relevant in assessment of evidence, but the occasions of 

           determining  facts  that  were  merely  asserted  on  one  side  and  denied  on  the  other,  with  no 

           accompaniment of documentary or circumstantial material or corroboration, were greatly reduced 

           by the Committee’s method of investigation. 



           Impact of allegations on respondents 



6.247      The Committee was satisfied that some allegations of abuse were false. A small number were not 

           the result of contamination or exaggeration but were deliberately manufactured for the purposes 

           of compensation or to cause maximum damage to the Christian Brothers. 



6.248      Respondents spoke to the Committee about the impact that allegations of sexual abuse had on 

           their lives. 



6.249      One Brother had an allegation of sexual abuse made against him which was never pursued by 

           the complainant. This Brother had come in to the Investigation Committee to answer this charge, 

           but was not given an opportunity to do so because of the failure of the complainant to attend, and 

           expressed his distress at having the allegation hang over him for four and a half years. 



6.250      Another Brother described an allegation of sexual abuse that was made against him as  ‘hurtful’. 

           He went on to say that there had never been an allegation against him in all of the subsequent 

           40 years that he had been a teacher.  ‘Yes, I feel deeply hurt that these allegations come from a 

           period in my life where I literally cared for the uncared for’. 



6.251      After  two  years,  a  decision  was  made  by  the  Director  of  Public  Prosecutions  (DPP)  that  no 

           prosecutions would take place. He spoke of the impact the allegations had: 



                  This has had impact not alone on me ... But it has impacted on me and my family. It has 

                 impacted also on a true and loyal staff, that any one of those could find themselves where 

                 I am today. This has got to be stopped. How I don’t know, but it will have to be halted. 



6.252      This man was reinstated to his teaching position shortly after the DPP’s decision, when the Board 

           of Management of his school declared itself satisfied, after an investigation, that this be done. 



6.253      Another  Brother  described  the  experience  of  being  accused  of  wrong-doing  in  1997,  some  40 

           years after he had left the Institution: 



                 It was eight years of torture and disappointing because I felt I had dedicated myself when 

                 I was in Artane to the people there and done great work and I was the same in every 

                 school I was in and this was a horrible way to finish my career. 



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6.254      This former Brother was in his mid-60s when these allegations were put to him. He was married 

           with two children. Eventually, some seven years after the initial interrogation, the DPP made a 

           decision not to prosecute. 



6.255      Allegations of sexual abuse are difficult to verify. Length of time and the inherent secrecy of the 

           act make it hard for complainants to prove their case, even on the ‘balance of probabilities’. To 

           prove such  a case beyond  reasonable doubt,  as is required  by the criminal  law, is  even more 

           difficult. In the same way as it is difficult to prove abuse, so it is also difficult to prove that abuse 

           did not occur. 



6.256      In one case before the Committee a Brother was reinstated on the strength of a DPP decision. 

           Counsel for the Congregation stated that there was ‘an infrastructure put in place ... to determine 

           what is the correct thing to do’. 



6.257      In  subsequent     correspondence       with   the  Investigation   Committee,      it emerged     that  no  such 

           procedures had been followed in this case and that the decision had been taken by the Provincial 

           Leadership Team. The decision was based on the fact that the only allegations against this man 

           were from the two years he had spent in Artane and that the Leadership Team ‘were satisfied 

           that  they had  no concerns  that Br  Romain30         posed  any childcare  dangers to  children or  pupils 



           under his stewardship’. 



6.258      The Congregation stated that they were guided in this case by the 1987 Regulations and by the 

           Irish Bishops  Advisory Committee which  issued ‘A Framework  for a Church  Response’ (Green 

           Book 1996) ‘which was being adhered to by the Congregation’. In fact, the Green Book set out a 

           detailed procedure for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse and these do not appear to 

           have been applied in this case. 



6.259      It is in the interests of both genuine complainants and accused that allegations be investigated 

           expeditiously and in an independent and transparent manner. 



           The private hearings – Phase II 



6.260      At  the private  hearings the  Congregation of  the Christian  Brothers was  usually represented  by 

           senior  and  junior  counsel,  who  were  attended  by  the  firm  of  Maxwells,  Solicitors.  At  least  one 

           senior member of the Congregation, and on most occasions more than one, was present on each 

           day of the hearings and heard all the testimony of both respondents and complainants. Individual 

           respondents were represented by either senior or junior counsel or by both. They, too, had their 

           own solicitor in attendance. Complainants were represented for the most part by senior counsel. 

           Solicitors for the complainants were also present. Some members of the Investigation Committee 

           legal team was present throughout. 



6.261      The  Congregation  provided  their  own  responses  to  all  the  complainant  statements.  Most  were 

           signed by former  members of staff and  they generally took the  form of a blanket  denial of the 

           allegations. 



6.262      There were several problems with these response statements: 



                   •    Some of the statements were signed by Brothers who were not in the School at the 

                        time. The fact that they had signed the document gave the impression that they were 

                        in a position to affirm the facts asserted in statements, but in reality they were in no 

                        position to do so. 



                   •    Brothers who signed the statements gave evidence to the Committee that 

                        contradicted the facts asserted in the response statements. 



                   •    Some statements simply omitted relevant facts, while at the same time making 

                        assertions that were known to be incorrect or misleading. 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 



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6.263     The Christian Brothers began making their response statements using a policy of denying that a 

           Brother was ever in the institution when a complainant had got a name even slightly wrong, or 

           had used a Christian name or a nickname rather than the Brother’s surname. 



6.264     Counsel explained the reason for this approach as follows: 

                I understand that in the early statements instructions were given that the Brothers were 

                known only by their surnames. We now know after only a few days it was a mixed bag. 



6.265      In  circumstances  where  the  individual  respondent  either  admitted  abusing  the  complainant,  or 

          elected to ask no questions, the Congregation was still entitled to cross-examine the witness, and 

           in most cases it availed itself of this opportunity. 



6.266     The records provided by the Congregation, whilst limited and incomplete in some respects, were 

           more  extensive  and  detailed  than  the  materials  in  the  archives  of  other  Congregations,  and 

          contributed significantly to the overall picture of these institutions. The structure of the chapters 

          on the institutions, proceeding from documented cases of abuse to the uncorroborated evidence, 

           reflects this approach. The documented cases were examined for behaviour described and for 

          the way the cases were managed. This illuminated attitudes the Congregation had at the time to 

           Brothers who broke the rules. 



6.267     The documents originally discovered to the Committee were added to on several occasions. A 

           public hearing on discovery issues, arising out of the investigation of Carriglea Industrial School, 

          took   place  in November     2006   after  prolonged   correspondence     failed  to produce    requested 

           material.  The  Congregation  supplied  this  additional  material  subsequent  to  that  hearing,  which 

           included  recordings  and  notes  of  interviews  with  Brothers  about  their  experiences  in  industrial 

          schools. A further substantial body of documentary evidence was furnished in March 2007, when 

          the  Congregation’s  solicitors  notified  the  Committee  that  it  had  decided  to  waive  its  claim  to 

          withhold documents from discovery on the grounds of privilege. 



6.268     The contemporary records of the Congregation, and in particular their Visitation Reports, allowed 

          an in-depth investigation of the industrial schools under their control, and this was helpful to the 

          work of the Committee. 



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           Chapter 7 



           St Joseph’s Industrial School, Artane 

           (‘Artane’), 1870–1969 



           Introduction 



           Background 



7.01       St Joseph’s Industrial School, Artane was established under the Industrial Schools Act (Ireland), 

           1868 by the Christian Brothers at the request of the then Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Cullen. 

           It opened on 28th  July 1870 with the aim of caring for neglected, orphaned and abandoned Roman 



           Catholic boys, and it operated as an industrial school until its closure in 1969. 



7.02       The Industrial School was located in a north-eastern suburb of Dublin some five kilometres from 

           the city centre in an area which was, at that time, open countryside amenable to intensive farming. 

           The application for a certificate in June 1870, to the Chief Secretary for Ireland, stated that Artane 

           Castle plus 56 acres of land had been purchased for the purpose of setting up an industrial school. 

           The request was approved and the School was licensed to accommodate 825 boys on 9th                     July 



           1870. From an original intake of three pupils, it quickly grew in scale, housing 700 boys by 1877, 

           and reaching its certified size of 825 boys before the end of the nineteenth century. During its 

           existence, approximately 15,500 boys were cared for and educated in Artane. 



7.03       In 1870, the buildings consisted of a large dwelling house with out-offices, gardens and 56 acres 

           of arable land. The property had been purchased for £7,000, and it was proposed that dormitories, 

           classrooms etc. would be erected for a further £1,600. Three boys were admitted in the beginning 

           and  then  tarred  sheds  were  put  up  to  accommodate  40  boys.  The  Congregation’s  Opening 

           Statement described how the ambitious scheme developed thereafter: 



                 Public personages of all shades of opinion gave the school generous support. To raise 

                 funds  for  the  provision  of  permanent  buildings  a  petition  signed  by  a  large  number  of 

                 people was presented to the Lord Mayor. A public meeting was called by the Lord Mayor 

                 in response to this petition and substantial voluntary funds were soon received. From this 

                 response and from newspaper articles of the time it is clear that there was strong public 

                 support for the work of the school. The design, atmosphere and work ethos of the school 

                 received much acclaim from numerous eminent persons in public life and many visitors 

                 were impressed with what they witnessed. 



7.04       Although the initial proposal was that £1,600 would be spent building dormitories and classrooms, 

           an Annual published by the Brothers in 1905 recorded that buildings costing over £60,000 had 

           been erected at Artane by that time. The land associated with the School increased from 56 acres 

           to more than 350 acres by the early 1940s.1        In 1934, some 147 acres were under meadow and 



           1 Report on Artane Industrial School for the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse by Ciaran Fahy, Consulting 



            Engineer (see Appendix 1). 



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           tillage,  with  the  remainder  being  used  for  grazing,  apart  from  land  occupied  by  buildings  and 

           playgrounds. The main building still stands today. 



7.05       Artane was conceived on a grand scale. Dormitories accommodated up to 150 boys, sleeping in 

           ordered rows of beds with no personal space. The dining area or refectory accommodated all 825 

           boys  at  one  sitting.  A  submission  in  1934  to  the  Cussen  Commission  into  industrial  schools 

           boasted that a ‘magnificent corridor 365 feet long runs the whole length of the building’. 



7.06       The undertaking comprised the School, the trade shops and the farm, in addition to the Community 

           house. The trade shops and the farm constituted a substantial business enterprise, of which the 

           farm brought in a large yearly income. 



7.07       The Investigation Committee engaged a Consultant Engineer, Ciaran Fahy, to examine and report 

           on the buildings and accommodation in Artane, and his report is annexed at Appendix 1 to this 

           chapter. 



7.08       The Rules and Regulations of Artane were similar to those of other industrial schools and required 

           it to provide for the physical needs of the boys committed to the School, who were to be supplied 

           with suitable accommodation, clothing, food, and instruction. Recreation was to be provided and 

           they  were  allowed  to  receive  visitors  and  to  correspond  with  outsiders.  They  were  to  receive 

           religious instruction, a secular education and industrial training. The School was also required to 

           develop a spirit of industry, pride and discipline amongst the children.2 



7.09       The number of children detained in Artane from 1937 to 1969 was as follows: 



            1936     n/a            1944     820            1952     732            1960     421            1968     230 



            1937     679            1945     820            1953     696            1961     395            1969     211 



            1938     737            1946     811            1954     739            1962     367 



            1939     772            1947     797            1955     650            1963     341 



            1940     820            1948     830            1956     566            1964     319 



            1941     817            1949     803            1957     496            1965     314 



            1942     817            1950     776            1958     426            1966     307 



            1943     810            1951     749            1959     446            1967     230 



7.10       These boys were ordered to be detained in Artane by the courts for reasons of inadequate parental 

           care, destitution, neglect, truancy or the commission of minor offences. It is clear, however, that 

           poverty  was  the  underlying  reason  why  children  were  sent  to  Artane,  whatever  the  statutory 

           category grounding the detention. 



7.11       The reasons for committals during the period from 1940 to 1969 were as follows: 



               Improper            School           Destitution     Homelessness          Larceny          Other crime 

             guardianship        Attendance 

                                     Act 



                  1374              1045                720               227                229                90 



7.12       Other   admissions    to  Artane   were    insignificant  in number     in the  1940s    but  they   increased 

           substantially later. Health Board and voluntary admissions increased from 13 in the 1940s to 113 



           2 Rules and Regulations of Industrial Schools 1885. 



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           in the 1950s, and 136 in the 1960s. These admissions were not included in the number of children 

           in respect of whom a capitation grant was payable by the Department of Education. They were 

           either privately funded to attend the School or paid for by the Health Board, and in the latter years 

           they accounted for an additional 50% of boys in Artane. 



7.13       During  June  1969,  the  211  boys  who  were  still  detained  in  Artane  were  moved  out  and  the 

           Institution  closed   on   the  30th  of that  month.    120   boys   were   discharged     to their  parents   or 



           godparents or placed in jobs. Of the remainder, 26 boys were transferred to Ferryhouse, and the 

           others went in small numbers to different institutions around the country. These dispositions were 

           agreed    after  much    discussion    and   many    meetings    between    the   School   authorities   and   the 

           Department of Education. 



7.14       In the years leading up to the closure, and particularly during the late 1960s, there was a dramatic 

           decline in the number of children who would potentially have made up the population of industrial 

           schools.  Legal  adoption,  fostering  and  boarding-out  were  among  the  principal  reasons  for  the 

           decline.   In  addition,   attitudes   of the   public   and   a  number     of  State   officials had   become 

           unsympathetic to industrial schools as a means of caring for deprived children. Improvements in 

           economic and social conditions and benefits also contributed. 



7.15       Artane, as the biggest industrial school, was most vulnerable to these developments. The Superior 

           was a member of the Kennedy Committee that began work in 1967 and was expected to report 

           in mid-1968. He was privy to the thinking of the Committee and was able to inform his colleagues 

           in the Congregation that the Committee was going to recommend the closure of Artane. 



7.16       Br Reynolds, Deputy Leader of St Mary’s Province of the Christian Brothers, said at the Phase I 

           hearing that it was clear at the time that the Kennedy Committee would recommend the closure 

           of industrial schools. The Opening Statement stated: 



                  it was becoming clear to the Congregation that the future of Artane Industrial School was 

                  uncertain and had been under discussion from the middle nineteen fifties. Eventually, in 

                  or around 1967 the Congregation took a decision in principle to close the institution. 



7.17       Br Reynolds added that he thought that the decision  ‘could have been taken in 1967’, with the 

           timing  being  left  to  the  Provincial  to  decide.  On  23rd  January  1968  the  Provincial  informed  the 

           Minister  for  Education  that  the  School  would  close  on  31st      August  of  that  year.  At  a  meeting 

           attended by the Minister in March, the Brothers agreed to a deferment until 31st               December 1968, 



           to  give  the  Department  time  to  arrange  alternative  accommodation  for  the  boys.  One  further 

           extension until 30th   June 1968 was subsequently agreed. 



           The Cussen Report and Artane 



7.18       The beginning of the relevant period of this inquiry coincided with the publication in 1936 of the 

           Cussen Report into Industrial and Reformatory Schools.3              The Congregation had made a written 



           submission     to  the  Cussen     Inquiry,  with  a  detailed   account    of  the  system    of  care   and   an 

           unapologetic defence of all aspects of the Institution. 



7.19       The  Congregation was  worried that  the Cussen  Commission would  call for  changes in  Artane, 

           and there was relief when that body’s visit to the School went off successfully and the Brothers 

           were reassured by their belief that the Commissioners seemed pleased by what they saw. The 

           Brothers    knew    that  talk of  change    was    in the   air and   they   were   hoping    to  persuade    the 

           Commissioners to approve the existing state of affairs. Br Strahan, who wrote the submission for 

           the Congregation, concluded it with the request that Artane should remain as it was: 



           3  Commission of Inquiry into the Reformatory and Industrial School System 1934-1936 chaired by Justice Cussen. 



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                 Whether judged by the greatness of its successes, or by the small proportion of its failures, 

                 or  by   the  world-wide     fame   it has   attained,   we   submit,   Mr   Chairman,     Ladies   and 

                 Gentlemen, that not only should Artane be allowed to stand untouched, but that it should 

                 be cordially and generously supported. 



7.20       The submission responded to the suggestion that the School was too big, by arguing that it had 

           succeeded beyond all expectations and that: 



                 in its largeness lies its chief merit and advantage; for it is its size and its multiplicity of 

                 activities  that  afford  exercise  to  those  following  the  various  trades,  etc.,  within  its  own 

                 precincts. It is only in a large school that such a variety of trades could be established to 

                 meet the immediate demands of the Institution. 



7.21       Acknowledging that ‘the air has become charged with reports of even drastic changes’ because 

           of  recent legislation  in  England, Br  Strahan  emphasised the  differences  between the  countries 

           and the fact that the new ideas were as yet unproven. He wrote that the legislation dealt ‘with a 

           different people, a people of different temperament, of different religious opinions’. 



7.22       The  submission  painted  an  idyllic  picture  of  life  in  Artane,  describing  in  detail  the  facilities  for 

           education,  training,  recreation,  aftercare  and  the  living  conditions  of  the  boys  as  being  in  all 

           respects of the highest quality. No significant faults were admitted. However, in spite of the writer’s 

           zeal in defending every feature of the Institution, something of the impersonal nature of the School 

           crept into the submission. The mealtime routine was described as follows: 



                 After mid-day we hear a bugle-call and see the assembling of the clans from farm and 

                 shops and band room and knitting room, as they form in companies before dinner hour. 

                 We see them walk in perfect order, but with free step, and await in silence till the presiding 

                 Brother pronounces Grace. We see them sit down in perfect silence until given leave to 

                 chat ... 



7.23       Some    issues   that  were    of real  concern    to  the  Commissioners       in the  Cussen     Inquiry  were 

           discussed very favourably in the Christian Brothers’ submission, but it transpired when the Report 

           was published that they were anything but convinced. The recommendations made by the Cussen 

           Commission  rejected  some  important  parts  of  the  submissions  that  the  Congregation  had  put 

           forward.  The  proposal  to  split  up  Artane  into  four  units,  the  criticism  of  education,  and  the 

           dissatisfaction  with  supervision  and  aftercare  of  children  leaving  Christian  Brothers’  industrial 

           schools    went    directly  against    the  arguments      in  support    of  the   Institution.  Some     other 

           recommendations were not specific to Artane but were no less applicable and were also implicitly 

           adverse findings. 



7.24       The   Commission      concluded     that  the   School   was    too  big  by   a  factor  of  about   four,  and 

           recommended that it should be divided. Paragraph 72 of the Report stated: 



                  In our opinion the best results can be obtained only where the number under any one 

                 Manager does not exceed 200 pupils. We think that in no case should the number exceed 

                 250. It is necessary in this connection to refer specifically to the case of Artane Industrial 

                 School,  which  is  certified  for  800  boys  and  where  there  are  on  an  average  about  700 

                 boys. It is in our view impossible for the Manager in an Institution of this size to bring to 

                 bear that personal touch essential to give each child the impression that he is an individual 

                 in  whose  troubles,  ambitions,  and  welfare  a  lively  interest  is  being  taken.  We  strongly 

                 recommend, therefore,  that Artane  should be  divided into  separate Schools,  the pupils 

                 being segregated according to age and attainments. Each school should contain not more 

                 than  250  pupils  under  the  control  of  a  sub-manger,  whose  appointment  and  removal 

                 should be subject to the approval of the Minister ... 



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7.25       Artane was also singled out for criticism of the education provided. The Commission noted with 

           regret at paragraph 92 of the Report: 



                 ... that in Artane Industrial School, with over 700 pupils, only the minimum standard of 

                 literary education required by the regulations is provided, and pupils, however promising, 

                 cannot, as a rule, proceed beyond sixth standard. 



7.26       The Commission commented on supervision and aftercare of children discharged from industrial 

           schools, and was critical of this aspect of care in schools run by the Christian Brothers. Paragraph 

           120 said: 



                 We are not satisfied as to the adequacy of the methods of supervision and after-care of 

                 children  discharged  from  these  schools,  particularly  in  the  case  of  boys  leaving  the 

                 Industrial Schools which are under the management of the Christian Brothers. 



7.27       On this subject, the Brothers’ submission had described a very satisfactory situation, which was 

           obviously not accepted by the Commissioners: 



                 The  school  keeps  in  touch  with  the  ex-pupils  by  letters,  enquiries,  meetings,  when  on 

                 holiday, reports from employers, etc., for at least two years, and generally for three years 

                 after they leave school, and taking into account how greatly they were handicapped in 

                 earlier life, it is most gratifying to find the small percentage of those who have failed to 

                 make good. 



7.28       The Cussen Report made other observations and criticisms that were not specific to Artane or to 

           Christian Brothers’ institutions, and they are discussed as they arise in considering the evidence. 



7.29       The concerns expressed by Cussen were well founded. In particular, the excessive numbers of 

           boys  in  the  School  continued  to  have  a  detrimental  effect  on  the  capacity  of  the  Institution  to 

           provide a caring environment and on the lives of those who lived and worked in it, and contributed 

           greatly  to  the  problems  that  emerged  over  the  years.  The  Congregation  has  conceded  that, 

           because of the numbers and because of the need for constant vigilance, Artane was run on a 

           highly organised basis, even to the point of regimentation. 



7.30       The recommendation to divide the Industrial School was not implemented, although, in the last 

           years of Artane’s existence when the numbers had dropped to a fraction of previous decades, the 

           boys were segregated into two groups according to their ages. The documentary records of the 

           Christian Brothers and the Department of Education did not disclose the reason for rejecting the 

           proposal  to  divide  the  School.  There  was  no  record  of  discussion  or  debate  or  of  any  explicit 

           decision in that regard. Although the Congregation in its submissions has blamed the Department 

           of Education for failure to implement this recommendation, it must also bear responsibility. If the 

           Brothers  had  proposed  such  a  change,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  Department  could  have 

           reasonably opposed it. When the division was made in 1967, admittedly a much smaller alteration 

           in view of the reduced population, it was an internal decision of the Congregation. 



           Management and staff 



7.31       The   hierarchical   nature   of  the  religious  leadership    in  Artane   had   consequences      for  the 

           management  of  the  School.  Evidence  before  the  Committee  pointed  to  a  rigid  and  simplistic 

           management structure, whereby all the power and all the decision-making function lay with the 

           Resident   Manager.    Individual   Brothers   spoke   to  the  Committee    about   their own    feelings  of 

           helplessness and frustration at their inability to effect change. Older Brothers had authority over 

           younger colleagues, and this allowed a system to develop whereby all the heavy workload of the 

           Institution fell on a small number of young, inexperienced Brothers who were obliged by their vows 

           of obedience to carry out instructions without question. 



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7.32       The Institution was not adequately staffed. The day-to-day operation was left to a small number 

           of largely inexperienced and untrained Brothers who were required to work for up to 14 hours a 

           day,  seven  days  a  week.  Other  Brothers  lived  in  the  Community  and  participated  to  varying 

           degrees     in the   Institution,  for example     in  administrative    work,   while   some    Brothers    did  not 

           participate  at  all  in  the  running  of  the  School  due  to  age,  ill-health  or  even,  according  to  one 

            Brother,  because  of  disinclination.  These  Brothers  were  supported  by  the  School,  but  did  not 

           participate in its work. 



7.33       The  Brothers  working  in  the  Institution  were  not  instructed  in  childcare.  Their  tuition  was  the 

           teacher training for national schools which was provided by the Congregation at its own Marino 

           training college. Brothers attended teacher training in Marino for one year and were then sent out 

           to a Christian Brothers’ school for experience for a number of years, before returning to complete 

           their second and final years. Many young Brothers were sent to Artane as their first posting in this 

           interim period, when they were wholly unqualified to care for children and had completed only half 

           of their course as teachers. The Investigation Committee heard evidence from former members 

           of staff of Artane that they were shocked by their first experience and overwhelmed by the scale 

           of the task imposed on them. 



            The investigation 

7.34        Phase I of the hearings into Artane took place on 15th             September 2005 with a public session at 



           the Alexander Hotel, Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Evidence was heard from Br Michael Reynolds, 

           who    described     life in  the  Institution  and    outlined   the  Congregation’s      view    as  to  how    the 

            Institution operated. 



7.35        Phase II commenced on 26th         September 2005 in the offices of the Commission and continued in 

           private in accordance with the legislation until 16th         December 2005. The Investigation Committee 



           invited 78 complainants to give evidence as part of the Artane inquiry, of whom 48 attended and 

           gave  evidence.  26  respondents,  either  Brothers  or  ex-Brothers  gave  evidence.  In  addition,  the 

           Committee  heard from  two  other  witnesses who  were  in a  position  to  give general  information 

           about the Institution.4 



7.36        In  Phase  III  of  the  Investigation  Committee’s  inquiry  into  Artane,  Br  Reynolds  returned  to  give 

           evidence on behalf of the Congregation at a public hearing which took place on 22nd  and 23rd  May 



           2006. This session focused on issues that arose as a result of the private hearings into Artane 

           and the documentary material furnished to the Commission. 



7.37        In  addition  to  oral  evidence,  the  Investigation  Committee  considered  documentary  discovery 

           material received from a number of sources, namely the Christian Brothers, the Department of 

                                                             ´ 

            Education and Science, An Garda Siochana, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Archbishop 

                                                        ´ 

           of Dublin and the Health Service Executive. 



7.38       There are Department of Education General and Medical Inspection Reports for most of the period 

           of  the  investigation.    Files  from  the  headquarters       of  the  Christian  Brothers  in    Rome  yielded 

           evidence  of  cases  of  sexual  abuse  considered  by  the  Congregation  to  have  been  admitted  or 

           proven  against  individual  Brothers.  Visitation  Reports  of  the  Christian  Brothers  were  another 

           valuable source of information. Infirmary records were scant and were shown to be misleading in 

           some cases. There was a statutory requirement to maintain a punishment book, which was to be 

           examined by the Department of Education Inspector, but no such book was maintained. 



7.39       An unusual feature about Artane was that there was independent evidence as to conditions there. 

           The evidence was firstly that of Fr Henry Moore, who was chaplain to Artane by appointment of 



           4  Dr McQuaid and Fr Henry Moore. 



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----------------------- Page 141-----------------------

          the Archbishop of  Dublin, Dr J.C. McQuaid,  from 1960 to 1967.  Fr Moore was the  author of a 

          confidential  report  on  conditions   in Artane,  which   he  wrote   in 1962   at the  request   of the 

          Archbishop. He also gave evidence about the Institution to an Inter-Departmental Committee on 

          juvenile crime in the same year, as a result of which controversy arose between officials of the 

          Department of Justice and the Department of Education. Fr Moore was exceptionally qualified to 

          comment on residential schools and the Christian Brothers, because he had spent nearly 10 years 

          as  a  resident  of  St  Vincent’s  Glasnevin,  an  orphanage  operated  by  the  Christian  Brothers.  Fr 

          Moore’s evidence is discussed in detail later in this chapter. 



7.40      The Investigation Committee also heard evidence from Dr Paul McQuaid, consultant psychiatrist, 

          who was a regular visitor to Artane in the late 1960s. 



7.41      The  Investigation  Committee  engaged  experts  to  prepare  reports  on  Artane.  Mazars,  a  firm  of 

          accountants and financial consultants, analysed the accounts of the Institution and produced a 

          report which was provided to the Congregation for comment and response. The issues concerning 

          Artane are analysed in the Mazars’ report which is dealt with in Vol IV. As indicated above, Mr 

          Ciaran Fahy, consulting engineer, prepared a report on the buildings and lands of the Institution, 

          which was similarly sent for comment and which is also annexed (to the chapter). 



          Concessions and submissions 



7.42      The  Investigation  Committee  received  submissions  from  the  Christian  Brothers  in  relation  to 

          Artane in February 2007. A number of complainants and individual respondents also made written 

          submissions on the oral and documentary evidence that emerged during the inquiry. 



7.43      The Christian Brothers made  similar submissions regarding Artane as they  made in relation to 

          other institutions. In particular, they submitted that: 



                an analysis of all the evidence before the Commission strongly suggests that, at a time 

                of  significant  economic  deprivation  in  the  State,  the  Congregation  fully  and  properly 

                discharged its legal and moral obligations to care for the boys in Artane and that it did so 

                notwithstanding limited financial and related support from the State. Further, in spite of 

                considerable    restrictions, the   Congregation    adopted    a  progressive    and   reforming 

                approach to childcare which became particularly apparent in the 1960s. When one takes 

                all of the evidence before the Commission into account, there can be no doubt that, at 

                all times, the welfare and best interests of the boys was the paramount concern of the 

                Congregation and of its members who worked in Artane. The evidence would also suggest 

                that the quality of care which was thus provided to the boys was, in all the circumstances, 

                of a particularly high standard. 



7.44      The   Congregation    accepted   that  the  regime   was  mainly   one  of  physical  care  and   did not 

          encompass much in the way of emotional attention. The Brothers denied that the Institution was 

          generally  an  abusive  one,  and  their  fundamental  contention  was  that  Artane  was  a  positive 

          Institution which generally was a force for good. 



7.45      With  regard  to  sexual  abuse,  they  acknowledged  that  such  incidents  had  happened,  and  they 

          greatly regretted them. They said that, as a Congregation, it did not tolerate such behaviour and 

          the available evidence, they claimed, showed that they responded appropriately according to the 

          norms of the time, even if present standards would condemn them. 



7.46      As to allegations of physical abuse, the Congregation was also generally defensive. It maintained 

          that this issue had to be seen in the context of the time, when corporal punishment was permitted, 

          not only in industrial schools but in all schools, and was also common in homes across the country. 

          Moreover,  the  Christian  Brothers’  own  rules  forbade  excessive  punishment  and  encouraged  a 



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           minimalist  approach    to  the  physical   punishment     of children.  Where    excessive    punishment 

           occurred,  it was   disapproved    of, and   the  records   of the  Congregation     showed    that, where 

           instances  came  to  light,  they  were  the  subject  of  comment  and  criticism.  A  Disciplinarian  was 

           employed    in the  School   to  deal  with  all serious  breaches    of  discipline, and   that promoted 

           consistency of treatment. 



7.47      They maintained that there was overall a good relationship between Brothers and boys in Artane, 

           and  the  picture  of  a  frightening  regime  with  a  climate  of  fear  was  a  misrepresentation  of  the 

           situation. 



7.48      The positions adopted by individual respondents were more consistent with the evidence of the 

           complainants. 



           Issues 



7.49       In  accordance  with  the  legislation,  the  Committee  was  required  to  determine  what  abuse  took 

           place in Artane, how it happened, how much of the particular abuse was perpetrated, and why it 

           happened.  This  chapter  addresses  the  different  forms  of  abuse,  which  can  be  summarised  as 

           physical  abuse,  sexual  abuse,  neglect  and  emotional  abuse.  The  method  adopted  in  this  and 

           other chapters, in dealing with specific abuse, is first to analyse documentary material which may 

           be  considered  reliable,  and  then  to  proceed  to  the  oral  evidence  given  by  complainants  and 

           respondents, and to relate it where appropriate to the documented evidence. A further question 

           has also to be considered, namely whether the Institution provided a safe, secure environment 

          for the boys who were detained in it. 



7.50      With  regard  to  the  oral  evidence  of  complainants,  the  Congregation  in  its  submissions  drew 

           attention to features that it maintained detracted from the credibility and reliability of testimony of 

           abuse.  It  pointed  out  that  the  events  in  question  happened  many  years  ago,  and  witnesses’ 

           memories were less reliable because of the lapse of time. They also pointed to interference of 

           independent recollection by reason of contact with other former residents and by attendance at 

           meetings promoted by campaigning groups. Other relevant features included media publicity and 

           issues of compensation. These problems were exacerbated in the investigation of Artane because 

           it was the biggest institution and one of the most controversial. 



7.51      Any investigation of an institution such as Artane has to be aware of the possibility that evidence 

           may be lacking in credibility or reliability for many reasons. Memories can indeed be affected by 

           lapse of time. Witnesses whose credibility is not in issue may nevertheless be mistaken in their 

           recollection  of  particular  events.  Influences  may  operate  even  subconsciously.  A  tendency  to 

           exaggerate the details of events also cannot be overlooked. Some witnesses intentionally set out 

          to give untruthful evidence. The campaign for recognition and redress for wrongs alleged to have 

           been committed in the past was not a reason to reject the testimony of everybody involved. The 

          fact that witnesses attended meetings or spoke to others was relevant in considering the value of 

          their evidence, but was not a basis for rejecting it as necessarily unreliable. 



7.52      There can be no general rule, in Artane or elsewhere, either to accept or to reject the evidence 

           of  witnesses  who  may  have  been  affected  by  factors  tending  to  reduce  the  reliability  of  their 

           evidence. Each witness has to be considered individually. As with evidence in a civil or criminal 

          trial in court, the Committee may accept or reject the whole or any part of the testimony offered. 



7.53       Grounds for questioning reliability of evidence were not confined to complainants. Respondents 

           also were subject to lapses of memory and potential distortions of recollection. In some cases, 

          the reliability of evidence could have been affected by the gravity of the allegations made against 

           respondents themselves or against their colleagues; loyalty and affection for others, and for the 

           Institution and the Congregation, may also have had a distorting influence on their testimony. 



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7.54      The  approach  taken  by  the  Committee,  of  proceeding  from  analysis  of  documentary  material 

          containing  contemporary  accounts  of  incidents  and  then,  where  possible,  assessing  the  oral 

          evidence by reference thereto, tended to lessen the occasions where it was necessary to choose 

          between witnesses asserting and denying particular events. 



7.55      The Committee was satisfied that its approach yielded an accurate picture of the Institution and 

          the matters which it was required to determine. 



           Physical abuse 



          Introduction 



7.56      The role of corporal punishment in the management of the Institution is central to this topic. The 

          Congregation accept that it was part of the disciplinary regime, but it also contends that Artane 

          was  no  different  in  that  respect  from  other  schools,  and  that  corporal  punishment  was  also  a 

          feature of home life for many children at the time. Against a background of widespread use of 

          corporal punishment, they contend that the system of discipline in Artane was not stricter than it 

          was   in  primary   schools.  They    do,  however,   concede    that  there  were   cases   of  excessive 

           punishment    by   Christian   Brothers   in  Artane.   Some    of  those    were   documented      in the 

          Congregation’s  records  that  were  made  available  by  way  of  discovery  of  documents  to  the 

           Investigation Committee. The Brothers point to these records as evidence that the Congregation 

          did not overlook or condone excesses in physical punishment. They also accept that there may 

           have been more cases, but they are reluctant to go further by way of concession on this issue 

          than was required by the documentary material in the Congregation’s archives. In coming to their 

           position on physical abuse, the Brothers did not take into account the allegations that were made 

          by complainants in their written statements. 



7.57      The  spokesman  for  the  Christian  Brothers  at  Phases  I  and  III  of  the  hearings  was  Br  Michael 

           Reynolds, who conceded that: 



                 There are three and possibly four cases there where I would say yes, there was certainly 

                 very severe punishment administered. I am not saying that is the totality of it, I am saying 

                that is what I can work out of on record. I would say the discipline was quite strict and 

                corporal  punishment  was  used  and  so  on.  What  I  am  saying  is  I  don’t  think  that  even 

                in relation to physical punishment that it was an abusive institution by the standards of 

                the time. 



7.58       He was then asked if he accepted that it probably went further than that and he replied: 



                I do, yes. Unfortunately I am doing that in one sense off the top of my head or from a gut 

                feeling  rather  than   saying   –  if I was   challenged   on   that I  can’t  stand  it up  with 

                documentation  because  I  haven’t  got  it,  but  I  am  not  saying  that  in  the  absence  of 

                documentation that nothing else happened other than what was documented here. 



7.59       In relation  to documentary     sources,   Br  Reynolds    was   unable  to  explain  the  absence    of  a 

           punishment book, which was required by regulations to be kept, but he accepted the obvious point 

          that such a record would have assisted the inquiry. Indeed, as appears from the discussion of this 

           matter below, maintaining that book would also have tended to reduce excesses. 



7.60      The Congregation’s concessions stopped far short of what the complainants alleged and did not 

          even match the admissions of individual respondents. Among the latter witnesses were Brothers 

          and  former  Brothers  who  expressed  sympathy  with  the  boys  and  agreed  with  much  of  their 

          evidence, and a number of them were also prepared to admit their own failings and frustrations 

          and to criticise the system generally. The Congregation engaged a barrister, Mr Bernard Dunleavy, 



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           to report privately on a  number of institutions, including Artane. In the course  of this research, 

           some Brothers were much more candid in interviews with Mr Dunleavy than were the Brothers 

           who appeared before the Investigation Committee. 



7.61       Complainants alleged that the regime of discipline was unlawful, cruel and unjust. They claimed 

           that  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  punishment  in  Artane,  and  that  punishment  was  administered 

           inconsistently, irrationally and capriciously by different Brothers. They alleged that, even if a boy 

           obeyed all the rules and did what he was told, he could encounter a Brother who was in bad form 

           or  who  had  some  other  excuse  for  administering  punishment.  A  boy  might  be  punished  for 

           anything or for nothing. They maintained that there was a pervasive climate of fear in the Institution 

           that came about because of the unbridled use of corporal punishment. 



7.62       Although Artane had an appointed Disciplinarian to deal with serious offences, all Brothers carried 

           leathers and administered punishment for a wide variety of infractions, and other adults were also 

           permitted to punish. Witnesses did not generally complain about punishment that they felt was 

           deserved, even if it was severe. 



7.63       One long-serving Disciplinarian was acknowledged, by all the former residents who spoke about 

           him, to have been strict but fair even though he sometimes punished them severely. This Brother 

           was    named     and   accused     of  physical   abuse    in  many     complainants’     statements,    but   the 

           Investigation Committee did not find that the evidence at Phase II supported such a conclusion. 



7.64       The Investigation Committee had to choose between conflicting accounts of the regime in Artane 

           on the fundamental issue as to whether uncontrolled corporal punishment was a feature of the 

           system, so that physical abuse was systemic, or whether there were occasional contraventions of 

           the rules that did not undermine a proper system of management. 



7.65       The material available to the Investigation Committee in considering this issue included: 



                   •    The evidence of former residents and members of staff. 

                   •    The evidence of Dr Paul McQuaid, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, who did some work 

                        and research in Artane. 



                   •    The report written by Fr Henry Moore in 1962, together with his evidence to the 

                         Investigation Committee. 



                   •    Department of Education discovery. 



                                       ´ 

                   •    Garda Siochana discovery. 

                                  ´ 



                   •    Contemporary documents including the Visitation Reports compiled by the Christian 

                         Brothers during the period under review. 



                   •    Letters on the subject of corporal punishment provided by the Christian Brothers. 



           Documentary evidence 



           Br Noonan’s attempts to limit corporal punishment 



7.66       Br  Noonan  was  Superior  General  of  the  Congregation  from  1930  to  1949.  He  was  anxious  to 

           reduce the reliance on corporal punishment and he admonished those who were intemperate in 

           its  use.  There  are  some  grounds  for  believing  he  did  keep  down  its  excessive  use  during  his 

           tenure of office. Letters written by him make it clear that the management of the Congregation 

           knew excessive and frequent use of corporal punishment was a problem from the beginning of 

           the period of this inquiry. 



7.67       A Visitation Report in the early 1930s described an extraordinary penalty imposed on a Brother 

           in the refectory: 



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                  Br Sebastien5  erred on two occasions in punishing boys severely. The Superior reproved 



                  him publicly and ordered him to make a public apology, on his knees in the Refectory ... 

                  Br Sebastien was honestly penitent and determined to amend. Indeed he is on the whole 

                  a good young Brother. 



7.68       The severity of the punishment meted out to the boys to warrant this extraordinary reprimand was 

           not disclosed, but Br Sebastien did not mend his ways and continued to punish boys excessively. 

           Evidence  of  his  subsequent  conduct  was  found  in  a  letter  to  him  in  1937  from  the  Superior 

           General, Br Noonan, who made it clear that he deplored severe physical punishment: 



                  In order to make your life more pleasing to God by fidelity to your obligations I wish to 

                  point out two rather serious faults mentioned in the suffrages I received about you. One 

                  is your severity to the boys. This is indefensible; it is in every way against the canons of 

                  the  teaching    profession.    Punishment     in  a  moderate     way   is  allowed;   but   severity   is 

                  altogether    to  be   avoided.    It  injures   the  boy’s    feelings   and   never    produces     real 

                  improvement. Let Christ be your Model; He was meek and kindness itself, yet He was the 

                  greatest Teacher the world has ever known. Do not imagine you have discovered better 

                  methods in harshness and severity. 



7.69       The second fault referred to in the letter concerned his vow of poverty. 



7.70       In a similar letter in 1935, Br Noonan wrote to Br Jules6           in Artane: 



                  You incline to the harsh side in school both in language and in inflicting bodily pain. Pupils 

                  hate sarcasm and they have a keen sense of what is just and fair in punishment. If you 

                  would  secure respect  for  yourself  and for  your  teaching be  kind  and  just towards  your 

                  pupils. It is said you are a poor student yourself. Perhaps it is due to your failure to make 

                  preparation for your work as a teacher that your pupils are made to suffer doubly. 



7.71       Br  Jules  previously  worked  in  Tralee  in  the  1930s,  where  his  behaviour  had  also  come  to  the 

           attention  of  the  Provincial  and  a  Visitor.  Whilst  in  Tralee,  he  was  accused  of  beating  a  boy 

           severely.  When he  was  asked  for an  explanation  of this  severe  corporal  punishment, Br  Jules 

           wrote to the Provincial claiming that the Industrial School Inspector had advised him to give the 

           boy special physical training to remedy a physical defect. The boy failed to perform an exercise 

           on this occasion, though formerly he had been capable of doing so, and he had therefore been 

           punished. Br Jules acknowledged that this punishment was excessive in the circumstances. 



7.72       Less than a month later, the Visitor commented that Br Jules had his: 



                  boys in a state of terror. He maintains a harsh, unnatural discipline. His boys show this. 

                  At times, he has been very severe and has treated individual boys in a cruel manner. He 

                  does not seem to realise that he is severe or if he does he will not admit it. Br Karcsi7                is 



                  being drawn to follow his bad example however, Br Karcsi is by no means so bad ... Were 

                  it not for the occasional outbreaks of severity on the part of Br Jules, and his general harsh 

                  manner in dealing with them, the school would hold a high place amongst our Institutions. 



7.73       Br Jules had been due to take his perpetual vows, but was rejected. The following year, it was 

           noted  that  he  was  too  exacting  in  school.  He  showed  ‘little  devotedness  to  study’  and  was 

           ‘troublesome,     crossgrained’.  It   was    concluded  that    he  ‘has   not   had  good    record   –  doubtful 

           candidate’. He was, however, ultimately allowed to take his vows. 



           5  This is a pseudonym. 

           6  This is a pseudonym. See also the Tralee chapter. 

           7  This is a pseudonym. 



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7.74       He moved from Tralee to Artane, where he stayed until the 1950s. He later worked for six years 

           in Glin. 



7.75       Br Beaufort8  was on the staff of Artane throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, having previously 

           worked    in  Tralee,9   where    he   received    a  letter  from   Br  Noonan,     Superior    General    of  the 



           Congregation, warning him about his temper and the risk he posed of causing serious bodily harm 

           to the boys: 



                  A  still more   dangerous     weakness      in you   was   mentioned     in  the  suffrages.   You    are 

                  passionate in your dealings with the boys. In fact at times you show so little control of 

                  your temper that you are in danger of inflicting serious bodily harm on the boys by your 

                  manner  of  correcting  them.  Watch  yourself  and  pray  to  God  to  give  you  some  of  His 

                  meekness and forbearance. Never punish a boy in any way except what is permitted by 

                  the Rule. Forgive easily the small failings of your pupils and in this way more good will be 

                  done than by harsh treatment. 



7.76       The  Investigation  Committee  heard  evidence  from  complainants  about  Br  Beaufort.  A  witness 

           recalled an example of his temper, when he suffered the kind of serious bodily harm apprehended 

           by  Br  Noonan.  Br  Beaufort  thought  that  the  boy  was  laughing  at  him  in  class  and  responded 

           impetuously: 



                  he jumped straight at me, picked me up, threw me like a dog around the place. I hit desks, 

                  hit the floor. I landed after some time on the floor. The commotion of boys screaming had 

                  brought Br Quintrell,10    who was in 11 school, which was the next school, he flew in and 



                  pulled him off. I know I was unconscious, and I know to God that if it hadn’t been for him 

                  coming in, I do not think I would be here today, in all honesty. The attack was vicious. 

                  Moments later, he was apologising, crying. 



7.77       At the time of this incident, the boy was recovering from injuries to his hand sustained from an 

           accident  in  the  carpenter’s  shop,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  infirmary  records.  The  wounds 

           opened  in  the  assault  by  Br  Beaufort.  In  addition,  the  witness  complained  of  lacerations  and 

           injuries to his left eye and neck. Some of his teeth were broken, he lost one tooth on one side of 

           his mouth and two on the other. He was brought to the infirmary after the attack and when he had 

           quietened down he was taken to the dormitory. Until this incident he had had no difficulty with Br 

           Beaufort, whom he described as friendly. 



7.78       Another  witness,  who  was  in  Artane  from  1945  to  1950,  claimed  that  Br  Beaufort  oscillated 

           between kindness and impetuous violence. 



7.79       In conclusion: 



                   •     Notwithstanding        the   opposition     of  the   Superior     General    to   excessive     and 

                         intemperate  punishment  and  clear  guidance  given  to  Brothers,  the  problem 

                         persisted. 



                   •    The Superior General expressed himself in the restrained, admonitory language 

                         of pastoral counselling rather than issuing direct instructions. 



                   •    In circumstances where every Brother in Artane was given a leather for corporal 

                         punishment  of  the  boys,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  these  excesses  could  be 

                         avoided.  Restricting  the  leather  to  the  Disciplinarian  would  have  had  a  direct 

                         effect on preventing capricious and excessive punishment, and Br Noonan could 

                         have directed that this be done. 



           8  This is a pseudonym. 

           9  Br Beaufort had previously also worked in Carriglea in the early 1930s. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 



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            Letter of complaint to the Department of Education by former resident 



7.80        In 1946 a former resident of Artane (from 1929 to 1935) began to correspond with the Department 

           of  Education     regarding    conditions    at Artane.    Initially, his complaints     related   to the   primitive 

           sanitation system in operation in the Institution. Then, in a letter dated 6th            November, he wrote: 



                  It is 11 yrs since I was in Artane and I dont forget one minute of it, neither do others, the 

                  injustices done to others and myself, I will see; wont happen to others: 

                  Boys beaten,  under the Shower Baths  by Staff Mr  Byrne,11                Boys heads beaten  on the 

                  Handball Alley Wall by Bro Acel12 And a Drill Master who used say “do it where you Stand” 



                  when a Boy ask to go to the W.C. 



7.81        In  a  memorandum  dated  8th        November  1946,  the  Assistant  Secretary  in  the  Department  of 



            Education  agreed  with  the  Inspector  that  no  action  was  required  in  response  to  this  letter.  No 

           response  was  sent       to  the  former  resident     and  no  comment  was  sought          from  the  Resident 

            Manager. 



7.82               •     The    attitude    of  the   Department       of  Education      to  a   serious    complaint      was 

                         dismissive. No attempt was made to establish the veracity of the complaints. 



           Br Maurice13 



7.83       A Visitation Report in the late 1930s was critical of a Brother for his free use of the ‘slapper’, which 

           was a shorter and thinner strap than the leather. The Visitor noted that the boys were: 



                  well disciplined and I am happy to be able to say that there was no evidence of undue or 

                  severe  corporal  punishment.  I  was  assured  by  practically  all  the  Brothers  that  there  is 

                  very little corporal punishment indulged in. I did come across one case of the free use of 

                  the slapper. This was in the class room of Br Maurice. He gave about 16 slaps one after 

                  the other. I walked in just at the end. The slaps were not severe and the effect could only 

                  help towards demoralising the poor lads. I had a word with Br Wiatt14  and asked him to 



                  help Br Maurice to establish his control without having recourse to the useless method of 

                  indiscriminate slapping. But it is indeed satisfactory to find that there is very little corporal 

                  punishment  and  that  in  recent  times  there  has  not  occurred  any  instance  of  undue 

                  severity. Br Eliot15  is Master of Discipline and is doing very well in this position. He is very 



                  anxious to do his best and he is succeeding very well in his exacting duties. There is still 

                  too much reliance on the slapper and not enough on personal influence. The only member 

                  of the staff who has succeeded in getting along with the boys without having recourse to 

                  corporal punishment is Br Dennet.16          His personal influence is very great, and his single- 



                  mindedness and truly Christ-like attitude in his dealing with his boys is having a marked 

                  effect for good on them. 



7.84        In view of the content of this section of his report, it is hard to understand how the Visitor could 

           have been assured that there was very little corporal punishment indulged in. The comment that 

           it was ‘satisfactory  to find that there is very  little corporal punishment’ was contradicted  by the 

           criticisms he went on to make. He noted that only one member of the staff had ‘succeeded in 

           getting along with the boys without having recourse to corporal punishment’, and there was ‘too 

           much reliance on the slapper and not enough on personal influence’. Furthermore, his comment, 

           ‘It is indeed satisfactory ... that in recent times that there has not occurred any instance of undue 

           severity’ implied that there had been such instances in the past. 



           11  This is a pseudonym. 

           12  This is a pseudonym. 

           13  This is a pseudonym. 

           14  This is a pseudonym. 

           15  This is a pseudonym. See also the Carriglea chapter. 

           16  This is a pseudonym. 



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7.85               •    At the very least, this report showed there was a problem regarding the use of 

                         corporal    punishment       in  Artane.   Only    one   Brother    could    maintain    discipline 

                         without using the leather. 



           Br Eriq17 



7.86       Br Eriq worked in Artane for less than a year in the late 1940s. He left in April, not August, which 

           was the usual time for Brothers to be moved. Br Eriq had previously worked in Tralee in the late 

           1930s, where three consecutive Visitation Reports were critical of his severity towards the boys. 

           A full account is contained in the Tralee chapter. 



           Br Olivier18 



7.87       The Inspector of Industrial Schools wrote, in July 1949, asking for details of an incident involving 

           Br Olivier, and the Resident Manager replied three days later: 



                  Last year [the mother of a boy] happened to visit the School the very day her second son 

                  ... had a black eye. She mentioned the matter to me, and I investigated it there and then. 

                  Apparently the Brother losing his temper in class gave the boy a blow on the face with 

                  the palm of his hand, and next day the skin was discoloured. (Of course the discolouration 

                  disappeared within a few days.) I spoke to the Brother implicated (Br Olivier) and made it 

                  clear  that such  should not  happen again.  And as  far as  I know  nothing has  happened 

                  since then. 



7.88       Br Olivier gave evidence to the Investigation Committee. He did not recall being reprimanded by 

           the Resident Manager for using excessive violence, but he thought that an elderly teacher had 

           told him to keep his temper in check. 



7.89       Br Olivier served in Artane in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He said that all Brothers were issued 

           with a leather strap to maintain discipline, and commented: 



                  The danger with that is this; that it could be used excessively ... depending on the type of 

                  person you were. You could be somebody with a short fuse like myself, I have to admit I 

                  had the short fuse, and there would be times perhaps when ... you would be inclined to 

                  use it. You see it was the only armoury you had ... In fairness I would say though that the 

                  Rules of the Congregation laid down, I am just thinking back and I want to be fair to the 

                  Brothers  as well,  rules are  there maybe  to be  broke, but  it was  specified that  corporal 

                  punishment should never be used for failure in lessons, that type of thing. 



                  ... I could go a week, a month, without ever giving a slap to a fella, it could happen. I am 

                  not trying to make myself out that I am a saint or that I wouldn’t use it, I certainly would 

                  indeed, and I’m awfully sorry ... 



7.90       He said he did not adhere to the rules regarding corporal punishment very often. He did not recall 

           the rules being brought to his attention while in Artane. He had never seen a punishment book: 



                  I could have slapped a fella maybe on the face or something like that. I might even hit a 

                  fella a punch in the back. It could have happened. 



7.91       Several  witnesses  complained  about  Br  Olivier’s  excessive  use  of  physical  punishment.  One 

           witness said he used to punch boys on the jaw without warning. The Brother responded to this 

           allegation by saying: 



                  Yes. That could be. I am not denying it. I cannot remember any specific case ... but I am 

                  not denying that such a thing could have happened. 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.92       Another witness told the Committee,  ‘life with Br Olivier was one long beating ... for one reason 

           or another’. 



7.93       This witness described in detail an incident which he believed was a punishment for trying to get 

           out  of  playing  hurling,  the  sport  in  the  charge  of  Br  Olivier.  The  witness  described  how  he 

           developed a blister on his finger and tried to lance it with a needle, as he had seen his grandmother 

           doing. He said that Br Olivier, however: 



                  ... accused me of deliberately trying to harm myself to avoid going training. He said he 

                  would cure it for me. That evening in the dormitory, him and Br Boyce19                  called me into 



                  the boot room ... they had a kidney shaped utensil and boiling water. They got hold of me 

                  and I realised what they were going to do and I tried to make a run for it. The pair of them 

                  got hold of me and Br Olivier got my finger and shoved it in. I screamed and roared and 

                  tried to pull it back and they held it. After 10 or 15 seconds the pain went. It just went 

                  numb and it was bearable. They held it in for a while and out it come. That’s when he told 

                  me to walk the passageway, gangway which was linoleum in the centre of the dormitory. 

                  As time went on it swelled, it swelled. He obviously went to bed. 



7.94       The night watchman found the boy, who had not gone to bed because of the instruction from the 

           Brothers to ‘walk the passageway, gangway’, and told him to go to bed: 



                  The next morning I got up my finger was  a white ball of flesh, waterlogged. I reported 

                  sick, I reported to Br Cretien20, which you had to do to get to see the nurse. I told the 



                  nurse what happened. I was treated at least a month or six weeks until eventually all the 

                  skin peeled off. Sometimes the nurse would cut it. After some weeks I was like a plucked 

                  chicken, bare skin. In time the skin grew back on the nail. To this day that finger, especially 

                  in  cold  weather,  is  numb,  there  is  no  feeling  in  it.  I  swear  they  must  have  burned  the 

                  nerve ends. 



7.95       Br Olivier gave his account of the incident: 



                  ... I was trying to help him, I was trying to cure him. That was a common thing long ago 

                  in the country, a bread poultice, you know, in water, like, before it comes to the boil. That’s 

                  what I tried to do with him. He looked upon it as a penance I think, but I didn’t mean it as 

                  a penance. 



7.96       The complainant told the Investigation Committee that there was no bread involved. The records 

           show he was treated in the infirmary for a septic finger and that the Artane general practitioner 

           saw him to treat the finger on two occasions, although the witness did not recall being seen by 

           the doctor. 



7.97       The  Investigation  Committee  was  faced  with  two  conflicting  versions  of  the  motivation  for  this 

           incident. On the one hand, Br Olivier claimed it was an attempt to treat a septic finger. On the other 

           hand, the complainant firmly believed he was being punished for injuring himself to avoid games. 



7.98       If the  main motive was treatment,  then the treatment  should have been administered  with due 

           care, to ensure no further injury would result. There was an infirmary with a trained nurse available, 

           and no explanation was offered as to why this facility was not used. The two Brothers opted to 

           use instead a ‘hot poultice’ and clearly did not ensure the water was of a low enough temperature 

           to prevent scalding. 



7.99       There were, however, elements of punishment to the whole procedure. The boy was so terrified 

           that he tried to make a run for it. Despite being in obvious pain, he was then made to walk the 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 

           20 This is a pseudonym. 



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           corridor. Normal resources for treating sick children were not used, suggesting the Brothers did 

           not take the injury to the finger seriously. Given these facts, it is not surprising the boy believed 

           he was being punished, rather than treated, for his affliction. 



7.100      Moreover, the respondents’ defence was more cautious than a totally innocent explanation of the 

           incident would suggest. In cross-examination, the complainant was initially told that Br Boyce had 

           no recollection of the event, casting doubt on whether it had taken place. When he gave evidence, 

           however, Br Boyce recalled the incident and said the water was not boiling. It turned out that both 

           Brothers  could  recall  the  event,  but  insisted  the  motive  was  driven  solely  by  concern  to  cure 

           the finger. 



7.101      The occurrence of the event was no longer in dispute. Nor was it in dispute that he was treated 

           for some weeks for a septic finger. The boy’s feeling that it was more punishment than treatment 

           does not seem surprising. Subsequent events proved he needed care and professional treatment. 



7.102      A  second,  subsequent  incident  happened  some  considerable  period  later  when  the  boy  again 

           failed to attend training. Br Olivier, he said: 



                 took me into the washroom. What we used to do if a Brother was going to beat you that 

                 night we tried to hang on as long as we could with our trousers on and our clothes. If you 

                 stripped off you only had a night-shirt. You didn’t have pyjamas. I thought he is not going 

                 to come, good. I stripped off. Sure enough he came in. 



                 He brought me into the washroom. He told me to kneel down on the floor and he stood 

                 over me with his arms folded. He was quite cool and calm and he said ‘I have told you 

                 now more than once to come out and I am going to give you the hiding of your life’ real 

                 calm. He was enjoying it. He said ‘hold your hand out. Hold your left hand out and don’t 

                 drop it until I tell you’. He took this leather strap out and he gave me four or five straps. I 

                 couldn’t hold it out any longer because the strap was starting to go up my arm. I had welts 

                 on it. I dropped it. He said ‘I have warned you not to drop your hand. Now, put your other 

                 hand out’ and I did. He started to beat me again. Again I dropped it. He said, ‘I did tell 

                 you’ and he went berserk. When you seen this man when he lost his temper he was like 

                 a wolf. His jaws literally went out and he bared his teeth and he just lashed at me. I was 

                 running trying to get away from him. He hit me, it didn’t matter where, legs, back, head, 

                 anywhere. During that I must have passed out because when I came around there was 

                 water running on my head and the taps from these baths were about that wide ... real old 

                 fashioned taps. I must have thought I was dreaming it. Then I thought I was drowning. I 

                 drew back and I cracked my head on the nozzle of the tap so I had blood coming down, 

                 I had tears, I was soaking wet. He wasn’t finished then. He threw me on the ground and 

                 he said ‘you’ll walk that floor for the rest of the night. Of all nights I thought the watchman 

                 would come but the watchman didn’t come that night. Nobody came and I walked that 

                 passage until 6.30 the next morning. I was so terrified of going to bed that he might come 

                 back and beat me again. I walked the whole night without sleep, I swear to God .... 



                 The injuries, you just put up with them. I was black and blue but I just had to put up with 

                 them ... I never missed a session after that, I can assure you. 



7.103      In  evidence,  Br  Olivier  queried  the  complainant’s  recollection  in  relation  to  this  incident,  as  Br 

           Olivier said that he would not have been training boys of the complainant’s age at this time. 



7.104      Br Olivier did not recall the incident but, with honesty, again said ‘I am capable and I am ashamed 

           to say I am capable of that’. His approach was clear and candid, because he refused to say that 

           it  did  not  happen  simply  because  he  could  not  remember  the  incident.  He  was  willing  to  take 

           responsibility for his general behaviour, even though the details of the complainant’s account did 

           not make sense to him or trigger a memory. There was no dispute that such an incident could 



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           have happened, and the likely explanation was that the complainant was mistaken about the time 

           lapse between the events he described. 



7.105      Br Olivier was also involved in a shocking incident that began when a 12-year-old boy accidentally 

           defecated on the floor in the sports dressing room. The Brother came on the scene and some of 

           the excrement ended up on his shoes. The Garda statements made by the witnesses differ as to 

           how this happened, and the precise sequence of events, but what is admitted in statements made 

           by  Br  Olivier  is  that  he  told  the  boy  to  lick  the  excrement  from  his  shoes  and  he  did  so.  The 

           Brother, in his statement to the Gardai, said that he was shocked when the boy did this and told 

                                                          ´ 

           him to stop: ‘I only said it out of frustration. I didn’t mean him to do it’. 



7.106       In  the  1990s,  Br  Olivier  wrote  an  apology  to  the  former  resident.  A  copy  was  furnished  to  the 

           Committee by the Congregation. Br Gibson had asked him about a statement made by the former 

           resident. Br Olivier’s letter to the man was as follows: 



                  Br Gibson ... brought to my attention a statement you made to him some time ago. 



                  I am deeply saddened to learn of your pain and hurt and I sincerely offer you my humble 

                  apology for my part in causing any of the above pain and hurt. 



                  I hope you find in the goodness of your heart the courage to forgive me and I promise to 

                  remember you always in my prayers. 



                  I pray and hope that you will find peace of mind and happiness in your life. 



                  May God bless and protect you always. 



                  Sincerely yours. 



7.107       In his written response to the Investigation Committee, Br Olivier gave a full account of the incident 

           as he remembered it, and repeated this apology. He wrote: 



                  On the day in question I was playing football with another Brother in a field far away from 

                  the dressing room. 



                  When we finished playing we returned to the dressing room to change and I noticed [the 

                  complainant] coming out of the dressing room. I asked him what he was doing there and 

                  he  said he  had to  go to  the toilet.  I brought  him back  in and  noticed  the floor  and my 

                  shoes were covered  in faeces. I told  him to clean up  the mess and he  replied he had 

                  nothing  to  clean  it  with.  I  spontaneously  told  him  to  lick  it,  meaning  my  shoes.  To  my 

                  horror he proceeded to do so and I immediately told him to stop and to go back to the 

                  class or he would be late. I did not give him any beating or bath and I proceeded to clean 

                  my shoes and the floor myself. 



                  On the day in question I was not on duty. I also wish to state that I never refused anyone 

                  permission to go to the toilet in my entire teaching career. 



                  I  repeat  the  unqualified  apology  I  made  to  [the  complainant]  sometime  ago  when  this 

                  incident was brought to my attention. 



7.108       He was specific in his statement that the apology was for asking the boy to lick excrement off his 

           shoes. In that sense, it is indeed an ‘unqualified apology’. However, the Christian Brothers, in their 

           response to the complainant’s allegations, wrote: 



                  [The  complainant]  describes  in  detail  an  occasion,  while  out  training,  he  had  stomach 

                  cramps, and accidentally defected himself. He claims that he was terrified that Brother 

                  Olivier would find out, so he hid his soiled clothing. Brother Olivier ultimately found the 

                  clothes  and  stained  his  shoes  on  the  soiled  clothing.  [The  complainant]  alleges  that 

                  Brother Olivier made him lick his boots clean. This alleged act took place in front of an 

                  ‘entire group’. [The complainant] continues that the group was asked to leave and he was 

                  then “subjected to a beating from Brother Olivier which lasted about 5 minutes”. In relation 



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                  to the allegations made against Brother Olivier I would like to refer to a letter dated the ... 

                  addressed  to  [the  complainant]  from  [Br  Olivier]  In  this  letter  [he]  wrote  “I  am  deeply 

                  saddened to learn of your pain and hurt and I sincerely offer my humble apology for my 

                  part of the above pain and suffering”. While this letter acknowledges [the complainant’s] 

                  alleged pain, the letter is not intended to be an admission of the allegations made against 

                  Brother Olivier. 



7.109      There is a marked contrast between the apologetic position taken by Br Olivier and that of the 

           Congregation. The Brother admitted the essence of the complaint, namely that he told the boy to 

           lick excrement; the Congregation adopted an exculpatory position, despite the fact that the Brother 

           and  the  complainant  agreed  that  the  incident  essentially  did  take  place.  Br  Olivier  made  an 

           unqualified apology in his letter for the purpose of making amends, whereas the Congregation’s 

           submission  put  the  best  gloss  on  a  situation  that  had  the  potential  for  embarrassment  for  the 

           Brother and the Congregation. The effect was to detract from the force of the apology that was 

           always meant to be ‘unqualified’. 



7.110      The former resident did not proceed with his complaint before the Investigation Committee. 



7.111              •     The   Brother’s     spontaneous        response     to  the   unfortunate      and   embarrassing 

                         incident    when     the   boy   defecated      was   an   abuse     of  power.     When     he   was 

                         confronted about it years later he was able to admit what had happened and to 

                         apologise     to   the   victim.   The    Congregation’s       failure   to   do   the   same     was 

                         regrettable. 



           Br Cyrano21  – a broken arm 



7.112      In the mid-1950s, the mother of a boy in Artane wrote to the Department of Education to ask if 

           she could be allowed to see her son, who had sustained a broken arm and head injuries during 

           the previous week. She also asked if the incident could be investigated. She wrote: 

                  I heard during the week that my boy Thomas22              Artane School had an arm broken as a 



                  result of a blow with a brush by one of the brothers I call to the school yesterday and the 

                  superior admitted that one of the brothers had given him a blow and that his arm was 

                  broken I did not see the boy23  but I believe he was attending another hospital for treatment 



                  the superior said he had it xrayed and seen the result the arm is in Plaster of Paris I also 

                  heard that his head was bandaged during the week Im very worried over it and I called 

                  on Sunday to see him and was not allowed If it could be arranged for me to see him to 

                  ease my mind. In any case please have the matter investigated and let me no the result. 



7.113      The Department asked for a full report on the incident and asked if arrangements could be made 

           for the mother to visit her son. The boy’s father, who was resident in England, also wrote to the 

           School asking for a report on the matter. It is clear from a letter from the Department of Education 

           to the School that a report was furnished but it has not survived. In this letter, the Inspector of 

           Industrial Schools wrote: 



                  The  incident  referred  to  should  have  been  reported  immediately  to  this  Office  and  the 

                  boy’s  parent  should  also  have  been  notified  of  the  boy’s  injury  without  delay  and  the 

                  parent should have been allowed to see the boy when she requested. 



                  In connection with the administering of corporal punishment in the school, I am to refer to 

                  the Circular no. 11/46 of the 1st November, 1946 “Discipline and Punishment in Certified 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 

           22 This is a pseudonym. 

           23  From the infirmary register it appears that while the boy was not confined in hospital he was due for a check up the 



              day his mother called to see the superior so he may well not have been in the Institution when his mother called. 



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                  Schools” (copy enclosed) and I am to suggest that the terms of that Circular should be 

                  brought to the notice of the School Staff from time to time. 



7.114       Given the seriousness of the injuries to the boy, these reprimands are slight. The Department’s 

            powerlessness to take further action is evident in this case. 



7.115       The incident was then raised in the Dail and was covered by the Press. The TD, Captain Peadar 

                                                           ´ 

            Cowan, regretted having to raise the matter in the Dail, but he said that: 

                                                                             ´ 



                  the   House    will  want   an   assurance     from    the  Minister,   and   the   country   will  want   an 

                  assurance  from  him,  that  punishment,  if  it  is  to  be  inflicted  on  those  sent  to  industrial 

                  schools, will be inflicted by some person of experience and responsibility. If punishment 

                  were to be imposed in a fit of hot temper, it would be exceptionally bad and, in fact, as in 

                  this case, it would be dangerous. 



                   ... The very fact that the incident did occur shows how necessary it is that this House, 

                  through the machinery of the Department of Education and through the Minister charged 

                  with that responsibility, should have the closest supervision of schools such as this, where 

                  children, many of them without parents at all, are sent to be brought up. 



7.116       The  Minister  for  Education  agreed,  ‘I  think  the  punishment  should  be  administered  ...  by  a 

            responsible person in conditions of calm judgment’. 



7.117       The Minister then added: 



                  Apart from my high regard for the Brothers concerned, the community concerned, there 

                  is  also  a  very  constant  system  of  inspection  for  all  such  institutions.  I  personally  have 

                  visited practically all of them ... I know in that particular school how deep is the anxiety 

                  for the children’s spiritual and physical welfare. This is an isolated incident; it can only 

                  happen again as an accident. 



7.118       This  response  implied  that  the  regular  inspections  of  the  School  included  consideration  of  the 

            administration     of corporal    punishment.      There    is, however,     no   evidence    that  the   inspections 

            conducted on the Department’s behalf included an examination of the use of corporal punishment. 

            Punishment books were not kept. Neither the General Inspection Report nor the Report on Medical 

            Aspects of School Accommodation referred to this matter on the standard printed inspection form. 

            There are no references to it in the general observations and suggestions section. Although one 

            of the Brothers in this incident recalled being interviewed by Dr McCabe24  about it, no report from 



            her survives in the records. The report from Dr McCabe following her next annual inspection made 

            no reference to the incident, or to the question of punishment in the School. 



7.119       In one newspaper, under the headline, ‘Boy Wasn’t Beaten, Say Teachers’ the journalist wrote: 



                                                                                                                              ´ 

                  A boy in a school for delinquents had his arm broken when he resisted a beating, the Dail 

                  was told before it broke up this week, but teachers at the school gave a different version 

                                                                                         ´ 

                  of what happened ... Captain Peader Cowan told the Dail that the boy resisted [being] 

                  slapped  on  the  hands  with  the  leather  ...  The  boy,  said  Captain  Cowan,  grabbed  a 

                  sweeping brush to resist the punishment, but was struck on the arm by it as two Brothers 

                  wrested it from him ... When I visited the school yesterday, teachers told me the story had 

                  been exaggerated. The boy was hurt when he attacked the Brother with a brush, they said. 



            24 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. 



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7.120      The Congregation referred to this incident in its Opening Statement. They commented: 



                  Although there are differences of opinion concerning precisely how the injury was caused 

                  and when the mother was allowed to see the boy, it is quite clear that the boy was injured 

                  and that his arm was broken. The Brother in question was transferred out of Artane. 



7.121      At  the  first  public  hearing  on  15th    September  2005,  Br  Reynolds,  speaking  for  the  Christian 



            Brothers, was asked if he found it appropriate for the Congregation to effect such a transfer under 

           the circumstances, and he replied: 



                  It wasn’t appropriate. I would say it wouldn’t have been uncommon in various places at 

                  the time. Certainly that one is the most serious incident we have and it was handled badly 

                  I would say from all aspects of it. The other thing that gives some sort of indicator or is 

                  indicative of society at the time and what surprised me when I read it that even Peader 

                  Cowan, the TD who alerted the Dail to it at the end of it said, “this is an isolated incident 

                                                            ´ 

                  and it won’t happen again” and so on. That came as a surprise to me, but I am taking 

                  that as indicative of the times as well. It’s probably indicative of the attitude that somebody 

                  who did something of that nature could be transferred elsewhere.25 



7.122      The boy whose arm was broken is now deceased. The only witness available to the Investigation 

           Committee was Br Michel,26  who was involved in the incident with Br Cyrano. Br Cyrano made a 



           statement at the time, in which he said: 



                  As I was asking Br Michel something about the Easter tests he mentioned that a boy ... 

                  had caused him trouble that morning. He asked me what should he do and I told him that 

                  it would be better to give some punishment as he would only cause trouble again. I closed 

                  my  door  and  began  writing  on  the  black  board.  During  this  time  I  could  hear  the  boy 

                  talking and saying “I won’t give in if you keep at me for a week”. The boy was making 

                  remarks similar to this but I could not hear them to make them out. My own class stopped 

                  their work when they heard the noise next door. I knew from this that the boy was resisting 

                  punishment.  I  continued  writing  on  the  board  and  suddenly  the  door  was  opened  in  a 

                  hurry. A boy from Br Michel’s class entered saying that [he] wanted me immediately. I 

                  dropped the chalk and went in. As I entered I saw Br Michel and the boy in a corner. Br 

                  Michel was  holding the boy  who in turn had  a brush raised  as if to  hit [him]. I  lost my 

                  temper and in the spur of the moment I caught the brush and hit the boy. But how often 

                  or where I hit him I can’t say for definite. Then I gave the brush to another boy and told 

                  him to leave [it] at the far end of the room. As I was going back to my own room again I 

                  noticed the boy looking at his arm. I asked him to bend it which he did. I then left the 

                  classroom and went back to my own. 



7.123       Following  the  incident,  a  fellow  pupil  took  the  boy  to  the  infirmary.  The  infirmary  record  read 

           as follows: 



                  ...  Injury  to  arm  (Accident  in  schoolroom)  Iodex  dressing  and  crepe  bandage.  Head 

                  dressed and bandaged. Taken back to school by boy who brought him to the infirmary. 



7.124      This  treatment  indicates  that  the  boy  had  lacerations  to  his  arm  and  head,  in  addition  to  the 

           fracture that was later diagnosed. The severity of the beating must have been obvious. 



7.125      A doctor did not see him until the next day, when the entry in the infirmary record read: 



                  ...  Examined  by  Dr  [name]  –  sent  to  Mater  Hospital.  X-rayed.  Result:  fracture.  Put  in 

                  plaster. To return [date]. Admitted to Infirmary. 



           25 It was in fact the Minister for Education who used those words. See paragraph 7.117. 

           26 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.126      The boy continued to attend the Mater Hospital on a daily basis, and he was finally discharged 

           two months after his first attendance. 



7.127      Had the mother not written asking for an investigation into the matter, these two infirmary records 

           would have been the only written evidence of the incident. It was simply recorded as an ‘accident’, 

           and no Brother was mentioned as being involved. 



7.128      Six days after the mother’s letter of complaint was written, Br Cyrano, who had struck the blows, 

           wrote to the Provincial of the Congregation: 



                 I am very sorry for all the damage I have done to the Brothers of Artane Community and to 

                 the Brothers in general. I have been very much upset and worried since it has happened. I 

                 will never forget it all my life. I would like if you would give me a change, as I would never 

                 really  settle  down  again  in  Artane.  As  a  favour  I  would  be  very  much  obliged  if  you 

                 considered my case, in making the change ... 



7.129      These two contemporary documents within the records of the Congregation contain no details at 

           all  about  the  nature  of  the  incident  and  the  personnel  involved.  The  infirmary  record  wrongly 

           described it as an accident, with no indication that the fracture was the result of a deliberate blow, 

           and the Brother’s letter expresses concern about the damage done to the Congregation rather 

           than concern about what had happened to the boy. Even so, the fact that he was so upset and 

           worried, and felt he would never be able to forget it, did not accord with Br Reynolds’s assertion 

           that the attitude of the times to such incidents was not to view them as seriously as they would 

           be viewed today. 



7.130      This document also revealed that Br Cyrano was transferred out of Artane at his own request, 

           because he felt he could never settle down there again. The assertion that his transfer was the 

           result  of  action  taken   by   the  Congregation,     to remove     him   from  his  position   in  Artane, 

           misrepresents what actually happened. 



7.131      Br Michel, the other Brother involved in the incident, appeared before the Investigation Committee 

           and also expressed his remorse, describing it as ‘one of these things that I have to carry with me 

           to the end of my life’. He said: 



                 ... a thing happened which I have found very difficult to bear ever since. It is 51 years ago 

                 now. In the classroom one morning, a young lad and myself – he wasn’t responding to 

                 the slaps that I was giving him, as far as I can recollect it now, and I was a young man, 

                 he was quite a hefty fellow. At any rate he decided to rush to the side of the classroom 

                 and grab a brush and went to strike me with it. Now I was absolutely nervous, didn’t know 

                 what  to  do  and  did  the  wrong  thing,  unfortunately.  I  called  in  another  Brother,  and  he 

                 grabbed the brush from this young man and it all happened on the spur of the moment, 

                 regretfully. He did strike the young chap and he caused some injury to him. The matter 

                 was investigated at the time by the inspector for industrial schools and, regretfully, that 

                 other man was transferred out of the place. 



7.132      This Brother did not know that the transfer was made at the request of his colleague and thought 

           it followed the Inspector’s investigation. Under questioning, he added: 



                 It  happened  very  very  suddenly  and  in  actual  fact  I  didn’t  realise  there  was  any  harm 

                 done, if you know what I mean, at the time until sometime afterwards, some days later. 



7.133      This young Brother had seen a boy hit several times with a brush, causing visible injuries to his 

           head  and  arm  and  he  ‘didn’t  realise  there  was  any  harm  done  ...  at  the  time  until  sometime 

           afterwards, some days later’. This simple statement indicates how a violent incident did not seem 



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           to be extraordinary in Artane. The extent of the harm done only emerged after the complaints had 

           been made. 



7.134      Br Michel blamed himself for the incident. He said, ‘I was young, I was timid. I hadn’t the control 

           I should have’. He then uttered the following apology, ‘I wish to apologise profusely to people that 

           I offended and I feel I have done my best to put that before the Commission’. 



7.135      Neither of the Brothers escorted the boy to the infirmary: a fellow pupil took him. Br Cyrano, who 

           struck the blow, appears to have suspected a fracture, because he wrote in his statement that he 

           saw the boy looking at his arm and asked him to bend it, but he did not pass on that concern to 

           the infirmary. The obvious severity of the injuries should have resulted in a full medical history 

           being taken and a thorough examination. 



                                                        ´ 

7.136      The TD who raised the matter in the Dail took up the case as a solicitor and wrote making a claim. 

           In  correspondence,  it  was  suggested  that  a  payment  could  be  made  to  the  parents  by  way  of 

           settlement. The Christian Brothers at the time were willing to make a settlement in order to avoid 

           proceedings, but they were advised that a payment would not prevent a claim being made when 

           the boy reached his majority, and that payment should not be made to the parents. No agreement 

           could be reached, and the matter apparently ended without any payment being made. 



7.137      In conclusion: 



                  •     Young, inexperienced Brothers were left to cope with difficult children without 

                        adequate      training,   and    without    the   support     and    supervision     of   a  good 

                        management system. 



                  •    There was no ordered system of discipline: control was maintained by force. 

                  •    The gravity of inflicting serious injury on a boy was not apparent to the Brothers 

                        until an external complaint was made. 



                  •     It should have been routine for the parents and the Department to be notified of 

                        a  serious injury  to  a  child, however  it  was caused.  Failure  to  disclose such  a 

                        serious  incident  immediately  suggests  that  there  was  a  policy  of  concealing 

                        damaging information. 



                  •     Injuries inflicted by Brothers should have been fully investigated. 

                  •    The infirmary record was wrong, and was not subsequently amended as it should 

                        have been. 



           Death of boy after fall 



7.138      An Artane boy’s death in the early 1950s was recalled by complainants and respondents as a 

           tragic  and  traumatic  event  that  affected  everyone  in  the  School  at  the  time  and  left  a  lasting 

           impression for years after the event. Many former residents, including some complainants, alleged 

           the boy fell because he was being chased and punished by a staff member. For this reason, the 

           Investigation Committee investigated the incident in full. 



7.139      At bed-time, around 8.30pm, Stephen Cavanagh27              fell some 14 feet to the ground and suffered 



           injuries  including  gum  and  lip  lacerations.  He  was  brought  to  the  Mater  Hospital,  where  he 

           underwent  an  operation  under  general  anaesthetic  to  repair  the  lacerations  of  his  mouth.  His 

           condition deteriorated after the operation and he did not respond to treatment, and he died in the 

           early hours of the next day. A post-mortem examination was carried out and an inquest was held 

           in the hospital the next day, resulting in a verdict of accidental death. 



           27 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.140     A boy who was acting as monitor at the time of the incident told the inquest what he saw: the 

          deceased went up the stairs to the dormitory with the other boys and then came back out onto 

          the stairs and went to do a ‘circus trick’ in which he leaned his body on the handrail and slid down 

          a short distance ‘when he seemed to overbalance and fall face downwards to the floor below’, 

          which was a distance of over 14 feet. The injured boy had damaged his teeth and ‘put his hand 

          to his left side as if he was hurt’. He was able to go into the dormitory to get his boots before he 

          was taken to the hospital. 



7.141     A Brother who was on duty on the first-floor landing described in evidence to the Committee how 

          the injured boy was being partly carried by another boy and was brought to the infirmary before 

          being  removed  to  hospital.  He  said  there  was  no  question  of  the  boy  being  pushed  or  being 

          pursued at the time and that ‘he just accidentally fell over the staircase’. 



7.142     The treating doctor at the Mater Hospital gave evidence to the inquest that the boy was admitted 

          to the hospital at 9pm on the evening of the accident, with a history of having fallen about 14 feet 

          and that, on examination, he  was conscious and suffering from shock, with a  laceration of the 

          lower lip and lower gum, four upper front teeth missing and a bruise over the right lower jaw. The 

          doctor decided to  operate to repair the  injury to the boy’s  lip and gum, which  he performed at 

          around 12.30am. He described the anaesthetic that was given and said that an endotracheal tube 

          and pack were placed in position. He continued: ‘After the operation was completed, his breathing 

          became  embarrassed,  for  which  he  was  immediately  treated,  but  in  spite  of  this  he  did  not 

          respond,   and   died’. The   doctor  expressed    his agreement    with  the  evidence   given  by   the 

          pathologist as to the cause of death. 



7.143     The pathologist described the boy’s condition when he carried out the post mortem. Externally, 

          there was a lacerated wound on the lower lip and the four central upper teeth were broken. There 

          were superficial skin lacerations and bruises on the lower jaw near the chin. Internally, there were 

          no fractures of the jaw or skull bones detected: ‘Both lungs were oedematous. The lower lobes, 

          and the posterior half of the upper lobes of both lungs were congested with blood. The thymus 

          gland was enlarged. The heart showed slight thickening and contraction of the cusps of the mitral 

          valve. The veins on the surface of the brain were distended with blood, otherwise no abnormality 

          was detected in the brain. All other organs examined appeared normal’. The pathologist then gave 

          his opinion as to the cause of death which was embodied in the jury’s verdict: ‘Death in my opinion 

          was due to cardiac and respiratory failure, secondary to acute congestion of the lungs following 

          the injuries accelerated by general anaesthesia and probably predisposed to by the presence of 

          an enlarged thymus gland’. The coroner added that he regarded the supervision of the Brothers 

          as adequate. 



7.144     A Sergeant from Raheny Garda Station visited the School on the day following the accident and 

          inspected the scene, and spoke to the boy who was acting as monitor, and gave evidence to the 

          inquest about the location of the fall. 



7.145     The inquest concluded with a verdict of accidental death. 



7.146     The Resident Manager reported the matter to the Department of Education in a letter that was 

          received six days after the accident, in which he briefly described the incident and expressed his 

          understanding  that  the  boy  died  when  he  ‘reacted  unfavourably  to  the  anaesthetic’.  Dr  Anna 

          McCabe visited Artane two days later to get details of the accident. She reported the following 

          day in a short note, in which she recorded that the inquest found that the ‘cause of death was 

          attributed to anaesthesia’. She went on to say: ‘No negligence was attributable to the School’. 



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7.147              —   The   evidence     in  this  case    does   not   support     a  conclusion     that   the  Christian 

                         Brothers were at fault for the boy’s death. The precise reason why the boy died 

                         remains somewhat unclear because of the multiplicity of medical complications 

                         cited by the pathologist. 



           Br Gerrard28 



7.148      In the mid-1950s the father of a boy wrote to Br Gerrard, who was in charge of the boys’ kitchen, 

           to complain about the treatment his son had received while working there. He wrote: 



                  Sir, 



                  It has come to my notice about my son’s hand which is sepiet; and also the method used 

                  in your kitchen. My son is no robber and I hope you will be able to answer for the character 

                  you  have given  him, have  you got  any authority  to use  a rod  with iron  through  it. You 

                  have noticed I hope I have not giving you the title of brother, as I don’t think you are fit to 

                  be one. I will make regular inspection of his body either at home or in the school. I have 

                  already wrote to the authorities about the matter. 



                  I will expect a reply and explanation from you as soon as possible. 



                  If the child concerned has suffer any Punishment through this letter I hope you will be 

                  prepared to face a court of Inquiry as I will demand it from the Ministry of Education. 



                  I am not going over your head yet that’s why I am writing to you, hoping you will have a 

                  explanation of your conduct. 



                  You will want to look after that childs hand if you don’t Artane will be getting into trouble 

                  for neglect by outside factors. Trusting you will reply soon as I am fed up listening to the 

                  treatment dealt out at Artane by others who have complained. 



7.149      The father received no response from Br Gerrard, and wrote to the Superior the following month: 



                  I have already sent a letter to Bro Gerrard concerning an Enquiry about my Son; which 

                  he did not reply to in fact it is nearly a week ago, as you Know silence is to admit of guilt. 



                  I wish you would remind him and ask him to reply so I am not going to be treated as dirt 

                  ... If I do  not have a reply soon, I  will be forced to lodge a Complaint  to the Board Of 

                  Education as well as the Minister of Education as I would not stand by and see my Son 

                  Branded as a robber ... Hoping you will look into the matter as soon as possible ... 



7.150      The Congregation commented in its Opening Statement that the main complaint of the second 

           letter was that the boy’s character had been impugned. They further argued that, as there was no 

           further document available on the matter, this was a case that they considered to have insufficient 

           documentary  evidence,  and  what  was  available  provided  evidence  of  opposing  views  and  so 

           left  matters  inconclusive.  They  did  not  refer  to  the  first  letter  containing  serious  allegations  of 

           physical abuse. 



7.151      Among the materials disclosed to the Committee under legal process of discovery was a statement 

           by an employee who worked in the boys’ kitchen at Artane for over 20 years. He mentioned Br 

           Gerrard who was in charge of the boys’ kitchen until the early 1960s when he was transferred to 

           another position. This employee worked in the kitchen from the later 1930s until the early 1960s, 

           and his statement to the Gardai in 1999 named a number of Brothers whom he recalled working 

                                                 ´ 

           in the kitchen during this time. He particularly recalled an incident with Br Gerrard. He said: 



                  I had many arguments with Brother Gerrard mostly because of the way he would beat the 

                  kids. Sometimes he would go overboard when beating the kids. I can remember telling 



           28 This is a pseudonym. 



           128                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 159-----------------------

                 him to stop beating the lads on a number of occasions. One day when I came into the 

                 kitchens Brother Gerrard was really laying into a lad. He had him down on the ground 

                 and was beating him all over his body with the leather. I went over to him and pulled him 

                 away from the boy and I hit Brother Gerrard across the face. He said he would speak to 

                 the Superior and get me sacked. I never heard any more about that incident. 



7.152      He went on to state that, ‘I had a leather myself and I often hit the lads from time to time when I 

           felt they deserved it’. 



7.153      A witness who was in Artane up to the early 1950s recalled Br Gerrard and said his  ‘weapon’ 

           was a: 



                 ... stretched out rubber from a pram wheel. I know there was never any prams in Artane, 

                 but that is what he used to use. When he would hit you my goodness me, the pain, you 

                 just cannot remember. He would take the very very tip of your finger and then he would 

                 say, “Come again” with a big evil smile on his face as he went up on his toes and he 

                 would whack again. Absolutely cruel, cruel man. 



7.154             —  This  letter  from  a  concerned  parent  was  ignored.  A  person  with  a  legitimate 

                        interest was expressing a serious concern, and it was not dealt with at any level 

                        by the authorities in Artane. 



           Br Searle29 



7.155      In a letter to the Department of Education from the foster-mother of a boy who was resident in 

           Artane in the 1950s, only part of which survives, the woman complained that the boy’s head was 

           cut following a blow from Br Searle. The Resident Manager prepared a report for the Department 

           regarding her complaint, the relevant portion of which reads: 



                 The  Br  Searle  mentioned  in  [the  mother’s]  letter  was  changed  from  Artane  about  two 

                 years ago. I have got in touch with him about the matter and the following statement is 

                 taken from the letter which I received from him: 



                    “I remember the occasion when [this boy] received a slight cut on the head. It will be 

                    remembered that on a prior occasion when I had a group of boys out on walk, one of 

                    them ... jumped out on the road, was struck by a lorry, and was killed instantaneously. 

                    The fear of a similar occurrence haunted me subsequently when taking boys on a walk. 

                    About four years ago when I had a group of boys out on a walk [the boy] began to act 

                    in a similar and even more dangerous manner. I was shocked at the thought of what 

                    could have happened to him. The impulsive thrust which accidentally struck him was a 

                    gesture of protection from a greater danger on a busy highway. I explained all this to 

                    [the mother] at the time but to the best of my recollection I never suggested that she 

                    should say nothing about what happened”. 



                 I am here for the past four years and never at any time did I receive a complaint from 

                 [this woman]. As a matter of fact she has expressed, frequently, her thanks for all that 

                 was being done for the boy. 



7.156      The injury to the head was not disputed. The Brother explained that it was an ‘impulsive thrust 

           which accidentally struck him’. The foster-mother had, apparently, had all of this explained to her, 

           yet she was concerned enough to make a complaint to the Department of Education. 



7.157             —  The  unquestioning acceptance of  the explanation  given by the  Brother, without 

                        even asking the boy what happened, was indicative of the uncritical approach 

                        adopted by the Department of Education to genuine complaints. 



           29 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   129 


----------------------- Page 160-----------------------

           Br Verrill30 



7.158      The   parent   who   made    a  previous    complaint    in the  mid-1950s     about   Br  Gerrard,    which   is 

           considered above, made another written complaint two years later that Br Verrill had injured his 

           son. It seems that the letter was written during the course of a General Election campaign, as it 

           refers to a visit to the writer’s home by a candidate who was a doctor by profession and who saw 

           the injured boy and encouraged the writer to complain. 



7.159      The letter stated: 



                 Dear Sir 



                 I wish to make a Complaint regarding my son ... I noticed he had marks of Violence on 

                 him, In fact a Candidate who called to the house to day remarked his face Swollen and 

                 Bruised as the man who called happens to be a Dr. 



                 He  advised  me  to  write  in  to  you  and  ask  for  explanation  from  you  and  to  get  a  reply 

                 within 3 days before he goes ahead with an investigation. This is not the first time it has 

                 happened it would appear that Bro Verrill takes out his temper on the children, in fact if it 

                 happened to a ordinary man he would get 6 months. As my Dr. Candidate said he looked 

                 as if he was Punched ontil he bleed. Trusting you will look into the matter as soon as 

                 Possible as my T.D. expects a reply within 3 days. Sorry again to have to Complain as 

                 its going on to long now. After all he is only a child and I am sure the High Author dose 

                 not Know about the treatment giving to those boys. Trusting again I will have a reply soon. 



7.160      Recorded on the back of this letter is a handwritten note: 



                 Answered: [Date] Examined boy’s face no mark. Got him to examine it himself no mark. 

                 Boy  asked  not  mention  to  [Br  Verrill].  Wish  acceded  to.  Reason?  Mentioned  boy  was 

                 happy at Trade & Technical Course. Boy states that he did not see any T.D. Asked father 

                 to put me in touch with T.D. 



7.161      It is clear that: 



                  •     Examining the boy for marks of violence was not an adequate response to the 

                        allegation of violence but was more consistent with a defensive attitude by the 

                        Superior. The father complained of assault by the Brother, and that should have 

                        been properly investigated. Instead, the focus was on disproving the allegations. 

                        A full record should have been kept. 



                  •     The Superior should have been concerned at the boy’s fear of being removed 

                        from his trade by Br Verrill if he discovered that a complaint had been made. He 

                        could have reassured the boy that he would not be removed from the course, 

                        while still carrying out an investigation. 



7.162      In its Opening Statement, the Congregation referred to the following letter as a single allegation, 

           but in fact it contained two separate complaints. 



7.163      In an anonymous note to the Minister for Education, a boy had written: 



                 The treatment we receive out here in Artane is unbearable specially from Br Verrill if you 

                 say a Vulgar word and he hears about it he takes you out of bed ... gives you a shocking 

                 treatment, there has been proof of this in some boys faces during the last month. 



                 [The Boy] 



                 Yours sincerely 



                 PS Do what you can Sir 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 



           130                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 161-----------------------

                                                                                                                ´ 

7.164       This  letter  was  sent  to  the  Resident  Manager  together  with  a  letter  from  Mr  O  Siochfhradha, 

                                                                                                                    ´ 

            Inspector, Department of Education. He advised the Superior that a boy’s father had called to the 

            office that morning, complaining that his son had been ill-treated by Br Verrill. He wrote: 



                  He alleges that  Brother Verrill took the  boy out of bed  and beat him and  that the boy, 

                  when on a visit home last Sunday, “had the remains of a black eye”. He also stated that 

                  the boy appeared to be going deaf as a result of the treatment he received. 



                   In this connection I am to enclose an anonymous letter received in this Office some time 

                  ago. 



                                                                             ´ 

7.165       He enclosed the handwritten note quoted above. Mr O Siochfhradha asked the Resident Manager 

                                                                                 ´ 

            for his observations on the parent’s allegations. 



7.166       The Resident Manager replied that, having investigated the matter, he was convinced that there 

            was no truth in the allegations. The boy concerned had advised him that he had given backchat 

            to a member of staff in front of other boys. The member of staff concerned did not punish him at 

            that point. He was told to report the incident to the Disciplinarian, who was directly in charge of 

            the conduct of the boys in the School. The Resident Manager went on: 



                  The  boy  says  that  he  went  off  to  bed  quickly  that  night  immediately  after  tea  without 

                  having reported this matter and that when Br Verrill sent for him he got up again. He was 

                  told that his offence was rather serious especially on account of the bad example he had 

                  given to the other boys [The boy] himself has told me that the only punishment he got 

                  was a few slaps. He is definitely sure that he was not ill-treated in any way and that at no 

                  time was he struck on any part of the head or face. He is also sure that he never had a 

                  black eye or ear injury. 



                  The boy says that he had forgotten all about this business until he went on a visit home 

                  on the 17th    ult. On account of what his father said to him, he believes that whoever took 



                  the  story  to  his  father  must  have  told  lies  as  his  father  seemed  to  have  a  very  wrong 

                  impression about the whole affair. 



7.167       The child concerned prepared a statement at the time. It read: 



                   In about the middle of October I gave back chat to [a Brother] and I also took up a bottle 

                  and let on I was going to hit him with it. I was told to report to Br Verrill about this. I did 

                  not report it. When I was in bed at about 8.30 Br Verrill called me and he gave me some 

                  slaps but he did not hit me on the face or ears, or eyes. I had everything forgotten till I 

                  got out for the day on the 17th       of Nov. 



7.168       There  was  no  Department  of  Education  pupil  file  available  for  this  boy.  There  was  no  further 

            correspondence from the Department in the Congregation’s discovery. 



7.169       Notwithstanding these complaints, Br Verrill was later commended in a Visitation Report for his 

            work as a Disciplinarian: 



                  Tribute was paid by many to the success of Br. Verrill as Disciplinarian. The elimination 

                  of  the  tougher  element  has  resulted  in  a  much  more  manageable  type  prevailing.  The 

                  strict rigidity of previous years has disappeared. The boys appear quite orderly and are 

                  obviously friendly towards the Brothers. 



7.170       Br Verrill was singled out for positive comment in another letter, written to complain about three 

            of  his  colleagues,  in  which  the  writer  stated  that  her  grandson  had  no  difficulties  under  Br 

            Verrill’s care. 



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----------------------- Page 162-----------------------

7.171      A number of complainants gave evidence in relation to Br Verrill. A resident in Artane in the 1950s 

           said, “I don’t know what he didn’t like about me but he used to beat me ... I told my mother about 

           it  ...  and  she  said  I  must  have  been  up  to  no  good”.  He  alleged  he  would  beat  him  for  not 

           concentrating in school. He said that he had his trousers pulled down in front of the boys and was 

           walloped with a black leather on his buttocks. He added: 



                  He had his hand on my back when he hit me with the leather he put the leather down 

                  and had his hands on my testicles, squeezed me, took his hands away and got the leather 

                  and walloped me again ... 



                  Verrill used to wallop me across the face sometimes. Verrill was the worst, I was scared 

                  of the man, I was absolutely scared of him. Anytime I seen him I used to run away or 

                  walk away, I was so frightened of the man. 



7.172      He alleged the Brother would call him names such as ‘soiler’ and ‘slasher’ for wetting the bed. He 

           also called him a dunce in school. 



7.173      Another resident in Artane, for seven years during the 1950s, complained that Br Verrill caught 

           four boys smoking and beat them with a leather strap and cane. He then put the boys up in front 

           of the whole school and they had to apologise. He said that his little finger was split as a result. 

           He went to the infirmary and his finger was bandaged. 



7.174      A  resident  there  for  five  years  in  the  1950s  said  of  Br  Verrill, ‘...  if  he  happened  to  be  in  bad 

           humour or if you were passing by him, he would hit you a clatter ... I had boils on the back of my 

           neck and he hit me on the back of my neck’. This was with the strap and he would do this to other 

           boys. When asked whether he complained about this, he said he didn’t know to whom he would 

           have complained. 



7.175              —  The  cases  cited  above  are  an  example  of  the  consequences  of  a  failure  by  the 

                         authorities    to  stop    abusive    behaviour      by   a  Brother.    Complaints       were    not 

                         investigated and breaches of the rules were overlooked. The dismissal of written 

                         complaints  supports  the  assertions  of  ex-pupils  that  they  could  not  complain 

                         about their treatment to anyone in Artane. 



           Directions to limit corporal punishment 



7.176      A  Visitation   Report   in  the  late  1950s    criticised  two   Brothers   for  excessive    use   of  corporal 

           punishment. It wrote the following about one Brother: 

                  Br Vailant31 was reported to be rather severe on certain boys, troublesome ones, and to be 



                  exceeding the permitted limits of punishment. I spoke to him about this and he promised to 

                  be  more  careful  in  future.  He  has  excellent  control  and  should  not  have  to  resort  to 

                  corporal punishment at all. 



7.177      It then made the following criticism about Br Deon:32 



                  It was also stated that Br. Deon was too severe. When I spoke to him about it he said his 

                  attention had never been called to it and that he would amend. 



7.178      One complainant claimed he had been struck by Br Vailant so hard that he had to be treated in 

           hospital as an in-patient in 1959. The blow was known as an  ‘electric jowler’, struck downwards 

           across the face. The Brother who attended the oral hearing was asked if he was familiar with this 

           phrase, and replied, ‘Yes, they called it a jowler ... it was being struck on the face like, I suppose, 

           like getting an electric shock‘. 



           31 This is a pseudonym. 

           32 This is a pseudonym. 



           132                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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7.179      He admitted that ‘instead of using a leather I actually, on a number of occasions, struck boys with 

           my hand on the face. I would say that that was ... not correct, that was being severe’. 



7.180      He was asked if he had been consulted by the Congregation when it was preparing its statements 

           in response to individual complaints. He replied: 



                  I remember discussing with ... the Provincial at the time and ... I said to him, yes, that 

                  there was an element of truth in the allegations that were being made, but we didn’t go 

                  into details as I remember it. 



7.181      The Brother who prepared the Congregation’s response simply stated: 



                  Brother Vailant was the disciplinarian in Artane for part of my stay there. He was a strict 

                  disciplinarian.  It  is possible  that  there  was some  folklore  about  him  and the  manner  in 

                  which he used to punish the boys. However I never saw him giving any boy an electric 

                  jowler. The leadership team have confirmed to me that save for the complaints furnished 

                  to the Commission there are no records of complaints of abuse of any type made against 

                  Br Vailant during the relevant period. 



7.182      There was no mention in this response that the Brother had previously admitted that there was 

           an element of truth in the allegations. 



7.183      Br Vailant, who had two spells in Artane in the 1950s and early 1960s, stated that he felt the boys 

           were angry against the State that committed them, against their parents who did not care, and 

           angry against the Brothers as the ones who were keeping them there. ‘In their eyes’, he explained, 

            ‘we were seen as types of jailers’. He admitted he used the leather strap for misbehaviour and 

           then added: 



                  ... I think I would have to put my hand up and say that I also used it for failure in lessons, 

                  even though I knew that that was discouraged. If you ask me why I would use it for failure 

                  in lessons I would say to encourage people to get on and to learn something. 



7.184      Br  Vailant  was  asked  about the  reference  to  him  in  the  Visitation  Report quoted  above,  which 

           noted that he was ‘exceeding the permitted limits of punishment’. When asked if could remember 

           the rebuke, he replied: 



                  I think I could say that I was never aware that that was written about me in a Visitation 

                  Report ... I don’t actually remember that [the Visitor speaking to me]. He said that I was 

                  too severe. Well, I would say now that I probably was, or at least that I was too strict, or 

                  maybe too demanding. 



7.185      He was asked if he exceeded his own standards and regretted it. He replied: 



                  I  would  say  yes  ...  I  would  say  instead  of  using  a  leather  I  actually,  on  a  number  of 

                  occasions, struck boys with my hand on the face. I would say that was, you know, not 

                  correct, that that was being severe and that maybe is what the Provincial was referring 

                  to ... 



7.186      Under questioning, he added: 



                  ...  I  became  aware  that  I  was  doing  things  that  were  not  strictly  right  or  not  strictly 

                  necessary ... Like using the leather too frequently, or using it for failure in lessons, or in 

                  work. Also, using my hand instead of what was recognised as a way of punishing. 



7.187              — The Visitor should have dealt effectively with Br Vailant’s severity when it came to 

                         his   attention.   The    failure   of  a  proper     system     for  monitoring      punishments 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        133 


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                         administered by Brothers has left a number of ex-staff members of Artane with 

                         feelings of guilt and remorse for what occurred there. 



7.188      Shortly before this Visitation, the Provincial wrote a letter to all Brothers to express his concern 

           about levels of corporal punishment. He wrote: 



                  In  a  Circular  issued  in  January  1957  I  asked  the  Brothers  of  the  Province  to  avoid  as 

                  much as possible the use of corporal punishment in the schools. For some time after the 

                  issuing of that Circular there appeared to be good reason to believe that the request was 

                  being carried out. More recently, however, the leather has come back into frequent use 

                  in  at  least  some  schools.  This  is  a  matter  for  sincere  regret.  As  I  have  already  stated 

                  frequent recourse to the use of the leather indicates a bad tone in the classroom. It may 

                  make the lives of the children unhappy and nullifies much of the benefit of their Education. 

                  It is to be hoped that, in time, wiser counsels will prevail and that the use of the leather 

                  will be reserved for cases in which it is really necessary for the purpose of correction. 



7.189      He  did  not  say  how  he  knew  ‘the  leather  had  come  back  into  frequent  use  in  at  least  some 

           schools’, but the Visitation Reports and the complaints referred to above may have played a part 

           in informing him. What is clear is that, by the standards of this senior Christian Brother, the leather 

           was being used too often and in circumstances where it was not really necessary. 



           A letter from a concerned grandmother 



7.190      A boy’s grandmother wrote to the Superior General in late 1962 complaining about the way her 

           grandson was treated during his time in the Institution. The original letter of complaint is no longer 

           extant,  but  the  content  is  evident  from  an  internal  letter  from  the  Christian  Brothers’  Provincial 

           Council to the Superior General: 

                  The Council here has considered the letter you handed into us from a Mrs McCarthy33 



                  making  a  number  of  accusations  against  certain  Brothers  in  Artane  and  an  attack  on 

                  Artane  in  general.  We  consider  Mrs  McCarthy  a  very  dangerous  woman  and  one  who 

                  could do a lot of harm. 



                  We  think  she  should  get a  reply  stating  that  the  matter  will  be looked  into  as  soon  as 

                  possible; That the Superior of Artane is away at present and will not be back until the end 

                  of September. You however will be able to give her the best answer to satisfy her and 

                  cool her down. With the Superior of Artane absent at present it would be difficult to get 

                  accurate information at present concerning all the statements Mrs McCarthy makes. 



7.191      The Superior General replied to the grandmother’s letter in November 1962. His letter discussed 

           efforts made concerning the boy’s care after he left Artane. He also stated that the School Superior 

           offered the boy a free place in the secondary school, which he declined. He went on to respond 

           to the grandmother’s complaint: 



                  As to his troubles at school, he evidently received punishment, but it was not in the manner 

                  or in the spirit which you seem to suggest.  In this he may have exaggerated things to 

                  you, and your affection for the boy may have caused you to see them in a more serious 

                  way. As far as we could discover there was no unkind feeling towards him, as all felt that 

                  his make-up was not that of the ordinary boy ... 



7.192      In February 1963, Mrs McCarthy brought her grandson to Artane to discuss with the Superior his 

           difficulty in keeping jobs and to see if he could help in finding employment. What happened in the 

           course of this meeting is in dispute. The grandmother gave her version of what happened in a 

           letter written later that month (26th     February) to the Minister for Education: 



           33 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 165-----------------------

                  I could not believe my eyes, without word or warning the Superior, closed his fist + struck 

                  the boy a most brutal blow on the side of the jaw, saying to him why wont you work. He 

                  then said in the most deliberate tone to him, you are mental the boy said I am not. He 

                  said you  are suffering from  a mental dicease,  this he repeated  about five times;  every 

                  drop of blood had left the boys face from the blow, which had sent him staggering to the 

                  other side of the Office, all the unfortunate boy could say was wh... and his voice went. I 

                  was so shocked and dazed from the scene. I was not much better than the boy. I could 

                  not think straight. However Bro Colbert34        happened to come in just then and the Superior 



                  said look who we have here. He then left the Office. I followed him outside the door and 

                  told him it was the yrs of ill treatment of that Kind had the boy the way he was, and told 

                  him to get the boy medical and mental treatment ... He was removed to St Brendan’s on 

                  The Sat evg 9th February. 



7.193      The grandmother turned to a clergyman named Canon O’Neill for assistance with her complaint. 

           He wrote  to Monsignor Barry,35         who passed on  Canon O’Neill’s letter  to the Superior  General. 



           After meeting with the Superior in Artane, the Superior General, Br Mulholland, wrote to Monsignor 

           Barry on 26th    February 1963: 



                  Further to my note of 23rd      February I have now made full enquiries into the allegations in 



                  Mrs McCarthy’s letter. I have ascertained that she is a mental case with a strong antipathy 

                  against Artane School and that she is given to exaggeration in all matters she speaks or 

                  writes about. It is easy to note that she is a very dangerous type of woman ... 



                  Now just to give you an example of her powers of exaggeration I asked the Superior of 

                  Artane about the blow he was alleged to have given the boy on the 7th                  of February. He 



                  said he was talking to [the boy] in presence of Mrs McCarthy about the number of jobs 

                  he was in and of his leaving each of them without cause. To impress matters on [the boy] 

                  he gave him a tip of his hand and that is what is described as a staggering blow. 36  That 



                  will give us some idea of what to believe of the allegations made in the rest of the letter. 

                  As far as I could ascertain there is no truth in the accusation that boys are taken out of 

                  bed at 10p.m. and beaten “for any minor fault”. It must be only hearsay on Mrs McCarthy’s 

                  part. We all know how boys are inclined to exaggerate the slightest happening. 



7.194      On the same day, the grandmother wrote a long letter of complaint to the Minister for Education, 

           which will be discussed presently. 



7.195      Monsignor  Barry  replied,  accepting  the  ‘unreliability  and  untrustworthiness  of  her  complaints’ 

           and continued: 



                  I  am  sorry  that  you  have  been  put  to  so  much  trouble  but  unfortunately,  these  sort  of 

                  people give us all a lot of trouble and their complaints have to be nailed. I am happy to 

                  be  in  a  position  to  reassure  Canon  O’Neill  that  the  story  as  he  got  it  was  completely 

                  without foundation. 



7.196      On 1st   March 1963, the grandmother met the Superior General by appointment. At the meeting, 



           that lasted two hours, she discussed her grievances concerning Artane. On the same evening, 

           the  Superior  General  and  the  Provincial  decided  that  the  matter  should  be  handed  over  to  a 

           solicitor if she persisted. The Provincial informed the Superior of Artane and commented: 



                  The Superior General had great patience with her and he thought by listening to her and 

                  getting  her  to  unburden  herself  she  would  be  pacified  but  no  she  left  him  thundering 

                  against the Brothers and against Artane and saying she was going to make certain that 



           34 This is a pseudonym. 

           35 This is a pseudonym. 

           36 The same incident is referred to in the Department’s inspection into the matter as ‘a shaking’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       135 


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                  such things would not happen again. The Superior General was very beaten up on Friday 

                  evening and today. 



                  It is amazing the trouble which one strange woman can make but the Superior General 

                  has come to the conclusion that she is an able dealer ... 



7.197      In her long letter to the Minister, the grandmother made many complaints of severe beatings of the 

           boy by different named Christian Brothers in Artane. She also protested about his poor standard of 

           education when he left the Institution. In addition, she described the incident that occurred when 

           she and the boy met the Superior at Artane. 



7.198      Officials of the Department of Education carried out an investigation and rejected the complaints. 

           In  the  course  of  their  inquiry,  the  officials  interviewed  the  boy  and  his  grandmother,  and  they 

           received written statements from each of the Brothers involved, furnished to them by the Superior 

           of Artane. Mrs McCarthy was unhappy with the way that she and her grandson were questioned. 

           The officials’ investigation was hampered by the grandmother’s refusal to give the names of boys 

           said to have witnessed the events involving her grandson and, in addition, they failed to obtain 

           information from the chaplain, Fr Moore, who had some knowledge of the matter and was unhappy 

           that he had not been approached directly but through the Superior of Artane. More importantly, 

           he feared that his bond of confidentiality with the boys in Artane might be prejudiced. A genuine 

           misunderstanding  might  have  caused  the  failure  to  get  information  from  the  chaplain.  In  the 

           circumstances, it would be unfair to criticise the inspectors on this ground. Whatever impediments 

           there may have been to the inquiry, it nevertheless seems unsatisfactory that the officials did not 

           question the Brothers involved. The report of the investigation did not, however, equivocate: 



                  From  an  examination  of  the  evidence  obtained  through  interviews,  enquiries  made  by 

                  phone  and  the  reports  furnished  by  the  Brothers  concerned,  in  association  with  the 

                  grandmother’s  refusal  to  give  the  names  of  the  boys  who  witnessed  [the  boy’s]  being 

                  taken from his bed at night for punishment, it is clear that the charges of brutality and 

                  sadism made by Mrs. McCarthy are without foundation. The fact that she is content to 

                  leave her other grandson in the care of the Brothers in Artane lend support to this opinion. 

                  Br Ourson37  did give [the boy] a shaking ... but considering the boy’s infuriating failures to 



                  remain in employment, he showed remarkable restraint. Outside this occurrence, nothing 

                  emerged from the enquiry to justify the charges of ill-treatment ... 



7.199      The    more   senior   official  in  the  Department      of  the  two   who    investigated    decided    that  the 

           grandmother should not receive a written reply to her complaint, because she had not co-operated 

           by naming witnesses among the boys. 



7.200      Br Reynolds was examined in relation to this in Phase I of the Investigation Committee’s inquiry. 

           Referring to the view of the Brothers that the grandmother was dangerous, he said: 



                  I  think in  that particular  case they  had reasonably  good foundation  for the  conclusions 

                  that they came to. I don’t particularly want to talk about the good lady in question, but I 

                  think if you examine the documentation in relation to that case it is quite clearly shown 

                  that  Number  one,  an  investigation  was  carried  out  and  the  considered  opinion  of  the 

                  Resident Manager was that the incident she was complaining about didn’t actually take 

                  place. Nonetheless, they did issue a letter, not just to Artane, to all our industrial schools 

                  saying if punishments of this nature, if it should happen that they did take place it should 

                  cease if that is the custom or if it has happened. I am not sure why that happened. 



                  It  would  appear  to  me  that  that  was  their  action  to  it  first  of  all  in  relation  to  giving 

                  instruction   to the   various   institutions  and   may    well  have   said   to  the  mother    or  the 

                  grandmother who was complaining, “we have done this. We don’t accept your complaint, 



           37 This is a pseudonym. 



            136                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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                 but we have done this in relation to that complaint”. I haven’t documentary evidence in 

                 relation to that but I can’t see why else they would send that out to all industrial schools 

                 if there wasn’t some reason of that nature for it. 



7.201      Br Reynolds was referring to a circular sent by the Superior General to the Christian Brothers’ 

           industrial  schools  prohibiting  the  Brothers  from  taking  boys  out  of  bed  at  night  to  administer 

           corporal punishment. 



7.202      The letter, dated 4th  March 1963, was a ‘Direction to all our Residential Schools’ and it stated: 



                 Should it be a custom that Brothers, Teachers or Night Watchmen take boys out of bed 

                 at  night  time  and  beat  them  that  custom  is  to  cease.  I  am  now  forbidding  it.  The  Br. 

                 Superior is to call the attention of the Br. Disciplinarian, Brothers, Teachers and Watchmen 

                 who may have to supervise boys in the dormitory to this prohibition. 



                 Such  a  custom,  if  ever  it  existed,  could  only  bring  serious  trouble  and  shame  on  our 

                 management. 



                 The Regulations regarding corporal punishment in our Rules and Acts of Chapter are to 

                 be adhered to. 



7.203      In conclusion: 



                  •     A  serious    complaint     was    inadequately     investigated     and   was   dismissed      on 

                        insufficient grounds by both the Department of Education and the Superior. 



                  •    The Superior did not deny that ‘to impress matters on the boy he gave him a tip 

                        of  his  hand’.  The  severity  of  the  blow  was  subsequently  disputed,  but  it  is 

                        accepted     that   the  boy    was    physically    chastised     in  the   presence      of  the 

                        grandmother.  Neither  the  Brothers  nor  the  Department  of  Education  criticised 

                        the Superior for hitting the boy in this way. 



                  •     The  correspondence  reveals  a  lack  of  respect  for  the  grandmother  and  her 

                        complaints. She is seen as a dangerous troublemaker whose complaints ‘have 

                        to be nailed’. The decision by the senior official in the Department of Education 

                        not  to  reply   to  the   grandmother’s      letter  itself  revealed    a  contempt     for  her 

                        complaint. 



                  •    The Department’s inspectors accepted written statements from the Brothers and 

                        did not question them directly, thereby affording them a preferential credibility. 



                  •    Although the grandmother’s complaint was totally rejected, the Superior still sent 

                        out  a  letter  prohibiting  a  method  of  giving  punishment  that  the  establishment 

                        claimed had never happened. This odd fact suggests there was an apprehension 

                        that there was some truth in what had been alleged. 



                  •    Many witnesses before the Investigation Committee testified that they were taken 

                        out  of  bed  and  punished,  thereby  supporting  this  part  of  the  grandmother’s 

                        complaint. 



           Br Lionel38 



7.204      A case of documented abuse was summarised in the Opening Statement by the Congregation. It 

           involved a boy who received treatment in the infirmary following a beating by a Brother: 



                 In 1964 a Brother gave a beating to a boy, apparently for misconduct with other boys. 

                 The nature of the misconduct is unclear. There is reference to this incident in the infirmary 

                 diary for June of 1965 (sic), from which it is clear that the boy was beaten on the back 



           38 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 and legs. There is no indication that the matter was investigated or that any action was 

                 taken against the Brother. 



7.205      The 1964 infirmary diary contained an entry regarding a boy who complained of a sore back and 

           legs. The entry simply stated: ‘got beating by Br Lionel for bad conduct with other boys. Resting’. 



7.206      In  evidence,  Br  Lionel  denied  that  this  had  happened.  The  Brother  said  that  he  was  never 

           reprimanded for this incident and said that he had no recollection of the particular boy named in 

           the diary. He went on to say that he had indeed severely punished another named boy for sexually 

           interfering with three younger boys. He described the beating as follows: 



                 I had to deal with just one incident of [peer abuse] ... I literally gave the person responsible 

                 when he had admitted doing it – he admitted openly to having done this to three children 

                 and  I  gave  him  literally  a  hiding.  I  mean  a  hiding  ...  I  would  have  slapped  him  on  the 

                 hands, I would have slapped him on the backside. It was literally – it was something to 

                 deter him from ever doing this again ... It stands out in my mind, it was the toughest thing 

                 I ever had to deal with. 



7.207      A workman witnessed this beating  and reported it to the Superior, Br Ourson.  According to Br 

           Lionel, the boy was brought before the Superior, where he recounted what he had done in the 

           presence  of  the  Brother  and  the  workman.  The  Brother  then  claimed  the  workman  said,  after 

           hearing what the boy had done, ‘if I was dealing with him I would have killed him’. 



7.208      The Brother was unable to describe to the Committee the nature of conduct which in his view 

           merited this severe punishment. All he could say was that the three young boys had come to him 

           reporting ‘badness’ being done to them by the offender. 



7.209      The Brother admitted he had beaten another boy in the manner described, but not the boy named 

           in the diary, which leaves the entry in the infirmary diary unexplained. If the entry is correct, a 

           second  boy  must  have  received  a  beating  that  was  so  severe  he  required  treatment  in  the 

           infirmary. 



7.210      It  was  obvious  from  the  worker’s  reaction  that  the  beating  he  had  seen  was  one  of  extreme 

           brutality. In evidence, however, the Brother remained unapologetic about the incident. He viewed 

           the offending behaviour as sufficiently serious to warrant this extreme punishment, and invoked 

           the workman’s later comment as support of his claim. Given the obvious severity of the beating, 

           the matter should have been fully investigated and reported on by the Superior, irrespective of 

           the offending behaviour of the boy. 



           Beating by an employee 



7.211      In their Opening Statement, the Christian Brothers referred to an incident in the mid-1960s when 

           an employee injured a boy: 



                 The Manager’s diary contains an entry ... which states that two boys, who were brothers, 

                 were sent unaccompanied to the Mater Hospital and did not return. This note is followed 

                 by the word “readmitted” which seems to indicate that the boys did eventually come back 

                 to Artane. It appears that one of the boys was injured, his brother accompanied him to 

                 the hospital and both absconded. Two lines below the original entry there is another entry 

                 as follows: “The injury received was caused by an employee of the School, who was the 

                 object of a jeering attack by the injured boy and others”. It is obvious from the handwriting 

                 that the two notes were not written by the same person. It is not clear whether the two 

                 notes refer to the same boy, nor is there any indication what the nature of the injury was. 



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7.212      The Brothers maintained that it was ‘not possible to come to any logical conclusion on the matter’. 

           What is clear is that an employee injured a boy. The source of the information that the employee 

           punished  the  boys  for  jeering  at  him  most  likely  came  from  the  employee  concerned,  who 

           presumably was questioned in relation to the assault. There is no record that he was reprimanded. 

           If it was not acceptable behaviour, then some record of the reprimand should surely have been 

           made. There is no other record of this incident. 



           Newspaper article 



7.213      An article about discipline in church-run schools in Ireland appeared in a newspaper report in the 

           late 1960s. In it, the journalist wrote about a pupil from Artane Industrial School, who had recently 

           become emotionally disturbed and had been kept under sedation in the School infirmary. Despite 

           this fact, he was punched in the stomach by a Brother as he came out of the toilets that morning. 

           The boy also said the nun in the infirmary kept a cane there. The journalist went to the School to 

           confront the Brother Superior about the matter. The journalist wrote this account of the meeting: 

                  “Brother, is it true that Delmar39    punched Michael40      in the stomach last week?” 



                  Brother Gilles41   moves the papers about on his desk, nibbles a biscuit. 



                  “Sure, I asked Brother Delmar about it this morning. He says he can’t recollect punching 

                  Michael at all.” 



                  “Could that be because he punches so many boys that he can’t recollect this particular 

                  instance?” 



                  Brother  Gilles  looks  sideways  at  me  and  giggles,  leans  back  in  his  chair,  twiddles  his 

                  thumbs and does not reply. 



                  “Is it true, what Michael says, that the nun keeps a cane in the infirmary?” 



                  “I couldn’t say,’ says Brother Gilles. ‘It’s news to me.” 



                  “But you’re in charge here, aren’t you? Surely you must know what goes on?” 



                  “I really couldn’t say.” 



7.214      The Superior wrote to the Assistant Secretary in the Department of Education. He had been asked 

           for a statement in response to the article. In it, he protested that he had not given an appointment 

           to  the  journalist  who  had  accompanied  a  Mr  O’Neill,42         who  had  requested  an  interview.  He 



           explained: 



                  Mr O’Neill asked for the interview because Michael used to visit his home in Blackrock on 

                  the second and last Sundays of each month. On [a particular Sunday] Michael was out in 

                  Mr O’Neill’s house when he complained of a pain in his stomach which, he stated, was 

                  the result of a punch he received from one of the Brothers that morning. Mr O’Neill brought 

                  the boy back here that night and put him into our Infirmary. The Matron took charge of 

                  him and put him to bed. In a matter of minutes Michael was sitting up viewing the television 

                  programme.  The  following  morning  he  was  examined  by  the  school  doctor  who  didn’t 

                  discover any marks on his stomach: in fact he told the boy to get up and go to school. 

                  Michael  got  up  but  stayed  in  the  Infirmary  that  day  and  attended  school  as  usual  the 

                  following morning. He was never under sedation tablets here ... 



7.215      The letter continued: 



                  Articles  like  this  have   done    much    harm    to  Industrial   Schools    and   they   are   most 

                  embarrassing  to the  staff  and  the hundreds  of  past pupils  who  are  upright and  honest 



           39 This is a pseudonym. 

           40 This is a pseudonym. 

           41 This is a pseudonym. 

           42 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  citizens of the state. It is also to be regretted that a semi-state controlled organization like 

                  R.T.E. should invite [this journalist] to appear on a programme to cause more annoyance 

                  to the teaching authorities. 



                  [... a television journalist ...] interviewed a former pupil of Artane School. This boy gave a 

                  completely  false  picture  of  the  school  as  it  is  to-day  and  many  people,  who  knew  the 

                  conditions  here,  telephoned  to  ask  why  some  Brother  wasn’t  in  the  studio  to  state  the 

                  facts. On the same programme when false allegations were made about the Gardai, a 

                                                                                                                          ´ 

                  Garda was present to give his side of the story, the true story; but we were not asked by 

                  the R.T.E. authorities to state our case. 



                  It  is  hard  to  blame  [the  journalist  in  question]  and  other  members  of  the  journalistic 

                  profession from across the water for launching their unjust attacks on Irish schools since 

                  there  is  much  unfair  and  unjust  criticism  from  so-called  responsible  sources  here  in 

                  Ireland. Not a voice is raised in defence of those who have dedicated their lives to this 

                  difficult task. 



7.216      The Assistant Secretary replied as follows: 



                  Dear Br Gilles, 



                  Thank    you   for  your   letter  ... concerning     [the  journalist’s]   visit to  Artane    and   [the] 

                  subsequent article ... I hasten to assure you that my verbal request to you through Mr. 

                  Wade for your version of [the] visit was entirely for the record and was not intended to 

                  imply that the Department was testing the veracity of [the] account. 



                  It was obvious that [the] account was biased, tendentious and in parts highly improbable. 

                  However I had to compile a record of all the cases mentioned in the article and a note 

                  from you was necessary to complete that record. 



                  It is highly regrettable that the Reformatory and Industrial School system should be the 

                  subject  of  so  much  ill-informed  and  malicious  attack.  The  difficulty  in  dealing  with  the 

                  problem is that it is not always possible to identify those responsible or to be sure of the 

                  motivation which inspires the attack. 



                  The ignorant and the malicious, like the poor, we have always with us. 



7.217      The main interest of this article is that it made an allegation that a Brother in whose care the boy 

           had been placed punched the boy in the stomach. Mr O’Neill had found the boy retching, brought 

           him to the infirmary when he returned the boy to the School, and made an appointment with the 

            Resident Manager. The man was clearly very concerned. While a doctor was called and he found 

           no  marks  on  the  boy’s  stomach,  the  key  allegation,  that  a  Brother  had  punched  him,  was  not 

           investigated.  The  overwhelming  concern  in  the  correspondence  was  for  the  reputation  of  the 

            Institution and the insult sustained by Br Gilles. The Department dismissed the complaint in the 

           article out of hand, and merely sought the Manager’s response ‘to complete the record’. 



           Evidence from individual respondents 



7.218      A total of 26 Brothers who had served in Artane gave evidence to the Investigation Committee. 

            From  their  testimony,  certain  facts  emerged  about  which  there  was  no  disagreement.  These 

           included: 



                   •    All the Brothers were issued with a leather strap when they arrived at the School and 

                         most of them carried it with them. 



                   •    All of them were allowed to administer corporal punishment for minor offences, yet 

                         nowhere was it set out in clear, unequivocal terms what a minor offence was. They 

                         all said that punishment was left to their judgment. 



                   •    A combination of immaturity, overwork, long hours, isolation and lack of proper 

                         supervision led to severe strain and exhaustion. 



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7.219      The following points emerged in their evidence. 



7.220      Br Fontaine,43  who was on the staff of Artane from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, said that he 



           never witnessed Brothers losing control or punishing boys excessively and that he himself had 

           never done so. However, he did say: 



                  At times you would hear the boys talking and you got the impression that somebody had 

                  gone overboard and you would have a feeling that something had happened that shouldn’t 

                  have  happened.  But  it  would  be  from  listening  to  the  boys  themselves.  The  Brothers 

                  themselves would not talk about something like that. 



7.221      Br Davet44  was in Artane in the early to mid-1960s and regarded the use of corporal punishment 



           as a symptom of the stress the Brothers were under. He said,  ‘if situations arose and you were 

           supervising quite a large number of boys a situation could arise where you would use corporal 

           punishment then ... it was part of the stress that was put on the men supervising ...’. 



7.222      He also acknowledged that there were  ‘some Brothers that were regarded as being tough and 

           could possibly use the leather excessively ...’. 



7.223      Br Yves,45  who was in Artane for two years in the 1960s, agreed that he punished boys to excess, 



           and now regretted it: 



                  That’s a fair comment. When I went there I was twenty years of age, I was just out of first 

                  year training college. It was for me a baptism of fire to go into that kind of situation. I had 

                  no experience much as a teacher ... If I was severe, and I was severe, it was my way of 

                  coping, and, you know, to those boys that I punished severely, I am exceedingly sorry. 



7.224      He remembered being reprimanded by the principal of the School for beating a boy too harshly, 

           and toned down his severity accordingly. 



7.225      Br Burcet,46   who had two spells in Artane, in the mid 1950s and then throughout the 1960s, told 



           the Investigation Committee how one witness had moved him to recall an incident. The former 

           resident gave evidence that the first time he received the strap was from Br Burcet when he was 

           one of the youngest boys in Artane, aged eight or nine: 



                  The first experience I have with a strap or a leather as they are called, it was from Br. 

                  Burcet. again there is a lot after that but because it was the first one it stuck with me ... I 

                  remember     retracting   my   hand    ... and   then  receiving    ... the  strap  around    that  area 

                  (indicating)  and  then  on  the  buttocks  area.  That  was  for  retracting  my  hand  ...  All  I 

                  remember, and that’s why it stuck with me, was the stings, the stings in the actual body 

                  areas. It was more than two or three [strokes]. 



7.226      Although Br Burcet had denied beating the boy in his statement written in 2002, when he simply 

           wrote,  ‘I did not abuse [the complainant]’, he changed his evidence. He said: 



                  When I heard him describing it in evidence I was very taken and I was very conscious of 

                  how credible it was ... When he was giving his evidence and as he described it, it made 

                  a very, very big impact on me ... to hear it in his own words as he described that ... 



7.227      Br Burcet was singled out for praise by some of his colleagues, and many of the boys listed him 

           among the more kind and fair Brothers. He described to the Committee how the experience of 

           Artane had affected him: 



           43 This is a pseudonym. 

           44 This is a pseudonym. 

           45 This is a pseudonym. 

           46 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  In my last year in Artane I was Disciplinarian. I didn’t like the job, I didn’t want the job ... 

                  and I wouldn’t say I was very good at it. But during that period there was a fire and part 

                  of the building was burnt down ... I was in charge then and that had a huge effect on me 

                  ...  I  became  paranoid  about  where  kids  were  ...  if  I  found  boys  in  places  where  they 

                  shouldn’t be ... I punished them more severely than would have been necessary. 



7.228      He then described punishing some boys on the backside: 



                  ... when some boys were interfering with other boys, they would be punished and one of 

                  the punishments they would get would be on the backside with the leather. I wasn’t too 

                  keen on doing it, I had a certain reluctance about it ... 



                                                                                                                        47, he 

7.229      In relation to one particular incident of peer abuse brought to his attention by Br Gaspard 

           said: 



                  I just brought [the boy concerned] to the boot room ... He had his nightshirt on him, he 

                  bent  down,  I  gave  him  three  or  four  smacks  of  the  leather  on  the  –  not  on  the  bare 

                  backside and he ran out the door and I was glad to see him go. 



7.230      When Br Burcet was asked if he punished more in Artane than in other schools, he replied: 



                  Yes, I did punish more. I would say that it was more true of when I went there first than 

                  when I started to find my feet there ... In the latter part I probably punished less, until I 

                  was made disciplinarian ... it did change me, because when I left Artane ... I didn’t use 

                  corporal punishment at all. 



7.231      Br Burcet later taught in Letterfrack and Salthill. 



           Congregational response 



7.232      There  is  a  marked  contrast  between  the  Congregation’s  response  to  the  evidence  of  physical 

           abuse and that of individual respondents. The Congregation took up a very defensive position, 

           but the individual respondents were, for the most part, more open and concessionary, with the 

           result that areas of disagreement between respondents and complainants diminished, and some 

           areas  of  agreement  emerged.  Individual  respondents  were  able  to  recall  and  admit  cases  of 

           excessive  punishment  or  cruelty,  but  they  were  reluctant  to  see  policy  implications  in  such 

           episodes. The Brothers were, however, less forthcoming in regard to physical abuse than some 

           Brothers had been when they spoke to Mr Dunleavy when he was preparing his report on Artane 

           for the Congregation. He described what he discovered in his interviews: 



                  In the course of interviewing members of the Christian Brothers who worked previously 

                  at Artane Industrial School a picture of a particularly brutal form of discipline emerged. It 

                  seemed that many of the Brothers who came to Artane to teach, did so as relatively young 

                  Brothers, often indeed Artane was their first mission. As such they seem to have been 

                  both equally enthusiastic and inexperienced and were highly influenced by the views of 

                  the School expressed to them by Brothers who had been there longer than themselves. 

                  Nearly all of the Brothers that I interviewed told me that it had been explained to them by 

                  senior Brothers at Artane Industrial School that the boys would not respect a Brother who 

                  did  not  discipline  them  extremely  severely,  and  that  a  Brother  who  would  not  deal  out 

                  such punishment would soon become know to the boys as a “Silly Brother” – it was not 

                  clear whether there was any sexual connotation in such a nickname. One Brother related 

                  an incident where his fellow Brothers had burst into applause when he entered a room 

                  where  they  were,  as  it  had  been  learned  that  he  had  punished  one  of  his  pupils  by 

                  punching  him  in  the  face  –  previously  he  had  not  dealt  out  such  harsh  punishment. 

                  Another Brother recalled holding a colleague’s soutane while he beat a pupil with his fists 



           47 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 round a handball alley – the location having been chosen so that the only path of escape 

                for the boy was past the Brother who was meeting out the punishment. It is my conclusion 

                 that unofficially at least, a system existed in Artane Industrial School of inflicting unusually 

                 brutal punishment on pupils, that such a system was tacitly sanctioned by the more senior 

                 Brothers at the School, and that this unofficial code of discipline made it inevitable that 

                 the  physical  abuse of  pupils  at  Artane Industrial  School  would  occur. Several  Brothers 

                 relayed stories of occasions on which fellow Brothers had “snapped” and had punished a 

                 pupil  excessively.  The  actions  of  the  subjects  of  these  stories  were  always  termed  as 

                 being  entirely  out  of character.   It seems    to me   however    that  the  level of  ordinary 

                 punishment in the school was so extreme, that when Brothers punished their pupils in an 

                 excessive manner, such punishment was inevitably of the most brutal kind. The reluctance 

                 of the school to properly investigate and deal with any allegations of physical abuse, or 

                 even to report the injury of pupils to parents or the Dept. of Education, ensured that such 

                 a system would persist. 



           Fr Moore 



7.233      Fr Henry  Moore was the  chaplain of  Artane from 1960  to 1967. In  1962 he  was asked by  the 

          Archbishop of Dublin, Dr McQuaid, to give him a report on Artane, which he delivered on 7th             July 



           1962.  The  report  is  discussed  later  in  this  chapter.  He  gave  evidence  about  his  report  and 

           generally in relation to conditions in Artane. 



7.234      Fr Moore’s report stated: 



                 The  administration  of punishment  is  in  charge of  a  disciplinarian,  but  in practice  is  not 

                 confined to him. There seems to be no proportion between punishment and the offence. 

                 In my presence a boy was severely beaten on the face for an insignificant misdemeanour. 

                 Recently, a boy was punished so excessively and for so long a period that he broke away 

                from the Brother and came to my house a mile away for assistance. The time was 10.45 

                 p.m.,  almost   two  hours   after the  boys   retired  to bed.   For  coming    to me   in  those 

                 circumstances he was again punished with equal severity. Some time ago, a hurley stick 

                was used to inflict punishment on a small boy. The offence was negligible. 



                 Constant resource to physical punishment breeds undue fear and anxiety. The personality 

                 of the boy is inevitably repressed, maladjusted, and in some cases, abnormal. 



7.235      Br Reynolds at Phase I said the Brothers were not challenging Fr Moore’s eye-witness account 

           and commented: 



                 ... we are saying that if anything like that happened it shouldn’t have happened and it was 

                 wrong. The thing that surprises me about it was that he didn’t bring it to the attention of 

                 the Resident Manager. 



7.236      Fr  Moore  gave  evidence  to  the  Investigation  Committee  of  the  difficulties  he  had  in  bringing 

           complaints to the Resident Manager. 



7.237      He said that the overall atmosphere in the School was: 



                 very oppressive and it seemed to me to engender a great fear, an atmosphere of fear in 

                 the  boys,   generally,  either  in  anticipation   of  punishment    or  actually   experiencing 

                punishment. In a word I would have described it as excessive and out of proportion. 



7.238      He described incidents he had witnessed, including one in his report to the Archbishop in which 

           he  referred  to  a  boy  being  severely  beaten  on  the  face  for  an  insignificant  misdemeanour  in 

          the playground. 



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7.239      He expressed a particular concern about the levels of corporal punishment used by Br Videl48, 



           who  was in  the School  in the  early 1960s  and about  whom he  heard consistent  reports  of his 

           excessive disciplinary actions and beatings. 



7.240      He recalled an occasion when Br Videl punished a boy who had snatched a comic from a younger 

           boy in the playground. The Brother took the older boy to one of the classrooms: 



                  I  was  concerned  at  that  stage  about  the  evidence  that  I  had  been  hearing  about  his 

                  severity,  so  I  decided  I  would  follow  myself  after  him  and  I  would  stand  outside  the 

                  classroom door ... When I did that I counted the number of slaps he was giving the boy 

                  and my attention was distracted somehow after 19 slaps ... I would have considered that 

                  grossly excessive for the demeanour or misdemeanour, which in my view was tawdry. 



7.241      He did not think the system in Artane was conducive to boys making complaints. He said: 



                  ...  as  far  as  I  could  see  the  boys  were  afraid  to  make  a  complaint.  I  was  in  a  sort  of 

                  invidious position because I had been instructed by Br Ourson, the Superior, that the boys 

                  were not to make complaints to me, that if they had complaints they should go to him. 



7.242      While he went to Br Ourson with complaints of sexual abuse, he said that he was reluctant to do 

           so  in  respect  of  physical  abuse.  Other  Brothers  advised  him  informally  that  this  was  not  his 

           function. For this reason, he directed boys who came to him with such complaints to go directly 

           to Br Ourson. He does not know whether they in fact did so. He had not gone to Br Ourson about 

           the Brother for this reason. He went instead to the Brother Provincial, but he did not know what 

           the outcome was or whether the Brother was reprimanded. 



7.243      Fr Moore’s evidence is important on the extent of corporal punishment in Artane and the difficulty 

           for staff and boys in making complaints. In an environment where the victim is afraid to report it 

           to the authorities, abuse will flourish. This and other evidence indicates that boys did not report 

           abuse to the authorities because they would have been punished for doing so. 



           Dr Paul McQuaid 



7.244      Dr Paul McQuaid returned to Ireland in 1965 after four years of postgraduate training in England 

           and Scotland, and took up the position of Assistant Psychiatrist in charge of the Child Guidance 

           Clinic in the Mater Hospital. In or about 1967 or 1968, he began to visit Artane on a weekly basis 

           and he had free access to the Institution. 



7.245      Dr McQuaid said that his general impression was that it was a daunting institution. The abiding 

           impression he had was that of silence during school hours, notwithstanding the large number of 

           boys in the place: 



                  The silence. So you had all these children, young boys, and virtually not a sound. 



7.246      The boys’ unease was noticeable: 



                  It was a forbidding place, no question about it. There was a sense of just something about 

                  the way that the kids presented. You got a sense that they were intimidated, but again it 

                  was 40/50 years ago, times were different. They were there because they were within a 

                 juvenile controlled system and how do you control large numbers of kids. 



7.247      He recalled an incident which happened one day when he visited the School unannounced: 



                  I walked in one day and as I said there was this silence, I was on my own and I don’t 

                  think I was expected in that sense. 



           48 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  As I walked down the corridor I heard this (slapped hands together) like that (indicated), 

                  just as I walked down, the door opened and a boy walked out and his face was coming 

                  out and he had a black eye developing. I stopped him and he was very upset. He was 

                  trying not to cry. Anyway I said, you know, “What happened?” He said – I can’t remember 

                  what he said, but what transpired was that he had been hit by the Brother in charge, that’s 

                  what he said. I had no reason to disbelieve him. 



7.248       Dr  McQuaid returned  to  the issues  of  punishment  and fear  in  Artane later  in  his evidence.  He 

           drew a distinction between national schools and other institutions: 



                  We know that particularly in institutions corporal punishment was used in a way somewhat 

                  beyond what it was used for in national schools in that it was an instrument of control. 



7.249       Dr McQuaid said that there would have been a degree of difference in terms of the extent of the 

            punishment in Artane as opposed to the schools that he attended. In his school days, corporal 

            punishment was administered by a dean of discipline, as distinct from individual teachers in the 

           classroom, but he confessed that he would not really have known what was happening in Artane 

            if  he  had  been  asked.  However,  he  did  repeat  that  his  impression  of  Artane  ‘was  one  of  an 

           intimidatory type of silence and control’. He was asked whether it was his perception at the time 

           that  there  was  a  problem  in  Artane  with  regard  to  corporal  punishment  or  excessive  corporal 

            punishment, and he replied that: 



                  ... we were given to understand that the issue of control was a matter for the individual 

                  Brother.  So  how  an  individual  Brother  might  deal  with  a  recusant  child  or  class,  as  I 

                  understood it then and since, was that it was a matter for the individual Brother. 



7.250      The difference in the system of government in a school where punishment was administered by 

           a designated person, as compared with Artane and other Christian Brothers’ institutions, should 

            not have existed, because the statutory Rules and Regulations for industrial schools provided that 

           corporal  punishment could  only  be inflicted  by  the  Manager or  in  his presence.  If  the rule  had 

            been observed, the regime would have been more ordered, and cases of excessive or capricious 

           violence  less  common.  A  Brother  would  have  to  justify  to  the  Manager  why  a  boy  should  be 

            punished and would not be permitted to react spontaneously to a situation. Consistency, another 

           feature of ordered regimes, would be maintained. 



            1962 inspection 



7.251      An allegation of excessive corporal punishment was referred to in one of the reports of a special 

            inspection carried out by three officials49      of the Department of Education in December 1962. This 



            inspection followed the appearance by Fr Henry Moore, the chaplain to Artane, before an Inter- 

            Departmental  Committee  where  he  expressed  his  concerns  about  the  way  Artane  was  run.  In 

            particular, he commented on the excessive discipline and overuse of corporal punishment. It was 

            in this context that the reference to discipline appeared in the principal report of the group, which 

           was written by Mr MacUaid. The relevant part stated: 



                  Complaints  about  the  treatment  of  children  in  industrial  schools  are  not  infrequent  but 

                  from experience I would say that the majority are exaggerated and some even untrue. 

                  For example, you will recall the case where a mother brought her child to the hall and 

                  alleged  that  he  had  been  beaten  on  the  head  and  on  the  buttocks  by  a  Br  Javier50          in 



                  Artane. Fortunately, Dr McCabe was in the office the same day and on uncovering the 

                  bandaged  head  she  diagnosed  the  “injury”  as  ringworm.  The  child  had  bruises  on  his 

                  body but in the subsequent investigation Br Javier claimed that they had been made in a 

                  rough  and  tumble  fight  with  other  boys  and  the  balance  of  the  evidence  favoured  the 



           49                                                                                                     ´ 

              Dr Anna McCabe (Medical Inspector), Mr Seamus Mac Uaid (Higher Executive Officer) and Mr MacDaibhid (Assistant 

              Principal Officer and Inspector in Charge of Industrial Schools). 

           50 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 Brother’s case. Because Br Javier is the Dean of Discipline in Artane he was interviewed 

                 specially, away from the Superior and Bursar, on his duties Br Javier is a vigorous young 

                 man in his late twenties with six years teaching experience. His duties as Disciplinarian 

                 do not allow him to teach at present but he hopes to be relieved of his appointment this 

                 summer and re-assigned to the classroom. His policy of deprivation of privileges because 

                 of misconduct and acquainting the culprit of the reason is basically sound but he explained 

                 that successful application of this policy was not always possible owing to the ages of the 

                 boys,  some  of  whom  did  not  care  if,  say,  the  privilege  of  watching  television  or  going 

                 home for a few hours on Sunday was withdrawn. He felt that, having withdrawn privileges 

                 and still being faced with insubordination, he had no alternative but to punish moderately 

                 with the leather on the hands in certain cases. He stated that he probably used the leather 

                 about twice a week. Br Javier is Dean of Discipline for 400 odd boys and, I believe, fills 

                 this  demanding  position  with  sincerity  and  firmness  but  without  harshness.  The  only 

                 criticism offered is that he is too young for an exacting job that requires maturity and had 

                 little experience of the city type prior to his appointment as Disciplinarian. In a subsequent 

                 discussion, the Superior whole-heartedly supported the work of Br Javier. In response to 

                 the  suggestion  that  a  course  in  psychology  in  U.C.D.  would  help  in  an  office  of  this 

                 important nature, he replied that the question had never been examined by the Order but 

                 that Br Javier would probably return to teaching next September. 



7.252      The general disposition of the Department of Education was defensive. The official’s example of 

           an unfounded allegation is questionable. If the boy who presented to Dr McCabe had bruises on 

           his body, that in itself was a serious matter, calling for a thorough investigation. 



7.253      The report said that ‘the balance of the evidence favoured the Brother’s case’, but a report on 

           such a specific matter should have set out the evidence considered. 



7.254      The  key  role  of  Dean  of  Discipline  was  given  to  a  Brother  ‘too  young  for  an  exacting  job  that 

           requires maturity’. He also had little experience of the type of boy in Artane. 



7.255      The report admitted that ‘complaints about the treatment of children in industrial schools are not 

           infrequent’,  but  then   relied on   the  ‘experience’   of  the  writer  to  ‘say  that  the  majority  are 

           exaggerated and some even untrue’. 



7.256      A Disciplinarian who was judged to be firm, but without harshness, nevertheless had to use the 

           leather on boys ‘twice a week’. 



           Evidence given by complainants 



7.257      The Investigation Committee heard a total of 48 former residents. They tended not to complain 

           about  punishments  that  were  justified,  even  if  they  were  severe.  As  one  witness  said,  ‘I  didn’t 

           mind being beaten if I deserved it’. Many witnesses often qualified their accounts by saying they 

           had deserved the chastisement. One Disciplinarian was consistently described as a very strict but 

           very fair man, because he did not punish unjustly. 



7.258      The   former   residents   did  complain,   however,    about   unjust  punishments.     Unfair,  capricious 

           punishments created a climate of fear because they were administered for little or no reason, and 

           therefore could not be avoided. Examples include failure at lessons, writing with the left hand and 

           bed-wetting. 



7.259      They complained about punishments so severe they breached the accepted standards of the time. 

           In particular, the punishments given to absconders were cited as excessive and cruel. 



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7.260     Another major cause of complaint was the method by which punishment was administered. One 

           or more   complainants     before  the  Investigation   Committee    recounted    the  following  kinds   of 

           punishment, which were often idiosyncratic to certain members of staff, and included: 



                  •    Being beaten with a hurley, fan belt, pram tyre, and sticks of various kinds. A 

                       deceased Brother admitted in a Garda interview that he used a fan belt to strike 

                       boys. 



                  •    Being beaten on the bare buttocks or other parts of the body. 

                  •    Being hit by the open hand or fist on the face or other parts of the body. 

                  •    Being kicked on various parts of the body. 

                  •    Being lifted by sideburns or the hair at the temples. 

                  •    The use of various methods to make the punishment more painful. 



7.261      Many complaints were about the timing and circumstances of the punishment. For example, boys 

          were taken out of their beds to be punished, or the punishment would be deliberately delayed to 

           cause anguish about what was to come. 



           Examples of unfair punishment 



7.262     The  Investigation  Committee  was  struck  by  the  number  of  witnesses  who  cited  one  particular 

           long-serving   Disciplinarian,  Br  Cretien,  as  being  strict but  fair. As  Disciplinarian,  he  had   to 

           administer corporal punishment frequently, but the witnesses were almost unanimous in saying 

           he used it only when it was deserved and it was never excessively severe. 



7.263      In contrast, there were many complaints about Brothers who used corporal punishment unfairly. 

           One witness, who was in Artane in the 1940s, was accused of stealing when in fact he had just 

           performed  an  act  of  kindness.  The  complainant  used  to  deliver  potatoes  to  the  wife  of  a  staff 

           member, and she would give him a piece of bread and jam as a reward. On one of those occasions 

           he was subjected to a beating by a number of Brothers who had become suspicious of his having 

          the  bread  and  jam.  He said  that  was  taken  into  Number  6  classroom and  beaten.  He  told  the 

           Committee: 



                 I  guarantee  you  if  you  were  lifted  by  the  locks  enough  times  you  will  say  you  done 

                 everything. It doesn’t matter whether you done it or not, you will own up to everything. I 

                 owned up to everything bar eating the bread and jam. I didn’t realise that that’s what I 

                 was getting bet for. I never owned up to eating the bread and jam. I was lifted up and 

                 beat. I got no tea that day. 



7.264      He said that every Brother who was there punched him: 



                 The old men were teaching the young men which was worse still when I think about it now. 

                 The old men that should have sense teaching the young men how to effect punishment. 



7.265      Later,  he said  that  he was  positive  that  the Disciplinarian  was  the man  who  showed the  other 

           Brothers how to beat him. The strap was also used on this occasion: 



                At that time I don’t think I should have been beat. That’s why I am so much hard against 

                 that. I don’t think that them men should have hit me that day for nothing at all. 



7.266      He could not forgive them for it. He was visibly upset when talking about this incident, and said 

          that this resentment about the injustice of it all had hurt him all his life. Recalling another incident 

          when he was sent to town and went to a shop without permission, he drew the distinction between 

           deserved and undeserved punishment: 



                 I don't forgive them men because I really do not forgive them because I really think that 

                 they beat me unnecessarily. Doing a good turn and they come and bash you ... I don't 



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                 think I should have been bashed up. I could have been bashed up for taking children to 

                 the bus and I might have been accepting it because I didn't go in a straight line, I didn't 

                 go from Artane back, I went to Woolworth’s instead. I know I was wrong there. I should 

                 have been bashed up for that. But I don't accept being bashed up for the bread and jam. 



7.267     Another witness, at the School from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s, said: 



                 You don't seem to understand, the place was built on terror, regular beatings were just 

                 accepted. What you're hearing about is the bad ones, but we accepted as normal run of 

                 the mill from the minute you got up, that some time in that day you would get beaten. The 

                 last two out of the washroom got beaten. The last two out of the boot room got beaten. 

                 The last two down to the piss pots got beaten. Everything was timed and everyone that 

                 was last got beaten. We accepted that. We didn't even regard that as cruelty. That was 

                 the way the regime was run. 



7.268     Another witness, at Artane from the late 1940s to the early 1950s, was punished for trying to stop 

           a Brother hitting his younger brother. He described the incident: 



                [My younger brother] knew nothing, he was only 7, as you know, and I cannot exactly 

                 remember what he chastised him for but he started hitting him anyways so I said “leave 

                 him off, he is only a boy”. I was only a boy myself. He just laid off and he laid into me 

                 then.  I  just  remember  vaguely,  that  was  my  first  impression  of  that  particular  Brother, 

                you know. 



7.269     Another former resident described how he was hit for bed-wetting: 



                 I used to wet the bed and try and hide it, try and make my bed dead quick. Then after a 

                 few days they used to come around the dorm and pull it back, probably because of the 

                 smell of piss. Then when they caught you, you just got a whack around the head, you 

                 know. You were told ... to take your sheets and put them up in the corner and when you 

                 came back at night you would pick them up. 



7.270     A witness who was there a decade earlier insisted that, in his day, the bed-wetters were given 

          the strap: 



                 They  were  called  out  of  their  beds,  yes,  while  everybody  was  in  their  beds  doing  the 

                 things they were doing, reading. The sound box wasn't on every night but it seems on 

                 these nights it would be off and he would call out, the teacher would call out the bed- 

                 wetters and they would have to line up and they had a strap, I seemed to think that the 

                 strap was about 14 to 15 inches long. It was about two inches wide and it was about half 

                 an inch to three quarters of an inch ... They had to hold their hand out and they would have 

                 to pull their sleeve up so there is no chance of the sleeve taking some of the pressure, so 

                you would have to pull your sleeve up and you would have to hold your hand out and the 

                 rule was you didn't pull your hand across, you didn't pull your hand away ... If you pulled 

                your hand away and the Brother got it on the knee, he would just hit you anywhere, the 

                 strap would land and you would have to roll yourself up into a ball to try and minimise the 

                 areas where this bloke could hit you. You would have it on the head and you would have 

                 it on your hands because your hands would be on your head. And used to have it on – 

                 he would wallop you on the back. Many times they would go into a bit of a frenzy while 

                 doing that. So you had to find the courage of not pulling your hand back and it did take a 

                 lot of courage to leave your hand there. 



                 The second rule was that you weren't allowed to cry. They did not like boys crying. So 

                 when the strap landed on your arm, just about halfway up your arm, it would leave a mark 

                 on your arm and your hand would go numb. It was only when you got into bed that you 

                 could feel the life going back into your arm. It was difficult to be brave on those occasions. 



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7.271      A man described the beatings he received in the 1940s for writing with his left hand: 



                 I was born left-handed, and I learned to write at school left-handed and I was told that the 

                 devil was in me that's why I was left-handed and they decided to stop me. They would 

                 come from behind, I wouldn't know and they would come down with the side of a ruler or 

                 a cane on my hand to stop me using my left hand. They beat the devil out of me, that 

                 was the saying. I had to use my right hand to write. To this day I couldn't cut a piece of 

                 bread with my right hand, I still do it with my left hand. I butter my bread with my left hand 

                 I can't do it with my right hand. But I write with my right hand. 



7.272      A  resident  in  Artane,  from  the  late  1940s  to  the  early  1950s,  said  one  Brother  punished  for 

           ‘minor things’: 



                 Not getting your different letters crossed right when you are writing and just general things 

                 that happened in class, like, you know. Not singing properly or not answering when you 

                 should answer or not knowing something that he thought you should have known. Things 

                 like that, just general sort of stuff. 



7.273      Another witness, at Artane in the mid-1960s, described being hit after being accused wrongly of 

           tearing a blanket: 



                 We heard [Br Lionel] saying “who tore this blanket?” ... I answered him and I says “we 

                 don't  know”  you  know.  He  didn't  seem  to  take  the  answer  too  well,  you  know,  and  he 

                 called me down ... he asked me again ... So I gave him the same answer I gave him the 

                 first time, we didn't know who tore the blanket. He didn't seem to take that so the next of 

                 all he gave me a blow across the head there ... with his fists. He had a bunch of keys in 

                 his hand. The mark is there on my head if you wish to feel it or if any of your friends. The 

                 mark is there, yes. My head bled. I fell to the floor that day and going down I walloped 

                 my head off one of the bed legs there. There was rows of beds like in the other dormitory. 

                 I hurt my head as well falling to the floor because I wasn't a very strong boy in them days 

                 ... I got hearing trouble through the blow afterwards, as life went on. 



7.274      An ex-resident from the 1960s described the punishments that ensued every Thursday, following 

           the inspection of underpants for soiling: 



                 ... when they were to be collected every Thursday night, and you were issued with a clean 

                 pair, you would stand by your bed with the underpants in your hand and the Brother would 

                 instruct another boy to go around and see who had soiled their underpants. If you came 

                 across somebody whose underpants were soiled he would raise his hand and you would 

                 go up to top of the dormitory and get a hiding. 



7.275      He said that it happened more in dormitory number one, because that is where the younger boys 

           were. When asked how the boys were punished, he replied: 



                 The punishment always started with facing the wall, because you faced the wall at the 

                 top of dormitory. Then when it came to your turn you put out your hands and you would 

                 get slapped. 



7.276      The number of slaps depended on whatever Brother was in charge. He said that the same Brother 

           wouldn’t be in charge seven nights of the week and it wouldn’t necessarily be the same Brother 

           every Thursday. 



7.277      Two Brothers confirmed that this degrading underpants inspection and punishment of boys did 

           take place. One of them conceded:  ‘If [he] says I put him facing the wall I will admit that. If [he] 

           says I slapped him on the hands I would also admit that’. Although the Brother claimed that the 

           reason  for  these  inspections  was  because  of  complaints  from  the  laundry  staff  about  soiled 

           underwear, there was no evidence from complainants that they were required to wash out their 



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           underpants  if  they  were  soiled,  which  would  have  addressed  the  problem.  The  Brother  also 

           accepted that boys who soiled their underwear did not do so on purpose, and added,  ‘I do not 

           think they deserved to be punished’. 



           Examples of excessive punishments 



7.278      Many former residents complained of punishments that were excessively severe and violent. One 

           witness,  at  Artane  from  the  mid-1940s  to  the  mid-1950s,  described  seeing  a  classmate  being 

           beaten. John51  was a very slow learner, but the Brother teaching Irish was not aware of this. He 



           kept asking him questions, and persisted until he got the right answers, even though the boy had 

           no idea what the questions meant: 

                                                                           52 thought we were laughing at him. He 

                  We started tittering laughing. I think Br Laurent 

                  asked him again. Poor John kept guessing and always getting the wrong one. Eventually 

                  Br Laurent just blew his top. He hit that lad and got his head and smashed it ... on the 

                  bench. The ink wells went up, he was covered in ink, snots, blood, everything. He spent 

                  the entire half an hour, three quarters of an hour beating this lad until John eventually had 

                  a run of luck and picked this out three times in a row. With that when the bell went or the 

                  whistle, Br Laurent just slumped down exhausted from beating this lad. While we were, 

                  in the beginning, tittering, some of the lads were crying, we were frightened that he was 

                  going to kill him. We made way for him at the door. It was ghastly. The Brother at the 

                  other end, one class faced that way and the other faced that way, never intervened once 

                  to come down. That wasn't like Br Laurent but he just lost it that day. He battered this 

                  poor lad, he was in bits. So don't tell me there it was isolated cases, that Brother at the 

                  other end should have done something about it but he didn't. 



7.279      One witness, at Artane in the 1960s, had reported a Brother for sexual abuse, and he described 

           the purging of  ‘badness’, the Artane term for sexual activity, that ensued following his reporting 

           the matter: 



                  After that happened, the next day I was brought out of class and I was questioned about 

                  who  I was  committing badness  with ...  Because  I didn't  name names  at that  particular 

                  time, but because of the beating I was getting, I was giving names of other boys who I 

                  had committed badness with and those other boys were taken out of class and they were 

                  beaten until they gave names. It was just one vicious circle that kept going on for two – 

                  for three days. I had been taken out because other boys started giving my name back 

                  again. It was even said to me, but who said it I don't know, “you should have kept your 

                  mouth shut and none of this would have happened”.. 



                  But  for  three  days  I  was  systematically  abused,  both  outside  the  classroom,  in  the 

                  dormitory, anywhere where I went within those environments. I was taken to a music room 

                 just off the corridor to the right of where the classes are and I had been beaten so much 

                  that I went to the toilet in a bin and another boy seen me and told a Brother that I had 

                  done  that  and  I  was  taken  back  out  and  flogged  again  because  I  had  done  that.  We 

                  weren't  allowed  to  go  to  the  toilet;  we  were  being  punished  for  something  that  I  had 

                  started. 



7.280      Another witness described an occasion when a Brother struck him on the genitals in the course 

           of a beating, and the boy protected himself with his hand but the Brother took his hand away: 



                  “What’s the matter with you? Those are no good to you anyway”... With that, he had me 

                  against the wall ... He put his fist between my legs and pushed me upwards while I was 

                  leaning back against the wall. He had his other hand on my chest to make sure I would 

                  fall forward and then he took his hand away. 



           51 This is a pseudonym. 

           52 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.281      A former resident who was  there in the 1960s described the punishment given  to boys whose 

           shoes were  ‘cast’. He explained: 



                  what cast means is they were cast out, thrown away because they were absolutely gone 

                  beyond repair. Depending on the state of your shoes ... would depend on the severity of 

                  the clattering you would get. 



7.282      He then described the punishment: 



                  If your shoes were cast you knew you were going to the wall. You would go and face the 

                  wall until they finished the inspection on all the children and then you would receive slaps. 

                                  53  he could use a hurl, he could use a leather. Br Raoul54  the same, leather, 

                  With Br Karel 

                  hurl ... At times a hurl, at times a leather. At times an open palm. At times, as far as I was 

                  concerned  a  closed  fist,  pulling  of  the  sideburns,  being  lifted  by  your  sideburns.  The 

                  particular instant that would frighten me and still does today was ... The chap in front of 

                  me  at  the  time  was  a  guy  called  David.55     When  we  were  going  up  to  get  the  boots 



                  examined you could see that ... there was no sole left in the boot and when he got up in 

                  front of him, he turned up the boot and I know now I didn’t know then that ... Br Raoul 

                  was just being totally sarcastic and he said “They’ll do you another week ...” and David – 

                  it was a relief, he was too young to understand, so was I to what was going on, but when 

                  David turned to walk away with his boots, thinking that’s great, he suddenly got a belt of 

                  a hurl on the back of – the back, then he was beat up and down the dormitory with a hurl. 



           Other forms of punishment 



7.283      Some punishments were peculiar to Artane. Several witnesses described the practice of putting 

           boys ‘on a charge’. 



7.284      A former resident of the 1940s described what was involved: 



                  Artane, people don't realise, it was a prison in itself. You were surrounded by gates and 

                  you were surrounded by big buildings. If you done something wrong in my time there was 

                  a 30 foot wall. I don't know how anyone was going to get over a building. But you got a 

                  little patch to mind and you had to stand minding that wall. 



7.285      The boys were left there until  ‘Whenever they'd feel like coming back for you’. 



7.286      Another resident who was there between the mid-1940s and mid-1950s said: 



                  I was fairly regularly on a charge in Artane. You were put in charge of a building or a gate 

                  and you walked up and down. Br Armande56              would go from gate to gate often passed us 



                  and he said to me, “You seem to be in a lot of trouble”. 



7.287      He explained further: 



                  by the church there was the wicker gate, you were on a charge, it meant you stood by 

                  that, you didn't let anyone out. Then there was another chap on the main gate. Then there 

                  was somebody on the building, which was usually me in the last few months. You had to 

                  parade  up  and  down  there,  you  couldn't  play  ...  Br  Cretien  always  had  a  stick  up  his 

                  sleeve. He always beat you with a stick and then you got the charge. 



7.288      In addition to the strap, some Brothers had idiosyncratic implements, such as a fan belt or a pram 

           tyre. Boys could be struck on the palm of the hand, the arm, the face, the stomach, the legs and 



           53 This is a pseudonym. 

           54 This is a pseudonym. 

           55 This is a pseudonym. 

           56 This is a pseudonym. 



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          the backside. Another implement used was a hurley. Sometimes, boys were punched and kicked. 

           Lay teachers, said one resident who was there in 1940s, did not have a leather. He explained: 



                there was a bit of social distinction. The lay teachers tended to carry sticks, quite often 

                broken  off  hurley  handles  that  had  been  filed  and  the  sharp  edges  removed  leaving  a 

                manageable sized club. 



7.289     Common  physical  punishments  were  ‘the  clatter’  and  lifting  boys by  the  hair  at  the  temples  or 

          sideburns. Br Burcet said,  ‘My interpretation of clattering would be to give a fellow a thump or a 

          clip behind the ear’. These punishments were often used either as a rapid chastisement or as an 

          immediately available alternative to the strap. 



7.290     Two Brothers admitted using a dowel. One Brother said, ‘I might have used a dowel ... I think they 

           would have come from the carpenter’s shop’. 



7.291      Br Burcet was more precise. He said: 



                I recall once using a dowel, yes ... I became paranoid about where people were. Now, I 

                 was under a lot of pressure and I was often frustrated and so on when boys went missing 

                because I had this fear that we could have another fire. On one occasion, when a boy 

                 was missing and we had to spend a lot of time looking for him, the dowel was – a baby’s 

                cot, you know the little thing? I hadn’t a leather that happened to be handy, and I slapped 

                the boy on the hand with that. The thing broke and that was it. 



7.292     One witness described a punishment chosen to fit the crime. The witness was in Artane from the 

          mid-1940s to the mid-1950s, and he described one incident: 



                I was given my own suit, as I say. The very first Sunday I was there, that was the first 

                time  I  wore  it  because  that  was  when  we  wore  our  best  suits.  During  the  Mass  I  had 

                terrible runs. I ran down the passageway to the door and Br Cretien blocked my way. He 

                said “You can't go. The host is exposed”. I had to wait until the Host was put away and 

                then I made a beeline. The latrines were a good 100 yards from where the chapel was. I 

                never  made  it  and  I  soiled  my  pants.  In  those  days,  in  1945,  they  didn't  have  flush 

                lavatories. It was a box with a bucket underneath. The paper was newspapers cut up. I 

                done my best to clean my pants. We didn't have underpants in those days, we had lined 

                trousers. I did my best to clean myself and wipe it but I stunk. After breakfast when I went 

                to the dormitory I had to report to Br Boyce he was in charge of dormitory five then ... 

                Everybody was busy doing their scrubbing and he told me to take my clothes off. They 

                never had hot water in Artane, the cold tap was put on, I stood in it naked and he got the 

                lads who had the big long scrubbers to scrub me. They weren't very strong and he didn't 

                think they were doing a bloody good job anyway. He got the hand scrubber and he said, 

                 “I will show you”. (Indicating) He scrubbed all my buttocks and legs down. I was red raw 

                after it. He threw me out. I had to dress there and then. No drying off or anything. That 

                 was my only experience with Br Boyce. 



           Delayed punishment 



7.293     Witnesses described having to wait before the corporal punishment was administered. Some were 

          taken out of their beds at night to be punished. Boys sent to the Disciplinarian had to wait facing 

          the wall until he was ready to deal with them, which led to an increase in anxiety about what was 

          to come. 



7.294      Bed-wetters were often the victims  of delayed punishment. A boy who was there  in the 1950s 

          described the procedure: 



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                [If you wet the bed] the next day you might have to – it depends on what Brother would 

                 be on – strip down your bed. You would try and hide it but if you couldn't hide it then the 

                 next night you would have to face the wall up in the dormitory. 



7.295      Facing the wall meant having to stand in the dormitory, wearing only a nightshirt, when the other 

           boys had gone to bed. Boys remained facing the wall for one or two hours before being allowed 

          to get into bed. 



          Techniques that increased pain 



7.296      Some complainants described how the pain of corporal punishment could be intensified through 

          techniques of delivering the blow, or simply through failure to take account of the physical condition 

           of the boy. A resident in the 1940s complained: 



                 When  beatings  were  applied,  whether  by  a  leather  or  strap,  no  account  was  taken  of 

                 whether you had chilblains or you didn't. You just got it and you took it and who were you 

                 to complain to, there was no one to complain to. 



7.297     A former resident from the same period explained: 



                Another Brother, if you are talking or doing other things in the dormitory that you weren't 

                 supposed to be doing, he would make you go in to the washroom and put your hand into 

                 very cold water, because there was no hot water in Artane, and he would make you put 

                your hand in the cold water for about ten [minutes] to quarter of an hour. Then he would 

                 call you out  and while your hands  were still wet, he  used to make you  put your hand, 

                palm upwards, on the iron bedstead and he had a foot ruler and he used to slice the top 

                 of  your  fingers.  It  was  only  afterwards  when  the  blood  returned  to  your  hand  that  you 

                 actually got the pain that was involved. Speaking here, it doesn't seem to imply that being 

                 hit  at  the  top  of  your  fingers  was  a  great  punishment  but  it  certainly  was.  The  pain 

                 afterwards was more than the actual striking of the fingers. 



7.298     Another  technique  was  to  get  the  boy  to  hold  his  hand  over  a  hard  object;  the  same  witness 

           explained the procedure: 



                 There was one teacher, and if he needed to smack you with the strap, would make you 

                 hold  your  hand  possibly  about  an  inch  or  two  away  from  the  desk  and  then  he  would 

                 smack you with this strap ... and when they walloped you on the front of the hand, your 

                 hand came down on the desk, so you got it on the front and the back of the hand. 



7.299     Another witness, there in the 1950s, described a similar procedure. He said,  ‘You would put your 

           hands out and if he missed he would make you put your hands on the wall ... so you couldn't pull 

          your hand back’. 



7.300     A resident from the late 1940s described how a teacher would punish boys who got something 

          wrong: 



                 If you didn't get something right in class, if he asked me a question or whatever it was 

                 and I can't remember what it was, if I didn't get it right, he would come along and he would 

                 take your ear. He said “this part of your ear is no good, it won't do any harm”. He pierced 

                 the side of my ear with his nail and dragged you to the board to write the correct answer 

                 on the board whatever it was that you got wrong. He would escort you back the same 

                 way. You would have to pray that you didn't get something wrong the next day because 

                 although your ear was sore with a scab on it he would still do the same thing with the 

                 same ear. 



7.301      He then added, ‘Outside of that he never used the cane. I never saw him raise the cane to anyone’. 



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7.302     One  of  the  functions  of  the  rules  and  regulations  for  corporal  punishment  was  to  ensure  that 

          chastisement was carried out only for serious offences, so that the punisher knew how and when 

          to punish and the wrongdoer knew what to expect. One effect of these other forms of punishment 

          was  to  remove  predictability  about  physical  punishment.  Uncertainty  about  what  was  going  to 

          happen next contributed to the climate of fear described by many of the complainants. 



          Punishment leading to injury 



7.303     Some witnesses complained that the punishments they received sometimes resulted in serious 

          injury. A former resident from the 1940s described an incident on the playing fields: 



                [The Brother] was, I would say in his time, a great hurler. He always carried a hurley with 

                him no matter where he went. When I was on the hurling team, when I was fighting to get 

                on it, I was put in goal and I was dropped and he then said, “I will teach you to be a good 

                goalkeeper”. He beat – he hit balls at me, I am not sure you know how hard a hurley ball 

                is. He hit hurley balls at me one after the other. One of them hit me on the eye and my 

                eye came up (indicating) really, really large. He apologised. The other balls that hit me 

                on the body and head quite badly. He was the one in actual fact who hit me on the knees 

                ... with the hurley. A day later my knees came up like balloons ... 



                It was deliberate because I wasn't doing what he wanted me to do. I wasn't being a good 

                enough goalkeeper. I wasn't stopping enough balls properly ... The next day my knees 

                came up like balloons. I couldn't walk and I was taken down to the infirmary. There was 

                a lady looked after me. I never saw a doctor all the time I was there. I don't know how 

                long I was there, I can't remember to be honest with you, he came to visit me when I was 

                there ... I was in a while but I can't remember how long. 



7.304     In their Opening Statement given before the public hearing, the Christian Brothers outlined the 

          rules, regulations and guidelines that governed the use of corporal punishment in industrial and 

          in national schools. They also give an outline gleaned from internal documents of the policy of the 

          Congregation in relation to corporal punishment. A more detailed analysis of the rules, regulations 

          and   policy documents     of the  Congregation    are  discussed   in  the  Christian  Brother  General 

          Chapter. 



7.305     These regulations setting the acceptable standards of the day were often broken. Moreover, the 

          Brothers often broke the two main provisions about corporal punishment in the Christian Brothers 

          Acts of Chapter, namely that proper comportment, gravity and propriety should be observed in 

          administering  corporal  punishment,  and  that  the  only  form  of  corporal  punishment  authorised 

          should be a leather strap on the palm of the hand. 



7.306     Most of the witnesses did not complain of being punished if they had done wrong and deserved 

          chastisement.    Their  main   objections   were   to unjust,  capricious   punishments    or  excessive 

          punishments that were administered without ‘proper comportment, gravity and propriety’, or where 

          the experience was either cruel or humiliating. 



          Ability to complain 



7.307     In the course of his interviews on behalf of the congregation, Mr Dunleavy discussed the ability of 

          Brothers to complain to their superiors about incidents or deficiencies in Artane: 



                No Brothers interviewed recalled any means by which they could make a complaint on 

                any matter concerning the School. Several Brothers expressed feelings of disquiet about 

                things they had seen during their time at Artane but maintained there existed no process 

                by which they could make their feelings of unease unknown. The absence of any proper 

                complaints procedure for staff was mirrored in a total absence of such a procedure for 

                pupils. If a pupil had a complaint relating to any matter within the School or concerning 

                any  Christian  Brother  in  the  School  he  would  have  to  make  that  complaint  to  another 



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                 Brother.  Apart   from  the  inadequacy     of such   a  system,   Brothers   being   interviewed 

                 recognised  that  such  a  complaints  procedure  was  unlikely  to  be  invoked  by  a  pupil 

                 because of the fear of his complaint being relayed back to the Brother concerned. 



7.308      Mr  Dunleavy  reviewed  11  cases  of  alleged  physical  abuse  and  found  that  they  shared  certain 

          features: 



                   (a)  In  no  case  of  an  allegation  of  physical  abuse  did  the  School  notify  the  Dept.  of 

                        Education of the allegation. 



                   (b)  In no case where the Dept. of Education became aware of an allegation of physical 

                        abuse did it insist on carrying out its own investigation, or insist that an independent 

                        investigation be carried out. 



                   (c)  In all cases involving allegations of physical abuse of which the Dept. of Education 

                        became aware, the Dept. were content on each occasion for the School authorities 

                        to investigate themselves. 



                   (d)  In no case involving an allegation of physical abuse could I find any evidence that 

                        either  the  School  or  the  Dept.  of  Education  dismissed  or  disciplined  the  individual 

                        involved. 



                   (e)  In no case involving an allegation of physical abuse does it appear that the experience 

                        of the incident led the School to establish any safety measures or any appropriate 

                        code of practice or even a simple regulation governing the maximum force to be used 

                        against a boy, to ensure that such incidents did not recur. 



                   (f)  In  no case  of  an allegation  of physical  abuse,  where it  was  clear that  the Dept.  of 

                        Education’s own guidelines concerning the proper procedures for the notification of 

                        an injury to a boy had not been followed, did the Dept. of Education insist on carrying 

                        out its own investigation, or insist that an independent investigation be carried out. 



7.309     The documentary evidence, the recollections of independent witnesses, the evidence heard by 

          the Committee between September and December 2005, and the report of Mr Dunleavy that was 

           commissioned  by  the  Congregation  all  described  a  regime  of  punishment  and  physical  abuse 

           in Artane. 



7.310      It  is  an  inadequate  response  to  the  allegations  of  physical  abuse  to  attempt  to  refute  them  by 

          forensic analysis. The Congregation failed to address central issues about Artane. There is a body 

           of information showing the prevalence of excessive use of corporal punishment in cases that are 

           documented and others that are acknowledged. The evidence of complainants confirms what is 

           beyond dispute. There was an absence of an ordered system of management and governance of 

          the institution that had inevitable consequences. 



           Conclusions on physical abuse 



7.311             1.   Artane used frequent and severe corporal punishment to impose and enforce a 

                       regime of militaristic discipline. 



                  2.   Corporal punishment was systemic and pervasive. Management did nothing to 

                       prevent excessive and inappropriate punishment and boys and Brothers learnt 

                       to accept a high level of physical punishment as the norm. 



                  3.   Brothers used a variety of weapons and devised methods of increasing suffering 

                       when    inflicting  punishment,     and   in  some    cases    they  were   cruel   and   even 

                       sadistic. 



                  4.   Brothers  did  not  intervene  to  stop  excessive  punishment  by  colleagues,  and 

                       there was a code of conduct between Brothers that prevented criticism of each 



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                       other’s behaviour, even in cases where it was clearly extreme or excessive. All 

                       Brothers, therefore, became implicated in excesses. 



                  5.   Even where a child behaved and kept to the rules, he could still be beaten. 



                  6.   The result of arbitrary and excessive punishment was a climate of fear. 



                  7.   Artane did not operate within the Rules and Regulations for industrial schools 

                       and the precepts of the Christian Brothers concerning corporal punishment. 



                  8.   The absence of a punishment book in Artane was a disregard for a specific legal 

                       requirement intended for the protection of children. The Punishment Book was 

                       not maintained in Artane because the Christian Brothers chose not to maintain it. 



                  9.   The   Department     was    also   at fault  in  failing  to   ensure   that   the  statutory 

                       punishment book was properly maintained and reviewed at every inspection. 



                 10.   The  Department  of  Education  failed  in  its  supervisory  role  by  maintaining  a 

                       defensive and protective attitude towards the management and staff. Even when 

                       it conducted      an  investigation,    the   Department      simply   accepted     Brothers’ 

                       explanations uncritically. 



          Sexual abuse 



           The Congregation’s approach to sexual abuse in Artane 



7.312     The  Christian  Brothers’  Opening  Statement  on  the  issue  of  sexual  abuse  commented  on  six 

           Brothers who were guilty of sexual abuse while they were in Artane. It then discussed five more 

           Brothers who sexually abused boys in other institutions after their time in Artane ‘because of a 

           possible  retrospective  connection  to  Artane’.  The  Statement  finally  dealt  with  two  cases  in  the 

           1930s, in each of which a Brother was assigned to the staff of Artane with knowledge that he had 

           previously been guilty of child sexual abuse. 



7.313      Following its review of the cases of these 13 Brothers, the Congregation concluded that there was 

           no systemic sexual abuse of boys in Artane. With regard to Brothers who abused, the Statement 

          accepted that they did ‘betray the trust given them causing serious damage to boys in their care’, 

          and  it  contrasted  this  with  ‘the  great  number  of  Brothers  who  honoured  this  trust  and  devoted 

          themselves to the education and welfare of the boys in their care’, to whom it said the offending 

           Brothers caused pain. The Brothers accepted that the approach to instances of sexual abuse was 

          ‘very inadequate by present day standards’ and then went on to propose arguments which were 

           intended to exonerate the Congregation at the time: 



                 •    There was no cover up of the issue. 

                 •    When personnel became aware of the issue, they reported it to the Congregation 

                       authorities. 



                 •    Structures in Artane made it possible for boys to bring such issues to the attention of 

                       the Resident Manager or other personnel, and this in fact happened. 



                 •    The Congregation removed the abusers from the Institution and, in most cases, from 

                       the Congregation. 



                 •    The Congregation Visitor was attentive to the dangers of sex abuse. 

                 •    Guidelines and recommendations were issued to assist with child protection. 



7.314     The Congregation does not accept any blame as a Congregation for sexual abuse in Artane. It 

          contends that the Brothers who dealt with cases of sexual abuse did so in a proper manner by 

          the standards and procedures of that time. It acknowledged that these procedures would not meet 



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           present-day  standards.  It  repeated  the  apology  that  it  issued  to  people  who  suffered  abuse  in 

           its institutions. 



7.315      The Congregation contended that Brothers who committed sexual abuse were dealt with severely. 

           A   guilty  Brother   was    either  given   a  warning    or  he   was   dismissed.     Repeat    offenders    were 

           dismissed. A Brother who had not taken permanent vows was usually dismissed. Of the cases 

           recorded in the archives, 11 Brothers were finally professed and two were of temporary profession. 

            Dealing first with the 11 Brothers in the former category, six Brothers were permitted to apply for 

           and were granted dispensation from their vows, three were given Canonical Warnings, and no 

           sanctions  were  applied  to  the  remaining  two  Brothers.  One  of  the  two  Brothers  of  temporary 

           profession was dismissed, and the other did not renew his vows at the end of the year. 



7.316      These  details  show  that  the  only  actual  dismissal  was  in  the  case  of  a  Brother  of  temporary 

           profession. The most common sanction was to permit the Brother to apply for a dispensation from 

           his vows, a procedure which required the endorsement of a Bishop. Taking this course spared 

           the Congregation the trouble of proceeding with a formal Canonical trial and it was of immense 

           advantage  to  the  abuser.  He  was  able  to  leave  the  Congregation  of  his  own  volition,  to  all 

           appearances in good standing. He was in the same position as a person who had lost his vocation 

           to  be   a  Brother   and   who    had   been   permitted  to    rejoin  the  outside    lay  world.  The    records 

           acknowledged  this  sharp  distinction,  and  detailed  comments  made  by  the  Congregation  also 

           recognised it. For example, in relation to one case, information was given that the Brother: 



                  applied to the Apostolic Visitor who advised him to seek a Dispensation from Vows. His 

                  application was granted and he left the Congregation ... 



7.317       In another case, a decision was made that the Brother ‘should be dismissed from the Congregation 

           but he was given the opportunity to apply for a Dispensation from Vows’. In a subsequent general 

           comment on the six cases of Brothers recorded as having been guilty of sexual abuse in Artane, 

           the Opening Statement confusingly appeared to equate these two quite different means of exiting 

           the Community of the Christian Brothers: 



                  The sanction applied was either dismissal or a canonical warning. In cases where it was 

                  decided  to  dismiss  a  Brother,  the  normal  procedure  was  to  instruct  him  to  apply  for  a 

                  dispensation from vows. 



7.318      The records indicate that the authorities were very well aware of the distinction between dismissal 

           and a grant of dispensation from vows, which was a considerable benefit offered to an abuser 

           otherwise facing expulsion. Dismissal means removal from office, not permission to resign. The 

           Brothers’ Statement offered no explanation as to why this facility was offered to offenders. 



7.319      The Opening Statement made a cursory reference to the question why abuse was not reported 

           to the Gardai: 

                           ´ 



                  It would appear that the abuse was not reported to the civil authorities. However, reporting 

                  of allegations and/or instances of child sex abuse may not have been common practice 

                  in the general population at the time. 



7.320      The implication is that sex abuse against children was not normally reported to the Gardai by ‘the 

                                                                                                                       ´ 

           general population at the time’ and that this furnished mitigation or explanation of the failure by 

           the Brothers. The introduction of ‘allegations’ is not relevant in a section dealing with recorded 

           cases of undisputed sexual abuse committed by Christian Brothers. Moreover, what may or may 

           not  have  been  common  practice  in  the  general  population  cannot  be  the  rule  for  providers  of 

           childcare who should be setting standards. And, as a later account will show, the practice of the 

            Brothers  differed  according  to  the  case:  when  laymen  were  suspected  of  sexual  abuse,  the 

           Christian Brothers reported them to the Gardai. 

                                                                   ´ 



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7.321      Dealing with the two cases where Brothers known to be guilty of sexual abuse elsewhere were 

           assigned to Artane, the Christian Brothers observed that this was unacceptable by current-day 

           standards, but the implication is that it was acceptable by the standards of the time. The Christian 

           Brothers in their submission to the Investigation Committee stated that the ‘fact that it happened 

           in the past is indicative of the lack of understanding of the recidivistic nature of child abuse’. The 

           Statement  does  not  indicate  on  whose  part  there  was  the  lack  of  understanding,  but  a  helpful 

           pointer is found in the introductory remarks to this section. Here, it is stated that the long-term 

           psychological damage caused by sexual abuse was not understood by society at the time ‘nor 

           was the recidivist nature of child sexual abuse’. These failures of understanding are attributed to 

           society  at  the  time,  and  the  ‘response  of  the  Congregation  to  instances  of  sexual  abuse  was 

           conditioned by this inadequate understanding of the issue’. 



7.322      In its Opening Statement, the Congregation did not accept any responsibility at Congregational 

           level for the undeniable, recorded abuse that took place in Artane. They blamed society for its 

           inadequate understanding of the long-term psychological effects of such abuse and its recidivist 

           nature.  They  claimed  that  the  Brothers  behaved  appropriately  for  the  time,  although  they  did 

           concede that these past methods would not now be considered proper. The Christian Brothers 

           had long experience dealing with sexual abuse, and were better informed than others about its 

           dangers  and  prevalence.  They  could  not,  therefore,  attribute  their  failure  to  respond  to  a  ‘lack 

           of understanding’. 



           Documented cases of sexual abuse 



           Br Platt57 



7.323      The earliest record of a Brother sexually abusing a boy in Artane dated from the early 1930s. It 

           was specifically furnished by the Christian Brothers as an illustration of how expeditiously these 

           cases were dealt with by the Congregation. 



7.324      Br Platt, who was in charge of the infirmary in Artane, voluntarily confessed to the Superior that 

           he had ‘abused a boy and acted immodestly with him’. The Superior referred the matter to the 

           Provincial Council, and the case was considered by both the Provincial Council and the General 

           Council.   The   Superior    General    wrote   to  the  Provincial,   saying   that  he  had   interviewed    the 

           offending    Brother   in August    1932    and   ‘told him   of the   risk we   ran  in  retaining   him   in the 

           Congregation’. He was given one day to consider applying for a dispensation from perpetual vows 

           or stand trial within the Congregation. The following day, Br Platt appeared before the General 

           Council and informed it of his decision not to apply for a dispensation. His expulsion was then 

           considered and a vote was taken on the issue. The Council unanimously voted in favour of his 

           retention in the Congregation rather than expulsion. He was given a Canonical Warning and the 

           daily recital of the Miserere as a penance and was ‘sent back to Baldoyle’. The Council noted that 

           he was very repentant. 



7.325      It appears that there was reluctance at a high level within the Congregation to expel this Brother, 

           despite their awareness of the danger he posed. The Superior General was very worried about 

           the situation, because he wrote in a letter to the Provincial on 19th  August 1932 that he considered 



           him to be ‘a great danger to us’ and also considered it a ‘risk’ to retain him in the Congregation. 

           He even cited cases where two Brothers had been hanged in Canada for ‘murder of their victims 

           after such offence’: 



                  He is  a great danger  to us.  Two Brothers were  hanged in Canada  within the  past two 

                 years for murder of their victims after such offence. A Brother of a community in charge 

                  of an Industrial school in Rome awaits his trial for the murder of a boy in the school who 

                 told of his offence to his Superior. The school is closed and the community disbanded. 



           57 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.326      No consideration was given to the child who had been abused. In fact, the Brother could not even 

           recall his exact name. There was no record of the boy being spoken to. 



7.327      Notwithstanding  the  concern  of  the  Provincialate,  this  Brother  was  assigned  to  Glin  Industrial 

           School in the late 1930s and remained there for seven years. 



7.328      This Brother refused to seek a dispensation from his  vows and the Congregation unanimously 

           agreed not to take action. This case shows that the Congregation knew, as early as 1932, of the 

           recidivist nature of these offenders. His description as a ‘danger’ and a ‘risk’ to the Congregation 

           illustrates a clear understanding of this man’s propensity to re-offend, but it is noteworthy that the 

           ‘great danger’ was to the Congregation and not to the boys. 



           Br Herve58 



7.329      The second recorded account of sexual abuse by a Brother who served in Artane concerns Br 

           Herve, who was sent there in the late 1930s with a history of sexual abuse in a previous school 

           in  the south  of the  country, and  who worked  there on  administrative duties  until his  retirement 

           some seven years later. He came to Artane following a short stay in an institution to which he had 

           been  moved  as  a  matter  of  urgency.  In  the  school  in  which  he  was  a  teacher,  Br  Herve  was 

           accused of having ‘kissed, fondled, embraced and meddled with boys in his class’ and he admitted 

           that the charges were ‘substantially true’. Br Herve’s Superior was aware of his activities for at 

           least four years. The Superior was not alone in his knowledge, because, as the correspondence 

           discloses,  boys  in  the  School,  some  parents,  the  Dean  of  the  diocese,  local  clergy  and  even 

           visiting priests conducting Missions were aware of the Brother’s behaviour, in addition to some 

           members of the public. 



7.330      The problem presented by Br Herve’s conduct in his school came to a head in early 1938, when 

           the Superior expelled two boys for immorality, following an investigation that he said he carried 

           out reluctantly. ‘Why I moved in the case of the boys ... at all was because two mothers – Doctors’ 

           wives asked me to investigate certain bad conduct and of course language going on in a certain 

           class’. 



7.331      One mother, whose boy was expelled, tried to get him reinstated and consulted a local solicitor, 

           who was unsympathetic and called to see the Superior and told him that what he did ‘was quite 

           right and that he would not touch the case’. 



7.332      The boy’s mother had more success in enlisting the support of the Dean of the Parish than with 

           the solicitor. In February 1938, the Dean called on the Superior of the School and asked that Br 

           Herve  be ‘removed  at once  on grounds  of immorality’.  The Dean  stated that  Br Herve  ‘kisses, 

           fondles, embraces and indeed fiddles or meddles with the boys’ and that this ‘has been going on 

           for the past five years’. The Dean said that Br Herve’s activities had been brought up at the last 

           Mission in the parish, when a number of parents asked the Missioner for advice as to what to do. 

           He had recommended that they report the matter to the Superior of the College, but the parents 

           refused, ‘not wishing to get the Brother concerned into trouble’. The Dean was reluctant to get 

           involved; indeed, he specifically asked the Superior not to ‘drag him into it’ but was just asking 

           him to transfer Br Herve from the School. 



7.333      The Superior had known about Br Herve for years, as he informed the Provincial: 



                  During the past few years I spoke to Br Herve about these matters, while last September 

                  I called him into the Office and abused him and rated him roundly for his kissing of the 

                  boys and his fondling of them. On that occasion he promised to give it up for good. 



           58 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.334     The  Superior  did  not  tell  the  Dean  that  Br  Herve  had  a  history  of  misconduct  with  boys:  ‘In 

           speaking to the Dean I did not pretend to know such a thing existed at all’. 



7.335     The Superior told the Provincial that in his view the matter had come to light out of ‘a woman’s 

           revenge’,  but  he  accepted  that  ‘Quite  apart  from  this  it  appears  that  Br  Herve  is  guilty’.  He 

           suggested that, if the Provincial investigated the matter, he should do so discreetly and not come 

          to the School during school hours. The Provincial dispatched one of his Consultors who stayed in 

           a hotel so that ‘the investigation could be carried out quietly’. This Brother recorded that Br Herve: 



                 admitted that the charges were substantially true. He did kiss and fondle boys, but always 

                 (a) openly, (b) when others were present, and never in a gross manner. It was not alleged 

                 by anyone that there was gross immorality at any time. 



7.336      Because he had admitted his guilt, the Br Consultor did not feel that it was necessary to investigate 

          the matter further, which saved him the ‘disagreeable duty’ of seeing those who had made the 

           charges, and saved Br Herve and the School ’from talk that would arise if an investigation were 

          to be made by me’. He recommended Br Herve’s immediate removal because: 



                 His actions are a constant source of talk and criticism among the boys and their parents. 

                 It may be taken for granted that he is much talked of [in the area] and being one who is 

                 loose in morals, and one who should not have charge of boys. 



7.337     The Provincial took immediate action and ordered that Br Herve be transferred. He wrote to Br 

           Herve notifying him and also referring to the impact of his abusive activities on the Congregation 

           and on the boys who were abused: 



                 By indulging in such improprieties you have scandalised your pupils, given rise to a good 

                 deal  of unsavoury    gossip   among    them   and   their parents,   done   grave  injury  to the 

                 reputation  of the  College, brought  discredit on  yourself, and,  I greatly  fear lowered  the 

                 Brothers   in the  estimation   of  a big  section   of the  public.  May   God    grant  that the 

                 consequences are not worse. 



                 Every Christian Brother is bound by his Rule as well as by the laws of charity and justice 

                 to do all in his power to safeguard the virtue of his pupils and to assist them as far as he 

                 can to preserve their innocence if they have not already lost it. You[r] conduct was well 

                 calculated to rob them of this precious treasure of innocence. What greater wrong could 

                 you do them? You cannot reasonably make the plea that you did not realise the gravity 

                 of your offence. 



7.338     The Provincial gave Br Herve a Canonical Warning pursuant to Constitution 218 and a ‘serious 

          warning that a repetition of any of the faults with which you are now charged will render you liable 

          to expulsion from the Congregation’. He told Br Herve to make a determined effort to combat his 

           ‘immoderate tendency to softness in dealing with your pupils and to think seriously over the grave 

           spiritual harm your actions inflict on both them and yourself’. He also stated that, ‘May God grant 

          that the consequences are not worse’. He transferred Br Herve as soon as possible pursuant to 

          the rules of the Congregation. 



7.339      On the same day that he wrote to Br Herve, the Provincial also wrote to the Superior of the School 

           sympathising  in  ‘the  amount  of  worry  and  humiliation  that  has  been  inflicted  on  you  by  the 

           deplorable conduct’ of Br Herve. He stated that: 



                 The unfortunate man is really more to be pitied than to be censured, but to make him 

                 realise the gravity of his offence I am giving him the canonical warning provided for in the 

                 Constitution, and in doing so I think I am adopting the most charitable course that can be 

                 pursued in a case of this kind. 



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  7.340    The Superior replied, thanking the Provincial for his comments and agreeing that Br Herve was 

           more to be pitied than to be censured and concluding ‘He just has no control over his hands ...’. 



  7.341    The Superior reinstated the expelled boy in the School. His mother had threatened to inform the 

           Bishop and to ‘bring this case further and further’. As he told the Provincial, the Superior had to 

           ‘capitulate with the best grace I could’. 



  7.342    The crisis was resolved with the boy’s return to the School and Br Herve’s transfer. The Superior 

           was more than a little relieved: 



                  For the past four years I always feared that when the inevitable would come in his case 

                  that it would be much more serious. 



  7.343    Similarly,  the  Superior  noted  that  the  complaining  parent  was  not  sure  whether  Br  Herve  had 

           ‘meddled  with  the  boys  in  their  privy  parts’  but  thought  not.  He  then  commented.  ‘Knowing  Br 

            Herve as we do I thank God he did not do worse’. 



  7.344     During  the  Phase  III  hearing  into  Artane,  Br  Reynolds,  referring  to  the  nature  of  Br  Herve’s 

           meddling, commented as follows: 



                  But   I  mean,   what  the   Provincial  believed     or  didn't  believe  I   am  not   sure  is  of  any 

                  consequence.  What  I  was  saying  in  the  submission  is  that  the  lady  thought  it  didn't 

                  happen, the Dean thought it did. And, obviously, that's the view that I am taking, that if 

                  the Dean thought it did well then it did happen. 



  7.345     It was put to Br Reynolds that this comment showed clearly that the Congregation was aware of 

           the recidivistic nature of abuse as far back as 1938. Br Reynolds did not agree: 



                  I would come back to say that this letter, in my view, does not point out that the recidivistic 

                  nature  of  child  abuse  was  known  to  whoever  wrote  it.  What  he  is  saying  is  that  this 

                  individual person, certainly he believed, abused but he wasn't in a position to take any 

                  action on it until he had sufficient proof. 



  7.346    This observation is scarcely correct, as the correspondence shows that the Superior had brought 

           Br Herve into his office in September 1937 ‘and abused him and rated him roundly for his kissing 

           of  the  boys  and  his  fondling  of  them.  On  that  occasion  he  promised  to  give  it  up  for  good’. 

            However, Br Reynolds persisted in his view that they had no evidence prior to 1938. 



  7.347    Br   Reynolds     was   also   reluctant   to  accept    that  the   reference    to  ‘May   God    grant   that  the 

           consequences are not worse’ referred to the involvement of the Gardai or other authorities: 

                                                                                                 ´ 



                  That's your interpretation is all I am saying ... Off the top of my head that would not have 

                  been my interpretation of that. But I am not saying that you are not correct in that. 



  7.348    The Superior did not incur criticism although, in his correspondence to the Provincial, he admitted 

           that he was aware of Br Herve’s activities for years but did not even report to his own authorities 

           until events forced his hand. Instead, the Provincial sympathised with him. 



  7.349    The letter from the Provincial to Br Herve shows awareness of some of the damage that sexual 

           abuse could inflict on a child. 



  7.350     In conclusion: 



                   •    The School was driven to take action only when there was a threat to expose 

                         the behaviour of Br Herve. 



                   •    The Provincial expressed sympathy for, rather than criticism of, the Superior. 



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                  •    The offending Brother was considered to be an unfortunate man who was 

                        ‘more to be pitied than censured’. 



                  •    There was relief that worse did not happen, having regard to the known habits 

                        of Br Herve. 



                  •    The Congregation was aware of the harm Br Herve was inflicting on children in 

                        his care, but did nothing to alleviate it or to ascertain the full extent of the 

                        damage. 



                  •    Sending a Brother with this history to a residential school for boys was 

                        reckless and dangerous, and showed a disregard for the safety of children in 

                        care. 



           Br Gustav59 



7.351      Br  Gustav    began   teaching    in the  O’Brien    Institute in  the  1920s.   Three   boys   made    written 

           statements in which they alleged that ‘they had been immodestly handled’ by him on a number of 

           occasions. These written statements no longer exist. The matter was considered so serious that 

           it was referred to the General Council for consideration. At his trial before the General Council, 

           the Brother ‘admitted immodesty in each case stated but not as gross as specified’. 



7.352      The General Council issued a Canonical Warning to Br Gustav and imposed as a penance the 

           daily recital of the Miserere for six months. A further condition was his transfer out of Dublin, with 

           the injunction that he was not to return without the leave of the General Council. It was conceded 

           in the minutes of the General Council meeting that this Brother had been dealt with very leniently: 



                 This lenient treatment of [Br Gustav] is largely due to the man’s age and, although it was 

                 not told him, to his very low condition of health. 



7.353      After these events, the Brother was transferred frequently from school to school in the north of 

           Ireland, spending on average two years in each, before being assigned to Artane for a short period 

           prior to his retirement to Baldoyle. No allegations were made against him in Artane. 



7.354      No   dispensation    or  expulsion   was   sought    in respect   of  Br  Gustav.   Although    ill-health was 

           suggested as the reason for leniency, he remained a Christian Brother until his death some 19 

           years after the charges were brought. 



           Allegations of sexual abuse against four Brothers resident in Artane in 1944 

7.355      Br Leroi60  was accused of sexually abusing boys in Artane in 1944. His personal card retained by 



           the Congregation stated, ‘Evidence of immoral relations with boys in Artane came to light’. This 

           Brother   sought   a  dispensation    from   his  vows    and  left  the  Congregation     in 1944,   and   the 

           Department of Education service history records Artane as his last teaching post. 



7.356      Br Laurent, who gave evidence to the Investigation Committee, said: 



                 ... he came to Artane the same year as I was there. We arrived at the same time. The 

                 outgoing [Superior] said to Br Leroi ‘you are not welcome here’. Probably some accusation 

                 had been made about Br Leroi and because of that then he was sent to Artane. 



7.357      The second case involved Br Tristan61  who worked in the kitchen. He was found to have sexually 



           abused a number of boys following complaints made by the boys themselves. He was tried by 

           the General Council in 1944 and was unanimously adjudged guilty. When the charges were laid 

           against him, he: 



           59 This is a pseudonym. 

           60 This is a pseudonym. 

           61 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  denied “some” of the matter of each charge, admitted “jostling” or “wrestling”, said he had 

                  “no bad intention” and “never lay on any boy” in the back-store so often referred to by 

                  boys. He admitted “tricking” with several boys, denied “touching” a boy’s face or body. 



7.358      The minutes recorded that the abuse had occurred frequently over a long period of time. The boys 

           had given detailed written statements, which indicated long, continuous and frequent wrong-doing 

           on the part of this Brother. 



7.359      These statements were not discovered to the Committee and would appear not to have survived 

           in  the  records  of  the  Congregation.  The  General  Council  voted  unanimously  to  expel  him.  He 

           appealed the decision to the Apostolic Visitor, who advised him to seek a dispensation from his 

           vows, which he duly did. The dispensation was granted and he left the Congregation in 1944. 



7.360      Br Tristan had arrived in Artane in the early 1940s under a cloud of suspicion from Carriglea Park 

           Industrial School, where he had served on the staff for a year. From the records, it appears that 

           he had been given a Canonical Warning because of ‘an incident’ that arose during his time in 

           Carriglea  before  he  was  sent to  Artane.  No  details  are  provided  as  to the  exact  nature  of  this 

           incident.  It  also  appears  that  he  was  transferred  to  Carriglea  from  a  training  college  under 

           suspicious circumstances. Again, no details are given of his time in this college, where he was 

           stationed during the 1930s, or  what warranted his removal. The minutes of the  meeting of the 

           General Council, where the details of this Brother’s trial in the Artane case are recorded, stated 

           that he: 



                  ... was also reminded of the causes of his removal from [the training college] and Carriglea 

                  – a Canonical Warning had been given him re Carriglea incident. 



7.361      Br Julien,62  the third Brother who was found guilty of sexually abusing boys, was a non-teaching 



           Brother who had served two terms in Artane and had spent seven years in Salthill in the 1930s. 

           His personal card stated: ‘Clear evidence came to light of serious, long-continued misconduct with 

           boys in Artane’. 



7.362      Br Julien applied for dispensation from his vows, which was granted and he left the Congregation. 

           The documents did not give any details of the nature of the abuse that this Brother had engaged 

           in with the boys, and there were no documents concerning how the allegations came to light or 

           what investigation was carried out. 



7.363      Br Edgard,63    the fourth Brother who was dismissed from Artane in 1944, was a teaching Brother 



           who was not yet a fully professed member of the Congregation. In this case, the statements of 

           six boys who complained of sexual abuse by the Brother were furnished in discovery. The boys 

           ranged in age from 11 to 14 years. The case of this Brother was the only one that provided any 

           information as to the nature of the sexual abuse that was alleged. The allegations were of fondling 

           of  their  private  parts,  tickling  their  bodies,  and  embracing  them.  The  incidents  occurred  in  the 

           classroom, in the Brother’s own room and in the boys’ dormitory. Br Edgard was transferred to a 

           Dublin day school and was shortly thereafter refused permission to take final vows and left the 

           Congregation. The Department of Education service history recorded the Dublin day school as 

           his last teaching post. 



7.364      The Visitation  Report dated 30th       October  1944 referred to  the dismissal of these  Brothers who 



           were ‘accused of irregularities’. No direct reference was made to the fact that they had sexually 

           abused boys in the School, it merely referred to ‘irregularities’ being ‘discovered some weeks ago 



           62 This is a pseudonym. 

           63 This is a pseudonym. 



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           in the Institution’. The Visitor who wrote this report took the view that ‘there was nothing to be 

           alarmed at’ and went on to state that: 



                  In our Institutions it should be considered a very grave offence for a Br. to take a boy to 

                  his room on any pretext, or to be seen alone with a boy on any occasion. 



7.365      He went on to state that this rule was breached in Artane: 



                  Unfortunately the Rule forbidding such was not observed in Artane. Boys were also taken 

                  out of the shops and  off the parade by Brothers for various reasons.  These have now 

                  been prohibited. 



7.366      The Visitation Report, having acknowledged inappropriate conduct on the part of four Brothers, 

           made     a   number      of  recommendations         to  prevent     such    events    in  the    future.   These 

           recommendations  provide  some  clue  as  to  circumstances  of  the  discovery  of  the  abuse.  One 

           recommendation made by the Visitor was that: 



                  Brothers  should  not  prevent  or  discourage  boys  to  come  to  the  Superior  even  with 

                  complaints. Boys should have free access to the Superior at all times. If that were the 

                  practice the disturbing conduct experienced lately would have been avoided. 



7.367      Another recommendation was: 



                  No Brother – young or old – is to allow a boy to enter his bedroom, nor is any Brother 

                  allowed to take a boy from the school, shops, or parade. No Brother is to be alone with a 

                  boy  anywhere.  Any  Br.  who  sees  this  Rule  violated  is  to  report  it  immediately  to  the 

                  Br. Superior. 



7.368      It was also recommended that glass panels should be inserted in the doors of locked rooms near 

           the kitchen and store-rooms, and that the ‘Superior should have access to all rooms and stores 

           in the Institution at all reasonable times and keys should be provided to enable him to have such 

           access’.   A   subsequent     Visitor  considered    this  unnecessary      and   the  glass  panels    were   not 

           inserted. 



7.369      A letter written to the Superior General by the Visitor in October 1944 stated: 



                  I have spent a week in the above Institution, and have come to the conclusion that there 

                  is very fine work being done here. The boys are very open and intelligent and now that 

                 the rotten bricks have been removed the structure will be more than safe for the future. 



                  The Brothers who were outside the circle were quite unaware of what was going on and 

                  knew nothing about it until all was over. Thank God the disease was discovered in time, 

                  and that such a drastic remedy was applied. I don’t think there will be any more “Dry rot” 

                 for many a long year. 



7.370      One ex-staff member, Br Saber,64  spoke of the importance of the boys’ sodality introduced by the 



           Resident Manager which met once a week: 



                  During my ten years there, there was no case against – of sexual abuse brought against 

                  a Brother. I would say due to, I suppose, the group that were there and due to the sodality 

                  and that the boss was conscious of it and that he would keep an eye out for it and ask 

                  the lads. He was an active man, he would come there, he would walk the dormitories at 

                  night, he would be around. He had his ear to the ground. Br Dennet was the same. There 

                  were Brothers there who knew more about institutes than I did, the younger Brothers. All 

                  we  thought  of  was  keeping  them  occupied,  taking  them  out  to  games,  taking  them  to 

                  circuses, you know. 



           64 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.371      The sodality gave an opportunity for boys to talk informally to the Resident Manager and this led 

           to the discovery of sexual abuse. 



7.372      Some years later, in a letter dated 19th       November 1958 to the Superior following a Visitation, the 



           author strongly recommended the establishment of a sodality or the introduction of the Legion of 

           Mary for the boys: 



                  I  understand  there  was  a  sodality  in  the  past  but  that  it  was  abused  in  some  way. 

                  Therefore in introducing such a sodality again it would have to be done with discretion 

                  and I think it would be better for a member of the staff to introduce and look after it rather 

                  than the Superior. 



7.373      It is possible  that the level of  sexual abuse in Artane  in 1944 was an  aberration, but it is  also 

           possible that  discontinuing the  informal contact  between the  Superior and  the boys  resulted in 

           such behaviour going undetected in subsequent years. 



           Br Lancelin65 



7.374      Br Lancelin came under suspicion of sexual involvement with boys while he was in Artane in 1944 

           and was transferred to Carriglea. His personal card stated: 



                  Suspicion had been aroused by a tendency to particular friendship with a boy in Artane. 



7.375      In Carriglea, sexual abuse was disclosed and several boys furnished written statements accusing 

           Br Lancelin of ‘immoral conduct’. (These allegations are dealt with in more detail in the Carriglea 

           chapter.) The complaints were investigated by the Brother Provincial, who referred the matter to 

           the General Council. When the case came to trial before the General Council, Br Lancelin admitted 

           to  the  offences  and  pleaded  guilty.  The  personal  card  made  reference  to  one  of  the  offences 

           committed saying, ‘One offence occurred on Xmas. day 1944, though he made vows on Xmas. 

           morning’. 



7.376      The General Council voted unanimously to dismiss him from the Congregation in 1945. Again, 

           this Brother was not a finally professed member but rather a temporarily professed Brother and 

           so dispensation from vows was not an issue. 



7.377      Br Laurent said that he recalled Br Lancelin leaving Artane, but he did not know the reason for his 

           transfer and had not heard his name mentioned in connection with child abuse. The Department of 

           Education records indicated that Carriglea was this Brother’s last teaching post. 



           Br Gaillard66 



7.378      In  the  early  1950s,  a  complaint  of  sexual  abuse  was  made  against  Br  Gaillard,  who  was  then 

           teaching in a north Dublin primary school. This Brother had taught in Artane in the mid-1940s. 

           There is no documentary evidence of complaints against this Brother in Artane, although he did 

           apply for a transfer from there due to ‘conscientious reasons’. 



7.379      The complaint was made by the father of a boy who reported to the Superior that this Brother was 

           abusing  his  son  and  up  to  12  other  boys  in  the  primary  school.  The  abuse  took  place  in  the 

           Brother’s private room, where he sat the boys on his lap and fondled their private parts. Br Gaillard 

           received a Canonical Warning and was transferred to another Christian Brothers’ primary school, 

           where he remained for three years. In the mid-1950s, he wrote to the Superior General, voluntarily 

           seeking a dispensation from his vows on the basis that he was unable to prevent himself from 

           interfering with boys. In this letter he wrote: 



           65 This is a pseudonym. 

           66 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 I received a Canonical Warning for interfering with boys. I cannot overcome it. I have tried 

                 it for three years and it is worse I am getting. I just find it impossible to stand in front of a 

                 class as a Christian Brother. 



7.380      Br Gaillard was granted a dispensation a month later, and shortly thereafter took up a teaching 

           post at another school, where he stayed for two and a half years. 



7.381      In the late 1950s, the Provincial of the Christian Brothers wrote to the manager of another school 

           in the west of Ireland who had sought a reference in respect of Mr Gaillard. The Provincial was 

           frank about his history of sexual abuse. He referred to his ‘interference (morally) with boys’ and 

           felt that he could not write a reference for him. Notwithstanding this setback, Mr Gaillard was still 

           able to continue teaching until his retirement in the mid-1980s. He did two short periods of teaching 

           in rural  schools, both of  which commenced  and ended in  the middle of  school terms,  which is 

           unusual and which might imply removal for misconduct. Br Laurent, who was on the staff of Artane 

           at the time, told the Investigation Committee that he knew Br Gaillard, but had never heard of him 

           having any involvement with abuse in Artane. 



7.382      In conclusion: 



                  •     Br Gaillard was transferred within the Congregation, notwithstanding a history 

                        of abuse. 



                  •     His letter seeking dispensation could not be clearer in underlining the danger 

                        he posed to children. 



                  •     By being granted a dispensation from vows, he left the Congregation 

                        apparently in good standing. 



                  •     He was able to move into a teaching job immediately on leaving the 

                        Congregation. 



                  •    The Provincial, when asked directly for a reference, was not afraid to identify 

                        him as a danger to children, but there is no evidence that he took steps to 

                        notify other schools or the Department of Education. 



                  •     Despite the employment pattern of this man prior to 1960, there are no known 

                        complaints about his later career. 



           Br Fremont67 



7.383      Br Fremont taught in Artane in the early 1950s, and was later found to have sexually abused boys 

           in a Christian Brothers’ school in the Midlands. In the late 1950s, the mother of a boy in the School 

           made a complaint about Br Fremont to the Superior of the School. From a report written by the 

           Superior  to the  Provincial Council,  it appears  that Br  Fremont got  boys to  expose their  private 

           parts and he also exposed himself to them. The Superior questioned him about these incidents, 

           and he admitted that they were true. 



7.384      The Superior referred the matter to the Provincial Council of St Mary’s Province. A member of the 

           Provincial Council then interviewed Br Fremont. In the course of this interview, the Brother, when 

           questioned about whether he had abused boys in Artane, admitted that he had once interfered 

           with a boy in Artane, and that in another school where he had been teaching there had also been 

           an incident. He further admitted that the sexual abuse in the Midlands school had taken place. 

           This case was considered so bad that the unanimous decision of the Council was to dismiss him, 

           but  he  was  given  the  option  of  voluntarily  seeking  a  dispensation  from  his  vows,  which  he 

           exercised. The dispensation was accordingly granted. 



           67 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.385      The Department of Education records indicate that he ceased teaching within the State system at 

           that time. 



           Br Ricard68 



7.386      Br Ricard, who taught in Artane in the mid-1950s, sexually abused boys in a Christian Brothers’ 

           school in Waterford in the late 1950s. There is no documentary evidence of complaints about him 

           during his time in Artane. His earlier abuse came to light when one of the boys abused in Waterford 

           became  a pupil  at  a  private secondary  school  run by  another  Religious  Community. Br  Ricard 

           wrote a ‘sordid and immoral letter’ to the boy which was intercepted by the Superior of the College, 

           who informed a member of the Christian Brothers Provincial Council. The Brother’s personal card 

           states  that  he  ‘admitted  accusations  of  having  interfered  immodestly  with  at  least  one  12  year 

           old pupil’. 



7.387      A meeting of the General Council was held, at which he admitted the charges. Both the Provincial 

           and General Councils at the time considered his case to be the worst of its kind that they had 

           ever come across and voted unanimously for his immediate dismissal. Nevertheless, he was given 

           leave to apply for a dispensation from his vows, which he did. His departure was immediate and 

           was obviously considered very serious, as he was put on a boat and sent to England. 



7.388      A letter sent the following day to the Brother Procurator General, regarding the dispensation from 

           perpetual vows of Br Ricard, reveals the anxiety felt by the Brothers about this case: 



                  This is one of the worst cases we have had in my experience. It is so bad that we have 

                  voted   unanimously      in both   Provincial   and    General    Councils    that  he   be  granted    a 

                  dispensation ... 



7.389      The letter discloses how the abuse was detected: 



                  For a whole year he had been “interfering” in a homosexual way with two or three very 

                  respectable pupils at [a private secondary college]. One of these came to [a college run 

                  by another Order] last August and it was through a letter censored by the [Superiors at 

                  that college] that the whole matter came to light. The Brother admitted everything the boy 

                  ... had stated. 



7.390      The letter goes on to say: 



                  We fear that the evil ways into which he had fallen may be of some years duration. He 

                  leaves immediately for England (on leave of absence). Were he to remain in Ireland and 

                  were the parents of the boys to get to know of his behaviour at [the Christian Brothers 

                  College] there would be a great danger of a public prosecution. 



                  The case is, as I have stated, one of the worst we have had. Do everything you can to 

                  secure an immediate Dispensation and forward same as expeditiously as you can. 



7.391      Br Ricard sought a reference, but was not provided with one as it was felt that ‘there is no knowing 

           what  use  he  might  make  of  it’.  According  to  a  letter  written  by  the  Provincial  Assistant  to  the 

           Superior General, he was informed that he could not continue teaching and would not be given a 

           reference.  However,  it  appears  from  records  furnished  by  the  Department  of  Education  and 

           Science  that  the  ex-Brother  came  back  to  Ireland  less  than  a  year  later  and  took  up  a  senior 

           position in a school in Co Kildare and remained there for some years. He was then appointed an 

           assistant teacher at a school in Dublin where he worked for a few years, before moving to a Dublin 

           secondary school where he worked until the late 1980s. 



           68 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       167 


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7.392            •    The Congregation facilitated this man’s immediate departure for England so as 

                      to avoid a ‘great danger of a public prosecution’. 



                 •    The Brothers did not inform the parents about the abuse of the boy who had 

                       been abused. 



                 •    It is clear, by inference from the correspondence, that the boy’s College 

                      authorities behaved similarly towards the parents of their pupil. 



                 •    The man was able to return to Ireland and obtain a senior teaching position 

                      after a year’s absence. 



                 •    The Congregation put self-interest in avoiding adverse publicity before their 

                      duty to the boys in their care and to their parents. 



          Br Karel 



7.393     Br Karel, who was removed from Artane following allegations of sexual abuse in the 1960s, spoke 

          about the allegations, which he denied in full, and the events leading to his leaving Artane. Br 

          Karel said that, in the early 1960s, he was approached by the Manager of the School, who told 

          him that two boys had signed a joint statement in which they alleged that  ‘I put my hand under 

          the bedclothes and touched them in the genital area’. A third boy also made a similar allegation 

          but he did not sign the joint statement. The boys made these written allegations after speaking 

          with  the  chaplain,  Fr  Henry  Moore.  Fr  Moore  recalled  speaking  to  the  Superior  in  Artane,  Br 

          Ourson, about an allegation of sexual abuse that had been reported to him by a pupil. He could 

          not recall the name of the Brother in question, but he could confirm that the Brother was removed 

          shortly after the complaint had been communicated. 



7.394     The Resident Manager informed Br Karel of the allegations and that the Provincial Superior would 

          have to be informed. Within days, he was summoned to the Provincial’s office in Marino, where 

          he was asked about the allegations: 



                I explained as best I could that I didn't do it, that there was a mistake somewhere, what 

                could I do, what else could I say? I didn't do it and that was as honest as I could be in 

                saying that. 



7.395     Br  Karel  was  not  shown  the  written  statement  signed  by  the  boys,  neither  was  he  given  an 

          opportunity to question the boys himself. He was asked if the allegations were true, and he denied 

          them. As far as he was aware, no further investigation of the matter took place. He returned to 

          his normal duties in Artane for a year, before being transferred to a day school outside of Dublin. 

          Some ten years after leaving Artane, he was transferred to Letterfrack, where he worked for less 

          than two years. 



7.396     When this Brother applied for a dispensation from his vows many years after these allegations, a 

          report was prepared by a senior Christian Brother, which stated: 



                While Br Karel was in Artane an accusation was made against him that he had interfered 

                sexually with some of the boys. The Provincialate files are incomplete on this and contain 

                simply a joint statement of three boys. However, the Provincial at the time ... on the basis 

                of the case as presented, transferred Br Karel out of Artane ... There is no record of any 

                similar accusation against him in succeeding years. 



7.397     Whether Br Karel was transferred soon after the complaints or at a later stage remains unclear, 

          but the question of his guilt or innocence was not resolved. The Provincial was satisfied to let the 

          matter rest and to use Br Karel’s desire for a transfer as part of the reason for moving him. The 

          authorities appear to have thought that the allegations were true but they did not investigate the 

          matter. The result was that there were two possible situations: either the School had a child abuser 

          on the staff, or three pupils had made serious, untrue charges against the Brother. 



          168                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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7.398      Br Karel maintained that his transfer from Artane was made almost a year after these allegations 

           were made, and a Visitation Report would appear to bear that out. He said that he had already 

           requested  a  transfer  within  a  year  of  being  sent  to  Artane,  and  that  the  Provincial  had  also 

           suggested that it would be  ‘the wisest thing’ in light of the allegations. In any event, he was not 

           transferred immediately after the allegations were made. 



7.399      The Brother received no advice or warning following his interview with the Provincial and, indeed, 

           when he applied for dispensation from his vows some 20 years later, he was asked to undergo 

           counselling with a view to saving his vocation. 



7.400      Br Davet, who spoke to the Committee, recalled Br Karel’s departure from Artane as being unusual 

           because it occurred in the middle of the school year. He said that he had no idea why he left and 

           had heard nothing about a complaint signed by three boys. He also said that he knew nothing 

           about any inquiry carried out by the Superior or the Provincial. 



7.401      Leaving the situation unresolved was expedient, but it was unfair and unsatisfactory for the Brother 

           and potentially dangerous for the boys. 



           Br Lamar69 



7.402      Br Lamar, who had taught in Artane in the early 1960s, applied for dispensation from vows in the 

           early 1970s, stating that he was unable to keep his vow of chastity and that his record in relation 

           to chastity had not been good. A document relating to the application, signed by the Provincial, 

           stated: ‘He is known to have interfered with boys in his class’. It does not specifically state what 

           class or what school this was in. Although there is no document indicating that he abused boys 

           in Artane, at the time of his departure from Artane the Provincial wrote to the Superior General 

           and referred to Br Lamar as someone ‘who did not turn out too well in Artane’. 



7.403      Witnesses recalled the sudden departure of Br Lamar, one of whom, Br Davet, said: 



                  All I remember was that at prayers one morning he just got up and stormed out, and that 

                  was it. I thought he had some sort of a nervous breakdown or something ... 



7.404      Br Davet said that he did not ask any questions about this departure, believing that the man was 

           not well. 



           Br Adrien70 



7.405      Br  Adrien,  who  worked  in  Artane  in  the  early  1960s,  was  removed  as  a  result  of  a  complaint 

           that was made to the chaplain, Fr Henry Moore, and passed on by him to the Superior and to 

           the Provincial. 



7.406      Prior to serving in Artane, Br Adrien had served in Letterfrack, and was acknowledged as being 

           a danger to boys there. The Resident Manager of Letterfrack wrote of this Brother in 1959: 



                  I hope you will forgive my candour in saying that I would prefer to have no one at all for 

                  the boys’ kitchen than to have the constant strain of watching and worrying about him. 



                  It is impossible to keep one’s eye on him. Every time he gets my back turned he is in the 

                  kitchen and goodness knows, there are enough difficulties and worries to contend with, 

                  without having to think of him every minute and hour of the day. 



                  The position regarding the Monastery kitchen is regrettable but unfortunately he has not 

                  got proper control in the boys’ department either. In my opinion he is not suitable at all to 

                  handle young boys and it is positively dangerous, especially in these times, to have him 



           69 This is a pseudonym. 

           70 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 looking after them. A weakness in discipline in this important department will have a very 

                 detrimental effect on the boys’ behaviour and will add to everyone’s difficulties and will 

                 seriously affect the tone of the school. 



                 Taking the above considerations into account and also your own personal knowledge of 

                 Br Adrien I ask you seriously to reflect on the harmful effect his staying here is bound to 

                 have, and I entreat you to permit the transfer to go through as originally arranged. 



7.407     The Superior’s request was granted, but it was scarcely a satisfactory solution to move Br Adrien 

          to St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys in Cabra. He remained there for two years until he went to 

          Artane  and,  despite  the  concerns  expressed  in  the  above  letter,  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the 

           boys’ kitchen. 



7.408      Some two years later, a letter to the Resident Manager following a Visitation referred to Br Adrien 

           as follows: 



                 I am sorry about Br Adrien and I only hope that we will hear no more about such cases. 

                 Rather there will be no such case to hear about. 



7.409      No further information was provided, and it is unclear what type of ‘case’ was being referred to. 

          The  Visitation  Report  does  not  give  any  clearer  indication  as  to  what  was  being  alluded  to  in 

           respect of this Brother and, in fact, the Visitor commended him on his excellent cooking and his 

           improvement of the food for the boys. 



7.410     The  Committee  heard  evidence  from  one  complainant  who  made  allegations  of  sexual  abuse 

           against Br Adrien. His evidence was unusual in that it was corroborated by the chaplain, Fr Moore. 

          The complainant in this case was 11 or 12 when he went to work in the refectory of Artane. Within 

           a short while, a grooming process was commenced by Br Adrien: 



                [He] used to take me into his confidence and give me sweets and an apple or an orange 

                 or whatever. He used to show me a bit of affection. Obviously, not getting any affection 

                 that I used to have from my grandmother, it was lovely to have. I used to look forward to 

                 the treats that I used to get—and after a period of time, slowly but surely—not realising 

                 what was happening, I was being given sweets and all of a sudden my hand was taken 

                 and it was placed on – what we called at the time, we committed badness, but my hand 

                 was  taken  and  put  on  his  penis.  Being  an  innocent  child,  I  didn’t  realise  what  was 

                 happening, or whatever. I was being shown what to do with my hand and this, that and 

                 the other and I was being given sweets. 



7.411     This went on for a period of time and became more frequent. Br Adrien would often make a point 

           of beating him in the refectory in front of all the boys if he committed any slight infraction:  ‘I was 

           being shown who was in charge here, “you do what I tell you to do”’. 



7.412      Br Adrien had an office at the back of the refectory and, when the complainant was brought there, 

          the same pattern of behaviour continued. The door was locked and he was made to masturbate 

          the Brother in return for sweets and treats. He also alleged that, on one occasion, Br Adrien anally 

           raped him. The second time he tried to do this, the boy resisted by kicking out. In return, he was 

           badly beaten and had no escape from the locked room. 



7.413     The complainant went to Confession on a Friday in the mid-1960s and told the chaplain, Fr Moore, 

          what had been happening with Br Adrien. He was shocked and asked the boy to repeat what he 

          said outside of the confessional. The boy did so and then the priest reported the matter to the 

           Superior, Br Ourson. 



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7.414     The following Monday, Br Ourson and a large number of the teaching Brothers came out to the 

          pre-school  assembly  in  the  yard,  and  the  complainant  was  summoned  to  Br  Ourson’s  office. 

          There,  he  was  asked  to  repeat  exactly  what  he  had  told  the  chaplain.  When  asked  what  Br 

          Ourson’s reaction was, he said,  ‘I can’t say what his reaction was. All  I know is that within 24 

          hours Br Adrien was gone out of Artane’. 



7.415     The matter did not rest there. According to the witness, he was taken out of class the next day 

          and was questioned about boys he had been  ‘committing badness with’. He was beaten in the 

          course of this questioning until he named boys. Those boys were in turn taken out of class and 

          beaten until they gave names. He was taken out again over two or three days, and was beaten 

          because of being named by other boys: 



                It was just one vicious circle that kept going on for two – for three days. I had been taken 

                out because other boys started giving my name back again. It was even said to me, but 

                who said it I don’t know, “you should have kept your mouth shut and none of this would 

                have happened”. 



7.416     He went on to say that for three days he was systematically beaten: 



                both  outside   classroom,   in  the  dormitory,   anywhere    where    I went   within  those 

                environments. I was taken to a music room just off the corridor to the right of where the 

                classes are and I had been beaten so much that I went to the toilet in a bin and another 

                boy seen me and told a Brother that I had done that and I was taken back out and flogged 

                again  because I  had  done that.  We  weren’t  allowed to  go  to the  toilet,  we were  being 

                punished for something that I had started. 



7.417     He said that six Brothers punished him during that period: 



                I was beaten by so many of them at that particular time I can’t say if all done it because 

                I was systematically just taken out and being accused of this and accused of that and 

                there  was no  let up  whatsoever  ... it  was like  it  was a  punishment over  me  going and 

                reporting. 



7.418     He recalled being badly bruised and swollen after these events but said that nobody intervened 

          on his behalf: 



                Brothers didn’t go against Brothers, they all stuck together. I think the whole school knew 

                that I had reported Br Adrien, the whole lot of the Christian Brothers and everything, so 

                there was no sympathy shown for anything that I may have done on my behalf. 



7.419     From that time on, life for the complainant settled down in Artane, and he was not subjected to 

          any further sexual or physical abuse. 



7.420     Fr Henry Moore confirmed what this witness said about making the complaint to Br Ourson. He 

          knew he had been an altar boy, and what was being alleged when the boy spoke of  ‘badness’. 

          He recalled the boy was very upset and nervous when telling him. 



7.421     Fr Moore suggested that he should tell the Superior, but the boy’s first reaction to that suggestion 

          was that he was too afraid. It would be taken that he was  ‘squealing’, as he put it, on Br Adrien. 

          The boy was relieved when Fr Moore said he would speak with Br Ourson. Fr Moore also reported 

          the allegation to the Provincial Superior in Marino, Br Mulholland, to reinforce his concern about 

          the matter. Fr Moore recalled Br Adrien being removed within a matter of days. 



7.422     Complainants  testified  that  a  campaign  of  physical  punishment  directed  against  sexual  activity 

          between boys followed Br Adrien’s removal, but this was denied by the Congregation. Fr Moore 

          remembered complaints being  made to him by boys about  the activities of a Brother  who was 



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           going from class to class inquiring in a frightening manner about sexual activity among the boys, 

           although he could not recall if this coincided with the Br Adrien incident: 



                 But I do remember a group, some two, three or four, coming to me and being almost in 

                 a state of panic about this. I asked them about what was troubling them and they told me 

                 that there was something going on in the school, in the school rooms. Br Videl was going 

                 from class to class and calling out boys and inquiring about their sexual activity and getting 

                – and then beating them in the corridor outside of class and getting them to inform on 

                 other boys and beating them. This was continuing all throughout a day, a particular day. 

                 They were very, very fearful of this. As I say, it seemed to me in a state of panic. 



                 So I decided then that I would have to confront Br Videl myself and relate to him what the 

                 boys had said and how distressed they were. He  told me that there was a problem of 

                pretty widespread sexual activity among the boys. 



7.423     Another complainant spoke of a sudden increase at this time in the Brothers’ interest in detecting 

           sexual abuse in the Institution. This Complainant spoke of a particular campaign against sexual 

           behaviour between boys when Brothers used to check on boys in toilet cubicles. He said that the 

           school was assembled and the Brother in charge spoke to the boys and told them of the high 

           number of boys found misbehaving in this way, and told the boys that it had to stop. He himself 

          was never caught by the Brothers, and he said he was not aware what happened to the boys who 

          were detected, although he could recall them being brought into a classroom. 



7.424     A number of respondent witnesses who were in Artane during this time stated that they recalled 

           Br Adrien being in the kitchen, but they had no recollection of him leaving. Fr Moore said that 

           such an assertion would surprise him very much indeed, as he had certainly noticed his departure 

           and had discussed it with at least one Brother. 



7.425     The statement in response to the allegation about Br Adrien filed by the Congregation was signed 

           by a Brother who was in Artane for a period which overlapped for one year with the complainant’s 

           stay.  The  Brother  stated  that,  for  the  purpose  of  making  his  statement,  he  relied  on  his  own 

           knowledge  and  personal  experience  of  Artane  Industrial  School.  The  statement  addressed  the 

           issue  of  sexual  abuse    in Artane   generally,  in  the  same   way   as   all statements   signed   by 

           representatives of the Congregation. 



7.426     The statement went on to deal with the specific allegations made by this complainant. It said, in 

           relation to the particular campaign of physical abuse following Br Adrien’s departure, that ‘Whilst 

          there was corporal punishment in Artane at that time, I do not believe that it amounted to the type 

           of violent  behaviour   that  is alleged   by  the  complainant’.   In  support   of this  contention,  the 

           Congregation  quoted  the  Visitation  Report  filed  by  the  Congregation  after  a  1962  visit  to  the 

           Institution. The Visitor stated: 



                 The discipline generally is good and the Superior as well as the Brothers in general are 

                 pleased with it. It is not harsh or severe by any means, but effective nevertheless. 



7.427     The statement then dealt with the particular allegation that the complainant was taken out of his 

           bed by a number of Brothers and beaten over a number of days as a result of having made the 

           complaint to Fr Moore. It stated: 



                 I  can  state  that  I  never  saw  boys  being  beaten  in  the  manner  alleged.  I  myself  never 

                witnessed such beatings, nor did I ever hear allegations of beating of this wide-ranging 

                 nature while I was in Artane. The only punishment authorised was with a leather strap 

                 and this could only be administered on the hand. I find it difficult to accept that such a large 

                 number of brothers would gang up in the manner alleged and cause such disturbance in 

                 the school without being detected. The Brothers who are still alive may make their own 



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----------------------- Page 203-----------------------

                 response     to  these   allegations.    Each   of   these   allegations   against    each   of  these 

                 respondents is not admitted by the Congregation. 



7.428      It was not alleged by the complainant that this wide-ranging punishment took place during this 

           Brother’s time in Artane. The complainant specified the year in which this event took place, and 

           this  was  after  the  departure  of  this  Brother  from  Artane.  There  are  Christian  Brothers  in  the 

           Congregation  who  were  in  Artane  during  that  time  and  who  would  have  been  in  a  position  to 

           speak with more authority on this matter, but they were not selected to make the statement on 

           behalf of the Christian Brothers in this case. 



7.429      In  relation  to  the  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  by  Br  Adrien,  the  Christian  Brothers  stated:  ‘[Br 

           Adrien]   will make    his  own    response    to  these   allegations.   They    are  not   admitted    by  the 

           Congregation. The Congregation denies that sexual abuse was tolerated, accepted or prevalent 

           in Artane’. 



7.430      Br Adrien was removed from Artane and sent to a day school in Dublin. In the late 1960s, he was 

           returned to Letterfrack for a number of months, following which he went to a Dublin school for 10 

           years. He later spent 10 years on missionary work. There is no reference in his personal card to 

           his ever receiving any sanction or warning in relation to his abuse. 



7.431      Sexual abuse by Brothers was a serious issue in Artane, but many Brothers said that they had 

           absolutely no awareness of this problem and no knowledge of any Brother leaving under a cloud. 



7.432             •     This Brother in the 1960s was in a position to perpetrate serious and repeated 

                        sexual abuse of a boy over an 18-month period. 



                  •    The boy was, by his own evidence and by the evidence of Fr Moore, too afraid 

                        to report it himself to the Superior, which contradicts the Congregation’s 

                        assertion that there was no difficulty about boys who were sexually abused 

                        going to the authorities in Artane with complaints. 



                  •     Br Adrien was removed from Letterfrack, where it was ‘positively dangerous’ to 

                        have him looking after boys. The implication is clear that he sexually abused 

                        boys there. 



                  •    Transferring him to a residential school for deaf boys knowingly endangered a 

                        large new group of children. 



                  •     His behaviour in Artane could not have come as a surprise to the authorities. 

                  •    This case demonstrates indifference by the Congregation to the protection of 

                        children from a sexual predator. It is evidence of a policy of avoiding the 

                        disclosure of abuse rather than dealing with it. 



           Other cases 



           Br Dennis71 



7.433      Br Dennis served in Artane in the late 1960s. He was questioned by the Gardai in the early 1990s 

                                                                                                      ´ 

           in relation to allegations of interfering with boys, in a school in the north-east of the country, on 

           two occasions between the late 1980s and early 1990s. He denied the allegations at the time, but 

           when questioned about them again almost 10 years later he admitted to a limited level of sexual 

           abuse involving these boys. He also admitted to getting sexual gratification from young boys. Br 

           Dennis told the Gardai that in the mid-1990s his Superiors sent him to the Granada Institute, a 

                                     ´ 

           centre for the treatment of sex offenders in Shankhill County Dublin which was operated by the 

           St John of God Order. 



           71 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.434      Br  Dennis  also  admitted  the  allegations  which  had  been  made  by  former  residents  of  Artane, 

           insofar as they described inappropriate external touching and fondling. Although these individuals 

           alleged masturbation and anal rape, he did not admit to those more serious charges: 



                  ... I wish to say that I accept some of the allegations as being true, insofar as they describe 

                  inappropriate external touching and fondling. I deny however any of the allegations that 

                  refer to masturbation and buggery. 



7.435      Only one man who had made a statement to the Gardai about Br Dennis gave evidence to the 

                                                                               ´ 

           Investigation Committee. He alleged that Br Dennis told him to clean his room and, while he was 

           doing so, the Brother took out his penis and then ‘he brought my head down onto his penis which 

           was erect and he rubbed it against my lips’. On another occasion when he was sent to clean the 

           room, Br Dennis  ‘started fondling me and played with my penis. He pressed himself against me 

           and ejaculated’. The witness described a third incident that he said took place, in a derelict area 

           near the playing fields, at holiday time when most of the boys had gone home for holidays. He 

           said that this time the Brother had his penis out and attempted penetration, but gave up when the 

           boy screamed with pain. 



7.436      Br Dennis attended an oral hearing of the Investigation Committee. He admitted to a limited degree 

           of sexual activity with nine- to 12-year-old boys in Artane. He was asked how he began to abuse. 

           He said: 



                  I don't know how it came about really. At the time I probably deluded myself into thinking 

                  that I was being kind to them and using it as a way of encouraging them and making them 

                  – I mean, I don't subscribe to it now, but that's how I was able to justify it to myself at 

                  the time. 



7.437      Br Dennis had no recollection of the first time he had abused, but was able to confirm that it had 

           occurred in the classroom: 



                  If somebody was having difficulty with a particular problem, mathematics perhaps, I might 

                  bring  him  up  and  put  my  arm  around  his  waist  or  something,  and  kind  of  draw  him 

                  towards me. 



7.438      He conceded that he had no idea how many boys were involved. He said that the activity had 

           commenced within six months of his arriving in Artane and continued until he had left two years 

           later. He said that it continued ‘fairly regular’ for an 18-month period. 



7.439      He said he only stopped sexually abusing some 20 years later, when he was detected. 



7.440      Br Dennis said the urge to interfere with boys had not been present before his appointment to 

           Artane, but had started during his teaching time there: 



                  I  was  convincing  myself  that  I  wasn't  doing  anything  wrong,  that  I  was  kind  of  giving 

                  encouragement or making up for some lack in their lives. I mean I was deluding myself 

                  really. But that's the way I looked on it at the time. I was justifying it for myself in that way. 



7.441      He said that, although he engaged in this behaviour at the top of the classroom of some 22 to 23 

           boys, he did not think that they would have been aware of what was going on. Indeed, he said 

           that he believed the boy himself would not have been aware of what was happening. He said that 

           it was totally secret and that he did not discuss it with anyone and that  ‘Probably deep down I 

           probably did know it was wrong, yes’. 



7.442      He admitted that there would have been a selection process: 



                  There would have been. But I am not sure in what way; whether it was the ones that were 

                  weaker at a particular subject or something. That's the way I justified it, that I was giving 



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----------------------- Page 205-----------------------

                them encouragement and explaining how to do something. But again, I can't really say ... 

                 Well, in order to justify it I had to feel that I was doing him a service in some way, it kind 

                of made it right for me at the time. 



7.443      Br Dennis was never challenged or confronted about his behaviour in Artane, and he went on to 

          abuse in the next school he was posted to. There, a boy complained to the authorities in the mid- 

           1980s that he had touched him inappropriately. Br Dennis stated: 



                [The boy] had a pain in his stomach on a particular day and I massaged his stomach. He 

                claims, and he could well be right, that while I was massaging his stomach my elbow was 

                touching his penis at the same time ... I was investigated by the Garda ... I was fairly sure 

                at the time that I had done nothing inappropriate, but it was investigated by a Garda ... I 

                 was told that I had no case to answer ... For that reason I continued on in the school. 



7.444      He continued teaching after that investigation until the early 1990s, when a former pupil of Artane 

           made an allegation about sexual abuse. Br Dennis said that he had stopped his misbehaviour 

          after the previous investigation and had not interfered with any boys in his latest teaching post. 

           However, he was removed once the Artane allegation came to the attention of the authorities in 

          the Congregation: 



                 Once our headquarters got to hear of that they said that once, it could have been all right 

                once perhaps, the first allegation, but when a second allegation came they decided that 

                they would have to take action. So I was taken out of teaching at that stage. 



7.445      Br Dennis confirmed to the Committee that he had continued his activities, in the same pattern 

          which did not change, from his first posting to Artane in the late 1960s until he was reported some 

          20  years  later.  Speaking  about  the  investigation  that  occurred  following  the  1980s  allegation, 

           he said: 



                 The parents of the boy came and accused me of behaving badly with the son and that he 

                 was going to go further with it. So the next thing a Garda came up to the school and our 

                own headquarters had been notified at that stage and I ... was summoned to headquarters 

                anyway. I was asked various questions. At the time I denied everything to them because 

                I had more or less convinced myself that these things hadn't happened ... Yeah, but the 

                fact that the Garda could find no substance either, that was the main reason why I was 

                left[in the school] at that time. 



7.446      Br Dennis continued teaching in the School for a further five years, after which he was transferred 

          as teaching Principal to another Christian Brothers’ school in the west of Ireland. After about six 

           months there, he received a phone call from an individual who claimed to have been abused by 

           him  and  demanded  money.  The  Brother  met  this  individual  and  another  man,  and  gave  them 

          some £800. However, the allegation was brought to the attention of the Superior by the individual 

          or someone on his behalf: 



                 The  Brother   Superior   at  the  time, he   rang  headquarters    and   I was   summoned      to 

                headquarters the following day and when I went there they said that ... the fact that it was 

                a second time they said that it called for more serious action. I was asked to take sick 

                leave because, I mean I was very traumatised at the time anyway. So I went back and 

                met the Board of Management, this is some time later now. I went off on sick leave for 

                a period. 



7.447      Br Dennis said that the Provincialate did not know at that stage that he had paid money, and they 

          asked him if the allegations were true: 



                 They did and again I more or less denied them. This time they decided, the fact that it 

                 was a completely different case, that there was a danger that there was some grounds 

                for the allegations. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              175 


----------------------- Page 206-----------------------

7.448      Br Dennis’s ‘more or less’ denial obviously rang alarm bells: 



                  A short time after that they advised me to go for professional help, so I went to the St 

                  John of God, Granada Institute ... I was going there for a period of time and it took quite 

                  a while for me to admit, even to myself, that what I had done was wrong. As part of the 

                  therapy there I began to come to terms with it more and eventually was able to make a 

                  clean statement to them. I spent quite a long time there, in individual treatment and in 

                  group therapy ... At first I found it very difficult, but with time I began to open up more to 

                  the  group  because  I  saw  that  they  were  able  to  be  open,  and  I  kind  of  felt  that  I  was 

                  lagging  behind.  So  eventually,  something  happened  anyway  and  there  was  a  kind  of 

                  breakthrough for me that I was able to admit it. From that period on I seemed to come to 

                  terms  with  the  whole  situation  and  to  realise  –  well,  I  probably  realised  –  I  did  realise 

                  before, the gravity of the situation I suppose, but it really only came home to me because 

                  as part of the therapy we were getting reports from people who had been sexually abused 

                  and it began to come home to me then the enormity of the thing. 



7.449       He did not admit his abusive activities all at once: 



                  In dribs and drabs at the start. I think it was actually the Artane investigation that – I was 

                  called  to  Clontarf,  I  think  that  was  the  deciding  factor  that  really  opened  me  up  to  the 

                  whole – I was able to – I got great support from the group at that time and I decided that 

                  I had to put all my faith in the group. Before that I was very hesitant, because I am by 

                  nature shy and not having much confidence in myself, but when I saw how much support 

                  I was getting from them it made me open up completely to the group and to the therapists. 



7.450       It was a long process: 



                  Well, I still spent a lot of time in Granada to fully come to terms with it. Some of the group 

                  there, they would suggest that they felt that they were ready for the world again but I was 

                  very slow to suggest that, I kind of waited until I was told by the therapists in Granada 

                  that as far as they were concerned I was in a position to leave therapy, but that I should 

                  have no contact with, no direct contact with children, as far as was possible. 



7.451      Br Dennis said that, prior to his actions in Artane, he had not felt drawn to young boys. While he 

           eventually admitted he had acted for sexual gratification, he had begun by deceiving himself that 

           he was comforting the boy. He said that he found it very difficult to pinpoint any one thing that 

           started it for him: 



                  Well,  I  suppose,  I  was  under  pressure.  Under  pressure,  having  very  little  free  time,  I 

                  suppose, in Artane ... I was young and I didn't seem to feel that pressure, but it probably 

                  was there in spite of me, I don't know. 



7.452       He went on to say that he was sexually naive and shy, and he tended to select boys who were 

                                                                ¨ 

           weaker and needed more help: ‘Maybe I was looking for a shy boy trying to give them confidence. 

            That might be my justification, I couldn't really say’. 



7.453       Part of his therapy in the Granada Institute was to accept responsibility for what he had done, 

           which also involved telling his Superiors the whole story: 



                  I told them eventually, yes, but it took some time for that to happen as well ... Well, they 

                  were invited to – they would have meetings over in Granada with the therapists and the 

                  Leadership Team and myself. The first session yielded nothing at all, but after about four 

                  months I suppose, I gradually began to open up to the Leadership Team, as well as to 

                  the group members. 



            176                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 207-----------------------

7.454      Br Dennis said that he had lied, when he was first accused, out of fear: ‘I don't know what kind of 

           fear it was, but it was out of some kind of fear and a sense of shame; that I didn't want to reveal 

           that I was a failure or something like that’. 



7.455       He said that, in the Granada Institute, he had also come to an awareness of the impact of the 

           abuse on the boys: 



                  Probably the effects that it had on them in later life, where it could have led to marriage 

                  break-up and to suicidal tendencies. That their whole life really was all messed up ... It 

                  was traumatic for me, but even though I didn't look on it in that way, at that time I was 

                  thinking more of the victims at that particular time. But it was very traumatic for me as 

                  well. I found it very hard. There was one – I was advised to have at least one Brother that 

                  I could talk to, so I chose a Brother that I could talk to about all my misgivings and upset, 

                  and I found that that was a help to me all right, that that helped me greatly. 



7.456      The  Christian  Brothers’  statement  responding  to  the  complainant  who  made  allegations  to  the 

            Investigation Committee stated that the allegations were not in keeping with the character of the 

           Brother. The complainant’s allegations were expressly not admitted. The statement did not say 

           that Br Dennis had been sent to the Granada Institute by the Congregational Superiors in the mid- 

            1990s in respect of his activities in Artane. 



7.457      Br Dennis filed two separate statements of response to the complainant’s allegations. The first 

           was a long statement that dealt in detail with the complainant’s allegations, which were denied in 

           full. It commenced by stating that he did not remember him or the incidents that were alleged to 

           have    occurred    and   ‘that  the  Complainant      is  both   inaccurate    and   mistaken     in much     of his 

           recollection’.  It  did  not  make  any  admission  and,  in  the  final  paragraph,  he  said  ‘I  deny  any 

           allegations  of  abuse  made  against  me  contained  in  [the  complainant’s]  statement  which  is  not 

           directly  or  indirectly  denied  or  referred  to  in  this  response  statement’.  He  did  not  refer  to  the 

           admissions that were made to the Gardai, or to the fact that he had been sent by the Superiors 

                                                              ´ 

           of the Congregation to the Granada Institute in the mid-1990s in respect of his activity in Artane. 



7.458       His second statement to the Commission was dated a few weeks after the first statement and 

           was the standard denial of abuse, with a legalistic paragraph which stated that he was required 

           to prove a negative in respect of events alleged to have occurred on unspecified dates over 30 

           years ago. 



7.459      The significance of the approach taken by the Congregation and by Br Dennis is twofold: 



                   •    The Congregational response in this instance did not tell the whole story. It was 

                         seriously misleading because it did not reflect the Congregation’s actual knowledge 

                         of Br Dennis: the Superiors in the Congregation sent him to the Granada Institute in 

                         1996 because of allegations from Artane. It is inconceivable that they did not also 

                         know about the previous allegations. In the course of his treatment in Granada, Br 

                         Dennis had meetings with the leadership team of the Christian Brothers and his 

                         therapists, at which he eventually opened up about his abuse. None of this is 

                         reflected in the Congregational response in which they attested to his good 

                         character. 



                   •     Br Dennis’s statements of response to the Commission cannot be trusted on face 

                         value. They contain assertions that he knew to be untrue and which contradicted the 

                         import of his earlier statement to the Gardai and the Granada Institute. 

                                                                              ´ 



7.460      The complainant confined his allegations of sexual abuse to two Brothers and spoke positively 

           about others. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        177 


----------------------- Page 208-----------------------

7.461      This complainant’s allegations are, at least in part, confirmed by Br Dennis’s admissions to the 

           Gardai. The Investigation Committee had the benefit of being able to hear the Brother’s evidence 

                   ´ 

           at an oral hearing but, at the time when the complaint was heard, Br Dennis had not yet given 

           evidence  and  the  complainant  was  subjected  to  a  rigorous  cross-examination  by  the  Christian 

           Brothers, without any reference to the information they had. If Br Dennis had not been able to 

           attend and give evidence, valuable information would have been lost to the Inquiry. 



           Br Etienne72 



7.462      A complainant resident in Artane during the late 1960s alleged sexual abuse by Br Etienne, which 

           he said took place in the classroom and in the attic. He described an occasion when Br Etienne 

           told him to stay behind in the classroom when the other boys left to go to the yard. The Brother 

           closed the door and locked it. He went on to describe what happened: 



                  An item of furniture, to me it was either a cupboard with books or a piano or some sort of 

                  wooden structure was pulled from the wall, Br Etienne started kissing the back of my neck 

                  and ... 



                  My memories are just, well being put down, lying on my stomach; Br Etienne lying on top 

                  of me with my face sideways, kissing my neck, kissing the side of my face. I remember 

                  pain in my buttocks area, it was the pain of, like, somebody trying to enter. It ended with 

                  hot splashes on my back area, my bottom area. Then I was allowed to join the other boys 

                  in the yard. 



7.463      The  witness  went  on  to  say  that  his  trousers  were  pulled  down  and  his  shirt  lifted  during  this 

           encounter. He said that Br Etienne was dressed in the usual long cassock and cummerbund and 

           that,  during  the  assault,  he  had  his  cassock  open  and  his  trousers  down.  He  said  that  this 

           happened a number of times in the classroom. 



7.464      The complainant said that the sexual abuse also occurred in the attic of Artane: 



                  I remember being led up a stairs, it seemed to me an isolated stairs but as part of the 

                  building, the school area and the dorm area. I remember gas masks around and the attic 

                  was to me, enormous, it just seemed to go on forever. I remember a mattress and it was 

                  the same routine, but this time on a mattress. 



7.465      The complainant said that this had occurred on more than one occasion. As to other memories of 

           Br Etienne, he said: 



                  he was kind, I don’t ever remember being hit by him in class or anything like that ... He 

                  was my teacher. I don’t ever remember being actually physically smacked by him. 



7.466      The witness remembered Br Etienne making contact with him when he was leaving Artane at nine 

           years of age: 



                  I  remember  there  was  ten  boys,  about  ten,  could  be  more  could  be  less,  waiting  in  a 

                  waiting  room  for  a  minibus  that  was  going  to  take  us  to  [another  Industrial  School].  I 

                  remember him being sat in the waiting room and I remember him giving me a white prayer 

                  book which I took at the time, but eventually found out that on the inside it said ‘always 

                  keep our secret’. 



7.467      When asked if he had any further contact with the Brother he said: 



                  I believe  I had a  letter from him about  a year after  or maybe even  less, after I  was in 

                  [Industrial School to which transferred], which asked me how I was getting on. The letter 



           72 This is a pseudonym. 



            178                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 209-----------------------

                 was actually read to me by one of the nuns, asking me how I was getting on, hope the 

                 nuns were looking after me and a p.s. again saying, ‘always keep our secret’. 



7.468      The statement of the Congregation and a statement delivered by Br Etienne to the Investigation 

           Committee denied that the complainant had been abused. 



7.469      In a letter to Br Gibson dated October 2003, Br Etienne admitted to certain acts of sexual abuse 

           of the complainant but denied that this happened in the classroom or in the attic. The admission by 

           Br Etienne was sent to Br Gibson in the context of the complainant’s application to the Residential 

           Institutions Redress Board. It was forwarded to the Commission by Br Gibson when he received it. 



7.470      The letter stated: 



                 I can verify that he was sexually abused by me in Artane in the sixties. I also wish to state 

                 categorically that he is lying when he describes how he was abused. What he accuses 

                 me of never happened either in the classroom or in the attic nor anywhere else in the 

                 school. I never had a key to the attic and never attempted to bugger him. 



7.471      The  Brother  gave  no  further  information  and,  although  he  denied  the  details  of  the  abuse  as 

           outlined by the complainant, he did not give details about the sexual abuse he was admitting to 

           or how it had occurred. 



7.472      Counsel for the Christian Brothers said that the Congregation did not consider it appropriate to 

           test the credibility of a complainant in circumstances where the fact of abuse had been admitted. 

           The Investigation Committee noted that the Christian Brothers made a statement some months 

           before Br Etienne’s letter, saying: 



                 The Complainant makes allegations of abuse of a sexual nature on a number of occasions 

                 against [Br Etienne] ... For my own part I find the allegations difficult to accept. In particular 

                 where the Complainant alleges that on one occasion the abuse allegedly occurred in a 

                 classroom. The classrooms were very public places and I cannot accept that abuse of 

                 this nature was conducted in such a location. 



7.473      This  case  again  raises  the  issue  of  the  value  to  the  Inquiry  of  denials  by  the  Congregation  in 

           circumstances    where    it did not  make    any  proper   enquiries   of the  alleged   perpetrator.  The 

           Congregation’s position was unchanged until the hearing. In the subsequent submission prepared 

           by  the  Congregation  in  response  to  the  oral  hearings,  this  case  is  included  in  the  category  of 

           cases not specifically dealt with by the submission: 



                 The Congregation’s decision not to refer specifically to such allegations is not to be taken 

                 as an admission on its part that such allegations are true or accurate. 



7.474      Counsel reiterated that a decision was made by the Congregation to send Brothers accused of 

           criminal offences to their own solicitors to be separately represented, that the Congregation did 

           not question these Brothers in relation to the allegations, and that they did not have access to Br 

           Etienne’s statement as prepared through his own solicitors, when the Congregational statement 

           was being prepared. It was a policy decision to have a dividing line in respect of those Brothers 

           who were subject to the possibility of criminal prosecution. 



7.475      Counsel  for  the  complainant  submitted  that  the  approach  taken  by  the  Christian  Brothers  was 

           unhelpful: 



                 it seems to have been a case where the approach adopted is: “Prove it. We are not going 

                 to go and ask the people who were there what it was like and try and put together our 

                 picture of it. We will deny everything; you prove it and we will cross-examine everybody 

                 on the minutiae of everything”. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                179 


----------------------- Page 210-----------------------

7.476      In the circumstances that arose in this and the previous case, the Congregation found itself in an 

           embarrassing position when its rejection of allegations was contradicted by admissions of abuse. 

           This  arose  because  of  the  view  that  allegations  of  abuse  against  individual  Brothers  impacted 

           adversely on the Congregation’s charism and that it was therefore appropriate to adopt a position 

           on specific factual issues independent of that of the Brother. 



7.477      A policy of keeping the individual accused Brother at arm’s length, while at the same time filing a 

           statement    of  denial   in respect    of allegations    against   him,  was    bound    to lead   to  confusion, 

           misunderstanding and embarrassment for the Congregation, particularly as amending statements 

           were not furnished when new information came to light. Furthermore, the complainant was given 

           the   impression    that   the  Congregation      would    challenge    his  evidence     and   he   was   caused 

           unnecessary anxiety in this regard. 



           Three cases involving laymen 



7.478      Two  complainants  gave  evidence  of  sexual  abuse  by  laymen  who  were  not  staff  members  of 

           Artane. The incidents were not disputed by the Congregation and were used in their Phase III 

           Submissions to illustrate the willingness of the Congregation to deal with issues of sexual abuse. 



7.479      The first incident happened in the 1960s and involved a man who was himself a former resident 

           of Artane. He approached the complainant returning from Croke Park and offered him a cigarette. 

           They were sitting on the grass chatting when the man put his hand up the boy’s shorts. The man 

           said to him: ‘do you want me to tell the Brother you were smoking or are you going to let me play 

           with you?’ The witness said that he was more frightened of the Brothers than this man, so he let 

           him touch him. In the end, he remembers jumping up and running the rest of the way back to the 

           School, crying. When asked why he was crying by the Brother on yard duty, he said that his team 

           had lost the match. 



7.480      The next Sunday,  a Brother told the  boy that a visitor  wanted to take him  out for the day  but, 

           when the boy saw that it was the same man, he refused to go. The Brother called him into his 

           office and asked him why he didn’t want to go. The complainant said he broke down and told the 

           Brother everything. ‘Before I was finished the conversation, the police were outside and took the 

           man away’. 



7.481      In their responding statement, the Christian Brothers refer to this incident briefly: 



                  The  Complainant  refers  to  an  incident  of  abuse  by  a  former  resident  whilst  he  was 

                  returning from a trip to Croke Park ... I cannot comment on the allegation of sexual abuse 

                  committed by the outsider other than to say that boys were closely supervised at all times 

                  to try  to  ensure    that  something     like this  did  not  happen.    It  is noteworthy     that  the 

                  Complainant was in a position to complain about the alleged abuse by the former resident 

                  and that the authorities in Artane took appropriate action. 



7.482      At the Phase III hearing, the implications of this case were discussed with reference to the point 

           that this lay person had been handed over to the Gardai, whereas the same had not occurred 

                                                                                ´ 

           with offending Brothers. It emerged then for the first time that there appeared to be some dispute 

           as  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  in  that  Br  Reynolds,  the  Christian  Brothers’  spokesman, 

           suggested that the case was not reported as an instance of sexual abuse but rather as one of 

           absconding, and that it involved two boys who failed to return from a trip to Croke Park and were 

           seen  going  into  the  man’s  house.  He  said  that  it  subsequently  emerged  that  they  had  been 

           sexually abused. Such an alternative case does not appear to be based on any evidence available 

           to  the  Committee,  and  so  it  is  treated  as  an  accepted  instance  of  sexual  abuse  known  to  the 

           Artane authorities. In those circumstances, the difference in the handling of this complaint against 

           a layman as compared with offending Brothers is indeed striking. 



           180                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 211-----------------------

7.483      This point was made even more clearly in the following case, which was raised at an oral hearing 

           of the Investigation Committee. In this second case of abuse by a layman, another complainant 

           described an incident with a man who was a friend of the Brothers, and he took the witness and 

           two other boys on a weekend trip to Northern Ireland. They all slept in the same room, which had 

           four beds. When they were in bed, the boys would not stop giggling and the man ordered the 

           witness  to  get  into  his  (the  man’s)  bed.  The  man       ‘started  to  rub  me  and  put  his  hand  on  my 

           genitals. He got me to put my hand on his genitals and I was feeling really scared, I didn’t know 

            what to do’. He did not know whether the other two boys could see what was going on but he 

            presumed they could. He said that he masturbated the man and that he felt disgusted afterwards. 

           The following morning he had a shower and recalled trying to  ‘scrub the skin off my body’. 



7.484      When the complainant got back to Artane, he told his older brother who was also a pupil there 

           what had happened. He thinks that his brother said it to someone else, because he was brought 

            in front of a senior Brother in the School. He recalled two men coming in to the Brother’s office and 

           was told they were Gardai. He told the full story of the abuse he had experienced to the Gardai. 

                                           ´                                                                                    ´ 



7.485      When he left the office and was making his way over to the dormitory, he got  ‘an awful hiding’. 

            He said that this beating was administered by another Brother who had been present during his 

            interview with the Gardai. He never saw the man around Artane after that. 

                                         ´ 



7.486       In their response, the Congregation confirmed that a lay person who had been accused by some 

            boys of sexual abuse was told to stay away from the School and the matter was reported to the 

            Gardai. The statement went on to say: 

                   ´ 



                  However, this incident does demonstrate that the Congregation took any complaints of 

                  sexual abuse very seriously indeed, reported them to the Gardai and took all necessary 

                                                                                                 ´ 

                  steps  to  prevent  the  alleged  perpetrator  from  having  any  contact  with  the  boys  in  the 

                  future. 



7.487      Two Christian Brothers recalled this incident, one of whom said that it had been his idea to allow 

           the  man into  the School.  He said  that the  man had  offered to  help out  by  driving the  boys on 

           outings.  He  admitted  that  it  was  a  bad  decision  on  his  part  to  allow  this.  He  believed  that  the 

            Resident Manager had called in the Gardai when the allegation was reported to him. 

                                                                ´ 



7.488       One of the Brothers remembered another incident. He said that two boys came to him to talk it 

           over when the matter was being investigated by the Gardai. The older boy came to him first, and 

                                                                                   ´ 

           told him that he was one of the boys who had been abused by the man. He then told him that he 

            himself was abusing the younger boys but that had now stopped. The Brother told the Investigation 

            Committee that this came as a big shock to him, as he had thought him to be a very decent boy. 

            He said that that was the only incident he encountered in Artane of boys abusing other boys. He 

           did not believe the boy was making a complaint as such. He believed that he just wanted to talk 

           to somebody about it. The Brother did not do anything further in the matter and did not think that 

           the boy should be punished. 



7.489      This Brother recalled a further incident, where he believed a man was behaving inappropriately 

           with the boys. He said that this particular man used to visit the School and talk with the boys. He 

            had the nickname of ‘Dirty Hairy Sixpence’. He would put a sixpence into his trousers pocket and 

            invite the boys to retrieve it, which involved them in inappropriate touching of the man. The Brother 

           said that he had received no complaints about this man during his time in Artane, and that it was 

           only now, because of an allegation in which another Brother was referred to as  ‘Sixpence’, that 

            he realised what the man had been doing. 



7.490      This Brother confirmed that ‘Sixpence’ used to come freely into the School and talk with the boys. 

           When  asked  whether  this  was  a  regular  occurrence,  he  said  that             ‘Well,  he  did’. When  asked 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         181 


----------------------- Page 212-----------------------

           whether it struck him as odd that a man could be allowed to enter the School freely, he said,  ‘No, 

           it never crossed my mind it just—no, I didn’t no’. 



7.491      At the Phase III hearings, Br Reynolds was not able to explain why the Gardai  had been called 

                                                                                                            ´ 

           in the case of a layman, but had not been called in relation to sexual abuse by Brothers. He said 

           that the reluctance to involve the Gardai was  ‘common practice right across society’. 

                                                            ´ 



7.492      These cases  undermine the  position adopted  by the  Congregation in  relation to  sexual abuse, 

           namely that it was seen as a moral failing rather than criminal behaviour on the part of the Brother 

           and was dealt with as such. No ambiguity existed in the case of lay offenders. To assert, as the 

           Congregation has done, that it was ignorant of the full implications of sexual abuse of children is 

           not  consistent  with  its  response  to  these  lay  offenders.  The  Congregation  was  aware  of  the 

           criminal nature of this conduct and took swift and effective action, which makes its failure to do 

           so in the case of its own brethren all the more difficult to excuse. 



            Other complainant evidence 



7.493      This part deals with evidence of complainant witnesses that has not been cited in the examination 

           of documented and confirmed cases. It includes extra information from witnesses who were cited 

           above and data from witnesses not previously discussed. This material is uncorroborated evidence 

           from credible and reliable witnesses. 



7.494      Complainants described the different kinds of abuse that they experienced. 



7.495      One witness recalled how he was warned to avoid certain Brothers when he first went to Artane: 



                  There was always talk amongst the boys who to keep away from. When I went in there 

                  first, being naive you don’t know anybody and you have boys coming to you and telling 

                                   ¨ 

                  you “you watch Brother so and so, and watch Brother so and so. Don’t let him come near 

                  you or don’t let him get you into a place on your own”, things like that, like. But it only 

                  happened to me by one particular Brother, where sexual abuse took place, the rest was 

                  physical and mental abuse. 



7.496      Another     witness   described     how    abuse    by  Br   Bruce73    became     progressively     more    severe, 



           culminating in an attempt to commit anal rape. The witness was detained in Artane during the 

            1940s: 



                  ... at first it was just, he used to just take me trousers down and just stand there and make 

                  me masturbate him and things like that. But then it got a bit deeper and deeper where he 

                  would ask me to do things, which I couldn't understand at the time. But like, he would ask 

                  me to – oral sex and things like that. Then he started bringing me, just, it is only 50 yards 

                  down into the shower rooms and in there he would bring me down, usually down the left- 

                  hand  side  into  one  of  the  curtain  rooms  at  the  bottom  there  and  then  on  a  couple  of 

                  occasion he actually tried to rape me, but he never did succeed. He used to be very upset 

                  himself even afterwards, you know, what he was doing. 



7.497      A  witness  from  the  1940s  described  how  Br  Armande  progressed  from  talking  about  sex  to 

           physical contact and then to masturbation: 



                  He liked to talk dirty ... So over a period of time he used to ask me “have you ever popped 

                  or ejaculated”' and things like that. No, “I can't”. I knew other boys could. I forget how the 

                  conversation – but the subject of circumcising came up and he said “probably that's your 

                  problem. I will show you some time”. Over a period of time – he would press into you, he 

                  invariably wore a cloak so anybody looking from the sides couldn't see what was going on. 



           73 This is a pseudonym. 



            182                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 213-----------------------

                One incident, as I say, in the theatre, when we used to file in the theatre, at the end of 

                every, maybe, third row was left vacant so that a Brother would sit there presumably to 

                keep an eye on us. I happened to be in this seat and Br Armande – the seat was vacant, 

                so I didn't know what Brother it was going to be. I think he was either a projectionist or 

                assisting the  projectionist. Once the  film started he  came and sat  beside me. I  always 

                remember he gave me a sweet and he started touching and petting and one thing and the 

                other. I got to admit I was aroused. He kind of got my hand and done the same, messing. 



7.498     The same witness described another occasion when sexual activity was aborted because of the 

          arrival of another person in the dormitory: 



                The other incident with Br Armande was the morning I was expelled from the band ... I 

                was expelled from the band and I was told to report to the dormitory. He told me to go 

                over to the far corner of the dormitory where the Brother’s sleeping room was. He said 

                “lie on the bed there and take your trousers down”. He disappeared and went off down to 

                the long hall, I suppose, to check. There I was in the bed waiting for him to come. I got 

                to admit I was quite excited about it because I had never ejaculated and he was going to 

                show me ... I was just coming up to 16, 15 and a half. I had heard other boys saying they 

                had. Whatever happened, somebody must have came. The next thing I knew the door 

                was open and he hollered “anybody in here, get out now”. I jumped up, put on my trousers, 

                ran down and joined everybody else at the parade. That was the incident. 



7.499     This  witness   described   how   a sympathetic    approach   by   the Manager    led  to  his divulging 

          information about abuse: 



                He put a friendly arm  around me, drew me close to him and  he said, “Tell me, what's 

                troubling you?” I started to cry and I blurted out all the things that happened to me and 

                why I hated God, I hated my own parents for being weak and dying, I hated religion. “Tell 

                me”.. So I told him about what Olivier had done and I told him about Br Armande . I told 

                him the specific incident, general as well, but mainly what Br Olivier had done to me. I 

                told him about the Br Armande. I would never have had the courage to go and complain 

                to anybody because I would be terrified I would get another hiding, they wouldn't believe 

                me. On that occasion he was so kind that he got my confidence, he spoke to me like a 

                father. I blurted out and told him everything. 



7.500     The witness described another experience that was commonly mentioned by former residents of 

          boys’ industrial schools. When boys were in bed, Brothers sometimes went through the dormitories 

          checking to see whether boys had wet their beds. That was the ostensible reason why Brothers 

          put their hands under the bedclothes but there was unease among boys at the time. 



7.501     A number of complainants spoke of the requirement to sleep with their arms crossed and above 

          the blanket, which was a rule of the Congregation. Some supervising Brothers were more diligent 

          about enforcing this rule than others, but the object was to ensure that boys were not committing 

          ‘badness’ during the night. One Christian Brother confirmed that he enforced the rule of sleeping 

          with arms above the blankets but claimed that he did not know why he was doing so. He stated 

          that he was not aware that it had any purpose of preventing self-abuse by boys. 



7.502     A complainant described getting a slap on his private parts by the Brother in charge when he was 

          not lying in the correct position. 



7.503     Another described how Br Gaspard questioned him about where his hands were: 



                He pulled the covers down slightly and got my hands like that (indicating). That is how 

                they told us to fall asleep in bed. Then he got down on one knee, might have been two 

                knees, and just slid his hand across my lower abdomen. Didn’t touch anything, just straight 



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                 across. That was it ... There was something odd about it, obviously. It wasn’t the sort of 

                 thing you done. It’s always sort of remained with me. 



7.504      A complainant resident in the 1950s alleged that, when supervising the showers, Br Verrill used 

           to  require  the  boys  to  bend  over,  to  make  sure  that  they  were  clean.  He  said  that,  on  a  few 

           occasions while doing this, he used to put his hands on the boys’ testicles and say  ‘did you like 

           that?’. The complainant said that he got so used to being humiliated that he accepted it and did 

           not regard it as unusual at the time. 



           Sexualised relationships 



7.505      Relationships between Brothers and boys were unlikely to be the subject of complaint in the same 

           way as violent or forced incidents of abuse. 



7.506      One witness who was in Artane in the 1940s described a sexual relationship with a Brother that 

           he  said  was  different  from  what  happened  with  other  Brothers.  This  relationship  was  a  sexual 

           affair with affection and reciprocity. It is scarcely necessary to add that it was a case of serious 

           sexual abuse: 



                 ... I had sexual relations with him. That is the way I look at it. I will say the others abused 

                 me, but with him I would be kinder with the words because the man did look after he me, 

                 but I did do things with him that today people would stand up and scream about. But he 

                 was kind. He was probably the only person in my life up to that time. Probably the only 

                 person in my life up to that time that would give me a hug, look after me. Anyone, nobody 

                 could get to me. You know, he kept the others away. Monitors never reported me because 

                 they knew I would report them. Simple. He looked after me, I looked after him. As simple 

                 as that ... sexual abuse did take place. But at that time that was mine, I now know that it 

                 was wrong. But at the time, if he had asked me to eat his head, I would have eaten his 

                 head, as simple as that. 



7.507      When it was suggested to him that this relationship appeared to form a large part of his memories 

           of Artane, he replied: 



                 It does, actually, because as I said, he was probably was the one person I loved at that 

                 point. I did love the man, you know. I know he done that, but I loved him. I have very fond 

                 memories of the man. But now I am 68. 



7.508      In contrast,   he  named    four  other   Brothers   as  having   been   sexually   abusive   of  him.  This 

           complainant said that, at the same time that he was being sexually abused, the Brothers were 

           emphasising the evils of sex: 



                 They screamed about the dangers of badness and yet they were practising it on us. 



7.509      Another complainant spoke about a lay teacher’s behaviour that he saw as coming into a different 

           category from other sexual experiences in Artane: 



                 He used have his cloth over him and he kind of took my hand and placed it on top with 

                 the cloth covering it in case anybody came in. I touched him like that ... He carried on ... 

                 and then sent me back to my place. That’s all [he] ever done, he was a fondler more than 

                 anything. He didn’t ask you to undress or anything like that. 



7.510      He confirmed the statement that he had made to the Commission: 



                 All boys liked [him] because he was a gentle kind of man. 



7.511      He  said  that  the  teacher  looked  after  the  boys  and  that  they  put  up  with  him  for  that  reason. 

           He said: 



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                 We weren’t idiots. Boys at that age were aware, I was anyway, that some of the teachers 

                 and some people were like that. 



7.512      He continued: 



                 he was good to us ... He wasn’t cruel like some of the Brothers. I personally found him very 

                 nice and also he always brought a newspaper in every morning. When he was finished the 

                 lads would get it. Some of us were avid readers. In that way he was a man’s man, if you 

                 like. I know he was a groper but he was a decent man in every other way. 



7.513      A  number  of  witnesses,  who  did  not  themselves  claim  to  have  been  sexually  abused,  stated 

           that they believed that other boys were sexually abused in Artane. Almost all of these witnesses 

           acknowledged that they had not actually seen sexual activity taking place, so their evidence and 

           recollections were based on mixtures of surmise, hearsay and deduction. One witness explained: 



                 The way I reckoned it was that when I was being abused, I know other boys were going 

                 through the same doors, going through the same classroom doors, going the long hall ... 

                 I saw them. I saw boys going through the doors ... I mean down to classrooms. I saw 

                 them going into classrooms when they shouldn't have been in the classrooms. 



7.514      He added: 



                 The reason why I think it odd was because the classrooms, any time I ever went into one 

                 when  I  shouldn't  have  been  there,  it  was  for  that  reason.  That  is  the  only  places  they 

                 could take you. So I reckoned that if it was happening to me in there and Brothers were 

                 taking them in there, that it was happening to them. I had seen many Brothers go in there 

                 with children, and then I would hear children crying when I was in the dormitories. I knew 

                 what they were crying for, because I had done a bit of it myself. I knew boys, that when I 

                 was keeping – watching Brothers on the Parade, and I was hiding from them and seeing 

                 them hiding from them, I knew what they were hiding from. 



7.515      Other witnesses testified that they had seen boys going into Brothers’ rooms at night in the period 

           after bedtime and before the night watchman came on duty. 



           Respondents’ awareness of sexual activity in Artane 



7.516      Respondent  witnesses  gave  evidence  as  to  their  awareness  of  sexual  activity  in  Artane.  Four 

           Brothers testified that, during their training for the Christian  Brothers, they had been instructed 

           about the possibility of inappropriate sexual activity between Brothers and boys. 



7.517      Br Saber stated that: 



                 I would say the best instruction we ever got was before we left the training college. Before 

                 we left the training college, we got a talk from our Superior on sexual abuse, right. The 

                 attraction of a kid – of a Brother to a young fellow, right. He would be very clear and very 

                 specific minded, be careful of it, avoid it ... Some other Brothers would say to me that it 

                 didn’t  mean  much  to  them  because  they  never  encountered  it.  Right?  It  did,  it  meant 

                 something to me, I can honestly say that. To most people it did. There was an outbreak 

                 in Artane previously seemingly of some Brothers being accused. 



7.518      Br Gaspard stated that there was a general rule that Brothers should not be alone with boys. One 

           of  the  reasons  for  this  rule  was  that  it  provided  a  defence  for  Brothers  if  accused  of  abuse. 

           However, he stated that this rule was not rigidly enforced. He informed the Committee that he 

           was always conscious of the rule: 



                 I mean that I went out of my way to make sure that I never gave any, never did anything 

                 that would be sexually incorrect in my dealings with the boys in Artane. 



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7.519      The third and fourth Brothers were less forthcoming. One acknowledged that Brothers were given 

           specific instructions about sexual abuse, but that it was not a priority. He said he remembered it 

           being discussed but it was not an issue. 



7.520      The four Brothers testified to having heard rumours of colleagues being asked to leave because 

           of sexual abuse in the School. Br Michel described the rumours as follows: 



                  There was a rumour as regards sexual matters, that some years previous to our time, 

                  there were one or two men dismissed from the Congregation. Now I didn’t know them. I 

                  cannot even name them because it was so long ago, but that rumour was about, that a 

                  few men were in trouble with boys and they were actually dismissed. 



7.521      Br Gaspard stated: 



                  The  rumours were  about  ...  there were  a  few Brothers  who  sexually  abused boys  and 

                  they were dismissed from the Congregation because of that. 



           Sexual activity between boys 



           A documented case 



7.522      A  case in  the  early 1960s,  that  is  documented in  the  records of  the  Department of  Education, 

           illustrated knowledge by the management of Artane about sexual activity among boys. 



7.523      A former Artane boy, who was still under the supervision of the Resident Manager of Artane, was 

           on remand in Marlborough House on a charge of indecent assault of a young girl. He had a frank 

           conversation with the officer in charge about his sexual history and proclivities. He went on to say 

           that he had engaged in sexual activity with three other boys on several occasions during his time 

           in Artane. 



7.524      The    Superintendent     notified   the  authorities   in  Artane,    and   the   Resident    Manager     visited 

           Marlborough  House  with  a  senior  Brother  to  interview  the  boy.  In  a  subsequent  letter  to  the 

           Department of Education, the Superintendent reported that the boy ‘admitted what he had done 

           and gave the names of the other boys whom he committed offences with in Artane’. 



7.525      An internal memorandum in the Department expressed: 



                 very  grave concern  and particularly  so in  the case  of the  underprivileged children  who 

                 were sent to Artane by the Courts. It is also suggested that Dr McCabe enquire from the 

                  Resident  Manager  whether  he  has  traced  the  extent  of  this  practice  in  the  school  and 

                 what are his proposals for dealing with the situation. 



7.526      The  following  month,  Dr  McCabe  reported  her  interview  with  the  Resident  Manager  of  Artane. 

           She first inquired about the boy who had at that stage been dealt with by the District Court, and 

           she went on to ask about the three boys who had been implicated in sexual activity in Artane. 

           She was told that ‘they have now left the school’. Dr McCabe then asked about the extent of the 

           problem and what proposals the Resident Manager had for dealing with it. She noted: 



                  I then inquired about the supervision carried out and as far as is reasonably sensible it 

                  appears to be well done – but as the Brother intimated to me when boys are so inclined 

                  if opportunity arises and temptation is there it is very difficult to be always on the qui vive. 

                  In fact the Superior said that to have a complete supervisory system the Brothers detailed 

                 for such work would need to have no other duties but as it is now the Superior is having 

                 to teach and perform various tasks. However, he is quite well alive to such moral dangers 

                  and  as  far  as  it  is  possible  for  him will  see  that  strict  supervision  is  enforced.  He  also 

                  reminded me that there are retreats at stated intervals each year and that the Chaplain is 



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                 very  interested  in  these  boys  and  also  the  Superior  gives  a  little  talk  in  the  Chapel  at 

                  prayer time. 



7.527      The proceedings in the District Court were described by the Superintendent of Marlborough House 

           in his letter to the Department: 

                  Rev Brother Leon74  was requested by Dist. Justice Price, B.L. to attend [the] Dist. Court 



                  ... and the Justice directed him, as being the legal guardian; to have arrangements made 

                 to  have  the    boy  committed  to  Grangegorman          Mental  Hospital,  so  that  he     could  be 

                  subsequently transferred to Portrane Mental Hospital for treatment and the Justice further 

                  remanded [the boy] to Marlborough House until ... he was to appear at [another] Court ... 



                  ... the boy again appeared before Dist. Justice Price [at the other] Court. Brother Leon 

                  again attended the Court and stated that no arrangements were made to have [the boy] 

                  committed to a mental hospital; so the Justice let the boy out on his own bail of £10 and 

                  made  an  Order  that  he  was  to  be  of  good  behaviour  for  12  months;  when  he  was 

                  discharged. The mother of the boy was not in Court at any time. 



7.528      The Resident Manager was inconsistent in what he told the Department of Education. 



7.529      The  Manager  first  told  Dr  McCabe  that  the  three  boys  had  left  the  School.  On  a  visit  to  the 

           Department, the Resident Manager ‘stated that he did not know the identity of the boys as Bro. 

           Leon who had handled the matter had since died but that he would find out and reply later’. It is 

           not easy to understand how the Manager could have given that information to the Department 

           because he was, after all, present at the interview with the boy in Marlborough House when the 

           names of the boys were given. Furthermore, the manager had previously told Dr McCabe that the 

           three boys had left the Institution, so at that point he must have known the names. Finally, the 

           Manager  wrote in  response to  a formal  request sent  two months  earlier and  gave two  names, 

           adding  that  one  of  them  was  still  in  the  School  and  that  the  other  had  been  discharged  the 

           previous year. 



7.530      In conclusion: 



                   •    The Department expressed concern about the revelation of sexual activity 

                        between boys in Artane, and asked Dr McCabe to inquire into the extent of the 

                        problem and the proposals for dealing with it. The Manager undertook to do no 

                        more than was already in place, which, by his own admission, was inadequate. 

                        The Department did not pursue the matter. 



                   •    The Resident Manager was inconsistent in the information he gave to the 

                         Department, indicating a lack of respect for the Government officials who 

                        raised the matter with him. 



                   •    This case indicated that there was a higher level of sexual activity in Artane 

                        than the authorities there were capable of dealing with. 



                   •    It is a matter of concern that no documentation relating to this matter survived 

                         in the records furnished by the Christian Brothers. 



           Another investigation 

7.531      Br Romain75     spoke about an investigation into sexual activity among boys that occurred during 



           his time in Artane, during the late 1960s. He said that up to a dozen boys, who were all in the 

           same domestic economy class, had complained of being sexually abused by older boys in the 

           School. Br Jeoffroi,76    who was a young Brother in Artane at the time, instituted an investigation. 



           74 This is a pseudonym. 

           75 This is a pseudonym. 

           76 This is a pseudonym. 



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          The witness said that ‘everybody knew about it’, when asked whether the pupils and staff generally 

          knew of this investigation. Br Jeoffroi interviewed all the boys but the witness was not in a position 

          to  give  further information.  He   did not  know   if boys  had   been   punished   or  not –  he  only 

          remembered the fact of the investigation. 



          Complainants’ evidence 



7.532     Sexual activity between boys in Artane appears to have been a common feature during all of the 

          relevant period. Part of this activity consisted of sexual abuse by older boys with younger boys, 

          in this report referred to as ‘peer abuse’. Many complainant witnesses, however, were reluctant 

          to discuss sex between boys generally, and particularly the question of peer abuse. Nevertheless, 

          the  Committee  was  satisfied  on  sufficient  evidence  and  reasonable  inference  that  both  these 

          features of sex between boys were present at all relevant times. 



7.533     A witness spoke about an unwelcome approach: 



                I was working in the tinsmiths and this boy attacked me and threw me on the floor and 

                lay on top of me. At the time it was a sex act. I didn't know it was a sex act at the time. 

                Like I said, I never even saw my aunty's ankles. Of course I didn't know that, that's what 

                it was. That's what he was doing. It was reported. When Br Cretien asked me, “yes, I was 

                attacked”. He still gave me six, right on the hand, not anywhere else, directly on the hand. 

                He said he had to punish both of us. That boy never came near me again. I believe he 

                was punished again for other acts which he did to other boys. 



7.534     Another witness explained the reason for fearing becoming known as a sexually active boy: 



                You know, there was two things that you never did in Artane. One was you never touched 

                another boy in a sexual area. Me personally never did anyway. Another thing is that you 

                never told of it if it ever happened to you because then you're open, you're open season 

                then. If you are open season that means the boys get you. So you don't tell anybody, you 

                keep your mouth shut and that's it ... Nobody, except a priest. I told nobody. I am sure it 

                happened to other boys and they told nobody either because you didn't tell. You know, I 

                mean, you were a soft touch then. 



7.535     A further witness was embarrassed about his sexual activity, even though it was by consent: 



                Well, it is probably a bit embarrassing, but to be honest with you I was actually involved 

                in that myself. It was just sort of playing around basically ... No, it wasn't very frequent 

                but  it  happened  every  now  and  then.  But  it  was  very  common  in  Artane,  it  was  very 

                common that boys would be playing around with each other ... Most of the time, 99% of 

                the time it would be a case of just two boys messing about. 



7.536     He went on to comment on the Brothers’ awareness, and on the prevalence of one particular form 

          of common sexual activity: 



                ... you have got to appreciate in places like Artane, well it wasn't very, very common but 

                quite a lot of times boys would be masturbating each other. If another boy that wasn't, 

                you know, doing that would find out they would say it was badness. 



7.537     Another witness recalled an admonitory talk by a Brother: 



                ... and the Brother who was giving the speech, God knows who he was, turned around 

                and says “right, we know what you boys are doing, you have got to stop it”. This Brother 

                in particular said, “We found over 300 children playing with each other”. Now there was 

                only about 450 in the school. We were all standing there listening and that and, I don't 

                know whether they ever stopped or not. 



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7.538      A witness spoke of the enormous interest of the Brothers in  ‘badness’ and the sin of impurity: 



                  Badness was the sin of impurity. They had the sixth commandment. I remember Br Jules 

                  used to say there is more people in hell because of the sixth commandment, the sin of 

                  impurity. They were absolutely bonkers on this. When we were growing up, young lads, 

                  14, 15, you are getting feelings, you are getting wet dreams and things like that ... 



                  As I say, they must have thought that must be one of the reasons of so called badness. 

                  It  meant  boys  messing  with  one  another,  thought,  word  or  deed  or  whatever.  They 

                  regularly wanted to know if you spoke, swore, told bad jokes. They had a mania for this 

                  sort of thing. 



           Congregation’s approach to peer abuse 



7.539      The  Congregation  in  its  Opening  Statement  said  that  it  was  aware  of  the  possibility  of  sexual 

           abuse  among  the  boys  themselves.  Precautionary  measures  were  taken  to  ensure  that  such 

           abuse did not occur, including careful supervision of the boys at all times but particularly in the 

           dormitories. The Statement referred to a 1946 Visitation Report which expressed concern about 

           the  danger  of  a  lack  of  proper  control  in  the  infirmary,  on  the  grounds  that  failure  to  ‘exercise 

           proper control over the boys who are confined there when convalescing ... may be a source of 

           serious danger to their morals’. The Statement said that, although Brothers who worked in Artane 

           confirmed     that  such   abuse    occurred,   there   was   no   documentary      evidence    available   to  the 

           Congregation  concerning  individual  cases  of  peer  abuse.  The  only  documented  case  of  peer 

           abuse appeared in records disclosed by the Department of Education and Science. 



           Brothers’ awareness of peer abuse 



7.540      Brothers  testified  to  their  awareness  of  peer  abuse,  but  their  accounts  differ  as  regards  its 

           prevalence, the Brothers’ obligation to look out for it, and the punishments meted out. 



7.541      One Brother, Br Saber, who was in Artane for 10 years in the mid-1940s and 1950s, spoke about 

           his awareness of sexual abuse both involving boys with boys and Brothers with boys. However, 

           he stated that there was no sexual activity during his time in the School, which he attributed to Br 

           Tyce,77  the Resident Manager, and to the sodality. 



7.542      Br  Boyce,  who  was  in  the  Institution  at  around  the  same  time,  said  that  he  was  aware  of  the 

           possibility of peer abuse, or ‘badness’ as it was known, but that he never came across it, and his 

           knowledge of the subject came not from the Brothers but from overhearing boys’ conversations. 

           He  confirmed  that  he  ordered  the  boys  to  sleep  with  their  hands  crossed,  but  said  that  it  was 

           nothing to do with masturbation, it was just the custom. 



7.543      A Brother who was in Artane during the 1950s stated that he never heard of any type of untoward 

           sexual  activity,  either  amongst  boys  or  staff,  the  possibility  of  boys  masturbating  was  never 

           mentioned and he never punished for it. 



7.544      Br Laramie,78    who was also there in the 1950s, stated that he was aware of the term  ‘badness’, 



           which was code for sexual activity. He said that the boys and various religious magazines used 

           the term. Although the Brothers were aware of the issue, he could not recall any specific incidents 

           involving boys. 



7.545      Another Brother who was there throughout the 1950s said that he remembered the term ‘badness’ 

           as referring to peer abuse and that all staff would have been aware of the term. Despite this, he 

           said that he never encountered any incident of badness nor had to punish a boy for it. However, 



           77 This is a pseudonym. 

           78 This is a pseudonym. 



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           he  was  contradicted  by  a  colleague  who  remembered  having  to  punish  a  boy  who  had  been 

           referred to him by this Brother who insisted that punishment was necessary: 



                 I was in charge and he reported to me that [the boy] was interfering with other boys and 

                 he kind of said to me you will have to do something about it. As I understood it then that 

                 when some boys were interfering with other boys, they would be punished and one of the 

                 punishments they would get would be on the backside with the leather. I wasn’t too keen 

                 on doing  it, I had  a certain  reluctance about it.  I didn’t do  anything for  a while. Then  Br 

                 Gaspard came back to me again and told me that this was going on and that I had to do 

                 something about it.  I just brought him  to the boot room.  My memory now, I  am working 

                 from memory now and it is a long time ago, my memory is that he had his nightshirt on 

                 him,  he  bent  down,  I  gave  him  three  or  four  smacks  of  the  leather  on  the  –  not  on  the 

                 bare backside and he ran out the door and I was glad to see him go. 



7.546      Despite having to mete out this punishment, his recollection was that sexual activity between boys 

           ‘wasn’t a major crime’, although Brothers were told to be vigilant. 



7.547      A Brother who was in Artane in the 1950s stated: 



                 We  were always  being  alerted to  be  on the  look  out, to  be  a presence  in  places where 

                 the  boys  would  be,  and  I  think  we  did  that  to  the  best  of  our  ability.  But  we  would  be 

                 aware that things happened and there were normal healthy young fellas at that time so 

                 we  tried  to  be  as  protective  as  we  could  be  in  that  area  by  being  a  presence  around 

                 the place. 



                 We would have been alerted to be on the lookout, to be there, to be careful and to make 

                 sure that people are not injured in a situation like that, or that damage is done to them. 

                 So, that we would be there as a protection. It would have been—we would be, I suppose, 

                 on the alert and keep moving around and wherever. 



7.548      He said, however, that although the Brothers were aware of it, they would rarely talk about it. He 

           denied that he would have discussed the matter with the boys in order to find out who was abusing 

           whom, on the grounds that it was  ‘none of my business’. He stated that if he became aware of an 

           incident ‘I would have to hand that over to somebody at a higher authority level ... I would probably 

           go to the Disciplinarian’. 



           Conclusions on sexual abuse 



           Incidence 



7.549              1.   Sexual abuse by Brothers was a chronic problem in Artane. Brothers who served 

                        in Artane included firstly those who had previously been guilty of sexual abuse 

                        of boys,  secondly      those   whose     abuse  was     discovered     while  they   worked    in 

                        Artane and, thirdly some who were subsequently revealed to have abused boys. 

                        A timeline of the documented and admitted cases of sexual abuse shows that: 



                        (a)   For more than half of the 33 years under consideration, there was at least 

                              one such abuser working there; 



                        (b)   For   more    than  one   third   of the   years   there   were   at  least  two   abusers 

                              present; 



                        (c)   During one year in the 1940s there were seven such Brothers in Artane at 

                              the same time. 



                   2.   More   abuse  occurred      than  is   recorded  in  documents  because          of  inadequate 

                        recording and reporting procedures. In particular: 



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             (a)  There was little or no communication on an informal, friendly basis between 

                  boys and Brothers including the Superior. 



             (b)  The  sodality was  a means  of informal  communication between  boys and 

                  the Resident Manager that uncovered four sexual abusers in Artane in 1944, 

                  but it was discontinued. 



             (c)  Because boys could be punished for complaining about abuse, there was 

                  inevitably under-reporting. 



             (d)  In the 1960s, the Resident Manager gave instructions that complaints were 

                  to  be made  directly to  him and  not  to the  chaplain, thereby  cutting off  a 

                  channel of information. 



             (e)  One offender, Br Dennis, admitted sexually abusing many boys in Artane, 

                  but only one of his victims gave evidence at the Phase II oral hearings. 



             (f)  In  other  cases  of  documented  abuse,  there  were  no  complaints  to  the 

                  Committee. 



        3.  Other  causes  of  under-reporting  also  operated,  including  the  fact  that  sexual 

            abuse    is  difficult for  victims    to  corroborate    or  verify,  the   fear  of  being 

            disbelieved,  lack  of  faith  in  the  investigation  process,  and  feelings  of  shame 

            and embarrassment. 



       4.   Sexual activity between boys was common, and there was a significant amount 

            of predatory sexual behaviour by bigger boys on smaller, vulnerable ones, but 

            complainants and respondents were guarded in dealing with it. 



        5.  Evidence and inferences in this and other boys’ institutions suggested that some 

            Brothers  sought  victims  among  boys  they  believed  were  engaged  in  sexual 

            activity with other boys. 



Response 



        6.  Cases    and    allegations   of   sexual   abuse    were    not   properly    investigated; 

            information was not shared in the Congregation; cases were not reported to the 

            Department; and the Gardai were not informed. 

                                            ´ 



        7.  The Congregation was aware of the criminal nature of sexual abuse perpetrated 

            by Brothers. 



        8.  The Congregation was also aware of the risk of recidivism in such cases. 



       9.   Sexual abuse by Brothers posed a serious risk of damaging the reputations of 

            the  Institution   and   the  Congregation     if it  became    public,   and   cases   were 

            managed  primarily  with  a  view  to  protecting  them  against  that  danger.  The 

            offender was an incidental beneficiary of this policy. 



      10.   The   most   common      reaction   was   to  move   the  offending    Brother   to  another 

            Christian Brothers’ institution, without regard to the hazard to boys in the new 

            location and with no evidence that the Superior was alerted. Some Brothers were 

            moved to industrial schools after abusing in day schools. 



      11.   The  Christian  Brothers  have  submitted  that  repeat  offenders  were  dismissed 

            from the Congregation, but this does not appear to have occurred. Even when 

            the Council voted for expulsion, this was often done by inviting the Brother to 

            seek dispensation from his vows, which allowed him to leave the Congregation 

            with no taint or suspicion on his character. The Brother could continue teaching 

            in a lay capacity. 



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                  12.   Only    Brothers    of   temporary     profession     were    dismissed      by   being   refused 

                        permanent  status  by  the  Congregation,  but  these  Brothers  were  also  able  to 

                        move on with their reputations intact. 



                  13.   Some Brothers and former Brothers found to have committed sexual abuse were 

                        able  to  continue  damaging  children  for  many  years  because  of  the  policy  of 

                        concealment      of  the  disclosure     of  abuse,    failure  to  investigate  properly      and 

                        failure to report. 



                  14.   The Congregation claimed in its Opening Statement that the impact of abuse on 

                        young boys was not properly understood at the time and that the response to 

                        the  child  was  therefore  inadequate.  The  reality  is  that  the  needs  of  abused 

                        children    were    not    considered      at  all.  It  was    not   a  case    of   insufficient 

                        understanding, but rather of giving priority to other concerns. For a Community 

                        of religious in loco parentis, this was a fundamental breach of their duty of care. 



           Emotional abuse and neglect 



7.550      Although some Congregations conceded that institutional detention was not an appropriate way 

           to care for children,79  the Submission of the Christian Brothers defended the kind of care they had 



           given. They wrote: 



                 It is clear that the level of poverty in Ireland during the period under review was such that 

                 the basic physical needs of many people required for day to day living went unfulfilled ... 

                 In  this  context  it  cannot  be  surprising  that  there  was  a  strong  focus  in  Artane  on  the 

                 physical care of the boys ... The “philosophy of care” underlying the operation of Artane 

                 ... can be broadly described as a philosophy of physical care concentrating on the physical 

                 well-being of the boys. 



7.551      The  Congregation  accepted  that  a focus  on  physical  care  alone  was  not  sufficient to  fully  and 

           properly care for a child, but contended that it was important to note the general economic and 

           legal  context  in  which  the  Congregation’s  care  of  the  boys  was  provided.  A  senior  Brother 

           described this approach in his evidence as follows: 



                 the philosophy of Artane when I was there was a physical care philosophy. Look after the 

                 health of the boys, look after their physical education, like by drill and so on ... it was a 

                 physical education philosophy. There was no understanding, and I had no understanding 

                 at  the  time,  about  any  kind  of  emotional  education,  psychological  education.  I  had  no 

                 understanding of that at the time. 



7.552      The Christian Brothers concluded this section of their Submission by asserting that the totality of 

           the evidence suggests that, especially when viewed in the context of the times, the Congregation 

           fully and properly provided for the physical needs of the boys. 



7.553      They  went  on  to  concede  that  at  times  there  were  shortcomings,  such  as  the  condition  of  the 

           classrooms     and   toilets  that   were   criticised  in  the   Visitation  Reports,    but   added,    ‘these 

           shortcomings were addressed after the criticism’. 



           Emotional abuse 



7.554      Extracts from the 1926 Annual Report of the Department of Education, and the Cussen Report in 

           1936, highlight that there was an awareness of the emotional needs of the child. They warned 

           that  a  regime  based  on  ‘a  hard  and  fast  uniformity’,  in  which  the  child  loses  his  sense  of 

           individuality through just being one among hundreds of other children, caused permanent damage 



           79 See General Chapter on the Christian Brothers at para ???. 



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           to the child. The Congregation, on the other hand, claimed that it was not until the early 1960s 

           that the emotional needs of children began to feature in the thinking behind childcare. 



7.555      The Congregation also contended that the emotional needs of children were not a consideration 

           at  the  time,  either  by  the  Congregation  or  by  the  Department  of  Education.  In  support  of  this 

           contention, the Congregation stated that, when the Department carried out a full and thorough 

           inspection in December 1962, it ‘focussed almost entirely on the physical conditions in which the 

           boys lived and on their education’. 



7.556      Some individual Brothers who gave evidence to the Investigation Committee displayed a greater 

           awareness of the boys’ emotional needs than the Congregation. The Brother who was quoted by 

           the Congregation in their Submission, and who had served a number of years in Artane and had 

           held a senior position in the Institution, told the Investigation Committee: 

                  As a result of what I experienced in Letterfrack80          I came to the conclusion that a lot of 



                  these children were disturbed and a lot of these children hadn’t had their basic needs for 

                  love, affection ... fulfilled ... 



                  As regards the Industrial School Branch [of the Department of Education], it is my opinion 

                  that when Artane closed in 1969 we were still working out of a physical care philosophy. 

                  All the improvements that were done in Artane; central heating was brought in; we got 

                  new   classrooms;     we   got  new    improvements      to  the  cinema;    we   had   the  Godparent 

                  associations and so on; all these improvements, while they were very welcome ... they 

                  were still coming out of that physical care philosophy. I went into Artane as a teacher and 

                  I think I can honestly say I left it as a teacher. 



7.557      It was only later, after Artane closed, that he supplemented his training as a teacher by attending, 

           under his own initiative, a childcare course. At one point in his testimony he said: 



                  as I looked back over the years at my time in Artane I became aware that there were 

                  times when I punished boys ... and might have done better ... I looked back at Artane and 

                  saw what the system was like ... the more knowledge I acquired the more critical I became 

                  I suppose of how I saw Artane and what I did. 



7.558      Some of the other Brothers showed a similar awareness of the emotional needs of the children in 

           their care, and lamented that the system did not address them. One Brother, who was in Artane 

           from the late 1940s to the early 1950s, told the Investigation Committee: 



                  I would say I was lacking in appreciation of ... the circumstances in which these chaps 

                  found themselves, away from home and that kind of thing ... I wouldn’t know who was 

                  legitimate or illegitimate or anything of that nature and I tried to treat everyone the same 

                  and of course you cannot do that. In that sense I would regret that. 



7.559      Another Brother, who was in Artane in the 1960s, told the Investigation Committee of an occasion 

           when the degree of deprivation of some of his pupils was brought home to him in a disquieting 

           way. He recounted the following incident: 



                  ... I remember teaching a lesson, it was English reading and it was about a family, and I 

                  discovered  a  boy  in  the  class  who  didn’t  understand  what  the  word  “mother”  meant. 

                  “Brother” or “sister”, it meant nothing to him. I was taken aback by that. 



7.560      Another Brother told the Investigation Committee of one boy in Artane who had taught him a great 

           deal about human nature. He said: 



                  I did learn before I left Artane, if I could tell you a small little story. There was the chap, I 

                  can remember his name ... he feared neither God nor man. He didn’t give a hoot about 



           80 He went there after many years in Artane. 



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                anybody.  He was  a desperado  ... constantly  in trouble  ... he  was the  toughest fellow  I 

                have ever came across anywhere. Who arrived to see him but his mother. The fella didn’t 

                even know he had a mother. So he was in to meet her ... she was all over him ... he was 

                due out in three months and he was welcome to come to her and she would look after 

                him ... that guy ... went back, I couldn’t believe it, he was a model, because for the first 

                time in his life he realised he had a mother, there was somebody. He didn’t care what 

                she was like. And he was complete – a model boy. 



7.561     These Brothers, even though their training did not include study of the emotional needs of children, 

          were aware that the boys needed more than just food, clothing, accommodation and education, 

          and craved individual attention. 



7.562     One Brother explained: 



                sometimes a fellow, you would be nice and a fella would come up to you trying to play up 

                to you and say, “Can I be your chafer?” God love them. 



7.563     While the boys and Brothers had to keep their distance, it was open to any Brother to rise above 

          these constraints and offer more than just physical care to these boys. From the evidence before 

          the Committee, regrettably few Brothers chose to do this, but those who did were remembered 

          with warmth and gratitude by the ex-residents who attended the oral hearings. 



7.564     A Brother, who was in Artane from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, spoke of what he called  ‘that 

          softening down ... in the whole system’ that occurred during his time in Artane. It became ‘a kinder 

          place to be than the first day I entered it’. He told the Investigation Committee: 



                But I have to say now, in all sincerity, that in the latter years that I was there, there was 

                a hell of an improvement, both in food, dress, entertainment, mixing with the outside world. 

                Getting  parents  or  getting  Godparents  for  these  kids  and  trying  to  get  them  out  and 

                breaking the system. 



7.565     When asked to explain what he meant by  ‘breaking the system’, he explained: 



                You don’t change an environment overnight ... It is done over the years. What I am trying 

                to get across is that when these changes did take place ... you didn’t wave a magic wand 

                and  say,  “everything  is  new,  everything  is  grand”.  It  took  years  even  when  Br  Ourson 

                was there. 



7.566     Some  individual  Brothers did  not  recognise  Artane’s shortcomings,  even  when  looking back  at 

          their time there. One Brother described it as  ‘a happy place’. Another Brother said,  ‘I was always 

          very happy with the years I spent in Artane. I enjoyed the company of the boys ... and enjoyed 

          the fact that you could talk to them ...’. Another said, ‘It was a very busy place, and a fairly happy 

          place, there was a lot of exuberance in the yard ...’. 



          Reasons why the emotional needs of children were not met 



          The problem of numbers 



7.567     Artane  was  purpose  built  for  825  children,  and  the  capitation  system  meant  that  keeping  the 

          numbers up was an economic necessity. One Brother in his testimony summed it up neatly: 



                I would say the biggest problem was what can you do to change the life for 800 young 

                fellas? It was entirely too big. Now who was responsible for that? ... the more we had the 

                more money we got. But the more we had didn’t necessarily mean that it was a better 

                place for them to be. 



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7.568      Paragraph 72 of the Cussen Report published in 1936 stated: 



                 In our opinion the best results can be obtained only where the number under any one 

                 Manager does not exceed 200 pupils. We think that in no case should the number exceed 

                 250. It is necessary in this connection to refer specifically to the case of Artane Industrial 

                 School,  which  is  certified  for  800  boys  and  where  there  are  on  an  average  about  700 

                 boys. It is in our view impossible for the Manager in an Institution of this size to bring to 

                 bear that personal touch essential to give each child the impression that he is an individual 

                 in whose troubles, ambitions, and welfare a lively interest is being taken. 



7.569      For the sake of ‘the care and after-care of the pupils’, Cussen recommended that Artane should 

           be divided into separate schools of no more than 250 pupils. 



7.570      In paragraph 80, the Cussen Report commented on the effects of institutional life: 



                 In some schools monotonous marching round a school yard took the place of free play at 

                 the time for recreation. Such drill-like exercise, especially if prolonged, becomes a dreary 

                 routine deleterious to mind and body, and it should be replaced by free play and organised 

                 games that will develop in the child alertness of movement and individual confidence, and 

                 thus help to compensate in some measure for the lack of initiative and individuality that 

                 are characteristic of children reared in institutions. 



7.571      Concerned     to  prevent   this  institutionalisation,  the  Cussen    Report,    in Recommendation        15, 

           advocated that: 



                 Reasonable contact of pupils with the outside world is desirable and should be permitted 

                 to a greater extent that is the case at present. 



7.572      Cussen’s recommendations were not put into effect. Indeed, in the 1940s the numbers in Artane 

           swelled to 844. 



7.573      Some senior Brothers questioned the regimented lives in Artane. In 1952, the Visitation Report 

           contained the following observations: 



                 The presence of over 700 boys in one establishment with all kinds of social background 

                 necessitates    a  great   amount    of  regimentation    and   vigilance,  and   these   have   been 

                 developed in Artane to the n-th degree so that it would be almost impossible to find a 

                 loophole in the system. From Rising Bell till “lights out” the boys are regimented under 

                 the watchful eyes of Brothers who are experts in their various duties – so that it becomes 

                 almost true to say that the boys are never called on to make decisions for themselves 

                 even in small details except at one moment in  the day – the moment when they must 

                 decide to go or not to go to the altar for Communion. 



                 And then one begins to wonder if it can be possible that this system, so perfect in itself, 

                 is  fundamentally  all  wrong  from  top  to  bottom.  Is  it  achieving  the  end  for  which  it  was 

                 evolved, to train the will, memory and understanding of the boys so that when they go out 

                 into the world they may be able to take their parts as good citizens and good Catholics? 

                 Will young people who know nothing about freedom, since their birth or since their early 

                 boyhood,  be able  to  use  sensibly the  freedom  which is  theirs  when  they pass  through 

                 Artane gates into the wide world? These questions cannot be answered after a period of 

                 five  days’  residence  in  Artane.  However,  more  than  one  experienced  Brother  in  the 

                 Community has asked himself similar questions and has not been too happy about the 

                 answers. 



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7.574      In the 1956 Visitation Report the Visitor, commenting on the character training of the boys, wrote: 



                 The control of so many boys has led, in the system employed, to over much “shepherding 

                 especially from 6.30 till bed time. The separation of Juniors and Seniors would be most 

                 desirable. The lack of play-hall space is a crying need. Notwithstanding the devoted care 

                 of the Brothers it must be admitted, I think that the Institution is much too large. If it is to 

                 continue as an Industrial School its division into Junior and Senior sections would seem 

                 to be most desirable. 



7.575      It  was  1960  before  the  division  was  finally  made,  and  in  the  Visitation  Report  for  that  year  it 

           was noted: 



                 As an aid to discipline in this large Institution the boys have now been divided into two 

                 groups – the boys over 14 and those under that age ... it was time this move was made. 

                 Of course it means doubling the number of Brothers on duty. 



7.576      The  Congregation’s  Opening  Statement  reveals  the  relationship  between  boys  and  staff  over 

           the years: 



                 1940s – average number of pupils – 802 



                 1950s – average number of pupils – 620 



                 1960s – average number of pupils – 286. 



7.577      The staff quotas provided by the Congregation are as follows: 



                 1940–1947 – 16 to 20 Brothers and up to 6 lay staff 



                 1947–1960 – average 14 Brothers 



                 1960–1966 – average 11 Brothers. 



7.578      The  evidence  of  the  Brothers  and  former  Brothers  in  relation  to  staff  ratios  was  that  a  small 

           number, between six and 10 of the younger Brothers, carried the main burden of teaching and 

           supervision of the boys. This led to the situation that Brothers who were directly involved in these 

           duties were over-worked and often stressed. It is not clear why so many Brothers living in Artane 

           were not directly involved with the care of the children. 



7.579      The Investigation Committee heard evidence from many former pupils and staff from Artane with 

           regard  to  the  size  of  the  Institution.  A  former  pupil,  in  Artane  from  the  mid-1940s  to  the  early 

           1950s, described: 



                 The first night, I was put in the ward, I couldn’t believe it. It looked to me huge. All the 

                 beds in a line and I was put into this bed and I was crying. I was told to stop crying and I 

                 couldn’t. I was smacked [by the Brother who was on at nights] to say if you don’t stop 

                 crying you will get another one ... I couldn’t sleep ... I was woken up and I had wet the bed. 



7.580      A former Brother described how there was no preparation or training in Marino for dealing with 

           the large numbers in Artane or for the type of boys that were sent there. Artane was run like the 

           Army, everything ran like a clock. The boys marched for breakfast, marched to the dormitories, 

           other than the free play in the playground everything was structured. The size of the School and 

           the numbers during his time (800 boys) did not leave much room for understanding the boys. 



7.581      Another former Brother who served in Artane in the early 1960s said: 



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                 the numbers were very large and you had to have your wits about you to keep an eye on 

                 everything, you know, to make sure nobody was in danger. You would want to keep the 

                 smaller children away from bigger so they wouldn’t be run down or hurt or anything. 



7.582      He recalled that, in his time, two Brothers would be keeping an eye on over 400 boys. 



7.583      Most  of  the  Brothers  who  appeared  before  the  Investigation  Committee  complained  about  the 

           numbers in the School. 



7.584      One Brother was asked if the system made it difficult to be compassionate with individuals. He 

           replied,  ‘I  would  say  so,  yes,  I  would  agree.  I  mean  it  was  numbers,  large  numbers  you  were 

           dealing’. 



7.585      A Brother in Artane in the 1950s, whilst saying that there was a good atmosphere between the 

           800 boys and the 25 to 30 Brothers, said that it was  ‘mass production ... It was impossible to do 

           anything  worthwhile  with  them’.  He  felt  that  the  Brothers  on  the  ground  were  interested  in  the 

           children’s welfare and many of the children did well, but it depended more on their background 

           and  make-up.  When  asked  why  nobody  spoke  out  about  the  impossibility  of  looking  after  800 

           boys, he replied: 



                 I was going to use ignorance ... It was lack of knowledge or lack of insights by the Brothers 

                 ourselves, by headquarters and that. I mean 800 – there were 800 people that weren’t 

                 wanted and that nobody else would take them. 



7.586      A Brother who was there in the late 1950s was angry about the situation: 



                 You had in Artane at that time 600, or whatever, pupils. You had, effectively, 16 or 17 

                 Brothers, the teaching Brothers on the staff, who had to teach them full time ... So I would 

                 be asking today, ‘Why was it that I was expected to do the impossible in Artane by my 

                 country from 1955 to 1959?’ ... the system survived because of the dedication of the few. 

                 And I suppose we are paying for that today. 



7.587      He went on to say: 



                 Some of them [the lads] unfortunately who had problems and maybe who should not have 

                 been there at all, they should have been in some other institution that could care for such 

                 people like that ... at that particular time we weren’t as aware ... about the importance 

                 of having places for people like that who need specific care and specific attention and 

                 specific help. 



7.588      A  Brother  who  served  a  total  of  nine  years  in  Artane  between  the  mid-1940s  and  mid-1950s 

           explained: 



                 ... the new kids coming in who would be lost, you know, really some of them were lost 

                 really.  825  kids.  Divide  that  by  five  and  that’s  160.  160  kids  in  a  dormitory  was  very 

                 formidable ... It was cruel ... That was the total responsibility of two really. It was really 

                 the two in the dormitory made the kids or developed a kind of relationship with them. 



7.589      He was still angry at the enormity of it all. He railed against the system that allowed such numbers: 



                 825  kids  were  imposed  on  us.  No.  1  by  the  Superior,  No.2  by  the  authorities,  by  the 

                 Archbishop of Dublin, who wanted the kids sent to Artane, not Letterfrack or to Galway 

                 because they were too far from home ... 825 where the maximum was supposed to be 

                 800 and you had kids on the floor and it was really cruel and unnatural and wrong. 



7.590      This  Brother   also  saw   children   who   were   isolated  and   lost within  the  system.    He   told the 

           Investigation Committee: 



                 I suppose you never knew a kid, like, to talk to him. You would pick out a lonely child ... 

                 If he hadn’t a friend it would be tough. Really tough. You could see a kid that is lonesome, 

                 you would take him in the hand or something. He was the only boy from Gorey. He was 

                 the only boy from Wexford ... 

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7.591     The Investigation Committee heard the evidence of  ‘the only boy from Gorey’. He had been sent 

          to Artane for stealing a purse when he was ten and a half years old. He explained that his family 

          were very poor and his sister had told him to take it. He was sent to the Industrial School for five 

          and a half years in the 1950s. His mother had simply told him he was ‘going away for a few days’. 

          He told the Investigation Committee about his early days in Artane: 



                I think I was the only one from Gorey ... It was very difficult [to make friends] for a long 

                time ... I was terrified ... there were so many boys ... I never saw the likes of it before in 

                my life ... The first Brother that ever met me there was Br Bruce the day I went there. I 

                don’t know what it was, from that day onwards we seemed to get on very well together. 

                He was explaining the school to me that night and ever since that we were friends ... He 

                was brilliant, yeah. Brilliant. Brilliant ... he was exceptionally good to me. For what reason 

                I couldn’t tell you. But I liked him and he liked me ... I would be chopping sticks for him 

                and he would bring [extra food] down under his habit. 



7.592     Apart from this friendly Brother, he lived in  ‘a constant state of fear’. Yet this friendship, so valued 

          by the terrified young boy, was in itself problematic for the Christian Brothers. 



7.593     As well as being an enormous institution, Artane was totally male dominated, and the Investigation 

          Committee heard evidence from a  number of Brothers who served in Artane about  the lack of 

          women in the Institution. 



7.594     A Brother who served in Artane in the late 1960s described how the lack of females there at the 

          time left a lot to be desired,  ‘The gentle touch of a woman ... was missing’. 



7.595     One Brother who served in Artane from the mid-1940s to mid-1950s recalled that Artane was a 

          totally male dominated place. He particularly remembered a group of boys coming from a convent 

          in Mount Merrion in the 1950s. He described how they arrived in Artane in brand new clothes and 

          were dressed like dolls. He remarked,  ‘we could see the female hand all over the place. They 

          never met boys, they never met men. They were thrown into Artane’. 



7.596     He also felt that the dormitory for the young children should have had a nurse working there full- 

          time to care for the boys. It was not within the power of the younger Brothers to make suggestions 

          such as the need for women in the place. Visitors could be spoken to about some deficiencies, 

          but they were not ‘on the ground’ and could be a bit removed. 



7.597     Another Brother, who also served in Artane throughout the 1950s, was asked whether the boys 

          craved affection. He replied: 



                yes, affection and because of the lack of women around to put it baldly. That was kind of 

                a gesture that was made later on towards the end of the 1950s or the beginning of the 

                1960s to get them foster parents to get them more and more in touch with the outside 

                world and that kind of thing and maybe to improve the feeding or the grub ... they were a 

                few extra women brought in in the nursing set up ... but still it was Artane. 



7.598     The arrival of four nuns to work in Artane in 1963 is noted in the Visitation Report for that year: 



                There are four Sisters in residence in a Convent in conjunction with the Infirmary. They 

                supervise the Infirmary and spend time in the dormitories every day, checking the beds, 

                the  boys’  clothes,  the  wash   rooms   and   so  forth. Because    of  time  schedules   it is 

                unfortunate that they cannot have much contact with the boys and hence their influence 

                on them cannot be great. The two in the dormitories feel the lack of this opportunity and 

                are hoping that as time goes on they will be able to have more contact with the boys, 

                especially   the  little ones.  The   Superior    has  this  matter   under   observation    and 

                consideration and he hopes to be able to provide more contact with the boys for them 

                in time. 



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          Mixing boys with different needs 



7.599     The Cussen Report had recommended that boys be medically and psychologically examined and 

          assessed    for  suitability to be  sent  to  an  industrial  school.  That   recommendation     was   not 

          implemented, and the result was that children were ordered to be detained in Artane and other 

          institutions  when they  were  unsuitable  and where  there  were no  facilities  for  dealing with  their 

          disabilities. This put extra pressure on the Institution and made life more difficult for the children 

          themselves. Respondent witnesses gave evidence of their awareness of these problems, and the 

          authorities in later years complained to the Department about its failure to identify and differentiate 

          between  children  who  had  different  needs,  and  particularly  those  who  suffered  from  mental  or 

          psychological disability. 



7.600     Mr Dunleavy in his report for the Congregation also identified this problem, which he stated was 

          exacerbated by a reluctance on the part of the Brothers to direct boys to other institutions which 

          were better able to care for them, even when there were places available for that purpose. He 

          quoted the Visitation Report for 1968 as follows: 



                Some    are  very  retarded   ... Others   are  mentally  deficient,  and  in  recent  years  the 

                proportion admitted in this latter class has been on the increase. As such children require 

                very specialised attention it is not easy for an industrial school to adjust its programme to 

                care for them in a satisfactory manner. The policy of the Department in directing these 

                boys to Artane, without consultation, is quite unfortunate. 



7.601     He acknowledged that there was something of a double standard in the attitude of the Brothers 

          in Artane: 



                However there does seem to have been a certain reluctance in the school, once children 

                with mental problems had been accepted, to allow them to leave the school for Institutions 

                which might have been better able to care for them. 



7.602     Even as late as 1969, it could be seen that there was no systematic way of dealing with children 

          who were misplaced in Artane. Mr Dunleavy remarked: 



                Equally disturbing are a collection of applications from 1969 for boys to be admitted to St. 

                Augustine’s  Special  School  as  being  mildly  mentally  handicapped.  It  transpires  that  in 

                some  cases  psychiatric  evaluations  of  the  boys  determining  their  handicap  had  been 

                made up to two years before an application was made on their behalf to St. Augustine’s 

                Special School. 



7.603     He concluded his review of this feature of the Institution: 



                It is clear from the above that while a deplorable practice existed of “dumping” mentally 

                and   emotionally   disturbed  children  in  Artane  Industrial  School,  a  school   which  was 

                certainly not equipped to deal with their special needs, the school itself took no steps to 

                alleviate  the  situation,  and  indeed  appears  to  have  been  slow  to  recognise  that  the 

                situation existed in the first place. 



          The need to keep a distance between the Brothers and the boys 



7.604     The Christian Brothers prohibited Brothers forming particular friendships, and they had a rule that 

          a Brother should never be alone with a child. These instructions were part of the training each 

          Brother received at Marino. The ban on forming particular friendships was partly to protect the 

          Brothers’ vow of celibacy, but it was also to ensure the Brother would love everyone equally as 

          God’s children. The instruction about never being alone with a child was to protect the Brother 

          from allegations and also from any temptation. With this purpose in mind, these were good rules 

          and were designed to protect all individuals involved. 



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7.605      Generally in families the parent singles out his own child from other children outside the family. In 

           this  relationship  the  child  is  made  to  feel  special,  and  needs  the  affection  that  flows  from  this 

           relationship and the sense of being protected by the parent. This bond is the foundation of the 

           child’s self-esteem, and it gives the child confidence to tackle the stresses of life in the outside 

           world. Despite being in loco parentis, the Brothers, with a few exceptions, could not provide this 

           parental relationship because the system did not allow for it. 



7.606      Quite apart from the fact that the rules of the Congregation made the kind of emotional support 

           the children needed more difficult to deliver, the actual day-to-day interaction was one of fear and 

           distance.  This  more  than  anything  damaged  the  development  of  the  children  and  this  was  not 

           necessary. Even with the large numbers, Brothers could have behaved in a kind and measured 

           way towards the children, showing them consideration and respect. The absence of this quality 

           of care was the most emotionally abusive element in Artane. 



7.607      Again and again, complainants told the Investigation Committee that they felt there was nobody 

           they could go to for help or for protection. As shown above, many Brothers spoke of wanting to 

           help a child who looked lost or lonely, but few were able to do so. As a result, many children went 

           through  life  in  Artane  feeling  ignored,  except  when  being  chastised  and  punished,  and  feeling 

           nobody cared about them in any way at all. This failure to acknowledge the child, to make the 

           child feel important and loved, left many of them feeling marginalised and rejected. 



           Climate of fear 



7.608      The  Investigation  Committee  heard  convincing  evidence  from  complainants  and  Brothers  who 

           served in Artane that control of the vast numbers of children was accomplished by means of a 

           strict regime and through a climate of fear. One Brother remarked that even well-behaved boys 

           lived in fear of being punished. Children who were hardened by dysfunctional backgrounds, were 

           placed with orphans and emotionally disturbed children, under the control of young Brothers who 

           received no training other than their teacher training. 



7.609      In  the  Visitation  Report  of  1954,  the  Visitor  gave  an  example  of  the  level  of  control  that  was 

           inherent in Artane: 



                 Br Cretien is chief Disciplinarian. It is gratifying to hear that there is not much necessity 

                 for corporal punishment. There was a good test of the spirit of discipline on my second 

                 day in Artane. It was Saturday night and the boys were retiring to the dormitories. More 

                 than half  had got in;  many were  on the stairs  and a number  still in  the yard when  the 

                 electric  light  failed.  There  was  no  stampede  or  sign  of  confusion.  A  few  candles  were 

                 lighted  and  to  my  surprise  I  found  the  boys  sitting  on  or  standing  beside  their  beds  in 

                 absolute silence. 



7.610      As one Brother who served in Artane in the late 1950s put it: 



                 If we did not have a strict discipline at that stage the place would have gone to rack and 

                 ruin and those who would have suffered most would have been the boys ... it had to be 

                 strict  because  we  had  no  back  up  services  whatsoever  ...  some  of  them  unfortunately 

                 who had problems and maybe who should not have been there at all ... the boys who 

                 could not understand that there was a certain way of doing a thing and that if they did not 

                 do that then it was going to lead to trouble for them, even if they were punished it didn’t 

                 register with them. 



7.611      Later in his evidence, he was asked whether there were boys in Artane who were too emotionally 

           fragile to be there in the first place: 



                 In  all  probability  that  would  be  a  way  to  put  it  yes.  They  had  come  from  backgrounds 

                 where they didn’t have the normal supports and so on as young people and they were 



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                 coming in and they find themselves in a large group. Looking back now it must have been 

                 an  impossible  situation  for  them  and  knowing  what  we  know  now  those  young  people 

                 should not have been there. There should have been a place for them but that wasn’t 

                 available at that particular time, as far as I know. 



7.612     As  the  evidence  unfolded  before  the  Investigation  Committee,  it  became  clear  that  Artane  did 

           undergo  a  certain  amount  of  change  in  the  1960s.  Numbers  were  falling,  and  two  Brothers  in 

           particular were singled out by their peers as men of vision who tried to bring innovations into the 

           School for the betterment of the boys. A Godparent association was formed, and boys were placed 

          with families for Christmas, summer holidays, and occasional Sundays. This was seen as a step 

          forward, where boys would be able to live in a normal family situation. Nuns were introduced into 

          the  School,  and  their  presence  had  a  calming  effect  on  the  boys.  A  new  games  room  and 

           swimming pool were opened in the mid-1960s. 



7.613     Although some of the Brothers recognised the need for the boys to be better prepared for the 

           outside  world,  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  consistent  policy  to  prepare  the  boys 

           emotionally and psychologically for their post-Artane days. 



7.614     The Investigation Committee heard from a number of complainants that they did not have much 

          family contact and that, on occasions, for example on the death of a family member, the situation 

          was not handled in a sensitive manner. There is no evidence, however, that the Institution had a 

           policy of discouraging children from having contact with their families. Boys from Dublin usually 

          went home regularly. 



7.615      Many   witnesses    to the  Investigation   Committee     gave   instances   of acts  of  kindness,   when 

           particular Brothers treated them well. This evidence was often given by way of contrast with other 

           negative experiences in Artane. The complainants named several Brothers as being particularly 

           kind and fair, and these kind members of the Congregation made a positive contribution to the 

           lives of the boys in Artane. 



7.616      In conclusion: 



                  •    The number of boys in Artane, the extreme regimentation of their lives, the lack 

                       of appropriate training of the Brothers, the insufficient numbers of staff, and the 

                       pervasiveness  of  corporal  punishment  all  had  serious  adverse  effects  on  the 

                       welfare   and   emotional     development      of  many    of   the  children   who    passed 

                       through Artane. 



                  •   A climate of fear in Artane was a dominant memory for many ex-pupils. Practices 

                       used for management and control of the boys were frightening and abusive from 

                       the child’s point of view. It was a problem central to the whole system in Artane 

                       that the boys’ perspective was not taken into account. The Christian Brothers 

                       did not understand the impact of those practices. 



           Neglect 



           Finance 



7.617     The topic of finance in Artane and in the other institutions specifically investigated by Mazars is 

           discussed more fully elsewhere in this report, in the context of issues that arise in all institutions. 

          That  discussion  focuses  first  on  whether  the  capitation  per  child  was  sufficient  in  institutions 

           generally. It then considers the accounts of four particular institutions including Artane. The reports 

           prepared by Mazars were sent for comment to the relevant Congregations, which responded with 



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----------------------- Page 232-----------------------

          submissions that they prepared with the assistance of their own experts, following which Mazars 

          finalised a comprehensive report. 



7.618     By making comparisons with contemporaneous indices, Mazars established that the grant paid 

          per child in the industrial school system was adequate to provide a reasonable level of care for 

          most of the relevant period. When other factors were taken into account, such as the value of the 

          farm and the profit made from trades, the financial position was even stronger. A significant further 

          factor that applied in Artane was the economies of scale that arose because of the large numbers 

          accommodated there. 



7.619     Artane was virtually self-sufficient, providing the majority of its needs from its own resources. The 

          Industrial School’s sources of income were: capitation/maintenance grants (84%); income from the 

          farm and trade shops (10%); and the balance from a variety of other sources, including parents’ 

          contributions  and  receipts  from  band  performances.  The  Institution  was  also  in  receipt  of  a 

          substantial primary grant for the running of the national school attached to the Industrial School. 



7.620     In its Opening Statement in relation to Artane, the Congregation contended that: 



                The level of grant aid was a constant topic of discussion between the Resident Managers 

                Association  and  the  Department  of  Education,  the  former  continually  insisting  that  the 

                grants paid were seriously inadequate. 



7.621     The Christian Brothers’ own Resident Managers’ meetings also took the view that funding was 

          inadequate  and  throughout  the  1940s,  1950s  and  1960s  they  used  the  Resident  Managers’ 

          Association in order to express this view to the Department of Education, seeking increases in 

          the grants paid. These requests were often made in years when the financial position in Artane 

          was strong. 



7.622     The Christian Brothers went on to state that the validity of the claim of gross under-funding made 

          by the Resident Managers is strongly supported by the Kennedy Report, which described the grant 

          aid paid to industrial schools as ‘totally inadequate’. When the Kennedy Report was published in 

           1970,  numbers  in  industrial  schools  had  fallen  so  dramatically  that  funding  was  at  that  point 

          inadequate to meet the needs of the many institutions that were struggling to stay open. When 

          the Kennedy Report was published, Artane had already closed down. 



7.623     For most of the period under consideration, funding in Artane was adequate to provide for the 

          children  in  its  care.  The  Visitation  Reports  and  the evidence  of  complainants  and  respondents 

          indicated, however, that the physical care provided was poor, even by the standards of the time. 



7.624     Mazars have looked at the accounts for Artane and have identified, as far as possible, how the 

          money was spent. On the expenditure side, the biggest item was salaries and wages of lay staff. 

          In addition, the Institution provided a stipend for almost every Brother in the Community. The level 

          of stipend was decided by the Managers of Christian Brothers’ residential schools and, in Artane, 

          it varied from £120 per Brother per annum in 1940 to £300 per Brother per annum in the 1960s. 

          The amount was uniform, and no account was taken of the extent to which any particular Brother 

          was engaged in the care of the children or the work of the Institution. 



7.625     The accounts show that the stipends constituted the principal source of income for the Community. 

          They were paid into the ‘House’ account every year for almost every Brother. The account built 

          up a substantial surplus of income over expenditure, and showed a cumulative surplus (excluding 

          land sales) from 1940 to 1969 of approximately £56,000. 



7.626     In addition to providing the Community with an income, the Industrial School also provided for the 

          day-to-day expenses of the Brothers. In 1966, the Visitor recorded that: 



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                 ... In addition to supporting  the boys the School supports the Brothers to  the extent of 

                 food,  maintenance  but  not  clothing  or  medical  or  any  luxury  items.  In  addition  there  is 

                 transferred from the School Account to the House Account each year £300 per Brother 

                 for extra services, etc ... 



7.627      The Community was also able to invest substantial sums in its Building Fund. 



7.628      In conclusion: 



                  •    Artane was an important source of support and income to the Congregation. 

                  •    Lack of funds was not a reason for failure to provide for the children in Artane. 

                  •    Artane was a major contributor to the Building Fund and to the support of the 

                        Provincial Organisation. 



                  •    The Artane Community charged a full stipend for Brothers who had little or no 

                        involvement  in  the  care  of  the  boys  and  funded  the  Community’s  day-to-day 

                       expenses  out  of  the  maintenance  grant  for  the  children,  which  enabled  the 

                        House to run at a profit. 



           Physical care of the boys in Artane 



7.629      The  Christian  Brothers    maintained    in  its Opening  Statement     to  the  Artane   module    that  the 

           documentary evidence: 



                 clearly demonstrates that the boys were well fed and clothed and that their welfare needs 

                 were  catered  for  ...  Where  criticisms  were  made  or  shortcomings  were  pointed  out, 

                 remedial action was taken. 



7.630      The sources of evidence relied on were the Department of Education Inspection Reports and the 

           Visitation Reports from the Congregation. 



7.631      While Artane was directly responsible for the physical care provided, the Department of Education 

           had supervisory responsibility. 



7.632      The  Department  of  Education  Inspector,  who  inspected  Artane  regularly  from  1944  until  1962, 

           reported  under  the  headings  of:  Food,  Clothing,  Accommodation,  Recreational  Facilities,  and 

           Health   and   Education.    Her  General    Inspection   reports   are  a  source    of  contemporaneous 

           comment. The reliability and consistency of Dr McCabe’s reports were questionable, and this is 

           discussed in the chapter dealing with the Department of Education. 



7.633      By and large, Dr McCabe was impressed with the way Artane was run and was not overly critical 

           of the care provided. However, when each individual element of care is analysed, she was often 

           quite  critical of the  standard   provided    and,  taken   as  a  whole,   her  reports  point  to  serious 

           deficiencies in the School. 



7.634      It is useful to look at Dr McCabe’s reports in conjunction with the Visitation Reports compiled by 

           the Congregation’s own Visitor who inspected annually. The Visitor’s prime function was to report 

           on the Brothers in the Community, but they also made observations on the care of the boys and 

           the  general  standard  of  the  Institution.  These  reports  were  more  critical  of  the  Institution  than 

           those  of  the  Department  Inspector,  and  often  highlighted  issues  that  should  have  come  to  the 

           attention of the Department Inspector but were not mentioned by her. 



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           Food 



7.635      Dr McCabe was generally satisfied with the standard of food provided in Artane. In her first report 

           of April 1939, she stated, ‘the quantity, quality and variety of their diet is satisfactory’. Likewise, in 

           1944 she expressed herself as satisfied that the food was ample and varied. 



7.636      In  1953,  she  identified  the  kitchen  and  refectory  as  being  in  need  of  modernisation  and  she 

           continued    to  be  critical of  the   kitchen   and   refectory   facilities throughout    the  1950s.    Her 

           categorisation of the food as ‘good’ or ‘v.good’ has to be qualified by the absence of adequate 

           facilities for its preparation. 



7.637      Visitation  Reports  from  the  1950s  did  not  identify  any  particular  problems  with  the  food  or  the 

           kitchen facilities until November 1957, when the Visitor wrote: 



                 Everything in connection with the kitchen and the preparation and serving of food calls 

                 for  complete  re-organisation  and  re-conditioning  ...  Too  many  boys  are  at  each  table 

                 though half of the room is vacant almost. All the food for the meal is piled on the table 

                 before the meal begins. The boys proceed to make a most awful mess when the meal 

                 begins. There is not the slightest attempt to eat in a civilised fashion. The Brother and 

                 teacher in charge can do nothing with over 500 to look after. A great deal of the food is 

                 wasted and the waste is the main support of nearly forty pigs. 



                 I shall comment later on the condition in which many of the boys come to meals. To me 

                 the sight was just revolting. One can just imagine the comments of visitors but every care 

                 is taken on the conducted tours to prevent visitors from seeing the spectacle. 



7.638      The shortcomings in the system were apparent to the management, as evidenced by the special 

           efforts made to ensure that the boys who played in the band were given particular instruction in 

           table manners. The 1957 Visitation Report commented: 



                 They have special table drill in all the niceties of handling sets of knives, forks, spoons, 

                 serviettes etc and in how to behave themselves in a decent home. I have reason to know 

                 from friends of my own who had some of these lads staying in the house that they made 

                 a wonderful impression and have done a tremendous amount to win admirers for Artane 

                 and to counteract the smear campaign that would appear to be the settled policy of certain 

                 sections of the public Press. 



7.639      The Visitor went on to describe conditions which would have more than justified a campaign of 

           protest on the part of the press if the full picture of conditions in Artane was made known: 



                 The  boys in  the full  trades and  on full  farm work  deserve special  treatment and  better 

                 meals. These lads really make the running of Artane possible yet in all the apartments 

                 devoted  to  the  farm  and  the  trades  there  is  not  a  single  toilet  or  wash-basin  for  these 

                 boys. They come into their meals in a shocking condition, hands, faces and clothes are 

                 covered with the grime of the trades, boots, stockings and portions of the trousers often 

                 soaking  from  working  in  the  cowhouse  or  the  manure  pit.  These  boys  remain  in  this 

                 condition all day Winter and Summer, at meals, during afternoon school and in the chapel 

                 ... No boy could retain his self-respect under the conditions that exist for many of them. 



7.640      The  Visitor  blamed  Br  Gerrard’s  ‘slip-shod  methods’  for  the  poor  standards  in  the  kitchen  and 

           refectory. 



7.641      A  Brother who  was  there at  the  time  confirmed that  the  report reflected  the  conditions he  had 

           seen:  ‘My own impression was that things were not satisfactory in whatever visits I did make to 

           the  refectory  ...  with  large  numbers  ...  it  was  difficult’.  He  pointed  out,  however,  that  things 



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           improved     when    a  new    Brother    came    and   facilities were    improved    in  1962:    ‘There   was    a 

           tremendous improvement both in the standard of food, the way the food was presented, the menus 

           that were there’. 



7.642      It is difficult to reconcile that Visitation Report of November 1957 with the one of just seven months 

           earlier, in which the Visitor remarked: 



                  Br Gerrard has charge of the boys kitchen and does his work very efficiently. The food 

                  served is good and plentiful and the boys looked healthy and strong. 



7.643      It is even more difficult to reconcile this Report with the Reports of Dr Anna McCabe. She did not 

           mention any of the matters raised in the late 1957 Report, which would indicate that either she 

           did not actually see the boys in the refectory or she did not see anything remiss in the way meals 

           were served. Either explanation has disturbing implications. 



7.644      The condition of the boys’ kitchen may be contrasted with the provision made for the kitchen that 

           looked after the 24 Brothers in Artane. The Visitor noted in 1960: 



                  The  food  supplied  to  the  Brothers  is  excellent  and  very  well  cooked.  There  is  a  cook, 

                  assistant cook, six boys in training, and a Brother looking after the Brothers’ kitchen. 



7.645      The boys’ kitchens were renovated and a new Brother put in charge in 1960, and the Visitation 

           Reports noted an immediate improvement, as in 1962 when the Visitor stated: 



                  There is very little trouble on this score and the Brothers think that the improvement in 

                  the meals has a lot to do with the easier discipline among the boys. 



7.646      The Committee heard evidence from a respondent who spent four years in Artane in the mid to 

           late 1950s. He was in charge of supervising meals for a period, a task he carried out with the 

           assistance of a lay staff member. He stated that, despite the large numbers in the School, meals 

           were conducted in a very orderly fashion and the boys were very well behaved. He does not recall 

           mealtimes being particularly difficult, as documented in the Visitation Report of 1957. He stated 

           that meals were not conducted in silence and were quite lively events. 



7.647      A respondent, who first went to Artane in the mid-1950s and spent almost 15 years there, accepted 

           in his evidence to the Committee that  ‘while the food was adequate that, at that particular time, 

           the serving of the food and the way it was presented wasn’t the best’. He acknowledged that this 

           was not satisfactory. In addition, the large number of boys being catered for in the refectory made 

           things more difficult. Things changed dramatically for the better when a new Brother took charge 

           of the kitchen. He changed the way in which food was prepared and presented. 



7.648      Fr Moore was critical of the food served and the way it was served. In his report of 1962 he stated: 



                  The boys are reasonably well fed. There is fair variety but obvious essential requirements 

                  such  as  butter  and  fruit  are  never  used  ...  In  general  I  feel  that  the  boys  are  under- 

                  nourished and lacking calcium and other components. At table I have observed the unruly 

                  indelicate manners of the boys. 



7.649      During his inspection in 1966, Dr Lysaght81          commented unfavourably on the lack of variety in the 



           diet of the boys and on the institutional nature of the refectory. The dining room was large, and 

           all of the boys ate together at the same time, which gave: 



           81 Dr Charles Lysaght was commissioned by the Department of Education to conduct general and medical inspections 



              of the industrial and reformatory schools in 1966 in the absence of a replacement for Dr McCabe since her retirement 

              the previous year. He inspected Artane on 8th September 1966. 



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                a feeling of institutional mass feeding and just as the large numbers in each dormitory it 

                tends to hinder or delay development of individuality. 



7.650     While the meals were ample and well cooked, the weekly menu lacked imagination and variety. 

          With the newly modernised kitchen, there was no excuse and, once again, Dr Lysaght placed his 

          faith in the nuns to turn things around. 



7.651      Many of the complainants who gave evidence to the Investigation Committee from the 1940s era 

          complained about food. One ex-resident described the diet: 



                I would sum up my time in Artane as cold, brutal and hungry and the cold was because 

                of the hunger. There was this enduring feeling of cold and this gnawing pangs of hunger. 

                 There  was  never  any  satisfaction,  never  any  way  to  relieve  the  hunger.  That  was  it, 

                hungry, everybody was hungry all the time. 



7.652     Another complainant, committed in the early 1940s at the age of nine, recalled that his mother 

          often sent him food parcels, but that he only received a parcel once as they were stolen by the 

          other boys. He did not blame them for this, as he stated that they were always hungry,  ‘We ate 

          the grass for God’s sake’.  He stated that they had a small loaf dipped in fat for breakfast, and 

          vegetables with gravy for dinner. He recounted how one Brother would conceal sticks of bread in 

          his cassock and distribute them to the boys: ‘As soon as he appeared we went around him like a 

          pack of dogs looking for food’. 



7.653     A witness, committed in the mid-1940s, alleged that the food was diabolical. He stated that, during 

          mealtimes,  younger  boys  were  sometimes  moved  to  older  boys’  tables  on  a  temporary  basis. 

          When this occurred, the younger boys invariably went hungry because they could not get to the 

          food  fast  enough.  He  also  asserted  that,  whenever  visitors  came  to  the  School,  the  boys  got 

          better food. 



7.654     A further complainant from this era recalled how the boys divided the loaves between them. The 

          first boy would cut himself a big slice, and the second boy would do the same, so that, by the 

          time the last boy came  to take his slice, there was little left.  The younger boys were often left 

          hungry as a result of the system of distributing food. 



7.655     On the other hand, a complainant who was committed in the mid-1940s and remained in Artane 

          for six years asserted that he had no complaints to make about food, as  ‘the food was better than 

           what I was getting outside’. He described living in abject poverty before being sent to Artane, and 

          his records indicate that he was malnourished and underweight on admission. 



7.656     While  complaints  about  food     feature  with  decreasing  frequency  in  the    1950s  and  1960s,  a 

          complainant who was committed to Artane for five years in the early 1950s stated that there was 

          never enough food, and that the boys had to resort to scavenging from the swill buckets to sate 

          their  hunger.  He  singled  out  one  Brother  who  would  slip  him  extra  food.  He  also  alleged  that 

          bullying took place during mealtimes, with the result that some boys got less food than others. 



7.657     A complainant resident in Artane during the 1960s complained that the food was unpalatable. One 

          surmised that the reason the quality of the food was so poor was because the boys cooked it and 

          did  not  possess  the  requisite  culinary  skills.  Another  complainant  from  this  era  recalled  that, 

          whenever a Visitation or inspection took place, the quality of the food markedly improved. 



7.658     A respondent, who was in Artane during the 1940s, stated in evidence to the Committee that he 

          punished boys who took food from other boys at mealtime. He asserted that  ‘the majority of the 

          boys always admitted that they were well fed’. 



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7.659      Another respondent, who worked in Artane between 1950 and 1959, gave evidence that  ‘the food 

           was always reasonably good, except that it wasn’t very attractive’. 



7.660      Mr Dunleavy made the following comment about mealtimes: 



                 Apart from assembly and religious services, mealtimes were the only occasions when the 

                 whole school was present together. It seems extraordinary then that only one Brother was 

                 assigned to supervise the large refectory where up to 800 boys could be eating at once. 

                 In the course of being interviewed Brothers who had formerly worked at Artane told of 

                 leaving the door behind them open at all times so that they could escape if the situation 

                 in the refectory got out of hand. Brothers spoke of the atmosphere being “like a powder 

                 keg” and related stories of how Brothers had occasionally been assaulted by boys with 

                 knives from the dining tables. At each table of boys a senior boy was placed in charge, 

                 and it was his job to distribute the bread and tea to the other boys at the table. It was also 

                 his function, should any boy be misbehaving at the table to tell him to leave the table and 

                 stand by the wall so that he could be punished by the Brother in charge in due course. 



7.661      In conclusion: 



                  •     Food from the farm and bread from the bakery made it possible to provide for 

                        the needs of the School and the Community at reasonable cost. 



                  •     Mealtimes were not properly supervised, and young or timid boys were bullied 

                        and did not get enough to eat. This was a failure of management. 



                  •     Facilities for preparing food and for serving it were primitive. Meals were poorly 

                        prepared  and  monotonous.  A  Brother  categorised  as  ‘slip-shod’  by  his  own 

                        colleagues  was  in  sole  charge  of  this  department  for  up  to  15  years  until  the 

                        early 1960s and complainants testified that food was poor until this Brother was 

                        replaced. This was evidence of inferior management in the fundamental task of 

                        providing three meals a day for hundreds of boys. The facilities available in the 

                        Brothers’ kitchen were in stark contrast to those provided for the boys. 



                  •     The problems identified by the Visitor in 1957 and confirmed by witnesses were 

                        not picked up by the Department Inspector. The food during an inspection was 

                        not  typical  of  that  served  on  a  daily  basis,  indicating  a  serious  flaw  in  the 

                        inspection procedure. 



           Clothing 



7.662      Dr McCabe was critical of the standard of clothing provided for the boys. 



7.663      In 1944, following a number of general inspections, Dr McCabe complained that the boys’ clothes 

           were very patched, but was informed that there was difficulty in procuring material. She reiterated 

           her criticism sporadically. 



                                                                                                          ´ 

7.664      In 1955, following a general inspection of the School, a Department Inspector, Mr O Siochfhradha, 

                                                                                                             ´ 

           wrote  to  the  Resident  Manager  outlining  a  number  of  concerns  in  relation  to  the  care  of  the 

           boys. The Resident Manager responded by saying that while he agreed that the improvements 

           were necessary: 



                 The only obstacle that stands in the way and hinders progress being made in [the] scheme 

                 outlined is the lack of funds. The school is in a weak condition financially and for obvious 

                 reasons we are unable to meet fully our ordinary commitments at present. 



7.665      This conflicts with the Visitation Report for 1955, which stated that the financial position of Artane 

           was very satisfactory: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    207 


----------------------- Page 238-----------------------

                  On the 31st   December, 1954 the Surplus Income from the School Account was £4,645 ... 



                  and from the House Account £12,113 ... On both accounts there was a Credit Balance at 

                  the end of the year of £36,203 to carry on to the 1955 accounts. There is a sum of £30,000 

                  invested in the Building Fund. 



7.666      At  this  time,  there  was  to  the  credit  of  the  Institution  £30,000  in  the  Congregation’s  account. 

           Between 1944 and 1956, the sum of over £17,500 was paid into the fund. Around this time, Artane 

           paid  back  a  long-standing  debt  of  £8,800  to  the  building  fund.  The  Community  paid  Visitation 

           Dues of £3,000 in 1955. 



7.667      A  Visitation   Report   in  1947,   while   describing   the   boys   as  ‘well  fed  and   very   well  clothed’, 

           recommended  that  boys  should  be  allowed  to  wash  and  change  after  working  in  the  farm. 

           However, 10 years later, in 1957, the Visitor commented that the boys came in to meals in a filthy 

           condition and stayed in their dirty and often wet clothes all day. 



7.668      A complainant committed in the mid-1940s described how boys who worked on the farm wore 

           their everyday boots whilst working. They did not have overcoats or waterproof clothing, and wore 

           a sack over their shoulders if it was raining. 



7.669      Many of the complainants resident in Artane in the 1940s complained of the quality of the clothing. 

           The Brothers confirmed that the School produced its own cloth from which trousers were made. 

           Although this material was clearly unsuitable for use in clothing, it was not replaced until the mid- 

           1960s. A number of Brothers who spoke to the Investigation Committee stated that one of the 

           major improvements introduced in the 1960s was an improvement in the boys’ clothing. Instead 

           of being made by the tailoring shop, the clothes were bought in and were more comfortable and 

           fashionable. The report of Dr Lysaght dated June 1966 described the boys as ‘well clothed: neat 

           and tidy’. 



7.670      The  inspection  of  underwear  also  had  a  humiliating  and  embarrassing  impact  on  the  boys.  A 

           witness who was sent to Artane in the late 1950s explained how, every Saturday evening, the 

           boys would line up and receive their change of clothing for the following week. They had to display 

           their underwear to the Brother in charge and were punished if it was soiled. Another man who 

           was in Artane during the late 1960s described a similar regime and said that he did not wear his 

           underwear for fear that it would be soiled by the end of the week. 



7.671      This  humiliating  and  unnecessary  practice  was  referred  to  by  a  number  of  complainants  who 

           described the weekly inspection of underpants. If the underwear was soiled, the boy would have 

           to face the wall and await punishment, which generally meant slaps on the hand with the leather. 

           One Brother said: 



                  I accept that I did examine the underpants. The reason for examining the underpants was 

                  that  complaints  had     come  from  the  woman        and  the  staff  in  the  laundry  that  soiled 

                  underwear  was  coming  down  to  the  laundry,  and  with the  number  of  boys  that  was  in 

                  Artane at the time she wasn’t too happy about it ... so word came up to us that we were 

                  to check the underpants and if an underpants was badly soiled, not the ordinary run of 

                  the mill thing like slide marks, that didn’t matter, it was a case where the underpants was 

                  badly soiled, it is then that I would take action ... I would take the action of getting the 

                  fellow to go to the washroom and so on and clean it, then we would throw it into the bag 

                  with  the  rest  of  it.  I  will  admit  that  –  not  in  connection  with  the  underpants  –  if  [the 

                  complainant] says I put him facing the wall I will admit that. 



7.672      When asked whether the boys deserved to be slapped for something they had no control over, 

           he replied: 



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                  I do not think they deserved to be punished ... I accept that if I did slap them. I don’t think 

                  I slapped them for soiling their pants. I slapped them for other reasons but not for that ... 

                  normally  I  would  not  punish  a  boy  for  soiling  his  pants.  I  mean  that  could  happen  to 

                  anybody. But if [the complainant] says I did it on one particular occasion, fair enough I 

                  will accept that. 



7.673      Many former residents spoke of the inspection of underpants, and recalled the punishment that 

           ensued if they were soiled, but not one of them recalled having to wash them before they were 

           thrown into the laundry bag. 



7.674      Fr  Henry  Moore82     reported  in  1962  that  clothing  was  an  aspect  of  the  general  care  that  was 



           ‘grossly  neglected’.  He  said  that  the  boys’  clothing  was  ‘uncomfortable,  unhygienic  and  of  a 

           displeasing  sameness’.  The  quality  of  the  clothing  was  poor  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were 

           manufactured at the School. Overcoats were only supplied to those boys who were in a position 

           to pay for them. He described as pathetic the sight of hundreds of boys on their Sunday walk in 

           the depths of winter without an overcoat. He was also critical of the fact that boys had to change 

           from their Sunday clothes after their walk into their everyday clothes which, in his view, was bad 

           for morale. There was no change of clothing in accordance with the seasons, and the boys wore 

           hob-nailed boots and heavy clothing all year round. 



7.675      An additional criticism was the lack of personal ownership of clothes, that were common property 

           amongst the boys. Clothes were distributed randomly from a common pool, often without regard 

           to size. Stockings and shirts were replaced once a week, underwear only once a fortnight. 



7.676      Fr Moore commented: 



                  This   fundamental     disregard    for  personal     attention   inevitably   generates     insecurity, 

                  instability and an amoral concern for the private property of others. This I consider to be 

                  a causative factor in the habits of stealing frequently encountered among ex-pupils. 



7.677      A  respondent  who  was  in  Artane  in  the  1960s  recalled  how  shirts  and  undergarments  were 

           distributed randomly, and there was no sense of ownership attached to these. 



7.678      Fr Moore referred in his report to the lack of overcoats for the boys. The leader of the Department 

           group  that  inspected  Artane  just  before  Christmas  1962  noted  that,  in  early  December,  412 

           raincoats had been ordered by the Institution for all the boys: 



                  ...  as  regards  clothing  the  overcoats  supplied  by  the  school  are  raincoats  only  412  of 

                 which    were   ordered    early  in  December.     All the   boys   questioned    (50   approx.)   wore 

                 woollen underpants. 



                  The clothing of the boys while lacking refinement was adequate apart from the doubtful 

                  desirability of providing cloth overcoats which will require further investigation. 



7.679      Complainants who stated that the clothing provided by Artane was not adequate in cold weather, 

           even into the late 1960s, were probably correct. 



7.680      In conclusion: 



                   •    Clothing was poor, patched, and institutional in style, and the repeated 

                        criticism by the Department Inspector was often to no avail. 



                   •    Underwear inspections in public were a feature of life in Artane. The 

                        explanation that this was done to clean the underpants before they were sent 



           82 See Department of Education and Science Chapter, One-off Inspections. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      209 


----------------------- Page 240-----------------------

                        to the laundry was not confirmed by former residents. It would not, in any 

                        case, have afforded justification for this degrading practice. 



                  •     Changes of clothes were not available to boys who worked in wet, muddy and 

                        dirty conditions. Until the mid-1960s, overcoats were not provided. Bad clothing 

                        marked out the boys and reduced their self-respect and personal dignity. 



           Accommodation and hygiene 



7.681      In 1944, Dr McCabe identified sanitation as being in need of modernisation. The poor state of the 

           sanitation  facilities  was  described  in  a  letter  written  by  a  former  resident  to  the  Department  of 

           Justice in October 1946: 



                 the only W.C.s 900 boys have at Artane Ind. School [are] 30 filthy buckets at the rear of 

                 a Hand Ball Alley which the boys use and I want to know when are more modern and 

                 hygienic lavatories going to be provided for the boys. 



7.682      He  also  queried  whether  the  boys  were  involved  in  emptying  and  cleaning  ‘these  buckets  of 

           stenchious filth’. 



7.683      The Resident Manager responded, confirming that a farm labourer was employed to empty and 

           clean the sanitary buckets as part of his duties. The labourer who usually performed this task had 

           become unwell, and a number of the boys who worked on the farm had carried out this chore on 

           a temporary basis. He assured the Department that another farm labourer had been assigned this 

           task and was not assisted by the boys. The Department confirmed to the letter writer that plans 

           for the modernisation of the sanitation system were ‘under active consideration’. The Department 

           categorically  denied  that  the  boys  were  involved  in  removing  the  buckets.  The  letter  went  on 

           to say: 



                 The sanitation system at the school has been inspected time and again by Inspectors of 

                 this Department and by Sanitary Inspectors and as far as is known no complaint has been 

                 made about it from the point of view of the hygiene and health of the boys beyond the 

                 statement  that  the  system  is  an  old  one.  Scrupulous  attention  is  given  to  the  daily 

                 cleansing and disinfecting of the system. 



7.684      A man who was a pupil in Artane in the 1940s described the state of the toilets and the occasional 

           duties given to some of the boys: 



                 We had only buckets behind the handball alley ... I would say there was about 20 to 30 

                 buckets ... it was newspaper we used instead of toilet rolls, there was no such thing ... 

                 They had to be emptied ... There was two men, [he thought they were siblings], ... at the 

                 time it was a horse and cart ... They were lay men ... I was one of the ones that had to 

                 help on that occasion because I was a hefty lump of a lad ... You had to put a bit of paper, 

                 them buckets could be over full ... You have a dirty job there ... we were just emptying 

                 the buckets ... into this barrel. We called it a barrel. It was a horse and cart ... it had to be 

                 done every day. Imagine there is 800 people were going through toilets ... the handball 

                 alley was your wee wee, the back of the handball alley. You put them back. They were 

                 lovely looking going back ... They went back with a kind of coat on them. 



7.685      The buckets, he insisted, were not washed out:  ‘Where would you get water?’. 



7.686      The 1943 Visitation Report noted: 



                 The  Toilets  for  the  boys  are  not  modern  in  any  sense.  They  are  of  the  dry  kind  and 

                 buckets are used and changed daily. There is no running water in the urinals; they must 

                 be washed out every day. 



           210                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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7.687      In  each  year  between  1944  and  1947,  the  Visitor  noted  that  the  lavatory  facilities  required 

           replacing. Work commenced on the replacement of this system in 1948. 



7.688      This primitive system remained in use until 1950, when the Visitation Report for that year stated: 

           ‘The sanitary block completed by Br Tyce meets a long-standing want’. 



7.689      Apart from identifying the sanitation as being in need  of modernisation, Dr McCabe expressed 

           herself as consistently impressed with the condition of the premises in Artane. Conversely, the 

           Visitor was regularly critical of aspects of the accommodation of Artane. 



7.690      Facilities for the boys were poor. There was no indoor recreation hall, as identified by the Visitor 

           in 1945 and again in 1956: ‘The lack of a play-hall space is a crying need’. Similar comments 

           were made in subsequent reports, but nothing was done until 1965 when an enclosed play shelter 

           was   erected,   with  recreation   rooms   for  use  during   the  winter.  The   financial  position   of the 

           Institution was good during the 1950s, but the Visitation Reports reveal a marked reluctance to 

           spend money on the Institution because of uncertainty as to its future as an industrial school. 



7.691      This uncertainty dogged Artane from about 1954 onwards and materially affected the standard of 

           care but, even before that, there was a lack of urgency in seeing to the needs of the boys. Facilities 

           that were in everyday use by the boys were left in poor condition, for example the lavatories, the 

           recreation hall, the classrooms, and the kitchen and refectory. 



7.692      In  1955,  Dr  McCabe  identified  areas  that  required  attention,  including  the  kitchen  and  a  new 

           recreation hall. The Resident Manager accepted that the various improvements were necessary, 

           and added that new schoolrooms were also required as the School building was in a dangerous 

           condition and had been condemned some 40 years earlier. He stated: 



                 The only obstacle that stands in the way and hinders progress being made in scheme 

                 outlined is the lack of funds. The school is in a weak condition financially and for obvious 

                 reasons we are unable to meet fully our ordinary commitments at present. As a matter of 

                 fact I cannot see how the work being done in this school can be continued for long under 

                 the present conditions. 



7.693      He sought confirmation from the Department as to the nature of any financial aid that would be 

           available from the Department to effect the improvements. 



7.694      Matters came to a head when, on 24th          November 1957, the Provincial of the Christian Brothers 



           wrote to the Department of Education following a visit to Artane. He stated that urgent repairs and 

           renovations    were   necessary,     particularly  to  the  kitchen   and   roofs.  Before    entering   into a 

           consideration    as   to  whether     the  Congregation      would    incur   any   liability to  effect  such 

           improvements,  he  requested  information  regarding  the  Department’s  position  in  relation  to  the 

           future  of  industrial  and  reformatory  schools.  He  noted  that  the  number  of  boys  in  Artane  had 

           steadily  decreased  and  that  ‘it  is  proving  more  than  uneconomical  to  try  to  run  it’  with  smaller 

           numbers. 



7.695      This letter caused anxiety in the Department, which is reflected in an internal memorandum dated 

           25th November 1957. The realisation sank in that, without Artane, the nearest location to Dublin 



           of a senior boys’ industrial school was in Clonmel: 



                 If Artane    school   were   to  close   down    the  question    of  the  provision   of  alternative 

                 accommodation for the area now served by it would have to be considered as an urgent 

                 problem.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  Religious  Order  would  be  very  willing  to  undertake  the 

                 provision of new Senior boys Industrial Schools in the Dublin area without a substantial 

                 grant in aid from the State towards the cost of the new building and an assurance that 



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                the State and local authorities would give a substantial increase on the existing rate of 

                capitation maintenance grants. 



7.696     The  capitation  grant  was  increased  by  50%  as  a  result  of  the  intervention  by  the  Provincial. 

           However,   improvements      remained   outstanding    and  the  Resident   Manager     pointed  out  that, 

          despite   the  increase   in  the  capitation   grant,  overheads    remained    high  and   were   always 

           increasing. 



7.697      By 1961, the kitchen was complete and new classrooms were due for completion that autumn; 

          the recreation hall was not completed until 1965. 



7.698      Dr Lysaght was not impressed by the standards of cleanliness in the bathrooms and dormitories. 

           He stated that, despite the School having being certified for 830 boys, realistically nowhere near 

          this number of boys could be accommodated in the dormitories or dining room. In fact, of course, 

          that number and, indeed, more than that number had been accommodated in Artane throughout 

          the 1940s and well into the 1950s. 



7.699      Even with the falling numbers, Dr Lysaght was of the view that the dormitories were far too large, 

          with 90 to 100 beds in each dormitory. Such a large number ‘gives an impression of institutional 

          care  and  regimentation  which  is  of  course  objectionable  and  not  in  accordance  with  modern 

          trends’. 



7.700      In conclusion: 



                 •    The 800 boys in Artane had no toilet facilities other than dry buckets until about 

                       1950.   The  Department      of Education     and   the  Congregation     should    not  have 

                       allowed such primitive conditions to continue for so long. 



                 •     Some facets of the accommodation were poor and overlooked. Even when no 

                       uncertainty about the future of Artane existed and numbers were at their highest, 

                       provision of proper facilities for the boys was not considered a priority. 



          Education 



7.701      Primary school education was a right of every child in the State during the period covered by this 

           investigation.  Failure  to  attend  school  was  the  reason  given  for  committing  1,045  of  the  3,685 

           boys detained between 1940 and 1969. 



7.702      It is clear from the section dealing with accommodation in Artane that the classrooms provided 

          were   poor,  even   by   the  standards   of  the  time.  Successive    Visitation Reports    decried  the 

          dilapidated and unsuitable condition of these buildings that had been condemned in the 1930s. 

          As early as 1934, the Visitor commented: 



                The Buildings are in good repair on the whole, but the class-rooms are said to be unsafe; 

                they will hold until the findings of the Commission now in session will determine the school 

                accommodation required. 



7.703      By 1937, the Superior expressed the view to the Visitor that the classrooms were adequate and 

          would survive another 10 years. 



7.704      It  was  not  until  1963  that  new  classrooms  were  provided,  five  years  before  Artane  ceased 

          operating as an industrial school and opened as a secondary school for boys. Not only were the 

           buildings themselves in poor condition, but they were cheerless and depressing, according to both 

          ex-pupils and ex-staff members. 



          212                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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7.705      The standard of the School premises came in for criticism in 1956 when the Visitor noted that 

           they were drab, crowded and the furniture old fashioned. However, given the uncertain future of 

           industrial  schools,  he  recommended  that  any  plans  to  refurbish  be  postponed.  Plans  for  the 

           construction of new classrooms were approved by the Department of Education in 1959, and they 

           were completed in 1963. 



7.706      The Visitation Reports are complimentary of the standard of primary school education in Artane 

           throughout the years, and frequently note that it is on a par with, if not better than, the standard 

           in ordinary day schools. The Visitors were not alone in their praise. It is noted again and again in 

           the Visitation Reports that the Department of Education School Inspector marked the standard of 

           teaching as either efficient or highly efficient. 



7.707      Br Wiatt held the position of Principal from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. He was praised in 

           many Visitation Reports for the well-organised manner in which he ran the School. 



7.708      The Visitation Report in November 1938 noted that the School was well organised and the classes 

           of reasonable size. The Visitor remarked that the numbers of boys in classes was in fact lower 

           than in ordinary schools. There was a wide divergence in ages amongst children, particularly in 

           the lowest class, because many children who were admitted to Artane had little or no education 

           before being sent there. In the 1930s and 1940s, when numbers in the School rose to over 800, 

           there were up to 24 teachers engaged in teaching classes, from infants through to 6th                    standard. 



           The teaching staff was mostly made up of Brothers. By the mid-1950s, the number had reduced 

           to 16 classes with 14 teachers, due to falling numbers. 



7.709      By 1957, there were 526 boys in the Institution, a drop of over 200 in two years. The Visitation 

           Report that year noted that the School was overstaffed, with 12 teachers, and class sizes were 

           well below average. Numbers continued to drop steadily in the Institution into the 1960s and, by 

           1968, there were 280 boys in the School. 



7.710      The school day was unconventional. Most of the boys attended school in the morning, from 9.30 

           a.m. to 11.40 a.m. and returned in the evening, from 5.00 p.m. to 7.15 p.m., a feature that the 

           Cussen  Commission  criticised.  The  afternoons  were  spent  in  trades,  at  band  practice  or  at 

           knitting school. 



7.711      There was also ‘midday school’, which ran until 2.00 p.m. and catered for children of all ages who 

           were classed ‘backward and neglected’. Children who were not otherwise engaged in trades, the 

           farm  or  the  band  attended  this  class.  The  value  of  this  class  was  questioned  by  the  Visitor  in 

           1958. It did not follow any particular curriculum and was not subject to Departmental Inspections. 



7.712      Boys over 14 who attended trades-training all day were required to attend ‘continuation school’, 

           which  ran  from  5.00  p.m.  to  7.15  p.m.  They  were  taught  by  the  same  teachers  who  took  the 

           midday class, and these classes were not subject to inspection by the Department of Education. 



7.713      Although the continuation school offered an opportunity for extra education to boys who might not 

           otherwise achieve 6th  class standard, nevertheless there was little room in the above timetable for 



           recreation. The boys who attended the continuation school in the evening did so after a long day 

           working in a trade or on the farm. They were exhausted by the time they got to school, and did 

           not even have time to change out of their work clothes before class.83  This daily routine remained 



           until the School closed in 1968, although it was debated in 1959 whether normal school hours 

           should be introduced. 



           83 The fact that they were tired is noted in many Visitation Reports. 



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7.714      The same year, a secondary top school was formed in the School, although the Visitor opined in 

           his Visitation Report of 1965 that a technical top might have been more appropriate. The School 

           had opted for the secondary top, as there were no metal or woodwork teachers available. 



7.715      Two classes were formed from amongst those who had passed their Primary Certificate, and the 

           first tranche of boys from Artane prepared to sit their Intermediate Certificate in 1966. However, 

           it  was  also  the  last  time  a  boy  from  Artane  Industrial  School  would  sit  this  examination.  The 

           Visitation  Report  of  December  1966  noted  that  the  class  had  been  discontinued  because  of 

            Department regulations. Only eight boys had passed the examination that year. Instead, a class 

           for boys who wished to join the catering industry was set up under the supervision of the CERT84 



           organisation.  It  was  hoped  that  the  more  promising  boys  could  continue  their  education  in  the 

           local secondary schools, although the Committee has seen no evidence that this ever occurred. 



7.716       In  1964,  a  special  remedial  class  was  formed  for  boys  of  sub-normal  ability.  The  class  was  a 

           success, and the Principal hoped to form another class so that the age range of boys would not 

           be so disparate. 



7.717       By  1966,  the  number  of  boys  of  sub-normal  ability  had  increased  to  the  point  where  it  was 

           becoming  an acute  problem. The  Christian Brothers  were critical  of the  Department’s policy  of 

           directing these boys to Artane when the Institution did not have the specialised facilities to deal 

           with these children. 



7.718      The School followed the National School programme, and the boys were eligible to sit the Primary 

           Certificate examination. Many of the Visitation Reports point to the high success rate of the boys 

           who sat this examination, but these figures need to be examined against the total number of boys 

           in 6th standard. In some years, up to 50% of the boys in 6th              standard in the primary school were 



           not presented for this examination, which made the very high pass rate for those who did sit for 

           it less significant. 



7.719      The  standard  of  education  for  the  boys  engaged  in  trades  during  the  day  was  criticised  by  a 

           number of Visitors. The first hint of disapproval appeared in the Visitation Report of 1947, in which 

           the  Visitor  noted  that  the  few  hours  devoted  to  school  work  in  the  evening  lacked  drive  and 

           efficiency. In 1952, the Visitor queried in his report the wisdom of taking the boys out of primary 

           school at the age of 14, regardless of whether they had reached the 6th                 standard. 



7.720       In 1952, the Visitor noted that more could be done for this category of boys. He stated: 



                  ... our institutions owe a great deal to those boys who work full time at their trades. Their 

                  work is of great financial advantage to each establishment. One obvious difficulty is that 

                  those  teaching  the  trades  are  tradesmen  and  not  teachers.  If  they  have  the  power  to 

                  control and teach it is only by accident and not as a result of their previous training. 



7.721       He  noted  with  satisfaction  the  introduction  of  mechanical  drawing  during  evening  classes,  and 

           wondered whether it would be possible to employ vocational teachers to develop this aspect of 

           education further. 



7.722       In  1954,  40  of  the  boys  who  had  passed  the  Primary  Certificate  were  nominated  to  sit  the 

           Technical  School  examinations.  Two  teachers  from  Marino  Technical  School  taught  woodwork 

           and mechanical drawing. They were paid by the Vocational Committee. 16 boys sat the exam in 

           June 1954, and 12 passed. In 1956, all but one of the 16 boys who presented for the examination 

           were    successful,    and   all  had   higher   marks    than   the  average.     However,     this  scheme     was 

           discontinued. 



           84  Council for Education, Recruitment and Training. 



           214                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 245-----------------------

7.723      In conclusion: 



                  •    The pass rate for the Primary Certificate was high by national standards, but 

                        not all boys of 6th   class standard sat the examination. 



                  •     Boys who attended continuation school did so after working at a trade during 

                        the  day.  Many  boys  had  not  attained  6th      standard  before  they  reached  14  and 



                        were   taught    by   teachers    in  classes    that   were    not  subject    to  Department 

                        Inspections. The standard of their education was the subject of contemporary 

                        criticism in Visitation Reports. 



                  •     Boys  who  completed  the  Primary  Certificate  went  over  the  same  course  until 

                        they reached 14 and went into trades training, and did not get the opportunity 

                        to progress into secondary education. 



                  •    The Christian Brothers have been critical of the Department of Education’s failure 

                        to provide for the educationally backward children in Artane, but they must also 

                        accept blame for their failure to provide secondary education to intelligent and 

                        able boys who passed through Artane. The Congregation ran secondary schools 

                        close to Artane, and yet no provision was made for any Artane boys to attend 

                        these schools. 



           Training/trades 



7.724      Training was an essential part of the philosophy of the Industrial School. If the boy was to become 

           a useful citizen, he should be trained for productive employment. The author of the 1952 Visitation 

           Report discussed some of the issues: 



                 Artane  has  a  more  elaborate  organisation  of  trades  than  our  other  Industrial  Schools. 

                 These  trades  serve,  or  are  supposed  to  serve,  a  dual  purpose  –  training  the  boys  for 

                 outside life and balancing the Artane budget. Br Oscar85            has charge of the shops, and 



                 each shop has one or more trained lay tradesman. In practice, some of the trades serve 

                 only one purpose. For example, the wages of the two shoemakers amount to £800 per 

                 annum. It is believed that this sum plus the money expended on leather would supply the 

                 boys with factory-made boots for one year. On the other hand, the tinsmiths supply the 

                 establishment with such things as kitchen-ware and refectory-ware at a cost well below 

                 factory prices, but no boy has been placed as a tinsmith in any outside factory in the past 

                 six years. 



7.725      The Visitor noted that: 



                 the position is satisfactory with regard to placing tailors, shoemakers, waiters band boys 

                 and farmers, unsatisfactory in the case of bakers, weavers, carpenters, mechanics and 

                 painters, and hopeless in the case of tinsmiths. These latter have to be fitted in anywhere 

                 a vacancy can be found irrespective of its nature. 



7.726      He then asked the very pertinent question: 



                 Would a boy who has served as a tinsmith for two years and who has to go into a post 

                 of a very different type for which he has received no training have a grievance? Would 

                 he feel that he had been exploited for two years? Are the Brothers justified for economic 

                 reasons in putting a boy at such work when they know that he is almost certain not to 

                 continue in it later? The nurse told me that one of her patients was a tinsmith against his 

                 will.  He  wanted  to  be  a  carpenter.  I  should  have  mentioned  earlier  that  as  far  as  is 

                 convenient the boys get their choice of trade. 



           85 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.727     The Visitor’s question deserves to be answered. Were the Brothers using the boys as child labour, 

          or  were  they  genuinely  training  the  boys  for  trades  that  would  give  them  a  chance  of  finding 

          employment? This was an issue identified by the Cussen Report as being problematic as far back 

          as 1936. 



7.728     The evidence is mixed. The majority of boys did not get jobs for which they had received training. 

           Farming was the main activity to which boys were assigned in Artane, despite the majority coming 

          from the city, and not surprisingly they tended to return to urban living. Boys who were taken on 

          by  farmers  were  let  go  once  they  were  old  enough  to  be  paid  full  wages.  As  the  Visitor  had 

          predicted, in later years they felt resentment that they had been used as child labour. 



7.729     Some boys did enter trades for which they had been trained, and they spoke well of Artane. A 

          complainant  sent  to  Artane  in  the  mid-1940s,  who  was  trained  as  a  decorator,  was  extremely 

          complimentary of the quality of training that he received. Another complainant from this era, who 

          was trained as a tailor, praised his lay instructor for the high standard of instruction. A witness 

          who was committed to Artane in the early 1950s, and remained there for five years, was placed 

          in the band where he played the drums in his last two years. He had very happy memories of his 

          time with the band and was very complimentary of the Brother in charge. 



7.730     A respondent who spent five years in Artane from the late 1950s gave evidence that the Superior 

          and another Brother interviewed boys to see what areas they were interested in and, if they could 

          facilitate their choices, they generally did so. 



7.731     The Investigation Committee, however, heard many complaints that boys could not enter the trade 

          they wanted. The low demand for farm training and the high level of farm work that needed to be 

          done  meant  that  many  boys  found  themselves  in  farming,  despite  expressing  preferences  for 

          other trades. Most of the boys worked on the farm, and there was no doubt that the main purpose 

          of this work was to provide food and an income for the Institution. 



7.732     Some boys were put into trades that had become obsolete, such as weaving and tailoring. One 

          complainant explained: ‘Mass production was coming in and it was nearly all machinists ... Where 

          once a tailor cut one suit, now they could cut 100 suits’. 



7.733      Even when the trade was a needed one, there were problems. Br David Gibson explained at the 

          public hearing on 16th   June 2005 into Letterfrack: 



                [The  children]  weren’t  going  through  the  normal  apprenticeship  and  therefore  when  it 

                came to them continuing their training, the training that they had already received was not 

                accepted by the unions ... There was an inherent difficulty in the training that the young 

                people were getting. 



7.734     This issue was raised in the Cussen Report, but nothing was ever done to resolve it. The status 

          quo was just accepted by both the Department and the Congregation and, as a result, boys trained 

          in Artane continued to face real problems finding employment to suit their skills. 



7.735      In conclusion: 



                 •    The Christian Brothers assumed a responsibility to provide training and they 

                       failed to do so for many of their pupils. 



                 •    Industrial training was a key objective of the system and the largest industrial 

                       school in the country should have provided it to a high standard but training 

                       was, to a large extent, only a by-product of work that met the needs of the 

                       Institution. 



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                 •    In an era of high unemployment, it would have been impossible to place all the 

                       boys in jobs, and it would be unreasonable to criticise the Christian Brothers 

                       for failing in this regard. In many respects, they achieved a high level of 

                       employment for their school leavers. However, much of this employment was 

                       menial and exploitative and, for some, led to a lifetime of such work. 



           The Artane Boys Band 



7.736      Fr Henry Moore stated in his report to Archbishop McQuaid in 1962 that ‘in my opinion the band 

           is the only worthwhile achievement of the school’. 



7.737     The band performed regularly in Croke Park at major GAA fixtures. They also toured the length 

          and breadth of the country and broadcast shows on radio. The high point of their fame saw them 

           perform at venues in New York and Boston, in May 1962, and included a television performance. 



7.738     According to the Congregation, by the 1960s, approximately 80 boys were involved in the band 

          at some level. This was a much higher number than in previous decades, when the participation 

          was as low as 40 boys. 



7.739     According to Fr Moore: 



                 The time used, the money spent, the number of engagements annually met are, I fear, 

                out  of  all  proportion  to  the  results  obtained.  The  maintenance  of  the  band,  although 

                approximating £2,000 annually, is a continual strain on financial resources. 



7.740     A Visitation Report in 1957 painted a different picture and stated that the band was on a ‘sure 

          financial footing and more than paying its way’. Visitation Reports also reveal that, in 1938, the 

          School received £215 in payments for band performances. It was operating at a loss in the early 

           1940s. By 1957, the band was earning the School just under £900 per annum. 



7.741      Fr  Moore  also  expressed  concern  at  the  effect  that  participation  in  the  band  had  on  the  boys’ 

          education.   In  1946,   the  Resident   Manager    had   obtained   sanction   from  the  Department     of 

           Education  to credit  the  time  the boys  spent  attending broadcasts  and  performances  as part  of 

          their  school  attendance.  Fr  Moore  believed  that  the  boys’  education  suffered  as  a  result  of 

           prolonged hours of band practice and days missed from school attending performances. He found 

           little evidence to suggest that even a small number of boys continued their musical career upon 

           leaving school. 



7.742      Br Vailant told the Investigation Committee that life in Artane tended to revolve around the band 

          and that the needs of the band took priority. 



7.743     The boys who toured with the band stayed with families in the locality. They were taught table 

          etiquette and instructed on ‘how to behave themselves in a decent home’. Their behaviour on tour 

          did a ‘tremendous amount to win admirers for Artane and to counteract the smear campaign that 

          would  appear to  be  the settled  policy  of  certain sections  of  the public  Press,’  according to  the 

          Visitor in 1957. 



7.744     Some  of  the  boys  who  formed  part  of  the  band  went  on  to  make  a  career  in  the  Army  band. 

          Almost all of the complainants who were in it and gave evidence to the Investigation Committee 

          gave positive feedback regarding their experience with the band. One complainant stated that he 

          was treated very well in the band, and that the majority of boys in the band had been transferred 

          to Artane from convent industrial schools. 



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7.745            •    Participation in the band could be a positive experience for the boys involved, 

                      and  it  was  an  extraordinary  achievement  and  an  illustration  of  what  could  be 

                      achieved  with  proper  direction  and  training.  Boys  who  were  part  of  the  band 

                      fared better in Artane and afterwards. 



                 •    Boys who were not in the band missed an important part of the life of the 

                       Institution. The band absorbed a huge amount of time and energy, and similar 

                      efforts should have been directed at improving conditions for all the boys. 



                 •    The band was the public face of Artane, and members of the public would have 

                       been reassured when seeing the boys performing that they were receiving 

                      good care and education, but in fact the band did not represent the reality for 

                       most boys in Artane. 



          Recreation 



7.746     One of the more disturbing images of Artane that was presented to the Committee was the plight 

          of the boys during recreation periods. Weather in Dublin is often cold, wet and windy and, until 

          1965, there was no proper indoor recreation facility where they could play. A barn-like structure 

          had been erected in the mid-1940s, that had no walls and a tin roof, and which barely fitted the 

          hundreds of boys. Dr McCabe formed part of a tripartite inspection team that carried out a two- 

          day inspection of Artane in December 1962. On the issue of recreation, the inspection team stated: 



                He [the Resident Manager] deplored the money spent by a predecessor on the erection 

                of a huge play-shelter of hay-shed design which gave cover overhead but absolutely no 

                protection from wind or cold. This indeed was a hopeless attempt at planning and a waste 

                of  money  ...  The  recreation  hall  is  a  long  cement-floored  room,  uncared  for,  dismal, 

                depressing and dirty and with no redeeming feature whatsoever. The school classrooms 

                are of the same ramshackle type ... demolition is probably the only solution. 



7.747     Visitation Reports had identified the lack of proper recreational facilities from the early 1940s, but 

          no improvements were effected until the mid-1960s. This directly impacted on the daily lives of 

          the boys in Artane and should not have taken over 20 years to address. 



7.748     Games and sports were part of the day in Artane. Teams were fielded in GAA events throughout 

          Leinster. These teams reached a high standard of proficiency, and boys with a talent for sport 

          had a more positive experience in Artane than boys who had not. In general, the Committee did 

          not hear much evidence from these boys, although some did attend hearings and were able to 

          distinguish the experiences with teams from other experiences in Artane. 



7.749     The  Brothers  put  a  considerable  effort  into  training  teams  for  matches  with  other  schools  and 

          playing outdoor games. However, the lack of indoor recreational facilities represented a severe 

          deprivation. 



          Aftercare 



7.750     In 1947, the Department of Education wrote to the Resident Manager seeking information on the 

          aftercare provided, following a query by the Joint Committee  of Women’s Societies and Social 

          Workers.  The Resident  Manager responded,  confirming that  a Brother  was assigned  on a  full- 

          time basis to deal with aftercare. Another Brother helped out in cases where boys had ‘slipped 

          and fallen’. The Resident Manager stated that he himself settled difficult cases, which had meant 

          ‘travelling as far as Leitrim, Westmeath, Wicklow etc’. 



7.751     Contact was maintained with the boys by way of letters and visits. When boys were sent to the 

          country, the Parish Priest of the town was informed and asked to ‘take a paternal interest in the 



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           boys ... Kind and encouraging replies to these requests are invariably received’. He also confirmed 

           that the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Dublin were being encouraged to include past pupils as 

           beneficiaries of their work. It was hoped that eventually this would become a nationwide initiative: 



                 Boys who have lost employment are helped to find new employment when practicable. 

                 On a number of occasions when it was considered necessary and advisable boys have 

                 been recalled and retained for a further period in the School. 



7.752      Although  Dr  Lysaght  was  informed  that  the  Manager  placed  the  boys  in  suitable  jobs  upon 

           discharge, ensured that they were properly treated, and if they left a job, found them another, he 

           still expressed concern. He commented: 



                 this  while  outside  the  province  of  the  School  and  Dept.  of  Education  would  seem  an 

                 essential part of the support of young boys to make their way in the world. It can well be 

                 the case that all the time and care given them in the schools can be of no avail unless 

                 they are safeguarded during the first year or two after leaving. 



7.753      He was  told a Brother  was assigned  to visit the  boys and keep  in contact  with them. Many  of 

           those who trained in the band found work in the Army bands; others were placed to work in hotels 

           or  in  houses  of  religious  orders.  In  fact,  the  vast  majority  of  the  boys  did  not  go  into  such 

           employment, but were sent as farm hands all over the country. 



7.754      A common theme amongst the complainants committed to Artane is that Brothers were never in 

           direct contact with them once they left Artane. When records were put to them that the Brothers 

           did make enquiries with their employers to check their progress, they accepted this was true, but 

           as far as they were concerned once they walked through the gates of Artane for the last time, 

           they were very much on their own in the world. 



7.755      Another  common  thread  running  through  the  testimony  was  that  the  boys  were  placed  in  low- 

           income or, indeed, no-income jobs that offered no stability: they tended to move from job to job. 

           Some complainants did fare well in later life, but they felt that this was despite, rather than because 

           of,  their  experience  in  Artane,  or  indeed  any  assistance  they  received  from  the  Brothers  on 

           leaving Artane. 



7.756      One witness, who left Artane in the mid-1940s, went to work on a farm in County Laois. He worked 

           seven days a week and slept in a hayloft above the horses. He earned up to 10 shillings a week. 

           He moved from this job to another farm in the area where he was treated better, and from there 

           he  moved  to  another  farm  before  moving  back  to  Dublin.  He  was  not  aware  that  the  Brothers 

           were checking up on his progress, as revealed in the records. 



7.757      Another witness, who left Artane in the early 1950s, was also sent to a farm in Athlone. He was 

           not paid the 12 shillings a week promised to him and had to beg for money to go to the cinema. 

           He eventually went back to Artane where he was told that he was a failure. He stayed there for a 

           while, working on the farm for which he received no payment. He went from there to work for a 

           butcher in Roscommon, where he was treated well. He was told not to tell anyone that he had 

           come from Artane, but instead to say that he had worked with a wealthy family in Wicklow. When 

           news leaked as to his true origin, he felt compelled to leave. His employment history after that 

           involved a succession of low-paid, menial jobs. 



7.758      One witness, who left Artane in the late 1950s, remarked that when he was discharged, ‘I wasn’t 

           able  for  the  outside  world’. A  complainant  who  left  Artane  11  years  later  expressed  the  same 

           sentiment,  ‘Based on up to the time I left, I don’t think that I was prepared for the outside world, 

           to be honest with you’. Another witness said very simply,  ‘I lost a little bit of faith because after I 

           came out I realised about life, that life wasn’t as simple as it was in Artane’. 



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7.759      A witness who was sent to Artane in the late 1950s stated that he spent three years training as a 

           wood machinist, which he thoroughly enjoyed. When the time came for him to leave Artane, he 

           was told that a job had been secured for him on a farm in Tipperary. When he queried why he 

           was being sent to a farm rather than to a position suited to his training, he was told that that was 

           all he was fit for. He refused to go to the farm and found himself a job. 



7.760      Another witness, who left Artane in the late 1950s, was placed with a butcher in Co Leitrim after 

           being trained as a weaver: ‘Even today I can’t understand they trained me as a weaver and they 

           gave me a job as a butcher’. He received no monetary payment, and instead was given clothing 

           from a market every month. He continued,  ‘I asked to go back, I was there for about a year and I 

           asked if I could go back to Artane, of all places to go back to, but it was the only place I knew’. 

           He stated that he never received any direct communications from the Brothers whilst in Leitrim, 

           and was surprised to learn that they had been in contact with his employer. The Brothers found 

           him another job as a chef in Dublin. 



7.761      A witness, who was discharged from Artane at the age of 16 in the mid-1960s, was sent to work 

           on a poultry farm, having received training in this area. He stayed there for two years and was 

           very  badly  treated:  ‘I was  given  less  than  2  a week,  I  was  hardly  being  fed,  and kicked  like  a 

           football’. However, he said, it was better than life in Artane. 



7.762      Another witness said: 



                 We  were  not  trained  in  how  to  live  amongst  society,  we  were  brought  up  in  a  society 

                 where we all had to fight to keep our corner and stand up to bigger boys who bullied you 

                 or tried to get you to do things that you didn’t want to do, take your food off the table or 

                 whatever. So it was a constant battle to stand up and be counted or be put down, one or 

                 the  other.  Unfortunately  that’s  the  way  my  life  went  in  the  early  part  of  my  years  from 

                 Artane. It was always the same, I always thought people were talking about me, people 

                 were ganging up on me and I would lose my head. I would just lash out and hit people. 



7.763      A respondent, who worked in Artane in the 1950s, gave evidence that echoed the evidence of the 

           complainants. On the one hand, he believed the boys were looked after in terms of education, 

           training and food, but he questioned how well prepared they were for life after leaving Artane. 



7.764      Mr Dunleavy commented on aftercare: 



                 The provision of after care was one of the statutory requirements of the industrial school 

                 system, and the School was supposed to have some regard to the welfare of its former 

                 pupils until they attained 18 years of age. In practice both archival records and interviews 

                 with Christian Brothers who worked at Artane indicate that aftercare, such as it was, was 

                 a very hit-or-miss affair. The Brother in charge of aftercare was responsible for trying to 

                 secure full or licensed employment for the boys and then monitoring their progress, usually 

                 for two years. In practice employers made representations to the Brother responsible for 

                 aftercare and if they were considered suitable, boys were assigned to work for them. Boys 

                 were often left unmonitored in their new positions and the only information the school had 

                 in relation to them was that provided by the boys themselves should they choose to write 

                 to  the  School  during  the  early  course  of  their  employment.  The  low  priority  with  which 

                 aftercare was regarded is indicated by the fact that of the two Brothers who were in charge 

                 for many years, Br. Colbert was quite an elderly man while Br. Leon was known to be an 

                 extreme eccentric, and neither man was even provided with the services of a motor car 

                 to attempt to visit the boys who were to be found in employment throughout the country. 



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7.765     In conclusion: 



                 •    The objective of aftercare was to ensure the welfare of the boys following their 

                       discharge from Artane. It was often conducted, however, without direct contact 

                       with them. It would appear that post-discharge inquiries were conducted 

                       mainly with employers, to establish their satisfaction with the boy. 



                 •    Insofar as aftercare did occur, and subject to the limitations set out above, it 

                       was more extensive than the ex-residents were aware of. Many were surprised 

                       when they saw documentation showing the level of contact maintained 

                       between the School and their employer. 



                 •    Direct communication with boys who had left Artane would have had a positive 

                       impact. Failure to provide more of it represented a missed opportunity to 

                       extend support and encouragement to boys after discharge. 



          Health 



7.766     Dr Anna McCabe carried out General and Medical Inspections of Artane between 1939 and 1963. 

          Before  she  resigned  from  her  position  in  1965,  she  prepared  a  report  on  the  industrial  and 

          reformatory  schools  system  in  Ireland  dated  29th   February  1964,  in  which  she  made  specific 



          reference  to  Artane.  Although  critical  of  specific  aspects  of  care  in  Artane,  Dr  McCabe  was 

          complimentary of the overall management of the Institution. She regarded the School as very well 

          run, and described the boys as healthy and well looked after. She was satisfied with the medical 

          care  available  to  the  School,  which  she  noted  involved  weekly  visits  from  a  GP  and  regular 

          attendances by a dentist. 



7.767     Scabies and chilblains were identified as problems in the 1940s and, in 1944, with 100 cases of 

          scabies  identified  by  Dr  McCabe,  she  expressed  her  dissatisfaction  with  the  medical  record- 

          keeping in the School, as very few records were kept at all. 



7.768     In 1946, Br Tyce wrote to Dr McCabe on behalf of the Disciplinarian, requesting permission for 

          the height and weight of the boys to be measured every six months rather than every three months 

          as ‘it is very troublesome here on account of the very large number of boys; and it affects the 

          different departments of the Institution’. He received a terse response from Dr McCabe dismissing 

          the proposal. By 1948, Dr McCabe noted with satisfaction that the medical records were well kept. 



7.769     After another criticism of record-keeping in the mid-1950s, her Report of 1958 recorded that she 

          was satisfied in this regard. She also noted that the children were examined by medical personnel 

          from Dublin Corporation, which ensured that they could avail of free ophthalmologist and dental 

          care   funded   by  the  local authority.  However,    while  the  local authority  carried  out  medical 

          examinations on all of the boys, it was only prepared to pay for spectacles and dental treatment 

          required by boys from Dublin. In her 1956 Report she suggested that the dentist be requested to 

          fill teeth rather than extract them. 



7.770     In the early 1960s, a high proportion of children were treated in the School infirmary compared to 

          the numbers sent to hospital. Also of interest during this period was a significant number of boys 

          classed as noticeably below average physique. 



7.771     Mr Dunleavy’s report observed that the infirmary was run ‘in a somewhat haphazard manner’: 



                When  qualified  staff  left  the  infirmary  they  were  not  replaced  and  indeed  a  Christian 

                Brother who was  suffering from mental illness at the  time was placed in charge  of the 

                infirmary. 



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7.772      He referred to the situation that arose in 1959, and which is recorded in the annals, when the 

           nurse handed in her notice and it ‘was decided not to replace her but instead to hand over the 

           running  of the  infirmary to  a member  of the  Community’. Mr  Dunleavy also  cited the  Visitation 

           Report for late 1959, which states: 

                  The arrival of Br Danton,86  who is a mental case, created the problem of trying to get him 



                  something to do ... He was tried in charge of the infirmary but had little or no control over 

                  the children and would even send them to the medicine chest to get their own medicines. 



7.773      His interviews with Christian Brothers confirmed that the infirmary was run in an amateur fashion. 



7.774      At  the  public  Phase  I  hearing,  Br  Reynolds  commented  on  Br  Danton’s  appointment  to  the 

           infirmary. He rejected the Visitor’s description of the Brother’s mental condition, and he did not 

           appear to regard it as a major example of incompetence or failure of care. He said: 



                  I would say a number of things about it. First of all, obviously I know who the Brother was, 

                  I knew the Brother and I would not agree with the description of the Visitor, but so be it. 

                  Secondly, I would say that he wasn't a teaching Brother and I don't think the criticism was 

                  in relation to the mental soundness of the person. I think the main criticism was here was 

                  somebody that was sent in and he does not seem to be able to fulfil any role, so essentially 

                  I think the Visitation Report said that he was a negative quantity in the place. I would take 

                  that certainly I presume not in the community and from religious observance, but from the 

                  point of view that his work rate wasn't very good and his contribution wasn't adequate in 

                  the eyes of the Visitor. As you wisely say, why not take him out. The simple fact of the 

                  matter was he was left there, they tried him in a number of situations, they didn't work 

                  and  eventually  he  was  moved  on.  During  part  of  that  time  incidentally,  the  Brother  in 

                  question was studying in university, he wasn't a full-time member of the staff. 



7.775      Dr Lysaght had visited the School in Spring 1966 and was critical of the medical record-keeping. 

           He revisited in September and noted that record-keeping had improved. He noted that the boys’ 

           weight  and  height  were  recorded  every  quarter,  by  their  teachers  in  class,  to  cause  minimum 

           disruption.  He  said  that,  ‘In  general  the  boys  impressed  me  as  healthy,  well  nourished  and 

           physically fit’. He carried out a spot check on a sample of boys and found a large number had 

           tooth decay. Dr Lysaght recommended that a dentist by assigned to the School but, again, the 

           issue of who would pay for the service was raised. 



7.776      Many witnesses complained about the medical care they were given. One complainant, who was 

           in Artane in the 1940s, stated that the doctor visited approximately every six months. All of the 

           boys  stood  out  on  parade,  and  the  doctor,  accompanied  by  a  Brother,  walked  up  and  down 

           between  the  rows  of  boys.  That  was  the  extent  of  the  examination.  Other  complainants  have 

           confirmed this practice. 



7.777      A complainant who was committed to Artane for six years in 1945 recalled being told to go to the 

           infirmary  a  number  of  times  for  various  ailments.  He  never  went,  and  nobody  ever  checked 

           whether he had in fact attended. He gave his reason for not attending:  ‘All screaming in there. 

           The things I have heard about that place. I can’t remember it now. I was never actually in it’. 



7.778      A complainant committed to Artane in the early 1940s recalled many of the boys had scabs on 

           their faces. His mother took him out for the day and, on seeing the state of his face, she bought 

           him some salving cream. This complainant, who was 10 when he was sent to Artane, stated that 

           he was never examined by a doctor or nurse during his four years there. 



           86 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.779      Another former pupil, who spent seven years in Artane during the 1940s, stated that he had never 

           received a routine check-up in Artane. The same complainant stated that he grew more than a 

           foot in height in the 12 months after being discharged from Artane, because he received proper 

           medical attention for the first time. 



7.780      One witness, who spent seven years in Artane from 1946, described the treatment he received 

           for a serious injury he sustained to all of the fingers on one hand, as a result of an accident during 

           training in the carpentry workshop. He stated that sulphur was poured over his wounds and he 

           used to pass out with the pain. He was kept in the infirmary for quite some time, but did not see 

           a doctor. He stated that, in his seven years in Artane, he only saw the doctor once when there 

           was an outbreak of diarrhoea in the School. 



7.781      In an interview given in the late 1980s, Br Burcet described how hard he had to work there. He 

           said that, on one occasion, 100 boys contracted influenza, and he was on his own in the dormitory 

           looking after them. He described the utter exhaustion he felt at the end of the outbreak. Looked 

           at from the perspective of the boys, one Brother in charge of 100 seriously ill boys was not an 

           adequate standard of care. Whilst the tireless and selfless endeavours of the Brother in question 

           are to be commended, the system that placed both him and the boys in such a situation must 

           be condemned. 



           General observations on Departmental Inspections 



7.782      The Congregation stated that the overall judgement of Dr McCabe on Artane was positive. In some 

           respects, this is correct, but an analysis of Dr McCabe’s reports reveals that she was impressed at 

           the scale of the enterprise of Artane and the way a small number of Brothers managed the vast 

           number of boys, rather than with the standard of care the boys received. Much of her comment 

           was aspirational rather than factual. Rather than record conditions as they were, she tended to 

           rely on promises that there would be improvements in the future. Successive Resident Managers 

           did not inform the Department of Education as to the true financial position of the Institution, with 

           the  result  that  conditions  were  tolerated  by  the  Inspector,  in  the  belief  that  the  Institution  was 

           barely surviving on the funding it received when she should have insisted on immediate changes. 



           Conclusions on neglect 



7.783              1.  Food: mealtimes were not properly supervised, and young or timid boys were 

                       bullied. Facilities for preparing and serving food for the boys were primitive. 



                   2.  Clothing: clothing was poor, patched and institutional, and the repeated criticism 

                       by  the Department  Inspector  was to  no  avail,  despite a  healthy  surplus in  the 

                       School     accounts.     Underwear      inspections     in   public   were    unjustified    and 

                       degrading. 



                   3.  Accommodation         and    hygiene:    accommodation         was    generally    poor.   Toilet 

                       facilities were primitive until 1953. 



                   4.  Education:  the  Christian  Brothers  condemn  the  Department  of  Education  for 

                       failing   to  cater    for  educationally      backward     children     in  Artane,    but   the 

                       Congregation       is also   to  be   criticised   for  its  failure  to  provide    secondary 

                       education to many of the intelligent and able boys who passed through Artane. 



                   5.  Training: industrial training was a key objective of the system and, as the biggest 

                       industrial   school,    Artane    should    have   provided    a   high   standard.    However, 

                       training was only an offshoot of work that met the needs of the Institution. 



                   6.  The  Band:  boys  who  were  in  the  band  had  better  experiences  of  Artane  than 

                       those who were not, and participation for some was a positive experience. The 

                       band    was    an   extraordinary     success     and   illustrated   what    the  boys    could 

                       accomplish with proper training. 



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                  7.   Recreation:    the   Brothers    put  a  considerable      effort  into  training   teams   for 

                       matches with other schools and playing outdoor games, but the lack of indoor 

                       recreational facilities was a severe deprivation. 



                  8.   Aftercare:   the  purpose     of aftercare   was    to ensure    boys’   welfare,   but  direct 

                       contact was not thought to be essential, and it was often conducted only with 

                       employers to establish their level of satisfaction. It was, nevertheless, at a higher 

                       level than the ex-residents were aware of, and many were surprised at the level 

                       of contact maintained between the School and their employers. 



           Fr Henry Moore 



7.784      Fr Henry Moore spent nine years in St Vincent’s Orphanage, Glasnevin, an institution run by the 

           Christian  Brothers,  before  he  entered  the  priesthood.  His  first  appointment,  to  the  parish  of 

           Coolock,  included  the  position  of  chaplain  in  Artane,  which  he  held  from  1960  until  1967.  He 

           prepared  a  confidential  report  on  the  School  in  July  1962  at  the  request  of  the  Archbishop  of 

           Dublin, Dr McQuaid. His report was severely critical of the organisation and management of the 

           Institution. Contrasting conclusions on the Institution were expressed in three reports written by 

           Department  of  Education  personnel,  after  they  carried  out  an  unannounced  inspection  of  the 

           School in December that year. The most senior official concluded that the School emerged very 

           creditably  from  the  inspection.  The  two  approaches  were  analysed  in  depth  at  meetings  of  an 

           Inter-Departmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders in early 

           1963.  Fr  Moore  gave  evidence  to  the  Investigation  Committee, during  which  he  reiterated  and 

           elaborated on the contents of his report. The Christian Brothers rely on the three reports from the 

           Department of Education officials to defend the Institution against Fr Moore’s criticisms. 



7.785      Fr Moore’s report to the Archbishop said that, with 450 boys in the School, the only way it could 

           be successfully managed was by breaking the number down into small units. He was critical of the 

          way the boys were indiscriminately admitted to the School without regard to their circumstances, 

           background or special needs. He was particularly uncomplimentary about the general atmosphere 

           in the School and the consequences for the boys: 



                 The very structure of the school is in dilapidated condition, colourless and uninspiring and 

                 reflects the interior spirit ... The atmosphere is somewhat unreal, particularly in regard to 

                 lack of contact with the opposite sex and this unnatural situation in a group of 450 boys 

                 plus a staff of 40 men invariably leads to a degree of sexual maladjustment in the boys 

                 ... The boys seem to be denied the opportunity of developing friendly and spontaneous 

                 characters; their impulses become suffocated and when they are suddenly liberated their 

                 reactions are often violent and irresponsible. 



7.786      Fr Moore criticised the rigid and severe discipline in Artane, where every activity was marshalled 

           and which he thought often approached pure regimentation: 



                 Constant recourse to physical punishment breeds undue fear and anxiety. The personality 

                 of the boy is inevitably repressed, maladjusted, and in some cases, abnormal. Their liberty 

                 is so restricted that all initiative and self esteem suffers. 



7.787      In addition to its general condemnation of the regime, the report made detailed criticisms of the 

           care  provided   in  Artane   under   the  headings    of  diet, apparel,   medical   attention,  religious 

           observance, education, technical instruction, and aftercare. 



7.788      In comments on the boys’ clothes, for example, Fr Moore thought that this aspect of care was 

           ‘grossly neglected’ and had adverse consequences: 



                A  boy’s  personal  clothing  is  as  much  the  property  of  his  neighbour.  Shirts,  underwear 

                 (vests  are  not  worn),  stockings,   footwear,   nightshirts  (no  pyjamas)   are  all common 



          224                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 255-----------------------

                  property and are handed down from generations. When these articles are duly laundered 

                  they are distributed at random, sometimes without regard to size. 



7.789       Stockings  and  shirts  were  replaced  once  a  week,  underwear  once  a  fortnight.  There  was  no 

           change of clothing in summer, and the boys wore hob-nailed boots and heavy clothes all year 

            round. In contrast, he was impressed when he visited the Industrial School in Salthill, also run by 

           the Christian Brothers, and saw that the boys there ‘were attired appropriately and inexpensively 

           for the summer season.’ 



7.790       Overall, Fr Moore suggested ‘a reappraisal of the system at governmental level ... and a major 

            reform in the management of Artane’. He strongly recommended the introduction of female staff 

           to the School and the renaming of the School to that of a patron saint, in order to remove the 

            public misconception that Artane was in some way associated with the prison system. 



7.791       In summary, the report concluded that Artane required drastic revision as ‘the methods employed 

           are obsolete, proper training is neglected and there is no attempt at adequate rehabilitation’. 



7.792       Fr Moore learned about an Inter-Departmental Committee that was considering submissions in 

            relation to Industrial and Reformatory Schools and he contacted the Chairman, Mr Peter Berry, 

           who  was  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Justice.  A  meeting  took  place  on  26th            November 



            1962 attended by Fr Moore, Mr Berry and the Secretary to the Committee, Mr Toal. Fr Moore’s 

           criticisms, as summarised in the minutes, included the following: the absence of aftercare; a big 

            percentage  of  boys  needed  psychiatric  treatment  which  was  not  available;  a  psychologist  was 

           also   required;    many    of  the   boys   were    institutionalised   from    babyhood     until  16   years;   the 

           educational  standard  was  very  low;  trade  training  was  poor  and  did  not  lead  to  jobs  in  those 

           callings and boys ended up in dead end jobs; neglect in regard to clothing, bed clothes, food and 

            medical care; the Manager was unsuitable and ‘an unwilling captain’; and the Institution was short 

                                                                                                                ´ 

           of money. At Mr Berry’s request, Fr Moore agreed to attend a meeting with Dr O  Raifeartaigh, 

            Secretary of the Department of Education. 



                                                th 

                                                                            ´ 

7.793      This meeting took place on 13          December 1962. Dr O Raifeartaigh gave Fr Moore a very different 

            reception to the one he received from Mr Berry and vigorously cross-examined him on the minutes 

           of the November meeting. He accused Fr Moore of being inaccurate as regards certain salient 

           facts and effectively suggested that he had a vendetta against the Christian Brothers. Fr Moore 

           was shaken after the encounter, and wrote to the Archbishop the following day, informing him that 

           the meeting had been ‘a most humiliating and embarrassing experience’. Mr Berry was quick to 

           distance himself from the stance adopted by the Secretary of the Department of Education and 

           wrote to the latter reproving him on his hostile interrogation of Fr Moore. 



7.794      The  upshot  of  the  December  meeting  was  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Education 

           ordered an unannounced inspection of Artane by three senior Department personnel. They were 

            requested  to  focus  on  food,  clothing  and  management  in  general:  ‘they  should  state  the  facts 

            reasonably and with discretion – good and bad to be included’. The inspection took place over 

           two days on 20th      and 21st  December and each inspector furnished a report. 



7.795       Mr Seamus Mac Uaid, Higher Executive Officer, wrote the principal report, which was described 

            by  the  Chairman,  Mr  Berry,  as  ‘a  model  of  its  kind’.  The  general  conclusion  of  the  report  was 

            reassuring  to  the  Department,  but  many  of  the  detailed observations  did  not  differ  significantly 

           from Fr Moore’s. The writer began with a summary of his findings: 



                  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  boys  in  Artane Industrial  School  are  well  fed,  warmly  clothed, 

                  comfortably bedded and treated with kindness by the Christian Brothers in an atmosphere 

                  conducive to their spiritual and physical development. I believe, however, that boys should 

                  not  be  reared  away  from  the  refining  influence  of  women  and  am  convinced  that  the 



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                introduction  of  female assistance  at  key  points in  the  management  would render  more 

                effective the work of the institution. 



7.796     He described Artane as: 



                a massive pile standing on rising ground ... erected in the 1870’s with all the solidity of 

                the  period  and  an  extravagance  of  space  that  makes  a  nightmare  of  maintenance  in 

                modern times. 



7.797     A feature of this report is the frequent reference to the desirability of involving women in the work 

          of the Institution, and how male standards compared unfavourably with female ones in respect of 

          care of children. Mr Mac Uaid cited the example of the kitchen, which was staffed by one Brother 

          and five older boys and which had recently been modernised, at a cost of £25,000: 



                The standards of cleanliness, cooking and presentation of the food were high but they 

                were male standards and lacked the finishing touches which woman alone can provide in 

                this particular domain. 



7.798     The aprons worn by kitchen staff were dirty, the plates were slightly greasy and not dried properly, 

          and it would be preferable if dessert were served on a delph plate rather than the enamel plates 

          used. However: 



                from observation and the questions asked of the boys, I am satisfied that the children are 

                well fed and empty plates bore testimony to the quality of the food. 



7.799     Whilst he was satisfied with the menu for the two days of the inspection, he did note the absence 

          of butter from all meals. 



7.800     The report described in turn: the food given to the boys and the cooking and dining facilities; the 

          dormitories; the boys’ clothing; the laundry; the washing facilities; games and recreation; education 

          and training; aftercare; the farm; holidays; and the general atmosphere. The overall conclusion 

          was that: 



                Artane  emerged  from  the  inspection  with  credit.  Within  the  limitations  of  an  inherited 

                system which favoured big schools, all male management and a public purse that had to 

                be prised open at times, the Superior, Br Ourson, is doing a good job in providing for the 

                spiritual, educational and physical needs of the boys entrusted to his care. 



7.801     The writer commended him on the improvements he had made to the School, in particular to the 

          kitchen and classrooms. He recommended the following innovations, which the Manager had no 

          objection to, provided that they were funded by the Department: 



              1.  Introduction  of  a  small  community  of  nuns  to  provide  much-needed  female  influence  on 

                 various aspects of industrial school life. 



              2.  Creation of two separate schools for junior and senior boys. 



              3.  Establishment of a hostel for boys leaving Artane who had been abandoned or orphaned. 



7.802     Dr McCabe reported her complete satisfaction with the medical facilities, treatment and monitoring 

          provided in Artane. She referred to her own regular medical and general inspections and medical 

          checks carried out every two years by the local authority. She commended the hygiene and said 

          that  the  boys’  diet  was  very  good.  The  dormitories  were  ‘large,  airy  spacious  and  very  well 

          maintained’. Dr McCabe concluded: 



                I would also wish to state that there is a most pleasant relationship between the Brothers 

                and their care and I have never met with any fear on the boy’s behalf of those in charge 

                of them. 



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7.803      In his short covering report, the most senior inspector, Mr MacDaibhid, Assistant Principal Officer 

           and Inspector in charge of industrial schools, endorsed the reports of his colleagues and added: 



                 To sum up I would say that the school emerged very creditably from the inspection. No 

                 serious  fault  could  be  found  in  Artane  and  the  impression  of  the  “big  happy  family” 

                 atmosphere which pervaded the entire institution was inescapable. Atmosphere in such a 

                 school is all-important. Minor adverse criticisms only could be levelled at the school. 



7.804      In the course of his report, Mr MacDaibhid mentioned that the ‘overcoats supplied by the School 

           are raincoats only, 412 of which were ordered in December’. Mr MacUaid disclosed in his report 

          that the number of boys in residence was 413, which means that outer garments for all the boys 

          were being procured. The provision of overcoats for the boys was a matter of controversy in the 

           questioning of  Fr Moore by counsel  for the Christian  Brothers. This report suggests  that these 

           raincoats were being ordered for the first time, and it does not disprove Fr Moore’s report. 



7.805      Mr MacDaibhid concluded: 



                 Having passed strictures on Bro Ourson in the past, I must say that he emerged from this 

                 inspection with, in my opinion, much improved stature, his previous weakness being an 

                 apparently casual disregard for the authority of the Department. 



7.806     The   Department     Inspection   Reports   on   Artane   were   considered    by  the  Inter-Departmental 

           Committee in March and again in May 1963. The Committee ‘could not agree’ that the School 

           had emerged commendably from the inspections, or that the praise accorded to the management 

          was deserved. Mr MacDaibhid continued to assert that the criticisms noted in the MacUaid report 

          were minor and were applicable to all industrial schools, although he did concede that there was 

           a need for more money, which was true of industrial schools generally. Dr McCabe’s report on 

          the  School  ‘was  noted’.  Ultimately,  the  Committee  agreed  to  bring  the  criticisms  noted  by  Mr 

           MacUaid and recorded in the minutes of the March meeting to the attention of the Minister for 

           Education. 



7.807     The relevant part of the minutes is introduced by the statement that the MacUaid report ‘was then 

           considered   paragraph    by  paragraph,    the  Chairman    indicating  the  many    ways   in which   the 

           criticisms corresponded to what Fr Moore had said’ and goes on: 



                 The Report makes these criticisms for instance:- 



                    “that boys should not be reared away from the refining influence of women; 



                    “the necessity for having female assistants at key points in the institution; 



                    “there  is  an  extravagance  of  space  which  makes  a  nightmare  of  maintenance  (of 

                    Artane) in modern times; 



                    “nowhere else was I more forcibly struck by the criticism that Artane is too big than in 

                    this vast dining hall among 400 youngsters ... The fact that the dining hall was designed 

                    to accommodate       several  hundred    more   than   the  number    present   added    to the 

                    impression that the charge “institutionalised” could not be defended here; 



                    “it is essential that a woman qualified in domestic economy and with a female assistant, 

                    be placed in charge of the kitchen and dining hall; 



                    “the  standards  here  (in  the  dormitories)  were  male  standards  ...  the  furnishing  of  a 

                    dormitory is a woman’s role which man cannot adequately fill; 



                    “the  clothes  in  most  cases  were  of  the  rough  type  tweed  in  the  familiar  poor-house 

                    colours ... automatically identifying the wearers ... The Sunday clothes were ... equally 

                    drab in colour and unimaginative in pattern ... a woman with ideas could do really good 

                    work in the school workshop ... 



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                    “add to this shirts buttoned or unbuttoned at the neck and no ties and even the most 

                    presentable boys are handicapped in appearance; 



                    “on  paper  this  (each  boy’s  issue  of  clothes)  looks  a  generous  issue  but  it  is  not 

                    supported by the appearance of the boys; 



                    “the same general criticisms are made of the laundry which is described as being old- 

                    fashioned in methods and machinery; 



                    “he (the Dean of discipline) is too young for an exacting job that requires maturity, had 

                    little experience of the city type prior to his appointment as disciplinarian; 



                    “in response to the suggestion that a course in psychology in U.C.D. would help in an 

                    office of this important kind he (the Superior) replied that the question had never been 

                    examined by the Order; 



                    “the play-yard was disappointing, its surface uneven and puddle-holed contributing in 

                    turn to dirty boots and shoes and spattered legs; 



                    “the recreation hall is a long cement-floored room, uncared for, dismal, depressing and 

                    dirty and with no redeeming feature whatsoever ... The school classroom one of the 

                    same ramshackle type ... 



                    “the  Superior   drew   attention   to the  lack   of a  satisfactory   hostel  for  orphans    or 

                    abandoned boys leaving Artane at 16 years; 



                    “the absence of a hostel for post industrial school boys with no homes to go to is a 

                    weakness in the system of aftercare which I think the Department should try to rectify; 



                    “12 boys (out of 150 eligible) were entered for the M.T. Group Certificate ... in June, 

                    1962 but all failed ... this Branch will pursue this unsatisfactory performance with our 

                    Technical Instruction Branch; 



                    “the Resident Manager very seldom applies for the retention of boys until the age of 

                    17 years to continue their secondary or technical school studies and the replies given 

                    by the Bursar in defence of this policy were vague and unsatisfactory; 



                    “Cleanliness in the bakery was barely adequate and the white tunics of the apprentices 

                    could do with replacement”. 



7.808      The  Committee  also  set  out  and  approved  general  recommendations  for  change  for  industrial 

           schools, many of which were influenced by the Moore and Department of Education inspections. 

           The recommendations included the following: 



              (1)  The term ‘industrial school’ should be abolished. 



              (2)  Larger State grants should be made to industrial schools. 



              (3)  Inspections should take place more frequently. 



              (4)  Minimum standards regarding clothing, bedding etc should be prescribed by regulations. 



              (5)  Adequate financial provision should be set aside for maintenance, repairs and appropriate 

                  recreational facilities. 



              (6)  A matron/nurse should be appointed to each school. 



              (7)  City children should not be committed for lengthy periods to country institutions. 



              (8)  Firm  links  between  institutions  and  the  Probation  Service  should  be  established  for  the 

                  benefit of those leaving institutions. 



              (9)  Visiting Committees should be set up for each industrial school and, where appropriate, 

                  Aftercare Committees. 



7.809      A specific recommendation was agreed regarding Artane that an educational psychologist should 

           be appointed to the School. 



           228                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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7.810      Although the Minister for Justice approved these recommendations, they were never implemented 

           by the Department of Education which had that remit. Nevertheless, the proceedings of the Inter- 

           Departmental Committee laid the foundations for the establishment of the Kennedy Committee 

           in 1967. 



7.811      Before Dr Anna McCabe retired from her position as Medical Inspector, she furnished a General 

           Report  on  Industrial  and  Reformatory  Schools  dated  29th      February  1964.  She  made  specific 



           reference to Fr Moore’s report, and stated that she was in substantial agreement with most of its 

           contents. However, she rejected outright his findings regarding the boys’ clothing, diet and medical 

           facilities  available  in  the  School,  and  she  complimented  Br  Ourson  on  his  management  and 

           attributed many improvements to his intervention. 



7.812      Fr Moore in evidence said that he called to the School every morning to say Mass. After breakfast, 

           he  returned  to  his  parish  and  visited  the  School  every  afternoon  for  an  hour  or  two,  which  he 

           spent mostly in the recreation yard, infirmary and workshops. 



7.813      He was aware that Archbishop McQuaid was very unhappy with the state of affairs in Artane. He 

           was  concerned  about  the  vastness  of  the  Institution.  Fr  Moore  believed  that  the  Archbishop’s 

           disquiet regarding Artane was motivated by a deep concern for the children. In 1962, when he 

           was asked by the Archbishop to write a report regarding Artane, he did not feel any pressure to 

           colour his report in line with the Archbishop’s trenchant views. In fact, the Archbishop’s opinion 

           mirrored  his  own  experience  of  Artane  after  two  years’  working  there.  Fr  Moore  had  become 

           involved in the area of aftercare, much to the annoyance of the Brothers, he said. He worked with 

           a  youth  club  for  former  Artane  boys  run  by  the  Legion  of  Mary,  which  highlighted  to  him  the 

           deficiencies in the provision of aftercare by the Brothers. He understood his purpose in writing the 

           report was to present a global picture of his experience of Artane. He became aware subsequently 

           that the  Archbishop    stated   in correspondence      with  the  Department     of Justice  that  he  had 

           appointed Fr Moore to set about reforming Artane. 



7.814      Fr Moore visited the refectory for the purpose of his report and observed that  ‘it was generally 

           unruly. Boys sitting at tables snapping each other’s food, as it were, things like that. Pretty unruly 

           I would have thought. Pretty crude’. 



7.815      He contrasted the appearance of Artane boys with their peers in the parish: 



                 It is difficult to describe. I could use the one word, to me anyway, at the time they looked 

                 institutional. That’s a blanket sort of description but I discerned a certain difference in a 

                 boy who was institutionalised, in his pallor, in his gait, in his general appearance. 



7.816      He said that some of the Artane boys were most definitely undersized for their age. 



7.817      He stated that the boys told him that they had to pay for their overcoats and, as a result, most 

           boys did not own one: 



                 I would have noticed on wintry days in the schoolyard, for example, very cold, bleak area 

                 of north Dublin, it seemed to me that they were very cold and some of them had chilblains 

                 and they would have runny noses and using their sleeves to clean their noses and to me 

                 looked very cold and pretty miserable. 



7.818      The  boys  went  for  a  walk  most  Sundays  and,  even  in  the  depths  of  winter,  they  did  not  wear 

           overcoats. 



7.819      He  knew  the  Superior  in  St  Joseph’s  Industrial  School,  Salthill  and  visited  him  at  the  School. 

           Salthill was a much smaller school than Artane but he was very impressed by the way in which 

           Salthill was managed, ‘I thought Salthill was more civilised and more happier’. 



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7.820     Fr Moore confirmed the evidence of a complainant who said that he had reported sexual abuse 

          to  Fr  Moore  when  he  was  in  Artane.  The  boy  had  confided  in  him  that  he  had  been  sexually 

          abused by Br Adrien who worked in the kitchen. Fr Moore had always found him to be personable 

          and thought that he was popular with the boys. He had never experienced or heard of complaints 

          of sexual impropriety during his own time as a pupil in St Vincent’s and this was the first time he 

          had ever had to deal with such a matter. Fr Moore suggested that the boy go to the Superior, Br 

          Ourson, about the matter, but he was reluctant to do so, as he felt that it would be perceived that 

          he was telling tales on Br Adrien. Fr Moore offered to speak to Br Ourson. He immediately went 

          to Br Ourson and told him the nature of the allegations made against Br Adrien who said that he 

          would deal with the matter. Fr Moore also informed the Provincial, Br Mulholland, to reinforce the 

          seriousness of the matter. Within days, Br Adrien was removed from Artane and transferred to 

          another institution. His departure was not announced: he simply disappeared. 



7.821     He did receive another complaint, which he reported to Br Ourson, and the Brother was removed 

          from the School. 



7.822     His observations regarding the standard of education were based on his own personal contact 

          with  the  boys.  He  did  not  observe  them  in  class  or  consult  with  teachers  or  the  headmaster 

          regarding their education, although he would have had informal conversations with them regarding 

          education. Similarly, his finding regarding the medical facilities in the School was made without 

          consultation with the local GP or the Brother in charge of the infirmary. 



7.823     As regards trades training, he observed: 



                My experience was the boys didn’t have a choice of which trade they were assigned to; 

                wherever there was a shortage personnelwise in a trade perhaps. I don’t know the reason 

                but they didn’t have a choice. 



7.824     An elderly Christian Brother was in charge of aftercare. He had to secure approximately 30 to 40 

          jobs per year. Most of the jobs were badly paid, menial jobs, and many of the boys were placed 

          in positions for which they were not suited. A high proportion of boys emigrated. 



7.825     He was asked for his observations on the comment made by Department Inspector Mr MacDaibhid 

          that Artane was one ‘big happy family’, and he replied that such an observation was a travesty. 



7.826     He had a good relationship with most of the Brothers. However: 



                there was a resistance to any intrusion in the affairs of the Institution of Artane by the 

                Brothers  in  general.  They  seemed  to  me,  autonomous  in  their  management  and  they 

                resented and resisted any interference from anybody in their work. 



7.827     Conditions did improve in Artane over his time there. Clothing and food improved, a swimming 

          pool was installed and, most importantly, numbers were very much reduced. A community of nuns 

          helped out in the School, introducing much-needed female influence. Aftercare improved with the 

          opening of a hostel in Eccles Street by the Archbishop. Under cross-examination, he accepted 

          that he was not aware of changes that the Brothers had initiated, such as the introduction of a 

          remedial teacher and a psychological support service. Whenever the subject of Artane came up 

          in  conversation  with  the  Archbishop  after  he  had  submitted  his  report,  the  Archbishop  would 

          mention the fact that he was working upon changing matters. 



7.828     In summary, he said: 



                Fundamentally  I  would  have  to  say,  my  critique  would  be  on  the  grounds  of  defective 

                training in the emotional and psychological preparation for the after-life, for post-Artane 

                days. I found boys were – they many times had an inability to negotiate everyday tasks 



          230                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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                 like handling money, interpersonal relations. Now admittedly many, many of those I am 

                 talking about would have had long experience of institutional care before they came to 

                 Artane ... I feel also that the environment was harsh, Dickensian and in my view extremely 

                 excessive in its administration of punishment and emotional deprivation. I think today that 

                 the  many,  many  complainants  of  their  bad  experience  of  Artane  would,  in  my  view, 

                 validate everything I have said about it, and the Archbishop of Dublin. 



7.829      The Christian Brothers reject the conclusions drawn by Fr Moore in his report and in his evidence 

           to the Investigation Committee. They contend that his evidence is unreliable, inaccurate and that 

           it is contradicted by the contemporaneous Department reports and evidence from former Brothers. 

           They submit that Fr Moore was a young, ambitious priest eager to please his Superior. He was 

           well aware of the Archbishop’s attitude to Artane, who considered the Institution  ‘the plague spot 

           of  his  diocese’.  They  contend  that  Fr  Moore’s  report  does  not  portray  an  objective  analysis  of 

           Artane, but rather a biased account providing affirmation of the Archbishop’s views. 



7.830      The Congregation contends that Fr Moore had relatively little direct experience of day-to-day life 

           in Artane. He did not live in the School, and therefore his observations are based on his visits to 

           the School, which were limited to particular areas. They contend that his overall contact with the 

           School would not enable him to come to informed conclusions on the manner in which the School 

           was run. 



7.831      They cite, as an example of the shortcomings in Fr Moore’s research, his analysis of the boys’ 

           diet. During his evidence to the Investigation Committee, it emerged that his conclusions on diet 

           were based on one visit to the refectory, his general observations of the boys and the views of a 

           doctor, who accompanied some of the boys on a camping trip, that they were undernourished and 

           undersized. However, the report did not disclose the limited sources which led Fr Moore to his 

           conclusions, but instead gave the impression that a comprehensive review and analysis of the 

           nature and adequacy of the boys’ diet had taken place. 



7.832      Similarly, his conclusion regarding the low standard of education in Artane was based on illegible 

           letters he received from former residents, and the Christian Brothers submit that such a flimsy 

           basis for such an evaluation ‘is of no real value’. They also emphasise that Fr Moore was relatively 

           young and inexperienced, with no teaching experience, and submit that all of these factors, when 

           taken together, render his assessment unreliable. 



7.833      The Brothers in their Opening Statement on Artane said that Fr Moore was ‘both unprofessional 

           and indiscreet in the manner in which he carried out his assignment’. Whilst he acknowledged in 

           his covering letter to the Archbishop enclosing the report that his observations were restricted to 

           his personal experience, he proceeded to offer his opinion on areas in which he clearly had no 

           training or expertise. The Congregation contend that the statistics he presented were inaccurate 

           and misleading. 



7.834      Similarly, his criticisms of the medical care in Artane have to be viewed in light of the fact that 

           he had no medical training and did not discuss the matter with the GP who regularly attended 

           the School. 



7.835      The Christian Brothers regard it as extraordinary that, whilst he had no difficulty in criticising the 

           lack  of  experience  of  staff  in  the  School,  he  had  no  doubts  about  his  own  ability  to  assess 

           standards in the School, despite the fact that he had worked in the School on a part-time basis 

           for less than two years. 



7.836      The  Christian  Brothers  submit  that,  even  where  no  expertise  was  required,  Fr  Moore’s  report 

           contains  ‘glaring  errors’.  Most  notable  is  his  assertion  that  the  boys  had  to  pay  for  their  own 



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          overcoats. The Investigation Committee heard evidence from a Brother who strongly rebutted this 

          allegation, and none of the complainants who gave evidence raised it as an issue. One of the 

          Department officials who conducted the inspection in December 1962  found that the boys had 

          overcoats of sorts, although few wore them. The Christian Brothers submit that this glaring error 

          must raise serious doubts over the accuracy of other aspects of the Moore report. On the other 

          hand, the fact that an order for raincoats for all the boys had been placed in early December, prior 

          to the surprise visit, makes it impossible to reject the evidence that boys did not have coats. 



7.837     The Moore report led to an unannounced two-day inspection of Artane by three Department of 

          Education personnel. The Christian Brothers assert that this: 



                inspection was extremely thorough and comprehensive and that there appears to have 

                been a genuine effort on the part of those compiling the report to present an accurate 

                account of all aspects of life in Artane. 



7.838     They submit that what adds weight to the veracity of the Department reports is the fact that they 

          criticise various aspects of the School where such criticism is warranted. The reports present an 

          ‘honest  and  reliable  account  of  a  thorough  inspection’,  and  ‘considerable  weight  ought  to  be 

          attached to these reports’. 



7.839     In summary, the Christian Brothers submit that: 



                the Moore report was prepared on the basis of a superficial examination of the relevant 

                circumstances by an inexperienced person who was not qualified to properly assess a 

                number of the issues which he addressed and who probably prepared the report with the 

                dominant purpose of confirming the Archbishop’s firmly expressed views rather than with 

                the purpose of providing an accurate assessment of the school. In these circumstances, 

                it is submitted that the Moore report cannot be relied on in making any findings on the 

                state of matters in Artane at that time. 



7.840     The Christian Brothers submit that the evidence given by Fr Moore to the Investigation Committee 

          copperfastens the view that his assessment of Artane is biased, inaccurate and unreliable. His 

          evidence only serves to emphasise his limited contact with various aspects of life in Artane and 

          his limited interaction with the Brothers. They regard as particularly significant the fact that he was 

          completely unaware of the participation of a specialist team from the Mater Hospital in providing 

          a psychological service for the boys in Artane before he relinquished his position as chaplain. 



7.841     The  Brothers  contend  that  Fr  Moore’s  assertion  that  the  Archbishop  was  behind  the  initiative 

          to introduce an Order of Sisters to the School is incorrect. They submit that contemporaneous 

          correspondence makes it quite clear that the Brothers spearheaded this enterprise. 



7.842     The Congregation vigorously rebuts the claim by Fr Moore that the Brothers resisted and resented 

          any interference in the School from outside bodies. On the contrary, it says, the Brothers actively 

          sought the assistance of outside parties such as the Child Guidance Clinic at the Mater Hospital, 

          the Godparents Guild and, in the mid-1960s, they employed a remedial teacher. It is submitted 

          that the totality of the evidence demonstrates that the Christian Brothers were fully supportive of 

          and co-operative with participation from outside parties. 



7.843     The Christian Brothers request that the Commission reject the findings made by Fr Moore. They 

          conclude that he: 



                presented himself as a witness who had a particular insight into the workings of Artane 

                and his position there as chaplain for seven years would, prima facie, suggest that he did 

                have such an insight. However, an examination of his testimony, especially when viewed 

                in the light of that of other witnesses suggests that his knowledge of Artane and of issues 



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                relevant to the care of the boys was, in fact, extremely superficial and that his recollection 

                about a number of matters was completely incorrect. 



7.844     In conclusion: 



                 •    There were limitations on Fr Moore’s capacity to prepare a comprehensive report 

                      on Artane. The areas of the School with which he was most familiar were the 

                       Chapel, the yard and the trade schools. He visited the farm from time to time, 

                       but he did not go into classes or the dormitories or the refectory. He said that 

                       he visited the refectory on one occasion and similarly with the band room. He 

                      was  in  the  hall  more  often.  He  did  not  speak  to  the  Christian  Brothers  to  get 

                       information    for  his  report   because    he   felt that   that  would    endanger    the 

                       confidentiality that was required. 



                 •    As to the question of bias, it is clear that Archbishop McQuaid was not an admirer 

                      of Artane as an institution. Fr Moore explained how, on a number of occasions, 

                       his mentor had expressed adverse views about the Industrial School. The two 

                       men kept in touch during the course of Fr Moore’s chaplaincy and his views did 

                       not surprise his superior. In the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that 

                       Fr  Moore    was   unlikely   to  have   approached      his  task   of  reporting   with   a 

                      sympathetic eye. But at the time when he was requested to do so, he had been 

                      there  for  two  years  and  had  being  briefing  the  Archbishop  on  the  conditions. 

                      There was nothing to suggest that Fr Moore was bending his views to meet the 

                       preconceptions of the Archbishop during the period from 1960 to 1962 before 

                       he made his report. Neither is there any evidence to warrant the conclusion that 

                      the chaplain was deliberately or subconsciously manipulating the evidence so 

                      as to produce an adverse conclusion. Fr Moore’s opinions were formed because 

                      of his observations in the two years before he was asked to furnish his report. 



                 •    While Fr Moore’s information was inaccurate in some particulars, as the Brothers 

                       point  out,  the  example  they  gave  of  the  boys  having  to  purchase  overcoats, 

                      which they claimed ‘was clearly wrong’ and which, therefore called into question 

                      the  reliability  of  the  report  in  general  is  not  borne  out  by  an  analysis  of  the 

                       documents. 



                 •    Most of Fr Moore’s information came from his own observations or from the boys 

                      themselves.  As  to  what  he  himself  saw,  the  Congregation  does  not  challenge 

                       his evidence. But on his conclusions, based on what he was told by the boys, 

                      there is major conflict. It is nonetheless the case that Fr Moore is the only person 

                      who is able to report what the boys were saying during this time, or indeed at 

                      any other time. There is no record of anybody else, either official or Christian 

                       Brother,  actually  talking  to  the  boys  and  recording  what  they  said.  Neither  is 

                      there   any   evidence    of somebody      in  a  position   to  do  that  because    of  his 

                       relationship with the boys. In other words, Fr Moore was the only person who 

                      was  in  a  position  where  boys  felt  able  to  confide  in  him.  That  in  itself  is  a 

                      significant   comment      on   the  Institution.   The   fact  that  a  witness    received 

                       information from the boys in Artane, even if some of it is shown to be wrong, 

                       can  scarcely   be   regarded    as  a  disqualification   to  give  evidence    about   the 

                       Institution in the course of an inquiry like this. 



                 •    The Committee concluded that Fr Moore was not actuated by malicious intent or 

                       bias  in  regard  to  the  Christian  Brothers  or  to  Artane.  He  was  in  a  position  to 

                      observe events and to form opinions, and he had valuable information to give 

                      the   Committee.     His  report  of  1962,   his  evidence    to  the  Inter-Departmental 

                       Committee     and   his  evidence    to  the   Investigation   Committee      were   honest 

                      attempts to describe the conditions in the Institution as Fr Moore saw them and 

                      found them and believed them to be, based on the information at his disposal. 



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                 •   This witness was uniquely qualified to comment on conditions in Artane because 

                      of his personal experience of being a child in a residential institution run by the 

                      Christian Brothers. 



                 •    Fr  Moore  was  a  witness  of  integrity  and  accuracy,  whose  evidence  and  report 

                      were  corroborated     in substantial   measure    by  other   evidence,   including   Mr 

                      MacUaid’s    findings,  Mr  Dunleavy’s    report  and   convincing    oral testimony    of 

                      complainants and respondents. 



          General conclusions 



7.845            1.   Artane used frequent and severe punishment to impose and enforce a regime of 

                      militaristic  discipline.  The  policy  of  the  School  was  rigid  control  by  means  of 

                      severe  corporal   punishment     and  fear  of punishment.     Such   punishment    was 

                      excessive  and  pervasive.  The  result  of  arbitrary  and  uncontrolled  punishment 

                     was   a  climate  of fear.  All Brothers   became  implicated     because   they  did  not 

                      intervene or report excesses. 



                 2.   Sexual  abuse  of  boys  was  a  chronic  problem  in  Artane.  The  documented  and 

                      admitted cases show that for more than half of the 33 years under consideration 

                     there  was  at  least  one  Brother  in  Artane  who  at  some  time  engaged  in  sexual 

                      abuse   of boys.   Much   more   abuse   occurred    than  is recorded    in documents 

                      because of inadequate recording and reporting procedures and other causes of 

                      under-reporting. Sexual activity between boys was also common and there was 

                      a significant amount of predatory sexual  behaviour by bigger boys on smaller, 

                     vulnerable ones. 



                 3.   Incidences   of  abuse   were   managed    primarily   with  a view   to protecting   the 

                      Congregation  and  the  Institution  from  the  harm  that  would  be  done  if  sexual 

                      abuse  by  Brothers  became  public.  This  involved  suppression  of  disclosure  of 

                      abuse, failure to investigate properly and failure to report. The policy facilitated 

                     further   abuse   when   offenders    were  transferred   within   the  Congregation    or 

                      permitted to leave in good standing. 



                 4.   Artane  failed  generally   to provide   for  the  emotional   needs   of  the  boys.  At 

                      management level there was a lack of respect for the boys as individuals. One 

                      example was the humiliating practice of inspection of underwear in public. 



                 5.   The number of boys in Artane, the extreme regimentation of their lives, the lack 

                      of appropriate training of the Brothers, the insufficient numbers of staff and the 

                      pervasiveness  of  corporal  punishment  all  had  serious  adverse  effects  on  the 

                     welfare and emotional development of many of the children who passed through 

                     Artane.  The  climate  of  fear  was  a  dominant  memory,  and  practices  used  for 

                      management  and  control  of  the  boys  were  frightening  and  abusive.  It  was  a 

                      problem  central  to  the  whole  system  in  Artane  that  the  boys’  perspective  was 

                      not taken into account. The Christian Brothers did not understand the impact of 

                     those practices. 



                 6.   Artane had sufficient income to provide for the boys’ physical needs but it failed 

                     to do so in many respects: 



                     •    Accommodation       was   generally   poor.  Toilet facilities were   primitive  until 

                           1953. 



                     •    Facilities for preparing and serving food for the boys were primitive. 

                     •    Clothing was poor, patched and institutional, and the repeated criticism by 

                          the Department Inspector was to no avail, in spite of a healthy surplus in the 

                          School accounts. 



          234                                                     CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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       7.  Artane failed to cater for either educationally backward children or for those who 

           were brighter. No effort was made to provide secondary education for boys who 

           were capable of benefiting from it. 



       8.  Industrial training was a key objective of the system and the biggest industrial 

           school should have provided a high standard, but training was only an offshoot 

           of work that met the needs of the Institution. 



       9.  The success of the band illustrated what the boys could accomplish with proper 

           training and adequate resources. 



      10.  The Brothers put considerable effort into training teams for matches with other 

           schools and playing outdoor games, but the lack of indoor recreational facilities 

           was a severe deprivation. 



      11.  Aftercare for the boys’ welfare required direct contact with them but it was often 

           conducted only with employers to establish their level of satisfaction and not to 

           see  how  the  boys  were  doing.  .  Aftercare  was  better  than  ex-residents  were 

           aware of and many were surprised at the level of contact maintained between 

           the School and their employers. 



      12.  In regard to Artane the policy pursued by the Department of Education was to 

           defend the system  and the institution over which it  presided. The Department 

           inspected  and  supervised     perfunctorily  and  neglected  its   obligations  to  the 

           children. 



      13.  The  Department  of  Education  and  the  Christian  Brother  management  did  not 

           improve or change a system that was failing. Individual Brothers with a genuine 

           calling  and   desire  to  care  for  and  educate   disadvantaged     children   found 

           themselves  in  an  institution  that  forced  them  to  use  methods  of  control  that 

           prevented the kind of care they could have given. 



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 236                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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Appendix 

Report by Ciaran Fahy (14th                                   March 2008) 



1.0 Introduction 



The  purpose of  this  report  is to  describe  the physical  surroundings  of  Artane Industrial  School 

with particular reference to the buildings. It is based on research carried out by Ciaran Fahy and 

Neil Gillespie during the course of which all of the relevant documentation in the possession of 

the CICA was examined. On 2nd         September 2005, Ciaran Fahy and Neil Gillespie visited Artane 



and met Br Michael Reynolds, Deputy Head of St Mary’s Province of the Irish Christian Brothers 

and also Mr Bushnell.87  Br Reynolds taught in St David’s CBS Secondary School from about 1978 



to 1984 and Mr Bushnell was a pupil in Artane. 



In addition to the above, Ciaran Fahy visited the Christian Brother’s archive at Cluain Mhuire on 

the  North  Circular  Road  and  some  old  photographs  and  maps  were  made  available  by  the 

Christian Brothers and many of these are incorporated in  this report. The following documents 

were provided and found to be of considerable assistance: 



       - An Annual published in 1904 which was intended as a souvenir or record of the school. 

             It was published 10 years after an earlier account appeared in the Illustrograph, a 

             monthly illustrated paper. 



       - The Christian Brother’s Educational Record 1927, relating to Artane Industrial School. 

             This document which was compiled in 1927, contains a good deal of helpful 

             information in relation to the early years of the school. 



       - The Visitation Reports from 1940 to 1968. These annual reports were prepared by a 

             senior member of the Christian Brothers who typically spent about a week in the 

             school and reported on all aspects of its operation. These reports also focused on 

             the Community of Brothers. The authors of them normally varied from year to year. 



       - The Annals. These were prepared on an annual basis by the Resident Manager of the 

             school and were intended to record the most important events which took place in 

             that year. 



The report is to be read in conjunction with four appendices drawing together various maps and 

photographs as follows: 



       •    Appendix No 1: Maps/Drawings 



             This contains extracts from Ordnance Survey sheets showing the current layout taken 

             from the Dublin Street Map as well as the layout in 1936. There is also a sketch of the 

             main building prepared in 1944 together with a survey drawing of the same building 

             prepared in 1990 when it was being partitioned. 



       •    Appendix No 2: Aerial Photographs 



             This contains two aerial photographs provided by the Christian Brothers. 



       •    Appendix No 3: Current Photographs 



87 This is a pseudonym. 



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             This contains photographs of the remaining buildings on the site taken recently. This 

             comprises  three  buildings  namely  the  main  building,  the  Chapel  and  the  refectory 

             which is now used as the band school and occupied by the Artane School of Music 

             which incorporates the well known Artane Band previously the Artane Boys Band. 



       •    Appendix No 4: Archive Photographs 



             This contains archive photographs provided by the Christian Brothers extending back 

             to 1900. 



2.0 Background 



2.1 Location 



Artane Industrial School, the largest in the State, was founded in 1870 and closed in 1969. It was 

located in the north eastern suburbs of Dublin, five km from the GPO in an area that was originally 

open countryside and which is now built up. It was located on the western side of the Malahide 

Road (R107) and there was access to it from this via a main gate lodge and also from the Kilmore 

Road.  There  was  extensive  farmland  associated  with  the  institution  and  the  bulk  of  this  was 

contiguous  to  the  buildings.  This  has  now  been  disposed  of  and  most  if  not  all  of  it  has  been 

developed and in addition, only three of the original buildings are still in existence. 



The general location of Artane Industrial School is shown in map 1, which is an extract from the 

current Ordnance Survey Street map of Dublin. The Malahide Road can be seen in the lower right 

hand corner running more or less diagonally and it intersects Collins Avenue and subsequently 

the Kilmore Road. The original main entrance into Artane was on the Malahide Road more or less 

opposite Killester Avenue and even in the current street map it is possible to see the outline of 

the avenue that ran from this to the main building which is still in existence and which is a long 

rectangular building parallel to the Malahide Road. This building is now used by St David’s CBS 

School  which  has  operated  at this  location  since  1973.  There  was  a  second entrance  into  the 

institution from Kilmore Road, not far from the point where it meets Skellys Lane and where the 

Artane Castle Shopping Centre has now been constructed. There are two further buildings which 

remain on the site and these are also coloured purple and located in this general area. The first 

of these is the chapel which is closest to the original main building while beyond this and also 

marked school is what was the refectory and is now the base for the Artane Music School. 



The location of the school is also shown in map 2, which is an extract from the Ordnance Survey 

map prepared originally in 1936. It is possible to make out the Malahide Road in the lower right 

hand corner of the map and this intersects with Collins Avenue just before Donnycarney Bridge, 

which at that time was the city boundary. Map 3 is a blow-up of the earlier one and it shows the 

layout of the buildings with an indication of the use of each one imprinted in red. The main access 

from the Malahide Road is clearly visible as is the connection onto the Kilmore Road which passes 

through the farmyard. 



2.2 Foundation 



Artane Industrial School was founded in 1870 and consequently served as a replacement for a 

separate institution, St Mary’s at Inchicore which opened in 1869 but whose licence was withdrawn 

in March 1870. In June 1870, a proposed management committee wrote to the Chief Secretary 

for Ireland to the effect that Artane Castle plus 23 hectares of land had been purchased for the 

purpose of setting up an industrial school. Subsequent to this, the Inspector of Industrial Schools 

visited  the  site  on  24th June  1870  and  found  the  premises  to  be  well  suited.  The  premises  is 



described as consisting of a ‘large dwelling house with extensive out offices, garden, farmyard all 

standing  on  56  statute  acres  (23  hectares)  of  rich  arable  land,  well  watered,  sheltered  by  fine 

trees and enclosed on the north and east by a good wall’. The lands were purchased for £7,000 



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on 19th  July 1870 and it was proposed that additional buildings for dormitories, classrooms, etc., 



should be erected for a further £1,600. 



The Christian Brothers had originally been looking for a Novitiate and had raised £2,000 for that 

purpose. Their search led them to the Artane site but by the time it was purchased its intended 

use had been changed. According to the 1927 report, the Christian Brothers used the £2,000 to 

fund  the  purchase  with  the  balance  of  £5,000  as  well  as  the  cost  of  building  being  raised  by 

public subscription. 



The school was to be operated by the Christian Brothers under a management committee which 

was to include six of the committee of St Mary’s Industrial School, Inchicore and also another five 

members including Cardinal Cullen. The proposal was obviously successful and the school was 

licensed to accommodate 825 boys on 9th         July 1870. 



The founder of Artane was Br T A Hoope who was its Manager from 1870 until 1890. The 1904 

Annual speaks of Br Hoope initially providing for some 70 boys, ‘in a modest dwelling house and 

a partially dilapidated farmyard’. However, by the time the Annual was published in 1905, it speaks 

of buildings which cost over £60,000 having been erected at Artane. 



2.3 Subsequent History 



It is clear that from the outset that Artane developed rapidly and the number of boys built up to 

approximately 800. The 1927 report says that the number of boys in the school had grown to 450 

by 1873 and to 700 by 1880. There was a very good public response to the new institution and, 

for example, in 1873, the Lord Mayor held a public meeting to encourage contributions. In 1878, 

it appears the main building was well advanced and indeed partially occupied and at that time the 

farm consisted of some 40 hectares (100 acres). This also expanded rapidly and in 1884, at the 

time of the visit to the school by the Prince and Princess of Wales the farm consisted of some 

140 hectares (350 acres). This arose from the purchase of adjoining farms by Br Hoope and the 

1927 report refers to ‘Woodville, on the north-east, Kilmore, Thorndale and Verbena on the west 

and north of the old demesne’. 



The 1904 Annual speaks of the first industrial schools in Ireland being certified in 1869 in the year 

following  the  Irish  Industrial  Schools  Act.  By  the  time  the  Annual  was  written  there  were  68 

industrial schools in the country of which 21 were for boys. Industrial schools were divided on a 

denominational     basis  with  three  of  the  total given  above    for Protestant   boys   and   three  for 

Protestant girls. 



In  1904,  the  Annual  lists  102  staff  working  in  the  school  of  which  26  were  Christian  Brothers 

including a Manager, a sub-Manager and two secretaries. The other 76 staff comprised: 



       •    A nurse and assistant nurse. 

       •    Nine assistant teachers. 

       •    Four professors of music. 

       •    A gymnastic/gym instructor. 

       •    A clerk of works. 

       •    A town agent and storekeeper. 



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       •    14 foremen and 14 assistants for the various trades. 

       •   A gardener and an assistant. 

       •    Four stewards. 

       •    18 farm and other labourers. 

       •   Two indoor and one outdoor night watch men. 

       •   A coachman and butcher. 



In addition to the above, the Annual lists a chaplain and medical attendant who apparently called 

to the school regularly. 



By the 1950s the number of boys in the school had started to decline and was noted as 500 in 

1957. By 1962, the number of boys was down to 413 while the number of religious staff was 25 

and the number of lay staff was 43. By 1965, the number of boys had fallen to 301 and in 1968 

the year before the school closed the number was down to 198. 



3.0 Details 



3.1 General 



As stated previously, Artane Industrial School was founded on a site of 23 hectares plus some 

buildings purchased in 1870. It is clear the main buildings of the institution were commenced very 

shortly afterwards in the 1870s and, in addition, it appears the land associated with the institution 

reached about 140 hectares by 1884 and remained close to this figure until the 1940s at least. It 

appears that some time in the late 1950s some of the land was sold for residential development 

and this policy continued, so that by the time the school closed in 1969/1970 more than half of 

the land had been disposed of. 



All of the buildings of the institution were located between the Malahide Road and the Kilmore 

Road at the location shown in map no. 2, which is the 1936 survey. This area has been blown-up 

in map 3  and this shows the  arrangement of the buildings  and also their use.  This same map 

shows access into the site from the Malahide Road with a gate lodge located at the entrance. 

There was a sweeping avenue leading up to a point between the monastery or residence and the 

main house. The monastery was in fact two separate houses constructed at different times and 

behind this was the Chapel. The main building at that time was in fact T-shaped consisting of a 

long rectangular section more or less parallel to the Malahide Road with an annexe or extension 

to the rear. Just to the left of the main building were the workshops and it will be seen from the 

map that there was a laneway which ran from the back of these down towards the Malahide Road. 

The two circular markings on either side of this apparently represent old quarries. 



The other entrance into the site was from the Kilmore Road and it will be seen there was also a 

lodge  at  that  entrance.  There  was  an  access  roadway  running  from  this  which  crossed  the 

farmyard and ran towards the main building between the Chapel and the monastery. The infirmary 

was located along the side of this road and close to the Kilmore Road entrance and south of the 

farmyard there were plots associated with farming activities and also the hen runs. 



Behind or north of the Chapel there was a further series of buildings. There was a long rectangular 

building which contained the classrooms and also a recreation area known as the long hall directly 

behind these. At right angles to the classrooms was the refectory with the kitchen located behind 

that and adjoining this and connecting it with the classroom block was the laundry with the boiler 

house apparently located behind this again. This area is shown in archive photograph 9, which 

shows the situation as it was in 1904. Clearly, the area enclosed between the classrooms, the 



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refectory and also the Chapel was used as a playing pitch and in addition, one end of this, opposite 

the refectory, was provided with what is described as the gymnasium. This was obviously a roofed 

structure open at the sides as can be seen in archive photograph no 9. 



The arrangement of the buildings is also clearly shown in archive photograph 1 which was taken 

from the front of the 1904 Annual and gives a bird’s eye view. This shows the main building with 

the workshops to its left and the annexe or theatre at the rear while the Chapel is to the right. The 

photograph or sketch also shows the position of the refectory and the classrooms referred to as 

the  schools  with   an  enclosed  area  between      these  and  the  gymnasium.  The       layout  can  be 

compared  with  aerial  photograph  2  as  well  as  aerial  photographs  3  and  4,  which  were  simply 

derived from this. It will be seen the arrangement has not changed from 1904, except that the 

monastery has been extended by the addition of a second larger building adjacent to the original 

one which had been built by 1904. This photograph also clearly shows a handball alley behind 

the main building which is possibly best seen in photograph 3. This is also referred to in archive 

photograph 1 taken from the 1904 Annual and its position is shown in map 3. It appears there 

was a high wall in this area extending from the classrooms and the area between this and the 

rear of the main house appears to have been paved probably with concrete. In addition, there 

was a toilet block behind the handball alley. Finally, aerial photograph 2 shows a small changing 

room or sports pavilion at the side of the pitches behind the handball alley and the classrooms. 

The same photograph in the foreground shows the plots behind the farmyard as well as what seem 

to be the hen runs with some form of sump or tank to one side and finally, a further handball alley. 



3.2 Farm 



The land associated with the school rapidly increased from 23 hectares (about 56 acres) in 1870 

to 140 hectares in 1884 and appears to have remained constant at about that figure since it is 

recorded as 143 hectares (about 353 acres) in the early 1940s. The land obviously increased by 

means  of  the  purchase  of  adjoining  farms  and  this  appears  to  have  continued  since  the  1938 

Annals state approximately 20 hectares (49 acres) were purchased from O’Neills of Rockfield in 

December 1938 at a price of £33 per acre. The 1943 Annals record that the O’Neill farm of 26 

hectares (about 65 acres) just across the road from the infirmary was for sale at £100 per acre 

but there is no record of any subsequent purchase. The same 1943 Annals give the total area of 

land as 143 hectares (353 acres) and states that 32 hectares (about 80 acres) was about five km 

from the school. The Visitation Reports for 1943 and 1949 give the total acreage as 143 hectares 

referred to previously and this apparently was broken into a number of different farms, the largest 

of which was the home farm presumably contiguous to the school buildings and which contained 

74 hectares (182 acres). The other farms were Belcamp with 13 hectares (32 acres), Woodville 

26 hectares (63 acres) and Kilmore 31 hectares (76 acres). 



From  the  late  1950s  land  associated  with  the  school  was  sold  for  house  building  and  there  is 

reference in the Visitation Reports to the proceeds of this being used to fund the operations of 

the school. There is a reference to an earlier sale of land in the 1938 Annals, to a Mr P Belton 

but this was only a very small area of approximately one acre. There is a reference to 7.5 acres 

(about 3 hectares) being sold in 1961 with the proceeds being used to meet part of the cost of 12 

classrooms on the ground floor of the main building. In all, about 32 hectares (80 acres) was sold 

up to 1965 and there is also reference to an out farm at Bonnybrook being sold in the mid-1960s. 

The 1966 Visitation Report states that about 81 hectares (200 acres) was left at that time, while 

the 1968 Visitation Report says that negotiations were in train to sell a further 40 hectares retaining 

about  40  hectares  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  school.  However,  there  is  reference  in  the 

documentation to a further 51 hectares (125 acres) being sold in 1969. 



There is no precise record of the land associated with the school when it was at its maximum in the 

mid to late 1940s, but it seems to have comprised much of the block shown in map 1, contained by 

the Malahide Road, Kilmore Road, Skellys Lane, Beaumont Road and Collins Avenue. The 1936 



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Survey shows, that this area was largely undeveloped and presumably in use as farmland. It will 

be noted that on the eastern side of this block there is a veterinary research laboratory and also 

what looks like a large private house, Thorndale House which presumably did not form part of the 

school’s land. Equally however, it is clear that the school had significant areas of land which did 

not immediately adjoin the school and it seems likely the Christian Brothers had land on the other 

side of Kilmore Road/Skellys Lane. 



3.3 Main Building 



The most important single building on the site was the main building which was constructed shortly 

after 1870 and which still remains today. The front facade which faces towards the Malahide Road 

                                                               ¸ 

is shown in the current photograph 1 and it will be seen that the building consists of three storeys 

with four storeys in the central section and in addition to this, there is a basement on the left hand 

side as one looks at the building. This can be seen in photograph 2 which shows the western end 

and also in photograph 3. Photograph 4 shows a view looking towards the left of the main building 

where the workshops used to be. These have now been replaced by what appears to be a modern 

gym or sports hall. Photographs 5 and 6 show the eastern end of the building, with the Chapel 

and refectory behind this. Photograph 7 shows a view of the current entrance into St David’s CBS 

School, which runs beside the Chapel along the line of the original route through the farmyard 

from  the  Kilmore  Road  entrance.  Photograph  10  shows  a  view  of  the  main  building  from  the 

refectory, while photographs 11 to 15 inclusive, show the rear of the main building. It is understood 

that  some  works  have  taken  place  at  the  end  on  the  right  hand  side  of  photograph  12  and 

photographs 11, 12 and 14 in particular, show the remains of the annexe or extension that ran 

away from the main building and which was destroyed by fire in February 1969. 



The main building in about 1900 is shown in archive photographs 1 and 2 and it will be noted that 

the only apparent change is the addition of a pedestal and cross at the top of the central four 

storey section. Archive photograph 4 shows the relationship of the main building with the Chapel 

and the residence or monastery and this apparently was taken about 1950. Photograph 7 on the 

other hand shows the rear of the main building with the extension at the rear clearly visible on the 

left hand side of this photograph, which was obviously taken from the playing fields, which in turn 

were separated from the buildings by a high wall. Photograph 8 shows the rear annexe after the 

fire in 1969, when the damaged section was obviously demolished and removed. Finally, the main 

building is clearly visible in aerial photograph 1 and also in aerial photograph 2. Both of these 

were taken prior to the destruction of the rear section but aerial photograph 1 was taken after the 

removal of the classrooms which apparently occurred in the early 1960s. 



The overall dimensions of the main building and in particular the front rectangular section was 

113m x 15m. While it has been possible to obtain some drawings showing the arrangement of 

the building in 1990 the most informative sketch is the one included at map 4 which was prepared 

in 1944. This does not show the basement which apparently consisted of five storerooms but it 

does show the layout of the other three floors above it together with the fourth storey above the 

central section. It will be seen that the projecting block at the rear was in fact two storeys and 

interconnected with the main building at both levels. The lower section of this contained a theatre, 

while  the upper  floor was  dormitory five.  There were  four other  dormitories and  these were  all 

located at the first and second floor of the front section of the main building and in all cases these 

extended from the front to the back of the block. At ground floor level there was what is referred 

to as the long hall or exhibition hall at the rear of the section running the full length of the building 

and in front of this on the left hand side was the concert room, while on the right hand side was 

the knitting school which was also known as the juvenile workshop. 



It will be seen from the sketch that access into the building was via a stairs located towards the 

rear of the  main section where it  met the projecting block.  It appears there were  two flights of 

stairs at this location and these were carried up via a landing at first floor level between dormitories 



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three and four to the second floor and from there, the stairs continued up to the third floor which 

according to the sketch contained seven individual bedrooms for Christian Brothers. It should be 

noted, that there was another main stairs within the building located at the right hand end but this 

was  not  used  by  the  boys,  probably  because  its  location,  at  one  end  of  the  building  was  far 

removed from what must have been the main thoroughfare through the building. 



The sketch also shows various storerooms and boot rooms at the upper level as well as some 

smaller rooms at ground floor level described as classroom, band room and book room. There is 

no reference to bathroom facilities on the sketch but it is understood there were some at either 

end of the building on the upper two floors. In a questionnaire apparently completed in 1947, there 

is reference to ten lavatories, 251 washbasins and four baths as well as 50 shower baths. 



The dimensions of various rooms and areas within the main building have been given in various 

documentation and are summarised in table 1 below. 



                                     Table 1 – Areas in Main Building 



              Location                       Dimensions L x W x H                         Comments 



            Exhibition hall                            90 x 6 



            Concert room                               30 x 9 



            Knitting school                            30 x 9 



               Theatre                             37 x 13 x 12                   Capacity for 1300 persons. 



          Dormitories 1 to 4                        30 x 15 x 6                   172 boys in each dormitory. 

                                                                                         2.6m2  per boy. 



             Dormitory 5                            25 x 13 x 6                  Younger boys’ dormitory. 142 

                                                                               boys or 2.1m2   per boy. Solid fuel 



                                                                                         central heating 



Two of the dormitories are shown in the archive photographs 23 and 24. Photograph 23 almost 

certainly shows either dormitory one or two. However, this is unlikely in that the window shape is 

much more consistent with the front section of the main building. The roof structure consists of 

steel trusses, which appear to have been widely used in all of the Artane buildings. The other 

feature in this photograph is what appears to be a room in the left rear corner which presumably 

was  for  the  Christian  Brother  who  slept  in  the  dormitory.  Photograph  24  shows  one  of  the 

dormitories at first floor level and thus is either three or four. The photograph shows a series of 

cast-iron columns running the length of the room and these are slightly closer to the left hand wall 

rather than the right hand one. From looking at the drawings prepared in 1990 this would imply 

that  the  wall  on  the  right  hand  side  is  the  front  and  that  this  photograph  is  of  dormitory  three. 

Photograph 23 is similar to the one in the 1904 Annual and dates from that period. There is no 

date on photograph 24 but it may also date from the turn of the century. In each case it will be 

seen that similar beds have been used and these are arranged in ten rows. 



Archive photograph 25 shows the juvenile room or knitting school. The light appears to be coming 

from the left which would imply that the windows on the right give on to the exhibition hall and it 

also  seems  likely  that  this  photograph  dates  from  the  1904  Annual.  The  concert  hall  or  music 

room is shown in photograph 41 and is a large rectangular room ornately decorated with an organ 

on a raised platform at one end and a number of grand pianos around the walls. It appears the 

organ was no longer there in the 1950/1960s. Finally, photograph 42 shows the exhibition hall or 

museum hall showing a long, wide hallway with glass exhibition cases on either side. 



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3.4 Classrooms/Refectory/Gymnasium 



Both the classrooms and the refectory had been constructed at the time the 1904 Annual was 

published. The boys’ kitchen was located behind the refectory and in 1905, when the Annual was 

apparently published a new laundry was under construction. In addition to the above, the Annual 

speaks  of  a  bathroom  which  apparently  contained  52  shower  cubicles  and  which  was  located 

close to the laundry and the classrooms. 



The 1904 Annual describes 11 classrooms and these were constructed in a single storey building 

with access into each one from the outside with an indication of this given in archive photograph 

no 9. Immediately behind the classrooms, was what is sometimes referred to as the long hall or 

alternatively  the  recreation  hall  and  which  appears  to  have  been  a  single  storey  pitched  roof 

building. The 1947 Form A, questionnaire speaks of 12 classrooms and gives the size of ten of 

them as 12m x 9m x about 3.5m high while there were two smaller rooms. That document says 

that there was central heating provided and each of the ten big rooms accommodated 70 boys 

with 40 in the smaller of the other two rooms and 60 in the final room. No further information is 

available  on  the  construction  of  the  classrooms  but  interestingly,  the  1904  Annual  says  ‘the 

building itself is not in keeping with most of the other departments of the Institution. In fact it was 

hurriedly erected to meet a pressing want’. The Annual then goes on to say ‘further Classrooms 

are required and are to be constructed as soon as funds are available’. 



The original classrooms appear to have continued in existence until they were demolished in the 

early 1960s when classrooms were arranged in the main building. There were proposals advanced 

in the 1940s to replace the classrooms and in the mid-1950s both the Christian Brothers and the 

Department of Education recognised that the classrooms were in very poor condition. Writing in 

May 1955, the Christian Brothers stated that it was imperative to provide 20 new classrooms as 

the old school building was in a ‘dangerous condition’ and had been condemned some 40 years 

previously. Writing in January 1956, the Department of Education described the classrooms as 

unsuitable and structurally unsound with ‘the main walls are bulging badly, the roof leaks and the 

woodwork  with  the  exception  of  the  floors  is  in  poor  condition’.  The  letter  goes  on  to  describe 

each of the classrooms as being entered directly from the playground without corridors or porches 

and the ventilation by means of the south facing windows as unsuitable with the only secondary 

ventilation being provided by high level windows opening into what is described as ‘an old derelict 

building which adjoins the school on the north side’. This is obviously the long hall or recreation 

hall described previously and which presumably had fallen into disuse by that time. 



The refectory was also located in a single storey rectangular shaped building and it was placed 

at  right  angles  to  the  classrooms.  The  building  still  exists  as  shown  in  the  current  series  of 

photographs no. 8 while it is also shown in the archive photographs 9 and 11. Its dimensions are 

given as 61m x 15m and the interior of it is shown in photographs 17 and 18 both of which predate 

1960  with  the  latter  showing  the  open  truss  roof.  The  1904  Annual  speaks  of  the  room  being 

arranged with 40 tables each to accommodate 20 boys with a passage of approximately 2m at 

the  side  walls  and  2.4m  in  the  centre  of  the  room  as  shown  in  photograph  17.  The  refectory 

continued in use over the life of the institution and in May 1955, the Christian Brothers described 

the kitchen and dining hall as ‘very antiquated’ and in need of improvement. The kitchen and the 

dining hall were refurbished in the early 1960s and this included a new roof/ceiling in the dining 

hall. In addition, the dining hall was provided with a new floor in 1941 and central heating in 1949. 



The 1904 Annual describes a new laundry approaching completion beside the boys’ kitchen and 

the bathroom and it goes on to speak of the location being economical because of the one set of 

boilers  being  used  to  supply  steam  for  baths,  cooking  and  laundry.  No  further  information  is 

available on the laundry but presumably this continued in existence at this location over the life of 

the institution. The bathroom or shower room is described in the 1904 Annual as being 22.5m x 

6m and it apparently contained 52 shower cubicles. Apparently adjoining the bathroom there was 



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a large clothes store. In addition, the entrance to the bathroom is described as two doors through 

the recreation hall or long hall. 



Archive photograph 4 shows that by 1904 there was an open sided structure in the yard to facilitate 

physical  exercise  out  of  the  elements.  This  is  also  shown  in  archive  photograph  1  and  it  was 

replaced in 1950 by a similar open sided structure shown in aerial photograph no. 3. This in turn 

was replaced about 1964 by the games hall shown in aerial photograph no. 1 and also in archive 

photograph no. 10. This building comprised of a large play area enclosed on three sides as well 

as a large indoor games room. 



3.5 Farm Buildings/Infirmary 



The farm buildings are described in the 1904 Annual and are shown to some extent in the right 

hand side of aerial photograph 2 and in somewhat further detail in aerial photograph 4. In essence, 

the  buildings  consisted  of  a  quadrangle  divided  in  two  by  means  of  the  rear  access  roadway 

leading to the Kilmore Road, as can be seen in the archive photograph 1. It will be seen that there 

were a number of hay sheds on one side and in addition, this area contained a potato house and 

a tractor shed while the other side shown in archive photograph no. 13 contained a cattle shed, 

a piggery, stables and a garage. There was also a store for lawnmowers and an apple house. 

The  1904 Annual  says the  farm buildings  were high  quality and  very up-to-date  and the  cattle 

shed was capable of accommodating 40 cows who supplied milk to the institution. The Annual 

also refers to a slaughter house as well as a piggery on an out farm capable of holding over 100 

pigs. The approach to the farm yard from the main building heading towards the Kilmore Road is 

shown in photograph 39. 



The 1904 Annual also refers to a poultry farm which had been installed to the most modern design 

prepared  by  a  firm  Fletcher  and  Phillipson.  It  appears  the  poultry  farm  was  just  south  of  the 

infirmary and covered about three to four acres (about 1.5 hectares). The hen runs are shown in 

photograph 40. 



The  infirmary  is  shown  in  archive  photograph  12  and  was  located  close  to  the  Kilmore  Road 

entrance. Photographs 19, 20 and 21 show some detail of the interior of the building with the latter 

of these being taken in the late 1960s. The earlier two photographs were both described as about 

1930 but in fact 19 is very similar to the one in the 1904 Annual and in any event appears to show 

the same room as in photograph 20. It will be noted that photographs 19 and 20 show the same 

type  of  bed  in  use  in  the  dormitories  and  shown  in  photographs  23  and  24.  The  beds  have 

obviously been changed in photograph 21. 



3.6 Chapel/Monastery 



The  Chapel  and  monastery  or  residence  were  grouped  together  but  on  opposite  sides  of  the 

access leading from the Kilmore Road entrance. The Chapel is still in existence as shown in the 

current photographs 6 and 7, although disused and in poor condition. The interior of the Chapel 

in 1904 is shown in archive photograph 15 and the Annual speaks of it having a capacity for 900. 

The Chapel was heated by hot air and the internal decorations were carried out by the school’s 

pupils under the direction of the foreman. 



The monastery or residence consisted of two separate but adjacent buildings. The arrangement 

of  these  two  buildings  and  the  position  relative  to  the  Chapel  is  shown  quite  clearly  in  aerial 

photograph 1 and they are also shown to some extent in the archive photographs 4, 5, and 6. It 

appears  that  the  two  buildings  taken  together  provided  living  accommodation,  dining  facilities, 

bedroom and washroom facilities for the religious Community as well as offices for the senior staff 

of the school. It is clear from the 1904 Annual that the building on the right hand side of aerial 

photograph 1 was constructed during the initial development of the school, while the larger building 



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to the left was added later. It is in existence in the Ordnance Survey map of 1936. As far as can 

be ascertained, this is the only significant new building provided on the site after 1904. 



3.7 Workshops 



The workshops were located to the left hand side of the main building as shown in map 3 and 

they consisted of a string or terrace of buildings both one and two storeys high running alongside 

the  laneway     leading   down    to  the   Malahide    Road.    This   arrangement     is  shown    in  archive 

photograph 1 taken from the 1904 Annual and also in photograph 38. The building on the southern 

side or that nearest to the Malahide Road was originally the power house but was subsequently 

converted into a fitter’s workshop or general maintenance shop in the early 1950s. At the far end 

nearest to the main building there were stores for coal and timber and working down from that 

the next building was originally the bakery but was subsequently converted to a store. In addition 

to this, the workshops provided for the weavers in the single storey buildings in photograph 38. 

After that the two storey terraced building in the same photograph contained the carpenters, the 

tailors, the boot makers, the painters and tinsmiths. The series of archive photographs 26 to 37 

inclusive shows various trade shops with many of these photographs going back to the early years 

of the 20th  Century. 



The 1904 Annual gives the numbers involved in the various trades as follows: 



                    Cabinet making                                                   14 



                  Painting/Decoration                                             8 to 10 



                        Carpentry                                                 10 to 12 



                        Weaving                                                       8 



                 Cart and wheelwrights                                            10 to 12 



                  Tinsmiths/Plumbing                                                 12 



                        Tailoring                                                 50 to 60 



                          Fitters                                                    6 



                      Shoemaking                                                  45 to 50 



                    Flour mill/Bakery                                                20 



                    Harness making                                                   12 



                          Forge                                                      10 



                       Farm work                                                     80 



                       Gardening                                                     12 



In addition, the numbers working in the juvenile workroom were 140. 



In October 1946, when the Department Inspector, Mr Hackett visited to discuss the education of 

the  boys the  numbers  involved  in the  various  trades and  the  tradesmen  instructing them  were 

noted as follows: 



                                                       Boys                              Tradesmen 



               Weaving                                  24                                     2 



               Tailoring                                54                                     2 



             Bootmaking                                 41                                     2 



         Baking and milling                              9                                     2 



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                                                     Boys                             Tradesmen 



             Carpentry                                 6                                    1 



             Cartwrights                              14                                    2 



             Smith work                                5                                    1 



               Fitters                                 7                                    1 



              Tinsmiths                                7                                    1 



         Painting/Decoration                          10                                    1 



            Hairdressing                               3                                    1 



             Gardening                                12                                    1 



             Farm work                                60                                    7 



3.8 Services 



The school apparently was connected to the ESB grid in 1936 but for more than 20 years prior to 

that  it had  its own    electricity generation   plant  located   at  one  end   of  the  workshops.    After 

connection to the ESB grid in 1936 one of the two engines in this was retained to provide stand by 

power in the event of failure. In 1952 the old power house was converted into a fitter’s workshop. 



It appears the institution was connected to Dublin Corporation water mains from early on in its 

life, since the 1904 Annual refers to water being taken from the Vartry mains. 



It appears the school was only connected to the Dublin Corporation main sewer in the late 1940s. 

In the 1947 questionnaire it is stated that there were 60 lavatories (dry) and 60 urinals and these 

were located behind the handball alley shown in aerial photograph 3. In the same questionnaire 

there is a comment in capital letters to the effect ‘no change for the past 70 years’. These toilet 

facilities gave rise to correspondence between the Christian Brothers and the Department in the 

1940s and in addition, a former pupil wrote a number of letters of complaint. Eventually, in the 

late 1940s these toilets were replaced with what is described in the January 1956 letter from the 

Department of Education as an ‘open air sanitary block in the playground’. 



Survey  reports  carried  out  in  1944  and  in  1947  refer  to  central  heating  based  on  coke  in  the 

smaller dormitory, number five but not it appears in the other four dormitories. There was also 

central heating at that time in the classrooms. In 1949 central heating was provided in the refectory 

while  in  1954  storage  heaters  were  provided  in  the  dormitories.  In  1962/63  it  appears  central 

heating  was  provided  throughout  the  main  building  and  replaced  the  storage  heaters  in  the 

dormitories.  At  the  same  time  it  also  served  the  new  classrooms  as  well  as  the  theatre  and 

band room. 



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Appendix No 1: Maps/Drawings 



Map  No  1:  Extract  from  current  Ordnance  Survey  Dublin  Street  Map.  This  shows  the  general 

location with the main building now marked with the word ‘School’ located between Rockfield Park 

and St David’s Wood. 



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Map No 2: This is an extract from the 1936 Ordnance Survey maps. It shows the Artane buildings 

to the west of the Malahide Road which runs diagonally across the lower right hand corner of the 

map.  The  site  is  bounded  by  Kilmore  Road  which  turns  and  runs  due  north  and  which  also 

continues more or less west as Skellys Lane. It is also possible to make out Collins Avenue with 

very little development along it and in addition it will be noted Beaumont Road runs from Collins 

Avenue at Puckstown Cottages and heads generally towards Beaumont Convalescent Home at 

the top of the map which is now the Site of Beaumont Hospital. It will be noted that Beaumont 

Road does not connect with Skellys Lane. 



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Map No 3: This is a blow-up of the previous map with the main buildings being identified by the 

names added. 



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Map No 4: This is a sketch of the main building and annexe at the rear prepared in 1944, showing 

the layout and arrangement of the main rooms. 



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Appendix No 2: Aerial Photographs 



Photograph  No  1:  This  is  an  aerial  photograph  showing  the  main  building  together  with  the 

Chapel and the Community House to the right of this. The date of the photograph is unknown but 

the fact that the annexe at the rear of the main building is still present means it was taken before 

1969. It is possible to make out some of the workshops immediately to the left of the main building 

while the playing fields to the rear of it are also visible as the changing rooms along the hedge. 

The Chapel is also clearly visible to the right of the main building and just in front of this are the 

two  buildings  making  up  the  Community  House.  Behind  the  Chapel  the  classroom  block  has 

obviously been demolished and replaced with a more modern structure. Finally, the layout of the 

school  yard and  paths running  to a  central point  is clearly  visible. This  pattern was  apparently 

referred to by the pupils as the ‘Union Jack’. 



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Photograph  No  2; The  date  of  this  photograph  is  also  unknown  but  it  is  clearly  of  an  earlier 

vintage than  the previous one. The  photograph again clearly  shows the main building  with the 

Community House/Chapel to the right of this and it is possible to make out some of the workshops 

to the left of the main building. The playing fields and the changing room are again clearly visible 

but the classroom block was in position when the photograph was taken. In addition, it is possible 

to make out the handball alley as well as the open shed running from the classroom block to the 

Chapel. Finally, it is possible to make out the farmyard on the right edge of the photograph. 



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Photograph  No  3: This  is  a  blow-up  of  the  previous  photograph  showing  details  of  the  main 

building together with the Community House and the Chapel to the right of this and the school- 

yard and playing pitches behind this. 



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Appendix No 3: Current Photographs 

This is a series of photographs taken during the visit to the school on 2nd  September 2005. Each 



of the photographs is described and referred to in the text and thus the detail need not be repeated 

at this point. The photographs show the three remaining buildings on the site, namely, the main 

building, the Chapel shown in photographs 6, 7 and 10 and, finally, the refectory which is shown 

in photograph no. 8. This has been converted and modernised and is now used for the teaching 

of music and it also serves as a base for the Artane Boys Band. 



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Appendix No 4: Archive Photographs 



This  series  of  42  photographs  was  chosen  from  a  set  of  digital  photographs  provided  by  the 

Christian Brothers. The age of the photographs varies with some dating back to the 1904 Annual 

while others are much more recent. In several cases the photographs were actually used in the 

1904 Annual and this is signified by the date given in the description. It is not intended to repeat 

the description of each of the photographs at this point since they are referred to in further detail 

in the text. In general, the photographs have been arranged to show the outside of the buildings 

initially as in photographs 1 to 14 inclusive. Finally, the photographs from 25 to 42 are intended 

to show the use of various rooms and in particular the trades shops. 



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           Chapter 8 



           Letterfrack Industrial School 

           (‘Letterfrack’), 1885–1974 



           Introduction 



           Establishment of Letterfrack 



8.01       Letterfrack is a village situated in Connemara, Co Galway, more than 84 kilometres from Galway 

           city. A wealthy Quaker couple moved to Letterfrack from England in 1849 and bought a large tract 

           of land that they developed. Amongst the various improvements they made were the construction 

           of a large residence and a school for the children from the locality. In 1884 the property was sold 

           to the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr John McEvilly, who applied the proceeds of a legacy bequeathed 

           for charitable purposes. 



8.02       The Archbishop wrote to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Earl Spencer, shortly after the purchase, 

           suggesting that the property was ‘admirably suited for a boys’ industrial school so sadly needed 

           in that district’. 



8.03       The   Lord  Lieutenant    sought   advice   from   his officials on   the  matter   and  the  feedback    was 

           universally  against  the  proposal.  The  general  view  can  be  summed  up  in  the  following  extract 

           from a memorandum from one of his officials: 



                 In  a  wild  remote  district  like  Letterfrack  it  is  very  improbable  that  there  would  be  any 

                 genuine cases for committal, the children there do not beg. There is no one to beg from. 

                 They  all  have  settled  places  of  abode  –  they  live  with  their  parents;  are  not  found 

                 wandering,  and though  no  doubt very  poor,  are not  destitute:  they do  not  frequent the 

                 company  of  thieves  –  there  are  no  thieves  in  districts  like  Letterfrack  in  Ireland  –  the 

                 people are very poor but very honest. 



8.04       Furthermore, the  Lord Lieutenant was advised  that the number  of national schools in  the area 

           amply provided for the educational needs of the children. 



8.05       Despite  support  from  the  Inspector  of  Industrial  Schools,  Sir  John  Lentaigne,  the  Archbishop’s 

           application for  the establishment of an  industrial school in  Letterfrack was refused by  the Lord 

           Lieutenant. 



8.06       However, the Archbishop was not to be dissuaded and he continued to lobby the Lord Lieutenant. 

           His efforts eventually bore fruit, and a letter from the Vice Regal Lodge dated 11th            August 1885 



           stated: 



                 There are no doubt technical objections to the establishment of an Industrial School at 

                 Letterfrack: but after reading the papers through carefully I am satisfied that the general 

                 and moral reasons far outweigh the objections. 



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8.07       On 14th  November 1885 the Chief Secretary’s Office confirmed its sanction for the establishment 



           of an industrial school in Letterfrack certified for the reception of 75 boys to open ‘so soon after 

           the 1st  April next as the promoters of the school are in a position to satisfy the Inspector that the 



           buildings intended for the purpose are fit for the reception of children within the meaning of the 

           Industrial  School  Act’.  With  Sir  John  Lentaigne  already  on  board,  this  latter  stipulation  did  not 

           prove to be a stumbling block. 



8.08       The Archbishop entered into negotiations with the Christian Brothers regarding the management 

           of the School. There were fears that the low certification limit would discourage the Brothers from 

           agreeing to run the School. Incentives were offered to enhance the proposal. A lease of the lands 

           and premises was drawn up for a term of 999 years subject to an annual rent of £82.10s and 

           included  ‘about  45  statute  acres  of  good  land  in  the  village  of  Letterfrack  on  which  the  new 

           mansion  house,  extensive  farm  buildings,  and  about  12  or  14  well  constructed  cottages,  large 

           schools, police barracks and dispensary now stand’. A sizeable sum of money had been expended 

           on modernising the buildings, and the new Manager of the School would also be given extensive 

           grazing rights on adjoining land. Funds were also made available from the Archbishop to fund the 

           purchase of furniture, trades appliances and the construction of workshops. 



8.09       The  Christian  Brothers  agreed  to  manage  the  Institution,  and  extensive  plans  were  made  to 

           develop  the  property  into  an  industrial  school.  Included  in  their  plans  was  the  purchase  of  the 

           adjacent  land  over  which  the  Archbishop  had  promised  grazing  rights.  The  Government  was 

           concerned when it became aware of these plans and an internal memorandum dated 24th                    March 



           1886 stated that Sir Lentaigne should be officially notified that ‘the Government does not see its 

           way to any future extension to the numbers in the Letterfrack School’ and that the Brothers should 

           therefore be discouraged from expending large sums of money on the School. 



8.10       Whether  or  not  these  concerns  were  communicated  to  the  Christian  Brothers,  the  proposed 

           developments  proceeded.  The  Chief  Secretary  signed  the  certificate  for  St  Joseph’s  Industrial 

           School for the reception of 75 boys on 1st  April 1886. Building and refurbishment of the Institution 

           was completed in August 1887, and the school opened its doors on 12th             October 1887. 



8.11       In March 1889 the Resident Manager, Br Flood, applied for an increase in the certified number, 

           and any unease the Government previously had regarding the expansion of the School seemed 

           to have dissipated over the intervening three years, as a revised certificate was granted on 1st 



           April 1889 doubling the certified number to 150. 



8.12       Once  again,  in  1895,  an  application  was  made  for  an  increase  in  numbers.  Br  Slattery,  the 

           Manager, wrote in support of his application ‘the main building, shops and other accessories were 

           erected to accommodate 200 children to meet the requirements of this large populous district – 

           the poorest in all Ireland’. He was supported in his application by B. McAndrew, P.P., who also 

           wrote to the Chief Secretary: 



                 The outlay on the Building for 200 boys, partly made with borrowed money, has much 

                 crippled  the  resources  of  the  Brothers,  as  they  have  not  as  yet  been  allowed  the  full 

                 number  for  which  they  provided  accommodation,  and  which  would,  in  some  measure, 

                 recoup them. 



8.13       He went on to say that: 



                 the restriction of the number to just 150, bears no adequate proportion to the extent and 

                 intensity of the chronic destitution that prevails throughout Connemara. Surely, it will be 

                 a matter of great gratification and grateful remembrance if one of your first public acts of 

                 well-doing amongst us, will secure the blessing of a safe and salutary home for 50 more 

                 of the destitute little ones in the poorest part of Ireland. 



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 8.14      The Chief Secretary was not willing to oblige, and refused to increase the certified number. 



 8.15      In  November  1912  the  accommodation  limit  was  increased  to  190,  with  the  certified  number 

           remaining     at  150   boys.   This   latter figure   was   increased     in  July  1931    to  165,   with  the 

           accommodation limit remaining at 190. 



 8.16      What is particularly noteworthy about the inception of Letterfrack Industrial School is that, despite 

           the  prevailing  view  that,  first,  there  was  no  demand  for  an  industrial  school  in  this  part  of  the 

           country and, secondly, that the location was entirely unsuitable, the Archbishop brought sufficient 

           pressure  to  bear  that  these  persuasive  grounds  for  objection  were  reduced  to  mere  technical 

           difficulties. However, the reasons against establishing an industrial school in Letterfrack haunted 

           the School throughout its life and eventually contributed to its closure in 1974. 



 8.17      St Joseph’s Industrial School, like all other residential schools of that time, provided care for ‘large 

           numbers of children living together’. The main building was an inverted L-shaped structure. The 

           ground floor housed the classrooms, the boys’ dining room, their kitchen, scullery, laundry and 

           bathroom. There were two large dormitories for the boys on the first floor, each holding at least 

           80 beds. There was a third dormitory for a brief period when numbers were particularly high. By 

           the 1960s, with falling numbers, only one dormitory was utilised. The Brothers lived in a separate 

           monastery – the original manor house – beside the School. 



           Photographs and Plan of Letterfrack 



 8.18      The following photographs and plan of Letterfrack have been made available to the Committee: 



           Source: Lawrence Collection, National Photographic Archive,Temple Bar, Dublin (taken between 

           1870 and 1914). 



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Source: Congregation of Christian Brothers (taken in the early 1970s). 



Source: Congregation of Christian Brothers (1972) 



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8.19      The physical location of Letterfrack in remote Connemara created a very real sense of isolation, 

          felt by both the boys and the Brothers in the School. The surrounding region could not supply the 

           number of boys needed for the School, and most of the children sent there came from many miles 

          away. This created obvious difficulties for families wishing to visit their children. 



8.20      The isolated environment in Letterfrack nurtured an institutionalised culture separate from society 

          and other institutions. It also led to another unforeseen problem: those people who chose to abuse 

           boys physically and sexually were able to do so for longer periods of time, because they could 

          escape detection and punishment by reason of the isolated environment in which they operated. 

          These matters will be dealt with in detail in the sections that follow. 



          Management and administration 



8.21      2,819 boys passed through the doors of Letterfrack from its opening in 1887 to its closure in 1974. 

           Between    1940   and   1974,  1,356   boys   were   resident  there.  This   figure  excludes   voluntary 

          admissions which totalled 52 between 1935 and 1954. The following table shows the number of 

          children detained for each year between 1937 and 1973: 



                     Year             Number of children                      Year             Number of children 

                                        under detention                                          under detention 



                      1937                     125                             1955                     91 

                      1938                     130                             1956                     86 

                      1939                     122                             1957                     101 

                      1940                     140                             1958                     98 

                      1941                     160                             1959                     108 

                      1942                     171                             1960                     111 

                      1943                     150                             1961                     115 

                      1944                     159                             1962                     128 

                      1945                     168                             1963                     112 

                      1946                     166                             1964                     114 

                      1947                     151                             1965                     100 

                      1948                     142                             1966                     111 

                      1949                     154                             1967                     129 

                      1950                     184                             1968                     111 

                      1951                     157                             1969                     93 

                      1952                     158                          1970–71                     101 

                      1953                     144                          1971–72                     73 

                      1954                     147                          1972–73                     41 



8.22       From the outset, there was pressure to increase the certified numbers of boys in Letterfrack in 

          order to make it a financially viable project. The Institution was large and the Brothers needed the 

           maximum number of boys in residence. As noted above, the certified number was very quickly 

          doubled, from the original certified limit of 75 in 1886, to 150 in 1889. The School could officially 

          accommodate 190 from 1912. 



8.23      The authorities struggled to meet this number throughout the years. Even during the emergency 

          years of World War II, numbers did not reach the accommodation limit. There was an increase in 

           numbers  during  these  years  in  all  industrial  schools,  largely  due  to  the  more  difficult  social 

          conditions, combined with a policy of removing potentially problematic children from the streets. 



8.24      The Christian Brothers stated in their Opening Statement to the Commission: 



                At local level the day to day management of Letterfrack institution, in accordance with the 

                 Rules  and   Regulations   for  Industrial Schools   was   the  responsibility  of the  Resident 

                 Manager. The Resident Manager was appointed by the Irish Provincial Council up to 1956 

                and by the Provincial Council of St. Mary’s Province, Ireland from 1956–1974. The period 



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                  1938 to 1974 saw nine Resident Managers in Letterfrack, the terms of office ranging from 

                  one to six years with an average term of office of five years. During the relevant period 

                  each Resident Manager had between seven and ten Brothers under his control. Between 

                  3 and 5 Brothers were on the teaching staff and there was a Brother who acted as bursar, 

                  an office Brother, a kitchen Brother and a Brother who worked on the farm. For most of 

                  the  relevant  period  there  were  between  fourteen  and  twenty  lay  staff  employed  in  the 

                  various trade shops, on the farm or as domestic staff. 



8.25       The Resident Manager was also the Superior of the Community and had to perform these dual 

           roles without any training or guidance. 



8.26       In his report on Letterfrack commissioned by the Congregation in 2001, Mr Dunleavy BL identified 

           the lack of any management structure: 



                  In  the  course  of  interviews  with  Christian  Brothers  who  had  previously  worked  in  the 

                  school, the evidence was that the Brother acting as Resident Manager of the school had 

                  complete powers with regard to the running of the school. There appears to have been a 

                  weekly Community conference in the school but this seems to have been an occasion 

                  when directions were given to the Community, rather than any proper discussion taking 

                  place regarding the running of the school.1 



           The changing face of Letterfrack 



8.27       Until 1954, Letterfrack was home to three categories of boys: those who were committed through 

           the courts because they were homeless, without proper guardianship, destitute, in breach of the 

           School Attendance Act or guilty of criminal offences; those sent by the Local Authorities pursuant 

           to  the  Public   Assistance     Act  1949;   and   boys   who    were   voluntarily   admitted    by  parents   or 

           guardians. 



8.28       On  12th   January  1954  the  Provincial  Council,  led  by  Br  O’Hanlon,2        met  with  the  six  Resident 



           Managers of the Christian Brothers’ schools. A decision was taken to close one of their schools 

           because of the deteriorating financial position of the industrial schools, mainly attributed to falling 

           numbers,  which  had  resulted  in  a  decline  in  income.  Carriglea,  situated  in  Dun  Laoghaire,  Co 

           Dublin, was nominated for closure because it was the most suitable for use as a juniorate for the 

           Congregation.      A  unanimous      decision   was   also   taken   at  the  meeting    to  segregate    ‘juvenile 

           delinquents’ from other categories of boys and locate them all at Letterfrack, and it was felt that 

           the closure of Carriglea would provide an ideal opportunity to put this plan into effect. 



8.29       There was  opposition to this proposal  from the Departments  of Justice and Education  and the 

           Judiciary. A meeting was convened on 14th            May 1954, attended by Br O’Hanlon, District Justice 



           McCarthy, who presided over the Dublin Metropolitan Children’s Court, and representatives of the 

           Department of Education. District Justice McCarthy indicated that he had grave concerns about 

           the isolated location of Letterfrack, which made it unsuitable, in his view, as a school for young 

           offenders.  However,  his  protest  fell  on  deaf  ears.  So,  too,  did  a  protest  from  District  Justice 

           Gleeson, who also pointed out the difficulties that would be caused by Letterfrack’s remoteness. 



8.30       The majority of the children in Letterfrack were from Dublin and Leinster. The percentage rose 

           from 56% in the 1950s to 76% in the 1960s. These children would have been better served by 

           the  retention  of  Carriglea  as  an  industrial  school,  where  they  could  have  had  more  access  to 

           parents and siblings. 



           1  Letterfrack Industrial School, Report on archival material held at Cluain Mhuire, by Bernard Dunleavy BL (2001). 

           2  This is a pseudonym. 



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8.31       The Provincial Council decided that all of the Public Assistance cases and ‘as many of the other 

           boys  who  are  in  the  school  through  no  fault  of  their  own  as  would  leave  the  number  of  non- 

           transferred boys at 85’ should be relocated from Letterfrack. This number represented the lowest 

           number of boys that would enable the school to remain economically viable. 



8.32       The  Department  of  Education  wrote  to  the  relevant  authorities,  including  the  Departments  of 

           Health and Justice, District Justice McCarthy and the NSPCC, informing them of the decision of 

           the Christian Brothers. They were informed that boys who had been convicted of offences would 

           no longer be accepted in Artane, Salthill, Tralee or Glin. 



8.33       On 30th  June 1954 there were 179 boys resident in Letterfrack. On 2nd  September 1954, 80 boys 



           were transferred to other industrial schools, and 14 were released on supervision certificate. The 

           80 boys were distributed to Salthill, Artane and Kilkenny. On 30th  September 1954 the Department 



           of Education records show there were 87 boys resident in Letterfrack. 



8.34       The Christian Brothers submitted in their Opening Statement that the Brothers were prepared to 

           make  this  proposal,  even  though  it  meant  a  significant  drop  in  numbers  in  Letterfrack  and, 

           consequently, an appreciable loss of income because of the decreased per capita payment. They 

           felt  the  separation  was  in  the  best  interests  of  the  boys,  even  though  the  School  would  suffer 

           economically. 



8.35       There  may  have  been  other  reasons  apart  from  the  best  interests  of  the  boys  for  making  this 

           decision.  As  the  scourge    of tuberculosis   came    under   control,  and  the  health  of  the  nation 

           improved, there were fewer orphans. Increasingly, neglected children were being sent to foster- 

           parents or relatives, and fewer were being placed in institutions. Also, the birth rate was beginning 

           to fall and fewer children were becoming destitute. On the other hand, more children were being 

           convicted  of  larceny,  housebreaking,  malicious  damage,  arson,  burglary,  theft  and  assault,  an 

           increase already evident by 1953. With numbers in general dropping, it made sense to have a 

           specialist institution for the one area of the child population that was increasing. Despite the very 

           real concerns expressed by Judges who presided over the Children’s Court in Dublin and Limerick, 

           and the slightly more defeatist attempts at opposition demonstrated by the Departments of Justice 

           and   Education,   there   was   no  evidence    to  suggest    that the   Christian  Brothers    gave   any 

           consideration to the impact their decision had on the children in their care. 



8.36       What this scenario also demonstrated was that, while the Department of Education funded the 

           industrial and reformatory schools and carried out periodic inspections of schools, these schools 

           were in reality controlled by the Congregations that ran them, and it mattered little the level of 

           opposition,  or  indeed  who  might  be  opposing  any  changes  the  Congregation  proposed  –  their 

           decision in the matter was final. 



8.37       This decision had serious consequences for the boys in Letterfrack. The School had been reduced 

           to a number that was not economically viable and this impacted on the level of care these boys 

           received until Letterfrack closed in 1974. To survive, Letterfrack had to continue taking children 

           who were destitute or in breach of the School Attendance Act, but these were now in a minority 

           in the School. 



8.38       The full implications of this decision are discussed below. 



           Closure of Letterfrack 

8.39       On  28th September  1965 the  Minister for  Education met  the Provincials  from St  Mary’s and  St 



           Helen’s Provinces, Br Mulholland and Br O Muimhneachain, together with representatives from 

           Upton and Clonmel Industrial Schools. The meeting was convened to discuss the closure of some 

           of the industrial schools. Br Mulholland stated that he would prefer to close Letterfrack rather than 



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           Salthill, as the latter comprised property held in trust, whereas the Brothers were free to put the 

           premises at Letterfrack to other use. In addition, he pointed out that, if another place of detention 

           was opened, this would act to further deplete numbers in Letterfrack. 



8.40       The  Department  received  written  confirmation  in  November  1965  from  the  Provincials  of  their 

           agreement to close Letterfrack. 



8.41       The Archbishop of Tuam, Reverend Joseph Walsh, when he was made aware of these plans by 

           the Department of Education, wrote an indignant letter dated 17th           March 1966 to Br Mulholland 



           registering his shock and disappointment at the news. He noted that the Christian Brothers had 

           spent at least £30,000 on the Institution between 1958 and 1966, and considered the decision to 

           close  the  School  as  unjust  in  the  circumstances.  In  his  view,  Letterfrack  was  one  school  that 

           should not be closed. It was an excellent school for delinquent boys, as they could not escape 

           easily because of its isolated location. He continued, ‘in fact I know that the boys like the place. 

           For many of them it is a pleasant change, and they are very happy’. He stated that he believed 

           that  the Brothers  were  being  treated most  unfairly  and were  not  receiving  the recognition  they 

           deserved for their work. 



8.42       The Archbishop was clearly under the impression that Letterfrack was being closed against the 

           wishes of the Brothers, and it seems that no attempt was made to rectify this misapprehension. 



8.43       The Provincials met the representatives of the Department of Education on 28th  March 1966. They 



           explained that the Archbishop was against the closure of the school and that they did not want to 

           go against his wishes. 



8.44       From  1st  July  1972,  Letterfrack  was  recognised  as  a  ‘special  school’  by  the  Department  of 



           Education, which resulted in an increase in the grant payable by the Department of Education. 



8.45       In 1973    the  Provincial  Council   decided    to close   Letterfrack.  The   only  information   available 

           regarding  the  reasons  for  the  decision  was  found  in  a  letter  dated  27th August  1974,  from  the 



           Secretary of the Department of Education to the Provincial of St Mary’s Province, thanking the 

           Brothers  for  their  devoted  work  in  Letterfrack.  In  the  course  of  the  letter  he  stated,  ‘we  well 

           understand also the reasons behind the decision of the Brothers to close the school – reasons 

           that  emanated  from  the  difficulties  of  employing  professional  services  in  a  place  so  remote  as 

           Letterfrack together with the doubt arising from having city boys in a school so far from home’. 

           Letterfrack closed on 30th   June 1974. 



           Investigation 



8.46       The  Investigation  Committee  conducted  hearings  in  public  and  private  sessions  into  abuse  in 

           Letterfrack. Br David Gibson, Provincial Leader of St Mary’s Province, gave evidence in a public 

           session on 16th   June 2005. His evidence was based on a detailed Opening Statement submitted 



           to the Commission in advance of the hearing. 



8.47       The   Investigation   Committee      then   proceeded     to  hear   evidence    from    complainants     and 

           respondents    in  private  hearings,   which   ran   from  17th  June   2005   to  20th  July  2005.   Forty 



           complainants were invited to give evidence to the Committee, and 25 did so. Fourteen respondent 

           witnesses gave evidence at the private sessions. 



8.48       In the third stage of the Investigation Committee’s inquiry into Letterfrack, a public hearing was 

           convened    on   22nd  May   2006,   and   Br  Gibson   once   again   gave   evidence    on  behalf   of the 



           Congregation. This session focused on issues that arose as a result of the private hearings into 

           Letterfrack and the documentary material furnished to the Commission. 



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8.49       In addition to oral evidence, the Committee considered documentary discovery material received 

                                                                                                                     ´ 

           from the Christian Brothers, the Department of Education and Science, An Garda Siochana, the 

                                                                                                               ´ 

           Director   of  Public  Prosecutions,     the  Archbishop     of  Tuam  and     the  Health  Service    Executive 

           (formerly the Western Health Board). 



8.50       The Investigation Committee received Submissions from the Christian Brothers and also received 

           written Submissions on behalf of a number of complainants and individual respondents. These 

           Submissions      were   made    following   the   oral  hearings   and   in  light of  this  evidence    and   the 

           documentary evidence which emerged during the course of the inquiry. 



8.51       The Christian Brothers made similar Submissions regarding Letterfrack as they made in relation 

           to other institutions. They made the following qualified concessions regarding the main areas of 

           contention that arose in relation to the investigation into Letterfrack: 



                  It is accepted that, unfortunately, instances of abuse did occur but it is submitted that the 

                  level of abuse was not in any way as extensive or as widespread as the allegations and 

                  much  of  the  surrounding  publicity  initially  would  have  suggested.  The  question  of  the 

                  nature, extent and responsibility for the abuse is a very complex one and not subject to 

                  easy determination. However, it is submitted that the evidence does not support a finding 

                 that the Congregation itself is responsible for abuse. 



                  It is further submitted that the occurrence of instances of sexual abuse should be viewed 

                  in the context of the secretive circumstances in which such abuse was perpetrated and 

                 the lack of contemporary insight into the recidivistic nature of paedophilia. 



           Physical abuse 



           Introduction 



8.52       This  part  of  the  report  comprises  three  sections  based  on  the  sources  of  evidence.  First,  the 

           documentary material obtained by the Investigation Committee pursuant to the legal process of 

           discovery    of  documents     was    analysed,    and   instances    of  physical   abuse    were   catalogued, 

           generally   in  chronological    order,   together   with   relevant   evidence    of  complainant    witnesses. 

           Second, the evidence at the Phase II hearings given by Brothers and former Brothers who served 

           in  Letterfrack  is  detailed,  again  with  complainant  testimony.  The  third  section  sets  out  further 

           reliable evidence of former residents. 



           Documented cases with evidence of victims and respondents 



8.53       The   Committee      received   documentary      evidence     in respect    of seven    cases    that  dealt  with 

           allegations of physical abuse by Brothers in Letterfrack. These cases gave an insight into how 

           allegations were dealt with by the Congregation. 



           Use of a horse whip (1940) 

8.54       On 8th  April 1940, the Sub-Superior of Letterfrack, Br Vernay,3           by-passed the Superior and wrote 



           a letter to the Provincial complaining about punishment in the School. 



                  The punishment of the boys in Letterfrack has for some time past been of such a character 

                 that without going into detail I feel constrained to call your attention to the matter. The 

                 thing has now become public property and the rehearsal of the acts are not creditable to 

                 the school nor to those concerned. The instruments used and the punishments inflicted 

                  are now obsolete even in criminal establishments. Were it not for the frequency of the 

                  acts I should not have troubled you. I expect that an insistence on the prescriptions of the 

                  Rule without further ado will go far towards putting matters right. I may mention that there 



           3  This is a pseudonym 



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                  are differences of opinion in the Community at the moment in respect of these punishment 

                  in which I do not wish to become involved. 



8.55       A member of the Provincial Council made a handwritten note on the letter that the Superior was 

           queried  on  10th   April  1940  on  the  practices  complained  of,  but  there  is  no  record  of  what  the 



           Superior said. Neither was the nature of the offensive punishments specified. 



8.56        It is clear from the letter that the Sub-Superior was concerned as follows: first, as to the fact that 

           the excessive and offensive punishments had been going on ‘for some time past’; secondly, the 

           matter was being discussed in public and thus causing discredit to the School and the Brothers; 

           thirdly, the instruments used and the punishments inflicted were, he thought, wholly inappropriate; 

           fourthly, he drew attention to divisions in the Community of Brothers about these punishments; 

           and fifthly, and most importantly, it was the frequency of the acts that had impelled him to write. 



8.57       A senior Brother in the Provincial team carried out the annual Visitation of the School in May. He 

           found that there was a cleavage between the Brothers in the Community, in which most of them 

           lined up on one side or the other and two sought to remain neutral. The source of the disharmony 

           was  the  punishment  of  a  number  of  boys  who  were  guilty  of  improper  conduct.  The  Superior 

           commissioned two Brothers to punish them and they did this as the boys were going to bed ‘using 

           a horsewhip rather freely’. Two Brothers and a teacher witnessed the punishment from a distance, 

           and one of the Brothers later characterised it as brutal and others agreed. The report went on: 



                  The  severe  punishment  was  a  subject  of  gossip  in  the  workshops  and  village.  The 

                  Superior realises that he acted imprudently in the matter and that the consequences might 

                  have  been  serious.  The  estrangement  that  followed  these  incidents  made  life  in  the 

                  Community unpleasant. Reconciliations have been effected and let us hope they will be 

                  lasting. 



8.58        Notwithstanding  the  reference  in  Br  Vernay’s  letter  to  the  Provincial  to  the  frequency  of  this 

           punishment, later in the report the Visitor said: 



                  Boys appear to be happy and contented and I was assured that outside the case of severe 

                  punishment alluded to above there has been no excessive punishment. 



8.59        Following the Visitation, Br Corben,4        the Provincial, wrote to the Superior outlining some of the 

           salient features of the report. He informed Br Troyes5  that the Superior General had written to the 



            Provincial on the subject, stating: 



                  One item of the Report is so serious that I confine my remarks to it. The Superior who 

                  permitted the punishment which the Law of the Congregation (Act 65 of Acts of General 

                  Chapter)  forbids  and  humanity  abhors  should  get  more  than a  mere  reprimand  ...  The 

                  reputation of the Congregation is at stake. A less offence in Prior Park6  was punished by 



                  fines,  imprisonment,      dismissal    of  the  Head    of  the   School,    and   an   order   from   the 

                  Government to close the School or to put it under new management. 



           4  This is a pseudonym. 

           5  This is a pseudonym. 

           6  Prior Park was a residential school run by the Christian Brothers near Bath, England. 



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8.60       The part of the Superior General’s letter that the Provincial omitted was: 



                 a secular body who would continue an official in office after allowing a law to be set aside 

                 to permit an offence which the common law punishes does not merit public confidence. I 

                 wish  you  to  discuss  in  Council  what  is  to  be  done  in  this  case  with  the  Superior  of 

                 Letterfrack. I think the offence should not be passed over. 



8.61       There was no record of any action being taken against the Superior of Letterfrack on the strength 

           of  this  suggestion,  and  he  remained  as  Manager  until  the  following  year  when  his  six-year 

           tenure expired. 



8.62       •    The Congregation was aware that excessive punishment of children could be unlawful. 

           •     The  Visitor  accepted  an  assurance  that  this  case  was  the  only  case  of  excessive 

                 punishment, although the Sub-Superior’s letter, written less than a month before the 

                 Visitation, stressed that his reason for writing was the frequency of the acts. 



           •    The Visitor did not look into the other matters of concern in the Sub-Superior’s letter, 

                 namely the duration, public knowledge, instruments used and nature of punishments. 



           •     The  recommendation  that  the  Brother  Superior  should  receive  ‘more  than  a  mere 

                 reprimand’ appears to have been ignored. 



           •     The  condition  of  the  children  who  had  been  brutally  horse-whipped  was  not  given 

                 consideration in the correspondence. 



           Br Leveret7    (1940) 



8.63       The Resident Manager had occasion later in the same year to return to the subject of excessive 

           corporal punishment with reference to one of the Brothers involved in the horsewhipping incident, 

           which had happened in April. He wrote to the Br Provincial in November 1940 and stated: 



                 At  a   Conference     on  the   resumption    of  school    business,   I  quoted    Rules   re  Corp 

                 Punishment, Sup Gen’s reference to my authorising “brutal punishment” during last term 

                 and  in  plain  words  I  forbade  certain  types  of  punishment.  I  stated  that,  in  future,  in 

                 presence of a third party, I would punish for any serious offence amongst the boys. Br 

                 Leveret has not adhered to the regulations. 



8.64       He referred to this Brother again in a subsequent letter: 



                 Punishment: a stick is the general instrument used and even with this he goes beyond 

                 the rule. I have seen recently a boy with swollen hand, palm and thumb, the steward on 

                 farm remarked he was not able to milk for some days. A boy was stripped and beaten in 

                 (Br Leveret’s) room. He has put boys across his bed in room and even in unbecoming 

                 postures to beat them behind. The boys are absolutely afraid to divulge who punished 

                 them and won’t even answer questions truthfully, through fear of being punished again. 

                 Only this week I got two little fellows crying and I asked them what happened. They would 

                 not tell me. 



8.65       The  subject  of  this  Brother’s  severity  with  the  boys  arose  in  correspondence  concerning  his 

           removal from the position of Disciplinarian. In a letter written in November 1940 to the Provincial, 

           the Brother said: 



                 Since I came to this house I have never punished a single boy severely except on the 

                 one occasion when I was ordered to do so by my Superior. This was the occasion when 

                 a number of big boys were involved in immorality. I explained the matter to [the Visitor] 

                 and he said that I did right in obeying my Superior. 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 Since  this  Conference  you  referred  to  and  for  months  before  it  I  have  not  punished  a 

                 single boy severely. I have, except on just a few occasions, used the leather at all times. 

                 On these few occasions when I had to give a slight punishment to a boy it was outside of 

                 school altogether and I had not got a leather on my person. Even then I never gave more 

                 than two slaps with an old piece of cane. In fact I have made it a rule for a long time back 

                 never to give more than one slap to a boy. I would be a most unreasonable Br were I to 

                 be severe to these poor boys who have obeyed and worked hard for me at all times. I 

                 know I have vexed the Superior a good many times because I did not punish the boys 

                 severely enough for his taste. He told me hundreds of times never to spare them. I will 

                 give you his own words in brackets. What are they but “illegitimates and pure dirt”. 



8.66       The Provincial’s reply, if any, is not available but he appears to have sided against him, as Br 

           Leveret was transferred to Salthill. The records of that Institution show that he was criticised for 

           using excessive punishment in that school, in 1949 and 1950. In 1950, his Superior complained 

           that he ‘had injured at least two boys when inflicting corporal punishment’. 



8.67       The Congregation’s comment was as follows: 



                 The  above  incident  demonstrates  well  how  the  Brothers  generally  did  not  approve  of 

                 severe  corporal  punishment.  Those  who  did  not  approve  were  courageous  enough  to 

                 speak out even though it meant having to live with the person against whom they spoke. 

                 The contention that those religious who did not abuse were culpable because they did 

                 not  “stand  in  the  way”  of  abuse  they  witnessed  does  not  stand  up  to  scrutiny.  When 

                 abuse  was known  to  a  Brother, the  documentation  indicates that  he  made  it known  to 

                 the authorities. 



8.68       •     This  case    is evidence     of  a  particular   feature   of  congregational      life, namely,    that 

                 complaints were more likely to be made when relations were poor in the Community 

                 or where some other issue was present. 



           •     The   management        saw   the   problem    in  this   case,   not  in  terms    of  the  cruel   and 

                 unauthorised punishment of the boys but rather the combination of insubordination 

                 by Br Leveret and poor inter-Community relations. 



           •    Transferring Br Leveret to Salthill, which was the way in which the problem was dealt 

                with, did nothing to reduce his propensity for violence in his dealings with boys. 



           •    The Rules and Regulations of the Congregation and of the Department of Education 

                 on  corporal  punishment  were  disregarded  by  Br  Leveret,  but  the  Superior  did  not 

                 enforce them, even in the knowledge that the Brother had frightened boys to the point 

                where they would not truthfully answer questions about him. 



           •    A matter deserving of investigation in itself was whether the Superior had described 

                 the boys as ‘illegitimates and pure dirt’, and the outcome ought to have been censure 

                 either  of  the  Superior  for  what  he  said  or  of  the  Brother  for  his  false  attribution  of 

                 offensive words. 



           Br Perryn8    (1941) 



8.69       Br Perryn was in Letterfrack for two periods totalling 19 years between 1913 and the early 1940s. 

           In  1941 he  was  discovered to  have  been  sexually abusing  the  boys in  his  charge. The  Visitor 

           noted: 



                 Boys whom I interviewed told me that they were afraid to reveal the malpractices through 

                 fear of Br Perryn. It is alleged that he beats them, kicks them, catches them by the throat 

                 etc. and uses them for immoral ends. 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.70       This was not the first complaint that had been made against Br Perryn in respect of his use of 

           excessive corporal punishment. In April 1917, the Sub-Superior of Letterfrack, Br Gardiner,9  wrote 



           to the Superior complaining of Br Perryn’s ‘notorious’ severity towards the boys: 



                  Last  Autumn  I  complained  of  Br  Perryn’s  harsh  and  cruel  treatment,  and  now  he  still 

                  continues along the same lines. About a month ago he took a boy out of bed at near 10 

                  o’clock at night and punished him in the lavatory in his night-shirt, and that because the 

                  boy took a pinch of salt out of the salt box on the table in the boy’s kitchen. About a week 

                  after he did the same to another boy who took a potato off the table in the boy’s kitchen 

                  and on last Thursday night, about 10 o’clock, he did the same to another boy for calling 

                  him names! In each case he acted on the report of another boy ... I stood and counted 

                  27 slaps given in the space of about five minutes to some juniors in the knitting room. He 

                  uses  a  rod  also  and  strikes  them  on  the  legs  and  I  have  been  told  uses  it  wildly  and 

                  wantonly as if for sport sometimes ... His severity in the knitting room is notorious – and 

                  the more so to be deplored as many of the young children are delicate and their hands 

                  are sore, chilblains being prevalent among them. 



8.71       Br  Perryn  remained  in  Letterfrack  for  two  years  after  this  letter  was  written  and  returned  eight 

           years later, where he continued his reign of terror until he was finally removed in 1941 because 

           of sexual abuse of boys. 



8.72       Noah Kitterick,10 who was detained in the school from 1924 to 1932, named this Brother in a letter 



           of complaint sent to the Superior in 1953, which is considered in more detail in the later section 

           on sexual abuse. 



8.73       The Congregation in its Opening Statement commented: 



                  It is difficult to explain how Br Perryn was reappointed to Letterfrack when he had been 

                  found to have been physically abusive during his first period in Letterfrack ... 



8.74       •     Br Perryn spent 14 years in Letterfrack on his second assignment there and, in addition 

                 to sexual abuse of boys, he was also violent and frightening to them. 



           •     If  the  Brothers  considered  what  Br  Perryn  had  done  to  the  boys  to  be  a  serious 

                 infraction,  they  would  have  responded  effectively  to  this  complaint  at  the  time  and 

                 thereby spared other children. 



           A black eye explained (1943) 



8.75       A Department of Education General Inspection was carried out on 31st                  August 1943. The report 

           noted that the health of the boys was very good and that the Resident Manager, Br Marcel11  was 



           kind and good to the boys. The Inspector did notice one case of a boy with a black eye and, on 

           inquiring  as  to  the  cause,  was  informed  that  it  was  the  result  of  a  blow  from  a  Brother.  The 

           Department of Education took the matter up with the Resident Manager: 



                  It appears, however, that she found one boy suffering from a black eye and was informed 

                  that it was the result of a blow from one of the Brothers for talking in class. The Minister 

                  would be glad to learn whether, this in fact, was the case and if so, I am to request you 

                  to forbid correction of this kind in future as it is both extremely dangerous and undesirable. 



           9  This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.76       Br Marcel replied that the black eye was the result of an accident. He explained the matter as 

           follows: 



                  The Resident Manager regrets the occurrence indicated and he has no doubt that there 

                  shall not be a recurrence of a like nature. The Brother while remonstrating with his class 

                  happened accidentally to strike the boy who stood behind him with his elbow in the face. 



8.77       In Phase III, Br Gibson was asked whether this seemed like a plausible explanation and he said: 



                  Well, it doesn’t, but I’m not going to judge. I mean you are talking about 60 years ago, so 

                  I just don’t know. It doesn’t sound plausible no, it doesn’t. 



8.78       •     The   Department       of  Education     properly     sought    an   explanation     for  the   injury   but 

                 accepted      without    further    question     a   manifestly     implausible      account     that   was 

                 inconsistent with what the Inspector had been told. This was one of many instances 

                 where the Department allowed the Institution itself to investigate complaints. The boy 

                 does not appear to have been questioned in the course of the investigation. 



           Br Maslin:12  Br Aubin’s13  complaint (1945) 



8.79       As the Visitor prepared to leave Letterfrack after his four-day inspection in April 1945, Br Aubin 

           wrote a hurried note to him. There had probably been a conversation between the Visitor and the 

           Brother, in which it was proposed that the complaint which Br Aubin wished to make should be put 

           in writing. The note described a serious disagreement between the writer and the Disciplinarian, Br 

           Maslin, concerning severe punishments that the latter had inflicted on boys. The circumstances 

           outlined  to  the  Visitor  were  revealing  of  different  aspects  of  life  in  the  Institution.  The  case  is 

           therefore important for a number of reasons. 



8.80       By way of background, the Visitation Report for the previous year recorded disharmony between 

           the two Brothers involved in this episode and also involving, to a lesser extent, other members of 

           the Letterfrack Community. 



8.81       The events related in the note are best listed in sequence: 



                   •    Br Aubin learned that a boy who was in charge of 15 or more other boys working on 

                        the farm ill-treated them by beating them severely with a leather. The boy had done 

                        this on three occasions. 



                   •    The  Brother  reported  the  matter  to  the  Disciplinarian,  Br  Maslin,  who  knew  about  it 

                        already. They decided that the boy should be punished ‘as he had not been allowed 

                        or told to punish these boys’. 



                   •    Br Aubin suggested informing the Superior but his colleague dismissed this. Br Maslin 

                        said  that  there  was  more  than  punishment  wrong  between this  boy  and  the  others, 

                        meaning sexual activity. On this the Brothers disagreed. 



                   •    A few days passed during which Br Aubin questioned the boy in charge and 13 of the 

                        others who were on the farm. He was satisfied that nothing more than the unauthorised 

                        punishment had taken place. 



                   •    On the next Sunday, Br Maslin meted out punishment to a boy, which left him with a 

                        swollen cheek, for allegedly allowing another boy into his bed or going into the other’s 

                        bed. The boy emphatically denied the charge. 



                   •    Later on that day, Br Maslin punished the farm boy in the surgery off the school, in the 

                        presence of Br Aubin who believed that the boy was innocent of immorality and that 

                        his only wrongdoing was unauthorised beatings of other boys. During the punishment, 



           12 This is a pseudonym. See also the Tralee chapter. 

           13 This is a pseudonym 



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                       Br Maslin accused the boy of carrying on immorally with the boys on the farm and he 

                       confessed – out of fear, as Br Aubin believed – and gave some 15 names of those 

                       with whom he had offended, including among them the 13 previously interviewed by 

                       Br Aubin and found innocent. Before he finished punishing the boy, the Disciplinarian 

                       sent  Br  Aubin  to  bring  back  the  boy  who  suffered  the  swollen  cheek  in  the  earlier 

                       beating and who was also on the farm at the material time. 



                  •   This boy was then accused of having oral sex with the boy in charge, which he denied, 

                       but he was nevertheless punished severely. 



                  •   The next day, Br Aubin spoke once more to the boy in charge on the farm, who assured 

                       him that none of what he had told Br Maslin was true and that he said what the Brother 

                       wanted him to say for fear of further punishment. 



                  •    Br Aubin went back to the farm boys he had previously interviewed and confirmed his 

                       view that there had been no immorality. 



                  •    Br Maslin remained convinced that he was right and refused to accompany Br Aubin 

                       to speak to the boys again. He declared his intention to punish all the boys who had 

                       not already been punished and, in addition, to punish the boy in charge for going back 

                       on his confession. 



                  •    Br Aubin told the Brothers who were in charge of the farm boys in the School and the 

                       dormitory, and they in turn inquired into the sexual allegations and rejected them. The 

                       Superior was informed at last. 



                  •    One of the School and dormitory Brothers recalled another previous unsubstantiated 

                       allegation by the Disciplinarian of sexual misconduct by a boy. 



                  •    The Visitor left a typewritten list of 22 recommendations with the Superior, including 

                       no. 9 with the underlined words added in handwriting: 



                    Manager to be present when punishment beyond the ordinary is being administered. 



8.82       Some other points in Br Aubin’s letter should be mentioned. 



8.83       Firstly, Br Aubin and the Disciplinarian were agreed that the boy temporarily in charge on the farm 

          was wrong because ‘he had not been allowed or told to punish’ the other boys. The implication 

          was that there could have been circumstances in which he would be authorised to do so. It may 

           be that too much should not be read into this, taking account of the rushed nature of the letter, 

           but the  distinct  impression   remains   that  it was   not  the fact  of punishment     in itself but the 

           punishment not having been authorised that was the real offence committed by the boy in charge. 



8.84       Secondly,  when  the  two  Brothers  were  discussing  the  sexual  allegation  involving  the  boy  in 

           charge, Br Aubin defended him by pointing out that ‘through all the morbid cases in the past his 

           name was never mentioned’. This was recognition of the scale of the problem of sexual activity 

           between boys in Letterfrack. 



8.85      Thirdly, the Disciplinarian turned down the suggestion that the Superior should be informed and 

           gave as one of his reasons that, when he took a case on a previous occasion to the Superior, the 

           latter did not believe the witnesses, and the boy accused of sexual misconduct went unpunished. 



8.86       Finally, the letter acknowledged that the Disciplinarian ‘can inflict terrible punishment on children 

           and the boys have a terrible dread of his anger’. 



8.87       Br Maslin was transferred to another industrial school, Carriglea, in January 1946. 



8.88      The Congregation’s Opening Statement commented on this case as follows: 



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                 Once again, the complaints were acted upon and the offending person taken out of the 

                 situation.  Why  he  was  transferred  to  Carriglea  in  1946  for  4  years,  and  later  to  day 

                 schools, is not known. 



8.89       Br Maslin was sent to Carriglea at a time when it had deteriorated into near anarchy due to the 

           ineffectiveness and incompetence of successive Resident Managers. The Congregation realised 

           that drastic measures were called for. Br Maslin continued his abusive practices in Carriglea when 

           he was transferred there. He was described by one complainant in Carriglea as the most feared 

           of the Brothers there. 



8.90       •    The problem  that the Congregation dealt  with in this case was  the dispute between 

                 two Brothers; it did not deal with the cruel or unjust treatment of the boys or the failure 

                 of management to protect them. 



           •    The contents of Br Aubin’s letter should have caused alarm to the Leadership of the 

                 Christian  Brothers.  If  what  he  said  was  true,  it  disclosed  a  very  serious  episode  of 

                 cruelty and injustice in Letterfrack. If what he said was not true, severe disciplinary 

                 action was called for against him. 



           •    There should have been an immediate investigation into Br Maslin’s extreme violence 

                 against    children    for  alleged    offences    that   were    denied    by   the  boys    and    were 

                 disbelieved by other Brothers. 



           •     The  case  illustrates  how  management  was  unable  to  deal  with  disputes  between 

                 Brothers, even though they had a knock-on effect throughout the Institution and could 

                 lead to boys becoming victims of these disputes. 



           •    Recommendation no. 9, as typed by the Visitor before he left Letterfrack, read ‘Manager 

                 to  be  present  when  punishment  is  being  administered’.  This  was,  in  effect,  a  re- 

                 statement  of  the  requirements  of  the  Rules  and  Regulations  governing  industrial 

                 schools. The insertion of the words ‘beyond the ordinary’ amounted to a qualification. 

                 The amendment was highly significant because its effect was to render the injunction 

                 meaningless. It was a matter of individual interpretation what constituted punishment 

                 for  which  the  Manager’s  presence  was  required.  The  addition  of  these  three  words 

                 illustrated that keeping corporal punishment as an option for all Brothers was deemed 

                 essential to the running of the Institution. 



           Br Percival14  (1949) 



8.91       The Visitation Report for 1949 was critical of Br Percival for being over-severe in the administration 

           of  discipline  in  the  classroom.  He  was  in  Letterfrack  for  six  years  during  the  late  1940s  and 

           mid-1950s. 



8.92       The 1949 Report stated: 



                 Discipline in the school is good, and is maintained without undue severity. Br Percival has 

                 been over severe at times. The Superior has spoken to him about the matter, and I also 

                 made mention of it. He seems to be sincerely determined to have no relapse. 



8.93       Br Sorel15 worked in Letterfrack during the same period and he gave evidence to the Investigation 



           Committee. He had a vivid recollection of Br Percival who arrived in Letterfrack at the same time 

           as him. Br  Sorel remembered him as very harsh  and as someone who punished  severely. He 

           tended  to  overdo  it  and  would  hurt  the  boys.  He  said  that  he  could  hear  Br  Percival  in  the 

           classroom  overdoing  it  with  the  strap.  He  would  hear  the  noise  of  the  strap  on  the  hand.  Br 

           Percival  was  noisier  than  anyone  else.  Br  Sorel  said  that  there  was  a  rule  that  they  were  not 



           14 This is a pseudonym. 

           15 This is a pseudonym. 



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           allowed to punish for lessons. However, Br Percival punished boys for minor misdemeanours. He 

           recalled that, one night at tea, one of the Brothers, Br Noell,16          reprimanded Br Percival for being 



           overly  severe.  A  number  of  boys  reported  Br  Percival  to  the  Superior  for  his  severity  in  the 

           dormitories and, as a result, he was removed from dormitory duty and was replaced by Br Sorel, 

           who was asked by the Superior to take over. 



8.94       There was evidence from former residents as to the severity of this Brother. He seems to have 

           been  immature and  vicious and  perhaps somewhat  unstable. If  his county  did badly  in a  GAA 

           match, he would react extremely angrily and take it out on the boys in the classroom and in the 

           School the following day. 



8.95       A complainant who was resident in the late 1940s said that he treated all the boys badly and was 

           always picking on his brother. He used to put his brother at the back of the class and beat him. 

           The witness also described how Br Percival beat him for failure at lessons. 



8.96       The Congregation in its response to these allegations confirmed that there was a Br Percival in 

           Letterfrack but that he had since left the Christian Brothers and therefore the Congregation was 

           not in a position to either accept or reject the specific allegation. The response statement went on: 



                  It should be noted however that the Congregation has no contemporaneous record of any 

                  complaint having been made against Br Percival. Further, the allegation does not accord 

                  with what is recorded of Br Percival in the Visitation report of 1950. It notes that Br Percival 

                  is “sympathetic to the poor children ... in this institution”. 



8.97       It was regrettable that in its response the Congregation chose to quote from the 1950 Visitation 

           Report, but ignored the 1949 one which is quoted above and which referred to Br Percival being 

           ‘over severe at times’. The complainant in this case came to give evidence in the belief that his 

           allegations were regarded as ill-founded. The Congregation’s failure to address these allegations 

           properly    was   all  the  more    regrettable    in  circumstances      where    a  serving    member     of  the 

           Congregation, Br Sorel, could have given a first-hand account of his experience of Br Percival. 

           Fortunately, Br Sorel was available to give evidence. 



8.98       A complainant who was resident from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s said that Br Percival was 

           fanatical about sports and if the boys were not playing well he would hit them with his hurley. He 

           also said that, if Br Percival’s team lost at hurling, he would be violent towards the boys for the 

           following week. However, he stressed that Br Percival’s bad temper was not limited to the sports 

           field. He said that Br Percival was very severe in the classroom as well. He used to beat the boys 

           for talking or failure at lessons. He described one particular incident where Br Percival beat a boy, 

           who had to wear callipers, for talking in class: 



                  This day he took this lad who was talking in the class, and he said, “get out there”. [The 

                  boy], had callipers on his legs, he could hardly walk. When he got out he just gave him a 

                  dig with his fist, knocked him to the floor and jumped on him like he was a bag of potatoes. 

                  That lad was in callipers. 



8.99       Another complainant confirmed that Br Percival would be in a bad temper and mistreat the boys 

           if his team lost at hurling. 



8.100      The Congregation’s response was the same for this case, and so the complainant came to the 

           Commission in the belief that his allegations were viewed with suspicion by the Congregation. No 

           effort  was   made    to  investigate   the   allegations,   but  the  Congregation      adopted    a  position   of 

           scepticism as a default position that was not helpful to the individual complainant. 



           16 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.101      A complainant who was resident in the late 1940s, who did not identify Br Percival in his original 

           statement, gave evidence that he was quite good at handball and that one evening Br Percival 

           told him to play with him against the cobbler and the tailor. They lost and Br Percival slapped him 

           across the mouth. He later offered him a glass of lemonade but he couldn’t drink it as he was 

           too sore. 



8.102      Br  Percival  spent  a  total  of  six  years  in  Letterfrack.  Having  completed  his  teacher  training  he 

           returned to Letterfrack for a year before being transferred to a day school in Dublin. He applied 

           for and was granted secularisation in the late 1950s. 



8.103      The Congregation did not address the allegations against this Brother in its Closing Submissions. 



8.104      •     Br  Percival  was  an  unstable  man  who  should  not  have  been  teaching  or  caring  for 

                 children, particularly in a residential school like Letterfrack where his propensity for 

                 violence could extend beyond the classroom and where the children had no parental 

                 protection. 



           •     Br Percival’s irrational and unpredictable behaviour generated fear and insecurity in 

                 the boys, who found it impossible to avoid punishment. 



           •     Br Percival’s violence was known to the authorities in Letterfrack, and the fact that he 

                 was allowed to remain for so long is evidence that preventing this kind of abuse of 

                 power and trust was not a priority. 



           •     The    Congregation’s       attempt    to  defend    Br   Percival    by   reference    to  a  favourable 

                 Visitation Report was not balanced, as it should have been, by making reference to 

                 the other, unfavourable Report. 



           Complaint by Noah Kitterick 



8.105      Noah  Kitterick  was  a  resident  of  Letterfrack  from  1924  to  1932,  which  is  outside  the  relevant 

           period of this investigation. The reason why his story appears here is because of the response of 

           the Congregation to his private and public complaints about Letterfrack. These began with two 

           letters to the Superior of Letterfrack in 1953, and concluded with a visit to the Superior General 

           in 1957. Mr Kitterick died tragically when he set fire to himself in London in 1967. 



8.106      Mr Kitterick wrote two letters in 1953 to the Superior of Letterfrack, in which he complained about 

           three named Brothers in Letterfrack. He claimed that they were tyrannical and sadistic: 

                  Bros  Piperel,17   Corvax18   and  Perryn  ...  these  men  were  a  disgrace  to  the  Christian 



                  Brothers.  Piperel  and  Corvax  were  tyrants.  Br  Perryn  who  was  in  the  cook-house  and 

                  refectory took great pleasure in beating boys for no reason, he was a sadist, for beating 

                  us he used a piece of rubber motor tyre. 



                 Almost daily we were flogged by one or other of these Bros. Dozens of times I left the 

                  dining room with my hands bleeding ... 



                  On several occasions after a meal, I was taken to the pantry ... by Br Perryn. He would 

                  lock the door and make me undress he would then sit on a stool and would put me across 

                  his knee and then flog me savagely he would then pinch me until I was unconscious. 



8.107      Mr Kitterick followed up this letter with another, two days later, in which he said that he wished to 

           see  Letterfrack  closed  until  improvements  could  be  made  there  and  the  perpetrators  of  abuse 

           brought to justice. 



8.108      His letters were not replied to. 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.109      The Brothers he identified were all members of the Community in Letterfrack during his time there, 

           although the presence of one Brother, Br Corvax, was only verified by the Congregation in 2007. 

            Mr Kitterick made a spelling mistake in one of the names but that did not prevent easy identification 

           of the person. 



8.110      The  Christian  Brothers  knew  that  the  principal  culprit  named  by  Mr  Kitterick,  Br  Perryn,  had  a 

           history   of  serious    physical   and   sexual    abuse    of  boys,   as   recorded    in  the   Congregation’s 

           documents. 



8.111      The    third  Brother,   Br   Piperel   had,   to  the   Congregation’s      knowledge     as   recorded     in their 

           documents, a history of sexually improper and suggestive behaviour which had necessitated his 

           urgent removal from a day school. Notwithstanding this information, the Congregation maintained 

           complete silence in the face of Mr Kitterick’s letters. 



8.112       Mr Kitterick met with the Provincial of the Congregation in 1957. In a letter to the Congregation’s 

           solicitors, the Provincial said that he thought Mr Kitterick was on a ‘blackmail ticket’: 



                  This evening I had a “gentleman” named Kitterick ex-British army to see me. He said he 

                  was an ex-pupil of our industrial school in Letterfrack and that the doctors had said that 

                  all his troubles were due to the hardship he got whilst in Letterfrack. I took it that he was 

                  working on the blackmail ticket and after listening to him for some time I gave him your 

                  name  and  address  as  our  solicitor.  I  know  you  will  know  how  to  deal  with  him  if  he 

                  approaches. 



8.113       Mr Kitterick continued his campaign: 



                  During the last ten years I have reported about conditions in Letterfrack, which I have no 

                  reason to think have changed very much, to the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr McQuaid, and 

                  Dr  Browne  Bishop  of  Galway,  as  well  as  President de  Valera,  and  to  the  Superiors  of 

                  many industrial schools. I have yet to receive a reply.19 



8.114       In  the  public  hearing  on  Letterfrack,  Br  Gibson  explained  the  silence  of  the  Congregation  on 

           this issue: 



                  I  think  it  was  a  totally  inadequate  response.  We  have  been  dealing  with  allegations  of 

                  abuse over the last 10 years and certainly one of the things we would always do is listen 

                  to the person who has the complaint and pay great attention to it. We would assure them 

                  that we would investigate it and we would look to see is there any veracity in it. I think 

                  there was certainly in the past, and say 10 years ago when the issue of child abuse came 

                  to the fore, there was general disbelief that this could happen. I think generally people 

                  were  saying this  couldn’t  happen  in the  Brothers  and I  think  there  was general  horror, 

                  disbelief, denial. I think with time we have discovered that it has happened in the past. 

                  Certainly  the  Leadership  of  the  time,  it  was  probably  one  or  two  cases  that  they  were 

                  dealing  with  and  probably  saw  it,  particularly  when  he  was  mentioning  a  Brother  who 

                  wasn’t in Letterfrack amongst those three, they were probably holding on to that idea it’s 

                  not all true, therefore, can’t any of it be true. I think that was unfortunate. 



8.115      The explanation that allegations of child abuse would have been met with ‘general horror, disbelief, 

           denial’, even in 1957, is difficult to sustain in view of the number of cases of sexual and physical 

           mistreatment of boys that the Congregation had dealt with. Brothers had been dismissed, moved 

           or  been  given  Canonical  Warnings  for  such  activities.  All  of  the  industrial  schools  run  by  the 

           Congregation  had  experienced  abuse,  and  so  it  was  not  correct  to  claim  ignorance  of  this 

           problem. 



           19  This document is undated, although the date ‘6th November 1964’ is crossed out. 



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8.116      When     the  first complaint    was   received    from   Mr   Kitterick  in  1953,   even   the   most   cursory 

           investigation of the files would have disclosed that Br Perryn had been reprimanded for his severity 

           in 1917 and, in 1941, just 12 years previously, had been removed for physical and sexual abuse 

           after the Visitor to Letterfrack received complaints from the boys there: ‘They are so shockingly 

           obscene, revolting and abominable that it is hard to believe them’. 



8.117      Br Piperel had been the subject of a serious allegation of sexual abuse in Letterfrack that was 

           documented in the Congregation’s records, which also implied that he had a previous history of 

           interference with boys. He worked in industrial schools until the 1950s and then moved to a day 

           school. He was removed from a day school in Cork for sexually inappropriate behaviour towards 

           a young girl just a few months prior to Mr Kitterick’s first letter. 



8.118      The information recently provided by the Congregation confirmed that the third Brother named by 

           Mr Kitterick was in Letterfrack during his time. It follows that, if the Brothers who dealt with this 

           correspondence decided to ignore it because he had named a Brother who was not present, they 

           were entirely wrong. The Brothers at the time could have established whether the third Brother 

           was there if there was any doubt about the matter. The possibility that the Congregation decided 

           its response on this basis was not grounded in any document but was an interpretation advanced 

           by Br Gibson on behalf of the current Congregation. 



8.119      •     The Congregation’s refusal to respond to Noah Kitterick’s complaints was indicative 

                 of an organisation that chose not to investigate criticism or admit failings. 



           •     The Congregation sought to protect itself from the allegations rather than seeking to 

                 ascertain the truth. 



           •     The  Christian  Brothers’  records  contained  potential  corroborative  material,  and  the 

                 complaints warranted full investigation. 



           •     The  Congregation’s  current  position  is  that  allegations  of  abuse,  both  physical  and 

                 sexual, came as a shock to the Congregation, but such allegations had been dealt with 

                 for many years. 



           Br Verrill20 



8.120      Br Verrill worked in Letterfrack in the early 1960s, having been transferred from Artane. He was 

           the subject of written complaints about his treatment of boys in Artane in the late 1950s which are 

           dealt with in full in the Artane chapter. 



           Evidence of individual respondents 



8.121      Fourteen former members of staff, 13 Brothers or ex-Brothers and one lay-man, gave evidence 

           about corporal punishment. They were in Letterfrack between 1948 and 1974. 



           Br Sorel 



8.122      Br Sorel was a teacher in Letterfrack from the late 1940s until the late 1950s. He also worked in 

           the dormitories. He said that Letterfrack was a harsh place: 



                  The whole experience. I cannot justify it. It was too strict and the lads were great that they 

                  were able to accept it and come through it ... 



8.123      The need for strictness had been impressed upon him at an early stage: 



                  I  was  as  strict  as  anybody  else.  The  system  was  strict  and  we  were  told  at  the  very 

                  beginning that unless we had discipline, that there would be chaos, there would be chaos. 



           20 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.124      He was told by senior Brothers never to let his guard down and to maintain an aloof and stern 

           visage. He did so even though he was fearful inside: 



                 One of the Brothers said to me, “Whatever you  do don’t smile, walk along with a very 

                 serious face”, and I was shivering. Nobody knew that. I was shivering in my boots. Quite 

                 a number of the lads there were big strong lads, ... huge guys there, I was shivering in 

                 my shoes because I never had this experience. 



8.125      These same Brothers also told him that, by being strict, he would be better able to keep control, 

           which resulted in his punishing boys unnecessarily. 



8.126      According  to  Br  Sorel,  absconders  were  treated  particularly  harshly.  Their  heads  were  shaved 

           and they were often forced to march around the yard in silence during recreation periods. They 

           were also forced to sit with their backs to the screen during the weekly cinema performance. He 

           described  this  as  a  fierce  punishment  because  the  weekly  film  was  so  eagerly  anticipated  by 

           everybody in the School. 



8.127      He  found  the  work  very  difficult.  He  taught  three  classes  and  had  responsibility  for  one  of  the 

           dormitories. He would get up at 5:45am, attend morning prayers, wake the boys, bring them to 

           Mass, take them to the refectory, have his own breakfast, supervise the morning chores, bring 

           them to school, and teach until lunchtime. The boys would then go to the various trade shops for 

           industrial training. This was his first break. He would supervise them again and bring them to bed. 



8.128      Br Sorel made the shocking admission that he forced a boy to eat his own excrement. The boy 

           was  not  a  complainant  to  the  Investigation  Committee  but  the  incident  was  recounted  by  a 

           complainant  who  had  witnessed  it.  The  Brother  in  his  written  response  to  the  Investigation 

           Committee accepted that the allegation was true. In evidence he told the Committee: 



                 Well the ... thing has haunted me all my life. It should never have happened. Actually he 

                 didn’t eat the excrement, he spat it into the basin, that doesn’t matter, it was wrong, totally 

                 wrong, and I accept that. I accept full responsibility for it. It was cruel. 



8.129      When asked by the Committee why he did it, he said that he was stressed by having to cope with 

           boys who soiled themselves, particularly during the night. He asked colleagues what he should 

           do about one particular boy: 



                 A few days before I mentioned this to some of the staff, “what will I do”, I couldn’t get any 

                 help from anybody. One of them quite cynically said, “make him eat his own shit”. When 

                 I think now on this particular morning, he did it right out in the floor in front of everybody 

                 and I saw red, I saw anger, I thought he was doing it purposefully to ridicule me. I think 

                 that was the reason. 



8.130      He added that as soon as he had calmed down he knew he had gone too far and he subsequently 

           apologised to the boy in question. 



8.131      •    The   stresses    of  working    in  Letterfrack   as  teacher    and   carer  caused     this  young, 

                untrained  and     inexperienced  Brother  to       behave  in    a  shameful  manner      towards  a 

                troubled child. 



           •    This  disgusting incident was  not unique:  another example is  reported in the  Artane 

                chapter. 



           •    With   hindsight    the  Brother    was   able   to  recognise    the   severity   of the   regime    in 

                Letterfrack and the damage it could do to both Brothers and boys. 



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           Br Dax21 



  8.132    Br Dax was in Letterfrack from the late 1950s to mid-1970s, except for one year. In 2003, he was 

           convicted of 25 counts of sexual abuse committed during this period. His evidence is dealt with 

           in detail in the section on sexual abuse. 



  8.133    His evidence is also relevant in this section. He admitted using violence and the threat of violence 

           to  prevent boys  he sexually  abused from  reporting him.  He also  admitted to  being a  generally 

           cruel and violent person. He agreed that he was an angry man with a bizarre prejudice against 

           boys from County Limerick. He admitted that if he lost his temper he hit boys with whatever he 

           had in his hands and that he could have drawn blood on such occasions. He also accepted in 

           cross-examination  that  it  was  possible  that  he  would  have  walked  up  behind  them  and  struck 

           them on the back of the head just to get their attention. 



  8.134    •     How  Br  Dax  could  have  continued  unchecked  for  such  a  long  period  of  time  is  a 

                 question that arises acutely in regard to sexual abuse of boys. 



           •     His use of premeditated violence in some circumstances, and capricious violence in 

                 others, should of itself have triggered an investigation that might have uncovered the 

                 full extent of his abusive activities. 



           Br Francois22 



  8.135    This  Brother,  who  served  there  for  two  years  from  the  late  1950s  to  the  early  1960s,  made  a 

           number of important concessions in relation to Letterfrack. He confirmed that he was not given 

           any specific instruction on punishment and that the use of the leather strap, which some Brothers 

           carried around with them all the time, was totally discretionary. He also said he had no recollection 

           of a punishment book during his time there. 



  8.136    He said that boys would only be referred to the Disciplinarian for serious breaches of the rules 

           such as fighting. The individual Brother dealt with minor infractions on the spot. 



  8.137    Boys  who  were  caught  near  another  boy’s  bed  at  night  were  slapped  on  the  buttocks.  This 

           punishment was administered in the dormitory or in the washroom attached to it. He said that he 

           frequently administered punishment on the hands, but that slapping boys on the buttocks was a 

           rare occurrence. 



  8.138    He remembered one incident where a number of boys who had absconded were lined up and 

           slapped by the Disciplinarian in front of the rest of the school. 



  8.139    He said absconders also had their heads shaved as punishment. 



           Br Michel23 



  8.140    Br Michel was in Letterfrack in the 1960s during which time he was the Disciplinarian. He accepted 

           that Letterfrack was a strict place but he stressed that it had to be: 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 

           22 This is a pseudonym. 

           23 This is a pseudonym 



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                 Well, it was a pretty strict place and I think that the children who came had a carefree life 

                 before  coming.  It  was  necessary  to  discipline  them  and  unfortunately  they  had  to  be 

                 disciplined otherwise we couldn’t run the place. 



8.141      He also confirmed that all the Brothers who worked in the school carried straps and that discipline 

           was administered at the total discretion of the individual Brother. 



8.142      He described the punishment of forcing boys to run around the yard. He beat boys on the buttocks 

           with a leather, but said he was unsure whether he beat on the bare buttocks. He acknowledged 

           that it occurred and accepted that he may have punished in that way. 



8.143      He admitted to an allegation of physical abuse made against him by a complainant and apologised 

           for the incident. The complainant, who was resident in the early 1960s, described how the Brother 

           was asking him questions about his absence from the school grounds. When the boy repeated a 

           question  that  the  Brother  asked,  the  latter  lost  his  temper  and  jumped  on  the  boy  and  started 

           beating  him  up  in  front  of  the  whole  refectory.  In  his  evidence  to  the  Committee,  the  Brother 

           accepted that he had been ‘over-robust’ in his punishment of the witness. He said that it was one 

           of his bad days and he sincerely regretted it because the witness was generally a good boy. 



8.144      He  also  spoke  about  the  relationship  between  overwork  and  excessive  punishment.  He  stated 

           that the Brothers worked under considerable strain. The number working with the boys was small 

           and the hours were  ‘desperately long’. He sometimes took his stress out on the boys and he did 

           not always comply with the rules governing corporal punishment. 



8.145      When asked by the Committee whether he thought that corporal punishment was used more in 

           Letterfrack than in other schools elsewhere, he said: 



                 Regretfully, I think it was more simply because most schools were day schools and they 

                 wouldn’t have the same problems as a boarding situation. Regretfully, the times that were 

                 in it unfortunately. 



           Br Telfour24 



8.146      Br Telfour served in Letterfrack in the mid to late 1960s. He was a teacher and was Disciplinarian 

           for  a  year.  He  told  the  Committee  that  Letterfrack  was  a  regulated  place  and  that  he  had  no 

           difficulty managing the boys. A Visitation Report stated: 



                 The disciplinarian ... understands his charges very well and realises that harsh methods 

                 do not produce lasting results. He is most patient and has good control. 



8.147      He did not like corporal punishment but he did recall one incident when he snapped and beat a 

           boy out of frustration. He said that he did not carry a strap, although he conceded that there were 

           straps available in the school. Absconding was a problem and he heard that boys who absconded 

           ‘got it on the bare’, which he understood to mean that they were beaten on their bare buttocks. 



8.148      He told the Committee that when he was appointed Disciplinarian he told the Manager that he 

           refused to administer this form of corporal punishment. He was asked to explain the circumstances 

           of this conversation: 



           24 This is a pseudonym 



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                  It was in the yard and a boy had been brought back early that morning from absconding, 

                  I knew the punishment previously had been the beating on the buttocks but I had my own 

                  mind  made  up  I  wasn’t  going  to  inflict  it  and  I  told  him  that  I  didn’t  want  to  beat  them 

                  that way. 



8.149      He explained the reasons for his dislike of corporal punishment: 



                  It was based on the fact that after a little while there I felt that these young people had 

                  suffered enough, they had been taken from their parents and from growing up with their 

                  brothers and sisters. The more I thought of that the bigger the influence it had on me in 

                  coming to that decision, that none of them would be slapped in my classroom and none 

                  of them would be slapped in this way. 



8.150      He  admitted  using  running  as  a  punishment  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Sub-Superior.  The 

           circumstances of one such incident were that he was waiting in the yard for the boys to return 

           from the farm. A boy came into the yard and asked him whether the farmhand was allowed to 

           beat him. The boy was bleeding and he told him to go and clean up. The farmhand and the farm 

           Brother came to the yard and told him that some of the boys tried to attack Br Deverelle25                      and 



           that the farmhand tried to stop them. He told the farmhand that he had no business beating the 

           boys. He was at a loss as to what to do, since a large number of boys were involved and so he 

           put  them  running  around  the  yard  as  a  punishment,  which  they  had  to  do  for  periods  on  two 

           nights. The boys contended that they had attacked Br Deverelle because he had been severe 

           on them. 



8.151      This Brother was sympathetic towards the boys and tried to avoid using corporal punishment, but 

           in these respects he was unusual. The Committee was left with the impression that his refusal to 

           impose  such  punishment  did  not  stop  it  and  he  had  no  influence  on  the  behaviour  of  other 

           Brothers. 



           Br Rainger26 



8.152      Br Rainger was a teacher in Letterfrack in the late 1960s. He said that he was wholly unprepared 

           for life there and found that he simply could not apply the teaching methods he had learned in 

           Marino  to  the  boys  at  Letterfrack.  His  duties  also  included  supervision  and  he  would  often  be 

           required  to  supervise  a  group  of  over  100  boys  because  staffing  levels  did  not  allow  smaller 

           groups. This meant that a military-style discipline was necessary to keep order. He accepted that, 

           as a result of this, Letterfrack was a harsh place but he stressed it was harsh for the Brothers too. 

           Initially, he said he was quite aloof as an aid to maintaining discipline, although he mellowed after 

           a while. However, he never trusted the boys: 



                  No, I wouldn’t trust them, I had been told that the boys had come to Letterfrack through 

                  the court. 



8.153      He  said  he  carried  and  used  a  leather  strap,  as  did  every  Brother  working  in  the  School.  He 

           received no training in its use and administered it on an ad hoc basis whenever he saw fit to do 

           so.  He  did  not  require  any  sanction  to  do  this  and  he  punished  both  inside  and  outside  the 

           classroom. He admitted to beating children on the buttocks, although not the bare buttocks, with 

           the  strap.  He  thought  that discipline  was  not  too  bad,  although  he  conceded that  he  punished 

           boys for failure at lessons and for misbehaving generally. 



           25 This is a pseudonym. 

           26 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.154      He was never aware of the presence of a punishment book, and on the issue of discipline he said: 



                  Generally speaking, you know, it wasn’t too bad. Discipline wasn’t too bad, but now and 

                  again, yes, fights broke out, arguments broke out. I had a leather and I used it, not that I 

                  am proud of it now but I did use it, yes. 



8.155      Br Rainger admitted that he did not confine himself to the strap when he punished children but 

           also used his hands. He denied that bed-wetters were physically chastised. He recalled that they 

           tied knots at the ends of their beds to identify themselves to the night watchman: 



                  Just to clarify the thing on the bed-wetters, when I would take over the dormitory in the 

                  morning from the night watchman the custom at that time was if they were bed-wetters 

                  they tied a towel over the end of the bed and the bed was stripped so that it could dry out 

                  during the day. There was definitely no verbal humiliation or even physical punishment 

                  for bed-wetting. That is not true. 



           Br Anatole27 



8.156      Br Anatole was convicted in 2003 of sexual abuse of boys in Letterfrack when he was a Brother 

           there during the late 1960s. 



8.157      He gave evidence that the Brothers worked 16 to 18 hour days, and that their only method of 

           maintaining order was by means of corporal punishment, the constant threat of which permeated 

           the atmosphere of the Institution. Before he came to the School, he had heard rumours about the 

           need to maintain strict discipline in the School. The attitude was that breaches of discipline had 

           to be dealt with swiftly and harshly, otherwise law and order would break down. 



8.158      Br Anatole described his arrival at Letterfrack with two other young, inexperienced teachers, Br 

           Dondre28    and Br Iven.29   They were all in their early 20s and they had little more than one year’s 



           teaching experience. 



8.159      The bulk of the supervisory work in Letterfrack fell on these three young men, and Br Anatole 

           testified to the strain he felt – a breach of the rules by a boy under the control of one of them was 

           regarded as a reflection on the Brother. This put a lot of pressure on the younger Brothers, who 

           were often intimidated by the boys and they tried to counteract this by being excessively strict. 



8.160      Br Anatole said that pupils attacked him on a number of occasions: 



                  I was attacked on a couple of occasions: Once in the dining room a boy ran at me with a 

                  chair; once in the yard; and once in the Brother’s monastery when I went up – I opened 

                  the door and one of the boys was in the monastery which they weren’t allowed to do and 

                  he punched me trying to get out the door before I could get in. That was three incidents 

                  in two years which was not a lot. There was always the possibility of that happening and 

                  I was a little bit fearful of what might be done to me if it happened. 



8.161      The children were often difficult to deal with, according to Br Anatole, and many had psychological 

           problems that the Brothers had no special training to deal with. 



8.162      Difficulties manifested themselves in conduct such as fighting and bullying, which were constant 

           and worrying features of life in Letterfrack. Sometimes, the children absconded and that was also 

           a constant worry. The children would run away at night but they would usually be apprehended, 

           sometimes by local people, and returned to the School soon after. 



           27 This is a pseudonym. 

           28 This is a pseudonym. 

           29 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.163      He   said   that  the  threat   of  punishment     hung    like a  cloud   over   the  boys.   It  was   arbitrarily 

           administered without any supervision either inside or outside the classroom. Br Anatole was given 

           a leather strap on arrival but he got no instruction on its use. He did not confine himself to the 

           use of the strap; he would punish boys with a slap of his open palm, his fist, a stick, or indeed 

           a kick. 



8.164      Although the Brothers were given no guidance regarding corporal punishment, Br Malleville,30  the 



           Resident Manager, often complained about the excessive use of corporal punishment and was 

           quite strict on such matters when boys complained to him about excessive beatings. Br Anatole 

           recalled  one  incident  in  particular,  when  Br  Malleville  approached  him  and  told  him  he  had 

           received  a  complaint  that  a  boy  had  been  punished  for  the  wrong  reasons  and  he  wanted  an 

           explanation. Br Anatole described how  the boy had been beaten about the legs  with a leather 

           strap and made to run around the yard. The boy complained to Br Malleville, who reprimanded 

           him, Br Anatole. 



8.165      Br Anatole described another particularly savage beating, when a boy was beaten on the bare 

           buttocks with a leather. The boy was placed over a chair on the stage and beaten in front of other 

           boys by Br Iven. Br Anatole did not himself administer the beating but he was present during it. A 

           former resident who recalled the boy being stripped and beaten recollected that the handle of a 

           sweeping brush had been used to administer the beating. 



8.166      Br Anatole said that Br Malleville heard about the beating and, that evening, convened a meeting 

           of the three junior Brothers who had been involved and reprimanded them for what had occurred. 



8.167      The other two Brothers implicated, Br Iven and Br Dondre, denied to the Investigation Committee 

           in evidence that this incident ever took place or that they were involved in it. 



8.168      Br Anatole informed the Committee that he and his colleagues had inherited from some of the 

           older Brothers the practice of making the boys run around the yard. It was a punishment generally 

           administered  by  the  senior  dormitory  Brother  for  absconding.  The  Brother  would  stand  in  the 

           centre, and the boys would form a circle around him and they would be made to run around the 

           yard and would be beaten if they started to tire or to lag behind. In a Garda statement, Br Anatole 

           described it thus: 



                  I  can  recall  the  heavy  silence  punctuated  by  the  rhythm  of  the  boots  pounding  on  the 

                  concrete yard as the boys ran around and around, eyes cast down as they ran ... Their 

                  faces  were  cold  and  emotionless,  unsmiling  and  blank  of  any  recognition.  I  carry  this 

                  memory with me still, as I do all the other punishments meted out to boys in our care. 



8.169      He described its operation as follows: 



                  Well, the dormitory leader was the man who dictated what was to be happening. I was 

                  not a dormitory leader I was an assistant to Br Dondre so a decision to run around the 

                  yard was never mine; but if it was done I might be called upon to stand in the corner of 

                  the yard and be there to give moral support to the other Brother who was in charge – the 

                  Brother stood in the centre of the circle rather like a ring master and the running was done 

                  in silence. It was supposed to calm everybody down, I think it did have that effect actually 

                  on recollection, there was a sort of a silent running. When it was over the boys usually 

                  went off upstairs to bed, it was done late in the evening time. 



8.170      As  a  punishment,  however,  he  stated  that  he  regarded  it  as  pointless  and  ineffective,  ‘It  was 

           devoid of human dignity, it was humiliating, it was pointless and probably completely ineffective’. 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.171     Another way of punishing was for a boy to be seated in a chair near a football game and to be 

          treated as if he did not exist: 



                 I don’t think the intention was to kick footballs directly at the boy it was more or less an act 

                 of isolation to humiliate him, it was a form of punishment other than corporal punishment. If 

                 somebody did kick a football at him, and that would happen, the ball would bounce off his 

                 head or off his chest or something, there would be a big cheer or a bit of a laugh. That 

                 again was part of the humiliation of the experience. 



8.172     Another punishment was peculiar to the refectory. It involved making the offender kneel in silence 

           during meal times. He would not receive any dinner: 



                 ... if they were kneeling on the floor the withdrawal of food would be part of the punishment 

                 as well. We learned these things from seeing them done, they were handed down like a 

                 code of practice so to speak, which was never questioned or supervised in any way by 

                 anybody else. 



8.173      Br Anatole said that corporal punishment would be administered for a myriad of offences: 



                 If  you  were  walking  behind  somebody  and  they  were  talking  you  could  take  out  your 

                 leather strap and sort of give them a swipe on the back of the legs or a smack on the 

                 backside. 



8.174      He would also hit them for failure at lessons: 



                 For example, you asked me for an example, maybe in the classroom I was under pressure 

                 to get my Department of Education accreditation so I would be short-tempered at times 

                 with pupils who didn’t spell words correctly or something. The traditional way at that time 

                 was you would give somebody a smack to make sure so they learned it properly.. There 

                 was a very crude connection between if you hit somebody they would learn better that 

                 way, that was the basic thinking at the time. That was the way I was taught at primary 

                 school and I repeated that myself later on as an adult in the Christian Brothers. 



8.175      He also beat boys who attempted to jump out of the showers to avoid the sudden changes in 

          temperature, which could go from scalding hot to freezing cold in a matter of seconds. He thought 

          that beating boys for a natural reaction to extremes of temperature seemed particularly cruel. 



8.176      He  spoke  of  collective  punishment  and  recalled  one  incident  where  a  boy  stole  a  Communion 

          wafer. Nobody owned up and the whole School was punished. Collective punishment could take 

           many forms, such as the deprivation of food or being made to run around the yard. 



8.177     Yet another occasional punishment was using the fire hose to direct cold water on to boys who 

           had run away. 



8.178     The knowledge that there was no parental presence made him feel he had carte blanche to punish 

          to a greater extent than he would have done in a national school with active parental involvement. 

           Being  able  to  beat  the  boys  gave  him  a  sense  of  power.  He  said,  ‘The  opportunity  for  use  of 

           corporal punishment was much greater in Letterfrack than it would be in the national school’. 



8.179      He apologised for his use of corporal punishment in the School: 



                 My  first  duty  before  the  Commission  is  to  put an  unreserved  apology  in  the  record  for 

                 anyone who was hurt by me in any way. That was regrettably the state of the art at the 

                 time in the 60s that these pupils had to be punished, they had to be made to pay for the 

                 damage they did in society, reformed and sent back out as productive citizens. 



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8.180      The  Christian  Brothers  disputed  Br  Anatole’s  recollections  of  Letterfrack.  They  submitted  that 

           written  statements  made  by  him  following  his  arrest  were  inconsistent  and  contradictory  when 

           compared with a document he produced while he was still working in the Institution. They also 

           contended that these statements were self-serving and coloured by his desire to present himself 

           to the court in a sympathetic light in seeking to avoid imprisonment. It suited his purpose, therefore, 

           to  portray  Letterfrack  in  the  most  hostile  light.  For  his  part,  Br  Anatole  said  that  he  was  not 

           understating his case in his Garda statements. He described how he co-operated with the Gardai 

                                                                                                                                ´ 

           in  the  investigation  and  that  he  was  encouraged  to  write  a  full  account  of  everything  that  he 

           thought might be relevant by way of mitigation. He had been through two years of therapy, and a 

           lot of memories had surfaced in the therapeutic situation, which the therapist had encouraged him 

           to keep in journal form. 



8.181      Although the Congregation were able to demonstrate inconsistencies between written statements 

           and testimony  given by this  witness at different  times spanning many  years, his evidence  was 

           generally  credible  and  reliable  about  life  in  Letterfrack,  and  witnesses  provided  independent 

           confirmation. 



           Br Iven 



8.182      Br  Iven  worked  as  a  teacher  in  Letterfrack  during  the  late  1960s  and  early  1970s.  He  found 

           Letterfrack to be a lonely place with stressful work and little free time. He told the Committee that 

           he carried a strap, as all Brothers did, but did not remember ever getting any training in its use. 

            Punishment was a matter for his discretion and he punished as the need arose and never felt the 

           need  to  refer  matters  up  the  chain  of  command.  He  accepted  that  the  use  of  the  strap  was 

           unacceptable by today’s standards, but he did not think that it was excessive by the standards of 

           the day. Br Iven, however, qualified this view when he went on to say that Letterfrack was not a 

           normal school and its residents were not normal schoolchildren, implying that normal standards 

           did not apply to them and some excesses were justified. 



8.183       He was asked whether he had any personal regrets about punishments he meted out to the boys: 



                  I have regrets in many ways. I have regrets, first of all that I was sent there inadequately 

                  trained for the job. Secondly, I didn’t know how to handle the situation I was put in. Thirdly, 

                  I suppose that with corporal punishment, punishment by the strap – yes, I think with better 

                  training, with better facilities, better staffing, we would not have had the need to use as 

                  much discipline and corporal as we did. I do have regrets yes. 



8.184       His perception that corporal punishment was not overly excessive was said in the context that the 

           level of discipline that was normal at the time in schools was the appropriate standard to apply 

           throughout the day: 



                  You  were  there  24  hours, seven  days  a  week,  so  yes,  there  was a  lot  more  than  you 

                  would normally have as a teacher at the time, but it wouldn’t have been overly excessive. 



8.185       He remembered one occasion when a boy attacked him and he just about got the better of him. 

            He felt that it was a test of strength. He was a new Brother and a small man, and the attack was 

           designed to see what the boys could get away with. It left him greatly shaken and showed him 

           that he was not dealing with ordinary 16-year-olds. 



8.186      This  Brother  also  confirmed  what  complainants  and  other  Brothers  had  said  about  boys  being 

           hosed  down  for  absconding.  One  complainant  had  described  an  incident  where  two  boys  had 

           absconded at a time when there was heavy snowfall. They were captured and returned to the 

           school and, according to the witness, put up against a wall, hosed down with fire hoses and made 

           to stand in the freezing cold in their underpants as a form of punishment: 



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                 The incident happened during winter. There was snow on the ground. It was easy then 

                 to find the pupil. The pupil was brought back to the school and then one particular Brother 

                 decided that this was the way he would wash him down after it. 



8.187      Br Iven was in his interim period of teacher training during his time in Letterfrack and was due 

           back in Marino to complete his qualification. He said that he did not feel he could report breaches 

           of discipline to the Resident Manager because of a combination of factors, but principally because 

           he was afraid that it could lead to his dismissal from the Congregation which would have meant 

           he could not become a teacher: 



                 I am giving you my honest opinion, no, I didn’t feel that I was in a position to report this. 

                 It would have been maybe thought as unseemly conduct for me as a Christian Brother to 

                 defend   myself,  maybe    turn  the  other  cheek    instead,  unfortunately,   I didn’t feel  that 

                 confident about saying anything. 



8.188      This Brother did return to Marino after two and a half years in Letterfrack and a six-month posting 

           to  a  day  school  in Dublin;  and  immediately  he  had  completed  his  final year  of  training,  he  left 

           the Congregation. 



           Br Dondre 



8.189      Br Dondre worked as a teacher in Letterfrack from the 1960s to the early 1970s. He regarded 

           himself as a sort of gaoler who was hated by the inmates of the school. This sometimes bubbled 

           over in the form of attempted assaults on members of staff. The young Brothers were the front 

           line and, if challenged, they had to take decisive action for fear of losing control over the group 

           as a whole: 



                 ... we were the front line, we were the people responsible for keeping these kids in an 

                 industrial school, in a contained situation, as they called themselves in prison. Some of 

                 them would refer to the place as a prison. So we were the front line. We were the people 

                 who were sort of the easy targets for all their unhappiness and frustration and the stress 

                 and tension, and all the other things they were feeling. 



8.190      He said that yard duty was particularly difficult, given the numbers involved and the rough nature 

           of the boys. Fighting, bullying and name calling were constant features of life in the yard, and the 

           Brother in charge would be expected to take action. He felt he was particularly vulnerable because 

           of his small stature. 



8.191      Br Dondre said that he was physically assaulted on a number of occasions. On the first occasion, 

           when he was supervising a group of 90 pupils, one boy was cursing at another boy and he called 

           him over to chastise him. As the boy approached, he put up his two fists. Br Dondre put his own 

           fists up and the situation was defused. 



8.192      The next occasion involved the same boy, in the dormitory, when he pinned Br Dondre up against 

           a wall and attempted to choke him. He flipped the boy over. Br Anatole came in and asked him if 

           everything was all right. 



8.193      On a third occasion, he was threatened by a boy wielding a broken chair. He said he was able to 

           handle  that  situation  because  the  boy  was  the  same  height  as  him  and  he  removed  the  chair 

           from him. 



8.194      Br Dondre described a fourth occasion as the most serious and upsetting incident. He was verbally 

           chastising a pupil when the boy attacked him with the leg of a chair. Br Dondre picked up a stick 

           and hit him on the head with it. The boy’s head was grazed from the blow. The boy dropped and 

           he  caught  him  in  a  headlock.  He  got  control  of  the  boy  and  brought  him  to  the  nurse  who 



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           disinfected  the  wound  on  his  head.  He  reported  the  matter  to  Br  Malleville,  who  criticised  Br 

           Dondre for his inability to keep control and letting the incident occur. He was asked whether he 

           understood Br Malleville’s criticism to relate to his loss of temper and he said: 



                  No it wasn’t that. It was the fact that the incident happened at all. That I let him get out 

                  of control. 



8.195      He was never given any guidance or direction from Br Malleville or anyone else as to how that 

           control might be maintained. Br Dondre said that he deeply regretted his conduct on that day. 



8.196      He was not issued with a strap on arrival, but he went to the cobbler and asked him to make one 

           for him because he thought he would need it. He received no guidance as to its use and so would 

           have used his own discretion. He was aware, however, of the Christian Brothers’ rules regarding 

           the administration of corporal punishment. 



8.197      He  explained  the  circumstances  in  which  corporal  punishment  could  be  administered  in  the 

           classroom. The rulebook prohibited the administration of punishment for failure at lessons, but Br 

           Dondre drew a distinction between two types of failure at lessons: the first was failure due to a 

           lack of knowledge, the second was failure due to not having prepared the subject properly. In the 

           former,  he  would not  administer  punishment;  in the  latter,  he  would. There  was  a  grey area  in 

           which the second kind of failure could be regarded as a breach of discipline. 



8.198      Br Dondre  said that he  often gave  boys  ‘a clatter’ for serious offences.  He admitted  to kicking 

           boys, beating them with a stick or with his open palm. He said that he regretted using corporal 

           punishment but stressed that it was essential for maintaining order. He felt that the boys had no 

           respect for teachers who did not use it. 



8.199      Br  Dondre  agreed  with  other  Brothers  that  absconding  was  regarded  as  a  particularly  serious 

           offence, and recalled an incident where absconders were punished with a fire hose. It was also 

           punishable by the withdrawal of home leave, head shaving and by being beaten with the strap. It 

           was usually dealt with directly by the Resident Manager. 



           Br Karel31 



8.200      Br Karel worked in Letterfrack in the early 1970s and had been sent there because the school 

           was  experiencing  problems.  Discipline  was  poor  as  a  result  of  low  staff  levels,  and  the  small 

           number of staff that was there was overworked. Shortly after he arrived, the boys staged a sit- 

           down protest and were only persuaded to go to bed with difficulty. The other Brothers working 

           there told him they were barely able to keep control and there had been assaults on two of them. 

           Bullying was a big problem, with bigger boys regularly trying to impose their will on smaller boys 

           and even on Brothers. He administered corporal punishment with a leather strap which was carried 

           by all of the Brothers and he also used his fists. He confirmed that there was no punishment book 

           in which punishments administered were recorded. He told the Committee that he used the threat 

           of three slaps on the buttocks to deter boys from absconding. 



8.201      He instituted a number of schemes to try and control the boys and create a positive atmosphere 

           in the School. As a result, he was able to discontinue gradually the use of the leather strap: 



                  The   atmosphere      changed     gradually.   Punishment     was    still there  in the   normal   way, 

                  corporal punishment didn’t go out until 1982 or 1983. I was able to discard that leather 

                  which was the normal way of administering punishment in Letterfrack in that, somewhere 

                  in the middle of that period I was there and I never again used it. 



           31 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.202      Br  Karel  worked  in  Letterfrack  for  the  last  two  years  of  the  Institution,  during  which  time  the 

           numbers reduced dramatically. When he arrived, there were 41 boys in the Institution, and when 

           he left in 1974, there were only 11 boys and the School was in the process of closing.32                      Even 



           though numbers were that small, violence was still a serious problem in the School. 



8.203      Main points arising from respondent evidence 



                   •    These witnesses confirmed that violence was a regular feature of life in Letterfrack. It 

                         was  a  means  of  communication  and  was  a  way  of  gaining  status  and  power.  Fear 

                         affected the way boys related to Brothers and impaired relationships among the boys 

                         themselves. 



                   •    Many Brothers considered that the practice of carrying a leather all the time and using 

                         it as and when required was normal for the times. They defended this level of corporal 

                         punishment by saying that it was no more than was present in many national schools. 

                         The  crucial  point  was  that  Letterfrack  was  more  than  just  a  national  school;  it  was 

                         home to the boys who were there. Parents did not carry around leathers or sticks as 

                         a matter of course, and that is the standard by which the Brothers should be judged. 

                         The Brothers were trained, or were in the course of training, as teachers and it is as 

                         teachers that they speak of levels of corporal punishment, not as carers in loco parentis 

                         to these children. Even today, many of them are not able to see that subjecting children 

                         to  the  constant  threat  of  corporal  punishment  at  the  level  it  was  administered  in 

                         Letterfrack was excessive and unreasonable. 



                   •    Brothers  gave examples  of corporal punishment  that were  clearly beyond what  was 

                         acceptable in national schools. Punishment was not confined to slapping on the hand. 

                         Brothers used the strap on the buttocks and the bare buttocks. Some Brothers admitted 

                         hitting  boys   with   their  hands    or   fists. Implements      such   as   sticks   were   used. 

                         Punishments included marching around the yard, isolation, head shaving and hosing 

                         down with cold water. 



                   •    Brothers  differed  as  to  their  knowledge  of  the  rules  on  corporal  punishment,  in  that 

                         some recalled being aware of them whilst others did not. In reality, these Rules were 

                         irrelevant  in  Letterfrack  because  they  were  breached  so  often  and  without  any  fear 

                         of censure. 



                   •    All Brothers who spoke to the Committee confirmed that corporal punishment was a 

                         matter of individual discretion and that they received no formal guidance or training on 

                         its administration. They administered the punishment themselves and generally did not 

                         involve the Resident Manager. 



                   •    Trainee Brothers who did so much of the day-to-day running of the School had a strong 

                         incentive to maintain the status quo, because taking problems to the Resident Manager 

                         might have had repercussions for gaining their qualifications. If they used excessive 

                         punishment, the Resident Manager did no more than warn them to avoid recurrences. 

                         Losing control of the boys, however, was seen as a serious failing by the Brothers. 



                   •    In the absence of accountability or control, either through supervision or the punishment 

                         book, excessive and unfair corporal punishment was administered. 



                   •    Letterfrack  was  seen  as  a  challenging  and  difficult  posting  by  the  Brothers  and  ex- 

                         Brothers who testified. Some Brothers admitted that they took out their frustrations on 

                         the boys in their care and punished excessively as a result. The system that placed 

                         inexperienced  or  unsuitable  Brothers  in  an  environment  that  was  so  fundamentally 

                         flawed was fraught with danger. 



           32 See table at paragraph 3.20. 



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           Evidence of former residents 



8.204      Complainant  witnesses  gave  evidence  from  a  perspective  that  was  necessarily  different  from 

           respondents. Their testimony focused on some major themes as follows: 



                   •    Physical punishment was pervasive; there was no way of avoiding it and it was the 

                         response of first resort for any problem that arose. 



                   •    There was an extraordinary variety of methods of inflicting pain and physical discomfort. 

                   •    The circumstances in which punishment was inflicted were many and varied, ranging 

                         from serious offences to trivial matters and sometimes for no reason at all. 



                   •    Life in Letterfrack was lived in a climate of fear. 



           Public punishments 



8.205      Complainant  and  respondent  witnesses  agreed  that  boys  were  sometimes  punished  in  public, 

           when other boys were formally assembled to witness the event with the intention that they should 

           learn something from the occasion. Br Francois had a ‘vague recollection’ of one such incident: 



                  I remember      them   being   lined   up,  I don’t  know    what   room,    was   it the  refectory   or 

                  something, they were lined up in a line and slapped as far as I remember, in front of the 

                  rest of the school. 



8.206      A former resident described the circumstances of a public beating which was acknowledged as 

           having occurred by Br Anatole and which was dealt with in his evidence above: 

                                                                      33 what he done was a guy sitting on the top, 

                  This guy, the fellow I am talking about Alan 

                  he was sitting on the chair and he was having a hair cut. The Brother left the thing for 

                  cutting your hair down and when he went the guy went up and he shaved the back of the 

                  guy’s head quickly as a joke, and your man had a big lump missing out of his hair. So 

                  when  the  Brother came  back  he  seen this  and  he  was really  mad,  and  he asked  who 

                  done it. Eventually through a lot of, you know, questions and threatening, battering him, 

                  whatever, he said it was so and so that done it. That is how he come to be punished for 

                  that ... I can’t remember if he said, “listen I done it”, but the guy said “it was Alan who 

                  done it”. So he got done and his punishment was on the stage in front of everyone. 



8.207      Br  Anatole  recalled  that  this  incident  came  to  the  attention  of  the  Superior,  Br  Malleville,  who 

           severely reprimanded him and the other Brothers who took part: 



                  It was around supper time. He brought us into the parlour, he was very angry and he said 

                  that such a thing was never to happen again ... That any boy was to be beaten on the 

                  backside over a chair, on the stage in the hall ... I think it was the sheer brutality of it and 

                  the  excessive  nature  of  it,  it  was  way  outside  the  boundaries  of  what  Br  Malleville 

                  considered legitimate corporal punishment. It was there in the collective consciousness 

                  of us as Brothers in Letterfrack that these methods that you are putting to me one after 

                  the other, that these were handed down progressively from one year to the next. When 

                  new Brothers came on the scene that’s how we found out that this was the way things 

                  were done here. We never discussed them in any way it was just here we go, run around 

                  the yard,  give somebody a  kick in  the backside or  whatever. It was  just done  like that 

                  depending on how you felt at that particular time. 



8.208      There was no record in the Christian Brothers’ discovery of this reprimand or of the circumstances 

           that gave rise to it. 



           33 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.209      Another former resident remembered the occasion when this boy was beaten: 



                  ...[he] was called up for his punishment on the stage, and he was battered and beaten by 

                  Br Iven in front of – we all had to sit in these chairs as if you were watching a play on the 

                  stage and Br Iven battered him, beat him, lashed him, punched him and kicked him and 

                  because he wasn’t getting any satisfaction, he couldn’t make him cry, he started to take 

                  off his collar and take his habit down or whatever you call them, and he started to lash 

                  him, you know, with his fists and stuff. It seemed like it went on for a long, long time and 

                  we had to sit there and watch this. 



8.210      The Brother who was identified as having given this extreme beating denied involvement. He said, 

           ‘Not only do I not remember it but that certainly wouldn’t have happened’. 



8.211      Notwithstanding the disapproving attitude of the Superior, there were other public beatings. One 

           witness said: 



                  There was different Brothers that used to do it. It was a sort of – it wasn’t always on the 

                  stage it could be just up in a corner and made to, everybody silent while somebody was 

                  getting punished and you would be just staring ... We used to have a little TV up the front 

                  and there was a stage, you know, there was chairs where we would just sit around. If it 

                  was  raining you  would hang  about  here or  if it  was  cold. This  is where  things  used to 

                  happen  ...  Sometimes  they  would  have  a  list  of  people  who  had  done  things  and  the 

                 punishment time was in the evening. Or, like, in the dormitory they’d have names, you 

                  would be called out, so and so, come up here. At the end of the dormitory where a room 

                  was they would carry out punishments there. It could be in the yard, there was a big yard 

                  with four walls, you know. You were lined up like soldiers and your name was called out 

                  ... There was other Brothers who done a lot of punishments too, but this is a guy I have 

                  in my mind who I seen doing things and has done things to me. There was another guy 

                  Telfour, I seen him using the special branches or sticks that bend. 



8.212      Although boys might not always be formally assembled, the public nature of beatings administered 

           where all the boys were assembled had a similar effect. This was particularly true at night time, 

           when boys were punished in the washroom adjacent to the dormitories. One witness described a 

           severe beating he received for absconding. The Manager turned off the radio that was playing in 

           the dormitory and invited the rest of the boys who were in their beds to ‘now listen to some music’ 

           as he brought the boy out to be beaten. His screams were heard throughout the dormitory. 



8.213      It was disturbing to hear other boys being beaten. As one witness said, ‘you nearly preferred to 

           get it yourself because listening to somebody getting bashed, in a sense it is worse than getting 

           it yourself’. 



8.214      •     Public  punishment  increased  the  ordeal  for  the  person  being  punished  and  had  a 

                 frightening  impact  on  the  boys  watching  or  listening.  Such  spectacles  should  have 

                 had no place in a facility dedicated to the care of children. 



           Varieties of punishment 



8.215      On one occasion, a boy trying to escape was caught in one of the fields belonging to the School 

           and   brought    back.   He   was   given   a  severe    beating   and   was   then   subjected    to  two   extra 

           punishments that required considerable ingenuity. He first described the beating: 



                  I was told to take down my pants and bend over. Well, I didn’t actually get to bend over 

                  myself, he just grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me down and started to lay into 

                  me ... All the rest of the boys had gone off to work in the afternoon and there was just me 

                  and him. Now I have a vague recollection of another Brother being around, but I couldn’t 

                  swear to it. 



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8.216      He then said that he was brought to the boot-makers and was given extra large boots: 



                  At the time I was pretty small. The boots, it was like having two barges on your feet. Then 

                  he  frog-marched  me  up  to  the  farmyard  where  some of  the  boys  were  up  there.  They 

                  were piling silage, at the time I thought it was only grass, but I got the technical term later; 

                  into this big silo pit and I was made to get into it and walk around in circles with these 

                  boots. It would have been bad enough walking around with ordinary boots, because every 

                  time you stepped, you would go down, but the big boots, and when the boys had a rest, 

                  I had to keep going. 



8.217      Finally, he described how he was isolated by being made to stand at the refectory wall while boys 

           played football around him and where he could be struck by the ball: 



                  Up close to the wall, but I wasn’t allowed to lift my hands up. If I lifted my hands up – I 

                  didn’t realise he could run so fast in skirts – the boys would hit the ball. Some hit me on 

                  the leg, the backside, the back, quite a few on the head, the back of the head and bang 

                  and that went on for about two weeks. Exactly how long, I don’t know. I didn’t play at all, 

                  after church in the morning, before we went to school, before lunch and after lunch, before 

                  dinner, after dinner, I was there all the time. 



8.218      This treatment went on for a number of weeks until he was relieved of the obligation by another 

           Brother: 



                  Shortly afterwards, the boys came back from – the ones that were on holidays came back, 

                  and  I  don’t  know  this  Brother’s  name,  but  he  came  back  around  the  same  time,  so  I 

                  assumed     that  he   had   been   on   holidays   too,  but  he   actually  left the  school    shortly 

                  afterwards. He saw me standing there in my extra large boots and I was always bleeding 

                  when I was at the wall and he asked me what I was doing? I said, oh, I ran away. He 

                  took  me  down  between  the  refectory  and  the  stairway  and  the  library,  there  is  a  little 

                  alcove that they used for first aid. He took me in there and cleaned me up and looked at 

                  my boots. He said, they are a bit big for you and sent me up to the bootmakers to get a 

                  normal size. I couldn’t believe it I could actually lift my feet off the ground. But Br Noreis,34 



                  well, he more or less asked me, you know, what are you doing and I pointed to the other 

                  Brother and said, that Brother told me to leave the wall. He wasn’t too pleased, but I got 

                  the impression that there wasn’t anything he could do about it. 



8.219      The same witness described how he was accused of causing damage by failing to turn off an iron 

           while he was working in the tailor shop. He had not been the last person to use the iron because 

           he had given it to another boy when he had finished his work. Subsequently, smoke was seen to 

           be  coming  out  of  the  shop  because  the  iron  had  been  left  turned  on  and  burned  through  the 

           ironing  cover.  That  evening,  instead  of  going  to  the  cinema,  the  boys  were  summoned  by  the 

           Disciplinarian to ascertain who had left the iron on. Because the witness had been ironing, he was 

           the prime suspect, and the Disciplinarian organised a mock trial in which he was the defendant 

           and the Brother the Judge. The Brother appointed counsel for the defence and prosecution. He 

           told  the  boys  that  the  witness  would  not  be  punished  if  found  guilty.  The  trial  went  on  for  a 

           couple of hours and the witness found the questioning so hurtful that he broke down crying. The 

           Disciplinarian took this as an indication of guilt and the witness was severely beaten. He said: 



                  That was enough for him to convict me; I was guilty. If I wasn’t guilty, why was I crying? 

                  Everyone  went  off  to  bed.  I  was  going  off  to  bed  and  I  was  called  back  and  flogged. 

                  Before he did it, I said, “but you promised I wouldn’t get flogged for the fire”. He said,“ 

                  you are not being flogged for the fire. You are being punished because you told a lie”.. 

                  So heads he wins, tails I lose. 



           34 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.220      Another variety of punishment which was confirmed by individual respondents was that boys were 

           required to run around the yard as punishment. Br Michel described it thus: 



                  That  did  happen.  What  I  can  remember  was  if  a  boy,  if  a  mature  chap  ran  away, 

                 absconded,     the  Manager     would   say   “give  him   a  while  running   around    the  yard.”  It 

                 happened during break times it didn’t go on for terribly long, a few days maybe ... it would 

                 be during play time and there was always a Brother in the yard during playtime, therefore 

                 he would be supervised. The rest of the students would be there as well. 



8.221      A witness described how one Brother imposed a punishment on a group of boys, who were due 

           to go swimming, because one misbehaved: 



                 On the way across the yard somebody booed and when we all got to the door to lead up 

                 to the dormitory he asked who booed, nobody would own up to who booed so he sent us 

                 across to the boot room, which was on the other side of the yard and we had to take off 

                 our sandals at the time, because it was the summertime, and put on our Wellingtons. We 

                 were made to run around the yard, everybody ran around the yard until we could run no 

                 more. That was it we just left – no swimming. 



8.222      Another witness described how Br Noreis directed boys to write down the names of those who 

           engaged in sexual activity, and punished them as a group, if sufficient information was not given, 

           by depriving them of the Saturday night film: 



                 Everyone got a sheet of paper and a pencil and we were told to write down if we knew of 

                 any boys who had been, shall we say, sexually active with any other boy. Well, I always 

                 wrote the same thing down; I don’t know what you mean. This always went on a Saturday 

                 night. You always missed out on the cinema, because that was the one day that we had 

                 a movie. After all these boys had done whatever writing they were doing the paper was 

                 collected  and  we  were  all  sent  off  to  the  dormitories,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  night  you 

                 could hear the screaming where boys who had misbehaved were dragged down in their 

                 night clothes and flogged by Br Noreis. That went on quite often. 



8.223      Another witness had his head shaved and was ‘sent to Coventry’ for a period that was to end 

           when his hair grew back: 



                 what they decided to do instead of giving me a beating, they decided to cut all my hair off 

                 and keep all the other kids from speaking to me until it was grown back, and that is the 

                 way I remember Letterfrack. 



8.224      The witness described how the other boys treated him: 



                  They weren’t allowed to speak to me, as I say, until my hair grew back, and then when I 

                 would be walking around the yard and that, the ball would be kicked – if they were playing 

                 football, the ball would be kicked at me, I would be ducking. I was never hurt by a ball or 

                 anything like that. 



8.225      This lasted until his hair grew: ‘I don’t know how long but it felt like an awful long time’. 



8.226      Another former resident explained: 



                  There  was  two  things  down  there  that  you  had  to  be  aware  of,  was  the  bare  and  the 

                 baldier. The baldier was getting your hair cut off and getting it on the bare was getting it 

                 on the bare bum. 



8.227      Punishments included beating with a leather on the bare buttocks. Brothers acknowledged that 

           this happened, as is detailed in the section on respondent evidence. One respondent who gave 

           evidence, however, did not recall beating boys on the bare buttocks, and conceded only that when 



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           he was beating a boy in a dormitory the latter’s nightshirt might have ridden up, but the beating 

            ‘wasn’t on his bare buttocks to my knowledge’. He was referred to a statement he made to the 

           Gardai, in which he referred to his use of the leather: 

                   ´ 



                  Yes, I did in class and in the yard. I used it mostly on the hand. I used it twice on the bare 

                  backside of a fella that I caught going into another fella’s bed at nights. I did not feel great 

                  about this beating it was part of the reason I left because I felt I was becoming brutalised. 



8.228      The Brother denied that he used the word ‘bare’ in the statement he made to the Gardai, stating 

                                                                                                                      ´ 

           that he did not read back over his statement before signing it. 



8.229      Another witness expanded: 



                  Out to the wash hall that was a dreaded thing. There was a term there; you could get it 

                  on the bare. What it meant was you would have to pull your nightshirt up, bend over and 

                  it would be a cane or the leather strap and you would get it heftily on the bottom. You 

                  would suffer from it and it would be violent, there is no other way you could describe it. 

                  That’s what happened to me. I got it on the bare out there. You expected it once you got 

                  out there, lights out and into the wash hall. This is what you are going to get and this is 

                  what I got. I got it pretty violent out there. 



8.230      Beating on the bare buttocks was not confined to the most serious offences, and one witness said 

           it happened to him because he was talking in the dormitory at night. 



8.231      Residents  remembered  head  shaving  and  isolation  as  part  of  the  punishment  for  absconding. 

           One said: 



                  They  didn’t  get  very  far.  One  chap  ...  he  got  to  Athlone.  The  police  arrested  him  and 

                  brought him back. When you were brought back they cut all the hair off you and isolated 

                  you. 



8.232      Another said: 



                  For instance, if the boys ran away they stood them up against the wall, cut all their hair 

                  off, shaved it and nobody could talk to them. 



8.233      Respondent witnesses confirmed this. Br Dondre said that it was a recognised punishment and it 

           was done in order to stigmatise them. Br Francois had a similar recollection. He saw it done and 

           presumed it was a ‘badge of disgrace’. 



8.234      In its Submission, the Congregation accepted that boys’ heads were shaved as a punishment: 



                  It would appear that this was a punishment which was confined to absconders though the 

                  Congregation acknowledges that it was an unacceptable form of punishment and deeply 

                  regrets that any boy’s head was shaved in this way. 



8.235      Another form of punishment that was not in dispute was hosing boys with cold water. A resident 

           in the 1950s said that Br Sorel punished bed-wetters by hosing them down. A similar punishment 

           was described in the late 1960s for boys who had tried to abscond. Respondents confirmed this 

           evidence. Br Sorel said that he did so for hygiene reasons, but he accepted that other Brothers 

           used it as a punishment and that it was totally wrong. Responding to the suggestion that people 

           were brought down and hosed as a punishment, not for the purposes of hygiene but as a specific 

           punishment, he said: 



                  I think that was true in other case with some other Brothers, I think that was done as a 

                  punishment. I think it was totally wrong ... Looking back, the whole thing was horrific for 

                  me and I am sure it was for the boys. 



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8.236      Br Anatole accepted that absconders were still being hosed down in his time, the late 1960s: 



                  If  a  boy  ran  away.  It  hasn’t  come  up  so  far  in  the  question.  It  was  one  of  the  routine 

                  punishments; if a boy ran away he might be hosed down in the shower room. There was 

                  a fire hose rolled up against the wall. 



8.237      Br Dondre saw it happen once and did not approve of its use: 



                  The fire hose, I only ever saw it being used once. There were a couple of boys absconded 

                  and they were brought back. That night Br Anatole came to the dormitory and he took the 

                  two boys from the dormitory and put them into their bathing togs, they were taken from 

                  the dormitory and I went with them. I didn’t know what he was going to do; I didn’t know 

                  where  he  was  bringing  them.  I  followed  them  down  to  the  yard,  down  the  side  of  the 

                  kitchen and he took the fire hose off the wall and he hosed the two boys down with the 

                  fire hose. Then he gave it to me to continue on and I turned it off. 



8.238      Br Iven also recalled an incident when absconders were hosed down when they were brought 

           back to Letterfrack. 



           The inevitability of punishment 



8.239      It was impossible to avoid punishment. One witness said, ‘If one of these guys got in a bad humour 

           that was it. You were standing in the roadway, that was it’. Another resident was asked whether 

           a boy could avoid beatings. He replied, ‘Not really, you couldn’t. Not in Letterfrack, you couldn’t. 

           Not from certain Brothers, you could not’. 



8.240      A witness who was resident from the late 1940s to the early 1950s described a severe beating 

           he received. He worked in the generator room, helping the lay operator. One of his jobs was to 

           go down to the generator room in the early hours to divert the electrical energy created by the 

           turbine to the battery. The night watchman used to wake him for this purpose but on this occasion 

           he was late in doing so, as a result of which the electricity was not diverted at the right time. The 

           Brother in charge of the generator discovered the situation and punished the boy, who did not 

           blame the night watchman because he did not want to get him into trouble. The Brother gave him 

           a severe beating with a stick. When the lay operator saw the boy’s condition after the beating he 

           brought him up to the Manager in the monastery and told him that if it ever happened again he 

           would go to the Gardai: 

                                      ´ 



                  He said first of all he’d inform the local police and then he’d get the cruelty man in if it 

                  ever happened again. It never happened again from Br Lafayette35                  ... He said he would 



                  see to it, he’d take it in hand. 



           Absconding 



8.241      Brothers and complainants confirmed that boys who ran away from the Institution were dealt with 

           severely once caught. Absconding had to be reported to the Department of Education, and the 

           Gardai were often called on to assist in finding the child. 

                   ´ 



8.242      A research paper commissioned by the Congregation in 2001 contains an analysis of the number 

           of abscondings between 1959 and 1972 and the ages of the boys when they absconded. 



           35 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.243      The following table illustrates the number of pupils, their ages and when they absconded:36 



                            Year                    Number of pupils absconding                          Age(s) 



                              1959                                   1                                     11 



                              1960                                   1                                     13 



                              1961                                   1                                     12 



                              1963                                   2                                   10; 12 



                              1964                                   1                                     12 



                              1965                                   1                                     11 



                              1966                                   5                             8; 10; 12; 13; 14 



                              1967                                   6                           13; 13; 13; 13; 13; 14 



                              1968                                   4                               10; 11; 12; 14 



                              1969                                   2                                   14; 14 



                              1970                                   4                               11; 12; 12; 13 



                              1971                                   2                                    9; 10 



                              1972                                   2                                   13; 14 



                            Total                                   32 



8.244      The detail contained in this list does not match the information in the Department of Education’s 

           Annual  Report  entries.  In  1959,  six  boys  absconded  from  the  School  and  did  a  considerable 

           amount  of  damage  to  property  and  were  removed  after  special  court  on  10th            January  1959  to 



           Daingean  Reformatory.  In  1959,  the  Visitor  noted  that  ‘Since  Christmas,  11  boys  ran  away  at 

           different  times.  Br  Malleville  has  to  take  the  car  and  follow  them  or  that  he  got  word  from  the 

           Guards  that  they  had  been  captured  and  that  he  had  to  collect  them  and  sometimes  was  not 

           home  with  them  until  1.30  a.m’.  What  is  very  evident  is  the  increasing  level  of  absconding, 

           particularly from the mid-1960s onwards. 



8.245      What was clear from this analysis was that the official records did not reflect the actual number 

           of boys who ran away from Letterfrack and who were severely punished for so doing. 



8.246      In 1967, the Visitor noted that, although conditions had improved in Letterfrack, absconding was 

           a serious problem: 



                  The boys can never be left on their own for despite the efforts to make the school a home 

                  for them the boys always regard the school as a place of detention and are liable to run 

                  away at any time. 



8.247      This Visitor recognised the fundamental problem of removing boys from their home and friends 

           and expecting them to adjust to a completely alien lifestyle and environment. The response of the 

           authorities  was  punitive  and  never  addressed  the  reasons  why  the  boys  had  run  away  in  the 

           first place. 



8.248      The high level of absconding should have alerted the management to question the way in which 

           Letterfrack provided care to the children sent there, but this does not appear to have happened. 



           36 This information is taken from a report compiled for the Christian Brothers by Michael Bruton in relation to Letterfrack 



              in 2001. 



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           Bed-wetting 



8.249      In its Opening Statement, the Congregation stated: 



                 Unfortunately,  the  boys  could  have  been  the  objects  of  ridicule  by  their  peers  being 

                 labelled “slashers” ... No living Brother who was in Letterfrack in the period under review 

                 recalls that there was ever any punishment meted out to a boy for bed-wetting. 



8.250      However, during the private hearings, Br Sorel, who was present during the 1940s and 1950s, 

           admitted to punishing boys for bed-wetting. He stated that: 



                 That was one of the worst and soiling the bed. This is the thing that used to break my 

                 heart  in  the  morning  when  I  came  down  to  the  dormitory,  they  had  Macintosh  sheets, 

                 large ones on the bed, and then they had the ordinary sheets over the Macintosh sheet, 

                 you would find three or four of the lads would not alone wet the bed but soil the bed. I 

                 was really tearing my hair out at that stage. 



8.251      He continued: 



                 It was a problem every morning and I used to detest it. I felt like running away myself 

                 several times, having to face it coming down in the morning. It was terrible, the stench 

                 and the smell. 



8.252      He used to try and deal with the problem himself, but if it was not possible the boys had to take 

           their mattress down to the yard, or take their sheets to the laundry. 



8.253      As a result of this evidence in its Final Submission the Congregation stated: 



                 It is accepted that boys were, on isolated occasions during this period, punished for this 

                 problem though it does not appear that such punishment was a regular or routine practice 

                 within Letterfrack. 



8.254      They also accept that bed-wetters could have been dealt with more sensitively and that boys were 

           required to organise the cleaning of their sheets themselves. 



8.255      Complainants testified that there was a practice of punishing boys who wet their beds. A former 

           resident,  who  was  in  Letterfrack  in  the  late  1960s,  described  how  he  was  slapped  for  wetting 

           the bed: 



                 And if you wet the bed, you got a smack. They would know the bed-wetters from the rest 

                 of them. They would check their beds all the time. They would just walk by and they would 

                 whip your blankets off, and if the bed was stained you would get a smack. 



8.256      A number of former residents told the Investigation Committee how they started to wet the bed in 

           Letterfrack.  One  pupil  described  how  he  started  to  wet  the  bed  in  the  School,  a  problem  that 

           continued  well  into  adult  life.  He  said  that,  in  the  mornings,  his  sheets  and  mattress  would  be 

           thrown on the floor. He recounted how he was sometimes made to wrap the sheets around him 

           in order, as he saw it, to degrade him. He would be made to take the sheets to the yard while all 

           the while the other boys would be laughing at him. Although he received the odd slap for bed- 

           wetting he said there was no punishment as such, and what he feared most was the humiliation. 



8.257      One former pupil said: 



                 lads that wet the bed as well they were  made take the mattress down in the morning, 

                 carry them around the yard on their back and then put them on the rails in front of the 

                 shops they had in the school. There was a row of shops all the way along; the bakers, 

                 the cobblers and the tailors, and there was big railings and they had to put the mattresses 

                 up there to dry out. It was embarrassing like, you know. 



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8.258     •    Bed-wetting and soiling showed the extreme emotional disturbance suffered by many 

                children  in  Letterfrack.  Evidence  from  complainants  about  this  problem  was  that  it 

                developed after they had come to Letterfrack and was not a pre-existing condition. 



          •    Although  much  of  the  complainants’  evidence  was  confirmed  in  general  terms  by 

                respondents’    evidence,    the  particular  cruelty   of  the  punishment     emerged     in the 

               testimony    of  individual   complainants.    Punishments      described    by  Brothers   or  ex- 

                Brothers,   often  in  exculpatory    or  limiting  terms,   failed  to  reflect the   pain,  fear, 

                helplessness and vulnerability that resulted. 



          The Congregation’s response to allegations of physical abuse in Letterfrack 



8.259     In its Opening Statement, the Congregation accepted that there had been lapses by individual 

          Brothers and that children had been physically abused in Letterfrack. They pointed out, however, 

          that  corporal  punishment  was  an  accepted  teaching  tool  during  the  period  under  investigation, 

          and that the children who were sent to Letterfrack could not be regarded as a random sample of 

          the school-going population. They stated that many had been confined to the School by the courts 

          for breaches of the criminal law, and others were committed because their parents did not exercise 

          proper care. Many were unaccustomed to parental discipline. In circumstances where there were a 

          large number of children and a small number of staff, the maintenance of discipline was essential. 



8.260     The Congregation stated that there are no surviving punishment books for the School, although 

          they believe that at one stage they did exist. 



8.261     The  Congregation  argued  that  their  records  show  that  the  rules  governing  punishment  were 

          adhered to and that physical abusers were removed from the school when they were discovered. 

          They summarised their position as follows: 



                       (a)  The   recommendation     given   was  that  each   Brother  was   to reduce   corporal 

                            punishment to a minimum in his class. 



                       (b)  It was clearly stated that corporal punishment was not to be used for failure at 

                            lessons or during the religious instruction class. 



                       (c)  Constant emphasis was laid on ensuring that proper comportment, gravity, and 

                            propriety were observed in the administration of corporal punishment. 



                       (d)  Other   forms  of  disapproval,   from  sarcasm    to pushing   a  child  away,   were 

                            forbidden. 



                       (e)  The   only  instrument   of punishment     authorised  was   the  leather  strap,  and 

                            punishment could only be administered on the hand. 



                       (f)  The   authorized   leather strap  was   to  be  kept  in the  teacher’s   desk  in  the 

                            classroom. 



8.262     In its Closing Submission, the Congregation stated: 



                In light of all of the evidence, including the evidence of the respondents, it is accepted by 

                the  Congregation     that, unfortunately   there   were   incidents   of  excessive   physical 

                punishment. 



                However it would appear that these were isolated incidents and it is submitted that the 

                evidence  does  not  support  a  finding  that  excessive  severe  punishment  was  routine  or 

                prevalent during the relevant period. However it is accepted that the evidence suggested 

                that the regime of physical punishment in the 1940s was somewhat more severe than in 

                the period subsequent to that when there were improvements in the general regime. 



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8.263     •   The  evidence  of  former  residents  about  the  punishment  regime  in  Letterfrack  was 

               substantially  confirmed by  respondent  witnesses,  and there  was  little dispute  as  to 

               the punishments that were administered. 



          •   There were fewer areas of dispute as between complainant and respondent witnesses 

               than there were between complainants and the Congregation of the Christian Brothers. 

               The  Congregation  acknowledged  that  there  had  been  breaches  of  the  rules  as  to 

               corporal  punishment,  in  respect  of  which  they  were  apologetic,  but  adhered  to  the 

               position that excesses were not the norm and that the regime, when considered in the 

               proper historical context, was not an abusive one. 



          •   Punishment that was excessive, arbitrary, uncontrolled and pervasive had an impact 

               that was not limited to the particular incident or the particular recipient, but created a 

               climate  of  fear  and  distrust  throughout  the  Institution.  The  Congregation  failed  to 

               consider  the full  extent and  long-term impact  of the  corporal punishment  regime in 

               Letterfrack when coming to the conclusion outlined in its Final Submission. 



          Conclusions on physical abuse 



8.264     1.   Corporal punishment in Letterfrack was severe, excessive and pervasive, and created 

              a climate of fear. 



          2.  Corporal punishment was the primary method of control. It was used to express power 

              and status and practically became a means of communication between Brothers and 

              boys, and among the boys themselves. 



          3.  It was impossible to avoid punishment, because it was frequently capricious, unfair 

              and inconsistent. 



          4.  Formal public punishments, and punishments within sight or hearing of others, left a 

              deep   and  lasting  impression    on  those  present.  Witnesses    were   still troubled by 

              memories of seeing and hearing other boys being beaten. 



          5.  The lack of supervision and control allowed Brothers to devise unusual punishments 

              and there were sadistic elements to some of them. 



          6.  The  rules  on  corporal  punishment  were  disregarded  and  no  punishment  book  was 

              kept,  which  meant  that  Brothers  were  not  made  accountable  for  the  punishments 

              they administered. 



          7.  The Congregation did not carry out proper investigations of cases of physical abuse. 

              It did not impose sanctions on Brothers who were guilty of brutal assaults. It did not 

              seek   to enforce   either the  Department’s    or its own   rules  that governed    corporal 

              punishment. 



          8.  The   Department    of Education   was   at fault in  failing to ensure   that the  statutory 

              punishment book was properly maintained and reviewed at every Inspection. 



          9.  The  Department  was  also  at  fault,  in  the  one  documented  case  that  came  to  its 

              attention,  when   it accepted   an  implausible   explanation   that  was  contrary   to the 

              information the Inspector had been given. 



          10.  In  dealing  with  cases  of  excessive  punishment,  protection  of  the  boys  was  not  a 

               priority for  the Congregation     and,  because   the  Department    left supervision   and 

               control entirely to local management the children were left without protection. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                     325 


----------------------- Page 356-----------------------

           Sexual abuse in Letterfrack 



           Introduction 



8.265      The  recorded  information  about  sexual  abuse  in  Letterfrack  during  the  relevant  period  can  be 

           outlined as follows. 



8.266      Br Dax spent 14 years working in Letterfrack over two periods between the early 1960s and the 

           mid-1970s.  He  pleaded  guilty  to  sample  charges  of  indecent  assault  and  buggery  of  boys  in 

           Letterfrack.  He  was  sentenced  to  terms  of  imprisonment.  Four  of  the  victims  for  the  criminal 

           prosecutions     also  gave    evidence    to  this  Committee.     Br   Dax   remains     a  member     of  the 

           Congregation. 



8.267      Br Anatole was a member of the Congregation for over 20 years, until he applied for and was 

           granted a dispensation from his vows in the early 1980s. He pleaded guilty to sample counts of 

           indecent    assault  in  respect   of  three   boys   during   his  period   in Letterfrack.   He   received   a 

           suspended sentence. 



           Documented cases 



           Br Piperel 



8.268      The disclosed documents record allegations in the 1930s that a Brother was engaging in sexual 

           misconduct with boys and is an example of how such a complaint was handled. 



8.269      The Provincial received an anonymous letter of accusation from ‘a friend of the school’. How he 

           responded is not recorded but, as appears below, he may have passed it to a deputy to follow 

           up. A second letter from the same source galvanised him into action. On the day he received it, 

           he  sent  the  Brother  against  whom  the  allegations  had  been  made  a  typewritten  transcript  and 

           requested an urgent response. The letter writer asked the Provincial to change this Brother for 

           the sake of the morals of the boys: 



                 I wrote just two weeks ago telling you that something was happening in the school with 

                 the Brother ... it has come to my notice that some of the boys were looking through the 

                 partition ... and saw a boy on his lap, etc. which has caused a great comment. I would 

                 not like it to get around outside. I believe this is not the first time. 



8.270      The Provincial did not conceal his disquiet. Having set out a transcription of the anonymous letter, 

           he wrote to Br Piperel: 



                 These recurring warnings are causing me grave anxiety. Taken in connection with what 

                 did happen between you and boys on a previous occasion there is quite justifiable cause 

                 for all my anxiety. 



                 Has anything wrong, such as is described in the above letter, taken place between you 

                 and   a   boy,  or  boys?    The   matter    is so   grave,   and   is  fraught   with  such   serious 

                 consequences to you, to the Institution and to the Congregation, that I require you to be 

                 very open and candid with me. Please let me have a letter from you by return. 



8.271      In  the  course  of  a  three-page,  handwritten  letter,  Br  Piperel  set  out  his  defence.  He  began  by 

           recalling that a Visitor had mentioned the matter to him previously and that it was only when the 

           Visitor had left that he remembered the occasion. The inference was that, following receipt of the 

           first letter, the Provincial asked the Visitor to raise the matter with Br Piperel in Letterfrack, and 

           the latter had denied any knowledge of it. 



8.272      His explanation was that, three weeks previously, one of the boys in the School brought him a 

           message from the Gardai in Letterfrack village: 

                                        ´ 



           326                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 357-----------------------

                  While  I  was  wording  a  reply  the  boy  remained  in  the  room,  and  as  I  wanted  him  to 

                  understand the message he was quite close to me while I was writing. After finishing I 

                  told the boy to re-arrange the desks, which were out of order after the Drawing. All this 

                  took only about seven or eight minutes ... 



                  After dinner I met this same boy and he brought with him another boy whom he stated 

                  was calling him names because he was doing messages for me to-day. Although the door 

                  of the schoolroom was open the boy looked through the partition while I was writing the 

                  message. I asked him why he called the boy names and he stated he only did that to get 

                  the other boy into a row. He then stated that he had been quite mistaken and I punished 

                  him. Both boys were emphatic about anything having happened. I can understand other 

                  boys  exaggerating  on  this  and  probably  making  some  statement  to  some  individual  in 

                  the premises. 



8.273      Br Piperel claimed that one of the lay staff in the School had a motive for having him removed 

           from the Institution and would have been pleased to get him into trouble, thereby implying that he 

           was the anonymous friend of the School who had written to the Provincial. 



8.274      The Brother’s reply should have given rise to even greater concern on the part of the Provincial, 

           but instead it seems to have been taken as a complete refutation of the charges of impropriety. 

           The mystery in the case was how the letter of response could have given any reassurance. 



8.275      At  the  time  of  the  complaint,  Br  Piperel  had  been  in  Letterfrack  for  some  eight  years  and  he 

           continued his career there for another four years. Thereafter, he served in three further industrial 

           schools over a 10-year period. The records contained complaints about the Brother’s work and 

           attitude in these institutions but did not record incidents of sexual impropriety. His last posting was 

           to a day school in Cork in the 1950s, where his career as a teacher came to a dramatic end as a 

           result of a complaint. 



8.276      This  matter  came  to  the  attention  of  the  School  when  an  influential  medical  specialist  told  the 

           Superior     that  a   colleague    was    troubled    because     his   nine-year-old     daughter    was    being 

           accompanied home from school by Br Piperel, who would wait near the School for her. The girl’s 

           father had spoken to the Brother but he maintained that he was not doing anything wrong. The 

           nuns in the School, a local teacher and parents were also concerned about the situation, which 

           was  not confined  to  this particular  child.  The  doctor told  the  Superior that  the  girl’s father  was 

           going to  report the matter  to the Gardai  if  the situation continued,  and the Superior  sought an 

                                                            ´ 

           immediate transfer, which was granted. Br Piperel remained in the Congregation until his death 

           nine years later. 



8.277      In  their  Opening  Statement,  the  Christian  Brothers  recorded  the  facts  about  this  Brother  in 

           summary      form,   noting   that  he   ‘was   given   the  opportunity    to  explain   himself    and   give  his 

           interpretation of what happened’. They commented: 



                  It is not clear why Br Piperel was moved around from institution to institution despite being 

                  a danger to the boys. There is no detailed account to indicate what discussion took place 

                  about the matter, nor any indication as to why such a decision was taken. 



8.278      This   Brother    had   a  history   of  improper    behaviour     towards    boys.   The    Provincial   took   the 

           anonymous  complaint  seriously  and  he  behaved  appropriately  in  expressing  his  anxiety  and 

           urgently seeking a response from the Brother. The records did not indicate whether the Provincial 

           notified the manager of any school to which he was subsequently posted. 



8.279      Br Piperel was one of three Brothers mentioned by an ex-resident of Letterfrack, Noah Kitterick, 

           who  wrote  to  the  Provincial  of  the  Order  in  1953  alleging  serious  sexual  and  physical  abuse. 



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           Notwithstanding the information the Congregation had, which should have alerted them that the 

           allegations  of  Mr  Kitterick  were  consistent  with  this  Brother’s  history,  no  acknowledgement  or 

           investigation of Mr Kitterick’s complaints was made. It was asserted by the Congregation that the 

           failure to deal with Mr Kitterick’s allegations was because of ignorance that such behaviour could 

           possibly have occurred. However, the documented records make such an assertion implausible. 



8.280      It is significant that this anonymous letter writer did not feel able to speak to the Resident Manager, 

           Br Troyes, who was in charge during two other serious episodes of sexual abuse in Letterfrack. 



8.281      •    The explanation offered by the Brother was entirely unsatisfactory. 

           •    The Provincial’s conduct put the interests of the Congregation, the Institution and the 

                 Brother ahead of the  welfare of the boys, which demanded  that the issue of sexual 

                 abuse be confronted. 



           •    The Congregation’s submission that ‘it is not clear why Br Piperel was moved around 

                 from  institution  to  institution  despite  being  a  danger  to  boys’  was  an  inadequate 

                 response to a serious lapse on the part of the Leadership at the time. Br Piperel was 

                 not the only Brother transferred in such manner and circumstances. 



           Mr Russel37 



8.282      In 1939 the Provincial again had to deal with a case of sexual misconduct, this time involving an 

           ex-pupil who was subsequently employed in the School and was in charge of some of the boys. 

           On 20th  July 1939, Br Leveret, the Disciplinarian in Letterfrack, wrote to the Provincial, Br Corben, 



           complaining about the sexual activities of Mr Russel: 



                 You  may  remember  when  you  called  to  Letterfrack  some  time  ago  my  drawing  your 

                 attention to improper conduct carried on between the young man ... Since your visit, the 

                 individual concerned has repeated this misconduct and the attention of the Superior was 

                 directed to the matter by the Sub Superior. The latter incident happened towards the end 

                 of May. Since then no action has been taken to have the fellow removed. 



                 I am now relieving my conscience by again bringing the matter under your notice. If there 

                 be a repetition of the misconduct I shall feel that I did my part in trying to have things put 

                 right. I now consider that I am no longer obliged to make any further representation on 

                 the matter. 



8.283      The Provincial wrote to the Resident Manager, Br Troyes, on 23rd  July 1939 to ascertain what was 



           going on: 



                 You will remember that when you were here some months ago I spoke to you about the 

                 undesirability  of  keeping [Mr  Russel]–in  your  employment. You  told  me  that though  he 

                 had been admittedly implicated in immoral practices with the boys he was now reformed. 

                 I have quite recently been informed that he has since reverted to his immoral conduct and 

                 that a complaint to this effect was made to you last May. I shall be thankful if you will 

                 kindly let me have the particulars of the charge that was made against Russel and to what 

                 extent, if any, you found he was guilty. 



8.284      The Sub-Superior, Br Vernay, replied on behalf of the Superior on 25th             July 1939: 



                 I have known Russel for upwards of seven years and I know that whilst he was in the 

                 school as a pupil and that whilst he was out he bore an unblemished character all the 

                 time. He has possibly been guilty of a misdemeanour in his contact with the boys but this 

                 lapse would be due to an inadvertence rather than any serious notion of guilt on his part 

                 or  on the  part  of the  boys.  The  whole thing  seems  much exaggerated  and  points to  a 



           37 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 359-----------------------

                 campaign against Russel rather than to a desire to correct an evil. Russel since being 

                 warned of the seriousness of the position, has become a member of the Sodality and was 

                 at Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the present month, Sodality Sunday. 



8.285      The Provincial replied to the Resident Manager on 25th          July 1939: 



                 I am glad to hear that you investigated the charge that was made against Russel, and 

                 that  you  have  given  him  a  serious  warning  with  the  threat  of  dismissal  in  case  that 

                 misconduct would be proved against him. I dare say the action you have taken will have 

                 a salutary effect upon him. It is good that he is in the Men’s Sodality and frequents the 

                 Sacraments. Let us hope that with such safeguards and with the grace of God he will not 

                 again commit himself. We cannot be too particular about the character and conduct of the 

                 people we have in our employment, especially in our institutions. 



8.286      The  Russel  episode  became  known  outside  the  School,  and  the  Auxiliary  Bishop  of  Tuam,  Dr 

           Walsh, wrote to the Provincial, Br Corben, suggesting a Visitation. The complaint was brought to 

           the attention of Br Troyes, the Superior, who wrote to Br Corben on 25th           September 1939: 



                 The matter you refer to was inquired into and vehemently denied. At the inquiry Mr Russel 

                 was  told,  that  if  ever  again,  there  was  a  complaint  and  that  it  was  proved  to  have 

                 foundation, it would mean instant dismissal for him. He goes to the Sacraments and is a 

                 member of the Men’s Sodality. I am satisfied that there has been no cause of complaint. 

                 His conduct and the company he keeps about the locality give no cause for anxiety. 



                 I was pained to get the complaint in the manner I got it and annoyed that you should get 

                 this  trouble.  The  complainant  did  not  mention  it  to  the  Superior  but  talked  about  it  to 

                 others. After all if it were a serious breach of conduct, it is not a matter for public talk. I 

                 have never failed to investigate a charge made against an employee or a boy. I am afraid 

                 the accuser has an axe to grind in this affair. If he had a difference, as he had with [Mr 

                 Russel] and the latter said things to him or of him, he ought not to keep up deliberately 

                 showing his spleen as this has been done in many ways. I am afraid the rules of charity 

                 and justice have been out stepped. I am satisfied, [Mr Russel] is conducting himself in a 

                 proper manner. 



8.287      On the same day, 25th     September 1939, a member of the Christian Brothers Provincialate had a 



           meeting with Bishop Walsh and noted in a memorandum: 



                 He told me that he had complaints about some immoral practices carried on by [Russel] 

                 in Letterfrack with some of the boys in the institution. This he said was reported to him by 

                 outsiders and was talked of freely by people who lived in the vicinity of Letterfrack. He 

                 (the  Bishop)  was  very  disturbed  by  this  information  and  wished  to  have  it  investigated 

                 at once. 



                 I  told  his  Lordship  that  we  had  already  investigated  these  regrettable  incidents  and  I 

                 showed him the correspondence, which passed between the Superior of Letterfrack and 

                 the Br Provincial on the subject. He was satisfied that the matter was already taken up 

                 and thanked me for attending so promptly to the matter. He however expressed a desire 

                 that the Visitation should be held in Letterfrack as soon as possible and asked me when 

                 it could be done. I promised him that it would be done before the end of October. This 

                 satisfied him... he wished however that this question should be thoroughly gone into at 

                 the Visitation, and that if there was evidence of Russel having reverted to his malpractices 

                 that he be sent away. I promised that this should be done. 



8.288      The  Provincial,  Br  Corben,  carried  out  the  Visitation  between  12th    and  16th  October  1939.  He 



           investigated  the  allegations  against  Mr  Russel  and  satisfied  himself  that  they  were  true.  He 

           directed  the  Resident  Manager  to  dismiss  Mr  Russel  and  the  latter  did  so  with  the  greatest 

           reluctance. His Visitation Report stated: 



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                 A short time before the Visitation the Auxiliary Bishop, Most Rev. Dr. Walsh had written 

                 to me to say that he had been informed that [Mr Russel] had been carrying on immoral 

                 practices with some of the boys. On investigation I found that such was the case, and 

                 that this man, who is an ex-pupil of the school, was not only corrupting the morals of the 

                 boys but was trying to undermine their Faith. I had on two previous occasions within the 

                 past six months told the Superior of complaints of this nature that reached me from the 

                 Brothers but he still kept him in his employment. Even now it is with reluctance he carries 

                 out my direction to dismiss this man. The Superior adopts a very stupid attitude in matters 

                 of this kind. 



8.289      The  Superior  was  extremely  reluctant  to  dismiss  the  employee,  notwithstanding  the  volume  of 

           complaints or indeed the weight of evidence against him. The Superior was holding to the view 

           that, although the employee had been guilty of certain previous misconduct, nevertheless he was 

           a reformed character and was not guilty of further wrong. 



8.290      In its Opening Statement the Congregation cited this incident for the purpose of showing that this 

           and two other cases involving lay workers were dealt with in an appropriate manner: 



                 These cases demonstrate that the management was very aware of the need to protect 

                 the young people from sexual exploitation. It should be noted that such complaints seem 

                 to  refer  solely  to  the  late  1930s   and   it does   not  seem    that  such   complaints    were 

                 widespread. 



8.291      •    The Superior maintained an obstinate refusal to acknowledge the misconduct of the 

                 employee, even when faced with strong findings of guilt made by the Provincial. The 

                 protection of the employee was placed ahead of the interests of the children. 



           •    Immediate action to remove the employee was required, and the inadequate response 

                 was  an  indictment  not  only  of  the  Resident  Manager  but  of  senior  management  in 

                 the Congregation. 



           •    The  Superior’s  refusal  to  deal  with  these  allegations  properly  at  the  outset  and  his 

                 continued reluctance to remove the employee should have raised serious concerns 

                 as to his suitability for the position of Resident Manager. While the Visitor criticised 

                 the  Superior  for  his  ‘stupidity’,  he  did  not  comment  on  the  consequences  for  the 

                 Institution  of  having  a  man  in  charge  who  was  incapable  of  dealing  with  such  a 

                 fundamental problem involving the safety of children. The Superior continued in office 

                 until the end of his term some years later. 



           Br Perryn 



8.292      Br Perryn was discussed in the earlier section on physical abuse, but his eventual removal from 

           Letterfrack was as a result of sexual abuse there. 



8.293      The Visitation Report of 1941 revealed a very serious case of sexual abuse by Br Perryn who 

           was in Letterfrack since 1927 and also from 1913 to 1919. The Report did not contain details of the 

           allegations but they were shocking enough to alarm the Visitor and to demand immediate action: 



                 Br  Perryn  has  charge  of  the  boy’s  kitchen.  He  is  dirty,  untidy,  almost  repulsive.  He  is 

                 never present for Morning Prayers, but usually present for Mass, and Night prayers, but 

                 never or very rarely at any other exercise. The Brothers tell me that they have never seen 

                 him going to Confession, though he told me that he goes regularly to the local priests in 

                 the chapel. I don’t believe him. Superior tells me that his word can’t be relied on, and that 

                 he  frequently  lies.  It  is  alleged  that  his  relations  with  the  boys  are  immoral,  and  if  the 

                 statements that I have got from the boys and which I now submit to the Br Provincial are 

                 true, he has been living a most depraved, unclean, and gravely immoral life for years. So 

                 bad are the charges that I could not conscientiously allow him to remain with boys any 



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----------------------- Page 361-----------------------

                  longer, and availed of the fact that he got a fit on the day that I arrived to send him to the 

                  O’Brien Institute for a “Rest”. I think he suspects that it was only a ruse to get him out. 



8.294      The Visitor got statements from the boys involved which were ‘so shockingly obscene, revolting 

           and abominable that it is hard to believe them’. The boys said that they were afraid to reveal the 

           malpractices through fear of the Brother. In addition to sexual abuse he was also violent towards 

           the boys. 



8.295      The Visitation Report continued: 



                  Unfortunately, for years there has been much immorality among the boys. Onanism and 

                  Sodomy     have    been    frequent,   and    these   practices    take  place    wherever     the  boys 

                  congregate, in the play field, lavatories, schools, kitchen and in the grounds. Formerly the 

                  boys were allowed to go out by themselves and then these practices were frequent. Boys 

                  wandered away among the fields and roads and mountain and immoral practices were 

                  carried on. Accusations have been made against Br Perryn in this respect also, and my 

                  investigations  seem  to  confirm  the  charges.  I  have  got  statements  from  the  boys  with 

                  whom  he  is  alleged  to  have  had  immoral  relations.  They  are  so  shockingly  obscene, 

                  revolting and abominable that it is hard to believe them. I have sent him to the O’Brien on 

                  the plea of ill health as I could not conscientiously leave him in charge of the boys until 

                  the matter is dealt with. Boys got a Retreat last Christmas and since then things seem to 

                  have somewhat improved. I fear that the boys have been making bad confessions, and 

                  would recommend that Fr. C Counihan be requested to give them a Retreat at once, so 

                  that the boys may get a chance now that Br Perryn is away. Boys whom I interviewed 

                  told me that they were afraid to reveal the malpractices through fear of Br Perryn. It is 

                  alleged that he beats them, kicks them, catches them by the throat etc. and uses them 

                  for immoral ends. I found superintendence of the boys at times very slack. For instance, 

                  on many mornings there is only an old man ... in charge when the boys are getting up 

                  and  dressing  and  washing.  Many  mornings  there  is  no  Br  present  when  the  boys  are 

                  saying their prayers. [The man] says the prayers with them. Boys get up at 7 and attend 

                  mass at 7.30 Dublin time. House time is one hour later. The boys in the Junior Dormitory 

                  do  not  get  up  until  7.30.  There  is  no  Br  with  these  either  at  that  time.  A  monitor  is  in 

                  charge though one of these monitors was recently carrying on immoral conduct with some 

                  of the juniors in the dormitory. The Superior has now arranged that a Brother takes charge 

                  of both dormitories when the children are getting up. I also found that no Br was in charge 

                  of  the  boys  between  2.30  and  3.00  this  is  one  of  the  times  when  it  is  alleged  that  Br 

                  Perryn was most active with his vile practices. The night watchman has no “punch clock” 

                  so there is no guarantee that he is doing his work of superintendence at night properly. 

                  He leaves each morning at 6.30. 



8.296      The  Visitor  also  found  out  that  the  Superior,  Br  Troyes,  had  not  been  informed  of  the  alleged 

           immorality between the boys and Br Perryn. Br Jourdan,38 who was a teaching Brother, discovered 



           what was happening with Br Perryn from the statement from one of Br Perryn’s victims. Br Jourdan 

           told the Visitor that he did not tell the Superior as the Superior would not have believed him; he 

           does, however, appear to have confided in another young Brother. When asked why he did not 

           report it directly to the Br Provincial he explained that he only found out towards the end of March 

           and expected the annual Visitation to take place any week thereafter. The Visitor left a list of 17 

           directions with the Superior, some of which were designed to improve the supervision of the boys. 



           38 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.297     The Superior General later commented on this matter in a letter to the Provincial: 



                 Br Jourdan’s handling of the Perryn revelations appears to me very indiscreet; he omitted 

                 reference   to  the  Superior   and   took  the  young    inexperienced    lay  Brother   into  his 

                 confidence. 



8.298      Br Perryn spent 20 years in Letterfrack and a three-year period in Cork. He spent short periods 

           in  nine  other  institutions.  During  his  earlier  period  of  service  in  Letterfrack  the  Sub-Superior 

           complained of this Brother’s ‘notorious’ severity toward the boys. A Visitation Report from 1919 

           commented: 



                 Owing  to  some  trouble,  which  Br  Director  attributed  chiefly  to  the  woman  cook  at  the 

                 monastery  Br  Perryn  was  freed  from  all  duties  connected  with  the  boys  kitchen  and 

                 refectory, and is now in charge of the monastery kitchen ... Br Perryn does not associate 

                 much with the Brs of the Community and does not according to my information, care for 

                 his personal duties as contrasted with his charge of the boys refectory. My own impression 

                 is that a change to a non-residential school would be very desirable. 



8.299      Br Perryn was described as being stern and distant and notoriously severe by Br Gardiner, another 

           Brother in the Letterfrack Community, in a letter to the Br Superior dated 3rd  April 1917. 



8.300      Br Perryn was moved to Baldoyle in July 1919, a month after a Visitor had recommended that a 

           move to a non-residential school ‘would be very desirable’. 



8.301     The Christian Brothers in their Submission commented: 



                 It is difficult to explain how Br Perryn was reappointed to Letterfrack when he had been 

                found   to  have   been    physically  abusive    during  his  first period   in Letterfrack   from 

                 1913–1919. 



8.302     A number of reasons were suggested by the Congregation for the return of Br Perryn: 



                  •    The   authorities  dealing   with  the  case   in 1919    were   the  General   Council   while 

                       subsequent to 1922 appointments were assigned by the Provincial Council which was 

                       established in 1922. 



                  •    The Provincial Council that came into existence in 1922 may not have been aware of 

                       complaints made against Br Perryn. 



                  •    No member of the General Council was appointed to the Provincial Council in 1922 

                       and hence Brother Perryn was returned to Letterfrack in 1927 by authorities who had 

                       no knowledge of the problem. 



8.303     Then they concluded: 



                Although this incident of the abuse was dealt with as soon as it came to the attention of 

                 the Congregation Leadership, it is most unfortunate that the early warning signs had not 

                 been acted upon adequately. 



8.304      •   When the Visitor was presented with information by one of the Brothers in Letterfrack, 

                he  investigated  at  once.  He  took  statements  from  the  boys  involved,  and  was  so 

                horrified about the information that he took immediate action to remove the Brother. 



           •    The Congregation described in the Opening Statement how a trial of this Brother had 

                been arranged in 1941 which would have led to his dismissal if he was found guilty. 

                The   trial  did  not   proceed     because    the   Brother    was   permitted     to  apply   for  a 

                dispensation from his vows which was granted. 



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           •    It is significant that the same Resident Manager was in charge during Br Perryn’s and 

                 Mr Russel’s time, namely, Br Troyes, who was in the School from 1935 to 1941. 



           •    Br  Perryn  was  the  second  Brother  referred  to  by  Noah  Kitterick  in  his  letter  to  the 

                 Provincialate in 1953. Noah Kitterick alleged sexual and physical abuse by this man 

                 when he was in Letterfrack from 1924 to 1932, which was during Br Perryn’s second 

                 period there. The Congregation must have been aware of this man’s history and yet 

                 they refused to engage with Mr Kitterick or to acknowledge his complaint in any way. 



           •    The Congregation’s comment that ‘it is most unfortunate that the early warning signs 

                 had  not  been  acted  upon  adequately’  failed  to  address  the  fundamental  questions 

                 raised by this case. 



           •    The fact that this Brother was able to abuse boys undetected and unreported for such 

                 a long period is indicative of a serious failing in the management of the school. 



           •    To compound the seriousness of this case, even the Brother who discovered the abuse 

                 felt  unable  to  report  it  to  his  Superior,  waiting  instead  for  the  annual  Visitation  to 

                 disclose  what he  had heard.  If a  member  of the  Congregation felt  that the  Superior 

                 would not believe him, it is hardly surprising that the boys felt unable to speak up. 

                 This  Superior  was  the  same  man  who  had  refused  to  acknowledge  the  case  of  Mr 

                 Russel,  referred  to  above.  He  was  also  the  Resident  Manager  when  an  anonymous 

                 letter was sent to the Provincial regarding Br Piperel. 



           •    The fact that the Brother had felt unable to report the matter to the Superior and had 

                 to go through the Visitor was not addressed. Instead, the Brother was criticised for 

                 his indiscretion in mentioning the matter to another Brother in the School. 



           •    The  documents  do  not  record  the  14  years  of  abuse  by  this  man,  which  indicates 

                 that there was a higher level of sexual abuse in the Institution than was revealed by 

                 the evidence. 



           Br Leandre39 



8.305      Br Leandre, who served in Letterfrack during the mid-1940s, was unhappy in religious life from 

           before taking his final vows but feared ‘eternal damnation’ if he left. He had been reprimanded by 

           the Provincialate for ‘deliberately making contact with seculars’ and informed that there was no 

           good reason why he should be freed from his vows. His Superior ‘implored me not to leave’ and 

           so he continued with his vocation and worked as a Christian Brother for 16 years. 



8.306      Br  Leandre first  applied  for  dispensation in  1950,  having sought  advice  from  a Confessor  who 

           helped him prepare his case; he was refused, and he applied again in 1951 and in 1952, but was 

           refused on each occasion. In his 1954 application, he spelled out the position more clearly and 

           this had the desired effect: 



                 Furthermore  I  find  it  impossible  to  live  up  to  the  obligations  of  my  vow  of  chastity. 

                 Repeated exhortation by confessors, despite my earnest cooperation, fail to rid me of this 

                 vice. They seemed to think that married life would provide the best cure, and personally 

                 I feel or rather have found out by experience that that would be the best thing for me. A 

                 virtuous female friend has more than once saved me from breaking my vow of chastity. 

                 Men  friends,  e.g.  my  confreres,  have  no  influence  over  me;  rather  I  am  essentially  a 

                 husband. 



                 For  conscience  reasons,  I  intend  when  I  leave  the  brothers,  to  take  up  some  other 

                 occupation other than teaching. However, I am leaving this decision, in the hands of the 

                 confessor, who prompted me to write this petition. He is of the opinion that when I will be 

                 no longer bound to celibacy, this matter will right itself, though personally I am scared of 

                 having to deal with innocent boys and be the cause of their committing sin ... 



           39 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  I should mention, that, though I always wanted to leave, I always feared doing so, because 

                  during  my  formative  years,  I  was  often  told  that  terrible  calamities  overtook  those  who 

                  returned to the world, followed by eternal damnation, in consequence of their “betrayal”. 

                  In proof of this, a quotation from Sacred Scripture was often recited “he that puts his hand 

                 to  the  plough  and  looks  back  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  Heaven”  thus  it  was  I  was 

                  convinced that I should not leave, no matter how I felt about it. 



                  I should mention that when I presented my case to the Sacred Congregation in 1950, it 

                 was a case that had been considerably watered down by a confessor, so as not to, as he 

                  said, incriminate myself unduly. 



                  I have now stated the reasons, which before God, prompt me to seek a dispensation. 



8.307      The Congregation pointed out in its Submission that there were no contemporaneous complaints 

           against this Brother while he was in Letterfrack. However, he and another Brother were criticised 

           in a Visitation Report in 1945 for spending ‘most of their time down about the Boys’ Dormitories, 

           in their rooms and away from the House’ His letter suggested that this man had a strong attraction 

           towards boys from before his profession as a Brother and it may be suspected that he had sexual 

           relations with boys during his time in Letterfrack. The Brother said in his letter that he was on the 

           point of not taking final vows, but a lack of courage prevented him from refusing, indicating that 

           the problem he had with the vow of chastity was of long standing. 



8.308      This Brother continued to teach in national schools for boys in Dublin until the mid-1980s. He left 

           the employ of the Christian Brothers in the same month as he received his dispensation and took 

           up a teaching position in a boys’ school in another county. He continued teaching in boys’ schools 

           for the rest of his career but not in any Christian Brothers’ schools, although he had declared that 

           it was his intention to take up another occupation instead of teaching because ‘I am scared of 

           having to deal with innocent boys and be the cause of their committing sin’. 



8.309      •     Br Leandre should not have been in a position to continue his teaching career after 

                 his dispensation. He openly acknowledged to the Congregation that he was a danger 

                 to boys, and the Department of Education should have been alerted to this danger by 

                 the Provincialate. No record of any such warning appeared in the Christian Brothers 

                 or the Department of Education files. 



           •     He was appointed to a teaching post in 1954. The question arises whether a reference 

                 was given by the Christian Brothers or no reference was sought by the new school 

                 when this appointment was made. In either case, safety of children was disregarded 

                 and the Brother’s position was protected. 



           Br Destan40 



8.310      Br  Destan  served  in  Letterfrack  for  one  year  in  the  1940s.  He  was  then  transferred  to  three 

           different day schools in four years and stayed in his final school for four years. He was dispensed 

           from his vows in the late 1950s. 



8.311      Although    the  correspondence       on  file referred   to  the  existence   of  other   letters, the  relevant 

           available information was contained in a letter from one of the management team in St Helen’s 

           Province to the Superior General. The writer enclosed two letters (which have not survived) from 

           the  Brother  seeking  a  dispensation.  The  senior  Brother  who  passed  on  the  request  told  the 

           Superior General: 



                  He seeks a dispensation from his vows and for  the present I am not sure whether we 

                  should recommend it or not. He is by no means quite normal and as you will see from the 

                  correspondence  had  been  in  trouble  with  boys  and  got  a  canonical  warning.  He  now 



           40 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  seeks a dispensation for conscientious reasons but does not say what these reasons are. 

                  It is quite possible that he is in trouble again but I do not know. 



8.312      The fact that this Brother was moved around so much and spent such short periods in the different 

           schools,  gives rise  to suspicion.  As noted  in the  above letter,  he had  a history  of  ‘trouble with 

           boys’ and had received a Canonical Warning. On the occasion of a transfer to a school in County 

           Wicklow, the Provincial warned the Superior ‘in strictest confidence’ to exercise vigilance, so that 

           ‘with this vigilance perhaps the danger is more remote’. 



8.313      •     This  was  one  of  the  few  examples  where  the  Christian  Brothers  acknowledged  in 

                 writing that a Brother who interfered with boys was dangerous and required vigilance. 

                 It is difficult to reconcile this awareness with cases that were documented in their own 

                 records.    Men    who    were    known     to  abuse    boys    were   frequently     sent   to  industrial 

                 schools     where     the   opportunities      for  offending     were    greatly    increased     and    the 

                 possibility of detection much reduced. 



           Br Avenall41 



8.314      Br Avenall served in Letterfrack in the late 1940s. His period in Letterfrack seems to have been 

           in the interim between the first and second years of his teacher training. He served in a number 

           of  institutions, most  notably  in a  day  school  from the  mid-1960s  to the  mid-1970s.  In or  about 

           1974, a complaint was made that he had been involved in improper conduct with a boy. When he 

           was informed about this by the Provincial, he denied that there was any truth in the accusation. 

           Some years previously, there had been a similar complaint and the matter was investigated by a 

           previous  Provincial.  On  that  occasion  also,  the  Brother  denied  that  there  was  any  truth  in  the 

           allegation. Some time after the second of the above complaints, a Visitation took place in the day 

           school where he was teaching, during which the Brother made a confession to the Visitor who 

           described what happened in an appendix to his report: 



                  During his interview with the Visitor, Brother introduced this matter on his own initiative. 

                  He was very upset because he had not been candid with the Provincial, when the latter 

                  informed him of the complaint. He was too shocked to admit his problem, and requested 

                  the Visitor to let the Provincial know the real position. 



                  Brother said that this problem had a very long history. Some years ago there was a similar 

                  complaint made by a parent, and he was interviewed by the previous Provincial. On that 

                  occasion also he denied there was any truth in the accusation made against him. He now 

                  realised  that  he  could  [not]  continue  in  his  present  state,  and  he  asked  the  visitor  for 

                  advice and help. He was anxious to have whatever medical and spiritual aid there was 

                  available. He would be grateful if the Provincial would arrange an interview with a suitable 

                  doctor and priest psychologist ... 



                  Though  Brother  had  failed  to  face  up  to  his  problem  for  many  years,  he  was  at  last 

                  prepared to do so now. He was concerned about the harm he has done to the real mission 

                  of the Brothers in the area, to the boys, to the Community; he was particularly concerned 

                  about the superior who would be so hurt if he knew Brother’s real position. 



8.315      There were no complaints from witnesses about sexual abuse by this Brother during his time in 

           Letterfrack, but again there must be grave suspicion in view of the information given to the Visitor 

           years later and particularly the Brother’s failure ‘to face up to his problem for many years’. 



           41 This is a pseudonym. 



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           Br Jean42 



8.316      In 1954 the Superior discovered that one of his Brothers had been sexually abusing children in 

           the School. The complaint from one boy was that the Brother was ‘fiddling with him in his private 

           parts’ and he described a number of incidents. A second boy gave somewhat similar information 

           about the abuse carried out on him. 



8.317      The matter was referred to the Provincial who interviewed the offender, who admitted to ‘immoral 

           dealings’ with boys over a period of three months. Br Jean43             was removed from Letterfrack. The 



           Provincial reported that it appeared that the Brother had been initiated into this type of activity 

           whilst he was a student in the Christian Brothers’ Novitiate. The Superior of the College had at 

           that time  carried out an  inquiry into  homosexual activity there  that resulted in  a number  of the 

           boys being sent away. This offending Brother was one of a number who were allowed to remain 

           and who went on to become Brothers. 



8.318      This Brother was sent to Letterfrack in the knowledge that he had a history of sexual activity. The 

           Superior in Letterfrack should have been notified of relevant history once it was decided to assign 

           the Brother, but there is no evidence that this was done. 



8.319      The Congregation commented in its Opening Statement that the way this matter was dealt with 

           ‘demonstrated how quickly the authorities acted when a complaint was brought to their attention’. 



8.320      The Superior did not reveal to the other Brothers the reason for Br Jean’s sudden departure. Br 

           Sorel who served in Letterfrack at the time was angry: 



                 At the end of the year we were told that he was fired home, we were only told then by 

                  the Manager that he had been abusing two boys ... who used to go to the sacristy every 

                  night to prepare for the Mass for the next day for the Priest. I didn’t know at the time, 

                  none of us knew at the time what had been going on between himself and the two boys, 

                  ...  the  then  Manager  had  said  it  was  his  duty  to  keep  it  secret  and  confidential.  I  was 

                  surprised last week when I heard somebody saying that everybody knew it, they didn’t. 

                  The boys didn’t know it because I would have found out easily from a number of the lads 

                  if that had happened. 



8.321      While this witness believed that nobody knew the reason the Brother left, the evidence of former 

           residents was that boys did know about Br Jean’s activities. One recalled hearing that Br Jean 

           would take boys up to his room at night to give them extra lessons: 



                  Now, you hear rumours, but we knew that Br Jean left Letterfrack because he was abusing 

                  boys. We knew that. I knew some boys in particular who – they didn’t tell us, you just 

                  knew.  How  do  I  know?  Okay,  in  the  School  we  talked  amongst  ourselves,  “why  is  he 

                  gone, why was he taking such a boy to his room at night pretending to be giving extra 

                  school lessons?” Now this is where I think it came from. It was fairly common knowledge 

                  amongst the boys that Br Jean was dismissed from the School because he was sexually 

                  abusing boys. 



8.322      Another resident in the School from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s stated that he heard rumours 

           concerning Br Jean’s removal, in  particular that he had been removed for abusing  boys in the 

           sacristy. 



8.323      A complainant who was resident during the 1950s gave evidence to the Committee that he was 

           sexually abused by Br Jean during his time in Letterfrack. He said that Br Jean would remove him 



           42 This is a pseudonym. 

           43 This is a pseudonym. 



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           from his bed at night and take him to his own bedroom, where Br Jean would kiss and fondle him 

           and do “various acts that should not be done”. He said that it was part of Br Jean’s duties to act 

           as night watchman and that enabled him to do this. The complainant stated that this occurred on 

           average twice a week for a number of weeks, but that he was constantly in fear of Br Jean coming 

           for him at night and as a result began to wet the bed. He further stated that he never informed 

           anyone of the abuse at the time, as Br Jean told him that he would never be allowed to leave the 

           Institution were he to do so. Br Jean, he stated, would also give him sweets and toys to ensure 

           his silence. The complainant stated that he never heard any talk amongst the boys in respect of 

           Br Jean engaging in sexual abuse. He said that he never spoke to them about it nor did anyone 

           ever mention anything to him. Although he had no recollection of Br Jean leaving Letterfrack, he 

           was in fact removed some weeks before the complainant’s own discharge. 



8.324      There   was   no  Visitation  Report   for 1954   and   there  was   no   mention   of  his departure    from 

           Letterfrack in the annals of the Community. This was surprising, as the annals documented all the 

           movements of Brothers in the Community, including those on short visits to Letterfrack and any 

           vacations or retreats taken by permanent members of staff. 



8.325      In its response to the statement submitted to the Investigation Committee by the witness cited 

           above, the Congregation said as follows: 



                 [The  complainant]  makes  serious  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  against  a  “Brother  Jean” 

                 which  he  says  began  “after  about  a  week  in  the  school”.  This  abuse  is  said  to  have 

                 occurred at night in Brother Jean’s bedroom. It has been very difficult for the Congregation 

                 to  properly  investigate  this  particular  aspect  of  [this]  complaint.  Brother  Jean  left  the 

                 Christian Brothers in 1954 and the Congregation is unaware of his present whereabouts. 



                 If the abuse claimed by [the complainant] did occur it is a matter of sincere regret for the 

                 Congregation. However, I do believe that if [the complainant] had made a complaint at 

                 the  time,  appropriate  action  would  have  been  taken.  The  Congregation  does  not  and 

                 would not have condoned abuse of the kind alleged by [the complainant] in his statement. 



8.326      As  was  customary  with  all  such  responding  statements,  this  one  was  signed  by  a  Christian 

           Brother,  in  this  case  Br  Sorel,  who  was  quoted  above  as  having  been  angry  that  he  was  not 

           informed earlier of the reason why Br Jean was removed and that he found out only at the end of 

           the year. Br Sorel also stated that in preparing the response he had liaised with members of the 

           Leadership Team, who furnished him with relevant information from the Congregation’s records. 

           The  Brother  who  was  the  Superior  of  Letterfrack  at  the  time  of  the  departure  of  Br  Jean  was 

           available  for  consultation    when   the   response    was   prepared.    It was   unfortunate    in  these 

           circumstances that the response statement did not give the reason for the departure of Br Jean. 

           In  the  result,  the  Committee  was  given  an  inaccurate  statement  by  the  Congregation,  and  the 

           victim of Br Jean’s activities was given the impression that his account was not believed. 



8.327      In  its Final  Submission     to  the   Committee     following  the   investigation   into  Letterfrack  the 

           Congregation stated: 



                 On the basis of its own records and of the evidence of [the complainant], the Congregation 

                 accepts that Br Jean was involved in some level of sexual abuse. The documentation that 

                 the Congregation has in respect of Br Jean is extremely limited, (and all of it has been 

                 given to the Commission) but it is clear that Br Jean was removed once the abuse was 

                 detected. 



8.328      •    The assertion by the Congregation that the boy should have reported the abuse at the 

                time ignored the difficulties that boys and even Brothers had in reporting sexual abuse 

                and tended to place responsibility on the victim. 



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           Br Adrien44 



8.329      Br  Adrien  served  in  Letterfrack for  one  year  in  the  late  1950s.  A proposal  by  the  Provincial  to 

           revoke  the  Brother’s  transfer  away  from  Letterfrack  provoked  an  extraordinary  plea  from  the 

           Resident Manager: 



                  Your letter cancelling Br Adrien’s change came as a great surprise and shock to me. 



                  I hope you will forgive my candour in saying that I would prefer to have no one at all for 

                  the boys’ kitchen than to have the constant strain of watching and worrying about him. 



                  It is impossible to keep one’s eye on him. Every time he gets my back turned he is in the 

                  kitchen and goodness knows, there are enough difficulties and worries to contend with, 

                  without having to think of him every minute and hour of the day. 



                  The position regard the Monastery kitchen is regrettable but unfortunately he has not got 

                  proper control  in the boys’  department either.  In my opinion  he is not  suitable at  all to 

                  handle young boys and it is positively dangerous, especially in these times, to have him 

                  looking after them. A weakness in discipline in this important department will have a very 

                  detrimental effect on the boys’ behaviour and will add to everyone’s difficulties and will 

                  seriously affect the tone of the school. 



                  Taking the above considerations into account and also your own personal knowledge of 

                  Br Adrien, I ask you seriously to reflect on the harmful effect his staying here is bound to 

                  have, and I entreat you to permit the transfer to go through as originally arranged. 



8.330      The Provincial replied that the letter was very distressing, and he thought Br Adrien deserved a 

           Canonical Warning for his disobedience and acceded to the request that his transfer should go 

           ahead.  Br  Adrien  was  transferred  to  St  Joseph’s  School  for  Deaf  Boys  in  Cabra,  and  was 

           subsequently  transferred  to  a  number  of  different  schools,  including  Artane.  He  was  back  in 

           Letterfrack in the late 1960s for a short period. 



8.331      Whilst  the  nature  of  the  conduct  that  made  this  Brother  ‘dangerous’  and  ‘having  a  detrimental 

           effect  on  the  behaviour  of  the  boys’  was  not  set  out,  the  implication  was  clear.  No  witnesses 

           complained of being abused by him in Letterfrack but, during his subsequent career in Artane, he 

           was accused of sexual abuse of boys. He was urgently removed from Artane when the Chaplain 

           reported  complaints  by  a  boy  to  the  management.  He  appears  to  have  received  no  Canonical 

           Warning for his behaviour in Artane. Following a period of work in St Joseph’s School for Deaf 

           Boys  in  Cabra,  he  was  once  again  dispatched  to  Letterfrack.  After  leaving  Letterfrack  for  the 

           second time in 1968, Br Adrien worked in a number of locations before he returned to Baldoyle in 

           the late 1990s. 



8.332      In  view  of  the  history  of  this  Brother  in  Letterfrack,  he  should  not  have  been  transferred  to  a 

           school for deaf children. Following the discovery of serious sexual abuse in Artane, his subsequent 

           transfers to the place where his behaviour was first recorded was indicative of the Congregation’s 

           priorities. If protection of children had been even a remote consideration, these transfers would 

           not have occurred. 



           Br Didier45 



8.333      Br Didier taught in Letterfrack for 10 months in the late 1950s, and was then transferred to St 

           Patrick’s  in Marino.  A year  and half  later, he  left Marino  under a  cloud and  was  transferred to 

           Colaiste  Mhuire.  He  was  given  a  Canonical  Warning  in  1960  on  account  of  his  “interfering 

           incorrectly” with boys who had been in his class. He was advised that the object of the warning 

           was so that he would not fall into that fault again: 



           44 This is a pseudonym. 

           45 This is a pseudonym. 



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                After  consultation  with  the  Provincial  Council  I  have  decided  to  give  you  a  canonical 

                warning on account of your interfering incorrectly with boys who had been in your class. 

                 The object of this warning is that you will not fall into this fault again. 



 8.334    There was no explanation for the short duration of his service in Letterfrack notwithstanding his 

           position as teacher. He taught in five more schools. 



           Br Dax 



 8.335     Br Dax was convicted of sexually abusing 25 former pupils, some of whom gave evidence to the 

           Investigation Committee. 



 8.336     During the course of Br Dax’s evidence to the Investigation Committee, counsel for Br Dax told 

          the Committee that Br Dax accepted that he was guilty in respect of further charges. 



 8.337     Br  Dax  worked  in  Letterfrack  for  two  periods,  from  the  late  1950s  to  the  mid-1970s,  having 

           previously spent over five years in St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, Cabra. He was in charge of 

          the kitchen and the poultry farm and also did relief work for other Brothers from time to time, which 

           sometimes involved supervising the dormitories. For the first two years of his time in the School, 

           he slept in a room adjacent to the dormitory. He accepted that, with one exception, his abusive 

           activity spanned nearly the entirety of his period in the school. This exception was for a period of 

          two years, and was due to the influence of his Confessor, who made clear to him the sinfulness 

           of his conduct. However, he relapsed as soon as this priest was transferred. 



 8.338     Br  Dax told  the Committee  that he  started sexually  abusing children  approximately six  months 

           after his arrival in the School. He said it started  ‘with immodest touching and eventually leading 

           to buggery’. 



 8.339    The  abuse  generally  took  place  in  the  kitchen  area,  the  poultry  farm  or  the  boiler  room.  He 

           accepted during cross-examination that it could also have taken place in the room adjacent to the 

           dormitory or in the incubator room in the monastery. 



 8.340    Although he admitted raping and fondling boys, he preferred to reserve his position on whether 

           he masturbated them, forced them to masturbate him or engaged in oral sex. 



 8.341     He said that he would abuse the same children regularly and that, at any one period in his career 

           in the School, he could have been abusing a number of children at the same time. The abuse 

          would often continue until the particular boy left the School. He accepted that he would often keep 

           boys  behind  after  work  for  the  express  purpose  of  abusing  them.  As  to  the  frequency  of  his 

           assaults, he accepted the suggestion that he would have raped some boys once or maybe twice 

           a week for a prolonged period of time. 



 8.342     Br Dax described how he would select his victims. He said that he did not have a favourite type 

           of boy who he would be more likely to abuse. Indeed, he was unable to tell the Committee why 

           he  picked  on  some  boys  rather  than  others,  other  than  to  say  that  it  was  simply  a  matter  of 

           convenience for him. He did not appear to have engaged in a policy of risk assessment. He simply 

           abused the children that he had regular contact with. 



 8.343     He said that he had nothing to do with the allocation of the boys to their chores as this was done 

           by the Disciplinarian. He was asked whether the boys ever objected to him and he replied that 

          they did not, although he did recall a number of boys who asked him to stop. He said that, when 

          this happened, he would stop. On further questioning, however, he admitted that the main reason 

          for stopping was the boys’ leaving Letterfrack or moving to a different trade. 



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8.344      Br Dax was asked about the extent to which other people knew of his activities. He said that, as 

           far as he was aware, no adults other than his Confessor were aware of his activities, although he 

           accepted  that  the  children  who  worked  in  the  kitchen  would  have  known  about  them.  He  also 

           accepted  that  it   was  possible  that  a     wider  pool  of  children    would  have  been  aware        of  his 

           inclinations. He was also asked about his awareness of the risk of detection. He said he could 

           not recall taking any specific steps to avoid detection. He was asked how he avoided being caught 

           and told the Committee that he could not put his finger on the reason but he thought the fact that 

           he worked alone in the kitchen was a factor. He was also isolated from other members of the 

           Community due to the nature of his work. By virtue of the fact that he cooked for the boys, he 

           himself never attended a Community meal in the 15 years he spent in Letterfrack. 



8.345      He  accepted  during  cross-examination  by  counsel  for  a  number  of  complainants  that  he  used 

           threats to prevent the boys from informing on him. He also accepted that the boys would cry and 

           be upset after he abused them and that he would not release them until they had calmed down. 



8.346      It  was  put  to  him  during  cross-examination  that  it  was  astounding  that  he  was  able  to  abuse 

           children for 15 years without detection and that nobody other than the boys or himself knew about 

           it.  Br Dax  accepted that  it was  astounding but  stressed that  nobody ever  spoke to  him  on the 

           subject or suspected him until he was arrested during the course of the police investigation into 

           Letterfrack. 



8.347      He said that he remembered that Br Vallois46          left suddenly but stated that he did not discover that 



           this was because he was sexually abusing children until many years later. Similarly, he said that 

           he had no idea why Mr Albaric47         left. He speculated that, if there had been an investigation into 



           the activities of Br Vallois, he might have been frightened into stopping his own activities. 



8.348      Br Dax was cross-examined at length by the Congregation about what motivated or led him to 

           sexually abuse children. He attributed his abusive activities to overwork and a feeling of isolation. 

           Counsel for the Congregation put it to him that these were feelings that would have been shared 

           by many members of staff in Letterfrack, yet they did not all resort to the sexual abuse of children 

           for release. Br Dax later contended that his actions were due to a mix of isolation, loneliness and 

           his own ‘human weakness’. Earlier in his evidence, Br Dax accepted that he could be described 

           as a ‘loner’ and tended not to engage or socialise with the other Brothers in Letterfrack. 



8.349      Br Dax confirmed that in his ‘human weakness’ his way of dealing with loneliness was to engage 

           in sexual abuse of boys. When asked how he would go about satisfying that human weakness, 

           Br Dax simply stated ‘Touching, embracing’. Br Dax could not explain why he behaved differently 

           to other Brothers who were equally isolated from their families. 



8.350      During cross-examination by counsel for a number of complainants, Br Dax said that the abuse 

           was primarily about release for him. This was reiterated during his questioning by the Committee, 

           when he stated that he never formed any emotional relationships with the boys. 



8.351      While  Br  Dax  admitted  committing  sexual  offences  against  25  boys  in  Letterfrack,  only  four  of 

           these gave evidence to the Investigation Committee. It follows that the full extent of this Brother’s 

           sexual activity was not put before the Committee, even with regard to the crimes for which he 

           was convicted. 



8.352      One of the boys in respect of whom Br Dax pleaded guilty to having abused told the Committee 

           that Br Dax selected him to work in the kitchen because the other kitchen boy had run away. At 

           the time, he thought he was on the  ‘pig’s back’, because working in the kitchen would give him 



           46 This is a pseudonym. 

           47 This is a pseudonym. 



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           access to extra food and warmth. He knew that Br Dax could be bad tempered but soon learned 

           to  adjust  to  his  moods.  He  was  alone  in  the  kitchen  the  first  time  he  was  abused  by  Br  Dax, 

           and  initially  he  did  not  realise  anything  bad  was  happening.  He  just  thought  that  Br  Dax  was 

           being affectionate. 



8.353      However, matters soon deteriorated: 



                  Well it started off I was helping, I was doing little odd jobs before I actually went in as 

                  kitchen boy and suddenly there was nobody there except Br Dax. But I didn’t really, to 

                  me there was nothing wrong with it. He was being nice, you know. He used to call me 

                  [Robert].48  Never  grown  to  hate  a  name  so  much.  Anyway,  we  ended  up  in  the  back 



                  kitchen and I don’t know how he got up behind me, I never really thought about it, but 

                  suddenly  his  hands  going  up  and  down  my  tummy,  and  then  his  hands  are  inside  my 

                  clothes and it is, “you are all right, [Robert], you are all right [Robert]”. He actually touched 

                  the top of my penis. Now, I didn’t know what sex was and suddenly he shivered and as I 

                  turned around, well, I know now what he was doing, he was ejaculating, but at the time, 

                  well,  to  be  quite  truthful,  I  thought  he  was  deformed.  You  know,  what  the  hell  is  this 

                  coming out of you? You want to go and see a doctor, and he actually gave me a cigarette 

                  but I didn’t smoke at the time. I gave it to one of the other boys for some Cleeves. Things 

                  like that went on ... One time when I was trying to stop it, he actually said, I would be 

                  paying a visit to the courthouse and I knew exactly what that meant ... That he would be 

                  taking me up to the courthouse and have me transferred to Daingean. That is the only 

                  possible reason you would go to the courthouse ... Do what he says or else. Yes. I mean, 

                  Letterfrack was bad. Daingean was worse. You know, I would commit suicide ... 



8.354      He recalled the first time he was raped: 



                  Sex, my introduction to sex was in the back kitchen of Letterfrack, jammed up against a 

                  boiler, getting my leg burnt and getting raped by Br Dax. 



8.355      He continued: 



                  ... we had showers every Saturday, Saturday afternoon. So, yes. He ended up behind me 

                  again, but it was different. He started to open my clothes and I am “stop it” and he jammed 

                  me between two boilers. Well, one boiler really. He was at the other, and I was at this 

                  one. He started trying to put something into me, and at the time, I honestly didn’t know 

                  what it was, and suddenly I got this unmerciful pain and – well, I went off into a different 

                  world. I don’t know, but when I actually, I won’t say came back – he was on his knees in 

                  front of me, buttoning up my fly. “Are you are all right?” Every time I moved I had this 

                  pain,  and  I  went  out  to  the  boys  toilets  and  I  sat  there.  I  was  sobbing  my  heart  out. 

                  Somebody shouted in “showers”. We all had to go to our dormitories for showers, and I 

                  still couldn’t understand what he had done with me. 



                  I mean anyway, we used to go down to the showers wearing a pair of swimming trunks 

                  that were made by the School, and I think it was 20 at a time, I am not sure. There was 

                  a line here and a line there and a handle at the end. I was at the end. Br Guillaume49               took 



                  showers. I was sobbing my heart out. Now Br Guillaume was the type of man that if I 

                  broke wind in the farmyard, he knew about it in the play yard. He had his finger on it, it 

                  didn’t matter what went on in the school, I don’t know how, we used to wonder how he 

                  knew, but he never asked me what happened. The only thing I can think of is he knew 

                  what happened. 



                  Anyway, that night, the cinemas, and the boys sat on the seats here. It was a projection 

                  room behind and the Brothers used to sit there or around the potbelly fire. Br Dax came 



           48 This is a pseudonym. 

           49 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  in, and I was in the middle and he called up my line, “[Robert, Robert] here” . Was a half 

                  slab  of  Cleeves.  Well,  I  took  it  and  I  just  slung  it,  I  want  nothing  off  the  –  and  that  is 

                  something that isn’t often done – well, it wasn’t to my experience, and Br Guillaume was 

                  behind, he had to see. Why am I getting this preferential treatment? I won’t say I find it 

                  hard to believe, I find it impossible to believe that he didn’t know, not only what went on, 

                  but what was going on. There is no way, what happened to me over that period of time, 

                  that they didn’t know. All of them. Every single one of them, and I hope they all rot in hell. 



8.356      The witness said that he knew that the same was happening to other boys, because of the way 

           Br Dax behaved towards them, which would now be called grooming: 



                  Yes,  I  knew  how  he  behaved  with  me  and  I  could  see  the  way  he  was  behaving  with 

                  them, and it was identical ... “Come and help me with the chickens”, that was regarded 

                  as a little perk. Or “let’s go down to the orchard, I want to get some apples. I am going to 

                  make apple jam”, or something or other. You knew damn well he wasn’t making apple 

                 jam. The man couldn’t boil an egg. I done most of the bloody cooking, but you knew, you 

                  seen all the signs. 



8.357      He  said  that  the  boys  reacted  in  different  ways:  some  went  very  quiet,  whilst  others  became 

           aggressive, but the change in them was very noticeable. He identified two individuals whom he 

           was convinced Br Dax was abusing, although they never said anything to him. 



8.358      He was cross-examined on his assertion that the Congregation knew about Br Dax’s activities: 



                  To say that they didn’t know would be to say that the sun doesn’t shine tomorrow because 

                  in a school like that, there is 120 boys, they all know what is going on. Everyone knew 

                  what was going on, there were very few that didn’t know, the only thing was we didn’t 

                  speak about it because we were ashamed of it. I am still ashamed of it, I should have cut 

                  his bloody throat. He didn’t know? Br Guillaume didn’t know? I sat down and sobbed my 

                  heart out,  that man knew and  he never answered.  He should have turned  around and 

                  said to me “what was going on, why are you crying?” but what did he do he continued on 

                  with the shower and sent me up to dry off – he didn’t know? ... If I was to stand in front 

                  of my maker tomorrow I would have the same position, they knew what went on. Some 

                  of them were doing it, some of them were covering it ... The ones that were covering are 

                  twice as guilty as the ones that didn’t because they could have stopped it. 



8.359      Counsel for Br Dax stated that he had no questions for the complainant. Br Dax was asked during 

           his own evidence whether he had any recollection of the complainant and replied that he did not, 

           even though the complainant was one of the individuals in respect of whom he pleaded guilty to 

           sexually  abusing.  In  his  response  statement,  Br  Dax  adopted  a  Garda  Statement  in  which  he 

           stated that he remembered the complainant and that he worked in the kitchen. He accepted that 

           he would have caught and pulled him towards him on several occasions, and that he would have 

           touched his private parts and ejaculated at the same time. He also accepted the allegation that 

           he came up behind the complainant while the latter was cleaning the kitchen, undressed him and 

           raped him. He could not recall how often this type of activity occurred but he accepted that it did 

           happen on several occasions, either in the kitchen or the storeroom. The complainant was about 

           15 at the time. He said that he was ‘deeply sorry for the hurt caused and I apologise’. 



8.360      Another  witness  who  gave  evidence  was  also  one  of  the  individuals  Br  Dax  admitted  sexually 

           abusing. Br Dax pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting this witness. The witness’s evidence was 

           that the abuse occurred during milking time, but this was strongly disputed by the Congregation 

           in cross-examination who pointed out that the records proved that Br Dax did not have farming 

           duties,  and  that  his  duties in  the  kitchen  would  have  made  it  impossible for  him  to  have  been 

           around  the  milking  sheds  during  milking.  Br  Dax  did  not  dispute  the  witness’s  evidence  at  the 



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          hearing, and the issue of whether Br Dax had duties other than the kitchen was raised only by 

          the Congregation. 



 8.361    The evidence of this witness was that Br Dax would ask him to stay behind after the milking was 

          done. He said that Br Dax started kissing and fondling him and then he had to  ‘touch him up’. 

          This happened about three times a week until he was released. On one occasion, the witness 

          attempted to stop Br Dax by cutting himself with a knife. Br Dax panicked and, when the Resident 

          Manager asked what happened, he told him that the witness had slipped. The witness said that, 

          following his discharge from Letterfrack, Br Dax visited him at home and attempted to abuse him 

          there but he was able to resist. 



 8.362    During Br Dax’s own hearing before the Committee, he stated that he was in charge of the poultry 

          farm and went there daily to attend the chickens and hens. He also stated that he abused boys 

          in the poultry shed, as he was fairly safe from detection there. 



 8.363    He said that he did not have anything to do with the cows or sheep, but the poultry operation was 

          in the same area and boys would occasionally come after their milking duties to help him. 



 8.364    Br Dax was not questioned by the Congregation on this issue at his hearing. 



 8.365    The Congregation in its final Submission to the Investigation Committee said that the conviction 

          of Br Dax spoke for itself and they did not wish to make any submissions on the extent of the 

          sexual abuse committed by him. They did, however, express reservations about the evidence of 

          this complainant, which they believed showed how a false allegation could be made on the basis 

          of information obtained from sources other than the witness’s own experience. 



 8.366    The  Congregation  maintained  this  position  even  after  it  heard  the  evidence  of  Br  Dax  and  in 

          circumstances where it did not examine him on the extent of his duties outside of the kitchen. It 

          appears   that  the Congregation    relied  on  their own   records  to  dispute  the  evidence   of this 

          complainant, even when those records were disproved by the respondent himself. 



 8.367    Another  complainant  who  was  resident  for  two  years  in  the  early  1960s  was  also  one  of  the 

          individuals Br Dax admitted sexually abusing. Br Dax pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting this 

          man. The complainant gave evidence that he worked in the kitchen and that Br Dax fondled him 

          and  pushed  up  against  him  while  masturbating  himself.  The abuse  was  carried  out  by  Br  Dax 

          under the guise of his wiping something off the complainant’s ‘cowman’s coat’, during which time 

          Br Dax pushed up against him and fondled his chest and grabbed his shoulders and masturbated. 

          The boys would put on this coat when requested by Br Dax to fetch milk. The complainant stated 

          that putting on the coat  ‘meant at the time he wanted to masturbate’. 



 8.368    Another ex-resident, who was there in the late 1960s and who worked in the kitchen, said that Br 

          Dax was prone to violent mood swings, one moment he would be nice and give the boys cake 

          and sweets, the next he would beat them unmercifully. He recalled one incident of sexual abuse 

          which   occurred  in  the back   kitchen,  where   Br Dax   attempted   to  abuse   him  but  which  the 

          complainant fought off by throwing boiling water at him. 



 8.369    Counsel for Br Dax did not ask any questions of this witness. In his response to the Committee 

          he adopted his Garda Statement in which he stated, ‘I honestly can’t remember the incident ... or 

          the boy himself’. 



 8.370    Another man who worked in the kitchen as a tea boy in the late 1960s said that, when everybody 

          was gone from the refectory, the tea boys would wash the pots before leaving. On one occasion, 



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           Br Dax asked him to stay back after everybody else had left. Br Dax calmly poured a cup of tea, 

          then took his penis out and forced the boy to give him oral sex: 



                He sat me down, made me a cup of tea, well, poured a cup of tea, and then he took his 

                penis out ... And he pushed my head down on to his lap, and I had to give him oral sex 

                ... I got back up, sat up straight and he started opening my trousers then, but I wouldn’t, 

                so I resisted him. He got angry with me then and he smacked me with a teapot. There 

                 was a teapot and he just hit me on the head. 



8.371     The complainant never went back to the kitchen again. 



8.372     Another  ex-resident  in  respect  of  whom  Br  Dax  pleaded  guilty  was  too  upset  to  go  into  detail 

          about the abuse suffered at the hands of Br Dax and asked that the Committee accept his Garda 

          statement and the response to that statement as his evidence, which the Committee agreed to do. 



8.373      In his statement the complainant said that he worked in the kitchen in Letterfrack alongside two 

          other boys. He said that Br Dax would get him on his own and that he would ask the complainant 

          to masturbate him with his hand first to get him an erection and then he would try to rape him. He 

           recalled two specific instances where Br Dax penetrated him. He said that the abuse always took 

           place on Saturday evenings before tea. 



8.374      Br  Dax  would  organise  matters  so  that  there  would  be  just  one  boy  there  at  that  time  of  the 

          evening. He suspected that Br  Dax was abusing other boys, because there were  a number of 

           boys who refused to work in the kitchen. However, he said that he never discussed the abuse 

          with anyone because he was afraid of Br Dax. Br Dax would beat and hit him, often for no reason, 

          and the boys were terrified of him. 



8.375     After  he  was  raped  the  second  time  he  refused  to  work  in  the  kitchen.  He  ran  away  and  as 

           punishment he was banned from working in the kitchen: 



                 To  work in  the kitchen  was  thought to  be a  privilege  although in  fact it  was  the worse 

                possible place to be if you were sexually abused by Br Dax. 



8.376      In his response statement, Br Dax adopted a Garda Statement in which he admitted fondling the 

          complainant  and  forcing  him  to  engage  in  masturbation.  He  accepted  that  he  might  also  have 

          asked the complainant to  ‘kiss his penis’. He also accepted that he raped him although he could 

           not recall how many times this had occurred. He did not recall digitally penetrating the complainant 

           but accepted that it might have occurred, and he accepted that the abuse could have happened 

           in a room off the kitchen. 



8.377     The Congregation’s response to the statement of this complainant did not focus on the admitted 

          facts of the abuse, but instead concentrated on the areas of minor inconsistencies, such as the 

          discrepancies in the age of the complainant at the time of the alleged abuse and details about his 

          work in the kitchen. 



8.378     Another ex-pupil who gave evidence worked on the poultry farm with Br Dax. He said he enjoyed 

          the work there because he had a great deal of freedom as Br Dax also worked in the kitchen. He 

          got on well with Br Dax to a point but he was sexually abused by him. 



8.379      He said that Br Dax slept in a room next to his dormitory and on Saturday mornings he would be 

           required to clean this room. 



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8.380     The complainant stated that for about 10 weeks he was abused by Br Dax on Saturday mornings 

          while he cleaned the room. He stated that Br Dax would rub talcum powder around his neck whilst 

           ‘kissing you like you were a girl’. The complainant recalled that: 



                 ... he’d lie on top of me and sexually ... he would have his penis between your buttocks 

                 and moving himself about and ejaculated and that’s it. 



8.381      He said that Br Dax also abused him in a room in the monastery, which was used for incubating 

          the chicks. On one occasion when Br Dax was abusing him he said that a Brother, he thinks it 

          was Br Noreis, knocked at the window to get Br Dax to stop: 



                 Br Dax is kind of loving me, like, arms around me, loving me inside in the room and I 

                 think it was Br Noreis, knocks at the window. It was like a mild reprimand, a little joke and 

                 it stopped   ... Nothing  serious,   like, but  what  he   was   doing  you   would   have   some 

                 explaining. Like, if I got a child now or I got a young fellow. I keep saying a child because 

                 we were children down there. 



8.382     The abuse continued until the complainant threatened to tell a local priest. Br Dax did not react in 

           any way other than to stop his abuse. The complainant could never bring himself to tell the priest 

           of what had happened to him. The Investigation Committee found the complainant’s account of 

           sitting in a shed outside the priest’s house, trying to work up the courage to tell somebody, moving: 



                 I would   be   fearful  of saying   it, of  the  consequences.      I would   be   fearful  of the 

                 consequences. Even if he believed me about what was taking place, there is no reason 

                 for me to suspect that he is going to act on it. Like, who is going to challenge – like, what 

                 is he going to do? Who am I, as a child, am I – am I going to put this particular Christian 

                 Brother  and  the  good  name  of  the  Christian  Brothers  in  jeopardy  by  what  this  man  is 

                 doing to me of a Saturday in his room? I have the good sense to know that. But at the 

                 same time I used to get excited. Now, I went down there about five times down to his 

                 house but I never went to the door. But I feel that if he had probably come out to the door 

                 I might have gone over and said something and blurted it out and lived with it or whatever. 

                 It didn’t happen. It stopped with Br Dax and I worked with Br Dax after that until I left. 



8.383      He would not have been able to complain to the Superior: 



                 I  got  on  very  well  with  Br  Guillaume.  No,  I  would  have  been  embarrassed  to  go  to  Br 

                 Guillaume . I would have been embarrassed to go to Br Guillaume . None of us lads ever 

                 spoke about these things. They don’t actually talk about it now, believe it or not. They 

                 only talk in general ways. People don’t go into detail about it. Br Guillaume, no, I never 

                 did. I liked Br Guillaume. 



8.384      During cross-examination, counsel for the Congregation made much of the fact that Br Dax never 

           slept in a room adjacent to the dormitory. However, in his own evidence, Br Dax stated that he 

           spent  the  first  two  years  in  such  a  room.  Br  Dax  admitted  that  he  possibly  did  abuse  the 

           complainant on the poultry farm and in the room adjacent to the dormitory. It is inexplicable why 

          the Congregation would seek to undermine a bona fide witness by challenging evidence that was 

           subsequently confirmed by the respondent himself. 



8.385      None  of  the  individual  respondents  who  gave  evidence  to  the  Committee  of  having  worked 

           alongside Br Dax suspected that he was an abuser. 



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8.386     Br Dondre described Br Dax as follows: 



                He was a sort of a witty sort of person, he liked having a laugh. He liked joking. He took 

                his job; he took the kitchen thing very serious. He invited me in a couple of times to test 

                the food, to taste it and that, yes. Didn’t see much of him because when he was on duty, 

                when he was doing the kitchen work, I was doing something else. As a Community man, 

                well, as a Community, the Brothers saw very little of each other in Letterfrack. 



8.387     Br Anatole described Br Dax as a friendly individual who worked very hard and who was good at 

          his job. He also said he saw no evidence of any abuse by Br Dax in Letterfrack. 



8.388     Br Karel, who had been the Superior of Letterfrack for two years, said that he had an argument 

          with Br Dax over the manner in which the refectory was run. He said that he told Br Dax to give 

          the boys more food and that he supervised a meal to ensure that the bigger boys were not stealing 

          food from the smaller boys. 



8.389     Br Telfour was asked whether there was anything from his recollection of Br Dax’s behaviour at 

          the time that ‘clicked’ when he heard Br Dax had been imprisoned. He replied that there was not. 



8.390     •     Br Dax  perpetrated sexual abuse, often  with violence, on boys in  Letterfrack over a 

                period of 14 years. The Congregation has failed to address the question as to how it 

                was possible for him to continue undetected for so long. 



          •    There are two possibilities: either the Brothers or some of them were aware of Br Dax’s 

                activities but did nothing or they were not aware, in which case it must be asked why 

                none of his many victims disclosed the abuse. Neither scenario reflects credit on the 

                Institution or on the Brothers who worked there. 



          •    Many of the accounts of abuse would not have been verifiable but for the admissions 

                of the Brother, and only four of those who were named in criminal charges came to 

                the Investigation, which implies that the incidence of such behaviour is substantially 

                more than could be established in evidence. 



          •    The Christian Brothers have accepted that Br Dax sexually abused boys in Letterfrack 

                and have expressed their regret for this, but their approach to many of the witnesses 

                was  adversarial  and  even  confrontational  –  calling  into  question  evidence  that  the 

                accused  himself  did  not  challenge  or  contradict.  This  approach  was  unnecessarily 

                distressing for complainants. 



          Br Vallois 



8.391     In the early 1960s, Br Vallois left Letterfrack because of a complaint of sexual abuse of a boy. 

          There is no documentary evidence of this incident and the only information came from a Brother 

          who had served in Letterfrack and who gave evidence to the Committee. Br Vallois was sent to 

          Letterfrack  as  a  temporarily  professed  Brother.  The  witness  was  in  charge  of  the  senior  boys’ 

          dormitory and Br Vallois, who seemed keen and enthusiastic, asked the witness to allow him to 

          take the boys to bed. A boy reported to a Brother that Br Vallois used to sit on the edge of his 

          bed and touch him inappropriately. The complaint was passed on to the Superior, who informed 

          the Provincial, and Br Vallois was brought to the Provincialate for questioning. He did not renew 

          his vows. 



8.392     Br Michel described the incident as follows: 



                 The  young  man’s  name  was  Vallois,  Br  Vallois.  He  was  sent  to  Letterfrack  as  a  very 

                promising young man, as a teacher and so on. He was very keen and very anxious to 

                work. A few times he asked me – I was in charge of the senior dormitory at the time and 

                he said to me once or twice, “could I take the boys to bed tonight because I would like to 



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                  learn the ropes?” So I said yes, I was probably glad of the break. It transpires that there 

                  was touching going on in the dormitory. Now, I am not perfectly clear who reported it, I 

                  presume  it  was  the  boy  himself.  I  can’t  remember  his  name,  but  it  went  as  far  as  I 

                  remember  to  the  Disciplinarian  first  and  it  went  from  the  Disciplinarian  to  the  Manager 

                  who was Br Guillaume and within a day or two that young man was transported by car to 

                  Dublin. I am not certain if the boy concerned was brought also, I have an idea he was. 

                  So the Provincial interviewed them and I am not again certain if the offender was let back 

                  for a short time to collect his stuff, I can’t recall fully. At any rate at the end of that year 

                  that young man left the Congregation. I don’t know whether he was dismissed or whether 

                  he decided to discontinue as a Brother. That’s the story in brief. 



8.393      The   Congregation’s      Submission     stated   that  ‘the  Congregation     accepts,    on  the   basis  of  the 

           evidence of Br Michel and on the basis of its own records, that Br Vallois was involved in some 

           level of sexual abuse’. 



8.394      This case suggests that prompt action could be taken if the authorities decided to do so. 



           Mr Albaric 



8.395      In 1960s, a member of the lay staff, Mr Albaric, was removed from the School for sexually abusing 

           children. A number of boys complained to Br Telfour: ‘Mr Albaric puts his thing against us when 

           we are going to the toilet’. The Brother told the boys to report the matter to the Resident Manager. 

           The Resident Manager subsequently confirmed that the boys had complained and gave Br Telfour 

           a letter to give to Mr Albaric informing him of his dismissal. 



8.396      A number of complainants alleged that Mr Albaric sexually abused them. One said that one night 

           he went to the toilet and Mr Albaric followed him in. There was a serious outbreak of scabies in 

           the school at the time and Mr Albaric told the witness that he wanted to check him for infection. 

           He then attempted to rape the witness and, in order to prevent the rape, the witness masturbated 

           Mr Albaric. He was in a state of shock afterwards and he felt quite sick. He said that he was afraid 

           to go to the toilet after the incident and that, as a result, he started wetting the bed for which he 

           was punished. He heard rumours that Mr Albaric was abusing other boys as well. Apparently, the 

           bigger boys found out what was happening and reported the matter to the authorities. The next 

           thing they knew, Mr Albaric was gone. 



8.397      Another complainant told a similar story. He said that he was a bed-wetter and that Mr Albaric, 

           the night watchman, would abuse him in the dormitory. He said that the abuse continued until Mr 

           Albaric left the School:  ‘He was finally sacked some time for abusing other kids’. 



8.398      It is significant that Br Telfour did not go to the Resident Manager with this complaint himself but 

           left it for the boys to do so. If the boys had not acted, it is possible that Mr Albaric could have 

           continued his activities notwithstanding the complaint that had been made. 



           Br Curtis50 



8.399      Br Telfour described another occasion when the same two boys as had reported Mr Albaric came 

           to him and made what he called a very vague allegation against another Brother. The allegation, 

           as recalled by the witness, was not that the Brother had engaged in any sexual misconduct with 

           the two boys, but that other boys were saying that the Brother  ‘did things’ to them. He said that 

           he pursued the matter with the boys who were reporting to him and tried to get something definite 

           by way of a name or an activity, but: 



           50 This is a pseudonym. 



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                I was just getting the same – the boys – just the boys – shrug of the shoulders, as if – I 

                didn’t know how to take it. The boys say, that is all I was getting, ah just things, things. 

                So I couldn’t pursue it any further. 



8.400     He felt that, because he had not got any specifics or details of the names of boys involved or 

          what was going on or where or when it was going on, he was unable to take the complaint either 

          to the Superior or to the Brother who was accused. Nothing further happened on the strength of 

          that information. 



8.401     Two complainants alleged that Br Curtis sexually abused them. One alleged that he and other 

          boys were sexually abused by Br Curtis in the classroom. He described Br Curtis as ‘an absolute 

          thug ... a pure thug, a paedophile thug’. He stated that: 



                The man would be there doing it in the classroom, staring at the classroom and then he 

                would be doing it with various kids. He would take you out of the desk, get one arm, put 

                it behind your back, your buttocks would be there leaned against the desk and he would 

                be there pushing you back and he would be going into you. 



8.402     Another witness described Br Curtis as a nice man but stated that he was regularly abused by 

          him. Br Curtis got him a job in the laundry, which was perceived as a  ‘soft job’. He started by 

          being  nice to  the  complainant,  who welcomed  the  attention, although  he  was  conscious that  it 

          was wrong. Br Curtis would take him from his bed in the mornings four or five times a week in 

          order to abuse him. Normally, Br Curtis was gentle with him but, on one occasion during his first 

          year in the school, he was rough and raped him. He said that Br Curtis made him feel special 

          until he was raped: 



                Yes, he would make me play with him and he would – nearly every morning – as I said, 

                there was that little room at the top of the dormitories. There was two, there was one each 

                side, I remember, there was more than two little ones, but Br Curtis when he stayed there, 

                when he – the first thing in the morning he would come and take me from my bed, just 

                after our prayers, and in the pretence – and then he would take me into the little room 

                and then he would make me either play with him or he would play with himself. ... On one 

                occasion,  he  just  took  me  in  the  room  and  he  seemed  very  excited  and  he  was  quite 

                rough, generally – normally, he wasn’t as rough, but he just seemed to be very rough that 

                morning and I don’t know whether he inserted his penis, or, as I said – but in my anus, 

                and I felt a lot of pain and I asked him to stop on many occasions and he didn’t ... That 

                was just the one occasion. 



8.403     He said that he was too confused to report what had happened to him to anyone. 



8.404     This witness described feelings of guilt mixed with an awareness of being special. He got special 

          privileges and favours from the Brother that were resented by other boys and which led to his 

          being bullied ‘slightly’. The Brother was good to him at times but he was still troubled: 



                I said at the beginning I felt special, that I was getting special treatment ... And until it got 

                rough on that occasion, I still felt I was quite special. 



8.405     The other boys noticed the special treatment he was receiving and called him a teacher’s pet. 



8.406     He went to Confession after he was raped and he told the Priest what had happened. He believed 

          that the priest may have said something because, soon after, he was changed from the laundry. 

          He did not know whether that change related to this but he thought it was a possibility. 



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8.407      •     Even  though  it  was  hearsay  and  vague,  this  complaint  was  obviously  serious  and 

                 should  have  been  followed  up,  especially  when  it  came  from  two  boys  who  had 

                 previously reported a case of abuse that was subsequently confirmed. 



           •    In this case, Br Telfour did nothing about a complaint of sexual abuse that he received. 

                 He did not even tell the boys to report it to the Superior. In the earlier case, which he 

                 had regarded as sufficiently grounded in fact, the Brother did not himself go to the 

                 Superior but sent the boys to make the report. 



           Br Algrenon51 



8.408      Br Telfour cited an incident he witnessed soon after his arrival in the school and which involved 

           Br Algrenon, a member of staff during the mid-1960s. He wanted to speak to Br Algrenon so he 

           went  up  to  his  [Br  Algrenon’s]  room.  However,  instead  of  finding  Br  Algrenon  he  found  a  boy 

           washing his penis at Br Algrenon’s wash basin. Br Telfour did not ask the boy why he was doing 

           it. He told the Committee: ‘I presumed he was injured and maybe too embarrassed to go into the 

           nurse or whatever’. The boy told him he was washing it on Br Algrenon’s instruction. Br Telfour 

           acted as if nothing strange had happened and did not enquire any further into the matter. 



8.409      It is hard to understand how the sight that met Br Telfour when he opened the door of a fellow 

           Brother’s private bedroom did not make him suspicious. It is, of course, possible that this incident 

           may  not  be    related  to  sexual  activity  between  the  Brother  and      the  boy  but  it should  have 

           undoubtedly  raised  a  concern.  He  testified  to  the  Committee  that  he  did  not  check  with  Br 

           Algrenon, as it was his first year in the place and he did not know how to handle the situation: 

           ‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t know how to handle this. It was my first year there. I wasn’t long into the place‘. 



8.410      Br Telfour told the Committee that he should have brought the complaints he got from the two 

           boys about Br Curtis, and the incident in Br Algrenon’s room, to the Superior’s attention. He said 

           that at that time he knew nothing about such activity, although he did acknowledge that he had 

           encountered an allegation of sexual abuse whilst he was a student in Marino. 



8.411      In  Letterfrack,  he  was  able  to  deal  with  the  allegation  against  the  lay  worker  by  sending  the 

           complaining boys to the Superior but he failed, to his later regret, to deal with the complaints that 

           were reported to him about one Brother and the incident in the other Brother’s bedroom. 



8.412      •    Br Telfour’s explanation for his failure to act appropriately in any of the instances of 

                 sexual abuse reported to him was his inexperience and lack of knowledge in how to 

                 deal with such a situation. However, it points to a moral and ethical ambivalence about 

                 this issue. An adult encountering sexual abuse of a child, even in the 1960s, should 

                 have had no hesitation in acting to stop it. This Brother was wracked with indecision 

                when a fellow Brother was involved although he did make some effort, albeit indirect, 

                 in the case of the lay worker. 



           •    Responses to sexual abuse were influenced by loyalty to the Congregation and to the 

                 individual Brother rather than the need to protect children in care. 



           •    The  preceding  four  incidents  all  occurred  during  Br  Dax’s  time  there,  and  indicate 

                 ignorance and incompetence in relation to this issue. 



           •     These    Brothers    recalled    complaints     about   sexual    abuse    that   were   not   recorded 

                 anywhere  in  the  documentation,  which  reveals  the  difficulty  of  measuring  the  full 

                 extent of sexual abuse in Letterfrack. 



           51 This is a pseudonym. 



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           Br Anatole 



8.413      Br Anatole, a former Christian Brother who worked in Letterfrack during the late 1960s and early 

           1970s, was convicted of abusing three boys in Letterfrack. None of the victims gave evidence. 



8.414      The Congregation files show that he was accused of sexual abuse in another school in which he 

           worked after his period in Letterfrack. In 1977 a boy in a Christian Brothers day school alleged 

           that Br Anatole had asked him to rub oil on his back and brought him to a room where he exposed 

           himself and gave the boy 20 pence. The boy told his mother who told a Brother in the School. He 

           promised to look into the matter. Time passed and, when the mother enquired as to the position, 

           she discovered that nothing had been done. She was very angry and called to see the Superior, 

           who  interviewed  the  boy  in  the  presence  of  his  mother  and,  having  elicited  the  details,  he 

           contacted his own authorities immediately. 



8.415      The allegations were investigated in early September 1977. Br Anatole flatly denied the charge, 

           and even wrote to the parents of the boy setting out details of how it could not have been him. 

           The investigating Brother, however, did not believe him. He stated: ‘To me the evidence seems 

           convincing’. 



8.416      In August 1977, Br Anatole was transferred to a different secondary school in Dublin where he 

           taught  for  one  academic  year.  He  had  previously  requested  a  dispensation  in  1977  and  was 

           granted exclaustration in May 1978. 



8.417      After  exclaustration,  he  taught  for  one  academic  in  a  rural  secondary  school  year  run  by  a 

           Congregation of nuns before commencing studies for the priesthood. It should be noted that in 

           1978 the Provincial of St Mary’s Province told the President of Holy Cross College, Clonliffe, that 

           he could not ‘unreservedly recommend Br Anatole as a suitable candidate for the priesthood’. He 

           was accordingly not accepted as a candidate. 



8.418      Br  Anatole  joined  the  Servite  Community  in  September  1980.  He  was  granted  transitus  to  the 

           Servites of Mary in February 1981 and a dispensation in June 1982, processed by the Servites of 

           Mary. This was done at his request after counselling. 



8.419      In August 1982, he joined the staff of a Dublin secondary school where he taught for 10 years. 

           This was in two stages, with a two-year break in the middle to work on an academic text. He was 

           convicted in 2002 in respect of abuse perpetrated in Letterfrack. 



8.420      Br Anatole told the Committee how his abusive activities began: 



                 I  suppose  it  arose  out  of  need  for  intimacy,  my  sexuality  was  very  very  juvenile,  very 

                 immature and I had no experience of women of any kind, no experience of contact with 

                 women. Out of my need for intimacy and of sexual experience, it gradually developed ... 



8.421      He said that the abuse generally took place in his bedroom or the wash hall, as he was careful to 

           avoid detection and generally abused children when the other Brothers were away or unlikely to 

           discover him in the act. He regularly used the guise of wrestling with the boys in order to disguise 

           the actual nature of what he was engaged in. He said that he would often initiate the abuse by 

           asking the boys whether they wanted to wrestle. He said that boys would often come to him and 

           ask to wrestle because they wanted the treats he would give them after he had abused them. 

           During these wrestling matches, both he and the boy would be in swimming togs and he would 

           press up against the boy until he, Br Anatole, ejaculated. He felt that the pretence of a wrestling 

           match ‘was an innocuous way of getting some kind of physical contact with another human being’, 

           which would result in an ejaculation. 



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 8.422     He told the Committee that he believed that if anyone had discovered him they would not have 

          thought anything untoward was going on: the sight of a Brother and a boy dressed only in their 

          swimming togs wrestling together in a room on their own would not, he thought, have raised any 

           particular concern. 



 8.423     He selected boys mainly on the basis of physical attraction. However, he stated that he had a 

           particular affection for one boy, and that he used to single him out more than the rest. He viewed 

           his relationship with this boy as akin to an affair. 



 8.424     He said that some of the boys were really keen on the wrestling and he would award prizes such 

          as cigarettes and sweets. He tried to dress the activity up as something else but he was certain 

          that the boys knew what he was doing. 



 8.425     He told the Committee that he sexually abused the three boys during the same period, although 

           he doubted whether they were aware of each other’s involvement with him. He accepted that the 

          other boys in the School must have known something amiss was going on. 



 8.426    The abuse did not always take the form of a surreptitious wrestling bout. He used to take one 

           boy, who was 13 or 14 at the time, to his room at night, ostensibly to teach him to read but really 

          to abuse him. He said that the dormitory Brother always gave permission, a matter that Br Iven 

          denied in his evidence. Br Anatole said that he would push up against the boy from behind until 

           he ejaculated. It would normally take between five and ten minutes and, when he was finished 

          with him, he would send him back alone. 



 8.427    Two colleagues of Br Anatole’s gave evidence. 



 8.428     Br Iven served during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He said that he never thought that there 

          was the remotest possibility of Brothers abusing boys. He denied giving Br Anatole permission to 

          take  a  boy  to  his  room.  However,  he  did  say  that,  if  he  had  been  asked,  he  would  not  have 

          suspected an ulterior motive. 



 8.429     Br Dondre said that he was not aware of Br Anatole’s activities at the time. 



 8.430    The  Congregation  did  not  make  any  submission  on  the  extent  of  the  abuse  committed  by  Br 

          Anatole. They took issue in their Final Submissions with his evidence, which they described as 

           inherently inconsistent and, ultimately, completely unreliable. Br Anatole had referred to his need 

          for ‘intimacy and sexual experience’ as part of the reason he engaged in sexual abuse of children. 

          The Congregation stated: 



                 It  is  submitted  that  the  personal  factors  which  cause  a  person  to  abuse  are  probably 

                considerably more complex than this evidence would suggest and that the evidence of 

                these individuals does not add a great deal to the overall knowledge of the Committee on 

                this issue. 



 8.431    Although  Br Anatole  pleaded  guilty to  indecently  assaulting three  named  individuals, he  stated 

          that it took a relatively innocuous form and was adamant that he did not abuse these children in 

          any  other  way  and  that  he  did  not  abuse  any  other  children.  No  complainants  gave  evidence 

          against him during the private hearings, and the Investigation Committee heard no evidence to 

          contest these assertions. 



 8.432    •    Br Anatole had unsupervised access to boys at most times. Where other Brothers were 

                engaged in sexual activity with boys, it is hardly surprising that he was able to operate 

                without fear of detection. 



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           Br Benoit52 



8.433      Br Benoit was working in the O’Brien Institute in  the early 1960s when two boys made written 

           statements to the Superior complaining of sexual abuse. The Superior forwarded the statements 

           to the Provincial, requesting that Br Benoit be changed to a day school and that was done. He 

           was subsequently sent to Letterfrack to serve in a senior position in the 1970s. 



8.434      To explain his being sent to Letterfrack, the Christian Brothers’ Opening Statement commented 

           that the Leadership Team that dealt with the complaints had been replaced in 1966, and only one 

           member     of  the  original  team   remained     on  the   new   team   which   made     the  appointment     to 

           Letterfrack. The Brother’s personal file ‘appears not to have been consulted when his appointment 

           in Letterfrack was decided upon’. Finally, it says that there were no records on file of complaints 

           in Letterfrack. 



           Br Karel 



8.435      Br Karel was the subject of a complaint of sexual abuse of boys when he was in Artane in the 

           early  1960s.  It  was  alleged  that  he  had  put  his  hand  under  the  boys’  bedclothes  and  touched 

           them in the genital area. The Resident Manager investigated the allegation and referred the matter 

           to  the  Provincial.  The  Provincial  interviewed  Br  Karel,  who  denied  the  allegations.  Br  Karel 

           remained in Artane for some time after these allegations were made, and he was then transferred 

           to a day school outside Dublin. Br Karel testified that he had previously sought a transfer and he 

           did not know whether he was transferred because of the allegation or because of his request. 



8.436      The matter was never pursued by the Provincial and so the situation remained that Br Karel was 

           either guilty of serious offences or that a number of boys had made the gravest false allegations. 

           This was a situation that urgently needed to be resolved but the matter went no further. 



8.437      Br Karel was later moved to Letterfrack. 



8.438      The Christian  Brothers explained  his appointment  on the  fact that  the Provincial  Leadership of 

           1960 to 1966 had been totally replaced in 1972, and no search in his personal files had been 

           made: ‘Consequently, no memory of the original offence existed’. The Congregation noted that, 

           while there were allegations against this man in respect of his time in Letterfrack, there were no 

           contemporary complaints of abuse there. 



8.439      •    The Congregation responded to allegations of sexual abuse by transferring Brs Benoit 

                 and Karel to day schools and after a period of 10 years they were sent to Letterfrack. 

                 The    explanation      offered    in   the   Brothers’     Submission        was    that   it  was     an 

                 administrative accident. 



           •    The suggestion that the Congregation would make an appointment to a senior position 

                 in  an  industrial  school  without  reference  to  the  Brother’s  recent  history  or  to  his 

                 personal file is incomprehensible. 



           •    Failure in all these respects by the senior management of the Congregation ignored 

                 the safety of the children and the requirement of good management in the institution. 

                 A record of sexual abuse would have precluded appointment to a residential school if 

                 protecting the boys was the priority. 



           Br Dacian53 



8.440      Br Dacian was a similar case to the two cited above and the consequences of the Congregation’s 

           failure to act to protect children when the first allegation arose were felt for many years by children 



           52 This is a pseudonym. 

           53 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 383-----------------------

           in different schools. An account of his activities is set out in full in the chapter of this report dealing 

           with St Joseph’s Industrial School, Salthill. 



  8.441    Br Dacian was the subject of a complaint of sexual abuse in the early 1960s in Salthill. He was 

           transferred from Galway to a day school in Dublin and was later sent to serve in Letterfrack in 

           the 1970s. 



  8.442    In a letter to the Superior General, the Provincial in Salthill elaborated on the allegation. A child 

           awoke to find someone with his hand inside his pyjamas. Although it was dark the boy identified 

           the  person as  Br Dacian  by his  voice and  size. Br  Dacian admitted  doing this,  but  offered the 

           defence that he was checking to see if the child, who was a known bed-wetter, had wet his bed. 

           The Provincial continued, ‘It is apparent that this does not explain everything’. A letter sent three 

           days later to the Superior of the School noted that he was sorry for the lapse of Br Dacian and 

           that all the members of the Council thought that a change was necessary for him, as ‘no doubt 

           some of the boys know of this lapse’. 



  8.443    Br Dacian was moved to a school in Dublin less than five months later. He stayed there for nearly 

           10 years before being moved to Letterfrack. 



  8.444    He spent a year in Letterfrack before moving to another day school in Dublin where he taught for 

           over 10 years. Br Dacian admitted sexually assaulting a boy in this day school and he had to be 

           transferred  out  of  it  in  the  early  1980s.  Although  it  did  not  emerge  until  some  five  years  later, 

           another  allegation  that  abuse  had  occurred  at  the  same  time  was  made  by  a  pupil  in  an  Irish 

           College where Br Dacian was working during that summer. 



  8.445    After his removal from the Dublin day school, he received counselling from a Jesuit priest. This 

           priest gave a somewhat qualified reassurance to the Leadership of the Congregation. He stated 

           that he ‘was confident that there is no risk of a recurrence of such an event in the near future by 

           which I mean over the next few years he has had a severe shock’. 



  8.446    Br Dacian was appointed Principal of a rural school in 1984 less than a year after his removal 

           from the Dublin school but, once again, he had to be removed from his position because of his 

           sexual abuse of a young boy in 1987. 



  8.447    He moved  to England  and, although  he continued  as a  member of  the Congregation,  he was, 

           according to a letter written in 1994 by Br Travis,54          the Provincial, to a concerned teacher from 



           the Dublin school, no longer involved in any ministry that brought him into contact with children. 



  8.448    The Christian Brothers’ Opening Statement once more offered the explanation that the Provincial 

           Council from 1960 to 1966 had been totally replaced by a new Council who had no knowledge of 

           the original complaint when the transfer to Letterfrack was made, ‘Hence, Br Dacian was sent to 

           Letterfrack without any knowledge of the previous complaint on the part of the new council’. 



  8.449    The Opening Statement made no reference to the fact that this Brother was transferred on at least 

           two subsequent occasions because of sexual abuse of children in his school. 



  8.450    •      Brothers     with   prior   records    or   allegations     of  sexual    abuse     against    them    were 

                 transferred to Letterfrack in the early 1970s. 



           54 This is a pseudonym. 



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          •    The Submission by the Congregation that the Leadership, when deciding to send them 

                to Letterfrack,   did  not  consult   the  personal    files of  these   Brothers   is  somewhat 

                speculative and not based on evidence. 



          •    Assigning these Brothers to Letterfrack was indicative of an attitude that sexual abuse 

                was   something     that  happened      from   time  to   time,  which    was   unfortunate    and 

                potentially embarrassing for the Congregation and the Institution and which had to be 

                handled  in  a  way  that  lessened  the  risk  of  publicity  and  even  prosecution  of  the 

                offender. 



          Oral evidence 



8.451     Much  of  the  complainants’  evidence  relating  to  sexual  abuse  has  been  set  out  above  in  the 

          sections dealing with documented cases and respondent evidence. In addition to the two Brothers 

          who were convicted of serious sexual crimes, the cases where sexual abuse was documented or 

          which  were  confirmed  by  Brothers  and  former  Brothers  can  also  be  regarded  as  indisputable. 

          Where the evidence of complainants referred to sexual abuse by any of these Brothers, it has 

          been incorporated in the earlier sections dealing with those cases. It does not follow that, where 

          a Brother was found to have committed sexual abuse of boys, every allegation against him was 

          true, and the evidence that is set out relating to these Brothers was given by witnesses whom the 

          Committee considered to be credible and reliable in this respect. 



8.452     The locations in which sexual abuse took place, as described by complainants, were mainly the 

          kitchens (where Br Dax worked), the dormitories, the classrooms, and the farm. Br Dax was in 

          sole charge of the kitchens, and the other Brothers did not tend to have business or other occasion 

          to be there. The dormitories were also isolated. This point was highlighted by the evidence of Br 

          Iven  concerning an  attack  which  was made  on  him by  a  senior  boy who  made  his  way to  the 

          junior dormitory where this Brother was in charge. Br Iven said that there was nobody else around 

          who might have heard the commotion. It follows that, if a Brother in charge of a dormitory engaged 

          in sexual activity with a boy, he was unlikely to be discovered. These features were conducive to 

          the occurrence of abuse and indicate that it was unlikely that other Brothers would be aware of 

          abuse occurring. 



8.453     One  witness    made  allegations  against  a   Br  Francois  who    was  in  charge  of  a  dormitory  in 

          Letterfrack. He described getting a severe beating from this Brother after being ordered out of bed 

          and into the wash hall. He was required to lift his night shirt and  ‘get it on the bare ... You would 

          suffer from it and it would be violent ... I got it pretty violent down there ... I think I was bleeding’. 



8.454     After the beating he was brought into the Brother’s bedroom: 



                He didn’t let me into my dormitory so he took me through the other dormitory down to his 

                room ... The room where he slept, yes. The best way to describe it is he treated my sore 

                bottom, dressed it or whatever. 



8.455     When asked whether anything else happened, he stated: 



                He  fondled  me,  made  me  put  my  hand  down  his  pants  or  in,  around  his  privates  and 

                made me masturbate him ... He was getting excited and I had my nightshirt and he came 

                up behind me and ejaculated around my back. Not around my bottom but up around my 

                back. He held me in close to him and ejaculated around my back. 



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8.456      The  witness  said  that  Br  Francois  made  a  gesture  with  his  fist  as  he  dismissed  him  back  to 

           the dormitory: 



                  It was meant like (indicating), it’s fists for you, just go back and just be quiet about it. I 

                  took it like that anyway. That’s what I did. I just went back. I was in dread of this man. 



8.457      This witness also alleged fondling and touching by this Brother in the classroom and during singing 

           class when the boys would all be standing: 



                  ... and lots  of times it happened  up in the choir,  he would be passing  along and hand 

                  under the leg of your pants and feel your penis or that. Rubbing against you and holding 

                  you while you are still singing “all eyes up to the front”. That’s the way it went. 



8.458      The    Brother   in  question    denied   that   this abuse    ever   took   place,   both   to  the  Gardai    who 

                                                                                                                         ´ 

           investigated allegations against him and to the Committee. 



8.459      This witness also made allegations against Br Andre.55  He said that Br Andre would question boys 



           individually whether they had any impure thoughts. He said that, while being questioned by Br 

           Andre, he was also fondled by him: 



                  Impure thoughts, that was the key thing, impure thoughts. That covered everything. “Do 

                  you have impure thoughts at night?” I said, “No, I don’t have anything like that”. . I probably 

                  said something like that. He was talking away and friendly enough. He is sitting down like 

                  this  and   he  has   you   standing    next   to  him   there   (indicating).  In  the  course    of  the 

                  conversation with him, in the talking with him, he is feeling down towards my penis and 

                  that. The conversation is kept going and he said, “Are you telling me the truth, are you 

                  telling me the truth, what’s happening to you now?” I was getting stiff and hard around 

                  the penis so he said, “There is the proof now, you are not telling me the whole truth”. That 

                  was proof that I wasn’t telling the truth and you would have to recant and say, well you 

                  did get some kind of impure thoughts at night or whatever, something along those lines. 

                  He told me then to, “Remove your pants down, take down your pants, now”. I done that. 



                  I took off my pants. Then he would have me leaning over his lap, give me a little few slaps 

                  on the bottom. He would be talking to me about impure thoughts and asking me what kind 

                  of impure thoughts and he was probing my bottom with his finger, probing me internally in 

                  the bottom. I was aware also that while he was doing some of this he was playing – what 

                  I accept now that what he was doing was he was playing with himself under his cassock 

                  or under his clothes. And that’s what happened there. 



8.460      The witness was certain that this Brother’s name was Andre, but he was unsure whether he was 

           a  full-time  Brother    or  a  relief Brother.    Br  Sorel   said  that  this  Brother    was   well  known     for 

           approaching boys and asking them about sex: 



                  He had that reputation, Br Andre, of doing that particular thing, of talking about the facts 

                  of life, so I presume that the lads themselves must have told him ... 



                  It was a normal thing even before he came to Letterfrack, he was well known amongst 

                  the Brothers in Scoil Mhuire, Marino for doing the same thing in class ... Talking about 

                  the facts of life. It was a kind of a joke amongst us, “he is at it again” ... We thought it was 

                  unnecessary. That’s what we thought, we thought it was unnecessary. Fellows – normal 

                  fellow  going  to  school  get  these  facts  of  life  from  their  parents.  That’s  how  we  looked 

                  upon it and as a result we were maybe cynical about it. 



           55 This is a pseudonym. 



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          Conclusions on sexual abuse 



          Incidence 



8.461      1.  Sexual abuse by Brothers was a chronic problem in Letterfrack. Brothers who served 

               there included firstly those who had previously been guilty of sexual abuse of boys, 

               secondly those whose abuse was discovered while they worked in that institution and, 

               thirdly some who were subsequently revealed to have abused boys. A timeline of the 

               documented and admitted cases of sexual abuse shows that: 



                 (a) For approximately two-thirds of the relevant period, there was at least one such 

                      abuser working there. 



                 (b) For almost one-third of the years there were at least two abusers present. 



                 (c) There were three abusers present in the institution during at least four different 

                      years. 



           2.  As  a  matter  of  probability,  more  sexual  abuse  took  place  than  was  recorded  in  the 

               documents  or  the  oral  testimony,  but  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  full  extent  of 

               such abuse. The reasons for this deduction include: 



                 •    Two Brothers committed long-term abuse of boys over separate periods of 14 

                      years each. The fact that abuse could continue for so long is a major indictment 

                      of  the  institution.  It  is  unlikely  that  in  a  small,  closed  Community  persistent 

                      sexual abuse involving many victims could happen over such a length of time 

                      without  causing  suspicion  or  inquiry  on  the  part  of  the  other  Brothers  in  the 

                      Community. 



                 •    If  no  suspicions  were  raised  it  suggests  that  relations  between  Brothers  and 

                      boys were so inadequate, complaints could not be made. 



                 •    Other offenders could have been operating undetected in Letterfrack at the same 

                      time as the documented abusers notwithstanding the absence of complaint or 

                      documentary information. 



                 •    Most of the victims of the two Brothers who were convicted and sentenced did 

                      not come to the Committee to complain. It follows that more abuse happened 

                      than was the subject of complaints to the Investigation Committee. 



                 •    Brothers did not report suspicions about their colleagues. 

                 •    Reasons for under-reporting by boys were fear of repercussions, fear of being 

                      disbelieved, lack of faith that there would be a proper inquiry, feelings of shame 

                      and  embarrassment,  and  the  fact  that  sexual  abuse  is  difficult  for  victims  to 

                      corroborate or verify. 



          Response 



           1.  The  Congregation  did  not  properly  investigate  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  of  boys 

               by Brothers. 



           2.  The Congregation  knew that Brothers  who sexually  abused boys were  a continuing 

               danger. It was therefore an act of reckless disregard to send known abusers to any 

               industrial school and, in particular, one as remote and isolated as Letterfrack. 



           3.  The manner in which sexually abusing Brothers were dealt with is indicative of a policy 

               of  protecting  the  Brothers,  the  Community  and  the  Congregation  at  the  expense  of 

               the victims. 



           4.  There  was  no  explanation  as  to  how  Brothers  who  abused  boys  could  have  gone 

               undetected in Letterfrack for so many years. 



          356                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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           Peer abuse and sexual activity between boys 



8.462      The management of the School was under an obligation to ensure that children lived in a safe 

           and secure environment. The failure to detect and prevent physical and sexual abuse constituted 

           a clear failure to provide children with a safe and secure environment in which to live. In addition, 

           the  failure  to  prevent  peer  abuse  by  way  of  sexual  bullying  also  represented  a  management 

           failure. 



8.463      The  Brothers  inadequately  understood  the  distinction  between  consensual  sex  and  bullying, 

           predatory sexual acts by bigger boys on smaller. This behaviour could be overtly violent and non- 

           consensual, or implicitly non-consensual in the nature of assault because of the age difference or 

           physical difference between the boys. Failure to protect boys from sexual assault constituted a 

           serious management failure where it occurred. 



8.464      According to the Christian Brothers, a number of Brothers who taught in the School remembered 

           occasions when sexual  activity between the boys  was discovered. The phenomenon  of sexual 

           activity  of  one  kind  or  another  amongst  pupils  in  industrial  schools  was  a  feature  of  life  in 

           Letterfrack. The documentary material disclosed a number of instances of sexual activity in the 

           1930s and 1940s. 



8.465      In 1940, the Visitation Report referred to the fact that a number of boys were punished for improper 

           conduct.  This  appears  to  have  been  discovered  during  the  course  of  the  investigation  into  Br 

           Perryn. In 1941, the Visitation Report refers to the fact that: 



                  Unfortunately for years there has been much immorality among the boys. Onanism and 

                  Sodomy     have    been   frequent,    and   these   practices    take   place   wherever    the   boys 

                  congregate, in the play field, lavatories, schools, kitchen and in the grounds. Formerly, 

                 the  boys  were  allowed  to  go  out  by  themselves  and  then  the  practices  were  frequent. 

                  Boys wandered away among the fields and roads and immoral practices were carried on. 



8.466      The Visitor stressed the importance of tight supervision as the only means of curtailing this activity. 

           He noted that: 



                 A  monitor  is  in  charge  though  one  of  the  monitors  was  recently  carrying  on  immoral 

                  conduct with some of these juniors in the dormitory. 



8.467      He noted that the Superior had arranged that a Brother should take charge of the boys at all times. 



8.468      The issue arose again in 1945, in correspondence between Br Aubin and the Provincial, in which 

           Br Aubin criticised the Disciplinarian, Br Maslin, in being overly severe in his punishment of the 

           boys. This case has been discussed above and was a clear indication that sexual activity between 

           boys was a persistent problem in Letterfrack at that time. 



8.469      One Brother told the Committee that, as Disciplinarian, he was aware of the problem of sexual 

           activity. He said that he was instructed to guard the moral welfare of the boys and to prevent such 

           behaviour. He understood that this was a danger to be guarded against in every boarding school. 

           He  came  across  a  number of  incidents  of  sex  while  in  Letterfrack.  One day,  he  saw  the  tailor 

           leave his shop, so he went in and discovered two boys engaging in sexual activity. 



8.470      He said that the Disciplinarian would be more aware of the sexual behaviour of the boys. The 

           Resident Manager might have been informed by the Disciplinarian, but this knowledge was not 

           often shared with the rest of the staff. The witness was philosophical in retrospect:  ‘It is the fairly 

           human failing boys, you could just expect that it would occur again and you just hoped it wouldn’t’. 



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8.471      Another Brother said that, while he never actually witnessed any sexual contact between the boys, 

           he  did  recall  hearing  Br  Anatole  giving  the  boys  a  lecture  about  the  Devil’s  work,  which  he 

           presumed was peer abuse. He said that he often saw beds pulled together when he came in to 

           wake the boys up but he never suspected anything untoward. He remembered Br Malleville telling 

           him to be careful of one boy who was coming from Artane because he was a homosexual. He 

           thinks in retrospect that he was telling him to make sure that boy wouldn’t be at the other boys. 

           He did recall an incident where a boy approached him and told him that two boys were engaging 

           in sexual activity. 



8.472      Br Sorel said that he was aware of the possibility of peer abuse. He recalled one incident where 

           one  boy  tried  to  anally  rape  another  boy.  That  boy  reported  the  matter  to  Br  Guillaume,  who 

           punished the offender in front of the other boys in the washroom. He feels that this beating ensured 

           that the message got through to the boys that they were not to engage in such activity. 



8.473      Br Karel stated that, although the Brothers were aware of the possibility of sexual activity between 

           boys occurring, he had not witnessed it: 



                 Interfering with each other. Never in my time there did I see or did any of us observe an 

                 instance of that. It seemed to me, in my opinion, that that just didn’t happen there. If it 

                 did, I wasn’t aware of it and nobody else ever mentioned it to me. 



8.474      One complainant said that another 14-year-old boy sexually abused him. He was a big boy and 

           he abused the witness on a regular basis for four years. The complainant said that he could do 

           nothing except cry and let it happen. He never complained. The abuse only stopped when the 

           other boy left the school. A number of other boys abused him as well, and he stated that he had 

           a number of relationships with other boys when he got older: 



                 I didn’t do what he did. I didn’t go around and attack and ambush kids or abuse them or 

                 rape them ... But what I am saying is I did have one or two – somebody I could talk or sit 

                 or read comics and we did have some sort of a – sort of a relationship ... I don’t know if 

                 I was 13, 14, 15, I don’t know. It is just, you know, there was one or two that you would 

                 play ball or games or roll around in the hay, you know, just things like that. 



8.475      Another witness said that Br Noreis would ask the boys to write down on a piece of paper the 

           names of any boys who were engaging in sexual activity: 



                 He would bring them and sit them down on their desks. Everyone got a sheet of paper 

                 and a pencil and we were told to write down if we knew of any boys who had been, shall 

                 we say, sexually active with any other boy. Well, I always wrote the same thing down, I 

                 don’t know what you mean. This always went on a Saturday night. You always missed 

                 out on the cinema, because that was the one day that we had a movie. After all these 

                 boys had done whatever writing they were doing the paper was collected and we were all 

                 sent  off  to  the  dormitories,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  night  you  could  hear  the  screaming 

                 where boys who had misbehaved were dragged down in their night clothes and flogged 

                 by Br Noreis. That went on quite often. 



8.476      •    Peer sexual abuse was an element of the bullying and intimidation that were prevalent 

                 in Letterfrack and the Brothers failed to recognise it as a persistent problem. 



           •    They punished boys for sexual activity without recognising that younger boys might 

                 have been victims of abuse. Because they knew they faced punishment these victims 

                 did not report. 



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           Neglect 



8.477      As in other industrial schools, the Christian Brothers contend that there was no physical neglect 

           of children in their care in Letterfrack. They concede that the emotional needs of children were 

           not properly provided for but they put this down to ignorance rather than deliberate policy. 



8.478      In  the  Introduction  to  their  Opening  Statement  delivered  on  16th  June  2005  the  Congregation 



           stated that: 



                 A study of the financial support provided by the State will show that St. Joseph’s Industrial 

                 School, Letterfrack, was grossly under-funded by the State and that the Christian Brothers 

                 had to go to enormous lengths to provide adequately for the needs of the pupils. They 

                 ran a farm to provide the necessary food for the institution and sold what remained of the 

                 crops to provide for the material and scholastic requirements of the boys. 



                 The presentation will demonstrate that the boys were well provided for. Nourishing food, 

                 good clothing, and adequate shelter replaced the experience of many boys who would 

                 have come from conditions of abject poverty. 



                 ... The  Congregation     believes   that  the  allegations  of  neglect   are  exaggerated     and 

                 inaccurate and do not reflect the reality that pertained in Letterfrack over the years. 



8.479      The  number  of  children  in  Letterfrack  was  an  important  part  of  the  story  in  Letterfrack,  as  the 

           Congregation have time and again pointed to the low numbers and lack of financial support as 

           the reason why they could not do more for the boys. 



8.480      Until 1954,  the numbers in Letterfrack  were reasonably high.  From 1937 to 1955,  the average 

           number of boys in the Institution being paid for by the Department of Education was about 150. 

           In addition, there were Health Board and voluntary admissions. For example, in 1954, Letterfrack 

           received State grants for 147 boys, although there were 181 boys recorded in the School by the 

           Visitor for that year. Those additional boys were paid for by the Health Boards and by voluntary 

           contributions. 



8.481      The Congregation in its Opening Statement dealt with the entire period under review (1936–1974) 

           and went into detail in addressing the standard of physical care provided. 



8.482      With regard to food, the Congregation stated: 



                 It is quite normal for students to complain of the quality of food served in boarding schools. 

                 Letterfrack is no exception to this. However, it must be said that honest efforts were made 

                 over the decades to provide balanced fare in sufficient supply. 



                 The diet in Letterfrack was balanced and healthy. Some of the boys arriving in Letterfrack 

                 may not have been used to the regular meals that were served in St. Joseph’s, but for 

                 most the experience of regular meals could only have been of real benefit. In the course 

                 of the history of Letterfrack there were times when the dietary provision was not uniformly 

                 good  but  action  was  taken  in  the  wake  of  complaints  and  the  overall  judgement  of 

                 inspectors was that the food was satisfactory. 



                 The Christian Brothers during their annual Visitation carried out the most vigorous and 

                 substantial  inspection  of  the  dietary  requirements  in  Letterfrack.  Although  the  Visitor’s 

                 reports were usually favourable, some reports showed occasional dissatisfaction with the 

                 boy’s diet and the Visitors were quite forthright in demanding improvement. The quality of 

                 the dietary arrangements depended on the competence of the Brother in charge of the 

                 kitchen area. Some were less successful than others, and their shortcomings led to them 

                 being replaced by a Brother of proven competence. 



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8.483     On the issue of clothing, the Congregation submitted: 



                Generally, when the Visitors advert to the boys’ clothing, usually in the context of ‘smart 

                appearance’, their remarks are positive ... The only criticisms appear to concern the need 

                for a change of footwear for farm boy on wet days (1940) and boys going direct to class 

                from manual work without changing (1953) ... The inspectors’ reports on clothing point to 

                years when clothing was not good and when improvements were made ... The Tuarim 

                 Report (Jan 1966) was very impressed with the way the boys were dressed. 



8.484     They submitted that by the mid-1960s the boys were well supplied with clothes, boots and shoes, 

          and in the 1970s were fully equipped with modern clothing (walking out suits, overcoats, shirts, 

          and games and football gear). 



8.485      In  regard  to  accommodation,  the  Opening  Statement  described  the  layout  of  the  Institution  in 

           Letterfrack and this is dealt with in the introduction to this chapter. There were two dormitories 

          each capable of accommodating 80 or more beds. Each boy had his own bed, and bed linen was 

          changed regularly. There was a washroom located at the end of each dormitory where the boys 

          washed their face and hands. Showers were taken on Saturday morning in the shower room that 

          was located on the ground floor near the laundry area. The showers were hot initially and then, 

          according to the Congregation, cold water was introduced to close the pores and prevent the boys 

          getting  colds.  The  Congregation  submits  that  some  of  the  boys  may  not  have  understood  the 

           reason  for  alternating  hot  and  cold,  and  some  have  made  complaints  that  this  was  a  form  of 

          torture and this was not the case. After the showers, clean clothes were distributed. 



8.486     The main toilets were outside  the building on the northern side of the  playground. There were 

          only two indoor toilets, situated between the two dormitories. The Congregation stated that, after 

          continued complaints at the annual Visitation, this situation was greatly improved in 1961 with the 

           building of additional toilets through the work of the Brothers and the boys. 



8.487      In its Closing Submissions to the Investigation Committee the Congregation accepted that there 

          were  criticisms  in  a  number  of  Visitation  Reports  about  the  standard  of  the  buildings  and  the 

          quality of accommodation generally but, as the Investigation Committee had heard no complaints 

          about the general quality of the accommodation apart from some complaints about the showers, 

           it was submitted that accommodation was not a matter which seemed to have been of material 

          concern to complainants. They also noted that, in the early 1960s, significant improvements were 

           made to the buildings. 



8.488     They submitted that the Investigation Committee had no basis for a finding that boys were given 

          food of a poor quality or that it was of an insufficient quantity. 



8.489     The Investigation Committee has divided the investigation into the provision of care for the boys 

           in Letterfrack into two periods – pre and post 1954. 



8.490      Letterfrack was not one of the biggest industrial schools but, even during the 1930s and 1940s, 

          the  numbers    rarely  fell below   150  boys   and,  until 1954,   the  number    under   detention  was 

           reasonably steady. However, it was smaller than many other institutions and this had implications 

          for the level of funding available. Early Visitation Reports showed the constant struggle needed 

          to make ends meet. Until the mid-1940s, the School incurred losses in each year of its operation. 

           From   1943,   things  improved   and,   for the  next  10   years,  the  School   managed     reasonably 

          successfully. 



8.491      From 1943 the Visitation Reports show that separate accounts were kept for the House and the 

          School. The House accounts that dealt with the monastery and Brothers’ expenses showed that 



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           every  Brother  in  Letterfrack  received  a  salary  from  the  industrial  school  income  (ie  mainly  the 

           capitation grants). For example, in 1943 when there were 10 Brothers resident in the monastery, 

           £1,000 was paid by way of stipend in respect of Brothers’ services. The Brothers did not of course 

           have to pay for accommodation or food out of their salary. The House made contributions to the 

           Christian Brothers’ Building Fund during the 1940s – £500 in 1946, and £1,200 in 1948. 



8.492      The financial position up to 1953 was summed up by a Visitor in 1953: 



                 Financially you are solvent but it is evident that there is not a whole lot of money to spare 

                 when one considers the need there is for expenditure. 



8.493      It was not quite as bleak as that, however. In 1954/1955, there was a credit balance of £3,573 

           and,  with  the  increased  funding  that  had  been  made  available  since  1952,  the  outlook  for  the 

           Institution was not too bad. 



           Food, clothing and accommodation pre-1954 



8.494      It is noteworthy that the most critical comments about food come from the Visitor and not from 

           the Department Inspector. The Visitor often cited complaints made to him, as opposed to relying 

           on what he witnessed being served. The Inspector could only judge on what she herself witnessed, 

           as the Brothers would not have complained to her and the boys were not given an opportunity to 

           do so. The one area of the Institution that one would expect to see improved for the purposes of 

           an inspection was the food served on the day, and therefore a more complete picture can often 

           be  gleaned  from  the  Congregation’s  own  Visitor.  Serious  concerns  were  expressed  by  these 

           Visitors over the quantity and quality of food provided to the boys. 



8.495      In 1939 the Congregation Visitor noted that the boys looked frail, under-nourished and pale. The 

           Visitor commented on this fact to the Manager, but was told that the Department Inspector had 

           examined the dietary scale and expressed herself satisfied with it. Later in the same year, the 

           Disciplinarian, Br Leveret, wrote to the Provincial complaining, inter alia, about the fact that the 

           boys were not getting enough bread, butter or milk. At this time, farm produce and tea, sugar, 

           bacon, meal and wheat were being sold locally, and milk was being supplied to local people. 



8.496      In 1940, the Provincial received a written complaint from a Christian Brother in Cabra to the effect 

           that one of  the boys there, a former resident  of Letterfrack, had told him  that there was never 

           enough  to  eat  in  Letterfrack  and  that  he  used  to  be  so  hungry  that  he  had  resorted  to  eating 

           turnips and vegetables from the field. 



8.497      Later in the year, the farm Brother complained that the boys of the School were the ‘worst catered 

           for of any of the five institutions’. 



8.498      In 1941, the Visitor reported that many of the staff complained about the manner in which the food 

           was served. They complained that the cabbage was cold, minced meat was served all the time, 

           and the tea was served cold in unwashed cups. The Visitor accepted that this was all true but 

           reported that the quantities served were reasonable. He further noted that the boys would not eat 

           the cabbage because the kitchen Brother used the water trough, which was used for washing the 

           cabbage, as a urinal. The Brother in question, Br Perryn, was a Domestic Brother and had been 

           working in the kitchen in Letterfrack since the late 1920s. The Visitor described him as dirty, untidy 

           and almost repulsive. The kitchen Brother was dismissed as a result of the discovery that he had 

           been sexually abusing boys for many years. 



8.499      The Visitor noted that there were 17 milch cows yielding only 14 gallons of milk per day. The boys 

           got around seven gallons, the monastery around three, and three were sold to the village. In 1941, 

           there  were  160  boys  in  Letterfrack  and  nine  Brothers,  and  yet  the  boys  got  barely  more  than 



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           double the allocation of milk for the Brothers, less than a third of a pint per day. Up to 50 of the 

           boys were under nine years of age. 



8.500      The Department Inspector does not seem to have engaged on the issue of food at all. She made 

           no reference to the quantity of milk served, although this was an issue she raised in other schools. 

           In 1943, she described the food as ‘an ample, well balanced and varied diet’. 



8.501      In 1945 the Visitor remarked that the 10 Brothers in the monastery were catered for by two female 

           cooks, whilst the boys, who numbered upwards of 165, were catered for by ‘an old man in the 

           place of Br Lafayette who should be in the kitchen’ – Br Lafayette was ill for most of that year. 



8.502      Practically all of the clothing worn by the boys was made in the tailor and knitting shops. In the 

           1940s and 1950s, the Department Inspector made frequent complaints about the quality of the 

           boys’ clothing. 



8.503      From 1943 until 1947, the clothing of the boys was described as fairly good but very patched and 

           torn. She was told that boots were difficult to obtain and the boys wore wooden clogs attached to 

           leather uppers. In 1948 the Inspector noted that the quality of the clothing was ‘fairly good’ but 

           that it required a lot of improvement and that the Manager had promised to provide new coats. 

           She did not inspect the School again until 1951. Any improvement in the clothing was not evident, 

           as she again commented ‘a lot of the clothing is patched – I asked the Manager to provide new 

           material for clothes’. Later that year, she found the ‘clothing had improved on the whole’. Clothing 

           was described by the Inspector as ‘fairly good’ in the early 1950s, with no other comments. 



8.504      One former resident in Letterfrack in the late 1940s complained that he did not have proper work 

           clothes when he worked on the farm. He was dressed in short pants in freezing weather, working 

           in a bog with no shelter. After his day’s work, there was no possibility of a change of clothes and 

           he had to stay in wet, dirty clothes until the following Friday evening. 



8.505      The  dampness in  the building  was regularly  commented on  by the  Visitors in  the early  1940s. 

           Neither the School nor the dormitories were centrally heated and, as a result, dampness was a 

           major  problem  for  the  Institution.  There  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  turf  and  this  provided  a  heat 

           source,  albeit  an  inadequate  one,  in  the  monastery.  However,  there  was  not  even  this  basic 

           heating facility in the large, institutional dormitories or recreation areas. 



8.506      A major problem that continued for over 20 years was the inadequate sanitary facilities for the 

           boys. In a Visitation Report of 1942 the Visitor noted that: 



                 The lavatory accommodation in the dormitories is very inadequate. There are only two 

                 lavatories  for  the  three  dormitories.  No  provision  is  made  for  the  Brothers  or  the  two 

                 foremen who have also rooms off the dormitories. There are at present 170 boys in the 

                 Institution. 



8.507      In 1948 the Visitor pointed out that the monastery had only two lavatories situated in the upper 

           storey, with no provision for the kitchen and lay staff. The situation was worse in the School: 



                 Far more inadequate is the poor provision made for the boys of the institution. There are 

                 only two lavatories in the upper storey for the 153 boys and the three brothers and three 

                 laymen who sleep there at night. This is the only accommodation afforded in the whole 

                 institution  apart  from  those  situated  in  the  schoolyard.  This  matter  required  immediate 

                 rectification. With slight modification which I discussed with the Br Superior, six or even 

                 eight apartments might be supplied in the positions occupied by the present two. 



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8.508      In 1950 the Visitor again commented on the need for more than two lavatories for 180 boys and 

           four workmen  in the dormitories.  He was  told that the  Superior had bought  the fittings  for four 

           more and they were soon to be erected. 



8.509      Whatever happened to the four fittings bought in 1950 remains a mystery because, in 1953, once 

           again   the  Visitor remarked     that  the  night  toilet accommodation       for the  boys   was    entirely 

           inadequate.  ‘Two  W.C’s  for  the  whole  institution.  It  would  not  be  very  difficult  or  expensive  to 

           increase this to at least half a dozen and the Superior intends to do so in the near future’. 



8.510      The Superior was written to in 1953 and told to get quotes for new toilets for the boys. It was 

           1961 before the new toilets were put into the Institution, almost 20 years after the Visitor described 

           the sanitary accommodation as very inadequate. 



8.511      The absence of adequate fire precautions and the slow response to criticism in the Visitor’s report 

           about the fire escape was another problem. 



8.512      In 1943, 35 children and one adult died in a fire in St Joseph’s Industrial School, Cavan and, as 

           a  result,  fire  prevention  became  a  high  priority  for  the  Department.  Between  1943  and  1952, 

           however,  the  Inspector  consistently  described  the  School  fire  precautions  as  follows:  ‘Fire  drill 

           practised regularly, adequate indoor fire exits, night watchman always on duty’. She was clearly 

           incorrect in her assessment. 



8.513      In 1948 the Visitor noted: 



                 The fire-escape that leads from the children’s dormitory is in my opinion both unsuitable 

                 and dangerous. It is a wooden structure put there by some handy-man. It leads straight 

                 down from a considerable height and at such a steep angle that should the emergency 

                 occur and should there be a rush of children I believe that those who escaped the fire 

                 would  most  probably  be  dashed  to  death  on  the  stairs,  that  is  if  the  stairs  were  not 

                 previously on fire. 



8.514      Three years later, in 1951, the fire escape in the building again came in for serious criticism and 

           was described as unfit for use and, even if repaired, would be dangerous in an emergency. In 

           1952 the Department Inspector added one extra piece of information to her usual comments, to 

           the effect that another fire exit has been added to the boys’ dormitory. 



8.515      The funding provided by the State from 1936 to 1954 was sufficient to provide a reasonable level 

           of physical care for the boys. The inadequacies in the care provided were more a matter of bad 

           management than funding. 



           Food, clothing and accommodation post-1954 



8.516      Until 1954, Letterfrack was home to three categories of boys: those who were committed through 

           the courts because they were homeless, without proper guardianship, destitute, in breach of the 

           School Attendance Act or guilty of criminal offences; those sent by the local authorities pursuant to 

           the Public Assistance Act, 1949; and boys who were voluntarily admitted by parents or guardians. 



8.517      On  12th  January  1954  the  Provincial  Council,  led  by  Br  O’Hanlon,  met  with  the  six  Resident 



           Managers of the Christian Brothers’ schools. A decision was taken to close one of their schools 

           because of the deteriorating financial position of the industrial schools generally, partly attributed 

           to falling numbers, which had resulted in a decline in income. Carriglea was nominated for closure. 

           A unanimous decision was also taken to segregate juvenile delinquents from other categories of 

           boys, and it was felt that the closure of Carriglea would provide an ideal opportunity to put this 

           plan into effect. 



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8.518       In  his  letter  to  the  Superior  General,  seeking  the  approval  of  the  Superior  Council  for  these 

           proposals, Br O’Hanlon pointed out that ‘the Government does not seem to have any power to 

           prevent us from giving effect to both proposals’. The General Council approved of the plans, and 

            Letterfrack was nominated as the school which in future would house only juvenile offenders. The 

            Department of Education was informed of these decisions by way of letter from Br O’Hanlon on 



              th 

            19   March 1954: 



                  The financial position of the Industrial Schools conducted by the Christian Brothers has 

                  been deteriorating over a number of years. One of the reasons for this deterioration is the 

                  continuous decline in number of boys being sent to these schools with consequent decline 

                  in income. 



                  I have examined  the whole position of these schools  with my Council and with  the six 

                  Resident Managers, and I have decided that one of the six schools we control should be 

                  closed  as  an  Industrial  School.  Carriglea  Park  School  is  the  school  which  has  been 

                  chosen for closing ... 



                  I wish, at the same time, to inform you that we have decided to introduce henceforth into 

                  our Industrial Schools a certain measure of segregation. We have decided to inform the 

                  Resident Managers of Artane, Glin, Tralee and Salthill (Galway) Industrial Schools that 

                  they are to take no more boys of the category, “charged with an offence punishable in the 

                  case of an adult with penal servitude”, but to refer the authorities to the Resident Manager 

                  of  Letterfrack   Industrial   School    in  such   cases.    Likewise,    the  Resident     Manager     of 

                  Letterfrack will be directed to take boys of this category only, and to refer the authorities 

                  to the other four Resident Managers in the case of boys of other categories. 



8.519      A  meeting  was  convened  by  the  senior  officials  in  the  Department  on  13th           April  1954  with  Br 



           O’Hanlon  and  District  Justice  McCarthy,  who  presided  over  the  Children’s  Court  in  Dublin,  to 

           discuss the intended closure of Carriglea and the intention of the Christian Brothers to decline in 

           future to receive boys who were committed for offences liable to penal servitude (if committed by 

           an adult) in any institution other than Letterfrack. 



8.520      The Department and the District Justice objected strongly to the plan for Letterfrack, as it would 

           essentially turn it into a reformatory. They argued it was too far from Dublin, where most of the 

           boys came from, and their families, who were often a good influence on them, would find it very 

           difficult and expensive to visit them. 



8.521       Br O’Hanlon held the view that it was unfair on boys who had committed no offence to be put in 

           with boys who had, and the Christian Brothers’ experience was that one bad apple could ruin 10 

           good, and that the reverse happened less frequently. He said, by way of compromise with the 

            Department, that they would be prepared to exempt, from classification as offenders, boys guilty 

           of mitching or begging, neglected boys, and boys who were found uncontrollable. 



8.522       Br O’Hanlon told the District Justice that it was open to him to send ‘offenders’ to either Letterfrack, 

           Greenmount or Upton, since the last two were not under the Christian Brothers, and the Judge 

           declared himself satisfied once he had this choice of three schools. 



8.523      The Department felt that the only real objection to the proposal was the distance of Letterfrack, 

           Greenmount and Upton from Dublin, and the meeting concluded with a decision to take all possible 

           steps to have non-delinquent children removed from Letterfrack before the majority in the school 

           were delinquents. 



           364                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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8.524      In  April  1954  the  Department  sent  District  Justice  McCarthy  a  breakdown  of  the  committals  to 

           Letterfrack: 



                 According  to  the  figures  in  this  office  the  total  number  of  boys  in  the  school  is  171  of 

                 whom     149   are  cases    committed     by  the  Courts    the  remaining    22   being   18  Public 

                 Assistance cases and 4 voluntaries. Of the 149 committed cases 71 were committed on 

                 the grounds of destitution, 48 parent or guardian not exercising proper guardianship; 5 

                 under the school attendance act; 10 for being uncontrollable; 13 larceny cases and 2 for 

                 receiving alms. 



8.525      Only  13  children  were  in  Letterfrack  under  the  category  of  an  offence  punishable  by  penal 

           servitude if committed by an adult. 



8.526      A second meeting was convened by the Department on 14th                  May 1954 with senior Department 



           officials, Br O’Hanlon and District Justice McCarthy. The meeting was convened because Judge 

           McCarthy had intimated that he would not be prepared to send to Letterfrack the type of boy for 

           whom  the School  was  to  be reserved  until  the non-offenders  had  been  transferred. Again,  the 

           Judge pointed out that he was unhappy about the isolated location of Letterfrack, and felt it was 

           unsuitable for the rehabilitation of boys from Dublin city. Br O’Hanlon informed him that this had 

           been fully considered but the Congregation had decided on Letterfrack. 



8.527      District Justice Gleeson, based in Limerick, also communicated his concerns to the Minister for 

           Justice in a letter from his court clerk dated 30th      July 1954. It stated: 



                  ... this arrangement will cause very serious difficulties in administering the Children’s Court 

                 in Limerick. Hitherto all cases in which committals were made in offence cases were dealt 

                 with by committing the boys concerned to Glin, which is near Limerick or Tralee, which is 

                 also   convenient.    It was   possible   also   for the   parents   of  the  children   to  visit them 

                 conveniently     in these   schools,    and   for the   Gardai   to  take   them   there   quickly  and 

                 inexpensively. Moreover, the boys in most cases were allowed home to their parents for 

                 summer      holidays.   With   Letterfrack    over   100   miles   away    from   Limerick    all these 

                 advantages will cease and serious difficulties will be encountered. 



8.528      The  Minister  for  Justice  requested  the  Minister  for  Education  to  make  representations  to  the 

           Christian Brothers in line with the Judge’s concerns. The Secretary of the Department of Education 

           responded, stating that strong representations had been made to the Provincial Council, but to no 

           avail. The matter was clearly out of the Government’s hands. 



8.529      The  Department  of  Education  wrote  to  the  relevant  authorities,  including  the  Departments  of 

           Health and Justice, District Justice McCarthy and the NSPCC, informing them of the decision in 

           the following terms: 



                 As you are aware it has been decided by the Provincial of the Irish Christian Brothers that 

                 the Industrial School at Letterfrack is to be reserved in future for the boys brought before 

                 the Court and found guilty of an offence which in the case of an adult, would be punishable 

                 by penal servitude and also for boys against whom there is a police record of such an 

                 offence  even  though  they  have  not  been  charged  with  it,  but  with  some  other  offence 

                 such as irregular school attendance, begging, etc. 



8.530      They  were  informed  that  boys  who  fell  into  these  categories  would  no  longer  be  accepted  in 

           Artane, Salthill, Tralee or Glin. 



8.531      District Justice McCarthy, in a memorandum dated 8th            October 1954, recommended a number of 



           changes  to  the  Children  Acts,  1908–1949.  Amongst  his  recommendations  was  that,  in  cases 

           where a child had not been granted leave of absence during a 12-month period from an industrial 



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----------------------- Page 396-----------------------

          or  reformatory  school,  financial  provision  should  be  made  to  the  child’s  parent  or  guardian  to 

          enable them to visit the child at least once a year. 



8.532      He referred to the decision of the Christian Brothers to limit committals to Letterfrack to a particular 

          category and noted that: 



                this means that the Dublin School [Artane] is now closed to the large number of city boys 

                who come before the Courts for these offences, or in certain circumstances for bad school 

                attendances, begging, etc and they will have to be sent to Letterfrack, to Clonmel Upton, 

                or  Greenmount.  Week  after  week  parents  are  calling  to  the  Children’s  Court  at  Dublin 

                Castle seeking financial assistance to enable them to visit their children in country districts, 

                children whom they have not seen for very considerable periods because they are unable 

                to pay the necessary fares. 



8.533     At the meeting in the Department on 14th        May 1954, the number of boy ‘offenders’ to be left in 



           Letterfrack was also discussed, and Br O’Hanlon said that 85 was the lowest number stated by 

          the School Resident Manager to be required to run the School on anything like an economic basis. 

           It was agreed at the meeting to transfer to Salthill and to Artane and other schools all the Public 

          Assistance  cases  in  the  School,  together  with  as  many  of  the  other  boys  as  would  leave  the 

           number of non-transferred boys at 85 and this was to be done by the end of June. 



8.534     On 30th   June 1954, 179 boys were resident in Letterfrack. Between June and September 1954, 



          94 boys were transferred to other industrial schools or were released on supervision certificate. 



8.535     On  30th  September  1954  the  Department  of  Education  records  showed  there  were  87  boys 



           resident in Letterfrack. The vast majority of these boys who remained in Letterfrack were there 

          through no fault of their own, but they found themselves in what was effectively a junior reformatory 

          from 1954 onwards. This situation continued until the Kennedy Committee (1970) stated at Section 

          6.12 of its Report: 



                 No junior reformatory exists for the detention of youthful offenders under twelve these, on 

                conviction, being normally sent to Industrial Schools. As the bulk of boys in this age group 

                are however, sent to the Industrial School at Letterfrack, Co. Galway, it was decided to 

                treat this institution as a junior reformatory. 



8.536     At Section 6.15 the Report went on to state that the young offenders who were sent to Letterfrack 

          were not segregated from the non-offenders. 



8.537     Some 15 years after the policy had been enunciated by the Provincial, the position in Letterfrack 

          was still unresolved. The Kennedy Report noted that in 1969/1970, 64 of the boys in Letterfrack 

           had been  convicted of indictable offences,  15 for non-attendance  at school, and 13  were non- 

          offenders. Of those 64, most were incarcerated for offences that would not in fact have incurred 

           imprisonment if committed by an adult, for example trespassing or theft of very small items. 



8.538     The   policy  adopted   by  the  Congregation     was  to  seriously  prejudice   the boys   who   were   in 

           Letterfrack through neglect or poverty. They were now in a minority in the Institution, but were 

           retained there to provide economic ballast to a system that was incapable of delivering even a 

           basic level of care. 



8.539     The  fate of  these boys  in Letterfrack  was one  of the  most shameful  episodes in  the  history of 

           industrial schools. Their individual needs were completely disregarded by the Congregation and 

          the Department of Education. The perceived problem of having offenders and non-offenders in 

          the  same  institution  was  never  remedied  and  was  actually  programmed  to  continue  for  the 

          foreseeable future. 



          366                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 397-----------------------

8.540      The one positive outcome of the 1954 decision was the removal from Letterfrack of the very young 

           boys who were there. The fate of these children had been a matter of concern to Visitors over the 

           years. Infants under six years of age were taken into Letterfrack: there were 20 in 1941, 18 in 

           1943, and 12 in 1949. The infirmary nurse did not look after these boys, who were under the care 

           of a Brother. The Visitor remarked in 1949 that, unless the nurse undertook the care of such small 

           children, the Institution should not accept them in the future. 



8.541      In his report  on Letterfrack for the Congregation, Mr  Bernard Dunleavy was very critical  of the 

           practice of taking very young children into the School. He quoted a Christian Brothers’ document: 



                  The official capacity of the school was 172 pupils. Children who were committed to the 

                  school  were  age  6  to 16  years.  That  continued  to  be  the  case until  1950  when  it  was 

                  perceived by the Christian Brothers that falling numbers in those being admitted to the 

                  school would eventually  lead to a diminution in the  total numbers at the school.  In the 

                  light of this the Brother Superior, Br Nicolas,56  decided to accept a group of children below 



                  the minimum age level, the youngest being a mere 4 and a half years old. 



8.542      Mr Dunleavy went on to say: 



                  These children were accepted from a County Home, though there is no record of which 

                  Home they were accepted from. It is clear that not only was the admission of pupils to 

                  Letterfrack not properly monitored, but also that in an effort to maintain the numbers at 

                  the school the Christian Brothers were prepared to accept pupils who were far too young 

                  to be properly cared for by an institution such as Letterfrack. 



8.543      This matter was again raised in 1951, when the Visitor noted: 



                  Some of the children are extremely young when admitted to the institution and Br Sorel 

                  has frequently to perform duties which properly speaking should be done by the Matron 

                  ... I was given to understand that the Matron was unwilling to look after the very young 

                  children. 



8.544      Br Sorel who had charge of these infants spoke to the Committee of the strain he was under in 

           caring for them, which he described as ‘over-challenging and over-frustrating’. He said that ‘There 

           was many a night I went into bed and cried my heart out inside in bed for various reasons’. 



8.545      He went on to explain: 



                  In the training college I was trained to teach. When I went to Letterfrack I found out that I 

                  had to perform the function of a father, mother, nurse and teacher. I found it impossible. 



8.546      Br  Sorel said  that,  when he  told  the  Manager about  the  difficulty he  was  having, the  Manager 

           said:  ‘we can’t do anything about it, do the best you can. That’s what I was told, “just do the best 

           you can.” That was as much sympathy as I got’. 



8.547      The smaller boys were occupied repairing mattresses or darning and, according to Br Sorel, they 

           were  ‘happy doing anything’. 



8.548      The biggest problem faced was bed-wetting and soiling: 



                  That was one of the worst and soiling the bed. This is the thing that used to break my 

                  heart in the morning when I came down to the dormitory ... you would find three or four 

                  of the lads would not alone wet the bed but soil the bed. I was really tearing my hair out 

                  at that stage ... It was a problem every morning and I used to detest it. I felt like running 



           56 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 398-----------------------

                  away myself several times, having to face it coming down in the morning. It was terrible, 

                  the stench and the smell. 



8.549      Br  Sorel  received  no  training  or  guidance  for  the  task  allotted  to  him  in  Letterfrack.  It  was  not 

           possible for one young, untrained Brother to care for over 20 very small boys and a further 30 or 

           so boys aged between six and 10 years. The despair and frustration experienced by Br Sorel is 

           indicative of the systemic failure of Letterfrack to deliver even a rudimentary level of care to the 

           small children placed there. 



8.550      In 1955 the matter was resolved: 



                  There are now  no boys in the establishment under  seven years of age. Until  last year 

                  there were boys of four and three, and there was one of two years six months! The nurse 

                  refused  to  take  over  their  management  and  she  was  within  her  rights  in  refusing.  The 

                  departure of the infants to junior orphanages is a great relief to the Brothers and to the 

                  infants. 



8.551      In a series of interviews conducted by the Christian Brothers in 2001 with Brothers who had served 

           in a number of industrial schools, Br Ruffe57  who served as Resident Manager in Letterfrack from 



           1953 to 1959 described much more starkly the impact the decision to introduce ‘segregation’ had 

           on Letterfrack. 



8.552      He  described  the  reasoning  behind  the  decision  by  the  new  Provincial  to  segregate  different 

           categories of boys. He confirmed that the Department of Education and the Justices were not in 

           favour,  but  the  Provincial  eventually  prevailed  upon  them  that  this  was  to  be  the  future  of  the 

           industrial schools: 



                  So the Provincial sent me word that in due course I should send off any boys in the school 

                  who were not guilty of indictable offences and I should receive only into the school those 

                  boys who were indicted. So, on the 4th        September, 1954 (‘twas I think) I sent off 99 boys 



                  from Letterfrack out of the 184. We were left with 85. Now, that immediately left us in a 

                  crippling position because the finances in ordinary circumstances were miserably small 

                  and we had at least 12 employees. We had a carpenter, a shoemaker, a tailor, a baker, 

                  a knitter. We had a laundress. We had three at least, if not four men working on the farm 

                  and all of these had to be paid a weekly wage. Now, where it was to come from was your 

                  guess  as  well  as  mine,  but  I  had  to  face  it.  I  was  promised  that  the  end  of  the  year, 

                  Christmas, that I’d get a subvention from the other schools to help out of the difficulty. 

                  When  I  applied  for  a  subvention  at  Christmas,  I was  told  it  was  impossible,  there  was 

                  nothing doing. So you can see the position was worrying. It was either close all the shops, 

                  dismiss all the employees, but what were we going to do. The boys had no occupation, 

                  boys that had no trade, nothing to recommend them when they left the schools. Nothing 

                  to help them for a future life when they left school, nothing. So we had to make some 

                  attempt to struggle on. 



8.553      He went on to describe how a predecessor of his had come up with a ‘brainwave’ to get extra 

           cash for the School, by chartering a ship and getting a cargo of coal delivered to a small bay near 

           the School, and he sold some of this to the locals and used the rest to run the furnaces. Later, 

           the furnaces were converted to oil but Br Ruffe had to re-convert them back to coal ‘... and that 

           gave us some form of subsistence. That was the only way we got a little alleviation’. He said the 

           money from the Department was miserably low and it was not possible to keep a living, pay 12 

           employees, feed, clothe and educate the boys, and provide a trade for them, including purchasing 

           materials and maintaining machinery. 



           57 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 399-----------------------

8.554      Br Ruffe did not get the promised help from the Congregation to support the school after the 1954 

           decision. The Congregation had sufficient funds to meet the needs of the boys in Letterfrack but 

           it did not make them available. 



8.555      As outlined in the general chapter on the Christian Brothers, the Christian Brothers’ Building Fund 

           accounts for 1954 showed a £300,000 credit balance for the year ending 31st                      December 1954. 



           There  was  a  balance  of  £30,000  from  Artane  and  £16,000  from  Carriglea,  as  well  as  smaller 

           amounts from other industrial schools. According to the Congregation, this represented ‘excess 

           funds’ from these Communities. 



8.556      When Br Paget O’Hanlon met the Department he had told the Department that 85 boys was the 

           minimum needed to run Letterfrack. Clearly, this was not the situation and it appears unlikely that 

           the Resident Manager would have told him this. 



8.557      In  his  interview,  Br  Ruffe  described  the  financial  difficulties  he  faced  in  Letterfrack  and  the 

           difficulties caused by the Provincial’s decision. The farm rarely made a profit, and everything it 

           produced was put back into the school. Similarly, the shops produced little or no income. They 

           generated their own electricity until the ESB58         came along, and the cost of switching to the ESB 



           was covered by selling the rights back to the ESB. 



8.558      The drop in numbers from 184 to 85 was a big financial loss to the school. After the changeover, 

           there was a small trickle of boys, very small in the beginning. Justice McCarthy in Dublin stopped 

           sending them altogether and these were the boys that Br Ruffe was relying on getting and they 

           were  not  being  sent.  Other  Christian  Brothers’  industrial  schools  which  were  also  in  financial 

           difficulties, although in his view not as difficult as Letterfrack, were taking in boys that they were 

           not supposed to be taking under the new regime, so he arranged to meet Justice McCarthy. They 

           had a robust discussion in which Justice McCarthy flatly told him he would not send boys so far 

           away from their parents. Br Ruffe explained to the Justice that he thought it could be good for 

           boys to be removed from sources of temptation that landed them in industrial schools in the first 

           place. He felt that Letterfrack had a lot to offer despite its distance, lots of fresh air and country life, 

           giving them an opportunity to re-orientate themselves by means of work, school and education. He 

           pointed out that he himself during his training as a Christian Brother was only allowed one visit 

           per year from his family. He also promised to facilitate parents as much as possible by putting 

           them up overnight or taking the boys into Galway to meet their families when they travelled. He 

           said that the Justice took his views on board and began to send boys to Letterfrack. Unfortunately, 

           Justice  McCarthy  did  not  live  for  too  long  after  this  and  he  had  the  same  problems  with  his 

           successor. This required another visit to explain the position to him and, following on Justice Ryan 

           visiting Letterfrack to see for himself, he also began to send boys there. 



8.559      The average number of boys between 1955 and 1969 was 107 and this was not an economically 

           viable number. This number dropped even more dramatically between 1970 and 1973, and there 

           were only 4159     boys in Letterfrack shortly before it closed with Br Karel stating that the number 



           had dropped to 11 by the time he left in 1974. 



8.560      The  impact  of  the  1954  decision,  taken  by  the  Congregation  in  the  face  of  opposition  from  all 

           other quarters, was felt throughout the subsequent life of the Institution. 



8.561      In 1954, the Inspector reported that the food was fairly good but was to be improved. She noted 

           that the boys only received bread and tea at lunch. She reported that she had told that Manager 

           to rectify this and to get some modern equipment. 



           58  Electricity Supply Board. 

           59  See table at paragraph 8.21. 



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8.562      In 1955, the Congregational Visitor reported that the boys’ diet had improved considerably. The 

           Department Inspector made a number of suggestions regarding the diet to the Resident Manager 

           and noted the food had improved. 



8.563      By 1956 the effect of the change in finances in the Institution began to become more clear in the 

           reports  from  Dr  McCabe,  the  Department  of  Education  Inspector,  when  she  noted  that  ‘my 

           suggestions have been brought into operation but still the “old system” is used for cooking – no 

           other facilities’. She made the following general observation: 



                 Well conducted school on the whole – Of course, there are many improvements I would 

                 like to see – better clothes, better living conditions – better cooking facilities – but as usual 

                 when I mention these things I am always told – “we have no money” “it can’t be done” 

                 “get into debt” – so while I realise that expense comes into the argument so long as the 

                 boys are reasonably well clothed and fed there is very little else I can do. 



8.564      The Resident Manager blamed the lack of funds for the poor conditions in Letterfrack and she 

           was in no position to disagree with him. The fact that the financial crisis was caused by the actions 

           of the Congregation itself does not appear to have been appreciated by the Inspector. 



8.565      Dr McCabe reported that the food was slightly improved in 1957 although ‘much remains to be 

           done – old archaic system still in use for cooking – very poor facilities, no modern equipment’. 

           Again she made a general observation: 



                 Well conducted school on the whole – I would really like to see a number of improvements 

                 here   –   clothing,  living  conditions    and   cooking    arrangements.      I have    often  made 

                 suggestions but each time I feel up against a stone wall as always I am told – increase 

                 the grant – give more money and of course I realise their difficulties – but all the same I 

                 will have to insist on better conditions for the boys. Br Ruffe the Resident Manager is very 

                 argumentative and difficult to persuade. 



8.566      In 1957 and 1958 the Congregation Visitor reported that the boys’ food had improved since Br 

           Delmont,60   who was interested in his work and did his best to provide good meals to the boys, 



           had taken over the kitchen. Dr McCabe was pleased to see in 1958 that an Aga and new steam 

           boiler had been installed in the kitchen. 



8.567      The situation in Letterfrack had reached an all-time low by 1959. Br Ruffe, the Resident Manager, 

           had  been  hospitalised  for  18  months  and,  to  use  his  own  description  in  2001,  ‘was  practically 

           an invalid’. 



8.568      Br Adrien had taken over the kitchen, and the Visitor in his Report of 1959 stated that the boys’ 

           diet needed to be looked into. He highlighted that they received bread and tea for dinner three 

           days a week, and that they got very little meat, ‘never getting anything in the nature of an Irish 

           stew’. He further stated that the cooking and serving of the boys’ food was not satisfactory. As 

           regards breakfast he stated the boys received an egg one day a week, with porridge served five 

           days  per  week.  However,  he  noted  that  the  quantity  served  was  insufficient,  with  each  boy 

           receiving only a saucer full. He highlighted that the Sunday food was ‘the worst of the week’. He 

           stated that the only redeeming feature was that twice a week the boys were served two sausages 

           each  in  the  evenings.  He  noted  that  Br  Adrien  was  wholly  unsuccessful  in  his  running  of  the 

           kitchen, and that Br Adrien placed the blame on the Superior whom Br Adrien said restricted his 

           budget. On enquiring into the matter, however, the Visitor discovered that Br Adrien was running 

           the kitchen in a most expensive manner, buying meals from shops as opposed to preparing them 

           in the kitchen. The Visitor concluded by noting that, in order for the boys to be happy at Letterfrack, 

           ‘the food must be improved’. 



           60 This is a pseudonym 



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8.569      In 1959, the Provincial wrote to the acting Manager and told him that he had visited the Resident 

           Manager who was convalescing, and complained to him about  the small quantities of porridge 

           which the boys were provided with, and the fact that the boys had three meatless days in a week. 

           Br  Ruffe  told  the  Provincial  that  he  believed  it  to  be  only  two  days  a  week  without  meat.  The 

           Provincial asked Br Malleville, who was Disciplinarian in Letterfrack, to inquire into this discreetly 

           and discover whether the boys had been having three dinners of bread and tea over a long period. 

           He also said that the issue of the meat was one that required an immediate remedy. This internal 

           inquiry found that the boys received meat every day, and the only days they would not have meat 

           was during Easter and fasting days. 



8.570      Br Malleville’s word appears to have been taken and no further enquiries were made about the 

           extremely serious situation described by the Visitor. 



8.571      The 1959 Visitation Report that criticised the boys’ food said of the Brothers’ diet: 



                 The Brothers food is very well cooked and neatly served. It is also ample. The Brothers 

                 were all very satisfied. 



8.572      In that same year a complaint was received from a parent about the quality of food and clothing 

           in  Letterfrack.  A  letter  was  sent  on  5th August  1959  from  a  TD  to  the  Minister  for  Education 



           describing  how  the  woman’s  son  was  one  of  five  boys  who  had  absconded  from  Letterfrack, 

           broken  into  two  other  schools  and  stolen  food  from  one  of  them.  The  boys  were  recaptured, 

           charged and sent to Daingean. The mother said the boys complained about the food they were 

           getting in Letterfrack. The Resident Manager was written to on 20th  August and he responded on 

           25th  August 1959: 



                 The food supplied to the boys in the school is always plentiful, fresh and wholesome; [The 

                 boy’s mother] visited the school on a number of occasions while her son was here and 

                 made no complaints ... Dr McCabe visits the school, unannounced, periodically and she 

                 always sees the boys at their meals and she has never made any complaint about the 

                 food served. The boys’ menu is:– 



                 Breakfast: Porridge or luncheon roll, tea, bread and butter or margarine Eggs one morning 

                 each week. 



                 Lunch: Tea, Bread and Jam 



                 Dinner: Fresh beef or mutton, potatoes vegetables (cabbage, turnip, parsnips, carrots,) 

                 soup and dessert (3 times weekly) 



                 Tea: Tea , bread and butter or margarine 



                 With regard to butter and margarine the boys have their choice. At tea also the boys have 

                 sausages (fresh) twice a week. 



8.573      Dr McCabe was in complete agreement with the Resident Manager that the food was ‘plentiful, 

           fresh  and wholesome’  and,  in a  handwritten  note  to the  Inspector,  she stated  that  she did  not 

           agree with the statement made by the mother about the food served. 



8.574      Also in 1959, an Englishman visited the School and noticed that the boys were playing football in 

           their  bare  feet.  This  gave  rise  to  a  critical article  in  a  Sunday newspaper,  which  identified 

           inadequate  funding  of  industrial  schools  as  an  issue  of  some  concern.  Representatives  of  the 

           Congregation met with Department officials who were anxious to refute the article. The Christian 

           Brothers sent a letter to the paper, explaining the lack of footwear as being due to an exceptionally 

           hot day and stating that ordinarily boys wore boots or sandals. 



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 8.575    The Congregation did not avail themselves of the public interest in the matter to confirm their own 

          view that industrial schools were inadequately funded but rather went to some trouble to support 

          the Department of Education’s contention that funding was adequate. 



 8.576    The Department received another complaint in August 1959. (Details of this complaint are dealt 

          with above in connection with food as the main complaint related to food.) The mother concerned 

           also  complained,  inter  alia,  about  the  clothing  supplied  to  the  boys.  The  Resident  Manager 

           responded to that portion of the complaint in the following terms: 



                 The  boys’  clothes  are  kept  clean  as  far  as  is  humanly  possible.  The  boys’  day  shirts, 

                 singlets  and  trunks  are  washed  weekly  and  inspected  in  the  dormitory  each  morning. 

                 Clothing for the year 1958 totalled £1,235 – 17 – 4, which gives an average of over £12 

                 per boy for the year. 



 8.577    Again, the Congregation defended the clothing provided instead of taking the opportunity to further 

           advance their case for increased funding. 



 8.578     In 1961, the Congregation Visitor noted that the boys’ food had improved markedly of late and 

          that it was now ‘well up to the standard of similar Institutions’. The Congregation Visitor noted that 

           a good variety was served and that the boys were better fed than in the past. He also noted in 

          the Visitation letter that there would be greater variety when the funding improved. 



 8.579     Later in the year the Department Inspector noted that the boys’ food had improved, stating that 

           better cooking facilities were now in place. She made a general observation that the boys were 

          well cared for, despite the adverse conditions. The Brothers were doing their best in very difficult 

           circumstances and in very primitive conditions. There were 111 boys in the Institution at this time. 



 8.580    Throughout  the  1960s,  the  report  about  food  continued  to  record  that  the  food  had  improved 

           in Letterfrack. 



 8.581    The Interdepartmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders visited 

           Letterfrack in December 1962. Rather surprisingly, the Working Party did not see a meal being 

           served but was prepared to accept the Resident Manager’s word that the food was good. 



 8.582    The Committee Secretary described the clothes and footwear provided as sufficient, although he 

           criticised the absence of overcoats for the boys, which he saw as a serious deficiency. However, 

          the  Committee  accepted  that  additional  income  would  be  necessary  if  adequate  clothing  and 

          footwear were to be provided. 



 8.583     Following the Committee’s visit the Resident Manager wrote to Mr McDevitt in the Department of 

           Education on 31st   December 1962, saying that a new oven had been purchased and that ‘I have 



           already purchased about 50 tweed and gabardine overcoats for the boys and I hope to have one 

          for each boy in the very near future’. 



 8.584     He went on to say: 



                 I hope we will soon get an increase in the Maintenance Grant it would help to pull down 

                 my overdraft, and if I had about 20 more pupils I should then be in a position to do more 

                for the boys. We get several applications for vacancies but very few are committed. 



 8.585    There were 128 boys in Letterfrack in 1962. 



 8.586     Department Inspectors continued to stress the need for improvements in the quality of clothing 

           provided well into the 1960s and conditions did improve slowly. 



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8.587      In  1966,  Dr  C.E.  Lysaght  carried  out  the  general  inspection.  He  stated  that  the  School  menu 

           provided a ‘well balanced diet and variety’. He noted that the dinners, which he witnessed during 

           his inspection, were ‘ample’, ‘satisfactory’ and that ‘little food was left behind’. 



8.588      In 1970, the Congregation Visitor reported that the boys now had modern clothing and sporting 

           gear. 



8.589      In the second Visitation carried out in 1970, Br Dax was singled out for further praise. The Visitor 

           noted that Br Dax who had taken over the kitchen had a different menu each day of the week and 

           that the meals served to the boys were ‘very ample and tastefully served’. 



8.590      The 1972 Visitation Report stated that the food was satisfactory and commended Br Dax for his 

           efficiency: ‘it would be impossible to equal his dedication and efficiency’. In the 1973 Visitation 

           Report the Visitor stated: 



                 Br Dax the Sub-Superior, lives an almost eremetical life since he supervises all the boys’ 

                 meals seven days a week and consequently must eat by himself. He is regular and his 

                 meals keep the boys contented. He does not cook but does the ordering and supervising. 

                 His only other duty is to supervise the boys’ showers. He maintains good discipline though 

                 his  methods    may   be   a  little crude  at times.   He  seems    ripe  for  a  total change    of 

                 environment  and  the  visitor    suggests  that  he  might  be  a    suitable  candidate  for  the 

                 international tertianship next August. 



8.591      A  number  of  former  residents  complained  about  the  clothing  they  received.  Some  of  these 

           complaints related to the absence of proper work clothes. Boys who worked part-time on the farm 

           (up to 40 at any time) had no work clothes. They wore their school clothes on the bog and in the 

           fields  in  all  weather  and,  no  matter  how  wet  or  mucky  they  got,  they  had  to  stay  in  the  same 

           clothes until the end of the week. 



8.592      One former resident said that he occasionally worked on the farm. Although he had Wellington 

           boots he did not have proper work clothes like the boys who worked there full time. He wore his 

           normal school clothes. 



8.593      Another resident present in the Institution in the late 1950s and early 1960s said that he received 

           so little food that he was reduced to eating swedes out of the fields. He contrasted the food the 

           boys received with that of the staff. He said that: 



                 I actually seen the table in the monastery one time and there was enough food on that 

                 table to feed the 120 lads that were in that school. We never got food, anything like that. 

                 There was so much sheep and cattle and vegetables that were in that school, we should 

                 have been all little barrels. 



8.594      One resident from the early 1960s said that the quality of the food was awful and that there was 

           never enough of it. Another resident from the late 1950s said that there was never a lot of it and 

           that boys would trade food they did not like. One resident in the late 1960s said that, of all the 

           institutions he was in, Upton, Daingean and Letterfrack, the food in Letterfrack was the worst. 



8.595      Another resident present in the late 1960s and early 1970s stated: 



                 The food wasn’t good food ... I remember kids breaking out in scabies and all sorts of 

                 stuff, weak and pale. It was very cheap food from Galway City, I don’t know where they 

                 got it from. The porridge, on many occasions it was very weak stuff and we used to pick 

                 little worms out with the spoons. The bread used to come in at the time, we used to be 

                 picking bits of green mould out of it and stuff, fighting for a small piece of margarine on 



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                the table to spread on it. It was just like animals, dog eat dog stuff, but I don’t remember 

                any healthy food. 



8.596      Br Dax was employed as the cook in Letterfrack from the late 1950s until it closed in 1974. In his 

          evidence to the Investigation Committee he stated that: 



                I would say quite honestly as far as I am concerned the food was reasonably good. 



8.597     •     The  1954  decision  of  the  Provincial,  taken  in  the  face  of  opposition  by  both  the 

                Department     of  Education     and   District  Justice    McCarthy,    was    ill-considered   and 

                detrimental to the welfare of the boys in Letterfrack. 



          •     If it was desirable to restrict admission to Letterfrack to a specific category of boys, it 

                was unreasonable and contrary to policy to retain a substantial number of boys from 

                previous intakes who were outside that category. 



          •     By insisting that increases in grants had to be applied equally to all schools, smaller 

                institutions like Letterfrack were at a serious disadvantage. It required extra funding 

                to compensate for the low numbers after 1954 but no special case was made. 



          •     It was an indictment of the Congregation that extra funding promised to the Resident 

                Manager  to  compensate  for  the  removal  of  up  to  100  pupils  was  refused  at  a  time 

                when  funds  were  available.  The  deprivation  of  funds  caused  hardship  to  the  boys 

                in Letterfrack. 



          •     The decision to close Carriglea as an industrial school and to keep Letterfrack open 

                was  not  taken  in  the  interests  of  the  children  in  Letterfrack.  The  unsuitability  of 

                Letterfrack  as  an  industrial  school  was  apparent  from  the  start  and  was  strongly 

                reiterated  by  District  Justices  and  by  the  Department  of  Education.  The  will  of  the 

                Provincial prevailed, however, and it is an example of the power the Christian Brothers 

                had in determining the direction the industrial school system took. 



          •    From the comments in her Inspection Reports, Dr McCabe believed that low standards 

                were the  inevitable consequences  of inadequate funding.  However, when  this issue 

                was    raised   in  public   in   1959,   neither   the   Department      nor   the   Congregation 

                acknowledged  the  difficulties  but  were  at  pains  to  paint  a  rosy  picture  of  life  in 

                Letterfrack. 



          •    The argument put forward by the Congregation in its Opening Statement, that the care 

                the boys received in Letterfrack was better than they would have received if they had 

                remained in their families, misses the point. The Congregation was paid by the State 

                to care for these boys to a standard set down by law, and failed to do so. 



          Education pre-1954 



8.598     All industrial schools were required to provide a basic national school education for all boys under 

           14 and an appropriate level of industrial training for the older boys. Letterfrack was recognised as 

          a national school in 1941 and was required to follow the national school curriculum. All boys under 

           14 attended classes for five hours per day, and those over 14 years old who had completed the 

          6th class course were put full-time to a trade. Those still in 6th    class and who could be expected 



          to benefit from it remained on to complete the  year, and the others who were put into a trade 

           received evening classes in the ‘three R’s’. 



8.599      In their Final Submission the Congregation submitted that the evidence heard by the Investigation 

          Committee confirmed that teaching in Letterfrack was extremely difficult, principally because the 

           boys had received little or no education before arriving in Letterfrack and because they were not 

           interested  in  education.  This  difficulty,  they  submit,  was  compounded  by  the  State’s  failure  to 

           recognise this, in not providing extra teaching staff and not allowing the Congregation to pursue 

          a modified curriculum which was more suitable for the boys. The Congregation even provided for 



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----------------------- Page 405-----------------------

           one extra teacher from their own resources at one stage. Despite the difficulties, they submit that 

           the Congregation brought a high proportion of boys to Primary Certificate level and, for a period, 

           organised for some boys to attend secondary school. 



  8.600    They accept that some boys did not benefit from an education but submit that part of the reason 

           for  this  was  their  own  lack  of  interest  in  education.  They  submit  that  there  was  no  basis  for  a 

           finding that the Congregation was guilty of any shortcoming in respect of the provision of education 

           to boys within its care. 



  8.601    These  assertions  can  be  tested  against       the  documentary  evidence,  the  evidence  of  former 

           Brothers, and the evidence of former pupils of the School. 



  8.602    The Visitation Reports up to 1954 do not support the contention that the boys were backward or 

           unwilling to receive education. Although some Brothers were criticised from time to time as being 

           poor teachers, on the whole the standard as recorded by the Visitors was good. In 1938 the Visitor 

           made an important observation: 



                 poor children of our institutions have first claim on our really good teachers, as their school 

                 time is short indeed, and we were founded mainly to look after the education of poor boys. 



  8.603    The School was staffed mainly by Christian Brothers. The size of the teaching staff varied. For 

           much of the 1940s and 1950s, there were three to four teachers in the School. Some of these 

           individuals  taught  two  classes  together.  As  regards  qualifications,  the  Congregation’s  teachers 

           were trained in its own teaching college. Some former members of staff complained of the lack of 

           training  they  received  in  remedial  or  special  needs  teaching.  This,  they  said,  was  a  significant 

           handicap in Letterfrack, as many of the methods that they had learned were designed to be utilised 

           in mainstream schools and were of little use in a school of such mixed ability as Letterfrack. 



  8.604    In 1945, the Visitor criticised the practice of removing weaker students from school to work on 

           the farm. He suggested that the permission of the Superior be secured before this was allowed 

           to happen. 



  8.605    Br Sorel, who taught in Letterfrack for four years from the late 1940s, said that the job was difficult 

           as many of the children suffered from educational disabilities: 



                 It was a tremendous experience in one way, but it was very frustrating in another because 

                 a lot of the kids in the classes, as pointed out last week, were bordering on the mentally 

                 handicapped. 



  8.606    There  was  no  evidence  that,  during  Br  Sorel’s  time  there,  Letterfrack  had  a  large  number  of 

           mentally handicapped children. Educationally deprived they undoubtedly were, and for many the 

           trauma  of  being  locked  away  from  family  and  friends  would  have  been  deeply  disturbing,  but 

           judging by the complainants who attended the oral hearings, they were not mentally handicapped. 



  8.607    There was not a great deal of evidence about the standard of education in Letterfrack prior to 

           1954,  when  the  School  changed  its  enrolment  policy.  The  only  contemporaneous  records,  the 

           Visitation Reports, were generally positive about the School. 



  8.608    Complainants  to  the  Committee  did  not  share  the  Visitor’s  views,  and  described  a  regime  of 

           corporal punishment in the classroom that was harsh and pervasive. 



           Education post-1954 



  8.609    From 1954, Letterfrack was directed by the Provincial of the Congregation to receive only those 

           children who had been found guilty of a criminal offence. The negative impact that this decision 



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           had  on  the  care  of  the  boys  has  already  been  outlined.  It  had  a  considerable  impact  on  the 

           education  of  the  boys  in  Letterfrack.  The  position  was  succinctly  put  in  1956  by  the  Resident 

            Manager, who wrote to the Provincial informing him of the low level of educational ability of the 

           students: 



                  The change in condition in our school brought about two years ago has altered all that 

                  radically. The old hands, if I may call them so, have become the ‘intelligentia’ and the new 

                  pupils are in a state of ignorance that has to be experienced to be realised. Of the 41 

                  boys, still here who have been admitted in the last two years, 35 are still in school. This 

                  is more than half the number of boys on the rolls (61). These boys, in the main do not 

                  even know the letters of the alphabet. 



                                                                               rd   th       th                         th 

8.610       He noted that there were three classes in the school: 3  , 4              and 5    class. He said that 4       class 

           was divided into three groups: 1. Boys who did not know the letters of the alphabet; 2. Boys who 

           did know the letters of the alphabet; and 3. Boys who had begun to realise the simplest of words. 

            He stated that these groupings were absolutely necessary and that the age groups threw further 

           light on the state of affairs. Those in the so-called 4th           class had an average age of 11 years 9 

           months, and those in 5th, 13 years and 1 month. He stated that it was abundantly clear from the 



           above facts that specialised teaching was an absolute necessity if these boys were to get even 

           the most rudimentary education. He said that the services of the three Brothers with the best of 

           qualifications were therefore vitally needed in the school. 



8.611      The Congregation presented a table of the number of boys who sat for and passed the Primary 

           Certificate. This table does not tally with the Visitation Reports for a number of years and cannot 

           therefore be relied on. 



8.612       In  1956,  seven  out  of  10  boys  in  6th  class  were  presented  for  examination  and  obtained  their 



            Primary Certificate. 



8.613       In 1957 the teachers had been reduced to three, as numbers were falling in the school. There 

           were 71 boys in school that year, 14 of whom were in 6th                class; 10 were presented for Primary 



           Certificate, and one boy obtained a scholarship. Both the Visitor for that year and the Provincial 

           believed that the effort of getting one or two boys to pass the scholarship exam was not worth it 

           and so the practice was discontinued. Boys were still sent to Clifden CBS for secondary education, 

           but no more than a dozen attended at any time. 



8.614      As in all industrial schools, the Christian Brothers selected the boys who would be presented for 

           the Primary Certificate from 6th       standard. Only those boys who were deemed capable of passing 



           were put forward and, therefore, the pass rate was artificially high. For example, in 1958 there 

           were 16 boys in 6th      class, and 11 sat the exam. Therefore, although the results were good as a 



           percentage pass rate, this cannot be taken to be representative of the school as a whole. 



8.615      Two important factors were significant in education in Letterfrack: first, children did not progress 

           through the various classes in Letterfrack as they did in other national schools. The criterion for 

           advancement  in  this  school  was  ability.  Children  who  were  educationally  disadvantaged  were 

           placed in a class appropriate to their standard and were allowed to progress to an age-appropriate 

           class at their own pace. Consequently, class sizes decreased in the higher classes. 



8.616       Br Dondre, who was in Letterfrack in the late 1960s and early 1970s, described this process to 

           the  Committee.  He  said  that  he  taught  the  weakest  group,  and  classes  were  allocated  by  the 

           school Principal, who determined the boys’ ability on entry: 



                  I  taught  the  weakest  class  and  I  can  only  go  on  my  own  experience  in  the  classroom 

                  situation. The weakest boys were very weak. I did two remedial courses when I was there 



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                 ... to improve my knowledge about weaker kids and the methodology of teaching these 

                 weaker    children.  I was   quite   happy   with  my   results  I could   pass   kids  through   my 

                 classroom, from 3rd    class. There was a great mobility as I said before, I could get kids 



                 from  my  classroom  into  the  next  class  inside  three  or  four  months  because  they  were 

                 intelligent,  all  they  needed  was  regular  schooling.  There  were  some  kids  that  never 

                 graduated from the bottom two classes, some of them were educationally backward and 

                 some of them would be bordered on being mildly mentally handicapped. 



8.617      The second factor that had a significant impact was that class sizes were comparatively small – 

           smaller than those in outside national schools. 



8.618      In 1960, the Visitor noted that the average class size was uneconomic, ‘but that nothing could be 

           done about it until such time as the numbers rise’. He further stated that the present staff of three 

           should, ordinarily, be teaching double the number of pupils. 



8.619      In 1961, Br Guillaume wrote to the Department informing it that the boys admitted to Letterfrack 

           were educationally challenged in that most of them, on admission, were unable to read or write. 

           He stated that the Brothers in the school were doing their utmost to ensure these boys, at the 

           very least, were able to read and write, add and subtract before they left the Institution and, to 

           this end, had appointed an extra teacher to the school which he asked the Department to sanction. 

           The Department recognised the extra teacher as a classroom assistant, but did not sanction two 

           further classroom assistants as requested. 



8.620      In 1962, the Interdepartmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders 

           visited the school. The Working Party reported that, as boys entering Letterfrack were below the 

           normal  educational  standard  for  their  age,  they  required  more  individual  attention  than  their 

           national  school    counterparts.   The   Committee     recommended       smaller   class   sizes  and   more 

           intensive instruction in English and arithmetic. 



8.621      A Department of Education official followed up on the Interdepartmental Committee, with a more 

           thorough investigation into the education provided in Letterfrack, and reported in 1963. 



8.622      His report identified the uneven age profile in the classes as ‘a most unsatisfactory state of affairs’ 

           although, by the time the boys reached 6th        form, the age disparity with outside national schools 

           had been reduced from two and a half years in 3rd  form to 6 months. In June 1962, 34 of the 91 

           pupils who had reached the age of 14 had not moved on to 6th              class. The report noted that the 



           prevailing  standard    at  the  time  was    rated  as  ‘satisfactory’.  It noted   that, in  former   years, 

           ‘allowances had to be made ... for adverse circumstances’. These included inadequate buildings, 

           equipment and teachers and the ‘depressing surroundings’, as well as the priority given to work 

           in the Institution over classes. 



8.623      The report went on to say that ‘If any of the above factors still operate there would be a lowering 

           of  educational  attainments’.  Each  of  the  factors  listed  above  could  be  readily  identified  by  the 

           Inspector and it is not clear why the report was phrased in this way. What is clear is that each of 

           these suggestions was within the remit of the management of the School and was deemed to be 

           ‘desirable’ if not ‘essential’. 



8.624      The report noted the possibility that the Christian Brothers had ‘not made the best possible staff 

           available in Letterfrack’, and highlighted the fact that many Brothers seemed not to care to work 

           there. Of particular concern was the fact that there was a very frequent turnover of teaching staff 

           which, it stated, would ‘militate against achieving good educational results’. Also of concern was 

           the  lack  of  experience  of  some  of  the  teachers  in  the  School.  The  report  highlighted  that  the 

           youngest  of  the  teachers  had  only  been  at  the  School  for  six  months.  The  report  expressed 



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           concern  that  this  teacher  had  not  yet  received  his  diploma,  and  questioned  whether  such  an 

           inexperienced teacher should have been sent to a school where so many educational problems 

           had to be faced in his daily interactions with the pupils.61 



8.625      Significantly,   the  Inspector    noted    that  the  Manager      had   reported   to  the   Interdepartmental 

           Committee that ‘only 2 out of 114 boys (were) below average intelligence’ and he agreed with this 

           assessment.      The   problem,    therefore,   was   not  the  intelligence   of  the  boys   but   their lack   of 

           educational opportunity before being sent to Letterfrack. 



8.626      Throughout the 1960s the Visitors noted the difficulty of teaching the boys who were coming to 

           Letterfrack  because  of  their  severe  educational  disadvantage  prior  to  coming  there.  One  of  a 

           number of Reports compiled in the 1970s was highly critical of the standard of teaching in the 

           School. Of the five teachers there, only one was qualified, three had completed one year of training 

           in Marino, and a fifth had no qualifications at all. 



8.627      The 1972 Visitation Report criticised the Principal. It stated that his abilities fell ‘short of the very 

           high standard required to deal with the disturbed children’ that were admitted. It also noted that 

           ‘most  of the  boys are  very much  retarded’. The  Visitor expressed  concerns at  the class  sizes, 

           suggesting that an extra teacher would be required to cater for the needs of the boys. He further 

           reported that many of the boys were in need of remedial teaching, something that was impossible 

           to provide with the structure in place. He stated that this problem was further compounded by the 

           fact  that  ‘neither  Br  Thibaud62   nor  Br  Arnaud63   are  very  efficient  teachers,  at  least  for  boys  of 



           this kind’. 



8.628      In the same year, three members of staff wrote to the Provincial complaining about the education 

           provided.  They  stated  that  the  educational  set-up  that  prevailed  in  the  Institution  was  ‘grossly 

           inadequate to meet the educational requirements’ of the type of boy found there. They concluded 

           by stating that, were the staff shortages not remedied, the Province would be ‘failing in the real 

           work   of  Edmund     Rice’,   and  further   expressed     their  view  that  ‘the  school   should    be  closed 

           immediately if the ... situation is to prevail’. 



8.629      A Department of Education report later in the year made a number of recommendations to remedy 

           the problems facing the staff in Letterfrack, including having the children professionally assessed. 

           Importantly, this report recognised the need to compensate children in industrial schools for the 

           fact that they were there. Among its many recommendations it stated: 



                  It would be necessary to provide children in care with more than the normal educational 

                  facilities. It would, in other words, be necessary to overcompensate for deprivation. 



8.630      It  also  recommended  specialised  training  and  a  more  holistic  approach  to  the  care  of  these 

           children. Thinking had at last begun to move on. 



8.631      The fundamental problems of maintaining a school like Letterfrack were confronted in the 1973 

           Visitation Report. It noted that many of the boys in the School were ‘emotionally disturbed’, some 

           of them were ‘mentally retarded’, with others being ‘backward’ on entering Letterfrack. It reported 

           that the Brothers were conscious of the fact that they lacked the professional training required to 

           deal with such boys’ schooling, and that the remoteness of the Institution rendered it impossible 

           to get the professional help that the boys required. 



           61 Cross-reference to CB General Chapter where notes that this arrangement was with the agreement of the 



              Department of Education. 

           62 This is a pseudonym. 

           63 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.632     Another concern was the need to provide higher education to the boys aged 14 to 16, which one 

          Visitor in the 1960s stated could not be done without ‘special concessions’ being granted by the 

           Education Office. 



           Evidence from complainants 



8.633      One witness present in the early 1970s stated that he attended school but never sat his Primary 

           Certificate. He said that some of the older boys got the opportunity to attend the vocational school 

           in Clifden,  but he never  got the opportunity to  go as this  arrangement ceased for  no apparent 

           reason. 



8.634      By comparison, some pupils felt they received a good education and liked school. One boy said 

          that he had received a good education prior to being sent to Letterfrack. He said that he got on 

           all right in the school. The experience of members of the same family was not always the same. 

          The Committee heard from three siblings, one of whom felt that the education he received in the 

           school was all right, and whose brothers did not feel they received an adequate education. 



           Evidence from respondents 



8.635     A number of the individual respondents who gave evidence taught in the national school and they 

          were all agreed that the standard of education in the school was bad. 



8.636      Br Francois described it as pretty poor: 



                 The standard of education? It was pretty poor compared to a group on the outside that 

                 were of the same age would have been much more advanced. 



8.637      Br Michel confirmed that teaching in the school was very difficult: 



                 Well progress was very slow. The boys came to us and they were assessed for a class 

                 that best suited and then they went up as they progressed. I assure you it was a slog in 

                 the classroom, they didn’t want to learn most of them, they weren’t used to being in school 

                 they weren’t used to sitting at a desk all day long. 



8.638      He  also  felt  that  the  curriculum  was  not  appropriate.  He  said  that  one  aspect  was  that  the 

           Department Inspector: 



                 made  no  effort  to  give  us  a  little  programme  for  these  boys  who  were  educationally 

                 neglected in the past. We had to slog at the full programme of a primary school even so 

                 far as getting the boys to say the words in Irish as they would in the western dialect. 



8.639      Br Telfour, who was there from the mid to late 1960s, also stressed the low educational standard 

           of the boys upon entry into the school. He said that, over time, some of the boys would improve 

           and  progress  through  the  classes,  eventually  ending  up  at  secondary  school  in  Clifden.  Other 

           boys might make little or no progress. 



8.640      Br Rainger, who was there around the same time, said that he found teaching in the school quite 

          frustrating as he was unable to apply the methods he had been taught in training college because 

           of the low standard of education possessed by the boys: 



                 Probably  one  of  my  frustrations  in  Letterfrack  was  frustration  in  the  classroom,  that  I 

                 couldn’t apply the teaching methods that would have been applied, if you don’t mind me 

                 using  the  phrase,  to  normal  children,  because  a  lot  of  these  people  would  have  been 

                 educationally deprived, lack of reading ability and so on and so forth, and I found teaching 

                 in Letterfrack challenging, to say the least. 



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8.641      He said that many of the boys made little progress: 



                  I would personally describe it as minimal. It was a real slog and a real challenge just to 

                  get across even the basic concepts. Now having said that, that is across the board. There 

                  could have been exceptions. 



8.642      Br Dondre described the disturbed nature of the boys: 



                  The boys in Letterfrack were disturbed. How will I say this? If they weren’t disturbed before 

                  they got to Letterfrack, they were disturbed when they got there. The fact of taking a boy 

                  from  his  home  and  sending  him  to  an  industrial  school  in  some  cases,  and  dragging 

                  him  through  criminal  proceedings,  through  court,  and  being  sentenced  by  a  Justice  to 

                  four/five/six, in some cases seven years, away from their home, was enough to disturb 

                  anybody. Some of them were disturbed, they came from disturbed backgrounds and they 

                  were there because they were disturbed. They were there because they were in trouble. 

                  Some of them were no trouble at all. The very fact of sending them there, they did become 

                  disturbed,   they   became     sort  of unhappy     and   quiet   –  not  quiet   –  into  themselves, 

                  introverted. Generally unhappy. 



8.643      Br Blaise64   said that teaching in the school was difficult, as the constant arrival and departure of 



           boys all the year round made it difficult to teach the curriculum. 



8.644      The Congregation was cognisant of the difficulties faced in teaching children in the school, and 

           the  documentary  material  was  replete  with  examples  of  this.  However,  this  is  not  to  totally 

           exculpate the Congregation. The Congregation did not send its best teachers to the school. Many 

           of the teachers came straight from teacher training college with little experience of teaching in a 

           normal school,  not to mention  a school  like that in  Letterfrack. It is  interesting to  compare two 

           documents from the discovered material, one from the start of the period of investigation and one 

           from near the end. 



8.645      In 1938, the Congregation Visitor noted that the: 



                  poor children of our institutions have first claim on our really good teachers, as their school 

                 time is short indeed, and we are founded mainly to look after the education of poor boys. 



8.646      The Congregational response to this plea was poor. The 1963 Report on education noted that: 



                   •    The Brothers had not made the best possible staff available in Letterfrack. 

                   •    They lacked experience. 

                   •    There was a very high turnover of teaching staff. 

                   •    Many Brothers seemed not to care to work in Letterfrack. 



8.647      •    The submission by the Congregation, that it was not to be faulted for any shortcoming 

                 in respect of educating the boys in its care, was not supported by the evidence. 



           •    Smaller class sizes and grading according to ability should have formed the basis for 

                 real educational opportunity for boys who had missed out on schooling in their early 

                 years. However, the poor quality of the staff sent to Letterfrack, particularly in the later 

                 years, made progress in this area virtually impossible. The reports from the 1960s and 

                 1970s,  indicate  how  far  thinking  had  developed  in  the  care  of  these  children,  but 

                 similar   advances      were    not   made     in  the  training    or  guidance      offered    to  young 

                 Christian Brothers. 



           64 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 411-----------------------

           •    Children who are badly fed, badly clothed, cold and lonely cannot thrive in any school 

                 environment. The ‘overcompensation’ mentioned in the 1970 Department of Education 

                 report was never applied in Letterfrack. 



           •    The assertion by some ex-Brothers, that most of the residents in Letterfrack were of 

                 impaired mental capacity, was not borne out by the complainants who attended the 

                 Investigation Committee. They were capable men  for the most part who could have 

                 progressed in the right environment. The resentment and regret felt by many of them 

                 at  the  loss  of  opportunity  were  palpable  even  50  years  later.  Teachers  tended  to 

                 confuse poor education with mental incapacity and that had a negative impact on the 

                 education provided in Letterfrack. 



           Training and trades 



8.648      The Congregation accepted that the level of industrial training provided was not sufficient: 



                 It would be fair to say that the training in the various trades was not really satisfactory for 

                 a  number     of reasons.    Because     of the   remoteness     of  the  institution, it was   almost 

                 impossible to attract trade teachers to work there ... Then many of the trades were not 

                 accessible  to  boys  who  had  not  come  through  the  normal  apprenticeship.  In  addition, 

                 vacancies for the various trades were not readily available in the local area, and Dublin 

                 probably had its own supply of tradesmen. Moreover many of the techniques for the trades 

                 were outdated and consequently did not prepare the young people adequately to enter 

                 into a trade ... and finally, in response to the criticism that the workshops and the farm 

                 did  not  give  adequate  instruction  in  the  trade  as  well  as  giving  practical  experience,  it 

                 should  be  stated  that  the  normal  practice  in  the  training  of  any  trade  was  to  have  the 

                 young people do the most simple of tasks initially and then to learn by “doing the job”. 



8.649      It continued: 



                 By far the largest percentage of the boys who over 14 years of age, worked on the farm, 

                 seasonally augmented after school hours by a large number of senior school boys ... The 

                 reason given for this labour intensiveness was the nature of the land (mostly mountain), 

                 which  is  poor  and  can  be  tilled  only  with  the  spade  ...  in  a  report  on  the  occupational 

                 training  provided ...  it  was  pointed out  that  farming was  “the  most  natural and  suitable 

                 employment  for  the  boys”...  The  Report  expressed  disappointment  with  most  of  the 

                 residential school farms because they generally failed to teach farm management to the 

                 boys.  They  did  not  train  the  boys  in  farming  but  simply  considered  them  as  “juvenile 

                 labourers”. It would seem that the reason for this was the lack of people knowledgeable 

                 in the theory of farm management. 



8.650      Trades were determined by the needs of the Institution and, for a small minority of boys who were 

           lucky enough to be employed in an area of the School that offered future job prospects, this was 

           an  undoubted  benefit.  For  example,  one  ex-resident  who  was  in  Letterfrack  in  the  late  1950s 

           spoke of the valuable experience he got working in the gardens and looking after the glasshouse. 

           He said it opened up a ‘terrific kind of a job for me’. He had great freedom and he loved the work. 

           Later on, he was put on the poultry farm with Br Dax. He said he learned everything to do with 

           poultry farming, he liked it and he was good at it because he was interested in it. 



8.651      Gardening  could  have  provided  a  reasonable  prospect  of  work  for  trained  boys  but,  because 

           the Institution only needed one or two gardeners, that is all that were trained. only that number 

           received training. 



8.652      Another complainant, who was resident from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, said he worked in 

           the bakery for a year or so and, following his discharge, he finished up working in a bakery in a 



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           neighbouring county. He said he got a basic grounding in the bakery and that jobs were arranged 

           for him by the Brothers. 



8.653      There were no more than three or four boys working in the bakery and this number was even 

           further reduced in the 1960s. The bakery was run by an ex-pupil who would not have been in a 

           position to offer any real training to the boys outside of the basic bread-making. Here again was 

           a  missed  opportunity.  Baking  was  a  skill  that  could  have  ensured  employment,  but  only  those 

           boys  needed  to  serve  the  needs  of  the  Institution  worked  in  this  area,  and  even  they  did  not 

           receive proper training. 



8.654      The tailors did little more than make and repair the boys’ clothing. One ex-pupil from the early 

           1960s said he was in the tailor shop and learned how to use a needle and thread, but he did not 

           feel he learned tailoring to the extent that he could consider it as a career option. He said he was 

           removed from tailoring as he was not considered good enough. 



8.655      Visitation Reports from the 1940s and 1950s made it clear that trades were expected to pay their 

           way or to make a profit for the School. In 1947, the Visitor was critical of the fact that the tailor 

           and shoemaker did little else than meet the necessities of the School. He noted that there was 

           very good work being done in the various departments. He noted that the bread that was produced 

           by the baker was very good, and there was a steady trade carried on with surrounding districts 

           by the smiths and cartwrights. 



8.656      Other   potentially  valuable   trades  were   carpentry    and  painting   but,  again,  the  needs    of the 

           institution  determined  the  way  in  which  trades  were  taught  and  the  number  of  boys  engaged 

           in them. 



8.657      Although Visitors commented positively about trades between 1960 and 1964, it was noted that, 

           by the end of 1964, trades had all but ceased in the School, with the exception of tailoring. 



8.658      As mentioned above, In 1962, the Interdepartmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime and 

           Treatment of Offenders visited the School. The Working Group noted that the boys received some 

           instruction in carpentry and tailoring from the tradesmen. However, it was noted that there were 

           no qualified instructors in the School, nor was there any course to prepare the boys to sit for the 

           Group Certificate of the Vocational Schools. It was highlighted that the main occupational work 

           carried on by the boys was farming. 



           The farm 



8.659      The farm was an essential part of life in Letterfrack. The Congregation stated: 



                 The land under the care of the Brothers comprised 837 acres, but most of this was poor 

                 land consisting of bog and mountain. Nevertheless on the available 70 acres of arable 

                 ground the Brothers, farm workers and boys worked the land to provide for the needs of 

                 the institution. 



8.660      Until 1954, the farm was under the charge of one Brother, Br Aubin, who was consistently praised 

           for his farming skills by Visitors to the school: ‘a good religious Brother and a capable farmer, a 

           very useful devoted Brother’. The farm was, however, very labour intensive, and large numbers 

           of boys were used as workers to keep it going. In 1942, the Visitor remarked that the rough nature 

           of the ground, that did not allow for the use of a plough, meant that most of the tillage had to be 

           done by spade. It was a significant source of income to the Institution and it provided the basic 

           food requirements of the entire establishment. Even with the large numbers of boys assigned to 

           the farm, it was hard, gruelling work. Full-time workers were assigned to the farm from 14 years 

           of age, but all the children were engaged on a part-time basis after school and during holidays 



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           and  weekends.  Turf-cutting,  sea-weed  harvesting  and  saving  the  hay  were  some  of  the  jobs 

            undertaken by the younger children. 



  8.661     One complainant described how a field of hay was raked by hand by up to 50 boys who worked 

            in a line the length of the field. He also described crushing the silage in the winter: 



                  they would fill it up and it went right up to the top, but it had to keep getting crushed ... 

                  any day it was raining, they would put us all in there walking around like that, (indicating) 

                  dancing, jumping on it and all that, and then go around and around and they would get it 

                  down  a  certain  amount  of  inches  every  day  until  eventually  they  couldn’t  get  anymore 

                  into it’. 



  8.662     In 1944, the Visitor noted that Br Aubin had 40 of the bigger boys under his control at farm work. 

           The Visitor criticised the fact that Br Aubin was frequently not with the boys when they were out 

           working and they were left with a workman whose suitability for such a charge was very doubtful. 



  8.663     In 1950, the Visitor commented on the large number of boys (46) on the farm, noting the ‘large 

            number  compared  with  the  number  in  the  establishment.  As  all  the  work  is  spade  work,  that 

            number is required’. 



  8.664    The Interdepartmental Committee reported that the main occupational work carried on by the boys 

           was farming. It stated that ‘a fully qualified instructor should be available to give vocational training 

            in woodwork and carpentry, particularly to the large number of inmates from town and city areas 

           who [were] unlikely to seek farm work on discharge’. 



  8.665     Ex-residents who spoke to the Committee were critical of the work they were required to do on a 

           daily  basis  in  Letterfrack,  and  were  dismissive  of  the  idea  that  it  could  ever  be  described  as 

            ‘training’. 



  8.666     One  former  resident  present  in  the  late  1960s,  when  asked  whether  he  learned  a  trade  in 

            Letterfrack, said ‘if you call dragging a bag of turf around a bog or going around stamping silage’. 



  8.667    Another resident from the late 1960s said that he did not learn a trade, he spent his time either 

           darning  socks or  working  in  the fields  and  bogs. He  said  his  work on  the  farm  was all  labour, 

            pulling turnips, planting, digging etc. He was never involved with the cows or the pigs or anything 

            like that. 



  8.668    The farm made a healthy profit almost every year, which was paid into the school accounts. It is 

            not possible to determine how the farm income or profits were calculated or whether the School 

            received the full benefit of the income generated. It did benefit to a significant extent, however, 

           and the money from the farm kept the School solvent for much of the 1940s and 1950s. 



  8.669     Letterfrack was an industrial school and its avowed purpose was to provide industrial training and, 

            if it was incapable of doing that, its function should have been re-assessed. 



  8.670    The  majority  of  children  were  assigned  to  the  farm  at  some  time.  The  conditions  in  which  the 

           children worked and the tasks they were expected to perform were far in excess of what could be 

           described as ‘helping out’ on the farm and could not be described as training. Complainants spoke 

           of being used as slave-labour on the farm. 



            Health 



  8.671     In their Opening Statement for Letterfrack the Christian Brothers stated that the most common 

            health  problems  in  the  School  were  outbreaks  of  measles  and  the  ‘flu.  There  was  a  nurse 



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           employed and she resided in the infirmary which was located on the hillside above the School. 

           There was a large proportion of very young boys in Letterfrack until 1954, and they would have 

           required greater medical care than the boys in senior schools such as Artane. 



 8.672     The presence of a nurse appears to have ensured a higher standard of care than that available 

           in other institutions. 



 8.673     In their Opening Statement the Christian Brothers provided details of deaths that had occurred in 

           the school from 1940 to 1970. This showed a total of 15 deaths of boys during the relevant period. 

           A peak occurred in 1941/1942, when seven of these deaths were recorded. The cause of death 

           was   stated  to  be  consumption     (tuberculosis)   in five  of these   cases,   and  tuberculosis    and 

           pneumonia in the other two. 



           Recreation 



 8.674     The  annals   for  Letterfrack  showed    that  there  was   a  strong  musical   tradition  in the  School 

           throughout the 1940s and 1950s, which appeared to decline from the mid-1960s. Plays, concerts 

           and  musicals  were  performed      annually  and  were  well  attended  by      the  local  people.  These 

           performances were also used to raise funds for the School. 



 8.675     Team games did not appear to have been a significant feature of life in Letterfrack although, from 

           the  late  1950s,   there   were   occasional   references    to  boys   entering   handball   and   boxing 

           competitions. 



 8.676     A  film  projector  was  installed  in  the  school  hall  in  1948.  From  that  year  onwards,  films  were 

           shown, although one Visitor expressed reservations at temporarily professed Brothers attending 

           such performances: 



                 Whatever  about  the  desirability  of  providing  such  entertainment  for  the  boys  and  the 

                 people of the district, I think that the young brothers of T[emporary] P[rofession] should 

                 not be allowed to attend. 



 8.677     Despite the injunction against interaction with seculars, the local people appeared to be quite an 

           important part of the life of the School, and attended functions there regularly. 



          Aftercare 



 8.678     According to the Opening Statement from the Congregation, when the time came for the boys to 

           be released, they were either sent to parents or relatives, or to employers in a variety of trades 

           and occupations. The Congregation submit that the work secured was usually directly related to 

           the range of trades taught in the Institution. 



 8.679     1,356  boys  were  admitted  and  discharged  between  1940  and  1974:  869  were  discharged  to 

           relatives,  3  to  hospital  and  38  absconded;  131  were  transferred  to  other  institutions;  and  the 

           balance of 318 to employment. Almost one-third of those went as farm workers. 



 8.680     The Congregation submitted that the provision of aftercare was a continual source of concern to 

           the Provincial and Resident Managers over the years but, despite the suggestions and solutions 

           put forward, all foundered on the twin rocks of lack of funding and manpower. 



 8.681     In its Final Submission the Congregation contended that aftercare, like trades, was another matter 

           which the complainants did not wish to focus on. They submitted that there was no evidence to 

           support  a  finding  that  the  Congregation  routinely  placed  boys  in  unsuitable  or  inappropriate 

           employment. 



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8.682      The Children Act, 1908 specified that children committed to an industrial school remained up to 

           the age of 18 under the supervision of the managers of the School. Children who were returned 

           to parents or relatives no longer remained the responsibility of the Resident Manager. In the case 

           of  Letterfrack,  therefore,  over  a  34-year  period,  the  numbers  for  whom  aftercare  was  required 

           were relatively small – they averaged out at between nine and 10 per year. While in Artane and 

           Glin a Brother undertook the work of visiting former pupils on a regular basis, in Letterfrack the 

           position appears to have been that the Superior assumed the responsibility for aftercare, as there 

           was  no  particular  member  of  staff  assigned  to  this  task.  The  system  was  that  application  was 

           made to the School by tradesmen or farmers who, if deemed suitable, would be assigned a boy 

           for employment. The School did not actively seek employment for the boys. This would explain 

           why  the  vast  majority  of  boys  ended  up  as  farm  workers,  houseboys,  or  hotel  staff.  This  was 

           confirmed by ex-staff members in their interviews with Mr Bernard Dunleavy, who identified the 

           lack of a dedicated staff member to look after past pupils as a serious flaw in the system. 



8.683      The Congregation acknowledged that ‘without the allocation of a Brother to look after this aspect 

           of  the  Institution’s  duties,  Letterfrack  could  not  have  been  as  effective  in  this  area  as  other 

           schools were’. 



8.684      •    The boys of Letterfrack were especially vulnerable because they had been uprooted 

                from their backgrounds and had spent years in a remote, inhospitable part of Ireland. 

                Many were then returned to a city environment and were left without any support to 

                help them make the adjustment. 



           Emotional abuse 



           Position of the Congregation 



8.685      The  Congregation  accepted  that,  for  much  of  its  existence,  the  School  failed  to  cater  for  the 

           emotional development of the child: 



                 They (the staff) were doing their best, thinking that this is the best, and in fact it says often 

                 there,  they  did  the  best  they  could  under  the  circumstances  but  didn’t  realise  all  the 

                 emotional needs that were there at the time and that they couldn’t fulfill them given the 

                 structure. 



8.686      The Congregation submits that the emphasis of the School was on the physical care and well- 

           being of the children. There was little understanding of the emotional impact of residential care 

           on  children,  in  particular  the  effect  of  separation  from  home  and  family.  Staff  did  not  receive 

           childcare training. Indeed, the Congregation noted that, for much of the period under review, no 

           such training was available. It was not until the late 1960s that the emotional needs of the children 

           began to be understood and catered for. They accepted that the Cussen Report had highlighted 

           the  need   for appropriate   emotional    care  in  the  1930s.   However,    they  stated  that  this was 

           impossible to achieve in Letterfrack. The high pupil-staff ratio and the necessity of maintaining a 

           high level of discipline to ensure order meant that the individual needs of the children could not 

           be catered for. However, they stressed that this state of affairs was due to a lack of resources 

           and, therefore, was the fault of the State not the Congregation. 



           Physical location 



8.687      The physical location of the School was not conducive to ensuring that the emotional needs of 

           the children were met. In the 1940s and 1950s, travelling to the School was difficult and out of 

           the financial reach of most of the parents whose children were committed to the school. It was 

           understandable, therefore, that small children with little understanding of these difficulties could 

           feel abandoned. One complainant summarised the feeling of isolation well: 



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                 The only contact we had was a letter and every letter sent home had to be a good letter. 

                 Every letter that was sent home you had to be having a great time, they were learning 

                 you how to swim, they were learning you how to play football, they were learning you how 

                 to play this. Everything had to be good before you got the letter sent out. If you sent a 

                 wrong  letter,  that  you  were  after  hurting  yourself,  they  would  tell  you  out  straight  you 

                 wouldn’t be able to send another letter home for two months because you shouldn’t have 

                 put that in the letter. 



8.688      Br  Francois,  who  was  present  in  the  late  1950s  and  early  1960s,  described  it  as  an  isolating, 

           frightening place with poor facilities for the boys. 



8.689      Br Telfour said its location was bleak and isolated, and he felt he was transferred there because 

           he had missed some of his early morning calls in another school. 



8.690      Letterfrack was seen as a tough posting, according to Br Anatole: 



                 ... it would be a tough job, a tough station, something you would not particularly choose, 

                 on account of what I have said, that it is isolated. 



8.691      Br  Dax  said  that  he  suffered  isolation  and  loneliness  in  Letterfrack,  and  he  claimed  that  this 

           loneliness was a factor which led to his abuse of the boys. 



8.692      Br Iven said he felt isolated from the friends he had made in his training of the previous five years, 

           and another said he found it a lonely, isolating place: 



                 Then in many ways I suppose that just went with the job, in the sense I was isolated in a 

                 room at the end of the dormitory, away from the Community. 



8.693      In  his  interview  with  the  Christian  Brothers  that  was  dealt  with  above,  Br  Ruffe  described  his 

           reaction on being told that he was being sent to Letterfrack: 



                 Well now, when I went to Letterfrack and don’t mind admitting it and when I was told I 

                 was going to Letterfrack I shed bitter tears because I had paid a passing visit there when 

                 I was on holidays some years previously and when we went into the school that day, the 

                 fact that it was so far away from every place it affected me more I’d say than it would 

                 affect a boy and the fact that when I go in there at all was an upset in itself but I soon got 

                 used to that, after all it was my vocation. 



8.694      •    The remote location of Letterfrack was a problem from the first days of the Institution 

                 in the 1880s, and it continued to be a problem for the rest of its history. It was identified 

                 in the  early 1950s by  the Department of Education  and District Justices,  when they 

                cited  it  as  the  primary  reason  against  turning  Letterfrack  into  a  reformatory-type 

                 institution. The Congregation, on the other hand, saw the remoteness and distance as 

                advantages in dealing with so-called ‘delinquents’, because it removed the boys from 

                what  they  saw  as  corrupting  influences.  The  importance  of  family  contact  was  not 

                considered. 



           Parental contact and applications for early discharge 



8.695      The parent or guardian of a child detained in an industrial school had the right to apply to the 

           Minister for Education for the release of the child pursuant to Section 69(3) of the Children Act, 

           1908  which  allowed  the  Minister  to  exercise  his  discretion  to  release  a  child  or  young  person 

           committed. Pursuant to the Children (Amendment) Act, 1957 the position with regard to children 

           who were non-offenders or those committed for non-attendance at school was different, in that 

           the release was mandatory if the Minister was satisfied that the circumstances which led to the 

           committal had changed or ceased and the parents were able to support the child. 



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8.696      An examination of the records of the Department of Education reveals that, invariably, applications 

           for  early  release  were  initiated  by  the  parents,  very  often  through  the  offices  of  a  local  public 

           representative. There does not appear to have been a system whereby a child’s case or sentence 

           was automatically reviewed to establish if any of the criteria for an early release were present.65 



8.697      Once a letter from a parent or public representative was received, the Department wrote to the 

           School  and  sought  observations  on  the  character  and  ability  of  the  child,  together  with  his 

           proficiency  in  education  and  trade  (if  any).  The  local  Gardai/ISPCC  were  contacted,  and  their 

                                                                                      ´ 

           recommendation  was  sought  as  to  the  financial  and  other  family  circumstances,  including  an 

           assessment of the suitability of the parent/guardian to have custody of the child. 



8.698      There  are  no  records  concerning  application  for  early  release  prior  to  the  late  1950s  in  the 

            Letterfrack discovery from the Department of Education. 



8.699      A number of examples from the Departmental records illustrated the factors that were taken into 

           consideration by the Department in deciding whether or not to release the child: 



            Keeping the family together 



8.700      The mother of a boy committed to Letterfrack for three and a half years for housebreaking applied 

           for his early release six months into his sentence, as the family had emigrated to the UK. The 

           school was not in favour on the grounds that the boy was getting on well in school and trade. The 

            Department sought a reference from the police in the UK, who were satisfied that the family were 

           in  a  financial  position  to  support  the  boy  and  had  not  come  to  the  notice  of  the  police.  The 

            Department official, in coming to his decision, noted that, although the family had failed to exercise 

           parental control in the past and despite the view of the School: 



                  the emigration of the family to England is an important factor in this case and, lest the 

                  boy should feel he had been abandoned, perhaps it would be better to release him from 

                  detention and such action is recommended for the Minister’s consideration. 



8.701      The boy was released. 



           The suitability of the parents 



8.702      The mother of a boy sentenced to two years in Letterfrack made representations through her local 

           TD to have her son allowed home for Christmas and also sought a remission of his sentence. 

           The boy had served two months when the application was made. The Garda report stated that, 

           although the financial circumstances were adequate and the father was of good character, the 

           mother was deemed unsuitable as she frequented pubs late at night and two of her other children 

           were in detention for criminal activity. The School reported that he was progressing well at school, 

           had settled and they did not recommend his release ‘at present’. 



8.703      The application was refused. 



            Proximity of the School to home 



8.704      The parents of a boy detained in Letterfrack from 1970 to 1974 approached a number of public 

           representatives  one  month  after  his  detention  to  request  their  son  be  transferred  to  a  school 

           nearer  his  home.  The  School  was  not  in  favour  and  stated  he  had  settled  down  and  it  would 

           disrupt his education to transfer him. The Manager offered to facilitate a visit by the parents by 

           bringing the boy to Galway. 



           65  Gateways Chapter 3 goes into this in detail. 



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8.705      One year later, the parents made further representations and the School was contacted to assess 

           whether there was a change in circumstances. The Manager stated that he had no objection to a 

           transfer  to Ferryhouse     if there  was   a  vacancy    there.  The   authorities  in  Ferryhouse    were 

           approached by the Department and they refused to take the transfer. 



8.706      The boy was not allowed home that summer, as he had failed to return on two previous occasions 

           and a Brother from Letterfrack had had to be sent to fetch him. 



8.707      The parents persisted and, in late 1971, they again sought a transfer for the boy. The parents 

           were informed that they could now avail of a free travel scheme to see their son more regularly. 

           This,  however,  did  not  prove  helpful,  as  the  journey  to  Letterfrack  could  not  be  achieved  in  a 

           single day. 



8.708      In 1972, the parents again approached the Department who asked the School to allow him home 

           on supervision. This was rejected by the School Manager who was ‘certain the release of this boy 

           would   not  be  for  his good’.  A  Garda    report  in mid-1972    stated  that  the  family  had  a  nice 

           comfortable   home    and   could  afford  to  maintain   and   support   their son,  although    it did not 

           recommend his release due to the failure by the father to exercise control of his son in the past. 

           The boy was allowed home for a month’s holiday in 1972. 



8.709      In 1973, the mother again wrote to the Minister, complaining about the length of time her son was 

           incarcerated and his punishment for not returning to the School following his earlier holidays: 



                 ... I think it a bit much revenge to take on a child, after all Mr. Minister you will agree with 

                 me the way I feel about by poor child locked away for so long and others can hold up 

                 banks and kill all before them and get away with it. 



8.710      She pleaded for his release and stated she was in a position to get him a job locally and wanted 

           him home for Christmas. 



8.711      Towards the end of 1973, the Resident Manager of the School stated that the boy was strong, 

           sturdy and willing to work and was a most satisfactory pupil. He recommended that the boy be 

           released to work with a responsible adult. The 1973 Garda report was not favourable, stating that 

           the family home was overcrowded and in the opinion of the Garda ‘the boy would be better off 

           physically at Letterfrack, of course the psychological aspect is another matter. It is only natural for 

           the mother to want all the family around her for Xmas’. 



8.712      The boy was allowed home for Christmas but was not released until a further letter was sent in 

           early 1974 by his mother to say she had a job waiting for him and wanted his release. The job 

           offer checked out and the boy was finally released in March 1974, four months prior to his due 

           date of discharge. 



           The age of the child, a first offence 

8.713      In 1962, a 10-year-old boy was committed to Letterfrack until his 16th        birthday for stealing a purse 



           from a parked car. He gave the purse and its contents to his mother. She received a three-month 

           suspended sentence. It was the child’s first offence. Solicitors for the child and his father lodged 

           an appeal against the severity of the sentence, and the boy was released pending the hearing of 

           the appeal in mid-1962. The appeal was not successful and, in 1963, the boy’s father wrote a 

           number of letters to public representatives explaining why the appeal had failed. It appeared that, 

           during the time when he was at home pending appeal, he was playing football with some friends 

           and the ball went into a neighbour’s garden, who reported the matter to the police and the boy 

           was  implicated  in  this  incident.  When  the  matter  came  before  the  court  on  appeal,  the  Garda 

           Sergeant told the court that they had received a complaint but did not tell the Judge the nature of 



           388                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 419-----------------------

           the complaint. In his letter to Mr Haughey, the Minister for Education, the father explained why he 

           wanted his son home: 



                  I should think that after 6 years he will be a complete stranger in the family, as the rest 

                  of his brothers and sisters will probably have gone away from home to some employment, 

                  what chance has he of becoming acquainted with them ... I give you a guarantee he will 

                  never get into any kind of trouble again, as that 12 months has learned him a lesson, it 

                  would mean a lot to me if he were released, it is for his mothers sake I took the opportunity 

                  of writing to you, as she is constantly crying and talking about him, it grieves me so much 

                  to see her in such a state for the past 12 months. 



8.714      The application was refused by the Department on the grounds that parental control in the family 

           was poor, as manifested by the boy in question and by two other members of the family. It was 

           felt that the mother had given a poor example in the past, and the boy’s school attendance was 

           only fair. He was making good progress with his studies in Letterfrack and it would not be in his 

           best interests to release him. 



8.715      The father wrote to the President of Ireland in September 1963, pleading with him to have his son 

           released. He stated that the boy had developed psoriasis from worry and anxiety that had required 

           hospitalisation. He stated that the boy was medically fit going to Letterfrack and ‘as God forgave 

           us all our transgressions why should there not be forgiveness for a child’. The letter was passed 

           to the Department of Education by the Office of the President. The boy remained in Letterfrack. 



8.716      Three years later, in 1966, his mother wrote to the Minister for Education, stating that her son had 

           now served four and a half years of a six-year sentence and requested his release so that he 

           could assist his father in his newly started timber business. 



8.717      The School report recommended his release on a supervision certificate. 



8.718      A Garda report was sought, which stated that the family were in poor circumstances and the father 

           and   mother    were    not  suitable   persons    to be   entrusted    with  the  custody    of  their  son.  The 

           Department official reviewing the case stated: 



                  In the boy’s favour it must be said that he was committed for his first offence, he was only 

                  10 years of age at committal, has spent 41  years in the school and his conduct there has 

                                                                   2 



                  been  satisfactory.  He  has  completed  the  primary  school  programme.  Even  though  his 

                  parents are not to be recommended I think it would be only fair to the boy to let him take 

                  his chance and release him. 



8.719      A  more  senior  official  recommended  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  that  the  mother  be 

           informed that, if she could get him a job other than working with his father, they would be prepared 

           to discharge him, having stated that: 



                  this boy has undoubtedly been detained too long for a single offence. In addition he is 

                  evidently of good intelligence and well conducted. 



8.720      It took his mother another eight months to get him a suitable job and, following another letter of 

           representation, he was released in December 1967, three months before his due date in 1968. 



           Change in family circumstances 



8.721      A boy was sentenced to three years in Letterfrack in 1963. He was only five years old when his 

           mother died, and he was taken to reside with his grandmother who was too old to care for him. 

           As a result, he fell into bad company and was convicted of stealing from a local grocery shop. His 

           father  subsequently  remarried  and  made  representations  to  his  local  TD  to  secure  his  son’s 

           release, as he had a promise of a job for the boy aboard an Irish Flag Ship. The School reported 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       389 


----------------------- Page 420-----------------------

           his conduct was good but he was frail and not suitable for a seafaring life. The Garda report was 

           favourable, and the Department decided to release him, with the comment regarding his health 

           that ‘such a life might improve his health’. 



8.722      •    It is clear from the Department of Education files that parents initiated the efforts to 

                 secure release of their children. Once this process started, there was a system in place 

                 whereby reports were sought by the Department from the School and the Gardai. No 

                                                                                                                      ´ 

                 particular   weight    was    attached     to  any   report,   and   the   Department      occasionally 

                 overrode the views of both the School and the Gardai. 

                                                                                   ´ 



           •     Children  whose  parents  did  not  take  steps  to  have  them  released  do  not  appear  to 

                 have been considered for discharge, as there is no evidence from the files that cases 

                 were reviewed by the Department other than in the manner outlined above. 



           •    The fundamental unfairness of incarcerating a child for six years or more was never 

                 addressed by the Department of Education or by the Congregation. Applications by 

                 parents were dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and those children whose parents 

                 did not take this initiative were left to serve out their full sentence without remission. 



           •     If  this  was  a  child-centred  service,  there  would  have  been  on-going  assessment  by 

                 the Resident Manager as to whether the child’s best interests were being served by 

                 continuing in the school. No such assessment took place. 



           Climate of fear 



8.723      The climate of fear has been described earlier in this chapter, in the context of punishment and 

           bed-wetting, but it also had consequences for the emotional well-being of the children. 



8.724      It was well illustrated by a number of the former residents. One resident present in the late 1950s 

           and early 1960s said: 



                 From the time you went into that you lived in fear, you were just constantly terrified. You 

                 lived in fear all the time in that school, you didn’t know when you were going to get it, 

                 what Brother was going to give it to you, you just lived in fear in that school. 



8.725      Another former resident described the sense of fear: 



                 What happened was when I went down there first I was a nervous wreck, as any child 

                 would be. You are going down here and I have never experienced a regime like it that 

                 was going on in the place. It was awful, it was very very cold, it was very very lonely, but 

                 the worst thing about it all, it was so scary. 



8.726      This sense of fear was often heightened by the manner in which punishment could be deferred 

           by the Brothers. One resident present in the late 1960s described it as follows: 



                 I think one of the worst things in a sense, in one way it would be as well if they were to 

                 give you a beating and get it over there and then, but you had the thing of various times, 

                 “I’ll see you after” ... Sometimes they would leave this for days and you think they were 

                 after forgetting and then they would pounce on you. 



8.727      Another  complainant  present  in  the  late  1950s  remembered  one  particular  Brother  who  often 

           deferred punishment: 



                 Br Noreis was his own judge, jury and executioner. His favourite thing would be “I will see 

                 you  later”.  Sometimes  you  were  lucky  and  he  meant  shortly  later  and  it  was  over  and 

                 done with, sometimes you were unlucky and it could be a week later and during that week 

                 you walked around terrified you never knew when that – well, for want of a better word, 

                 when the hand was going to come down and grab you, then you were brought into the 

                 library ... we were in a home where the children there were put in for various reasons, 



           390                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 421-----------------------

                  criminal or because they had no one to look after then. We got sent there to be educated 

                  and looked after, fed nourished, I won’t say loved, but looked after; we got none of that. 



8.728      Violence was a feature of life and was reflected in bullying. This ranged from schoolyard bullying 

           to bullying at meal times and, at the extreme end of the spectrum, peer sexual abuse. One resident 

           from the late 1960s described the bullying: 



                  ... you had to fight for survival because there was a lot of bullying and a lot of stuff going 

                  on. You had to be on your guard all the time because there was bigger kids and stronger 

                  kids, different kids and different types. Rough kids and bad kids; there was all different 

                  types. 



                  Yes, it was dog eat dog. It was survival, you had to do everything to survive, you know. 

                  You  had  to  fight,  scratch,  you  had  to  do  everything  for  survival.  There  was  no  love  or 

                  affection or caring from anyone, you know. And there was no one to talk to, you just had 

                  to form your own way of survival. 



8.729      Another resident from the early 1960s told the Investigation Committee: 



                  when I got down to Letterfrack, needless to say, I was very very scared. Now I am not 

                  going to ... I am no angel, never have been, I was a scamp, if you like on the streets at 

                  the time, so my father always called it to me anyway, black sheep of the family, but I know 

                  in my heart and soul this is not about what I had done. It was the way I was treated in 

                  there and I was treated awful, I was starved, I was in rags. I felt I was bullied from the 

                  moment I went down until a couple of months, or a couple of weeks before I went out. 



8.730      There was a lot of bullying over food. For many years the system of food allocation was that a 

           number of boys would be seated at each table. Food would be delivered to the table, and the 

           boys themselves would divide it up. This had the unfortunate consequence that younger, smaller 

           or more inexperienced boys received less than other boys. One former resident from the early 

           1960s described his experiences in this regard as follows: 



                  Well, you will always get a bully like, even to this day and age you will always have a 

                  bully in school. You will always have one boy that would be that bit more dominant over 

                  certain young fellows. You’d get a certain thing on your plate, a hard boiled egg might be 

                  on your plate or vice versa, that was a luxury to get a hard boiled egg and he would just 

                  take it off you, something like that. 



8.731      Two Brothers, Brs Dondre and Karel, who were present in the early 1970s, told the Investigation 

           Committee that there was a lot of bullying by bigger boys on the younger boys during their time 

           in Letterfrack. 



           Other factors contributing to emotional abuse 



8.732      The remoteness of the School, the high pupil-staff ratio, the failure of Managers and staff to care 

           for the individual needs of the children, the high levels of discipline and punishment as well as the 

           consequent atmosphere of fear meant that Letterfrack was for many children a very lonely place. 

           Despite all the hustle and bustle, many boys lived in fear, both of staff and each other. This meant 

           that  they  were  reluctant  to  form  close  friendships  out  of  fear  of  being  seen  as  weak  or  giving 

           another boy a hold over them. A recurring theme in the evidence was this lack of friendships. A 

           number of individuals told how they carried this fear of forming personal attachments with them 

           into adult life. 



8.733      One former resident stated,  ‘I have no male friends in the world, I am frightened of them – what 

           do they want off me?’ 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       391 


----------------------- Page 422-----------------------

8.734      As already stated, a number of Brothers were unhappy and isolated in Letterfrack. The burden of 

           work fell on the shoulders  of a few, and this had its own  implications for how they treated the 

           children. Some former residents described how some members of staff were kind to them at times 

           but the mood could change in an instant. One former resident described this as follows: 



                 When they took the humour, they would show you, what do you call it, an act of kindness 

                 and you got kind of swallowed by this in some ways and you thought – you could get the 

                 off day like Telfour or Curtis would show you some act of kindness and next of all they 

                just turn. There was a lot of Jeckyl and Hyde with them. 



8.735      Another former resident made a similar point: 



                 Some of them they would like you one minute and you would be getting on, and the next 

                 minute, they would just bring you down. You put a curtain up in front of them. 



8.736      Br Dondre described how younger boys could cling to him for protection. However, this natural 

           yearning for love and attention was something that was taken advantage of by a number of sexual 

           abusers.  One  such  acknowledged  abuser  (Br  Anatole)  testified  that  he  viewed  his  relationship 

           with one of his victims as one of affection and closeness. 



8.737      This Brother was not alone in using these tactics. One complainant who had been abused by Br 

           Jean  said  that  this  Brother  took  advantage  of  his  need  for  love  and  attention  in  order  to  buy 

           his silence: 



                 He was kind to me in that way, but it was sweets and a toy at the time I thought was kind 

                 to me but he must have been just softening me up for his own benefits. As I get older, I 

                 was innocent and I didn’t know if everybody had toys or not. Some of the boys I suppose 

                 had more toys. 



8.738      Another former resident told a similar story. He described how Br Curtis was nice to him and how 

           he welcomed the attention. However, Br Curtis went on to sexually abuse him: 



                 But Br Curtis, on many occasions, I didn’t know at the beginning – and I welcomed a little 

                 bit  of  attention,  because  as  I  sort  of  outlined,  you  know,  I  had  been  taken  away  from 

                 home, and Br Curtis, I didn’t realise that it was wrong, what he was doing. 



8.739      •    The boys lived in a hostile environment isolated from their families, and often faced 

                bullying and sexual abuse by their peers. The Brothers, far from offering protection, 

                added to the fear by being punitive figures who were remote and unapproachable. One 

                Brother described  little boys following him  in the playground,  because proximity to 

                him provided the sole deterrent to bullies. 



           •    Brothers  had  to  be  both  teachers  and  warders.  Most  Brothers  had  little  respect  for 

                boys    in  their  care,  which    was   particularly   evident   in  the  way    punishments      were 

                administered, and also in some of the more cruel punishments that were calculated to 

                cause humiliation as well as pain. 



           •    The    Congregation      did  not  accept    that  there   was   an   ‘atmosphere      of  fear’ within 

                Letterfrack    during   the   relevant   period.   It has,  however,     accepted    that  there   were 

                physical and sexual abusers present in the School for significant periods of the years 

                under review. In addition, a number of individual respondent witnesses have accepted 

                that   they   administered     discipline    in  an  excessive     and   capricious     manner.    It  is 

                impossible to deny the impact that cruel punishments would have had on bystanders. 

                Into  this  mix  may  be  put  the  prevalence  of  bullying  and  peer  sexual  abuse  in  the 

                Institution. It is difficult to see how any conclusion could be reached other than that 

                there was a climate of fear in the school. 



           392                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 423-----------------------

•    The School was run on the harshest of lines because it was deemed appropriate for 

     the  kind  of  children  sent  there,  yet  the  Congregation  concede  that  Letterfrack  was 

     particularly  harsh  in  the  1940s  when  the  children  were  mostly  orphans,  abandoned 

     or neglected. 



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          General conclusions 



8.740     Physical abuse 



           1.   There was a climate of fear in Letterfrack. Corporal punishment was severe, excessive 

                and pervasive. Violence was used to express power and status and was practically a 

                means    of  communication       between    Brothers    and   boys   and   among     the  boys 

               themselves.     Punishment     was   inescapable    and   frequently  capricious,   unfair   and 

                inconsistent. Rules on corporal punishment were disregarded at all levels. 



           2.  The Congregation did not carry out proper investigations of cases of physical abuse. 

               It did not impose sanctions on Brothers who were guilty of brutal assaults. 



           3.  Protection of the boys was not a priority for the Congregation in dealing with excessive 

               and unlawful punishment, and the Department of Education abrogated responsibility 

               by leaving supervision and control of this area entirely to local management. 



          Sexual abuse 



           4.  A  timeline   of documented      and   admitted   cases   of  sexual   abuse   shows    that  for 

               approximately  two-thirds  of  the  period  1936-1974  there  was  at  least  one  Brother  in 

               Letterfrack  who  sexually  abused  boys  at  some  time  and  for  almost  one-third  of  the 

               period there were at least two such Brothers there. One Brother worked for 14 years 

               before being detected. Another who served for a separate period of similar length went 

               undetected  for  many  years  after  the  school  closed.  It  is  impossible  to  calculate  the 

               true extent of sexual abuse in the institution but it is clear that more abuse happened 

               than is recorded. 



           5.  The  Congregation  did  not  properly  investigate  allegations  of  sexual  abuse.  Brothers 

               who sexually abused boys and who were known to be a continuing danger were still 

               permitted to work with children. 



           6.  The manner in which Brothers who sexually abused were dealt with is indicative of a 

               policy  of  protecting  them,  the  Community  and  the  Congregation,  from  the  effects  of 

               disclosure of abuse. The needs of the victims were not considered. 



          Emotional/Neglect 



           7.  The boys were unprotected in a hostile environment isolated from their families. 



           8.  Remoteness was an acknowledged affliction that caused or exacerbated almost every 

               difficulty that Letterfrack encountered from its inception. 



           9.   Children left Letterfrack with little education and no adequate training. 



          10.   Boys in Letterfrack needed extra tuition to bring them up to standard, but instead they 

                got poor teachers and bad conditions. 



          11.   The 1954 decision to restrict intake to children convicted of offences, taken in the face 

                of opposition by both the Department of Education and District Justice McCarthy, was 

                detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  the  boys  in  Letterfrack  and  was  implemented  in  a  way 

               that was wholly inconsistent with the thinking behind it. 



          394                                                     CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 425-----------------------

           Chapter 9 



           St Joseph’s Industrial School, Tralee 

           (‘Tralee’), 1862–1970 



           Introduction 



           History of the School 



9.01       St Joseph’s Industrial School, Tralee, was situated on the road to Ardfert on the western outskirts 

           of Tralee town. 



9.02       In May 1859, John Mulchinock, a Tralee draper, gave six acres of land to the Christian Brothers 

           for the establishment of a boys’ national school. The building commenced immediately at a cost 

           of £4,500, paid for by Mr Mulchinock. It was opened on 28th          April 1862, with 160 day pupils and 



           two teaching Brothers. 



9.03       In 1870, the parish priest, Dean Mawe, asked the Superior at that time, Br Vincent Hayes, to open 

           an industrial school in Tralee, and it was decided to build it on the site of the existing national 

           school. To make way for the industrial school pupils, the two classes from the day school were 

           transferred to the Christian Brothers’ School in Edward Street, Tralee. A building programme, part- 

           funded by public contribution, was then undertaken to provide additional accommodation. A further 

           34 acres of land were acquired, and the School was subsequently certified for 100 pupils. 



9.04       Within a year, in March 1871, that number had been increased to an accommodation limit of 150 

           and a certified limit of 145. A series of land acquisitions throughout the late nineteenth century 

           and early twentieth century, culminating in the purchase of 16 acres in 1951, increased the size 

           of the land available to 76 acres. A Visitation Report for 1970 recorded that, of the total 76 acres, 

           9 acres were Diocesan property and the remaining 67 were Congregation property. The buildings 

           stood on the Diocesan property. The property was sold by the Christian Brothers to the Urban 

           Council for what it was hoped was a ‘realistic price’, apart from 15 acres which were retained as 

           playing pitches for the Green Secondary School. 



           Discovered documents and Investigation Committee hearings 



9.05       The Investigation Committee obtained discovery of documents from the Christian Brothers, the 

           Department of Education and Science, the Archdiocese of Kerry, An Garda Siochana, and the 

                                                                                                    ´     ´ 

           Health  Service  Executive  (Southern  Area).  In  addition,  former  members  of  staff  and  former 

           residents furnished documentation and statements. 



9.06       In  preparation  for  the  hearings,  the  Committee  sent  letters  to  42  former  residents  listed  on  its 

           database  as  having  been  resident  in  Tralee  and  wishing  to  proceed  with  their  complaint  as  of 

           September 2005. Of those, seven confirmed that they were not proceeding with their complaint, 

           and replies were not received from a further 14 former residents. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                395 


----------------------- Page 426-----------------------

9.07      The  Investigation  Committee  heard  evidence  in  three  phases.  In  Phase  I,  which  took  place  in 

           public  in  January  2006,  the  Congregation  of  Christian  Brothers  outlined  their  submissions  in 

           respect  of  St  Joseph’s,  Tralee.  In  Phase  II,  the  Committee  heard  the  evidence  of  15  former 

           residents and eight former members of staff. 21 complainants were listed for hearing, of whom 

          six did not attend. The 15 hearings took place in private over five weeks. In Phase III, in May 2006, 

          the Congregation gave its response to the evidence heard in the second phase. The Congregation 

          furnished a final written Submission to the Committee in March 2007. 



          Photograph 



9.08      The Committee has received the following photograph of Tralee: 



          Source: Congregation of Christian Brothers 



          Numbers in the School 



9.09       During  the  years  1940  to  1969,  the  numbers  in  the  School  varied  between  a  high  of  152  in 

           1942  and  a  low  of  35  in  late  1969  when  the  School  was  closing.  In  1968,  the  School  had  94 

           pupils enrolled. 



9.10       In 1944, in response to a request by the Department of Justice (via the Department of Education), 

          the  Resident  Manager  followed  up  an  earlier  request  of  1941  by  writing  to  the  Department  of 

           Education  confirming  his  willingness  to  have  the  school  registered  as  a  place  of  detention  for 

          youthful offenders. He agreed to accept eight boys without an increase in certification, and the 

           Department subsequently confirmed this. 



9.11      The  problem  of  falling  numbers  remained  and,  as  early  as  1955,  the  Visitor  discussed  the 

           uncertain future of industrial schools such as Tralee. The follow-up letter to the Visitation Report 

           noted that the boys’ apartments needed a ‘bit of a clean up’, but added that it was hard to ‘forecast 

          the future for such schools’. 



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----------------------- Page 427-----------------------

9.12        The decrease in the numbers of children being committed to industrial schools was referred to in 

            what appears to be an addendum to the 1961 Visitation Report: 



                  The  numbers  in  St.  Joseph’s,  Tralee,  are  at  present  quite  adequate  for  the  economic 

                  running of the establishment. This is due to [the Resident Manager], it is said, who secured 

                  some  thirty  pupils  from  St.  Philomena’s  Home  Stillorgan  for  Tralee  when  that  school 

                  closed down last year ... Both Glin and Tralee it seems, depend chiefly now on the junior 

                   Industrial School in Killarney for their supply. Local Councils and Boards of Assistance 

                  send  a  small  number  of  cases  each  year.  The  number  of  children  committed  to  these 

                  schools by the District Justices is said to be declining. Both District Justice in the Limerick 

                  and Kerry area are said to be antagonistic towards Industrial School education. Fosterage, 

                  boarding-out      and   adoption     are   now   considered      preferable    as   the  children    are   not 

                  segregated from society and it is said that pupils from Industrial Schools find it difficult to 

                  adjust themselves to ordinary life. Neither Superior would agree that this is the case and 

                  they have statistics to prove it. 



                  Both    Superiors    are   of  the  opinion    that  heavy    financial   loss   will be   sustained    if an 

                  amalgamation scheme is not prepared and effected at the beginning of the school year 

                   1962–63 ... 



                   Unless there is a change of policy on the part of District Justices and social workers it 

                  seems that the future of our Industrial Schools is rather uncertain. 



9.13        The  Resident  Manager  expressed  his  concern  about  the  falling numbers  to  the  Department  of 

            Education Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe1, who noted the matter in her reports for 1960, 1961 and 



                   2 

            1962. 



9.14        A meeting was held by the Department on 28th  September 1965, attended by representatives from 



            the  Rosminian  Order  that  ran  the  industrial  schools  at  Upton  and  Ferryhouse,  as  well  as  the 

            Provincials of both the St Helen’s and St Mary’s Provinces of the Christian Brothers. The Minister 

            made the position clear: 



                  the accommodation available in the schools was greater than the number of pupils and 

                  he wished to know whether the representatives would agree in principle to close some of 

                  the schools and thereby utilise the others more fully. 



9.15        The Minister ‘suggested tentatively’ that Ferryhouse, Tralee, Salthill and Glin should be closed. 

            The  two  Christian  Brother  Provincials  agreed  to  the  closure  of  Glin  and  Tralee,  but  no  clear 

            decision was made. The debate continued until 1966, when it was agreed that Upton and Glin 

            would be closed, and Tralee kept open. In August 1966, the Minister signed Orders directing that 

            10 boys be transferred from Upton and 28 boys be transferred from Glin to Tralee. In fact, Tralee 

            only stayed open for another three to four years after that, the last group of boys having left by 

            30th June 1970.3 



9.16        Notwithstanding the temporary increase in numbers brought about by these transfers, the numbers 

            continued  to  fall.  The  Kennedy  Committee  had  been  established and  it  was  widely  anticipated 

            that  it  would  recommend  a  gradual  closure  of  industrial  schools.  A  decision  was  made  by  the 

            Provincial Council of St Helen’s Province, to which Tralee belonged, that there would be no further 

            admissions from August 1968 and that Tralee would close in 1969. 



            1 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. See Department of 



              Education chapter, Vol. IV. 

            2 The Visitation Report for February 1960 records the total number in the primary school as being 119 and the Visitation 



              Report for May 1961 gave the total number of boys in Tralee as 130, with 107 boys on the roll in the primary school. 

            3 The 1969 Visitation Report refers to 35 boys being still in the School, and the Opening Statement says that by 30th 



              June 1970, the School had closed. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                           397 


----------------------- Page 428-----------------------

           Where the boys came from 



9.17      According  to  the  Opening  Statement  of  the  Congregation,  between  1940  and  1969  the  courts 

          committed  700  boys  to  Tralee.  Between  1948  and  1967,  a  further  122  boys  were  referred  to 

          Tralee  by  the  Boards  of  Health.  Of  those,  approximately  two-thirds  came  from  Dublin.  A  third 

          ‘minimal’ category of boys was those who were placed in the Institution on a voluntary basis and 

          they were known as ‘voluntaries’. 



9.18      These  700  boys  were  committed  because  of  destitution,  homelessness,  receiving  alms  and 

          wandering. They were also committed because of improper guardianship and non-attendance at 

          school. Because Tralee was a registered place of detention, a small number of boys were also 

          sent there for criminal offences, such as larceny, house-breaking and malicious damage. 



           The daily routine 



9.19      Numerous  daily  timetables  for  both  the  boys  and  the  Brothers  were  set  out  in  the  Visitation 

          Reports. The boys’ day started at 7.00am and ended at 9.00pm, and the daily routine was the 

          same as in all other industrial schools run by the Christian Brothers. The Saturday programme 

          allowed  some  extra  time    for  household  chores  and  showers,  distribution    of  bedclothes  and 

          additional recreation. A film was usually shown in the evening. On Sundays there was a talk from 

          the  chaplain  or  Resident  Manager  and  a  walk  or,  occasionally,  attendance  at  local  matches, 

          although one Brother said that boys were not as a rule encouraged to attend them. 



9.20      The  Brothers’  day  started  earlier,  at  6.10am,  and  ended  with  Conference  and  night  prayers  at 

          9.20pm. 



          Resident Managers 



9.21      As with other institutions, the Resident Manager affected the overall atmosphere of the Institution. 

          There were seven Resident Managers in Tralee throughout the period of this inquiry. Five served 

          for approximately six years, another served for two years, and a further Brother served for a matter 

          of weeks in the late 1960s. The system of Visitation Reports was used to monitor the performance 

          of Resident Managers, and the Brothers in the School could give their opinion on his work. The 

          Visitor appeared not to speak to the boys and, therefore, their experiences and views were not 

          taken into account. 



9.22      In the 1950s, there were two Resident Managers who appeared to take a genuine interest in the 

          School and who tried to improve conditions there. The first of these, however, was criticised by 

          ‘senior Brothers’ who found him too interfering. The follow-up  letter after one Visitation implied 

          that he should place more reliance on his Brothers and recommended he refrain from interference, 

          since  it  ‘may  produce  much  better  results’  in  the  Community.  In  the  late  1950s,  a  Resident 

          Manager was appointed who was noted for his kindness to the boys and the Brothers. A Visitation 

          Report remarked that he was regarded as a ‘kind father and guide’ by the boys and the Brothers. 



9.23      By contrast, a Resident Manager  who was appointed in the 1960s was clearly  unsuited to the 

          role. This was recognised by the Visitor who came to Tralee six months after his appointment. 

          That Visitor said that he was somewhat slow mentally and would require the advice and guidance 

          of an alert senior Brother: 



                Owing to his deafness, the present Sub-Superior leads a life somewhat apart but is always 

                ready and willing to help. Nobody else on the present staff would be a good substitute. 



9.24      The next Visitor said that the Resident Manager was ‘inclined to remain too much in his office and 

          it is said that he does not visit the school’. Much of this Resident Manager’s work was left to the 

          Brothers. The Report stated: 



          398                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 429-----------------------

                  The Superior  is kind and  considerate with the  community but it  would seem that  more 

                  generosity on his part towards the boys would have a very wholesome effect ... It has 

                  been pointed out to the Superior that it is necessary for him to assert his authority more. 

                  I can see that he has a good deal of office work to do between phone calls and callers 

                  and this perhaps distracts him from what should be his chief concern – the boys. 



9.25       Subsequent reports criticise his lack of support of the Brothers and his lack of engagement with 

           the School. In the final year of his appointment, the Visitor commented: 



                  There would seem to have  been a general neglect in the upkeep of  the premises and 

                  rightly or wrongly I place this at the responsibility of the Superior ... I have the impression 

                  that the Superior is a lazy man; he has no school work and, as far as I can find out, very 

                  little  supervision  duty.  This  puts  much  extra  work  on  the  staff.  In  short  the  place  has 

                  needed a leader.4 



9.26       The Visitor described the School as a ‘most depressing establishment’. 



9.27       During the years of this Resident Manager’s tenure, a number of serious allegations came to light 

           and were poorly handled by him. These are dealt with in more detail later.. 



9.28       The post of Resident Manager was central to the functioning of the School. Brothers and boys 

           benefited from a better quality of life under good ones, and conditions deteriorated under those 

           who were incompetent. 



           Physical abuse 



9.29       In their Opening Statement, the Christian Brothers addressed the question of physical punishment 

           of the boys. Under the heading ‘Corporal Punishment’ they discussed in general terms its use in 

           their schools, and under ‘Records of Abuse in St Joseph’s Tralee – Physical Abuse’ they detailed 

           the cases of documented abuse in their records. 



9.30       In the section under ‘Corporal Punishment’ they submitted that the system in use in the primary 

           school in St Joseph’s, Tralee was the same as that used in all national schools at the time. They 

           conceded that there were lapses when severe punishment was used, and they cited two examples 

           from the Visitation Reports, one in the 1940s and one in the 1960s. Apart from these concessions, 

           however,     the   Christian   Brothers    submitted    that  the   corporal   punishment      administered     was 

           acceptable by the standards of the time. If it was not, they insisted, appropriate action was taken: 



                  Assuredly,  there  were  occasional  lapses  in  the  administration  of  punishment,  and  the 

                  records show that when a serious breach of standards occurred, the matter was reported 

                  at the annual visitation when the Congregation authority visited the institution and reported 

                  on its functioning. On some occasions, the records show that the Resident Manager of 

                  the day secured the transfer of a brother from the staff of the institution because he, the 

                  Resident  Manager,  was  dissatisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  the  particular  Brother  in 

                  question disciplined the pupils. 



9.31       Under the heading ‘Records of Abuse’, the Congregation identified two former members of staff 

           as documented and acknowledged physical abusers of boys whilst they were in Tralee. Two other 

           Brothers  were  ‘instructed  to  temper  their  teaching  as  there  had  been  some  reports  of  severity 

           about    them’.  This   instruction   was   given   to  the  Brothers    by  letter  at  the  same    time   as  the 



           4 Prior to leaving, the Visitor gave the Resident Manager directions as to certain matters that should be attended to 



             without delay including cleaning the entrance path and flowerbeds, employing a woman to take over the care of the 

             laundry, teaching the boys table manners and providing them with washing facilities before dinner and tea time. These 

             were reiterated in a follow-up letter to the Resident Manager, without the reference to the paths and flowerbeds. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        399 


----------------------- Page 430-----------------------

           Congregation accepted their application for Final Vows. They were later on the teaching staff of 

           Tralee but there were ‘no records to show that they did not comply with the advice given them’. 



9.32       As a further example of how complaints were dealt with, they cited a case in the late 1960s when 

           allegations were made that a boy had been severely punished. The Opening Statement further 

           stated  that  the  Department  of  Education  had  taken  the  case  very  seriously  and,  following  an 

           investigation, it had accepted the explanation given on behalf of the Resident Manager. 



9.33       Although the Congregation reiterated its apology of 29th         March 1998 in its Opening Statement, the 



           only concessions it made with regard to physical abuse in Tralee were that occasional lapses in 

           the administration of punishment did occur and that there were five documented cases of severe 

           punishment in the records. In four out of the five documented cases, the Congregation suggested 

           that the matters were dealt with appropriately. Only in the case of Br Marceau, dealt with below, 

           did  the  Congregation  concede  that  his  withdrawal  from  the  School  ‘was  long  overdue  when  it 

           occurred’ and ‘the delay in taking firm action casts a shadow over the good work accomplished’ 

           by the Brothers in Tralee. 



9.34       All 15 former residents who gave evidence in Phase II made allegations of physical abuse. Some 

           former members of staff in their evidence admitted that the rules for corporal punishment were 

           broken in Tralee, either by themselves or by others, and that excessive punishment of children 

           did occur. 



           Documented cases of physical abuse: Br Eriq 



9.35       Br Eriq was in Tralee in the late 1930s. Three Visitation Reports referred to difficulties with this 

           Brother.  The first  Report said  that he  was ‘an  open mouthed  man and  seems to  be  lacking in 

           good sense’. It went on to say he was ‘harsh with the boys’, and that he ‘punishes them in ways 

           contrary to Rule and has the unhappy knack of setting them against him’. It found him ‘the least 

           suitable member of the staff’ on account of, amongst other things, his poor handling of the boys 

           and his severity and his clashes with the older boys. 



9.36       Despite the very clear concerns expressed in the first Report about his severity, in a follow-up 

           letter to the Resident Manager it was recommended that Br Eriq be appointed to a teaching post 

           and that the services of a lay teacher could be dispensed with. The lay teacher had left before 

           the next Visitation. 



9.37       The next Visitor noted that ‘instances of harsh treatment and severe punishment of boys’ by Br 

           Eriq had been brought to his attention and that he, along with Br Beaufort, had been warned of 

           the ‘possible evil consequences to the reputation of the school and to themselves personally of 

           immoderate punishment of the boys’. Both expressed regret and promised to be ‘more watchful 

           over themselves in their necessary correction of the boys’. 



9.38       The  following  Visitation  Report  again  singled  out  Br  Eriq  for  criticism  of  his  excessive  use  of 

           punishment: 



                 [He] gives way rather often to outbursts of ill temper and inflicts immoderate corporal on 

                 the  dull  children  in  his  class.  I  had  abundant evidence  that  the  charge  against  Br  Eriq 

                 is true. 



                 The Superior makes a strong appeal to have [him] changed at some future date and to 

                 get an additional Brother for the staff. 



9.39       Br Eriq was subsequently moved in the early 1940s to another school. He served in Artane for a 

           period of less than a year in the late 1940s. He left in April, not August, which was the usual time 

           for Brothers to be moved. 



           400                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 431-----------------------

 9.40      During the course of the Phase I hearing, when asked whether he had any comment to make on 

          the fact that this Brother was removed for immoderate corporal punishment and was then sent to 

          another school, Br Seamus Nolan said: 



                 Well,  he  went  to  another  school  with  a  warning  to  behave  himself  and  to  control  that 

                failure so there was a chance. He didn’t lapse again apparently. 



 9.41     The Opening Statement stated that the request by the Resident Manager to have Br Eriq removed 

          was a ‘practiced way of dealing with irregularities but in cases where the fault was a major one 

          the reason for the transfer was made clear to the perpetrator and was in effect a warning and 

           punishment for severity in school’. 



 9.42     One complainant, appearing before the Investigation Committee, said of this man: 



                 Yeah, he would hit you, he would hit you in a temper. He wasn’t a cold, sadistic sort of 

                man. He would hit you in a temper. He would lash out at you in a temper. But if you met 

                him the next day he would talk to you quite okay like. What you done with Br Eriq is the 

                best thing, try and keep out of his way in case he was in a bad mood ... He was just a 

                hot tempered man from what I could see of him. 



 9.43      He added that Br Eriq was ‘a bit of hard man...but he wasn’t consistently hard. He could actually 

          be quite reasonable’. 



 9.44      In their Statement to the Committee responding to the allegations of this complainant, the Christian 

           Brothers said that they were in no position to respond to the allegations by the complainant, but 

          the Brother was ‘known to be over severe in class and was transferred at the end of the school 

          year at the Superior’s request’. 



 9.45     •     Three  Visitation  Reports  revealed  that  Br  Eriq  had  failed  to  heed  warnings  about 

                excessive punishments. There was no reason to believe that moving him to another 

                school would have had any effect on his violent outbursts. A Brother with a known 

                propensity  for  violent  behaviour  should  not  have  been  sent  to  another  industrial 

                school where he could inflict such punishment on other children. 



          Documented cases of physical abuse: Br Marceau 



 9.46      Br  Marceau  was  acknowledged  by  the  Christian  Brothers  as  having  been  ‘in  serious  difficulty’ 

           regarding excessive corporal punishment before being assigned to Tralee in the early 1960s. He 

           had  had  a  long  history  of  inflicting  excessive  corporal  punishment  and  had  even  received  a 

          Canonical Warning because of it before arriving in Tralee. Although he was not a trained teacher, 

           he taught in several schools, both day and industrial, between the late 1940s and the late 1960s. 

           His  extraordinary  progress  from  one  Christian  Brothers’  school  to  another,  despite  his  severe 

           problems, was an illuminating one, and can be accurately followed because of the rare amount 

          of explicit detail and criticism found in the correspondence about him. 



 9.47     After Br Marceau was professed, his first posting was to a day school in Dublin, where he taught 

          the infant class for seven years from the late 1940s. 



 9.48     One Visitation Report for that school noted that he was ‘doing most efficient work’ and without 

           ‘any apparent severity’. When he left this school, the annals noted that he had given ‘wonderful 

          service to the College having been in charge of the Infant dept. during his period here’. 



 9.49      He was then transferred to a school in the Midlands. A Visitation Report for that school in the late 

           1950s gave the first indication of a potential problem about his over-severe use of punishment: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              401 


----------------------- Page 432-----------------------

                  Br  Marceau  is  a  most  energetic  teacher  and  his  pupils  have  made  unusually  good 

                 progress, nevertheless, the parents do not seem to have sufficient confidence in him. He 

                 was  a  little  too  severe,  but  he  has  overcome  that  difficulty  and  realises  the  ill-effects 

                 severity could have in a school of that kind. 



9.50       The next Visitor, 10 months later, found further fault with him. He wrote: 



                 The Superior considers him as lacking in common-sense and to be unpredictable. He has 

                 been slack in carrying out directions given by the Superior. In this he does not seem to 

                 act  through  malice  but  through  lack  of  understanding  ...  It  is  difficult  to  persuade  Br 

                  Marceau that he is at fault in any way. He has, however, promised to do his best to comply 

                 in every way with the Superior’s wishes. 



9.51       A letter written in the early 1960s to the Superior followed up these criticisms by offering advice 

           on how to deal with him: 



                  In the case of Br Marceau we consider that encouragement from time to time will help 

                 him. He feels isolated in the sense that he is not a qualified teacher. He does useful work 

                 but it seems he has not much common-sense. While encouraging him and being kind to 

                 him, which you are, it will be always necessary to be watchful lest he act foolishly. Insist 

                 on his carrying out your directions and curb his tendency to excessive interest in matters 

                 outside the scope of his own duties. 



9.52       These criticisms were vague, but the unease about his behaviour, his lack of common sense, his 

           lack of understanding and his inability to accept that he was at fault, was a persistent theme. 



9.53       This advice, however, had been overtaken by events, as the Superior had written to the Provincial 

           about Br Marceau the previous month and, in this letter, more specific complaints were made. 

           The  letter  referred  to  two  complaints  by  parents  about  excessive  corporal  punishment  of  their 

           children,  and  went  on  to  express  the  belief  that  the  Brother  would  not  change,  and  therefore 

           should  not  be  in  charge  of  boys  at  all.  The  details  contained  in  the  letter  were  so  explicit  and 

           disturbing that it merits being quoted in full: 



                  My v dear Br. Provincial 



                  I regret to have to report to you a case of excessive corporal punishment by Br Marceau. 

                 The mother of one of his pupils, aged 8 years came to me to-day and showed me the 

                 back of the child’s hand with lumps on it caused by a stick. She had already brought him 

                 to the Doctor for a certificate. The Doctor, she said, told her it was not the first case he 

                 had come across of excessive punishment administered by this Brother. The mother also 

                 told me she was awaiting the return of her husband from Dublin, before taking action, I 

                 presume - legal action. 



                  Last year, I had the humiliating experience of seeing the father of another boy, whom Br 

                  Marceau marked, take down his son’s pants in our parlour and show me the weals on the 

                 buttocks and legs. I did not report to you at that time as the father said he would let the 

                 matter end there and through charity, I gave Br Marceau a severe lecture and he promised 

                 me it wouldn’t happen again. On the present occasion, to-day, I have again spoken in no 

                 uncertain manner to the Brother. He told me he was sorry and that it wouldn’t happen 

                 again! I fear this Brother won’t be taught a lesson until he finds himself in Court. I don’t 

                 think he is fit to be in charge of boys at all, much less boys of five to nine years of age. 



                  I shall be grateful if you will advise me on this matter. 



9.54       The evidence against Br Marceau was mounting. Not just parents but the local doctor had also 

           come across cases of severe beatings by him. The Provincial’s response was immediate. In a 

           letter dated the next day, he wrote: 



           402                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 433-----------------------

                 My very dear Br. Superior, 



                 I very much regret the trouble that you are having over Br Marceau. There is little excuse 

                 for treating children as he has done. I sincerely hope that the parents will not bring on a 

                 court case. You must prevent that at all costs. We shall have to deal with this case as it 

                 deserves. This is the third such case that we had to deal with in recent times, and any 

                 one of them could have done very considerable harm to the Congregation if publicised. 

                 Please send Br Marceau here on Friday evening and if in the meantime anything further 

                 transpires you can let us know. 



9.55       The main concern expressed was not the severity of the punishment inflicted on the children but 

           the considerable harm that publicity would do to the Congregation. A court case was an outcome 

           to be avoided ‘at all costs’. 



9.56       The Superior arranged for Br Marceau to report to the Provincial, but also sent the Provincial a 

           letter  the  following  day  to  warn  him  that  Br  Marceau  would  try  to  minimise  the  whole  thing.  It 

           pointed out that Br Marceau had deliberately cut his cane in half to make it appear it was a light 

           cane, and again reiterated that the Brother ignored instructions and remained a danger to boys. 

           Again, the detailed nature of the criticism warrants the letter being quoted extensively: 



                 My very dear Br Provincial, 



                 I thank you for your letter received to-day. I shall send Br Marceau on the train, leaving 

                 here at 3pm. He should be in Dublin at 6.30pm. I have not heard anything further from ... 

                 the mother of the boy in question. She told me that her husband ... was in Dublin and 

                 would not be back until Friday. Meanwhile the boy has been kept from School. 



                 I should like to point out that Br Marceau will probably try to minimise the whole thing, 

                 with  you.  He   has   always   adopted    this attitude  with   me.  “I only   gave   him  a  tip”. I 

                 consequently  insisted  on  his  coming  to  the  parlour  on  each  occasion  and  seeing  the 

                 results of the “tip”. If I didn’t, he would say I exaggerated the whole thing. I assure you, I 

                 saw  the  weals  on  the  body  of  the  Solicitor’s  son  and  now  on  the  hand  of  [this  boy]  I 

                 demanded the stick from Br Marceau and when I received it, it had been cut in two. I got 

                 half a stick. I may be wrong in thinking he deliberately cut it to make it appear it was a 

                 light cane. Finally, Br Marceau has not much sense or judgment and is capable of doing 

                 the most foolish things. As I stated in my last letter, he is a danger to boys. He will tell 

                 you he is sorry as he told me, but it happens “again”. Br Cheyne (ex novice master) told 

                 me of another case of a boy here in [name of town] who was severely punished by Br 

                 Marceau. He asked me not to say anything to Br Marceau about it but warned me to be 

                 careful in watching Br Marceau in this respect. I have forbidden Br Marceau on more than 

                 one occasion, to use a stick or leather. He ignores my directions completely. 



9.57       The Provincial saw Br Marceau and informed the Superior of the precise outcome in his letter: 



                 My very dear Br. Superior, 



                 We had Br Marceau before the Council this morning, and we have given him a Canonical 

                 warning in writing which is a very serious thing for him but there was nothing else that 

                 would be of any use and that the position had become serious. We explored every avenue 

                 to see if we could transfer him somewhere else but we just did not find it possible as he 

                 has  no  qualification  for  the  ordinary  schools  and  we  had  upset  the  others  so  much. 

                 Waterpark was a possibility but on account of the precarious position there in finance and 

                 in numbers we could not risk putting him in charge of the young children there just now. 

                 I expect however that he will do well with you now as he has been made to fully realise 

                 the seriousness of his position. I hope that the matter will end without court proceedings. 

                 If you can, get the child back to school. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 403 


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9.58       Despite warnings that the Brother would not change or heed advice, the Provincial was willing to 

           put the young children of the School at risk again by keeping the Brother there. 



9.59       The Christian Brothers no longer have a copy of the Canonical Warning issued to this Brother, 

           but its ineffectiveness soon became apparent. Less than nine months after the Canonical Warning, 

           the Superior had to report further transgression. He wrote to the Brother Consultor: 



                 My v dear Brother Consultor, 



                 Br Marceau is again in trouble. Last night, a [parent] called on me. He charged Br Marceau 

                 with pulling hair out of his son’s head. I brought Br Marceau to see the son and hear the 

                 charge. Br Marceau denied it and [the parent] called him a “liar”, and said he believes his 

                 son, who on  being questioned would not admit the  Brother did it until he  was assured 

                 there would be no fear of consequences on telling the truth! [The parent] said on leaving, 

                 he would take his own action next time it happened – he would not go to the Superior or 

                 [text illegible] into Br Marceau’s room and deal with him, not with “Kid gloves” either. 



                 I intended investigating this matter to-day (Sat), but had not time, as Monsignor O’Byrne 

                 called  in.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  [the  parent].  I  may  be  wrong,  of  course.  Anyway  Br 

                 Marceau told me to-day the two ... boys in his class should be put out until such time as 

                 their father apologises! I had reason a month or so ago to talk to Br Marceau on another 

                 matter  and  he  accused  me  rather  passionately  of  exaggerating things  last  year  to  you 

                 and  the  Br  Provincial.  In  all,  he  is  the  “innocent”  one,  and  we  are  all  against  him.  He 

                 believes this and though he has zeal and works hard, he has no common sense. 



                 I mentioned some time ago when writing you, that I have still to face angry parents and 

                 submit to insults. I am not going to interview another parent who comes to complain about 

                 Br Marceau. I am sick and tired of it all. Please do not write to him on the matter. He will 

                 deny everything. And I shall appear a “greater” enemy in his eyes. 



9.60       There is a note of despair in the letter. The Superior’s many pleas for action to be taken had come 

           to nothing and now Br Marceau was shifting the blame onto him. His apparent helplessness is 

           puzzling: faced with continued violence  against his pupils, he seemed to have no  power to do 

           anything but complain. It seemed he did not even have the power to suspend Br Marceau. 



9.61       He had also  seen a young boy too frightened  to blame Br Marceau for  fear of punishment for 

           telling the truth, yet his major concern was not for the boy. His letter was above all about his own 

           dilemma of how to cope with Br Marceau and other potentially irate parents. 



9.62       The Brother Consultor’s reply was also despondent and gave no expectation of prompt action. 

           He wrote: 



                 My very dear Brother Superior, 



                 We are indeed sorry to learn that Br Marceau has occasioned more trouble for you. At 

                 your request, I shall not write to Br Marceau about the matter for the present. You are 

                 requested, however, to try to get, if possible, the correct version of the incident that caused 

                 the complaint. The matter can then be raised at Visitation time or before then if necessary. 



9.63       Unable to deal with Br Marceau, the Superior’s one hope was to get the Visitor to take action. By 

           return of post, he protested that he had already got the truth of the matter, and he gave further 

           details. He went on to implore the Brother Consultor to remove Br Marceau from the School: 



                 My v. dear Brother Consultor, 



                 I thank you for your letter received to-day. I was indeed sorry to have to write you again 

                 about Br Marceau, but I could not help it. He will never learn his lesson. I interviewed this 

                 young boy ... aged nine, today. He states Br Marceau pulled hair out of his head, for doing 

                 the wrong sums. I asked him about other boys probably seeing it and he said that they 



           404                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 435-----------------------

                  may have. I don’t want to question other boys in Br Marceau’s class. I asked this young 

                  boy too if he was asked since Friday – the day it happened, about the matter. He told me 

                  Br Marceau said that he [the boy] was telling lies and he admitted it, but it was true that 

                  Br  Marceau  pulled  his  hair  out,  as  he  did  in  June,  when  his  mother  complained.  Why 

                  should this boy make up the story or why should his father come here in such a violent 

                  temper? Br Marceau still maintains he did not pull his hair out, and wants me to take some 

                  action against the father of the boy for his “threats”! Incidentally, I warned Br Marceau not 

                  to talk to the boy about the incident and yet I have it from the boy as also from Br Marceau 

                  that he questioned him again yesterday. After this incident of punishing last year, the then 

                  Br. Provincial wrote me that he contemplated sending Br Marceau to Waterpark but there 

                  were difficulties. In view of the past history; I expected Br Marceau would be transferred 

                  in  Summer.  I  wrote  you  on  this  matter  since  Summer.  Believe  me,  there  is  nothing 

                  personal in this. I am writing in the interests of the School, as well as in Br Marceau’s 

                  interest. He would not make a good impression if there was a Court Case. I have forbidden 

                  Br Marceau to use a leather and it possible he is using his hands now. I heard him at 

                  times shouting at these unfortunate children. He has done a lot of harm to the School by 

                  his severity. He really is not responsible; for, his IQ is that of a young child. 



                  In conclusion; this is the fourth complaint and I hope the last here; but I doubt it. If there 

                  is another, I am not meeting the people concerned. They may go where they like with the 

                  complaint. I suggest transferring Br Marceau at Christmas; it may be easier then. If you 

                  have no Brother, I could try and get a lady teacher. Please do not take me as dictating to 

                  you, but I see no Solution except a transfer. You could ask Br Reymond or any Brother 

                  here   about   Br  Marceau.     Br  Reymond      also   agrees    with  me   that  this  Brother    is not 

                  responsible. He is a bit mental. As I stated already, your writing Br Marceau will not help. 

                  He is denying everything; so it is his word against a boy’s. As regards the mark in the 

                  head  of  [the  boy].  I  examined  it  and  it  is  about  the  size  of  a  sixpenny  piece.  It  is  not 

                  noticeable with the rest of the hair pulled over it. 



9.64       The  letter  was  unrelenting  in  its  criticism  of  Br  Marceau.  The  Superior  made  it  clear  that  the 

           violence would continue, and that he had seen the physical evidence of the violence – the bald 

           patch on the boy’s head where the hair had been pulled out. The facts were overwhelming. He 

           implored that the Brother be speedily transferred. The Brother Consultor’s reply offered no quick 

           solution: 



                  My very dear Br Superior, 



                  Thanks for your letter re. Br Marceau, received this morning. The whole matter will have 

                  to come before this Council in due time. There are only two here at present, Br Tavin and 

                  myself. Br Marceau did get a canonical warning early in the year and apparently there 

                  has been a recurrence of the fault. 



                  I suggest that for the present you should point out to Br Marceau the seriousness of his 

                  position at present. That may be a restraint on him. 



                  You mentioned his being removed at Christmas. You ought to investigate the possibility 

                  of getting a lady-teacher for the junior classes. Would Miss O’Neill5            be able for that work? 



                  When you learn of a satisfactory solution to the difficulty – without, however, making any 

                  definite arrangement – please communicate with us and there may then be the possibility 

                  of changing Br Marceau. 



                  ...  I  am  hoping  that  you  will  be  able  to  get  a  suitable  person  to  look  after  the  young 

                  children. That seems to be the best solution to the trouble. 



9.65       The Brother Consultor could not remove a physically abusive teacher without having replacement 

           staff. This fact suggested the harm and injury being inflicted on young children was secondary to 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      405 


----------------------- Page 436-----------------------

           the staffing problem. The dilemma of where to put Br Marceau, to avoid the wrath of parents and 

           the threat of litigation, was solved when he was moved to an industrial school. Br Marceau was 

           transferred  to  Tralee  less  than  two  months  after  the  Brother  Consultor  wrote  the  above  letter. 

           There  was  no  evidence  to  suggest  that  the  Superior  there  was  warned  about  him  before  he 

           arrived. 



           Br Marceau in Tralee 



9.66       Within weeks, it became apparent that the move to Tralee made no difference to the behaviour 

           of Br Marceau. The Visitation Report soon after his arrival stated that Br Marceau did not seem 

           to be ‘quite normal and would appear to be deteriorating mentally’. He was evidently ‘lacking in 

           good sense’. This precisely echoed the criticism made several times by his previous school. 



9.67       The follow-up letter to the Resident Manager noted that this Brother ‘may perhaps be inclined to 

           be  rather  too  exacting’  and,  accordingly,  the  Resident  Manager  would  have  to  ensure  that  his 

           ‘zeal’  for  the  children’s  progress  did  not  get  the  better  of  him.  The  diplomatic  choice  of  words 

           reiterated the criticism that the Brother was too strict and would have to be watched to prevent 

           him doling out excessive punishment to boys for not learning quickly enough. 



9.68       Seven months later, Br Marceau was transferred to Glin, where he remained for over a year and 

           a  half,  when  he  was  transferred  back  to  Tralee.  The  reason  for  the  transfer,  according  to  the 

           Christian Brothers, was a staffing problem. They then suggested that it may have been to assist 

           an elderly Brother, who also arrived in Glin at the same time. There remains uncertainty about 

           the matter. 



           Br Marceau in Glin 



9.69       A full account of Br Marceau’s behaviour at Glin is covered in the chapter on that institution Briefly, 

           he was involved in an incident where a boy called him a ‘Madman’ and, by his own account, he 

           ended up hitting the boy ‘a few slaps on the hands’. That evening a swelling was noticed on the 

           boy’s jaw, and he accused Br Marceau of hitting him on the jaw with his fist. An X-ray revealed 

           the right mandible was cracked. Br Marceau was moved, within a matter of days, back to Tralee. 

           He did not receive another Canonical Warning. The letter notifying him of his impending move 

           warned him about his behaviour. It stated that he was wrong to repeatedly question a boy to force 

           him to reveal the names of other boys who used the nickname ‘Madman’. His disregard for the 

           Superior’s  authority  was  ‘most  reprehensible’.  And  he  had  made  ‘a  mockery  of  the  Superior’s 

           position of authority in regard to the boys’. The letter continued: 



                 I hope you will do good work in training the poor boys of Tralee and in making their lives 

                 happy. Certainly your supervision must be keen but let it not be too obvious or prying. 

                 Pray  for  patience  to  put  up  with  annoyance  without  losing  your  temper  ---  a  Christian 

                 Brother  who  has  not  trained  himself  to  do  that  is  a  failure.  And  respect  the  Superior’s 

                 authority. 



9.70       It appears that an inquiry was then carried out by the Department of Education into this incident, 

           as there was a letter sent by Br Marceau denying that he struck the boy in the face and saying 

           that  he  had  nothing  to  add  to  the  recent  conversation  (presumably  with  a  Department  official) 

           in Tralee. 



9.71       Br  Seamus  Nolan  confirmed  at  the  Phase  I  hearing  that  an  inspector  had  been  sent  by  the 

           Department of Education to investigate this matter. He also said: 



                 The upshot I think for peace sake he was removed and I think the Department eased off, 

                 they didn’t really press the matter once they felt that he was no longer in that particular 

                 school. 



           406                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 437-----------------------

           Br Marceau’s return to Tralee 



9.72       Br Marceau arrived back in Tralee almost 18 months after having left. There was no indication on 

           any of the material discovered to the Committee that the Resident Manager in Tralee was told 

           why Br Marceau was being transferred there. One Visitation Report noted that Br Marceau was 

           ‘doing well at present and the answering of his class in Irish was good’. He was teaching fourth 

           standard at the time. 



9.73       A later Visitation Report, however, expressed concern about him. It mentioned he was not on the 

           ‘official staff’: 



                  [Br Marceau] is a problem and a constant source of worry and anxiety to the Superior. He 

                  has a persecution complex, among others, and is unpredictable. At the moment his chief 

                  preoccupation is trying to recover a set of tools which he believes the Superior has taken 

                  and his enquiries have extended to the men in the Shops. He has several tea chests and 

                  cases of nondescript “property” stored away under lock and key and is constantly adding 

                  to his store. The Superior has a big job in keeping him under surveillance ... 



                  Br Marceau has a class of eleven boys but his stock of visual aids would supply several 

                  classes. I counted seventeen blackboards in his classroom. Most of his charts deal with 

                  Irish – lists of verbs, nouns, etc. – and he maintains that much time is saved. The children 

                  are tense and answer mechanically and are “encouraged” to use the time before class 

                  and other recess periods for learning off these lists and other lessons. He has beaten one 

                  of  these  boys  severely,  with  the  usual  “black  eye”  result  and  boxed  the  ears  of  the 

                  youngest boy in the place, who attends the Convent School, but, as always, he denies 

                  everything when challenged and convinces himself that he is telling the truth. He made a 

                  strong appeal to the Visitor to have the Canonical Warning he received for such an offence 

                  annulled and he has consulted priests about this. It is preying on his mind. 



9.74       This Visitation Report contained all the criticisms that the Superior of the school in the Midlands 

           had  made  some  years  before:  Br  Marceau  was  using  excessive  corporal  punishment,  he  was 

           causing actual bodily harm to the boys, and could not be disciplined as he could see no wrong in 

           himself. In the follow-up letter to the Resident Manager, he was advised: 



                  It appears that  it is still necessary to keep  Br Marceau under surveillance and  that his 

                  indiscretions are liable to give rise to embarrassing situations ... he must be absolutely 

                  forbidden to punish the children. 



9.75       The  next  year,  the  Visitor  observed  that  Br  Marceau,  ‘who  has  a  small  class  (10),  seems  to 

           have steered clear of trouble (corporal punishment) during the year. He is very painstaking in the 

           preparation of his work but lacks prudence’. He was teaching second and third standards, and 

           one class in fourth standard. 



9.76       Subsequently, however, the problem recurred. The next Visitor found him ‘most devoted’ but he 

           still criticised his behaviour and his potential for being a ‘danger’. He wrote: 



                  [He]  had  a  few  breaks  re  punishment,  not  TOO  serious,  but  he  is  always  a  potential 

                  danger, and difficult to convince. I have warned of this danger and told him that there is 

                  to be no punishment except in the approved method and that as little as possible. He is 

                  inclined to lose control of himself and then anything could happen. 



9.77       Br Seamus Nolan, at the Phase I hearing, commented on this situation: 



                  It was perfectly obvious that there was to be no more of this. He would have told the local 

                  person,   the  Provincial   Superior,    that  [Br  Marceau]    would    have   to  be  removed     from 

                  teaching. In the meantime I think the Provincial Superior already had that power and it 

                  wasn’t exercised unfortunately. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       407 


----------------------- Page 438-----------------------

 9.78     Contrary  to  Br  Nolan’s  interpretation  of  Br  Marceau’s  removal,  there  is  no  evidence  that  Br 

          Marceau was prevented from finishing the academic year as a teacher. At the end of the school 

          year, the internal national school closed down anyway. He was not removed from the Institution 

          and still had access to the children for over a year after the Visitation Report mentioned above. 



 9.79     A later Visitor wrote that Br Marceau was ‘completely useless as an efficient staff member. He is 

          not  teaching  and  while  the  boys  are  at  school  he  is  free  all  day.  He  cannot  be  given  any 

          responsibility even in the evening time with the boys’. 



 9.80     Br Marceau was transferred from Tralee to St Helen’s, Booterstown in the late 1960s. According 

          to the Christian Brothers, he did not teach again. 



 9.81     The inadequacy of the Resident Manager appointed to Tralee in the 1960s was discussed above. 

          He was considered by the Visitors to be lazy, disengaged and mentally slow. Such a man was 

          clearly unable  to protect the  children in  his care from  the unpredictable violence  of a  man like 

          Br Marceau. 



          Attitude of the Christian Brothers to Br Marceau’s excesses and the action taken 



 9.82     This Brother continued to teach and inflict extreme punishment on boys for 10 years. His behaviour 

          was severe and excessive and was known at the time to the Leadership of the Congregation. 



 9.83     The  Opening  Statement  said  that  the  Brother’s  ‘withdrawal  from  a  teaching  and  supervisory 

          capacity in the school was long overdue when it occurred’. At the Phase I hearing, Br Seamus 

          Nolan acknowledged that this Brother should not have been sent to Tralee after what happened 

          in Glin. He could not explain it. He accepted that Br Marceau should have been removed before 

          leaving the school in the Midlands. At the Phase III hearing, he also acknowledged that it was 

          ‘absolutely  indefensible  and  extremely  difficult  to  understand,  impossible  to  understand  how  it 

          [was]  allowed   to  go  on  for  so  long’. He   claimed   the  Brother  was   there  ‘essentially  as  a 

          supernumerary to help out, not in an official capacity, and maybe the idea was that perhaps some 

          supervision would be enough for him. But he had also failed on that in other occasions’. 



 9.84     In short, no explanation could be proffered by the Christian Brothers as to why this individual was 

          permitted to continue to have control over children in several different schools. 



 9.85     Br Nolan also stated during the Phase I hearing that he believed that Brothers in Tralee would 

          have   complained    about  Br  Marceau,    but  that there  were   no  written reports  apart  from  the 

          Visitation Reports. 



 9.86     Br Nolan confirmed that transferring a Brother was a mark of disapproval, but he was still unable 

          to explain the leniency shown towards Br Marceau. 



 9.87     In their Final Submissions to the Committee, the Christian Brothers accepted that: 



                 •    there had been a failing in how the Congregation dealt with this Brother; 

                 •    his removal from teaching should have taken place earlier; and 

                 •    the  response  of  the  Congregation  to  the  problem  had  been  ‘inadequate’,  possibly 

                       partially due to the view of Brothers that it was not appropriate for them to interfere 

                      with the work of another Brother. 



          Evidence of Other Members of Staff 



 9.88     Four  former  members  of  staff  at  Tralee  were  asked  about  Br  Marceau  in  evidence.  The  first 

          Brother, Br Bevis, had no comment to make on him. He did not recollect ever seeing him punish 

          a boy. 



          408                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 439-----------------------

9.89       The second Brother, Br Aribert, noted that Br Marceau had problems with the boys. He and the 

           other Brothers did not agree with Br Marceau’s methods of teaching and punishment. He said he 

           could be a bit severe at times. He also said that he should have been able to complain to someone 

           about  this  Brother,  but  could  not.  He  accepted  that  Br  Bevis  would  have  had  the  authority  to 

           discipline Brothers, but that did not seem to happen. 



9.90       The third Brother, Br Mahieu, said that Br Marceau would never have been asked to supervise a 

           dormitory, as he would have caused trouble. In his view, he should never have been a teacher or 

           put into a teaching situation,  ‘He just hadn’t got a clue about controlling kids’. He described Br 

           Marceau as a religious fanatic who also had difficulty in controlling himself.6             He accepted that Br 



           Marceau     was    violent  but  he   did  not,  however,    remember      any   specific  incidents   other   than 

           shouting. He said he seemed a little strange. 



9.91       A fourth Brother, Br Lisle, said Br Marceau was  ‘very, very strict’ and a ‘little bit eccentric’. He had 

           no time for the pupils at all. He could not, however, say what went on in the classroom because 

           he was not there. He said Br Marceau thought everyone was against him. He did not remember 

           a boy with a black eye, but did name the youngest boy in the school, who was four or five at the 

           time, whose ears were boxed by Br Marceau. He said he never challenged Br Marceau about what 

           he did because he, Br Lisle, had nothing to do with the school. That was the job of the Principal. 



           What Br Marceau himself said of his disciplinary methods 



9.92       The Christian Brothers at one point sent questionnaires to various Brothers for response. These 

           dealt with the running of the industrial schools. A questionnaire was sent to Br Marceau, and in it 

           he said of his disciplinary methods: 



                  You were expected to handle your own discipline problems. I was humane in my treatment 

                  but I also used the lamh laidir.7     I also used competition among the pupils, and rewards. 



9.93       He went on to say that he thought that most of the allegations made against the Christian Brothers, 

           including those made against him, were false. 



           Oral evidence given by complainants 



9.94       Br Marceau was in Tralee for eight months in the early 1960s, and for six and a half years later 

           that decade. The Investigation Committee heard a number of serious complaints of physical abuse 

           against this individual. A number of these complainants also alleged sexual abuse against him, 

           and these are outlined in the section dealing with sexual abuse in Tralee. 



9.95       A former resident said he thought Br Marceau was  ‘the worst’ of all the Brothers. The boys knew 

           when to avoid him. His moods could change at any time and he would turn on them both in and 

           out of the classroom. He recounted an incident when the boys were playing under an alleyway 

           and Br Marceau swung a hurley at them. The boy in front of him ducked and the hurley hit the 

           complainant on the back of the head. Bleeding from his nose, he was taken to the nurse to be 

           cleaned up and then he went to bed. Not long after this incident, he was taken to an ophthalmic 

           surgeon  in  Tralee,  who  put  a  patch  on  his  good  eye,  telling  him  he  had  a  lazy  eye.  He  was 

           prescribed glasses and put the patch over the good eye but a week later he had to remove the 

           patch because he could not see with the  ‘eye going bad’. The other boys were also laughing at 

           him. The complainant stated that, years later, an eye specialist told him he had a detached retina, 

           which he, the complainant, believed had occurred as a result of the blow by Br Marceau. 



           6 He said that he thought it was probably another Brother (Br Cheney, the Principal at that time) who made the decision 



             that he was to be kept away from the dormitories but he ‘would totally agree with that’. 

           7 ‘Strong hand’ in Irish. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       409 


----------------------- Page 440-----------------------

9.96       He also told a story about a swimming trip where the water was freezing. Nobody wanted to get 

           into the water but Br Marceau had a ‘set’ against one particular boy and tried to make him get in. 

           All the boys started to throw small pebbles at the Brother and it caused a riot. The boys all ran 

           back to Tralee, breaking windows and glass on the way. 



9.97       Another witness recalled that a boy had received a package at Little Christmas (6th              January) and 



           the gift inside was a broken cap gun. The boy told Br Marceau it was broken, and he called him 

           ‘an ungrateful wretch’ and gave him a black eye and swollen face. 



9.98       Another complainant recalled Br Marceau and one of the boys getting into a fight about the boy 

           being late for church. That night the complainant saw Br Marceau coming to the dormitory with a 

           hammer up his sleeve. The next day he saw the boy who had been involved in the fight with Br 

           Marceau and his face was ‘all swollen, one eye was closed and the other one was only half open’. 

           The complainant asked the boy what had occurred, and he told him that Br Marceau had hit him 

           with a hammer. 



9.99       This complainant also said that Br Marceau would give the boys in first and second class charts 

           to learn at night and, if they did not know them in the morning, ‘they were in for a hammering’. He 

           was in third class next door at the time and would  ‘hear all the lads screaming and shouting’. The 

           second time Br Marceau was in Tralee, two other Brothers (including the school Principal) would 

           wander through to keep an eye on him and to see he was not giving the young boys a hard time.8 



           This level of supervision is consistent with the Visitation Reports and the oral evidence of other 

           Christian Brothers. 



9.100      This complainant also referred to Br Marceau’s habit of urinating in the classroom, saying that he 

           used to have a bucket in the class that he ‘used as a loo’. 



9.101      Another witness, who made allegations of being beaten several times by Br Marceau, alleged that 

           Br Marceau used to lock the classroom door during classes. He was very strict in class: 



                 One minute he was talking to you and the next minute he could turn around and hit you 

                 with something, whatever it was. The nearest thing to his hand, he would hit you with ... 

                 It could be anything. It could be a bunch of keys he had in his pocket. He would take out 

                 the biggest key, which was the key to the classroom door, and he would hit you in the 

                 head with that. Or he would take the duster which had a wooden back, he would throw it 

                 at you. He would bang your head off the wall. Sometimes he would give you the edge of 

                 the ruler down the back of your hand. He would lift the top of the desk, he would put your 

                 fingers in the desk and slam the desk down on top of your fingers ... If you dropped a 

                 pencil while he was doing something he would call you up to the front of the classroom 

                 and he would given you a beating for it because you disturbed him. He was just a violent 

                 tempered man. 



9.102      On one occasion in the band room, Br Marceau had one of the older boys on the ground and he 

           was  ‘giving [him] the heel of his boot down on the back of the head’. He said that this Brother 

           was  the  type  of  person  who  would  ‘just  turn.  He  got  violent  for  no  reason,  he  just  had  a  very 

           bad temper’. 



           Discovery to the Committee of documentation regarding Br Marceau by the Christian 

           Brothers 



9.103      Given   the   seriousness    of  Br  Marceau’s     history  with  the   Congregation,     it was   a  matter   of 

           considerable  concern  that  significant  correspondence  was  not  discovered  to  the  Investigation 

           Committee until 12th    January 2006, two days after the public hearing in respect of this Institution. 



           8 The two Brothers referred to were Br Mahieu and Br Cheney. 



           410                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 441-----------------------

           The solicitors for the Christian Brothers explained that this, and other material furnished at the 

           same time, came to light as a result of further searches of archival material in the possession of 

           the Congregation and ‘new collections’ being acquired by the archive since the main discovery 

           had been made. The majority of the letters quoted above and in the Glin chapter regarding the 

           ‘cracked    jaw’  incident   were   not   furnished   to  the   Investigation   Committee      with  the  original 

           discovered documents in relation to Tralee or Glin by the Christian Brothers. Although additional 

           material   was   uncovered     by   the  Congregation’s     archivist  and   forwarded     to their  solicitors  in 

           December 2005, the Christian Brothers said: 



                  Unfortunately due to the ongoing hearing of the end of the Artane modules these were 

                  not looked at and their true significance noted by the writer until the 12/01/06. The delay 

                 furnishing these documents is very much regretted. 



9.104      The importance of these documents, recording as they do a serious incident of physical abuse 

           concerning a Brother in an institution that was about to be the subject matter of a public hearing, 

           should have been apparent.. 



9.105      •     Br  Marceau  was  violent  and  dangerous  and  known  to  be  a  risk  to  children,  but  the 

                 Congregation did nothing to protect them. 



           •     This  Brother’s  understanding  was  deficient,  he  was  irresponsible,  he  was  out  of 

                 control,  he  did  not  respond  to  warnings  or  advice,  he  could  not  be  disciplined,  he 

                 was  manifestly  in  denial  about  his  behaviour  and  he  was  unqualified  to  teach.  The 

                 Congregation  moved  this  man  from  one  institution  to  another  in  disregard  of  the 

                 interests of the children. 



           •    It was particularly irresponsible to move this Brother to an industrial school, where his 

                 unpredictable and uncontrollable violence was unlikely to lead to parental complaints 

                 or litigation. 



           •     The  Congregation  said  in  their  Submission,  ‘His  withdrawal  from  a  teaching  and 

                 supervisory capacity in the school was long overdue when it occurred’, but they did 

                 not  explain  why  the  full  range  of  sanctions  open  to  them  was  not  used.  Despite  a 

                 succession  of  physically  abusive  incidents  that  made  it  clear  he  was  a  danger  to 

                 children, he was only once given a Canonical Warning, and that was before he began 

                 his periods of teaching in industrial schools. 



           •    The failures of the Congregation led to a great deal of unnecessary suffering and fear 

                 in vulnerable children in their care. 



           Documented cases of physical abuse: Br Jules 



9.106      The letters referred to in the Opening Statement by the Congregation, in which two Brothers were 

           instructed to ‘temper their teaching’ before taking their Final Vows, were amongst a number of 

           letters  written  in  the  1930s  by  the  Superior  General  of  the  Congregation  to  newly  professed 

           Brothers  who  went  on  to  serve  in  Tralee  and  other  industrial  schools  throughout  the  period  of 

           this Investigation. 



9.107      These letters were contained in the Rome Documents discovered to the Investigation Committee 

           in 2004. Three of these letters had also been held in the Irish archives.9 



9.108      The first of these letters was written in the mid-1930s. Br Jules was sent a letter congratulating 

           him on being admitted to perpetual vows. The letter also stated: 



                 You incline to the harsh side in school both in language and in inflicting bodily pain. Pupils 

                  hate sarcasm and they have a keen sense of what is just and fair in punishment. If you 



           9 The letters to Br Sebastien, Br Millard and Br Beaufort mentioned below. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      411 


----------------------- Page 442-----------------------

                  would  secure respect  for  yourself  and for  your  teaching be  kind  and  just towards  your 

                  pupils. It is said you are a poor student yourself. Perhaps it is due to your failure to make 

                  preparation for your work as a teacher that your pupils are made to suffer doubly. 



9.109      This letter was sent to Br Jules whilst he was in Artane. He had previously worked in Tralee for 

           a  number  of  years,  where  his  behaviour  had  also  come  to  the  attention  of  the  Provincial  and 

           a Visitor.10 



9.110      While  in  Tralee,  Br  Jules  wrote  to  the  Provincial  in  response  to  an  inquiry  made  relating  to  ‘a 

           special  physical  training’  given  to  a  boy  whose  ‘bodily  structure’  was  ‘abnormal’.  The  Brother 

           explained that the Industrial School Inspector had advised him to give the boy in question special 

            physical training. The boy failed to perform the exercise on this occasion, though formerly he had 

            been capable of doing so. He went on to say in the letter to the Provincial: 



                  Appealing to him several times I found that there was no improvement whatsoever. Not 

                  understanding what was wrong with the boy I gave him a few slaps whilst he was in this 

                  bent position (about four slaps). 



                  After this punishment I again asked him to perform the exercise. He then started to cry 

                  and said it hurt him to bend as his back was sore. 



                  On further inquiry he told me that he had been beaten on the back by the teacher, and 

                  that he got a kick from one of the boys whilst at play. He received this injury on the hip. 



                  Had I known that this boy was suffering in this way I would have not asked him to perform 

                  this drill exercise much less punish him. 



9.111       Less than a month later, the Visitor commented on Br Jules’s methods of discipline: 



                  Br Jules has his boys in a state of terror. He maintains a harsh, unnatural discipline. His 

                  boys show this. At times he has been very severe and has treated individual boys in a 

                  cruel manner ... Were it not for the occasional outbreaks of severity on the part of Br Jules 

                  and his general harsh manner in dealing with them, the school would hold a high place 

                  amongst our Institutions. 



9.112      This Brother had been due to take his perpetual vows that year but was rejected. The following 

           year,  it  was  noted  that  he  had  been  ‘too  exacting  in  school’.  He  showed  ‘little  devotedness  to 

           study’ and was ‘troublesome, crossgrained’. It was concluded that he ‘has not had good record – 

           doubtful candidate’. He was, however, ultimately allowed to take his vows a year later. 



9.113       Br Jules moved from Tralee to Artane, where he stayed for over 15 years. He later worked as 

            Resident Manager in Glin in the 1950s. Br Jules is considered in the reports on Artane and Glin. 

            His tenure in Glin as Resident Manager was marked by a less harsh disciplinary regime than had 

            previously been in place. 



           Documented cases of physical abuse: Br Sebastien 



9.114       In  a  letter  to  Br  Sebastien  written  in  the  late  1930s,  confirming  that  he  had  been  admitted  to 

            perpetual vows, there was a reference to ‘two rather serious faults’. One was his ‘severity to the 

            boys’, which was described as ‘indefensible’ and ‘in every way against the canons of the teaching 

            profession’.  It  went  on  to  state  that  ‘Punishment  in  a  moderate  way  is  allowed;  but  severity  is 

           altogether to be avoided. It injures the boy’s feelings and never produces real improvement’. 



9.115      This Brother worked in Artane in the 1930s and in Salthill in the early 1940s, followed by Tralee 

           for two years. He did not teach in any industrial schools after leaving Tralee. He did, however, 

           continue to teach in day schools until the late 1960s. 



           10  He had also worked in Carriglea in the early 1930s. 



           412                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 443-----------------------

           Documented cases of physical abuse: Br Beaufort 



9.116      A  letter,  written  in  the  late  1930s,  confirming  to  Br  Beaufort  his  admission  to  perpetual  vows, 

           warned him about his temper: 



                 A   still more   dangerous     weakness     in  you  was    mentioned     in the  suffrages.   You    are 

                  passionate in your dealings with the boys. In fact at times you show so little control of 

                  your temper that you are in danger of inflicting serious bodily harm on the boys by your 

                  manner  of  correcting  them.  Watch  yourself  and  pray  to  God  to  give  you  some  of  His 

                  meekness and forbearance. Never punish a boy in any way except what is permitted by 

                  Rule. Forgive easily the small failings of your pupils and in this way more good will be 

                  done than by harsh treatment. 



9.117      This Brother was in Tralee from the mid to late 1930s, having previously worked in Carriglea in 

           the early 1930s. One Visitation Report during that time made the following reference to him: 



                  The  main  defect in  Br  Beaufort  is his  violent  temper  which  on some  occasions  vented 

                  itself on the boys, but he is sorry afterwards and I am satisfied that he is on his guard 

                  against this defect and is striving to correct it. 



9.118      The letter warning Br Beaufort about his temper was sent to him less than three months later. 

           Notwithstanding that warning, his temper was again mentioned by the Visitor less than six months 

           later. The Visitor referred to him as having at times ‘an uncontrolled temper’. The Visitor also noted 

           that both he and Br Eriq (mentioned above) had been warned of the ‘possible evil consequences to 

           the  reputation  of  the  school  and  to  themselves  personally’.  Both  had  expressed  regret  about 

           their behaviour. 



9.119      Br Beaufort moved to Artane after leaving Tralee. He stayed there for 15 years, and the Committee 

           heard complaints from ex-pupils of Artane about severe and abusive physical punishment by him. 



           Documented cases of physical abuse: Br Millard 



9.120      In the late 1930s, in a letter to Br Millard confirming admission to his sixth annual vows, there was 

           reference to his being ‘unduly severe’ with his pupils: 



                 You are most devoted in school, but unduly severe with your pupils. You give them too 

                  much home-work and this necessitates much punishment when it is not completely done 

                  next day. The slapping starts, so it is stated, very early in the morning and often the time 

                 for recreation due to the boys is curtailed. Now, we ought to practice moderation in all 

                  things and not allow the great virtue of zeal to degenerate into a fault by overdoing our 

                  duty. I appeal to your own good sense to remedy what is complained of. With God’s help 

                  you can do it. 



9.121      Br Millard worked in Glin in the 1960s and returned to Tralee for the last few years of its existence 

           as an industrial school. During this time in Tralee, he responded to a complaint made by a TD in 

           relation to punishment meted out by him to a boy. 



9.122      In the late 1960s a boy, William,11       absconded from Tralee, and was apprehended and severely 



           punished by Br Millard. He informed his parents who complained to their local TD, who in turn 

           wrote to the school and the Department of Education. 



9.123      In his letter to the Resident Manager, this TD outlined how the father of a boy in Tralee had made 

           ‘rather startling allegations against your community which I am inclined to take with the greatest 

           reserve and, indeed, disbelief’. 



           11 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      413 


----------------------- Page 444-----------------------

9.124       He went on to say that the father claimed that a strap had been put around his son’s neck and 

           was ‘pulled tightly so that his neck “was in an awful condition”’. The father claimed two other boys 

           saw  the condition  of his  son’s neck  and that  one Brother  put the  boy’s head  between  his (the 

            Brother’s) legs whilst another Brother held his hands behind his back and he was punished whilst 

            in this position. The father also said the boy had a black eye when he came home from the School. 

           A copy of this letter was also sent to the Secretary of the Department. 



9.125       Br Millard had been appointed as Resident Manager as successor to Br Sinclair. He only lasted 

           a number of weeks in that position, and was recorded as having resigned ‘due to ill-health’, days 

            before the incident with the boy. 



9.126      The  appointment  of  his  successor,  Br  Roy,  as  Superior  dated  from  four  days  before  William 

           absconded. Br Millard had been Superior for a total of 18 days. Although the letter was addressed 

           to the Resident Manager, who by then was Br Roy, it was Br Millard, the perpetrator of the alleged 

           abuse, who dealt with the matter. He wrote: 



                  Dear [TD], 



                  Unfortunately Br Sinclair, to whom you addressed your letters has been absent from St 

                  Joseph’s  since  the  beginning  of  the  month.  As  Brother-in-Charge  when  the  incidents 

                  mentioned  by  you  were  supposed  to  have  taken  place, I  take  the  liberty  of  replying  in 

                  his stead. 



                  It alleged by [William’s father], that his son received excessive punishment, in fact what 

                  could  be  termed  brutal  punishment,  from  certain  members  of  the  Staff,  when  he  was 

                  returned  to  the  School  after  absconding  on  the  morning  of  the  10th           of  this  month.  I 



                  categorically denigh this charge because it was I personally, who took him into custody 

                  from the Gardai at mid-night on the same day on which he absconded. It was I also who 

                                     ´ 

                  administered  the  punishment         which  was  meted  out       to  him  on  that  occasion,     in  the 

                  presence of another Brother who happened to be with me at the time. 



                  It is true, I used a leather strap as the instrument of correction. I used it on his bottom 

                  because     I maintain    that   that  is  where    nature   intended    it should    be   used   in  such 

                  circumstances. There is no ... question of the strap having been put round his neck or 

                  anywhere near his neck for that matter. I might add here, that since the arrival of your 

                  letters, I have examined the boy’s neck and can find not the slightest sign of any mark or 

                  bruise  which  would  indicate  that  he  suffered  the  treatment  that  he  complained  about. 

                  Neither have I any knowledge of the black eye he is supposed to have received. 



                  One would imagine, that following such alleged treatment, the boy would be slow to take 

                  to the roads again. Still, on the 18th       inst., he and a companion again made off and this 



                  time persuaded another lad to join them. Believe me, Sir, that is not the normal behaviour 

                  of a boy who had been excessively punished for previous misdemeanours ... 



                  ... Since his coming here he has absconded on five separate occasions ... 



                  Since this last episode, they took to the roads once more. It was on this occasion that 

                  they succeeded in reaching Cork and painting the picture of excessive punishment and 

                  of brutal treatment in which we are ... supposed to have indulged. 



                  Just half an hour before the arrival of your letter on yesterday morning, I received a ’phone 

                  call  from  Inspector  ...  of  [town]  seeking  advice  as  to  the  advisability  of  having  young 

                  William   committed      to  Daingean     on   account    of  his  persistent    thieving   and   general 

                  misconduct.  I  advised  against  it  because  of  his  age  and  asked  the  Inspector  to  do 

                  everything in his power to keep the case out of the Court for the lad’s sake. In view of the 

                  cruel  allegations  brought  against  us  by  his  father,  I  am  beginning  to  wonder  if  I  acted 

                  wisely in asking the Inspector to be lenient with the offender. Maybe I should have allowed 

                  the law to take its course. 



           414                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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                  I  fully  appreciate  your  position  in  this  matter  and  hope  the  above  account  will  help  to 

                  clarify a nasty situation. 



9.127      The  letter  turned  around  the  allegation  that  the  Brother  had  excessively  punished  the  boy,  by 

            arguing that he had in fact been too ‘lenient with the offender’. It also justified Br Millard replying 

           to  the  criticism  by  saying  that  he  was  ‘the  Brother-in-Charge’  at  the  time  of  the  incident.  The 

            Congregation records showed that this was not the case. 



9.128      The TD sent the same letter of complaint to the Department of Education, and it was replied to 

           with an undertaking to look into the matter. 



9.129       Seven weeks later, the Department wrote to the TD as follows: 



                  Dear Deputy ... 



                  I refer again to your representations regarding William ... who is detained in St. Joseph’s 

                  School, Tralee. 



                  The  Matter has  in the  meantime been  investigated by  an inspector  of my  Department, 

                  who interviewed Br [Millard] who inflicted the punishment and Br ... who witnessed it and 

                  also young William himself. 



                  The inspector’s investigation has established that the facts of the case are substantially 

                  as stated in Br Millard’s reply ... to you and that account was confirmed by young William 

                  and  his  companion  in  absconding,  who  bear  no  resentment  to  the  Brothers  for  their 

                  treatment. 



9.130       No documents, such as interview notes relating to the investigation conducted by the Department 

            Inspector, were discovered to the Committee. Notwithstanding the fact that the punishment meted 

            out was clearly in contravention of the Department’s own rules (in that it was not punishment on 

           the hand but on the buttocks), there was no evidence of any action being taken against the school 

           for breaking these rules and regulations. 



9.131      Although the Department of Education addressed this incident in its Phase III Submission, it did 

            not clarify the nature of the investigation that resulted in the exoneration of the Brother. 



9.132       It was accepted by Br Seamus Nolan during the Phase III hearing that the punishment meted out 

           to this boy was an impermissible punishment. He did, however, point out that it was partly within 

           the rule, insofar as the punishment was administered in the presence of a witness. 



9.133      The question was also raised at the hearing as to why the person entrusted with the investigation 

            of the matter was the person against whom the accusation had been made. Br Seamus Nolan 

           said  that  the  matter  may  have  been  dealt  with  by  him  so  as  not  to  leave  a  ‘nasty  job’ for  his 

            ‘successor’. In fact, the ‘successor’ had been in office at the time of the incident. Br Nolan further 

           said that this individual had been appointed Resident Manager and after a short while resigned, 

            and  it ‘could  well  be  on  account  of  this,  that  he  resigned  from  that  appointment,  though  he 

            remained on in the staff as assistant manager’.12 Again, this explanation does not accord with the 



            dates in the documentation. 



9.134      There  has  been  no  documentation  furnished  to  the  Committee  by  the  Christian  Brothers  that 

           would  shed  light  on  whether  there  was  any  investigation  within  the  Christian  Brothers  into  the 

            matter.  Br  Nolan  acknowledged  that  it  was  a  pity  that  the  allegation  did  not  go  directly  to  the 

            Provincial,  to  be  dealt  with  as  a  ‘completely  outside  matter’.  He  said  that  it  was  clear  that  the 

            School at the time felt that it was satisfactory to deal with the matter in this way. 



            12 The school annals note that the Brother resigned from the post due to ill-health. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         415 


----------------------- Page 446-----------------------

9.135      The  boy  at  the  centre  of  this  allegation  was  transferred  to  another  industrial  school  early  the 

          following year. 



9.136      •    The correspondence was dealt with by Br Millard, who was the Sub-Superior and the 

                person  who  had  inflicted  the  punishment.  The  Department  should  have  questioned 

                the propriety of such a response because of conflict of interest. 



           •    The Department did not question the unapologetic response of the Brother about his 

                flagrant breach of their regulations. He showed no concern about confessing to such 

                a breach. Where rules for the protection of children in care could be flouted, it is not 

                surprising that abuses occurred. 



           •   This incident illustrated the difficulty in making complaints about corporal punishment. 

                When regulations were ignored, there was no objective standard by which harshness 

                could be judged and so no behaviour could be criticised or condemned. 



           Documented cases of physical abuse: Br Raynard 



9.137      In the late 1940s, the Department’s Inspector made the following comment: 



                 Generally well run school ... I also stressed the necessity for just corporal punishment and 

                 told him of the complaint in the Remand House and the boy who had been whacked with 

                 a shovel in the turnip field. 



9.138      It is not clear what this reference was and it did not appear to give rise to any follow-up letter from 

          the Department. It was similar to an incident described by a complainant who also told of being 

           hit with a spade across the back by a Brother in the mid-1940s. The farm Brother at the time was 

           Br Raynard. This complainant explained that he was hit with the spade when he was working on 

          the farm. He was untacking a horse and forgot to open one side. The horse got a bit flighty and 

           did some damage to the cart. The farm Brother lost his temper and hit him with the spade. He 

           said that he did not hold it against the Brother, however, because he should have been a bit more 

           careful with the horse. This same complainant said that this farm Brother and the two other farm 

           Brothers, Br Madelon and Br Sauville, could be quite severe but fair as well. 



9.139      Br  Raynard  was  granted  a  dispensation  in  the  mid-1950s,  although  it  was  not  clear  why  this 

          was granted. 



9.140      •    The  letters  from  the  mid  to  late  1930s  to  the  newly  professed  Brothers  indicate  a 

                concern on the part of the Provincial at the time to ensure that excessive punishment 

                would be avoided, but it was not a systematic approach and does not appear to have 

                been continued by his successors. 



           •    Restraint could have been achieved by the application of the Rules and Regulations 

                for Industrial Schools, including use of the punishment book. The Congregation’s own 

                Rules  set  down  clear  guidelines  for  the  use  of  corporal  punishment,  and  a  proper 

                adherence to these would also have controlled excesses. 



           •   The Brothers referred to in these letters were unsuitable for work in an industrial school 

                where  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  caring  for  the  children  were  more  onerous 

                than in a day school. 



           Punishment book 



9.141      Contrary  to  the  Department’s  regulations,  no  punishment  book  was  maintained  in  Tralee.  To 

           explain  this  fact,  Br  Seamus  Nolan  told  the  Investigation  Committee  during  the  Phase  I  public 

           hearing: 



          416                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 447-----------------------

                 There was an understanding that a punishment book was for special punishments where 

                the so called crime was very severe and it needed a special punishment, but for whatever 

                the reason there wasn’t a punishment book. 



9.142     He acknowledged that it was a requirement but, he said, it was one that  ‘went into disuse I am 

          sorry to say’. 



9.143     In the Phase III hearing, Br Nolan accepted that there was no record of a punishment book ever 

          having  existed  in  Tralee.  He  added  that,  if  the  Department  had  brought  up  the  question  of  a 

          punishment book, it would have ‘got a result’. He said, ‘apparently the impetus just didn’t arrive, 

          to undo the situation that was there’. 



9.144     It was clear from the 1937 Visitation Report that no punishment book existed at that stage. The 

          Visitor appended a list of points given to the Resident Manager that included the following: 



                Get  a  punishment  book  and  enter  therein  punishment  given  ...  If  a  boy  misconducts 

                himself he should be punished by the Sup. or the Br. in charge of the discipline and the 

                punishment recorded in the punishment book. 



9.145     This  comment     made    it clear that  the punishment     book  was   not  just a  requirement    of the 

          Department. The Visitor felt the need of a record of what punishments were given, and for what 

          reason. He wanted to check whether punishments met with the regulations governing them. Even 

          though their  Visitor had requested one,  there was no  documentary evidence of any  attempt to 

          comply  with  his  recommendation.  The  Visitation  Reports  for  subsequent  years  did  not  record 

          whether a punishment book existed or not, suggesting the issue just died away. 



9.146     There  was  no  evidence  that  the  Department  asked  to  see  the  School’s  punishment  book,  or 

          complained about the fact that one did not exist. Without it, the Department had no way of ensuring 

          that the rules and regulations to restrict the use of corporal punishment were being complied with. 



           Complainant evidence regarding Br Ansel, Disciplinarian 



9.147     A Visitation Report in the early 1940s referred to a complaint by the Resident Manager that the 

          existing Disciplinarian, Br Piperel, was ‘not sufficiently strict as disciplinarian’ and making a ‘strong 

          appeal’ to have him changed. He left in the early 1940s and, 12 months later, Br Ansel was sent 

          from Artane to take over the role. 



9.148     The Committee heard from two witnesses who gave detailed evidence about Br Ansel’s harshness 

          during his time as Disciplinarian. 



9.149     The first witness, referring to Br Ansel, told the Investigation Committee: 



                He was absolutely terrible, that man. That man put the fear of God in me. Rather than 

                meet that man I would hide. If I saw that man or I thought that man was going to come 

                into  the  schoolyard  I  would  disappear.  That  man  was  unbelievable  ...  He  absolutely 

                frightened me. Whenever you would meet him it was always a beating. It was always a 

                clip across the side of the head with the baton. He just seemed to – as you look back on 

                it in later years he didn’t like me for some reason or another, I don’t know what. 



9.150     The ‘baton’ was different to the leather. He explained that it was ‘made of several pieces of leather 

          stitched together as they would stitch leather in a shoe’. It was shorter and stiffer than the leather. 

          He said that they used to say that there was a lump of lead in the end of it, but he had no direct 

          knowledge of that. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              417 


----------------------- Page 448-----------------------

9.151      He also recalled being beaten on his feet by Br Ansel with this ‘baton’, after Br Ansel asked him 

           to  put  his  feet out  from  under  the  sheets. This happened  to  him  one  night  when  a boil  on  his 

           bottom  burst and  his  sheets were  covered  in  blood. He  was  not given  any  explanation for  the 

           punishment and, although he had difficulty walking afterwards, no Brother asked him what was 

           wrong with him. He never discussed it with anyone. 



9.152      This same witness recalled one night when between 15 and 20 boys were called into the kitchen 

           and locked in, along with three Brothers, one of whom was Br Ansel.13  They were ordered one by 



           one to take off their nightshirts, and to tie the shirts around their waists, fold their arms and bend 

           forward. Br Rayce said how many strokes each boy was to have. The witness was ordered to 

           have six strokes of the cat-o’-nine-tails. He was never told why. 



9.153      The implement he called the  ‘cat-o’-nine-tails’ was made in the School. When he was marching 

           around the school yard, he had seen the Disciplinarian at the end of the yard threading leather 

           thongs through holes in a piece of wood shaped as a handle. This was the implement that was 

           used on them. After the beating, he was ‘covered in blood’ and some of the strokes went around 

           his neck. It was the only time this implement was used. He did not recall other boys being punished 

           with it, and he did not recall the matter being discussed afterwards. He added that he thought Br 

           Ansel enjoyed the beatings. 



9.154      The second witness said that, until Br Ansel arrived from Artane in the early 1940s,  ‘I would say 

           the place was reasonable’. He said that, when Br Ansel introduced himself to the boys as the new 

           Disciplinarian, he told them,  ‘you will learn what a disciplinarian is by the time I finish with you’. 

           From that time he imposed a really ruthless rule. The witness went on to explain: 



                  Then he proceeded from there, he became an absolute tyrant. I knew real fear. He went 

                  on from there inventing punishments, like the holding out the hand wasn’t enough. The 

                  sole of the foot was one at night. Your name would be called and you just automatically 

                  stuck your leg out and you got three lashes of a leather ... You would get three lashes for 

                  every item or whatever; if you were talking in the dormitory, whatever it might be. Then 

                  he went on from there, he created monitors, twelve monitors but we didn’t know what they 

                  were. Whatever you do, step out of bounds, they were certain areas you weren’t allowed 

                  to go. Talking to another boy in the toilet, that was an offence, things like that, your name 

                  would  be  put  down.  He  created  a  pay  night,  Friday  night  ...  It  was  punishment  but  he 

                  called it pay nights. In Ireland in them days payday was mostly in all jobs I believe on a 

                  Friday. So, he called this Friday night rather than punishment night “pay night”. We all 

                  lined up in the hall and he would come up the stairs, I don’t know what it was about me 

                  but I always got the job of speaking. My job was to stand up, he had his table out and a 

                  book and an ash plant put on the table, and the gymnasium horse, the vaulting horse in 

                  the front. He would stand up and come up the stairs and he’d said good evening. I used 

                  to  speak  first  and  say  “Good  evening,  sir”,  the  rest  of  the  school  would  reply  “Good 

                  evening, sir”. Then he’d say “What night is it [Name of witness]?” I would say “it is Friday 

                  night, sir.” “What does that mean, [name of witness]?” “That means it’s pay night, sir and 

                  we are glad it’s come.” Then I would sit down. Then he would proceed to look at the book 

                  and call out the names ... of whatever you’d be accused of, what was down on the book. 

                  The monitors wrote whatever offence you committed during the week or, offences, it might 

                  be  two  or  three.  Your  name  would  be  called  out  and  you  marched  up,  dropped  your 

                  trousers, jumped over the horse and you got three lashes of an ash plant on the bare 

                  backside for every item. The problem was that if you got it all at once your name might 

                  not  appear  again  until  way  down  the  list  then  you  would  get  it  on  other  side,  and  you 

                  wouldn’t be able to sit down for a few days. 



           13 One of the others was Br Rayce. The complainant did not know who the third one was. 



           418                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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                  We had a sort of unwritten code there, that you took it ... no matter what punishment you 

                  got you took it like a man, you didn’t squeal so you just took it. You went away in a quiet 

                  corner and cried later when you got away from the crowd or something. You might have 

                  wished your father and mother were there, or something like that. 



9.155      This complainant also explained that there was a  ‘monitor’s book’ that the monitors used to write 

           in. Br Ansel did not tell the boys who the monitors were and the boys did not know. This meant 

           that on Friday night you did not know whether your name was in the book or not. He did not know 

           how  the  monitors  were  chosen  or  changed.  He  thought  it  would  be  out  of  fear  of  receiving  a 

           beating. ‘Pay night’ lasted as long as Br Ansel remained in Tralee. 



9.156      Br Ansel used other forms of punishment. These included ‘square bashing on the double, thumbs 

           up’ and  running  around  the  field.  Running  produced  greater  discomfort  because  the  boys  had 

           chafing tweed clothes, no underwear and boots that ‘wouldn’t be very clever fitting’. He explained, 

           ‘They’d    just keep    you   running   until  you   dropped,    which   I found    was   probably    the  hardest 

           punishment of all really on a hot day’. 



9.157      He said that Br Ansel was trying to make young soldiers out of the boys and, on one occasion, 

           had them lined up as a ‘human rake’, raking the hay on Tralee racecourse because the Christian 

           Brothers had bought the hay on that site. Their bottoms had to be in line, military style, and Br 

           Ansel would whip the bottom of any boy not in line. He recalled,  ‘You daren’t take thistles out of 

           your fingers or anything like that. You just kept raking’. 



9.158      He also described a Saturday morning art class and how Br Ansel had a cane that could be bent. 

           He  explained  that,  while  the  boys  were  drawing,  he  would  swish  the  cane  by  their  ears  while 

           asking them questions that they had to get correct to avoid being hit on the ears. Br Ansel, he 

           said,  ‘had no problem where he’d hit you or when he’d hit you’. 



9.159      A  translation  of  a  Department  of  Education  memorandum  to  the  Secretary,  Office  of  National 

           Education, stated that Br Ansel ‘controls with authority but without being harsh. He succeeds in 

           exercising a kind discipline in the school’. 



9.160      The  Visitor  in  the  same  year  noted  that  he  was  ‘a  very  satisfactory  man’  and,  if  the  Resident 

           Manager placed more confidence in him, the ‘Community would be happier and the boys better 

           disciplined’. Another Visitation Report noted he was a ‘very efficient’ Disciplinarian. 



9.161      According to the second complainant, Br Ansel got booed on his last day in Tralee. Everybody 

           was happy that he was leaving. 



9.162      Br  Octave,  who  responded  to  an  internal  Christian  Brothers  questionnaire  relating  to  various 

           issues regarding the management of Tralee, said that Br Ansel: 



                  was the best Principal and disciplinarian. He didn’t tolerate disobedience in word or act. 

                  Returned runaways had to “walk the line” for longish periods until they were broken. 



9.163      Br Ansel left Tralee in 1945 and went to Carriglea at a time when it was known to the Congregation 

           authorities   that  there   were   considerable     disciplinary   problems     there,  and   his  time   there   is 

           discussed in the chapter on Carriglea. Br Ansel received a Canonical Warning in the mid-1950s 

           because of an involvement with  a woman, and he was granted a dispensation  some 10 years 

           later. 



9.164      •     Br Octave described this colleague as being intolerant of any kind of disobedience ‘in 

                 word or act’ it is significant that this attitude is perceived, even today, by a member 

                 of the Congregation as being the mark of a good Principal and Disciplinarian. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       419 


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           Complainant evidence regarding Br Maslin 



9.165      The Investigation Committee heard complaints about Br Maslin, who served in Tralee at the same 

           time as Br Ansel. A witness said that Br Maslin  ‘just enjoyed beating me and beating a lot of the 

           boys’. He was only beaten by him for ‘lessons in school’. The beatings were ‘severe ... regularly 

           the cane, regularly the strap’ and he was ‘walloped across the backside’. 



9.166      On one occasion when Br Maslin asked him a question he could not answer, Br Maslin  ‘kept on 

           hitting me here in the middle of the forehead. Eventually I had a big bump here’. 



9.167      On another occasion, Br Maslin made the boys stand around the class and instructed them to hit 

           the boy in front of them  ‘across the face with the open hand’. When he hesitated in doing this, Br 

           Maslin said,  ‘This is the way that you do it’, and hit him, the witness, knocking him to the floor. 

           When  he  got  up  again,  he  had  to  hit  the  other  boy.  However,  ‘the  beatings  with  the  canes  of 

           course  and  the  strap  went  on  a  lot  longer  than  that’.  He  said  that  the  strap  was  made  at  the 

           cobblers, of several layers of leather about an inch thick and was more like a baton than a strap. 



9.168      Br  Maslin  was  moved  from  Tralee  to  Letterfrack  in  the  early  1940s.  It  is  not  clear  why  he  left 

           Tralee in January and not August, the usual time for Brothers to move schools. He became the 

           Disciplinarian in Letterfrack and, in the mid-1940s, one of his colleagues in Letterfrack wrote to 

           the Visitor that Br Maslin, the Disciplinarian, ‘can inflict terrible punishment on children and the 

           boys seem to have a awful dread of his anger’. The incident which gave rise to this complaint is 

           discussed in detail in the chapter on Letterfrack. He was then moved from Letterfrack to Carriglea 

           in January 1946, at a time when it was known to the Congregation authorities that there were 

           considerable disciplinary problems in Carriglea. 



           Complainant evidence regarding Br Dumont 



9.169      This senior Brother was the subject of two complaints to the Investigation Committee. 



9.170      The first witness said that he was punished by this Brother  ‘but his was more the cane once or 

           twice but nothing really to bother me’. The Brother would, however, give instructions for them to 

           go and run around the field until he told them to stop, then he would forget, and the boys would 

           run around the field until it got dark. 



9.171      The  other  complainant  said  he  was  ‘a  very  dangerous  man  to  get  involved  with  ...  very  quick 

           to punish’. 



           Complainant evidence regarding Br Sevrin 



9.172      One witness gave evidence against Br Sevrin who served for a short time in Tralee. He recounted 

           an incident in which he had not heard instructions forbidding boys to approach a statue. He did 

           so  and  Br  Sevrin  refused  to  accept  his  apologies  or  the  excuse  that  he  had  not  heard  the 

           instruction. He told him to get across a chair. When he refused, Br Sevrin ordered six of the other 

           boys to get him across the chair. The witness then got into a corner and was ready to fight the 

           boys if they approached him. When the other boys backed off, the Brother tried to put him across 

           the chair himself and beat him all the time with the strap. A struggle ensued and he said, ‘I fell on 

           the floor and he was astride me on the floor, he was over me and he was trying to belt hell out of 

           me with this thing’. The Brother then suddenly ‘seemed to come over funny and he got very pale’ 

           and backed away. Later that evening, he woke the complainant and gave him a bag of sweets. 



           Complainant and respondent evidence regarding Br Lafayette 



9.173      Br  Lafayette  was  in  charge  of  the  refectory  for  a  period  of  nine  years  during  the  1950s  and 

           1960s. One Visitation Report referred to him as being ‘somewhat independent and headstrong 



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----------------------- Page 451-----------------------

           and somewhat difficult to manage at times’.14 Another Visitation Report criticised his inclination to 



           interfere in charges other than his own, particularly on the farm. 



9.174      The Investigation Committee heard from a number of former members of staff and ex-residents 

           who remembered him in Tralee. 



9.175      Br Aribert felt that Br Lafayette was ‘strict ... harsh maybe on occasions’ and ‘ran a very tight ship’. 

           He recalled a day when he was given the task of supervising the boys during a meal. He was 

            ‘nearly terrified going out there’, but a boy whom he described as Br Lafayette’s ‘right-hand man’ 

           made him  ‘completely redundant’ and ran the whole show. He could not say, however, whether 

           this was due to Br Lafayette’s good organisational skills or an element of fear. However, he did 

           recall one particular act of kindness, when Br Lafayette procured apples and biscuits for the boys. 



9.176      A second Brother, Br Chapin, said he was a ‘stickler for a job’ and could have given ‘a few clatters 

           if  he  found  that  the  job  wasn’t  done’.  Br  Chapin  recalled  the  boys  talking  about  Br  Lafayette 

           occasionally. He said he did not hear the other Brothers speak about him, but put that down to 

           the fact that Br Lafayette worked in the refectory where the other Brothers would rarely go. This 

           Brother stated that he knew that, if Br Lafayette gave a job to the boys to do, they did it or else 

           they paid for it. 



9.177      Br Bevis, when asked whether Br Lafayette was excessively severe towards the boys, said that 

           he did not know, as he was not there when he punished the boys. One boy did, however, tell him 

           he was ‘punished severely’ by Br Lafayette. 



9.178      A number of former residents gave evidence about Br Lafayette. 



9.179      One  complainant  stated  that  he        ‘would  have  been  great  in  the  Nazis.  He  was  the  coldest, 

           coldhearted person I ever came across ... He was cruel beyond belief’. 



9.180      By way of an example, he explained that he had a job of bringing dinner to sick boys. One boy 

           had refused his food and it was returned uneaten to Br Lafayette in the kitchen. When handing 

           over the dinner to Br Lafayette, he told him that the boy  ‘wouldn’t be having any dinner’. Later, 

           the Brother called him out of his class and had him repeat what he said about the boy. After tea, 

           Br Lafayette called him aside again, this time put him against the wall and asking him to repeat 

           what he had said earlier. Once again, he repeated that the boy  ‘won’t be having any dinner’. Br 

           Lafayette then produced the leather and gave him six hard slaps on the hands. Again, Br Lafayette 

           asked him to repeat the message, and he was given six more hard slaps with the leather. 



9.181      This cycle continued until, after about 30 slaps, Br Lafayette said to him  ‘You left him [the boy] 

           having a fit on the floor, didn’t you?’, to which the boy responded ‘yes’. He was now willing to say 

            ‘anything  to  stop  him  from  hitting  me’.  Br  Lafayette  then  ‘fisted’ him  in  the  face.  He  was  left 

           pumping blood, and Br Lafayette told him that that would ‘teach you to tell me lies’. The witness 

           said he still had no idea why he was being punished in this way, but could only presume that the 

           sick boy must have had a fit after he left him. He did not make a complaint about his treatment 

           because, if you complained, you would get into ‘deeper trouble’. 



9.182      This same former resident told the Investigation Committee that, apart from Br Lafayette and two 

           other Brothers,15     ‘it was a lovely school’. He felt the rest of the Brothers did the best with what 



           they had. 



           14 Br Aribert accepted that this was a fair summary of Br Lafayette. 

           15 Brs Archard and Kalle. 



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9.183      He also stated that Br Lafayette regularly interrogated him and other boys about sex and matters 

           relating to it in his back room. In particular, he was asked to name other boys who were involved 

           in sexual activity: 



                  The first time it came on, he asked me, I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. 

                  And of course I got six of the best for basically telling lies. 



9.184      After being punished for not being able to answer, he gave another boy’s name: 



                  I can still think of that man to this day, because I put him through the same trouble that I 

                  was  in. And  someone else  probably put  me in  the same  trouble because  of what  was 

                  going on. 



9.185      Another  former  resident  said  that,  because  he  was  working  in  the  kitchen  and  was  under  Br 

           Lafayette’s  care,  he  was  protected  from  beatings  from  other  Brothers.  On  one  occasion,  Br 

           Lafayette intervened to stop a severe beating from Br Bevis. He said that Br Lafayette went ‘out 

           of  his  way  to  ensure  that  nobody  else  laid  a  finger  on  me’.  While  Br  Lafayette  was  in  Tralee, 

            ‘nobody  really beat  me  up or  anything  at all  like  that. But  after  he left  then  there were  threats 

           coming in from all sides’. He added that Br Lafayette had the reputation for being the  ‘hardest 

           Brother’ in the school. ‘If he said “Jump”, you said “How high?”.’ 



9.186      Br  Lafayette  had  spent  two  periods  in  Letterfrack  in  the  1940s  and  1950s  and  also  served  in 

           Artane. He transferred from Tralee to Glin in the 1960s. 



           The death of Robert Moore16  in late 1950s 



9.187      In the late 1950s, Robert Moore, a pupil in the Industrial School, died in Tralee County Hospital. 

           His death certificate recorded that he died from ‘Bilateral Pleural Effusion. Senility. Certified’.17  He 



           was 16 years of age at the time. 



9.188      He had been transferred from St Philomena’s in Stillorgan when he was seven, and had spent 

           the next 10 years in Tralee. He was due for discharge some 10 months prior to his death, but had 

           stayed on until a suitable placement was found for him as an apprentice shoemaker. 



9.189      There    has   been    considerable     controversy    and   media    speculation     about   the  circumstances 

           surrounding     his  death,   and   the   Investigation   Committee      heard   evidence     from   a  number    of 

           witnesses who were in the School at the time and recalled his death. 



9.190      This controversy first began to emerge in 1995, when former pupils made allegations in the media 

           that Robert Moore had received a severe beating from Br Lafayette in the refectory for refusing 

           to eat his food, and that he had died some days later in hospital. 



9.191      Br  Bevis, who  served as  a  teacher in  Tralee for  almost  10 years  from the  mid-1950s,  told the 

           Investigation Committee that one morning he was waking the boys when he noticed that Robert 

           Moore had been sick during the night and that his vomit was blood stained. He summoned help 

           from another Brother who used to look after the boys. The next time Br Bevis saw the boy was 

           when he visited him in hospital. He recalled that it must have been on a Saturday as this was the 

           only day he could go. He took the boy a copy of The Kerryman newspaper. He remembered that 

           Robert Moore clung to his hand and, with hindsight, he realised that Robert appeared to have 

           some sense that he was going to die. Br Bevis tried to console him by telling him he was not as 

           ill as others in the hospital, as he did not realise at the time that the boy was near death. Robert 

           Moore died on a Sunday and, although Br Bevis thought it was some days after his visit, it is more 

           likely that he died the next day. 



           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 ‘Senility’ was subsequently changed to ‘septicaemia’. 



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9.192      Br Bevis was asked whether he knew why the boy had gone into hospital, and he recalled that 

           he did have a boil on his neck at that time. He later thought he had leukaemia, and only found 

           out in more recent times that the cause of death was recorded as septicaemia. 



9.193      He told the Investigation Committee that he did not recall any discussion at the time about Robert 

           Moore being beaten by Br Lafayette, the Brother in charge of the refectory, and he did not know 

           at the time that this beating had happened. 



9.194      Br Chapin also told the Investigation Committee about going to see Robert Moore in hospital, he 

           thought  about  a  week  before  he  died.  The  boy  was      ‘not  very  lively’ but  did  not  appear  to  be 

           frightened. He did not think the boy had any insight into how ill he was. He said he did not hear 

           any  talk  at  the  time  about  an  incident  between  the  boy  and  Br  Lafayette.  He  did,  however, 

           remember one of the boys saying that Robert Moore was hurt. He thought that Robert Moore had 

           something wrong with his lungs. 



9.195      An internal report prepared in recent years and disclosed to the Committee by the Congregation 

           entitled ‘Information relating to Robert Moore’ detailed the stories and allegations that began to 

           emerge in 1995 surrounding the boy’s death and the steps that were taken by the Congregation 

           to enquire into the matter. The following extracts are of particular interest: 



                 As part of an internal enquiry, the Provincial Council approached a number of brothers 

                 who had been in Tralee in or around the time of the Moore incident. Br Bevis remembered 

                 Robert  Moore well  and visited  him  several times  in hospital.  He  was able  to recall  the 

                 incident of the beating in the dining room but did not link it to the death of Robert Moore. 

                 Br Bevis was of the opinion that Robert Moore died from some form of cancer. It would 

                 appear that the time between the beating and the death of Robert Moore was at most a 

                 few weeks. 



                 The Provincial Council also went in search of Robert Moore’s Death Certificate. On the 

                 Death  Certificate,  the  cause  of  death  is  given  as  a  “Bi-lateral  Pleural  Effusion”.  As  an 

                 addendum to this cause of death, the phrase “senility certified” appears on the certificate. 

                 This seemed a rather strange addendum given Robert Moore’s age, and a medical doctor 

                 was asked to explain the matter. The medical opinion was that pneumonia was the likely 

                 cause of death and that a beating would not cause a bi-lateral effusion, even a severe 

                 beating. 



                 Further enquiry unearthed a story that Robert Moore had an abscess on his neck, and 

                 that in the course of the beating he received, the abscess may have burst. There was no 

                 hard  medical  evidence  for  this  story  of  the  abscess,  but  it  appeared  to  be  part  of  the 

                 folklore around the event. The possibility of a flu epidemic in St. Joseph’s at the time also 

                 surfaced. It was the month of February and flu epidemics were not an unlikely occurrences 

                 in institutions such as St. Joseph’s at that time of year. A heavy dose of flu could lead to 

                 the bi-lateral effusion reported on the Death Certificate. 



9.196      The report concluded with some recent information about the death certificate: 



                 The Gardai were aware of the “senility” addendum and reported back some time ago to 

                 St.  Helen’s saying  that the  Death Certificate  had been  officially changed  and the  word 

                 “septicaemia” substituted for the word “senility”. 



9.197      The recollection of Br Bevis in 1995, as described in this document, is in conflict with the evidence 

           he gave the Committee concerning the beating from Br Lafayette. 



9.198      In their Opening Statement the Christian Brothers gave the following account of what Br Bevis 

           had recalled to them: 



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                  A former staff member, writing in 2001, recalls the occasion of Robert Moore’s death: “I 

                  recall the morning I called the boys. As they arise and dressed I walked up and down the 

                  dormitory. Noticing that Robert had not arisen I went over to see him. As I neared the bed 

                  –  situated  nearest  the  wall  and  about  mid-way  down  the  dormitory  –  I  noticed  he  had 

                  been sick during the night and there was blood in his vomit. I asked him how he felt and 

                  on telling me that he had been sick during the night I told him to stay in bed and that I 

                  would inform Br G – he usually looked after the sick. I did so and the doctor, Dr Walsh,18 



                  was called. Later that day I learned that Robert was taken to hospital. A few days after I 

                  visited Robert in hospital, bringing him the local paper. As I sat beside the bed he caught 

                  hold of my hand and asked me if he was going to get better. This surprised me – the 

                  question and the fact that he held on to my hand during the visit. I had no idea that he 

                  was seriously ill. I told him that he would be out soon and told him that another boy had 

                  gone to the fever hospital ... that was a worse situation than his. I learned of his (Robert’s) 

                  death shortly afterwards – not sure if it was the next day or a few days afterwards. Since 

                  then I have been wondering if Robert himself knew of his impending death – the fact of 

                  him holding my hand during the visit leads me to think that he did. I was always glad that 

                  I was there and tried to console him. May he rest in peace”. 



9.199      The Congregation concluded with the following observation: 



                  The Brother’s recollections show the caring attitude of the staff towards the boys and the 

                  reciprocal  friendliness  of  the  boy  himself.  The  same  caring  attention  would  have  been 

                  shown to all the boys in the school and every effort would have been made to sympathise 

                  with the other boys who had lost a companion and would have been shocked by a death 

                  within  their small  community. Modern  counselling has  methods of  helping people  cope 

                  with bereavement and though the efforts of the staff in the 1950’s would not have been 

                  enlightened by present-day terms it would have been none the less sincere. 



9.200      The Congregation did not allude to the incident in the dining room involving Br Lafayette in this 

           section of their Opening Statement. 



9.201      A  three-day  Visitation  Report  conducted  one  month  after  the  death  of  Robert  Moore  made  no 

           mention of  the death of  a pupil in the  previous month and  described the boys  as ‘exceedingly 

           happy’. 



9.202      Br Lafayette was interviewed by the Gardai. The following exchange was recorded: 

                                                               ´ 



                  A number of former pupils have stated that you assaulted Robert Moore and he died a 

                  few days later. What do you have to say about this. 



                  I gave him a few slaps, but the medical evidence from the hospital would suggest that he 

                  died from some sort of lung trouble ... 



                  Is there any reason why different pupils would make these allegations against you? 



                  I don’t know. 



9.203      The Congregation have admitted that Robert Moore received a beating from Br Lafayette, but the 

           severity of the beating was stated to be unknown. 



9.204      A number of former residents gave evidence to the Investigation Committee about the incident. 



9.205      One former resident said that Robert Moore had a boil on his neck and that Br Lafayette, who he 

           said did not mean to hurt anybody, was hurrying the boys to finish their meal. He therefore hit the 



           18 This is a pseudonym. 



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           boys, including the complainant, on the back. He said that it was a  ‘mild beating’, not one that 

          would  ‘kill you’. He said that Robert Moore got sick from that beating, as the boil was hit. He said: 



                 Because he hit him in the neck where the boil was. He had a boil in the back of the neck 

                 which never healed and he went to bed that evening and he told me he was sick and the 

                 following morning he couldn't get out of bed because he was sick. The doctor came and 

                 the nurse was there and they were dressing him for a few days. The doctor decided to 

                 take him to St. Catharine's hospital when he was not recovering so quick. 



9.206      He praised the Brother in charge of the infirmary for the way in which he tried to look after Robert 

           Moore,  but  felt  that  he  did  not  know  how  to  do  it  properly  as  he  was  ‘doctor  and  nurse  and 

           everything’.  He  thought that about a  week or two  passed before Robert Moore  was eventually 

           brought to hospital. He said that this was ‘an accident that went wrong, a beating that went wrong’. 

           Robert Moore was ‘not murdered’. 



9.207     Another former resident stated he was in bed sick when Robert Moore was being helped up the 

           stairs into bed. He was  ‘whimpering feverishly’ and the boy helping him told this witness that Br 

           Lafayette was  ‘after killing him’. He dozed off and, when he woke up, Robert Moore’s bed was 

           empty. He died some days later in hospital. 



9.208      •    At this remove, it is not possible to state whether the beating Robert Moore received 

                at the hands of Br Lafayette had anything to do with his death. What this story tells 

                us about the general atmosphere in Tralee is significant. It is accepted that the Brother 

                in charge of the refectory struck Robert Moore because he was not eating or because 

                he was not eating quickly enough. It seems particularly cruel that the children could 

                not even eat their meals without violence or the threat of violence. 



           •    It is clear from the evidence of individual Brothers that Br Lafayette’s harshness to the 

                boys was known about in Tralee but nothing was done to stop it. This incident in the 

                refectory fits into a pattern of behaviour in the institution whereby violence was used 

                to enforce discipline on the boys. 



           •   The fact that this boy died after being hit was sufficient reason to warrant a full inquiry, 

                no   matter   what   the  cause    of  death   on   the  death   certificate.  Only   an  immediate 

                independent inquiry could have sorted out the issues arising out of this case. If the 

                boy  was  already  seriously  ill,  the  inquiry  could  have  investigated  why  he  did  not 

                receive care earlier. If the beating contributed to his death, it could have established 

                why  that  information  did  not  come  to  be  generally  known  and  investigated  as  a 

                possible causative factor. 



           •     This   case   has   become      controversial    and   subject    to  speculation     because     the 

                circumstances of the boys death were never properly investigated. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               425 


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          Complainant evidence of physical abuse by Brothers in Tralee 



          Severity of punishment 



9.209     Complainants used the word ‘flogging’ to describe particularly severe punishment in Tralee. 



9.210     A complainant accused one Brother, Br Boyce, of flogging him. He got a flogging from this Brother 

          and half an hour later got one from another Brother, Br Cheney. He did not know why. Br Boyce 

           hit him with a ‘leather’. ‘These leathers weren’t just light pieces of string, they were severe actually’. 

          The complainant stated that the attack was a painful moment for him as Br Boyce was  ‘a very 

          nice lad actually and I was surprised to be attacked like that’. It was uncharacteristic of the Brother. 

           Br Boyce, who gave evidence to the Committee, denied flogging the boy. 



9.211     Another witness said that Br Bevis: 



                flogged a young boy ... [The boy] was a classmate of mine and he actually done something 

                 wrong with the bandmaster, I don’t know, and he was reported to Br Bevis who flogged 

                him.  That’s  all  I  know. He  put  the  boy’s  head  in  between  his legs  and  he  flogged  him 

                ferociously,  beat  him  very  badly.  This  boy  actually  eventually  ended  up  in  the  mental 

                hospital in Killarney. 



9.212      Br Bevis denied beating this boy. 



9.213     Another witness also recalled an occasion when about 12 boys were  ‘picked up’ for masturbating 

           in the dormitory and lined up and bent over the beds with their nightshirts up. Br Bevis and another 

           Brother took turns in giving the boys ‘the hop’, i.e. pulling up the nightshirt and hitting them straight 

          across the bare bottom, six to a dozen times. The witness stated that this happened quite a lot 

          and the boys were all ‘frightened to death’. 



9.214     Another former resident claimed that Br Cheney would ask him to stay back after class and to 

          drop his pants. Br Cheney would then  ‘leather’ his bottom. This happened  ‘many times’ until he 

          was 16. The complainant thought Br Cheney did it because of  ‘madness’. This also happened to 

          other boys in the class. He said that he also had to receive hospital treatment after Br Cheney hit 

           him. He thought he hit some part of his brain. This same complainant said that Br Cheney gave 

           him the second of two floggings half an hour apart from each other and that he ‘feared’ this man. 



9.215     One witness made allegations of physical abuse against a Br Roland. He said that the boys were 

           playing in the schoolroom one day, and one boy got hit in the eye. Br Roland asked who did it 

           but no one answered. The Brother then pointed to him. Later that day, Br Roland took him into 

          an empty classroom and asked him if he was the culprit. He said no. The Brother got a strap out 

          of a glass cupboard containing different straps and told him to get on his knees and put his hands 

          out. He continued to deny his involvement in the incident but Br Roland said he was telling lies. 

           He said he received 44 strokes on each hand, the second 44 so that he would not lie again. He 

           remembers waking in the dormitory some days later with bandaged hands. They were very painful. 



9.216      Br Bevis in his evidence said he was aware of one occasion when Br Cheney and Br Chaunce 

           punished a boy in a dormitory when he was caught abusing a younger boy. He acknowledged 

          that he had heard that it was a particularly severe punishment. 



           Pervasiveness of punishment 



9.217     Witnesses gave evidence that punishment was unpredictable and unavoidable. Punishment was 

          a feature both inside and outside the classroom. Even Brothers with whom they had a reasonably 

          good relationship could suddenly turn and lash out with the leather or their fists. 



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9.218      One former resident recalled an incident where a boy in the farmyard had an argument with Br 

           Toussnint who then picked up a pitchfork and threw it at the boy, pinning his jacket to the cowshed 

           door. The boy ran up to the yard and the boys hid him when the Brother came looking for him. 

           This was a Brother who was not regarded as severe in his dealings with the boys as a rule. 



9.219      Brothers against whom there were few complaints could flare up and lose their tempers, and in 

           such situations were not restrained. The culture of the school allowed them to lash out against 

           boys. 



9.220      One complainant gave evidence about Br Archard who taught boys in second class who would, 

           if the boys did not know an answer, ‘give you the knuckles on the head. It was very, very sore’. 

           He did not know if other people got the same treatment, although he did not regard it as out of the 

           ordinary: ‘corporal punishment was there anyway so they were only doing what was being done’. 



9.221      One witness said Br Bevis physically assaulted him in the classroom, schoolyard and recreation 

           hall. He was slapped with the strap that Br Bevis carried, not just on the hands. He does not know 

           which classroom this was in, but it could have been any as he did chores for the Brothers. Br 

           Bevis did not teach him. Br Bevis acknowledged that he may have slapped this boy, but denied 

           beating any boy over the body or head or breaking bones. He only punished boys on the hands 

           or maybe gave a clip on the bottom, on the trousers. 



9.222      Br Bevis said that he never hit any boy on the bare bottom and never saw any other Brother do so. 



9.223      One other witness confirmed that Br Kalle ‘often used the leather and his fists’ and that he received 

           both forms of punishment on a lot of occasions, mostly in class but once outside class. Boys were 

           punished for getting questions wrong.19          It was done routinely, in second and third class. Once, 



           he was punched for talking and his nose bled. He did not remember seeing the Brother punch 

           other boys. 



9.224      Another  witness  said  that  Br  Cheney  would  ask  him  a  difficult  question  that  he  was  unable  to 

           answer, and then he would call him to the blackboard. He would be too frightened to answer and 

           Br Cheney would then get his head and beat it across the blackboard. He also beat him on the 

           legs. This happened  ‘quite often’. He urinated with fear on the way up to the blackboard and Br 

           Cheney called him in front of the class about it and made him clean it up. This has remained in 

           his mind over the years. 



9.225      On another occasion, this witness stated that he and two other boys went to the cinema without 

           permission. He busked for the money. When they returned, a Brother lined up all the boys in the 

           yard  and  asked  the  three  of  them  where  they  got  the  money  for  the  cinema.  One  said  the 

           complainant had sung for it. Then the Brother said that there would be no film for the school that 

           Sunday as a result. For the rest of the weekend, he and the other boys with whom he went into 

           town were beaten quite badly by the other pupils. The Brothers watched the beatings. 



9.226      He went on to say that this Brother was a ‘very dominant person’ and a ‘very large man’. A lot of 

           his experiences with him ‘were never very good; very, very brutal’. 



9.227      Br Bevis and Br Cheney were described in a Visitation Report as zealous, devoted to their work 

           and quite happy at it, and they and other Brothers were ‘excellent men’ carrying ‘the lion’s share 

           of the supervision of the boys’ and only ever having the welfare of the boys as their interest. Br 

           Bevis was described as ‘an ideal Brother for Industrial School work’ and another Visitation Report 

           noted that an inspector to the school had commended Br Bevis for his work. 



           19 He confirmed also that it was not the general rule that you would be punished if you failed in your homework or 



              schoolwork at class. 



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           The use of the strap 



  9.228    It was usual for Brothers to carry straps at all times. According to one witness, one Brother used 

           a strap that had been stiffened with coins. He said that he saw a Brother flogging a boy with a 

           belt,  and  suddenly  coins  came  flying  out  of  the  belt  when  the  stitching  on  the  belt  had  come 

           undone.  He  said  that  he  knew  that  it  was  a  ‘continued  practice’ of  putting  coins  in  the  leather 

           strap, because another boy who worked in the shoe shop said that it was his job to put the coins 

           into the belts. 



  9.229    Another witness recalled how he was in the cobbler’s shop one day and somebody who worked 

           there pointed out Br Cheney’s leather strap to him. He told the Committee,  ‘The whole front of it 

           was all loaded down with washers. That was Br Cheney’s leather strap. We used to wonder why 

           it was so hard’. 



  9.230    He said that Br Cheney used the strap on him once only, but he would use it on other boys ‘quite 

           frequently’ on the hands. 



  9.231    The leather could be used at any time of the day or in any place. It was used first thing in the 

           morning,  during  classes,  during  recreation,  during  meal  times,  and  in  the  dormitory  at  night. 

           Brothers carried the strap around with them at all times and therefore could use it instantly without 

           accountability and without a cooling off period. This led to frequent excessive punishments and to 

           the boys having a pervasive expectation of receiving punishment. 



  9.232    The regulations and guidelines issued by the Department of Education and the Christian Brothers 

           for the protection of boys in the care of these institutions were not followed. Punishment was not 

           just inflicted on the hands, but was inflicted all over the body, including the bare bottom and even 

           the feet. 



  9.233    For boys  who ran away  the punishment was  more severe, A  documented incident occurred  in 

           1943 when several boys were punished for absconding by having their food rationed for a week 

           in addition to being given six or nine strokes depending on their age. 



  9.234    There were no sanctions for Brothers who perpetrated excessive punishments. 



  9.235    As with all other Christian Brothers’ institutions, Tralee had no punishment book, notwithstanding 

           an instruction from the Visitor in 1937 to procure one. 



           Climate of fear 



  9.236    Although none of the respondents spoke of a climate of fear in Tralee, Professor Tom Dunne, a 

           former Brother, referred in an article he wrote to such an atmosphere: 



                  It was a secret, enclosed world, run on fear; the boys were wholly at the mercy of the 

                  staff, who seemed to have entirely negative views of them.20 



  9.237    A  number  of  former  residents  who  gave  evidence  spoke  of  the  fear  they  lived  under  while  in 

           the  School, which  was  caused  by some  individual  Brothers and  the  atmosphere  of the  School 

           in general. 



           20 Professor Tom Dunne, ‘Seven Years in the Brothers’ Dublin Review (Spring 2002). 



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9.238      One witness, resident in the school in the 1940s, spoke particularly about the climate of fear in 

           the school. He said: 



                 No, it was a constant fear of them really. It was a constant fear. There was no “how do 

                 you do, well met” kind of thing. There was no “how do you do, how are you this morning?” 

                 whatever, there was never a kind word. 



9.239      Another  witness  said  that  the  environment  was  one        ‘of  constant  fear  and  that  fear  overrode 

           everything else for me’. He said that it was a ‘frightening’ place and that he was  ‘terrified of the 

           place’. This witness was in the school from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s and had spent all of 

           his earlier life in other institutions. 



           Lay staff 



9.240      Former residents made allegations of physical abuse against some lay staff. One witness, who 

           was in the school in the 1940s, told the Committee that the night watchman would give him a 

           ‘wallop’ for having wet the bed. 



9.241      Another witness made a number of complaints against lay staff. First, he mentioned a lay teacher 

           who tried to get him to march properly and threw chairs at him and hit him. He said that one of 

           the lay teachers would be  ‘on the prowl’ where the boys went to darn socks with the nurse or to 

           the tailor to get measured.  ‘If he saw you you were dead unlucky because he would grab you by 

           the knackers and squeeze you until you scream for mercy’. If he could not catch you, ‘he would 

           chuck a chisel at you or something’. 



           Admissions and acknowledgements of excessive punishments 



9.242      Brothers who gave evidence made some admissions regarding the extent of corporal punishment 

           in Tralee. 



9.243      Br Bevis was Principal in the primary school from the mid-1950s to early 1960s. In his evidence 

           to the Committee, he said he accepted that he may have given a boy a clip on the bottom with 

           the leather strap or on the ear. He also said that he never saw marks on any boy from abuse or 

           excessive corporal punishment by any other teacher. He would have noticed marks  ‘when they 

           were coming up to be examined before going to bed’ if the marks were on the upper body or, if 

           they were wearing short pants, on their legs. 



9.244      Br Aribert told the Committee that it was never addressed when a Brother acted in breach of the 

           guidelines on corporal punishment that were set down in their Acts of Chapter. He acknowledged 

           that some Brothers probably overstepped them at times. 



9.245      Br Mahieu acknowledged that from time to time he would have used a strap on the boys in Tralee, 

           in particular for bed-wetting: 



                 I had my six hours teaching day job to do. I was then put in charge of the dormitory ... I 

                 now discover that there is such a thing as bedwetting, persistent bedwetting. I was not 

                 able to cope with that. Partly the reason I wasn’t able to cope with that was that there 

                 wasn’t sufficient back-up facilities or persons to help me with that ... sheets are wet. How 

                 do you dry them? There was some kind of a laundry there, to me it was very old fashioned 

                 looking, just full of steam and things like that ... I found it very difficult ... The result with 

                 not coping with it would be that it was a headache. It was something which wore me down 

                 after a while. It would mean that I could hit somebody, beat somebody ... using the strap 

                 didn’t work either. But I would just physically at times get tired, get frustrated and would 

                 use the strap and I bitterly regret that. I have always said that and admitted that a way 

                 back. I regret it, that that’s the way I tried to cope. But it was putting me into almost an 

                 impossible situation. 



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9.246     He regretted using the leather, he regretted overusing it, but only recalled one occasion when he 

          used it excessively, i.e. unduly severely. 



9.247     Br Bevis told the Committee that he never discussed the carrying out of corporal punishment with 

          other Brothers. He said: 



                No, I never discussed it, because if I was I was in charge that particular time. If the other 

                Brother was in charge that was their duty. 



          Bullying by other boys 



9.248     Bullying  amongst    the  boys  occurred   in  Tralee  and,  although   this bullying  involved  physical 

          beatings and sexual assaults, there was no procedure for reporting such behaviour to the Brothers 

          in charge. 



9.249     One complainant referred to boys who left at age 16 but returned ‘because things didn’t work out 

          for them’. They beat and bullied the smaller boys. When asked whether he could go to the Brothers 

          for protection, he said no, that there was no system for protecting boys from that kind of bullying. 



9.250     Another  complainant,  reiterating  this,  said  that  the  Brothers  never  asked  him  questions  about 

          bullying. He said that the Brothers: 



                were always standoffish, you did what you’re told and that was it. They didn’t make you 

                feel like you could come to them with a complaint because you were frightened to go near 

                them in case you got a beating for making a complaint. 



9.251     This complainant also said that, if an older boy beat a younger boy, a Brother would not ask what 

          happened. Such beatings happened ‘on several occasions’. 



9.252     Another man explained that a group of boys had told him that they would protect him if he would 

          be their ‘boyfriend’. This meant that if he masturbated them they would stop the other boys bullying 

          him. He said that his failure to co-operate led to him being beaten by ‘some of the school bullies’. 



9.253     One  complainant  who  was  in  the  school  in  the  1940s  said  that  he  was  bullied  by  other  boys 

          and had: 



                many the thick lip and many the black eye for no reason whatsoever. But I wasn’t one to 

                fight back, I never was. I was bullied by the boys I think because, you know, I was different. 

                I wasn’t brought in from the country for some mischief or something or another. 



9.254     Another  complainant  said  that  he  was  beaten  up  for  being  a  ‘pet’.  He  described  the  situation 

          as follows: 



                When I say a pet, a pet would be the kind of person that would be hanging on to a Brother 

                and, the other boys, especially the bigger boys, would perceive that you were telling them 

                everything that was going on. Now, there was incidents where boys used to rebel and like 

                –  at  one  time  they  went  downtown,  a  lot  of  boys  from  the  school  went  downtown  and 

                raided Woolworths downtown and, took a lot of stuff out of Woolworths, a lot of boys now. 

                Obviously, like, the Brothers wanted to know where the stuff was. So we were the pets 

                like and, of course, we would tell them everything. Where the stuff was ... You were picked 

                on then because you were small and you were trying to get protection from the Brother. 

                But in actual fact, like, the Brother couldn't protect you because you were out amongst all 

                the boys and the boys would beat you up. If they said to you “if you tell a Brother, we’ll 

                beat you, you are going to be killed the next time again”. 



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9.255      He went on to say that they would get you: 



                Anywhere in the school. The  school is only a small place that you  can go in, it is one 

                square little area like. You couldn't go far unless you ran away ... you wouldn't get a bad 

                beating, like, in a sense you wouldn't need hospitalisation or anything like that, no. You 

                got a belt across the head, a kick that kind of a way. “If you say anything like, we will beat 

                you  up  again”.  It  wasn't  that  the  Brothers  could  protect  you  it  was  that  kind  of  an 

                environment. 



9.256     The majority of the Christian Brothers who gave evidence on this issue were unaware of its being 

          a problem. Four Brothers who were in Tralee during the 1950s and 1960s said that they were 

          aware that occasional bullying occurred. Br Bevis said that he would deal with it when he came 

          across it. 



9.257      Br Boyce conceded that, although he never experienced any bullying or preying on the younger 

           boys by the older ones, the boys were very clever and he would not know that it was going on. 

           No boy ever came to him and he said that, if you asked a boy, he would not tell because the 

          others would retaliate. 



9.258      Br Mahieu stated that he and three other Brothers whom he named were aware that there were 

          complaints from younger boys about bullying and molesting. He also told the Committee that he 

          spoke  to  the  boys  about  homosexual  behaviour  but  was  not  asked  to  do  this  by  the  Resident 

           Manager.  He  did  it  because  of  the  complaints  by  the  boys  about  being  bullied,  physically  and 

          sexually. He said that Tralee was a ‘reasonably happy type of place’ before 1966. Then it ‘changed 

          radically, dramatically’ when the schools in Glin and Upton closed, and boys from those schools 

          came to Tralee. The boys who came to Tralee were very streetwise, aggressive and tough. There 

          were  more  fights,  bullying  and  running  away,  and  stealing  became  a  regular  feature  of  life  in 

          the School. 



9.259     •     Bullying was part of life in Tralee and contributed to a climate of fear that pervaded 

                the Institution. 



          •    Violence by bigger boys on smaller went unreported and unpunished. 

          •     Relations between bigger and smaller boys echoed those between the Brothers and 

                the boys, in being characterised by the use of physical power. 



          Conclusions on physical abuse 



           1.   Physical aggression was a means of communication between Brothers and boys and 

                was used to control the large number of boys that were in Tralee. 



           2.   The efforts of the Superior General in the late 1930s to reduce corporal punishment 

                .in Christian Brothers’ institutions were an indication of an unease at a high level at 

                the amount of corporal punishment in these schools generally. There was, however, 

                no evidence that his warnings and exhortations were heeded or that measures were 

                put in place to ensure that punishments were kept within the guidelines. 



           3.   The story of Br Marceau indicated that excessive punishment only became a concern 

                when it endangered interests such as the reputation of the Congregation or when it 

                ran the risk that litigation would be instituted, but not when it endangered boys. The 

                sequence of events as revealed by the documentation in the Br Marceau case was an 

                example    of  uncaring    and   reckless   management       by  the   Congregation,     which   had 

                serious consequences for the children involved. 



           4.   The evidence of physical punishment and fear reported by complainant witnesses was 

                confirmed  by  some  respondent  evidence  and  by  the  information  inferred  from  the 

                documentary materials. 



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            5.  Younger boys were not protected from older boys and were subjected to physical and 

                sexual bullying. The authorities in Tralee did not provide a safe or secure environment 

                for these children. 



           Sexual abuse 



           Christian Brothers’ Statement 



9.260      In their Opening Statement, the Christian Brothers stated that there was no reference in any of 

           the  surviving  correspondence,  annals  or  Visitation  Reports  to  boys  being  sexually  abused  by 

           Brothers or staff members. Had there been an allegation, the problem would have been dealt with 

           in keeping with the practice at the time. They outlined this practice as follows: 



                    (i)  It would have been reported to a higher authority. 



                   (ii)  The Brother would have been removed from the school. 



                   (iii) The allegation would have been investigated. 



                   (iv)  If the  offence   was   proved    true,  the  Brother   would   have   been    censured    in the 

                         following manner: 



                        (a)   if not finally professed, the Brother was generally dismissed. 



                        (b)   if finally professed, he was called to headquarters, given a Canonical Warning 

                              and transferred from the scene of his misbehaviour. 



                        (c)   if the abuse was repeated, the finally professed Brother was usually dismissed 

                              or advised to seek a canonical dispensation in order to pre-empt dismissal. 



           Br Piperel21 



9.261      Br Piperel taught in Tralee for a year in the late 1930s. He had been moved there from Letterfrack 

           where he had been the subject of a serious complaint that he was sexually interfering with boys. 

           At  the  time  of  the  complaint,  Br  Piperel  had  been  in  Letterfrack  for  some  eight  years  and  he 

           continued his career there for another four years. Thereafter, he served in other industrial schools 

           for almost 10 years. The records contained complaints about the Brother’s work and attitude in 

           these institutions, but did not record incidents of sexual impropriety. 



           Br Garon 



9.262      The   Christian   Brothers    have   acknowledged      that   one   Brother,   Br  Garon,    ‘behaved    in  an 

           inappropriate manner in the boys’ showers’. 



9.263      Br  Garon was  almost 60  years  old when  he arrived  in  Tralee, where  he worked  for  almost 20 

           years from the early 1950s. 



9.264      Three witnesses recalled inappropriate behaviour on the part of Br Garon. 



9.265      The first of these witnesses was in Tralee in the mid-1950s. He said that Br Garon regularly took 

           a shower with the boys. He would wash them and get them to wash him including his private parts. 



9.266      The second witness said that he was aware that this Brother had showers with the boys but he 

           said it  ‘didn’t interfere with me in any way’. 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 



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9.267      The third witness recalled washing Br Garon, who used to get into the showers with the small 

           boys. The boys used to wash each other’s backs and Br Garon used to do the same. This went 

           on for ‘a while’. He said that they thought it was ‘the norm’. 



           Observations on Br Garon’s behaviour by two separate Brothers 



9.268      In a Garda statement responding to allegations made against him, Br Marceau acknowledged that 

           Br Garon used to be in the showers with the boys. He said: 



                  On one occasion I had reason to look for Br Garon who was in the showers with the boys 

                  and he and the boys were naked. I was shocked and never approved of that. 



9.269      A second Brother, Br Lisle,22  made a supplemental statement in January 2006 in relation to alleged 



           sexual abuse by  Br Garon. In it,  he recalled that boys  had made complaints to  him about this 

           Brother.  The  solicitors  for  the  Christian  Brothers  informed  the  Committee  in  a  letter  dated  27th 



           January 2006 of the information given to them by Br Lisle. The letter explained that, during the 

           course of a meeting between Br Lisle and the Deputy Provincial of St Helen’s Province on 16th 



           January  2006,  Br  Lisle  disclosed  that,  when  he  was  in  Tralee,  a  number  of  boys  had  made 

           ‘allegations of sexual impropriety’ against Br Garon, and that he had told the Resident Managers 

           of  these  allegations  at  the  time.  The  Committee  was  also  advised  that,  insofar  as  the  Deputy 

           Provincial knew, this was the first time that the Brother had made these allegations. 



9.270      In the statement made four days later, on 31st           January, Br Lisle explained that about four or five 



           boys  between  the  ages  of  nine  and  16  complained  to  him  that  they  were  reluctant  to  go  for 

           showers because Br Garon would ‘interfere with them while in the showers’. They said that Br 

           Garon would shower them and request that they wash him also. Br Garon would be naked with 

           them in the showers. The boys also told him that Br Garon would take a boy from the yard for an 

           ‘individual shower’ every day. 



9.271      Br Lisle went on to state that he had relayed the complaints to three Resident Managers,23                      and 



           he had assumed they had reported them to the ‘relevant people’. He now realised that that was 

           not the case, and that was why he was bringing the matter to the Commission’s attention. 



9.272      When giving evidence to the Committee, Br Lisle said that the allegations against Br Garon had 

           not come as a great shock to him, as Br Garon himself used to take boys off the yard, telling him 

           that he had to  ‘bring this boy for a shower’. 



9.273      When this happened, he reported it to Br Sinclair,24  the first of the three Resident Managers. His 



           complaint was dismissed and he was told,  ‘Oh don’t mind that man, sure, he was in China for 

           years’. He could not remember the word used by the first boy when complaining to him, but he 

           believed it was something like ‘fiddling’. He did not recall if he went to Br Sinclair with complaints 

           more than once, but it is possible that he did, since several boys would be talking about it. His 

           view at the time was that he had done enough by telling Br Sinclair because he would ‘let him look 

           after it’. He did not go back to the boy to follow up on it. Br Garon, however, kept giving showers. 



9.274      When  that  Resident  Manager  was  replaced,  Br  Lisle  reported  the  matter  to  his  successor,  Br 

           Millard, who was only Resident Manager for a matter of weeks. He cannot remember what that 

           Resident  Manager  said  to  him,  but  he  accepted  that  he  must  not  have  been  happy  with  his 

           predecessor’s  response.  Br  Lisle  also  told  the  Committee  that  he  was  with  Br  Millard  on  one 

           occasion when a boy came up and said that Br Garon wanted him for a shower. He turned to Br 

           Millard and told him that he thought there was more than just showering going on. It was crystal 



           22 This Brother worked in Tralee from the mid-1960s to 1970. 

           23 There were three Resident Managers during Br Lisle’s time in Tralee: Brs Sinclair, Millard and Roy. 

           24 Br Sinclair was Resident Manager for a period of six years in the 1960s. 



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           clear what was being alleged, but, according to Br Lisle, the boy probably still went for the shower. 

           He said that his understanding was that the boys did not ‘like it and that they were trying to have 

           it stopped, they didn’t want to be interfered with, as they said’. He thought Br Garon took these 

           showers  with  the  boys  when  they  were  taken  from  the  yard,  as  opposed  to  during  the  normal 

           Saturday night showers. 



9.275      When the third Resident Manager, Br Roy, took over, Br Lisle again reported the boys’ complaints 

           about  Br  Garon’s  activity  in  the  showers.  He  did  not  know  if  Br  Roy  did  anything,  but  he  now 

           knows that the information did not go to ‘headquarters’. 



9.276      Br Lisle said that it never occurred to him to tell the Brothers who were carrying out the Visitations, 

           as he thought other Brothers would have reported it. He thought all the others knew about it. He 

           was just the  ‘junior member of staff’ and he did not think it was his place to confront Br Garon. 

           He said that there were ‘more senior men there than me to confront him’. 



9.277      He  told  the  Committee     that the  boys   were   not  embarrassed     or  awkward     when   they  were 

           complaining to him, and had no difficulty articulating the complaint. He believed they would have 

           been talking about it amongst themselves. 



9.278      He had told the Deputy Provincial in January 2006 that Br Garon was abusing the boys ‘most of 

           the time’. He had not talked about it to anyone between 1970 and 2006. His understanding had 

           been that ‘headquarters’ knew all about Br Garon, because he had told every Resident Manager. 



           What the documents said about Br Garon 



9.279      None of the Visitation Reports over the 20-year period that Br Garon spent in Tralee refers to any 

           complaints of this nature being made against him, so there is very little in the documentation to 

           assist the Committee in the consideration of this case. 



9.280      One Visitation Report in the early 1950s noted Br Garon was ill. In fact, he was absent from the 

           School  for  approximately  eight  months  that  year.  Br  Garon  became  Sub-Superior  in  the  mid- 

           1950s. In a Visitation Report compiled over a year after his appointment, he is described as being 

           ‘fairly well; he rises late and retires early; he has no school work but takes the boys for morning 

           and evening prayers and gives a hand in the games and supervision during the out of class hours’. 

           Later Visitation Reports both noted his poor health, and the latter noted that his Superior had ‘the 

           utmost confidence in him’. His poor health was again noted in the Visitation Reports in the early 

           1960s. In the 1962 Visitation Report the following extract is of interest: 



                 The Superior says that the Sub-Superior, Br Garon, is the most useful man in the place. 

                 Despite his deafness and indifferent health he is on the go all the time, doing endless little 

                 jobs  that  are  most  essential  to  a  place  such  as  St.  Joseph’s.  He  acts  as  Infirmarian, 

                 supervises the play yard, takes the boys for basketball in the yard, checks on all kinds of 

                 odds  and  ends  and  is  generally  most  useful.  He  is  in  charge  of  the  baths  also  and 

                 supervises the health of the boys generally. 



9.281      His health was deteriorating by the mid-1960s and, in the 1966 Visitation Report, he was described 

           as ‘almost totally deaf but continued to do good work’. By 1967 he was as ‘deaf as a stone’. The 

           following year, it was noted that he was unable to take part in any Community conversations but 

           busied himself as sacristan. 



           The evidence of other former members of staff 



9.282      In addition to Br Lisle, four other former members of staff who had been in the School when Br 

           Garon was there gave evidence to the Committee about him. 



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9.283      Br Bevis said that he never heard any mention of Br Garon’s being naked in the showers with the 

           boys nor had he heard allegations of his acting inappropriately. He said that he never heard it 

           discussed among the Brothers that he might have been in the showers with the boys, although 

           he did acknowledge that it may in fact have been so discussed after his time. 



9.284      Another  member  of  staff,  Br  Mahieu,  told  the  Committee  that  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the 

           showers, taking over from Br Garon, in approximately 1966. He did not know why this change 

           took place, but said it was possibly because the Resident Manager, Br Sinclair, had asked him. 

           When  he  took  over,  he  insisted  on  the  showers  being  upgraded  and  that  was  done.  He  knew 

           ‘absolutely nothing’ about allegations that Br Garon took boys for individual showers on days other 

           than Saturdays when he might not have been in charge. At such times the water would have been 

           cold.  He  had  never  heard  anything  about  Br  Garon  interfering  with  the  boys  in  the  showers, 

           washing them or requiring them to wash him. He had  ‘never heard it discussed’. 



9.285      Br Aribert stated that he did not recall the subject of Br Garon’s showering with the boys being 

           discussed. He told the Committee, however, that he did recall some of the boys not wanting to go 

           to the showers but they never told him why. He felt it was because boys of that age did not like 

           to shower in the middle of winter. He added, ‘it wasn’t for the reason that they were being abused 

           that came across to me’. He never heard any boy complain about the ‘supposed carry on’ with 

           the Brother. If Br Garon was abusing boys, he did not know how a tiny community could not be 

           aware  of  it.  He  also  told  the  Committee  that  he  believed  someone  else  was  in  charge  of  the 

           showers when Br Garon was still there. He did not know why Br Garon was taken off that job. 



9.286      Another Brother, Br Chapin, said that he never heard any discussion among the Brothers about 

           Br Garon in the showers with the boys, or anything of that nature. 



           What the Christian Brothers said 



9.287      Br Garon was not mentioned in either the Opening Statement furnished by the Christian Brothers 

           or in the Phase I or Phase III evidence. 



9.288      In their Final Submission to the Investigation Committee, the Christian Brothers accepted that the 

           evidence relating to Br Garon suggested that he ‘did behave in an inappropriate manner in the 

           boys’ showers’. They stated that the extent to which he engaged in inappropriate conduct was 

           obviously a matter for the Committee and said that it was worth noting that there was a ‘broad 

           spectrum of evidence on this issue’. They believed that some allegations against Br Garon were 

           ‘exaggerated’ but accepted that, even if his ‘activities went no further than requiring the boys to 

           wash him ... this was totally inappropriate’. They also accepted that ‘from today’s perspective, it 

           would seem to be unwise to allow one adult to supervise showers on a continual and consistent 

           basis without any monitoring of that adult. This appears to have been what happened’. 



9.289      The  Submission  conceded  that  the  decision  to  place  Br  Garon  in  charge  of  the  showers  ‘was 

           an error which was compounded by a lack of appreciation of the risks that might arise in such 

           a situation’. 



9.290      The Submission also stated that Br Garon’s activities in the showers took place when there was 

           group showering and that ‘he did not have the authority, nor was it the practice, that he would 

           take individual boys for showers’. This is not, however, borne out by the evidence of Br Lisle who 

           made the statement in January 2006. The Congregation repeated its puzzlement at the evidence 

           of  Br  Lisle  that  he  had  informed  three  Resident  Managers  of  his  ‘suspicions/complaints’.  The 

           Submissions also stated that the Congregation believed that the Resident Managers in question 

           would not have ignored ‘complaints of this nature’. 



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9.291      •    Br Garon’s behaviour went on for many years, and was known to three Superiors, but 

                they did nothing about it. 



           •    The Brother who reported the complaints of boys and who confirmed that Br Garon 

                was taking them into the showers was a very junior member of the Congregation in 

                Tralee, and he felt that his conscience was clear when he complained and left it to the 

                Superior to deal with the problem. Br Lisle, who made these repeated complaints to 

                the Superiors did not pursue the matter further, for example by mentioning it to the 

                Visitors. Neither did he make a written complaint to the Provincial. This reflects on the 

                sense of discipline that was inculcated and which would have operated particularly on 

                a junior Brother in the Institution. 



           •    It  is  likely  that  over  such  a  long  period  other  Brothers  in  Tralee  knew  about  Br 

                Garon’s behaviour. 



           •    Nothing  is  recorded  about  these  complaints  in  the  discovered  material.  Superiors 

                chose to  keep matters  to themselves and  did not  report on to  the Provincial  or the 

                Visitor. If they did, the Visitors did not to make a note of it or do anything about it. 

                This is an example of the under-recording and under-reporting of sexual abuse. 



           •    The Brothers would have dealt severely with boys behaving in the showers in the way 

                that Br Garon did. The moral issues or the corrupting effect of the Brother’s behaviour 

                was not dealt with. 



           •    The fact that Br Garon behaved openly in this way is evidence of his confidence that 

                he would not be challenged. Br Lisle recalled how Br Garon would select a particular 

                boy to bring to the shower. The audacity of Br Garon is striking and is another reason 

                why this case is a very serious one for the Congregation. 



           Br Marceau 



9.292      Br  Marceau  was  moved  to  Tralee  for  the  second  time  after  cracking  a  boy’s  jaw  in  Glin.  One 

          witness told the Committee that, during class, Br Marceau would stand him between his knees 

           and put his arms around him and hug him into him. Sometimes he put his face on his shoulder, 

           up against his face. Eventually, he would start putting his hand down the back of his trousers and 

          fondling his bottom. This went on for  ‘a period of time’. Br Marceau would call him up to the front 

           of the classroom where this would happen. The other boys could not see what was happening 

           and this happened to him a dozen times, maybe more. 



9.293      This same complainant also said that, on one occasion, Br Marceau told him to stay behind after 

           class and called him to his desk, after the others had left. He put him between his knees and put 

           his arms around him. He told him to read his book and then he put one of his hands down the 

           back of the complainant’s trousers and the other hand down the front. When he then started to 

           open the buttons on the front, the complainant began to struggle. Br Marceau pulled him tighter 

           but he got loose and ran to the door. Br Marceau caught him as he got to the door and pulled him 

           away from the door. The complainant banged into a desk, hurting himself. He was crying at this 

           stage and shouted at Br Marceau to leave him alone. Br Marceau started to hit the complainant 

           over the head and told him to shut up. The classroom door opened, and Br Millard came in and 

          told  Br  Marceau  to  leave  the  boy  alone.  He  did  not  ask  the  complainant  about  it.  After  that, 

           he was never called up to the front of the class again. The beatings did, however, continue in 

          the classroom. 



9.294      The witness was asked whether there were any Brothers to whom he felt he could speak about 

           difficulties such as the way he was being treated by Br Marceau in class. He said no there were 

           not, ‘you never went to a Christian Brother and told him your problem’. More specifically, he could 

           not  complain about  what  Br Marceau  was  doing  because he  did  not know  if  the other  Brother 



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           would believe him. If he did not, he might get  ‘a hiding’, and then Br Marceau would be told and 

           he would get a ‘worse hiding’ from him for telling lies. 



9.295      He  had  no  recollection  or sense  of  this  Brother  being  supervised  or  watched after  the  Brother 

           intervened in the classroom on the occasion mentioned above. 



           Sexual activity among the boys 



9.296      One complainant, who was in Tralee in the 1940s, told the Investigation Committee that he knew 

           there was ‘a lot of shenanigans’ going on between the boys in toilets and out in fields. They would 

           be ‘playing with each other’ but he kept clear of that. The Resident Manager would call the boys 

           in and question them on whether they were involved in sexual activities amongst themselves. He 

           also  said,  however,  that  there  was  no  talk  between  the  boys  and  the  Brothers  about  this  ‘sex 

           thing’, but the stigma was there and the boys would use it against each other in an argument, 

           saying  ‘at least I wasn’t called in for Question Time’.25    No boy wanted to let anybody know that 



           they had been called in for  ‘Question Time’. 



9.297      Another complainant referred to abusive sexual activity among the boys. A witness from the late 

           1960s told the Committee that older boys would congregate around the toilet in the yard, and that 

           the younger boys would be afraid of going in there for fear of being beaten or molested by them. 

           The younger boys used go in to the toilet in threes and fours in order to be protected from the 

           older boys: 



                 We didn't know what was going to happen in there, whether we were getting a hiding from 

                 the older boys or what else they would do to you. It was just that thing in there and, if you 

                 did get a hiding you didn't go speak about it you kept it to yourself ... There was a fear of 

                 being sexually abused as well, yes ... It was supposed to happen to the younger lads but 

                 I can't say definitely whether it did or not. 



9.298      This  witness  said  at  night  the  older  boys  would  try  to  get  into  the  smaller  boys’  beds.  They 

           terrorised them. He said this happened to him on a number of occasions with different boys and 

           he would just shout out. He explained: 



                 So every time you’d start roaring they would get up, they would give you a slap in the 

                 head  and  they  would  threaten  that  if  you  opened  your  mouth  they  would  get  you  the 

                 next day. 



9.299      He also confirmed, however, that the boys kept the peer abuse to themselves. The Brothers would 

           not have known what was going on in the toilets unless they saw it themselves. To his knowledge, 

           this never happened. He acknowledged that it was a continuous problem for the younger boys 

           but it was not spoken about. You kept to yourself because you did not know whom to trust,  ‘so 

           you managed to stay on your own’. 



9.300      He also told of one occasion when an older boy told him to climb a ladder on the farm one day if 

           he wanted to see some kittens. When he was climbing the ladder the older boy put his hands up 

           his pants and started fondling him. He kicked him away and ran. 



9.301      Another complainant said that he had been abused by other boys of around the same age on 

           more than one occasion. This complainant said that he had told Br Mahieu the names of the boys 

           who were abusing him but nothing came of his complaint. During the course of his evidence, Br 

           Mahieu said that he would try to get younger boys to give him a name but they never would. 



           25 Question Time was a radio programme 



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9.302     Another former resident also referred to Br Lafayette as being a Brother who regularly interrogated 

          the boys about sex and matters relating to it. He did this in the back room.  ‘The first time it came 

          on, he asked me, I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. And of course I got six of the 

          best for basically telling lies’. After being punished for not being able to answer, the former resident 

          then gave another boy’s name. He regretted that he had told on another boy, but said he was 

          being severely beaten at the time. 



          What the respondents had to say about peer abuse 



9.303     Of all the former members of staff who gave evidence, only one, Br Mahieu, said complaints about 

          peer abuse had been made to him. He said that younger boys would complain that they were 

          being bullied or molested by other boys. He tried to get them to give a name but they never did. 

          He said that he did suspect that there was sexual abuse going on between the boys but he never 

          ‘actually became aware of it’, or of an incident or perpetrator. In response to the complaints, he 

          would try to be as vigilant as he could be while on yard duty. He would change his pattern of 

          patrolling the yard. He never checked for sexual abuse in the dormitories because he was never 

          aware that it went on there. He would check to see if everything was  ‘okay’, that ‘the majority of 

          them would be asleep’. He never found sexual activity there. 



9.304     He named other Brothers, including Br Cheney, whom he said were aware of the boys’ complaints 

          in that regard. He concluded that they must have spoken to one another about it. 



9.305     Of the other former members of staff who gave evidence, only two acknowledged being aware of 

          particular instances of peer sexual abuse. 



9.306     The first of these Brothers, Br Aribert, said that there was only one case while he was there of a 

          boy complaining of being sexually abused by another boy. He said that it was dealt with, but did 

          not  give  any  further  details.  Br  Bevis  recalled  an  occasion  when  a  boy  was  punished  by  two 

          Brothers for abusing a younger boy. 



9.307     The other respondent witnesses claimed to have never encountered peer abuse. This included 

          Br  Boyce,  who  acknowledged  that the  boys  were  very  clever  and  he  would not  know  if  it  was 

          going on. He also said that no boy ever told him he was being bullied or preyed on. He also said 

          that, if you thought it was happening and asked a boy,  ‘he wouldn’t tell you anyway’ because the 

          ‘others would give out to him’. Br Chapin said that, although he was aware of the possibility of 

          sexual activity among the boys, he never came across it. He said that the Brothers were warned 

          to keep an eye out for  ‘bullying and for anything else’. He disagreed that there was an obsession 

          in uncovering that kind of activity in Tralee. Another respondent, Br Lisle, was not aware of sexual 

          activity between the boys. 



9.308     •    An  inadequate  and  indifferent  regime  of  supervision  allowed  older  boys  to  prey  on 

                younger boys . 



          •      Bullying    and   intimidation     occurred    unchecked,      which    was    frightening     and 

                demoralising,  especially  for  younger  children  who  did  not  feel  the  Brothers  would 

                protect them. 



          •    The evidence of a boy being beaten by a Brother, in order to get names of other boys 

                involved in sexual activity, describes a practice in Tralee that was common to other 

                Christian Brother institutions. It resulted in unreliable information being given under 

                duress, and often initiated a cycle of further beatings and revelations. 



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           Neglect 



9.309      The Congregation acknowledged that the emotional needs of children in its care were not properly 

           provided for. The reason for this failure was, it was claimed, a lack of awareness of what these 

           emotional needs were, rather than any deliberate policy on the part of the Congregation to ignore 

           them. In the General Chapter on the Christian Brothers, the position of the Congregation on the 

           issue of emotional and physical care is outlined. 



9.310      Physical care and education, they claimed, were the main concern. The question remains whether 

           the quality of ‘physical care’ in Tralee was of the required standard for the time. 



           Physical care: financial matters 



           Payment of monies to St Mary’s, Tralee 



9.311      In  the  1940    Visitation  Report,   the  Visitor  noted   that,  when    the  St  Mary’s    and  St   Joseph’s 

           Communities in Tralee were separated, it was arranged that St Joseph’s should contribute £600 

           per annum to St Mary’s ‘to help towards liquidating the debt on the new Secondary School’. It 

           was noted that this sum had been paid regularly up to 1938 but, as of 14th                January 1940, it had 

           not been paid for 1939.26 



9.312      An undated document stated that the accounts of St Mary’s and St Joseph’s were to be separated 

           on 1st  July 1932, and that a separate account was opened on 11th  August 1932 for St. Joseph’s. 



           This document also referred to various accounting matters and stated: 



                  In view of these uncertainties but chiefly in view of the fact that St. Joseph’s will have to 

                  pay £600 a year for the next ten years to lessen St. Mary’s debt it may be just to decide 

                  that St. Mary’s should forego any claim it may have for a refund of part of this sum of £802. 



9.313      In 1940, there were 120 boys in Tralee. As of 4th           January 1939, the capitation grant payable by 



           the Department in respect of boys over six years of age to industrial schools was seven shillings 

           and  six  pence.  This  amounted  to  a  total  of  £19.10.00  per  child  per  annum.  The  sum  of  £600, 

           therefore, amounted to the annual capitation grant for 25% of the school population. 



9.314      The capitation grant was paid to these schools for the care and welfare of the children, not to fund 

           private secondary schools for the Congregation. Siphoning off 25% of the school income for the 

           benefit  of  the  Congregation      was  wrong,  particularly  where  conditions  in       Tralee  were  barely 

           adequate.  The  Congregation  did  not  address  this  issue  in  its  Opening  Statement  or  its  Final 

           Submission. 



           Building fund 



9.315      As  early  as  1935,  there  were  references  in  the  Visitation  Reports  and  annals  to  money  being 

           paid into a building fund/Baldoyle extension fund. The annals for 1946 referred to the payment 

           as follows: 



                  It is also arranged to give ... one shilling per week, per pupil towards the Building Fund to 

                  enable Managers of Industrial Schools to effect improvements in the establishments. This 

                  Grant will be a help. It is hoped that it may be increased later. 



9.316      At  least  £13,600  was  paid  by  the  school  into  the  Building  Fund,  including  £2,000  as  late  as 

           February 1966. It is not known how much of this sum or the rest of the monies in the Fund were 

           used for the purposes of effecting improvements in Tralee or for the benefit of the pupils there. 



           26 The annals refer to ‘this tax’ ceasing to be paid when Br Dareau came as Resident Manager. 



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           Dealings on the farm 



9.317      The annals disclosed certain irregularities that took place on the farm in relation to the disposal 

           of produce and the ‘irregular use’ of income, which occurred during a period of severe deprivation 

          for the boys. The annals report that the farm ‘appears to have been run on the lines of a Limited 

           Company – between the Brother-in-Charge thereof, [a local businessman and a workman] – but 

          with the liability on the Monastery’. 



9.318      The annals go on to report that: 



                  •    In November 1950, about half of the livestock, valued at about £1,000, housed on the 

                       farm, belonged to [a local business man and a workman], from whom only £566 was 

                       received for them. 



                  •    ‘When a beast was killed neither the cutlets nor the offals was cooked for the boys. 

                       These portions appear to have been taken by the butcher and the plates (of beef) or 

                       the boney inferior parts of another beast (presumably the butcher’s) substituted. Even 

                       the first fruits of the vegetable garden were sold or rather given free at the butchers 

                       (greengrocers) shop while the boys could not be supplied’. 

                  •    The  income  on  the  vegetables  for  the  six  months  ending  31st   December  1949  was 

                       almost  £53.  The  income  for  the  six  months  ending  31st   December  1950  was  £200, 



                       which  was  spent  on  potatoes,  which  should  have  been  retained,  making  the  real 

                       income ‘nil’. The income for the six months to 31st      December 1951, immediately after 



                       the Superior Resident Manager took control, was over £700. 



                  •    Monies were recovered, following the threat of legal proceedings. 

                  •    About one-third of the money taken in the sale of vegetables went to the boys. The 

                       farmyard was a ‘semi-hucksters shop’ and the boys were unable to weigh the potatoes 

                       and ‘gave bargains for a “tip”’. This state of affairs was being continued under two farm 

                       Brothers, until the Superior was compelled to intervene and have the second Brother 

                       removed, the first having already sought a change ‘before the improper transactions 

                       were known’. 



                  •    The Superior felt that it was an understatement to say that hundreds of pounds were 

                       lost over a period of three to four years, and wondered whether it could be counted in 

                       thousands. He noted that the boys were under-fed and denied vegetables whilst, at 

                       the same time, vegetables were on sale in the market and shops. 



                  •    The  medical  officer  had  noted  that  the  vegetables  were  obtainable  in  town,  but  the 

                       boys could not get any. 



9.319      The Visitation Report for 1951 refers to a want of agreement on the question of running the farm. 

           The Report noted: 



                 It would appear that Br Christien’s predecessor on the farm was allowed a great deal of 

                 freedom in the handling of money and in the buying and selling of stock etc. There also 

                 appeared to be a lot of uncontrolled selling of vegetables both by boys and employees 

                 on the farm nor was there any proper check on the man that brought vegetables to the 

                 market or delivered them to various customers in the town. There was undoubtedly great 

                 need for a tightening up of these matters. 



9.320     At the Visitor’s suggestion, a procedure was agreed between the Resident Manager, the bursar 

           and  the  farm  Brother  that  would  rectify  these  matters.  This  plan  did  not  work  out  as  well  as 

           anticipated, but the farm Brother’s removal enabled the Resident Manager and the bursar to get 

           proper control of the farm finances. 



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            Physical care: food 



9.321      Some complainants who gave evidence to the Committee said that the food in Tralee was very 

            bad, both in terms of quality and quantity. The 1940s was a period of food shortages everywhere, 

           and Tralee would have had some difficulty in meeting all the dietary requirements of the boys, 

           although it had the advantage of a farm that could have provided fresh vegetables and meat, and 

            it had a bakery that provided all the bread consumed by the boys. 



9.322       In this regard, the Resident Manager’s comments in the early 1950s regarding dealings on the 

           farm and the disposal of produce were of particular interest. The Resident Manager felt that it was 

           an understatement to say that hundreds of pounds were lost over a period of three to four years, 

           and wondered whether it could be counted in thousands. He noted that the boys were underfed, 

           and were denied vegetables whilst at the same time vegetables were on sale in the market and 

           shops. According to the annals, the Medical Officer had noted that the vegetables were obtainable 

            in town but the boys could not get any. The level of deprivation emerged in the evidence heard 

            by  the  Committee:  two  of  the  boys  who  were  in  the  school  in  the  1940s  spoke  of  taking  food 

            prepared for the pigs. 



9.323      As   was    confirmed    by   one   complainant,     the   situation   improved     in the   mid-1950s     with   the 

           appointment of a new Brother to the kitchens, Br Lafayette, and the Visitors and Department of 

            Education Inspector were generally satisfied with the quantity of food provided.27 As the Committee 



            has seen in other institutions, the Inspector who visited industrial schools in the 1940s and 1950s 

           was not slow to criticise the diet if she felt that the food was inadequate. Similarly, the Visitation 

            Reports  have  also  commented  on  inadequate  food  when  they  found  standards  were  low.  For 

           example, the 1953 Visitation Report recorded complaints by Br Kalle and Br Montaine that the 

            boys were not getting enough to eat. The Resident Manager denied this was so. 



9.324       Br Lisle, who was in charge of the kitchen in the mid to late 1960s, told the Committee that he did 

            not get a budget for the kitchen, and he had to make the best of what he got. He did not order 

           what came in, but instead he cooked whatever food was there. 



9.325      The lack of proper cooking facilities was criticised in the 1940s and into the 1950s. In the mid- 

            1950s the Visitor referred to the kitchen Brother succeeding in feeding the boys ‘very well’ despite 

           ‘wretchedly poor facilities in his kitchen’.28 



9.326       It was not until 1957 that the Visitor recorded any improvement. Even after that date, the dining 

            room and kitchen equipment were identified as inadequate. 



9.327      Complainants who appeared before the Committee spoke of eating food from the farm to stave 

           off hunger. This was alleged by former residents who were in the Institution throughout the period 

           under investigation. 



9.328      Two witnesses said the food that they got during Christmas was good. 



            Physical care: the boys’ clothing 



9.329      The state of the boys’ clothing varied greatly between 1940 and 1970. The poor quality of clothing 

           was criticised by the Department of Education Inspector throughout most of the 1940s.29 



           27 This is borne out by the Department Inspector’s Reports, which until 1950 categorised the food and diet as 



              ‘satisfactory’. The 1953 Report said that food and diet was ‘much improved’ and, from then on, was always described 

              by this inspector as very good. 

           28 A later Visitation Report noted that there was no evidence of the pilfering of food that had taken place before this 



              Brother arrived in Tralee. 

           29 The 1940s Visitation Reports only commented on the standard of the boys’ clothing in 1940, 1941 and 1943, and 



              then only in positive terms. 



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9.330      It was not until 1954 that the Inspector described the standard of clothing as ‘v. good’. She noted 

           that the quality had improved and that there were no patches. That year the Visitor reported that 

           the boys were ‘especially well clothed’ and ‘appeared neat, tidy and clean’. 



9.331      The clothing continued to improve in 1955, 1956 and 1957 and was reported by the Inspector as 

           being either good or very good until 1963. However, by 1964 the Visitor noted that many boys 

           were  poorly  dressed  and  wearing  torn  clothes.  He  noted  two  boys  were  left  in  charge  of  the 

           laundry and ‘it seems to be a wholetime job’. 



9.332      In 1968 the Visitor recommended that a woman should be employed to oversee the laundry, and 

           that worn-out clothes should be disposed of and replaced. 



9.333      The Christian Brothers were paid to make proper provision for food and clothing. They were two 

           of  the  items  covered  by  the  capitation  grant.  In  addition,  the  addendum  to  the  1961  Visitation 

           Report indicated that Tralee was financially viable at that time. Despite this fact, it seems clear 

           from the documentation and the oral evidence that food and clothing were not adequate in Tralee 

           for substantial periods between 1940 and 1969. 



9.334      Food and clothing improved in the mid-1950s, not because of significantly improved finances but 

           because of the appointment of Br Sauville as Resident Manager. A Visitor to Tralee in the early 

           1950s remarked on his ‘unsparing efforts’ to improve the welfare and material well-being of the 

           boys. The quality of care improved with better management of the Institution. 



           Physical care: accommodation and facilities 



9.335      Over the years, the quality of the accommodation and facilities varied greatly, depending on the 

           Resident Manager at the time. 



9.336      The 1937 Visitation Report described the School as being in an appalling state. The Visitor wrote: 



                 The parts of the Institution inhabited by the boys is very badly kept. The dining room has 

                 been painted within the past month and looks now fairly well, but the table cloths on the 

                 dining table are a positive disgrace. They are torn and in a filthy condition – wet and dirty. 

                 The  tin  and  aluminium  mugs  are  only  fit  for  the  scrapheap,  and  it  is  a  shame  for  the 

                 Superior to have them seem about. The knives, spoons and all things pertaining to the 

                 meals are in a very bad condition. New sets of table linen, delph, knives, spoons, plates 

                 etc. are badly needed. The bed linen is also in a dirty condition, and fleas abound. Old 

                 rags, old jerseys and discarded stockings are under the mattresses, and some of the Wire 

                 mattresses are broken. The boys Lavatories are dirty and the tiles in the boys’ bath room 

                 are broken and missing. Some parts of the bath room also requires painting. Mr Whelan 

                 reports very adversely on all these at his last inspection, and since then little has been 

                 done. All these have been again pointed out to the Superior and he has been instructed 

                 to have all put into order without delay. A detailed copy of all has been left with him. The 

                 Institution is no credit to the Congregation. 



9.337      A new Resident Manager was appointed in the late 1930s, and the Visitor recorded a month after 

           his appointment that: 



                 this school suffered in reputation with Govt Inspectors and with the public. The boys were 

                 badly clothed, the standard of cleanliness was low and the food especially the dinner of 

                 the boys was poor. The name of the Scho did not stand high in Tralee and district and 

                 this militated against the influx of boys to the school. The new Superior, Br Dareau has 

                 done wonders in the short time he is here to improve the clothing, food and training of 

                 the boys and to raise the standard of cleanliness. 



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  9.338    The Department  Inspector recorded  in 1939  that a  lot of  improvements and  redecoration were 

           being  done  in  the  school  and  that  it  was  in  a  ‘progressing  state  and  promises  to  be  very 

           satisfactory’. The dormitories and refectory had been painted, and both appeared clean and well 

           kept. She also recorded that the Resident Manager appeared to be ‘very capable and progressive’. 



  9.339    In 1941, the Visitor commented on the improvement. He stated that the Resident Manager had: 



                  done a great deal to improve the buildings. Every part of the establishment is now clean 

                  and orderly and in good repair. Plans are being prepared for reconstruction and alterations 

                  so as to provide a domestic chapel for the Community and School, a Sanitary annexe for 

                  the Community, and additional washing facilities and lavatories in the Boys’ dormitories. 



  9.340    During  the  1940s,  the  reports  of  both  the  Department  of  Education  Inspector  and  the  Visitors 

           found  things  largely  satisfactory.  Apart  from  the  completion  of  a  chapel  in  the  early  1940s,  no 

           major construction work was carried out in Tralee, although renovations and maintenance were 

           carried   out  from   time   to  time.  One    Visitor  described    the  basic   premises,    which    had   been 

           constructed in 1859, as ‘naturally dark and cheerless’. The main building was a typical Victorian 

           institutional structure. 



  9.341    Throughout the 1950s, improvements were made to the dormitories, the refectory, the chapel and 

           the boys’ kitchen. The Resident Manager in the early 1950s, Br Sauville, was active in improving 

           the buildings and facilities, and was praised by the Department’s Inspector for his efforts in this 

           regard.30 



  9.342    By 1968, the Visitor had commented on the general neglect in the upkeep of the premises. The 

           boys themselves were doing the general cleaning work under the supervision of a Brother, while 

           workmen did the general maintenance work. 



  9.343    What might have been deemed adequate in the 1940s and 1950s was less so in the 1960s. The 

           new Resident Manager in the early 1960s, Br Sinclair, was less competent than the man who had 

           effected such improvement in the 1950s. Although the School continued to be described as well- 

           run, basic facilities, in particular toilets and washrooms, were singled out for criticism. 



  9.344    From the 1960s, however, strong criticism was made of the condition of the schoolrooms. They 

           were described as ‘very drab and dirty’ in 1960 and, in 1963, were described as being ‘very badly 

           in need of repair – the atmosphere is depressing’. 



  9.345    The Department of Education Inspector, Dr C. E. Lysaght, who inspected the School in March 

           1966, found that the dormitories ‘gave an impression of the bleakness of an old style institution’. 

           He also referred to a ‘general drabness’ and went on to state: 



                  I have    reservations    however    that  increased     money    made     available   would   solve   all 

                  problems here and bring it up to the standard of the schools operated by nuns which I 

                  have seen so far. 



  9.346    In 1967, the Visitor recommended the renewal and re-planning of the boys’ toilets, because they 

           were in ‘a bad state’. 



  9.347    In May 1968, the Visitor commented that the infirmary department was ‘one of the bright lights of 

           an otherwise most depressing establishment’. The house, although somewhat drab and in need 

           of  painting  and many  modern  improvements,  was ‘reasonably  satisfactory’.  There  were still  no 

           facilities for the boys to wash themselves during the day. It noted that the toilets were clean but 



           30 ‘The School has improved out of all recognition’ and ‘excellent manager’. 



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          ‘primitive in the extreme’. The premises had been neglected, and the Resident Manager of the 

          time was blamed for this deterioration. 



9.348     Just  before  the  School  closed,  things  had  improved  somewhat.  The  Visitation  Report  for  April 

           1969  noted that  one  of the  dormitories  had been  fitted  out as  a  study hall,  and  that two  other 

          rooms had been set up as television and recreation rooms. One dormitory catered for all boys 

          and  this  had  been  painted,  remodelled  and  looked  very  presentable.  The  shower  room  had 

          cubicles fitted and was working very satisfactorily. 



9.349     •    The negative impact of bad Resident Managers was clearly seen in Tralee, not only in 

                terms of the physical care of the boys, but in every aspect of life there. 



          •    The quality of the food improved in the 1950s with the improvements in the kitchen 

                and the arrival of Br Lafayette. 



          •    The Christian Brothers’ Opening Statement mentioned that Visitation Reports gave the 

                impression that clothing and footwear were generally satisfactory but, in fact, there 

                were numerous Inspector’s Reports indicating that clothing was below standard. 



          •    Boys should not have gone hungry whilst produce from the farm was sold for private 

                profit. This situation continued for a number of years before being stopped by a newly 

                appointed Resident Manager. 



          Health of the boys 



9.350     The Department of Education inspections almost invariably referred to the health of the boys in 

          positive terms. Only on one occasion, in 1944, did the Inspector comment on the fact that ‘In this 

          school numbers of children much below average height and weight for age. Many of the children 

          under weight’. In spite of this observation, the Inspector also noted that the children were medically 

          well cared for. Eighteen months later, the Inspector noted that the ‘Boys look healthy and have 

          put on weight regularly’ and that the children were medically ‘well cared’. Throughout the period, 

          the Inspector described the boys as being ‘well cared’ or ‘very well cared’ and her description of 

          their health varied from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘excellent’. The documentation also refers to the doctor 

          attending regularly and as required. However, two complainants made allegations of the failure to 

          treat them medically for specific conditions, and one in particular said that he had only seen a 

          doctor  once  during his  six  years  in Tralee.  Neither  of  these complainants  was  in  Tralee in  the 

           1950s when conditions appear to have improved. 



          Education 



9.351     The children committed to an industrial school were entitled to a full primary education and an 

          industrial training to equip them for employment when they left. A full primary education could be 

          measured by the attainment of a Primary Certificate at the end of the national school cycle. The 

          Christian Brothers maintain that the statistics show that the pass rate for those pupils who were 

          present for the Primary Certificate examination was good, averaging 76%. 



9.352     The Committee has Primary Certificate records for 10 of the 15 complainants heard. Of the 10, 

          eight passed and two failed. 



          Visitation Reports 



9.353     Visitors’ comments on the standard of education in Tralee were generally positive. For example, 

          in 1941, the Visitor noted that the Department Inspector had given a ‘very flattering report on the 

          vast improvement which he stated was discernible in the manners appearance and proficiency of 

          the pupils’. In 1944, the Visitor noted that the boys could ‘give a good account of the instruction 

          they  have  received’.  The  following  year,  the  Visitor  noted  that  they  were  ‘making  satisfactory 

          progress in all classes but the standard of proficiency is not as high as in the ordinary schools’. 



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  9.354    In both 1954 and 1963, the Visitor noted that the frequent changes of staff had had an adverse 

           effect  on  the  standards.  By  contrast,  in  1958  the  Visitor  said  that  quite  a  good  standard  was 

           reached by the boys. Although the ‘uneven’ standard was mentioned in 1954, 1960 and 1961, the 

           Visitor in 1960 noted that most of the boys had ‘the essentials’. The large numbers of weak pupils 

           were mentioned in the 1964 and 1968 Reports and, in 1968, the Visitor noted that many of the 

           boys needed individual help, which they were being given ‘as well as possible’. 



           Department of Education Inspections 



  9.355    Only two Department of Education reports were available to the Committee. In 1942, the level of 

           education in most subjects was stated to be pitched at a lower standard than the official standard. 

           In 1952, the school was reported to be ‘satisfactory’. 



           Br Marceau 



  9.356    Witnesses  who  were  taught  by  Br  Marceau  confirmed  his  brutality  and  eccentricity,  which  had 

           been commented on by Visitors. 



  9.357    Br Aribert, who was in the School in the early 1960s, told the Committee he disagreed with Br 

           Marceau’s teaching methods. He had charts ‘all over the walls’ and he made the boys go around 

           learning them. He felt that the boys did not like this system. 



  9.358    Because  Br  Marceau  was  not  trained,  he  was  not  subject  to  normal  Department  of  Education 

           Inspections, and therefore there was no control or supervision exercised by the Department over 

           his activities. 



           Oral evidence 



  9.359    Eight complainants spoke about the standard of education they got in Tralee. Three of these had 

           very positive comments to make. The first of these witnesses said that his time in Tralee gave 

           him a broader outlook. He emerged ‘appreciating some of even the finer things in life in the line 

           of  music  and  literature  and  that  kind  of  stuff’.  He  said  that  the  practical  education,  the  Maths, 

           English and the Irish (apart from Br Archard) stood him in good stead.31 



  9.360    Another  witness  told  the  Committee  he  received  an  education  from  the  Christian  Brothers.  He 

           was educated in the three Rs and had the opportunity to go to secondary school but turned it 

           down and went to the technical school instead. He had been an ‘awful mitcher’ before he went to 

           Tralee. He acknowledged that he was better off in Tralee and would not have got an education 

           otherwise. 



  9.361    A third complainant who was sent to the technical college for an extra year’s education said he 

           received a ‘good education’. He also said that you could learn music in the band if you wanted to, 

           although he personally did not pursue this. He thought there were two more boys who attended 

           the tech with him. 



  9.362    By contrast, three complainants were very critical of the education received. 



  9.363    One complainant, who was in Tralee in the 1940s, said that he received a  ‘very bad education, 

           really  bad’.  He  reflected  that  it  was  perhaps  his  own  fault,  as  he  could  not  take  things  in.  He 

           recalled how the nuns taught him how to read and write. In Tralee, the emphasis was not on his 

           education but rather on his work on the farm and in the laundry. His arithmetic was  ‘right up the 

           creek  really’.  He  could  read  but  he  could  not  spell.  When  asked  to  what  extent  his  education 

           developed while in Tralee, he replied ‘very, very bad, very bad’. 



           31 This complainant was in Tralee from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. 



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9.364      Another complainant recalled that, because he was working on the farm, he received education 

           only when the weather was inclement. He thinks he was about eight years of age when he was 

           sent to work on the farm. He also said that the education he got in Tralee was not better that what 

           he would otherwise have received. He said he went to school  ‘the odd time’. He did, however, 

           recall Br Kalle as being a good teacher. 



9.365      The third witness, who was in Tralee from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, said, ‘I can’t remember 

           any education. It was terrible because of the climate of fear; I was so frightened all the time’. He 

           was able to read and write when he left Tralee but  ‘not too well’. He did learn how to read music 

           while in Tralee. Apart from that, he said, he came out of Tralee with  ‘no education’. 



9.366      Two further complainants were ambivalent about the education they received, although in both 

           cases it would appear to have been reasonably good. The first of these was in Tralee in the 1940s 

           and he recalled that he passed the Primary Certificate. He thought that the whole class had sat 

           it, but learned that only two boys in his class had done so. He believed that he could have received 

           help  during  the  exam  from  the  Brother  who  supervised  during  the  exam.  The  Department  of 

           Education Primary Certificate results for the relevant year confirm that only two boys in Tralee sat 

           the examination that year. Three years later, 12 boys sat the examination, and two passed. 



9.367      Another complainant, who attended the school in the 1950s, said that the education he received 

           was  both   ‘good  and  poor’.  He  noted  that  ‘education  in  Ireland  at  that  time  actually  was  non 

           existent’. Education, he believed: 



                 would  prepare  you  for  when  you  leave  the  School,  but  it  didn’t  actually  enhance  my 

                 situation because when I left the School I still needed help to further my education and 

                 there was no actual aftercare. 



9.368      His  writing  and  spelling,  he  said,  was  weak.  When  he  went  into  Tralee  he  was       ‘okay,  well 

           reasonable’ educationally. He failed a lot of exams and said that it may have been his own fault. 

           He was not a quick learner. This complainant later joined the Irish Army, where he failed every 

           one of his exams. He believed that Tralee had a bearing on that. Even though his records show 

           that he had passed the Primary Certificate, he believed he had only completed 5th            class when he 



           left Tralee. 



           Evidence given by former members of staff 



9.369      Six Brothers gave evidence to the Committee about the education given to the boys. One spoke 

           about the high standard of the education and another recalled the excellent Primary Certificate 

           results.  A  third  told  the  Committee  of  the  commitment  to  quality  that  they  had.  A  fourth  spoke 

           about the lack of teaching aids, and a fifth referred to the background of the children as mitigating 

           against a high standard. A sixth Brother spoke about how the boys were all in the same class, 

           regardless of ability. He told the Committee how this was different to Artane, where they were 

           streamed. None of the Brothers referred to the poor quality of the classrooms that was identified 

           by successive Visitors in the 1960s. 



9.370      •    The standard of education in Tralee was better than in some other industrial schools. 

                The  smaller  numbers,  and  two  genuinely  interested  Resident  Managers  during  the 

                1950s, led to improved standards, a fact borne out by some of the complainants. 



           Second level education 



9.371      According to their Opening Statement, the earliest record the Christian Brothers have of a pupil 

           receiving second level education was an account from a Brother who taught in the school in the 

           1940s.  He  said  that,  towards  the  end  of  his  time  there,  some  of  the  pupils  went  to  the  Green 

           Secondary School in Tralee, which was also run by the Christian Brothers. There was a record of 



           446                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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          one other pupil achieving his Intermediate and Leaving Certificates in the 1950s. It was not until 

          the 1960s that boys were sent to secondary school from Tralee on a consistent basis, although 

          the local secondary school was owned and operated by the Christian Brothers. 



9.372     One of the items on the agenda for the meeting of the Christian Brothers’ Resident Managers’ 

          Association,  held  on  31st April  1957,  was  whether  ‘anything  extra’  could  be  done  for  industrial 



          school pupils of outstanding ability when they reached the age of 16 years. The minutes recorded 

          the following: 



                The number of pupils of “outstanding ability” is apparently very small. The Department, 

                as intimated through its Inspector Mr Sugrue, is very interested in the progress of those 

                 boys who are attending a Secondary School in Glin, and gives a maintenance grant for 

                an extra year for them. Br L. Hourigan said there was no trouble in having boys admitted 

                to the Army School of Music. The experiment was not a success in Tralee – boys sent to 

                attend the Brothers’ Sec. School proved unsatisfactory. 



9.373      It is not clear in what respect this was ‘unsatisfactory’, as very few boys had attended secondary 

          school by 1957. In 1963, the Visitor stated: 



                 Boys who have gone on to the Secondary School at St. Mary’s are doing very well – two 

                of them have the priesthood in mind – and about nine boys follow a course in Woodwork 

                and are taught by a member of the Technical School staff. 



9.374     Only four of the complainants heard by the Committee had attended secondary/technical school. 



           Manual instruction classes 



9.375      In July 1943, the Resident Manager wrote to the Secretary of the Department of Education, asking 

          that the boys in the primary school should be allowed to attend classes in woodwork and manual 

          training in the local technical college as part of their school week. An hour and a half or two hours 

          a week was proposed. This proposal was accepted by the Department of Education, but was not 

           implemented because of staff changes in Tralee and, accordingly, the scheme was abandoned. 



9.376     The 1945 Visitation Report stated: 



                The Manual Instruction classes were discontinued some years ago, and none of the boys 

                 now get instruction in Woodwork except the few who are engaged at carpentry. It is to be 

                feared that the interest of the boys was not considered when this change was made, as 

                there  is  no  class  of  boys  who  would  benefit  more  than  these  from  Manual  Instruction, 

                which should form an essential part of their education. 



9.377      In January 1950, the Resident Manager notified the Department of Education of his intention to 

          set up a class in Manual Instruction – Woodwork. Correspondence ensued regarding the syllabus, 

          qualification of the teachers, etc. Approval was granted and the class started in September 1950. 

          The Inspector’s reports on Manual Instruction in primary schools for 1951, 1952 and 1953 reported 

          the instruction to be excellent. 



9.378      In  1954,  the  Resident  Manager  sought  recognition  for  the  course  from  the  Department  for  the 

           purposes of a grant. 



9.379     An internal Departmental memorandum dated 1st            November 1954 set out the reasons why the 



           Resident Manager sought recognition from the Department for the course. One of these reasons 

          was that, as a result of following a two-year course, the students were in a position to qualify for 

          the Group Certificate, a qualification that the trade unions accepted. The Department employee 

           noted  that  the  Resident  Manager  was  a  Manager  ‘who  has  the  best  interests  of  his  special 



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           students at heart and who strives to accomplish for them whatever is to their benefit’. The author 

           recommended that the Department recognise the course. 



9.380      Another internal Departmental memorandum noted that the Manager put great confidence in the 

           boys under his care, and the Inspector said that it would be worthwhile recognising the course. A 

           decision was made that the Inspector’s recommendation be accepted. 



9.381      •     The enthusiasm of the Resident Manager for this project is striking. It is an example 

                 of an individual Christian Brother looking to the best interests of the boys and offering 

                 innovative ideas. It is further evidence that a good and committed Resident Manager 

                 could make changes that benefited both the school and the boys. 



           Training 



9.382      As in all of the industrial schools examined by the Committee, the trades offered to the boys in 

           Tralee  were  largely  dictated  by  the  needs  of  the  Institution.  They  never  varied  throughout  the 

           period of the investigation and consisted of shoemaking, tailoring, carpentry, baking and kitchen 

           work, laundry and farm work. In the 1960s, the demands being put on the one or two boys who 

           ran the laundry for the School was commented on by Visitors, one of whom recommended that a 

           woman should be employed to assist with this work. 



9.383      Up to a half of the total of boys in trade were engaged in farm work. In 1960, a two-hour per week 

           agricultural training course was established. Boys were readily employable as farm workers after 

           they left, although at very low wages. The Christian Brothers admitted that many farmers were 

           only prepared to take the boys until they became entitled to an adult wage, at which time they let 

           them go. Whilst working as juveniles, they had their board and keep deducted, which left them 

           with  a  bare  pittance.  Although  there  was  undoubtedly  an  element  of  exploitation,  there  was, 

           according to Br Nolan, at least the prospect of a job that was hard to come by in rural Ireland at 

           that time. 



9.384      Trades such as farming, carpentry, tailoring, boot-making and baking all directly contributed to the 

           Institution. Clothing was made and repaired on the premises, and boots were repaired. In addition, 

           in the 1947 Visitation Report it was stated that the tailors and shoemakers had a steadily growing 

           clientele.  There  were  about  four  older  boys  permanently  in  each  shop.  After  school  hours  the 

           number was raised to 16. The Committee does not have complete records, but the 1953 Visitation 

           Report stated that income exceeded expenditure for the carpenters, tailors and boot-makers. The 

           figures do not include the value of what was supplied to the Brothers or boys. 



9.385      The carpenter’s shop was the most popular trade for the boys. According to the Christian Brothers’ 

           Opening Statement, there were two excellent carpenters in Tralee. They carried out most of the 

           renovations and innovations that were completed between 1940 and 1970 with the assistance of 

           the boys. The men who taught the carpentry made the new chapel.32                      They helped to build the 



           handball alley and did a lot of renovation work. The furniture they made was sold in the nearby 

           towns and was valued for the quality of the workmanship. It was recorded in 1937, 1951 and 1953 

           as having an income exceeding expenditure.33 



9.386      Of the 431 boys who were discharged into trades between 1940 and 1969, 151 went into farming, 

           and 112 went into service as a ‘houseboy’. Only 23 went into carpentry, and 20 into tailoring, 51 

           worked in hotels, and 24 worked as boot-makers. 



           32 One complainant told the Committee about how the boys had to creosote the floor in hot weather, and without any 



              gloves or goggles.  ‘It was a very nasty job because it would get into your eyes and all over your hands and 

              everywhere else’. 

           33 There was a profit of £98 mentioned in the 1937 Visitation Report, and a profit of approximately £395 mentioned in 



              the 1953 Visitation Report. 



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 9.387     •    Only trades of direct benefit to the school were offered and those that were provided, 

                with the exception of farming, offered very limited employment opportunities. As the 

                years  went  by,  the  trades  became  more  and  more  irrelevant  and  outdated,  but  no 

                changes were made to reflect this fact. Boys were prepared for a lifetime of labouring 

                and menial tasks. 



           Aftercare 



 9.388     The Christian Brothers argued that the Resident Managers were left to deal with the matter of 

           aftercare on a zero budget, with no resources, no transport and no relief from the existing burden 

           of  the  work  to  be  done  in  the  school.  It  acknowledged  that  the  result  was  that  the  ‘Aftercare 

           Programme was unsatisfactory, and very much a hit and miss affair’. 



 9.389     In  Tralee,  contact  with  former  residents  and  their  employers  was  mainly  by  post.  A  letter  was 

           written to the employers, who effectively evaluated themselves. It was obviously ineffective as an 

           assessment  of  the  progress  of  the  boy.  This  also  meant  that  the  boy  was  not  in  a  position  to 

           communicate his situation to the Resident Manager. The Opening Statement explained that, in 

           the early 1960s, a printed form was sent to employers once a year. No equivalent contact was 

           made with the boys, however. In the Committee’s view, this was a substantial failing in the system. 



 9.390     According to the Christian Brothers, many of the boys emigrated soon after leaving Tralee, which 

           impeded the implementation of a satisfactory aftercare programme for them. 



 9.391     In 1965, the Visitor said: 



                 The  after care  of  the boys  cannot  be  termed satisfactory.  A  number of  boys  go out  to 

                 farmers but after a few years make their way to England. Some farmers keep them till 

                 they are 19 years of age and then let them off as they would be obliged to pay them a 

                 man’s wage. 



 9.392     In  the  follow-up  letter  to  the  Resident  Manager,  he  was  asked  to  give  as  much  attention  as 

           possible to the aftercare of the boys. 



 9.393     Four of the 15 complainants heard by the Committee were followed up for the prescribed period 

           of two years, according to the Register. Two of these complainants left the School in the 1940s, 

           one in the early 1950s, and one in the late 1950s. There was no two-year follow-up for another 

           nine  of  them,  and  follow-up  was  not  applicable  in  respect  of  two  boys  as  they  did  not  go  into 

           employment on leaving Tralee. 



 9.394     •    Aftercare was inadequate, as was acknowledged by the Congregation. 



           Emotional abuse 



 9.395     In its Submission on St Joseph’s, Tralee, the Congregation wrote: 



                 The philosophy of care in industrial schools was one of physical care and emphasis was 

                 placed on hygiene, order, neatness, discipline and physical education. 



 9.396     It also emphasised that ‘the use of corporal punishment was accepted in both home and school 

           and  certain  aspects  of  diet,  clothing,  heating  and  furnishing  were  different  from  our  present 

           standards’. 



 9.397     Throughout the relevant period, Tralee had Brothers who were unduly severe and harsh with the 

           boys. Where physical punishment is perpetrated arbitrarily and excessively, a climate of fear builds 



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           up which can impact on every aspect of life in the institution. The boys lived in fear, and many 

           complainants spoke of this undercurrent of fear in their everyday life in Tralee. 



9.398      Added to this climate of fear was the bullying by older boys of younger boys. It was a feature in 

           this Institution. It was not properly addressed, either because of a shortage of staff engaged in a 

           supervisory capacity or because of a failure to understand the seriousness of the problem. This 

           increased the sense of insecurity and fear for the majority of children growing up there. 



9.399      Tralee also had one acknowledged sexual abuser on the staff for a period of 20 years. Fear of 

           speaking out, and lack of confidence in the willingness of Brothers to listen to them and protect 

           them, left the children particularly vulnerable to sexual predators. The fact that this Brother could 

           operate a bizarre ritual of bathing boys and being bathed personally by them leaves no doubt that 

           the boys in Tralee were not adequately protected by the system and complaints were not properly 

           dealt with. 



9.400      The physical care that was provided was at best a minimum standard. The children were not well 

           fed and were not dressed properly for a significant part of the period under review. The buildings 

           were  cold  and  drab  and  badly  maintained,  and  there  appeared  to  be  very  little  in  the  way  of 

           recreation for the children. Indeed, when writing closing comments about Tralee in the annals, the 

           final Resident Manager, Br Roy, commented that  ‘recreation facilities hardly existed’.34 



9.401      Tralee did not present a particularly edifying picture, but even with all of these shortcomings, it 

           could still have offered a measure of comfort and security to the children, as was shown when 

           one   Resident    Manager      took  an   interest  in  the  needs    and   welfare   of  the  boys.   When     the 

           atmosphere was right, the Brothers and boys could interact in a positive and supportive way. 



           Oral evidence 



9.402      Both complainants and former members of staff gave evidence as to the nature of the relations 

           between the boys and the Brothers. Complainants spoke of instances of gratuitous cruelty that 

           indicated a generally negative attitude towards the boys on the part of the Brothers. 



9.403      One  complainant,  who  was  in  the  school  in  the  1940s,  described  how  he  was  treated  by  the 

           Brothers: 



                  There was no such thing as being good to you, there was no such thing as being good 

                  to you. You were there, you were just there to be worked and looked after. I couldn’t say 

                  I ever had a kind word from a Brother. 



9.404      Another complainant told the Committee that he wet the bed until he was almost 16 and he got 

           ‘some atrocious abuse over that’. He spoke of how the Brothers, but mostly one particular Brother, 

           Br Ansel,  would hold  up the sheet  after he  wet the bed  and show  it to the  rest of  the School, 

           mocking him. This led to him being labelled a bed-wetter by the other boys. This was, at the time, 

           ‘the lowest you could be’. 



9.405      Another former resident said that you never went to a Brother and told him your problem. He was 

           being severely abused by Br Marceau, who was well known to the Congregation for his excessive 

           punishment of boys in his care, but he could not speak to the Brothers about it because he did 

           not know if he would be believed. If he was not believed, he could get a ‘hiding’ from the Brother 

           he told. Then Br Marceau would be told and he would get a ‘worse hiding’ from him for telling lies. 

           ‘That’s the way it was, you didn’t go to a Christian Brother because you didn’t expect any help 

           from him’. 



           34 According to the Opening Statement, the main recreational facilities were the hall, schoolyard, football playing pitch 



              and the band room. When the primary school closed, the classrooms were converted into sitting rooms, with TV etc. 



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9.406      He also said that, if two boys had an argument, the Brothers would put them into a boxing ring 

           and ‘let them settle it that way’, regardless of whether one boy was older than the other. Br Bevis 

           confirmed that boxing matches were organised, although he maintained that boys of unequal size 

           were not pitted against each other. 



9.407      A fourth complainant, who worked in the laundry, recounted  what occurred when smaller boys 

           were brought to the laundry with wet sheets from their beds. He said: 



                 Yes, I can remember it quite vividly. Any of the boys – it depended on who the Brother 

                 was. They would parade the boy with his sheets in his hands, his wet sheets, the sheets 

                 he wetted in, and this little boy would be woken up there. As I said, I was between 14 and 

                 15, I was old enough to get a job there, and I was able to see who is able to come in the 

                 door. Quite often the boys would walk in and the Brother would follow to humiliate the boy 

                 with  his  wet  sheets,  all  the  other  children  would follow  the  Christian  Brother  laid  on  to 

                 humiliate this little boy there. They would all be giggling, like kind of kids would be doing, 

                 giggling there, not understanding what the nature of that was. Here is this little boy there, 

                 standing with his wet sheets and he’s terrified. The Brother would turn around and say 

                 “right, ... he has wet his sheets, you have now got to wash his sheets. Now there’s the 

                 belt, give it to him so he won’t do it again”. To look at that little boy’s eyes, to look at that 

                 little boy’s eyes ... I wouldn’t punish him, the boy was too frightened. I understood what 

                 he was going through because I was frightened that way so often. If I didn’t flog that little 

                 boy I got the flogging. 



9.408      This complainant recalled that, on the day of his departure from Tralee, two Brothers stood at the 

           gate and told him he was going to a job in Co Cork. When he asked them whether they knew 

           where his mother was, they  ‘kind of sniggered’ and told him that his mother did not want to know 

           him, that he had been a failure in Tralee and that he would always be a failure. 



9.409      Another complainant remembered that he was always crying and so was given a nickname by Br 

           Bevis. The Brothers and the boys referred to him by that name throughout his entire time in Tralee 

           until he was 16. He was beaten on a regular basis, mostly for crying. Older boys picked on him 

           and  it  was  humiliating.  Br  Bevis  laughed  at  him  while  calling  him  this  name.  Br  Bevis  did  not 

           remember a boy with that nickname but admitted that it was possible he could have called him that 

           name. Br Bevis apologised if it caused him any hurt, but he denied being complicit in the taunts. 



9.410      The witness also explained how he had been put into the small dormitory and that the boys who 

           were put into this small dormitory were perceived as  ‘pets’, i.e. the Brothers’ favourites: 



                 Being the pets you were  really the worst treated because the other boys  used to hate 

                 you. They used to think that you were spoiled and you were telling them information and 

                 things like that. So both ways you were caught like, you know. 



9.411      One  ex-Brother,  Professor  Tom  Dunne,  who  left  the  Congregation  after  seven  years  and  has 

           written articles on his experience of being a Christian Brother, spent a short period in Tralee doing 

           holiday  relief  work  in  1963.  He  said  in  one  of  these  articles  that  he  had  been  shocked,  while 

           watching ‘States of Fear’, by the testimony of one man who claimed to have suffered appalling 

           abuse whilst in Tralee. Professor Dunne said that he had spent several weeks on relief duty there 

           in the summer of 1963, but had subsequently suppressed all memory of that time. He told the 

           Committee he believed that he had psychologically wiped the memories of his time there from his 

           mind because it was such a distressing experience. 



9.412      He said in evidence that his memory of Tralee related mainly to the demeanour of the boys. He 

           said that he did not beat any of the boys when he was there but, not knowing the culture that was 

           there, he talked to them. He said that the culture in Tralee was  ‘essentially you didn’t talk to them 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   451 


----------------------- Page 482-----------------------

           on an individual basis because that would encourage them to – that was too soft and I was going 

           in very soft on lots of levels’. 



9.413      Professor Dunne went on to identify what particularly bothered him about the boys in Tralee. He 

           said that  ‘they were pathetically grateful and almost tried to form some kind of ... bond with you’. 

           He said that the boys in Tralee were ‘very ... surprised to be talked to in a way that wasn’t simply 

           authoritarian and  they were almost  pathetic in  their response. I  think it affected  me  a  lot. That 

           I remember’. 



9.414      He went on to say that he recalled it as a place where he intensely disliked the way the boys were 

          talked about by the staff. He added,  ‘I think there was a sense of them, you know, as being just 

           simply a problem. I remember it as harsh in its general atmosphere’. 



9.415      He said that he had no specific memories of Tralee and was not a reliable witness as to what it 

          was actually like for individual boys there. He explained: 



                 The memory is simply of atmosphere and what it was like to interact with the boys ... I 

                 suppose they lived in a certain kind of fear of authority that was far in excess of what I 

                 was used to in schools. 



9.416      In his article published in the Dublin Review, Professor Dunne was even more explicit: 



                At this remove, I can only recall that it was a profoundly upsetting experience, not because 

                 I  was  witness  to  any  particular  horror,  but  because  of  the  atmosphere  of  meanness, 

                 bleakness and fear. This was a different world from the excellent school less than a mile 

                 away ... and even more from our comfortable, normal life in community ... My clearest 

                 memory is of embarrassment at the harsh demeanour of staff and the cowed servility of 

                 the boys, so overwhelmingly grateful for any hint of kindness. Perhaps I put it out of my 

                 mind as soon as I could because of the overwhelming sense of human misery and my 

                 own inadequacy in the face of it ... It was a secret, enclosed world, run on fear: the boys 

                were wholly at the mercy of the staff, who seemed to have entirely negative views of them. 



9.417      Professor Dunne went on to say in the article that the Brothers ‘often left the far more needy boys 

           of their industrial schools to the inadequate or the troubled, who were given no special training 

           and little supervision’. 



9.418      This disturbing view of Tralee was partially echoed by Br Mahieu. He stated that, when he first 

          went to Tralee in the early 1960s, he noticed that the children  ‘seemed to be crying out for a bit 

           of love and a bit of attention and a bit of care’. He said that he felt sorry for the boys. They were 

           a nice, decent bunch and seemed reasonably happy. 



9.419      During Br Mahieu’s time, small but significant improvements to the quality of life of the boys in 

           Tralee were introduced: a tape-recorder for music was acquired, and a projector was donated for 

          the showing of a weekly film. There were books, comics and magazines available to the boys in 

          the dormitory. 



9.420      He said that, when he went out into the yard, 20 or 30 of the boys would immediately surround 

           him and ‘link out’ of him. Looking back on it now, he would say that this linking was possibly a 

           sign of emotional instability. He thought that they  ‘needed somebody’, ‘they wanted somebody to 

           cling on to’. 



9.421      Br Aribert, whilst accepting only that one of the Brothers was maybe harsh ‘on occasions’ towards 

          the boys, also identified a loneliness in them. He did not know if the emotional needs of the boys 

          were  adequately catered  for.  He said  that,  whenever  he or  any  Brother was  on  yard duty,  the 



          452                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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           boys came and linked with them (three or four on each side of the Brother) and he felt it meant a 

           lot  to  them,  ‘that  at  least  they  had  someone  literally  to  hang  on  to’. He  felt  that  there  was  an 

           element of the boys feeling rejection and loneliness, even though they did not say so in so many 

           words. 



9.422      Whilst these three Brothers were clearly identifying an emotional need in the children in Tralee, 

           they were not able to say what might have been done to offer a greater degree of comfort to the 

           boys there. The witnesses who spoke to the Committee were quite clear that it was not possible 

           to report or complain to any other Brother about mistreatment or abuse. 



9.423      Other Brothers who were in Tralee did not identify emotional deprivation in the boys there. One 

           Brother who was in the School in the mid to late 1940s stated that, as far as he knew, the Brothers 

           and the boys got on well. He did not know if the boys were afraid of the Brothers but said that 

           they had more respect for the Principal than the rest, as he had power. 



9.424      Another Brother, Br Boyce, who had also worked in Artane, said that Tralee was more relaxed 

           than Artane, for both the Brothers and the boys. He said that the small numbers there meant that 

           they could deal with the boys easily. He was able to talk to the boys more easily. The boys were 

           the same kind as in Artane, although he thought the boys were more relaxed in Tralee. He felt 

           that the boys were helped, i.e. emotionally supported, by the smaller numbers in the School. 



9.425      Br Bevis said that he did not think that there were many boys who found it difficult to cope. He 

           accepted that they had their own fears and that there were tears for being rejected by their parents, 

           tears of loneliness and tears from probably being taunted by the other boys, but they could tell 

           ‘most of the Brothers’. For his own part, he said that boys would come to him and tell him that 

           someone was bullying them or jeering at them. He did not accept that the atmosphere was cold 

           and indifferent to their plight. He said the boys could complain to the Brothers about excessive 

           corporal punishment being meted out by other Brothers, but accepted that there was no system 

           for making complaints and that no investigations into complaints took place. 



9.426      Two  Brothers,  Brs  Aribert  and  Chapin,  stated  that  they  felt  that  they  had  a  good  relationship 

           personally with the boys, and both said that generally the relationship between the Brothers and 

           the boys was very good. Br Aribert referred to the boys needing someone to literally hang onto, 

           and also said that the staff who were there in his time were  ‘very caring people’. He mentioned 

           one particular Brother, Br Reve, who was like a father figure. 



9.427      Br Octave, in a reply to a Christian Brothers’ questionnaire, said that some of the Brothers were 

           very tough on the boys and punished them severely. Others were more equable. He said it was 

           important that all staff established their own discipline. 



9.428      Some complainants gave evidence of kindness shown to them by different Brothers. However, 

           one   Brother    described    a  failing  in  the   Institution, when     he  said   that  the   boys   became 

           institutionalised. He said that the  ‘personal touch wasn’t there. Well, I suppose from men that is 

           what you would kind of expect ... that the personal touch wasn’t really there’. He also pointed out 

           that, when the boys left the School and  ‘went out on their own’, they could not cope. ‘They lost 

           the back-up of routine that they were used to’. 



9.429      In 1947 the Visitation Report commented that, while the Resident Manager’s ‘intercourse with the 

           boys is kindly ... it never sacrifices the distance that inspires respect’. In 1953 the Visitation Report 

           stressed contact rather than a relationship. It wrote that the Resident Manager’s: 



                 main contacts with the boys ... are: Inspection every morning, the Store and distribution 

                 of clothing, etc. when necessary, and giving the boys a Religious Instruction on Sundays. 



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9.430      In  1957  the  Report  remarked  on  the  quality  of  emotional  support.  It  noted  the  Brothers  were 

           generally ‘sympathetic and considerate in their dealings with the boys and hence the Institution 

           does, as far as possible, resemble a home’ and there was no attempt to run away. 



9.431      The relationship between the boys and the Brothers in charge was very rarely described in positive 

           terms by ex-residents of industrial schools, but many Brothers had a different understanding. Even 

           today,  some  Brothers  looking  back  at  their  time  in  schools  such  as  Tralee  do  not  appear  to 

           appreciate how the School impacted on the children who were sent there. 



           Daily workload of the Brothers 



9.432      The Brothers who appeared before the Investigation Committee spoke of their daily routine and 

           the stresses of working in Tralee. Four of the seven Brothers who worked in Tralee for other than 

           holiday relief spoke about the busy days they had in the School, and one of them spoke about 

           the stress it placed him under. This respondent, Br Mahieu, stated that he had a lot of supervision 

           to do. It was generally the two or three teaching Brothers who organised and took responsibility 

           for the daily activity, the timetables and the routines in the School. He also spoke about the arrival 

           of boys from Glin and Upton in 1966 as causing a difficulty in terms of looking after them and 

           trying to cope with them. He said it caused ‘an awful lot of extra vigilance’. He became less happy 

           with his work there until they had ‘got to grips with the situation’. Other Brothers also spoke about 

           the long hours. 



9.433      Br Mahieu spoke of the difficulty of dealing with bed-wetters. He had nobody to help him, and 

           trying to cope with it wore him down. The only resource available was an old-fashioned laundry. 

           He acknowledged that he would get frustrated and would use the strap, which he bitterly regretted. 

           He felt he was put into an almost impossible situation. There could be six or eight bed-wetters 

           and soilers in a dormitory. 



9.434      The 1966 Visitation Report noted that a number of older Brothers resided in Tralee, and advised 

           that  every  member  of  staff  should  be  able  to  take  his  share  of  duties  and  help  to  lighten  the 

           burden of the others, and this was going to be all the more necessary when the boys from Glin 

           arrived. In the circumstances, the Visitor felt Tralee was not a suitable place for the old Brothers. 

           With  these  older,  more  infirm  Brothers  unable  to  work,  the  burden  of  work  fell  unfairly  on  the 

           younger Brothers. The evidence of Br Lisle confirmed that in 1966 there were only four Brothers, 

           including himself, available to run the School, out of a total of 11 Brothers in the Community. He 

           pointed out he was not trained as a teacher. Br Mahieu claimed that one of the remaining Brothers, 

           Br Marceau, was not someone to whom supervision duties could be given. 



9.435      Like those in other Christian Brothers institutions, Brothers in Tralee did not receive any training 

           in childcare. According to the Opening Statement of the Christian Brothers, newcomers had to 

           rely on the example and advice of senior colleagues. They also relied on the support of established 

           routines and procedures. Six of the seven former permanent staff members who gave evidence 

           to the Investigation Committee had all entered the novitiate at 14 or 15, and were no more than 

           18 years old after completing their first year in St Helen’s. All seven were aged between 24 and 

           28 when they arrived in Tralee. Br Bevis said that he did not believe early entry into the seminary 

           affected his ability to cope with the boys emotionally, but he did concede that he needed more 

           experience and that, if he had the chance to go back, he would do things differently. 



9.436      Br  Mahieu,  when  referring  to  the  difficulties  experienced  when  the  boys  from  Glin  and  Upton 

           arrived in Tralee, stated: 



                 Now, that made it extremely difficult for us. Like, when I was sent to Tralee ... I got no 

                 training whatsoever, not even one single word. All I was given was, I was given a leather 

                 strap. Nobody thought it worthwhile to give me training for residential care. 



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9.437       He  said  that  they  badly  needed  training  when  they  had  the  mix  of  boys  from  Upton,  Glin  and 

            Tralee. He was never given any direction in relation to the type of discipline he could administer 

            to  the  boys,  either  by  the  Department  of  Education  or  the  Christian  Brothers.  In  their  Final 

            Submissions, the Christian Brothers said that a review of the entire transcript of this respondent’s 

            evidence indicated that these comments were not intended as a criticism of the Congregation but 

            were, with the benefit of hindsight, expressing regret that specialist training was not provided for 

            persons in his position at that time. 



9.438       Brothers were not given any induction course or training on arrival in Tralee. 



            Visitation Reports, Department Inspections and the issue of emotional abuse 



9.439       The  Visitation  Reports  invariably  described  the  boys  as  happy,  and  no  comments  were  made 

            about any emotional needs. They referred frequently to the good atmosphere in Tralee and the 

            good relations between the boys and the Brothers. 



9.440       The 1959 Visitation Report commented that the discipline was ‘satisfactory. The boys are at their 

            ease and a spirit of cooperation and good-will prevails’. 



9.441       There was little evidence that the Visitors or the Department’s Inspectors ever spoke to the boys 

            in the schools.35    These failures to consult with the boys were flaws in both the management of 



            the school and supervision by the Department. 



9.442       The  Investigation  Committee  did  hear  some  positive  comments  from  the  former  pupils  who 

            attended oral hearings. Two complainants identified two different Brothers in charge of the farm 

            as being kind and good to the boys. 



9.443       One witness said that one of these two Brothers, Br Reve, knew what was going on in Tralee at 

            the  time.  He  was  living  under  the  stairs  in  the  School,  not  in  the  Brothers’  quarters  because, 

            according to the witness, he was dirty from farm work and he was regarded by the other Brothers 

            as a  ‘dirty little man’. The boys were able to talk to him about being hurt and he always said to 

            them  ‘There is nothing I can do about it’. 



9.444       Another  complainant  said  he  did  not  mind  going  to  work  on  the  farm  as  the  Brother  there,  Br 

            Avery, was  ‘brilliant’ and  ‘nice to everyone’. He said that this particular Brother took the shotgun 

            to Br Marceau36  once or twice because of his cruelty to the boys and ‘told him to stop it once and 



            for all’. 



9.445       Another former resident, when asked if there was an environment of fear in the School, stated 

            that he was only in fear of one particular Brother, Br Lafayette. He felt the rest of the Brothers did 

            their best with what they had and were getting ‘a raw deal’ in the media. He named four individuals, 

            including one lay person, who had been either good or kind to him. These included Brs Bevis and 

            Cheney.37    He said  that he  had very  fond memories  of Br  Bevis and  still exchanged  Christmas 



            cards with him. 



9.446       •     Professor  Dunne  said  that  boys  showed  extreme  gratitude  for  any  act  of  kindness, 

                  which he thought was one of the most disturbing aspects of life in Tralee. Complainant 

                  evidence tended to confirm his observation. Even if the kindness shown was no more 



            35 The 1949 annals referred to Mr Sugrue, the Department’s Inspector, having made his first visit to the School and 



              having spoken freely to staff and boys. 

            36 This Brother to whom the shotgun was taken was the Brother who had the long history of physically abusing boys 



              and spent two separate periods in Tralee. 

            37 He also said this of Br Toussnint and of a lay teacher. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                           455 


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                 than ordinary human respect or consideration, it made an impact on the children who 

                 received it, and they remembered it with gratitude some 50 years later. 



           •     Some     complainants       contrasted     the  harshness      of  some     Brothers    with   the   kinder 

                 treatment by others. Individual Brothers could have an impact on the lives of these 

                 children    but   they   were    powerless      to   protect   them     from   the   excesses      of  their 

                 colleagues. Although Brothers could not change the system, they could ameliorate its 

                 effects through individual acts of kindness. 



           Contact with the outside world 



9.447      An important element in the emotional well-being of children in institutions, which was recognised 

           by the Cussen Report, was their contact with the  outside world. For the majority of children in 

           Tralee this was not a significant feature of their time there. It was not until 1968, some 32 years 

           after it was recommended by Justice Cussen, that the primary schooling of the children in Tralee 

           was integrated with that of the children in the town. This was all the more regrettable because the 

           outside schools, both national and secondary, were run by the Christian Brothers, which should 

           have facilitated an easier and speedier transition. Professor Dunne wrote of the isolation of the 

           Industrial School from the other Christian Brothers establishment in Tralee. He said that although 

           ‘The Monastery’, as the Industrial School was called, was less than a mile away from the school 

           in which he taught, he was only dimly aware of its existence before being assigned to help out 

           there for the summer. He said that the Monastery and the Brothers who staffed it lived apart from 

           the other Brothers who staffed the day school in Tralee town, who enjoyed a ‘comfortable, normal 

           life in community’. In 1960 the Visitation Report noted that ‘the townspeople are very good to the 

           boys  and  interested in  their  welfare  – this  is  especially  evident at  Christmas  time.  There is  no 

           undue familiarity with outsiders’. 



9.448      In 1963 the Visitation Report referred to the School band and dancing troupe rehearsing for the 

           St Patrick’s Day concert. The Visitor mentioned that the School had some good friends among 

           the  townspeople  but  remarked,  not  disapprovingly,  that  otherwise  the  Brothers  had  little  or  no 

           connection with the town. 



9.449      In response to the questionnaire he received, Br Octave, who was in Tralee in the 1940s, said that 

           the local people did not like them, that they regarded the School as a place of no consequence. He 

           said that one local man promoted visits to the cinema and games with local football teams, but 

           that ‘Booterstown took a dim view of this’.38 



9.450      When well-trained, the band was a source of great pride. One complainant recalled that the band 

           members were the only boys allowed out of the School, other than to go on the school walk on 

           Sundays.  The band  was  in many  respects  the  public face  of  the Institution,  and  it would  have 

           presented a reassurance to the local people that the children in St Joseph’s were receiving a very 

           high  standard  of  care.  A  follow-up  letter  to  the  Resident  Manager  after  the  1963  Visitation 

           remarked that the band and the dancing troupe were: 



                  a credit to their school. Their public appearance should be sufficient answer to those who 

                  make disparaging references to Industrial Schools. 



9.451      For boys who were sent to Tralee from Dublin, contact with families would have been very difficult, 

           particularly  in  the  1940s  and  1950s.  Even  boys  who  were  from  Kerry  had  limited  contact  with 

           family members, although there was no evidence before the Committee that such contact was 

           discouraged. In fact, one witness told the Committee how he used to visit his sisters in the local 

           girls’ industrial school across the road. This happened when he got to about 12 years of age and, 

           when he reached 14, he was allowed over almost every Sunday. 



           38 St Helen’s was in Booterstown. 



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9.452      The School annals record in various years that boys went home to their families for holidays.39 



9.453      The  fact  that    boys  were  separated  from        their  families  created  major  problems         and  had  an 

            emotional  effect  on  the  boys. They  felt  alienated  from  their  roots,  their  family and  friends,  and 

            suffered a loss of personal identity. For example, one witness told the Committee: 



                  The biggest abuse really is being denied any information about my family. Outside, the 

                  abuse I suffered, that has gone. You have your abuse, you have your beatings, you take 

                  it and you go. But the abuse that stays with me, and it stays with me to this day, I am 

                  now 76 years of age, is that I can never prove ... I don’t suppose there is one here in this 

                  room who doesn’t know who their mother was, right? I never knew who my mother was 

                  and why take me away from my mother, take me away from my brother or my sister and 

                  my friends and, take me and put me away? I had done no wrong to anybody and I have 

                  been put away, sentenced to all those years for nothing. 



9.454      This complainant explained how he never got to know his parents, having been put into a school 

            in Kilkenny when he was three. He was 20 before he found out he had a brother and sister. All of 

           the  birth  certificates  that  they  had  been  given  were  wrong.  This  complainant  told  about  the 

            difficulties  in  meeting  new  people  and  not  having  a  medical  history.  It  was  submitted  by  the 

            Christian Brothers that these factors were the ones that have had the most impact on the former 

            residents of industrial schools during their lives. 



9.455      The Resident Manager was central to the efficient running of the School. A poor manager affected 

            every aspect of life for the boys: the quality of food, clothing, and care deteriorated rapidly if the 

            Manager was inadequate. 



9.456       Brothers were their own arbiters as to when, where and how to punish. There were no systematic 

            restraints on them to prevent excess. Rules and guidelines, whether provided by the State or their 

            own  Congregation,  were  blatantly  flouted  and  there  were  no  sanctions  imposed  on  those  who 

            broke them. 



9.457       Control was mainly through corporal punishment. Brothers imposed their will on the boys, and the 

            bigger boys in turn imposed their will on the smaller ones. 



9.458       Children in Tralee were susceptible to harsher treatment because they did not have parents to 

            protect  them.  Troublesome  Brothers,  some  known  to  be  a  danger  to  children,  were  posted  to 

           Tralee. 



9.459      There  should  have  been  more  able  teachers,  trained  for  the  job  of  dealing  with  educational 

            disadvantage,     and   care   staff  trained   to  look   after  needy    children.   Some     complainants     did, 

            however, express their appreciation for the education they received in Tralee and, in the latter 

           years, efforts were made to give some children second level education. 



9.460      Trades  offered  limited  opportunities  and  became  more  irrelevant  and  obsolete  over  the  years. 

            Boys worked for the school, and in the process learned little or nothing to improve their prospects 

            in life. 



9.461       Boys recalled acts of kindness very vividly, because they stood out in a world where they were 

            not  the  norm.  Brothers  were  expected  to  keep  their  distance,  and  boys  learned  to  hide  their 

            distress, loneliness, fear and unhappiness. 



           39 67 in 1945, 70 in 1946, 90 in 1947, 90 in 1949, and 45 in 1952. In 1960, the annals note that families were willing to 



              take boys for three to four weeks, but there was no evidence of this actually happening that year. 68 boys went on 

              home leave in 1968. 



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          General conclusions 



9.462     1.   The pattern of abuse in Tralee was broadly similar to that in other industrial schools 

               for boys, particularly those operated by the Christian Brothers. 



          2.   Physical abuse was systemic and pervasive, and cannot be explained as a series of 

               discrete cases of individual lapses. 



          3.   Abuse    became    a   matter   of  concern   when    it  threatened   the   interests  of  the 

               Congregation but not when it endangered boys. 



          4.   Br Marceau’s brutality continued for so long because of inept, uncaring and reckless 

               management by the Congregation and the authorities in the institutions in which he 

               served. 



          5.   Corporal punishment became physical abuse because of the excessive violence used 

               and its general application and acceptance as a means of control of the Institution. 



          6.   A junior member of the Community reported Br Garon’s sexual misconduct with boys 

               to successive Superiors, and the probability is that other Brothers were also aware of 

               his behaviour, which extended over many years . More sexual abuse could have taken 

               place in Tralee without being reported. 



          7.   Br Garon’s behaviour was reported. The problem was the failure or refusal by three 

               Superiors to deal with it. 



          8.   Predatory  physical  and  sexual  behaviour  by  boys  on  other  boys  was  a  prominent 

               feature of life in the Institution and a source of anxiety and pain for younger boys. 



          9.   The  standard    of  physical  care   varied  greatly  depending    on   the  capacity   of the 

               Resident Manager. 



          10.   Trade training offered limited opportunities and became irrelevant and obsolete over 

               the years. 



          11.   Witnesses  complained  of  a  climate  of  fear  in  the  Institution,  of  humiliation  by  the 

                Brothers, the fear of sexual and physical bullying by their peers, and of the isolation 

               experienced by children who were separated from families. A former member of the 

               Congregation who visited Tralee briefly in the 1960s described the atmosphere as ‘a 

               secret, enclosed world, run on fear; the boys were wholly at the mercy of the staff, 

               who  seemed  to  have  entirely  negative  views  of  them’.  The  boys  were  ‘pathetically 

               grateful’ for any act of kindness. 



          12.   Department Inspections once again did not record the absence of a punishment book 

                in  Tralee  and  in  one  case  that  came  to  official  notice  Department  unquestioningly 

               accepted the proferred explanation. 



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          Chapter 10 



          Carriglea Park Industrial School, Dun 

          Laoghaire (‘Carriglea’), 1894–1954 



          Introduction 



          Establishment of Carriglea Industrial School 



10.01     Carriglea  Park  Industrial  School,  Dun  Laoghaire  (‘Carriglea’)  was  first  certified  as  an  industrial 

          school in 1894. It began operating in 1896 and continued until its closure in 1954. Carriglea Park 

          Industrial School, Dun Laoghaire (‘Carriglea’) was first certified as an industrial school in 1894. It 

          began operating in 1896 and continued until its closure in 1954. 



10.02     It was originally intended to operate as a junior industrial school for boys under 12 years of age. 

          However, when it was certified it was on the basis that it would function as a full-scale industrial 

          school, catering for boys up to 16 years of age from the south Dublin and County Wicklow areas. 



          Source: The Stolen Child: A Memoir by Joe Dunne (Marino Books 2003) 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                      459 


----------------------- Page 490-----------------------

         Source: Bartholomew Street Map of Dublin, undated. 



10.03    The rationale behind the purchase of Carriglea was to replicate the success of Artane Industrial 

         School and its rapidly increasing numbers. Artane had been in operation since 1870 and had its 



          460                                                CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 491-----------------------

           own junior school by 1883. The idea of setting up a similar institution on the south side of Dublin 

           was  mooted  and,  with  the  approval  of  the  Chief  Inspector  of  Industrial  Schools,  Carriglea  was 

           purchased in 1893 by the Christian Brothers to fulfil this need. It was expected to be ‘Artane on a 

           small scale’. 



10.04      The school was situated about 11           miles south west of Dun Laoghaire at Kill of the Grange. The 

                                                   2 



           property was bordered by what is now Kill Avenue, Rochestown Avenue and the former site of 

           Dun Laoghaire Golf Course. 



10.05      When the Christian Brothers purchased the property, it comprised a mansion house and 40 acres 

           of  land.  By  1896  the  purchase  of  a  nearby  farm  increased  the  lands  to  60  acres.  In  1946  the 

           property was extended further with the purchase of land originally intended for the construction of 

           a secondary school, the building of which did not commence until the late 1950s. This additional 

           land was utilised to extend the farm, thereby increasing the acreage to 115. 



10.06      The  mansion  was  used  as  the  Brothers’  residence,  and  an  L-shaped,  two-storey  building  was 

           erected to the rear to accommodate the boys. This building consisted of a dining room, kitchen 

           and classrooms on the ground floor, and two dormitories above that accommodated approximately 

            130 to 140 beds each. 



                                                                                                        ´ 

                                                                                                     ´ 

10.07      The Rules and Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Saorstat Eireann, which were 

           approved by the Minister for Education, were signed by the Resident Manager of Carriglea on 

           23rd  January 1933. 



           Management and administration 



10.08      Initially, Carriglea was certified for 260 pupils, later reduced to 150, a figure lower than anticipated 

           by the Christian Brothers. Over subsequent years, they sought to increase the certification limit 

           and, by 1925, they had succeeded in increasing this figure to 250, with a further increase of 10 

           places in 1944 bringing the final certification limit to 260. 



10.09      The average number of pupils in the School over the period of this investigation was 225, and 

           ranged  from  a  high  of  260,  in  1939  and 1945,  to  a  low  of  180  in  1952.  Carriglea  was  a  large 

           institution, comparable with Letterfrack and bigger than Tralee, Salthill or Glin. The large numbers 

           led to problems of overcrowding in the School during the 1930s. 



10.10      As stated above, Carriglea was envisaged as being ‘Artane on a small scale’. However, for much 

           of the period under review, it was a far cry from its highly regimented and disciplined sister school 

           on the north side of the city. 



10.11      The documents show Carriglea to have been an unruly, chaotic and disorganised place from 1936 

           until  1945.  Discipline  was  lacking,  and  sexual  activity  among  the  boys  was  widespread.  The 

           Visitation Reports for those years corroborate this fact. The conditions that led to such indiscipline 

           and unruliness,were mainly attributable to weak, uninterested staff, poor control of the boys, and 

           a lack of recreational or occupational activities for them. Few boys were engaged in any trades 

           training, which left over 200 of them unoccupied for large parts of the afternoon. The situation was 

           addressed to some extent in 1945, with the assignment of new Brothers to the School, but the 

           regime introduced by these Brothers created its own problems. 



10.12      The  chronic  mismanagement  was  exemplified  by  the  number  of  Brothers  who  passed  through 

           Carriglea from 1935 until 1954. This 19-year period saw 65 different Brothers pass through the 

           Institution. A boy arriving in Carriglea in 1945 at seven years of age, and leaving in 1954 at the 

           age of 16, would have had 40 different Brothers caring for him during that time, most of whom 

           stayed for two years or less. It would have been impossible for these boys to form any lasting 



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           bond with Brothers who came and went so frequently, and this would have had a serious impact 

           on their sense of security and safety. The Brothers who stayed longer than two years were there 

           in the post-1945 period, when discipline and management had improved. 



           Closure of the school 



10.13      Carriglea officially closed on 30th      June 1954. Numbers in all of the industrial schools run by the 



           Christian Brothers were steadily declining, a fact which had a corresponding impact on the income 

           of the schools. The Provincial Council decided to close one of its industrial schools, and at the 

           same time implement a policy of segregation, whereby delinquent boys would be segregated from 

           non-delinquents.  It  was  decided  to  close  Carriglea  and  use  the  building  as  a  juniorate  for  the 

           training  of  Christian  Brothers.  June  1954.  Numbers  in  all  of  the  industrial  schools  run  by  the 

           Christian Brothers were steadily declining, a fact which had a corresponding impact on the income 

           of the schools. The Provincial Council decided to close one of its industrial schools, and at the 

           same time implement a policy of segregation, whereby delinquent boys would be segregated from 

           non-delinquents.  It  was  decided  to  close  Carriglea  and  use  the  building  as  a  juniorate  for  the 

           training of Christian Brothers. 



10.14      In  1954,  there  were  176  boys  resident  in  Carriglea.  They  were  transferred  to  other  industrial 

           schools    as   follows:   122   boys    were   transferred    to  Artane,    eight  went    to  Upton,    seven    to 

           Greenmount, 20 to Tralee, and 19 to Glin. These transfers took place on 21st  June 1954.1 



10.15      At the same time as the decision to close Carriglea was made, the decision was also made to 

           confine admissions to Letterfrack to boys convicted of offences that would incur imprisonment if 

           committed  by  an adult.  This  decision  is discussed  in  full  in the  Letterfrack  chapter.  It met  with 

           strong opposition from the Department of Education, the Department of Justice and members of 

           the Judiciary. The objections all focused on the unsuitability of Letterfrack because of its isolation 

           and distance from Dublin, from where most of these children came. The Christian Brothers were 

           adamant, however, and Letterfrack was designated in 1954 as the Christian Brothers’ industrial 

           school for all convicted children under 14. 



10.16      Clearly, it would have been a better decision for the children in care to close Letterfrack and keep 

           Carriglea open. There was no record of such a suggestion being put to the Provincialate by either 

           the  relevant  Departments  or  by  District  Judges.  The  fact  that  the  Brothers  owned  the  schools 

           meant they were entitled to do what they liked with their own property. Irrespective of whether the 

           property had been donated2  for a particular purpose, or had been purchased through fund-raising, 



           once the legal title was vested in the Congregation, the Department of Education was powerless 

           to influence the decision. 



           Finance 



10.17      The accounts in Carriglea were not well kept for much of the period because the Brothers’ house 

           accounts and the Institution accounts were not maintained separately until the mid-1940s. Instead, 

           the various items of income and expenditure for the Institution and the Brothers’ residence were 

           maintained in the one account. The poor state of book-keeping was criticised by Congregation 

           Visitors, one of whom remarked in 1940: 



                  Should a Government Auditor ever come to audit the Carriglea Accounts there would not 

                  only be confusion but a very bad showing up of our methods of keeping Accounts. 



           1 121 boys in Carriglea who had been committed through the courts were transferred to Artane (106), Upton (8) and 



             Greenmount (7). There were 55 voluntary admissions and they were transferred to Artane (16), Tralee (20) and Glin 

             (19). 

           2 As in the case of Letterfrack . 



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10.18     A few Visitation Reports looked in detail at the issue of finance and, from them, some important 

          information may be gleaned. 



10.19     In 1938, the Visitor made a number of observations about the financial position of the Institution. 

          There were 258 boys in the School in that year, and the total income from all sources including 

          capitation grants was £8,256. A total of £1,600 was paid to the seven Brothers in the Carriglea 

          Community by way of salary, which represented approximately £228 per Brother. Out of this, £500 

          was  paid  to  the  Baldoyle  Building  Fund  and  £320  in  Visitation  Dues.  The  salary  paid  to  the 

          Brothers did not cover housing expenses or food, which was paid for out of the overall budget of 

          the  Institution.  Thus,  £820,  approximately  10%  of  the  School  income,  was  paid  to  the  use  of 

          the Congregation. 



10.20     The Visitor strongly recommended that separate House and School accounts should be kept, and 

          this system was eventually put in place. A surplus of about £900 was recorded in 1943. 



10.21     A loss in the running expenses of the Institution was recorded in 1947 and 1948, but it began 

          making a profit again in 1949, and it continued to make a profit until its closure in 1954. In fact, 

          by 1953, Carriglea had managed to accumulate £11,000 in its school bank account and had a 

          further £4,000 in the Building Fund. The Visitor for that year recommended that: 



                By some judicious method this £11,000 should be transferred to the Building Fund. To 

                transfer it all by one cheque might not be desirable, as the Government – and possibly 

                other parties also – seem to be anxious to probe into the financial position of industrial 

                schools. 



10.22     A  ‘judicious  method’  was  obviously  found  because  the  total  of  money  in  the  Building  Fund  for 

          1954 was recorded as £16,000, together with bank credits of approximately £8,000. It does not 

          appear that Carriglea benefited from this Building Fund over the years. Basic maintenance was 

          paid for out of current income and, although major improvements were undertaken by the Resident 

          Manager in 1953/1954, these were of limited value to the boys, as the School closed within months 

          of these improvements. It continued as a residential institution and, in 1956, opened as a juniorate 

          for young boys wishing to join the Congregation. 



10.23     The Congregation have acknowledged that, at the time of its closure, the surplus funds in Carriglea 

          amounted to £25,255. The Christian Brothers in their Submission gave a number of explanations 

          for this surplus. First, they said that the building was not old and therefore not in need of major 

          renovation while the school operated. It is difficult to reconcile this explanation with the fact that 

          Carriglea   Park  Industrial  School   was   a  19th  century  building  requiring   the  same   level  of 



          maintenance     as  other  Christian  Brothers’   schools,  and   the  condition  of the  buildings   was 

          consistently criticised by Visitors from the Congregation. Secondly, they pointed to the figure for 

          repairs and maintenance for the period 1940 to 1954 which amounted to £4,798 and was, they 

          said, a low sum. Thirdly, the Christian Brothers pointed to the fact that the maintenance grants 

          increased in 1947 and 1948, and this factor they attributed to the accounts moving from the red 

          into  the  black.  Fourthly,  they  said  that  the  purchase    of  additional  farmland   at  Clonkeen 

          considerably increased the farm in Carriglea and contributed to the surplus. 



10.24     •    Sufficient funding was provided to meet the basic needs of the children in Carriglea, 

                but it was not entirely devoted to that purpose. 



          •    The Christian Brothers spent money on Carriglea just before it closed as an industrial 

                school and opened as a juniorate for the Order. 



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           Investigation 



10.25      Br Seamus Nolan, a member of the leadership team of St Helen’s Province of the Congregation 

           of Christian Brothers, provided the Investigation Committee with an Opening Statement in regard 

           to Carriglea. In his statement he described life in the Institution and outlined the Congregation’s 

           view as to how the Institution operated. Br Nolan submitted that Carriglea remained in the shadow 

           of Artane for a significant part of its existence and was compared unfairly to Artane. He added: 



                  the  strength   and   individuality   of Carriglea    Park   lay  in  the  fact  that  it was   small   by 

                  comparison with its supposed parent, and while it practiced the same type of control, the 

                  staff, mainly    Brothers,   were    accessible    to  the  boys,   befriended    many     of them    and 

                  remained their mentors long after their stay in Carriglea Park. 



10.26      Br Nolan referred to the various inspections carried out by the Congregation and the State, which 

           ‘brought every aspect of life under scrutiny’. He stated that Carriglea fared well in these inspections 

           and  that  ‘general  provision  for  the  pupils,  medical  care  and  especially  education  were  highly 

           praised’. Br Nolan referred to the annual Visitations to the School by members of the Provincial 

           Council, which he believed were the most thorough and insightful of the inspections. He stated: 

           ‘here again satisfaction and praise were the most common outcomes of the visits but censure and 

           demands for improvement were not spared if failures were noticed’. 



10.27      Br Nolan repeated the Congregation’s apology to any person who had experienced abuse by a 

           Christian Brother in one of their institutions, but cautioned that it was important not to forget those 

           who  did  not  fail  in  their  duty  and  gave  generously  of  their  time  and  service  for  the  children 

           committed to their care. 



10.28      The Investigation Committee heard evidence from five complainants and one respondent in private 

           hearings held over two days on 13th         and 14th   March 2006. 



10.29      Br Nolan gave evidence to the Investigation Committee on behalf of the Congregation at a public 

           hearing which  took place on  24th        May  2006. It focused  on issues that  arose as  a result of  the 



           private hearings into Carriglea and the documentary material furnished to the Commission. 



10.30      In addition to oral evidence, the Investigation Committee considered documents received from the 

                                                                                                                 ´ 

           Christian  Brothers,  the  Department  of  Education  and  Science,  An  Garda  Siochana  and  the 

                                                                                                           ´ 

           Archbishop of Dublin. 



10.31      The Investigation Committee received a submission from the Christian Brothers on 4th  April 2007, 



           in  which    they  adopted     the  General     Submissions     made     regarding    other   Christian   Brothers’ 

           institutions. 



           Physical abuse 



           Management issues 



10.32      In any large institution, discipline and control are intrinsically linked with the quality of leadership 

           and management. For most of the period under review, Carriglea was badly managed, with too 

           few Brothers accepting the mantle of responsibility for running this large industrial school. Four 

           Brothers held the position of Superior throughout the 1940s. Two of these Brothers were elderly, 



                      3              4 

           Brs Pryor  and Bryant , and should not have been appointed to manage a school of over 250 boys. 



           3  This is a pseudonym. 

           4  This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 495-----------------------

10.33      Throughout the 1940s, numbers in Carriglea exceeded the certified limit of 250 boys. Boys were 

           admitted from the age of six and, between 1940 and 1954, 76% of the children were between 

           nine and 12 years old. 



10.34      Added to this mix of ineffectual management and the high proportion of young children was the 

           fact that there was simply nothing for these children to do outside school hours. There were no 

           organised games and nowhere for them to play. The gymnasium was converted to a fuel store in 

           the late 1930s. The only trades operating in Carriglea were tailoring and boot-making, with only a 

           small proportion of the boys involved in trades training. Woodwork training had been abandoned 

           in the early 1940s, despite the presence of qualified teachers and a fully equipped room. Until the 

           1930s the School had an admirable band, consisting of some 30 boys, but by 1938 the band was 

           no longer operating. Also around this time, the practice of sending the brighter boys to the local 

           Christian    Brothers’   secondary     school,    to further   their  education,    ceased.    This   system    had 

           previously  worked  well,  with  the  industrial  school  boys  outshining  their  peers  from  the  outside 

           national schools, and the Congregation could not explain why this practice was discontinued. 



10.35      The Visitation Report of 1936 gave an early indication of the problems that were to dog the School 

           until its closure. The Report spoke highly of the Superior, Br Rene5, but expressed concern that 



           he  was  over-burdened,  as  he  appeared  to  be  running  the  School  single-handedly.  Br  Rene 

           asserted that, out of a Community of seven Brothers, only two were ‘active members’. The Brother 

           appointed as Disciplinarian was entirely ineffective and was unfit for the task. As a result, it fell to 

           the Superior or one of the lay staff to perform this function. On the few occasions on which it fell 

           to the Disciplinarian to perform his role, the result had been ‘incidents and acts of insubordination 

           on  the  part  of  the  boys’,  which  the  Visitor  attributed  to  lack  of  tact  on  the  part  of  the  Brother. 

           Despite the lack of involvement by the majority of Brothers in the Institution, they took umbrage 

           when the Superior appeared to attach more weight to the opinions of the secular staff. 



10.36      Matters improved somewhat the following year with the arrival of a new Sub-Superior, Br Vachel6, 



           who relieved the waning Superior of some of the daily burdens involved in running the Institution. 



10.37      The Visitation Report for 1938 again referred to the weak and ineffective staff and, in particular, 

           identified some of them who were able and capable but were just too lazy to assist in teaching. It 

           referred to the fact that only one Brother was engaged in teaching, whilst two of the Brothers, who 

           replaced the lay teachers, took a half-hour class of religious instruction three days a week and 

           did no further work in the School. 



10.38      In 1939, Br Pryor was appointed Superior, and Br Rene assumed the role of Sub-Superior. The 

           new Superior was 72 years old. He was described in a Visitation Report as being ‘an out and out 

           industrial  school  man’.  He  had  spent  a  number  of  years  in  Artane,  Tralee  and  three  separate 

           periods in Carriglea. He had previously held the position of Superior in Carriglea in the late 1920s. 



10.39      Relations between the two senior figures were strained. The Sub-Superior was ‘of a hasty and 

           unstable temperament and somewhat erratic’. He had strong ideas on how the School should be 

           run, which did not always coincide with the Superior’s plans. 



10.40      The Visitation Report for 1939 noted that the new Superior had ‘done much to restore the discipline 

           which  had  become  relaxed.  Good  order  and  good  conduct  among  the  boys  have  been  re- 

           established’. This was attributed in part to the fact that he had changed the class schedule back 

           to three school sessions per day. The previous schedule based on the one in ordinary national 

           schools  meant  the  School  closed  at  3pm.  The  1936  Cussen  Report  had  recommended  that 

           teaching in the evenings cease. However, teaching in the evening was now re-introduced. The 



           5  This is a pseudonym. 

           6  This is a pseudonym. 



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           latter was an initiative introduced by the previous Superior. The fact that the teachers left at 3pm 

           every day had only served to weaken discipline. The Visitor once again criticised the calibre of 

           staff in the School: 



                 The staff on the Brothers side is neither a strong or capable one. The Superior who is in 

                 his  73rd  year   has  found    it necessary    to  keep   charge    of the   discipline  and   general 



                 supervision of the boys in dormitories and playground. None of the Brothers are capable 

                 or assertive enough to act as disciplinarian. Br Rene’s nerves have got a bad shake and 

                 he had lost confidence in his powers to control the boys. 



10.41      This theme was repeated in the Visitation Report of the following year. The Visitor noted that only 

           the Superior and Sub-Superior were capable of supervising the older boys in the dormitories. This 

           meant that a disproportionate burden of duties fell to them, and the Superior, in view of his age, 

           was not fit for his many responsibilities. The Visitor noted: 



                 The  boys  make  a  very  good  impression  and  I  was  told  that  the  standard  of  goodness 

                 among them is high. At the same time there are always some with weak characters and 

                 these will avail of any opportunity that presents itself to act wrongly. 



10.42      With only two Brothers in a position to supervise the older boys’ dormitories these opportunities 

           presented themselves all too often. 



10.43      The Superior established a system of appointing monitors from amongst the senior boys as part 

           of  the  solution  to  this  problem.  They  helped  with  supervision  in  the  refectory,  playground  and 

           dormitories. However, as the Visitor noted in 1941, ‘the success of such an arrangement depends 

           entirely upon the selection of reliable boys to act as Monitors’. The new system failed to prevent 

           a number of boys from absconding in 1942. 



10.44      Br Jolie7  was appointed Superior in 1942, with the outgoing Superior being appointed Councillor. 



           The  dynamic  between  the  Sub-Superior  and  Councillor  continued  to  affect  relations  within  the 

           Community, with the  new Superior having to  abandon Council meetings and  confer separately 

           with his two senior colleagues. 



10.45      The Visitation Report for 1942 queried the discontinuance of  training in woodwork, despite the 

           presence of two Brothers qualified  to teach the subject and a fully equipped  trades room. The 

           reason given was a difficulty in obtaining timber, which even at the time was regarded as spurious. 

           Only  37  boys  out  of  a  total  of  257  were  engaged  in  trades.  The  Visitor  also  criticised  the 

           disbandment of the band, and noted that the instruments had been left to gather dust. The play 

           hall was in a hazardous condition. He urged the School to organise games for the boys, he even 

           suggested card games, in an effort to occupy them and avoid ‘danger to morals’. 



10.46      Similar criticisms were made during the Visitation the following year, in terms of the lack of suitable 

           activities for the boys. The Visitor was disturbed to see the boys ‘sitting or lying on the concrete 

           yard for long periods when they could be playing in the field if games were organised for them’. 

           Supervision of the boys was too lax and they could slip away all too easily with the result that ‘a 

           few  were  caught  acting  immorally  some  time  back  in  the  garden’.  The  Visitor  suggested  that 

           monitors be placed in the toilet area and that a tighter rein be kept on the boys. It seemed the 

           task of supervision was left entirely to one Brother, namely the Sub-Superior, Br Rene, who was 

           at this stage under considerable pressure. The Visitor was oblivious to the toll this was taking on 

           Br Rene, as he noted that Br Rene ‘seems to enjoy it and does not ask for any relief’. It was also 

           clear that Br Rene exercised a favourable influence over the boys, as ‘the nice, friendly spirit of 

           the boys is attributed mainly to his influence on them. The ex-pupils appeal to him too when they 

           need a friend’. 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 



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10.47      In fact, the Visitation Report of 1943 painted an extraordinarily grim picture of the ability of many 

           of the Brothers in Carriglea to carry out any duties at all. In a Community of eight Brothers and 

           two Coadjutor Brothers, five Brothers were identified as too old or unwell to regularly carry out 

           their religious observances. Of the remaining five Brothers, the Superior was identified as being 

           unwell and was replaced the following year because of ill-health. The long-suffering Br Rene was 

           indeed almost alone in running this large Institution. 



10.48      The  one  area  of  the  School  that  appeared  to  work  well  was  the  farm,  which  was  consistently 

           praised by Visitors and which was in the charge of Br Destry8             from the mid-1930s until the mid- 



           1940s. He did not offer training in farm work, except for 10 to 12 boys who were needed for the 

           efficient running of the farm. In this respect, Carriglea differed from many other industrial schools, 

           as it did not use the farm as a means of keeping boys occupied. 



10.49      In  1944,  Br  Bryant  was  appointed  Superior.  He  was  67  years  of  age.  The  same  complaint 

           regarding the lack of purposeful activities for the boys was once more repeated in the Visitation 

           Report of 1944. The problems had been identified before and yet nobody, either in the Institution 

           or in the Provincial Council, was prepared to address them. In the meantime, the Institution was 

           heading for a complete breakdown in order. 



10.50      By 1945, Br Rene had spent 24 years in Carriglea, holding the position of Superior for three years 

           and Sub-Superior for a further six years. He requested a transfer to a day school, and was moved 

           to a school outside Dublin. 



10.51      Br Rene was deeply unhappy in the Congregation and requested dispensations on a number of 

           occasions, all of which were refused. 



10.52      It  would  appear  from  the  documents  that  a  request  for  a  dispensation  precipitated  his  transfer 

           from Carriglea, and that the transfer was regarded as a solution to the problem. Whilst still in his 

           next  post  after  leaving  Carriglea, Br  Rene  made  a  heartfelt  plea  for  a dispensation  in  October 

           1946. He was at this stage almost 50 years old and had spent over 30 years with the Christian 

           Brothers. Having spent most of his life with the Congregation, this could not have been an easy 

           decision   for  him.  He   stated   in  a  letter to  the  Br  Superior    that  he  had   remained     with  the 

           Congregation for so long to comply with his late mother’s wishes. He wrote: 



                 Success in striving towards our salvation is incompatible with unbroken unhappiness and 

                 agony of mind. This has been my condition so long that I can’t endure it any more and I 

                 am convinced that a complete mental breakdown is not far off. The strain is unbearable. 

                 Your reference to my work in Carriglea is kind. It is true that charitable people give me 

                 credit for what I can lay no claim to. I spent years at a work for which I was as qualified 

                 as a dock labourer – in fact probably less so. It is well known that only the useless ones 

                 of the Congregation found a place in the industrial schools. Therefore I can make no claim 

                 to merit because of the time I was there. In fact the years I spent there are an additional 

                 cause of regret to me due to my total unsuitability for a work requiring very special qualities 

                 of mind and character. Despite the opinions of at least some kindly people I know myself 

                 to have been a hopeless failure and one who should never have been placed over such 

                 unfortunate boys for whom only the best is good enough. 



10.53      The Brother Provincial wrote to the Superior General on receipt of this letter. He believed that Br 

           Rene  was  suffering  from  depression  and  that  this  was  the  impetus  behind  his  application.  He 

           indicated that it was not the first time Br Rene had submitted an application and that, in the past, 

           the matter had been defused by writing to him or meeting with him. He suggested that either a 

           friend  within  the  Congregation  be  requested  to  have  a  sympathetic  talk  with  him,  or  that  his 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 



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           application be forwarded to Rome in the likelihood that it would be refused. Br Rene’s application 

           was unsuccessful. 



10.54      Not to be deterred, Br Rene submitted a further application in May 1947. On this occasion, the 

           Superior General of the General Council forwarded the application to Rome. In the covering letter, 

           the  Superior  General  stated  that  Br  Rene  was  not  a  very  well-educated  man  but  that  he  had 

           worked hard in industrial schools. He wrote that Br Rene suffered from depression and had taken 

           to applying for dispensations when feeling gloomy. A sympathetic ear usually brought him around. 

           The Superior General suggested that, if Br Rene was advised by the powers in Rome to remain 

           in his vocation, he would abide by that decision. 



10.55      As anticipated, the application was refused but the ploy did not have the desired effect. Br Rene 

           was resolute in his determination to leave the Congregation. He wrote to the Superior General in 

           June  1947  on  receipt  of  the  refusal  of  his  application.  He  blamed  his  inability  to  articulate 

           convincingly his reasons for seeking the dispensation for the refusal. He made a further poignant 

           attempt to set out his reasons for making the request. He stated that he was profoundly unhappy 

           and was in a constant state of anxiety and worry. He feared that he was on the brink of a nervous 

           breakdown, having lived with this torturous state of mind for over 30 years. He argued that he 

           was and always had been a hopeless failure at his work and that he lacked the ability to teach. 

           He described himself as ‘a misfit in life’, becoming increasingly reclusive. He added: 



                  To  my  years  in  Carriglea  I  attribute  my  broken  health  principally  and  any  thought  of 

                  renewing contact with residential school work would only hasten the breakdown which I 

                  so much dread. Tis not that I despise such work, though this is the all too common attitude 

                  of the would-be snobs of the Congregation who regard such work and the men who do it 

                  as beneath them. 



10.56      He was fully aware of the hardship he would face on leaving the Congregation, having spent most 

           of his life there, but had no doubt whatsoever that it was the lesser of two evils. He literally begged 

           the  Superior  General  to  accede to  his  request.  His  plea  fell  on  deaf ears  and,  once  more,  his 

           request was refused. 



10.57      Br Rene accepted the decision of the General Council but his personal torment and anguish did 

           not subside. He made a further plea five years later, at the age of 55. He referred to a previous 

           letter from the Vicar General of the General Council and wrote: 



                  My devotion to duty to which you so kindly refer actually did much harm. Lacking every 

                  qualification for the work in Carriglea I had recourse to harshness and severity. As a result 

                  many of the past pupils have lost the faith and some are active, capable and influential 

                  communists. When these become sufficiently vocal it may be some help to the Brothers 

                  if they can say concerning me and in defence of the Congregation he is not in the Order 

                  now. I recall the relief it was to the Brothers to be able to say this about another ... years 

                                   ´ 

                  ago when a Dail deputy spoke bitterly of the punishment he received in school from the 

                  man concerned. My utter failure in Carriglea caused me great remorse. Having no fitness 

                  for the work it was only to be expected that my efforts would result in failure and harm. 



10.58      He received a reply from the Vicar General, a copy of which is not available, but it is clear from 

           the subsequent letter of Br Rene that he was advised to discuss the matter with a priest. In Br 

           Rene’s final appeal, dated 12th  June 1952, he stated that he had first sought the advice of a priest 



           on  the  matter  some  30  years  previously,  even  before  he  had  taken  his  final  vows,  and  had 

           frequently sought the counsel of priests since. He stated: 



                  I have been told I am not normal and the attitude of others convinces me that there is 

                  considerable support for this opinion. It may account to some extent for my perplexity and 



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                 unhappiness as it may be the consequence of years of effort to deal with work for which 

                 I was not fitted. 



10.59      The Vicar General responded on 24th  June 1952, informing Br Rene that his application had been 



           submitted to the Sacred Congregation of Religious in Rome and that they had decided that he 

           should  remain  in  the  Congregation.  He  commended  Br  Rene  on  his  splendid  work  within  the 

           Congregation. The Vicar General conceded that ‘the nervous tension from which you have been 

           suffering is admittedly a sore trial’, but assured him that such anguish was not confined to those 

           within the religious community. He concluded that Br Rene should 



                 accept with resignation the decision made by his representatives. In doing so you will find 

                 your peace of mind restored and your happiness here as well as hereafter assured. Do 

                 not attempt becoming a judge of your own case. That would be the height of folly. 



10.60      At this stage, Br Rene seems to have accepted  his fate, and there is no record of any further 

           applications  seeking  a  dispensation.  He  remained  with  the  Congregation  until  his  death  in  the 

           1970s. 



10.61      The stress and anxiety Br Rene endured whilst managing Carriglea were described in a letter he 

           wrote  to  the  Department  of  Education,  responding  to  criticisms  made  by  Dr  Anna  McCabe9 



           following her inspection of the School in 1939. 



10.62      •    Br Rene confirmed that he was severe on the boys in Carriglea. He was one of the few 

                 Brothers    in  the   Community       who    could    exercise    control    over   the   boys    and   he 

                 shouldered a large amount of responsibility in the day-to-day running of the School. 

                 In an environment where he had little or no support, it is not surprising that a heavy- 

                 handed approach to discipline was adopted at times. 



           •    This case revealed the misery of a member of the Community who sought release by 

                 way  of  dispensation.  However,  the  Councils  both  in  Ireland  and  Rome  decided  that 

                 they knew his interests better than he did. 



           •     The  case  also  revealed  how  this  Brother  perceived  himself  and  his  colleagues  in 

                 industrial schools. Br Rene was regarded by the authorities as badly educated, and 

                 by his own estimation he was hopelessly unqualified for his work. This deficiency in 

                 training and qualification caused him great personal anguish. Despite this fact, he held 

                 a senior position in Carriglea for 12 years. 



10.63      By 1945, there was ‘a notable lack of union and harmony in the Community’. The new Superior 

           did not fit in. He was aloof and odd in his behaviour. He had ‘little or no contact with Brothers or 

           boys   and   ... generally   disregards    any   representations    made     for the   better  working    of the 

           institution’. In an already troubled environment this was a recipe for disaster. Matters were not 

           helped  by  the  transfer  of  Br  Rene,  who  had  exerted  a  positive  influence  and  exercised  firm 

           discipline over the boys. In his absence the burden of supervision fell to a disproportionately small 

           number of Brothers, with the result that they were involved from dawn to dusk with the boys, with 

           little or no respite. This strain left them ‘discouraged and dissatisfied’. To add to their stress, there 

           was a particularly quarrelsome and disruptive Brother who exerted undue influence over others. 



10.64      The result of this poisoned atmosphere between the Brothers was borderline anarchy among the 

           boys. The Visitation Report for 1945 described the situation: 



                 The boys were very much out of hand during the past year and showed a very rebellious 

                 spirit.  Boohing  the  Brothers  was  not  uncommon  and  they  refused,  more  than  once,  to 



           9 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. See Department of 



             Education chapter for a discussion of her role and performance. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    469 


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                  submit to control. They made a determined attempt on one occasion to burn down the 

                  place  and  had  actually  got  a  fire  going  in  one  of  the  dormitories  before  they  were 

                  discovered. 



10.65      Furthermore,  the  Visitation  Report  noted  that  not  only  were  the  boys  rebellious,  but  there  was 

           widescale sexual activity amongst them. It was recorded that ‘immoral practices were rife’ to such 

           an extent that even ‘boys of eleven years of age have been discovered practising immorality with 

           one another’. 



10.66      The Visitor was in no doubt as to the root of this insubordination: 



                  This  unfortunate  state  of  affairs  has  been  brought  about  by  weak  discipline,  lack  of 

                  suitable occupation and an insufficiency of games and other amusements. 



10.67      Less than 50 boys were involved in trades training, and more than half of these were engaged on 

           a part-time basis. Over 200 boys were left to spend their time outside school hours ‘lolling about 

           the yard where they pick up most of their vicious habits’. The Visitor concluded that: 



                  the morals of the boys cannot be expected to improve until they are provided with more 

                  games and amusements and a much bigger number kept occupied at trades. 



10.68      In his 1945 Report, the Visitor alluded to an even more sinister development. He noted that four 

           workmen  employed  in  the  School  received  bed  and  board  as  part  of  their  remuneration.  Their 

           sleeping cubicles were in or near the boys’ dormitories. The Visitor was informed by one of the 

           Brothers that boys had been observed going into one of the workmen’s rooms several times. The 

           Visitor  was  as  much  concerned  by  the  fact  that  these  workmen  caused  trouble  in  the  kitchen, 

           partaking in gossip and criticising their meals, as he was about the danger this man posed to the 

           boys. A member of the General Council wrote to the Brother Provincial on 22nd                       October 1945, 



           following  receipt  of  the  Visitation  Report  on  Carriglea.  He  noted  the  ‘low  standards  in  every 

           department’  and  blamed  the  elderly  age  profile  of  the  staff.  In  his  view,  the  staff  required  a 

           complete overhaul. He surmised, ‘sin prevails in the school’. 



10.69      The proposed staff overhaul took place and, by November 1946, only two of the 11 members of 

           the previous year’s Community remained: the much criticised Superior, and another Brother, Br 

           Durrant,10  whose only duty was to take care of the sacristy. Seven Brothers were transferred into 

           Carriglea, and nine Brothers were transferred out of the Institution.11 



10.70      Amongst the Brothers transferred to Carriglea was Br Maslin12, who had spent the previous five 



           years in Letterfrack. He had also spent over a year in Tralee prior to that. He had a ferocious 

           reputation as Disciplinarian in Letterfrack, to the extent that a Brother felt compelled to complain 

           to  a  Visitor  from  the  Provincial  Council  during  an  annual  Visitation.  In  a  letter  outlining  his 

           concerns, he wrote that the Disciplinarian ‘can inflict terrible punishment on children and the boys 

           have a awful dread of his anger’. The nub of the Brother’s concern, which he shared with other 

           members of the Letterfrack Community, was that the Disciplinarian was happy to mete out severe 

           punishment  on  the  flimsiest  of  evidence,  particularly  if  the  alleged  crime  was  sexual  activity 

           amongst boys. 



10.71      The Investigation Committee heard evidence from an ex-resident of Carriglea who described this 

           Brother as  ‘an animal’. He alleged that Br Maslin  was random and indiscriminate in his use of 

           corporal punishment. He stated, ‘He would go behind you and he would just give you a whack. A 



           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 Br Ansel was also sent there for a few months around the end of 1945. 

           12  This is a pseudonym. 



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           whack of the leather on the head or the ears’. He used a leather strap to inflict punishment and 

           he carried a cat-o’-nine-tails around with him, which was terrifying for the children. 



10.72      Br Maslin supervised the washroom in the evening time and would beat the boys with a strap if 

           they were too slow. This former resident described the daily scene in the washroom as follows: 



                  In the evenings if you had to go up to the washroom, there was a big washroom with all 

                  the taps and all that, and everything was cold, it was all cold, there was water in them. 

                  What you used to do was the kids used line up in two, one and then one behind him, and 

                  what you had to do was he just roared first ‘right leg’, you put your right leg in and you 

                  got the soap and you washed it and then he would say ‘wash off the soap’. Then you had 

                  the stand back and the next kid would go in and he would put his right foot up on the thing. 



10.73      The Investigation Committee also heard evidence from Br Hardouin,13 who was in Carriglea at the 



           same time as Br Maslin. He stated in evidence that Br Maslin was the most feared by the boys of 

           all  the  Brothers  in  the  Community.  He  described  him  as           ‘very  very  severe’  in  terms  of  his 

           demeanour  and  manner.  Even  the  Brothers  in  the  Community regarded  him  as  unfriendly  and 

           standoffish. 



10.74      In their response to the complainant’s allegation, the Congregation stated that, as Br Maslin was 

           now deceased, it was impossible for them to confirm or deny that any such abuse took place. No 

           reference was made to this Brother’s record in Letterfrack or the reservations expressed by his 

           colleague on his use of physical punishment. 



10.75      Br Ansel14  was transferred to Carriglea from Tralee in December 1945. He spent less than three 



           months in Carriglea, holding the post of Disciplinarian before being transferred to a day school. 

           Br Ansel had a reputation for being strict. He had spent five years in Artane. When the Resident 

           Manager in Tralee had complained that his current Disciplinarian was not sufficiently strict, the 

           Disciplinarian  in  question  was  replaced  and,  12  months  after  that  replacement,  Br  Ansel  was 

           transferred there. He later sought and was granted a dispensation in the mid-1960s. Br Octave,15 



           who was in Tralee at the same time as Br Ansel, described him as the best Disciplinarian and 

           Principal.  ‘He  didn’t  tolerate  disobedience  in  word  or  act.  Returned  runaways  had  to  “walk  the 

           line” for longish periods until they were broken’. 



10.76      Br  Eliot,16 another  Brother  with  a  tough  reputation,  was  drafted  into  Carriglea  in  March  1946, 



           replacing Br Ansel as Disciplinarian. He had spent 11 years in Artane and held the position of 

           Disciplinarian  for  most  of  this  time.  Br  Hardouin  stated  in  his  evidence  to  the  Investigation 

           Committee that he understood that Br Eliot  ‘was brought in purposely to restore law and order’. 

           He went about establishing a strict regime of discipline which Br Hardouin found at times was ‘a 

           little bit over severe on some individuals’. 



10.77      This changing of the guard and introduction of Brothers who had records of enforcing discipline 

           brought    immediate     results.   In  the  Visitation   Report   of  1946,    the  Visitor   noted   ‘a  marked 

           improvement in the moral tone and outlook of the pupils’. However, he also commented on the 

           fact that there had been no additions to the trades taught as previously recommended, nor had 

           the band been resurrected. 



10.78      Br Tavin17   was appointed Superior in 1947. Improvements continued to be noted by the Visitor 



           that year and were attributed to the new Disciplinarian, Br Eliot. 



           13 This is a pseudonym. 

           14 This is a pseudonym. 

           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 This is a pseudonym. 



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10.79      By  1948, the  band had  finally been  fully restored,  a fact  which had  done much  to  ‘enliven the 

           general atmosphere of the institution’. A knitting shop was now in operation, to keep the younger 

           boys  occupied.  The  key  areas  of  manual  trades  and  organised  games  were  not  addressed, 

           however. 



10.80      While the remaining Visitation Reports did not comment adversely on the boys, it was telling as 

           regards the general atmosphere of the Institution that the Visitor noted in 1953 that ‘none of the 

           Brothers speaks very highly of the boys. They are said to be “tough” and secretive and to require 

           a firm hand but discipline on the whole is good’. 



10.81      The Christian Brothers in their Opening Statement referred to the crisis that came to a head in 

           1945. On the one hand, they conceded that: 



                 When a strengthened staff was put in place in 1945 it may be assumed that the reform 

                 brought about by the new arrivals involved a certain amount of firm measures that would 

                 have been viewed with reluctance by the boys. 



10.82      They elaborated on this statement by adding: 



                 As the Brothers concerned may be said to have ended a situation regarded by the boys 

                 as  one  of  freedom  they  would  have  been  unpopular  and  their  actions  likely  to  have 

                 been exaggerated. 



10.83      During Phase III of the Investigation Committee’s inquiry into Carriglea, Br Nolan referred to events 

           that culminated in 1945. He stated,  ‘the regime that followed was very like Artane, it was quite 

           regimented and staff taking responsibility rather than monitors’. He conceded that ‘certainly, strong 

           measures were to be taken after 1946. There is some evidence that that did happen’. 



           Allegations of physical abuse 



10.84      The   Investigation   Committee     heard   evidence    from   four  witnesses    who   made     allegations   of 

           physical abuse. According to their testimony, physical abuse was pervasive and was used as a 

           response to a wide range of misdemeanours. 



10.85      A witness, who was in the School from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, recalled being beaten 

           with a leather strap embedded with metal. He also gave evidence that boys were hit over their 

           fingertips with a wooden stick for not knowing their schoolwork. 



10.86      Another complainant who was in Carriglea in the late 1940s and early 1950s gave evidence that 

           he was regularly punished for not knowing his schoolwork. This practice was specifically prohibited 

           by the Christian Brothers’ and the Department of Education’s Rules. 



10.87      This  complainant  also  alleged  that  Br  Vic18    inflicted  severe  punishment  on  the  boys  while  he 



           supervised them in the washroom. This Brother was one of seven Brothers transferred to Carriglea 

           in 1946, in an attempt to restore law and order. The witness stated: 



                 When we used go up to the wash house at night-time in the young dormitory, we used 

                 go up to the washroom and he used to have a whistle thing. It was like a military thing. 

                 “Everybody go to the sinks, wash their hair”. When he blew the thing he said stop. And if 

                 you were last to come back into line again he gave you a good walloping. He was physical 

                 with  anybody  who  was  there,  he  would  get  you  back  in  line  again.  Between  the  two 

                 dormitories there was an alcove there and if he was giving a young lad a good slapping, 

                 the young lad would be screaming and we would be all standing in the wash house saying, 

                 “we hope he doesn't come back in for us”. 



           18 This is a pseudonym. 



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10.88      The leather strap was normally used to inflict punishment but a witness who was in Carriglea from 

           the mid-1940s to the early 1950s alleged that a T-square was also used. He described how Br 

           Luc19  inflicted punishment with this implement: 



                 He would tell him to bend over the stool. He used get the T-square, T-square that you 

                 had on the thing. Then he would pick out a match that was played that particular weekend, 

                 and it would always be the hurling, always the high scoring games used to with in the 

                 hurling in them days with the Tipperarys and the Corks and the Wexfords and all that, 

                 what he would do he would take the T-square out and he would ask the class what was 

                 the score of the game yesterday. It was 2-3 to 1-15 or whatever it would be where you 

                 got – he used to – I don't mean just tap you, he used to just swing it like a hurley stick at 

                 the boy's backside and he would give him a smack for every point and three for a goal. 

                 Now, that's what it was. 



10.89      This complainant absconded, and recalled that, when he was eventually caught, he was beaten 

           severely and his head was shaved. Part of his punishment also entailed having to stand outside 

           in the bandstand for an hour each day and read the catechism. It was winter and particularly cold. 

           He said that he suffered this penance for three weeks. 



           Conclusion on physical abuse 



10.90       1.  When discipline became a real problem, the Congregation sanctioned the appointment 

                of men with a known propensity for excessive corporal punishment, who instilled fear 

                into   the   children    and   the   result   was    a  more    easily   managed      institution.   The 

                Congregation      saw    this  as  a  legitimate   means     of  controlling    the  large   number    of 

                children in Carriglea. 



           Sexual abuse 



           Attitude of Christian Brothers to sexual abuse 



10.91      The Christian Brothers submitted in their Opening Statement that ‘sexual abuse of a child was a 

           rare occurrence and one that was sure to initiate an immediate response from the authorities once 

           they became aware of it’. 



10.92      They  outlined  the  procedure  for  dealing  with  reported  cases  of  sexual  abuse,  as  has  been 

           discussed in the General Chapter on the Christian Brothers. This procedure led ultimately to the 

           dismissal of a Brother who was known to be a sexual abuser. 



10.93      This procedure remained in place until the 1970s. The Christian Brothers accepted that, judged 

           by present-day standards, their approach was ‘seriously inadequate’ and did not take account of 

           the impact of the abuse on the child. However, they argued that the approach was in keeping with 

           the  level  of  awareness  at  the  time  on  issues  such  as  recidivism,  paedophilia  and  the  serious 

           damage caused by abuse. They submitted that the inadequacy arose through lack of awareness 

           and knowledge, rather than through neglect. The moral failure of the Brother and the danger of 

           scandal were regarded as the primary matters to be addressed when cases of abuse arose. If a 

           Brother  was  found  to  have  abused  a  child,  he  was  ‘adjudged  unworthy  of  being  in  charge  of 

           children and if dismissed was not given a reference for a teaching position’. 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 



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           Documented cases of sexual abuse 



           Br Tristan20 



10.94      Br Tristan spent over 10 years in Dublin before being transferred to Carriglea in the early 1940s 

           under  a  cloud.  The  reason  for  his  transfer  is  unknown,  except  that  the  matter  was  sufficiently 

           serious to warrant being brought to the attention of the General Council in Rome. 



10.95      It was not long before Br Tristan once again came to the attention of the General Council. Less 

           than a year after his arrival in Carriglea, he was issued with a Canonical Warning and was swiftly 

           transferred to Artane. Once again, details of this incident are not available. 



10.96      In 1944, Br Tristan was implicated in sexual abuse of boys, along with three other Brothers in 

           Artane. The abuse came to light after ‘a series of accusations by boys of the school indicating 

           criminal or indecent assault’. The written complaints made by the boys and investigated by the 

           Superior  of  Artane  revealed  ‘long  continuance  and  frequency  of  wrongdoing  on  the  part  of  Br 

           Tristan’. He was tried by the General Council in Rome on 16th               October 1944, where he denied 



           ‘some of the matter of each charge’. Br Tristan was found guilty, and the unanimous vote was in 

           favour of expulsion. 



10.97      Br  Tristan  requested  an  interview  with  the  Apostolic  Visitor  and  one  was  granted.  After  their 

           discussion, Br Tristan decided to apply for a dispensation from his vows. The dispensation was 

           granted  immediately  by  the  Apostolic  Visitor  ‘whose  powers  enabled  him  to  do  so  where  he 

           deemed it wise’. 



10.98      •     There is a strong indication that Br Tristan was known by the General Council to be 

                 an abuser. He was that he was probably abusing boys throughout his 15-year career 

                 in the Congregation. Their solution to the problem was to move him on and to keep 

                 him within the industrial school system. 



           •     The  record  of  his  trial  by  the  General  Council  made  it  clear  that  the  allegations 

                 amounted  in  their  view  to  ‘criminal  or  indecent  assault’.  This  was  at  odds  with  the 

                 submission made by the Christian Brothers to the effect that there was no appreciation 

                 at  the  time  of  the  gravity  of  sexual  abuse, and  that  the  moral  failure  of  the  Brother 

                 and  danger  of  scandal  to  the  Congregation  were  regarded  as  the  most  significant 

                 repercussions of sexual abuse. 



           •     The   Christian    Brothers     referred    to  this  incident    in  their  Opening      Statement     and 

                 submitted that ‘it transpired, later, ... that he had also offended while in Carriglea Park’. 

                 This implied that the Carriglea incident only came to light some time later. This was 

                 not the case, as the minutes of the General Council meeting revealed that Br Tristan 

                 was reminded at his trial of the reason for his removal from both Marino and Carriglea. 



           Br Lancelin21 



10.99      Br Lancelin spent a short time in Artane in the early 1940s and was transferred to Carriglea in 

           1944. It would appear that he was transferred from Artane as ‘suspicion had been aroused by a 

           tendency  to  particular  friendship  with  a  boy  in  Artane’.  The  Christian  Brothers  added  in  their 

           Opening Statement that the evidence against him was inconclusive and he was cautioned before 

           being  transferred  to  Carriglea.  It  wasn’t  long  before  he  once  again  came  under  suspicion.  A 

           number of boys submitted written statements accusing Br Lancelin of ‘immoral conduct’. His record 

           noted ‘one offence occurred on Xmas day 1944, though he made vows on Xmas morning’. The 

           matter was investigated by the Provincial. He had previously given Br Lancelin ‘advice and caution’ 

           regarding his dealings with boys, but the circumstances of this earlier episode are not known. The 



           20 This is a pseudonym. 

           21 This is a pseudonym. 



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           statements  were  read  to  Br  Lancelin  at  a  hearing  before  the  General  Council  on  19th      January 



           1945, and  he admitted the  substance of  the allegations. As  he was still  on temporary  vows, a 

           dispensation from final vows was not necessary and he was dismissed from the Congregation. 



10.100     •    In this serious case of sexual abuse, boys made written statements of complaint, which 

                 would have been an unusual course in the 1940s. 



           •    The language used in the records included reference to ‘offences’, ‘charges’ and ‘guilt’. 

                 It  is  clear  from  these  references  and  the  nature  of  the  hearing  before  the  General 

                 Council    that  there   was    an  awareness      at  the   time   of  the   criminal   nature    of  the 

                 allegations and that their significance extended beyond moral failing of a Brother. 



           Sexual activity between boys 



10.101     The documents revealed a high level of sexual activity between the boys. These records have 

           been  dealt  with  in  the  section  ‘Management  Issues’  The  Christian  Brothers  submitted  in  their 

           Opening Statement: 



                 The phenomenon of sexual activity of one kind or another among the pupils in industrial 

                 schools and indeed in boarding schools generally seems to have been a feature of life in 

                 these institutions and called for constant vigilance on the part of the staff. 



10.102     Although some of this activity may have been consensual, children as young as 11 were engaged 

           in  this,  and  they  were  in  all  probability  victims  of  predatory  behaviour.  In  failing  to  supervise, 

           management failed to protect younger or weaker boys from sexual abuse by their peers. 



10.103     The Visitation Reports of 1943 and 1945 referred to sexual activity amongst boys, and the latter 

           report  revealed  that such  activity  was  ‘rife’. In  an  institution  where over  70%  of  the boys  were 

           under 12 years of age, this was a serious problem. 



10.104     There  was  an  absence  of  recreational  activity  for  the  boys,  who  were  left  to  spend  their  time 

           outside school hours ‘lolling about the yard’, which had been identified as a problem as far back 

           as the late 1930s. 



10.105     •    The staff did not provide the ‘constant vigilance’ identified by the Christian Brothers 

                 as being necessary to counter sexual activity between boys when it became a major 

                 problem in the mid-1940s. 



           Allegations of sexual abuse 



10.106     The Investigation Committee heard evidence from two complainants alleging sexual abuse. One 

           complaint  related  to  sexual  abuse  by  a  Brother,  and  the  other  related  to  sexual  abuse  by  an 

           older boy. 



10.107     A complainant, who was resident in the School in the early 1950s, alleged that he was sexually 

           abused on two occasions by Br Vic, one of the Brothers who had been sent into the School in 

           1946  to  restore  order  and  discipline.  The  alleged  abuse  took  place  at  night,  when  the  Brother 

           would take the boy out of his bed and bring him to a room downstairs. He made the complainant 

           perform oral sex. When asked by counsel whether he was in a position to resist, he stated, ‘No, 

           you  were  never  in  a  position  to  resist,  they  owned  you  body  and  soul  once  you  were  inside 

           them walls’. 



10.108     The complainant confided in a priest and, somehow, the allegation made its way back to Br Vic, 

           who punished the boy for telling the priest. While the sexual abuse never occurred again, the boy 

           lived in permanent fear of it recurring: ‘It wasn't the fact that it didn't happen again, it was the fear 

           that it might. And when you live with that fear it is worse really than the act itself’. 



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10.109    The second complaint was made by a former resident who was present in Carriglea from the late 

          1940s to the mid-1950s. He was 10 years old when he was sent to Carriglea, and the abuse, 

          which involved masturbation, began shortly after he arrived there. He alleged that he was sexually 

          abused  on  three  or  four  occasions  by  an  older  boy  aged  approximately  15  years.  When  the 

          perpetrator left the School, the abuse stopped. The witness stated, ‘I just kept it quiet. When you 

          are institutionalised you don't tell anybody, you keep it quiet’.  It was significant that the alleged 

          abuse occurred during a time when Visitation Reports indicated that immoral practices had been 

          stamped out in the School. 



          Conclusions on sexual abuse 



10.110     1.  The documentary evidence revealed that Carriglea had a serious problem with sexual 

               activity  among  the  boys  for  most  of  the  1940s,  some  of  which  was  predatory  and 

               abusive, involving older boys with younger boys. 



           2.  The  Christian  Brothers  failed  in  their  duty  to  protect  the  children  in  their  care  in 

               Carriglea. 



           3.  Although a strict regime of supervision was introduced in 1946, it was unlikely that 

               the habits and practices of the previous decade would be easily eradicated. 



           4.  A Brother was transferred to Carriglea from Artane in 1944 about whom concern had 

               been  expressed  because  of  his  ‘particular  friendship’  with  a  boy  in  Artane.  Such  a 

               transfer was ill-judged and dangerous. 



          Emotional abuse and neglect 



10.111    Carriglea, with up to 260 pupils, was a large industrial school but was allowed to deteriorate to an 

          alarming extent until strong management was put in place in 1945, nine years before its eventual 

          closure. From 1936 until 1945, successive Resident Managers were put in place who were unable 

          to run the Institution properly. This failure of management led to an anarchic and lawless situation, 

          where the boys were effectively out of control. Such an institution offered no protection to younger 

          or weaker boys, and even the Visitation Reports acknowledged that sexual abuse amongst the 

          boys was rife. 



10.112    The  large  number  of  very  young  children  who  had  been  detained  in  the  School  had  been 

          effectively left in the charge of one or two Brothers. The emotional deprivations of such a situation 

          need hardly be elaborated upon. Boys as young as six years of age were put into a situation of 

          lawlessness and anarchy caused by management incompetence. 



          Neglect 



10.113    Two  main  sources  of  information  provide  a  contemporary  account  of  the  general  conditions 

          prevailing in Carriglea during the relevant period. 



10.114    The first source of contemporary records was the General and Medical Inspection Reports of the 

          Department of Education, dating from 1939 until the closure of the School. There were, however, 

          a number of gaps for some years in these records. 



10.115    The second source of contemporary records was the Visitation Reports of the Christian Brothers. 

          The Visitation Reports furnished to the Investigation Committee dated from 1936 until the closure 

          of  the  School  in  1954.  The  House  annals,  which  were  usually  another  source  of  information 

          concerning the everyday activities of the Christian Brothers’ schools,  were not properly kept in 

          Carriglea. The information provided was sparse and incomplete. 



          476                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 507-----------------------

           Food, clothing and accommodation 

10.116     As a large institution with a good working farm, the Mazars report22  would indicate that Carriglea 



           was adequately funded by the State until its closure in 1954. 



10.117     The Department of Education Inspections, both General and Medical, were carried out by Dr Anna 

           McCabe, and she was consistently guarded in her assessment of the School. Food, clothing and 

           accommodation were generally categorised as ‘fair’ or ‘satisfactory’ throughout the 1940s. She 

           was particularly critical of the condition of the boys’ patched clothing and the habit of allowing the 

           boys to go barefoot in the summer. This practice was recalled by a complainant to the Committee, 

           who said that this caused cut and injured feet. 



10.118     Dr  McCabe’s  first  report  was  in  1939  when  she  criticised  the  general  condition  of  parts  of  the 

           School  which  she  found  ‘were  none  too  clean’.  ‘The  food  appeared  to  me  to  be  rather  below 

           standard’. Her comments were forwarded to the Resident Manager, Br Rene, by the Department 

           of  Education and  evoked  a nine-page  letter  of  protest from  him.  His letter  painted  a picture  of 

           relentless overwork and exhaustion, but failed to acknowledge the impact of such a system on 

           the boys in his care. He sat down to write the letter late at night: 



                  ... At this hour all sensible people – including our fair medical inspector – have put several 

                  hours restful leisure over them. Not so this unfortunate however, as it is only now that I 

                  find time to sit down to write my “observations” on this extract from her report. I roused 

                  the boys this morning at 6.30. I bade them farewell when lights were lowered half an hour 

                  ago and all the day between ... has been cram-full of tiring, wearying, slavish work ... And 

                  now as a reward for the unfortunate folly of accepting this dreadful responsibility I have 

                  to set out to convince you that black is white – that our school is not all as bad as painted. 



10.119     Br Rene then proceeded to defend the way he was running the School. He said that he prioritised 

           literary studies over everything else and that domestic ‘charges’ suffered as a result. He defended 

           this by saying that a shiny dormitory floor achieved at the cost of the boys’ schooling or leisure 

           time would not be appreciated by them. He pointed to the success the School had achieved in 

           open examinations that year for the Post Office, and to one pupil who was applying for a University 

           scholarship:  then  proceeded  to  defend  the  way  he  was  running  the  School.  He  said  that  he 

           prioritised literary studies over everything else and that domestic ‘charges’ suffered as a result. 

           He defended this by saying that a shiny dormitory floor achieved at the cost of the boys’ schooling 

           or  leisure  time  would  not  be  appreciated  by  them.  He  pointed  to  the  success  the  School  had 

           achieved in open examinations that year for the Post Office, and to one pupil who was applying 

           for a University scholarship: 



                  It has meant grave financial embarrassment for me, but I am still – like a few Managers 

                  in other schools – living in hopes of the Minister’s many promises to us being fulfilled. So 

                  far his only contribution that I am aware of is the worry and trouble in hand at the moment. 



10.120     He appended menus of food served in the School, adding, ‘I wish to know if it meets with your 

           approval’. 



10.121     •    Br Rene’s stress in coping with life in Carriglea was outlined earlier in this chapter and 

                 much  of it  could be  attributed to  the  poor management  systems in  the school.  The 

                 fact that Br Rene was obviously operating under severe strain was unfair on him, but 

                 it was equally unfair on the children who depended on him for their care. The blame 

                 must  be  borne  by  the  Christian  Brothers’  Provincialate,  who  allowed  an  impossible 

                 situation    to   develop     and    who    failed   to   address     it until   it  had   reached      crisis 

                 proportions. 



           22 Review of Financial Matters Relating to the System of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools, and a Number of 



              Individual Institutions 1939 to 1969. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        477 


----------------------- Page 508-----------------------

10.122     The   witnesses   who    gave   evidence    to the  Investigation   Committee     said   that  the  food  was 

           inadequate and that they were hungry in Carriglea. 



10.123     One   witness,   who   had   been   resident   in Carriglea   from   the  mid-1940s    to  the  early  1950s, 

           complained of hunger, saying that he was ‘starving’ when in the School. He detailed the type and 

           quality of food that he received. For breakfast, he stated that they got a quarter of a loaf of bread, 

           which amounted to two slices, together with dripping or margarine. This was also the staple diet 

           in the evening. This witness also spoke about the dinners consisting of black potatoes with meat 

           and cabbage. He informed the Committee that they received an egg at Easter only. 



10.124     This witness recounted how the boys ate the pig swill. The left-over food from the Brothers’ kitchen 

           was put into a bucket, which was brought down to the pigs for them to eat. One of the boys was 

           entrusted with the task of bringing the swill bucket down to the pigs, and the other boys would 

           intercept  him  on  his  journey  and  ‘dive  on  the  bucket’.  He  recalled  that  ‘there  would  be  rice  in 

           it  and  tea  leaves  in  and  you  would  put  your  hand  in  and  take  two  handfuls  out  and  eat  the 

           thing there’. 



10.125     Another  witness  who  was  resident  in  Carriglea  in  the  early  1950s  spoke  of  the  food  as  being 

           ‘absolutely horrible’. This witness recalled only receiving three meals a day, and not four as stated 

           in the Visitation Reports. His description of the food served was very similar to the above witness. 

           He also complained of not receiving enough food during his time in Carriglea and, consequently, 

           having to resort to the pig swill to supplement his diet. 



10.126     A third witness also complained of not receiving enough food in Carriglea during the period of his 

           residence from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. He recalled that breakfast consisted of a loaf of 

           bread   known    as  ‘Boland’s   loaf’, divided  between     four  boys,  together   with  hot  dripping.   He 

           recounted  to  the  Committee  the  manner  in  which  the  loaf  of  bread  was  divided  between  the 

           four boys: 



                 On our table sometimes if you had four fellows you had to spin a knife and whoever the 

                 knife pointed at he cut the bread up and if I didn’t like you I would only give you a quarter 

                 of it but it worked vice versa so that’s the way we worked it. 



10.127     According to this witness, dinner consisted of mincemeat and potatoes, which he described as 

           being like  ‘hospital food’. In the evening time, he said that they received bread and butter. This 

           witness never recalled receiving milk. 



10.128     Visitors were generally uncritical of the food provided, and one Visitor in 1944 described the food 

           supplied to the boys as being ‘sufficient and suitable’. The report stated that they got tea, bread 

           and dripping for breakfast, meat four times a week, soup twice a week, with vegetables served at 

           dinner.  On  Fridays,  the  dinner  consisted  of  bread,  jam  and  cocoa.  Supper  was  served  each 

           evening to the boys, which consisted of bread, jam and cocoa. The report also stated that a lunch 

           of milk and bread was supplied to the smaller and more delicate boys at midday. 



10.129     The Visitor’s account of the food was not dissimilar to that of the boys, except that the boys were 

           quite clear that the food was not ‘sufficient’ for their needs. 



10.130     Overcrowding, lack of cleanliness and hygiene were major criticisms in the 1930s and 1940s, as 

           well as the dilapidated and run-down condition of the buildings. 



10.131     Bad management was identified by Visitors throughout the mid-1930s  and early 1940s, and in 

           particular the unwillingness of the majority of the Brothers who were living in the School to engage 

           with it. One Superior General suggested that, if these Brothers could be employed in cleaning up 

           the School, ‘The work will do them good as well as the apartments cleaned by their exertions’. 



           478                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 509-----------------------

10.132     Furthermore, the Superior General, whilst pleased with the physical condition of the boys, felt that 

           more could be done to improve their social skills by introducing them to music, drama, dancing or 

           elocution classes, and suggested that these be introduced into the School. 



10.133     The depiction of Carriglea in the early 1940s was of a very run-down and dilapidated place. The 

           main  issues  centred  on  the  deterioration  of  the  l  buildings  of  the  Institution  itself,  the  lack  of 

           cleanliness and hygiene, both of  the School and the boys, and the poor-quality  clothing of the 

           children.  From  the  various  reports,  there  was  a  divergence  of  views  on  the  issue  of  clothing. 

           Throughout the 1940s, the Department of Education Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, commented on 

           the fact that the boys were in patched clothing, whereas the Visitation Reports only referred to 

           this on one occasion. Despite its being wartime, the care of the boys was praised by the Visitors 

           throughout the 1940s, although Dr McCabe only rated the food, clothing and accommodation as 

           ‘fair’ or ‘satisfactory’. The only direct criticism with regard to food was in 1946, when Dr McCabe 

           felt that the children were not receiving adequate supplies of milk and butter. 



10.134     Another criticism was the inadequate sanitation facilities for the boys. Many of the toilets were not 

           in  working  condition,  and  the  low  water  pressure  in  Carriglea  was  blamed  for  the  plumbing 

           problems. Deterioration in the outbuildings was evident, particularly around the trade shops, with 

           fences missing and paintwork peeling off in the chapel and sanctuary, and general decay in the 

           farmyard. 



10.135     When the Visitor called on Carriglea in 1943, he noticed that the wire fences near the trade shops 

           were down and a little boy was sitting at a gap in the fence to keep the cows from trespassing. 

           The Visitor was not impressed with this state of affairs, as he felt that the young boy should have 

           been with his companions in class, at work or at play. He further commented that serious efforts 

           should be made to keep the fences in a state of repair. Using a small boy to keep cows in because 

           of a broken fence was a serious indictment of the way the School was run. 



10.136     By  1947,  the  Visitor  recorded  that  the  Superior  had  undertaken  a  comprehensive  scheme  of 

           renovation, in particular the painting of the walls and the restoration of the woodwork. The result 

           of this upgrading was exemplified by the following remark that ‘the dining hall would now do credit 

           to any flourishing College’. The dormitories were found to be clean, bright and well ventilated. The 

           main criticism was the inadequacy in the number of baths provided. 



10.137     In 1948 and 1949, the Visitation Reports considered the School to be generally well cared for, 

           requiring just a few minor repairs. The farm was said to be working well and had enough cows to 

           supply milk. It also had sufficient poultry to supply eggs for the Brothers but there was no mention 

           of supplying eggs to the boys. 



10.138     In the 1953 Visitation Report, the views of the Brothers were recorded and noted that none of 

           them spoke highly of the boys. The boys were recorded as being ‘tough’ and ‘secretive and to 

           require a firm hand’. However, discipline was generally perceived as good. The Visitor found all 

           departments of the School clean and well maintained. 



10.139     The final inspection of the School by Dr McCabe took place in January 1954, as the school closed 

           in June of that year. On her last visit to the School, Dr McCabe spoke highly of the new Resident 

           Manager and, in particular, of the improvements he had made. She commented that he had spent 

           £2,000 on these. She noted that additional indoor games had been introduced, electric lights were 

           added to the dormitories, and all mattresses and beds were restored and re-sprung. Food, diet 

           and sanitation were found to be very good. Again, whilst noting that the clothing had improved, 

           Dr McCabe was of the opinion that more needed to be done in that area. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     479 


----------------------- Page 510-----------------------

10.140     •    For much of the review period, Carriglea was a dilapidated and run-down institution, 

                 with poor sanitary conditions and a lack of hygiene and cleanliness, both of the boys 

                 themselves and the premises. 



           •    The boys were not properly clothed and went barefoot during the summer, despite the 

                 availability of adequate funds. 



           •    The  improvements  noted  by  Dr  McCabe  took  place  within  months  of  the  Institution 

                 closing as an industrial school and reopening as a juniorate. The boys in care did not 

                 enjoy the benefit of these improvements. 



           Education and trades 



10.141     The  Christian  Brothers  in  their  Submission  asserted  that  the  standard  of  primary  education  in 

           Carriglea was ‘very good considering the standard of the pupils at intake which was very weak’. 



           Primary education 



10.142     The primary school was located in the grounds of Carriglea. Even after the Cussen Report, the 

           boys did not attend the local national school, as recommended. All boys under 14 years of age 

           attended the internal primary school for five hours each day. There were six classes taught by 

           three Brothers and three lay teachers. The primary classes ranged from infants to 7th class. The 

           classes  ranged  in  size  from  38  to  61  pupils,  with  an  average  of  52.  The  school  followed  the 

           national   syllabus  and   curriculum    that  pertained   nationwide    in  all primary   schools.  From    the 

           documents furnished, the school was rated very highly in terms of its primary education. 



10.143     One witness said he had received a good primary education in Carriglea. Another said he could 

           not read when he left but he conceded that he had been academically backward when he went 

           to the School. 



10.144     Br  Rene, who  held the  positions of  Superior and  Sub-Superior during  the 1930s  until the  mid- 

           1940s,  laid  great  emphasis  on  literary  education,  and  this  was  reflected  in  the  standard  of 

           education in Carriglea. 



10.145     In 1938 the Visitor stated that the boys ‘... give evidence of good teaching and would I believe 

           compare favourably with corresponding classes in our day schools’. However, he pointed out that 

           the training of the boys on the cultural side was weak, particularly as no music was taught, or 

           dancing or drama. 



10.146     There was a report from a three-day general Inspection of the school by Mr Teegan, the Inspector 

           of Schools of the Department of Education dated March 1941: 



                 This  is  a  pleasing  school  to  inspect.  The  behaviour  of  the  boys  leaves  nothing  to  be 

                 desired and they have been trained to use their intelligence and to be self-reliant. 



10.147     He added: 



                 The  satisfactory  standard  of  proficiency  noted  previously  is  more  than  maintained  and 

                 there is every indication that a still higher level will be soon attained. 



10.148     In 1944, the Visitor commented that the education was: 



                 ...  too  academic  for  boys  that  will  at  least  in  most  cases  have  to  depend  on  manual 

                 capability for their livelihood. There is no physical drill, no manual instruction, no band, no 

                 dancing  and  only  an  indifferent  interest  in  singing.  One  would  look  for  most,  if  not  all, 

                 these  activities  in  a  school  such  as  this.  The  alleged  reason  for  dropping  the  manual 

                 instruction is based on the difficulty of getting timber. 



           480                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 511-----------------------

10.149      In 1948 and 1949, 29 boys sat the Primary Certificate examination and all passed. Likewise in 

            1950, 28 boys sat the examination and all passed. 



10.150      During  the  1930s,  manual  instruction  and  drawing  classes  were  taught  by  one  Brother.  These 

           were taught to the senior boys, and the classes were marked as excellent in the 1936 Visitation 

            Report. In 1941, drawing and manual instruction were removed as subjects for the senior boys, 

           as they were eating into the literary subjects curriculum, as laid down by the Department. 



10.151     These  subjects  were  not  taught  from  1942  to  1947  in  the  School,  much  to  the  dismay  of  the 

           Congregation Visitors. The Visitor in 1942 was critical that woodwork was not taught in the School, 

           as  he  considered  it  to  be  of  ‘great  educational  value’.  He  highlighted  the  fact  that  one  of  the 

           Brothers in the Community was qualified to teach woodwork, and recommended its immediate re- 

           introduction. He was also of the view that such work ‘offered most valuable training to boys who 

           have to take up manual work as a means of livelihood’. Again, in 1943, the Visitor criticised the 

           fact that manual instruction was not taught: 



                  The Manual Instruction Room is still locked up and there is no Manual Instruction given 

                  these boys to whom it would be so helpful later on. The excuse offered was that Br Durrant 

                  could not get wood in Dublin. 



10.152      However, these subjects were re-introduced into the School in 1948 and continued until its closure 

           in 1954. 



           Post Office examinations 



10.153     A unique feature of Carriglea was that it prepared some of the senior boys in 7th class to sit the 

           examination for positions as Post Office messengers and telegraph operators, and for Guinness 

           and C.I.E.23    clerkships. This was something that does not appear to have been offered in other 



           industrial schools run by the Christian Brothers. The preparation for these examinations was given 

           by an elderly Brother for some years and was then continued by a lay teacher. 



10.154     The earliest record of boys sitting these examinations is to be found in the Visitation Report of 

            1936. It referred to a Brother of 74 years of age who ‘conducts a small class for the more advanced 

           boys and prepares them for the Boy Messengers, Sorters and other elementary examinations at 

           which  they  have  been  very  successful’.  Reference  was  made  in  the  1937  Visitation  Report  to 

           seven of the ‘more advanced boys’ being taught by this Brother in preparation for the Post Office 

           and  other  civil  service  examinations.  The  1938  Visitation  Report  mentioned  that  this  particular 

           Brother spent four or five hours a day preparing a small group of boys for these examinations. 

           The report went on to say that, ‘Within a period of five years some 15 boys have got into the Post 

           Office, first as messengers and have later become postmen’. 



10.155     The Visitation Report for 1943 recorded that most of the boys in 7th class took the Post Office 

           examinations. The 1944 Visitation Report noted that ‘five boys secured appointments as telegraph 

           messengers during the previous year’. 



10.156      No reference was made in the Visitation Reports to boys sitting these examinations after 1944 

           but, from the Opening Statement of the Christian Brothers, it appears that boys were employed 

           in the Post Office and C.I.E. clerkships until 1950. 



10.157     One witness, who was resident in Carriglea from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, recalled sitting 

           two examinations to get into the Post Office as a messenger. He did the examinations two years 

           running, as he was too young the first year when he passed the examination and so did it the 

           following year and passed again. He went on to have a successful career in the Post Office. 



           23                ´ 

              Coras Iompair Eireann was a State-owned public transport company. 

                ´ 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         481 


----------------------- Page 512-----------------------

          Secondary education 



10.158     In 1936, some boys from Carriglea were given the opportunity of attending the Christian Brothers’ 

          secondary  school  in  Dun  Laoghaire.  This  came  about  shortly  after  the  Cussen  Report,  when 

          the Resident Manager of Carriglea approached the secondary school with a view to having his 

           boys admitted. 



10.159    The  request  was  initially  turned  down  but,  upon  the  intervention  of  the  Brother  Provincial,  the 

           ‘experiment’ went ahead. 



10.160     In 1936, the Visitation Report noted that: 



                Two    boys  of  the  Institution have   this year   undertaken    Secondary    work   at the  Dun 

                 Laoghaire  Schools  and  were  found  sufficiently  advanced  to  join  the  Third  Year  of  the 

                 Intermediate Certificate Course. 



10.161     In 1937, the number of boys from Carriglea attending the secondary school had increased to five. 

          Three of them were in first year and two in second year and were preparing to sit the Intermediate 

          Certificate  examination.  The  Visitation  Report  for  1937  commented  that  these  two  boys  were 

          sitting the examination ‘after 2 years preparation, and are considered the 2 best in the class’. 



10.162    The Visitation Report for 1938 also recorded that five boys were attending the secondary school, 

          with  three  of  them  in  first  year  and  two  of  them  in  the  class  preparing  for  the  Intermediate 

          Certificate examination. 



10.163     By 1939, the practice of sending boys to the secondary school was discontinued. According to 

          the Christian Brothers in their Opening Statement, it was terminated on the basis that the host 

          school found the practice unsatisfactory. No further explanation was provided as to the basis for 

          this dissatisfaction, which was inconsistent with the fact that, in 1937, the two Carriglea boys who 

          were sitting the Intermediate Certificate examination were considered the best in the class. The 

          Visitation Report for 1939 shed no further light and merely recorded the discontinuation of this 

           practice, ‘The practice of sending a few of the more talented boys to the secondary school in Dun 

           Laoghaire has been discontinued’. 



10.164     In a report compiled by Br Donal Blake cfc for the Christian Brothers in February 2001, he referred 

          to this and provided the following quote from the annals of the secondary school: 



                 In August 1936 an application was made by the Superior of Carriglea Industrial School to 

                allow some of the senior boys of the School to join our Intermediate Classes. For obvious 

                 reasons, the application was turned down, but the Provincial over-ruled the decision. The 

                experiment  was  very  unsatisfactory  and  was  the  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and 

                annoyance in the School, so much so that in August 1939 applications for admission had 

                to be refused. 



10.165    When questioned on the reason for the discontinuation of sending boys to the secondary school, 

           Br Seamus Nolan who gave evidence at the Phase III public hearing, stated: 



                 We have not got any reason for it. There are suggestions that the social gap was a bit 

                much for the school to take, because they withdrew. I think it was at that time that an 

                 alternative method of doing something for them after primary school, in a school sense, 

                 opened up the possibility of the post office exams. That’s the boy messengers that in the 

                long term could lead to permanent, pensionable employment. 



          482                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 513-----------------------

10.166     In  fact,  the  Post  Office  examinations  had  operated  side  by  side  with  the  secondary  school 

           placements and were not introduced as an alternative to them. 



10.167     Another scheme in which the School became involved was the provision of secondary technical 

           education onsite. This appears to have arisen out of a proposal by the Department, which was, 

           according to the agenda for the meeting of Christian Brothers Managers dated 23rd  April 1949, ‘to 



           have  the  instruction  in  the  upper  classes  in  Industrial  Schools  given  a  technical  bias  by  the 

           inclusion of Woodwork and Drawing’. It is not clear when the scheme was implemented in the 

           School,  but  the  minutes  of  the  Christian  Brothers’  Resident  Managers’  meeting  held  on  12th 



           January recorded that boys in Carriglea were at that time being prepared for the ‘Junior Tech. 

           Examinations’. The teaching staff was supplied by the Vocational Education Committee, and the 

           Resident Manager was supplying ‘everything else’. 



10.168     One witness, who had been in the School from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s, recounted in 

           evidence  that  he  could  read  and  write  when  he  left  Carriglea  and  that  he  did  the  Primary 

           Certificate. He conceded that the education he received  ‘was passable’. In fact, he went further 

           and added,  ‘In actual fact, I was a little above, when I went over to the army a few years later I 

           was kind of more educated than, like my English counterparts ...’ 



10.169     Another witness recalled being in class from 9.30 in the morning until 2.30 in the afternoon. He 

           learnt  classical  poems,  which  he  did  not  consider  very  beneficial,  ‘I  learnt  some  very  classical 

           poems, for what good they did me, I could quote them now if you want me to’. 



10.170     Another witness stated that he did not get a good education. However, he admitted that he was 

           a bit behind educationally when he first arrived in Carriglea and, as a result, he never went beyond 

           second class and so did not do his Primary Certificate. 



10.171     •     The   national   school    education     provided    at  Carriglea    appears    to  have    been   of  a 

                comparatively high standard. 



           •    The initiative of preparing boys for the Post Office examination was a useful practical 

                 measure to take advantage of an employment opportunity. If this was School policy, 

                the  Superior  and  management  are  to  be  commended.  If  it  was  the  enterprise  of  a 

                 particular Brother, which appears to be more likely, it shows what could be achieved 

                 by one motivated teacher by way of practical assistance. The practice continued when 

                a lay teacher took on the task in succession to the original Brother. 



           •    It is regrettable that the practice of sending brighter boys to the Christian Brothers’ 

                secondary  school  was  discontinued.  It  greatly  enhanced  the  chances  of  securing 

                employment and was in accordance with the recommendations of the Cussen Report. 

                The school failed those pupils who could have taken advantage of further academic 

                education. 



           Trades 



10.172     Unlike  Artane,  there  were  only  two  trades  available  in  Carriglea:  boot-making  and  tailoring.  In 

           addition,  there  was  an  extensive  farm  and,  latterly,  a  band.  The  practice,  as  with  all  industrial 

           schools, was that from the age of 14, boys who had finished their formal education were put to 

           learn a trade that would enable them to gain employment upon their discharge from the School. 

           These boys were also given literary and religious classes for an hour and a half each day. 



10.173     Although the two trades of boot-making and tailoring appear to have been well run, very few boys 

           were engaged in them at any time. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   483 


----------------------- Page 514-----------------------

  10.174   In 1944, when there were 255 boys in the Institution, the situation was as follows: 



                 Farm – 4; 



                 Tailor’s shop – 15; and 



                 Bootmaker’s – 15. 



  10.175   The  Visitor  in  1944  was  critical  of  the  fact  that  the  number  of  boys  working  on  the  farm  had 

           dropped  to  four,  considering  that  this  was  the  occupation  that  ‘most  of  them  will  follow’.  The 

           Visitor commented: 



                 These trades are essential for the school as all the clothing and boots required by the 

                 boys are made here under the direction of two capable foremen. Many of the boys reach 

                 a good stage of proficiency in these two trades before leaving the school. 



  10.176   In 1946, the Visitor gave the following numbers working in the trades: 



                 Farm – about 15; 



                 Tailor’s shop – 20; 



                 Bootmaker’s – about 20. 



  10.177   The 1946 Visitation Report stated: 



                 As the Institution should be vocational it is desirable that the Trades should be restored 

                 ... Laundry and knitting are the immediate requirements. Carpentry and painting could be 

                 introduced later. 



  10.178   The Visitor in that year also felt that: 



                 The Band should also be restored as it would give a tone to the Institution and give the 

                 pupils an interest in Music and culture. 



  10.179   The  band  had  been  discontinued  at  the  end  of  the  1930s.  However,  in  1947  a  retired  Garda 

           superintendent, a former past pupil and former director of the Garda Band, was engaged to direct 

           musical training. 



  10.180   By 1948, apart from the re-establishment of the band, there were three trade shops in operation, 

           with the addition of the knitting school, which was for the occupation of the younger boys. The 

           farm,  consisting  of  115  acres  (62  acres  of  which  had  been  recently  purchased),  supplied  the 

           Industrial School with plenty of milk and vegetables. 



  10.181   One witness, who was resident in the School from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s, said that he 

           had worked in the tailor’s shop in Carriglea after completing his Primary Certificate, and this had 

           enabled him to obtain employment in a tailor’s shop upon his discharge. 



  10.182   Another witness who resided in the School in the early 1950s spoke of working in the knitting shop: 



                 First of all they took me on darning socks and I became an expert darner. They taught 

                 me to knit on four needles and I could knit socks and taper toes at the age of nine and 

                 a half. 



  10.183   This  witness  was  of  the  view  that  these  skills  were  taught  so  as  to  clothe  the  children  in  the 

           Institution. 



  10.184   •    The  Visitation  Reports  made  it  clear  that  trades  were  offered  for  the  benefit  of  the 

                 Institution and not the boys. 



           484                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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           •    Apart from farming, only two trades were on offer in Carriglea and a handful of boys 

                 were engaged in them. 



           •    The boys in Carriglea were not equipped with suitable skills for working after they left 

                 the School. 



           Recreation facilities 



10.185     The Visitation Reports noted that there was no dancing, no manual instruction, no physical drill 

           and no organised games for the boys. There was no band, as it had ceased to operate at the end 

           of  the  1930s.  The  Congregation  were  unable  to  give  any  explanation  as  to  the  reason  for  its 

           cessation. There was a gymnasium in the School but, in or about 1938, the Superior decided to 

           use the hall as a lumber-room, and it was used to stockpile fuel and timber which was particularly 

           useful during the war years. 



10.186     The Superior General wrote to the Resident Manager on 3rd               April 1938, expressing his concern 



           at this initiative in the following terms: 



                 The  Gymnasium  is  a  lumber-room.  This  is  strange  in  an  age  that  is  endeavouring  to 

                 improve the physique of the rising generation. 



10.187     The Visitation Reports for the first 10 years of the period under review catalogue a serious failure 

           on the part of the School to provide occupation and recreation for the boys. Visitors noted that 

           large numbers of boys had nothing to occupy them for long periods during the day, and went on 

           to say that no organised games or activities were provided, which led ultimately to the complete 

           degeneration of the behaviour of the boys who, out of boredom, resorted to immoral practices. 



10.188     After  the  new  regime  was  introduced  in  1945,  an  attempt  was  made  to  remedy  this  problem. 

           Although  a  number  of  bands were  established,  which  did  occupy  up  to  half of  the  boys  in  the 

           Institution, organised games do not appear to have ever been a feature. It is clear from successive 

           Visitation Reports that there was a lack of willingness on the part of many of the Brothers living 

           in  Carriglea  to  take  on  any  supervisory  duties.  In  such  circumstances,  recreation  could  only 

           operate at the level of ‘crowd control’. 



10.189     Recreational facilities were almost non-existent. The indoor gym was out of commission for long 

           periods of the Institution’s existence. 



           Aftercare 



10.190     The Christian Brothers said in their Opening Statement that the Superior of Carriglea was the main 

           person responsible for aftercare in the School. Very little documentary information was available 

           concerning the provision of aftercare of boys in Carriglea. There were, however, some references 

           to this in the Visitation Reports. 



10.191     Visitation Reports indicated that past pupils returned to Carriglea for a visit or if their employment 

           placement was unsatisfactory. The 1937 Visitation Report noted that: 



                 There  is  a  tendency  for  boys  to  return  to  the  Institution  as  they  are  undoubtedly  well 

                 treated and perhaps too softly brought up with the result that when they leave and have 

                 to face the realities of life they are unable to stand up to them. 



10.192     The  Visitation  Report  of  1938  referred  to  this  issue:  ‘Recently,  aftercare  has  begun  to  receive 

           more attention’. This was due to the fact that a lay teacher was appointed to provide an aftercare 

           service for boys upon their discharge. The 1938 Visitation Report noted that this lay teacher had 

           visited 80 past pupils and had written a report on the condition of each of them. No reference was 

           made  to  this  practice  of  visiting  ex-pupils  in  the  Visitation  Reports  after  1938.  It  is,  therefore, 

           unclear whether this practice was continued. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     485 


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10.193     In 1939, the Visitor commented on the financial expenses involved in the provision of aftercare: 

           ‘Aftercare has become a problem and cost the Institution last year £112’. This Visitor also noted 

          that a large number of past pupils had been involved in crime: ‘In recent times the number of the 

           ex-pupils who are being arraigned before the courts is disturbing’. 



10.194    The types of employment secured by the boys upon leaving Carriglea ranged from farm boys to 

          factory boys, messengers, tailoring, waiters etc. Between the years 1940 and 1954, there were 

           181 boys placed directly into employment, which was approximately 12 boys per year. 



10.195     •    Serious efforts were made after the Cussen Report to improve aftercare, but there is 

                no evidence that this continued into the 1940s. 



           Closure of Carriglea 



10.196    An issue that arose during the course of the oral hearings into Carriglea was how the boys were 

           dealt with when the School closed down in June 1954. As stated above, the boys were transferred 

          to a number of other industrial schools on 21st       June 1954. However, evidence from a number of 



          witnesses referred to the fact that they were given no prior notice of their transfer. Instead, they 

          were informed of the decision to transfer them on the morning that they were due to leave, and 

           no explanation was provided. 



10.197     One witness recalled that none of the boys received prior warning about the transfer to Artane. 

           On the day that he was transferred, he, along with the other boys, was told to get his belongings 

           and go down to the schoolyard and then he was put on a bus. He eloquently summed up the 

           effect of this lack of preparation and forewarning on him: 



                 It was just total bewilderment. It was totally distressing. I was already distressed being 

                 sent away from home at a young age. I was just starting to settle in there when I was 

                 uprooted and sent to Artane. 



10.198    Another witness who was also transferred to Artane recounted a similar experience. He also said 

           in  evidence  that  the  boys  were  not  informed  about  the  move  prior  to  the  transfer  and,  further, 

          were not even told which school they were being sent to. He recalled that there was no discussion 

           or talk whatsoever about the closure of Carriglea; it was kept very quiet. He described the events 

           of the morning of the transfer: 



                 Buses came in, we were bussed off ... Some went all over different parts of Ireland. They 

                 were friends I had for five years and I never seen them again. 



10.199     •    The  children’s  feelings  were  disregarded  on  the  occasion  of  being  moved  from  the 

                home that they knew and where their friends and companions were. 



           General conclusions 



10.200     1.   The Christian Brothers had adequate funding to provide a reasonable standard of care 

                to  the  boys  who  were  sent  to  Carriglea.  They  did  not  deliver  this  in  terms  of  food, 

                clothing or accommodation. 



           2.   Chronic mismanagement, followed by a harsh and punitive regime, caused abuse of 

                the children. 



           3.   Discipline was enforced by harsh and severe corporal punishment. Measures taken to 

                restore order in the School included the appointment of staff who had been severely 

                criticised in other institutions for excessive physical punishment. Transferring these 

                Brothers to Carriglea introduced a level of violence, in the interests of order, at the 

                expense of the boys’ welfare. 



          486                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 517-----------------------

 4.  The  Congregation  made  a  considerable  profit  from  the  closure  of  Carriglea,  which 

     could  have  been  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  children  while  it  was  operating  as  an 

     industrial school. 



 5.  Carriglea provided a good standard of national school education to the boys, although 

     it  is  regrettable  that,  from  1940,  no  boy  was  given  the  opportunity  of  secondary 

     education. 



 6.  There were some positive elements in education and preparation for employment, but 

     trades training was poor. 



 7.  There was evidence of the success of one Brother’s practical approach to preparation 

     for future careers. 



 8.  Documentary evidence records sexual abuse by two Brothers who served in Carriglea. 

     Assigning these Brothers to Carriglea showed disregard of the danger the Brothers 

     presented. 



 9.  Emotional abuse was brought about by: the unruly and chaotic manner in which the 

     School was run for a period; the subsequent introduction of violent Brothers to restore 

     order; the predatory sexual behaviour and bullying by boys on other more vulnerable 

     boys; the high turnover of staff; and the absence of recreation facilities. 



10.   For much of the period of inquiry, the School was dilapidated and run-down, with poor 

     sanitary conditions. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                       487 


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 488                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 519-----------------------

          Chapter 11 



          St Joseph’s Industrial School, Glin, 

          Co Limerick (‘Glin’), 1872–1966 



          Introduction 



11.01     The inquiry into St Joseph’s Industrial School, Glin consisted of an analysis of the documentary 

          material from various sources, namely the Christian Brothers, the Department of Education and 

          Science, and the Bishop of Limerick. 



11.02     The  Congregation  supplied  extra  material  between  March  2007  and  June  2008,  pursuant  to  a 

          decision to waive legal privilege that would, if it was applicable to the documents, have protected 

          them from disclosure. Two reports on Glin gave information on the management and structure, 

          and they have been used in compiling this report, particularly with respect to historical data and 

          statistics. Mr Bernard Dunleavy BL was asked to report on the archival material on Glin that was 

          in  the  Provincial  House,  Cluain  Mhuire,  and  he  asked  Brothers  who  had  been  in  Glin  to  write 

          memoirs of their experiences there. Following this report, Br John McCormack also researched 

          the  documentation  and  spoke  to  Brothers  who  were  in  Glin  when  it  operated  as  an  industrial 

          school.  The  McCormack  report  was  made  available  to  the  Committee  in  March  2007,  and  the 

          Dunleavy report in June 2008. 



11.03     St Joseph’s Industrial School began in a large purpose-built block in Sexton Street, Limerick, in 

          1872. It was established under the Industrial Schools Act (Ireland), 1868, to care for and educate 

          neglected,   orphaned    and   abandoned     Roman    Catholic  boys   who   were   at risk  of becoming 

          delinquents and entering a life of crime. The underlying philosophy was that giving such boys a 

          basic  education  and  a  trade  would  make  them  useful  citizens  by  preparing  them  for  work  in 

          industry or farming. 



11.04     The School remained on this site until 1928 when it transferred to the former Glin District School 

          in west County Limerick, where the School continued until it closed in 1966. 



          The move to Glin 



11.05     In 1894, Bishop Dwyer of Limerick proposed to the Local Government Board that children currently 

          residing in workhouses of Counties Limerick and north Kerry should be gathered into a District 

          School under the management of the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy. This District 

          School was housed in the old workhouse buildings at Glin. In 1920, workhouses throughout Ireland 

          closed and, in 1924, the Board of Health decided to close Glin District School. By 1926, the School 

          ceased to exist. 



11.06     The Christian Brothers petitioned the Department of Education that St Joseph’s Industrial School 

          be transferred to this site from the now-overcrowded building in Sexton Street. The Minister for 

          Education recommended the transfer to Glin, subject to a satisfactory report by the Inspector of 

          Schools on the suitability of the buildings, and provided certain alterations and improvements were 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              489 


----------------------- Page 520-----------------------

          made to the existing buildings. Renovation and improvement works costing £15,000 were carried 

          out. It involved the installation of a new hot water heating system, dining hall, infirmary, chapel, 

          new floors in the dormitories, new windows and doors, new steam presses and new cookers. 



11.07     In June 1928, the staff and boys of St Joseph’s Industrial School moved to their new premises at 

          Glin,  some  50  kilometres  from  Limerick  City.  Despite  the  alterations,  it  was  never  a  suitable 

          building for a boys’ residential school. A letter from the Brother Provincial on 14th    November 1961 



          suggested it did not become the property of the Christian Brothers. He wrote, ‘Glin was the only 

          workhouse that was handed over to us and hence the only Industrial School for which we are 

          paying rent to the Department of Health’. Correspondence with the Christian Brothers confirmed 

          that Glin never became the property of the Christian Brothers, but was leased at a yearly rent of 

          £40 from Limerick Health Authority. In 1970, the premises were returned to the Authority. 



11.08     The majority of boys who were committed to Glin through the courts came from impoverished and 

          dysfunctional backgrounds. Some were committed for criminal offences. Court orders and School 

          registers retained by the Christian Brothers show that, during the period 1940 to 1966, a total of 

          759 boys, of whom 131 were illegitimate, were committed to the School. 



11.09     The number of children in Glin grew during the 1930s and 1940s, reaching a peak of 212 in 1949 

          and 1950. There was a steady decline in numbers during the 1950s and 1960s, and the School 

          was closed in 1966, at which stage there were 48 boys in residence. The following table sets out 

          the numbers of boys in the School: 



                                  Year                                       Number under detention 



                                    1937                                                 172 

                                    1938                                                 154 

                                    1939                                                 158 

                                    1940                                                 158 

                                    1941                                                 187 

                                    1942                                                 200 

                                    1943                                                 208 

                                    1944                                                 200 

                                    1945                                                 206 

                                    1946                                                 208 

                                    1947                                                 211 

                                    1948                                                 211 

                                    1949                                                 212 

                                    1950                                                 212 

                                    1951                                                 203 

                                    1952                                                 187 

                                    1953                                                 182 

                                    1954                                                 190 

                                    1955                                                 160 

                                    1956                                                 142 

                                    1957                                                 133 

                                    1958                                                 123 

                                    1959                                                 120 

                                    1960                                                 103 

                                    1961                                                  91 

                                    1962                                                  90 

                                    1963                                                  82 

                                    1964                                                  80 

                                    1965                                                  68 

                                    1966                                                  48 



          490                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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11.10     The average age of boys committed to Glin was nine years and 10 months, and the average stay 

          of these boys was five years and eight months. 



11.11     Mr  Dunleavy  BL,  in  his  report  on  Glin  Industrial  School,  examined  the  reasons  for  boys  being 

          admitted. During the period 1940 to 1947, he tabulated his findings as follows: 



                                      Reason for admission                                          Number 



           Destitution                                                                                 111 

           Larceny                                                                                      62 

           Not attending school                                                                         61 

           Wandering                                                                                    49 

           Having a parent not a proper guardian                                                        38 

           Parents unable to control child                                                              12 

           Receiving alms                                                                               10 

           Being under the care of a parent with criminal habits                                         6 

           Homelessness                                                                                  5 

           Fraudulent conversion                                                                         2 

           Housebreaking                                                                                 2 

           Assault                                                                                       2 

           Malicious damage                                                                              2 



           Total                                                                                       362 



11.12     His examination of the data revealed that, apart from one 12-year-old boy who was sentenced for 

          a period of one and a half years, ‘not one of the boys above was committed for less than the 

          maximum period allowed by law’. In short, no boy was to leave the School before the age of 16. 



11.13     He went on to note: 



                Even if crimes such as larceny, truanting and housebreaking, which may well have been 

                motivated by poverty are excluded from the list of offences directly attributable to poverty 

                – it is clear that over 48% of the boys were committed to Glin as a direct consequence of 

                their impoverished backgrounds. 



11.14     Mr Dunleavy stated that, between 1947 and 1966, the reasons for admissions were as follows: 



                                      Reason for admission                                          Number 



           Having a parent not a proper guardian                                                       218 

           Destitution                                                                                  95 

           Larceny                                                                                      35 

           Not attending school                                                                         12 

           Housebreaking                                                                                 7 

           Wandering                                                                                     6 

           Homelessness                                                                                  4 

           Parents unable to control child                                                               3 

           Receiving Alms                                                                                2 

           Parent unable to support child                                                                2 

           Fraud                                                                                         1 

           Being under the care of a parent with criminal habits                                         1 



           Total                                                                                       386 



          Management in Glin 



11.15     The Industrial Schools Act (Ireland), 1868 had envisaged that each school be under the control 

          of a Manager and Management Committee, with the day-to-day running of the school under the 

          supervision  of  a  Resident  Manager.  In  Glin,  however,  as  in  all  Christian  Brothers’  industrial 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              491 


----------------------- Page 522-----------------------

           schools, the role of Resident Manager was assumed by the local Superior of the Community. The 

           House Council, consisting of the Superior, Sub-Superior, and one or more Councillors, served as 

           a form of Management Committee. 



11.16      The numbers in the primary school in Glin varied from a maximum of 212 boys, in the late 1940s, 

           to 48 when the School closed in 1966. The average number of teachers who served on the staff 

           was five. 



           The role of Resident Manager 



11.17      The Resident Manager was responsible for the overall management of Glin on a day-to-day basis. 

           The duties of the Resident Manager included the health and welfare of the boys, admission and 

           discharge,    staff, management       of  buildings    and   property,   and   interaction   with  Government 

           Departments and other agencies. He was also the Superior of the Community and Manager of 

           the Primary School. In this role the Resident Manager had the responsibilities now carried out by 

           a Board of Management. The Resident Manager had responsibility for the educational life of the 

           School, the lay teachers and the finance. 



11.18      From  1936  until  1966,  Glin  had  eight  Resident  Managers,  three  of  whom  served  terms  of  six 

           years. 



11.19      Br Jules1 was appointed Resident Manager in the early 1950s. He abolished the separate post of 



           Disciplinarian and assumed the duties himself. In an internal Christian Brothers interview that he 

           gave, he recalled in relation to discipline: 



                 There were no written rules. There was a general understanding of rules, passed on from 

                 year to year. I never saw the “Rules and Regulations for the Industrial Schools”. 



11.20      Br Coyan,2    speaking about his experiences in Glin, recalled Br Jules and his attitude to corporal 



           punishment in the School: 



                 Well we had strict and firm orders from Br Jules, he was the boss and the principal. We 

                 were not to punish a young fella, if any young fella became troublesome, he was to be 

                 sent to him. I remember that occasion when I had the run in with [a boy], it was reported 

                 to him and he met me the next morning and he ate me for dead and I said sorry I lost my 

                 temper and that’s that. 



11.21      In 1955, the Visitor remarked, ‘There is a homely spirit prevailing in our Glin Industrial School that 

           could hardly be attained in a very large school’. The post of Disciplinarian was never reinstated 

           in Glin, and subsequent Resident Managers continued with this regime. Br Hugues3                    replaced Br 



           Jules as Resident Manager in the late 1950s and was considered kind and considerate towards 

           the boys. A Visitor’s Report stated: 



                 when the Superior came last Summer a number of boys took to running away although 

                 they had been kindly treated. It appears that this phase is rather common at change of 

                 Superior.  Now  all  have  settled  down  again  ...  The  Superior  is  kind  and  considerate 

                 towards the boys and the boys respond well and seem to be quite happy and friendly. 

                 The Superior is not a believer in rigorous discipline. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 

           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 This is a pseudonym. 



           492                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 523-----------------------

 11.22     Br Hugues continued to be viewed as a successful Resident Manager in Glin and, in 1961, the 

           Visitor reported that he was: 



                 a man of happy disposition, gentle, kind and self-sacrificing and not easily perturbed. He 

                 seems to possess the qualities which contribute to the efficient running of the school and 

                 the happiness of the Brothers and boys. 



 11.23     The Visitor in 1962 remarked that the Superior was: 



                 very highly appreciated by each and every member of the community for his evenness of 

                 disposition, his sense of fairness to the boys and to the Brothers ... He is very kind to the 

                 boys and they appreciate this as shown by the good spirit in the place. 



 11.24     In  1964,  the  Visitor  singled  out  Br  Hugues  for his  ‘efficiency,  self-sacrifice,  kindness  to  all  and 

           devotedness to duty ...’. 



 11.25     It would appear that from the early 1950s the regime was less strict in Glin than in some other 

           Christian Brothers’ schools, and the influence of a kinder and more efficient Resident Manager 

           had a lasting effect on the ethos of the School. However, the accommodation of the School in a 

           former  Victorian  workhouse  meant  that  what  improvements  were  effected  were  offset  by  the 

           unsuitability of the building for its purpose. 



 11.26     The personnel created the management system and, while that had the advantage of the system 

           changing with the style and personality of the man assigned the role of Resident Manager, it also 

           meant an inefficient Manager could seriously affect the working conditions and quality of life in 

           the School. 



 11.27     Mr Dunleavy in his report on Glin stated: 



                 I encountered very little evidence of what one might term proper systems and methods in 

                 Glin Industrial School. There is no indication either in the archives or from the memoirs of 

                 Christian   Brothers   who   formerly   worked    at  Glin  that any   proper   staff or  community 

                 meetings were held in the school. 



 11.28     He also added: 



                 While the Brother Superior was ultimately obliged to take responsibility for the pupils at 

                 Glin, there is no evidence of any formal management structures at the School. 



           Finance 



 11.29     In his report on Glin, Br McCormack stated that from the mid-1960s the grant paid by the State 

           was insufficient to meet the needs of the Institution. He concluded: 



                 That  this  was  the  state  of  the  School’s  finances  in  the  last  two  years  of  its  existence 

                 speaks volumes for the inadequacy of Government funding over the years. 



 11.30     By 1963, numbers in Glin had fallen dramatically: in 1966 when it closed, there were only 48 boys 

           in  residence. Because  State grants  were paid  on a  per capita  basis, a  fall in  numbers  had an 

           inevitable impact on finances, and the Brothers were left with no alternative but to close down 

           schools once they became uneconomical to run. 



 11.31     Throughout     the  1940s    and   1950s,   however,    numbers     were   sufficiently  high   to ensure    an 

           adequate income for the Institution, and this was particularly so after 1944 when the State grants 

           were made payable on the accommodation limit of the School rather than the certified limit. For 

           Glin,  this  meant  an   increase  of  per  capita    payments  from  140      to  214.  During  this   period, 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   493 


----------------------- Page 524-----------------------

           conditions for the boys in Glin were poor and in no respect reflected the funding that was available 

           to the Institution. 



11.32      The Visitation Reports for the period were not consistent in respect of financial information. The 

           1941 Report recorded a payment of £330 to the Manager, £200 to the Sub-Manager, and £120 

           to each of the five other Brothers working in the School. This represented approximately 25% of 

           the State funding, which amounted to £5,014. It reflected a pattern seen in other industrial schools, 

           where substantial sums were paid to the Community account for the maintenance of Brothers and 

           of the Congregation. The figures for 1940 were unusually high and there is no explanation as to 

           why. Subsequent Visitation Reports recorded sums paid into the Building Fund and, by the time 

           the School closed, it had £7,000 invested in the Building Fund and a credit balance of £2,427 in 

           the bank. The sums invested in the Building Fund were ‘excess funds’ from the Institution. 



           Physical abuse 



11.33      The basic stance of the Christian Brothers is that their institutions were not abusive and provided 

           a positive experience for the boys who lived in them. They concede that, at certain times, some 

           Brothers may  have overstepped  the mark  and used  excessive corporal  punishment but,  in the 

           main, they contend that rules and regulations were complied with.. 



11.34      The Christian Brothers also contend that, where serious breaches of the rules occurred, the matter 

           was dealt with promptly and appropriately by the authorities. 



11.35      There are eight cases, within the documentation provided, where excessive corporal punishment 

           was used. Not all of the Brothers mentioned below were working in Glin at the time the allegation 

           against them was made. They are considered in detail below. 



11.36      As  in  all  the  institutions  run  by  the  Christian  Brothers,  no  punishment  book  was  maintained. 

           Without a written record of the nature of the punishments given, and the reasons for giving them, 

           it  is  impossible  to  write  about  the  extent  of  its  use.  The  records  that  do  exist  are  about  clear 

           excesses. 



11.37      As set out in the General Chapter on the Christian Brothers, there were two sets of regulations 

           governing the use of corporal punishment: the Department of Education regulations and the Rules 

           and Acts of General Chapter. 



11.38      With  regard  to  the  Rules  and  Acts  of  General  Chapter,  Mr  Dunleavy  found  that  ‘none  of  the 

           Brothers who wrote a memoir have any recollection of the existence of such rules’. There were 

           no written rules on the use of corporal punishment available to the Brothers within the School. 

           They learnt how and when to punish from older, more experienced Brothers, who told them or 

           showed them what to do. 



11.39      By contrast, Br Gaston,4  when interviewed by Br McCormack for his report, stated, ‘There was no 



           written code of discipline, but all were familiar with the rules laid down in the Acts of Chapter and 

           the injunctions of the Directory concerning punishment of pupils’. 



11.40      This  informal  approach  to  the  regulation  of  corporal  punishment  increased  the  risk  of  abuses 

           occurring. 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 



           494                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 525-----------------------

           The Blake case (1945) 



11.41      This case concerned a boy Paul Blake,5           who escaped from Glin following a severe punishment 



           and  went  home  to  his  mother.  The  story  is  recounted  in  a  letter  from  a  local  councillor  to  the 

           Minister for Education and the Minister for Justice: 



                 It is my distasteful duty to draw your attention to what I consider is a matter of paramount 

                 public  importance.  [A  boy’s  mother]  called  upon  me  on  Wednesday  last  the  1st         instant 



                 together with her son ... whom she stated was committed to Glin Industrial School. She 

                 further stated that the boy had escaped from the institution on the previous day, Tuesday 

                 31st  ultimo. She stated that he had received a flogging on Monday the 30th                ultimo. She 



                 invited me to examine her son’s back which bore numerous dark stripes. There were also 

                 sores visible on the boy’s back. 



                 I issued a dispensary ticket to [a doctor] to have the youth examined at William Street 

                 Garda Station, Limerick, on the evening of Wednesday the 1st                instant, three days after 



                 the alleged  flogging had taken  place. He (the  doctor) informed me  that the boy’s  back 

                 bore evidence of having received a flogging. 



                 On questioning the boy, prior to his agreeing to surrender himself to the Garda authorities, 

                 he informed me that, as a result of his having not returned to the Industrial School at the 

                 end of the holiday period he was stripped of his clothes and flogged with a whip which 

                 had a number of leather thongs attached thereto. 



                   1.   Will you please state:- If a form of punishment so described by this boy is prescribed 

                        by law in certain cases in Industrial Schools and Borstal Institutions. 



                   2.   If the recipient of such treatment is compelled to be stripped or partly stripped of his 

                        clothing. 



                   3.   If it is compulsory for the Superior or other authorized person of an Industrial School 

                        or Borstal Institution to inflict such treatment in certain circumstances. 



                   4.   If the use of a whip with a number of leather thongs is prescribed and permitted. 



                   5.   If  the  report  from  Glin  Industrial  School  agrees  with  the  statement  made  to  me  by 

                        [the boy]. 



                   6.   If it does not in what respect does it differ. 



                 I may mention in conclusion that on Wednesday night this boy who handed himself over 

                 to the Garda authorities, later escaped from the members of the Glin Institution who had 

                 been sent to collect him at Limerick. 



11.42      He received an acknowledgement on 8th            August. On 25th     August he sent a copy of the medical 



           report which read: 

                 [The boy] was examined by me at William St. Barracks on August 1st                 1945. Examination 



                 revealed on posterior surface of right upper arm, on right forearm and on back – wheals 

                 –  about  2  to  3”  long.  The  wheals  were  not  tender  or  sore  and  was  such  as  would  be 

                 produced by a leather thong. 



11.43      This  medical  report  showed  that  the  boy  was  severely  beaten  in  a  way  that  was  against  the 

           regulations at that time. 



11.44      Six weeks later, on 19th     September, the Councillor had not received a reply from the Minister so 



           he wrote again. He wrote, ‘As this matter is now long outstanding I would like to have a full reply 

           to my letter. Will you kindly facilitate me in this connection at your earliest convenience’. 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 



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11.45     The Councillor was sent a brief note from the Secretary of the Department of Education dated 

           29th September 1945. The note said: 



                 I am directed by the Minister for Education to say that he has had full enquiries made into 

                 the circumstances of the case and has taken appropriate action in connection therewith. 



11.46     The Councillor immediately wrote back on 1st         October to demand answers to his questions, and 



          to ask what ‘appropriate action’ had been taken. He wrote: 



                 In view of the grave public importance of the case before us I would ask you to kindly 

                 answer  the questions  as  enumerated in  my  communication  of August  3rd.  I would  also 



                 want to be informed under what law and the date thereof that a youth could be submitted 

                 to punishment so described in my communication. 



                 I would further want to know what appropriate action has been taken in this case at the 

                 direction of the Minister of Education. 



11.47     This time he did receive a prompt reply, designed to put him in his place: 



                 the Minister for Education desires me to inform you that he does not feel called upon to 

                 give  you  the  information  you  have  asked  for  in  the  matter  unless  he  is  supplied  with 

                 evidence as to your right to obtain that information and is given an assurance as to the 

                 purpose for which it is required. 



11.48     The Councillor asserted his right to be answered. He wrote: 



                 my position as a Public representative entitles me to the information requested ... for the 

                 purpose of confirming the allegations made to me which if correct should be ventilated in 

                 the interests of the public. 



11.49      He finally received a reply on 5th  January 1946, but it was on condition that it should not be made 



           known to anyone else. He inserted the following note into his file of correspondence: 

                 Letter of 5th January 1946 withheld from this file as the contents were given to me at the 



                 direction of the Minister for Education for my confidential information. 



11.50     The letter has never been found. 



11.51      On 15th  April 1946 he wrote again to the Minister. He asked for a general inquiry to be set up into 



          the running of industrial schools, and for a specific inquiry into this case. He wrote: 



                 I am now fully convinced that nothing short of a sworn inquiry into this case will satisfy 

                 the public conscience, and I suggest to the Minister, that early steps be taken to set the 

                 necessary machinery in motion towards this end. I further suggest that the time is now 

                 opportune for an inquiry into the entire Industrial School and Borstal Institution system, 

                 and under these circumstances I would ask that consideration be given to extending this 

                 enquiry to cover every aspect of these institutions. 



                 I shall deem it my duty to lay the relevant information in my possession before a Tribunal 

                 set up by the Minister to inquire into the matters referred to herein. 



11.52      On 26th  April he received a reply from the Secretary of the Department: 



                 The  Minister  is  satisfied  ...  that  he  is  in  possession  of  all  the  facts  concerning  the 

                 punishment  inflicted,  and  in  these  circumstances  he  considers  that  a  sworn  inquiry  as 

                 suggested by you is unnecessary and would serve no useful purpose. 



                 In regard to your further suggestion for an inquiry into the Industrial School system and 

                 the Borstal Institution system I am to point out that the Industrial and Reformatory School 

                 system   was   the  subject   of an   exhaustive   inquiry  in  the  years  1934   to  1936   by  a 



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                  commission appointed by the Minister for Education ... This report is now out of print, but 

                  you may be able to see a copy in a Public Library. 



11.53      On 9th   May the Councillor replied, giving vent to his anger at the secrecy about the case: 



                  In  my  opinion,    the  useful  purpose     of  an   enquiry   would  be    to  put  the   public  in  the 

                  possession  of  the  facts  which  the  Minister  and  his officials  and  a  few  others  only  now 

                  possess. 



                  As the Minister refuses to give the necessary publicity, I am compelled to take other steps 

                  so that it may be procured. 

                  In your letter of the 5th   January you extended to me, under the direction of the Minister, 



                  an explanation for my confidential information. As the contents of this letter were conveyed 

                  to me in substance through other sources than that of the Minister, I feel that under the 

                  circumstances  I  would  not  be  justified  in  with-holding  the  information  contained  in  this 

                  letter from the public or their representatives. 



11.54      The  Councillor  wrote  to  the  manager  of  the  Theatre  Royal  in  Dublin,  who  had  contact  with  Fr 

           Flanagan6  of Boys Town in the USA. He told him: 



                  You have knowledge of this case, and I recall you saying to me some time ago, that you 

                  were approached by a prominent public man, who asked you to use your influence with 

                  me to drop this case. To your credit you used no such influence with me. 



11.55      The case, he said, was ‘this most degrading reflection on our system of detention of juveniles ... 

           These conditions will exist as long as Industrial Schools ... remain closed boroughs to the public’. 



11.56      He apparently handed all the documents, except the confidential letter sent on 5th  January, to the 



           manager of the Theatre Royal for forwarding to Fr Flanagan. They were found in Fr Flanagan’s 

           archives, and are the sole remaining record of the case. No record of this case was found in the 

           files of the Department of Education. 



11.57      While this correspondence was going on, there were other developments. On 12th                       October 1945, 



           the boy’s mother received a letter saying: 



                  The Minister for Education has informed me that he has granted the discharge of your 

                  son ... Hoping he will be a success and give you complete satisfaction. 



11.58      He was discharged, despite being still only 15. In 1946, the Resident Manager was transferred to 

           Salthill, again as Resident Manager. Br McCormack’s research paper noted: 



                  However it is also open to the interpretation that, following the publicity of October 1946, 

                  during Fr Flanagan’s visit to Ireland, the Provincial was using the first available opportunity 

                  to remove Br Delaine7       from Glin. This would have been at the New Year, a time when 



                  changes were common and would not attract gossip. 



11.59      Commenting on this case in a recent communication the Christian Brothers wrote: 



                  Without     contemporary        evidence      other    than    the    [the   councillor]     /Department 

                  correspondence it is difficult to piece together the full story of this incident. There is no 

                  doubt that a serious breach of regulations did take place but the identity of the Brother 

                  mentioned in  the account of the  beating is not  clear. The account mentions  the “Head 

                  Brother”   but   since   no  name     is given...Boys     in industrial   schools    could   confuse    the 



           6 Fr Flanagan was an Irish priest who lived and worked in the United States. He opened his first boys’ home in 1917, 



             which later moved to another location and became known as ‘Boys Town’. He became an acknowledged expert in the 

             field of childcare. He visited Ireland in 1946. 

           7 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       497 


----------------------- Page 528-----------------------

                  functions  of  responsible  staff  such  as  Resident  Manager  (a  rather  aloof  figure),  the 

                   Disciplinarian,  who  was  in  charge  of  general  discipline,  and  the  Principal,  who  was  in 

                  charge of the primary school and classroom discipline. 



            Fr Flanagan’s intervention 



11.60       Fr Flanagan made no mention of the Blake case while he was in Ireland, although his attacks 

            against the punishment regime in Irish penal institutions which received widespread publicity. In 

            a public lecture in Cork’s Savoy Cinema he told his audience, ‘You are the people who permit 

            your children  and the children of  your communities to  go into these institutions  of punishment. 

            You can do something about it’. He called Ireland’s penal institutions ‘a disgrace to the nation’ 

            and then issued a public statement saying ‘I do not believe that a child can be reformed by lock 

            and key and bars, or that fear can ever develop a child’s character’.8                 His resolute and vociferous 



            stand against the corporal punishment of children led him to speak out against the Glin case when 

            he received a letter from one of his contacts in Ireland, Walter Mahon Smith.9                 It stated, ‘As regards 



            the Glin case none of the Daily papers would investigate or publish this for me’. 



11.61       When he got back to America, Fr Flanagan spoke about it to the American Press. The matter was 

                               ´                        rd 

            raised in the Dail in a debate on 23          July 1946. 



                    ´ 

11.62       Mr Sean Brady TD asked the Minister for Justice, Mr Boland: 



                  whether his attention has been drawn to criticisms of the prison and Borstal systems in 

                  this country reported to have been made by Monsignor Flanagan during his recent visit 

                  and published in the Irish newspapers, and to similar criticisms made on his return to the 

                   United States which were published in the New York Press on the 17th July, 1946 and 

                  whether he has any statement to make. 



11.63       Mr Boland replied: 



                   My attention has been drawn to the criticisms referred to. During his recent stay in this 

                  country Monsignor Flanagan did not see and did not ask to see any of the prisons or the 

                   Borstal  institutions.  I  am  surprised  that  in  these  circumstances  an  ecclesiastic  of  his 

                  standing  should  have  thought  it  proper  to  describe  in  such  offensive  and  intemperate 

                   language conditions about which he has no firsthand knowledge. 



11.64       Mr Flanagan TD asked if the Minister was ‘... aware of the fact that Monsignor Flanagan did not 

            make these statements without very good foundation and very good reason for them’. 



11.65       Mr Brady TD asked ‘if his attention has been drawn to a statement made by Monsignor Flanagan 

            and published in the American Press, that physical punishment, including the cat o' nine tails, the 

            rod, and the fist, is used in reform schools both here and in Northern Ireland’. 



11.66       The Minister replied: 



                   I have a cutting from a paper which contains a statement to that effect. I was not disposed 

                  to take any notice of what Monsignor Flanagan said while he was in this country, because 

                   his  statements     were    so   exaggerated      that  I  did  not   think   people    would    attach   any 

                   importance to them. When, however, on his return to America he continues to make use 

                  of statements of this kind, I feel it is time that somebody should reply ... 



11.67       After an interruption, he continued: 



            8 For a full discussion of Father Flanagan’s visit to Ireland see Daire Keogh ‘There’s no such thing as a bad boy’: Fr 

                                                                             ´ 

              Flanagan’s visit to Ireland, 1946, History IRELAND, 12, 1 (Spring 2004) 29-32 and the discussion of his article by Eoin 

              O’Sullivan and Mary Raftery in the letters section of History IRELAND 12,4 (Winter 2004) 

            9 Fr Flanagan was influenced by Walter Mahon-Smith’s book, I did penal servitude, published anonymously. 



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----------------------- Page 529-----------------------

                  All I have got to say is that these schools are under the management of religious Orders, 

                  who are self-effacing people, and who do not require any commendation from me. 



11.68      •     The Minister chose to attack the man who had attacked the system. His support for 

                 the religious Orders closed the debate. 



           Br Serge10 



11.69      Br Serge was sent to Glin in the mid-1940s and spent two years in total there, with a break in 

           service to complete his teacher training. A letter was apparently sent to Dr McCabe, the Medical 

           Inspector of Industrial Schools,11  complaining about the punishments he had inflicted on the boys. 



           The Visitation Report of May 1947 goes into the affair in some detail. The Visitor wrote: 



                  For  some  time  back  certain  members  of  the  Limerick  Corporation  have  been  seeking 

                  interviews with boys from  the school to provide information for  certain members of the 

                    ´ 

                  Dail whose ambition seem to be the providing of trouble for the Government. The reaction 

                  of  the  situation  on  the  boys  of  the  school  gave  serious  trouble  to  the  Brothers  in  the 

                  execution of their duty. A letter was sent to Dr McCabe, medical inspector of Industrial 

                  Schools, giving information on punishments inflicted on some of the boys recently. She 

                  came along and held an inquiry which was strictly confined to the boys; she interviewed 

                  no member of the staff in connection with the matter. It is the unbiased opinion of three 

                  senior members of the community that from the information they got from boys interviewed 

                  by Dr McCabe the information supplied to her in the above letter was substantially true. 

                  The Brother implicated in these charges was Br Serge, who is due to make Final Vows 

                  next Christmas. His method of punishment as far as I can make out varied, once at least, 

                  from the recognised use of the strap. He had no discretion as to the number of slaps that 

                  should be apportioned to offences. Br Serge has also been charged with acting as the 

                  leader of the troubles in the Training College towards the close of last year. I have met 

                  several Brothers who were there at the time and all are agreed as to his guilt ... I would 

                  not resent Dr McCabe’s attitude because if she succeeds in securing information from the 

                  boys the work of the politicians will be short circuited and danger of publicity eliminated. 



11.70      The letter of complaint to Dr McCabe has not been discovered. Nor is there a report on her visit 

           to  the  School,  even  though  her  interviews  with  the  boys  apparently  uncovered  allegations  of 

           serious physical abuse. 



11.71      The Visitation Report cited above made several criticisms of a serious nature. It alleged, first, that 

           Br Serge had punished ‘some of the boys’ excessively. Second, it alleged that Br Serge could 

           give an excessive number of slaps, and he could do so even if the offence did not merit a severe 

           punishment. Thirdly, it alleged his method of punishment ‘varied once at least from the recognised 

           use of the strap’. The recognised use was usually a slap on the hand with a leather and, clearly, 

           Br Serge had departed from these guidelines. 



11.72      The Visitor sent his report to the Provincial, who responded that: 



                  It is a pity that the school has not a better reputation for kindness and consideration for 

                  the poor boys. Nothing should be left undone to secure kinder treatment of the boys and 

                  a happier and brighter feeling among them. This is not only possible but easy to secure 

                  if the Brothers have the correct feeling for them. 



11.73      This reply was significant. The Provincial regretted that the School had not a better reputation ‘for 

           kindness and consideration’ for the boys in its care. He did not only criticise Br Serge, but all the 



           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. See Department of 



              Education chapter for a discussion of her role and performance. 



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           Brothers for not having ‘the correct feeling’ for the children. It expressed unease about how boys 

           in general were treated in Glin. 



11.74      Five Brothers referred to Br Serge in internal Christian Brothers interviews. Their comments on 

           him were illuminating. One Brother, (Br Coyan) who went to Glin in the early 1950s and who was 

           clearly referring to Br Serge, said: 



                  ... there was one there before I went there and he was very cruel. He left the Brothers. 

                  There  was  a  big  inquisition  from  either  the  Department  or  the  Health  Board  his  name 

                  won’t come to me just now. He was sent out of Glin and the kids were complaining about 

                  them continually and you daren’t mention his name. They hated the thought of him but 

                  he was sent down to the Brothers and he was sent down to the place but we followed his 

                  career afterwards, he became a principal outside and a parish priest was in trouble but 

                  that’s the only case and that was before my time. 



11.75      He then added: 



                  I have often heard it from the lads themselves about this man. He could be dead by now 

                  for all I know, he was a bastard as they say and the kids hated the sight of him and he 

                  was a man who should never have been sent to Glin. To be sent to a place like that you 

                  have to have great rapport with the kids like. You are living with them as much as you 

                  would if you were in a family at home and you have to coax them along ... You are the 

                  only one that they can rely on ... 



11.76      Br Hardouin,12  who was in Glin in the 1940s, also recalled the man: 



                  I can recall when the Department Inspector called to Glin to investigate a complaint made 

                  by a retired Brother against a member of the teaching staff who was accused of being 

                  too  severe.   The   Brother    accused    was    removed     to a   day  school    and   the  following 

                  Christmas was expelled from the Order. I imagine that the complaint may have been a 

                  contributory  factor  in  his  expulsion  although  he  had  previous  problems  during  second 

                  year training. 



11.77      Br Zacharie,13  who replaced Br Serge, said: 



                  I came there from Monaghan to replace a Brother who had been moved out because he 

                  was   over   severe   ... I was    advised   to  be   nice  to  the  kids   and   not  to  worry   about 

                  examination results. 



11.78      Br  Gaston,  who  was  resident  in  Glin  during  the  1950s,  recalled  talk  about  this  Brother  being 

           investigated. He said: 



                  I cannot recall any situation where a formal complaint against the school was investigated 

                  by an outside group or individual, though I believe that there was such a situation in the 

                  School within three or four years prior to my coming. 



11.79      A contemporary of Br Serge, Br Amaury,14  gave more details: 



                  The procedure for dealing with complaints would be that if any staff member or child in 

                  the school had a complaint he could bring that problem to the Superior/Manager, the sub 

                  superior,  the  school  principal,  the  disciplinarian,  or  to  the  provincial  or  any  one  of  his 

                  council. One such complaint was made during my year in Glin. It was made against one 

                  of the Brothers on the school staff. I do not know to what outside group or individual the 

                  complaint was made but the nature of it was that the man in question was over severe in 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 

           13 This is a pseudonym. 

           14 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 having recourse to corporal punishment. None of the details of this complaint were made 

                 available to the community or staff in Glin. The boy who was named as the one who made 

                 the complaint was personally known to me and my impression of him was that he was a 

                 boy who would be very unlikely to do anything serious enough to merit severe corporal 

                 punishment. He was known to have been a close friend – a “masters pet” – one of the 

                 men who regularly did supervision in the school yard during recreation time. This does 

                 add  more  than  a  little  likelihood  to  an  opinion  circulating  at  the  time;  that  it  was  the 

                 “master” and not really the “pet” who caused the complaint to be made. 



11.80      There are no grounds to suggest these recollections are unreliable. They all recall similar details 

           and they provide an important illustration of how a violent man was dealt with by the management 

           of the Congregation in the 1940s. 



11.81      First, there did not seem to be a standard reporting procedure for either boys or Brothers when 

           violent or abusive behaviour did occur. Br Hardouin summed up the situation as he saw it: 



                 Generally  speaking there  was  no  redress for  any  child who  had  a  complaint against  a 

                 staff member. Again as a younger brother, I certainly was not fully informed of problems 

                 that were the responsibility of management. 



11.82      The procedure referred to by Br Amaury, ‘that if any staff member or child in the school had a 

           complaint  he  could  bring  that  problem  to  the  Superior/Manager,  the  sub-superior,  the  school 

           principal, the disciplinarian, or to the provincial or any one of his council’, was not used in this 

           case  of  extreme  violence.  Instead,  a  letter  of  complaint  was  sent  to  an  outsider,  the  School 

           Inspector. There was no explanation in the documentation as to why this route was taken, but it 

           was clearly deemed necessary or politic to avoid the Congregation’s management structures. 



11.83      Br Serge was removed promptly during the Visitation, and was sent to a day school. Some of the 

           Brothers in Glin informally kept an eye on his later career. As stated above, one of them believed 

           that he had got into trouble elsewhere. He said, ‘we followed his career afterwards, he became a 

           principal outside and a parish priest was in trouble’, but no details are available about such an 

           episode. Given the seriousness of his behaviour, and the excessive violence he was known to 

           have used, this simple expedient of removing him to a day school could not have guaranteed the 

           protection of other children. Br Serge’s career continued as a national school teacher in a number 

           of schools. He left the Christian Brothers in the late 1940s. He subsequently spent many years 

           as a principal of a national school. 



           Br Amaury 



11.84      Br Amaury worked in St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, Cabra before moving to Glin where he 

           spent a year during the 1940s. He made a bad impression during his brief period in Glin. During 

           an annual Visitation, the Visitor was very critical of Br Amaury and recommended his transfer. Br 

           Amaury was moved a few months later to a day school and did not teach in a residential school 

           again. The Visitor made insightful observations on the vulnerability of boys in residential care: 



                 With the exception of Br Amaury all the other members of staff are capable and reliable. 

                 In punishing boys he sometimes loses control of himself. I would recommend his change 

                 in view of circumstances in the school. It would be better if Br Amaury was sent to a day 

                 school where boys would have a parent or relative to interpose between themselves and 

                 a cruel teacher. The industrial school boy has no redress but suffer on. 



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11.85      The fact that two Brothers in one year were accused of excessive violence. There is evidence 

           that Br Jules, who subsequently became Resident Manager, made efforts to change attitudes in 

           the School. But it is not clear if he was able to eliminate abuses by Brothers during his period of 

           management. Br Coyan, who was there at that time, remembered the rules laid down by him. 



           Br Jesper15 



11.86      Br Jesper spent over 11 years in Glin from the late 1940s. He held the position of Councillor for 

           his first seven years, before taking over as Sub-Superior in the mid-1950s. The Visitation Reports 

           reveal that he could be a difficult person to get along with and was acknowledged as being odd. 

           The  Visitor  noted  that  relations  between  him  and  a  number  of  Brothers  were  bad  and,  when 

           questioned on the matter, his colleagues accused him of having a very bad temper. The Visitor 

           subsequently remarked that Br Jesper was ‘not quite normal’. He was suspicious and aloof. By 

           the late 1950s, his doctors recommended that he be transferred from Glin immediately, because 

           he was in danger of having a nervous breakdown if he had to stay there. 



11.87      There were reservations about Br Jesper from his early days in the Congregation. The Superior 

           General  wrote to  him  in  the mid-1930s  and  drew his  attention  to  a trait  that  cast  doubt on  his 

           suitability to take perpetual vows. He reprimanded him for being: 



                 altogether too strict and harsh in your dealings with your pupils. It would appear that you 

                 are subject to moods, being at the one time rather depressed and gloomy and at others 

                 jubilant and vivacious ... Possibly in class these variations are manifested by a want of 

                  uniformity in your dealings with the boys, treating them indulgently at one time and again 

                 with great severity ... Harshness towards pupils is out of date. A good educator is never 

                 severe towards those he is training. Severity alienates the sympathy of the pupils with their 

                 teacher and loses to him their cooperation, the most powerful means he has for success. 



11.88      Nevertheless, Br Jesper took his final vows shortly after this reprimand. 



11.89      Br Jesper completed an internal Christian Brothers’ questionnaire in 2001 regarding life in Glin. 

           He stated that there was ‘strong discipline’ in the School but that it was not as tough as discipline 

           in day schools, ‘It certainly was not hard’. He denied that the boys were beaten regularly and ‘it 

           would have been an exception arising out of a grave infringement of the rules that they would be 

           in any way chastised’. He conceded that the leather was used, but asserted that he had dispensed 

           with  its  use shortly  after  his  arrival in  Glin.  He  denied any  allegations  of  physical abuse  made 

           against him, and indicated that he would be surprised if similar allegations against his colleagues 

           were true. 



           Br Jeannot16 



11.90      Br Jeannot was sent to Glin as a young Brother in the late 1940s where he remained for more 

           than  five  years.  In  the early  1950s,  the  mother  of  two  boys  resident in  Glin  made  a  complaint 

           regarding severe punishments her sons had received at the hands of Br Jeannot. There was no 

           proper investigation. 



11.91      The   two   brothers   had   been   committed     to  Glin  a  number    of  years   previously,   following   the 

           separation of their parents. The older of the two, described by the Superior as ‘a big hefty fellow’, 

           was regarded as troublesome. On one occasion when his mother came to visit, he complained to 

           her that he had been punished excessively by Br Jeannot. He alleged that he had been beaten 

           with a stick and kicked by him. The mother demanded that her boys be released into her care, 



           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 533-----------------------

           alleging  that  both  had  been  ill-treated  by  Br  Jeannot.  The  Superior  explained  to  her  that  the 

           Minister  for  Education  would  have  to  make  an  order  for  their  release.  She  then  wrote  to  the 

           Superior General, perhaps thinking that he could direct the releases, and the Provincial Council 

           therefore  became  aware  of  the  matter.  The  Provincial  wrote  to  the  Superior  of  Glin,  seeking 

           information on the incident. 



11.92      The Superior responded by letter and explained that, one evening, Br Jeannot was in charge and 

           reprimanded the boy for misconduct but he still continued to be impertinent. Br Jeannot then called 

           him into the play hall and struck him on the cheek before administering the leather. The Superior 

           was convinced, as a result of his investigation, that Br Jeannot had not beaten the boy with a 

           stick or kicked him. He was also satisfied that the younger brother of the boy had never been 

           punished by Br Jeannot. He chastised Br Jeannot for not bringing the boy to him to be dealt with. 

           The  Superior  was  suspicious  that  the  mother  had  exaggerated  the  incident  so  that  she  could 

           secure the release of her sons. The Provincial was satisfied, as a result of the information provided 

           by the Superior of Glin, that ‘it is quite clear the chief difficulty in the case concerns the home 

           circumstances  of  the  children.  It  is  well  however  that  the  Brothers  gave  no  serious  reason  for 

           complaint in connection with their treatment of the boy’. 



11.93      It would appear that he reached this conclusion without the parents or boys being interviewed, 

           and was quite happy to accept at face value the version proffered by Br Jeannot and the Superior. 



           Complaint by Mr Dubois,17  night watchman 



11.94      Mr Dubois was employed as a night watchman in Glin in the early 1950s. He held the position for 

           six months and stated that he left for health reasons. He wrote to the Department of Education 

           shortly after leaving Glin, setting out a number of serious concerns he had for the boys resident 

           there: 



                  Dear Sir, 



                  May  I  respectfully  direct  your  kind  attention  “in  Confidence”  to  the  following  and  I  am 

                  confident that by doing so that I shall be doing a great work of charity. 



                  For the past six months, I was employed as “night-watch man” at St Joseph’s Industrial 

                  School  Glin  Co  Limerick,  and  having  had  close  contact  with  the  “Boys”  and  with  the 

                  running of the school in general, I am in the position to be able to make the enclosed 

                  observations and respectfully request that the Inspectors of this department see after the 

                  matter and do their best to remedy the state of affairs existing there. 



                  The Boys are discontented with the existing state of things due to the following defects. 



                  Poor food and clothing. The cook in Boys Kitchen has no knowledge of cooking being an 

                  ex pupil working for 15/- per week and has never got any training for this work. 



                  Everyone  employed  at  this  school  are  free  to  have  a  smack  at  the  Boys  including  the 

                  Brothers who appear to be indifferent to all this. The Boys beds and sleeping quarters are 

                  very poor and during the cold winter months are never heated, neither do the Boys get 

                  any kind of winter clothing to keep them warm. The Boys shirts are very poor quality and 

                  very badly washed the whole place and system is very-very bad. 



                  The Infirmary is just the same. The nurse goes off duty pretty often and the children are 

                  left to the mercy of one of the boys. I know the Brothers can scrape out of any difficulty 

                  but I write from personal experience. and if you could arrange surprise visits. night and 

                  day. you could see for yourself. I could never have believed that such could exist in a 

                  Catholic Country. I know there is a good deal of window dressing to deceive the eye of 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  the visiting official but I learn that the Boys are warned not to complain May God help the 

                  poor children. 



                  There are only two trades men in this school, a shoe maker and a tailor, no carpenter 

                  employed. How can we expect such Boys to become an asset to the state. They shall 

                  treat the state as the state treats them. Pay a surprise visit to this school some cold night 

                  and  see  for  yourself.  The  former  night  watch  man  a  common  farm  labourer.  carried  a 

                  heavy  leather  when  on  duty  and  beat  up  the  poor  children  as  he  pleased.  please  Sir 

                  remedy this. and you will have the blessing of God and the prayers of the poor children 

                  God bless you. 



                  Yours respectfully 



                  Mr Dubois 



                  In confidence 



11.95      The Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools, Mr Sugrue,18                  requested Dr Anna McCabe 



           to investigate the serious complaints contained in the letter, which he specified as food, clothing, 

           bedding, laundering of clothes and heating of the School in winter. Dr McCabe visited Glin for this 

           purpose, and she also took the opportunity to carry out a General Inspection. Her brief report on 

           the complaints stated: 



                  Mr Sugrue, 



                  I visited Glin Industrial School and had a long talk with the Manager. I told him about the 

                  letter we had received and which it was my duty to investigate. 



                  I really could find no ground for complaint in the school. It is well run and the boys appear 

                  well and happy. 



                  I asked the manager if there could be any spiteful reason why the letter should have been 

                  written  and  he  told  me  that  the  man  had  been  dismissed  for  insubordination  and  had 

                  vowed to injure the school ... Apparently he thought that writing this note he would cast 

                  reflection on the school. 



                  Many  improvements  have  been  made  in  this  school  and  in  my  opinion  there  are  no 

                  grounds for complaint against the management. 



11.96      Given the very specific complaints made in the letter, this investigation was cursory and the report 

           vague and unsatisfactory. 



11.97      Dr McCabe’s visit was not only to investigate the complaint. She carried out a General Inspection 

           on  the  same  day,  and  her  report  gave  little  indication  of  the  serious  problems  that  she  was 

           investigating,  and  which  were  acknowledged  by  her  superiors  in  the  Department  as  needing 

           special investigation. 



11.98      Mr Dubois then wrote a letter to the Minister for Justice, elaborating on the contents of his letter 

           to the Department of Education: 



                  Dear Sir, 



                  May I respectfully direct your kind attention “in confidence” to the following hoping that 

                  you Sir will do something to help the poor unfortunate children concerned. 



                  For a period of six months, I took up a position of night watchman in one of our Industrial 

                  Schools “for Boys” namely, St Joseph’s School Glin Co Limerick and I may tell you Sir, 



           18 This is the English version of Mr O Siochfhradha 



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      that I never expected to find in a Catholic Country like ours, the awful bad conditions in 

      so far as the poor Boys were concerned, only that I had spent six months and seen for 

      myself  I  never  could  have  believed  that  such  conditions  could  exist  especially  as  this 

       Institution is  under   the  care   of  our  Irish  Christian   Brothers   who    are  so  reputed    for 

      teaching etc. 



      When I took up employment there last March, I found the poor children in a very nervous 

      state, due to harsh treatment at the hands of the former night man (a local labourer) rough 

      and cruel, who was allowed a free hand to beat up the children as he pleased, and was 

      permitted to carry a heavy leather for this purpose. The children were called out of their 

      sleep every hour to use the W.C. and any poor child who had the misfortune to wet his 

      bed,  was  very  roughly  treated  by  this  night-man,  who  also  reported  the  matter  to  the 

      Brothers  in  the  morning,  and  a  further  punishment  was  then  administered  to  the  poor 

      child by the Brothers concerned. The children have no redress whatsoever and are just 

      like convicts. 



      With  regards  the  food  its  very-very  poor  and  the  person  in  charge  of  the  cooking  is  a 

      young boy aged about 17 years an ex-pupil of the school, who at the age of 16 years was 

      discharged, and sent to a job ... but did not get on well and was sent back to the school, 

      and  the  Superior  ...  appointed  him  boys  cook,  but  he  knows  nothing  whatever  about 

      cooking and what he cooks for the poor children isn’t fit for pigs to eat and I often felt 

      sorry for the poor children especially the young and helpless ones. The Children gets very 

      little butter. their bread is served almost dry they are allowed 2 slices of bread each with 

      a little scraping of butter or marge, and an extra slice dry the tea, or cocoa is very light 

      and badly made. The Bro. who is supposed to supervise the Kitchen (Br Warrane19) never 



      bothers to do so, as he is a jack of all trades and never has much time to look after any 

      job properly apart from the motor car which he drives. This Br Warrane is a sour kind of 

      person and never speaks a kind word to any of the children, and is very severe with the 

      leather which he is very fond of using. All the employees are allowed to beat the children 

      especially the plough-man (Mr Prewitt) is very hard on the children working on the farm 

      and very fond of using the boot, and his fist. 



      The children are very badly clothed. They are not supplied with any winter under clothing, 

      neither are the sleeping quarters heated in winter and the poor children told me that they 

      felt  very  cold at  night  and  if they  complained  the  Brothers would  only  laugh  at them.  I 

      have experienced some cold nights at the school and what must it be in the winter! 



       I respectfully beg to hope Sir that you will look into the matter. I sent a confidential report 

      to the Dept of Education but not enough to cover all I have observed during my six months 

      at the School. The Infirmary part of the school needs overhaul and the present nurse is 

      very fond of been away as she is local. She appears to have no love or sympathy for the 

      children and the children will suffer much before they report sick as they don’t like the 

      nurse. In my humble opinion Sir the whole school needs a good honest overhaul and a 

      few night surprise visits, There appears to be a good deal of window dressing and outward 

      appearances. No one has seen the meals served out to the poor children but I have Sir 

      and all I have to say Sir, is may God help the poor little ones, they are a pity. 



      The  position  of  night  man  in  such  schools  is  a  very  important  one,  and  I  respectfully 

      suggest Sir that you should interest yourself in the type of person employed, and draw up 

      rules and regulations to fit the job. The children are at the mercy of the night man during 

      the night and it’s important that such a man should be a sober man and have patience 

      and charity in his dealings with the children, and Glin school can tell some queer tales 



19 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 about night-men. One thing I found most lacking in St Joseph’ Glin was charity. The only 

                 place I’ve seen real charity was with the Good Brothers of St John of God in St Augustine’s 

                 Blackrock Dublin, and what a pity these fine men cannot have charge of our Industrial 

                 Schools for they have at heart the real love of God, and in the poor children they see 

                 Christ Himself. 



                 I feel now Sir, that I can feel at ease as I was worried when I had to leave the children as 

                 my health would not permit me to continue the work, as I never smoke or drink I suited 

                 the job and I had the full confidence of the boys, who regretted my leaving and I promised 

                 them I would look after their interests. Do your best Sir, and look out for window dressing 

                 and bear in mind that the children are afraid to complain to any visiting official and you 

                 cannot expect much help from them. 



                 God bless you Sir, 



                 Your obedient Servant 



                 Mr Dubois 



                 Confidently 



11.99     The Minister for Justice wrote to the Minister for Education commenting that Mr Dubois appeared 

          to be an intelligent, well-meaning person and, if what he said was true, it revealed a very serious 

           state of affairs. He asked to be kept informed of the results of any investigation. 



11.100     Mr Sugrue of the Department of Education visited Glin and wrote a memorandum in Irish recording 

          what happened. A translation is as follows: 



                 Glin School 



                 I visited this school ... and had a long conversation with the Resident Manager about the 

                 complaint made by Mr Dubois in relation to school matters. I read the letters written by 

                 Mr Dubois to certain boys in the school, to a maid in the school and to men employed in 

                 the school. The Resident Manager had all these letters. According to the letters, it would 

                 appear that Mr Dubois took a keen interest in the care of the boys at the school in the 

                 matter of food, clothes, etc. The Resident Manager told me that Mr Dubois was wont to 

                 come downstairs at night and carry bread from the Brothers’ refectory to the boys in the 

                 dormitories. From their appearance it would seem that the school shows great kindness 

                 and consideration to the boys. 



11.101     Despite the fact that Mr Sugrue had previously drawn Dr McCabe’s attention to the specifics of 

          the complaints made in Mr Dubois’s letter to the Department of Education, and that more detail 

           had been furnished in the letter to the Department of Justice that preceded his visit to the School, 

           no detail is provided as to the quality of care given to the boys. 



11.102    When  a  reminder  was  sent  from  the  Minister’s  secretary,  asking  whether  a  report  was  yet 

           available,  the  matter  was  taken  in  hand  by  a  senior  official,  who  reported  to  the  Secretary  of 

          the Department: 



                 Runai, 



                 Glin Industrial School. 



                 Complaint  from  Mr  Dubois,  ex-night  watchman  there,  to  Minister  and  to  Minister  for 

                 Justice, re treatment of boys. 



                 The charges made by Mr Dubois may be listed as follows: — 



                  (1)   The boys are poorly clothed, and have no winter underwear. 



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         (2)   The food is meagre, poor and badly cooked. 



         (3)   The sleeping quarters are ill-equipped and unheated. 



         (4)   Employees are permitted to beat the children with straps and even to strike and kick 

              them and to treat them otherwise cruelly, and even some of the Brothers are careless 

              or unkind or given to beating the children with small cause. 



       Dr  MacCabe  and  Mr  O  Siochfhradha20         have  both  visited  the  school  and  their  findings, 



       herewith, may be summed up thus:- 



       The facts reported under charges (1), (2) and (3) are true in the main of many Industrial 

       Schools, but they are, of course, not matters of deliberate intent and so the light in which 

       they have been put by Mr Dubois is false. 



      As may be seen from the File, Dr MacCabe has been pressing the Manager on these 

       very  matters  for  some  years,  and  he  has  made  efforts  at  improvement  as  far  as  his 

       resources permit. 



       With regard to charge (3), viz. that the sleeping quarters are ill-equipped and unheated, 

       Mr O Siochfhradha informs me that it is a moot point among present day experts whether 

       heating of sleeping quarters is desirable. He, for his part, however, is gradually prevailing 

       on the authorities of the Girls’ Schools to provide heating for the dormitories, but many 

       Boys’ Schools, including Artane, do not provide it. 



       Mr O Siochfhradha considers the sleeping equipment at Glin fairly good. 



       The  inspectors  found  no  evidence  of  harshness  or  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the  staff  or 

       employees, and Mr O Siochfhradha has stated to me that he is absolutely satisfied that 

       it  would  not  be  in  character  for  Br  Warrane  or  any  other  of  the  Brothers  to  treat  the 

       children unkindly. 



       Dr MacCabe reports that the Manager has informed her that Mr Dubois was dismissed 

       from the post of night watchman in the school for insubordination. 



       The impression given to me by Mr Dubois’s letters and the Inspectors’ Reports is 



         (1)   that Mr Dubois grew to like the boys very much and to resent their being administered 

              an occasional slap or cuff, 



         (2)   that there may be some slight grounds for a charge of occasional severity, but that as 

               regards clothing, food, etc. Mr Dubois is probably unaware that the sole and entire 

               income of the School was up to the present only 19s. capitation grant per week. Our 

               Inspectors are perfectly satisfied that that sum is stretched to its utter limit, and as far 

              as they could see, the boys are happy and cheerful, 



         (3)   that Mr Dubois is a confirmed letter writer, as is evidenced by the number of letters 

               he has written to  the boys in the School and  by the fact that his turn of  English is 

               unusual in a night watchman. Incidentally, such phrases as “in the poor children they 

              see Christ himself” seem, to me at least, too glib for their not particularly charitable 

              context. 



       I would guess that Mr Dubois is a well-meaning person of rather unreserved character, 

       and would advise taking no further notice of any missives he may forward. The Inspectors, 

       however, intend to visit the school for some time more frequently than is customary, and 

       it would seem well to do this. 



20 This is the Irish version of Mr Sugrue 



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11.103     Senior  civil  servants  drafted  and  approved  a  letter  to  be  sent  by  the  Minister  in  reply  to  his 

           colleague, who had moved in the meantime from the Department of Justice to the Department of 

           Defence. Consideration was given as to whether it was more appropriate for the Minister to write 

           directly to his colleague or for the respective private secretaries to communicate. It is not clear 

           which course was adopted. The draft as prepared said: 



                 that the Minister has had searching inquiries made and can find no convincing evidence 

                 to support the accusations made by Mr Dubois. 



                 The fact that the financial resources of our industrial schools are in general rather limited 

                 makes it impossible for the authorities to supply other than plain food and clothing or to 

                 install equipment of the most up to date quality. 



                 With  regard  to  the  charge  of  harshness,  unkindness  and  ill  treatment  of  the  boys,  the 

                 Minister  is  assured that  it  would  not be  in  character  for the  Brothers  to  permit such  to 

                 occur, much less to be guilty of it themselves. 



                 It has been arranged, however, to inspect the school more frequently for some time to 

                 come. 



11.104     The Christian Brothers’ Submissions on this matter comment that the length of the investigation 

           (approximately eight months) and ‘the number and seniority of the officers involved indicates that 

           complaints were taken seriously by the State and that final decisions were not made lightly’. They 

           contend  that  the  first  letter  sent  by  Mr  Dubois  ‘set  in  motion  a  typical  investigation  by  the 

           Department involving unannounced visits by Dr McCabe and the local school inspector’. The letter 

           to  the  Minister  for  Justice,  they  maintain,  ‘lent  urgency  to  the  investigation’  which  eventually 

           involved the secretary of the Department, the Minister’s secretary and the Minister for Education. 



11.105     There was nothing to suggest that the visits of Dr McCabe and Mr Sugrue were unannounced. 

           Neither  was  it  correct  to  say  that  the  investigation  was  protracted.  In  the  case  of  each  visit,  it 

           followed reasonably promptly on the receipt of the letter from Mr Dubois. What was delayed was 

           the  response  in  the  form  of  any  action  by  the  senior  officials  of  the  Department  of  Education, 

           which only came about when a reminder was sent from the Minister. 



11.106     The Department did not interview Mr Dubois as part of their investigation. They did not investigate 

           further whether Mr Dubois retired due to health reasons, as stated by him, or was dismissed for 

           insubordination, as asserted by the Manager. It does not appear that they conducted any spot 

           checks, as suggested by Mr Dubois. The Department acknowledged internally that Mr Dubois’s 

           criticisms  of  the  clothing,  food  and  sleeping  accommodation  were  ‘true  in  the  main  of  many 

           industrial schools’. Mr Dubois’s concerns regarding the inexperienced chef and the often absent 

           nurse could quite easily have been addressed and rectified. Neither were enquiries made about 

           Mr Dubois’s predecessor who, it was alleged, regularly wielded a heavy leather strap and terrified 

           the boys. 



11.107     •    The Department wrote off Mr Dubois’s complaints as the outpourings of a man with a 

                 personal grievance. As a result, no thorough investigation was carried out. 



           •    A  proper investigation of  the complaints  required that Mr  Dubois should have  been 

                 interviewed. Such an interview was needed, not least because the Resident Manager 

                 had suggested a malicious motive for writing the letter and Dr McCabe should have 

                 established whether this was the case. 



           •    Even when the Department did make findings, it did not explain where the facts came 

                 from. For example, there was no information as to how the Department concluded that 

                 ‘there may be some slight grounds for a charge of occasional severity’ and, similarly, 

                 what investigations led them to the conclusion that the boys were administered ‘an 

                 occasional slap or cuff’. 



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           •    The Department acknowledged internally that three of the four charges he made were 

                ‘true  in  the  main  of  many  industrial  schools’  and,  by  implication,  they  were  true  in 

                respect  of  Glin.  In  other  words,  the  boys  were  poorly  clothed,  and  had  no  winter 

                underwear, the food was meagre, poor and badly cooked, and the sleeping quarters 

                were ill-equipped and unheated. They seemed to believe nothing needed to be done 

                simply because such conditions were not peculiar to Glin but were quite widespread 

                in such schools. 



           •     Despite   the   cursory    nature   of  their  inquiries,   the  Department      was   nevertheless 

                prepared to inform another Minister in the Government that the Minister for Education 

                ‘has  had  searching  inquiries  made’  and  that  there  was  ‘no  convincing  evidence  to 

                support the accusations made by Mr Dubois’. 



           Br Jules 



11.108     Br Jules taught in a number of industrial schools: Carriglea, Artane, Tralee and Glin, where he 

           held the post of Superior for five years during the 1950s. 



11.109    At  an  early  stage,  Br  Jules  developed  a  reputation  for  being  tough  on  his  pupils.  In  the  early 

           1930s,  he came  to  the attention  of  the  Provincial Council  because  of his  harsh  treatment of  a 

           pupil  in  Tralee  who  had  a  physical  disability.  This  incident  has  been  dealt  with  in  the  Tralee 

           chapter. He was initially rejected from taking his perpetual vows. He was, however, allowed to 

          take his vows the following year by a vote of three to one, notwithstanding a report describing 

           him as: 



                 too exacting in school: little devotedness to study: “troublesome, crossgrained”; has not 

                 had good record – doubtful candidate. 



11.110    The Superior General, Br Noonan, wrote to Br Jules congratulating him on taking his perpetual 

          vows. In the course of the letter he stated: 



                 You incline to the harsh side in school both in language and in inflicting bodily pain. Pupils 

                 hate sarcasm and they have a keen sense of what is just and fair in punishment. If you 

                 would  secure respect  for  yourself  and for  your  teaching be  kind  and  just towards  your 

                 pupils. It is said you are a poor student yourself. Perhaps it is due to your failure to make 

                 preparation for your work as a teacher that your pupils are made to suffer doubly. 



11.111     During  Br  Jules’s  tenure  as  Superior  of  Glin  in  the  1950s,  the  visiting  Brothers  consistently 

           complimented  him  on  his  management  and  dedication  to  the  boys,  and  Brothers  who  were 

           interviewed  by  Br  McCormack  for  his  report  confirmed  that  a  kinder  regime  was  introduced 

          following his appointment. 



11.112     In his questionnaire for the Congregation, completed in 1999, Br Jules stated that, ‘There were 

           no written rules regarding discipline. There was simply a general understanding of rules passed 

           on  from   year   to  year’.  Despite   holding   the  positions   of  Superior,   School    Manager     and 

           Disciplinarian,  he  conceded  that  he  had  never  seen  the  Rules  and  Regulations  for  Industrial 

           Schools.  He had  no  recollection  of pupils  being  severely beaten.  He  dealt  with absconders  by 

           making them feel ashamed of what they had done. He did not punish them. 



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11.113     He explained how he introduced new boys to the School: 



                  when a new pupil came he would often be very upset. We had to point out to him that he 

                  was not wanted at home and convince him that life had not been that good at home; that 

                  we had taken him in, that he would be better off here. 



11.114     Br Coyan, in an interview with Br McCormack, recalled that Br Jules did punish absconders by 

           giving them a ‘baldy haircut and the kids didn’t give a damn or they might be deprived of some 

           privilege or other for a week or so’. 



           Br Marceau21 



11.115     Br Marceau already had a bad record of violence towards boys when he was assigned to Glin in 

           the  early  1960s.  He  worked  there  for  almost  two  years,  between  periods  of  service  in  Tralee 

           Industrial  School.  Investigations  have  revealed  a  paper  trail  of  documented  cases  of  physical 

           abuse by Br Marceau in day and residential schools in which he taught. Accounts of Br Marceau’s 

           conduct in the other institutions is dealt with in the Tralee chapter. 



11.116     Prior to his time in Glin, Br Marceau worked in Tralee and, before that, in a day school in Clonmel. 

           During his four and a half years in Clonmel, there were four serious allegations of physical abuse 

           against  him.  Three  of  the  incidents  resulted  in  the  parents  of  the  children  complaining  to  the 

           Superior, and the fourth incident was witnessed by another Brother, who was so concerned over 

           what  he  had  seen  that  he  warned  the  Superior  to  keep  a  close  eye  on  Br  Marceau.  When 

           confronted in respect of complaints, Br Marceau either minimised the seriousness of the incidents 

           or emphatically denied that they had happened. He was issued with a Canonical Warning in the 

           early 1960s. When the Superior of the Community received the fourth complaint from a parent 

           later  that  year,  he  wrote  that  he  was  simply  not  prepared  to  deal  with  any  more  irate  parents 

           complaining about the ill-treatment of their children at the hands of Br Marceau. He regarded Br 

           Marceau  as  a  danger to  the  boys  and  simply  unfit to  be  in  charge  of  them.  He begged  for  Br 

           Marceau to be removed from his school. Br Marceau was transferred to St Joseph’s Industrial 

           School, Tralee. 



11.117     The first Visitation Report following his transfer to Tralee recorded that this Brother did not seem 

           to be ‘quite normal and would appear to be deteriorating mentally’. He was ‘lacking in good sense’. 

           The follow-up letter to the Resident Manager noted that he ‘may perhaps be inclined to be rather 

           too exacting’ and, accordingly, the Manager would have to ensure that his ‘zeal’ for the children’s 

           progress did not get the better of him. The Brother was transferred to Glin later that year, where 

           he remained for approximately two years, after which he was sent back to Tralee. 



11.118     In the year following Br Marceau’s arrival in Glin, the Visitor remarked that Br Marceau was still 

           upset over the Canonical Warning he had received. Br Marceau was convinced that there was a 

           vendetta against him and had tried to have the Canonical Warning rescinded, but to no avail. The 

           Visitor noted that, in Br Marceau’s view, the warning was ‘too severe a penalty for faults that were 

           grossly exaggerated by a Superior who was prejudiced against him and in fact was out to get 

           him, as he put it’. He was bolstered in his opinion, having sought the advice of three priests on 

           the matter, who unanimously agreed that the punishment did not fit the crime. The Visitor urged 

           him to accept the situation and concentrate on his work in the School. He surmised that he was 

           ‘not a vindictive type of man’ and noted that Br Marceau was very well regarded in the Community. 



11.119     It was not long before Br Marceau once again came to the attention of the Provincial Council. 

           Almost two years later, the Resident Manager wrote to the Provincial notifying him of an incident 

           that had recently taken place. Br Marceau learned that a pupil had referred to him as ‘madman’. 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 



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           He took the pupil to the Superior and the boy admitted the offence. The Superior slapped him on 

           the palm of the hand in punishment. 



11.120     Later that day, the boy reported to the infirmary with a pain in his jaw. His face was noticeably 

           swollen  and,  when  questioned  by  the  Brother  in  charge  of  the  infirmary,  the  boy  reluctantly 

           admitted  that  Br  Marceau  had  struck  him  on  the  face  before  he  had  brought  him  before  the 

           Superior. Br Marceau denied the allegation. A week later, the swelling had not subsided and the 

           local doctor examined the boy on his weekly visit. He recommended an x-ray as a precautionary 

           measure, and it was discovered that the boy had a fractured jaw. He was detained in hospital 

           for observation. 



11.121     The Provincial wrote to Br Marceau and requested an account of the incident. He responded the 

           following day with a detailed version of events. He stated that he was aware that he was referred 

           to  by  the  nickname  ‘madman’  by  the  boys,  because  he  was  considered  over-vigilant  in  his 

           supervision  of  the  dormitories,  playgrounds  and  toilets.  On  the  day  in  question,  he  was  made 

           aware of the fact that a boy had referred to him by this name. He informed the boy’s teacher of 

           the matter and the two Brothers questioned the boy. He admitted the allegation and, after being 

           interrogated by Br Marceau, he reluctantly disclosed the names of two other culprits. Br Marceau 

           accompanied him to the Superior’s office and back to the classroom where he stated that he ‘got 

           him to apologise. Then I gave the boy a few slaps on the hands, but at no time during the incident 

           did I beat him anywhere else’. 



11.122     The  Provincial  replied,  admonishing  Br  Marceau  on  his  handling  of  the  whole  affair  and,  in 

           particular,   the   manner     in which    he   disregarded     the  Superior’s    authority.   He    warned,    ‘you 

           understand  I  hope  that  you  have  made  a  very  bad  mistake  and  that  you  are  fortunate  the 

           consequences  have  not  been  more  serious.  (I  am  praying  they  will  not  be.)’.  He  informed  Br 

           Marceau that he would be transferred immediately to Tralee. 



11.123     There  is  no  mention  in  the  letter  from  the  Provincial  that  Br  Marceau  had  a  history  of  serious 

           physical assaults on pupils in other schools, including Tralee, the School to which he was being 

           sent for the second time. Three days after Br Marceau’s untimely departure from Glin, a member 

           of the Provincial Council conducted the annual Visitation of Glin. There was only a veiled reference 

           to the incident which resulted in Br Marceau’s transfer. The Visitor noted that Br Marceau and 

           another Brother had encouraged tale telling amongst the younger children and this had resulted 

           in ‘the recent incident’. 



11.124     However, that was not the end of the matter. The Christian Brothers were obliged to notify the 

           Department of Education of the fact that a boy had been hospitalised. A routine enquiry issued, 

           requesting information on the manner in which the injury was sustained. The reply stated ‘facial 

           injury accidentally caused in the administration of punishment’. The Resident Manager feared that 

                                                    ´ 

           the enquiry was the result of a Dail question, and he asked a member of the Provincial Council 

           to meet with a Department official. Br Moynihan met Mr MacUaid of the Department to discuss 

           ‘the affair in Glin’, and Mr MacUaid made a note that,  ‘Brother Moynihan was not sure whether 

           the  injury  was  a  result  of  a  blow  from  the  strap  or  from  collision  during  punishment,  as  the 

           Consultor,  whom  he  had  sent  down  to  investigate  the  matter,  was  vague  on  this  point’.22              He 



           declined    to  divulge   the   name    of  the  Brother,    only  revealing    that  he   had   been    transferred 

           elsewhere. Mr MacUaid noted that: 



                  The  Resident  Manager  of  Glin  is  a  kindly  man  and  I  understand  that  there  is  a  good 

                  atmosphere in the school. Yet, there is the possibility that the coincidence of the official 



           22 Note there is no indication from the correspondence dealing with the matter that anyone was sent down to investigate 



              the matter. The discovery indicates that the matter was dealt with entirely by correspondence. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         511 


----------------------- Page 542-----------------------

                  query  and  the  Bundoran  inquiry  may  have  flushed  a  bird  which  otherwise  might  have 

                  lain concealed. 



11.125     The Department was somehow informed of the identity of the perpetrator, as the next letter was 

           from Br Marceau to the Department, in which he referred to a recent interview in Tralee with a 

           Department official. He was outraged that such an allegation could have been made and stated: 



                  I emphatically deny that I struck this boy on the face for a very insulting remark he made 

                  about me. 



                  I fail to understand how this false charge has been made against me. 



                  Therefore I have nothing to add to our recent conversation in St Joseph’s Tralee ... 



11.126     Despite the gaps in the documents it is clear that: 



                    (1)  The Department was aware that a boy in Glin was injured so severely that his jaw 

                         was fractured and he was hospitalised. 



                    (2)  Br Marceau was the most likely perpetrator of the injury, despite his denial. 



                    (3)  The Provincial Council saw fit to have him transferred from the School as a result of 

                         the incident to another residential school. 



                    (4)  Br Marceau’s violence was documented in Congregation records. 



                    (5)  The Congregation was in dereliction of its duty of care by sending Br Marceau to Glin, 

                         and then transferring him back to Tralee, despite his violent treatment of boys. 



                    (6)  The  Department  was  also  in  dereliction  of  duty,  as  it  did  not  voice  any  concerns 

                         regarding the incident and was content to let the matter lie. 



11.127     The Congregation asked surviving Brothers who had worked in residential institutions to complete 

           questionnaires in relation to their views of life in industrial schools. Br Marceau completed one 

           such questionnaire in 1999. In it, he stated that it was more difficult to mould industrial schoolboys 

           because they lacked character. There was no written code of discipline; there was instead a code 

           of practice which was passed from one Brother to another. His mentor advised him not to become 

           too friendly with the boys. Each Brother was expected to handle his own discipline problems. He 

           stated that he was humane in his treatment of the boys, but accepted that he also used the ‘lamh 

           laidir’.23 In  addition,  he  used  competition  between  the  boys  and  a  rewards  system  to  maintain 



           control. 



11.128     In his view, most of the allegations of abuse made against Brothers were false. He thought that 

           there were too many Brothers accused for the matter to make sense. He denied all allegations of 

           abuse made against him. 



                    1.  Glin had a severe, systemic regime of corporal punishment. 



                   2.   Brothers  with  a  known  propensity  for  physically  abusive  behaviour  were  sent 

                        to Glin. 



           Sexual abuse 



           Br Buiron24 



11.129     Br  Buiron  spent  almost  seven  years  in  Glin  in  the  early  1940s.  Prior  to  this,  while  resident  in 

           Artane, he confessed to the Superior that he had sexually abused a boy in the infirmary, where 

           he was working. It appears from minutes of a General Council Meeting held at that time that there 



           23 ‘Strong hand’ in Irish. 

           24 This is a pseudonym. 



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           was a number of incidents. Br Buiron was called before the Superior General and admitted the 

           offences. The Superior General wrote to the Provincial: 



                  I sent for Br B today and told him of the risk we ran in retaining him in the Congregation 

                 and gave him until tomorrow morning at ten o’clock to consider if he would apply for a 

                 dispensation or stand trial. I will let you know the result. He is a great danger to us. Two 

                  Brothers were hanged in Canada within the past two years for murder of their victims after 

                 such offence. A Brother of a community in charge of an industrial school in Rome awaits 

                  his trial for the murder of a boy in the school who told of his offence to his Superior. The 

                 school is closed and the community disbanded. 



11.130     Br Buiron refused to apply for a dispensation and appeared before the General Council. A vote 

           was  taken  but,  instead  of  sending  him  for  trial  as  predicted  by  the  Superior  General,  it  was 

           unanimously agreed that Br Buiron should be retained in the Congregation. He was given ‘... the 

           first canonical warning, threatened with expulsion and given a penance. The daily recital of the 

           Miserere’. The Superior General wrote to the Provincial informing him of the outcome of the vote, 

           which was taken ’after very mature deliberation’. He continued: 



                  I told him that you would send him the official warning when writing to him and giving him 

                  his location (which will be very difficult I fear.) He shows signs of the greatest repentance. 

                  He told us he was not sure [of the boy’s name] and that he told him after the first offence 

                 that he (Br B) would now have to leave the Brothers. 



11.131     Br Buiron was immediately moved to Cork, where he remained until he was transferred to Glin. 



           Br Piperel25 



11.132     Br Piperel taught in Glin for six years during the 1940s. He had previously served in Letterfrack 

           and  Tralee.  Following  his  time  in  Glin,  he  was transferred  to  Salthill.In  Letterfrack,  he  was  the 

           subject  of  a serious  complaint  that  he was  sexually  interfering  with boys.  A  full  account of  the 

           case is contained in the chapter on Letterfrack. An allegation against him was investigated, but 

           only to the extent that he was asked about it by a Visitor, and subsequently gave a lengthy written 

           account  by  way  of  letter.  The  explanation  offered  by  the  Brother  ought  to  have  given  rise  to 

           increased unease rather than to have allayed suspicion. He later taught in Cork, where his conduct 

           in relation to young girls caused him to be removed urgently and relocated in retirement in the 

           Midlands. 



11.133     •     These Brothers were sent to Glin after complaints or suspicions of sexual abuse in 

                 other  industrial  schools.  Given  the  risk  of  such  behaviour  being  repeated,  it  was 

                 reckless to transfer them to a residential school, where the children were particularly 

                 vulnerable as they had no recourse to their families. 



           Neglect and emotional abuse 



           Visitation Reports and Department of Education Inspection Reports 



11.134     In 1938, the Visitor commented on the boys’ appearance: 



                  Nobody can fail to remark the contrast between an Industrial School boy in his everyday 

                  rig and   the  appearance      of even    the  poorest   boys   attending    our  Day   Schools.    The 

                  Industrial School boy seems to have no appreciation of personal cleanliness and tidiness 

                 of dress. 



           25 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      513 


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11.135     The following year, the Visitor recorded that the School had received a favourable report from the 

           Department Inspector, but he found the top class weak in arithmetic, handwriting and letter writing. 

           In addition, the Brother in charge of this class had unilaterally decided to abandon the teaching of 

           Irish. The Visitor remarked that he ‘ought show more zeal for their welfare’. He noted that one of 

           the  other  two  teaching  Brothers  was  also  a  poor  teacher.  The  Visitor  was  critical  of  the  boys’ 

           clothing, some of which was simply unfit for use and should be discarded. He complained about 

           the  heavy  boots  the  boys  wore,  which  were  badly  repaired,  making  them  ‘unsightly,  unwieldy 

           things’. He was pleased to see that the boys now had good shoes for Sunday. 



11.136     In June 1940, the Visitor said that the yard was surfaced in coarse gravel which made it unsuitable 

           as a play area. He found only one of the teachers, out of a complement of five, satisfactory. He 

           observed, ‘the teaching staff here, as in the other industrial schools I visited this year, is weak. 

           The  type  of  boy  in  the  industrial  schools  needs  to  have  devoted,  zealous  and  self-sacrificing 

           teachers’.  The  treacherous     condition  of  the  schoolyard  continued      to  receive  mention    in  the 

           Visitation Reports and Department Inspection Reports, but it was not until 1955 that the necessary 

           work was undertaken. 



11.137     The 1941 Visitation Report listed repairs and improvements that were necessary, including the 

           faulty hot water and heating system, the play hall was ‘cold, unsightly and dilapidated’ and needed 

           to be replaced. The teachers, once again, came in for criticism, with only one of them regarded 

           as  satisfactory.  Br  Young  was  not  impressed  by  the  standard  of  work  in  the  two  trades  being 

           taught,  namely    boot-making     and   tailoring.  The   workshops     were   unsuitable    and,   in some 

           instances, dangerous. 



11.138     In 1942, the Visitor approved of the new spacious play hall which had been built for the boys. 

           Water  pipes  continued  to  present  problems,  resulting  in  an  insufficiency  of  water  to  the  boys’ 

           lavatories. The teacher in charge of the two junior classes had 59 pupils in his class, which made 

           it very difficult to teach effectively. 



11.139     Two years later, the Visitor found that ‘the literary side of the boys’ education is somewhat over 

           emphasised to the neglect of practical work’. He drew attention to the fact that the only trades 

           taught  were  tailoring  and  shoemaking.  He  noted  that  the  boys’  sanitary  facilities  were  ‘entirely 

           inadequate’ and he was also critical of the laundry which required renovations. 



11.140     The  boys’ lavatories  came in  for criticism  once again  during the  Visitation in  1945. The  Visitor 

           noted  that  the  ‘Boys  lavatories  and  bathroom  are  very  primitive;  there  are  no  cisterns  in  the 

           lavatories and boys have to carry water three times a day to flush them; I found a bad smell from 

           them, they had not been flushed the morning I saw them; it was about 11am. It would be advisable 

           to attend to both lavatories and bathroom in the near future’. Of the overall population of 214 boys, 

           there were 190 on the School register. The remaining 24 boys were employed for more than six 

           hours each day on the farm or in the workshops. This group received 30 minutes of instruction in 

           religious doctrine daily. He advised: 



                 It is desirable that an hour a day extra should be afforded these boys to continue their 

                 education, especially as some of them had very little at the age of 14 years when they 

                 left  off  school  work.  Subjects  such  as  English,  Private  Reading,  Arithmetic,  etc  should 

                 interest and be useful to such boys. 



11.141     In May 1946, the Visitor observed that the premises were badly laid out for the purposes of an 

           industrial  school,  and  that  many  repairs  and  alterations  were  necessary.  The  boys’  bathroom 

           came in for particular criticism, as it was too small and badly fitted. The yards and approaches to 

           the  Institution  were  in  very  bad  condition  and  posed  a  hazard.  Some  of  the  wire  mattresses 

           required overhauling, although he appreciated the difficulty in obtaining wire. He predicted that a 



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----------------------- Page 545-----------------------

           sizeable  sum  of  money  would  have  to  be  expended  on  the  School  before  long.  The  recurring 

           theme of the inadequacy of trades training and education was once again aired. He observed: 



                 It is very difficult to place boys in the trades when they have to go out and many who 

                 have been trained to shoemaking or tailoring have to go to farm work. These are much 

                 handicapped and are not a success. The trades or farm boys do not receive any education 

                 when  once  they  begin  their  respective  trades.  This  is  unfortunate,  as  they  soon  forget 

                 much of what they have learnt. 



11.142     He  noted  complaints  that  the  School  was  understaffed,  and  recommended  that  a  Brother  who 

           could undertake some school work would be useful. 



11.143     In December 1946, Dr McCabe visited the School and recorded that the premises were clean and 

           in good condition and that the children were well cared for and happy. 



11.144     However, she noted a major deficiency which was subsequently set out in a follow-up letter from 

           the Department to the Superior in December: 



                 It is reported, however, that a number of the boys have not gained in weight and that a 

                 few have actually lost 2 or 3 lbs during the year. These boys who do not put on weight 

                 normally should be specially watched and they should be given such additional or special 

                 food as the School Medical Officer may prescribe. 



                   1.   Porridge should be served at breakfast. Each boy should be allowed at least a quarter 

                        of a pound of meat at each meal at which meat is served. 



                   2.   The boys everyday clothing should be improved. 



                   3.   The sanitary annexe should be kept in better order. 



                   4.   Rubber aprons and wellington boots should be provided for the boys in the laundry. 



                   5.   There is need for the provision of a new bathing annexe. 



                   6.   The dampness in the walls of the dormitories should be attended to. It is understood 

                        that you will arrange to have this matter attended to during the summer of 1947. 



11.145     Additional points in her original report were that the dormitory walls had not been re-plastered as 

           promised and remained damp, and there also remained room for improvement in boys’ clothing. 

           She noted that the outdoor sanitation annexe was better kept than previously. Overall, she noted 

           a general improvement in all departments. 



11.146     In May 1948, the Visitor noted that the damp walls in the boys’ dormitories remained untreated, 

           as did the play yard: 



                 The   surface   of  the  playground    is completely    gone    and  the   rough   stone   foundation 

                 revealed and in dirty weather the surface must be something approaching a morass and 

                 as in this establishment, owing to the fact that the various sections are completely cut off 

                 from one another and that the boys have to go out into the open air when passing from 

                 one to the other this mud is carried on their boots into all departments and particularly 

                 the chapel. 



11.147     He drew attention to a pattern he had noticed from visiting other institutions, which was the lack 

           of facilities for the boys’ recreation: 



                 During the recreations there seems to be a universal tendency to just turn the boys loose 

                 in  the  playing  field  or  to  herd  them  into  an  empty  hall  and  then  to  let  them  fend  for 

                 themselves. A lot of them seemed to just loll around. Obviously such boys should be kept 

                 well occupied in an interesting manner. There seems to be a very great need for a much 

                 more generous supply of apparatus for games both outdoor and indoor. Very little seems 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   515 


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                 to be done in the matter of supplying suitable reading material for them. Physical training 

                 is only carried out in a rather haphazard manner if at all. 



11.148    Although    the   deteriorating   condition   of  the  premises    was    noted   in  various   reports,  the 

           Congregation was reluctant to invest in repairs and renovations when the viability of the School 

          was very much in question. 



11.149     Dr McCabe remarked, in Medical Inspection Reports completed during the 1950s, that she was 

           satisfied with improvements to the boys’ diet. During an inspection in February 1954, she noted 

           many improvements in the School. A new boiler had been installed, the dormitories painted, a 

           carpenter’s   shop   added,   new   equipment    introduced    to the  kitchen,   and  new    blankets   and 

           bedspreads acquired for the beds. The Visitation Report in May 1954 was not quite so positive. 

          The Report noted that the boys’ play hall was small and ‘somewhat depressing’, but the Superior 

           asserted that the boys had plenty to amuse themselves with during the frequent rainy periods. 

          The  Visitor  found  the  shower  facilities  rather  primitive,  although  the  Superior  assured  him  that 

           improvements had been made. He was glad to see that the boys had new boots and sandals ‘so 

          that there was none of the heavy clattering of boots that is such an undesirable feature of some 

           of our industrial schools’. 



11.150    The Visitor in 1958 expressed  concern at the standard of trades training in  Glin. Tailoring and 

           shoe mending were still the only trades but, in the previous five years, only one boy had directly 

           benefited from the training he received. Practically all of the boys upon leaving Glin went to work 

           on  farms,  and  many  did  not  have  an  aptitude  for  it.  He  was  satisfied  with  the  boys’  diet  and 

           clothing, although he was critical of their footwear. 



11.151    The Visitor made similar findings as regards trades training in his Report the following year. He 

           recorded that, despite the existence of a carpentry shop, that trade was not taught. He believed 

          that machines rather than people were used in the trades in which the boys were instructed and 

          jobs could not be secured for them. Boys tended to work on farms before drifting off to England 

           or into the Army. He supported the Superior’s suggestion that a Brother who could teach arts and 

           crafts be drafted onto the staff in order to ‘take some of the dullness out of their lives’. He added, 

           ‘the evening is long here and occupation for the boys is necessary’. 



11.152     In 1959 the Visitor expressed concern at the state of disrepair of the School during his Visitation, 

           although  he  noted  that  ‘repairs  are  out  of  the  question  owing  to  falling  numbers  and  meagre 

           government grants’. However he advised that the fire escape, which was in a dangerous condition, 

           be attended to as it presented a danger and ‘could scarcely be used in an emergency’. He queried 

          the  unusually  high  level  of  failure  at  the  Primary  Certificate  examinations,  and  noted  that  the 

           children were weak at arithmetic. 



11.153    The Visitor in 1961 made the customary remarks about the state of disrepair of the premises. He 

           also commented that, when the boys left Glin, they often seemed very lost in the world: 



                 Some  of  them  do  not  easily  fit  into  their  new  surroundings  especially  those  who  have 

                 never known what family life should be. Many drift from job to job and eventually emigrate. 

                 The general impression of the visitor would be, I think, that the institution fulfils a useful 

                 purpose and many pupils who have been the victims of circumstances and brought up 

                 under sordid conditions are given a fresh start and are well prepared for life. 



11.154    The Visitor in 1964 stated: 



                 The boys’ toilets are bad and require to be completely renovated. Being in the open and 

                 uncovered they  are exposed and  in wintertime this  is severe on  the boys. They  would 

                 require to be replaced by new toilets but owing to the uncertainty with regard to the future 



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                 of industrial schools this is scarcely to be recommended. The boys’ kitchen is in the same 

                 bad condition as it has always been. 



11.155     The following year, the Visitor acknowledged that a substantial sum had been spent on updating 

           the  boys’  kitchen,  but  additional  renovations  had  been  put  on  hold  pending  a  decision  on  the 

           future of the School. The School closed in 1966. 



           Home leave 



11.156     Home leave was first granted in 1924 and was for a maximum of seven days per annum. It was 

           extended in 1935 to 14 days, following an unofficial suggestion by the Cussen Commission prior 

           to its final report. Following publication of this Report, the period was once again extended to 21 

           days  per  year,  and  the  discretion  regarding  who  went  on  home  leave  was  transferred  to  the 

           Resident Manager, who was thus allowed a certain degree of latitude in determining the length of 

           a child’s leave. 



11.157     In 1948, a further 10 days were allocated, thus increasing the total to 31 days. 



11.158     Some figures for home leave from Glin between 1942 and 1966 were compiled by Br McCormack 

           in  his  report.  These  are  available  primarily  from  the  Christian  Brother  Annals  and  are  set  out 

           below:26 



                 1942: In July about 80 of the boys spent three weeks with their parents or friends (Annals). 



                 1944: 75 boys went on home leave (Annals). 



                 1945: 110 boys went home for a three weeks holiday in July (Annals). 



                 1953: In August all but three of the boys returned from holidays in their homes. One of 

                 these had been taken to England by his mother, but after negotiation he was returned to 

                 the school (Annals). 



                 1955: About 50 boys went home on holidays (Annals). 



                 1958: About 50 boys went home on holidays (Annals). 



                 1961: About 40 of the boys got a fortnights holiday with families who offered to take them 

                 (VR 19.4). 



                 1962: In July, 36 boys went home for a months holidays (Annals). 



                 1965: In July some boys went home for their holidays. In August, 36 boys went to Carne, 

                 Co.  Wexford  for  3  weeks  holiday.  Transport  was  provided  by  the  Limerick  Lions  Club 

                 (Annals). 



                 1966: In July, 20 boys went home on holiday and 30 went to Knockadoon. All returned 

                 on 1 August (Annals). 



11.159     These  figures  are  not  absolute  and  are  provided  without  context,  and  even  contradicted  on 

           occasion by Department of Education figures; for example, in 1942, 70 not 80 boys went on home 

           leave and, in 1944, 74 boys went on leave out of a total of 207. Some years are also missing, but 

           can  be  found  in  records  provided  by  the  Department  of  Education;  for  instance,  in  1948,  the 

           Department recorded that just 28 boys returned home that summer. 



11.160     The Department’s desire to extend home leave to a wider number of children, for a greater period 

           of  time,  met  with   resistance   from   a  number    of  Resident   Managers,     Glin  included.   On   22nd 



           November 1944, the Manager of Glin wrote to the Industrial Schools Branch of the Department 



           26 Provided in the research paper produced by John McCormack cfc. 



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          of Education, defending the decision to send only 74 children out of a total of 207 on home leave. 

          The  Manager  stated,  ‘I  kept  them  in  the  school  because  I  had  no  guarantee  that  their  friends 

          would be able to maintain and take care of them’. He also stated in this letter that every boy in 

          the  School  wrote  to  relatives  regarding  the  home  leave,  with  74  positive  replies,  six  negative 

           replies and no replies in the remaining cases. Closing the letter, he remarked, ‘I did not consider 

           it advisable to send boys on holidays to parents and relatives who did not reply’. 



11.161    This hostility to home leave emerged most strongly when, in 1949, the Department of Education 

           proposed to extend the maximum period to six weeks in a calendar year. Just seven schools were 

           in favour of the proposal and 37 were against it, including Glin. The Resident Managers, in a letter 

          dated 7th  June 1949, stated their reasons in very clear terms: 



                 It  was  pointed  out  that  when  the  children  return  from  Home  Leave  there  is  always  a 

                 marked   disimprovement      in manners    and   conduct;   they  are  often  very  discontented, 

                 impatient of control, and physically and morally upset. All this is highly detrimental to the 

                general spirit of the School, and it takes children quite a long time to settle down again to 

                the ordinary routine. 



                 Numbers of them return ill-fed and sickly, in an unkempt condition, with clothes in a filthy 

                condition. It takes weeks to get rid of the vermin. Sometimes their language is vile, having 

                 picked it up in undesirable quarters. And for some such considerations some Managers 

                suggested that instead of extending the Home Leave period, it should be shortened. 



                 Industrial School children generally belong to the poorest families and the home conditions 

                are often most unsuitable and undesirable. It was mentioned where a family of eight lived 

                and slept in one room; also where a father, two girls and a boy slept in the one bed, while 

                the mother, dying of T.B. was in a corner in a bed supplied by the Corporation. 



                A high percentage of these children are illegitimate and their mothers are not just what 

                they   should  be;  others   have   been   the  victims  of circumstances     getting  into trouble 

                 because parents or guardians failed to exercise proper control. And as it was by order of 

                the Court that these children were committed to the Schools, it stands to reason it would 

                 not  be  for  their  betterment  to  allow  them  to  return  to  such  undesirable  conditions  for 

                 protracted periods. 



                 It was also said that children who could with safety be allowed six weeks’ Home Leave 

                should not be in any Industrial School; they should be discharged to their homes and not 

                 be allowed to be parasites living on public moneys. 



11.162    While   many    of these   points  may    have   been   true, the  tone   of the  letter shows    very  little 

           understanding of the need for family contact. In Submissions, the Christian Brothers commented: 



                The  general  unsuitability  of  the  children’s  homes  on  account  of  poverty,  overcrowding, 

                and lack of parental control also figured among the  reasons for opposing the proposal 

                and some Managers (number not given) even suggested that shortening of home leave 

                would be a better option. 



11.163    They  added  there  was  ‘genuine  concern  for  the  children  in  the  opposition  to  extending  home 

           leave’. 



          Aftercare 



11.164    761 boys passed through the School between 1940 and 1966. Forty percent (308) of these boys 

          were  discharged  to  members  of  their  family.  According  to  the  Dunleavy  Report,  the  School 

           Register showed that the boys were discharged to the following relatives: 



          518                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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                                                             1940–1947              1947–1966                 Total 



            Discharged to father                                  50                     79                    129 

            Discharged to mother                                  35                     60                     95 

            Discharged to parents                                 20                      7                     27 

            Discharged to aunt                                     7                     11                     18 

            Discharged to grandmother                              5                      5                     10 

            Discharged to uncle                                    4                     10                     14 

            Discharged to sister                                   4                                             4 

            Discharged to grandfather                              4                                             4 

            Discharged to brother                                  2                      5                      7 



            SUBTOTAL                                             131                    177                    308 



11.165     As can be seen, 81% of those discharged to a relative went to a parent or parents. 



11.166     According to the Dunleavy Report, aftercare beyond one year was provided to boys as follows: 



                          Years                     Boys receiving more than 1                          % 

                                                            year aftercare 



            1940–1947                                             68                                   18% 

            1947–1966                                             61                                   15% 



11.167     It is likely that most of these boys were discharged to places of employment, and had no relatives 

           to look after them. The Brother in charge of aftercare made notes on pay, living conditions and 

           contentedness of the boy. 



11.168     Records were kept of the kinds of employment found for the boys. The following table taken from 

           the Dunleavy Report covers the period: 



                          Employment                         1940–1947              1947–1966                 Total 



            Farm boy                                              87                     76                    163 

            House boy                                             21                     43                     64 

            Hotel worker                                          10                     16                     26 

            Boot maker*                                            7                      3                     10 

            Shop boy                                               5                      1                      6 

            Tailor*                                                4                      1                      5 

            Religious order*                                                              3                      3 

            Cook*                                                                         2                      2 

            Builders labourer                                      1                      1                      2 

            Blacksmith*                                            1                                             1 

            Monumental sculptor*                                                          1                      1 



            Subtotal                                             136                    147                    283 



           * Skilled or semi-skilled work. 



11.169     89% of the boys went into unskilled work on farms, or as houseboys or hotel workers. 16 boys 

           between  1947  and  1966  went  on  to  join  the  Army.  A  further  14  were  charged  with  criminal 

           offences. 



11.170     The Congregation in its Submissions made the point that trade unions had made it difficult for 

           boys to enter trades. However, a number of Visitation Reports pointed out that the limited trades 

           taught  were  effectively  useless  to  the  boys  upon  leaving  the  Institution,  as  they  were  dictated 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   519 


----------------------- Page 550-----------------------

           by the requirements of the School rather than the kind of training that would prepare the boys 

          for work. 



           Submissions of the Christian Brothers 



11.171    The Submissions made by the Congregation on issues of neglect of the boys in Glin drew attention 

          first  to  the  General  Inspection  Reports  of  the  Department  of  Education,  which  it  stated  were 

          generally very favourable. It said that the process of inspection as carried out by Dr Anna McCabe 

          was   thorough    and   had  good   follow-up.   At  the  end  of  each   inspection,  Dr   McCabe    made 

           recommendations orally to the Manager of the School, which were then followed up by a letter 

          from the Department, formally listing the recommendations. The process came to a close with a 

           letter of confirmation from the Manager that the required alterations and improvements had been 

           made.   The   Congregation     contend    that the   Resident   Manager     responded    promptly    to the 

           Department’s  requirements,  following  both  General  Inspection  Reports  and  Medical  Inspection 

           Reports. The reality, however, is that the Department Inspections were a good deal less effective 

          than the Congregation’s description would suggest. 



11.172    The Congregation also drew attention to favourable entries in the Visitation Reports. They included 

          the statement in 1946 that the boys were well clothed and fed, and in 1949 and 1950 there were 

          favourable comments about the variety and quantity of food. 



11.173    The Submissions pointed out that Inspection Reports recorded improvements in recreational and 

          cultural facilities, as well as holiday arrangements, from the end of the 1940s. Visitation Reports 

          and Community annals also reported the provision of a variety of facilities. As against that, the 

           Reports which were quoted at paras 1.147 and 1.149 above drew attention to the lack of recreation 

          for the boys in Glin and that life was tedious for them. 



11.174    The   Brothers   cited  documentary     records,   indicating  the  availability of  cultural and   sporting 

          activities. These included a choir, dancing classes, an orchestra, drama and boxing. 



11.175     In respect of education, it was pointed out that, from 1952 onwards, small numbers of boys in 

          each year attended outside secondary school or vocational school. 



11.176    The Congregation conceded in regard to vocational training: 



                As  regards  the  standards  reached  in  the  Shops,  it  is  doubtful  if  it  went  much  beyond 

                 repairs and mending ... However, judging by the very poor record of placement of boys 

                 in  boot-making  and  tailoring  the  skills  most  of  the  boys  had  to  offer  were  not  very 

                considerable. 



11.177    The Congregation contended that the Medical Inspection Reports were also favourable, that the 

           medical  records  were  well  kept,  and  that  the  local  doctor  visited  the  School  regularly.  On  the 

          subject of dental treatment, they suggested that the number of boys referred for treatment was 

          quite low. Quoting the Medical Reports, therefore, the general picture was one of compliance with 

          the  standards    set  out  by  Dr   McCabe,    who    was   satisfied when    the  School   met   with  her 

           requirements and was also very appreciative of Managers’ efforts to improve conditions for the 

           residents. Healthcare was satisfactory, as recorded in the documents that are available. Similarly, 

           hygiene was satisfactory. There are, however, very critical entries in the reports, particularly the 

          Visitation Reports as disclosed. 



11.178    •    The   Congregation       Submission      was    selective    when     referring    to  the   available 

                documentation, making no reference, for example, to significant criticisms in its own 

                Visitation Reports. 



          520                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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          Differences between Visitation Reports and Inspection Reports 



11.179    There   was   a  marked    contrast   between    the  Christian  Brothers’   Visitation Reports    and  the 

          Department  of  Education  Inspection  Reports.  The  former  were  more  in-depth  and  thorough, 

          whereas the latter tended to be more cursory. The Visitation Reports were consistently critical of 

          the dilapidated state of the School, and concerns about the damp walls in the dormitories, the 

          atrocious state of the lavatories and the treacherous state of the schoolyard were expressed. Dr 

          McCabe also made reference to these issues but not with the same sense of urgency. She did 

          not make any reference to the effect that such sub-standard facilities might have on the children. 



11.180    In some Visitation Reports, when the Brothers noted the shabby state of the boys’ clothing, no 

          corresponding comment was made by Dr McCabe. When she did note that the boys’ clothing was 

          tattered and patched, she did not press the matter or make suggestions as to how shortages in 

          supplies could be addressed. 



11.181    The  Brothers  conceded  in  the  Visitation  Report  of  1948  that  there  was  little  in  the  way  of 

          stimulating recreational facilities for the boys, but this was not an issue raised by Dr McCabe. 



11.182    The standard of education was another area where there were conflicting reports. The Visitation 

          Reports were very negative about the standard of education and trades training in the School. It 

          was not an issue that came within Dr McCabe’s remit, but the Department’s Education Inspector 

          made a favourable report on the School and did not pick up on the criticisms of the Visitors. 



11.183    The limited trades available were dictated by the requirements of the School, rather than the kind 

          of training needed to prepare the boys for work. A number of Visitation Reports pointed out that 

          these  trades  were  effectively  useless  to  the  boys  upon  leaving  the  Institution.  Boys  were  ill- 

          prepared for the outside world: they did not fare well after being discharged and often tended to 

          drift from job to job before ending up in England or joining the Army. 



11.184    Dr McCabe’s Inspection Reports, particularly in later years, would suggest that the inspections 

          were  not  particularly  probing,  and  were,  in  many  respects,  superficial.  In  areas  where  she  did 

          make criticisms, she did not tend to suggest practical solutions to the problems. 



11.185    A comparison of both the Department and Visitation Reports suggests that the Visitation Reports 

          provided a more reliable source of information about conditions in the School. 



          General conclusions 



11.186     1.   Glin had a severe, systemic regime of corporal punishment. 



           2.   The Congregation transferred two Brothers to Glin, despite evidence or suspicion of 

                sexually   abusing    boys    in another    Institution   under   the   control   of  the  Christian 

                Brothers.   This   decision    protected    both   the   Congregation     and    the  Brothers    but 

                endangered the boys in Glin. 



           3.   Documentary  sources  revealed  serious  deficiencies  in  the  physical  care,  facilities, 

                accommodation, education, training and aftercare in Glin Industrial School. 



           4.   Problems affecting the standard of care in Glin persisted, despite being reported by 

                both the Congregation’s Visitor and the Department of Education Inspectors. 



           5.   Glin Industrial School failed in its fundamental requirement to provide care, education 

                and training for the boys. 



           6.   The Department of Education failed in its supervisory duties. Its role was protective of 

                the institution and its response to serious complaints was cursory and dismissive. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               521 


----------------------- Page 552-----------------------

 522                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 553-----------------------

          Chapter 12 



          St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

          Salthill (‘Salthill’), 1870–1995 



          Introduction 



12.01     Oral  hearings  were  not  held  into  Salthill,  and  this  chapter  is  based  on  an  analysis  of  relevant 

          documents, including those obtained by the discovery process from the Christian Brothers, the 

          Department of Education and Science, the Bishop of Galway and the Health Service Executive 

          (formerly the Western Health Board) and submissions from the Christian Brothers. 



          Establishment 



12.02     St  Joseph’s  Industrial  School,  Salthill  (‘Salthill’)  traced  its  history  back  to  1870,  when  a  public 

          meeting in the Town Hall in Galway approved a proposal to establish an industrial school for boys 

          and appointed a committee to implement the project. Land and premises were acquired in Salthill 

          in June 1871 and were adapted to accommodate 50 boys. 



12.03     The Patrician Brothers agreed to manage the School under a committee of laymen and religious. 

          The purpose of the School was to take in ‘neglected, orphaned, and abandoned Roman Catholic 

          boys, in order to safeguard them from developing criminal tendencies and to prepare them for the 

          world of industry’. According to the School annals, on 25th  September 1871, ‘twenty-one poor boys 



          were admitted to the School, most of them in the lowest state of destitution and misery’. 



12.04     The  School  got  off  to  a  difficult  start,  and  initial  reports  from  the  Inspector  for  Industrial  and 

          Reformatory Schools were negative. There were problems with management in the School which 

          caused the Patrician Brothers to withdraw. The Government Inspector, Mr John Lentaigne, called 

          to the Superior General of the Christian Brothers in July 1876 and asked him to take over the 

          running of Salthill. 



12.05     The  Christian  Brothers  inspected  the  premises  and  set  out  the  terms  upon  which  they  would 

          undertake the management of the School, and these were agreed with the Bishop. By the terms 

          of this agreement, the Congregation held the property with the Bishop of Galway under a trust, of 

          which the Bishop and two members of the Congregation were the perpetual trustees. 



12.06     All existing debts and liabilities were paid by the committee that had originally set up the School, 

          and an overdraft facility was set up in the local bank. 



12.07     The Brother in charge was designated the Resident Manager and it was agreed, ‘That he shall 

          not  be  obliged  to  furnish  any  other  accounts  to  the  Committee,  or  sub-managers,  than  those 

          annually presented to government’. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               523 


----------------------- Page 554-----------------------

12.08      Although this agreement clearly envisaged that the School would be run under the supervision of 

           a  management  committee,  as  required  by  the  Industrial  Schools  Act  (Ireland),  1868,  such  a 

           committee was never put in place by the Congregation and it ran the School in the same way as 

           it ran all its industrial schools. 



12.09      The population of the School rose rapidly in the early years, with the certified number increasing 

           to 150 in 1879 and 200 in 1886. Through fund-raising activities the School facilities were extended 

           to accommodate the growing numbers, for example, a chapel and dining room were built from the 

           profits  of  a  three-day  bazaar  held  in  1879.  Workshops  were  built  shortly  after  the  Christian 

           Brothers took over. It was part of the agreement entered into with the Bishop that the diocese 

           would support fund-raising activity on behalf of the Brothers. 



12.10      The annals from these early years showed a great interest in the School from political and religious 

           leaders. The Duke of Edinburgh visited with a dozen army officers in attendance and, in 1895, 

           both the Archbishop of Melbourne and Lord Carnarvon, the Lord Lieutenant, visited within a month 

           of each other. In 1887, the Papal Legate paid tribute to ‘this admirable institution and excellent 

           establishment’. 



12.11      After  1925,  Salthill,  like  all  industrial  schools,  came  under  the  control  of  the  Department  of 

           Education,  and  political  interest  in  the  School  appeared  to  wane.  There  was  no  record  in  the 

           annals of any leading politician visiting Salthill in the years following 1925. 



12.12      Renovations  and  redecoration  of  the  premises  took  place  in  the  1940s  as  they  had  fallen  into 

           disrepair. In 1943, Salthill was recognised by the Department of Education as a primary school 

           which continued in existence until the early 1970s, when the remaining boys transferred to the 

           local primary school. 



12.13      The Institution underwent a radical change in the early 1970s. The Kennedy Report, published in 

           1970, had identified the problems inherent in the old institutionalised methods of childcare, and 

           had  given  the  existing  institutions  no  alternative  but  to  change  their  structures  radically.  All 

           institutions  either  responded  to  this  need  for  change  or,  like  Artane,  Tralee  and  Letterfrack, 

           closed down. 



12.14      In 1973, a new Manager was appointed and he worked with the Department in bringing about the 

           changes that established the group home structure. The new Manager was more sensitive to the 

           needs of the boys, and had the assistance of a trained and experienced Brother who had taken 

           a special interest in childcare and had attended the Kilkenny course shortly after it commenced 

           in the early 1970s. 



12.15      The transformation of St Joseph’s was completed in accordance with plans that were drawn up 

           in 1987. Most of the land on which the School was located was sold for development and the 

           money was used to build a new complex planned on modern childcare principles. The Brothers 

           ceased to have an association with St Joseph’s in 1995. The centre now consists of two units, 

           each  catering  for  six  young  people  with  a  staffing  ratio  of  1:1  and  operated  by  the  Health 

           Service Executive. 



           524                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 555-----------------------

12.16    The Committee received the following photograph and plan of Salthill: 



         Source: The Morgan Collection, National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, Dublin. 



         Source: Congregation of Christian Brothers. 



         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                  525 


----------------------- Page 556-----------------------

           Physical abuse 



12.17      The  documents  that  are  discussed  below  contain  a  record of  general  complaints  about  violent 

           behaviour by Brothers, as well as some cases that took place specifically in Salthill. They reveal 

           that  one  Brother,  who  was  found  to  have  engaged  in  harsh  and  cruel  treatment  of  boys  in 

           Letterfrack, was again the subject of complaints about severity towards children in Salthill. Another 

           Brother  was  found  to  be  repeatedly  guilty  of  excessive  harshness  in  schools  to  which  he  was 

           assigned after his service in Salthill. Another Brother was warned by the Superior General about 

           his conduct towards boys, and it was said of another that he should not be put in charge of boys. 

           They also record some specific instances of severe punishment. 



12.18      The  information  and  comment  in  these  contemporary  documents  were  made  at  times  when 

           corporal punishment was permitted by law and was an everyday reality for many children. The 

           fact that they were recorded suggests that the severity of the punishment was deemed excessive 

           at that time. 



12.19      A general observation in the Visitation Report of 1967 on conditions in the School suggested that 

           some incidents of unacceptable corporal punishment were inevitable in Salthill: 



                 The boys are under constant supervision from the moment of rising to the time for retiring. 

                 This imposes a heavy round of duties on those immediately concerned with the boys. It 

                 is therefore almost impossible to maintain that evenness of temper that is essential for 

                 this work. A man on duty all day is bound to feel irritable ... 



12.20      In the course  of reflections on life  in Salthill which he  gave to the Congregation,  a Brother, Br 

           Burdette,1   who taught there in the 1950s, acknowledged ‘a  certain severity in attitude’ towards 



           the boys: 



                 We worked all day, every day, an unfortunate indiscretion which should not have been 

                 allowed and which, undoubtedly, I think, was reflected in our treatment of the almost 200 

                 boys confided to our care. 



                 Nevertheless,     despite   a  certain  severity   in  attitude  towards   them,    due  partly  to  the 

                 hardship of our own lives and partly to an inherited system of discipline which, even in 

                 my  time,  had  begun  to  be  discarded,  my  earlier  comment  holds  true:  no  children  ever 

                 meant – could  mean – as much  to me as they  did; for, of course,  they were orphans, 

                 every one. 



12.21      Br Burdette was not correct. The majority of the boys in Salthill were not orphans, but had been 

           sent  there  by  the  courts  for  non-attendance  at  school  or  because  of  a  lack  of  parental  control 

           often in the context of poverty. 



12.22      Br Burdette described his time in the Institution as ‘the happiest, hardest, most demanding, and 

           most memorable three years of my life’. He was not able, even at this remove, to appreciate the 

           impact of a harsh and severe routine of discipline on the children in Salthill. He did not see it as 

           affecting the overall atmosphere in the School, but it has been found in other schools examined 

           by the Committee that such a regime created a climate of fear that permeated life in an institution. 



12.23      In his report on Salthill, which was commissioned by the Congregation in March 2002, Br John 

           McCormack       cfc  interviewed    a   past  pupil   who    was   there   in  the  1960s.    This   ex-resident 

           acknowledged  that  ‘we  had  happy  times  as  well  as  the  sad  times’  and  recalled  with  pride 

           participating in the band and the medal he won for hurling. He also asserted that he had received 

           a good education in Salthill, as had most of the boys who were there with him. He arrived at the 

           age of seven, and was fortunate to have an older brother there who could watch out for him. He 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



           526                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 557-----------------------

           mentioned one Brother, Br Michel,2        as being very humane but had no such praise for any of the 



           other Brothers there: 



                 I was not terribly gone on the rest of the Brothers in St Joseph’s in my time. They were 

                 strict and always made you toe the line. Some of them never smiled that I remember, but 

                 they must have ... Even though the Brothers were strict, there was none of them vicious 

                 or cruel. They must have had a tough time too. 



12.24      It is a sad reflection on Salthill that even a past pupil who had reasonably positive memories of 

           his time there could find so little to say in praise of the Brothers. He was in their care from the 

           age of seven. 



12.25      There follows an analysis of Brothers who were in Salthill and against whom allegations of physical 

           abuse were made. 



           Br Chappell3 



12.26      A Visitor in the late 1930s remarked that there was a greater sense of harmony in the Community 

           since this Brother’s departure and that: 



                 By  all  the  accounts  I  got  it  would  seem  to  me  that  Br  Chappell  should  never  be  put 

                 in charge of boys: his violent, vengeful disposition render him quite unsuitable for such 

                 a charge. 



12.27      According to the records, he had been in Salthill for almost six years when he was transferred. 

           Although he had served in  a number of industrial schools prior to that,  he did not work in any 

           residential school after 1937 but worked as a domestic Brother in a Community house. 



           Br Leveret4 



12.28      Br Leveret was transferred to Salthill in the early 1940s after a history of serious and violent abuse 

           in Letterfrack. In the year before his transfer to Salthill, a Brother on the staff of Letterfrack wrote 

           to the Provincial about the use of a horse whip on the boys. Br Leveret was one of the perpetrators 

           of this brutal punishment. The Resident Manager forbade such punishments and directed that, in 

           future, all punishments for serious offences would be administered by him, the Manager, in the 

           presence of a third party. Br Leveret, however, did not comply with this direction, and the Resident 

           Manager     had   to  write  to  the  Provincial   to  report  that  ‘Br  Leveret   has   not  adhered     to the 

           regulations’. 



12.29      He referred to Br Leveret in a subsequent letter: 



                 Punishment: a stick is the general instrument used and even with this he goes beyond 

                 the rule. I have seen recently a boy with swollen hand, palm and thumb, the steward on 

                 farm remarked he was not able to milk for some days. A boy was stripped and beaten in 

                 his (Br Leveret’s) room. He has put boys across his bed in room and even in unbecoming 

                 postures to beat them behind. The boys are absolutely afraid to divulge who punished 

                 them and won’t even answer questions truthfully, through fear of being punished again. 

                 Only this week I got two little fellows crying and I asked them what happened they would 

                 not tell me. 



12.30      Although Br Leveret wrote a letter in defence of his behaviour, the Provincial did not believe him 

           and he was removed from Letterfrack that year. 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 This is a pseudonym. 

           4 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     527 


----------------------- Page 558-----------------------

12.31      He was transferred to Salthill where he remained for almost 10 years. His proclivity for violence 

           emerged again. A Visitation Report in the late 1940s noted that Br Leveret ‘is said to be too severe 

           in school’. A year later, the Superior informed the Visitor of serious misgivings he had regarding 

           Br Leveret’s suitability as a teacher in an industrial school. The Visitation Report noted that: 



                 The Superior complained that Br Leveret was very severe on the boys and had injured at 

                 least two boys when inflicting corporal punishment. I spoke to Br Leveret and he said that 

                 on each occasion it was on account of boys giving him impertinence. He said one boy 

                 called him a tinker before the other boys in the class. It seems the Superior made some 

                 statement in the chapel when speaking to all the boys to the effect that he was against 

                 corporal  punishment  and  that  he  was  the  responsible  person  in  the  place  for  inflicting 

                 such. The Brother Superior thinks that Br Leveret is not a right individual to have in an 

                 industrial school and would like to have him changed. He has rather light work here and 

                 is unwilling, according to the Superior to take extra duties. 



12.32      Br Leveret was transferred to Cork and did not teach in an industrial school again. 



12.33      Br Leveret should never have been transferred to Salthill after his behaviour in Letterfrack. The 

           Congregation commented on the use of the horse whip in Letterfrack but made no reference to 

           his subsequent move to Salthill. They stated: 



                 The  above  incident  demonstrates  well  how  the  Brothers  generally  did  not  approve  of 

                 severe  corporal  punishment.  Those  who  did  not  approve  were  courageous  enough  to 

                 speak out even though it meant having to live with the person against whom they spoke. 

                 The contention that those religious who did not abuse were culpable because they did 

                 not  “stand  in  the  way”  of  abuse  they  witnessed  does  not  stand  up  to  scrutiny.  When 

                 abuse  was known  to  a  Brother, the  documentation  indicates that  he  made  it known  to 

                 the authorities. 



12.34      •     Notwithstanding  the  warnings  and  reprimands  he  had  received  in  Letterfrack,  this 

                 Brother  was  transferred  to  Salthill  where  he  continued  his  aggressive  behaviour.  It 

                 was an example of serious management failure on the part of the Provincial to have 

                 transferred such a man to another residential school. 



           Br Sebastien5 



12.35      Br Sebastien served in Salthill in the early 1940s. Some three years prior to his posting to Salthill, 

           when being given permission to take his final vows, Br Noonan, the Superior General, drew his 

           attention to a fault which would require correcting, namely his severity towards boys. Br Noonan 

           wrote of his excesses: 



                 This  is  indefensible;  it  is  in  every  way  against  the  canons  of  the  teaching  profession. 

                 Punishment  in  a  moderate  way  is  allowed;  but  severity  is  altogether  to  be  avoided.  It 

                 injures the boy’s feelings and never produces real improvement. 



12.36      •    No written record was kept of this Brother’s performance in Salthill. Given his earlier 

                 history, such a record would have been expected. 



           •     It  was    a  persistent    management        failure   on   the   part   of  the   Leadership      of  the 

                 Congregation that violent men were so often posted to residential schools. 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 



           528                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 559-----------------------

           Beating by an employee named Orvelle6 



12.37      The Bishop of Galway wrote to the Superior in July 1950, complaining about the violent behaviour 

           of an employee of the Industrial School. The letter said: 

                 Dear Br Rousskin,7 



                 On Thursday last, my attention was drawn to the fact that one of your employees, Orvelle, 

                 was beating some of the boys severely and in a very harsh manner. When I bade him 

                 desist he answered back very roughly indeed. I do not think that fellows like Orvelle should 

                 have such power and should exercise it so harshly and so publicly that they can be seen 

                 and heard from so many houses all around. If the boys are recalcitrant, they should be 

                 punished  by  a  Brother,  but  Orvelle’s  methods  would  evoke  indignation  if  they  were 

                 directed against brute animals. I feel sure that you will be able to apply the proper remedy 

                 once your attention has been called to the matter. 



12.38      The Bishop’s letter records a disturbing and serious complaint, and it is surprising that neither the 

           letter nor any response to it has survived in the records of Salthill. A copy of the letter was obtained 

           from the diocesan archive but the original was not found in the Christian Brothers’ discovery in 

           relation to Salthill. Neither was there any information as to what action followed the receipt of the 

           letter. It was a surprising example of indifference by a layman to an order coming from a Bishop. 

           The Bishop’s outrage that the man should be in a position to treat boys in a way that would have 

           been cruel if directed at ‘brute animals’, should have caused the School embarrassment at the 

           very  least, and  should have  led to  an investigation  and serious  sanction for  the employee.  No 

           mention was made of this man in the annals, and all that is known is that he was not a member 

           of the teaching staff, as he was not listed in any of the Visitation Reports for the period. 



           Br Delano8 



12.39      There were no documented complaints about Br Delano’s treatment of boys in Salthill during his 

           service there in the early 1950s but his subsequent career in other schools, shortly after leaving 

           Salthill, gave cause for concern. 



12.40      The  Brother  came  to  the  notice  of  the  Provincial  and  General  Councils  because  of  repeated 

           complaints of ‘immoderate punishment’ of his pupils in successive schools. The authorities were 

           worried that he ‘could become a very serious liability’ and noted that he had narrowly escaped 

           prosecution. 



12.41      The Provincial wrote that there was no doubt about most of the complaints. Another Brother had 

           witnessed the latest incident, when, in the course of a plain chant class, the Brother injured a boy 

           by striking him on the nose and face, making his nose bleed. 



12.42      The Brother’s response to the disciplinary inquiries was to apply for a dispensation, which was 

           rejected. Instead, he was ordered to remain in his vocation and was given a ‘maneat’ (an order 

           to stay). 



12.43      The Provincial Council did not recommend the dispensation because it thought that the way he 

           administered  punishment  was  something  that  the  Brother  ‘can  correct  as  some  Brothers  have 

           done in the past’. The Provincial did not think the situation merited a Canonical Warning, even 

           though the Brother had been given a previous, informal caution. The General Council considered 

           the  matter  and  ultimately  agreed  to  issue  the  ‘maneat’.  The  Provincial  wrote  to  the  Brother 

           informing him of the position. He said that, by complying with his religious duties with meekness 



           6 This is a pseudonym. 

           7 This is a pseudonym. 

           8 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     529 


----------------------- Page 560-----------------------

           and humility, the Brother would find that his ‘difficulties with the pupils will lessen and that in time 

           you will acquire that patience and kindness with children so necessary for us all as Other Christs 

           in the school room’. 



12.44      •    The manner in which this case was handled suggested that the first concern was for 

                 the Congregation, for which the Brother ‘could become a very serious liability’. The 

                 next consideration was for the Brother himself, who, it was hoped, would acquire the 

                 necessary teaching skills in time. The children who were likely to suffer at the hands 

                 of this man whilst he acquired these skills were not considered at all. 



           Br Marque9 



12.45      Br Marque was transferred to Salthill in the early 1970s, where he remained for 15 years. One 

           Visitor was very critical of Br Marque who held a senior position in the Community at that time. 

           He noted: 



                 Unfortunately  he  has  a  problem  with  drink  and  when  under  its  influence  he  can  deal 

                 harshly   with   erring  boys.   The   boys   are  aware    of  this weakness      and   the  irrational 

                 motivation behind these punishments. This does not increase their respect for their staff 

                 nor their confidence in it. 



12.46      The following year, the Visitor noted that Br Marque ‘still has a drink problem but the Superior’s 

           good sense and vigilance have helped to lessen the gravity of the situation’. 



12.47      The situation remained unresolved into the mid-1970s. The Visitor remarked that Br Marque gave 

           the impression that he was not too happy in Galway and repeated, verbatim, the comment of the 

           previous  year:  ‘He  still  has  a  drink  problem  but  the  Superior’s  good  sense  and  vigilance  have 

           helped to lessen the gravity of the situation’. 



12.48      •    The real problem was not just that this Brother drank but that, under the influence of 

                 drink, he administered harsh and irrational punishments to the boys. While ‘the gravity 

                 of  the  situation’  had  been  lessened  by  the  Superior’s  monitoring,  the  question  of 

                 whether children should have been under the care of such a man was not addressed. 

                 He should have been seen as an unacceptable risk to the children in the School and 

                 removed once this problem was identified. 



           Br Remi10 



12.49      An incident was recorded in the Manager’s diary during the mid-1970s, concerning the behaviour 

           of Br Remi. He spent most of his teaching career working in residential schools. 



12.50      The diary entry from the mid-1970s stated ‘Br Remi struck [Michael].11              deformed his teeth’. The 



           entry the following day noted that the boy attended the dentist. 



12.51      He was mentioned by the Visitor as having difficulty in adapting to the new regime that was being 

           introduced to Salthill at that time. He wrote: 



                 despite his overt yearning for the good old days when boys were made toe the line in 

                 quasi-military fashion one senses that deep down he is slowly and reluctantly coming to 

                 appreciate that the new approach has something to recommend it. 



           9 This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 This is a pseudonym. 



           530                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 561-----------------------

12.52      •    While the Visitor recorded his approval of the new, less rigid approach to controlling 

                 children  as  having  something  to  recommend  it,  he  was  not  nearly  critical  enough 

                about Br Remi’s yearning for the ‘good old days’ of a harsher regime. Br Remi should 

                 have been left in no doubt that violence was completely unacceptable, and incidents 

                such as that recorded in the diary should have been avoided. 



           •    By the mid-1970s, there should have been a more formal procedure for recording and 

                 responding to physical abuse of children. There was no record that this incident was 

                ever investigated, or that any disciplinary action was taken against Br Remi. Such an 

                event, which was tantamount to criminal assault, was not considered to be sufficiently 

                 grave to warrant disciplinary action. It suggested that, notwithstanding the changes 

                that had been effected in the regime, the underlying philosophy had not altered. 



           Diary entry 1981 



12.53      A diary entry in 1981 read: 

                 [John]12  Back. 6.30. Had a chat with him and gave him a few clatters. 



12.54      A casual approach to physical punishment was revealed in this entry. It suggested that giving a 

           boy ‘a few clatters’ was acceptable when it should have had no place in childcare practices in 

           the 1980s. 



           Sexual abuse 



12.55      The documents revealed cases of actual and suspected sexual abuse in Salthill. They implicated 

           five Brothers,  one care worker  who was a  former resident, and  another ex-resident who  came 

           back years after he had been discharged and got into the building on a number of occasions. 



12.56      The  documents  covered  the  period  from  the  1930s  to  the  1980s.  Three  of  the  Brothers  came 

           under suspicion when they were in the Institution, while the other two came to notice in industrial 

           schools other than Salthill. One Brother explicitly admitted that he had been guilty of immorality 

           with boys for years, but he later withdrew the confession, and his subsequent dismissal was for 

           unconnected reasons. In another case, the Brother tried to put an innocent interpretation on his 

           conduct but the Provincial was clear that it was a ‘lapse’. This Brother went on to abuse for over 

           20  years  after  leaving  Salthill.  The  last  Salthill  case  involving  a  Christian  Brother  was  more 

           equivocal,   and    concerned     inappropriate    behaviour    for  which    he   gave   a   somewhat      odd 

           explanation. 



           Br Emile13 



12.57      Br  Emile  was    working   in  Salthill in  the early  1950s,  when     he   wrote  directly  to  the  Sacred 

           Congregation  of  Religious  in  Rome  requesting  a  dispensation.  He  said  that  he  never  had  a 

           vocation and only took his final vows to avoid disappointing his mother. He confessed: 



                 Since  1945  with  the  exception  of  two  years  back  at  College  I  have  been  interfering 

                 immorally and unchastely with boys under my care. I tried to give it up but failed. I realised 

                 that I was doing great harm to the boys, to the Congregation and damning my own soul. 



12.58      He said that he had consulted two Jesuit priests on the matter and they strongly advised him to 

           leave the Congregation. 



12.59      The Monsignor dealing with the case sent a copy of the letter to Br Clancy, the Superior General, 

           commenting, ‘I think it is a clear case of letting him go’. The Brother then withdrew his application, 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 

           13 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   531 


----------------------- Page 562-----------------------

           asserting that he was depressed at the time he made the application and that what he had stated 

           with regard to abusing boys was false. The General Council accepted Br Emile’s retraction and 

           his explanation for it, but felt it necessary to issue him with a maneat in February 1953. 



12.60      Less than two years later Br Emile was accused of new, unrelated charges of repeated, serious 

           disregard of religious obligations, including rebelling with others against the strictures of religious 

           life.  The  General  Council  ultimately  decided  that  it  had  ample  evidence  regarding  Br  Emile’s 

           unsuitability for the Congregation and that ‘it will be in the interest of the...Community and of the 

           Irish Province to have Br Emile’s case disposed of as quickly as Canon Law permits.’ 



12.61      Two Canonical Warnings were then issued to Br Emile and were swiftly followed by a Decree of 

           Dismissal, which was accepted by Br Emile. He subsequently got married and continued to teach 

           in a national school until the early 1990s. 



12.62      •     There was  no  record of  any inquiries  into  the confessions  made  by Br  Emile in  his 

                 abortive application for a dispensation in the early 1950s which he made directly to 

                 Rome.  It  was  not  clear  why  he  was  issued  with  a  maneat.  To  accept  the  retraction 

                 of  such a  serious  confession without  further  investigation  was a  risk  to children  in 

                 his care. 



           Br Dacian14 



12.63      This  complicated  and  difficult  story  of  repeated  sexual  abuse  is  recounted  here  because  the 

           perpetrator’s  behaviour  was  first  recorded  in  the  Christian  Brothers’  records  relating  to  Salthill. 

           The Brother’s history reveals a pattern of abuse extending over a period of 25 years in different 

           schools. It illustrates the recidivist nature of sexual abuse, and the difficulties of reporting it. 



12.64      Br Dacian had spent only four months in Salthill in the early 1960s when he was transferred in 

           great haste to a day school in Dublin. A Visitor at that time noted: 



                  Br Dacian has been guilty of a grave indiscretion with one of the boys and I’m afraid he 

                  will have to be changed. He was otherwise most suited to this place and an ardent worker. 



12.65      In a letter to the Superior General following his Visitation, the Visitor elaborated on Br Dacian’s 

           indiscretion. A pupil reported to the Superior that one night he had been awakened by somebody 

           who had his hand inside his pyjamas touching his genitals. He could only make out an outline of 

           the man but, by his shape and the sound of his voice, he recognised him as Br Dacian. When 

           the boy awoke, the man had said to him that this was a serious matter and that he should not 

           tell anyone. 



12.66      The Visitor confronted Br Dacian about the allegation and he confessed that he was the person 

           involved. However, he offered the explanation that he had merely been checking to see whether 

           the boy had wet the bed, as he was a regular bed-wetter. But, as the Visitor noted, ‘it is apparent 

           that  this  does  not  explain  everything’.  Br  Dacian  assured  the  Visitor  that  he  did  not  have  any 

           ‘inclination this way’ and that this was the first time anything like that had happened. The Visitor 

           was ‘inclined to believe him’ but thought that a transfer was necessary, as other boys were aware 

           of Br Dacian’s lapse. The Visitor lamented that this change was necessary as ‘he was a very good 

           choice for that school where self-sacrificing men are so necessary’. 



12.67      This experienced Visitor described the incident as a lapse and an indiscretion, and he was not 

           satisfied with the Brother’s explanation. Nevertheless, he left the matter unresolved and uncertain, 

           which implied that he did not consider the allegation to be very grave. 



           14 This is a pseudonym. 



           532                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 563-----------------------

12.68      The Brother later spent a year in Letterfrack in the early 1970s, where a Visitation Report noted 

           that he slept adjacent to the boys’ dormitory and was involved in a good deal of supervision. 



           Late 1980s 



12.69      The next occasion of a documented complaint against Br Dacian was some 25 years later, when 

           he was Principal of a primary school in the west of Ireland. 



12.70      The Archbishop of the area sent for Br Tyeis,15  the Superior of Br Dacian’s Community, and told 



           him that he had received a formal complaint that Br Dacian was interfering sexually with a boy in 

           the School. The prelate gave the boy’s Christian name but said that he could not remember the 

           surname. The Superior undertook to investigate the matter. 



12.71      Br Tyeis did not have enough information so he telephoned the Archbishop’s secretary for more 

           details. The boy was Tom Murphy,16           a first year pupil in the secondary school, and his parents 



           had  gone some  days previously  to the  Vice-Principal of  the primary  school to  report what  had 

           happened.  He  sent  them  to  the  school  chaplain  because,  as  he  later  explained,  he  was  too 

           shocked  by  the  allegations  to  do  anything  about  them.  The  chaplain  was  unavailable  so  they 

           spoke  to  another  Curate,  who  in  turn  referred  them  to  the  Archbishop’s  secretary.  They  made 

           their complaint to him that Br Dacian was sexually interfering with their son and that they believed 

           that Br Dacian had also interfered with other boys whom they named. 



12.72      The Superior, Br Tyeis, now had the details of the complaint against Br Dacian. He went to him 

           on the same day as he had met the Archbishop and spoken to the secretary. Br Dacian admitted 

           that  he had  interfered  with Tom  Murphy  and  said that  ‘the  relationship’ had  been  going on  for 

           two years. 



12.73      Br Tyeis spoke to the Vice-Principal, who confirmed the parents’ visit to him at his home on the 

           previous Sunday. Br Tyeis met the Provincial, Br Travis,17  and reported what had happened. 



12.74      Br Tyeis met the parents shortly afterwards in the Brothers’ residence. Mr Murphy was angry, and 

           he and his wife were seeking an apology in writing from Br Dacian. They did not propose to take 

           legal action because they feared that the publicity would not be good for their son. They were 

           unclear as to the details of the abuse but they suspected that anal intercourse might have taken 

           place. 



12.75      The  Superior  talked  the  matter  over  in  confidence  with  two  Brothers  in  the  Community,  and 

           decided that Br Dacian would have to leave the Community ‘for the present’. Br Dacian agreed 

           and went the Cistercian Monastery in Roscrea. 



12.76      The Superior reported to the Provincial that Br Dacian told him that he (Br Dacian) would have to 

           leave the Congregation and that the Superior had responded that that might seem like the easy 

           way out, i.e. to flee, but that there was no reason why he should have to leave. He also reported 

           that a Brother (Br Peppin18), a friend of the Murphys who stayed with them when he was in the 



           West, had recounted to him that the Murphys had recently said that they were suspicious that 

           something in the nature of sexual interference was going on and that Br Dacian was involved, but 

           Br Peppin said he had discounted the possibility. 



12.77      The Provincial then visited Br Dacian in Roscrea and had a full discussion with him. There is no 

           record of this conversation in the discovered documentation. Two weeks later, another meeting 



           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       533 


----------------------- Page 564-----------------------

          took place at Cluain Mhuire, the provincial house for the St Mary’s Province in Dublin, when Br 

          Dacian maintained that he had nothing new to tell. 



12.78     The  Provincial  did  not  meet  the  Murphys  until  some  five  weeks  after  the  matter  was  originally 

          reported. At this meeting with the Provincial, Br Travis, and the Superior, Br Tyeis, Mr Murphy 

          complained about the delay, and expressed his annoyance at Br Travis’s failure to contact them. 

          He  had  found  it  very  hard  to  get  the  Provincial’s  phone  number.  Br  Travis  explained  that  the 

          Provincial headquarters in Marino was undergoing major renovations, which was why they had 

          got no response from someone who could help them. He then explained that he himself had not 

          contacted them because he had been told that Mr Murphy had stated that he did not trust the 

          Brothers and was certain that they would want to cover up for Br Dacian and do nothing about 

          the allegations. 



12.79     Br Travis told the Murphys that he appreciated that they were very upset, as were the Brothers. 

          They  were  shocked  by  the  allegations.  He  said  that  Br  Dacian  was  very  upset.  Mrs  Murphy 

          became angry at the mention of Br Dacian being upset and said that he was ‘cute and intelligent’ 

          in  the  way  he  operated.  The  Provincial  pointed  out  that  he  had  interrupted  his  schedule  and 

          postponed appointments to come to the meeting and that he wanted to hear the allegations from 

          them first hand. The Brothers questioned the Murphys about the origins of rumours in the locality 

          and   also  about   media    coverage,   following   which   the  Provincial  sought    details about   the 

          complaints. The Murphys related how the matter came to their attention. They said that they still 

          did not have an admission from Tom that Br Dacian had had anal intercourse with him, and they 

          explained why they were suspicious that that had happened. 



12.80     The Provincial expressed his concern regarding the allegations and said that he had full trust in 

          the inquiries that the Superior was making. He said that he himself had taken the allegations most 

          seriously and was carrying out a thorough, professional, private investigation. He said that he was 

          aware that there was an independent inquiry being conducted by the Health Board. He could not 

          reveal who he had been contacting, and the Murphys appreciated this. He said he wanted to get 

          the truth regarding Tom and Br Dacian. In the light of his findings and those of the Health Board, 

          he would take whatever action was required, ‘but we must have the truth first’. 



12.81     Mr Murphy said that he and his wife wanted three things immediately and they did not want the 

          inquiry dragging on. They were: (1) a written apology from Br Dacian; (2) an assurance that Br 

          Dacian would not return to the area and would not be in a position to deal with children; and (3) 

          payment for psychological and psychiatric treatment for Tom. Mr Murphy proposed to send the 

          bills to the Brothers, mentioning that he was at that time out of pocket in the amount of £100. The 

          Provincial reiterated that the investigation would have to move to its conclusion before these points 

          could be considered. 



12.82     Neither Brother mentioned to the Murphys that Br Dacian had admitted sexually interfering with 

          Tom over a period of two years. Nor did they give any indication that they were aware of his past 

          record or even that they were investigating it, although they had had ample opportunity to do so 

          during the preceding five weeks. 



12.83     The   meeting   as   recorded   in the  Provincial’s  memorandum       was   entirely directed   to getting 

          information  from  the  family  and  seeking  admissions  from  them  to  bolster  suspicions  by  the 

          Brothers that the Murphys were involved in publicising the allegations. The memorandum did not 

          indicate any sympathy having been expressed or any expression of regret or responsibility by the 

          Congregation for what had happened. Although the precise nature of the abuse was uncertain at 

          that point, the essential facts had, as the Brothers knew already, been established, namely, that 

          Br Dacian had, by his own admission, been sexually abusing the pupil over a period of two years. 



          534                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 565-----------------------

12.84      Two    days   later,  Mr  Murphy     had   another    conversation     with  Br  Tyeis,   at  which   he   reported 

           information that he had received from a friend in Dublin, that there was a serious complaint about 

           Br Dacian’s involvement with a boy at a primary school where the Brother had previously been 

           Principal. He also referred to other suspicions. The Superior elicited from Mr Murphy his evaluation 

           of the meeting two days previously. Mr Murphy repeated that he did not want to make a formal 

           complaint to the Gardai. The Superior emphasised that the Brothers wished justice to be done for 

                                       ´ 

           both  Tom  and  Br  Dacian,  and  that  there  would  not  be  a  cover-up.  He  commented  that  the 

           investigations would take time to complete. Mr Murphy asked whether Br Dacian would be back 

           in the School and the Superior replied that, while it was not for him to say, ‘Given the serious 

           nature of the rumours and allegations I didn’t think that the Provincial would ask him to return’. 

           Again, the Superior withheld the information about Br Dacian’s admissions, and treated the case 

           as involving ‘rumours and allegations’. 



12.85      The Superior recorded his general observations. He thought it was obvious that the Murphys were 

           being tutored, but not necessarily by legal people. He claimed to have detected anxiety on the 

           Murphys’  part  about  the  possible  revelations  that  might  emerge  from  the  investigations.  He 

           wondered      whether    a   desire   to  claim   monetary     compensation       might   explain    Mr   Murphy’s 

           unwillingness  to  press  charges.  He  recommended  that  communities  and  individual  Brothers  in 

           them where Br Dacian had taught should be instructed not to comment on this matter in any way. 

           This  recommendation  showed  that  Br  Tyeis  was  aware  of  how  a  proper  investigation  should 

           proceed, namely by inquiry in the schools where Br Dacian had worked previously. 



12.86      The Superior’s record of this meeting concluded with a note directed to the Provincial, in which 

           he made three points. He referred to one of the Brothers in his Community whom he had consulted 

           on the day that he received the complaint, and recorded that that Brother confirmed that Br Dacian 

           frequently  inquired  about  Tom  Murphy’s  attendance  at  school.  The  other  points  recorded  a 

           teacher’s denial that he had spoken about Br Dacian’s activities, as Mr Murphy had alleged, and 

           the Primary School Vice-Principal’s statement that the Murphys were out to get money. 



12.87      Br  Tyeis  had  a  later  meeting  on  the  same  day  with  the  Gardai  who  were  endeavouring  to 

                                                                                            ´ 

           investigate, notwithstanding the reluctance of the Murphys to press formal charges. They gave 

           him a report of the progress of their investigation, which he noted and supplied to the Provincial. 



           Early 1970s to early 1980s 

12.88      Some months after the incident involving Tom Murphy, a Brother in the Community, Br Rique,19 



           was able to give some further information about Br Dacian’s time in the Dublin school, which he 

           recorded in a note entitled ‘To Whom It May Concern’. There had been press publicity about the 

           case, which was of great concern to the Christian Brothers and to the Murphys. When the story 

           was published, Br Rique’s sister appeared to know more about it than he did. Her source was 

           another  relation,  Patrick  Walsh,20      a  teacher  in  the  Dublin  school  where  Br  Dacian  had  been 



           Principal. This teacher had expressed surprise to the Brother’s sister some two years previously, 

           on   learning   that  Br  Dacian    had   been    appointed    Principal   of  a  primary    school,   because     of 

           allegations made against him in Dublin that he had molested a boy and also because of other 

           rumours  about  him.  Br  Rique  asked  Mr  Walsh  about  these  allegations.  He  said  that  the  Vice- 

           Principal of that school had spoken to each of the teachers individually about the matter. One of 

           the teachers became aware of allegations against Br Dacian, who admitted to the teacher and 

           one boy’s mother that he had sexually abused the boy. Had he not done so, they told him, the 

           matter would go public. Confirmation of what happened at the time appeared in a letter written by 

           the teacher in the mid-1990s, seeking reassurance that the Brother was no longer involved with 

           children. He wrote: 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 

           20 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        535 


----------------------- Page 566-----------------------

                 A few years ago [Br Dacian] was involved in an assault of a sexual nature on a child. As 

                  a result of this he was taken out for treatment etc. This was done with the agreement of 

                  the family. 



12.89      Br Dacian’s personnel card recorded a break in service of approximately 10 months between his 

           time in the Dublin school and his appointment to the school where he abused Tom Murphy. 



12.90      During  this  intermission,  Br  Dacian  spent  time  in  the  Cistercian  Abbey  in  Roscrea,  the  retreat 

           centre to which he again moved when the events regarding Tom Murphy came to light. He had in 

           fact spent time on retreat there even before this, although the circumstances of that first retreat 

           are not known. 



12.91      During his second stay in the Cistercian Abbey (after leaving the Dublin school), he was referred 

           to a Jesuit Priest for assistance with his problems and, it would seem, for assessment on behalf 

           of  the  Congregation.  The  senior  Brother  who  arranged  the  referral  included  in  his  letter  to  the 

           Priest some background information about Br Dacian: 



                  I  believe  his  present  problem  may  have  had  a  bit  of  a  history.  There  certainly  was  an 

                  incident some twenty years ago. What has happened in the intervening years I just don’t 

                  know. I just fear that there may be more than two isolated incidents separated by twenty 

                  years or more. Perhaps my fears and feelings arise from being too long in office! 



12.92      The Jesuit Priest gave a reassuring opinion about Br Dacian in a letter to Br Agrican21                  at Cluain 



           Mhuire: 



                  I am confident that there is no risk of a recurrence of such an event in the near future – 

                  by which I mean over the next few years – he has had a severe shock. If the measures 

                  suggested  are  taken  I  am  confident  that  there  is  no  serious  danger  of  a  recurrence 

                  especially as a Director would enable him to recognise warning signs and take remedial 

                  action. 



12.93      There is no record available of the measures that were suggested or of what the ‘Director’ was 

           to do. 



           Early 1980s – incident in Gaelteacht 



12.94      Further information about Br Dacian had emerged some four months before the Murphys made 

           their  complaint  about  his  conduct.  A  memorandum  in  the  records  of  the  Brothers  contains  an 

           account of information given by a father as to Br Dacian’s offensive sexual activities with his son, 

           Peter Brady,22    when the boy was in the Gaelteacht one summer in the mid-1980s. The matter 



           came to light  when the Principal of a Christian  Brothers primary school in Dublin  contacted Br 

           Agrican  and  then  another  senior  Brother,  whose  note  recorded  the  information.  The  Principal 

           heard the allegations from Mr Brady and thought it was important to notify the Congregation at 

           senior level. He said that he was concerned about recommending groups of boys to go to the 

           Gaelteacht in view of what Mr Brady had reported to him. He arranged for a meeting between Mr 

           Brady and the senior Brother at Cluain Mhuire. 



12.95      Mr  Brady  complained  that,  after  Peter’s  first  two  days  in  the  Gaelteacht,  Br  Dacian,  who  was 

           teaching there, brought him to his room every night and sat him on his lap and fondled and kissed 

           him  and  stroked  his  penis.  Br  Dacian  would  arrive  when  all  were  asleep  and  shine  a  torch  in 

           Peter’s face and bring him to his room. One night, Peter tried to evade him by going to another 

           bunk, but he was located by Br Dacian and brought away. Peter said that he was ‘scared stiff’ all 

           during the holiday. Mr Brady had suggested to Peter that Br Dacian was very friendly and maybe 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 

           22 This is a pseudonym. 



           536                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 567-----------------------

           that Peter was exaggerating, but Peter insisted on the details as described, and recalled another 

           particular  incident  when  boys  were  waiting  for  presents  they  had  ordered  and  Peter  asked  Br 

           Dacian  when  they  were  coming.  The  Brother  brought  him  outside  and  asked  him  if  he  really 

           wanted to see him about the presents or did he want to see him himself. Mr Brady said that Peter 

           had  written  to  the  family  saying  that  he  wanted  to  go  home.  The  Bradys  visited  him  on  two 

           weekends and found Br Dacian very helpful and friendly, and Mr Brady brought cigarettes as a 

           present for Br Dacian but Peter objected, which struck Mr Brady as strange, but he did not follow 

           it up. 



12.96      When Peter came home, he received a letter from Br Dacian inviting him to visit the Brother at 

           his  Dublin  school,  enclosing  a  map  showing  how  to  get  there.  His  parents  thought  that  Peter 

           should accept the invitation, but he would only go if he was accompanied, and his mother went 

           with him but Br Dacian was not there. 



12.97      Mr Brady did not wish to press charges, nor did he want Br Dacian to know the details or the 

           source of the information. He was concerned that other boys might have been affected. Mr Brady 

           made a favourable impression on the senior Brother who made the record. 



12.98      After his second time on retreat in the monastery (following the allegations made in respect of 

           Tom Murphy), Br Dacian went to a Residential Therapy Centre for Religious Clergy in England. 

           The   Provincial,    Br  Travis,   wrote   to  him   there   with  information    about    the  progress    of  the 

           investigations. Br Travis apologised for the delay in writing and expressed the hope that Br Dacian 

           was finding his stay helpful and looked forward to visiting in a few weeks’ time when ‘I will be able 

           to have a chat with you then’. He went on to describe the state of the inquiries: 



                  I  have  had  two  further  meetings  with  the  Western  Health  Board  and  they  have  now 

                  concluded  the  investigations.  They  will  not  be  following  through  with  any  proceedings, 

                  thank God. I have now to meet Mr and Mrs Murphy ... I hope this will be the final meeting. 

                  They still require an apology in writing which, on reading, they will immediately destroy in 

                  my presence. It should be brief and to the point. On the basis of legal advice I enclose a 

                  draft. I also enclose some of our own Cluain Mhuire notepaper on which you can write 

                  the  apology  in  your  own  handwriting.  However,  write  this  apology  only  if  you  feel  you 

                  should. I would need it to hand by Wednesday, [two days prior to my meeting with the 

                  Murphys] at the latest. When I meet you on ... I will bring you up to date on what has 

                  happened at all of these meetings. I am confident that it will all die down now with the 

                  help of God. 



12.99      Br Dacian wrote the apology as requested by Br Travis: 



                  Dear Mr and Mrs Murphy, 



                  My purpose in writing to you is to apologise for my behaviour with Tom and any upset I 

                  may have caused to you, his parents. I regret it sincerely. 



                  I am pleased to hear that Tom is back at school and faring well. 



                  Yours sincerely, 



12.100     Br Dacian wrote to the Provincial expressing his gratitude and appreciation that ‘the whole affair 

           is  coming  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion’,  which  he  thought  was  due  to  the  Provincial’s  ‘delicate 

           dealing of the matter’. 



12.101     The documents in this case revealed, incidentally, other unrelated instances of sexual abuse by 

           religious and lay teachers. 



12.102     In his first meeting with the Provincial and the Superior, Mr Murphy stated that interference with 

           boys was going on in the School for many years, going back 25 or 30 years, and mentioned a Br 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       537 


----------------------- Page 568-----------------------

           Nathaniel.23  The Provincial recorded that he and the Superior said they knew nothing about it, and 



           noted that Br Nathaniel was a Christian Brother in the Community in the early 1950s who had 

           later left the Congregation. The story of Br Nathaniel, as revealed in the Congregation’s Rome 

           Files, was that, in the mid-1960s, he sought and obtained a dispensation from his vows because 

           of his trouble with the vow of chastity, although the record did not confirm that his sexual interest 

           was in boys. The Brother had informed his Superiors that he had not been able to keep the vow 

           of chastity for years. He was proposing to seek a job as a teacher in England. The authorities 

           were keen to facilitate the Brother and, because ‘it would make matters too pointed if he was now 

           taken off’ a course that he was to do, it was proposed to move him to the O’Brien Institute and 

           have the dispensation executed from there. 



12.103     The psychologist whom the Murphy family consulted reported to a senior social worker that the 

           father  of  another  child  with  whom  he  was  dealing  had  himself,  when  he  was  a  schoolboy, 

           witnessed his Principal teacher, a religious Brother, sexually abusing a boy in front of the class 

           on frequent occasions. 



12.104     The story of Peter Brady emerged for the first time in that family when Peter’s brother had an 

           unpleasant experience of a sexual nature with a teacher in his school and warned Peter about 

           him, whereupon Peter revealed to his mother and brother the abuse that he had suffered at Br 

           Dacian’s hands. 



12.105     In none of the Br Dacian cases was there a prosecution or even a formal report to the Gardai. 

                                                                                                                              ´ 

           None of the victims wished to pursue the matter by way of Garda investigation. In the Murphy 

           case, the parents were fearful of the damage that might be done to their son by the publicity. The 

           same was almost certainly true for the incidental cases mentioned above. These features of the 

           responses of victims and their families to cases of abuse have important implications for abuse 

           and the investigation of abuse, and often make it easier for perpetrators to avoid being required 

           to answer for their actions. 



12.106     The teacher who confronted Br Dacian in the Dublin school was the Principal, in the mid-1990s, 

           when  he  wrote  to  Br  Travis  seeking  confirmation  that  Br  Dacian  was  no  longer  working  with 

           children. He wrote: 



                  We have to be absolutely certain that no other children are at risk. If we do not get that 

                  guarantee we will have to get legal advice. 



12.107     Br Travis furnished the required confirmation in his reply: 



                  I wish to confirm that he is engaged in ministry with adults in England. His work does not 

                  entail any involvement or contact with children or young people. 



12.108     In its Opening Statement on Letterfrack, the Congregation dealt with Br Dacian, who is referred 

           to as Br R, as follows: 



                  8.  In  ...  Brother  R,  during  his  appointment  to  Salthill  Industrial  School  was  accused  of 

                  touching a boy’s private parts in the dormitory. 



                         (a)   He admitted that there was some truth in the allegation. 



                         (b)   Unfortunately,  he  was  subsequently  sent  to  Letterfrack  [in  the  early  1970s], 

                               having spent the previous years in day schools. 



           23 This is a pseudonym. 



           538                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 569-----------------------

                 Comment: 



                  •     Details  of  the  complaint  were  found  in  the  Generalate  Archives,  which  had  been 

                        transferred  to  Rome  in  the  mid-60s  while  only  a  short  reference  was  made  in  the 

                        Salthill visitation report ... 



                  •     The Provincial Council who had been in office [at that time] were replaced by a new 

                        Council   who    had   no  knowledge     of  the   original  complaint   when    R   was   sent   to 

                        Letterfrack. 



                  •     Hence,  Brother  R  was  sent  to  Letterfrack  without  any  knowledge  of  the  previous 

                        complaint on the part of the new Council. 



12.109     These Submissions are included here for completeness. The Christian Brothers did not address 

           the issues raised by the fuller account of Br Dacian’s career of abuse contained in other parts of 

           their own extensive documentation. 



12.110     The case of Br Dacian is recounted in detail because it has significance beyond the story of sexual 

           abuse in Salthill and other industrial schools. The later episodes illustrate some of the difficulties 

           that  confront  persons  reporting  abuse  and  why  they  might  be  reluctant  to  prosecute  it.  These 

           events happened relatively recently, at a time thought to be enlightened and in conditions that 

           should have been conducive to proper investigation and sensitive treatment of victims and their 

           families. It must be remembered that this account only contains what is recorded in documents 

           and that there may be other instances that did not come to light. 



12.111     In conclusion: 



                  •     The Brothers’ assurances to Tom Murphy’s family that they would carry out a 

                        proper  investigation,  take  action  and  not  cover  up  were  hollow:  they  did  not 

                        investigate, they withheld information, and they supported the perpetrator. 



                  •    The Murphys were treated shamefully: the parents were in turn passed on from 

                        one person in authority to another; their case was treated with indifference; they 

                        were  delayed  a  meeting  with  the  senior  Brother;  and  when  the  meeting  did 

                        eventually take place, they were patronised, cross-examined and misled. 



                  •    The need for proper procedures and protocols is highlighted by these cases, but 

                        they are of little value if those in authority are working to their own agenda. 



                  •     The failure to deal with this abuser led to other children being victimised, and 

                        the Congregation bears responsibility. 



                  •     The  danger  perceived  by  the  Christian  Brothers  was  the  revelation  of  sexual 

                        abuse rather than the fact of abuse. 



                  •    Victims’ families were unwilling to prosecute this abuser in three separate cases, 

                        which would tend to suggest substantial under-reporting of sexual abuse. 



                  •    This perpetrator was able to exploit the reluctance of his victims to charge him 

                        and the complacency of his brethren. 



           Br Gautier24 



12.112     A  matter  concerning  Br  Gautier  was  brought  to  the  Provincial  Council’s  attention  in  the  early 

           1950s. The Superior wrote to the Provincial setting out the matter. He explained that there were 

           occasions when Br Gautier had stripped small boys who were in care in Salthill in order to apply 

           a medical lotion. This was not an uncommon practice, in that boys suffering from various ailments, 

           such as scabies, were usually treated with a medical lotion. The Superior questioned Br Gautier, 



           24 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    539 


----------------------- Page 570-----------------------

           who denied emphatically that anything improper had occurred and volunteered to attend at the 

           Provincialate in Booterstown to defend his actions. 



12.113     The Superior wrote that Br Gautier had acted ‘indiscreetly’ and should have brought to his attention 

           the fact that the boys required treatment so that he could deal with it as he thought appropriate. 

           He warned that there were ‘boys in our midst who have told lies about their companions with a 

           view to having such punished’. The Superior remarked that he had intended to warn Br Gautier 

           to be careful but that the matter lapsed from his memory. He added that Br Gautier ‘is severe – I 

           mean stern’. He accepted Br Gautier’s explanation of the matter. 



12.114     Br Gautier also wrote to the Provincial and explained what had led him to strip boys. It had been 

           reported  to  him  that  two  boys  were  suffering  from  a  disease.  He  said  that  he  had  sought  the 

           advice of a priest on the matter. The priest gave him permission to strip the boys, to see whether 

           they were in fact suffering from a disease. Br Gautier swore that nothing improper had taken place. 



12.115     A Visitation Report later that year noted that Br Gautier was an untiring worker with no difficulty 

           handling  the  large  number  of  boys  in  the  School.  However,  the  Report  noted  that  ’he  resents 

           direction or interference in his work. He has had difficulties with his Superiors, both in Glin and in 

           Galway on this point’. The writer also noted that Br Gautier was below average intelligence. 



12.116     Br Ryan of the General Council wrote to Br Rice of the Provincial Council six months later: 



                 I think it would be well to give Br Gautier a transfer from there on the first opportunity. I 

                 got a hint of that some time ago. I do not imply great urgency, but merely for the young 

                 Brother’s own sake. 



12.117     Br Gautier was duly transferred to Limerick three months later. He never taught in an industrial 

           school again. 



12.118     •    Br Ryan clearly had previous suspicions regarding Br Gautier and, in the light of these 

                 suspicions, his behaviour with the boys in Salthill should have given rise to urgent 

                 action. 



           •    The issue that should have been investigated was whether there was a sexual motive 

                 to  what  the  Brother  did.  Relevant  matters  included  whether  it  was  his  function  to 

                 examine  boys,  what  records  he  had  kept  of  his  inspections,  where  and  when  the 

                 examinations took place and in whose presence, why the Brother consulted the priest, 

                 and   how    many    boys    were   involved.    Before    the  topic   was    closed   and    suspicion 

                 dispelled, the boys should have been interviewed. In the result, no clear decision was 

                 made,    but  the   Superior    thought    that  the   Brother    acted   ‘indiscreetly’   and   he   was 

                 transferred subsequently ‘for his own sake’. 



           Former pupil Brian Dunne25 



12.119     During the mid-1970s, the Resident Manager’s diary recorded that, at 2am, a former pupil, Brian 

           Dunne, who had been discharged some 10 years previously, ‘broke in and interfered with boys’. 

           The following night, at 1.30am, he again broke into the School and sexually assaulted five boys. 

           On this occasion, he was caught by Br Marque. Eight months later, he once again broke into the 

           School. No further details of these incidents are available. The former pupil had been in Salthill 

           for six years during the 1960s. 



           25 This is a pseudonym. 



           540                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 571-----------------------

           Patrick Nolan,26       trainee childcare worker 



12.120     A  number  of  staff  approached  Br  Burcet27      in  the  late  1980s,  expressing  concerns  they  had  in 



           relation to a care worker who held a temporary position with the Christian Brothers and who had 

           himself been a resident of the home during the 1970s. They recounted an allegation, made by a 

           boy  residing  in  the  School,  that  Mr  Nolan  had  attempted  a  serious  sexual  assault  on  him  the 

           previous summer. The boy alleged that Mr Nolan targeted loners and used bribery as part of his 

           modus operandi. Another staff member also recounted a recent incident when she discovered Mr 

           Nolan and a pupil alone in a room, supposedly practising for the school concert. When she entered 

           the room, the boy was sitting on the care worker’s knee and immediately jumped up. She also 

           expressed concerns for another child who was close to Mr Nolan. 



12.121     The  Board  of  Management  conducted  an  inquiry  and  suspended  Mr  Nolan,  who  denied  the 

           allegations. Approximately two months later, Mr Nolan was informed that the investigation was 

           complete,  that  there  were  serious  doubts  regarding  his  professional  trust,  and  the  Board  of 

           Management felt it had no option but to terminate his employment with the School. He was given 

           a lump sum to help him financially. 



12.122     Mr   Nolan   brought    proceedings     against   the  School    under   the  unfair  dismissal    legislation.  In 

           correspondence regarding this litigation, Br Burcet noted that ‘it is most likely that Patrick Nolan 

           in his defence will point out that he himself was sexually abused while he was in St Joseph’s’. Br 

           Burcet  expressed  concern  regarding  the  potential  damage  that  publicity  surrounding  the  court 

           case could do the School. The case settled on the day of the hearing. In the mid-1990s, Mr Nolan 

           made a statement to the Gardai alleging sexual abuse by three Brothers whilst he was a pupil 

                                                 ´ 

           in Salthill. 



12.123     In conclusion: 



                   •    Although the allegations in this case were treated with more urgency than other 

                        incidents of sexual abuse cited above, the resolution of the case was motivated 

                        by a desire to avoid damaging publicity against the School. The consequences 

                        for   other   children    who    would     come    into   contact    with   this   man    were    not 

                        considered. 



                   •    The treatment of Mr Nolan, a layman, can be contrasted with that of Br Dacian, 

                        which is outlined above and whose abuse also came to light at the same time. 



                   •    Mr Nolan made serious allegations of sexual abuse which caused a settlement 

                        to  be  reached  in  his  unfair  dismissal  case.  There  was  no  evidence  from  the 

                        Christian     Brothers’     files  that   these    allegations     were    investigated      by   the 

                        Provincialate or passed on to the Western Health Board. 



           Br Julien28 



12.124     Brother Julien spent seven years in Salthill during the 1930s. During service in his next posting, 

           Artane, he was accused of misconduct. A personnel sheet in relation to Br Julien provided the 

           information that: ‘clear evidence came to light of serious, long, continued misconduct with boys in 

           Artane. He asked for dispensation from his vows and left the Congregation [in] 1944’. Br Julien 

           was implicated, along with three other Brothers, according to the Visitation Report, which noted: 



                  In our Institution it should be considered a very grave offence for a Br to take a boy to his 

                  room on any pretext, or to be seen alone with a boy on any occasion. Unfortunately the 

                  Rule forbidding such was not observed in Artane. Boys were also taken out of the shops 

                 and off the parade by Brothers for various reasons. These have now been prohibited. The 



           26 This is a pseudonym. 

           27 This is a pseudonym. 

           28 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      541 


----------------------- Page 572-----------------------

                 superior should have access to all rooms and stores in the institutions at all reasonable 

                 times and keys should be provided to enable him to have such access. 



12.125     •    There was no documentary evidence as to any sexual activity by this Brother in Salthill 

                 but, given the recidivist nature of this crime, there must be serious concern regarding 

                 his time there. 



           Br Piperel29 



12.126     Br Piperel taught in Salthill for two years in the mid-1940s. He had earlier worked in Letterfrack, 

           where he had been the subject of a serious complaint that he was sexually interfering with boys. 

           A  full  account  of  the  case  is  contained  in  the  chapter  on  Letterfrack  but  a  brief  outline  of  it  is 

           included here. 



12.127     The Provincial received an anonymous letter of accusation from ‘a friend of the school’ in relation 

           to concerns about Br Piperel’s behaviour in Letterfrack. The letter-writer asked the Provincial to 

           change Br Piperel for the morals of the boys. 



12.128     The Provincial did not conceal his disquiet. Having set out a transcription of the anonymous letter, 

           he wrote to Br Piperel: 



                 These recurring warnings are causing me grave anxiety. Taken in connection with what 

                 did happen between you and boys on a previous occasion there is quite justifiable cause 

                 for all my anxiety. 



                  Has anything wrong, such as is described in the above letter, taken place between you 

                 and    a  boy,   or  boys?    The   matter    is so   grave,   and   is  fraught   with   such   serious 

                 consequences to you, to the Institution and to the Congregation, that I require you to be 

                 very open and candid with me. Please let me have a letter from you by return. 



12.129     Br Piperel wrote a three-page letter defending his behaviour and alleging that another member of 

           staff had made malicious allegations against him. 



12.130     At  the  time  of  the  complaint,  Br  Piperel  had  been  in  Letterfrack  for  some  eight  years  and  he 

           continued his career there for another four years. Thereafter, he served in Salthill, Tralee and Glin 

           for almost 10 years, including two years in Salthill. The records contained complaints about the 

           Brother’s work and attitude in these institutions, but did not record incidents of sexual impropriety. 



12.131     His last posting was to a school in Cork in the 1950s, where his career as a teacher came to a 

           dramatic end as a result of a complaint by a local doctor about his inappropriate behaviour with a 

           young girl. 



12.132     In their Opening Statement for Letterfrack, the Christian Brothers recorded the facts about this 

           Brother in summary form, noting that he ‘was given the opportunity to explain himself and give 

           his interpretation of what happened’. They commented: 



                  It is not clear why Br X was moved around from institution to institution despite being a 

                 danger to the boys. There is no detailed account to indicate what discussion took place 

                 about the matter, nor any indication as to why such a decision was taken. 



12.133     •    This Brother was transferred to Salthill, notwithstanding the history of concern about 

                 his conduct with boys. Again, there was no evidence that he interfered with boys there, 

                 and it must also be borne in mind that no case was proved against him in Letterfrack. 

                 However, the documents indicated that the Brother Provincial had a serious concern 



           29 This is a pseudonym. 



           542                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 573-----------------------

                about his propensities, and that alone should have ensured that he was not appointed 

                to another residential school. 



           Conclusions on sexual abuse in Salthill 



  12.134           1.  The appointment to Salthill of a Brother with a known propensity for abuse of 

                       boys showed a reckless disregard for the safety of children in care. 



                  2.   Concerns were raised about three Brothers whilst they were in Salthill. In none 

                       of these cases was the abuse addressed, other than as a practical problem for 

                       the Congregation. One Brother continued in his post and the two others were 

                       transferred to other schools. In the case of one of them, there is documentary 

                       evidence of serious abuse of young boys continuing for over 20 years after his 

                       transfer from Salthill. 



                   3.  The Congregation protected its own reputation instead of protecting children. 



           Neglect and emotional abuse 



  12.135   In the  1940s and 1950s,  there were  around 200 boys  in Salthill. Unlike  the position  in Artane, 

           many of these children were under eight years of age. In 1955, for example, over 80 of the 165 

           boys registered for the national school were in second class or lower. Despite the large numbers 

           of very small children, staffing was no higher than in other industrial schools. 



  12.136   In Salthill, the absence of any childcare training had more serious consequences because of the 

           age profile of so many of the children. 



  12.137   Although conditions improved in the mid-1970s, for the previous 40 years of its existence, Salthill 

           did not deliver an adequate level of physical care to the children who were sent there. A picture 

           of the Institution emerged from the Visitation Reports and the Department of Education reports 

           for the period. 



  12.138   As in other Christian Brothers’ schools, both the children and the Community were supported out 

           of the capitation grants. Very little information was available in the Visitation Reports but, in one 

           year, the figures were set out in detail. In 1943, £1,600 was allocated to the nine Brothers in the 

           School by way of stipend. In that same year, the three teaching Brothers received £214, or £71 

           each, by way of salary from the Department of Education. 



  12.139   The financial position depended on the number of children, and in 1960 the Visitor noted that, ‘As 

           the numbers are being maintained the finances are satisfactory’. 



  12.140   In each of the succeeding years, stipends were paid into the House accounts, although no other 

           breakdown  of  the  figures  was  available.  By  the  1970s,  the  House  account  had  a  large  credit 

           balance in the bank, but this was accounted for, in part at least, by the sale of land. 



  12.141   In  1947,  the  Visitor  observed  that:  ‘Apart  from  Government  grants  ...,  rent,  shops  and  farm 

           contributed  substantially  to  the  funds’.  Notwithstanding  this,  in  1951, the  Visitor  referred  to  the 

           serious disadvantage caused by the lack of a farm. There was insufficient land attached to the 

           Institution to allow it to be self-sufficient in terms of food. 



  12.142   During the relevant period, funding for the boys in Salthill was adequate to meet their basic needs. 



  12.143   The early Visitation Reports from the 1940s were very critical of the lack of hygiene in the School. 



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----------------------- Page 574-----------------------

12.144     In 1938, the Visitor’s Report painted a rather dismal picture of life in the Institution. The Visitor 

           noted  that  the  workshops  were  very  old  and  dilapidated.  He  advised  that  they  be  replaced 

           immediately, as they presented a potential hazard. 



12.145     He suggested that the chapel be heated during the months of rain, not only to preserve the timber 

           but also as the children must be cold. Similarly, he noted that the recreation hall presented as 

           drab, dark and cold, although ‘a few expressed the view that the breaths of the large number of 

           boys made the room quite endurable’. He recommended that a good heating system would be 

           desirable for maintenance purposes. An indication of how cold the School must have been was 

           gleaned from the fact that the Brothers tended to wear their cloaks at all times up to the month of 

           April. The boys did not possess cloaks. 



12.146     The Visitor was critical of the overall cleanliness of the boys’ clothing and of the dormitories. 



12.147     In 1939, Dr Anna McCabe30          conducted her first general inspection of Salthill. She noted that the 



           School looked untidy, as did the children. Otherwise, she found the boys were healthy. 



12.148     The following year, the Visitor remarked that, ‘this is the one of our institutions that has impressed 

           me least’. The Institution gave a dirty, drab impression and ‘tidiness is not a feature of the place’. 



12.149     The boys’ kitchen was renovated in 1942, as it was in a particularly offensive condition because 

           of rats’ nests, a fact that was not commented on by the Department of Education Inspector. 



12.150     Dr McCabe wrote to the Resident Manager, after her inspection in July 1942, complaining about: 



                  the  unsatisfactory  conditions  in  which  I  found  the  beds  and  bedding,  dormitories  and 

                  corridors, in the matter of general cleanliness, also the need for painting and plastering 

                  of some of the walls. 



12.151     Br Vachel,31  the Manager, defended the condition of the Institution, and blamed Dr McCabe’s poor 



           impression on the bad timing of her visit. 



12.152     The Visitor in May 1943 was shocked at the state of disrepair and low standard of cleanliness of 

           the premises, which he put down to wartime conditions, low finances, and a certain lack of energy 

           on the part of the Superior due to his ill-health. The Report noted a lack of cleanliness in the boys’ 

           bedclothes, but reserved its main criticism for their eating facilities and implements: 



                  The boys’ refectory is the part of the institution most lacking in cleanliness. The floor is in 

                  a bad condition. The oil cloth covering the tables is old dirty and in places ragged. The 

                  forms  are dirty  and  badly  need scrubbing.  The  plates and  mugs  are  of aluminium  and 

                  have the undersides dirty and greasy. Some of the mugs are of tin showing signs of rust. 

                  The plates that were once enamelled have a wretched appearance. The Brother in charge 

                  has too little to do but he is dirty and lazy ... The impression produced is that St. Joseph’s 

                  is a neglected place inhabited by people devoid of a sense of cleanliness. Some cleanup 

                  may  have  been  done  in  preparation  for  the  visitor  and  the  ordinary  condition  may  be 

                  worse  that  what  I  describe  so  that  if  a  Government  Inspector  came  unannounced  and 

                  made  a  close  inspection  his  report  would  be  very  damaging  and  would  bring  shame 

                  upon us. 



12.153     The Visitor was of the view that the situation in Salthill was so serious that a visit from the Brother 

           Provincial would be necessary in order to drive home the gravity of the matter to the Superior. 



           30 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. See the Department of 



              Education chapter for a discussion of her role and performance. 

           31 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 575-----------------------

  12.154  A  similar  theme  pervaded  the  Visitation  Reports  of  the  1940s,  and  the  shocking  state  of  the 

          Institution was referred to again and again. 



  12.155  The 1944 Visitation Report noted the shabby state of the boys’ refectory and dilapidated condition 

          of the outbuildings. 



  12.156  Dr McCabe conducted a General Inspection of the School in June 1944 and, once again, noted 

          the  tattered  and  patched  state  of  the  children’s  clothing  and  footwear.  The  Resident  Manager 

          complained  about  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  supplies  and  the  prohibitive  cost  of  material.  He 

          criticised the practice under which children were discharged into the care of their parents after 

          spending only a short time in the Institution. This had a destabilising effect on the other children. 

          He also regarded  it as unfair that  the Brothers fit these  children out with new  clothes, only for 

          them  to leave  a short  time later.  Dr McCabe  also noted  that the  premises were  badly  in need 

          of repair. 



  12.157  In 1946, the Visitor expressed concern at the dangerous state of the workshops. He noted that 

          there  were  seven  boys  employed  in  the  bakery,  which  supplied  the  needs  of  the  School.  This 

          workshop was dirty, with cobwebs everywhere. Five boys were employed in the laundry. He was 

          critical of the laundry facilities, the torn bedclothes and the clothing of the boys. 



  12.158  The Visitor in 1947 noted that a series of long overdue renovations were underway. 



  12.159  The following year, the Visitor noted a number of improvements to the premises, including the 

          dormitories, infirmary, bathroom, recreation hall and dining hall. 



  12.160  Despite the improvements introduced at the end of the 1940s, the Visitation Report for 1950 was 

          still critical of the conditions for the boys and the Brothers. The Visitor observed that there was 

          little in the way of recreation for the boys and that ‘life is rather drab here for boys and Brothers. 

          The boys can have little healthy to talk about’. He noted that the schoolyard was in a deplorable 

          condition, the concrete being badly broken. He suggested the introduction of two young Brothers 

          to the Community to inject some life into the Institution. 



  12.161  The Visitation Report for 1950 stated that ‘a wave of immorality’ had been discovered, which was 

          dealt with by means of a four-day retreat for the boys. 



  12.162  In 1951, the Visitor drew attention to the unsuitability of the boys’ dormitories. They were housed 

          in two reconstructed old mills and were badly ventilated. He did not notice any improvement the 

          following year: ‘Conditions are just tolerable but no effort is made to put the touch of finality on 

          either cleanliness or good order’. Tailoring and shoemaking were the only trades catered for in 

          the School, and he recommended that a carpenter’s shop be opened. 



  12.163  Dr McCabe conducted an Inspection of the School in June 1953 and, while she accepted that the 

          School was well run, she noted that many improvements were required. She suggested a new 

          washing machine and colander for the laundry. 



  12.164  In March 1954, the Visitor observed some improvements in the appearance of the premises. He 

          criticised the boys’ kitchen with its out-dated cooking equipment and only one functioning boiler 

          that provided for all of the needs of the School. The pantry was damp, covered in cobwebs, and 

          unsuitable for the storage of food. He noted that the bread supplied by the in-house bakery was 

          anything but appetising. In October of the same year, Dr McCabe reported that a newly appointed 

          Resident Manager had plans for many improvements, including installation of a new kitchen unit, 

          new sanitary annex with showers and a new heating system, as well as resurfacing the yard. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               545 


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12.165    By the time of the Visitation in February 1956, many renovations and improvements had been 

          made to the boys’ kitchen, bathrooms, dining hall, school rooms and workshops. New equipment 

          was  introduced  to  the  kitchen  and  an  immersion  heater  installed.  Improvements  were  again 

          acknowledged in the Report of 1957, particularly to the dormitories and kitchen. 



12.166    The 1958 Visitation Report noted that hot water was now available in the dormitories and that the 

          boys had baths every fortnight. 



12.167    Major repair works took place during the early 1960s, which saw a new block constructed housing 

          a dormitory and bathroom facilities. The primary school building was updated and new furniture 

          purchased. A central heating system was installed. 



12.168    Fr Henry Moore, who wrote a critical report on Artane in the early 1960, was complimentary about 

          Salthill. He said that he had visited a number of industrial schools at that time, including Salthill. 

          He knew the Manager in Salthill, as they had been raised in the same orphanage: 



                Now, albeit it was a very small school in comparison to Artane, I was very impressed by 

                his management and by the way he treated the boys. They looked very well, they were 

                very well dressed and I was quite happy with my experience there ... I thought Salthill 

                was more civilised and more happier. 



12.169    A more critical approach was adopted by the Visitor in 1967, who noted: 



                The  boys  here  range  from  infants  to  young  men  at  work  in  the  town  or  attending  the 

                technical  school.  All  perforce  are  treated  alike  –  young  and  old.  The  same  type  of 

                discipline is used from the time he enters the school until he leaves it. Older boys resent 

                this. None of the men with the exception of the Superior has any special training for this 

                work.  This  is  acknowledged  by  the  staff  and  lamented.  Each  child  is  a  problem  and 

                requires special treatment – perhaps individual would be a better word than special – until 

                he  becomes  stabilised.:  The  young  Brothers  know  little  or  nothing  about  the  previous 

                history of their boys – there are no record cards available. 



12.170    He thought that, once the boys reached the age of 12, they should be transferred to Artane. The 

          Visitor did not agree with the writer of the previous year’s Visitation Report that the Brothers were 

          doing a good job in Salthill. However, he did not blame the staff, as they were doing the best they 

          could with the resources they had at their disposal. He criticised the frequent change in staff, as 

          just when they had established a relationship with the boys, invariably they would be moved on. 

          He added: 



                Perhaps we put too much stress on academic training – lessons in hygiene in personal 

                cleaniness – in care of clothes – in polishing of shoes – in using of laces in their shoes – 

                in combing of hair of walking without slouching are all of great importance for these boys. 

                I thought the boys were badly clad and untidy. If we were inspected by an outside authority 

                we would not be pleased with the report ... We need two things for this school 1) more 

                money 2) more trained staff. We need a few nuns more so than in Artane – the boys here 

                seem more helpless. 



12.171    Six years later, little seemed to have changed. 



12.172    In 1973, the Visitor was extremely condemnatory of the School. He noted that the boys in Salthill 

          were generally more disturbed than the boys in Letterfrack and that, by comparison, the School 

          was understaffed. This was a disturbing comparison because Letterfrack was operated as a junior 

          remand home for boys who had committed criminal offences. Both the age and the number of 

          staff were concerns in this regard. He noted, ‘The lack of female assistance is apparent as well 



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           as the need for such evidenced by the way the boys flock around the assistant cook when she is 

           cleaning around the home’. 



12.173     He expressed concern at the fate of boys leaving the School: 



                 The    traditional  practice   has   been   to  place   the   boys   in  ‘digs’  when    they  become 

                 apprentices, but recently this has not worked out satisfactorily. For some reason, possibly 

                 because more disturbed boys are being admitted, they are not emotionally prepared for 

                 such independence and rather startling reactions have occurred when they have been so 

                 placed. Consequently more of them are remaining at the home and the problem of how 

                 to deal with them is becoming acute. For any boy, of course, to be sent into the world on 

                 his own with no family or friends at the age of 15 and with very little earning ability can 

                 be a shattering experience and perhaps the policy needs to be reconsidered. 



12.174     The Brother noted the plan to instigate a group home system with the 50 boys in residence and 

           welcomed this initiative. He was critical of the lack of recreational facilities available for the boys, 

           watching TV being the main pastime. 



12.175     He feared that ‘The present policy would seem to be to let [the School] run on (or perhaps run 

           down) with a view to its ultimate demise’. 



12.176     He warned that: 



                 The   present    situation  whereby    the   boys   end  up   after  ten  years   with  us  frightened, 

                 immature, resentful with little prospect for their self support is unfair both to them and to 

                 the Brothers concerned as well as harmful to the good name of the Congregation. 



12.177     The  Visitor  proposed  a  number  of  recommendations  for  the  future  sustainability  of  the  School 

           which included: 



                         i.  that a suitable Brother be appointed to accept responsibility for the Senior boys ... 

                             His main duties would be to assist them in the transition from institutional to normal 

                             social life, to teach them the social graces e.g. behaviour at social affairs (none of 

                             the apprentices can now attend a dance – they must be in by 10pm) to support 

                             them    in  their  apprenticeship     difficulties,  to  help   them    to  accept    personal 

                             responsibility for their life as they enter the adult world. Such a Brother therefore 

                             should   not   have   the  institutional  mentality   or  be  engrossed     in the  child-care 

                             approach. An example of a suitable person is Brother ... presently studying at the 

                             hostel  though  it  would  hardly  be  fair  to  interfere  with  his  studies  at  the  present 

                             time ... 



                         ii. that the plans proposed by the Manager of renovating the former infirmary as a 

                             group home for the apprentices is approved in principle. However, the visitor felt 

                             that,  if  this  plan  of  providing  a  separate  home  is  accepted,  it  should  be  done 

                             thoroughly and not on a patch-work basis since a large factor in the success of 

                             making    these   boys   self-respecting    and   socially  acceptable    will  be  the  home 

                             environment in which they find themselves and of which they can be proud. Hot 

                             and  cold  water,  central  heating,  suitable  and  adequate  showering  facilities  and 

                             pleasant  rooms for  sleeping  and  recreation are  important  even though  they  will 

                             obviously be rather expensive. 



                        iii. that the further plans of the Manager for dividing the boys into groups with their 

                             own home-areas be examined sympathetically. 



                        iv.   that the assistant cook (or other lady) be employed to take care of the dormitory 

                             of  the  younger  boys  and  of  their  clothing.  In  general  the  bed  linen  of  the  boys 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     547 


----------------------- Page 578-----------------------

                           is not changed frequently enough, they get changes of underclothing only once 

                           a week. 



                      v.   that a suitable ‘dig’ be rented by the school and used to train the apprentices in 

                           social behaviour. This could be done by placing each apprentice there for a two 

                           or three-week period and making arrangements with the landlady for reports on 

                           their behaviour. Since the boys would know that they would be shortly returning 

                           to the Home, they would not experience the feeling of panic at the prospect as 

                           they do now and they would not be completely on their own. 



                      vi.  that financial arrangements be made to assist the apprentices in their digs until 

                           their income is adequate for their own support ... 



                     vii.  ... Perhaps the greatest need of the boys is to achieve some sense of individuality, 

                           the very nature of an institution militates against this. 



12.178    The remainder of the Visitation Reports for the 1970s noted the changing face of the School. A 

          group home-style system was put in place and female staff hired. The type of boy resident in the 

          School also subtly changed over time so that, by the late 1970s, it mainly provided shelter for 

          boys from broken homes who had emotional or psychological needs. 



12.179    The   problems   were   still acute, however,   and  two   groups  of  local people   were   sufficiently 

          concerned to write letters setting out their concerns. 



          Letters of concern 



12.180    Following the publication of the Kennedy Report in 1970, the Secretary of the Galway Godparents 

          Association  wrote  to  the  Department  of  Education  on  9th  January  1971  about  two  industrial 



          schools, including St Joseph’s, Salthill, in which the organisation had taken particular interest. She 

          described the work the Association was doing: 



                The  Committee  of  our  Association  organised  classes  in  Art,  Crafts,  Music,  Physical 

                Education, Games & Elocution in both ... & St. Josephs. The classes were conducted by 

                qualified teachers who gave their time free of charge & our Association bore all expenses 

                for equipment & materials. The classes were a remarkable success and the children were 

                benefiting immensely from them. 



12.181    Regarding Salthill, the Association made three complaints: 



                The  Manager  of  St.  Joseph’s  is  elderly  and  has  no  training  in  Child  Care.  He  was 

                appointed to his present post in August 1970 and it is his first experience of working in 

                an Industrial School. Since his appointment he has discouraged the Godparent idea and 

                has refused any additional Godparents, even though many of the boys have no family to 

                take them out for regular visits. We get the impression that he is unaware of the great 

                difficulties which the boys face when they leave the institution – serious difficulties which 

                we are coming across continuously. The boys in primary school do not go out to school. 

                St. Josephs is an all male institution ... We fully agree with the Reports’ Assessment of 

                the disadvantage of this sex segregation. 



                There is no  question of any of  the children in ...  St. Josephs ... being  educated to the 

                ultimate of their capacity. There is a crying need ... for specialised teaching and provision 

                for third level education. 



                After Care is simply non-existent. ... boys are unable to find suitable digs, are unable to 

                manage in flats and have no place to go for holidays or days off, no one to care for them 

                if they are sick or unemployed. Their extreme loneliness often drives them to do the very 

                things for which they are branded. Not alone is there a need for pre-release Hostels and 

                trained social workers & After Care agents but that these trained people should be working 



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                 with the children during the years prior to their discharge, thus being well-acquainted with 

                 them & gaining their confidence. 



12.182     The letter went on: 



                 We feel that there is no justification for the continued existence of either ... or St Josephs’ 

                  in their present form. The damage being done to the children in both institutions can only 

                  be halted by an immediate change in the system. 



12.183     In the summer of 1972, a representative of the Godparents Association wrote, on its behalf, to 

           the Provincial Council expressing deep concern for the boys in Salthill. She did not elaborate on 

           what these concerns were, but requested a meeting with members of the Council to discuss the 

           problems. She received short shrift from the Council, who informed her in no uncertain terms that 

           they saw little purpose in convening such a meeting and suggested that she discuss any issues 

           with   the   Resident    Manager      who,    she   was    assured,     would    be   ‘very   sympathetic     and 

           accommodating’. The true sentiments of the Provincial Council to the approach by the Association 

           were reflected in an undated memorandum which stated: 



                 They wrote a highly critical and uncomplimentary letter to the Galway Advertiser about 

                 the  Nuns  in  Lenaboy.  Are  in  the  bad  books  of  the  Bishop.  Went  to  the  Minister.  Are 

                  interfering and seek notoriety. 



12.184     The Christian Brothers were quite happy to dismiss the Association rather than seek elaboration 

           on the substance of their concerns. 



12.185     A  year later,  the  Irish  Countrywomen’s Association  wrote  a strong  report  to  the Department  of 

           Education, calling for urgent action to deal with the plight of children in industrial schools. They 

           identified the key aim of childcare as being to prevent family breakdown and saw residential care 

           as a last resort. They were particularly critical of the single-sex policy that operated in Galway, 

           which led to the inevitable break-up of families: 



                 We have witnessed the heartbreak of these deprived children on arrival at the institutions; 

                 the added heartbreak when they are separated, brothers from sisters. Our own doctors 

                  have treated the children for lice, scabies and contagious impetigo and are willing to bear 

                 testimony to this. 



12.186     They were also critical of the aftercare provided in Galway: 



                  Many of the boys leave at sixteen with only a very poor primary education and go from 

                 one menial job to another. It is not unusual for one boy to have been in nine jobs in the 

                 space of two years. 



                  For some time there has been a pattern of boys from St Josephs sleeping out because 

                 they have nowhere to go. Some boys who have left Galway within the past three years 

                 are now in Limerick jail. What becomes of those who emigrate? 



           Reminiscences of a former Manager 



12.187     Conditions in Salthill in 1973 were described by a former manager, Br Ames,32  who took up office 



           in  that  year.  He  described  his  experiences  there  in  an  interview  he  gave  for  Congregation 

           purposes. When he arrived in August 1973, there were about 47 boys in the School. He found 

           that there was no trust with the older boys but it was possible to communicate with the younger 

           ones. There was some bullying going on by the bigger boys, and they were able to intimidate the 

           younger ones from relating to the Brothers. He said the boys were violent and cruel. 



           32 This is a pseudonym. 



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12.188     It was clear to Br Ames that big changes had to be made, and he decided that the place should 

           be changed into residential homes. He stated that he failed to get funding for the work from the 

           Department  of  Education  and  so  went  to  the  bank  and  borrowed  £15,000.  The  Department  of 

           Education discovery, however, indicated that, in 1974, ‘The Home was remodelled interiorly at a 

           cost of £8,000 £6,000 of a grant was given by the Dep. of Education’. 



12.189     Br  Ames  said  that  he  and  his  colleagues  tried  different  schemes,  and  eventually  installed  15 

           bedrooms  with  living/dining  areas  attached,  so  as  to  replicate  a  family  environment  as  far  as 

           possible. 



12.190     Other changes were made whereby staff were increased and engaged full-time in care work rather 

           than having to teach. Older boys who were going out to work used the School as a residential 

           facility to help them with the transition from institutional life to that in the outside world. The other 

           boys went out to school instead of being taught in the Institution. They were able to make friends 

           and acquaintances outside, and sometimes visitors came back to the School. Members of a family 

           could  live  together  in  one  unit.  If  a  parent  visited,  he  or  she  could  be  welcomed  and  treated 

           with respect. 



12.191     The whole system, in short, was organised on civilised and sensitive lines, with a view to making 

           the lives of  the boys as close  to normal as possible.  Br Ames acknowledged that  what he did 

           could not have been achieved with larger numbers, but he did point out that another Brother had 

           had considerable success in Artane when he reduced the number of boys in a unit to 30. 



12.192     Br  Ames  was  proud  of  his  achievements  in  Salthill.  The  need  for  change  was  driven  by  the 

           rejection  by  society  generally  of  the  institutionalised  childcare  that  had  been  the  hallmark  of 

           Christian Brother involvement in this area. As was clear from the letters quoted above, thinking 

           had moved on and regimes such as Salthill were no longer acceptable. 



12.193     According to Br Ames, the results were remarkable. The boys were happier. Their behaviour in 

           the Institution improved enormously. They were more sociable. They were more comfortable than 

           before in dealing with animals, which Br Ames had begun to introduce into the School. Relations 

           with the staff were greatly improved, and there was much less friction between the different groups 

           of boys. 



12.194     Br Ames and Br Burcet were also responsible for introducing professional childcare workers and 

           male  and  female  house  parents  in  the  Institution.  They  adopted  modern  methods  to  meet  the 

           different needs of the children. The Brothers revitalised the Managers’ Association, which brought 

           together the Resident Managers from all industrial schools and reformatories in the country, using 

           it to meet regularly and to discuss the work that they were doing with the children in their care. Br 

           Ames  worked  on  a  draft  Charter  of  Rights  for  children  in  care.  The  Association  organised  an 

           international conference that was held in Ireland in 1979. 



12.195     The  development  of  the  thinking  of  the  Brothers  in  this  School  showed  what  could  have  been 

           achieved in  other industrial schools under  their care. By  the time these changes  were brought 

           about, Artane, Letterfrack, Tralee, Carriglea and Glin had all been closed. Only Salthill remained, 

           and the need for control of the system by the Congregation was gone. 



12.196     The impact of this professional approach to the work in Salthill was reflected in the 1974 Visitation 

           Report,  which  was  entirely  different  in  tone  from  those  that  had  preceded  it.  In  particular,  the 

           Visitor noted the effect of Br Burcet’s arrival: 



                 His [Br  Burcet’s] coming to  St Joseph’s last  August has been  a tremendous boon  and 

                 blessing.  He  is  the  Manager’s  guide,  philosopher  and  friend  in  creating  an  improved 

                 atmosphere of care and relationship between the children and the Brothers. His Kilkenny 



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                Course in Child Care has brought a new dimension and an added empathy to his work 

                and, slowly but surely, the communication barriers are being removed, the children are 

                becoming much more friendly, open and amenable and are relating much better with one 

                another and with the staff. 



12.197    The Visitor remarked: 



                The ending of ‘the old order’, to which Remi was accustomed for so long, has caused him 

                some upset and paradoxically this may well be a blessing in disguise for him. He is now 

                doing  a  much  more  taxing  round  of  duty  than  was  his  wont  for  quite  some  years  and 

                despite his overt yearning for the good old days when boys were made toe the line in 

                quasi-military fashion one senses that deep down he is slowly and reluctantly coming to 

                appreciate that the new approach has something to recommen it. 



12.198    It was difficult to completely remove the decades of institutionalisation that had operated in Salthill. 

          In 1978, Mr Graham Granville noted in an Inspection Report for the Department of Education that, 

          despite the group home units, the nature of the accommodation made for a very institutional feel, 

          lacking in a homely atmosphere. He complimented the staff on their efforts despite the obstacles. 

          He reiterated his concerns in his Inspection Reports of the early 1980s. He found many facilities 

          requiring modernisation and saw the construction of new custom-made group homes as the way 

          forward. 



          Education 



12.199    The Visitation Reports touched on this aspect of the work of the Institution throughout the four 

          decades  that  an  internal  primary  school  operated  in  Salthill.  In  general,  the  Visitor  seemed 

          satisfied  with  the  standard  of  education  provided  in  the  1940s,  although  from  year  to  year  a 

          particular Visitor voiced a concern. 



12.200    In 1940, a Visitor remarked, ‘The boys are on the whole docile and easily managed and show 

          average intelligence in class’. 



12.201    The  payment  of  salaries  to  the  internal  national  school  teachers  saw  the  number  of  Brothers 

          assigned to the School increase by two, and a marked improvement in the standard of education 

          was noted in 1941. 



12.202    However, the 1943 Visitation Report was critical of the standard of education in the higher classes. 

          The Visitor found that the boys in 3rd, 4th  and 5th  standards were ‘quite unable to read the lessons 



          in our Readers which are in use’ and he cautioned that ‘if proper steps are not taken some of 

          these boys may leave the school in a semi-illiterate condition’. 



12.203    The 1958 Report offered what was probably the explanation for the poor standard in the senior 

          classes. It observed that the teacher in charge of infants and first standard was not efficient. The 

          Visitor noted: 



                He is partially paralysed and his writing on Blackboard is nearly illegible for an adult to 

                read  and  hence  it  must  make  no  impression  on  the  boys  of  the  age  group  he  has.  I 

                examined these boys in Christian Doctrine, English Reading, and tables. It could not be 

                said that the boys were hopeless but they were certainly retarded for boys 7 years of age. 

                It would also seem that the poor teaching they get in this class tells on the whole Primary 

                School. According to age groups they would all be retarded by one year. 



12.204    He recommended that the teacher be asked to retire, even if this meant that the Brothers had to 

          supplement the difference in his pension due to his early retirement. 



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12.205     In March 1959, the Visitor noted that the teacher mentioned in the 1958 Report was still in the 

           School: ‘The poor man is physically unfit to take charge and teach boys’. As he was a registered 

           teacher, the Brothers had difficulty removing him. The Visitor believed that the boys’ schooling got 

           off to a bad start under this man’s tutelage. 



12.206     During the Visitation of March 1961, the Principal pointed out that on average, one-third of boys 

           in each class were below the normal standard and said that the majority of boys who fell into this 

           category came from County Homes. The Visitor noted that the Brothers had still not succeeded 

           in getting rid of the teacher in charge of the younger boys.. 



12.207     In 1973, due to dwindling numbers, the boys were transferred to the local primary school. 



12.208     It is difficult to see how a teacher with the disabilities as outlined above could have given the boys 

           in Salthill any kind of basic education. He was listed as a teacher in the School for 25 years. 



12.209     In their 1972 report to the Department of Education, the Irish Countrywomen’s Association were 

           critical of the education offered in Salthill: 



                  2.6 We recognise that education is one of the most important formative influences on the 

                  children  with  whome  we  are  concerned,  whether  they  are  deprived  or  delinquent.  All 

                  children in Residential Care or otherwise in care, should be educated to the ultimate of 

                  their capacities ... In the past five years no boy in St Joseph’s, Salthill ... has got either 

                  Intermediate or Leaving Certificate. As far as we know, no child ever got this far ... 



           Contact with home 



12.210     Although contact with families was recognised as essential as far back as 1936 when the Cussen 

           Report was published, Salthill, like many other industrial schools, was reluctant to allow children 

           home for the full period recommended by the Department, which had been extended to 31 days 

           in 1943. 



12.211     In 1944, the Resident Manager was asked to explain why 126 children out of the School population 

           of 207  had not been allowed  home during the  Summer. The Resident Manager  expressed his 

           view that: 



                  I believe the homes were unsuitable but one does not like saying so to a boy. Even though 

                  parental  unsuitability  is  cited  in  only  17%  of  committals,  in  my  opinion  a  much  higher 

                  percentage could be got under this heading but guards33  and NSPCC inspectors often, or 



                  sometimes, when they are sure of a committal, take proceedings under a less obnoxious 

                  heading such as School attendance. 



12.212     There was no evidence that the Resident Manager made any enquiries about the home situation 

           of the boys, but the letter quoted above indicated a reluctance to encourage parental contact. 



12.213     It was not until 1959 that efforts were made to ensure that all boys spent time in an ordinary home 

           environment.  An  appeal  for  holiday  homes  was  made  in  the  local  Catholic  newspapers,  and 

           families came forward and took the boys for five weeks during the summer. From then onwards, 

           all of the boys were sent on holidays either to their own family or to a host family. 



           Christian Brothers’ submissions 



12.214     The Brothers relied on Dr McCabe’s reports in defending the School from criticism. While they 

           acknowledged       her   adverse    comments      on   such   matters    as   clothing   and   dental   care,   they 

           contended that the ‘individual reports from Dr McCabe are uniformly good stating that the school 



           33 This is a reference to the Gardai. 

                                             ´ 



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----------------------- Page 583-----------------------

           is well managed, that the Resident Manager is kind and has the interests of the boys at heart’. 

           They concluded that the ’standard of care provided in St Joseph’s Salthill from the documentations 

           furnished shows that it was continually high. Faults and deficiencies were pointed out where they 

           arose and were quickly rectified’. 



12.215     The  Submissions  did  not  comment  on  the  very  different  assessments  in  their  own  Visitation 

           Reports.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  Congregation  that  their  inspection  system  gave  rise  to  such 

           candid appraisals. These reports by senior members of the Congregation, which were compiled 

           for internal   use,  cannot    be   ignored.   Where    they   conflict  with  more    neutral  Department 

           observations, they are to be preferred in point of accuracy and specificity. 



          Analysis 



12.216     When the Visitation Reports are compared with the Department of Education Inspection Reports, 

           it is clear that the Visitors’ criticisms were much more severe than any corresponding comments 

           by Dr McCabe. 



12.217     The 1943 Visitation Report was scathing. The Visitor criticised most aspects of the Institution and, 

           in particular, the filth of the School. He concluded that, should a Department Inspector conduct 

           an unannounced visit to the School, their report would surely be damning. Dr McCabe did inspect 

           the School three months later but the Brothers had little to fear. Her report was not in any way as 

           critical as the Visitation Report for the same year. 



12.218     Dr McCabe made repeated criticisms of the boys’ clothing, particularly during the 1940s, to no 

           avail. She had no suggestions or recommendations to make when the Superior explained that he 

           had difficulty in obtaining supplies. 



12.219     In 1967, a thorough and critical Report was written following the Visitation. The Visitor stated that 

           he did not agree with the writer of the previous year’s Report that the Brothers were doing a good 

          job in Salthill. In short, he believed that Salthill was unsuitable, particularly for the older boys. He 

           felt that a more personalised and childcare-focused approach should be adopted and was critical 

           of the fact that little was known by the staff of the individual backgrounds of the boys. He remarked 

           that, should  an outside  authority inspect  the School,  the Brothers  might not  be happy  with the 

           contents  of  any  consequential  report.  However,  less  than  a  year  previously,  Dr  Lysaght  had 

           conducted    an  in-depth   inspection   of  the  School    on  behalf   of the   Department,    which   was 

           complimentary of all aspects of the School. This demonstrates a different focus by the Department 

           in their reporting procedure. 



12.220     The Visitation Reports were often critical of the standard of education and the quality of trades 

           training available in the School. 



12.221     The Brothers acknowledged that the trades taught met the needs of the School and did not cater 

           well for the needs of the boys after they left the Institution. The Brothers also acknowledged that 

           there was a stigma attaching to the industrial school boy after he left the School, although little 

           seems to have been done to address this. 



12.222     Dr McCabe often commented in general terms that improvements were made without identifying 

           any particular deficiency in preceding Reports. Her Reports appear more cursory than probing. 

           Where criticisms are noted, there are often no corresponding suggestions for how conditions might 

           be improved. 



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----------------------- Page 584-----------------------

          General conclusions 



12.223     1.  The Visitation Reports described Salthill in the early years as dirty, cold and unhealthy. 

               The boys’ refectory was shabby, the buildings dilapidated, the dormitories unsuitable, 

               the  pantry  damp  and  with  cobwebs  and  the  boys’  kitchen  outdated.  Improvements 

               were  made  over  the  years  but  many  of  these  problems  persisted.  Washing  facilities 

               were   grossly   inadequate    for most   of  the  time.  The   boys’   clothes  were   severely 

               criticised. Their bedclothes were dirty and insufficient. 



           2.  There was little recreation for the boys and an absence of enthusiasm or capacity on 

               the part of the Brothers to arrange for pastimes or amusements for them. 



           3.  Training was substandard and very restricted, and the workshops were unhealthy and 

               actually dangerous for a time. 



           4.  The   education    provided    was   substandard.     In  the  late  1950s   and   early   1960s, 

               management knew that there was a teacher in the School who could not write legibly 

               on a blackboard and who was responsible for the whole primary school being retarded 

               by a full year. Although this man was only identified in 1958 by a Visitor, he had been 

               on the staff of the School for nearly 20 years at this time. In a vital area of care within 

               the specialist remit of the Brothers, this gross inadequacy was permitted to continue. 



           5.  Two Visitors in the late 1960s and early 1970s, identified the inadequacies of the care 

               given  to  the  children.  They  were  able  to  understand  the  needs  of  children  and  the 

               failure of this Institution to meet these needs. 



           6.  When change came, it came slowly and laboriously, and an improvement in one area 

               was often not accompanied by betterment in others. 



           7.  It is not easy to understand how the Departmental Inspector could have been satisfied 

               with  conditions  in  the  Institution  when  what  was  described  by  the  Visitors  was  so 

               clearly inadequate. 



           8.  In  regard  to  physical  abuse,  the  documents  contain  a  record  of  general  complaints 

               about  violent  behaviour  by  Brothers  as  well  as  cases  that  occurred  in  Salthill.  One 

               Brother  who  was  found  to  have  engaged  in  harsh  and  cruel  treatment  of  boys  in 

               Letterfrack was again the subject of complaints of severity towards children in Salthill. 

               Another Brother was found to be repeatedly guilty of excessive harshness in schools 

               to  which  he  was  assigned  after  his  service  in  Salthill.  A  further  Brother  was  warned 

               by the Superior General about his conduct towards boys and it was said of yet another 

               that he should not be put in charge of boys. 



           9.  Concerns were raised about three Brothers in regard to sexual abuse while they were 

               in  Salthill.  In  none  of  the  cases  was  the  abuse  addressed  other  than  as  a  practical 

               problem    for the  Congregation.     In the  case   of one   Brother,  there   is documentary 

               evidence of serious abuse of young boys continuing for over 20 years after his transfer 

               from Salthill. 



          554                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 585-----------------------

          Chapter 13 



          St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, 

           Cabra (‘Cabra’), 1857–1999 



          Introduction 



          Background 



13.01     St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, Cabra (‘Cabra’) was founded in 1856 by the Catholic Institute 

          for  the  Deaf  as  a  residential  school  for  deaf  Catholic  boys.  The  Catholic  Institute  invited  the 

          Christian Brothers to manage the School and, after some persuasion, they agreed. The School 

          opened in 1857, and the Christian Brothers managed it until 2000. The School today is under the 

          trusteeship of the Catholic Institute for Deaf People, formerly the Catholic Institute for the Deaf. 

          The Archbishop of Dublin is the Patron of the School. 



13.02     St Joseph’s, Cabra was not like any other residential school run by the Christian Brothers. They 

          stated in their Opening Submission: 



                St Joseph’s was first and foremost a school for deaf children from all parts of Ireland. It 

                had a residential component for those children who could not travel on a daily basis to 

                the  school.  All  children  who  came  to  school  did  so  voluntarily  and  it  is  this  feature  of 

                electing to come to school that differentiates it from any other residential service that the 

                Congregation ran for children such as the Industrial Schools in Artane and Letterfrack. 



13.03     A  number  of  Brothers  who  had  experience  in  industrial  schools  were  appointed  to  Cabra  and 

          served there at some point during their careers. 



13.04     In 1929 the School at Cabra was recognised by the Department of Education as a national school 

          and,  in  1952,  as  a  special  national  school.  In  1986,  a  secondary  school  was  opened  on  the 

          premises. Both the national and secondary school are administered by a Board of Management 

          and one school Principal. In 1986, six residential houses were built, and these are managed by a 

          Director of Residential Care. The move was designed to change the School from an institutional 

          character to a smaller ‘family’ unit facility, and it introduced lay staff with responsibility for the care 

          of  the  boys.  It  was  a  well-equipped  and  impressive  facility  that  offered  education  and  care  to 

          children who might otherwise not have benefited from the ordinary national school system. 



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13.05     The following photograph has been made available to the Committee: 



          Source: Congregation of the Christian Brothers 



          Population 



13.06     Boys were admitted to the School on the basis of direct application by parents or a referral by a 

          doctor, priest or an education inspector. The School also accepted boys from Northern Ireland 

          who were referred by the Education Board there. Others progressed from Mary Immaculate School 

          for Deaf Boys in Beechpark, Stillorgan, County Dublin which accepted boys up to the age of 10. 

          That school closed in 1998. 



13.07     In the 1930s and 1940s, boys as young as four years of age were admitted, as the prevailing 

          view at that time was that it was in the interests of children with hearing loss to admit them as 

          young  as  possible.  These  trends  changed  over  time,  and  the  age  of  admission  rose  to  six  or 

          seven. The boys remained in the School until 18 years of age. 



13.08     Cabra was both a boarding school and a day school, but the majority of children who attended 

          were boarders. They came from all parts of the country including Northern Ireland. The numbers 

          of children boarding fell from almost 100% in 1938 to less than half in 1998. In the mid-1970s, 

          funding was made available which made it easier for pupils to travel home at weekends. Prior to 

          that,  boarders  would  generally  only  go  home  during  the  school  holidays.  The  authorities  in 

          Northern Ireland organised escorts for the children on their journey home, but the same facility 

          was not available for children from the State. 



13.09     Between 1930 and 2003, approximately 2,018 pupils attended St Joseph’s. In 1938, there were 

          164 pupils in the School. In 1948, there were 154 and, in 1958, this had increased to 206. Numbers 

          peaked in 1979, when there were 314 boys in attendance. By 1998, numbers had fallen to 164. 

          The number of admissions from Northern Ireland peaked in 1949, when 29 were admitted. 



          556                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


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           Management and staff 



13.10      The  head  of  the  Institution  was  the  Superior,  and  the  primary  and  secondary  schools  were 

           managed by a Principal who was usually the Sub-Superior. 



13.11      Between 1935 and 2000, the total number of Brothers who had served in the School was 103. 

           There  were  13  Superiors  during  the  period  1935  and  1991,  seven  of  whom  served  a  six-year 

           term. Between 1935 and 1991, eight Brothers served as Principal. Because the pupils were either 

           totally or partially deaf, a lower pupil-teacher ratio applied than in ordinary schools. In 1950, this 

           was 14 to 1 and, by November 1955, it improved to 10 to 1 and, by 1987, to 6 to 1. 



13.12      In 1986, a new management structure came into being with the opening of the post primary school 

           with a Board of Management with a Chairperson. In 1987, a lay Director of Residential Care was 

           appointed  to  manage  the  day-to-day  running  and  supervision  of  the  residences.  In  2000  the 

           Christian Brothers relinquished the management of the School. 



           Inspections 



13.13      The primary and, secondary school were inspected by officials of the Department of Education. 

           However, no inspection of the residential areas was conducted by the Department. The Provincial 

           and General Councils of the Christian Brothers carried out annual inspections of the School, which 

           included the residential quarters of the boys and the school premises in general. Details of these 

           annual  inspections  are  contained  in  the  Christian  Brothers’  Visitation  Reports.  Officials  from 

           Northern    Ireland  also  regularly   visited  the  School   in  respect   of  children  admitted    from  the 

           Education  Board  in  Northern  Ireland.  The  Hospital  Trust  Fund  Committee  was  also  entitled  to 

           inspect the School. There is a reference in the Visitation Reports of the Christian Brothers to a 

           visit by this Committee in October 1942. 



13.14      The only detailed reports available to the Investigation Committee were the annual inspections 

           carried out by the Christian Brother Visitors from 1938 to 1989. 



           Funding 



13.15      Although some parents did pay fees for their children in Cabra, most of the costs were covered 

           either by the State or by the Catholic Institute for the Deaf. The Hospitals Act, 1939 made provision 

           for deaf schools to get funding from the Hospitals Commission, subject to a number of conditions, 

           one of which was the entitlement of officials in the Department of Health to inspect the School. 

           Annual  capitation  grants  were  provided  by  the  Department  of  Education  and  the  equivalent 

           department in Northern Ireland. The School today receives some funding from the Department of 

           Education and the Catholic Institute. 



13.16      The Visitation Report of 1945 set out the position: 



                 The income is derived from Farm, Capitation grants and a grant from the Committee. A 

                 new arrangement has now been entered into between the Brothers and the Governing 

                 Committee as to method of payment. By this agreement the Brothers are to get £44 per 

                 head for each boy in the school. They are to meet all expenses from this source, along 

                 with this they may also retain the Capitation grant and the net income from the farm. The 

                 Pro-Rata last year was £50. Two accounts are kept. No1 for school. No2 for house. In 

                 the  former  there  is  an  overdraft  of  £612  at  the  end  of  Dec.  last.  In  No.2  there  was  a 

                 surplus  of  £3,015.  With  judicious  management  the  new  arrangement  should  provide 

                 sufficient funds to support the Institution. 



13.17      This proved to be a correct prediction. The following year, the Visitor commented: 



                 The financial state of the Institution is very sound and the funds are carefully disbursed. 



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 13.18    The healthy state of the House accounts continued and, in 1954, the Visitor noted: 



                 Finances  are  simple  from the  Community  point  of  view.  The Committee  feeds,  clothes 

                 and  lodges  the  Brothers  even  to  the  extent  of buying  their  cigarettes.  Vacation,  travel, 

                 alms and Provincial dues are paid out of the Brothers’ salaries as National Teachers. One 

                 Brother is recognised for every 14 pupils ... The balance is considerable, and the question 

                 is what is to be done with this balance. The committee should certainly get some of it. 



 13.19     In 1958, the Visitor stated: 



                 The Financial position of the establishment is sound and with the increased Capitation 

                 Grant there should be a marked improvement in the surplus income even in this present 

                 year. 



 13.20    This  position  continued  into  the  early  1960s  and,  in  1962,  the  Visitor  noted  that,  between  the 

           capitation  grants  and  the  salaries  paid  to  the  Brothers,  ‘there  is  a  considerable  income  to  the 

           school’. 



 13.21     From  1959,  the  Congregation  developed  a  new  secondary  school  for  boys  in  Cabra  West,  St 

           Declan’s, and for the first number of years this school was directly and indirectly supported by the 

           Community in St Joseph’s, Cabra. 



 13.22     Indirect support came in the form of accommodation to the Brothers working in St Declan’s, who 

           did not acquire their own separate monastery until the 1970s. 



 13.23    The situation was summed up by a letter from the Provincial Council in 1963: 



                 Your finances are sound throughout the school for the Deaf but all monies should be well 

                 spent as there might be a change over-night. St Declan’s could not support a Community 

                 on what is over from the Secondary Balance. 



                 You could probably send us £3000 from the Brothers’ account in payment of loan due to 

                 Building Fund on St Declan’s. 



 13.24     By 1970, St Declan’s had become a viable separate institution, and a monastery for the Brothers 

          teaching there was recommended. In 1970, the Visitor noted: ‘To date St Joseph’s carried the 

           expenses incurred in the building of St Declan’s’. 



 13.25     Numbers in Cabra continued to be high into the 1970s. In 1973, there were 160 boarders and 

           120 day pupils. Although the Institution showed a loss of £3,361, the House accounts for the same 

          year showed a credit balance in the bank of over £47,500. 



 13.26    The premises were not owned by the Congregation, and the maintenance costs were paid by the 

           Committee. In 1954, the Visitor noted: 



                 The property belongs to the Committee which finances the establishment. The Superior 

                 keeps the place in repair and submits the accounts to the Committee. He is expected to 

                 keep expenditure within certain limits, but he need not get the Committee’s approval for 

                 minor repairs in advance. In general the place is in good repair, and the boys keep it neat 

                 and clean. 



 13.27    Although Visitors were in general positive about conditions in Cabra, criticism was made of some 

           matters that directly affected the boys. The boys’ dormitories, kitchen and refectory all came in for 

           criticism in 1949. In 1954, the Visitor commented: 



                 Many of the faces seemed pinched in contrast to the rosy, chubby faces of the Artane 

                 boys. This could be partly explained by the serious illness of some in the past ... but I 



           558                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 589-----------------------

                  think some of the blame lies in the feeding ... The boys never get milk except what partly 

                  colours the tea. Indeed half the farm milk supply goes to the boys, the other half to the 

                  Community!  In  general  the  quality,  quantity,  variety  and  service  of  the  food  could  be 

                  improved. They have aluminium dishes and no knives at dinner. The main trouble is £.s.d. 

                  The  grants  are  £61  per  boy  (except  for  boys  from  Northern  Ireland  who  get  £84).  In 

                  contrast 30/- per week is paid on Industrial School boys in Eire, and even the authorities 

                  admit that this is not sufficient. 



13.28      According  to  the  Visitor,  the  Committee  was  loath  to  increase  the  funding  to  the  School  and 

           stressed that ‘the school is a charitable institution’. This Visitor was the same Brother who also 

           commented in the 1954 report on how the surplus funds in the House accounts could best be 

           used. 



13.29      The  Visitation  Report  for  1948  would  indicate  that  different  standards  applied  to  boys  whose 

           parents paid fees to the School: 



                  There are two distinct kitchens in the establishment. The larger one is for boys only and 

                  in the second one adjacent to the Brothers’ refectory cooking is done for the Brothers, 

                  teachers, workmen, and about a dozen boys whose parents pay the whole fee for them. 

                  The  Brothers  get  clean  wholesome  food  and  a  plentiful  supply  of  same.  For  meat  the 

                  boys get puddings and sausages never beef or mutton. 



           The investigation 



13.30      The Investigation Committee was unable to conduct a full hearing into this Institution. The principal 

           difficulty was in obtaining statements of complainant witnesses. Protracted correspondence and 

           discussion failed to produce agreement as to arrangements for taking statements. The result was 

           that the investigation into the School was confined to a review of the discovered material produced 

           by the Department of Education and Science, the Christian Brothers, the Catholic Institute for the 

           Deaf, the Archdiocese of Dublin and the Garda Siochana. The Committee was, however, able to 

                                                                       ´ 

           make  its  own  arrangement  for  all  complainants  to  be  interviewed  by  its  lawyers.  A  total  of  44 

           complainants attended for interview, out of 65 who were invited to attend. 



13.31      At the Emergence hearings held in public, when the investigation recommenced in 2004, Mr Kevin 

           Stanley of the Irish Deaf Society highlighted an issue that was of major concern to his members, 

           namely the policy that was imposed by the Department of Education on deaf schools of preferring 

           oralism over signing as a method of communication. The contention was that this policy was ill- 

           considered and unjustified. It made communication difficult between children educated under the 

           new  system  and  their  families,  who  were  used  to  sign  language.  It  was  also  argued  that  the 

           methods employed to implement the policy were abusive, because the school authorities used 

           corporal punishment for that purpose. This last point could be examined in the general context of 

           physical abuse in the School, but the policy issue was a different matter. The discovery material 

           and Submissions make it clear that there was a real question of principle that had to be decided 

           as to the method of communication to be taught in schools. There were arguments on each side 

           as between oralism and signing, with advantages and disadvantages accompanying whichever 

           was chosen. The decision that was made can be rationally justified. In those circumstances, it 

           was not the function of an investigation into abuse to try to determine whether the policy choice 

           was  the  best  available,  even  if  it  could  be  argued  that  a  different  option  would  have  been 

           preferable.  Another  problem  about  this  issue  is  that  the  policy  does  not  appear  to  have  been 

           applied in more recent times. This complaint, accordingly had to be excluded, subject to the point 

           about the implementation of the policy by means that constituted physical abuse. 



13.32      This  School  is  of  particular  interest  because  it  had  to  deal  with  abuse  that  occurred  in  recent 

           times, compared with other institutions, and the chapter concentrates on these modern cases and 

           summarises the records of earlier allegations. 



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           Physical abuse 



           Attitude of the Christian Brothers 



13.33      The Christian Brothers in their 2006 Submission stated that their approach to corporal punishment 

           in St Joseph’s was similar to that in primary schools throughout the country at the time, in which 

           corporal punishment was permitted until 1982. Apart from the Departmental regulation of corporal 

           punishment, the Christian Brothers were also bound by their own Constitution Rules and Acts of 

           Chapter,  which  sought  to  reduce  corporal  punishment  to  a  minimum.  These  provisions  also 

           emphasised  that  it  was  not  to  be  used  for  failure  at  lessons,  and  that  the  sole  authorised 

           instrument of punishment was the leather strap, to be used only on the hand. In a letter written in 

           1958, the Provincial wrote to the Superior of Cabra, advising that ‘There must be no punishment 

           except as permitted by rule and that is to be applied as seldom as possible’. 



           Documented cases of physical abuse by staff 



13.34      The documents furnished by the Congregation revealed instances of physical abuse by Brothers 

           and lay staff from as early as 1955. The Brothers in their Submission asserted that known incidents 

           of physical abuse ‘were dealt with in a responsible and appropriate manner’. A case that is more 

           fully  documented  is  set  out  first,  followed  by  information  about  other  episodes  gleaned  from 

           records. 



           Allegations against a teacher, Mr Ashe1 



13.35      The allegations against Mr Ashe span a period of five years, beginning in the 1980s. In the year 

           following the commencement of his employment at St Joseph’s, the first complaint about him was 

           made at a Parent-Teacher meeting in the School. A parent complained to the Chairman of the 

                               2 

           Board, Br Noyes,  that Mr Ashe had struck her son. Br Noyes responded by defending the teacher 

           and ‘eventually smoothed over the situation’. In March of the following year, the parents of a boy 

           wrote to the Principal, Br Ames,3  complaining about the aggressive and arrogant manner in which 



           Mr  Ashe  had  spoken  to  them.  The  Principal  pointed  out  to  Mr  Ashe  that  such  behaviour  was 

           unacceptable,     but   the  teacher    was   unresponsive     and   Br   Ames    noted   that  he   ‘got  so  little 

           satisfaction from talking’ to him that he did not reply to the letter of complaint. 



13.36      Following a number of subsequent incidents involving this teacher’s aggressive and threatening 

           behaviour towards pupils and staff, the Board of Management met and the minutes of this meeting 

           recorded their view that: 



                  He was an excellent teacher ... but he appeared to lack understanding of a deaf child’s 

                  problems. He would appear to be more suited to a teaching position outside a school for 

                  the deaf. 



13.37      The   Chairman     conveyed     the   Board’s   views   to  Mr   Ashe    who   undertook    to  seek   alternative 

           employment. He was given a reference by Br Noyes, but was apparently unable to get another 

           teaching  position,  and  instead  sought  leave  of  absence.  However,  he  did  not  take  leave  of 

           absence     and   continued    teaching    at  the  School.    Further   complaints    of  physical   abuse    and 

           threatening behaviour were made against him the following year. 



13.38      Parents of a boy wrote to Br Ames, alleging that Mr Ashe had struck their son and had used foul 

           language. Six months after this complaint, a boy complained that Mr Ashe had struck him on the 

           nose  causing  it  to  bleed;  and,  one  month  after  that,  four  boys  wrote  letters  to  the  Principal 

           complaining that Mr Ashe ‘thumped’ them. Furthermore, he had threatened and tried to intimidate 

           the school Principal. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 

           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 This is a pseudonym. 



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13.39     The  Department  of  Education  withheld  Mr  Ashe’s  teaching  diploma,  pending  investigation  of 

           complaints by parents and pupils. The Department sought a comprehensive report from the Board 

           of  Management.  The  Board  decided  that  an  investigation  would  have  to  be  undertaken  and  a 

           report was prepared and submitted to the Department, which set out the allegations that had been 

           made against Mr Ashe over the previous three years. 



13.40     Two  members  of  the  Board  of  Management  had  a  formal  meeting  with  Mr  Ashe,  at  which  the 

           Chairman outlined a series of complaints and invited the teacher to respond. The first item was 

           an allegation that he had struck a pupil in the face and made his nose bleed. Mr Ashe denied the 

           allegation, claiming that, while he had snatched a pen from the boy’s mouth, he had not hit him 

           and that the boy’s nose bled for some other reason. He also denied showing disrespect to the 

           Principal,  and  rejected  a  charge  of  setting  excessive  homework  and  hitting  boys  for  failure  at 

           lessons. 



13.41     The final allegation put to Mr Ashe at the meeting was that he threatened and tried to intimidate 

          the Principal, Br Ames, by words and gestures. In reply, he described an angry meeting when he 

           accused the Principal of trying to set him up and of being hypocritical. The minutes of the meeting 

           include the following comments that Mr Ashe made to Br Ames: 



                 Are you up to your old tricks again or what? You have some neck to try to set anybody 

                 up with all the beatings and spankings and all the other stuff you have been up to lately. 

                 The Guards never come down to me over hammering. Remember, in case you forget it, 

                 that  it  was  to  you,  yes  you,  the  Guards  came,  after  the  daylights  being  kicked  out  of 

                 a pupil. 



13.42     The  Board  was  conscious  of  potential  difficulty  and  embarrassment.  Other  teachers  could  be 

           expected to support Mr Ashe, notwithstanding the history of complaints and incidents. There was 

           also the matter of the Principal’s own history, which is dealt with below: 



                 There are some points that could be made to look awkward for Br Ames, eg. that a pupil 

                 went  to  the  Garda  station  to  complain  about  Br  Ames,  and  the  Gardai  came  down  to 

                 meet him. 



13.43     The Board’s  solicitors advised that  Mr Ashe should  be dismissed, and  approved a proposal  to 

          terminate his employment at the end of the school year. The Chairman, Br Noyes, wrote to Mr 

          Ashe, stating that the allegations of physical abuse were ‘well founded’ and therefore justified his 

           dismissal from the School. However, he urged Mr Ashe to take the option of resigning: 



                 This should help you in your future career. A reference could be furnished as I am sure 

                 you could get on well in another type of school. I just do not think you are suitable to a 

                 special school such as St. Joseph’s. 



13.44      Br Noyes also wrote to the Patron of the School, the Archbishop of Dublin, seeking his permission 

          to dismiss Mr Ashe, but the Archbishop refused. In a letter he said: 



                 The matter was investigated on my behalf by [the parish priest]. [The parish priest] has 

                 given me a full report on the case. Having studied the documentation and report, I am not 

                 prepared to give my permission to the Board of Management to give notice of dismissal 

                 to Mr Ashe at the present time. 



13.45     The    Priest  appointed    by  the  Archbishop    held   meetings    with  Mr   Ashe   and   the  Board    of 

           Management separately. He advised the Archbishop as follows: 



                 Having  consulted  with  the  Education  Secretariat  and  [a  Solicitor],  I  have  come  to  the 

                 conclusion that the permission sought by the Board of  Management of St. Joseph’s to 

                 dismiss  Mr.  Ashe  should  not  be  granted.  The  case  made  against  Mr.  Ashe  does  not 

                 warrant dismissal and would probably not stand up to testing in court. 



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                It is generally agreed, however, that Mr. Ashe would be better suited to teaching in an 

                ordinary second-level school or at third level. In view of this and of the poor relationship 

                between Mr. Ashe and the Principal of the school, every effort should be made to assist 

                Mr. Ashe in finding alternative employment as soon as possible. The attempt should be 

                also made to establish better relations between Mr. Ashe and Brother Ames for as long 

                as Mr. Ashe is in the school. That might be for some considerable time due to the general 

                employment situation for teachers. 



13.46     In  a  replying  letter,  the  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Management  stated  that  the  Board,  whilst 

          accepting  the  decision  of  the  Archbishop,  was  concerned  about  this  teacher  remaining  on  in 

          the School. 



13.47     As a result of the Archbishop’s decision, Mr Ashe remained in the School. However, the concerns 

          of the Board of Management were justified, as two further allegations of physical abuse were made 

          against Mr Ashe the following year. A parent wrote to the Chairman of the Board of Management 

          complaining  that  Mr  Ashe  had  punched  his  son  twice  in  the  stomach.  A  month  later,  another 

          teacher  witnessed  Mr  Ashe  physically  assaulting  a  boy  in  a  classroom.  Both  incidents  were 

          reported  to  the  Principal,  Br  Ames,  who  carried  out  an  investigation  by  interviewing  relevant 

          witnesses.  He  received  no  co-operation  from  Mr  Ashe.  Following  his  investigation,  Br  Ames 

          informed Mr Ashe in a letter that he would be dismissed if he again breached the rules of the 

          Department. 



13.48     Br  Ames  wrote  to  a  Priest  in  the  Education  Secretariat  of  Archbishop’s  House  recalling  the 

          representations that had been made the previous year and reporting ‘a repetition of the same kind 

          of behaviour this year’. He enclosed documentation ‘on this years crop’ and commented: ‘Once 

          again the Board are powerless’. Although he had written to Mr Ashe, he had received no response, 

          and on the advice of the FUE [an employers’ organisation], that the case would not stand up in 

          court, he said that: 



                We are wondering if this is to go on for ever with no come back? We think that the Patron 

                must issue a final warning to this man as it is he will have to consent to the dismissal. Is 

                this kind of behaviour acceptable to the Patron? 



13.49     The  Priest  replied  on  behalf  of  the  Archbishop  and  expressed  his  dismay  with  the  continuing 

          problems with Mr Ashe. He pointed out: ‘The Patron becomes involved directly in the situation 

          only  if  the  Board  of  Management  wishes  to  proceed  with  dismissal.  Although  he  would  be 

          concerned that proper professional standards be maintained by all teachers, it would not be proper 

          for him to communicate with an individual teacher.’ He noted that Mr Ashe had been issued with 

          a formal warning and added: ‘I am sure you will continue to look for his explanation of the incidents 

          in the school. I would be glad to be kept informed of any developments’. 



13.50     Around this time, Br Ames wrote to the Secretary of the Department of Education informing him 

          of these incidents. He also sought advice from the Department in dealing with Mr Ashe, as the 

          Board of Management ‘find that they are helpless’. Within the Department, Br Ames’s letter was 

          referred from the Special Education section to the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Branch for 

          the following reason: 



                as your section has a file regarding this case, perhaps, R and I could examine this whole 

                issue with a view to arriving at a solution acceptable to all concerned. 



13.51     There is no information on the file regarding the solution reached, if any. 



13.52     The Commission sought records from the Department of Education and any report which arose 

          out of an investigation of complaints into Mr Ashe during the 1980s, as no such records had been 



          562                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 593-----------------------

          furnished in discovery. The Department stated that these records were contained in a numbered 

          file but ‘the file cannot be located’. They added that ‘the earliest records of complaints held by this 

           Department  regarding  Mr  Ashe  relate  to  incidents  in  1985’,  but  this  file  does  not  contain  any 

           information as to the action taken by the Department. The Christian Brothers in their Submission 

           claimed that ‘management clearly sought’ to have Mr Ashe ‘removed from his employment but 

          this was not possible as the Patron of the school did not give his consent’. 



13.53      Mr Ashe taught for over 20 years in the School. As to the circumstances in which he came to St 

          Joseph’s, a Board minute in the 1980s noted that he was taken on by Br Noyes and that ‘Later 

           he found out that he was unsatisfactory in two other schools although he was satisfactory for one 

          year in St Joseph’s’, which implies that references were not obtained prior to his engagement. 



13.54     This case is disturbing, particularly the handling of it by the Department and the Archbishop. The 

           Department’s investigation file on this teacher is missing. There is no information available as to 

          the outcome of the Department’s investigation, or indeed if the Department even conducted an 

           investigation. Despite numerous complaints of physical abuse, Mr Ashe continued teaching in the 

           School  for  an  additional  15  years.  The  decision  of  the  Board  of  Management  to  dismiss  him 

          was  overridden by  the  Archbishop  of Dublin,  and  the Department  of  Education,  it seems,  took 

           no action. 



          Allegations against Br Ames 



13.55      It appears from correspondence in the early 1980s that Br Ames believed he and other school 

           staff were entitled to resort to physical chastisement when occasion required. In the course of a 

           reply to a parent’s letter complaining about physical abuse by another Brother, Br Ames admitted 

           hitting the  boy  himself   for what   he  thought   was   good   reason:   ‘We   must   look  at  the  case 

           realistically’. He said that the boy was ‘by no means an easy boy to manage’ and at times he 

           ‘found it necessary to give him a good “clip” and I make no apology for this as I have been put to 

          the end of my tether with him’. 



13.56     The unfortunate boy who was treated in this fashion by the staff fared no better with his fellow 

           pupils. The boy’s father complained again to Br Ames, some two years later, that his son was 

           being  bullied  by  other  boys  in  the  School  because  of  his  religion,  displaying  acceptance  of  a 

           prejudice that should have been wholly unacceptable to the management of the School: 



                 As [the boy] has been the only boarder of his religion; it is understandable that certain 

                 pupils would give him a hard time. He has had his hair torn out by the root, his clothes 

                 taken from his locker and his head battered against a wall necessitating us taking him to 

                 [hospital] for a brain scan to ascertain any permanent damage to his skull. 



13.57      It  appears  from  the  Visitation  Reports  that  Br  Ames  was  not  very  popular  with  the  staff  at  the 

           School, but it is not apparent whether this had anything to do with his treatment of the boys. The 

          Visitor in the late 1980s said: 



                 Brother Ames has made an enormous contribution to the development at Cabra. It is most 

                 regrettable that relationships with the staff have broken down. I do not believe that he has 

                 any adequate realisation of the impact of some of his behaviour on those for whom he is 

                 responsible. For his own sake and that of others, he ought not to remain in Cabra. 



13.58      Br Ames did in fact leave the School in the late 1980s. The Christian Brothers in their Submission 

           of 2006 said: 



                 The fact of a manager being of a dour disposition does not of itself support the veracity 

                 of any allegation of physical abuse made against him. Before being posted to Cabra, Br 

                 Ames had been appointed as Manager in [an] Industrial School where he introduced many 

                 changes and innovations. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                563 


----------------------- Page 594-----------------------

           Allegation against an Assistant House Parent, Mr O’Sullivan4 



13.59      In the mid-1990s, a pupil made a number of allegations of physical abuse against his Assistant 

           House  Parent,  Mr  O’Sullivan,  who  had  worked  in  the  School  for  many  years.  The  allegations, 

           which were made to an Eastern Health Board social worker, were that Mr O’Sullivan hit him with 

           a fish slice, caught him under the chin and attempted to lift him off the ground, had kicked him 

           and twisted his arm. He also alleged that Mr O’Sullivan was rough with the boys, would twist their 

           arms and was cruel to the younger boys and had thrown a cup at a boy. The boy who made the 

           complaints had been resident in the School for a period of three years but, at the time of making 

           the allegations, was a day pupil. 



13.60      The social worker informed the Director of Residential Care, Mr Gallagher,5                who requested that 

           the allegations be put in writing, which was duly done by letter. The Principal, Br Grissel,6  and Mr 



           Gallagher  interviewed  the  boy  who  made  the  allegations  and  Mr  O’Sullivan,  who  denied  the 

           allegations. They decided to suspend Mr O’Sullivan on full pay, pending further investigation and 

           inquiries  into  the  allegations.  It  was  intended  that  he  would  be  suspended  for  a  period  of  one 

           week;  however,  this  suspension  continued  for  approximately  one  month.  During  the  internal 

           investigation, six staff members and 13 boys were interviewed. 



13.61      A  meeting  was  held  in  which  the  findings  of  the  internal  investigation  were  revealed  to  Mr 

           O’Sullivan. The findings were: (1) Mr O’Sullivan was rough and cruel with the smaller boys; (2) he 

           shouted at them and twisted their arms; (3) several boys had witnessed him hitting the boy with 

           a fish slice; (4) he had a habit of grabbing children under the chin and lifting them up; and (5) he 

           had a habit of throwing cups at children expecting them to catch them during wash up. In addition, 

           Management was of the view that: 



                 Generally  there  were      certain  underlying  themes  coming  forward  some           in  relation  to 

                 roughness with smaller boys and a kind of mocking, teasing attitude which in some cases 

                 was seen as cruel. 



13.62      Mr O’Sullivan was given two weeks to respond to these findings, and he was informed that a final 

           decision  would  then  be  taken.  He  responded  by  denying  the  allegations  in  a  letter,  and  was 

           informed shortly afterwards that the Management had reached their final decision, which was to 

           transfer  him  to  another  residential  house  at  the  School.  They  also  decided  that  he  should  be 

           psychologically assessed by a doctor from the Granada Institute in order to assess his suitability 

           as   an  Assistant    House     Parent.   However,     he   was   reinstated,    despite   the  absence     of  a 

           psychological  assessment.  Four  weeks  later,  Mr  O’Sullivan  had  still  not  been  psychologically 

           assessed, but arrangements were being put in place for that to be done. It is uncertain whether 

           he was ever psychologically assessed, as no such report was furnished in discovery. 



           Other incidents 



13.63      In a Visitation Report from the mid-1950s, the Visitor commented that Br Mason7                   had ‘on a few 



           occasions ... struck boys with his fist’. By the following year, Br Mason had ceased to be a member 

           of the Community at St Joseph’s but no reason is recorded for his departure. 



13.64      In  the  mid-1960s,  a  report  by  an  Inspector  in  the  Department  of  Education  observed  that  Br 

           Hamlin8   ‘... besides having very defective speech, was very cross with the boys and was hitting 



           them’. The Visitor the following year noted that Br Hamlin was ‘a bit hasty in his manner of dealing 

           with the boys but with some experience he should be able to control himself’. Br Hamlin remained 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 

           6 This is a pseudonym. 

           7 This is a pseudonym. 

           8 This is a pseudonym. 



           564                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 595-----------------------

           in the School until the early 1970s, when he was dispensed from his vows on the grounds that he 

           did not like teaching and was not happy at it. 



13.65      Br  Odil,9  who  taught  in  the  School  during  the  1990s,  had  been  the  subject  of  a  complaint  of 



           ‘excessive punishment’ when he was teaching in another school in Dublin, which he left to attend 

           a course of studies for two years in university. However, no allegations were made against him 

           concerning his time at St Joseph’s. 



13.66      A report by Dr Byrne,10  Consultant Psychiatrist, in the early 1970s on an eight-year-old boy from 



           St Joseph’s who had been referred to him for assessment, referred to comments made by a nurse 

           at St Joseph’s when she had attended with the boy. The report stated that: 



                  She was able to control his behaviour by giving him work to do but has found that slapping 

                  and isolation methods have not worked. 



13.67      In the early 1980s the school Principal, Br Noyes, received what he regarded as ‘minor complaints’ 

           from boys that a lay supervisor, Mr Lynch,11  ‘was too harsh, cross and slapped them’ and was very 



           strict. Mr Lynch was the subject of an allegation of sexual abuse, which resulted in his resignation. 



13.68      A few years later, a parent wrote a letter of complaint to the Principal, Br Ames, alleging that Br 

           Seaton12    had punched his son in the stomach and slapped him around the face when he was 



           wearing his hearing aids. Br Ames wrote a very unsympathetic letter in response, stating that the 

           boy was ‘by no means an easy boy to manage’ and, as stated above, admitted that he had found 

           it necessary to give him a good ‘clip’ and made no apology for it. Br Ames also alleged that the 

           boy had been sedated in his former school, which was the reason he had had no problems there, 

           a fact denied by the boy’s father who had spoken with staff at that school. It would appear that 

           no action was taken against Br Seaton on foot of these allegations. 



13.69      Br Seymour,13  who taught in the School from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, was the subject of 



           an allegation of physical abuse when he was teaching in another school in the late 1980s. A pupil 

           there alleged that Br Seymour had hit him on the back of the head, which caused his head to 

           shoot forward and his mouth to hit the desk, thus damaging his teeth. Legal proceedings were 

           instituted and the matter was settled without admission of liability. Br Seymour was transferred to 

           a school in Galway following this allegation. 



13.70      In the mid-1990s, a number of the boys stated that their House Parent, Mr Moore14                      was rough 



           and cruel and slapped them. These allegations were made in the course of an investigation into 

           allegations of sexual abuse against Mr Moore. 



           Conclusions on physical abuse 



13.71       1.   Physical abuse of boys in the School is documented in the records. 



            2.   Corporal punishment, at times excessive, took place at the School as late as the mid- 

                 1990s, despite the ban on corporal punishment which had been in place since 1982. It 

                 is  particularly  regrettable  that  this  form  of  punishment  was  used  on  children  with 

                 disability, who should have been treated with kindness and consideration. 



            3.   In a case involving a teacher, Mr Ashe, about whom numerous complaints of physical 

                 abuse had been made, the Board of Management was unable to dismiss him because 



           9 This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 This is a pseudonym. 

           12 This is a pseudonym. 

           13 This is a pseudonym. 

           14 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       565 


----------------------- Page 596-----------------------

                 it was   overruled    by   the  school    patron,    the  Archbishop      of  Dublin.    However,     it is 

                 noteworthy that the Board sought his resignation first and was prepared to give him 

                a reference to enable him to transfer to another school. 



            4.  The Department of Education was ineffective in investigating complaints of physical 

                abuse in the School. In the case of Mr Ashe, no action was taken against the teacher 

                and the file is mysteriously missing. 



            5.  The requirement of the Archbishop’s consent to dismissal made it more difficult for 

                the  School  Management  to  deal  with  the  serious  problem  that  affected  the  lives  of 

                the pupils. 



            6.  Even as late as the mid-1990s, a care worker, Mr O’Sullivan, was not dismissed from 

                 his  employment  despite  the  fact  that  senior  management  found  that  he  had  been 

                 physically    abusive    towards    younger     children.   The    solution   of  transferring    him   to 

                another residential house within  the Institution ignored the safety of  the children in 

                the School. 



           Sexual abuse 



           Attitude of the Christian Brothers 



13.72      The  Christian  Brothers  in  their  Submission  dated  October  2006  acknowledged  that  individual 

           Brothers had sexually abused boys in their care, but argued that there was ‘no evidence that it 

           was a systemic phenomenon’. They defended the manner in which the Congregation dealt with 

           such allegations, saying that there was no cover up and that: 



                 Each  incident  was  investigated  thoroughly  as  soon  as  it  came  to  the  attention  of  the 

                 relevant authorities, and action was promptly taken. There was no cover up. 



13.73      They  admitted  that  their  approach  to  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  at  the  time  was  ‘seriously 

           inadequate’,  but  added  that  this  arose  ‘through  lack  of  awareness  or  knowledge  rather  than 

           through neglect’. They cited the lack of clinical research into child abuse and the recidivist nature 

           of  such   abuse    in  support   of  their  approach.    They    submitted    that  there   was   little or  no 

           understanding or regard given to the effect of such abuse on the child concerned. Sexual abuse, 

           they argued, was seen as a moral failing on the part of the Brother in question, and this and ‘the 

           danger  of  scandal  arising  out  of  that  moral  failure  were  seen  as  the  primary  matters  to  be 

           addressed when a case of child sexual abuse presented itself’. 



13.74      They also conceded that complaints of sexual abuse were not reported to the Gardai. This they 

                                                                                                               ´ 

           justified on the basis that at the time ‘an incident of sexual abuse was considered more of a failure 

           in morality than a criminal act and therefore the idea of reporting to the Garda was not considered 

           to be usual practice’. 



13.75      The Christian Brothers referred in detail to the documented complaints of sexual abuse against 

           various Brothers. Based on these cases, they asserted that the Congregation of Christian Brothers 

           ‘sought  to  protect  children  who  were  under  their  care.  As  soon  as  an  allegation  or  incident  of 

           abuse came to their notice, the authorities took action’. 



           566                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 597-----------------------

           Documented cases of sexual abuse by staff 



           Allegations against a care worker, Mr Moore 

13.76      In the early 1990s, a pupil, Brian15        complained to a pastoral care teacher, Sr Clarke16             about his 



           House Parent Mr Moore, who was in charge of one of the residential homes at St Joseph’s Cabra. 

           Brian  also  complained  to  Mr  Hogan,17         Assistant  House  Parent,  that  Mr  Moore  showed  ‘blue 



           movies’ to the boys, and was constantly engaging in sex talk. Mr Hogan noted these complaints 

           and reported them to Mr Gallagher, Director of Residential Care. 



13.77      Later that year, Brian described how he had gone into his Mr Moore’s room in one of the residential 

           houses, and discovered him engaged in sexual activity with another of the boys, Fergal,18                        who 



           was in his teens. 



13.78      Brian reported this incident to the same staff member he had spoken to earlier that year, Sr Clarke 

           The following morning, she reported the allegation to the Principal Br Grissel. That afternoon, she 

           met with both Br Grissel and the Director of Residential Care, Mr Gallagher, and repeated the 

           allegations  to  them.  She  also  set  out  the  allegations  in  a  report.  That  day,  Br  Grissel  and  Mr 

           Gallagher interviewed Fergal. A member of staff acted as interpreter during the interview. During 

           this interview, Fergal outlined the events of the night, and confirmed Brian’s account. 



13.79      Br Grissel and Mr Gallagher held two meetings with Mr Moore, who denied the allegations. He 

           was suspended on full pay, pending the outcome of an investigation. 



13.80      Br Grissel and Mr Gallagher met two Eastern Health Board workers at their offices the following 

           day and briefed them on the situation. Over a week later, Br Grissel had a meeting with a social 

           worker  from  the  Eastern  Health  Board  to  discuss  informing  the  boy’s  parents,  contacting  the 

           Gardai and setting up an internal inquiry. Br Grissel then contacted the School’s solicitor. 

                   ´ 



13.81      Br Grissel informed Fergal’s parents who were very anxious and were particularly worried about 

           the  possibility  of  AIDS.  It  was  stressed  to  them  that  what  took  place  ‘was  of  a  masturbatory 

           nature’. 



13.82      Fergal was assessed two months later by a team from the St Clare’s Unit, an assessment unit 

           attached to Temple Street Children’s Hospital. It was concluded that he had been abused in the 

           manner he described. 



13.83      Brian, who had witnessed the incident, was also seen by the assessment team. He informed them 

           that Mr Moore had shown him on many occasions how to masturbate, and he named two other 

           boys who had been similarly instructed. He also informed the team that Mr Moore used to show 

           adult-blue  movies  to  the  boys.  A  case  conference  took  place  between  the  St  Clare’s  team, 

           members of the Eastern Health Board and Br Grissel, where it was decided that an initial screening 

           process  should  be  undertaken  of  all  children  in  both  residential  houses  where  Mr  Moore  had 

           worked. In addition, staff of St Joseph’s were to be informed of the situation, and the parents of 

           the boys named were to be contacted with a view to having their children assessed. 



13.84      Arrangements  were for  the screening  and assessment  of pupils  at St  Joseph’s who  it was  felt 

           could have been the subject of sexual abuse by Mr Moore. This was a slow and lengthy process. 

           At the same time, the Eastern Health Board conducted an inquiry into the allegations, and a Garda 



           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 598-----------------------

           investigation  was  also  underway  which  continued  early  into  the  next  year.  Approximately  two 

           months after the investigations commenced, Mr Moore was dismissed from his employment. 



13.85      There was a delay in actually commencing the screening process of past and present pupils at 

           St  Joseph’s,  which  was  to  be  conducted  by  the  social  workers  of  the  Eastern  Health  Board 

           together with a member of staff at Cabra. The St Clare’s team had stressed the need to begin the 

           screening process quickly. However, the minutes of a case conference held following the dismissal 

           of  Mr Moore  noted  that the  screening  process  had not  begun  and parents  had  not even  been 

           informed  at  that  stage,  some  five  months  after  the  initial  complaint  of  sexual  abuse  had  been 

           made.  The  screening  process  began  shortly  after  this  case  conference.  Initially,  17  boys  were 

           screened. However, further screenings took place and were expanded to include past and present 

           pupils of the School, which resulted in 70 boys being screened. 



13.86      There  were  communication  problems  and  poor  organisation.  There  was  a  lack  of  co-operation 

           between the Eastern Health Board, the Gardai, St Clare’s and the authorities at Cabra. At one 

                                                                     ´ 

           point, criticisms were levelled against the management of Cabra by the Eastern Health Board on 

           these grounds. It was stated that the senior social worker and his assistant and the St Clare’s 

            Unit  were  ‘not  getting  full  co-operation  from  St  Joseph’s,  Cabra,  especially  from  the  Principal’. 

           This was challenged by the Congregation at a subsequent meeting, and it was acknowledged that 

           there had been co-operation from management, but that there had been difficulties and differences 

           of opinion. It was raised at a meeting that there had been a lack of communication with the parents 

           and  the setting-up  of  an  independent inquiry  was  discussed. Some  parents  were  upset by  the 

           delays in informing them and there was a lack of clarity as to who should inform them. The issue 

           of  peer  abuse  and  its  prevalence  in  the  School  was  raised  and  it  was  stated  that  ‘there  was 

           evidence     of  a  kind   of  culture  of  abuse    having    developed     in  St  Joseph’s     among     the  boys 

           themselves’  which  had  to  be  dealt  with.  Br  Grissel  wrote  a  letter  defending  his  actions  in  the 

           handling of the investigation, stating that there had been full co-operation from him and his staff. 



13.87      The case was reported in the media and the investigations then took on a more urgent role; two 

           teams worked in tandem at St Clare’s to assess the boys, extra staff were involved at St Joseph’s 

           in carrying out the screening process, and extra Gardai were recruited to assist in conducting the 

                                                                              ´ 

           interviews with staff and pupils of the School. A treatment programme was also devised by the 

            Eastern Health Board for pupils affected. Staff training was also mooted and there was counselling 

           for staff affected by the issues. A total of 11 case conferences were held over a 12-month period. 



           Allegations against Br Farber19 



13.88       In  the  course  of  the  investigation  into  Mr  Moore,  allegations  were  made  against  a  Christian 

           Brother, Br Farber, who had been on the staff of Cabra since the late 1950s, by one of the boys 

           who  had  been  assessed.  Allegations  were  also  made  by  an  ex-pupil  who  wished  to  remain 

           anonymous. 



13.89      Sr Clarke reported that she had met with the past pupil who was prepared to ‘come forward in 

           relation  to  allegations  against  Br  Farber’.  In  the  report  of  the  Health  Board,  two  allegations  of 

           sexual abuse were recorded against Br Farber. Br Farber did not return to Cabra. 



13.90      Given that the allegations against Br Farber arose in the course of the investigation into Mr Moore, 

           it seems  extraordinary that no  similar investigation was  conducted into Br  Farber by either  the 

           Congregation or the State agencies. 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 



           568                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 599-----------------------

13.91     In  1994,  the  Christian  Brothers  commissioned  a  review  of  the  management  structures,  care 

          practices,   care  programmes,     administrative   practices,   staff selection,  training, deployment, 

          supervision and liaison with teaching staff and parents. An interim report was issued followed this 

          review. One of the issues  identified in the report was the lack of  reporting and communication 

          structure between teachers in the School and the care staff of the residential units regarding each 

          child. Problems were also noted in communicating information to parents. It was recommended 

          that  the  Director  of Residential   Care  should   be  the  conduit  for  liaising and  communicating 

          information regarding children. The report said that there was a lack of information about children 

          on admission to the School. It was also recommended that care staff should have professional 

          qualifications, which was something that had previously been recommended in a 1977 report by 

          the  Department     of  Education   on   the  Education   of  Physically   Handicapped     Children.   The 

          unsuitability of mixing younger children with older children in residences was also raised. Other 

          recommendations  included  staff  training  programmes,  care  programmes  geared  towards  the 

          particular needs of younger children, and staff counselling. The issue of sexual abuse was not 

          addressed in this report. 



          Reports of the Eastern Health Board 



13.92     A few months later, the Eastern Health Board produced two reports. The first dealt with complaints 

          about staff at the School, and the second with observations on the management and operation of 

          the residential units. The first report catalogued complaints against members of staff that came to 

          light during the course of the investigation, but it did not come to any findings. The second report 

          identified three main issues of concern: (1) matters of sexuality; (2) communication; and (3) child 

          care issues. With regard to matters of sexuality, the Health Board identified that there was a lack 

          of a clear policy in this area, which they felt could ‘only have contributed to the likelihood of sexual 

          abuse occurring in the units’. This was stated, in particular, with regard to sexual abuse amongst 

          the boys. The report noted that there was a ‘sexualised culture within the school in general’ which 

          they felt could only ‘be shifted by radical and ongoing management and training’. They concluded 

          that institutional abuse had occurred in the School. 



13.93     The report found that there was a ‘tendency to discredit complainants by, for example, alluding to 

          their personal characteristics or family history’ and continued: 



                Even at the highest level there does not seem to be the skills, or the inclination, to suspend 

                judgement, or even to think it possible that the complainants might be telling the truth. A 

                protocol is required whereby guidelines can be followed in a standard way, regardless of 

                the opinions of the staff, or their line management. 



13.94     The report pointed out the need for sex education and that a modified version of the ‘Stay Safe 

          Programme’ was also needed. Moreover: 



                As is obvious to everyone by now a guideline for identifying and reporting sexual abuse 

                needs to be implemented and should include the teaching as well as care staff. 



13.95     The investigators commented that the School was a ‘total institution’, in that it was self-sufficient 

          and divorced from its immediate community, but suggested that much could be done to integrate 

          pupils with the local community. The residential units were completely independent of each other, 

          with no sense of integration between them, which resulted in a ‘hierarchy of deafness where one 

          house can feel superior to another house in which the level of disability may not be equal’. 



13.96     An added complication with the pupils was that some of them, in addition to being deaf, were also 

          mentally  handicapped.  The  report  recognised  this  as  an  issue  and  felt  that  ‘consideration  also 

          needs to be given to the separation of “deafness” from “mental handicapped”’. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              569 


----------------------- Page 600-----------------------

13.97      The report found communication with parents was poor and liaison with them slow and incomplete. 

           Communication between childcare staff and the Director of Care was also unsatisfactory, because 

           it was ‘formalised on an administrative, rather than a professional basis for instance, rosters, leave 

           etc.  will be   organised    efficiently but   there  is  little evidence   of  professional    supervision    or 

           professional accountability’. A problem with communication between management and staff was 

           noted, and staff complained of being ‘kept in the dark’. Lack of communication between one shift 

           of staff and another was found. The relationship between the residential and teaching staff was 

           poor. The Eastern Health Board felt that a formal liaison system needed to be established between 

           both staff groups to discuss matters of mutual concern. 



13.98      Another  disturbing  problem  of  poor  communication  was  the  high  number  of  staff  members, 

           including those at management level, who did not have sign language. The report commented ‘it 

           seems incredible that so few members of staff can use the language of their clients. There ought 

           to be an in-service training programme for staff’. Even senior management did not have training 

           in sign language and needed to use interpreters. 



13.99      As  to  childcare  generally,  the  report  found  that  the  residential  units  were  very  institutional  in 

           character, where staff were referred to as supervisors and there was a lack of trust on the part of 

           the boys. The boys perceived the system in the School as unresponsive. There were examples 

           of boys going to senior staff and feeling dismissed. Each unit operated completely independently 

           in terms of discipline, and there was a need for a co-ordinated and harmonised system throughout 

           the School. 



13.100     It is significant that the review commissioned by the Congregation of management structures and 

           care  practices  in  Cabra  failed  to  address  the  urgent  issue  of  sexual  abuse  and  sexualised 

           behaviour of children in the School. The Christian Brothers review was conducted during a period 

           of intense investigation, by both the Gardai and Health Board, of the activities of at least one care 

                                                            ´ 

           worker  in  the  School,  which  in  turn  led  to  the  uncovering  of  a  high  level  of  sexual  abuse  and 

           sexual  activity  amongst  the  boys.  The  Health  Board  review  considered  this  to  be  the  most 

           important   problem    facing   the  Institution. The   Health   Board    blamed    a  failure on   the  part  of 

           management to ‘suspend judgement’ and even allow for the possibility that complainants could 

           be telling the truth. The failure of the Congregation to address the issue at all would indicate that 

           the Health Board assessment was correct. 



           Conclusions 



13.101     •    In a climate of scepticism and undermining of complainants, sexual abuse will remain 

                 undetected.  Children  were  not  encouraged  to  make  complaints,  and  those  who  did 

                 were   not   dealt  with   properly.    It could    not   be  claimed     that  there   was    a  lack  of 

                 understanding  of  the  seriousness  of  this  abuse  on  the  subsequent  development  of 

                 victims or that the matter was seen as simply a moral issue. 



           •    The allegations against Mr Moore and subsequent investigations highlight numerous 

                 problems  at  that  time  in  the  area  of  reporting  and  investigating  child  sexual  abuse 

                 allegations. 



           •    When a pupil made a complaint to a staff member about the sexualised behaviour of 

                 his  House  Parent,  no  action  was  taken.  Steps  were  only  taken  when  another  boy 

                 reported an actual incident of sexual abuse that he had witnessed. 



           •     This  case    demonstrates  failings       in  communication        and  co-operation      between  the 

                 various  State  agencies.  When  all  official  bodies  had  eventually  been  notified,  there 

                 was further confusion and delay in dealing with the complaint. 



           •    There was delay in notifying the parents of the boy who was assaulted and of the boys 

                 who were screened. 



           570                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 601-----------------------

           •     Staff at St Joseph’s were not properly informed. 

           •     The serious extent of the abuse perpetrated by Mr Moore only came to light when a 

                 full investigation was conducted. In the past, Congregations handled allegations by 

                 dealing with perpetrators without ascertaining the extent or prevalence of their abuse. 

                 When an investigation screened possible victims of abuse, as in this case, it revealed 

                 a  level  of  sexual  abuse  by  this  man  that  should  have  caused  deep  concern  for  the 

                 system of care in operation. This case has implications for all the allegations of sexual 

                 abuse that were so inadequately dealt with over the years. 



           Allegation against Br Boucher20 



13.102     In the mid-1980s, an allegation of sexual abuse was made against Br Boucher, who had worked 

           in the School from the early 1980s. The allegation was made separately to a care worker and to 

           a  teacher  by  a  pupil.  These  two  staff  members  reported  the  matter  to  the  school  Principal,  Br 

           Ames,  who  in  turn  informed  the  Provincial,  Br  Sandler.21        The  pupil  told  the  care  worker,  Mr 

           Kennedy,22  that Br Boucher had fondled his genitals. 



13.103     The Provincial interviewed the two staff members and Br Ames concerning the allegations. The 

           care  worker,  Mr  Kennedy,  stated  that  he  regularly  saw  Br  Boucher  go  into  the  boy’s  room  at 

           night, and vice versa, when the Brother would give the boy biscuits and sweets. The teacher, Ms 

           O’Connor,23    reported that the pupil had told her in class that this Brother had power over him and 



           ‘made him do things of a sexual nature which he did not want to do’. 



13.104     The Provincial, Br Sandler, held separate meetings with Mr Kennedy, Ms O’Connor and Br Ames. 

           Br Sandler also interviewed Br Boucher, who denied the allegations and appeared confused and 

           unable to recall details. Br Boucher then went on his summer holidays, during which time he was 

           taken seriously ill and was transferred to a nursing home. No further action was taken despite 

           other  meetings  being  held  with  the  Brother.  He  applied  for  a  dispensation,  which  was  granted 

           approximately two years later. 



13.105     Six months after the reporting of the alleged abuse, it was decided by the school authorities that 

           the boy should be sent to a psychiatrist, Dr Byrne, for counselling. A few weeks later, the school 

           authorities received legal advice regarding the setting-up of an internal inquiry to investigate the 

           allegations. It was mooted that Dr Byrne should head up this inquiry, but he declined to do so on 

           the basis that he had a conflict of interest. Dr Byrne had had two counselling sessions with the 

           boy and he felt that it was not necessary for him to see the boy again. 



13.106     Br Sandler informed Dr Byrne that progress had been made in establishing a small committee of 

           inquiry. However, no inquiry took place and no reasons were given for not proceeding with it. 



13.107     The Christian Brothers in their Submission claimed that ‘following this allegation immediate steps 

           were  taken  to  undertake  a  full  and  formal  investigation  by  outside  experts  in  this  matter’.  The 

           documents revealed that this was not the case. Contrary to what the Brothers say, ‘immediate 

           steps’ were not taken to undertake ‘a full and formal investigation by outside experts’. Six months 

           elapsed before the idea of convening a small committee of inquiry was even mooted. It was then 

           decided not to proceed with the inquiry without any clear reasons given. No decisive action was 

           taken regarding the setting-up of an inquiry, as a letter stated ‘things were in an “on-off” situation 

           for a long time’. It may have been due to the fact that Dr Byrne felt that the boy had improved and 

           there was no need to pursue the matter further. The Christian Brothers in their Submission stated 

           that ‘the investigation did not proceed because of the lack of any further information’. 



           20 This is a pseudonym. 

           21 This is a pseudonym. 

           22 This is a pseudonym. 

           23 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       571 


----------------------- Page 602-----------------------

13.108      The proper course would have been to report the matter to the Gardai and to co-operate fully with 

                                                                                                 ´ 

            the Garda investigation. The school authorities did not report the matter to the Gardai at the time. 

                                                                                                                    ´ 

            The Christian Brothers defended their actions on the basis that the complaint was unclear: 



                  The reason why the Gardai were not informed of the nature of [the person’s] complaint 

                                                    ´ 

                  of  [Br Boucher]  allegedly interfering  with him  was because  the complaint  was not  very 

                  clear and we were waiting on clarity. 



13.109      The allegation did not lack clarity. It was alleged that Br Boucher had fondled the boy’s private 

            parts, and this was plainly a matter for the Gardai to pursue. 

                                                                         ´ 



13.110      There is no evidence that any attempt was made to identify other children who might have been 

            victims of this Brother, or to establish the extent of his activities. 



13.111     Allegations     against   this  Brother    arose   again    in the   course    of  the  Garda    and    Health   Board 

            investigations that had been triggered by the Moore affair. At that time, an investigation by the 

            State agencies could have taken place but there is no record of this occurring. Neither is there 

            any evidence of an investigation on the part of the Congregation. As in the case of Br Farber, it 

            is  inexplicable  that  this  matter  was  not  fully  investigated,  given  the  amount  of  information  that 

            emerged in the Mr Moore investigation. 



           Allegation against a staff supervisor, Mr Lynch24 



13.112      In  the  early  1980s,  the  school  Principal,  Br  Noyes,  was  informed  of  an  allegation  that  staff 

            supervisor, Mr Lynch, sexually abused a boy in the School The boy complained to Br Ramond25 



            that Mr Lynch, while on night duty, had shown ‘dirty books’ to him and had abused him. Br Ramond 

            reported the matter to Br Noyes, the Principal. 



13.113      Br Noyes interviewed the boy and six other boys who slept near him in the dormitory. Some of 

            them verified what the boy had alleged, but others claimed it was a conspiracy against Mr Lynch, 

            as he was supposed to be very strict. Br Noyes then interviewed Mr Lynch, who was ‘completely 

            astonished’ and denied the allegation and ‘claimed that it was part of the ongoing conspiracy to 

            have him fired’. However, later on the same day, Mr Lynch tendered his resignation to Br Noyes, 

            as he felt that his name would be ruined if some boys and staff believed the allegation. Br Noyes 

            accepted his resignation, and Mr Lynch left the School later that evening. In a document recording 

            the resignation, Br Noyes stated that he could not locate any file or background information on 

            Mr Lynch. 



13.114      In this instance, the school authorities acted swiftly when an allegation of sexual abuse was made. 

            That was considered to be the end of the matter. There was no review of recruitment procedures, 

            despite the fact that no background information was found regarding this person, there was no 

            internal review of procedures in the School, nor any meetings or guidelines issued. It might have 

            been considered a satisfactory outcome that the staff member accused of abuse had resigned 

            and left the Institution, but it was not proper practice. There was no attempt to resolve the issue 

            of whether the man committed sexual abuse or not. The Gardai were not informed, so there was 

                                                                                          ´ 

            no criminal investigation. The employee was able to seek work with children in a different facility. 

            If he was innocent, he deserved to be cleared. If guilty, he should have been the subject of Garda 

            inquiries and possible prosecution. Leaving the matter unresolved once the man resigned was the 

            easy but irresponsible option. 



            24 This is a pseudonym. 

            25 This is a pseudonym. 



            572                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 603-----------------------

           Other cases 

13.115     In the mid-1980s, an ex-pupil who had left St Joseph’s in 1961 told Br Sumner26  that he had been 



           sexually abused by three Brothers and a priest whilst at the School. The allegations were disclosed 

           to Br Sumner when he went to visit this ex-pupil in jail, where he was waiting to stand trial on 

           charges of  incest. In an internal  memorandum, the three  Brothers were identified only  by their 

           initials.  The  Christian  Brothers  have  suggested  that  the  three  Brothers  could  be  Br  Dax,27          Br 

           Sydney28    and  either  Br  Alain29   or  Br  Philippe.30  The  priest  in  question  was  Fr  O’Neill.31     The 



           memorandum  also stated  that this  was the  first time  that allegations  of this  nature were  made 

           against two of the Brothers. The documents do not indicate what further action was taken on foot 

           of these allegations, and it would appear that nothing further occurred. With regard to one of the 

           Brothers, whom the Christian Brothers say could be Br Alain, it is clear from the Visitation Reports 

           in  the  1970s  that  it  was  well  known  within  the  Community  that  he  had  a  drink  problem.  This 

           Brother spent over 20 years in the School. 



13.116     A Br Baron32  was a source of concern to the Congregation. There is no actual allegation of sexual 



           abuse  against  him  and  none  in  relation  to  his  time  in  Cabra.  However,  Br  Baron,  who  was 

           stationed in another school in the mid-1950s, wrote to the Provincial seeking a transfer on health 

           grounds. He considered himself a misfit in the School and that at no other period had he had ‘so 

           many temptations’ against his vocation. His request was acceded to, and he was transferred to a 

           school in Dublin, and two years later to Cabra. There is no explanation for his transfer to Cabra. 

           While he was in Cabra, the school chaplain, Fr Doyle,33  wrote to the Provincial, informing him that 



           he had advised Br Baron to seek ‘a change away from residential boys’. Br Baron had told Fr Doyle 

           that this had been suggested to him before. Fr Doyle emphasised in his letter to the Provincial that 

           he felt that a change on conscientious grounds was a necessity and the Provincial agreed to the 

           request and he was immediately transferred out of Cabra to a day school in Dublin. 



13.117     In the early 1960s, Br Baron applied for a dispensation. In a letter to the Provincial, he stated that 

           he had his ‘old troubles’ again. It is clear from the correspondence at this time that the Christian 

           Brothers were very keen to have him removed from the Congregation. The Provincial wrote to the 

           Superior of Cabra and said that ‘one thing is certain we could not employ him in school again’. 

           The Provincial was anxious to be rid of Br Baron quickly, with as little contact as possible with the 

           Congregation. He asked the Superior to arrange for Br Baron to travel to Dublin, where another 

           Brother would meet him at Clerys in order to provide him with a set of clothes and £30 in cash. 

           The Provincial wrote: ‘Let him arrive in Dublin in time so that it will not be necessary for him to 

           spend a night in a Brothers’ House but if he has to well and good’. He added that he had sent Br 

           Baron a reference and stated ‘I hope I have now covered all points in this ugly matter’. Br Baron 

           was dispensed from his vows two years after his departure from Cabra. 



13.118     Allegations of sexual abuse in St Joseph’s were made against two Brothers who committed sexual 

           abuse in other institutions. Both served in Letterfrack Industrial School, and one also served in 

           Artane  Industrial  School.  In  a  case  of  documented  abuse,  Br  Dax  was  sent  from  Cabra  to 

           Letterfrack, where he abused numerous boys in a long career of sexual misconduct, but he denied 

           abuse in Cabra. Br Dax pleaded guilty to sample charges of indecent assault and buggery of boys 

           in Letterfrack and was sentenced to terms of imprisonment. As for Br Adrien,34                    the Superior of 



           Letterfrack had previously appealed to have him moved in circumstances that clearly implied that 



           26 This is a pseudonym. 

           27 This is a pseudonym. 

           29 This is a pseudonym. 

           29 This is a pseudonym. 

           30 This is a pseudonym. 

           31 This is a pseudonym. 

           32 This is a pseudonym. 

           33 This is a pseudonym. 

           34 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       573 


----------------------- Page 604-----------------------

           he was sexually abusing boys. He was sent to Cabra for two years, which demonstrated complete 

           indifference to the risk he posed to children there. 



           Conclusions on sexual abuse 



13.119     1.   There was a lack of follow-up by staff to whom complaints were made. There were no 

                clear reporting systems or guidelines once an allegation of abuse was made. 



           2.   Brothers who were the subject of complaints in the course of the Moore investigation 

                were not investigated by the State agencies or the Congregation. 



           3.   There    was   delay   by   management       in  informing    the  parents    of  children    who   had 

                allegedly been sexually abused. 



           4.   Sexual abuse was not reported to the Gardai until the 1990s. 

                                                                      ´ 



           5.   As late as 1986, when Br Boucher was under suspicion, no proper inquiry took place. 



           6.   Management at the School paid no heed to the early indicators of abuse, particularly 

                with regard to boys who were highly sexualised with each other. 



           7.   Br   Baron    was   clearly   unsuitable    for  work    with  young     boys.   He   was   granted    a 

                dispensation     and   given   a  reference    to  facilitate  future  employment.       This  showed 

                disregard     for  the   safety    of  children    and    prioritising   of   the   interests   of   the 

                Congregation. 



           8.   There was a failure on the part of management to recognise that children with special 

                needs demanded a high standard of care, and that all staff needed to be informed and 

                trained appropriately. 



           Peer sexual abuse 



           Documented cases 



           Eastern Health Board 



13.120     One of the Eastern Health Board reports made a very serious finding against the management in 

           Cabra. It stated that: 



                 There  is  a  history  of  staff  ambivalence  regarding  what  might  be  considered  normal  or 

                 abnormal  sexual  interaction  between  the  boys.  For  example,  some  boys  who  abused 

                 other boys were suspended or expelled. Others remained in the same unit as their victim. 

                 A lack of clear policy in this area can  only have contributed to the likelihood of sexual 

                 abuse occurring in the units. 



13.121     The report concluded that the information about sexual abuse in the form of direct allegations, 

           stories and rumours ‘all add up to produce a sexualised culture within the School in general. Such 

           a culture can only be shifted by radical and ongoing management and training’. 



13.122     The  report  faulted  the  school  management  for  a  number  of  failures.  They  were  slow  about 

           informing parents when children were involved in sexual activity, and the information they gave 

           was inadequate. They misinterpreted incidents between boys and singled out individuals in cases 

           where they should have identified patterns of group behaviour. They were insensitive: ‘there have 

           been examples of quite a judgmental approach to boys who were acting out sexually due to having 

           been abused themselves in the centre’. 



13.123     The report also found that there ‘is a tendency to discredit complainants by, for example, alluding 

           to their personal characteristics or family history. Even at the highest level there does not seem 

           to  be  the  skills,  or  the  inclination,  to  suspend  judgement,  or  even  to  think  it  possible  that  the 



           574                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 605-----------------------

           complainants might be telling the truth. A protocol is required whereby guidelines can be followed 

           in a standard way, regardless of the opinions of the staff, or their line management’. 



           General comment 



13.124     The  documented  cases  of  sexual  activity  between  boys  afford  confirmation  of  some  of  these 

           points. The information in the records is often vague as to the conduct of the boys and fails to 

           distinguish between different categories of prohibited behaviour. In particular, the records do not 

           distinguish between consensual activity engaged in by boys of equivalent status, and peer abuse 

           consisting of predatory behaviour perpetrated by stronger and usually older boys on vulnerable 

           and usually younger boys. 



13.125     Despite the fact that these cases came repeatedly to the attention of the school management, 

           they were dealt with individually and there was no appreciation that they were part of a pattern of 

           behaviour or of an issue that should be approached on a more general level. It was necessary for 

           the School to deal with individual offenders, but they did not address the issue as a problem for 

           the management of the school, despite the large number of cases that they had to deal with. The 

           records document cases going back to the 1970s and, for the reasons identified in the Eastern 

           Health  Board  Report,  there  may  have  been  many  other  cases  of  that  kind.  Nevertheless,  the 

           management never devised a policy for dealing with the issue, by way of education of the boys 

           or of the teachers or of the care staff. 



           Mid-1980s 



13.126     In the mid-1980s, a 16-year-old pupil was a cause of concern to the school authorities and he 

           was referred to Dr Byrne because of his ‘anti-social behaviour, which has included outbursts of 

           temper and violence, and more important, because of attacks of a homo-sexual nature on peers’. 

           Dr Byrne advised that his behaviour should be monitored daily. Some months later, the boy was 

           involved in a ‘homosexual/assault episode’ and he was again referred to Dr Byrne, who advised 

           Br  Ames  not  to  let  the  boy  return  to  School  until  he  ‘had  satisfied  himself  that  he  posed  no 

           homosexual risk to the school population’. But it is not clear how the Brother was to achieve this 

           state of knowledge. 



13.127     In a separate  incident, a staff member,  Mr Williams,35           saw an  older boy holding the  hand of a 



           younger boy and bringing him into a dark room. He followed them and found the two boys in a 

           corner of the room with the lights off. When questioned by school management, it transpired that 

           the older boy had attempted to sexually assault the other boy. He had asked him to pull down his 

           trousers and, when the boy refused, he then ‘rubbed his penis up and down his backside’ while 

           both were fully clothed. 



13.128     The  parents  of  the  older  boy  were  notified  immediately  by  telephone  of  the  incident  by  the 

           Superior, Br Porteur.36     The following day, Br Porteur wrote to the boy’s parents telling them that 



           their son needed help and, until he was willing to accept such help, he was suspended. The boy 

           was allowed to return to school once he agreed he had a problem and required help. His mother 

           was  of  the  view  that  he  needed  to  see  a  priest.  The  school  management  agreed  to  offer  him 

           assistance with his problem, but from the file it does not appear that this boy was referred to Dr 

           Byrne for assessment. Management was aware of this boy’s ‘deviant behaviour’ in the mid-1980s. 



13.129     The parents of the younger boy were not informed of the incident. The victim in this case also 

           features in other recorded episodes, in one as the alleged victim in the early 1990s, and in another 

           case as the perpetrator of abuse. 



           35 This is a pseudonym. 

           36 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       575 


----------------------- Page 606-----------------------

           Early 1970s to late 1980s 



13.130     The mother  of a boy,  who had  been resident in  St Joseph’s from  the early  1970s to the  early 

           1980s, contacted a Bishop in the late 1980s to complain about sexual abuse that her son had 

           suffered in the School. She subsequently met the Provincial, Br Sandler, and informed him that 

           the sexual abuse by older boys had begun shortly after her son’s arrival in St Joseph’s. She said 

           that he had reported the abuse and that the offenders were expelled. But some of them were re- 

           admitted and they again sexually abused him, until he left the School. The boy attempted suicide 

           in the late 1980s, which resulted in him attending a psychiatrist, and that is how details of the 

           abuse came to light. Br Sandler assured the woman that the matter would be investigated and he 

           would report back to her. From the file furnished, no action appears to have been taken by Br 

           Sandler, nor are there any documents concerning the abuse that led to the boys’ being expelled 

           in the early 1970s. 



           Late 1980s 

13.131     In the late 1980s, an Assistant House Parent, Mr Smith,37             found that a boy was upset and ‘had 



           problems’, and had written down details of many instances of sexual abuse perpetrated on him 

           by   boys   in his  class   over   a  period   of  seven    years,  including   fondling,   masturbation,     anal 

           penetration and oral sex. Mr Smith informed the Principal, Br Grissel, of the allegations, and the 

           Principal with another teacher spoke to the boy and decided to allow him home early due to his 

           agitated state. 



13.132     The  Principal,  Br  Grissel,  and  the  Superior,  Br  Sumner,  visited  the  boy’s  mother  at  her  home. 

           They had been advised by Dr Byrne to inform her of the sexual abuse of her son and the urgent 

           need for counselling and therapy. The mother’s response was that the family doctor was a lady 

           and she would seek her advice. She also informed them that she was taking her son out of the 

           School because she did not feel he had the ability to pass the Leaving Certificate. There is no 

           record of any follow-up in the School by way of internal investigation, and the matter appears to 

           have been considered closed once the boy was gone. 



           Early 1990s 



13.133     During an investigation in the early 1990s, it was discovered that two boys were forcing another 

           boy to engage in sexual acts with them. The victim, at the request of his mother, was transferred 

           to another residential unit. When the mother spoke to her son, the full details emerged that there 

           were five boys sexually bullying him over the course of the year. The two boys who perpetrated 

           the sexual abuse were suspended from the School, but one was allowed to return to school to 

           complete his studies. 



13.134     A letter dated one year later reveals the dissatisfaction felt by the father of the boy who was the 

           victim of Fergal’s predatory behaviour. He complained that he was given inconsistent information 

           whether such incidents had happened. In relation to the particular episode involving his son, the 

           father stated that he and his wife: 



                 would in the ordinary way be upset and sad that such a thing should happen, but if it were 

                 an  isolated  incident  which  was  then  handled  appropriately,  we  would  accept  that  it  is 

                  impossible to guard completely against such a thing. In this case, however, it appears on 

                 the information available at present to have been part of a series of events which should 

                  have put you on guard to take appropriate precautions ... 



13.135     He  expressed  surprise  that  there  was  not  an  immediate  investigation  of  the  incident,  and  was 

           unable to  understand why he  and his  wife had not  been immediately informed.  He went  on to 

           protest that ‘no apparent effort was made to assess and monitor in a professional way the impact 



           37 This is a pseudonym. 



           576                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 607-----------------------

          of the incident on [his son]’. He said that failure to take action to prevent a re-occurrence ‘appears 

          totally irresponsible’. 



13.136    The father questioned the adequacy of arrangements to protect other boys in St Joseph’s, and 

          wondered if there was a sex education programme in existence. Although he had been impressed 

           by the calibre of the staff that he had met, he nevertheless could not ‘understand why there is not 

          a  specific  course  of  instruction  in  sign  language  for  them’.  Neither  was  there  any  professional 

          counselling service available which would be accessible to boys using sign language. 



13.137    The boy’s father protested that the Principal of the School had neglected the matter totally and 

          for  so  long,  and  that  his  concern  at  that  stage  one  year  on  ‘appeared  to  be  to  minimise  the 

          significance  of  what  happened  and  the  shortcomings’  which  he  had  described.  He  found  Br 

          Grissel’s suggestion that what the boy was doing with his son might be described as ‘horseplay’ 

          to be offensive and ridiculous, and thought that attempted rape would be more appropriate. The 

          writer went on to claim that the way this and other similar events had been handled was unfair to 

          the boys engaged in predatory behaviour as well as to their victims. 



13.138    The letter as a whole constituted a major list of serious failings on the part of the Institution and 

           its management, and it called for a considered and comprehensive response. There is a dearth 

          of documented material relating to the case in question. 



13.139    The discovery of two nine-year-old boys in bed together, engaged in sexual activity in the early 

           1990s, gave rise to concern about the ringleader because his interest in and knowledge of sex 

          was   beyond    that  of a  nine-year-old   boy.  However,    although    the sexualised    behaviour   was 

          suspicious, no investigation into practices in the house where the boy was living was carried out. 



13.140    A note on the file about this incident makes the following observation: 



                 Mr  Moore  the  Senior    Houseparent  submitted  a  document  to  Mr        Gallagher  which  in 

                 hindsight we now realise that he was covering up some kind of inappropriate activity. 



13.141    The only action by the school management was to decide that staff would monitor the situation 

          closely. The parents of the boys were notified six weeks after the incident had taken place. Both 

           boys, during the screening process which came about as a result of the mid-1990s investigation 

          were referred for assessment to the St Clare’s unit. The boy who was the instigator in this incident 

          was himself the victim of abuse in another case, which may alone or with other episodes have 

          accounted for his sexualised behaviour at such a young age. The case is another illustration of 

          the cycle of abuse that sometimes occurred, whereby a victim copied what had happened to him 

           by doing it to another child. 



           Peer abuse notified to St Clare’s Unit 



13.142     During the investigation of the mid-1990s by the Eastern Health Board into allegations against the 

          care  worker,  Mr  Moore,  many  allegations  of  peer  sexual  abuse  came  to  the  attention  of  the 

          assessment  team  in  St  Clare’s.  The  extent  of  the  abuse  uncovered  by  this  investigation  was 

          alarming. Although some of the cases could have been regarded as sexual activity between boys 

          of a similar age, much of what was disclosed involved predatory sexual abuse of older boys on 

          younger boys. In one case, a child as young as nine was involved with a much older boy, who 

           had himself been abused by the care worker, Mr Moore. 



13.143    Over 20 boys were interviewed, and many had either direct or indirect experience of sexual abuse 

           by other boys. In some cases, the boy interviewed named multiple offenders, up to five boys in 

          one case. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               577 


----------------------- Page 608-----------------------

13.144    The allegations ranged from lewd conversations to masturbation and anal rape. 



13.145    The Health Board’s conclusions on peer abuse in Cabra have been outlined above, and it was 

          uncompromising in its criticism of management in Cabra for its failure to address this issue. 



          Conclusions on peer abuse 



13.146     1.  The fact that such a serious problem of sexual abuse among boys was only uncovered 

               when  the  Health  Board  became  involved  in  the  Moore  investigation,  and  boys  were 

               encouraged to speak in a confidential and safe environment, has serious implications. 

               It is probable that sexual activity was ignored or tolerated for some considerable time 

               before  the  Health  Board  intervened.  Complaints  were  dismissed  or  ignored  and  no 

               attempt was made to protect children from predatory behaviour. 



           2.  The extent of the problem as revealed by the Health Board investigation should have 

               triggered a full-scale inquiry on the part of the management as to how children could 

               have been subjected to such abuse whilst in their care. In fact, it appears that staff 

               were   not   even   properly   informed    of the  ongoing     investigations,   and   there  is  no 

               evidence  that  there  was  any  urgency  about  putting  safeguards  in  place  to  prevent 

               future occurrences. 



           3.  Despite numerous reported incidents of peer abuse in the early 1990s involving the 

               same    boys,   the  school   management       did  not  undertake    an   investigation   into  the 

               residential units. 



           4.  The attitude of management displayed ignorance on how children should be protected 

               whilst in their care. Incidents of peer abuse were treated as one-off events and did not 

               lead   to  any   systemic     changes    that   would    make    abuse    more    difficult for  the 

               perpetrators and easier for victims to report. 



           5.  The amount of sexual activity amongst the pupils suggests that they were not given 

               adequate    education    or  training   about   the  social  rules  that  control   normal   sexual 

               behaviour. 



          General conclusions 



13.147     1.  St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys in Cabra was a well-equipped school that promised 

               the  best  possible  care  and  education  to  boys  who  were  deaf  or  who  had  hearing 

               difficulties. 



           2.  Cabra did not deliver on its promises. It failed to provide a safe or secure environment 

               for the children it purported to protect. It operated a system of corporal punishment 

               that was excessive and capricious and reliant on the discretion of individual teachers. 

               Some  of  these  teachers  were  harsh  and  cruel  towards  the  boys,  and  there  was  no 

               mechanism for addressing complaints. Children were fearful and helpless in the face 

               of management failure to put controls in place. 



           3.  The management in Cabra failed to protect children from sexual abuse by staff. When 

               complaints were made, they were not believed or ignored or dealt with inadequately. 

               The level and extent of abuse perpetrated by one lay worker, as late as the 1990s, was 

               an indication of the lack of any proper safeguards. 



           4.  Cabra offered little protection to younger boys from sexual abuse by older boys. The 

               level of peer abuse uncovered by the Health Board investigation in the mid-1990s was 

               disturbing. The investigation also revealed a pattern of physical and emotional bullying 

               that made Cabra a very frightening place for children who were learning to overcome 

               hearing difficulties. 



          578                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 609-----------------------

 5.  In caring  for children,  the  provision  of  good  facilities is no  substitute  for an 

     environment  that  protects  and  cherishes  the  individual  child.  Swimming  pools  and 

     recreation halls are of little value if children are frightened, bullied and abused. Many 

     of the problems in Cabra could have been alleviated by a change in attitude towards 

    the children. Although professional training would have undoubtedly helped, a truly 

    self-critical approach by management that was not defensive in the face of criticism 

    would have brought about many of the necessary changes. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                 579 


----------------------- Page 610-----------------------

 580                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 611-----------------------

           Chapter 14 



           John Brander1 



           Introduction 



14.01      This is the account of a teacher whose sexual and physical abuse of children over a period of 

           more  than  40  years  came  to  the  attention  of  many  different  persons  in  authority.  This  abuse 

           consisted   of the   sexual  abuse    of young    boys   and  the   excessive   corporal   punishment     and 

           emotionally degrading treatment of both girls and boys in his classes. Despite being repeatedly 

           removed from schools because of sexual abuse of children under his care, he was able to secure 

           new positions, often at a senior level, in different schools in a pattern which continued until his 

           retirement. 



14.02      Firstly, the importance of this career of abuse is that it happened. Secondly, Mr Brander was able 

           to  continue  teaching  despite  complaints  to  school  authorities  and  subsequent  investigations. 

           Thirdly, his  conduct was also  known to other  persons and agencies  including the parish  priest 

           who was the manager of one school, the bishop of the diocese in which that school was located 

           and the Department of Education. Yet another important element is the manner in which reports 

           about  the  teacher  were  handled  by  the  Department  of  Education.  The  elements  of  the  events 

           discussed   here   include:  the   teacher’s  career   of  abuse;   how   the  various   school   authorities 

           responded to complaints about him; the other agencies that were notified or had knowledge of 

           the abuse; the conduct of the Department of Education and its officials; and the contrast between 

           theory and practice in official handling of complaints. 



14.03      In the mid-1990s, Mr Brander, a former Christian Brother and teacher, was fined and placed on 

           probation for the sexual assault of a boy to whom he had been giving private tuition. Almost two 

           years  after  this  trial, he  pleaded    guilty to  numerous     sample    charges    of indecent    assault 

           perpetrated at one particular national school, Naomh Mhuire NS, Walsh Island, Co Offaly during 

           the 1960s. In the period between conviction and sentencing, more individuals came forward to 

           recount their own experiences of being assaulted by Mr Brander. In sentencing him to a term of 

           imprisonment, the court took into account further assaults perpetrated while he was teaching at a 

           secondary  school  Presentation  Convent  Castlecomer  Co  Kilkenny.  Following  a  third  trial,  Mr 

           Brander  received  a  further  conviction  in  respect  of  the  abuse  of  another  pupil  at  in  the  same 

           school. 



           Early career/Christian Brothers 



14.04      Having joined the Congregation of Christian Brothers in the 1930s, Mr Brander began his teaching 

           career in the Christian Brothers, primary school St Mary’s CBS Marino in Dublin in the early 1940s. 

           From then until the late 1950s, when he sought and was granted a dispensation from his vows, 

           he taught in three more Christian Brothers schools, Mullingar CBS Co Westmeath, St Michael’s 

           CBS Inchicore Dublin and James’s Street CBS Dublin. In that period, the records reveal that he 

           came to the attention of his superiors on account of sexual interference with boys in his schools 

           on three occasions. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 581 


----------------------- Page 612-----------------------

14.05      His career in the Christian Brothers is summarised in a letter from the Provincial to the Superior 

           General of the Christian Brothers: 



                  My most dear Br. Superior General, 

                  On Friday April 5th    Br [Lessard],2   Principal of our Primary School CBS James’ St came to 



                  St. Helen’s and gave me in his own handwriting the following charges of improper conduct 

                  on the part of Br. [Brander] with boys of his own class. Br [Lessard] interviewed the boys 

                  and wrote down what they had to say. I enclose the statements of the boys concerned. 



                  I called Br. [Brander] to St. Helen’s on Saturday and read for him the charges made. At 

                  first he would not admit the charges. Then I gave him the names of the boys concerned 

                  and again read for him each charge. He again denied them in general but admitted those 

                  made by [two boys]. He said that [three other boys] formed a clique from the slum district. 

                  Br. [Lessard] stated that those boys were told by their confessor to report the matter to 

                  him. Br [Brander] then fell back on the excuse that he did not think it was harmful to touch 

                  boys  in  the  manner  complained  of,  externally  and  that  he  did  not  think  that  the  boys 

                  noticed it. I told him that he would have to get a canonical warning and that we could not 

                  allow him in future to have any contact with boys as it would be dangerous for himself 

                  and for the boys. I recommended him to look for a dispensation and this he eventually 

                  agreed to do. He asked what work could he do if he were not allowed to teach and he 

                  was told it was difficult to say what kind of work might be available except perhaps working 

                  in a garden. I allowed him to walk about for an hour to ponder over the matter. He was 

                  then satisfied to seek for a dispensation and said that he should have gone long ago. He 

                  asked me were there any complaints from the secondary boys and also wished to know 

                  if [Father Brian]3  had written to me about five months ago to request that he, Br [Brander] 



                  be allowed to teach the bigger boys. He is and has been teaching sixth standard. He said 

                  that his attraction is towards smaller boys and not towards those of the other sex. This is 

                  the third occasion on which such charges have been made against Br. [Brander] but on 

                  the first occasion [in the 1940s] he did not get a canonical warning. He got one on the 

                  last  occasion  which  was  in  [the  early  1950s]4      when  he  was  in  Mullingar  CBS  To-day, 

                  Sunday April 8th    I had a phone call from Br [Brander] to say that he had seen [Fr. Brian] 



                  and that he is seeking a dispensation. He will send it to me in an enclosed envelope so 

                  that  it  may  be  forwarded  to  Rome.  I  have  transferred  him  from  CBS  James’  St  to  [a 

                  Community residence] where he will await the dispensation. I told him that if he wishes 

                  he  could  state  that  he  was  seeking  the  dispensation  on  account  of  moral  dangers  to 

                  himself and to the boys. 



                  With kindest regards and all good wishes ... 

                  Br [Derbec]5 



                  PS  The  Council  agreed  by  3  votes  to  0  that  Br  [Brander]  be  recommended  to  seek  a 

                  dispensation. 



14.06      One of the boys who is referred to in this letter made a statement to the Gardai around the time 

                                                                                                            ´ 

           of Mr Brander’s most recent conviction: 



                  In my last year in CBS James’ St it was common knowledge that Brother [Brander] was 

                  interfering  with  other  boys.  I  personally  was  never  touched  by  Brother  [Brander].  Back 

                  then ... it was a common thing for Brother [Brander] to keep one of the boys back after 

                  class. 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 This is a pseudonym. 

           4 He was again transferred to another primary school St Michael’s CBS Inchicore. He remained here for one month and 



             then moved to CBS James’ St. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 



           582                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 613-----------------------

14.07      He mentioned two boys as coming to mind and continued: 



                 but I cannot be sure if Brother [Brander] interfered with them or not. I remember the talk 

                 about Brother [Brander] at that time was that he would come up behind the boy he’d keep 

                 back after school and touch him and ask the boy if he had any marbles. I remember soon 

                 after I left CBS James’ St a group of us boys that had finished school went to see the 

                 head Brother. I can’t remember the head brothers name at that time, it may have been 

                 Brother  [Lessard].  I  remember  we  told  the  head  brother  about  imoral  things  Brother 

                 [Brander] was doing. The head Brother brought us into a room and I remember he gave 

                 us cigarettes. He took us very seriously and told us that we may have to repeat what we 

                 had told him and that he would check out what we told him. I never heard anything from 

                 that head brother afterwards. 



14.08      When  it  was  confirmed  that  Br  Brander  would  seek  a  dispensation,  he  was  transferred  to  a 

           Community     residence    in  the  west  of  Ireland   to await   completion    of the   formal  process    of 

           dispensation. Br Gibson, giving evidence on behalf of the Congregation, said that he could not 

           shed light on the reason for his transfer to this Community or say whether this was an unusual 

           occurrence. He said that it might perhaps have been to get him out of his environment or to keep 

           him away from his ministry. 



14.09      The   application   for dispensation     was   ultimately  granted    by  a  bishop,   in  whose    episcopal 

          jurisdiction  Br  Brander  was  now  resident.  By  this  means,  Br  Brander  was  able  to  leave  the 

           Congregation apparently of his own volition and with an unblemished teaching record. 



14.10      Mr Brander took up the position of principal of Lanesboro NS, Co Longford on a Monday, having 

           been dispensed from his vows the previous Friday. The question arises as to how he was able to 

           secure this position, and who aided him in obtaining it. No documentary evidence was available 

           to the Investigation Committee, in the form of a written reference or otherwise, to throw light on 

           this disturbing matter. 



14.11      •    The  Congregation  was  aware  of  the  criminal  nature  of  such  assaults  and  that  the 

                Christian Brothers ‘could not allow him in future to have any contact with boys’, but 

                did nothing to prevent him doing so and continuing to teach. Neither the Department 

                of Education nor the Gardai were informed of Mr Brander’s sexual abuse of children. 

                                                  ´ 

                By not informing the relevant authorities, the Congregation facilitated his access to 

                more children. 



           Lanesboro NS, Lanesboro, Co Longford , May 1957 – September 

           1960 



14.12      Mr Brander remained principal of Lanesboro NS for over three years, until he moved to take up a 

           position  in  Ballyfermot    NS,   Dublin.   No   documentary      material   is available   to  explain   the 

           circumstances of his departure from Lanesboro NS but, at his sentencing following his second 

           trial, Mr Brander admitted abusing boys in this school. In addition, a Garda statement made by a 

           former pupil contains allegations of physical and sexual abuse against Mr Brander while a teacher 

           in this school. 



           Ballyfermot NS/ Banrion na nAingeal, Ballyfermot, Dublin, September 

           1960 – January 1964 



14.13      Mr Brander was appointed to Ballyfermot NS initially as third assistant teacher and, later, as vice- 

           principal.  In  a  letter  to  the  Department  of  Education,  Fr  Harry,6  the  school  manager,  sought 



           6 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  583 


----------------------- Page 614-----------------------

           approval for the recruitment of additional teachers, and advised that Mr Brander had the highest 

           qualifications  and  would   be   an  excellent  vice-principal  when    the  numbers    justified such   an 

           appointment. Mr Brander left the school in the mid-1960s, having been absent due to illness for 

          two months. 



14.14     A letter from solicitors acting for a former pupil, some years following Mr Brander’s last conviction 

           and addressed to the Board of Governors of the School, complained that while this man was a 

           pupil in this School in the 1960s he suffered an indecent assault by Mr Brander. The letter stated 

          that a complaint was made to the school authorities at that time, and no action was taken other 

          than Mr Brander was moved from his class. The solicitors were advised that there was no record 

           of this complaint or of any investigation. 



14.15     An affidavit of discovery sworn on behalf of the Board of Management for the purposes of this 

           Inquiry states that there were no documents recording any contemporaneous complaint. 



           Rath Mixed NS, Ballybrittas, Portlaoise, Co Laois, January 1964 – 

          June 1966 



14.16      Mr  Brander took  up  the position  of  principal  at this  national  school in  the  mid-1960s. A  parent 

           complained to the Department of Education about Mr Brander’s excessive corporal punishment 

           of her children: 



                 Dear Sir, 



                 I received a letter from your office ... accompanied by the regulations concerning corporal 

                 punishment in primary schools. 



                 I did not  at the time send you any  more details regarding the infliction  of unnecessary 

                 punishment  on  schoolchildren  as  I  really  thought  that  matters  would  improve  after  the 

                 Manager ... had spoken to the principal concerned. 



                 Now I regret to say I have reached the end of my patience [I have five children attending 

                 Rath NS] their ages ranging from 13 yrs to 5 yrs. 



                 The three oldest aged 13 yrs, 11 yrs & 9 yrs are at present in the classroom attended by 

                 Mr  [Brander]  (Principal)  and  I  do  not  hesitate  in saying  that  my  heart  is  broken  simply 

                 trying to get them to go to school at all. 



                 This state of nerves on their part has been brought about through fear. 



                 Last week my eldest son ... returned to school after being absent 8 days as a result of 

                 severe flu when his temperature reached 104 degrees. Against my better judgment and 

                 the advice of our family doctor I sent him back to school and on his second day back he 

                 was subject to a severe beating on the head, and to day he has come home from school 

                 with the top of his small finger on the left hand showing definite bruising after being given 

                 6 slaps with a hazel stick. 



                 Last week I made a complaint to the manager and he promised to talk it over with the 

                 teacher. All I can think now is that he hasn’t honoured his promise. 



                 During  the  end  of  last  year  it  would  be  roughly  around  early  December  my  little  girl 

                 received 19 slaps from Thurs to Tues inclusive and also the side of her neck had severe 

                 bruising after which I wrote a letter to Mr [Brander] asking him not to have it happen again, 

                 however  this  request  also  seems  to  have  been  ignored  and  in  my  opinion  it  is  time 

                 something was done to improve conditions for the pupils at Rath NS. 



                 It is not one of my principals to make trouble for anyone and I regret very much having to 

                 set down those complaints at all, but as I have already said something will have to be 

                 done about the aforesaid conditions. 



           584                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 615-----------------------

                  To conclude I can safely say that I am not the only mother who is having the same trouble, 

                  however it is up to the others to make their own complaints. 



                  Thanking you in anticipation and trusting there can be some amiable agreement reached 

                  on the subject. 



                  Yours ... 



                  [P.S. May I add that all this punishment is being given for mere failure at lessons which 

                  to me seems most unnecessary as I myself spend almost every evening from tea-time to 

                  bed-time  helping  the  children  in  every  way  possible  and  I  always  make  sure  that  all 

                  homework is duly done by them.] 



14.17      She included in the letter the name and address of the local doctor. 



14.18      Her complaint was acknowledged by the Department and forwarded to the School Manager, who 

           was the parish priest, for comment: 



                  I  am  directed  to  enclose  for  your  information  extracts  from  a  letter  received  from  [the 

                  mother] ... regarding the treatment of her children pupils in the above-named school, by 

                  Mr. [Brander] principal teacher in the school. It appears that [she] has already brought the 

                  complainant to your notice. Please say if [she] has presented her complaint to you, and 

                  if so, please state what action, if any, you have taken or propose to take in the matter. I 

                  am also to request you to be so good as to obtain from Mr. [Brander] a written statement 

                  in regard to the matters referred to in [her] letter and to forward the statement, together 

                  with your own observations thereon, to the Department. 



                  Mise, le meas, 



14.19      The School Manager responded as follows: 



                  Dear Sir, 



                  I am forwarding Mr. [Brander’s] report on the case of complaint by [the mother] of cruelty 

                  to her children. I think her complaint is very much exaggerated & Mr [Brander] is a very 

                  good and conscientious teacher. 



                  Signed 



                  .... 



14.20      Notably, he failed to make any comment as to whether he had previously been approached about 

           the matter or whether other parents had similar complaints. 



14.21      In Mr Brander’s report he said that the letter was: 



                  the first I heard of 19 slaps and as it happened last December I cannot recall. But it is 

                  typical of the atmosphere of that house that they are being counted and questioned. At 

                  that time I had a rod, 9 1  inches long, still have it. It was a joke that each slap was only a 

                                              2 



                  quarter. So 19 divided by 4 would be more honestly accurate. However I did receive a 

                  letter from [the mother], 15th  December last, saying that the side of her child’s face showed 



                  blue marks and that her hands were swollen. I looked the very moment I received the 

                  letter, but saw no trace of any blue marks and I said “show me your sore hand”. “They 

                  are not sore” was her reply. 



                  Her remark “this request seems to have been ignored” is typical. I have not punished this 

                  child unduly since (even though she admitted often not learning her exercise). If I did, her 

                  mother would have facts, figures and relevant data. She intimated in that letter too that 

                  she had “the address of the Department” – had even told other parents that she would 

                  give it to them – and “that I was not allowed to give corporal punishment for mere failure 

                  at lessons”. I have therefore been especially careful not to violate regulations re her P.S. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      585 


----------------------- Page 616-----------------------

                  where  I  am  wrongfully  accused.  With  such  a  mother’s  attitude  how  could  children  co- 

                  operate or how could one believe “that she always made sure that all home work is duly 

                  done by them”. 



                  Regarding [her eldest son] and the “severe beating”. Firstly I state that “severe beating” 

                  is not defined – because she could not. Else she would. On the morning in question, as 

                  customary, between 9.25 and 9.45 I was correcting scholarship sums (homework). I was 

                  sitting  at  my  table  with  two  girls  on  my  right  and  two  boys  on  my  left,  [her  son]  being 

                  nearest to me. I was thus able to see the three copies, as [her son] had no sums done. 

                  He  was  not  punished  for  this.  But  I  asked  him  some  question.  Answer  was  merely 

                  “multiply”  and  when  he  failed  I  remarked  “if  I  had  known  you  were  such  an  ass  at 

                  arithmetic, I’d never had entered you for the Scholarship”. All I did was to give him a few, 

                  not more than four, little raps with my knuckles (left arm not even extended as he was 

                  close  beside  me)  on  the  back  of  the  head.  No  rod  used  at  all.  This  was  the  “severe 

                  beating”. There was no trace of ill effect during the day and as I heard before 9.30am the 

                  following morning of [the mother] reporting the matter and of her going into neighbours’ 

                  houses “to back her up”. I could distinctly recall [her son’s] very vigorous football playing 

                  during lunch hour on that very day. I’m thoroughly convinced that the acquired pain in the 

                  evening was for exercise evasion. [The mother] did not state that [her son] did not get half 

                  a dozen slaps from January to March and I’d swear, not even a dozen from September to 

                  December. “Today” referred to, is the follow up of the above incident. I distinctly recall the 

                  day’s  happenings  as  I  had  heard  of  the  “severe  beating”  being  reported  to  the  Rev. 

                  Manager and that she had informed neighbours that she was writing to the Department. 

                  A day or two after [her son’s] return (kept away as a reprisal for my severe beating) I gave 

                  three sums for exercise. He had one done wrong; one half attempted and one not done. 

                  I  had  often  and  often  not  given  him  punishment  deserved  due  to  exercises  not  done, 

                  “forgot”,  down  right  carelessness,  inattention  and  lies  re  exercises,  but  I  gave  two  this 

                  morning as he expected “no more slaps”. Two more during the day on the same hand. In 

                  the evening for cod-acting during spellings he got two more. He held out the same hand 

                  but I said “other hand” – the left. Lucky for me. I’m convinced he would have been glad 

                  to have had other hand sore going home. Those were the only two slaps on his left hand. 

                  How two ordinary slaps from a light 14” rod could have caused a bruise beats me. Those 

                  were the first slaps he had got for weeks – for his own good (only 121  years) as I seldom 

                                                                                                        2 

                  or ever punish 6th     or 7th class. 



                                                                                                                          th  th 

                  Every tittle tattle is reported at home on encouragement I’d say. There was one in 6  , 5  , 

                  4th, 3rd  Class when I came and I could see that each was boss in his/her domain ... 



                  Due to the... family being gifted I was especially interested in them. I have treated them 

                  more fairly than any other family. No family gets less of the rod. She has mentioned these 

                  two  isolated  cases.  Rest  assured  that  if  she  had  more  concrete  evidence  it  would  be 

                  produced.  Her’s  is  a  personal  vendetta.  [The  mother’s]  letter  has  certainly  done  an 

                  injustice not only to me but to her own family. 



14.22      An inspector from the Department of Education visited the school as a result of the complaint. 

            While effectively dismissing the complaint, he noted that the Manager had advised him: 



                  that the teacher tended to be somewhat hot-tempered, that he had spoken to him about 

                  this and that he had promised not to be impatient in future. He also said that he was very 

                  satisfied with the teacher’s work in the school. 



14.23       The author thought Mr Brander had a very pleasant personality and said: 



                  He fulfils the spirit of Rule 95(3) exactly even if he falls down from time to time regarding 

                  Rule 96(1). 



            586                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 617-----------------------

                 I do not think that this complaint should be taken too seriously in the Department but since 

                 Rule 96(1) was breached, the terms of this Rule should be brought to his attention. 



14.24      The series of correspondence concluded with the Department writing to Mr Brander, and copied 

           to the School Manager, advising that he was expected to comply with rule 96(1) and (3) in future. 



14.25      Rule 96(1) provided that: 



                 Corporal    punishment     should    be   administered     only  for  grave    transgression.    In  no 

                 circumstances should corporal punishment be administered for mere failure at lessons. 



14.26      Rule 96(3) provided that: 



                 Only a light cane or rod may be used for the purpose of corporal punishment which should 

                 be inflicted only on the open hand. The boxing of children’s ears, the pulling of their hair 

                 or similar ill-treatment is absolutely forbidden and will be visited with severe penalties. 



14.27      The School Manger advised the Department in the following year of the appointment of a new 

           principal.  The  document  noted  that  Mr  Brander  had  taken  up  a  new  appointment  but  gave  no 

           further information. 



           Naomh Mhuire NS, Walsh Island, Geisill, Co Offaly, July 1966 – 

           September 1969 



14.28      His  next  posting    was   at  Walsh   Island  NS  near    Portarlington.   Mr  Brander    pleaded    guilty  to 

           numerous     charges    of  indecent   assault   on   pupils  in  this  school.   Four   former   pupils  made 

           statements to the Investigation Committee alleging abuse against Mr Brander. 



14.29      In addition, the Investigation Committee was furnished with statements made by former pupils of 

           Mr  Brander  and  two  of  their  parents  in  the  course  of  the  Garda  investigation.  The  statements 

           contained allegations of severe physical abuse of girls, and sexual and physical abuse of boys. 



14.30      The  pattern  of  physical  abuse  of  girls  that  was  described  in  letter  of  complaint  from  the  boy’s 

           mother to the Department of Education continued in Walsh Island NS. Eleven women who had 

           been pupils of Mr Brander in this school made statements to the Gardai. All describe violent daily 

                                                                                              ´ 

           punishment for failure at lessons and minor transgressions. They describe girls being punched 

           about the head and other parts of the body, in many instances receiving injuries as a result. Many 

           described how their parents felt helpless given Mr Brander’s standing in the community. One girl 

           described how he would open letters of complaint at the front of the class, laugh and put them on 

           a spike. Many recalled him openly fondling boys’ genitals at the front of the class. They described 

           how he would sit on a high stool at the head of the class, a boy would be called to read and he 

           was made stand between Mr Brander’s legs. Mr Brander would then put his hands in the boy’s 

           pocket and fondle him. 



14.31      Two former pupils of Walsh Island NS gave evidence before the Committee of the abuse they 

           suffered while pupils of Mr Brander. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    587 


----------------------- Page 618-----------------------

           Mr Rothe7 



14.32      Mr Rothe, a former pupil of Mr Brander’s, gave evidence that rumours of Mr Brander’s behaviour 

           preceded his arrival in Walsh Island NS. He recalled: 



                  It was said before he arrived that he was extremely tough and it was also rumoured that 

                 he had been thrown out of St Michael’s CBS Inchicore. 



14.33      Within a week of his arrival, the rumours were proved well founded. On the surface, Mr Brander 

           was  very  religious,  very  conscientious  and        hardworking.  However,  he  administered  extreme 

           physical punishment. Mr Rothe described the type of punishment Mr Brander would use: 



                  One of the punishments he had was to hit you with his knuckles on the top of the head 

                  which caused  headaches ...  [another was]  being slapped  on the  hands and  ending up 

                  with swollen hands ... On many days he would, before he left in the evenings at three o’ 

                  clock  he  would  actually  count  the  number  of  slaps  he  gave  out  that  day.  Everything 

                 revolved around physical punishment. 



14.34      Mr Rothe also gave evidence of the regular sexual abuse the children suffered and said: 



                 if it wasn’t happening to me it was happening to someone else ... His MO was that he 

                 had a stool, a high stool that he used to sit on, he wouldn’t have the book so he would 

                 ask the child to come up, the child would stand, me in some instances, between his legs 

                 and he would have you reading from the book while he was holding your shoulder and 

                 masturbating against you ... It wasn’t the only place he abused ... I can remember one 

                 day  a  group  of  us  around  the  blackboard  ...  and  he  was  putting  his  hands  inside  my 

                  clothes and rubbing himself on me while other children were standing literally beside me. 



14.35      He had witnessed the same thing happening to a number of other boys. 



14.36      At the time he found the physical punishment more painful than the sexual abuse. Parents were 

           happy because Mr Brander was getting great results, both academically and in sport. 



14.37      Subsequently, when the witness was in secondary school, he heard that Mr Brander had been 

           removed from the school for homosexual behaviour. He said that it was common knowledge that 

           Mr  Brander  went  to  a  psychiatric  hospital  for  three  weeks  after  this  happened.  The  discovery 

           furnished by the Director of Public Prosecutions contains a medical report from the late 1990s, 

           which referred to Mr Brander being treated for depression in 1969. 



           Anja8 



14.38      In the course of the Garda investigation in the late 1990s into allegations of sexual abuse in Walsh 

           Island NS, a number of former pupils named a girl named Anja in particular as having suffered at 

           his hands. The Gardai then contacted her with a view to taking a statement from her. 

                                     ´ 



14.39      Anja was taught by Mr Brander in her final year in primary school. She was 12 at the time. In the 

           course of her evidence, she described a terrifying atmosphere in the classroom. She said that for 

           failure at lessons she would receive six or seven slaps on each hand. She also described how he 

           would strike her on the head, resulting in loss of balance. She described how her head or hands 

           could  be  bruised  following  a  beating.  He  was  more  severe  in  the  administration  of  corporal 

           punishment to girls than to boys. At the time, she felt that the boys were fortunate as she didn’t 

           understand that they were being abused sexually. She described how the boys would stand at 

           the front of the class, reading between Mr Brander’s legs, but she was not aware that he was 

           fondling them. 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 

           8 This is a pseudonym. 



           588                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 619-----------------------

14.40      After one particularly severe beating, her father wrote a letter of complaint to Mr Brander. The 

           following day he slapped her again and commented: ‘Are you going to tell your daddy now were 

           you slapped today?’ She replied that she would not. 



14.41      She said that one reason why parents were reluctant to complain was that Mr Brander’s brother- 

           in-law was a foreman or manager in a large local business where some of the fathers worked. 



           Mr Brander’s departure from Walsh Island NS 



14.42      The Garda discovery furnished to the Investigation Committee outlined the sequence of events 

           leading to Mr Brander’s removal from the School. 



14.43      Rumours were circulating in the locality that Mr Brander was molesting boys and being cruel to 

           girls in his class. The mothers of two pupils approached the parish priest, Fr Colm,9               in an effort to 



           have the parents’ concerns addressed. In their Garda statements, both said that he took a note 

           of what they had said and indicated that he would look into the matter. 



14.44      Mr Rothe gave evidence that Fr Derek10            (the local curate at the time) advised him in the early 



           1980s that Fr Colm had consulted with The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin about the problem. 



14.45      One mother stated that she learned about a week later that Mr Brander was to be transferred. 

           The other mother stated that Fr Colm visited her and advised her that Mr Brander was suspended. 

           Both stated that Fr Derek, the local curate, was annoyed at the manner in which the matter was 

           handled, and said that he would have handled it quietly had they approached him. Around this 

           time,  both  women  were  contacted  by  the  Gardai           but  neither  wanted  their  children  to  make 

                                                                        ´ 

           statements. 



14.46      In the course of the Garda investigation in the mid-1990s, Fr Derek was interviewed. He said that 

           no parent approached him about Mr Brander’s conduct, and the memorandum of that interview 

           continued: 



                  The first he knew about problems in Walsh Island NS was when Fr. [Colm] told him that 

                  he was going to the school to get Mr [Brander] to resign due to ill treatment of a boy. He, 

                  Fr. [Colm], had a document prepared for Mr [Brander] to sign. Mr. [Brander] was gone 

                  from the school overnight. Nobody in Walsh Island NS wanted to talk about the situation. 

                  I.N.T.O.11  came down to see Fr [Colm] ... 



14.47      Despite  the  circumstances  of  his  removal,  Fr  Colm,  the  parish  priest  and  School  Manager, 

           furnished Mr Brander with a glowing reference: 



                  Mr [Brander] B.A. H. Dip in Ed. has been Principal Teacher in a four teacher school in 

                  this parish for the past three years. I would find it impossible to speak or write too highly 

                  of Mr [Brander’s] complete dedication to his professional duties. To visit his classes was 

                  a  refreshing  experience  and  his  splendid  qualities  of  head  and  heart  were  reflected  in 

                  pupils, parents and the people of the community. 



                  His attention to even the tiniest detail was indicative of his love for and devotion to his 

                  work ... [He] engaged in extra curricular activities of inestimable value to the pupils, the 

                  youth, and the parish in general. 



                  Mr. [Brander] at his own request and greatly to my personal regret leaves to devote his 

                  wonderful gifts to the Secondary branch of Education. He brings with him my gratitude for 



           9  This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 Irish National Teachers’ Organisation. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       589 


----------------------- Page 620-----------------------

                  his wonderful service to the pupils and ... the parish, my best wishes for his continued 

                 success in the higher branch of education ... 



  14.48    Fr Colm ended his letter with an expression of his willingness to be of any further assistance to 

           Mr Brander if he should need it. 



  14.49    It  has  been  suggested  by  a  number  of  people  that  a  Garda  file  opened  at  the  time  of  the 

           investigation  in  the  late  1960s  has  disappeared.  The  Committee  has  been  furnished  with  an 

           affidavit  of discovery  sworn  by  a Detective  Superintendent  as to  the  extensive  efforts made  to 

           locate any documents regarding this investigation. He concluded that any such documents would 

           have been destroyed in the normal course pertaining at that time. 



           Presentation Convent Castlecomer Co Kilkenny, September 1969 – 

           July 1975 



  14.50    Following his removal from Walsh Island NS and armed with his reference, Mr Brander took up 

           his first secondary teaching position in Castlecomer. 



  14.51    Three witnesses gave evidence of his behaviour while in this school: Sr Giuliana,12  former school 

           principal; Mr Stegar,13  a young teacher who was very involved with Mr Brander in organising the 

           games; and Mr Gadd,14  a junior teacher at the time. 



  14.52    Sr Giuliana in evidence described how, with the introduction of free education in the late 1960s, 

           gradually more boys enrolled in the school. Mr Brander was employed by her predecessor, Sr 

           Donata.15  She was not aware whether he furnished a reference for the position. 



  14.53    Sr Giuliana became principal of the School soon after and at some point after that appointed Mr 

           Brander as vice-principal. 



           Physical abuse 



  14.54    Mr Brander was regarded as an excellent teacher, the students in his classes got good results. In 

           fact, a lot of pupils were anxious to get into his class. He was well respected by the other staff 

           and by the members of the Congregation. He was very charming and came across as a genuinely 

           nice person. He also cultivated his status in the wider community. 



  14.55    However,  he  had  extraordinary  methods  of  discipline  and  often  assaulted  children.  He  was 

           particularly harsh with girls to whom he gave excessive and unusual punishments.. 



  14.56    Mr Gadd said that he gradually became angry at Mr Brander’s behaviour: 



                  What I recollect most clearly about that is that his attitude towards girls in the School left 

                 much to be desired and one heard stories that he was prone to give physical beatings to 

                  the girls, that he was prone to beat girls about the face ... I came into a classroom one 

                 day and I found that he had a senior student on her knees at the front of the class. I am 

                 not sure if he hit her though about the face, I think that he possibly had. 



  14.57    He added,  ‘he certainly... mistreated girls in the School’. He described how his hostility towards 

           Mr Brander grew as he became aware of his use of force and beatings against students, male 

           and female. 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 

           13 This is a pseudonym. 

           14 This is a pseudonym. 

           15 This is a pseudonym. 



           590                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 621-----------------------

14.58     In his statement to the Investigation Committee Mr Stegar stated that Mr Brander ‘believed in the 

          power of the fist for boys and girls’. In evidence he further described how, if a girl misbehaved in 

          the classroom, Mr Brander would make her kneel outside the classroom for the duration of the 

          class. When Mr Stegar raised the inappropriateness of this punishment with him, he was told to 

          mind his own business. 



14.59     Physical assaults were committed openly and in public settings. Sr Giuliana gave evidence that: 



                well it was mostly at the games as far as I can recollect. I do know a few instances, well, 

                now I can keep two in mind, where a couple of boys got black eyes because he was strict 

                with them on the games field. 



14.60     On the second occasion that she heard he had given a child a black eye, she decided to ‘bring it 

          to his attention’ and registered  her displeasure. She took no further action. The  parents of the 

          children concerned do not appear to have complained and she did not contact them to advise 

          them of what had transpired. 



14.61     Mr Stegar described one of these assaults which occurred at the sports day and involved a tug 

          of war. One of the boys challenged Mr Brander about favouring the other side. In response, Mr 

          Brander punched him to the ground. This occurred in front of other teachers and pupils, including 

          some primary school classes. The religious and lay teachers present ushered their pupils out of 

          the field following the assault. Two days later, Mr Brander gave the boy concerned a medal for 

          bravery as his parents had not complained. Mr Gadd also recalled the event and said that he was 

          particularly incensed by it. 



14.62     Mr Stegar described another occasion when Mr Brander struck a referee during a match. On yet 

          another occasion, Mr Stegar said that he had to stand between Mr Brander and a boy to prevent 

          Mr Brander striking him. 



14.63     Mr Gadd said that Mr Brander instilled a ‘mini reign of fear’. Some people he spoke to in recent 

          years told him they used to be in dread of going to school. 



14.64     In  a  statement  to  the  Commission,  Mr  Stegar  said  that  parents  would  come  to  the  School  to 

          complain about the assaults. However, Sr Giuliana, in a Garda statement made in the mid-1990s, 

          said that while she was principal of the School, ‘no allegations of any nature were made against 

          Mr. Brander’. 



14.65     When Mr Stegar’s evidence was put to her, she qualified her own statement to a certain extent 

          when she said that she could not recollect parents coming to her, but conceded that it might have 

          happened. She said,  ‘parents might have said he was very strict but I can’t recall them making 

          any complaints specifically to me’. She further said that if parents had complained, she would not 

          have recorded the fact 



          Sexual abuse 



14.66     A complaint by a father, that his son was being sexually molested by Mr Brander gave rise to an 

          investigation by Mr Stegar and Mr Gadd, which resulted in his departure to take up a teaching 

          position in another school. There was divergence between the evidence of the teachers and Sr 

          Giuliana, the former Principal of the School as to the latter’s knowledge of the allegations against 

          Mr Brander but the basic facts were not in dispute. 



14.67     Mr Stegar said that the boy’s father called to his house one night and advised him that two days 

          previously his son had been molested by Mr Brander. The child had returned from school in an 

          extremely distressed condition, and had given his father the names of three other boys who had 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                           591 


----------------------- Page 622-----------------------

           similarly  been  abused.  The  father  made  it  clear  that  he  wanted  Mr  Brander  removed  from  the 

           School and from the town. He wanted Mr Stegar to deal with the matter and did not want to make 

           a complaint to the Gardai. 

                                         ´ 



14.68      That  evening,  Mr  Stegar  and  Mr  Gadd  devised  a  series  of  questions  to  put  to  the  three  boys 

           concerned: 



                         (a)   did they understand the meaning of the word ‘molested’? 



                         (b)   were they ever molested? 



                         (c)   was it a member of staff? 



                         (d)   would they name the person? 



                         (e)   did they know of any other boys in the school who had been molested? 



14.69      Mr Stegar and Mr Gadd spoke to a number of students in an upstairs classroom. The general 

           response  of  the  students  was  that  it  was  very  much  common  knowledge  that  Mr  Brander  had 

           been really out of control in this area for quite some time and that nearly every pupil in the school 

           knew that. Mr Gadd stated: 



                  we certainly were left with the impression that he certainly had been abusing students, 

                  that the allegation which this student’s parent was making certainly was probably true. 



           Five boys named Mr Brander as having molested them. Mr Gadd then suggested that they contact 

           a local barrister. 



14.70      The barrister was extremely disturbed by what he heard and drafted a letter to be given to Mr 

           Brander but the two teachers decided to adopt a more gentle approach. 



           The barrister advised the two men to go straight to Sr Giuliana, which Mr Stegar said they did the 

           following  day.  He  said  they  advised  her  of  the  questions  they  had  asked  the  boys  and  their 

           findings.  They  gave  her  the  names  of  the  five  boys  concerned.  Mr  Stegar  said  there  was  no 

           misunderstanding as to the nature of the allegations being made. 



14.71      Sr Giuliana said that she did not know what to do and the matter rested there for some time. Mr 

           Stegar and Mr Gadd were conscious of the fact that Mr Brander was a very strong and influential 

           member of staff. During the next four to five weeks, word of the complaint and Mr Stegar’s actions 

           slipped out. 



14.72      Some time later, the boy’s father contacted him again. He said that if nothing was done about Mr 

           Brander he would contact the Gardai. The following day, Mr Stegar went to Sr Giuliana. She told 

                                                       ´ 

           him that she found it difficult to even discuss the matter with the manager, Sr Donata, who was 

           20 years her senior. She advised him that she had got a book on understanding homosexuality. 

           Sr Giuliana, denied this in evidence and said  ‘I had never heard of homosexuality at the time’. 

           Some  time  after  this,  she  asked  if  he  and  Mr  Gadd  would  speak  to  Mr  Brander  about  the 

           allegations. 



14.73      Sr Giuliana arranged that they would meet Mr Brander after school. The meeting took place on 

           the Monday or Tuesday of Holy Week. At the meeting, Mr Stegar advised Mr Brander that there 

           were widespread allegations that he was sexually interfering with boys in the School, and that the 

           allegations  were  also  out  in  the  wider  community.  His  immediate  reaction  was  to  deny  the 

           allegations, saying that he might have given them a few clatters. They advised him that Sr Giuliana 

           knew of the allegations. Mr Brander said that, once allegations of this nature were made about 

           you, there was no future in the community. Mr Stegar had the impression at the end of the meeting 

           that Mr Brander would leave the school. 



           592                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 623-----------------------

14.74     On the Wednesday, when the school was to close for Easter holidays, Mr Stegar told Sr Giuliana 

          how the meeting had gone. After the Easter break, Sr Giuliana came to the staff room and advised 

          them that Mr Brander would be leaving at the end of the term. 



14.75     Mr Gadd recalled the meeting in the parlour with Mr Brander: ‘I remember that we put the situation 

          to him that there was a complaint, at least one, being made by a parent of a very serious nature’. 



14.76     Mr Stegar and Mr Gadd were two young teachers in their twenties confronting the vice-principal 

          who was in his fifties and who had been there for a number of years. Mr Gadd said that this was 

          why the events stayed in his mind while most other events from the time were a blur. He recalled 

          Mr Brander being pained by what he heard and not making much comment. Mr Gadd said to him 

          that ‘given the seriousness of the allegations ... it was in his own interest that he should come out 

          and that he should deny them forthrightly, in public’. He put this suggestion to Mr Brander because, 

          having spoken to the pupils concerned, he knew that Mr Brander would do no such thing. 



14.77     When asked what he did next, Mr Gadd said that he had no clear recollection but he presumed 

          or thought ‘we must have passed on, if we had met him in the parlour and we met him, I think, at 

          the behest of Sr Giuliana, I think we must have reported to her. But I have no picture in my mind 

          of that meeting’. In a previous Garda statement, he had been more specific: 



                We reported our findings to Sister [Giuliana]. It was decided that Mr [Stegar] and I would 

                discuss the matter with Mr [Brander]. 



          He confirmed that this statement was correct. 



14.78     Mr Gadd was careful to qualify the extent to which Sr Giuliana could have known of the abuse. 

          He said that their understanding of what had happened was different back then: 



                if people   like Sr  Giuliana  and   so  on  had   been   told about   this, I just think  their 

                understanding of what was going on at the time would have been very, very narrow indeed 

                ... it was a very different moral world ... People’s knowledge of these matters would have 

                been extremely minimal, that they mightn’t even know about them at all ... one has to put 

                these  things  into  context  and  one  has  to  understand  that  the  people  who  were  being 

                asked to deal with them would have been very ill prepared to deal with them I think. 



                It was only much, much later on that we understood the enormity of what he had been at 

                ... much later on that we understood that on days perhaps the School would have had a 

                function in the local church, in the local Roman Catholic church, that Mr Brander might 

                have lurked behind and might have accosted the boys in the School, who belonged to 

                [other religious communities] ... 



14.79     When asked specifically what he thought Sr Giuliana knew, his response was vague. Later, he 

          said that nobody wanted to know about the matter. However, he also said that he remembered 

          Sr Giuliana  at some later  point making  the comment that  Mr Brander was  the last  person she 

          would doubt. 



14.80     As to whether they reported the result of their questioning of the boys to Sr Giuliana he said,  ‘We 

          probably did, but I can’t be anymore definite on that’. When asked specifically whether he and Mr 

          Stegar had reported the outcome of their interview with Mr Brander to Sr Giuliana, he replied,  ‘I 

          would think that in all likelihood [we] did yes’. 



14.81     Sr  Giuliana  gave  evidence  that  one  morning  she  was  in  the  cloakroom  as  the  children  were 

          arriving to school. The boy’s mother had arrived and asked for Mr Stegar. Sr Giuliana sent a child 

          to fetch him. She later enquired of Mr Stegar as to how the meeting went, and he advised her 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                            593 


----------------------- Page 624-----------------------

           that the mother had complained about Mr Brander and that he and Mr Gadd had dealt with the 

           matter. That was the end of the matter as far as she was concerned. 



  14.82    She had no recollection of being given any specific details of the complaint by Mr Stegar. She 

           said,  ‘I feel that if he said anything about sexual abuse that I would remember it. But I have no 

           recollection  of  that  whatsoever’.  She  did  not  move  from  this  position  throughout  the  course  of 

           her evidence. 



  14.83    Sr  Giuliana  confirmed  that  she  gave  Mr  Brander  a  good  reference  on  his  departure.  In  it,  she 

           described him as a strict disciplinarian, ‘good and strict’. 



  14.84    It is extraordinary that such a serious turn of events was not recorded or reported to the authorities. 

           The   absence     of  explicit  recorded    information    has   resulted    in almost    exclusive    reliance   on 

           recollected events, and unfortunately the memories of the three participants differ. 



  14.85    It is unlikely that neither of the two teachers in Castlecomer who had been so thorough in dealing 

           with the complaint would not have notified the School Superior about it. 



  14.86    Whether or not Sr Giuliana knew the full details and implications of the sexual abuse, she knew 

           he was leaving under a cloud, yet she gave him a good reference as she considered that he was 

           a good teacher. 



           Further incidents of sexual abuse at Presentation Convent, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny 



  14.87    Since    the  events   of  the   mid-1970s,    other   complaints     came    to  light, some    of  which   led   to 

           prosecution. 



  14.88    Firstly, Mr Brander was convicted of the sexual abuse of Niko.16  The Garda discovery contained 



           a statement from Niko, in which he stated that he had complained to Sr Giuliana at the time about 

           the sexual abuse by Mr Brander, but that she did not believe him. In evidence and in a Garda 

           statement,  Sr  Giuliana  denied  that  he  had  made  such  a  complaint  to  her.  The  Garda  who 

           conducted the investigation into the allegations made by Niko spoke to Sr Giuliana who said that 

           she did not recall any complaint. 



  14.89    Secondly, Marco17      made a statement to the Gardai in the mid-1990s in which he alleged that he 

                                                                        ´ 

           was sexually abused by Mr Brander while a pupil in the school. 



  14.90    Mr Stegar in a statement to the Commission supported his allegations. Marco had contacted him 

           in the mid-1990s and advised him that he was going to the Gardai to complain about Mr Brander. 

                                                                                          ´ 

           Mr Stegar recalled visiting Marco when he was a schoolboy and was ill in hospital with suspected 

           meningitis. He discovered at the time that the boy was hospitalised following a beating around the 

           head from Mr Brander. He advised the boy to complain to Sr Giuliana. Mr Stegar acknowledged 

           in evidence that he should have brought it to her attention himself. At the meeting, Marco said 

           that he had tried to tell him about being sexually abused by Mr Brander. Mr Stegar recalled another 

           occasion when Marco and another boy told him that Mr Brander was a homosexual, but that he 

           did not pursue the matter. 



  14.91    Marco gave evidence at Mr Brander’s trial for offences committed while he was teaching at Walsh 

           Island NS. 



           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 This is a pseudonym. 



           594                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 625-----------------------

           Sacred Heart, Convent of Mercy Secondary School, Tullamore, Co 

           Offaly, August 1975 – July 1985 



14.92      Following  his  departure  from  Castlecomer,  Mr  Brander  took  up  a  teaching  post  in  the  all-girls 

           secondary school in Tullamore. Sr Ines18  was principal at the time. She is now elderly and gave 



           evidence  to  the  Committee  of  her  recollection  of  Mr  Brander.  In  a  letter  to  the  Department  of 

           Education in the mid-1970s, she advised of the appointment of Mr Brander as a teacher in the 

           School and stated that he was moving to the School for family reasons. 



14.93      In evidence she said that ‘there was a gap for an Irish and geography teacher and it was in the 

           middle  of  the  school  year.  So  I  had  to  advertise  for  the  job  and  Mr  Brander–  so  far  as  I  can 

           remember, all of that is not in my head at all except that he applied and seem to be a very suitable 

           and I took him on’. She said that he was taken on effectively there and then, as the students had 

           no teacher. This is inconsistent with evidence from the staff at Castlecomer, who said that he left 

           at the end of the school year, and with his Departmental record showing that he commenced on 

           1st August. 



14.94      As before, he built up a relationship with his employers. She told the Committee,  ‘He was always 

           a perfect gentleman to me and was very good friends with all the Sisters’. He continued to secure 

           good results for his pupils. 



14.95      Again, allegations of physical assault emerged. He appeared to have been a constant source of 

           concern for Sr Ines. She reprimanded him numerous times regarding his discipline and said that 

           he was always very apologetic. She gave evidence that she would hear him shouting from her 

           office. He continued his policy of disciplining girls by making them kneel, sometimes making them 

           kneel on their hands. The students complained to her about this treatment ‘maybe once or twice, 

           not very much, but I got the message and I talked to him’. 



14.96      While she said that she believed he never struck a pupil, she appears to have warned him against 

           it:  ‘When I was speaking to Mr Brander about striking students I said “Just be very careful, we 

           cannot strike children, it is not our policy for the discipline in the School”’. She added, ‘I suppose 

           I would be afraid he might strike a child ... [he came across] as very strong person’. 



14.97      A statement was issued by the School, following his sentencing in respect of the charges relating 

           to Walsh Island NS, as follows: 



                  Sr. [Ines], who was Principal for his years of service, recollects complaints from time to 

                  time  from  parents and  students.  While  these  complaints  are unrecorded,  nevertheless, 

                  she recollects that they related to discipline incidents in the classroom but none of the 

                  complaints  were  of  sexually  inappropriate  conduct.  In  one  specific  incident  a  senior 

                  member of staff recollects an accusation of Mr [Brander] having struck a student. 



                  It  has  been  widely  reported  that  contact  was  made  with  the  School  in  ...  alerting  the 

                  authorities to [Mr Brander’s] previous history. We have examined our files and interviewed 

                  the Principal of the day, Sr. [Ines], who has no record or recollection of receiving such 

                  information. 



14.98      However, in evidence before the Investigation Committee, when asked whether she recalled pupils 

           complaining about his discipline, Sr Ines replied: ‘Not really no, I never got serious complaints’. 

           She further said that she did not recall any parents coming to the School to complain. Sr Ines 

           accepted  that  the  statement  quoted  above  must  be  correct  but  she  had  no  recollection  of  the 

           matters stated therein. She could not recollect recording complaints made by parents or whether 

           she would have done so: 



           18 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       595 


----------------------- Page 626-----------------------

                  It was a very busy school. You couldn’t be taking complaints all day. I just did what I was 

                  expected to do and did the best I could in a big school. 



14.99      When pressed as to why, given her experience, she did not record the complaints, she repeated 

           that she did not know why. 



            Garda investigation in the 1980s 



14.100      In  the  early  1980s  a  Garda  investigation        was  commenced  following  allegations  made              by  a 

           pupil,Taina,19    that  she  had  been  assaulted  by  Mr  Brander.  In  the  course  of  this  investigation, 



           students and teachers were interviewed and made statements to the Gardai. The circumstances 

                                                                                                        ´ 

           surrounding these allegations are as follows. 



14.101     A room in the School was set aside to operate as a shop. Mr Brander supervised the shop during 

           break  time.  On  the  occasion  in  question,  he  arrived  late  and  a  large  number  of  children  had 

           congregated  in  the  room.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  regulation  that  only  a  set  number  of 

           children could be in the room at one time. He shouted at the children to get out of the room and 

           form   a   queue    outside.Taina     appears    not   to  have   departed     as  instructed.   At   this point   the 

           statements made by the various witnesses diverge. What is clear is that there was an altercation 

           between Mr Brander and Taina. The school principal, Sr Ines, was absent at the time. The vice- 

           principal, in her Garda statement described how she met Taina in the corridor. Taina was very 

           upset. She said that Mr Brander had struck her twice in the chest. 



14.102     The  vice-principal  fetched  Mr  Brander  to  have  him  deal  with  the  matter.  There  was  a  further 

           altercation between Mr Brander and Taina. A male teacher, arrived on the scene and appears to 

           have  warned  them  that  other  people  could  hear.  This  teacher,  on  the  advice  of  his  union,  the 

           Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, later declined to make a statement to the Gardai. 

                                                                                                                                ´ 

           Taina’s mother was called to the School at the request of her daughter. The mother, Mr Brander 

           and Sr Edita,20  the School Manager, had a meeting in the course of which Mr Brander explained 



           that he had merely brushed her arms down and that he was sorry that it had occurred. Sr Edita 

           and  Mr  Brander  appear  to  have  thought  that  was  the  end  of  the  matter.  However,  the  mother 

           made a Garda complaint that day. 



14.103     The Gardai took statements from the complainant, her mother and another student. The statement 

                         ´ 

           of this pupil was witnessed by a Garda. She said that, while she had not witnessed the incident 

           complained of, she was herself pushed out of the room by Mr Brander. Initially, statements were 

           taken from  the vice-principal,  Sr Edita  and Sr Trista,21          who was  in the  room at  the time of  the 



           alleged assault. Sr Trista was of the view that Taina had adopted a defiant attitude. She saw Mr 

            Brander slap her arms down from the folded position twice but did not regard this as an assault. 

           Sr Edita also seemed to have questioned the bona fides of the complaint, commenting that she 

           was ‘roaring crying’ with no tears. 



14.104     Some days later, Mr Brander and 12 further students made statements. Mr Brander denied the 

           allegations entirely. He made no mention of her adopting a particular attitude or of slapping her 

           arms down. He merely said that she was one of a group of children he ushered from the room. 

           The first he knew that anything was wrong was when the vice-principal came to him. He was most 

           surprised  when  he  heard  that  Taina  was  crying,  and  stated  that  he  had  never  used  corporal 

           punishment  in  the  last  14  years  and  that  ‘it  was  beyond  my  comprehension  how  I  could  be 

           implicated with making any girl cry’. He said he had made an apology only in relation to the girl’s 

           mother  having  to  come  to  the  school  and  not  because  he  had  done  anything  to  warrant  a 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 

           20 This is a pseudonym. 

           21 This is a pseudonym. 



           596                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 627-----------------------

          complaint.   He   commented     on  his  good   relations  with  the  family. Surprisingly,  he  was   not 

          questioned  further  regarding  the  inconsistencies  between  his  statement  and  that  of  the  other 

          adults who had witnessed the events. 



14.105    One of the students from whom a statement was taken on the later date, supported the allegations 

          and was described as ‘collaborating the injured party’s account’. Each of the statements taken 

          from pupils on the later date was witnessed by one of two teachers at the School. Three pupils 

          described Mr Brander slapping her arms down, and specifically stated that they did not regard it 

          as an assault. Two others referred to him putting his hand on her shoulder and ushering her out 

          of the room. A number referred to her as having adopted a defiant attitude. 



14.106    In  the  statement   issued   by  the  School   quoted   above,   no  mention   was   made    of a  Garda 

          investigation in the early 1980s. The Investigation Committee learned of this investigation through 

          Garda discovery and not through the School or the Congregation. 



14.107    Despite Sr Ines’ concerns about Mr Brander’s behaviour, she  did not consider dismissing him. 

          When asked whether she was ever concerned that she might have to dismiss him, she replied 

          that  ‘well he was due to be retiring the next year or something’. She also said  ‘he was a good 

          teacher as regards teaching a subject ... I would have given a stiff talk to him ... There was never 

          anything that serious to my mind that you could sack him’. 



14.108    She said ‘He was ... a bit different to the other teachers, a little different, strict or whatever’. When 

          asked by the Chairman was he a worry for her she replied, ‘Oh yes, he was in the end, but what 

          could I do? In the end [I could] only talk to him and try and fix the situation, which I thought we 

          did very well’. 



14.109    At no point, either during his employment or after his conviction, did Sr Ines make contact with 

          his previous employers to learn what they might have known of his behaviour. 



14.110    The  School’s  public  statement  quoted  above  refers  to  reports  that  contact  was  made  with  the 

          school in the early 1980s, alerting the authorities there about Mr Brander’s previous history. Sr 

          Ines denied any record or recollection of receiving such information. She testified that she learned 

          about this after her retirement in the mid-1980s, when she was advised by a senior teacher that 

          Mr Brander was a paedophile. 



          Attempts to expose Mr Brander during the early 1980s 



14.111    Following the revelations of the sexual abuse of children resident in the Kincora Boys’ Home in 

          Belfast, Mr Rothe, who had been abused while a pupil of Mr Brander in Walsh Island NS in the 

          1960s,  decided  to  make  efforts  to  expose  Mr  Brander’s  behaviour.  At  this  point,  he  ‘began  to 

          realise that I wasn’t the only person that this had ever happened to’. In considering how to go 

          about exposing Mr Brander, he was worried about the advisability of revealing that he had been 

          sexually abused. As he was a teacher himself, he thought that it might give rise to comment that 

          he himself was unsuitable to be a teacher. This man furnished documentation and gave evidence 

          to the Investigation Committee. 



14.112    He approached a number of individuals whom he felt might be in a position to assist him. 



          Members of the clergy 



14.113    Mr Rothe made an appointment to meet with the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, in whose diocese 

          Walsh Island NS was located. At the meeting, they discussed the circumstances of Mr Brander’s 

          departure from Walsh Island NS. The Bishop told him that Mr Brander was an urgent problem at 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              597 


----------------------- Page 628-----------------------

           the time and it was dealt with quickly. He made the point that, if they had waited for the Department 

           of Education to act, it could have taken years. 



14.114     The purpose of the meeting, from Mr Rothe’s point of view, was to find out how it was possible that: 



                  a person who had been removed from a school for sexual abuse of a large number of 

                 pupils could still be working as a teacher especially so close to where he had abused. 



14.115     Mr Rothe said that the Bishop appeared to be surprised to learn that Mr Brander was teaching in 

           Tullamore. He was very critical of the manner in which the Department of Education dealt with 

           this sort of problem. 



14.116     Following  their  meeting,  Mr  Rothe  and  the  Bishop  entered into  correspondence  on  the  matter, 

           commencing with a letter from Mr Rothe: 



                  Dear [Bishop] 

                  Further  to  our  meeting  of  April  30th  I  think  it  fair  to  clarify  my  position.  I  have  made  a 



                  written complaint to the Department of Education with the objective of finding out why the 

                  management  of  Sacred  Heart  Secondary  School  were  not  informed  of  Mr.  [Brander’s] 

                  behaviour in Walsh Island NS. 



                  I now know that managers are not obliged to report such matters to the Department. The 

                  school manager has ultimate responsibility. It would have saved me time and expense 

                  had you told me that when I asked you. As one who has suffered greatly because of this 

                  I have the right to know the truth, a right which many people do not seem to recognise. I 

                  believe that you made an unwise judgement in allowing Mr. [Brander] an opportunity to 

                  get back into teaching. I also believe that other people had the right to information about 

                  Mr  [Brander]  if  he  was  to  be  prevented  from  coming  into  contact  with  children  in  any 

                  capacity. 



                  During  my  enquiries  I  have  found  that  what  happened  to  me  in  school  is  not  at  all 

                  uncommon. I now know that there have been and continue to be numerous similar cases. 

                  It appears that each year the Dept. removes the right to teach from a number of persons. 

                  I would think this number to be between three and six. This does not take into account 

                  the  number     of  teachers    sacked    by   individual   managers     or   Bishops.    I know    from 

                  Department sources that complaints are frequently lost and are dealt with only when they 

                  are accompanied by an avalanche of similar complaints. In one case I know of this took 

                  five years. I would also like to point out that the teachers sacked by the Department go 

                  out on full salary or pension which is of course tax-payers money. I find this a little hard 

                  to accept as it seems unlikely as I will get medical or legal expenses or payment for time 

                  lost from work through illness. 



                  It is clear to me that there are many thousands of people who have some knowledge of 

                  the problem of sexual abuse in schools. Every person I have spoken to connected with 

                  education recognises that  there is a problem.  It is undoubtedly something  which many 

                  people do not forget and which many never talk about. 



                  I recognise of course the problems of getting proof in such cases. However there is an 

                  unwillingness to deal with cases even when sufficient proof exists. The people who then 

                  suffer are the children who are left at risk. It is the children I am concerned about. I do 

                  not believe that the action taken in the [Brander] case was of any help to me either [at 

                  the time of the abuse] or now. The attitude of clergy I have been in contact with is to say 

                  the least regrettable. To an outsider it would seem like an attempt to cover up the facts 

                  rather  than  deal  with  them.  If  society  is  now  more  informed  and  enlightened  on  such 

                  problems as homosexuality it is no credit to the clergy in my opinion. 



                  I ask you to consider the plight of many children who are sexually abused in their own 

                  homes by members of their families. Who are they to turn to for help. Various bodies try 



           598                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 629-----------------------

                 to help while society in general continues to ignore the realities. The point I wish to make 

                 is  that  society  will  never  deal  with  that  abuse  or  alleviate  some  of  the  suffering  that 

                 accompanies it until it first deals effectively with cases of sexual abuse in schools. 



                 I now find myself interested in not one case of sexual abuse but many. I believe that the 

                 number of such cases can be greatly reduced if the relevant authorities are prepared to 

                 take action. I am therefore asking that an investigation be made to find out the extent of 

                 the problem and how it can best be dealt with. 



                 I have made it quite clear at all times that I am interested in seeing that what happened 

                 to me in Walsh Island NS will not continue to happen to others. In anything that I have 

                 done I believe I have acted responsibly. Trying to do that can be frustrating if others do 

                 not accept their responsibilities. I am not saying that anyone would deliberately allow an 

                 unhealthy situation to continue. Somebody must show courage and leadership in tackling 

                 a problem which most are unable to even discuss. 



                 I look forward to any early reply. 



14.117     The Bishop replied: 



                 I have your letter ... 



                 I was under the impression that you had already been in touch with the Department prior 

                 to your visit to me. 



                 I would query your reference to “numerous similar cases” – in fourteen years only three 

                 such cases were brought to my notice, and this is one of the most populous dioceses in 

                 the country. 



                 In  each  case  the  families  concerned  were  unwilling  to  testify  publicly  and  the  teacher 

                 concerned had to be allowed to resign. The question of another appointment to a National 

                 School  should  be  covered  by  the  fact  that  a  reference  from  his  last  school  is  always 

                 sought in the case of a teacher–applicant, and no manager would conceal the facts in 

                 such cases. It does look as there is a loophole where post primary schools are concerned. 



                 Subsequent  to  your  visit  I alerted  the  PP  of  Tullamore  so  that  he will  be  aware  of  the 

                 dangers,  but  one  also  has  to  take  in  consideration  the  possibility  of  a  man  genuinely 

                 leaving his past behind him. 



                 I can fully understand your feelings and your concern. 



                 With every good wish. 



14.118     Mr Rothe pursued the matter in a further letter: 



                 Dear [Bishop] 



                 In  reply  to  your  question  on  other  cases  I  have  been  informed  that  during  the  seven 

                 months of the last Coalition Government two persons had the right to teach removed from 

                 them by the Minister Mr. Boland. 



                 You   did   not  in your   letter give   any   answer    on  the  question    of  an  investigation   or 

                 compensation for me personally. 



                 I do not agree with your reasoning on the Tullamore case but do realise that it was the 

                 result of an oversight. 



                 If my attempts to achieve an improvement through the proper channels fail I will use any 

                 other  means  available.  What  happens  in  our  schools  is  everybody’s  concern.  The  first 

                 time  parents  hear  of  the  problem  is  after  it  has  happened  when  it  is  too  late.  It  is  no 

                 consolation to know how many cases there have been. How many are necessary before 

                 action is taken. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    599 


----------------------- Page 630-----------------------

  14.119  Mr Rothe wrote a further letter, but there is no evidence that the bishop replied to either. 



  14.120  Mr Rothe also contacted Fr Derek, former curate in the Walsh Island parish, whose parish priest 

          had been Fr Colm. Mr Rothe had approached Fr Derek, as he felt that his meeting with the Bishop 

          had been unsatisfactory. He gave evidence of a meeting he had with Fr Derek, with whom he had 

          a good relationship. Fr Derek advised him that, when Mr Brander was sacked, a Department of 

          Education Inspector and an Irish National Teachers’ Organisation official were involved. He did 

          not learn their names. 



  14.121  Fr Derek advised him of the circumstances surrounding Mr Brander’s removal: 



                He did tell me the sequence of how Fr [Colm] heard about it on Sunday and he went to 

                the  Bishop on  the Monday  and consulted  with the  Bishop and  then he  came back  the 

                next day and ... confronted Mr [Brander] about it and how quickly it was done. 



  14.122  Fr Derek said that, if Mr Brander was still teaching, it was the Department’s fault. 



  14.123  There is a Garda memorandum of an interview with Fr Derek in the mid-1990s. Fr Derek said 

          that, following Mr Rothe’s visit in the early 1980s, he consulted with the Bishop and visited the 

          school curate of Tullamore to warn him about Mr Brander who was then teaching in the School. 



  14.124  Mr Rothe wrote to Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh. He discussed the problem of child abuse in 

          general terms and said that he had been abused in a small rural primary school. He mentioned 

          that  had  contacted  the  Bishop  of  Kildare  and  Leighlin  and  John  Boland  TD.  The  Diocesan 

          secretary replied as follows: ‘In the absence of [the] Cardinal I wish to acknowledge your letter ... 

          As you have already consulted your own bishop concerning the matter you can be assured that 

          [the] Bishop will bring it to the attention of the bishops if he deems it right that the bishops should 

          be informed’. 



  14.125  The discovery from the diocese contained a further letter from Mr Rothe, which commenced: 



                I have again asked [the Bishop] what action is to be taken to establish an investigation 

                into cases of sexual abuse in schools whether or not I am to be compensated for medical 

                expenses  etc.  and  what  the  position  is  regarding  the  employment  of  Mr.  [Brander]  in 

                Sacred Heart Secondary School, Tullamore, Co Offaly. 



  14.126  In this letter, he continued to express his frustration at the lack of will to tackle the problem of the 

          sexual abuse of children in public schools. 



  14.127  He received no reply to this letter. 



  14.128  Mr Rothe said that he spoke to the curate in the parish of Tullamore. He felt he was more likely 

          to listen to him than the parish priest: 



                I made an appointment to see him, I went to see him and told him the whole story, he 

                suggested that he would check out the story and that I would phone him a week later, 

                which  I  did.  He  was  very  abrupt  and  very  emphatic  that  he  would  do  nothing,  that  he 

                would not be a part of a witch hunt and that you could not drag a man’s past after him 

                like an albatross around his neck. 



          Department of Education 



  14.129  In light of Fr Derek’s information about a Department of Education inspector being involved, Mr 

          Rothe    decided   to  approach    a national   school   inspector  with  whom    he   was   professionally 

          acquainted. 



          600                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 631-----------------------

14.130    Mr Rothe spoke about Mr Brander’s sexual abuse of his male pupils and physical abuse of both 

          male and female students. Mr Rothe also spoke of the sexual abuse he had himself suffered while 

          a  pupil  at  Walsh  Island  NS.  Mr  Rothe  testified  to  the  Committee  that  he  had  expected  his 

          acquaintance to pursue his complaint officially with the Department, even though he was not in a 

          position of authority over Mr Brander. However, the national school inspector gave evidence that 

          he believed that the meeting was private and that it was not intended that he should follow up 

          with action on his part. 



14.131    While there is disagreement between the two men in relation to the number of meetings, what 

          was said and what each understood to be the purpose of the meeting, the essential fact that Mr 

          Rothe gave information regarding serious sexual and physical abuse by Mr Brander, a serving 

          teacher, is not in dispute. The national school inspector did not follow up this complaint by passing 

          on the information to the Department. 



14.132    Mr Rothe gave evidence that his efforts thus far were an attempt to avoid having to write a formal 

          letter of complaint to the Department of Education. He had no idea how to go about this task, and 

          felt that there were implications for him professionally in so doing. Despite this fact, he wrote: 



                Dear Sir, 



                I wish to make the following points concerning Mr. [Brander] who is presently teaching in 

                Sacred Heart School, Tullamore. Mr. [Brander] taught in Walsh Island NS, Geashill, Co 

                Offaly from 1965 to 70. He was then sacked because it was found that he was sexually 

                abusing boys in his classes. He was the principal teacher in Walsh Island. 



                The manager of the school, Fr. [Colm] reported the matter to [the Bishop]... Mr. [Brander] 

                was   then  barred   from   teaching  in  primary   schools.  He   then  taught  in  Presentation 

                Convent, Castlecomer before taking up his present post in Tullamore. 



                I have been in touch with the authorities in Sacred Heart, Tullamore and they informed 

                me that they were not informed of Mr. [Brander’s] behaviour in Walsh Island either by the 

                Department or [the Bishop]. 



                Many  parents  in  Tullamore  are  unhappy  with  Mr.  [Brander’s]  teaching  and  methods  of 

                maintaining discipline etc... 



                I am sure that [the Bishop] will verify anything I have said here regarding Mr. [Brander’s] 

                conduct in Walsh Island 



                I  am  myself  a  teacher  and  fully  realise  the seriousness  of  the  charges  I  make  against 

                another  teacher, I  would  not make  any  charge  that I  could  not prove.  I  will expect  the 

                matter to be fully investigated and appropriate action taken. 



                Yours sincerely 



14.133    This letter was received in the Secondary branch of the Department of Education. He followed 

          the letter with a telephone call to an employee in the Primary Branch. She advised him that there 

          was no record of any complaint. He received no reply to this letter. However, the letter did receive 

          some consideration within the Department. 



14.134    Mr Rothe’s letter was passed between various sections of the Department before a decision to 

          take no action was ultimately made. Two sections within the Department were mainly involved in 

          the consideration of the complaint: 



                       (a)   Post Primary Financial Section 



                       (b)   Secondary Salaries Section 



14.135    The letter from Mr Rothe quoted in full above raises the following points about Mr Brander: 



                 •    He is presently teaching in Sacred Heart Convent, Tullamore ; 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               601 


----------------------- Page 632-----------------------

                  •     He taught in Walsh Island NS in the late 1960s; 

                  •     He was sacked from Walsh Island for sexually abusing boys; 

                  •     The manager in Walsh Island reported this to the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin; 

                  •     Mr Brander was barred from teaching in primary schools; 

                  •     He taught in Presentation Convent, Castlecomer; 

                  •     Mr Rothe said that he had been in touch with authorities in Tullamore who advised him 

                        that they were not informed of Mr Brander’s past behaviour by either the Bishop or the 

                        Department of Education; 



                  •     Many parents in Tullamore were unhappy with his teaching/discipline; 

                  •     The Bishop could verify the above information. 



14.136     The following memorandum was sent from an official in Post Primary Financial to an official in 

           Secondary Salaries: 



                 Letter ... from Mr. [Rothe], N.T. 



                 Essentially this letter is a complaint about a teacher’s misbehaviour and it seems to imply 

                 that  the  writer  considers  that  that  misbehaviour  was  of  such  a  serious  nature  that  it 

                 indicates the unfitness of the teacher for employment in any capacity as a teacher. 



                 Inspection Section does not deal with such complaints unless they involve also allegations 

                 of actual offences against pupils and seek investigation of such offences. This case does 

                 not have that dimension. What it essentially raises, in the Department’s terminology, is 

                 the  question  whether  the  Dept.  can  properly  continue  to  recognise  the  teacher  as  a 

                 “recognised teacher” and pay him Incremental Salary. If, however, the teacher is not a 

                 recognised  teacher  and  is  not  in  receipt  of  Incr.  Sal.,  then  the  allegation  still  raises  a 

                 question: can the Dept. properly aid the school out of public funds while it employs this 

                 teacher to impart instruction? 



                 Perhaps you wd. deal with the complaint from the “recognised teacher” and Incremental 

                 Salary aspects. Presumably Primary Branch have a file about the alleged misbehaviour 

                 in a primary school on this teacher’s part. 



                 (Signed) 



14.137     The matter proceeded through another exchange of memoranda between officials: 



                 Re: Mr [Brander] 



                 Mr  [Brander]  has  been  on  incremental  salary  as  a  member  of  the  staff  of  Convent  of 

                 Mercy, Tullamore since ... 



                 Previously he was in Presentation Convent, Castlecomer... 



                 He served as a primary teacher from [the early 1940s until the late 1960s] with a number 

                 of very short breaks – almost a year in [the mid-1940s] and again [in the early 1960s] but 

                 otherwise very short. 



                 He is now [in his early sixties]. 



                 The   recruitment    and   employment      of teachers    in  Secondary     schools   is  a  matter   for 

                 management.  Our  concern  is  to  ensure  that  they  are  properly  qualified,  that  they  are 

                 authorised quota and that they are properly timetabled. 



                 If this man’s work has been inspected and reported on during his years as a secondary 

                 teacher, then the records will be available in Inspection Section. If not, perhaps one could 

                 be arranged. Teachers Section would not call for the inspection of any particular teacher. 

                 “Recognised teacher” has a particular meaning ascribed to it in the Rules for the Payment 

                 of Incremental Salary to Secondary Teachers and we cannot go beyond that. 



           602                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 633-----------------------

                  I would see the same limitations in relation to the payment of grants but this is essentially 

                  a matter for your own area. 



                  Mr  [Rothe]  has,  according  to  his  letter,  brought  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  school 

                  management and I would say that the problem now rests there. 



                  It would not be for the Department to give character references to a school in relation to 

                  a teacher which it proposes to employ. If Mr. [Brander] has served for the last 13 years 

                  as a secondary teacher – in girls’ schools – without coming under notice, is it correct to 

                  rake  up  the  past  now?  I  have  not  attempted  to  trace  any  report  in  relation  to  his  N.T. 

                  service. 



                  Signed 



14.138     The procedures allowed complaints to the Department of Education, but, as this memorandum 

           points out, the problem now rested with the management of the school. 



14.139      Further internal memoranda on the problem of Mr Brander were exchanged: 



                  Convent of Mercy, Sec.school, Tullamore 



                  [To] PO [in Post Primary Section] 



                    (1)   This school caters for girls only according to the ... October Lists. 



                    (2)   There is no adverse report on the teacher Mr [Brander] in the reports on this area’s 

                          Inspection File for the school. 



                  [Signed] 



                  R/Cig (Inspection Section) 



                  ... 



                  [To] PO [in Secondary Salaries Section] 



                  We discussed this case on the telephone earlier today. As you will note from above, the 

                  teacher  who  is  the  subject  of  complaint  is  at  present  employed  in  a  Girls  School:  the 

                  inference seems to be that he is not, therefore, a risk to the pupils even if he was guilty 

                  of the offence or offences complained about by Mr [Rothe]. 



                  As you will note also from above minute, there is no adverse report of any Inspector on 

                  file here in respect of Mr [Brander]. On the contrary, the last Inspector’s report in which 

                  he was mentioned – one dated [two and a half years earlier] ... – praises the teacher’s 

                  work in the phrase 

                                       ´                                           22 

                  “Oide an-mhaith e seo: cailiochtai sa Ghaeilge aige.” 

                                                   ´       ´ 



                  Copy of that Report is attached. 



                  The fact remains, however, that the Department has received Mr. [Rothe’s] very serious 

                  complaint and that the whole context of the complaining letter might well appear to imply 

                  that Mr. [Rothe] considers the nature of the offence to be such as to indicate unfitness for 

                  employment as a teacher by reason of conduct unbefitting a teacher. 



                  As you are no doubt aware, the relevant statutory regulations [viz. Regulation 4 of the 

                  Regulations for the Register of the Intermediate School Teachers] empower the Minister 

                  (not the Registration Council) to “remove from the register the name of any teacher who 

                  shall be shown to his satisfaction to have been guilty of conduct which is, in the opinion 

                  of the Minister, unbefitting a teacher.” Before doing so (i.e removing a name), the Minister 

                  is required by the regulations to give the teacher an opportunity of being heard. 



                  Having regard to the complaint and to the statutory provisions which I cite and which are 

                  obviously designed to cover the kind of offence or offences complained of I consider that 



           22 Irish for ‘This is a very good teacher: he has qualifications in Irish’. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       603 


----------------------- Page 634-----------------------

                 the papers should be submitted for the Department’s decision as to whether any action 

                 beyond consideration of the complaint should at this stage – 13 years post eventum – be 

                 put in train. 



                 I note that the complainant offers no explanation whatever of the lateness of his complaint; 

                 such explanation might well be considered reasonably necessary, however, in view of the 

                 implications of the lateness for the availability of evidence at this juncture. If, however, 

                 evidence  was  made  available  to  the  Department  about  the  offence  or  offences  at  or 

                 around  the  time  of  their  occurrence,  then  the  question  arises,:  from  the  nature  of  the 

                 present complaint, why did the Dept. not act earlier. 



                 I do not express any opinion on the bona fides of the complaint or on whether any action 

                 should  be  taken  on  it  beyond  considering  it  carefully  –  and  in  the  light  of  any  other 

                 evidence available on the matter in the Primary Branch – if there is any such evidence – 

                 and that a Departmental decision should be obtained. For the complainant may have the 

                 matter raised elsewhere presently and seek to blame the Dept. for alleged negligence. 



                 [Signed] 



                 [PO Post Primary Financial Section] 



14.140     Some time passed before the matter was considered again. The following memo was sent by an 

           official in the Secondary Salaries Section to a colleague: 



                 I will have a word with you about this after the holidays D.V. 



                 I  understand  from  Primary  branch  that  staff  had  no  knowledge  of  the  allegation  made 

                 during the [teacher’s] period of service as a N.T. Accordingly Minister had no knowledge 

                 of the alleged offence at time of registration. Do you think any action should be taken – 

                 I don’t! 



                 [Signed] 



14.141     This memo was sent to HEO in Registration and Pensions, who noted: 



                  •    query out re primary 

                  •     no problem with Registration 



           [Signed] 



14.142     On the same day, the HEO in Registration and Pension wrote to a HEO in Primary Payments 

           Section: 



                 [To] HEO 



                   1.   We have had a complaint about Mr. [Brander] currently a secondary teacher, but who 

                        taught in Walsh Island NS, Geashill, Co Offaly. 



                        Could you ascertain whether there is any record of a complaint against this teacher on 

                        the primary side? Are there any indications on why he left Primary teaching. 



                   2.   Please also confirm that Mr [Rothe] teaches in ... 



                 Thanks. 



                 [Signed] 



                 Registration [and Pension] 



           604                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 635-----------------------

14.143     She in turn wrote to a colleague in Pensions: 



                 Offaly                  176/6                           Walsh Island NS 



                 [To] Pensions 



                 Re: Mr [Brander] – Sec Branch –[HEO]– Registration has asked if we have any record of 

                 a complaint against this teacher – he transferred to Secondary Teaching some years ago 

                 and served as Principal Teacher in Walsh Island NS according to our school records [in 

                 the  late 1960s].  His own  cards  are missing  also the  file  ... for  apt. of  Principals  in this 

                 school is missing so I cannot trace his details at all. (Taken up [late 1970s]). Perhaps you 

                 would have something on him in Pensions. I’d be thankful to get a reply if so. 



                 [Signed] HEO 



14.144     The official in the Pensions section replied setting out Mr Brander’s service history which showed 

           numerous changes of post. 



14.145     The frequency of Mr Brander’s changes of post, as evident from this document, and the nature of 

           the complaint being made by Mr Rothe, should have raised questions and/or prompted a more 

           detailed investigation. 



14.146     The HEO in Primary Payments was then in a position to reply to the HEO in Registration and 

           Pensions: 



                 Mr [Rothe] apptd. as Asst. on ... and still serving. 



                   1.   We have no records unfortunately re Mr [Brander] – his cards and apt. file are missing 

                        – the file ... apt. of Principal is noted in Registry “Up” [late 1970s] but Records Section 

                        do not have it. All I have is a record of his past Primary Service. See copy obtained 

                        from T.P.O. 



                 [Signed] 



14.147     The HEO in Registration and Pensions then sent a memorandum to the official in the Secondary 

           Salaries  Section    and  this  communication      concluded    the  Department’s     consideration    of the 

           complaint made by Mr Rothe 



                 [To] Uas P.O. 



                 You are familiar with the background to this case. You will note from Primary Payments 

                 that neither the file nor the teachers cards are available. The General Section tell me that 

                 they cannot trace any papers either. 



                 Perhaps the following points might help in reaching a decision: 



                 the complaint refers to alleged incidents over 10 years ago; 



                 the management of his current school are aware (per Mr [Rothe]) of the position; 



                 the Inspectors report ... is satisfactory; 



                 he is due to retire ... 



                 as far as this section is concerned his registration papers are in order. 



                 My  feeling  is  that  the  Department  (and  in  particular  the  Registration  Section)  does  not 

                 now have a sufficient basis to proceed with any action against the teacher. 



                 However,    I do   propose   that  we   submit   a file through   [Principal  Officer], and   [Chief 

                 Inspector]  for  their  agreement  or  observations.  It  might  also  be  no  harm  to  inform  Mr 

                 [Rothe]  that  we  have  “noted”  the  contents  of  his  letter.  However,  it  does  not  seem 

                 appropriate for Registration Section to issue such a letter. Perhaps Inspection, or Primary 

                 Branch would be more suitable. 



                 [Signed] 



                 HEO Registration 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                605 


----------------------- Page 636-----------------------

14.148    The official in Secondary Salaries simply wrote his comments on the suggestions in the last two 

           paragraphs  and  initialled  and  dated  them.  He  wrote  ‘Agreed’  next  to  the  contention  that  the 

           Department  did  not  have  ‘sufficient  basis  to  proceed  with  any  action  against  the  teacher’,  and 

           against the suggestion that Inspection Section or Primary Branch should issue a letter to Mr Rothe 

           he wrote ‘Not necessary’. 



14.149    The Department of Education has acknowledged that the manner in which Mr Rothe’s complaint 

          was handled was inadequate. Counsel for the Department of Education, pointed out in the course 

           of his cross-examination of Mr Rothe that, on a current affairs programme in the late 1990s: 



                 ...  Minister  Michael  Martin  acknowledged  that  even  by  the  standards  of  the  time  the 

                 Department’s handling of your written complaint was impossible to stand over. 



14.150     In  the  Department  of  Education  and  Science’s  Statement  to  Commission  to  Inquire  into  Child 

          Abuse, made in the advance of its Phase III hearing, the Department wrote: 



                 Mr   [Brander’s]   conviction   subsequently     led  to  many    parliamentary    questions    and 

                 ministerial representations on the apparent inaction by the Department of Education to 

                 deal  with  Mr  [Brander]  in  [the  early  1980s].  The  letter  appeared  to  cause  no  sense  of 

                 alarm in the Department and effectively was not acted upon. This view was expressed by 

                 the  Minister  for Education    in [the  late 1990s],   Michael   Martin,  when    he  stated   that 

                 “following my review of the papers, I am firmly of the view that the Department’s response 

                 to  this  complaint  was  seriously  lacking  and  that  there  can  be  absolutely  no  excuse  by 

                 reference to the standards of the time”. 



                 Rule 4 of the 1967 Regulations for the registration of secondary school teachers provide 

                 for the removal of a name from the Register of Secondary School teachers by the Minister 

                 if warranted – “The Minister may, after giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard, 

                 refuse  to  register  him  on  the  grounds  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Minister,  his  moral 

                 character renders him unfit to be employed as a teacher” and “the Minister may, after a 

                 similar  opportunity  of  being  heard,  remove  from  the  Register  the  name  of  any  teacher 

                 who shall have been shown to his satisfaction to have been guilty of conduct which is, 

                 in  the opinion  of the  Minister, unbefitting  a teacher”.  The Regulations  allowed for  legal 

                 representation.  While the  Department’s papers  on this  case indicate  that withdrawal  of 

                 recognition as a teacher was identified as possible course of action, this was not pursued. 



14.151    The memoranda set out above between civil servants seem to have been more concerned with 

           procedural niceties in dealing with the complaint rather than actually investigating it. At no stage 

          were  the  past,  present  or  potential  future  victims  of  Mr  Brander  considered.  The  fact  that  the 

           complaints related to a period 10 years previously and that Mr Brander was due to retire in the 

           near future were used to justify taking no action. 



14.152    A proper approach would have taken into account the following: 



                  •    There were serious allegations dating back at least 10 years of sexual and physical 

                       abuse of children. 



                  •    The alleged abuser was a vice-principal with power over children. 

                  •    At the time the complaint was made, Mr Brander had three years before he was due 

                       to retire and so could do much more harm. 



                  •    A full investigation was required. 



14.153    The process took over a year and a half to come to the decision to do nothing. Another feature 

           of the handling of this case by the Department was the dismissive attitude that was adopted in 

           regard  to  Mr  Rothe,  who  was  not  even  given  the  courtesy  of  a  reply  to  his  letter.  The  debate 



           606                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 637-----------------------

           was not about how to investigate his complaint but about what to do about a troublemaker who 

           had complained. 



           Events post Mr Brander’s retirement 



14.154     Mr Brander retired in the mid-1980s. He was subsequently convicted of abusing a boy to whom 

           he was giving grinds. The publicity following this conviction led a former pupil of Walsh Island NS 

           to come forward and make a statement to the Gardai, which resulted in a full-scale investigation 

                                                                       ´ 

           into Mr Brander’s period of service there. 



14.155     Around the time of his third trial, Mr Brander wrote to the Christian Brothers saying that he himself 

           had been a victim of sexual interference during his time in the Christian Brothers after he joined 

           the Congregation in the 1930s. He described several occasions over a period of 10 years during 

           his education and training in the Brothers when he was sexually abused by a number of named 

           persons. The latest of the incidents happened in the 1940s. One of the offenders he named was 

           a  Brother  who  was  expelled  from  the  Congregation  because  of  sexual  abuse.  In  the  letter  Mr 

           Brander said: 



                 I was very innocent when joining, and I look upon those incidents as having a profound 

                 influence on my teaching years. 



14.156     Mr Rothe continued his quest to have his concerns, namely the exposure of Mr Brander and a 

           general inquiry into the abuse of children, dealt with, in contacts with a number of politicians, some 

           of whom raised the issues with Ministers for Education. 



           Conclusions 



14.157     1.   By permitting Mr Brander to be eased out of the Congregation, the Christian Brothers 

                did  nothing  to  prevent  him  continuing  in  a  career  of  teaching,  despite  his  repeated 

                sexual interference with children and knowledge as to the danger he represented to 

                them. The Provincial at the time of his dispensation said that ‘we could not allow him 

                in future to have any contact with boys as it would be dangerous for himself and for 

                the boys’. 



           2.   Within days of leaving the Congregation, Mr Brander took up a position as Principal 

                of a National School, which would have necessitated some form of application process 

                to the School Manager, who was most likely the parish priest of the area. It is scarcely 

                credible that an accurate reference could have been furnished, so the possibilities are 

                that a favourable reference was given which satisfied the employer or that the latter 

                did not seek a reference. In either case, there is ground for suspicion. 



           3.   During  the  course  of  his  subsequent  career,  Mr  Brander’s  sexual  and/or  physical 

                abuse of children came to the knowledge of his employers, including a parish priest 

                and senior members of two separate communities of nuns, a Bishop, members of the 

                clergy,   the  Gardai,    the  Department      of  Education     and    an  Inspector    thereof,   and 

                                       ´ 

                colleague teachers, but on each occasion he was able to continue his career. 



           4.   By choosing to take the easy way out, the persons and bodies with knowledge of Mr 

                Brander’s activities must bear heavy responsibility for the damage he did to children 

                throughout his career and following his retirement. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 607 


----------------------- Page 638-----------------------

 608                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 639-----------------------

          Chapter 15 



           St Conleth’s Reformatory School, 

           Daingean, County Offaly 

          (‘Daingean’), 1940–1973 



          Introduction 



15.01     St  Conleth’s  Reformatory  School  in  Daingean,  County  Offaly  was  different  from  all  the  other 

          institutions  inquired  into  by  the  Commission.  It  was  a  reformatory  and,  unlike  the  children  in 

          industrial schools, most of those in a reformatory had been convicted by the courts of criminal 

          offences  that  would    in  the  case  of adults  have  been  punishable  by     imprisonment  or  penal 

          servitude. At the time of conviction, boys were aged between 12 and 17, and were committed for 

          between  two  and  four  years,  but  the  period  of  detention  could  not  extend  beyond  their  19th 



          birthday. 



          History of St Conleth’s, Daingean 



          Background to the establishment of reformatory schools 



15.02     The need for a secure institution for children under 16 emerged in the first half of the Victorian 

          era,  when  there  was  a  huge  increase  in  the  numbers  of  such  children  indicted  for  felonies, 

          particularly  in  the  rapidly  growing  cities.  The  prison  population  had  risen  dramatically,  partly 

          because  crimes  such  as  theft  that  had  once  incurred  the  death  penalty  had  been  made  non- 

          capital offences, and partly because poverty drove people to petty crime to survive. As more and 

          more  children  were  sent  to  adult  prisons,  there  was  a  growing  concern  that  these  children, 

          convicted mostly for petty crimes, were being corrupted, exploited and abused by the hardened 

          criminals within the system. 



15.03     As early as 1816, in London, the Committee for Investigating the Alarming Increases of Juvenile 

          Crime published a report on the need for action to address the matter. Four of its seven findings 

          became central to the policy reforms over the decades that followed. These were: 



                 •    the improper conduct of parents; 

                 •    the want of education; 

                 •    the want of suitable employment; and 

                 •    the violation of the Sabbath (and lack of religion). 



15.04     The Juvenile Offenders Act, 1847 began the process of treating children who were criminals in a 

          different way from adults. This Act allowed children under 14 (this was raised in 1850 to 16) to be 

          tried in a special juvenile court. However, the problem remained as to where they should be sent, 

          and  the  solution  to  this  problem  became  crucial  because  the      practice  of  deporting  juvenile 

          criminals was shortly to come to an end. A committee was set up in the House of Lords to advise 

          on the matter. The Scottish reformer, Dr Thomas Guthrie, who had been advocating establishing 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              609 


----------------------- Page 640-----------------------

          boarding  schools  to  educate  children  before  they  became  criminals,  and  separate  reformatory 

          schools  for  children  who  had  already  committed  crimes,  helped  to  convince  the  committee  to 

          legislate for such schools. 



15.05     In 1854, the Reformation of Youthful Offenders Act, set up such reformatory schools. They were 

          to be run by voluntary bodies but, for the first time, they were to be funded out of public funds. It 

          initially applied only to Scotland, but its provisions were extended to England and Wales in 1857. 



15.06     Social reformers in Britain and Europe had already set up schools run by charity for such children, 

          but many of their ideas went further than the government was prepared to go. Mary Carpenter, 

          for example, who opened a ‘ragged school’ in a Bristol slum, advocated six main principles: 



                  (1)  Treatment should be founded on the love of the child. 



                  (2)  Change required the co-operation of the child. 



                  (3)  Work was to be a means to an end and not an end in itself. 



                  (4)  Recreation was as important as work. 



                  (5)  Corporal punishment was to be reduced to a minimum. (In Switzerland, one of the 

                       men  whose  work  inspired  her,  Johann  Heinrich  Pestalozzi  (1746–1827),  abolished 

                       flogging in his schools and astonished everyone by so doing.) 



                  (6)  The approach should be educational, founded on Christian moral teaching. 



15.07     These    ideas  clashed   with  the   prevailing  view  that  the  criminal  should   be   made   to  take 

          responsibility for his deeds as illustrated by Parkhurst, on the Isle of Wight, which trained boys 

          who were to be transported to the colonies. 



15.08     Very  rapidly,  these  kinds  of  school  were  established  all  over  Britain.  By  1888,  there  were  46 

          reformatories in England and 10 in Scotland. 



15.09     Initially, attempts to introduce the system into Ireland were blocked by Roman Catholic members 

          of the House of Commons as they feared Catholic children would be educated by Protestants but, 

          on 2nd  August 1858, an ‘Act to Promote Reformatory Schools for Juvenile Offenders in Ireland’, 



          which made provision for the child’s religion, was passed. In the four years following the passing 

          of  this  Act,  seven  schools  were  founded  and  754  children  were  committed  to  them.  Within  12 

          years, there were 10 reformatories, five for each sex, throughout the island of Ireland. 



15.10     The 1858 Act was repealed by another in 1868, and further amending Acts were passed, until the 

          Children  Act, 1908  came into  force and  endured as  the overarching  piece of  legislation in  this 

          area for decades to come. 



          A brief history of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) 



15.11                                    ` 

          Father Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod gathered round him a group of priests in Southern 

          France    to preach   the  Gospel   to  the  poor  workers   of  the  region.  They   became    known   as 

          ‘Missionaries of Provence’ and other priests, attracted by their work, joined the group. In 1826 

          they received the title of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (Oblates) and approbation as a 

          Congregation under simple vows in a Brief of Leo XII dated 17th        February 1826. 



15.12     In 1854 the Founder was invited by several Irish Bishops to establish an Oblate Mission in Ireland. 

          Archbishop Cullen met with Fr Robert Cooke, who was on a mission to Dublin. He was an Irishman 

          who had studied theology in Marseilles, and had then been ordained by the now Bishop Mazenod. 

          He agreed to set up a base to enable the Oblates to work with the poor people of Kilmainham 

          and, in 1856, the Oblates bought a farm in Inchicore as their base. Just one year later, the Founder 



          610                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 641-----------------------

           was saying Mass in a church built on the site. Two years later, in 1858, the Oblates were asked 

           to set up a reformatory school in Glencree. 



15.13      The   Oblates    are  a  Congregation      of  priests  and   lay  brothers,   the   latter being   the  temporal 

           coadjutors, instructors, teachers and catechists within the missions. They have a regional structure 

           of management The areas in which they carry out their mission are divided into provinces and 

           mission vicariates. Each of these has a local Superior and a team of assessors and bursar are 

           appointed by him. These local houses or provinces report to a Superior General, who is elected 

           for life by the General Chapter, and who has a team of four assistants and a bursar-general. The 

           General Chapter, which meets every six years, comprises the Provincials, the Vicars of Mission, 

           and delegates from each province. 



15.14      Recruiting into the Oblates is done through Juniorates or Apostolic Schools, Novitiates, which are 

           fed from the Juniorates and colleges, and Scholasticates, which receive novices who have been 

           admitted to temporal vows at the end of a year’s probation. 



           St Kevin’s Reformatory in Glencree 



15.15      Lord  Powerscourt,  who  owned  the  land  at  Glencree,  offered  the  Dublin  Catholic  Reformatory 

           Committee the abandoned barracks at Glencree for use as a reformatory. They accepted the offer 

           and approached the Oblates and asked them to run the School. The Oblates had no experience 

           of such work, but were known to be concerned for the poor. Having taken on the responsibility of 

           caring  for  juvenile  offenders,    the  Oblates  tried  to  educate  themselves         about  the  running  of 

           reformatories, and went to France and Belgium to study models for such a school. They looked 

           at  the  penal  settlement  at  Mettray,  created  in  1840  by  Frederic-Auguste  Demetz,  based  upon 

                                                                                   ´  ´ 

           Rousseau’s concept that man could be improved through contact with the land. Boys there were 

           in ‘families’, with each family having an adult head of household who imposed a regime of hard 

           work and severe punishments for lapses in the boys. The Oblates decided this system of dividing 

           the  boys  up  into  smaller  groups  could  not  be  used  because  of  the  nature  of  the  buildings  at 

           Glencree,  which  would  not  allow  the  small  family  unit  approach.  The  old  barracks,  in  short, 

           determined the nature of the regime. 



15.16      The Oblates moved into the barracks at Glencree in 1858. It was in need of much repair and its 

           first Superior set about using the boys to reclaim and cultivate the land of more than 100 acres. 

           The aim was to make the Institution self-sufficient. Its isolation, and the poor roads and transport, 

           made  this  objective  a  pressing  one.  For  years,  supplies  had  to  be  brought  in  over  the  difficult 

           mountain  road  that  could  become  impassable  in  winter.  In  a  very  short  space  of  time,  it  soon 

           reached full capacity. 



15.17      Just 12 years later the Oblates opened a second reformatory. It was certified on 22nd                   December 



           1870, and became known as Daingean. 



15.18      The Oblates worked in St Kevin’s, Glencree from 1857 until 1940, with a break between 1927 

           until 1934, and in St Conleth’s, Daingean from 1870 until 1973, with a break between 1934 until 

           1940, when it was an Oblate Scholasticate. They worked at Scoil Ard Mhuire, Oberstown, which 

           was opened after the closure of Daingean from 1973 until 1984. The Oblates withdrew from the 

           management of the School in 1984. 



15.19      Provincial Archivist, Fr Michael Hughes in his evidence to the Investigation Committee at Phase 

           I stated: 



                  The place where we parted company with the State in Scoil Ard Mhuire was that ultimately 

                  they would not—they were not prepared to sanction a sufficient number of staff members 

                  to cover all the responsibilities and we felt at that stage that we should withdraw. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       611 


----------------------- Page 642-----------------------

15.20      The  Department  of  Education  appointed  a  Board  of  Management  to  run  the  School  from  that 

           date onwards. 



           The philosophy of the reformatory school system as outlined by the Oblates of Mary 

           Immaculate 



15.21      The Oblates, in their General Statement given to the Investigation Committee, asserted that they 

           had high ideals. They ‘brought a vision of their own’ to the work, ‘arising from their long experience 

           in  this  work  and  their  nature  as  a  religious  order.  The  work  was  accepted  as  a  mission:  the 

           Christian  welfare  of  the  boys,  their  rehabilitation  in  so  far  as  they  were  wayward,  and  their 

           preparation  to  earn  their  livelihood  so  far  as  possible.  They  developed  a  tradition  going  back 

           to 1857’. 



15.22      The  Oblate  General  Statement  described  the  characteristics  of  this  tradition  as  it  was  put  into 

           practice in Daingean: 



                   •    A substantial staff, mostly religious brothers and priests, but lay staff too 

                   •    A well-established administrative structure 

                   •    A remedial education programme 

                   •    Vocational training in various trades and occupations 

                   •    A routine of instruction and work 

                   •    The assignment of the boys to a Brother in a school/training group whose task it was 

                         to integrate the newcomer into the life of the School 



                   •    The separation of juniors from seniors 

                   •    A sacramental religious framework 

                   •    An insistence on discipline 

                   •     Encouragement of sporting activities, and other leisure activities such as drama and 

                         music 



                   •    Many external contacts 

                   •    Help in finding a job 

                   •    An aftercare programme. 



           The re-establishment of Daingean 



15.23      The conditions that led to the re-establishment of Daingean was not a decision that was taken 

           without considerable debate, since the move involved taking some 200 boys under Garda escort 

           to a new residence nearly 60 miles away, and much further from the boys’ own homes. 



15.24      Glencree was in a state of disrepair from the beginning. An internal memorandum written by Mr 

           Derrig,1  the Minister for Education, dated 10th  July 1939 began: 



                  I visited this place recently and was very disappointed to find it in such a bad state of 

                  repair.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  very  doubtful  whether,  even  with  large 

                  expenditure, the present buildings can be brought up to a satisfactory standard. 



15.25      Within the same memorandum he suggested that substantial reforms needed to be made in the 

           area of teacher training, provision of practical training and the setting up of a visiting committee. 



           1 This is the English version of Tomas O Deirg. 

                                              ´ 



           612                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 643-----------------------

15.26      A subsequent memorandum elaborated on this theme. Mr Derrig asserted: 



                 the  basis  of  the  present  system  is  defective  and  possibly  will  continue  so,  so  long  as 

                 maintenance and improvements as well as payments to staff have to be made out of the 

                 capitation payment. ... My personal view is that if we are going to make a change from 

                 Glencree we shall have to face up to the question of providing a new institution properly 

                 equipped, and we may also have to provide special aid for staffing. 



15.27      At this time the thinking within the Department of Education was for drastic change, with the need 

           for such measures an urgent priority. The Minister for Education, Mr Derrig, had paid a visit to 

           Glencree and had ‘formed the opinion that it would be difficult to make the buildings suitable for 

           their purpose’. Moreover, the memorandum added, ‘The management did not impress the Minister 

           as being efficient or satisfactory’. 



15.28      The Department had gone so far as to consult the Presentation Brothers about the matter, but 

           the  urgent  need  for  economy  forced  the  Department  to  ‘defer  consideration  of  the  proposal  to 

           change the Reformatory to new accommodation and management, and to try to get the premises 

           at Glencree improved as much as possible’. 



15.29      The  outbreak  of  war  in  1939  meant  all  plans  had  to  be  suspended.  The  Resident  Manager  of 

           Glencree wrote to the Department, acknowledging the appalling conditions there and the debts 

           owed by the School to the parishes and to the Oblate Congregation totalling over £3,200. 



15.30      These appalling conditions were confirmed by an inspection carried out for the Department, which 

           made  it  quite  clear  that  remaining  at  Glencree  was  not  an  option,  and  that  it  would  be  more 

           economical in the long run to provide suitable accommodation elsewhere: roofs, staircases and 

           floors required replacing; the roofs of the workshops leaked and one section of the first floor was 

           too dangerous to be in use; walls were falling outwards and would have to be rebuilt; the bake 

           house was ‘dark, dirty, and thoroughly unhygienic’; washbasins had only cold water supplied ‘from 

           a small hole in the water pipe placed above the basins’; the only plunge bath was an old iron one 

           in the corner of the building; the whole ‘ablution system’ was obsolete, unhygienic and a danger 

           to health; and the lavatory accommodation was described as ‘appalling’. 



15.31      With the necessity of finding a replacement for Glencree, various options were investigated and, 

           finally, a meeting was held on 17th     November 1939, attended by the Taoiseach, Eamon De Valera 



           (who was also the Minister for Education), the Provincial of the Oblates, the Manager of Glencree 

           and the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education. Fr Giancarlo,2  the Resident Manager 



           of Glencree, put a temporary solution forward that was to become a permanent one, which was 

           that accommodation might be found at Daingean, if other provision could be made for the students 

           there at present. Daingean was held by the Oblates on a 99-year lease from the Government. 

           The surrounding farm was owned outright by the Congregation. Fr Giancarlo explained that the 

           buildings at Daingean had been considerably improved and the former dormitory accommodation 

           remained. Since the premises at present housed about 170 students and staff, he thought that 

           should be sufficient for the Reformatory for a time. 



15.32      The question of accommodating the Reformatory permanently at Daingean was considered and 

           a number of difficulties were discussed, such as the distance from Dublin and the complications 

           that arose because additional buildings would need to be erected by the Government on land that 

           it did not own. 



15.33      As regards the objection of the distance from Dublin and the difficulty for parents visiting the boys, 

           Fr Giancarlo contended that this would have the advantage of preventing undesirable visits (from 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     613 


----------------------- Page 644-----------------------

           boys’ former companions) which took place at present at Glencree. He also asserted that parents 

           would not mind travelling by bus to Daingean occasionally, and suggested that a system of permits 

           might be arranged which would possibly entitle them to reduced bus fares. There is no evidence 

           that such a system was ever established. 



15.34      Additional  buildings  were  necessary  for  the  permanent  accommodation  of  the  Reformatory  at 

           Daingean. There was a problem for the Government in erecting these, because they did not own 

           the  farm, and  the Provincial  suggested that  his Congregation  might dispose  of the  farm to  the 

           Government in order to overcome this. The other difficulty  mentioned involved the provision of 

           alternative  accommodation  for  the  Oblate  students  at  present  at  Daingean,  and  the  Provincial 

           undertook to make enquiries and consult his Council to see what could be done. 



15.35      Mr Eamon de Valera, who was both An Taoiseach and Minister for Education from September 

           1939  to  June  1940,  visited  the  buildings  in  November  1939,  and  the  decision  to  move  from 

           Glencree to Daingean was made. 



15.36      On Tuesday 6th  August 1940, Garda Transport Authorities transported 205 boys from Glencree to 



           Daingean.    The    Garda   escort   was   in  civilian clothes.   The   mattresses    and   bedclothes    were 

           transported in a large open truck on the same day. Fr Giancarlo had sought tarpaulin covers from 

           the Gardai to cover the trucks but this could not be provided. We are not told if the sun shone 

                       ´ 

           down on this unusual convoy. 



15.37      Far from being what the Department of Education wanted, ‘a new institution, properly equipped’, 

           offering ‘... better accommodation and under different management’, the Reformatory moved from 

           one old barracks that was always in need of extensive repairs to another old barracks in need of 

           extensive building and upkeep, and under the same management. 



           The financial arrangements 



15.38      Daingean had a different financial arrangement from other residential institutions. The summary 

           of this arrangement was as follows: 



                   1.    The Government was to purchase from the Oblate Fathers the farm and its buildings 

                         for £4,500. 



                   2.    The Government would pay the Oblate Fathers for the additions and improvements 

                         they had made while Daingean was in use as a college. The sum agreed was £6,000. 



                   3.   The managers of the Reformatory would pay an annual rent for the farm and premises 

                        of £350. 



                   4.    The Government would make a special grant of £2,500 towards the debts incurred by 

                         the Reformatory at Glencree. 



15.39      The most novel aspect of these proposals was the fact that the Department was now responsible 

           for  new   buildings    and   for  repairs,  with   day-to-day    maintenance      the  responsibility   of  the 

           Congregation. Because they no longer owned the premises the Oblates did not have to find the 

           money themselves for capital expenses but could submit estimates for the work needed, and the 

           State would pay provided it was done within budget. The rent agreed, at point three above, took 

           this fact into account, ‘since the present grants to Reformatories are intended to defray the full 

           cost  of  maintenance,’  this  rent  was  to  return  to  Government  coffers  some  of  the  additional 

           maintenance  costs  agreed.  It  also  had  ‘regard  to  the  fact  that  it  [the  farm]  will  represent  a 

           substantial contribution towards the maintenance of the inmates and staff of the institution’. 



15.40      When the terms of this agreement were put to the Department of Finance, strong objections were 

           raised. The letter sent by Mr J. E. Hanna, Assistant Secretary at the Department of Finance, is 

           worth quoting in full: 



           614                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 645-----------------------

      Dear O’Dubhthaigh, 

      I have read your letter of the 25th     ultimo regarding the question of new accommodation 



      for the Boys’ Reformatory School. The information contained therein raises a number of 

      points which, I think, it would be well to have clarified before even tentative approval is 

      given to the proposals outlined in your letter. 



             1.   As you are aware, the Daingean premises are State property but the Oblate Order 

                 were given a 99-year lease of them, with the option to determine the lease at 7- 

                 year  intervals.  If  the  Daingean  premises  are  to  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  a 

                  reformatory,  will  it  be  necessary  to  determine  the  existing  lease?  That  lease 

                  provides that any improvements effected during the term of the lease will enure to 

                 the State on the surrender of the lease. In the circumstances, there would seem 

                 to be a case for not making any grant to the Order in respect of improvements 

                  effected  since  1932.  Apart  from  this  question,  the  responsibility  of  the  Order  in 

                  regard  to  maintenance,  improvement,  etc.,  of  the  premises  in  the  future  would 

                  have  to  be  clearly  defined.  When  the  Reformatory  was  situated  previously  at 

                  Daingean  the  Oblate  Order  were  responsible  for  repairs,  maintenance,  etc.  I 

                 assume     that  a  similar responsibility   will devolve   upon   them   in  the  future,  if 

                  Daingean  is  again  used  as  a  boys’  reformatory.  If  not,  it  may  be  necessary  to 

                 consider a reduction of the State grants. 



             2.  I cannot say that I can see any convincing reason for the proposal that the State 

                 should  purchase  the  Oblates’  farm.  It  may  be  that  you  contemplate  that,  in  the 

                  event of the lease of the buildings being surrendered so as to allow their reversion 

                 to the State, the State should assume ownership of the farm as well, the Oblate 

                 Order standing in the position of agents of the Minister for Education in regard to 

                 the conduct of the Reformatory. If that should be the position and the State should 

                  purchase the farm, it would seem reasonable that any profit arising on the farm 

                 should  accrue  to  the  State.  In  this  connection  I  note  that,  in  1927,  £567  was 

                  realised from the sale of farm produce, after the needs of the Institution had been 

                  met. Unless the annual surplus on the farm were to accrue to the State it would 

                 seem that the State would be paying twice over for the farm. As the grants should 

                  enable the Reformatory to be conducted in a satisfactory manner, the profits on 

                 the farm should not be diverted to the Order. 



             3.  As regards the debts on Glencree, it is possibly the case that they have mainly 

                 arisen in consequence of the inadequacy of the State and local grants in the past. 

                 To the extent, however, that they may be due to improvements at Glencree, the 

                  benefit of which will accrue to the Order, I think it only fair that the State should 

                  be relieved of that portion of the debt. 



             4.  Have you considered what the position of the State in relation to the Reformatory 

                  premises, etc., will be in the event of the Order deciding at any time in the future 

                 to discontinue the work? I assume that, if such a contingency should arise, the 

                  buildings, with the furniture, equipment, etc., which have been bought from State 

                  Funds would revert to the State, free of all claim by the Order. 



             5.  It seems to me that the Oblate Order see considerable advantage to themselves 

                  in  the  transfer  of  their  Novitiate  to  Kilkenny.  I  assume  that  the  proposal  that 

                  Daingean should be used as a reformatory in the future came from the Order. 



             6.   In furnishing these observations, I am at the disadvantage that I do not know what 

                 you intend should be the position of the State vis a vis the Order in regard to the 

                  Reformatory premises, and the farm. The position does not seem to be quite clear, 

                 and my observations are directed mainly with the object of anticipating difficulties 

                  in the matter, which may arise at a later stage. I shall be glad to hear further from 

                 you at your convenience. 



      Yours sincerely, 



      J.E. Hanna 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 615 


----------------------- Page 646-----------------------

15.41      In fact, many of Mr Hanna’s assumptions had been negotiated away. The Oblates were no longer 

           to be responsible for anything other than day-to-day upkeep and maintenance, as they had been 

           when the Reformatory was situated previously at Daingean, and the State was going to buy the 

           farm but was going to get an annual rent in return, which at £350 was considerably less than the 

           profit made from the sale of farm produce in 1927. He was accurate in his conclusion that ‘the 

           Oblate  Order  see  considerable  advantage  to  themselves  in  the  transfer  of  their  Novitiate  to 

           Kilkenny’, and was also correct in his assumption ‘... that the proposal that Daingean should be 

           used  as  a  reformatory  in  the  future  came  from  the  Order’.  By  the  time  this  letter  was  written, 

           however, matters had progressed too far. The need to get the new Daingean up and running as 

           soon as possible meant that many of his concerns had to be shelved. 



15.42      The need expressed earlier, for new methods and a change of management for the reformatory 

           schools   system,    also  seems     to  have   been   shelved.    A  memorandum        dated   25th  July    1940 



           contained a note of resignation about how things were going. The Department official wrote: 

                 ... Father Ricardo3    informs us that his Provincial Council has decided to appoint Father 

                 Neron4  as Manager of the Reformatory at Daingean, and it is necessary to consider what 



                 reply should be sent to this. We do not know if Father Neron has any experience of the 

                 work of a Reformatory or similar institution, or what special qualifications he has for the 

                 position. At the same time, I fear it might merely annoy the Oblate Authorities to raise any 

                 questions regarding the appointment they have made, and I suggest that we merely say 

                 in reply that the appointment is noted. 



15.43      Mr O’Dubhthaigh simply wrote underneath, ‘Agreed’. 



           The premises 



15.44      The original buildings at Daingean were built as a military barracks in the middle of the eighteenth 

           century. For a while, it served as a training ground for the Irish Constabulary and then became a 

           prison for adult criminals. From 1871 to 1934, it became a reformatory school run by the Oblates. 



15.45      Fr Luca,5   who was Resident Manager of Daingean from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, in a 



           memoir about his time in Daingean described the former barracks as ‘pretty stark’, apart from a 

           few  very  nice  rooms  that  might  have  been  officers’  quarters.  Behind  this  old  building  was  the 

           building erected in the 1940s that housed the two large dormitories, one for seniors and the other 

           for the juniors. Underneath were the woodwork and metalwork classrooms. On the opposite side 

           of  the  yard  was  the  large  recreation  hall,  and  across  from  that  were  the  washrooms,  again 

           separate ones for senior and junior boys. There were also classrooms, a piggery and a poultry 

           house, and the scullery and storerooms. Only the dormitory block had any form of heating. The 

           boys and the staff had to wash in cold water. 



15.46      In 1940, however, only the buildings of the old barracks were there, so the boys had to be housed 

           in the wings of the barracks, and the staff used the old gaol and a building near the entrance. 



           3 This is a pseudonym. 

           4 This is a pseudonym. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 



           616                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 647-----------------------

Figure 1: St. Conleth’s Reformatory, Daingean 

(Shaded areas were part of original barracks) 



Legend: 



       1.   Main block, formerly officers’ quarters 



       2.  Main block East Wing, used as boys’ dormitory until 1951/2 



       3.  Main block West Wing, used as boys’ dormitory until 1948/9 



       4.  Chapel 



       5.  Printing and tailoring shop 



       6.  Kitchen, scullery and stores 



       7.  Laundry 



       8.  Slaughterhouse 



       9.  Poultry 



      10.   Piggery 



      11.   Stores (Potatoes and grain) 



      12.   New residence for Brothers, built 1957 



      13.   Old residence for Brothers/convent housing nuns in later years 



      14.   New block West Wing, built 1948/9 



      15.   New block East Wing, built 1951/2 



      16.   Sanitary Annexe, built 1940/1 



      17.   Sanitary Annexe 



      18.   New ball alleys 



      19.   Shop and play hall/theatre built 1944 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                      617 


----------------------- Page 648-----------------------

                   20.   Site of St. Joseph’s, formerly the old gaol 



            The buildings in the early years 

            Source: Martin Reynolds 



            The School staff 



                                                      6 

                                  ´ 

15.47       In July 1945, Mr O Siochfhradha,            the Department of Education Inspector, listed the staff at the 

                                      ´ 

            School: 



                  The school staff consists of the Manager together with the Chaplain, 16 Brothers, 2 lay 

                  teachers, 1 tailor, 1 shoemaker, 3 farm workers, 1 teacher of Physical Education (part- 

                  time). Each Brother has his own responsibility – one in the kitchen, one in the shoemaker 

                  room, one in the woodwork room, two in the bog, one in charge of the cattle, two or three 

                  on the farm and so on, each in charge of a group of boys. 



15.48       There were 126 boys in the School at the time. 



15.49       In their Opening Statement, the Oblates stated that, by the 1960s, many of the staff were ‘growing 

            old and falling sick’. In January 1966, in a report for the General Chapter, the Provincial noted 



            6 This is the Irish version of Sugrue. 



            618                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 649-----------------------

          that only nine active members of staff were expected to cater at all times, from 7:00 in the morning 

          until 10:30 at night, seven days a week. The average age of these men was over 40, and the 

          strain was evident by the fact that six Brothers in five years had suffered nervous breakdowns. 



          The population of Daingean 



15.50     In their Opening Statement, the Oblates set out the categories of boy who came to be sent to 

          Daingean. The overwhelming majority of the pupils were ‘young offenders’, whose ages ranged 

          from 12 to 18 years. 



15.51     Daingean was also used as a place of remand but there were only 12 remand places at any time. 

          Unlike industrial schools, Daingean had insignificant numbers of ‘voluntary’ pupils admitted who 

          were not supported by the State. The Oblates provided statistics relating to the pupils in the School 

          and the following figures for the age spread and numbers of pupils in the School in Daingean: 



                       Period                   Total presences at end of            Average per annum 

                                                       school year 



           1941–1949 = 9 years                             1,947                             216.3 



           1950–1959 =  10 years                           1,589                             158.9 



           1960–1969 =  10 years                           1,550                             155.0 



           1970–1973 = 4 years                              189                               47.2 



           Total = 33 years                                5,275                             159.8 



15.52     Age spread in a sample year in the 1960s was: 



                                   %                                                 Age 



                                   6%                                             13 years + 



                                  11%                                             14 years + 



                                  31%                                             15 years + 



                                  35%                                             16 years + 



                                  15%                                             17 years + 



                                   2%                                             18 years + 



15.53     The  following  Table  is  based  on  Department  of  Education  Records  and  shows  the  offences 

          committed by a total of 87 pupils, which led to their detention in Daingean in 1955–1956: 



                        Grounds for committal                                Number committed 



           Larceny and receiving                                                      28 



           Shop/House breaking                                                       49 



           Arson                                                                       1 



           Indecent assault                                                            2 



           Burglary                                                                    2 



           Common assault                                                              2 



           Others                                                                      3 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                          619 


----------------------- Page 650-----------------------

 15.54    The  Oblates  stated  that  the  typical  social  class  of  the  pupil  in  their  school  was  urban  working 

           class. The boys were mainly from the larger Irish cities of Dublin, Cork and Limerick. The levels 

           of literacy among the boys committed were significantly lower in a sample of boys compared with 

           a normal national school. Of the complainants who gave evidence to the Committee, many ended 

           up in Daingean for trivial offences that owed more to poverty than criminality, particularly those 

           admitted under the first two categories set out above. 



           The urban-rural divide 



 15.55     In an article entitled ‘The Juvenile Offender’ written in 1963 the author, James O’Connor, wrote: 



                 The  offences  which  merit  committal  to  Daingean  vary  from  court  to  court,  but  more 

                 particularly  from  city  to  country.  In  Dublin  a  boy  might  have  eight  or  nine  previous 

                 convictions before he receives a reformatory sentence, whereas in the country he may 

                 have committed his first offence. 



 15.56     Fr Luca also wrote about the urban-rural divide in the School and the differences and difficulties 

          this  presented  to  the  school  authorities.  Most  of  the  boys  in  the  School  came  from  an  urban 

           background.  Fr  Luca  stated  that  the  rural  boys  were  more  difficult  to  deal  with  than  even  the 

          toughest boy from the city. He stated that, for a rural boy to be sent to Daingean, he must have 

           done something ‘very radically wrong’: 



                 A boy or girl who seriously offended would be regarded as sort of social outcasts, they 

                 would be marked as people not fit to be in that area. 



 15.57     He also stated, somewhat contradictorily, that the District Justices in the country wanted to stamp 

           out crime problems in their area and therefore if a country boy offended he was sent straight to 

           Daingean immediately. The city court Judges tended to avail of the Probation Act more often and 

           gave the offenders numerous chances. 



 15.58     Daingean did not receive boys who were guilty of non-attendance at school. 



           The special needs pupils 



 15.59     In  their  Opening  Statement  the  Oblates  referred  to  a  particular  issue,  which  they  considered 

           especially relevant to this inquiry. The issue was how the system failed to meet the special needs 

           of some of the pupils. 



 15.60    The Oblates identified two types of pupils: those who ‘... were in no frame of mind to respond to 

           its programme for whatever reasons. These had needs that were not compatible with the School’s 

           ethos’, and those who ‘should not have been sent to the school because their capacity to respond 

          was limited through psychological or educational difficulties that called for a specialist approach 

          that the school did not have’. 



 15.61    The  Oblates, in  other  words,  acknowledged that  the  Institution failed  to  provide  for the  special 

           needs of the vast majority of its pupils. 



 15.62    The Resident Manager in the 1960s explicitly referred to the situation he was faced with as ‘unjust’ 

          to  the  pupils,  but  it  was  clear  that  the  regime  in  Daingean  was  incapable  of  responding  to 

           individual needs. 



 15.63     Severely psychiatrically disturbed children also ended up in Daingean, and these children could 

           not have been properly looked after by the reformatory system. The Oblates were correct in stating 

          that these children were let down by the State, which failed to provide specialist facilities. 



           620                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 651-----------------------

15.64      The Oblates maintained that they acted responsibly, and drew attention to these problems without 

           succeeding in having them addressed until very late in the day. 



           Conclusions 



15.65      •    From its re-establishment as a Reformatory in 1940, Daingean was a poor solution to 

                a problem that had been allowed to escalate to crisis proportions. The interests of the 

                boys were not prioritised in the discussions leading up to the opening of Daingean. 



           •    Daingean’s  isolation,  clearly  identified  as  a  problem  by  Government  officials,  was 

                regarded as an advantage by the Congregation. Isolating boys from family and friends 

                was part of the ethos of the Institution. 



           •    The  lack  of  clarity  with  regard  to  responsibility  for  maintenance  of  the  buildings  in 

                Daingean,  identified  in  the  Department  of  Finance  letter,  proved  to  be  an  on-going 

                problem which contributed to the appalling living conditions of the boys. 



           •    The complainants who gave evidence mainly came from backgrounds of poverty and 

                neglect.  Although  they  all  came  through  the  court  system,  very  few  of  them  were 

                hardened criminals. Daingean did not address the special needs and disadvantages 

                of these boys. 



           Investigation 



15.66      Fr  Murphy,    Provincial  of  the  Oblate   Congregation,     presented    evidence    to the   Investigation 

           Committee  at  the  Emergence  hearing  on  23rd        July  2004.  Fr  Michael  Hughes,  the  Provincial 

           Archivist, gave evidence at the Phase I public hearing into Daingean on 9th  May 2005. Complainant 

           and  respondent  witnesses  were  heard  in  private  between  10th        May  and  2nd  June  2005  at  the 

           Commission’s  offices.  Finally,  a  public  hearing  in  Phase  III  was  held  on  6th    June  2006,  and 



           evidence was again given by Fr Hughes. 



15.67      In  the  private  hearings,  25  complainant  witnesses  testified  out  of  a  total  of  34.  A  further  44 

           attended for interview, out of a total of 86 who were invited to attend for interview. Two respondent 

           witnesses gave evidence. 



15.68      In addition to oral evidence, the Investigation Committee considered documents received from the 

           Oblates,  the  Department  of  Education  and  Science,  An  Garda  Siochana,  the  Department  of 

                                                                                         ´ 

           Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. 



           Physical abuse 



           Corporal punishment 



15.69      In  the  Emergence  hearing  into  Daingean,  the  Oblate  Congregation  did  not  apologise  for  any 

           excessive corporal punishment, but they did refer to the press statement which was issued after 

           the broadcast of ‘States of Fear’ in 1999 in which they stated: 



                 We would firstly say that the abuse of young people is always abhorrent and abuse of 

                 young people in confinement is doubly so. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate deeply regret 

                 that any young man was mistreated while in their care and offer sincerest apologies. 



15.70      In response to a question from the Investigation Committee, the Oblates stated that that press 

           statement: 



                 was in the nature of an expression of concern after the TV documentary  ‘States of Fear’ 

                 in which one of the reformatories was mentioned. It was thought that such a statement 

                 was required in view of the public interest in the programme. In their statement the Oblates 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  621 


----------------------- Page 652-----------------------

                 also indicated that further research was needed. No further statements of this kind have 

                 been made ... 



15.71      In their Opening Statement the Oblates submitted the following: 



                 Allegations of physical abuse have also been made. The Oblate Management file shows 

                 two complaints of excessive corporal punishment in the lifetime of the school. The school 

                 files  show  five  complaints  in  the  lifetime  of  the  school  of  pupils  being  struck  by  staff 

                 members: two of these are also found in the DES discovery documents. The Oblates do 

                 not seek to defend the use of excessive corporal punishment. However the use of corporal 

                 punishment  in     the  period  must  be    judged  in  the   context  of  a  society   where  it  was 

                 acceptable in itself and in the context of an institution where 



                  •     numbers were large, 

                  •    facilities were very limited, 

                  •    and there was little or no psychological assessment to exclude violent or unmanageable 

                        boys or any resources to deal with them. 



                 As a result it was a very difficult task to maintain order in the reformatory and eliminate 

                 violence among the boys themselves. It should be mentioned that evidence of support 

                 from parents can also be found in the files, and also letters from boys which reveal a good 

                 relationship between pupils and staff. 



15.72      In their Submission, the Oblates summarised their position and acknowledged that the corporal 

           punishment     described    by  some    of  the  complainants     was   ‘unreasonably     severe’.   They   also 

           acknowledged that ‘the punishment for certain infringements such as absconding and attempting 

           to  escape    was   in  itself ‘over  severe’.   They    conceded     that  such   punishment     had   serious 

           consequences for the boys, and they apologised unreservedly for that, but they denied that it was 

           abusive or administered randomly. 



15.73      They  asked  the  Commission  to  examine  the  issue  in  the  context  of  the  times  and  the  type  of 

           institution that operated in Daingean. They also suggested that the question to be examined by 

           the Commission was summed up by the Chairman when he pointed out that the issue was not 

           simply whether boys were beaten in institutions but whether they were abused by being beaten. 



           How corporal punishment was used in Daingean 



15.74      From the evidence, it emerged that corporal punishment was administered in three different ways, 

           all  of  which  breached  the  rules  and  regulations  for  corporal  punishment  in  residential  schools. 

           These were: 



                   1.   The form of punishment known as a flogging. 



                   2.   Punches, slaps, kicks or blows with an available implement such as a hurley, a stick 

                        or,  in the  case of  one  particular Brother,  a garden  hose  and a  spade. These  blows 

                        were given as immediate chastisement for aberrant behaviour or for disobedience and 

                        minor   insolence.    Some     staff  members     were    singled   out   as  resorting   to  such 

                        punishment more frequently and harshly than others. 



                   3.   Blows with a strap for behaviour warranting less serious punishment. 



           Flogging 

15.75      At  a  conference  held  in  the  Department  of  Education  on  30th      June  1952,  with  Fr  Pedro,7    the 



           Resident Manager of Daingean, District Justice McCarthy and the Minister for Education and his 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 



           622                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 653-----------------------

           officials present,   issues   relating  to  Daingean     and   Marlborough     House    were   discussed.    The 

           minutes at one point revealed the following: 



                 Justice MacCarthy asked whether corporal punishment had often to be inflicted. Father 

                 Pedro said no. Occasionally a caning on the hand, but no more. 



15.76      The policy of administering an occasional caning on the hand and no more did not conform to the 

           reality  of  corporal  punishment  in  Daingean.  More  than  the  other  institutions,  Daingean  had  a 

           system  of  administering  corporal  punishment  in  a  formal,  almost  ritualised  way.  It  meant  more 

           than just being beaten with a strap or cane. If a boy was put ‘on report’ by a Brother for breach of 

           discipline, the Disciplinarian would administer corporal punishment in a way known as a ‘flogging’. 



15.77      Just  a  year  later,  in  1953,  Fr  Pedro  explained  in  a  letter  to  the  Inspector  of  Reformatory  and 

           Industrial Schools exactly what a ‘flogging’ meant in Daingean: 



                 “Flogging” means that a boy is put on his knees receiving a few (5 or 6) light strokes of a 

                 light  strap  on   the  back.   This   is not  done    except   for  serious   offences    such   as  a) 

                 insubordination     (b) deliberate    destruction   of  property   (c) public   immoral    conduct   (d) 

                 inciting  others  to  riotous  conduct  (e)  absconding.  Absconding  must  be  regarded  as  a 

                 serious offence otherwise it would be impossible to keep those type of boys in the School. 

                 The  usual  punishment  for  ordinary  breaches  of  rule  is  a  few  slaps  on  the  hand  or 

                 deprivation of re-creation for 15 or 20 minutes. 



15.78      The use of the strap on the hand as permitted by the rules was not a ‘flogging’. According to the 

           Resident Manager, who had the responsibility for enforcing the rules, a flogging was specifically 

           the administration of blows to the back of a boy who was made to kneel at the time. 



15.79      In the same year, Dr McCabe, the Department of Education’s Medical Inspector, wrote about the 

           use of flogging in Daingean: 



                 “Flogging” ... consists in taking the offender into a small room, removing his pants and 

                 administering  5  or  6  strokes  on  the  bare  posterior  with  a  leather  strap  which  is  quite 

                 flexible about 1” wide and 1 yard long (It resembles a strap used to put around a suitcase) 

                 The  punishment  is  administered  by  the  disciplinarian  ...  who  is  a  very  understanding 

                 patient man and always offers an excuse in defence of a boy if at all possible. 



15.80      Br Abran,8  who was himself identified as harsh and cruel by complainants and who gave evidence 



           before the Committee, described a flogging that he had been asked to witness in the 1960s. He 

           recalled standing 15 feet away from the boy on the stairs on the ground floor. The boy had his 

           hands on the steps and his nightshirt was lifted up. 



15.81      He described how the boy, who received around six strokes, was screaming and shouting: ‘... he 

           was only a small chap. I was horrified myself’. He recalled that there was another Brother present 

           with the Prefect. He was asked by the Superior to witness the beating. He said ‘...  I don’t know 

           the circumstances, possibly rumours of a type of cruelty was in vogue and I was there to – acting 

           as a witness or just to be there ...’. 



15.82      When questioned further, he added: 



                 I said that the boy in question was a small boy who should not have been punished in 

                 that certain way anywhere, firstly ... I had never seen such an incident like that before. It 

                  was the first and last time. 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     623 


----------------------- Page 654-----------------------

15.83      He later explained that normally such a punishment took place in the office but, on that occasion, 

           the Superior had requested that he be present as a witness: 



                 I think there was some kind of trouble, you had boys up in the roof and some trying to 

                 abscond. It was a weak era during that period apparently and because of that I was asked 

                 to attend this particular one, to ensure that things were sort of semi-okay ... 



15.84      This  Brother  was  a  valuable  independent  witness,  because  he  gave  an  account  of  a  flogging 

           separate from the version given by the boys and by the records. His account was not in conflict 

           with  the  written  descriptions  in  the  discovered  documents  as  outlined  above.  Both  agreed  on 

           the following: 



                   (1)  Blows were with a leather strap on the bare back or buttocks. 



                   (2)  The boy would be kneeling. 



                   (3)  The disciplinarian would administer the blows. 



                   (4)  On some occasions, at least two Brothers were present. 



                   (5)  The office, or a small room, or the stairs by the dormitory were used. 



                   (6)  The procedure engendered fear. Although this Brother had been in Daingean  ‘a few 

                        years’, he found the sight of the boy being flogged an experience that ‘horrified’ him. 



15.85      Fr Luca, who was Resident Manager from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, added to this picture. 

           He wrote in his Statement to the Committee: 



                 I know you have heard it said at times that they were stripped, well there weren’t stripped 

                 but they might have to let down their pants and get it on the backside ... 



                 ... I would have to say I don’t know how many slaps they had. I never saw the boys being 

                 punished while I was there. I didn’t regard it as part of my duty to supervise that. I know 

                 that  the  boys  were  punished  and  I  know  it  was  left  to  the  prefect  to  decide  what  the 

                 punishment would be for the particular, well I don’t like to call it crime, misdemeanour. 



                 It was generally at the end of the day, there would always have to be two there, never 

                 one. I suppose, there would have to be a person available. It seemed to be the tradition 

                 which was never questioned. It was never done during the day as far as I know. Nobody 

                 ever punished any boy except the prefect ... 



                 The place wasn’t in view. As far as I know, the punishment was always performed in the 

                 washroom. The stairs went from the washroom up to the dormitory. Now, I am sure they 

                 could hear the boys, they would know anyway, they knew what the score was. 



15.86      He added: 



                 I was never present, but my understanding was that they had to let down their pants, lean 

                 over the form they sat on in the wash-up room and it was administered there. 



15.87      He further stated: 



                 On the corporal punishment, I don’t think it was excessive. But any corporal punishment, 

                 I think, I would regard it as an excess. It was something which I don’t think it was achieving 

                 the purpose for which it was intended, to be a control and an aid to discipline. Because it 

                 was degrading ... you were attacking a boy’s human dignity. 



15.88      In  effect,  Fr  Luca  confirmed  all  the  other  testimony:  the  Prefect  with  another  Brother  present 

           administered corporal punishment, and it was administered at the end of the day in the washroom, 

           near the dormitory, and could be heard by the other boys. 



           624                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 655-----------------------

           The strap 



15.89      The Investigation Committee was shown the strap used by the Prefect in Daingean. It was about 

           three feet long, with a narrower section at one end for use as a handle. It was half an inch thick 

           and about two inches wide. It was not as flexible as a belt described by Dr McCabe, or ‘light’ as 

           described by Fr Pedro, but heavy and stiff and bendable and, when administered with force by 

           an adult on a child, it caused extreme pain. 



           Evidence on floggings given by complainants 



15.90      The  Investigation  Committee  heard  testimony  from  several  complainant  witnesses  about  their 

           experience of floggings. 



15.91      One witness, who was there in the early 1940s, gave the following graphic account: 

                 this Br [Jaime9] was the man that did the flogging. He had a title of a prefect or something 



                 ...  What  flogged  meant  was  that  you  got  down  –  you  took  off  your  trousers  and  you 

                 got down on your knees and you went forward on the front and he flogged you on the 

                 bare buttocks. 



15.92      He remembered that this happened to him on four occasions ‘in a room near the toilet and near 

           the dormitory’. He also said that  ‘... on two occasions I was taken from the dormitory and on two 

           occasions I was taken from the yard to be flogged in this same room ...’. 



15.93      He went on: 



                 I was flogged four times and the first time was when I was three or four months there and 

                 a chap ... tried to bully me. I hit back, it was only about two punches. I was reported and 

                 got flogged. 



15.94      This  witness  recalled  another  occasion  when  he  received  a  flogging  because  he  removed  his 

           trousers before getting into bed, which he was not supposed to do as it was associated with  ‘being 

           immodest’. He took his trousers off before getting into bed as they  ‘were always dirty with either 

           cement and the blankets weren’t changed only every two or three months anyway or the sheets’. 

           He added that ‘there wasn’t any kind of display’, and for that he got four lashes of the strap. 



15.95      He spoke of another flogging: 



                 at the table there was some kind of a clothy thing on the table, not a tablecloth, you would 

                 scrape it off with your knife onto the plate, you would scrape the knife and my knife broke, 

                 it was that type of knife that the handle would fall off it. I was flogged for that. That could 

                 happen to anybody. That wasn’t a terrible thing, that wasn’t going to upset the run of the 

                 school or anything like that. 



15.96      He recalled the fourth time he was flogged: 



                 the man that I was labouring to, he was spreading hard wall plaster and we were supplying 

                 him with the plaster. We weren’t very good builders labourers, we weren’t good at mixing 

                 the plaster ... it would get hard and he threw the thing down on top of me. There was a 

                 bit of blood from my head. I called him a name, he reported me and I got flogged for that. 



15.97      This  witness  was  complaining  not  only  about  the  ferocity  of  the  beatings,  but  also  about  their 

           unfairness in his case. The description of the offences for which he was flogged could hardly be 

           categorised as serious offences. His description of the flogging given in the 1940s is exactly like 

           those described in the 1950s and 1960s. 



           9 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     625 


----------------------- Page 656-----------------------

15.98      Another witness, there in the late 1960s, gave the following account: 



                 [The Brothers], they had me on the steps, I got into a fight or something, they had this 

                 belt which was about a metre long ... You would go to bed and then you were called out 

                 of  bed,  you  wore  of  flimsy  sort  of  nighty  which  was  down  to  your  ankles.  You  weren’t 

                 allowed to wear anything else underneath that. You were brought to the bottom of the 

                 stairs where the dormitory was, marble stairs. You would kneel on the stairs. There was 

                 me and another fellow ... I remember him wetting on the floor because he was – there 

                 were three of us actually ... While they were doing this other guy, you would stand and 

                 watch them doing the guy in front of you. He would be on all fours. [One Brother] would 

                 stand on your hands and you would be kneeling down and as flimsy as the cotton night 

                 thing was that was lifted ... Up to your waist ... Then you would get – I think I had about 

                 six on that occasion ... I am almost sure after you had been done, you came back, (to 

                 bed) it was like a rota, like a line. I remember [ ... ] wetting himself on the floor next to 

                 me,  I  can  remember  it,  it  was  steamy  and  smelly,  I  was  concentrating  more  on  that,  I 

                 don’t know why. These things stick in your mind when you are a kid. 



15.99      He described how the punishment was administered: 



                 [One Brother] would stand on your hands and [the other Brother] – it was peculiar the 

                 way he used to bring the strap in that he would bring it this way (indicating), under his left 

                 arm ... he would bring it underneath (indicating) and it would come right around like a golf 

                 club and he would bring it that way ... It was peculiar how he would always get at least 

                 one into your balls. 



15.100     He also described the physical effects on him: 



                 Difficulty walking for a while and the marks would stay for months ... It was a thing like 

                 you would get guys, “Give us a look. Let’s have a look at your strap marks”. It was like a 

                 badge of honour ... 



15.101     He said that the boys in the dormitory ‘could hear what was going on’ but they  ‘couldn’t see it’. 



15.102     Another witness said: 



                 They used to slap at the end of the stairs in the evening, you would be in the dormitory, 

                 if you were to be punished that’s where they punished you, they bring you down to the 

                 stairs  and   the  echo   of  the  screams    would    be  for  the  benefit  of  everybody     in the 

                 dormitories. 



15.103     He later added: 



                 You just had a fear. You were going down to the office, you were called down, you knew 

                 what  was  going  to  happen  to  you.  It  was  the  whole  ritual  of  it  ...  You  were  so  scared 

                 before you even got a slap ... 



15.104     Another witness, there in the early 1950s, described getting a  ‘flogging’, or ‘stripes on your arse’. 

           He told the Committee the Brother would get the boy to drop his pants and bend over the bed to 

           be punished: 



                 The first time it happened to me he had to show you sometimes to put your hand over 

                 your penis, your private – just in case the strap did go around you it would hurt you, it 

                 would catch you there. 



15.105     One complainant was able to distinguish between the ordinary corporal punishment he received 

           at home from that administered in Daingean: 



           626                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 657-----------------------

                 My dad sometimes smacked us, gave us a clout of a belt, a whack across the arse. What 

                 I got [in Daingean] was I got a searing pain, I will never forget it in all my life, never. The 

                 first of it was the shock. It was shock first of all. Then the second one I got and it wasn't 

                 across my buttocks, it wasn't across my buttocks, it was right between my buttocks with 

                 this strap. I don't know where they got these straps from but it was specially designed for 

                 this, it wasn't a belt. When they say you got a strap, it wasn't a like a trouser strap, it was 

                 a specially made strap. It was very thick and it was about that length (indicating) and it 

                 was shaped for gripping with the hand for hitting you with. The way they used to hit you 

                 was they used to hit you between the buttocks and pull it up (indicating). The reason he 

                 had the other Brother there was to stop you going forward. He used to put his foot on the 

                 back of your shoulder, on the back of your neck and your shoulders. He would put his 

                 foot there and hold you so that when you got hit with the strap you couldn't jump forward 

                 with the belt. That strap sometimes, they were expert with it, if he wanted that could come 

                 around and hit you in the testicles. If ever you got hit in the testicles, that gives you cramp 

                 in your stomach, you double up, you couldn't even move. I passed out. 



15.106     He went on to say that it happened to him on a number of occasions and that he also recalled it 

           happening to other boys. 



15.107    Witnesses said that the traumatic effect of flogging stayed with them. One said: 



                 It was shame more than anything. Being a teenager, like you say, especially with Christian 

                 Brothers. When I was in Artane, I was younger, I didn't understand. But in Daingean I 

                 was practically a teenager. I wasn't very big or anything like that but I was streetwise. Put 

                 it this way, if someone had done that to me outside the thing I probably would have ended 

                 up  killing  them  or  they  would  have  killed  me,  one  or  the  other.  Being  in  Daingean,  I 

                 accepted it. That's all I would say. 



15.108     Floggings were mainly but not exclusively administered at night-time in the washroom. A witness 

          described the impact of being beaten in the yard in front of the other boys: 



                 When you are being beaten and you are feeling pain your torment is excruciating. “I will 

                get you, you F– ing so and so, I will come back for you”; that's the train of thought. And 

                 then it stays with you for months at a time. It will haunt you. 



15.109    The  description  given  by  these  witnesses  confirmed  the  account  given  by  the  documents  and 

          other testimony of the way a flogging was administered. It differed, however in two ways. First, a 

          wider  range  of  offences  was  punished  by  flogging.  The  Oblates  had  listed  the  following  five 

          offences as warranting the severe punishment: 



                        (a)  insubordination; 



                        (b)  deliberate destruction of property; 



                        (c)  public immoral conduct; 



                        (d)  inciting others to riotous conduct; and 



                        (e)  absconding. 



15.110     In  the  light  of  the  evidence  heard,  it  is  clear  that  floggings  were  also  administered  for  many 

          other misbehaviours. It was also clear that the way in which staff interpreted what amounted to 

           insubordination or deliberate destruction of property was so wide, that minor offences and even 

          accidents could result in the most severe punishment. 



15.111    Second, the degree of fear engendered by these floggings was not apparent from the unemotional 

          official description. Several of the complainants described the screams they heard as horrifying 

          and fear inducing. One witness conveyed the effect that such screams had on him:  ‘I remember 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               627 


----------------------- Page 658-----------------------

           one chap that ran away’. He said, ‘I remember hearing him screaming ... I said it to him afterwards 

           that it was terrible. He said to me, “Sure, I heard you screaming as well”’. 



15.112     The evidence of the dreadful effect of these screams was most graphically brought home to the 

           Committee  by  the  evidence  of  Fr  Luca  himself.  He  was  the  penultimate  Resident  Manager  of 

           Daingean. He told the Committee: 



                 we had an oratory which was just on the other side of the square from – the square was 

                 a small one, maybe not much wider than this room, and I was there saying my office in 

                 the evening and I heard the leather being used on some boy at that time. I thought it was 

                 a most revolting thing and said here am I inside to praise God and Christ himself is being 

                 punished now right beside me. It sunk into me as a kind of a horror, that it was such a 

                 contradiction to all that we were working about. 



15.113     He was asked if this had left a big impression on him and he said ‘To this day it still does. When 

           I hear of anybody being beaten up, we say in the north it annoys me, but it is much deeper than 

           annoyance’. He added: 



                 it shook me. It confirmed my determination as soon as possible and when possible I would 

                 try to get  rid of it ... It seemed  to me to be an  awful contradiction to what my  life was 

                 about and what our life as religious was about to have this thing happening within this 

                 house ... In my mind any punishment is brutal as far as the recipient is concerned. I would 

                 have a feeling for the recipient of the punishment. I certainly wouldn’t advocate it at all. 



15.114     He also said: 



                 I was never in favour of it because I always had an abhorrence of that kind people using 

                 this kind of domination over another person by beating them ... 



15.115     He was asked, ‘Would it be fair to say that you delegated the role of punishment and thereafter you 

           didn’t really know exactly what was happening, you left it to the people who were your delegates to 

           get on with it, is that fair or not?’ 



15.116     Fr Luca replied: 



                 That’s fair. When I went in there the School was in action, as it were, there was movement. 

                 I  acquainted  myself  with  what  each  person’s  function  was  within  the  School.  I  didn’t 

                 change them from the different jobs or that, I took it that they knew what they were about 

                 ... I didn’t involve myself in it, I think only twice I asked the Brother to punish a boy. 



15.117     He added: 



                 when  I  moved  in  there  in  1964  the  School  had  been  going  for  over  100  years  at  that 

                 stage. There were things, there was a certain structure in place. What would need to be 

                 changed I gradually tried to change it. There were certain things I had to accept when I 

                 went in there because I had no previous experience of running the School. 



15.118     Despite  his  assertion  that  the  practice  revolted  him,  Fr  Luca  did  nothing  to  stop  the  ritualistic 

           flogging  of  boys   in  Daingean.    This  punishment     was    stopped   in  Daingean,    after  vigorous 

           intervention by a Department of Justice official, and not because of any initiative on the part of 

           the  management.  The  banning  of  all  corporal  punishment  followed  in  1970.  A  full  account  of 

           events at that time is given later in this chapter. 



15.119     •    The open and frank discussion between the Oblates and the Department of Education 

                throughout  the  1940s  and  1950s,  on  the  way  in  which  flogging  was  administered, 

                revealed indifference by the Department to a flagrant breach of the rules. 



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----------------------- Page 659-----------------------

           •    Flogging  was  administered  in  Daingean  in  a  cruel,  sadistic  and  excessive  manner 

                designed to maximise the terror of all the boys. 



           •    It was used in Daingean for a wide range of offences, including those which even at 

                the time would have been considered trivial. 



           •    The pain caused by the punishment was intense, and victims graphically described to 

                the Committee the physical impact on their bodies. Bruising and scars remained long 

                after the beating was administered. 



           •    Fr Luca’s stated revulsion to the practice of flogging was contradictory. It was within 

                his power as Manager to put a stop to it and he chose not to do so. 



           •    The  Oblates  did  not  condemn  the  practice  of  flogging  in  their  Submission  to  the 

                Investigation  Committee.  They  contended  that  it  was  used  only  for  a  breach  of  the 

                school rules and was administered by the Prefect. They did, however, acknowledge 

                that punishment for absconding was ‘over severe’ but not abusive. 



           Informal corporal punishment 



           Unfair blows 



15.120     One complainant gave an account of his first day in Daingean, when he got  ‘clattered’ unfairly: 



                 The first day I got there we were saying the rosary ... when you are brought up to the 

                 dormitory, you put on your nightshirt, you stand at your bed, the whole dormitory stands 

                 by their beds and [Brother] would stay down in the middle. It was an L shaped dormitory 

                 ... he said the rosary and you answered the rosary to him. You kneel at your bed. I fell 

                 asleep, I dozed off. I was woke up with a clatter on the back of the head ... He made me 

                 stand for a long time after the lads went to bed for falling asleep at the rosary. That was 

                 the first day I was actually down there. 



15.121     When asked why he fell asleep, he explained: 



                 I was just tired. I was anxious. I know that I was anxious because I was in Marlborough 

                 House,  I  was  in  court  the  first  day.  Then  I  got  sentenced,  then  I  was  brought  back  to 

                 Marlborough House. Then I was waiting on the police to come to collect me to bring me 

                 down to Daingean. It is a fairly long journey in them days, it’s not far now. I was kind of 

                 tired and I was anxious. It was all kind of new, I remember it quite clear, the day that I 

                 went there. The two years, the sentence I got looked like a lifetime to me, that was all on 

                 top of me. 



15.122     A witness described how his name was put down to play Gaelic football but, because he could 

           not play it, he never went out:  ‘About a half an hour later the Brother came into the playground 

           and he had a hurling stick and he beat me with he hurling stick ... On my head’. He also indicated 

           that he was hit on the lip with the hurling stick and he  ‘... carried the scar for nearly 50 years’. 



15.123     The same man described another occasion when he was talking in the washroom, ‘... and from 

           nowhere he came behind me and gave me the flat of his hand right across my ear ... It was full 

           force ... I was just thrown across ... a few feet’. This left him with a buzzing or ringing in his ear 

           to this day. 



15.124     Another complainant made light of many of the blows he had received by saying,  ‘I got smacks 

           on the hand and things like that, nothing to cry about ... It was probably something I deserved ...’. 

           He described one beating that he felt was very unfair. He explained: 



                 I was having a friendly argument with [Brother], we would always contradict him about 

                 football  and  various  things.  We  were  arguing  one  afternoon  ...  about  soccer.  We  just 

                 contradicted  one  another.  Before  I  knew  it  ...  [another  Brother]  ...  grabbed  me  by  the 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  629 


----------------------- Page 660-----------------------

                  shoulders,  back  of  the  hair  and  turned  me  round  and  gave  me  one  or  two  unmerciful 

                  thumps in the stomach. I was doubled over. I was sick for a week afterwards or more. 

                  [Brother] explained to him about what happened, we were only arguing about football and 

                  said “apologise to the man” but he said something under his breath and walked out the 

                  same way he came in. That was it. 



           Excessively violent blows 



15.125     One complainant gave an account of being kneed in the groin by a Brother: 



                  It was just before we said the Angelus. We were in our ranks ready to go to the refectory 

                  ... It was about the beginning of the prayers and I was speaking to someone else next to 

                  me and then he come up and got me talking. He got so angry and just kneed me ... He 

                 just came up with his knee ... There was a couple of fellows held me up ... I was in pain 

                  ... I couldn’t eat or couldn’t drink or anything. Shortly after that I was taken away in a car. 



15.126     Records show that the complainant was admitted to Tullamore Hospital for two weeks, and was 

           operated on for a hernia. He said:  ‘I never got a visit’. He added. ‘I was just left there on my own 

           for two weeks and my parents weren’t told about it’. 



15.127     Another witness recounted an incident by the handball alley:  ‘I was playing handball one day in 

           the alley and the ball got caught in the wire’. He said he had to jump up onto a shed to  ‘hit the 

           ball down’. A Brother saw him getting down off the shed and told him that he should have sought 

           permission. The witness said that the Brother then ‘started punching me in the face’which resulted 

           in him receiving a black eye and a split lip. 



15.128     A further witness told of another incident which took place in the yard where he  ‘... and another 

           chap  were  going  to  box  over  a  game  of  handball’.  The  Brother  on  duty  in  the  yard  that  day 

           punched him on the side of the head. He said  ‘I hit the ground and then he started kicking me 

           and he said, “In future don’t start any trouble here”. I was made facing the wall for the rest of the 

           period of the time that we were out on recreation’. 



15.129     A boy who was suspected of stealing was dealt with summarily by a Brother when he was brought 

           to Daingean by two Gardai: 

                                           ´ 



                  I was met as I walked on the front lawn right near the office doors, I was met by a Prefect 

                  ... He looked a very religious, sincere man and a crucifix in his cassock down here and 

                  he had his hands behind his back ... I said, “Hello Father”. He said, “They are a nice pair 

                  of boots you are wearing, they must have cost a lot of money”. I said, “About three pounds 

                  10 shillings”. I remember getting a clout to the side of my head, a punch to the side of my 

                  head ... It knocked me. It wasn’t a slap, it was a punch. My ear was turned blue for a 

                  couple of days after, maybe a week after. The two Gardai was there standing watching. 

                                                                                        ´ 

                  They were within six feet of him when he done this and I was knocked to the ground, I 

                  was knocked quite a distance away with the punch he hit me in the side of the head. 



15.130     The Brother thought he was telling lies and told him to take the boots off, which he did, and the 

           Brother then handed them to the Gardai and said: ‘He took them from Marlborough House’. 

                                                           ´ 



15.131     Another boy described being questioned about some stolen car keys: 



                  It was in the spud shed. The spud shed was actually at the back of the kitchen, at the 

                  back of the boot shop ... I had stolen some keys from a technical teacher in an attempt 

                  to abscond in his Volkswagen Beetle car and [the Brother] was told that I was the one 

                  who had the keys or had stolen the keys ... He was asking me where the keys were and 

                  I  said  I  didn’t  have  them.  He  just  choked  me  unconscious,  he  got  me  on  the  pile  of 



           630                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 661-----------------------

                 potatoes and I thought this is it ... He got both his hands around my throat ... I was gone, 

                 I thought I was dead. I felt myself go. 



  15.132   He recalled that when he regained consciousness he was cold, and he remembered  ‘waking up 

           shaking, maybe it was from fear, I don’t know ...’. 



  15.133   Another complainant told of a beating he received after an accident: 



                 there is one occasion where I was painting up a ladder. Now, I had to carry the paint in 

                 one hand, and the brush in my other hand and climb the ladder. I think I was about twelve 

                 foot high when I missed my footing and fell off the ladder ... I got an unmerciful beating 

                 for that ... there was no rhyme or reason to beat me for that. 



  15.134   He added: 



                 Now,  how  can  you  hit  somebody  if  they  fall  off  a  ladder?  The  first  normal  reaction  of 

                 anybody would be to go to their side and say “are you all right” not go and knock hell out 

                 of them. 



  15.135   Br Abran who appeared before the Committee talked about this policy of hitting children. He said 

           that there were times when staff would have to administer punishment on an ad hoc basis: 



                 if there was a fight going on or some weapons being used or if somebody got head butted 

                 ... In many cases the boys preferred to be punished in those circumstances rather than 

                 be  sent  to the  disciplinarian  because  they would  be  deprived  of  films which  was  more 

                 important  in  their  life  than  ordinary  things.  I  know  that  sounds  weird,  that  was  their 

                 mentality. 



  15.136   He explained he used a strap, which was made in the boot shop and was issued to him, until a 

           boy  stole  it  from  him  and  threw  it  down  the  toilet.  He  didn’t  bother  to  get  another  in  case  it 

           happened again, and also because he was no longer on duty in the square. From then on, he 

           said,  ‘If such a situation did arise I might have given a slap or something like that for whatever 

           serious infringement would be involved’. 



  15.137   Under questioning he added: 



                 I might have used the hands occasionally sometimes it might be instead of using a fist, it 

                 would  be  on  the  shoulders,  never  on  the  face  ...  The  occasion  demanded  immediate 

                 action at that point in time. 



  15.138   When asked if he denied punching a boy in the face he said: 



                 I could say – I could deny that, normally it would be an open hander or a back hander ... 

                 it was purely on the shoulders or chest. If I had to, that would only happen twice a year 

                 or three times a years, never frequently. 



  15.139   He was again pressed if he was talking about fists. He replied, ‘Yes’. 



  15.140   This Brother was named by a number of complainants as being excessively harsh and violent. 

           He denied some of the specific allegations, such as giving an uppercut that led to a boy’s nose 

           pumping blood, or that he had boxed and kicked a boy in the handball alley, but he nonetheless 

           confirmed the policy of ad hoc punishments giving slaps or punches, believing that boys preferred 

           to be dealt with in this way rather than being put on report. 



  15.141   The  Oblates  referred  to  this  practice  of  ‘on-the-spot’  punishments  and  asserted  that  it  was  no 

           more than that which occurred in schools around the country. Complainants, however, made a 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    631 


----------------------- Page 662-----------------------

           clear  distinction  between  what  could  be  described  as  ‘normal’ corporal  punishment  and  the  ill- 

           tempered and violent outbursts described above. 



  15.142   The Oblates went further. They stated: 



                 In  the  context   of  a  reformatory   where    fights  and   altercations  did  break   out,  it was 

                 sometimes the only efficient means of keeping control on unruly boys. 



  15.143   In each of the incidents described above, none of which would come within the description of a 

           fight or altercation, the violence was an inappropriate and unnecessary response. 



  15.144   •    Corporal punishment was a first response by many of the staff in Daingean for even 

                 minor transgressions. It was often violent and black eyes, split lips and bruising were 

                 reported by complainants. 



           •    Violence  was  not  the  ‘only  efficient  means  of  keeping  control  on  unruly  boys’  but, 

                 because     management        was    inept    and   staffing    inadequate,     it  was    undoubtedly 

                 convenient. 



           The extent of the problem 



  15.145   Several complainants, in the evidence they gave to the Committee, were careful to make it clear 

           that not all of the staff were brutal or excessively violent. 



  15.146   Witnesses drew the distinction between a Brother who punished fairly and another who did not: 



                 He was more humane about it ... He didn’t beat you until you submitted ... you got six of 

                 the best on the hand or backside ... And that was it. He didn’t lose it and start kicking you 

                 from one end of the office to the other. 



  15.147   Some  witnesses  singled  out  particular  men  as       ‘nice’,  but  stressed  that  there  were  also  a  few 

           people who did terrible things:  ‘There was a ring of them, there was a handful of them and they 

           done what they liked’. The consistent complaint was that these ‘nice’ men on the staff did nothing 

           to curb  the activities of  the men  who were harsh  and excessive. These  men could  not protect 

           them from the others. 



  15.148   As one witness said: 



                 There was no recourse. There was no safe haven. There was no hole you could climb 

                 into. There was nobody you could talk to. You were on your own. 



  15.149   The  Brothers  who  were  more  violent  created  the  pervasive  atmosphere  of  threat:            ‘Inside  the 

           institution I had to keep my head down because I didn’t want to be beaten,’ said one witness. 



           The punishment book 



                                              ´ 

  15.150   In his report of July 1945, Mr O Siochfhradha, the Department of Education Inspector, wrote: 



                 I looked at the corporal punishment book. There was no entry from the beginning of this 

                 year  because  for  the  past  half-year  the  stick  has  been  dispensed  with  as  a  means  of 

                 punishment and in its place is a system of allocating marks for good behaviour and marks 

                 for bad behaviour and the bestowing or withdrawing of little priviledges as a result. The 

                 Resident Manager is very happy that this method is much more efficient in getting across 

                 to the boys that they should practice the good and avoid the evil. 



  15.151   This paragraph confirms there was a punishment book that has since been lost. It asserts that 

           corporal punishment was no longer in use, when it is now known it was still in use over 20 years 

           later. It also  shows    an   awareness     of techniques     to control   behaviour    that did  not  become 



           632                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 663-----------------------

          widespread until decades later. In fact, corporal punishment remained in use as the main system 

           of discipline until 1970, when the Resident Manager was told to stop using it. 



15.152     Fr Hughes said in the Phase I hearing that he was sure a punishment book would have been 

           used but that, when he asked ex-staff members, there were ‘always very vague responses’. 



15.153    •     In a regime that was admittedly heavily dependent on corporal punishment, the need 

                for a proper system of administering it was fundamental, and keeping the record was 

                part of a proper regime, as well as being required by law. 



          •     The  information  given  to  the  Department  Inspector  in  1945  about  the  punishment 

                regime in Daingean was entirely misleading. 



           Complaints about corporal punishment in the discovered documents 



15.154     Contemporary complaints about excessive use of corporal punishment revealed how complaints 

          were dealt with by both the Department of Education and the management of Daingean, and the 

           kinds of investigation carried out once a complaint was made. 



15.155    The   standard    procedure    followed   was   that, once   the  Department     of  Education   received   a 

           complaint,  the  Resident  Manager  was  contacted  for  his  comments  and  observations  on  the 

           substance of the complaint. If the allegation was of physical abuse or neglect, the Department 

          would often send in its Medical Inspector, who would then report back on the matter. 



           1953 complaint 



15.156     In 1953,   a  father  wrote  a  letter of  complaint  to  the  Department     of  Education,   in which   he 

           complained that his son was flogged several times in the School. 



15.157    The Resident Manager responded to the query raised by the Department. The issue of 'flogging’ 

          was dealt with by describing the procedure. He said that ‘flogging’ meant that a boy was ‘put on 

           his knees receiving a few (5 or 6) light strokes of a light strap on the back’. This was not done 

           ‘except for serious offences such as (a) insubordination (b) deliberate destruction of property (c) 

           public immoral conduct (d) inciting others to riotous conduct (e) absconding’. 



15.158    The  Medical  Inspector,  Dr  McCabe,  was  sent  in  to  investigate.  She  described  the  ‘flogging’ 

           process as stated earlier in this chapter: 



                 “Flogging” ... consists in taking the offender into a small room, removing his pants and 

                 administering  5  or  6  strokes  on  the  bare  posterior  with  a  leather  strap  which  is  quite 

                 flexible, about 1” wide and 1 yard long (It resembles a strap used to put around a suitcase) 

                 The punishment is administered by the disciplinarian who is a very understanding patient 

                 man and always offers an excuse in defence of the boy if at all possible. 



15.159     She then described her examination of the boys. ‘At the Medical Examination’, she wrote: 



                 I  failed  to  find  a  single  mark  on  any  boy’s  body  that  indicated  he  had  been  punished. 

                 When I questioned the boys about the so-called “flogging” each and every one admitted 

                 that if they had been punished they had deserved it. I cannot see how discipline can be 

                 kept in this Reformatory unless the Manager has some deterrent. 



15.160     She went on to state: 



                 the type of boy now being sent in is much tougher than in former years – housebreakers, 

                 stealers of large sums of money, car stealing and crashing. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                633 


----------------------- Page 664-----------------------

15.161     She then asserted: 



                  It is the opinion of all that these boys are sent in far too late for the Manager and his Staff 

                  to make much impression on them. 



15.162     With regard to one boy she examined, he ‘... admitted running away several times and on the last 

           occasion arrived home. He is an unpleasant type of boy and very prone to lying’. 



                                                    ´ 

15.163     Having  received  her  report,  Mr  O Siochfhradha,  the  Department  Inspector,  submitted  his  own 

                                                        ´ 

           memorandum on the complaints. He wrote: 



                  Dr.  McCabe  is  satisfied,  and  I  agree  with  her,  that  the  punishment  inflicted  in  these 

                  extreme cases is not excessive and is resorted to only when absolutely necessary. This 

                  form of punishment was administered when necessary during [Fr. Neron’s] period of office 

                  as Resident Manager (1940s). As a matter of interest the salutary effect of the leather 

                  strap when applied on the proper place is referred to in an Article (Page 80) in the June 

                  1953 issue of the “Approved Schools Gazette” – copy attached to file cover. 



                                                                                ´ 

15.164     This is in marked contrast to the circular prepared by Mr O Siochfhradha in 1946, in which he gave 

                                                                                    ´ 

           more detailed guidelines as to the permissible administration of corporal punishment in residential 

           schools. In this circular he impressed on the Resident Managers that corporal punishment should 

           only be used as a last resort and ‘only for grave transgressions’. 



15.165     Given the tone of the 1946 circular, the response by him and Dr McCabe is puzzling. It is even 

                                       ´ 

           more  absurd  that  Mr  O  Siochfhradha  should  then  write  to  the  Minister  recommending  ‘...  the 

                                            ´ 

           salutary effect of the leather strap when applied on the proper place’, when he himself had ruled 

           the only proper place was on the hand. 



15.166     The    Department     of  Education     referred   to  this matter    in its  Submission     to  the  Investigation 

           Committee: 



                  While   the   punishment     of  boys   in  this  instance   appeared     to  contravene     Department 

                  regulations,  the  Inspector  is  not  recorded  as  having  challenged  the  Resident  Manager 

                  and it is possible that Dr. McCabe considered reformatories requiring a different approach 

                  in regard to discipline and the use of corporal punishment. There is no evidence that she 

                  offered  advice  on  how  the  troublesome  boys  could  have  been  treated  differently;  the 

                  1946 circular stated that principals could draw on the advice of the Department’s Medical 

                  Inspector “regarding any children who are specially troublesome of difficult to control”. 



15.167     This  statement  itself  revealed  the  problem.  The  Inspectors  were  the  only  persons  who  could, 

           through their regular visits, ensure that the rules for corporal punishment were being followed. If 

           Dr McCabe believed that the rules and regulations relating to corporal punishment did not apply 

           to reformatories, this was a fact that should have been recorded in the Department records. It is 

           a measure of the inadequacy of the Department’s supervision that it did not know what standards 

           its own Inspector applied. In this case, the Inspector reported back and received Departmental 

           approval for her approach. 



15.168     •     Dr McCabe’s acceptance of the blatant breach of the rules and regulations governing 

                 corporal  punishment  is  significant.  No  attempt  was  made  to  disguise  the  regime  in 

                 operation.  The  Department  of  Education  knew  its  rules  were  being  breached  in  a 

                 fundamental way and condoned it. 



           •     As a result, management in Daingean could and did operate a system of punishment 

                 in  breach     of  the   rules   laid  down     by   the  Department,       in  the   knowledge      that   the 

                 Department would not interfere. 



           634                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 665-----------------------

          1964 complaint 



15.169    The  Department  received  another  complaint,  in  1964,  contained  in  a  letter  from  a  solicitor  on 

          behalf of the parents of a boy, in which it was alleged that the boy had sustained injuries on his 

          first day in  Daingean in November 1963. His mother  complained that, when she visited  him in 

          February  1964,  she  saw  that  his  face  was  injured  and  her  son  told  her  that  he  had  ‘received 

          violence’ from  one of the Brothers  in the School.  The solicitors requested that  the Department 

          investigate the matter, as the parents had not been informed by the School of their son’s injuries. 



15.170    There was a short, handwritten note on the letter by a Department official, ‘please send copy to 

          Mgr and ask him for his observations’. 



15.171    The next letter on file is a letter from the Department of Education to the solicitors: 



                 I am directed to inform you that the allegations made by the parents of the boy have been 

                investigated by the Manager of the school. He is satisfied that the allegations made by 

                the parents are without foundation and that none of the Brothers in St. Conleth’s treated 

                the boy with violence of any kind. 



                 I am to add that the boy’s mother visited him [in June, 1964] and is reported as having 

                expressed her pleasure at her son’s progress and well-being. 



15.172    There is no record of what investigations the Resident Manager made and no written record of 

          what he told the Department. 



          June 1969 complaint 



15.173    During a visit to Daingean in early June, a father noticed that his son had a black eye. The boy’s 

          explanation  was  that  he  had  been  kneed  in  the  face  by  a  Brother,  who  took  bread  from  him. 

          Another boy gave him a slice of his bread, and that boy in turn was beaten. 



15.174    On  13th  June  1969,  the  boy’s  mother  called  to  the  Department  of  Education  to  apply  for  the 



          discharge of her son, and had a conversation with an official who recorded what she said. She 

          complained that he had been ill-treated in Daingean. She alleged that he had a black eye inflicted 

          by one of the Brothers, and she also recounted the incident with the bread, which she claimed took 

          place in the presence of another Brother, whom she named. The note of the meeting prepared by 

          the  Department  official  stated  that  this  Brother  denied  having  seen  the  incident.  She  was  also 

          annoyed that she had not received any letters from her son, as promised by the School. 



15.175    After this visit to the Department, the mother wrote to the authorities in Daingean, informing them 

          in an undated letter that she had lodged a complaint with the Department against the Brother who 

          had injured her son. She was worried that he would be further injured for having spoken about 

          his ill-treatment to his father, ‘... probably his arms and legs are broken for tell his Daddy as you 

          don’t like squealers’. She also complained that her son was bullied and terrorised by other boys 

          in the School, and she asked that her complaints be investigated. 



15.176    The Department official was sufficiently concerned by what he heard that he phoned Fr Luca the 

          same day, requesting a school report as soon as possible. Fr Luca said he would investigate the 

          matter but assured the Department official that boys were not prevented from writing home, quite 

          the contrary. 



15.177    The boy absconded from Daingean in January 1970 and, as there were no further records relating 

          to him, it would appear that he was never brought back and that he remained at large. Neither 

          was there any account of the investigation of the complaint. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              635 


----------------------- Page 666-----------------------

15.178     The   discovered     documents      reveal   an   unexplained     anomaly.    The    Department’s     system     for 

           processing requests for early discharge was to send a standard communication form, requesting 

           the Manager to indicate whether discharge was recommended by him. That occurred in this case, 

           but  the  form  sent  by  the  Department  was  dated  one  month  prior  to  the  mother’s  visit  to  the 

           Department  –  12th     May  1969.  Fr  Luca  filled  in  this  form  but  did  not  make  clear  whether  he 



           recommended a discharge or not, although he did state that he thought there was little hope for 

           lasting  or  radical  improvement  in  the  boy.  There  was  no  reference  in  that  document  to  the 

           complaint by his mother. The document signed by Fr Luca is dated 13th  June 1969 and is stamped 

           as received by the Department on 16th  June 1969. 



15.179     •     Irrespective of the whereabouts of the boy, the mother’s complaints were serious but 

                 they went uninvestigated. 



           •    The complaint that the boy had been bullied and terrorised in the Institution was similar 

                 to the evidence of many witnesses at the private hearings. 



           •    The circumstances of the meeting in the Department, the boy’s escape and the lack of 

                 follow-up are not easy to reconcile with good administration. 



           September 1969 complaint 



15.180     The next documented complaint came in September 1969, when the Department of Education 

           was visited by the mother of a boy admitted to Daingean two months previously. She came into 

           the Department personally, the day after her visit to Daingean, with another son and complained 

           of ill-treatment of her son on two occasions. 



15.181     The first occasion was when she visited him, shortly after he had arrived in Daingean, and she 

           said  his  face  was  black  and  blue  from  a  beating  that  Br  Enrico10     had  given  him.  The  boy  had 



           asked his mother not to say anything about it at the time. 



15.182     The   second    occasion    was    when    she  visited  him   a  month    later.  His  face   was   swollen   and 

           discoloured as a result of a further beating he had received at the hands of the same Brother. 

           She described the state of agitation her son was in when telling her, and how he wanted to run 

           away there and then. The mother told the official that she did not object to her son being disciplined 

           with a strap, but she did object to him being beaten with a fist and with a portion of a plastic hose. 

           She  said  she  could  provide  a  witness  to  the  state  of  her  son’s  face,  and  gave  the  name  and 

           address of another visitor present at the time. She also complained that she was not getting letters 

           from her son, who said he had written to her on a number of occasions. On the day of the visit, 

           she spoke to a Brother about this, and he said he had posted two letters on behalf of her son to 

           her. She did not bring up the beating with this Brother on the day of the visit. 



15.183     The Department official promised the mother that the matter would be investigated, and an official 

           was  sent  to  Daingean.  Clearly,  the  Department  was  becoming alarmed  because  of  these  very 

           similar  complaints  coming  in  quick  succession.  An  unusually  detailed  investigation  was  carried 

           out, and the full text of the report is given below: 



                  Daingean 



                  Admitted 1969 – stealing 



                  Runai Cunta 

                        ´ 

                  As  instructed  I  visited  Daingean  to  investigate  Mrs.  [Walsh’s]11      complaint  about  the  ill- 

                  treatment of her son in Daingean and interviewed Brother [Macario],12                 Acting Manager, 



           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 This is a pseudonym. 

           12 This is a pseudonym. 



           636                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 667-----------------------

                  and  John  Walsh.13     Brother  [Enrico],  who  was  alleged  to  have  beaten  the  boy  was  on 



                  annual leave and called to this Office ... by arrangement where the investigations were 

                  completed.     In  the  interim   I visited   the  boy’s   mother    ... and   also   spoke    to  Father 

                  [Salamon],14  S.J. and Mr. [Carlos]15  who had experience of [John] in [a boy’s] Club where 



                  he was a member for a number of years. 



                  Though [John] had been described by the authorities in Daingean as being a bit of a ‘pup’ 

                  his mentors in the [boys’] Club would not agree with this opinion. They did say that he 

                  could be difficult at times. Brother [Macario] did not deny that on one occasion ... the boy 

                  had got ‘cuffed’ but did not know of any previous assault on the boy by a member of the 

                  Staff. Members of the [Walsh] family had arrived in Daingean ... and seeing the condition 

                  of [John’s] face had created an incident. 



                  When interviewed [John] admitted that he had absconded six times since [he arrived] and 

                  after an unsuccessful attempt to escape on ... had been brought back by Brother [Enrico] 

                  who counselled him on the futility of his intention and gave him a couple of apples. [John] 

                  admitted that he liked Brother [Enrico]. 



                  When  he  called  to  the  Office,  Brother  [Enrico]  described  the  incident.  Having  brought 

                  [John Walsh] back to St. Conleth’s as described above, Brother [Enrico] was on his way 

                  to organise the  milking of the 100 cows kept  on the farm in Daingean  which [Walsh’s] 

                  earlier absconding had interrupted. The usual supervisory staff were being helped out by 

                  students from the Oblate Noviciate in Athy and word was sent to him that [Walsh] had 

                  again absconded and was threatening a young Clerical student who was attempting to 

                  restrain him. When Brother [Enrico] arrived on the scene [Walsh] was already half way 

                  across the canal which bounds the Reformatory. With assistance, Brother [Enrico] was 

                  able to shepherd him out of the canal and once on the bank he gave him a backhander 

                  on the face and then seizing a length of plastic hose, which was the nearest thing to his 

                  hand he gave [Walsh] three strokes on his wet jeans. He admitted that at that stage his 

                  patience with the boy was exhausted. He admitted that the boy’s face had swelled up as 

                  a result of the backhander and that because of his jeans being wet he had left weals on 

                  [John’s] legs with the plastic hose ... 



                  Control  of  delinquents  in  Daingean  is  a  difficult  task  calling  for  endless  patience  and 

                  understanding but the one unjustifiable feature of the present case, notwithstanding the 

                  provocation given by the boy, is that while [John] is fifteen years old and weighs 8 1                  st. 

                                                                                                                        2 



                  Brother  [Enrico]  is  a  giant  of  a  man,  weighing  17  sts.  whose  backhander  could  cause 

                  considerable damage in the circumstances. 



                  The best way of finishing this case would, I suggest be a talk with the Manager, Father 

                  [Luca], O.M.I. on his next call to the Office and if you agree this will be done. 



15.184     There is a handwritten note on the report to say that the matter will await Fr Luca’s next visit, and 

           this is dated 18th   November 1969. 



15.185     •     This  case  again  illustrates  the  Department’s  ambivalence  to  the  use  of  violence  in 

                 Daingean, even as late as 1969. 



           •     The fact that the boy did not confirm to the Inspector that he had been beaten should 

                 have made the Department concerned and suspicious. 



           •     The  beating  the  Brother  admitted  giving  the  boy  was  an  example  of  uncontrolled 

                 violence on the part of ‘a giant of a man’ on a boy of 15 years. The Inspector, however, 

                 identified the disparity in size as ‘the one unjustifiable feature’, and did not address 

                 the issue of unregulated and uncontrolled punishment in his report. 



           13 This is a pseudonym. 

           14 This is a pseudonym. 

           15 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      637 


----------------------- Page 668-----------------------

           Complainant evidence in relation to Br Enrico 



  15.186   The Investigation Committee heard allegations from six witnesses as to the severity and violence 

           of this Brother. 



  15.187   One witness present in the late 1960s described this Brother as  ‘... a very big, tall, stocky Brother 

           who worked on the farm’. He described an incident where six pupils were taken from the dormitory 

           and beaten in turn by this Brother with a leather. They were accused of plotting an escape and 

           he was going to make sure it did not happen. He said that this Brother: 



                 had some lad there standing and each one of us in turn—he made us lie across the stairs 

                 had him stand on our hands and he whipped us with a leather ... I had only a nightshirt 

                 and he pulled up our nightshirts over our heads. 



  15.188   Another witness present in the late 1950s and early 1960s stated that he worked on the farm: 



                 Br. Enrico was in charge of the farm. He was nicknamed the Bull, he was a big strong 

                 man, he was over six foot. He didn’t like being called the Bull ... On one occasion I got a 

                 bang  of  a  shovel  or  a  spade,  I  don’t  know  which,  I  was  brought  to  hospital  and  I  got 

                 stitched. 



  15.189   The infirmary records for this pupil confirmed the injury complained of: ‘12.7.60 Accident, Cut face, 

           Dentures smashed’. 



  15.190   The witness recalled that the incident centred round him calling the Brother by his nickname and 

           stated,  ‘In fairness to the man I don’t think he didn’t mean to hurt me as seriously as he did’. He 

           said he lost three or four teeth in the incident and, contrary to the medical record, did not have 

           dentures at the time. He stated that his teeth were not repaired in Daingean. He got the dentures 

           at a later date when he left Daingean and joined the British Army. 



  15.191   Another witness present in the 1960s said Br Enrico was in charge of the farm and was a  ‘Big tall 

           man about 21/22 stone he was. He was over six foot, a big giant of a man’. 



  15.192   He recalled the second winter he spent in Daingean as being very cold, and the boys were told 

           to go out and pick potatoes in November. He refused, and Br Enrico  ‘went ballistic’. He described 

           how this Brother kicked him around the yard. He was asked about the severity of the beating and 

           he summed it up simply as  ‘A grown man beating a young child, that’s what it was’. 



  15.193   Another witness present in the late 1950s recalled Br Enrico working on the farm, and remembered 

           an incident where he witnessed another pupil being boxed on the side of his head by this Brother. 

           There was blood coming out his ear and he remembered the boy being brought in and cleaned 

           up afterwards. 



  15.194   A further witness present in the late 1950s said that he worked at the  ‘horse batch’, ie he was 

           assigned to look after the horses with three others. He said that Br Enrico and another Brother 

           would hold them over the  ‘shaft of the ponies’, and Br Enrico would hit them across the back with 

           a rope while the other Brother used his fists. 



  15.195   Another witness present in the early 1960s recalled an incident when a farmer hit him, and the 

           farmer complained to Br Enrico that he had given him cheek. Br Enrico used a hosepipe to beat 

           him. He described Br Enrico as ‘... a big man, He was big, he was six foot odd and weighed about 

           28 stone. He was about in his 40’s ...’. 



           638                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 669-----------------------

15.196     He also remembered an incident when he was accused of leaving a gate open, and a dog got in 

           and killed some sheep. Br Enrico called him into the dairy and hit him with a box that broke his 

           nose and the blood went everywhere. 



15.197     •    Some  of these  complaints  arose  during Fr  Luca’s  period  as  Resident Manager,  and 

                 clearly the  giving of beatings  was not confined  to the Prefect,  as stated by  him. Br 

                 Enrico   administered      severe    ad  hoc   punishments,       as  well   as  the   more   ritualistic 

                floggings, although he was not the Prefect but the farm Brother. 



           •    Br Enrico was brutal and unpredictable. 

           •    Fr Luca’s comments that ‘On the corporal punishment, I don’t think it was excessive’ 

                was contradicted by the facts. 



           Corporal punishment: tradition and practice rather than regulation 



15.198     As  the  above  cases  illustrate,  rules  and  regulations  about  corporal  punishment  were,  until  the 

           Kennedy Report in 1970, mostly a matter for the personal discretion of the Resident Manager and 

           his staff. If the official rules and regulations were known to the management in Daingean and, in 

           particular,  if  the  1946  circular  was  known  to  them,  they  were  disregarded  in  the  application  of 

           punishment in Daingean. 



15.199     When asked by the Committee,  ‘Were there rules and if so how were they known?’, Fr Murphy 

           who spoke on behalf of the Oblates at the Emergence hearing said: 



                 There  were  rules and  basically  they  were passed  on  from  person  to person  within  the 

                 body. So in a sense it became a tradition, if you like, of rules and regulations within the 

                 reformatory itself ... there was a Prefect in charge and he was the only one who could 

                 inflict corporal punishment for serious offences ... The other Brothers had the permission, 

                 had the right or permission, to inflict punishment on the hands only. So it was sort of a 

                 tradition, if you like, of corporal punishment for which there is though written protocol. 



15.200     The circulars on corporal punishment, in short, did not alter tradition and practice, and it was only 

           when Fr Luca was told that he could be prosecuted for corporal punishment that the management 

           of  the  School  began  to  realise  their  practices  were  in  breach  of  regulations.  In  fact,  the  issue 

           of  corporal  punishment  had  emerged  as  a  serious  problem  a  year  before,  with  the  visit  of  the 

           Kennedy Committee. 



15.201     •    This statement of Fr Murphy on behalf of the Oblates, as a representation of corporal 

                 punishment practice in Daingean, is completely at odds with the documented cases 

                 outlined above. 



           The Kennedy Committee and Daingean 



15.202     In 1967, the Government set up ‘The Committee on Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ under 

           the  Chairmanship  of  District  Justice  Eileen  Kennedy  to  carry  out  a  survey  of  reformatory  and 

           industrial schools. The terms of reference of the Committee were ‘To survey the Reformatory and 

           Industrial  Schools    systems    and  to  make    a  report  and   recommendations       to the  Minister   for 

           Education’. 



15.203     The   Departments     of  Education,   Health   and   Justice   each   had  to  nominate    a  person    to the 

           Committee. The Department of Justice nominated Mr Risteard MacConchradha.16  In their Opening 



           Statement during the Phase III hearings, the Department of Justice stated that it appeared from 

           the documents that Mr Crowe17 was chosen because of his interest in child and youth welfare. He 



           16 This is the Irish version of Richard Crowe. 

           17 This is the English version of Mr MacConchradha. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   639 


----------------------- Page 670-----------------------

            also had a working background in the prison administration section of the Department. His concern 

            for the children caught in the system was obvious from the beginning. He wrote: 



                  The  lot  of  the  children,  especially  the  boys,  is  very  sad  and  there  is  an  unbelievably 

                  entrenched “status quo” to be overcome, not least in the Department of Education, if there 

                  is to be any change for the better. 



15.204      The Statement of the Department of Justice stated in relation to Mr Crowe: 



                  it would be fair to say that Mr MacConchradha sought to advance his views with a vigour 

                  which was atypical of the civil service culture in which he found himself at the time. 



15.205      The full Committee visited Daingean on 28th              February 1968. They spent the day in the School 



            completing the inspection. They spoke to Fr Luca, the Resident Manager, and his staff, but not, it 

            would appear, the residents. 



15.206      In a letter written during the course of their deliberations, they gave a lengthy account of numerous 

            aspects  of  the  School,      including  staffing  levels,  food,  aftercare,  health       issues  and  numbers 

            detained in the School. It was clear that the Committee had a number of concerns about Daingean, 

            and met with Mr Thomas O’Floinn, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education. At the 

            conclusion of this meeting, Mr O’Floinn suggested that the matter should be conveyed in writing 

            to the Department for it to be sympathetically considered. 



15.207      This letter was sent in June 1968. Justice Kennedy stated that the Committee had not formulated 

            final views on Daingean, but felt that immediate interim action should be undertaken to improve 

            conditions, and detailed the following as requiring attention: 



                    (1)   The  premises  gave  a  general  impression  of  grubbiness  and  required  a  thorough 

                          cleaning. 



                    (2)   The buildings were cold and interim heating should be provided. 



                    (3)   The  boys  were  dirty,  unwashed  with  ingrained  dirt  and  verminous  hair  and  their 

                          clothing was ill fitting, old and dirty. 



                    (4)   That the recognition of this School as a special school for the handicapped be given 

                          early consideration. 



15.208      In relation to corporal punishment in Daingean, Justice Kennedy wrote: 



                  In  the  course  of  discussion  with  the  Committee  as  a  whole,  the  Resident  Manager 

                  disclosed  that  punishment  was  administered  with  a  leather  on  the  buttocks,  when  the 

                  boys  were  attired  in  their  night  shirts  and  that  at  times  a  boy  might  be  undressed  for 

                  punishment.  At  this  juncture,  the  Committee  does  not  wish  to  elaborate  on  corporal 

                  punishment as such but would urge that the practice of undressing boys for punishment 

                  be  discontinued.  In  this  regard,  attention  is  invited  to  the  amendment  in  recent  times 

                  following    the  Court   Lees18    incident   of  the  British   Home     Office   regulations    regarding 



                  corporal punishment in Approved Schools which specifies that punishment, if administered 

                  on the buttocks, should be applied through the boys’ normal clothing. 



15.209      Despite numerous reminders, the Department of Education did not reply to this letter until almost 

            a year later, on 22nd     May 1969, when they dealt with a number of general matters, but failed to 



            18 Allegations of brutal beatings in Court Lees Approved School were made in a letter to  The Guardian, and this led to 



              an investigation which reported in 1967 (see Administration of Punishment at Court Lees Approved School (Cmnd 

              3367, HMSO)) – Known as ‘The Gibbens Report’, it found many of the allegations proven, and in particular that 

              canings of excessive severity did take place on certain occasions, breaking the regulation that caning on the buttocks 

              should be through normal clothing. Some boys had been caned wearing pyjamas. Following this finding, the School 

              was summarily closed down. 



            640                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 671-----------------------

           address  the  corporal  punishment  issue  as  raised  by  the  correspondence.  Mr  Crowe  saw  this 

           omission  and  prepared  two  memoranda  concerning  corporal  punishment  in  Daingean  for  the 

           Secretary of the Department of Justice. 



           The first memorandum 



15.210     Mr Crowe pointed out that Mr O’Floinn, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Education, had 

           attended a meeting with the Kennedy Committee that had visited Daingean. During that meeting, 

           Mr O’Floinn remarked ‘... that punishment of the sort disclosed by Fr [Luca] would be regarded 

           as irregular by the Department of Education’. He also said ‘that the complaints of irregular corporal 

           punishment  were  investigated  by  his  Department  but  he  said  that  frequently  these  complaints 

           could not be substantiated’. 



15.211     Mr Crowe stated at this meeting: 



                 I said at this stage and I was supported by other members that what was being brought 

                 to  his  attention  in  relation  to  corporal  punishment  in  Daingean  did  not  arise  by  way  of 

                 complaint but derived from an open avowal by the Resident Manager of the way in which 

                 corporal punishment was administered in the reformatory school. 



15.212     Mr Crowe stated that Mr O’Floinn invited the Committee to include this matter in the letter to the 

           Department of Education, which was forwarded on 14th  June 1968 (as detailed above). This letter 



           did  not  receive  a  reply  despite  numerous  reminders  until  almost  a  year  later,  and  Mr  Crowe 

           expressed concern  that the reply ‘...  made no reference  whatsoever to the particular  matter of 

           boys being corporally punished while they were stripped naked’. 



           The second memorandum 



15.213     The other internal memorandum prepared by Mr Crowe stated that Justice Kennedy, accompanied 

           by most members of the Committee including himself, visited Daingean on 28th                 February 1968. 



           They  made  a  tour  of  the  buildings  and  the  surroundings,  and  the  Committee  members  had  a 

           general discussion with the Resident Manager of the School, Fr Luca, along with other members 

           of  the  staff.  In  the  course  of  this  discussion,  one  of  the  members  enquired  about  corporal 

           punishment. Fr Luca replied that corporal punishment was administered by one particular member 

           of the staff to whom he assigned disciplinary duties (ie the Prefect). He stated that both doctors 

           on  the  Committee  put  a  number  of  questions  to  Fr  Luca  about  the  circumstances  of  corporal 

           punishment being administered to boys. 



15.214     According  to Mr  Crowe, Fr  Luca replied  ‘openly and  without embarrassment  that ordinarily  the 

           boys were called out of the dormitories after they had retired and that they were punished on one 

           of the stairway landings. The boys wore nightshirts as their sleeping attire and, when called for 

           punishment, would  be in their  nightshirts only. Punishment  was applied on  the buttocks with  a 

           leather’. 



15.215     Mr Crowe continued: 



                 I put the only question that I asked in respect of corporal punishment at this juncture. I 

                 asked if the boys were undressed of their nightshirts when they were punished and Fr. 

                 [Luca]  replied  that  at  times  they  were.  He  elaborated  by  some  further  remarks  to  the 

                 effect that the nightshirts were pulled up when this was done. This additional remark was 

                 subsequently  commented  upon  by  the  committee  members  in  private  discussion.  The 

                 point was made that a boy so punished with a leather could hardly be expected to remain 

                 still, his struggles were likely to enlarge the extent of his undress and the likelihood that 

                 a  struggling  boy  might  be  struck  anywhere  on  the  naked  body  could  not  be  excluded. 

                 Some  other  committee  member  asked  why  he  allowed  boys  to  be  stripped  naked  for 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  641 


----------------------- Page 672-----------------------

                 punishment and he replied, in a matter of fact manner, that he considered punishment to 

                 be more humiliating when it was administered in that way. 



15.216     On 16th  April 1970, Mr Berry, the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, sent a letter to 



           the Secretary General of the Department of Education. He stated that Mr Crowe had reluctantly 

           signed the ‘Report of the Committee on Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ on 13th                April 1970. 



           He then gave Mr Crowe’s reasons for his reservations in signing the report: 



                 To sign a report which made no reference to the situation about punishment in Daingean 

                 would, in the absence of evidence that the practice had ceased, be to appear to acquiesce 

                 in a practice which is indefensible and for the continuance of which the Minister for Justice 

                 could not avoid some official responsibility arising out of his having registered Daingean 

                 as a suitable place of detention under the Children Acts. On the other hand, to make any 

                 reference, however oblique, to this particular method of punishment in Daingean would 

                 be likely to lead to a disclosure of the situation and, in this way, to cause a grave public 

                 scandal. 



                 When the problem was explained by telephone to your Department, it appeared that the 

                 request of the Committee about punishment had been overlooked. It was confirmed that 

                 punishment  of  this  kind  is  contrary  to  the  policy  of  the  Minister  for  Education  and  an 

                 assurance  was  given  that  –  subject  of  course  to  any  limitation  there  may  be  on  the 

                 Minister’s powers – action would be taken to stop it in Daingean. In view of this, Mr. Mac 

                 Conchradha signed the Report. 



                 The Minister  is also concerned  lest a similar  method of punishment  may exist in  other 

                 schools to which children and young persons are sent by the courts and he would be glad 

                 if  your  Department  would  take  whatever  steps  are  open  to  it  to  ensure  that  this  is  not 

                 the case. 



15.217     The Department of Education replied to the above by letter on 30th  April 1970. The letter stated: 



                 following  on  the  letter  from  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the  14  June,  1968,  the 

                 Inspector  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  had  a  discussion  with  the  Resident 

                 Manager, Rev. [Luca] O.M.I., at which the manager was told that the boys should not be 

                 undressed  for  corporal  punishment  and  that  the  aim  of  the  management  should  be  to 

                 phase out corporal punishment in the institution. At a special meeting with Fr. [Luca] on 

                 21 April, 1970, the manager stated firmly that boys were no longer undressed for corporal 

                 punishment  and  that  corporal  punishment  was  being  phased  out  in  Daingean  ...  The 

                 omission of reference to the Inspector’s discussion with Father [Luca] from the letter to 

                 District Justice Kennedy of 22 May, 1969, is a matter for regret ... 



15.218     The letter then added: 



                 There is one further point to which it is felt reference should be made. Father [Luca] took 

                 grave  exception  to  the  last  sentence  of  Mr.  MacConchradha’s  account  of  his  visit  to 

                 Daingean in which it is alleged that the Manager considered corporal punishment to be 

                 more humiliating when administered on the naked body. Father [Luca] has no recollection 

                 of making such a remark, the theory of which he asserts is neither in his philosophy nor 

                 in his character, nor would he have answered any question by a member of the Committee 

                 “in a matter of fact manner” on such an important occasion. 



15.219     This argument over what had been said became a matter of some lengthy controversy, including 

           letters in the press in attempts to elucidate the matter. 



15.220     Fr  Luca  gave  evidence  before  the  Investigation  Committee  on  1st      June  2005.  He  recalled  the 



           Kennedy Committee’s visit to Daingean, and said that it was a very bad day for them to arrive as 

           it was Ash Wednesday. The Secretary of the Committee did not come with the others on the visit. 



           642                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 673-----------------------

           He made them as welcome as he could and he did know the reason for their visit. He remembered 

           that he   got  two   days’  notice  of  their  visit and  they   did  not  just ‘... land  on   the  doorstep 

           unannounced ...’. 



15.221     His  intention  was   to  be  open   and   forthright  with  them.   He  was    anxious   that  the  Kennedy 

           Committee would bring about the changes they had been looking for. He recalled that previous 

           committees had visited and nothing had ever happened as a result. Their reports just gathered 

           dust.  He  saw  the  visit  as  an  opportunity  to  lay  all  his  cards  on  the  table  and  let  them  know 

           everything. He had no intention of gilding the lily or giving a false impression. He recalled going 

           into a fair amount of detail about the various departments of the School. He said the Committee 

           members had accepted that the Oblates were trying to bring about certain changes, but they also 

           pointed out all the cracks, and they thought the Oblates were not doing everything right. 



15.222     Fr Luca said the members of the Committee went around the School, inspected buildings, spoke 

           to staff and then afterwards had a meeting with him. He was asked to comment on the second 

           memorandum prepared by Mr Crowe, and he made the following points: 



                   (1)  He agreed that one particular member of the staff to whom he assigned disciplinary 

                        duties administered corporal punishment. He did  not remember telling them but he 

                        agreed  ‘it must be so’. 



                   (2)  He remembered the Prefect carrying a strap but did not know if the other Brothers 

                        carried one. He did not think it was a common thing for them all to have straps. 



                   (3)  He could not remember telling the Committee members that boys were called out of 

                        the  dormitories  after  they  had  retired  and  that  they  were  punished  on  one  of  the 

                        stairway landings ‘... because my own perception of what had happened was that they 

                         were brought to the washroom which was a room at the bottom of the stairs. I didn’t 

                        know about it being done on the stairs’. 



                   (4)  It was news to him to hear that evidence was given that boys described punishments 

                        on the stairs. He stated that he did not know this occurred. 



                   (5)  When asked if it was the case, therefore, that he could not have told the Kennedy 

                        Committee  members  what  was  recorded  in  the  memorandum,  he  stated,  ‘I  was 

                        certainly stretching things a bit if I were to say that and I don’t think I did’. 



                   (6)  He did not remember saying how the punishment was applied to the buttocks, or what 

                        the  boys  wore  when  this  occurred:     ‘Honestly  I  don’t  remember  saying  it.  I  am  not 

                        doubting Mr. MacConchradha’s word but I can’t remember it’. 



                   (7)  When  asked  to  comment  on  the  now  infamous  remark  about  boys  being  stripped 

                        naked for punishments as it would be more humiliating that way, he stated: 



                    I certainly don’t remember. Another thing I would say it would be totally a contradiction 

                    of what my own philosophy was about, the treatment of the boys. To say a thing like 

                    that, I don’t think it’s something that I would have said. 



                   (8)  Fr  Luca  concluded  by  agreeing  that,  in  his  dealing  with  this  topic  over  the  years, 

                        including in the newspapers, at all times he had said, including today, that he had no 

                        recollection of saying that. 



15.223     Fr Luca then recalled his meeting in April 1970 in the Department of Education with Mr McDevitt, 

           the  Department’s  Inspector,  when  Mr  McDevitt  said,       ‘Father,  did  you  know  that  you  could  be 

           prosecuted for administering punishment‘. He again confirmed that he took the message, and the 

           following morning called in his staff and told them,  ‘From now on no more corporal punishment 

           because you could be liable to answer for it in the courts‘. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  643 


----------------------- Page 674-----------------------

15.224      What    becomes      apparent    from   the   Crowe     controversy    is  that  change     was    forced   upon    the 

            Department of Education by the correspondence that followed the visit of the Kennedy Committee. 

            Circulars   generated      by  the   Department      of  Education     on   the   rules  and    regulations    for  the 

            administration  of  corporal  punishment  produced  little  change,  but  the  criticism  by  the  Kennedy 

            Committee, an independent body, did eventually enforce change. Two years after their visit, the 

            traditional ‘floggings’ of Daingean came to an end. 



15.225      In their Opening Statement, the Oblates stated that, following a request from the Department of 

            Education to cease the practice of removing clothing when administering corporal punishment, Fr 

            Luca took steps to phase out corporal punishment altogether. This was some 13 years before it 

            was  forbidden  by  law  in  schools  in  Ireland.  They  further  stated  that  it  gave  rise  to  a  grave 

            disciplinary problem in the School. 



15.226      It is clear, from the following accounts of riots in Daingean, that the School had grave disciplinary 

            problems long before the phasing-out of corporal punishment. 



15.227      •    Fr Luca did not fear censure about the practice of floggings in Daingean. This practice 

                  was  well  known  to  the  Department  of  Education  and  had  not  attracted  criticism  in 

                  the  past.  He  was  clearly  unprepared  for  the  revulsion  of  the  Department  of  Justice 

                  representative to it. There was no reason for Fr Luca to be anything other than ‘matter 

                  of fact’ about it, as it was accepted by Dr McCabe as early as 1953. 



            •    The investigation into Br Enrico, as outlined above, shows a regime in which Brothers 

                  other than the Prefect administered severe corporal punishment. 



            •    Only the intervention of the Kennedy Committee brought about the end of floggings in 

                  Daingean after two years of correspondence. It is hard to reconcile this with the stated 

                  position of Fr Luca, that he abhorred the practice of flogging and resolved to do away 

                  with it when he became Resident Manager. 



            The Daingean riots 



15.228      There were three riots in Daingean, recorded in the documents furnished, that occurred during 

            the relevant period. The two principal riots occurred in 1956 and 1958. Both of these riots were 

            largely brought under control by the authorities within the School, and charges were successfully 

            brought  against  the  ringleaders.  There  was  a  third,  earlier, less  well-documented  riot,  which  is 

            referred to in the extensive Garda Report on the 1956 riot. 



            The 1956 riot 

15.229      The first riot occurred in Daingean on 13th          April 1956. The next day, Fr Salvador,19  the Resident 

            Manager, wrote to Mr Sugrue20          of the Department of Education: 



                  We had some trouble yesterday which could have had very serious results if the organised 

                  disturbance or mutiny as the boys called it, had not been nipped in the bud. The display 

                  of  dangerous      weapons      they   concealed      on  their   persons    was    formidable,    including 

                  slashers,  an  axe  and  all  kinds  of  iron  bars.  They  smashed  a  number  of  windows  and 

                  intended doing more widespread damage. I have sent on the names of the ringleaders. 

                  These I had to have taken over by the Guards. They include [a boy] who came here last 

                  month, just a few days before his 17th          birthday. He and the other four are as far as I can 



                  see and judge beyond the reach of the best efforts of a reform school. 



15.230      The  alleged  ringleaders  were  handed  over  to  the  Gardai  on  13th           April  1956.  They  were  to  be 

                                                                                    ´ 

            charged ‘with having taken part in an organised disturbance’. 



            19 This is a pseudonym. 



            20 

                                            ´ 

              This is the English version of O Siochfhradha. 

                                                ´ 



            644                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 675-----------------------

15.231      The Department of Justice wrote to the Secretary General of the Department of Education on 23rd 



            April 1956, enclosing a Garda Siochana Preliminary Crime Report on the incidents in Daingean, 

                                                    ´ 

            that  outlined    the  disturbance      that  had    taken   place    involving    about    40   inmates    who    had 

            endeavoured to start a riot. The Gardai prepared a more extensive report some two weeks later. 

                                                            ´ 



15.232      According to the Gardai, they were informed by telephone of the trouble and were asked for their 

                                         ´ 

            assistance by the Brothers. The Gardai went immediately to the School, where they learned that 

                                                            ´ 

            the disturbances and insubordination had arisen while the boys were at tea in the dining hall. The 

            staff had succeeded in rounding up the ringleaders, and these were taken to the washhouse and 

            searched, and an array of weapons was found in both their clothes and around the School. These 

            included a hatchet, iron bars, spikes, a cosh, stones wrapped in hankies and a boot-maker’s knife. 

            The staff were made aware of the mutiny by more ‘loyal members of the Institution’. 



15.233      One of the ringleaders had been involved in a previous attempt to commit a riot in the School a 

            couple of years previously, when the school authorities had effectively dealt with the incident. The 

            boys gave the shortage of reasonable food as their reason for the riot, but this, according to the 

            Gardai, was only an excuse, and the real reason was an organised attempt to break out. The 

                    ´ 

            Gardai took statements from other boys, who revealed that the intention was to overpower those 

                    ´ 

            in charge, to cut the telephone wires, seize a lorry that was on the premises and make a breakout 

            for Dublin. The five accused were remanded in custody to Portarlington District Court on 18th  April 



            1956. All five were convicted and sentenced to terms in St. Patrick’s Institution. 



            The 1958 riot 



15.234      The second riot was two years later. The Garda Primary Crime Report outlined the events. In the 

            week commencing 7th         September 1958, it became known that there was a conspiracy to effect a 

            riot in the School. The three ringleaders were all over the age of 17. On 3rd  September 1958, the 



            father of a boy in Daingean handed a letter into Store Street Garda Station. His son, who was an 

            inmate of Daingean, had written the letter to his other son. The letter asked that he should arrange 

            a car to be sent from Dublin to assist in the escape. The letter read: 



                  I write a few lines to asked you will you be able to get a car or van for Sunday 7 for me 

                  and a few lads are going to start a Mutiny and are going to run away. I wrote to a lad 

                  who  was  here  before and  he  is  getting  me  a car  or  van  to  for  Sunday  7 and  don’t  let 

                  mammy know. 



15.235      The  letter  was  handed  over  to  the  Gardai  by  their  father.  On  receipt  of  the  letter  the  station 

                                                                 ´ 

            sergeant    contacted     the   Reformatory      to  warn    the  authorities    of  possible    trouble.   With    this 

            information, the school authorities took extra precautionary measures within the School, and made 

            further enquiries. Some of the boys involved in the plan gave information to the school authorities. 

            They revealed that a conspiracy was afoot involving about 20 inmates. It was planned to attack 

            the night watchman. Numerous searches were conducted in the School, and a large iron file was 

            found under a bed. One boy handed over a butcher’s knife, two iron bars and a knuckle-duster 

            from the dump to a Brother. Another boy had a large iron bar and a knuckle-duster concealed in 

            his clothes. 



15.236      On  12th   September,  the  three  ringleaders  were  arrested  on  warrants  and  brought  before  the 



            District Court in Tullamore. They were charged with conspiracy to cause a riot and incitement to 

            commit a riot, along with breaches of the school rules and conduct likely to cause breach of the 

            peace. All three pleaded guilty to breaching the school rules and not guilty to the other charges. 

            The judge convicted them on this count and did not send them forward for trial in respect of the 

            other charges. Each was sentenced to two years in St Patrick’s Institution. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                           645 


----------------------- Page 676-----------------------

           The School rules in Daingean 



15.237     During the hearings of the charges of rioting in Daingean in 1956, the Justice had asked whether 

           there were any written rules governing the conduct and discipline of the boys. He was informed 

           in the course of the evidence that there were no written rules. 



15.238     Two  years  later,  the  issue  of  the  school  rules  arose  again.  Two  weeks  before  the  trial  of  the 

           ringleaders in the 1958 conspiracy to riot in Daingean, Br Jaime forwarded a copy of the school 

           rules to the Department of Education. The local Gardai were interested in the Department’s views 

                                                                            ´ 

           on the rules, and anticipated the matter arising in the imminent court case. Br Jaime asserted that 

           he had drawn up the rules in July 1958, displayed them on the notice board in the School and, 

           for  the  benefit  of  those  who  could  not  read,  he  arranged  lectures  for  them.  He  had  intended 

           forwarding them to the Department for approval at that time. 



15.239     The Department responded on 23rd  September 1958, and made the following observations: 



                    (1)  that there was little likelihood of his (the Manager) being questioned as to the breach 

                         of  the  rules  as  this  would  not  appear  to  be  among  the  charges  which  would  be 

                         preferred, 



                    (2)  If the question did arise he should say that the Department is aware of the rules and 

                         have offered no objection to them, 

                    (3)  in  view  of  the  nearness  of  the  trial  25th  September,  1958  the  Department  did  not 

                         consider it desirable to have a letter issued bearing the date 24th              September, 1958 



                         offering no objection to the rules. 



15.240     In a letter dated 3rd  October 1958, Br Jaime wrote to Mr Sugrue of the Department of Education, 



           informing him how the case had progressed. He wrote: 



                  I stated in court that they (the rules) were always in practice here, and that the Dept. of 

                  Education knew about them, and had no objection to them. I also stated that I had, with 

                  the Superior’s sanction, decided to put them in writing, and post them up for the boys to 

                  read. This was on June 20th. of this year. I also stated in the court that I had explained 



                  some of the rules in question to all the boys, and that I had cautioned two of the boys 

                  concerned in the case about certain rules, and that it would be impossible for any boy not 

                  to know them. 



15.241     The rules that had been prepared and posted up by Br Jaime were in manuscript form, and must 

           have been a lengthy document, given that the typed version of the Major rules alone ran to seven 

           pages. The school authorities later had them printed up and sent to the Department for approval. 

           These were examined by a Departmental official and, in a memorandum to the Secretary of the 

           Department, he said they appeared adequate for the requirements of St Conleth’s. The importance 

           of having these rules can be gleaned from the final paragraph in his memorandum: 



                  Where written rules exist it is comparatively easy to arrange for the committal to Borstal 

                  of a Reformatory School pupil. This may be done before a Court of summary jurisdiction 

                  and the charge may consist of a breach of the rules of the school or of inciting to such 

                  a breach. 



15.242     The   Assistant    Secretary    to  the   Department,     in  a  handwritten     note   in Irish  on   the  above 

           memorandum, stated that (1) the Rules would be better understood if the English version was 

           improved,  and  (2)  there  would  be  the  danger  that  the  Manager  and  the  Department  would  be 

           made a laughing stock by virtue of its contents if the present version were read out in open court. 



15.243     The  Assistant  Secretary’s concerns  were  well  founded. Prior  to  the  changes and  amendments 

           suggested by the Department, some of these rules were so ill-thought out and badly worded that 

           they would confuse an adult, let alone a poorly educated child. 



           646                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 677-----------------------

15.244     To illustrate the point: 



                 RULE  8.  Good  manners  should  not  be  used  only  towards  those  whom  we  like.  Not 

                 everyone may like one of us, yet each of us expects good treatment at the hands of others. 



                 Therefore; selfishness and unfairness in regard to the rights of others is absolutely wrong. 

                 This applies especially to  meal-times when some boys may deprive  others of their fair 

                 share. The school authorities will see to it that each boy gets his rights and that offenders 

                 are punished. 



                 RULE  10.  Immoral  or  impure  conduct  is  forbidden  by  God  Himself  and  so  is  no  mere 

                 school rule. Therefore to warn boys against it is absolutely for their own good. The school 

                 authorities must strictly forbid it and will be helpful and watchful in preventing any such 

                 conduct. 



                 RULE 17. Any intercourse between Senior and Junior Sections is an offence against the 

                 school rules. 



                 The forming of particular friendships between Senior and Junior boys is a more serious 

                 offence and merits a severe penalty. 



15.245     The school rules were divided into two sections: MAJOR rules and MINOR rules. The major rules 

           ran to seven typed pages containing 21 rules. The rules stated: ‘To break a major rule is serious 

           and merits serious penalties’ 



15.246     It was two years before these rules were finally approved by the Department, in November 1960. 



           The evidence heard by the Investigation Committee 



15.247     One  of  the  boys  accused  of  involvement  in  the  1958  riot  gave  evidence.  As  a  result  of  the 

           conviction in respect of the riot, he received a two-year sentence in St. Patrick’s Institution. He 

           was asked whether he remembered the school rules. He said, ‘I don’t remember anything because 

           I’d never seen the school rules’. Neither did he recall being lectured on the school rules. 



15.248     He stated that he was punished severely by the Prefect for his part in the riot. He was taken out 

           of the hall where the film was being shown, and brought to a hallway were he received the lashes 

           from the Brother. There was no other Brother involved. He stated that he received blows on his 

           arms, back and backside. He claimed that he had received over 100 blows, and then stood up 

           and hit the Brother with his head, accidentally, resulting in more blows being given to him. He 

           believed that this amounted to 140 blows in total. 



15.249     •    This  boy’s  conviction  and  sentence  to  two  years  in  a  Borstal  was  facilitated  by  the 

                Resident Manager’s evidence in court that the school rules had been in place from 20th 



                June 1958 and had been specifically brought to the attention of two of the accused. 



           •    The Department was uncomfortable with the Resident Manager’s history regarding the 

                rules. It feared exposure of the fact that they had been submitted to the Department 

                so recently, ie just before the trial and after the riot. 



           •    The Department of Education knew that its acceptance of the Manager’s word that the 

                rules had been in place prior to the riot was important for the case. 



           Attempted arson 1968 



15.250     In  1968,  a  number  of  residents  in  the  School  attempted  to  set  fire  to  part  of  the  building.  The 

           Garda report on the incident stated that the trouble started on 25th  August 1968, when a fight took 

           place between rival gangs in the School. On the 26th, senior and junior sections were separated 



           and confined to separate parts of the School. At this stage, the junior section boys decided not to 

           fight amongst themselves and came up with a proposal that they all should join together to burn 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  647 


----------------------- Page 678-----------------------

           down the buildings. It was decided to attempt to burn down the junior dormitory at 11pm when 

           the lights went off. Four boys obtained bottles of diesel oil. At 11pm that night, one boy sprinkled 

           three vacant beds and part of the floor with the diesel. As he was about to strike the match, the 

           night watchman sounded the alarm and more staff arrived. Order was restored. 



15.251     On 27th  August, the local Garda Sergeant was informed that a fire may be started in a number of 



           workshops, and that four o’clock in the afternoon was fixed as the start time. The local fire brigade 

           were alerted. However, the staff had restored order and no Garda assistance was required. The 

           Manager separated the ringleaders and had them confined in a separate room. These boys were 

           interrogated by a Garda Sergeant at Daingean, and it became evident that a full-scale conspiracy 

           to burn down sections of the Reformatory was in existence. The four boys mentioned above were 

           charged with attempted arson and conspiracy. 



15.252     •    The severe regime of corporal punishment in Daingean did not prevent trouble in the 

                 institution. 



           •    There  are  no  recorded  instances  of  riots  in  Daingean  after  the  abolition  of  corporal 

                 punishment in 1970. 



           •    The riots as described by the Gardai suggest that the institution that was seriously out 

                                                             ´ 

                 of  control.   This   was    a  consequence       of   bad   management        and   Daingean      was   a 

                 frightening and threatening environment as a result. 



           Absconding 



15.253     During Fr Luca’s time as Resident Manager of Daingean, it appeared that there was a serious 

           problem  with  pupils  absconding  from  the  School.  Examining  the  pupil  files  available,  between 

           1963 and 1972, 35 children absconded on 46 different occasions (some pupils absconding more 

           than once). As instances of absconding were not always recorded officially in pupil files, these 

           figures are not accurate and are likely to be much higher. It does, however, give a strong indication 

           of the magnitude of the problem. 



15.254     During Fr Luca’s time, absconding became such a problem that, in 1966, it drew the attention of 

           the media, which resulted in a petition being sent by the mothers of four boys to the Minister for 

           Education, enquiring into conditions in the School. The mothers concerned stated in their letter to 

           the Minister: 



                 When we visit our sons we feel that they are not free to speak their minds. They always 

                 seem to be in a state of tension. 



15.255     In  an  article  in  The  People newspaper  in  October  1966,  it  was  highlighted  that  18  boys  had 

           absconded between July and October in that year alone. Fr Luca was quoted in the article : 



                 Occasionally boys  do wrong and  they have  to be punished.  They may get  a slap  or a 

                 leather strap across their hands. But there is no brutality ... The stiffest punishment I have 

                 had to give in two years here has been to stop a boy’s holidays ... We try to run the school 

                 like a big family. We have our own farm ; we produce our own vegetables and bread. In 

                 fact we are almost self sufficient ... We care for more than 100 of the toughest boys in 

                 the  country.   Discipline   sometimes     has   to  be  enforced.    But  nothing   happens     at St. 

                 Conleth’s that could remotely be described as cruel. 



15.256     In response to the article, a memorandum was sent to the Minister for Education, where it was 

           noted that the Industrial Schools Branch of the Department was satisfied that the discipline in the 

           Reformatory was maintained in ‘a kindly manner’, and that the Resident Manager was devoted to 

           the task with ‘a genuine interest in the welfare of the boys’. A similar comment was made by T. 

           O’Raifeartaigh, Secretary of the Department of Education, in a report in 1969: 



           648                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 679-----------------------

                 Fr. [Luca] in particular is not only a man dedicated, but a man of vast common sense and 

                 goodness. A remark of his which struck me particularly was that indiscipline (e.g. running 

                 away) should not call for additional restrictions, as it is to be expected of these or any 

                 boys in such circumstances that they will occasionally kick over the traces. 



15.257     •    Although     the   boys   knew    that  a  flogging    by  the  Prefect    was   the  punishment      for 

                absconding, large numbers of them still took the risk of running away to escape the 

                severity of the regime. 



           •    Fr Luca offered no explanation as to why the boys were absconding, but defended the 

                regime to the Department of Education and to the media although, according to his 

                evidence to this Committee, he was revolted and horrified by flogging. 



           Conclusions 



15.258      1.  Flogging was an inhumane and cruel form of corporal punishment. 



           2.   There    was   no   proper   system     for  recording    physical    punishment      administered      in 

                Daingean, and it was extensively used by staff members. 



           3.   The  staff  resorted  to  corporal  punishment  and  violence  as  the  primary  means  of 

                maintaining control. 



           4.   There was no control of staff in the infliction of punishment. 



           5.   Corporal punishment was often excessive and was administered by staff using a wide 

                range of weapons. Relatively minor offences gave rise to severe punishment. 



           6.   The  severity  of  punishments,  its  widespread  use,  and  its  unpredictability  led  to  a 

                climate of fear. 



           7.   Serious complaints were not properly investigated. 



           8.   Despite  its  rules  and  regulations  on  corporal  punishment  the  Department  had  an 

                unambiguous policy of supporting the authorities there. 



           Sexual abuse 



15.259     After complaints about corporal punishment, the next most common kind of complaint was about 

           sexual conduct within the School. The evidence described: 



                   (1)  sexual abuse perpetrated by members of  the Congregation and by other members 

                        of staff; 



                   (2)  sexual abuse perpetrated by other boys; and 



                   (3)  other sexual behaviour among boys within the Institution. 



15.260     The  stance  taken  by  the  Oblates  on  the  issue  of  sexual  abuse  by  staff  was  to  insist  that  no 

           meaningful investigation could be carried out. In their Submission, they stated unequivocally ‘there 

           is insufficient evidence before the Commission to make a finding that such abuse did occur’. They 

           gave their reasons for this assertion as follows: 



                   1.   All living Oblates who were accused have denied the allegations. 



                   2.  The lay members of staff against whom allegations have been made are either dead 

                       or untraceable. 



                   3.  All  complainants  conceded  they  did  not  make  any  contemporaneous  complaints  to 

                       anyone in the school or to the Gardai. 

                                                                  ´ 



                   4.  The documentary evidence from all sources during the lifetime of the School shows 

                       only one complaint by a pupil of sexual abuse against a staff member. It was made in 

                        1967 by a pupil in Garda custody. This allegation was investigated separately by the 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  649 


----------------------- Page 680-----------------------

                         Gardai and by the Oblates with the assistance of Senior Counsel. The allegations were 

                                ´ 

                         deemed to be unfounded. 



                    5.   In  another    incident   detailed    in  discovered     documents      from    the  Department       of 

                         Education,  a  local  man,  in  1960,  who  had  himself  been  accused  of  abuse,  made 

                         hearsay allegations against a lay member of staff. The matter was investigated by the 

                         Resident Manager, the Department of Education, and was referred to the Gardai who 

                                                                                                                          ´ 

                         did not take the matter further. 



15.261     The Oblates then went further: 



                  The Oblates also strenuously contend that to make any general finding of sexual abuse 

                  in  the  circumstances  of  this  investigation  is  potentially  more  damaging  than  a  specific 

                  finding against a named individual and would be a clear breach of the right of the persons 

                  who worked in the school (approximately 136) to maintain their reputation. 



15.262     The response of the Oblates to individual complainants’ allegations was to maintain this position. 

           They submitted: 



                  it is impossible to fairly adjudicate on the complaints in these circumstances. The passage 

                  of 40 years, the deaths of many persons against whom allegations have been made or 

                  who might have cast light on these matters, the dimming of memories, and the absence 

                  of documents directly relating to the allegations make it difficult to develop a response to 

                  the allegations.  The incidents ...  require a careful  investigation, the materials  for which 

                  are not available in the records held by the Oblates ... 



                                                    21 

            The conviction of Br Ramon 



15.263     Br Ramon was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment on being found guilty of indecently assaulting 

            10 boys. All the offences took place between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s at a college in 

           Wales. He was on the staff of Daingean for 17 years from the mid-1950s. 



15.264     From the time of his arrest, a record of the unfolding events was kept by Fr Benicio,22                    the local 



           Oblate Parish Priest. A decision was made to enquire about Br Ramon in his various postings, 

           because of a rumour that he had been asked to move on a previous occasion for inappropriate 

           behaviour. 



15.265     Br Ramon had worked in a hostel for homeless emigrants in London. He was employed as an 

           assistant. According to Fr Benicio, the Director of the hostel, Declan Rafferty,23                reported that he 



           had had concerns about Br Ramon: 



                  He said he wasn’t happy about the way [Ramon] related to the residents – he either liked 

                  them or he didn’t like them, there was no in-between. Twice it was brought to his attention 

                  that [Ramon] was in the rooms of residents after 1.00 am when they should have been 

                  asleep.  He  tackled  him  about  this.  He  became  particularly  friendly  with  younger  boys 

                  when they came. [Declan] had no concrete evidence of inappropriate behaviour but felt 

                  he was unsuitable to be working with young people. He said he told [Pierre]24                  at the time 



                  that he should not be sent to a place where there were young people. 



15.266     On  foot  of  the  rumour  that  he  had  been  removed  from  a  previous  posting  for  inappropriate 

           behaviour, it was decided that senior Oblates would enquire from Fr Luca about Br Ramon’s time 

           in Daingean, and this is dealt with below. 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 

           22 This is a pseudonym. 

           23 This is a pseudonym. 

           24 This is a pseudonym. 



           650                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 681-----------------------

15.267     Br Ramon left Daingean in the early 1970s, and he wrote a letter of protest about his transfer to 

           a Scholasticate: 



                  For  close  on  20  years  I  have  devoted  my  life  to  helping  in  my  own  humble  way  the 

                  unfortunant boys that passed through St Conleths, it is a way of life that I have grown to 

                  love and I find it difficult to believe it has come to an end. My involvement with the boys 

                  in our care is now, as it has always been. Total ... I do however find it difficult to understand 

                  my new role ... I would like to think that you would reconsider my obedience, If after giving 

                  it a fair trail I am still not happy. 



15.268     Four years later, he moved to a hostel for homeless emigrants in London, for a period of 10 years, 

           before  going  to  a  college  in  Wales  where  he  remained  for  six  years.  He  was  appointed  as  a 

           Housemaster there. 



15.269     Fr Luca, who was then Provincial of the Congregation, wrote to him, just before his appointment 

           as Housemaster to the boys’ dormitory, recommending that this new appointment would be less 

           onerous than his work at the hostel, which he was clearly finding challenging. It was here that his 

           behaviour led to his being found guilty of indecently assaulting 10 boys. 



15.270     He would have done well to heed the warning and timely advice that Fr Luca sent him in a letter 

           just after his appointment to the post: 



                  It is an Apostolate where example and kindness will do a lot to help these young ment to 

                  grow up as loyal members of the Church and good citizens. Many of them are very clever 

                  and from good upright familites . They expect a high standard from us and we have the 

                  obligation to respond to that expectation in a positive way. Like all youth they will judge 

                  us and pay attention to us not merely from our words but how these words are backed 

                  up with authentic living of our gospel message. 



15.271     Some witnesses appearing before the Committee gave evidence that this Brother had sexually 

           abused     them   during   his  17   years   in  Daingean.     In  its response     to these    complainants,     the 

           Congregation made no reference to the fact that Br Ramon had been convicted of serious offences 

           against  young  boys  in  Wales,  but  simply  averred  that  the  Brother  was  now  deceased.  The 

           Congregation      cross-examined       complainants      on   the   minutiae    of  their  allegations,   and    was 

           dismissive  of  any  allegation  that  was  inconsistent  or  mistaken in  even  unimportant  detail.  One 

           witness said: 



                  Br. Ramon, he used to work in the bakery. There was one morning I was sent over to get 

                  the  bread  to  put  it  out  for  the  breakfast.  I  went  over  and  he  was  there  and  he  started 

                  tickling me and messing about, that kind of thing. Then he opened my trousers and put 

                  his hand in ... and he touched me. I was pushing him away, trying to get away from him 

                  and he grabbed me by the hand and he tried to force my hand onto his private part. I 

                  managed to struggle and then he just let it go at that. I got the bread and brought it back 

                  over to the recreation room ... 



15.272     He was then asked if it had happened again: 



                  Oh yeah, masturbating about five or six times after that. He would give me brylcreme, 

                  sweets,  toothpaste,  toothbrushes  and  things  like  that  ...  where  I  was  working  in  the 

                  kitchen. He started groping me again and then I gave in, I masturbated him about probably 

                  four to six times. 



15.273     He  was  asked  why  he  had  not  told  the  Gardai about  this  abuse  when  making  a  statement  to 

                                                                     ´ 

           them, or why it had not been included in the statement made for his solicitor. He replied,  ‘I didn’t 

            want to tell anyone. I felt like I was giving something for something’. He said he felt like  ‘A rent 

           person’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         651 


----------------------- Page 682-----------------------

15.274     Various inconsistencies were pointed out, such as the fact that Br Ramon did not have duties in 

           the bakery. However, the witness was adamant he had not got the identification of the person 

           wrong, and said that Br Ramon was often in the bakery. The Congregation made no reference to 

           Br Ramon’s conviction, and treated the witness with incredulity and disbelief. 



15.275     Another witness told the Committee that, although he personally had no experiences of a sexual 

           nature with Br Ramon, he recalled that the Brother had a nickname  ‘Br. Sexpert Ramon’. 



15.276     Another witness told the Committee,  ‘There was five or six Brothers that did abuse kids’, and he 

           named Br Ramon as one of these:  ‘Br. Ramon was an evil man’. He added,  ‘There were other 

           good Brothers there, they weren’t all paedophiles’. 



15.277     He was then questioned about his allegations. He insisted,  ‘Br. Ramon tried to abuse me. I took 

           the beatings rather than let them abuse me ... He got a hold of you and he groped you. I never 

           let him go all the way with me, if you know what I mean’. Under cross-examination he added: 



                  You would be in a room and he grab you by the private parts and pull you into it and he 

                  tried to grope you ... I would knock him away and take a slap. 



15.278     The cross-examination ended with a simple statement: 



                  I don’t have any more questions. I should just point out, as I have done, that the Brothers 

                  concerned are dead. Br. Ramon is long time dead ... 



15.279     One complainant was asked whether he or anybody else had been shown kindness or fairness. 

           He replied that he had never received any kindness, but identified the boys who worked for Br 

           Ramon in the laundry as receiving special treatment: 



                  Maybe to one or two of the people that was working in the laundry. Br. Ramon was over 

                  the  laundry  and  if  you said  anything  to  any  of  the  boys  that worked  in  the  laundry  Br. 

                  Ramon  would  give  you  a  hiding  for  it  because  he  didn't  like  his  boys  to  be  abused  or 

                  given out. 



15.280     •     In circumstances where a Brother had such long service in Daingean, his conviction 

                 for sexual abuse was a relevant piece of information that should have been revealed 

                 to the complainants who made allegations against him. 



                                                                 25 

           The allegation made in 1967 – the O’Brien               case 

15.281     On 20th  June 1967, a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of a former pupil of Daingean wrote to the 



           Secretary of the Department of Justice about a matter that had caused them deep concern. A 15- 

           year-old boy had recently been discharged from Daingean after being in the Institution for over 

           two years. They were writing, they explained, ‘as Officers of the Court and indeed as responsible 

           citizens  to  bring  immediately  to  the  notice  of  the  Department’  a  serious  allegation  of  sexual 

           misconduct. They wrote: 



                  We are instructed and we have no reason to doubt our instructions that this boy, who was 

                  mentally retarded when sent to Daingean, was sexually assaulted and perverted while an 

                  in-mate of the Reformatory and his unfortunate lapse into criminality immediately on his 

                  release is due solely to what occurred while he was there. 



                  We  feel  that  the  best  course  for  us  to  adopt  in  this  case  is  to  have  the  boy  medically 

                  examined by a competent psychiatrist who can elicit from him the full circumstances of 

                  his perversion and we feel that the Department might like to have him examined by their 

                  own medical advisor in view of the circumstances. 



           25 This is a pseudonym. 



           652                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 683-----------------------

15.282      The alleged abuser was not named in the letter, although it is now known that it was Br Ramon. 

            It seems that this letter was forwarded to the Department of Education, because the next letter 

            on file is a letter of 14th  December 1967, written by the solicitors acting for the Resident Manager 



            of Daingean, Fr Luca. It was addressed to the Secretary of the Department of Education. It stated: 



                  We  understand  that  a  firm  of  Solicitors,  acting  on  behalf  of  ...  a  former  detainee  at 

                   Daingean, wrote to you making serious allegations concerning occurrences in the School 

                   involving a member of the staff ... 



                  We  are  writing  to  advise  you  that  following  the  allegations  our  client,  The  Reverend 

                  Superior, investigated the allegation and it was also investigated, with the full co-operation 

                  of our client, by the Garda Authorities. 



                   Following their enquiries the Garda Authorities were satisfied that there was no evidence 

                  of any improper conduct by any member of the Staff ... 



                   In view of the serious allegation made in the letter to your Department based on the story 

                  of  this  unfortunate  boy  our  client  wishes  this  unequivocable  denial  of  the  allegations 

                  placed on your file. 



15.283      Again,  the  name  of  the  member  of  staff  against  whom  the  allegations  were  made  was  not 

            disclosed and no record was kept of any action taken. 



15.284      The boy who made the allegations appeared in court and pleaded guilty. The Central Criminal 

            Court imposed a suspended sentence of 12 months, expressing its dismay that there was no in- 

            patient unit available for the treatment of disturbed psychiatric adolescents. 



15.285      In his letter to the Provincial at Christmas 1967, Fr Luca wrote: 



                  Well the ... case is ended as far as we are ... but not very satisfactorily from the Guards 

                  point of view. Mr Johnston is writing a letter now to the Department of Education to be 

                  placed in the Files beside the other Document and so I hope will be closed for good and 

                  all a rather nasty case. In the last stages of the case I had a call from the Dept. Inspector, 

                   Mr McDevitt  about it and  in passing he  referred to the  “Document of Accusation”.  And 

                  then as a by the way he said he didn’t believe it. To which I replied “neither did I” but to 

                   make assurance doubly sure we had the allegation investigated by the Gardai. And they 

                                                                                                                    ´ 

                  were satisfied, without even a shadow of a doubt, that the whole thing was a malicious 

                  concoction. And furthermore, the Attorney General was even stronger in his condemnation 

                  of the affair. This took the Inspector a little by surprise for he never dreamt that we would 

                   have had it investigated. But he was very pleased to hear that we did take that course of 

                  action lest it should ever be brought up again. So when he gets the letter from Mr Johnston 

                   he will see that we meant to have every avenue checked & sealed. 



15.286      Fr Luca was inaccurate in stating that ‘we had the allegation investigated by the Gardai’. But, in 

                                                                                                                          ´ 

            fact, the Gardai had brought the allegations to Fr Luca and they investigated them as part of the 

                               ´ 

            preparation for the criminal trial. 



15.287      Similarly,  when  Fr  Murphy,  who  represented  the  Oblates  at  the  Emergence  hearing,  told  the 

            Commission, ‘... we only find in the records one complaint of sexual abuse. It was brought to the 

            attention of the Gardai’, he was not correct, as it was the Gardai who approached the Resident 

                                        ´                                                    ´ 

            Manager about the matter. 



15.288      Some light was thrown on the matter by Fr Luca. He wrote in his Statement that the boy’s defence 

            was that he had learned the sexual behaviour in Daingean: 



                  When that came to me from the Gardai it was no longer a school matter, it was outside, 

                                                                    ´ 

                  the  boy  was  outside  and  those  who  brought  the  story  were  outside,  the  Gardai.  So  I 

                                                                                                                         ´ 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                            653 


----------------------- Page 684-----------------------

                  immediately went to the Provincial and told him what had been said ... Then the Garda 

                  who was in charge of the investigation in Dublin got in touch with me to say that he wanted 

                  to see this Brother on a particular day, at a particular time. 



15.289     Following further consultations with the Provincial, a meeting was arranged between Br Ramon 

           and  senior  counsel,  after  which  counsel  told  Fr  Luca,  ‘You  needn’t  be  worried,  it’s  a  false 

           accusation and we have no doubt about that’. At the Garda Station, Fr Luca was shown the file 

           on the case, which he described as ‘putrid’. He added: 



                  I would not have thought the Brother had a chance because when you read something 

                  and looked at the detail of it you would ask yourself how anyone could compose it ... the 

                  minute descriptions and the detail of the thing ... 

                  It was a different Brother to the accusation about the 14 year old.26  There had never been 



                  any  accusations  against  the  second  Brother  before  that,  at  least  I  had  never  heard 

                  anything against him. 



                  The Gardai were satisfied, anyway, that it wasn’t true. 

                               ´ 



15.290     Br Ramon’s departure from Daingean in the early 1970s was, it was claimed, in the context of 

           staff changes in preparation for the transfer to Lusk. Older Brothers and those who did not want 

           to continue in the work were gradually moved to new placements. 



15.291     Br  Ramon  was  neither  an  older  Brother  (he  was  48  at  the  time)  and,  as  evidenced  by  his 

           memorandum to Fr Luca referred to above, he wanted to continue to work in Daingean with ‘the 

           unfortunant boys that passed through St. Conleth’s’. In the light of what is now known about Br 

           Ramon      and   his  time   in  Daingean,     the  reason    for  his  transfer   to  a  Scholasticate    must    be 

           questioned. 



15.292     When statements of complaint about this Brother were received by the Committee and forwarded 

           to the Oblates, they should have considered these complaints in the light of the information they 

           had about Br Ramon. There was a chance to investigate the behaviour of this Brother as soon as 

           his activities became known in Britain. The allegations surfaced in the mid-1990s, and the Brother 

           is now deceased. 



15.293     Br Ramon ‘was charged with two specimen offences of “attempted buggery” and “indecent assault” 

           and 16 other offences ...’. After that, he was admitted into the Stroud centre for a full assessment 

           and treatment programme.27          A report on Br Ramon was prepared by his psychiatrists in Stroud 



           and senior members of the Oblate Congregation were consulted in connection with that report. 



15.294     There is no information about this report, and so it is not known if it covered his time in Daingean, 

           although  it  would  seem  extraordinary  that  a  man  charged  with  indecent  assault  on  boys  in  a 

           residential institution would not have been questioned about the 17 years he spent in a reformatory 

           in Ireland. This is particularly the case when it is now known that an investigation was carried out 

           in Daingean in the late 1960s, by Fr Luca and the Gardai, into allegations of sexual abuse against 

                                                                               ´ 

           Br Ramon. 



15.295     Following Br Ramon’s conviction on charges of sexually abusing boys, the obvious question arose 

           in  the  Congregation  as  to  whether  he  had  engaged  in  such  activities  in  his  previous  postings, 

           including Daingean. Before he was assigned to a boys’ college in Wales, he had served for 10 

           years in an emigrants’ hostel in London, where he came under suspicion. In response to a query 



           26 This was Br Abran. 

           27 Organisation that offers therapy to priests and other religious who have developed sexual or drink problems run by 



              The Servants of the Paraclete. 



           654                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 685-----------------------

           as to whether any investigation into Br Ramon’s activities in Daingean had taken place in 1997, 

           the Oblates stated in a letter dated 8th      May 2008 to the Committee: 



                  Fr [Benicio] himself followed up the inquiry referred to in the note of 6 March 1997. He 

                 did   so  by  speaking     with  Fr  [Luca].   Fr  [Luca]   indicated   to  him   that  there  were    no 

                 accusations against Br [Ramon], apart for an accusation that had been discounted at the 

                 time it occurred as being unfounded Fr [Arador]28           has no recollection of the matter being 

                  raised with him. Fr [Javier]29     has no specific recollection of being asked to enquire into 



                 the  matter,  however  he  is  now  aware  that  in  [the  mid-1960s]  an  allegation  was  made 

                 against  Br  [Ramon]  which  was  fully  investigated  by  both  An  Garda  Siochana  and  the 

                 Oblates at the time and was dismissed as unfounded. With that exception, Br [Ramon] 

                  had a clean record at St Conleth’s. At the time of our letter dated the 21st             of December 



                 2006 we understood that Fr [Javier], as Provincial, did not know of the incident the basis 

                 of the accusation in [the mid-1960s], but it appears that he learnt of it around the time of 

                 the trial in [the late 1990s]. 



15.296     On the issue of whether Br Ramon ever admitted abusing boys in Daingean, the Congregation 

           stated: 



                 We are instructed that Br [Ramon] never admitted nor acknowledged that he had abused 

                  boys at St Conleth’s Reformatory at Daingean. 



15.297     •    Having regard to the sexual abuse that Br Ramon committed in Wales, the reservations 

                 expressed      about   his   time   in  London,     the  complainant      evidence     received    by   this 

                 Committee, together with the investigation in the late 1960s and the recidivist nature 

                 of  sexual  abuse,  there  must  be  serious  misgivings  about  Br  Ramon’s  behaviour  in 

                 Daingean during his 17 years there. 



           Br Abran 



15.298     In his detailed Statement about his time at Daingean, Fr Luca told of another accusation made 

           against a Brother in the late 1960s. He wrote: 



                 The boy made the accusation to the priest who was the Chaplain and the Chaplain said 

                 to the boy that if he didn’t mind he would call the Superior in on the matter because it 

                  needed to be looked into or, he told the boy, he could go to the Superior himself, but the 

                 Chaplain said he would have to have the boy’s  permission to bring the matter up to a 

                  higher authority. The boy said he didn’t want to do it himself but didn’t mind if the Chaplain 

                  brought the Superior into it. Then we met together and went through the details of it and, 

                  in order to get the details straight, there had to be a bit of cross questioning, because you 

                 couldn’t  just  take  the  story  exactly  as  it  was  told,  there  would  be  more  to  it  than  that. 

                  Eventually, he broke down and said it wasn’t true that he was asked by the bigger boys 

                 to make the accusation. 



15.299     It was also strange that Fr Luca did not appear to have taken any action against the boys who 

           initiated the alleged malicious report. If the boy in this case had not retracted his allegation early 

           on, ‘... the next thing would have been that the Brother would have to have been brought into it’. 



15.300     There remain some puzzling aspects of this case that were not explained by the investigation. If 

           the bigger boys asked this boy to make the allegation for malicious reasons, it was odd that he 

           went to the Chaplain, who could not pass the information on unless the boy allowed him to do so. 

           It was an extraordinarily indirect way to make a malicious allegation. 



           28 This is a pseudonym. 

           29 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      655 


----------------------- Page 686-----------------------

15.301    Also, it would seem that the Resident Manager did not interview the Brother involved. Everything 

          depended on the judgement of the Resident Manager. He wrote in his Statement: 



                It was a likely scenario that a Brother could have kept a boy back after class ... That would 

                be an opportunity. Again, there had to be a certain amount of trust because otherwise if 

                you couldn’t do these ordinary things ... then it was really uncommon these accusations. 



                The Provincial ultimately was responsible because he was the Manager and I was, as it 

                were, his Deputy although I was called the Resident Manager. It would have been very 

                necessary then to let him know, seek advice from him and then proceed from that. 



                I don’t think there was a record kept of it because of the way it ended up. Had it gone 

                further, hindsight is dangerous, you might do a thing differently today, but then there just 

                didn’t seem to be the need for it ... you just didn’t have time to do all the things you would 

                have liked to do. 



15.302    He  nonetheless  said  he  set  up  a  system  for  dealing  with  complaints  about  staff  members.  He 

          wrote: 



                When the boys made any accusation about any of the Brothers or any of the staff, they = 

                the staff member had to be present ... I made this clear to the staff that if a boy was going 

                to make a complaint against any of them that the person in question should be there and 

                should hear the person saying it. One good thing about that, too, was that a person would 

                have to be more careful about making accusations. 



15.303    In his Statement, Fr Luca wrote: 



                A strange thing was that never once in all the time did any boy come along and say to 

                me that he had been abused either sexually or physically, never once. I don’t know why 

                because I felt that I was open enough to receive any boy that would come along ... 



15.304    Clearly, Fr Luca did not appreciate, even at this remove, that the system he set up made it virtually 

          impossible for any boy to come to him with complaints of sexual abuse. The system he described 

          was actually more likely to ensure that sexual abuse was not uncovered. 



15.305    There  was  no  written  record  of  the  allegation  that  came  from  the  chaplain  and  the  boy.  The 

          absence of documentary evidence of abuse was a result of the system. The exact nature of the 

          allegations  and  the  names  of  the  people  involved  were  only  recorded  in  the  memory  of  the 

          Resident Manager, not the Institution or the Congregation. The way this incident was dealt with 

          shows how failure to record complaints led to evidence about possible repetition of allegations 

          being lost. 



15.306    Fr Luca referred to this incident in his Statement to the Committee although, again, he did not 

          identify Br Abran as the Brother in question: 



                It was a different Brother to the accusation about the 14 year old. There had never been 

                any  accusations  against  the  second  Brother  [Ramon]  before  that,  at  least  I  had  never 

                heard anything against him. 



15.307    •    As  the  Oblates  pointed  out  in  their  Submission,  ‘The  incidents  ...  require  a  careful 

                investigation,  the  materials  for  which  are  not  available  in  the  records  held  by  the 

                Oblates’.  This   particular  case   illustrates  one   of the   reasons   why   the  records    on 

                allegations of sexual abuse do not exist: the system inhibited disclosure and the type 

                of thorough investigation that would lead to meaningful and useful records. 



          •    Fr Luca’s procedure would have tended to suppress rather than encourage allegations 

                of  sexual  abuse  in  Daingean.  He  appeared  unable  to  appreciate  the  difficulty  his 



          656                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 687-----------------------

                 procedure would have caused the boys in Daingean, even during the evidence to the 

                 Committee. 



           Complainant evidence 



15.308     Most of the staff members accused of sexual abuse were not available to give evidence, and the 

           Committee  was  presented  with  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  made  by  credible  witnesses,  but 

           without the possibility of hearing the contrary side and generally in the absence of documentary 

           evidence and independent corroboration. 



15.309     One witness described his seduction by a lay teacher: 



                  He would take me out fishing. The outer walls of Daingean ran alongside the grand canal 

                  ...  Things  happened  there  ...  he  used  to  use  a  newspaper  and  he  would  start  off  by 

                  reading  the  newspaper  and  I  would  have  the  fishing  rod  and  then  he  would  put  the 

                  newspaper down on his lap, it was a slow process that went on for 10 or 15 minutes, then 

                  it would be spread out on his lap and then half of it would go on to my lap. He would say 

                  to me, “Oh, look at this.” He would point to something in the newspaper. Then he would 

                 point at something which was just directly above my crotch ... Then he would put his hand 

                  under the newspaper and attempt to masturbate me ... I remember on a few occasions 

                  he tried to suck my penis. On another occasion he tried to – we were in some grass and 

                  I can remember that he had a handkerchief in his hand and he got on top of me from 

                  behind – I was laying flat, he got on top of me from behind and he tried to bugger me ... 

                  I just clenched and kept my legs closed. He ejaculated sort of somewhere in that region 

                 and I remember him using a handkerchief to wipe up ... I can only remember one occasion 

                  that happened but several instances of him trying to suck my penis. 



15.310     He  said  this  teacher  ‘...  wasn’t  an  aggressive  person  at  all.  He  was  a  very  effeminate  type  of 

           person.  He  was  a  really  nice  man’.  He  explained  that,  despite  disliking  the  sexual  activity,  he 

           continued to go out with the teacher because he was given treats such as sweets. 



15.311     Another witness described being sexually assaulted on two occasions by a member of staff while 

           he was in Daingean. He alleged that he complained to a Brother and the matron about the abuse, 

           and they just fobbed him off. He also alleged that he was physically abused by the Brother to 

           whom he reported the assault. He stated that his mother became aware of this physical abuse, 

           and she complained to the school authorities. The correspondence between his mother and the 

           school authorities was available to the Committee, and it supported the witness’s contention that 

           his  mother  did  in  fact  complain  that  she  had  been  told  by  a  couple  of  boys  who  had  recently 

           absconded from Daingean that her son had received 16 lashes. This complaint was dealt with by 

           Fr Luca personally, who assured her that her son was in perfect health. 



15.312     His letter concentrated on calming the parent rather than investigating the allegations: 



                 As  regards  the  other  matters  you  mention;  namely  that  [your  son]  has  been  ill  treated 

                  here. That is not true and I know before Easter [he] had asked a member of the staff to 

                 call and see you about this and to assure you that what you had been told was not true. 

                  Naturally you could expect an exaggerated story from your source of information. In fact, 

                 such a boy would not ask better than to upset you and cause as much trouble as possible. 

                  If you come down next visiting Sunday you may talk it over with Br. [Mateo]30               and I hope 



                 the matron will also be available that day too. In fact it was the matron whom [your son] 

                 asked to contact you. 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      657 


----------------------- Page 688-----------------------

15.313    Another  witness  alleged  that  he  was  forced  to  perform  oral  sex  with  one  of  the  Brothers  on  a 

          number of occasions: 



                About three different times ... You just accepted it. There was no one you could report it 

                 to. There was no one whatsoever. There was no telephones. I think it was every fortnight 

                you were allowed to write to your mother. There was no one. You don’t see anyone from 

                outside. I never seen anyone from outside for two years. 



15.314    One complainant described being beaten by two Brothers on the bare backside, which led to a 

          sexual assault: 



                I remember Br. [Mateo] came in, before I knew it he had my hands pins behind my back, 

                he  had  me  over  a  school  desk  the  trousers  were  practically  ripped  off  me  and  I  got 

                probably  half  a  dozen  smacks.  One  of  them,  I  think  the  two  of  them  were  feeling  my 

                private parts, my arse and penis. This went on for probably eight or ten minutes. 



15.315    The boy went back to his friends, but was too ashamed to tell them about the sexual abuse: 



                I didn't tell them actually what happened but I said I got a smack on the arse. I didn't tell 

                 them that I was after being felt up. I was ashamed actually. That's nothing new, getting 

                 the cane, ... That was that. I think I was more embarrassed than anything else. 



15.316    One witness told the Committee that he had been in Artane before Daingean and he compared 

          Daingean favourably. He found the regime strict but fair. Boys were only punished for wrongdoing 

          in  Daingean,  whereas  in  Artane  boys  were  beaten  and  struck  for  no  reason.  He  also  told  the 

          Committee that he was befriended by Br Macario in Daingean. He said this Brother was very kind 

          to  him  and  he  felt  he  was  protected  by  him.  However,  Br  Macario  took  him  to  his  room  on  a 

          number of occasions and discussed how he was developing physically. He used to ask him to 

          remove his clothes and lie on the bed. Br Macario then proceeded to measure him with a tape. 

          The  witness  was  adamant  that  nothing  else  took  place.  Some  time  later,  he  inadvertently  told 

          another Brother that he was being measured by Br Macario. Soon after, Br Macario came up to 

          him and told him not to tell anyone but to keep it secret that he was measured by him. Years 

          later,  he  again  met  Br  Macario,  who  asked  him  whether  he  was  still  keeping  their  secret.  The 

          witness realised that perhaps this Brother had an ulterior motive. This disappointed him because 

          he trusted him. 



           The Congregation’s Submission 



15.317    Although  they  conceded  that  some  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  were  ‘prima  facie  honest  and 

          coherent’, the Oblates contended that, in the absence of corroboration, the only way to safeguard 

          the rights of their members was to make no general finding of abuse. The Oblates also asserted 

          that there was ‘insufficient evidence before the Commission to make a finding that such abuse 

          did occur’. They further contended that to make a general finding of abuse ‘casts a cloud over the 

          reputation  of  every  person  who  has  worked  in  Daingean  and  irrevocably  damages  their  good 

          name and the good name of the Oblate Order’. 



15.318    •     Sexual  abuse  of  boys  by  staff  took  place  in  Daingean,  as  testified  by  complainant 

                witnesses. 



          •    The full extent is impossible to quantify because of the absence of a proper system of 

                receiving and handling complaints. 



          •    The system that was put in place tended to suppress complaints rather than to reveal 

                abuse or even to bring about investigations. 



          •    The conviction of Br Ramon warrants a re-evaluation of the late 1960s episode. 



          658                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 689-----------------------

           1960 Garda investigation 



15.319     In 1960, the criminal trial of a man who lived beside the Reformatory gave rise to concerns about 

           the supervision of the boys and to enquiries by the Department. Patrick O’Reilly 31  was found not 



           guilty  on  charges  of  buggery,  attempted  buggery  and  indecent  assault,  but  was  convicted  of 

           assisting in an escape from the Reformatory and harbouring an escapee. He was given a two- 

           month suspended sentence. An outstanding charge of indecent assault was not proceeded with 

           by the State. 



15.320     A file entitled ‘Alleged Acts of Gross Indecency Committed Against [sic] Inmate of St Conleth’s 

           Reformatory School, Daingean,’ was included in the discovered documents of the Department of 

           Education, and  it dealt with the  Garda investigation that  led to the prosecution.  No documents 

           about the matter were contained in the Congregation’s documentation. 



15.321     Michael32   had been sentenced to two years in Daingean in the late 1950s for house-breaking. He 



           was   aged    17   at  the  time.  He   absconded      from   the  School    seven    months    later,  and   was 

           subsequently arrested and charged with house-breaking in Dublin. He was remanded in Mountjoy 

           jail and, following his conviction, was sentenced to two years in St Patrick’s Institution. 



15.322     When he was on remand in Mountjoy, he asked the Governor of the prison to allow him to speak 

           to a Garda  about events that he alleged had  occurred whilst he was in  Daingean. He told the 

           Garda that a lay teacher, Mr Murphy,33  often took a group of boys down to the canal for swimming 



           when the weather was fine, and that Mr O’Reilly befriended the teacher, who allowed the boys to 

           visit the man’s house. This continued throughout that summer. 



15.323     The boy alleged that the man sexually abused him and other boys during these visits, on one of 

           which he was given alcohol by Mr O’Reilly and claimed that he passed out and did not come to 

           until the next morning. He absconded from Daingean and went to Mr O’Reilly’s house where, he 

           alleged,  Mr  O’Reilly  forced  him  to  hide  until  Christmas.  He  was  locked  in  during  the  day  and 

           subjected to sexual assaults at night. Eventually, he escaped by breaking down the door and ran 

           away  to  Dublin,  where  he  remained  at  large  until  his  arrest  a  month  later  on  house-breaking 

           charges. Whether the boy was imprisoned, as he claimed, or stayed willingly in the house, there 

           is  no  doubt   that  he   was   there   for a  time   and   ultimately   made    good   his  escape    from   the 

           Reformatory, because the owner was convicted of harbouring him and assisting his escape. 



15.324     On hearing this story, the Garda investigated further and questioned five boys. Their interviews 

           were conducted in the presence of Br Jaime, the Prefect of Daingean. Some of these boys, who 

           were aged between 15 and 16, alleged that Mr O’Reilly had exposed himself to them, and some 

           of them said that they had exposed themselves in turn. The Garda also interviewed neighbours 

           of Mr O’Reilly, who confirmed that the reformatory boys were often in the house and that the lay 

           teacher would leave them there and then come back for them later. 



15.325     The investigating Garda observed in his report to his Superintendent: 



                 The facts of this case disclose a certain amount of laxity in the disciplinary supervision of 

                 the  inmates  of  the  Reformatory.  The  Superior  of  the  School  has  informed  the  local 

                  Sergeant that he was unaware of the boys habit of frequenting [O’Reilly’s] house ... It will 

                  be noted that on most, if not all, of the occasions in which the boys visited [O’Reilly’s] 

                  house, they were in charge of Mr. [Murphy], the Music Master ... It is not suggested that 

                  Mr. [Murphy] was in actual collusion with [O’Reilly] but it would appear that he displayed 

                 an attitude of indifference to the moral welfare of his charges. 



           31 This is a pseudonym. 

           32 This is a pseudonym. 

           33 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      659 


----------------------- Page 690-----------------------

15.326     The    Garda    thought    that   a   prosecution     was   warranted,     but   he   was    not   offered   much 

           encouragement  by  the  Resident  Manager,  who  told  him  that  Michael  was  ‘not  of  very  good 

           character, capable of imagining things, and not to be relied upon’. 



15.327     When the trial was over, the matter was brought to the attention of the Department of Education, 

           who requested in a memorandum of May 1960 that the Resident Manager be asked to comment 

           on  the  circumstances  under  which  the  boys  were  allowed  to  gather  in  Mr  O’Reilly’s  house, 

           ‘supervision was undoubtedly lax here’ and to establish whether there was any suspicion as to 

           the teacher’s misconduct with the boys. 



15.328     In  his  response  to  the  Department’s  queries,  Fr  Salvador,  the  Resident  Manager,  revealed  an 

           attitude to this matter that was both dismissive and self-serving, and displayed no concern for the 

           boys who were involved in the investigation. He first denigrated the complainant but did not refer 

           to the other boys who had been interviewed in the Prefect’s presence: 



                  His conduct while here was not satisfactory. I would say he is a mentally disturbed boy 

                  with a leaning towards depravity. 



15.329     He then went on to make the revealing comment: 



                  In  fact,  a  short  time  previously,  [Brady]  had  been  punished  for  breaking  bounds  and 

                  warned against going to [O’Reilly’s]. This punishment and warning was given to [Brady] 

                  by the Prefect, Bro. [Jaime]. Besides, [Brady] himself admitted to me that he had been 

                  in [O’Reilly’s]. 



15.330     He said that he had told Br Jaime to tell Mr Murphy ‘to be vigilant and more strict in his supervision 

           of the boys in his charge’. He then proceeded to dismiss the complaint: 



                  Later, when I saw the statement made by [Brady] ... it struck me as being fantastic. His 

                  record and mentality inclined me towards that way of thinking ... We do not claim a 100% 

                  and sometimes we meet boys who are so vitiated and lacking in co-operation that their 

                  removal becomes a necessity in the interests of the other boys. [Brady] falls under that 

                  category. His statement strikes me as being fantastic and rather like the projection of a 

                  depraved mind with little if any bearing on reality. Still, because of the little bearing there 

                  might be on reality, I favoured a full investigation. 



15.331     On the question of the master who had recently been appointed, he said: 



                  He is credulous and up to recently, appeared to believe that a boy couldn’t tell a lie; but 

                  he is willing to learn and as it is rather difficult to replace him, I am inclined to give him 

                  every chance. I have no reason to doubt his moral integrity. 



15.332     In conclusion, Fr Salvador emphasised the difficult work that they were doing in Daingean and 

           the encouragement they gave to the boys to reform. 



15.333     •     The Resident  Manager knew that Michael  Brady had been punished for  going to Mr 

                 O’Reilly’s  on  a  previous  occasion  but  it  appears  that  the  Gardai were  not  informed 

                                                                                                     ´ 

                 about that; otherwise, Mr O’Reilly’s house would have been searched. 



           •     The  Resident  Manager  actually  gave  the  Gardai  an  entirely  different  impression  by 

                                                                               ´ 

                 telling the Sergeant that he was unaware of the boys’ habit of visiting the house. 



           •     The  Resident  Manager  undermined  the  possibility  of  prosecution  of  Mr  O’Reilly  by 

                 denigrating the boy in this case, in the full knowledge that the most serious allegations 

                 had been made by five other boys against this man. 



           •    The circumstances in which a group of boys could visit this man’s house on numerous 

                 occasions over a period of five months, in the words of the contemporary comment 



           660                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 691-----------------------

                 of the investigating Garda, ‘displayed an attitude of indifference to the moral welfare’ 

                 of the boys in care. 



           •    The  Resident  Manager’s  readiness  to  dismiss  complaints  of  serious  misconduct  in 

                 respect of boys in his care, which were under investigation by the Gardai, indicated 

                                                                                                             ´ 

                 an irrational scepticism that cannot be ignored when considering how other reports 

                 of abuse might have been received. 



           •    Notwithstanding the gravity of this episode involving: a criminal investigation in which 

                 boys  and  staff up  to  the  Resident Manager  were  interviewed;  a  subsequent trial  on 

                 indictment    with   a  conviction     on   escape-related      charges;    and    embarrassing      and 

                 potentially damaging queries from the Department, no records of this appeared in the 

                files of the Institution or the Congregation, and no information existed as to what was 

                 done   for  the   other   boys   who    were   involved     and   who   were    still detained    in  the 

                 Reformatory. 



           Sexual abuse perpetrated by other boys 



15.334     Complainants  testified  about  serious  sexual  assaults  by  other  boys.  One  witness,  who  was  in 

           Daingean during the 1960s, described how he was singled out for a sexual approach on the very 

           first evening. He explained: 



                 In Daingean from day one I was abused ... I think the first evening I was there was the 

                 first sexual contact that I had. 



15.335     He described what went on in the hall when films were being shown: 



                 It looked like it was random but it wasn’t ... You would see a group of boys coming into a 

                 room ... you would think that everybody was sitting down randomly but there was a set 

                 pattern because boys would sit next to boys who they wanted to be with and things went 

                 on when the lights went out ... There was a boy sat next to me ... I don’t know whether 

                 he put his hand on me or whether he took my hand ... masturbation occurred. 



15.336     He said that this occurred  ‘all the time’. Some of the boys, according to this complainant, had a 

           well-rehearsed  routine during  the  showing  of films.  They  calculated where  to  sit,  and whom  to 

           target, and, once the lights were out, sexual contact was initiated. He described how he was raped 

           by the leader of an established gang within Daingean who picked on him: 



                 There was a wall and a railing which divided the playground, I can’t remember what we 

                 used to call it. When I was in the small sections this guy ... He was an aggressive guy 

                 with a horrible sort of personality. He had a group of guys and he was the sort of leader 

                 of these group of guys ... On a weekly basis whenever the opportunity would – I would 

                 be dragged off into a pig shed, hay shed, wherever, and buggered ... he was leader of a 

                 group of guys, they could make your life hell ... You are living with these people, you can’t 

                 get away from them, you are there. 



15.337     While the other boy was his age and size, the power he had from his gang status allowed him to 

           do what he liked. 



15.338     A complainant who was in Daingean 20 years earlier, in the 1940s, described a similar experience. 

           It happened only once, but three boys buggered him in a sudden attack: 



                 I would be coming up to the 16 ... You are all down in this big yard and it’s divided by a 

                 wall but you could go through. At that time if you wanted to go to the toilet you went up 

                 to the man in the top, “Permission to go to the toilet” ... It was between 6:30 and maybe 

                 8:30 ... In the evening ... there was a toilet that you went to out off this square. I asked to 

                 go there. Maybe the man in charge, whoever it was, there used to be about four of them 

                 in charge at different times, he might have forgotten that I had gone up there and when 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   661 


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                  the other three big fellows went up, they was just allowed up ... They followed me ... They 

                  pulled me to the ground and stripped me. The strange part about it, axle grease was used. 



15.339     He  said  that  he  was  raped  by  these  three  boys.  He  said  that  he  was  in  pain  and  that  he  ‘felt 

           helpless’. He added: 



                  If  you  went  and  told  anybody  anything  like  that  you  would  be  in  trouble  from  several 

                  different quarters. You would be in trouble and you would be punished and you would be 

                  in trouble on account of getting other fellows punished as well ... I never went up to that 

                  toilet ever again after that. 



15.340     In the late 1960s, another complainant described being in an animal shed with two other boys, 

           one of whom was ‘the biggest bully down there’. The incident began when this boy held a pitchfork 

           up to the complainant’s neck: 



                  He said to me, “I want to ride you” ... The other fella was with him was his sidekick ... He 

                  was pulling at my trousers and he said, “I want a gobble”. I didn’t even know what it meant 

                  ...  I  said,  “Leave  me”.  The  bullying  was  heavy  and  I  was  afraid  of  that  pitchfork  ... 

                  Eventually they let me alone for a few minutes and I burst through them ... I got over the 

                  gateway and I ran off. 



15.341     When he was brought back to the School, he told Br Enrico why he had run away, and Br Enrico 

           comforted him and believed him. This witness described seeing this boy abusing a younger boy: 

            ‘He pulled him out of the small section in the middle of the day and brought him down to the toilets 

           ... That’s what they were known for, sexually abusing anybody they could’. 



15.342     The predatory behaviour of the bigger boys towards the smaller boys was a constant theme. A 

           complainant from the 1940s said: 



                  In the evenings, especially in the dusty evenings – the way the yard was built, there was 

                  one  entrance  into  it,  the  bigger  fellows  went  up  to  one  end  and  we  remained  at  the 

                  entrance, the end that we went into. There was a wall ... The big fellows were on the far 

                  side. There used to be things happening that were new and strange to me. You see, there 

                  would be bigger fellows saying to you that they wanted to be all one with you. That was 

                  the expression. 



           Evidence within the discovered documents of sexual abuse by boys 



15.343     The kinds of sexually abusive behaviour described to the Committee by complainant witnesses 

           also emerged from the documentation. During a Garda investigation into the riots of 2nd  May 1956, 



           which has been dealt with earlier in this chapter, a resident of Daingean made a complaint to the 

           Gardai about two boys who had subjected him to sexually abusive acts. In the presence of the 

                   ´ 

           Prefect of the School, Br Jaime, he made the following statement: 



                  I remember one day in the month of March last. [two boys] asked me to put my hand on 

                  [one of the boy’s] private part and feel it. I refused them, and ran away, but they followed 

                  me and caught me, and brought me back to the wall in the yard. [One of them] forced my 

                  hand on to [the other’s] private part, and told me to feel it. I did it because I was afraid of 

                  them.  [He]  was  helping  [the  other]  to  force  my  hand  onto  [his]  private  part.  I  felt  [his] 

                  private part, and I kept it there for a few seconds. I took my hand out then. [the other boy] 

                  hit me on the arm because I refused to put my hand on his ... private part. I saw the front 

                  of [his] trousers opened, and when I had my hand on his private part. I saw he got a thrill 

                  from it. I saw fluid coming from [his] private part. I often saw [another boy] and [these two 

                  boys] feel each others private part in turn. 



15.344     As a result of the above statement, additional charges were brought against the two boys, who 

           were found guilty of gross indecency and sentenced to two years in Borstal. 



           662                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 693-----------------------

15.345     As stated above, if boys were discovered by the staff to be indulging in ‘immoral conduct’, it was 

           normally  dealt  with  by  the  strap  being  administered  by  the  Prefect,  but  in  the  absence  of  a 

           punishment book, it is impossible to say how often this occurred. Had it not been for the riot, the 

           incident described above would not have come to the notice of the Gardai. 

                                                                                                   ´ 



           Sexual behaviour between boys 



15.346     The  kind  of  relationships  that  formed  between  older  and  younger  boys  was  a  characteristic  of 

           Daingean. The behaviour was so institutionalised that a vocabulary evolved that seemed to be 

           current only among the boys in Daingean. 



15.347     One complainant from the 1950s experienced the nature of the relationship, but denied that there 

           was a sexual element: 



                  most of the older boys had a hag ... It was more or less a status thing. When you were 

                  there twelve months you knew all the ropes and it was kind of like a girlfriend more or 

                  less but there was nothing sexual about it. It was like you were kind of protected. You see 

                  it was in the small sections and when all the fellows in the small sections knew that he 

                  was your hag they wouldn’t go near him. 



15.348     A   ‘hag’,  then,  was  a  young  boy  who  was  befriended  by  an  older  boy,  such  that  a  protective 

           relationship developed. 



15.349     Another  complainant  also  from  the  1950s,  who  was  frank  about  the  sexual  nature  of  such 

           relationships, used the same term: ‘... the bigger fellows would come back on the smaller fellows 

           what they used to call hags. Call them their girlfriend or whatever you like’. A lot of it was going 

           on, but, he explained,  ‘it would have to be done as quiet as possible but at the same time like it 

           wasn’t something that any one of the Brothers had a blind eye for. They could see it happening’. 

           He went on to describe what happened at the pictures on a Saturday night: 



                  All the smaller fellows would sit at one end and behind them the bigger fellows, the bigger 

                  fellows would be passing down the sweets and cigarettes and whatever else to give the 

                  smaller fellows down the other side’. 



15.350     He added that, later on, in the exercise yard: 



                  you would have the smaller fellows one side and the bigger fellows the other side but you 

                  would only have one Brother supervising so there was no problem for a smaller fellow to 

                  mingle his way into the bigger crowd and there was no problem for the bigger crowd just 

                  to cover whatever act was going on ... I could give you three or four or five or six out of 

                  the smaller section that would have been mixing with the fellows from the bigger section. 



15.351     Another complainant from the same era, the 1950s, used a different term to describe the same 

           behaviours and relationships: 



                  it’s like having a girlfriend or something like that, we called them wan dolls, it’s like a pal 

                  ... I am not saying you wouldn’t have sexual abuse with them or something like that, I am 

                  sure you would ... you would masturbate them and they would masturbate you ... 



15.352     He said that, if boys got caught, the  ‘purity strap’ would be used on them. The  ‘purity strap’ was 

           the use of the strap to beat boys found engaged in sexual activity. He went on to explain that 

           contact with the younger boys could be in the shop, which was common to both the bigger and 

           younger boys. Once the older boy had found a  ‘wan doll’, a relationship would develop during the 

           periods  the  boys  were  in  the  Institution.  Yet,  he  added,      ‘When  everybody  leaves  that  place, 

           Daingean, nobody says another word about it, blocked, nobody opens their mouth about it’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                       663 


----------------------- Page 694-----------------------

15.353     When asked what proportion of boys were involved in this relationship culture, he answered: 



                 I think most of them was in it because it’s well known. We could ask, “Who is your wan 

                 doll”, that was the phrase ... All my mates in the big section, they all had wan dolls. 



15.354     It came as a surprise to him when he left to discover the practice was not spoken of outside the 

           walls of Daingean. When he met a former inmate, he casually asked, while reminiscing,  ‘Who was 

           your wan doll?’ The man  ‘never said another word, he got up and walked away ... Nobody talks 

           about it’. 



15.355     The opportunities were there, as one witness explained: 



                 The reason that a lot of the sexual stuff went on was because there would be – if you 

                 could imagine in the yard there was a square like this (indicating) and this was the small 

                 section and this was the big section and a Brother would stand in this corner (indicating) 

                 so he was strategically placed to be able to see in both directions. You had the toilet block 

                 over there and  over here you had an entrance  into some inside toilets which  is where 

                 most of the sexual abuse went on ... So all it needed was some individual to distract one 

                 Brother and all sorts would go on. 



15.356     As another witness explained,  ‘It was like you were kind of protected. You see it was in the small 

           sections and when all the fellows in the small sections knew that he was your hag they wouldn’t 

           go near him’. 



15.357     While  on  one  level,  within  a  subculture  in  Daingean,  this  sexualised  behaviour  was  taken  for 

           granted, at another level it could lead to bullying and ostracism. Boys who were known to offer 

           oral sex were excluded, especially at meal times. As one witness explained: 



                 there was some boys that no-one went near. The fellows that were sexually abused down 

                 there. The other boys wouldn’t have anything to do with them really. They had to mark 

                 their teacups with a knife. There wasn’t delft down there ... The saucers, the cups, the 

                 plates were Bakelite, that was kind of plastic, I remember. If a young fellow was sexually 

                 abused ... after gobbling somebody, they had to mark their cup (indicating) with a knife 

                 and they could only drink out of that cup ... No one else could drink out of them. 



15.358     Fr Luca, in his Statement, gave his account of this relationship culture within Daingean. He wrote: 



                 There were boys that were under pressure from maybe a few bigger boys. Strangely to 

                 say it wasn’t always from the bigger boys. Some of the most astute or hardened at that 

                 particular time were small boys who had a kind of power over bigger boys and it was they 

                 who were calling the tune. I think they would have used that as a grip ... something to 

                 use over another boy. And, again, they would have something for sale, there would be 

                 an ulterior motive in the friendship ... The older ones would prey on the younger ones and 

                 some  of  the  younger  ones  could  have  a  hold  on  the  bigger  boys.  Knowing  what  they 

                 wanted, prepared to give it to them and then at a price. There would have been awareness 

                 of that. We would have known that some of these boys had been quite involved in boy 

                 prostitution in the city. 



15.359     The Oblates stated in their Submission that no evidence was tendered to support a finding that 

           such abuse was systemic or widespread in the School, or that such behaviour was in any way 

           tolerated. 



           Conclusions 



15.360      1.  The Oblates acknowledged that they were aware of the issue of peer abuse, and they 

                accepted that incidents of peer abuse did take place. They contended, however, that 

                they did not condone it and took steps at all times to prevent it. However, the evidence 



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----------------------- Page 695-----------------------

     would indicate that no distinction was made by the authorities between victims and 

     perpetrators of sexual abuse. Victims were punished as severely as the perpetrators 

     and, therefore, the problem was not fully reported to management. 



2.   Sexual  behaviour  between  boys  in  Daingean  was  systemic  and  widespread.  It  was 

     often abusive and was not seriously addressed by management. 



3.   These institutionalised sexual relationships developed to such a degree in Daingean 

     because  of  the  chronic  lack  of  supervision  throughout  the  institution,  particularly 

     during recreation. 



4.   Lack of supervision led to an unsafe environment. Some younger boys may have had 

     control  over  older  boys,  as  Fr  Luca   suggested,   but  the  younger   boys   needed 

     protection. They resorted to such relationships in order to survive in an unsafe world. 



5.   Such sexual behaviour was accepted within a subculture in Daingean. 



6.   Boys in Daingean ranged between 13 and 18 years, an older profile than in industrial 

     schools, which contributed to the higher level of sexual activity there. 



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           Emotional abuse 



15.361     Numerous  complainant  witnesses  recounted  the  loneliness  and  deprivation  they  felt  on  being 

           suddenly removed from their families. Central to their accounts was the belief that they were on 

           their own, with no one they could turn to for help or comfort. 



15.362     One witness described this isolation. He explained he had to put on ‘a facade’ to hide his distress: 

                                                                                                ¸ 



                  I  cried  in  bed  at  night  missing  my  mother  and  father  just  the  same  as  anybody  else 

                  would. But if you showed weakness at all to anybody, including a psychologist ... it was 

                 jumped on. 



15.363     There were, he went on, many staff members who were good men, good to him and to the boys, 

           but when asked if he could go to them about the beatings or the sexual abuse he had experienced, 

           he replied: 



                  No. There was no recourse. There was no safe haven. There was no hole you could climb 

                  into. There was nobody you could talk to. You were on your own. 



15.364     Another witness described a similar sense of isolation. He said: 



                  There was very few people that did much talking in that place at all, very, very few ... you 

                  could sit beside them for hours, they wouldn’t say a word to you. There wasn’t very many 

                  garrulous people there. We didn’t have a book, a paper, a radio, we didn’t have a watch 

                  or a calendar. 



15.365     Yet, another witness described a similar experience. He said: 



                  there was no camaraderie as such. Everybody was there to get their time done and to 

                  get out and there was no interest in anything else ... You didn’t make lifelong friends ... 

                  There was one young chap and he was from somewhere in east Cork. After I hardened 

                  a little bit to the situation he used to come to me and tell me what was on his mind and I 

                  used to talk to him. Now, the reason he was there times weren’t good. Poverty abounded, 

                  his mother happened to get a loaf of bread, but they didn’t have any butter. So he went 

                  out and stole a pound of butter. He got four years for it. Instead of being looked after and 

                  given  some  sympathy  and  understanding  he  got  four  years in  Daingean.  What  kind  of 

                  society  were  we?  It  might  be  different  now,  but  in  those  times  that  is  what  happened. 

                  Those were the facts of life. The people like the Oblates took advantage, they really took 

                  advantage and used people like that as child labour. 



15.366     He added: 



                  there was no real friends in Daingean ... that’s why I felt detached ... If you are lonesome, 

                  if you are alone, and you are at that vulnerable age you don’t feel over the moon, do you? 



15.367     He recounted how he had tried to abscond because, ‘... the general situation ... really depressed 

           me to a point of being suicidal ... In this feeling of depression I could never imagine this sort of 

           torture ending’. 



15.368     He then went on to make an impassioned plea to the Committee: 



                  I am here today because I feel duty bound to be here and to make my best endeavours 

                  to see that history does not repeat itself ... I have no feeling of anger ... I do not seek 

                  revenge, I think that would be self-defeating ... the people that made me and the others 

                  suffer, I think were suffering more themselves. I had two years behind those walls, those 



           666                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 697-----------------------

                misfortunate individuals are spending their lives behind walls, and life for life means life 

                for them. 



15.369    This particular witness had a deep resentment that his confinement in Daingean was unjust in the 

          first place. He was in Daingean in the early 1950s. He had been sent there originally after he had 

          helped a friend to spend some money that had in fact been stolen. His friend was charged and 

          he was charged with him, and he was  ‘found guilty by association’. He came from a good home. 

          His father, disabled from active service in the war, was very sick, and his mother was not coping, 

          so he faced the court on his own. He was sent to Daingean for two years. Within three weeks he 

          ran home, but was picked up after spending approximately six weeks at home over the Christmas 

          period. He recounted what was done to him on his return to Daingean: 



                I had my hair shaved, my head shaved, right down (indicating) and I received a beating 

                ... This was the removal of my shirt, my upper clothes to a bare back. I was beaten across 

                my back with a leather strap to the effect that my back was bleeding. It took me a number 

                of weeks to recuperate ... my back had blistered and the marks on my back were quite 

                clear (indicating). 



15.370    The  unfairness  of  being  sent  unjustly  to  endure  such  a  harsh  regime  emerged  in  the  story  of 

          another witness. His troubles began with the death of his mother. He told the Committee: 



                It was a terrible time. There was a terrible sadness in the house. I had five sisters and 

                that we were showing it more than we were supposed to be able to, not maybe cry as 

                much or things like that. 



15.371    Shortly after that, he got involved in catching pigeons which annoyed his father, as there were too 

          many pigeons in the house and so he ran away. He explained that he had taken 40 pennies from 

          the gas meter at home before running away, and had fed himself on chips until the pennies ran 

          out after about 10 days. He explained: 



                I was found sleeping in an air raid shelter by a Garda ... I, like the young fellow I was, 

                told him all my troubles. That I was after running away from home, I was in trouble with 

                me father and it was after me catching pigeons. He said to me “don’t worry about that, 

                sure I will see your father, sure that’s nothing.” Well, what he did is not alone not see my 

                father but he added another, gave me another record of an offence, and had me up in 

                court, and within two or three weeks I was down in Daingean. 



15.372    He protested that  ‘the whole total of what I did wouldn’t have come to a pound’. He was sent to 

          Daingean for two years in the early 1940s. He felt isolated and alone. He said,  ‘You could feel 

          that there was no kind of friendliness ... you could feel that you were being looked at as if you 

          were another heap of dirt that had arrived ...’. Of the Brothers he said, ‘A lot of them were harsh, 

          but none of them ever got close for the right reasons. They never spoke to you like a human being’. 



15.373    In Daingean, he was raped by three boys and was flogged four times and endured a desolate 

          isolation. He told the Committee: 



                for a year and eight months when I was in Daingean I used to pray that I would die in the 

                night-time. It wasn’t until the last two months that I decided I am going to survive this. 



15.374    He summed up the dreadful isolation he felt by saying,  ‘... they didn’t talk to us, they didn’t have 

          conversations, it was a terrible slip-up that they didn’t have conversations’. 



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15.375    The  isolation  he  felt  due  to  this  lack  of  communication  was  perhaps  best  illustrated  when  he 

          recalled a good time in Daingean: 



                 That’s one thing that I would like to say that there was one retreat down in Daingean ... I 

                remember it, I think it was three or five days, it was a few days. There was some strange 

                priest came down and he gave it. He gave some very good sermons, it frightened the life 

                out of most of us ... One thing about him, I will always remember him, he had a stutter 

                and he used ‘A.’ If a certain word was getting him, he would just say, ‘Three a days.’ ... I 

                enjoyed those few days ... The fellows in the church, they were enjoying the sermon, it 

                 was in out of the cold. 



15.376    This simple recollection of a preacher whose sermons and stammer brought the boys in out of 

          the cold illustrates the desperate need the boys felt for human interaction. As this witness put it, 

           ‘it was a terrible slip-up they didn’t have conversations’. 



           Them and us 



15.377    Fr Luca attempted to explain the disruption of relationships between the Brothers and the boys. 

          Fr Luca wrote in his Statement to the Committee: 



                Now I was coming to a place where there was nothing but opposition ... By opposition I 

                mean there was always a danger of the boys regarding “them” and “us”. 



15.378    He was aware, in other words, of a hostility, an alienation, that created a ‘them and us’ divide with 

          the boys. In a document written in March 1972, he wrote: 



                In this frustrating situation brothers were merely warders without the physical supports of 

                a prison which led on a conflict of roles in the brother and a reluctant confusion in the 

                mind of the boys, is he a brother or is he a screw. The large numbers in such custodial 

                situations   with  declining  staff  numbers    not  only  rendered    meaningful    relationships 

                between    staff  and   boys   unattainable   but  repressive   measures     for the  purpose    of 

                containment were the order of the day. 



15.379     In his evidence to the Committee, he elaborated on this observation: 



                 When they would be at play a Brother would be on duty in the playground and looking 

                after  120  boys.  There  was  no  opportunity  to  have  any  kind  of  personal  relationship  or 

                personal contact with individuals ... it was a containment kind of situation ... it was kind of 

                 too much like a prison situation. 



15.380    Br Abran, who gave evidence to the Committee, explained the relationship in more detail. He said: 



                I think that was forced upon us by the boys themselves ... the boys would not allow us to 

                use their first names. If we called boys by their first names they were beaten up by other 

                boys because they were treated as being too familiar with the staff. In fact in the square 

                boys would not talk to you for more than two or three minutes. They would walk up and 

                down with you but they would have to leave after a definite period of time, otherwise they 

                 would be accused of snitching, to use their description, telling tales about somebody else 

                and they would be beaten up when that particular person left the square. 



15.381    At this point, he was asked if he was saying there was an alternative underground government in 

          Daingean run by the boys. Br Abran replied, ‘I would say there would be to a certain extent, yes’. 



15.382    The result of this ‘them and us’ divide was an extremely serious one. The boys were treated as 

          frangible  objects,  one  being  as  good  or  as  bad  as  the  other,  and  the  boys  who  came  from 

          hardened  families,  many  of  whom  had  a  couple  of  generations  going  through  the  reformatory 



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----------------------- Page 699-----------------------

          school system,  set the tone  for staff  relations. One witness,  who had also  been in  Artane and 

           knew the system, described how he coped with Daingean: 



                At the end of the day you went in there, you sussed the situation out. I wasn’t ... a walking 

                 angel but I knew what to do. I didn’t want to be knocked about. When I was in Artane I 

                 was a monitor in charge of other boys. I was, as I say, street wise, I taught myself. If I go 

                 down the wrong road I paid the penalty. I was already being punished by being sent to 

                 these places. Why should I add to it? 



15.383    Those boys, who could look after themselves, could cope with the two alternative governments 

          within the School. They quickly moved up from being a  ‘fish’ (a new boy) to being a bully. In the 

          world of Daingean, one witness explained, ‘...  it’s an unfortunate fact that if you don’t bully you 

          are bullied’. As another witness put it, ‘... if you were a loner you got picked on, if you are on your 

           own you are going to get slaughtered’. 



15.384     Fr Luca estimated that 50 percent of the boys were recidivists who would fall back into crime. The 

          other 50 percent did not appear in court again, but according to him, amongst them would be the 

           boys who were broken by the system. It was a harsh world, where identity became obliterated. Fr 

           Luca explained: 



                 Every boy who came into the School in those days would get a nickname, straightaway. 

                 He might not even be asked what his first name was. If he was from the country he be 

                called the name of wherever he was from, and they would not know his name. 



15.385    This system of nomenclature was confirmed to the Committee by a witness who was in Daingean 

           in the late 1950s. When asked, ‘What was this boy’s name?’ he replied: 



                 I haven’t a clue. You never knew people’s surnames. Sometimes there was that many 

                 and you wouldn’t even know their first names, it was either Dub, Corky or Jack. Unless 

                you knew somebody personally they used to keep their ethnic groups. 



15.386     Fr  Luca  recognised  the  depersonalising  effect  of  this  loss  of  individual  identity,  and  set  about 

          trying to change it. He wrote: 



                 So when I went to the School the first thing I did was to interview each boy and record 

                 his own name, but also the name of his father, mother, brother, sisters, set him into a 

                family and talked to him about the importance of family, and the importance of his name. 

                There  is  no  name  in  the  language  as  beautiful  to  you  as  your  own  name,  so  let  us 

                 respect it. 



15.387     Fr Luca went to Daingean in the mid-1960s. From 1940 to that time, it seems that these basic 

          details were not automatically recorded and nurtured. It is not surprising so many witnesses before 

          the Committee complained about being depersonalised and lonely. 



15.388    This scenario was confirmed by testimony heard by the Committee. The more fragile children felt 

          trapped, on one side being bullied by the tougher boys, and on the other living in fear of falling 

          foul of the Brothers. For these boys, Daingean was not an experience that toughened them up 

          and hardened them for more crime. For them, they felt like victims of the system. Having endured 

          such a system, these boys felt different, alienated from their families and friends. One witness 

          told the Committee of how he felt when he returned home from Daingean: 



                 My father was in 1916 and he spent a year in prison in England ... The one thing he said 

                 to me they were treated humanely, the jailors treated them humanely. I couldn’t say ... 

                 back to him that I wasn’t treated humanely because I didn’t want anybody else to suffer 

                 my agony. I didn’t want to talk or do anything ... Nobody would know what to do. 



15.389    Another witness told the Committee: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               669 


----------------------- Page 700-----------------------

                 ... it’s like men at war who experience things cannot bring these things back to people in 

                 the  street  because  people  would  not  understand  the  situation  that  they  were  in.  They 

                 dehumanised      themselves.     They   dehumanise      their  enemy     in order   to  be   able   to 

                 psychologically deal with killing them. The same is true when I came out of Daingean and 

                 I am looking at all of these people in the street and I am thinking they don’t know where 

                 I have been and they couldn’t understand me and you feel different to them and that’s 

                 why I went to England. I tried to escape. 



15.390     Fr  Murphy  in  his  evidence told  the  Committee  that,  in  the  early  1960s, Fr  Pablo,34    who  was  a 



           trained  psychologist,   ‘...  was  suggesting  changes  ...  trying  to  bring  forward  a  better  method  of 

           assessment and of treatment of these boys rather than the punitive, repressive thing’. It does not 

           need  training  in  psychology  to  recognise  that  a  boy  whose  mother  has  recently  died  needs 

           protection and guidance, while a boy from a criminal background needs containment. The system, 

           as it evolved in Daingean, treated them both the same, offering only what Fr Murphy called  ‘the 

           punitive, repressive thing’. 



15.391     In  his  evidence  to  the  Committee,  Fr  Luca  acknowledged  one  effect  of  institutional  life  on  the 

           children: 



                 ... that was one of the biggest punishments that you could give them, to take them from 

                 their own native place wherever it was and put them into a place where they didn’t want 

                 to be and to keep them there. 



           Conclusions 



15.392      1.  Daingean was a Reformatory and was run on penal lines, where repressive measures 

                were the order of day. Many complainants who gave evidence to the Committee had 

                been convicted of minor offences whose sentences seem disproportionate and would 

                not  have  been  given  to  adults  for  similar  crimes.  A  basically  unjust  system  was 

                compounded by the way the Institution was run. Hardened criminals in prisons were 

                not subjected to the violence or deprivation experienced by these boys. Prisons were 

                regulated and subject to rules and to the law, but these constraints were not enforced 

                in Daingean. 



           2.   Management had a duty to ensure that all boys were protected but this was not done. 

                Boys were isolated, frightened and bullied by both staff and inmates. 



           3.   The  boys  had  an  alternative  underground  government  which  victimised  those  who 

                engaged with Brothers. Management did nothing to break this system and appeared 

                to have acquiesced in it. 



           4.   The acknowledged failure of the staff to offer emotional support was not caused by 

                the boys but by inadequate management. 



           Neglect 



           The staff ratio of Daingean 



15.393     In the period 1940 to 1973, a total of 77 Oblates were attached to the School. On average, there 

           would be 19 Brothers and five priests in the school community. However, not all of the Brothers 

           or priests in the school community worked in the School itself. It is clear from the oral evidence 

           and documents that the staff to pupil ratio was a fundamental problem at Daingean. Many of the 

           Brothers assigned to the School were old and infirm, and played an inactive role in the day-to- 

           day running of the School. 



           34 This is a pseudonym. 



           670                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 701-----------------------

15.394     Fr Luca wrote in 1966: 



                 At present there are only nine active members of the Staff who are expected to cater at 

                 all times from seven in the morning to half-past ten at night, come what may, seven days 

                 a week. 



15.395    The Oblate records for staffing in the School in 1969 listed seven priests and 17 Brothers, but Fr 

           Luca could only rely on nine out of 24 listed staff to work in the care of the boys in Daingean. 



15.396     Fr Hughes gave evidence about staff ratios operating in Daingean: 



                 I give you two examples there, we have a staff list of 1944 which shows the presence of 

                 a population, a school population,  of 236. They were 24 Oblates in the  school ... That 

                 would indicate there was a staff ratio of one member of staff to 10 inmates. 



15.397     He also stated: 



                 Similarly in 1968, the population, the school population, of 104 shows the presence of 18 

                 Oblates ... 



15.398     However,  as  noted  above,  during  this  period  Fr  Luca  wrote  that  ‘there  are  only  nine  active 

           members of staff’. The problem clearly was worse than the records indicate. 



15.399     One witness stated: 



                 There was  probably not enough  individuals to look  after the amount  of boys that  were 

                 there, which is why so much went on there. 



15.400    Another witness, when asked about supervision in the small section at night, replied: 



                 You asked me about the supervision over boys by priests, there was no supervision over 

                 them as far as I could see ... looking at it now – there was some young men down there, 

                 some young priests in it that could handle the situations that were down there probably, 

                 but then there was a lot of older men down there, they really didn't do any work; I am 

                 talking about supervising. 



           Effects on the Brothers of inadequate staff to pupil ratio 



15.401     In their Opening Statement, the Oblates stated that staff members were over-extended in their 

           responsibilities. During the last decade of the School’s existence, the Brothers were clearly getting 

           older  and  suffering  ill-health  more  often.  This  was  a  result  of  the  Oblate  policy  of  appointing 

           members  of  their  Community  to  the  School  for  long,  indefinite  periods.  In  fact,  some  Oblate 

           Brothers  served  periods  of  up  to  50  years  in  the  School.  Fr  Luca  in  his  evidence  agreed  with 

           counsel for the Investigation Committee that the Brothers would more or less stay in Daingean for 

          their  entire  working  lives.  Some  of  the  Brothers  even  remained  in  the  School  after  retirement 

           rather than leave. These Brothers played no contributory role in the caring of the boys. 



15.402     Fr Luca, throughout his period as Resident Manager of Daingean, had serious concerns about 

           his staff and the pressure they were placed under while working at this School. In his evidence 

           and in contemporary documentation this was evident. His concerns about lack of staff numbers 

           and the effect this was having can be seen in a letter he wrote in 1966. In it he protested: 



                 At present there are only nine active members of the Staff who are expected to cater at 

                 all times from seven in the morning to half-past ten at night, come what may, seven days 

                 a week ... Br X is not named as he is full time on the farm. The average age of these men 

                 is over 40, and obviously increasing. The staff as a whole feels that under the present 

                 circumstances  they  are  unable  to  continue  much  longer  with  the  present  system.  The 

                 strain  is  regarded  as  far  too  severe,  and  unless  something  tangible  is     done  in  the 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                671 


----------------------- Page 702-----------------------

                 immediate future, they feel that they will be fit subjects for special institution themselves. 

                 That the strain is evident is obvious by the fact that six brothers in five years are sent 

                 from  here  with  nervous  breakdowns.  This  in  itself  should  be  a  raw  reminder  of  the 

                 seriousness of the situation of the already seriously understaffed school ... At present the 

                 Staff feel that they are being treated very unfairly. 



15.403     Fr Luca’s letter of concern for the stress placed on the staff of Daingean is illuminating. At no time 

           was similar concern expressed for the unfortunate boys who were there. The consequences of 

           having overworked and overstressed staff in Daingean were examined during the Phase I hearing. 

           Fr Hughes was asked about the content of the letter of Fr Luca and about the problems that could 

           result from stressed staff. When asked if this kind of strain carried with it any risks for the people 

           in the care of those under that type of strain, he replied,  ‘I suppose the men under stress might 

           snap and become abusive, it is a possibility’. He accepted that it was an undesirable situation, 

           where people working in a position of responsibility over young people were under extreme stress. 

           On the basis of this evidence, there was never an adequate staff at Daingean. 



           The administrative structure 



15.404     The  Provincial  was  the  person  in  the  Congregation  who  was  in  charge  of  the  School  and  its 

           Community. However, he discharged his duties through the Resident Manager who was also the 

           Superior of the Community in Daingean. He held office for a term of three years, but this period 

           would usually be extended for further terms. Resident Managers were appointed by the Provincial 

           with the consent of his Council. 



15.405     The  Resident  Manager  had  numerous  responsibilities  both  inside  and  outside  the  School.  His 

           responsibilities within the School extended not only to the boys resident there but also to his fellow 

           Oblates and staff. He was responsible for the administration of the complex of buildings that made 

           up Daingean, as well as a large farm at the School. Externally, the Resident Manager would liaise 

           with other Resident Managers, primarily through the Resident Managers Association, which was 

           chaired for considerable periods of time by the Manager of Daingean. 



15.406     In relation to the post of Resident Manager, the Oblates stated: 



                 while  they  had  no  special  training  for  reformatory  work,  it  would  be  wrong  to  describe 

                 these  men  as  unprepared  for  the  task.  They  all  had  personal  experience  of  living  in 

                 communities     with  a  pattern   of  education,   manual    work,   including   farm   work,  and 

                 pastoral activity. 



15.407     A  designated  priest  or  Brother,  who  maintained  an  office  in  the  School,  assisted  the  Resident 

           Manager in his duties. He would keep records, accounts and numerous records required for the 

           individual files on the boys. There was also a Brother Prefect who was responsible for dealing 

           with serious breaches of discipline. As Fr Luca stated: 



                 It was always a man who ... was healthy, strong and who could bear the brunt of that 

                 responsibility and the work that it entailed, because it meant that he would have to be on 

                 the line at anytime if there was trouble of any description. 



15.408     The   Brother   Prefect  also   had  numerous     other   time-consuming     duties.   He   would   organise 

           supervision  of  the  boys  outside  school  and  work  hours,  and  he  was  responsible  for  the  boys’ 

           correspondence and any monies sent to them. In practice, the Resident Manager left matters of 

           discipline entirely to the Brother Prefect. As Fr Luca stated: 



                 I would have to say I don’t know how many slaps they had. I never saw the boys being 

                 punished while I was there. I didn’t regard it as part of my duty to supervise that. I know 

                 that  the  boys  were  punished  and  I  know  it  was  left  to  the  prefect  to  decide  what  the 

                 punishment would be for the particular, well I don’t like to call it crime, misdemeanour. 



           672                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 703-----------------------

           Buildings and accommodation 



15.409     In their Submission, the Oblates stated that there were criticisms of the standard of the buildings 

           and accommodation in Daingean, and they stressed that the buildings were owned by and were 

          the responsibility of the State, which, despite the protestations of the Congregation, allowed the 

          facilities  to  deteriorate  and  fall  into  an  unsuitable  condition.  While  the  lease  under  which  the 

           Oblates held Daingean placed responsibility for day-to-day care and maintenance of the premises 

           on the Congregation, allowing the boys to live in filthy conditions as described by the Kennedy 

           Committee was not the responsibility of the State. 



15.410    A report compiled by Ciaran Fahy on Daingean is appended. 



           Criticism of buildings at Daingean by Dr McCabe 



15.411     From the description of the premises, it is clear that material comforts were not provided for the 

           inmates of Daingean. They lived in cold, damp, gloomy conditions, had to wash in cold water, and 

          were crowded together in unhealthy dormitories, with a laundry that could not even provide them 

          with an adequate supply of clean shirts and bed linen. 



15.412     Dr McCabe’s reports revealed many concerns about the buildings at Daingean. Her first visit to 

          the School, after the move from Glencree, was in January 1941. She wrote: 



                 At present premises will need a lot of repairing and painting. 



                 Dormitory acc. rather congested now but this will have to do until new wing built. Wash- 

                 house is being organised - Recreation hall not very suitable – old building. 



                 Equipment – fair – to be improved. 



                 Bedding to be improved – proper sheeting and blankets. 



                 Floor in refectory very defective. 



                 The water supply. There is a tank indoor which is unsuitable for drinking – warned the 

                 manager against using this supply unless it has been boiled previously. 



15.413     She stated, ‘conditions under which boys live great improvement to Glencree’. Even in this early 

           report, it is clear that the promise of a new wing, which made the existing conditions something 

          to be tolerated on a temporary basis, was a major reason for accepting the state of the School as 

           she found it. 



15.414     She visited again in October 1941, and reported a ‘gradual improvement’. But again the promise 

           of new buildings persuaded her to accept existing conditions. ‘Work-shops and Recreation Hall 

           are small’, she wrote, ‘and not suitable, but pending the new building must do’. 



15.415     By her next visit in April 1942, she found some improvement but listed very many faults: 



                 Still much can be done - 



                 Floor of refectory needs repair. Recommended for immediate action. 



                 Dormitories overcrowded – but only as a temporary measure till new Building established. 



                 Drew manager’s attention to sheets and bedclothes which could be cleaner. 



                 Lavatory Annexe ... general cleanliness is not good – drew manager’s attention to this. 



                 Clothing to be improved ... suggested lumber jackets. 



                 Farm boys very untidy looking, especially about legs – suggested small gaiters ... to be 

                 worn to keep ends of trousers dry. 



                 Suggested rubber aprons to be worn by boys in the laundry because of wet conditions 

                 their clothes were in. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                673 


----------------------- Page 704-----------------------

                  Manager hopes that new building will soon be started. 



15.416     Over a year later, in July 1943, she visited again. There was no sign of the promised new building 

           but she remained optimistic. She wrote: 



                  At  present,  as   a  purely  temporary  arrangement,  the  dormitories           are  over-crowded  - 

                  Recreation Hall is a condemned building – this must be till the new Building is erected. 



                  Sheets on beds unsatisfactory – not clean – clothing for everyday wear could be improved. 



                  The Manager has been only too eager to carry out any recommendations previously made 

                  by me - i.e. new floor in refectory – lumber. 



                  I suggest that some impetus should be given to the starting of the New Building – The 

                  dormitories are very overcrowded and the no. of boys is yearly increasing. Classrooms 

                  are small and the recreation and wash-house are just makeshift. 



15.417     Three  years  later,  in  May  1946,  there  was  more  concern  than  optimism  about  the  promised 

           building. ‘The Manager’, wrote Dr McCabe, ‘is very keen to get on with the New Building and he 

           has asked me if possible to get at B/W35         and ask them to expedite matters ... I am most anxious 



           for the new buildings to be started as soon as possible’. 



15.418     It was in November that year that the new building began to be built. She wrote, ‘It will be most 

           welcome when completed’. By 1948, the new sanitary annexe had been added, but still she was 

           writing,  ‘...  at  present  dormitory  accommodation  is  not  sufficient.  All  this  will  be  improved  with 

           New Building’. 



15.419     The new building had become the promised land that made tolerable the overcrowded, dirty and 

           squalid conditions that were the reality of life in Daingean, where neither boys nor Brothers had 

           the simple material comforts needed in a residential school. Other documents revealed an even 

           worse picture. 



           35 Board of Works. 



           674                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 705-----------------------

          The Dormitories 

          Source: Martin Reynolds 



          The state of the premises as revealed in discovered documents 

15.420    On 7th  July 1948, the Resident Manager wrote in desperation to the Inspector of Industrial Schools, 



          when  he  learned  that  the  second  half  of  the  ‘New  Dormitory  and  Ablution  Room’  was  to  be 

          deferred. He pleaded: 



               This decision is so upsetting to our work for the boys here, that I would venture to ask 

               that our case be re-considered. 



                (1) When we moved from Glencree to Daingean in 1940, our present Dormitories were 

                only approved by the Department Medical Inspector as a purely temporary arrangement. 

               The   buildings  where   our  boys  sleep   were  never   meant   for dormitories.  They   are 

                overcrowded, and badly ventilated. 



15.421    The West Wing, he pointed out, was nearing completion, but the drainage scheme was for both 

          wings and could not be constructed for only one. This led to his second point: 



                (2) I would point out, also, that the temporary ablution room (where all the boys wash at 

                present) is very unsafe. The walls are leaning outwards at more than six inches from the 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                         675 


----------------------- Page 706-----------------------

                  perpendicular.  The  Board  of  Works  Architect  ...  will  confirm  that  this  ablution  room  is 

                  definitely unsafe and should be demolished as soon as possible. 



15.422     The  boys  were  accommodated  in  what  was  always  the  Brothers’  sleeping  quarters,  and  the 

           Brothers  were  badly  accommodated  in  different  parts  of  the  building.  Nobody,  in  short,  was 

           properly accommodated in Daingean. 



15.423     On receipt of this letter, a flurry of correspondence ensued between the Department of Education 

           and  the  Department  of  Finance  and,  in  June  1949,  the  Department  of  Finance  sanctioned  the 

           building of the East Wing on the condition that the Department of Education were willing ‘to defer 

           some other building project involving approximately the like amount’ of money (£26,500) which 

           they would have been seeking in the 1950/1951 Estimates. 



15.424     The building of the East Wing created a new problem, as explained in a Department of Education 

           memorandum of 10th  April 1953. It stated: 



                  As  regards  the  new  Recreation  ground;  this  has  become  necessary  because  the  new 

                  wings have taken up a big part of the space formerly available to the boys and has left 

                  the  present    recreation   ground    inadequate     and   unsuitable    from   the  point  of  view   of 

                  supervision. The old bootshop cuts right across the ground now available and makes it 

                  impossible to supervise these boys. One portion of this remaining ground is several feet 

                  below the other portion ... 



                                                                                                                               ´ 

15.425     Furthermore,      in  a  letter  of  October    1953    to  the  Resident     Manager,     the  Inspector,    Mr   O 

           Siochfhradha, criticised the state of the laundry. He said: 

             ´ 



                  the Department is not satisfied that a change of shirts every second week and a change 

                  of sheets every six weeks is sufficient for the cleanliness and hygiene of the boys. They 

                  should have a change of shirt every week and sheets should be changed at least every 

                  three weeks. The boys should also have special night attire, either pyjamas or night shirts. 



15.426     He added, ‘The school laundry is far from being sufficient to meet the needs of the school’. The 

           remodelling of this laundry was first proposed in April 1940, over 13 years previously. 



15.427     The condition of the building is further considered in connection with the factors leading to the 

           closure of the School. It is clear from these accounts that the state of the building, from its opening 

           in 1940 to the middle of the 1950s, was far from adequate. The boys were crowded together in 

           the dormitories, and it became impossible to supervise them effectively. The implications of this, 

           on the behaviour of the boys in Daingean, was quite apparent from the documentary evidence 

           and the evidence heard at the hearings. 



15.428     When the Kennedy Report was published in 1970, one of its major recommendations as regards 

           Daingean was the following: 



                  We    find   the   present    Reformatory      system     completely     inadequate.      St.  Conleth’s 

                  Reformatory, Daingean, should be closed at the earliest possible opportunity and replaced 

                  by modern Special Schools conducted by trained staff. 



15.429     Chapter 6, paragraph 6.29 of the Report outlined the factors that had led to this recommendation. 

           It is quoted here in full: 



                  St Conleth’s, Daingean 



                  6.29 This Reformatory is housed in a 200 year old former military barracks. An additional 

                  wing  was  built  in  the  post-war  period  but  the  building  is  basically  old  and  completely 

                  unsuitable for the purpose for which it is being used. The kitchen and refectory are situated 

                  in what were formally the stables and are depressing and decayed. On inspection, the 



           676                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 707-----------------------

                toilets were dirty and insanitary. The showers were corroded through lack of use and the 

                 hot water system was so inadequate that the boys seldom if ever washed in hot water. 

                When it was first inspected the boys were ill-dressed and dirty and there was a general 

                 air of neglect about the place. To be fair, the Committee would point out again that the 

                capitation rate paid was completely inadequate. 



                The Committee members were so perturbed about conditions at St. Conleth’s that they 

                sent a request to the Minister for Education asking that immediate specific steps be taken 

                to ameliorate conditions there. It is understood that certain of these recommendations are 

                 in hand. 



                These, however, are only short-term measures. We feel strongly that no alterations can 

                 bring St. Conleth’s into line with modern thought on Reformatories. 



                 In the first place it is much too institutional in lay-out, secondly it is badly situated, being 

                40 miles from Dublin in a spot which is poorly served by transport. Most of the children in 

                 St. Conleth’s come from Dublin and, as suggested elsewhere in this chapter, a reformatory 

                would  be  much  more  effective  if  sited  close  to  a  large  centre  of  population  where  the 

                 ancillary services required would be available. The Oblate Fathers, who are in charge of 

                 St. Conleth’s, have themselves recommended such a move. 



                 It is recommended that St. Conleth’s be closed at the earliest possible moment. 



15.430     It is of interest to note that Kennedy’s opinion, that ‘a reformatory would be much more effective 

           if  sited  close  to  a  large  centre  of  population  where  the  ancillary  services  required  would  be 

          available’, actually repeated a recommendation made in the Cussen Report, published in 1936. 

          That  Report  had  recommended,  ‘Whenever  practicable,  and  at  the  discretion  of  the  Justice, 

          children should be sent to Industrial Schools as near as possible to their homes’. 



15.431    When     Daingean     was    being   considered    as   an   alternative   to  Glencree,    in  1939,    this 

           recommendation was ignored. It was then argued that: the distance would have the advantage of 

           preventing undesirable visits (from boys’ former companions) which were taking place at present 

          at Glencree; parents would not mind travelling by bus to Daingean occasionally; and that a system 

          of permits might be arranged, which would possibly entitle them to reduced bus fares. 



15.432     Neither Kennedy nor Cussen would have shared this opinion. 



15.433    A few of the documents written by some of the members of the Kennedy Committee have survived, 

          and they remain the best objective account of the conditions at Daingean at the time. The most 

           important document is the letter sent by the Committee to the Department of Education, which is 

           mentioned within the report itself. It contained some of the most trenchant criticisms ever made 

          about a school. There were five main problems that needed to be addressed immediately: 



                 1. The building was grubby, with open drains and dirty yards disturbingly near the kitchen. 



                2. The building was cold with an inadequate heating system. 



                 3.  The  boys  were  unwashed  with  ingrained  dirt  on  their  bodies,  and  were  seemingly 

                verminous. 



                4. Their clothing was extremely ill-fitting, oddly matched, old, dirty and rather tattered. 



                5. The beds had discoloured bed linen and threadbare blankets. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               677 


----------------------- Page 708-----------------------

15.434     In view of the extremely serious nature of the criticisms made, the text of this letter is given in full: 



                  Dear Secretary, 

                  Following the Committee’s visit to St. Conleth’s Reformatory School in Daingean on 28th 



                                                ´ 

                  February,    Mr.   Tomas     O   Floinn,   Assistant    Secretary,    attended     the  meeting     of  the 

                                           ´ 

                  Committee on 19th  April so that the members might outline certain features of the present 



                  situation in Daingean, which they considered to require immediate amelioration. 



                                                                   ´ 

                  At  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting,  Mr.  O  Floinn  suggested  that  the  matters  discussed 

                  should be conveyed in writing to the Department, so that they might be sympathetically 

                  considered and I am now doing as he suggested. 



                  The Committee has not yet formulated final views on St. Conleth’s and consequently feel 

                  precluded  at present  from  advocating any  sweeping  steps  involving heavy  expenditure 

                  which in time could prove nugatory. They do feel, however, that some immediate interim 

                  action is very necessary to improve conditions there. 



                  The premises gave a general appearance of grubbiness and, while allowances must be 

                  made    for  the   older   sector   of  the  buildings,   even    the  newer    portion   was    not  very 

                  presentable. In particular the kitchen/refectory area, with its open drains and dirty yards 

                  adjacent, was very disturbing and the ware used for the boys meals was in particularly 

                  poor   condition.    In  regard   to   the  buildings,   we    are   not  advocating     any   expensive 

                  redecoration,    but   a  thorough    cleaning    of  the  premises     and   its maintenance      in  that 

                  condition would seem to be in order. 



                  The buildings were noticeably cold. The visitors wore overcoats throughout and were still 

                  conscious of the prevailing low temperature. The Resident Manager freely admitted that 

                  the  heating  system  was  inadequate.  This  is  a  feature  which  should  not  be  allowed  to 

                  continue and some effective interim auxiliary heating should be provided. 



                  The boys presented a dirty, unwashed appearance – even to the extent of ingrained dirt 

                  and seemingly verminous hair. It was admitted that they were disinclined to wash and the 

                  lack of hot water was mentioned as a contributory factor. It was obvious to the visitors 

                  that the showers were hardly used. The vocational teachers drew attention to the lack of 

                  facilities for the boys to wash up after work in the shops and to the absence of proper 

                  protective  clothing.  The  formative  value  of  high  standards  of  personal  cleanliness  is 

                  obvious and immediate action should be undertaken to correct the prevailing neglect in 

                  this respect and to provide the facilities which would encourage an improvement. 



                  The boys were attired in extremely ill-fitting, oddly matched, old, dirty and rather tattered 

                  clothes. We do not overlook the difficulties there in providing clothing, nor the extent to 

                  which  clothing  provided  is  subject  to  abuse,  but  in  the  interests  of  fostering  the  boys’ 

                  personal dignity, the present situation should be radically improved. It is suggested that 

                  the boys be outfitted in a more modern idiom and a “jeans and pullover” outfit, such as 

                  we have seen widely used in Britain, might well merit consideration. Underclothing and 

                  the  substitution  of  pyjamas  for  night  shirts  might  also  be  considered.  Discoloured  bed 

                  linen and the thread-bare condition of the blankets gives cause for concern. 



                  On the basis of one visit, we hesitate to comment on diet, beyond stating that on Ash 

                  Wednesday – the day of our visit – the boys main meal consisted of chipped potatoes, 

                  bread and tea and they were universally vocal that the quantity of food served to them on 

                  the  occasion  of  our  visit  was  far  in  excess  of  what  would  normally  be  in  the  case. 

                  Committee members commented on the absence of eggs from the menu, although they 

                  had been shown an extensive “egg-battery” adjacent. 



                  Early  consideration  to  recognising  the  school  as  a  special  school  for  the  handicapped 

                  would cater more realistically for the needs of the boys receiving instruction. It would also 

                  afford  the  higher  teacher-pupil  ratio,  which  the  educational  condition  of  the  boys  so 

                  urgently needs. The vocational teachers complained that their equipment was not alone 



           678                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 709-----------------------

                  inadequate     but  dangerous      and   there   would    appear    to  be   considerable     scope    for 

                  immediate improvement in this field. 



                  In  the  course  of  discussion  with  the  Committee  as  a  whole,  the  Resident  Manager 

                  disclosed  that  punishment  was  administered  with  a  leather  on  the  buttocks,  when  the 

                  boys  were  attired  in  their  night  shirts  and  that  at  times  a  boy  might  be  undressed  for 

                  punishment.  At  this  juncture,  the  Committee  does  not  wish  to  elaborate  on  corporal 

                  punishment as such but would urge that the practice of undressing boys for punishment 

                  be  discontinued.  In  this  regard,  attention  is  invited  to  the  amendment  in  recent  times 

                  following the Court Lees incident of the British Home Office regulations regarding corporal 

                  punishment in Approved Schools which specifies that punishment, if administered on the 

                  buttocks, should be applied through the boys’ normal clothing. 



                  It will be   greatly   appreciated    if you    will look   into  the  question    of  providing   these 

                  improvements listed at the earliest possible moment. It is felt that they are the minimum 

                  necessary to render the school reasonably acceptable as a Reformatory. 



                  Yours sincerely, 



                  EILEEN KENNEDY 



                  Chairman. 



15.435     There is another document dated 10th          March 1968, written by one of the Committee members, Mr 



           H. B. Early, from the Department of Justice. His notes add detail and further criticisms to those 

           voiced in the letter. Under the sub-heading, ‘Some thoughts on Daingean’ he wrote: 



                  1. STAFF: Appears to have lost interest in their work – on duty 24 hours per day 7 days 

                  a week – living in isolation – little or no contact with the local community or with modern 

                  thinking in the field of child care. Religious staff sent to school for 5 years and there they 

                  remain except for a short annual holiday (?). Not sufficient to maintain proper supervision. 



                  Religious staff: did not appear to be suitable. 



                  Lay staff – teaching – tend to change annually except for woodworking teacher – teachers 

                  tend to come directly from training college – takes months to adjust themselves to dealing 

                  with difficult children and bad equipment. 



                  Lay staff – non-teaching – elderly – unsuitable. 



                  2.  BUILDINGS:  Property  of  the  Board  of  Works:  -  they  appear  to  have  no  interest  in 

                  the place. 



                  Old – difficult if not impossible to adapt. Little or nothing can be done with them. 



                  3. EQUIPMENT: Poor and insufficient. 



                  4. RECORDS: Inadequate – not kept up to date – staff too busy. Good filing system but 

                  little in the files. 



                  5. BOYS: Very forward – proud and boastful of their past activities. Surprised that over 

                  50% never get into any more trouble considering the environment of the school. 



                  6. FOOD: Not sufficient – wrong kind. 



                  7. CLOTHING: Poor but it is expensive to keep growing boys adequately dressed. 



                  8. CLEANNESS: Boys dirty due to lack of supervision and hot water. School leaves much 

                  to be desired. It needs to be properly cleaned/ scrubbed from top to bottom particularly 

                  the toilets and kitchen area. The present condition is not due to lack of finance but to an 

                  attitude  of  mind  –  they  are  used  to  dirt  –  they  cannot  see  dirt.  A  woman’s  influence 

                  is necessary. 



                   Immediate action is necessary to deal with waste disposal from the kitchen. The present 

                  method is most unhealthy. A new (hot) water system is essential. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     679 


----------------------- Page 710-----------------------

                 9.  GENERAL:  The  school  appears  to  offer  little  to  the  boys  who  appear  to  have  little 

                 respect for the staff. 



                 The boys arrive – little is known about them when they do arrive – they are kept for an 

                 average stay of 18 months  – they leave – little or nothing is done for them to face the 

                 outside world. They seem to leave, as they have entered, with the same complaint against 

                 society. What society had done is to get them out of sight and mind for 18 months. Society 

                 has not solved the boys’ problems but has put them on the long finger. The only difference 

                 is that after 18 months we have a greater problem on our hands. 



15.436     What he adds to the Kennedy Report is his opinion that the dirt and squalor were not due to lack 

           of finance, but to ‘lack of supervision’ and ‘an attitude of mind’. He also identified the poor quality 

           of the staff and the inadequate aftercare provided. 



15.437     In the Emergence hearing, Fr Murphy said, ‘The Kennedy Report in 1970 mentioned St. Conleth’s. 

           They  highlighted  two  things  in  that  report:  The  state  of  the  buildings  and  the  clothing  of  the 

           children’. His colleague, Fr Hughes, when questioned about the Kennedy Committee’s criticism 

           that the showers were rusty through lack of use, rejected the Committee’s criticism, saying: 



                 There is no evidence that the Kennedy Committee did a very thorough examination of the 

                 premises, they descended on it as a group, there is no evidence that they made a very 

                 careful examination of everything ... 



15.438     Fr Luca, who was Resident Manager at the time, gave a different version. He said in evidence 

           that he got two day’s notice of the visit and that they did not  ‘land on the doorstep unannounced’. 

           Fr Hughes urged the Investigation Committee to read instead the  ‘much more careful report’ of 

           Dr Lysaght who ‘made a report there in 1966 after a very careful investigation, it is a very nuanced 

           report and I think one would accept his observations as being fair and just’. He went on to explain 

           that Dr Lysaght: 



                 went there specifically to do an investigation. He did a very careful and very honest and 

                 objective report which is far from being totally favourable but at the same time it has its 

                 nuances. I think one would have to accept it. 



           Dr Lysaght’s report on St Conleth’s, Daingean, 1966 



15.439     Given that Dr Lysaght’s report has the imprimatur of the Oblates, it is worth looking at it in some 

           detail. It is a comprehensive document, involving 16 pages of tightly written manuscript. Dr Lysaght 

           replaced   Dr  McCabe     as  the  Medical    Inspector  in  the  Department     of Education.    He   visited 

           Daingean on 3rd  June 1966. In his conclusion, Dr Lysaght summarised his views as follows: 



                 I have indicated in this report by my comments where I regard the faults in this institution 

                 are  to  be  found.  Broadly  they  are  in  connection  with  food  and  clothing.  In  this  latter 

                 connection I am seeking to avoid, but with difficulty, comparison with senior boys industrial 

                 schools. It is probably the case that the same care for clothes cannot be expected from 

                 the type of boy here. In any event they are untidy, poorly dressed, unkempt by comparison 

                 with the four senior boys industrial schools I have so far seen. The kitchen, food storage, 

                 wash up and dining room are unsuitable in regard to structure, decoration & equipment. 



15.440     He reported that the School was authorised for 250 boys. There were 122 present on the date 

           of inspection. 



           680                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 711-----------------------

15.441     He   then   very   simply   described     the  equipment     as,  on   the  whole,    poor.   He   found   that  the 

           infrastructure of the dormitories, which had been recently built, was fine, but the beds, sheets and 

           blankets were often substandard, and grubby. The junior toilets were smelly and messy. The items 

           that needed regular supervision, cleaning and laundering, in other words, were showing neglect. 



15.442     The kitchens received a close examination. Dr Lysaght summarised his findings: 



                  Altogether the kitchen section is a poor effort – it is unsuitable in its structure, inadequate 

                  in its equipment and while it is impossible to be critical of personnel forced to work under 

                  such   conditions  I   would   feel  that  the  brother    cook   would  benefit    by  instruction  and 

                  experience of other kitchens. 



                  Dining Room Poorly lighted, low ceiling room adjoining kitchen. While it is also in an old 

                  building & suffers from the disadvantage of poor lighting and low ceiling I feel its general 

                  air of dinginess & old work house atmosphere could be improved by an intelligent use of 

                  decoration  and  paint  on  the  room  and  furniture.  The  one  thing  it  has  is  plenty  of  wall 

                  space and it is capable of taking many more tables. 



15.443     Then  Dr  Lysaght  turned  his  attention  to  the  food  itself,  and  was  in  general  critical  of  the  diet 

           provided, for example: 

                  As regards breakfast with the exception of Sunday it is just tea and B & B36                  – it seems 



                  unusual that porridge & milk is not provided on any morning. Another unusual feature is 

                  that  despite having  their own  farm and  a battery  egg system  eggs only  appear on  the 

                  menu once i.e. Sunday morning breakfast. In contrast to industrial schools fruit in season 

                  does not appear on the menu at all. Cheese a most valuable and cheap form of protein 

                  food only appears once for Friday tea. I see no reason why it should not be made available 

                  on the one other evening when meat is not served for tea viz – Sunday. 



                  It would seem to me that the whole question of food, cooking, service, kitchen and dining 

                  room facilities etc call for consideration and efforts to improve the present position. As in 

                  most male religious institutions the food departments lag behind those in most institutions 

                  run by nuns. – they are operated in a rough and ready style & do not approach in any 

                  way kitchen departments under the control of women, whether nuns or lay. 



15.444     Turning his attention to the state of the boys’ clothing, he found much to be desired: 



                  Clothing - I was not impressed by their general appearance. 



15.445     When he looked at the medical records, it was the paucity of information that drew his criticism. 

           He did not know whether the absence of information was due to the School having healthy children 

           or  due  to  omission.  In  particular,  the  lack  of  any  record  of  inoculations  or  measures  against 

           infectious  diseases  concerned  him.  There  was  no  nurse  in  the  Institution  at  the  time  of  Dr 

           Lysaght’s inspection, but it was hoped to employ one in the near future, and this he hoped would 

           bring about an improvement in the recording of information on the boys’ medical cards. 



15.446     Finally, Dr Lysaght was very critical of the lack of hot water in the washroom and showers and, 

           although he inspected during the summer, the heating was inadequate. 



           36 Bread and butter. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        681 


----------------------- Page 712-----------------------

          Washroom 

          Source: Martin Reynolds 



15.447    All  of  the  criticisms  made  by  the  members  of  the  Kennedy  Committee  are  to  be  found  in  Dr 

          Lysaght’s report. They both found that: 



                 •   The boys were grubby and unkempt. 

                 •   Clothing was poor and torn, worse than in other schools. 

                 •   Showers were inadequate. 

                 •   The building was cold and poorly heated. 

                 •   Food was adequate in quantity but mostly carbohydrate. Despite having a battery farm 

                      producing eggs they were infrequently served to the boys. 



                 •   Most of the building was dingy and dark. 

                 •   Beds and sheets were poorly kept, and many were dirty and had threadbare blankets. 



15.448    Dr Lysaght has criticisms not found in Kennedy, for example the inadequacy of medical records. 

          The  only  criticism in  Kennedy   not  also  found  in  Lysaght  is  the condemnation     of corporal 



          682                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 713-----------------------

           punishment.    Yet,  the  Oblates  found    Lysaght  careful    and  balanced    and   ‘one   would  have    to 

           accept it’. 



15.449     Apart  from  the  issue  of  corporal  punishment,  they  appear  to  have  found  the  same  things  but 

           reached a different conclusion about whether the School was fit to remain open. The Department 

           of  Education had  enough information  from their  Inspector to  reach a  decision on  the matter  in 

           1966.  What  we  do  learn  from  comparing  the  two  reports  is  that  between  1966  and  1968  no 

           improvements were made, and possibly matters had deteriorated. 



           Education 



15.450     The  lack  of  teaching  staff  and  teaching  Brothers  affected  the  level  of  education  offered  to  the 

           boys. Daingean, for the majority of its existence, never had an adequate teaching regime to cater 

           for the requirements and needs of its pupils. The issue of education given to the boys in Daingean 

           had always been a contentious and problematic one. The Department of Education wrote in 1967: 



                 the educational aspects of this reformatory school for boys in Daingean, Co. Offaly, has 

                 been  shamefully  neglected  over  many  years.  The  boys  were  illiterate  on  entering  the 

                 school and were given very little education during their two years of normal time in the 

                 institute. As a  result of financial restrictions, the directors  had to make use of  them as 

                 labourers. It is proposed now to put an end this neglect. 



15.451     The  Oblates  in  their  Opening  Statement  stated  that  the  Brothers  and  other  members  of  staff 

           always   provided    certain  classroom    education    in  the  usual   subjects   of  the  primary   school 

           programme.  There  was  also  vocational  training  in  various  trades  and  occupations  given  by 

           Brothers   of  the  staff, for example,    carpentry,   tailoring, shoemaking,     printing,  and   farm   and 

           garden work. 



15.452     For  the majority  of the  School’s history,  however, Daingean  had only  one or  two lay  teachers, 

           paid for by the Oblates, to cater for the primary educational needs of its entire population of boys. 

           Two  lay technical  teachers  were  supplied and  paid  for in  1946  by  Offaly Vocational  Education 

           Committee. These taught the manual subjects in the School. A 1966 report, written in order to 

           seek the establishment of a primary school in Daingean, gave the figures relating to the education 

           of the boys: 



                  •    30 boys received metal or woodwork instruction. 

                  •    25 boys received secular instruction in a lay teacher’s class. 

                  •    The School had 112 residents in residence at this time. The remainder of the boys (60 

                        in number) who do not receive technical or primary education spend their time working. 



                  •    This report concluded that every boy resident in the School was in need of a primary 

                        education, and a primary school for Daingean was justified. 



15.453     Therefore, up to 50 percent of the boys in Daingean were not receiving any formal education in 

           Daingean  in  1966.  This  is  reflected  in  the  evidence  given  to  the  Investigation  Committee,  with 

           numerous  witnesses  stating  that  the  education  they  received  in  Daingean  was  poor  to  non- 

           existent. Throughout the 1960s in Daingean, and in particular during Fr Luca’s period as Resident 

           Manager, attempts were made to improve this situation. 



15.454     Change in the school subjects developed on a modest level, and extra classes were provided. The 

           Oblates said that this was done at the request of the boys to stop the boredom of the playground. A 

           prolonged  debate  between  the  Department  of  Education  and  the  Oblate  authorities  led  to  the 

           recognition of a special national school in Daingean. However, it would close three years later. 

           With the advent of the national school, the teaching numbers were increased, and it was proposed 

           to recognise the School under the national school grouping and to pay the teachers. This was 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  683 


----------------------- Page 714-----------------------

           implemented on 5th      January 1970, and Daingean was recognised as a special national school, 



           with four teachers under the management of Fr Luca. 



15.455     Fr Hughes blamed the State for this neglect of education: 



                  It did not supply any funds for teachers or for anything else, it was just left entirely to the 

                  school to find its resources from the capitation grant. 



15.456     The boys sent to Daingean were older than the upper age-limit for national school education and, 

           therefore, it did not receive a national school grant from the Department of Education until 1967. 

           Many  priests  and  Brothers  lived  in  the  community  in  Daingean,  and  were  supported  by  the 

           capitation  grant,  who  did  not  contribute  to  the  care  of  the  boys,  and  it  would  not  have  added 

           greatly  to  the  costs  of  the  School  for  them  to  have  helped  with  the  basic  schooling  of  these 

           deprived boys. 



           Vocational training in various trades and occupations 



15.457     In his 1966 report, Dr Lysaght listed the following teaching staff: 



                  2 lay teachers for technical subjects 



                  1 lay teacher i/c Primary School. 



                  2 part time teachers include 



                     Art drawing Mrs K...; 



                     Arts & Craft & Cookery Miss M.... 



                  The  introduction of  these  women to  the  teaching  staff has  had  I was  told  a very  good 

                  effect on the boys. 



15.458     Boys were in Daingean usually for two years and would be available for only one full school year, 

           and, as a result, Fr Hughes told the Committee:  ‘The boys did not have a great success in getting 

           certificates’. Moreover, he added: 



                  the equipment was rather poor. The equipment of course had to be supplied by the school, 

                  again out of the capitation grant, it was never funded by the State ... Another big reason 

                  ... was the difficult of attracting good teachers. The teachers for the technical school were 

                  provided   by   the  Offaly   Vocations    Committee      ... That  was    the  only   element    of  the 

                  educational programme that was paid for ... 



15.459     Fr Hughes agreed with counsel for the Investigation Committee that it would be fair to suggest 

           that the educational aspect of the boys’ time in Daingean was not particularly enlightening. He 

           continued: 



                  Yes. Again you have to remember the capacity of the boys too, it would be naive to think 

                                                                                                               ¨ 

                  one could achieve a great deal in that context. 



15.460     By their own assessment, then, the Oblates did not provide vocational training in various trades 

           and occupations. Over half the boys spent their time working on the farm and bog. 



           Finance 



15.461     Integral to the whole issue of neglect is the question of finance. Financial Consultants, Mazars, 

           were  asked  to  analyse  the  financial  position  of  Daingean,  and  their  report  and  the  Oblates’ 

           submission on this issue, in addition to other relevant documents and a commentary, appear in 

           Part IV. What can be stated is that the numbers in Daingean, right up until the late 1960s, were 

           adequate to ensure that the capitation grant could provide a basic standard of care for the boys 

           there. Taking  into account the  income from  the large and  productive farm and  the work  of the 



           684                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 715-----------------------

           boys, especially on the bog, it is clear that lack of funding was not an excuse for the very poor 

           standard of care provided. 



           Conclusions 



15.462    •     The  conditions  of  neglect  and  squalor  described  by  Dr  Lysaght  and  the  Kennedy 

                Committee      were   the  responsibility    of  the  management       of  the  School.    Inadequate 

                buildings and the consequent overcrowding would undoubtedly have taxed the most 

                efficient   Manager,     but   dirt, hunger,     shabbiness     and    lack   of  supervision     were 

                management issues, and these were all present at Daingean. 



          •     Daingean represented a failure of the Department of Education to carry out its statutory 

                function of supervision and inspection. 



           The closure of Daingean and the move to Scoil Ard Mhuire, Lusk 



15.463     In his Statement, Fr Luca stated that, some time before his term as Manager in Daingean was 

           completed,  plans  were  being  made  to  move  from  the  School  in  Daingean  to  a  new  school  in 

           Lusk (Oberstown). Unlike Daingean, the new school was to have a board of management with 

           representatives from the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and the Department 

           of Education. 



15.464    The School was run on a day-to-day basis by the Oblate Order on behalf of the Department of 

           Education.  A  Director  was  appointed  to  manage  the  School,  and  he  officially  acted  as  School 

           Manager. The School had a maximum of 45 boys. 



15.465    The site at Lusk was sold to the Department of Education by the Oblates. The new school was 

           named Scoil Ard Mhuire. The vast majority of the Oblate staff, according to Fr Luca, did not want 

          to work at Oberstown. Furthermore, it was felt by the Oblate Provincial Council that ‘if many of 

          these brothers went to Oberstown it would be just more of the same old pattern’, as they would 

           not take well to the new system the School was developing in childcare. 



           The transfer of the boys from Daingean to Scoil Ard Mhuire 

15.466     Daingean officially closed on 16th    November 1973, and the boys were mostly transferred to Scoil 

          Ard  Mhuire,  Lusk.  Daingean  Reformatory  was  handed  back  to  the  Board  of  Works  on  30th 



           November 1973. However, an Oblate community continued to live in the convent building at the 

           gate,  which  was  transferred  to  the  Oblates  against  the  surrender  of  their  lease  in  the  main 

           property. According to figures from the Oblates, the total number of boys in the Reformatory in 

           1973 was 25. 



           On the impossibility of change 



15.467     In November 1958, Dr McCabe wrote: 

                 This reformatory has greatly improved now that B/W37         have given the necessary facilities 



                 for dividing up the Play Yard into proper supervision ... The Rector ... has only recently 

                 returned   from  America    where    he  made    a  Study   of Juvenile   Delinquency     and  was 

                 impressed by all he saw there and hopes to incorporate it in his work at Daingean. He is 

                 anxious to divide up the school into smaller units. He saw several improvements he could 

                 incorporate in operation of his own scheme in the dining room in self-service hatches. He 

                 is quite refreshed and anxious to make further improvements in Daingean. He considers 

                 that on the whole Daingean compares very favourably with such institutions in America 



          37 Board of Works. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                685 


----------------------- Page 716-----------------------

                  and  considers  that  the  type  of  boy  he  deals  with  is  not  as  vicious  or  depraved  as  the 

                  American youth - no drug addicts. 



15.468     As early as 1958, the idea of dividing up the large institutions into groups was being talked about. 

           When Fr Luca was in Daingean in the early 1960s, he raised the issue again. He wrote in his 

           Statement: 



                  I had a whole lot of ideas for Daingean and what should be done with it. How to break up 

                  the large group, there were a 120 or 150 boys in this group at the time and I thought it 

                  would be much better to build units out around the various fields and break them up. 



15.469     Fr Luca blamed the Departments of Education and Justice for the inability to introduce change. 

           He wrote: 



                  The State was quite happy as long as we kept the lid on Daingean – took in all the boys 

                  who went through the courts, said nothing, and kept them there ... There was no public 

                  interest at  that time ...  There was  nothing about the  treatment of those  boys and,  in a 

                  way, whatever treatment they got was good enough for them, that was the attitude. 



15.470     He made more precise criticisms in the same submission. He wrote: 



                  there  was  a  mirage  in  the  distance  of  a  whole  re-modelled  Daingean.  They  built  the 

                  dormitories and washrooms and the two practical classes for woodwork and metalwork 

                  and there it halted ... my view was that it wasn’t so much buildings that had to be change 

                  although it would be helpful, but it was the attitudes that had to be changed. Because if 

                  the attitude of the Dept. of Education and the Dept. of Justice ... then underneath that the 

                  Gardai and the Courts, if these were going to remain the same there wasn’t much use in 

                         ´ 

                  looking for a change ... 



                  ...  I  felt  that  a  different  less  institutional  model  might  be  acceptable  and  that  wasn’t 

                  acceptable either to the Department or to the Commission for the hierarchy. 



15.471     In  the   discovery    from   the   Department     of  Education,     an   interesting   document     emerged      in 

           correspondence  written  after  a       deputation  from  Daingean  had  gone  to           see  the  Minister  for 

           Education. During the war, large numbers of boys had been sent to Daingean, filling the School 

           to its capacity of 250 boys. When the war ended, numbers began to fall dramatically and, on 2nd 



           March 1950, Fr Ricardo, Superior General of the Oblate Congregation, and Fr Pedro, Resident 

           Manager of Daingean, met with the Minister for Education and his team to discuss the problem of 

           reduced numbers in Daingean. The Oblates made the following points: 



                    1.   The  chances  of  a  boy’s  reform  are  in  inverse  proportion  to  the  number  of  chances 

                         given to the boy by the District Justice. Every new offence contributes to habit, and 

                         boys are now under the impression they have a right to be let off three times under 

                        the  First  Offenders  Act.  They  wanted  the  Department  of  Justice  to  be  brought  into 

                         discussions  to  make  the  District  Justice  aware  of  an  agreed  plan,  and  make  him 

                         “inclined to commit the boys for a period that would suit the course”. 



                    2.   The falling numbers meant falling income under the capitation system. They wanted a 

                         grant on a sliding scale once the numbers fell below 200. 



                    3.   Father Ricardo stated he would like to be able to appoint a special priest to deal with 

                        the children during their recreation period. 



                    4.   Father Pedro stated that the two-year period of detention is scarcely long enough to 

                        train boys properly in preparation for trades. 



15.472     On 29th  April 1950, the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools drafted a reply to all these 



           points   to  his  colleague     in  the  Department.      The   letter  contained    forthright   criticism  of  the 

           reformatory school system, which can be summarised as follows: 



           686                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 717-----------------------

                    (1)   Reformatory schools did not fulfil the purpose for which they were established. There 

                          was something wrong in the system. 



                    (2)   The need for a special priest in a reformatory was not even worth discussing, as such 

                          a man did not fit the bill. 



                    (3)   Boys should not be retained longer for the type of training they receive at Daingean, 

                          as it was not going to prepare them for trades. Such a suggestion, he opined, might 

                          have been made to increase the income of the Institution. 



                    (4)   Vocational school training was more appropriate to the needs of the boys, and more 

                          teachers of woodwork and metalwork were needed. 



                    (5)   The Oblates needed to be educated as much as the boys, as they knew little about 

                          the value of practical subjects or the training of boys. 



                    (6)   The  authorities  of  the  industrial  schools  were  no  better,  and  they  would  only  be 

                          convinced of the need for change by example, and changing the Reformatory may 

                          do that. 



15.473     These  criticisms  were  made  in  1950,  yet  the  industrial  and  reformatory  schools  continued  to 

           function as they had always done, until the Kennedy Report in 1970 forced them to change or 

           close down. A key question is why the Department of Education was unable to adopt this approach 

           as its policy. 



15.474      It is clear from this memorandum that the Department felt it was the Orders that were resisting 

           change,  while  in  the  1960s  Fr  Luca  believed  the  Government  Departments  were  to  blame  for 

           stifling innovative thinking. 



15.475      In their General Statement, the Oblates quoted from Patrick Clancy’s article, ‘Education Policy’, 

           on this matter.38    He wrote: 



                  Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Irish education system is the level of church 

                  involvement  and  control.  Church  control  of  education  is  rooted  in  the  ownership  and 

                  management of schools. After independence in 1922, the new state institutionalized the 

                  denominational      school    system    which    it inherited.   Successive     ministers    of  education 

                  adopted the view that the role of the state in education was a subsidiary one of aiding 

                  agencies  such  as  the  churches  in  the  provision  of  educational  facilities.  The  classic 

                  expression of this position is outlined in Minister of Education, Richard Mulcahy’s speech 

                           ´ 

                        ´ 

                  to Dail Eireann in 1956: 



                     ‘Deputy    Moylan     has  asked    me    to  philosophise,  to    give  my    views  on    educational 

                     technique or educational practice. I do not regard that as my function in the Department 

                     of Education in the circumstances of the educational set-up in this country. You have 

                     your teachers, your managers and your Churches and I regard the position as Minister 

                     in the Department of Education as a kind of dungaree man, the plumber who will make 

                     the   satisfactory    communications       and    streamline     the  forces    and   potentialities   of 

                     educational  workers  and  educational  management  in  this  country.  He  will  take  the 

                                                                                       ´ 

                     knock out of the pipes and will link up everything’. (Dail Debates, 159: 1494). 



15.476     The State left the management of the School to the Oblates but, under the special agreement 

            made when the Oblates moved the Reformatory from Glencree to Daingean, the Department of 

            Education owned the building, and had to pay for large-scale maintenance and any new buildings 

           erected on the site. Thus, the Oblates could claim, in their General Statement, ‘It would be unreal 

           therefore to see the State as distanced from direct responsibility for the school’. 



           38 Patrick Clancy, ‘Education Policy’, in Suzanne Quinn, Patricia Kennedy, Anne Matthews, Gabriel Kiely (eds), 



              Contemporary Irish Social Policy (Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2005), p 79. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         687 


----------------------- Page 718-----------------------

15.477    The Oblates also asserted: 



                Given the nature of the work, the fact of State ownership of the property, the fact that 

                the school depended on State funding, and the many appeals for help from the school 

                administration, responsibility for the state of the living conditions in the school and its lack 

                of facilities as described must lie primarily with the State. 



15.478    It  was  true  that  the  State  had  made  the  unprecedented  decision  to  take  responsibility  for  the 

          buildings and maintenance, but general upkeep, cleanliness, clothing, bedding and supervision of 

          the boys were the responsibility of the Oblates. As Dr Lysaght observed, the boys were dirtier, 

          their clothes were more tattered, and the beds were less satisfactory than in other institutions. It 

          was this kind of neglect that also struck the members of the Kennedy Committee. Both the State 

          and  the  Oblates  had  allowed  conditions  to  deteriorate  so  far  that  closure  of  the  School  was 

          inevitable. With neither side taking responsibility for policy, or indeed for the care of the boys sent 

          to Daingean, matters had just drifted until the Kennedy Report forced a decision to be made. The 

          General Statement submitted by the Oblates described the characteristics of the care offered in 

          Daingean. Each of the 13 points [see list at 11.24 above] raised by them can now be examined 

          in the light of the information received by the Committee. 



           1. A substantial staff, mostly religious Brothers and priests but lay staff too 



15.479    Staff numbers were inadequate in Daingean, and this placed serious strains on the Brothers and 

          priests actively engaged in the work there. 



          2. A well-established administrative structure 



15.480    An inadequate level of staffing led to an inadequate administrative structure. Resident Managers 

          and Prefects had numerous time-consuming duties. 



15.481    There  were,  in  short,  delegated  responsibilities,  but  no  supervision,  no  checks  to  ensure  that 

          regulations were being adhered to. 



          3. A remedial educational programme 



15.482    There  was  effectively  no  primary  school  education  for  the  boys  in  Daingean.  One  or  two  lay 

          teachers catered for the primary educational needs of the entire population of boys for most of 

          the period under review. Up to 50 percent of the boys in Daingean were not receiving any formal 

          education right up until the late 1960s, but instead were engaged in hard manual labour on the 

          farm and bog. 



          4. Vocational training in various trades and occupations 



15.483    By their own assessment, the Oblates did not provide vocational training in various trades and 

          occupations. Over half the boys spent their time working on the farm and bog. 



          5. A routine of instruction and work 



15.484    As pointed out, there was very little instruction because of shortage of staff. There was a work 

          routine: the boys would rise at 6.45, wash and go to Mass, have 15 minutes for recreation and 

          then eat breakfast. At 9.30am, they would fall in, split up into their respective groups and then go 

          to work. Over half went to work on the farm; others went to the bog, or the garden; others to the 

          boot-makers,  carpenters,  printers,  refectory,  kitchen  and    laundry.  There  was  also  the  band, 

          spoken of by one witness. Another witness told the Committee it was  ‘child labour’. None of them 

          saw it as a daily routine of instruction. 



          688                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 719-----------------------

           6. The assignment of the boys to a Brother in a school/training group and whose 

              task it was to integrate the newcomer into the life of the School 



15.485     Not one witness spoke of being assigned to a Brother. Most of them spoke of being on their own. 



           7. The separation of juniors from seniors 



15.486     There  was  never  adequate  separation  of  juniors  from  seniors.  The  playground  was  eventually 

           segregated in the 1950s, but by then sexual exploitation and sexual liaisons had become part of 

           the Daingean way of life, and the separating wall proved useless. Bullying was institutionalised, 

           and   younger    boys   sought   protectors    from  older   boys,   and   became     their  ‘hags’  in return. 

           Newcomers      were  dehumanised,       and   a  simple  signal,  an   open   hand  with   the  thumb  raised 

           swimming through an imaginary sea, told them they were ‘fish’, newcomers with no rights. As they 

           moved up the hierarchy, they perpetuated the system. 



           8. A sacramental religious framework 



15.487     The  School  was  a  reformatory  for  Roman  Catholics  and  ‘Religious  practice  was  therefore  an 

           intrinsic part of the school’s life’. The Oblates stated that the School organised Christian Doctrine 

           classes, retreats and special religious activities. Fr Luca made attendance at Mass optional in the 

           1960s, to encourage a more personalised faith commitment. 



           9. An insistence on discipline 



15.488     Discipline  in  Daingean  depended  on  corporal  punishment.  The  Oblates  have  asserted  that,  as 

           soon as corporal punishment was stopped in 1970, there was defiance and rebellion. The records 

           show,  however,  that  even  when  corporal  punishment  was  at  its  most  extreme  in  Daingean, 

           defiance and rebellion were a way of life there. Serious riots occurred and the Gardai had to be 

                                                                                                              ´ 

           called in on three occasions. Abandoning corporal punishment without making any provision for an 

           alternative regime, as occurred in 1970, was irresponsible and reckless. The inability to distinguish 

           discipline from corporal punishment caused unnecessary hardship in Daingean. 



           10. Encouragement of sporting activities and other leisure activities such as 

                drama and music 



15.489     There was evidence of sport, music and drama, and many complainants recalled events such as 

           school plays as being some of the good aspects of the School. 



           11. Many external contacts 



15.490     Some external contacts with girls from local schools began in the 1960s. There was nothing before 

           that initiative. 



           12. Help in finding a job 



15.491     The Committee found no evidence of a structured approach to job finding. 



           13. An aftercare programme 



15.492     The Committee heard no evidence of an aftercare programme. Most boys seemed to return home, 

           but  a  surprising  number  went  to  Britain,  where  they  finished  up  sleeping  rough  and  declining 

           into alcoholism. A large proportion went into other places of detention in Ireland or Britain. The 

           memorandum  by  Mr  H.  B.  Early  of  the  Kennedy  Committee,  which  was  quoted  earlier,  was 

           particularly critical of that aspect of care. 



15.493     The  Oblates  failed  to  achieve  almost  all  of  the  objectives  that  they  set  themselves  in  running 

           Daingean. They never had the staff, the training or the resources to run the Institution in a way 

           that would have made these objectives realistic ones. As Fr Luca wrote: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   689 


----------------------- Page 720-----------------------

                ... The large numbers in such custodial situations with declining staff numbers not only 

                rendered  meaningful  relationships  between  staff  and  boys  unattainable  but  repressive 

                measures for the purpose of containment were the order of the day. 



          General conclusions 



15.494     1.   Daingean  was  not  a  suitable  location  or  building  for  a  reformatory.  The  refusal  by 

                management to accept any responsibility for even day-to-day maintenance led to its 

                complete disintegration over the years. 



           2.   Daingean did not provide a safe environment. Management failed in its duty to ensure 

                that all boys were protected. They lived in a climate of fear in which they were isolated, 

                frightened and bullied by both staff and inmates. 



           3.   Gangs of boys operated as a form of alternative government, victimising those who 

                did not obey them, while the Brothers did nothing to break the system but acquiesced 

                in it. 



           4.   Flogging  was  an  inhumane  and  cruel  form  of  punishment.  A  senior  management 

                respondent described it as ‘a most revolting thing’ and ‘a kind of a horror’, and another 

                respondent said that he was ‘horrified’ when he witnessed it, but the management did 

                nothing to stop it and discussed the practice freely with the Department of Education 

                and the Kennedy Committee. 



           5.   Corporal punishment was a means of maintaining control and discipline, and it was 

                the  first  response  by  many  of  the  staff  in  Daingean  for  even  minor  transgressions. 

                Black  eyes,  split  lips,  and  bruising  were  reported  by  complainants.  There  was  no 

                control of staff in the infliction of punishment. 



           6.   A punishment book was part of a proper regime, as well as being required by law. 



           7.   The Department of Education knew that its rules were being breached in a fundamental 

                way   and   management       in  Daingean     operated    the   system    of  punishment      in  the 

                knowledge that the Department would not interfere. 



           8.   Sexual  abuse  of  boys  by  staff  took  place  in  Daingean,  as  complainant  witnesses 

                testified. 



           9.   The  full  extent  of  this  abuse  is  impossible  to  quantify  because  of  the  absence  of  a 

                proper system of receiving, handling and recording complaints and investigations. 



          10.   The system that was put in place tended to suppress complaints rather than to reveal 

                abuse or even to bring about investigations. 



          11.   The Congregation in their Submission and Statements have not admitted that sexual 

                abuse took place or even considered the possibility, but instead have directed their 

                efforts to contending that it is impossible to find that such abuse actually occurred. 



          12.   Having regard to the extent of the abuse of which Br Ramon was found guilty in Wales, 

                the reservations expressed about his time in London, the known recidivist nature of 

                sexual abuse and the complainant evidence received by the Investigation Committee, 

                there must be serious misgivings about this Brother’s behaviour in Daingean during 

                his long service there. 



          13.   The Oblates acknowledged that they were aware of peer abuse and accepted that such 

                incidents did take place. 



          14.   Sexual  behaviour  between  boys,  which  was  often  abusive,  was  a  major  issue  that 

                developed to such a degree because of the lack of effective supervision throughout 

                the Institution and particularly during recreation. 



          15.   The   unsafe    environment      caused    some    boys   to  seek   protection    through    sexual 

                relationships with other boys in order to survive. 



          690                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 721-----------------------

16.   The  conditions  of  neglect  and  squalor  described  by  Dr  Lysaght  and  the  Kennedy 

      Committee    were   primarily  the  responsibility  of  the  management     of  the  School. 

      Inadequate   buildings  and  the  consequent     overcrowding    would  undoubtedly     have 

     taxed the most efficient Manager, but dirt, hunger, shabbiness and lack of supervision 

     were management issues and these were all present at Daingean. 



17.   The staff in Daingean was inadequate, ill-equipped and untrained. 



18.   The  failure  to  offer  emotional  support  was  acknowledged  by  Fr  Luca  in  1972  when 

      he wrote: 



        The large numbers in such custodial situations with declining staff numbers not 

        only rendered meaningful relationships between staff and boys unattainable but 

        repressive measures for the purpose of containment were the order of the day. 



19.   The  Department    of  Education   neglected   its  regulatory  and   supervisory   roles  in 

      Daingean and failed to condemn serious abuses, including the practice of flogging. 



20.  Daingean did not in practice have a remedial function, as a reformatory was intended 

     to have, but operated as a custodial institution whose purpose was punishment by 

     deprivation  of  liberty.  Periods  of  detention  were  longer  because  of  the  supposed 

     therapeutic  value  of  a  reformatory,  a  feature  that  was  emphasised  by  the  statutory 

      minimum of two years. Because it was not officially a prison, there was an absence 

     of legal and administrative protections for detainees. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                      691 


----------------------- Page 722-----------------------

Appendix 

Report by Ciaran Fahy (6th                                  February 2007) 



1.0 Introduction 



The  purpose  of  this  report  is  to  describe  the  physical  surroundings  of  Daingean  Reformatory 

School with particular reference to the buildings. It is based on research carried out by Ciaran 

Fahy during the course of which, all the relevant documentation in the possession of the CICA 

was examined. On 1st      February 2006, Ciaran Fahy had a meeting with Fr Michael Hughes and Fr 

Luca39  of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and subsequent to this on 3rd  February 2006, he visited 



Daingean to examine the buildings and met with the following: 



       •    Mr Greg Kelly, National Museum of Ireland 

       •    Ms Sharon Quinn, National Museum of Ireland 

       •    Ms Melissa Broderick, National Museum of Ireland. 



On the same day there was a meeting in Tullamore with Mr John Kearney of the Offaly Historical 

Society and on 22nd     February 2006 there was a brief meeting in Dublin with Mr Ciaran O’Connor 



of the Office of Public Works. 



All of the persons listed above were extremely helpful both with their time and the provision of old 

photographs and maps. This information is gathered together in four separate appendices and it 

also  includes  some  maps  obtained  from  the  Ordnance  Survey.  Briefly,  the  appendices  include 

the following: 



      — Appendix No 1: Ordnance Survey Maps 

      This  appendix  contains  two  current  maps  no  1  and  no  2  showing  the  general  location  of 

      Daingean.  Map  no  3,  is  an  extract  from  the  1910  Ordnance  Survey  sheet  showing  the 

      Reformatory  School at  the  northern end  of  what was  then  Philipstown. Finally,  map  no 4 

      shows the current version of the same location surveyed in 2003. 



      — Appendix No 2: Aerial Photographs 

      This appendix contains two aerial photographs and probably gives the best overall view of 

      the  site.  Photograph  no  1  was  taken  from  the  southern  side  of  the  site  apparently  in  the 

      1960s and appears to have been made into a postcard. Photograph no 2 was taken from 

      the northern side looking south apparently in 2005 by a local photographer from a helicopter. 

      Photographs 3 to 7 consist of partial blow ups of photograph no 2, to show various parts of 

      the site in greater detail. 



      — Appendix No 3: Historical Photographs 

      This is a series of old photographs supplied by John Kearney of the Offaly Historical Society. 



      — Appendix No 4: OPW Photographs 

      This  consists  mainly  of  photographs  taken  by  the  OPW  in  recent  years.  However,  it  also 

      contains some older material as well as a series of sketches showing the evolution of the 

      site over a 200 year period from 1776 to 1973. 



39 This is a pseudonym. 



692                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 723-----------------------

2.0 Background 



2.1 Location 

St Conleth’s Reformatory School was certified on 22nd  December 1870 and was set up in existing 



buildings in what was then Philipstown in Co Offaly, then known as King’s County. It was operated 

by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate who also had another reformatory in Glencree, Co Wicklow 

that had been set up in 1858. St Conleth’s continued in use until September 1934, when it was 

closed and the boys were moved to Glencree. The buildings and site were used by the Oblates 

as a seminary known as St Mary’s Scholasticate and this continued until August 1940, when the 

reformatory  in  Glencree  was  closed  and  all  of  the  boys  were  transferred  to  St  Conleth’s,  now 

better  known  as  Daingean  Reformatory  School.  This  continued  in  existence  until  it  closed  in 

November 1973. 



The general location of Daingean is shown in the Ordnance Survey sheets, maps no 1 and 2 in 

Appendix No 1. The first of these, map no 1 was taken from the OS Ireland East series at a scale 

of 1:250000, while map no 2 was taken from a more detailed sheet at a scale of 1:50000. Map 

no 1 shows Daingean located between Tullamore and Edenderry and approximately 14km to the 

east of the former. It is located south of the N6 and is almost due south of Mullingar and due 

north of Portlaoise. It will be seen from the two maps that it is served by the Grand Canal but in 

modern  times  the only  access  to  it was  by  road  since the  railway  passed  either north  through 

Mullingar or south through Portarlington and then Tullamore/Portlaoise. Finally, it will be evident 

from  the  two  maps  that  Daingean  is  located  in  a  low  lying  part  of  the  country  and  is  typically 

approximately 80m above sea level. It is served generally by the Philipstown River and just to the 

north of it is Raheenmore Bog. 



The Grand Canal at Philipstown was constructed in 1796 and this was extended on to Tullamore 

in 1798. The route of the canal passed towards the northern end of the town and in fact, between 

the  town  proper  and  the  buildings  which  were  subsequently  used  to  house  the  Reformatory 

School. 



2.2 History 



The site of the Reformatory School was first used for an army barracks which appears to have 

been constructed about the middle of the eighteenth century. The barracks was constructed as a 

two  storey  building  in  a  distinctive  ‘U’  shape  and  apparently  comprised  of  officers’  quarters, 

general  soldiers’  quarters,  stables  and  support  facilities  and  this  entire  area  was  enclosed  by 

extensive walls in 1776 and is shown in the attached sketch taken from documentation prepared 

by the OPW. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    693 


----------------------- Page 724-----------------------

The main central section of the barracks was more elaborate and as a consequence it is believed 

this section was used by the officers while the simpler wings were used as dormitories for the 

soldiers at first  floor level and the  ground floor level of  each wing was used  as stables. There 

were  some  small  outbuildings  along  the  boundary  but  it  is  impossible  to  identify  their  precise 

function at this point in time. At the entrance into the barracks there was a small one storey house 

called the guard house which is still in existence and is now called the gate lodge and is in private 

ownership. Inside this, there was a large parade area used for drill exercises by the soldiers, while 

behind  the  ‘U’  shaped  barracks  there  was  a  smaller  rectangular  area  possibly  also  used  as  a 

parade ground. 



By the mid-nineteenth century the use of the site as a barracks appears to have decreased and 

from 1824 to approximately 1842 it was used by the Royal Irish Constabulary for the training of 

recruits and also apparently as its Leinster headquarters. However, this arrangement ceased when 

the new Phoenix Park Depot was opened in 1842. 



The OPW sketch of the site in 1852 shows that the boundary walls had been extended at the 

rear, i.e. to the northern side and in addition a watch tower had been provided at each end. In 

addition, the boundary wall alongside Molesworth Street had been continued so that the entire 

complex was now surrounded by a high wall with the only point of access being alongside the 

guard house/gate lodge close to Molesworth Bridge across the canal leading to the town itself. 



It appears  the convict prison  closed in  1862 and from  then to 1870  the complex  was disused, 

although there is a suggestion that for some period at least it was used as a seminary. 



2.3 Use as a Reformatory School 



Between 1868 and 1870, the numbers committed to reformatories more than doubled and as a 

consequence St Kevin’s Reformatory in Glencree, run by the Oblates, became overcrowded. They 

sought another institution and the Government decided to offer them the buildings at Philipstown 

which by then were disused. 



St Conleth’s Reformatory in Philipstown was officially opened on 22nd            December 1870 and the 



first boys were admitted in January 1871. The general arrangement is shown in the attached OPW 

1870 sketch which shows the site enclosed by high walls approximately 6m high just north of the 

Grand Canal. On the south western corner it is possible to make out in dashed form the site of 

the farmyard while the distinctive ‘U’ shaped barracks in the centre of the site is clearly visible. 

Just north of this within the north eastern boundary of the site is the old gaol, while the entrance 

into the complex is close to the bridge over the canal on the northern extremity of the town. Just 



694                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 725-----------------------

outside the gate there was the old gatehouse built about the same time as the barracks and to 

the  right  was  a  larger  two  storey  house  known  as  the  Convent  and  which  is  shown  in  the 

photographs in Appendix No 3. In front of this there was a landscaped area which was known as 

St Michael’s Park. 



No  information is  available on  buildings erected  on the  site at  that time  but it  seems  clear the 

Chapel was built in front of an existing building, which apparently was the magazine and which 

was  converted  into  a  printing  shop  while  the  same  building  also  contained  the  tailoring  shop. 

Outhouses were added around the complex to serve the various trades. 



In 1888, representatives from a number of newspapers including the Irish Times and the King’s 

County  Chronicle  were  invited  to  visit  the  Reformatory  by  Fr  James  Quested,  then  Resident 

Manager. John Kearney, in an Article  ‘A Brief History of Daingean Reformatory and its Former 

Uses’ published in 2005 in the Journal of the Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society, quotes 

extensively from the newspaper reports of this visit. At that time there were about 250 boys in the 

institution and they were housed in a very large iron construction located just to the west of the 

Chapel which can be seen on the left hand side of photographs 2 and 4 in Appendix No 1. This 

iron structure apparently was intended to be used as the inside of a gaol to be built on the site in 

1826 and it was known as the ‘Ship’. At that time, the area in front of the original barracks was 

laid out as a garden and to the right of this there was a lake used as a reservoir. It appears the 

premises at that time was lit by gas made on the site and in addition, there was a windmill used 

to draw water from a well just to the west of the original barracks building. The staff at the time 

consisted of the Manager, an Assistant Manager, Chaplain, 16 Brothers (three of whom taught in 

the school), two School Masters, a Band Master, five tradesmen and five farm assistants. There 

is reference in the account of that time to a farm of 136 acres together with an area of bog used 

to provide fuel for the institution. 



The school appears to have been largely self-sufficient at this time and there is reference to the 

usual trades including carpentry shop, forge, boot makers, tailors shop, laundry, print shop and 

the farm. Interestingly, at that time there was a significant number of young boys in the institution 

and in particular there is a reference to approximately 50 young boys not more than eight years 

old who were involved in knitting and stitching cloth. 



John Kearney in his article quotes from an 1892 report which suggests there were 337 boys on 

the books, while in 1893 this had changed to 287. In 1896, there is a reference to an adjoining 

farm of 190 acres and apparently there was another large farm at Rathfeston in nearby Geashill, 

located due south of Daingean and shown in map no 2 in Appendix No 1. Mr Kearney also quotes 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                               695 


----------------------- Page 726-----------------------

from the 1901 and 1911 Census, when there were 260 and 207 boys respectively in the institution. 

However, by this time the age profile had changed and by 1911 the age range was 12 to 18 with 

only 24 boys under 14 years. 



It appears that the numbers increased again in the period 1914 to 1918 and went up to over 300. 

However, a significant number of the boys were recruited by the British Army with the result that 

the  numbers  declined  significantly  and  this  appears  to  have  continued  into  the  mid-1920s.  In 

1925, 40 boys were transferred from Daingean to Glencree Reformatory and in September 1934, 

Daingean was closed and all of the remaining boys were transferred to Glencree. 



In the latter half of 1934, the institution became St Mary’s Scholasticate, to train students for the 

priesthood of the Oblate Congregation and it continued in this role until August 1940, when it was 

closed and its training function was transferred to another premises at Piltown, Co Kilkenny. 



The  premises  re-opened  as  a  Reformatory  on  6th         August  1940,  with  226  boys  moved  from 

Glencree. It continued in existence until it closed on 31st         October 1973, with the last boy being 

admitted to the institution on 31st     May 1973. It appears that once the institution was closed the 



premises  were  returned  to  the  State  and  since  then  it  has  been  in  the  care  of  the  OPW.  It  is 

currently used for the storage of artefacts. Some renovation works have been carried out by the 

OPW over the years but generally the buildings are in relatively poor condition. 



3.0 Details 



3.1 General 



The arrangement of the buildings in the Daingean complex is seen in the aerial photographs in 

Appendix No 2. The first of these, no 1, was taken looking north in about 1960 and it shows the 

complex arranged in a ‘V’ formed by the Grand Canal on the left hand side and Molesworth Street 

on the right hand side. It is possible to make out the perimeter wall, while at the rear left hand 

corner attached to this is the farmyard. To the north of the complex there appears to be a goalpost 

presumably  part  of  a  playing  pitch  and  to  the  right  of  this,  there  is  a  building  which  has  not 

been identified. 



Photograph no 2, was taken looking north and it is believed this was taken in 2005. It shows the 

current situation on the site and the old farmyard in the lower right hand corner has been disposed 

of and is now used for industrial/commercial purposes. This photograph shows the view looking 

towards the front or main entrance and again it is possible to make out Molesworth Street, now 

on the left hand side and the Grand Canal on the right hand side. The photograph shows two 

watchtowers on the northern side of the perimeter wall and it is also possible to make out one 

pedestrian point of access on the eastern side. However, the only two main access points into 

the complex were via the front entrance and a second point now visible on the lower right hand 

side which gave access into the farmyard. This photograph shows the main old barracks with its 

distinctive  ‘U’  shape  while  behind  this  there  is  the  more  modern  block  also  in  a  ‘U’  shape 

constructed between 1948 and 1952. Behind this there are two yards separated now by means 

of a block wall. 



The other photographs 3 to 7 inclusive are part blow ups of the original photograph no 2, where 

the use of the various buildings has been marked for identification purposes. These photographs 

give the best overall impression of the complex and will be widely referred to later in the text. 



There is extensive correspondence on the files from Resident Managers and they all appear to 

have    been    actively  involved    in  attempting    to  upgrade     the  facilities at   the  school.   The 

documentation shows the first proposal for work at the school was prepared by the OPW in April 



696                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 727-----------------------

1940, at a projected cost of £32,600 and it was to accommodate 200 to 250 boys with a staff of 

15. It envisaged retention and refurbishment of the existing block together with the construction 

of some new buildings and the demolition of some old buildings of little value. One of the first 

items to be carried out was a new sanitary block at the south western corner behind the main 

building and this in fact is shown in aerial photograph no 7 in Appendix No 2. 



The original scheme was modified with extensive input from [the Resident Manager] in 1940/1941 

and out of this grew the concept of the new ‘U’ shaped block behind the original one. This idea 

was originally put forward by [the Resident Manager] in November 1940 and he discussed it with 

an  architect  from  the  OPW and  a  representative  of  the  Department  of  Education at  a  meeting 

which took place on 23rd     January 1941. After further discussions it was decided to build this in 



two stages with the west wing going first. This plan ran into considerable difficulties mainly due to 

lack of materials in the war years, with the result the west wing was only constructed in 1948/1949, 

while the east wing followed in 1951/1952. 



The  next  phase  of  building  activity  occurred  in  the  mid-1950s  when  the  play  hall  shown  in 

photograph no 5 was constructed about 1954 and after this in 1956/1957 the old gaol together 

with  some ancillary  buildings  were  demolished and  this  allowed for  the  construction  of what  is 

referred to as the lower yard, which is shown in photograph no 5. In addition, at the same time 

the Brothers’ residence shown in photograph no 4 was constructed close to the front entrance 

and apparently was designed to be linked into the convent which is outside the walls close to the 

main gate. 



Any  proposal  for  new  works  had  to  be  submitted  to  the  OPW  and  also  to  the  Department  of 

Education who in turn passed it on to the Department of Finance to sanction the expenditure. It 

appears that any  work carried out on site was  done by a contractor to  a design prepared and 

supervised  by  the  OPW.  This  bureaucratic  arrangement  gave  rise  to  lengthy  correspondence 

between the parties and a particular example of this occurred in 1956 when the then Resident 

Manager wanted to make a minor variation to the construction of the handball alleys. He wrote to 

an Inspector of the Department of Education suggesting this on 22nd            June 1956 and this in turn 

was passed on by the Inspector to the OPW on 25th           June 1956. On 12th     July, the OPW wrote to 



the Department of Education saying that the variation would cost £25 and suggested they obtain 

sanction  from  the  Department  of  Finance.  This  resulted  in  a  request  from  the  Department  of 

Education for the £25 on 14th      July 1956 and this was sanctioned by the Department of Finance 

on 2nd  February 1957. 



The general attitude of the Department of Finance can be gauged from a letter of 30th             November 



1954,  written  in  Irish  to the  Department  of  Education,  in  which  there  was reference  to  general 

difficulties  in  public  spending  and  expressing  concern  and  disappointment  at  the  number  and 

frequency of requests from Daingean for extra funding. This matter was taken up with the Resident 

Manager by the Department of Education so they were able to write back on 14th             December 1954, 



to  assure  the  Department  of  Finance  that  no  further  demands  for  money  would  be  made  with 

regard to extra work on the school. 



It is clear from the documentation that the buildings at Daingean in the period 1940 to 1973 were 

in poor condition. The clearest indication of this is probably contained in a report from the Chief 

Fire Officer of Offaly County Council dated 10th      September 1964. When considering the old main 



block their report concluded that the entire building should be demolished and replaced, but in 

any event it recommended certain minimum works to be carried out immediately. While the main 

emphasis in the report was on the fire risk and dealt with the main block it also stated that the 

carpenters  and  boot  shop  were  unsatisfactory,  while  it  said  the  kitchen  and  scullery  were  in  a 

deplorable condition. It also suggested that consideration be given to a new tailoring shop and a 

main boiler house. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 697 


----------------------- Page 728-----------------------

There is a further report dated 31st   December 1965, prepared by a Mr Madden, an Inspector from 



the  Department  of  Education  who  stated:  ‘from  personal  knowledge  I  can  confirm  that  these 

buildings are older and in worse condition than those of any other reformatory or industrial school 

in  the  country.  General  conditions  therein  are  substandard  and  unhygienic  while  the  natural 

lighting, central heating, and electrical systems are poor’. The conclusion was that while the newer 

buildings constructed from the 1940s could be used with minor improvements the reality was that 

the older main block had reached the end of its useful life and thus the question of its demolition 

and renewal would have to be considered as a matter of the highest priority. There is also a report 

on  the  heating  system  prepared  in  1965,  which  concluded  the  boiler  power  was  insufficient  to 

heat the institution. This makes reference to three boilers within the complex, two of which were 

fired with anthracite while the third used turf and wood but was rarely used. The report made the 

point that the existing boiler house was very cramped and incapable of extension with the result 

that a new boiler house would be needed. The report recommended as an interim measure that 

anthracite be replaced with oil which on the basis of an ample supply of fuel would improve the 

heating within the institution. 



Following on from the original report of 31st  December 1965, prepared by Mr Madden, the buildings 

were examined by an architect from a structural point of view on 24th        March 1966. He concluded 



‘these old buildings are in very poor structural condition’ so that they ‘could not be repaired or 

adapted   in  an  economic    manner.   The   general   layout  is unsatisfactory   and  the  planning   of 

important areas in constant use such as the kitchen and reformatory block is particular inept’. 



In 1967, Offaly County Council became concerned with the situation and wrote on 23rd               August 



1967 to the effect that unless there was confirmation that the requirements of the Chief Fire Officer 

were carried out, the County Council would serve a Fire Precaution Notice requiring the school to 

cease using the building. This was dealt with by the Department of Education writing to the County 

Council to say that some works had been undertaken and that steps were being taken for the 

immediate  implementation  of  the  remainder.  In  September  1967,  the  Department  of  Finance 

sanctioned a sum of £6000 for this work. 



There was a serious disturbance in the school in August 1968, when a number of boys attempted 

to set it on fire. About the same time there were ongoing discussions between the various parties 

about the future of the school and in November 1968, the Provincial of the Oblates prepared a 

detailed report essentially recommending the school be rebuilt on the same site. In July 1969, the 

Department of Finance sanctioned a figure of £85,000 to cover the following works: 



       •    Prefabricated classes and dining-cum-kitchen accommodation 

       •    New boiler house 

       •    Heating and electrical installation including kitchen equipment. 



These works were to be designed by the OPW and it was to have the work done in 1971. However, 

it appears this work was not done because of a general reluctance on the part of the Department 

of  Education  and  also  the  specific  recommendation  in  the  Kennedy  Report  of  1970  that  the 

institution be closed ‘at the earliest possible moment’. 



3.2 1944 Survey 



The school completed a fire survey in 1944 as did all of the other institutions in the State, following 

a tragic fire at an institution in Cavan and the answers provide useful information in relation to the 

organisation and use of the buildings in the school at that time. In 1944, there were 246 boys in 

the school and 27 on the staff with the average age of boys being 15 years. They were housed 

in the main block at ground floor level in the east wing, which had a capacity for 110 boys and 

also at first floor level in the west wing, which had a capacity for 126 boys. The staff at the time 

were mainly housed in the old gaol, then known as St Joseph’s and which was located in what 



698                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 729-----------------------

subsequently became the lower yard and also in the convent located at the front entrance outside 

the walls. In addition, there were four staff rooms in the centre of the main block at first floor level. 

It appears that the ‘Ship’ which is visible in photographs 2 and 4 of Appendix No 3 was demolished 

after the school was closed in 1934 and this required the boys to be moved into the main block. 



The 1944 survey speaks of the Chapel being located behind the main block and connected to it 

by means of a corridor. It will be seem from photograph no 2 of Appendix No 3 that this corridor 

was not in position in 1914 and this is confirmed in the 1910 Ordnance Survey sheet shown in 

map no 3 of Appendix No 1. The 1944 survey speaks of this block as containing the Chapel, the 

dairy  and  the  tailors’  shop  without  any  reference  to  the  printing  shop.  Later  documentation 

suggests  the  dairy  was  located  in  the  laundry  block  and  it  is  possible  that  the  use  of  various 

buildings changed at different times. The survey also speaks of a carpenter’s shop at ground floor 

level  on  the  west  wing  but  not  communicating  with  the  other  rooms.  The  bootmaker’s  shop  is 

described as being in a one storey building parallel to and at some distance from the east wing. 

This building seems to have been located along the line between the lower and the upper yards 

as shown in photograph no 4 of Appendix No 2. It should be noted these yards were at different 

levels  and  the  level  in  the  lower  yard  was  raised  in  1956/1957  using  material  from  buildings 

demolished  at  that  time  including  St  Joseph’s  and  also  the  boot  makers  shop.  However,  even 

after  this  work  there  remained  a  difference  in  level  between  the  yards  although  obviously  not 

as pronounced. 



The  1944  report  also  speaks  of  a  block  containing  the  laundry,  the  bakery  and  a  linen  room, 

presumably at the location shown at photograph no 7 in Appendix No 2. Finally, it speaks of a 

long  narrow  single  storey  building  parallel  to  the  east  wing  of  the  main  block,  in  other  words, 

somewhere near where the ball alleys are in photograph no 5 of Appendix No 2. This apparently 

was a recreational hall. 



The main block is described as having six rooms at ground level and a further six rooms at first 

floor level in the centre of the block. At first floor these rooms appear to have been used as four 

living rooms for the staff together with an oratory/library and what is referred to as a boys’ hospital 

or infirmary. However, this was used only for check-up purposes and there was no capacity to 

keep sick boys there for any period. At ground floor level there was a recreation room for the staff, 

an office, a parlour, a storeroom for the kitchen, a dining room for the staff and a staff kitchen. 

The east wing had one large room at ground floor level used as a dormitory and three rooms at 

first floor level apparently used as study halls while the largest of these was sometimes used as 

a theatre. The west wing had three rooms at ground floor level and one large room at first floor 

level used as a dormitory. The rooms at ground floor level were used as the boys’ refectory, a 

band room and also stores for the nearby kitchen. 



3.3 Farm 



The position as regards the farm has been set out earlier in this report. What is known is that from 

early  days   the   Oblates   appeared     to have    purchased    farmland    not  only  contiguous    to  the 

Reformatory but also at some distance from it. At its largest this landholding amounted to about 

220 acres and there is reference to 190 acres in 1896, with another out farm at Geashill. As part 

of the negotiations for the 1941 lease, all of the land was sold to the State before being included 

in the 50 year lease granted by the OPW in 1941. 



The farmyard was located just outside the walled complex on the north western corner or the top 

left  hand  corner  of  photograph  no  1  in  Appendix  No  2.  The  farmyard  itself  was  arranged  in  a 

quadrangular form around an enclosed farmyard. One of the sketches shows this consisting of 

stables  together  with  a  milking  house,  cattle  bars,  a  tool  house  and  a  car  shed.  As  stated 

previously, the access into the farmyard was via a gate beside one of the watchtowers which is 

clearly visible on the right hand side of photograph no 2 in Appendix No 2 and which is also shown 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                   699 


----------------------- Page 730-----------------------

in photograph no 7 in the same Appendix. In addition to the buildings in the farmyard, it must be 

remembered that there were also associated buildings located inside the walls and close to this 

entrance and these consisted of the piggeries, the fowl house and also the slaughterhouse. 



In  1967,  the  Reformatory  applied  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  a  grant  under  the  Farm 

Improvement Scheme and as part of that the Agricultural Instructor prepared a report in which he 

described the area as 230 acres of which 200 acres could be regarded as ‘top quality inorganic 

land’. The recommendation at that time was to upgrade the buildings to carry a herd of 100 milking 

cows and in addition to this the land was used to be used for some tillage. Two reasons were 

advanced for these proposals, the first being that there were a reduced number of boys available 

to  work  on  the  farm  because  of  declining  numbers  and  the  increasing  emphasis  on  education 

while the second reason was to maximise the farm’s contribution to the running of the school. 



3.4 Eighteenth Century Barracks 



The   original  eighteenth    century   barracks    in  its distinctive  ‘U’  shape    is shown    in  the  aerial 

photographs  nos.  1,  2  and  3  in  Appendix  No  2  and  also  shown  to  some  extent  in  the  OPW 

photographs in Appendix No 4. 



3.5 1940/1950s Buildings 



The main addition to the site after 1940 was the two storey ‘U’ shaped block constructed to the 

rear of the original eighteenth century barracks and which is shown most clearly in photograph no 

3 of Appendix No 2. This was constructed in two parts as shown in the photograph with the west 

wing   being  constructed     first in  1948/1949    while  the   east   wing  followed    in 1951/1952.  After 

completion of this block the dormitory location was located at the first floor level and consisted of 

two ‘L’ shaped dormitories. Washing facilities were provided at ground floor level in the central 

section of the block and this was divided in two by the passageway leading from the Chapel to 

the original main block. At ground floor level in the west wing there were classrooms dedicated to 

technical  subjects  while  on  the  east  wing  at  ground  floor  level  there  was  a  play  hall.  It  will  be 

noted in photograph no 3, that there was access to the outside to both the east and west wing at 

ground floor level with the one on the east wing leading out into the yard area. Directly inside this 

there was a main stairs leading up to the respective dormitory at first floor level. 



Up until 1957, the bulk of Oblate Brothers lived in the old gaol also known as St Joseph’s which 

was a three storey building. In 1957, the new residence shown in photograph no 4 of Appendix 

No 2 was finished and at that stage the gaol was demolished and the material used as filling in 

the lower yard shown in photograph no 5 in Appendix No 2. The new residence was located just 

inside the main gate and contained 12 rooms occupied apparently by 11 Brothers and one priest. 

The  convent  located  close  by  just  outside  the  main  gate  was  also  occupied  by  two  or  three 

Brothers  as  well  as  occasional  visitors.  In  later  years  when  nuns  joined  the  staff  they  were 

accommodated in the convent. 



The play hall shown in photograph no 5 of Appendix No 2 was constructed apparently in 1954 as 

part of the developments at that time. In some documentation this appears to be described as the 

dance hall or theatre and the year of construction is also somewhat uncertain. 



3.6 Outbuildings 



Photograph no 4 of Appendix No 2, shows the buildings towards the front of the site consisting of 

the convent, gate lodge and what appears to be an old garage located just inside the entrance. 

To the right of this in the area where it is now grass, old drawings show a greenhouse and there 

was another smaller greenhouse attached to what has been marked as the fuel store. This was 

a pitched roofed building constructed in a ‘U’ shape and is still visible. Just behind this was the 

carpentry shop, and the battery room attached to the end of the west wing of the original main 



700                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 731-----------------------

block. At one end of the carpentry shop the old drawings show a vegetable store while there was 

a yard between the battery room and the kitchen which has now been demolished. This extended 

out from the west wing of the old block and interconnected with the boys’ reformatory at ground 

floor level. The smithy or forge is still in existence as shown in photograph no 7 and behind this 

was the bakery and behind that again was the laundry/dairy. 



Photograph no 6 of Appendix No 2 shows the Chapel constructed some time about the start of 

the use of Daingean as a Reformatory and this is interconnected with a building which was the 

original magazine. 



There   were    additional  buildings   located   against   the  rear  wall  of  the  premises    as   shown    in 

photograph no 6. There was a slaughterhouse located close to the point where the wall turns, 

while to the right of this there was a fowl house and to the right of this there was a piggery. 



Up until 1957, the old gaol was located in what is now described as the lower yard in photograph 

no 5 of Appendix No 2. This building was separated from the others and seems to have adjoined 

the handball alleys shown in this photograph. In addition, there was an old unused recreation hall 

running parallel to the east wing of the old barracks but separated from it so that it was close to 

the handball alleys. In addition to this, along the line between the upper and the lower yard there 

was the boot shop which seems to be a long rectangular building running along the line of the 

joint between the two yards but located in the upper one. Out beside this but located in the lower 

yard was a somewhat smaller building described as a shelter. 



3.7 Services 



In 1888, when the premises was visited by the media the institution was described as being lit 

from gas made on the premises. By the time of the 1944 survey however, some but not all of the 

buildings  were  lit  by  ESB  mains  and  this  included  the  main  building,  the  kitchen  the  sanitary 

annexes  and  St  Joseph’s,  i.e.  the  staff  quarters.  At  that  time  the  Chapel,  the  laundry  and  the 

farmyard were described as lit using electricity from the institution’s own 110 volt plant. It is not 

known  how  long  this  continued  in  existence  but  in  1964  the  Offaly  County  Council  Chief  Fire 

Officer reported that the electrical installation was ‘very old’ and ‘not satisfactory’. In December 

1956, the situation remained unchanged with a significant portion of the premises operating on 

the  110  volts  DC  from  the  old  generating  plant  and  battery  which  by  that  time  was  no  longer 

serviceable due to its age, with the result that at that in time those sections of the premises were 

without light. 



In 1888, the water supply for the complex came from a well located within the grounds with the 

water being lifted by a windmill. In 1944, the school had two water supplies consisting of a supply 

from the County Council main serving Daingean. This was used as drinking water by the school 

while the second supply continued to be a well within the boundary wall driven by an electrically 

operated pump. The County Council main appears to have been relatively recent at that time and 

it  was  also  used  by  the  school  for  fire  fighting  purposes  and  it  was  fed  to  two  hydrants  within 

the site. 



Initially, the school was almost certainly served by some form of septic tank but in 1947, a new 

sewerage  scheme  was  being  constructed  in  Daingean  and  the  intention  at  that  time  was  to 

connect the school to this. There is no record of this having been done but the work carried out 

in the 1950s was obviously intended to be connected to it. 



One issue which generated a good deal of correspondence over the full period of 1940 to 1973 

concerned the heating of the school, which appears to have been generally considered inadequate 

at all times. The 1944 questionnaire reports that all of the boys’ quarters were centrally heated 

from one furnace located under the tailor shop. The heating was described as being on night and 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     701 


----------------------- Page 732-----------------------

day from November to April, with coke and turf being used as fuel. In addition, the same report 

speaks of fireplaces in the central section of the main building and also in St Joseph’s, the staff 

quarters, while there were stoves in the boot shop and also the tailor shop. 



In the mid-1950s there was a proposal to change the fuel used to heat the premises from turf to 

oil on the basis that this would be more efficient and get over the problems associated with the 

lack of space in the boiler house. However, this appears to have come to nothing, to some extent 

at  least  because  of  the  oil  crisis  about  that  time.  In  late  1967,  however,  in  a  report  there  is 

reference to three boilers, two of them fired with anthracite while the third used turf and wood but 

was  rarely  used.  The  report  stated  that  the  anthracite  burners  were  in  poor  condition  and  the 

problems  associated  with  the  existing  boiler  would  call  for  a  new  more  centrally  located  boiler 

house. As an interim proposal it was recommended that the anthracite burners be replaced with 

oil burners. It is not known if this was done but the conclusion of the report prepared in 1967 was, 

‘basically  the   boiler  power   installed   is insufficient  to  meet   the  requirements     of  the  heating 

installation  as it  exists and  this  installation is  “thin” in  the  old buildings’.  In a  report  dated May 

1966 the Provincial of the Oblates, wrote: ‘St. Conleth’s fuel is mainly turf. During the summer 

months some forty boys with a number of brothers spend their days winning turf in the traditional 

method and in the traditional weather. It is not a satisfactory means of fuel supply. The weather 

mitigates   against  the   boys  doing    their  work  well   and  is  generally   found  to   be  a  frustrating 

occupation for them’. 



702                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 733-----------------------

Appendix No 1 



Ordnance Survey Maps 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                 703 


----------------------- Page 734-----------------------

 704                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 735-----------------------

CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                              705 


----------------------- Page 736-----------------------

Appendix No 2 



Aerial Photographs 



(Courtesy John Kearney, Offaly Historical Society) 



706                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 737-----------------------

CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                              707 


----------------------- Page 738-----------------------

 708                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 739-----------------------

CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                              709 


----------------------- Page 740-----------------------

Appendix No 3 



Historical Photographs 



(Courtesy John Kearney, Offaly Historical Society) 



710                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 741-----------------------

CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                              711 


----------------------- Page 742-----------------------

Appendix No 4 



OPW Photographs 



Above: 1838 Map of Philipstown. 



Note:  Daingean Reformatory  was housed  in the  distinctive ‘C’-shaped  original Barracks  (1776) 

building. 



 712                                                 CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 743-----------------------

St. Conleth’s Reformatory 1888 

“These buildings forming three sides of a quadrangle contain the offices, dining rooms, bedrooms, 

etc.  of  the  Reverend  brothers  who  manage  the  Schools;  and  also  a  Theatre,  or  Concert-room 

fitted up with a large stage. The workshops which don’t come here within view, are behind.” 



Above: View from Daingean Bridge looking west along Grand Canal. 

High Reformatory Wall forms a very prominent and dominant feature above waterway and tow- 

paths. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                           713 


----------------------- Page 744-----------------------

Main entrance gates viewed from within reformatory courtyard. 

Two-storey building on left is in private ownership. 



Access to Main entrance gates passes between privately-owned two-storey house and gate lodge. 

(Protected structure) 



 714                                                   CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 745-----------------------

Original Barracks (1776) Officer’s Quarters Central range on left and eastern range for 

men’s quarters. 



Central range of original 1776 barracks building with later central porch addition. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                      715 


----------------------- Page 746-----------------------

Outbuilding dating prior 1838. 



Derelict outbuildings. (Old stabling and fuel store) 



 716                                                    CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 747-----------------------

Derelict (1941) Lavatory annex abutting original 18th c. Barracks building 



Derelict two-storey Carpentry building with old battery room in foreground. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                     717 


----------------------- Page 748-----------------------

Derelict ‘Smithy’ building with good stonework. 



                                                                            th 

Derelict Turf Shed. Cut-Stone Pier is part of earlier 18  c. wall enclosing barracks. Walled area 

was increased when building changed into convict prison in mid 1800’s. 



  718                                                                    CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 749-----------------------

Derelict Laundry building with Dairy under. 



West  Corner  tower  in  stone  wall.  (Mid  1800’s).  Access  to  old  farm  yard  (now  Joinery  firm) 

blocked up. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                            719 


----------------------- Page 750-----------------------

                     th 

Chapel (late 19  .c) and Manual Room/Dormitory Building (1954) 



Manual room, part scaffolded               in left foreground and Lavatory annex (1941) centre. 



  720                                                                     CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 751-----------------------

Above: Manual room (1954). Derelict bakery and Laundry buildings on right. 



Derelict Printing and Tailoring Shop at end of Chapel. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                    721 


----------------------- Page 752-----------------------

Derelict Fowl House (in foreground) and Slaughter House at Northern corner of walled enclosure 



Concrete Sanitary Block, with covered water tanks on roof, abutting high stone wall. Wall raised 

to prevent escape. Sanitary block built in 1941. 



 722                                                  CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 753-----------------------

Open play shelter with Chapel behind. 



Concrete  Play  Yard  with  Play  Hall  (1954)  on  right.  Corrugated  iron  storage  building  presently 

housing large folk exhibits. Handball alleys visible behind wall. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              723 


----------------------- Page 754-----------------------

Interior  of  Original  Barracks  main  building.  Excessive  Moisture  ingress  and  decay  of  building 

fabric. 



 724                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 755-----------------------

Lean-to structure addition to form back corridor to Central range of Original Barracks building. 



Interior of original Barracks structure. Ground floor used as Folk-exhibit storage area. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                      725 


----------------------- Page 756-----------------------

Interior of Play Hall. (Constructed 1954) 



Interior of Chapel. Fittings removed and space used for Museum folk-exhibit storage. 



 726                                                   CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 757-----------------------

Interior  of  Recreation  Hall:  Concrete  portal  frame  building  with  insulated  corrugated  asbestos 

cement roofing. 



Interior of Original Barracks/Reformatory Building damaged flooring. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                             727 


----------------------- Page 758-----------------------

Interior of Original Barracks/Reformatory Building collapsed ceiling. 



 728                                                   CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 759-----------------------

           Chapter 16 



           Marlborough House, 1944–1972 



           Introduction 



           Establishment 



16.01      Marlborough House in Glasnevin, Dublin was registered as a detention centre for up to 50 boys 

           on 24th  March 1944, pursuant to Part V of the Children Act, 1908. It had four purposes: 



                   (a) It was used to accommodate boys sent on remand pending the hearing of their court 

                        cases, 



                   (b) It was used as a substitute to imprisonment, at the discretion of the court, for periods of 

                        detention not exceeding one month, 



                   (c) It provided temporary accommodation for boys who had been committed to industrial 

                        schools awaiting transport/escort, and 

                   (d) It was used by the Gardai or NSPCC1 to lodge boys in for safe custody, pending disposal 

                                                    ´ 

                        of their cases, where the boys had no fixed abode, or had parents who had refused to 

                        provide bail. 



           Departments responsible for Marlborough House 



16.02      Throughout     its  existence,   from   1944    to  1972,   Marlborough      House     was   an   anomaly.    The 

           Department of Justice certified it, but was not responsible for its management, or for the children 

           within  it.  That  responsibility  fell  to  the Minister  of  Education.  Under  the      Children  Act  1908, 

           Adaptation  Order  1928,  he  was  made  responsible  for  the  inspection  of  places  of  detention  for 

           children and young persons. 



16.03      The Department of Justice did run some facilities for older children. It certified and administered 

           St Patrick’s Institution, which housed young male offenders between the ages of 16 and 21 years, 

           and Shanganagh Castle, bought by the Department of Justice in 1968 to serve as an open prison 

           for juveniles. It opened in 1969 with a bed capacity of 60.2 



16.04      This  left  Marlborough  House  in  a  unique  position.  The  Department  of  Justice  certified  it  as  a 

           suitable  place  of  detention,  but,  pursuant  to  section  109(3),  the  Department  of  Education  was 

           responsible for its administration. 



16.05      It came under the remit of the Department’s Reformatory and Industrial School Branch, whose 

           Inspector    had   the  duty   to carry   out  inspections    relating  ‘to  all the  children   and   the  entire 

           accommodation in the school at the time of his/her visit’.3  ‘All the children’ meant the responsibility 



           1 The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. It later changed its name to the Irish Society for the 



             Prevention of Cruelty to Children. (ISPCC) 

           2 The average cost of keeping a prisoner in Shanganagh Castle in 2002 was \169,450, the second highest in the state 



             outside of Portlaoise 

           3 Department of Education & Science Statement to Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 19th May 2006, p 220. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                      729 


----------------------- Page 760-----------------------

           extended  to  children  on  short  term  remand  as  well  as  those  committed  by  the  Courts  to  be 

           detained in the school. 



16.06      With  responsibilities  disputed  between  these  two  Government  Departments,  it  is  not  surprising 

           there were chronic problems. The Department of Education did not regard Marlborough House as 

           being  rightfully  in  its  remit.  Tarlach  O’Raifeartaigh,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Department  of 

           Education,    wrote    a  letter  on  19th  March     1952,   to  the  Department      of  Justice   making     his 



           Department’s position clear. The Department of Education, he wrote: 



                  ...had absolutely no power whatever regarding the entry, removal, transfer and disposal 

                 of the inmates in the Institution. All these powers are exercised by the Minister for Justice. 



16.07      Moreover, he went on: 



                 This Place of Detention cannot in fact be regarded as anything more than a Prison for 

                 Juveniles,  whether  used  as  a  place  of  remand  or  as  a  place  of  detention,  and  should 

                 accordingly be administered by the Department of Justice. 



16.08      In  reply,  on  24th  April  1952,  Mr  Costigan,  of  the  Department  of  Justice,  conceded  that  the 



           administration  of  Marlborough  House  might  well  be  more  appropriate  for  his  Department,  but 

           nonetheless argued that ‘the transfer would be bound to be criticised as a retrograde step’ as it 

           would be seen as running the place ‘as a prison rather than a Juvenile Remand Home’. He then 

           rejected the argument made by O’Raifeartaigh that it would be more cost effectively run by Justice, 

           as it ‘would be unlikely to result in the Place of Detention being run more satisfactory or more 

           cheaply than at present’. 4 



16.09      Rivalry,  often  amounting  to  hostility,  marked  the  relations  between  the  two  Departments.  The 

           Minister for Justice, in the 1960s and afterwards, on a number of occasions, indicated disquiet at 

           the  Department  of  Education’s  performance  or  made  an  attempt  to  urge  that  Department  into 

           reforms.  For  example,  a  letter  dated  October  1963,  addressed  to  the  Minister  for  Education, 

           Patrick Hillery, was drafted for the Minister for Justice, Charles J Haughey. It stated: 



                  ...I hope   that   the  Inter-Departmental      Committee’s      recommendations        in  relation   to 

                  Marlborough House and the Industrial School system will find ready acceptance, the more 

                 so  as  the  recommendations  are  subscribed  to  by  the  expert  from  Education  on  the 

                 Committee.  In  particular  I  should  like  to  see  some  action  taken  to  establish  Visiting 

                 Committees and After-care Committees for the Industrial Schools. Contrary to views held 

                 earlier  in your  Department it  has now  become apparent  that the  Managers of  schools, 

                 such as Artane, are not opposed to such a development. 



16.10      A civil servant had written at the top of this letter ‘Minister, Unless somebody prods the Department 

           of Education the Committee’s work will go for nought, to a large extent.’ A second copy of the 

           letter is scored through and endorsed: ‘Letter need not issue – I have spoken to Dr Hillery’. 



16.11      The Department of Education failed in its many attempts to get The Department of Justice to take 

           over Marlborough House, which remained under its control until its closure on 1st  August 1972. 



           Inspections 



16.12      Despite being legally responsible for inspecting all the children and the entire accommodation in 

           the school, the Department of Education did not carry out its supervisory role. In its submission 

           it wrote: 



                  Records indicate that there were no formal or regular inspections of Marlborough House. 

                 With    the  exception    of  Departmental      Officials   accompanying       visiting  dignitaries   on 



           4  Correspondence cited in Department of Education submission, p 223. 



           730                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 761-----------------------

                 walkabout  inspections  of  the  facilities  or  Departmental  Officials  calling  to  the  centre  to 

                 report on urgent matters such as the investigation of a serious complaint, records indicate 

                 that Departmental officials did not inspect the facilities in Marlborough House as a matter 

                 of routine. 



                 In the absence of a formal or routine inspection system, contact with Marlborough House 

                 was   mainly   in  the  form   of  written  correspondence      between    the  Superintendant      of 

                 Marlborough House and the Inspector of the Reformatory and Industrial School Branch 

                 when dealing with issues such as the investigation of complaints and incidents, staffing, 

                 funding, requisitions, etc. 



16.13      The children in Marlborough House, then, were afforded even less protection than the children in 

           Industrial and Reformatory Schools, where the Department did set up a regular inspection system. 

           The Department relied almost exclusively on responding to complaints as its means of monitoring 

           the running of the institution. 



           The complaints procedure 



16.14      The  Department’s  submission  to  the  Commission  explained  the  complaints  system  by  quoting 

           from  a  letter  dated  17th May  1971  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Education  to  the 



           Minister for Education. 



                 All complaints from parents, guardians or other sources about the treatment of children in 

                 Marlborough     House    are  investigated   by  the  Department.     The   Attendant-in-charge     is 

                 furnished with a copy of the complaint and his observations are requested. Should the 

                 seriousness of the complaint warrant it, an Officer of the Department will also interview 

                 the child and the Attendant-in-charge and/or the attendant against whom the allegations 

                 are made and the Department takes appropriate action where necessary. No complete 

                 record of all complaints received is available since many of the complaints received are 

                 of a trivial nature. 



16.15      The procedure was largely the same as that set up for the Industrial Schools, except that these 

           schools would have been visited by the Department’s Inspector, who would have regular contact 

           with the school. 



16.16      It is unclear   from  this  account   how    the  seriousness    of a  complaint    was   judged,   since  this 

          judgement was made before the child and Attendant-in-charge were interviewed. 



           Background 



16.17      Marlborough House was acquired by the Department of Education in 1944, to replace Summerhill 

           Police  Barracks    that  had  been   used   as   a  place  of  detention   since  1912.   The   premises    at 

           Summerhill had been condemned the Cussen Commission in 1936, who said of it: 



                 The building itself we regard as entirely unsuitable as a Place of Detention. It is situated 

                 in a densely populated district and its structure is such that it might prove a death-trap in 

                 the event of fire. The play-ground is merely a moderately-sized yard, and is altogether too 

                 small to afford the boys anything like sufficient space for exercise. 



16.18      The  Cussen  Commission  advocated  a  move  as  soon  as  possible  to  better  accommodation.  It 

           wrote: 



                 We   strongly   recommend      that  suitable   premises    with  sufficient  space   for  adequate 

                 playground and recreation rooms should be acquired at the earliest possible moment. 



16.19      The responsibility for implementing this change fell to the Department of Education and it took 

           eight years to find a replacement. The lack of urgency was partly because of the falling numbers 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                  731 


----------------------- Page 762-----------------------

           of boys under detention, which made it a considerably less urgent matter, although it was also 

           because  the  Department  was  reluctant  to  take  responsibility  for  this  facility,  which  it  believed 

           properly came within the remit of the Department of Justice. 



16.20      In September 1936, on foot of the Cussen Report, the Department of Education instructed the 

           Office  of  Public  Works  (OPW)  to  make  inquiries  about  alternative  premises,  and  to  assess,  in 

           particular,  the suitability  of the  Infirmary Buildings  at the  Royal Hospital  Kilmainham, but  these 

           however,  had  been  assigned  to  the  Garda  Siochana.  In  November  1936,  the  Department  of 

                                                                    ´    ´ 

           Education again asked the OPW to ‘make immediate inquiries’ about alternative premises. There 

           were no developments for six months, and the Department contacted the OPW again in March 

           1937.  It  suggested  using  a  part  of  the  Royal  Hibernian  Military  School,  but  this  proposal  was 

           dismissed as too costly. 



16.21      Meanwhile, falling numbers in Summerhill raised questions about the need for a separate place 

           of detention. In 1938, the maximum number of boys detained in Summerhill was four and at times 

           there were none. District Judge Little of the Children’s Court took the view that ‘As the Law in this 

           country stands the accommodation of Summerhill is sufficient’. 



16.22      The Department of Education recommended suspension of the search for alternative premises. 

           The  decrease  in  numbers  prompted  the  Department  of  Finance,  in  March  1938,  to  ask  the 

           Department of Education whether there was a real need for a special place of detention, to which 

           the Department of Education replied that there was ‘no immediate urgency’ to look for alternative 

           accommodation. In this letter of 19th        March 1938 to the Department of Finance, the Department 



           of Education made clear the Department’s position on having to run a remand centre: 



                  This institution has been the source of much bother to our Department which is all the 

                  more  annoying when  it  is  remembered that  the  provision of  Places  of  Detention is  the 

                  business of the Police Authorities and not a proper function of our Department. However, 

                  since we have accepted the responsibility, we can hardly rid ourselves of it now: we tried 

                  unsuccessfully to do so a few years ago and Summerhill is one of the many troublesome 

                  “babies” that we must continue to hold. 



16.23      The Department of Education informed the OPW that there was ‘no immediate urgency’ to acquire 

           alternative premises but, if one was found at a reasonable cost, it should be acquired. 



16.24      The small number of admissions was raised again by the Department of Education which found 

           that, in the year from September 1937 to September 1938, there were 116 days when only one 

           boy was admitted, and 115 when there were no admissions, giving a daily average for the year 

           of 1.4. This prompted them to state that the existing facilities at Summerhill ‘should suffice until 

           more suitable premises have been secured’. 



16.25      In November 1939, the Department of Education inspected Marlborough House. Although it was 

           considered too large, it was deemed to be suitable for adaptation as an alternative premises, and 

           the thinking at that time was not to take immediate possession of it but to put a lien on it for future 

           use. However, the onset of the Second World War expedited matters and, from 1941 onwards, 

           the  acquisition  of  Marlborough  House  became  a  matter  of  priority,  because  Summerhill  was 

           considered  to  ‘be  unsafe  in the  event  of  serial  bombardment’  as  it  had no  air  raid  shelter  and 

           there were no plans to build one. Such was the urgency of finding alternative premises that the 

           Department enlisted the services of an estate agent in February 1942. All but one of the premises 

           he found were  deemed unsuitable, and there is no  record as to why the  one suitable was not 

           purchased. 



16.26      In  March  1942,  the  Department  asked  the  Christian  Brothers if  Artane  and  Carriglea  Industrial 

           Schools  might  ‘take  charge  of  the  boys  on  remand  so  that  the  Place  of  Detention  might  be 



           732                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 763-----------------------

          discontinued’,  but  they  declined.  It  was  only  then,  in  October  1942,  that  the  OPW  inspected 

          Marlborough House to assess its suitability. At the time of inspection, it was around 100 years old 

          and was being used for the storage of furniture. 



16.27     Marlborough House was a large domestic dwelling which had been used as a teacher training 

          college. It was situated in Glasnevin in Dublin and it consisted of three floors, containing 18 rooms, 

          with kitchens, larders and five bathrooms, and a garden of half an acre. A large extension had 

          been built to the rear of the building which was of more recent vintage. The OPW reported: 



                The condition of the front, that is, the older portion of the premises, is rather poor; the 

                roof is bad and some of the walls are secured by iron tie bars. 



16.28     As a result, the OPW concluded, ‘A considerable amount of repair work will be necessary to this 

          portion of the premises in the course of years’. In contrast, the rear of the building was in good 

          condition and required ‘little work other than ordinary routine maintenance’. Overall, they advised 

          the  Department  ‘that  the  premises  lend  themselves  fairly  readily  to  adaptation  as  a  Place  of 

          Detention’. This they felt could be achieved by initially utilising the ground and first floors, which 

          would involve the division of a large room on the ground floor to form a refectory, a day room and 

          the installation of a range in the kitchen. A large room on the first floor was to be divided up to 

          provide dormitories, with two heating stoves and the provision of a protected playground space. 

          Provision was not made for new fire escape stairs or for an ‘escape-proof’ garden separate from 

          the playground. The cost of these alterations was estimated between £900 and £1,000. It was 

          also proposed to operate a medical clinic on the premises for young offenders. 



16.29     The  changes  met  neither  the  criticisms  of  Summerhill  outlined  in  the  Cussen  Report,  nor  the 

          needs of the wartime emergency. There was no secure outdoor recreation yard and there was 

          inadequate  provision  of  indoor  recreation  accommodation  geared  towards  keeping  the  boys 

          secure and occupied during their incarceration. In addition, no provision was made for an air raid 

          shelter, which had been the impetus for its urgent acquisition. 



16.30     Further delays ensued in the acquisition of Marlborough House, as sanction was required by the 

          Department of Finance, and a complication arose when the Department of Defence also sought 

          possession of the house for use as a food and rest centre during the war. Matters were further 

          complicated, as legal objections were raised by the lessor of Marlborough House who objected to 

          its use as a detention centre. 



16.31     In June 1943, the Chief of the Dublin Fire Brigade inspected Summerhill and ‘condemned’ it and 

          wanted its immediate closure, but he was unwilling to take such action ‘against a Government 

          department’.    The   Department    of  Education    informed   the  Department     of  Finance   of  this 

          development,  but  sanction  was  still  not  forthcoming.  The  Department  of  Education  resorted  to 

          making a submission to Government on 19th  July 1943 on the issue. Finally, on 12th  August 1943, 



          the Department of Finance sanctioned the proposed alterations and finally made possible the use 

          of Marlborough House as a place of detention for young boys. 



          Population 



16.32     The Minister for Justice registered Marlborough House as a place of detention for up to 50 male 

          children  under  17  years  of  age,  to  be  administered  by  the  Department  of  Justice.  While  in 

          Summerhill children aged 4 years and upwards had been  detained, in Marlborough House the 

          lower age limit was 7 or 8. Between 1944 and 1972, there were approximately 21,500 admissions 

          to Marlborough House. In 1943 the daily average number of boys detained in the School was 10. 

          The daily average number in 1960 was 15. On 1st  August 1972, when it closed, records show that 



          there were 16 boys detained there. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                             733 


----------------------- Page 764-----------------------

          Management and staff 



16.33     Whilst the Department of Education had sole managerial responsibility for the Institution, the role 

          of the Department of Justice pursuant to section 108(3) of the Children Act, 1908, was to satisfy 

          itself as to the ‘suitability of the accommodation’ at Marlborough House. The Department of Justice 

          in their Statement to this Committee wrote: 



                The files in the Department of Justice (“the Departmental files”) reveal that the practice 

                was that the administration and operation of Marlborough House was dealt with by the 

                Department     of Education    and  that  this  position  was  maintained    by  officials of  the 

                Department of Justice in dealings with the Department of Education ... 



16.34     The management and administration of Marlborough House remained, therefore, the responsibility 

          of the Department of Education, and the day-to-day administration was undertaken by lay persons 

          who were employed by the Department of Education. Staffing levels increased over the years, 

          rising from six staff in 1944 to 24 in 1972. 



16.35     In 1944, the staff consisted of one Superintendent who was in charge of the overall administration 

          of the Institution, one house mistress, one male attendant, two residential attendants, and one 

          servant girl. The Superintendent and his wife, who was the matron, lived in the house with the 

          boys. At that time, the average number of boys detained in one month was 8, and the highest in 

          that year was 15. 



16.36     By January 1963, staff levels had increased, and the Superintendent and his wife, were assisted 

          by five attendants. There was one vacancy at that time. 



16.37     By February 1972, the staff numbered 24, comprising one attendant in charge, one matron, 20 

          attendants  and  2  female  assistants.  At  that  time,  there  were  seven  boys  in  detention.  One 

          Superintendent, a former Garda, held the position for over a decade. His wife, who was a trained 

          nurse,  was  appointed     matron.  They  lived  on   the  premises.  A  part-time  medical   officer  was 

          employed to examine each child on admission and to attend as required. 



16.38     The calibre of the staff was problematic from the very beginning, as they were recruited from the 

          local  Unemployment  Exchange.  Potential  candidates  were  interviewed  by  the  Superintendent, 

          who then made a recommendation to the Department of Education for the appointment of the staff 

          member. It is not clear what criteria the Superintendent applied in making these appointments. The 

          staff were mainly male and had no childcare experience as this was not a requirement for the job 

          at the time. 



16.39     An Inter-Departmental memorandum of 15th         March 1944 from the Department of Education to the 



          Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance, written two weeks before Marlborough House 

          opened, indicated a high level of awareness as to the problems in Marlborough House: 



                This circumstance has again set me thinking of the unsatisfactory nature of the present 

                management of the Place of Detention. It is staffed by the lowest paid labour known to 

                the Civil Service ... To speak with brutal candour, I view with alarm the impression they 

                will make on visitors to the New Place of Detention. 



16.40     He added: 



                A direct result of the low calibre of the staff is that practically nothing is done for boys 

                committed  to  the  Place  of  Detention  except  to  feed  them  and  ensure  that  they  do  not 

                escape.  When one  remembers that  the Institution  is run  directly by  this Department  of 

                State, that is an inexcusably low standard to be content with. 



          734                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 765-----------------------

16.41      The  memorandum  concluded  with  the  suggestion  that  the  Department  entrust  the  day-to-day 

           management of Marlborough House to a religious Order, in particular the Hospitaller Order of St 

           John of God. It calculated that the cost to the State of such a move would be the same as the 

           present running costs, but the service provided would be better: 



                 The advantages are obvious. The whole tone of the establishment would be raised to a 

                 very high level. At the worst the boys’ would be catered for, both spiritually and physically, 

                 in a far better manner than at present. At the best, the Order might send one of its trained 

                 Psychiatrists to take charge. 



16.42      The Department memorandum added: 



                 The Department would have disposed satisfactorily of responsibilities which, in my opinion 

                 it  should  never  have  undertaken  and  is,  in  the  nature  of  things,  unable  to  discharge 

                 satisfactorily. 



16.43      In a subsequent letter to the Department of Finance dated 30th              March 1944, the Department of 



           Education referred again to the poor quality of staff: 



                 I am directed by the Minister for Education to inform you that the method of running the 

                 Place    of   Detention,    formerly   located    at  Summerhill      and   recently    transferred    to 

                 Marlborough      House,     Glasnevin,     has   never    been    regarded     as   satisfactory.   The 

                 management is in the hands of a Superintendent (£50 per annum plus quarters) a Matron, 

                 the   Superintendent’s      wife,  (£30    per  annum)     and    three   Attendants     who   receive, 

                 approximately, the same pay as messengers in Government Offices. With a staff of this 

                 calibre the maximum that can be expected is that the fundamental human needs of the 

                 youths  detained  there  should  be  attended  to  and  that  they  should  be  prevented  from 

                 escaping. 



                 No personal reflection is intended on the present staff who are the best we have been 

                 able to get for the wages and conditions of service offered ... The Minister for Education 

                 is  satisfied  that  this  standard  is  inexcusably  low  for  an  Institution  of  its  type  which  is 

                 managed  directly  by  this  Department.  Public  interest  in  juvenile  delinquency  and  its 

                 associated  problems  has  shown  a  marked  increase  in  recent  years.  In  England  and 

                 elsewhere young offenders are subjected to observation and treatment by Psychiatrists 

                 in special clinics. There is in this country an ever-growing interest in this method of dealing 

                 with the problem. The growth of enlightened public interest has thrown into stark relief the 

                 already well known shortcomings of the Place of Detention and the Minister is satisfied 

                 that the present system cannot be allowed to continue any longer. 



16.44      They  sought  sanction  from  the  Department  of  Finance  on  30th         March  1944  for  their  proposal, 



           citing that: 



                 After a careful examination of all aspects of the problem it has been decided that the best 

                 solution would  be to hand  the Place of  Detention over to  a suitably qualified  Religious 

                 Order. 



16.45      The Department of Finance, in a replying letter of 12th         May 1944, stated there was no justification 



           for transferring the management to a religious Order, as the only criticism against the place of 

           detention was its location: 



                 That defect has been remedied by the transfer to Marlborough House, and until you have 

                 some experience of the system in new surroundings it seems to be somewhat premature 

                 to suggest a change in the manner of management which must, I feel, inevitably entail 

                 additional cost to the State. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                    735 


----------------------- Page 766-----------------------

16.46      The Department of Finance believed such an arrangement, could only be economical ‘... if the 

           Place of Detention were grafted on to a larger institution’. 



16.47      Not to be deterred, the Department of Education wrote again to the Department of Finance on 

           31st  May 1944, setting out detailed reasons for their proposal. In particular, they asserted that ‘The 



           chief consideration is that the Institution should have the best possible influence for reform on the 

           young people who are detained there’. In this regard, they felt that, ‘a few days detention under 

           the right guidance might prevent a subsequent career of law breaking’, which they felt could only 

           be achieved by a religious Order, such as the Hospitaller Order of St John of God. They went on: 



                 Regarding your suggestion of grafting the place of detention onto an existing institution 

                 for boys conducted by a religious order the only suitable institutions of the kind are the 

                 industrial schools at Artane and Carriglea. We have tried repeatedly in the past ten years 

                 to get the managers of these schools to take charge of boys under detention or to set 

                 aside a small section of their premises for the purpose, but they definitely refuse to do so. 

                 I understand that Artane did make an arrangement of the kind many years ago and their 

                 experience of the difficulties and trouble involved has decided them against ever touching 

                 the matter again. 



16.48      They concluded that ‘... it is a general experience that for an institution of the kind management 

           by a religious order is more economical than lay management’. On 15th  June 1944, the Department 



           of Finance sanctioned ‘in principle’ the proposal to entrust the management of the Institution to a 

           religious Order, but no commitment was to be entered into without the approval of the Department. 

           The Minister of Education wrote to the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr McQuaid, on 4th  July 1944, seeking 



           his advice and approval for the proposal: 



                 I  feel  that  the  time  the  boys  spend  in  this  institution  could  be  turned  to  much  greater 

                 advantage if its management could be entrusted to a religious community, whose training 

                 could enable them to face the problem presented by the juvenile delinquent. 



16.49      Archbishop McQuaid replied on 5th        July 1944: 



                 I shall have the matter examined at once, but you will readily understand that some time 

                 will be required, especially at this season, when many persons are absent from the City, 

                 before I can give you a completely helpful answer. 



16.50      No reply was received from the Archbishop, and the Department decided against sending a written 

           reminder to him ‘as it was felt that it would be better to raise the matter verbally with His Grace if 

           opportunity offered’. 



16.51      It took a decade for the opportunity to present itself again. 



16.52      On 19th  March 1952, the Department of Education again approached the Department of Justice 



           and proposed transferring responsibility for the Institution to it. The Department of Justice rejected 

           the proposal as it would be seen as ‘a retrograde step’ because ‘its transfer to the Department 

           from the Department of Education would result it its being run as a prison rather than as a Juvenile 

           Remand Home’. 



16.53      In 1955, the proposal to transfer the management to a religious Order was resurrected again. The 

           Department of Education wrote to the Archbishop of Dublin on 8th  January 1955, on the basis that 



           the Superintendent was due to retire and the future of the Institution was uncertain and that ‘Your 

           Grace has expressed a desire that the institution should be in the hands of some Religious Order’ 

           and seeking his suggestions. This letter was followed up by a personal visit to the Archbishop on 

           20th January 1955, by the Minister for Education and the Secretary of the Department, to discuss 



           736                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 767-----------------------

           the  proposal  and,  in  particular,  the  possibility  of  using  Artane  Industrial  School  as  a  place  of 

           detention. However, the Archbishop considered that Artane was unsuitable for this purpose. 



16.54      The  Secretary  and  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Education  continued  in  their 

           efforts. They met with District Judge MacCarthy of the Children’s Court on 13th             June 1955, and 



           explained  ‘that  Marlborough  House  had  been  more  or  less  condemned  as  a  building  and  the 

           question now arose as to whether a new building should be found or whether some other means 

           of catering for boys on remand should be considered’. It was agreed ‘that Artane seemed to be 

           the  only  possible  potential  House  of  Detention’,  but  Judge  MacCarthy  said  that  the  Christian 

           Brothers had decided that Artane should only accept ‘boys of a non-criminal type’, and so it was 

           unlikely that they would allow Artane to be used as a place of detention. 



16.55      On 9th July 1955, the Superior General of the Christian Brothers and the Superior of Artane met 



           with the Minister for Education to discuss the issue, as the Archbishop had contacted them. The 

           Christian Brothers were not in favour of the proposal for the following reasons: 



                  (1) Artane now housed only orphans and boys who had been before the courts on minor 

                       charges. 



                  (2) All boys convicted of crimes of an indictable nature were sent to Letterfrack. 



                  (3) They were anxious that nothing should be done which would take away from the good 

                       name which they had been endeavouring to build up for Artane or which would result 

                       in any stigma attaching to a boy who had been in that Institution. 



                  (4) The layout of the lands and premises in Artane would not lend itself to separate quarters 

                       being provided for a house of detention. 



16.56      That  was  the  end  of  the  negotiations  between  the  Department  and  the  Christian  Brothers.  As 

           there seemed to be no prospect of any religious Order taking on the task, and as the Marlborough 

           House building was in such a perilous condition, the Department of Education sought sanction 

           from the Department of Finance for an alternative venue for a place of detention. The Minister for 

           Finance, in a letter of 30th  January 1956, said: 



                 I do not fully understand why none of the religious communities in Dublin devoted to the 

                 correction  of  juvenile  delinquency  in  its  various  degrees  and  manifestations  appears 

                 willing to receive the type here in question into one or other of their existing institutions ... 

                 I  suggest  then  that  you  would  be  justified  in  seeking  to  reopen  the  matter  with  the 

                 appropriate ecclesiastical authorities. 



16.57      On   22nd  July  1957,   the  Department    of  Education    wrote   to Archbishop     McQuaid    about   the 



           dangerous condition of the Institution: 



                 ... Marlborough House, the building used as a House of Detention, is in so dangerous a 

                 state as to make it necessary shortly to look for an alternative building. 



                 I have mentioned to the Minister that your Grace has been so good as to have expressed 

                 on several occasions a particular interest in the question of the House of Detention and the 

                 Minister has asked me to request your Grace to favour me with an interview on the matter. 



16.58      The Archbishop replied the following day and said: 



                 I am very glad to learn that Marlborough House is at last falling down. I have spoken so 

                 often to successive Ministers about this Institution, but to no avail whatever. The collapse 

                 of the building is now achieving what I had failed to achieve, for the souls and bodies of 

                 the boys. 



16.59      Officials from   the  Department     met  with  the  Archbishop     on  24th July  1957.   The   Archbishop 



           reiterated his view that he was glad the building was in a bad state and told the officials that: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 737 


----------------------- Page 768-----------------------

                 At present the boys are idle while there except for a little teaching in Christian Doctrine 

                 given by an old Christian Brother. The priests who look after clubs in Dublin will tell you 

                 there is nothing worse for boys of that type than idleness. Learning bad behaviour from 

                 each other is what they are doing while there ... the first necessity is to find an Order of 

                 Brothers to run the place 



16.60      He  felt  that  the  De  La  Salle  Order  would  be  suitable,  as  they  ‘had  much  experience  in  such 

           matters’. The Archbishop inquired if the Minister would ‘have any objection to a scheme like St. 

          Anne’s    in Kilmacud    where   the  Order   itself bought   the  house   and   the  land  and   where   the 

           Department made arrangements about grants’. The Department official assured the Archbishop 

          that the Minister would be more than satisfied with such an arrangement. The meeting ended and, 

           as the officials took their leave, the Archbishop said: 



                 ... the Detention Centre was the root of all good and bad in the Dublin boys who get into 

                 trouble and that nothing was more urgent than that the Centre be well conducted. 



16.61      In  January  1958,  the  Archbishop  informed  the  Department  that  the  De  La  Salle  Order  had 

           identified a site at Johnstown House, Ballyfermot for the new place of detention and they would 

           manage  it.  The  Provincial  of  the  De  La  Salle  Order  met  with  senior  Department  of  Education 

           officials on 16th January 1958 to discuss the proposals and, the following day, they inspected the 



           site  which  was  a  ‘fine  sturdy  building’  originally  owned  by  the  manager  of  Guinness.  Its  only 

           drawback was that it was not large enough. The Department felt this was a ‘golden opportunity’ 

          to transfer the management of the remand facility to a religious order. 



16.62      However, the transfer of the place of detention to the De La Salle Order at Johnstown House, 

           Ballyfermot  never  happened.  No  explanation  is  provided  by  the  Department  and  none  can  be 

          found in their records. 



16.63     The  question  of  transferring  the  management  and  administration  of  Marlborough  House  to  the 

           Department of Justice arose again in 1963. The Inter-Departmental Committee on the Prevention 

           of Crime and Treatment of Offenders noted in one of its meetings: 



                 The  chairman  mentioned  in  passing  that  even  though  Marlborough  House  would  be 

                 replaced  within  three  years  by  the  new  detention  centre  at  Finglas  the  question  of  its 

                 transfer to the Department of Justice might have to be raised as the pressure in the Dail 

                 to have improvements made there, for example, by the provision of facilities for psychiatric 

                 treatment,  would  have    to  evoke  a  positive   response  and  if  such  response     was  not 

                 forthcoming from the Department of Education, the Department of Justice would have to 

                 take over direct responsibility for the running of the institution. 



16.64      However,    until its closure   in 1972,   the  administration   of  Marlborough     House   remained    the 

           responsibility of the Department of Education. 



           Inspections 



16.65     As  stated  above,  there  were  no  formal  or  regular  inspections  of  Marlborough  House  by  the 

           Department of Education. 



16.66     At a Minister’s Conference on 23rd  April 1951 attended by the Department of Education and the 



           President  and  Secretary  of  the  Industrial  and  Reformatory  School  Managers  Association,  the 

           subject of Marlborough House was raised at the end of the meeting: 



                 Fr. [Y] then introduced the question of the House of Detention. He said that there was no 

                 Chaplain there, no instruction, no training, and that younger boys mixed with senior boys 

                 who  might  have  an  evil  influence  on  them.  Boys  might  often  be  left  there  for  9  or  10 

                 weeks. He had been shocked by certain events that had occurred recently in the House 



           738                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 769-----------------------

                of Detention, especially when had seen the evidence given by the boys concerned and 

                 had become acquainted with the boys in the Reformatory. He understood that there had 

                 been some difficulty, from the point of view of the Archbishop, with regard to appointing 

                a  Chaplain.  The Minister  promised  to  have the  matter  inquired  into  fully at  the  earliest 

                 possible moment. 



16.67     The following day, the Minister for Education wrote to the Minister for Justice: 



                 In  the  course  of  a  talk  with  Father  [Y]  and  Brother  [V],  representing  the  Managers  of 

                 Industrial Schools and Reformatories, matters were discussed in relation to the House of 

                 Detention at Marlborough House. 



                 I think a situation exists there which would dictate that at once we would have an inter- 

                 Departmental conference with a view to seeing what type of examination should be carried 

                out there for the purpose of securing that the boys there were adequately looked after 

                and all danger of scandal or criticism eliminated. 



                 I feel we have to satisfy ourselves that arrangement are made adequately dealing with 

                the spiritual interest, the occupational interest, health and education of these boys. 



16.68      In an internal memorandum prepared for the Minister for Justice, it was noted: 



                We  have  not  received  any  complaints  about  the  conditions  in  Marlborough  House.  I 

                assume, however, that the Minister will be prepared to discuss this matter with the Minister 

                for Education and I enclose a draft reply to this effect. I propose, subject to the Minister’s 

                approval, to speak to District Justice MacCarthy of the Children’s Court telling him that it 

                 has been suggested that the arrangements in Marlborough House should be looked into 

                and asking him whether he has any comments to make and would be willing to sit in at 

                any discussions. 



16.69     The Assistant Secretary issued an invitation to Judge MacCarthy on 3rd  May 1951, and also asked 



           him if he had heard any criticisms about the place. 



16.70     Judge MacCarthy accepted the invitation and, in a letter dated 5th  May 1951, he listed his concerns 



          about the Institution: 



                 For  some  considerable  time  past  I  have  been  very  uneasy  about  conditions  in  this 

                 institution. I am only too conscious of the fact that, from time to time, particularly during 

                the   past  six  months,   some    of  the  boys   detained   there   were   consummate      young 

                 blackguards  who  gave  the  Superintendent,  and  his  attendants,  a  great  deal  of  trouble 

                and annoyance. Nevertheless, the repeated escapes from the Institution, and repeated 

                allegations by the boys of ill-treatment – culminating in the incidents which gave rise to 

                the recent prosecution in the Criminal Courts – have convinced me that the conditions 

                 under  which  boys  are  detained  at  Marlborough  House  call  for  immediate  inquiry  and 

                amelioration. 



                 I note that you point out in your letter that the Department of Justice have not received 

                any complaints about this institution. You would most assuredly have received them from 

                 me were I not aware that, in practice, Marlborough House comes under the supervision 

                and  care  of  the  Department  of  Education,  to  which  Department  I  have  complained  on 

                several occasions. 



16.71      He recommended that the Minister should empower the judge of the Children’s Courts to visit and 

           inspect the Institution: 



                 I pointed out to [two Senior Official in the Department of Education] that, as far as I was 

                aware, no persons had ever been appointed, pursuant to section 109. sub.sec.(3). of the 

                 Children’s Act, 1908, to visit from time to time, children and young persons detained in 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              739 


----------------------- Page 770-----------------------

                 Detention Homes, and I requested them to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister. 

                 For my own part, I feel that the Minister should, under that Section, empower the Justice 

                 of the Children’s Court to pay such visits, alone, to these institutions, or, failing that, that 

                 he should, at least, be one of the persons so authorised by Section 109. 



16.72      It is not known whether this conference ever took place, and the Department of Justice in their 

           Statement said: ‘The departmental files do not reveal if such a conference did take place’. In any 

           event,  the   suggestion    of  Judge    MacCarthy     that  District  Judges    undertake    inspections    of 

           Marlborough House was not implemented and the lack of inspections continued until its closure. 



16.73      One of the  recommendations of the Inter-Departmental  Committee on the Prevention  of Crime 

           and Treatment of Offenders in 1963 was that the industrial schools and Marlborough House should 

           be ‘inspected more frequently’ and that ‘Visiting Committees’ should be established. A draft letter 

           dated  October  1963  from  the  Minister  for  Justice  to  the  Minister  for  Education  stated:  ‘I  hope 

           that the Inter-Departmental Committee’s recommendations in relation to Marlboro House and the 

           Industrial school system will find ready acceptance ...’. A handwritten note appended to the top of 

           this letter read: 



                 Minister 



                 Unless somebody prods the Department of Education the Committee’s work will go for 

                 naught to a large extent. 



16.74      The letter was not sent, as a note on a draft said: ‘Letter need not issue – I have spoken to Dr 

           Hillery’, who was the Minister for Education. 



           Closure 



16.75      The Kennedy Committee, in July 1969 and in November 1970, recommended that Marlborough 

           House  ‘should  be  closed  forthwith  and  replaced  by  a  more  suitable  building  with  trained  child 

           care staff’. 



16.76      The  Department  of  Education  produced  a  memorandum  on  the  closing  of  the  Institution.  It 

           announced  the  closure  of  Marlborough  House  on  1st      August  1972.  In  the  first  step  towards  its 

           closure, the Department decided that boys on remand were not to be sent there from 22nd                   May 



           1972.  From  that  date,  only  short-term  committals  under  section  106  of  the  Children  Act,  1908 

           were accepted. It was decided not to provide a place of detention to replace Marlborough House, 

           ‘as the Minister for Education is satisfied that the concept of the committal of young offenders to 

           an  institution  such  as  Marlborough  House  for  a  period  of  detention  up  to  one  month  is  not  in 

           accordance with present-day attitudes as to the appropriate treatment for children under care ...’. 

           The Minister for Justice removed Marlborough House from the Register of Places of Detention for 

           the purposes of Part V of the Children Act, 1908 on 28th         July 1972. 



16.77      A remand and assessment centre managed by the De La Salle Order was constructed in Finglas, 

           Dublin, The building at Marlborough House was demolished in January 1973. 



           The investigation 



16.78      The Investigation Committee heard evidence in private from three witnesses at the Commission’s 

           offices on 31st  March  2006. The Department of Education and  Science and the Department of 



           Justice, Equality and Law Reform were legally represented at these hearings. In addition to oral 

           evidence,   the   Investigation   Committee     considered    documents     received   from   both   of  these 

           Departments  as  part  of  the  discovery  process.  Statements  were  also  furnished  by  these  two 

           Departments for the Phase III hearings. The Secretary General of the Department of Education 

           and Science, Ms Brigid McManus,  gave evidence at a two-day public hearing on  12th                  and 13th 



           June 2006. These hearings focused on the role of the Department of Education in the regulation 



           740                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 771-----------------------

           of industrial schools and its management of Marlborough House. The Assistant Secretary of the 

           Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr James Martin, gave evidence in public on 



              th 

           19   June 2006. 



           The premises: a condemned building 



16.79      When Marlborough House was acquired by the Department of Education, the OPW advised that 

           it required considerable repair but that it could easily be adapted for use as a detention centre. 

           The  front  of  the  building  was  in  very  poor  condition,  particularly  the  roof  and  the  walls.  These 

           repairs were not undertaken because, in February 1952, eight years after taking possession of it, 

           the Department was informed by the OPW of the ‘bad state of repair’ of the roof and top storey 

           of the front part of the building. This part of the building was very precarious, and they advised 

           that the top storey would have to be reconstructed by taking it down to ‘put a reinforced band 

           around the whole building, lay a new second floor in concrete if required, rebuild the walls, stacks 

           and parapets and put on a new roof’. An internal Department of Education memorandum in 1952 

           stated: ‘This place should never have been used to cater for children ...’. 



16.80      In August 1952, the OPW again wrote to the Department of Education, seeking permission to go 

           ahead with the re-construction of the front of the building, without delay, because of the dangerous 

           condition  of  the  roof  and  top  storey.  On  7th     September  1955,  the  OPW  stressed  again  the 



           ‘dangerous  condition’  of  the  front  of  the  building  and  stated:  ‘It  is  imperative  that  there  be  no 

           further   delay   whatsoever     on   the  question    of  reaching    a  decision    about   its demolition    and 

           reconstruction’. In another letter, dated 28th       November 1955, they stated: 



                  ...  we  have  to  inform  you  that  the  premises  have  reached  such  an  extreme  state  of 

                  dilapidation that we cannot guarantee that any measures which we may take will serve to 

                  render them safe for occupation for even a short period. 



16.81      The reticence on the part of the Department to acquiesce to these vital repair works resulted from 

           the   anticipated   transfer   of  the  management        to  a  religious  Order.    By   December      1957,   the 

           Department thought this would take place within the year, and so the OPW were asked to find 

           suitable   temporary     premises    in  the   meantime,     as  ‘the  Minister   feels   that  he  could   not   be 

           responsible  for  having  the  children  concerned  detained  in  the  present  House  of  Detention  a 

           moment longer than is absolutely essential’. The Department of Education were unsuccessful in 

           their attempts to transfer management of it to a religious Order. 



16.82      Stormy  weather  in  November  1959  resulted  in  further  deterioration  to  the  front  structure,  and 

           immediate remedial work was undertaken, in that wooden shorings were placed against planks 

           fixed to the walls in a vertical position to prevent the wall from falling. On 30th            January 1960, the 



           OPW wrote that ‘it is now considered desirable that steps be taken to have the premises vacated 

           as soon as possible’. 



16.83      Almost 10 years later, in July, a member of the Kennedy Committee, Mr MacConchradha, who 

           was  a  civil  servant  with  the  Department  of  Justice,  said  that  when  a  Sub-Committee  of  the 

           Committee  visited  Marlborough  House  ‘they  nearly  lost  their  lives’.  He  added:  ‘The  building  is 

           tottering,  there   is  virtually  no  activity,  educational    or  recreational,    and   the  staff  are   totally 

           unsuitable’. The Kennedy Committee in July 1969, a year before it published its final report, made 

           a special interim submission to the Minister of Education that Marlborough House should be closed 

           ‘forthwith’, as the building was in ‘an extremely bad state of repair and, indeed, appears to be in 

           imminent danger of collapse’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        741 


----------------------- Page 772-----------------------

16.84      An Assistant Secretary with the Department of Education wrote to the Department of Justice on 

           23rd July 1969, seeking to transfer the place of detention at Marlborough House temporarily to a 



           prefabricated building at the open prison at Shanganagh Castle, pending the completion of the 

           remand centre in Finglas. The Department of Justice rejected this proposal outright. 



16.85      The   building   was    not  vacated,    and   conditions   deteriorated    even    further.  A  photograph      of 

           Marlborough House in early 1971 is inserted below: 



           On   20th  June   1971,    nine  attendants    resigned    without   warning,    in protest   against   the  poor 



           conditions.  Staff  from  both  the  Department  of  Education  and  the  Department  of  Justice  were 

           drafted in temporarily. A week later, it was reported in both the Sunday Independent and Sunday 

           Press newspapers that a riot had occurred at Marlborough House on 26th                    June 1971, when 17 



           boys went on a two-hour rampage, smashing windows and breaking furniture. The Gardai were 

                                                                                                                      ´ 

           called, and eventually the situation was brought under control. 



             742                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 773-----------------------

16.86      A Garda Superintendent who had been called to the premises stated: ‘The conditions are bad and 

           are  in  my  opinion  such  as  to  cause  discontent  and  unrest  among  the  inmates’.  A  Garda  who 

           attended after the incident reported that the problem lay with the ageing attendants not being able 

           to  control  the  boys  and  ‘that  all  the  boys  are  kept  in  a  large  detention  room  with  no  form  of 

           amusement, with the exception of a T.V., for the most part of the day and they have nothing to 

           do except fight with the attendants and each other’. 



16.87      Three days later, the Evening Herald newspaper reported that another riot had taken place when 

           two boys escaped. Again, the Gardai were called in to restore order. 

                                                        ´ 



16.88      Throughout 1971, senior officials from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice 

           held meetings to discuss the closure of Marlborough House, the finding of alternative premises 

           and, the opening of the centre at Finglas. At each meeting, it was agreed that Marlborough House 

           should be closed, but there were delays in completing the construction of the centre at Finglas, 

           which was compounded by the fact that the De La Salle Order did not want to take remand cases, 

           all of which resulted in no action, and Marlborough House remained open. 



16.89      A  conference  was  held  in  Leinster  House  on  8th         July  1971  which  was  attended  by  both  the 



           Ministers for Education and Justice, together with their officials. The Minister for Justice was very 

           critical of the Department of Education’s handling of Marlborough House: ‘... there had been total 

           neglect  of  the  Marlboro  House  establishment:  staffing  had  been  obtained  from  among  Labour 

           Exchange  undesirables:  young  children  were  left  in  their  care  when  it  was  known  that  they 

           indulged in brutality: he himself had inspected the place and had been appalled at conditions ...’. 

           He added: ‘... it was very late in the day for the Department of Education to look for any sharing 

           of responsibility in the operation of the establishment’. Following this conference, an official in the 

           Department of Education contacted the Department of Justice with a view to setting up a Working 

           Party in relation to Marlborough House. An internal Department of Justice memorandum informed 

           the  Department  of  Education  unequivocally  that  there  would  be  no  Working  Party  and  that 

           ‘Marlborough  House  is  not  a  matter  for  the  Minister  for  Justice  nor  one  in  which  he  can  be 

           involved’. He added: ‘I felt that I should make it plain to him that in this Department it is believed 

           that the Department of Education is endeavouring to involve this Department in something which 

           is not its concern’. Mr James Martin, Assistant Secretary with the Department of Justice, at the 

           Phase III hearing, said: ‘... they had views that the Department of Education should be more active 

           but they were not going to take over that role themselves’. 



16.90      The Minister for Education then wrote to the Minister for Justice on 5th  August 1971, and pointed 



           out that: 



                  In accordance with the terms of the Children Act the provision of places of detention is 

                  the responsibility of the Minister for Justice and your Department must be involved in any 

                  alternative arrangements to be made consequent on Marlborough House ceasing to exist. 

                  It  is  necessary  that  the  relevant  discussions  in  this  regard  take  place  and  that  some 

                  satisfactory solution is found to get us out of the present impasse. 



16.91      Matters reached a critical level when, on 6th         September 1971, the OPW informed the Department 



           of Education, the Department of Justice and the Department of Finance that Marlborough House 

           was on the verge of collapsing: 



                  Our Architect has inspected these premises and reports a possibility of imminent collapse 

                  of  the building,  due  to dry  rot  and  defective floors.  It  is imperative  that  the building  be 

                  vacated immediately. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                         743 


----------------------- Page 774-----------------------

16.92      On the same day, the Office of Public Works issued another warning letter: 



                 ... the building has been inspected today by our Principal Architect who agrees that there 

                 is danger of collapse and advises that the premises be evacuated without delay. 



16.93      A meeting was held four days later, on 10th        September 1971, with officials from the Departments 



           of Education and Justice and the Office of Public Works. An architect from the Office of Public 

           Works informed them that: ‘the dangerous part of Marlborough House is the front portion where 

           floors are in danger of giving way. The building might last for years but then again it might come 

           down in a gale’. The decision was taken to immediately seek alternative accommodation for the 

           boys. However, the boys remained there until the closure of the Institution some 11 months later, 

           on 1st  August 1972. 



16.94      A retired High Court Judge, Mr Justice Kingsmill-Moore, visited Marlborough House in October 

           1971. Initially, the Department of Education were reluctant to allow this, as they thought ‘that no 

           useful  purpose  would  be  served  by  his  visit’.  They  re-considered  the  matter  and  gave  him 

           permission, but felt that ‘an officer of the Department should accompany him to explain matters. 

           It  would  not  be  wise  that  he  should  get  his  explanations  from  the  people  now  in  charge  of 

           Marlborough House’. Mr Justice Kingsmill-Moore reported his observations on Marlborough House 

           to the Minister for Education in a letter of 27th     October 1971. He said: 



                 ... Marlborough House is frankly, appalling. 



                 If  you  could  spare  ten  minutes  of  your  time  to  visit  it,  I  am  sure  you  would  be  deeply 

                 shocked. For  the moment I  will only  say that owing  to the covering  of the  windows by 

                 various materials, including a kind of brown glaze, and quite inadequate electrical lighting, 

                 the boys are in  an atmosphere of gloom which must  be physically and psychologically 

                 damaging; that their only seating accommodation is forms, of which there are not enough 

                 to provide seats for all the boys; and that there is no form of occupation except watching 

                 television in the evening. The general condition of the place can only be appreciated by 

                 a personal inspection. 



16.95      He had also visited the new, unoccupied remand centre at Finglas, which was built in 1970, and 

           praised it and asked the Minister to ‘expedite’ the move from Marlborough House. 



16.96      He followed up this letter by calling personally to the Department with his wife on 24th             November 



           1971, to explain the situation. He did not let the matter drop and followed with a letter to the Irish 

           Times two months later, on 27th       January 1972, which elaborated further the poor conditions. His 



           description  was  of  a  desolate,  Dickensian  house  where  the  boys  spent  the  day  in  a  large  hall 

           which was the ‘only living accommodation in the building for “an average of 26 and on occasion 

           up to 36 boys of all ages”, summer and winter’. This room he described as: 



                 ... a single enormous hall comparable only to a disused garage. The walls were rough 

                 plaster, some falling from damp, exposing the bricks behind. At each end was a small 

                 black stove, each with a few red embers at the bottom. The sole furniture consisted of 

                 two tables and a few backless forms ... to seat the number of boys incarcerated. Each tall 

                 window  was  blocked  by  brownish  material  and  covered  with  wire-netting,  a  little  light 

                 coming through  part of the  upper panes. Hanging  from the high  ceilings were three  or 

                 four low-wattage bulbs, one broken. 



16.97      He went on to point out that the boys had no recreation facilities there. The upstairs comprised a 

           similar room, used as a dormitory, where the ‘blankets were thin and insufficient for winter: again 

           half the windows were blocked’. The only outside facility was a yard which was ‘part rough grass, 

           part  earth,  where  a  ball  can  be  kicked  about;  there  is  no  room  for  organised  football  and  no 

           equipment  for  anything  else’.  In  comparison,  he  found  the  building  at  Finglas  a  ‘triumph  of 

           planning, flooded with light and filled with colour ...’. 



           744                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 775-----------------------

16.98     His fear for the boys in Marlborough House was ‘the possibility of worse injury, physical, mental 

          and moral, in a community so composed, kept in the conditions we saw, without occupation’. The 

          following month, on 21st   February 1972, Mr Justice Kingsmill-Moore wrote an article in the Irish 



          Independent  decrying  the    conditions  and  seeking  the   transfer  of  boys  to  Finglas or,  in  the 

          alternative, alterations to the physical accommodation. 



16.99     An  RTE  television  programme,  entitled  ‘Encounter’  was  made  with  Mr  Justice  Kingsmill-Moore 

          and his wife about Marlborough House, which had the effect of raising its appalling conditions in 

          the Dail on 1st March 1972, in which Deputy O’Donovan described the Institution as consisting of 



          ‘two rooms, a great barrack of a room underneath and one general dormitory above...there are 

          boys  from  seven  years  of  age  to  17’.  Another  member  of  the  Dail,  Mr  Fitzpatrick,  said  the 

          description of the place by the judge ‘was horrifying. It appears there are two large uncomfortable 

          rooms in which small and big boys are kept. While they were at the house they saw two little boys 

          huddled like little rabbits in a playground’. He added: ‘I am asking the Minister for the good name 

          of  the  country  and  in  the  interests  of  the  unfortunate  children  to  close  Marlborough  House 

          immediately’. Despite the mounting criticism, it was another six months before Marlborough House 

          was closed down. 



          Conclusions on the running of Marlborough House 



16.100    •     There   seems    to have   been   no   educational    purpose    to Marlborough      House   as  a 

               detention    centre.  Neither   was   there   any  attempt    made   to  give   the  children   any 

               education  while  they  were  there.  Although  it  seems  obvious  that  a  child  who  was 

               sentenced to detention for one month would still need to have some education, that 

               evidently did not happen in Marlborough House. 



          •    The discovered documents even in the latter stages of the existence of Marlborough 

                House disclose an enormous problem that there was nothing for the children to do. 

               There were no recreational facilities, although there was apparently a television. The 

               children moped around in compete boredom and frustration during the period of their 

               detention in the institution. 



          •    The Department of Justice certified Marlborough House originally but did not have any 

               function in inspecting it. 



          •    The  Department  of  Education  was  in  charge  of  it  but  did  not  want  it  because  its 

               functions were related to the courts and the administration of Justice. 



          •    The  age  range  of  boys  in  Marlborough  House  was  7  years  to  17  years;  even  in  the 

                1960s there was a boy there aged 8 and a half years. 



          •    The inmates all lived as one group, unseparated by age or circumstance. 

          •    The  numbers  varied,  and  could  go  up  as  high  as  38  according  to  the  discovered 

               documents. 



          •    There was a lot of bullying and assaults by boys on other boys. 

          •    According to contemporary documents, the staff were untrained and often completely 

                unsuitable for work with children : they were in fact recruited as needed from the local 

                labour exchange. 



          •    Over 21,000 boys passed through this Institution, and it should have been used as a 

               means  of  assessment  and  early  intervention  to  prevent  boys  entering  a  lifetime  of 

               crime.   The   Department     had   neither  the   vision  nor   the  willingness   to  effect  the 

                necessary changes to make Marlborough House functional. 



          •    Marlborough House was a chaotic facility, housed in an inappropriate and delapidated 

               building   with   poor   management      and   inadequate     staff. The   dispute   between    the 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                            745 


----------------------- Page 776-----------------------

                Department of Education and the Department of Justice allowed this situation to go 

                on for years. 



          •     There  is  no  evidence  that  the  personnel  in  the  Department  who  had  charge  of  this 

                section had any regard or concern for the boys who were incarcerated in Marlborough 

                House.  Changes  were  recommended  in  order  to  avoid  scandal  and  criticism  of  the 

                Minister and the Department, and not because of the needs of the boys in care. 



          •     It  was  logical  that  Marlborough  House  should  have  been  the  responsibility  of  the 

                Department of Justice. To insist that because Marlborough House dealt with children 

                only the Department of Education should run it was irrational because in every respect 

                it operated to serve the courts and the administration of Justice. 



          •    The Department of Justice refused to take it over and denied responsibility, but never 

                the  less   became     a  critical  commentator      on   the  failures   on  the   Department     of 

                Education. 



          •     The   Department     of  Education’s    behaviour     in respect    of Marlborough      House    was 

                indefensible. Even accepting all the arguments about administrative jurisdiction, the 

                fact remained that it was a facility that needed to be run well to help the young boys 

                sent  there.  That  meant  installing  proper  management  and  staff,  and  carrying  out 

                supervision to ensure that whatever plan was put in place was implemented. None of 

                that happened, and the institution was allowed to drift further into neglect, with the 

                Department of Education, and indeed the Department of Justice, doing nothing, not 

                even observing its appalling decline. 



          Physical abuse 



          Attitude of the Department of Education 



16.101    The Department of Education in their Statement referred to the procedure in Marlborough House 

          for dealing with complaints of physical abuse, which was outlined in a letter dated 17th        May 1971: 



                ... all complaints from parents, guardians or other sources about the treatment of children 

                in  Marlborough  House  are  investigated  by  the  Department.  The  Attendant-in-charge  is 

                furnished with a copy of the complaint and his observations are requested. Should the 

                seriousness of the complaint warrant it, an Officer of the Department will also interview 

                the child and the attendant-in-charge and/or the attendant against whom the allegations 

                are made and the Department takes appropriate action where necessary. No complete 

                record of all complaints received is available since many of the complaints received are 

                of a trivial nature. 



16.102    As will be seen from a discussion of such complaints, this was not in fact the approach taken by 

          the Department. 



          Documented cases of physical abuse 



          1956 complaints 



16.103    In 1956, two boys appeared before Judge MacCarthy in the Children’s Court. The two boys, aged 

           11 and 12, had been remanded in Marlborough House for a week in 1956. It was reported in a 

          number of evening papers that one of the boys during the course of the hearing told the judge: 



                I do not like Marlborough House ... I had to march around a field bigger than the room 

                and, if I tripped over the sticks on the ground they would make me get up and they would 

                start hitting me with a stick. 



          746                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 777-----------------------

16.104     When questioned by the Justice about the allegations he had made, the boy named two officials. 

           Judge MacCarthy then asked for the two officials to be brought before the court. The garda in 

           charge  of  the  case  was  reported  to  have  said,  ‘I  don’t  imagine  that  the  punishment  was  very 

           severe’; to which the Judge responded, ‘You don’t imagine, but you were not there’. 



16.105     The  Judge  then  turned  to  the  other  boy  and  asked  him  whether  he  had  got  enough  to  eat  in 

           Marlborough  House,  to  which  the  boy  replied  ‘Yes,  Sir’.  He  then  asked  him  whether  he  was 

           punished. The boy replied that he had been punished with a stick for tripping. The officer in charge 

           expressed his surprise that there was any punishment for boys in Marlborough House. The two 

           were   remanded      on   bail  for  14   days,   and   Judge    MacCarthy      stated   that  he   wanted    the 

           Superintendent of Marlborough House to be present at that time. 



16.106     The Superintendent, Mr Grange,5  who had taken up his appointment two weeks before this, was 



           informed of the events by the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools Branch, and Mr 

           Grange made contact with the officer in charge of the case. He was told by the detective that the 

           boys had made no allegations before the court hearing. 



16.107     In a report prepared for the Inspector by Mr Grange, he stated that he had investigated the matter 

           thoroughly within  the Institution and was  ‘quite satisfied that  no such incidents as  alleged took 

           place’. He further stated: 



                 ... during the period these boys were detained here, I had on an average of thirty-four to 

                 thirty-eight boys here, as well as a number of workmen who were employed by Messrs 

                 Dockrell renovating the Boy’s Quarters. Due to the number of boys who were within full 

                 view of these tradesmen and that myself and the Attendants had to be on the alert all the 

                 time  I  wish  to  point  out  that  these  incidents  could  not  have  happened  without  being 

                 noticed. 



16.108     He provided statements from four older boys, signed by the boys and witnessed by Mr Grange. 

           All  the  statements  are  dated  on  the  same  date  in  1956  and  are  similarly  worded.  They  each 

           maintained that they never saw either boy being ill-treated in any way by any of the attendants. 

           They were allowed to walk around the recreation grounds and were treated well by the attendants. 

           They stated that they got plenty to eat in Marlborough House. 



16.109     Statements were also given by two permanent attendants and two temporary attendants. These 

           statements were also taken on the same date in 1956 and witnessed by Mr Grange. In the case 

           of  the  permanent  attendants,  each  of  these  had  been  employed  in  Marlborough  House  for  six 

           years, and they claimed the allegations were untrue. They were assisted in their duty rota by a 

           temporary attendant. Statements were provided by the temporary attendants, both of whom were 

           in their first week of employment in Marlborough House when the alleged incidents occurred. They 

           denied that they saw anything untoward during their duty periods with the senior attendants. 



16.110     It is not clear from either Mr Grange’s report, or the statements taken from the four staff members, 

           whether any of these were the persons alleged to have beaten the boys, but it is likely that Mr 

           Grange would have  been in a position to ascertain  who was on duty during  the week that the 

           boys were detained. 



16.111     A few weeks later, the  Evening Press reported that Mr Grange attended court, where the boys 

           again repeated their statements and named two attendants. Mr Grange told the court that he had 

           made  inquiries  and  believed  the charges  made  by  the  boys  were  unfounded.  He also  told  the 

           court that he had since questioned another boy in the centre, who told him that he had overheard 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                     747 


----------------------- Page 778-----------------------

           the boys the night before their original hearing planning to tell the Judge that they had been beaten 

           in order to be dealt with leniently. 



16.112     The boys were remanded on bail for two weeks, to see if their school attendance and behaviour 

           improved, and no further action was taken on the allegations made by them. 



           Complaints against Mr Lombard6 



           1969 complaints 



16.113     Towards the end of 1968, a Probation Welfare Officer reported two incidents of physical abuse of 

           boys in Marlborough House to the Department of Education. The first incident, which he witnessed 

           in September 1968, was ‘a brutal beating of one of the inmates’ by an attendant, Mr Lombard. 

           He stated: 



                  This beating consisted  of numerous punches with  his clenched fist, which  reduced the 

                  boy to a whimpering mass. The concluding portion of this incident was witnessed by Mrs 

                  Grange,7   the  matron  and  the  complete  incident  took  place  in  the  presence  of  all  the 



                  inmates  at  the  time.  May  I  say  that  I  considered  this  a  savage,  uncontrolled  beating, 

                  accompanied by expressions from the attendant, of which I could plainly hear “dirtbird” 

                  being mentioned on quite a few occasions. 



16.114     The second incident was reported to him by a former detainee in November 1968, who alleged 

           that he was ‘hit by a lamp on the lips, arms and other parts of the body’ by the same attendant, 

           Mr Lombard. The boy did not make a complaint to the authorities at the time as ‘he was afraid of 

           Mr Lombard and because he was convinced that he would not succeed in any complaint he would 

           make’.    The   following   day,  the   Probation    Officer  informed    Ms   Justice   Eileen   Kennedy,     who 

           instructed him to get the Probation Administration Officer of the Department of Justice to contact 

           the  Department      of  Education     to have    the  matter   investigated.    He   spoke    to  the  Probation 

           Administration  Officer  on  11th     November,  and  was  requested  to  submit  a  report  on  the  two 

           incidents, which he did on 13th       February 1969. Mr MacConchradha, the Probation Administration 

           Officer, referred the matter to the Secretary of the Department of Education on 28th  February 1969. 



16.115     An official from the Department of Education investigated both of these complaints, and filed a 

           report on 6th   March 1969. 



16.116     With regard to the first complaint, he reported that the boy had been a ‘troublesome detainee in 

           [two other industrial schools] and Marlborough House and is considered to be an unfit subject for 

           all three places’, but did not make any finding as to the veracity of the allegation. 



16.117     In respect of the second complaint, he stated that he believed that the boy ‘was assaulted on the 

           night in question, but I feel that he has exaggerated in his account’. He also referred to the fact 

           that the Gardai in [the boy’s local Garda Station] had told him the boy and his mother ‘are notorious 

                            ´ 

           liars’ and that ‘[he] is pretty violent and is frequently in brawls’. The official from the Department 

           concluded     that  the   attendant,   Mr   Lombard,     ‘should   be   advised    to exercise    restraint  when 

           provoked, but deserves praise for his interest in and kindness to the boys’. He also pointed out 

           that  the  work  of  the  attendants  ‘would  be  much  simpler  if  indoor  games  and  suitable  reading 

           material were provided’. 



16.118     The Department considered the matter and, in a letter to the Kennedy Committee of 22nd                         May 



           1969, which had sought information relating to complaints generally in institutions, it referred to 

           these two incidents and stated that: 



           6 This is a pseudonym. 

           7 This is a pseudonym. 



           748                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 779-----------------------

                 The  attendant  undoubtedly  contravened  the  regulations  governing  the  treatment  of  the 

                 detainees  in  Marlboro  House      and  the  fact  that  both  these   boys  proved  violent  and 

                 provocative  under  detention  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  defence  of  his  conduct  in  these 

                 cases.   The   reports  furnished   in  regard   to the  incidents   in  question   are  still under 

                 consideration ... 



16.119     Mr MacConchradha, Probation Administration Officer at the Department of Justice, was informed 

           by memorandum dated 3rd  June 1969 that: 



                 There is no doubt but that a Supervisor, on two occasions, infringed the regulations which 

                 are  laid  down.  The  reports  that  the  Officer  of  the  Department  provided  are  still  being 

                 considered but the matter must be researched further. 



16.120     A further complaint was made against the same attendant. In early 1969, a welfare officer reported 

           that a boy who was resident in Marlborough House had received ‘a walloping’ from this attendant. 



16.121     Despite these complaints, the attendant continued to be employed, and was promoted to attendant 

           in  charge  of  Marlborough  House  in  1970,  less  than  one  year  after  the  findings  of  the  internal 

           Department of Education investigation into his behaviour. According to an internal memorandum 

           from the Department of Education, he sustained injuries when he was attacked by boys in May 

           1970, which necessitated a spell of sick leave, and that ended his tenure as attendant in charge. 

           He was eventually removed in 1971 because ‘it was felt that he was a source of tension amongst 

           the boys, due to a temperament aggravated by high blood pressure’. 



16.122     Each  of  the  witnesses  that  gave  evidence  to  the  Investigation  Committee  made  allegations  of 

           physical abuse, particularly against this attendant [Mr Lombard]. One witness recounted being hit 

           randomly with his walking stick for no reason. He said Mr Lombard would take him out of bed in 

           the  early  hours  of  the  morning  and  would    ‘wallop  you,  strip  you,  hit  you  with  the  stick’.  This 

           happened on two or three occasions where he was taken out of bed  ‘and just walloped for no 

           reason whatsoever’. He recalled a particular occasion when Mr Lombard took a boy out of the 

           bed next to him and ‘hit him so hard and where he missed him there was holes in the walls from 

           the top of his walking stick were he actually missed him with a few blows’. The atmosphere he 

           felt was one of fear: 



                 It was degrading there, there was tension there all the time, a terrible atmosphere. If you 

                 were hit you actually felt better because you were not going to be hit for a day or two. 

                 You never knew when it was going to happen to you. 



16.123     He added: ‘You weren’t treated as a human being at all in there, you had no control over anything 

           there, none’. 



16.124     Another  witness  referred  to  the  early-morning  beatings  by  this  same  attendant,  which  he  first 

           received on arrival: 



                 ... it was perhaps about 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, I can’t remember exactly what time 

                 it was, when the bedclothes were taken back off me. This man, whom I now knew to be 

                 Lombard,  held  me  down  with  his  left  hand  on  the  back  of  my  neck  here,  he  had  the 

                 blankets back and he beat me half a dozen times with the walking stick, across the back, 

                 the buttocks and the back of my legs. Full force. This was the first night I was there. 



16.125     This  happened  on  four  occasions within  the  first  month  that  he  was  there, where  Mr  Lombard 

           would beat him with his walking stick:  ‘He would always give you half a dozen whacks of it’. He 

           also said that Mr Lombard beat the boys for no reason, and he pointed out that there ‘was always 

           a smell of alcohol from his breath’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                 749 


----------------------- Page 780-----------------------

16.126     A third witness complained of being beaten by this attendant who  ‘would hit you whatever way he 

           wanted to’. He would punch with his hands, ‘Around your body, you could be in your bed and he 

           would come in and punch you’. He referred to the atmosphere created by this man: ‘when he was 

           in your presence you would have fear. He’d have that about him, he brought fear’. 



           Assault by Matron 



16.127     In May 1969, a Probation Officer reported an assault on a boy at Marlborough House to Judge 

           Eileen  Kennedy.  The  boy  had  been  hit  in  the  eye  with  an  aluminium  mug  by  the  Matron,  Mrs 

           Grange, which resulted in a black eye, and he was slapped twice on the left-hand side of his face 

           by her. He was seen by a doctor the following evening but he ‘was afraid to say anything against 

           Mrs Grange, as she was present while the doctor saw him, and he was afraid he would get a 

           beating that night’. He had been a week in custody and, when brought before Judge Kennedy on 

           remand, he had a black eye. Judge Kennedy brought the matter to the attention of the Secretary 

           of  the  Department  of  Education  on  the  same  day,  and  said  that  she  was  of  the  view  that  the 

           ‘complaint is one deserving of investigation’. 



16.128     The Department of Education replied within a week that ‘The matter will be investigated and a 

           further communication sent to you in due course’. No such communication was found in discovery. 

           The General Statement of the Department of Education stated that there are ‘no further records 

           in relation to this complaint’. 



16.129     The Investigation Committee heard evidence from a complainant who was the individual subjected 

           to the alleged assault by the Matron, Mrs Grange. He recalled that, when he appeared before her, 

           Judge Kennedy asked how he had received a black eye, to which he replied  ‘the madame gave 

           me bang with a belt or something’. 



16.130     This  witness  complained  of  getting       ‘a  few  clatters  on  a  few  occasions’ from  the  Matron,  Mrs 

           Grange, and he explained that the black eye which Judge Kennedy had asked him about, was in 

           fact the result of a blow with a ladle. 



           1970 complaints 



16.131     In January 1971, Rosita Sweetman, a journalist with the Irish Press, wrote a series of articles on 

           the  ill-treatment  of  boys  and  the  poor  conditions  in  Marlborough  House.  Her  information  came 

           from an existing member of staff, Mr Jacob,8  who also provided her with unofficial access to the 



           building and documents. It was reported that: 



                  ... one of the wardens boasted ... how he’d “beaten the lard out of that itinerant kid.” The 

                  itinerant  kid  was  13.  ‘Jacob’  protested  and  was  told  “These  young  lads  aren’t  juvenile 

                  delinquents – they’re criminals. They are here to be corrected and we’ll correct them.” 



16.132     The  events  surrounding  the  escape  by  a  boy,  Emmet  Crosbie,9               on  St  Stephen’s  Day  1970 



           prompted these newspaper articles and, in particular, Mr Jacob to contact the press. An attendant 

           who was intoxicated gave the boy keys to escape, which he did, and went to the West where he 

           surrendered      himself   to   the  Gardai     who    brought    him   back    to  Marlborough      House.     The 

                                                        ´ 

           Superintendent of Marlborough House, Mr Carnoy,10                 obtained statements from both attendants 



           regarding  the  circumstances  of  the  boy’s  escape.  He  wrote  to  the  Department  of  Education  in 

           January 1971,  stating that  he believed  the boy’s  version of  events and  was satisfied  that both 

           attendants were under the influence of drink on the nights in question, and he considered that it 

           was a case of neglect of duty on the part of one of the attendants, Mr Lombard. As was outlined 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 

           9 This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 



           750                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 781-----------------------

          above, Mr Lombard was eventually removed from his position in July 1971, as he was considered 

          a source of tension amongst the boys. 



16.133    The  Department  became       aware  that  Mr  Jacob    was  supplying  the  information  to   the  press. 

          Following publication of these articles, officials from the Department of Education interviewed a 

          number of staff at Marlborough House, including the Superintendent, Mr Carnoy, the matron, Mrs 

          Grange, and Mr Jacob. In his interview, Mr Jacob admitted that he contacted Ms Sweetman and 

          gave her access to the building, and he re-asserted his allegations that the boys were ill-treated 

          by certain attendants. He was initially suspended from work, and then was sacked at the end of 

          January 1971, following an internal Department investigation into complaints made against him. 



16.134    In mid January 1971, the Superintendent of Marlborough House sent a report entitled ‘Report Re- 

          Dismissal Mr Jacob. (Attendant)’ to the Department of Education, in which he detailed a number 

          of complaints against Mr Jacob. He alleged that Mr Jacob, on one occasion, had ‘very little interest’ 

          in the ‘safe custody’ of the boys and, on another occasion, he ‘reported for duty as rostered, he 

          did not appear to be inclined to exercise control or work’. 



16.135    It is clear from this report that the Superintendent had been asked to answer some questions from 

          the Department of Education, and there is some sense of a little discomfort in the final paragraphs 

          to his report: 



                ... With reference to Mr Jacob’s report to the Press, I have no knowledge that he did same 

                for financial gain, or that he did gain financially from it. 



                Before, during and after Mr Jacob’s press report, he at no time threatened me with the 

                press. I had no fault to find with Mr Jacob, as an Attendant here up to the time he gave 

                the report to the press, from then on he fell below the required standard. 



16.136    Mr  Jacob  was  interviewed  at the  Department’s  offices,  at  the  end  of  January 1971,  where  the 

          complaints  about  his  performance  contained  in  the  Superintendent’s  report  to  the  Department 

          were put to him. He denied each allegation and put his own version of events to the Department. 

          He also asserted that ‘Since the incidents relating to the Press Mr Carnoy had subjected him to 

          extreme pressure’. He offered to provide a number of witnesses to support his case, and asked 

          that he be given the complaints in writing. 



16.137    The Department wrote to Mr Jacob three days later, informing him ‘having fully considered the 

          facts  of the  case,  the  Minister  has   decided   to terminate   your  employment     as  Attendant   in 

          Marlborough House’. The reason given by the Department was that ‘the explanations given by 

          you in the matter cannot be accepted’. 



16.138    The dismissal of Mr Jacob sparked another round of newspaper articles, and it was even raised 

          in the Dail. The Minister for Education stated that he ‘certainly was not dismissed because of the 

          fact  that  he  made    allegations  in  relation  to  this home’,   but  was    dismissed   ‘because    of 

          unsatisfactory performance of his duties’. 



16.139    An injury to a boy in 1971 highlighted problems in Marlborough House that had been present for 

          many years. The 12-year-old boy was attacked by two 15-year-old residents. He was severely 

          kicked in the course of the assault, as a result of which he began passing blood and had to be 

          removed to hospital, where he received treatment for a considerable period of time. In response 

          to complaints made by Free Legal Advice Centres, a member of staff who reported on the incident 

          commented that the staff had done their best to keep these unruly boys out of Marlborough House 

          ‘but the courts still sent them to us’. The report concluded: 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              751 


----------------------- Page 782-----------------------

                 We have no way of keeping the boys apart here, and young and old have to stay in the 

                 one recreation room and dormitory. In my opinion and with experience over the years this 

                 building is no longer suitable for the detention of boys or for staff to work in. 



           Blows by torch 



16.140     In early 1972 there was an incident that resulted in an attendant striking a boy with a torch. It 

           became the subject of a Garda investigation that resulted in a recommendation that no further 

           action be taken. It involved a confrontation between attendants and a number of the 25 boys who 

           were resident at the time. The Garda investigation revealed two conflicting accounts of the events 

           that night. The boy who was struck described how an attendant shouted at him to keep quiet in 

           the dormitory and then hit him with his hand, at which the boy got out of bed and hit the attendant 

           back.  Another  attendant  struck  him  on  the  head  with  a  flash  lamp  a  number  of  times.  The 

           attendants’ version was that the boys were troublesome and one of them was put into a cell. The 

           others  demanded  his  release  and  about  eight  or  nine  jumped  out  of  bed  and  attacked  the 

           attendants. In order to prevent the boy getting a poker which he might use as a weapon one of 

           the attendants struck him with a torch. Although it was never resolved and did not give rise to any 

           prosecution, the incident revealed the tense atmosphere that prevailed in the institution. Violence 

           could erupt quickly with little provocation. 



           Department of Justice memorandum 

16.141     An internal memorandum of the Department of Justice dated 23rd  July 1969 referred to the attitude 



           of the Department of Education when these allegations of physical abuse were reported: 



                 It will be recalled that the Probation Officers had complained of boys being beaten in their 

                 presence in Marlboro House. While I was in Ormond Quay I transmitted complaints of this 

                 nature  to  Education.  Justice  Kennedy  had  also  complained  about  boys  from  Marlboro 

                 House coming before her with obvious signs of ill-treatment. It took the best part of six 

                 months for [the Assistant Secretary] to reply to the Justice. Apparently [the Inspector of 

                 Industrial and Reformatory Schools] simply ignored complaints of this kind. [The Assistant 

                 Secretary]  admitted  that  there  was  ill-treatment  by  the  staff  and  investigations  are  still 

                 going on. Some of the ill-treatment was however between the boys themselves. 



           Peer abuse 



           1956 complaint 



16.142     In April 1956, the Department of Education received a letter from the father of an eight and a half 

           year-old  boy   who   was   detained    in Marlborough     House    for  one  month    for stealing   ‘Sweets 

           Lemonade & Cigarettes, from the [a local club], this is his first offence’. 



16.143     The father wrote that he had visited his son on the previous Sunday and had noticed he was pale. 

           He asked him what was the matter, and was told by another boy that he had been hit on the head 

           by another detainee. His son then told him that he had also had his head stuck in a wash basin 

           and the water turned on by the same boy. The father lodged a complaint with the Superintendent, 

           and wrote to the Department noting in this letter that the ‘young man who Ill Treated my Child is 

           No other than the one who stabbed his Brother to death with a knife’. He requested that his child 

           should be returned to his custody. 



16.144     The boy’s father also complained in person to the Minister for Agriculture on the same day as he 

           wrote  the   letter. The  Minister   for  Agriculture  telephoned     the  Department     of Education    that 

           afternoon. The Department official who took the call informed Mr Grange, the Superintendent in 

           Marlborough House, immediately and he undertook to enquire fully into the alleged ill-treatment. 



           752                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 783-----------------------

16.145    Mr Grange investigated the matter by taking statements from the attendant on duty on the day, 

          and from the mother of another boy involved in the same incident, and from the boy accused of 

          the ill-treatment. The attendant on duty, and the woman who witnessed the visit of the father with 

          his son, both alleged that the father was intoxicated on the day and had become violent when he 

          discovered  that  his  son  was  in  the  same  place  as  a  boy  who  was  accused  of  fatally  stabbing 

          his brother. 



16.146    The boy who was alleged to have been responsible for the incident wrote a two-page statement, 

          in which he did not deny that either incident took place, but instead gave an innocent explanation 

          for the blow on the head and the washbasin incident. 



16.147    The day after  the letter of complaint was received,  the boy at the centre  of the allegation was 

          examined by a medical officer, who found ‘no evidence ... of any injury to his head or any other 

          part of his body’. 



16.148    The   Probation   Officer  was   also  contacted   by  the  father at  the  request  of  the  Minister  for 

          Agriculture. He, in turn, wrote to the Department of Education, informing them that, in his view, 

          the father was ‘just using the incident to force the discharge of his son from the punishment the 

          court has seen fit to administer’. 



16.149    Mr Grange and his wife, the matron, both gave statements that they recalled the scene made by 

          the father of the boy during the visit to his son. Mr Grange believed that the father came that day 

          with a view to causing a scene, because he was aggrieved that all the boys involved in the club 

          break-in and theft had not received similar punishment. He stated that, the following week, the 

          rest of the boys received similar detention periods, and the parents of the boys had calmed down. 

          He did not address the issue as to whether the allegations were true or not. 



16.150    A few days later, the father wrote to the Department of Education and withdrew his complaint. On 

          the same day, he called into Marlborough House and apologised to the Superintendent for the 

          ‘trouble caused’. 



16.151    The Department were happy that ‘no harm came to the boy. All that was involved was the usual 

          argy  bargy  between  young  boys’.  No  further  action  was  necessary,  as  the  father  ‘wishes  to 

          withdraw his complaint and to forget the matter’. 



          Conclusions on physical abuse 



16.152     1.   Complaints     of  physical    abuse    in  Marlborough      House     were   not   independently 

                investigated  but  were  usually  investigated  by  the  Superintendent  in  charge  of  the 

                detention centre. 



           2.   Senior officials in the Department of Education either ignored complaints or delayed 

                in responding to criticism which was coming from independent sources and not just 

               from the boys themselves. 



           3.   Witnesses spoke of multiple severe beatings in the course of relatively short periods 

                of  detention.  One  attendant  was  particularly  brutal,  and  yet  was  promoted  by  the 

                Department even after complaints were made. 



           4.  The  wide  age  differences  between  the  boys  and  the  lack  of  any  segregation  made 

                bullying and peer abuse inevitable. There is no evidence that this was regarded as a 

                problem by the authorities. 



           5.   There were many complaints about assaults by staff and at least one was witnessed 

                by another staff member who reported it. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                              753 


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           Sexual abuse 



           Documented cases of sexual abuse 

16.153     On 31st  January 1951, an attendant at Marlborough House was convicted of indecently assaulting 



           two  boys   detained   in  the  Institution. He   was   sentenced    to  12  months’    imprisonment.    The 

           complaints of sexual abuse emerged in a separate hearing concerning the two juveniles. The two 

           boys made their complaints to Mr Justice MacCarthy in the Children’s Court. He, in turn, must 

           have passed the information on to the proper authorities,  as a successful prosecution ensued. 

           There  is  no  record  of  this  in  the  discovery  from  the  Department  of  Justice  or  the  Department 

           of Education. 



16.154     The only reference to the affair has been outlined above in the correspondence between District 

           Judge MacCarthy and the Assistant Secretary in the Department of Education (see para 10.060), 

           and when it was raised at a meeting between the Department of Education and members of the 

           Resident Managers’ Association. 



16.155     The conviction of an attendant for sexually abusing boys in Marlborough House in 1951 

           should  have  generated  a  record  of  some  kind.  There  is  no  information  available  on  the 

           background  to  this  incident,  and  this  makes  it  impossible  to  estimate  the  extent  of  the 

           abuse by this man or others in the Institution. 



          Allegations of sexual abuse 



16.156     Two of the witnesses who gave evidence to the Investigation Committee complained of sexual 

           abuse by staff. 



16.157     One witness, who was in Marlborough House in the early 1970s, alleged that two members of 

           staff (Mr Lombard and Mr Hugot)11       used a walking stick to beat him. The beatings were random 



           and for no particular reason. He also complained of being fondled and, when asked to describe 

           this, he said: 



                 What they would actually do, they would strip you and I remember, I can see him now ... 

                 he would come in and shove the stick between your buttocks or whatever else and stand 

                 in the doorway and watch him push you and feel you or whatever. 



           Neglect 



           Living conditions 



16.158     From the documents furnished, the boys’ living quarters at the rear of the house consisted of one 

           large room, where they ate and spent the day, and another separate room used as a dormitory. 

           The boys lived in dreadful conditions. In 1951, Judge MacCarthy in a letter to the Department of 

           Education  referred  to  evidence  that  had  come  to  light  that  ‘the  blankets  were  not  cleaned  or 

           disinfected in any way except every six years’. 



16.159     However, a Working Party of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime and 

           Treatment  of  Offenders  visited  Marlborough  House  on  4th      January  1963,  and  their  views  were 



           quite positive. They reported that the boys’ accommodation at the rear of the building was ‘in very 

           good condition’ and that ‘Both the dormitory which is in use and the refectory cum recreation room 

           were well heated, the beds appeared comfortable and there was a plentiful supply of bed clothes’. 

           They also reported that the boys got a bath twice a week, and that ‘English school readers and 

           history books are also provided and the Superintendent said that either he himself or an attendant 



           11 This is pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 785-----------------------

           is always available to help a boy with his reading’. The Committee recommended hiring a teacher 

           part-time to teach elementary subjects and to introduce manual occupations or handicrafts, neither 

           of which was implemented. 



16.160     As   stated   earlier, staff  in  Marlborough     House     were   recruited   from   the  local   Unemployment 

           Exchange. In 1963, the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment 

           of Offenders recommended changing this recruitment policy. They recommended: increasing the 

           salaries of the Superintendent and matron; and terminating the system of recruiting staff through 

           the  Unemployment  Exchange  and  instead  hiring  Garda  pensioners,  ex-prison  officers  and  ex- 

           Army personnel. To recruit retired Gardai  required repealing the abatement of Garda Pensions, 

                                                             ´ 

           and an Order was made on 17th           October 1966 and approved by the Dail at the end of the year. 



           The  Department  reported  that:  ‘The  recruitment  of  attendants  is  now  satisfactory.  Of  the  five 

           existing attendants two are ex-Gardai and the repeal of the pension abatement clause will facilitate 

                                                       ´ 

           the  recruitment  of  Garda  pensioners  in  the  future’.  Despite  this,  the  Kennedy  Report  of  1970 

           referred    to  attendants    recruited   through    the   Unemployment        Exchange,      which   made     them 

           unsuitable as ‘their function at present is purely custodial’. 



16.161     In a series of newspaper articles which appeared in the Irish Press in 1970 one of the attendants 

           was reported to have said: ‘They’re half starved – the food is designed to just barely keep body 

           and soul together’. He described an ordinary day as: 



                  Rise 8 a.m., breakfast around 9–9.30 a.m., consisting of Tea, Bread and Marg or Bread 

                  and Jam. The boys then sit around in one room. At times they are supposed to sit facing 

                  each other across a wooden table. If “Jacob” or a more lenient warden is on duty they 

                  are allowed  move around the  room, play cards  (there’s one pack),  and if their  parents 

                  bring them comics they may be allowed read. Dinner: 1.30 p.m., consisting of (every day) 

                  a coddle – sausages in soup with potatoes. No tea or beverages. They sit around again 

                  till 5.30 p.m. when they get – Tea, Bread and Butter. Nothing more is served till 9.30 a.m. 

                  next  morning.  If  the  warden  on  duty  is  in  a  good  mood  they  may  be  allowed  watch 

                  television till 9.30 p.m. when they line up for inspection before bed. They all sleep in one, 

                  locked dormitory. 



           Allegations of neglect 



16.162     Each of the witnesses said they spent each day of their detention in this large room with nothing 

           to do. One witness, who spent time there in 1970, described this room as  ‘painted smoky kind of 

           grey’ with a large stove at one end where  ‘We would sit around the fire basically all day’. This 

           room,  as  described  by  the  witness,  was  divided  into  two  sections  by  a  partition:  one  section 

           consisted of two tables for eating, and the other section was ‘where we would sit down at the fire 

           all day’. They had nothing to do except sit by the fire in this room, which he described as similar 

           to the room in the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with ‘strong wire on every window’. He 

           recalled  only  being  allowed  out  into  the  outside  yard  for  one  hour  during  the  whole  month  of 

           his detention. 



16.163     At  that  time,  he  said  there  were  approximately  25  to  30  boys  in  the  House.  His  daily  routine 

           consisted of getting up in the morning, going to the bathroom to  ‘put some water on your face’ 

           and  going  downstairs  for  breakfast  and  then  sitting  by  the  fire  for  the  day.  His  description  of 

           breakfast was not particularly edifying. The boys would sit each side of the table, and one of the 

           attendants would stand at the top of the table: 



                  Mr Lombard would stand at the top of the table, we would all have a mug of tea, it would 

                  be ready for you, and he would stand at the top of the table and we would all be sitting 

                  down. And he would say, “hey, you boy, catch”, and he would throw you the bread and 

                  you had to catch it before the other guy got it. Jam and bread. Then the next boy. “Hey, 

                  boy”, and he threw it to you and you had to catch it. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I                                                                        755 


----------------------- Page 786-----------------------

16.164    Another witness described the same routine in the same room as  ‘... just one big room, when you 

          got up in the morning you stayed there for the day until you went to bed at night’. The day was 

          spent playing with the other children. He did recall board games: 



                I know we played draughts, there would be cards, there mightn’t even be a full deck of 

                cards, there would be a few cards missing here and there. They were basically the two. I 

                think if I remember right, even the draught board it used to be beer tops that we used 

                play on. 



16.165    One witness who was in Marlborough House in 1970 described it as ‘... like walking into Dracula’s 

          castle, it was real Victorian, real dirt...’. He recounted the filthy conditions they were subjected to: 

          ‘there was fleas walking in the towels you were given to dry yourself with. It was absolutely filthy 

          there’. The boys had to share everything even the towels: 



                I remember the Dublin fellow saying to me one day, “Use the corner of the towels because 

                nobody else does”. I can see now in my mind’s eye, the very corner the fleas walking up 

                and down, they were small white towels, well, they were supposed to be white ... 



16.166    The staff, he also found, were filthy:  ‘I remember most of the staff that were there most of them 

          were filthy in themselves, they were dirty themselves’. He recalled that he had to ask the matron, 

          who was referred to as  ‘The Madame’, in a certain way for bread and jam, otherwise he would 

          not get any:  ‘You had to say, “Madame, could I have bread and jam, please?” You would say 

          Madame at the end of the sentence as well or you wouldn’t get any’. 



16.167    He added there was nothing to do all day: ‘We might be left out now and again for soccer, or walk 

          around or whatever’. 



          General conclusions 



16.168     1.  The Department of Education was negligent in the management and administration of 

               Marlborough     House.    Its unwillingness     to accept   responsibility   for  the  Institution 

               caused    neglect   and  suffering   to the  children   there  and   resulted   in a  dangerous, 

               dilapidated environment for the children. 



           2.  The employment of unsuitable, inadequate and unqualified staff resulted in a brutal, 

               harsh regime with punishment at its core. 



           3.  There was no outside authority interested in the welfare of the children in Marlborough 

               House. No concern was expressed by Department officials at the appalling treatment 

               and care they knew the boys were receiving. The concern at all times was to protect 

               the Department from criticism. 



          756                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. I 


----------------------- Page 787-----------------------

          Chapter 1 



          Institute of Charity: St Patrick’s, 

           Upton, and St Joseph’s, Ferryhouse 



          Introduction 



          A history of the Rosminians and their involvement in industrial schools 



1.01      The Institute of Charity was founded by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati in 1828 at Calvario in Italy. It 

          received the approbation of the Holy See on 20th       December 1838 and was given the status of a 



          religious Order. It was a society that included religious members, who took the vows of poverty, 

          chastity and obedience, and also lay members who shared the special objectives of the Institute. 

          Rosmini    believed  in  a  ‘principle of  passivity’, based   on   the  consciousness     of humanity’s 

          ‘nothingness’, or its inability on its own to achieve lasting good. He had a conviction that God’s 

          Providence guides by means of his Church and the needs of people. By remaining open, or having 

          an attitude of ‘indifference’, as Rosmini put it, as to what work of charity was undertaken by them, 

          the Rosminians, as they came to be known, were being guided by Divine Providence to doing 

          lasting good for their neighbours. 



1.02      In 1835, Luigi Gentili founded a Novitiate in England and set up further missions across England 

          and Wales in the two following decades. The Institute of Charity continued to grow and became 

          an international organisation with four major provinces: the Italian province, which included the 

          regions  of  India  and  Venezuela;  the  English  province,  which  included  New  Zealand;  the  Irish 

          province, which included the vice province of Africa; and the province of the United States. Until 

          1931, the Institute of Charity in Ireland came under the jurisdiction of the English province. 



1.03      In  1860,  the  Institute,  which  had  experience  of  running  a  Reformatory  School  in  North  East 

          Yorkshire, was invited to run the proposed new Reformatory School at Upton, County Cork, which 

          became the first Rosminian Community established in Ireland. Upton Reformatory operated for 

          29 years and closed in 1889, to reopen five days later as Danesfort Industrial School, certified for 

          the reception of 300 boys. 



1.04      In 1884, the Rosminian Institute took charge of a second establishment, the Clonmel Industrial 

          School for Roman Catholic Boys, which received a certificate to receive 150 boys the following 

          year.  Count  Arthur  Moore,  the  MP  for  Clonmel,  had  approached  them  to  manage  and  run  the 

          school   that he  had   built for orphaned    and   abandoned    children   at the  cost  of £10,000,   a 

          considerable sum in those days. It was situated about four kilometres east of the town of Clonmel, 

          in the townland of Ferryhouse, on the northern bank of the River Suir. The 3.6 hectares of land it 

          was built on was soon expanded to 16 hectares, and ultimately to 32 or more hectares of farmland. 



1.05      In 1901, the Institute of Charity acquired Ballyoonan House, Omeath, situated on 14 acres of land, 

          to serve as its Novitiate. It was given the name of St Michael’s, becoming a Scholasticate in 1935, 

          until  1945,  when  it  again  became  a  Juniorate  for  28  students.  In  1931,  a  new  Novitiate  was 

          established   in Kilmurry   House,   Kilworth,  County   Cork.  In 1954,   St  Michael’s  applied   to be 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              1 


----------------------- Page 788-----------------------

          recognised as a secondary school, taking in students who did not necessarily want to become 

          members of the Institute of Charity. 



1.06      The  Rosminians  operated  two  industrial  schools:  St  Patrick’s  Industrial  School,  Upton,  County 

          Cork; and St Joseph’s Industrial School, Ferryhouse, Clonmel, County Tipperary. In addition, the 

          Order had other establishments primarily concerned with the education and religious formation of 

          boys and young men intending to be ordained (as priests) or professed (as Brothers). Both the 

          priests and Brothers would be members of the Institute. Those institutions were at Omeath, County 

          Louth;   Kilmurry,  County   Cork;  and   Glencomeragh,     County   Tipperary.   The  Rosminians     were 

          principally a missionary Order, and most of the young men trained in their houses of formation 

          were destined for work in their missions. 



          Committee’s investigation into Upton and Ferryhouse 



1.07      The Investigation Committee carried out a detailed examination into the industrial schools at Upton 

          and Ferryhouse. In June 2004, at the Emergence Hearings, the Institute began by outlining at a 

          public hearing how the issue of child abuse in their schools emerged. Then they gave evidence 

          at  public  introductory  hearings   (Phase   I) into Ferryhouse,    which   took  place  from   6th to 9th 

          September 2004, and into Upton, which took place on 26th         October 2004. 



1.08      Between  14th   September  and  17th    November  2004,  witnesses  from  Ferryhouse  were  heard  in 

          private, and between 18th November and 16th       December 2004, witnesses who were in Upton gave 

          evidence. Finally, a  public hearing in Phase  III was held on  9th     May 2006, at  which Fr Joseph 



          O’Reilly, the Provincial Superior of the Rosminian Institute of Charity in Ireland, dealt with general 

          issues in both institutions that had arisen in the course of the Phase II hearings. 



1.09      The   Institute furnished   written  statements    in advance    of  the  hearings   and   also  provided 

          Submissions following the private hearings. 



1.10      The figures for Upton were as follows: 11 complainant witnesses gave evidence, out of a total of 

          13 who were invited. Three respondent witnesses testified. 



1.11      The figures for Ferryhouse were as follows: 29 complainant witnesses gave evidence, out of a 

          total of 39 who were invited to do so. Nine respondent witnesses gave evidence. 



1.12      The hearings into Ferryhouse and Upton differed from other hearings, because the Rosminians 

          adopted a markedly different position on the role of industrial schools generally, a position which 

          affected the way they responded to the complaints that were made. The attitude of the Order to 

          the complainants is dealt with in the sections relating to the individual schools, but something can 

          briefly be said here about the position that the Order. 



1.13      Giving  evidence  on  behalf  of  the  Rosminian  Institute  on  9th May  2006,  at  the  Phase  III  public 



          hearing, Fr O’Reilly said that he had ‘no doubt that there were many areas in which we failed and 

          I have no doubt that the entire system was a failure’.  He said that they were given the task of 

          trying to manage an apparently unmanageable system, and that control was the first priority. He 

          acknowledged  that  there  was  pressure  to  keep  up  numbers,  so  as  to  maximise  income  from 

          the capitation payment system, and that the numbers themselves presented a problem in caring 

          for children: 



                ... that’s why it was a trap, it was trap for us, if we didn’t have an adequate number of 

                children then we didn’t get a sufficient income. If we had children well in excess of any 

                number, or whatever number it was, then we were into the position of finding that it was 

                more difficult to manage the whole thing. It was a trap. How do you deal with that? 



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1.14       Fr O’Reilly said that it was not even clear that children were better off in industrial schools than 

           they had been in their previous circumstances: 



                 I think that children were often taken from fairly hopeless situations and they were handed 

                 over to despair in a way. Because I am not too sure that we can say definitely that the 

                 situation that they found themselves in was an awful lot better than the situation that they 

                 had  come  from.  They  got  some  things  and  there  are  other  things  that  they  didn’t  get. 

                 Frying pan into the fire. 



1.15       The industrial school system, he said, was fundamentally flawed and was not capable of fulfilling 

           the needs of children. He did not think that there was any clear objective, or that anybody had a 

           sense of what was going on, or that anybody was really giving direction to it. He was not sure that 

           such strategic thinking existed, even in more recent decades. 



1.16       Unlike other Orders, the Rosminians did not seek solace in the contents of the Inspection Reports 

           of the Department of Education. These reports found the schools to be more or less satisfactory, 

           but  identified  continuously  a  need  for  improvement.  Fr  O’Reilly  stated  that  the  approach  to 

           industrial schools ‘was just making do’. He added: 



                 Unfortunately, some things can’t be done on a just enough basis, you have just enough 

                 of this or you have just enough of that, some things need more than just enough. But I 

                 think that we had just enough of this, that and the other and we made do. 



1.17       The stance adopted by the Rosminians on the very nature of the industrial schools system was 

           unusual. They were also unusual, if not unique, in that they had begun looking back critically, as 

           long ago as 1990, on the operation of these schools. On 11th             May 1990, at the opening of a new 



           development at Ferryhouse Industrial School, the then Provincial, Fr James Flynn, apologised for 

           the abuse that children had suffered in the past in the Institution and then said: 



                 Like any human institution, old Ferryhouse had its bad points as well as its good points, 

                 its weaknesses as well as its strengths. It damaged some boys and those have looked 

                 back in bitterness and anger to their time here. For many of them, this was the only home 

                 that they ever knew and sadly they did not find it a good one. Let me say that a lot of that 

                 anger  is  justified  ...  The  greatest  guilt  has  to  be  borne  by  those  of  us  who  utilised  or 

                 condoned or ignored the extreme severity, even brutality which characterised at times the 

                 regime at old Ferryhouse. An occasion like this is an opportunity for me on behalf of the 

                 Rosminians to publicly acknowledge this fact and to ask forgiveness of those who were 

                 ill-treated or hurt. We have sinned against justice and against the dignity of the person in 

                 the past and we always need to be on our guard that we do not do the same today in 

                 more subtle or equally hideous ways. 



1.18       Fr O’Reilly at the public hearing referred to this apology: 



                  When we opened the new Ferryhouse we started off by drawing attention to the fact that 

                 many of the children who went through the school over the previous hundred years or so 

                 suffered,  suffered  greatly,  suffered  from  fear  and  suffered  ...  he  spoke  about  brutality. 

                 He  spoke  about people  who  condoned  or ignored  extreme  severity,  even brutality  that 

                 characterised the old regime. 



1.19       The Rosminians sought to understand abuse, in contrast to other Orders who sought to explain 

           it. They   accepted    that  abuse    had   occurred    in their  institutions,  and   that  the  institutions  in 

           themselves were abusive. 



1.20       The biggest contrast between the Rosminians’ position and other Orders was in its acceptance of 

           responsibility for what happened in their industrial schools. Even when factors such as inadequate 

           resources were involved, they took responsibility for tolerating them and doing nothing about it. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      3 


----------------------- Page 790-----------------------

          Sources of information: the Rome archive 



1.21      The   Investigation  Committee     had  at  its disposal  discovery   documentation     furnished  by  the 

          Department  of  Education  and  Science,  the  Department  of  Justice,  Garda  Discovery,  Bishop’s 

          Discovery and the Rosminians. 



1.22      The Rosminian Order originally believed that the only documentary material it was able to produce 

          on the use of physical punishment consisted of two punishment books for Upton, one dating from 

          the nineteenth century and the other dealing with part of the relevant period, from 1952 to 1963. 

          The latter is incomplete and deficient in some other respects, but is nevertheless a valuable source 

          of information about punishment in Upton. 



1.23      There also appeared to be a dearth of written information on sexual abuse in their schools before 

          1979, when the issue first came to the notice of the management of the Institute at that time. This 

          belief,  that  no  documentation  existed,  was  reflected  in  a  General  Statement  submitted  by  Fr 

          Matthew Gaffney to the Investigation Committee on 3rd        May 2002. 



1.24      The position changed with the discovery of an archive  of correspondence in Rome, containing 

          letters between the Irish Province and the Superior General about members of the Irish Province. 

          The documents concerned Brothers who had been suspected of, or who had admitted to, or who 

          were found to have engaged in, the sexual abuse of children. The Institute discovered this material 

          to the Investigation Committee in May 2004. 



1.25      The Rome archive consisted of 68 letters written between 20th           October 1936 and 11th     January 



          1980.  They  reveal  how  the  Rosminians  dealt  with  cases  of  sexual  abuse  and  also  reveal  the 

          career details of those who had committed such abuse in Upton and Ferryhouse, and these are 

          dealt with in the appropriate sections of this chapter. 



1.26      Sexual abuse was a recurring problem for the managers of Upton and Ferryhouse and for their 

          Provincial. On the basis of these records and the other confirmed cases, it is apparent that there 

          was a sexual abuser present in each of the institutions for much of the period being inquired into, 

          and there were multiple abusers present for significant periods of time. 



1.27      These documents showed how the Rosminians handled cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by 

          staff,  and  they  are  also  relevant  in  attempting  to  establish  how  much  more  sexual  abuse  took 

          place in Upton and Ferryhouse than has been alleged by complainants. 



1.28      The Rome archive also revealed how other members of the Irish Province were dealt with when 

          it was discovered that they had perpetrated child sexual abuse. The Provincial, who for most of 

          the period of our inquiry resided at Upton, was the head of the Irish-American Province, with the 

          two countries operating as a unit. The English Province was separate, and reported separately to 

          Headquarters  in  Rome.  The  correspondence  discloses  that  two  members  of  the  Institute  who 

          served  in  the  USA  were  found  to  have  abused  children  in  that  branch  of  the  Irish-American 

          Province. Neither of the offenders served in Upton or Ferryhouse, but their histories are relevant 

          in considering the attitude of the Institute and of the Irish Province to the matter of sexual abuse 

          and its management. 



          The management system and staffing 



1.29      The Provincialate of the Irish Province of Rosminians was located at Upton, and the Provincial 

          had his residence there in St Patrick’s. Each of the schools, Ferryhouse and Upton, was under 

          the control of a Resident Manager, who was appointed by the Provincial. 



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1.30       The Religious Community in Ferryhouse comprised between 10 and 12 members, made up of 

           both   priests   and   Brothers,   each   with   a  separate    area   of  responsibility.   The   Rector   of  the 

           Community  also  held  the  post  of  Resident  Manager  and  was  responsible  for  the  day-to-day 

           management of the School. 



1.31       All  of  the  Resident  Managers  appointed  were  ordained  members  of  the  Institute  of  Charity.  Fr 

           O’Reilly told the Investigation Committee that the post was not one ‘regarded as a reward for long 

           service’. He stated most of the priests who were appointed managers ‘would have worked at some 

           stage on the ground as a Prefect in either St. Patrick’s Upton, or St. Joseph’s’. 



1.32       Fr O’Reilly spoke about the calibre of the Resident Managers in Ferryhouse: 



                  ... certainly most of the Managers that I know about and have come to know about would 

                  seem to have been people who were quite suited to it and who were keen for the position 

                  and keen to do something with the work that was there and they were people, I would 

                  say, who had a degree of vision at the time, for the most part. 



1.33       A Spiritual Director assisted the Resident Manager in his management duties in Ferryhouse. 



           The Prefect 



1.34       One  of  the  most  important  staff  positions  to  be  held  in  Ferryhouse  and  Upton  was  that  of  the 

           Prefect. Fr Stefano,1 former Resident Manager in Ferryhouse stated, ‘there was a manager ... and 



           the  next   people    ... on  the  care   side  were    the  Prefects’.   While   the  Resident    Manager     had 

           responsibility for the running of the Industrial School itself, the Prefect was in charge of the day- 

           to-day care of the children. As one witness explained,  ‘The Prefect was in charge right through 

           the day and right through the night, you know’. 



1.35       Ferryhouse and  Upton each had  two Prefects, one for  the senior group  and one for  the junior 

           group. Until the 1940s, the Prefect would have been a priest. However, this changed and, from 

           the 1940s, Brothers were appointed Prefects. Each Prefect had sole responsibility for his group, 

           which at times could consist of more than 100 boys. This responsibility was for 24 hours a day 

           throughout the whole year, with little respite or additional help from his fellow Brothers. 



1.36       Fr O’Reilly told the Investigation Committee: 



                  I would say that most of the responsibility fell on the Prefect. Only occasionally could he 

                  call on others, who had their own duties to go on with. So if a Prefect was – for example, 

                  it wouldn't have been uncommon that the Prefect, one of the Prefects who was on, would 

                  have to leave to go and look for a child who had run away or go to a Garda station to 

                 pick up a child who had been picked up by the Gardai, and so all the responsibility rested 

                                                                                 ´ 

                  on the shoulders of the Prefect who remained behind and, indeed, it wasn't uncommon 

                  for a Prefect to have to leave a dormitory of children in the middle of the night to go to 

                 pick up a child. They, obviously, relied on the other Prefect primarily, you know, to look 

                  after the situation. He'd have been made aware of things, as would the Manager. 



1.37       Fr O’Reilly explained that Prefects’ responsibilities covered everything to do with the children: 



                  From the time that they got up in the morning, getting children up, sorting out what had 

                  to  be  sorted  out,  making  sure  that  they  were  all  in  place,  getting  them  down  to  Mass, 

                  getting them back up, to breakfast, making sure they got out to school – when they got 

                  out to school, okay, the school had responsibility then, but almost inevitably, you know, 

                 you have a child who is sick or a child who has cut himself or who has got in trouble in 



           1  This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                        5 


----------------------- Page 792-----------------------

                school, and a Prefect who has to pick up the pieces. I mean, I have seen that in my own 

                 time working in St. Joseph's, Ferryhouse. 



1.38       During  non-school  hours  the  Prefect  would  also  have  to  be  constantly  vigilant,  especially  at 

           mealtimes in the School. He would have to manage the dining area where over 150 boys would 

          be  eating  their  meals.  Bullying  at  mealtimes  was  common:  older  boys  would  take  the  food  of 

          younger boys, and these younger boys had to be protected. As a result, the dining hall area was 

           ‘a highly charged situation ... where any number of things could happen’. 



1.39      The Prefects were mainly responsible for administering corporal punishment in the School. Boys 

          who badly misbehaved were generally sent to the Prefect’s office to receive their punishment. 



1.40      The   Prefect   was  answerable     to the  Resident   Manager     in all matters.   Among    the  Resident 

           Manager’s numerous duties and responsibilities was overseeing the performance of duties by the 

           Prefects. Fr O’Reilly spoke of this requirement: 



                 The Manager, although he had other responsibilities, would have obviously had to keep 

                an eye on what was happening. I think the Manager would know on a very regular basis 

                 what was going on in the place because, although this might not be a term that everybody 

                 would agree with, there would have developed a certain sort of family atmosphere insofar 

                as when you live in a place for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year 

                and  there  is  not  an  awful  lot  of  change  in  life, you  know,  you  soon    become  quite 

                acquainted with everybody who is in the place. 



          Selection and training of the Prefect 



1.41       Every   September,    the  Rosminian     Provincial  would   decree   assignments     to  the  priests  and 

           Brothers. If a vacancy for a Prefect arose in either of the Rosminian Industrial Schools, it was the 

           Provincial who selected the person to fill this role. During the 1940s, the appointment was usually 

          a priest, but later it was normally a Brother who was appointed. 



1.42       Prefects were the younger men of the Order, who were able to manage the task of being in charge 

          of a large group of young, active boys. They would have ordinarily worked as teachers or Prefects 

           in other schools. Fr O’Reilly stated that the new Prefects would have seen it as a very responsible 

           post, and would have been proud of being appointed, but he added, a few of them would not have 

          been very happy at being selected. He explained: 



                 Now  there  were  some  men  who  didn't  like  being  Prefects  and  I  know  that  one  or  two 

                 would have seen it as – I am not too sure what the word is now ... yeah, hell is a good 

                 word  all  right  ...  A  punishment  posting.  Well,  I  know,  for  example,  one  man  has  often 

                recounted to me how he was regarded as difficult by his superiors so they appointed him 

                as Prefect. 



1.43      Training for a newly appointed Prefect was minimal. The previous holder of the position would 

           initially help the new trainee. However, the period of overlap of the experienced Brother Prefect 

          and his trainee replacement was short, with a week being the norm. Very often, the new Prefect 

          would  initially  be sent  to  Woodstown  Summer camp  to  obtain  some  experience with  a  smaller 

           number of boys before returning to Ferryhouse or Upton. 



1.44      The  young  men  appointed  Prefects  had  themselves  only  left  school  a  small  number  of  years 

           previously. A number of the Rosminian Prefects would have completed their secondary education 

           in the Rosminian secondary school, St Michael’s, Omeath. Priests who held the position would 

           have completed their third level education. The Rosminians accept that this education  ‘wouldn’t 

          have been particularly useful for childcare’. 



          6                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 793-----------------------

1.45        Fr O’Reilly explained: 



                  You learnt by the tradition, you know. You were told as a Prefect that this is what you do 

                  and you get in there and you sink or you swim. The tradition was useful for a period and 

                  then it wasn't useful any longer. 



1.46        It was an extraordinarily demanding job. Fr O’Reilly told the Investigation Committee: 



                  It  was  unnatural  what  was  asked  of  them,  really,  and  utterly  unfair.  Quite  obviously  in 

                  retrospect,  you  know,  it  was  truly  unfair  what  was  asked  of  them.  Like,  where  do  you 

                  begin  with  comparisons?  I  mean,  the  School  that  had  two  Prefects  looking  after  200 

                  children now has, you know, 35 or 36 children in the school and there are probably in the 

                  range of, maybe, 60 to 70 who were childcare workers, you know. In addition, probably 

                  another 30 to 40 staff who have auxiliary roles. 



           The evidence of former Prefects to the Investigation Committee 



1.47       One former Prefect recounted what he had been told prior to his starting as a Prefect at the age 

           of 22: 



                  The advice I was given when I went over there first, make sure they know who is boss 

                  and your job was to keep control. There was very little support, I might add. 



1.48        He went on to explain why he and his colleagues used physical punishment on a regular basis: 



                  Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I suppose the lack of support for ourselves. There was 

                  the big numbers and a small amount of staff, there was only three staff at that time. [The 

                  absence of training] was a disaster ... you were only going on instinct at that time. 



1.49       Another  former  Prefect,  who  worked  in  Ferryhouse  for  periods  during  the  1960s  and  1970s, 

           complained about the long hours required for the job. He was exclusively in charge of 100 boys, 

           for 24 hours a day, and had limited time on his own. He had just reached his twentieth birthday and 

           had been appointed straight into Ferryhouse in the 1960s as a Prefect. He found his experience of 

           being Prefect ‘difficult to cope with’. He agreed that trying to control 100 boys made him feel ‘like 

           a sheepdog’. He had no previous experience of any kind in relation to boys in care. When asked 

           how he was trained for the role of Prefect, he replied: 



                                                                                 2 

                  Well,  you  would  have  just  learned  from  Br  Benito.        He  was  there  before  me  and,  you 

                  know,  you  would  have  fed  into  a  system  in  some  sense.  Albeit  there  was  never  any 

                  written, any programme as such, you know, of what you should or shouldn't do, like ... 

                  Yeah. It was learned on the job, really, I suppose, yeah. 



1.50       One  Prefect,  Fr  Antonio,3      spoke  about  the  difficulty  he  encountered  when  he  was  appointed 



            Prefect when he was a young member of the Rosminian Order. A small number of Prefects were 

           required to look after a large number of boys for 24 hours a day. He stated that this system was 

           never questioned by any of them: 



                  I don't think we had the courage to do it or the maturity to do it, personally speaking I 

                  wouldn't have had the maturity to do it at the time to even question it. Your work was your 

                  prayer and you did what you were told to do, you were told you would get religious if you 

                  did all your work. 



           2  This is a pseudonym. 

           3  This is a pseudonym. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                          7 


----------------------- Page 794-----------------------

1.51       He explained that the pressure could lead to excesses of punishment: 



                 [Was there] physical abuse and that kind of stuff? I'm sure there would be because the 

                 frustration would have been there, if you are going to lose control, fear comes in. As time 

                 went on things would have improved a lot, but things would have got out of hand, certainly. 



           The Rosminian approach to allegations of abuse in Ferryhouse and Upton 



1.52       The Order, in its Submissions and in its evidence to the Commission, accepted that the abuse of 

           children in its various forms, including physical and sexual abuse, had occurred in both Ferryhouse 

           and Upton during the period under investigation. 



1.53       In the course of a Submission to the Investigation Committee, dated 17th            June 2004, Fr O’Reilly 



           referred  to,  and  quoted  from,  the  apology  expressed  in  1999,  at  a  time  when  three  former 

           members of the Rosminian Institute had been convicted of sexually abusing children in its care: 



                 The members of the Rosminian Institute are saddened and shamed that young people in 

                 our care were abused by members of our Order. We deeply regret not only the abuse, 

                 but  also  the  shadow  cast  on  the  lives  of  those  abused.  We  abhor  all  mistreatment  of 

                 children and we wish to express our profound sorrow. 



1.54       Fr O’Reilly again acknowledged on behalf of his Order that the use of corporal punishment had 

           led to physical abuse in its schools. He also accepted that children had been sexually abused, 

           although   he  submitted    that,  amongst   those  in  authority  in  recent  times,  there   was  not   any 

           knowledge of sexual abuse prior to the late 1970s. He added that, in the course of working for 

           the  Commission,  the  Rosminian  Institute  had  become  aware  that  sexual  abuse  had  in  fact 

           occurred  earlier  than  previously  believed.  He  said  that,  while  the  Rosminians  did  not  know  by 

           what standard to criticise their predecessors, they did not disassociate themselves from them. In 

           giving evidence to the Commission, they intended to assume responsibility for the past, to account 

           for it, to bear criticism for it and to learn from it. 



1.55       Fr O’Reilly, in his Submission to the Investigation Committee, outlined the approach taken by the 

           Order in its response to individual complaints made through the Commission: 



                 In our individual responses to the Commission, we have apologised and we have intended 

                 that our co-operation with the Commission should be seen as an act of apology. 



                 In some instances, our apologies have been qualified. In this, we have been fearful of 

                 betrayal  of  our  members  and  shocked  by  allegations.  But  we  do  not  challenge  the 

                 accounts of survivors where we have no good evidence to do so, and we have resolved, 

                 where people have been injured in the past, to do no further harm by denial. We have 

                 witnessed and read of the courage and trauma of survivors, and it has affected us. We 

                 are determined that errors of the past should not be compounded by our conduct in the 

                 present. 



1.56       During a preliminary hearing held in public on 18th       June 2004, counsel for the Order focused on 



           the approach to complaints being taken by the Order: 



                 We  have resolutely  declined to  deny a  case in  which we  have no  evidence for  denial. 

                 That is a reversal of all of the established legal procedures ... it has been a difficult task, 

                 but it has been, I have to say, a most emphatic decision of the Rosminian Order. 



1.57       According to Fr O’Reilly, this decision was implemented even in situations where the Order found 

           itself in a dilemma. There were instances where a complainant said that he was hurt or abused 

           whilst in the care of a member of the Institute, and the complaints related to a member of the 

           Institute against whom there was no objective evidence, and whose general reputation was that 



           8                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 795-----------------------

           of a hard-working and respected member of the community. The decision was implemented even 

           though it created a difficulty for the member concerned, or for his family. 



1.58       Fr O’Reilly explained that the Rosminian Institute had decided to take this approach because of 

           the ethos of the Order. They also desired to avoid an adversarial approach to the resolution of 

           conflicts before the Commission. He said that in the past, the Order’s responsibility was to work 

           for those who were in their care and that part of their job was to advocate for them before other 

           bodies, before the Department and society in general. That was their ethos, and that was what 

           the Rosminian Institute was about. For that reason, he said: 



                  We are not going to contradict that type of approach that we have had throughout our 

                  lives unless there is extremely good reason to do so. 



1.59       He added that the avoidance of an adversarial approach was also driven by a desire to do no 

           further  harm.  This  was  an  objective  promoted  in  the  course  of  inquiries  into  abuse  in  other 

           countries,    such   as   Canada.4     Nevertheless,     he   explained,    the   avoidance     of  an   adversarial 



           approach  presented  its  own  difficulties  and  dangers  when  seeking  to  determine  the  extent  to 

           which abuse occurred. 



1.60       The Rosminian Institute had taken the view that a strictly adversarial approach was unnecessary 

           and inappropriate, and that it could create a distracting polarisation of views and obscure the truth. 

           It  believed   that  many     of the   individual   allegations   and   complaints     were    beyond    proving    or 

           disproving,  and  that  such  investigation  was  unnecessary,  as  the  faults  and  limitations  of  the 

           schools  being  inquired  into  would  become  apparent  without  the  need  to  pursue  every  conflict 

           of evidence. 



1.61       This issue was revisited in the course of written Submissions furnished by the Rosminian Institute 

           at the conclusion of hearings. They wrote: 



                  Many  aspects  are  visible  through  time  without  confronting  uncertainties  of  memory,  or 

                  raising the divisive issue of recollection distorted by feeling or shared experiences. These 

                  points have some relevance, but can create a distracting polarisation of views and obscure 

                  the truth. 



                  For some allegations of serious or wilful abuse, this approach may seem like indifference 

                  to the truth, or to the reputation of our members. But there is a greater danger in thinking 

                  that any length of inquiry could prove or disprove many of the individual cases. We believe 

                  we must live with the uncertainty, and deal with matters as a whole. 



1.62       The Rosminian Institute asserted that the confrontation of evidence in an adversarial way was also 

           unnecessary because, in many instances, the complainants’ accounts of hardship, deprivation or 

           neglect were not necessarily contradictory to the evidence given by members of the Order, who 

           described  trying  to  cope  with  conditions  which  were  brought  about  by  a  shortage  of  staffing, 

           training, and of resources that ought have been in place to facilitate the provision of proper care 

           for  the  children  in  their  charge.  Both  sides  were  describing  essentially  the  same  thing,  viewed 

           from different perspectives: on the one hand, the former resident was describing a deprived and 

           neglected     childhood,    with   real  needs    not  being    addressed;     while,   on  the   other   hand,   the 

           overworked  and  under-resourced  priest  or  Brother  was  describing  their  very  real  struggle  to 

           provide, despite inadequate resources, good care for the children in their schools. 



1.63       At  the  first  public  hearing,  counsel  for  the  Rosminian  Institute  outlined  their  legal  position.  He 

           submitted that whether boys resident in Ferryhouse were sexually abused was not in dispute, as 

           it is accepted that such abuse did occur. What had to be addressed by the Investigation Committee 



           4 Law Commission of Canada: +  Institutional Child Abuse – Restoring Dignity Pt II Responses ‘Guiding Principles’ 



             at p 7. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                          9 


----------------------- Page 796-----------------------

           was how pervasive sexual abuse was in the School, and the extent of that abuse during the time 

           under investigation. In their statements of complaint, former residents from every era had made 

           allegations  of  such  abuse.  While,  in  general,  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  were  not  expressly 

           denied in the Rosminian Statements, such allegations were not admitted either. For this reason it 

           was submitted it would not be appropriate for the Investigation Committee to take the view that 

           the absence of a denial should be deemed to be an admission of the truth of allegations, as may 

           be the case in civil proceedings. 



1.64       In an inquiry into an institution, the Rosminians submitted, it was not necessary or appropriate to 

           decide on the validity of each complaint on an individual basis, but it was necessary to determine 

           how widespread abuse was during the history of the Institution. He pointed out that a reasonable 

           insight might be gained by looking elsewhere, beyond the allegations and counter-allegations, to 

           see what was known at the time. 



1.65       Part of  the reason for  taking this  approach was to  avoid causing further  distress to  the former 

           residents    of  Ferryhouse     and   Upton.    During   the   hearings,   counsel    for  the   Order   examined 

           witnesses  sympathetically,  and,  even  when  evidence  was  being  challenged,  it  was  done  with 

           courtesy and care. The Investigation Committee was impressed by the number of apologies that 

           were made. The following are examples: 

                   •   we have learned since your statement to the Commission came in that Br Lazarro5                      did 



                         sexually abuse boys, I hope you will accept the Rosminian’s apology if that happened 

                         to you. We haven't ever suspected it of [the other Brother] and I am sorry to ask you 

                         questions about it. 

                   •   I  am  ashamed  to  ask  you  questions  about  what  you  describe  about  Br  Valerio6            (the 



                         questioning that followed was solely to elucidate how contact was made after the boy 

                         had left the school). 



                   •   I don't want to ask you much at all because the hardship you have described deserves 

                         not to be investigated in any way or questioned. 



                   •    We accept what you have said, we trust the truth of it completely. There is one very big 

                         thing,  which  you  have  done  today.  [Your  evidence]  is  a  testament  to  the  pain  you 

                         suffered and others with you. 



1.66       While many witnesses found it hard to accept the apologies made by the Rosminians for the pain 

           and hardship they had suffered, it may have helped them to find that their evidence was treated 

           by the Order in such a sympathetic way. 



1.67       This approach facilitated investigation. Counsel for the Rosminians often brought out details that 

           might have been missed. He elicited facts about school routines, practices and conditions, in order 

           to gain as much information as possible from witnesses. Sometimes, they were asked to fill in 

           gaps in the knowledge available to the Order. The Rosminians were correct in their submission 

           following the Phase II hearings by stating that: 



                  the faults and limitations of the Schools become apparent without pursuing every conflict 

                  of evidence. 



           The leather straps 



1.68       The official instrument used to administer corporal punishment was the leather strap. There were 

           two kinds: one was a single piece of leather a 1  of an inch thick (0.63cm). It was about 19 inches 

                                                                   4 

           long (48.2cm), and 21  inches wide (6.3cm), with one end shaped to form a handle. It was used to 

                                    2 



           slap the palm of the hand. It weighed 5oz (147grms). 



           5  This is a pseudonym. 

           6  This is a pseudonym. 



           10                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 797-----------------------

1.69       The second kind was a ‘doubler’. It was made in the shoemaker’s shop from two layers of leather 

           approximately 21     inches wide (6.3cm)  and 22 inches  long (55.8cm). The  two strips were  sewn 

                              2 



           together and, again, one end was shaped to form a handle. Br Antonio, who worked in Ferryhouse, 

           confirmed that coins were sometimes inserted between the two layers of leather when this strap 

           was being assembled. He told the Investigation Committee: 



                 And  they are  right what  they say,  because I  opened the  leather myself  and saw  there 

                  were coins in the leather strap, which were stitched in the shoe shop. 



1.70       Without coins, the strap weighed 11oz (311grms). 



1.71       It is likely that different straps were in use from time to time, and it is not certain that all of them 

           contained metal or coins within them. One witness described the effectiveness of these two kinds 

           of straps: 



                  If you are out in the yard – they carry their own straps, some of them, and it is only a 

                  small one. You wouldn’t even feel it. 



1.72       The Brothers carried the leather straps on them. The heavier strap was kept in the Prefect’s office. 



           Finance 



1.73       The   Investigation    Committee     commissioned       chartered    accountants,     Mazars,    to examine     the 

           accounts of Upton and Ferryhouse with a view to assessing the application of state funding to the 

           institutions, and the financial consequences for the relevant institutions as a result of caring for 

           the children over the period 1939 to 1969. The Mazars report is in Volume IV. 



1.74       Limited financial information was available. No accounts had survived from the 1940s, in respect 

           of Upton or the Irish Province of the Institute of Charity, and only two years’ accounts, 1941 and 

           1947,  were  available  for  Ferryhouse.  No  accounts  were  available  between  1954  and  1960  for 

           either of the schools or for the Irish Province. The 1960s had better records for all three bodies. 



1.75       It is impossible, therefore, to assess the actual day-to-day costs of running the industrial schools. 

           Mazars’ analysis of the capitation grant, by reference to Household Income and Unemployment 

           Assistance, would indicate that funding was adequate for both schools in the 1940s and 1950s, 

           although Upton would have been more financially challenged because of the fall of numbers in the 

           early 1950s. In Ferryhouse, high numbers and a farm of good-quality land should have ensured a 

           reasonably good basic standard of living for the boys. 



1.76       Once numbers of residents began to fall in the 1960s, financial problems would have arisen and, 

           indeed, this led to the closure of Upton in 1966. By the time the Kennedy Committee reported in 

           1970, the capitation grant as a system of funding, which depended on high rates of committals, 

           was  clearly  inadequate,  and  alternatives  had  to  be  found.  In  the  case  of  Ferryhouse,  these 

           alternatives were not finally put in place until the early 1980s, when an annual budget based on 

           submitted  estimates  was  agreed  with  the  Department  of  Finance.  During  the  1970s,  however, 

           significant increases in the State grant alleviated the position for those institutions like Ferryhouse 

           that continued to operate. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       11 


----------------------- Page 798-----------------------

12                                                 CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 799-----------------------

           Chapter 2 



           St. Patrick’s Industrial School, Upton 

           (‘Upton’), 1889–1966 



           Introduction 



           The original building 



2.01       When a local judge in Cork requested the setting up of a reformatory school to serve the area, 

           the Cork Society of St Vincent de Paul set up the Cork Reformatory Committee in 1858, to plan 

           such a school to contain juveniles outside adult prisons. They bought a 112-acre farm at Upton, 

           14 miles from Cork city, and asked the Rosminians, who had experience of such work in England, 

           to take charge of the Reformatory. A building was designed by Richard Brask, architect, and was 

           completed at a cost of £5,000 in 1860. The lease was transferred to the Rosminians in 1872. 



2.02       The  buildings  formed  a  square,  surrounding  a  central  courtyard.  Fr  Moses  Furlong,  the  first 

           Superior of Upton Reformatory, launched a Patronage Fund to gather public support for the work 

           of the Reformatory. He pointed out in 1867, that the boys in the Reformatory came from all parts 

           of Ireland. He reiterated the founding ideal when he wrote: 



                 An  instant’s  reflection  will  convince  anyone  that  no  matter  how  carefully  a  lad  may  be 

                 trained for a few years, his safety is fearfully imperilled if he be returned to his old haunts 

                 and old associations, with no money, no assured occupation, no friends but his former 

                 criminal companions, and no character but that of one who had been a criminal.1 



2.03       When the Industrial Schools Act was extended to Ireland in 1868, the Rosminians sought to have 

           the School reclassified as an industrial school. It was certified as one in 1889, and was called 

           Danesfort Industrial School. It continued as an industrial school until it closed in 1966. 



2.04       It was an imposing building, two storeys high, with extensive farmlands around it. One witness 

           who was there in the late 1950s, told the Investigation Committee: 



                 It was a beautiful place ... [it] was beautiful for a visitor going there. It was better than 

                 Butlin’s, but for us inside the walls it was a completely different thing. It wasn’t just one 

                 day, it was every single day of your young lives. It was beautiful sometimes. 



2.05       A former resident from the late 1950s and early 1960s said: 



                 On arrival, as far as I can recall, it was into a yard that looked like a prison. It was a kind 

                 of castle yard, like an old military parade ground, which a lot of children of my own age, 

                 younger, a few maybe older, had been walking around almost in circles. It was frightening. 

                 Naturally, I was crying – lonely it was. 



           1 Quoted in Brid Fahey Bates, The Institute of Charity: Rosminians. Their Irish Story 1860–2003 (Dublin: Ashfield 

                         ´ 

             Publishing Press, 2003), p 74. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    13 


----------------------- Page 800-----------------------

2.06       Another witness, from the late 1950s and early 1960s, said simply but evocatively: 



                  When I arrived at Upton first, when I saw it, it looked like a mental home to me. That’s 

                 what it actually looked like, a mental home. 



2.07       Initially, Upton consisted of a big house, located on a farm of 112 acres. The size of the farm was 

           increased over the years and, at the time of its closure, it was approximately 220 acres. The main 

           building was in the form of a square around a central courtyard. In later years further buildings, 

           such as a chapel, a hall and various outhouses and workshops, were added. 



2.08       The School was under the control of the Resident Manager, who was appointed by the Superior 

           or Provincial of the Irish Province. The School was run according to the principles laid down in 

           the Rules and Regulations for Danesfort Industrial School. The Resident Manager was responsible 

           for the staff. They may be grouped into four categories: the Members of the Institute of Charity; 

           the Dominican Sisters; the Teaching Staff; and the lay staff who worked in the various trade shops 

           or on  the farm. In  addition, members  of the Institute  of Charity sometimes  lived in  St Patrick’s 

           while studying elsewhere, in University College Cork, for example. 



2.09       The Religious staff worked in various capacities: some were Prefects, with responsibility for the 

           control   and   supervision     of  the   children;   some    were    Secretaries,    with   responsibility   for 

           administration; and some taught in the School, or worked in the various trade shops or on the 

           farm. The Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of St Catherine of Siena worked in the School 

           in various capacities from 1946 to 1955. The School also employed a number of lay teachers, 

           who were paid by the Department of Education. The staff also included a number of farm hands 

           or lay staff that worked in the trade shops. The School was funded by the Department of Education 

           and the appropriate local authorities. 



2.10       A large part of the building was destroyed when an accidental fire occurred in Upton on 21st  July 



           1966, but it was not the reason for the closure of the School. 



           Closure of the School 

2.11       Upton closed on 1st     October 1966. There had been ongoing discussions within the Order for a 



           number of years previously regarding its closure. The falling numbers, lack of trained staff, and 

           the reorganisation and rationalisation of the schools run by the Order ultimately led to its closure 

           as an industrial school. The minutes of a Provincial Council meeting held on 19th             November 1964 



           recorded  that  ‘the  writing  is  on  the  wall  as  far  as  this  particular  work  of  charity  in  Upton  is 

           concerned’. 



2.12       On  1st  March  1966,  the  decision  was  finally  taken  to  close  the  School  within  six  months  from 



           April 1966. 



2.13       The certificate of the School was resigned on 1st         October 1966. At the time of its closure, there 



           were 83 boys in the School. These boys were either released or transferred to other industrial 

           schools. 16 boys were transferred to Letterfrack, 10 to Artane, 10 to Tralee, and 28 to Ferryhouse. 



2.14       It  reopened  in  1972  as  a  centre  for  adults  with  mental  handicap  and  learning  disabilities.  The 

           Institute of Charity handed over ownership of the School to the State in 2003, but it continues to 

           exercise a pastoral role. 



           Number of boys in Upton 



2.15       In 1889, Upton was certified for the reception of 200 boys, with an accommodation limit of 300. 

           The number of boys in the School who were committed through the courts fluctuated during the 

           years  1937  to  1966.  In  1937,  there  were  137  boys  detained  in  the  School,  and  this  number 



           14                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 801-----------------------

          increased to 217 in 1943. As can be seen from the table below, the numbers declined between 

          1943 and 1958. In 1959, however, the numbers increased significantly to 216, owing to the closure 

          of  Greenmount  Industrial  School  and  the  transfer  of  boys  from  there  to  Upton.  Thereafter,  the 

          numbers declined steadily and, at the time of its closure in 1966, there were 83 boys in the School. 

          During its life as an Industrial School, approximately 3,000 boys were admitted. 



                                  Year                                    Number of boys committed 



                                   1937                                                 137 



                                   1939                                                 105 



                                   1941                                                 136 



                                   1943                                                 217 



                                   1945                                                 212 



                                   1947                                                 189 



                                   1949                                                 142 



                                   1951                                                 139 



                                   1953                                                 121 



                                   1955                                                 128 



                                   1957                                                 124 



                                   1959                                                 216 



                                   1961                                                 195 



                                   1963                                                 189 



                                   1965                                                 126 



                                   1966                                                83 



2.16      The rise and fall in the numbers in the School can be seen from the graph below: 



                                        Number of Children Under Detention in Upton 



              250 



              200 



              150 

           r 

           e 

          b                                                                                               Line 1 

           m 

           u  100 

          N 



                50 



                 0 



                     7     9    1    3    5    7    9     1    3    5    7     9    1    3    5 

                    3     3    4    4    4     4    4    5    5    5    5     5    6      6  6 

                   9     9    9    9    9     9    9    9    9    9     9    9    9    9    9 

                  1     1    1    1    1     1    1    1    1     1    1    1    1    1    1 



                                                        Year 



2.17      The number of admissions to Upton was a cause for concern to Fr Giuseppe,2             the Provincial, in 



          early  1939.  In  correspondence  in  February  1939  he  mentioned  that  the  falling  numbers  were 



          2 This is a pseudonym. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                           15 


----------------------- Page 802-----------------------

           causing him some anxiety and that he had got a local TD ‘on the job now to bring pressure to 

           bear on the Minister to send extra transfers to Upton until our numbers have reached an economic 

           number’. A month later, in March 1939, he again wrote to say that he had spoken to the then 

           Minister for Education, Thomas Derrig, about the matter. However, according to him there was 

           little prospect of increasing numbers, as the Department was governed by a recommendation of 

           the Cussen Commission that children should be sent to the school that was nearest to their place 

           of origin, and Mr Derrig was disinclined to ‘override the regulations of his Dept’. He wrote that, 

           when he saw the Minister, he showed him a copy of their accounts and emphasised that they 

           were neither able nor prepared to continue to fund the School from their own finances. In a letter 

           sent later in the same year, he again mentioned that he was in talks with the Department about 

           the great inadequacy of the grants and the injustice to the religious orders in expecting them to 

           meet the costs out of their own funds or by heavy borrowing, when funding should be done by 

           the State. 



2.18       By November 1939, it appears that Fr Giuseppe had enlisted the help and support of Mr Eamon 

           DeValera, the then Taoiseach and acting Minister for Education: 



                 Dev. is taking up the matter of our school. I am informed that he has been convinced that 

                 we have been unfairly discriminated against in the way of transfers and committals and 

                 we are told to expect results soon. 



2.19       In 1941, Fr Giuseppe was happy to note that the numbers had increased from 110 at the beginning 

           of the year to 144. 



           Physical abuse 



           Concessions made by the Rosminians 



2.20       In  2002,  Fr  Matthew  Gaffney,  the  Provincial  of  the  Irish  Province  of  the  Institute  of  Charity, 

           submitted  a  general  statement  on  behalf  of  the  Order  to  the  Committee.  In  this  statement,  he 

           accepted that corporal punishment was used as ‘a general disciplinary measure’, and was also 

           used as ‘a punishment or deterrent’ for bed-wetting, absconding and other infringements. The use 

           of corporal punishment, he said, had to be seen in two contexts: first, from the perspective of the 

           Institution,  and  second,  in  the  light  of  the  ‘social  attitudes  of  the  time’.  From  an  institutional 

           perspective, he asserted that the ‘maintenance of control was an absolute necessity’, and was 

           achieved through the use of corporal punishment. He accepted that its use ‘produced a disciplinary 

           environment  in  which  the  distinction  between  punishment  and  abuse  could  become  blurred’. 

           Indeed, he accepted that abuse had occurred in the administration of some corporal punishment, 

           and he apologised for this fact. 



2.21       In their Opening Statement, dated 17th  June 2004, the Rosminians reiterated their awareness ‘that 



           corporal punishment has led to abuse’ and ‘was known from time to time to have been excessive’. 

           But  they  asserted  that  the  use  of  corporal  punishment  was  regulated  to  some  extent  by  ‘the 

           spoken  instructions  of  the  Manager  of  the  School,  recording,  and  by  trust  in  the  judgement  of 

           those in charge’. 



2.22       Having heard the evidence at the Phase II private hearings, the Order were willing to make more 

           concessions on this issue. In their written Submission in 2006 after the Phase III hearings, the 

           Order accepted that corporal punishment ‘was often used to excess’ and was ‘generally too readily 

           used  as  a  solution  to  the  problems  of  the  Schools’.  Departing  from  their  earlier  stance,  they 

           conceded that ‘the standards of the time are not an adequate excuse or explanation’. They went 

           further,  and   conceded     that  the  problems    with   corporal   punishment     were   partly  due   to  its 

           discretionary and unregulated use, particularly by the Prefects who were unsupervised. 



           16                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 803-----------------------

2.23       They submitted that: 



                  The susceptibility of corporal punishment to abuse seems inherent. If left to discretion, a 

                  cause    can  always    be   found  for   its  use, especially    where  authority    is  threatened  or 

                  insecure. 



2.24       Fr  O’Reilly  at  the  Phase  III  public  hearing  referred  to  the  inherent  difficulties  in  using  corporal 

           punishment in circumstances where there were no clear policies or guidelines. He described it as 

           ‘a trap’: 



                  Corporal punishment is a trap, if you allow corporal punishment without having the most 

                  clear guidelines possible, it is a trap, it is a trap for everybody. It is a trap for the boys and 

                  a trap for the adults. Because what you are saying is it is okay to hit children. And there 

                  are  times  when they  do  things  that are  wrong  and  that are  very,  very  wrong, and  that 

                  cause an enormous problem for the entire Institution. So inside yourself you think, “well, 

                  it is okay”, and the only response is to punish even more. It is a trap. 



2.25       He did concede that, at times, ‘the punishments that children received were brutal’. 



2.26       The Order admitted that corporal punishment was used for absconding. Absconding was a serious 

           problem,  because  of  concerns  for  the  safety  of  the  boys,  and  the  possibility  that  they  could 

           damage neighbours’ property. Fr O’Reilly conceded at the Phase III hearing that  ‘boys who ran 

           away  were  often  severely  punished  because  of  the  problem  that  it  created  in  the  School,  the 

           unease that it created among the rest of the boys’. The punishment administered was either slaps 

           on the hand or on the buttocks with a leather strap. He conceded that, on occasions, boys had to 

           remove     their  trousers    for  punishment.     While    each   absconding      was   recorded,    reasons     for 

           absconding  were  not.  He  agreed  that  many  ran  away  because  they  were  homesick,  fearful  or 

           deeply  unhappy  in  Upton.  He  also  accepted  the  possibility  that  boys  absconded  because  of 

           physical or sexual abuse. He acknowledged that, from time to time, boys’ heads were shaved as 

           part   of  the  punishment      for  absconding.     All  children   who    absconded      were    punished,    and 

           ringleaders were likely to be punished more severely. One form of punishment was ‘benders’, the 

           administration of the strap on the buttocks, but, he asserted rarely on the bare buttocks. 



2.27       The  Order  also  accepted  that  boys  who  wet  their  beds  were  given  corporal  punishment.  They 

           were known as ‘slashers’ and had their own section of the dormitory. Between 10 and 25% of the 

           boys wet their beds, and for most of the period covered by the inquiry would have been ‘slapped’. 

           Towards the later years there was  ‘less slapping’ for bed-wetting. The Rosminians also accepted 

           that boys had to take their wet sheets to the laundry in front of other boys and, while it may not 

           have been the intent, the Order accepts it was deeply embarrassing for them. 



            The role of Prefect 



2.28       The Institution was run on regimented lines and the daily routine was subject to a strict regime of 

           order and discipline. The Prefects’ main purpose was to maintain discipline and control over a 

           large number of boys, and this they did by using corporal punishment. The job was described by 

           Br Marcello,3  who was in his early 20s when he arrived to take up the position of Assistant Prefect 



           in Upton in the mid-1960s. He said, ‘our work, or job was to contain the thing so that everything 

           else ran, to a certain extent, fairly smoothly’. 



2.29       He  was  questioned  about  his  use  of  the  word  ‘containment’ to  describe  the  situation,  and  he 

           reiterated that this term did describe how he felt. He felt he had to ‘contain’ situations in order to 

           ensure    that  they   did  not   blow   out  of  proportion.    The   Prefects   were    constantly    vigilant  for 

           potential trouble. 



           3  This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                        17 


----------------------- Page 804-----------------------

2.30       He  explained  that  discipline  was  maintained  through  the  use  of  the  strap  or  giving  the  boys  a 

           ‘clatter’, the term used for a blow with the hand. Corporal punishment was used on a regular basis 

           and, with 100 boys to control,  ‘someone was getting it more or less all the time’. The range of 

           offences that resulted in corporal punishment varied. Something small, like talking in the line for 

           example,  would  warrant  a  ‘clatter’, but  serious  incidents  were  severely  punished.  He  recalled 

           giving a boy eight slaps of the leather on each hand for stabbing one of his companions in the 

           tailor shop, and then being told by the Senior Prefect that he had not given the boy enough slaps. 

           He was asked what, in his view, was the purpose of corporal punishment. He answered: 



                 Discipline,  it  was necessary.  Because  there  were only  two  of  us  and any  relaxation  of 

                 discipline  at  that  particular  time  could  have  caused  havoc  in  the  school.  That  was  the 

                 position we had at that particular time. We thought that it was necessary ... I still think in 

                 the circumstances there it was necessary. 



2.31       The boys were punished on the spot for minor offences by whoever was in charge. More serious 

           offences  that  warranted     ‘fairly  severe  punishment’ were  dealt  with  by  sending  the  boy  to  the 

           Prefect’s office for punishment, usually administered with a leather strap. 



2.32       He conceded that boys could be punished on the spot with ‘a clatter’ and then could be sent to 

           the office for further punishment. The Prefect never inquired if a boy had already been punished, 

           so it was possible that boys would be punished more than once for the same offence. Many of 

           the witnesses felt aggrieved over this fact. 



2.33       When asked whether corporal punishment was a first or last resort for the Prefect, he replied: 



                 I think it was always the first resort ... We didn’t have any other resorts ... A lot of the time 

                 I was frightened because at any time, if there was a concerted effort by the boys they 

                 could have flattened me. 



2.34       He had no training for dealing with delinquent boys, nothing in his religious or scholastic training 

           prepared him for it. There was no coherent scheme or policy for the boys in those years: 



                 It was piecemeal, it was different little things we did, but there wasn’t the concerted effort 

                 that we have made in the last 20 years. 



2.35       Another Rosminian priest, Fr Christiano,4        who had also been a pupil in Upton, gave evidence to 



           the  Committee      from  two   perspectives.    He   was   in  Upton   as   a  pupil  during   the  1950s.   He 

           remembered an atmosphere dominated by punishment, which was meted out for misdemeanours 

           such  as  talking  in  the  dormitory,  or  causing  difficulty  for  the  supervisor  in  the  workshop.  The 

           punishments  were  usually  administered  in  the  office  by  the  Prefect.  He  recalled  a  particular 

           incident  of  group  punishment,  when  some  boys,  who  had  been  confined  to  a  small  recreation 

           room for the day while others attended a sports event, were punished for trashing the room and 

           scattering the board games. His impression was that each boy got about 20  ‘benders’, and he 

           recalled that it only stopped because an older boy challenged the Brother who had been beating 

           the boys until he had exhausted himself. 



2.36       Fr  Christiano  was  a  promising  student  and  was  sent  to  the  Rosminian  secondary  school  in 

           Omeath. He remembered it felt like getting out of prison. He also recalled there was no corporal 

           punishment in Omeath. The atmosphere there was not punitive. 



2.37       He believed that, before Upton closed, it had deteriorated and had become a punishment regime. 

           At some time during each day, there were boys being punished. When he returned to Upton from 

           Omeath during the holidays, he and the other secondary students ate in a little refectory situated 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 



           18                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 805-----------------------

            close to the Prefect’s office, and far too often they could hear the bang of the strap. By the time 

            the witness was in university, and Upton was coming to a close, the School had changed from 

            his early years, when it was relatively benign, into an excessively punitive place. 



2.38        When Fr Christiano was asked how he reconciled the religious life, which involved love, charity 

            and kindness, with a system that required men of the cloth to be brutal and severe, he replied 

            that he did not believe that this was a requirement. The post of Prefect did involve the obligation 

            to impose discipline, but he did not see the need to be brutal: 



                  I later became a Prefect in Ferryhouse and one of the things I did was throw the strap in 

                  the river, in the Suir in Ferryhouse, the one I had. There is a different way. We have the 

                  feast of St. Don Bosco every year, he was a man who loved children and I read – there 

                  is a reading in the book – his instruction to his Brothers about looking after children, and 

                  I say, ‘my God, why didn’t anyone show some of our lads this piece?’. 



2.39        When asked whether he found a  ‘different way’, he replied: 



                  No, I would say my judgement of Prefects was that those with better education or more 

                  culture were much better than those who were not educated and didn’t really have much 

                  of an idea what to do except keep order. 



2.40        When it was suggested to him that he had found a better way through education, he replied: 



                   Oh absolutely. My  experience at Upton, it just made  me never ever let that  happen to 

                  anybody if you can possibly do anything about it. When I was in charge, I was not going 

                  to be a Prefect like I had seen. 



2.41        The use of corporal punishment as a general disciplinary measure for absconding, bed-wetting, 

            and  other  infractions,  many  of  which  were  of  a  very  minor  nature,  produced  an  all-pervasive 

            climate of fear. One former pupil described it as follows: 



                  I suppose first of all the place you were in, and obviously the people that were allegedly 

                  looking after you. I think they probably controlled these places with this fear, I believe. It 

                   was just a climate of fear that you were going to get hit, you were going to get beaten, 

                  something evil was going to happen to you. There was no happiness; there was nothing 

                  to be glad about. Maybe the only part of escaping out of that place was probably when you 

                   went to sleep, that was probably the only escape you had from the reality of that place. 



2.42        Many of the witnesses described the fear they felt when they had to wait outside the office for 

            punishment. One witness said the fear and the waiting remained a more vivid memory than being 

            struck with the leather. 



            Documentary evidence – the punishment books 



2.43        The main documentary sources dealing with corporal punishment in Upton are two punishment 

            books, the first covering the years from 1889 to 1893, and the second relating to the period 1952 

            to 1963. 



2.44        The obligation to maintain a record of punishments went back to the beginning of industrial schools 

            in the late 19th  Century, and this was re-reiterated in Rule 12 of the 1933 Rules and Regulations. 



            This rule required all industrial schools to maintain a punishment book for serious misdemeanours, 

            and also stipulated that it was to be shown to the Inspector of the Department of Education when 

            he visited: 



                  All serious misconduct, and the Punishments inflicted for it, shall be entered in a book to 

                  be kept for that purpose, which shall be laid before the Inspector when he visits.5 



            5 

                                                                                         ´ 

                                                                                      ´ 

              1933 Rules and Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Saorstat Eireann, Rule 12. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                           19 


----------------------- Page 806-----------------------

2.45       However, out of all of the industrial schools examined by the Investigation Committee, only Upton 

           and St. Joseph’s Industrial School, Dundalk, were able to produce punishment books, and then 

           only for some of the period under investigation. 



2.46       The Upton books are leather-bound volumes, with double pages of entries set out in tabular form 

           and divided into six columns, giving spaces for: the date of the offence, name of offender, nature 

           of offence, by whom reported, the punishment given and remarks on the case. 



2.47       The   first book   for Upton    spans   the  period   1889   to  1893,   and  has   87  pages    of  details  of 

           punishments. The later book, for the period 1952 to 1963, consists of only 18 double pages of 

           entries.  While  the  earlier  book  is  of  interest  by  way  of  comparison  and  is  a  valuable  historical 

           source, the later volume, covering years relevant to this inquiry, is of real importance. There are, 

           unfortunately, serious deficiencies in the record keeping in this later book, but the contents are 

           highly significant. 



           The 1952 to 1963 book 



2.48       The  first  problem  with  this  punishment  book  is  that  it  is  nothing  like  a  complete  record  for  the 

           period between the first entry and the last. There are long gaps in time between dates and entries 

           appear out of chronological sequence. It is obvious that the book was not kept up to date and that 

           it was not filled in carefully or systematically. 



2.49       Another problem is inconsistency in the breaches of rules that are recorded in the punishment 

           book. Between 1952 and 1954, there was almost no entry for punishment of immorality, yet from 

           September 1954 onwards it was almost the sole reason for punishment. Given the frequency of 

           punishments  for  immorality,  it  would  be  expected  that  there  would  have  been  some  record  of 

           punishment  for  it  in  the  first  period,  and,  in  the  second  period,  there  must  have  been  some 

           occasions when boys were punished for reasons other than immorality. 



2.50       There is a gap at the front of the book where pages appear to be missing. There is nothing to 

           indicate the reason for removing them. 



           Contents of the punishment books 



2.51       The   offences   listed  between    1952    and   1954   include   stealing,  disobedience,     giving  cheek, 

           absconding, lying, laziness, smoking, talking at Mass, wasting food, horseplay, rough play, missing 

           from  yard,  and  being  out  of  bounds.  Also  listed  on  a  very  small  number  of  occasions  was 

           ‘immorality’ with other boys. 



2.52       The recorded punishments varied according to the offence committed, and consisted of being hit 

           with the leather strap on the hand or the buttocks. They were usually noted as being ‘over pants’, 

           but on three dates in 1953 the book records that boys were punished by slaps ‘without pants’. 

           Their offences were ‘run away, stole school property’, ‘run away’, ‘give cheek to a Brother’ and 

           ‘destroying clothes’. The number of slaps with the leather strap on the bare bottom ranged from 

           6 to 15. These three dates in January and February 1953 are the only occasions when punishment 

           was recorded as being given on the bare buttocks. 



           20                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 807-----------------------

2.53       The following table provides some examples of offences and punishments for 1952 and 1953: 



                            Date                                Offence                            Punishment 



                       26 Nov 1952                Giving cheek and being                6 over pants 

                                                  disobedient 



                       20 Dec 1952                Disobedience in continually           6 over pants 

                                                  playing soccer 



                       20 Jan 1953                Run away, stole school property       10 without pants [for one boy] 

                                                  [3 boys committed this offence]       and 

                                                                                        15 without pants [for two boys] 



                       22 Feb 1953                Give cheek to a Brother               12 without pants 



                       23 Feb 1953                Destroying clothes [2 boys]           6 without pants [each] 



                       22 April 1953              Disobedience, sulking,                6 on pants 

                                                  slothfulness 



                       22 June 1953               Disobedience to Prefect               6 on hands 



                       24 June 1953               Disrespect for teacher                6 on hands 



                       25 June 1953               Lying and helping himself to          Six on hands 

                                                  bread and butter in the pantry 



                        5 July 1953               Fooling and talking at Mass           8 on hands 



                        6 July 1953               In boiler house having a rest         5 over pants 



                        9 July 1953               Destroying his coat                   4 on hands 



                        2 Sept 1953               Throwing good food away               5 on hands 



                        5 Sept 1953               Neglect of religious duties           12 over pants 



                       21 Sept 1953               Stealing and running away             6 over pants 



                       28 Sept 1953               Smoking in W.C.                       6 over pants 



                        13 Oct 1953               Plotting against the Prefects – an    10 over pants 

                                                  enemy in the camp 



2.54       The entry for 19th    September 1954 marked the beginning of the period of intense concentration 



           on immorality. The last entry recorded that 18 boys were punished for immorality. The first 10 of 

           them were guilty of ‘wretched’ immorality, and each of them received 20 slaps over pants. The 

           remaining eight boys were also found guilty of ‘wretched’ immorality but ‘yet not so frequently’. 

           Despite    this  mitigating    circumstance,     these   eight   boys    nevertheless     received    the   same 

           punishment     of  ‘20  over   pants’.  A   simple   calculation   shows    that,  on  this  day,  one   Brother 

           administered 360 strokes of the leather strap on the buttocks of 18 boys. 



2.55       An entry in the book dated 17th       November 1955 recorded punishment, for immorality with other 



           boys, of ‘20 over pants’, and concluded with the comment: 



                 A coward when faced with the music. But when Arturo Toscanini took the baton in his 

                  hand, there was more music in Beethoven’s “Fifth” than one expected to find. 



2.56       This  was  not  explained  in  the  book  but  it  seems  to  be  a  self-congratulatory  and  pejorative 

           reference to the cries that the beating produced. The Prefect, Br Alfonso,6               who made the entry 



           gave evidence to the Investigation Committee, and denied that the reference to Beethoven in the 

           context of being conducted by Toscanini had anything to do with striking the boys, but was to do 

           with making them sing. 



           6 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     21 


----------------------- Page 808-----------------------

2.57        A further entry dated 20th      November 1955 recorded sexual offences by nine boys, including the 



            same boy referred to in the above quotation. This time, the entry reads: 



                  Observe that these boys have repeated the same offence – they were up to their eyes in 

                  it any time they got a chance: their activities were confined to their own happy circle and 

                  no one else could enter – where angels fear to tread. 



2.58        A comment about one of the boys displayed an awareness of peer sexual abuse, as distinct from 

            immorality among consenting boys: 



                  A new offender interfered with many small boys. 



2.59        Other examples of punishment in the latter part of the book, from 1954 to 1963, are set out in the 

            following table: 



                             Date                                  Offence                               Punishment 



                        19 Sept 1954                 Immorality – wretched                   20 over pants [each] 

                                                     [18 boys] 



                        19 Sept 1955                 Immorality – wretched, yet not          20 over pants 

                                                     too frequently [one boy] 



                        19 Sept 1955                 Immorality – not so extensive           15 over pants 

                                                     [one boy] 



                        19 Sept 1955                 Bad conduct – immorality                10 over pants [each] 

                                                     [4 boys] 



                        19 Sept 1955                 Immoral talk                            3 over pants [each] 

                                                     [2 boys] 



                        28 Sept 1956                 Immorality [2 boys]                     4 over pants and 

                                                                                             6 over pants 



                         31 Jan 1959                 Immorality under the eyes of            10 over pants [each] 

                                                     others in the billiard room [2 

                                                     boys] 



                         26 Feb 1960                 Immorality with others [6 boys]         10 over pants [for 5 boys] and 

                                                                                             8 over pants [for one boy] 



                         04 Mar 1960                 Immorality with others                  10 over pants 



                         05 Mar 1960                 Immorality with others [2 boys]         10 over pants each 



                         08 Mar 1960                 Immorality with others [2 boys]         10 over pants each 



                        04 April 1960                Immorality with others                  10 over pants 



                         5 Jan 1962                  Immorality in school giving bad         20 over pants 

                                                     example to small boys also going 

                                                     on with filthy talk 



                         9 Jan 1962                  Immorality with others while            20 over pants 

                                                     supposed to be working in 

                                                     sacristy 



2.60        The first punishment book for Upton spanned the period 1889 to 1893. For most misdemeanours, 

            the punishment ranged from three to eight slaps of the leather and, for the more serious offences 

            such as immoral conduct, cursing, immodest language and absconding, the number of strokes 

            ranged from 10 to 15. The highest number recorded in the book was 15, and this occurred only 

            twice. The next highest number of slaps was 14, which also occurred twice. 



            22                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 809-----------------------

2.61       Sexual acts amongst the boys did not seem to be a major problem at that time. A few instances 

           were recorded in 1890 of immodest conduct and immodest language. A boy received 15 slaps on 

           5th  April 1890 for immodest conduct. On 9th       June 1890, nine boys were found guilty of immorality 



           in the fields, and six were given 12 slaps, two received nine slaps of the leather, and one boy 

           received no punishment. The only other example of immorality amongst boys is recorded on 11th 



           December  1893,  when  five  boys  were  found  guilty  and  were  stripped,  and  four  received  eight 

           slaps and one received seven slaps of the leather. 



2.62       The most striking difference between the two books is that the earlier book is systematic, with a 

           chronological method of recording the information. These entries make it probable that it is a full 

           account  of  punishments  for  serious  misconduct  during  the  period  covered,  as  required  by  the 

           rules. The later book compares unfavourably with it: it is not comprehensive, it is unmethodical, 

           and is often not chronological. In addition, the severity of punishment in the later book is greater 

           than the earlier one. 



           Impact of 1952–1963 book 



2.63       The information in the 1952–1963 book tended to undermine and contradict the recollection of 

           former staff of the School as to the punishment regime. 



2.64       The severity of punishment, as recorded in the book, is greatly in excess of what some respondent 

           witnesses    remembered.      Br  Alfonso    was   insistent  that  the   amount    of  punishment     was   not 

           excessive, and he was quite vigorous in defending his position. The numbers of blows recorded 

           in the book, however, were wholly in conflict with his recollection, and counsel for the complainants 

           suggested     to  him   that  the   evidence    of  this  book   was    more    reliable  because     it was   a 

           contemporaneous record, and the Prefect or other person recording the punishment in the book 

           had  no  reason  to  exaggerate  the  amount.  The  intention  must  have  been  to  give  an  accurate 

           description of what was inflicted. 



2.65       Apart from Br Alfonso, the Investigation Committee had evidence in the form of correspondence 

           from Br Giovani,7  who served in Upton for one year in the 1950s, a period covered by the entries 



           in the book, which gave a different impression of the level of punishment from that indicated in 

           the punishment book. 



2.66       The entries in the punishment book demonstrate that the severity and frequency of beatings were 

           greater than what were recollected by the staff. This discrepancy explains why accounts given by 

           complainants, whose credibility was not in doubt, differed so markedly from the accounts given 

           by respondents. This conflict appears in other institutions investigated. 



2.67       •    The 1952-1963 punishment book provides evidence of the severity of punishments that 

                 were inflicted in Upton in the 1950s and early 1960s. It contradicts the recollections of 

                 Br Alfonso and Br Giovani, who recalled that punishments were not excessive, and 

                 supports the accounts given by the complainants. 

           •    The later book contrasts unfavourably with the one kept in the late 19th  century. It is not 



                 comprehensive, it is not methodical and is often not chronological, and the severity of 

                 punishment is greater. 



           •    Some of the comments in the book suggest that they were not written in anticipation 

                 of an official inspection of the book, and there is no record of any such inspection. 



           •     The  punishment  book  is  not  a  complete  record,  but  it  is  accurate  in  respect  of  the 

                 punishment that it records. 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    23 


----------------------- Page 810-----------------------

           •    The book does not demonstrate an ordered system of punishment that was properly 

                 supervised and recorded on all occasions. 



           •    The punishment books are not a complete record of punishments administered during 

                 the periods they cover. It is highly likely that other beatings were also administered. 



           Evidence of respondents 



           Br Alfonso 



2.68       Br Alfonso was a dominant figure during his time in Upton. He held the position of Prefect for a 

           number  of  years     from  the  mid-1950s.  He     was  physically  strong,  and  evidence       from  former 

           residents confirms this. 



2.69       One former resident was asked to describe Br Alfonso. He said: 



                 He had a bubbly personality, he had a wonderful structure. He was a brilliant golfer and 

                 a brilliant hurler ... To me, I was his lap dog. If he hit a sliotar and it went into the woods 

                 or into the nettles, me in my short little pants had to go and look for it and bring it back to 

                 him. Likewise, with a golf ball. And if you couldn’t find it you stayed until you did. 



2.70       Another witness described the strength of Br Alfonso when he administered the strap: 



                 He really physically forced (indicating). It was like a golf driver and he was a golfer. That’s 

                 what he used to spend his time, playing golf. He used use the straps like a golfer. I never 

                 got so much pain in my life. 



2.71       Br Alfonso said that corporal punishment in Upton was an essential tool in the maintenance of 

           order in the School. He was given no training or advice regarding its use, which was a matter 

           solely for his discretion. Other members of staff would send boys to him for punishment, and he 

           always knew the reason for the punishment. He said that he always recorded his punishments in 

           the  punishment  book  and  that  the  Resident  Manager  inspected  his  book  regularly.  When  the 

           entries  in  the  punishment  book  were  first  raised  with  Br  Alfonso  during  the  investigation  into 

           Ferryhouse, in questioning about absconders, he said: 



                 The  most  strokes  on  the  seat  of  the  pants  they  would  get  for  anything  like  that,  if  it 

                 were that, would be 10 strokes, that was a lot but that was what it was, that would be 

                 the maximum. 



2.72       He  went  on  to  assert  that  10  would  be  the  maximum  number  of  strokes  for  any  offence.  He 

           confirmed that the Prefect made the entries in the book after the punishment was given. When 

           the information in the punishment book showing 20 strokes given on the bare buttocks on a boy 

           for immorality was put to him, he was incredulous: 



                 That couldn’t possibly have happened during my time ... That never ever happened. I put 

                 my hand on that Bible there, that never happened. 



2.73       He was adamant that he himself had never exceeded 10 slaps when hitting a boy. However, when 

           he was shown the punishment book, he had to admit that when he was Prefect he had himself 

           meted out punishment of 20 strokes on the buttocks for sexual offences committed by the boys, 

           for  ‘immorality’ and  ‘wretched immorality’. He went on to justify the bigger punishment because it 

           was for  ‘wretched immorality’. 



2.74       The importance of the punishment book can be seen from this exchange. Not only does it provide 

           a  contemporaneous  account  of  the  administration  of  corporal  punishment,  but  it  also  affords 

           corroboration of the evidence of some of the former residents who were adamant that they had 

           received punishment in excess of 10 strokes. 



           24                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 811-----------------------

2.75      Punishment was administered in the Prefect’s office, and it could happen, albeit rarely, that a boy 

          would have to wait outside the office for punishment. Br Alfonso disliked the term  ‘punishment’, 

          and described his position as follows: 



                Punishment would be administered – well, I don’t want to call it “punishment”, but I have 

                written in that book which I have there that when boys were chastised, I will use that word, 

                they were advised. So there would be lots of advice going on instead of punishment. 



2.76      This phrase  ‘lots of advice’, to describe multiple blows with a strap on a boy’s hands or buttocks, 

          minimises the whole nature of corporal punishment, which is exercising control by inflicting pain. 

          He went on to say that punishment was not administered to boys of all ages, but he refused to 

          be drawn on the age at which punishment started. 



2.77      Counsel for three complainants referred to the entry for 19th    September 1954, the day on which it 



          was recorded that 18 boys were each given 20 strokes for ‘wretched immorality’. Br Alfonso was 

          unable  to  recall  the  occasion  when  so  many  strokes  had  been  administered,  although  it  was 

          simple arithmetic (but erroneous because counsel thought 17 and not 18 boys were involved). 



2.78      On a number of occasions during his cross-examination, Br Alfonso appeared to find some of the 

          suggestions  made by  counsel for  the complainants  derisory. One  such instance  arose when  a 

          witness gave evidence that he had felt children were being used ‘like lap dogs to collect your ball’. 

          Br Alfonso was asked why he found this derisory: 



                No, and the reason I laughed, excuse me, no, they were my children, I loved them. I had 

                no approach to the children like that at all, they were wonderful and that is all and they 

                are still my children and that so, just I could never treat any child like that as a lap dog, I 

                could not do that. 



2.79      He suggested, instead, that the boys played golf with him and they would all be having a good 

          time. 



2.80      He  said  that,  during  his  time  in  Upton,  he  never  beat  anyone  for  bed-wetting  and  never  saw 

          anyone being beaten for that reason. 



2.81      He said that, when boys were sent to his office for punishment, they did not always get a beating, 

          as sometimes he gave them an orange or an apple. When asked if he thought he was strict or 

          fairly strict, he preferred to describe himself as fair. In his evidence before the Committee in the 

          Ferryhouse hearings, he was asked to comment on the following quotation from his submission 

          to the Inquiry: 



                During all those years I fought many battles for the boys, of which they know nothing. I 

                am not ashamed to say that I often wept silently in empathy for the boys who were trapped 

                within a system, which lumped together delinquents and orphans, an arrangement which 

                compounded the problem. 



2.82      He recalled someone saying to him once that it was a good thing for orphans to be exposed to 

          delinquents, but this made no sense to him at all. In his view, orphans were coming from different 

          places and needed entirely different treatment to delinquents: 



                Not that the delinquents need have to get rigid treatment, or anything else like that, but 

                they’re coming from a different background, a different experience and everything else, 

                and the orphans are a different people altogether. And so to expose them to that type – 

                that’s the orphans, to that type of criminality – I don’t ever use that word because I never 

                treated them as criminals, they were all my own children, every one of them. But to expose 

                them to children who had such deviousness in their lives in the form of theft and all these 

                type of things, that they had agenda hidden up their sleeves all the time, to expose them 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            25 


----------------------- Page 812-----------------------

                  to that was to encourage them to come in to that and to me there was something criminal 

                  about that. 



2.83       He described Upton as ‘a place of great activity, seething with action, excitement’. 



2.84       The complainant evidence in respect of this Brother is dealt with below. 



           The letter of Br Giovani 



2.85       Br Giovani joined the Institute of Charity in the early 1950s, a month after he was professed. He 

           was appointed Prefect at Upton soon after, a position that he held for a period of 12 months. In a 

           letter written in the late 1990s, he painted a picture of what it was like to be a Prefect in Upton 

           during the 1950s. 



2.86       He viewed his appointment as Prefect as an awesome responsibility for one so young. Br Giovani 

           had just completed his religious instruction and had received no official training or instruction for 

           his new job. The only advice he received came from his former Novice Master, Fr Cecilio,8                      who 



           told him, ‘Don’t be a police man’. These five words constituted his only introduction to a job which 

           involved both him and his colleague, Br Alfonso, taking responsibility for the care and control of 

           over 300 boys. 



2.87       Br  Giovani  said  that  he  was  never  furnished  with  a  precise  description  of  what  it  was  he  was 

           supposed to do, but it did entail the coordination of the activities of nearly all of the 300 boys from 

           morning till night. He said that there was very little in the way of recreational activities for the boys 

           when he was appointed. Not surprisingly, in light of their youth, both he and Br Alfonso attempted 

           to remedy this deficiency by instituting a range of games and activities for the boys. He described 

           Br Alfonso as a talented organiser, who was considered totally devoted to the task of trying to 

           improve the lot of the boys. 



2.88       He said that the Prefects were responsible for the discipline of the boys. The Prefects had the 

           authority to administer three slaps with a leather strap on the palm of the hand. The Prefect was 

           obliged to record the incident in the punishment book. The Rector, Fr Fabiano,9  would periodically 



           review this book. Further punishment could only be administered with the consent of the Rector. 

           He said that this consent would only be given in severe cases, and he stated that he personally 

           could not remember any incident where further and extra punishment was administered. 



2.89       Br Giovani stated that there was no brutality, cruelty or physical abuse in Upton during the 12 

           months he was there. He stated that, while the regime in the School was ‘austere’ and harsh, the 

           level of corporal punishment would have been commensurate with the levels pertaining in every 

           other school at the time. Indeed, he stated that, during the period which he spent in Upton, great 

           strides  were  made  to  reduce  the  levels  of  corporal  punishment.  However,  in  a  later  letter,  he 

           compared the regime to that of a ‘concentration camp’, accepting that Upton was not a pleasant 

           place to be as a pupil, and stated that he felt guilty for not having done more to help the boys. He 

           stated that all he ever did was complain while others tried to help in a more practical way. 



           Evidence of complainant witnesses 



2.90       The earliest witness account came from a boy who was admitted in the late 1940s. He recalled 

           being  physically  punished  for  bed-wetting.  He  was  also  punished  in  the  classroom  by  the  lay 

           headmaster,  Mr  Maher.10        He  described  a  number  of  incidents  involving  two  of  the  Prefects, 



           including one beating given to a boy who absconded because his father was dying and he was 



           8  This is a pseudonym. 

           9  This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 



           26                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 813-----------------------

           not  allowed  to  go  to  his  funeral.  He  described  the  Prefects  as  being  ‘over  the  top’ in  inflicting 

           punishment. He explained: 



                  This particular man was always over the top, the two of them were definitely over the top. 

                  Any time I was hit or beaten or attacked, or hit by anyone, it was always in a rage ... 



2.91       He disputed entries  in the punishment book  of two and three  slaps, as he said  the boys were 

           always given more and remembered the Brothers making the entries in the punishment book. 



2.92       Another witness resident in Upton in the mid-1950s described the regime as brutal from the first 

           day. He particularly recalled Saturday, which was shower day. No matter how hard the boys tried 

           to  clean  themselves,  it  was  never  good  enough  for  the  Brother  in  charge.  The  boys  would  be 

           clattered back into the shower with an open fist or with the leather if their nails were still dirty. 

           Punishment  with  the  leather  was  almost  a  daily  feature  for  things  like  talking  in  the  dormitory, 

           talking in the ranks, etc. The most vicious Brother was Br Donato.11               The witness recalled being 



           punished in the washroom one day, because he could not explain how he came to have a spoon 

           in his pocket; he had actually dug it up in the garden earlier in the day. His legs were so bruised 

           from the beating, it was noticed by Br Nico12  the following day in the garden. He assumed Br Nico 



           admonished Br Donato for the beating because, a few days later, he received a further beating 

           from Br Donato for telling tales. 



2.93       There were two Brothers who were siblings in Upton, Br Orlando13 and Br Donato, and the witness 



           claimed they were both vicious. Prior to Br Nico arriving in Upton, this witness recalled that the 

           person in charge of the garden was very tough. 



2.94       This  witness  recalled  that  all  punishments,  except  for  minor  offences,  such  as  having  holes  in 

           one’s socks, were administered in the washroom. The leather was administered on the buttocks. 

           He   was    only  ever   hit on   the  hand    in class.   The   typical  number     of  strokes   of  the  leather 

           administered was between 6 and 12, with the exception of Br Donato who kept slapping with the 

           leather until the boy would eventually fall down. 



2.95       The worst experience for him was the physical abuse. The sexual abuse he was subjected to was 

           not brutal, and the Brother who sexually abused him would give him sweets, so he did not see it 

           as being as bad as the beatings from Br Donato. 



2.96       A witness present in the early 1960s recalled his very first experience of physical abuse. The boys 

           were out for a Sunday walk and, on their return, they used the toilet and were talking to each 

           other in there, unaware that it was against the rules. Br Alfonso overheard them and sent for them 

           up to the office, where they were made to bend over a stool and hold the legs of the stool. Br 

           Alfonso administered six “benders” on that occasion. The witness was not the first of the four to 

           be punished: 



                  I wasn’t first, I don’t know who got the first one. Someone was first. Three of us would be 

                  standing  watching  this  and  believe  me  when  you  get  one  of  these,  if  you  thought  you 

                  couldn’t jump, you would jump when you get one of these, six feet in the air, no problem, 

                  especially with Br Alfonso. He really physically forced. (Indicating) It was like a golf driver 

                  and he was a golfer. That’s what he used to spend his time, playing golf. He used use 

                  the straps like a golfer. I never got so much pain in my life. I remember the first one of 

                  those  I  got.  I  never  thought  anyone  could  go  through  so  much  pain  as  what  we  went 

                  through with them. I got six of those and you were that colour, all your hips would be that 



           11 This is a pseudonym. 

           12 This is a pseudonym. 

           13 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       27 


----------------------- Page 814-----------------------

                  colour  for  weeks  after  and  (indicating)  you  couldn’t  tell  no-one.  If  you  told  anyone  you 

                  would get more. 



2.97       Other Brothers, including Br Donato and Br Ludano,14 gave him beatings, but none were as severe 



           as Br Alfonso’s. 



2.98       He did not accept the contention that punishments were limited to three slaps on the hand. He 

           said that he was slapped on the hand on one occasion, and the rest of the time he was beaten 

           on the buttocks, and he sometimes got between 12 and 14 strokes of the leather. 



2.99       A witness who was also resident in the early 1960s said that, from his earliest days in Upton, the 

           daily routine often involved receiving a smack on the face for minor things, such as not getting 

           out of bed quickly enough in the morning. He was only 10 years old at the time, and remembered 

           how boys had to stand to attention all the time, even when they were being beaten by a Brother. 

           After dressing, the boys went to the yard and then to Mass. Any misbehaviour at Mass resulted 

           in being sent to the office for benders: 



                  Punishment in St. Patrick’s, Upton was a regular thing. I would have to say it was – you 

                  went to school, you went to bed, you went to work and there was nothing but fear, fear, 

                  fear. It was just fear the whole way. 



2.100      He recalled receiving one severe beating from Br Alfonso. He was about 11 years old when he 

           was accused of ‘scamping’, a name used for masturbation. He also described how it was a regular 

           enough occurrence for a boy to be brought to the office for punishment, this usually related to the 

           boy being accused of  ‘scamping’. He also recalled hearing the screams and cries of boys who 

           had  been  taken  from  their  beds  in  the  evening  to  the  office  for  punishment,  as  the  office  was 

           situated   underneath     the   centre   of  the  dormitory.    Punishment     by   the  Prefect   was    normally 

           administered in the office, but the boys could be beaten anywhere, in the washroom, or in the 

           shower room on Saturdays. 



2.101      One witness resident during the early 1960s recalled an incident when the boys were watching a 

           film, which they did not enjoy and, at the end of it, they gave a slow handclap. Each boy was 

           brought out into the yard, one by one, and called into the washroom and beaten. He thought there 

           were about 150 boys punished in total. This fact was confirmed by another witness. He recalled 

           one  Brother,  Br  Alfonso  in  particular  who  often  beat  him.  The  Brother  was  fond  of  music  and 

           particularly of hurling and golf. He used to make the boys fetch his golf balls and beat them if they 

           couldn’t  find them.  He  said  that punishment  was  normally administered  on  the  buttocks with  a 

           leather strap. According to him, the minimum number of strokes with the leather was six, and he 

           said  ‘If you didn’t get six you didn’t get anything’ and if the punishment was administered on the 

           hand he would be ‘very lucky’. 



2.102      Another witness remembered being taken out of school to attend to the needs of an ill priest. He 

           said he did not smoke at the time, but was accused of stealing Lucky Strikes from the priest’s 

           room.  He  denied  he  had  ever  done  such  a  thing,  but  Br  Marcello  brought  him  upstairs  to  a 

           classroom and told him to put on swimming trunks and proceeded to beat him severely. He also 

           recalled a boy who was extremely thin being leathered in the showers by Br Marcello. This Brother 

           requested that this witness should hold the boy down while he beat him. He said he refused to 

           do this because the boy was so young. 



2.103      Finding oneself in the wrong place at the wrong time was a matter for punishment, according to 

           one witness. He received the leather for not having his socks darned. He later attended a normal 



           14 This is a pseudonym. 



           28                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 815-----------------------

           national school, and was anxious to differentiate between the slaps that were acceptable there as 

           compared with the punishment in Upton. He said: 



                  The level of punishment, the force, the ferocity of it. It was done in such a savage manner 

                  that it was way beyond anything that you could class as being the norm. 



2.104      He did not agree with the Resident Manager, Br Alanzo,15 who wrote in the late 1950s in response 



           to a complaint, which compared the treatment of boys in Greenmount and Upton, that the leather 

           strap was rarely used. He thought that what was written was an untruth. 



2.105      One witness said he was not long in Upton before he was called into the office by Brs Ludano 

           and  Donato,  and  questioned  about  his  brother  who  had  been  in  Ferryhouse  and  was  now  in 

           Daingean. Once  they established they  were siblings, the  Brothers said words  to the effect  ‘we 

           won’t make the same mistake with you’ and proceeded to strike him across the face and gave 

           him  ‘benders’  on  the  buttocks  with  the  leather.  He  was  black  and  blue  from  this  beating.  He 

           recalled being beaten also by a Fr Gian16  on the farm, but the main punishments were meted out 



           by Brs Ludano and Donato. 



2.106      The  witness  spoke  about  the  punishment  for  immorality  with  others.  He  explained  how,  every 

           couple of months or so in Upton, Brs Ludano and Donato would take a boy into the office and 

           strap him until he offered up the name of a boy who had been scamping with him. This went on 

           as the next boy would name another boy, ‘it was a never ending ... circle’. 



           Internal survey carried out by the Rosminians 



2.107      A  decision  was  made  in  2002  by  the  Rosminian  Order  to  carry  out  a  survey  of  all  surviving 

           Rosminian Brothers and priests, to assess the extent of their knowledge of physical and sexual 

           abuse  at  the  time.  The  survey  was  carried  out  in  respect  of  both  Ferryhouse  and  Upton.  In 

           response  to  a  question  about  knowledge  of  physical  abuse  in  Upton,  the  following  responses 

           were elicited: 



2.108      Br Tomasso17  said that, although he had never witnessed anything himself, he did recall hearing 



           that Br Alfonso administered excessive punishment on a number of occasions. 



2.109      Fr Stefano18  said that he thought that there were a number of cases of excessive punishment. 



2.110      One    anonymous       respondent,     when    asked    whether    he   felt  that  corporal   punishment      was 

           excessive, replied: 



                  Yes, the longer I spent there: but then, there were few Fr Flanagans in Ireland: nobody 

                  knew any better: it was common in most places at that time. 



2.111      When     asked    if the  Rector    was    aware    of  the  fact  that   excessive    punishment      was   being 

           administered, he stated: 



                  If he wasn’t Blind, deaf and dumb, he must have known: but he didn’t know any better. In 

                  my years as prefect there was a punishment book, wherein we, prefects had to write in 

                  all punishment – three slaps were allowed. This was Fr Fabiano’s idea: it ended with him. 



2.112      Fr Gustavo19    said that he witnessed Br Alba20        beating boys in the old infirmary for talking in the 



           dormitory. He said that he questioned Br Alba but was told to mind his own business. He said 

           that he heard that Br Alfonso was tough and cruel. 



           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 

           19 This is a pseudonym. 

           20 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       29 


----------------------- Page 816-----------------------

2.113      Br Flavio21  said that, while he was a scholastic in Upton, he often saw punishment administered. 



           He implied that this was excessive in nature as, in the next sentence, he stated ‘while in charge 

           of discipline in Omeath, I too punished excessively’; when asked whether the Rector, Frs Alanzo 

           and Eduardo,22    knew about the excessive violence, he replied ‘not sure if the rector knew all the 



           sordid details – probably not’. He identified Brs Donato and Alfonso as excessive punishers. 



2.114      All Brothers surveyed agreed that there was inappropriate punishment in Upton. 



           Conclusions on physical abuse 



2.115       1.  It was not in dispute that physical abuse took place, and the only issues were how 

                widespread it was and how brutal. 



            2.  Physical abuse was widespread and systemic. Excessive punishment was an everyday 

                occurrence and was brutal and severe. 



            3.  Like many other institutions, Upton kept control over the boys by maintaining a climate 

                of fear. 



            4.  Corporal punishment was used by religious and lay staff as an instrument of control 

                as well as for the purpose of chastisement. 



            5.  The punishment book of the early 1950s documents brutal corporal punishment. 



            6.  Punishment was not supervised or controlled and the severity of punishment was a 

                matter for the individual who administered it. 



            7.  The abusive nature of the regime as recalled by complainants is corroborated by the 

                entries in the punishment book, and by some of the religious. 



           Sexual abuse 



           Order’s approach to allegations of sexual abuse 



2.116      At the Phase III public hearing held on 9th       May 2006, Fr O’Reilly, Provincial of the Rosminians, 



           went further than previous concessions, saying that: 



                 I  accept  totally  that  there  are  people  out  there  who  have  also  been  –  who  have  been 

                 sexually abused in our institutions who have not come forward to this Commission. I know 

                 that, and we accept that, there are people who were abused in our institutions, sexually 

                 abused who have not come forward to this Commission, or to any – or indeed to other 

                 forum. 



2.117      Fr O’Reilly was asked whether the attitude of the Order in relation to the issue of sexual abuse 

           had been changed by the evidence given at the Phase II hearings. He responded: 



                 I think we have grown in appreciation of the impact that being in the industrial schools 

                 had  on  the  children.  I  think  we  feel  different  about  the  whole  thing  now  than  we  did 

                 previously. Two years ago we had come an awful long way, I think we have come further 

                 since then. I think it has impacted on us enormously. 



2.118      Fr  O’Reilly  acknowledged  that  the  response  of  the  Order, in  the  wake  of  revelations  of  sexual 

           abuse, had been inadequate. He did concede that it was the fear of scandal which prompted them 

           to keep quiet about the situation. However, he justified this response on the basis that those in 

           authority at the time lacked a proper understanding of the situation: 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 

           22 This is a pseudonym. 



           30                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 817-----------------------

                  I think clearly at the time they did not want the scandal to be known, because they felt it 

                  would affect the entire Institution. I think they had a very immature sort of understanding 

                  of what the problem was ... 



2.119      He did not concede that the Order’s primary motive was to protect the abuser and cover up the 

           situation, and instead asserted that those in authority at the time  ‘did know it was wrong and that 

           it was hurtful to the boys and that that was the first priority’. However, they did not seek at the 

           time  to  consider  the  impact  of  such  abuse  on  the  boys.  Although  knowing  it  was  wrong,  such 

           sexual abuse was not reported to the Gardai until 1995, despite the Order being aware of sexual 

                                                                 ´ 

           abuse  in  the  1960s  and,  more  particularly,  in  1979.  Instead,  known  abusers  were  moved  to 

           other institutions. 



            The Rome archive 



2.120      Related  inquiries  led  to  the  discovery  of  cases  in  1956,  1957  and  1959.  Questionnaires  were 

           circulated to members of the Order who had little or no involvement with the Industrial School. 

           These corroborated the written material and referred to other previously unknown allegations. 



2.121      Fr Gaffney also stated that he had asked the Superior General of the Rosminian Order in Rome, 

           Fr  James  Flynn,  to  carry  out  a  search  for  documents  containing  references  to  sexual  abuse 

           through  all  the  records  of  correspondence  between  the  Generalate  and  the  Irish  and  English 

           Provinces. This search disclosed a considerable number of documents, 68 in all, dating from 1936 

           to 1968. They dealt with, among other things, seven sexual abusers who worked in Upton. The 

           Rosminians  provided  this  information,  together  with  the  questionnaires  and  related  material,  to 

           the  Committee  in  May  2004.  These  documents  proved  to  be  very  significant  and  came  to  be 

           known as the Rome files. 



           Documented cases 



2.122      Respondent evidence and the Rosminian survey disclosed that sexual abuse perpetrated by a lay 

           teacher  and  employees  in  the  Institution  had  been  discovered  and  was  dealt  with  through  the 

           removal or transfer of the offenders. 



2.123      Little  information    was   available   as   to the   nature   of  the  abuse    that  was    discovered    or  the 

           circumstances in which it was detected. It is clear, however, that a large number of the perpetrators 

           of the abuse were discovered as a result of the activities of Br Alfonso, who zealously pursued a 

           policy of relentlessly rooting out and punishing sexual activity among the boys. 



2.124      This Brother was responsible for the exposure of six persons who were committing sexual abuse 

           of boys in Upton. He served in the Institution from 1953 to 1960. In his curriculum vitae, he wrote: 



                  I also enlightened the boys who had been molested by the staff members, of the evil that 

                  had been perpetrated against them. I left no stone unturned to eradicate this evil. 



2.125      Complainant witnesses confirmed the prevalence of sexual abuse by some of the Brothers during 

           this period. 



2.126      The question is whether the period during which Br Alfonso served in Upton was a particularly bad 

           period for the occurrence of sexual abuse, or whether it merely showed what could be detected or 

           discovered by one campaigner. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                        31 


----------------------- Page 818-----------------------

           Fr Carlo23 



2.127      Fr Carlo was posted to Ferryhouse in the late 1930s as Prefect, and remained in the School until 

           he was transferred to Upton a few years later. 



2.128      The information that is available about his departure from Upton is limited. The Superior General, 

           Fr Montes,24  wrote to the Irish Provincial, Fr Giuseppe, stating: 



                  Fr Carlo told me, sincerely, I think the whole story. He tearfully acknowledged his mistake. 

                  I sent him to Diano Marina on the sea between Genoa and Nice ... He accepts his present 

                  situation as a penance but I am convinced that we will have to find a place for him by 

                  September. Could he not go to America? ... I can understand that you were relieved at 

                  his departure. One could have had certain fears for the Upton house, also because, in 

                  the past the Government had some unfavourable reports regarding morality between the 

                  boys, as you will recall. 



2.129      Although  the  letter  in  this  case  does  not  say  it,  it  is  apparent  that  the  reason  for  Fr  Carlo’s 

           departure was very serious, and that he was extremely contrite about it. He left the School at an 

           unusual time of the school year, so it may be inferred that his transfer was made urgently, rather 

           than  waiting  until  the  late  summer  when  transfers  took  place.  His  situation  at  the  time  was  ‘a 

           penance’, and the Superior General was faced with a problem of where to put him. The Provincial 

           was  pleased  at  his  departure  from  Upton,  and  the  Superior  General  acknowledged  that  there 

           could have been fears that were related to immorality between the boys. Fr Montes thought of 

           sending him to America, a solution that was employed on a number of other occasions for people 

           who  sexually  abused.  There  was  no  indication  of  any  other  abuse  or  fault  that  could  have 

           accounted for Fr Carlo’s unseasonal departure, and in the circumstances the inference is that, on 

           the balance of probabilities, Fr Carlo was guilty of sexual abuse in Upton. 



2.130      He continued to work as a priest in a number of parishes in England until his death in the late 

           1970s. 



2.131      •     The probability is that Fr Carlo was removed from Upton because of sexual abuse but 

                 the matter is not beyond doubt. The inferences from Fr Montes’s letter are all indicative 

                 of sexual abuse, as indeed is his use of allusions rather than specific terminology in 

                 his letter to the Irish Provincial 



           The Rome file: Fr Santino25 



2.132      Fr Santino worked in Upton from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, when he died just before he 

           was due to be transferred to a teaching position at Omeath. He began sexually abusing children 

           in England some time after he was ordained a priest in the 1920s. 



2.133      He  served  in  his  first  parish  for  20  years  before  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  been  sexually 

           abusing children. He was then quietly transferred to another parish. The Provincial, Fr Andrea,26 



           wrote to the Superior General, saying that, although the change had caused some surprise, ‘he 

           was glad to say’ that it was received quietly enough. He stated that the fact that it occurred at 

           decree time, a time when changes in staff would have been common, made it less conspicuous. 

           Fr Santino was not happy with the transfer and wrote a letter of complaint to the Provincial who 

           noted in a letter to the Superior General that: 



           23 This is a pseudonym. 

           24 This is a pseudonym. 

           25 This is a pseudonym. 

           26 This is a pseudonym. 



           32                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 819-----------------------

                  The curious thing I note is that his compassion is merely for himself. He does not seem 

                  to realise the injury inflicted upon his victims and the consequences to them of his conduct. 

                  To me, at all events, this aspect of the affair is the most dreadful. 



2.134      The Superior General agreed, and suggested that in Fr Andrea’s reply to Fr Santino he should 

           stress the need for Fr Santino to pray that, 



                  The persons to whom he has done such great harm will not carry its ill effects for their 

                  entire lives. 



           This exchange shows how both the Provincial and the Superior General were acutely conscious 

           of  and  apologetic  for  the  hurt  and  pain  caused  to  those  who  suffered  abuse  at  the  hands  of 

            Fr Santino. 



2.135       In the late 1940s, in his new parish, it was discovered that Fr Santino ‘had again lapsed. Badly’. 

           The newly appointed Provincial, Fr Arturo,27  stated in a letter to the Superior General, Fr Montes, 



           that he had been trying to figure out what to do with Fr Santino, but he had come to the conclusion 

           that there was no work in the English province that he would feel justified in allowing him to do, 

           except perhaps as a Minister of a Rosminian house at Rugby. However, he stated that he could 

            not  place  Fr  Santino  there immediately,  because  of  the  ‘admiratio’28         that  it  would cause  to  the 



            members  of  the  institute.  Fr  Arturo  suggested  sending  Fr  Santino  to  the  Novitiate  at  Kilmurry, 

           County Cork in the Irish-American Province for a period of six months, and that ‘his face could be 

           saved by making it part of an exchange between the two provinces’. He added that Kilmurry was 

           a place where Fr Santino would be ‘safe for the time being’. 



2.136       Fr Montes replied that the latest revelations constituted ‘really bad news, even if not completely 

            unexpected’. He told Fr Arturo that he had stressed the need to inform the local Rector in Kilmurry 

           of Fr Santino’s history, so that the latter could keep an eye on him. He informed Fr Arturo that he 

            had been in communication with Fr Orsino, the Provincial of the Irish-American Province, about 

           what could be done with Fr Santino. He noted that Kilmurry was short of space and that the only 

           available  position  was  that  of  confessor  of  novices,  a  position  that  Fr  Montes  stated  that  he 

            ‘couldn’t in conscience give him that, even apart from his deplorable weakness’. He said that Fr 

           Santino ‘deserves to do two months of penance at Melleray’, and he gave permission for him to 

            be  sent  there.  He  also  noted  that  Fr  Santino  ‘will  always  be  a  problem  because  he  does  not 

           acknowledge the evil he has done’, and suggested that he would be somebody for Fr Torre29                           to 



           study. Fr Torre was a member of the English Province who had some skill as a psychotherapist. 



2.137       Fr Santino went to the Cistercian Abbey at Mount Melleray in the late 1940s but, instead of staying 

           for a period of months, he remained for 10 years and only left because the Cistercians would no 

            longer have him. The problem then was to find a place for him. It was thought that Ferryhouse 

           was not suitable because: 



                  Melleray and Clonmel are both in Waterford diocese – and news travels even from the 

                  hidden depths of Melleray. I should be surprised if he returns to England. Perhaps he is 

                  the Providential answer to the quest for an English confessor at Porta Latina. 



2.138       For the time being, Fr Santino was sent to Kilmurry, pending a decision to place him on a more 

            long-term basis. The Superior General thought of sending him to Florida but nothing came of that. 



2.139       In  1959, Fr  Santino  sought  permission to  visit  his family  in  the  UK whom  he  had  not seen  for 

           years. This came to the attention of Fr Arturo, the Provincial in the United Kingdom, who wrote to 

            his Superiors in Rome in March: 



           27  This is a pseudonym. 

           28  Latin for curiosity, astonishment, surprise. 

           29  This is a pseudonym. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                        33 


----------------------- Page 820-----------------------

                  I am very worried about Fr Santino. I presume that you know his sad history. In spite of 

                  the fact that his misdeeds are known to quite a few people here in [parish] he has been 

                  writing, I understand from Fr Lanzo,30         to various people here in [parish] saying that he 



                  has returned to the Institute etc. My fear is that he will want to return, perhaps on a visit, 

                  here, to see  some of his friends.  In my opinion it  would be really dangerous  of him to 

                  return here at all, since, if some ill-intentioned person were to denounce him to the police, 

                  he would be in danger of arrest, and the scandal produced would be disastrous. Hence I 

                  would  ask  you  to  make  sure  that  he  does  not  return  to  England  and  particularly  to 

                  [parishes   where    he   worked]    ... I do   not  know    whether    Fr  Placido31   knows     all the 



                  circumstances of the case, and I have therefore not wished to write to Fr Placido direct 

                  about  it.  I  do  not  think  my  fears  are  exaggerated,  Fr  Santino  is  a  man  who  has  been 

                  singularly blind to implications of his case, and seems quite capable of thinking that he 

                  can act as though his past were forgotten, and that he could start afresh as though nothing 

                  wrong had happened. I therefore beg of you to take what steps are necessary to ensure 

                  that he does not return to England. 



2.140      Fr Arturo’s worst fears were confirmed when he received word that Fr Santino was proposing to 

           call to the parish where he first worked, to see his brothers and sisters: 



                  As I said in the letter I have just written to you, in my opinion, in no circumstances must 

                  he go to [parish] – to tell the truth I do not like the idea of his coming to England at all, 

                  since what he did in both [parishes] is a criminal offence for which he could be prosecuted. 

                  He seems to have no sense of the fact that he is disgraced man in the eyes of, at any 

                  rate, some people in [parish]. 



2.141      The Superior General wrote to Fr Santino forbidding him to leave Ireland. Fr Arturo, in another 

           letter to his Superior in Rome, set out his concern more specifically: 



                  Most  Reverend  and  very  dear  Father  General,  Fr  Santino’s  trouble  is  homosexuality. 

                  When I became Provincial, my predecessor Fr Andrea, thought it his duty to let me know 

                  that for 15 years (on and off I suppose) Fr Santino had been corrupting boys in [parish]. 

                  It was known to various people, but none dared come forward and report it. Fr Andrea, 

                  as soon as he knew about it, removed Fr Santino immediately to [another parish]. But the 

                  same thing began to occur again at [this parish]. Fr Calvino32  telephoned me urgently one 



                  evening,  and  I  went  straight  down  to  [the  parish]  and  sent  Fr  Santino  immediately  to 

                  Ireland; there was danger of prosecution by the police – this offence being a criminal one 

                  in England. I interviewed Fr Santino, and suggested to him that the only thing for him to 

                  do was to retire into some place like Mount Melleray and do penance. This he did. 



                  He seems incredibly unaware of the gravity of the whole position. Fr Lanzo tells me that 

                  when Fr Calvino was appointed rector of [the parish], Fr Santino wrote an indignant letter 

                  to the Provincial, to Fr General and to the General’s monitor, complaining that after all his 

                  years of faithful service, he had been passed over for a rectorship!! Also Fr Lanzo tells 

                  me that during these last years he has frequently written to [former parish] people, and 

                  they have been to see him at Melleray. Fr Lanzo has imagination, I know, but there is 

                  probably foundation for what he says. I remember too in my last interview with him eight 

                  years ago that he blamed Fr Andrea for his troubles, because Fr Andrea had always been 

                  hostile to him. And from my last letter (which you apparently had not received when you 

                  write to me) he is actually expecting to be allowed to return to [former parish] for a visit – 

                  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  for  a  certain  number  of  people  in  [former  parish],  he  is  a 

                  completely disgraced person. Fr Santino tells me in the letter he wrote asking permission 

                  to come that he is translating some writings of the Founder with a view to publication. I 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 

           31 This is a pseudonym. 

           32 This is a pseudonym. 



           34                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 821-----------------------

                 think  it would  be  a  disaster    to  have  any   writing  of  Fr  Founder’s    published  over  Fr 

                 Santino’s name. 



2.142      In August 1959, Fr Placido was again required to deal with Fr Santino because Fr Salvatore33 was 



           no longer willing to keep him in Kilmurry, where he was having an unhealthy influence on certain 

           members of the professed and also on some of the novices. He suggested that, if no alternative 

           could be found, he would as a last resort be compelled to keep him in Upton but warned: ‘there 

           would be grave risks in accepting him here considering the class of boy we have in certain age 

           groups here’. 



2.143      Despite this anxiety, Fr Santino was assigned to Upton and he remained in the School until the 

           early 1960s when he died suddenly, just when he was due to be transferred to a teaching position 

           at Omeath. 



2.144      A former resident, who was present in the School from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, alleged 

           that Fr Santino sexually abused him: 



                 Fr Santino  did approach me  from the  back with both  hands on my  shoulder. I  felt him 

                 leaning  up  against  me,  in  doing  so  I  ran  away.  I  did  so,  I  met  a  particular  Brother,  Br 

                 Ludano, at the end of the stair who asked me why was I running, I told him why and I 

                 was punished for it. 



2.145      During cross-examination, counsel for the Rosminians apologised for the abuse that this witness 

           received.   He   asked    him   how   Fr  Santino    was   perceived.    The   complainant     replied  that  he 

           remembered Fr Santino as being very approachable, with a great way with children. He would 

           talk to them all day. Fr Gaffney accepted his allegations in his responding statement: 



                 I have no justification for doubting the complaint of sexual interference made against Fr 

                 Santino, and those actions were shameful and wrong. I apologise for the hurt inflicted on 

                 [this witness] and for the association of the Rosminian Institute of Charity for that conduct. 

                 It was profoundly against the ideals and expectations of the institute. 



2.146      Another former resident of Upton, who was there from the mid to late 1950s and who himself was 

           subsequently convicted of paedophile offences testified that he engaged in mutual masturbation 

           with Fr Santino, whom he described as the only adult who seemed to take any interest in him. He 

           stated that the relationship lasted a couple of months. 



2.147      The story of Fr Santino sheds light on the Rosminians’ attitude to child sexual abuse at the time. 

           In  a  letter  from  the  Provincial  of  the  English  Province  to  the  Superior  General,  the  Provincial 

           showed his awareness of ‘the injury inflicted upon his victims and the consequences to them of 

           his  conduct’.  The  Superior  General  replied,  stressing  the  need  for  Fr  Santino  to  pray  that  ‘the 

           persons to whom he had done such great harm will not carry its ill effects for their entire lives’. 



2.148      •    The Order was aware of the damage caused to victims of sexual abuse. Although the 

                 Provincial and Superior General were critical of the offender in this case, they did not 

                 take steps to prevent further injury or harm being perpetrated on other victims. 



           •    Although Fr Santino was known to have sexually abused children for many years in 

                 his first posting, he was transferred to another post where he repeated the abuse. He 

                 was transferred because of fear that there might be a police investigation and without 

                 regard for the safety of children. 



           •    The next move took him out of the United Kingdom and brought him to Ireland, again 

                 for the purpose of obviating investigation. 



           33 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    35 


----------------------- Page 822-----------------------

           •    It is clear that Fr Santino’s conduct in each of his postings in Britain was criminal, and 

                that he offended repeatedly to the knowledge of his superiors. His transfer from one 

                 English parish to another was irresponsible. The Order was aware of the risk that he 

                 posed and of the damaging impact of his behaviour on his victims. 



           •    The transfer to Ireland was for the purpose of Fr Santino’s spending a short penitential 

                stay in Mount Melleray. It was obvious that full information should have been given to 

                the Abbot so that careful supervision could be exercised, but there is no evidence that 

                such steps were taken and he remained in the monastery for a period of 10 years. 



           •    Assigning Fr Santino to a position in Upton was irresponsible and reckless. With the 

                 knowledge that the Order possessed about his past history and attitudes, they must 

                 have been aware of the likelihood that he would sexually abuse boys in this Institution. 

                 It follows that the Order was prepared to put boys at risk in order to find a place for 

                somebody who might cause public scandal if he were to be located elsewhere. 



           •    The documents do not indicate any attempt by the Order to dismiss Fr Santino from 

                the  priesthood.  They  appear  never  to have  given  consideration  to  the  possibility  of 

                doing so. 



           The Rome file: Br Umberto34 



2.149      Br  Umberto joined  the  Rosminians  in the  mid-1940s.  He made  his  perpetual  vows eight  years 

           later.  He  was  posted  to  Upton  as  an  Assistant  Brother  in  the  mid-1950s,  and  remained  in  the 

           School for approximately three years until he was transferred to Kilmurry to work on the farm. 



2.150      The reason for his transfer was that he had been interfering with the boys in Upton, and the details 

           were set out in a letter from the Irish Provincial, Fr Placido, to the Superior General, Fr Lucca,35 



           in which he said that the Brother: 



                 Who had been previously warned by the Rector [Fr Fabiano] and myself has not been 

                 discreet  cum  pueris  [with  boys]  and  is  a  periculum  [danger]  to  them  so  I  have  been 

                 compelled to send him to the Novitiate house where circumstances are different. 



2.151      It is clear from Fr Placido’s letter that it was not the first time that Br Umberto had offended, but 

           there was no evidence that dismissal was considered. 



2.152      Fr Lucca approved the decision to remove Br Umberto, and he remained in Kilmurry until the early 

           1960s when he was sent back to Upton. Although there was a new Rector, who may not have 

           known the recent history at the time when Br Umberto returned, Fr Placido was still Provincial 

           and in residence at Upton. On this occasion, the Brother remained for approximately six years, 

           until he was transferred to Omeath. He continued to be a member of the Order until his death. 



2.153      •    This Brother was found to be committing sexual abuse with boys notwithstanding a 

                 previous warning, and the Provincial reacted by moving him to the Novitiate House 

                 ‘where circumstances are different’. This decision appears to have been a short-term 

                expedient,  because  the  Provincial  returned  the  Brother  to  Upton  five  years  later, 

                 notwithstanding the danger that he represented to the boys. 



           •    The  case  of  Br  Umberto  is  interesting  because  he  left  Upton  while  Br  Alfonso  was 

                 Prefect,  yet  he  is  not  mentioned  by  Br  Alfonso.  It  is  surprising  that  Br  Alfonso,  a 

                 relentless pursuer of sexual abusers, did not hear of this case, particularly because 

                of the reference to Br Umberto’s having been previously warned by both the Rector 

                and the Provincial. It illustrates the secretive way in which abusers could be removed. 



           34 This is a pseudonym. 

           35 This is a pseudonym. 



           36                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 823-----------------------

           •     Returning Br Umberto to Upton in the early 1960s amounted to reckless disregard of 

                 the  safety  of  the  boys,  particularly  as  at  that  time  a  known  sexual  abuser  who  had 

                 served  years  at  Upton  had  recently  been  uncovered.  There  should  have  been  an 

                 appreciation of the need to eliminate the risks the boys faced. 



           The Rome file: Br Constantin36 



2.154      Br Constantin was sent to Upton in the early 1950s, where he remained until he was transferred 

           to Kilmurry. He was transferred in November, not at the more usual time of September, because 

           he  had  been  discovered        sexually  abusing  children.  The  Brother  subsequently           applied  for  a 

           dispensation from his vows two years later and, when it was granted, he left Kilmurry. 



2.155      The correspondence between his superiors concerning his application for a dispensation provides 

           some information about his sexual activities. In a letter to the Superior General concerning the 

           matter, the Provincial, Fr Placido, stated: 



                  I enclose the request of Br Constantin for a dispensation from his final vows ... He was ... 

                  here at Upton ... when he asked for a transfer to Kilmurry as his contacts cum pueris hic 

                  erat ei periculum [with boys, this was his danger]. He was getting out from here as he 

                  was really under suspicion and investigations were being made regarding some serious 

                  matters. I regret to say that he was most seriously involved in the case of at least two. 



2.156      The Provincial asked the Rector of Kilmurry, Fr Salvatore, to write to the Superior General, setting 

           out his views on the matter. In a letter, Fr Salvatore wrote: 



                  Br Constantin’s case is a sad one. He came here [Kilmurry] over a year ago from Upton. 

                  Fr  Provincial  will,  no  doubt,  have  informed  you  that  this  Brother  had  great  difficulty  in 

                  observing his vow of chastity. His Rector at Upton was forced to send him away from that 

                  house because he had proof that, in two cases at least, he had sinned with boys. The 

                  fact that he is still a religious is due to the charity of his Superiors because, generally, in 

                  these kinds of cases the rule is to send the accused person away. I must say, Father, 

                  that Constantin himself did ask his Superiors to take him away from the occasion [in the 

                  sense of the occasion of temptation]. Sending him here was seen as saving his vocation 

                  but it is not like that. 



2.157      The letter from Rome to Fr Placido informed him that the dispensation sought from the Order of 

           Religious had come through. The letter went on to say that the dispensation itself was retained in 

           the Rosminian archive in Rome. Br Constantin was, therefore, free ‘to return to the world without 

           further delay ...’. 



2.158      Former  Br  Constantin reappeared  in  the  early 1960s  at  Mount  Melleray Seminary,  Cappoquin, 

           County Waterford, as appears from a letter to the Provincial: 



                  Dear Father Provincial, 



                  We   had   a  student   here   last  year   named    Constantin     who   spent   some    time   in your 

                  Congregation. It was only quite recently that information of that fact reached me. He was 

                  admitted here on the recommendation of a priest in England and I would never be satisfied 

                  to keep him without a reference from his former Superior had I known he was in religion. 

                  I am writing now to you for a reference for him as I am expecting him back soon and he 

                  will  get a  bit of  my mind  for not  telling me  he was  with you.  He is  very quiet  and well 

                  conducted as a student but that would not be enough to get him into a major seminary 

                  later on. 



                  With every good wish, I am, dear Fr Provincial, 



                  Yours sincerely in DIE 



                  President 



           36 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       37 


----------------------- Page 824-----------------------

2.159      There is no record to show whether a reference, or even a reply, was sent, nor is it known whether 

           this ex-Brother joined the Cistercian Community. 



2.160      Further light on this episode emerged from the evidence of Br Alfonso, who described how one 

           of the boys complained to him about Br Constantin’s activities, which he immediately reported to 

           the Rector and the Provincial. 



2.161      An Assistant Prefect at the time, Fr Giovani,37  in a statement supplied to the Committee confirmed 



           the discovery of abuse by this Brother and another: 



                  Later  on  we  were  both  scandalised  and  shocked  and  distressed  to  find  that  two  lay 

                  brothers, ... were also sexually molesting the boys in their care. Immediately Br Alfonso 

                  and myself reported this to the then Provincial of the Institute of Charity, Fr Orsino, I.C., 

                 who removed the offending Brothers: one brother later died in the institute, Bro Fausto,38 



                  the other, Bro Constantin, left the Rosminians and I haven’t heard of him since. 



2.162      Another  Rosminian,  Br  Tomasso,  who  was  lodging  in  the  School  at  the  time,  responded  to  a 

           Rosminian questionnaire as follows: 



                 As a student ... residing in Upton [during the 1950s] I made enquiries about Bro Constantin 

                 – when he had been absent for some time – and was told by Fr Gian that he had been 

                  interfering with boys, and had left the Order. 



2.163      •     When  the  Rosminians  discovered  this  Brother  was  sexually  abusing  boys,  the  first 

                 response      was   to   move    him.    There    does    not   appear    to  have    been    any   proper 

                 investigation of the extent of his activities because Fr Salvatore’s letter says that the 

                 Rector at Upton had proof ‘in two cases at least’. There were very possibly more. It 

                 would appear that he went on to be a problem once more in Kilmurry, because sending 

                 him there ‘was seen as saving his vocation but it is not like that’. 



           •    The priority was again keeping the matter secret. Permitting the Brother to obtain relief 

                 from  his  vows  avoided  the  need  for  a  formal  process,  which  suited  the  Order,  and 

                 was convenient for the offender, particularly as the actual dispensation was not even 

                 contained     in  his  record.    Taking    this  course    meant     that  minimal     information     was 

                 recorded about the departure of the Brother from the Order. 



           The Rome file: Br Fausto 



2.164      Br Fausto was sent to Upton as Assistant Brother in the early 1930s. He made his perpetual vows 

           in the mid-1930s and later was transferred to Omeath. He spent another year in Upton in the mid- 

           1940s. He returned to Upton in the early 1950s, and worked in the Community kitchen. He was 

           moved  to  Ferryhouse  approximately  three  years  later,  and  his  record  card  indicated  that  this 

           was done ‘during year’. He was transferred to Glencomeragh in the early 1960s. He died in the 

           early 1980s. 



2.165      This Brother was discovered to be sexually abusing boys in the 1950s. Br Alfonso said that he 

           discovered  that  Br  Fausto  had been  sexually  abusing  children  at  the  same  time that  he  found 

           out about Br Constantin. Fr Giovani corroborated the discovery of Br Fausto in his statement. A 

           complainant, resident in the early 1950s, gave evidence that his brother, while being punished by 

           Br Alfonso, complained to him that he was being abused by a Brother whose name the witness 

           did not recall correctly, but by a similar-sounding name: 



                  When he started laying into him with the strap my brother turned around and said that he 

                  was  abused  by  a  Brother  called  [similar  sounding  name  to  perpetrator]  ...  Br  Alfonso 



           37 This is a pseudonym. 

           38 This is a pseudonym. 



           38                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 825-----------------------

                  stopped  dead  in  his  tracks,  put  the  strap  back  in  the  thing  and  he  couldn't  apologise 

                  enough.  [The Brother]  was  removed  from the  school  shortly thereafter  ...  No,  I did  not 

                  witness that. My brother mentioned it to me a couple of years ago, three or four years ago. 



2.166      The note of the Brother’s transfer to Ferryhouse in the mid-1950s ‘during year’ would indicate that 

           there were urgent reasons for the transfer, and that it did not occur in the ordinary way, carrying 

           the  implication  that  there  was  some  apprehension  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  that  dictated 

           the move. 



2.167      In other records, there are references to this Brother that are suggestive of improper conduct on 

           his part, but nothing that was clear and unequivocal or that could be understood without knowing 

           the evidence of Br Alfonso and Fr Giovani. 



2.168      Fr Fabiano, Resident Manager at Upton, wrote to the Provincial at Rome referring to this Brother. 

           He said that he had done nothing more about an episode concerning him. He added: 



                  as it would be needlessly bringing things into the limelight again and I could do nothing 

                  without authority. The assertion about [Br Fausto] came up casually as having happened 

                  in the past and I decided that the prudent thing to do was leave it in the past while you 

                  decided what should be done. My own opinion about the matter is that he should quietly 

                  get a change and be taken out of the danger because it will always be there. 



2.169      Other documentary references to the Brother are even more vague, although generally suggestive 

           of reasons for apprehension about his behaviour. For example, one comment read, ‘Fr Salvatore 

           ... told me that he did not consider Fausto’s influence there as being to the spiritual advantage of 

           the Novices’. 



2.170      Another reference discussed his suitability as follows: 



                  you don’t mention Kilmurry; from what Fr Salvatore ... was saying to me, I have my doubts 

                  if Fausto is the best one for that house. But the Novice Master holds him in high esteem. 



2.171      Another document remarked that his conscience was in a class of its own: 



                  I hope Fausto won’t be a destructive element in the Novitiate I think he has a conscience 

                  that is sui generis.39   At Omeath he used to bring the Scholastics with him, secretly, for 



                  a smoke. 



2.172      In another letter, the Resident Manager said he knew of the Brother’s propensities for particular 

           friendships. 



2.173      In a letter from the Superior General to Fr Orsino, Provincial in Ireland, he wrote: 



                  As regards the other, I can understand that because he flatly denies everything, one can 

                  only give him the benefit of the doubt. However, from what you write, it seems there is 

                  some suspicion in his regard and this obliges us to make provision for the future. You say 

                  that the there is more than one victim. This needs to be checked out with great prudence, 

                  or else find a good excuse for sending Fausto away from Upton. 



2.174      •     Concerns about this Brother are expressed in correspondence from the mid-1930s to 

                 the mid-1950s. It seems clear that there was grave suspicion about his conduct. The 

                 evidence of Br Alfonso and Fr Giovani put the position beyond doubt, and reveals the 

                 full meaning of the earlier written statements. 



           39 Latin for in a class of its own. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       39 


----------------------- Page 826-----------------------

           •     The failure to express these concerns clearly indicated a degree of concern on the part 

                 of the authorities that no information should escape on this issue, as it was seen to 

                 be potentially damaging. Such secrecy resulted in the serious consequence that there 

                 was reduced consciousness about the problem. 



           •     The  interest  of  the  Order  in  avoiding  adverse  publicity  was  given  priority  over  the 

                 protection of the boys. 



           •     Transferring the Brother to Ferryhouse was another example of a reckless approach 

                 to child protection. 



           The Rome file: Br Mateo40 



2.175      Br Mateo was a postulant in the Franciscan Friaries in Killarney and Louvain during the 1930s. 

           No records exist about his departure from the Franciscans. He joined the Rosminians in the late 

            1930s, and made his perpetual vows in the mid-1940s. He was sent to Upton for just over a year 

           in the mid-1940s, and he then went to Omeath for almost 15 years, before returning to Upton in 

           the late 1950s. 



2.176      This is another Brother who was discovered by Br Alfonso to have been sexually abusing children 

           in Upton. The matter is referred to in a letter in the late 1950s from the Provincial, Fr Placido, to 

           the Superior General, Fr Lucca, without mentioning Br Alfonso’s involvement: 

                  Bro Mateo here has recently been indiscreet cum puero41               or perhaps cum pueris42       so Fr 



                  R deems it advisable that he should be changed to avoid danger or talk especially in view 

                  of the big influx. We thought first of sending him to Kilmurry but the Rector put forward 

                  good reasons against that apart from the fact that the place would be unsuitable for the 

                  brother’s health in view of the insomnia from which he suffers. We are of the opinion that 

                  Omeath would be the better place where he had been previously ... and there was no 

                  complaint about him as regards conduct ... Bro Mateo should be satisfactory ... and I think 

                  his slip will be a lesson to him to be careful and watchful ... 



2.177      Fr Placido wrote again, expressing his relief at having received a reply to his previous letter, which 

           he  feared  had  gone  astray,  a  matter  which  would  have  concerned  him  greatly  as  it  contained 

           references to matters about Br Mateo which he did not wish to become widely known. In the same 

           letter he stated: 



                  I don’t think we need worry about Bro Mateo at Omeath as he has got a warning and the 

                  Rector will be vigilant. There wasn’t much of a serious nature against him si dice.43 



2.178      A complainant from the late 1950s gave evidence that corroborated Br Alfonso. He alleged he 

           was sexually assaulted by Br Mateo in his early days in the School. He recalled he was playing 

           ball one evening and the ball went into the hall. Br Mateo found the ball and called the complainant 

           over and sat him on his knee and fondled his privates and kissed him. This abuse went on over 

           a period of time until it was eventually reported to Br Alfonso. He did not officially report it to Br 

           Alfonso. What actually happened was that Br Alfonso found him coming out of the hall one night 

           when he had been missing from the games room. He was initially frightened to tell Br Alfonso 

           what was happening but eventually he did, and he was told to go and wait for Br Alfonso in the 

           office. Some time later, Br Alfonso came back and questioned him further, and he gave all the 

           details and was told not to worry any more as Br Mateo would be transferred. During the hearing 

           into this evidence, counsel for the Rosminians intervened and said that they accepted that it had 

           happened as described. 



           40  This is a pseudonym. 

           41  Latin for with a boy. 

           42  Latin for with boys. 

           43  Latin for As spoken. 



           40                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 827-----------------------

2.179       •    No steps were taken to dismiss this Brother, but he was transferred to another school 

                 where it was believed that he would be less of a danger. 



            •    The Provincial was complacent and did not regard what the Brother had been doing 

                  as being extremely serious, referring to it as a ‘slip’. 



           The Rome file: Br Mario44 



2.180       Br Mario’s parents died when he was young, and he was raised by the Rosminians at Upton. He 

           took  his  perpetual  vows  three  years  later.  In  the  mid-1950s,  he  was  transferred  to  Upton  and 

            appointed to an administrative role. In the early 1960s, he was sent to Ferryhouse where he was 

            appointed as an assistant to the Rector. 



2.181       He  was  discovered  by  Br  Alfonso  to  have  been  sexually  abusing  boys  during  his  posting  in 

            Ferryhouse, where he had been transferred following his term in Upton. A letter from the Provincial 

           to the Superior General in the mid-1960s reported the discovery, and stated that the Brother had 

            been transferred to Kilmurry for the time being. The letter said: 



                  that there were two members of his community who had been rather indiscreet with the 

                  boys and owing to some talk there and admiratio45               he wished to have the two changed 

                  sine mora.46    One was Br Mario47        ... and went to Clonmel [Ferryhouse] at the request of 

                  Fr Alanzo ... He admitted his faults and went to Kilmurry on 19th                pro tem and about the 

                  middle  of  January  Fr  Pietro48      will  find  suitable  work  for  him  in  the  office  there  –  at 

                  Drumcondra and so will accept him with the debite cautele49                 ... You will fully appreciate 



                  in such circumstances how instant action is often necessary and the changes made are 

                  a cover up in some respects. 



2.182       He wrote again, a month later, stating that: 



                  I hope you got two previous letters I sent ... the second one was about the changes of 

                  the brothers I was compelled to make owing to two who failed in fidelity to the sacredness 

                  of their work amongst the boys. 



2.183       Fr Lucca replied a few days later. He wrote: 



                  The distressing news ... shows that the Rector is very attentive and decisive. I approve 

                  the changes you had to make and I hope that the guilty ones are convinced of the serious 

                  wrong they have done and are repentant. All this  causes me great sadness especially 

                  [when I consider] the elder of the two. We really must work out our salvation ‘in fear and 

                  trembling.’ I am well aware of the Brothers whom you have had to change in these painful 

                  circumstances and I pray that the Lord will help them in their new positions ... I am sorry 

                  for you too who have had to make all these urgent and painful changes. Let us pray the 

                  Lord that nothing else of the like will occur. 



2.184       Br Mario was transferred to a Rosminian School for the Blind, where he remained until his death 

            over 10 years later. 



2.185       Transferring a Brother with this history of sexual abuse to a school for blind children was reckless 

            and inexplicable. 



           44  This is a pseudonym. 

           45  Latin for curiosity, astonishment, surprise. 

           46  Latin for without delay. 

           47  This is a pseudonym. 

           48  This is a pseudonym. 

           49  Latin for due caution. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                         41 


----------------------- Page 828-----------------------

2.186      A complainant, who was in Upton from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, made a complaint about 

           Br  Mario.   He  alleged  that  Br   Mario  pinned  him     up  against  a  table    in  the  kitchen,  and  the 

           complainant     said  he  was   conscious  of    Br  Mario’s  arousal.    This  happened  on     a  number  of 

           occasions  and  only  ceased  when  the  complainant  threatened  to  tell  Fr  Eduardo,  the  Resident 

           Manager: 



                  That man annoyed me week in week out for four or five weeks, commencing when I was 

                 working in the kitchen. Now, he knew I wanted to go on holidays, that man used to have 

                 me in tears. He would come up behind my back when I would be scrubbing pots, and I 

                 mean scrubbing pots now, and he would put his arms around me and he would be saying 

                 to me “I don't know will I let you go on holidays or not”. He used to force me up against 

                 the sink. Believe me he used to have an erection on him. This was going on for weeks ... 

                 He used to annoy me every day of the week for weeks until I threatened to tell Fr Eduardo 

                 on him. I told him to do what he wanted. I got the holidays anyway. When I threatened 

                 him with Fr Eduardo he didn't come near me any more. 



2.187      The question arises why this Brother was not removed, or even given a formal Canonical 

           Warning.     The    Provincial    expressly     acknowledged        the   main    purpose     of  transferring 

           Brothers who had been abusing when he said ‘the changes made are a cover up in some 

           respects’. 



           The Rome file: Br Gilberto50 



2.188      Br Gilberto joined the Rosminian Order in the early 1940s, and he took his perpetual vows in the 

           mid-1940s. He was in Ferryhouse in the mid-1940s for 10 months and again in the early 1950s. 

           He was sent to Upton in the mid-1950s in an administrative role. 



2.189      His personnel card recorded that he was moved from Upton to Kilmurry before the end of the year 

           in which he moved to Upton. The words ‘during year’ follow but are crossed out, and the words 

           ‘left on this date: and later was dispensed from vows’ inserted. His service in Upton, accordingly, 

           was very short, extending from his transfer there, which in the normal way would have happened 

           in September. This Brother was another alleged sexual abuser who was reported by Br Alfonso. 



2.190      The  actual  reason  for  his  sudden  removal  from  Upton  and  his  quitting  the  Order  was  made 

           perfectly clear by the evidence of Br Alfonso to the Investigation Committee. The reasons for his 

           departure can be further deduced from a letter by the Superior General, Fr Montes to Fr Orsino, 

           the Provincial in Ireland, although the details are obscured by circumlocutions: 



                 As regards the latest painful news of Gilberto, keeping precedents in mind and his own 

                 spontaneous remark dating from last Spring about leaving the Institute, I now think that 

                 the best advice to offer him is to ask for a dispensation. He must realise that, after what 

                 has happened at Upton, he can no longer enjoy the confidence of Superiors and could 

                 not be happy in the Institute. If he agrees to what is suggested, tell him to write his petition 

                 on a large size sheet, as big at least as the one I am writing on, and to say that he is asking 

                 for  a  dispensation  because  he  feels  himself  unequal  to  the  obligations  of  a  religious. 



2.191      It seems that the Brother was induced to apply for his dispensation, and the request was in fact 

           granted, but the Superior General was unhappy about the form of the request from Br Gilberto, 

           and he gave advice to the Provincial about how to deal with cases like these: 



                 He   [Br  Gilberto]   included   a  petition  for  dispensation    that  is  worthless   because     he 

                 concludes  saying  that  he  is  seeking  it  “because  I  have  been  requested  to  do  so”.  His 

                 complaint is: “I have been condemned without being informed of the nature of the charge 

                 against me. Nor have I been called upon to state my case”. 



           50 This is a pseudonym. 



           42                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 829-----------------------

2.192     Fr Montes went on to give advice about procedure ‘in cases like these’: 



                Even though the situation was difficult and dangerous, Fr Fabiano should have spoken 

                with Gilberto before sending him to Kilmurry. He could have told him it was in his best 

                interests to be sent away from Upton for the time being in order to put an end to gossip. 

                I feel for Fr Fabiano because he was in a delicate situation, but experience has taught 

                me in cases like these one has to let the person accused have his say. Otherwise, he will 

                always be able to argue that he was condemned without being given the opportunity to 

                defend himself. 



2.193     •    There is a lack of explicit detail in the correspondence. Because the issue of sexual 

                abuse was a sensitive one, the Rosminians developed a means of discussing it that 

                obscured the facts in vague and coded language. The reason why an abuser left one 

                institution and went to another was concealed. Such secrecy not only lessened the 

                likelihood of the reporting and discovery of any further abuse in the new setting, but 

                also reduced the awareness of sexual abuse as a major issue among the Community 

                as a whole. 



          •     The safety of boys in Upton, where this Brother had so recently served prior to his 

                being discovered, were entirely ignored. 



          •    Even though the petition for dispensation in this case was considered ‘worthless’, the 

                authorities were nevertheless in a position to achieve the desired outcome of the quiet 

                departure of the offender from the Order. 



          •    It would appear that no investigation took place as to how many children might have 

                been abused or how they might have been affected. 



          Conclusions on the Rome files 



2.194     •    The contents of the Rome files illustrates the importance of good archives. Not merely 

                did the files help to establish, through contemporary documents, the extent of sexual 

                abuse,   they   also   afforded    corroboration     of  many    of  the   allegations    made    by 

                complainants. From the Rome files, the Committee also learned about attitudes to the 

                sexual abuse of children at that time, and how known abusers were dealt with by the 

                Order. They proved invaluable sources of information. 



          •    An institution without good records is one without a memory. It cannot learn from the 

                past,  so  the  management  has  to  deal  with  each  case  of  abuse  as  a  new  problem. 

                Failure to keep records increases the risk of more children being abused, and of the 

                discovery of abuse being mismanaged. 



          Respondent evidence 



2.195     Three members of the Order gave evidence. Two of these denied any knowledge of sexual abuse 

          as an issue in Upton. The remaining individual, Br Alfonso, gave detailed information about sexual 

          abuse that he had discovered and the action he had taken on foot of those discoveries while he 

          was Prefect in Upton and Ferryhouse between the early 1950s and early 1970s. 



2.196     Br  Alfonso  said  that,  when  he  was  Prefect,  he was  responsible  for  identifying  to  his  Superiors 

          seven sexual abusers operating in Upton. He confirmed they were as follows: 



                Br Fausto; 



                Br Constantin; 



                A named night watchman; 



                An unnamed lay teacher; 



                Br Mateo; 



                Br Mario, 



                Br Gilberto. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             43 


----------------------- Page 830-----------------------

2.197      He said that all of these individuals were removed from the School. 



2.198      Br Alfonso said he reported these individuals to his then Superiors, Fr Fabiano and Fr Alanzo. Fr 

           Orsino, Provincial of the Order, was also involved in the reporting of one of these individuals. He 

           said that, when he reported these people, he was never given any indication about whether they 

           had any previous history of abuse: 



                 These things were not tossed around among the Superiors nor were they ever mentioned 

                 at a table at any time, they were always kept secret. 



2.199      Despite the number of individuals who were found to be sexually abusing children in Upton, Br 

           Alfonso told the Committee that there was never any instruction given to watch out for possible 

           abuse and abusers, nor were there guidelines on how to deal with such activities. 



2.200      What seems clear is that, following his discovery of some sexual abusers in Upton, Br Alfonso 

           went on a crusade to purge ‘immorality’ amongst the  boys themselves. His evidence suggests 

           that, once he revealed the identity of the abusers amongst staff members, the opportunity was 

           afforded to boys to come forward and to tell him if they were being abused by fellow pupils. This 

           version of events is in stark contrast with the evidence from witnesses, some of whom describe 

           being falsely accused of ‘scamping’, a term used in the School to describe masturbation. 



2.201      One witness recalled an incident when another pupil received a postal order. The boy was showing 

           the postal order to the complainant and had his arm around his waist. Br Donato came along and 

           accused them of interfering with each other. They were taken into the washroom and told to take 

           off their pants. They were then told to hug each other, while Br Donato leathered the two of them. 

           This went on for about an hour, until a Brother came along and they were sent off. 



2.202      Another witness recalled that Br Alfonso and Br Donato were totally obsessed with sex and the 

           boys.  They  were  super-vigilant  and  constantly  accused  him  of  masturbation  and  other  sexual 

           activity.  He  alleged  that  he  was  often  beaten  for  the  entire  day,  as  the  Brothers  took  turns  to 

           extract a confession of masturbation from him. He also alleges that the Brothers beat a confession 

           from another boy who lied and gave his name up to the Brothers. The name he gave appears in 

           the punishment book. 



2.203      He described how these two Brothers had regular purges, and the boys called them ‘hobbles’. 



2.204      During the cross-examination of Br Alfonso, it was suggested to him that the punishment book 

           could be divided into two sections. As was discussed above, the first period of the book is from 

           1952 to 1954. The second period from 1954 to 1963 showed a marked difference in the type of 

           offence being punished, in that the almost exclusive reason for punishment was immorality. He 

           was asked to explain this shift in emphasis of punishment, and he failed to give a precise answer. 

           His counsel attempted to ‘explain’ what Br Alfonso was saying: 



                 By his actions in reporting the activities of the community and the lay person, he brought 

                 a situation out into the open where the boys were now more comfortable coming forward. 

                 So the boys who had been allegedly victims of each other were now coming to Br Alfonso 

                 to  report  incidents  between  themselves  as  opposed  to  between  themselves  and  the 

                 community. So that those things had now become more open, there was an atmosphere 

                 of honesty coming out that these things were no longer taboo, that there was a way to 

                 get some action. 



2.205      Br  Alfonso  also said  that  the  reason why  there  was  so much  punishment  for  immorality in  the 

           punishment book during his time was due to an increasing awareness that sexual behaviour was 

           unacceptable. He said: 



           44                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 831-----------------------

                 All I was saying is that somehow or another it must have in some way leaked out to the 

                 children that this is not acceptable, this standard. I think my attorney here spelt that out, 

                 that the boys realised that and then started to come to me and say, “this is what is going 

                 on here with us, these boys are molesting and will you stand up for us”. If that makes 

                 sense, I don’t know, but I cannot explain it any other way. 



2.206      Br Alfonso gave evidence that the punishment that was administered was normally three or four 

           slaps  on  the  hand,  or  10  strokes  on  the  seat  of  the  pants  for  more  serious  offences.  The 

           punishment book recorded that 20 strokes were administered to a boy for sexual impropriety and, 

           on other occasions, 15 strokes were administered. When asked to explain why he said 10 was 

           the maximum delivered, which was clearly incorrect, Br Alfonso explained that the severity of that 

           particular punishment arose from a highly unusual situation. He said: 



                 I am saying that in these events we are talking about, boys wouldn’t be one on one in this 

                 situation. They would be like animals among one another, everybody would be involved 

                 in it, young boys and all. It was having whatever, I don’t know what you would like to call 

                 it, an orgy, I don’t know what it would be. Certainly it wasn’t a normal one to one thing. 

                  That is all I can say. 



           Complainant evidence 



2.207      The evidence of complainants who made allegations against documented abusers has already 

           been set out. In addition, further credible evidence of abuse was given. 



2.208      One  witness  who  was  resident  in  the  1950s  alleged  that  he  was  sexually  abused  in  the  tailor 

           shop. The routine was normally that a boy would arrive in the tailor shop, and whatever item of 

           clothing that required repair would be repaired on the spot. On this occasion, he was told by a lay 

           worker to remove his trousers for repair. The lay worker then put him on his knee, on the pretext 

           of showing him how the sewing machine worked. He sexually abused him, and he and the lay 

           worker ended up on the floor. This only happened on one occasion, as the person normally in 

           charge of the shop was absent. He did not report this incident, as he was too frightened. 



2.209      Another resident, present in the 1960s, alleged that he had been raped while he was a pupil in 

           Upton. He stated that he awoke on a number of occasions to find a dark figure groping him. He 

           stated  that,  on  one  occasion,  a  lay  member  of  staff  persuaded  him  to  accompany  him  to  the 

           kitchen for the purpose of giving him cookies and milk. While in the kitchen, the man pushed up 

           against him and attempted to lift him up. However, the witness stated that he froze and the lay 

           worker got a fright and stopped. However, he was told to go straight to bed and not to say anything. 



2.210      Another complainant, present in the mid to late 1960s, said that he was sexually abused by a 

           man named Mr Vance51         who came into the School and would take the boys out for a walk. He 



           would attempt to fondle him when they were out for the walks. He says he fought off his advances. 



           The statement of Fr Giovani 



2.211      Although he was not called to give evidence, the Committee were able to consider a statement 

           made by Fr Giovani, who was Prefect in Upton during the mid-1950s. 



2.212      Fr Giovani stated that one of the most distressing memories he had of Upton was when he and 

           Br Alfonso discovered that one of the primary teachers had been sexually abusing the boys. He 

           stated that Br Alfonso immediately reported the matter to the Resident Manager, and the teacher 

           was dismissed. He also stated that he and Br Alfonso discovered two members of the Community, 



           51 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    45 


----------------------- Page 832-----------------------

           Brs Fausto and Constantin, engaged in similar activities. Again, Br Alfonso reported the matter to 

           the Resident Manager, and the offenders were removed from the School. 



           The Institute of Charity internal survey 



2.213      One section of the internal survey conducted by the Institute of Charity related to allegations of 

           sexual abuse in Upton. 



2.214      Br  Tomasso  said  that,  as  a  student  residing  in  Upton  in  the  1950s,  he  had  been  told  that  Br 

           Constantin had been removed for interfering with the boys. He had also heard that Br Fausto was 

           engaged in similar activities. Fr Stefano said that he had heard from Br Romano52  that Mr Vance 



           had been interfering with the boys. 



2.215      One respondent to the survey stated that, in the mid-1950s, a teacher had been fired for abusing 

           boys behind the blackboard. He also stated that this individual had found employment in a local 

           school a week later. 



           Conclusions on sexual abuse 



2.216       1.  it is impossible to quantify the full extent of sexual abuse by religious and lay staff in 

                Upton. The documented cases disclose that it was widespread and it is very likely that 

                more abuse happened than was recorded. 



           2.   Sexual  abuse  by  religious  was  a  chronic  problem:  a  timeline  of  documented  and 

                admitted cases of sexual abuse shows that— 



                   a.  For more than half the relevant period, there was at least one abuser working 

                       there; 



                   b.   For more than one third of the period, there were at least two abusers present; 



                   c.  For periods of years in the 1950s, there were at least three abusers present; 



                   d.   In the course of two separate years, there were at least four abusers present in 

                        Upton at the same time. 



           3.   The succession of cases that confronted the authorities must have alerted them to the 

                scale of the problem, and to the need for a thorough ongoing investigation as to how 

                deep the problem went among the Brothers and staff in Upton. Such an investigation 

                did  not  happen.  Instead,  each  case  was  dealt  with  individually,  as  if  no  other  case 

                had occurred. 



           4.   Br Alfonso brought about the exposure of a large number of sexual abusers, and gave 

                rise to the question whether any of them would have been discovered if he had not 

                been there. 



           5.   The question in this Institution arises, as it does  in many others, as to whether the 

                discovery of a large number of abusers represented a period that was a bad time for 

                abuse or a good time for the discovery of abuse. 



           6.   Transferring abusers to other institutions where they would be in contact with children 

                put those children at risk. 



           7.   The  Order was  aware  of the  criminal nature  of  the conduct,  but  did not  report it  as 

                a crime. 



           8.   Sexual  abuse  was  dealt  with  in  a  manner  that  put  the  interests  of  the  Order,  the 

                Institution and even the abuser ahead of the protection of the children. 



           9.   The Order did not expel members for sexual abuse. 



           10.   The extent and prevalence of the problem were not addressed. 



           52 This is a pseudonym. 



           46                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 833-----------------------

          Sexual activity amongst the boys: documented cases 



          A case from 1936 which led to a Special Inspection of Upton by the Department 

          of Education 



2.217     The issue of sexual activity amongst boys in Upton came to the attention of the Department of 

          Education in 1936, when it was notified by the Attorney General’s office about criminal cases that 

          had come before Cork Circuit Court, involving former residents of both Greenmount and Upton 

           Industrial  Schools.  The  facts  were  that  two  former  pupils  of  Upton,  aged  19  and  16  years 

          respectively, were convicted of crimes including attempted buggery, gross indecency and indecent 

          assault. The boys were sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. 



2.218     The Attorney General was the prosecuting authority at the time, and he felt it necessary to notify 

          the Department because the defendants in their court depositions dated ‘their original misconduct 

          to a time when they were detained in the Industrial Schools ...’. Prosecuting counsel reported to 

          the Attorney General that: 



                The revelations about Upton and Greenmount, at this sittings have given me furiously to 

                think about Industrial Schools and Religious Orders ... 



2.219     The Attorney General’s office wrote a carefully phrased letter to the Minister for Education, not 

          making reference to the charges or other sexual activity, but simply referring to ‘misconduct’ and 

          respectfully suggesting that the Department should take some form of intervention: 



                The Attorney General is slow to draw unfavourable general conclusions from these cases, 

                and he transmits the information merely in the hope that the Minister in collaboration with 

                the School Authorities may be able to devise some means of keeping the number of such 

                cases in future at the lowest possible level. 



2.220     The letter went on to suggest a remedy: 



                The Minister may take the view, which would be shared by the Attorney General, that a 

                closer supervision of the older boys would be calculated to discourage the formation of 

                these unfortunate habits. 



2.221      It nevertheless acknowledged the problem for school authorities: 



                The  Attorney  General  is  fully  alive  to  the  great  difficulty  experienced  by  the  school 

                authorities in eliminating as far as possible these particular tendencies on the part of the 

                older boys. 



2.222     The  Minister  for  Education  directed  his  Department  officials  to  conduct  a  special  inspection  of 

          both Greenmount and Upton, with particular emphasis on the supervision methods employed at 

          both schools. This special inspection took place on 1st  and 2nd  December 1936 and was conducted 



          by  two  officials  of  the  Department,  namely  the  Inspector  of  Industrial  Schools  and  the  Deputy 

          Chief Inspector of the Primary Branch. The Minister considered that, as the matter was very grave, 

          the services of a very experienced inspector from the Primary School Branch were required to 

          assist the Industrial Schools Inspector, hence the appointment of the Deputy Chief Inspector of 

          the Primary Branch. The internal Departmental memoranda made it clear that their brief was only 

          to inspect the supervision practices at both schools, because: 



                ... their visit is really one of inspection rather than enquiry but they should if necessary 

                impress on the manager of the two schools the gravity of the recent cases, the need for 

                stricter supervision etc. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             47 


----------------------- Page 834-----------------------

2.223      The only other guidance provided to the two Inspectors, regarding the inspection of supervision 

           at these two schools, was that they should ascertain ‘the measures taken to prevent or put an 

           end to the occurrences which gave rise to the recent cases before the Cork Courts’. 



2.224      The   Inspectors  submitted      their  report  to  the  Assistant    Secretary    of  the  Department     on  14th 



           December 1936. In it, they noted that the ‘supervision exercised in both schools is adequate in 

           ordinary circumstances and the recent occurrences will tend to keep the school authorities on the 

           alert’. However, the Inspectors gave it as their opinion that there was always a danger of sexual 

           activity occurring between boys, which could be increased in particular circumstances: 



                  there is an ever present danger of these cases arising no matter how well planned the 

                  supervision and the danger is aggravated when, as in the case of Greenmount, a member 

                  of the staff is known to have been implicated. 



2.225      The Inspectors particularly stressed the need for supervision of the older boys: 



                  The problem, as we understand it, is for obvious reasons a most difficult one to deal with 

                  and we consider the only action that can be taken is to impress on the Manager (verbally 

                  for  preference)  of  each  boys  school  the  possibility  of  such  cases  occurring  and  the 

                  necessity for close and constant supervision of the boys, especially the senior boys i.e. 

                  boys over 14 years of age, in all their activities. 



2.226      The Inspectors noted that members of the Community were always present during boys’ recreation 

           and free time. In addition, a Rosminian priest or Brother slept in each of the dormitories, and the 

           Superior made visits to the dormitories. Furthermore, the Resident Manager had prevailed upon 

           the senior boys who were destined for the Novitiate, unbeknownst to each other, to report to him 

           ‘doubtful conduct among the boys’, in an attempt to prevent such activity occurring. 



2.227      The Department informed the Attorney General’s office on 30th              December 1936 of the outcome of 



           the special investigation, and that the Minister for Education was ‘satisfied that everything possible 

           is now being done to stamp out and to prevent a re-currence of the practices referred to in the 

           cases  in  question’.  The  letter  added  that  the  Minister  ‘also  approved  of  a  suggestion  that  the 

           Inspector of Industrial Schools should impress upon managers of  Boys’ Schools the danger of 

           such practices existing and the importance of continual and close supervision of the senior boys’. 



2.228      The importance of the court cases was clear to the Upton authorities and beyond. Writing to Fr 

           Orsino in Rome on 20th       October 1936 about his brother, Fr Giuseppe, the Resident Manager, Fr 

           Gerodi,53  described how the Manager was detained on urgent business: 



                  Fr Giuseppe was unable to be away from Upton, owing to a matter which had troubled 

                  him much for several weeks and during last week he had to be on call on the telephone 

                  ... Some ex-Upton boys got into very serious trouble, and there was very great danger 

                  that the reputation of the School would suffer. 



2.229      That  appeared  to  be  the  end  of  the  matter,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Department,  until  another  case 

           involving a former Upton boy came to the attention of the Gardai in Cork in 1944. 

                                                                                        ´ 



2.230      •     The  Inspectors  considered  the  supervision  as  described  to  them  to  be  satisfactory, 

                 while acknowledging the difficulty of dealing with the problem, and the only step they 

                 took was verbal exhortation as to supervision. 



           •     No new measures were put in place, yet the Minister was able to inform the Attorney 

                 General that he was satisfied that everything possible was ‘now’ being done to deal 

                 with the problem. 



           53 This is a pseudonym. 



           48                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 835-----------------------

           •     The School authorities were concerned about the ‘very great danger’ to the reputation 

                 of the School. 



            The case from 1944 



2.231      Alarming evidence of more extensive sexual activity among the boys at Upton came to light in 

           August 1944. A former resident of the School, who had been detained there from the late 1930s 

           to the mid-1940s, was arrested and charged with larceny. The boy had been released early from 

           Upton  on  licence  to  a  farmer  and  was  considered  very  troublesome.  He  was  convicted  and 

           sentenced to two years’ detention in Daingean Reformatory in 1944. 



2.232      The boy was medically examined while he was in custody, and he was found to be suffering from 

           venereal  disease.  He  admitted  that,  while  he  was  resident  in  Upton,  he  had  engaged  in  anal 

           intercourse with other boys on several occasions, and he made a statement to the Gardai in which 

                                                                                                                    ´ 

           he named seven other boys with whom he had engaged in such acts, one of whom had died in 

           the  intervening  period.  The  Gardai  interviewed  the  six  boys,  of  whom  all  but  two  denied  the 

                                                      ´ 

           allegations. 



2.233      In  their  statements,  the  boys  who  admitted  such  sexual  activity  with  each  other  gave  explicit 

           details of the acts, which took place in a number of locations such as the kitchen attached to the 

           infirmary, the farm, water closets, the dormitory and the infirmary. One of the boys complained in 

           his statement that he had been anally raped on approximately 10 occasions during his time there. 

           He said that he told one of the Brothers what this boy was doing to him but, when the matter was 

           reported to the Resident Manager, Fr Fabiano, the latter beat him. This boy named five other boys 

           with whom he had committed these acts. 



2.234      The two boys who had made admissions had been discharged from the School on the expiration 

           of their detention orders and were residing with their parents. The prosecuting authorities decided 

           that  they,  together  with  the  first  boy,  who  was  in  Daingean,  should  be  charged,  and  that  the 

           remaining boys who had denied the allegations were not to be prosecuted. 



2.235      The authorities at the School did not relish the prospect of another trial of sex charges involving 

           boys from Upton, and they went to work to try to prevent the prosecution going ahead. When the 

           local State Solicitor was at the District Court in Cork, he was approached by a senior member of 

           the Order, who pointed out to him that the offences took place a long time ago when the boys 

           were very young. He said that the boy in Daingean was to blame for the incidents, that the other 

           boys ‘did not realise what they were doing’ and that they had been punished accordingly at the 

           School  and  were  now  leading  good  lives.  He  specifically  asked  the  State  Solicitor  ‘that  no 

           prosecution should be taken’. 



2.236      The Resident Manager of Upton, Fr Fabiano, followed up this representation with a letter to the 

           State Solicitor in 1944. He stated that the School had been aware of sexual activity amongst the 

           boys in question, and had dealt with the two boys at that time who ‘afterwards became very good’. 

           He impressed upon the State Solicitor that no good would be derived from prosecuting the two 

           boys who had now changed their ways and were now upright citizens. He said: 



                  We believe that we have attained our object when we make of these boys upright law 

                  abiding citizens, but it is now unjust to draw into the limelight the sins of their youth or 

                  perhaps I should say misdemeanours as they may not have been sins at all. 



2.237      Fr Fabiano took a benign view: 



                  I wonder if the law in this case is being interpreted rightly or if the name attributed to the 

                  crime of adults can rightly be applied to children who often may not know that they are 

                  breaking the law of God let alone the law of the State. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       49 


----------------------- Page 836-----------------------

2.238       In praise of the children, he asserted that they ‘are good normal children perhaps better than the 

           average and have a right to their good name’. 



2.239      These efforts proved successful, and the State Solicitor recommended that the three boys should 

           not be prosecuted, and the Attorney General agreed. The reasons were, first, that the boy at the 

           centre of the allegations was already serving a two-year sentence of detention at Daingean, and 

           it was felt that no benefit would be derived from a further prosecution. Secondly, with regard to 

           the  other  two  boys,  it  was  felt  that,  having  considered  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  no 

           prosecutions  should  be  taken.  Each of  these  reasons  existed  at  the  time  when the  boys  were 

           charged,    and    the  only  new    development      was   the   opposition   of  the   Upton   authorities   to  a 

           prosecution. 



2.240      There could have been strong arguments put forward for not proceeding with this prosecution, but 

           one  of the  motives  of the  Manager  appears  to have  been  to avoid  adverse  publicity and  ‘very 

           great danger’ to the reputation of the School. The attitude to sex between boys, that he advanced 

           in his letter seeking to stop the case, was very different from what emerged from their attitude in 

           other cases. 



2.241      An  unwelcome  consequence  of  this  Garda  investigation  for  the  School  management  was  the 

           renewed     attention   of  the   Department     of  Education.     The   Superintendent      of  Bandon     Gardai 

                                                                                                                               ´ 

           informed  the  Inspector  of  the  Department  of  Education  in  1944  of  the  charges  being  brought 

           against the three boys. An internal enquiry was mooted by the Department of Education, but it 

           was decided that there was no point in writing to the Resident Manager of Upton to ask him ‘to 

           explain how these acts went undetected until it had been proved that they took place’, i.e. until 

           after  the court  cases.  Such  an enquiry  never  went ahead,  presumably  because  there were  no 

           prosecutions. 



2.242      The Department was unsure as to how it should deal with the situation, but eventually decided 

           almost two months later to write to the Resident Manager to express the ‘Minister’s grave concern 

           at  the  continued  prevalence  of  this  serious  vice  in  the  School’.  This  the  Inspector  of  Industrial 

           Schools duly did, by letter dated early the following year. He expressed in very strong terms his 

           concern on behalf of the Minister of the ‘continued prevalence of sodomy amongst the boys’ in 

           Upton, and he specifically drew attention to the 1936 Special Inspection, whereby the need for 

           tighter supervision of senior boys was stressed to the Resident Manager at the time. The letter 

           also  expressed,  even  more  forcefully,  the  burden  on  the  Minister  who,  as  the  regulator  of  all 

           industrial schools, was placed in a grave predicament when these allegations of sodomy arose. 

            In order to impress upon the Resident Manager the urgency and problem posed by sexual abuse 

           amongst the boys, he threatened that the school certificate would be withdrawn if radical action 

           was not taken to eradicate the problem: 



                  The danger that this is so places a burden of the gravest responsibility on the Minister, 

                  since it is by virtue of his continued recognition of the School as an industrial school that 

                  a steady stream of young boys are sent there under the Children Acts. If it should become 

                  clear that this ruinous vice has taken firm root in your school and cannot be eradicated 

                  so  that  boys  are  exposed  to  an  abnormal  degree  to  the  danger  of  indulging  in  it,  the 

                  Minister may feel bound to withdraw his recognition from the School. 



2.243      He then requested the Resident Manager in the letter to take ‘radical action immediately to stamp 

           out this vice’, by tightening up supervision and keeping surveillance of boys over the age of 14 

           years, with particular attention to their activities on the farm. 



2.244      This  letter  evoked  a  quick  and  indignant  response  from  both  the  Resident  Manager  and  the 

           Provincial at Upton. The Resident Manager in his letter to the Department admitted that ‘we do 

           get odd cases of immorality’, but ‘I most emphatically deny that this school is the den of iniquity 



           50                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 837-----------------------

           implied  in  your  letter’. Fr  Fabiano  defended  the    management       of  the School   in  unequivocal 

           terms, stating: 



                 It has always been my greatest anxiety to see that the boys are moral in every way and 

                 that they are never exposed to any risk, whatsoever, in other words as far as it is humanly 

                 possible this particular danger is guarded against. 



2.245      He went on in the letter to defend the actions of the school staff in preventing such abuses taking 

           place, stating that he had 18 years’ experience in the School and knew how to protect the boys’ 

           morality, in addition to making frequent visits to the farm and the whole school ‘at all sorts of odd 

           and  unusual  times’  and  having  ‘always  dealt  severely  with  anything  like  indecent  conduct  and 

           have  taken  a  particular  interest  in  the  boys  concerned  making  sure  they  become  God  fearing 

           boys’. The Resident Manager ended his six-page letter with a challenging declaration: 



                 If the minister is worried about the welfare of these children and is ready to accept the 

                 evidence at its face value notwithstanding Fr Giuseppe’s statement to the contrary I am 

                 authorised to state that he (Fr Giuseppe) is willing to hand up the certificate in the interests 

                 and for the safety of the religious staff dealing with the school. 



2.246      The  Provincial,  Fr  Giuseppe,  also  wrote  to  the  Department  on  the  same  day,  expressing  his 

           outrage and annoyance, but went further and expressed his desire to resign the certificate of the 

           School and prevailed upon the Inspector ‘to make provision as soon as possible for the committed 

           children at present in the care of the Fathers of Charity in this school’. 



2.247      The fact that the Department did not take very seriously the Provincial’s threat to close the School 

           can be gleaned from an internal memorandum. They considered that the decision by the Provincial 

           was made ‘in a fit of pique, seeing that this incident follows on the heels of the clean up at his other 

           school, Clonmel’. However, they sought to smooth the ruffled feathers of the Upton authorities by 

           issuing a ‘mild apology’ and explaining the reason behind the forceful letter that was sent. They 

           wrote to the Provincial and offered the explanation that the Department thought that, when the 

           two inspectors visited the School in 1936 and urged stricter supervision, that was the end of the 

           matter of sodomy. When it came to light in 1944 that abuses had taken place over a further seven- 

           year period from 1938, this gave rise ‘of grave concern and disappointment’. The statements of 

           the boys were also furnished to the Provincial, in the hope that this would clarify and explain the 

           gravity of the situation and the response of the Department: 



                 I have no doubt that you will recognise this when you have read the statements, and that 

                 you will understand why it was considered desirable to urge you in the strongest terms to 

                 spare no efforts to stamp out this form of misconduct in your School. 



2.248      It  did  not  have  the  desired  effect  on  the  Resident  Manager.  Instead,  after  having  read  the 

           statements  of  the  three  boys,  he  wrote  a  very  defensive  letter  to  the  Inspector,  dismissing  his 

           concerns outright. As to the statements of the three boys, the Manager analysed them and pointed 

           out reasons why they should not be believed, and he referred to the difficult backgrounds from 

           which  each  of  them  came.  He  certainly  did  not  think  that  he  was  in  any  way  to  blame  for  the 

           misconduct  of  the  boys,  and  insisted  that  the  acts  complained  of  in  the  statements  were  well 

           known to him and he had done everything in his power to be vigilant: 



                 I  do  not  know  that  there  is  a  case  mentioned  in  any  of  the  statements  which  was  not 

                 either known or suspected and every vigilance was exercised. 



2.249      Instead of attempting to understand or alleviate the concerns of the Department in this matter, 

           the  Resident Manager  took  the  moral high  ground  and dismissed  outright  the  stance taken  by 

           the Department: 



                 My conscience is quite clear and untroubled about the whole matter and I do not believe 

                 I could have done more. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                51 


----------------------- Page 838-----------------------

2.250      The Assistant Secretary stated in an internal memorandum in 1945 to the Secretary that the letter 

           ‘is reasonable enough on the whole’ and that he did not expect that the Resident Manager would 

           actually resign the certificate. The course taken by the Department was simply to do nothing more 

           about the matter and to let it all blow over. When the Medical Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe,54  carried 

           out a routine General Inspection of the School on 19th  March 1945, she had a long discussion with 



           Fr Giuseppe about the situation and particularly his threat to resign the certificate. She considered 

           that  the  threat  was  ‘a  bit  of  a  bluff’.  The  Manager  informed  her  that  he  could  always  turn  the 

           School into a secondary boarding school. By April 1945, a reply to the Manager’s letter had not 

           been issued from the Department, and they felt it was unnecessary to do so and that it was safe 

           to ‘assume that the Provincial will not pursue his threat to resign the Cert. of the School?’. 



2.251      •     This   episode    illustrates   the   priority  given    by   the  school    authorities    to  avoiding 

                 adverse publicity. 



           •    The Resident Manager was prepared to make light of what was considered to be the 

                 most  heinous  conduct  that  a  boy  could  commit  in  Upton,  in  an  effort  to  stop  the 

                 prosecution  and  thus  avoid  adverse  publicity  or  ‘danger  to  the  reputation  of  the 

                 school’. 



           •     The  correspondence  demonstrates  the  weakness  of  the  Department;  first  it  did  not 

                 achieve  its  purpose,  second  to  assert  its  entitlement  to  supervise  this  School,  and 

                 third to protect vulnerable children. 



           Neglect and emotional abuse 



2.252      The Department of Education and Science furnished, as part of the discovery process, General 

           and Medical Inspection Reports for Upton spanning the period 1939 to 1966. Although a number 

           of them are missing for various years, they are a valuable source of information on the conditions 

           that  prevailed  in  the  School  at  the   time.  These  documents  allowed  the         Committee  to  view 

           complainants’ evidence in the light of contemporary records. 



           Living conditions 



2.253      The Department’s Medical Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, considered the School ‘well run’ and the 

           premises  ‘well  kept’  for  the  most  part.  Throughout  the  1940s  and  1950s,  her  reports  reflect 

           anticipation of  improvements in  general living  conditions, but  any such  improvements occurred 

           very slowly. A difficulty with Dr McCabe’s reports is the fact that no specific information is provided 

           as to the actual condition of the School or the nature of the improvements needed. The food and 

           clothing of the boys were the two main areas with which she was least satisfied, and these are 

           discussed in detail in the paragraphs below. 



2.254      After a General Inspection of Upton on 9th         June 1939, Dr McCabe was very impressed with the 



           School. She found that the house and grounds were ‘in good order’ and the ‘boys appeared very 

           healthy   and   bright’  and   their  physical   condition    was   ‘excellent’.  Apart   from   their  outward 

           appearance, Dr McCabe noted that the ‘boys all appear very pleased and content, and freely talk 

           with their Superiors’. She also commented that the boys had ‘plenty of playing space – a great 

           big cement yard and field’ as well as a ‘fine Swimming Pool in the grounds’. 



2.255      The next available record of an Inspection by Dr McCabe is a report dated 10th               November 1943. 



           On that occasion, conditions had deteriorated somewhat from 1939. Dr McCabe described the 

           School as only ‘fairly good’ but she noted that the boys were ‘well cared and happy’. The reasons 

           for  her  dissatisfaction  included  the  fact  that  there  were  dirty  tablecloths  on  the  tables  in  the 

           refectory, and the towels for the boys were worn and ragged. She recommended that these be 



           54 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. 



           52                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 839-----------------------

          replaced. She also called for better supervision of the boys in the dressing room and for each boy 

          to be supplied with a toothbrush. 



2.256     The next available Inspection Report, two years later, reported conditions had not altered. In her 

          report dated 19th   March 1945, Dr McCabe again described the School as only ‘fairly good’ and 



          the premises as being ‘fairly well kept’. But she did not elaborate on what needed to be done to 

          improve conditions. She commented that improvements were being made to the School, but did 

          not specify what the improvements were, except to say that a new kitchen was being built. Again, 

          she found that the boys were ‘well cared and happy’. 



2.257     On the next General Inspection, which took place on 2nd        September 1946, she found the School 



          was ‘much improved’. Dr McCabe noted that the new kitchen was a great success and a new 

          sanitary annexe had been added. Of even greater importance was the fact that a bungalow had 

          been built on the grounds of the School, for the purpose of housing six nuns who were due to 

          arrive to assist in the running of the School. Their presence, according to Dr McCabe, would bring 

          about great changes ‘for the  best’. These nuns were from the Dominican Order  and arrived in 

          Upton in October 1946. 



2.258     When Dr McCabe visited the School on 27th         October 1947 she found ‘altogether there is a great 



          improvement in this school’ which was due in no small measure to the arrival of the Dominican 

          nuns. She declared that ‘the advent of the Nuns has made a great difference to the school’. In 

          particular, she felt that the nuns had brought about much improvement on the domestic side of 

          the house. In 1948, she noted the same improvements, again because of the nuns. In her report 

          dated  22nd   October  1948,  Dr  McCabe  detailed  that  the  corridors  and  dormitories  had  been 



          repainted and the premises were clean and ‘well kept’. 



2.259     There are no Inspection Reports for the years 1949, 1950 and 1951. The next available Inspection 

          Report is dated 21st   May 1952. On that occasion, Dr McCabe again praised the nuns for bringing 



          about ‘great changes’ in the dormitories and kitchens, and found that the School was altogether 

          ‘much  improved’  and  the  painting  of  the  entire  house  was  being  undertaken  at  the  time.  Dr 

          McCabe made similar comments when she visited on 17th              December 1954. She remarked that 



          the ‘school continues to improve’, particularly in the area of clothing and food. 



2.260     From 1947 to 1954, Dr McCabe consistently remarked on the great positive changes which had 

          taken  place  at  the  School  by  the  arrival  of  the  Dominican  nuns  in  1946.  The  precise  changes 

          cannot be gleaned from her reports. However, by 1955 the nuns had to leave Upton due to staff 

          shortages  in  the  Dominican  houses.  Dr  McCabe  lamented  the  departure  of  the  nuns  in  her 

           Inspection Report of 11th  November 1955 where she stated: 



                School has improved – Unfortunately now that the Nuns have departed I wonder if this 

                happy state of affairs will continue. 



2.261     Despite the departure of the nuns, the School conditions had not deteriorated, as was evidenced 

          by Dr McCabe in her General Inspection Report of 29th        November 1956. She still considered that 



          the School had ‘much improved’ and there was a ‘Nice Spirit’ prevailing. 



2.262     Dr   McCabe’s    Inspection   Reports   from   1958   to 1964   repeatedly   record   her  anticipation  of 

          conditions   improving   in  the  School.   Throughout    those   years,  she   consistently  stated   that 

          ‘improvements  have  been      made’  and  ‘continue  to    be  made’,  but  very  little information  was 

          provided as to the exact nature of these ‘improvements’ except to say that they were occurring 

          ‘slowly’. In 1958, Dr McCabe remarked in her report that the Resident Manager ‘is investigating 

          the central heating’. It took another four years before central heating was installed in the School. 

          During  those  years,  Dr  McCabe  consistently  described  the  School  as  ‘well  run’  and  the  boys 

          ‘well cared’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             53 


----------------------- Page 840-----------------------

2.263      In 1961, with the appointment of a new Resident Manager, Fr Eduardo, Dr McCabe was positively 

           hopeful that he would bring about greater improvements, which up to that time had been occurring 

           slowly. She wrote, ‘Now with Fr Eduardo in charge I expect to see great works’. 



2.264      Dr McCabe’s last inspection was carried out on 12th         May 1964. On that occasion, the Resident 



           Manager, Fr Eduardo, came in for particular praise by her: 



                 Fr Eduardo deserves the greatest praise for the work he has done since his appointment. 

                 He has redecorated all the school inside and outside and its appearance is much better 

                 and brighter. Great improvements everywhere. 



2.265      Every area of the School on that occasion was referred to as being ‘very good’, including the food 

           and diet of the boys, which had been an ongoing issue for the Medical Inspector for a number of 

           years. Even the clothing on that occasion was described as ‘much better’. 



2.266      Her view, however, was contradicted by the Lord Mayor of Cork, who visited Upton in January 

           1965 with a number of students. His report gave a very different account of life at the School. 

           Each week, a number of students from Cork visited Upton ‘to help brighten the lives of the boys’. 

           On one of these visits,  the Lord Mayor was invited to join them,  which he did on 26th            January 



           1965. Whilst there, he admitted to taking ‘an unofficial tour of the buildings’ and he arrived in the 

           dining room while the boys were preparing for tea. The scene that greeted him ‘came as quite a 

           shock’. He went so far as to say that: 



                 The conditions I saw would not be tolerated in a workhouse of by-gone days. 



2.267      The  conditions  in  the  dining  room,  which  came  as  such  a  shock  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  were  the 

           battered tin plates and cups from which the boys ate and drank, the dirty tables stacked high with 

           piles of bread, and the lack of knives and forks. One Brother and a woman did the entire cooking 

          for 130 boys. 



2.268      He was also critical of the boys’ dormitories, where he found ‘some eighty beds all closely packed 

           together’. Apart from the lack of privacy, he found that the pillows were hard ‘as if made of straw’ 

           and there ‘didn’t appear to be any sheets’. He commented: 



                 It is bad enough to see delinquents subjected to these conditions but orphans who are 

                 there through no fault of their own should surely deserve more humane treatment. 



2.269      The only positive remark he had to make was in respect of the recreational facilities, but felt that 

           ‘surely essentials should come first’. He concluded from what he saw that: 



                 It is hard to visualise any of these lads adapting themselves to conditions in the outside 

                 world after their years in Upton. 



2.270      This report reached the Department of Education and it prompted them to dispatch a senior officer, 

           Mr McDevitt, to inspect the School on 4th     and 5th March 1965. 



2.271      In his report following his inspection, Mr McDevitt ‘found the school generally very much improved’. 

           He commented on each of the complaints raised by the Lord Mayor. First, he reported that each 

           boy  received  a  fork  and  spoon,  but  confirmed  there  was  a  shortage  of  knives,  with  only  30  in 

           existence, which resulted in two knives being supplied to each table of eight boys. He noted that 

           the Brother in charge of the kitchen complained of the shortage of knives. Secondly, he disagreed 

           that the boys used tin cups, stating that the tableware was aluminium, which had been purchased 

           in the interests of hygiene, as the Department of Health had issued a warning on the dangers of 

           eating from chipped or cracked delph. Previously, according to the report, delph cups were used 

           in the School. He did, however, concede that, owing to constant wear and tear, the aluminium 

           plates and cups had become battered and needed to be replaced. Thirdly, he reported that the 



           54                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 841-----------------------

           dining hall was adequately heated, that tablecloths were not used in any industrial school, and 

           the tables were newly topped with formica. Fourthly, he found that the kitchen was adequate, with 

           first-class equipment, but it was supervised by a Brother who ‘has had a nervous breakdown and 

           seems rather neurotic’. 



2.272      Mr McDevitt was of the view that the dormitories were ‘highly satisfactory’. He added that there 

           were two sheets to every bed and a blanket underneath, and that the pillows were stuffed with 

           either feathers or fibre. He concluded that the School ‘has improved immensely’. In support of this 

           conclusion,  he  cited  figures  provided  to  him  by  the  Brothers  that  £32,000  had  been  spent:  on 

           renovating  the  toilets,  play  hall  and  T.V.  room;  on  the  central  heating;  and  in  extending  the 

           dormitories and shower rooms. 



2.273      That  appears  to  have  been  the  end  of  the  matter.  At  the  Phase  I  hearing,  Fr  O’Reilly,  when 

           questioned about the Lord Mayor’s report, conceded that a ‘lot of his comments – would have to 

           be accepted’. But he added that: 



                 ... a lot of it depended really on what a person’s background was. If [he] had extensive 

                 experience in other places where the standards were entirely different obviously then his 

                 criticisms were justified. But if the Inspector had a different standard then that told its own 

                 story obviously. 



2.274      The final General Inspection of Upton took place on 15th  June 1966, shortly before its closure, by 



           Dr Lysaght. He provided a very detailed and lengthy report on the School. His overall observations 

           of the School were good. He found that the premises ‘for the most part’ were in a ‘reasonable state 

           of repair’ but the roof in the recreation hall was leaking. He was critical of the lack of wardrobes and 

           lockers available in the boys’ dormitories, which he viewed as a necessity. The mattresses on the 

           beds he felt could be replaced, as wire meshing and film were outdated. His report noted that 

           there was a modern bathroom in place, fitted with communal showers. Dr Lysaght noted that the 

           Resident Manager gave sex education classes to the boys. Dr Lysaght was very impressed by Fr 

           Eduardo, the Resident Manager, as he came across as someone ‘very interested in his work and 

           devoted to the boys’ welfare and sorry at the prospect of the school closing down’. 



           Food 



2.275      The  Rosminians  concede  that  boys  were  hungry  in  Upton.  Fr  O’Reilly,  at  the  Phase  III  public 

           hearing, said, ‘I absolutely accept that children were hungry ...’. 



2.276      Dr McCabe’s reports were not of great assistance, because she describes the food in very general 

           terms as being ‘satisfactory’ or ‘could be improved’. Nevertheless, she repeatedly recommended 

           to the Brother in charge of the kitchen to vary the diet. 



2.277      Dr McCabe, in her report dated 21st        June 1939, summed up the boys’ food as ‘good in quantity, 



           quality  and  variety’.  Thereafter,  in  the  1940s  it  appears  to  have  deteriorated,  as  Dr  McCabe 

           described  it  as ‘fairly  satisfactory’  or  ‘satisfactory’. No  precise  details  of  the quality,  quantity  or 

           type of food provided can be elicited from these reports. A number of reports are missing for the 

           1940s    and   early   1950s.   The    reports  of  1943    and   1945    characterised    the   food  as   ‘fairly 

           satisfactory’. In 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1952, Dr McCabe described the food as ‘satisfactory’. There 

           are no Inspection Reports from 1949 to 1951. 



2.278      When Dr McCabe visited the School on 27th            November 1953, she commented that the food was 



           ‘much better’. Between 1953 and 1962, her reports regularly described the food as ‘improved’, 

           although it is not clear what it had improved from or what it was actually like. Her report of 1955 

           categorised the food as ‘very good’. But, by the following year, problems had arisen again with 

           the food, as her report of 29th     November 1956 asserted that the food ‘could be improved’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     55 


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2.279      Dr McCabe’s report of 1956 gives some indication of the problem regarding the food, namely that 

           not enough food was being given. In particular, she was critical of the insufficient quantities of 

           meat and milk provided for the boys. At the time, only 15lbs of meat per meal was provided for 

           180 boys, and she recommended to the Brother in charge that this should be increased to between 

           30lbs and 45lbs. She also recommended that each boy should be given one pint of milk per day. 

           In  addition,  she  suggested  that  honey  or  golden  syrup  and  ‘vitaminised’  margarine  should  be 

           supplied at lunchtime. 



2.280      In 1957, when Dr McCabe called on the School on 1st  November, she again reported that the food 



           ‘could be improved’ but added that it was ‘on the whole not too bad’. From her 1957 report, no 

           information can be gleaned as to what the nature of the problem with the food was or how it could 

           be improved. Unlike her report in 1956, she provided no recommendations to improve the food. 

           Neither did she report whether her 1956 recommendation had been implemented. 



2.281      Former residents of Upton complained that they were constantly hungry and that the food provided 

          was   of  poor  quality.  One   witness,  who   had   been   resident  in  Upton   throughout   the  1950s, 

           complained that he was ‘always hungry’ while he was in the School. His hunger was such that he 

           had to resort to eating the slops and leftovers from the priests’ kitchen. In evidence, he recounted 

           this vivid memory of watching and waiting for his own brother, who worked in the priests’ kitchen, 

           to bring the slop from the kitchen to a pit so that he and his friends could eat from it. He said: 



                 He used to take the slop from the kitchen, he used to take it down to this pit. It was quite 

                 a way away from the house. I used to watch him. I used to see him take the food down 

                 to this pit, apple skins and bits and pieces. When he left I used to go down there with my 

                 little team and we used to go eat all the apple skins. 



2.282     A witness from the mid-1950s described the food as ‘absolutely terrible’ and insufficient in quantity, 

           particularly for boys who had to do heavy farm work: 



                 The food was absolutely terrible; a starvation diet is all I can say it was, everything was 

                 rationed. We were expected to work, do men’s work on that kind of food. 



2.283      He said that breakfast consisted of bread and dripping, with porridge on some mornings, but no 

           milk. Bread with margarine was provided for supper, and the dinner he described as ‘pea soup’, 

          which had the consistency of  ‘gruel’. 



2.284     Another witness, who had been in the School for a short period of time in the late 1950s, stated 

           that the boys were starved in Upton, and the situation was one of  ‘a total lack of food’. 



2.285      The issue of lack of meat for the boys was also attested to by another witness. He remembered 

           each week that two sheep were killed on the farm, but the meat from the sheep was not given to 

           the boys. His only recollection of meat was of black pudding and sausages, in a stew with potatoes 

          for dinner. But, as regards other forms of meat, he stated adamantly that they never got any: 



                 Meat, you would never see meat. You might get a chunk of fat now and again but you 

                 would never see meat even though I was there and I knew it was there. The boys never 

                 got any of it. 



2.286      This  witness  who  worked  in  the  kitchen  peeling  potatoes  saw  a  distinct  difference  in  the  food 

           provided for the priests and the boys: ‘there was food for the clergy and food for the boys’. 



2.287      Fr O’Reilly at the Phase III public hearing, conceded that the Brothers received better quality food 

           than the children: 



                 I accept that  the food was so  much better for the  people who lived and  worked in the 

                place, yes. I would say it was a better quality of food. 



           56                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 843-----------------------

2.288      In 1958, Dr McCabe noted that the food for the boys had ‘improved’ but, at the same time, she 

           felt  that  more  could  be  done  as  she  ‘had  a  talk  with  the  Br  in  charge  and  advised  several 

           improvements  I  thought  could  be  made’.  Again,  there  are  no  details  provided  as  to  what  was 

           needed to be done to ameliorate the food situation. 



2.289      A  complaint  about  the  food  was  made  in  May  1959,  when  fathers  of  two  boys  who  had  been 

           transferred from Greenmount Industrial School to Upton complained to their local TD about the 

           poor  conditions   prevailing   in Upton,   and   he   forwarded    their complaints    to the  Minister   for 

           Education, Mr Jack Lynch. One of the complaints was that the boys only got three slices of bread 

           with dripping for their tea each day, compared to Greenmount where they received bread and jam 

           each evening and two ounces of cheese four nights of the week (other complaints were made 

           about  punishment).  He  felt  compelled  as  their  local  TD  to  forward  the  complaints  on  to  the 

           Department  of  Education,  but  he  did  not  think  there  was  much  merit  to  the  complaints,  as  he 

           qualified his letter by saying that much of what they said was hearsay and that, having questioned 

           them very closely on some of the information, he had formed the view that some of it ‘is obviously 

           exaggerated to say the least of it’. 



2.290      The  Department  of  Education  forwarded  the  letter  of  complaint  to  the  Resident  Manager,  Fr 

           Alanzo,  for  comment.  He  replied  in  a  letter  dated  3rd  June  1959,  stoutly  defending  the  food 



           provided in Upton: 



                 All I can say is St. Patrick’s was always outstanding and still is regarding feeding the boys 

                 well. Our friends ... did not say that our boys get sausages and eggs Sunday mornings, 

                 which they never got in Greenmount. Our boys are the admiration of all visitors, because 

                 they look so healthy. Hungry children do not look healthy. 



2.291      He did not take the complaints very seriously as he considered them to be ‘100% exaggerated’. 

           Nor was the complaint taken very seriously at Department level. Dr McCabe, whose opinion was 

           sought  on  the  issue,  dismissed  the  complaint  outright.  Her  views  about  the  complaints  are 

           contained in an internal Departmental note dated 11th        June 1959, as follows: 



                 The boys in this school are very well fed and cared. I have no comments to make on this 

                 letter as I consider it is a ‘grouse’. 



2.292      One witness was questioned about receiving sausages and eggs as contended by the Resident 

           Manager in 1959, and had the following to say: 



                 Well, it sounds as if they owe me a few breakfasts by the sounds of it. There is just no 

                 answer to that. That’s just a joke. I wouldn’t know a sausage down there if I tripped over 

                 one. That’s just not the case. 



2.293      When Dr McCabe inspected the School on 17th            December 1959, she commented in her General 



           Inspection   Report   that  the   ‘quality and   quantity’  of  the  food   had   ‘improved’.   Despite   this 

           improvement, she still felt it necessary to make further recommendations to the Brother in charge 

           of  the  kitchen  to  vary  the  diet.  Again,  the  exact  nature  of  the  problem  with  the  food  was  not 

           specified. 



2.294      Dr McCabe called to the School on 13th  August 1960, and yet again she discussed the need for 



           improvement with the Brother in charge of the kitchen, particularly with regard to ‘various methods 

           of varying meals’, and in this she found him ‘most co-operative’. In her 1961 report, Dr McCabe, 

           whilst commenting that the food and diet had improved, remarked that she had ‘discussed problem 

           of food with Br in charge and he hopes to make further improvements’. In 1962, the food was said 

           to have ‘improved’. By 1963 and 1964, it was ‘good’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 57 


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2.295     As  discussed  above,  the  Lord  Mayor’s  criticisms  in  January  1965  led  to  an  inspection  by  the 

           Department’s Inspector, Mr McDevitt on 4th        and 5th March 1965. The Mayor had not made any 



           criticism of the food, but Mr McDevitt investigated that matter and uncovered a problem with the 

           kitchen and the diet. The source of the problem, as he saw it, lay with the ‘neurotic’ Brother who 

          was in charge of the kitchen. When questioned about the food by Mr McDevitt, this Brother replied 

           that the ‘diet was highly satisfactory except that the milk and cake rations were inadequate’. He 

          was also questioned about supplying margarine rather than butter to the boys, and his reply was 

           that margarine was more nutritious. Mr McDevitt summed up this Brother as the ‘problem child of 

           the community and as the likely original source of the complaints made to the Minister’. When he 

           mentioned this Brother to other members of the Rosminian Community, they replied ‘with either a 

           smile or an expression of sympathy for his nervous condition’. Yet this Brother was in charge of 

           supplying the daily nutritional requirements for all the boys. 



2.296      Overall, Mr McDevitt did not give much credence to the Lord Mayor’s complaints, and the root of 

           the  problem,  as  he  saw  it,  lay  with  the  Brother  in  charge  of  the  kitchen.  From  the  documents 

          furnished, no action was taken on foot of the report with regard to this Brother. 



2.297      The final General Inspection of Upton took place on 15th        June 1966 by Dr Lysaght. He reported 



           in detail on the food and diet of the boys and listed the four meals a day which they received and 

           enclosed a sample food menu. He commented that the boys get ‘all the milk they want at dinner 

           or any other meal’. However, he noted that the Resident Manager, Fr Eduardo was ‘not altogether 

           satisfied with the meals’ which he felt could be improved with better culinary equipment. 



           Clothing 



2.298     An ongoing area of dissatisfaction for Dr McCabe, and one which she often raised in her General 

           Inspection Reports, was the clothing provided for the children. 



2.299      The  first  recorded  complaint  is  contained  in  Dr  McCabe’s  General  Inspection  Report  of  10th 



           November 1943. She described the boys’ clothing as ‘fair – but rather patched’. She had the same 

           complaint to make two years later, on 19th      March 1945, when she characterised the clothing as 

           ‘Fair – rather patched’. On her next inspection, on 2nd       September 1946, Dr McCabe noted that 



           the clothing ‘Could be improved’. No details are given in this report about the exact condition of 

           the clothing or the nature of the problem. When she spoke to the Resident Manager, he informed 

           her that they had experienced ‘great difficulty in obtaining material for suits’, and as a result they 

           had  to  purchase    a  number    of them   from   shops   in Cork   ‘which   was   most   expensive’.   He 

           nevertheless said that he would ‘endeavour to make improvements’. She noted that he ‘is severely 

           hampered on account of small quota of material’ and wanted to obtain a permit for supplies so 

           that he could ‘obtain sufficient material’. 



2.300     When Dr McCabe called on the School on 27th            October 1947, she commented that the clothing 



          was ‘improved’ but she gave no information as to how the clothing had improved. In her Inspection 

           Report of 22nd  October 1948, Dr McCabe again described the clothing as ‘improved’ and added 



           that ‘much remains to be done’. Again, no further details can be elicited from her report on the 

           extent of the problem or what exactly needed to be done to rectify the situation. 



2.301      Four years later, Dr McCabe, in her General Inspection Report of 21st        May 1952, again found that 



           the clothing of the boys had ‘improved’ and added that the tailors were busy making new suits. 

           There are no Inspection Reports in existence between 1948 and 1952. For the years 1953 and 

           1954, Dr McCabe described the clothing situation as ‘much improved’. In her Inspection Report 

           of  1955,  clothing  was  simply  described  as  ‘improved’  but,  by  1956,  the  clothing  was  again 

           described by Dr McCabe as ‘much improved’. From 1957 to 1960, Dr McCabe consistently used 

           the  words  ‘improved’  or  ‘much  improved’  in  the  section  on  clothing  in  her  General  Inspection 

           Reports. 



           58                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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2.302      On 22nd    February 1961, Dr McCabe noted that the clothing was ‘improved’, but she specifically 



           recommended that the boys ‘could do with a new issue of clothing all around’. The subsequent 

           Inspection Reports do not provide any insight as to whether this recommendation was carried out. 

           When  she  visited  the  School  on  20th       June  1962,  she  again  remarked  that  the  clothing  was 



           ‘improved’. In  1963, she said  it was  ‘much improved’ and,  by 1964, she  described it  as ‘much 

           better’. 



2.303      The Lord Mayor, who visited the School in January 1965, was also critical of the boys’ clothes. 

           He was told the boys slept in their shirts, as they had no nightclothes. According to his report, 

           their everyday clothing was ‘rough and ready’. 



2.304      The   General  Inspection      Report    of  15th June  1966     by  Dr  Lysaght    provided    somewhat  more 



           information on this matter. He described the boys as being ‘well clothed neat and clean’. According 

           to his report, the tailor on site made the boys’ suits with the assistance of some of the boys. In 

           the summer, they wore shorts and blazers. 



2.305      A former resident who was in the School in the 1950s gave evidence about the type of clothes 

           the  boys  wore.  He  told  the  Committee  that  the  clothes  were  unsuitable  and  inadequate,  and 

           summed up the situation as follows: 



                  We wore the same things year in year out; khaki shirt, khaki pants and a short jacket. No 

                  pullovers, no underwear. 



2.306      The footwear, he said, consisted of leather ankle boots, which were made by the boys. He said 

           that sometimes he had socks and sometimes he didn’t, by reason of the fact that they each got 

           only one pair, and when they needed repair they were sent to the knitting shop. While they were 

           being repaired, boys went without socks, as there was no replacement. 



2.307      Another  witness,  who  was  in  Upton  in  the  1950s,  described  the  clothes  he  wore  as               ‘rags’, 

           comprising a top, shorts and a pair of sandals. He also said that they wore no underwear and had 

           a change of clothes once a week. They did have nightclothes, in the form of a nightdress, and 

           there were no heavy winter clothes provided. 



           Bed-wetting 



2.308      Bed-wetting  was  a  persistent  problem for  some  of  the  boys  in  the  School. It  was  treated  as  a 

           disciplinary  issue  by  the  Rosminians,  and  they  attempted  to  solve  the  problem  by  the  use  of 

           physical punishment. They sought at the time to halt the problem by waking children during the 

           night to go to the toilet. Boys who wet the bed were known as  ‘slashers’ and were placed in a 

           separate  section  of  the  dormitory.  Each  morning,  these  boys  had  to  take  their  wet  sheets  or 

           mattresses  to  the  boiler  house  to  dry.  Fr  Matthew  Gaffney,  in  his  general  statement  in  2002, 

           accepted that this was the regime regarding bed-wetting, but stated that: 



                  In past decades the psychological nature of the difficulty was not understood, and it was 

                  thought that deterrence through corporal punishment or embarrassment in front of others 

                  was an appropriate remedy. I can appreciate by present standards, that such a response 

                  was obviously humiliating and unfair. 



2.309      Former residents gave evidence of being beaten for bed-wetting. This allegation is accepted by 

           the Rosminians. Fr O’Reilly, at the Phase III public hearing, stated, ‘I accept that boys, regrettably, 

           were punished for bed-wetting’. 



2.310      Bed-wetting was seen principally as a disciplinary issue. Fr O’Reilly added, ‘the response to bed- 

           wetting was more than wholly inadequate, it was terrible. It was terrible on boys to be punished 

           for this’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       59 


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2.311      He also conceded that the practice of carrying wet sheets down to the boiler house to dry was a 

           humiliating ritual for the boys: 



                  ... I think that boys felt humiliated by having to carry sheets. Whether it was intended to 

                  do that or not, I don’t know. But obviously, having to carry your sheet in front of other 

                  boys ... was a deeply embarrassing thing to boys. There might have been just a practical 

                  reason in terms of removing the sheets from the bed where they’re wet to another place 

                  where they’ll be dried. But obviously it was embarrassing. 



2.312      A witness, who arrived in the School in the late 1940s, recalled that he was relegated to the bed- 

           wetting section of the dormitory. He clearly remembered the nightly visits to the dormitory by the 

           night  watchman, who  used  to  call the  boys  three times  during  the  night to  go  to  the toilet.  He 

           described this night watchman as a  ‘savage’, as he would hit the boys with his walking stick to 

           wake them and get them out of bed. According to this witness, it was like trying to ‘run the gauntlet’ 

           to the toilet, trying to avoid a blow from this man’s walking stick. If they wet the bed during the 

           night, the next day they had to carry their mattress across to the boiler house to dry, which this 

           witness found degrading. On the way to the boiler house, they were teased and humiliated by the 

           other boys. His entire memory of Upton was of  ‘stale urine, overflowing toilets, abuse ...’. This 

           witness also recollected that the night watchman used to have a slice of bread and butter with 

           sugar  for  his  ‘pets’ that  did  not  wet  the  bed.  Eventually,  he  got  the  treat  of  bread  and  sugar 

           when he stopped wetting the bed so in that sense he felt that giving a treat did work in halting 

           bed-wetting. 



2.313      Another  witness  who  was  in  the  School  in  the  1950s  also  remembered  that  the  same  night 

           watchman would do the rounds of the dormitory, and would wake the boys who wet the bed by 

           roaring at them and hitting them with his blackthorn stick. Even though he himself did not wet the 

           bed, he recalled that this practice of hitting the boys to get them out of bed continued from the 

           time he arrived until the time he left the School, which was over a five-year period. 



2.314      One witness remembered being sent to the  ‘slashers’ dormitory, which was the name given for 

           those who wet the bed. To his knowledge, he did not wet the bed in the previous industrial schools 

           he had attended. The punishment for bed-wetting was to receive benders. 



2.315      The Committee also heard evidence from Br Alfonso. As Prefect in Upton for a period of six years, 

           he was a  dominant figure, and his  evidence is dealt with  in more detail in  earlier sections. He 

           completely rejected the allegation that there was an atmosphere of fear in Upton, and he insisted 

           that during his time in Upton he never beat anyone for bed-wetting and never saw anyone being 

           beaten for it. 



           Education and trades 



2.316      The Order stated that the boys were educated to primary level only. According to the records of 

           the Rosminians, 339 boys sat the Primary Certificate Examination between 1943 and 1966,55                         of 



           whom 167 passed, 164 failed and 8 were disqualified. The Irish language was the main difficulty. 

           When they reached 14 years of age, their formal education ceased and they went to work in the 

           trade shops, such as the tailors or the shoemakers or on the farm. 



2.317      One witness, who spent approximately five years in Upton in the 1950s, recalled that when he 

           first arrived in the School he was unable to read or write. However, while at Upton he learnt to 

           read and write, an achievement that he attributed to the lay teacher there who was  ‘very good’. 

           He went on to sit the Primary Certificate, which he passed. When his schooling ended, he was 

           sent to work full-time in the garden and subsequently on the farm. 



           55 Records exist for only 19 of the 23 years. 



           60                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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2.318      A  witness  who  was  in  Upton  in  the  1960s  did  not  recall  learning  anything  much  while  he  was 

           there. He had attained fifth class standard before going to Upton and, once there, he compared 

           the education to being back  ‘into first class again ...’. He felt that he didn’t learn anything more 

           than what he had been taught prior to going there. His schooling lasted a total of three weeks, 

           and then he was sent to work in the Brothers’ kitchen to wash pots and pans and scrub the floor. 

           He remained there full-time until he came back from holidays one year – he had delayed his return 

           and he was sent to the garden as a punishment for this, to work for the rest of his time there. 



2.319      One  witness  described  how  the  regime  of  punishment  interfered with  his  ability  to  learn  in  the 

           classroom and in the tailor’s shop. In particular, he recalled that another lay teacher used to hit 

           him on the tips of his fingers with a map, which was cylindrical in shape and wrapped around a 

           stick. According to him, it was very hard to learn anything because, as he said in evidence: 



                  It was very, very hard to learn anything because everything was pressure and violence, 

                  abuse,  “shut  up”,  “sit  down”.  I  can  never  remember  anyone  saying  anything  with  any 

                  degree or modicum of affection or tenderness, I can never remember. 



2.320      Not all boys learnt a trade in Upton. Some of them, once their schooling ended at the age of 14, 

           were sent to work in the kitchen or the farm or in the garden, and some worked with the builder 

           who was on site at the time of the renovations taking place in Upton. A number of boys went on 

           to become members of the Rosminian Order. 



2.321      No secondary education was available in Upton itself as there was no secondary school. However, 

           boys who were sent forward to the Novitiate in Omeath received secondary education, as was 

           evidenced  by  Fr  O’Reilly.  Reference  was  made  by  Fr.  Christiano  to  three  to  four  boys  who 

           attended Omeath returned to the School during holidays etc. They were segregated from the other 

           boys. They slept in an old infirmary, ate in a small refectory and did odd jobs around the School. 



2.322      Br Nicoli,56  who was the Secretary in Upton for over 15 years until the late 1960s, was, according 



           to  the  Rosminians,  ‘quite  meticulous  in  sourcing  work  and  trades  for  boys’  once  they  left  the 

           School at 16 years of age. This Brother was unique in this regard, as he took it upon himself to 

           seek work for the boys, since there was no policy in the School itself concerning aftercare. He 

           kept  a  diary  record  of  the  number  of  boys  who  were  apprenticed  and  engaged  in  different 

           occupations.  From  this  record  it  appears  the  boys  got  work  in  the  Army,  and  as  blacksmiths, 

           butchers, post office clerks, postmen, draper’s assistants and welders. 



           Family contact 



2.323      The boys detained in Upton came from many of the surrounding counties and also from as far 

           away as Dublin. They were officially allowed home in July for two weeks. They were also allowed 

           to receive visits from parents and relatives. However, the amount of family contact depended on 

           where the children came from and their family circumstances. For some, this meant reasonable 

           family contact, and, for others, little or none. 



2.324      One witness was already one year in the School when his brother arrived. He also had regular 

           visits from his parents. His father came almost every second week. They would be allowed to see 

           each other alone in a room for visitors at the end of one of the corridors. 



2.325      The separation from family was described by one witness, who said he was deeply affected by 

           the  fact  that  he  was  sent  160  miles  away  from  his  family.  He  got  no  visits  and  only  recently 

           became aware that his father had extensive correspondence with the authorities, seeking to have 

           him transferred to Artane or to an Institution nearer the family home. His mother even wrote to 

           President De Valera at the time. His mother died in 1957, and she had been buried by the time 



           56 This is a pseudonym. 



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           he was told about it, despite the fact that his father telephoned and tried to have him released in 

           time for the funeral. 



2.326      Another witness said he had no family contact and was prevented from going home on holidays, 

           as the ISPCC put a stop to it because his mother had illegitimate children. He was sent home at 

           age 16 on his own, having been institutionalised at the age of four, and only then met his sister 

           for the first time. 



2.327      A witness described how, when his mother died when he was eight years old, which resulted in 

           him being sent to an industrial school, it effectively broke the bonds between him and his siblings: 



                 As I say, having lived in a family environment, however limited that may have been it was 

                 still a family, you still had your siblings and you had a parent and to be taken from that 

                 environment and placed in a place where you suddenly were no longer human, you were 

                 treated as a number and any chance of having any love, affection... 



2.328      When he was discharged from Upton, he was sent to the home of a neighbour who had previously 

           looked after him. This arrangement was not successful, as the father of the house abused him, 

           and he eventually ran away to sea at the age of 14. The whole experience was extremely unhappy, 

           and he believes the neighbouring family should have been properly vetted. 



2.329      One witness described how, during his time in Upton, his father consistently applied to have him 

           discharged. His family made him aware of this fact, but he was never told of it by the authorities 

           in Upton. He did go home on holidays and his parents also visited him. They used to send him 

           money and parcels from home. 



2.330      Witnesses remembered being allowed home for two weeks in the summer. For about a month 

           beforehand, the regime was relaxed a little bit and the boys were reminded not to speak about 

           Upton at home. The boys were also allowed to write a letter home once a month, and this letter 

           was written for the boys on the blackboard and they were checked before they were posted. 



           Conclusions on neglect and emotional abuse 



2.331       1.  At times during the relevant period, food, clothing and accommodation in Upton fell 

                below acceptable standards, for which lack of resources was not an excuse. 



            2.  Boys went hungry and, given the size of the farm at Upton, there was no reason for it. 



            3.  The food that was provided to the boys was poor in quality. The Brothers and priests 

                who lived in Upton received far better food than the children. 



            4.  Bedwetting  was  a  persistent  problem,  and  children  were  punished,  humiliated  and 

                segregated in a futile attempt to deal with it. 



            5.  The  regime  of  punishment  and  fear  interfered  with  children’s  ability  to  learn  in  the 

                classroom. 



            6.  Removing children to this distant Institution caused emotional harm, because it cut 

                them off from their families and social networks. 



2.332      General conclusions on Upton and Ferryhouse are at paragraph 3.454 of the following Chapter 

           on Ferryhouse. 



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          Chapter 3 



           St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

           Ferryhouse, Clonmel, (‘Ferryhouse’), 

           1885–1999 



          Introduction 



          Buildings and layout 



3.01      St  Joseph’s  Industrial  School  is  located  in  the  townland  of  Ferryhouse,  some  three  to  four 

          kilometres due east of the centre of Clonmel, on the northern bank of the river Suir, in County 

          Tipperary.  The  original  building  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  £10,000  in  1884  by  Count  Moore,  a 

          wealthy local Catholic benefactor, and, shortly after its construction, he invited the Rosminians to 

          run the School. He gave them an additional £1,000 to furnish the School. 



3.02       It was a large, three-storey red brick building located on approximately nine acres of farmland. It 

          was cruciform in shape, with the central projection in front housing the main entrance, with the 

           Resident Manager’s office, a reception area and the church, which included the sanctuary area. 

          Above the entrance, set in an alcove, was a statue of St Joseph. There were steps running down 

          to the river from the entrance. The projection to the rear housed the main staircase. A cloister at 

          the rear of the building served as a corridor. 



3.03      Shortly after opening, three new wings were erected, a west and east, each with two storeys, and 

          a north-facing building of one storey. With the main house, these buildings enclosed a yard or 

          quadrangular area, with access through an archway on the northern side. More land was bought 

          during  the  course  of  the  following  decades  so  that,  by  the  1950s,  the  farm  had  increased  to 

          approximately 50 acres. In later years, a series of buildings, including a chapel, an infirmary and 

          various workshops, were built. The focus of the School remained the original main building. The 

          School was entirely rebuilt during the early 1980s. 



3.04      The  dormitories were  in  the  two upper  storeys  of the  original  three-storey  building, with  senior 

          boys on the first floor and junior boys on the second floor above. Each dormitory accommodated 

           100 beds and a Prefect’s room. On the ground floor were a number of offices. 



3.05      The  west  wing  was  a  two-storey  granite  structure  providing  community  accommodation,  the 

          infirmary, nurse’s room and boys’ kitchen and dining area. 



3.06      The two-storey east wing housed the School classrooms up until the 1960s when they moved to 

          prefab accommodation. This area was then converted in 1967 to a junior dormitory, at which stage 

          the dormitory accommodation was divided into junior, intermediate and senior areas. The ground 

          floor of the east wing comprised the hall, offices and various recreational rooms. 



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 3.07      The north-facing section was a single-storey building which housed the trade shops and, in later 

           years, various recreation areas. 



 3.08      There were also various outhouses and maintenance sheds and, in the 1960s, an extension to 

           the original central building was added, providing toilet and shower facilities. 



 3.09      The  Community      had  a  separate    refectory  and   kitchen  in  the  main   house.   The   Rosminian 

           Community  residence  was  located  in  the  main  building.  All  of  the  buildings  and  land  still  in 

           possession of the Rosminians was transferred to the State in 2002, apart from a small holding of 

           land unsuitable for farming south of the river Suir. 



 3.10      A plan of these buildings is given below: 



 3.11      A report has been compiled by Mr Ciaran Fahy, consulting engineer, on the physical surroundings 

           of  Ferryhouse,  with  particular  reference  to  the  buildings.  A  copy  of  this  report  is  appended  to 

           this chapter. 



           Number of boys in Ferryhouse 



 3.12      As can be seen from the following charts, there were between 150 and 200 boys in Ferryhouse 

           until the 1970s. In January 1885, a Certificate was granted for the School to receive 150 boys 

           and, in 1944, this Certificate was increased to 200. The numbers in Ferryhouse ranged from 189 

           boys in 1940, increasing to a high of 205 in 1960. This number decreased to 160 in 1970, but it 



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          was still a high number of boys. Thereafter, the numbers began to gradually decline. Up until the 

           1980s, the numbers were far in excess of the certified number. 



3.13       Numbers in other schools began dropping from the 1950s onwards, but Ferryhouse continued to 

           be  at  or  near  its  capacity,  largely  because  it  took  children  from  other  schools.  Upton  closed 

          following a major fire in 1966, and 28 boys were transferred to Ferryhouse. The chart below shows 

          the breakdown of numbers of residents throughout the years: 



                          Year                       Certification number                Type of admissions 



                           1884                      licence for 150 children                  Committed 



                           1900                           155 children                         Committed 



                           1910                           154 children                         Committed 



                           1920                           127 children                         Committed 



                           1930                           193 children                  Committed and voluntary 



                           1940                           189 children                  Committed and voluntary 



                           1950                           182 children                  Committed and voluntary 



                           1960                               205                       Committed and voluntary 



                           1970                               160                       Committed and voluntary 



                           1994                               140                       Committed and voluntary 



                           1995                                80                       Committed and voluntary 



                           1996                                56                       Committed and voluntary 



                           2004                                36                      Committed and voluntary 



          This data may also be illustrated in graph form as follows: 



                                                Numbers in Ferryhouse 



          250 



          200 



           150 



           100 



            50 



              0 

                  1884     1900    1910    1920   1930    1940    1950   1960    1970   1994     1995   1996    2004 



3.14      The boys were aged between nine and 16 years. 



           First impressions of the School as described by former residents 



3.15      On first entering the School, several complainants described being over-awed by the numbers. 

          One witness, who went there in the late 1940s, described his first day as follows: 



                 Oh, it was frightening, to see them big doors open. I was introduced to the Rector at the 

                 time ... who was a very nice man, he was, very pleasant. I was taken into a room. I was 

                given some bread and cocoa, a change of clothes ... Then you could say I was thrown 

                 out into the yard with the other boys, really frightening ... I have never seen so many boys 



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                  in my life. I thought – well, I should imagine you would expect about 50 or 60 like that 

                  was in [the convent] but when you see about 200, oh dear. 



3.16       A resident who was in Ferryhouse in the 1940s described his first day as fearful. His mother had 

           recently died and five of the large family were sent to Ferryhouse. He recalled: 



                  When I arrived, we were brought in a front door and then you came through a kind of a 

                 cloister and you came out a door and there was a clock over the door – now you didn’t 

                 see that until you came back in – and I seen this massive amount of boys. There was 

                 about 200 boys there at my time when I arrived there. There was a massive amount of 

                 boys, all ages, running, and shouting. It drove the fear of God in you and that’s the truth. 

                  We kind of cuddled together, the five of us. 



3.17       Another witness, in Ferryhouse in the late 1960s, also stressed the frightening impact of so many 

           boys together at one time. On recalling his first day: 



                  We were escorted up to a laundry house and, if I am not mistaken, the laundry house 

                  would  have  been  underneath  the  main  stairs  or  somewhere  in  that  area  of  the  main 

                 building of Ferryhouse before you go out to the yard from the Rector's office. There was 

                 a  little laundry  room there  which Br  Leone1       was  running and  there he  handed you  out 



                  whatever clothing or blankets, I can't remember what it was. I remember the smell of the 

                  laundry room. That is all I remember of it. 



                  When I walked out the door that day and seen so many boys running around, I think it 

                  was the first and last time I actually had a good cry because I knew where I was. I didn't 

                  know there was no come back, but I knew that was the first time I actually said to myself 

                  I really missed my mother. I realised I was after being taken away. 



3.18       Another witness described a similar routine at mealtime: 



                  You lined up every morning for your meals ... the small guys up the front and the bigger 

                  lads at the back. It would be like an army ... you would go in and line up. There was 11 

                 at each table and you had a leader at the top of the table, he was responsible for cutting 

                  the horrible block of margarine that each one got a square of. 



3.19       By  the  1960s,  the  nineteenth-century  buildings  were  becoming  dilapidated  and  outmoded.  A 

           surprise inspection by the Department of Education of Ferryhouse, on 21st  July 1966, referred to 



           outmoded      methods     of  housing    children.  Dr   Lysaght,    the  Medical    Inspector,    described    ‘a 

           depressing air of mass communal living’ due to the large size of the dormitories and the large 

           number of beds. His report, which is dealt with below, recommended that the dormitories should 

           be broken into smaller units, and the Department responded by sanctioning six new prefabs for 

           the School. These changes prefaced the huge rebuilding programme undertaken a decade later. 



3.20       After the School was rebuilt, some complainants described their first impression as favourable. A 

           resident who went there in the late 1980s, after Ferryhouse had been rebuilt, said: 



                  The first day we went down I was with the police and they were showing us around. They 

                 brought us out in the building first, they showed us where we would be just so we would 

                 settle  in.  Then  they  brought  us  all  around  the  buildings,  telling  us  what  buildings  was 

                  which and then brought us out to the back where there was a kind of farm, just showing 

                  us where the animals were and saying if we wanted we could help out with the animals 

                 and all. Looking around it was real nice, I thought it was going to be nicer than when I 

                  was in Michael’s beforehand, because I was in St. Michael’s for three weeks before going 

                  down. I was thinking it was real open, not closed doors everywhere. I thought it was a 

                  real nice place and I thought it would be okay. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



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3.21       Later he added: 



                  The first few weeks it was more or less the same like, everybody was okay. Then I think 

                  the  first time   I got  hit  was   when    I was    in a  fight  with  one   of  the  lads,  we   had   a 

                  disagreement. 



           First impressions and atmosphere of the School as described by staff 



3.22       The  conditions  within  Ferryhouse,  and  its  atmosphere,  were  vividly  described  by  some  of  the 

           former and current members of the Rosminian Order. One priest, Fr Antonio,2                     who was there in 



           the late 1960s and 1970s, described the grim conditions that he found prior to the rebuilding of 

           the School. He told the Investigation Committee: 



                  Things were very Dickensian in the place at the time in 1967/68 ... Things were very, very 

                  bad at that time. My first vision of the dormitory were all these beds in the big dormitory, 

                  full stretched up the whole way, and all the wet beds on one side of the dormitory which 

                  was a very Dickensian situation and a cruel situation at that time. 



                  One of the earliest memories I would have had going in there was a place at the end of 

                  the stairs and a young 12 year old would be in charge of the laundry and he would go in 

                  and take out all these shirts and bring them out and put them on the beds. A tall fella could 

                  have a shirt down to his navel and another fella could have his shirt down to his ankles. 



                  ... Some of the saddest memories I would have is of the boys who wet their bed bringing 

                  out  their  sheets  to  laundry  in  the  morning  because  there  was  only  one  woman  in  the 

                  laundry and they used to have to bring them out. 



           Daily routine 



3.23       With small variations, the daily timetable for the boys and staff in Ferryhouse followed the activity 

           pattern set out below: 



                            Time                            Activity for boys                        Duty for staff 



                             6.30                                                             Rise/ prepare breakfast etc 



                             7.30                                                                         Mass 



                             8.00                     Boys called/ Wash and dress                     Raise boys 

                                                                                                       Supervise 



                             8.30                    Mass then breakfast/ polishing                    Supervise 

                                                    boots and clothing inspection etc 



                             9.00                     School/ Workshops/technical           Return to dorms to check all is 

                                                          classes Mondays and                             clean 

                                                               Wednesdays 



                            11.30                                Playtime                              Supervise 



                       12.00 to 12.45                           Catechism 



                        12.45 to 1.00                            Playtime                              Supervise 



                             1.00                               Dinner/play                            Supervise 



                             2.30                               Workshops 



                             3.00                      Band until 4.45 for players 



                             5.00                                  Play                                Supervise 



                             5.30                                 School 



                             7.45                              Supper/Play                             Supervise 



                             9.00                                   Bed                     Supervise until night watchman 

                                                                                                     arrives/ on call 



           2  This is a pseudonym. 



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3.24       In earlier years, the boys started earlier, but shifts in the time scale did not alter the basic routine. 



3.25       For this daily routine to run on time, the boys had to be drilled with near military precision. As one 

           priest, Fr Ludano,3  who stayed at the School in the late 1940s and early 1950s, put it: 



                  Probably even at that time I considered it harsh ... well, there was a lot of regimentation, 

                 some of which I didn’t think was necessary. It was run almost on army lines, which I think 

                  was unnecessary. 



3.26       While this regimentation allowed things to run on schedule, it led to quick physical chastisement 

           of  boys  who  fell  behind  the  others.  One  witness,  resident  in  Ferryhouse  in  the  late  1940s, 

           described the regimentation and how it was enforced: 



                  In the yard playing around. Then when evening came, bedtime, I was shown the bed I 

                  would be sleeping in, an iron cast bed. We got up in the morning, wash your face, wash 

                 your hair. There was two lines of sinks, wash basins. You had to take your shirt off, one 

                  line at a  time in each line  of sinks. When they  were finished another line  would go in. 

                  Now, we had to wash our hair and our face, cold water, carbolic soap and if we didn't get 

                  the soap off in time we got a whack across the head with a cane so everybody had to 

                  rush to get the soap off ... 



                  Then we would go out and then we would make our beds. The other lot would go in, wash 

                  their heads and face until everybody was done. Then we would dress ourselves, down to 

                  Mass. We went to Mass every morning. After Mass we would go back up to the dormitory 

                 again, dust our beds, the frame of the beds, dust it. The laymen would come around, feel 

                  the bed. If there was a bit of dust left on it, if there was a bit left on it we got a wallop. 

                  What does a 10 or 11-year-old child have to get a wallop because there is a bit of dust 

                 on the frame of the bed? 



                 Anyway after that we would go down to breakfast: two slices of bread and dripping, either 

                 a cup of tea or cocoa. Then we would go to the various classes, school. We had four, I 

                  think it was four lay teachers ... We had no lady teachers, there was no ladies at all in the 

                 school while I was there, no ladies at all. 



                 After school we would have our dinner. We would have to line up in the yard like an army 

                 barracks. They would shout out in Irish, ‘Stand to attention. At ease’. Line one would go 

                  into  the  refectory.  Then  line  two.  We  didn't  say  a  word.  If  we  said  anything  we  got  a 

                  wallop. We would say our grace for what was on the table, which wasn't much. We would 

                 sit down, have that, not a word out of us. Tin plate and a spoon. We would come out and 

                  then we would start playing. Then about half past four line up again for our last meal of 

                  the day. Two slices of a bread and jam and a cup of cocoa or whatever it was, tea or 

                 cocoa then about. We would be out playing then and we would have – no, I beg your 

                 pardon. Before the lunch we would go to the workshops. I was in the knitting shop. There 

                  was a tailor shop, a shoemaker shop and that would go on for several hours. Then we 

                  would have our lunch. We lined up again for that. After that we would go out and play, 

                 and at about eight or half past eight we would go to bed then. We would say our night 

                 prayers. We would get up again in the morning, same routine again. 



3.27       Within this regimented timetable, each boy got to know his duty. One witness explained: 



                  Some people who wet the bed might get a clattering and that would be the start of the 

                  day for them, after showing their sheets and the mattresses. Those that wet the bed would 

                  have to go for communal showers after Mass and then go to the office then to get the 

                 strap for the same thing ... Then you had your morning chores after that. Some people 

                 cleaned the long corridors of the school, clean it. Some people cleaned the dormitories. 



           3 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 Not  everyone had  morning chores,  but there  was a  designated number  of people  who 

                 would do the morning chores. 



           Priests and Brothers in Ferryhouse 



3.28       The Rosminian Community in Ferryhouse generally consisted of 10 members of the Order, both 

           priests  and  Brothers. All  of  the  members of  the  Community  lived in  the  School,  and each  had 

           different responsibilities. The Resident Manager and the Prefects ran the School, and the Prefects 

           had the most direct contact with the boys. However, other Brothers and priests had responsibilities 

           with the boys to a lesser degree. 



3.29       Fr Stefano4   was appointed as Resident Manager of Ferryhouse in the mid-1970s. He detailed in 



           his evidence what staff were available to him at that time. What he described was typical of the 

           previous decades in Ferryhouse: 



                 In the community when I arrived, I had a bursar; I had three Prefects, one for each group; 

                 and  I  had  an  assistant,  a  student,  and  a  Rosminian  student  who  was  studying  for  the 

                 priesthood and he was there as well and he would help out in different units at different 

                 times. I had the farm manager. There was a retired gardener, a Brother who died shortly 

                 after I arrived there. I had another Brother who was helping in maintenance. There was a 

                 Brother who was in charge of the community kitchen and there was a mission secretary 

                 – that was a priest who worked full-time for the Missions raising money for our African 

                 Missions and he lived with us. 



3.30       Fr Stefano, therefore, had three Prefects to call upon to take care of over 150 boys. His other 

           staff, although involved in the running of the School, were not directly involved in the day-to-day 

           care of the boys. Throughout its history, Ferryhouse used only a small number of staff to take 

           care of the boys. It is a fair estimate that less than 20% of the religious Community present in 

           Ferryhouse had a direct role in the provision of care to the boys: 



           Sample table of staff to pupil ratio in Ferryhouse 



                    Year           Number of boys         Total number of          Number of          Prefect/boy ratio 

                                        resident             Rosminian               prefects 

                                                            Community 



                    1930                   193                    9                      2                    96/1 



                    1940                   189                    9                      2                    94/1 



                    1950                   182                    10                     2                    91/1 



                    1960                   205                    12                     2                   102/1 



                    1970                   160                    12                     3                    53/1 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 



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           Physical abuse 



           Physical abuse: what the Institute of Charity have conceded 



3.31       As far back as 1990, on the occasion of the public opening of a new school in Ferryhouse, the 

           Provincial   spoke   of  the  boys   who    had  been    damaged     by  the  years   they   spent   in the  old 

           Ferryhouse, and of those who looked back in anger and bitterness on their time there. He said: 



                  The greatest guilt has to be borne by those of us who utilised or condoned or ignored the 

                 extreme     severity,  even    brutality  which    characterised    at  times    the  regime    at  old 

                 Ferryhouse. 



3.32       This  awareness  of  the  extreme  severity,  even  brutality,  of  the  old  regime  was  reiterated  in 

           statements made to the Investigation Committee. Fr O’Reilly, speaking on behalf of the Order at 

           the  Phase I  public  hearing on  7th    September  2004, outlined  its  position on  the  use of  corporal 



           punishment at St Joseph’s, Ferryhouse. He told the Investigation Committee: 



                 I’d  say  that  most  of  the  boys  who  were  in  Ferryhouse  would  have  received  corporal 

                 punishment at one time or another in the course of their time there for what was regarded 

                 as  misbehaviour,  be  that  absconding,  or  some  other  thing,  and  I  think  that  corporal 

                 punishment was the standard that was acceptable at that time. 



3.33       He went on to say, however, ‘I am sure that punishment at times for running away was excessive’. 



3.34       The Rosminians prepared a respondent statement in response to each complainant’s allegations 

           of physical abuse. This statement was furnished to the Commission by Fr Matt Gaffney, Provincial 

           Superior,  in  May  2002.  It  further  clarified  the  attitude  of  the  Order  to  the  era  when  corporal 

           punishment was in widespread use. He wrote: 



                 Corporal punishment should be seen in an institutional context where the maintenance of 

                 control was an absolute necessity, and in particular in the light of social attitudes of the 

                 time.  It  is  true  that  the  ideal  of  child-care  in  Industrial  Schools  was  to  avoid  corporal 

                 punishment  when  possible,  but  that  unfortunately  provided  an  aspiration  without  the 

                 means of achieving it. The absence of child-care training left staff at the schools without 

                 any  practical  policy other  than  personal  judgment, which  was  fallible  and always  hard- 

                 pressed. The use of corporal punishment as a general disciplinary measure, and its uses 

                 also as a punishment or deterrent for bed wetting, absconding and other infractions, in 

                 times    when    corporal   punishment      was   generally    socially   acceptable,    produced     a 

                 disciplinary  environment  in  which  the  distinction  between  punishment  and  abuse  could 

                 become blurred. 



3.35       In  their  Final  Submission     to  the  Investigation   Committee,     after  all the  hearings    had   been 

           completed, the Rosminians wrote: 



                 The susceptibility of corporal punishment to abuse seems inherent. If left to discretion, 

                 a  cause  can  always  be  found  for  its  use,  especially  where  authority  is  threatened  or 

                 insecure ... 



                 It must    be  said  that  Prefects   seem    to  have   varied   widely   in their  use   of corporal 

                 punishment. This appears to be reflected in the pattern of complaints. This in itself would 

                 suggest  that  problems  of  corporal  punishment  were  created  in  part  by  a  lack  of  policy 

                 and supervision. 



3.36       The   approach    taken   by  the  Rosminians      had  many    advantages     for  the  complainants     giving 

           evidence to the Committee. Above all, it made it easier for them to tell of their experiences. The 

           Rosminians’ inquisitorial approach actively engaged with the Commission in searching for facts. 



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           The victims were sometimes helped to recall details, and were often asked to add to the facts 

           known to the Order. 



3.37       However, the Order were loath to admit that the kind of corporal punishment administered as part 

           of  the  regime  often  constituted  physical  abuse.  This  contrasted  with  their  approach  to  known 

           sexual abusers, where they did not dispute the abusive nature of the behaviour. 



           The role of Prefect 



3.38       While all members of the Order and the lay teachers could use corporal punishments, the majority 

           of the complaints received by the Investigation Committee named members of the Order who had 

           been appointed Prefects. Until the late 1960s, when the number of dormitories was increased to 

           three following a critical inspection, there were two Prefects, one for the junior and one for the 

           senior section. Fr O’Reilly told the Investigation Committee: 



                  ... it was regarded as the responsibility of the Prefects to look after the children, regardless 

                 of how many there were there ... once the children came out for all activities, whether that 

                  was football or hurling or soccer in the yard or whatever it had to be, you had to organise 

                  that and you had to ensure, as far as you could, that you had an eye on all the children 

                 or as many as you possibly could have, because that is your responsibility. 



3.39       It  was  regarded  as  an  impossible  task,  unless  the  supervision  of  the  children  also  involved  a 

           degree    of  control   over   them    through    fear   of  punishment.     One    former   Prefect    told  the 

           Investigation Committee: 



                  I certainly would have hit chaps with the palm of my hand as well if the frustration got too 

                 much ... I wouldn't have been unique, I don't think, no ... we always tried to leave that 

                 side of it to one of the others if they would do it. Somebody has to take on the responsibility 

                 of the disciplinarian, one of us could step back and let ... whoever was there do it ... That 

                 kind of shoved you into a role at the time as well. 



3.40       The Prefects, he explained: 



                 allowed somebody to take the flak, we all do it in groups unfortunately at times, somebody 

                 else takes on this role of being the disciplinarian and everybody else can sit back and say 

                  I’ll send you to [the Prefect]. 



3.41       A Prefect from the 1960s, Br Alfonso,5        described the role of Prefect in the following terms: 



                  the Prefect of Discipline was public enemy numero uno. That he was the first public enemy 

                 because he was the only one who is to dish out discipline. He was to physically punish 

                  the children if that were necessary. 



3.42       Fr Antonio, who was in Ferryhouse in the late 1940s and 1950s, told the Committee, ‘The advice 

           I was given when I went over there first, make sure they know who is boss and your job was to 

           keep control. There was very little support, I might add’. 



3.43       Once  ‘shoved into’ the role of Prefect, he went on: 



                  You just have to go in and pretend that you are the big boy, which I did at the time ... I 

                  roared and shouted and put a fella away and said that will stop that messing now. I don’t 

                  remember hitting anybody that particular night, many a time I did. You would kind of take 

                 on  the  acting  role  ...  Then,  looking  back  now,  while  I  was  acting  I’m  sure  the  children 

                 didn’t think I was acting at all, so that would have frightened them as well ... You would 

                  think I was going to kill them. It was using fear really to get control. 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 



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3.44        Fr  Antonio  told  the  Committee  that  he  had  requested  that  he  be  removed  from  the  Prefect’s 

           position. He said: 



                  I was glad to get away from the prefecting ... it was too boring and walking around just 

                  like that all day, nothing to do. I would prefer to be working, doing something. 



3.45        He took up another position in the School, and became happier in his work. Indeed, one of the 

           complainants singled him out as a kind and helpful Brother, whereas, when Prefect, he did rule 

           by fear, and was named by many complainants as unfeeling, cruel and severe. 



            The leather straps 



3.46       The official instrument used to punish was the leather strap as discussed in the chapter on Upton. 

           There were two kinds: one was a shaped single piece of leather; and the other was known as 

            ‘a doubler’. 



3.47        It is likely that different straps were in use from time to time, and it is not certain that all of them 

           contained metal or coins within them. 



3.48       The heavier strap was kept in the Prefect’s office on the ground floor, a room that served also as 

           the   sweet   shop,    and   boys   who   had    committed     more   serious    offences    were   sent   there  for 

           punishment. Another strap, also a  ‘doubler’, was sometimes kept in the Prefect’s room adjacent 

           to the dormitory. It appears that some Prefects carried a strap in their cassock or up a sleeve, to 

           act as both a deterrent and to punish as they felt appropriate. 



3.49        Both boys and Brothers agreed that, to receive the strap, the boy faced the Prefect or Brother, 

           and blows from the strap were along the length of the hand and forearm. The Brothers spoke of 

           giving a boy a few slaps, but when the witnesses described their pain and distress the full pathos 

           of corporal punishment emerged. Many graphic descriptions are given below. As one witness put 

            it,  ‘The doublers ... when you were getting hit it used to go up your arm ... You got it right up the 

           arm’. Many said the most painful was the blow upon the wrist. 



3.50        Being beaten on the hands was known as getting  ‘handers’, and being struck on the buttocks or 

           back was known as a  ‘flamming’. In theory,  ‘flammings’ were reserved for very serious offences 

           such as absconding and, as a rule, only the Prefects administered them. 



3.51       The Rules and Regulations governing Industrial and Reformatory Schools, issued to all certified 

           schools in 1933,6      allowed ‘Chastisement with the cane, strap or birch’, but made no attempt to 

                                                                                                               ´ 

                                                                                                           ´ 

           describe  the  implements.  The  Department  of  Education  Inspector,  Mr  Micheal  O  Siochfhrada, 

                                                                                                      ´            ´ 

            issued more precise guidelines in a circular of 1946, in which he stated that corporal punishment 

           should in future be confined to the form usually used in schools, that is, slapping on the open 

            hand  with  a  light  cane  or  strap.  Any  form  of  punishment  that  was  not  in  accordance  with  the 

           circular was ‘strictly prohibited’. 



3.52       The heavy double straps in use until 1993 in Ferryhouse, often weighted with coins, could not be 

           described as a light strap. Nor could a blow along the arm be described as ‘slapping on the open 

            hand’. Therefore, neither the implement nor the manner of delivering the blow were in accordance 

           with the rules and regulations governing corporal punishment. 



            Documentary evidence on physical abuse 



3.53       There is no documentary evidence on the use of corporal punishment and the issue of physical 

           abuse. There is no punishment book for Ferryhouse. This is all the more surprising, given the fact 



           6  Set out in full in Volume I. 



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           that the Prefect who had introduced the punishment book in Upton in 1952 also served as Prefect 

           in Ferryhouse from 1960. Since the punishment books were intended to control the use of corporal 

           punishment and curb its excesses, its absence makes it more difficult to establish the extent and 

           severity of such abuse. 



           The evidence of the complainants 



3.54       The Investigation Committee heard evidence from 29 individuals who spent time in Ferryhouse 

           as  children.   Nearly   all of  them   described    being   physically   punished.    Many   expressed     an 

           acceptance  of  corporal  punishment  if  it  was  proportionate  and  deserved.  For  example,  one 

           witness, in Ferryhouse in the late 1960s and early 1970s, told the Committee: 



                 You  just  have  to  be,  kind  of,  street  wise  down  there,  you  know  ...  I  was  never  really 

                 punished much ... if there was a group of you you would always get one or two on the 

                 hands and that was it. You would just take it and leave it, you know ... sometimes they 

                 were deserved, yes. 



3.55       He went on to describe the kinds of offences that incurred different levels of physical punishment: 



                 Sometimes would be two, sometimes it would be four. Six if it was something bad, you 

                 know  what  I  mean,  smoking,  say,  for  instance  ...  or  cursing,  you  know,  if  you  called 

                 somebody something you would probably only get two or three ... but really really trouble 

                 you would get six. 



3.56       A predictable tariff for offences would have allowed boys to work out what was fair or deserved 

           punishment,  and also  taught  the  ‘street  wise’ boy  what to  do  to avoid  being  beaten. If  applied 

           properly, it would have made the punishment regime predictable. This particular witness accepted 

           being physically punished if he had done wrong and if he got what he deserved. He reserved his 

           criticism for unfair punishment, or excessive violence. He told the Investigation Committee: 



                 It was strict ... like, when you look back over it, it is for stupid things; wet the beds or you 

                 soiled your pants or something like that. 



3.57       He elaborated on this theme later: 



                 Soiling your underpants, checking your underpants and if you are soiled everyone else 

                 know about it. That is not human. You used to have to go up and open your underpants 

                 and show them in a line and there would be people scrubbing and spitting on them ... 

                 they are the things that stick in your mind. 



3.58       Many witnesses described being physically punished in circumstances that they considered being 

           excessive,  unfair  and  capricious.  Although  a  few  spoke  of  being  punished  by  the  Resident 

           Manager, or by other members of the Rosminian Community, almost all focused on punishments 

           inflicted by the Prefects, who were in charge of the boys. 



3.59       Complaints  were  not  confined  to  the  use  of  the  strap  as  an  instrument  of  punishment.  Some 

           testified to being struck by various other implements, and a number of witnesses spoke of being 

           punched or kicked. 



3.60       Complaints of physical punishment related to every decade in respect of which the Investigation 

           Committee heard evidence. The earliest evidence came from a witness who was admitted in 1943. 

           The latest evidence came from one who left Ferryhouse in 1991. 



3.61       In each of these decades, boys living in Ferryhouse complained of punishment that was severe 

           and excessive, and beyond what was permitted under the rules governing industrial schools. 



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            Excessive punishment 



3.62       Several witnesses described beatings that went far beyond the limits of moderate chastisement. 

           These severe beatings were usually given after serious offences, such as absconding. Running 

           away    was    viewed    as  particularly   serious   for  several    reasons:    first, the  safety   of  the  boys 

           themselves was a consideration; secondly, there was a fear that the neighbours in Clonmel might 

           be burgled or disturbed by the absconders; thirdly, all cases of absconding had to be reported to 

           the Department of Education, so involved extra administration and possible reprimand; fourthly, 

           one boy absconding unsettled the other boys and frequently triggered a spate of absconding; and 

           finally, the Gardai would have to be informed and searches had to be organised. The Prefect had 

                                ´ 

           the responsibility of organising the search for absconders. 



3.63        For all these reasons, absconders were dealt with severely. When they were returned, they were 

            usually punished with the strap, often in view of other boys, and in the earlier years their heads 

           were shaved. At one stage, Fr Antonio informed the Committee: 



                  They used to put them in pyjamas and coats over the top to stop them running away ... 

                  Again it was Dickensian ... And there were other occasions where they were put in short 

                  pants as well. 



3.64       The  major  deterrent  remained  corporal  punishment,  and,  as  the  Rosminians  have  conceded, 

           corporal punishment for running away was at times excessive. 



3.65       A witness who was resident in Ferryhouse in the late 1940s, when he was aged approximately 

            14  years,   told  the  Investigation    Committee      of  a  particularly  severe    beating   he   received    for 

           absconding.  He  ran  away  four  or  five  days  after  his  arrival  and  was  found  by  the  Gardai  and 

                                                                                                                          ´ 

           brought back. He was not punished on this occasion. A week later, he ran away again, and was 

           picked up a few days later, early in the morning, by the Gardai at his home. He was put in a police 

                                                                                     ´ 

           cell,  ‘a dirty stinking hole of a dungeon’ and was forgotten about until there was a change of shift. 

            He received no food at all, and was collected late that evening by a Brother, and driven back to 

            Ferryhouse. He described what ensued: 



                  Went to bed because it was very late at night. Within about 15 minutes, I was hauled out 

                  of bed by Br Gian.7  In those days we had no nightclothes, we slept in our shirt, he grabbed 



                  hold of my shirt and pulled it up over my head and my arms were held up like that and I 

                  was flogged unmercifully for a long period of time ... across the back, small of the back, 

                  the buttocks, the backs of my thighs and he left marks nearly an inch wide and they were 

                  there for months. When my mother come to see me they wouldn’t let her see me because 

                  she could clearly see the back of my legs, they were all bruised. 



3.66        He did not try to run away again. ‘Neither’ he added,  ‘did anybody else. We lived in fear, I never 

            looked up from the ground after that’. Following that beating when he finally left the Institution and 

           went home, he never left the house for a period of two years. 



3.67       A  witness  who  was  in  Ferryhouse  in  the  1950s  described  seeing  a  boy  who  had  absconded 

            receive  a  severe  beating  in  the  dormitory  on  his  return.  He  was  visibly  distressed  as  he  told 

            his story: 



                  He was 14, I think, 14 years of age, a big lad. A nice person. I used to refer to him as a 

                  gentle giant ... he was given an example beating in the dormitory ... He ran away with 

                  another two lads or something like that ... he was protesting, he had been in the school 

                  because he was 14 and the Committal Order was until he was 14 ... He should have been 

                  out. I think that was his general thing so he ran away. He was caught, brought back and 

                  up in the lower dormitory, at night time, when we were all up in the dormitory ... He was 



           7  This is a pseudonym. 



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                 again brought out in the dormitory ... and he was approached by this Br Maximo8                    ... Br 



                  Maximo would be the main physical man. [There were three other staff there] ... I don’t 

                 know.  Did  they  want  him  to  tip  over  so  they  could  strap  him  on  the  backside?  ...  He 

                  wouldn’t anyway. He grabbed the bed and he wouldn’t let go of the bed so Br Maximo 

                  then proceeded to come down on his fists, on the boy’s fists on the bed ... then Br Maximo 

                  went to physically attack him anyway on the body ... He gave him a couple of whacks of 

                  the strap as well to see would that loosen the grip. It didn’t. We were all kind of getting 

                 closer and closer to what was happening ... In the end I think .... did, out of pure weakness, 

                 let go of the bed. Br Maximo started strapping him with the strap ... From fisting, and from 

                 clattering and from the strap ... it was quite a bad beating he got. Bear in mind he was 

                 only a young boy and you have a full physical adult using fists and what have you on him. 



3.68       A witness who was there in the late 1960s absconded twice, the first time with his brother and 

           another  boy, and  the second  time with  two other  boys. He  told the  Investigation Committee,  ‘I 

           think the first time they let us go because we were only young and they realised we wanted just 

           to go home’. The second time, however: 



                  We were brought back and we were made to shower again in our swimming trunks, and 

                  they would dip them in salt and they would slap us again and give us a much more severe 

                 beating this time, maybe 12 times. 



3.69       Many  former  residents  described  severe  beatings  they  called           ‘flammings’,  a  term  apparently 

           peculiar to Ferryhouse. One resident, who was in Ferryhouse in the 1940s, defined a  ‘flamming’ 

           as follows: 



                  They were administered mostly in the dormitory in front of everyone. They consisted of 

                 you being called. Then you took off your shirt because you wore your shirt at night ... and 

                 you were put across the bed ... The strap that I was talking about was laid into your body 

                 and they didn’t care where they hit you ... You were completely naked ... Most of the time 

                 you were made put your hands across over the bed, sometimes they were held ... You 

                 see, you were in constant fear ... of being punished for the least thing, for the simplest of 

                  reasons or maybe for no reason at all. 



3.70       He went on to draw a distinction between punishment and abuse: 



                  If you   asked   me    before   to  ban   corporal   punishment,     I  would   have    said  corporal 

                 punishment is a necessity ... The corporal punishment we got, if we got it properly, it was 

                  right, it is the corporal punishment that was not right that I did not agree with. The corporal 

                 punishment that became abuse is what I’m talking about. Putting out your two hands ... 

                  we all got it in school, but flammings you didn’t get in school ... in schools you got the 

                 hand, you may even have got the pulling of the hair or the ear when you done something 

                  wrong. I wouldn’t be here today complaining about that. 



3.71       A former resident who was in Ferryhouse in the late 1960s and early 1970s described a beating 

           that  went  from  being  a  deserved  punishment,  given  because  he  was  seen  doing  a  two-finger 

           gesture  behind  a  Brother  saying  Grace,  to  being  a  vicious  assault.  He  told  the  Investigation 

           Committee: 

                  I was called into the office ... I knew I was caught ... Fr Paolo9          had [the leather] in his 



                 hand. He said put out your hand, so I put out me hand and I took one ... and he asked 

                 me for the other one and I said my thumb was sore, I was after bending it back playing 

                  football and I didn’t want it on that hand because it would have been worse then, because 

                 if you take two or three on one hand you don’t feel them. If you are getting six you won’t 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 

           9 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  feel the other three or four anyway and I wouldn’t and he insisted and I kept moving. I 

                  wanted him to catch me this side [indicating], rather than this side of me thumb ... He kept 

                  missing me because I kept moving it ... One time he skinned it, and the next time he went 

                  and I pulled it, and he missed completely ... I could see in his face he was going to batter 

                  me ... I seen it and he went for me and I just went down in a huddle ... As I was going 

                  down I seen him drawing back to hit me and he caught me with the width of the thing ... 

                  It wasn’t the flat part. He caught me with the thickness of it on the back there, on the back 

                  of the neck there ... I was down for a minute and he stood back. He didn’t go mad on me 

                  or anything. It was one blow ... When I looked he was back ... I stood up and he said, 

                  “Put out your hand” ... I put out this hand and I took the rest. I do not know if it was one 

                  or two more on me hand, and I walked out. 



                  I had genuinely got a sore thumb but everyone used to say it because if you took two you 

                  don’t feel the rest because your hand is numb. That was a ploy but they knew about it as 

                  well you know. 



3.72       A  witness  who  was  in  Ferryhouse  in  the  latter  half  of  the  1960s  gave  a  similar  account  of  a 

           punishment that went out of control. The punishment was meted out by Br Valerio10  who, in the 



           private  hearing,  instructed  his  counsel  to  say,  ‘Br  Valerio  does  not  deny  [the  complainant’s] 

           allegation as it is set out in his statement of complaint.’11  The statement said: 



                  When I was 131  years old, maybe 14 years, I was going for a walk with other boys from 

                                    2 



                  St Joseph’s. I don’t know which Brother had us out for the walk but we were walking in 

                  twos and on the way out we were doing some messing ... When we got back to the school 

                  Br Valerio called me and another fellow out because of what happened on the walk. I was 

                  sent to the office to see him ... Inside the office Br Valerio asked me about the messing 

                  on the walk and if I had been involved and I denied it. He said he would give me one 

                  more chance to tell the truth. I denied it again and this time he got out the long leather 

                  strap. He had a reputation of not using his fists to hit boys but of using the strap. He gave 

                  me blows with the strap to each hand and he started to hit me all over the body with the 

                  strap. He hit me all over but did not hit my head. This lasted a good 5 minutes. 



3.73        Fr  Ludano who  was resident  in Ferryhouse  in the  early 1950s  recalled one  occasion when  he 

           was  approached  by  a  few  boys  about  a  Brother  who  had  punished  another  boy.  He  told  the 

            Investigation Committee: 



                  Some of the boys came to me and said: “Brother so and so, he slapped so and so even 

                  though he is only a baby.” And that stayed in my mind ... I was horrified ... [I did] nothing 

                  ... I didn’t know what to do ... You see, my own position would have been a visitor, or just 

                  passing through or whatever ... I was very sorry for the little fellow who was involved, you 

                  know, and he was only a baby. 



3.74        Even  in  an  institution  that  was  accustomed  to  the  use  of  corporal  punishment,  there  was  an 

           awareness  of  what  was  excessive  and  cruel.  Neither  the  boys  nor  the  priest,  however,  could 

           challenge the right of the Brother to inflict punishment as he saw fit. Within Ferryhouse, it was the 

            Brother in charge who set the rules. 



            Unfair punishment 



3.75       The Investigation Committee heard many complaints of punishments that were essentially unfair. 

            It was not the severity of the beating but the injustice of it that gave cause for grievance. As one 

           witness put it,  ‘Nothing you could do, could be an accident. Everything was deliberate that you 

           did so you were punished’. 



           10  This is a pseudonym. 

           11  Br Valerio did not give evidence to the Committee; he lives abroad. 



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3.76       One witness described one such incident, when he was unfairly beaten by Br Maximo: 



                  I was coughing in the dormitory, I wasn't feeling well, I was sick and I was coughing and 

                  I don't know what time it would be, maybe it would be after ten or eleven or twelve o'clock 

                  at night and Br Maximo came out. He went down along the aisle of the dormitory, one of 

                  the aisles, and he wanted to see who was coughing. So he spotted me anyway and he 

                  said, “Were you coughing?” I said, I was. So with that he went and started belting me and 

                  clattering me from head down across the body for coughing ... With his hands, yes and 

                  told me not to cough again ... He gave me a fair old walloping that time ... It was so unfair 

                  severe at the same time. I never heard of anyone getting a hiding for being sick. That 

                  would be my view. 



3.77       Another former resident recounted an incident when he was beaten with a strap, even though he 

           had done nothing wrong: 



                  I used to go to the boiler room to turn the steam on, and one day a glass was broken ... 

                  It was on the side of the boiler, a kind of dial to show how much water was in the boiler. 

                  I didn’t break it, but I got belted for it on the hands because I was supposed to have been 

                  the only one who had gone in there. 



3.78       A resident in the early 1960s described being beaten for something that he did not realise was a 

           serious offence in the eyes of the Order. He explained: 



                  I got a serious beating there – there used to be a girl, I cannot think of her name now, 

                  she used to come out from Clonmel on a bicycle ... I remember the address. She was 

                  talking to me one day at the hay barn, I suppose I was maybe 15 at the time, but I knew 

                  nothing about young ones or anything like that, I was just plain ignorant and that. I was 

                  talking to her at the hay barn and the next thing Fr Dino12             came along. He gave her a 



                  clatter  and  sent  her  off  home  anyway  to  Clonmel.  We  were  just  talking,  there  was 

                  absolutely nothing involved; but I got a bad beating that day and I ended up, I ran away 

                  out of Ferryhouse over it. That was a serious beating I got over that. 



3.79       A resident in the 1940s described two  ‘flammings’, he was given undeservedly. On one occasion, 

           he  was  accused  of  asking  a  person  for  a  cigarette  on  the  Waterford  Road,  which  ran  by  the 

           School.  ‘I didn’t do it’, he said,  ‘but someone else’s word was taken instead of mine and I was 

           flammed for that’. The worst beating he received was when he was accused of allegedly claiming 

           he  had  seen  a  priest  eating  in  the  kitchen  when  he  should  have  been  fasting.  In  fact,  he  had 

           simply  said he  had  seen  the priest  in  the kitchen.  ‘I  got  an unmerciful  hiding  that  day and  not 

           alone that did I get a hiding, at periods I was sent out and made stand against the wall with my 

           fingers up against the wall like that’ ... [indicating]. 



           Other forms of punishment 



3.80       Staff  members  were  not  merely  authorised  to  use  corporal  punishment,  they  were  given  the 

           freedom to use it at will. This freedom allowed for even greater scope for abuse. One complainant, 

           a resident in the early 1970s, told the Investigation Committee: 



                  Not only me, we all got hidings for nothing, it all depends which way Br Valerio woke up 

                  in the morning. If we didn't make our beds right, if it wasn't inch perfect we got the slap. 

                  If our shoes weren't properly done or if our collars weren't properly inside our jumpers we 

                  got the slap for it. More or less for anything. 



3.81       A witness who was in Ferryhouse in the late 1950s described a physical punishment favoured by 

           Br Maximo: 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 A few times, I don't know what for, I can't remember what it was for but I remember a few 

                 times where he told me, he used to do this a lot with a lot of people, hold the head steady 

                 by holding the ear to make sure that you didn't move your head when he was going to 

                 give you a clatter on the other side of the head. He would give you several clatters maybe 

                 on the other side ... with the open hand. 



3.82       The  Rosminians  conceded  that  most  of  the  physical  punishment  would  have  happened  in  a 

           spontaneous  way.  If  there  were  an  incident  in  the  yard,  a  Prefect  would  hit  a  boy  a  slap  as 

           opposed to going through the whole process of administering corporal punishment at a designated 

           time.  Fr  O’Reilly   called  these    ‘spontaneous     responses’.   He   explained,    ‘it wasn’t   corporal 

           punishment in terms of receiving the cane. Like, I would acknowledge that it is quite possible that 

           a Prefect just immediately slapped the boy’. 



3.83       These  ‘spontaneous responses’ allowed some Brothers and priests to use physical chastisement 

           as  a  first  resort  for  correcting  a  child,  and  it  was  not  always  confined  to  one  or  two  slaps. 

           Depending on the mood of the Prefect, it could be a few slaps or a severe beating. A witness 

           from the late 1960s told the Committee that even good boys would be beaten. He explained: 



                 I was very quiet. I kept myself to myself and stayed out of trouble ... we were beaten on 

                 regular occasions for talking in the refectory, or whatever. Stuff like that ... Every one of 

                 the boys got beaten on some occasion. No matter how good you were you were always 

                 beaten at least at some certain occasion. 



3.84       He gave an example of such on-the-spot chastisement: 



                 [Fr Paolo] said, “Lights out” and we weren’t allowed to speak after lights out and one of 

                 the  boys might  say something  and he  would be  called out  in front  of Fr  Paolo  and he 

                 would hit him with his back handed slap ... the boy would be looking up to him, he would 

                 be only tiny, he would be only seven or eight years old, and he would put a full slap on 

                 with the back of his hand and he would put him actually spinning. 



3.85       The clatter was often the main means of correction, so boys lived in an environment where they 

           expected to be hit regularly and often. 



3.86       Perhaps  the  worst  effect  of  gratuitous  and  capricious  punishment  was  its  unpredictability.  No 

           matter what the boys did, a punishment was still a possibility. The result was a climate of fear. A 

           witness who was in Ferryhouse in the late 1960s vividly described the kind of fear he experienced 

           every day. He told the Investigation Committee: 



                 I  cried  most  days  in that  school.  I  was  so  scared  when  the next  beating  was  going  to 

                 come, whether it would be me. I mean I cried for my friends, my friends cried for me. We 

                 didn’t deserve this stuff, we really didn’t deserve this ... It was the beatings that was given 

                 and dished out in there was savage, man, savage ... I was a child you know, a child. I’ve 

                 walked landings with hard men in the Joy [prison], in Cork, wherever. I was never afraid. 

                 I would stand eye to eye with people that killed people. I wasn’t afraid. But I was afraid 

                 when  I  was  in  that  school,  every  day  of  my  fecking  life.  That  is  what  I  want  you  to 

                 understand. 



           Punishment for bed-wetting 



3.87       Fr O’Reilly, in his evidence to the Investigation Committee given on 7th         September 2004 at Phase 



           I, said that nocturnal enuresis had always been a problem at their schools: 



                 If we are taking bed-wetting or enuresis as a problem, it seems to me that you are talking 

                 somewhere between 20 and 30% of the boys with a problem in that area. 



           78                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 865-----------------------

 3.88      When asked how bed-wetters were dealt with, he replied: 



                  Well, we have no records to say how boys were dealt with who wet the bed. Were boys 

                  punished  for  wetting  the  bed?  We  don’t  have  records  of  that  and  when  I  spoke  with 

                  members of the Congregation who would have worked there, they would not recall that 

                  boys were punished for wetting the bed. 



 3.89      He conceded, however, that boys who wet were kept in a separate area known as  ‘the sailor’s 

           dorm’, and that boys were also given the term ‘sailors’. The Rosminians explained, ‘It is generally 

           felt  that  these  beds  were  kept  together  so  that  the  smell  of  urine  did  not  pervade  the  whole 

           dormitory and thus the boys who did not wet the bed did not have to suffer the smell’. 



 3.90      The Rosminians now accept that it would have been humiliating for a boy to be known as a ‘sailor’ 

           or ‘bed-wetter’. They also state that ‘it is quite possible that certain Prefects used this as a way of 

           asserting their authority’. 



 3.91      The Rosminians also concede that other practices were used to try to stop bed-wetting. The boys 

           were required to wash their own sheets each morning. They would have to take their wet sheets 

           down from the dormitory to the laundry, wash them and then hang them up to dry. In the evening, 

           they  would  have  to  collect  their  own  sheets  and  return  them  to  the  dormitory.  This  practice 

           continued until a new Prefect arranged for the sheets to be washed by a housekeeper. The boys 

           still had to bring down their wet sheets to the laundry room, and that continued to mark them out 

           and humiliate them. 



 3.92      Two further humiliating practices existed for boys who wet the bed. The Rosminians admitted that 

           ‘a very demeaning practice developed for a short time of making boys with enuresis wear a short 

           skirt for a period of a day or two’. 



 3.93      Another  practice  also  developed,  whereby  bed-wetters  would  be  required  to  walk  around  the 

           schoolyard with a mattress above their heads. 



 3.94      It was put to Fr O’Reilly that bed-wetting seemed to have been treated as a problem of discipline, 

           even though it was probably the least subject to discipline. He replied: 



                  I would have to agree with you. You know, if a child has a difficulty in that area and is 

                  upset, obviously you are going to increase the problem by drawing even more and more 

                  attention to it and certainly by punishing the child or by causing the child to be even more 

                  afraid than he was. 



 3.95      However, he again added, ‘I don’t know that children were habitually punished for wetting the bed’. 



 3.96      The question of whether bed-wetting was routinely punished was fully answered in the evidence 

           given to the Investigation Committee at the private hearings. 



 3.97      One of the Prefects in charge of the dormitory, Br Ignacio,13  told the Committee: 



                  [The top dormitory] was divided into two, they were  all the wet beds, as we call them, 

                  there  on  one  side,  and  then  the  rest  of  the  boys  on  the  other  ...  When  I  went  there  I 

                  always thought they were punished ... Which I didn’t agree really, but as it before I went 

                  and it was well before I went there, I wasn’t the one to stop the discipline. Hard as it was 

                  for me to administer a couple of slaps for each boy ... They were punished every day if 

                  they wet the bed ... They went down with their sheets ... to dry them below where the 

                  heating for the showers were ... 



           13 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       79 


----------------------- Page 866-----------------------

3.98       He  added,  ‘That  is the  way  it was  when I  went  in there.  Boys [who  wet  the bed]  were always 

           slapped ... one in each hand ... before they went to bed the next night’. 



3.99       He went on to say that he had never agreed with punishing the boys, because ‘some boys I know 

           didn’t do it purposely, just in their sleep they wet the bed, they couldn’t be accountable for that’. 

           However, he added ‘That was the case when I became Prefect and I didn’t discontinue that’. 



3.100      He was then asked how the boys should have been treated. He replied: 



                 If  I  know  what  I  know  now,  I  wouldn’t  have  administered  punishment  at  all,  but  I  was 

                 young at the time and that is the way it was handed down from Prefect to Prefect during 

                 all the course of the years. 



3.101      He went on to advance the bizarre proposition that some boys deliberately wet their beds, ‘I knew 

           some fellows didn’t mean it, just did it in their sleep ... but there could be others there who didn’t 

           ... I couldn’t distinguish’. It was put to him that he was therefore punishing them all in case one 

           boy deliberately wet the bed. He knew that some of the boys could not help wetting the bed and 

           it was not their fault but, at the same time, he felt that some of them deliberately wet the bed and, 

           as he could not distinguish between them, he punished all who wet the bed. He replied,  ‘Exactly, 

           yes and two slaps would not hurt anyone, never, you know’. 



3.102      He then said, ‘I am very sorry for it, very sorry for having done that indeed’. 



3.103      His counsel apologised on his behalf to a complainant who had been beaten for wetting the bed. 

           He told him: 



                 Br  Ignacio  does  not  and  will  not  in  his  evidence  seek  to  justify  the  administration  of 

                 corporal punishment to bed-wetters in an effort to deter bed-wetting. He accepts there is 

                 no justification ... for the administration of corporal punishment to people who wet the bed 

                 in  the  hope  or  expectation  of  deterring  them  from  wetting  the  bed  in  the  future  ...  Br 

                 Ignacio now accepts this was a stupid thing to be doing if he wanted kids to stop wetting 

                 the bed ... 



                 Br Ignacio will say in evidence that the Prefect that he replaced when he took over as 

                 Prefect ... and the Prefect who succeeded him ... administered corporal punishment to 

                 the bed-wetters ... he accepts now it was entirely wrong. 



3.104      The Prefect himself apologised again, and the conflict between his own beliefs and feelings about 

           how to treat the children and the requirements of his duty to follow the rules and tradition of the 

           Institution fully emerged: 



                 There was one thing I do regret is having to punish the boys who wet the bed. That was 

                 all. That was the biggest, or should I say ... the worst and I couldn’t bear to do that and 

                 still it was the done thing, give a couple of slaps on the hand and it was against my nature 

                 to do that...I didn’t want to do that at all although it was done the whole time, years and 

                 years before I went there and that was done all the time and that was the, how shall I 

                 say, the order of the time....It was against my nature altogether to do that because I knew 

                 very well some of them couldn’t help it but it was the done thing like. I couldn’t very well 

                 be the one to stop that, because I would be the worst in the world. You might have the 

                 whole lot of them wetting it after a while. 



3.105      He found it impossible to break with the School’s precedents and tradition. Beating boys to stop 

           them  wetting  the  bed  was  acknowledged  to  be        ‘a  stupid  thing  to  be  doing’ because  it  was 

           ineffective and did not stop the wetting. Indeed, it may have made bed-wetting worse. The practice 

           of beating them, however,  ‘was handed down from Prefect to Prefect during all the course of the 



           80                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 867-----------------------

           years’, and the Prefect felt he was powerless to stop it, even though it was cruel and pointless. 

           As in many institutions, tradition outweighed reason. 



           Evidence on bed-wetting from former residents 



3.106      The Prefect whose evidence has just been discussed expressed the belief that  ‘two slaps would 

           not hurt anyone’. Many of the former residents told the Investigation Committee about the effects 

           of facing these beatings at the end of every day. A resident from the 1940s said: 



                 It was rampant throughout, not just the bed-wetters, everybody got beaten. If you were a 

                 bed-wetter my God it was a second helping, a third helping, but you got beat during the 

                 day as well, but you were guaranteed it every night. I wished they would give it to us in 

                 the morning, get it over with. No, you were all day sweating and you got a few handers 

                 during the day and you still had to take whatever. Once it was over thank God, but you 

                 got it the next night again because you knew you were going to wet. 



3.107      He had earlier tried to express the pain of the experience: 



                 The wet-the-beds went into the toilet, in they would walk. You would have to hold your 

                 sleeve of your corduroy to get the full whack of the hand. When you are getting beat, you 

                 shake, you can't help it, you couldn't with them. “Keep your hand still” and there you are 

                 – we had a little thing at the beginning but they copped on to that very quick. When the 

                 slap came down we used to bring the hand with it. Anyway, if you didn't they would keep 

                 beating you until you keep it still. You try to keep a still hand and the blue marks and the 

                 pain and the swelling with a leather strap. If you didn't stop they would just put it across 

                 the sink and you couldn't move it then so you got it. 



3.108      A  resident  in  the  early  1960s  told  of  how  the  beatings  had  shifted  to  the  mornings,  but  the 

           inevitability of being beaten for wetting the bed remained. He had not wet the bed in the previous 

           institution, but on his way down to Ferryhouse he drank too much lemonade. That night he wet 

           the bed, was beaten and consigned to the  ‘sailor’s’ section. From then on, he lived in fear of doing 

           it. He explained: 



                 I used to try and stay awake until I wanted to go to the toilet and then I would go to the 

                 toilet, but it didn’t work. I would fall asleep eventually. 



3.109      He described the ritual the next morning: 



                 If you wet the bed you had to put your hand up the next morning. They would go around 

                 and ask, “Any sailors?” and you would put your hand up. So you took your mattress and 

                 your sheet and brought it downstairs to a drying room and you got a cold shower ... If you 

                 stepped  out  of  line  in  the  cold  shower,  if  you  didn’t  stand  directly  underneath  the  cold 

                 shower, you were hit with a strap. If you stood underneath the shower you still got your 

                 punishment over in the office. Once you wet the bed you were due a punishment ... Some 

                 of them would hit you up there (indicating his arm) ... Some of them would barely get you 

                 up the wrist ... Some of them would hit you right up the arms. 



3.110      He differentiated between one Brother, who  ‘would take pleasure in hitting you for nothing’, and 

           another Brother who  ‘would kind of gave you your slaps and let you go ... he would just give you 

           your dose of medicine and you would be gone’. 



3.111      According to the evidence of Fr Antonio, he did occasional holiday relief work in Ferryhouse from 

           the late 1960s to the late 1980s. He later worked as Director of Ferryhouse from the early to mid- 

           1990s. He said those who wet their beds during his time were not physically punished. That had 

           stopped  sometime  in  the  mid-1960s.  Also,  boys  were  no  longer  segregated  into  a  separate 

           section. However, the boys who wet the beds still had to take their sheets down the old fire escape 

           and across the yard to be washed in the laundry. He told the Committee: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   81 


----------------------- Page 868-----------------------

                  Some of the saddest memories I would have is of the boys who wet their bed bringing 

                  out  their  sheets  to  laundry  in  the  morning  because  there  was  only  one  woman  in  the 

                  laundry and they used to have to bring them out. 



3.112      During the 1960s, other steps were taken in an effort to ease the situation. During Fr Rafaele’s14 



           time   (mid-1960s    to  early  1970s),    electronic   devices   that  woke    the  boys   went   on   trial. The 

           segregation of those who wet the beds in the designated section of the dormitories ceased. 



3.113      Fr  O’Reilly  admitted  to  the  Investigation  Committee  that  the  number  of  boys  who  wet  the  bed 

           decreased only when conditions got better, because there was a reduction in the level of fear and 

           anxiety about bed-wetting and because boys were no longer humiliated by being required to carry 

           their sheets down to the laundry room themselves. 



           Documentary evidence on the punishment of bed-wetting 



3.114      In 1962, a County Waterford mother wrote a letter of complaint to the Department of Education 

           about the way in which her son was punished for wetting the bed while in St Joseph’s, Ferryhouse. 

           She wrote: 



                  Dear Sir 



                  I am writing this to ask you about my boys ... whom Justice Skinner released three weeks 

                  ago, well I want to tell you what happened their brother ... who was only sent also [earlier 

                  in the year] for three months, he was suffering from kidney trouble and the punishment 

                  they were giving him for wetting the bed was stand under a cold shower and one night 

                  he was put out of the bed by the Brother and given four showers at 9:30 p.m. Then into 

                  the office in the morning and nine whips of the leather on each hand, and they told him 

                  they would increase it, well he had to run and I said it to the Priest, you would run too 

                  and so would I. Well he ran home in a terrible state chilled to the bone so I thought he 

                  would have a nervous breakdown so I wired for his father to come for him. 



3.115      Fr Alanzo15  twice wrote to the Reformatory and the Industrial Schools Branch of the Department 



           of Education about the mother’s complaint. In his first letter in 1962, he spoke despairingly of her: 

           ‘I have had more trouble from their mother than I have had from the rest of the boys’, but he does 

           not deal with the complaints raised. His second letter to the Department, sent a month later, is 

           revealing insofar as it conceded that cold showers were given, and suggested that bed-wetting 

           was 99% a bad habit and the result of bad upbringing and laziness on the part of the boys, and 

           it goes on to describe the mother as a neurotic person. Fr Alanzo failed, however, to deal with the 

           question of whether corporal punishment was administered for bed-wetting, and, if so, whether it 

           was the Institution’s policy. The Commission does not have any documentation suggesting that 

           the Department followed up this issue. 



3.116      What  does  emerge  from  the  correspondence  is  the  way  in  which  the  mother  was  seen  as  a 

           neurotic troublemaker. The Manager’s main concern was not dealing with the substance of the 

           complaint,    that  her  son   had   been    ill-treated and   beaten    for  bed-wetting,    but  placating   the 

           Department of Education on the matter. In another sense, her persistence paid off, because her 

           third son was released before the end of the month. 



3.117      The General Inspection Report of Dr Lysaght dated 21st              July 1966 refers to the problem of bed- 



           wetting in the School, stating that it is ‘somewhat a problem’. According to the acting Resident 

           Manager, Fr Dino, there were about a dozen cases of bed-wetting in the School at that time, and 

           it was his belief that the ‘boys who came from the Convent schools were the worst in this regard’. 



           14 This is a pseudonym. 

           15 This is a pseudonym. 



           82                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 869-----------------------

            The movement towards the abolition of corporal punishment 



           The minutes of a meeting of Rosminian Superiors to discuss the issue 



  3.118    The question of corporal punishment in Ferryhouse was considered at a meeting of Rosminian 

           Superiors and others, which took place in Drumcondra on 19th                April 1968. Fr Filippo,16   Provincial 



           of the Rosminian Institute, called this meeting, and amongst those who attended was Fr Rafaele, 

           Resident Manager of Ferryhouse, Fr Pietro,17  a previous Resident Manager there, and Fr Lucio18 



           who succeeded Fr Rafaele in 1970. Also in attendance was Fr Ludano. 



  3.119    The problem of corporal punishment was raised by the Fr Provincial, Fr Filippo, because ‘Recent 

           events seemed to indicate that the administration of it had gone beyond the mean in the past’. 

           His solution was to make it ‘the responsibility of the Rector or the Headmaster’, with the Provincial 

           as manager ultimately responsible. He canvassed their opinions. 



  3.120    One    of  the  solutions   suggested     had   in  fact  been    in the   regulations   for  decades,     that  ‘all 

           punishments of this kind should be recorded, and further that they should be administered in the 

           presence of a witness’. The Brothers suggested ‘the need for a written guide ... such had been in 

           existence in Upton’.19 



  3.121    There was recognition that much depended on the appointment of capable Prefects. 



  3.122    There was an objection to turning to the Rector even in small things, but it was again asserted 

           that, even there, ‘a little record should be kept’ and ‘a ceiling to the punishments’. 



  3.123    They discussed the current punishment systems in Ferryhouse and Omeath and agreed ‘Corporal 

           punishment was judged the most humiliating of the lot, and the least effective’. 



  3.124    This meeting in 1968 was, in short, debating the need for the regulation of corporal punishment 

           and was reaching conclusions that had been contained in the 1933 guidelines. 



  3.125    Notwithstanding the acknowledgement that it was humiliating and ineffective, the use of corporal 

           punishment continued in Ferryhouse for a further 25 years, until its abolition by the School in 1993. 



           Remarks on corporal punishment by the Department of Education Inspector 

  3.126    The    Department     of  Education     Inspector,   Mr   Cobalt,20   touched     on  the   subject   of  corporal 



           punishment  and  recorded  his  concern  at  its  continued  occasional  use  in  Ferryhouse.  In  an 

           addendum to his General Inspection Report of Ferryhouse dated 30th                 May 1979, Mr Cobalt noted 



           that corporal punishment was still used occasionally, and added that he had not examined the 

           facts of its usage. 



  3.127    Mr Cobalt’s Inspection Reports for the following and successive years, noted the sanctions that 

           applied to the children. A report dated 26th  October 1980 listed the sanctions applied to the children 



           as: (a) loss of TV; (b) loss of pocket money; and (c) early bed/loss of home leave. The reports 

           of  1981,  1983  and  1984  are  in  similar  terms,  and  make  no  reference  whatever  to  the  use  of 

           corporal punishment. 



           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 

           19 This is believed to be a reference to the Upton punishment book. 

           20 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       83 


----------------------- Page 870-----------------------

            Circular 9/82 prohibiting the use of corporal punishment in national schools 



3.128       In January 1982, the Department of Education issued Circular No 9/82 that prohibited the use of 

            corporal punishment in national schools. On 7th             May 1982, Fr Stefano, Resident Manager in St 



            Joseph’s, Ferryhouse wrote to the Department on the issue of corporal punishment: 



                  While the general practice, philosophy and ideas of the school would be against the use 

                  of any form of corporal punishment, nevertheless, because of the nature of the work in 

                  which we are involved, there may be certain occasions when the Manager or his Deputy 

                  (Care or Education) might feel that some form of corporal punishment should be used. 



3.129       He went on to ask the Department for its views as to whether or not Circular 9/82 nullified the 

            Manager’s powers under the 1908 Act and 1933 Rules. Despite the considerable reforming zeal 

            that had led to the rebuilding of the nineteenth-century institution, and to numerous other reforms, 

            the abandonment of corporal punishment it seemed was a step too far for him. 



3.130       Various  officials  in the  Department  considered  Fr Stefano’s  letter.  One  such  official, a  Miss  Ni 

                                                                                                                                   ´ 

            Fhearghail, set out her views on the issue of corporal punishment in an internal memorandum 

            dated 11th   May 1982 and entitled ‘Corporal Punishment in Special Schools’. She wrote: 



                   ... in my view Circular 9/82 only covers the conduct of the children while they are in the 

                  national school. It does not cover out of school activities. Even within the school the Rules 

                  which  were  approved  under  the  Act  may  hold  precedence.  I  think  we  would  need  to 

                  consult the Chief State Solicitor. 



3.131       However,  the  issue  lay  dormant  in  the  Department  for  a  number  of  months  until  March  1983, 

                                                                                         ´ 

                                                                                                     ´ 

            when Miss Ni Fhearghail, in a memorandum addressed to Mr O Criodhain, noted that Fr Stefano 

                            ´                                                                  ´ 

                                                            ´ 

                                                                       ´                                                  ´ 

            never got an answer to his query. Mr O Criodhain referred the matter to Mr MacGleannain who, 

                                                                 ´ 

            by memorandum dated 14th  April 1983, replied: 



                  This   matter    needs    to  be   cleared    up.   I think   policy   should    be  to  prohibit   corporal 

                  punishment. Undoubtedly, however, members of staff in these schools have to restrain 

                  youngsters physically and a thin line divides physical restraint from corporal punishment. 



3.132       The matter was referred to the Chief State Solicitor. By letter dated 9th                  June 1983, the Deputy 



            Assistant Chief State Solicitor advised that rules made under the 1908 Act took precedence over 

            the rules for national schools, as they had the force of statute, while the rules for national schools, 

            although they had been judicially noticed, were not made pursuant to an Act. He suggested that 

            the matter should now be rectified by the provision of rules made pursuant to Section 3 of the Act 

            of 1941 for all certified industrial schools. 



3.133       On 3rd  August 1983, the Department of Education passed on to Fr Stefano the advices received 



            from the Deputy Assistant Chief State Solicitor. They wrote: 



                  The present Rules and Regulations for Certified Industrial Schools were approved by the 

                  Minister some fifty years ago and have, to a great extent, become out-moded in practice. 



                   I would be grateful if you would give earnest consideration to the question of statutory 

                   Rules for the  conduct of your school and would  draw up a schedule of  Rules deemed 

                  appropriate.  It  would  be  helpful  if  a  copy  of  these  draft  Rules  were  forwarded  to  the 

                   Department not later than the 30th        September, 1983. 



3.134       Fr Stefano gave evidence that nothing was done about this request. The School was being rebuilt, 

            and the management were apparently too busy to respond. 



3.135       It  would  seem  that  the  use  of  corporal  punishment  continued  in  Ferryhouse.  The  report  of  Mr 

            Cobalt of 13th    April 1989 records that the strap had been given to one boy and was witnessed. 



            84                                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 871-----------------------

           He wrote that a positive decision should be made about its use as a punishment for out-of-school 

           misbehaviour. In a note attached to the end of the 1989 Report, he advised that the use of corporal 

           punishment be discontinued ‘as the evidence is that is does not change deprived boys in their 

           anti-social behaviour ... and my experience confirms that’. 



3.136      In July 1989, a draft Circular (1/89) was prepared which, on the face of it, imposed a ban on the 

           use of corporal punishment in  industrial schools operating under the terms of the  1908 Act. In 

           evidence, Fr Stefano said he had no recollection of ever receiving this circular. He believed that, 

           if he had seen it, he would have remembered it, and would have discussed it. He presumed he 

           would have ceased the use of corporal punishment. Fr Stefano said that, when the 1989 draft 

           circular  first  came  to  his  attention  at  a  recent  meeting  in  preparation  for  his  evidence  to  the 

           Commission, they carried out an extensive trawl through the Ferryhouse documentation relating 

           to this period, but failed to disclose the original. 



3.137      The issue remained a live one in the early 1990s. At the end of a document concerning requests 

           for amendments to the School rulebook, dated 12th  April 1990, there is a handwritten comment by 



           the Inspector: 



                 It is noted that corporal punishment can still be administered in St Joseph’s. I raised this 

                 matter with the Director on my recent visit to the school and he would be strongly opposed 

                 to any move to alter this rule. 



3.138      At a meeting in 1993, the senior management team at Ferryhouse took a decision to stop using 

           the strap. 



3.139      What emerges from the foregoing is that there was concern about the use of corporal punishment 

           in Ferryhouse during the period of time under investigation, and attempts appear to have been 

           made in the late 1970s and 1980s to devise a policy in respect of its use, but there was little, if 

           any, regulation of this policy by the Department of Education. Ferryhouse was given leeway to 

           continue its use. 



           Conclusions on physical abuse 



3.140       1.  Corporal punishment was the option of first resort for problems. Its use was pervasive, 

                excessive, unpredictable and without regulation or supervision and for these reasons 

                became physically abusive. 



           2.   Frequent corporal punishment was the main method of maintaining control over the 

                boys and it created a climate of fear that was emotionally harmful. 



           3.   The system of discipline was the same as in Upton and the Rosminians accept that 

                there was excessive corporal punishment in Ferryhouse. 



           4.   Young  and  inexperienced  staff  used  fear  and  violence  to  assert  authority.  Severe 

                punishments were inflicted for a wide range of acts and omissions. 



           5.   Rules    and   regulations    governing     corporal    punishment      were   not  observed     and   a 

                punishment book was not maintained. The rules were regarded as merely guidelines, 

                with no provision made by the Department of Education for sanctions and reprimands 

                being issued to schools that ignored them. They were therefore ignored with impunity. 



           6.   Excessive, unfair and even capricious violence did lasting damage to many of the boys 

                in Ferryhouse. 



           7.   For most of the period under review, boys were punished for bed-wetting and were 

                subjected to nightly humiliation, degradation and fear. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 85 


----------------------- Page 872-----------------------

           Sexual abuse 



3.141      Two religious members of the Rosminian Institute and one layman were convicted of sexual abuse 

           of  boys  in  Ferryhouse.  Another  religious  who  served  in  Ferryhouse  was  convicted  of  a  crime 

           committed elsewhere, on a boy who had previously been a resident of Ferryhouse and who was 

           then  living  in  another  Rosminian  institution.  These  three  religious  offenders  served  in  senior 

           positions  in  Ferryhouse  and  the  layman  was  a  volunteer  there  for  different  periods  of  years 

           between 1968 and 1988. 



3.142      The  fact  that  sexual  abuse  occurred  was  not  in  dispute.  The  issue  that  the  Committee  had  to 

           decide   was    whether    the  abuse    was    systemic,   related   to  failures  of  the   Institution  or  of 

           management, or whether the abuse was to be viewed as episodic acts perpetrated by individuals, 

           unrelated to the nature of the Institution and its management. 



3.143      The most revealing evidence about sexual abuse came from Br Bruno,21  who worked as a Prefect 



           in Ferryhouse in the latter half of the 1970s, and who was convicted in 1999 of a number of counts 

           of serious sexual assault on four young men when they were boys in Ferryhouse. 



3.144      Br Bruno’s account described how he committed systematic and repeated abuse of boys during 

           the four years that he was a Prefect in Ferryhouse. He gave candid evidence at a private hearing 

           about his modus operandi, how he was able to escape detection (which surprised even himself), 

           and how he was able to frighten boys and prevent them from reporting him or talking about him. 

           He was frank about the nature of his acts, the circumstances in which he committed them, and 

           the extent of what he did. 



3.145      His account of his deeds, and what enabled him to perpetrate them, provided an insight into the 

           behaviour of a child sexual abuser. He operated in the late 1970s, when living conditions and the 

           building itself were better than in the old Ferryhouse. His testimony on what enabled him to abuse 

           for so long may well be relevant to the Institution at other times in the past, when conditions were 

           more likely to facilitate such coercive, furtive and abusive behaviour. 



           Convictions 



           Br Bruno 



3.146      Br Bruno was arrested in 1996 and charged with counts of buggery, indecent assault and assault 

           occasioning actual bodily harm, in respect of four people who had been in his care at Ferryhouse 

           between 1975 and 1979. He was the Brother in charge of ‘A’ group comprising some 36 to 40 

           boys aged between nine and 11 years. He appeared before the Circuit Criminal Court in 1999, 

           pleaded guilty to the offences charged and was sentenced to a term of nine years imprisonment 

           with the last three suspended. 



3.147      Br  Bruno’s  activities  as  a  perpetrator  of  sexual  abuse  in  Ferryhouse  came  to  light  in  the  late 

           1970s, following which he was dismissed from the Order, but the case was not reported to the 

           Gardai until the mid-1990s. 

                  ´ 



3.148      The disclosure occurred when two boys who had absconded from the Institution were hitching a 

           lift. The Resident Manager, Fr Stefano, saw them on the road, picked them up and brought them 

           back to Ferryhouse. As they travelled back to the School, one of the boys broke down, and told 

           Fr Stefano that Br Bruno  ‘was at him’. This had an immediate impact on Fr Stefano and, when 

           they got back to the School, he brought the boy to his office, cautioned him about the seriousness 

           of what he had said, and sought details from him. The boy stuck by his story and said that another 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 



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           boy would confirm what he was saying. He said that Br Bruno had started to abuse him when he 

           was in his unit, but that the abuse had continued when he was transferred to the senior group. 



3.149      The other  boy was sent  for, and  Fr Stefano described  how             ‘the two  boys sat  in my office  and 

           unfolded  to  me  a  most  horrific  story  of  what  had  been  happening  to  them’. The  boys  told  Fr 

           Stefano story after story of cruelty and abuse. The worst, as far as he was concerned, was the 

           abuse of one of the boys during the Pope’s visit to Ireland in 1979. The whole school went to see 

           the Pope in Limerick, except for one of the two boys who was not allowed to go because of his 

           record  of  absconding.  Br  Bruno  volunteered  to  stay  back  and  supervise  him.  The  boy  told  Fr 

           Stefano that, when the rest of the boys left,  ‘this Brother came and raped me in my bed’. 



3.150      Fr Stefano said that he had never suspected Br Bruno; indeed, he found him a very enthusiastic 

           member of staff. His dedication to the work seemed unquestionable: ‘this was a man who seemed 

           to be the last in bed and the first up every day’. Nevertheless, when the allegation was made, Fr 

           Stefano began to see it all very differently: 



                  ... the picture that comes to mind always to me is of a huge jigsaw puzzle that you are 

                  reasonably happy with but that there is a piece missing and while I had no suspicions of 

                  him, the minute those words were spoken, it was as if somebody had put the final piece 

                  in the jigsaw and all these activities that he was involved with started to make sense. 



3.151      He gave the example of an earlier discussion, at which one of the other Prefects said that a boy 

           had heard someone in the  dormitory the night before, and Br Bruno had  volunteered to check 

           it out. 



3.152      The  same  night  that  the  boys  disclosed  the  abuse,  Fr  Stefano  drove  the  short  distance  to 

           Glencomeragh to report to the Provincial. He returned to the School where he met Br Bruno the 

           next day. Br Bruno initially denied the allegations but, when he was told that the boys were willing 

           to confront him, he confessed. Br Bruno left the School and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital 

           in Dublin. Shortly afterwards, he was dismissed from the Order. 



3.153      Br  Bruno’s  career  in  Ferryhouse  began  in  the  mid-1970s  and  he  became  a  Prefect,  which  he 

           continued to be until the events of 1979. As Prefect, he was in charge of ‘A’ Group consisting of 

           36 to 40 boys aged between nine and 11 years. 



3.154      Br Bruno sexually abused numerous boys during his time in Ferryhouse. He had easy access to 

           and exclusive control over his group, who were located in the junior dormitory, which was separate 

           from the other residents and Brothers. This dormitory was located on the second floor of the east 

           wing. Br Bruno’s own room was located off the boys’ dormitory. These arrangements had been 

           put in place in the late 1960s, to replace the old system of two large dormitories housing junior 

           and senior boys. The boys were now separated into age groups in three smaller dormitories, each 

           accommodating up to 80 boys. 



3.155      Br Bruno’s preference was for pubescent boys, whom he selected with considerable care. Under 

           the pretence of checking whether they had wet their beds, he approached their beds at night. He 

           would fondle their genitals to see if they became aroused; weekends were more suitable times, 

           because there were fewer people around. 



3.156      When he had fixed on a boy whom he intended to abuse, he waited until the weekend and then 

           gave the boy an anti bed-wetting pill that he knew would have a soporific effect. He would spend 

           some time with his colleagues in the west wing, where he would socialise and have a drink, before 

           returning to the dormitory where he carried the boy to his private room and sexually abused him 

           before returning the boy to bed. 



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3.157      Br Bruno began his evidence to the Committee with some initial hesitation; he began to imply that 

           he had pleaded guilty to offences he had not committed. He said: 



                  I  fondled  them  in  their  bed  ...  It  began  when  I  was  moved  to  the  A  unit,  when  I  was 

                  checking beds at night time for wetting ... Just by touching it started ... The boys didn’t 

                  mind, they didn’t stop me ... I knew it was wrong but I continued ... 



3.158      At that stage, he denied anal rape: 



                  I never penetrated ... I would be sexually excited, yes ... it just ended at that ... 



3.159      The  Chairperson  then spoke  to  him  about  the  need for  him  to  give  a full  and  honest  account, 

           without trying to recant or change evidence accepted in court. After a brief adjournment for legal 

           consultation,  the  hearing  resumed,  and  Br  Bruno  gave  a  very  different  account  of  events.  He 

           now said: 



                  [That boy] was one of the boys that I pleaded guilty to in my criminal trial ... I pleaded 

                  guilty to buggery. I did take him into my bed and penetrated but not in a full extent but I 

                  did bugger, I did penetrate him ... I told the Gardai that I had abused [the other boy] ... I 

                                                                               ´ 

                  took him to my bed and I penetrated him ... [The third boy], I pleaded guilty to fondling, 

                  abusing him in that way. 



3.160      He  acknowledged  that  these  acts  of  abuse  happened  on  more  than  one  occasion.  He  also 

           accepted that these were not the only boys that he sexually abused: 



                  There was one or two other boys that I took there but the names are gone from me at 

                  the moment. 



3.161      He was asked to give some estimate as to when the sexual abuse began, and he replied: 



                  The fondling and the feeling at bedtime went on a few months after I taking charge of the 

                  group. It went on at that time. The serious matters that were dealt with in the criminal trial 

                  went on in ... [1978/79] ... up to that moment that the Superior ... it was reported to the 

                  Superior and he called me in and I admitted to it ... Four, five boys, I think. 



3.162      He took charge of the dormitory in the mid-1970s, and until Fr Stefano confronted him in December 

            1979 there were some four years of abuse. When asked to estimate the number of boys he had 

           abused, he answered that, if he was being asked to estimate the numbers he had groped and 

           interfered with,  ‘It could be dozens, yes ... Yes it would be dozens’. When asked to try to put a 

           more precise figure on it he replied,  ‘over maybe 20, over a period of years’. 



3.163      The fondling took place during the week. The acts of penetration tended to occur at weekends. 

           He explained: 



                  I fondled them ... I carried them to my room ... left them in my bed and fondled them ... I 

                  attempted myself to penetrate them ... It was a weekend basis. Friday, Saturday night ... 

                  I was able to go over to the community room ... in the community room we would have a 

                  social evening and I would have a drink. 



3.164      There was a community room upstairs in the west wing, where the members of the Order could 

           relax. It had  ‘comfortable chairs, a cocktail cabinet and a big television screen’. Here, he would 

           have  a  couple  of  pints  of  Guinness  and  perhaps  a  couple  of  shorts:          ‘I  may  have  been  a  bit 

           unsteady, but not falling down ... they would know that I had some drink taken’. He would then 

           return to his room where he would also ‘take a little tipple’ from bottles of spirits received as gifts 

           that he kept there. He added: 



                  I should never have been left in the unit on my own, solely on my own and isolated from 

                  the rest of the community. There was no such thing as shift work, night staff, night staff 



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                 even  for  a  weekend,  all  of  those  things  should  have  been  in  place  in  a  group  like  the 

                 group that I was in. 



 3.165     He then described what happened when he returned to the dormitory and took a boy to his room: 



                 ... I left them in the bed and I fondled them and penetrated them ... I felt they were asleep 

                 and they didn’t know ... On waking up they just remained limp, I am sure terrified of what 

                 was going on and preferred to remain in that state ... Those boys that I took to my room 

                 were boys that were sleeping ... I selected those ... I felt they were what I wanted. It was 

                 weekly ... those boys were terrified during that period when I took them to my room. 



 3.166     He went on to explain why the boys were so deeply asleep: 



                 Some of them were on medication for bed-wetting ... They took their tablet and it made 

                 them sleepy ... All the bed-wetters would be on them ... The nurse would allot the nightly 

                 take every day to me and I would distribute it to them ... I would have maybe two or three 

                 days supply of the tablet for all of the boys. 



 3.167     As he knew which boys had taken a tablet, he knew which ones would be drowsy. These tablets 

           allowed him to choose those boys who would be asleep and remain asleep. When he was finished 

           with a boy, he took him back to his own bed in the dormitory. His activities show how planned 

           and pre-meditated the abuse was. 



 3.168     The abuse continued undetected for four years. When asked whether he was concerned that the 

           boys would tell, he said: 



                 At the back of my mind you would think—you would know very well that it would come 

                 out and somebody would reveal it and they did. 



 3.169     He told the Investigation Committee,  ‘I am sure the other boys in the dormitory knew what was 

           going on’. However, such was his control over them that they never told. In Fr Stefano’s words, 

           ‘quite a lot of the boys who went through his unit ... have told me of the control that he was able 

           to keep when he locked that door at night time ... he had them terrorised’. 



 3.170     A number of reasons as to how the abuse continued were explored with Br Bruno. He agreed 

           that, in his early days as Prefect, he frequently used corporal punishment: 



                 Yes, I hit the boys, I struck the boys. I found certainly at the beginning I had no other way 

                 of keeping control, keeping order, keeping day to day things running. 



 3.171     He agreed that he had a reputation as a Prefect and the boys were afraid of him, and that this 

           facilitated his ability to do these things without being reported. 



 3.172     He agreed that the job of Prefect with complete unsupervised control over 35 to 40 boys was a 

           corrupting influence: 



                 It changed me to a different type of person ... a monster person that was the effect that 

                 it had. 



 3.173     Br Bruno claimed that he had no attraction to boys before he went into Ferryhouse: 



                 In all my years before I went into the Rosminians I had no attraction towards the younger 

                 boys  ... I  had my  girlfriends  up to  going to  the  Rosminian Order  ... the  boys  thing just 

                 started when I went into Ferryhouse. 



 3.174     Yet, within Ferryhouse, he was unable to control his attraction to pubescent boys and claimed 

           that he tried to get help: 



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                 I went for advice before with [a senior member of the Order] and we chatted. At the end 

                 ... at the breaking point that I went to him and discussed it with him. I discussed it with 

                 him after coming out of the Order too. 



3.175     The Investigation Committee was unable to corroborate this assertion. He remained convinced, 

           moreover, that other members of the Community knew what he was up to. He also asserted that 

           ‘it was widespread’. He explained: 



                 Like  when  other  boys  were  talking  and  were  giving  out  about  other  members  of  the 

                 Community, I felt they were being abused by other members. 



3.176      He was asked if he thought it was fairly safe to do it because it was almost permitted within the 

           Institution, and he replied, ‘Yes ...’. 



3.177      He  later  added:  ‘They  [the  boys]  were  mentioning  that  other  members  of  the  community  were 

           abusing the boys’. 



3.178     This assertion, that abuse was so widespread that it seemed to be permitted, does not accord 

          with the way in which Fr Stefano took instant action when the abuse perpetrated by Br Bruno was 

           disclosed to him. However, Br Bruno had been abusing for about four years before it was reported 

          to Fr Stefano, who was completely unaware that he  ‘was living with an abuser’. 



3.179     A complainant who was in Ferryhouse in the mid to late 1970s described Br Bruno as  ‘just bad ... 

           he  was  just  evil  out  and  out’.  He  told  the  Committee  he  first  met  Bruno  in  the  mid-1970s  in 

          Woodstown,  in  Waterford.  This  was  before  Br  Bruno  had  joined  the  Rosminians,  and  he  was 

          visiting Woodstown with his friend who was a priest. The complainant described how Br Bruno 

           approached him when he was washing his shirt in the sink and, under the pretence of helping to 

          wash the shirt, started rubbing his chest and: 



                 From that he went on to put his hands down towards my privates and, basically, that was 

                 the first time I met [Br Bruno]. 



3.180      His next encounter with Br Bruno occurred when the latter was posted to Ferryhouse. Under the 

           pretence of checking for bedwetting, Br Bruno would fondle him under the bed sheets and bring 

           him to the toilet, where he ‘would start massaging, that's your privates like, and it would start from 

           there’. He also described how Br Bruno would take him to his bedroom and then he would sexually 

           abuse him. He said there was no penetration involved. 



3.181     The abuse happened regularly ‘every couple of weeks’, so regularly in fact that the witness thought 

           it was normal:  ‘I thought this is the way life is, this happens to everybody’. The complainant also 

          witnessed others being abused. He described how, on occasion, he walked into Br Bruno’s room 

           on the way to the toilet and saw that Br Bruno  ‘had two guys there and they were playing with 

           each other’. He also attested to the fear Br Bruno used to instil in him. He had an odd tactic of 

           sticking drawing pins into his thigh whenever he saw Br Bruno approaching. He explained,  ‘It just 

           took away the fear. Me being in pain was better than the fear and the fear of him’. He described 

           how Br Bruno would never leave him alone with any visitors, as he might have to prevent him 

          from telling them about the abuse. 



3.182      Br Bruno denied he had abused this witness, but the witness’s recollections mirrored the known 

           events. As the witness claimed, Br Bruno did visit Woodstown before he became a Brother and 

           he  did  reappear  as  a  member  of  the  Order.  The  events  described  in  the  dormitory  and  in  the 

           Brother’s room are not dissimilar to the account Br Bruno gave of his own activities. 



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3.183      Another complainant from the same period described a similar incident of nocturnal intrusion into 

           his bed. He was in ‘A’ group which was supervised by [Br Bruno]. He said that one night, a couple 

           of weeks after he had arrived at the school he woke up in pain. He was being sexually abused . 

           He could not see who it was and he started to scream. This woke the boy next to him who turned 

           on the light. The complainant blamed this boy but he denied it. 



3.184      The next day, the mystery of the nocturnal intruder was solved. The complainant told another boy 

           what had happened, and the boy said,  ‘This is the start of it. He won’t stop ... It will go on and on’. 



3.185      He said that other boys told him ‘It was Br Bruno himself, he does it to all of us’.’ 



3.186      The complainant ran away and, on his return to the School, said that he had reported the fact that 

           Br Bruno was at his bed to two staff members, but nothing happened. Neither could recall this 

           complainant reporting the matter to them. 



3.187      The witness also gave a vivid account of seeing boys being carried to Br Bruno’s room: 



                  He would come out of his room, late at night, he would go to his bed, that bed, he would 

                  go into the back dormitories, he would come back out, sometimes carrying a boy. The 

                  boys would be asleep. Their limbs would be hanging down like so (indicating), their head 

                  to one side and he would be carrying them in his arms, he would be bringing them to his 

                  room. The next morning you would enquire as to where the boy was and you would be 

                  told that he was sick, he won’t be in school today. 



3.188      He described how Br Bruno would give the boys tablets for bed-wetting. Sometimes, he would 

           give them just one each, and on other occasions he would give them three. These had the effect 

           of causing the boys to go to sleep. He recalled one occasion when he did not take the tablets and 

           how he woke later that night to find Br Bruno sexually abusing him: 



                  I started crying and Br Bruno came up to me and he said to me “What's wrong with you, 

                  child, you are dreaming, child, go to sleep”. That next morning when I was in the toilet 

                  and I came out and I was after getting dressed and everything, I went to get the tablets 

                  and they were gone. I don't know where they had gone to, they were gone. 



3.189      The number of complainants who gave evidence about Br Bruno’s activity was not indicative of 

           the number whom he abused. He molested dozens of boys. He himself remarked that the only 

           ones he was likely to have recalled were those whom he raped. None of the four boys who were 

           named  in  the  indictment  as  being  victims  of  this  crime  gave  evidence  before  the  Investigation 

           Committee. It would appear that the number of boys who he raped over the period of four years 

           when he was in Ferryhouse was greater than he remembered. 



3.190      In a trial that took place in the mid-1990s, a victim named in Br Bruno’s indictment himself faced 

           trial on charges of sexual abuse of children. Mr Cumin22             pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old 



           boy. He had previously been convicted of rape in Britain. In mitigation, his counsel submitted that 

           he had been sexually abused while in care, and this abuse had had disastrous consequences on 

           his own sexuality. The court jailed him for six years. 



3.191      The  lessons  learned  from  this  case  can  be  applied  to  the  question  posed  at  the  start  of  this 

           section: was the abuse systemic, related to failures of the Institution or of management, or was it 

           episodic, namely, acts perpetrated by an individual, unrelated to the nature of the Institution and 

           its management? 



           22 This is a pseudonym. 



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3.192      Fr Stefano’s comment provides the best clue and may be repeated: 



                  The  picture  that  comes  to  mind  always  to  me  is  of  a  huge  jigsaw  puzzle  that  you  are 

                 reasonably happy with but that there is a piece missing and while I had no suspicions of 

                 him, the minute those words were spoken, it was as if somebody had put the final piece 

                 in the jigsaw and all these activities that he was involved with started to make sense. 



3.193      The fact that the Institution had a history of keeping the stories of known abusers secret must 

           have  contributed  to  Fr  Stefano’s  unawareness  of  the  real  possibility  of  abuse  in  a  residential 

           institution for young boys. Because the archives recording the discovery of previous abusers were 

           not available, this meant the Institution could not learn from the past. 



3.194      •     This   case   shows     how   easy   it  was   for  an  abuser    to  gain   access    to  the   boys   in 

                 Ferryhouse. 



           •    Br Bruno’s activities went undiscovered for four years, despite the fact that many boys 

                 were raped and a much greater number were fondled and groomed in his selection 

                 process. 



           •    Br Bruno’s activities happened at a time when other sexual abuse was happening in 

                 Ferryhouse and when improper access to the boys was a feature of the Institution. 



           •    The extent of these activities suggests that boys felt unable to report abuse. 



           Mr Garnier23 



3.195      Mr Garnier was convicted of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy from Ferryhouse Industrial School 

           on a number of dates in the mid-1970s. 



3.196      Mr Garnier lived and worked in Clonmel and was a voluntary worker in the School for many years. 

           He had free access everywhere  in the Institution, even in the dormitories when  the boys were 

           going to bed and afterwards. He had particular contact with ‘C’ Group, which was managed by Br 

           Leone, who was a friend of his. Another man from Clonmel, named Mr Tablis,24  had similar access 



           on the basis of his friendship with Fr Lucio, the Resident Manager. 



3.197      Fr Paolo recalled Mr Garnier and Mr Tablis being there in the 1970s, but did not remember them 

           being there in the mid-1960s, although it seems that Mr Garnier certainly had access over many 

           years, which could indeed have extended back to that earlier period. Fr Paolo was suspicious of 

           the two men. He thought that they had no business being in any of the dormitories, and made 

           sure that they did not come to his group, ‘A’ Group. Although Fr Paolo was careful in what he said 

           about these men, he agreed that it was inappropriate for them to be in any dormitory, and that 

           his  concern  would  have  been  less  if  they  had  been  in  the  downstairs  gym  or  a  ground-floor 

           recreation area. 



3.198      Despite Fr Paolo’s concern about the incursions into the boys’ dormitory, and his determination 

           to keep such men out of the one under his control, he did not interfere in what another Brother 

           was  doing.  The  convention  of  allowing  colleagues  to  run  their  ‘empires’  as  they  thought  fit 

           remained paramount, even when the safety of the boys was an issue. 



3.199      Fr  Stefano    arrived  in  the  mid-1970s.    He   said   that Mr   Garnier   was   someone      who   had   an 

           involvement  with  Ferryhouse  for  many  years  and  that  his  access  was  in  two  main  areas.  On 

           Sunday nights, he used to come and play cards with the boys  ‘and he would go up along to the 

           dormitory with them, it would be mainly the senior dormitory, from what I recollect’. He never heard 



           23 This is a pseudonym. 

           24 This is a pseudonym. 



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           anyone make a complaint about Mr Garnier and did not at the time think that there was anything 

            inappropriate in his having access to dormitories. He  ‘never had any reason to suspect anything 

            wrong    was   going    on’.  He   said  local   community      helpers   were    needed     and   appreciated     in 

            Ferryhouse,     and   the  two   men    were    accepted    in  that  context.   They    had   a  long   history   of 

            involvement in the School ‘probably because there were so few people to do anything’. Outsiders 

           were involved in the sports day and in fundraising, and people were in and out all the time. He 

           said that it could happen that the Brother in charge of the senior dormitory would be required to 

           drive  a  distance  of  some  miles  to  collect  a  boy  who  had  absconded,  for  example.  In  such 

           circumstances,  he  thought  it  was  likely  that  Mr  Garnier  would  have  volunteered  to  stay  on.  Fr 

           Stefano accepted  that he  was perhaps  somewhat naive,  in not  being uncomfortable  about the 

                                                                             ¨ 

           access that Mr Garnier was permitted. He suggested that, if there was an error of judgement or 

           a lack of alertness, it should be seen against a background of involvement by the local people in 

            helping Ferryhouse. 



3.200      There is  an enormous difference between  involvement by the  community in the running  of the 

            Institution,  and  allowing  outsiders  to  enter  the  boys’  dormitories  and  to  spend  time  there  on  a 

           frequent basis. Clearly, the Brother in charge of the dormitory, Br Leone, should not have permitted 

           the access, but he happened to be the contact in the School on whom Mr Garnier relied, and who 

            introduced him to the School in the first place. 



3.201       Mr Garnier told the Gardai how his contact with Ferryhouse began: 

                                           ´ 



                  I know Br Leone for years. A lot of the boys went to the technical school. That is boys 

                  from Ferryhouse School.  I saw Br Leone bringing them  to school and I got  chatting to 

                  them. That’s how it started roughly 28 years ago. 



3.202       Fr Paolo told the Committee he was uneasy about what was going on, and while he would not 

            have allowed the man into the dormitory under his charge, he did not make his concerns known. 

           As in many other cases, Brothers did not interfere with what other Brothers were doing. 



3.203       Before Fr Stefano took over as Resident Manager in the mid-1970s, Fr Lucio was in charge, and 

            he permitted similar access to his friend, Mr Tablis. With such connections over such a period of 

           time, it is unlikely that any action would have been taken, even if Fr Paolo had reported his unease 

           about the access enjoyed by these outsiders. 



3.204       Fr  Ricardo25  was  present  in  the  School  for  two  periods  during  the  1970s  and  1980s.  He  gave 



           evidence to the Committee, and he also did not see anything inappropriate about Mr Garnier’s 

           access. He said: 



                  He used to play a lot of cards, particularly Friday evening and he would help Br Leone in 

                  playing cards, that basically was his job. Sometimes he would lock up the unit or come 

                  up with Br Leone and he might come up to the dormitory but generally he would go off 

                  then before Br Leone would turn the lights out. And I think Br Leone would have seen Mr 

                  Garnier, or [Christian name], as I would have known him, as some kind of a help, to help 

                  him to get the boys to bed. 



3.205       Mr  Garnier  confirmed  to  the  Gardai  the  level  of  his  involvement  with  the  School.  He  visited 

                                                        ´ 

            regularly about once a week. He would play table tennis with the boys, and would play cards; he 

           worked  at  the  School  sports  day  and  helped  with  the  pantomimes  and  the  Strawberry  Fair.  In 

           addition, he said: 



                  I’d take some boys out for drives. About four or five boys at a time. I had my own car. We 

                  went to Youghal once and the steam rally in Upton. 



           25  This is a pseudonym. 



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3.206      The boys would also visit him in his house in Clonmel after visiting the cinema, and he would give 

           them ‘a drink of minerals and maybe some money’. 



3.207      He mostly remembered the boys in the older group in Br Leone’s care who were about 14 or 16 

           years old. He was with the seniors more than the juniors but he had contact with all the groups. 

           He bought sweets and gifts for the boys. Mr Garnier denied allegations made by boys that he had 

           fondled  and  masturbated  them,  but  he  did  admit  having  had  sexual  contact  with  two  boys  in 

           Ferryhouse. The first one happened at a time when Br Leone was in charge of the group, and Fr 

           Lucio was the Resident Manager. The incident happened in the ‘C’ Group dormitory. He described 

           how he had kissed the boy and sexually abused him. 



3.208      The abuse with the other boy followed the same format. He was in ‘C’ Group, which was under 

           the stewardship of Br Leone. 



3.209      A  witness  resident  in  Ferryhouse  in  1970s  alleged  in  his  evidence  to  the  Committee  that  Mr 

           Garnier sexually abused him. Mr Garnier was not represented at the hearing. The witness said 

           that Mr Garnier was a friend of Br Leone and that he would visit the School regularly. He spent a 

           lot of time in the junior dormitory and only left when the lights were turned off: 



                  He  used  to  come  into  the  school  and  he  would  be  up  in  the  juniors,  upstairs  with  the 

                  juniors. He  would be buying  sweets, he would  buy torches and  he would buy  different 

                  things for you. 



3.210      He also visited Mr Garnier’s house in Clonmel: 



                  We had gone to the cinema and we were on our way back, thumbing likewise. [Mr Garnier] 

                  pulls up and says “you can come up to the gaff for a few cigarettes”. Deadly, you know. 

                  We went up and he gave us 10 smokes. 



3.211      The abuse that he alleged happened followed a similar pattern to that admitted by Mr Garnier in 

           his Garda statement, which he confirmed as correct through his solicitor. 



3.212      Mr Garnier’s involvement with the School continued throughout this complainant’s time there. 



           Br Sergio26 



3.213      Br  Sergio  was  convicted  of  sexual  assault  in  2002.  The  offences  were  committed  at  locations 

           in  Clonmel  and  Dublin  in  the  early  1990s.  Br  Sergio  received  a  sentence  of  three  and  a  half 

           years’ imprisonment. 



3.214      The victim of one assault was a former resident of Ferryhouse, who was living in the Rosminian 

           aftercare centre in Dublin at the time the assaults took place. He was aged 18 at the time of the 

           first assault. The accused, Br Sergio, worked in the aftercare centre. The victim complained to the 

           Rosminian  authorities,  and  the  Provincial  confronted  Br  Sergio  with  the  allegations.  Br  Sergio 

           admitted his guilt and was immediately removed from the centre. He was admitted for treatment 

           at Our Lady of Victory in Stroud in the mid-1990s, and he was treated there for a number months, 

           although he remained in follow-up care for a number of years. He applied for and was granted a 

           dispensation  from  the  Order.  In  the  late  1990s,  the  victim  of  the  sexual  assault  contacted  the 

           Rosminians, to tell them that he was reporting the matter to the Gardai. The Rosminians informed 

                                                                                               ´ 

           the Department of this, and told them that they would co-operate fully with any Garda inquiry. 



3.215      Br  Sergio  had  previously  worked  in  Ferryhouse  from  the  mid-1970s  to  the  late  1980s.  In  his 

           evidence to the Committee, he said that he had been appointed Prefect in the late 1970s, when 

           he was given charge of ‘B’ Group, which was composed of about 37 boys aged between 10 and 



           26  This is a pseudonym. 



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           12. He took over from Fr Antonio, who had been transferred to ‘A’ Group to replace Br Bruno who 

           had left the School suddenly, as a result of the discovery of his activities as a sexual abuser. He 

           became aware of the reason for Br Bruno’s departure  ‘a week or two’ after his departure. Given 

           the age of the boys in his group, and the length of time he was in charge, his group would have 

           contained many  of the children  who were  sexually abused by  Br Bruno or  who were  aware of 

           his activities. 



3.216      One complainant who was present in Ferryhouse in the late 1980s alleged that Br Sergio sexually 

           abused him. He told the Committee that he was taking a shower after he had been brought back 

           to the School after attempting to abscond. Br Sergio was supervising him and molested him in 

           the shower. 



3.217      He also described other less serious instances of improper behaviour, when Br Sergio  ‘put his 

           hands on me’. He alleged that Br Sergio would rub his knee while driving him down to see his 

           relatives. 



3.218      Br Sergio denied these allegations, both through his counsel during the cross-examination of the 

           witness and directly during his own evidence, when he described them as  ‘totally untrue’. 



3.219      Br Sergio denied abusing children in Ferryhouse or even being attracted to them. When asked if 

           he  had  ‘inappropriate  sexual  feelings  towards  the  young  boys  under  your  care,’ he  replied,  ‘It 

           would be very wrong to say that, it would be very wrong to say that’. 



3.220      He was also very reluctant to talk about the treatment he had received in Stroud because of his 

           abusive activities. He said that it was a very traumatic time and: 



                  I  don’t  have  any  recollection  of  what  I  would  have  said  or  what  and  I  don’t  have  any 

                  papers left from it at all. 



3.221      He was also uncomfortable about being asked about his knowledge of Br Bruno’s departure in 

           the late 1970s. 



3.222      Br   Sergio   vigorously    denied   any   abuse    during   the   time  when    he   was   in  Ferryhouse.     His 

           subsequent  conviction  cannot  be  regarded  as  evidence  that  he  committed  abuse  at  an  earlier 

           time and in different circumstances. 



           Fr Valerio 



3.223      Fr Valerio, a Rosminian priest, was convicted of assault, including indecent assault in respect of 

           two boys who had been in his care in Ferryhouse in the early 1970s, when he was a Prefect in 

           the School in charge of a group of boys. He received a suspended sentence. The trial judge took 

           into  account,  in  mitigation  of  sentence,  the  fact  that  the  accused  had  himself  been  a  pupil  in 

           Ferryhouse and had been sexually and physically abused there.  The Court of Criminal Appeal 

           agreed that the accused: 



                  came from a very difficult background – a background which the Court is all too familiar 

                  with  as  representing  a  cycle  of  abuse  which  notoriously  has  gone  on  in  cases  of  this 

                  nature from one generation to another and the respondent in this case was part of that 

                  rather dreadful cycle. 



3.224      The first allegation of sexual abuse against Fr Valerio was made in the early 1980s, when a 15- 

           year-old boy from the United Kingdom complained to a priest there, Fr Penrose27, that Fr Valerio 



           had attempted to ‘embrace and caress’ him while he was on an Irish holiday with Fr Valerio, who 

           was working in Wales at this time and the boy was one of his parishioners. Fr Penrose wrote to 



           27 This is a pseudonym. 



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           the Provincial, who spoke to Fr Valerio. There is no record of how Fr Valerio responded to the 

            allegation, but the Provincial left instructions for his successor as Provincial not to let Fr Valerio 

            go to Wales again. 



3.225      This  allegation  resurfaced  in  the  early  1990s,  when  the  victim  contacted  the  Rosminians  after 

            seeing  a  television  programme  on  clerical  abusers.  He  inquired  whether  Fr  Valerio  was  still  a 

            priest. When he was told that Fr Valerio was still in Holy Orders, he threatened to expose him in 

           the media unless he left the priesthood. The Provincial, Fr Stefano, met Fr Valerio, who was now 

            in  parochial  work,  and  he  admitted  his  guilt.  He  was  removed  immediately  and  admitted  to  a 

            psychiatric hospital and later to Our Lady of Victory, Stroud, for assessment and treatment. He 

           was told that he would never be allowed to work in a position where he would have access to 

           young     people.   In  the   early  1990s,    he   applied    for, and    was   granted,    a  leave   of  absence 

            (exclaustration) from the Order. In the mid-1990s, he applied to be laicised, and his application 

           was granted. 



3.226      The Rosminians received further complaints of sexual abuse against Fr Valerio in the mid-1990s, 

            and reported the matter to the Department of Education. 



3.227       Fr Valerio’s first involvement with Ferryhouse was in the mid-1950s when, at age nine, he was 

            committed to the Institution by the courts. He remained there until the eve of his 16th                birthday. He 



            alleged in his Garda interview that he was sexually abused during his time there. After leaving, 

            he joined the Order in the mid-1960s. He was posted to Ferryhouse as Assistant Prefect in the 

            late 1960s. He took over charge of ‘B’ Group, which was composed of boys aged between 14 

            and 15 years, from Fr Antonio. At the time, Br Andino28  was in charge of ‘A’ Group, and Br Leone 



           was in charge of ‘C’ Group. As Prefect, he slept in a room just off the dormitory where the boys 

            slept. He remained in this position until he left the School, four years later, to begin his studies for 

           the priesthood. Other members of staff present during this period described him as a hardworking 

            albeit strict Brother  ‘who seemed to me to have a great rapport with the lads in general’. He was 

            ordained in the late 1970s, and spent the next 10 years as a religious teacher. In the early 1990s, 

            he was engaged in parochial work in Dublin and Wales. 



3.228       Fr  Valerio  did  not  give  evidence  to  the  Committee,  he  lives  abroad,  but  he  did  have  a  legal 

            representative present. Information about his activities can be ascertained from: the offences to 

           which he pleaded guilty in court; statements of admission made to the Gardai; admissions made 

                                                                                                          ´ 

           to  his  Superiors in  the  Order;  and concessions  made  by  his counsel  on  his  instructions at  the 

            private hearings. These sources make clear that he sexually abused at least seven children while 

            he worked as a Prefect in Ferryhouse, and a further two children after he left the School. In a 

            statement made to the Gardai in the late 1990s, Fr Valerio admitted abusing boys in his group in 

                                                ´ 

            Ferryhouse. However, he stressed that he never used violence. He told the Gardai: 

                                                                                                                ´ 



                  It was possible that the likely place that I assaulted these boys was in my own private 

                  room  in  Ferryhouse.  I  would  have  masturbated  these  boys.  These  boys  would  then 

                  masturbate me ... After these acts were over I would have little conversation with them. 



3.229       He described how he once brought two boys to his private room on the pretence that he wanted 

           to give them a prize for swimming. The prize was a pair of swimming togs, which he gave to them 

            and asked them to put on. He also described how he brought one of these boys to his room on 

            another occasion and sexually assaulted him. 



3.230      The Gardai interviewed him on a number of occasions, concerning a series of new allegations of 

                         ´ 

            sexual abuse that had been made against him. He accepted that he had sexually abused the two 

            individuals  in  question,  but  differed  in  his  account  of  the  abuse.  He  stated  that  he  engaged  in 



           28  This is a pseudonym. 



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            mutual masturbation with a boy, at his mother’s house, after the boy had left Ferryhouse but he 

           denied  rape.  Fr  Valerio  admitted  that  he  had  sexually  abused  the  second  person.  The  Gardai 

                                                                                                                                ´ 

           subsequently interviewed this victim, who alleged that Fr Valerio abused him in Ferryhouse, but 

            Fr Valerio denied that the abuse took place in the School. He told the Gardai that, when he was 

                                                                                                         ´ 

           studying for the priesthood in Dublin, he was sent to Ferryhouse on an errand and, while he was 

           there, he was asked to take the boy to Dublin. Instead of taking the boy straight to Dublin, he took 

            him to his home and sexually abused him there. 



3.231      One of the victims whom Fr Valerio admitted abusing in Ferryhouse gave evidence. He was in 

           the School in the early 1970s: 



                  My encounter with Valerio was more by chance than anything else, you know. I had an 

                  occasion, I believe, to come across a situation where he was quite violent to somebody 

                  else and I intervened. From that incident I was put to his room, told to go to his room, 

                  which I did. I waited for a little while and he came in, and just a rage, you know, a physical 

                  rage on him. He started getting my clothes off and, again, the same thing. It wasn't like 

                  Fr  Daniele29   where  it  was  more  psychological,  you  know,  more  the  fear  over  you,  but 



                  Valerio was more the doing of the fear; the beating, the grunting, the dragging, the tearing. 

                  He was just like, I do not know, the eyes of him, he was like a man who was possessed, 

                  you know. He got me ... down and he beat my face off the ground. He done his best to 

                  penetrate me, I don't believe to this day he ever did it. 



3.232      Another  witness  who  was  present  in  the  early  1970s  gave  evidence  that  Fr  Valerio  started  to 

           abuse  him  when  he  was transferred  to  ‘B’  Group.  He  said  that  the abuse  happened  regularly, 

           about once a month, and that Fr Valerio would come up to his bed at night and  ‘get all pally pally 

            with you’ and bring him up to his room where he was forced to perform oral sex. He said he was 

            not the only one who was brought to Fr Valerio’s room at night. It happened regularly, and he 

           believed all the boys were aware of what was going on. Fr Valerio was represented at this hearing 

           by counsel, but did not cross-examine the witness. 



3.233      One witness said that one night, while he was crossing the yard, Fr Valerio saw him and called 

            him into the office, where he tried to sexually abuse him. He refused to co-operate and was beaten 

           as a result. He felt that he was singled out for punishment after that. 



3.234       During the cross-examination of this witness, counsel for Fr Valerio stated that Fr Valerio denied 

           the allegation, and further: 



                  That he is certain that if any attempt at indecency occurred – and he has admitted in other 

                  circumstances an offence of indecency, but he says in your case that if any attempt at 

                  indecency occurred it was never in the context of violence or associated with violence. 



3.235      Another witness gave evidence that Fr Valerio abused him after he had left the School: 



                  Br Valerio, while I was actually in the School he never actually touched me but when I left 

                  School I was in my uncle's house ... and he appeared at the door one day and he asked 

                  me  to  come  for  a  drive  or  whatever,  I  presumed  I  was  going  back  to  the  School  or 

                  something for some reason. He took me to his elderly mother's house ... and he asked 

                  me to stay the night or something there. I presumed I was going to have my own bedroom. 

                  I went to bed and he followed me in and he actually got into the same bed with me. I can't 

                  remember, I think it was sometime in the early 1970s, I can't remember the exact dates. 

                  It  was  around  Easter  or  something.  He  put  me  to  bed  and  he  got  in  with  me  and  he 

                  proceeded to fondle me and touch me and he actually masturbated me and made me 



           29  This is a pseudonym. 



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                  do the same thing to him. That was the one occasion. He never touched me before or 

                  after that. 



3.236      Counsel for Fr Valerio did not accept or reject the allegations but, in his statements to the Gardai, 

                                                                                                                              ´ 

           Fr Valerio accepted abusing other boys in this fashion. 



3.237      •     This man served as a Prefect in Ferryhouse for four years until he left to study for the 

                 priesthood. He exploited his position for the purpose of sexual abuse. 



           •     In  Ferryhouse  the  system  allowed  individuals  to  gain  absolute  control  over  large 

                 groups of children so that they could do what they liked with little risk of detection. 



           Other cases 



           Mr Tablis 



3.238      Mr Tablis was another outsider who worked in Clonmel and who had easy access to the boys in 

           Ferryhouse.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  had  quite  the  same  access  to  the  dormitories  as  Mr 

           Garnier had, but there are allegations against him in respect of sexual impropriety. Mr Tablis was 

           a friend of Fr Lucio, the Resident Manager before Fr Stefano. Fr Ricardo described the situation 

           as he recalled it: 



                  Mr Tablis , to my understanding, again was involved with [local club] and they used to 

                  bring the boys to ... a daily outing, where they would collect them in the cars and bring 

                  them to ... Mr Tablis would call alright, but I think he was a friend of Fr Lucio’s, he got to 

                  know the boys, but I think it was more got to do with the ... He wouldn’t be playing cards 

                  so much, I wouldn’t recall him being up in through the school generally. 



3.239      Fr Antonio recalled that Mr Tablis  ‘was very friendly with Fr Lucio, he might take two or three of 

            the lads off for a spin in the car and all that kind of stuff, but ... didn’t have any specific role’. 



3.240      Fr Paolo, who was a Prefect, was uneasy about Mr Tablis, just as he was about Mr Garnier. His 

           determination to keep outsiders away from the boys in his group extended as much to Mr Tablis 

           as it did to Mr Garnier. 



           Mr Ducat30 



3.241      A witness who was present in the School from the latter half of the 1970s alleged that he was 

           sexually  abused  by  Br  Bruno  and  Mr  Ducat.  Mr  Ducat  was  a  local  man  who  used  to  visit  the 

           School regularly, doing odd jobs. Fr Antonio gave evidence that Mr Ducat would regularly drive 

           the boys to concerts. The witness alleged that, on one occasion, Mr Ducat asked him if he wanted 

           to go for a drive in his car. He said that he would like to and they went for a drive around the 

           football field. They then left the School grounds, and Mr Ducat stopped the car on the Waterford 

           road: 



                  He pulled his car in and he tried to get me to commit a sex act for him ... I opened the 

                  door and ran back towards the School but to my surprise I was told I won't be going home 

                  again because I had tried to run away. Ducat had gone back and told whoever was in 

                  charge  that  I  had  tried  to  abscond.  In  fact  I  didn't  try  to  abscond.  There  was  no  point 

                  reporting the matter because there was never anything done about the matters when you 

                  reported them. 



3.242      Fr Stefano was asked about Mr Ducat. He said that he had never received a complaint about him, 

           but that, in the late 1970s: 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 885-----------------------

                  I was tipped off by a detective in Clonmel that they were worried about him, you know, 

                  and I sent for him immediately and he was never allowed in the gates of that School after 

                  that again. 



           Documented cases 



           Br Gilberto31 



3.243      Br Gilberto served in Ferryhouse as Assistant Prefect in the mid-1940s, and he returned there as 

           a student from the early to the mid-1950s. He was sent to Upton in the mid-1950s and, shortly 

           afterwards,  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  been  sexually  abusing  boys  there.  A  fuller  account 

           appears in the Upton chapter. 



           Br Emilio32 



3.244      Br Emilio joined the Rosminians in the late 1940s, but left the Novitiate at Kilmurry after only three 

           months ‘against [the] counsel of [his] Novice Master who thought his decision to leave imprudent 

           and  his  judgement  premature’.  He  returned  to  the  Rosminians  three  years  later  and  was  re- 

           admitted to the Novitiate in the early 1950s. He was sent to Ferryhouse in the mid-1950s, and he 

           remained there until he was dismissed by decree of the Superior General some three years later. 



3.245      The  reasons  for  his  dismissal  appears  from  the  correspondence.  In  a  letter  to  Fr  Lucca,33         the 



           Superior General in the mid-1950s, the Provincial wrote: 



                  I regret that there is another Brother Emilio who is stationed at the Clonmel house and 

                  who is very unsettled in his vocation and desires a dispensation from his triennial vows, 

                  which he took on the [two years ago]. His reasons for desiring the dispensation are that 

                  he  cannot  remain  until  his  vows  expire  as  he  feels  unhappy  and  discontented  –  feels 

                  keenly the restrictions of obedience and has reasons for fearing that contact with boys 

                  would be a danger to him. 



                  This brother is very faithful and conscientious in the office entrusted to him at Clonmel 

                  and his external behaviour is good ... I offered him a change to another community but 

                  he would not accept that. I am satisfied that it is a case for a dispensation ... 



3.246      Fr Lucca replied: 



                  As  regards  Br  Emilio  try  to  encourage  him  to  be  faithful  to  his  vows  until  their  expiry 

                  next September. 



3.247      The Provincial, Fr Placido,34  was unhappy with this response and wrote again, setting out different 



           reasons why he felt Br Emilio should be dispensed. Br Emilio was ‘of good character but somewhat 

           unbalanced’, ‘self willed, obstinate’, he had ‘an intense antipathy to the Prefect of the boys ... and 

           caused great deal of trouble influencing unduly two other members of the Community against the 

           Prefect’, ‘he is a trouble maker’. Fr Placido concluded: 



                  I  think  it  is  urgent  to  obtain  a  dispensation  from  him  since  he  is  so  unhappy  and  so 

                  unspiritual in his outlook and his presence at Clonmel would endanger still more the peace 

                  and happiness of the Community. 



3.248      Fr Lucca replied: 



                  In view of the explanation you now give me regarding Br Emilio, I believe it is better that 

                  he goes. I am dispensing him from his Triennial Vows according to the faculties given me 



           31 This is a pseudonym. 

           32 This is a pseudonym. 

           33 This is a pseudonym. 

           34 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  by Canon Law. I am very sorry but it is better for himself, and for the community that he 

                  goes. Send him home straight away, and may the Lord protect him and accompany him. 



3.249      Despite the fact that the correspondence implies that the Brother was granted a dispensation, his 

           personnel card records that he was dismissed. The full details of this case remain uncertain. 



3.250      •     The fact that the Brother had ‘reasons for fearing that contact with boys would be a 

                 danger to him’, were not sufficient for the Superior General to grant dispensation. 



           •     The  Provincial  then  sought  the  dispensation  on  the  ground  that  the  Brother  was 

                 disrupting the community and this did persuade the Superior General. 



           •     The primary concern was about managing the Brother’s case. The safety of the boys 

                 was not a consideration. 



           Br Lazarro35 



3.251      Br Lazarro joined the Rosminians in the early 1950s. He was sent to Ferryhouse in the mid-1950s 

           as Assistant School Prefect and was promoted to Prefect in the early 1960s. He left Ferryhouse 

           after a year, when he was transferred to Omeath. The reason for his sudden removal from the 

           School is apparent in a letter from Fr Placido, the Provincial, to Fr Lucca, the Superior General: 



                 The other case is that of Br Lazarro who was prefect and over a period had been very 

                  indiscreet. He left for Omeath ... You will fully appreciate ... how instant action is often 

                  necessary and the changes made are a cover up in some respects. 



3.252      Fr Lucca replied: 



                 The distressing news conveyed in your letter ... shows that the Rector is very attentive 

                  and  decisive.  I  approve  the  changes  you  had  to  make  and  I  hope  the  guilty  ones  are 

                  convinced of  the serious wrong  they have done  and are repentant.  All this causes  me 

                  great sadness especially [when I consider] the elder of the two. We really must work out 

                  our salvation “in fear and trembling.” I am well aware of the Brothers whom you have had 

                 to change in these painful circumstances and I pray the Lord will help them in their new 

                  positions ... I am sorry for you too who have had to make all these urgent and painful 

                  changes. Let us pray the Lord that nothing else of the like will occur. 



3.253      A former resident, present in the School in the early 1960s, complained about Br Lazarro, alleging 

           fondling of a sexual nature when the Brother was Prefect: 



                  He  put  his  hand  under  the  bedclothes  and  started,  you  know,  all  that.  I  suppose,  you 

                  know, this is kind of bloody hard talking about this in front of women, I tell you that much 

                  now ... I don’t know how long it went on for, I was in a position that my job was cleaning 

                  his bedroom and that, so it went on there as well ... 



3.254      He said that the abuse continued up to the time that Br Lazarro disappeared. He was unable to 

           remember the circumstances of the Brother’s departure, but said  ‘This is only hearsay as well, I 

           heard that someone complained about him’. 



3.255      He said that the Resident Manager called him into his office and questioned him about the abuse 

           and then punished him. He added, ‘He used the strap on me, more or less saying “it is your fault”’. 



3.256      The  witness  had  difficulty  recounting  the  abuse,  and  instead  confirmed  to  the  Committee  the 

           contents of the written statement that he had provided, which contained further detail about the 

           sexual abuse that he alleged against Br Lazarro. 



           35 This is a pseudonym. 



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3.257      The  witness  was  complimentary  about  the  Resident  Manager,  despite  the  punishment  he  said 

           that he received. He liked Fr Rafaele, and felt pleased that he had got rid of the offending Brother 

            as quickly as he did. 



3.258       Fr Matthew Gaffney, Provincial of the Rosminians, made a written response to these allegations 

            on behalf of the Order in 2001. He stated that ‘the passage of time since the event described ... 

            make  it  impossible  for  me  either  to  respond  to  them  or  to  investigate  them  adequately  ...’. 

            However, he added that ‘if the allegations of sexual abuse made by the complainant are true, the 

            abuse  was  shameful  and  horrific,  and  I  should  apologise  for  the  terrible  injury  he  must  have 

            suffered’. 



3.259       In the time between the writing of that statement and the hearing of the complainant’s evidence, 

           the Rome files came to light, containing documents which identified Br Lazarro as an abuser. As 

            a result of this, the Order changed their response. At the commencement of his cross-examination 

            of the complainant, counsel for the Rosminians said: 



                  We accept what you have said, we trust the truth of it completely. There is one very big 

                  thing which you have done today ... and it is a testament to the pain you suffered and 

                  others with you. 



3.260       Most of the other former residents who referred to Br Lazarro did so in the context of physical 

            abuse. However, one resident present in the School in the late 1950s recalled one occasion when 

            another Brother instructed him to fetch the leather strap: 



                  I ran over to the office and I ran into the room, into the office; when I went into the office 

                  Br Lazarro was sitting down with a boy on his lap, a young boy ... he was only probably 

                   10/11 ... he shouted at me, "what are you doing in here, what are you doing in here?" I 

                  said "Brother Donato36       sent me over for the leather, he wants to slap [a boy]". He gave 



                  me the leather and said “I will see you afterwards.” 



3.261       Staff members who served in Ferryhouse at the time of Br Lazarro’s departure were unable to 

            remember  the  circumstances  of  his  leaving,  which  suggests  that  there  was  secrecy  about  the 

            matter.  It  is  nevertheless  surprising  that,  in  a  small  community,  a  sudden  departure  would  not 

            have generated a great deal of interest. Moreover, Fr Lucca’s letter cited above refers to talk and 

            ‘admiratio’,37  suggesting there was indeed curiosity about the departure. 



3.262       In reply to an internal Rosminian survey, other members of the Order who were not in the School 

            at the time recalled how they heard about the Br Lazarro episode. One priest, who was appointed 

           teacher  in  Glencomeragh  in  the  mid-1960s,  stated  in  his  questionnaire  that  he  heard  that  Br 

            Lazarro had been involved in improper behaviour and that the Rector, Fr Rafaele, was suspicious. 

            Similarly, another priest described a conversation that he had with members of the Institute in the 

            early 1960s, when he was a student in Glencomeragh, in which it was mentioned that Br Lazarro 

            and Br Mario ‘were somehow implicated with some boys at Ferryhouse’. 



3.263       It is unclear from the documentation whether Br Lazarro was assigned to work directly with the 

            boys or for the staff. 



3.264       In  the case  of Br  Mateo,38     he  was given  a warning  for sexually  abusing children  in  Upton and 



           transferred to a post at Omeath that did not bring him in contact with boys. The Rector of Omeath, 

            Fr Lucio, was given instructions to be ‘vigilant’. 



           36  This is a pseudonym. 

           37  Latin for surprise and wonder. 

           38  This is a pseudonym. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                        101 


----------------------- Page 888-----------------------

3.265      Fr Lucio was still Rector when Br Lazarro was sent to Omeath, although he was replaced a few 

           months after the transfer of Br Lazarro. 



3.266      When  Br  Lazarro  joined  Br  Mateo  in  the  early  1960s,  there  were  two  sexual  abusers  working 

           in Omeath. 



3.267      •     The  Order  was  unsure  how  to  respond  to  allegations  of  sexual  misconduct  by  Br 

                 Lazarro but, once the correspondence in the Rome files was found, the Order accepted 

                 unreservedly the truth of what the former resident said and apologised to him. 



           •     Although there is some doubt as to whether the two offenders worked together, it was 

                 particularly  reckless  to  have  two  known  sexual  abusers  working  in  proximity  in  an 

                 institution like Omeath. 



           Br Fausto39 



3.268      Br Fausto was discovered to be sexually abusing boys in the mid-1950s, while he was serving in 

           Upton. He was moved to Ferryhouse and his record card indicates that he was transferred ‘during 

           year’. His position in Ferryhouse was that of assistant superintendent of the boys’ kitchen. He was 

           transferred to Glencomeragh in the early 1960s. The account of how he was discovered to be a 

           sexual abuser is told in the Upton section. 



           Br Mario 



3.269      Br Mario was transferred to Upton in the mid-1950s. In the early 1960s, he was sent to Ferryhouse, 

           where  he  was  appointed  to  an  administrative  role.  He  was  discovered  to  have  been  sexually 

           abusing    boys   during   his  posting   in  Ferryhouse     in  the  early  1960s,    to  where   he   had   been 

           transferred    following   his  term   in  Upton.    Once    again,   Br   Alfonso,   himself   then   serving    in 

           Ferryhouse, was the discoverer. The full details of this case are given above, in the Rome files 

           section. 



            The Department of Education investigation 



3.270      Following  the  disclosure  of  sexual  abuse  perpetrated  in  1979  by  Br  Bruno,  Fr  Stefano,  having 

           consulted the Provincial of the Order, made a decision to inform the Department of Education. He 

           spoke to Mr Black,40  an official in the Department dealing with industrial schools, early in 1980. No 



           contemporary written evidence of this reporting has been found and furnished to the Commission. 



3.271      Mr Black gave evidence to the Investigation Committee, where he recalled receiving a phone call 

           from Fr Stefano early one morning and being told that he wished to report a sexual assault on 

           a pupil. 



3.272      Mr  Black  accepted  that  his  recollection  of  the  detail  of  the  conversation  was  not  clear,  but  he 

           recalled being told that Fr Stefano had caught one of their Brothers in bed with a boy, that the 

           Brother  was     ‘now  on  a  train  out  of  his  way  out  of  the  place’ and  that  Fr  Stefano  was  very 

           distressed. 



3.273      Mr Black told the Committee that he told Fr Stefano to leave the matter with him, and he then 

           contacted  Mr  Orange,41      the  Secretary  of  the  Department.  He  told  Mr  Orange  exactly  what  Fr 



           Stefano had relayed to him, and said that Mr Orange reflected on the matter for a few moments 

           and decided that no further action was necessary, as the person responsible for the assault had 

           been caught and was now removed from the School. He told the Committee that, as far as he 

           could best recollect, that was what happened. 



           39 This is a pseudonym. 

           40 This is a pseudonym. 

           41 This is a pseudonym. 



           102                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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3.274       Mr Black said that he had not made a written record of the events. He accepted that he may have 

            ‘slipped up’ in not making a note. He gave two reasons for not doing so: first, he had not been 

           told to; and secondly, he understood the School would have kept a record in the daily register of 

           the  School  which,  under  the  terms  of  the  Act,  should  record  notable  events  to  be  laid  before 

           the Inspector. 



3.275      There is no evidence available to the Investigation Committee indicating that Mr Orange, Secretary 

           of the Department, kept a written record either. 



3.276       Mr Black also confirmed that he had not asked whether Fr Stefano had reported the matter to the 

           Gardai. He explained: 

                   ´ 



                  If I was doing it today – hindsight is grand, of course – the first thing I would have said is 

                  “Have you reported that to the Guards?” That is the first thing I would have said to Fr 

                  Stefano.  Secondly  I  would  have  taken  a  note,  even  if  only  to  protect  myself.  So,  mea 

                  culpa. 



3.277       He confirmed that there was no follow-up investigation, as the ‘culprit was found’. 



3.278       Mr Black explained that, at the time, there were no guidelines in the Department as to how one 

           should handle a complaint of this nature. He did, however, refer to a complaints procedure, which 

            had been handed down by tradition in the Department, to deal with complaints from  ‘the woman 

            who  was  making  the  complaint  or  whatever  it  was’.  It  involved  sending  an  investigator  out  to 

            interview the people concerned. 



3.279      When  asked  why  this  procedure  was  not  set  in  motion  in  relation  to  the  complaint  against  Br 

            Bruno, Mr Black replied: 



                  Because the thing was finished, the crime was solved, the culprit was on his way off ... 

                  What more could I do at that time? I should have now have told the Guards, of course, 

                  you know, because it was a crime, but it wasn’t regarded in that light at that time. 



3.280      The  Department’s  Child  Care  Advisor,  gave  evidence  that  he  became  aware  of  Br  Bruno’s 

           dismissal, shortly after it occurred, through a phone call from Fr Stefano: 



                  To the best of my knowledge, I then reported that to Mr Black, .... who I think already 

                  knew of the issue, and he said that he would be dealing with the matter or to leave it with 

                  him at that stage. 



3.281       He was asked what procedures were in place to deal with information received in this way: 



                  To record it and to consult with the managers, to make certain it is all on record ... If the 

                  Secretary  had  been  informed,  you  would  obviously  go  back  and  keep  him  updated  of 

                  where you were with that situation. You would then consult with the Order as to where 

                  they were with the situation. Because they have ultimate responsibility for – and I think 

                  there was, as far as possible, good communication. 



3.282       It was put to him that one would expect the matter to go on record, and the record to go on file, 

           because that is the way the Department worked and he responded: 



                  Yes.  I  expect  there  was  a  file  in  the  Department,  because  when  I  am  listening  to  the 

                  Chairman, my mind is thinking of – not an incident like that, but there was an incident of 

                  a fire in Cavan many years ago and I know that incident is on a file. So that's the same 

                  sort of major incident we are talking of really. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       103 


----------------------- Page 890-----------------------

3.283       He added that he did not report the matter to the Gardai: 

                                                                               ´ 



                  I certainly didn't inform the guards, as Mr Black was dealing with that situation and he 

                  said to me, "leave it with me". I left it with him. Maybe on hindsight that was wrong. 



3.284       It is clear that the Department of Education did not conduct any investigation into the events that 

           took place in Ferryhouse in 1980. Nor did the Department facilitate any such investigation, whether 

                                ´ 

           by  the  Garda  Siochana,  by  the  Department  of  Health,  by  the  local  Health  Authority  or  by  any 

           other agency. 



3.285      The position of the Department of Education in relation to the investigation and reporting of abuse 

            is set out in its document, ‘Statement to Commission To Inquire Into Child Abuse’ dated 19th                    May 



           2006 and prepared in advance of the Phase III hearings. It states: 



                  In detailing the allegations of abuse in Clonmel and the response of the Department, it is 

                  worth noting the Department’s position with regard to dealing with allegations of this nature 

                  was that the Department does not investigate allegations of abuse. This is a matter for 

                  the employers of the staff (in the case of St Joseph’s this would be the Rosminian Order), 

                  the Gardai and the health authorities. The responsibility of the Department would be to 

                  ensure that the welfare and safety of children was protected and that the matter had been 

                  reported  to  the  appropriate  authorities  and  that  appropriate  steps  were  being  taken  to 

                  investigate the matter and protection of children. 



3.286      The Department’s TN030 file was discovered to the Investigation Committee by the Department 

           of Education. It had not been among the other documents disclosed earlier because it was an 

           ongoing file, and was not in the archive, but among the files of senior Department staff. As Mr 

            Black, former Principal Officer, told the Committee: 



                  They had in that Section in the Primary Branch, they had a safe for confidential files ... 

                  any offences with a suggestion of a sexual offence in them were kept there. I asked the 

                  girls about this thing ... one girl I knew in the section, “Did you ever remember any cases 

                  like this?” “Oh no, we wouldn’t see them at all.” They never went down. There was a rule at 

                  one time that girls were not to see any things like that, they were very sensitive creatures. 



3.287       It is the only file of the period covered by the inquiry that deals explicitly with the reporting and 

            management of sexual abuse. The file cover bears the heading, ‘Meeting with Clonmel Authorities 

           Wednesday  4th      December  1996’.  The  earliest  memorandum  it  contains  is  dated  9th            December 



            1994. The file contains the Department’s record of events involving sexual abuse commencing 

           with the year 1994. 



            Events of 1994 

3.288      On  8th   December  1994,  Fr  Antonio,  the  then  Director  of  Ferryhouse,  telephoned  Mr  Grey,42 



            Principal Officer in the Department of Education, in relation to allegations of sexual abuse made 

           by a person who had attended Ferryhouse from 1971 to 1973. The alleged abuser was a member 

           of  staff  in  the  School.  Mr  Grey’s  memorandum  was  headed,  ‘Note  for  Secretary’s  Information 

           “Allegation of Sexual Abuse at St. Joseph’s Industrial School, Clonmel, in 1971/1973. This school 

            is operated by the Rosminian Fathers”’, and it was dated 9th             December 1994. 



3.289      The note recorded the details of the phone call. According to Fr Antonio, these allegations had 

           been made to Fr Stefano, who was then the Provincial. The alleged abuser is not named in the 

            note, but Fr Antonio is recorded as saying that he was a member of the Rosminian Order at the 

           time. He had left Ferryhouse some years previously and was no longer a member of the Order. 



           42 This is a pseudonym. 



            104                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 891-----------------------

3.290      Mr Grey recorded being told that Fr Stefano, on learning of the complaint, attempted to arrange 

           a meeting with the person making the allegations but these attempts were rejected, and that the 

           accuser had said he would be pursuing the matter through his solicitor. Mr Grey also recorded 

           that  the  Order  had  held  a  Council  meeting  on  7th      December  1994  to  discuss  the  matter  (see 



           below), and that Fr Antonio was unwilling to provide further details over the phone but suggested 

           that the Department’s Child Care Advisor should call to St Joseph’s as soon as possible, where 

           he would be given all the information available. 



3.291      Mr  Grey  further  noted  he  had  explained  to  Fr  Antonio  that  the  Order  should  report  the  matter 

           immediately to the Garda Authorities, and should not wait until a complaint was received by the 

           Gardai from another source. He requested that Fr Antonio should provide him with a written report 

                   ´ 

           on the matter. Fr Antonio agreed to bring Mr Grey’s comments to the immediate attention of the 

           Provincial, and stated that he considered that the course suggested by Mr Grey was the proper 

           one in the circumstances. A handwritten note on the memorandum indicates that it was delivered 

           to Mr Green,43  the Assistant Secretary, at 10.30am on 9th            December 1994. The word ‘sexclon’ is 



           also handwritten on the top of the page. 



3.292      Mr  Grey  addressed  a  further  memorandum  to  Mr  Green  in  December  1995.  It  was  in  this 

           memorandum,  dated  4th        December  1995,  that  Mr  Grey  became  aware  that  the  allegation  was 



           against Fr Valerio. The list of religious personnel indicated that, as of 1994/1995, Fr Valerio was 

           still a member of the Order but seeking laicisation. 



3.293      In it, Mr Grey referred to his earlier memorandum and recorded that, on 8th                  December 1994, he 



           was contacted by Fr Antonio, Director of St Joseph’s, who explained that the allegation was made 

           by a person who had called to the Order’s house in Dublin at 2.00am. The person in question 

           was very drunk and somewhat incoherent at the time, but agreed to leave a telephone number at 

           which he could be contacted, and indicated that he was reporting the matter to his solicitor. Several 

           attempts to contact the person by telephone and by registered letter, sent on 9th                December 1994, 



           were  unsuccessful. In  this letter,  the Provincial  sought more  information on  the allegation,  and 

           told him he should take it to the proper authorities and ‘that Fr X is available to meet him anytime’. 



3.294      According to Mr Grey, Fr Antonio explained that he had had lengthy discussions with the Order’s 

           solicitor, and that he had been strongly advised that, in view of the circumstances surrounding the 

           making of the allegation, he should take no further action at that stage. Rather, he should await 

           receipt  of  a  formal  complaint.  The  Provincial  had  been  advised  that  he  did  not  currently  have 

           sufficient grounds to formally confront the alleged offender, and that any such action on his part 

           could expose him to legal challenge from that source. 



3.295      Mr Grey made a note to the effect that he had been told that the alleged offender was effectively 

           out of the Order for the last two years, a situation which was in the process of being formalised 

           at present, and that the alleged offender was no longer dealing with children. 



3.296      It is clear from these memoranda that the Garda authorities were not notified by the Rosminian 

           Order in 1994, and that Mr Grey and Mr Green were aware of this fact. 



3.297      It is not clear whether the Department officials were informed at this stage that Br Valerio had 

           admitted: (1) the truth of a complaint of sexual abuse on a minor as far back as January 1980, to 

           the Provincial; (2) that, in 1992, Br Andino had told him of a further incident circa 1990; and (3) 

           that, when challenged in 1992, Br Valerio had admitted to him (Fr Stefano) that an incident had 

           occurred when he was a scholastic in Clonmel (around 1968). 



           43  This is a pseudonym. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      105 


----------------------- Page 892-----------------------

3.298       Fr  Stefano  was  aware  of  all  of  these  facts  when  contact  was  made  with  the  Department  in 

            December 1994. 



3.299       Several questions arise from the management of this case. Did the solicitor who advised no action 

            have all the information available on this Brother? This advice prevented the Order from following 

            Mr Grey’s advice to report the matter immediately to the Gardai. Was Mr Grey or Mr Green in a 

                                                                                           ´ 

            position  to  overrule  the  solicitor,  whose  main  concern  was  for  his  client  and  not  the  abused 

            children?  Furthermore,  having  regard  to  what  they  actually  knew  about  him,  one  might  ask 

            whether  the  Rosminians  should  have  reported  Br  Valerio’s  activities  to  the  Gardai  when  the 

                                                                                                                      ´ 

            opportunities arose in 1980, in 1992 and in 1994. 



3.300       The issue was obviously a matter of grave concern to the Rosminians, as they appointed a media 

            consultant to advise them almost as soon as the sexual abuse was reported. He attended their 

            Council meeting on 7th      December 1994, and advised them ‘that the media would “savage” anyone 



            involved in sexual abuse and its concealment’. The minutes record that he strongly recommended 

            ‘that the Provincial and his Council appoint a group who would take responsibility for investigating 

            any allegations and make recommendations in turn to the Provincial and Council’. He then advised 

            them specifically about the allegations made by the former resident of Ferryhouse and discussed 

            the ‘civil and canonical rights of the accused’. 



            Events of 1995 

3.301       On 29th   November 1995, Fr Stefano met with Mr Grey, this time in relation to Br Bruno. At this 



            stage, he also contacted the Garda Superintendent in Clonmel, to inform him of his 1979 discovery 

            of Br Bruno’s activities and of the allegation of sexual abuse being made against Fr Valerio. In his 

            undated statement furnished to the Commission, Fr Stefano put into context how this came about: 



                   I was serving as Provincial of the Irish Province of the Rosminians. The Protocol on Child 

                   Sexual Abuse was being developed by the Hierarchy and CORI. As we reviewed the Draft 

                   Document we decided that we should once again report these matters. Accompanied by 

                   Fr Vito44  I first travelled to the Department of Education, Athlone and reported the matter 



                  again to the then Principal Officer, Mr Grey and, in the afternoon of the same day, reported 

                  the matter to the Garda Superintendent at Clonmel Garda Station. 



3.302       This is in line with his evidence during the Emergence Hearings, where it was conceded that, by 

            then, there was already a Garda involvement  ‘not directly with us, but we knew, like, that Gardai 

                                                                                                                                    ´ 

            were asking questions’, and that past pupils had been making complaints to the Gardai. 

                                                                                                                        ´ 



3.303       Mr  Grey’s  memorandum  dated  4th           December  1995  puts  a  slightly  different  perspective  on  Fr 



            Stefano’s motivation for this visit. In this memorandum, Mr Grey first points out that there were 

            two distinct allegations. He deals with the 1994 allegation, goes on to identify Fr Valerio as the 

            person being referred to, and alludes to the complainant’s failure to report the matter to the Gardai. 

                                                                                                                                   ´ 

            Mr Grey then recorded the meeting on 29th  November 1995, at Fr Stefano’s request, in connection 



            with a second allegation, this time against Br Bruno. At that meeting, Fr Stefano advised Mr Grey 

            that a former pupil had been approached by the Gardai and questioned about abuse in the School 

                                                                               ´ 

            in the 1979 period. The Garda enquiry arose from comments made by the former pupil that had 

            been overheard. Fr Stefano explained to Mr Grey that the person who made the allegation was 

            himself the victim of very serious physical abuse and torture at the hands of his own father, and 

            it was not clear whether the overheard allegation related to abuse in the School or at home. 



3.304       Mr  Grey  recorded  that  Fr  Stefano  was  seriously  concerned  at  these  developments.  He  was 

            anxious that the Department should be made fully aware of what was involved, and he would also 

            be travelling to Clonmel, where he had arranged to meet a Chief Superintendent of the Gardai in 

                                                                                                                                 ´ 



            44 This is a pseudonym. 



            106                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 893-----------------------

            relation to the matter. He wrote that Fr Stefano then went on to tell Mr Grey in detail about the 

            revelations in 1979 concerning Br Bruno, and the steps taken to remove Br Bruno from the Order 

            and from contact with children. He also told him of his contact with Mr Black in the Department 

            and  that,  in  later  years,  Mr  Black  had  confirmed  to  him  that  ‘he  had  passed  the  matter  on  to 

            protect the Order and the school’. Fr Stefano did not know the identity of the person to whom Mr 

            Black was referring. 



3.305       Mr Grey recorded that, on 30th       November 1995, Fr Stefano contacted him again, on this occasion 



            confirming that he had met with the Garda Superintendent in Clonmel on the previous afternoon, 

            and  had  provided  him  with  all  the  information  at  his  disposal  in  relation  to  the  1979  allegation 

            and the allegations against Fr Valerio. The memorandum goes on to detail the Superintendent’s 

            reservations as to whether any action would be taken in either matter. 



3.306       It is clear from the TN030 file that the Garda enquiry into Ferryhouse did not result from information 

            provided  by  the  Rosminians  or  by  the  Department,  but  from  overheard  comments  made  by  a 

           former  pupil  in  a  public  place.  It  was  not  just  the  ‘Draft  Protocol  on  Child  Sexual  Abuse’  that 

           triggered  Fr  Stefano’s  decision  to  tell  the  Gardai.  The  knowledge  that  a  Garda  inquiry  was 

                                                                          ´ 

            underway also led to their decision to contact the Garda authorities and contribute to their inquiry. 



3.307       It is enlightening that, at the meeting with the Superintendent on 29th              November 1995 and in the 

            course of his contact with Mr Grey on 30th           December 1995, Fr Stefano did not also refer to the 



            other complaint of abuse that had been made against a third Brother (Br Sergio). The decision to 

            help with ongoing inquiries had not yet become a broader inquiry into sexual abuse. It was as if 

            each case was seen as a separate problem, rather than as a single issue about child protection 

            and crime prevention within St Joseph’s, Ferryhouse. 



            Events of 1996 

3.308       In a memorandum of 10th          December 1996, which was e-mailed to Mr Green, Mr Grey made a 

            note of his meeting with the current Director of St Joseph’s, Fr Vito, on 4th                December, when he 



           was informed that the Gardai had now interviewed over 70 boys who were in Ferryhouse in the 

                                               ´ 

            late 1970s. Arising from the Garda inquiries, at least five boys had made allegations, all against 

           the same person, a former member of the Order, Br Bruno, who had admitted the offences to the 

            Gardai  in  respect  of  at  least  four  of  the  cases,  and  the  file  had  been  sent  to  the  Director  of 

                   ´ 

            Public Prosecutions. 



3.309       Mr Grey recorded that Fr Vito expected that ‘once the matter became public, St Joseph’s could 

            expect a repetition of the Goldenbridge situation. The Order and the management were already 

            planning  for  such  an  eventuality’.  According  to  Mr  Grey,  Fr  Vito  was  enquiring  whether  the 

            Department would be in a position to assist the School, by covering the cost of legal representation 

           for any member of staff interviewed by the Gardai, the cost of delegating staff to handle anticipated 

                                                                      ´ 

            enquiries and all contact with the media, and the cost of providing counselling services for staff 

           who were likely to be traumatised by the developments. There was no mention of counselling for 

           the victims. 



3.310       Mr Grey noted that the more critical issue was the need for the School to be able to offer adequate 

            assurance that the children now in the School were not exposed to the danger of abuse; this he 

            saw as a difficulty, because ‘the main purpose of the meeting with Fr Vito was to discuss staff 

            shortages  and  specifically,  concern  that  staff  and  children  are  currently  exposed  because  of 

            inadequate staff cover’. 



3.311       Mr Grey recorded that this was an issue that needed to be urgently addressed in advance of the 

            abuse  cases  coming  to  public  attention.  He  noted  that  the  issue  of  staff  shortages  had  been 

            recognised for some time, but the Department had not made a case to the Department of Finance 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                        107 


----------------------- Page 894-----------------------

           because the School authorities had failed to provide data to support the claim. At the meeting, it 

           was  agreed  that  the  School  would  provide  the  information  within  weeks,  and  the  Department 

           would make the necessary approach. 



3.312      While Mr Grey expressed concern about the need to be able to offer assurances as to the safety 

           of  boys  currently  in  the  School,  there  was  no  expression  of  concern  for  those  who  had  been 

           abused  by  the  Brother.  The  urgency  was  to  resolve  the  question  of  staff  shortages,  thereby 

           avoiding  the  Department’s  being  exposed  to  serious  criticism  when  the  abuse  cases  became 

           public. 



3.313      Again, it is worth noting that this memorandum also makes no reference to the complaint against 

           Fr  Valerio.  The  concern  was  to  deal  with  each  problem  as  it  arose,  rather  than  to  survey  the 

           broader picture. 



3.314      Finally, there are two memoranda dated 19th            and 20th  December 1996 addressed to the Minister, 



           from Mr Green and Mr Grey respectively. These appear to be memoranda briefing the Minister 

           about the allegations against Br Bruno, and are identical save for the date and the name of their 

           authors. They begin: 



                  Fr Vito ... contacted Mr Grey recently and advised that a number of former pupils of St 

                  Joseph’s  Industrial  School,  Clonmel  had  made  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  against  Br 

                  Bruno to the Gardai ... 

                                         ´ 



3.315      These  memoranda  make  no  reference  to  the  allegations  against  Fr  Valerio,  of  which  both  Mr 

           Green  and  Mr  Grey  had  been  aware  since  December  1994.  They  are  somewhat  misleading, 

           insofar as they give the impression that their knowledge of Br Bruno’s abuse had come to them 

           in the recent past, and as a result of the contact recently made by Fr Vito. They fail to refer to the 

           fact that, in November 1995, Fr Stefano had informed them of Br Bruno’s activities. 



           Events of 1997 



3.316      According to the Department file, Mr Grey was first informed of a boy’s allegation against Br Sergio 

           on 12th   February 1997. In his notes dated 13th         February 1997, Mr Grey recorded being told by Fr 



           Stefano that the previous weekend a former pupil had called to Ferryhouse and indicated that he 

           now intended reporting the incident to the Gardai, and that the Clonmel authorities had indicated 

           that they would co-operate fully in any inquiry which might arise. 



3.317      Though this information only came to the Department in 1997, the incident had occurred three 

           years previously in 1994. The former resident had been working in Dublin and staying in a house 

           maintained     by  the   Rosminian     Fathers  as    part  of  their  aftercare   programme.  He       went   on  a 

           prolonged drinking spree and returned to the house. That night, he awoke to find Br Sergio ‘on 

           top of him’. The young man became distressed and left the house, and the next day he went to a 

           relative of Br  Sergio’s to tell them  about it. He did  not take the matter  further at that time,  but 

           moved to work in Clonmel. Mr Grey noted that the relative in turn told Fr Stefano, the Provincial, 

           who    immediately     had   Br  Sergio    removed     ‘to a  facility in  ... the  U.K.   which   caters   for  the 

           rehabilitation of members of religious orders’. Two years after this incident, Br Sergio applied for 

           dispensation from his vows and he left the Order at the end of that year. 



3.318      There the matter rested until 1997, when the young man decided he would report the incident to 

           the Gardai. 

                        ´ 



                   •    This investigation was recorded in File TN030 of the Department which was not 

                         included     in  the   Department’s        original   discovery      and    was    the   subject    of 

                         procedural hearings by the Commission in 2003. 



            108                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 895-----------------------

                  •    The Department dealt with the case with extremes of caution that prevented the 

                       matter being dealt with properly as a report of serious crime. 



                  •    The principal issue for the Department was how to deal with the scandal. 

                  •    The  children  who  had  been  abused  or  put  at  risk  were  not  considered  by  the 

                       Department. 



                  •    It took a further 17 years before the matter was reported to the Gardai and the 

                       offenders’ risk to children was addressed. 



           Complaints made by witnesses 



3.319      Two witnesses made allegations of serious sexual abuse by two staff members in the early 1970s. 



           Br Leone 



3.320      A witness who was present in Ferryhouse from the late 1960s alleged that he was sexually abused 

           by Brs Leone and Valerio. The abuse took place in Br Leone’s bedroom, when they would return 

           to the School late after sporting tournaments. It continued for about two and a half years. 



           Fr Daniele 



3.321      A complainant who was present during the early 1970s alleged that Fr Daniele sexually abused 

           him. He said that Fr Daniele sent for him and, when he arrived, started asking him about his past 

           and educational history. Up until this point, he thought of Fr Daniele as a nice, jolly man who was 

           very encouraging to the boys. However, on this occasion in his room, Fr Daniele told the witness 

           to take off his clothes, as he needed to examine him. The witness was surprised at this request 

           and hesitated, at which point Fr Daniele became very angry and threatened to beat him. 



3.322      Eventually, he complied with Fr Daniele’s request, and he alleged that he was raped by Fr Daniele. 



3.323      Fr Daniele then gave him some chocolate and sent him on his way. When he went to bed, he 

           awoke in pain and noticed that there was dried blood on his leg. He said that this happened on a 

           few occasions. Fr Daniele would send for him in the evenings or ask himself if he bumped into 

           the witness. 



3.324      The witness accepted that the Rosminians had a very high opinion of Fr Daniele but stressed that 

           ‘my memory is far different’. 



           Conclusions on sexual abuse 



3.325      1.   Sexual    abuse    by  religious   was   a  chronic    problem    in  Ferryhouse     throughout     the 

                relevant period but the full extent cannot be quantified. Some of the abuse is verifiable 

                by contemporary documents or admissions. 



           2.   During most of the years between 1952 and 1988, there lived and worked in Ferryhouse 

                a member or members of the Rosminian Order who at some time were found to have 

                engaged in sexual abuse of boys. In more than ten of those years, there were at least 

                two abusers present and in at least two different years there were three abusers there. 



           3.   Complainant witnesses from every era, from the early 1940s onwards, testified about 

                the  sexual  abuse  of  children  in  Ferryhouse.  The  Rosminian  Institute  acknowledged 

                that not all of those who were sexually abused have come forward as complainants, 

                whether to the Commission, to the Redress Board, or to An Garda Siochana. In their 

                                                                                                    ´ 

                Final Submission to the Investigation Committee they wrote, ‘We know that some boys 

                were sexually abused who have made no complaint to the Commission or otherwise, 

                but have spoken to us about it’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               109 


----------------------- Page 896-----------------------

            4.  The  Rosminian  authorities  discovered  that  some  members  of  their  Order  had  been 

                abusing children, but their response was wholly inadequate. When sexual abuse was 

                detected, the Order sought to cover up the situation by removing known abusers and 

                transferring them to other institutions. 



            5.  It  was   only   when    the   Gardai   had    already   become      aware    of  allegations    that  the 

                                                      ´ 

                 Rosminians reported abuse to the Gardai in 1995. 

                                                                   ´ 



            6.  At no stage did the Rosminians query whether other boys had been abused when a 

                 known abuser was discovered. 



            7.  The impact of sexual abuse on the boys themselves was not a consideration on the 

                part of the Rosminians. 



            8.  The  Department  of  Education  did  not  act  responsibly  when  an  allegation  of  sexual 

                abuse  was  made  to  it  in  1980  and  distanced  itself  from  the  allegations,  seeking  to 

                minimise  the  publicity  and  scandal  which  might  arise  for  the  Department  and  the 

                Order. 



            9.  The approach taken by the Department was an ad hoc one. There was no clear policy 

                on the management of sexual abuse. 



           Neglect and emotional abuse 



3.326      A senior member of the Rosminian Order told the Investigation Committee: 



                 That’s my belief that every child that was ever in this situation was abused in some way, 

                 emotionally, physically or whatever the case may be and you would say that we were part 

                 of that because we didn’t stand up at the time and probably say so. 



3.327      This statement goes further than simply to admit that abuse occurred. It states that the kind of 

           institutional life that was made available in Ferryhouse until the late 1970s was in itself abusive. 

           Boys lived in a system of military-style regimentation, and endured a ruthless regime of control by 

           corporal  punishment.  The  objectives  were  to  reform  them,  and  mould  them  into  obedient  and 

           subservient citizens, but the system did not allow for the fact that they were young children with 

           emotional and developmental needs. It offered them the cruel and austere life of a nineteenth- 

           century  institution  that  had  survived  largely  unchanged  into  the  third  quarter  of  the  twentieth 

           century. It had few caring adults who could show affection, compassion and sympathy. The rare 

           staff  member who  did  treat  them as  individuals,  and offered  them  kindness  and support,  were 

           singled out by former residents for special mention. For the rest, the adults were there to control 

           the children, and the children had to look to each other for emotional and social support. 



3.328      Whether the boys had been orphaned, or sent in by the courts for juvenile criminal behaviour, 

           they were dragooned into the same system, where the needs of the Institution dictated the way 

           of life. They were forced to adapt to a lifestyle that did not meet their special needs, and if they 

           rebelled they were always seen as trouble-makers rather than unhappy children. 



           Orphans and delinquents 



3.329      A senior Brother, who served as a Prefect in Ferryhouse in the 1960s, explained how the presence 

           of orphans and delinquents was a major problem in the institutions: 



                 Well, you see, after all, I remember somebody saying to me that it was a good thing for 

                 the orphans to be exposed to the delinquents, that could make no absolute sense to me 

                 whatsoever ... there is an example of what I'm speaking about, of all the children being 

                 lumped together in one recreational facility, you see. You're coming from different places, 

                 orphans  are  coming  from  different  places.  Orphans  needed  entirely  different  treatment 

                 to delinquents. 



           110                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 897-----------------------

3.330      It was put to him that the orphans came from broken homes, or homes where parents were ill or 

           dying, or dead, and their need was for another family, for love and affection, and gentle guidance 

           by example, but the delinquents were sent there by the courts, and their need was for control. 

           They had families and homes, and wanted to return, whereas the orphans had no other home. 

           The real problem was trying to administer a system which was treating both the same. Inevitably, 

           it would become more a kind of prison for delinquents than a surrogate family home for children 

           with emotional needs. The Brother replied: 



                 The system couldn't work any other way, that's the bottom line. I'm saying that that was 

                 the sad point about it. That it had to deal with the most belligerent if you like, if you like 

                 to put it that way. That there was no escape from it. 



           Living conditions 



3.331      In the 1940s, because of the Emergency, there was a period of deprivation and food shortage. 

           One witness described the bitter cold they had to endure: 



                 There was a big freeze up and the children, including myself, we got chilblains between 

                 our fingers, on our fingers, on our toes and they swelled up. Some poor kid – they burst 

                 and the cold was bad enough, but the pain from those things when they burst made it ten 

                 times  worse  ...  At  no  time  were  they  put  in  any  place  warm,  they  were  put  in  that  old 

                 recreational place beneath the classrooms. There was a doorway but no door on it ... The 

                 Prefects would tell them to keep moving, they wouldn’t let them stand still; keep on moving 

                 to try to get the circulation going. 



3.332      This witness was lucky, in that he was given a job in the kitchen, where there was warmth and 

           more food. He explained: 



                 Naturally I could eat more than the other kids because I was cooking it ... I was protecting 

                 myself, they could not protect themselves ... I have a lot of feeling for those little children. 

                 I didn’t suffer half as much as a lot of them did. Don’t forget they were hungry, not just 

                 for the six months I was hungry, some of them were there nine or ten years, they were 

                 hungry every day for nine or ten years. 



3.333      His guilt about hiding in the relative comfort and warmth of the kitchen was worsened when, in 

           his last year there, he was given the ingredients to make a Christmas pudding. There was some 

           left over and he was told to put it away for 6th      January. When he took it out on that date, it was 



           covered in mould. He was horrified, but he was told to cut the mould off and serve it to the boys. 

           It  was  the  first  time  ever  they  had  been  given  Christmas  pudding,  and  it  went  mouldy.  It  was 

           terrible,  ‘if you look at something like that and then you think of children going to eat it’. 



3.334      Fr Antonio described the refectory as follows: 



                 One  of  the  earliest  nightmares  you  would  have  was  being  in  charge  of  the  refectory 

                 because you knew the food wasn't good and even the tables were coming to the sides 

                 and they used to use what they called hods, which was plastic bowls and plates and stuff 

                 like that. It was – nearly I would regret an awful lot, hindsight is a great thing but at that 

                 time it was a very cruel situation. And because there was only one person in charge of 

                 the 150 there would have been a lot of bullying ... I remember one occasion where the 

                 older boys were kind of selling slices of bread, which they used to call “skinners” to other 

                 lads. “I will give you a slice of bread for two sausages”. 



3.335      He singled out the conditions of the refectory for special criticism: 



                 I remember the tiles in the refectory were slippery and if the steam rose up you would slip 

                 and break your leg or anything on the floor there ... Let’s be honest about it, there was a 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                  111 


----------------------- Page 898-----------------------

                 chef  there  that  used  to  stir  the  pot  of  stew  with  the  handle  of  a  brush.  These  things 

                 happened and I can’t deny them. 



3.336      At one point, he made clear the abhorrence and disgust he felt, in retrospect, about how the boys 

           had to eat. He said: 



                 For obvious reasons looking back now ... it was horrific. The question I would have to ask 

                 myself is, would I have eaten the food out of the bowls the boys were eating out, no, I 

                 wouldn't and I didn't. 



3.337      On the other hand, he admitted,  ‘It was a hell of a lot different’ for the members of the Order. He 

           told the Investigation Committee,  ‘The quality of the food would have been better for a start. You 

           had people serving you’. 



3.338      He had grown up as a child in Clonmel, so he knew of the School before he went to work there 

           as a member of the Order. He recalled: 



                 My understanding of Ferryhouse at that time was as a child growing up in Clonmel. We 

                 used to see them going through the town in lorries with black stockings and red tops in 

                 lorries going through and the threat of my age group, and indeed everybody else at that 

                 time, was that you would be sent to the monastery if you misbehave. Ferryhouse at that 

                 time was known as the monastery. I would have visited and played football against the 

                 Ferryhouse boys at that time. 



3.339      When he went to work there in the 1970s, he had found the physical conditions even more stark 

           and primitive. 



3.340      The  Department  of  Education’s  Medical  Inspector,  Dr  Lysaght’s  report  of  1966  described  the 

           dormitories  as  the  worst  he  had  ever  seen.  They  bordered  on  being  overcrowded,  and  had  ‘a 

           depressing air of mass communal living’. There were no lockers or wardrobes and ‘as is usual 

           then the boys store personal belongings under the mattresses and of course destroy the springs’. 



3.341      Almost a year later, a Public Health Inspection found the conditions overcrowded and ‘a hazard 

           to  the  health  of  the  child’.  As  a  result  of  this  report,  the  Department  of  Health  withdrew  their 

           children from the Institution. 



3.342      In his evidence to the Investigation Committee, Fr Antonio, a former Resident Manager, spoke 

           about an experience he had dealing with boys who were sent to Ferryhouse from Artane: 



                 One of the – I suppose one of the things that made me angry ever since was that I was 

                 sent up on a bus to Dublin to collect the Artane boys and the instruction I was given at 

                 the time, go up – the Artane boys were told, I don't know where they were told they were 

                 going but they weren't told they were coming to Clonmel. My instructions were go up on 

                 the bus and don't stop the bus or let them out because they will run away. I stand very 

                 guilty of that that I hadn't enough courage at that time to say this is not right. I remember 

                 well, coming down on that bus and they were arriving in Ferryhouse. From what we heard 

                 at  that  time,  I  couldn't  swear  by  this,  at least  there  were  nuns  cooking  in  Artane,  their 

                 standard of food was a lot of better. Certainly their standard of clothes were a lot of better. 

                 Because I remember them coming down and they were all given three khaki pants and 

                 three T-shirts and whatever and they were light years to what our lads were doing. That 

                 would have made me quite angry at the time that I was going up to bring all these lads. 



3.343      The boys from Ferryhouse looked different. Taken from homes that were deemed to be poor and 

           unable to provide proper care, they were placed in an institution that made them look poor and in 

           need of proper care. It is no wonder that they resented the experience. 



           112                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 899-----------------------

          Family bereavement 



3.344     A witness who was in Ferryhouse in the 1940s came from a family where illness, poverty and 

          death  led to  social  upheaval.  He was  the  eighth in  a  family  of 13  children.  His  mother died  of 

          pneumonia.  Her  youngest  child  at  the  time  was  just  one  month  old,  and  the  complainant  was 

          seven years of age. The entire family was placed into various institutions. The four brothers were 

          initially sent to Ferryhouse, but then were split up and the younger two were sent elsewhere. He 

          was unaware that one of his brothers was later returned to Ferryhouse. The witness explained: 



                After he became a certain age, five years of age or that, he was sent to Ferryhouse. But 

                the point about it was he was two and a half years in Ferryhouse before anybody told us 

                he was our brother. So he was in the school for two and a half years and nobody knew 

                he was – well, at least we didn’t know – we knew he was [names the boy] but that was 

                it. We never knew he was our brother. 



3.345     He was frightened and confused on entering the School, and he was ‘never prepared’ for leaving 

          it. He recalled leaving the School and meeting his brother-in-law who took him into his flat. There 

          was no job found for him, and the Rosminians never checked on him after leaving the School. He 

          lived in dire circumstances with his sister and brother-in-law until he joined the Irish Army. 



3.346     A witness, who was in Ferryhouse in the late 1970s, told the Investigation Committee of his family 

          circumstances.  He  was  the  youngest  of  five  children,  with  two  brothers  and  two  sisters  older 

          than himself. 



3.347     He was physically abused in his primary school, so stopped attending the school. After a number 

          of  appearances  before  the  District  Court,  he  was  sent  to  Ferryhouse.  His  mother  was  ill  with 

          epilepsy and this also contributed to his school non-attendance as he would remain at home to 

          help his mother. He recalled the judge telling him that his parents did not care for him, as they 

          were not even in court. He felt this was a huge injustice. He explained: 



                My mother was after taking an epileptic fit as she was getting off the bus at Christchurch 

                and it took some time to revive her. When my father got to the Court that time he pleaded 

                 with [the judge] who, could do nothing at that stage. 



3.348     His mother in fact was terminally ill, and she died while he was in Ferryhouse. He was called to 

          the office. He then told the Investigation Committee: 



                I went into Fr Antonio's room and Fr Antonio started crying. And he said to me, "I have 

                something to tell you." And I said "What? is it my mother, my father, my family, something's 

                 wrong." He said to me, "Your mother has died", he said. He started crying and I looked 

                at him to say “what are you crying for?”, because it was all coming down now, what my 

                father was crying for [in the Court]. 



3.349     He was driven to Dublin by a Brother. Instead of taking him directly to his family home, the Brother 

          took him to a pub near his home. The witness remained in the car for hours and it was almost 

          8.15pm when he arrived at his family home. The Brother walked in through the door of the house 

          and gave his condolences to the witness’s sister and then left, saying that he would see her at 

          the grave. He then described the funeral: 



                She was buried on the following day, as far as I know, after Mass in [the cemetery]. I was 

                at the grave in [the cemetery], just inside the gate, and [the Brother] said – he was at the 

                grave as well and just as the ceremony was over and people were starting to walk away, 

                he said his condolences again to my father and to my sisters. I don't think he said anything 

                to my brothers and took me by the hand and just brought me over and put me in the car. 

                I was brought back then ... 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            113 


----------------------- Page 900-----------------------

                 On my first night back to Ferryhouse, it was actually the early hours of the morning I woke 

                 to find another chap, a boy in the school, and he was at my bed as well and he said he 

                 was only trying to climb into my bed to comfort me over my mother's death. That's what I 

                 remember about my mother's funeral. 



           Family separation 



3.350      A  witness,   who   was   in  Ferryhouse    in  the  late  1960s   and   early  1970s,   described    a  family 

           breakdown  when  his  stepmother  rejected  both  him  and  his  brother.  He  knew  his  brother  was 

           placed in another institution and, when he got out of Ferryhouse, he went in search of him: 



                 I found out when I came out of Clonmel, I found out that is where he was and I went. I 

                 only found my brother five years ago, if you can understand that. That is how long we 

                 have known each other, other than the childhood ... Some family ... took him ... I knew he 

                 was in [another institution] and I knew where that was and I went up and I wanted to see 

                 me brother ... he was the only brother I had ... I was bigger so I had to protect him. 



3.351      He never found him, and discovered his whereabouts only because his brother kept his surname. 

           ‘An aunt of mine found him’, he said, and the two of them had to get to know each other after 

           being separated for nearly 30 years. 



3.352      A witness who was in Ferryhouse in the 1950s also recounted how his family was separated and 

           dispersed into the care system, and where no contact was provided for the siblings. There were 

           five children, three sisters and two brothers in the family. The mother died in childbirth, and the 

           witness was sent to stay with an aunt and uncle for four or five months. One other member of his 

           family was sent with him to these relations. His new baby sister was sent to other family members, 

           along with his brother. His other older sister was sent to another institution. He could recall being 

           taken to court and being sent to Ferryhouse on his own. He was devastated by the separation 

           from his family. 



3.353      From then on, he had  ‘No contact, no contact as such, no. I did write letters. The regime was a 

           letter once a month, I think’. When he got out of Ferryhouse, he went in search of his sisters who 

           had been placed in an industrial school in Leinster. Unfortunately for him, the girls had no memory 

           of him and did not even remember having any other siblings: 



                 I found the school ... and I knocked on the door and looked for the two people by name 

                 ... The Sister in charge invited me in and after about 20 minutes or so she came up with 

                 these two other girls and they were my younger sister and her other sister. That was the 

                 first time really I had seen the baby since our mother died ... she would have been only 

                 nine or ten at that stage. [The other sister] would have been about 11 or 12 or something 

                 like that. They didn't know anything, in fact it was completely blotted out of their minds, 

                 that they had any other members of family. 



3.354      The break-up of the family unit meant that there was no real connection between any of them: 



                 It kind of, if you know what I mean, it ended with no closeness at all, it is just that we 

                 know  each  other.  There  is  no  connection  as  such.  We  just  know  we  are  brothers  and 

                 sisters like. 



3.355      He left a loving family, and went to an institution where he found no love. He said: 



                 No one cared, that's what it seemed to me, devoid of any emotional context or devoid of 

                 anything. The only thing that was there was physical approach ... I thought, it seemed to 

                 be deliberate. It appeared to me that it was deliberate at that time to break the strings. I 

                 don't  know  why,  that's  the  impression  I  got  that,  that  the  strings  separate  and  cut  the 

                 string so you have no one left, you are more or less on your own as an independent. It 



           114                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 901-----------------------

                  was probably easier to control as well I suppose in the school situation, that maybe after 

                 a couple of years you forget that you had any connection with anyone at that time ... I 

                 don't know if anyone made friends there, if they just gathered together. One thing that 

                 struck me when I left the school there was no goodbyes or anything like that, it wasn't 

                  “come  back”  or  anything  like  that,  there  was  boys,  no  farewells  or  anything  like  that, 

                 just  under  the  arch  and  up  to  get  the  bus  away  from  there.  Basically  it  was  cold  ...  A 

                 cold environment. 



           The State’s knowledge of the conditions in Ferryhouse 



           Evidence from a local health inspector 



3.356      In 1967, a local health inspector visited the School, following the death of a boy from cerebro- 

           spinal  meningitis.   His   report  to the   Department     of Health   was   thorough,    beginning    with  an 

           examination of the living conditions that might have caused the disease. He wrote: 



                 Now    this  disease    can   be  due   to  overcrowding,     so  I  accordingly    caused    accurate 

                 measurements to be made of the dormitories, school, etc. and what emerged is what we 

                 expected: The school holds twice the number of children – there are 192 boys. The floor 

                 area and the cubic space available to every bed is 25 sq. ft. instead of 55 sq. ft. which is 

                 the normal and 200 cubic ft. instead of 400 c. ft. 



                 We introduced every protection for the pupils by way of prophylactics. However we run a 

                 serious risk of recurrence. The matter is grave, in fact more than grave, it is unjust, and 

                 a hazard to the health of the child ... You will note by the detailed report attached that the 

                 school structure where the children are taught is also doubly overcrowded. Again a serious 

                 hazard is the level of overcrowding. 



3.357      Having found that ‘the dormitory sleeps exactly twice the number of boys recommended’, the two 

           officials drew the Department of Health’s attention to a number of serious matters, namely: 



                        1.   Social malaise. There is clear evidence of social malaise in the institution among 

                             the younger “denizens”. 43 out of a total of 192 boys are bed-wetters. This matter 

                             I have  taken up with the  M.O. to the  institution and also with  the Assistant Co. 

                             M.O., and will deal with it as well as possible, 



                        2.   Dental Care. This question I have taken up with the Chief Dental Officer. I feel we 

                             should give very full dental care to the boys in Ferryhouse from the clinic during 

                             school closure periods etc. Without parents, you will appreciate, it is difficult for 

                             them unless the County Council acts broadly in lieu thereof. 



3.358      Unlike the School, which traditionally saw bed-wetting as a matter for discipline and learning, the 

           Public Health Officer saw it as a symptom of the level of distress among the boys. Furthermore, 

           he did not see the Order as being in loco parentis because he asked for the local authority to take 

           on the role of parents in caring for dental health. The full report contains other examples of neglect. 

           Among the facts listed were the following: 



                        1.   Another  unsatisfactory  item  is  that  toothbrushes  for  boys  in  each  dormitory  are 

                             kept in a wooden box (measuring 4’ x 5”). The brushes standing close together 

                             each  in  its  own  slot.  This  would  appear  an  excellent  method  of  spreading  ’flu, 

                             mouth infections and throat infections etc. 



                        2.   On inspection only four of the ten w/c’s worked properly. Some were blocked or 

                             partially  blocked, some  did  not flush.  The anti-syphon  pipes  on these  particular 

                             w/c’s  were  not  connected  back  to  the  soil  pipes,  and  flowed  over  after  being 

                             flushed. These should be either adequately connected or blocked, as they cause 

                             the floors to be continually saturated. Ventilation is through one large roof window 

                             and is inadequate. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   115 


----------------------- Page 902-----------------------

3.359      Within the main letter is another complaint about the closed nature of the Institution. The Public 

           Health Officer wrote: 



                 There is a question, now advanced, of building a new National School within the walls of 

                 the Institution. It is my opinion that this is a grave mistake. This is also the opinion of the 

                 Medical Officer to the Institution and of [the], Ass. Co. M.O.H. who know fairly well, as I 

                 do, that children going out of this Institution because they have no contact outside find it 

                 difficult to adapt. We feel the children should go outside to school ... where at least there 

                 will  be  some  dilution  with  children  with  some  pennies  in  their  pockets,  or  the  Clonmel 

                 Schools. 



3.360     The Department of Health Boarding-Out Inspector, Ms Fidelma Clandillon, seized on this report 

           and wrote: 



                 This  shocking  report  confirms  some  unofficial  information  I  have  had  over  the  years 

                 concerning Ferryhouse – yet two smaller and better schools were closed for economic 

                 reasons. From what I have heard the ill-treatment of the boys could do with investigation 

                 also. One person who spoke with me about this matter was an inspector of the I.S.P.C.C. 

                 It  is scandalous  that only  the death  of one  of the  boys has  led to  the  conditions there 

                 coming to light ... 



                 [The Secretary, Tipperary (S.R.)] ... informed me that the report had not been sent to the 

                 Department of Education but had  been sent here as a health matter. I  would urge the 

                 necessity of this Department’s informing the Department of Education of the findings of 

                 this report. 



3.361     At the time of the report, there were 23 boys maintained in Clonmel under the Health Act, and 

          they were transferred without delay to other placements. The other boys, some 169 in number, 

           had been admitted through the courts and came under the Department of Education’s remit. They 

           remained  in Clonmel  while the  Department and  the Rosminians  discussed how  best to  handle 

          the problem. 



3.362      On  21st July  1966,  less  than  a  year  before  the  local  health  inspector’s  report,  Dr  Lysaght,  the 



           Department    of  Education’s   Medical   Inspector,   made    a  thorough   inspection   of St  Joseph’s, 

           Ferryhouse. At that time, there were approximately 160 boys in the School. The numbers were 

           later swelled when Upton closed, and 31 boys were moved down to Clonmel. Under the heading 

           ‘Conditions of Premises’ he wrote: 



                 The structure appears for most part in good repair. Several parts require decoration and 

                 repairs to fitments in washrooms, and sanitary annexes are needed. It would appear from 

                 what I saw in this regard they are inclined to be destructive. 



3.363      He seemed to be blaming the boys for the broken sanitary facilities. 



3.364      Under the heading ‘Dormitories’ he wrote: 



                 Two in number ... Very large, extending the length of building – contain each about 80 

                 beds  ...  The  size  of  these  dormitories  and  the  presence  of  so  many  beds  conveyed  a 

                 depressing air of mass communal living ... While there was free passage way between 

                 beds and most probably sufficient floor space to avoid justification of any accusation of 

                 overcrowding it would be only marginal and there was not room for any further beds. 



3.365      In the same month as he was writing the report, a fire broke out in the east wing of Upton Industrial 

           School, and 31 boys were transferred to Ferryhouse. Dr Lysaght’s report made it clear there that 

          there was no room for them. 



           116                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 903-----------------------

3.366      Dr Lysaght went on to say: 



                 In any event these dormitories are much too big and they should be broken up into smaller 

                 units. I can appreciate the need for supervision but it can be got as in the case of Salthill 

                 without resort to what I regard as a soul destroying and de-humanising expedient. There 

                 is little use in discussing the desirability of having small homes or schools with less than 

                 50 beds, the avoidance of institutional atmosphere from every aspect and at the same 

                 time countenance the concentration of double the number sleeping in one room in serried 

                 rows of beds, end to end ... 



                 I had the feeling that these dormitories were the worst I had seen ... There was a general 

                 air of “dinginess”, bare boards none too clean, bed covers dull and unattractive etc. which 

                 did not impress favourably ... 



3.367      He found the beds adequate though spartan, there were adequate blankets and sheets, but the 

           latter were ‘none too clean at that’. He then added: 



                 There is a large sanitary annex containing W.Cs. and urinals and washbasins off each 

                 dormitory.  The  walls  are  just  bare  concrete  and  stained  and  discoloured.  Damage  to 

                 fitments were seen – evidence of destructive tendencies. 



3.368      He found ‘a rough and untidy look about the dining room’, but the food was good and ample in 

           amount.  There  were  only  10  boys  in  the  School  at  the  time,  as  the  others  were  on  holiday  at 

           Woodstown, so his judgements were made under exceptional circumstances. Of their clothing he 

           wrote, ‘The ten boys seen were reasonably well clothed’. 



3.369      His comments on aftercare expressed deeper concerns. He wrote: 



                 They try to get them jobs on leaving. Most do not want to work on farms – they say it is 

                 too lonely ... Many join the army but unfortunately the army won’t take them til they are 

                 17 ... Those who have training in trades ... would have to serve their time all over again 

                 as  apprentices  outside  ...  They  manage  to  frequently  get  places  as  men  servants  in 

                 religious  houses  for  boys.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  in  the  case  of  illegitimate  and 

                 orphans with no living near relatives the dice is heavily loaded against their getting a fair 

                 start in life. This constitutes a social problem, which should be capable of remedy. 



3.370      There is plenty in this report to alert the Department to the dangers of overcrowding and poor 

           hygiene  within  Ferryhouse,  but  the  report  falls  far  short  of  being  a  shocking  indictment  of  the 

           place. It did not stop the Department allowing 31 more boys into the crowded School. 



3.371      Apart from Dr Lysaght’s report, there were three reports from Dr Anna McCabe for August and 

           September 1963 and January 1964, when the School population was nearly 200 boys. They are 

           generally very positive. On 15th  August 1963, she wrote under the heading ‘Condition of premises’, 



           ‘Clean  well  kept.  Improvements  have  been  made  and  will  be  made.  Outside  and  inside  re- 

           decoration is being done’. Equipment, sanitation and health were all described as very good. Food 

           and diet, and clothing were described as ‘Improved’. Her general observation was that the new 

           Manager was ‘keen to make improvements’. She recorded that she had ‘discussed many points 

           with  him  and  he  will  endeavour  to  have  improvements  made’.  In  an  addendum  following  an 

           incidental visit, she wrote, ‘Improvements are being made and in time the school will be much 

           improved’. 



3.372      In January 1964, she wrote an almost identical report. Again, the premises were ‘clean well kept’ 

           and she commented, ‘Improvements are being made and continue to be made’. Accommodation, 

           equipment, sanitation, and health are all described as ‘V.Good’ and food and diet and clothing 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                117 


----------------------- Page 904-----------------------

           are  again  described  as  ‘much  improved’.  She  again  ended  with  another  optimistic  comment. 

           She wrote: 



                  Improvements have taken place and the new manager is most anxious to help in every 

                  way he can to making the school brighter and more cheerful. 



3.373      Just two years later, Dr Lysaght found the dormitories ‘the worst I’d seen’, with a ‘depressing air 

           of mass communal living’ and a ‘general air of “dinginess”’. He found the number of boys, about 

           160,  bordering  on  overcrowded.  A  year  after  his  report,  the  Public  Health  Officer  found  the 

           dormitory was sleeping ‘exactly twice the number of boys recommended’ and the School was ‘a 

           hazard  to  the  health  of  the  child’.  The  numbers  were  about  the  same  as  when  Dr  McCabe 

           inspected the School three years earlier. 



3.374      It is hard to explain the inconsistencies in these reports. The Department of Education Inspector 

           concluded ‘in time the school will be much improved’ and found the accommodation ‘very good’. 



3.375      Just three years later, a Public Health Officer had the Health Board remove their children to protect 

           them    from   a  ‘grave’  situation  wherein    children’s   health   and   lives  were   at  risk. Ms   Fidelma 

           Clandillon,  in  her  memorandum  of  17th        June  1967,  did  indeed  have  grounds  to  write,  ‘It  is 



           scandalous that only the death of one of the boys has led to the conditions there coming to light’. 



3.376      There  were  rumours  and  innuendo  about  cruelty  and  neglect  in  Ferryhouse,  so  it  would  be 

           expected  that  the  Department  of  Education’s  Inspector  would  have  heard  and  seen  things  to 

           cause concern. However, Dr Anna McCabe’s reports gave no indication of the conditions found 

           by Dr Lysaght and the Public Health Inspector just two or three years later. 



3.377      Even when the ‘shocking report’ arrived, and after the death of one boy through meningitis, there 

           seemed to be no sense of urgency to effect change. On 8th  January 1968, the following letter was 



           sent from the Department of Health to the Minister for Education: 

                  I am directed by the Minister for Health to refer again to the minute of 12th                September 



                  1967 (ref. 6.43) regarding conditions at St Joseph’s School, Ferryhouse, Clonmel, and to 

                  request you to indicate the present position regarding the arrangements for the provision 

                  of increased accommodation in the institution. 



3.378      A handwritten note is added by an official in the Education Department. It reads: 

                  Phoned Miss Little45  to inform her that Inspector T. McD. had visited Clonmel recently but 



                  was unable to complete re-assessment of school’s capacity owing to illness of Manager; 

                  that Inspector had since sustained broken ankle and would re-visit Clonmel to complete 

                  inspection as soon as possible. 



3.379      Reading this note, one would never guess that the matter under consideration was the ‘serious 

           hazard of overcrowding’, causing a grave risk to the health of some 170 boys. 



           The condition of the School in the 1940s and 1950s 



3.380      If Dr McCabe’s reports in the 1960s are not a good indicator of the conditions within Ferryhouse 

           at  the  time,  her  earlier  reports  are  more  illuminating.  The  DES  records  include  a  report  of  a 

           visit  on  2nd June  1939.  Inspection  Reports  are  available  for  each  of  the  years  that  follow  until 



           December 1944. 



3.381      Initially, she reported that the School and premises were in a satisfactory state, and that she found 

           the Resident Manager very capable and kind. During the years that followed, conditions began to 



           45 This is a pseudonym. 



           118                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 905-----------------------

           deteriorate.  In  April  1941,  the  sanitation  came  in  for  criticism  and  she  referred  to  a  general 

           slackness about  the School.  In October  1942, she  found the  premises very  unsatisfactory and 

           complained again about the outside sanitation facilities. This time, she warned that, if there were 

           not appreciable improvements all round, ‘drastic measures’ would have to be taken. 



3.382      This threat had some effect because, in July 1943, she noted ‘much improvement’. The premises 

           had been cleaned and painted.  However, she condemned the fact that most of  the boys were 

           barefoot.  She  noted  that,  whenever  she  recommended  improvements,  the  Resident  Manager 

           complained  that  he  did  not  have  the  money.  She  added  that,  with  the  increased  grants,  her 

           suggestions for improvements should be insisted upon. In a further discussion of her visit on 19th 



           July, she added details: she had found the sanitary annex obsolete and ‘dangerous to the health 

           of the inmates’, and the improvements needed included a whole new water carriage system and 

           modern W.Cs. She continued, ‘If this is not done immediately the money will be used for some 

           other purpose and on my next inspection the same rigmarole will start’. Apart from condemning 

           the boys going barefooted, she asked for a height scale to be bought, for the toothbrushes to be 

           replaced and the bathhouse improved. 



3.383      The report of October 1944 is quite damning. While there were some improvements – the new 

           sanitary block had been erected and the bathhouse had been repaired – there was a general lack 

           of supervision. The boys were untidy and unkempt, the food and diet were unsatisfactory, and the 

           children were underweight. 



3.384      She blamed the decline on the rheumatic disability of the Resident Manager, who was 73 and 

           gradually becoming senile, and she felt he was ‘unable for the arduous task of Resident Manager’. 

           She wrote: 



                  He always looked after his boys well and I feel if he were active and capable would still 

                  do so. He is unable to get about as actively as heretofore. The chaplain is on his sick bed 

                  too and poor old Brother B. (76 years old) is nearly past his work too. 



3.385      She called for the introduction of younger staff. She persuaded the Chief Inspector to write to the 

           Provincial to get him to appoint a successor to the ageing Manager. The Provincial brought in Fr 

           Eduardo46    to  assist  the  Resident  Manager,  and  appointed  Fr  Ambrosi47           as  Dispenser  to  take 



           charge of the physical welfare of the boys, and in particular their food and clothing, which needed 

           a full-time staff member in view of the difficulty getting supplies. 



3.386      Surprisingly, Fr Giuseppe48       disagreed with the conclusions of Dr McCabe’s report, the National 



           School Inspector had never expressed any discontent and had found the Principal teacher to be 

           ‘highly  efficient'.  He  contested  her  view  that  the  children  were  underweight  and  asked  her  to 

           submit proposals as to what should be done in the top dormitory and sanitary annex. ‘In these 

           days  of  high  prices’,  he  wrote,  ‘constructural  alterations  are  not  undertaken  except  with  great 

           caution and after proved urgency. Cost may be regarded as about three times what they were 

           before the war’. 



3.387      He  accepted,  however,  that  Fr  Basilio49       should  not  have  accepted  more  boys  than  the  160 



           maximum. The School now accommodated 200 boys, and ‘the produce of the farm and garden 

           of  70  acres  would  be  ample  for  a  school  of  160  boys;  a  larger  number  necessitates  extern 

           purchasings and greater cost per caput’. 



           46 This is a pseudonym. 

           47 This is a pseudonym. 

           48 This is a pseudonym. 

           49 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      119 


----------------------- Page 906-----------------------

3.388      This extraordinary letter not merely denied that the boys were not gaining weight, a fact that could 

           be easily proven and was not just a matter of opinion, but stated that the farm produced enough 

           food to feed 160 boys. He did not state whether additional food had been brought in, but implied 

           it was not a customary procedure. Nor did he even consider the effects of overcrowding on the 

           health and welfare of the boys. 



3.389      Dr McCabe was shown his letter and was asked to comment on it. She took him on roundly. In 

           her letter to the Chief Inspector dated 25th     November 1944, she set out in detail her thinking on 



           the  nutritional  needs  of  growing  children  and  the  importance  of  weight  and  growth  charts  in 

           monitoring a child’s health. She wrote: 



                 No  well  cared for  healthy  child  should lose  weight.  Weight  may  tend to  increase  more 

                 rapidly in one child than in another, but there should always be a gain. 



3.390      She stressed the importance of diet, the need for vitamins A, B, C and D, minerals such as iron, 

           and calcium. She described milk as the most important single item of food, and that it was known 

           as the perfect food because it contained protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and calcium and iron, 

           all important for growth and bone formation. She added: 



                 That is my reason for so strongly advocating its use in the schools, and eventually I hope 

                 to have each child supplied with one quart of milk per diem. 



3.391      She went on to describe how she had been campaigning for an improvement in the diet scales in 

           the industrial and reformatory schools. Shortly after her appointment in 1939, she had revised all 

           diet scales  and    had  advised   the  individual  schools   about  the   deficiencies  in  diet.  She   had 

           introduced  many  new  items  of  food  into  the  school  dietary  that  had  hitherto  not  been  in  use, 

           because they were unknown to the school managers. Things had gone well in the halcyon days, 

           when food was plentiful and cheap, but matters now could not be regarded as satisfactory. She 

           explained: 



                 In practically every school which I visit, I find, with a few exceptions, that the children are 

                 insufficiently  fed.  I  have  evidence  in  support  of  this  statement  from  the  medical  charts 

                 which,  after  considerable  opposition  from  managers  are  now  used  in  all  the  schools.  I 

                 have obtained verbally particulars of the quantities of the different foodstuffs supplied for 

                 meals – such particulars are often imparted to me very reluctantly by the Sisters in charge 

                 of the school kitchens. The quantities are, in my opinion, far short of what should constitute 

                 an adequate meal. 



3.392      After this resounding criticism, she went on to set out definitive standards of food provision for 

           each day of the week. 



3.393      On 11th  December 1944, the Provincial had replaced the Resident Manager in Ferryhouse. The 

           Chief Inspector wrote to him on 19th     December 1944 to say: 



                 We  are  particularly  gratified  at  your  choice  of  a  young  man.  The  position  of  Resident 

                 Manager of an Industrial School is only too often regarded as a “retirement job” whereas 

                 it is pre-eminently one for a young, active man, whose life’s work is still before him and 

                 who can approach it with the fresh idealism of youth. A Resident manager shoulders the 

                 heavy responsibility of father to hundreds of unfortunate boys. He moulds their whole lives 

                 during the vital formative years they spend in his school, and there is no limit to the good 

                 he may try to do for them except the limits imposed by his own capacity and will. 



3.394      He then went on to comment on the standards being applied by the Department to clothing and 

           diet. He wrote: 



                 If we have criticised the standards of diet and clothing at St Joseph’s, you may be assured 

                 that, when doing so, we were only too well aware of the difficulties of obtaining supplies. 



           120                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 907-----------------------

                 It is in no spirit of contention that I say that our standards in these matters are based on 

                 actual  conditions  at  the  present  time  and  on  the  average  prevailing  in  the  schools  as 

                 a whole. 



3.395      He makes it quite clear that, even by the standards of the day, the School had been found wanting. 

           He defended the inspection system and commented on the excrement defiling the walls of the 

           sanitary annex. 



3.396      The Department had hoped the new Manager would be a new beginning. Instead, he took up the 

           fight where his predecessor had left off. On 22nd  January 1945, he replied to the Chief Inspector’s 



           letter: ‘As to diet; I do fear it will be very difficult to comply with all your wishes in this matter’. He 

           gave details of the boys’ diet and said he was at a loss to account for the weight loss noted in 

           very many cases. He estimated the cost of providing the diet recommended by the Department, 

           and  protested,  ‘Even  managers  of  industrial  schools  have  to  meet  their  bills,  so  I  fear  on  our 

           present allowance it just cannot be done’. 



3.397      Dr McCabe was again showed the letter by the Chief Inspector, and she told him: 



                 I do  not  like  the  attitude taken   up  by   this new   Resident    Manager    –  What   I have 

                 recommended in the matter of diet is of very ordinary proportions and in no way could it 

                 be  called  extravagant  ...  Financially  the  school  management  is better  off  since  1942.  I 

                 cannot see how he has such difficulty in managing on the state grant. 



3.398      The Chief Inspector wrote back to the Manager on 31st January: ‘If the diet is adequate the children 



           put on weight at the normal rate – more rapidly, even, when they were undernourished before 

           admission to the school’. He again reiterated that Dr McCabe’s requirements were the minimum 

           requirements in all schools. 



3.399      The Inspection Reports for 26th    October 1945, 29th  July 1946, 11th     December 1946 and 18th  June 



           1947 indicate progressive improvements in all areas. She warmed to the new Manager, despite 

           the  earlier  acrimony.  In  1946,  she  wrote,  ‘the  present  Resident  Manager  is  an  excellent  man. 

           Already he has made many improvements ... He is trying to get a community of nuns to take on 

           the domestic side of the house’. 



3.400      In  1947,  she  again  praised  his  good  ideas  and  added,  ‘he  considers  that  a  separate  amount 

           should be paid for food, clothing and maintenance’. She made no comment about the fact that 

           the capitation grant was intended to cover these things, and the Rosminians were meant to care 

           for their property themselves. 



3.401      There  was  a  terse  exchange  of  letters  dated  2nd   October  1946.  The  letter  from  the  Resident 



           Manager was not furnished, but it was clearly about the cost of equipment in industrial schools. 

           The official in the Department replied: 



                 The suggestion made in your letter that the Minister, whether by design or otherwise, is 

                 endeavouring to obtain a control over private property (Religious Property) to which he 

                 has no right is altogether unwarranted, and I fail to see what evidence you can adduce in 

                 support of that statement. 



3.402      The letter then went on to deal with an increase in the rates payable per child as of various dates 

           in 1946. 



3.403      A report exists for 4th  and 5th  October 1948, and then there is a gap until 3rd April 1952. Dr McCabe 



           had been absent owing to illness. The reports simply note improvements all round. With Fr Pietro 

           as Resident Manager, there were reports during the early to mid-1950s. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               121 


----------------------- Page 908-----------------------

3.404      In February 1952, a new kitchen was being constructed, and Dr McCabe noted ‘While food and 

           diet have improved, much remains to be done’. The second visit, in October of that year, had the 

           same comment. 1953 recorded the diet to be ‘well balanced, varied’ and noted the new building 

           had made a ‘vast improvement to school’. In 1955, she gave the School an excellent report. From 

           1956 to 1959, the reports remained positive, calling it a well-run school and commenting on ‘the 

           modern facilities’ and calling the cooking facilities vastly improved and the food ‘better and varied’. 

           In 1956, she noted ‘knitting machine very good – all jumpers and stockings made at home’. In 

           1959, she noted with approval the new bakery, and in 1960 she noted the clothing had improved, 

           and that 62 new suits had been made for Confirmation ‘and very good they were’. 



3.405      Her reports indicate that diet and health had improved, but the improvements were from a very 

           low  standard  indeed  in  the  1940s.  At  no  stage  did  she  comment  on  matters  such  as  corporal 

           punishment, which, during the 1940s and 1950s, became both harsh and more frequent. 



           Conclusions on neglect and emotional abuse 



3.406       1.   Ferryhouse  was  a  large  institution  and  would  have  received  adequate  funding  to 

                 provide a reasonable level of care for the children for most of the relevant period. In 

                 addition,  it  operated  a  farm  and  had  trades  such  as  tailoring  and  boot-making  that 

                 provided for the needs of the boys. 



            2.   The boys were poorly fed. For much of the period, the food was of insufficient quantity 

                 and quality. 



            3.   Poor  hygiene  and  overcrowding  were  serious  problems  in  the  School,  and  these 

                 conditions placed the health and well-being of the boys in danger. 



            4.   The   boys     were   poorly     clothed    and   looked     different   from    children    outside     the 

                 Institution. 



            5.   The accommodation was unsuitable, unhygienic and badly maintained. 



            6.   Family  contact  was  not  encouraged  or  maintained.  Boys  became  cut  off  from  their 

                 families and friends. 



            7.   The  aftercare  was  minimal  and  often  non-existent.  Young  teenagers  unprepared  for 

                 the outside world were thrown into it and had to fend for themselves. 



           Some historical milestones 



           The Submission by the Rosminians to the Cussen Commission, 1936 



3.407      The Cussen Commission received submissions from the various Orders that had been running 

           the schools, and a very detailed submission prepared by the Rosminian Order has survived. It 

           was published in the recent history of the Rosminians by Brid Fahey Bates.49 

                                                                                  ´ 



3.408      The Rosminians’ submission was prepared by the Provincial, the Very Reverend Giuseppe, who 

           was  Manager  of  St  Patrick’s  (Danesfort)  Industrial  School,  Upton.  It  was  a  lengthy  document, 

           describing the industrial and reformatory school system operating in Ireland in the early 1930s, 

           and  it  outlined  many  of  the  problems  and  issues  facing  those  working  in  this  field.  It  is  an 

           interesting   document      because    its  criticisms,  detailed   below,    and   recommendations        closely 

           resemble the conclusions reached by the Cussen Report. 



           49 Brid Fahey Bates, The Institute of Charity: Rosminians. Their Irish Story 1860–2003 (Dublin: Ashfield Press 

                ´ 

              Publishing Services, 2003), pp 399–405. 



           122                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 909-----------------------

           The committal procedure 



3.409      Fr Giuseppe contended that the Children Act, 1908 was not a suitable Act because it implied that 

           the children placed into this care system were either criminals or criminally inclined. They were in 

           fact,  he  pointed  out,  committed  because  of  ‘poverty,  the  loss  of  one  or  both  parents,  or  the 

           negligence of some parents’, but the actual procedure of committing a child to the industrial school 

           system    through    the  courts   nonetheless     placed    a  ‘criminal  taint  to the   whole   system’.    This 

           association  of  the  child  with  the  courts  ‘created  in  the  public  mind  a  misconception  that  is 

           exceedingly difficult to remove’. It also created a feeling of inferiority in the child, which lowered 

           his self-confidence. The result meant that, despite all attempts made to help and encourage the 

           boy forward, he was already affected by what had occurred to him even before he arrived in the 

           industrial  school. The  children were  brought to  the schools  by guards  in uniform,  and in  some 

           places in the prison van. In some cases, the children were kept waiting in the public court until 

           they were called into the private court or justice’s room. 



3.410      The  Cussen  Committee  agreed  completely  with  Fr  Giuseppe  on  these  particular  points.  The 

           Cussen Report recommended the following: 



                  That the practice of hearing children’s cases in the ordinary Courts is objectionable. The 

                  arrangement, which  obtains in Dublin  – a Children’s  Court housed separately  from the 

                  District Courts – should be adopted wherever possible throughout the country. 



                  The term “Committal Order” should be abolished and “Admission Order” substituted. 



                  The Justices when hearing children’s cases should not wear the robes of Office. Gardai, 

                  should  not  wear  uniform  when  in  attendance  at  Children’s  Courts  and  when  bringing 

                  children to the schools. 



           Aftercare 



3.411      On the subject of aftercare, Fr Giuseppe argued ‘that the aftercare of children, particularly in the 

           commencement of their career, is, in many respects the most important duty of Managers, who 

           should stand legally in loco parentis to the young persons for, say, two years’.34               He stated, ‘care 



           has to be taken that children do not return to unsuitable homes or surroundings’, for there was a 

           risk of their being exploited commercially. The School Manager, he went on, already carried out 

           the required work for the aftercare programmes efficiently. 



3.412      The   School  authorities     were  the   best   suited  to  carry  out   this work.  There     was  a   mistaken 

           impression that the Managers lost interest in the children once they left the School. Boys frequently 

           returned  to the  School  when  unemployed, and  were  housed in  the  Schools  until suitable  work 

           was   found    for them.    Even   so,  he   contended     that  unemployment       rates  for  former   industrial 

           schoolboys were low but ‘relative’. Given the value of this work, the State should provide expenses 

           for aftercare in the industrial schools. 



3.413      Again, the Cussen Report’s recommendations concerning the issue of aftercare agreed with Fr 

           Giuseppe’s argument. Recommendation 28 of Cussen asserted, ‘There is room for improvement 

           in the methods of supervision and aftercare of children discharged from the schools’. The Report 

           then recommended: 



                 29(d)    The after-care of pupils should be carried out by the Manager of the school or by a 

                          carefully selected and experienced assistant. 



                 29(e)    Managers should be required to explain to all the children at the time of discharge 

                          that if ever in difficulties during the statutory period of after-care they are entitled to 

                          return to the school for advice and help. 



           34 Brid Fahey Bates, p 401. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      123 


----------------------- Page 910-----------------------

                  29(f)   The co-operation of charitable organisations should be enlisted in the work of after 

                          care. The priest in the parish to which a child is sent should invariably be notified by 

                          the School Manager of the place of residence and the name of the employer.50 



           Teaching 



3.414      Fr  Giuseppe  discussed  at  length  the  situation  of  teachers  of  literary  subjects  in  the  industrial 

           schools.  He  pointed  out  the  major  problems  facing  the  School  Manager  was  keeping  such 

           teachers  in  their  Schools.  These  teachers,  first  and  most  importantly,  were  not  recognised  as 

           National School teachers. This occurred even though they were required to follow, in its entirety, 

           the National School  programme and were subject  to inspection by National  School Inspectors. 

           This non-recognition made it difficult for Schools to retain fully qualified teachers. Teachers stayed 

           until  he  or  she  found  a  vacancy  in  a  recognised  National  School.  Industrial  School  Managers 

           could not bind them to any terms of service and they could not pay proportionate salaries. He 

           argued that a specific educational grant was required, out of which certified teachers would be 

           paid on the same basis as assistants, as set out in the National School scale. The balance of the 

           grant would be apportioned among the remaining approved teachers. 



3.415      The Cussen Report agreed with the problems facing School Managers and literary teachers, and 

           agreed it required change. It recommended that the conditions of service for lay teachers in these 

           Schools called for substantial improvement, and recommended the following: 



                 36(a)    That  the  cost  of  literary  education  should  be  defrayed  out  of  the  State  grants  for 

                          Primary Education (apart from the normal grants for maintenance). 



                 36(b)    That  future  appointment  of  teachers  should  be  on  the  same  conditions  as  in  the 

                          National    Schools,    and   duties   other   than   teaching    should    not  be   assigned     to 

                          recognised teachers who are not members of a religious community. 



                 36(c)    That unqualified teachers who have given long and faithful service but whose teaching 

                          efficiency is not satisfactory and whose services could be otherwise availed of, should 

                          be employed on other duties in the Institutions or, if this is not possible they should 

                          be retired with compensation or pension, the cost of which should be defrayed by the 

                          School Managers.51 



           Finance 



3.416      Fr Giuseppe’s central argument was that the basic capitation grants were so low that most if not 

           all  of  the  Schools  were  burdened  with  heavy  debts  and  loans.  Under  the  system,  the  local 

           authorities paid a sum of 4/6 or 5/- per week and the Treasury paid 7/6 per week. This sum, he 

           argued, was inadequate: ‘There remain rents, rates, and taxes, insurance, clerical, managerial, 

           literary and trade expenses, repairs, interest on money borrowed, expenses of after-care etc., all 

           to be met out of grants amounting to 12s or 12s6d per week per child’. The Religious had to meet 

           the deficit. Also, children under six years were not paid for by the Treasury. 



3.417      Again, the Cussen Report agreed with Fr Giuseppe to a large extent with these arguments on 

           finance. It stated: 



                    39   After  carefully  reviewing  all  the  relevant  circumstances  we  are  of  opinion  that  the 

                         representations of the School Managers as to the inadequacy of the existing grants 

                         would be reasonably met, if, in addition to being relieved of the cost of literary teaching, 

                         the present State payments were supplemented by a grant of equal amount from the 

                         local authorities, such payments being subject to periodic review so as to bring them 

                         into line with any appreciable variations in the cost of living figure, or with any material 

                         alterations in the numbers of children committed. 



           50 Cussen Report; p 53. 

           51 Cussen Report, p 54 



           124                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 911-----------------------

                    40    Grants at a rate somewhat lower than that for other children should be paid in respect 

                          of children committed under the age of 6 years. 



                    41    Grants should be paid at the full rate in respect of children committed at the instance 

                          of parents or guardians as incapable of control.52 



           Training 



3.418      On the question of industrial training, Fr Giuseppe argued, ‘Owing to the great increase in the use 

           of machinery and of skilled workers, the trades of boot making, carpentry, tailoring etc in the rural 

           districts and to a great extent in the urban areas have gradually become diminished, and in some 

           cases have become defunct or obsolete’. Furthermore, the Rules and Regulations of Trade Unions 

           often debar certain classes of children from being apprenticed. 



3.419       Fr Giuseppe argued that the training of boys ‘had to be adjusted to meet modern requirements 

           and  the  chances  of  obtaining  employment  after  being  discharged’. He  believed  that  training  of 

           boys    in  ‘Agriculture   (Tillage),  Horticulture,   Dairy   Farming,     Forestry,   Bee-Keeping      and   Rural 

           Science’ would better equip the boys for the positions in life they would occupy. In an agricultural 

           country, most of the boys must be put to agricultural work. He pointed out that there was very little 

            unemployment of boys so trained. Fr Giuseppe believed also that there should be scholarships in 

           Agricultural Colleges reserved for the boys from industrial schools. They had obtained preliminary 

           training already, and should be given an opportunity of advancement. 



3.420      The Cussen Report made several recommendations reflecting the thinking of Fr Giuseppe: 



                 29(c)    Trade  Unions  should  be  approached  by  Managers  with  a  view  to  endeavouring  to 

                          secure  a  modification  of  any  regulations,  which  might  act  as  a  barrier  to  a  boy’s 

                          admission to a particular trade. 



                    22    Where agricultural training is given, in addition to tillage operations such adjuncts as 

                          poultry  keeping,  horticulture,  and  bee  keeping  should  be  included  ...  Instruction  in 

                          allied  crafts  associated  with  farming  especially  woodwork,  thatching,  hedging,  and 

                          harness-making       should,   in  addition,  be   afforded    in schools    in  purely   agricultural 

                          districts. 



                    24    Special  attention  should  be  paid  in  the  schools  to  training  in  the  following:-  house- 

                          painting, paper-hanging, plumbing, electrical work, plastering, glazing, upholstery and 

                          general house repairs.53 



           Conclusions to be drawn from the Rosminians’ submission to Cussen 



3.421      The Cussen Report did lead, over a period of time, to some changes, largely related to the internal 

            management of the School. Capitation grants were increased and, by 1940, the teachers within 

            industrial schools did acquire additional status to put them on the same footing as the teachers in 

            National  Schools.  However,  Cussen’s  conclusion  that  the  industrial  school  system  ‘should  be 

           continued  subject  to  the  modifications  suggested  in  the  Report’  and  that  ‘the  Schools  should 

            remain under the management of the religious orders who have undertaken the work’54                        led to a 



           protracted retention of the status quo for decades to come. Impoverished children who had lost 

           one or both parents through death or social hardship, or who had been neglected or abandoned, 

           continued to be stigmatised by a system that incarcerated and punished them for being in need. 

            Both the Rosminians and Cussen deplored the effects of this system, yet they both seemed to 

           accept that a life in an institution run by a Religious Order was to be preferred. 



           52 Cussen Report, p 55 

           53 Cussen Report, p 52. 

           54 Cussen Report, p 49. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       125 


----------------------- Page 912-----------------------

3.422      The Rosminians recognised the defects in the existing system, but did not advocate more strongly 

           the changes they  knew were necessary. They knew that  the system itself, no matter  how well 

           funded, ‘militates against the child’s future and gives origin in the child to a feeling of inferiority 

           which robs him of his courage and lessens his confidence in himself in spite of all attempts made 

           to encourage him to realise his potentialities’, but they simply accepted more money to run the 

           malfunctioning system, making no changes until the post-Kennedy upheaval in the 1970s. 



3.423      As quoted earlier, a senior member of the Rosminian Order told the Investigation Committee: 



                  That’s my belief, that every child that was ever in this situation was abused in some way, 

                 emotionally, physically or whatever the case may be, and you would say that we were 

                 part of that because we didn’t stand up at the time and probably say so. 



3.424      The submission they made to the Cussen Commission began to say so, but thereafter the voice 

           of the Rosminians became inexplicably muted. 



           The rebuilding of Ferryhouse: the possibility for change 



3.425      Fr Stefano was appointed Resident Manager of Ferryhouse in the mid-1970s, and he remained 

           in  that  post  until  the  early  1990s  when  he  was  appointed  Provost  Provincial  of  the  Rosminian 

           Community in Ireland. Prior to his appointment as Resident Manager, Fr Stefano had previously 

           worked in Ferryhouse in the early 1960s and again in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He also 

           had worked as a volunteer in Ferryhouse. 



3.426      During   his  tenure   as  Resident    Manager,     Fr  Stefano   carried   out  an  extensive    building   and 

           renovation programme in Ferryhouse. As Fr Francesco55, Provincial of the Order, stated in the 



           early 1980s at the official opening of the new School in Ferryhouse: 



                 The planning of to-day’s reality was begun even before I entered the Order. I recall the 

                 late Fr Rafaele working on same. He was followed by Fr Lucio whom I am happy to see 

                 here  today.  With  the  appointment  here  of  Fr  Stefano  a  necessary  intensity  and  a  vital 

                 momentum was generated and the ideas became realities. 



3.427      The conditions in Ferryhouse, despite some improvements in the late 1960s, were very poor. It 

           was  for  this  reason  that  Fr  Stefano  set  about  an  extensive  rebuilding  programme,  which  was 

           necessary in order to bring about the changes recommended by the Kennedy Report. 



           The rebuilding programme 



3.428      Woodstown was a holiday centre in Waterford used by the Rosminian Order for holidays for the 

           boys during the summer vacation. The site in Woodstown was purchased in 1957 and, according 

           to Fr Stefano, was fairly basic. The camp provided basic facilities, which by 1979 were considered 

           inadequate.  Fr  Stefano’s  first  redevelopment  project        was  the  rebuilding  of  Woodstown.  The 

           renovation in Woodstown began in 1977 with the addition of new kitchens, and a recreation-cum- 

           dining hall; and, by the following year, a new block which housed the sleeping accommodation 

           for the boys was built. According to Fr Stefano, they raised most of the money themselves, but 

           the  Department  of  Education  did  provide  a  grant  towards  the  building  works.  Justice  Eileen 

           Kennedy officially opened the new Woodstown in 1979. 



3.429      Fr Stefano’s next project was to rebuild Ferryhouse itself. One of the principal recommendations 

           of the Kennedy Committee was for children to be cared for in smaller group homes rather that the 

           large  dormitory-based,  institutional  buildings.  A  scheme  of  capital  funding  for  the  provision  of 

           group homes was introduced by the Department of Education with the approval of the Department 



           55 This is a pseudonym. 



           126                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 913-----------------------

           of Finance.    The   scheme    provided    for 90%    grant  aid  towards    building  costs   and   service 

           installations. 



3.430      The  Department  of  Education,  however,  had  a  different  view  in  relation  to  the  group  homes 

           scheme  being  specifically  introduced  into  Ferryhouse.  In  1974,  the  Government  established  a 

           Task Force on Child Care Services, which reported in 1980. The main purpose of the Task Force 

           was  to  monitor  the  implementation  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Kennedy  Report.  The  Task 

           Force  had  difficulty  with  the  Department  of  Education’s  proposal  to  reconstruct  Ferryhouse  in 

           order to cater for 100 boys. The Task Force saw these proposals as being contrary to the future 

           childcare system, as set out by the Kennedy Report. Furthermore, the Task Force argued that, 

           once  the  full  range  of  services  they  had  recommended  were  fully  operational,  there  would  no 

           longer be a need for a large centre like Ferryhouse. Their interim report led to further discussions 

           and, in December 1975, the design team was asked to carry out a comparative cost study of a 

           school for 60 rather than 100 pupils. By early 1976, it was proposed that a school for 80 pupils 

           was the most economical number, with provision for 10 in a pre-leavers unit, and sanction was 

           sought for such a school from the Department of Finance. 



3.431      The Kennedy Report and the Task Force envisaged that St Joseph’s, Ferryhouse would be the 

           centre charged with looking after boys with poor school attendance records or boys unsuitable for 

           foster care.  The   Task   Force   was   very  specific  in  designating   Ferryhouse    as  a  specialised 

           educational establishment, catering for the following categories of children: 



                  •    Those whose educational progress had been hampered by their home circumstances 

                       and  whose  progress,      even  where  they  were  attending  special      classes  in  special 

                       schools, was grossly impeded by such circumstances. 



                  •    Children for whom schooling presented particular difficulties and who required special 

                       educational help in a sympathetic and understanding environment. 



                  •    Children in trouble with the law or persistently truanting from school and who would not 

                       have a community-based service available to them. 



                  •    Children educationally retarded requiring special educational help. 



3.432      The existing services and buildings at Ferryhouse were out of date and totally unsuitable for the 

           role that was being planned for the School. As a result, an extensive building programme then 

           began in Ferryhouse. A complete transformation of the Ferryhouse complex began in 1980. The 

           planned reconstruction included: 



                  •    An open plan school building to replace the pre-fabricated classrooms. 

                  •    A bungalow style unit to be known as Piccola Casa. This was opened in 1980. 

                  •    A new sports centre, including a gymnasium, sports hall, swimming pool and canteen. 

                  •    Six two-storey residential houses, each designed to accommodate 10 to 14 boys. 

                  •    A new dining hall, reception area and service buildings. 



3.433      The Department of Education funded this building programme. The Rosminians stated, however, 

           that  they  supplemented  the  cost  of  these  buildings  with  charitable  donations  raised  by  their 

           members  locally.  Ferryhouse  was  now  a  much  smaller  complex,  with  state-of-the-art  facilities, 

           caring for a much smaller number of boys. A General Inspection Report for Ferryhouse completed 

           in the post-reconstruction period (Report dated 14th      October 1985) detailed the school conditions 



           and services. The Report stated that the diets and meals were excellent for adolescent boys. No 

           complaints were noted and, as diet was a central pivot of care, it must be highly commended. It 

           noted   that  the  School   had   a  consistent   long-term   psychiatrist,  and   provided   an   excellent 

           psychological   service   on  a  seasonal    basis,  with  excellent   reports  on  individual  children.  It 

           concluded  that  the  School  was  an  excellent  and  well-run, caring  School  and  residential  centre 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               127 


----------------------- Page 914-----------------------

           that provided stability and security for boys, with well-balanced controls that were both meaningful 

           and sensitive. 



           The Kennedy Report and the staff today 



3.434      After the publication of the Kennedy Report in 1970, fundamental changes in childcare policy in 

           Ireland began. Residential care was now viewed as the last option. The numbers of children in 

           full-time residential care would drop dramatically within this decade and would continue to do so 

           throughout  the  1980s.  Running  parallel  with  the  drop  in  numbers  of  children  in  care  was  an 

           increase in the numbers of staff working in the remaining residential schools. 



3.435      Fr Stefano, in his evidence to the Investigation Committee, spoke about the increasing numbers 

           of trained staff made available to him during his tenure as Resident Manager in Ferryhouse. 



3.436      As Fr Stefano stated in evidence: 



                 I  would  like  to  compare  that  to  the  manager  in  Ferryhouse  that  comes  on  duty  this 

                 morning. He has two full-time deputy directors. Now, neither he nor the deputies, unless 

                 there is severe crisis, would ever have to work a weekend, and they would work a nine 

                 to  five  day.  Underneath     the  two   deputy   directors   there  are   eight  unit  managers. 

                 Underneath the eight unit managers, there are eight assistant unit managers, and these 

                 sixteen people  run the school  really on  a daily basis,  365 days of  the year.  Under the 

                 eight assistant unit managers, there are forty care staff, and most of these staff are highly 

                 professionally  trained  staff.  To  assist  them,  there  are  ten  night  supervisors  and,  as  Fr 

                 O'Reilly said in the last day or two, you know, the average number of boys in the school 

                 now would be 30 boys, and very happy about that, you know. These are the objectives 

                 that  we  worked for  over  the  years, but  it  puts  in perspective  what  a  person arriving  at 

                 Ferryhouse in 1960, 70, 75, the responsibilities that that person was taking on. 



3.437      Today, the staff to pupil ratio is heavily in favour of the staff member. In earlier years, there were 

           just 2 or 3 young, untrained men in charge of 200 or so boys. The consequences of this imbalance 

           are evident from this report. 



           Improving the staff 



3.438      Fr Stefano had noted that the residential group homes at Rathdrum, Lenaboy, Lakelands, Moate, 

           Cappoquin and elsewhere had been financed by 90% grants sanctioned by the Department of 

           Finance for the building of group residential homes. Fr Stefano also noted the State’s building of 

           three schools, Oberstown Boys Centre, St. Laurence’s, and St. Michael’s, and he was envious of 

           the staffing and conditions offered to residents at these schools. In response, Fr Stefano sought 

           the services of a consultant, to undertake an evaluation of the Ferryhouse services. Fr Stefano 

           then held a formal meeting with the Principal Officer (Special Education) to discuss the findings 

           of  the  consultant.  The  Rosminians,  according  to  Fr  Stefano,  laid  down  an  ultimatum  to  the 

           Department of Education. They required the funding to employ 16 lay childcare workers, as there 

           were no professional childcare workers in Ferryhouse. Furthermore, the Rosminians required a 

           budget  system  of  funding  for  the  School.  Fr  Stefano  wanted  Ferryhouse  financed  on  a  proper 

           budget  system,  and  staffed  with  generous  staffing  schedules,  in  line  with  the  other  three  new 

           schools recently built by the Department. 



3.439      The Rosminians sought 16 care staff, to provide adequate cover for night shifts and weekends. 

           The Provincial informed the Department of Education that, if these proposals were not given, he 

           would close Ferryhouse. 



           128                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 915-----------------------

3.440     The Department of Education acquiesced, and provided the staffing required by the Rosminians. 

          The staff changes, according to Fr Stefano, directly altered in a beneficial way the boys’ lives in 

           Ferryhouse. He told the Investigation Committee: 



                 From the beginning, the early staff, we made a conscious decision that we would take on 

                 female childcare workers rather than male childcare workers at the start because we had 

                 four Rosminians and the balance was very overloaded in the boys' lives so all the early 

                 childcare workers were female and there was a great sense of well-being and happening 

                 in the air. They were young people who were very energetic and very enthusiastic. 



3.441      Fr Ricardo gave evidence to the Investigation Committee. He was asked what improvements he 

           saw in Ferryhouse when he returned in the mid-1980s following a time of absence. He said: 



                 At that time there were huge, I think, changes. No.1, lay staff – I know lay staff had come 

                 in on the scene. One thing I do remember when the first lay staff came – like before they 

                 came,  the  boys  would  be  quite  boisterous.  I  remember  the  Community  having  a  long 

                 discussion shortly after lay female staff came, how the boys had mellowed or softened in 

                 general. That to me was one of the huge changes or factors. Also staff were being trained 

                 as well, because the Waterford Regional College had set up a training course ... 



3.442     The lay staff now employed in Ferryhouse had received proper training. This was a direct result 

           of the Kennedy Report, which had recommended that priority be given to proper training of staff 

           in residential  institutions.  The   Department     of Education    state  that  their  response    to  this 

           recommendation was immediate. A full-time residential course in childcare at the School of Social 

           Education, Kilkenny was established in 1971 with funding from the Department of Education. All 

          the industrial schools and reformatories were given funding to send their staff on the course. The 

           Department of Education was also involved in the organisation of in-service training courses at 

           numerous colleges nationwide. By 1974, approximately 75% of staff working in residential homes 

           had received training in childcare. 



          The budget system 



3.443     The second part of the ultimatum given by Fr Stefano to the Department of Education was an 

           adequate budget system along the lines of the budgets provided by the Department to the newly 

           constructed schools. Fr Stefano told the Investigation Committee that the capitation system was 

          the  only  significant  funding  received  for  the  School.  The  farm  was   ‘not  making  money  at  that 

           stage’ and he was determined that he  ‘would never fundraise to put food on the table or clothes 

           on a boy’s back or anything that was the responsibility of the State’. He resolved that all fundraising 

           by the Rosminians was to enhance the lives of the boys and not to provide the basics. 



3.444     This  ultimatum  in  relation  to  budget  funding  for  their  School  was  in  line  with  the  thinking  of 

           numerous other groups and individuals. The Kennedy Report recommended that the system of 

           payment of grants on a capitation basis should be discontinued, and replaced by an annual grant 

           based on a budget of estimated costs submitted by each school sufficient to cover all costs. The 

           grant was to be paid direct to the schools by the State. The criticism of the capitation system was 

          that it encouraged institutions to detain children rather than to release them to their families. 



3.445      Fr O’Reilly spoke about the problems caused by the capitation system: 



                 You  needed  to  have  a  certain  number  of  children  in  the  School  in  order  to  make  it 

                 financially viable, which is not a good way to look at it, but that was the economic reality 

                 at  that  time  and  therefore  at  times  they  were  complaining  about  not  having  enough 

                 children in the school and they wanted more children to be able to have a greater income 

                 to spread across ... The system of its nature sought to, or it forced Managers into, trying 

                 to have a greater rather than a lesser number of children. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              129 


----------------------- Page 916-----------------------

3.446      The  Department  did  not  give  Fr  Stefano  his  required  budgetary  system  immediately,  but  he 

           succeeded in obtaining a system whereby the School would receive deficit payment on production 

           of financial records every three months. This was a considerable improvement financially for the 

           Rosminians, as Fr Stefano stated, ‘so with money starting to come in, we could start planning’. 



3.447      By 1984, a budget system of funding had been introduced into all the schools. 



           The changes to the education system 



3.448      A  number  of  critical  factors  combined  to  bring  about  fundamental  changes  in  the  education 

           provided for the boys in Ferryhouse and industrial schools generally. The Kennedy Report noted 

           that ‘if the task of integration of children in care into society is to be successful it is essential that 

           those in care for one reason or another should have educational opportunities to the ultimate of 

           their capacities’.56  The Report stated that the children in care were educationally disadvantaged, 



           and the industrial school educational system had failed to take this into account in catering for the 

           children’s educational needs. Therefore, in the light of deprivation suffered, the children should be 

           provided  with  more  than  normal  educational  facilities  so  that  they  could  be  educated  to  their 

           ultimate capacities. The Department of Education policy from the 1970s onwards, in relation to 

           education, focused on rehabilitation and compensatory education, provided by well-trained staff. 

           St. Joseph’s Industrial School building programme provided the opportunity to put these policies 

           to work. 



3.449      With  the  new  school  building  completed,  class  sizes  were  reduced  considerably.  This  allowed 

           intensive remedial teaching to occur for the boys. The numbers of boys detained in Ferryhouse 

           had fallen dramatically, while the number of trained staff had increased. Additional teachers were 

           also put in place to provide teaching in the practical subjects. As a direct result, older boys would 

           undertake preparation for the State examinations in the School. The first State examination was 

           held in Ferryhouse in 1987. 



3.450      The   education    provided    in  Ferryhouse     today   enables    most   of  its residents   to  sit a   State 

           examination,     while  a  number     complete    the  Transition   Year    programme,     with   the  option   of 

           completing the Leaving Certificate Examination while in Ferryhouse. 



3.451      In  September  2001,  the  Rosminians  withdrew  from  active  management  of  Ferryhouse  and,  in 

           June 2002, they transferred ownership of the centre to the Department of Education and Science. 



3.452      The words of the then Provincial, Fr James Flynn, at the opening of the new Ferryhouse on 11th 



           May 1990, already quoted above, remain apposite: 



                  Like any human institution, old Ferryhouse had its bad points as well as its good points, 

                  its weaknesses as well as its strengths. It damaged some boys and those have looked 

                 back in bitterness and anger to their time here. For many of them, this was the only home 

                 that they ever knew and sadly they did not find it a good one. Let me say that a lot of that 

                 anger  is  justified  ...  The  greatest  guilt  has  to  be  borne  by  those  of  us  who  utilised  or 

                 condoned or ignored the extreme severity, even brutality which characterised at times the 

                  regime at old Ferryhouse. An occasion like this is an opportunity for me on behalf of the 

                  Rosminians to publicly acknowledge this fact and to ask forgiveness of those who were 

                  ill treated or hurt. We have sinned against justice and against the dignity of the person in 

                 the past and we always need to be on our guard that we do not do the same today in 

                  more subtle or equally hideous ways. 



           56 Kennedy Report, Chapter 7. 



           130                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 917-----------------------

          General conclusions 



3.453     Physical abuse 



           1.   Corporal punishment was the option of first resort for problems. Its use was pervasive, 

                excessive,  unpredictable  and  without  regulation  or  supervision,  and  was  therefore 

                physically abusive. 



           2.   Corporal punishment was the main method of maintaining control over the boys and 

                it created a climate of fear that was emotionally harmful to the boys. 



           3.   The system  of discipline was  the same  in Ferryhouse as  in Upton. The  Rosminians 

                accept that there was excessive corporal punishment in both institutions. 



           4.   Young    and   inexperienced     staff used    fear  and  violence    as  a  means    of  asserting 

                authority.  Punishments  were  inflicted  for  a  wide  range  of  acts  and  omissions.  The 

                severity of punishment was entirely a matter for the staff involved. 



           5.   Rules and regulations governing corporal punishment were not observed. 



           6.   Excessive, unfair and even capricious punishment did lasting damage to many of the 

                boys in Ferryhouse. 



           7.   Boys   were   punished     for  bed-wetting    and   were   subjected    to  nightly   humiliation, 

                degradation and fear. 



           8.   The regime placed excessive demands on the few men who did the bulk of the work. 



          Sexual abuse 



           9.   Sexual abuse by Brothers was a chronic problem in Ferryhouse and it is impossible 

                to quantify its full extent. 



          10.   Complainant witnesses from every era, from the early 1940s onwards, testified to the 

                Investigation    Committee     about   the   sexual   abuse   of  children   in  Ferryhouse.    The 

                Rosminian  Institute  acknowledged  that  not  all  of  those  who  were  sexually  abused 

                have  come  forward  as  complainants,  whether  to  the  Commission,  to  the  Redress 

                Board,    or  to  An  Garda    Siochana.    In their  Final  Submission      to  the  Investigation 

                                                 ´ 

                Committee  they  wrote,  ‘We  know  that  some  boys  were  sexually  abused  who  have 

                made no complaint to the Commission or otherwise, but have spoken to us about it’. 



          11.   The succession of cases that confronted the authorities must have alerted them to 

                the scale of the problem, and to the need for a thorough ongoing investigation as to 

                how  deep  the  problem  went  among  the  Brothers  and  staff  in  Ferryhouse.  Such  an 

                investigation did not happen. Instead, each case was dealt with individually, as if no 

                other case had occurred. The Order was aware of the criminal nature of the conduct, 

                but did not report it as a crime. 



          12.   Sexual abuse was systemic. When it was uncovered, it was not seen as a crime but 

                as  a  moral  lapse  and  weakness.  The  policy  of  furtively  removing  the  abuser  and 

                keeping his offences secret led to a culture of institutional amnesia, in which neither 

                boys nor staff could learn from experience. 



          13.   The extent and prevalence of sexual abuse were not addressed although the Order 

                had some awareness of its impact on children. 



          14.   Once placed in posts, priests and Brothers had complete autonomy, and there evolved 

                a convention of not interfering with what other people were doing. 



          15.   The  Department  of  Education  did  not  act  responsibly  when  an  allegation  of  sexual 

                abuse was made to it in 1980. 



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Neglect and emotional abuse 



16.   Living  conditions  in  both  schools   were   poor,  unhygienic,   inadequate   and  often 

     overcrowded. 



17.   Boys were hungry and poorly clothed in circumstances where funding was sufficient 

     to provide these basic needs. 



18.   Education and aftercare were deficient. 



19.   Family contact was not encouraged or maintained. 



20.  As  their  submission  to  the  Cussen  Commission  reveals,  the  Rosminians  knew  the 

     detrimental   consequences     of  the  industrial  school   system,   but  did  nothing   to 

     ameliorate them. They could have changed the regime, but they did nothing until the 

      1970s. 



The attitude of the Rosminians 



21.  The   Rosminian    Institute of  Charity  is to  be  commended      for its attitude  to the 

     Committee. The Rosminians’ refusal to take the conventional adversarial approach, 

     their sympathetic questioning of the witnesses, and their proffering of apologies to 

     the witnesses at the end of hearings, all contributed to an atmosphere very different 

     from that of other hearings. 



22.  The   Rosminians    used   the  memories    of former   residents  to  add  to  the  Order’s 

      knowledge of life and conditions in their schools. The witnesses became a source of 

      information and, by tapping into it, the Rosminians helped the Committee’s inquiry. 



23.  The   Rosminians’   attitude  to the  allegations  evolved   before,  during  and  after the 

      hearings.  They  were  the  first  Order  to  apologise  publicly  in  1990.  They  sometimes 

     modified  their  approach  during  the  course  of  a  hearing,  and  they  issued  a  final 

     submission  that  was  a  balanced  and  humane  response  to  the  evidence  they  had 

      heard. 



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Appendix 



Report by Mr Ciaran Fahy 



1.0 Introduction 



The  purpose  of  this  report  is  to  describe  the  physical  surroundings  of  St  Joseph’s  School  in 

Ferryhouse with particular reference to the buildings. It is based on research carried out by Mr 

Ciaran Fahy and Mr. Neil Gillespie during the course of which, all of the documentation in relation 

to Ferryhouse in the possession of the CICA was examined, including a model prepared by the 

Rosminians shortly after the original buildings on site were demolished. 



This report should be read in conjunction with the attached map and photographs. 



2.0 Background 



St Joseph’s School is located in the townland of Ferryhouse some three to four km due east of 

the centre of Clonmel on the northern bank of the River Suir. The site is bounded to the north by 

the N24 which is the road from Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir, while on the east it is defined by a 

secondary road running due south from the N24 continuing across the River Suir at Sir Thomas’ 

Bridge and continuing generally towards the Comeragh Mountains. Map 1 shows the school as it 

was about 1951 and in particular, it shows the school buildings laid out in a quadrangular form 

approximately 60m north of the River Suir. This map also shows the position of the N24 and the 

road running due south from this towards Sir Thomas’ Bridge which obviously provided access 

into the school. In addition, the school farmyard was to the north of the school buildings facing 

onto the N24 and it will be seen there is an internal road linking this with the school buildings. The 

distance from the N24 to Sir Thomas’ Bridge is approximately 320m and the distance from the 

farmyard to the school buildings itself is some 150m. 



St Joseph’s in Ferryhouse dates from 1884 when the Rosminians were invited by Count Arthur 

Moore, the local MP to take over a house which he had built shortly beforehand. Count Moore 

constructed the main red-bricked three storey house at a cost of £10,000 and he handed it over 

on 14th  June 1884, to the Rosminians apparently on 3.6 hectares of land and in addition, he gave 



them   a  further  £1,000   to  furnish  the  house.   It appears   the  land  was   rapidly  increased    to 

approximately  16  hectares  and  in  addition  water  was  found  and  pumped  while  walls,  gates, 

outhouses and workshops were built and the house was furnished. In January 1885, the institution 

was certified for 150 boys and apparently it had reached that capacity by May 1886. 



The  indications  are  that  the  buildings  at  Ferryhouse  in  the  main  were  constructed  very  shortly 

after the school was opened in the mid-1880s and this is evident in photograph no 8 which is an 

old postcard apparently dating from about 1920. This was taken looking to the north and shows 

in the centre the main three storey building with the three wings behind it forming the square or 

quadrangle and behind this again there are three pitched roofs running more or less north-south 

together with a further building just north of the quadrangle. There were some improvements and 

changes over the years but the general arrangement described appears to have remained intact 

until the construction of the new school commenced in the 1980s. This was constructed in phases 



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involving the removal of the original buildings and continued until the late 1980s when the original 

main three storey building was demolished. 



3.0 Details 



3.1 Farm 



There was a farm associated with the school from its inception until around 1979/1980 when it 

was closed down completely and after that the land was sold off in pieces. The farm itself started 

as  approximately  16  hectares  very  shortly  after  the  school  was  opened  and  this  was  initially 

intended for the feeding of the pupils. The farm was enlarged over the years to about 32 hectares 

or possibly up to 50 hectares and it extended from the house north towards the N24. However, a 

portion of the farm was also located south of the river, while as stated previously the farmyard 

itself was located alongside the N24. The main use of the land was for potatoes, dairy and also 

hens  and  in  addition,  there  was  an  orchard  beyond  the  west  wing.  The  farmyard  has  been 

completely demolished and no detail of it remains. It apparently was updated some time in the 

1960s with a milking parlour and a chicken house being added at that time. Finally, it should be 

noted that all of the buildings and the land still in possession of the Rosminians was transferred 

to the State in 2002, apart from approximately three hectares of land unsuitable for farming south 

of the River Suir. 



Some impression of the farmyard can be obtained from map 1 showing the layout in 1951. It has 

been completely demolished and all that has been retained is a lodge alongside the N24. 



3.2 School Buildings 



Details of the school buildings are shown in the map. Essentially, this consisted of a quadrangle 

formed by the main house which was the red brick three storey building constructed by Count 

Arthur  Moore  in  1884,  together  with  an  east  and  a  west  wing  extending  north  from  it  with  the 

entire enclosed by a north wing. Beyond that and just north of the quadrangle there were three or 

possibly four other separate buildings. The main house itself was three storey, while the east and 

west wings were each two storey with the north being single storey. The three or possibly four 

other buildings north of that again appear to have been single storey industrial type buildings. The 

general arrangement is quite clear in the photographs of the model number 1 and 2 and also in 

the earliest photograph no 8 taken about 1920. 



From  scaling  the  Ordnance  Survey  sheet  the  outside  measurements  of  the  quadrangle  were 

approximately 66m x 66m. The inner space was approximately 48m east-west x 44m north-south 

without making any allowance for the projection at the rear of the main house. 



3.3 The Main House 



The main house originally constructed by Count Arthur Moore was a three storey red brick building 

shown clearly in the photographs of the model number 1 and 2. The main axis of the building ran 

east-west and in plan it appears to have been approximately 35m x 12m. As originally constructed 

however, the house was cruciform in shape with a significant front projection and also one to the 

rear which incorporated the main stairs. As shown in the model, this had four floors and it may 

well have been added subsequent to the construction of the original house. In addition, the main 

house also contained a single storey extension at the rear or northern side known as the cloister 

which connected into the west wing and which ran across the back of the house. 



The main house is also shown from the rear in photograph 4 and this shows a fire escape leading 

down to ground level alongside the cloister which runs as far as the gable. In the lower left hand 

corner  of  this  photograph,  it  is  possible  to  see  another  external  stairs,  which  apparently  gave 



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access to the first floor level on the eastern wing. The photograph also shows the projection at 

the rear of the main house, consisting initially of a high pitched section which was original and 

incorporated the main stairs. Behind this, there is a four storey section with a flat or a low pitched 

roof and which quite clearly was constructed in different phases. 



The earliest photograph of the main house is no 8 which apparently was taken from postcards 

dating  back  as  far  as  1918/1920.  Photograph  8  shows  that  the  construction  of  the  house  is 

effectively unchanged in the later photographs. 



Just  inside   the  main   entrance    at  ground    floor level  as   shown    in  model   photograph     1  and 

photograph 3, the Resident Manager’s office was on the right hand side while there was a parlour 

on  the  left  hand  side.  Just  beyond  the  Manager’s  office  on  the  right  hand  side  there  was  a 

secondary stairs which led to the first and second floor level and from which it was possible to 

gain access to the dormitories. This, however, was not the main stairs and was not used by the 

boys  since  the  main  stairs  was  in  the  rear  return  of  the  building.  The  upper  floors  of  the  front 

projection   apparently    contained    Community      bedrooms      used   by   the  Resident    Manager     who 

apparently slept above his office and also for the Prefects. 



There appears to have been no main corridor at ground floor level within the building since this 

purpose was served by the cloister at the rear. This cloister is shown in photograph 7 and also in 

photograph 9, both of which were taken looking towards the west wing. Photograph 9, shows the 

start of the main stairs on the right, while facing this, the doorway leads towards the main entrance. 

The windows on  the right hand side of the  corridor obviously lead to the  outside and the yard 

enclosed  by  the  quadrangle,  while  on  the  left  hand  side  there  was  a  Community  room  which 

apparently  had  a  large  billiard  table  in  it  and  beyond  this  again  on  the  western  gable  was  the 

Community  dining  room.  This  is  shown  in  photograph  10  which  again  was  taken  from  an  old 

postcard dating from around 1920. 



The  upper  two  floors  of  the  main  house  were  used  as  dormitories  with  the  junior  boys  being 

allocated to the second floor and the senior boys to the first floor level up until the mid-1960s. In 

each case, the dormitories ran the full length of the building and are described in a questionnaire 

completed by the Rosminians in 1944 for the Department as being 33.5m long x 7.3m wide. Up 

until the 1960s, it appeared each dormitory was laid out to accommodate 100 children without 

any partitions. A report compiled in the 1940s says the first floor dormitory for the senior boys 

contained 92 children, while the second floor for the junior boys contained 100. It describes each 

of  them  as  having  central  heating  and  electric  light  and  it  says  the  senior  dormitory  had  16 

windows while the junior one had 26. The windows in the junior dormitory were obviously much 

smaller, as shown in the photographs and in fact photograph 4 shows that two of them have been 

removed to facilitate the fire escape. This 1940s report gives the height of the senior dormitory as 

4.25m while that of the junior dormitory is 6m. Finally, it says there were 28 wash basins and two 

lavatories for the senior dormitory and 17 wash basins and two lavatories for the junior one. 



After the mid-1960s the boys were reclassified as A or junior boys up to the age 12, while the B 

boys were from 12 to 14 and C boys were from 14 up. The junior or A boys were moved out to 

the east wing while the B boys were placed on the second floor and the C boys on the first floor 

level. At about that time, the arrangement of the dormitories was significantly altered with partitions 

being  introduced  to  give  a  cubicle  type  arrangement  with  four  beds  in  each  around  a  central 

corridor.  This  reduced  the  capacity  of  the  dormitories  to  approximately  40  beds  in  each  case. 

Photograph 17 was taken about that time and gives an impression of the layout in the first floor 

dormitory. 



There is a reference in the documentation and in particular, in a letter of October 1944, to a new 

sanitary  annexe  having  been  constructed  and  prior  to  that  there  were  only  dry  closets  in  the 



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playground.  Consequently,  it  seems  likely  that  this  section  of  the  building  was  originally  two 

storeys constructed in the 1940s and was subsequently extended to four floors in the mid-1960s. 

Originally, the ground floor contained wash rooms, in other words showers and toilets while the 

first floor was traditionally bedrooms used by the farming staff. When the second and third floors 

were added these contained showers and toilet facilities allocated to the dormitories on that floor 

within the main house. In addition, they contained linen rooms or store rooms for use by each of 

the dormitories. The washing facilities at the top floor in this area are shown in photograph 18, 

apparently taken about 1968. 



3.4 East Wing 



The east wing is shown in photograph 5, while it is also shown in photograph 6 where it joins the 

northern wing. This shows an archway which was the only vehicular access into the yard as well 

as a further fire escape  or access point to the upper level. At  ground floor level the east wing 

contained the assembly hall as well as some storage and beyond this there was a recreation room 

and also a visitors’ room at the northern end of the block. Access to the upper floor was via an 

external stairs which gave onto a balcony running the length of the wing. Initially, this was open 

and  gave  access  into  individual  rooms  but  about  1967/1968  this  balcony  was  covered  and 

enclosed  and  in  fact  photograph  13  was  taken  at  that  time  showing  the  enclosed  balcony. 

Photograph 2 of the model also shows the enclosed balcony with the stairs near the main house 

giving access to this level and the bottom of this same stairs is just visible on the lower left hand 

corner of photograph 4. 



Initially, the upper floor of the east wing contained five classrooms and also the tailors’ shop but 

after  about  1967/1968  the  junior  or  A  boys  up  to  the  age  of  12  were  moved  to  the  first  floor 

displacing the classrooms and the tailors’ shop. At that time, it appears the first floor was divided 

into three dormitories and in addition, there was a Prefect’s bedroom and bathroom/toilet located 

at the northern end of the wing. 



By scaling the Ordnance Survey Sheet the east wing appears to have been approximately 48m 

long overall by 8m wide. The 1940s report referred to earlier describes five classrooms each of 

them 7m wide x 4.2m high, with two of them being 11.9m long, a further two of them 11.3m long 

and  one  7m  long.  There  is  also  reference  to  a  play  hall  and  a  big  school  which  may  be  the 

assembly room and hall taken together. In each case the width of these is 7.3m and the height is 

4.6m. The play hall is given as 22m long while the big school is described as being 12m long with 

a 6m stage. The five classrooms are described as having stove heating and the number of pupils 

ranged from 34 to 50. The tailors’ shop is shown in photographs 14 and 15. 



3.5 West Wing 



Access into the west wing was via the cloister at the rear of the main building and there was an 

internal stairs at the southern end of the wing giving access to the first floor level. The first floor 

was  mainly  taken  up  with  Community  bedrooms  with  the  washroom/bathroom  for  them  at  the 

southern end near the top of the stairs. Apparently there were nine Community bedrooms on this 

floor and at the northern end of the wing there was a nurse’s bedroom and beyond that again 

there was an infirmary with an outside fire escape. 



At ground floor level there was the Community kitchen and then a storage area followed by the 

boys’ dining room followed by the kitchen and the stores for the boys. 



Overall, this block also scales approximately 48m x 8m. The boys’ dining room again taken from 

an old postcard is shown in photograph 11, while the infirmary is shown in photograph 12. In the 

1940s document this is described as being 6.7m x 8.2m x 4.2m high. It is described as having eight 



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beds together with a lavatory and a bathroom. No mention is made of heating, but photograph 12 

clearly shows a stove. 



3.6 North Wing 



The north wing was single storey and divided into a number of rooms whose use changed over 

the years. On  the eastern side near the archway  leading to the outside was  the shoe shop or 

cobblers. This was followed by the toilets which appear to have been accessed by means of an 

open doorway and the model in photograph 2 for example, shows a flat roofed extension behind 

this, which apparently was a new toilet, built in the 1960s. The wing also contained a nurse’s post, 

a Prefect’s office and a recreation room. The dimensions of the north block appear to have been 

similar to the other two i.e. about 48m x 8m, but no information is available in relation to individual 

rooms. The cobblers shop is shown in photograph 16. 



3.7 Other Buildings 



The model in photograph 2 shows three pitched roof buildings beyond the northern wing running 

more or less north-south. The one on the western side i.e. the right hand side of photograph 2 

apparently  was  built  around  1930  and  was  newer  than  the  other  two,  which  apparently  were 

interconnected as shown on the model. The newer building apparently contained the bakery in 

the northern section while the band or music room was located on the southern side of this. The 

other two units which were interconnected contained the main laundry as well as the boiler house 

and maintenance workshops. The two interconnected buildings scale approximately 18m x 16m. 

In the 1940s questionnaire the music room was described as 6.7m x 7.3m x 5.6m high. Finally, 

there was a water tower as shown in the model just to one side of these. 



At the end of the 1960s when the classrooms were moved out of the first floor of the east wing, 

prefabs  were  placed  to  the  north  of  the  existing  buildings  alongside  the  internal  road  running 

towards the farmyard. The positioning of these prefabs is clearly evident in the 1973 Ordnance 

Survey aerial photograph. It appears the prefabs contained nine classrooms together with an arts 

and crafts room, a tailor shop, a knitters’ shop and a general purpose room. 



An open and unheated swimming pool was constructed by the school in the 1950s and this was 

located on the southern side of the River Suir just beyond Sir Thomas’ Bridge and it was open to 

members of the public as well as being used by the school. 



3.8 Services 



The school was apparently supplied with electricity from early on, in other words shortly after its 

construction but the source of this is not clear. It is known that the gas company in Clonmel never 

serviced the school. There is a reference in the early documentation to water being found and 

pumped but it appears the main supply was from the Glenmorgan River south of the River Suir 

and this continued to be the case until mains water was supplied probably in the 1970s. Initially, 

the school was served by septic tanks and this continued until a small treatment plant was installed 

in  the 1980s    which   apparently   was   not  very  successful.   The  use   of this  was   discontinued 

approximately two years ago when a pumping station was installed to connect to the main town 

sewer. It appears the school had been provided with oil fired central heating from the 1960s and 

before that solid fuel was used. However, there is a reference in the 1940s report to stoves being 

used to heat the classrooms. 



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Ordnance Survey Aerial Photograph 



Taken 28 June 1973 



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          Chapter 4 



          St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

          Greenmount (‘Greenmount’), 

           1871–1959 



          History and establishment of St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

          Greenmount 



4.01      St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount, was the only industrial school run by the Presentation 

          Brothers.  The  first  boy  was  registered  on  5th April  1871  and  the  last  was  registered  on  27th 

          February 1959. A total of 3,592 boys passed through Greenmount.1             The School closed on 31st 



          March 1959, when there were still 127 residents in the School, 113 of whom were sent to other 

          industrial schools and 14 were discharged. 



           The Presentation Brothers 



4.02      The Presentation Brothers owe their origin to Edmund Ignatius Rice when, in 1802, he founded 

          the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. The Communities inspired by Edmund Rice 

          adopted a modified form of the Rules of the Presentation Sisters and were under the jurisdiction 

          of the bishops of their local dioceses. In 1820, Pope Pius VII granted Edmund Rice’s application 

          for his society to be given papal approbation and a Constitution. Under this new Constitution, all 

          the houses became united under a Superior General except for the house in Cork, where Bishop 

          Murphy refused his consent, despite the desire of most of the Brothers to be part of Br Rice’s 

          wider congregation. In 1826, the Cork house joined the others, but one of the Brothers, Br Austin 

          Riordan, dissented and offered his services to the Bishop of Cork who placed him in charge of a 

          school  in  the  south  of  the  city.  With  his  secession,  the  teaching  congregation  known  as  the 

          Presentation Brothers was created. The number of Brothers grew rapidly and, despite their having 

          split from the main group of Brothers of the Christian Schools, they still regarded Edmund Rice 

          as their founder and inspiration. 



4.03      The new Congregation spread across Ireland and moved their base to Dublin. They continued to 

          be subject to their respective bishops until 1889, when Pope Leo XIII confirmed the Congregation 

          and   all the  houses   united  under   a Superior   General.   This  independent    status  allowed  the 

          Congregation of the Presentation Brothers to expand further, with branches in all the provinces of 

          Ireland, and houses in England and Canada. 



4.04      The Presentation Brothers take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They live in small groups 

          or communities, organised on hierarchical lines, with the younger Brothers obeying their superiors 

          without question. Their daily life is organised by strict monastic rules, involving a daily routine of 



          1 Dermot Keogh, ‘St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount, Cork’ (Report prepared for the Presentation Brothers, May 



            2001 and submitted to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 19 May 2004), pp 187–188. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            151 


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           prayer, meditation and study. They adopted the motto of the Jesuits, ‘Ad majorem Dei Gloriam’,2 

           and the Brothers place the initials F. P. M.3  after their name. Their mission is to ‘form Christ in the 



           young’ through education. Their work is with disadvantaged and marginalised people, both young 

           and old, and it was this mission that led them to accept the running of an industrial school and 

           orphanages. 



4.05       Apart from these vows, the Brothers undertake to devote their lives to all people and are forbidden 

           to  enter  into  ‘particular  friendships’.  Professor  Dermot  Keogh,  in  a  report  he  prepared  for  the 

           Presentation Brothers in May 2001, wrote: 



                  Inside the monastery a Superior would strongly advise against the formation of what were 

                  known  as  ‘particular  friendships’.  No  definition  is  readily  available  to  help  amplify  the 

                  meaning of this phrase. But it was usually intended to refer to the development of a close 

                  emotional bond between two brothers.4 



4.06       He quoted the Visitation Report of 9th        October 1901 which exhorted: 



                  Particular friendships cannot be too carefully guarded against. They rarely, if at all, are 

                  without harm and never do any good ... 



                  Familiarities with the boys should be most cautiously guarded against, being most hurtful 

                  both  to  boys  and  Brothers.  Even  with  employees  and  externs  there  should  always  be 

                  maintained a reserve that would keep them at proper distance and enable them to have 

                  for the Brothers that respect due to their position.5 



4.07       The implications of this need to keep ‘a proper distance’ will be discussed later. 



            The establishment of Greenmount 



4.08       The site that was renamed Greenmount in the 1870s was originally called Gallows Green. It was 

           made available in 1852 at a rent of 30 shillings a year for 500 years to the Bishop of Cork, Dr 

           William Delaney and other Catholic Church dignitaries, including Edmund Paul Townsend, one of 

           the Presentation Brothers. On it they built St Patrick’s Orphanage, a residential home for orphaned 

           and abandoned boys, commencing the building in 1858. The Bishop requested the Presentation 

           Brothers to run the orphanage and they took charge of it in 1862. It soon reached its capacity, 

           and had to be extended in 1866 because of the increasing number of boys needing admission. 



4.09       Dr William Delaney, the Bishop of Cork, who held that position from 1847 until he died in 1886, 

           was a forceful personality and an advocate of educational reform. He was determined that Cork 

           would be the location of a model industrial school run by a Catholic Order, and he saw it as an 

           important step in overcoming the years of discrimination against Catholics by the governments of 

           those years. It was this ambition that drove him to turn the newly founded St Patrick’s orphanage 

           into  an  industrial  school.  He  saw  the  industrial  schools  system  as  one  that  would  benefit  the 

           children who were being raised in poverty and ignorance in the Cork area. Because of his drive, 

           his ambition was soon achieved: the orphanage acquired the status of Industrial School on 14th 



           March 1871. 



4.10       The existing orphanage building was not large enough for the new project and so, in 1872, work 

           began on a new building adjacent to the orphanage. It was to be named St Joseph’s School for 

           Boys. An aggressive fund-raising effort, spear-headed by Dr Delaney, raised sufficient funds for 

           the  construction    of  the  School,    with  accommodation       for  approximately     220   boys.   The   Cork 

           Examiner described the building as it neared completion: 



           2 For the greater glory of God. 

           3 Fratrium Presentionis Mariae. 

           4 Keogh, p 54. 

           5 Keogh, p 57. 



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                  The  new  building  itself  is  a  handsome  and  substantial edifice,  built  of  red  brick,  in  the 

                  domestic  Gothic  style  of  architecture,  from  a  design  and  plan  furnished  by  Mr  George 

                 Ashlin,  the  eminent  architect.  The  front  (or  northern)  elevation  presents  the  bold  and 

                  effective appearance of a three-storey house, pierced by about forty windows, of which 

                  the  limestone  dressings  relieve  the  ruddy  monotony  of  the  chief  material,  and  a  lofty, 

                  projecting gable at either end with cut limestone barges, flanks the long range of the body 

                  of the building. The edifice as it stands, covers an area of 120 feet by 50 feet high. The 

                  first rooms met with in this corridor, on either hand, are intended for a reception parlour, 

                  17 feet by 22 feet; a refectory for the Brothers, 22 feet by 23 feet; and a sitting room for 

                  the chaplain, 20 feet by 17 feet. Farther on, in the front of the building, is the refectory for 

                  the boys, a spacious and cheerful hall, 57 feet long by 28 feet wide, capable of sitting 

                  200. It is lighted by six large windows of plate glass, and above each window appears a 

                  ventilator, which passes upward in the thickness of the wall to the eaves. At the eastern 

                  end of the refectory will be the kitchen, 20 feet by 15 feet, separated from the refectory 

                  by a partition, and communicating with it through a turnstile ... 



                  Opposite the refectory door is a convenient staircase, by which we ascend two flights to 

                  the first floor, passing on the first landing a room for one of the Brothers. Another ample 

                  corridor,  like  that  in  the  basement,  traverses  this  floor,  and  from  it  we  enter  the  first 

                  dormitory, occupying the whole front of this storey, 120 feet by 28 and a half feet, with a 

                  similar  arrangement  as  to  the  light  and  air  to  those  observed  in  the  refectory.  The 

                  monotonous  interior  of  this  splendid  apartment  is  broken  near  either  end  by  moulded 

                  piers, united by three neatly moulded arches, at a distance of 15 feet from each wall.6 



4.11       The article went on to describe the boys’ dormitories, which were built over two floors, the one 

           above corresponding in every respect with the dormitory below. Each housed 125 beds. The new 

           larger School was opened on 1st         December 1874. 



4.12       There were also plans for numerous additional facilities at the School, such as the provision for 

           the building of a chapel, schoolrooms and workshops for the training of shoemakers, carpenters, 

           coopers and bakers. Building continued throughout the School’s early history. In 1888, trade shops 

           with  schoolrooms  were  erected.  By  1896,  buildings  comprising  a  day  room,  band  room,  coal 

           house, toilets and additional schoolrooms had been built. In 1900 and 1901, the kitchen, pantries, 

           storeroom, boiler house, scullery, bath and toilets were added. 



4.13       Bishop Delaney wanted a model industrial school for the Cork area, and the building matched the 

           grandeur of his conception. It was built to the highest standards, designed to be an institution that 

           the Church and the city could take pride in. This imposing building, unlike many other industrial 

           schools, was located within Cork City, and local townsfolk formed links with the School, providing 

           both charity and, later, social contact for the residents. 



4.14       The Bishop outlined his ideal in a speech given at the Chamber of Commerce in March 1874 to 

           mark the completion of ‘the Greenmount Male Industrial School’. He told the audience: 



                  The object of this institution is to take from the streets poor boys who are on the way to 

                  perdition, to rescue them from vice and misery, and to save the community at large from 

                  the consequences of allowing them to grow up ... untrained, steeped in misery, and with 

                  no means of support save what they can obtain by depredations on the community.7 



4.15       He praised the Industrial Schools Act (Ireland), 1868 for making such schools possible. It stemmed 

           from the ‘finest principles that should govern humanity’. He went on: 



           6 Cork Examiner, 28 March 1874, cited in Dermot Keogh, ‘St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount, Cork’ May 2001. 

           7 Cork Examiner, 30 March 1874, cited by Keogh, May 2001, p 41. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     153 


----------------------- Page 940-----------------------

                 There  is gentleness  of treatment  for those  to be  reclaimed; there  are reformatories  for 

                 those who have fallen away, and the perfection of the system was to anticipate evil, and 

                 save young people from vice, from misery, and from mischief to their fellow citizens; and 

                 for this the Industrial School Act has been passed.8 



4.16       The conception was idealistic and motivated by a genuine desire to turn the poor and abandoned 

           children of society, who had to live by pilfering and scavenging, into educated and useful citizens. 



4.17       Professor Keogh made the point in his report that: 



                 There is no contemporary suggestion that the conditions under which the boys would live 

                 in  Greenmount      would   be  severe.   The   bishop   had   stressed   the  reforming    nature   of 

                 industrial schools. The school ethos was intended to provide a safe environment for the 

                 boys, who would range in age from six to sixteen. 



4.18       The following ground floor plan of Greenmount was made available to the Committee: 



           Source: Professor Dermot Keogh 



           The acquisition of lands surrounding Greenmount 



4.19       Having built a model school, the plan then was to extend the grounds so that it would become a 

           farm capable of giving the boys training in farm work, and at the same time provide food for the 

           School and additional income from the sale of farm produce. The School was built on eight acres 

           of land, and the staff and boys in the School began cultivating the surrounding land. The farm 

           was   deemed     a   commercial     success.   The    Cork   Examiner     reported,   ‘In the   past  seasons 



           8 Cork Examiner, 30 March 1874, cited by Keogh, May 2001, pp 41–2. 



           154                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 941-----------------------

           Greenmount  has  sent  the  earliest  and  best  potatoes  to  the  Cork  market  and  produced  other 

           vegetables in abundance and good quality’.9 



4.20       The Brothers continued to expand the farm. They purchased much of the surrounding land at the 

           turn of the century, and the adjacent farm comprising approximately 39 acres by the early twentieth 

           century. Greenmount also had two further farms located at Lehenagh, on the outskirts of the city. 

           It is recorded in the School annals that the Management decided to sell these farms because of 

           difficulties arising in the day-to-day management of them. 



4.21       Department of Education records described the farm: 



                  The farm attached to this school has an area of 39 acres. It is used to supply milk and 

                  potatoes to the institution. Fifteen cows are kept and the feeding for these is grown on 

                  the farm. 



4.22       In a Report to the General Council dated 1954, reference was made to the farm and its produce: 



                  There  are  10  milch  cows,  one  heifer,  4  sows,  33  bonhams  and  3  horses  on  the  farm. 

                  There are two workmen besides a gardener employed. Brother Ignado10  is in charge. 



                  Brother Arrio11  in his poultry farm has 52 hens and 42 pullets. He gets about 15 eggs per 



                  day. (From that number he should get 36 or 40 eggs a day.) 



4.23       As the following table shows, profits from the farm were modest and, in some years, the farm ran 

           at a loss. The bakery, however, was more successful: 



                        Extracts from financial records for the farm and the bakery, 1945–1957 



                       Financial year                   The farm contribution                 The bakery contribution 



                            1945                                 –£1,244                                £1,545 



                            1946                                 –£1,152                               £1,396 



                            1947                                  –£859                                 £1,137 



                            1955                                  –£69                                  £1,736 



                            1956                                  £775                                   £48 



                            1957                                  £114                                  £1,012 



4.24       The large profit made by the bakery in 1955 is explained by the fact that there was a five-month 

           strike by bakers in the city, and Greenmount sold bread to the local shops. The demand was so 

           great that they even bought a second-hand van to replace their horse-drawn cart to speed delivery. 



           Certification 



4.25       The original certificate for the School allowed 168 boys to be accommodated, and this figure was 

           increased to 188 in 1885. The late 1890s saw a further increase to a capacity of 200 and, in 1913, 

           the accommodation limit was increased to 220. In 1933, there was a final increase to 235 children. 

           Management made  representations in  1942 for  yet another  increase in  the certified  number of 

           children,   but  their  application    proved   unsuccessful     on   the  grounds     that  nearby    Upton   and 

           Baltimore  industrial  schools  were  not  operating  to  their  full capacity.  However,  in  1944,  further 

           funding  became  available  to  the  Department  of  Education,  and  11  additional  certificates  were 

           allocated to Greenmount, bringing the certified limit to 231 from 1st           February 1944. 



           9  Cork Examiner, 24 March 1874. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      155 


----------------------- Page 942-----------------------

4.26       The School was recognised under the Children Acts as a place of detention for boys on remand 

           awaiting criminal trials or committal to certified schools, and it accepted a small number of boys 

           in such circumstances. In October 1944, the Brothers were asked whether they would increase 

           the number of places for boys on remand from four to eight, in view of the increasing number of 

           boys coming before the courts in Cork. They agreed to do so on the basis that such boys were 

           under 15 years of age, but regretted ‘having to state that, for obvious reasons, we are not willing 

           to receive boys under eighteen years of age’. It is not altogether clear from the documentation 

           whether or not boys on remand were actually sent to Greenmount, as in 1950 the School was 

           asked   once   again  whether    they  would   take  such   boys.   The  Resident    Manager    responded, 

           confirming that, although he was willing to do so, he felt impeded by the fact that the School did 

           not have separate accommodation to house these boys and the fact that he understood that the 

           School would not receive payment for these boys from the State. The Department of Education, 

           after consulting with the Department of Justice, assured the Resident Manager that the School 

           was entitled to payment for boys remanded to Greenmount, and indicated that the accommodation 

           issue should not present an insurmountable difficulty. Br Esteban12  wrote back on behalf of the 



           Resident Manager, confirming that the School was willing to accept up to eight boys. He added, 

           ‘I would like the age limit not to exceed 16 if possible, and also not to accept any cases who may 

           be  brought  before  the  District  Court  for  immorality’.  When  asked  whether  they  would  consider 

           accepting  boys  between  the  ages  of  16  and  17,  the  Resident  Manager  responded,  ‘I  think  it 

           would be an injustice, both morally and otherwise, to the boys already in the School, to accept 

           such youths’. 



4.27       From 1st  April 1952, the capitation grant for industrial and reformatory schools, which were also 



           recognised as a place of detention for remand juveniles, was almost doubled from a grant of 3s 

           6d per day per child to one of 7s 0d for those children detained there on remand. 



           The number of boys in Greenmount 



                          Number of children in St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount 



                                   Year                                  Number of children under detention 



                                     1937                                                  206 



                                     1938                                                  199 



                                     1939                                                  218 



                                     1940                                                  219 



                                     1941                                                  220 



                                     1942                                                  219 



                                     1943                                                  224 



                                     1944                                                  218 



                                     1945                                                  123 



                                     1946                                                  224 



                                     1947                                                  230 



                                     1948                                                  236 



                                     1949                                                  226 



                                     1950                                                  209 



                                     1951                                                  179 



                                     1952                                                  164 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 



           156                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 943-----------------------

                                 Year                                Number of children under detention 



                                  1953                                                148 



                                  1954                                                152 



                                  1955                                                136 



                                  1956                                                 70 



                                  1957                                                125 



                                  1958                                                133 



          250 



          200 



          150 



          100 



            50 



            0 



                  7        9       1        3       5       7        9       1       3        5       7        9 

                  3        3       4        4       4       4        4       5       5        5       5        5 

                  9        9       9        9       9       9        9       9       9        9       9        9 

                  1        1       1        1       1       1        1       1       1        1       1        1 



          Management structure 



4.28      The Superior General ensured that the rules and the Constitution of the Congregation were being 

          observed and that there was agreement to the horarium. A system of internal supervision, whereby 

          the Superior General or his delegate visited the School twice a year, was set up for this purpose. 

          While the focus was on the life of the Community, the overall operation of the School was observed 

          and occasionally commented upon. 



          Staff and management of the School 



4.29      Between August 1938 and March 1959 when the School closed, there were a total of seven Resident 

          Managers appointed. Five of the seven held the position in the 1950s. These frequent changes 

          must  have  resulted  in  a  degree  of  instability  in  the  running  of  the  School.  A  number  of  these 

          Managers admitted they had had no training or suitable experience for the position. 



4.30      Both the Department of Education and the Congregation were well aware of the importance of 

          having  a  suitably  experienced  person  in  this  pivotal  position  in  the  School.  The  report  entitled 

          ‘Report  on   the  Occupational   Training  Provided   in  the  Industrial Schools   and   in Glencree 

          Reformatory’ commissioned by the Department in the mid to late 1930s, which is referred to in 

          detail  in  the  section  ‘Industrial  Training’  below,  and  also  the  Cussen  Report13 emphasised  the 



          importance   of  having  a  Manager  with   the  requisite experience   and  qualities  for this  ‘highly 

          specialised  task’. Yet  in  Greenmount,    as  in other  industrial schools,  because    the Resident 

          Manager was very often also the Superior of the Community, the Department did not get involved 

          in this appointment and left it in the hands of the Congregation. The Congregation, for its part, 



          13 Report on Reformatory and Industrial Schools, 1936. 



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----------------------- Page 944-----------------------

           does not appear to have recognised the importance of the appointment, particularly in the 1950s, 

           which  was  unfair  both  to  the  Resident  Managers  appointed,  some  of  whom  must  have  found 

           themselves struggling to cope with the task, and most importantly, to the boys. 



           The daily routine 



                          Time                          Activity for boys                      Duty for staff 



                           6.45                                                                Brothers rise 



                           7.15                                                              Prayers in oratory 



                           7.30                         Boys called/ dress 



                        7.30–7.50                   ‘Chalks’ – cleaning duties. 

                                                  Monitor in charge of 8-10 boys 



                           7.50                    Boys strip in yard or hall and 

                                                          wash at sinks 



                           8.00                                Mass                                Mass 



                           8.30                    Breakfast – bread and coffee            Breakfast in refectory 



                           9.00                               School                 Teaching Brothers work in school 



                           1.00                   Lunch Dinner – meat and two             Lay Brothers supervise 

                                                          veg then play 



                           2.00                      Workshops/trades/band 



                           5.00                                Play 



                       About 6.00               Evening meal – Bread and cocoa 



                 9.00 (Later in summer)                        Bed 



           Visitation Reports 



4.31       Apart from the Department of Education Inspection, the School in Greenmount received two visits 

           per year, from the Superior General, the Provincial, or a Brother delegated to conduct a visit, who 

           was known as the Visitor. The visits usually lasted two days and concentrated on ensuring the 

           observance by the Community of the rules of the Congregation. The Visitor frequently criticised 

           the way in which prayers and the Office were recited. The reports also made brief comments on 

           how the School was run. At the end of each visit, a Visitation Report was completed and placed 

           in  a  book  that  was  left  at  the  School.  A  separate  report  was  made  to  the  General  Council  of 

           the Presentation Brothers, which was based at Mount St Joseph’s, Passage West. In 1952, the 

           governance    structure   of the  Congregation     changed,    and  an  additional   tier of authority  was 

           introduced in the form of the Provincial Council, which reported to the General Council. Therefore, 

           from 1952, in addition to the usual Visitation Reports, there are also Provincial Reports available. 

           (These Provincial Reports were based on the Visitation Reports.) 



4.32       The Visitation Reports gave a good insight into the life of Presentation Brothers in Greenmount. 

           The Reports concentrated on the absolute necessity for strict observance of the Constitution of 

           the Congregation, and any derogation was frowned upon. Many of the reports prescribed reading 

           lists of religious texts which the Brothers were expected to study. 



4.33       The Provincial Reports and Visitation Reports that made specific reference to the welfare of the 

           boys generally remarked that they appeared well cared for, well fed, happy and healthy. The use 

           of words such as ‘the boys appeared’ would indicate that the Visitor’s assessment of the boys 

           was  a  superficial  one,  based  on  observation  rather  than  on  any  careful  examination  of  actual 

           conditions. In particular, there was no evidence that the Visitor spoke with the boys about their 

           experience of the School. Despite spending two full days in the Institution on each visit, none of 



           158                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 945-----------------------

           the concerns noted in the Department of Education Inspection  Reports at various stages were 

           commented on in the Visitation Reports. Visitors, as a rule, asked about the level of punishment 

           administered and were usually assured that it was kept to a minimum. This assurance, however, 

           was  given  by  the  persons  who  were  responsible  for  the  punishment  and,  in  the  absence  of  a 

           punishment      book,    it was    impossible    to   estimate    the   extent   or  severity   of   punishments 

           administered.  For  example,  the  1940s  was  a  period  when  an  acknowledged  regime  of  harsh 

           punishment operated in Greenmount, and yet the Visitation Reports did not reflect this. 



4.34       Lay workers were kept at arm’s length. ‘The time of the lay workers in the Institution should not 

           be  wasted  by  Brothers  holding  unnecessary  conversations  with  them’,  reported  the  Visitor,  Br 

           Diego,14   in his Visitation Report dated 12th      June 1934. In the same Visitation Report, he ordered 



           that a nurse should only be called in to attend to a sick Brother after permission was obtained 

           from the Superior General or, in his absence, a senior assistant. Similar lines of demarcation were 

           laid down for the Brothers. Only the Superior and Bursar were permitted to visit the boys’ infirmary, 

           which was regarded as the strict domain of the nurse. 



4.35       In  the  Visitation  Report  of  December  1936,  Br  Diego  set  out  various  recommendations  for  the 

           Brothers and the boys. The local Superior was requested to notify the Superior General if any 

           Brother was outside the house after 9pm, even with permission. Brothers were expected to retire 

           to  their  rooms    at  10pm     every   night.  They    were   required    to  stay  away    from   such    ‘world 

           amusements’ as were unbecoming to a Brother, as well as places where their attendance would 

           cause  scandal.  Attendance  at  horse  races,  dog  races  and  opera  houses  was  singled  out  as 

           particularly inappropriate. The Superior was not to, directly or indirectly, supply cigarettes to the 

           Brothers. The cinema was out of bounds unless the film was approved having regard to the Papal 

           Encyclical on Films of 1936. The recommendations for boys included advice that no boy should 

           be allowed to go to a Brother’s room after night prayers. Organised games should be introduced, 

           with playing fields made available. 



4.36       In the Visitation Report of October 1942, Br Diego complained that the farm staff was unduly large 

           and that staff levels could be reduced by 40 percent. He also noted with criticism that labourers’ 

           wages were above the Government standard and that overhead costs had soared. 



4.37       Br Diego again visited the School in March 1944 and found that ‘the management, discipline, the 

           general tone and atmosphere of the school have dropped some points’ since 1941. He did not 

           elaborate on the reasons for his view or make recommendations for improvement. There was no 

           Department of Education General Inspection Report or Medical Report for that year for comparison 

           purposes. In any event, by December 1944, another Visitor, Br Enrique,15  noted an upward trend 



           in the management, discipline and tone of the School and was confident that the high standards 

           would be restored. 



4.38       The  Brothers  were  expected  to  be  completely  self-reliant  and  were  forbidden  from  discussing 

           Community business with outsiders. Br Juan16 visited the School in 1945 and noted, ‘the brothers 



           should be careful not to disclose Community affairs to those who have not the right to know them 

           –  not  even  to  priests  or  relatives’.  He  also  cautioned  against  incurring  expense  except  when 

           absolutely necessary. 



4.39       There were no adverse comments regarding the management and conduct of the School in the 

           remaining Visitation Reports of the 1940s. 



           14 This is a pseudonym. 

           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      159 


----------------------- Page 946-----------------------

4.40       Br Jose17    reported in June 1951 that the education of the boys was well managed, but warned 



           the Brothers of the Community: 



                  ... of the heavy responsibility placed on their shoulders of training these boys to face the 

                  world. The spiritual, moral, educational and even industrial training should receive very 

                  careful planning and attention. 



4.41       He recommended that the Brothers consult with each other and pool their ideas as to how best 

           to further the training of the boys. 



4.42       The following year, the Provincial Report noted, ‘the average age of the Brothers is too high, for 

           the exacting duties they are called upon to perform. A Bursar and another young Brother would 

           be required to carry out the necessary work’. The report went on to state that, with falling numbers, 

           the financial viability of the School was in doubt. 



4.43       In May 1953, Br Jose recommended that the boys should receive regular instruction in ‘the civic 

           and moral virtues’.  The Provincial Report of the same  year also recommended that a  maid be 

           employed  in  the  Brothers’  kitchen  instead  of  the  boys.  Further  Provincial  Reports  of  the  same 

           year complained that there were not sufficient boys in the workshops, despite the fact that half 

           the total number of boys in the School were at the trades training age. In a Provincial Report the 

           following  year,  it  was  recommended  that  all  of  the  boys  in  7th    class  be  transferred  into  trades 



           training classes. 



4.44       The  Provincial  Report  of  June  1955  referred  to  the  fact  that  Br  Garcia18       had  complained  that 



           discipline  under  the  current  Manager  was  somewhat  lax.  This  report  also  made  reference  to 

           immorality among the boys. 



4.45       Br Blanco19  completed a Visitation Report in December 1955 and he acknowledged the difficulties 



           in running a school of 133 boys from troubled backgrounds, particularly when the average age of 

           the  Brothers  was  54.  He  emphasised  the  need  for  supervision,  and  that  all  members  of  the 

           Community should pull together to ensure that the School was properly managed. 



4.46       The Provincial Report of autumn 1957 was most critical of the management of the School and 

           noted: 



                  The boys seem to be well supervised etc. At the same time they appear to me to be very 

                  raggedy and unkempt. I am convinced that all the uplift which we – a religious body should 

                  give  –  is  not  being  given.  We  should  be  able  to  do  something  for  them  and  make 

                  something out of them and do more than merely keep them. All my suggestions to this, 

                  and in fact to any matter were turned down by the superior as Utopian, impractical and 

                  impossible ... To sum up, the superior is good to organize, sees about the boys and is 

                  efficient generally. He is handicapped to some extent in the staff he has. However, he 

                  knows everything, he is open to no suggestion, he is lax about obeying higher superiors 

                  and I would say, he does not and will not realize very fully his responsibilities as leader 

                  of a religious community. 



4.47       The Provincial Report the following year noted that the same observations still applied. 



4.48       The  final  Visitation  Report  in  December  1958  by  Br  Jose  continued  to  express  concern  at  the 

           condition of the School. He stated that, although the School was well conducted, ‘the discipline, 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 

           19 This is a pseudonym. 



           160                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 947-----------------------

           supervision, food, and general training of the boys would need to be thoroughly investigated so 

           as to devise methods to get the best results’. The School closed three months later. 



           The Investigation 



4.49       The Committee obtained discovery documents from the Presentation Brothers, the Department of 

                                                                                                  ´                      20 

           Education and Science, the Diocese of Cork and Ross, the Garda Siochana and Fr Andrew.                           In 

                                                                                            ´ 

           addition former members of staff and former residents furnished statements. 



4.50       In preparation for the hearings, the Commission sent letters to 19 residents listed on its database 

           as  having  been     resident  in  Greenmount  and        wishing  to  proceed  with  their    complaint  as  of 

           September 2005. Of those, one confirmed that he was not proceeding with his complaint and six 

           did  not  reply.  The  remaining  12  were  listed  for  hearing,  seven  of  whom  were  heard  and  five 

           withdrew. A further complainant had been heard in 2002. In addition, evidence was heard from 

           one respondent. 



           Physical abuse 



           What the Presentation Brothers have conceded 



4.51       Br Denis Minehane, Vice Principal of the Presentation Anglo Irish Province, gave evidence during 

           the  Emergence  Phase  on  1st       July  2004  in  relation  to  the  position  taken  by  the  Presentation 



           Brothers  on  the  issue  of  whether  there  was  physical  abuse  in  their  Institution.  He  told  the 

           Committee: 



                  we have not formed a view that systematic child abuse occurred at Greenmount Industrial 

                  School. We are prepared to accept that a harsh regime operated there which would be 

                  unacceptable  by  today's  standards.  In  relation  to  the  specific  complaints  made  to  the 

                  Investigation  Committee  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  perform  any  meaningful  enquiry  into 

                  these   allegations   which    relate  to  events    between     40   and   60   years   ago.   This   is 

                  compounded  by  the  fact  that  virtually  all  the  Brothers  who  worked  at  the  School  are 

                  deceased, and furthermore many records are incomplete. 



4.52       He explained that the ‘Anglo Irish Province have not issued an apology but the Congregation as 

           a whole, in updating its website six weeks ago, did issue a public apology’. This apology stated: 



                  The Presentation Brothers apologise to any person who was abused while in their care. 

                  The   Brothers   are  committed     to  implementing     the  appropriate    national   guidelines   for 

                  dealing with complaints relating to child sexual abuse, and will respond to the best of their 

                  ability to any person who comes to them with a complaint. Accordingly the Brothers have 

                  appointed a Child Protection Coordinator in every unit of the Congregation to meet with 

                  people who have complaints to make. 



4.53       Br Minehane said of the apology: 



                  It was along the lines of, “we apologise for any wrongdoing or any abuse that occurred to 

                  any  person  while  in  our  care.”  That  was  done  for  two  reasons.  First  of  all  to  give  our 

                  regret. Secondly to encourage anybody out there who is hurting to come and make that 

                  complaint. 



4.54       Br  Minehane  then  confirmed  that  the  Presentation  Brothers  had  contributed  to  the  Redress 

           Scheme. He stated: 



                  Well,  we   were    members     of  CORI     and   in 2000    when    this came     up  first we   were 

                 participating in the Faoiseamh help line and we contributed to the Faoiseamh help line. 



           20 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     161 


----------------------- Page 948-----------------------

                 We were a member of the 18 congregations and when the question of the contribution 

                 came  up  we  felt  that  especially  because  of  our  1955  incident  that  we  would  feel  very 

                 exposed if all this went to litigation. We felt that it was prudent management to make a 

                 contribution to the Redress Board. 



4.55       Br  Minehane    said  that  the  Presentation   Brothers   knew    of around    60  allegations  of  abuse 

           concerning their Congregation by 2002, when they signed into the Redress Scheme. He confirmed 

           that any Brother against whom allegations were made and who was still alive was interviewed 

           and, in all cases, ‘there was total denial’. 



4.56       When asked what view the Congregation had  ‘of the reality of the allegations being made’, he 

           replied: 



                 Well the Community would have to believe that if these allegations were made that there 

                 was  grounds  to  believe  that  there  was  wrongdoing  taking  place.  To  that  extent  we 

                 apologise and regret that anything like that did happen while children were in our care. 



4.57       He  could  say  nothing  about  the  specific  complaints  because  of  the  passage  of  time  and  the 

           unavailability of either witnesses or detailed records to corroborate or disprove the allegations. He 

           added, ‘the furthest I could go, I think, is that I must concede that at least some of those complaints 

           are valid’. 



4.58       During  the  course  of  the  Phase  II  hearings,  further,  more  precise  concessions  were  made. 

           Counsel   for  the  Presentation    Brothers   said  of  one   Brother   (Br  Arrio)  who   was   Resident 

           Manager/Superior at  Greenmount in  the mid-1930s  and again  from the  mid-1940s to  the early 

           1950s: 



                 My clients suggest that he was a strict disciplinarian, Br Arrio, he was a very strict man. 

                 We accept that certainly from time to time he may have overstepped the mark. 



4.59       In Phase III, Br Minehane was asked if there was unwarranted physical abuse in Greenmount and 

           he replied: 



                 Yes, by today's standards there certainly was, especially at a period during the 1940s, 

                 our research would show that there was certainly excess corporal punishment. 



4.60       Br Minehane was asked to clarify what he meant by the phrase excessive physical punishment 

           ‘in the light of today’s standards’. He replied, ‘my interpretation of it is that corporal punishment in 

           schools was totally acceptable until 1982’. Under questioning, he went on to concede that some 

           punishments were indeed excessive by the standards of the time, and that he did not need to use 

           the term  ‘by today’s standards’. 



4.61       In summary, the Presentation Brothers made the following concessions: 



                   1.  Greenmount operated a harsh regime, especially in the 1940s. 



                  2.   The  corporal  punishment  administered  by  the  Superior,  Br  Arrio,  during  the  1940s 

                       was excessive. 



           162                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 949-----------------------

           Br Arrio 



4.62       Br Arrio was at Greenmount from the mid-1930s until his death in the late 1950s. As mentioned 

           above, he was Resident Manager/Superior of the School in the mid-1930s for three years and 

           again from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s. A Visitation Report from the mid-1940s noted that 

           ‘The Management, discipline, the general tone and atmosphere of the school have dropped some 

           points since my Visit [three years previously]’. The reappointment of Br Arrio during the mid-1940s 

           soon turned this situation around, because the Visitation Report commented, ‘The management, 

           discipline and tone of this school are on the upward trend. I am quite confident it will very soon 

           hold the honoured place it occupied prior to [the appointment of Br Arrio]’. 



4.63       During  the  1940s,  the  annual  reports  furnished  by  the  Resident  Manager  of  the  School  to  the 

           Department of Education gave a glowing picture of benign discipline being enforced in the School. 

           In the early 1940s, it said, ‘Punishment of every kind is all but a dead letter in the school’. One 

           year later, the Department was told ‘Punishment of any kind is all but abolished in the school’. 

           The reports for the following two years used the same phrase, ‘Corporal punishment of every kind 

           is, all but, completely abolished’. From the mid to late 1940s, in answer to the question ‘Nature of 

           the  punishments  for  misconduct’,  the  identical  answer  was  given:  ‘Forfeiture  of  rewards  and 

           privileges, which are allowed boys of good conduct’. 



4.64       The 1940s were precisely the years that the Presentation Brothers acknowledged to have been 

           an era marked by excessively severe corporal punishment. Br Minehane was asked to explain 

           the contradiction. He began by saying,  ‘I would have question marks about it’. He then went on 

           to explain that the Resident Manager, Br Arrio, was in charge of discipline, and was  ‘the same 

           person who wrote that report’. He then said: 



                  He was the Resident Manager and I have no explanation for it except that he regarded 

                  himself   as  the  disciplinarian   in  the  School.   And   from   his  point   of view   ... corporal 

                 punishment was part of it. 



4.65       The fundamental inadequacy of the system could not be more apparent. The Brother who was 

           himself   operating    a  severe    and   harsh   regime   was    the  same    Brother   who    reported   to  the 

           Department.     His   reports   to the  Department      were   misleading:    they   claimed   that  punishment 

           consisted of a system of withdrawing privileges, when in fact the School was being controlled by 

           severe beatings and a climate of fear through a regime that he himself commanded. 



           The testimony of a former Presentation Brother in respect of Br Arrio 

4.66       Mr Olivero21   (formerly Br Olivero) joined the Presentation Brothers in the mid-1940s. He spent a 



           year  teaching  in  Greenmount  before  going  to  a  Training  College  in  Waterford.  He  returned  to 

           Greenmount  in  the  late  1940s,  where  he  again  taught  for  one  and  a  half  years.  He  left  the 

           Congregation in the late 1950s. He gave evidence to the Investigation Committee in respect of Br 

           Arrio and his disciplinary regime. 



4.67       Mr  Olivero  said  that,  when  he  arrived  at  the  School,  he  was  told  that  if  any  boy  committed  a 

           misdemeanour he should be sent to the Head Brother, Br Arrio, who would look after him. He 

           said  that  Br  Arrio  was  regarded  as  a  strict  disciplinarian  and  the  boys  were  fearful  of  him.  He 

           agreed that the boys had good reason to be afraid of him. He explained: 



                  if a boy did commit any misdemeanour, if he fought in the yard and if he didn't try and 

                 pull himself together, all I had to say was, okay, do you want to go to Br Arrio and they'd 

                  say no. 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     163 


----------------------- Page 950-----------------------

4.68      When he was asked if he thought it was a good thing that the person who was in ultimate control 

          should instil such fear in boys he replied,  ‘I thought it was maybe a bit extreme’. 



4.69      When asked if he had seen boys being caned in the yard, he explained: 



                When the boys were lined up in the evening time, before going, maybe, for a meal, for 

                the evening meal, I did see him chastising boys with a stick. I thought it was very extreme 

                because if he had, we'll say, twelve lines of boys there was a monitor for each who was 

                responsible for each line of boys ... And the monitor, if he couldn't explain the absence of 

                some boy in his group he was punished, and I thought that was very unfair. 



4.70      Mr Olivero also confirmed in oral evidence a particular method of punishment that was referred to 

          by  complainants  and  which  is  outlined  below.  This  involved  the  boys  climbing  a  ladder  in  a 

          storeroom and Br Arrio beating them with a cane. 



4.71      He was asked whether he and those Brothers with similar views could together have had some 

          influence over a Brother who was harsh or severe with the boys. He replied that there was no 

          mechanism at all to have such an effect. He explained: 



                ... I was too young and too inexperienced at the time to make a complaint. If I did make 

                a complaint I would probably – I don’t know would I be listened to ... 



4.72      His dilemma was a common one. Those Brothers low in the hierarchy could not challenge their 

          seniors because of their vow of obedience. This inability to challenge the status quo meant that 

          progress or change was virtually impossible unless it came from the top. 



4.73      Although   he   felt some   complainants    exaggerated    the  level  of  abuse   in Greenmount,     the 

          complaints about Br Arrio were, he believed, justified. He said, ‘... I wouldn't mind if they do make 

          complaints about the treatment he meted out to them’. 



          The evidence of the complainants about Br Arrio 



4.74      A witness who was in Greenmount from the early 1940s to the early 1950s recalled Br Arrio taking 

          over from his predecessor, whom he described as  ‘a stern man, but he got on and I suppose he 

          done his job’. Things changed for the worse, he said: 



                I can still remember that man, if I can call him that, as a tyrant ... He took pleasure, and 

                it helped him in some sick, sadistic way to beat children, and he had his own ways of 

                doing  it.  If  you  were  reported  by  another  Brother  to  him  you  had  what  was  commonly 

                known in Greenmount School as "up the ladder". That will never leave my memory. 



4.75      When asked to explain, he said: 



                You stood on – that type of ladder ... and you were naked, which was a horror thing for 

                any man saying he was a member of religion or knew there was a God there or recognised 

                a God, as a child you are up there hanging on to ropes with your hand on them so you 

                wouldn't slip, naked. That's when he lashed you across the buttocks, the hips or maybe 

                the raw thighs. And the way he left you, you were given a white nicks like a footballer and 

                you wore that for many days, all dressed up and the boys could laugh at you, but on top 

                of that you had to go to the nurse and get iodine on it. 



4.76      He conveyed his feelings at the time by saying: 



                If you hit a dog he’ll squeal, a human, a little boy who was an orphan, feels just as much 

                as a stray dog and that’s the way we were treated. 



          164                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 951-----------------------

4.77       He went on to describe the implement used to hit boys: 



                 He had a cane maybe. Now I am speaking as maybe a ten year old or an eight year old, 

                 nine year old, so I am going back. Maybe it was that length of a stick (indicating). I always 

                 remember there was a knob on the end of it, it was a bamboo cane and it would bend 

                 around your leg. He said that he got that from the Garda – the Department of Justice, he 

                 made a big note of it one time, telling us where he got it, and to use it liberally ... he used 

                 keep the stick in the back, up behind his belt. You never looked at him in the face, you 

                 always looked to where that damn stick was. 



4.78       Another complainant recalled this method of punishment. He was a resident in Greenmount from 

           the  mid-1950s,  and  he  also  told  how  Br  Arrio  gave  him  a  beating  ‘up  the  ladder’.  He  told  the 

           Committee: 



                 Br Arrio would take off your clothes and you would have just an underpants on you and 

                 you would walk up the ladder and he would give you a slap of the cane ... 



                 That took place in a little room .....He brought me into that room and he said – he asked 

                 me what did I run away for and all this and I told him that I just ran away, I wanted to go 

                 home. So he gave me a hiding for it as well ... He told me to walk up the ladder ... It was 

                 one of those ladders that you could go up the top and come down the other side of it. 

                 You go up one side and down the other side ... I was asked to strip to my underpants 

                 and walk up the ladder ... He was hitting me [with a bamboo cane] so I ran up the ladder. 



                 ... He used to run around after you. He wasn't as old as people was making him out to 

                 be, he was able  to run and he was able  to do his thing, what he had  to do... Br Arrio 

                 always made ... the kids climb up the ladder. 



4.79       Mr Olivero was asked if he could confirm punishment by Br Arrio that involved the use of a cane 

           and a ladder in the storeroom, and he said: 



                 I  knew  it  happened.  I  never  saw  it  happening,  it  was  just  hearsay.  It  was  known  that 

                 punishment  was administered  there and  that there  was a  record kept  to be  seen by  a 

                 representative of the Department of Education. 



4.80       One witness described another form of punishment used by Br Arrio to punish a boy at dinnertime: 



                 There was various degrees of punishment ... Somewhere, somewhere along the line that 

                 man worked  in another job,  or he  was taught of  keeping your toes  off the  ground, eat 

                 lying on your knees just and keep your toes off the ground but use your hands to go down 

                 to a bowl, like a dog, that's the way you eat. That was another punishment of his. 



4.81       A former resident of Greenmount who was there in the mid-1940s said: 



                 Br Arrio used to stand in the room, once you darned your socks, you had to go up for his 

                 inspection. If it wasn’t to his liking he would cane you and he would punch you in the head. 



4.82       He  also  recounted  an  incident  when  Br  Arrio  beat  him  and  his  brother  for  complaining  about 

           inadequate food at Greenmount: 



                 It is the same story. My brother was beaten and he was beaten really bad. Why we were 

                 beaten so bad is when we went home – my dad was home from England one time and 

                 he said to us, "you look very skinny", in other words, thin. He said, "if I took you up would 

                 you say it in front of the monks, Br. Arrio?" We said yes. So my dad took us up and Br. 

                 Arrio  was  as  nice  as  pie  to  him.  And  my  dad  said  the  boys  said  they  are  not  getting 

                 enough to eat. He said, "is that right, boys?" We made a big mistake and said yes. He 

                 showed him the bake house, the farm and all that and said they were getting this and 

                 that. When my dad went down to England he called us in about a week after and he gave 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               165 


----------------------- Page 952-----------------------

                  us a hell of a beating and [my brother] got the worse of it because he said he was the 

                  eldest and he was the ringleader. 



           The Visitation Reports on Br Arrio 



4.83       Some of the Visitation Reports single out Br Arrio for mention, but always in a favourable light. 

           After a visit in the late 1940s, the Visitor wrote: 



                  There is a full quota of boys. They appear to be happy and well looked after, and great 

                  credit  is  due  to  the  devoted  Superior  and  his  staff  for  the  successful  management  of 

                  this Institution. 



4.84       In a Visitation Report two years later, Br Arrio received specific praise: 



                  The  Superior  ...  has  a  long  and  very  creditable  experience  at  this  kind  of  work,  he  is 

                  patient, kind and self sacrificing with the result that he seems to have secured the good 

                 will and best endeavours of all under his charge, nothing escapes his notice down to the 

                  fixing of a new bolt in a door ... 



4.85       Somehow, the harsh and severe regime run by this Brother to control the boys through fear and 

           physical punishment was not uncovered by the Visitor’s Inspections. 



4.86       •     The corporal punishment administered by this Brother was contrary to the Rules and 

                 Regulations for Certified Industrial Schools and was severe by the standards of the 

                 time. 



           •     There  was  no  system  in  place  to  control  his  excesses.  Neither  the  Visitor  nor  the 

                 Department      of  Education      Inspector    detected     the  violence     or,  if they   did,  neither 

                 commented on the matter. 



           •    The misleading nature of the annual reports to the Department of Education indicated 

                 knowledge on the part of the authorities that what they were doing was wrong. 



           Br Garcia 



4.87       A  witness  who  was  in  Greenmount  in  the  1940s  and  early  1950s  told  the  Committee  about 

           unnecessary punishments administered during class by Br Garcia: 



                  If you can imagine that being a desk and out here is the seating, it comes out about six 

                  or seven inches from that, you knelt up on that and it is on the backs of the legs you got 

                  the  stick.  You  might  say  did  he  hit  you  four  times,  did  he  hit  you  six  times,  I  couldn't 

                  honestly and on oath say exactly how many times he struck me at any one time, but that 

                  was his modus operandi of trying to teach. Now, he had a saying like when we would fall 

                  in from school, he knew his class by the way they walked, a horrible thing for a human 

                  being to say ... We were all limping, that's what he meant. 



4.88       A Visitation Report to the General Council in the mid-1950s recorded that: 



                  Br  Garcia  reported  that  he  considered  that  discipline  was  somewhat  relaxed  since  the 

                  present Superior took up office. The Superior assured me that all care is taken to have 

                  the boys superintended and supervised at all times. 



4.89       His colleague, Mr Olivero, who gave evidence to the Committee, insisted Br Garcia had a great 

           rapport with the boys and ‘... wasn’t severe or anything like that. He would be a disciplinarian, as 

           I would have been myself, I presume’. 



           166                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 953-----------------------

           Br Allente22 



4.90       A former resident who was in Greenmount in the early 1950s described a beating he received 

           from Br Allente. He was careful to state that he was not complaining about the use of corporal 

           punishment as such. He explained: 



                  Well, the definition between punishment and brutality is this: in normal circumstances in 

                  a classroom two, three or six slaps on the hand ... When you have all the force of a grown 

                  man into punishing a child with severe strength that is brutality. 



4.91       Br Allente, he said, picked on him because he was a slow learner, and used ‘the T-ruler’ on him 

           several times: 



                  ...  after  a  while  one  bit  broke  off,  I  think  he  was  banging  it  across  my  back  and  then 

                  another time when he used the same ruler again the second part fell off. So he was left 

                  down to just a small bit and the T ... I do not remember him beating as cruel to other 

                  children in my classroom as he was with me. 



4.92       Another  witness  described  beatings  he  received  from  a  number  of  Brothers  whilst  he  was  in 

           Greenmount in the mid-1950s. He mentioned Br Allente as one of these Brothers: 



                  You never forget these beatings no matter how old you are, you never forget the beatings 

                  you get in them schools. 



4.93       The testimony detailed above indicates that several individual Brothers did use excessive corporal 

           punishment      from   time   to  time.  However,     many     witnesses    were    anxious   to  point   out  that 

           Greenmount had many good points and many good Brothers. 



4.94       One witness, who was there in the mid-1950s, not merely compared Greenmount favourably with 

           another institution, but made a  point of praising some Brothers. He was moved  with five other 

           boys from Carriglea to Greenmount, and told the Committee of the difference: 



                  It was softer than Carriglea ... they weren't as cruel as regards beating you ... A bit more 

                  freedom ... a bit more lax ... as regards the things you did, you weren't restricted to doing 

                  anything. They were fairly lenient with you ... you could play soccer, which you couldn't 

                  play in Carriglea ... Everything was played. But it wasn't trained, you weren't trained for 

                  it, that was just between ourselves. 



4.95       He was asked specifically if he felt that, in Greenmount, the Brothers there were a bit less violent. 

           He replied: 



                  Oh yeah, they weren't as brutal as in Carriglea. They would have odd spasms of it, but 

                  they were a lot more lenient ... Well, they used the strap and all that, but not as much as 

                  it was done in Carriglea. 



4.96       He described Br Allente as ‘a hard task master, but all right’, and said that Br Santiago23                 was  ‘a 



           nice man’. He said it was better when Br Santiago took over because ‘there was more tolerance’. 



4.97       One  of  the  other  boys  who  was  transferred  from  Carriglea  also  gave  evidence.  He  was  in 

           Greenmount from the mid-1950s until it closed in 1959. He told the Committee: 



                  The  good  things  were  playing  hurling  and  football  in  the  pitch  when  there  was  sports, 

                  when you were allowed to go out. The good thing was some of the Brothers were good 

                  and  treated  you  like  maybe  you  should  be.  The  other  thing  was  going  to  the  Father 

                  Matthew  Hall  for  the  annual  panto,  which  we  went  to  and  which  we  enjoyed  going. 



           22 This is a pseudonym. 

           23 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      167 


----------------------- Page 954-----------------------

                 Eventually we started going to the cinemas in Cork because we used to have – sometimes 

                 in  the  School  they  would  show  you  the  odd  film  here  and  there.  But  going  out,  it  was 

                 actually  going  out,  getting  out  of  the  Institution  and  going  down  through  the  streets  of 

                 Cork in two by two. 



4.98       He was delighted with the fact that they were allowed to go out escorted into the town. He was 

           asked  if  some  of  the  Brothers  treated  the  boys  with  respect  and  dignity,  and  treated  them  as 

           children. He replied, ‘They did, some were very good’. He added later, ‘The older Brothers seemed 

           to have more compassion with the children than the younger Brothers’. 



4.99       Another   resident   from   the  late  1940s   also  stressed    that  there  was   both   good   and   bad   in 

           Greenmount. He said  ‘there was a lot of rotten apples, right, in the School ...’ but he said some 

           of the Brothers were good to him:  ‘The Brother that I used to work in the farm with, he was very 

           good to me’. He then named two of the five working Brothers and said ‘it was like hell with them’, 

           but he said the other Brothers were ‘grand’. 



4.100      Mr Olivero, who had no qualms about denouncing Br Arrio as too harsh and severe, nonetheless 

           felt that there was not a violent regime. He said: 



                 There was discipline there, there was strict discipline, but I mean it was no different to 

                 what it was in an ordinary primary school ... in the absence of parents we did the best we 

                 could. What more could we do? 



4.101      The  person  most  often  mentioned  in  the  complaints  was  Br  Arrio,  who  was  accused  of  being 

           consistently brutal. Other Brothers were also remembered for administering excessive or arbitrary 

           punishment, on a less frequent basis. As one complainant put it: 



                 They used to beat you hard. The degree of beating they gave you was more than some 

                 of the other Brothers, some were more lenient in their dishing out of punishment. 



           Conclusions 



4.102       1.   There was systematic use of excessive corporal punishment in the 1940s. 



            2.  There were complaints about Brothers in the early 1950s, when corporal punishment 

                appeared to be widespread and on occasion severe. 



            3.  Some  Brothers  were  regarded  as  nice,  friendly  and  approachable.  When  they  used 

                corporal punishment, it was for misbehaviour and was accepted by complainants as 

                 being justified. 



           Sexual abuse 



           1955 



4.103      A major crisis in the affairs of the Industrial School came to a head in late 1955, when the Resident 

           Manager, Br Carlito24    and a senior Brother on the teaching staff, Br Garcia, were the subjects of 



           serious allegations of sexual abuse of boys in the School, resulting in the transfer of the Resident 

           Manager  and  the  resignation  from  the  Congregation  of  the  other  Brother.  The  latter  protested 

           his innocence at the time, and subsequently maintained that his voluntary departure by way of 

           dispensation from vows came about because of his dismay at the way the matter was handled. 

           The Resident Manager remained in the Congregation and later was the focus of further complaints 

           of sexual impropriety. 



           24 This is a pseudonym.. 



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----------------------- Page 955-----------------------

4.104       There were a number of Diocesan and Congregation Visitations to the School during this year. 

            The Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr Cornelius Lucey, visited the School on 7th                      January 1955. The 



            School Diary records that: 



                   He inspected the House, interviewed some of the Brothers and five boys separately. He 

                  expressed his satisfaction as a result of the interviews and from what he saw himself. 



4.105       It could be inferred from this note that the bishop was pursuing a line of inquiry, but he appears 

            to have been reassured. 



4.106       The Provincial of the Congregation, Br Jose, carried out the annual Visitation between 14th                        and 



               th 

            16   June 1955, and the consequent Report was very positive about the School generally and Br 

            Carlito in particular: 



                  As at the last Visitation I am pleased to note that the Constitutions are well observed and 

                  that there is a good spirit of fraternal charity ... The Superior neglects no opportunity to 

                   better the conditions under which the boys live, and together with his staff is devoted and 

                  zealous in the care of the boys in their spiritual and temporal welfare ... The affairs of the 

                   Brothers should not be discussed with the secular staff. 



4.107       However,  shortly  after  the  Visitation,  Br  Jose  received  some  disturbing  news  about  immoral 

            practices amongst the boys, which he outlined in his report to the General Council: 



                  Some days after the completion of this Visitation I got a report from a member of another 

                  Community that immoral practices were being carried on between the boys themselves. 

                  The information came originally from a Missionary priest (Fr. Brendan25                   I think) who had 



                   been Spiritual Director for a time to the Legion of Mary Praesidium at the Industrial School. 

                  On  being  questioned  about  this,  the  Superior  admitted  that  he  was  aware  of  the  fact, 

                   having been informed by Fr. Brendan himself. He knew the names of the four or five boys 

                  concerned,  had  them  all  placed  in  Dormitories  that  they  could  not  easily  contact  each 

                  other,  and  giving  special  instructions  to  the  Night  Watchman  without  giving  him  any 

                   information or naming any boys. 



4.108       Some five months after this Visitation, Br Blanco, a member of the General Council, carried out 

            an unusually long Visitation to Greenmount. It lasted 12 days rather than the usual two to three 

            days.  Allegations  of  sexual  abuse  of  boys  were  made  against  two  respected  members  of  the 

            Community,      Br   Carlito,  the   Resident    Manager,      and   Br  Garcia,    either  before    or  during   this 

            Visitation. 



4.109       At the same time as the Visitation by Br Blanco, a separate investigation was being pursued by a 

            Canon David26      on behalf of Bishop Lucey. 



4.110       No  record  survives  of  Canon  David’s  report  to  the  bishop  following  his  visit.  Br  Blanco,  who 

            conducted the lengthy Visitation on behalf of the Congregation, left in Greenmount a report that 

            said nothing about sexual abuse and confined itself to pious exhortations. It seems that Br Blanco 

            interviewed boys and took at least one written statement, although no record of these interviews 

            survives. Neither is there any report from Br Blanco to the General Council regarding the matter. 



4.111       A series of notes in diary form kept by the Superior General, Br Gomez,27                   at the time sheds light 



            on the sequence of events. 



            25 This is a pseudonym. 

            26 This is a pseudonym. 

            27 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 956-----------------------

4.112      On 29th   November, two days into the Blanco Visitation, Br Gomez recorded that ‘Brother Blanco 



           called on Canon who said he had no doubt about their guilt’. 



4.113      In his diary, Br Gomez records that on 5th         December: 



                  Bishop phoned at 7 p.m. to call on him. I understood he had no doubt of their guilt. 



                  Told me that he had called in Canon David to hold visitation at Greenmount and to call 

                  for him the following day at Bishop’s House to bring him to [Greenmount]. 



4.114      The following day, Br Gomez collected Canon David and recorded in the diary: 



                  Asked Canon David when boys and Bros. had been interviewed if he wanted to see Bros. 

                  Carlito & Garcia & he said yes. Phoned them at Passage W. & they came along within 

                  half an hour. 



                  Returning from Greenmount with Canon David he asked if a Brother had been holding 

                  visitation there. I said yes but he had not yet delivered his report on visitation. In that case 

                  he said he would say nothing. 



4.115      It is not known why the bishop ordered his own investigation. However, Fr Andrew, the School 

           chaplain when these investigations were carried out, recalled to Professor Keogh that a Mill Hill 

           Father (he could not recall the name although it seems clear that the source of the allegations 

           was Fr Brendan, the Mill Hill Father who had previously raised the issue of immorality amongst 

           the boys) had made an allegation to the parish priest of the Lough, the parish in which the School 

           was  located,  that  two  members  of  the  Greenmount  Community  were  involved  in  an  abusive 

           relationship with a number of the boys, and he reported the matter to the Bishop. Fr Andrew said 

           that  Bishop  Lucey  is  believed  to  have  visited  the  house  of  the  senior  curate  in  the  Lough,  Fr 

           Charles,28   in order to interview a number of the Greenmount boys, and the bishop is believed to 



           have conducted these interviews without revealing his identity. If that is what happened, it would 

           explain why the bishop ordered the canonical investigation. 



4.116      On 8th   December, the bishop told Br Gomez, during the course of a telephone conversation, that 



           he would see Brs Carlito and Garcia, who were back at Greenmount following the Canon’s visit, 

           if they wished to see him. Br Gomez made an appointment for the Brothers to see the bishop the 

           following day. 



4.117      Fr Brendan, from Mill Hill, appears to have interviewed a number of boys who presumably made 

           the  allegations  which  led  to  the  investigations.  According  to  the  notes  made  by  Br  Gomez,  Br 

           Carlito,  the  Resident  Manager,  assembled  a  number  of  boys  including  two  with  whom  he  had 

           been accused of engaging in sexual activity. He questioned the two boys in front of the other boys 

           as to the truth of the allegations. One denied the allegation and the other, who had since left the 

           School, said that he was asked so many questions that he was confused. Br Carlito told him it 

           was his duty to go to Fr Brendan and make the matter clear to him in writing. 



4.118      There    appears  to    have  been    a  struggle   going   on  between     the  Superior,    who  was     seeking 

           exculpation, and Fr Brendan, who had received some of the complaints and passed them on. The 

           Superior General’s diary records: 



                  Fr Brendan told the boys 



                         1.   it would be a mortal sin to divulge the interview to the Brother 



                         2.   if they did they would have to go to the Bishop 



                         3.   they could be put to gaol. 



           28 This is a pseudonym. 



           170                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 957-----------------------

4.119      The note continues: 



                 Superior Carlito assembled the boys interviewed by Fr. Brendan and told them that any 

                 words he was using were not in secret and could be used if they were ever interviewed 

                 – and that he was using no threats or bribes 



                 “if you think that what you have said is true stick to it but you must prove it. If you think 

                 what you said is untrue be honourable enough to admit it.” 



                 “He would follow this up [to] the very end ...” 



4.120      On  27th  December,  Br  Carlito  resigned  as  Resident  Manager  but  remained  a  member  of  the 



           Congregation.  The  Synopsis  of  his  Service  History  provided  by  the  Department  of  Education 

           indicates that he taught in a number of different schools until he reached retirement. He died at 

           an advanced age before the Committee began its hearings into Greenmount. 



4.121      Br Garcia furnished medical evidence that he was incapable of testifying before the Committee, 

           but he did provide a statement dealing with these events: 



                 I learned of these allegations in circumstances when I was walking along the corridor in 

                 Greenmount  Industrial  School  and  Br  Allente  approached  me  and  told  me  that  I  and 

                 another Brother were to go to the Bishop’s Palace to speak to Bishop Cornelius Lucey 

                 who was then the Bishop of Cork ... At this remove in time I have difficulty recalling the 

                 precise allegations as related to me by Bishop Lucey.  In general terms the allegations 

                 were  to  the  effect  that  children  were  being  abused  in  the  school  and  that  I  was  being 

                 blamed. I immediately denied those allegations to the Bishop and I inquired as to who 

                 had made these allegations against me. Bishop Lucey would not provide these names. I 

                 also inquired as to what individual had made the complaint and I did not get that name 

                 either. I was then told to leave. Some time later I was invited again to the Bishop’s Palace 

                 and had a discussion again with the Bishop about alleged sexual abuse in which I was 

                 allegedly involved. I immediately  denied any such involvement in this  type of activity. I 

                 was invited back again on a third separate occasion and I inquired of the Bishop as to 

                 when all of this was going to end and I was told by the Bishop “that there was no smoke 

                 without fire”. 



                 I became extremely upset about the way in which this matter was being handled and took 

                 the view that if this was the way that matters were being dealt with that I would be better 

                 off out of the Presentation Brothers. 



4.122      He continued teaching in the School until his dispensation was granted in February 1956: 



                 I remember leaving Greenmount on a Friday and commencing teaching at Waterford on 

                 the following Monday where I had secured a post. 



4.123      Fr Andrew was chaplain to the School from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. In a letter dated 

           29th December 2005, he stated: 



                 I wish to state clearly that during my years as chaplain, I saw no evidence whatever of 

                 physical or sexual abuse. 



4.124      However, he said that he had heard rumours about abuse in the School. He stressed that this 

           was clearly hearsay, but he was ‘happy to pass it on ... as it may help to clarify some aspects of 

           the Commission’s enquiries’: 



                 Much of what I heard about enquiries into abuse in Greenmount came from young Mill 

                 Hill community priests who were studying for the Higher Diploma in education in University 

                 College,  Cork  ...  Some  information  may  also  have  come  from  Fr.  Charles  ...  It  was 

                 probably  he who  informed  me  that I  was  being excluded  from  the  enquiries because  I 

                 was hearing Confessions in Greenmount. 



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----------------------- Page 958-----------------------

                  I  believe  that  there  were  altogether  three  distinct  enquiries  into  abuse  in  Greenmount 

                  while I was chaplain there. The only one of which I was aware at the time was under the 

                  care of Rev. Charles, curate in the Lough Parish (long since deceased.) I believe that this 

                  enquiry was a formal Canonical Visitation, done by V. Rev. Mons. David.. I never saw him 

                  while he was in Cork. 



4.125      He did not know what action, if any, the Diocese took as a result of the inquiry, but he believed 

           that a number of Brothers either left the Congregation or were transferred elsewhere. When Fr 

           Andrew heard of ‘possible problems in Greenmount’ many years later, he informed the Diocesan 

           authorities of the Canon David investigation, but was told that there was no Canon David report 

           on file. 



4.126      Fr Andrew stated that he later heard from Sr Vita,29  who had been in charge of the Boy’s Junior 



           Industrial School at Passage West, a feeder school for Greenmount and Upton, that Bishop Lucey 

           had visited her and directed her not to transfer boys to the two senior schools mentioned, thus 

           contributing to the closure of those schools. 



           Br Carlito’s later career 



           Early 1970s 



4.127      In  the  late  1990s,  an  individual  approached  the  Presentation  Brothers  with  allegations  that  Br 

           Carlito had sexually abused him during the 1970s, while he was a resident at an orphanage run 

           by another Congregation and attended the nearby monastery school. Br Carlito was teaching at 

           the school. Br Carlito taught in this school from the mid-1960s until the mid-1970s. 



4.128      The man making this allegation met with the Superior of the monastery and told him that Br Carlito 

           had abused him. The Superior then met the Regional Leader, Br Hilario,30                  to whom he gave the 



           following two-page report: 



                  He told me he had been in an Orphanage in the local ... Convent. Bro C. used to visit 

                  often. One day a boy broke his leg in the yard and was in ... hospital. Bro C took on a 

                  motorbike to see him. That the first time abuse started. Then Bro C used to bring to the 

                  monastery and take him up to his own room. Brought him to see Leeds v Sunderland Cup 

                  Final on T.V. in monastery – then abuse. Usually gave him 2/-. Stopped around the time 

                  the Orphanage closed ... Is undergoing Counselling. To see me & tell me was part of the 

                  healing process ... 



4.129      Br Hilario recorded these events in a memorandum. Following his meeting with the Superior, Br 

           Hilario telephoned the man: 



                  I assured him that I believed his story and that I would be quite prepared to listen to him 

                  if he so wished. 



4.130      They subsequently met and the man repeated the allegations: 



                  Brother Carlito was a regular visitor to the Orphanage. He took the boys on cycling trips 

                  ... at weekends. When he was in 3rd  or 4th       class the abuse began. “A lot of grooming had 



                  taken place before it started.” Another boy from the Orphanage broke his leg and was in 

                  hospital ... Brother Carlito took him on a motorbike to visit him. “This was the start of the 

                  abuse” [the man] gave no indication as to the nature of the abuse or where it took place. 

                  He was vague on dates. When questioned he said he was eleven or twelve at the time. 

                  (It seemed to me that eleven or twelve was old for a boy in 3rd              or 4th class but I did not 



           29 This is a pseudonym. 

           30 This is a pseudonym. 



           172                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 959-----------------------

                  comment on this.) [the man] said he had been abused on four occasions ... Brother Carlito 

                  would take him to his bedroom and “take down my pants” He remembers going to the 

                  monastery to view the Cup Final between Leeds and Sunderland; He then went on to talk 

                  about  further  abuse.  “Brother  Carlito  lay  on  the  bed  and  placed  me  on  his  belly.  I  got 

                  frightened and so did he, I think.” 



4.131      The man told Br Hilario that he did not want to report the matter to the Gardai. He did not see 

                                                                                                            ´ 

           any benefit in putting an old man in gaol – that would not be any good to him. When asked how 

            he felt the Presentation Brothers could be of help to him, he replied ‘compensation, I suppose’. 



4.132      A representative of the Congregation met Br Carlito subsequently in relation to this complaint, and 

            recorded    the   outcome     of   the  meeting     in  a   note   prepared     for  the   Congregation’s      legal 

            representatives. He told Br Carlito of the allegation: 



                  He did not interrupt or comment while I was relating the story. When I finished he said 

                  “This is terrible just when I was recovering this pushes me back down again.” ... I told him 

                  the Gardai were not approached. 



4.133       Br Carlito recalled the man as a pupil, although he had not taught him. He said that he had been 

           good to him and that he couldn’t remember any abuse taking place. 



4.134       Br Carlito continued: 



                  I am very surprised as I was extra good to him. I even gave him money now and then ... 

                  I gave him £2 or £3 pounds now and then. I even sent him money after I left ... but I have 

                  not seen or heard from him since. Why did he wait so long? I cannot remember interfering 

                  with him. 



4.135      When it was explained to him that such a time lapse in coming forward was common, that people 

           felt ashamed and guilty about what had happened, and that it took a lot of courage to tell their 

           story, Br Carlito said ‘If I did it to him I must be inclined to do it to others’. 



4.136      When  asked  whether  he  remembered  feeling  attracted  to  do  this  with  boys,  he  replied  ‘I  can’t 

            remember this attraction’. 



4.137       He said that the boy could have been in his room, but not for that purpose. Br Carlito said that he 

           was ‘flabbergasted and dumbfounded. This knocks me back altogether. There is nothing for me 

            now but Ahadoe [graveyard] and the sooner the better. I can now understand how easy suicide is’. 



4.138       Br Hilario met with Br Carlito a few days later, when Br Carlito made a statement maintaining: 



                  I am not saying it did not take place but I have no recollection of it happening. I think it is 

                  better for all concerned if I don’t deny it completely. 



           The late 1970s 



4.139       In 1978, the parent of a child at a national school made a complaint that Br Carlito had interfered 

           with  her  child.  Br  Carlito  was  working  as  an  assistant  teacher  in  the  School  at  the  time.  The 

           Committee has  not seen any  documentary material in  relation to this  complaint. However, it  is 

           clear from the Synopsis of his Service History provided by the Department of Education that Br 

           Carlito remained in the School until he was transferred in 1979. 



           The mid-1990s 



4.140       In the mid-1990s, the Gardai questioned Br Carlito in relation to an allegation that he had sexually 

                                             ´ 

            interfered with a three-and-a-half-year-old boy on a number of different occasions. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       173 


----------------------- Page 960-----------------------

4.141       The child’s mother said that she took her son to a doctor as a result of the abuse. 



4.142       Br Carlito made a statement to the Gardai and told his superiors of the allegation. The matter was 

                                                              ´ 

            immediately reported to the Provincial, Br Amador,31 who dispatched the Chairman of the Advisory 

            Committee on Child Sexual Abuse, Br Manuel,32  to interview Br Carlito. Br Manuel reported: 



                  He denied all the allegations and declared that there was no truth in any of them. He had 

                  no  recollection  of  the  child  ever  been  in  the  house  but  he  was  certain  that  he  never 

                  sexually interfered with him or any other child or youth who may have entered the house 

                  for the purpose of receiving musical tuition from him. He had always been careful to give 

                  tuition to groups and never to individuals and his students were always in the older age 

                  group of 10–14 years. He could not comprehend how anyone could accuse him of the 

                  offence and he knew of no one who would want to frame him. 



4.143       The Provincial’s diary states: 



                  Later that evening I phoned Br Manuel to inquire of his findings and he felt there may be 

                  some grounds for concern but had serious doubts. 



4.144       The Provincial consulted a member of the Conference of Religious in Ireland and decided to move 

            Br Carlito ‘lest his presence ... further aggravate any possible hurt to the alleged victim and family’. 



4.145       Br Amador’s diary referred to a meeting with the Gardai: 

                                                                               ´ 



                  I have only one note of that meeting which is a comment by Sgt. ... to the effect that a 

                  ‘child of three and a half does not concoct such stories’. He asked if there were any other 

                  such allegations against Br Carlito and I said I was not aware of any as otherwise I would 

                  not have posted him [to the School]. 



4.146       The Presentation Brothers engaged solicitors to act for Br Carlito. One month later, the principal 

            in the firm wrote to Br Amador informing him of recent developments: 



                  Three children from the locality have alleged that they have been sexually interfered with. 

                  All  three  have  been  medically  examined  and  two  of  the  three  have  been  physically 

                  interfered with – they have been buggered. One of these two children ... has identified Br 

                  Carlito as having interfered with him ... 



                  Brother  Carlito  is  not  known  personally  to  me.  His  denials  of  the  matter  appear  totally 

                  genuine. I very much doubt if, at 79 years of age, he should suddenly develop tendencies 

                  of this nature ... 



4.147       Br Carlito was not prosecuted. However, it is clear from the above that neither the Gardai nor Br 

                                                                                                                         ´ 

            Carlito’s solicitor were aware of the previous allegations which had been made against Br Carlito 

            in Greenmount and which had led to his resignation from the School. 



4.148       •    It is not clear that the investigation in 1955 established that the Brothers were guilty 

                  of the charges made against them. The two Brothers protested their innocence, and 

                  surviving documents do not reveal the results of the investigations. What is clear is 

                  that the bishop and his senior clerical investigator believed that Brs Carlito and Garcia 

                  had engaged in sexual abuse of boys. Nevertheless, the two men were permitted to 

                  move on to new positions dealing with children. There was no question of reporting 

                  them to the Gardai. 

                                         ´ 



            •    While  it  is  impossible  to  be  sure  from  the  documents,  the  probability  is  that  these 

                  complaints about sexual abuse came to light because boys felt able to confide in the 



            31 This is a pseudonym. 

            32 This is a pseudonym. 



            174                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 961-----------------------

                 young  volunteer  priest  who  visited  the  School.  This  would  conform  with  a  pattern 

                 that was seen in other institutions, whereby children were able to report abuse to a 

                 sympathetic adult when a suitable opportunity presented. 



           •     The involvement of the Bishop ensured that the complaints were taken seriously and 

                 investigated. 



           •     Further allegations of sexual abuse dogged Br Carlito’s subsequent career. When the 

                 Gardai were investigating one set of complaints of sexual abuse in the mid-1990s, the 

                         ´ 

                 information      supplied     by   a  senior    member      of   the   Congregation       was    seriously 

                 misleading. 



           Complainant evidence 



4.149      One  complainant,  Michael,33       gave  evidence  of  being  abused  by  Br  Garcia.  He  had  been  in 



           Greenmount in the late 1940s and was discharged in the early 1950s. Michael said that he was 

           about 12 when the abuse started, and that Br Garcia anally raped him about four or five times. 

           He said that he ran away from the School and went with a friend to the local Chief Superintendent 

           in Cork, Superintendent Caffrey,34        because his father worked for him and he knew him. Michael 



           told the superintendent about the abuse. 



4.150      Michael had faith in the Superintendent because he was such a senior figure in Cork, but did not 

           tell his parents what was happening because he did not think it was proper to speak to his mother 

           and father like that. 



4.151      Michael recalled his meeting with the superintendent: 



                  So, he said "what's wrong?" I said "there is a Brother and he's interfering with all the lads 

                  in Greenmount". Right? He said to me "Michael", he said to me "they don't do that". Well, 

                  I says, "Superintendent Caffrey, it is happening". So he said "I can only bring you up to 

                  Bishop Cohalan". 



4.152      He brought Michael and his friend to see the bishop: 



                  ... he brought me in a police car ... he was in the front and myself and [my friend] were in 

                  the  back   and    ... he  drove    up  there   anyway.    The    bishop   was    there   anyway    and 

                  Superintendent Caffrey went in. He said "there is two lads here from Greenmount". That's 

                  what  I  presume  he  said  to  the  bishop  ...  He  went  in  first  and  he  left  us  to  wait.  Then 

                  whatever conversation they had he called me and [my friend] in. He said "tell the bishop 

                  what's happening?" So we told him that we can't go to sleep at night, that this man is 

                  tormenting us, we can't go to the toilets or anything. Because Br. Garcia was in charge 

                  of the dormitory, right. That was his – he was in charge. So, Bishop Cohalan said "the 

                  Christian Brothers (sic) don't do these things at all". He said "you are two devils". He said 

                  "I am going to get ye excommunicated". We were more frightened than anything. So we 

                  came back out with Superintendent Caffrey ... and the sergeant drove us up to the School 

                  ... the next morning then we got a flogging. 



4.153      Bishop Cohalan was in his nineties when this allegation was made to him. 



4.154      In their statement in response to Michael’s allegations against Br Garcia, the Presentation Brothers 

           made  no  mention  of  the  canonical  inquiry  of  the  mid-1950s.  Br  Minehane  who,  in  his  direct 

           evidence  to  the  Investigation  Committee,  acknowledged  that  he  was  aware  of  the  canonical 

           inquiry, signed the statement on behalf of the Presentation Brothers and stated: 



           33 This is a pseudonym. 

           34 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     175 


----------------------- Page 962-----------------------

                  The  Complainant  makes  the  most  appalling  allegations  against  Br.  Garcia  ...  It  seems 

                  likely that the Complainant was taught by Br. Garcia. Br. Garcia is now [real name]. He 

                  strongly denies all of the Complainant’s allegations. 



4.155       In the course of the hearing, counsel for the Congregation stated: 



                  Our difficulty in relation to this is that we don't have records in relation to this particular 

                  aspect of matters and unfortunately the persons who would have been in a position to 

                  say exactly what went on at the time are deceased or unavailable. 



4.156      Br Garcia was represented at the hearing and denied the allegations made against him. 



4.157      Another witness recalled events surrounding Br Garcia’s departure. He told the Committee: 



                  Some of the boys were getting taken out of bed and they would go to the Brother's room 

                  at night ... I was in a very good position to see it happening ... My bed was right opposite 

                  the  door  ...  [The  Brothers]  had  a  room  annexed  to  the  dormitory  itself  ...  [He]  used  to 

                  come in, tap the bed, walk up the dormitory, walk back down and he'd walk out first. 



4.158      He explained there were ‘four or five’ beds the Brother would choose from. He would walk in, tap 

           the  bed,  ‘Go  back out  and then  that lad  would get  up and  go out’. The  boy would  come back 

            ‘maybe an hour afterwards’. He named the Brother as Br Garcia. 



4.159      The witness explained, ‘I knew two of the lads personally’. One of them ‘used have cigarettes all 

           the time and I used say "where did you get them?” He told him they had been given to him by Br 

           Garcia. Recalling the circumstances of Br Garcia’s leaving, he said: 



                  ...  after  Br  Garcia  and  Br  Carlito  left  everyone  was  talking  about  it  ...  It  happened  so 

                  sudden ... He was there one day and he was gone the next. It went around the School 

                  then that he was gone, him and the Superior. Obviously, Br Carlito was the Superior, the 

                  head Brother, so everyone noticed him gone. 



4.160      Another  witness  who  was  in  Greenmount  in  the  early  1950s  described  being  physically  and 

           sexually abused by a Brother who he described as being a fat man. He stated that this abuse 

           occurred in an office which was identified by the Congregation as being the Superior’s office. In 

           their responding statement to the witness’s statement of complaint, the Congregation said: 



                  During the complainant’s time at Greenmount there were three Superiors. None of them 

                  matches the complainant’s description as a “big fat” man. 



            Peer abuse 



4.161      Nine former residents of Greenmount were prosecuted and sentenced for offences of indecency 

           in the mid-1930s. A further three former residents of Upton Industrial School were also sentenced 

           for similar offences. All of the young men who had spent time in Greenmount ranged from 15 to 

            19 years of age. 



4.162      The  Department  of       Education  received  an  anonymous           letter  from  the  parent  of   one  of  the 

           convicted youths after sentence was handed down. The letter stated that the boy had spent eight 

           years in Greenmount, despite an application made by his parent to have him released. It alleged 

           that  such  sexual  conduct  had  been  prevalent  in  Greenmount  for  the  previous  nine  years,  and 

           named a particular teacher who was complicit in such activity. The Gardai were seeking him. The 

                                                                                                   ´ 

           whole thing was ‘the talk of Cork City’. The writer requested that the Department requisition all of 

           these cases from the court office or the Gardai  so that the full extent of the problem could be 

                                                                     ´ 

           exposed, as ‘the Monks of the school was trying to keep this Case Dark’. It added, ‘my boy was 



            176                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 963-----------------------

           8 years going in to the school ... so he got his lesson in the school. Any child is safer at Home’. 

           The letter ended, ‘the school should be closed down’. 



4.163      The  Department  Inspector,  in  an  internal  memorandum,  noted  that  the  Medical  Inspector  had 

           heard  certain  rumours  about  the  School  and  suggested  that  the  local  chief  superintendent  be 

           contacted for a full report. Around the same time, the Attorney General’s office made contact with 

           the Department of Education, furnishing copies of the depositions in the 12 cases. Many of the 

           defendants had asserted that their misconduct stemmed from their time in industrial schools. The 

           Attorney General was of the view that closer supervision of the older boys would discourage such 

           ‘unfortunate  habits’,  and  furnished  the  Department  with  the  information  ‘in  the  hope  that  the 

           Minister in collaboration with the School Authorities may be able to devise some means of keeping 

           the number of such cases in future at the lowest possible level’. An extract from the prosecuting 

           counsel’s report was also furnished, which stated ominously, ‘... the revelations about Upton and 

           Greenmount at this sittings have given me furiously to think about Industrial Schools and Religious 

           Orders ...’. 



4.164      The Department arranged for a special Inspection of the two schools in question to take place. 

           An  Industrial  Schools  Inspector  and  the  Deputy  Chief  Inspector  of  the  Primary  Branch  were 

           nominated to conduct the Inspections. Their general brief was to ‘... enquire into the supervision 

           exercised over the boys, and the measures taken to prevent or put an end to the occurrences, 

           which gave  rise to the  recent cases before  the Cork Courts’.  The Department decided  against 

           bringing the matter specifically to the attention of the bishop, on the basis that it had to be assumed 

           that he was already aware of the matter. 



4.165      The  Inspectors  conducted  their  Inspections  over  two  days.  They  noted  that  the  children  were 

           supervised by teachers during school and trades training, and by the Brothers during recreation. 

           Night watchmen patrolled the dormitories at night time. 



4.166      The Resident Manager, who appeared to have been very much affected by the incidents, stated 

           he  had  no  intention  of  concealing  them  from  the  Department  but  that  the  worry  of  the  cases 

           caused him to overlook reporting the matter. 



4.167      He confirmed that both the Gardai and an ISPCC Inspector had questioned the children as part 

                                                    ´ 

           of their enquiries. The Manager assured them that stricter controls were in place to ensure that 

           any such misconduct did not occur, and he was satisfied that the problem had been eradicated 

           in the School. The Department of Education Inspectors concluded that: 



                  ... consistent with the normal freedom of the children the supervision exercised in both 

                  schools  is  adequate  in  ordinary  circumstances  and  the  recent  occurrences  will  tend  to 

                  keep the school authorities on the alert: from what we have learned, however, there is an 

                  ever present danger of these cases arising no matter how well planned the supervision 

                  and this danger is aggravated when, as in the case of Greenmount, a member of the staff 

                  is  known  to  have  been  implicated.  The  problem,  as  we  understand  it,  is  for  obvious 

                  reasons a most difficult one to deal with and we consider the only action that can be taken 

                  is to impress on the Manager (verbally for preference) of each boys’ school the possibility 

                  of such cases occurring and the necessity for close and constant supervision of the boys, 

                  especially the senior boys, i.e. boys over 14 years of age, in all their activities. 



4.168      The Minister for Education approved this recommendation, and the Department’s enquiry into the 

           matter was closed. 



4.169      The Inspectors do not appear to have spoken to the children as part of their enquiry, and seem 

           to have accepted the assurances of the Resident Manager that sexual activity was no longer a 

           problem in the School. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      177 


----------------------- Page 964-----------------------

4.170      There is further reference to sexual activity among boys contained in the reports of the Provincial 

           to the General Council of the Presentation Brothers in the mid-1950s. Despite the Provincial being 

           assured by the Resident Manager, Br Carlito, that the boys were at all times well supervised, he 

           received a report shortly after visiting the School from a member of another Community that the 

           boys in Greenmount were engaging in ‘immoral practices’. When this allegation was put to the 

           Resident Manager, he accepted that he was aware of the problem and had taken steps to deal 

           with the issue, which involved separating the culprits in the dormitories and requesting the night 

           watchman to be particularly vigilant. No advice or direction given by the Provincial is recorded, 

           and the issue does not arise in subsequent reports. 



           Complainant evidence 



4.171      The difficulty of trying to control sexual behaviour among the boys emerged from the evidence of 

           a former  resident who was transferred  to Daingean because  he was twice caught  engaging in 

           sexual activity with his peers. He was admitted to Greenmount in the early 1950s when he was 

           eight years old. He said he learnt about sex from the older boys, and added ‘it was going on with 

           all the boys’. He would masturbate the older boys and sometimes had anal intercourse. He said: 



                 It is a very powerful thing, you may shy away from it to start. You see, I see the sexual 

                 business as a disease, but once you start getting the feel for it it is like wanting sugar. 



4.172      As time went on, he began to engage in sexual activity with younger boys. He pondered the irony 

           of it all: 



                 I became an abuser myself of a form, that is the way it goes. So because I was put in, 

                 locked up in the first place for committing no crime I ended up committing some kind of 

                 crime in the second place ... 



4.173      When  asked  whether  there  was  any  awareness  by  the  adults  in  charge  in  Greenmount  of  the 

           sexual activity amongst the boys, he said ‘I can only assume that they must have had some idea’. 



4.174      •    Sexual activity between boys and peer abuse were serious problems in Greenmount. 

                 Despite assurances that it would be dealt with the problem persisted. 



           Emotional abuse 



4.175      In their Opening Statement on Greenmount, the Presentation Brothers expressed the view that 

           industrial schools were ‘a flawed model’, doomed to failure. They wrote: 



                 Up until the 1960s there was a popularly held belief in Ireland that industrial schools were 

                 an  institutional  response  to  cope  with  the  problem  of  petty  crime  and  delinquency  by 

                 young people. This was a misconception. Children convicted of minor criminal offences 

                 were often admitted to industrial schools, But that was usually because they had strayed 

                 into breaking the law due to the absence of parental supervision and neglect. Children 

                 were also admitted for non-attendance at school. That was, again, usually a consequence 

                 of difficult family circumstances. Where one parent had died or departed, an older child 

                 might be required to remain at home in order to rear the other children in the family. The 

                 consequences of social and economic deprivation were addressed by breaking up whole 

                 families, the boys being sent to the Brothers and girls to the nuns. 



                 It is clear that, in hindsight, the industrial school system was not, and could never be, a 

                 success. It was based on a flawed model. No one today would seriously argue that an 

                 institution  operating    on  then   approved    lines,  such   as  Greenmount,      represented     an 

                 adequate response to serious social problems suffered by some of the most vulnerable 

                 elements in society. No one would tolerate the Courts regularly making orders having the 

                 effect of separating so many children from their families for up to 8 years. No one would 



           178                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 965-----------------------

                 suggest  that  a  child  could  be  raised  on  the  modern  equivalent  of  22  shillings  a  week: 

                 indeed it appears that that task was beyond the Presentation Brothers at that time. (the 

                 Presentation Brothers informed the then Minister for Education, Mr Jack Lynch T. D., that 

                 it was not possible to feed and clothe boys on 22/6 per week in the late 1950s). No one 

                 would suggest that neglected and abandoned children should be housed and cared for 

                 together  with,  and  in  the  same  fashion  as,  young  offenders.  No  one  would  consider 

                 lodging such a large number of children of varying ages in single institution with so few 

                 carers. 



4.176      They went on to point out that many of the flaws in the system were apparent in 1936, when the 

           Cussen Commission reported but Cussen’s recommended reforms were not implemented, and ‘a 

           further 34 years passed before Ireland was prepared to abandon the industrial school as a means 

           of child care’. 



4.177      The Presentation Brothers make several important observations: 



                   1.  Most   of  the  children   were   not  criminals   but  were   disturbed   because    they   had 

                       experienced death, or family upheaval, neglect and poverty. 



                  2.   The  court  orders  removing  them  from  their  families  for  periods  of  up  to  eight  years 

                       made matters worse. 



                   3.  Separating siblings further broke up the family and thereby caused more distress. 



                  4.   The   prison-like   containment     of  these   children   in  large   secure   buildings   was 

                       inappropriate and further isolated them from society. 



                   5.  It was    detrimental   to  lodge   neglected    and   abandoned     children   with  hardened 

                       delinquents. 



                  6.   The   number    of  carers   was   inadequate,    and  the  funds   needed    to  educate    and 

                       rehabilitate the disadvantaged children were far short of what was needed. 



4.178      The  Statement    suggests    these   flaws  became    apparent    only  ‘with  hindsight’. Moreover,    the 

           Presentation  Brothers  blame  the  failures  of  the  industrial  school  system  on  the  acceptance  of 

           such a model by society. The report prepared by Professor Keogh ends with the conclusion: 



                 In the public debate in the 1990s on the running of Irish industrial schools attention has 

                 correctly  focussed  on  the  manner  in  which  the  religious  performed  their  duties.  It  is 

                 necessary, however, to subject the role of the state to scrutiny. After all, it had the ultimate 

                 responsibility for the running of those institutions ... It is a harsh but nevertheless valid 

                 verdict on the performance of the Irish state in such a central and sensitive social policy 

                 area it arrived with unjustifiable, glacial-like slowness at the conclusion only in 1970 that 

                 the industrial school system was outdated, outmoded and obsolete. 



4.179      The question arises as to why so many of the conclusions that were obvious after 1970 were not 

           evident much earlier. 



4.180      One  witness,  who  was  in  Greenmount  for  a  year  in  the  mid-1940s,  was  the  second  eldest  of 

           seven  children.  His  father  worked  in  England  during  the  war,  and  the  family  were  regularly 

           summonsed for non-attendance at school. He told the Committee: 



                 When we were sentenced we went with a guard ... There was me, [my two brothers, the 

                 Garda], and my Mam we were taken to the industrial school. We were taken in. My Mam 

                 was crying and we were crying. Then my Mam came out, the guard came out and we 

                 were there, that was our sentence, we were there then for four years, whatever we were 

                 sentenced to. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               179 


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4.181      While he was in Greenmount, his older brother died from tubercular meningitis. He recalled this 

           event: 



                 when we went to the infirmary, me and [my younger brother], like I said, we were so close, 

                 we asked to see him but we were not allowed to see him ... He went into the infirmary 

                 and then they moved him out through – we used call it the union, which was the hospital 

                 in Cork,  and the  next time  I saw my  brother ...  was when  he was  in the death  house, 

                 when he was laid out. That's the only time I seen him ... when I found out how he was 

                 dead, we came from school and we were in the playground, or the yard, or whatever you 

                 call it, and we were going into the dinner and we went into dinner and the boy next to me 

                 said " [your brother] is dead". That's how I found out. It just came like that ... I went spare. 

                 There was such a shock, even when he was in hospital we didn't know what he was there 

                 for. When we were in the infirmary we asked to see him but we weren't allowed to see him. 



4.182      He also talked about the difficulty they had in relation to contact with their mother: 



                 She used come to visit us but she weren't let in. So I didn't have difficulty contacting her, 

                 I  wasn't  allowed  ...  She  told  us  she  was  turned  away.  Even  if  we  seen  her  there  was 

                 nothing we could do about it, she was turned away. Br Arrio used say no, she's not coming 

                 in because she used to bring us food parcels ... she was turned away. Sometimes we 

                 used get them. 



4.183     Another witness, who was there in the 1950s, recounted how he found out, when he was about 

           13,  that his  mother  was  alive. He  had  been admitted  into  Greenmount  from another  institution 

          where he had been since a baby. He told the Committee how he made this discovery: 



                 I never knew [my] father, no, or my mother ... I didn't know anything about her at all ... It 

                 came about because people in the School used to write home, if they had parents they 

                 were allowed to write home once a month their parents and if you didn't write home you 

                 went to the back of the class. I think it [was] Br. Allente, I think that's his name, names 

                 are hard  to come  by now. He  said, "Don't  you write to  anybody?" I  said, "No, I  don't." 

                About three months later as I went into the classroom, on a blackboard on an easel which 

                 [a woman’s name and address] and I was told write to that person. That's your mother ... 

                 I did write to her under duress at that time. [She wrote back] and she told me I had two 

                 stepsisters ... I never had contact with her other than writing ... I have tried various times 

                 to contact her but the advice given by the local police and by the local parish priest was 

                 that it is best left alone after all those years. 



                 On one visit to Ireland, my son was eight at the time, I actually drove up from Cork ... and 

                parked    outside  the  assumed     address   and   just parked   and   then  drove   away   again. 

                 Because one didn't want to go and knock on a door and say, "I'm your son", because the 

                 mother has feelings as well, she has had her life since I have not been there so I didn't 

                 want to interrupt. 



                 It has impacted very much so, because when I went to England you don't have anybody 

                 to relate to, so you are always worrying – I don't know, it is hard to explain but if your 

                parents are missing, if you don't know where they are – or who your parents are your 

                peace of mind is even to go there at the end – if I come over this year or next year to 

                 Ireland, even if she has passed away, it would be to see the grave and say that's laid to 

                 rest now and there is no further gain to be got. But it has impacted. It impacts throughout 

                 your whole life because when you have your own family you have no role models, you 

                 have nothing to bring up your family. 



4.184      The Brother in this case noticed the loneliness of this boy who knew nothing of his parents. He 

           did his best to help the son contact his mother. This witness remembered him as the Brother who 

           found his mother for him. 



           180                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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4.185      This same witness spoke well of a system, set up by the Presentation Brothers, where boys were 

           sent to visit families in Cork on a regular basis. He said: 



                 Say for argument’s sake, every first Sunday of the month, I think it was every first Sunday 

                 of the month, one of the families in Cork would take one of the orphans out to their home 

                 and  you  would  spend  a  day  in  their  home.  At  the  end  of  the  day  they  might  give  you 

                 lemon sweets or something to take back, a little bag of sweets. 



4.186      The importance of this regular contact with a family emerged when he disclosed to them that an 

           older boy was bullying him. He explained the circumstances: 



                 I think what actually triggered it off, because I didn’t confide in them, you didn’t have a lot 

                 to say to people actually, you were just taken and if they said “Get in the car” you got in 

                 the car. If they said “dinner was ready” you ate your dinner. You didn’t confide in them in 

                 so much as what school was about, you actually didn’t. It came about when she made 

                 this awful red and white coat, or red and black coat for me that made me look like –  it 

                 was a sort of girl’s outfit and I started to cry and it just happened from there on. So sort 

                 of one thing led to another and it was an emotion that was coming out. I didn’t specifically 

                 go and say, “I have been beaten up”. So it sort of came out from that particular incident. 

                 I wouldn’t wear the coat. 



4.187      He learned later, when he was going to work and calling back to visit this family from time to time, 

           that they had complained to Greenmount on his behalf. His attachment to this family, the first he 

           had known because he was raised in institutions, revealed the importance of such relationships 

           to a maturing child. 



4.188      By arranging such weekends, the Presentation Brothers were showing their awareness that the 

           children needed more than the Institution could provide. The warning in the 1901 Visitation Report 

           remained part of the culture: 



                 Familiarities with the boys should be most cautiously guarded against, being most hurtful 

                 to boys and Brothers ... there should always be maintained a reserve that would keep 

                 them at a proper distance and enable them to have for the Brothers that respect due to 

                 their position. 



4.189      Many  Brothers  remained  remote  figures,  who  kept  control,  but  who  did  not  show  warmth  or 

           sympathy and, in their turn, the children learned not to show their feelings. An injury was done to 

           both parties by this unnatural suppression of feelings. 



4.190      Without an adult as a protector and confidante, the orphans clung to each other and formed a 

           bond. One witness told the Committee: 



                 ... we used to confide in each [other] quite a bit, and more so the people who didn’t have 

                 families outside were more vulnerable because we didn’t have anybody to complain to 

                 and we always sort of knitted together, if you didn’t have a mother and father you sort of 

                 knitted with people of that ilk, because you – the others were different. They were actually 

                 different from us, the boys from outside, they had a different way of doing things, different 

                 outlook because they always saw something on the outside, we never saw anything on 

                 the outside ... 



4.191      These boys were not just cut off from the outside world: they were cut off from people who knew 

           the outside world. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              181 


----------------------- Page 968-----------------------

           Contact with families 



4.192      Greenmount had a major advantage being in Cork city, and so contact with families was easily 

           arranged. Boys from Cork city were allowed home visits on the first Sunday of every month. Boys 

           whose families lived further away were allowed home on summer holidays. In the 1940 annual 

           report from the Brothers to the Department of Education, the Resident Manager noted: 



                 I believe the Home Leave and Sunday outings have a very beneficial effect – the Boys 

                 being  kept  in  touch  with  their  relations  and  friends,  and  they  grow  up  having  some 

                 knowledge  of  the  outside  world  as  well  as  breaking  up  the  monotony  of  every  day 

                 school life. 



4.193      As  illustrated  above,  those  who  had  no  families  to  go  home  to  were  sometimes  sent  to  a 

           sponsoring family on Sundays and for summer holidays. Many boys benefited from this regular 

           contact with family life. When Bishop Lucey visited the School in 1955, he expressed the view 

           that the boys should be let out ‘as much as possible so as by the time they would be finished 

           here, they would have some idea of outside world’. 



4.194      Boys who were placed in orphanages from their very early childhood suffered from being totally 

           ignorant  of  their  family  roots.  One  witness  told  the  Committee  of  how  his  mother  left  him  in 

           Rathdrum when he was six, visited him on the day of his admission, and ‘that was it’. He never 

           saw her again. Subsequently, he made contact with his maternal uncle by chance: 



                 When I joined the army in Cork the recruiting sergeant asked me my name and he said, 

                 “Did your uncle work here?” or “Was your uncle in the army?” I says, “I don’t know if I 

                 have any uncle.” That’s how I found out he was in the army. 



4.195      He met his uncle, but they were unable to find his mother. He never knew if she was alive or dead. 



4.196      He spent a total of nine years and three months in institutions. That still rankled with him. He said, 

           simply,  ‘My childhood was taken away’. 



           Neglect 



           Department of Education – General Inspection Reports 



4.197      The main source of contemporary evidence about conditions in Greenmount is Inspection Reports 

           of Dr Anna McCabe, who was appointed Medical Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools 

           on 3rd  April 1939. She held the post until 8th  March 1965. She also carried out general inspections 



           of the schools. 



4.198      Her  first  impression  in  1939  was  positive,  and  she  could  not  find  fault  with  any  aspect  of  the 

           School. However, her report in 1943 was critical of the patched and tattered appearance of the 

           children’s clothes. It was only in the late 1940s that she expressed satisfaction with the quality of 

           the children’s clothing. 



4.199      During this period, she also expressed dissatisfaction with the children’s diet. On consulting weight 

           charts, she noticed that a number of children had not increased in weight. Added to this concern 

           was the fact that there had been several cases of TB in the School. She recommended that the 

           Department write to the Resident Manager, advising that the rations of milk and butter given to 

           each child be increased to ensure that each child received at least a pint of milk a day. They did 

           this  and  also  advised  that  each  child  receive  a  quarter  pound  of  meat  at  each  meal  at  which 

           meat was served. The Resident Manager responded, confirming that they would use their best 

           endeavours to increase rations despite ‘our crushing debt’. 



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----------------------- Page 969-----------------------

4.200      With regard to the outbreak of TB, Dr McCabe met with the School’s medical officer, who was 

           anxious that the entire School be investigated, and Dr McCabe made representations to the local 

           TB Officer in Cork. He did not share the same anxieties, but agreed to carry out an investigation 

           of the School if further cases emerged. 



4.201      In 1947, Dr McCabe noted that the food and diet had much improved and that the children looked 

           healthy and well. 



4.202      Dr McCabe was absent due to illness for periods in the late 1940s and early 1950s. There is a 

           note that she inspected the School in 1951, but a record of this report is not available. The next 

           report  of  note  is  dated  November  1953.  Br  Domingo35         had  recently  taken  over  the  position  of 



           Resident  Manager.  She  noted  in  her  report  that,  by  his  own  admission,  he  did  not  have  any 

           experience of running an industrial school. She made a number of suggestions for improvements, 

           including  the  instalment  of  up-to-date  kitchen  equipment,  and  improved  clothing  and  diet.  She 

           also discovered, on visiting the bakery, that the ventilation system was not working and that fumes 

           were being released inside. The Department followed up this latter issue by writing to the Resident 

           Manager, requesting confirmation that the matter had been attended to, and a reply was received 

           by return confirming that measures had been taken to ensure that the problem did not arise again. 



4.203      When  she  visited  the  School  next,  almost  a  year  later,  Br  Carlito  had  taken  over  as  Resident 

           Manager. He also informed her that he had little in the way of experience in running an industrial 

           school. She noted the School had recently been redecorated but was in need of modernisation in 

           many respects. 



4.204      Three months later, Dr McCabe was requested to carry out another Inspection of the School, after 

           the mother  of a resident  complained to the Department  that her son  had head lice.  In general 

           terms, she noted a decline in the standards at the School, which she suggested may have had 

           something to do with the inexperience of the new Resident Manager. She inspected each child’s 

           head and was dismayed to find ‘35 boys with nits in their heads and 12 verminous. I consider a 

           shocking state of affairs’. Br Carlito attempted to apportion blame to the School nurse, who he 

           said  insisted  that  her  remit  extended  only  to  treating  sick  children.  Dr  McCabe  noted  that  the 

           majority of the boys who had contracted head lice were in the age group 8 to 12 years, and she 

           felt  that  the  problem  stemmed  from  a  lack  of  supervision  of  the  boys’  personal  hygiene.  She 

           suggested that the nurse’s salary be increased, in return for her agreement to supervise the boys 

           in the dressing room to ensure that they washed properly. 



4.205      The following year, Dr McCabe observed many improvements. The redecorating of the School 

           continued,  new  equipment  had  been  introduced  to  the  kitchen,  the  children’s  health  was  very 

           good, and their clothing had improved. Br Carlito indicated to her that he was concerned about 

           falling numbers in the School. 



4.206      When Dr McCabe next visited the School in November 1956, Br Santiago had taken over the post 

           of Resident Manager. She described him as ‘a great improvement on the previous man’, although 

           she had not expressed reservations about the Resident Manager in her previous year’s report. 

           While she noted that the School was well run, the boys’ clothing once again came in for criticism. 

           She noticed that many of the shirts had no buttons. She also highlighted the need for each boy 

           to be given a toothbrush and to ensure that they used them. 



4.207      The 1957 report is again critical of many aspects of the School. Even though efforts at redecoration 

           had  been  made,  she  stated  that  ‘so  much  needs  to  be  done  to  make  this  School  bright  and 

           attractive’. The play hall was ‘dank and unattractive’. Despite the improvements in the kitchen, the 



           35 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      183 


----------------------- Page 970-----------------------

           cooking methods used were still very antiquated. Clothing had slightly improved, in that the boys 

           were given waistcoats, but there was still much room for improvement. The Resident Manager 

           put these deficiencies down to a lack of funds. On a more positive note, Dr McCabe emphasised 

           that the supervision and medical care of the boys was very good. 



4.208      Dr McCabe’s final Inspection of Greenmount took place on 29th           October 1958. She stated that Br 



           Santiago and the nurse were both attentive and kind to the boys. She noted a slight improvement 

           in the boys’ clothing. She recommended several improvements, that Br Santiago seemed to take 

           on board. She emphasised the need to brighten up the School by further redecoration. 



4.209      In 1949, a Fine Gael Councillor wrote to the Department of Education regarding complaints he 

           had received in relation to conditions in Greenmount. His letter was in response to the most recent 

           complaint he had received from a mother of a boy in Greenmount. Her 11-year-old boy had been 

           sent to Greenmount because she and her husband were being treated for TB, and they had no 

           option but to have their young family committed to industrial schools. 



4.210      She made representations to the Councillor to assist her in having her son released into the care 

           of her father, after she discovered that he was not well cared for in Greenmount. She had found 

           his clothes crawling with vermin. The Councillor wrote: 



                 For some time past this Executive has been receiving complaints regarding the treatment 

                 given to the boys at Greenmount. The boys are made get up at 7a.m. and have to wash 

                 portion of the dormitories before breakfast which consists of a cup of black coffee and a 

                 couple of slices of dry bread. After this they go to school until 2.30p.m. when they get 

                 their next meal, which, on one day last week consisted of potatoes and lemonade. Besides 

                 this we   have   received   at last  four  complaints   regarding    the  verminous    state  of the 

                 children’s clothes, and I have myself verified one case ... These complaints have become 

                 so numerous that we were considering whether to report it to the City Health Authorities 

                 and the Minister for Health. It is of no use making any official enquiries. 



                 The only way to get at the root of all these complaints is to have some of the Health and 

                 Education Authorities visit the place without warning. 



                 We don’t like having to report things like this, as they only create trouble but the time has 

                 come when something has to be done about them. 



4.211      The  Minister  asked  Dr  Anna  McCabe,  the  Department’s  Medical  Inspector,  to  investigate  the 

           matter and report her findings directly to him. 



4.212      Also  at  this  time,  a  Garda  from  Union  Quay  Station  wrote  to  the  Department  of  Education 

           requesting that, the next time an Inspector was in Cork, they call him regarding a matter which he 

           did not wish to commit to paper. He wrote again some weeks later, after a telephone conversation 

           with an official from the Department of Education, and this time the Garda set out his concerns: 



                 For  some  time  past  I  have  been  receiving  complaint  from  parents  having  children  in 

                 Greenmount  Ind  Schools,  these  complaints  are  in  respect  of  clothing  and  food.  One 

                 mother complained that a child of hers is in School 12 months and he has the same pair 

                 of boots on him as he took in with him, that he has colds continually from neglect. I have 

                 got several complaints recently about footwear from parents having children in this School. 

                 A number of complaints have also been received about food which appears to be of poor 

                 quality. One complaint was that soup supplied to the children is a week old and sour when 

                 given to them. No tea and no sugar or coffee or cocoa, bread very scant supply with no 

                 butter only margarine. 



                 I am not relying on all the complaints received, to be genuine but I have the word of a 

                 lady  Cook  who  worked  there  and  has  no  reason  for  confirming  the  complaints  I  have 

                 received  for  some  time.  I  have  all  called  to  the  School  myself  and  in  my  opinion  they 



           184                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 971-----------------------

                children are not near as healthy or as well fed looking ... They look cold and miserable 

                looking. The lady who was cook there says some of the food given to the children [was] 

                not fit for dogs and that she says was one of the reasons for leaving. 



                Now I am a particular friend of the Bros’ in Greenmount and has no wish to do any injury 

                to them and their good work; which is at times difficult but I consider I owe a duty towards 

                these  children  owing  to  the  position  I  hold  and  as  a  representative  of  the  Dept.  of 

                Education. 



                I do hope this matter will be treated in confidence as I do not wish it to be known that it 

                was I brought this matter to notice. 



4.213     Dr McCabe was unable to investigate the matter immediately as she was on sick leave from the 

          Department. However, she did visit the office and was asked by a Department official for her view 

          on the allegations contained in the Councillor’s letter. He made the following note: 



                Dr McCabe said that she considered, from her experience, that Greenmount was a very 

                well conducted Industrial School. On all occasions on which she visited the school, the 

                food for the children was of a very good quality, and she could find no evidence to justify 

                the present complaint with regard to the care taken of the children from the point of view 

                of their personal cleanliness. Her visits were frequently without previous notification, so 

                that it could not be  suggested, in her opinion, that conditions as she  found them were 

                designed specially because of her visit. 



4.214     Dr  McCabe  visited  Greenmount  in  September  1949  to  investigate  the  complaints  made.  She 

          interviewed  the  Garda  who  had  made  the  complaint,  and  also  the  cook  who  had  worked  in 

          Greenmount and was now employed in the Garda station. She was not impressed by the account 

          given by the cook, who alleged that ‘the boys were taken out into the courtyard and were stripped 

          and beaten with leashes – that they were ill-fed and never got sugar or tea, and that the little boys 

          who helped her in her kitchen ... were always ravenous for food’. She then visited the School and 

          had each boy undressed. She could not see any signs of injury or ill-treatment. 



4.215     She stated that she was present when several meals were served to the boys and that they were 

          ‘always ample and inviting’. Sugar was put into the boilers rather than into bowls on the table, as 

          was the practice in many schools, to avoid waste. She observed that coffee was served to the 

          boys at one meal, and requested that tea be served instead. The Resident Manager explained 

          that this practice had started during the Emergency, when tea was in poor supply, and agreed 

          that it would desist. She found all areas of the School well kept and clean. She also found that all 

          of  the  boys  had  boots  which  were  in  good  condition,  and  that  repairs  were  carried  out  when 

          necessary. She did discover that four boys were verminous and, on enquiring, she was told that 

          these boys had been home for holidays and that the School had difficulty cleaning them up on 

          their return. She suggested plentiful use of DDT and more frequent bathing. 



4.216     She surmised that the woman who had complained to the Garda about the School bore a grudge 

          because she was summarily dismissed after a short time working there: ‘most of her evidence 

          was  conjecture  as she  had  never  been  in  the boys  refectory  and  I  do not  think  anyone  would 

          believe her story about the public beatings in the court yard’. She noted that the Medical Officer 

          and  nurse  always  spoke  highly  of  the  School,  and  was  satisfied  that,  if  any  unkindness  was 

          displayed towards the children, they would have informed her in the best interests of the children. 

           In conclusion, she found that the allegations made were without foundation ‘and that the school 

          continues to be as well run as usual’. 



4.217     The Department accepted these conclusions and that was the end of the matter. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            185 


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4.218      Dr McCabe appears to have disregarded the eyewitness accounts of neglect at Greenmount. She 

           seems to have taken a dislike to the lay person who made some of the allegations, and dismissed 

           all of the complaints on that basis. Garda Bracken37  stated that he had received several complaints 



           from parents  regarding food and  clothing. He  himself had called  to the School  and was  of the 

           opinion  that  the  children  were  not  healthy.  He  went  as  far  as  to  describe  them  as  cold  and 

           miserable  looking.  The  parent  who  complained  to  the  local  Councillor  was  so  troubled  by  the 

           condition in which she found her son that she refused to go to the sanatorium for vital treatment 

           for TB until her son was removed from the Institution. The Councillor felt compelled to write to the 

           Department,  setting  out  his  concerns  regarding  conditions  in  Greenmount,  as  his  office  had 

           received numerous complaints of neglect. Dr McCabe made no mention of these complaints in 

           her report. She also dismissed  too easily the allegation that boys were stripped  and beaten in 

           the courtyard. 



4.219      Dr McCabe had been critical of food and clothing in Greenmount in the mid-1940s. It was not until 

           1947 that she noted that food and diet had ‘improved’. She did not make another official Inspection 

           until 1951, but that report has not survived. Her next report was in 1953, and she had a number 

           of suggestions to make regarding the running of Greenmount. 



           Evidence on conditions from the Presentation Brothers’ annals and records 



4.220      The annals of 1955 record that the boys were bought new boots ‘as their ordinary everyday boots 

           made noise like that of an army on parade’, new raincoats that ‘should last for at least five years’, 

           and ‘good warm jackets instead of jerseys ... for the winter months’. The profit from a concert of 

           £50 ‘helped to pay off some of the bill for the overcoats’. Dr McCabe had criticised the clothing 

           several times in the 1950s, and an effort was being made to respond to her comments. 



4.221      The Provincial Report to the General Council in 1957 noted that the boys appeared ‘ragged and 

           unkempt’. It went on to say: 



                  I am convinced that all the uplift which we – a religious body should give – is not being 

                  given. We should be able to do something for them and make something out of them and 

                  do more than merely keep them. All my suggestions to this, and in fact to any matter, 

                  were turned down by the Superior as Utopian, impractical, and impossible. 



4.222      This pessimism about being able to do more for the boys caused Professor Keogh to conclude, 

           ‘it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  demoralisation  had  set  in  within  the  community  as  a 

           consequence of the inquiry’. It was, of course, at this time that two Brothers were removed from 

           their  posts  after  a  canonical  inquiry  into  alleged  sexual  abuse  of  children.  The  report  certainly 

           makes it clear that food, clothing and hygiene often fell below acceptable standards. The quality 

           of care varied according to the quality of the Resident Manager, and internal controls did not seem 

           to exist. 



           Department of Education – Medical Inspection Reports 



4.223      Dr McCabe also reported on medical matters affecting the School. Generally, her reports were 

           very positive. 



4.224      She noted in her report of November 1943 that there were five cases of scabies in the School 

           which required treatment. One boy required treatment for syphilis. 



4.225      The  next  medical  report  which  warrants  comment  is  from  the  early  1950s.  Dr  McCabe  made 

           reference to the inadequacy of the boys’ diet, and made suggestions for improvement to the newly 



           37 This is a pseudonym. 



           186                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 973-----------------------

           appointed Resident Manager, Br Domingo. She reiterated these concerns the following year to 

           his successor, Br Carlito, and also suggested that new cooking equipment should be purchased. 



4.226      In December 1954, Dr McCabe was asked to investigate an outbreak of head lice at the School, 

           already  referred to  above. Her  comments regarding  the nurse  had, up  to this  point, been  very 

           complimentary. In this report, she was critical of the inflexible approach taken by the nurse to only 

           attend to sick children, and suggested an increase in her salary to correspond with a widening of 

           her duties. She once again expressed concern at the children’s diet and the antiquated cooking 

           equipment. 



4.227      She  also  registered  her  unease  at  the  presence  of  two  boys  whose  parents  were  in  a  TB 

           sanatorium. The boys had tested negative for TB, but she felt that they posed a risk and should 

           not be in the School. They were also very delicate and unfit for industrial training. The Department 

           subsequently  wrote  to  the  School,  requesting  that  the  boys  be  transferred  to  a  more  suitable 

           institution. The boys underwent further x-rays, and it was revealed that one of the boys was in 

           fact suffering from TB. He was released on supervision certificate to a children’s hospital, and his 

           brother was permitted to stay until his father was in a position to take him home. 



4.228      The following year, the nurse was praised for having ‘much improved and taken a greater interest 

           in the school as a whole’. 



4.229      The  report  of  November  1956  is  in  the  same  vein,  and  Dr  McCabe  noted  improvement  in  the 

           general hygiene of the children who were now very well supervised. She emphasised, once again, 

           the necessity for each boy to have his own toothbrush and to use it regularly. 



4.230      The last two Medical Inspection Reports both focus on the inadequacy of the cooking facilities, 

                                                                                                                        37 

           which had repercussions for the quality of the boys’ diet. The Resident Manager, Br Santos,                    was 

           singled out for praise as being kind and attentive to the boys. 



           Aftercare 



4.231      The annual reports furnished by the School to the Department of Education stated that children 

           released    on   supervision    certificate  were   supervised     by  the  School    by  means     of  visits and 

           correspondence.  They  also  stated  that  former  pupils  returned  to  the  School  for  visits  and  also 

           corresponded      with   the  Brothers.    No   details  were    provided    to  the  Investigation    Committee 

           regarding aftercare provided to boys discharged from the School. 



           Closure of Greenmount 



4.232      The first indication that the Presentation Brothers were considering closing Greenmount was noted 

           in  Dr  McCabe’s  Inspection  Report  dated  November  1952.  She  stated  that  the  Manager  had 

           indicated to her that, once numbers fell below 150, the School would resign the certificate because 

           it would cease to be economically practicable. The following year, numbers did drop to just below 

           150, and, apart from a slight increase in 1954, numbers remained below 150. 



4.233      In March 1959, the Chief Inspector of Industrial Schools at the Department of Education wrote: 

                  Bro. Goyo38    of the General Council of the Presentation Brothers, Mount St. Joseph Cork 



                  called in to the office about six weeks ago and told me in strict confidence that his order 

                  was considering closing Greenmount Industrial School. He enquired what the procedure 

                  should be. I told him that under Section 48 of the Children's Act 1908 the Managers may 

                  on giving six months notice in writing to the Minister for Education resign the Certificate. 



           37 This is a pseudonym. 

           38 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      187 


----------------------- Page 974-----------------------

                  He was anxious to know whether the six months interval between the giving of the notice 

                  and the evacuating of the school would be insisted on and I informed him that we would 

                  do our best to arrange for the transfer of the boys in Greenmount to some other school 

                  or schools as quickly as possible. 

                  Bro. Goyo rang me on the 17th       Feb. and said his Provincial and he with the Res. Manager 



                  of Greenmount were anxious to meet me to discuss matters bearing on the closing of the 

                  Greenmount School. I met the three of them in the School on the 26th                Feb. I pointed out 



                  to them that before considering the transfer of Greenmount school boys elsewhere we 

                  should  contact  the  Res.  Manager  of  Upton  School  to  ascertain  how  many  boys  from 

                  Greenmount he would be prepared to accept. The great majority of the Greenmount Boys 

                  are from Cork City and County. We (the provincial and Res. Manager and I) arranged to 

                  meet [the] Res. Manager of Upton School and we told him in confidence that Greenmount 

                  school was to be closed and we asked him how many boys from that school he could 

                  accept on transfer into his school. [The Resident Manager of Upton] promised to consider 

                  the matter and let us know as soon as possible. He notified us on the 3rd              instant that his 



                  school could accommodate 105 of the Greenmount boys. I further discussed with the Res. 

                  Manager of Greenmount the distribution of the boys and asked him on the 11th instant to 

                  furnish lists of the proposed transfer. He has contacted the Resident Managers of Upton, 

                 Artane, Tralee & Glin Schools and has recommended the transfer of the boys as follows 

                  Upton 98, Artane 9, Tralee 4, Glin 3. 



                  The General Council of the Presentation Brothers is very anxious that Greenmount as an 

                  Industrial School be closed as from the 31st         March, 1959 and the Resident Manager of 



                  Upton is anxious to have a decision on the matter as early as possible in order to arrange 

                  for the appointment of two extra teachers. 



                  Schedules of the proposed transfers are attached for the Minister's signature. 



4.234      Written in manuscript at the end of the letter is the note, ‘Greenmount Arrangements will be made 

           for the transfer of the boys on 31/3/59’. The six months’ notice in writing required under the Act 

           was being waived. 



4.235      By contrast, the Department attempted to enforce the six-month rule on Newtownforbes when the 

           Sisters of Mercy withdrew in 1969. 



4.236      On 16th   February 1959, the Resident Manager, Br Ernesto,39  wrote to the Chief Inspector: 



                  Dear Sir. 



                  The General Council of the Presentation Brothers has decided to close Greenmount as 

                  an Industrial School. I, accordingly wish to know: 



                          (i)  If the boys at present in this school can be suitably accommodated in the other 

                               Industrial Schools of the country. 



                         (ii)  If so, when may we hope that the evacuation can be conveniently carried out. 



                  While I realize that the statutory period of notice for closing is six months, the General 

                  Council is anxious to effect the closing as quickly as possible. 



                  I hope to hear from you as early as possible, as we wish to arrange at an early date for 

                  the renovation of the building for other purposes. 



                  For various reasons, I should like to have this matter treated in strict confidence. 



           39 This is a pseudonym. 



           188                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 975-----------------------

4.237      There  is  no  written  explanation  of  what  was  meant  by  ‘the  renovation  of  the  building  for  other 

           purposes’, nor was an explanation given as to why there was a need for such haste. Again, the 

           Chief Inspector is exhorted to treat the matter in ‘strict confidence’. 



4.238      The Chief Inspector replied, asking for the particulars of the boys to be transferred and asked for 

           the following to be done: 



                   (1)   The local authorities liable under the Children Acts to be informed. 



                   (2)   The  five  boys  detained  under  the  Health  Act,  1953  to  be  transferred  to  Tralee  by 

                         arrangement with the local authorities. 



                   (3)   Boys committed but whose period of detention was soon to expire to be released on 

                        supervision certificates. 



4.239      He ended with the caution that no action was to be taken without the approval of the Minister for 

           Education. In this otherwise thorough and methodical letter, no mention was made about informing 

           the parents of the boys who were to be moved. 



4.240      On  12th  March,  the  Resident  Manager  duly  provided  the  data  needed.  The  schools  at  Upton, 



           Artane,  Glin  and  Tralee  had  been  contacted  and  had  agreed  to  the  transfer  of  boys  to  their 

           respective institutions. The letter ended: 



                 Regarding the notification of Transfer to be sent to the Local Authorities, can I presume 

                 that the transfers will be put into effect on 31st    March and mention that date to them? 



4.241      The local authorities were, in effect, to be presented with a fait accompli. 



4.242      On  23rd  March  1959,  the  Department  wrote  to  the  Resident  Manager  that  the  Minister  had 



           sanctioned the transfer of the boys under detention as follows: 



            Release – term expired                                     1 

            Release – supervision certificate                        12 

            Transferred to Upton                                     98 

            Transferred to Artane                                     9 

            Transferred to Tralee                                     4 

            Transferred to Glin                                       3 

            Total                                                   127 



4.243      With one small change (one extra boy was discharged and 97 went to Upton), the transfers took 

           place on the agreed date. On 31st       March, the Resident Manager wrote the following letter to the 



           Chief Inspector: 



                 I  wish  to  inform  you  that  all  the  boys  have  been  disposed  of  to-day  as  arranged  by 

                 previous   discussion    and   correspondence      with  the  exception   of  six  boys,  victims   of 

                 influenza, whom we have detained in the school until recovery and three boys who are in 

                 hospital. We will arrange for the transport of these boys to their different schools when 

                 they are fit to travel. 



                 I would like to take this opportunity of expressing sincere thanks on my own behalf and 

                 on behalf of the Superior General, for having treated this whole matter of disposing of the 

                 boys so expeditiously. 



4.244      The matter was not finished here, however. The decision to close the School was initially made 

           without consultation with the Bishop. The Superior General visited the bishop on 16th  January 1959 



           to inform him of the fact that the Brothers intended closing the School and opening a Juniorate for 

           aspiring Brothers. The Bishop sought expert opinion on canon law on the subject, and wrote the 

           following letter to the Superior General: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 189 


----------------------- Page 976-----------------------

                  Dear Brother Jose, 



                                        .        th 

                  I got your letter of Jan 29       and, in view of your having told me (a) that you had already 

                  made arrangements with the Department about closing down Greenmount as an Industrial 

                  School and (b) that my permission was not necessary for your doing this and using the 

                  building  as  an  extension  to  your  Juniorate,  I  took  expert  opinion  in  Canon  Law.  That 

                  opinion is that my permission is required by Canon 497. There is question of closing down 

                  an Industrial School and opening an additional Juniorate. Can. 497 allows only changes 

                  pertaining to the internal management, etc to be made without referring to the Ordinary, 

                  whereas     arrangements      about   your   Juniorate    may    be  regarded     as  pertaining    to  the 

                  internum    regimen,     the  change     from   or  concerning     the  Industrial   School    cannot    be 

                  regarded as an internal one. As well there is the possibility that it was precisely in order 

                  to have this school there that you got the foundation at Greenmount originally. 



                  In the circumstances, therefore, I have to inform you that Canon 497 has to be complied 

                  with  and  I  have  formally  to  register  a  protest  at  your  having  made  arrangements  with 

                  public authority to close down this schola or hospitium without first acquainting, much less 

                  having the permission of ecclesiastical authority; namely the Ordinarius Bishop of Cork. 



                  That I am quite agreeable to such change, when duly arranged, is another matter. 



4.245      The Bishop was correct in his surmise that ‘it was precisely in order to have this school there that 

           you  got the  foundation  at  Greenmount originally’.  There  was at  least  an  ethical difficulty  about 

           taking  property  given  at  a  peppercorn  rent  to  provide  a  home  for  boys  ‘untrained,  steeped  in 

            misery, and with no means of support’ and to use it for an entirely different purpose. The Superior 

            General replied as follows: 



                  In your letter to-day you state that you would like us to put before you the reasons for the 

                  proposed change. Those reasons are as follows:— 



                          1.  Over a period of years, the constant decline in numbers has made the working of 

                              the establishment uneconomic, and consequently difficult to cater adequately for 

                              the temporal needs of the boys. We believe that if the temporal needs of the boys 

                              are not sufficiently catered for, their spiritual and moral well-being will suffer, and 

                              the Institution will fail to achieve its purpose. 



                         2.   We are satisfied that the public good and the good of the boys will not suffer as a 

                              result   of  the   closing    of  the   school.    We    understand      that  there   is  ample 

                              accommodation  in  other  Industrial  Schools  in  Munster  for  all  the  boys  who  are 

                              now in Greenmount. Consequently we feel that the need for Greenmount as an 

                              Industrial School no longer exists. 



                         3.   Because  of  the  difficulty  of  providing  suitably  trained  Brothers  to  staff  such  an 

                              Institution – Greenmount being the only school of its kind which we have in Ireland. 



                         4.   If we cannot use Greenmount as an extra Juniorate, we must build now, and at 

                              short    notice,   an    extension     to  Douglas      Juniorate,    or   provide    alternative 

                              accommodation. 



                  These are the reasons, my Lord, which we believe justify us in applying to you now for 

                  the necessary permission to effect the proposed change. I am sorry that this has been 

                  the cause of so much worry and trouble to you. 



                  With dutiful respects [etc]. 



4.246      On 11th    February, the Bishop replied that, as the boys had suitable alternative accommodation, 



           and as the Presentation Brothers were going to give up their holding in Passage parish, he was 

           going to agree to the plan. 



            190                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 977-----------------------

4.247      The  fourth  reason  was  the  only  pressing  one.  The  other  three  had  been  problems  over  the 

           preceding years, and they did not need to be addressed with such urgency. 



4.248      An  unexpected  question        arose  soon  after  the     closure  of  the  School,  when      the  Minister  for 

           Education,     Mr   Jack   Lynch,    was   asked    if there   was   any   proposal    to  re-form    the  band    of 

           Greenmount in any other local institute in the Cork area. In the notes prepared for the Minister’s 

           reply, to be given on 9th  April 1959, the following statement was made: 



                  In arranging for the dispersal of the boys every care was taken to ensure that the transfers 

                  would cause the least possible inconvenience to the boys’ parents or guardians. 



4.249      However, the document went on to add: 



                  The boys’ parents/guardians were not advised of the intention to close Greenmount until 

                  the day the boys travelled to their new schools. This information was deliberately withheld 

                  for reasons of school discipline and lest it would create an unsettling effect in the minds 

                  of the boys. 



                  Thirty  two  boys  were  allowed  home  on  Easter  Sunday  and  had  they  known  of  the 

                  proposed arrangements it is quite likely many of them would not have returned to school. 



                  Should a supplementary question be asked, the Minister might say that: “It is considered 

                  that  earlier  notification  to  the  parents  might  result  in  unsettling  or  upsetting  the  boys 

                  concerned in advance of their transfer”. 



                  Of the 29 boys in the school from the Dublin area Artane were prepared to receive only 

                  those committed for non-indictable offences, i.e. a total of 9 boys. The remaining 20 boys 

                  would have been discontented had they known beforehand that they were being sent to 

                  Upton and not to Artane. 



4.250      The Dail debate for 9th      April records that Mr Stephen Barrett T.D. first asked the Minister about 

                   ´ 

           the band, and then asked if the Minister would ‘state the circumstances under which it became 

           necessary to close down Greenmount ... details of the average number of boys in the institute for 

           each of the three years prior to the close down, and the number on 31st                March, 1959; and details 



           of the manner in which the boys were dispersed upon the closing down and the manner in which 

           Cork City and County will be catered for in this respect in future’. 



4.251      The Minister gave his replies and indicated he had no choice in the matter of the closure. He said, 

           ‘The conductors of this institution desired to resign the Certificate under which it was recognised 

           as an Industrial School and I had no option but to accede to their request’. He did not state that 

           the closure could have been delayed legally for six months. 



4.252      Mr Barrett then asked: 



                  Is the Minister aware that these children were dispersed without any prior discussion with 

                  their  parents  and  that,  in  fact,  the  parents  were  not  aware  that  the  children  had  been 

                  removed from the industrial school to other industrial schools until after the dispersal had 

                  taken place? 



4.253      The Minister’s reply was: 



                  I understand that is the situation but that the conductors of the school did so for what they 

                  considered good and sufficient reason and that there was no intention whatever to ignore 

                  parental  rights  or  to  disregard  their  interests.  They  did  so  in  the  best  interests  of  the 

                  management and conduct of the school. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      191 


----------------------- Page 978-----------------------

4.254      Mr Barrett then asked: 



                 Is the Minister aware that, in fact, the interests of the parents were ignored and that the 

                 promoters of this industrial school knew that they were ignoring the rights of the parents 

                 and, without any prior discussion or notice to them, removed the children and does he 

                 approve of that? 



4.255      Mr J Lynch replied: 



                 I think it ought to be made clear that they acted strictly within their rights and within the 

                 terms of the Children Act, 1908, which governs the conduct of industrial schools. 



4.256      Mr Barrett pressed the matter further. He asked: 



                 Does  the  Minister  agree  that  it  is  a  very  bad  precedent  in  such  matters  and  would  he 

                 indicate that if any further industrial schools are being dispersed this precedent should 

                 not be followed? 



4.257      An Ceann Comhairle protested, ‘That seems to be a separate matter’, but Mr Lynch went on to 

           reply, ignoring his Department’s brief. He said, ‘It is very unlikely to arise again, I am sure’. This 

           assurance  from  the  Minister,  that  the  way  in  which  Greenmount  closed  was  a  precedent  that 

           would not be repeated, was as close as he came to expressing disapproval of the way the closure 

           was handled. 



           Conclusions 



4.258      •     The  secrecy  surrounding  the  closure  of  Greenmount  meant  that  the  rights  of  the 

                 parents, and the emotional needs of the boys, were both ignored. It was carried out in 

                 a way that suited ‘the best interests of the management and conduct of the school’ 

                 without any regard for the right of parents to know where their children were being 

                 taken,  or  concern  for  the  boys,  who  were  suddenly  transferred  without  any  time  to 

                 prepare themselves for the move. Parents were clearly upset, because they asked their 

                                                       ´ 

                 TD to raise the matter in the Dail. 



           •    The documents concerning the closure show no compassion or concern for the boys’ 

                 emotions. The boys were kept in ignorance of the fact they were going to be moved 

                 from an institution they had lived in for months and, in many cases, years. To many, 

                 it was their home. Only at the last moment were they told where they were going to be 

                 taken. To many, this news must have been a shock causing much distress. 



           On the changing nature of the boys in Greenmount 



4.259      The letter to the Bishop of Cork from the Superior General had cited ‘the difficulty of providing 

           suitably trained Brothers to staff such an Institution’ as one of the four reasons for closing. During 

           Phase III, Br Minehane expanded on this problem. He explained that, in the 1950s,  ‘Boys were 

           assigned to Greenmount from the Dublin area and that created further problems’. The problems 

           were   related  to  discipline.  The  Dublin   boys  were    more    challenging  of   authority.  They  were 

           hardened and street-wise. Br Minehane said, ‘we were dealing with a new and more difficult client, 

           and ... training and expertise was required’. While the numbers of Brothers dealing with the pupils 

           in Greenmount was about the same all the time, the management and care of the new kind of 

           boy required an expertise and training that was not available to the Presentation Brothers. 



4.260      Professor Keogh concluded his report for the Presentation Brothers as follows: 



                 This  was  the  central  point  made  in  the  report  of  the  1934–6  commission  of  inquiry  – 

                 children  in  industrial  schools  were  not  ‘children  apart’;  however,  they  were  still  being 



           192                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 979-----------------------

                criminalised in the public mind without any justification ... Industrial school children ought, 

                accordingly, to have been treated and cherished as children and as citizens of the Irish 

                state with rights under the constitution. But it seems that in Ireland in the 1930s, 40s and 

                50s the ‘old idea’ of treating such children as ‘a class apart’ had not yet ceased to be part 

                of the mind-set of a society that was all-too-willing to seek an answer for complex social 

                problems  behind  the  closed  doors  of  state-funded  under-resourced  institutions.  It  was 

                tidier that way. 



          General conclusions 



4.261      1.   A harsh regime with excessive corporal punishment was implemented by one Resident 

                Manager, who continued to serve as a senior Brother after his period of office, and 

               would accordingly have influenced the policy of the School, but there was evidence 

                of  a  softening  of  the  regime  in  subsequent  years.  No  formal  record  was  kept,  as 

                required by the regulations. 



           2.  The Congregation and the Department of Education failed to supervise properly and 

               were insufficiently objective. They placed too much reliance on the Resident Manager 

               for  information    on   how   the  boys   were   cared   for  and   did  not  have   independent 

                investigation. Evidence of mistreatment was ignored. 



           3.   The 1955 investigations into sexual abuse revealed grave failures on the part of the 

                Congregation and the Diocese, and let two persons who were believed to be guilty of 

               sexual abuse to continue careers dealing with children. 



           4.  The interests of the Congregation were prioritised in the manner in which Greenmount 

               was closed, and the lack of information to the parents and the boys themselves, by 

                both the Congregation and the Department of Education, showed an indifference to 

               the people most affected by the closure. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            193 


----------------------- Page 980-----------------------

 194                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 981-----------------------

           Chapter 5 



           Our Lady of Good Counsel, Lota, 

           Glanmire, County Cork (‘Lota’), 

           1939–1999 



           Introduction 



5.01       Our  Lady  of  Good  Counsel,  Lota  was  founded  in  1938  as  a  school  catering  for  children  with 

           learning  disabilities.  It  continues  to  be  managed  by  the  Brothers  of  Charity.  Among  its  other 

           services,  the  Congregation     also   operates   a  similar  facility located   at Holy   Family   School 

           Woodlands, Renmore, County Galway. 



5.02       There  have  been  six  separate  investigations  by  An  Garda  Siochana  into  allegations  of  sexual 

                                                                                 ´    ´ 

           abuse of the residents by members of staff of Lota. 



5.03       Two Brothers of the Congregation were convicted of crimes of sexual abuse of children resident 

           in Lota in the period 1952 to 1984. 



5.04       In  2002,  evidence  was  taken  from  three  complainant  witnesses and  three  respondents,  two  of 

           whom had been convicted of sexual abuse offences and a third Brother of Charity respondent 

           who admitted a single incident of sexual abuse while working in Lota. This chapter is based on 

           evidence from those hearings and an analysis of discovered documents. 



           History 



5.05       The Congregation of the Brothers of Charity was founded in Ghent, Belgium on 28th                December 



           1807 by Canon Joseph Peter Triest, with the purpose of taking care of elderly men at the Byloke 

           Hospital  in  that  city.  After  three  years  of  setbacks,  the  Novitiate  started  in  1810,  and  the  first 

           Brothers of Charity took their vows on 26th      November 1811. Within a decade, Canon Triest and 



           his Brothers had set up several charitable services that they would develop worldwide. The special 

           aim of this Congregation was the sanctification of its members in the religious state by the exercise 

           of works of charity, which, in the spirit of its founder, embraced every phase of moral and physical 

           suffering  and  want.  They  tended the  sick,  sheltered  the  poor,  cared  for  the aged,  provided  for 

           those with learning disability, and raised orphan children. They opened their first service in Ireland 

           in 1883 to provide for mental health needs. 



5.06       In the beginning of 1938, the Chief Inspector of Mental Hospitals announced his retirement, and 

           before  he  left  office  he  expressed  his  wish  that  the  Brothers  of  Charity  would  open  a  second 

           centre  in  Ireland  for  the  treatment  of  educationally  disabled  juveniles  with  special  educational 

           needs.  The  Central  Administration  of  the  Brothers  of  Charity,  who  were  already  operating  a 

           psychiatric  hospital  in  Belmont    Park,  Waterford,   were   initially reluctant  to become     involved 

           because they were already overburdened with debt through subsidising a number of their houses 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               195 


----------------------- Page 982-----------------------

           in Ireland and the UK. Pressure was brought to bear on the authorities, who eventually agreed to 

          give permission to start the work, provided the cost was borne by the Province in Ireland. 



5.07       It was decided to base the centre in the diocese of Cork, and, after initial reluctance, the Bishop 

          of Cork agreed to allow the Brothers to enter the Diocese. Suitable premises in Glanmire were 

           identified, and the Brothers formally took possession of the buildings on 19th        November 1938. It 



          was  officially  opened  in  December  1938  and  the  first  Superior  was  installed.  He  named  the 

          foundation ‘House of Our Lady of Good Counsel’. The houses needed a considerable amount of 

          work, and it was not until March 1939 that the Minister for Local Government and Public Health 

          approved the Institution. The first patient was admitted on 11th       April 1939 and, by the end of the 



          year, they had 18 patients in residence. 



5.08      The services of the Congregation of the Brothers of Charity for people with learning disability and 

          their  families  have  grown  steadily  over  the  years,  and  today  the  Congregation  is  the  largest 

           provider of services for people with learning disability in Ireland. 



5.09      The motto of the Brothers of Charity is ‘Deus caritas est’, God is Love. Their mission is ‘caring for 

           people whose human dignity is threatened through disability, age, poverty etc’. 



           The vows taken by the Brothers 



5.10      When a Brother of Charity is professed, he takes the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 



5.11       In a document published in 1948 entitled ‘Practices and Customs’, the Congregation set out the 

          aims, objects and works of the Congregation. In the section ‘Education of Youth’, it set out the 

          Constitution, and then detailed what was expected of the Brothers involved in the education of 

          children. It is clear that the danger of Brothers becoming inappropriately involved with their pupils 

          was present in the minds of the authorities: 



                 38.    Though we must love our pupils we must not become too attached to them. We must 

                        never let our affection degenerate into particular friendship for one or more children; 

                        never must we allow ourselves to be led into dangerous intimacies. The moment such 

                        preferences becomes apparent to the other children they will at once feel slighted and 

                        neglected. It is certainly permissible to give praise where praise is due, but external 

                        marks of tenderness are  unbecoming in a religious. He ought  always to remember 

                        the  gravity  and  modesty  which befit  his  state  and  never  allow  a  child to  touch  him 

                        familiarly or caress him. 



5.12       In 1957, the 1922 Constitution of the Brothers of Charity was revised, following the agreement of 

          the General Chapter. Chapter 20 deals with the vow of chastity: 



                215.   By their vow of chastity the Brothers forego marriage and every satisfaction contrary 

                       to the virtue of chastity. 



                216.   With the help of God’s grace, they shall be most careful in preserving unsullied the 

                       beautiful virtue of chastity. 



                217.   To that end, far from admitting in their conduct anything likely to bring suspicion upon 

                       themselves in this matter, they shall carefully guard against harbouring in their minds 

                       any thoughts contrary to this eminent virtue. 



                218.   They   shall  observe   sobriety   in eating   and   drinking,  for intemperance     leads   to 

                       sensuality. 



                219.   Everywhere,  but  principally  in  going  through  the  streets,  they  must  prudently  guard 

                       their eyes, knowing that it is often through these windows, that the enemy carries death 

                       into the soul. 



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                 220.    Let them earnestly study to avoid in their manner all forwardness and levity, observing 

                         in  their  whole  conduct  the  rules  of  christian  modesty,  since,  according  to  the  holy 

                         Fathers, modesty is the guardian of purity. 



                 221.    Therefore,    all  familiarity,  all  particular   friendship   between     Brothers,    novices    or 

                         postulants, is strictly forbidden. For the same reason, they must never jostle, wrestle, 

                         indulge  in  horse-play  or  in  any  action  whatsoever  likely  to  take  away  or  lessen  the 

                         mutual respect  due to each  other, for the  proverb says: If  you would be  respected, 

                         begin by respecting yourself. 



                 222.    A great circumspection and discretion should be observed in their conversation, be it 

                         at recreation or elsewhere, to avoid anything that might cause disedification. 



                 223.    This circumspection, indispensable among the Brothers, is a thousand times more so 

                         when they are with strangers or with persons confided to their care, such as old men, 

                         sick and insane persons, and principally children. He who should be unfaithful to this 

                         regulation and not fear to be the subject of scandal, is unworthy of the religious garb. 



                 224.    For  this  reason,  it  is  strictly  forbidden  to  play  with  a  child  in  too  free  or  familiar  a 

                         manner, to be alone with a single child in a lonely place or in a room with closed doors, 

                         even with the view of giving him instruction, reprimand, punishment etc. 



                 225.    The Brothers, inspired by a wholesome fear, will ever be on their guard against the 

                         attractiveness of children, their cajolery and flattery, being fully persuaded that in this 

                         matter, the best children are the most dangerous. 



                 226.    They shall very carefully avoid giving the impression of having among their pupils what 

                         are called pets or spoiled children. 



                 227.    The   Brothers    are  strictly forbidden    to  inflict corporal   punishment     on   any   of  their 

                         subordinates,     whether    children   or  others,   without   the  express    permission     of  the 

                         Superior 



                 228.    As   regards   the   bodily  care   or  medical    treatment    which   they   may    be  obliged    to 

                         administer to children or other persons under their care, the Brothers shall do nothing 

                         before consulting their Superior, who will judge whether such attentions or treatment 

                         had not better be entrusted to the physician or surgeon. 



5.13       In  the   material   discovered     to the   Investigation    Committee     are   documents      entitled  ‘Regular 

           Visitation’ in the houses of St Joseph’s Province. The impression is given that an annual visitation 

           was  carried  out  in  Lota.  However,  the  paucity  of  records  has  made  it  impossible  to  establish 

           whether  in  fact  such  visitations  occurred  annually.  There  are  very  few  documents  relating  to 

           management of the School and the living conditions within it. What records are available focus on 

           matters  of  finance,  building  development  and  the  like.  A  fuller  discussion  of  these  Visitation 

           Reports is given below. 



            The Lota campus 



5.14       In the early years, there was a mixture of children and adults residing in Lota and, although there 

           was  a  school,  it  was  not  officially  recognised  by  the  Department  of  Education.  Some  qualified 

           teachers were recruited in the early 1950s in order to obtain recognition from the Department, and 

           this was granted in 1955. 



5.15       Between 1951 and 1953, there was a rapid expansion in numbers, and new buildings, considered 

           to  be  innovative  at  that  time,  were  constructed.  They  comprised  three  large,  detached,  single- 

           storey buildings known as pavilions. They were quite a distance apart and separate from the main 

           building. They each housed approximately 60 boys. 



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 5.16      The boys slept in dormitories, and there were two rooms at each end where the Brothers slept. 

           Although there was accommodation for four Brothers in the pavilion known as Sancta Maria, the 

           evidence suggested that there were times when not all of the four rooms were occupied. 



 5.17      The   school   classrooms     were    scattered   between     the  main   building,   reconstructed    farmyard 

           buildings and portakabins. 



 5.18      The children were allocated to these buildings by both age and degree of learning disability. One 

           pavilion  was  used  for  boys  with  more  severe  disability.  The  other  two  pavilions  were  used  for 

           children between approximately 10 and 14, and 14 to 18 years of age, with mild learning disability. 

           Br Dieter1  explained the system as it operated in the late 1950s: 



                 I should give you the names of the three pavilions. One was Sancta Maria for eleven- 

                 year-olds plus who were mildly handicapped, and unfortunately among those there were 

                 some normal boys, as well, as discovered as time went on. Then in St Patrick’s, the older 

                 age  group  of  those  boys,  14  to  16-year-olds,  were  catered  for,  and  then  the  younger 

                 children who were coming in at that time, as well, they were four-year-olds. The Blessed 

                 Martin pavilion, which was designated for the very severely handicapped children, it was 

                 decided then to divide that up into two sections, and one section was used for the mildly 

                 handicapped boys that were coming in, they were four-year-olds plus. 



 5.19      There were two dormitories at either end of these pavilions, each with 30 beds. The residential 

           part of the building was completely separate from the classrooms. 



 5.20      The boys went to school in the original main building, where the younger children in Lota also 

           resided. 



 5.21      After  the  Kennedy  Report  recommended  that  large  institutions  should  be  split  up  into  group 

           homes,  these large  pavilions  became obsolete,  but  it  was not  until  1985 that  the  first of  these 

           pavilions was demolished, and 30 boys were moved into three bungalows, housing 10 boys in 

           each. By 1988, all the boys were housed in bungalows in a more family-style setting. 



 5.22      The Investigation Committee received the following photograph and plan of Lota: 



           Source: Brothers of Charity 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 985-----------------------

          Source: Brothers of Charity 



           The children in Lota 



 5.23      In  theory,  all  the  children  in  Lota  had  special  educational  needs.  Unlike  the  industrial  school 

          system, which segregated the children according to their ages, with separate classes provided for 

          younger children, the age profile of children in Lota was wide ranging and was based on different 

          criteria. They were segregated according to their level of learning disability. 



 5.24     Children could be sent to the School at a very early age, some from the age of two years. A high 

          percentage of the complainants were orphans who had been transferred from other institutions. 



 5.25      From 1956 to the early 1970s, there was an average of 240 boys in the School and they were 

          cared for by 16 Brothers, who worked an 18-hour day. Some of the older residents helped with 

          the  younger  ones,  but  this  practice  became  less  common  as  work  became  available  for  them 

          outside the Institution. 



 5.26      During the course of his evidence, Br Dieter stated that some boys had been sent to Lota, even 

          though they did not have special needs. He said: 



                 One was the Sancta Maria for eleven year old boys who were mildly handicapped, and 

                unfortunately among those there were some normal boys, as well, as discovered as time 

                 went on. 



 5.27     The Investigation Committee asked the Brothers of Charity to clarify Br Dieter’s statement, and 

          further requested if the Brothers of Charity had assessed the boys to ascertain this fact. 



 5.28     The legal representatives on behalf of the Brothers of Charity wrote the following: 



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                 Most of the children at Lota suffered from a learning disability. Our client believes that 

                 Brother Dieter’s reference to some boys being normal was intended as a reference to the 

                 fact  that  a  small  number  of  the  boys  at  Lota  came  from  different  circumstances.  For 

                 example, whilst our client believes that it could not occur now, some boys were sent to 

                 Lota  because  there  was  no  other  institution  better  –  suited  to  their  needs  available  to 

                 them. Other boys were there because they were born  outside of marriage, some boys 

                 were orphans, while others were placed for other social reasons – such as their family 

                 not being able to cope. 



5.29       It was a school designed to cater for boys with mild to severe learning disability, yet boys without 

           a learning disability were sent there and kept in the School for years. Even when it became known 

           to staff in the School that these boys did not have a learning problem, no provision was made for 

           them to be educated at a level appropriate to their needs. Not surprisingly, they resented their 

           placement and retention in Lota, and their lives were blighted by the inadequate education they 

           received. 



5.30       One witness told the Investigation Committee that he believed he was sent to Lota for no other 

           reason than that he had been truanting from school. He stated 



                 As I say, I believe I am quite intelligent. I can pick up things, 99% of things. If I learn about 

                 something I will know about it forever. I am very interested in science for instance. I have 

                 done a lot of study into science, into space travel and stuff like that. I am very interested 

                 in a lot of that. I have done a lot of study into that and I am interested in that but I do not 

                 think I had the education good enough to have been able to follow it up, which I would 

                 have loved to do. 



5.31       When asked if he felt that he was in any way educationally handicapped, he replied  ‘No’. He was 

           asked if he felt he was inappropriately placed in Lota, and he replied: 



                 Maybe it was my own imagination but I felt that I was not mentally handicapped. That if I 

                 was  given  an  opportunity,  I  could  learn  properly  ...  I  was  able  to  pick  things  up  a  lot 

                 quicker. When something was told to me I could understand it much easier than some 

                 people you know. I do not know why I could do it but that is the way it was with me. 



           Complaints regarding Lota 



5.32       There were 12 complainants in respect of Lota. Three of these complainants were heard by the 

           Commission in 2002. 



           The duty of care 



5.33       A high duty of care is owed to children who are less able to look after themselves, by reason of 

           physical or mental incapacity. The children in Lota fell into this vulnerable category. 



5.34       Children  with  learning  disabilities  rely  heavily  on  adults  to  help  them  cope  with  everyday  life. 

           Whether raised at home or in institutions, they are more vulnerable because they are less exposed 

           to  the  normal  risks  of life,  and  their  lack  of  experience  can  leave them  unable  to  assess  risks 

           in general. 



5.35       In  addition,  children  wiith  learning  disabilities  may  be  less  aware  of  social  rules  that  govern 

           everyday behaviour. They can be led into situations posing dangers that would have been avoided 

           by  children  who  had  had  the  opportunity  and  ability  to  learn  how  to  assess  risks  realistically. 

           Learning disabled children, particularly those raised in institutions, often fail to see any risk at all. 

           They  may  be  unaware  of  what  is  socially  and  morally  unacceptable,  and  as  a  result  they  are 

           vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. 



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5.36       If children with a learning disability are harmed or abused, their disability and inexperience leaves 

           them even more uncertain than other children as to what to do about it. If the person who is there 

           to protect them is also the person perpetrating the abuse, then their confusion is complete. 



5.37       Bearing these issues in mind, the Investigation Committee had to do more than assess whether 

           abuse    occurred     in  Lota.  It  had   to  assess    whether     the  management        structures   and    care 

           arrangements were such that they could provide the additional level of care owed to the vulnerable 

           population entrusted to the Brothers of Charity. 



            The dearth of documentary evidence 



           The supervisory bodies 



5.38       Two Government Departments, The Department of Health and the Department of Education, were 

           responsible for supervising services in Lota. The Department of Education inspected the education 

           provided in Lota. They officially recognised the National School in Lota in 1955. 



5.39       The Department of Health also inspected the premises, but only in relation to direct funding of 

           capital development projects. The Investigation Committee asked the Department of Health about 

           their inspection regime for institutions for persons with intellectual disabilities between the period 

            1939 and 1990, and they replied: 



                                                                                              2         3 

                  From enquiries made both within the Department and the H.S.E                  (S.H.B . area as Lota is 

                  based there) this division is not aware of any inspections having being carried out by the 

                  Department      or  then   Health   Board    staff  on   institutions  for  persons    with   intellectual 

                  difficulties between the period 1939 and 1990. 



5.40       The Department was also asked specifically if it had carried out any inspections in Our Lady of 

           Good Counsel, Lota during the period 1939 to 1990. The Department replied: 



                  From enquiries made both within the Department and the H.S.E (S.H.B. area) this division 

                  is not aware of any inspections having being carried out by Department in Our Lady of 

                  Good Counsel during this period. 



5.41       The  Department  of  Health  stated  that  the  ‘only  inspections  carried  out  and  on  behalf  of  The 

           Department of Health and Children during the period 1939 to 1990 were in respect of children in 

           Care in Foster Homes’. 



5.42       Lota  did  not  come  within  the  scope  of  the  Inspector  for  Reformatories  and  Industrial  Schools 

           either. Dr Anna McCabe, who inspected these schools, did not visit Lota, and no Department of 

           Education  inspection  of  the  residential  facilities  took  place  either.  The  industrial  schools  were 

           inspected and the Medical Inspector’s reports left contemporary evidence about diet, and living 

           conditions. No such documentation exists for Lota. 



5.43       Neither  Government  Department  saw  itself  as  responsible  for  overseeing  the  conditions  and 

           quality of care in the School. The witnesses who appeared before the Committee said very little 

           about the diet and clothing of the residents, as their chief concern was to relate what had been 

           done to them. 



5.44       With  no  external  supervision,  the  management  of  the  Brothers  of  Charity  alone  assessed  the 

           quality of the care they provided and the suitability of the staff entrusted with the care of children 

           with learning disability. 



           2 Health Service Executive. 

           3 Southern Health Board. 



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           Visitation Reports 



5.45       The Investigation Committee received from the Brothers of Charity a limited number of Visitation 

           Reports. They were written by Brothers delegated by the Congregation to conduct Visitations of 

           the School. 



5.46       The Brothers of Charity conducted two kinds of Visitation. One was a general inspection of St. 

           Joseph’s  Province,  with  the  Visitor  reporting  on  every  school within  it.  The  second  kind  was  a 

           specific Visitation of Lota, which usually lasted a number of days. It reviewed how the School was 

           being run and the extent to which the Congregation’s Rules were being observed. 



5.47       The  Visitation  Reports  reveal  certain  preoccupations.  The  first  concern  was  ensuring  that  the 

           Rules of the Brothers of Charity were being observed by the Community. For example, the 1955 

           Report noted: 



                 There are no serious abuses to chronicle, but in closing the Visitation I drew attention of 

                 the Brothers to the following points: 1) Morning Rising and spiritual exercises in general; 

                 2) Fraternal Charity; 3) Spirit of Poverty; 4) Care of the Patients. I also urged them to pray 

                 earnestly for good vocations and for the beatification for our holy Founder. 



5.48       The  Visitation  Report  of  1961  made  various  observations  regarding  the  School.  The  Visitor 

           remarked that, in relation to chastity, ‘There appears to be no cause for complaint; the Brothers 

           are attentive and careful in their dealings with the children and circumspect when they come in 

           contact with outsiders’. He also noted that ‘SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. These are well and regularly 

           attended. There is a weakness at the midday exercises when a number of Brothers come late’. 

           He was also critical of the way the Brothers said their prayers. He wrote, ‘In respect of the Office, 

           it is said somewhat on the fast side and too loudly – the superior is one of the worst offenders’. 



5.49       The second preoccupation was the School finances. The Visitor in 1961 reviewed the financial 

           situation of the School and found it in a healthy state and contributing its quota to the Province. 



           At the conclusion of his Visitation, the Visitor wrote: 



                   1.   As religious, we must give to God at least what we vowed – the generous soul seeks 

                       ways and means of giving more. Be generous with God. 



                   2.  The  morning  rising  needs  attention  –  it  is  the  first  sacrifice  of  the  day,  Generosity 

                       towards God. 



                   3.  It is unbecoming and irreverent for Brothers to constantly come late to H. Mass. 



                   4.  Pray daily for one another, the works of your house, the Province, the Congregation – 

                       especially for vocations. 



5.50       This Visitor’s report does not indicate that at any stage he spoke to any of the resident boys in 

           the School, or to any Brothers in relation to the boys in the School. His priority was to observe 

           the religious life of the community. 



5.51       The Report of the Regular Visitation in 1975 is a typical example. It was a very brief, one-page 

           report and listed each of the Brothers present in the Community, noting the position the Brother 

           held in the School and his religious qualities, as well as an assessment of his contentment with 

           religious life. The Visitor makes no reference to the boys in his report. 



5.52       In brief, there is no contemporary comment on the condition of the boys and the premises. Even 

           if everything was satisfactory, some comment to that effect should have been made. The existing 

           records do not tell us whether all the conditions that were needed to ensure that a quality service 



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           was  being  provided  to  the  children  in  the  Institution  were  in  fact  present.  Indeed,  there  is  no 

           evidence that such matters were ever the concern of the Visitor. 



           Physical abuse 



5.53       For the most part, it would seem that the children in Lota did not need to be controlled by a regime 

           of frequent corporal punishment. From the limited evidence available to the Committee it would 

           appear that they were seldom, if ever, challenging or confrontational. 



5.54       One witness, Frank,4  told the Committee: 



                  The only form of punishment I did receive during these years was being slapped with a 

                 ruler during school hours. This type of punishment was normal practice ... 



5.55       However, Br John O’Shea, who is the Regional Leader of the Brothers of Charity in Ireland and 

           Britain, talked of the ‘authoritarian atmosphere’ prevalent in schools at the time, and went on to 

           explain what he meant. He said: 



                 In a general sense, and I will go back to my own school days or whatever, that there was 

                 a very different perception of people in authority. I suppose we had all kinds of sayings 

                 like "children were to be seen and not heard", and the sense of maybe rights of children 

                  would in some way not be seen as being equal to the rights of adults. Maybe that is not 

                 correct, but in a general sense that children didn't have the same standing. 



5.56       One respondent witness, Br Guthrie,5  who said he was known as a strict teacher, said that he did 



           not  need  corporal  punishment.  He  regretted  the  only  time  he  did  strike  a  boy.  He  told  the 

           Committee: 



                 during the 32 years I was there I struck one boy on the face with my open hand, once, 

                 and I have always regretted it. That was in 1983. I remember that. I felt like falling on my 

                 back when I had done it. I was cross about some remark he had made or something, and 

                 there were no beatings. I had no weapon for beating like has been described, whips or 

                 sticks or rulers or anything like that. 



5.57       His  size  and  his  formal  appearance  in  his  cassock  were  enough  to  instil  fear  and  obedience. 

           He explained: 



                 I presume that, first of all, as you say, it was the size and then my position in regard to 

                 them. They had to come and go and stand up and sit down and everything like that when 

                 I told them. 



5.58       He  had  no  difficulty  getting  the  children  to  respond  to  his  every  command.  Because  of  their 

           vulnerability,  and  their  dependence  on  adults  to  help  them  cope  with  everyday  life,  they  were 

           powerless to resist authority. 



5.59       In addition, many of these boys, because of their disability, were fragile and easily frightened. One 

           witness, Graham,6  described the fear he felt at just the threat of violence: 



                 Br Helmut7    he had a stick on the other side of him and he picked up the stick and he 



                 shaked  it  at  me,  so  I  sensed  there  was  physical  abuse  and  I  was  completely  –  I  was 

                 dumbfounded because these guys had the upper hand ... they had the same aim and the 

                 same approach towards me in that their aim was to frighten you, terrify you, get you to 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 

           6 This is a pseudonym. 

           7 This is a pseudonym. 



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                 be submissive to them, let them do what they want with you, which I wasn't able to escape 

                 from their hands. 



5.60       He  also  recounted  a  punishment  he  received  because  a  Brother  believed  he  had  attacked  a 

           female teacher. In fact, he had become curious about a bun upon her head. He had never seen 

           anyone with her hair tied back in a bun and had approached her to explore the nature of the object. 

           When contact was made, the Brother maintained he was attacking the teacher, and subjected him 

           to a cold shower  ‘for a whole half hour’. He went on: 



                 I was in the shower for between 20 minutes and a half an hour and by the time he asked 

                 me to get out of it I was freezing cold. He asked me to get up to bed, up to my bed and I 

                 got up to my bed and I was there for the rest of the day and while I was up in bed I was 

                 freezing. I was very very cold and I was not really in any humour for anything or even 

                 food and I think the same Brother came up and asked did I want anything and I said, no. 

                 I just waited until the next morning to get some food in me while I was a good bit of the 

                 day without food. 



5.61       The evidence heard in respect of this Institution focused mainly on sexual abuse, and Br O’Shea 

           was not questioned in detail about the Congregation’s policy with regard to corporal punishment. 

           It is clear from his evidence that the authoritarian atmosphere in Lota was sufficient to prevent 

           children from speaking up about sexual abuse perpetrated by staff. It would also appear from Br 

           O’Shea’s    evidence,    and   from   the  evidence    of  witnesses,    that corporal    punishment     was   an 

           accepted method of ensuring obedience and control. It would not be credible for a Brother to carry 

           a stick about with him if he never used it. 



5.62       The Committee did not hear evidence of excessive corporal punishment, except what is outlined 

           above, and there are no records of allegations or investigations into physical abuse of children 

           in Lota. 



           Sexual abuse 



5.63       The three witnesses gave evidence about the sexual abuse they alleged occurred while they were 

           in Lota. 



5.64       Conall8  entered Lota at the age of about eight, in the late 1950s. He told the Committee he was 



           sexually abused by two different Brothers. One Brother abused him when he was younger and, 

           when he stopped, the other Brother seemed to take over. 



5.65       When he first arrived in Lota, he was pleased to have been removed from his National School, 

           where the fact that he wrote with his left hand had led to his being frequently punished and made 

           to stand against a wall for hours. He began playing truant and was sent to Lota. He said,  ‘I think 

           I  felt  relief  maybe  at  the  beginning,  maybe  somebody  was  taking  care  of  me  at  long  last’.  He 

           recalled  many  good  times,  such  as  the  cycling  trips  organised  by  Br  Guthrie,  and  the  football 

           and gymnastics. 



5.66       Br Guthrie, the first Brother to sexually abuse him, was, he said,  ‘nice to me at the beginning’. 

           Then, he said,  ‘It changed one day ... I cannot remember dates or anything so you will have to 

           forgive me there’. He could not recall the first time, but incidents began to follow a predictable 

           pattern. He described the scene: 



                  There was a room between – there was a place where you could wash yourself, shave, 

                 wash basins and there was a room – there was actually doors and a kind of a little small 

                 corridor between the two and he took me in there. 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 



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5.67       The activity that took place was mutual masturbation. 



5.68       This  activity  then  took  place  regularly  over  the  next  three  years  or  so  in  various  parts  of  the 

           premises where there were secluded nooks. He said that Br Guthrie never tried to do more than 

           these acts of masturbation. 



5.69       When this evidence was put to him, Br Guthrie agreed that the witness had described the types 

           of activity he had perpetrated over his 32 years in Lota. It was always, he said,  ‘To do with the 

           hands’.  He  had  various  hiding  places  from  which  there  was  always  an  alternative  means  of 

           escape. ‘There had to be a hiding place’, he said, ‘the danger of discovery was ever present’. He 

           explained,  ‘you cannot stay too long in the one place. Somebody could come in or pass by or 

           open the door or whatever'. 



5.70       His hiding places were chosen with every eventuality entering into his calculation. He would not 

           choose the cellar, he said, because: 



                  there  was  no  way  out  except  the  way  you  went  in.  I  think  finding  a  suitable  place  is 

                  finding a way out rather than the way you came in, in case somebody comes along. The 

                  secretiveness was part of my operation, that we mustn't be seen or found out or caught 

                  or whatever the word is. I wouldn't pick out a dead end. 



5.71       He also admitted that, in the dormitory he was in charge of, he would visit ‘beds without removing 

           the child from the bed, that was at night time’. 



5.72       He added, ‘I cannot deny that I did these things to boys’. 



5.73       He also spoke about the kind of boy who attracted him. He preferred boys aged ‘11 to 13 or 14’. 

           He was asked if older children attracted him, and he replied: 



                  I do not know. Sometimes it could go on for years, you know occasional and now and 

                  again there was a sixteen year old but I probably done something to him 2 or 3 years 

                  previously. I would not pick out a 16 year old or a 17 year old, not knowing whether they 

                  would accept my advances or what. It never occurred to me. I would say my preferred 

                  range was 11 to 13 or 14 and it would also have been those that were fairly bright in their 

                  eyes and their speech and that kind of thing. 



5.74       Conall then said that, towards the end of the three years, there was a brief period when both Br 

           Guthrie and Br Dieter were abusing him. He said, ‘At night time I used to be taken into Br Dieter’s 

           room and sometimes during the day I would be with Br Guthrie as well’. 



5.75       He described the first night that Br Dieter sexually abused him: 



                  the dormitory I was in was Br Dieter’s dormitory, room. There was some rooms – There 

                  was two dormitories upstairs and there was one I know that did not have a room onto it. 

                  That was in the main house now. My bed, there was actually three rows of beds in this 

                  dormitory. I remember the first night he came to my bed. As I say, I had been sexually 

                  abused by Br Guthrie but I thought maybe the same thing was going to happen here but 

                  it was much different altogether. I had oral sex ... 



5.76       He then went into more detail: 



                  I was taken from my bedroom to his room and we were more or less naked ... we did not 

                  wear pyjamas. We just wore ... Night shirt ... My shirt was off ... it was taken off me ... it 

                  was  more  or  less  oral  sex  that  night  ...  It  was  not  just  quick  bang  and  all  it  is  over.  It 

                  seemed to last a long time. There was a lot of foreplay, if I put it that way, before it got to 

                  that point. 



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5.77       After that night, the sexual abuse became regular until Br Dieter left Lota. 



5.78       When asked what he had to say about the allegations made by this witness, Br Dieter replied: 



                  I pleaded guilty except that I have to honestly say that I do not remember Conall and it 

                  was because Conall was so insistent that I did abuse him, I then pleaded guilty because 

                  I felt, well then, I must have done since Conall was so consistent with his accusations. 



5.79       The consistency he mentioned was examined in detail during the hearing. The statement made 

                                  ´ 

           to the Garda Siochana was read out and tested for discrepancies: 

                             ´ 



                  I remember the first night Br Dieter came to me. I can take you back to the bed I slept in. 

                  I was asleep in bed, he woke me and took me into his room which was a nice distance 

                  away.  He  took  me  into  the  bedroom,  locked  the  door  and  stripped  me  naked.  I  was 

                  completely naked. He then took all his clothes off. I was now terrified ... 



5.80       The  Garda  statement  went  on  to  explicitly  describe  acts  of  gross  sexual  assault  on  the  boy. 

           It concluded: 



                  He washed me and put me back into bed and told me not to say anything. The warning 

                  was stronger than that but I can't remember the exact words. This abuse continued on 

                  for a number of years and it was always the exact same. He would come to my bed, bring 

                  me to his room and play with me like a doll for 2 or 3 hours. 



5.81       The witness underwent rigorous cross-examination but held firm. He said,  ‘What I have said is 

           what I have said. I cannot expand on it or detract from it in any way’. 



5.82       A second witness, Graham, also described the sexual abuse perpetrated on him by Br Dieter. He 

           described the first time: 



                  I was subjected to his oral sex. I was subjected to it ... It happened in his room off one of 

                  the dormitories ... Br Dieter asked me to – “he said come up, come up to my room and 

                  he also said if anybody sees you, tell them that you are cleaning my room out”. So I went 

                  up the stairs and nobody saw me going up, and I went into Br Dieter's room and he said 

                  “if anybody sees you going up and they ask you where you are going, tell them you are 

                  going to clean Br Dieter's room for him”. Obviously, it wasn't really to clean his room. I 

                  was a very very sad, timid, young boy and I didn't really have anyone to go to or to say 

                  that I have experienced this oral sex or evil that I would call it ... When Br Dieter called 

                  me up and he said after the oral sex, he said “don't say anything about this”. Then a few 

                  seconds went and he said  to me “if you say anything about this,  you are for it”. I was 

                  really caught in two corners. I had nowhere to run. I had no mother and father to come 

                  and rescue me. 



5.83       He was about seven years old when this incident happened. It continued until he was about 10. 

           He said: 



                  ... between the age of seven and ten that I was subjected to abuse, oral sex abuse. I was 

                  subjected to it and as a young boy, sure, I had no choice of either yes or no ... It was 

                  very very frequent. There wasn't a week that it didn't happen. But I do remember Br Dieter 

                  coming down the stairs, and I was doing a rug and I was content and happy in doing it, 

                  but he called me up to his room and the sad thing is that he got the upper hand over a 

                  young, innocent boy. 



5.84       He recalled another incident when Br Dieter took him under his cassock when they were out for 

           a walk: 



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----------------------- Page 993-----------------------

                 Yes, that's right. He brought all of us, all of the boys up for a walk and we were a good 

                 bit up the laneway away from the building and that we were on our way – our walk led us 

                 right into the farmyard. When we were a good bit up the lane he called me back and he 

                 put me under his habit, his black habit and he pressed me up against his lower body. I 

                 was a young boy, I was wondering what was he doing here and why was he doing it. I 

                 had not a clue but I assumed afterwards that he was probably just doing it for his own 

                 pleasure or for his own good and that all the other boys were completely gone and Br 

                 Dieter  had  me  with  him  and  we  were  just  up  the  lane  a  bit.  He  had  me  completely 

                 subjected to him so I could not do anything ... When that incident happened I would have 

                 been between 11 and 12 when that incident happened just up the lane, a good bit up 

                 the lane. 



5.85       His bitterness about the abuse he endured was only too perceptible. He said: 



                 As a young boy I would be wondering why they would be going on like that ... they took 

                 advantage of me. They took the liberty of doing things, and the things they have done 

                 were an awful lot of evil things ... I was only a young, innocent boy, and I went through 

                 evil things that I didn’t want to go through. I went through their devilish hands ... I was 

                 only dirt. 



5.86       Graham’s anger emerged in a tirade against Br Dieter’s defence that he couldn’t remember: 



                 The only sad thing I don’t like is that if a religious Brother or a priest or a nun and they 

                 know very well they have done something, why don’t admit to it, admit to the damage that 

                 they have done to me while I was in Lota because I didn’t ask anyone to send me to Lota. 

                 I would have been better off in someone’s family rather than putting up with all the oral 

                 sex and all the abuse that I was subjected to ... if he is not willing to tell the truth, I suggest 

                 go back to him and ask him face to face did he do this because I was very very annoyed 

                 when he said he doesn’t remember ... Now, Graham who is here today remembers what 

                 happened. I’m not making up a story. I’m not making up a fairy tale. I’m not making up 

                 lies. I am telling the truth. 



                 ... Who has the right to take a mother away from you? Who has the right to take a child 

                 away from his mother? And who’s idea was it to grab children and fill their schools up 

                 with children, not knowing what was going on? The devil was in my school. The devil was 

                 working  through  different  Brothers  ...  I  would  ask  him  to  come  forward  and  admit  his 

                 mistakes, admit his abuse, and admit that he had done it because if he doesn’t admit to 

                 it  down  here,  let  me  tell  you  when  he  goes  to  meet  his  maker,  Jesus  is  going  to  say, 

                 “What have you done to my Graham? What have you done to him?” 



5.87       When Br Dieter gave evidence, he again said he had no memory of the witness as a boy and he 

           denied the oral sex, but he accepted that sexual abuse must have happened. He said: 



                 I sincerely apologised to him for the dreadful unhappiness I have caused him and I realise 

                 the seriousness of my abusive behaviour ... I know that because of his insistence that I 

                 did abuse them, then I know that must be true and I have accepted responsibility for that ... 



                 One thing that is true is that I did invite some of the adolescent boys individually to tidy 

                 my rooms, usually on a Saturday morning, so that would fit into what Graham has been 

                 saying. 



5.88       He was then asked if that was as a prelude to abusing them, and he replied, ‘Yes, yes. Not in all 

           cases, but that has been the case, yes’. 



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----------------------- Page 994-----------------------

5.89       He was asked to describe his pattern of abuse, and he replied: 



                  My pattern of abuse was touching the boys and in some cases masturbating them and 

                  generally petting them, that sort of thing ... Not always masturbating, just touching them 

                  and, an expression that seems to be quite common now, fondling them. 



5.90       He added: 



                  I  felt  sorry  for  what  I  had  done,  but  it  became  a  kind  of  addiction,  if  you  like,  at  that 

                  particular time for me, and it was a great source of stress and worry for me. 



5.91       Apart from luring them to his bedroom, he also abused boys in their own beds. He would abuse 

           them  while  they  were  asleep  in  the  dormitory.  Because  he  would  be  under  observation  in  the 

           dormitory, Br Dieter never went beyond surreptitious touching. But in his bedroom, he admitted, 

           there was a chance for more extensive activity,  ‘I tended to touch them inappropriately and be 

           more affectionate towards them and that’. 



5.92       He was asked to reconsider his denial of oral sex taking place, and he said: 



                  Well,  I  will  put  it  this  way,  it  is  possible  that  I  have  done  so  and  if  I  have  done  so,  I 

                  sincerely apologise to him, from the bottom of my heart I apologise. I have no recollection 

                  of doing it, but I apologise to Graham ... and I hope he forgives me. 



5.93       The third witness to give evidence to the Committee, Frank, also described being abused by Br 

           Dieter. He told the Committee: 



                  I can recall very clearly when I was thirteen years of age in the Sancta Maria pavilion, I 

                  was bending down cleaning a bathroom when Br Dieter approached me from behind. He 

                  locked the bathroom door behind him and took out his penis and said to me "let me see 

                  yours". I said to him "no". He then said to me "if you don't, I will give you a good hiding". 



5.94       The witness went on to describe an act of masturbation perpetrated by the Brother: 



                  He  then  let  down  his  habit  and  told  me  to  say  nothing  about  what  had  happened  to 

                  anybody.  This  type  of  abuse  of  I  having  to  rub  Br  Dieter's  penis  happened  on  quite  a 

                  number of occasions over the next number of years until I reached 15 years approx. This 

                  took place in the Sancta Maria pavilion, his own bedroom and also in the bathroom. When 

                  he took me to his bedroom it was usually in the night time. He would wake me from the 

                  dormitory where I slept with the rest of the lads and in single beds. Each dormitory had 36 

                  beds. I slept about seven beds from the door of his bedroom which was off the dormitory. 



5.95       The  witness  recalled  other  specific  acts  of  gross  sexual  assault,  one  of  which  occurred  on 

           Christmas  Day.  He  said  Br  Dieter  engaged  in  oral  sex  and  anal  rape.  In  respect  of  the  latter, 

           he stated: 



                  I could not understand why this was going on and this type of abuse happened to me by 

                  Br Dieter on at least four different occasions. I can remember one day Br Dieter brought 

                  me to his bedroom and tried the same sort of abuse ... and I said "no" and I used the 

                  word "f*** it, no more, finished" as this was very very sore I said to him. He got very mad 

                  with me and I got a beating from him. 



5.96       The  abuse  began  in  a  bathroom,  when  he  claimed  anal  intercourse  took  place.  Thereafter,  it 

           occurred ‘A right few times, make about six months, maybe a year. I don't know for sure, about a 

           year’. It took place ‘Twice or three times a month or something like that’. 



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----------------------- Page 995-----------------------

5.97       Br Dieter then gave evidence. He said he had a good recollection of the witness. Again, he began 

           with an apology: 



                  The  first  statement  I  would  like  to  make  is  that  I  feel  very  sad  and  sorry  for  Frank’s 

                  experiences and I regret very much the unhappiness I have caused him. In relation to 

                  today's evidence, I am sad that he should accuse me of physical violence of beating him 

                  up and that sort of thing, because that is not the sort of person that I am. When I was 

                  accused by Frank and appeared before [A Garda Sergeant], I think it was around the end 

                  of 1995 and perhaps the beginning of 1996, I pleaded guilty, but I told [the Sergeant] and 

                  the other Gardai that were there at the time present when this allegation from Frank was 

                                     ´ 

                  made that, yes, I did abuse Frank but that I didn't accept and denied the allegations of 

                  anal and oral abuse, also I denied the beatings. That is what I have to say. 



5.98       He then spelt out what he accepted he was guilty of doing: 



                  I know I am guilty of sexually abusing Frank by touch. He also mentions that he touched 

                  me and I encouraged him to do so, that could possibly have been the case, but I think 

                  that  most  of  my  abuse  was  by  showing  my  attention  for  Frank,  because  I  was  very 

                  sympathetically disposed towards him. As I said in my statement, he was a lonely person 

                  and I was tended to look on him as I was myself when I was a young person and I tried 

                  to show him affection in an inappropriate way by my behaviour towards him that way ... I 

                  had a very genuine affection for Frank, yes, I had ... There was a sexual attraction as well 

                  that went with that, yes, unhappily, yes ... I have no recollection of how frequently, but at 

                  the same time I don't think in this particular case that the incidents were frequent. 



                  ... They took place, to the best of my knowledge, in Sancta Maria pavilion, where I lived. 

                  I have no clear recollection of the locations, but they could have taken place in my room 

                  in the  Sancta    Maria    pavilion  and   they   could   also  possibly   have    taken   place   in my 

                  classroom after school hours, but I am not certain about this because it is a long time ago 

                  and because of that I have no clear recollection of the locations of my sexual abuse. 



5.99       The  sexual  abuse  stopped,  he  said,  because  the  witness  was  moved  from  the  dormitory  over 

           which he had control. He told the Committee: 



                  my  recollection  is  that  Frank  ...  wasn't  very  long  in  Sancta  Maria  pavilion  because  he 

                  eventually was changed and I can't remember when that took place, he was changed to 

                  St Patrick's. So my association with him would have terminated because both pavilions 

                  were physically quite a distance apart. 



           The position of the Brothers of Charity on whether sexual abuse took place in 

           Lota 



5.100      Senior counsel for the Brothers of Charity, at the end of the hearings, made clear the position 

           adopted by the Brothers of Charity on the question of whether sexual abuse took place in Lota. 

           He said: 



                  I represent the current community of the Brothers of Charity, not all of those who were 

                  ever there historically, it is not a body corporate. I represent those who are now members 

                  of the Community which happen to include some people who have been abusers, and 

                  the Brothers of Charity have made no bones about that, we admit that abuse has taken 

                  place, of that there is absolutely no doubt, by our members and by many of our members. 

                  In terms of this Committee's function in determining whether a particular abuse took place 

                  with a particular complainant and by a particular Brother, that is something I can have 

                  very  little  to  do  with  and  have  avoided  getting  involved  in  whether  that  is  true  in  any 

                  particular case or not. That clearly cannot be my function. 



                  ...  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  in  all  three  of  these  cases  sexual  abuse  took  place  in  the 

                  most  appalling  nature  and  must  be  condemned  and  is  condemned  by  this  Community 



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----------------------- Page 996-----------------------

                  wholeheartedly and unreservedly. Whether individual acts of sexual abuse took place or 

                  not is not a matter for me, with great respect. 



5.101      Following  the  appearance  in  court  of  a  Brother  on  21  September  1999,  Br  Alfred  Hassett,  the 

           Provincial Superior, issued the following apology: 



                  We deeply regret any abuse which may have taken place and we offer our apology to 

                  any  person  who  may  have  been  the  victim  of  such  abuse.  Our  first  concern  is  for  the 

                  victims of abuse, whatever the source of that abuse ... 



                  As an organisation involved with people with learning disability we have in place specialist 

                  counselling teams, one of them in the Cork area, with back-up support from a national 

                  counselling co-ordinator. This team is ready to help any person with a learning disability 

                  who  may  have  been  the  victim  of  abuse  and  this  help  can  be  offered  on  a  totally 

                  confidential basis. 



                  I would encourage anyone wishing to make an allegation to go directly to the Gardai. 

                                                                                                                      ´ 



5.102      The  fact  that  abuse  took  place  is  not  in  dispute.  What  this  apology  fails  to  address  is  the 

           Congregational responsibility for what happened in their schools. The question that arises is the 

           extent of the abuse, and whether it was systemic. 



           The Brothers of Charity on the emergence of sexual abuse 



5.103      Br John O’Shea, leader of the region that incorporates both Britain and Ireland, gave an account 

           of how sexual abuse emerged as a serious issue for the Congregation. He told the Committee: 



                  I suppose it became a very significant issue in 1995, at late 1995 we were informed that 

                  somebody had gone to the Garda Station and had made allegations that they had been 

                  abused during that time. 



5.104      Prior to 1995, he said that allegations were regarded as individual incidents: 



                  The position prior to that is that there would have been a number of individual allegations, 

                  I think they would have been seen as isolated incidents and they would have been broadly 

                  dealt with as isolated incidents, that there wasn't the sense in which we had after 1995, 

                  that this was a bigger issue than we had imagined. I suppose prior to that, there wouldn't 

                  have been the kind of awareness of the impact that it had on the people who were abused. 



5.105      He went on to state: 



                  I feel for us that 1995 was the watershed in the sense of our awareness that we had a 

                  fairly significant issue with abuse ... It was quite a shock to us really because it wasn't 

                  something  we  were  prepared  for,  and  certainly  the  individual  incidents  we  would  have 

                  known of previously didn't add up to a comprehensive picture, if you like, of widescale 

                  abuse. 



5.106      In the written statement prepared by Br John O’Shea for the Emergence Hearings and received 

           by the Commission on 23rd  June 2004, he wrote: 



                  Prior to 1995, there were a few isolated allegations of abuse which were dealt with as 

                  deemed appropriate at the time. However, it was not until late 1995 that there was an 

                  awareness of more widespread abuse or the damage it had caused. 



5.107      He admitted, however, that their record keeping was poor. He explained: 



                  Yes, I suppose one of the things is many of our files have a limited amount of information 

                  in them. We would have some sense, again, that where allegations would be reported, I 

                  would  feel  that  maybe  they  necessarily  wouldn't  be  committed  to  writing.  Yes,  I  think 



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----------------------- Page 997-----------------------

                  maybe  our  broader  culture  or  even  the  wider  culture  wouldn't  have  been  as  it  is  now 

                  where every allegation would be documented, there would be less kept on files. 



5.108      When asked what procedures were in place for managing reported sexual abuse before 1995, 

           he replied: 



                  I divide them between lay people and Brothers. Each of the centres that I have mentioned, 

                  Cork, Galway, Waterford and so on, would have their own administrative structure and 

                  there would have been a Director of Services and in those days it would have been a 

                  Brother,  who  would  be  broadly  responsible  for  the  administration  of  the  centre.  The 

                  Brothers  would  be  responsible  to  the  Provincial  at  the  time  and  I  think  particularly  if 

                  incidents related to Brothers, that it would entail the involvement of the Provincial. Where 

                  they  involved  lay  people,  I  think  the  structure,  as  I  say,  my  sense  is  that  legal  advice 

                  would have been involved and that we would have acted on that. I suppose in regard to 

                  Brothers, depending on the time it was, if it was the early 1990s because we would be 

                  more  aware  of  the  kind  of  Department  guidelines  and  so  on  and  there  was  a  broad 

                  awareness, that people would be withdrawn from contact with service users. I feel that 

                  possibly in all cases Gardai may not have been notified, because I think our awareness 

                                                   ´ 

                  of that would maybe be stronger at a later time, but essentially that people would have 

                  been withdrawn. Again, I think the awareness of the level of allegation, if you like, in the 

                  sense  that    now  if  we  speak     of  an  allegation,   we  have  a  whole      lot  of  accumulated 

                  knowledge as to what an allegation can entail or what it is likely to entail, and I feel back 

                  then that there wasn't the same thing when you speak of an allegation. I would feel people 

                  didn't have a clear-cut idea of just what the allegation entailed maybe or put it down, if 

                  you like, people who were behaving inappropriately at various levels, that it might be seen 

                  somewhat differently to how we would now view it and with the knowledge that we have 

                  of the impact that allegations or abuse did have on people. 



5.109       He was asked where the records from that period were kept, and he replied: 



                  I  suppose  where  they  happened  in  locations  and  involved  lay  people,  there  would  be 

                  records. The records would be kept at the location where the Centre was administered. 



5.110      Complaints about abuse by lay people were recorded and kept. The situation was different for 

           Brothers who had been reported for sexual abuse. He told the Committee: 



                  In regard to Brothers, certainly later allegations would be documented. I suppose I have 

                  a sense again that it is only now that it is coming to light that certain allegations were 

                  made that there wasn't an awareness of until quite recently. I suppose our files in regard 

                  to Brothers tended not to have a lot of documentation on them, and I would have some 

                  sense  again  that,  I  suppose,  the  earlier  allegations  would  have  happened,  the  less 

                  likelihood  there  is  that  there  would  be  something  on  file.  I  would  also  be  aware  of  a 

                  particular situation that now with the knowledge I have, I can fairly definitely say it was an 

                  allegation of sexual abuse, but the document on the file doesn't specify that it was abuse. 



5.111      Complaints  against  Brothers  were  either  not  written  down  at  all  or  were  in  codified  language 

           designed to obscure the nature of the offence. They were dealt with, said Br O’Shea, ‘in sort of a 

           hushed  way’.  Despite  this  fact,  enough  records  have  survived  to  allow  an  examination  of  Br 

           O’Shea’s  claim  that  prior  to  1995  there  were         ‘a  few  isolated  allegations  of  abuse’,  and  no 

            ‘awareness of more widespread abuse’. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     211 


----------------------- Page 998-----------------------

           The convicted sexual abusers: Br Guthrie 



 5.112     Br Guthrie gave evidence to the Investigation Committee on 21st           March 2002 and again on 14th 



           March 2002. 



 5.113     Born in the South East of Ireland in the early 1900s, he was the eldest of three children. He was 

           recruited into the Brothers at the age of 13, and is still a member of the Congregation. He was 

           educated in Belgium and England, and qualified as a primary teacher in the 1930s. 



 5.114     He told the Investigation Committee he taught in a school in the UK until 1951 or 1952, when he 

          was brought back to Ireland to work in Lota, where he stayed for 32 years until 1984. 



 5.115     In the early 1950s, the Congregation were setting up a Special School in Lota and there was a 

           need for trained teachers to enable the Department of Education to recognise the School officially. 

          The Department gave recognition to the School in 1955, and Br Guthrie was made Principal of 

          the  School  from  the  start  until  1974,  when  a  lay  principal  was  employed  and  he  took  over  as 

          school manager and then Chairman of the Board of Management. He held this latter post until 

           1984, when he was removed from the School because of complaints made against him. 



 5.116     He was prosecuted for sexual offences in December 1995. He spent seven months in 1996 in 

           Our Lady of Victory, a treatment centre in Stroud in the UK run by the Order of the Holy Paraclete 

          for  religious  with  psychological  and  behavioural  problems.  He  returned  in  December  1996  to 

           answer the charges in court. He pleaded guilty to sample charges in December 1996, and was 

          sentenced  on  14th    February  1997  to  four  years’  imprisonment,  reduced  to  one  year.  He  now 



           resides under supervision. 



 5.117     He accepted the description of himself as a paedophile, someone whose sexual preference was 

          for children, in his case teenage boys. He said he had no sexual attraction to them until they were 

           aged 11 upwards to about 14, and he was most attracted to 11- to 14-year-old boys with bright 

           eyes and good speech. He admitted to mutual masturbation but denied ever going any further 

          with the children. His sexual activities started in 1937, when he was around 22 years old, and 

           continued until 1983 when he was 69 years old with, according to himself,  ‘prolonged intervals’ 

          of abstinence. 



 5.118     His  modus  operandi  varied,  but  it  usually  involved  isolating  a  child  in  a  secluded  part  of  the 

           building. Aware of the ever-present danger of discovery, he found various hiding places where 

          the  abuse  could  take  place.  These  nooks  always  had  a  well-planned  escape  route.  He  also 

           admitted visiting the children’s beds at night in the dormitory where he was the supervisor. 



 5.119     He did not think the other Brothers or members of staff were aware of what he was doing. On 

          one or two occasions, he did hear talk among the boys. He recalled his reaction to one particular 

          occasion when he heard there was talk: 



                 I  brought  them  into  a  classroom  and  I  sat  them  down  and  I  said  to  them,  people  are 

                 saying this about me. Any of you that like to come with me now, we will go to the Brother 

                 Superior and talk to him about it, and, of course, that shut them up for good. Nobody took 

                 me up on it. 



 5.120     He  said  that,  if  any  boy  resisted  his  advances,  he  would  leave  him  alone,  and  denied  ever 

          threatening, coaxing or forcing anyone. 



 5.121     Despite his remarkable memory for dates and time and place, he could not recall the number of 

           boys he abused over the 32-year period. However, on the first occasion when he gave evidence 



          212                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 999-----------------------

           to  the  Commission,  when  asked  why  he  could  not  remember  individuals  that  he  abused,  he 

           answered as follows: 



                  For one reason the lapse of time and the others, I suppose a fair number. I have no idea 

                  how many but there was a good number ... Over 32 years. 



5.122      He was asked if the number would be in the hundreds, and he replied: 



                  I might stop around a hundred, but it could have been more, it could have been less even. 



5.123      By way of explanation, rather than excuse, he said he believed that the separation from his parents 

           in his early years and the loneliness and isolation of the life of a Brother was the reason why he 

           developed in the way he did. 



           Institutional responsibility 



5.124      Br John O’Shea, outlined in the statement prepared for the Emergence Hearings, held in June/July 

           of 2004, the reasons why the Brothers of Charity have issued apologies in respect of child abuse: 



                  When allegations of abuse by two named Bothers were first brought to our attention in 

                  December, 1995, the two named Brothers confirmed that they had been involved in the 

                  sexual abuse of children in our care. The two named Brothers later admitted in court that 

                  they  were  guilty   of  perpetrating  sexual  abuse       on  children  in  our  care   and  received 

                  custodial sentences in respect of this abuse. 



5.125      The statement went on to give details of the sentences imposed on these two Brothers and a third 

           Brother who was also found guilty of sexual abuse. 



5.126      At paragraph 5 of the statement, the Regional Leader explained that, when the allegations were 

           first brought to the attention of the Congregation, the two Brothers against whom the allegations 

           were made were immediately removed from locations where they would be in contact with ‘service 

           users’  and  were  placed  under  strict  supervision.  They  had  also  both  attended  a  seven-month 

           therapeutic programme for sexual abusers. 



5.127      The  difficulty  with  Br  O’Shea’s  statement  is  that  December  1995  was  not  the  first  time  the 

           Congregation of the Brothers of Charity had become aware of sexual abuse perpetrated by Br 

           Guthrie. 



5.128      Br Guthrie started his teaching career in a primary school in the UK, run by the Brothers of Charity, 

           in 1936. By his own admission, he started to sexually abuse children in 1937. 



5.129      Br Guthrie’s activities first came to the attention of the Congregation authorities in 1951. 



5.130      In a letter dated 31st  July 1951 from Fr Harvey9  to Fr Gordon,10  who would appear to be a senior 



           member of the Congregation, it was stated: 



                  Dear Father Gordon, 



                  A  very  serious  situation  has  arisen  at  Broadgreen.  Bro.  Guthrie  has  been  accused  of 

                  serious offences against boys, and the matter has been placed in the hands of the police; 

                  so  I  expect  they  will  begin  their  investigation  as  soon  as  possible.  Br  Gerhard11        will 



                  probably also be brought into it. Whether anyone else will be accused, I don’t know. 



                  I saw Br Guthrie this morning and he has no defence; I have told him I shall report to the 

                  Superior General,  and he will  probably be dismissed.  Hence, I believe  he will cross  to 



           9  This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      213 


----------------------- Page 1000-----------------------

                  Ireland to-day. I have told him what he does or where he goes is no concern of mine, but 

                  I have not transferred him to Belmont Park. I told him, however, that I will communicate 

                  to you any instructions, etc. that I receive from Fr. General. 

                  I have sent Bro. Rory12  this morning to Moffat to inform Bro. Gerhard of the situation, and 



                  he will probably do like Br Guthrie. 

                  You should receive their clerical suits if they offer them, and also help them with clothing, 

                  and in any other way, at least for the time being. 

                  Whatever these fellows do, is on their own initiative. They are not to remain at Belmont 

                  Park. You would, however, do well to know where they stay, at least for the time being. 

                  But I do not want to know. 

                  As  you  see,  I  am  in  a  very  difficult  situation,  and  am  trying  to  act  for  the  good  of  the 

                  Congregation. 

                  I am now just going to ... with Messrs. [Solicitors], to interview a K.C.13             on the matter. I 



                  will then perhaps see things much clearer and will write you again as soon as possible. 

                  In the meantime, please aid me with your prayers. 

                  Greetings in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. 

                  Yours devotedly ... in JC 



5.131      The  letter  accepted  that  Br  Guthrie  had  ‘no  defence’  to  the  allegation  that  he  had  committed 

           ‘serious offences against boys’, and prepared the ground for his probable dismissal. 



5.132      Fr Harvey wrote again on 1st        August 1951, following his meeting with the legal team. The mood 



           had changed, because with the two Brothers out of the way he had been given some assurances 

           that the matter would ‘fizzle out’. He wrote: 

                  Dear Father Gordon, 

                  Further to my letter of yesterday, I think I can say that things are somewhat better, and 

                  we are hoping there will be no publicity in the matter. 

                  [The  Solicitors]  have  helped  very  considerably;  they  took  me  yesterday  to  interview 

                  Counsel in ... and as a result I feel more at ease. Afterwards, I went directly to the Camp 

                  at Fleetwood and saw each of the Brothers privately. None of them has anything to fear 

                  if the police make their enquiries, so with Gerhard and Br Guthrie out of the way, we are 

                  hoping the matter will fizzle out. 

                  Now with regard to Br Guthrie and Gerhard. Before  I went to see Counsel, I got them 

                  away quickly, and told them to keep away from our Houses but to get in touch with you 

                  eventually,  as  I  would  communicate  to  you  any  further  orders  or  directions  regarding 

                  them. 

                  My rights and duties have now been made clear to me as the result of my visit to Counsel. 

                  I have written again to Fr. General this morning suggesting that Br Guthrie be dismissed 

                  and that Gerhard be allowed to remain. As you know, Gerhard has been doing well at 

                  Moffat since January, and it is only as a result of Br Guthrie’s irregularities that his case 

                  has now become known. 

                  I  would  be glad  if  you  will get  in  touch  with Gerhard  and  Br  Guthrie immediately;  they 

                  should both be sent to Lota and await till I arrive there next week. The sooner you get 

                  hold of them both, the better, as both were given a considerable sum of money, and you 

                  require an account of it. I will discuss with you next week the future of these two men. If 

                  you think it better to separate them by keeping one at Belmont for the time being, then I 

                  have no objection, but you should warn them against ‘talking’. 

                  Greetings in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 

                  Yours devotedly in J.C. 

                  P.S. I am anxious to know if both are safe in Ireland. When you are sure of this will you 

                  please send me a telegram, “Everything all right”. 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 

           13 King’s Counsel. 



           214                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1001-----------------------

5.133      The opinion had shifted, in that it was felt that Br Guthrie could now continue his holy vocation. 

           The  next  letter  was  apparently  dated  6th     August  1951,  from  a  priest  in  Mount  Mellary  Abbey, 



           Cappoquin, County Waterford to the Rev. Brother: 



                  Dear Rev Brother, 



                  Br Guthrie has consulted me about his vocation. 



                  Considering his dispositions, other circumstances notwithstanding, it is my humble opinion 

                 that there is no reason why he should not remain faithful to his holy vocation, ordinary 

                  prudence being used in the assignment of employments to him. 



                 Asking a share in your prayers. 



                  I am 



                 Very Sincerely yours, 



5.134      Fr Harvey wrote again to Fr Gordon on 17th           September 1951: 



                  Dear Father Gordon, 



                  I  am  afraid  the  Broadgreen  affair  has  taken  a  very  serious  turn;  they  phone  me  that 

                  proceedings will have to be taken. However, I have asked for Counsel’s advice, and am 

                  now awaiting a message from him. 



                  The   police  are   coming    again   to  see   me   on   Wednesday       afternoon;   they   are   very 

                  sympathetic and will do all they can to help; but the matter seems to be out of their hands. 



                  However, you must do nothing until you hear from me. I will let you know immediately 

                 what transpires on Wednesday. If I get any special instructions from Counsel today, I will 

                 write again to you, even today. 



                  In the meantime, we can only re double our prayers. 



                  Greetings in the SS.HH of Jesus and Mary, 



                 Yours devotedly in J. C. 



5.135      Ten days later, in a letter to Fr Gordon, concerning the behaviour of another Brother, Br Johann,14 



           Fr Harvey mentioned that he was still very occupied with the Broadgreen affair and was meeting 

           the Chief Superintendent of Police in a last-ditch effort to put things right. Br Johann had been 

           physically abusive to staff and boys, and the authorities appear to have been in no doubt at all 

           that this conduct deserved expulsion from the Congregation. 



5.136      The meeting took place and on the same day, 27th             September 1951, Fr Harvey again wrote: 



                  Dear Father Gordon, 



                  I have done all I possibly could; but there is no other way. The two Brothers must come 

                  back and stand their trial. I have promised the police they will come back on their own. If 

                 they do not, a warrant will be issued and that will make matters worse for them. 



                  Hence, I think they had better come back at once. At the moment, I do not know if the 

                  strike has been settled, so I cannot say if the [boat/train] service is running. They should 

                 travel back next Monday night; so that they can come back to Runshaw. If you can find 

                 time  to  come  with  them  I  would  be  glad  to  talk  matters  over  with  you  and  Fr.Jan.15       I 



                  realize, however, that you will probably not want to be away from home, particularly as I 

                  have asked you to see to this matter of Br Johann. However, you might consider if it is 

                 wise  to  let  the  two  fellows  come  over  by  themselves.  What  about  sending  [an  escort] 

                 with them? 



           14 This is a pseudonym. 

           15 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   215 


----------------------- Page 1002-----------------------

                  To-morrow I am meeting [the Solicitors] and probably we shall go also to see the Counsel 

                  in ... 



                  I  am  feeling  the  strain  very  much,  and  I  know  I  must  be  very  careful  or  I  shall  have 

                  a collapse. 



                  Please help me still more with your prayers. 



                  Greetings in the SS.HH of Jesus and Mary, 



                  Yours devotedly in J. C 



5.137       Following his meeting with counsel, it was agreed that Fr Harvey would defend the two Brothers 

           and, in a further letter to Fr Gordon, he stated that ‘Everything possible will be done to keep down 

           the publicity of the affair’. 



5.138      There is no record in the discovery of the outcome of the case in the UK, but it is clear from the 

           Minutes of the Provincial Council Meeting, held on 2nd  October 1951, that the case was to proceed 



           before the courts within a couple of weeks of that date. The Minutes note: 



                  Everything has been done to provide for their defence; Advocate and Solicitors have been 

                  engaged  who  will  see  to  the  interests  of  the  Congregation.  The  Vicar  General  of  the 

                  Diocese has been informed and he is very sympathetic. 



5.139      The  details  of  this  case  are  still  not  known  to  the  Investigation  Committee  despite  extensive 

           inquiries. 



5.140      By March of the following year, it was clear from a letter from Fr Harvey to Fr Gordon that Br 

           Guthrie had been transferred to Lota, and he was still contemplating where to send Br Gerhard. 

            Fr Gordon, by letter dated 18th      March 1952, confirmed that he was sending Br Guthrie to Lota, as 



           suggested by Fr Harvey: 



                  If you think the other can be made better use of elsewhere it is alright with me. I have 

                  found both of them very willing and useful and I am sure the poor fellows will make well. 

                  The both admit that they have a better outlook regarding Spiritual matters. Lack of prayer 

                  was the cause of their trouble in the past. 



5.141      Br Guthrie immediately took up a teaching post in Lota, and as previously stated he taught 11 to 

            14-year-old, mild to moderately learning disabled boys. By 1955, he was Principal of the School, 

           a position he held until 1974 when a layman took over. Br Guthrie became School Manager and 

           then Chairman of the Board of Management. He told the Committee that, from 1973 to 1984, he 

           did ‘other jobs’ and ‘what you call recreational activities with the boys’. 



5.142       In 1984, he was ‘taken out of it altogether. I have not been with children since’. He was removed, 

           he said, ‘because of the complaints about me’. 



5.143      Just why he was removed from the post of Principal was not made explicit, but it may have been 

           related to the concerns expressed in a letter that was sent by the Provincial Superior to Br Finn.16 



            It said: 



                  21st May, 1975 



                  Dear Brother Finn, 



                  Brother Guthrie 



                  In reference to the above named I am writing to confirm that it is absolutely imperative 

                  that  he   accept   the   necessary     psychiatric   treatment    that  his  case    requires.   For   the 



           16 This is a pseudonym. 



           216                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1003-----------------------

                  implementation of this treatment I hereby request that you make arrangements for him to 

                  transfer to Belmont Park where [a doctor] will interview him and prescribe the necessary 

                  medication. 

                  As this matter is most urgent would you please see Brother Eric17                [Superior of Lota] and 



                  explain the urgency of the matter and then, without delay, fix the day for him to travel to 

                  Waterford. The sooner he receives treatment the better as the matter could easily pass 

                  outside our control and this would be tragic. 



                  I shall see Br Guthrie myself the next time I am in Waterford. 



                  With every best wish, 



                  Sincerely in J.C. 



                  Provincial Superior 



5.144      There  is  no  evidence  that  the  problem  identified  in  1975  was  ever  addressed,  or  that  he  was 

           transferred to Belmont Park for psychiatric treatment. His transfer records show no break in his 

           service in Lota between 1952 and 1984. 



5.145       In 1984, Br Guthrie was removed from his post as Chairman of the Board of Management in Lota 

           because of complaints made against him. He told the Committee: 



                  I was changed to another house altogether and I did housekeeping and various odd jobs 

                  around the house but it was not a place for children. It was a place for grown-ups. 



5.146       In a statement made to Gardai, Br Guthrie stated: 

                                                ´ 



                  The abuse was happening from 1952 to 1984 ... I can recall coming back from Lourdes 

                  after Easter in 1984, after spending three to four weeks there. Brother Bert18                   who was 



                  Provincial  Superior  at  the  time,  requested  me  to  Dublin.  He  informed  me  of  certain 

                  accusations being made against me, namely having sexually abused a child. I was not 

                  told whether it was one or more. I was kept in Dublin for nine months and then transferred 

                  to Limerick and I was given no more contact with children. 



5.147      A Senior Child Psychologist on 19th         January 1996 made a statement to the Gardai, in which she 

                                                                                                               ´ 

           recalled commencing work in Lota in early 1984, and having attended combined clinic meetings 

           and  having  a  considerable  amount  of  interaction  with  professional  staff.  During  that  year,  she 

           became aware that a Brother was engaging in behaviour of a sexual nature with boys in residence, 

           and this activity was giving cause for concern. A number of boys were interviewed by a Consultant 

           Child Psychiatrist, for the purpose of validating the sexual abuse in which Br Guthrie was involved. 

           A  report  was  prepared  and,  as  a  result  of  the  investigations,  Br  Guthrie  was  moved.  The  full 

           account of the events of 1984 is given below. 



5.148      The author  of the statement said  that her information  about Br Guthrie’s behaviour  came from 

           listening  to  the  concerns  of  other  professional  staff  and  from  information  given  to  her  by  the 

            Principal Psychologist in Bawnmore, Limerick, a residential care centre for adults with learning 

           disability, to which many of the boys from Lota graduated. This psychologist said that the male 

           clients that came from the Lota service had been a source of difficulty in Bawnmore because of 

           their unacceptable sexual behaviour. 



5.149      She had uncovered the sexual abuse within months of starting work, and the information emerged 

           in  the  normal  course  of  her  duties.  The  sexual  activities  of  Br  Guthrie  were  not  so  secret  that 

           probing and sleuthing were needed to uncover them. 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       217 


----------------------- Page 1004-----------------------

           The events of 1984 

5.150      Between  March  and  May,  two  psychiatrists  had  seen  an  adolescent  boy,  Paraic,19               who  had 



           become     depressed     and   anxious    about   his  sexual    activity with   another   boy   and   about    his 

           masturbation. In April, he disclosed to his headmaster the fact that Br Guthrie had been abusing 

           him. His words were reported in the psychiatric report: 



                  “I told [the headmaster] that I would let Bro. Guthrie interfere with me” “The last time was 

                  in Wexford just the two of us” – “We used to tickle each other in the privates” “I would 

                  have my clothes off” “Sometimes white stuff came out of him” “He pushed his privates 

                  into my privates – not very often” “He told me not to tell anyone” “I was in tents often with 

                  him, sometimes he would tickle my privates and I tickled his.” 



5.151      In April 1984, Dr Noble,20  a Consultant Psychiatrist, wrote a letter to a number of people, including 



           Br Eric the Superior of Lota in which he referred to an interview with Paraic during which ‘disturbing 

           evidence’ came to his notice. He wrote: 



                  Paraic  went  on  to  tell  me  that  he  was  very  distressed  and  upset  about  incidents  that 

                  happened on cycling trips. He described how he stayed with Bro. Guthrie on a number of 

                  occasions  when  on  these  cycling  trips  both  in  tents,  and  also  in  the  same  room,  and 

                  sometimes in the same bed in a house when they would stop on the cycling trips. He told 

                  me that he had voluntarily told [the headmaster] about how Bro Guthrie interfered with 

                  him during their trips. He told [the headmaster] yesterday and felt much better over talking 

                 to him. He said that these incidents had happened on and off over the past three years 

                  in trips to [the South of Ireland]. He said the last time was in [the South East]. On that 

                  occasion he had travelled alone to [the South East] with Bro. Guthrie. He described in 

                  detail how he and Bro. Guthrie had engaged in mutual masturbation on these occasions. 

                  He also said that he was warned by Bro. Guthrie not to tell anyone that these homosexual 

                  incidents had occurred ... 



                  In view of the above history I feel this boy should not go on any further cycling trips or 

                  should go on any cycling trips until further notice. 



           November 1984 

5.152      A  memorandum        was    sent  from   Dr  Noble    on   8th November      1984   to  Br  Eric,  [the  Hospital 



           Administrator] and [the Medical Director] outlining the allegations so far, and how Br Guthrie had 

           not stopped contact. He had telephoned Paraic’s house and once again visited Paraic’s parents 

           to get permission to take Paraic on another trip. No abuse occurred on this trip but it was a strain 

           on  Paraic.  Paraic  did  not want  his  parents  informed  of  the  situation.  He stated  that  immediate 

           steps should be taken so that this could not happen again, and a meeting should be set up with 

           all professional persons involved to make sure that Br Guthrie could not have any contact with 

           any pupils, past or present. He also questioned whether Br Guthrie should be in any way involved 

           with disabled residents of any institution, and whether it would be better if he were removed to an 

           administrative capacity elsewhere: 



                  Memo. 



                 To: — 



                  Bro. Eric, Superior, 



                  [Hospital Administrator] 



                  [Clinical Director] 



                  From: Dr. Noble 



                  Child & Family Clinic 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 

           20 This is a pseudonym. 



           218                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1005-----------------------

      8th November, 1984 



       Lota, Glanmire, 



       Cork 



      Telephone [redacted] 



       On the 11th April, 1984 I wrote to the above regarding allegations made by a resident in 

       [named school], Paraic. Paraic is an adolescent boy who is a resident in ... School. Paraic 

      at that time was interviewed by Dr. Price and also by [the headmaster] who referred him 

      on to me. Paraic told me that he had been interfered sexually on a number of occasions 

      on  cycling  trips  by  Bro.  Guthrie.  He  described  these  incidents  in  detail  and  they  are 

      documented in the report of 11th April, '84.... Because of this very serious situation at that 

      time the above people had to be notified that such allegations be investigated and if there 

      was any suspicion they were to be discontinued. 



       In l9.9.'84 I sent a second Memo regarding Bro. Guthrie and how despite being told by 

      the Superior that he was not to go on any further cycling trips with the boys from [named 

      school]  he  did  so.  This  fact  was  reported  to  me  by  [the  headmaster],  who  had  been 

       informed that some of the pupils had brought photos of a trip showing that Bro. Guthrie 

       had resumed his cycling trips with [named school], even though he had left the Brothers 

      of Charity Services in Cork at that time and was resident in Bawnmore, Limerick. I again 

      wrote to the Superior, the Administrator and to the Clinical Director regarding my deep 

      concern about what was going on. All the people involved and myself strongly felt at that 

      time the situation could not be allowed to continue. Our views were communicated to Bro. 

       Bert, Provincial Superior and we were told that all contact between Bro. Guthrie and the 

      children and adolescents both past and present who were in the Brothers of Charity would 

      cease immediately. 



       Unfortunately  this  did  not  occur.  I  interviewed  Paraic  on  19.9.84.  He  told  me  that  Bro. 

       Guthrie had phoned him at home and had asked him how the cycling had gone on when 

       he was not present. He asked Paraic to phone him and to let him know a second cycling 

      trip that he would not be participating in went on. Paraic did this and Bro. Guthrie informed 

       Paraic that he was coming to see his parents. Bro.Br Guthrie arrived on 31.10.'84. He 

      talked to Paraic’s parents and he and Paraic went on a cycling trip. They stayed overnight 

       in  the  house belonging  to  a  Mr. Byron.21     Both  slept  in the  same  room  in two  separate 



       beds. Paraic said, “It was a strain on me if anything went on”. However, he stated that 

       Bro. Guthrie did not touch him on this occasion as he had in the past. Thus, apparently 

      there was no sexual contact between Bro. Guthrie and the boy on this occasion. 



      Again  Paraic  told  me  that  he  did  not  want  parents  to  know  anything  about  what  had 

       happened previously. He said that if they felt that this had happened that they would be 

      very  upset  ....Paraic  again  repeated  to  me  that  he  did  not  want  his  parents  to  be  told 

      about what had happened in the past as he felt that because of their age that they could 

       not take it, and it would upset them and possibly kill them ... 



       I am absolutely appalled that this situation has recurred again,...... Paraic told me that he 

      would be quite happy to go on cycling trips provided Bro. Guthrie was not there. In view 

      of what has happened I feel that immediate steps will have to be taken by the Superior 

      of the Brothers of Charity in Lota and the Provincial Superior that this can never happen 

      again. I also feel that there should be immediately a meeting between the professional 

       people involved to make it absolutely impossible for Bro. Guthrie ever again to have any 

      dealing  whatsoever  with  any  of  the  pupils  either  past  or  present  from  the  Brothers  of 

       Charity Services in Cork. I feel that the Superior in Bawnmore should be made known of 

      all the facts and that he should know of Bro. Guthrie's whereabouts at all times. I am also 

      very doubtful if Bro. Guthrie should be in a unit such as Bawnmore, I feel that he should 



21 This is a pseudonym. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    219 


----------------------- Page 1006-----------------------

                perhaps  be  in  an  administrative  position  far  removed  from  residents  in  any  mentally 

                handicapped service. 



                 Dr. Noble. 



                Consultant Psychiatrist. 



           December 1984 



5.153      Dr Noble wrote a further letter to Br Bert, the Superior of Triest House in Dublin, informing him of 

          the situation. He was appalled that Br Guthrie was still in contact, and had even written to Paraic’s 

           mother asking her to get Paraic to phone him at Triest House. Dr Noble wanted to know what 

          action the Congregation were pursuing in relation to the matter: 



                 Bro. Bert 



                 Provincial Superior 



                 Re: Paraic 



                 Dear Br Bert 



                 ... I visited [named school] on 27.11.84 and interviewed Paraic. He told me Bro. Guthrie 

                had written to his mother on the previous weekend asking her to have her son, Paraic, 

                phone  him  at  a  number  in  Dublin  over  the  weekend.  Paraic  was  able  to  tell  me  the 

                telephone number,... the phone number of Triest House. Paraic said this message did not 

                affect him, but went on to say that “It doesn’t affect me much unless he takes me on a 

                trip”. He went on to say he does not want to go on cycling trips with Br Guthrie or to meet 

                him. He said he would like to go on cycling trips if Br Guthrie was not present. 



                 ... However, I am appalled to find now, despite the seriousness of the matter that led to 

                 Br Guthrie’s   removal   from  the  Brothers   of  Charity  Services   in Cork,  that  he  is still 

                continuing to visit and harass this boy. 



                 I want to re-iterate my concern for the mental welfare of Paraic and out of deference to 

                his wishes (as stated above), I have not discussed this matter with his parents. 



                 Following my discussion with you in [named school] on 27.11.’84 I wish to state that I am 

                not alone in my concern about the lack of progress in this case. This is a great source of 

                concern to the professional members of the staff and Community mentioned above, and, 

                also to [the Head Master] and his staff who are aware of this problem. 



                As I feel that the mental welfare of this boy is at risk, I would appreciate it if you would 

                write  to  me  as  soon  as  possible,  and  let  me  know  what  course  of  action  you  and  the 

                Congregation are pursuing so that I and the staff can be assured that Paraic will no longer, 

                ever again, be subjected to stress by contact from Bro. Guthrie. 



                Thank you for your help in this very serious matter, 



                Yours sincerely, 



                 Dr. Noble 



          January 1985 

5.154      Br  Bert  replied  on  17th January  1985,  in  which  he  noted  that  he  had  talked  to  Br  Guthrie  and 



          issued him with a stern warning, and that Br Guthrie had given him a written undertaking to end 

          his relationship with Paraic: 



                 Dear Doctor Noble, 



                 I thank you for your letter which I received by hand recently. 



                Since receiving it I have had two further very serious talks with Brother Guthrie, following 

                which I issued a stern warning to him. I feel that now there will be a complete end to his 



          220                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1007-----------------------

                 relationship with the lad concerned. Further, Brother has given a written undertaking to 

                 that effect to me. 



                 I thank you most sincerely for your concern and solicitude in this whole matter. 



                 Kindest regards and every good wish. 



                 Yours sincerely 



                 Bro. Bert 



                 Provincial Superior 



5.155      On 11th  June 1985, Dr Noble once again wrote to Br Bert. He noted that, although Br Guthrie had 



           not  been  in  touch  with  Paraic  or  his  family  again,  Paraic  was  living  in  absolute  fear  of  him 

           contacting  him  again  and  was,  as  a  result,  seriously  depressed.  Dr  Noble  felt  that  he  had  no 

           option but to inform his parents of the situation and this was done. 



5.156      On  25th  October  1989,  the  Principal  of  [named  school],  wrote  a  memorandum  about  a  further 



           telephone contact from Paraic’s mother: 



                 [Paraic’s mother] telephoned [school] today (around mid-day) expressing deep concern 

                 that her son Paraic, a past pupil [now residing elsewhere], was told by another past-pupil 

                 ...  that  Br  Guthrie  was  visiting  her  home  today  and  would  also  be  calling  [to  Paraic’s 

                 house] ... [Paraic’s mother] was most upset to hear this from Paraic and stated neither 

                 she nor Paraic wished to meet with or talk to Br Guthrie ever again and Paraic was very 

                 upset at the prospect of meeting him anywhere. 



                 I  consulted  Dr.  Noble  at  his  home  by  telephone  at  lunch  time  and  later  telephoned 

                 [Paraic’s mother] (as arranged) to advise and confirm what I had already told her on the 

                 telephone earlier. 



                 1. Paraic should not meet with or talk to Bro. Guthrie if he does not wish to – no matter 

                 where he may see him. 



                 2. Bro. Guthrie should not be invited into the family home if he visited if that was [Paraic’s 

                 mother’s]  wish  and  should  be  told  politely  but  firmly  that  he  was  not  welcome  in  their 

                 household. 



                 I  also  made  [Paraic’s  mother]  aware  of  Dr  Noble’s  offer  of  an  immediate  appointment 

                 should Paraic or his mother wish to meet with him and that Dr. Noble also wished to be 

                 informed if Bro. Guthrie made any contact with Paraic or the family against their wishes. 



                 [Paraic’s  mother]   apologised    for contacting    the  school  again   about   Paraic   and  was 

                 thankful for the support offered. 



5.157      The persistence  of Br Guthrie in  pursuing this young  teenager contradicts his testimony  to the 

           Investigation  Committee.  He  was  asked  if  he  had  ever  fallen  in  love  or  had  become  strongly 

           attracted to an individual, and he replied: 



                 I would not say so, no. I never even had what people would call a pal. When I was moved 

                 from one house to another, for example, I never worried about the people I left behind ... 

                 anyone that is acquainted with religious life knows that there were two mortal sins when 

                 you joined religion. The first was not to get up at the right time in the morning and the 

                 other was to have a particular friend. They were strictly taboo in those days. 



5.158      His  relentless  pursuit  of  this  young  boy  suggested  more  than  a  passing  sexual  interest:  he 

           appeared to be planning an enduring relationship. The remarkable control he exercised over these 

           vulnerable children is well illustrated by this case. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               221 


----------------------- Page 1008-----------------------

5.159      Prior to 1995, Br Guthrie presented the Congregation with several incidents of sexual abuse. He 

           was known to be a serial sex abuser. His deeds were not isolated incidents. Br Guthrie sexually 

           abused children under his care over a period of more than 45 years. Thirty-two of those years 

           were spent in Lota, where he taught mild to moderately learning disabled young boys. He was 

           sent to Lota by the authorities in the Congregation, in the full knowledge that he was a paedophile 

           who had faced conviction in England. There is evidence in 1975 that something was amiss, and 

           Br Guthrie himself told the Gardai that he was ‘caught out a few times’. He subjected so many 

                                                   ´ 

           boys in Lota to sexual assaults that he cannot remember the numbers, despite having an excellent 

           memory in respect of every other aspect of his life. Despite the dearth of information kept on the 

           Brothers by the Congregation, there is clear and unequivocal documented evidence that the risk 

           Br Guthrie posed to young boys was known. 



5.160      In spite of his known abusive behaviour, Br Guthrie was made Principal of the School from 1955 

           to 1974, and then in 1974 he was made School Manager and, in 1981, Chairman of the Board of 

           Management. He was given these positions of power and authority, with control over staff and 

           boys, without the possible consequences being considered. As a result, by his own admission, a 

           hundred or so vulnerable boys were abused. 



5.161      The case against him was so overwhelming in 1951 it defies belief that the authorities could have 

           seen fit to place him in a residential school for vulnerable young boys. Yet, this is precisely what 

           they did, in the hope that ‘Br Guthrie will be all right in Lota’. On 1st  August 1951, when Br Guthrie 



           was in trouble with the police in England, Father Harvey wrote: 



                  p.s. I am anxious to know if both are safe in Ireland. When you are sure of this will you 

                  please send me a telegram, “Everything all right”. 



5.162      Br Guthrie was stowed ‘safe’ in Lota, with no regard for the safety and welfare of the boys residing 

           there. That decision can only be seen as one taken to protect the Brothers of Charity from scandal 

           and prosecution. 



5.163      Br O’Shea in his Opening Statement, made two assertions about sexual abuse prior to 1995: 



                  Prior to 1995, there were a few isolated allegations of abuse which were dealt with as 

                  deemed appropriate at the time. However, it was not until late 1995 that there was an 

                  awareness of more widespread abuse or the damage it had caused. 



5.164      He also stated that there was no awareness before 1995 of the damage that sexual abuse could 

           cause. This is not borne out by the documented evidence. The serious effects of sex abuse were 

           made abundantly clear to the Congregation in the series of reports written by child psychiatrists 

           in 1984. 



5.165      The victims of Br Guthrie were sexually abused so frequently that it became part of their daily 

           lives. As they had no power to do otherwise, they obeyed his demands, and it was only years 

           later that they were strong enough to come forward and report what had been done to them. In 

           the course of his Garda statement, one of the complainants said: 



                 What  was  happening  between  the  Brother  and  myself  I  thought  were  the  rules  of  the 

                  school. I was told when I went to the school first, that the Brothers were to be obeyed at 

                  all times and anything they ask you to do you were to do it. 



           222                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1009-----------------------

           The convicted sexual abusers: Br Dieter 



           Conviction: UK (September 1998) 



5.166      In September 1998, Br Dieter received his first criminal conviction in the UK on the complaint of 

           George,22  a resident in a residential home and sheltered accommodation for vulnerable adults run 



           by  the  Brothers  of  Charity  in  the  UK.  Br  Dieter  had  been  transferred  there  in  1970,  after  the 

           disclosure of sexual abuse in Galway; described below. The abuse took place between 1971 and 

           1973.  He  was  placed  on  probation  for  three  years,  on  condition  that  he  attended  a  sexual 

           offenders course run by the probation service in the UK. 



           Conviction: Cork Circuit Criminal Court (November 1999) 



5.167      In November 1999, Br Dieter received one of the most severe sentences ever imposed in this 

           country for crimes of child sexual abuse. He pleaded guilty to 18 sample counts of child abuse of 

           young  boys  in  Lota.  Br  Dieter  received  two  years’  imprisonment  in  respect  of  each  count  (36 

           years) with a review in 18 months. This review was heard in June 2001 and the remainder of his 

           sentence was suspended. 



           Conviction: Galway Circuit Court (November 2000) 



5.168      Br Dieter pleaded guilty to 22 counts of child sexual abuse of boys in Renmore at Galway Circuit 

           Court in November 2000. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, with the condition that 

           the three-year sentence run from the same date as the Cork sentence received in 1999. 



           Conviction: Cork Circuit Criminal Court (February 2002) 



5.169      In 2002, he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, with four years suspended, after pleading 

           guilty to two sample counts of sexually abusing boys in Lota. Some 75 other charges were taken 

           into account. 



           Br Dieter’s background 



5.170      Br Dieter was born in the 1920s. He was the second youngest in a family of five children. His 

           father  died  when  he  was  young,  and  the  following  year  he  was  recruited  into  the  Brothers  of 

           Charity and was sent to the Juniorate in Preston in the UK. His mother died of cancer during his 

           first year in the Juniorate and he was not allowed home for her funeral. He told the Committee 

           that he was sexually abused once during his time in the Juniorate by a boy four years older than 

           himself. He never reported the incident because he hero-worshipped the other boy. 



5.171      He was in the Juniorate from the age of 11 until he was professed when he was 18. When he 

           was a postulant, on an annual retreat, a priest had invited him to his room and had made sexual 

           advances. He resisted them ‘and felt very angry about what had happened’. 



5.172      Initially, he wanted to become a teacher, but his Irish language skills were poor, so he could not 

           train as one. Instead, he began work as a carer in Belmont Park Psychiatric Hospital, a private 

           hospital run by the Brothers of Charity. In 1945, when he was 20 years old, he was transferred to 

           Lota to work as a nurse with severely disabled children. They were  ‘confined to bed, and they 

           needed spoon feeding and they needed to be individually sort of encouraged to use the toilet’. He 

           did  this  arduous  work  for  six  years.  He  lost  weight  and  became  quite  ill.  During  this  time,  the 

           Superior  made  sexual      advances  to  him,  and  he  began        to  have  thoughts  that  he    might  be 

           homosexual. He recalled years later, to the psychologist at Stroud, that a relative (his sister) used 

           to visit him on a Sunday. While she was there, the Superior invited her up to his room for a coffee. 

           She accepted. He was approached by the Superior early in the morning and was told that she 



           22 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   223 


----------------------- Page 1010-----------------------

           had stayed the night, and he asked him to take her home before any of the Brothers found out. 

           Br Dieter was ‘very upset by this discovery’. Again, he was afraid to say anything about it. 



5.173      Br Dieter was struggling with his sexual orientation, and trying to control his sexual urges, yet his 

           early experience in the Brothers of Charity was that the vow of celibacy was being regularly broken 

           by religious men of standing and authority. 



5.174      In or around 1953/1954, he attended a training course in Belgium. When he returned to Lota in 

           1955, Our Lady of Good Counsel School had obtained official recognition as a Special School. Br 

           Dieter described the new position he held within the School as a teacher  ‘under inspection’. In 

           1957, the Department of Education recognised him as a teacher because of his experience. He 

           was given the post of Assistant Teacher. 



5.175      Following a period of teaching in Cork, he returned to Lota in 1961, and remained there until 1965. 



5.176      In  July  1965,  Br  Dieter  was  moved  to  Renmore,  Galway,  where  the  Brothers  of  Charity  were 

           managing a School. At his oral hearing before the Committee in March 2002, he explained: 



                 At that particular time then there was a very prominent, a very dominant association in 

                 Galway for mentally handicapped who were anxious to start a centre in Galway City, as 

                 a  kind  of  residential  day  school   for  handicapped     children  and   they  approached  the 

                 Brothers about the possibility of a Brother going there to start this. I was appointed to go 

                 there and I asked if I could be dispensed from it because of my – I felt totally inadequate 

                 for  the  position  but  they  told  me  that  they  had  confidence  in  me  and  they  were  totally 

                 unaware of my sexual abuse behaviour. They were totally ignorant of that and it was for 

                 that reason I was reluctant to be transferred to Galway. I was in Galway from 1965 to 

                 April 1969 when abusive behaviour was reported to the Superior ... and from there then I 

                 was transferred to our psychiatric hospital in Waterford. 



5.177      In cross-examination, Br Dieter noted that the abuse was not reported by a pupil but by a member 

           of  staff,  although  he  was  unable  to  recall  whether  the  member  of  staff  involved  was  a  fellow 

           Brother or a lay member of staff. A full account of these events is given below. 



5.178      As a result of this complaint, Br Dieter was removed from Renmore to Belmont Park, the Brothers’ 

           psychiatric hospital in Waterford. He testified that he remained in the hospital until January 1970. 

           However, he claimed he was not there to receive professional help and counselling, but rather to 

           help  out  in  the  hospital.  He  held  the  post  of  Acting  Secretary  I.N.C.A.  (Irish  National  Council 

           on Alcoholism). 



5.179      He  was  then  transferred,  in  1972,  to  a  residential  school  in  the  UK  for  adults  with  learning 

           disabilities. He became involved with a resident in the school and sexually abused him. This led 

           to his conviction in 1998. 



5.180      He attended two courses in the UK, the first was a course in special education in Preston, and 

           then a course at a polytechnic attached to Leeds University where he obtained his certificate in 

           education. With this qualification and recognition as a trained teacher, he began teaching in 1974 

           in a junior school for children aged 7 to 11 years, where he remained for 15 years. He claimed 

           that he had not abused anyone since 1973. He retired in 1989 and lived with his Community in 

           the UK until 1995, helping out in the working of the house, doing voluntary driving, and visiting 

           the elderly in a home. 



5.181      In a psychological report prepared for his trial in the UK, a clinical and counselling psychologist 

           concluded  that,  following  his  treatment  in  Stroud  and  in  view  of  his  decision  to  withdraw  from 



           224                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1011-----------------------

           sexual relationships and recommit himself to celibate life, a decision he took in 1973, Br Dieter 

           constituted a low risk in terms of re-offending. 



5.182      The trial judge in the case in the UK took into account his plea of guilty, his age (73) and the fact 

           the he was ‘a man of hitherto unblemished character’ and placed him on probation for three years 

           on  each  count  concurrently,  on  condition  he  attend  a  sexual  offenders’  programme  run  by  the 

           Probation Office in England. 



5.183      The judge appeared to have had no idea of the reason for Br Dieter’s transfer to the UK; it would 

           appear that Br Dieter did not disclose his history of sexual abuse in Ireland to the psychologist. 



5.184      The sentencing judge referred to Br Dieter’s upbringing and background: 



                 Yours is a very sad story indeed. It is a Dickensian story. I do not want to say more than 

                 is necessary to justify the sentence I am passing but you have a wretchedly sad childhood, 

                 characterized    by  the  untimely   death   of devoted    parents,  then   your  recruitment    and 

                 placement in the hands of an entirely different religious order where you yourself, as a 

                 young child, had a desperately sad time of it. Then, as a postulant and as a novice in this 

                 order, the abuse that you yourself suffered from those above you and in turn, of course, 

                 as is often the case, you abuse someone else. 



                 Yours is a very sad background, indeed. It is no excuse but it is an explanation for the 

                 wretched life you have had, particularly as a young man. Quite frankly the general public 

                 have,  in  recent  years  come  to  realize  the  lamentable  criteria  of  recruitment  that  were 

                 applied 50 years ago or so by religious orders in recruiting very young men, children, to 

                 boost their numbers and the methods that were adopted. When I say, “the methods that 

                 were adopted” the encouragement, the enticement of people like you who were 11 years 

                 of age. That has all changed, and let it be said that it has all changed. 



                 It was asking for trouble, it was sowing the seeds for disaster and you have to then battle 

                 within that confined claustrophobic religious organization with your own puzzling sexuality 

                 and so you did and this is how this happened: opportunity, privacy and power in a small 

                 way. 



5.185      When  Br  Dieter  appeared  before  the  Investigation  Committee,  his  standard  response  to  most 

           questions asking for details of the abuse he had perpetrated in Lota was to say that he could not 

           remember. He was precise and prompt in recalling other matters, such as the dates of his transfers 

           between schools, and the names of his colleagues. He was asked, for example, to estimate how 

           many boys he had abused in Lota, and he replied: 



                 I can’t remember really. I can’t remember ... I couldn’t possibly give you a figure ... It is 

                 an approximation. It is a long time ago ... I would say about 20 ... 



5.186      Br Dieter was in Lota for 20 years, from 1945 to 1965, and this estimate of about 20 boys clashes 

           with some of his other evidence. In another part of his testimony, he admitted he had a frequent 

           compulsion to go to a boy for sex. This compulsion would occur ‘weekly’. He explained: 



                 It was well planned in the sense if I needed the boy or felt the need of a boy I would, for 

                 example, in a classroom situation, I would ask him if he would come back after class. 



5.187      While  he  said  he  could  not  remember  specifics,  Br  Dieter  did  outline  how  he  set  about  the 

           grooming process to win a boy over. He explained: 



                 I tended to attach myself to one boy and, as I learned afterwards in Stroud, it was a form 

                 of – they have a name for it – grooming, I think was the word, the terminology that was 

                 used, in order to get the affection of the boy ... it was an activity that I was ashamed of 

                 and  at  the  same  time,  it  is  what  happened.  I  became  attracted  to  the  boy,  and  then  I 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                225 


----------------------- Page 1012-----------------------

                  became more familiar with him and tried to gain his trust by being kind to him and that 

                  sort of thing. 



  5.188     He admitted these attractions could lead to a ‘love relationship’ with the boy. He said,  ‘I was very 

           attached to one or two of the boys, yes. That's true’. These loving ‘relationships’ could last a long 

           time, and he believed it was rewarding for the boy as well. 



  5.189     He was asked whether he talked to the boy, and if the grooming continued, while he was having 

           sexual relations with a boy. He replied,  ‘It was a silent act ... It was basically touching the boys’ 

           private parts’. 



  5.190     It could lead to mutual touching that sometimes, but not always, ended in ejaculation. He went on: 



                  It  took  place  mostly  during  the  day  ...  It  would  be,  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  in  the 

                  classroom, after school hours in the classroom in my room, and I can't remember where 

                  else just at the moment ... it would be asking them perhaps to clean the classroom for 

                  me after school hours ... It happened sometimes at night, yes ... in that particular case, I 

                  would go to the boy's bed and sit there for a while with them and chat with them and then 

                  invite them into my room ... he would go back to his bed then. 



                  I saw it as a mortal sin, and I was very troubled about it. I was genuinely very troubled ... 

                  I went to confession regularly about it ... I realise it is a crime, of course, yes, now ... I 

                  think that was my way of thinking, that it was a moral lapse. 



  5.191     Once he had formed a  ‘relationship’ with the boy, and he felt he  ‘could trust the boy concerned’, 

           the sexual activity began. In many cases, it became an enduring  ‘relationship’. 



  5.192     He was asked if he maintained contact when the boy had left the School, and he replied, ‘In some 

            cases,  I did,  yes, yes  ... through  correspondence’. He  admitted in  some cases  he arranged  to 

            meet them, and in reply to the question where he would meet them, he replied: 



                  It was usually – well, on one occasion I arranged to meet one person in Cork ... I met this 

                  particular person in Cork on one occasion and in Dublin on another occasion. 



  5.193    When asked if these assignations were made in order to pursue a sexual relationship, he replied 

           simply,    ‘yes,  it  was,  yes’.  He  was  then  asked  if  sex  had  taken  place,  and  he  replied,           ‘Not 

           particularly ... It is a long time ago so I cannot remember. I am sure that is the case’. 



           The circumstances surrounding the departure of Br Dieter from Renmore in Galway 



  5.194    There are different accounts of how Br Dieter came to be removed from his post as principal of 

           the School in Renmore in 1969. The Department of Education version of events is different to the 

           one given by the Brothers of Charity. 



  5.195    The Department of Education’s version of events is described below. 



  5.196     Mr  Parter23  was  the  District  Inspector  of  Schools,  with  responsibility  for  all  Special  Education 



            Services  in  Connaught  and  Donegal.  In  1969,  he  visited  the  School  in  Renmore  on  a  routine 

            inspection. 



  5.197     In  a  statement  made  to  the  Gardai  on  13th       January  1998,  and  furnished  to  the  Investigation 

                                                        ´ 

            Committee in the Department of Education discovery, he confirmed that in 1969 he visited the 

            School. During the visit, a boy of around 15 years of age approached him in the school yard and 

           complained  that  he  had  been  sexually  assaulted  by  the  Principal  of  the  School,  Br  Dieter.  He 



           23 This is a pseudonym. 



           226                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1013-----------------------

            questioned the boy, and was satisfied that the boy was making a very serious complaint, and that 

            he would have to report the matter to the School authorities and to his own Department. He then 

            consulted with his superior in Dublin and informed the Provincial of the Brothers of Charity (Br 

            Baldwin).24   He  also  discussed  the  complaint  with  the  Manager  of  the  School,  Br  Kurt,25              (now 



            deceased) who assured him he would investigate the complaint as a matter of urgency. 



5.198       Within a couple of days, Br Kurt telephoned him and said Br Dieter had been confronted and, 

            after initial denials, had admitted the sexual abuse of the boy. Br Kurt informed him that Br Dieter 

            had been transferred to Belmont Psychiatric Hospital in Waterford. 



5.199       At the request of his superior, (the then Assistant Chief Inspector with responsibility for Special 

            Education), Mr Parter made a written report on the matter to him. The report is missing. 



5.200       In their affidavit of discovery to the Investigation Committee, the Department of Education said 

            that this report was last in the possession of the Department in approximately 1989 when it was 

            seen by a now retired inspector. The Department of Education say it is impossible to say at what 

            time since 1989 this report went missing. 



5.201       The Brothers of Charity provided another version of events which is described below. 



5.202       Br Baldwin subsequently left the Brothers of Charity. He had joined the Brothers in the late 1940s, 

            and  remained  there  until  the  early  1970s.  The  Brothers  retained  his  services  in  an  advisory 

            capacity for a year after he left the Congregation. 



5.203       On 16th April 1998, he gave a statement to the Gardai in which he described his recollections of the 

                                                                            ´ 

            details surrounding the events in Renmore concerning Br Dieter as hazy. He did recall receiving an 

            anonymous phone call in his office in Dublin one night in 1969 to the effect that ‘Brother Dieter 

            will be visited by the Gardai’. 

                                              ´ 



5.204       He travelled by car the next morning to Renmore and met with Br Kurt, the local Manager/Superior, 

            and spoke with Br Dieter. He recalled that he immediately took Br Dieter with him to Dublin, and 

            transferred him to the service in the UK. He said that Br Kurt managed the local situation and co- 

            operated fully with the subsequent enquiries. 



5.205       Br Baldwin met with a member of the legal team for the Investigation Committee in 2002, and he 

            explained that, in recent times, he had been in touch with the Brothers of Charity and they had 

            made    some     records    available    to him    which   would    indicate    that  Br  Dieter    did  not   transfer 

            immediately to the UK, but had instead spent some months in Belmont, County Waterford and he 

            must have been mistaken in his earlier account given to the Gardai. 

                                                                                               ´ 



5.206       Br Baldwin was unable to be of any further assistance to the Committee as to the identity of the 

            anonymous caller. He confirmed that he, as the Provincial of the Congregation at the time, had 

            not  initiated  any  internal  investigation  into  the  allegations,  but  had  preferred  to  leave  it  to  the 

            Gardai. He confirmed that he did not contact the Gardai directly himself and was not contacted 

                    ´                                                             ´ 

            by them, nor was he aware of the outcome, if any, of the Garda investigation. 



5.207       He was certain in his recollection that Br Dieter did not deny the veracity of the allegation and, 

            because of this fact, he decided to remove Br Dieter forthwith from Renmore and transfer him to 

            a position that did not bring him into contact with children. He stated that Br Dieter was moved 

            immediately.  He  confirmed  that  a  unit  in  the  UK  was  a  suitable  location  for  the  transfer  of  Br 

            Dieter, as it was a facility for the adult learning disabled, and no children attended this facility. 



            24 This is a pseudonym. 

            25 This is a pseudonym. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                          227 


----------------------- Page 1014-----------------------

5.208      The records reveal the following: 



                    (1)   In the “Historical Report” (The School Annal/Diary) for Renmore written in December 

                          1970, the following is noted: 



                               21st January Mr Parter, Inspector of Schools, spent all day in school 



                               6th April, Mr Parter, Inspector of Schools, visited the school today. 

                               3rd  June    Mr   Parter,   Inspector   of  Schools     examined     Br   Alvin26  for  Diploma, 



                               Brother passed. 



                               12th June Brother Br Dieter transferred to Belmont Park. 



                                                                27 

                               1st September Mr Walman            took up duties as Headmaster. 



                    (2)   Records from the Brothers of Charity record the transfer of Br Dieter from Holy Family 

                          School  in  Galway  to  Belmont  Park  in  Waterford  on  14th         June  1970.  There  are  two 



                          separate records confirming this date. 



                    (3)   A Report of the Provincial Council Meetings held at Dominican Retreat House in Cork 

                          from 13th   to 16th April 1971 records at item 4 that Br Dieter was to be changed from 

                          Belmont Park to the UK, on 24th           April 1971 (Br Baldwin chaired the meeting which 

                          was attended by Brs Kurt, Eric, Bruno28          and Carl).29 



                    (4)   Another  report  of  the  Provincial  Council  Meeting  held  at  Triest  House  on  29th          May 



                          1971 records again at item 5 that Br Dieter is in the UK and is happily settled there 

                          (Again,  Br  Baldwin  chaired  this  meeting  attended  by  Brs  Eric,  Bruno,  Claus30            and 

                          Franz31  with Brs Kurt and Carl absent). 



                    (5)   Br Dieter appears on the annual report of the residential centre in the UK on 23rd  April 



                          1971: ‘We welcomed Bro. Br Dieter as teacher for our proposed new special school’. 

                    (6)   24th  May    1971:    special   school   opened     –  5  pupils,   Teacher     and   Headmaster      – 



                          Brother Dieter. 



                    (7)   List of Brothers and their functions – 31/12/1971 – Brother Dieter – Teacher. 

                    (8)   The annual report for the year ending 31st           December 1972 shows Brother Dieter as 



                          a Student. 



                    (9)   The annual report for the year ending 1974 records: 



                          (a)   Brother    Dieter,   Certificate   in  Education     Leeds     University,   April,  1st   1974, 

                                Department of Education Science. 



                          (b)   Brother Dieter – Teaching out (the job was in St. Michaels Primary school and 

                                he was there until he retired in 1989). 



           The Western Health Board Inquiry 



5.209       In  response  to  the  emerging  allegations  of  sexual  abuse  in  Renmore  School  in  Galway,  the 

           Western Health Board set up an inquiry in 1999. 



5.210       In  response  to  several  written  queries  from  the  Chairman/Members  of  the  inquiry  team,  the 

            Brothers  of  Charity  have  consistently  told  the  inquiry  that  the  Provincial  Superior  at  the  time 

            recollects that Br Dieter was removed from the Holy Family School in 1969. Br Dieter’s recollection 

           was that he left the Holy Family School in 1969, and the meagre records available indicate this. 



           26 This is a pseudonym. 

           27 This is a pseudonym. 

           28 This is a pseudonym. 

           29 This is a pseudonym. 

           30 This is a pseudonym. 

           31 This is a pseudonym. 



           228                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1015-----------------------

5.211      These letters from the Brothers of Charity in general have been signed by either the Provincial or 

           the Director of Services in Renmore. 



5.212      For example, Br John O’Shea, Regional Leader for Ireland and Britain, wrote on 19th  July 2004 to 



           the Western Health Board inquiry as follows: 



                  As  I  understand  it  Brother  Dieter  was  moved  from  Holy  Family  School  Renmore  to 

                  Waterford in 1970 as a result of an anonymous phone call to the Provincial at the time 

                  Brother  Baldwin.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  was  no  follow-up  on  this  incident  between 

                  1970 and the emergence of allegations in 1995 and the following years. Brother Kurt, RIP 

                  was the Superior in the Holy Family School at that time and my speculation would be that 

                  knowledge of the reason for this move could well be confined to Brother Kurt, R.I.P. and 

                  Brother Baldwin. I would consider it unlikely that there was any awareness in [the UK], 

                  either inside or outside the Congregation, of the reason why Brother Dieter was moved 

                  from Holy Family School between 1970 and 1995. 



                  Given the above, there was no consideration given to carrying out a risk assessment in 

                  relation  to  Brother  Dieter’s  teaching  between  1971  and  1989.  Likewise,  there  was  no 

                  consideration  given  to  withdrawing  him  from  his  teaching  duties/contact  with  children. 

                  Neither was there any consideration given to notifying the UK Police, the Gardai or the 

                                                                                                                    ´ 

                  relevant Health Authorities. 



           Other documented cases of child sexual abuse by Brothers of Charity 



5.213      While  Brs  Dieter  and  Guthrie  were  the  only  staff  members  of  Lota  to  be  convicted  of  sexual 

           offences, other members of the Congregation were convicted of sexual offences in other Services 

           managed by the Brothers of Charity. 



5.214      Br Roland32     received a two-year sentence in relation to offences in Belmont Park, Waterford in 



           July 1999. 



5.215      Br Herman33  received a sentence of three years in Waterford for the sexual abuse of young people 

           in Belmont Park on 28th       October 2004. 



           Incident in Lota in November 1989 

5.216      The    following   is  a  report   by   Mr   Admas,     Qualified   Childcare    Worker,     dated   Monday      13th 



           November 1989: 



                  Report of Incident on Friday 10th November 1989 



                  I acted on a report from one of our residents, (name redacted) at 5.15 p.m. (approx) that 

                  the “New Priest” was “interfering with” Robert.34          Robert is 20 years of age and operates 



                  in the low moderate/severe range of mental handicap. Robert comes from ... 



                  Not knowing what [name redacted] meant by the “New Priest” I went to the Activation Unit 

                  expecting to have been sent on a “wild goose chase”. But to my complete amazement, at 

                  the  end  of  the  Activation  Unit  I  witnessed  Robert  sitting  down  on  a  seat  with  Brother 

                  Alaric35 sitting on his lap in a movement of “going up and down”. Robert’s trousers was 



                  half down around his buttocks, but this could have been as a result of the clasp being 

                  missing from it. 



                  My first reaction was one of being completely dumbfounded, and on seeing me Brother 

                  Alaric promptly got up and made some comment to the effect that Robert was his best 



           32 This is a pseudonym. 

           33 This is a pseudonym. 

           34 This is a pseudonym. 

           35 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     229 


----------------------- Page 1016-----------------------

                 friend in Lota. I then, straight away, told Robert to come up for his tea, leaving Brother 

                 Alaric in the Activation Unit. 



                 Some time afterwards, 15 minutes (approx) Brother Alaric came into the Unit during tea 

                 and  started  asking  questions  regarding  the  level  of  handicap  of  the  boys  etc.  He  left 

                 promptly after receiving a cool reception. 



                 P.S.   [name   redacted]   who    operates   in  the  high  moderate/low     mild  range   of  mental 

                 handicap,  claimed  that  Brother  Alaric  was  “feeling  Robert”  something  which  I  did  not 

                 witness. 



                 The initial report from [name redacted], which I acted upon, was witnessed by two other 

                 members of staff. 



                 Mr Admas 



                 Qualified Childcare Worker 



                 13th November 1989 



5.217      In a letter dated 15th   November 1989 from Br Eric (Manager) to the Provincial Superior, Br Eric 



           said the following: 



                 Dear [Provincial Superior], 



                 It is with deep regret that I feel obliged to send you the enclosed report. 



                 I first was made aware of this incident by [the Clinical Director] when he came to my office 

                 at  noon    on   Monday     last,  13th   November.      Subsequently     that   day   [the  Hospital 

                 Administrator]  gave  me  further  details  re  the  sequence  of  events  and  of  how  [name 

                 redacted]  initially  reported   the  matter  to  him   and,  at  that  stage,  also  handed  me  a 

                 preliminary unsigned report of the incident. The enclosed signed report was handed to 

                 me to-day Wednesday 15th November. 



                 You will doubtless comprehend that we are faced with a matter of extreme urgency – a 

                 matter patently calling for immediate psychiatric attention. I’m sure you will deal with this 

                 as  a  matter  of  urgency  as  it  is  obvious  that  Bro.  Alaric  needs  urgent  attention  for  his 

                 problem in an appropriate setting. 



                 With kindest regards and sincere regret to be burdening you with this unfortunate problem. 



                 Yours Sincerely 



                 Bro. Eric 



                 P.S. This incident occurred in a completely public area – anyone could have witnessed it. 

                 Fortunately, Mr Admas was the only staff member who went to the Activation Unit at that 

                 time, as far as I can ascertain. [He] is one of our more experienced and loyal employees 

                 who has been in the service of the Brothers of Charity for [many years] and whose loyalty 

                 and commitment is without question ... It is some consolation that he was the sole witness 

                 and I am fully confident that his loyalty to the Brothers will prevail in this matter. 



                 Bro. Eric. 



5.218      The following is a report of a discussion between the Provincial and an unknown author (in the 

           absence of Br Eric due to illness) which took place on 3rd  January 1990: 



                 Topic: Alleged incident involving Bro Alaric. 



                 On the occasion of [the Provincial Superior’s] visit to Lota on the 3rd January, 1990, and 

                 in the absence of Bro Eric (Superior) due to illness, I asked him if any decision had been 

                 taken regarding the reported incident involving Bro Alaric and one of the residents. I said 

                 there was concern at all levels that some urgent action be taken to resolve the matter. 



           230                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1017-----------------------

                 A summary of the points made by [the Provincial Superior] are as follows: 



                 1. Bro Alaric is a very old man, and, if not already senile is bordering on senility. 



                 2. It is often the case that senility brings on an increased sexual awareness and activity. 



                 3. The alleged incident has been viewed with the greatest concern and Br Provincial has 

                 had  a  lengthy  discussion  with  Bro  Alaric  expressing  this  concern.  The  Provincial  now 

                 believed that there will be no further incidents of this nature. 



                 4. He has considered the options available to him: should he transfer Bro Alaric to an old 

                 people’s  home  or  –  given  that  he  believes  there  will  be  no  recurrence  of  the  alleged 

                 incident – leave him in Lota where Bro has requested to stay. 



                 5. He has decided that, for the immediate future anyway, to leave Bro Alaric in Lota. He 

                 will keep himself informed of progress and assess the situation on an on-going basis. 



                 6. He anticipated that Bro Eric would be returning to Lota in the next week or so. 



5.219      The  transfer  record  of  Br  Alaric  would  indicate  that  he  remained  in  Lota  where  he  had  been 

           Superior in charge of the Sancta Maria Pavilion for a number of years in the 1960s. 



           Br Eric 



5.220      Br Eric was in charge of the Sancta Maria unit in Lota from 1954 to 1963, along with Br Guthrie 

           and Br Dieter. Sancta Maria unit had 60 boys, divided into two dormitories with 30 boys in each. 

           Their ages ranged between 13 and 18 years. The dormitories were divided in terms of age, Br 

           Guthrie was in charge of one and Br Dieter was in charge of the other. 



5.221      Br Eric admitted to an allegation contained in a Statement of Claim in High Court proceedings 

           from a boy, resident in Lota from the mid 1950s. His counsel asked  ‘Did you ever sexually abuse 

           [this  boy]’,  to  which  Br  Eric  replied  ‘Yes’.  He  was  then  asked  to  explain  to  the  Committee  the 

           circumstances: 



                 1953 was the year, September 1953, and Cork had won the all Ireland hurling final that 

                 year and the captain of the team ... about a fortnight after the match ... rang me and he 

                 said, "We would like to bring up the cup and have a bit of a party and a celebration for 

                 the boys" and I said very good. So, they came up, big number of the local team called 

                 Sarsfields, they were the Glanmire area. So they brought the cup up and we had a party 

                 and there was whiskey poured in, in plenty, into the cup and we had a good few drinks 

                 of the whiskey and the boys then were sent to bed after the party. It was about 10.30. It 

                 was much later than the boys would normally go to bed and I was in my room and I left 

                 my door slightly open because the switches for the lights were on the wall outside and 

                 the boys were a bit excited, you know, being up late for this party. So I got ready for bed 

                 myself and  just as  I put  on my pyjamas  this boy  ran into  my room  and he was  naked 

                 apart from the – he had the top half of his pyjamas on him, so he started jumping up and 

                 down in front of me. I wasn't used to drinking whiskey at the time, as I said it was 1953 

                 and I pressed myself against him and then he went out. 



5.222      When asked by his counsel,  ‘is that the extent of what happened with [the boy]’, Br Eric replied 

           ‘That was the extent of it yes’. 



           Conclusions on sexual abuse 



5.223       1.  Br Guthrie perpetrated sexual abuse for 32 years with at least 100 victims. Br Dieter, 

                who had a room at the other end of the Sancta Maria dormitory from Br Guthrie, was 

                in Lota for 20 years, with a few short breaks, and then was in Renmore for four years, 

                when  he  was  removed  and  sent  to  finish  his  teaching  career  in  England.  Between 

                them, these two sexual abusers operated in schools run by the Brothers of Charity in 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                231 


----------------------- Page 1018-----------------------

                Ireland for 58 years. Both were promoted to Principal, and one of them to Chairman of 

                the Board. Several of their colleagues were also accused of sexually abusing children. 

                The  crucial  questions  are,  ‘how  did  this  disturbing  history  of  sexual  abuse  come 

                about?’ and ‘what allowed it to continue for so long?’. 



           2.   Lota was an enclosed and inward-looking Institution, and the pavilion system created 

                three enclosed worlds within an enclosed world. The Brothers in charge had complete 

                autonomy and acted without fear of repercussion. 



           3.   The children with learning disabilities were treated as ‘different’, with fewer rights than 

                children outside the Institution. Their near-total dependency on adults to care for them 

                and protect them made them very vulnerable. 



           4.   There was no training provided and no internal structure within the Congregation for 

                reviewing  the performance  of individual  Brothers.  Once Brothers  were appointed  to 

                Lota, they could remain there for decades, even if their performance was unacceptable 

                and unprofessional and their behaviour fell below ethical and moral standards. With 

                no  system  of  inspection  and  no  external  supervision,  sexual  abusers  were  able  to 

                operate with little fear of detection. 



           5.   When sexual abuse was discovered, management failed to take action. They chose to 

                protect the Institution and the reputation of the Congregation, rather than the children. 

                It was the failure of leadership to manage the problem, and remove the abusers, that 

                allowed the sexual abuse to become systemic and pervasive within the Institution. 



           Emotional abuse and neglect 



5.224     As a result of their learning disability, the children of Lota were more dependent and vulnerable 

          than children in general. They required additional attention and help from their care-givers. This 

           need for someone to look after them emerged from the evidence heard at the hearings. Graham 

          told the Committee: 



                 My first memory of Lota would be I made friends with the women teachers there ... Yes, 

                 they were nice to me. They were kind to me, and I felt more at home with them, an awful 

                 lot more so because there was only one reason I can say about these teachers, these 

                 women teachers, is that like my own mother, my own mother would have been motherly 

                 to  me  up  to,  maybe,  the  time  she  had  me,  you  know.  I  realised  afterwards  that  I  was 

                privileged to have a mother, even though I didn't know what kind of a mother she was, 

                 but I was glad to have her. 



5.225     After  leaving  Lota,  he  could  not  praise  enough  the  kindness  that  ‘other  people’s  mothers’ had 

           shown to him. He said: 



                 But apart from that, I have experienced other mothers' care with me, and I found loving 

                 mothers that I met up with, other people's mothers. 



5.226      He then added: 



                 even though I said that with the women teachers I felt at home with them, but still I couldn't 

                 say anything to them because it would get back to the Brothers about what I said. So 

                 even though I appreciated the women teachers, I appreciate them as schoolteachers and 

                 that they have never done any harm on me, but it takes big giant 6 foot men to upset you, 

                 to do what they like with you because the public out there did not know what was going 

                 on in that bloody industrial school. 



5.227     The happiest day of his life was when, after the deprivations of his childhood, he finally found a 

          family through marriage: 



          232                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1019-----------------------

                 It  was  one  of  the  most  nicest  and  wonderful  day  I  ever  had  because  a  family  were 

                 accepting me into their family and especially my mother-in-law, my mother-in-law to be, 

                 and then ... my wife to be. These few days were wonderful days in my adulthood. I saw 

                 that there were people there who cared. 



5.228      The irony about Lota was that the Brothers who provided the care and the good times were also 

           the sexual abusers. Conall told the Committee: 



                 Yes, there was happy times too. I cannot deny that. A lot of people say there was not but 

                 there is. There was, of course, it was not all doom and gloom, let us be honest about it. 

                 There was good times as well ... The bikes ... The football, I was interested a lot in sports, 

                 gymnastics  and  things  ...  Even  the  plays,  things  we  did  ...  I  have  to  say,  I  thought  Br 

                 Guthrie was nice to me at the beginning. 



5.229      The  emotional  state  of  learning  disabled  children  in  the  residential  schools  was  seldom  given 

           much consideration by the Brothers of Charity. Putting children through the school system was 

           the priority, not whether they were contented and happy. Children with learning disability had a 

           greater need in this regard and they were frequently not regarded as experiencing the full range 

           of human emotions. 



           General conclusions 



5.230       1.  The Congregation kept records about sexual abuse allegations concerning lay people, 

                and   routinely    involved    the  Gardai.    The   situation   was    different  for  Brothers.    The 

                                                            ´ 

                allegations were dealt with internally, and no records were kept, or else were kept in 

                codified language. For this reason, factual information about the true extent of sexual 

                abuse did not exist, and abusers were left free to abuse again. 



            2.  The Brothers of Charity failed in their duty of care to the children in Lota, in that they 

                placed  a  known  sexual  abuser,  unsupervised,  in  a  school  with  the  most  vulnerable 

                and at-risk children. They ought to have known that he would commit similar offences. 



            3.  By placing a known abuser in Lota, to avoid the intervention of the English police who 

                were investigating him for sexual abuse offences, the Order showed total disregard 

                for the safety of children in their care. 



            4.  The  Brothers  of  Charity  put  the  reputation  of  the  Congregation  over  and  above  the 

                safety and care of children who were among the most vulnerable in the State. 



            5.  The inadequate system of vetting and monitoring staff allowed abusive Brothers to be 

                placed in managerial positions, with direct responsibility for and control over the entire 

                School, staff and boys. Their position of authority within the School made detection 

                an even more remote possibility. 



            6.  When  Br  Guthrie  was  removed  from  his  duties  in  1984,  supervision  of  him  was  so 

                inadequate that he still took children from another school on camping trips, and made 

                persistent  and  unwelcome  contact  with  a  boy  he  had  been  abusing,  to  the  point  of 

                taking him away on further excursions. 



            7.  The Brothers of Charity, despite knowing of his sexually abusive behaviour, removed 

                Br Dieter to an institution in the UK where he abused again. 



            8.  The  management  of  the  Brothers  of  Charity  consistently  failed  to  provide  a  safe 

                environment for the children in their care. 



            9.  When sexual abuse was disclosed, the Brothers of Charity did not conduct any proper 

                investigation  into  the  extent  of  the  abuse.  They  simply  removed  the  abusers  and 

                continued working as before. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 233 


----------------------- Page 1020-----------------------

10.   The  Department  of  Education  and  the  Department  of  Health  did  not  undertake  any 

      regular  inspections  of  either  the  School,  or  boys  in  the  care  of  the  School,  which 

      could  have  identified  problems  occurring  in  the  School.  The  residents  were  placed 

      in a School where the Congregation who was charged with their care was reckless 

      and negligent. 



11.   The additional duty of care owed to these children was not provided by the Brothers 

      or by the State, who delegated this responsibility without provision to ensure that the 

      necessary quality of care was provided. 



12.   It is incorrect for the Congregation to claim that it only appreciated the extent of the 

      problem of sexual  abuse after 1995, when  the Gardai became involved.  The limited 

                                                                       ´ 

      documentation that has survived clearly indicated that those in positions of authority 

      within the Congregation were aware that children in their care were at risk of sexual 

      abuse, and were in fact being sexually abused. 



13.   In its Emergence Statement to this Commission, the Congregation did not examine 

      its own management failures that led to the appalling situation in Lota. The extent of 

      the sexual abuse which was perpetrated in Lota on dependant and vulnerable children 

      was not solely a result of the actions of predatory sexual abusers, but was also due 

      to  the   extraordinary     ambivalence      of  the   Congregation      to  sexual    abuse    when 

      committed by one of its own members. 



234                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1021-----------------------

          Chapter 6 



          The Sisters of Mercy 



          Introduction 



6.01      This chapter deals with topics that are of general application to the industrial schools run by the 

          Sisters of Mercy. It begins with a brief history of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, and 

          then discusses various topics, including the organisational structure of the Congregation, the way 

          in which their religious vows impacted on the nature and quality of the care they provided, and 

          the response of the Congregation to allegations of abuse in their institutions. 



          Foundation and mission of the Sisters of Mercy 



6.02      The  Sisters  of  Mercy  date  their  foundation  as  a  Congregation  to  12th December  1831,  when 



          Catherine  McAuley  and  two  companions  made  their  religious  professions  at  the  Presentation 

          Convent, George’s Hill, Dublin and adopted and modified the rules of the Presentation Order as 

          their Rule and Constitutions. In 1835, Pope Gregory XVI gave his approval and blessing to the 

          Congregation for its dedication to the work of ‘helping the poor, relieving the sick in every possible 

          way, and safeguarding, by the exercise of charity, women who find themselves in circumstances 

          dangerous to virtue’. The Holy See approved the Rule and Constitutions of the Congregation in 

          1841.  Later  that  same  year,  Catherine  McAuley  died  after  10  years  of  service  as  Superior  of 

          the Congregation. She founded 10 convents in Ireland and two in England. After her death, the 

          Congregation  spread  to  six  continents,  with  communities  in  North  America  (1842),  Australia 

          (1846), South America (1856), Africa (1896), Asia (1953) and Europe. It was recognised as an 

          Institute of Pontifical Right in 1926. 



6.03      In their Submission to the Commission, the Sisters of Mercy described the system of organisation 

          that developed as the Congregation expanded: 



                While there was one original foundation at Baggot St., Dublin, each individual convent, 

                as  it  was  founded,  was  established  as  an  autonomous  unit  with  its  own  governance 

                structure and its own responsibility for attracting new members. Any new foundation thus 

                had a limited pool of Sisters at any given time. One might almost regard each group of 

                Sisters in a local Convent as a self-contained small Congregation. 



6.04      Thus,   each   convent   was   autonomous,    and   evolved   through  local,  diocesan   and  provincial 

          arrangements,  but  they  all  shared  the  common  values  set  out  by  Catherine  McAuley,  and  the 

          Congregation says that these values ‘must have influenced the way in which the schools were run’. 



6.05      The mission of the Sisters is to provide for the relief, education and protection of the poor. This 

          mission has been expressed in different language over the years. The 1926 edition of the Rule 

          and Constitutions of the Sisters of Mercy, which was applicable for most of the relevant period of 

          the Inquiry, sets it out as follows: 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            235 


----------------------- Page 1022-----------------------

                Of the Object of the Congregation 



                The Sisters admitted to this Religious Congregation, besides attending particularly to their 

                own perfection, which is the principal end of all Religious Institutes, should also have in 

                view  what  is  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  this  Congregation:  i.e.,  the  most  assiduous 

                application to the Education of poor Girls, the Visitation of the Sick and the Protection of 

                poor Women of good character. 



                 In undertaking this arduous but meritorious duty of instructing the Poor, the Sisters whom 

                God has vouchsafed to call to this state of perfection should animate their zeal and fervour 

                by the example of their Divine Master, Jesus Christ, who has testified on all occasions a 

                tender  love for  the Poor,  and has  declared that  he would  consider as  done to  Himself 

                whatever should be done unto them. 



          Organisation 



6.06       Despite sharing a mission and Rule and Constitutions, the Sisters of Mercy continued to develop 

          as separate units. They were not a unitary Congregation and did not have any central authority 

           in the period from 1936 to 1994. Unlike the Christian Brothers and other Congregations, which 

          were organised along provincial lines, with Provincial Councils and, above them, a unitary central 

          Supreme  Council  with  a  Superior  General,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  organisationally  a  large 

           number of separate Communities that were united only by their adherence to the same discipline 

          and Rule. 



6.07       Most of the Sisters of Mercy houses were individual Communities, usually consisting of a single 

          convent, whose members worked in the local area operating a school or some other charitable 

          function, but the Community could also consist of a small number of separate convents controlled 

           by a Mother House. An exception to this arrangement occurred in Dublin, in which the Carysfort 

          Community was the Mother House for all the separate convents in the Archdiocese. This included, 

          for  example,    the  Mater   Hospital,   many    primary   and   secondary    schools,   the  convent    at 

          Goldenbridge, whose members operated both the Industrial School and the national school, and 

          also  worked  in  the  local  community,  and  Rathdrum.  Carysfort  was  the  closest  parallel  to  a 

           provincial  structure  because  it  had  a  large  number  of  satellite  Communities.  The  more  usual 

          situation was for a convent to stand alone or to have just one or two offshoots. For example, in 

          the case of Clifden, there was one such subsidiary house at Carna. In Cappoquin, the convent 

          was self-contained and controlled the Industrial School, which later became group homes. It also 

          operated  a  secondary     school.  It  stood  separate   from  the  other  convents  in   the  Diocese  of 

          Waterford    and  Lismore.   Newtownforbes      and   Dundalk   were   also  separate   entities and   thus 

           independent Communities. 



6.08       During the Emergence hearings, Sr Breege O’Neill, then Congregation Leader of the Sisters of 

           Mercy, outlined the organisational structure of the Congregation: 



                At that time  [1831] she [Catherine McAuley]  was very clear that for us to be able to be 

                about that work it was important that we would be locally based, and that we would not 

                be constrained by central Government ... It emerged within 20 years of her founding the 

                first house of the Order in Baggot Street. There were convents established in each of the 

                26 diocese in Ireland ... In some there might have been eight or nine convents ... These 

                convents  were  autonomous.  They  were  totally,  completely  and  entirely  responsible  for 

                their own affairs really. There was little central or there was not a coordinating structure 

                among  the  convents  ...  there  was  not  a  sort  of  a  central  Government  that  established 

                these, but they were established in each locality according to the need of the locality at 

                the time. 



          236                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1023-----------------------

6.09       In his evidence, Dr Eoin O’Sullivan ascribed the popularity of the Sisters of Mercy with the bishops, 

           and  their  pre-eminence  in  the  industrial  school  system,  to  the  organisational  structure  of  the 

           Congregation: 



                 ... Bishops throughout the country were looking to have industrial schools in their diocese. 

                 They had difficulties with some of the Congregations, particularly the Christian Brothers 

                 and the Irish Sisters of Charity on the basis that the Bishop did not have a rule over these 

                 Congregations, effectively they took their rule from their provincial leader which probably 

                 was based in Dublin. So the Christian Brothers, while they had a working relationship with 

                 the Bishop, they ultimately took their rule from their Provincial. Whereas, the Sisters of 

                 Mercy,  to the  best of  my knowledge,  took their  rule from  the local  Bishop. Bishops  far 

                 preferred Sisters of Mercy than other Congregations, they were easier to control. 



6.10       All  this  changed  following  the  Second  Vatican  Council,  when  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  agreed  that 

           there would be a central jurisdiction in each diocese, but there was still no hierarchy of power as 

           between one diocesan central authority and another. The process of amalgamation into diocesan 

           central organisations began in the 1960s, but was not completed in the State as a whole until the 

           1980s.  During  the  period  of  this  development,  a  further  centralising  process  was  undertaken 

           whereby the Sisters now agreed to adopt a central organisation for all Sisters of Mercy members 

           and  institutions.  This  overall  centralising  movement  was  completed  in  1994,  and  so  the  two 

           processes were moving in parallel for a period of time. Sr Breege O’Neill described this process 

           as follows: 



                 ... our structure changed over the years. In that while we had that autonomous sort of 

                 way in the beginning after Vatican Council there was a move to amalgamate the houses 

                 in  each  diocese.  That  really  came  out  of  the  sort  of  the  thinking  of  Vatican  II.  We  set 

                 about  that  and  for  the  next  20  years,  from  the  60s  to  the  mid  80s  that  process  of 

                 amalgamation happened in the 26 diocese. So by the mid 80s we were now diocesan 

                 based  with  a  leadership  structure  in  each  diocese  ...  When  we  had  that  in  place  we 

                 decided    that  it would   be   good   to  bring  the  26   individual  units  together   in  another 

                 amalgamation. That was because at that time in the mid 80s our numbers were declining. 

                 We had a huge spread of ministries throughout the country and we were looking at how 

                 could we rationalise, how could we pool our resources so that we could be more effective 

                 in the work we were doing ... So by 1994 we formed an amalgamation of those 26 units, 

                 together with the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in South Africa, because they had 

                 a connection with Ireland. That is our present structure, which has four provincial units in 

                 Ireland. In 1994 we were almost 4,000 people. At the moment in Ireland we have 2,620 

                 Sisters residing in 392 local community houses throughout Ireland. 



6.11       Prior  to  1983,  all  Sisters  of  Mercy  Communities,  regardless  of  their  size,  were  subject  to  the 

           authority and jurisdiction of the local bishop. Under the 1926 Rule and Constitutions, he was the 

           Principal Superior of the Congregation after the Holy See. All Sisters were instructed to ‘respect 

           and obey him’. The bishop was given the power to nominate a priest to attend to the regulation 

           and good order of the Community, both in terms of spiritual and worldly matters. The importance 

           of this priest’s role in the running of individual convents was clear from the following provision: 



                 He   shall  watch   over   the  exact   observance     of  the  Constitutions,   for  the  purpose    of 

                 maintaining good order, peace and charity, and he shall assist the Mother Superior with 

                 his  counsel  and  advice,  in  all  important  affairs.  She  shall  not  undertake  any  matter  of 

                 importance relating to the Monastery or the Community, without the Bishop’s consent. 



6.12       The bishop as Principal Superior, after the Holy See, was required to visit the convent at least 

           once  every  three  years.  The  Superior,  or  the  priest  he  nominated,  was  in  addition  obliged  to 

           undertake an annual Visitation, during which he met with each Sister separately. If such Visitations 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   237 


----------------------- Page 1024-----------------------

           took  place,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  recorded,  because  no  records  of  them  were 

           discovered to the Commission. 



6.13       Each Community had a similar organisation. The Mother Superior was elected for a term of three 

           years   by   the  Chapter    and   was   eligible  for re-election   for  a  further  term.   The   Chapter    was 

           composed  of  all  Sisters  who  had  a  vote.  The  Mother  Superior  selected  her  assistants  and 

           proposed them for election. Where the convent did not contain a quorum, i.e. seven Sisters, the 

           bishop nominated the Mother Superior. 



6.14       The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Dublin was the largest Community of Sisters of Mercy 

           in Ireland. Its structure was set out in the Rule and Constitutions of the Congregation of the Sisters 

           of  Mercy  of  Dublin.1    This  document  did  not  alter  the  position  of  the  bishop  as  the  Principal 



           Superior,  or  his  nominated  priest,  but  it  did  change  the  way  the  Sisters  governed  themselves. 

           Supreme      authority   was    ordinarily   vested   in  the   Superior    General     and   her   Council,   and 

           extraordinarily vested in the General Chapter. The General Chapter elected the Superior General 

           and her Council. The Superior General and her Council had the right to transfer Sisters from one 

           house to another. The Council also appointed the local Superiors. 



6.15       Isolation   from   other   Sisters   of  Mercy    institutions   was    not  a  necessary     feature    of  life in 

           Goldenbridge Industrial School, because it was part of the family of institutions under the central 

           authority of Carysfort. The Superior General of Carysfort appointed the Resident Managers and 

           selected the Sisters who were sent to Goldenbridge. Goldenbridge was under the direct control 

           of Carysfort in all matters concerning finance and other related matters. This arrangement would 

           have been expected to give rise to regular exchanges of personnel and a flow of communication, 

           but the reality was otherwise. There are no records of meetings or correspondence or any other 

           documentation between the Resident Manager of Goldenbridge and the Superior in Carysfort. In 

           their Opening Statement of 15th        March 2005, the Sisters of Mercy made the following remark in 



           respect of the reporting structure that operated between the Mother House and the Goldenbridge 

           branch house at that time: 



                  Reporting relationships were not very formal and probably depended very much on the 

                  personalities  and  expectations  of  the  Superior  in  Carysfort  and  the  local  superior  or 

                  resident manager in Goldenbridge. 



6.16       The  result  was  that  Goldenbridge  was,  for  a  different  reason,  left  in  much  the  same  isolated 

           situation as that which prevailed in smaller Communities of the Sisters of Mercy. The Community 

           in Dundalk, for example, would not have expected any Visitation, inspection or supervision by any 

           other Sister serving as a Sister of Mercy. A nun in Dundalk did not have any prospect or possibility 

           of  being   transferred.   By   joining  that   Community,     she   became     a   member     of  a  stand-alone 

           Congregation  and,  unless  she  resigned  or  was  dismissed,  she  would  remain  there  during  her 

           entire lifetime. This immobility came about by necessity in smaller convents. Goldenbridge, despite 

           its proximity to Carysfort and other houses, remained in relative isolation. Nuns there also served 

           for very long terms in the one post and were left to carry on their work without outside interference 

           or inspection. 



6.17       A consequence of the autonomous convent system was that there was a smaller pool of Sisters 

           available  for  work  in  an  industrial  school.  Thus,  Sr  Margaret  Casey,  Provincial  Leader  of  the 

           Western Province, in her evidence at the Phase I hearing in respect of Newtownforbes, said: 



                  The Sisters also would have been drawn from the small local pool of the Sisters in the 

                  convent  there  in  Newtownforbes  and  there  was  no  expert  or  back  up  service  really 

                  available to them. 



           1 1954 (these Constitutions were revised in 1969, 1972, and 1985). 



           238                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1025-----------------------

6.18       This limitation of choice was particularly significant in relation to the position of Resident Manager. 



6.19        In 1953, the Resident Manager of Goldenbridge, Sr Bianca,2                delivered a lecture to a conference 



           on childcare management at Carysfort College, in which she spoke about the role of Resident 

            Manager: 



                  The efficient and satisfactory running of every Home depends largely on the person in 

                  charge. Experience shows that, where the person in charge is kind but firm; sympathetic 

                  but  impartial;  efficient  without  being  over-bearing;  determined  but  open  to  suggestion; 

                  approachable without being too free; the other members of the staff will take their cue 

                  from her, and the result will be content and harmony in the entire Home. 



6.20       She stated that a successful Manager should have: 



                  ... sufficient  skill and judgment  to settle each  difficulty as it  arises; have a  sympathetic 

                  interest in both children and staff; have a strong personality, without being overbearing or 

                  dictatorial, be enthusiastic and enterprising; and above all, she must be strictly impartial. 



6.21       These observations echoed what the Cussen Commission had said in its report in 19363                           about 



           the importance of the quality of the Manager to the proper care of the children in industrial schools. 



6.22       The smaller the Congregation, the less easy it was to find a person with these necessary skills. 



6.23        In addition, Sisters were less able to secure a change of employment. In her Statement of Intended 

            Evidence to the Committee in respect of Dundalk, Sr Ann-Marie McQuaid, Provincial Leader of 

           the Northern Province, noted: 



                  The three Sisters who held these positions during the period under review remained in 

                  this position for most of their lives and right into old age. 



6.24       The  Mother  Superior  of  the  Community  was  generally  the  Resident  Manager  of  the  Industrial 

           School, and so had complete control over the funding and administrative duties of the School, in 

           particular its relationship with the Department of Education. However, she had little to do with the 

           day-to-day running of the School, which was vested in the Sister in Charge who acted as de facto 

            Manager.     The   rationale    for  this  division  of   responsibility   seems     to  lie  in the   hierarchical 

           organisation of the Sisters. The Mother Superior was in charge of the convent and, in that capacity, 

           she   was    in charge    of  every   activity  carried   out  by   the  nuns    of her   convent,    including   the 

            Industrial School. 



6.25       The  number  of  Sisters  available  for  work  in  an  industrial  school  depended  on  the  size  of  the 

           Community. During the Emergence hearings, Sr Breege O’Neill discussed staffing levels: 



                  I  think  that  remained  constant  in  the  years  between  1935  and  1965.  In  each  of  our 

                  industrial schools there would have been between 100 and 150 children in the schools. 

                  There would have been two or three Sisters, one of whom would have been the resident 

                  manager, and maybe another one who would have been working full-time in the school 

                  or  in  some  other  area.  They  may  have  had  one  or  two  lay  staff  ...  The  people  with 

                  responsibility for the care of the children would have been four or five people. They would 

                  have been on duty seven days a week, 24 hours a day. I know of Sisters who told me of 

                  having six little cots around her bed at night of children who needed feeding during the 

                  night.  That  would  have  been  a  practice.  So  they  were  caring  for  the  children  over  the 

                  whole course of the day. 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 The Commission of Inquiry into the Reformatory and Industrial School System, which was required to report to the 



             Minister for Education on the Reformatory and Industrial School System, began its work in 1934, and furnished a 

             report to the Minister in 1936. It was under the Chairmanship of District Justice Cussen. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       239 


----------------------- Page 1026-----------------------

6.26       She was asked how the staffing level of four staff to about 120 residents evolved. She replied, 

           ‘My understanding was that that was probably informed by the understanding of the time’. 



6.27       Her  comments  were  borne  out  by  the  evidence.  In  Goldenbridge,  there  were  usually  only  two 

           Sisters involved in the Industrial School: the Sister in Charge and the Assistant Sister. The other 

           nuns from the convent would assist in particular activities, but did not play a large role in the day- 

           to-day operation of the School. In Cappoquin, up to four Sisters worked full-time in the Industrial 

           School and, in Newtownforbes, only two Sisters worked full-time in the School from the mid-1940s 

           to the 1960s. In Dundalk, two Sisters worked full-time in the School and were assisted by a third 

           Sister when numbers were high. 



6.28       Industrial schools run by the Sisters of Mercy were heavily reliant on assistance from senior girls 

           and lay staff. Former pupils of the Industrial School were retained after their periods of detention, 

           and   they   carried   out  various    supervisory    duties,  either   in  a  paid   or  unpaid   capacity.    In 

           Goldenbridge, some of these girls were offered employment in the School only because they were 

           unable to work outside the convent. 



6.29       The lack of formal training for Sisters working in industrial schools was a significant feature of the 

           evidence of Sisters and former Sisters. In Goldenbridge, when asked whether she had received 

           any training in childcare, Sr Alida4  said ‘None whatsoever. I think you had to use your own head’. 



           She added: 



                  Well I suppose doing my teacher training I did my share of child psychology. I wouldn't 

                 say that would have qualified me for the work I undertook in Goldenbridge. I had no idea 

                 that such a place as Goldenbridge existed when I was training up or when I was coming 

                 out to it either. 



6.30       Other Sisters who worked in the School expressed similar sentiments. Sr Gianna5                   said that she 



           had received no training whatsoever, although she thought that her previous work with children in 

           the Girl Guides might have been a factor in her being sent to Goldenbridge. In her evidence at 

           the Phase I hearing in the Newtownforbes investigation, Sr Margaret Casey stated: 



                  The Sisters themselves would not, as I said earlier, have had any kind of formal training 

                 in childcare, actually such training didn't exist until the 70s. So most of the Sisters there 

                  would have had a background in secondary education before they entered. Subsequently 

                 they  would  have  received  some  training,  some  of  them,  obviously  the  primary  school 

                 teachers would have qualified as primary school teachers. Some of the Sisters working 

                 in the Industrial School did diplomas and certificates to Ceidi and Lough Gill and home 

                 economics and housewifery, that area. I know that one of the Sisters in 1953 attended an 

                 institutional  management  course  that  was  run  in  Carysfort.  She  subsequently  was  full- 

                 time working in the Industrial School. One Sister also trained as a children's nurse. 



6.31       In the Clifden hearings, Sr Olivia6  told the Committee that the only training that she ever received 



           was  ‘in  1974,  1975.  We  did  an  in  service  course  in  Dublin  and  we  would  go  up  every  Friday 

           evening and come down Saturday evening’. 



6.32       The Congregation identified lack of training as one of the features of the industrial school system 

           which contributed to the suffering of children in their care, but attempted to mitigate this by pointing 

           out that there was no course in childcare training in Ireland until the 1970s. They also noted that 

           most   of  the   individual  Sisters   of  Mercy    who   worked    in  the  industrial   schools   run   by  the 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 

           6 This is a pseudonym. 



           240                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1027-----------------------

           Congregation had a secondary school education, and others went on to train as nurses, primary 

           school teachers or secondary school teachers. 



6.33       In the Phase I hearing into Goldenbridge, Sr Helena O’Donoghue, Provincial Leader of the South 

           Central Province, said: 



                 Each  of  the  five  Sisters  who  acted  as  Sisters  in  charge  and  involved  in  the  Industrial 

                 School were professionally trained teachers at Carysfort Training College, which was a 

                 significant feature in the Dublin Mercy Community. Sr Bianca also had qualifications and 

                 certifications  in  domestic  economy,  cookery,  needlework  and  household  management. 

                 These  Sisters also  were supported  by other  Sisters as  I have  said, but  who might  not 

                 necessarily  have  any  had  particular  training.  Those  who  worked  in  the  kitchen  were 

                 qualified cooks and others would have taken short courses in household management. 



6.34       In her   1953   lecture  on  childcare   management      mentioned     above,   the  Resident   Manager     of 

           Goldenbridge, Sr Bianca, made important points about the needs of children in care. She said 

           that children   coming    from  underprivileged    backgrounds      should   be  met   with  sympathy     and 

           gentleness. ‘Drastic  remedies’ for head  lice, such as  cutting off hair,  should not be  necessary, 

           particularly when there were remedies on the market at a very reasonable price. Children should 

           be divided into small groups, including at meal times, to promote an intimate family atmosphere. 

           She added that ‘formal marshalling and regimentation must be avoided’. Whilst there should be 

           an emphasis on domestic training, there was no reason why girls should not follow a commercial 

           or other career path if they had the necessary talent. 



6.35       She  proposed  that  every  child  should  help  with  small  jobs  and  chores  about  the  home.  They 

           should be encouraged to be creative, and arts and crafts teachers deployed. Dressing the children 

           uniformly  should  be  discouraged.  There  was  no  reason  why  they  could  not  be  sensibly  and 

           attractively dressed. 



6.36       She advised that children should be allowed a considerable amount of supervised freedom. They 

           should be allowed to go to the local shop, and older girls permitted to go into town on the bus to 

           run errands. 



6.37       In addition, she considered that a large playground and hall were a necessity. A field for sports 

           should  be made  available. Senior  girls should  have their  own sitting  room. She  felt that  music 

           should  be  encouraged,  both  playing  instruments  and  singing  as  well  as  listening  to  music  on 

           the  radio.  Dancing  should  be  also  encouraged.  Caring  for  pets  was  another  useful  occupation 

           for children. 



6.38       Sr  Bianca   also  felt that  the  Manager     should   possess    skill and  judgement,    ‘have   a  strong 

           personality, without being overbearing or dictatorial ... and above all, she must be strictly impartial’. 

           Furthermore, those charged with the care of such children should have a keen interest in their 

           work and possess the requisite experience and knowledge of psychology. 



6.39       The fact that Sr Bianca was asked to deliver the lecture is evidence that she was highly regarded 

           as a childcare expert, and the lecture expressed an enlightened and progressive view of childcare 

           in the 1950s. Sr Bianca knew how a good institution should be run, and her lecture provides a 

           standard against which Goldenbridge and other Sisters of Mercy industrial schools may be judged. 

           Moreover, these progressive views demonstrated the principles that could have been inculcated 

           in generations of carers, if training had been provided, with potentially dramatic consequences for 

           children in care. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                241 


----------------------- Page 1028-----------------------

           Impact of vows on institutional care 



6.40       In  May  2006,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  submitted  a  document  entitled  ‘The  Influence  of  Religious 

           Values and/or Religious Life of the Sisters of Mercy on the Management of Industrial Schools and 

           on Aspects of the Care of the Children’. In this document, the Sisters explored the ways in which 

           their religious vows affected the care they gave to children in their institutions, and it arose out of 

           testimony at the oral hearings, particularly relating to the way in which individual Sisters interacted 

           with the hierarchy in the Congregation and with the children in care. 



6.41       The Congregation accepted that these religious values and ways of life ‘must have influenced the 

           way in which the schools were run’. 



6.42       Sisters of Mercy take the three vows common to most religious communities – of poverty, chastity 

           and obedience – and they also take a fourth: to serve the poor, sick, and uneducated. In addition 

           to these formal obligations, other aspects of religious life that were highly valued included prayer, 

           routine,  simplicity,  silence  and  work.  The  Congregation  gave  examples  of  how  these  religious 

           values might have had a negative impact on the way industrial schools were run: 



                  •     The strict routine of prayer followed by Sisters meant that during regular identifiable 

                        periods,  the  children  were  exclusively  in  the  care  of  lay  staff  and  it  also  had  the 

                        consequence of a regime of strict religious observance being imposed on the children. 

                        The  importance  of  routine  also  manifested  itself  in  everyday  activities  with  Sisters 

                        following  a  strict  daily  routine.  ‘The  daily  routine  of  adherence  to  times  for  prayer, 

                        meals, work or recreation was sacrosanct’. Sisters would have expected the children 

                        to follow the same routine, with early rising, Mass, chores, special times for meals and 

                        recreation and the Congregation accepted that this ‘could have been experienced as 

                        harsh and demanding’. 



                  •    The emphasis on silence as a means of focusing attention on ‘God and the things of 

                        God’  had  a  significant  impact  on  the  manner  in  which  individual  Sisters  interacted 

                        with each other and with the children. This could have had the effect of reducing the 

                        communication of information about children between Sisters, or Sisters and staff, to 

                        a ‘strictly “need to know” basis’. 



                  •    Work played a large role in religious observance: 



                       Working hard was viewed as generous, obedient and self-giving. The underpinning 

                       theology of the time held that grace would supply for what nature failed to offer. It 

                       was not expected or customary that a Sister would complain in any way about the 

                       task to which she had been assigned. To do so would be seen as not merely a sign 

                       of personal failing, but of inability to cope with the challenges of religious life. 



6.43       The Congregation stated: 



                 The   negative    aspect   was,   perhaps,    that  leisure   activities were    circumscribed    and 

                 everyone was caught up in a system where rest, unstructured relaxation and variety were 

                 seen as luxuries rather than necessities. 



6.44       It also said that ‘A life of simplicity and sometimes frugality was valued as an outward expression 

           of the vow of Poverty’. All Sisters pooled their salaries, and they were ‘directed in the main towards 

           the works of mercy engaged in by the Sisters’. 



6.45       Many Sisters spoke in evidence about the expectation that they would not show affection to the 

           children in care. The Congregation said: 



                 The question of the reluctance to show any physical affection for the children found its 

                 roots in a positive understanding of caring for all children equally and of not favouring one 

                 child over the other. 



           242                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1029-----------------------

6.46      This desire to treat all equally might have led to children seeing the Sisters as aloof or uncaring, 

           but it would be: 



                 ... a grave distortion to see the absence of the overt expression of physical affection for 

                 the children as some kind of innate personal failing on the part of each Sister, related in 

                 some obscure way, to her choice of a life of celibacy rather than a choice of marriage 

                 and motherhood. 



6.47       Many Sisters spoke about the impact of the vow of obedience. 



6.48       Chapter VII of the 1926 edition of the Rule and Constitutions dealt with the vow of obedience. 

           It provided: 



                 28.  The  Sisters  are  always  to  bear  in  mind,  that  by  the  Vow  of  Obedience  they  have 

                forever renounced their own will, and resigned it to the direction of their Superiors. They 

                 are to obey the Mother Superior, as holding her authority from God, rather through love 

                 than  from  servile  fear.  They  shall  love  and  respect  her  as  their  mother.  Without  her 

                 permission they shall not perform public penances. 



                 29.  They  are  to  execute,  without  hesitation,  all  the  directions  of  the  Mother  Superior; 

                whether in matters of great or little moment, agreeable or disagreeable. They shall never 

                 murmur,  but  with  humility  and  spiritual  joy  carry  the  sweet  yoke  of  Jesus  Christ.  They 

                 shall not absent themselves from the Common Exercises without her leave, except in a 

                 case of pressing urgency and if they cannot then have access to her, they shall make 

                 known to her the reason of their absence at the earliest opportunity. They shall obey the 

                 call of the bell as the voice of God. 



6.49       Sr Margaret Casey discussed the operation of the vow of Obedience during the Phase III hearing 

           into Newtownforbes: 



                 I  suppose  back  in  those  years  the  Sister  would  have  been  assigned  to  a  job  under 

                 obedience and that obviously would have impacted on the Institution and her role in it, 

                 because sometimes then it meant, and this would have been borne out in the Industrial 

                 School,  that  they  could  have  ended  up  in  a  particular  Ministry  as,  say,  some  of  the 

                 Resident Managers, that they were there for quite a long time, 30 years and more. But it 

                 would have been true, as well, that out of the obedience that it wouldn't have been the 

                 accepted or the norm for somebody to complain to the person in authority about how the 

                place was being run, because to do so would have been seen not merely as a kind of 

                personal failing but it would also have shown that in some way that their inability to cope 

                 with the challenges of religious life. 



6.50       One Sister expressed her dissatisfaction with the hierarchical nature of Newtownforbes. She said 

          that the junior Sisters had no say in the Community. ‘It was ruled, it was governed from the top, 

          just a select few, that's all ’, and the junior Sisters were required to follow ‘blindly and dumbly’. She 

          was unhappy with this situation because the people who were governing the Industrial School, 

          the Mother Superior, the Mother Assistant, the Bursar and the Novice Mistress, had little to do 

          with  the  Industrial  School.  ‘They  were  the  elite.  You  had  the  elite  and  you  had  the  everyday 

           folk’. This management structure inhibited her ability to speak out about the deficiencies she saw 

           around her. 



          The Cussen Report 



6.51      When the Cussen Report was published in 1936, the Sisters of Mercy had responsibility for 26 

           industrial schools, 22 of them for girls, three for junior boys, and one was a mixed school for junior 

           boys and girls. The leading position held by the Congregation in the Irish industrial school system 

           is illustrated by comparison with the Christian Brothers, who had six industrial schools, the Sisters 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              243 


----------------------- Page 1030-----------------------

           of the Good Shepherd and  the Sisters of Charity who each had five  schools, the Presentation 

           Sisters who had two schools, and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge and the Sisters of 

           St Louis who had one each. 



6.52       Despite their importance in the industrial school system, the Sisters of Mercy were not consulted 

           by the Cussen Commission in the course of its work. Unlike the Christian Brothers or the Oblate 

           Fathers, they were not issued a special invitation by the Commission to give evidence; and the 

           absence of any member of the Congregation from the list of witnesses at Appendix A of the Report 

           implies that they did not respond to the advertisement of the Commission requesting assistance 

           in its work. 



6.53       It is not known why such a large and influential body in this area did not make a submission to 

          the  Cussen  Commission.  Although  there  was  no  overall  authority  for  the  Congregation  at  that 

          time, the Sisters of Mercy had in Carysfort a teacher training college that was attended by Sisters 

           of Mercy from all over Ireland. The Sisters of Mercy could, accordingly, have made a contribution 

          to the work of the Commission. 



           Impact of Medical Inspector 



6.54      The  Cussen  Report      made  a  number  of     important  recommendations,  one  of  which       was  the 

           appointment  of  a  Medical  and  General  Inspector  for  Industrial  Schools  by  the  Department  of 

           Education. Dr Anna McCabe was appointed in 1936, and was extremely critical of the conditions 

           she found in the Sisters of Mercy schools. 



6.55      A 1944 Department of Education memorandum commented on Dr McCabe’s report on Cappoquin 

           Industrial School, and condemned the conditions in the nuns’ schools generally: 



                 This  is  another  school  run  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  which  has  a  long  record  of  semi- 

                 starvation. Dr. McCabe's report following her inspection last November disclosed such an 

                 appalling state of affairs that we went over the head of the resident manager and issued 

                 an ultimatum to the Manager. Dr. McCabe's latest report shows how far we have got. Out 

                 of 75 boys, 61 are under the normal weight for their age-height groups by from 3 lbs. to 

                 21 lbs. The butter ration is exactly the same as it was in November, 1943 – 7 lbs. (At 6 

                 ozs.  per  head  it  should  be  28  lbs.)  The  boys  continue  to  look  pinched,  wizened  and 

                wretched and look lamentably different from normal children. 



                 It is abundantly clear that the only hope of the required improvement lies in drastic action. 

                 The first and most obvious step is the removal of the present resident manager. She is 

                 63  and  5/12  years  of  age  and  has  held  office  uninterruptedly  since  June,  1927.  Dr. 

                 McCabe informs me that she is a ruthless domineering person who resents any criticism 

                 and  challenges  advice.  Her  explanation  of  the  children's  failure  to  gain  weight  –  their 

                 "activity" – rival Marie Antoinette's "why don't they eat cake?" She has bedded down long 

                 since into a groove out of which she cannot be shifted by some annual criticism, and it 

                 seems clear that she holds the manager in the hollow of her hand. I can see no hope of 

                 improvement while she continues in office. 



                 The state of affairs existing in this school is so deplorable and indefensible that I think 

                further strong action is required. I suggest that payment of the state grant be suspended 

                for three months and, that the manager be informed that there will be a special inspection 

                 say, early next December. If that inspection shows that the underfeeding has ceased and 

                 that the weights generally are on the increase and tending towards normality, payment 

                will be resumed. If not, consideration must be given to the withdrawal of the certificate. 



                 I might  mention    that Dr.  McCabe's     account   of the  nuns'   schools   generally  is  most 

                 alarming.  Underfeeding  is  widespread.  In  fact,  she  tells  me  that  in  only  one  school  – 

                 Kinsale – is she completely satisfied with the diet. The general rule is what she describes 



           244                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1031-----------------------

                 as  a  bare  "maintenance  diet"  –  sufficient  to  keep  children  from  losing  weight  but  not 

                 enough to enable them to put on weight at anything approaching the normal rate. A third 

                 junior boys' school run by the Sisters of Mercy – Passage West – is in the same category 

                 as Rathdrum and Cappoquin, and she proposes to visit it again shortly. She is strongly of 

                 opinion that we must hit the schools in their purses by threatening to stop grants – and 

                 stopping  them  if  necessary  in  one  or  two  of  the  worst  cases  –  If  we  are  to  effect  an 

                 improvement. 



6.56       Dr McCabe made some severe criticisms of individual schools. For example, in relation to Dundalk 

           in 1946, she stated: 



                 ... if these people are going to have a school they must look after the children – otherwise 

                 I  will  have  to  recommend  that  they  are  not  fit  to  look  after  children  and  have  them 

                 transferred elsewhere. 



6.57       Similarly, in respect of Newtownforbes, she was highly critical of the management of the School. 

           In 1940, she had noticed that there was bruising on many of the bodies of the girls in the infirmary. 

           In her letter of 12th February 1940, to the Reverend Mother of the School, she stated: 



                 ... I was not satisfied in finding so many of the girls in the Infirmary suffering from bruises 

                 on their bodies. 



                 I  wish  particularly  to  draw  attention  to  the  latter  as  under  no  circumstances  can  the 

                 Department  tolerate treatment  of this  nature and  you being  responsible for  the care  of 

                 these children will have some difficulty in avoiding censure. 



6.58       She was also highly critical of the general conditions in the School. 



6.59       Although not directly alluded to by Dr McCabe, the situation in Goldenbridge was so bad that the 

           School had to be closed down for two weeks in 1942. 



6.60       What emerged was a situation of serious neglect which had been allowed to develop in the late 

           1930s  and  into  the  1940s.  Dr  McCabe’s  comments  in  the  Departmental  memorandum  quoted 

           above would indicate that this was much more widespread than the schools looked at in detail by 

           the Investigation Committee. Dr McCabe brought about considerable changes to those schools 

           run  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  often  in  the  face  of  opposition  and  obduracy  on  the  part  of 

           the Sisters. 



6.61       The Sisters have acknowledged the criticisms of individual schools, but have not addressed the 

           question of why these schools were so uniformly bad in the standard of physical care provided. 

           Although the Sisters have accepted that the religious vows they took had an impact on the way 

           in which they cared for children in institutions, they do not explain the level of neglect that was 

           found in the 1940s. 



           Possibility of change 



6.62       The Congregation’s Submission dealt with their overall role in residential childcare. They stated: 



                 In  conjunction  with  major  changes  in  Religious  Life  heralded  by  Vatican  II,  in  the  later 

                 1960’s the Kennedy Report ushered in a new era of child-care. The new model of child- 

                 care was the group home. It is, we submit, important to recognise that the Sisters of Mercy 

                 were also at the heart of this transition from institutional care to group home. It would be 

                 an unfair caricature to depict the Sisters as only being involved in the deposed regime of 

                 institutional child-care, and absent from the regime of group homes. On the contrary, the 

                 Sisters of Mercy were at the heart of this process of change. 



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6.63       The Congregation went on to say: 



                 It is unlikely that the problems posed by extreme poverty and family dysfunction can ever 

                 be addressed in a manner that avoids any pain to the child involved. But there is no doubt 

                 that the institutional form of child-care caused a great deal of pain to the children involved. 

                 The   Sisters   of  Mercy   were    at  the  heart   of that  system    and   fully  recognise    their 

                 responsibility. However, it is also fair to say that the Sisters of Mercy were among the first 

                 to embrace the transition to the new system of group homes. 



6.64       By the time of the Kennedy Report in 1970, numbers in the institutions had reduced to such an 

           extent that the old system based on capitation was unworkable. Schools had either to close down 

           or adapt. Change came slowly, and it was not until the mid-1980s that the old institutional care 

           system was fully replaced by the Sisters of Mercy with group homes. 



6.65       In  contrast,  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  who  were  also  engaged  in  the  institutional  care  of  children, 

           recognised the need for change, and attended childcare courses in England in the late 1940s. 

           These  courses  changed  the  way  the  Sisters  looked  at  institutional  childcare  in  Ireland.  They 

           recognised that the existing nature of institutional care could not provide for the psychological or 

           emotional needs of vulnerable children. They introduced the group home system to St Joseph’s, 

           Kilkenny   between     1951   and   1954.   The   success    of  this innovation    was   recognised    almost 

           immediately by Dr Anna McCabe, who saw that the children were happier in the new system. 



6.66       Had  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  seen  the  fundamental  flaws  in  the  system  of  childcare  operated  by 

           them in the late 1940s, and introduced change accordingly, much of the abuse recounted to the 

           Investigation Committee might not have taken place. As the Sisters have stated: 



                 It is significant that there have been few complaints about the group homes run by the 

                 Sisters of Mercy. 



6.67       The extent of the Congregation’s involvement in residential care was reflected in the number of 

           complaints received by the Investigation Committee from former residents of their institutions. The 

           Investigation Committee conducted full investigative hearings into five of the largest institutions, 

           namely  Goldenbridge,  Newtownforbes,  Clifden,  Cappoquin  and  Dundalk.  Every  witness  who 

           wished  to  participate  in  the  investigation  into  these  industrial  schools  was  invited  to  do  so.  In 

           respect of other schools, each complainant was invited for interview. 



            Name               Open              Certification      Original           Invited for       Attended 

                                                                    number of          hearing           hearing 

                                                                    complainants 



            St Vincent’s,      1880–1983         185                77                 52                43 

            Goldenbridge 



            Lady of            1869–1969         145                6                  6                 5 

            Succour, 

            Newtownforbes 



            St Joseph’s,       1872–1983         140                33                 20                10 

            Clifden 



            St Michael’s,      1877–1999         75                 26                 17                9 

            Cappoquin 



            St Joseph’s,       1881–1983         100                21                 10                3 

            Dundalk 



           246                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1033-----------------------

           Response to allegations of abuse 



6.68       During the Investigation Committee’s Emergence hearings, Sr Breege O’Neill, then Congregation 

           Leader of the Sisters of Mercy, outlined the response of the Congregation to the issue of child 

           abuse in Ireland. 



6.69       The   emergence      of widespread     allegations   of  abuse    in the  early   1990s   coincided    with  the 

           centralisation or amalgamation of the Congregation. The Congregation had just formed at national 

           level in 1994, and the intermediate provincial structures had not yet been established. This made 

           it difficult, she said, for the Congregation to determine precisely what had happened. Sr O’Neill 

           stated: 



                 I suppose one of the reasons I outlined our structure in the beginning was because when 

                 the allegations that concerned our congregation became known to us in the mid 90s we 

                 did not have central archives. We had just amalgamated at national level in 1994 and our 

                 intermediate structures, which were the provincial structures, were not in place. So one 

                 of  the  difficulties  for  us  in  responding  to  the  allegations  at  the  beginning  was  that  the 

                 information    we   needed    to  get  the  picture   ourselves    of just  what   happened     in  the 

                 institutions  and  what  was  known  of  life  there,  that  information  was  spread  around  the 

                 country. 



6.70       The records of institutions that had closed in the 1960s had been transferred to local convents, 

           some  of  which  were  autonomous  and  others  were  branch  houses  of  larger  convents.  Some 

           records had been transferred to the mother house of the newly formed Diocesan Congregations. 

           In 1996, the Sisters decided to collect what records there were and assemble them in a central 

           archive. To that end, they employed a professional archivist and established the archive at the 

           Congregation’s premises in Baggot Street. The records which had survived the closure of some 

           of the schools and convents, and the process of amalgamation, were in some areas quite sparse. 

           This made  it difficult for  the Leadership to develop  an awareness of  what had happened  or to 

           respond to the increasing number of requests for information from former residents of institutions 

           run by the Congregation. Sr O’Neill stated that the records were: 



                 as complete as we have been able to find of record of any institution for which we were 

                 responsible as far as back as we have been able to find records for. So everything from 

                 attics to whatever little pieces of paper were available, we have done an immense trawl 

                 of every house to ensure that in some way the whole picture is contained in one place. 



6.71       The records consist of: 



                 Any  records  that  were  kept  in  any  industrial  school  and  I  think  they  cover  things  like 

                 admission registers – I have to make a note of these so I will remember them - discharge 

                 books, books of incidental returns, manager's diaries, medical officer reports, punishment 

                 books, maintenance books. Any correspondence that has survived from the institutions. 

                 Medical history forms, general case notes, birth certificates, detention orders. They vary. 

                 I am not saying that we have all of that information for any one institution, but the archives 

                 comprise all of that information in relation to at least some of the institutions and in varying 

                 degrees in relation to them all ... Depending on when the industrial school in a particular 

                 locality closed and what happened to the building, or even what happened to the convent 

                 building   in the   subsequent     years  to  the  90s   also  determined     what   information   has 

                 survived. 



6.72       The Sisters of Mercy became aware of allegations of abuse in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sr 

           O’Neill stated: 



                 It was at that time that we became aware of the pain that some people who had been in 

                 our institutions were still carrying in their adult life as a result of their time there. That we 



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                 became     aware  of    mainly  through    the  public  domain.    Through  books      that  had  been 

                 published. I refer to the book "The God Squad" in the late 80s and "You May Talk Now" 

                 by Mary Phil Drennan. They were people whose stories related to institutions that were 

                 run by our Congregation. 



6.73       Ms   Christine    Buckley    had   made    serious   allegations    of  abuse    arising  out   of  her  time   in 

           Goldenbridge on the Gay Byrne  radio programme on 8th                November 1992, but it  was the ‘Dear 



           Daughter’  programme  in  February  1996  that  represented  a  turning  point  for  the  Congregation. 

           Although earlier books had been published and interviews broadcast, they were relevant only to 

           particular convents or Diocesan Congregations, whereas the ‘Dear Daughter’ programme was the 

           first to confront the Congregation as a whole: 



                 It actually was the ‘Dear Daughter’ programme in 1996. Because earlier those two books 

                  would  have  probably  come  to  the  attention  of  the  particular  convent  connected  to  the 

                 orphanage in which their experiences were recounted but in 1996 we had come together 

                 as a Congregation  and the impact of the ‘Dear  Daughter’ programme on us is  hard to 

                 describe really because the impact of the story and of the coverage in the media following 

                 that, it was like a tidal wave that came over us for which we were not prepared either 

                 structurally or in terms of how we understood the past at that time. 



6.74       The programme had an enormous impact on the way that the Congregation viewed itself: 



                  The  impact was  enormous on  the Congregation.  One of  the reasons  was because  we 

                 had held a particular picture ourselves of our involvement in the care of children and that 

                 particular  programme  certainly  shattered  all  of  that.  We  had  within  the  Congregation 

                 many, many Sisters who had no experience of industrial schools. They wouldn't have ever 

                 been  attached  to  a  convent  where  there  was  an  industrial  school.  They  were  never 

                 involved in them themselves. They wouldn't have them in their memory. Suddenly there 

                  were all of these allegations coming to us and we really didn't know how to deal with them 

                 at the time. I think we went through the shock and denial and that whole sense of could 

                 this be true ... We didn't have a base of knowledge ourselves to check it out against. So 

                 our initial response was that kind of dismay. Huge hurt within the Congregation for the 

                 people who were coming forward with their stories. All of that had a huge impact on the 

                 morale of the Congregation. I say that because it was in an effort to try to create some 

                 understanding of that, that we engaged in the process I spoke about earlier, that kind of 

                 self-reflection process around how could this have happened? How did we contribute to 

                 creating situations where this could have happened? It was a very painful time. Then we 

                 had Sisters within the Congregation who were extremely pained by somehow now seeing 

                 their  life's  work  being  cast  in  a  totally  different  light.  These  would  be  the  very  elderly 

                 Sisters. That was very difficult for them. 



6.75       Sr O’Neill stated that there was enormous pressure on the Leadership Team at the time: 



                 ... it was the tension of holding all of those pieces and trying to support everybody involved 

                 at that time. I am talking particularly in the years '96, '97, '98. 



6.76       The  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  aware  of  ‘Dear  Daughter’  before  it  was  aired.  When  it  was  being 

           made, the Congregation commissioned Mr Gerard Crowley, a childcare specialist, to carry out an 

           investigation into Goldenbridge Industrial School, in an effort to provide the Congregation with an 

           independent  view  of  what  happened  there,  and  to  give  the  Congregation  some  assistance  in 

           deciding   how    to  respond    to the   allegations   that  were   being   made.    Mr   Crowley’s   report   is 

           considered in detail in the chapter on Goldenbridge: for present purposes, it is sufficient to note 

           that it reached a preliminary view that the allegations were broadly credible. In her evidence to the 

           Investigation Committee in the Phase I hearing into Goldenbridge, Sr Helena O’Donoghue stated: 



           248                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1035-----------------------

                  The approach gave us, if you like, some understanding initially of how we might view our 

                 situation at the time and we out of that made our apology. We took the main conclusions 

                 from  it  that  the  regime  was  harsh  and  insensitive  to  the  needs  of  children,  that  it  was 

                 inadequate and did not meet their basic needs. 



6.77       Following ‘Dear Daughter’, the Sisters announced the setting-up of a helpline and a counselling 

           service. Also, in an effort to build up its level of understanding, the Leadership met with every 

           Sister in Ireland who had worked in childcare. It also met with every Community which had had 

           an industrial school attached to it in the past: 



                  We learnt a number of things. We learnt that their understanding of their time spent in 

                 childcare  in  these  industrial  schools,  their  understanding  was  that  they  had  done  well 

                 under  very  difficult  circumstances  ...  They  would  acknowledge  that  the  atmosphere  in 

                 those institutions was certainly not conducive or helpful to addressing the emotional needs 

                 of children. They talked about the lack of funding. They talked about the lack of resources 

                 in  terms  of  help.  They  talked  about  an  ...  institutional  sort  of  daily  set  up  that  wasn't 

                 conducive to either attending to children's individual emotional needs ... Or to developing 

                 to  the  degree  that  they  would  now  want  with  the  individuality  of  children.  They  would 

                 recognise there was harshness ... But they wouldn't accept the more serious allegations 

                 that have been made against them. 



6.78       Sr Breege O’Neill stated that the relationship that individual Sisters had with former residents might 

           have clouded their view or led to a ‘rose-tinted’ picture of what life was like in the industrial schools: 



                 ... what complicates the whole piece for us is that those Sisters continued to have ongoing 

                 contact and friendly relationships with many who were in our institutions and who to this 

                 day  come  back  and  they  visit.  They  stay  for  weekends  in  the  summertime  in  those 

                  Communities. So in some way that sort of tradition maybe informed our picture of what 

                  we  thought  the  relationship  was.  People  would  attend  weddings  and  christenings  of 

                 children and all of that, and letters would be exchanged. I suppose one of the things we 

                 learnt from going around talking to the Sisters was the huge affection they have for those 

                  who were children in the institutions and with whom they have that ongoing contact. We 

                 try  to  hold  that  side  by  side  with  the  huge  pain  that  many  people  who  were  in  our 

                 institutions  speak  about.  That  has  been  a  real  dilemma  and  tension  point  for  us  as  a 

                  Congregation. 



6.79       In addition to these interviews, the Congregation: 



                 ... engaged ... in a very intense process of reflection throughout the whole Congregation. 

                 Just  trying  to  understand  what  structures  of  ours  brought  about  a  situation  where  the 

                 stories that were emerging in the 90s could have happened. We have enlisted the help 

                 of  historians  and    psychologist,   theologians  to    help  us   with  that  reflection.  To  try  to 

                 understand the context of the time, but also our own structures and anything within those 

                 that might have led to that. 



6.80       After the broadcast of ‘Dear Daughter’, the Sisters of Mercy issued their first public apology, in 

           February 1996. This stated: 



                  In the light of recent revelations regarding the mistreatment of children in our institutions 

                 we the Mercy Sisters wish to take this opportunity to sincerely and unreservedly express 

                 our deep regret to those men and women who at any time or place in our care were hurt 

                 or harshly treated. The fact that most complaints relate to many years ago is not offered as 

                 an excuse. As a Congregation we fully acknowledge our failures and ask for forgiveness. 



                 Aware of the painful and lasting effect of such experiences we would like to hear from 

                 those who have suffered and we are putting in place an independent and confidential help 

                 line.  This  help  line  will  be  staffed  by  competent  and  professional  counsellors  who  will 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                  249 


----------------------- Page 1036-----------------------

                 listen sympathetically and who will be in the position to offer further help if required. In 

                 this way we would hope to redress the pain insofar as that is possible so that those who 

                 have suffered might experience some peace, healing and dignity. 



                 Life in Ireland in the 40s and 50s was in general harsh for many people. This was reflected 

                 in orphanages, which were under funded, under staffed and under resourced. It was in 

                 this climate that many Sisters gave years of generous service to the education and care 

                 of  children.  However,  we  made  mistakes  and  irrespective  of  the  passage  of  time  as  a 

                 Congregation we now openly acknowledge our failures and ask for forgiveness. 



                 Regretfully we cannot change the past. As we continue our work of caring and education 

                 today  we  will  constantly  review  and  monitor  our  procedures,  our  personnel  and  our 

                 facilities. Working in close cooperation with other voluntary and statutory agencies we are 

                 committed to doing all in our power to ensure that people in our care have a protective 

                 and supportive environment. 



                 We were founded to alleviate pain, want and misery. We have tried to do this through our 

                 work in health care, education, child care, social and pastoral work. Despite our evident 

                 failures which we deeply regret we are committed to continuing that work in partnership 

                 with many others in the years ahead. 



6.81       Sr  O’Neill  described  the  Congregation’s  thinking  and  objective  in  publishing  that  apology  as 

           follows: 



                 Our hope was that it would ease the pain and trauma of the many people who had been 

                 former  residents  in  our  institutions,  and  that  it  might  help  to  restore  the  relationship 

                 between  them  and  the  congregation.  Because  at  that  early  stage  the  breaking  of  that 

                 relationship was hugely painful for the Sisters who worked in the industrial schools and 

                 for the wider Congregation. We thought that if people could hear that we were truly sorry 

                 that might help to restore the relationship. That was the intention at the time. 



6.82       However, the Sisters concluded that the apology was not successful: 



                 I don't think it was successful. Because as time went on we learnt that people heard that 

                 apology as conditional. They heard it as incomplete. It didn't seem to have the intent that 

                 we had thought it would. Or what we had hoped would happen didn't happen at that time 

                 as a result of that apology. In some ways I think people who heard it as conditional were 

                 more hurt by that sense that we were not listening to them in the present. 



6.83       The Sisters considered that the initiation of legal proceedings against the Congregation altered 

           the way that they sought to engage with former residents: 



                 Shortly  after  that  began  the  issuing  of  litigation.  Many  litigation  cases  against  us  as  a 

                 Congregation by former residents. That sort of changed the relationship and put its own 

                 sort of limitations on our ability to continue to try to connect with our former residents. We 

                 respected the right of people to take court proceedings against us and we did not want to 

                 influence them in any way in doing that. 



6.84       The Congregation also highlighted other tensions: 



                 One tension has been, the one I mentioned earlier, where we have Sisters who would 

                 acknowledge some but not all of the allegations against them, and who because of the 

                 way the Commission was set up would be or could be named as abusers at its conclusion 

                 we had a responsibility to provide those Sisters with all of the legal and other supports 

                 they needed, and to have testimonies tested. That was also a tension for us, because all 

                 of  those  processes  in  some  way  were  creating  more  of  a  wedge  in  the  relationship 

                 between us and them. That is how it was for us. 



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6.85       The Congregation decided to publish a second apology, which it did on 5th               May 2004. Sr O’Neill 



           informed the Committee why it decided to do this: 



                 When Justice Laffoy resigned and the Commission went into abeyance for some time and 

                 we  began  to  think  that  the  Commission  was  going  to  probably  go  on  for  a  number  of 

                 years, and certainly the High Court litigation cases would go on for years and we just at 

                 that point said we have got to do something to try in the short term to reach out to the 

                 people whose lives were still damaged by their experiences and see if there was any way 

                 we could begin to build a process of reconciliation. That was the reason we issued the 

                 second  apology.  Because  we        began  with  one  to  one  contact      with  individual  former 

                 residents or with representatives of former residents groups and the feedback was that 

                 apology was just so unhelpful to them, that original one. They would have told us that 

                 their ability to get on with their lives was in some way blocked by our inability to hear them. 



                 When that awareness became clear to us we decided to one more time and this time to 

                 try  to  find  the  words  that  would  reflect  our  desire  to  indicate  that  that  apology  was 

                 unconditional and unreserved. That was the second apology we issued with that intent. 



6.86       The second apology was as follows: 



                 On  behalf  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  we  the  central  leadership  team 

                 wish to say to all those who as children lived in our orphanages and industrial schools we 

                 accept  unreservedly  that  many  of  you  who  spent  your  childhoods  in  orphanages  and 

                 industrial schools run by our congregation were hurt and damaged while in our care. We 

                 believe that you suffered physical and emotional trauma. 



                 We have in the past publicly apologised to you. We know that you heard our apology then 

                 as   conditional    and   less   than   complete.    Now     without   reservation    we    apologise 

                 unconditionally  to  each  one  of  you  for  the  suffering  we  have  caused.  We  express  our 

                 heartfelt sorrow and ask your forgiveness. We ask forgiveness for our failure to care for 

                 you and to protect you in the past, and for our failure to hear you in the present. 



                 We are distressed  by our failures. We have been  earnestly searching to find a  way to 

                 bring about healing and we need your help to do this. We recognise that this statement 

                 may be considered too little too late. We make it in the hope that it will be a further step 

                 in the long process of healing the pain that we as a Congregation have caused. 



                 Finally, we failed those Sisters in our Congregation whom we put in the situation of caring 

                 for  you  without  adequate  supports  or  resources.  For  that  too  we  apologise  and  take 

                 responsibility. 



6.87       In  her  evidence    on  behalf   of the  Congregation     at  the  commencement        of the  hearings    into 

           Goldenbridge,  Sr  Helena  O’Donoghue  discussed  the  negative  aspects  of  the  industrial  school 

           system and of Goldenbridge in particular. She stated: 



                 The most basic features of the industrial school illustrate how children almost inevitably 

                 suffered  in  this  system.  The  large  size  of  the  Institution  and  the  number  of  children 

                 contained in it compared with small group units that we have today. Goldenbridge housed 

                 up to 185 children at any one time during the period under review. The size gave little 

                 prospect  that  the  replication  of  love  and  nurture  of  family  could  occur  within  its  walls. 

                 Nowadays, children taken into residential care live in homes of groups of six to eight at 

                 the maximum. 



                 A second basic feature was really the ratio of staff to children within the Institution and as 

                 far as we can ascertain there appears to have been approximately one member of staff, 

                 and I include that to be either a teacher or a carer, one member of staff to about 30 or 

                 more children around the clock. 



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                 Thirdly, the absence of training for sisters and lay staff in the sense of what now would 

                 be called childcare training. Some Sisters, particularly those in charge, were trained as 

                 teachers; however, no formal childcare training had existed in Ireland until the late 60s 

                 and early 70s. Then the capitation system of funding, together with the level of funding, 

                 led to difficult financial constraints and choices. 



6.88       She  also  accepted  that  the  institutional  nature  of  the  residential  setting  led,  in  turn,  to  other 

           undesirable conditions of daily life. She described these as follows: 



                 The   regimental   nature   of  the  Institution where    there  was   restriction  on  freedom    of 

                 movement well beyond school hours, where the lack of privacy inherent in institutional life 

                 was  something,  particularly  in  the  early  years,  which  would  have  been  unhappy.  The 

                 emphasis    on   conformity   rather  than   on  creativity  and   choice,  and   the  very  limited 

                 opportunities of forming personal one to one adult/child relationships, and I suppose in 

                 particular the reliance on corporal punishment as a feature in the maintenance of discipline 

                 and good order. 



6.89       She also mentioned: 



                 A failure to properly understand the level of trauma being suffered by each children as a 

                 result  of  being   placed    in  the  School    and   separated    from   family,   sometimes     in 

                 circumstances where this placement followed a death of a parent. 



                 A failure to properly respond to the individual emotional needs of the children in a school, 

                 including how lonely and frightened they must have been in being taken from family and 

                 placed in a large institution with children of all ages. 



                 A failure to recognise the special emotional and educational needs of children who had 

                 come from troubled backgrounds. 



                 A failure to keep children informed about their families and family events, such as births, 

                 marriages, and deaths. 



                 A  failure  to  assess  the  individual  needs  of  each  child,  either  on  admission  or  on  an 

                 ongoing basis. 



                 A  failure  to meet    the  comprehensive      educational    needs   of  children   and   the  very 

                 inadequacy of the educational process itself relative to their needs. 



6.90       She pointed out that these failures were common to all industrial schools, but accepted that: 



                 It does raise, if you like, a deep question for us as a Congregation and Sisters of Mercy 

                just that we as agents of the State worked through this system and perhaps were not alert 

                 to  the  ways   in which    the  failures contributed   to  the  very   real pain   that  has  been 

                 experienced by children who were in industrial schools. 



6.91       These  further  concessions  as  to  the  negative  aspects  of  institutional  life  are  relevant  in  the 

           investigations into the different schools, not only those run by the Sisters of Mercy. They are also 

           material to the assessment of the system as a whole. The question has to be considered whether, 

           and to what extent, detention in an industrial school meant that a child was doomed to suffer ill- 

           treatment or neglect amounting to abuse of some kind. Whatever the answers to those questions, 

           it does seem  that Sr Bianca’s lecture  in 1953 touched on  many of the issues  identified by the 

           Sisters in their list of negative features, and contained advice on how to remedy them. At least 

           some of the negative features mentioned could have been dealt with by the approach proposed 

           by Sr Bianca, which stressed the need for individual care and sympathetic treatment. The same 

           can be said about the comments and recommendations made by the Cussen Commission. 



           252                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1039-----------------------

6.92       Speaking  for  the  Congregation  on  the  more  specific  issue  of  whether  abuse  occurred  in  their 

           schools, Sr Breege O’Neill in her evidence during the  Emergence hearings said that individual 

           Sisters ‘wouldn't accept the more serious allegations that have been made against them’. 



6.93       Sr Breege stated that the records available to the Congregation did not provide any evidence of 

           ‘ongoing systematic physical ... abuse of children’. 



6.94       In  her  evidence  at  the  commencement  of  the  Goldenbridge  investigation  (Phase  I),  Sr  Helena 

           O’Donoghue was asked what her position was in relation to allegations of physical abuse. She 

           stated: 



                 It will be a matter for the Commission to really in some way examine elements of that 

                 nature which at this distance we are not in a position to be able to say definitively that 

                 they happened or didn't happen. What we will be saying is that corporal punishment which 

                 was of the very severe and very cruel nature is denied by the Sisters who are accused of 

                 it ... Severe beatings are a matter that we would be having a different view on than is 

                 shared  by  many  of  the  complainants  and  we  would  be  looking  to  the  Commission  to 

                 determine on something which is very, very difficult to determine, but those who are alive 

                 and who are present at the time vehemently deny that they ever used punishment to the 

                 degree that was cruel and excessively abusive. 



6.95       In their Submissions to the Investigation Committee at the conclusion of the private hearings into 

           Goldenbridge, the Sisters of Mercy stated that: 



                 Corporal punishment was routine ... But ... we say that there has not been established 

                 that there was:— 



                 (a) Serious or extreme violence, whether leading to children’s deaths or not; 



                 (b) Daily unjustified physical abuse; ... 



6.96       During    her  evidence     to  the  Committee      at  the   Phase    III hearing    into  Goldenbridge,     Sr 

           O’Donoghue stated: 



                 At  the  Phase  I  hearing  I  said  very  clearly  that  we  were  not  in  a  position  to  accept  as 

                 factually correct the allegations of serious physical abuse or injury to any child. And that 

                 would cover those points. 



6.97       She continued that, having attended all of the private hearings, she would be of the same view: 



                 Yes, we would, following the hearings we would be of the same view. 



6.98       Having  given  that  evidence,  Sr  O’Donoghue  was  asked  why  the  Sisters  had  apologised.  She 

           replied: 



                 I think that, perhaps, an examination of the apology, both apologies, may be revealing in 

                 some  way.  I  think  that  we  have  always  acknowledged  that  we  recognise  that  children 

                 suffered pain and hurt while in our institutions. We know that those institutions, as any 

                 other institutions, were systems. We regret deeply that suffering continued for the children 

                 through the years that they were there. We deeply do feel that and want in some way to 

                 both acknowledge and to work, as I have already said, for some kind of recovery. 



                 Where specific allegations of a serious nature have been made, the apology couldn't, until 

                 these matters would be completed, specify what the outcome of specific allegations were. 

                 In relation to Goldenbridge, our conviction is that, like anywhere else, children would have 

                 suffered in Goldenbridge pain and hurt one way or another that was not adverted to. At 

                 the same time we have seen and believe that there is ample evidence to say that the 

                 Institution was a reasonably effective and caring institution, according to the standards of 

                 the time. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 253 


----------------------- Page 1040-----------------------

6.99       Sr O’Donoghue was referred to the portion of the apology which dealt with hurt and damage, and 

           she was asked what caused the children hurt or damage. She replied: 



                 I believe that I couldn't summarise that in a sentence, it is a very complex situation. But 

                 there were large numbers, there was lack of understanding, there was a regimental way 

                 of  life,  there  was  corporal  punishment,  and  factors  like  that  which  would  have  been 

                 unfriendly, to put it at its mildest, to the needs of children who were hurt already and who 

                 had experienced loss. 



6.100      Later she stated: 



                 We  certainly  accept  that  corporal  punishment  was  part  and  parcel  of  the  life  and  was 

                 routine.  We  don't  know  and  can't  be  definite  about  it,  but  that  it  may  not  have  been 

                 reserved to the Manager only. But we do not accept that there was punishment that would 

                 have led to any kind of serious, or that was serious and caused injury. 



6.101      During the Phase I hearing into Dundalk, Sr Ann-Marie McQuaid was asked to comment generally 

           on the complaints, by former residents of the School, that certain lay members of staff and some 

           nuns did treat them harshly. She stated: 



                 I suppose knowing human nature and knowing the length of the period of time and the 

                 number of children I think it would be unrealistic to say that there weren't times when a 

                 child could have been treated harshly. We deeply regret it if we caused it and we deeply 

                 regret it if we didn't notice it. 



6.102      She described the Congregation’s general attitude to the issue of corporal punishment as follows: 



                 In hindsight we regret that and that's what I would have had said. We deeply regret it, 

                 particularly with children who were vulnerable and who were carrying so much inner pain 

                 themselves, it made life more difficult for them. 



6.103      During the Phase I hearing into Clifden, Sr Margaret Casey stated: 



                 Again I would wish to say that corporal punishment as a practice is something that we 

                 would  deeply  regret  and  the  individual  Sisters  who  administered  it  would  have  deep 

                 regrets because we do realise and recognise that these children were vulnerable children 

                 and in that particular setting it was particularly hard on them because of their vulnerability. 



6.104      At the Phase III hearing into Clifden, Sr Casey stated: 



                 I am aware that there is again a direct conflict of evidence in the whole area of corporal 

                 punishment  and  in  due  course  the  Commission  will  no  doubt  adjudicate  on  that.  I  do 

                 acknowledge  and  have  acknowledged  that  corporal  punishment  was  a  feature  in  the 

                 school  life,  as  it  was  in  most  primary  schools  in  the  1960s,  and  that  slapping  was  the 

                 primary form of punishment and I did acknowledge and apologise if children were hurt or 

                 damaged by excessive use of corporal punishment while in Clifden. 



6.105      During the Phase III hearing into Newtownforbes, Sr Casey stated: 



                 I can't say that the children were slapped every morning for bed-wetting because I don't 

                 know that, I wasn't there at the time, I did inquire and the Sister who was there is in her 

                 90's and wasn't able to furnish me with any information to help me in an understanding 

                 of how often is the punishment or how severe, so I honestly don't know. All I know is that 

                 – and they would have acknowledged that in the School, that there was punishment for 

                 bed-wetting but the extent of it, the regularity of it, the severity of it, I don't know. 



           254                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1041-----------------------

           Corporal punishment 



           Rules and regulations governing corporal punishment 



6.106      The extent to which corporal punishment crossed the line into abuse is examined in the chapters 

           dealing with each individual school. What is clear, however, is that the punishment administered 

           in all schools examined by the Committee often exceeded that permitted by the 1933 Rules and 

           Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Ireland. These rules imposed limits on the use 

           of corporal punishment. These limits were more restrictive for girls, particularly those over the age 

           of 15. The issue of discipline was dealt with in Regulation 12: 



                  DISCIPLINE. 



                  The  Manager or  his  Deputy  shall be  authorised  to punish  the  Children  detained in  the 

                  School in case of misconduct. All serious misconduct, and the Punishments inflicted for 

                  it, shall be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be laid before the 

                  Inspector when he visits. The Manager must, however, remember that the more closely 

                 the School is modelled on a principle of judicious family government the more salutary 

                 will be its discipline, and the fewer occasions will arise for resort to punishment. 



6.107      Regulation 13 stated that the punishments should consist of: 



                  (a) Forfeiture of awards and privileges, or degradation from rank, previously obtained by 

                  good conduct. 



                  (b) Moderate childish punishment with the hand. 



                  (c) Chastisement with the cane, strap, or birch. 



6.108      The Regulation went on: 



                  Referring   to  (c) personal    chastisement     may    be  inflicted  by  the  Manager,     or,  in his 

                  presence, by an Officer specially authorised by him, and in no case may it be inflicted 

                  upon  girls  over  15  years  of  age.  In  the  case  of  girls  under  15,  it  shall  not  be  inflicted 

                  except in cases of urgent necessity, each of which must be at once fully reported to the 

                  Inspector. Caning on the hand is forbidden. No punishment not mentioned above shall 

                  be inflicted. 



6.109      The 1946 Rules and Regulations for National Schools applied to the internal national school within 

           the industrial schools: 



                  Instructions in regard to the infliction of Corporal Punishment in National Schools. 



                     96. (1) Corporal Punishment should be administered only for grave transgression. In no 

                     circumstances should corporal punishment be administered for mere failure at lessons. 



                     (2)  Only  the  principal  teacher,  or  such  other  member  of  the  staff  as  may  be  duly 

                     authorised by the manager for the purpose, should inflict corporal punishment. 



                     (3) Only a light cane or rod may be used for the purpose of corporal punishment which 

                     should be inflicted only on the open hand. The boxing of children’s ears, the pulling of 

                     their hair or similar ill-treatment is absolutely forbidden and will be visited with severe 

                     penalties. 



                     (4) No teacher should carry about a cane or other instrument of punishment. 



                     (5)  Frequent  recourse  to  corporal  punishment  will  be  considered  by  the  Minister  as 

                     indicating bad tone and ineffective discipline. 



6.110      This rule did not permit the use of the leather strap in the classroom. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   255 


----------------------- Page 1042-----------------------

6.111      In addition, the Department of Education issued many circulars and guidelines to Industrial School 

           Managers, indicating that corporal punishment must always be kept within the bounds set down 

           by the Regulations and must never be used excessively. Circular 11/1946 stated: 



                 Corporal punishment should be resorted to only where other forms of punishment have 

                 been  found  unsuccessful  as  a  means  of  correction.  It  should  be  administered  only  for 

                 grave  transgressions,  and  in  no  circumstances  for  mere  failure  at  school  lessons  or 

                 industrial training. 



6.112      The Circular went on to state that punishment should be confined to slapping on the hand with a 

           light cane or strap, and that this should only be administered by the Resident Manager or by a 

           member of staff specifically authorised by him. It added that ‘any form of corporal punishment not 

           in accordance with the terms of this circular is strictly prohibited’. 



           Punishment book 



6.113      Only one punishment book from the Sisters of Mercy schools under investigation has been seen 

           by the Committee. 



6.114      The Sisters of Mercy say that the general prevalence of corporal punishment in schools during 

           this  period  is  a  factor  which  should  be  taken  into  account  when  determining  whether  corporal 

           punishment was excessive or abusive. To an extent they are correct, but the Regulations quoted 

           above were drawn up at a time when corporal punishment was even more prevalent, and yet the 

           authorities recognised the necessity of treating children in residential schools with particular care. 

           The Regulations recognise that children in industrial schools are not only in their school but also 

           in their home, and the standard that is applied is not that of the average national school but that 

           of  the  average  home.  The  reminder  to  Managers  in  the  Rules  and  Regulations  that  ‘the  more 

           closely the School is modelled on a principle of judicious family government the more salutary will 

           be its discipline, and the fewer occasions will arise for resort to punishment’ is central to the way 

           a residential school should be judged. 



           Sexual abuse 



6.115      The issue of sexual abuse did not feature as prominently in the evidence in relation to schools 

           run  by  the  Sisters  of Mercy  as  it  did  in  relation  to  schools run  by  other  religious  communities. 

           There  were,  however,  some  very  serious  incidents  of  sexual  abuse  perpetrated  by  lay  staff  in 

           some schools, which are dealt with in the individual chapters. During the Emergence hearings, Sr 

           Breege O’Neill stated that the Congregation became aware of a small number of complaints from 

           the Leadership’s discussions with Sisters who were involved in the industrial schools. She stated: 



                 I am aware of, I think, three, if not four ... Let me mention that there were three instances 

                 where the Resident Manager in a particular institution became aware of a concern that 

                 sexual abuse might have occurred in relation to a child. I am talking about an instance in 

                 1960, one in the mid 60s and one in 1969. They were instances where that came to the 

                 attention  of  the  Resident  Manager  and  the  individual  Manager  took  action  herself  in 

                 relation  to  each  of  those  three  cases  that  we  are  aware  of.  One  was  in  relation  to 

                 somebody who was visiting the Institution and she barred that person. She mentioned it 

                 subsequently to a Department official. The other one was in relation to somebody who 

                 was working in a maintenance capacity. Again the Sister had that man removed. The third 

                 one was a volunteer coming in and when the Sister heard the complaint she sent for him 

                 but  he  never  came  back  to  the  Institution.  That  would  be  from  the  recollection  of  the 

                 Sisters  themselves  ...  Some  of  that,  the  dismissal,  we  have  found  some  records  that 

                 substantiate that. 



           256                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1043-----------------------

6.116      She  informed the  Committee that  she was  not aware  that there  was anything  specific done  to 

           help any of those children deal with the trauma of sexual abuse: 



                  The picture I get is that this was at a time when sexual abuse was not talked about. It 

                  came to somebody's attention, they dealt with it. Whether they would have been aware 

                  of the impact on the child or whether they would have known how to deal with it I am not 

                  sure. But I am not aware that any action was taken. 



6.117      During the Phase I hearing into Goldenbridge, Sr Helena O’Donoghue provided some detail on 

           the allegations of sexual abuse in that Institution: 



                  A  small   number     of  complaints    have    been   made     of  sexual   abuse    associated     with 

                  Goldenbridge. However, the only definite knowledge that we have about sexual abuse in 

                  the School relates to 1962. At that time a pupil accused a male caretaker or groundsman 

                  of  assaulting her  and  she  reported the  matter  to the  Resident  Manager,  Sr Alida,  who 

                  went   to  the  Gardai  immediately.      The   offender    was   prosecuted     and   dismissed    from 

                                          ´ 

                  employment in the School. 



6.118      During the Phase III hearing into Goldenbridge, Sr Helena O’Donoghue stated that she was unable 

           to comment as to whether any steps were taken to avoid any indecent touching of children, or 

           improper approaches from individuals visiting the School: 



                  I am not in a position to comment. I, myself, was not ever there, but I would believe that 

                  would be something that is in the mists of time, that we are not in a position to be clear on. 



6.119      She  also  accepted  that  there  was  no  system  of  vetting  outsiders  who  took  children  at  the 

           weekends and during the holidays: 



                  There  certainly  wasn't  a  vetting  process  that  you  might  expect  today,  but  mostly  the 

                  families who took children from Goldenbridge were families known to the Sisters, either 

                  through  having  come  maybe  for  entertainment  times  or  for  various  activities,  mostly. 

                  Because at one stage I think they did advertise for some people to take them. 



6.120      The discussion of these topics, by way of introduction to the detailed investigations into abuse in 

           the Sisters of Mercy institutions, is largely based on documents, submissions and evidence of the 

           Sisters of Mercy which were presented by them without being challenged or contradicted. 



6.121      The  system  of  discrete  Congregations  created  some  difficulties  and  exacerbated  others,  and 

           generally made the task of each Community more demanding. The Sisters’ vows and religious 

           obligations contributed to the experience of harshness, distance and other deficiencies of care in 

           the institutions. 



6.122      It is, however, noteworthy that one senior member of the Dublin Community made no reference 

           to  these   obstacles    in  1953,   when    addressing     the  needs    of  good    management.       Any   such 

           impairment of the capacity of the Sisters in their temporal work by reason of spiritual commitments 

           called into  question the  fitness of  the Congregation  to undertake  work requiring  sensitivity and 

           understanding of the needs of others. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      257 


----------------------- Page 1044-----------------------

 258                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1045-----------------------

           Chapter 7 



           St Vincent’s Industrial School, 

           Goldenbridge (‘Goldenbridge’), 

           1880–1983 



           Introduction 



7.01       Goldenbridge was the subject of television and radio programmes and of a great deal of media 

           coverage    generally.  Experiences     of  ex-residents   of  Goldenbridge     featured   in a  number     of 

           publications, and some ex-residents were prominent in the campaign for redress. The programme 

           ‘Dear Daughter’ was a dramatised documentary that featured this Institution, and Goldenbridge 

           was also referred to in the television series ‘States of Fear’. The screening of the third and last 

           programme of that series provoked a huge public reaction and was followed by the Taoiseach’s 

           apology. Measures were announced that included the establishment of this Commission. 



7.02       Public  meetings  that  were  intended  to  generate  support  for  the  campaign  for  recognition  and 

           redress provided occasions  for former residents to  come together and share  experiences. The 

           Sisters of Mercy expressed concern at the possibility that people were being influenced by what 

           was said at these meetings. 



           The hearings 



7.03       The Investigation Committee held both public and private hearings in respect of Goldenbridge. Sr 

           Helena  O’Donoghue,  Provincial  Leader  of  the  South  Central  Province,  gave  evidence  to  the 

           Committee in a public session on 15th  March 2005. Her evidence was based on a detailed Opening 



           Statement submitted in advance of the hearing. 



7.04       Evidence was heard from witnesses in private hearings from 18th             March until 28th   April 2005. A 



           total of 40 complainants gave evidence at this time. A further four former residents gave evidence, 

           at the request of the Sisters of Mercy, to provide positive accounts of their experiences of growing 

           up  in  Goldenbridge.  All  complainants  who  wished  to  give  evidence  did  so;  in  addition,  four 

           respondents and two expert witnesses gave evidence. 



7.05       The Committee had heard evidence from three complainants and two respondents in March 2002. 



7.06       In the third stage of the inquiry into Goldenbridge (Phase III), a public hearing was convened on 



             th 

           15   May  2006  at  the  Herbert  Park  Hotel,  Ballsbridge,  and  Sr  Helena  O’Donoghue  once  again 

           gave evidence on behalf of  the Congregation. This session focused on issues that  arose as a 

           result of the private hearings and the documentary material produced to the Committee. 



7.07       Documentation was furnished as part of the discovery process from a number of sources, namely 

                                                                                                      ´ 

           the Sisters of Mercy, the Department of Education and Science, An Garda Siochana, the Director 

                                                                                                 ´ 

           of Public Prosecutions, the Archbishop of Dublin, and the medical records of some complainants. 



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----------------------- Page 1046-----------------------

 7.08      The Sisters of Mercy furnished Submissions on 20th            June 2005. These Submissions were made 



           in  the  aftermath  of  the  evidence  heard  at  oral  hearings  and  the  documentary  evidence  which 

           emerged during the course of the inquiry. 



           Establishment of Goldenbridge 



           The Sisters of Mercy were founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin in 1831. 



 7.09      In 1855, Cardinal Cullen invited the Sisters of Mercy to provide a rehabilitation service to women 

           who  had  been  incarcerated  in  Mountjoy  jail,  by  educating  them  and  preparing  them  for  final 

           release. Cardinal Cullen originally rented the premises at Goldenbridge and paid the rent for a 

           five-year period. The convict refuge was opened in 1856. The Sisters continued with this work 

           until 1883. 



 7.10      In  1858,  within  two  years  of  commencing  this  mission, the  Sisters  of  Mercy  had  established  a 

           convent, a national school for the poor of the area, and a commercial laundry on the premises 

           originally acquired by Cardinal Cullen, as well as the rehabilitation service for prisoners. These 

           projects were funded by the mother house, which was then in Baggot Street, Dublin. 



 7.11      In  1880,  a  building  within  the  complex  was  certified  as  an  industrial  school  for  girls,  with  a 

           certification for 50. It was called St Vincent’s Industrial School and it opened with an initial intake 

           of 30 girls. 



 7.12      In 1883, the convict refuge was converted into the Industrial School. Dormitories, a dining hall, 

           workrooms and extra accommodation were added over the subsequent two years, at a cost of 

           some £2,000. Within five years, the School had increased its certification from 50 to 150. 



 7.13      From 1885, the number of children accommodated in the School remained steady, although there 

           was a significant increase over the 1950s and 1960s, up to a high of 193 in 1964. At the time of 

           its closure in 1983, there were 46 pupils in Goldenbridge. 



           Organisational structure 



 7.14      There  were  10  Resident  Managers  in  Goldenbridge  Industrial  School  during  the  period  under 

           review  (1936–1983).  These  Managers  were  appointed  by  the  Superior  General  in  Carysfort  in 

           Dublin. Goldenbridge convent, to which the Industrial School was attached, was a branch house 

           of the Carysfort house, which was the mother house of all the Dublin Mercy Communities. 



 7.15      The  Superior  General  of  Carysfort  appointed  the  Reverend  Mother  and  assigned  Sisters  to 

           Goldenbridge convent. From the records, it appears that the Reverend Mother also officially held 

           the title of Resident Manager of the Industrial School. In reality, the Reverend Mother had very 

           little involvement with the day-to-day running of the School. Her role consisted of interacting with 

           the  Department  of  Education.  The  actual  management  of  the  Industrial  School  was  left  to  two 

           nuns – the Sister-in-Charge and, from 1942 onwards, her assistant. 



 7.16      Only   two  of  the  10  Resident     Managers     fulfilled  the role of  Sister-in-Charge     and   had  direct 

           involvement in the day-to-day management of the Industrial School. One such Resident Manager 

           was Sr Bianca,1  who held the position from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s. The other was Sr 

           Venetia,2  and her term of office ran from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. 



 7.17      Two  of  the  five  nuns  who  were  closely  involved  with  the  running  of  the  Industrial  School  are 

           alive today. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 

           2 This is a pseudonym. 



           260                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1047-----------------------

7.18       In the Congregation’s Opening Statement, for Goldenbridge, it was stated: 



                 The  Sisters  chosen      for  responsibility  in  Goldenbridge  were  women         of  ability,  sound 

                 common sense and normal home background. 



7.19       There   appears    to  have   been    no  formal   structure   of  communication      between    Carysfort   and 

           Goldenbridge. According to the Opening Statement: 



                  Reporting relationships were not very formal and probably depended very much on the 

                 personalities  and  expectations  of  the  Superior  in  Carysfort  and  the  local  superior  or 

                 resident manager in Goldenbridge. 



7.20       There are no records of meetings or correspondence or any other documentation between the 

           Resident Manager of Goldenbridge and the Superior General in Carysfort. 



7.21       Sr  Helena  O’Donoghue  stated  that  at  one  time  Goldenbridge  paid  an  annual  levy  to  Carysfort 

           and, at another period in time, all income went to Carysfort and an agreed budget was returned. 



           Goldenbridge management 



7.22       The   convent  at   Goldenbridge  housed        approximately     30  Sisters   who  were    engaged     in  work 

           throughout  the  local  community.  The  Sisters  ran  a  large  national  school  in  the  Goldenbridge 

           complex  and  also  had  a  laundry  that  was  a  separate  commercial  enterprise.  The  laundry  was 

           closed in the mid-1950s, to facilitate the development of the secondary school. In addition, prior 

           to 1954, there was what was known as a secondary top, which was an extension of the national 

           school for children up to the age of 14. 



7.23       The Industrial School in Goldenbridge was a large institution but very few Sisters worked in it. 

           Prior  to  1942,   the  Reverend     Mother    of  the  convent    was   always    the  Resident    Manager     of 

           Goldenbridge. Although there were four different Resident Managers notified to the Department 

           of  Education    between     1936   and   1942,   these   Sisters   had   very   little contact  with  the  daily 

           administration in the School or with the children who were committed to it. The testimony of Sr 

           Alida,3  who came to Goldenbridge as a young nun in the early 1940s, was that administration in 

           the school and management were delegated to one nun, Sr Pietrina,4 who was elderly and diabetic 



           when Sr Alida was appointed. 



7.24       Sr Alida had no recollection of any other nun in the Community being involved in the running of 

           the  Institution  other  than  Sr  Pietrina.  She  said  that,  apart  from  visiting  the  Industrial  School  to 

           watch films or concerts, there was no contact between the Industrial School and the convent, and 

           the nuns in the convent would not have known the children in the Industrial School. 



7.25       The day-to-day operation of the School and the care of the children were left to two lay teachers, 

           Ms Dempsey5       and Ms Kearney.6      After classes, these teachers supervised the children and put 



           them to bed. They were assisted by four care workers, one in the kitchen, one in the laundry and 

           two generally in the house. In the evening, Sr Pietrina returned to the convent, and the two lay 

           teachers looked after the children until the next day. There were 150 children in Goldenbridge at 

           that time. 



           3 This is a pseudonym. 

           4 This is a pseudonym. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 

           6 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    261 


----------------------- Page 1048-----------------------

7.26       Before  Sr  Bianca  was  appointed  to  Goldenbridge,  Sr  Vincenza7          of  Carysfort  had  appointed  Sr 

           Divina8  as Resident Manager in the early 1940s, which prompted the Assistant Secretary of the 



           Department of Education to protest. He wrote: 



                  I am desired by the Minister for Education to call your attention to the fact that the new 

                  Resident    Manager     whom     you   have    appointed     in  St.  Vincent’s   Industrial   School, 

                 Goldenbridge, is 79 years of age. The Minister feels that the management of an Industrial 

                 School would constitute a very heavy burden and responsibility on a lady of this advanced 

                 age. The supervision of the feeding, clothing, education and health of about 150 children, 

                 together with the keeping of the many accounts, records etc., which are required and, in 

                 addition, the fulfilment of her duties as Reverend Mother of the community would, in the 

                 Minister’s opinion, constitute a heavy burden on a much younger and more active person. 



                 The Minister would accordingly be glad if you would reconsider this appointment with a 

                 view  to appointing  a  much  younger Sister  who  has had  experience  of  children and  on 

                 whom the complex duties of management would not be so burdensome. 



7.27       Sr Vincenza replied immediately to the Assistant Secretary: 



                  In reply to your letter of 29th September regarding the appointment of an aged Sister as 

                 Manager of Golden Bridge Industrial School, I have this day appointed as Manager one 

                 of the Staff – Sr. Bianca– to that position. 



                 When appointing the Manager on the 12th September I sent an extra Sister to the Ind. 

                 School,    who   holds   very   high  qualifications   and   certificates   for Domestic     Economy, 

                 Cookery, Needlework and Household Knowledge, to help with the management with the 

                 household  work  and  management  of  the  children,  so  that  Sr.  Bianca  could  be  free  to 

                 devote some time to the duties that the Manager would have to undertake. 

                 The appointment made today leaves Mother Pia9  free to devote herself to the Community 



                 in Golden Bridge Convent. 



7.28       That,  however,  was  not  the  end  of  the  matter;  the  Department  immediately  replied,  seeking 

           clarification: 



                 Please  state  whether  it  is  your  intention  to  authorise  Sister  Bianca  to  exercise  all  the 

                 powers, functions and duties of the Managers in accordance with the provisions of the 

                 Children Acts, 1908 to 1941. 



7.29       The Department of Education wanted to ensure that the actual day-to-day running of the Institution 

           would be in the hands of a young, energetic, qualified Sister. Sr Bianca was appointed as Sister- 

           in-Charge of the Industrial School in the early 1940s, and was appointed Resident Manager the 

           following year. At the same time Sr Alida, who was a young newly professed Sister, in her mid-20s, 

           was appointed as her assistant. Sr Bianca continued as Resident Manager until the mid-1950s. 



7.30       According to Sr Alida, when Sr Bianca took over  ‘she was a very powerful personality, controlling 

           person. She went to her major Superior in Carysfort and said she would take the running of the 

           school ... provided she got the handling of the finance’. 



7.31       Sr Alida said that this gave her  ‘great ease of conscience’ because it meant that nobody could 

           ever question that the money given to the Industrial School was spent by the convent in any other 

           way. She explained: 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 

           8 This is a pseudonym. 

           9 This is a pseudonym. 



           262                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1049-----------------------

                 there  were  lots  of  allegations  at  that  time  made,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that  school  money 

                 went to the convent. That was the system. Sr Bianca ended that system and the money 

                 was – she had the cheque book, Pietrina never had a cheque book, and paid the bills. 



7.32       Sr Alida maintained that only a person as powerful as Sr Bianca could have succeeded in having 

           this change made to the management structure of Goldenbridge. She said that, before Sr Bianca’s 

           intervention, the money came into the convent to the Superior and was lodged to the bank: 



                 I know we used to say that it wasn’t all totally honestly done, I have absolutely nothing to 

                 say about that. I am not saying that. What I am saying was that the person running the 

                 school, Sr. Pietrina, would have said to me one day, and she was a long time in the school, 

                 “all the money I ever handled while I was in the School was the money for the dripping”. 



7.33       Sr Alida described Sr Bianca as a woman with a forceful personality: 



                 I am saying it now with gratitude in my heart to her, she was a very controlling person, she 

                 could achieve things that I would never have done. I would have started in Goldenbridge if 

                 I were in her shoes doing a very different thing. I would have started looking for money 

                 to buy knickers and vests for the children. She saw the bigger facilities. They matched 

                 her personality. She got the walk-in fridge, she got two big steamers, the hotels wouldn’t 

                 have them at that time, the kind she got. 



                 She had  massive immediate improvements  in the School,  massive. She didn’t  see the 

                 need   for changing    the  blankets   or  changing   their  homemade      knickers.  The   School 

                 wouldn’t have advanced as much as they did only for the power she had. 



7.34       Sr Alida spoke at length about the changes that Sr Bianca introduced into Goldenbridge Industrial 

           School  immediately  upon  her  appointment.  In  many  ways,  these  changes  speak  more  of  the 

           regime   that  existed   before  Sr   Bianca’s   appointment     than  anything   else.  They    point  to  a 

           management which had been so poor and so negligent that the children could not possibly have 

           received even a minimum standard of care. 



7.35       The two areas which Sr Bianca tackled immediately were (i) the medical care of the children, and 

           (ii) the standard of education. 



7.36       The issue of the medical care in Goldenbridge is dealt with later. As will be shown, the condition 

           of  the  children  was  so  bad  that  the  School  had  to  be  closed  down  for  two  weeks  whilst  the 

           problems of scabies and ringworm were tackled. Bedding had to be removed and disinfected by 

           Dublin Corporation, and all the children’s clothing had to be boil-washed. 



7.37       Sr Alida vividly described the problem tackled by Sr Bianca which had reached crisis proportions 

           at the time of her appointment. The Institution had been allowed to deteriorate into an appalling 

           condition and Sr Bianca tackled these problems energetically. 



7.38       Similarly, the provision of education was extraordinarily poor at that time. Sr Bianca had to get 

           basic equipment for the schoolroom. There were only two untrained lay teachers, and they were 

           there in the dual capacity of carers and teachers. Sr Alida said: 



                 ... I never asked and I have no idea how they taught the 150 children of a school going 

                 age or how schooling was managed, but there was a programme for industrial school girls 

                 over 13 years of age. Everyday, five days a week, they had domestic training, cooking, 

                 laundry and dressmaking after 12.30, after the lunch hour. 



7.39       Sr Alida described a lack of any facilities in the classroom. Only two of the four classrooms in 

           Goldenbridge appeared to be in use. This led her to believe that no other Sister from the convent 



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           was actively engaged in teaching in Goldenbridge in the years prior to her arrival with Sr Bianca. 

           She confirmed that Sr Pietrina did not teach. 



 7.40      For the first few weeks of her time in Goldenbridge, the efforts of both Sr Alida and Sr Bianca 

           were concentrated on the children’s health and dealing with the medical conditions that they found 

           there. Once these medical problems had been brought under control, schooling was resumed. 



 7.41      Sr Bianca ordered playground equipment from England at this time, including a number of swings 

           and a merry-go-round and a drinking fountain for the playground. 



 7.42      Sr Alida went on to describe the extremely primitive conditions in the Industrial School generally. 

           It appeared that the only washing machines were so old and ineffective that they were not used, 

           and all the washing for the 150 children was done by hand. She said the machines were eventually 

           re-serviced and brought into use, but that they were always ineffective and it took a long time to 

           wash the clothes. 



 7.43      The cooking facilities in the kitchen were also primitive, and Sr Bianca acquired two large steamers 

           that she used to prepare vast quantities of food. Conditions were difficult on other levels: it was 

           very difficult to heat the Institution, and very difficult to get basic provisions for the children; all 

           the  clothing  was  handmade  on  the  premises  by  the  older  children  under  the  supervision  of  a 

           lay worker. 



 7.44      Sr Alida said that the older girls did all the domestic chores in the house. 



 7.45      When Sr Bianca left Goldenbridge in June 1954, Sr Laurella10                took over as Resident Manager, 



           although Sr Alida, who arrived in Goldenbridge on the same day as Sr Bianca, was the effective 

           Manager of the Industrial School from 1954 until she left in 1963. 



 7.46      The  first  former  resident  who  gave  evidence  had  been  in  Goldenbridge  from  1949,  and  the 

           Committee      has   relied  on   oral  testimony    to  establish   conditions   after  that   time.  Very   little 

           documentary evidence is in existence for conditions in the 1930s and 1940s. 



 7.47      The Department of Education Medical Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, inspected the premises and 

           from time to time made suggestions regarding the care of the children. Her first two inspections 

           were significant, because they coincided with the appalling conditions described by Sr Alida. The 

           first was in 1939 and the second was in 1941. Nothing in these reports would indicate the level 

           of neglect encountered by Sr Alida. 



 7.48      At  some    time   in the   early  1950s    or  even   the  late  1940s,   Sr   Alida  was   approached      by  a 

           businessman who suggested that the Institution could become involved in making rosary beads. 

           Thus, the bead-making industry in Goldenbridge was introduced into the daily routine of the pupils, 

           and it continued until the mid-1960s. 



 7.49      In the early 1950s, Sr Bianca made the decision to acquire a holiday home for Goldenbridge in 

           Rathdrum, County Wicklow. In 1954, a large house was bought for £3,000. According to Sr Alida, 

           the money earned from the bead-making contributed £1,000 of this purchase price. According to 

           the Opening Statement: 



                  ... it enabled everyone to have a summer holiday away from the institution. All children 

                 would spend some time in the summer at the holiday house and those who could not go 

                  home for a holiday spent the entire summer holidays there. 



           10 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1051-----------------------

                 Although  some  former  residents  did  not  enjoy  going  to  Rathdrum  during  the  holidays, 

                 for  most  of them  it  represented  a welcome  respite  from  school  and, in  particular,  from 

                  bead-making. 



7.50       Ms Kearney, a teacher in the Institution, gave evidence that, prior to the purchase of the house 

           in  Rathdrum,     children   went   on  holidays   to  other   Sisters  of  Mercy    homes    that  were    in the 

           countryside or beside the sea. To spend £3,000 on a house that was only used for a few weeks 

           every year, at a time when food and clothing and basic educational equipment were lacking, does 

           not appear to be the most appropriate allocation of scarce resources. 



7.51       In 1954, when Sr Alida took over the management of the Industrial School, Sr Venetia joined her 

           as a full-time assistant. She was a qualified primary teacher. Ms Dempsey and Ms Kearney were 

           still the two lay teachers in Goldenbridge at that time, and there was also a small number of other 

           lay staff employed by the Institution. In addition to the lay staff and the two Sisters, the running of 

           Goldenbridge was also entrusted to the care of what were known as ‘care workers’. These care 

           workers  were  girls  who  had  grown  up  in  Goldenbridge  and  were  unable  to  get  work  outside 

           the Institution. 



7.52       The template for the day-to-day running of the Institution had been established by Sr Bianca. Sr 

           Alida said that she continued the methods and systems introduced by Sr Bianca although she 

           did, as might be expected, make some improvements along the way. 



7.53       Sr Alida left Goldenbridge in 1963. She told the Inquiry about the circumstances of her departure. 

           She had asked her Superior in Carysfort if she could be relieved from teaching duties, so as to 

           be able to devote herself entirely to the administrative and caring side of her work. The response 

           from Carysfort was to remove her entirely from Goldenbridge. Sr Alida was clearly unhappy at the 

           manner  of  her  removal,  and  she  was  in  no  doubt  that  it  was  because  she  had  complained  of 

           overwork to her Superiors. 



7.54       Sr  Alida   was   succeeded      by  Sr  Simona11    for  a  short  period,   after  which,   in  mid-1963,    the 



           management of Goldenbridge was taken over by Sr Venetia. Sr Venetia was responsible for many 

           of the positive changes that occurred in the School throughout the 1970s. She was the person 

           who steered through the change from institutional care to the group home arrangements that were 

           introduced in the 1980s, and she ultimately oversaw the closure of Goldenbridge. 



           Numbers 



7.55       The Department of Education reports revealed that the numbers of children detained in industrial 

           schools  increased  until  1930,  after  which  there  began  a  steady  decline.  This  decline  was  not 

           experienced in Goldenbridge: in contrast, the numbers there continued to increase and, in 1962, 

           the Resident Manager reported to the Department of Education that the School housed 193 pupils. 

           According  to  Department  of  Education  reports,  there  were  46  children  in  the  Institution  on  its 

           closure in 1983. 



7.56       In  1938,  the  accommodation  and  certified  limits  stood  at  130  children.  In  February  1938,  the 

           Resident Manager applied to increase the accommodation limit to 150. An increase to 140 children 

           was granted by the Department of Education on foot of this application. 



7.57       A further increase in the accommodation limit was granted in 1941, which brought the figure up 

           to 150 children, but the certification limit remained the same at 130. 



           11 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1052-----------------------

7.58      On  7th May  1943,  the  Resident  Manager  wrote  to  the  Department,  seeking  an  increase  in  the 

          accommodation limit from 150 to 160 children, which was acceded to. However, on 22nd July 1943, 



          Dr Anna McCabe wrote to the Department Inspector, following a visit to the School, expressing her 

          disapproval of this increase. She stated that the School was ‘absolutely crammed to capacity’ and 

          that  the  infirmary  had  been  converted  into  a  dormitory  without  any  alternative  put  in  place. 

          Accordingly, on 14th   August the Department wrote to the Resident Manager and stated that the 

          accommodation limit would revert to 150 children. The certified limit was changed to 140 on 1st 



          April 1943. 



7.59      Another application was made on 19th      October 1951 to the Department, by Sr Bianca, to increase 



          the accommodation limit from 150 to 160 children. In support of this application, she stated that 

          various improvements and additions had been made to the premises, including the acquisition of 

          another house. The Department requested Dr McCabe to inspect the School with a view to making 

          a recommendation in this regard. She carried out an inspection and recommended that, in view 

          of  the  improvements  made,  an  increase  in  the  accommodation  limit  to  160  children  could  be 

          sanctioned. The application was formally acceded to and took effect from 9th        November 1951. 



7.60      In December 1954, the Resident Manager applied for and obtained certification for the admission 

          of 15 infant boys. This was done at the request of the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr McQuaid, in order 

          to provide relief to mothers who needed hospital care and who required care for their children on 

          a temporary basis. According to the Resident Manager, it would allow siblings to be kept together. 

          The Department accordingly increased the accommodation limit to 165 children. 



7.61      On  17th  May  1962,  the  Resident  Manager  made  another  application  to  the  Department  for  an 



          increase in the accommodation limit, to 200 children. In support of her application, she stated that 

          a new 220ft wing had been built, with a capacity to sleep up to 60 children. She accepted that the 

          accommodation limit of 165 had been exceeded in the past year or more, and that they had at 

          that time 193 children. The Department carried out an inspection of the premises and agreed to 

          an increase in the accommodation limit to 185 children on 27th  April 1963. 



          Conclusions 



7.62      •    Sr Alida and a lay teacher depicted Goldenbridge as a grim institution in the 1940s, 

                when children were seriously neglected and when inadequate staffing deprived them 

                of proper care. 



          •    150 children were left in the care of two unqualified teachers and an ill, elderly Sister. 

                The person with statutory responsibility, the Resident Manager, took no active part in 

                running the Institution. 



          •    Defects in the management of the School were not observed by official inspectors. 



          Emergence of allegations of abuse in Goldenbridge 



7.63      The allegations of abuse in Goldenbridge first entered the public domain with the broadcast by 

          RTE Radio 1 of an interview with an ex-resident, Ms Christine Buckley, on the Gay Byrne morning 

          radio show. This was broadcast on 8th      November 1992. 



7.64      It was the quest for her parents, and in particular for her father, which she undertook in her 30s, 

          that brought Christine Buckley to the Gay Byrne show, but during the interview she was asked 

          about her experience of growing up in Goldenbridge in Dublin. She described abuses that she 

          and others suffered while resident there. Immediately, phone calls came in to RTE from women 

          and  men  who  had  had  similar  experiences  and  who  wished  to  extend  their  good  wishes  and 

          sympathy to her. Meetings were set up with ex-residents, and the story was picked up by most of 

          the national media. 



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7.65       Stories about institutional abuse, and in particular about Goldenbridge Industrial School, continued 

          to appear sporadically in newspapers for the following couple of years, but it was not until 1996, 

          when  the  ‘Dear  Daughter’  programme  was  broadcast,  that  Goldenbridge  was  once  again  the 

           subject of intense media coverage and speculation. 



7.66       Shortly  after the  airing  of ‘Dear   Daughter’,   Sr  Alida  was   interviewed   on  the  current  affairs 

           programme, Prime Time. In the course of that interview, she admitted that she had been harsh at 

          times, but denied that children were abused in the horrific way described in many of the headlines. 

          According to Sr Helena O’Donoghue, ‘This denial would appear to have been almost completely 

           ignored in the public domain and it would appear that judgment had been given’. 



7.67       Shortly  before  the  ‘Dear  Daughter’  programme  was  broadcast  on  RTE,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy 

           commissioned a professional childcare expert to write a report to assess the allegations which 

          were being made by former residents in Goldenbridge. The Crowley Report offered little comfort 

          to the Sisters who had commissioned it. 



7.68       Mr Crowley interviewed both Sr Alida and Sr Venetia. In his report he stated: 



                 Sr. Venetia confirmed that the general atmosphere was excessively and consistently cruel 

                 even  relative  to  standards  of  the  time.  She  confirmed  that  fear  of  and  actual  physical 

                 beatings  and  verbal  abuse  was  a  matter  of  routine  and  that  the  general  account  of 

                 children, for example, waiting on the landings was accurate. Wetting was defined as a 

                 crime and, therefore, punishable through humiliation and physical beatings. Sr. Venetia 

                 confirmed the allegations in relation to the tumble dryer and drinking from the toilet cistern. 

                 She   also  confirmed   the  bead   making    and  that  failure to  obey   rules  were  normally 

                 punishable by physical beatings. 



7.69       He said of Sr Alida: 



                 She was trained by Sr Bianca, whom she describes as a very large powerful woman with 

                 a harsh aggressive and unpredictable personality. 



                 On reflection Sr Alida perceives the policies and practices of the 50s and 60s as being 

                 based on ignorance and failing to understand or care appropriately for the children. 



7.70       In conclusion, Mr Crowley stated: 



                 The  unsafe  world  of  Goldenbridge  developed  a  very  particular  culture  which  could  not 

                 meet the needs of children. Very powerless people had enormous and immediate power 

                 over troubled and troublesome children. The abuse of the power and powerlessness was 

                 almost inevitable. 



                Almost any kind of abusive incidents could have occurred. 



           ‘Dear Daughter’ programme 



7.71      The   ‘Dear   Daughter’    programme     contained    a  number    of  very  serious   allegations   against 

           Goldenbridge and the Sisters of Mercy, and most of these are dealt with in the sections following 

           on physical and emotional abuse. 



7.72      After the ‘Dear Daughter’ programme was broadcast, newspaper coverage of the allegations was 

           intensive and almost exclusively condemnatory of the Sisters of Mercy and Sr Alida. Headlines 

           such as ‘Unmerciful Nun’s Tale’, ‘Hell on Earth for the Sin of Being Born’, and ‘Nightmarish Abuse 

           by  Sisters  of  Mercy’  appeared  in  newspapers.  Former  residents  gave  interviews  on  local  and 

           national radio, and allegations were recounted without any effective challenge. 



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7.73       Following the broadcast of the ‘Dear Daughter’ programme, a Garda investigation was undertaken, 

           to  establish  whether  criminal  charges  could  be  brought.  There  were  no  prosecutions,  but  the 

           Garda files have been made available to this Inquiry. 



7.74       On   1st  July  2004,   Sr   Breege    O’Neill,  Leader    of  the  Congregation,      gave   evidence    to  the 



           Investigation    Committee     held  in  public   on  behalf   of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy    dealing   with  the 

           emergence of allegations of child abuse in the Sisters of Mercy institutions. She spoke of the great 

           hurt  felt  by  the  Community  at  the  allegations  that  were  being  made,  and  also  spoke  of  the 

           enormous  sacrifice  made  by  Sisters throughout  the  years  in  aiding  the  poor  and needy  in  this 

           country. She  asked that a proper  and balanced investigation  should take place into  this whole 

           matter. 



7.75       On 15th   March 2005, Sr Helena O’Donoghue made an Opening Statement at the public Phase I 



           hearing in relation to Goldenbridge. Whilst she admitted that there was undoubtedly a regime that, 

           by today’s standards, would be described as harsh and severe, the Sisters were not satisfied that 

           it was an abusive regime or that children were wilfully neglected whilst in their care. 



7.76       The Sisters of Mercy would not accept that the regime was cruel, abusive or neglectful. Whilst 

           they admit that corporal punishment was the accepted means of imposing discipline, they say it 

           was  not  done  in  an  excessively  harsh  or  extreme  manner.  They  say  that  the  extraordinary 

           dedication and sacrifice of the Sisters, in caring for the poorest and most needy children in Dublin, 

           must  be  taken  into  account  when  assessing  the  value  of  the  work  done  in  Goldenbridge.  In 

           particular, the Congregation does not accept the statements of Sr Venetia or Sr Alida, as quoted 

           by Mr Crowley, as being accurate or fair. 



7.77       The complainants, on the other hand, state that the regime that they were subjected to was cruel, 

           abusive and neglectful. They say that it left them ill-equipped to deal with life when they left the 

           Institution, and that the damage inflicted on them, either neglectfully or deliberately, has scarred 

           them in every aspect of their lives. Complainants acknowledged the physical provision made for 

           them by the Sisters of Mercy, but it is their evidence that the abuse, degradation and neglect that 

           they suffered far outweighed whatever benefits they might have received by virtue of having been 

           resident in Goldenbridge. 



           Physical abuse 



           Corporal punishment 



7.78       Most complaints about physical abuse related to the administration of corporal punishment: there 

           were allegations that it was excessive, pervasive, often undeserved, and even capricious, with the 

           result that, in Goldenbridge, corporal punishment became the norm, and the children lived in a 

           climate  of  fear.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  deny  these  allegations  and,  while  they  accept  corporal 

           punishment was used, submit that its use was normal by the standards of the day. 



7.79       The Rules and Regulations for the Certified Industrial Schools in Ireland imposed limits on the 

           use of corporal punishment. These limits were very restrictive for girls under 15 years, and even 

           more so for older girls. The issue of discipline was dealt with in Regulation 12: 



                  DISCIPLINE:  The  Manager  or  his  Deputy  shall  be  authorised  to  punish  the  Children 

                 detained    in  the   School    in  case   of   misconduct.    All  serious    misconduct,     and   the 

                  Punishments inflicted for it, shall be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose, which 

                 shall be laid before the Inspector when he visits. The Manager must, however, remember 

                 that the more closely the School is modelled on a principle of judicious family government 

                 the  more  salutary  will  be  its  discipline,  and  the  fewer  occasions  will  arise  for  resort  to 

                 punishment. 



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7.80       Regulation 13 stated that the punishments should consist of: 



                    (a)   Forfeiture of rewards and privileges, or degradation from rank, previously attained by 

                          good conduct. 



                    (b)   Moderate childish punishment with the hand. 



                    (c)  Chastisement with the cane, strap, or birch. 



7.81       The Regulation continued: 



                  Referring  to  (c),  personal  chastisement  may  be         inflicted  by  the  Manager,  or,    in  his 

                  presence, by an Officer specially authorised by him, and in no case may it be inflicted 

                  upon  girls  over  15  years  of  age.  In  the  case  of  girls  under  15,  it  shall  not  be  inflicted 

                  except in cases of urgent necessity, each of which must be at once fully reported to the 

                  Inspector. Caning on the hand is forbidden. 



                  No punishment not mentioned above shall be inflicted. 



7.82       In  addition,  the  Department  of  Education  issued  circulars  and  guidelines  to  Industrial  School 

           Managers, indicating that corporal punishment must always be kept within the bounds set down 

           by the Regulations and must never be used excessively. Circular 11/1946 stated: 



                  Corporal punishment should be resorted to only where other forms of punishment have 

                  been  found  unsuccessful  as  a  means  of  correction.  It  should  be  administered  only  for 

                  grave  transgressions,  and  in  no  circumstances  for  mere  failure  at  school  lessons  or 

                  industrial training. 



7.83       The Circular went on to state that punishment should be confined to slapping on the hand with a 

           light cane or strap, and that this should only be administered by the Resident Manager or by a 

           member of staff specifically authorised by him. It added that ‘any form of corporal punishment not 

           in accordance with the terms of this circular is strictly prohibited’. 



7.84       The Sisters of Mercy say that the general prevalence of corporal punishment in schools during 

           this  period  is  a  factor  which  should  be  taken  into  account  when  determining  whether  corporal 

           punishment was excessive or abusive. The regulations quoted above were drawn up at a time 

           when corporal punishment was even more prevalent and yet the authorities recognised the need 

           to make rules to protect children in care. 



           Punishment book 



7.85       The  regulations  required  that  a  punishment  book  be  maintained  and  ‘laid  before  the  inspector 

           when he visits.’ 



7.86       The  Investigation  Committee  has  seen  no  evidence  of  any  punishment  book  in  Goldenbridge. 

           There is no reference to it in any of the documentation furnished to the Investigation Committee, 

           nor is any reference made to it by the Department of Education inspector who visited Goldenbridge 

           on regular occasions. 



           Allegations of physical punishment heard by the Investigation Committee 



7.87       The   evidence    heard    by  the  Investigation    Committee     broadly   grouped     the  complaints    about 

           physical punishment under three headings. They were: 



                   •    Formal beatings, where the children who had been singled out for punishment were 

                        lined up and beaten with a stick. This usually took place late at night, on a landing 

                        outside the nuns’ rooms or cells. 



                   •    Beatings given for specific ‘offences’ such as bed-wetting, or failure to work fast enough 

                        at making rosary beads. These also were usually administered on the landing. 



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                  •    Informal beatings, where lay staff and nuns administered corporal punishment on the 

                       spot for trivial reasons or even for no reason. 



           The formal beatings: the implement used 



7.88       The formal beatings were administered with an implement that Sr Alida called ‘a slapper’ and the 

           girls called  a  stick. Several   witnesses    gave   a  description   of it. One   witness,   who   was   in 

           Goldenbridge in the 1950s and early 1960s, told the Committee that it was a stick that a carpenter 

           had made for Sr Alida. She described it as a flat stick, rounded off at the end, and varnished. 



7.89       Another complainant described the stick used by Sr Alida in some detail: 



                 The stick, in my opinion, was about a foot and a half long, about that length (indicating), 

                 it had rounding sort of ends, it was about an inch and a half thick and the width of it was 

                 about two inches. It was dark brown in colour ... It often reminds me of what I perceived 

                 to see as a hurl now with rounding ends but a bit thicker. 



7.90       Sr Alida also gave a detailed description of it: 



                 I used a slapper. I have never used a cane, there was never a cane used in the School 

                 in my time, neither was there a leather strap. The slapper I had, there was only one in 

                 the house and I don’t think anybody else used it except myself, it was made of polished 

                 wood and it was about 15 inches long. It was rolled at the end and was about half an inch 

                 thick in  the middle, maybe  less. I  calculated that it  never marked or  cut anybody  but I 

                 would agree that it hurt because I got it on the knuckles myself, when if a child pulled her 

                 hand away it came down on my hands; so I know what it was like. I wish I’d never had to 

                 use it or I wish I was never in that situation with any child, but that’s the situation I was in. 



7.91       She added that she never saw anybody else use her slapper except for Sr Venetia. She said, 

           ‘Lay people could give a clout with their hand but that would be the most that I would see them 

           doing’. She said that no lay person ever beat the children, as far as she knew, but left it for her 

           to do. 



7.92       Sr  Alida  was  inconsistent  in  her  recollection  of  beating  children  on  the  landing.  Initially,  she 

           recalled children being left on the landing for punishment, although not in relation to bed-wetting 

           or  bead-making.  Later,  when  questioned  by  counsel  for  some complainants,  she  said  that  this 

           was more a feature of Sr Bianca’s time, and that she had no real memory of that being a feature 

           of her time there. She said that, although she could remember chastising a child on the landing, 

           it was not on a regular basis. 



           The formal beatings on the landing 



7.93       Many complainants spoke of the ordeal of being sent to the landing outside the nuns’ rooms for 

           punishment. The system was initiated by Sr Bianca, and was also a feature of life during Sr Alida’s 

           time. Children who had done something that the staff deemed to be wrong were told they were to 

           be punished that evening. They had to line up on the landing at bedtime, after they had changed 

           into their nightclothes, and wait to be beaten. The landing was cold and dark. A witness described 

           the location: 



                 ... where we used to have to wait was off Sacred Heart dormitory and there was steps 

                 down and there was a big gap and there was a statue. The nuns used to sleep in kind of 

                 an alcove off the landing and the nun would come up and hit us, hit me. 



7.94       Many complainants told the Committee how they stood sometimes for hours in the cold with bare 

           feet. They were not permitted to sit down. Some of them described this waiting as worse than the 

           beating itself. 



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7.95       One complainant in Goldenbridge from 1950s to the early 1960s said that, after Sr Alida became 

           Resident Manager: 



                 ... she took over and you were put on the landing when you wet the bed or when you did 

                 anything else bold, but mainly for wetting the bed. I was all the time one of those people. 

                 She would leave you on the landing until she was ready to come up and smack you, and 

                 you could be there for a long time. 



7.96       She explained: 



                 To me, I think we waited two or three hours sometimes. We were just there, it really got 

                 late and we were falling asleep, and pushing one another when we heard her coming. 

                 You heard her coming eventually, but it wasn’t only an hour or a half an hour, she would 

                 never come too soon it was always like you were there for ever, it seemed like forever ... 

                 it wasn’t in her office, we were hit on the landing, smacked on the landing ... just her stick, 

                 the one she had everywhere with her. She just used to just bash you, just literally turn 

                 you around and wallop you. Sometimes she would hold out your hand, it depended. 



7.97       Another complainant from the 1950s recalled being punished on the landing quite a few times, 

           although she did not know why she was there. She said Sr Alida would sometimes smack them 

           on the landing, but sometimes forget about them and leave them standing there for a very long 

           time. She said she was frightened of the landing. 



7.98       When cross-examined on the issue, she insisted that she was, on occasion, left all night on the 

           landing. She said that Sr Alida would find her when she got up early the next morning and then 

           sent her to bed, but that would be at about 6.00am. 



7.99       Another witness from the 1950s told a similar story of waiting for hours for Sr Alida to come to 

           bed. It was cold and dark, and they were not permitted to sit down. When she came up, she would 

           not question them on what they had done wrong. She would proceed to punish with a stick, which 

           she kept on a ledge on the landing. She would hit them on the hands and buttocks, usually 10 to 

           12 times. Sometimes, she used her hand rather than the stick. If it was very late when she came 

           up to bed, she would tell them she would see them in the morning. The next day, she would beat 

           them in front of her class. Waiting on the landing in anticipation of the punishment was, according 

           to this complainant, worse than the actual beatings. 



7.100      A complainant from the 1950s and early 1960s said that she was very frequently sent to wait on 

           the landing. She said that she could not recall specific reasons. She added: 



                 They seemed to be very very menial things, like maybe you stole a slice of bread or you 

                 ate out of the rabbit’s cage or you drank water out of the toilet ... There wouldn’t have been 

                 anything, except my dress tore one time and that was another thing that I remembered. 



7.101      There could be up to six or seven girls waiting on the landing when she was there, and she said 

           that the bigger girls would push the smaller ones in front of them. She could not explain why: 



                 Why would anyone push someone in front, we knew we were going to be beaten anyway. 

                 Who wants to be beaten first? We would do that. Then she would, in rotation, she would 

                 beat us all. 



7.102      When asked what she disliked most about waiting on the landing, she replied it was the fear and 

           the cold. She said that they knew when Sr Alida was coming because they would hear a knock 

           on  a  hatch  at  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  and  someone  opening  it  to  give  her  water  for  her  hot 

           water bottle: 



                 We would hear her. As soon as we heard the knock on the hatch we knew that was her 

                 that was coming. We would all jump up and push the smaller ones in front of us. 



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7.103      She described how they tried to cope with the cold while waiting: 



                 We would be down on our hunkers trying to keep ourselves warm with our nightdress and 

                 try to rub our hands together so that they would get warm so that the slaps wouldn’t – for 

                 some reason we thought the slaps wouldn’t hurt if our hands were warm. 



7.104      A witness from the 1950s and 1960s used to wet the bed, and so was sent to the landing from a 

           very early age. She said: 



                 When you wet the bed you had to wait on the landing. I don't know how many times I 

                 waited on the landing, I don't know whether it was every night or once a week or twice a 

                 week. You were hit for wetting the bed. I was a very young child, it might have been 10 

                 minutes, to me it seemed like hours. I don't know the length of time I waited on the landing. 

                 You did get hit and you used to have to protect yourself. 



7.105      She continued: 



                 I was scared. You had to stand still, it was a very boring place to be. I just can't – I think 

                 the older ones – I probably did the same when I got older, the older ones pushed us to 

                 the front so the person that was hitting us her anger would be gone by the time she got 

                 to the bigger people ... I remember being shoved up to the top to get hit. 



7.106      This explanation for pushing the younger children to the front, so that it was they who took the 

           hardest hits, was put forward by another witness from the 1960s. She described the line of girls 

           on the landing: 



                 You  would  be  weak,  terrified,  anxious,  shivering  and  shaking,  and  trying  not  to  lean 

                 against the wall ... because you would be afraid, you weren’t supposed to do that, you 

                 weren’t  supposed to  rest, it  was punishment.  You wouldn’t  sit down.  You wouldn’t  risk 

                 falling asleep. There you stood. 



7.107      She continued: 



                 When  you knew  for  sure  she was  arriving,  there would  be  pushing  and shoving  about 

                 who was going first. Honest to God this is terrible, there would be younger children than 

                 you and you would be pushing them to get them to take the beating first. You didn’t want 

                 to be the one to get the first of the strength. I am sorry, it was horrible, you had to do 

                 what you had to do. The screaming of children, the screaming of children will stay with 

                 me for the rest of my life about Goldenbridge. I still hear it, I still haven’t recovered from 

                 that. Children crying and screaming, it was just endless, it never never stopped for years 

                 in that place. 



7.108      Girls were affected by what was happening to others: 



                 Whatever way they were going to be treated was no concern of mine but it did personally 

                 affect  me  ...  I  watched  [a  girl]  sit  on  that  landing  on  many  occasions  waiting  for  her 

                 beatings and I heard her screams and her shouting. 



7.109      One witness, from the 1960s, described the distress she felt at seeing others being beaten: 



                 The fact that I had to witness all those beatings, I had to stand there, they would be in 

                 my group, for example, and they were beaten. I would see them being slapped. There 

                 was a cross on the wall with INRI on the wall above the crucifix. I don’t know how I learned 

                 to do this, but I would look at INRI and make up words, so that I wasn’t there, so that I 

                 didn’t soak up what was going on ... We were helpless people and the helpless ones were 

                 the  ones  that  were  not  bright.  I  met  one  or  two  of  them  in  the  survivors’  meetings  in 

                 London  and  I  stopped  going  to  the  survivors’  meetings  because  it  was  too  traumatic 

                 for me. 



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7.110      The anguish of those to be punished was increased by long periods of anticipation and by 

           witnessing other girls’ suffering. The landing became associated with fear. This system of 

           punishment was cruel and abusive and it contravened regulations. 



           Bed-wetting or enuresis 



7.111      Bed-wetting was a problem in Goldenbridge, as it was in other residential institutions. It was not 

           confined to industrial schools, nor has it ceased to be a problem in residential homes for children. 

           Children wet beds at night for a variety of reasons. It was probably more common in industrial 

           schools because of the particular circumstances of the children sent there: they had to endure the 

           stresses and strains associated with separation from their families and the anxieties of institutional 

           life. The problem usually disappeared as children matured, but it left behind feelings of anxiety 

           and resentment. 



7.112      The practical problems were formidable. Bedclothes were made of materials such as calico and 

           wool that were difficult to wash and dry quickly. Laundry facilities that might have been stretched 

           in  normal  circumstances  had  to  handle  an  increased  volume  of  soiled  bed  linen.  It  has  to  be 

           acknowledged,  therefore,  that  bed-wetting  constituted  a  major  challenge  to  the  facilities  in  an 

           industrial school. 



7.113      During  Sr  Alida’s  time,  a  child  who  wet  her  bed  in  Goldenbridge  had  to  sleep  in  a  particular 

           dormitory where all the bed-wetters were gathered. In this dormitory, children were woken up at 

           night and taken out to the toilet. Their bedding was inspected daily. Children who wet the bed had 

           to take their sheets to be inspected, and they were punished, usually by being beaten. 



7.114      Bed-wetters had their consumption of water restricted in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of an 

           accident at night. Girls were thirsty as a result, and sought sources of water. This included drinking 

           out of cisterns of toilets located near the dormitories. Some gave evidence that children drank out 

           of the pan of the toilet. The attempt to prevent the intake of fluid proved to be largely unsuccessful. 



7.115      Bed-wetting was not considered to be a difficulty that children occasionally experienced, but was 

           instead seen as a failure of discipline. 



7.116      In  a  report   by   Dr  Moira   Maguire     and   Professor    Seamus      O  Cinneide,    entitled   ‘Report   for 

           Newtownforbes Module’, submitted by the Sisters of Mercy in respect of Newtownforbes Industrial 

           School,    the  authors    refer  to medical    knowledge      that  was   available   in  the  1930s.    The   two 

           references12    used  by  the  authors  show  that  bed-wetting  was  recognised  as  a  psychological 



           problem  as  far  back  as  the  1930s,  with  major  causes  being  unhappiness  and  nervous  strain. 

           Treating the problem with harshness exacerbated it, according to the British texts: 



                  In these cases ... the only cure is the removal of the cause of unhappiness – that is, not 

                  by treating the physical symptoms but by treating the child psychologically. Success, not 

                  failure, should always be stressed. 



7.117      The Irish article recognised the lack of child guidance practice in Ireland, but advised that children 

           who wet the bed should be encouraged with rewards rather than punished. 



7.118      In Goldenbridge, bed-wetting  was viewed as a  punishable offence. The method  of punishment 

           and the place of the punishments varied. One witness recalled the punishment that was inflicted 

           on her by Sr Bianca for wetting the bed: 



                  When I wet the bed which was nearly every night, she would bring you into this room, it’s 

                  called the linen room, it was a high room and a narrow room. She just proceeded to put 

                  me on the floor on my stomach, she put her left knee on my back, this was the punishment 



           12 Irish Journal of Medical Science 1939, and 1938 textbooks on the care of young children published in Britain. 



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                 I was getting by the way for wetting the bed, and a big girl, just a big girl ... again, to me 

                 she was about 15 or 16 ... she had to hold my legs down, pull down my pants and Mother 

                 Bianca pulled up my top and proceeded to smack me really hard for a while on the bum. 



7.119      Sr Bianca used a stick, and the witness recalled she was punished in this manner two or three 

           times a week. When she first arrived in Goldenbridge, in the early 1950s, that was the regime. 



7.120      She said that, when Sr Alida took over the running of the School in the mid-1950s, bed-wetters 

           were sent to the landing to await their punishment. The witness also pointed out that children who 

           were bed-wetters were not allowed to have a drink after 4 o’clock in the afternoon. 



7.121      Another witness who was resident in the 1950s recalled the punishment she was given for wetting 

           the bed. She was lined up in St Patrick’s classroom, along with other bed-wetters, and slapped 

           on the hand by Sr Alida. She also recalled her hair being pulled and her face being pushed into 

           the wet sheets. 



7.122      A  complainant  who  persistently  wet  the  bed  recalled  being  beaten  every  morning.  She  also 

           described the humiliation of sometimes having to parade her wet sheet in front of everyone: 



                 Then there were other times I remember there was a recreation hall and those of us who 

                 had wet the bed on some occasions we had to go into the front hall and stand there and 

                 people were coming in and out. On other occasions we had to go into the recreation hall, 

                 again with the wet sheets, and the other children were encouraged to walk around and 

                jeer us. They would call us wet-the-beds. 



7.123      One complainant said that, after Sr Alida became Manager: 



                 She took over and you were put on the landing when you wet the bed or when you did 

                 anything else bold but mainly for wetting the bed. I was all the time one of those people. 

                 She would leave you on the landing until she was ready to come up and smack you, and 

                 you could be there for a long time. 



7.124      One witness, who was resident in the School in the 1960s and who regularly wet the bed until 

           she was 14, stated that she was sent to the landing to await punishment and that she would be 

           punished in the yard: 



                 I was afraid to go to the toilet and that’s why I wet the bed. I think when I look back I 

                 thought it was every night I was hit, I don’t know how many times a week I was hit but I 

                 was hit for bed-wetting ... if it was discovered after a certain time you got hit down in the 

                 yard that was off the rec, you got hit there. I was either on the landing or in the rec, as 

                 we called it. 



7.125      She stated that the beds of children who wet the bed were checked during the night time by one 

           of  the  older  girls  and,  if  the  bed  was  wet,  the  child  would  be  woken  up  and  put  standing  on 

           the landing. 



7.126      Another witness remembered: 



                 I can remember praying every night that I wouldn’t wet the bed because I knew that the 

                 next morning I would be severely beaten, reprimanded and I remember feeling very cold 

                 and standing naked and just the shame, just the absolute shame of it. 



7.127      A complainant who continued to suffer from nocturnal enuresis for some years after she left the 

           School recalled being beaten by Sr Alida in the classroom. She was also beaten on the landing 

           and she continued to be punished for bed-wetting until she left Goldenbridge at the age of 16. 



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7.128      A woman described how, in the 1960s, her younger siblings were hit by the lay staff for wetting 

           the bed. As the eldest child, she could not bear to hear them being slapped, because she  ‘felt 

           every slap they got’. As a result, she took preventive measures: 



                 I found it very difficult because they were chastised in the mornings if they wet the beds. 

                 I couldn’t bear that so I ended up waking up during the night and crawling under the beds 

                 up to the top beds to take the dry sheets off the other kids and bring them down to ... 

                 take the wet sheets off and just throw the dry sheets beside my brothers. 



7.129      This complainant was approximately 10 years old when she was resorting to such measures to 

           defend her siblings from being punished. For a child of such tender years, it was a very stressful 

           experience for her. She told the Committee, ‘I didn’t get much sleep in the early days in the good 

           few years while they wet the bed. I never really slept that well’. 



7.130      A  male  witness  who  was  resident  in  Goldenbridge  in  the  1970s  recalled  being  beaten  on  one 

           occasion for wetting the bed. He had tried to conceal the wet sheets, but a nun came into the 

           dormitory and discovered them and  ‘she did kind of batter me’. This nun then threw him and the 

           sheets into a bath. He conceded that this was not a regular event. The worst aspect of this incident 

           was the humiliation and fear of wetting the bed:  ‘just the whole humiliation of the whole lot’. Even 

           to this day, he said he had a fear of wetting the bed: ‘I would still have that fear. I would wake up 

           during the night just in case because sometimes you would feel like I was going to the toilet’. 



7.131      Bed-wetting was an indication of emotional disturbance, yet the Sisters of Mercy used punishment 

           relentlessly  as  a  policy  to  deal  with  it,  rather  than  analysing  the  reasons  for  the  problem.  The 

           Sisters  of  Mercy   acknowledge  that  it  was     not  dealt  with  appropriately.  They     stated  in  their 

           Opening Statement: 



                 Unfortunately, one of the methods of trying to deal with the problem in the earlier part of 

                 the period under review was to try to jolt the child out of the habit by punishment. 



7.132      They  also  conceded  that  older  girls  were  punished  for  bed-wetting.  They  said  that  two  of  the 

           tactics used with the younger children was to deprive them of fluids in the late evening and waking 

           them during the night to take them to the toilet. 



7.133      They acknowledged that the children who wet the bed would have suffered humiliation by ‘the 

           very reason of having to bring soiled sheets to the laundry basket’. Furthermore, they apologised 

           for any hurt and pain caused by them in response to the issue of bed-wetting: 



                 We  further  particularly  regret  the  use  of  any  form  of  punishment,  including  corporal 

                 punishment, in respect of children who suffered from a bedwetting problem. At the time it 

                 was thought that punishment would provide a deterrent in the erroneous belief that the 

                 child  was   able   to  control  his  or  her   bedwetting.    In  retrospect,  we   recognize    that 

                 punishment for bedwetting must have been particularly traumatic, and that children who 

                 suffered from bedwetting, and punishment for bedwetting, had a particularly difficult time. 



7.134      In their written Submissions, too, they accepted that corporal punishment and shaming tactics, 

           such as making children parade their wet sheets in front of the other children, were used, but that 

           it was likely from the evidence heard that such practices ceased after a certain point. 



7.135      Sr Alida stated that bed-wetting was a huge problem during her early days in Goldenbridge. She 

           asserted that they tried every possible means to counteract this problem, including waking children 

           at 2am to go to the toilet. She stated that each child who had a persistent bed-wetting problem 

           was sent to Dr. Steevens’ Hospital for investigation. She also recalled that she received medical 

           advice, around 1954, to cease the practice of waking children during the night. 



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7.136      Sr Alida denied beating any child for bed-wetting: 



                 ... For bed-wetting, I cannot account, I cannot account for bed-wetting, I didn’t beat for 

                 bed-wetting. I beat for lots of other things. 



7.137      She added that none of the lay staff had authority to deal with the problem of bed-wetting amongst 

           the children and, in particular, they were not permitted to punish the children: 



                 [The  staff]  had  never  any  authority  to  punish  children  for  bed-wetting  that  I  know  of,  I 

                 never  gave  it  to  anybody.  I  don’t  remember  myself  taking  anybody  in  the  line,  beating 

                 them for bed-wetting ... I have no recollection of ever having children on the landing for 

                 bed-wetting. 



7.138      However, under cross-examination she conceded that she had in fact slapped children for bed- 

           wetting. When asked whether she accepted that she had slapped children for bed-wetting, she 

           responded, ‘I suppose I have to. I slapped a lot more than I am happy to be thinking of these days’. 



7.139      She continued to deny that she lined up bed-wetters in St Patrick’s classroom for punishment, or 

           that children were made to parade with their wet sheets. 



7.140      •    Corporal punishment was used as punishment for bed-wetting long after the 1950s, 

                 contrary to what was asserted by Sr Alida and the Congregation. Witnesses who were 

                 in Goldenbridge in the 1960s, and even the 1970s, gave evidence of being beaten for 

                wetting the bed at night. 



           •    The methods of dealing with bed-wetting proved to be wholly unsuccessful, but they 

                were  continued  over  many  years  and  under  different  Managers.  If  the  management 

                 had sought to create conditions in which it was probable that children would wet their 

                 beds, the steps adopted could scarcely have been chosen with more effect. They set 

                 up a cycle of behaviour by the children and by the authorities which, instead of tending 

                 to  eradicate    the  problem,     actually   exacerbated      it. The   combination      of  measures 

                 resulted in more extensive bed-wetting and for longer periods in the child’s life than 

                would     otherwise     have    been    the   case.   The    pattern   of   identification,    exposure, 

                 segregation, differential treatment, embarrassment and humiliation was completed by 

                 punishment when the predictable and almost inevitable result came about. 



           Informal punishments 



7.141      Witnesses  spoke  of  other  ways  in  which  corporal  punishment  was  administered  unfairly  and 

           undeservedly.  They  claimed  it  was  used  so  commonly  that  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  it.  One 

           witness, who was in Goldenbridge in the 1940s from seven years of age, told the Committee: 



                 I would stand there and when you hear the noise and the shouting, the roaring and the 

                 screaming, then what did I used to do I used to stand there with urine running down my 

                 legs  with  the  fear  of  knowing  that  whatever  you  were  going  to  do,  whatever  you  were 

                 going to say ... you couldn’t say anything, if you looked at them you got clattered. If you 

                 looked away you got clattered. If you put your head down you got clattered. So what could 

                 you do? I used to try and disappear into the ether ... You knew that you could never get 

                 away from the cruelty. You couldn’t escape and take yourself off. 



7.142      Many witnesses testified that there was no way that they could avoid being slapped, whether for 

           behaviour regarded as seriously wrong or for something trivial, or indeed for no apparent reason. 

           When punishment was administered, there was no necessary correlation between the seriousness 

           of the infraction and the severity of the beating. 



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7.143     There was no body of rules governing the occasions or the circumstances in which punishment 

          would   be  administered.   There  was   no  punishment    book.  Records    were  not  kept  as  to the 

          punishments imposed. Staff were not instructed as to what was permissible. 



7.144     The absence of any obligation to record punishment meant that the infliction of punishment was, 

          in practice, unregulated. There is general acceptance that punishment happened too often and 

          too severely and in an unrecorded and unregulated manner. 



7.145     The absence of rules meant that the children did not know how to avoid punishment. Without a 

          clear system in place to make punishment predictable and avoidable, the children lived in fear, 

          and those in authority became indifferent to good order and discipline in themselves. The adults 

          were given so much autonomy that they alone decided whether to give punishment or not, and 

          they alone decided what warranted it. They decided how much punishment was given and in what 

          manner it was administered. 



7.146     It  should  have  been  the  case  that  the  Manager,  or  somebody  deputed  on  her  behalf  for  that 

          purpose, administer the punishment and then record it. The actuality was different. The nun in 

          charge of the girls or her assistant regularly and frequently administered punishment with a stick. 

          The respondent evidence was that it was confined to slapping on the hands and then in moderate 

          quantity.  There  was,  however,  a  preponderance  of  persuasive  evidence  to  the  contrary,  that 

          slapping was not confined in that way. Instead, it could happen that a child would be struck on 

          the hand or arm, or indeed on the legs or some other part of the body. 



7.147     Children were sometimes punished by being locked into a room, described as the furnace, and 

          one witness described a particularly terrifying experience when she had offended one of the care 

          workers  and  found  herself  locked  in.  She  could  not  remember  how  long  she  was  there,  but 

          screamed all the time. Care assistants also punished the children. These workers had grown up 

          in Goldenbridge and knew no other method of coping with children. They were scarcely more than 

          children  themselves,   and   their moral  responsibility  for what   they  were  doing   was  slight by 

          comparison with others in higher positions in the ladder of authority. 



7.148     A former teacher, now of advanced years, gave compelling evidence of the environment generally 

          and the state of the children in Goldenbridge during her years. On the issue of punishment, she 

          said that she used a ruler for most of her time in preference to a leather strap, which she had 

          been  given  at  the  beginning  of  her  career  but  which  she  had  rejected  when  she  accidentally 

          discovered how painful it was. When she was asked whether she used the flat of the ruler or the 

          edge of it, as some witnesses had testified, she candidly acknowledged that sometimes she used 

          the edge, when children had particularly annoyed her. 



          Climate of fear 



7.149     Many complainants gave evidence of living in a perpetual state of fear in Goldenbridge. Children 

          were punished for trivial misdemeanours. 



7.150     A complainant who spent the 1950s in Goldenbridge recalled that  ‘the beatings were constant’. 

          This witness gave evidence of one occasion when she was the only child on the landing waiting 

          for punishment. Sr Alida took her into her cell and called Sr Venetia to join them. The complainant 

          was told to take off her nightdress, and she was then beaten by both nuns. Sr Venetia used her 

          hand, but Sr Alida beat her with the stick across the buttocks and on the hands. She said it was 

          a more severe punishment than usual and that she did not know what she had done to merit it. 



7.151     A  further  complainant,  who  was  resident  in  Goldenbridge  from  1954  until  1966,  recalled  being 

          punished by Sr Alida: 



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                ... If you were walking say down the thing, she would say, “what are you doing here?” 

                And she would lash out at you. “You dirty article”, she would just give you a lash out. Like 

                being on the wet-the-bed line. I was always so frightened of her. When I used to see her 

                I used to shiver inside. 



7.152     A complainant, who spent the 1960s in Goldenbridge, remembered Sr Alida as being particularly 

          severe: 



                Sr Alida was extremely cruel. She beat children, she had us standing on landings where 

                she beat us. She beat us down in St. Patrick’s for having wet sheets. We were beaten in 

                the yard for having wet sheets, for wetting the bed. You couldn’t pass her, you were just 

                terrified passing her. The swish of her. You would see her coming. 



7.153     A complainant, who spent a number of years in Goldenbridge, gave evidence of the fear induced 

          by Sr Venetia: 



                There was one person you were frightened to look at with her blue eyes and her pale skin 

                ... She had a dreadful habit, I don't know why she did it, you had to stand in a half circle 

                with you. She would come behind you, her presence, as she passed, you always thought 

                you were going to get a whack on the legs. She had a dreadful habit of (indicating) "who 

                can I smell?" We all knew we smelled. Is she going to pick us? 



7.154     This  complainant  recalled  being  punished  on  a  regular  basis  by  Sr  Venetia.  She  said  that  Sr 

          Venetia would beat children for wetting the bed, and she also recalled being beaten by her on the 

          legs during Irish Dancing classes, for not raising her legs high enough: 



                Sr Venetia had a way that you had to stand a distance from her. She never got close to 

                you. She stood so far and you stood and your hands at all times had to be out straight ... 

                If  you  bent  your  elbows  she  would  come  close  to  you  then  and  she  would  just  whack 

                those elbows. In the end, you just held your arms out. Sometimes you would just think to 

                yourself “when is she going to stop?” She had this way of looking at you, I don’t know. 

                She seemed to get redder and redder as somebody who was hitting you, whereas she 

                was quite a pale person any other time. She seemed to get into this frenzied type look. 

                She was a very cruel woman. 



7.155     Another resident from the mid-1950s until the mid-1960s, recalled a high level of physical abuse 

          in Goldenbridge. On a regular basis, she was slapped with a cane, even as a very small child. 

          She later said: 



                Physical abuse was part and parcel of everyday life in Goldenbridge. Sr Venetia would 

                have  many,  many  times  abused  me  physically  and  verbally.  It  didn’t  have  to  be  for 

                anything specific. It could be your laces weren’t tied or it could be your hair was untidy. It 

                could be that she didn’t like the look of you that particular day. 



7.156     A complainant who was in Goldenbridge for 10 years from the mid-1960s stated that her initial 

          memories of Goldenbridge were of hitting, taunting and name-calling, and that she was constantly 

          in front of Sr Venetia, who slapped her with a hand brush for minor misdemeanours. She recalled 

          being  beaten  on  one  occasion  because  she  had  a  button  missing  from  her  nightdress.  This 

          complainant asserted that Sr Venetia called her names, either that she was dirty or that she was 

          ‘man mad’. 



7.157     On one occasion, this complainant, who was only seven years of age at the time, suffered from 

          diarrhoea during the night. She had an accident on her way to the bathroom, and the next morning, 

          when questioned, she denied being responsible. Nevertheless, she was sent to Sr Venetia and 

          was identified as the culprit. Sr Venetia slapped her with the hand brush, and she was slapped 



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           by  everybody  who  had  any  dealings  with  the  situation  at  all,  including  the  lay  workers  on  the 

           dormitory. 



 7.158     One witness from the 1950s and 1960s said that occasionally you would get a smack across the 

          face from Sr Venetia when she checked the rosary beads in the evening, but on the whole she 

           did not have any complaint about Sr Venetia. She later said: 



                 She never actually hurt me. I am here for myself. She never actually hurt me ... she would 

                 slap but she wasn’t cruel. What I mean by a slap, I never saw her giving anybody a hiding. 



 7.159     She contrasted Sr Venetia to some of the lay workers who were there, whom she described as 

          very cruel. 



 7.160    This complainant, as with so many other complainants, was able to make the distinction between 

          the corporal punishment administered by Sr Venetia and that administered by the lay care workers 

           and by Sr Alida. Sr Venetia was not perceived as being unfair, cruel or brutal. She was singled 

           out as having taken action when complaints by the girls were made to her about the treatment 

           meted out to one of the younger children by the lay workers. 



 7.161    Another unusual complaint was that children were put into the large, industrial-sized tumble dryers. 

           Complainants named lay staff, other children and, in one instance, Sr Alida as being responsible. 

          The   dryer  was   not  turned   on  when   the  children  were   put  into  it, but they  found   it a very 

          frightening experience. 



 7.162     One complainant recalled being put into the tumble dryer by some of the older girls: 



                 There was a dryer on the right-hand side, quite a rounded looking thing, not like what you 

                 would see a dryer today and it was quite a lot off the floor. One of them picked me up 

                 and put me in there and they shut the door. I can see one of their faces now looking in that. 



 7.163     In  the  Crowley  Report,  Sr  Venetia  confirmed  the  allegations in  respect  of  the  tumble  dryer.  Sr 

          Alida acknowledged to Mr Crowley about being confronted by a parent for threatening to place 

           her daughter in the tumble dryer. In evidence, she said that a person had come to her to tell her 

          that her child was afraid of the tumble dryer and advised her about it. 



          Allegations of abuse perpetrated by lay workers 



 7.164    The   Investigation   Committee    heard   a  number    of  allegations  against  lay  workers   who   were 

           employed in the Institution. There were three different categories of lay worker in Goldenbridge. 



 7.165    There were four teachers in the internal primary school, two of whom were nuns, together with 

          two lay teachers. 



 7.166    The second category of lay worker was the staff who looked after kitchens and dormitories and 

          who were, to a very large extent, the people at the centre of childcare in Goldenbridge. These lay 

          workers were responsible for the day-to-day running of the Institution, but were of course subject 

          to  the  authority  of  the  Resident  Manager  and  her  Assistant  Sister  at  the  time.  Their  task  was 

           mainly to assist with the supervision of the children before and after school hours. They worked 

           in shifts, two on and two off. The lay staff were not trained in any aspects of childcare. 



 7.167     In  the  third  category  were  former  pupils  who  were  retained  as  helpers,  at  the  expiry  of  their 

           detention orders at the age of 16. Sr Alida stated that there were only three former pupils towards 

          the end of her tenure in Goldenbridge who were retained as helpers, although this number was 

           greater in the earlier years. She said: 



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                  There were two or three girls who had no motivation to leave, had difficulty of their own; 

                  one  was  severely  handicapped  mentally  and  incapable  of  making  her  own  way  in  the 

                  world, the other had a very serious speech defect and I cannot put down exactly, obesity 

                  I suppose I would say for the third, which we tried to get treated and it didn’t change. They 

                  would be the only three past pupils that were working in the school that I can remember in 

                  my time. 



7.168      Sr Alida’s description of the former pupils who were retained to look after the other children and 

           work in the Industrial School would suggest they were entirely unsuitable to work with children. 



7.169      One  complainant,  who  was  in  Goldenbridge  between  from  the  early  1950s  to  the  late  1960s, 

           spoke at length about the care workers who were there. She described many of them as very 

           cruel. She described one incident where she was being administered cod liver oil by a care worker, 

           and when it was her turn she said,  ‘Thank you, Ms Rafter’,13  with a smile on her face. She said 



           that this infuriated the care worker, who dragged her into a linen room, threw her on a table and 

           took off her underpants. She hit her from head to toe with a hand brush, and then put a nappy 

           on her. 



7.170      She  said  that,  on  another  occasion,  she  was  beaten  for  making  a  comment  while  she  was 

           watching television. She ran away as a result of this, but was brought back. She told Sr Venetia 

           that  she  had  run  away  because  she  was  sick  of  being  hit.  She  said  she  doesn’t  believe  her 

           complaint had any impact on Sr Venetia, but that, on a subsequent occasion, one of the smaller 

           children had come up to her and her friends with no clothes on and full of bruises. When they 

           asked her what was wrong, she said that Ms Rafter had hit her because she had worn her knickers 

           in bed. This complainant and her friends went to Sr Venetia and said that they would go to the 

           Evening Press or the Herald if the beatings didn’t stop and ‘all those kind of, what we classed as 

           carers now, they were gone in two weeks. They were cruel’. 



7.171      This complainant named four care workers, who were all removed very shortly after the complaints 

           had been made to Sr Venetia. This complainant said that Goldenbridge did improve after that had 

           occurred, although it still was not a nice place. 



7.172      Another complainant, who was in Goldenbridge between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s, said 

           that  one  carer,  who  looked  after  the  babies,  stood  out  in  her  mind  as  being  very  kind  to  the 

           children. She said that she was one of the inmates of the Institution who had been kept on and 

           given a job there. Another former resident, who remained in the School to work as a carer, stood 

           out in her memory: she described her as a product of the system. She often woke the children up 

           in the morning, and she would sometimes lift a mattress and throw it onto the floor with the child 

           on it. This complainant said that Ms Thornton14  was  ‘a very very aggressive woman’. 



7.173      This complainant had a certain amount of compassion and understanding for Ms Thornton, and 

           said:  ‘She never knew any different, she grew up in the system. When I think now in retrospect I 

           kind of feel sorry for her’. 



7.174      This witness recalls another staff member, who was a woman of very, very low intellect, who used 

           to put her hands up the children’s skirts if they were carrying anything into the kitchen or washing 

           dishes. Again, the complainant had compassion and understanding and did not blame this person. 



7.175      She talked about a third incident, where a minder threw her into a swimming pool when they were 

           on holidays  in Rathdrum. She  said that  this minder used  to treat her  badly if  there was a  nun 



           13 This is a pseudonym. 

           14 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1067-----------------------

          around to witness it,  ‘She done that to get attention from the nun that was approaching. It was 

          just a case of silly behaviour’ . 



7.176     What clearly emerged from the evidence of this witness is that, although she was subjected to 

          abuse  herself,  she  does  not  hold  the  lay  workers  responsible  because  they  were  either  so 

          damaged by the system themselves or they were intellectually incapable of understanding what 

          they were doing. In many ways, this is a view that is reflected by a number of complainants, and 

          it is more a reflection on the authorities in Goldenbridge, who employed these unfortunate women 

          and left them in charge of children, than on the women themselves. 



7.177     A  complainant,  who  was  in  Goldenbridge  from  the  mid-1950s  to  the  mid-1960s,  also  spoke  at 

          some length about the lay staff. She mentioned a lay member of staff and said that she was worse 

          than Sr Alida: ‘She was allowed to run riot. She brutalised the children’. She said that these people 

          were not teachers, but were carers and supervised the children. She said that the older inmates 

          in the  Institution did all  the work  like washing, bead  making and looking  after the  children, but 

          these carers supervised all of that. This complainant also spoke about being a personal maid to 

          one of the care staff. She said that she cleaned her room, put on her hot water bottle, made her 

          bed, cleaned her floor, ironed her clothes and generally looked after her. 



7.178     The witnesses who attended Goldenbridge in the late 1950s and 1960s were vocal in their criticism 

          of the care workers who were in the Institution at that time. The main criticism is that these young 

          girls, who had themselves come through Goldenbridge, were unsupervised and uncontrolled by 

          the authorities in Goldenbridge. This does not seem to have been as big a complaint while Sr 

          Alida was the nun in charge of the day-to-day running of the Institution but when Sr Venetia took 

          over the day-to-day management, this did emerge as a major issue. 



7.179     A  witness  complained  of  being  badly  beaten  by  Ms  Rafter,  who  was  the  subject  of  an  earlier 

          complaint to Sr Venetia and was finally removed by her in the late 1960s. This complainant also 

          identified Ms Thornton who she said beat a girl in the dining hall, ‘Ms Thornton was violent, she 

          was a very violent person. She was another one that you were frightened to look at’. 



7.180     This complainant again made the point that, at this stage, Goldenbridge was being run and looked 

          after by lay staff and older girls. She said that, although the nuns were there and Sr Venetia was 

          in charge, the real running of the Institution was left to lay staff. 



7.181     Another complainant spoke about her experience in Goldenbridge and was quite frank about the 

          impact her experience had on her own personal development. She said that a lot of the actions 

          taken in Goldenbridge were done deliberately to embarrass and humiliate the children. She said 

          ‘I’ll put it like this, I find a lot of the women who looked after us, including Sr Venetia, I find a lot 

          of them in me. I will do things to embarrass people if I don’t like them. I try not to’. 



7.182     Another complainant singled out Ms Thornton as being particularly cruel. She said that she had a 

          grudge against an awful lot of people. She said that, on one occasion, when she tried to intervene 

          because Ms Thornton was hitting her brother, Ms Thornton twisted her arm and actually broke it. 

          She said that she was too terrified of Ms Thornton to tell Sr Venetia what had happened, and so 

          she told her that she had hurt it in the washing machine. She was afraid that, if she had told on 

          Ms Thornton, her little brother would have been victimised by her. 



7.183     She said that Ms Thornton was particularly cruel to the little boys, and that she told other girls 

          about this, and eventually it got back to Sr Venetia, but she only got beaten and had her head 

          shaved by a member of the lay staff as a result. 



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7.184     One complainant who was in Goldenbridge in the 1960s was one of the most condemnatory of 

          the  lay  staff  in  Goldenbridge.  She  described  a  regime  where  the  unqualified  and  largely  ill- 

          educated lay staff were effectively out of control and administering severe physical punishment. 



7.185     Abuse by lay staff became a major feature of life in Goldenbridge in the 1950s and 1960s and 

          continued   until, eventually   in 1966,   Sr  Venetia  removed     four particularly  abusive   lay staff 

          members, and conditions improved thereafter. 



7.186     This complainant’s recollection is of one of those staff members who was finally complained about 

          to Sr Venetia, and she describes her as  ‘an absolute demon’. She recalls her dragging her off a 

          bed in the dormitory, pulling off her clothes and beating her in front of other girls. She said that 

          she boxed her, kicked her and threw her to the floor. She was left in a very bad state, and that 

          night woke up screaming in her sleep. Somebody went and got Sr Venetia, who was told what 

          had happened to her, but as far as she knew that was the end of the matter. This complainant 

          says that, some time later, another child received a similar beating from Ms Rafter. She said: 



                I was finished, I was shattered, I couldn’t fight any more, I was finished. I just felt utterly 

                hopeless, it was over, I could have died, I didn’t care. She broke my spirit completely and 

                I had plenty of it but she broke it and it has taken me years and years and years to recover 

                any of it and I still will never get over that woman. 



7.187     This complainant said that this lay staff worker was often in charge of the recreation hall. She said 

          that this was a huge room, and was used for recreation if the weather prevented the children from 

          going outside. She said: 



                We used to go into that room and you would have to sit like this (indicating) your finger 

                on  your  lip  (indicating) and  you  dare  not  move  and  I  mean  move  or  display  any  body 

                language. If you looked and caught your friend’s eye across the other side of the room or 

                if you winked or blinked or anything there was this orgy of violence that followed. Nothing 

                short of an orgy of violence. 



7.188     The complainant said that the nuns were never present during any of this, that they were always 

          in the convent. She said that these lay workers, not just Ms Rafter, but others whom she named, 

          kicked the children, pulled off their clothes, pulled them by their hair, beat them and battered them. 

          She said she would never forget those fights as long as she lived, and that she has had to live 

          with it almost every day of her life. She said she recalls one little girl getting an appalling beating 

          because she asked one of the carers ‘Is your name Ms Rafter?’. She said that those carers should 

          have been named as respondents and been forced to answer for what they did. She said this was 

          something that happened every day, especially in the wintertime, but she said it was not just in 

          the recreation hall, it also happened in the dormitories after the nun had gone back to the convent. 



7.189     Another complainant, who was in Goldenbridge in the 1960s, also spoke about the bullying that 

          went on in the School. Again, this is a complaint that was not seen in the 1940s and 1950s, when 

          there appeared to be a great deal more control over the School. By the 1960s, undoubtedly the 

          issue of bullying had arisen. This complainant said that there were a lot of bullies in the School, 

          and that it was survival of the fittest. She said that this bullying was conducted by members of the 

          staff and that, as a child, she found that these people did not care. She said that they were doing 

          their job, but that there was a great deal of punishment. She said that these lay people had a 

          great deal of power and they inflicted severe beatings. 



7.190     Another complainant who was in Goldenbridge in the early 1960s was a small boy when admitted. 

          He remembers getting beatings, particularly for bed-wetting. He said: 



                You had girls in charge. You had nuns, then you had outsiders, you had elder girls put in 

                charge of the younger ones, they used to give as nearly as much beatings as what the 



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----------------------- Page 1069-----------------------

                 nuns did for certain things. After being out of there and you think back, these girls were 

                 brought up with that sort of treatment and they portrayed that on younger kids. They were 

                 in there for years so that is all they knew, but you were underneath these people ‘cos 

                 they were bigger and stronger and there longer, so you were getting it at every angle. 



7.191      Sr Alida in her evidence stated that lay staff were not authorised to slap children and that, as far 

           as she knew, they did not do so. She said that, as far as she was aware, she and Sr Bianca, or 

           later  she and  Sr  Venetia,  were the  only  persons who  administered  corporal  punishment in  the 

           School, and the lay staff left any problems for them to deal with. 



7.192      She also said that she believed that the two lay workers who were left in charge while she and 

           Sr Venetia went over to the convent in the evenings had a difficult task maintaining discipline, and 

           that was why there would be children waiting for her on the landing. 



           Discrimination 



7.193      Witnesses    complained    that  children  were   not  all treated   alike in  Goldenbridge.    They   were 

           protected  to  some  extent  if  they  had  a  relative  who  visited  them  regularly.  Favouritism  was  a 

           complaint made particularly by witnesses who were in Goldenbridge during the 1960s. 



7.194      A complainant, who was aged nine in the early 1960s, described the difference in the way that 

           children  were  treated.  This  witness  and  her  siblings  were  placed  in  care  on  the  death  of  their 

           mother, and she noticed particularly how two members of another family were treated so differently 

           that it came as a shock to her to realise they were sisters. Whereas one girl was favoured as 

           a  pet,  the  other  was  treated  with  extreme  cruelty  and  was  often  seen  waiting  on  the  landing 

           for punishment. 



7.195      Another complainant, objecting to favouritism, remarked that the very fact that the nuns and lay 

           staff were capable of forming attachments with certain children demonstrated that they knew how 

           to treat children properly and show them love and affection: 



                 It was wrong there was no need for it, why couldn’t they treat us all like pets, why not? 

                 That’s a choice they exercised. 



7.196      A witness, who was five years old when he was committed to Goldenbridge, gave evidence. He 

           was transferred to Artane when he was nine years old. He stated that, before he was committed 

           to institutional care: 



                 I was a happy, young little kid and I believe I was turned into a nervous wreck in these 

                 places. 



7.197      He was emotionally upset by the death of his mother and was a regular bed-wetter. He was left- 

           handed and was constantly beaten for it in class. This vulnerability made him an obvious target 

           for bullies. He summed up his situation as follows: 



                 I remember just constantly getting beaten. Even in the classroom being nervous, and left 

                 handed, you weren’t allowed to do things left handed, the devil was in you, you were told 

                 ... From constant beatings I had a stutter and I had a turn in my eye as well, and I used 

                 to get an awful time off the rest of the kids. 



7.198      The Sisters of Mercy in their Submission accepted that this complainant’s circumstances made 

           him more vulnerable. 



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          A change in atmosphere 



7.199      Many complainants gave evidence that the atmosphere in the School improved under Sr Venetia’s 

           management. She did not resort to physical punishment to the same extent as her predecessor. 

           One complainant described her relief when Sr Alida left in the early 1960s: 



                 I was relieved when she left. I was relieved to the extent that I knew Sr Venetia had done 

                 some things, but she was still never on a par with Sr Alida, where bullying and beatings 

                 and things were concerned ... I got some beatings from Sr Venetia, but she would never 

                 have – let’s face it when somebody is beating you they are not happy and smiling. She 

                 would  never  have  had  that  harshness  in  her  face  or  in  her  voice  that  Alida  had,  that 

                 horrible horrible venom that was dished out for me by Sr Alida. 



7.200     Another  complainant  described  the  relief  after  Sr  Alida  left,  and  stated  that  the  children  were 

           happier: 



                 I felt personally that there was an air of lightness in the place ... it just seemed that there 

                 was something – there was a little bit of fear gone ... We didn’t have to see that big figure 

                 coming down the hall, and if you were running or anything like that, and getting a slap on 

                 the head. That’s the way I used to be afraid, you would see the big black figure. 



7.201     At the  same time, the  witness added  that Sr Venetia  was moody, which  could create  a tense, 

           uncertain environment: 



                 Sometimes I found her alright. I think it depended on her mood. She did punish severely 

                 as well. 



7.202     Another difference between the two nuns was that Sr Venetia was verbally cruel and sarcastic, 

           and witnesses spoke about how they were hurt by her comments. One witness recalled how Sr 

          Venetia deliberately ridiculed her because her mother had spent time in a psychiatric hospital: 



                 She used the term “cracked like your mother” many, many times. I used to live in fear of 

                 her coming into my view because – I was terrified that she would say these words. 



           Evidence of respondents 



7.203      Sr Alida stated in evidence that, during most of her time in Goldenbridge, there were 150 children 

           and four staff members. In order to maintain discipline, she had to be very controlling. Given the 

           nature of the work and the constraints under which the staff operated, she stated that it was very 

           possible that staff were bad tempered. 



7.204      It was the system that obliged her to use corporal punishment as often as she did. She explained: 



                 Today I would hate to think of the things I had to do or the things I did, but in the system 

                 as it was I don’t know what resolution there was to it. Maybe it was a too easy situation 

                 to get rid of a problem, instead of sitting down to talk or to advise you slapped and that 

                 was the end of the problem. 



7.205      She asserted that she never saw anybody else use a slapper except for Sr Venetia. She said, 

           ‘Lay people could give a clout with their hand but that would be the most that I would see them 

           doing’. She said that no lay person ever beat the children, as far as she knew, nor did they have 

           authority to punish the children in any manner. 



7.206      Sr Alida had a clear memory of children being on the landing during Sr Bianca’s time, but she 

           had  no  real  memory  of  that  being  a  feature  of  her  time  there.  Although  she  could  remember 

           chastising a child on the landing, it was not on a regular basis. She also said that lay staff did not 

           chastise children but left it for her to deal with. 



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7.207      Sr Alida maintained that she and Sr Venetia were the only persons who administered corporal 

           punishment in the School: the lay staff were not authorised to slap children and, as far as she 

           was aware, they did not do so. 



7.208      Ms Garvin,15  formerly a Sister of Mercy who had worked as an assistant teacher in Goldenbridge 



           from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, was adamant that, while there was corporal punishment, 

           it was not excessive. 



7.209      Sr  Gianna16    gave  evidence  to  the  Investigation  Committee.  She  worked  as  an  assistant  in  the 



           School from 1960 until she took her final vows as a Sister of Mercy a few years later. She stated 

           that,  although  Sr  Alida  used  a  stick  for  corporal  punishment,  it  would  cause  no  more  than 

           temporary discomfort to a child. She agreed that it could leave bruising on a child’s body, but she 

           said she never witnessed such injuries. 



7.210      Both the above witnesses said that they believed the atmosphere was very good in Goldenbridge 

           and that the children were happy there. 



            The Crowley Report 



7.211      Among the discovered documents was a report commissioned by the Sisters of Mercy in 1996 on 

           the conditions of life in Goldenbridge. It was commissioned to prepare the Congregation for the 

           television programme ‘Dear Daughter’ and its aftermath. 



7.212      The ‘Dear Daughter’ programme was shown on RTE in February 1996, and it produced a massive 

           response from the media and the public. Complaints were made to the Gardai and an investigation 

                                                                                                       ´ 

           followed, but there were no prosecutions. The Congregation was aware that the programme was 

           being planned and that serious allegations would be made about how children had been treated 

           in Goldenbridge. In advance of the screening of the programme, the Congregation decided to find 

           out  what  it  could  about  conditions  in  the  Institution.  One  of  the  first  things  that  it  did  was  to 

           commission a professional childcare expert to give an initial assessment of the allegations, and 

           that  inquiry  gave  rise  to  the  first  apology  that  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  issued  in  February  1996, 

           following the screening of the programme. 



7.213      The preliminary inquiry was undertaken by a senior social worker with the Western Health Board. 

           His brief was to develop an assessment of the allegations being made regarding the care received 

           by children in Goldenbridge in the 1950s and 1960s. Mr Crowley gathered information from the 

           following sources: 



                   •    Transcript of the Gay Byrne interview with Ms Christine Buckley in 1993. 

                   •     A  meeting  with  Mr  Louis  Lentin,  the  producer  of  the  programme  that  was  going  to 

                         shown on RTE. 



                   •    A meeting with a former resident of Goldenbridge. 

                   •    Meeting with Sr Alida. 

                   •    Meeting with Sr Venetia. 

                   •    Report and feedback from Sr Bettina17  on her interviews with former residents. 



7.214      Mr Crowley approached his task in two ways. Firstly, he sought to establish and clarify the broad 

           nature and patterns of the allegations being made. Secondly, he examined the information and 

           carried  out  interviews,  with  a  view  to  forming  an  independent  professional  assessment  of  the 

           general nature of the care provided in Goldenbridge in the context of the allegations. 



           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 

           17 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.215     He identified four areas of complaint which were interrelated. They were physical abuse, emotional 

          abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect of children’s basic needs. Mr Crowley compiled a summary of 

          allegations that were made about the regime: 



                Physical Abuse 



                       1.  A constant pattern of physical abuse. 



                       2.  Severe beatings resulting in children being physically marked was the dominant 

                           form of discipline. 



                       3.  The beatings were carried out by a number of lay staff but most especially by Sr 

                           Alida. Beatings were so routine that they were witnessed by and colluded with by 

                           all members of staff. 



                       4.  Children were deprived of food. 



                       5.  Children   were   kept  awake    late  into the   evenings   while  awaiting   physical 

                           punishments and were thus deprived of sleep. 



                       6.  Children were deprived of heating and warmth. 



                       7.  Children  were  routinely  involved  in  inappropriate  physical  tasks  connected  with 

                           maintaining the establishment. 



                       8.  Some of the severe punishments were inflicted in circumstances in which there 

                           were sexual and humiliating elements including, for example, public and forceful 

                           removal of clothes before physical punishment. 



                       9.  Children were not clear as to why they were being beaten. 



                     10.   Children lived in constant fear of experiencing and witnessing physical abuse. 



                Emotional Abuse 



                     11.   Routine derogatory references to the children’s background and to their parent’s 

                           behaviour. 



                     12.   Verbal abuse which combined with other interactions had the effect of reinforcing 

                           negative self images and damaging self confidence and feelings of worth. 



                     13.   Denial of appropriate recreation. 



                     14.   Imposing onerous responsibilities on children who were too young to carry them 

                           out, such as taking responsibility for the care of other children. 



                     15.   Public humiliation of children suffering from bed-wetting and soiling and making 

                           them display wet and soiled sheets publicly to other children. 



                     16.   Children were constantly in fear. 



                     17.   Children’s emotional needs were neither understood nor responded to. 



                     18.   Favouritism. 



                     19.   Deprivation  was  made  worse  for  children  when  they  saw  some  others  being 

                           treated as pets and getting better treatment. 



                Sexual Abuse 



                      20.  Children  were  exposed  to  sexually  abusive  experiences  by  befriending  families 

                           and employers with whom they were placed. 



                      21.  No  proper  assessment  or  supervision  or  aftercare  arrangements  were  made  to 

                           prevent these abuses. 



                      22.  Some care practices reflected insensitivity to adolescent sexuality. 



                      23.  Two  former  residents  alleged  cases  of  specific  sexual  abuse,  one  by  a  male 

                           member of staff and one by two female members of staff. 



          286                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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                  Neglect of Children’s Basic Needs 



                        24.   The   total  organisation     of  the  children’s   daily   routine   was   contrary    to  their 

                              developing needs. 



                        25.   There was a failure at all levels to understand or meet their needs. 



                        26.   The general climate and regime were excessively harsh and abusive even by the 

                              standards of the time. 



                        27.   Expectations  about  children,  for  example,  in  relation  to  the  length  of  time  they 

                              were expected to concentrate or to stay silent or to work were not normal. 



                        28.   Particular forms of punishment, such as being left alone for hours in the furnace 

                              room,  were  particularly  frightening  for  children  who  had  experienced  traumatic 

                              separations. 



                        29.   Generally,    there  was   an   absence     of  consistent   and   positive  adults   to  whom 

                              supportive attachment could develop. 



7.216      He  interviewed  Sr  Alida  and  Sr  Venetia,  and  put  these  allegations  to  them  and  noted  their 

           responses. The statements made by these two nuns are of real importance in the Inquiry because 

           they come from people who worked in Goldenbridge over a combined period from 1942 until 1972. 



7.217      Mr Crowley formed the impression that Sr Alida was well prepared for the interview, and that she 

           energetically attempted to direct the focus and pace of the discussion. Whilst she regularly stated 

           that she could not remember events, this memory lapse was not consistent across the range of 

           topics covered: it appeared to relate principally to material that was critical of her. 



7.218      She    presented      as   a  ‘committed      and   energetic     person,    who    appeared      well   defended 

           psychologically’. Mr Crowley found her very controlling in her interaction, ‘but this may be related 

           to her evident need to control her feelings’. 



7.219      Mr Crowley reported as follows on his interview with Sr Alida: 



                  Sr  Alida  described  her  initiation  to  Goldenbridge  as  being  told  not  to  talk  or  take  the 

                  attitude  of  Sr  Felisa,18 who  had  been  working  with  the  children  in  care  and  had  been 



                  critical of the service. 



                  Sr Alida recalls her early years in religious life as being dominated by fear. On reflection 

                  she  cannot  understand  how  she  accepted  so  many  demands  and  pressures  without 

                  protest. 



                  She was trained by Sr Bianca, whom she describes as a very large powerful woman with 

                  a harsh aggressive and unpredictable personality. 



                  On  reflection Sr  Alida  perceived  the policies  and  practices of  the  1950s  and 1960s  as 

                  being based on ignorance and failing to understand or care appropriately for the children. 



                  The use of former residents as staff was influenced by limited finance and tended to be 

                  limited  to  those   who   could   not  survive   in  aftercare.   These    were   probably    the  most 

                  unsuitable people to care for vulnerable children. Older residents also cared for younger 

                  children in a semi formal system. She described much of the care as being “gang care”. 

                  Sr Alida identified Ms O’Shea19        as being one former resident who she understood was 



                  physically abusive. 



           18 This is a pseudonym. 

           19 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1074-----------------------

                 Sr Alida, in  effect, acknowledged that she  continuously shouted and beat  children “too 

                 much and too long” and used a stick routinely. She tended to go to bed very late and this 

                 led to children being kept on the landing. 



                 Sr Alida acknowledges being confronted by a parent for threatening to place her daughter 

                 in the tumble dryer, she confirmed children’s involvement in activities such as grass cutting 

                with their hands but minimised the impact on children. 



                 Hunger and humiliation were acknowledged with regret, when discussed in general terms, 

                 however specific allegations tended to be met with long silences and eventual comments 

                 such as “It could have happened accidentally”. 



                 Sr Alida did not in effect reject the substance of the allegations. 



7.220      Sr Venetia worked in Goldenbridge for many years and became Resident Manager in the 1960s. 



7.221      Mr Crowley conducted a lengthy interview with Sr Venetia. She was in some physical pain and 

           discomfort because of her medical condition during the course of the interview, but she had no 

           obvious difficulties with memory. Mr Crowley observed that the allegations were weighing heavily 

           on Sr Venetia and she presented as resigned to the process of being interviewed. It was evident 

          to Mr Crowley that she wished to be honest and forthright, but this was complicated somewhat by 

           ambivalence and conflicting loyalties. Mr Crowley was satisfied that she made every effort to be 

           honest, but it was clear to him that she had some difficulty in discussing issues such as sexual 

           abuse and, in general, she did not volunteer new information. He said ‘Sr Venetia communicated 

           generally as being a somewhat fearful and isolated person.’ 



7.222      Mr. Crowley reported: 



                 Sr  Venetia  described    the  care  system   and   organisational   structure  as  having   been 

                 established by Sr Bianca who died.... She initially described Sr Bianca as a hard and rigid 

                woman but over the course of the interview it emerged that she viewed Sr Bianca as a 

                 paranoid schizophrenic who she considered was grossly insulting to adults and children 

                 and who in effect established a reign of terror. 



                 Sr Venetia communicated that subsequent managers maintained many of the features of 

                 the system    as  established,   without  substantial   reflection but  gradually   modified   and 

                 improved the care arrangements. 



                 Sr Venetia confirmed that the general atmosphere was excessively and consistently cruel 

                 even  relative  to  standards  of  the  time.  She  confirmed  that  fear  of  and  actual  physical 

                 beatings  and  verbal  abuse  was  a  matter  of  routine  and  that  the  general  account  of 

                 children, for example, waiting on the landings was accurate. Wetting was defined as a 

                 crime  and, therefore,  punishable  through humiliation  and  physical  beatings. Sr  Venetia 

                 confirmed the allegations in relation to the tumble dryer and drinking from the toilet cistern. 

                 She   also  confirmed   the  bead   making    and   that failure  to obey   rules  was   normally 

                 punishable by physical beatings. 



                 Sr Venetia made particular reference to one member of the lay staff, who was employed 

                 by Sr Bianca and subsequently fired. It was very evident that Sr Venetia was very afraid 

                 of this staff member and that the children were terrified of this person. Sr Venetia was 

                 quite fearful and reluctant in any discussion of sexual abuse. 



                 Essentially  Sr  Venetia  confirmed  that  the  essential  elements  of  the  allegations  were 

                 correct and it was clear that she was of the view that almost anything could have occurred 

                 in a very unsafe environment. 



7.223      Mr Crowley was guarded in his report. He cautioned that the sample of former pupils from whom 

           he had obtained information was not randomly drawn, and he said that it could be expected that 

           other women might have different experiences in relation to Goldenbridge. He warned that caution 



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          would  have  to  be  exercised  about  any  particular  allegation  that  arose  from  early  childhood 

          experience, especially in regard to the identity of the perpetrator, and that there was a particular 

          danger of confusion occurring between Sr Bianca and Sr Alida. He made clear that the allegations 

          of the former residents had been listened to without challenge or cross-examination, and that his 

           interviews with the Sisters were structured to maximise participation and effective communication, 

          and that he consciously did not structure inquiries in a manner that might have been experienced 

          as  interrogatory  or  pressurising.  He  noted  that  Sr  Alida  initially  requested,  but  subsequently 

          cancelled,  a  second  interview.  He  also  advised  that  substantial  information  would  continue  to 

          emerge  as  more  former  residents  were  interviewed.  But,  having  set  out  all  these  cautions,  Mr 

          Crowley  was  satisfied that  it  was  possible to  establish  a  broad picture  of  the  care practices  in 

          Goldenbridge during the period. 



7.224      Mr  Crowley    ended    his  report  with  comments      expressed    as  a   ‘Conclusion’,  followed   by 

          observations headed ‘General Commentary’: 



                Conclusion 



                Clear and consistent patterns can be identified in the allegations. The various accounts 

                are  consistent  with  each  individual  recalling  personal  experiences  which  reinforce  the 

                overall picture. The accounts are accompanied with appropriate feeling and a richness of 

                detail. The accounts of subsequent life stories and relationship issues are consistent with 

                the childhood experiences as described. 



                Those former residents who have been interviewed have been experienced as credible. 



                Some  of  the  care  practices  may  be  understood  by  reference  to  the  harsh  historical 

                context. Some actions experienced as abusive may not have had such intent, but were 

                experienced as such due to insensitivity, ignorance and a failure to communicate. Other 

                actions,   such   as   forbidding   liquids  to  bed   wetters,   may    have   had    unintended 

                consequences, such as children drinking from toilets at night. 



                 However,  the  broad  nature  and  pattern  of  the  allegations,  which  have  in  effect  been 

                confirmed by the sisters with management responsibility, namely physical and emotional 

                abuse, are clearly accurate descriptions of the experiences of children in Goldenbridge. 



                The   care   arrangements    did  not  meet   children’s  basic   needs.   Children  experienced 

                 physical and emotional abuse and were almost certainly exposed to sexual abuse. 



                A number of the particular incidents described were violent and sadistic. The entire regime 

                was unsafe and was characterised by a pervasive controlling of children through fear. 



                General Commentary 



                The children cared for in Goldenbridge had, prior to their reception into care, experienced 

                gross   neglect,  deprivation   and   multiple  trauma.   They   were   often  rejected   by  their 

                 immediate and extended family and by the broader society. They were admitted in large 

                 numbers to a service which could not even begin to provide an appropriate level of care. 



                The physical environment was totally unstable and did not facilitate either supervision or 

                 privacy. The financial resources were grossly inadequate and determined the availability 

                of personnel and material necessities. 



                The Care System and culture was created by a dominant and dysfunctional personality. 

                The religious sisters who subsequently held management responsibility lived in a tightly 

                controlled  and  authoritarian  world.  Questioning  was  defined  as  arrogance  and  led  to 

                 blaming of the individual. The most extreme example of this was Sr Alida’s account of 

                 how her request to be released from teaching to concentrate on care was responded to 

                 by a decision to immediately transfer her to Co. Wicklow. 



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                 No distinction appears to have been made between being a ‘good’ religious and being a 

                 ‘good’   childcare  worker.    The  characteristics    that were    valued   appear   to  have   been 

                 obedience and dedication. 



                 No  professional  training  was  available  to  provide  understanding  or  direction  to  service 

                 organisation or therapeutic interventions. Consequently the only available models were 

                 adopted with the corporal punishment in school becoming the beatings in the care centre 

                 and  the  daily  routine  and  practices  of  religious  life  determining  the  day  to  day  life  of 

                 young children. 



                 Religious sisters and lay staff operated under constant pressure and clearly worked hard 

                 at an impossible task. 



                 The  unsafe  world  of  Goldenbridge  developed  a  very  particular  culture  which  could  not 

                 meet the needs of children. Very powerless people had enormous and immediate power 

                 over troubled and troublesome children. The abuse of the power and powerlessness was 

                 almost inevitable. 



                 Almost any kind of abusive incidents could have occurred. 



7.225      Mr Crowley’s views and conclusions are not part of the investigation process undertaken by the 

           Committee. The apology issued by the Sisters of Mercy following the ‘Dear Daughter’ programme 

           was issued because Mr Crowley had advised in the way that he did. His report and his conclusions 

           are,  therefore,  a  part  of  the  background  to  the  investigation  and  to  the  positions  taken  by  the 

           Sisters of Mercy at different stages. However, the statements made by Sr Venetia and Sr Alida to 

           Mr Crowley  are different from  the rest  of the report  because they have  direct relevance  to the 

           investigation. They are records of the recollections and responses of persons who participated in 

           the running of the Institution over a period of 30 years, and one of whom is now deceased. 



7.226      Mr  Crowley  completed  his  report  in  February  1996  and  he  stated  that  it  was  evident  that  a 

           comprehensive inquiry by a multi-disciplinary team would be necessary which would be dependent 

           on cooperation from both former residents and staff. The Sisters of Mercy explain in their Opening 

           Statement  that  such  an  inquiry  was  impossible,  as  at  that  stage  legal  proceedings  had  been 

           instituted by a number of former residents. 



7.227      The Congregation have asked the Investigation Committee to note the limitations of the Crowley 

           report, which they identify as being four-fold: 



                   (1)   The report was based on interviews with a small number of complainants; with Srs 

                         Alida and Venetia; and with Louis Lentin (producer of ‘Dear Daughter’). 



                   (2)   There was little, if any, questioning of the complainants on the details of complaints. 



                   (3)   There are no notes, transcripts or tapes of the interviews and there is therefore some 

                         difficulty in assessing precisely what was said. ‘For example, Sr Alida explained to the 

                         Committee that she had always had problems with the account in the report of 

                         what she had said’ (emphasis added). [This is factually incorrect. Sr Alida did not 

                         allege  that  she  was  misquoted  by  Mr  Crowley  but  did  make  a  comment  about  the 

                         report as a whole: 



                    I have to say that......from the very beginning I was quite unhappy with Mr Crowley’s 

                    report.] 



                             Sr  Venetia    never   had   an  opportunity    to  give  evidence    to  the  Investigation 

                             Committee either in general or specifically in relation to the Crowley Report. 



                   (4)   The information-gathering exercise was conducted very quickly and the conclusions 

                         were intended to be preliminary in nature. The exercise was intended to be a first step 

                         in a process, rather than a final conclusion. 



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7.228     The Sisters of Mercy note that the issues which were the subject matter of the Crowley Report 

          are  precisely  those  which  fall  within  the  Commission’s  remit  and  given  the  substantial  bank  of 

           both oral and documentary material which the Investigation Committee has at its disposal they 

          submit that it would be inappropriate for the Investigation Committee to place excessive reliance 

          on the earlier preliminary report. 



7.229     Sr Alida has never challenged the accuracy of the statements attributed to her in the report. Had 

          she done so, it would have been necessary for him to give evidence to the Committee. However, 

           because the accuracy of Mr Crowley’s recording of statements was not an issue, such evidence 

          did not become necessary. 



7.230     The nature and circumstances of the Crowley report must be taken into account. The description 

          of Sr Bianca given by both Sr Venetia and Sr Alida is consistent with accounts given by former 

           residents  and  with  the  atmosphere  described  as  pervading  the  institution  during  her  time  as 

           resident  manager.    The   comments     quoted   by  Mr  Crowley    are  also  relevant   to subsequent 

          conditions   about  which   the  sisters  spoke   to  him  and  tend  to  corroborate  much    of  the  oral 

          testimony. 



7.231      Mr  Crowley  placed  much  of  the  blame  for  the  conditions  that  pertained  in  Goldenbridge  on 

           ignorance, insensitivity and a failure to communicate. In this regard, it is interesting to look at the 

           lecture entitled ‘Institutional Management’ which was delivered by Sr Bianca in February 1953. 

          This  lecture  indicates  awareness  of  the  special  requirements  of  institutionalised  children.  The 

           preparation for this lecture was done in consultation with Dr Anna McCabe, who in her Visitation 

           Report of 1953 referred to regular meetings with Sr Bianca to discuss this lecture. 



           Conclusions on physical abuse 



7.232      1.   Overall,  there   was   a  high   level  of  severe   corporal    punishment     in  Goldenbridge, 

                resulting in a pervasive climate of fear in the Institution. 



           2.   Beatings on the landing were a particularly cruel feature of the regime. 



           3.   A  parallel,  unofficial  system  of  punishment  permitted  every  member  of  staff  to  use 

                corporal punishment, which was often excessive. Some former residents, who were 

                unsuited  for  outside  employment,  were  retained  as  helpers  and  often  administered 

                severe punishment. 



           4.   Children were beaten and humiliated for bed-wetting by both nuns and lay staff. 



           5.   There  is  no  evidence  that  a  punishment  book  was  kept  in  Goldenbridge,  as  was 

                required  by  the  regulations,  and  the  absence  of  this  important  record  should  have 

                been noticed and reported by the Department Inspector. 



           Rosary bead making 



7.233     A  particular  feature  of  Goldenbridge  was  rosary  bead  making.  Sometime  in  the  mid-1940s,  Sr 

          Alida was approached by a businessman with the proposition that she might get the children to 

           make  rosary  beads  in  return  for  payment.  She  saw  this  as  a  wonderful  opportunity  to  acquire 

           much-needed funds. In addition, she thought that it would keep the children occupied. So began 

          an enterprise that was to continue until the 1960s. 



7.234     After  school,  at  about  3.30pm,  the  children  had  something  to  eat  and  then  went  to  the  beads 

          class. The location was Ms Dempsey’s classroom. The children were required to make decades 

          of the rosary by putting the beads on lengths of wire. After each bead was positioned, the wire 

           had to be looped and cut using pliers, and each bead then had to be attached to the next bead 

           until all 10 beads were completed. 



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7.235      The children each had a quota of 60 decades per day and 90 on a Saturday. This meant that, in 

           the two hours of the weekday afternoon allocated for this work, 30 decades an hour had to be 

           made by each child. Not surprisingly, few children reached their quota in the afternoon, and they 

           had  to  return  to  the  beads  class  in  the  evening  and  remain  there  until  their  60  decades  were 

           completed. 



7.236      There is some controversy over the age at which children began to make beads, but it appears 

           that,  after  they  made  their  First  Holy  Communion,  that  is  around  seven  years  of  age,  children 

           were expected to do this work. There were younger children in the room, who helped by picking 

           up beads or by stringing the beads to leave them ready for the older girls to make the decade. 



7.237      Skill and dexterity were required. It would have taken some time to develop expertise. It was also 

           painful, and witnesses described cuts and calluses on their hands as they tried to learn the work. 

           A child starting would be slow at first, and might never acquire the necessary skill to be able to 

           do it quickly. 



7.238      Sometimes, an older girl would help out a younger who was having difficulty in reaching the quota. 

           Similarly, friends might help each other. In this way, the great majority of the children between 

           seven and 16 years were occupied every day from Monday to Friday. For a variety of reasons, 

           some children would not have to do beads, but the vast majority of children between the ages 

           mentioned had to attend for this work. On Saturdays, the quota was 90 decades, and there were, 

           of course, other chores (called charges) to be completed. 



7.239      Sr Alida conceded that it was difficult work: 



                  ... it wasn’t soft work to be working with the pliers, it was not like needle work, you had to 

                  use energy to bend the wire. 



7.240      When Sr Alida first attempted to make a decade of beads that the representative from the bead 

           making company had given her, she admitted it took her an entire Saturday to make one decade. 

           She also conceded that she ‘had so much hardship making them’. But thereafter, she said, it was 

           like knitting. 



7.241      Different types of beads were used, and this made the task of stringing decades more difficult, 

           depending on the type of bead. Horn beads and plastic beads posed no problem, but glass beads 

           tended to break, and the mother of pearl beads were very difficult to string through. 



7.242      Bead making was supervised by one of the care staff or, more likely, by one of the care assistants, 

           and it was often Ms Thornton. A child who had the necessary skill could complete her quota by 

           teatime but not much before that. Others found difficulty in completing their assigned task. The 

           work  was  inspected  by  the  person  in  charge  and  sent  back  to  be  redone  if  it  was  not  found 

           satisfactory for one reason or another. Some beads were easier to work with than others, even 

           for people who were good at the work. If the quota was not reached, the child was in trouble. It 

           might happen that, even after going back to beads work after tea and staying there until perhaps 

           9pm or 9.30pm (some witnesses said even later), the quota would still not be achieved. In those 

           circumstances, the evidence was that the child would be punished by being beaten. If the work 

           was found unsatisfactory, the result was punishment at the hands of the person in charge of the 

           beads room. 



7.243      It happened occasionally, when a dispatch was due to go to the factory, that some of the children 

           had to stay as late as 10pm to complete an order and ensure that it met the required standard. 



7.244      In  the  Opening  Statement  delivered  by  Sr  Helena  O’Donoghue,  the  bead  making  work  was 

           characterised as a pleasant activity to while away the time, which was enjoyed by the children 



           292                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1079-----------------------

           and often done to music from the radio. A picture was painted of a busy workroom, where happy 

           children chatted as they carried out this routine work. It is apparent that this description is based 

           on information from Sr Alida. 



7.245      This description of  bead making by Sr Helena was  inaccurate. The work was hard.  The hours 

           were long. While some girls were well capable of doing the work once they had got used to it, for 

           many others it was difficult to master the dexterity required. There was pressure to achieve the 

           quota  and  to  keep  to  the  required  standard  of  work.  The  work  could  fail  in  a  variety  of  ways, 

           including obvious ones like not having the right number of beads in a decade. Less obvious and 

           more  difficult  to  avoid  were  errors  such  as  having  inconsistent-sized  loops  of  wire  joining  the 

           beads.   The   atmosphere     was   not   the  pleasant   group   activity  imagined    by  Sr  Helena    and 

           remembered by Sr Alida. The essential requirement was of quietly, if not silently, getting on with 

           the  work;  the  children  did  converse  but  mostly  in  whispers,  and  the  radio  was  turned  on  only 

           occasionally while this work was being done. 



7.246      The fact that punishment hung over the activity, for failure to achieve either quality or quantity, 

           inevitably affected the atmosphere. The work was relentless, with demanding quotas. This was 

           hard work over long hours during six days a week, for children obliged to do the work with no 

           reference to their capacity to manage it. 



7.247      Sr Venetia in her interview with Mr Crowley confirmed that: 



                 the  bead  making  and  that  failure  to  obey  rules  were  normally  punishable  by  physical 

                 beatings. 



7.248      The money made from bead making was considerable. Sr Alida gave evidence of being able to 

           produce £1,000 to contribute to the sum of £3,000 in the 1950s for the purchase of the holiday 

           house at Rathdrum. The best estimates as to the earnings are that an income of approximately 

           £50 per week was achieved by this activity. 



7.249      Management saw this work as a practical and useful occupation that kept the girls out of trouble 

           during many hours of the week, when they would otherwise have needed amusement or diversion 

           or  other  occupation.  Instead,  it  conditioned  them  to  drudgery,  with  the  added  threat  of  being 

           beaten for failure. 



7.250      The authorities lost all sense of importance about bead making. It became a relentless production 

           line. Sr Alida’s enthusiasm became obsession. Occupation became drudgery. The pursuit of extra 

           money by way of profit from the bead making became exploitation. All this was carried out under 

           the threat of being beaten for failure. 



           Evidence of complainants 



7.251      Over  half  of  the  complainants  who  testified  spoke  of  the  hardship  associated  with  stringing 

           decades of beads. From their evidence, it was an activity they clearly did not enjoy and, instead, 

           viewed  it  as  a  chore.  The  daily  quota  system  of  each  child  having  to  make  60  decades  each 

           evening was, according to many of the witnesses, a source of stress and pressure. They said that 

           assembling the beads into decades was hard work, which resulted in calluses, welts and cuts on 

           their hands from the use of the pliers and the steel wire. 



7.252      Some of the complainants recalled that they commenced this activity at the age of seven, after 

           their First Communion. Initially, they were involved in stringing the beads on a wire for the older 

           girls, before progressing to making the decades. One witness recounted her introduction to bead 

           making as follows: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                293 


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                 The  beads  class  was  something  that  you  were  introduced  to  after  Communion.  In  the 

                 early stages the younger children would be asked to pick the beads up off the floor or 

                 maybe wire, anything that had fallen. You would also be asked to string beads for the 

                 older girls. This allowed them to move quickly to reach their quota, which was 60 decades 

                 per evening. 



7.253      Some witnesses spoke of the difficulty in reaching their daily quota and being punished for not 

           attaining  it.  The  punishment  could  take  the  form  of  a  slap  there  and  then,  by  whoever  was 

           supervising the class, or sometimes they would be sent to the landing to await their punishment. 

           Ms  Thornton  and  Ms  O’Shea at  different  times  took  charge  of  supervising  the class,  and  both 

           were considered to be violent individuals. A witness described it as follows: 



                 ... you had little pliers and wire and the wire was constantly digging into your skin and you 

                 just couldn’t work fast enough to reach the quota every day. We were lined up every night, 

                 those who hadn’t reached the quota and beaten. 



7.254      This witness was regularly punished for not reaching her quota, and eventually, when the pressure 

           became too much for her, on one occasion, she resorted to stealing another girl’s beads to avoid 

           another beating. The other girl was punished instead of her. She said: 



                 ...  I  had  been  beaten  every  night  for  not  making  enough  ...  On  one  occasion  ...  I  just 

                 couldn’t stand it anymore so I stole a handful of beads from the girl across the aisle when 

                 she was out of the room. When the nun came round she said, “I did them, I did them, 

                 somebody stole them”, the nun wouldn’t believe her, took her to the front of the room and 

                 beat her. It has haunted me all my life ... 



7.255      A common complaint referred to by many of the witnesses was the tense atmosphere of the beads 

           room, which was generated by the pressure they were placed under to reach their daily quota. 

           The  tension  resulted  in  the  work  being  carried  out  in  silence.  A  witness  described  the  tense 

           atmosphere as follows: 



                 ... There was always somebody ready to shout at you and come down and hit you ... you 

                 weren’t really meant to talk to one another, you did of course, you whispered, but it was 

                 all the time you were sort of watching your back. 



7.256      Again and again, the witnesses spoke of the silence in the room. One witness said: 



                 We all sat down and made our rosary beads. We had a little box and we made our rosary 

                 beads. It was work. We weren’t allowed to talk, we didn’t talk. We only talked when she 

                 left  the  room.  Whoever,  was  there  in  that  room,  when  they  left,  we  talked.  When  they 

                 came back we stopped. We had to work because we had a quota to do, we had so many 

                 to do. 



7.257      Another witness said: 



                 ...  there  was  a  radio  in  it  and  PJ  O’Connor  used  to  tell  a  story  once  a  week  on  a 

                 Wednesday. Most times the radio wasn’t on and you had to do it in silence. 



7.258      Two of the witnesses, who came forward at the request of the Sisters of Mercy to give evidence 

           of  their  time  in  Goldenbridge,  also  spoke  of  the  silence  and  tension  in  the  room.  One  such 

           witness said: 



                 The beads class, I don’t know why I always felt everything was sort of so quiet. I don’t 

                 remember really much chat in the beads class. We probably whispered to one another 

                 but I don’t remember conversations with anybody ... I think we were too busy, I took all 

                 my time to make them anyway, we were so busy making them so I wouldn’t have had 

                 that much time to do anything. 



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7.259     The second positive witness said that she could get into trouble for talking loudly in beads class 

          but she could talk to the person beside her as long as it was done quietly. 



          Evidence of respondents 



7.260     Sr Alida described the beads room as  ‘a room of relaxation rather than pressure’. She said that 

          there was a radio or record player that was played in the room, and the children sang along and 

          chatted amongst themselves. She did not consider the work difficult, and stated that ‘it didn’t take 

          a lot of stress doing the work’ and she felt that the work was comparable to a knitting class. 



7.261     Sr Alida denied that children were beaten for not reaching their quota and claimed ‘that there was 

          no difficulty in making the quota in the beads class’. She admitted that it was her responsibility to 

          check the quality and quantity of the decades of beads before they were returned to the factory. 

           If the beads were not properly completed, they would be sent back and ‘it was nasty, to get them 

          back to be repaired, very nasty’. This, she said, resulted in her staying up ‘odd nights’with children 

          helping her to finish the work to go back to the factory. 



7.262     Sr  Alida  began  the  beads  class  with  the  permission of  the  Resident  Manager,  Sr  Bianca.  She 

          explained that it was important for the children to have something to do: 



                My chief problem was that the children had nothing in the world to do after they left school 

                in the evening, there was no occupation of any kind. They went to the play hall and they 

                shouted and roared and pulled each other around from 3.30 until 5.45, we were in the 

                convent at that time. 



7.263     Sr Alida also viewed the bead making as a means of generating extra income for the School. At 

          the time when she was approached to assemble decades of rosaries, she said Goldenbridge ‘was 

          subject  to  considerable  financial  restraint’,  and  she  saw  the  bead  making  as  an  opportunity  to 

          increase their financial income: 



                ... I viewed this offer as an opportunity to increase the income of the home for the benefit 

                of the children. I believed that this could provide us with a source of income to improve 

                the welfare of the children and to provide them with little luxuries which were not available 

                to us at that time. 



7.264     Sr Alida said that the money from the beads was used to pay for Irish dancing classes, old-time 

          dancing, dancing shoes and costumes for the children, sweets, yearly trips to Butlins, and day 

          trips to Portmarnock during the summer. She also said that the children were given pocket money 

          out of the proceeds of the bead money. These were the ‘luxuries’ that were provided by the beads 

          money, and ‘everything that the children had as extras’ came from that money. 



7.265     The bead making became a very profitable enterprise, generating a weekly income of at least £50 

          for the School. Sr Alida opened a Post Office savings account for the proceeds from the bead 

          making, which she controlled, and Sr Bianca never queried what she did with it. The money made 

          from the beads over a 20-year period was considerable. Sr Alida asserted that the money earned 

          was spent on the children: 



                ... All those things did not come from the allowance the Government paid for the children, 

                it came from the children’s own hands ... the beads bought those things for them. 



7.266     The money from the beads provided one-third of the cost of the purchase of a holiday home for the 

          children in Rathdrum in 1954. The entire cost of the holiday home was £3,000. The Investigation 

          Committee instructed Mazars, Financial Consultants to review the accounts of Goldenbridge. They 

          confirmed the figure of at least £50 per week. 



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7.267      Prior to introducing bead making, Sr Alida had a knitting class where girls made their own jumpers. 

          This work was superseded by bead making, although a very small number of bigger girls continued 

          to do knitting. 



7.268      Sr  Gianna  recalled  that  Ms  Thornton,  a  former  resident  of  the  Institution,  often  supervised  the 

           beads  class.  Although  she  was  of  the  view  that  Ms  Thornton  was  kind  to  the  children,  she 

           conceded that she had a bad temper and that she heard her shouting and roaring at the children 

           in the class. 



7.269      Ms  Garvin  remembered  Ms  O’Shea,  another  lay  worker  and  former  resident,  supervising  the 

           beads class. During her time in Goldenbridge from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, she went to 

          the beads class most days before teatime, where she remembered seeing the girls chatting to 

           each other and that music was playing. She insisted that the atmosphere in the beads room was 

           pleasant,  and  she  never  saw  a  child  being  beaten  in  the  beads  room.  There  was,  however, 

           evidence that Ms O’Shea was violent and irascible. 



           The Congregation’s position 



7.270      In contrast to the reminiscence of some of the Sisters that the bead making was a pleasurable 

           activity, the Congregation recognised that learning the skill of bead making: 



                 ... could have caused fingers to be tender or skin broken initially, and trying to finish a 

                 “quota” must at times also have put unfair pressure on some children. We recognise that 

                 this activity  is remembered with  particular bitterness by  some former residents  and we 

                 deeply  regret  that  something  which  was  intended  to  be  helpful  was  experienced  as 

                 harmful and unhappy. 



7.271      In its written Submissions, it accepted that it was not an enjoyable activity, as there was a lot of 

           pressure to get the work done: 



                 For those who were engaged in the process, the activity was undoubtedly experienced 

                 as a compulsory activity which was not enjoyable and had to be, at best, endured. While 

                 there was the radio to listen to, talking was muted and the main aim was to get one’s 

                work done. There was clearly a pressure to get the work done; work was on occasion 

                 rejected as falling short of standards and there was a requirement to complete a quota. 



7.272     The Congregation stated that the purpose of bead making was twofold: firstly, to provide useful 

           occupation for the children after school; and, secondly, to provide extra funds for ‘pocket money, 

           recreational  activities  and  equipment  for  the  children’.  But  they  recognised  that  ‘there  was  too 

           much emphasis on occupation as a means of management and control of the children’. 



           Conclusions on bead making 



7.273      1.   Bead  making  became  an  industrial  activity  that  was  pursued  obsessively;  the  work 

                was difficult and uncomfortable and it was painful for children especially those who 

                lacked dexterity and speed. 



           2.   The  quota  system  made  the  work  onerous  and  pressurised  and  a  source  of  stress 

                and anxiety. 



           3.   Supervision     by  lay  workers     or  nuns   to  ensure    quantity   and   quality   on   pain  of 

                punishment created work conditions that would not have been tolerated in factories. 



           4.   Using  the  children  for  this  work  deprived  them  of  normal  childhood  recreation  that 

                was necessary for emotional, social and psychological development. 



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           Sexual abuse 



           Allegations against a caretaker and others in the School 



  7.274    There is only one documented case of a child having been sexually abused in Goldenbridge. The 

           incident occurred in 1962, when a caretaker in the School was convicted of indecently assaulting 

           a girl. 



  7.275    The girl who had been sexually assaulted by the caretaker reported the matter to Sr Alida, who 

           immediately informed  the Gardai. The  caretaker was dismissed  from his employment  and was 

                                                  ´ 

           subsequently prosecuted and convicted. He received a three-month suspended sentence. 



  7.276    The Sisters of Mercy confirmed that ‘the only definite knowledge’ they had regarding sexual abuse 

           in Goldenbridge related to the 1962 incident. 



  7.277    However, the Investigation Committee heard other complaints against this man. One complainant 

           alleged that she had been raped by him. She alleged that the rape had taken place around 1960, 

           when she was 11 years old, and two years before he was reported to the Gardai. She said she 

                                                                                                            ´ 

           did  not  report  this  incident  to  anyone  in  Goldenbridge,  as  she  was  afraid  of  being  sent  to  a 

           reformatory. The alleged incident occurred in a room off a dormitory where he was fixing a sash 

           window and she was sent to assist him. 



  7.278    One witness, who did not herself allege abuse by the caretaker, said of him: 

                  It was common knowledge that Mr Hurley20            was at children in the laundry. 



  7.279    A small number of other complaints related to sexual interference by older girls on younger girls 

           and by persons to whose care the children were entrusted at weekends. 



           Allegations against foster families 



  7.280    One witness spoke of being abused by a member of a family to whom she was sent out to at the 

           weekend. This family, she felt, was not vetted. She says she was  ‘fondled by an outsider’. 



  7.281    Another  witness  also  spoke  of  being  abused  by  a  man  in  a  family  she  was  sent  out  to  for  a 

           weekend. She did not want to go to this family again and, when she tried to explain to the nun in 

           charge, she ‘boxed the face off her’. 



  7.282    Another witness said she was abused by an uncle of a family she was sent to. She alleged that 

           this occurred in the garden of the family’s home. She also referred to an incident of attempted 

           rape by the son of another family she was sent out to in Dublin. She was left alone in the house 

           with him, and he came into her bedroom and threw her on the bed and attempted to rape her. 



           Allegations of sexual abuse on young boys 



  7.283    A witness alleged that he was abused by a lay person who slept in the dormitory with the children. 

           He stated: 



                  I was made to play with her for what seemed to go on for some time and whilst doing this 

                  I was in fear of the nuns catching me and if I was caught being out of bed I would get the 

                  strap or I would get a slapping or a beating. This went on for some time. 



  7.284    He went on to describe that the nature of the play was sexual. 



           20 This is a pseudonym. 



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7.285      He felt that he could not tell anyone about what was happening to him. 



7.286      A complainant who spent a few months in Goldenbridge in the late 1960s said that older girls had 

           sexually abused him when he was aged eight. He recalled being brought into a room with a bed 

           in it, and there were three women or older girls in the room. He was not certain whether they were 

           older girls or women who worked in the School: 



                 I was put sitting on the edge of the bed and the covers were pulled down and one of the 

                 girls  was  exposed.  I  was  told  to  feel  her  private  parts,  then  I  was  told  to  feel  another 

                 one  of  the  women  or  girl’s  private  parts.  My  memory  is  this  happened  on  more  than 

                 one occasion. 



           Conclusions on sexual abuse 



7.287       1.   Sexual  abuse  was  not  a  significant  issue  in  the  investigation  of  Goldenbridge,  but 

                there was an incident in 1962 which was dealt with promptly. 



            2.   Management  did  not  consider  the  risk  of  sexual  abuse  when  sending  children  to 

                foster families. 



           Emotional abuse 



7.288      It is instructive to look at the topic of emotional abuse, using a contemporary source outlining the 

           informed opinion at the time. In 1953, Sr Bianca, the Resident Manager of Goldenbridge, delivered 

           a lecture to a conference on childcare management run by the Archbishop of Dublin. She was 

           regarded as somewhat of an expert, having at that stage managed Goldenbridge Industrial School 

           for  11 years.  Sr Bianca  collaborated with  the Department  of Education’s  Medical Inspector,  Dr 

           McCabe,  in  preparing  for     the  lecture.  Her  lecture  indicated  an     enlightened  and  progressive 

           approach to institutional management, in particular she made the following points: 



                         (a)  Children  from  underprivileged  backgrounds  should  be  met  with  sympathy  and 

                              gentleness. 



                         (b)  Drastic remedies for head lice such as shaving children’s heads should not be 

                              necessary     particularly  when    there  were    remedies    on  the   market   at  a  very 

                              reasonable price. 



                         (c)  Children should be divided into small groups, including at meal times, to promote 

                              an intimate family atmosphere. ‘Formal marshalling and regimentation must be 

                              avoided’. 



                         (d)  Whilst there should be an emphasis on domestic training there was no reason 

                              why  girls  should  not  follow  a  commercial  or  other  career  path  if  they  had  the 

                              necessary talent. 



                         (e)  Every child should help with small jobs and chores about the home. They should 

                              be encouraged to be creative and arts and crafts teachers employed. 



                         (f)  Dressing the children uniformly should be discouraged. 



                         (g)  Children should be allowed a considerable amount of supervised freedom. They 

                              should be allowed to go to the local shop and older girls permitted to go into town 

                              on the bus to run errands. 



                         (h)  A large playground and hall was a necessity. A field for sports should be made 

                              available.  Senior    girls  should  have  their   own  sitting  room.  Music     should  be 

                              encouraged, both playing instruments and singing as well as listening to music 

                              on the radio. Dancing should also be encouraged. Caring for pets was another 

                              useful occupation for children. 



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                        (i)  The  Manager  should  possess  skill  and  judgement  ‘have  a  strong  personality 

                             without being overbearing and dictatorial ... and strictly impartial’. Those charged 

                             with  the  care  of  such  children  should  have  a  keen  interest  in  their  work  and 

                             possess the requisite experience and knowledge of psychology. 



7.289      The  Sisters  of  Mercy  noted  in  their  Opening  Statement  that  this  lecture  ‘tells  us  much  of  the 

           thinking and practice at Goldenbridge’. 



7.290      The Investigation Committee heard complaints regarding emotional abuse in the evidence from 

           complainants. All of the complainants came to Goldenbridge in harrowing circumstances. Some 

           had lost a parent, and the surviving parent was either not able to cope or was deemed by the 

           State to be unsuitable. Others were abandoned. Some came from desperately poor families, and 

           others were born out of wedlock to mothers who felt that society left them with no option but to 

           place their child in care. Some of those committed were babies; others had spent a substantial 

           part of their childhood with their families. Most of the children were heartbroken and terrified on 

           entering Goldenbridge. They all shared a vulnerability that made them emotionally needy. 



7.291      Complainants lived in an atmosphere of constant fear of arbitrary punishment for misdemeanours 

           and  of  being   humiliated.  Despite   always   being   surrounded    by  people,   many    expressed    an 

           overwhelming sense of isolation and loneliness. Many of the complainants stated that they are 

           left with deep psychological scars as a result of their time in Goldenbridge. 



7.292      Witnesses’ account of their experiences in Goldenbridge indicate a very high level of emotional 

           abuse in that Institution. 



7.293      One witness spoke of arriving at Goldenbridge as a six-year-old child in the late 1940s after her 

           mother had died of TB. She described the experience as ’very very harrowing’: she said she was 

           stripped of her clothes and that all her hair was cropped. 



7.294      When asked whether she had understood at the time why her clothes were being taken from her, 

           she replied: 



                 No. You weren’t told. You were just used and abused ... you were disposable ... They 

                 didn’t  give  a  stuff  about  what  you  were,  whether  you  were  a  child,  whether  you  were 

                 breathing, whether you were living, what you were feeling. Nobody bothered about a child. 

                 You were just a disposable item. That’s the way it seemed to me. That’s the way I have 

                 carried all through my life. I don’t like what I have carried all through my life. It has left me 

                 vulnerable, raw and it has affected the whole of my life. 



7.295      She said: 



                 I used to scurry around. I used to try to dodge and weave to get away from the beatings, 

                 the abuse. You didn’t. You were helpless. Wherever you were you were a helpless victim. 

                 You couldn’t get away from them. They used to clatter you, they used to batter you. The 

                 names you were called. The stuff you had to go through. The thing was you were always 

                 so alone. There was never anybody there for you. Nobody was there this is what I find 

                 so hard to tell you. You were lumped together and you were one of a many, many ... 



7.296      When asked to describe what she was fearful of in Goldenbridge she said,  ‘what they would do 

           to you. You knew that you could never get away from their cruelty. You couldn’t escape and take 

           yourself off’. 



7.297      She said she used to lie in her bed at night and wished that she didn’t wake up in the morning. 

           She said that she would sob her heart out crying for her mother. 



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7.298      Another complainant was eight years of age when she was put into Goldenbridge with her younger 

           sister in the early 1950s. She said that her mother and father had separated and that her father 

           had abandoned the family. She was living with her grandmother when, she believes, the NSPCC 

           made an application to court to have both her and her younger sister committed to Goldenbridge. 

           She said: 



                 We weren’t prepared in any way, we weren’t told – we thought it was an outing which 

                 was very rare anyway for us ... the next thing we knew my mother and my grandmother 

                 were  leaving,  they  were  leaving.  We  didn’t  know  what  was  going  to  happen  to  us.  Of 

                 course we were screaming trying to get out through the door with them and the nun just 

                 pulled us back. 



7.299      This complainant said that her grandmother used to come on Wednesday afternoons to visit her. 

           Visiting day was Saturday, and her grandmother was not allowed into the School. She said that 

           one of the nuns would come to her and say, ‘Go down to the gate, your grandmother is there’. 



7.300      She said that she went to a remand home in England after she had left Goldenbridge and that 

           the environment there was completely different. She said that the convent was run by a French 

           Order, and their whole attitude towards the children was that they had some value. They were not 

           sadistic  in  any  way  and,  although  the  regime  there  was  strict  by  today’s  standard,  you  were 

           punished for actually doing something wrong. She said that the children were also allowed to play, 

           even though they had chores to do and laundry duties; nevertheless, there was no forced labour: 

           ‘We actually liked the nuns there’. 



7.301      When  asked  to  elaborate  on  the  contrast  between  the  English  home  and  Goldenbridge,  this 

           complainant said,  ‘the stark contrast was that we were allowed to be children, we didn’t feel that 

           we were despised’. She said that the living conditions and the food were better and that, although 

           corporal punishment was used and administered with a cane, she could count on the fingers on 

           one hand the times it happened to her. 



7.302      One complainant was born to an unmarried mother and lived with her grandmother in Dublin. She 

           said she recalls getting dressed up nicely one day and being brought to a big building from which 

           she was put into a van or a car and taken away screaming to Goldenbridge. She said that her 

           main contact when she went in to Goldenbridge was with her grandmother, who came up every 

           second Sunday or every Sunday to visit her:  ‘All I remember was crying, sometimes I was happy 

           to see her and other times I wasn’t because it made me fret, want to go home. Why was I being 

           left here?’. 



7.303      Another complainant, who spent 15 years in Goldenbridge from the mid-1950s, said that she was 

           very affected by being called ugly by the nuns and staff while she was there. She said that she 

           used to keep her head down all the time because she believed that she was so ugly. She spoke 

           of a lack of confidence and very low self-esteem that has dogged her all her life. It had caused 

           problems in her relationships with people over the years. In particular, she said it had impacted 

           on the way she looked after her own children. She treated them the way she had been treated. 

           She  has  since  apologised  to  her  family.  She  said  she  now  knew  that  you  must  always  show 

           children love, ‘Lift a child up, give the child love, reassure her that she is so pretty or that he is so 

          pretty. It means so much in life, showing an individual love’. 



7.304      This complainant was born to an unmarried mother and had little or no contact with her family 

           throughout   her  life. She   found  it very  difficult to cope   with  the  outside   world  after  leaving 

           Goldenbridge and felt ill-equipped and ill-prepared. 



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7.305      Her dislike of the Institution and her sense of unease at her treatment there were clear from a 

           letter she wrote in 1967 to Sr Venetia. In that letter she said, referring to the suggestion that she 

           should return to Goldenbridge because she got into trouble in England: 



                 You know what kind of trouble I got into, I believe you wanted to have me back, but I 

                 refused to go because I know what I would have to face. I have faced enough with you 

                 all there, and you know that I did not like it there. Every time I went out you took a bad 

                 impression. Well, Sister, the mothers here try to do all they can to help me, especially the 

                 Mother in charge. She cannot help me anymore and I do appreciate all she did. Also, we 

                 call them mothers because they treat us as if they were our mothers. 



7.306      This is quite a significant letter. It was written by this complainant to the one person who had been 

           a mother substitute to her for her entire childhood. It is a sad reflection on the relationship she 

           had with her carers in Goldenbridge. This letter was not the result of any media campaign, or any 

           contamination: it is a contemporaneous document written by a very young girl who had just left 

           the Institution. 



7.307      Another  witness,  who  entered  Goldenbridge  as  a  small  baby  and  spent  13  years  there  in  the 

           1950s and 1960s, said that her great problem was fear, even after she left Goldenbridge. She 

           said she always felt very lonely and that she couldn’t really mix and was bullied a lot. 



7.308      One complainant, who was committed to Goldenbridge at one year old in the early 1950s and 

           remained there for 15 years, said: 



                 None of us got loved, none of us. When I look back I wonder how I grew up at all. It was 

                 the  most  strangest  place  for  a  child  to  be  reared.  The  nuns  were  cruel  but  they  didn’t 

                 know  half  of  it  because  they  use  to  be  up  saying  their  prayers.  The  people  they  had 

                 looking after us was horrible people. 



7.309      This complainant noticed an improvement in Goldenbridge towards the end of her time there in 

           the 1960s. 



7.310      Another  witness  was  five  years  of  age  when  she  was  admitted  into  Goldenbridge  in  the  mid- 

           1950s. Her mother developed post-natal depression after the eighth child in the family was born 

           and was admitted to St Brendan’s Hospital. She specifically mentioned emotional abuse as being 

           the biggest hurt that she experienced in Goldenbridge. 



7.311      She spoke of name-calling and jeering, and said that it came from staff members and carers who 

           were past pupils who had been kept on as part of the staff. She said it was very, very abusive, 

           and the comments centred on the fact that her mother had had a mental breakdown and was in 

           a psychiatric hospital. She said that the one person who stood out the most for referring to it a 

           great  deal   was   Sr  Venetia.   She    spoke   of  practices   in Goldenbridge,     such   as   underwear 

           inspections   and   a  lack  of  any   preparation   for  menstruation,    as  contributing   to  the  lack  of 

           confidence that all the girls experienced. 



7.312      She said that the effect of their institutionalisation had devastated her family. Her three sisters all 

           suffered from serious psychological problems. She was particularly traumatised by the memory of 

           her younger sister, who she claimed was physically abused in Goldenbridge. 



7.313      Another witness spent nine years in Goldenbridge from the mid-1950s in similar circumstances to 

           the previous complainant. Her mother was placed in a mental institution following a breakdown. 



7.314      She said that one of the hardest things about being institutionalised at seven years of age was 

           the sense of isolation. She spoke about being jeered at by Sr Venetia and by workers because of 



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           the  fact  that  her  mother  was  in  a  mental  institution.  She  said  that  they  were  all  called ‘mad’, 

           especially by Sr Venetia. This had a very deep psychological impact on her. 



7.315      Another  witness  spoke  of  the  great  sadness  caused  by  her  mother’s  mental  breakdown  that 

           resulted  in  the  family  having  to  be  placed  in  care.  She  gave  a  poignant  description  of  her 

           relationship with her father throughout her time in Goldenbridge. Her father was a timid man who 

           held the nuns who ran the School in great esteem. She said that he constantly hoped that he 

           would be able to take all his children out so that they could be home together. However, she said 

           that she knew intuitively that this would not happen. She also said that she never asked about 

           her  mother.  She  knew  that  it  affected  her  father  to  speak  about  her,  and  therefore  she  never 

           mentioned her. She said that he was very uncomfortable and that she felt like his protector. This 

           child  developed  an  extremely  severe  respiratory  condition,  which  she  claims  was  not  properly 

           medicated by the staff in Goldenbridge. 



7.316      She described the atmosphere in Goldenbridge as being grey and barren, and said that she had 

           no possessions of her own when she was there. However, she did not tell her father what was 

           going on in Goldenbridge or that they were being bullied, because he was like a co-dependant. 

           She also  protected her younger  sister who  was a bed-wetter,  and used to  try and  replace her 

           sheet early in the morning before the wet sheet was discovered. She was aware, even while she 

           was in Goldenbridge, that the fact that her father visited her was very important, and she was 

           terrified that anything would happen to him. 



7.317      This complainant has lived in England for a long number of years and said that nobody knows 

           about Goldenbridge, because she has never spoken about it, even to friends that she has known 

           for 25 years. She said that she constantly feels  ‘no good’. She said that the journey that she has 

           had  to  follow  to  put  herself  together,  and  not  have  a  sense  of  being  a  marked  person  in  an 

           orphanage with the stigma and abuse, has been a very long one. It has cost her a lot emotionally, 

           physically and mentally. She felt sorry about her father. He may have known what the children 

           were suffering in Goldenbridge, but could do nothing about it. She said that, if it had been her, 

           she would have been challenging the nuns, but her father was intimidated by them and could not 

           question what was going on. She asked why would a man, who was basically a good man, feel 

           so intimidated in dealing with the nuns in Goldenbridge who were caring for his children. 



7.318      Another   complainant     spoke   about   the  contrast  between     Goldenbridge     and  a  care   home    in 

           England. She left Goldenbridge at 13, and went to live with her mother in England. Her mother 

           was quite abusive and the complainant ran away from home. She ended up in a children’s home 

           in England. She said at first she had thought she had gone back to Goldenbridge again, but she 

           found it a lovely place with lovely people. She said she tasted food that she had never tasted and 

           she remembers how the tables were set. Sometimes she ‘played up’ there, and she would not be 

           given pocket money if she did that, and the people in charge would bring her into the sitting room 

           and talk to her. She said that they were lovely and that she has great admiration for all of them. 



7.319      She recalled that there were sitting rooms in the care home in England. Whereas in Goldenbridge 

           there were no comfortable chairs or sofas, only wooden chairs and tables. 



7.320      She said that the nuns were really not involved in the day-to-day activity in Goldenbridge. When 

           she was there, it was run principally by the lay staff and older girls. She recalled Sr Venetia, who 

           would have been the only nun who did have contact with the Institution, but the other nuns were 

           only seen in church: 



                 They used to come down now and again around Christmas to watch a film ... which was 

                 the  only  time  you  ever  saw  Venetia  laugh.  They  never  acknowledged  you.  They  were 

                 there at that side, here we were at this side. You might as well have put a bar – there 



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                 was no way they were ever going to talk to you. Even in the church, there were all these 

                 so called holy people, they never acknowledged you. 



7.321      A witness who was in Goldenbridge for nine years in the 1960s described her time there: 



                 I mean the first sentence that always comes to me is that it was a reign of terror, it was 

                 a terrifying place for any child to be. Speaking for myself I found it utterly terrifying, it was 

                 vicious, it was so full of fear, it was so full of tension. It was indescribably terrifying. 



7.322      When she left, she described how she felt: 



                 If  I  start  at  the  beginning,  I  was  completely  and  utterly  depressed,  completely  unfit  to 

                 function in the world outside. Within months of leaving Goldenbridge I was in a psychiatric 

                 hospital   ... I have   lived  through    some    of the   darkest,   darkest,  blackest,   blackest 

                 depressions  imaginable.  I  have  lived  with  shame,  absolute  abject  shame.  I  felt  like  a 

                 nobody, worthless, a nuisance, a waste of space on the planet, utterly. I hated every adult 

                 who walked the planet ... I was bitter, I was angry. I was broken. I tried to be happy if that 

                 makes sense, I really did try. I tried to be normal, but you couldn’t be. People would say 

                 to you, “Where are you from? I would say, “did I ask you where you came from”. I would 

                 say, “No, Mind your own business, don’t ask me”. 



7.323      She said she found this question so difficult to deal with that she often lied. 



7.324      She found filling in application forms, which required parents’ names and occupations and where 

           she was from, to be deeply upsetting and shaming for her. 



7.325      She said that, although Sr Venetia wasn’t anything as bad as Sr Alida, she was very capable of 

           battering children and, in particular, she was verbally very cruel to children: 



                 She was very good at calling you names, and Sr Venetia was capable of being very cruel 

                 to particular children ... She was very good at humiliation, Ill tell you that, she was very 

                 good at that. 



7.326      She spoke of particular girls who suffered humiliation at the hands of Sr Venetia. One particular 

           girl suffered from perspiration, and Sr Venetia used make her strip off to her underclothes every 

           day and wash in front of all her peers. She said that Sr Venetia had particular girls whom she 

           treated as favourites, and they were never beaten and got special treatment from her. 



7.327      Many    witnesses    complained     of  the   name-calling    that  they   endured    during   their  time   in 

           Goldenbridge. They spoke of being called ‘worse than the soldiers who crucified Christ’, or being 

           called ’filthy’ and  ‘dirty’. Other witnesses referred to verbal insults of being called  ‘fat and ugly’, 

           being called ‘crackpot and mad’. Other witnesses made reference to the hurt caused by the name- 

           calling and the degradation that accompanied it. 



7.328      For a number of complainants, one of the most difficult memories was the treatment they recalled 

           their  siblings  receiving  while  in  Goldenbridge.  These  witnesses  suffered  greatly,  where  those 

           siblings went on to have serious psychiatric problems or even where they had subsequently died. 

           They felt that, in some way, they might have been able to help the sibling had they spoken to 

           them more openly about their experiences in Goldenbridge. 



7.329      One witness, who spent seven years in Goldenbridge after the death of her mother, described 

           trying to protect her younger brothers in Goldenbridge. They were bed-wetters, and she was very 

           upset  when  they  were  punished  for  wetting  the  bed.  She  couldn’t  bear  to  see  them  slapped, 

           because she knew that they couldn’t help doing it. Even though she was just a child herself, she 

           could see that beating children for wetting the bed was cruel and unfair. 



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7.330      She  visited her  younger  brothers  in another  industrial  school because  she  believed  that, if  the 

           authorities knew that somebody from outside the Institution was watching, it would be easier on 

           the boys there. This was an impression she got from Goldenbridge, where she felt that anybody 

           who had a parent or relative in touch with the School got an easier time. She visited her younger 

           brothers    in the   Industrial  School    until she   was   18.   At  that  stage,  her   father  had   returned. 

           Eventually, the family were all reunited and, to this day, are very close. 



7.331      She was nearly 10 years of age when she went into Goldenbridge and she had a clear memory 

           of life before the Institution. She felt that it gave her a bit of a foundation and that she was luckier 

           than children who had no mothers or fathers. She used to fantasise about a real home, and used 

           to  tell  stories  about  things  that  happened  on  the  outside.  One  of  her  brothers  spoke  to  the 

           Investigation Committee and confirmed that his sister did protect both him and his other brothers 

           and sisters while they were in Goldenbridge. 



7.332      Another witness, who had a good experience of family life before being admitted to Goldenbridge 

           at  the  age  of  nine  following  the  death  of  her  mother,  said  that  her  overall  impression  of  the 

           Institution was of horror and fear. Her father died in 1967, but whilst he was alive he had regular 

           contact with the family. He visited every second Sunday, but he would often arrive after he had 

           been drinking. She recalled how Sr Eleonora21            and one of the lay staff would speak to him in a 



           degrading way. His children would plead and beg him to take them out of Goldenbridge, and his 

           famous saying was  ‘keep your chin up ... it’s not what’s on the outside, it’s the inside that counts’. 

           She said the family were very poor. Their mother was a lovely woman. She believed that the fact 

           that their father visited them regularly spared her from a lot of the abuse that the other children 

           were  subjected  to.  One  of  her  great  dislikes  in  Goldenbridge  was  that  some  of  the  girls  were 

           treated as favourites and pets. 



7.333      She  spoke  about  being  beaten  and  abused  if  underwear  was  dirty,  and  also  spoke  of  the 

           humiliation of being lined up naked to be painted with a treatment for scabies. She was quite clear 

           that the way in which this treatment was carried out was designed to maximise the humiliation of 

           the children, particularly of older girls. 



7.334      Some of the witnesses at the Goldenbridge hearings were men who had been sent there as young 

           boys. One man spoke of the loss of family contact as a result of being placed in Goldenbridge at 

           two years of age in the early 1960s. He said: 



                  Goldenbridge was a tough place as a young little boy. When I think of my own kids and I 

                  think that if anybody hurt them I would destroy their lives. That is the only true way I have 

                  got of reflecting on what happened to me as a kid growing up. 



7.335      This complainant said that it was only when he had his own children that he realised how harsh 

           his own upbringing had been. They received no individual care and were just herded around. 



7.336      One    witness   gave    a  very  personal    account    of  a  tragedy    that  occurred    during   her  time   in 

           Goldenbridge.  She  was  there  for  10  years  from  the  mid-1960s,  following  the  break-up  of  her 

           parents’ marriage. 



7.337      Within a year of her committal to Goldenbridge, her two older brothers died in an accident. She 

           and two of her sisters were called down to Sr Venetia’s office, where she found two of their uncles, 

           together with a lay teacher. They were told about the deaths and they were given two bull’s eye 

           sweets each. They were then sent back to the recreation room. She said that: 



                  I was sent back down to the rest of the children. Nobody took me aside and put their arms 

                  around me in any shape or form, as God is my witness that is the truth, that is the truth. 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 



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                Nobody gave me any comfort other than the bit of comfort we tried to give each other as 

                a family. 



7.338     The  pain  of  loss  and  separation  was  experienced  not  only  by  the  children.  For  many  parents, 

           placing their children in care was an act of desperation. 



7.339     Another  complainant  entered  Goldenbridge  in  the  mid-1960s,  aged  five  years  of  age,  with  his 

          older sister, following the separation of his mother and father. There were six children at the time, 

          and only the eldest sister accompanied her mother to England after the separation. Initially, his 

          father was trying to look after the remaining five children, but they eventually ended up in court 

          and being committed to Goldenbridge. Originally, he was committed for a 10-year period, but his 

           mother ‘kidnapped’ both him and his sister and brought them back to England. She came originally 

          to bring them on a day out, but then went to collect his two older brothers who were in an industrial 

          school and then travelled across to England with the four of them. The younger sister was left in 

          another institution, because she was too young to be released on a day outing. His mother visited 

          the youngest girl until she was old enough, by which time the courts released her and the family 

          was reunited. 



7.340     A letter which this complainant’s mother wrote in the mid-1960s and sent to the Christian Brothers 

           is relevant: 



                 Dear Sir, 



                 I would like to inform you that I have now taken my children [X and Y] from your care 

                without your consent. I have also taken [A and B] from Goldenbridge convent. All four are 

                 now in England with me. 



                 I have phoned [the] Artane School from England to say that I took the children with me. I 

                could not phone Goldenbridge as I do not know their phone number, but I am letting them 

                 know by post. 



                 Please  don’t  blame  me  too  much  for  what  I  have  done  in  taking  this  advantage,  but  I 

                could not see my children unhappy no longer. I have for one year done my best to try to 

                get the children together but everything failed because I respected the law. 



                 Now, I have taken it into my own hands and if I am sent to jail I shall do the same again 

                when I come out. 



                The Justice said I could have my children when I get a home for them. He did not say I 

                would have to have my husband’s consent so I did what I could to get the home for them, 

                 but I would not consider asking my husband for a letter of consent. 



                 If he wants them he can fight for them from me. But he won’t as he has not been to see 

                them only twice since they were committed ... 12 months ago. 



                Yours truly, 



          Evidence of respondents 



7.341     Sr Alida was asked whether the children were shown love and affection. She stated that there 

          was no doubt that the pre-school children were shown love and affection by her, by staff in charge 

          of the nursery, and by an older girl who would be assigned to keep an eye on them. She argued 

          that the children of school-going age were not showered with the same level of affection as would 

           be the norm today: 



                Looking back still I would have to say that I never had a feeling that I had a roomful of 

                 150 sad and frightened children. I couldn't say that from my heart. That doesn't mean that 

                there could be children very sad unknown to me. I didn't know what was inside any child's 

                heart or in their head. We knew nothing at all about most of the families. Any research 

                 we did, it didn't get us very far, their lives family wise was very bleak. I, at the time, wasn't 



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                 – didn't take into consideration what state they were in. As teenagers or as babies. Babies 

                 you could compensate, the babies we loved and we hugged and we gave every kind of 

                 care to babies. They got the best. Any baby that came to our care, I can only say they 

                 got the best. When it came to children from 12 years upwards, I never knew what was 

                 inside their hearts or their minds. 



7.342      Sr  Gianna  stated  that  she  was  very  aware  of  the  lack  of  emotional  care  for  the  children  in 

           Goldenbridge: 



                 I would be very conscious of that when children came in from a family that had just lost a 

                 mother and how sad they would be. I would be very moved when I would see that because 

                 it was awful for them to come into this big school with this big crowd of children and to be 

                 just one of a group after being in a family setting. 



7.343      She explained: 



                 You would be very conscious of 150 children not having the hug and the love and the 

                 care of someone who really loved them closely. You would be very conscious of that. You 

                 wouldn't witness any of that. In our time you didn't do that, you didn't come near or hug 

                 people. That would have been part of our training as well. In hindsight, I think it was a 

                 good thing because I might have been accused of something very different if I had hugged 

                 or loved, as you might want to do. 



7.344      She stated that Sr Alida was also aware of how vulnerable these children were. She recalled one 

           little boy who had lost his mother and was committed to Goldenbridge. Sr Alida asked her to keep 

           an eye on him as she worked in the workroom: 



                 I remember him coming up, standing beside me, I was at the machine working, and I just 

                 remember him standing there and his little hand coming into mine every so often because 

                 he was so shy and sad. 



7.345      Ms Kearney worked as a teacher in Goldenbridge for over 30 years. When she was asked about 

           the atmosphere in Goldenbridge. She responded: 



                 Not a happy place, I was glad to get out of it. When you have the children sulking, shouting 

                 at each other across the room and shouting at you and calling you all kinds of names it's 

                 very hard to put up with it. It wasn't a happy atmosphere, no. There were some lovely 

                 children in it, that never gave you a bit of trouble, you felt like hugging them but you didn't, 

                 you couldn't, because the bold ones would take it out of them, "teacher's pet". 



           Position of the Sisters of Mercy 



7.346      The  Sisters of  Mercy accept  that institutional  life in  Goldenbridge had  many negative  features, 

           which they listed as follows: 



                  •    The large size of the institution and the number of children who lived there gave little 

                        prospect of a replication of a family’s love and nurture. 



                  •     The  low  ratio  of  staff  to  children,  which  for  most  of  the  period  under  review  was 

                        approximately 1 staff member for every 30 children. 



                  •    The absence of childcare training for Sisters and lay staff. 

                  •     The  capitation  system  of  funding,  together  with  the  level  of  funding,  led  to  difficult 

                        financial constraints and choices. 



                  •    The  regimental  nature of  institutional  life  where  restriction  on freedom  of  movement 

                        operated well beyond school hours and a lack of privacy, particularly in the early years. 



                  •    The emphasis on conformity rather than on creativity and choice. 



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                 •    The very limited opportunities for forming personal one to one adult/child relationships. 

                 •    A reliance on corporal punishment as a feature in the maintenance of discipline and 

                       good order. 



                 •    A failure to properly understand the level of trauma suffered by each child as a result 

                       of being separated from family, sometimes in circumstances where their placement in 

                       the institution followed the death of a parent. 



                 •    A failure to properly respond to the individual emotional needs of the children, including 

                       how lonely and frightened they must have been in being taken from family and placed 

                       in a large institution with children of all ages. 



                 •    A failure to recognise the special emotional and educational needs of children who had 

                       come from troubled backgrounds. 



                 •    A failure to keep children informed about their family and family events, such as births 

                       marriages and deaths. 



                 •     A failure to assess the individual needs of each child, either on admission or on an 

                       ongoing basis. 



                 •     A  failure  to  meet  the  comprehensive  educational  needs  of  children  and  the  very 

                       inadequacy of the educational process itself relative to their needs. 



7.347      In its written Submissions, the Congregation seemed to distance itself somewhat from culpability 

          for the emotional deprivation experienced by so many complainants, and stated: 



                Allegations  of  emotional  abuse  are  difficult  to  evaluate.  Whether  there  was  a  general 

                tendency    to verbally  denigrate   and   discourage   the  children  is  something   almost   as 

                 intangible  to  assess as  the  atmosphere  in the  school  ...  the complainants  undoubtedly 

                 had very real feelings of emotional neglect. One can see how a large institution failed to 

                supply the emotional needs of the child, even if the carers did not go further and actually 

                 insult  and  denigrate  them.  The  absence  of  personal  love  and  encouragement  would 

                undoubtedly have left the children with a lack of self-regard and feelings of worthlessness 

                 ... The failure to provide for the emotional well-being of the children in the institution is a 

                 major failing on the part of the industrial school. It is perhaps the one that most impacted 

                on  the  long-term  psychological  development  of  the  child.  A  child  could  probably  cope 

                 much better with obstacles and handicaps in the institution and, later, out of the institution, 

                 provided  she  felt  loved  and  valued  as  an  individual  ...  But  where  does  the  blame  for 

                emotional neglect lie? The form of childcare provided by St Vincent’s industrial school, 

                Goldenbridge was not a personal whim or caprice of Sister Alida or Sister Venetia. It was 

                a large institution embedded in an institutional structure of child-care approved of by the 

                State authorities ... The role of the Sisters actually running the schools needs to be put in 

                 its proper context without denying the emotional reality of the children. 



           Conclusions 



7.348      1.   Goldenbridge  could  have  operated  a  kinder  regime,  where  children  were  safe  and 

                secure, in keeping with the aspirations of the Sisters of Mercy, but it failed to do so. 



           2.   Witnesses  described  how  the  conditions  in  Goldenbridge  left  them  with  low  self- 

                esteem for the rest of their lives. 



           3.   Children were routinely humiliated and belittled by the nuns and carers who looked 

                after them. 



           4.   Children   with   parents    or  relatives  who    kept   in touch    received    more   favourable 

                treatment than those children who did not. 



           5.   Girls left Goldenbridge ill-equipped to deal with the outside world. 



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          Underwear inspections 



7.349     An extreme example of the culture of humiliation that permeated Goldenbridge can be seen in the 

          practice of underwear inspections. Several allegations were made by complainants to the effect 

          that, when their underwear was changed weekly, their underwear was inspected and they were 

          beaten if there was any mark on it. Two complainants said the soiled underwear was paraded on 

          a pole for everyone to see before they received their fresh laundry. 



7.350     No reference is made to these allegations in the Opening Statement of the Sisters of Mercy. In 

          their Submissions, however, they say that the ‘practice of having to show dirty underwear on a 

          weekly basis is a puzzling one’. They add that: 



                ... it is difficult to see what rational basis there might be for such a practice, except perhaps 

                to check whether older girls might have started their periods, or checking the number on 

                the  underwear,    or something    of that  nature.  If so,  it might have   been   done   on  an 

                occasional basis but it would hardly have been a regular event for every girl. 



7.351     A witness spoke of the underwear inspection: 



                We would change our pants once a week. I can see the basket on the corridor, it was a 

                Saturday. Friday night, there would be somebody on the toilet door, but we would go into 

                the toilet, one by one let in and we would wash out pants in the toilet. If we didn’t get the 

                chance, we thought we were going to be too long, we would actually spit on them and 

                put them under our sheet and lie on them ... We knew there was an inspection on the 

                Saturday and that we would have to have them clean. If they weren’t clean we would get 

                beaten across the bare bum. 



7.352     Another witness spoke of having to show her underwear on the day that fresh underwear was 

          distributed  to  the  children.  When  questioned  as  to  the  possible  reasons  for  having  to  display 

          underwear, she expressed the view that it served to embarrass and humiliate the children. She 

          recalled one particular incident whereby a child’s underwear was paraded for all to see: 



                I do remember one incident in the workroom where there was a pair of panties put on the 

                sweeping brush, the handle of the brush and swung around and everybody have a look 

                at so and so’s pants. 



7.353     One other witness gave details of the underwear-changing ritual: 



                We had to show our underwear every Thursday. It could be in the washroom that’s where 

                I remember it. You had to show your underpants but normally what we did is we devised 

                methods in how to wash our underwear and we used the toilets in the cisterns to wash 

                our clothes. Sometimes the night before we would put them under the beds to dry. 



7.354     When asked what would happen if they displayed them soiled on inspection day, she said  ‘Oh 

          you would be beaten, severely beaten’. 



7.355     Another  witness spoke  of the  terrifying ordeal  of a  nun or  a lay  teacher or  both  displaying the 

          children’s underwear on clothes inspection day: 



                There was in the very early days a practice, I don’t know what the correct word, is of a 

                nun or a teacher holding up and making a display of your clothes if they were soiled so 

                we quickly learned that way of overcoming it. 



7.356     Yet another witness spoke about the weekly practice of displaying underwear: 



                We all went up in a single file to show our underwear and we had to have them turned 

                inside out. 



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                 In the yard. There was a wicker basket when you come out of the yard to the right hand 

                 side and that’s where you dropped your underwear. Sr Alida had a pole, it was similar to 

                 what you would light candles with in a church, anything that she didn’t like, your underwear 

                 was hoisted on this pole. Often she would say “hands up who thinks this is dirty”. This 

                 caused considerable distress and humiliation and we could never ever trust each other 

                 because if you were anyway close to somebody you wouldn’t put up your hand. If you 

                 didn’t put up your hand she would come after you, whoever that was. 



7.357      Another witness spoke of the same ritual: 



                  We  got  one  change  on  a  Thursday.  We  had  to  produce  our  underpants  to  see  what 

                 condition they were in and if they were soiled we were beaten. It was on a Thursday after 

                 school that was the way we were treated. 



7.358      Another  witness  told  about  washing  her  underwear  in  the  toilet  cistern  in  order  to  avoid  the 

           humiliation of displaying soiled underwear on the clothes inspection day: 



                  That was because if you woke up in the morning and you had dirty underwear there was 

                 nowhere you could get it – you didn’t get clean underwear every day. You got that once 

                 a week. What it was if any of them checked to see if it was dirty then they would give you 

                 hell ... 



                 You would get beaten, smacked and the language would be horrific: “You dirty bitch. You 

                 filthy bitch”. You would be called “wet the bed” as well. They used that very regular ... 



                 You would wash the underwear and you would leave it ... we had rubber sheets and you 

                 would leave it under there but if you did that then the mattress would get marked so what 

                 you would do is leave it under the sheet and then the sheet would get – sometimes it 

                 might get stained and sometimes it might not. If it got stained you were accused of wetting 

                 the bed. So you got two goes at it. 



7.359      Another  witness recalled  that  the  clothes  inspection  took  place  in  the  yard.  She  felt  that  the 

           inspection  of  dirty  underwear  was  like  a  form  of  punishment;  not  every  single  girl’s  underwear 

           was checked: 



                 Probably not every single person might have to. I remember I did, I remember when the 

                 girls did, but I wouldn’t say she went around every single person; I couldn’t honest to God 

                 say that. 



7.360      One further witness, who had a very good recollection of life in Goldenbridge, also spoke about 

           showing the underwear once a week when the fresh underwear was being distributed: 



                 For soiled clothing, every single week because we had to show our underwear once a 

                 week to two or three people who had large wicker baskets in front of them. We all stood 

                 in line all with our underwear, as we showed them we got hit with a stick. 



7.361      The   offensive     practice   of  inspecting     underwear      was    confirmed     by   many     witnesses, 

           including  one  put  forward  by  the  Congregation  as  a  favourable  witness.  The  practice 

           caused extreme embarrassment and humiliation and it was futile and utterly degrading. 



           The four cornerstones 



7.362      The   ‘Dear   Daughter’    programme      contained     a  number    of  very   serious   allegations   against 

           Goldenbridge and the Sisters of Mercy. 



7.363      The Sisters of Mercy have identified what they describe as four key areas in the ‘Dear Daughter’ 

           programme. They say that these are mistruths that appeared in the programme and subsequently 

           appeared in evidence by complainants who came into the Investigation Committee to speak about 



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----------------------- Page 1096-----------------------

           their experiences in Goldenbridge. The Sisters have said that the recurrence of a number of these 

           key issues in the statements that were made to the Investigation Committee casts doubt on the 

           validity  of  the  memories  of  the  women  and  men  who  testified.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  their 

           Submission identified four key allegations: 



                  •    Scraps – that children were starved and had to fight each other for scraps thrown out 

                       to them in the playground each day. 



                  •    Water – that children had to drink from the toilets because there was no drinking water 

                       available to them day or night. 



                  •    Numbers – that children were always referred to by number rather than by name. 

                  •    Potties  –  that  babies  were  mistreated/tied  to  potties  for  long  periods  and  frequently 

                       suffered from prolapsed rectums as a result. 



7.364      The Sisters submitted that a number of complainants got these particular allegations wrong, and 

           that they got them wrong in precisely the same way. They maintain that it is the ‘commonality of 

           the memory errors that gives the clue to their importance’. 



           Scraps 



7.365      In ‘Dear Daughter’, there is a visual image of a colander of scraps being thrown out of a window 

           into a  yard   and  children   fighting for  the  scraps.  Eight   of the  complainants     in their witness 

           statements allege that  scraps of food were thrown out  of a window into the  yard, and that the 

           children would scramble and fight each other for these scraps. Eleven complainants made this 

           allegation in oral evidence. They each, in various ways, referred to the poor quality of the food, 

           the fact that they were hungry, and that bread was thrown out of a window at 3 o’clock each day, 

           and the children all scrambled and pushed each other to grab a slice of bread. 



7.366      The Sisters of Mercy have agreed with one description of this aspect of life in Goldenbridge. In 

           her evidence to the Committee, a witness said that at 3.30pm, the children would line up in an 

           orderly queue,  a window would  be opened  in the yard,  and bread would  be distributed  from a 

           colander. She said that, if there was any left after all the children had got a slice, it would be just 

           thrown out into the yard: 



                 ... they gave you your bread, there was a tray or sometimes there was a big ... colander 

                 type of thing and the bread would be in there and they’d give it out to you ... you had to 

                 line up. If there was any left and if there was a load of us still there and I would probably 

                 be one of them, she would just sometimes throw it out and you would get it. But for your 

                 first  slice  of  bread  you  lined  up  and  you  got  it  ...  Instead  of  queuing  up  again  and 

                 everybody would be pushing, she would just throw it and you would grab it. 



7.367      She said the bread would first be handed out, and only at the end of this distribution were the 

           scraps thrown into the yard: 



                 No, I can assure you, we lined up first and sometimes there was two people there, actually 

                 most of the time there was two people there and they would hand you your bread and 

                 you would go and then you would hang around. 



7.368      A  broadly  similar  account  was  also  given  by  another  former  resident,  who  said  that  she  could 

           recall  a  lay  worker  handing  out  lumps  of  bread  from  a  window  overlooking  the  yard  and  the 

           children queuing for the bread. She said that, after the big lumps of bread were handed out, ‘and 

           then when it gets smaller, she just throws it out to whoever didn’t get any’. 



7.369      This  account  is  accepted  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  but  other  witnesses  who  spoke  about  this 

           distribution of bread gave a different version. 



           310                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1097-----------------------

7.370     One witness recalled scrambling for scraps that were thrown out of a window in Goldenbridge. 

          Another former resident said that she recalled being hungry all the time and that, during her earlier 

          years in Goldenbridge in the early 1960s, she recalled scraps from the kitchen being thrown out 

          of a window to the children who were playing in the yard: ‘I just remember the window being open 

          in the yard and the scraps coming out and we all digging in to get a bit of bread and cake that 

          was left over’. 



7.371     One witness described the distribution of bread in the following terms: 



                From my memory there was a window in the hall and somebody used to say – word would 

                get  around  when  you’d  get  scraps  ‘cos  you  would  get  them  maybe  once  a  month. 

                Somebody said “we are getting scraps today”. It could be from what the lay people had, 

                the crusts could be left over and it would be all thrown into a steel bin, a stainless steel 

                bowl. The window would open and – I am seeing it even as myself, I done it as a child, I 

                done it as a teenager, and that window would open and the bowl of scraps would actually 

                just be thrown out, out the window onto the yard and everybody would scream and charge. 

                You would actually walk on the babies, I am sure I done it myself, it was done on me, 

                and that just went on. 



7.372     Another witness said: 



                But  there  was  a  practice  of  when  the  teachers  had  their  meals  that  there  would  be 

                leftovers and those leftovers would be brought to the yard window and just scattered out 

                the  window  and  we  would  dive  on  them.  If  you  managed  to  get  something  your  day 

                was made. 



7.373     Another witness, when asked whether it was possible that the scraps were thrown only at the end 

          of the distribution of bread, stated: 



                Definitely not ... otherwise I wouldn’t feel so horrified and shamed to have to tell you this. 

                First of all, who was going to create this order of this orderly row of children that were 

                hungry to stand in line to wait for bread, who was supervising this? That didn’t happen. It 

                was a free for all and the strong ones and the ones that were a bit heavy were the ones 

                that were first to the front of the queue. Obviously the weaklings, I wasn’t that weak, but 

                I wasn’t very forceful either, they wouldn’t fare so well. What was thrown you would just 

                have to clamber for it. People would walk on it with their sandals and you would pick it up 

                and eat it. 



7.374     A slightly different version of this story was given by another witness, who said: 



                The window opened up and whether it be one of the teachers or the helpers they had this 

                huge big – I have it here, they had this huge big sieve and you would have all the different 

                crumbs and all sorts, you might even get a piece of cake in it. They would open up the 

                window  and  this  would  be  flung  out,  you  would know  it  was  coming.  You  would  stand 

                waiting on it and there would be a dive for the thing, all these little crumbs. If you got a 

                bit of cake, you – you would even beat up the one that had a bigger piece than you, a 

                slice of bread instead of a bit bread. They would just fling it out the window ... 



7.375     The Sisters of Mercy assert that this allegation is a serious distortion of ‘the practice of bringing 

          out a tray of bread and margarine (or jam) to the children in the yard after school’. 



7.376     Scraps  were  thrown out  of  a  receptacle into  the  yard,  and  children scrambled  for  them. 

          Whatever the circumstances, this should not have happened and was demeaning for the 

          children. 



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           Drinking water from toilets 



  7.377    It was alleged that the children in Goldenbridge did not have access to water during the day, and 

           had to resort to drinking water from either the toilet bowl or the cistern. 



  7.378    One witness described it as follows: 



                  We used to all drink out of the toilets. There was toilets at the end of the yard, we used 

                 to go down there. There was no taps, you just flushed the chain and drink the water. 



  7.379    When asked whether he recalled a drinking fountain in the yard, he said: 



                 No. There used to be a little push handle thing down, that hardly ever worked. I remember 

                 it did work, it didn’t always work. I am sure it was there ... We used to ... drink out of the 

                 toilets anyway. You followed what the other kids done. 



  7.380    Another witness said: 



                 In between meals there was no facility for a glass of water, there was nothing, nowhere 

                 you could, we didn’t have money to buy anything. There was no machines, no vending in 

                 those days. Nothing like that. You would go to the toilets where they had the loose top 

                 and  you  would  scoop  water  up,  you  would  scoop  it  up  in  your  hand  or  you  would  get 

                 something like– I don’t know how to describe it. It was like a funnel from the big dryers, 

                 there  was  a little  connection,  you  would get  it  and  you would  drink  the  water from  the 

                 cistern. I mean, you wouldn’t think whether this is healthy or unhealthy. 



  7.381    One witness said: 



                  We used to drink water out of the toilets, out of the either the bowl or the cistern depending 

                 on how tall you were ... I mean, I see in a statement from Sr Alida she said that a tap was 

                 in the yard, I don’t know where it was because I was never allowed have a drink out of it. 



  7.382    When asked if she remembered a tap or drinking fountain in the yard, she said: 



                 I was there for twelve years and I don’t remember seeing a tap in the yard. I do remember 

                 drinking water out of the toilets, out of the cistern, out of the bowl. 



  7.383    Another witness said: 



                 Because they wouldn’t give you water. You asked for water and you weren’t given it. So 

                 obviously to try and survive, you would come out, you would be in the yard and you would 

                 go into the toilets in the yard and flush the toilets and drink water from the toilets. That 

                  wasn’t just a once-off, that was on a good number of occasions. 



  7.384    Another witness, when asked about the existence of a drinking fountain in the yard, said that if 

           there had been a fountain in the yard it must have been broken  ‘because we used to drink out 

           literally of the toilet or lift up the cistern, the top of the toilet’. 



  7.385    Sr  Alida  stated  there  was  a  drinking  fountain  in  the  yard  which  came  from  Liverpool  and  was 

           marked  ‘hooligan proof’. It remained in working order until the time she left Goldenbridge. She 

           also stated that children could get water from the kitchen and a small bathroom under the stairs. 



  7.386    One explanation for the lack of access to water is in relation to the problem of bed-wetting which, 

           according  to  Sr  Alida,  was  ’a  huge  problem’  that  existed  in  Goldenbridge.  Sr  Alida  said  they 

           had  sought  medical  advice,  and  one  of  the  recommendations  was  the  deprivation  of  all  fluids 

           before bedtime. 



           312                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1099-----------------------

  7.387    However, Sr Venetia stated to Mr Crowley that children used to drink from the toilet cistern. In his 

           report he stated: 



                 Sr Venetia confirmed the allegations in relation to the tumble dryer and drinking from the 

                 toilet cistern. 



  7.388    The Sisters of Mercy denied that children were deprived of water as there was a drinking fountain 

           in the yard. They conceded, however, that on foot of medical advice they deprived children who 

           were prone to wetting the bed of water from a certain time in the afternoon. These children may 

           have resorted to covertly drinking from the toilet. They asserted that this is another example of 

           how a practice became distorted and exaggerated by witnesses. 



  7.389    •    Children drank out of the toilet, which was confirmed by Sr Venetia when speaking to 

                 Mr Crowley  in 1996. This  happened irrespective of whether  the fountain in  the yard 

                 was working. 



           •    Some children were deprived of water in an effort to cure bed-wetting, and they found 

                 water where they could. 



           Children referred to by number 



  7.390    The calling of children by number is another specific allegation made by complainants. They assert 

           that staff referred to them not by name but by number. This is an allegation which appeared in 

           the ‘Dear Daughter’ programme. It is also an allegation which was made by 11 complainants in 

           their statements to the Commission and in oral evidence. One witness said: 



                 The numbers were used when they were giving out the clothes or anything like that that 

                 belonged to the children. Anything that you had marked you always had a number on it. 

                 You never had a name on it. 



  7.391    Another witness also stated that clothes were distributed according to the number of the child. 

           However,  under  cross-examination, this  witness  went  further and  stated  that  the children  were 

           referred to by number. 



  7.392    Another  witness  recalled  the  day  that  she  entered  Goldenbrige  and  was  stripped  of  her  own 

           clothes,  washed  and  given  a  set  of  clothes  that  were  ‘hard,  rough,  horrible’ and  was  given  a 

           number and told ‘never to forget it’. 



  7.393    Another witness recalled that, when she entered Goldenbridge, her name was taken away and 

           she was given a number. She said:  ‘In Goldenbridge I was a number’. 



  7.394    This witness was adamant that she was never called by her name, and that it was always by her 

           number.  Even  when  she  was cross-examined  about  the  use  of  the  number  for the  purpose  of 

           clothing, she stated that she was called by her number irrespective of whether clothes were being 

           distributed or not. 



  7.395    Again, another witness when questioned about how he was addressed in Goldenbridge said: 



                 You were called by your surname or your number. It was mainly your surname. You were 

                 never called by your name ... 



  7.396    He also confirmed that the numbers were used for the system of laundering clothes. 



  7.397    One  other  witness  disagreed  with  the  contention  that  the  numbers  were  only  used  for  laundry 

           purposes: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   313 


----------------------- Page 1100-----------------------

                 Some people they knew very well, the ones that were always in trouble, always getting 

                 slapped, some of them would be well known. You would be called by your number ... 



7.398      Another witness recounted that she did not recall staff referring to her by her Christian name, but 

           did recall being called by her number. 



7.399      The Sisters of Mercy assert that this was never the case; children were never called by a number. 

           The use of numbers was for the purpose of laundry and distributing children’s clothing. Each item 

           of the child’s clothing was numbered so that, when it was washed and ironed, that same item of 

           clothing  could be  returned to  the appropriate  child. Sr  Gianna, who  worked in  the laundry  and 

           workroom of Goldenbridge for three years, gave a detailed account of the washing and distribution 

           of the children’s clothing. In evidence, Sr Gianna recounted that the children’s clothing, once it 

           had been washed and ironed, was brought down to the recreation hall for distribution: 



                 And the numbers called out then. We had them in the big baskets and then you picked 

                 out  your  three  articles  or  four  articles  and  you  called  out  a  number  and  the  child  who 

                 owned these came forward. She went down and she undressed and you had the senior 

                 girls there helping the smaller ones to dress and undress. They would bring up their soiled 

                 laundry and put it into the baskets. 



7.400      Another witness stated that she disagreed with certain aspects of the ‘Dear Daughter’ programme. 

           In particular, she disagreed with the suggestion in the programme that children were called by 

           number. She said as follows: 



                 Yeah, it wouldn’t be always numbers I have to say, because I wasn’t always called by 

                 numbers. Maybe some other people may have felt it that way, but when I heard that I 

                 thought, no, that wasn’t me. 



7.401      From the evidence of the complainants, what is clear, apart from the issue of the numbers, is that 

           children were not called by their Christian name. In the main, they appear to have been referred 

           to by their numbers, their surnames, or by nicknames. 



7.402      The use of numbers instead of names was not widespread in Goldenbridge. Numbers were 

           used, however, on occasions such as dealing with laundry. 



           Babies left sitting on potties for prolonged periods 



7.403      This specific allegation, that babies were strapped to potties for long periods of time and suffered 

           a prolapsed rectum, first emerged in the Gay Byrne radio show in 1992. It was repeated on the 

           ‘Dear Daughter’ programme. A number of complainants made this allegation in their statements 

           of  complaint  to  the  Commission.  However,  in  oral  evidence  it  did  not  feature  very  largely  as 

           an allegation. 



7.404      One witness described it in the following terms: 



                 They (babies)  were  placed  on  potties,  yes.  They  were  strapped  down  and  there  were 

                 marks on their little bums when they got up. There was one particular child whose back 

                 passage used to come down. He was a little boy by the name of  .... 



7.405      This complainant further stated when questioned that she herself was aged around eight or nine 

           years when she saw this little boy with what she believed to be a prolapsed rectum. 



7.406      Another witness made reference to the strapping of babies to potties: 



                 We used to look after the babies there. There was maybe 50, 60 babies. You used to 

                 look after them, you used to have to bath them and change them. You used to stick them 

                 on the potties, strapped to potties for hours on end. 



           314                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1101-----------------------

7.407      Other witnesses whose job was to mind the babies made no reference to the practice of strapping 

           babies onto potties. One positive witness stated that the babies ‘were so well looked after’. 



7.408      Several witnesses asserted that they only saw one instance of a prolapsed rectum. One witness 

           described the shock of seeing a child with a prolapsed rectum: 



                 In the rec there was toilets down near the stage end and the babies used to be put– the 

                 little ones used to be put on the potties. I remember I was sitting more or less facing– 

                 there was benches all around the rec, I was facing these children on the potty. I remember 

                 one  of  them  stood  up  and  something  was  hanging  down  and  it  really  frightened  me.  I 

                 didn’t understand. To this day it is still imprinted on me. 



7.409      In  her  general  written  statement  to  the  Commission,  Sr  Alida  devoted  a  section  to  the  care  of 

           babies in Goldenbridge. She stated: 



                 Babies were never left sitting on a potty a long time. There was one baby who suffered 

                 from a prolapsed rectum, however this girl had this problem on admission. There was no 

                 question of young children looking after our babies and no-one was ever taught to reinsert 

                 a baby’s rectum as some complainants describe. 



7.410      Sr Alida said that children were placed on potties when they got up in the morning, after every 

           meal  and  before  they  went  to  bed.  She  said  they  would  be  left  for  about  12  minutes  on  each 

           occasion. This represents a total of six occasions per day that children would have been placed 

           on potties, for a total period of 72 minutes at least. This would have been a considerable proportion 

           of  the  day  for  toddlers  or  small  children.  Many  witnesses  have  described  a  fairly  rigid  system 

           regarding  toilet  training.  With  a  large  number  of  babies  to  toilet  train  and  with  the  limited  staff 

           available, individual attention was not possible. After a certain  age, children were not provided 

           with nappies, and older residents would be required to sluice out soiled sheets and bedding as 

           well as clean excrement off children who had soiled or wet in the night. That said, the general 

           view  was  that  Sr  Alida  was  kind  and  loving  towards  the  babies  and,  in  her  testimony  to  the 

           Investigation Committee, she said: 



                 Babies you could compensate, the babies we loved and we hugged and we gave every 

                 kind of care to babies. They got the best. Any baby that came to our care, I can only say 

                 they got the best. 



7.411      Sr Alida showed kindness to babies, but caring for large numbers of them with inadequate 

           staff  led  to  a  regimented  approach  in  which  babies  were  left  sitting  on  potties  for  long 

           periods of time. 



           General conclusion on the four cornerstones 



7.412      Each  of  these  allegations  highlighted  by  the  ‘Dear  Daughter’  programme  had  a  basis  in 

           fact.  While  there  were  differences  in  perception  as  between  the  Congregation  and  the 

           complainants,      complainants      who    referred    to  these   elements     did  not   thereby    become 

           unreliable witnesses. 



           Neglect 



           General living conditions 



7.413      The General Inspection and Medical Reports of the Department of Education and Science give 

           some indication of the general living conditions of the children. Sr Alida, who had worked in the 

           School for over 20 years, also provided some information on this issue. 



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7.414      The first available documentary piece of information is an Inspection Report from the Department’s 

           Medical Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, in August 1939. She reported four cases of scabies. In a 

           report the following year, she noted two instances of scabies. 



7.415      In March 1941, Dr McCabe carried out a general inspection and found that the School was ‘well 

           kept’ and satisfactory in all areas. There is no General Inspection Report for 1942. 



7.416      When  Sr  Alida  and  Sr  Bianca  arrived  in  August  1942,  they  found  the  children  in  an  appalling 

           condition. The majority of the children were suffering from scabies and ringworm of the scalp. Sr 

           Alida said: 



                 They had skin trouble which I never saw before, it was scabies. I’d say 75 percent of the 

                 children would have scabies at that time ... they had ringworm of the scalp a number of 

                 them ... it would be big abscesses in their hair, that the hair couldn’t be combed. 



7.417      Sr Bianca set about dealing with the situation immediately. She closed the School for two weeks. 

           During  this  two-week  period,  the  children  were  bathed  and  their  bodies  were  covered  with  an 

           ointment for the treatment of scabies and they were sent to bed. Every three days, the procedure 

           was repeated until the infection was gone. Their clothes were sent to the laundry, and Sr Bianca 

           spent all of her time in the laundry disinfecting the clothes by steam boiling, with the help of those 

           girls who were not infected. After three days, the ointment had soaked into the children’s bodies 

           and killed the infection. Sr Bianca contacted Dublin Corporation, who organised for the children’s 

           bedclothes to be removed and disinfected. 



7.418      Ringworm was more difficult to treat because there were abscesses on the children’s heads. Sr 

           Alida said: 



                 They went to Steeven’s Hospital with those. In the hospital, first of all, they were drawing 

                 pus  and  the  hair  was  stuck  onto  their  heads,  it  was  very  nasty  to  describe.  I  think  in 

                 Steevens’ Hospital they recommended cutting the hair and you had to take it off bit by bit 

                 to get the hair away ... Lotion was then applied to the scalp which killed the hairs and 

                 plaster was put on the head in strips, which was then pulled off and when they pulled off 

                 the plaster they pulled the roots of the hair out as well. 



7.419      The General Inspection Reports made no reference to these conditions at all. The following year, 

           Dr McCabe recorded that the School was ‘well kept’ and that most areas were ‘satisfactory’, but 

           she criticised the condition of the children, saying they could be ‘cleaner and neater’. 



7.420      The next inspection took place on 27th  January 1944 and she commented that the premises were 



           ‘very well kept, clean and tidy’ and most areas were found to be ‘satisfactory’, but she found that 

           the ‘children looked far from being neat and tidy’. She said that their clothes were ‘tattered and 

           untidy’  and  their  blankets  were  ‘thin  and  worn’.  The  cause  of  the  thinness  of  the  blankets, 

           according to Sr Alida, arose from the process of disinfecting them during the scabies outbreak in 

           1942. Dr McCabe recommended replacing the blankets and supplying each child with a toothbrush 

           and  for  the  dentist  to  visit  every  quarter.  She  also  sought  greater  supervision  of  the  younger 

           children. In her evidence, Sr Alida said that it took years to replace the blankets and eventually 

           they got seconds from Foxford Manufacturers. 



7.421      In  June  1944,  there  was  another  outbreak  of  ringworm  in  the  School.  Sr  Bianca  informed  the 

           Department  that  several  children  had  contracted  ringworm,  and  she  sought  an  increase  in  the 

           maintenance allowance to cover the cost of treatment. Dr McCabe’s advice was sought by the 

           Department in relation to the treatment for ringworm, and her response was that the School was 

           expected to cover the cost of medical treatment for children from the grant received. 



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----------------------- Page 1103-----------------------

7.422      Dr McCabe carried out a General Inspection on 28th              June 1944 and she found that the standard 



           of cleanliness and supervision of the children had improved, but she was not completely satisfied 

           with  the  conditions.  All  the  children  had  not  been  supplied  with  toothbrushes,  the  dentist  had 

           not paid a quarterly visit, and the blankets had not been replaced. The Department made these 

           observations  known  to  the  Resident  Manager.  In  the  Medical  Inspection  conducted  during  the 

           same visit, Dr McCabe noted four children required treatment for ringworm. 



7.423      Dr  McCabe’s  General  Inspection  Reports  from  1948  until  her retirement  in  1963  were,  without 

           exception, very positive. Her reports during these years were not very detailed and were, in fact, 

           quite repetitive in content. She frequently stated that the School was ‘well run’ and in some years 

           remarked that it was ‘extremely well run’22        or ‘very well conducted’.23     She also commented in her 

           reports that ‘many improvements had been made and continued to be made’ to the School.24  The 



           exact nature of these improvements was not detailed in these reports. Throughout this time period, 

           Dr  McCabe  singled  out  the  Resident  Manager  for  praise.  In  her  General  Inspection  Report  of 

           January 1959 and 1960, she said ‘Sr Alida an excellent nun ... knows many things about running 

           a  good  school’.  Dr  McCabe’s  General  Inspection  Reports  of  1963  referred  to  the  fact  that  ‘Sr 

           Venetia is now Res. Manager and is doing very well being a disciple of Sr Alida she is excellent’. 



7.424      The Medical Reports during this period were glowing, with reference often made to the fact that 

           small children and babies are particularly well cared for. But in her Medical Inspection Report of 

           May 1955, Dr McCabe noted that 11 children were receiving treatment for scabies. 



7.425      The  General  Inspection Reports  after  Dr  McCabe’s retirement  continued  to  be very  favourable 

           about the living conditions in the School. Dr Charles Lysaght, who carried out a General Inspection 

           of  the  School  on  21st  March  1966,  commented  that  it  was  ‘well  run’:  the  premises  were  clean 



           and in ‘good repair’ and the accommodation consisted mostly of modern buildings with ‘excellent 

           dormitory accommodation’. 



7.426      Sr Venetia came in for particular praise from Dr Lysaght when he referred to her as being ‘most 

           competent and appears dedicated to the work’. 



7.427      In  the  1970s,  Graham  Granville  took  over  as  the  Department’s  General  Inspector.  His  reports 

           were also very favourable of the living conditions and the premises and accommodation. However, 

           there were  only three reports  for the entire period  of the 1970s,  namely 1971, 1976  and 1978 

           because of staff shortages in the Department of Education. 



7.428      Mr Granville was concerned about the lack of qualifications of the staff and the change in the type 

           of child that was being admitted. A lot of the children were categorised as disturbed. Proposals 

           for the group home system were advocated, and sanction was given, but these plans were not 

           carried through until the 1980s. 



           Conclusions 



7.429      •     The severity of the problem tackled by Sr Bianca and Sr Alida disclosed evidence of 

                 severe neglect. 



           •     The work undertaken by these two nuns was heavy and relentless and brought about 

                 immediate improvements to the School. 



           •     The  absence  of  reference  to  these  problems  in  the  Departmental  Medical  Reports 

                 discloses a weakness of the inspections. 



           22 General Inspection Reports 1953, 1954. 

           23 General Inspection Reports 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963. 

           24 General Inspection Reports 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      317 


----------------------- Page 1104-----------------------

           Education 



7.430      The  children  in  Goldenbridge  were  educated  in  their  own  internal  national  school.  There  was 

           another national school within the same grounds run by the Sisters of Mercy for the children of 

           the locality. The Cussen Report recommended that, where possible, children should be educated 

           in external national schools. It identified a drop in standards in literary education in internal national 

           schools, and attributed this to the fact that the teachers employed were not well qualified. Cussen 

           also  recommended  that  salaries  of  teachers  in  internal  national  schools  attached  to  industrial 

           schools should be paid by the Department of Education, in the same way as in ordinary national 

           schools. 



7.431      A Department of Education inspection conducted in 1939, for the purposes of considering whether 

           teachers’  salaries  in  the  internal  national  school  should  be  paid  by  the  State,  queried  why  the 

           children in Goldenbridge did not attend the local national school. The reasons proffered by the 

           Resident Manager was that the local schools were already overcrowded. She was also opposed 

           to  the  children  being  transported  to  other  schools,  on  the  basis  that  she  could  not  be  held 

           responsible   for  them   once   they   left the  Industrial  School.   The   Department     accepted    this 

           explanation and proceeded to certify the internal national school and to pay the teachers’ salaries 

           from 1941. 



7.432      The   Department    of  Education    school   inspection   report  for March    1935   had   noted   a  very 

           satisfactory  educational  standard  in  Goldenbridge,  with  each  school  subject  rated  either  ‘very 

           good’ or ‘good on the whole’. The report concluded that the School was ‘good on the whole’ and: 



                 Order,  discipline  and  politeness  leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  The  tastefully  decorated 

                 schoolrooms are an education in themselves. Taken class-by-class, progress in subjects 

                 is at least satisfactory and in quite a few subjects very satisfactory. It must be added that 

                 the average age of the pupils according to classification is high. This is due to (the fact 

                 that) many of the pupils when enrolled are very backward. Promotions from year to year 

                 are quite regular. 



7.433      The report noted that the internal national school had 140 pupils taught by five full-time and two 

           part-time teachers. Two of the teachers were nuns and three were lay staff. None of the teachers 

           was  formally  qualified,  although  they  all  had  many  years  of  experience.  Staffing  levels  were 

           described as ‘quite adequate’. 



7.434      Within seven years, standards in the school had plummeted. Sr Alida painted a grim picture of 

           conditions in the internal national school. She recalled that, upon her arrival in 1942, there were 

           only  two  untrained  lay  teachers  responsible  for  educating  150  children  of  different  ages  and 

           abilities. These two teachers were ill-equipped to deal with this workload. 



7.435      The school curriculum was the same as that taught in every national school in the country. The 

           children did not, however, receive homework in the evenings. From the late 1950s, children who 

           showed academic ability were given the opportunity of pursuing post primary education because 

           of a scholarship fund set up by the Archbishop of Dublin. 



7.436      In 1977, Goldenbridge was recognised as a ‘special school’ by the Department of Education. 



           Evidence of the Sisters of Mercy 



7.437      The Sisters of Mercy confirmed in their Opening Statement that homework was not a feature of 

           the internal national school. In addition to the normal national school curriculum, children aged 13 

           and  over  participated  in  a  domestic  economy  training  module  overseen  by  the  Department  of 

           Education.  This  training  took  place  in  the  afternoons.  The  children  were  also  taught  physical 

           education, dancing and social skills by teachers employed especially for these purposes. 



           318                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1105-----------------------

7.438     The Sisters of Mercy conceded that: 



                With hindsight it seems likely that many of the children attending the school had particular 

                educational   difficulties given  their disadvantaged    backgrounds     and,  in some    cases, 

                disrupted  schooling.  Many  were  undoubtedly  in  need  of  what  would  now  be  termed 

                remedial education. Until late in the 1960s the fact that some of the children had special 

                educational needs was not recognised. In due course in 1977 the school itself was given 

                “special school” status. In the 1940s and 1950s however, there were no special facilities, 

                teachers or resources to take account of those special needs and it is undoubtedly the 

                case  that  the  method  of  education  provided  was  inadequate  for  the  needs  of  many  of 

                the children. 



7.439     It is surprising that no programme existed within Goldenbridge itself to identify these children’s 

          needs and to help them. While it is accepted that, at a national level, programmes like these did 

          not exist, the Sisters of Mercy were engaged in providing a specialist service for a very long period 

          of time, and they were the people best placed to identify the needs of the children in the Industrial 

          School and to provide for them. 



7.440     Whilst the Sisters of Mercy may rightly criticise the Department of Education for failing to identify 

          the  particular  needs   of  the  children   in the  Institution, they  themselves     must  take   some 

          responsibility for failing to take any initiatives in this regard over the very many decades that they 

          were engaged in this work. 



7.441     On the issue of corporal punishment, the Sisters of Mercy suggested that it was no more than 

          would have been in existence in any other national school around the country. 



7.442     Corporal punishment was part of the routine in the Goldenbridge internal school. Allegations of 

          corporal punishment made against both Sisters and lay teachers appear to be correct in many 

          instances. One of the lay teachers who gave evidence to the Committee has admitted, with some 

          regret, that she did use corporal punishment whilst she was a teacher in Goldenbridge. 



7.443     The Congregation stated: 



                The use of corporal punishment in the classroom setting was inevitably non-productive, 

                and  has  caused  indelible  memories  of  being  slapped  or  beaten  for  no  reason.  Poor 

                educational achievement and inability to find employment other than in domestic or low 

                grade service was the consequence for many children. 



7.444     The   Congregation    added   that  there  was   little doubt that  practices  such  as   correcting  left- 

          handedness and wearing dunce’s hats may also have been used. It posed the following question: 



                the  question  must  be  asked  as  to  whether  this  type  and  level  of  education  was  so 

                significantly different to  that  available  to the  average   Irish child  of the  time,  as  to 

                constitute abuse? 



7.445     The Sisters of Mercy do not accept that children were taken out of school to perform chores. They 

          conceded that it may have happened occasionally, with girls over 13 years of age, but it was not 

          an  established  or  widespread  practice.  The  Congregation  vehemently  denied  that  the  Sisters 

          conspired to help the children pass the Primary Certificate. 



          Evidence of respondents 



7.446     Sr  Alida  testified  that,  when  she  arrived  in  Goldenbridge,  there  was  a  very  poor  standard  of 

          education  in  the  School.  There  were  only  two  untrained  lay  teachers,  Ms  Kearney  and  Ms 

          Dempsey, whose duties were not limited to the classroom. Apart from being responsible for the 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            319 


----------------------- Page 1106-----------------------

           education of the entire school, they also acted as carers to the children and were provided with 

           board and lodgings in the School. Sr Alida stated that she did not know how they managed. 



7.447      Both Sr Alida and Sr Bianca took up teaching positions in the school alongside Ms Kearney and 

           Ms Dempsey, who at this point moved to lodgings outside the School. Sr Bianca had 10 years’ 

           teaching experience behind her, and Sr Alida had none. Sr Alida had hoped to give up teaching 

           and dedicate herself full-time to the care of the 150 children aged between four and 16. However, 

           as she was a qualified teacher and there was a clear shortage of teachers in Goldenbridge, her 

           teaching skills were too valuable to put to one side. Her principal role in the Institution was as a 

           teacher and, even when she took over as Sister in Charge in 1954, she continued to teach full- 

           time until she left. When asked whether she received any training or instruction in relation to how 

           to deal with such large numbers of children, Sr Alida said she had received  ‘none whatsoever. I 

           think you had to use your own head’. 



7.448      Only two of the classrooms appeared to be in use, the other two had clearly fallen into disuse, 

           and one even lacked the most basic classroom equipment such as desks and benches. There 

           was   no   roll book   in  use.  Sr   Bianca   set  about    acquiring   equipment     for the   classrooms     in 

           Goldenbridge.  She  also  ordered  playground  equipment  from  England,  and  Sr  Alida  recalled 

           swings, a merry-go-round and a drinking fountain being installed in the playground. 



7.449      Sr Alida was adamant that she did the best she could to give the children a proper education: 



                 I did as good as I could to give the opportunities to children and given the best I could 

                 give for them in clothes, food and everything else and education. In between there must 

                 be many children who said to me today, "I didn't get a chance." There is one who does 

                 say  it,  "I  didn't  get  an  education”.  ...  Many  of  them  got  into  assistant  nursing  and  into 

                 children’s nursing. Our standard of education couldn’t be that bad. I am not saying it was 

                 first class or high, because the children coming in to us had experience of school before 

                 they came. Many came from non-school attendance. Our level –- we never had trouble 

                 with inspectors about the level of education in our schools. 



7.450      Ms Kearney, who worked as a lay teacher, confirmed that, after finishing her own schooling, she 

           completed a course in domestic economy before commencing her first teaching position in the 

           mid-1930s in Goldenbridge. She shared a classroom with a senior teacher, Ms Dempsey. Neither 

           was formally qualified to teach at that time. Ms Kearney stated that she was very glad to get the 

           job in Goldenbridge: 



                 I was always afraid of doing or saying anything wrong, that I would be sacked, that was 

                 my one fear. 



7.451      Both teachers used a leather to discipline the children, although Ms Kearney discontinued its use 

           once she discovered how painful it was by mistakenly hitting herself with it. 



7.452      Ms Dempsey taught first and second class, and Ms Kearney taught third and fourth class. She 

           was on duty until 10pm every other day, working in a supervisory capacity, once class was over. 

           The older children helped with the care of the younger children. 



7.453      In  1946,  Ms  Kearney  applied  for  and  was  granted  provisional  recognition  as  a  primary  school 

           teacher.  This  qualified  her  to  teach  only  in  an  industrial  school.  She  continued  to  teach  in 

           Goldenbridge until she left. 



7.454      When asked if there were things that she would have spoken about if she didn’t have the fear of 

           being sacked, she said: 



           320                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1107-----------------------

                 Sure  ...  well  for  one  I  would  have  loved  to  have  seen  the  children  with  more  space.  I 

                 would have liked to have seen them with warmer clothes on them, because at the time 

                 that I went in there first they were very basic. More freedom. ... There were lots of children 

                 I would have loved to have hugged and cuddled. They were so lovely, but the bold girls 

                 would take it out on them, call them names, teacher’s pet, you know and shout at them 

                 and that. 



7.455      Once  she  became  a  permanent  teacher,  Ms  Kearney  stated  that  she  was  no  longer  fearful  of 

           losing her job. At that stage, she no longer lived in the School and was unaware of day-to-day 

           living conditions. She said that she, therefore, had no reason to complain. 



7.456      Ms Kearney stated that she had been of a sunny disposition before starting in Goldenbridge, but 

           that this changed as the years went by. Ms Kearney found her job more difficult after the arrival 

           of Sr Bianca and Sr Alida. She noticed a deterioration in the attitude of the children, who became 

           sullen and defiant. In her view, Goldenbridge was not a happy place, but she did the best she 

           could in the circumstances. 



           Evidence of complainants 



7.457      A  number  of  complainants  spoke  about  their  memory  of  the  education  that  they  received  in 

           Goldenbridge and the impact this had on their later life. The main issues which arose during the 

           course of the complainants’ evidence were: 



                  •    The low standard of education. 

                  •     Excessive  use  of  corporal  punishment,  which  lead  to  an  atmosphere  of  fear  in  the 

                        classroom, which in turn led to an inability to learn effectively. 



                  •     The  arbitrary  manner  in  which  a  few  students  were  chosen  to  attend  the  external 

                        national school, which opened up the opportunity of progressing to secondary school. 



                  •    Children being taken out of school to perform domestic chores. 

                  •    Low self-esteem and lack of confidence as a result of the low standard of education 

                        and often leaving school without any qualifications. 



7.458      Some of the complainants had quite positive memories of their school days in Goldenbridge, and 

           believed that they did come away with a basic primary education for which they were grateful. 



7.459      One complainant, who was in Goldenbridge in the early 1950s, made an interesting comparison 

           between the education she received in Goldenbridge and that which she received at an English 

           school,   which    she   attended    immediately     after  leaving    Goldenbridge.     She    said  that   in 

           Goldenbridge, although she loved learning, she had not learnt anything in the School. When she 

           was removed by her father from the Institution, aged 11, and brought to England, she attended 

           school and got on very well there, despite her abusive family circumstances. Her description of 

           that period was as follows: 



                 It was like a blossoming period. When I went to the school in England I craved education. 

                 That was my way of trying to conquer what life had done to me. I went to this little school 

                 and when we used to be asked to read and write,reading, I used to think to myself “please 

                 don’t  come  to  us”  because  I  used  to  stammer  and  stutter  and  I  had  a  thick  accent 

                 apparently. I am there on this particular one day there was reading going on and I was 

                 stammering to myself, “please don’t ask me, please don’t ask me”, the teacher did ask 

                 me to read and I got up and the urine was running down my legs again, I always smelt 

                 of urine, I stunk of it. I was sitting there and I was waiting for the teacher to clatter me or 

                 batter me, but I never saw it. I was only there for a few weeks and I had come on in leaps 

                 and bounds ... When I went there I crammed – once I knew that I wasn’t going to get 

                 beaten, it was wonderful. Anything I could get to read, I loved it, it was a wonderful period 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 321 


----------------------- Page 1108-----------------------

                 of time ... I managed to scrape through that 11+ ... I have always loved reading and writing 

                 and spelling and that and general knowledge and all that. It was a wonderful period. 



7.460      The Congregation argued that it was a tribute, to some extent, to the teaching she received in the 

           Institution that she was able to pass the 11+ exam within nine months of leaving. The complainant 

           disagreed,   and   credited  her  examination    success    entirely  to the  schooling   she   received   in 

           England. The contrast that she made between the atmosphere in the classroom in England and 

           in Goldenbridge is significant. Almost all of the complainants who spoke of school in Goldenbridge 

           spoke of a fear of corporal punishment. 



7.461      Another complainant, who was committed to Goldenbridge at the age of seven in the early 1950s 

           and remained there for nine years, recalled regular punishment by the teachers. She stated that 

           she was constantly taken out of school to look after her sister, who was unwell, or to look after 

           babies. As a result, she stated that she was not a good scholar. In the late 1950s, she sat the 

           Primary  Certificate  and  failed.  She  was  registered  to  repeat  the  examination,  but  the  record 

           indicates that she was marked absent. 



7.462      One  complainant  who  attended  Goldenbridge  in  the  1950s  stated  that  she  left  Goldenbridge 

           without being able to write at the age of 14. She recalled: 



                 In Sr Alida’s class I know I was very stupid. I didn’t seem to be able to learn. All I know 

                 is that I was getting smacked, for being stupid I was getting smacked ... She would put 

                 me down in the corner ... but then I was so happy to be in the corner, because when you 

                 are in the corner you don’t have to learn. 



7.463      This complainant asserted that she learnt nothing in the classroom because she was in a constant 

           state of fear of being punished, and she recalled regularly feeling nauseous. She described how 

           she learned to tell the time from a toy watch belonging to one of the other children while she was 

           cleaning the dormitories in the morning: 



                 I learned the clock under the bed, I learned a watch, how to tell the time. It was wonderful 

                 to learn the time because I was so stupid. 



7.464      She did in fact sit her Primary Certificate while she was there, but she failed it. 



7.465      A witness who was committed to Goldenbridge in the 1950s at the age of three and remained 

           until  her  16th  birthday  recalled  receiving  very  little  education  during  her  time  in  Goldenbridge. 

           From the age of nine, she was regularly called out of class in order to carry out domestic chores. 

           After roll call, she said catechism class was held. Once this class was over, a nun would come in 

           and call out seven or eight names. These children then left class to do chores. Whilst she stated 

           that she was not called out every day, it occurred regularly enough to prevent her from obtaining 

           a proper education. 



7.466      Another  complainant,  who  spent  12  years  in  Goldenbridge  from  the  mid-1950s,  recalled  being 

           slapped  regularly  and  severely  in  the  classroom  by  lay  teachers.  She  said  that  Goldenbridge 

           improved slightly in the 1960s, and a number of children were sent out to do secretarial courses 

           towards the end of their time there. 



7.467      A witness, who was sent to Goldenbridge in the mid-1950s at the age of eight, stated that she 

           received  a very  poor  standard of  education.  She  was regularly  called  out of  class  to carry  out 

           household  chores.  Her  performance  was  also  affected  by  a  constant  sense  of  fear  she  felt  in 

           class, a fear which remains with her today. She did not sit her Primary Certificate. 



           322                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1109-----------------------

7.468      Another witness, who was committed to Goldenbridge in the early 1960s when she was nine years 

           of age, said she could not read or write when she arrived in Goldenbridge, nor could she read or 

           write  when  she  left.  This  fact,  which  disabled  her  all  her  life,  left  her  with  a  strong  sense  of 

           frustration. In later life, she took advantage of the education fund put in place by the Sisters of 

           Mercy and received lessons from a professional tutor. 



7.469      Whilst she arrived in Goldenbridge with absolutely no education, she did not receive any help or 

           encouragement that might have given her the basics of reading and writing whilst she was there. 

           She was regularly taken out of class to mind young children. She loved minding children and, had 

           she  had  a  choice  of  careers,  she  would  have  chosen  to  be  a  children’s  nurse.  However,  her 

           educational disadvantage ruled out such a career. 



7.470      A complainant, who was in Goldenbridge for nine years from the late 1950s, recalled being taught 

           by Ms Dempsey, who had a habit of pulling the children’s cheeks and twisting their ears if they 

           did  not  know  their  lessons.  She  recalled  being  made  to  wear  a  dunce’s  hat  on  occasion.  She 

           said that: 



                  We had to stand on the chairs as well, hands on our heads, fingers on lips. Sometimes 

                  we had to kneel on those wooden chairs as well. 



7.471      This regime continued into the next classes: 



                 Ms Kearney on the other hand, you had to keep your elbows in at all times when you 

                  were writing. The letters had to be like a proper – what’s the word – sort of slant, rounded 

                 and turned ... She had a small stick and your elbows would really be beaten ... After I left 

                  Goldenbridge I don’t think I wrote again really until I was in my 40s. 



           Post primary education 



7.472      From  the  late  1950s,  a  few  children  were  sent  to  the  local  secondary  top,  sometimes  having 

           already been transferred to the local national school. Bishop Dunne set up a fund for providing 

           post primary education for the children of Goldenbridge. These children were afforded study time 

           in the evening and allowed to forgo some of the usual domestic chores, including bead making. 



7.473      One  complainant  stated  that  she  attended  secondary  school  because  her  father  paid  for  her 

           upkeep in Goldenbridge and requested that she do so. She said that only a few of the girls were 

           given the opportunity of advancing their education: 



                  There was only a few of us that were allowed to go to secondary school. For example, 

                 the girl I mentioned earlier, she was very bright but a punishment for her was that she 

                 couldn’t go to secondary. It was very selective. 



7.474      She confirmed that those attending external school did receive some remission of the amount of 

           time they spent bead making. 



7.475      Another witness started her education in the internal national school. Her father took an interest 

           in her education and that of her sisters. It was at his insistence that they were transferred to the 

           external national school and later to secondary school. 



7.476      She stated that she was considerably behind the rest of the class once she left the internal national 

           school. Added to her difficulties was the fact that she suffered from mild dyslexia. She recalled 

           her  father  giving  her  a  flashlight  to  enable  her  to  learn  spellings  whilst  in  bed  at  night.  She 

           completed     her  Intermediate     Certificate,  but   did  not  proceed    to  sit  the  Leaving    Certificate 

           examination. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    323 


----------------------- Page 1110-----------------------

7.477      A complainant who was in Goldenbridge in the 1960s recalled being taught by Ms Dempsey and 

           Ms Kearney. She conceded that they were good teachers but thought that they were very cruel. 

           She pitied the children who found their classes difficult because they were punished relentlessly. 

           Ms Dempsey would beat children, pull them by the ear and place children in the dunces’ corner 

           for hours as punishment. 



7.478      This complainant did proceed to secondary school, and expressed her gratitude at having been 

           given the opportunity. However, the manner in which the children were chosen was somewhat 

           arbitrary. She recalled that, one day, Sr Venetia came into the classroom, wrote a sum on the 

           blackboard,    and  told  the  children   to put  their  hands   up   when   they   had   completed    it. The 

           complainant  was  the  first  to  complete  the  sum  and,  on  that  basis,  she  was  selected  with  two 

           others to go to secondary school. She said that this occurred after Christmas and, therefore, she 

           had missed the first term: 



                 We went to the secondary school the next day. I hadn’t a breeze ... In no time I realised 

                 I  knew  nothing.  I  felt  quite  competent  in  the  national  school,  in  fairness  I  felt  quite 

                 competent, but I hadn’t a breeze, not a breeze ... I tried to survive as best I could, I tried 

                 to do whatever I could. But unfortunately, as I felt at the time, it was completely in vain 

                 because  I failed  my Inter  Cert.  Destroyed me.  I had  worked  so hard  and it  was  all for 

                 nothing. 



7.479      Sr Alida spoke about the difficulty in choosing children to send to the external secondary school 

           to progress their education: 



                 When  secondary  education  became  available  in  the  local  school  I  promoted  one  child 

                 once, four in the next set and then – looking back on it now it was difficult because there 

                 are people complaining that they weren't chosen. It was very hard to know who you could 

                 pick, who was most entitled to, who would benefit most from it, and you had to try and 

                 give the advantage where possible. I did that to the best of my ability and people benefited 

                 from it in the ways that others did not. 



7.480      The Sisters of Mercy pointed out that secondary schooling was available to only a minority of Irish 

           children until the late 1960s, and that limited education and limited career opportunities were the 

           order of the day for the average Irish child. The Congregation asserted that complaints from some 

           witnesses that they were not given opportunities to fulfil their full potential illustrated the dangers 

           of viewing    the  past  through   modern     lenses.  The   Sisters   of Mercy    claimed   that  what   was 

           considered adequate at the time may, with hindsight, appear to a particular complainant not only 

           as insufficient but abusive. 



7.481      The Sisters did not address whether they themselves could have made places available in their 

           secondary schools for children who showed academic ability. This was not done prior to Bishop 

           Dunne’s initiative, when children were largely prepared for a life of domestic service only. After 

           1968, when free education was introduced nationally, more children did get the chance to avail of 

           second level education. 



           Conclusions 



           •    The  standard  of  education  in  the  internal  primary  school  was  not  as  high  as  in  the 

                external school. 



           •    The use of excessive corporal punishment affected the ability of the children to learn. 

           •    There is evidence that children between the ages of seven and 13 were taken out of 

                school for domestic duties and some were taken out more frequently than others. 



           324                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1111-----------------------

          •     There  was  a  lack  of  educational  opportunity  in  Goldenbridge.  The  Industrial  School 

                was  intended  to educate  and  train  for future  employment,  but  many  of the  children 

                were only trained for domestic service. 



          •     The   Sisters   of Mercy    did  not   fraudulently   assist   children   to  pass   their  Primary 

                Certificates. 



          •     Efforts  were  made  in  the  1960s  to  send  some  girls  on  to  secondary  school  or  into 

                secretarial colleges or nursing. These were the fortunate few, and it would appear that 

                most left the School with no more than a Primary Certificate, and very many did not 

                achieve this standard. 



          •     Some  children  arrived  in  Goldenbridge  having  fallen  behind  in  their  education  or 

                having had no education. No real effort was made to address serious disadvantages 

                for  children  when  they  arrived,  and  there  was  no  encouragement  given  to  them  to 

                progress. 



           Chores 



7.482     Many complainants gave evidence of the onerous duties imposed on them in Goldenbridge, which 

          they claimed were not appropriate to their age or their physical abilities. The use of domestic work 

          as a form of punishment was also referred to by a number of complainants. 



7.483     On  the other  hand,  the  former residents  who  gave evidence  to  the  Investigation Committee  of 

          their positive experiences in Goldenbridge did not feel that the chores they were required to carry 

          out impacted upon them negatively. 



          Evidence of the Sisters of Mercy 



7.484     In their Opening Statement, the Sisters of Mercy described the daily routine: 



                After breakfast every child old enough performed household chores suitable for their age 

                for  about  half  an  hour  before  school,  such  as  cleaning  up  the  dining  room,  dusting 

                corridors, helping with getting the babies or toddlers dressed and so on. 



7.485     They  said  that,  from  1.30pm,  children  from  the  age  of  13  attended  industrial  training  classes. 

          Different age groups were assigned to do different chores including cookery, needlework, laundry 

          or housekeeping in rotation. A different routine prevailed at weekends. Saturday was laundry day, 

          and many children helped the Sisters with sorting and folding laundry. More time was devoted to 

          household chores on Saturday, and the School got a thorough cleaning. 



7.486     In their written Submissions, the Sisters of Mercy accepted the following: 



                 •    the children carried out chores in the morning for about half an hour after their breakfast 

                       and before school; 



                 •    the children strung rosary beads from Monday to Friday for several hours after school 

                       between 3.30 and 6.00pm and sometimes later into the evening, if there was pressure 

                       to complete a quota. They also worked at beads for several hours on Saturday; 



                 •    the children participated in a general clean up of the school on a Saturday, as well as 

                       helping with the laundry; 



                 •    the children participated in an industrial training programme from the age of thirteen. 

                       This programme took place in the afternoons after dinner. 



7.487     The Sisters of Mercy submitted that, given the substantial amount of chores, it is not surprising 

          that complainants had general memories of much work and little recreation. They added that it is 

          possible  that  former  residents  may  not  have  very  precise  memories  of  the  age  at  which  they 

          performed certain chores; what jobs were done before school and on Saturdays, and what jobs 



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           fell  within  the  remit  of  the  industrial  training  programme,  in  which  all  girls  over  the  age  of  13 

           participated. 



7.488      The Congregation submitted that laundry was a large part of the routine in Goldenbridge, given 

           the number of children. Children of all ages were expected to help. The older children would have 

           been required to do the heavier work. It was suggested by the Congregation during hearings that 

           younger children would have gone along to help the older girls and that it was in fact quite a social 

           occasion. It does not accept that young children were taken out of school to work in the laundry. 

           In support of this, the Congregation pointed out that laundry only took place on two days during 

           the week, one of which was Saturday, when many of the children helped out. The existence of 

           such a practice would have meant that the School relied, rather irrationally, on the labour of small 

           children, when there was a ready supply of older, stronger girls available. The Congregation added 

           that,  given   the  fact  that   children   may   have    done   laundry    as  part  of  the   domestic    training 

           programme as well as laundry on Saturdays, it may be the case that complainants were confused 

           as to when precisely they did laundry. The Sisters of Mercy noted that none of the complainants 

           appeared to remember laundry featuring as part of the industrial training programme at all. They 

           contended that what complainants regarded as an onerous chore was in fact industrial training 

           for their own benefit. 



7.489      The Sisters of Mercy conceded that the School was self-sufficient because of the input of the girls 

           helping around the School, and they made reference to a woman employed to work in the laundry, 

           and  a  member  of  staff  who  helped  in  the  kitchen.  They  contended  that  the  chores  which  the 

           children  performed  were  not  out  of  keeping  with  the  standards  of  the  time  and  could  not  be 

           labelled abusive. 



7.490      The Congregation was adamant that children as young as seven or eight were not taken out of 

           school  to  perform  chores,  but  that  children  over  13  years  of  age  participated  in  an  industrial 

           training   program    in  the  afternoons.     This  programme       adopted    a  three-pronged      approach     to 

           industrial training: cookery, laundry, and housekeeping duties. This would have entailed a certain 

           amount of domestic work around the Institution. The Congregation stated: 



                  At this remove in time, it is probably impossible to say that children over the age of twelve 

                  were not, on occasion taken in the afternoon to carry out domestic chores, be it laundry, 

                  minding younger children or helping in the kitchen. This may have been more likely with 

                  girls who showed little interest or ability at school. 



           Evidence of respondents 



7.491      Sr Alida said that there was a course in domestic economy training including cooking, sewing and 

           laundry for girls over 13 years of age. They partook in this training in the afternoon, having spent 

           the morning in school. 



7.492      On chores, Sr Alida accepted that: 



                  It  would  be  correct  to  say,  and  I  only  recently  appreciated  it,  that  all  the  caring  in  the 

                  house, when I say caring, the chores, the housekeeping jobs, were all done by big girls 

                  and remember we would have about 80 girls over 12 in the house ... 



7.493      Chores included washing and dressing the younger children, sweeping and scrubbing the floors, 

           caring  for  the  babies,  and  working  in  the  kitchen  and  the  laundry.  Sr  Alida  accepted  that  the 

           chores could be difficult: 



                  In my early day the charges were quite difficult in the sense that it was maintaining the 

                  floors  mainly  around  the  house  and  dormitory,  but  particularly  in  the  corridors  and  the 

                  kitchen.  They  were  old  tiled  floors,  black  and  red  tiles,  and  they  were  worn  with  the 

                  hundred years of wear. They were horrible to work on. That was one of the biggest chores 



           326                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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                in the house because there were long corridors on the ground floor, the front door and 

                the hall. The hall was new and modern but the rest was old. 



 7.494    She added that, under her management, these corridors were covered with a substance called 

          tapiflex, which made a huge difference to cleaning. Sr Alida accepted that the chores were difficult, 

           ‘except that there were many hands to do it’. 



 7.495     Ms Garvin spent 13 years working as a teacher in Goldenbridge. She stated that, when she arrived 

           in the School, there was an extensive domestic training programme in place for the older girls. The 

           household chores performed by these girls formed part of the household management element of 

          this programme. Chores included cleaning, laundry, cookery and sewing. 



 7.496    Sr Gianna’s duties involved working in the workroom, mending and sorting clothes or working in 

          the  laundry  on  a  Monday  or  Friday.  She  never  saw  children  younger  than  13  working  in  the 

           laundry. She stated that the older girls were involved in keeping the School clean. 



           Evidence of complainants 



 7.497    The evidence of the complainants was that they had a number of chores to perform daily, from a 

          very young age, and that these were in addition to the many hours spent at bead making. 



 7.498    A complainant who was in Goldenbridge during the 1950s and early 1960s told of the chores she 

           performed every day. She stated that, after roll call, a number of names were called out and these 

          children were sent to do chores. This happened on a regular basis: 



                All  I  can  remember  is  washing  floors,  scrubbing  floors,  scrubbing  dormitories,  doing 

                laundry, making rosary beads. It was constant, hardly any education at all. The only thing 

                you were really there for was catechism lessons in the morning. Apart from that you were 

                taken  out  of  school  as  soon  as  you  got  to  the  age  where  you  could  scrub  floors,  do 

                 whatever you had to do. 



 7.499    She described the work in the dormitories, each of which had about 30 or 40 beds: 



                 We had to lift those, they were heavy metal beds. We used to lift them to one side of the 

                room, and sweep, wash and scrub the rooms ... It would take quite a few hours, because 

                they were big dormitories ... If it wasn’t done properly they would make you do the whole 

                thing again ... there would be eight of us who used to do it together. 



 7.500     If the work was not completed satisfactorily, it would have to be redone, and she was sent to the 

           landing to be punished by Sr Alida. 



 7.501    She also described working in the laundry as very heavy work. They had big boilers in which to 

           boil sheets. She described the procedure of washing these sheets: 



                you had wooden tongs, which you would pull them from the boiler, into another cooler, 

                 which would rinse the sheets, and then put them through wringers and then hang them 

                out. We used to have big baskets with all the sheets into them. 



 7.502    The most difficult part of the laundry work was lifting and pulling the sheets from one boiler to 

          another. She had to stand on steps to reach the boiler and was always nervous of falling in. 



 7.503     In addition to laundry and cleaning, she also recalled looking after babies. She recalled bathing 

          them,  putting  them  on  potties  and  changing  nappies.  Although  she  described  what,  by  any 

          standards, was a heavy burden of chores, her main complaint was not so much about the chores 

          she had to carry out but the manner in which they interfered with her education. 



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7.504      One  witness  described  how,  when  she  was  nine,  she  had  been  required  to  scrub  the  cobble- 

           stoned area in the bathroom as punishment for tearing her dress. She had to kneel down on the 

           cobblestones to do this, which was painful. Although this was a chore that the children regularly 

           carried out, she had to do it on her own by way of punishment. 



7.505      She also stated that she was taken out of Sr Venetia’s class to work in the laundry on Mondays 

           and Fridays. She described the large vat-like boilers with very hot water, and using a stick to pull 

           sheets from  the boilers and  push them  through wringers before  they were laid  out to  dry. The 

           main  laundry was  done  in the  large  industrial  laundry attached  to  the School,  but  there was  a 

           certain amount of washing by hand that had to be done on a daily basis arising out of bed-wetting. 



7.506      One complainant who was in Goldenbridge during the 1960s said that she believed that the fact 

           that  her  father  was  a  regular  visitor  to  the  School  saved  her  and  her  sister  from  the  hardest 

           physical work in the School. She lived in fear of something happening to her father, which would 

           have left her at the mercy of the nuns: 



                 I  remember  thinking,  if  anything  happens  to  you  we  are  finished.  We  would  be  totally 

                 sucked in here because people that had nobody were the ones that did – and the ones 

                 with  low  intelligence,  God  help  them,  they  were  the  ones  that  were  given  the  hardest 

                 work. We had big hoovers in those days, big heavy hoovers, washing hallway floors, the 

                 corridors.  I  was  terrified  that  this  is  what  would  become  of  us.  We  would  end  up  like 

                 cleaners for the rest of our lives. It devastated me. 



7.507      One complainant, who was committed to Goldenbridge for four years at the age of five in the early 

           1960s, stated that he had clear memories of working regularly in the laundry as an alternative to 

           bead making in the afternoons. He recalled an incident, while working in the laundry, in which a 

           boy younger than him caught his arm in a mangle. The complainant was afraid and he ran away. 

           Sometime later, he saw the boy with his injured arm in plaster-of-paris. 



7.508      This complainant stated that he first started working in the laundry approximately one year after 

           he arrived, which would make him six years old. 



7.509      A witness, who was in Goldenbridge during the 1960s, spoke in detail of the chores that were 

           required of the children: 



                 I remember  sweeping that dormitory,  that sounds like  nothing, but first  you had to  pull 

                 every bed into the centre of the room, right, lift the bed ... Then lift the bed and shove it 

                 back in. I could do it with one hand I became so adept at it and they were heavy. 



7.510      She spoke of other duties: 



                 the scrubbing and cleaning of the building. I mean we scrubbed and cleaned that entire 

                 building and that was a big building, well it seemed huge to us ... When I went there first 

                 they didn’t have heavy, you know, the hoovers? ... They had a reddish floor polish. They 

                 had mansion polish, stuff like that. I don’t know is that the same, but there is a very strong 

                 smelling kind of petroleum type smell off this oil. We used to put it on the floor and then 

                 on our knees polish it. 



7.511      The flooring was made of lino and, in order to polish it, the children would skid across the room 

           on the polishing rag. This made light of the chore and they enjoyed it. The Sisters later acquired 

           large industrial hoovers which the children used to clean the floors. 



7.512      Evidence  from  a  number  of  complainants  was  heard  of  girls  being  required  to  clean  blocked 

           sewers and toilets. The Sisters of Mercy stated that this work was done by a handyman employed 

           by the School, and that no child would have to be involved in such work. However, complainants 



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----------------------- Page 1115-----------------------

           have stated that newspaper rather than toilet paper was used, which resulted in toilets becoming 

           blocked regularly, and one or two girls would be singled out for the unpleasant job of unblocking 

           them. 



           Conclusions 



7.513      •    Older  girls  were  taken  out  of  class  in  order  to  look  after  younger  ones,  which  was 

                unfair and disruptive to their education. 



           •    Requiring children from a young age to do chores was not in itself abusive, but chores 

                became abusive because they were too onerous and were carried out under the threat 

                of punishment. 



           •    The  burden  of  domestic  chores  and  bead  making  for  older  girls  occupied  so  many 

                hours that it excluded opportunities for recreation and personal time. 



           Food 



7.514      Many of the complainants stated that they were constantly hungry in Goldenbridge and that the 

           food was inadequate both in terms of quantity and quality. 



           Documentary evidence 



7.515      The  General  Inspection  Reports  of  the  1940s  criticised  the  food  and  diet  of  the  children;  in 

           particular, insufficient  quantities  of  milk  and   butter  were   given   during  the  war   years.   The 

           Department of Education had allotted certain rations of milk and butter for children in industrial 

           schools, and these quantities were not adhered to in Goldenbridge. 



7.516      Dr McCabe visited the School in 1943 and, in her report dated 21st          July 1943, she found that the 



           ‘diet could be more varied and ample’. Following a further inspection less than six months later, 

           on 21st  January 1944, Dr McCabe reported that the children were not receiving adequate supplies 



           of milk and butter rations. Dripping was used as a substitute for butter. 



7.517      This  matter   was   taken   up  by   the  Department     of Education’s    Inspector   for  Industrial  and 

           Reformatory Schools, who wrote to the Resident Manager, Sr Bianca, by letter dated 29th  February 



           1944, calling upon her to remedy the situation. No reply was received and the Inspector wrote 

           again on 17th  April 1944. By letter dated 26th    April 1944, Sr Bianca responded that Dr McCabe’s 



           suggestions had been put into effect ‘as far as has been found practicable’. She reassured the 

           Inspector  that  every  effort  was  being  made  to  increase  the  rations  of  milk  and  butter  for  the 

           children. 



7.518      An Inspector wrote back and indicated that, whilst he was pleased with the steps being taken by 

           the Resident Manager to implement the Medical Inspector’s recommendations, the milk and butter 

           ration  increases  were,  in  his  view,  inadequate.  In  particular,  he  stated  that  each  child  was  to 

           receive one pint of milk per day and six ounces of butter each week. Sr Bianca responded on 4th 



           May 1944 and stated that the rations would be increased as stipulated. 



7.519      Dr McCabe visited the School again in June 1944. Once again, she noted her dissatisfaction at 

           the children’s milk and butter rations, which fell short of the quantities recommended by her: 



                 I insist that children should get 1 pint per head per day also their butter ration. Dripping 

                 as a substitute cannot be considered. 



7.520      Dr  McCabe  questioned  Sr  Bianca  regarding  the  shortfall  in  rations  and  was  informed  that  the 

           School could not afford the stipulated amounts of butter and milk per child. The matter was again 

           taken  up   by  the  Department     of Education’s    Inspector   in a  letter  dated  6th  July  1944.   He 



           reiterated that: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               329 


----------------------- Page 1116-----------------------

                It is essential that each child should receive a minimum of one pint of milk per day and I 

                must request you to arrange for this without delay. 



7.521     He insisted that dripping was not an adequate substitute for butter. In September 1944, Sr Bianca 

          informed the Department that each child in the School was getting her ration of butter and one 

          pint of milk per day. 



7.522     In Dr McCabe’s next inspection report of 1st      March 1946, she noted that the diet of the children 



          had improved, with the milk and butter rations increased as stipulated. In a medical inspection of 

          the children in February and March 1946, Dr McCabe noted that approximately 100 children had 

          not satisfactorily put on weight since the last visit. The explanation given was that most of these 

          children had influenza. A failure to gain weight was a serious matter and, in other schools where 

          this occurred, was seen as evidence of malnutrition. It would appear that the explanation offered 

          in this case was accepted. 



7.523     Sr Alida explained that, when she first arrived in Goldenbridge in 1942, the food was rationed. She 

          confirmed that dripping was used instead of butter until 1954, when margarine was introduced. A 

          churn  of  milk  was  delivered  every  morning  from  a  local  farm,  which  was  sufficient  to  provide 

          children with cocoa, tea and bottles of milk for the babies. She said that she was unaware of any 

          correspondence from the Department of Education at that time concerning the inadequacies of 

          the milk and butter rations for the children, as Sr Bianca would have dealt with such matters as 

          Resident Manager. 



7.524     Throughout  the  1950s,  the  food  and  diet  of  the  children  was  described  as  ‘very  good’  by  Dr 

          McCabe.  She  spoke  favourably  of  the  food  and  diet  when  she  inspected  the  School  on  two 

          occasions  in  1955.  In  particular,  she  stated  that  the  meals  ‘were  attractive,  well  cooked  and 

          attractively served’. 



7.525     Dr McCabe retired in 1963, and Dr Lysaght inspected Goldenbridge on behalf of the Department 

          in March 1966. He wrote a detailed report in which he noted that the children looked well nourished 

          and healthy. He inspected the main meal of the day, which consisted of soup, milk, mincemeat, 

          vegetables,  custard  and  tinned  pears,  and  he  found  that  the  amounts  served  were  ample  and 

          well cooked. 



7.526     The School was aware in advance of Dr McCabe’s inspection, and ex-residents recalled that extra 

          food was provided. Dr McCabe did not eat with the children, and based her report on observation 

          of the food served on the day of her inspection. 



7.527     Sr Alida stated that the Department inspectors did not examine or taste the food that was given 

          to the children: 



                I cannot say that I ever saw an inspector with a spoon or anything tasting food, I cannot 

                say I ever saw it. 



7.528     The Inspector from the Department of Education always had her meal in the convent and not with 

          the children in the dining room. 



          Evidence of complainants 



7.529     The   majority  of  the  witnesses   who   testified  to the  Committee     complained    of hunger    and 

          inadequate food during their time in Goldenbridge. They spoke of constantly being hungry. The 

          quality and quantity of the food that was provided was the subject of numerous complaints by the 

          witnesses. They also talked about the difference in the quality of food which the lay staff received 

          compared to the food given to the children; the food provided to the staff was far superior in quality. 



          330                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1117-----------------------

 7.530    A witness described the difference: 



                Oh yes. It was different, it was lovely to go in there, you could see what they were eating. 

                They had a press with all kind of goodies in it ... 



 7.531    However,  one  witness  stated  that  the  food  did  improve  after  1967,  and  she  received  ‘lovely 

          dinners’ after that time. 



 7.532    One witness said: ’I remember being hungry all the time’. 



 7.533    Another said: 



                I was always hungry, but then I have always had a good appetite but I never felt full. The 

                only time I felt full if you went out with your family and you got sweets and things like that. 



 7.534    Another said she was hungry, and explained: 



                Well, simply because we had so little to eat. I do remember all the girls used to eat, there 

                were plants around a field, there was a hedge and we used to call them bread and butter 

                plants.  I remember  that.  We  would eat  the  leaves off  the  hedges.  Then from  4.30p.m. 

                when we had supper which consisted of cocoa and bread and butter, that was it then, 

                nothing else until breakfast the next morning. 



 7.535    One witness described the food as: ‘basic. It was just bread and water or bread and tea and that 

          was it’. He also complained of not receiving enough food: 



                ... because when the food was put on the table it was grabbed so you were either fortunate 

                or you weren’t. A lot of the time I was unfortunate because I was very small anyway. 



 7.536    When asked about whether they ever got treats, another witness said: 



                We did eventually as time went on. There would be a nice cake on the table for Easter 

                or  something,  yes  there  was,  but  that  would  have  been  maybe  twice  a  year,  maybe 

                Christmas. Yes, there was sometimes some treats. 



 7.537    One witness described the effect of lack of food on her, ’I used to eat compulsively when I came 

          out because I was hungry in Goldenbridge’. 



 7.538    As she had younger siblings, she gave her portion of food to them: 



                I used to often give my own food to the kids because they were forever hungry. I actually 

                got a taste for eating wet muck because when I had a pain in my tummy I would eat that 

                and it would take the pain away. 



 7.539    Another witness gave a similar account of the lack of food: 



                Oh, the food. Today I have a serious eating disorder and I believe, in my opinion and in 

                the medical opinion it has stemmed from Goldenbridge. The food was pure slop, to be 

                honest. It was like lumpy porridge in the morning and cocoa that was like dishwater, very 

                thin and bad looking. The evening was – it wasn’t porridge, it was bread and porridge. 

                The meal at lunchtime was just like vegetables swimming in water. I don’t recall much 

                meat and I don’t remember ever seeing a chicken. 



 7.540    She stated further: 



                The food was very bad, but I noticed that no matter what slop they were giving me, and I 

                use the word slop because to be honest we had no choice, we ate it, we were hungry. I 

                was constantly hungry. 



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7.541      Another complained of the constant hunger: 



                 Yes, food food food. We dreamed about it. I think, if I recall, I even traded sweets. We 

                 were like little animals. We were like little dogs. We traded bits and bits and bits ... I stole. 

                 I stole sausages, I remember. 



7.542      Another witness said: 



                 There was never enough of it. It was only basics. Twelve slices of bread on the table, 

                 pre-buttered. Six at our tables, some tables would be bigger. You got two slices of bread 

                 and cocoa, and a cup of cocoa that’s a fact. You would steal from anything, you would 

                 eat the crumbs. If you saw trays outside teacher’s thing, if you got into the place at all, 

                 you would know that somebody got trays at certain times in the day, you would be dying 

                 to get hold of the trays to see if there was anything left over on it. 



7.543      Another witness, who was in the School in the 1960s, painted a picture of the meals in the School: 



                 ... in the mornings we either had bread or porridge. Oh, the porridge. I know they had to 

                 make it for a lot of people but the lumps, we used to heave trying to eat it. You had to eat 

                 it, there was no way you would leave it on the plate. Dreadfully to say, sometimes you 

                 tried to flick it on to somebody else’s table, it’s a terrible thing to do but you did do that. I 

                 don’t  know what  we were  given for  dinner. I  know the  potatoes were  sour, not  always 

                 sour but sometimes they smelled sour like sour milk. We had cabbage. I don’t know what 

                 other vegetable we had because today I do love my food. I remember cabbage with these 

                 little tiny black flies that we used to pick out. You still had to eat it. The bread, I don’t know 

                 what they did to the bread when you had breakfast time, but it used to have these hard 

                 lumps. The food, you had to eat it. There was no way you were ever going to leave it. 



7.544      Another complainant, who spent four years in Goldenbridge from the early 1960s, stated that food 

           served to the staff was very different to that served to the children. The cake crumbs, which the 

           children scavenged, were leftovers from staff: 



                 The crumbs – the crumbs and the bit of cakes would come from the teachers, there would 

                 be  biscuits.  It  was  a  known  fact  that  the  teachers  lived  in  the  lap  of  luxury.  They  had 

                 proper food, they would have someone cooking, they would be called – they knew their 

                 time for tea. So when we would be doing the wash up in the dining room you would try 

                 and get into the kitchen into their room to see if you could grab anything off the table ... 

                 when they weren’t looking. If you were caught with it in your mouth you would get a clatter. 



           Positive witnesses 



7.545      Evidence was also heard, at the suggestion of the Sisters of Mercy, from a number of witnesses 

           who had positive memories of their time in Goldenbridge. One of these witnesses was committed 

           to  Goldenbridge  in  1947  and  remained  there  for  10  years.  She  recalled  that  the  standard  and 

           quantity of food improved when Sr Alida took over as Sister in Charge. She stated: 



                 The  food  changed.  We  got  extra  food.  We  used  to  get  afters,  started  giving  us  bread 

                 puddings and jelly and ice-cream and stuff. A little bit more food. 



7.546      Another was asked whether she recalled being hungry, and she responded: 



                 Not really, not starving anyway. When I heard somebody said they were starved, if you 

                 are starved it means that you don’t get any food; if you are starving it just means that you 

                 are possibly hungry. But there were three meals, there was porridge in the morning time, 

                 there was your dinner with sweet, it could have been Carragheen moss. Maybe the day 

                 that somebody put the currants in the rice or put the cocoa in the rice and rice came out 

                 brown but if you were bloody well hungry you would eat it. Some of them stuck their nose 

                 up at it and said they couldn’t eat it but if you were hungry you would eat it. 



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  7.547    Another positive witness, who spent eight years in Goldenbridge from 1948, stated that the food 

           was  very  basic.  She  recalled  receiving  half  a  slice  of  bread  for  breakfast  along  with  a  cup  of 

           cocoa. Dinner consisted of stew, casserole or shepherd’s pie, and there was bread and cocoa 

           again for tea. She accepted that she often felt hungry: 



                  I suppose I felt I was hungry. We didn’t do anything about it. I would have liked to have 

                  been able to have some more. 



  7.548    Another  positive  witness  remained  for  three  years  as  a  carer  after  her  discharge  date  and, 

           although she had more positive memories of the food, she did not distinguish between the food 

           she received as a pupil and the food she received as a carer. 



           Evidence of respondents 



  7.549    Sr Alida  stated that bread  was delivered  every day except  Sunday, and they  had brack  at the 

           weekend.  She  recalled  that  the  children  got  porridge,  bread  and  butter  for  breakfast;  dinner 

           consisted of sausages, black and white pudding, or rabbit or mincemeat with vegetables. They 

           had dessert every day, which usually consisted of a milk pudding. Vegetables were grown in the 

           garden but, as it did not produce enough quantities, they were also purchased from the market 

           every week. She accepted that, because the food was cooked for such large numbers, the quality 

           of the food was affected. 



  7.550    Sr Alida stated that the children had snacks between meals. Crates of fruit such as apples and 

           oranges were purchased from the market on a weekly basis. She bought boiled sweets in bulk 

           from a wholesale shop on Capel Street and broken Club Milk chocolate bars from Jacobs factory. 



  7.551    None of the witnesses, even the positive witnesses, could recall anything like this type of food 

           in Goldenbridge. 



  7.552    Sr  Bianca  and  later  Sr  Alida,  when  she  took  over  as  Sister  in  Charge,  had  their  meals  in  the 

           convent. The only meal they supervised in the Industrial School was dinner. Towards the latter 

           stages of her management, Sr Alida recalled buying delph and cutlery in bulk and, by the time 

           she  left  Goldenbridge,  there  was  no  broken  tableware  in  use.  She  also  recalled  the  kitchen 

           facilities  being  up-graded  with  the  addition  of  a  gas  cooker,  toaster  and  deep  fat  fryer.  She 

           confirmed that there were no set menus during her time in Goldenbridge. 



  7.553    Sr Alida said she never received complaints from the Inspector about the children’s food and diet. 



  7.554    Sr  Alida   denied    that  scraps   were   thrown    to  the  children   in  the  yard,  as   alleged   by  some 

           complainants. She added that, while she was in charge, no child would have been so hungry that 

           she would have had to pick scraps of food from the ground. 



  7.555    Sr Alida asserted that: 



                  one thing I cannot be challenged with is neglecting the food of the children or their clothes. 

                  Most certainly I never neglected – I would have said that from '54 onwards the quality of 

                  food, cooking equipment, clothing etc.,  that I did my utmost to give them  the best and 

                  they got it. 



  7.556    In a statement made to the Investigation Committee Sr Alida stated: 



                  I believe the children could have eaten more but they certainly did not go hungry. 



  7.557    Sr Gianna recalled accompanying Sr Alida to the market to buy trays of apples and oranges. Sr 

           Alida recalled that there was dessert every day after dinner, which consisted of tapioca, corn flour, 

           rice or jelly. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      333 


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          Evidence of the Sisters of Mercy 



7.558     The Sisters of Mercy denied that children were starving or malnourished in Goldenbridge. They 

          conceded as a matter of probability that the quality of the food in the School during the 1940s was 

          relatively poor, due to the war years and rationing in society generally. However, they asserted that 

          the food and diet improved considerably during the period under review. 



7.559     The children were served with four meals a day, which were simple and adequate. They submitted 

          that approximately 30 percent of the capitation grant was spent on food. 



7.560     In response to allegations by complainants of constant hunger, they stated that: 



                food  was  not  available  between  meals  and  this  might  have  given  rise  to  a  sense  of 

                being hungry. 



7.561     They also stated that the: 



                more extreme allegations concerning inadequate food for the children are not accepted. 



          Conclusions 



7.562     •    Children  were  often  hungry  in  Goldenbridge.  The  food  was  insufficient  and  of  poor 

                quality. Although improvements were made from time to time, the diet was never more 

                than adequate. 



          Clothing 



7.563     The Sisters of Mercy stated that clothing was an area ‘where considerable improvements were 

          made throughout the period under review’. 



7.564     This would appear to be confirmed by the inspection reports from 1952 onwards. Before that, Dr 

          McCabe     was   critical of the  clothing  of the  children.  Following   an  inspection   in 1944,   the 

          Department     of Education    wrote  to  the  Resident   Manager    requesting   her  to  implement   Dr 

          McCabe’s suggestions, which included improving the cleanliness and tidiness among the children. 

          Sr Bianca replied by letter and stated: 



                We find it increasingly difficult to provide suitable clothing for the children and in many 

                cases have to be satisfied with patching their old garments, but every effort is being made 

                to secure personal cleanliness and neatness amongst them. 



7.565     In a further letter of 15th June 1944 to the Department, Sr Bianca conceded that they could not 



          properly clothe the children, but cited the inadequacy of the capitation grant as the cause: 



                Having  used  all  possible  means  to  economise  in  food  and  clothing  we  find  ourselves 

                totally unable to meet the demands of our creditors. We owe large sums of money for 

                clothing and the present maintenance allowance only suffices to feed the children, leaving 

                no margin for clothing, so that we have no hope of being able to pay our debts on the 

                present grant. 



7.566     On  28th  June  1945,  Dr  McCabe  noted  that  the  clothing  was  ‘fair’  but  ‘could  be  improved’.  No 



          further information is provided regarding how the clothes could be improved or the problem with 

          them. The following year on 1st    March 1946, she again described the clothes as ‘fair’ but added 



          that  they  were  ‘to  be  improved  now  that  stocks  are  more  easily  obtained’.  The  Department  of 

          Education’s    Inspector  wrote   to  Sr  Bianca   on  22nd  March    1946   on  foot  of  Dr  McCabe’s 



          inspection, stating: 



          334                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1121-----------------------

                It is observed that the children’s clothing is not as good as it should be and it is hoped 

                that with the supply position becoming easier, steps will be taken to make the necessary 

                improvement in this matter. 



7.567     By 1948, the clothing had improved. Dr McCabe described it as ‘good’. The same description was 

          given following her visits in 1949 and 1951. From 1952 onwards, Dr McCabe reported that the 

          clothes were ‘very good’. In her General Inspection Report of May 1955, she provided more detail 

          on the quality of the clothing, stating: 



                Brightly coloured attractive hand knit jumpers and skirts ... children very well groomed. 



7.568     Dr McCabe did use the term ‘very good’ in her Inspection Reports to describe clothing from 1956. 



7.569     Dr Lysaght, when he took over from Dr McCabe, commented in his report of 21st          March 1966 that 



          the clothes were ‘good and sufficient’. From then on until the closure of the School, the clothing 

          of the children was not an issue. 



7.570     Sr Alida in her evidence revealed the nature and quality of the clothing of the children when she 

          first arrived in Goldenbridge: 



                The  clothes  were  all  handmade  at  that  time,  there  wasn’t  a  single  garment  that  was 

                bought. Skirts were made, nightdresses made and they were very basic altogether, the 

                clothes were ... made from grey flannelette mainly. 



7.571     She confirmed that clothes were handed down from child to child: 



                ... They were passed down along the line. They lasted a long time. The nightdresses were 

                grey flannelette mostly ... and those things had a long life compared with the garments 

                we are wearing today, so there wasn’t much new bought or many new clothes. 



7.572     She acknowledged, however, that the clothing improved gradually from the time when she arrived: 



                the poverty stricken look that was in Goldenbridge when I went there changed gradually, 

                everything changed bit by bit. The clothes improved ... 



7.573     When Sr Alida was asked whether she was aiming to get the children good clothing that wouldn’t 

          mark them  out as institutionalised,  and whether she  dressed the children  up nicely on  specific 

          occasions, she replied: 



                What we had in the early days was certainly institutional gear. There has been complaints 

                that the children were dressed up for occasions. I will be quite honest that the children 

                were dressed up ... because there were visitors. 



7.574     Sr Gianna, who worked in the School in the early 1960s, had a very positive opinion of the clothing 

          situation, and stated that: 



                My first impression when I came to the School was that the children had just beautiful 

                clothes. I would also remember the Sisters in the convent, the children used to come up 

                on a Sunday for Mass and a lot of the Sisters would make comment about how lovely 

                they looked. They always had lovely white socks up to her knees, in the summer short 

                white  socks.  They  might  have  black  patent  shoes.  They  had  lovely  pleated  skirts  and 

                none of them were the same, they were all different types of checks or plaids. They had 

                nice coloured jumpers, different types of jumpers. I would have always seen them as very 

                well clad. 



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          Evidence of complainants 



7.575     Several of the witnesses complained that, when they first arrived in the School, their clothes were 

          taken   off them.  One   witness   recalled  being   given  clothes  by  people   who   took  her  out  of 

          Goldenbridge on holidays: 



                Once you gave them up for the wash you mightn’t see them again. 



7.576     She specifically remembered that her ‘... confirmation dress was sent over from England. I wore 

          it on my confirmation day, I never saw it again. I can still see it now, it was a red and white dress’. 



7.577     One witness described her distress when she decided not to go to her mother’s funeral due to 

          the nature and quality of her clothing: 



                Immediately  I  could  see  that  we  would  stand  out.  We  were  looking  different  to  other 

                people. We had these institutional haircuts, up here somewhere, cut like a bowl around 

                your head, and I was going to be dressed what I’d like to call urchin ... Disgusting clothes. 

                That’s not what I wore when I went out at the weekend to be with my father. I wore clothes 

                he bought for me. 



7.578     Another witness stated that, when she attended secretarial college while at Goldenbridge, she felt 

          out of place due to her appearance and clothing: 



                When you went to that place I was about 14 and a half and all these girls coming in, I am 

                not vain, I don’t go by appearances but my clothes were raggy compared to the young 

                women that were going there. 



7.579     This sentiment was echoed by a complainant who remembered how their clothing labelled them: 



                ... we were labelled, we had it here, institution, Goldenbridge ... it was the way we walked, 

                talking about walking. It was the clothes we wore. We tried to be fashionable and were 

                big frumps. 



7.580     Another witness was extremely critical of the changes of clothing and the clothing in general: 



                There was very little changing of clothing. I think I wore – I know when I went in first we 

                wore like what they wear in Dickens’s days, the pinafore. That was left on us for months 

                and months and months, we didn’t change that. 



7.581     Some    witnesses    had   positive  comments     to  make   about   the  clothes.  One    such   witness 

          remembered wearing nice jumpers and good clothes on Sundays: 



                We had jumpers, we had Sunday jumpers, red jumpers. I am sure they were red. They 

                were good jumpers for when you are going outside, going with a lady, you had your good 

                clothes on. 



7.582     Another said: 



                ... What was very good every year in the summer Sr Venetia would get all new clothes 

                and they were put away for us ... 



7.583     Another witness pointed out that Sr Alida looked after the girls before they left, providing them 

          with new clothes: 



                Say when you were 16 and you left, you always left with new clothes. She made sure you 

                had a new – everything was new and you had a case; but if you left before you were 16 

                you wouldn’t get as much but once you left at 16 you were rigged out from head to toe. 



          336                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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           Conclusion 



7.584     The  children  in  Goldenbridge  were  conscious  of  their  institutionalised  appearance,  and 

          this  contributed  to  the  feeling  of  inferiority  recalled  by  so  many.  However,  clothing  was 

           adequate and, in particular, efforts were made to provide girls with proper clothes when 

          they left the Institution. 



          Aftercare 



7.585     Aftercare  did not  feature prominently  in the  testimony of  witnesses before  the Committee.  The 

           Sisters appeared to be able to find positions for most of the girls when they left at 16 years of 

           age.  Until  the  mid-1960s,  almost  all  the  girls  entered  domestic  service,  and  this  was  the  only 

           industrial training they received. From the early 1960s, some girls were given the opportunity of 

           attending secretarial college and training as children’s nurses. These girls were also found jobs 

          when they left. 



7.586      Of more concern to witnesses was the lack of any preparation for dealing with the world and, in 

           particular, the lack of any knowledge of relationships with men. Witnesses spoke of how extremely 

          vulnerable they were on leaving the Institution. Even the circumstance of their leaving was handled 

           in an insensitive way, according to many complainants. 



7.587      For most complainants, the day of discharge was the day immediately prior to their 16th birthday. 

           For  many,  although  they  knew  this  was  the  case,  the  actual  discharge  event  appeared  to  be 

          sudden and unexpected. They spoke about being completely unprepared for this and of receiving 

          very little encouragement or support from Sr Venetia as they left what was, after all, their childhood 

           home. One complainant recalled being terrified when she was told she was leaving Goldenbridge. 



7.588     Another complainant said that every day in Goldenbridge she used to imagine walking through 

          the gates and leaving it. When the day came that she was going home, she was petrified. She 

           recalled being brought into a room in Goldenbridge and being told by Sr Alida that she was going: 



                 She gave me a pair of rosary beads and I left terrified, you would never believe ... I went 

                 back to my grandmother’s from Goldenbridge. I didn’t know how to speak properly. We 

                 spoke our own language, I know that you will find that strange. We were only children, 

                 we didn’t grow up. We spoke differently to each other. If you were brought up for nine 

                years in a home you all speak the same, you all speak the same language, I spoke this 

                 language. I was terrified of people. I walked, I had a stoop, my shoulders were bent ... I 

                 would not look at nobody. I would not look in your eyes, I couldn’t. I was afraid ... I was 

                 afraid of everything and everybody ... I didn’t know how to survive out there, this was a 

                 new world this was something. 



7.589      She said that she did not feel normal when she left Goldenbridge, that she always felt bad, and 

          she felt people were looking at her. She had no confidence and that, even now at 62 years of 

           age,  ‘I will never have confidence because Goldenbridge took everything, everything from me as 

           a child, everything, my childhood, everything’. 



7.590     This complainant said repeatedly that she was stupid and that she looked stupid, and she said 

          that most of the children who left Goldenbridge looked stupid. She said that she was treated as a 

           ‘bastard’ in Goldenbridge. 



           Conclusions 



7.591      •   Although girls were placed in jobs when they left Goldenbridge they were isolated and 

                vulnerable  in  the  outside  world  because  they  were  ill-prepared  for  it  and  many  had 

                feelings of inferiority. 



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          •    One of the reasons why girls were unprepared was the unworldliness of the nuns. The 

               inadequacy of the preparation should have been addressed by the nuns in order to 

               give the girls as much of a chance as possible in their adult life. 



          General conclusions 



7.592      1.  Life in Goldenbridge was full of drudgery. Children went from chores to the classroom 

               to bead making without respite until bead making was discontinued in the mid-1960s. 

               Staffing levels were poor, and children had to do a great deal of domestic chores. 



           2.  Punishment      in  Goldenbridge      was   pervasive.    Children    were    beaten   for   small 

               infringements.  It  was  unpredictable,  arbitrary  and  led  to  a  climate  of  fear,  although 

               after the 1960s it decreased significantly. 



           3.  Goldenbridge was a closed institution with little or no contact with the outside world, 

               and  children  became  institutionalised  as  a  result  and  suffered  in  many  ways  when 

               they left. 



           4.  Girls who were incapable of making their way in the outside world were kept on as 

               carers, despite being wholly unsuitable. They treated children brutally and were able 

               to do so without any control by the Sisters in charge. 



           5.  Activities  which  need  not  have  been  abusive  became  so  when  excessive  demands 

               were placed on the children and fear of punishment was constant. 



           6.  Some  children  were  treated  less  harshly  because  they  had  relatives  to  look  out  for 

               them. 



           7.  There were no internal controls by the Congregation. Much of what was learned about 

               the Christian Brothers’ industrial schools came from their own Visitation Reports but 

               there was no such system in Goldenbridge. The Carysfort Mother House appeared to 

               offer no guidance or supervision whatsoever and even the nuns in the Goldenbridge 

               convent adopted a ‘hands off’ approach. 



           8.  The regime in Goldenbridge, which was flawed from the outset, did not change for 30 

               years. The Congregation did not learn from its experience of childcare. Other Orders, 

               such  as  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  identified  the  need  to  rethink  the  system  of  large 

               institutions caring for large numbers of children. The Sisters of Mercy have lamented 

               the  lack  of  any  childcare  training  in  the  State,  but  organisations  entrusted  with  the 

               care of  children could have  developed training  programmes for their  members. The 

               Congregation had the experience of childcare but failed to develop expertise. 



           9.  The regime became kinder and more child-centred in the late 1960s and the number 

               of complainants was small, which suggests that even though Goldenbridge was still a 

               large, crowded institution, better management could have an important bearing on the 

               quality of life of the children. 



          10.   The Sisters  in charge during  the relevant period  were harsh and  unfeeling towards 

                the children. Humiliation and degradation were constant occurrences, both from the 

                Sisters and from the lay staff. The children felt that no one cared for them and that 

                they  did  not  matter.   Even   the  members     of  the  Congregation     who   spoke   to  the 

                Committee failed to appreciate that Goldenbridge was abusive because of the attitude 

                of the Sisters who ran it. Hard work and dedication were no excuses for a regime that 

                made children feel despised and worthless. 



          11.   The   Department     of Education    inspections    observed    some    problems    but   missed 

                others. The Inspector did address the issues of food and clothing in the 1940s but, 

                once  these  obvious  problems  were  solved,  the  inspector  did  not  report  other,  real 

                problems  of  Goldenbridge,  including  the  excessive  chores,  the  pressures  of  bead 

                making and the emotional deprivation. These problems could have been discovered 

                by speaking to the children. 



          338                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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          Chapter 8 



          St Michael’s Industrial School, 

          Cappoquin, County Waterford 

          (‘Cappoquin’), 1877–1999 



          Introduction 



 8.01     Cappoquin     Industrial School   is of special  interest  because    it existed first in the  form  of  a 

          conventional    Industrial School   and   subsequently   as   a group   home,    and  in  each  of  these 

          manifestations it gave rise to major complaints of abuse. The story of the Institution highlights the 

          need for proper management and supervision, whatever the structure of the care facility. In the 

          early part of  the history, there are examples of  severe physical neglect, while the  more recent 

          period is dominated by other failures. 



 8.02     This chapter also deals with certain allegations made by former residents of St. Joseph’s Industrial 

          School  for  Boys,  Passage  West,  County  Cork,  which  was  also  under  the  management  of  the 

          Sisters  of  Mercy.  A  sexual  abuser  moved  from  a  School  in  Passage  West  to  the  School  in 

          Cappoquin therefore an account of his movements is relevant to the investigation of Cappoquin 

          Industrial School as well as Passage West. 



 8.03     St Teresa’s Convent of Mercy was established in 1850 in Cappoquin, County Waterford. 



 8.04     St Michael’s Industrial School was built in the grounds of the convent and, in January 1877, it 

          received 36 boys  as its first residents. The Industrial  School only admitted boys, as  there was 

          already an Industrial School for girls in Waterford City. 



 8.05     The accommodation limit of the School was increased from 51 to 65 in 1928, and from 65 to 75 

          in 1938. Until 1944, the State capitation grant was payable on only 51 of the children, as those 

          under six did not qualify for a capitation grant; from 1944, it was extended to all 75 children. 



 8.06     In 1969, the School was given permission to keep  boys past the age of 10 and, in 1970, was 

          permitted to admit girls for the first time. 



 8.07     Until 1985, St Michael’s Industrial School, Cappoquin was under the authority of the Sisters of 

          Mercy, St Teresa’s Convent, Cappoquin, County Waterford. Accordingly, until 1985 the Mother 

          Superior   of  the  local convent,   St  Teresa’s   held  the  highest  level  of responsibility  for the 

          Industrial School. 



 8.08     In 1973, a site was purchased from the Cistercian Monks on the Melleray Road in Cappoquin, 

          and two group homes were opened in 1974. For the purposes of this report, we have called these 

          homes  ‘Group  Home  A’  and  ‘Group  Home  B’.  A  third  group  home  (which  is  referred  to  in  this 

          report as ‘Group Home C’) was bought as a temporary measure in 1976. The original Industrial 



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----------------------- Page 1126-----------------------

           School  closed  in  1977.  All  the  children  in  care  at  that  stage  were  resident  in  the  three  group 

           homes. 



8.09       The  ownership  and  responsibility  for  the  group  homes  were  transferred  to  the  South  Eastern 

           Health Board in 2005. 



8.10       A total of 1,483 children were recorded in the admission register of St Michael’s Industrial School 

           over the entire period. For the period 1930 until 1983, the total number of children was recorded 

           as being 582. In the period 1897 to 1960, it was understood that some 96 voluntary admissions 

           were recorded for St Michael’s. 



8.11       When the boys reached the age of 10, they were transferred to other industrial schools around 

           the country. Most of the children were committed through the courts in the early years and came 

           from the counties of Tipperary, Waterford, Cork, Wexford, Limerick, Galway, Clare and Dublin. 



8.12       The Mother Superior of the convent appointed the Resident Manager of the Industrial School and, 

           during  the  period  covered  by  the  inquiry,  there  were  seven  Resident  Managers,  of  whom  four 

           account for much the greater part. 



8.13       The documents available to the Committee included: 



                  •     The reports of the General and Medical Inspections conducted by the Department’s 

                        Medical Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe,1  following her appointment in 1938; 



                  •     Memoranda  and  correspondence  between  the  Department’s  Inspectorate  and  the 

                        Resident    Manager     and   Superior   for  St  Michael’s    Industrial  School    following  the 

                        Inspections; 



                  •     Memoranda and correspondence between St Michael’s School and the Department in 

                        relation to the financial viability of the School, the reduction in pupil numbers, capitation 

                        grants  and  such  like,  and  the  plans  to  move  from  an  institutional  model  to  that  of 

                        group homes. 



           Neglect 



           Sisters and staff working in the Industrial School 



8.14       The pool from which the Resident Manager and the Sisters were drawn to work in the Industrial 

           School  was  confined  to  the  Sisters  in  the  local  convent,  St  Teresa’s.  As  there  was  no  central 

           organisation of the  Sisters of Mercy at  that time (this came  much later), it was  not possible to 

           source Sisters from outside the Community of St Teresa’s. 



8.15       The number of Sisters resident in St Teresa’s during the relevant period was approximately 28 

           from 1940 to 1960, and decreased to 20 in 1985. 



8.16       Four Sisters worked full-time in the Industrial School; the remaining Sisters were engaged in other 

           full-time activities such as primary and secondary teaching. There was a boarding school from 

           1963 and a commercial college. From time to time, a number of the other Sisters helped out in 

           the Industrial School. The Sisters who worked full-time were assisted by a number of lay staff. It 

           would  appear  from  the  records  that  in  the  region  of  four  to  five  lay  staff  were  engaged.  Their 

           numbers  and  roles  varied  from  time  to  time,  but  usually  included  a  matron,  cook  and  various 

           tradesmen. 



           1 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. 



           340                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1127-----------------------

8.17       One witness recalled: 



                 I  kind  of  have  memories  of  one  nun  looking  after  about  90  kids  in  the  yard,  or  in  the 

                 School, in very small rooms. 



8.18       Another witness said that: 



                 The nuns had a supervisory capacity in the sense that they looked after the medical part 

                 of it and they looked after possibly the dormitories and things like that. But the lay staff 

                 had the day to day practical workings and they would get you in for your meals or they 

                 would  get  you  ready  for  bed  or  they  would  get  you  for  walks...  generally  the  lay  staff 

                 did that. 



           Approach of the Sisters of Mercy to allegations of neglect 



8.19       In  their  Opening  Statement,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  acknowledged  that  at  times  they  failed  the 

           children in their care: 



                 ... Cappoquin industrial school went through particular periods of difficulty and there were 

                 undoubtedly times when children in our care suffered. We deeply regret the situation, as 

                 revealed by the Department records, regarding the diet and health of the children in the 

                 period 1944–5 ... We acknowledge that there were management difficulties in the 1980's, 

                 which must have impacted on the quality of care for the children ... As a Congregation, 

                 we are deeply sorry for our failings in the running of Cappoquin industrial school at these 

                 particular times and for the effect of this on the children in our care ... It is also true to 

                 say, however, that there were long periods of time when the school was viewed by the 

                 Department as being well run and the children well cared for. 



           Criticism of conditions during the 1940s 



8.20       The  early  contemporaneous  documents           reveal  a  story  of  serious  neglect    of  the  children  in 

           Cappoquin.     The   Institution was    overcrowded,     and   accommodated       children  in  excess    of its 

           permitted certification number. The children were seriously undernourished and underfed. 



8.21       The  Institution  was  managed  by  the  same  Resident  Manager  from  the  late  1920s  to  the  mid- 

           1940s. 



8.22       The  first  surviving  record  of  a  General  Inspection  of  St  Michael’s  is  dated  1939.  The  School 

           received a clean bill of health from Dr Anna McCabe, who described the children as well kept and 

           well fed. 



8.23       The next report was almost four and a half years later and dated 1943. Although this report refers 

           to a previous inspection carried out the year before, there is no record of this inspection. 



8.24       Dr McCabe found on this occasion the following: 



                  •    The School was overcrowded (91 children); 

                  •    The infirmary had been taken over as a dormitory; 

                  •    The food and diet was unsatisfactory, with a lack of butter, meat, bread and sugar. She 

                        carefully  examined  the  amounts  given  to  the  children  and  considered  they  were  all 

                        underfed and she gave the example of 7lbs of mince per day and 7lbs of butter per 

                        week being divided amongst 91 children. 



8.25       Dr McCabe stated in her Inspection Report of 1943 that she had drawn the Resident Manager’s 

           attention to the size of the children on several occasions, and the response she received was that 



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           the  children  were  very  active.  She  was  sceptical  about  this  explanation,  and  she  reported  the 

           situation to her superiors in the Department and advised them to write to the Resident Manager. 



8.26       In December 1943, the Chief Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools Branch wrote, on 

           behalf of the Minister for Education, to the Superior of the convent to express serious concern 

           about the under-nourishment and weight loss of the children, the overcrowding, and the lack of 

           fire escapes. 



8.27       In a written response dated January 1944, the Superior said that the diet that had been approved 

           by the School Medical Officer (a former Medical Inspector), and the advice of the present Medical 

           Inspector had been adhered to. The lack of milk was explained by the difficulty in procuring milk 

           and  the  proximity  of  two  military  stations.  She  robustly  defended  the  Resident  Manager,  and 

           described her as doing all in her power to keep the supply going, and expressed her satisfaction 

           that  there  had  been  no  neglect  where  the  children  were  concerned.  She  acknowledged  the 

           overcrowding,  and  went  on  to  say  that  steps  would  be  taken  to  reduce  the  numbers  to  the 

           accommodation limit. Notwithstanding the criticisms that had been made against her, however, 

           she took the opportunity to request an increase of the limit to 80. 



8.28       She agreed that the fire precautions were inadequate and intended to consult a qualified authority 

           on the matter. She stated that financial constraints did not allow for the building of a recreation 

           hall, and she requested the Department to give them a grant for a new classroom and dormitory, 

           thereby releasing the old classroom for a recreation hall. 



8.29       Dr McCabe did not accept the response of the Superior, and advised her Department that she 

           could only go by her own observations – the children had not gained weight over a period, and 

           the only conclusion that could be drawn was that they were not getting sufficient food. 



8.30       The Department wrote to the Superior on 3rd           February 1944 and requested her to get a report 



           from her School Medical Officer as to why the children had not gained weight. This report was 

           furnished to the Department by the Superior on 22nd           February 1944. The School Medical Officer 



           who wrote the report stated that he had agreed the children’s diet in conjunction with Dr McCabe’s 

           predecessor, but had recommended that the diet be supplemented by cod liver oil. This was done 

           for a short period, but discontinued during the ‘emergency’, and he suggested that the Department 

           should now supply cod liver oil to the School. He also stated that all but one child in the School 

           were ‘abnormal’, and this was why the children were small in stature. In her covering letter, the 

           Superior stated that the Resident Manager found it impossible to supply the whole School with 

           cod liver oil. 



8.31       Dr McCabe disagreed with the opinion of the School Medical Officer, and suggested that properly 

           fed children did not need to supplement their diet with cod liver oil. The Minister for Education 

           was informed of the response of the Superior, and a decision was taken on 14th                 March 1944 to 



           send  a  strong  letter  to  the  School.  The  terms  of  the  letter  sent  two  weeks  later  were  that  the 

           Department did not accept any of the reasons given by the Superior or the Medical Officer, and 

           directed the Superior to inform the Department of what action she intended to take as soon as 

           possible. 



8.32       The Superior responded that she had consulted with the Resident Manager and staff, and there 

           had  been  no  falling  off  in  the  diet  of  the  children.  She  suggested  that  one  explanation  for  the 

           weight loss may be that there was too long a fast from the evening meal at 5pm to breakfast the 

           next day. She proposed to introduce a ‘slight collation’ before bedtime. She wrote that she found: 



                 ... it was almost impossible to secure sufficient milk, to allow a pint per day to each child 

                 ... I may add that as far as our judgement goes – not to mention our good will – every 

                 precaution is taken to secure the health of the children – one of the few advantages that 



           342                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1129-----------------------

                will probably fall to their future lot ... Should it not be too great an intrusion the Resident 

                 Manager  would  feel  grateful  for  the  address  of  the  firm  which  supplies  Cod  Liver  Oil 

                 in bulk. 



8.33      Clearly frustrated, Dr McCabe informed the Department that she felt the children needed to be 

           properly fed, and wondered what the ‘collation’ would contain. On 13th  April 1944, the Department 



          once  again,  wrote    formally  to  the  Superior,  telling  her  the  children  were simply  not  getting 

          enough food: 



                 ... The position is, however, that the dietary seems, in any case, to have been inadequate 

                all along as evidenced by the failure of the children to put on weight in the normal way. 

                What is required is an all-round increase in the amount of food given to the children and 

                the Minister will be glad to learn that you have made arrangements to have this done ... 

                 It is noted that you have arranged for the issue of a collation before bed-time and I am to 

                enquire of what it consists. 



8.34       By letter dated 20th  April 1944, the Superior acknowledged the Department’s letter and said: 



                 ... With regard to the dietary, which had been approved of, no change has been made, 

                with the exception of butter being served to all the children, since Margarine has been 

                 unprocurable.  Each  child receives  one  pint  of milk  per  day  –  more during  the  summer 

                 months – The Collation consists of bread and butter, which makes a fifth meal each day 

                 ... If dietary counts in the matter of health, the immunity of the children of this school from 

                sickness, should be some proof, at least, of the suitability of the food supplied. 



8.35       Dr McCabe held her ground, and told the Department that she was quite satisfied that the diet 

          was inadequate, and added that, in her opinion, the Resident Manager was a domineering woman 

          who resented criticism and challenged advice. The Department decided to let matters rest for a 

           period, as some changes had been made to the diet. They could then monitor to see if the children 

          gained  weight.  They  instructed  Dr McCabe  to  go  to  the  School  in  September 1944  and  weigh 

          every child. 



8.36       Dr  McCabe  visited  the  School  on  21st  August  1944  and,  on  the  day  in  question,  she  reported 



           receiving an excellent meal, and she stated: 



                The day I visited the school there was certainly an excellent meal given and I intend to 

                 re-visit this school within the next few months to check up again – however I feel if the 

                children were always as well-fed as the day I was there that they should put on weight. 



8.37      The children had not in fact put on weight and still looked undernourished. She suggested that a 

           letter be sent to the Manager with the following recommendations: 



                 •    To increase butter from 7lbs to 30 lbs per week; 

                 •    To introduce chips fried in dripping several times per week; 

                 •    To give all children a cup of milk or soup at 11am. 



8.38       In an internal Departmental report dated 9th    September 1944, the opening sentence set the tone, 



          and went on to describe the appalling state of affairs that continued to exist: 



                This  is  another  school  run  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  which  has  a  long  record  of  semi- 

                starvation. Dr. McCabe's report following her inspection last November disclosed such an 

                appalling state of affairs that we went over the head of the resident manager and issued 

                an ultimatum to the Manager. Dr. McCabe's latest report shows how far we have got. Out 

                of 75 boys, 61 are under the normal weight for their age-height groups by from 3 lbs. to 

                21 lbs. The butter ration is exactly the same as it was in November, 1943 – 7 lbs. (At 6 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             343 


----------------------- Page 1130-----------------------

                 ozs.  per  head  it  should  be  28  lbs.)  The  boys  continue  to  look  pinched,  wizened  and 

                 wretched and look lamentably different from normal children. 



                 It is abundantly clear that the only hope of the required improvement lies in drastic action. 

                 The  first  and  most  obvious  step  is  the  removal  of  the  present  resident  manager.  Dr. 

                 McCabe informs me that she is a ruthless domineering person who resents any criticism 

                 and  challenges  advice.  Her  explanation  of  the  children's  failure  to  gain  weight  –  their 

                 "activity" – rivals Marie Antoinette's "why don't they eat cake?". She has bedded down 

                 long since into a groove out of which she cannot be shifted by some annual criticism, and 

                 it seems clear that she holds the manager in the hollow of her hand. I see no hope of 

                 improvement while she continues in office. 



                 The state of affairs existing in this school is so deplorable and indefensible that I think 

                 further strong action is required. I suggest that payment of the state grant be suspended 

                 for three months and, that the manager be informed that there will be a special inspection 

                 say, early next December. If that inspection shows that the underfeeding has ceased and 

                 that the weights generally are on the increase and tending towards normality, payment 

                 will be resumed. If not, consideration must be given to the withdrawal of the certificate. 



                 I might   mention    that Dr.  McCabe's     account    of the  nuns'   schools   generally   is most 

                 alarming. Underfeeding is widespread. In fact, she tells me that in only one school Kinsale 

                 – is she completely satisfied with the diet. The general rule is what she describes as a 

                 bare "maintenance diet" – sufficient to keep children from losing weight but not enough 

                 to enable them to put on weight at anything approaching the normal rate. A third junior 

                 boys' school run by the Sisters of Mercy – Passage West – is in the same category as 

                 Rathdrum and Cappoquin, and she proposes to visit it again shortly. She is strongly of 

                 opinion that we must hit the schools in their purses by threatening to stop grants – and 

                 stopping  them  if  necessary  in  one  or  two  of  the  worst  cases  –  if  we  are  to  effect  an 

                 improvement.     This   was   followed   by  a  series   of  notes   between    [the]  (Inspector   of 

                 Reformatories and Industrial Schools) and Dr McCabe. [The Inspector] was reluctant to 

                 take  such  drastic  action  as  recommended  by  the  Chief  Inspector  especially  as  he  felt 

                 stopping the funds might make it worse for the children. Dr McCabe felt the only way to 

                 bring about improvement was to hit the school through the purse strings as similar action 

                 in other schools had brought about change. A decision was taken to insist on the removal 

                 of the Resident Manager with a follow up special inspection in three months. If conditions 

                 had  not  improved  by  then  the  grant  was  to  be  suspended.  A  further  suggestion  was 

                 mooted, to approach the Bishop of the Diocese, if things did not improve under the new 

                 Resident Manager. 



8.39       On 21st  September 1944, a statutory request from the Minister to remove the Resident Manager 



           was sent to the Superior of the convent. This was accompanied by a strongly worded letter, setting 

           out in detail why the Department could not allow the present state of affairs to continue: 



                 The   Minister  for  Education    has  had   before  him   the  report  of  the  Medical  Inspector 

                 following on her recent visit to St. Michael’s Industrial School, Cappoquin, and has learned 

                 with regret that the physical condition of the children continues to be most unsatisfactory. 

                 Only ten boys have reached the normal weight for their age. Sixty-one boys are below 

                 the normal weight by amounts ranging from 3lbs. to 21lbs. 



                 I have already informed you that the Minister cannot allow this state of affairs to continue. 

                 Repeated  representations  to  the  Resident  Manager  having  failed  to  bring  about  the 

                 desired improvement, I am directed by the Minister to inform you that he is satisfied that 

                 the Resident Manager has failed to discharge efficiently the duties of her position and that 

                 she is unsuitable to discharge those duties, and I enclose a statutory request to you to 

                 remove her from her position. 



           344                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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8.40       The letter went on to state that, if St Michael’s was to continue as a certified industrial school, it 

           would be necessary ‘to effect a radical improvement in the feeding and care of the children’. 



8.41       To achieve this end, a Resident Manager who would take ‘an active and sympathetic interest’ in 

           the welfare of the children would have to be appointed, and she would have to comply with the 

           suggestions and advice of the Medical Inspector. 



8.42       The  Superior  responded  with  a  letter  dated  10th      October  1944,  and  asked  that  the  Resident 



           Manager be allowed stay on and promised that things would improve. 



8.43       The  Minister,  by  letter  dated  20th  October  1944,  refused  to  withdraw  the  statutory  request.  He 

           again wrote on 6th    and 7th   November 1944, as he had not heard from the School about the new 

           Resident    Manager.     On   11th November      1944,   the  Department     received    a  telegram    from  the 



           Superior  to  the  effect  that  ‘the  suggested  arrangements  at  St.  Michael’s  School  have  been  in 

           effect since 21st ultimo’. The Department understood this to mean that a new Resident Manager 

           had been appointed. 



8.44       The Department then wrote to the Superior on 15th           November 1944 and asked for the appropriate 



           form  to  be  completed  with  regard  to  the  new  Resident  Manager.  This  elicited  the  following 

           response from the Superior: 



                  Immediately on receiving a negative reply (22/10/44) to my request, that the then Resident 

                  Manager of St Michael’s School, be allowed to hold the position provisionally, I appointed 

                 Sr. [Adriana]2  to fill the post. I thought it well to defer notifying this waiting the Inspector’s 



                 visit. The strong censure contained in your Communication came as no small surprise, as 

                 apart from the failure of the children to put on weight we had no reason to think that Dr. 

                  McCabe was not satisfied with the general status of the School. 



8.45       The Superior wrote to Dr McCabe directly on 27th            November 1944 and suggested they meet to 



           discuss the situation. 



           A new Resident Manager 



8.46       When the Department received the letter advising them of Sr Adriana’s appointment, the Inspector 

           of Industrial and Reformatory Schools sought Dr McCabe’s views, particularly in the light of the 

           fact that the appointment papers revealed that Sr Adriana was in her mid-60s. In a handwritten 

           note, Dr McCabe described Sr Adriana as second in command to the previous Resident Manager: 



                 She is completely under the influence of the previous occupant of the post. She is a bit 

                 of a martinet and in my opinion unsympathetic to children. In short, she is unsuitable for 

                 the appointment. 



8.47       On 22nd   December 1944, the Inspector wrote to the Superior, setting out all the points that had 



           led to the decision to request the removal of the Resident Manager. He also pointed out that the 

           new  Resident  Manager  was  unsuitable  by  reason  of  her  age  and  her  identification  with  the 

           previous unsatisfactory regime: 



                 The unsuitability of the appointment is emphasised by the special circumstances in St. 

                  Michael’s.  As  I  pointed  out  to  you  in  the  course  of  our  long  correspondence  early  this 

                 year, the Minister for Education is satisfied that the former Resident Manager persisted, 

                 in the face of repeated representations from the Medical Inspector and the Department, 

                 in maintaining an inadequate scale of diet for the children. 



8.48       The letter went on to remind the Superior that the diet was to have been improved: 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    345 


----------------------- Page 1132-----------------------

                  Yet,  when  the  Medical  Inspector  visited  the  school  in  August  last,  she  found  that  the 

                  medical  charts,  far  from  showing  the  normal  increase  in  weight  which  would  inevitably 

                  have followed upon such an improvement in the diet, indicated that the weights generally 

                  were  about  the  same  as  they  had  been  on  the  occasion  of  her  previous  inspection  in 

                  November, 1943. Generally speaking, there was no significant increase in weight at all. 



8.49       The Inspector went on to say that because the Resident Manager had been: 



                  identified so long with this unfortunate state of affairs and had shown herself so unwilling 

                  to  take  the  advice  or  act  upon  the  recommendations  of  the  Medical  Inspector  or  the 

                  Department that it was felt that no improvement could be hoped for while she continued 

                  to hold office. 



8.50       Because the new Resident Manager, Sr Adriana, had acted as assistant to the former Resident 

           Manager,     and   because     she   was   older   than   her  predecessor,     the  Inspector    regarded    it as 

           unreasonable  to  expect  her  to  implement  the  ‘fundamental  changes  and  improvements’  that 

           were necessary. 



8.51       He went on to address the Superior’s surprise at the strong censure contained in his previous 

           letter: 



                  I would impress upon you that this Department could have no graver charge against any 

                  school than that the children are not properly fed. As you said in your letter of 5th April 

                  last,  health  is  one  of  the  few  advantages  that  will  probably  fall  to  their  future  lot,  and 

                  underfeeding     in  their  tender   formative    years   constitutes   the   gravest   threat   to their 

                  enjoyment of it. 



                  The position of Resident Manager in a school like Cappoquin calls for a young, active, 

                  Sister who is sympathetic and kindly disposed towards children, and preferably one who 

                  has been trained as a nurse. 



8.52       He concluded by arranging that Dr McCabe would visit the following month to discuss this and 

           other   outstanding    matters,    such   as  the   accommodation       limit, fire precautions     etc,  with  the 

           Superior. 



8.53       The Department’s reservations regarding the suitability of the new Resident Manager were not 

           acted upon. Dr McCabe visited the School on 27th              February 1945 and, in a detailed handwritten 

           report dated 12th    March 1945, she advised the Department that the food had improved and the 



           children had gained weight. She was still not happy, however, as she found that children had dirty 

           necks and ears and, when this was drawn to the Manager’s attention, she said it was as a result 

           of the boys playing about in the turf. Dr McCabe did not feel that this was from where the dirt 

           had emanated. 



8.54       She discussed the School in general with the Superior on this visit, and asked her to provide a 

           young, active sympathetic nun with knowledge of nursing for the role of Resident Manager. She 

           was told there were only a small number of nuns in the convent and, as they were not tied in with 

           any other convent in the diocese, they did not have a place from which they could transfer a nun 

           to become Resident Manager. The Novitiate of the Congregation was in Waterford but, when nuns 

           came from the Novitiate to the convent in Cappoquin, they were not transferred from convent to 

           convent  but  from  the  National  School  to  the  Industrial  School,  or  vice  versa.  In  view  of  these 

           difficulties and the more favourable report from Dr McCabe, the Department decided to give Sr 

           Adriana a probationary period of six months and then arrange a formal inspection. This decision 

           was conveyed to the School in a formal letter dated 9th  April 1945. 



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----------------------- Page 1133-----------------------

8.55       Six months later, on 29th   October 1945, Dr McCabe inspected the School and reported that she 



          was satisfied with the way things were going in the School under the new Resident Manager. The 

           annual  inspection  reports  for  the  next  five  years  refer  to  the  food  and  diet  as  no  more  than 

           ‘satisfactory’, although the School generally was deemed to have improved all round. 



8.56      The  issue  of  inadequate  diet  arose  in  1952,  when  Dr  McCabe  once  again  became  concerned 

           about the diet of the children. She reported that, although not ill, they were not too robust. There 

          were a lot of children with runny noses, and she felt the diet could be more varied. She noted that 

          the Resident Manager was keen to do her best. On her next visit on 21st  October 1953, Dr McCabe 



           noted a very big improvement in the food, clothing and school buildings. 



8.57       Dr McCabe paid 11 more visits to the School during the tenure of Sr Adriana. The reports were 

           less  detailed,  and  on  occasions  she  reported  a  number  of  visits  on  one  report.  Overall,  she 

           described continued improvements being carried out. She mentioned Sr Adriana in most reports 

           as being an excellent Resident Manager, kind to the boys, if a little old-fashioned. In her opinion, 

           it was a well-run school, with the children well cared for. 



8.58       One witness, resident in the Institution for four years in the mid-1940s, recalled: 



                 ... Hunger, hunger was a big problem ... All the time ... I had a habit anyway and some of 

                 the other boys had a habit, if we got a crust for our supper or for our tea, we would divide 

                 the crust into small little pieces and keep it in our hand for the intervening period between 

                 the next meal and we would eat one of these things every few minutes. It was a small 

                 little crust. That’s what kept us going. 



           Conclusions 



8.59       •    The children were severely underfed for a long period in the 1940s and 1950s. 

           •    On being told by the Medical Inspector that the children were seriously underfed the 

                Superior’s first priority was to defend the inadequate diet. The state of the children 

                was not a concern for her. 



           •    The Superior was arrogant and dismissive of the Department’s complaints. 

           •    The Manager was grossly incompetent but the Superior was determined to keep her 

                in place. 



           •    The  Department’s  contention  that  conditions  in  Cappoquin  were  mirrored  in  other 

                industrial schools run by the Congregation was an indictment of the Sisters of Mercy 

                generally in respect of their care of children, and disclosed widespread neglect. 



           •    The Department’s assessment also represented an extraordinary admission of failure 

                on its part in respect of its oversight of the system. 



           Buildings and accommodation 



8.60      Although Dr McCabe’s early reports concentrated on dietary issues, she continued to comment 

           on the need for improvement to the accommodation and sanitation facilities and, in particular, the 

           lack of a recreation hall. 



8.61       In a report of the mid-1940s, she stated: 



                 I spoke again with the Manager about a Rec. Hall, – she discussed with me several plans 

                 she had for improvement in this school and added if she could receive an extra allowance 

                 she would carry these out – but of course without help financially she was powerless to 

                 make these desired improvements. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              347 


----------------------- Page 1134-----------------------

8.62      Again, two years later, Dr McCabe’s report states: 



                a plan has been discussed to have a recreation hall built – but so far that is all. 



8.63       In the late 1940s, the Inspector wrote to the Resident Manager expressing his pleasure with the 

          overall improvement in the children’s health and well being, but noted the serious need for the 

          following to be carried out as soon as possible: 



                 •    improved sanitation facilities; 

                 •    erection of a recreation hall; 

                 •    provision of adequate fire escapes. 



8.64      On receipt of this letter, the Sisters of Mercy informed the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore that 

          the Department of Education had requested them to provide improvements, and sought his advice 

          as to what they should do. He wrote to the Department and posed the question: 



                 Is it likely there will continue in the near future to be a demand for such schools in view 

                of  the  increasing  State  grants  being  made  available  for widows,  orphans,  etc.?  As  the 

                 Head  of  the  Diocese,  I  honestly  feel  unable  to  reply  to  the  request  of  the  Cappoquin 

                Convent for advice and I would be grateful to you for a helpful direction in this matter. 

                The numbers in the school may decline and the overhanging debt would remain on the 

                Community which would have, so far as I can see, no means of paying it off. 



8.65      The Secretary of the Department responded to the Bishop, pointing out that he did not accept that 

          the Sisters of Mercy could not afford to make the necessary improvements, as they had had an 

           increase in capitation grants recently, some of which was given on the basis that works would be 

          done. Some other industrial schools had already made improvements, and some had borrowed 

          to do so. He pointed out that Cappoquin had rarely been anything other than full to capacity, and 

          any improvements would only enhance the value of the building should it be closed and sold off. 



8.66      The Sisters of Mercy also turned to a local TD, and the Department received a representation on 

           behalf of the nuns, pleading that they needed assistance by way of a grant for the money needed 

          to carry out the improvements.  He was informed by the Department that there  were no grants 

          available and, when the capitation grants were increased in 1948, it was made clear that schools 

          themselves would be responsible for the supply of equipment and building improvements. 



8.67       In the early 1950s, the Department granted the appropriate licence to the Superior to authorise 

          the necessary works to be carried out to construct a classroom, toilets and general repairs to the 

           Industrial School in Cappoquin. 



8.68      The new classrooms were built, and it appears that the works went ahead before the Department 

           had  finalised  the  paperwork  necessary  when  schools  were  erected with  State  aid.  The  Sisters 

          advised the Department that they had had to proceed because of the pressures from the Industrial 

          School Section to provide recreational and sanitary facilities for the children. The old School had 

           been  condemned  by  both  the  Primary  and  Chief  Industrial  School  Inspectors  for  a  number  of 

           health and safety reasons. The Sisters had gone ahead with the building works and carried out a 

           number of other renovations and extensions (e.g. new sanitary block and fire escape) for which 

          they were not making a claim. They pointed out that the weekly allowance of 24s per head was 

          entirely  inadequate  to  feed,  clothe  and  procure  medical  attention,  as  well  as  clear  overhead 

          expenses: wages of staff, matron, sub-matron, seamstress, laundress, nursemaids. 



8.69      The following year, a report was prepared for the Department containing the background as to 

           how  the  Sisters  came  about  erecting  the  new  School.  It  contained  debate  as  to  whether  the 

          children could have been sent to the convent school in Cappoquin instead. However, the author 



          348                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1135-----------------------

          submitted  that  this  would  have  caused  accommodation  and  integration  problems  in  the  local 

          school, and he recommended that the Sisters should be given the grant. 



8.70      This was followed up by a further report that same year, in which the case was considered and a 

          recommendation was made to pay the grant. 



8.71      Despite  the  recommendation  to  pay  the  grant,  the  Department  was  reluctant  to  apply  to  the 

          Department  of  Finance  for  the  funds,  and  had  another  inspection  carried  out  by  the  Schools 

          Inspector one year later. He also recommended that the grant be paid. He recognised that the 

          parents in the local schools would not accept the industrial school children, and that there was no 

          alternative but to educate them within the Industrial School. However, it was deemed inappropriate 

          to  remove  the  boys  under  six  years  of  age  from  the  external  National  School,  because  of  the 

          financial consequences for that school, and therefore, the Industrial School was only given two- 

          thirds of the cost of the building, as that represented the actual needs of the School. 



8.72      The  Sisters  had  built  a  school  large  enough  to  accommodate  64  children,  but  the  Department 

          suggested that, as the proper size of the School would have been one to accommodate 48, the 

          Department     of Finance    could  base   the grant   on  a  pro-rata  basis.  In the  early  1950s,   the 

          Department of Finance finally sanctioned a grant, which was two-thirds of the estimated cost of 

          building the School for 48 pupils. 



8.73      Although the Sisters had erected a school big enough to accommodate 64 pupils, a report by an 

          Organising Inspector to the Department of Education 10 years later found, that despite there being 

          just 37 children and well equipped classrooms, the School was not sufficiently used. 



8.74      In  the  late  1960s,  the  Industrial  Schools  Branch  of  the  Department  of  Education  informed  the 

          Primary Branch that, in furtherance of the policy pursued for some years back of sending industrial 

          school  children  to  schools  which  cater  for  the  local  children,  they  proposed  to  amalgamate 

          Cappoquin Industrial National School with the convent national school, and sought the views of 

          the Primary Branch on the matter, asking them to state whether there would be any loss of income 

          to the Industrial School as a result. 



          Conclusions 



8.75      •    Old unsuitable classrooms, poor sanitation and inadequate fire escapes were problems 

                not addressed until the early 1950s. 



          •    The children were all under 10 years of age and needed facilities for play. 



           The decline in numbers 



8.76      Cappoquin,  with  an  accommodation  limit  of  75,  had  never  been  a  big  industrial  school  and, 

          because of the ages of the children, few of them were available to work on the farm or in trades 

          that would have served the needs of the School. The School could not have been financially viable 

          when numbers began to fall in the mid-1960s. 



8.77      In the mid-1960s, the Resident Manager wrote to the Chief Inspector of Industrial Schools advising 

          him that numbers were declining in the School and expressing her disappointment that he had 

          not  managed  to  visit  the  School  despite  his  recent  journeys  south.  She  advised  him  that  the 

          Congregation did not feel inclined to expend money on the premises of the School if it was doomed 

          to closure. She requested that the Department should allow Cappoquin to keep boys up to the age 

          of 16 years, as had recently been agreed for Mount St Joseph’s Industrial School, Passage West. 



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8.78       Three months later, the Department received a further letter from the Resident Manager in which 

           she advised the Chief Inspector that the numbers had fallen to 46 boys, and that the declining 

           numbers    were   a  source    of anxiety   to  the  Congregation     who   had   put  a  lot of  money    into 

           improvements over the years. She repeated her request to retain boys until they were 16, and 

           emphasised the suitability of the local secondary school in the area where the boys could get a 

           secondary education. 



8.79       Clearly frustrated by the lack of a visit from the Department, the Superior of the convent wrote to 

           him again two weeks later, and impressed on him the urgency of the situation. She suggested 

           that, if he could not come to them, they would come and meet him. Two months had passed since 

           their request to hold on to boys until 16, and he had promised to visit within the week. 



8.80       There is no record of whether this meeting took place but, two years later, no progress had been 

           made, as evidenced by the letter written by the Superior to the Chief Inspector which pleaded with 

           the Department to help keep the School open: 



                 You must be aware that our numbers are exceedingly low now – before 1st July, they will 

                 be reduced to nineteen – a big drop from our original certified number which was seventy 

                 five!  I  heard  that  the  Boys’  Jr.  School  Kilkenny  will  soon  be  converted  to  one  for  the 

                 handicapped Children. [I wonder if you heard that we made a big effort to get this place 

                 recognised for the Retarded – but, failed, alas!] Now, you will appreciate the fact that it is 

                 a big disappointment to us, that this Institute here, will of necessity, come to an end, within 

                 twelve   months     from   now.   We    spent    thousands     of  pounds    on   renovations    and 

                 improvements on it, in 1954–1955 – of which [an Inspector] & Dr McCabe can assure you. 



                 In the light of all this, it would be a considerable help to us, and a favour we would deeply 

                 appreciate it, if you would be so kind as to send us the boys under 10 years from Kilkenny, 

                 when the time comes for their departure from there. We know that some of those children 

                 are from Co’s Waterford and Wexford – is it too much to say that we would have a little 

                 claim on these? 



                 I leave this matter to your kind consideration you have no idea of what it would mean to 

                 us to be able to keep this School opened for a few more years. Unfortunately, we are 

                 situated  too  close  to  three  Boarding  Schools,  to  be  able  to  use  this  building  for  the 

                 same purpose. 



8.81       In a handwritten note, the Chief Inspector wrote: 



                 spoke to Sr. (Superior) and indicated that she was pushing an open door – that as many 

                 as possible consistent with the determining factors would be transferred to Cappoquin. 



8.82       A month later, Dr Lysaght made a surprise inspection of the premises on behalf of the Department 

           of Education. There were 32 boys there, all aged 10 or under. He recorded eight staff members, 

           including the Resident Manager. He found the condition of the premises in good repair, and was 

           informed that the Congregation had spent a lot of money on improvements and was most anxious 

           about falling numbers. The Resident Manager feared they might have to close down. Dr Lysaght 

           toured the building and was generally pleased with what he saw. He remarked on the good table 

           manners displayed by the boys, and felt this was down to the efforts made by the Sisters with 

           them.  He  thought  the  boys  had  a  well-balanced  and  varied  diet.  He  carried  out  a  medical 

           inspection,  and  raised  a  number  of  concerns  about  the  arrangements  in  existence  for  dental 

           treatment,  which  were  not  very  satisfactory.  The  School  in  general  had  a  happy  and  homely 

           atmosphere. 



8.83       In the late 1960s, the Superior again wrote to the Chief Inspector, and requested that they be 

           allowed to take girls as well as boys, due to a decrease in numbers. She also requested that boys 



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----------------------- Page 1137-----------------------

           be  allowed  to  stay  until  12  years  of  age,  in  order  that  they  could  go  to  the  local  national  and 

           technical school for further studies. 



 8.84      In a Department memorandum, the view was expressed that there seemed no reason why these 

           requests should not be granted, provided accommodation arrangements were suitable. It was also 

           felt that it would be better to have siblings together. 



 8.85      The Resident Manager raised again the following year the issue of allowing boys to remain until 

           their sixteenth birthday, and the Department noted in an internal memorandum that this had been 

           a  success    in  Passage    West.   Accordingly,    it recommended       that  St  Michael’s    Cappoquin     be 

           approved for retention of boys until the age of 16. This was agreed by the Department some four 

           years after the original request had been made by the Resident Manager. 



 8.86      In  1969,  Sr  Carina3   wrote  to  the  Department,  seeking  permission  to  allow  five  senior  boys  to 



           receive secondary education in a nearby secondary school. The Department did not accede to 

           this request. 



 8.87      Later that year, the Resident Manager wrote to the Chief Inspector acceding to his request to take 

           boys  from  Artane,  which  was  about  to  close.  She  wanted  boys  as  young  as  possible.  In  her 

           original conversation with him, she had offered to take five, but now felt she could in fact take 10 

           and  maybe,  in time,  more.  A  short time  later,  however,  he received  a  letter  from the  Resident 

           Manager in which she stated that, on mature and lengthy deliberation, the Reverend Mother and 

           her Council: 



                  ... are of the opinion that we are not in a position at present, to admit pupils – boys or 

                 girls,  nor  to  take  any  in  future.  This  means  that  we  must  regretfully  disappoint  you  in 

                 withdrawing our consent to take boys from Artane School. 



 8.88      This brought the Chief Inspector to Cappoquin within a fortnight. He persuaded the Superior to 

           withdraw the application she had made to close the School. 



 8.89      In 1970, the Department certified St Michael’s for the reception of girls and retention of boys until 

           17 years, with special permission. 



 8.90      In  1972,  two  years  after  the  publication  of  the  Kennedy  Report,  a  decision  was  made  by  the 

           Department of Education, the Sisters of Mercy and Waterford County Council to erect a model 

           group home in the grounds of St Michael’s Cappoquin for 15 children of mixed sexes, on a site 

           offered to them by the School Manager. This plan was the implementation of one of the major 

           recommendations of the Kennedy Report. 



 8.91      Later that year, a Department Inspector carried out a general inspection. It is worth noting that 

           the previous inspection by Dr Lysaght was in 1966 – a period of six years had elapsed since the 

           Department had carried out an inspection. 



 8.92      The Inspector found 67 children in care. He noted that, of all the schools he had visited so far, 

           Cappoquin  was  most  in  need  of  an  upgrade.  He  was  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  one  of  the 

           Sisters had just completed the Kilkenny childcare course and was in England on a placement. He 

           was informed that the plans for a group home were being drawn up, and the Resident Manager 

           was most anxious to get this underway, as one of her main problems was overcrowding. 



 8.93      The Inspector noted that, although the plan was to move in the direction of group homes, no extra 

           effort was being made to introduce any form of grouping. The Resident Manager, although active 



           3 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    351 


----------------------- Page 1138-----------------------

           and devoted, was too old and worn out, and the authorities were further handicapped by recurring 

           staffing problems. The staff numbers at the time were two full-time Sisters, one temporary full- 

           time Sister, one Sister in charge of the kitchen with a lay assistant, two part-time Sisters and four 

           lay staff. A nurse called every few weeks. 



8.94       A group of Departmental officials visited St Michael’s Cappoquin in 1972 to further the group home 

           scheme  and  select  a  suitable  site.  They  agreed  with  the  proposal  from  the  Superior  that  they 

           should buy a site from Mount Melleray Abbey, as it had the advantage of proximity to the convent. 



8.95       The report, drawn up by one of the Department officials following this visit, made a number of 

           observations regarding the difficulties facing St Michael’s: 



                 A factor in the unsatisfactory condition and management of the residential home in St. 

                  Michaels has been that it is looked upon as the poor relation by the Convent and has not 

                 been properly supported by it. Discreet hints were given to [Sr Clarice]4  that the residential 



                 home     demands     attention  as   good   as  can   be  given   to  any   sector  of  the  Convent’s 

                 education Commitment ... 



                  ... At present there are 65 children in the residential home which is too many for the kind 

                 of  set-up  there.  Apart  from  this,  a  small  town  like  Cappoquin  would  not  find  it  easy  to 

                 absorb and integrate a community of children as large as the present. 



                 Add to that the difficulty in getting the Convent to allocate suitable staff to St. Michaels in 

                 adequate numbers and the future might seem most appropriately to lie with two modern, 

                 well-staffed group homes accommodating a total of about 30 children between them. 



8.96       A general inspection carried out in the mid-1970s recorded that 65 children were in care. It noted 

           that only 12 of these were formally grouped (the 12 youngest), with a full-time lay worker and a 

           Sister on a part-time basis as their staff. The two group homes were well under construction. 



8.97       In 1976, the Department of Education appointed Graham Granville as a childcare advisor to the 

           Department  of  Education  and  Inspector  of  Residential  Children’s  Homes  and  Special  Schools. 

           This position was one of the recommendations made by the Kennedy Report in 1970. 



8.98       The  first  general  inspection  report  from  Mr  Granville  is  dated  2nd   April  1976  and,  by  then,  two 



           group  homes  had  been  opened  in  the  grounds  of  Cappoquin,  with  a  number  of  children  still 

           accommodated in the old Industrial School. 



8.99       He was disappointed with his visit and found an air of complacency in the old Institution and the 

           new group homes. The Resident Manager and her assistant were very elderly and had only two 

           very  young  staff  to  assist.  The  children  in  the  old  premises  were  divided  into  three  ill-defined 

           groups and: 



                  I can only express my very grave concern at the extremely low standard of care that is 

                 available for the children. I believe that the present environment is damaging by the very 

                 nature of its institutional primitive appearance, it is lacking in warmth and consequently, I 

                 would question the quality of care being applied for the children. 



8.100      The report continued in a critical vein: he noted that there were serious staffing problems for some 

           time  and,  in  fact,  in  the  previous  12  months  they  had  to  dismiss  a  staff  member  following 

           complaints from a parent to the medical officer in the area. 



8.101      The two new group homes had a young nun in charge of each, who were trained social workers, 

           and a very limited young, inexperienced staff: 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 



           352                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1139-----------------------

                 The Sisters in charge at the New Group Homes have transferred some of ineffective child 

                 care practises into their Homes. I am most concerned about their attitudes and approach 

                 to the work, they are lacking any impetus and they are negative in a number of ways. 



8.102      He decided to return to Cappoquin within a week and speak to the Reverend Mother in private 

           about  the situation.  She  agreed with  his  suggestion  that the  way  forward was  to  phase out  St 

           Michael’s over a five-year period and move towards group homes. 



8.103      Later  that  month,  in  an  internal  memorandum,  a  senior  Department  official,  having  read  Mr 

           Granville’s report, suggested that the root cause of the problems in Cappoquin was the lack of 

           male staff in a school that had, until recently, been a home for boys. Mr Granville confirmed that, 

           even with normal discharge, it would take several years to reduce the numbers in Cappoquin to 

           the ideal of about 30, with 15 in each group home. There was general agreement with Mr Granville 

           that the old building needed to be phased out as soon as possible. 



8.104      In June 1976, Mr Granville furnished a confidential report to three senior officials in the Department 

           of Education, following a visit to Cappoquin when he met with the Resident Manager, and a child 

           psychiatrist who later joined their meeting. 



8.105      His findings were so serious that it is necessary to quote the report extensively: 



                 I visited Cappoquin, St Michael’s Convent ... and observed the following points which I 

                 discussed with the Resident Manager, [Sr Carina] as I have done on previous visits of 

                 mine  to  Cappoquin.  At  the  latter  part  of  my  visit  [the  child  psychiatrist]  arrived  at  St 

                 Michael’s. 



                     (1)   The  old  Convent  is  in  a  very  serious  situation  as  to  the  ability  to  continue  to 

                           provide Residential Child Care. 



                     (2)   There are neither in my opinion the resources nor the facilities to provide for the 

                           basic needs of children listed as per attached. 



                     (3)   At present there is only one group of children, principally boys, but including two 

                           girls, who are nice children but are having bad experiences in the group. 



                 That statement is a personal observation and staff confidential views. 



                     (4)   The older boys who should have been discharged now are bullying the younger 

                           children, both physically and emotionally. I have consistently advised [Sr Carina] 

                           to discharge these boys and to the full nature of the problems that are happening 

                           within the precincts of the Convent. This has been confirmed to me by staff that 

                           “bullying” is taking place. There are also a cross-section of problems happening 

                           in the Town of Cappoquin that without doubt are the result of institutionalisation 

                           and negative Child Care attitudes. 



                     (5)   Problems are now being encountered by younger boys who clearly wish to follow 

                           the  patterns    of  their  peers,   and   subsequently     [Sr   Carina]   and   [the  child 

                           psychiatrist] wish  to transfer  these children ...  The inappropriate  transferring of 

                           children has to cease at Cappoquin from St Michael’s. 



                     (6)   There  is  a  grave  danger  that  the  attitudes  of  the  Nuns  at  St  Michael’s  will 

                           perpetrate  into  the  new  Group  Homes.  In  fact  it  has  done  so  to  some  degree 

                           where I know that children are sent to bed for some problem by Lay Staff and 

                           ignored.  Modern  Child  Care  practice  contains  ample  sanctions,  if  skilfully  and 

                           professionally applied but the above practice is both detrimental and damaging 

                           to any child and there is absolutely no reason for the above practice. 



                     (7)   There is a grave danger that this Residential Child Care Centre may be subjected 

                           to a Press campaign. 



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                     (8)   The  Rev.  Mother  and  myself  have  discussed  these  issues,  she  is  extremely 

                           concerned. 

                     (9)   Can we request that [Sr Carina] be relieved of her post and Sister [Isabella]5  who 



                           works at St Michael’s. 



                     (10)   [The child psychiatrist] has a tremendous influence at St Michael’s. As he is no 

                            longer  attached  to  the  ...  Health  Board  I  suggest  that  St  Michael’s  use  the 

                            appropriate Psychiatrist on the Health Board. 



                     (11)   Money is being mis-appropriated for the use of past pupils who do not make any 

                            contributions to their care and the Department of Education does not pay any 

                            Capitation, as they are over-age. 



                     (12)   If the Group size was reduced drastically at St Michael’s to 1 of 12 children plus 

                            2  Lay   Staff  and   1  Nun    as  Resident    Manager     one   should    see   a  marked 

                            improvement in overall care attitudes. 



                     (13)   I am going back on the 26th / 27th July to review the whole of the committed 

                            children at St Michael’s and have staff meetings with all the Nuns and the Lay 

                            Staff together with the Rev. Mother. 



                     (14)   We are in the area of malfunctioning and nearing neglect totally of the children’s 

                            emotional    needs,   and   we   consequently     have    to scrutinise   the  future  of  St 

                            Michael’s very closely or the Department could be seen to be colluding with St 

                            Michael’s Child Care practice. 



8.106      Following    the  June   1976    visit to  Cappoquin,     Mr  Granville   met   the   Resident    Manager     and 

           expressed his concern about the presence of older boys who were former pupils and who should 

           have been discharged. He was particularly concerned about two young girls among the children 

           in the institution. 



8.107      Mr Granville paid a two-day visit in July 1976, and the problem of the older boys had clearly not 

           been addressed, although he got a commitment that they would be sent out to lodgings. 



8.108      He  noted  that  there  were  29  children  divided  between  two  group  homes,  and  the  Resident 

           Manager  had 23  in  the old  building.  She  assured Mr  Granville  that she  would  make a  sincere 

           effort  to  create  another  separate  unit  to  accommodate  12  younger  children  in  the  near  future 

           without  support  from  the  Department  of  Education.  The  11  remaining  children  could  then  be 

           housed more comfortably in the Institution with some re-arrangement of the existing rooms. Staff 

           shortages, and one or two particularly difficult children, were stretching the capabilities of the staff. 

           He met all the staff, including lay staff, and discussed the needs of the children on this visit. 



8.109      In  a  follow-up  letter,  Mr  Granville  set  out  in  clear  terms  the  steps  to  be  taken  to  improve  the 

           situation. These included the discharge of a number of children, regular reviews of the children’s 

           progress, regular staff meetings, and better contact with the social workers with regard to Health 

           Board children, and he enclosed a number of Master Index Books for record keeping. He decided 

           for the time being not to transfer some of the younger children out of Cappoquin, on the assurance 

           from the Resident Manager that she would follow up the proposed new unit. 



8.110      A bungalow was purchased by the Congregation in 1976, and the Department agreed to help with 

           the cost. 



8.111      By  November  1976,  the  old  building  had  been  vacated  and  replaced  by  the  two  purpose-built 

           group homes and the new bungalow. 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1141-----------------------

8.112      This was when the Industrial School ceased. Letters and correspondence from then on appeared 

           on notepaper headed St Michael’s Childcare Centre. 



           Conclusions 



8.113      •    Children  were sent  to Cappoquin not  because it  was suitable for  their needs  but to 

                 keep the Institution open. 



           •    When falling numbers jeopardised the existence of the School, the nuns threatened to 

                 resign  their  certificate  unless  more  children  were  assigned  to  Cappoquin,  and  the 

                 Department acceded to the request, notwithstanding the serious deficiencies of which 

                 it was aware. 



           •     The  Department’s  own  files  contained  evidence  of  the  troubled  history,  inadequate 

                 facilities  and  poor  management  in  the  Industrial  School  which  should  have  led  to 

                 serious concerns about the placement of more children there. 



           The era of the group homes 



8.114      For the period 1977 to 1990, the average number of children accommodated in the three new 

           group homes was approximately 50. It appears from the documentation that the aim was to try to 

           get  this  number  reduced  to  an  average  of  30  between  two  group  homes,  Group  Home  A  and 

           Group Home B, with 15 in each. 



8.115      In  the  late  1970s,  the  Resident  Manager,  Sr  Rosetta,6       notified  the  Department  that  she  had 

           appointed Sr Callida,7  then House Parent in Group Home A, to be her deputy. 



8.116      In May 1978,  the three group homes had between  them 48 children under the  care of 10 full- 

           time staff. 



8.117      In  1978,  Mr  Graham  Granville  carried  out  a  three-day  general  inspection  and,  overall,  he  was 

           satisfied with the homes. He was not happy at the lack of social work support for the children, but 

           commented favourably on other aspects of the facility. He thought the environment in the group 

           homes  was  excellent,  although  he  did  highlight  the  need  for  refurbishment  in  the  two  original 

           houses. 



8.118      Mr Granville observed that there was a major problem on the educational front if the children were 

           to  be  considered  for  technical/vocational  schools.  He  also  noted  that  no  male  staff  had  been 

           employed because (a) no suitable candidate had applied, and (b) past experiences had caused 

           problems of quality of personnel. 



8.119      In a letter to Sr Rosetta, he outlined some of his observations and recommendations. He said that: 



                 ... overall there has been constructive valuable improvement in the residential child care 

                 policy that is showing results in the elements of human relations and child development. 



8.120      He went on  to praise the contributions of the  three Sisters who had taken  charge of the three 

           group homes: 

                 The influence of Sisters [Isabella], [Eloisa]8      and [Callida] is to be commended within the 



                 group    homes.    And   consequently     their  direction   and   evidence    of  the  care   staff  is 

                 meaningful. 



           6 This is a pseudonym. 

           7 This is a pseudonym. 

           8 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   355 


----------------------- Page 1142-----------------------

  8.121    He recommended that punishments should be recorded, and that the Manager maintain a record 

           of major punishments that may be administered, noting the name of the child, date of punishment, 

           reason for punishment and punishment administered. 



  8.122    No record of corporal punishment was kept. 



  8.123    Mr Granville made strong recommendations on what qualities a new Resident Manager should 

           possess, stressing the importance of proper record-keeping and communication with the child’s 

           family and with social workers: 



                 That any future change in the Resident Manager’s part should consider 



                         (a)   that  the  Resident    Manager      has   to adopt    a  major   leadership    role.  To   be 

                               representative of the Communities child care policy at all levels and to ensure 

                               that this policy is practiced by all the care staff in the group homes. 



  8.124    He recommended that the children should be allowed every opportunity to develop their individual 

           personalities. They should also be encouraged to forge links with their homes. Because the group 

           homes  would  afford  a  more  normal  experience  of  growing  up,  he  thought  that  boarding-out  of 

           children for weekends and holidays would no longer be necessary. 



  8.125    Finally, he hoped that male staff could be employed in the future. 



  8.126    In a number of internal handwritten documents within the Department, efforts were made to try to 

           expedite the re-furbishing programme and explore what the Department could do to improve the 

           chances of the children attending secondary level schooling. 



  8.127    Later that year, Sr Rosetta formally advised Mr Granville that, owing to extreme pressure of work 

           both at school and community level, she had to resign as Resident Manager, and appointed Sr 

           Callida in her place and Ms Noonan9  as co-ordinator from that date. 



           Sr Callida 



  8.128    Sr Callida had been in charge of Group Home A since it was first set up in 1975, when she began 

           with 17 children in care. She had no staff initially and was told to recruit her own team. 



  8.129    When she took over the role of Resident Manager, she said that her objectives were to give the 

           children stability, consistency and continuity. She also hoped to concentrate on education, health 

           and development. She moved into a room in one of the homes, Group Home A, and set up her 

           administrative office there. 



  8.130    She continued as Resident Manager until the early 1990s, when she was removed following the 

           resignation of two lay care workers and an investigation into complaints against her. 



  8.131    Mr  Granville  did  not  immediately  appreciate  the  problems  that  were  developing  following  Sr 

           Callida’s appointment. Sr Callida appeared to perform her duties as Resident Manager well and 

           took a particular interest in the children’s education. 



  8.132    Over the next two years, Mr Granville noted that the children seemed happy, although he was 

           concerned  at  the  lack  of  visits  from  social  workers  and  the  lack  of  contact  with  the  children’s 

           families. 



  8.133    Mr Granville carried out a General Inspection in the early 1980s. He noted that there had been 

           staff problems but he did not specify what they were. He said that he had discussed them with 



           9 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1143-----------------------

           the  people  concerned,  and  he  attributed  them  to  the  inexperience  of  Sr  Callida,  the  Resident 

           Manager. 



  8.134    He concluded that Cappoquin was going through a ‘slightly chequered period in their development’ 

           and saw no reason why ‘the present turbulence cannot be overcome and a stable path be once 

           more achieved’. 



  8.135    In a letter to the Reverend Mother of the Cappoquin Community, he suggested that she bring the 

           three Sisters in charge of the group homes together to try to formulate a unified childcare policy. 

           He suggested that: 



                 the three religious Sisters meet weekly as a team to coordinate and cooperate in the child 

                 care practice. At the moment there are three distinct autonomous units in operation and 

                 it would be my opinion that “weak links” have been provided with an opportunity to grow, 

                 and that has not been in the interest of the child care practice. 



  8.136    He also recommended that a deputy be appointed to cover periods when Sr Callida was absent. 



  8.137    An abbreviated version of the same letter was sent to Sr Callida, Resident Manager, with a number 

           of suggestions, including delegation of full responsibility to Sr Isabella during her absences and 

           the holding of regular staff meetings to build up communication. 



  8.138    Other problems were emerging. The numbers of children in care were dropping and one of the 

           houses  was  under-occupied  and  over-staffed,  which  had  serious  financial  implications  for  the 

           Congregation.  In  addition,  the  lack  of  any  social  work  intervention,  especially  for  the  children 

           committed by the Department of Health, who did not come under Mr Granville’s remit, was causing 

           serious concerns in the Department of Education. 



  8.139    At around this time, however, staff in Group Home A, the group home managed by Sr Callida, 

           were becoming increasingly alarmed at how the house was being run. 



           Evidence of former care staff 



  8.140    Evidence  was  given  by  three  lay  staff  members  who  worked  in  the  homes  under  Sr  Callida’s 

           management and two of whom made complaints at the time. 



  8.141    Ms Linehan10 worked in Group Home A from the early to late 1980s. She began work immediately 



           after leaving school as a carer and, after a few years, was appointed as House Parent in Group 

           Home A where Sr Callida was Resident Manager. 



  8.142    She said that, although the children in Group Home A were well provided for materially, and ‘all 

           their basic needs were met’, they were not cared for emotionally. She said they were afraid of Sr 

           Callida, and that she herself had witnessed a child with marks on her leg as a result of a beating 

           from Sr Callida: ‘It was the first time I had seen marks on a child there. And it was a shock and it 

           was a surprise to me’. 



  8.143    Although that was the only time she had seen evidence of Sr Callida’s treatment of the children, 

           ‘There was other times when kids said that she did hit but I was never there and I never heard’. 



  8.144    Ms Linehan said that at the time she did not feel she was in a position to question the way Sr 

           Callida managed the home. She said there was a regime in place that she could not question, 

           although she would have disagreed with aspects of it: ‘A lot of the time I would be afraid to speak 

           out ... I was afraid to lose my job maybe’. 



           10 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.145       Everyday issues were handled harshly: 



                  I just felt it was too strict and just different things, every day things like that. You know, I 

                  mean when I look back on it it was again the time where – it was very, very strict being 

                  in care for kids, very, very hard. 



8.146      Although  she  accepted  that  it  was  a  different  era  and  childcare  practices  were  different,  she 

           believed the regime was unnecessarily hard: 



                  Looking back on it. But I think sometimes Callida could have made it a little bit easier for 

                  the children to be in care, because being in care was hard enough, being there without 

                  your parents, and then having somebody sometimes so strict on you, I think was hard. 



8.147      She felt unable to express disagreement with Sr Callida, and none of the other care staff were 

           able  to  do  so  either.  She  described  Sr  Callida  as  ‘a  very  strong  person  and  when  she  said 

           something that was it, you had nowhere else to go’. 



8.148      This ex-staff member was concerned about three specific issues in Group Home A: 



                   •     She did not think that it was appropriate for past pupils to stay in Group Home A with 

                         the children. She believed that some of them were a bad influence on the children. 

                         Past  pupils  were  not  allowed  to  stay  in  either  of  the  other  group  homes  –  only  Sr 

                         Callida allowed it. The Department had been concerned snce 1976 about the practice 

                         of  past  pupils  being  allowed  to  stay  over.  They  had  been  assured  that  the  practice 

                         would cease and that lodgings would be found for the ex-pupils elsewhere. However, 

                         in Group Home A the situation was allowed to continue. 



                   •     Sr Callida went absent for days at a time, without giving any prior notice, and without 

                         leaving any contact address or number. The witness, who was in her 20s, was left in 

                         charge of up to 16 small children without any support from the Resident Manager or 

                         any other Sister in Cappoquin. 



                   •    Sr Callida regularly drank alcohol – usually whiskey – in the group home. She said that 

                         this  occurred  in  the  evening  and  was  often  in  the  sitting  room  in  front  of  the  older 

                         children. She said that Sr Callida would not be so drunk as to be ‘falling all over the 

                         place or anything, but I felt at the time it was drunk when she would slur a word’. 



8.149      She did not believe that Sr Callida’s drinking affected the day-to-day running of the home, but it 

           did affect her personality: 



                  I suppose not as the running of the everyday stuff, because the staff, I think, would do a 

                  lot  more  of  that,  of  the  running  of  the  house  and  the  caring  of  the  kids.  But  I  just  felt 

                  sometimes  that  it  probably  affected  her  personality,  maybe  the  day  after  or  something 

                  that she would be a little bit hung over. Maybe that affected her work. 



8.150      Another    ex-staff  member      who    worked  in    Group  Home      A   immediately  after     Ms   Linehan  left 

           confirmed this witness’s account, although she was more critical of the impact of all the problems 

           on the children. 



8.151       Ms Tierney11  started work in Group Home A in the late 1980s when she was aged 20 years. She 



           had no experience in childcare, having worked in an office previously: 



                  [Group Home A]. My first impressions were of all these dirty scruffy children. That is an 

                  awful thing to call them but that's what it was. It was just a chaotic house and there were 

                  just  children  everywhere.  The  first  day  I  went  there Callida  was  on  her  own  and  there 

                  were just small children all around the house, all over the place, and the house was very 



           11 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  shabby as well ... At the time I started there, there were 10 to 12 children living in the 

                  house ... 6 months to 16 years. 



                  It  was  just  a  very  chaotic  place  to  work.  I  didn't  really  understand  the  workings  of  the 

                  place or anything like that. As a staff team everyone seemed to be afraid of Callida. Any 

                  time I would answer the phone it was like "is she there?" That was the first reaction, "Is 

                  she there?” 



8.152      There was no proper routine, no timetables and new staff just ‘fell in’ with the household duties 

           and minding the children: 



                  We were basically there to mind the kids, a house full of children, and very young children. 

                  At one stage there was seven of them under five. You would be on your own with them. 

                  At the time there seemed to be really a lack of staff there. For a space of two months or 

                  three months there was two of us working on our own, back to back. We did a 14 day 

                  stint, back to back twelve hour shifts, with no support from anyone. I was often there on 

                  my own with 12 children ... I was on my own a lot there. You would have to get up and 

                  get a load of them out to school, get their breakfast and get them all out to school and 

                  then you had four or five toddlers at home all day. And you had to clean the house as 

                  well. It was very hard. 



8.153      She found communication between management and staff was non-existent. It was a frightening 

           place to be for staff and children, and she did not feel safe. The two group homes were pitted 

           against each other. The children in Group Home A looked down on the children in Group Home 

           B. Toys and clothes were in better supply in Group Home A. There was no support from social 

           workers.  Ex-residents  frequently  arrived  at  the  home  and  were  allowed  to  sleep  over.  One 

           particular ex-resident was an older man with a history of alcohol and drug abuse. The children 

           were  terrified  of  him.  She  witnessed  the  Resident  Manager’s  abuse  of  alcohol  on  numerous 

           occasions, both inside and outside the group home. 



8.154      Ms Tierney said that Sr Serena,12         the Superior of the convent often stayed overnight in Group 



           Home  A  with  Sr  Callida.  This  Sister  did  not  interact  with  the  staff  at  all  but,  she  said,  had  a 

           particular child whom she singled out for attention and whom she would keep with her during her 

           visits to Group Home A: 



                  She just was around all the time. She was around all the time ... Every day after work she 

                  would  come  and  she  would  call  into  our  place  most  days  after  work.  It  was  a  regular 

                  occurrence. She would stay and wander around and she would be down to Callida. She 

                  had a little pet that was her little pet, one of the kids that was there, and she would come 

                  in and she would make a big fuss over this child and hold her hand and wander around 

                  and really make the rest of the kids feel very inferior to this one particular child. 



8.155      Sr Serena and Sr Callida went up to the convent at about 6pm for prayers, and then they would 

           return to the Home for the evening. 



8.156      They went away together quite often without giving notice. Sr Callida had a little girl who slept with 

           her at night, and she would sometimes take that child or other children with her on her excursions: 



                  Also, the fact that the kids slept in the bedroom, and she nearly always had a young child 

                  sleeping in the bedroom with her. It just became a habit over the years. Some of the staff 

                  used to try and get the child not to go in there but the child just always went in and she 

                  always  brought  her  in.  When  she  would  go  down  to  bed  at  night  she  would  bring  her 

                  with her. 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 



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  8.157    When Sr Callida went away: 



                  She used bring her with her most of the time. Most of the time they would bring some of 

                  the younger kids away with them. 



  8.158    She was not told where the children were or how long they would be gone: 



                  No.  We  might  be  told,  maybe,  to  pack  a  bag  for  someone  an  hour  before  they  went, 

                  but  that  was  about  it.  We  just  weren't  important,  we  weren't  told  anything.  We  weren't 

                  told anything. 



  8.159    Ms Tierney recalled one occasion when a man walked into the Home accompanied by two other 

           men and took his children away. Sr Callida left within half an hour and did not return for two days. 

           In the meantime, this young care-worker did not know where the children were or whether the 

           Gardai had been informed about their removal. She said she was very traumatised by the incident 

                   ´ 

           and was frightened that the father would come back in the night. 



  8.160    She described Sr Callida’s drinking: 



                  She was well noted for it in the town ... Any time I met her out, if I was in an occasion to 

                  meet her in the pub, she would be very drunk. 



  8.161    She recalled on one occasion that Sr Callida was so drunk that she fell into the playpen on top of 

           one of the children. 



  8.162    She said it was a regular occurrence for Sr Callida to be drunk in Group Home A: 



                  That was a regular occurrence, very regular occurrence. There was no big secret about 

                  it, everyone knew, everyone knew she drank. That's what I found very hard to understand 

                  how everyone in the community knew what she was like and fellows knew that she was 

                  pissed going around the town and she would be out at nightclubs and different things. 



  8.163    In addition to the drinking, Sr Callida also entertained past pupils in Group Home A at night and 

           allowed them to stay there: 

                  The night that I remember Mr Owens13  being there, there were five men in the house that 



                  night stayed overnight that night. Two of them were ex-residents and two of them were 

                  total strangers. But she would leave the house then. 



  8.164    Ms Tierney was uneasy caring for the children in the house on her own: 



                  You would have them coming and going during the days. At the weekend, you wouldn't 

                  know who – you just never knew who was going to turn up at the place or what was going 

                  to happen. It was just chaos. 



  8.165    She described how she and the children were frightened by one of these visitors: 



                  They were scared that night that Mr Owens was going around the house ... we went down 

                  to the bedroom and I had a couple of teenagers in the room with me and we all stayed 

                  there that night because we were all frightened of him. I am sure there was times when 

                  they were frightened. 



  8.166    Matters came to a head in the early 1990s. She realised that the children needed better support 

           and it was not forthcoming. Having spoken with her family, she decided that she should report her 

           concerns  to  the  Reverend  Mother  of  the  Diocese  and  that  she  would  then  hand  in  her  notice. 

           Within two weeks, the Reverend Mother came to the home and interviewed staff. 



           13 This is a pseudonym. 



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  8.167    Another witness, Ms Waters,14  was House Mother in Group Home B, the second group home at 



           Cappoquin from the 1980s, and she gave evidence about her serious concerns at the way Group 

           Home A was run and the impact this had on the children there. 



  8.168    Ms  Waters  started  work  on  a  part-time  basis  in  Cappoquin  in  the  mid-1970s,  shortly  before  it 

           closed    as  an  industrial   school.   She   did  not  have    any   formal   childcare   training,  apart  from 

           completing a correspondence course in the early 1980s. Eventually, she became House Mother 

           of Group Home B in the mid-1980s. 



  8.169    She spoke of her earliest recollections of Cappoquin: 



                  My recollection was, you know, to bring up kids – being a mother myself and to bring up 

                  kids in a home I  found it always very sad for kids, you  know, and I could identify with 

                  them, the sadness they were going through ... I came from a loving home myself. 



  8.170    She commented on the lack of love shown to the children: 



                  I found the set-up, there was a lot of children ... there was plenty of food, but giving them 

                  a hot meal and giving it to them with love, you know, and things like that, I found that was 

                  a bit lacking, you know ... and kids coming from different background and sadness, you 

                  know, it was – I felt kind of shocked because I hadn't experienced that kind of thing. 



  8.171    From  the  time  that  Sr  Callida  became  Resident  Manager  of  the  two  group  homes  in  the  early 

           1980s, management problems arose almost immediately, as had been identified by Mr Granville 

           in his General Inspection Report of this time. 



  8.172    Ms Waters gave evidence of a system that was incapable of delivering a proper level of childcare. 

           One of her main problems was the lack of respect shown to the care staff by Sr Callida that led 

           to unhappiness amongst the staff. They were not consulted about anything and were not even 

           given notice of their work schedule, which was often delivered a day in advance on the back of 

           an envelope. There was no regular timetable for rostering of staff, which made family life for the 

           care workers very difficult. 



  8.173    In addition, she identified differences in the way the two homes were run. Group Home A, which 

           was  managed  directly  by  Sr  Callida,  received  preferential  treatment  in  terms  of  finance  and 

           facilities, which impacted on the children in Group Home B. 



  8.174    There was very little communication between the two homes. Although she reported directly to Sr 

           Callida, she rarely saw her. There was no formal system for staff meetings or meetings to review 

           the children’s progress. She tried to talk to Sr Callida about the problems but she was not willing 

           to listen. She also recalled that, during this time, there was no support from social workers for the 

           staff and children. 



  8.175    She was also aware that children were experimenting with each other sexually and reported this 

           to Sr Callida. She felt there was a need to give the children some education in the facts of life, 

           to  make  them  more  aware,  and  she  communicated  this  to  the  Resident  Manager,  but  this  did 

           not happen. 



  8.176    Ms Waters gave an example of one incident where three children from the home – two boys and 

           a girl – were alone in the fields adjoining the home: 



                  I remember ringing Sr Callida and, you know, my worries about the girl being down with 

                  the boys and she just kind of – it came up in the conversation I said, "what about if the 



           14 This is a pseudonym. 



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                girl gets pregnant?" And she kind of laughed at me and said, "it wouldn't be you that made 

                her pregnant." I wasn't getting anywhere ... I went down through to the fields ... it was a 

                very wet  evening, and I  had difficulty  in walking through  the wet –  the grass  was very 

                high, it was all wet. I went down and I brought her up and the two lads went off, you know. 

                But it was with great difficulty, she was rude and nasty to me now, but she did come up 

                with me. 



8.177     Although she spoke of her concerns to the girl’s social worker, she received no help or support 

          from her and was left to handle the situation herself. 



8.178     She said she was aware that there was a lot of drinking going on in Group Home A. Parties were 

          held  in  the  home,  and  former  residents  and  student  priests  came  and  stayed  overnight.  This 

          practice was not allowed in the home in which she was in charge, as she simply did not allow it 

          to happen. In her opinion, the children in Group Home A were not being adequately supervised 

          and the staff were very young: 



                Well there was a lot of, there was a lot of drink going on, you know ... You know, I was 

                never in the parties, but the gossip went on that they would be drinking in the house and 

                there would be people coming visiting and there was drinking. Not in Group Home B but 

                in Group Home A. 



                I witnessed Sr Callida coming ... into Group Home B at one stage and she had drink ... 

                Her voice was slurred, you know, and things like that. 



8.179     She  described  an  occasion  soon  after  the  appointment  of  Sr  Serena  as  Reverend  Mother  to 

          Cappoquin: 



                I remember that day, Sr Serena had just started, she was just made Reverend Mother 

                and she had visited Group Home B that evening, we arranged that she come and have 

                tea with the kids and staff and Sr Callida came in that evening. The kids had just left the 

                table and she came in and she was clearly under the influence of drink when she came in. 



8.180     She did not discuss Sr Callida’s obvious intoxication with Sr Serena at the time. It was not an 

          isolated incident, because she had witnessed Sr Callida’s intoxication on other occasions. She 

          said that the staff and children discussed Sr Callida’s drinking with her and amongst themselves, 

          and that it was a problem throughout Sr Callida’s time there, ‘No, I don't ever remember a time 

          when it wasn't a problem’. 



8.181     The problems continued, and both staff and children were unhappy. She described how it had an 

          impact on the children at the time: 



                Kids, they could get high and you know, you felt you had no control. Because everybody 

                was kind of – everybody was upset and there wasn’t consistency from management down, 

                you  hadn’t  the  consistency.  The  staff  were  young  and  they  were  going  to  college  and 

                doing exams ... and things like that. 



8.182     Eventually, in the late 1980s, Ms Waters wrote a long and detailed letter to Sr Callida, raising a 

          number    of  points  regarding  the  care  of  the  children, staff communications,     timetables   and 

          rostering, and general management issues: 



                I had to do something and I knew the right way to go through it first, I couldn't do anything, 

                without sending a letter to Sr Callida, she wasn't willing to listen to me. The next thing 

                was to send her a letter. I put an awful lot – I thought about maybe there was 12 months 

                thinking about that, you know. I put an awful lot of thought into it. 



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8.183      She requested a meeting to discuss the matters raised in her letter. She did not get a response 

           to her letter, and no meeting was forthcoming. Sr Callida appeared insulted that she would make 

           such a request, and her relationship with Sr Callida deteriorated further. 



8.184      She then contacted the Reverend Mother, Sr Serena, in the convent, and again raised the issues 

           she had highlighted in her letter to Sr Callida. She told the Committee: 



                  eventually I got a meeting. I went to Sr Serena and we met, Sr Serena, Sr Callida and I, 

                  we met in the office in Group Home B. But it wasn't a successful meeting, because Sr 

                  Callida, she did a lot of crying and she was going to open the door and a few times Sr 

                  Serena said to her, "Callida, come back and sit down". It came to nothing, we got nowhere. 



8.185      Sr Serena then held a staff meeting, where some of the staff members who had been complaining 

           did not support Ms Waters and so, according to Ms Waters, Sr Serena felt she could not take the 

           matter any further. 



8.186      Ms Waters said, ‘I just couldn’t stick it any longer, I couldn’t cope any longer’ so she went directly 

           to  Sr  Viola15   who   was    the  Provincial   and    the  person    to  whom    Sr   Serena    was   ultimately 



           accountable. She raised the contents of the letter she had written to Sr Callida with Sr Viola. Sr 

           Viola  came  to  Group  Home  B  a  month  later  and  interviewed  all  the  staff  who,  this  time,  were 

           prepared to confide in her. Her findings resulted in the dismissal of Sr Callida. 



8.187      The only conclusion that can be drawn from the picture painted by these witnesses is one of a 

           complete breakdown of communication between management and staff. Management structures, 

           timetables  and  proper  rostering  were  simply  not  in  place.  This  had  a  detrimental  effect  on  the 

           daily lives of the children. 



8.188      This disorganisation was confirmed by the evidence of Mr  Lloyd,16                Resident Manager from the 



           early 1990s. He described what confronted him when he arrived to replace Sr Callida. He found 

           the buildings were very run down. Lots of very young children were in the Centre. Few, if any, 

           records were kept of the children. The financial records were in disarray. The previous Resident 

           Manager had allowed children to sleep in her bedroom. This practice was absolutely inappropriate, 

           and he considered there were no circumstances in which a young person should ever stay in a 

           staff member’s  room. Children and staff  told him that  children had been slapped  regularly and 

           inappropriately.    When     he   first arrived   he  witnessed     a  staff  member     slapping    a  child  and 

           immediately banned the practice. The centre was chaotic; there were staff shortages, impossible 

           rosters and very low morale. Relatives would turn up drunk. There were no boundaries for the 

           children and they had no structure in their daily lives. He set about dealing with the problems. 



8.189      Mr Lloyd brought a new perspective to childcare in Cappoquin. He was concerned at the number 

           of  children  who  remained  in  care  all  their  lives  and  for  whom  no  alternative  was  looked  for  or 

           provided: 



                  Fostering or looking at the extended family or what would have been done. Even for long 

                  periods of time, you know, okay, children have to come into care but they don't have to 

                  stay in care. Young people and young children came into Cappoquin to care and spent 

                  their lives there until they were sixteen. 



8.190      He found that Sr Callida had a close friendship with the senior social worker, who, together with 

           Sr Callida, impeded Mr Lloyd’s efforts to effect change. 



           15 This is a pseudonym. 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 



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8.191      The problems were compounded by Sr Callida’s reluctance to disengage from the Institution and 

           the children in it: 



                 At first it was she would kind of meet the children coming home from school, just down 

                 the road and be speaking to them as they were coming up. She would just sit on the wall. 

                 Some  of  the  young  people  would  have  felt  uncomfortable  about  that.  Another  young 

                 person, a five year old girl, was being taken out by another nun, Sr Serena. At first what 

                 I was aware of, like, she had befriended this young person and would take her for a spin 

                 maybe once a week or once a fortnight, down ... to her family home. I subsequently found 

                 out that she was picking up Sr Callida on the way, they were meeting. So I had to put a 

                 stop to that as well, that access. 



8.192      He also observed that some of the children were psychologically damaged by the manner in which 

           the previous Resident Manager selected a number of favourites. 



8.193      Mr Lloyd set about introducing changes. New staff rosters were developed, pocket money for the 

           children was introduced, and the children were allowed out for proper and constructive reasons. 

           He  set  about  getting  the  younger  children  fostered  out  to  befriending  families.  Proper  contact 

           between children and their families was introduced and encouraged. He found that some of the 

           children had been in care for far too long. No real attempt had been made to consider when they 

           would leave care. He held meetings with social workers to build up a profile and history of the 

           children, some of whom had no idea why they were in care in the first place. 



8.194      There was no aftercare system in place. He introduced a system, whereby a staff member was 

           allocated  to  each  child.  They  worked  their  normal  roster,  but  had  specific  responsibility  for  a 

           particular  child’s  homework,  dental  visits  etc.  They  then  submitted  a  quarterly  report  for  the 

           Resident Manager on the progress of each child. He moved the office from Group Home A to 

           Group Home B, in an effort to redress the feeling amongst the staff and children that one house 

           was more favoured than the other. 



8.195      He encountered  huge resistance from  the senior social  worker to his  efforts to review  children 

           properly and to the introduction of fostering. He also  encountered interference from the former 

           Resident Manager, as outlined above. 



8.196      Ms Linehan and Ms Waters subsequently worked under Mr Lloyd. They described the contrast 

           between him and Sr Lucilla. The changes brought about by the new manager resulted in proper 

           structures being put in place; training for staff improved; regular staff meetings were held; and the 

           children were much happier, safe and more settled. 



8.197      The Congregation’s submission that this witness had a tendency to overstate the degree of his 

           own contribution was unfounded. Mr Lloyd was an enlightened and progressive Manager, who 

           transformed the working conditions for staff in the group homes and created a secure environment 

           for the children. 



           Evidence of the Sisters of Mercy 



8.198      Sr  Callida  was  appointed  as  Resident  Manager  to  Group  Home  A  in  the  late  1970s,  and  the 

           problems  identified  by  the  former  staff  members  who  gave  evidence  to  the  Committee  were 

           apparent almost immediately. In particular, Sr Callida’s drinking became known to the Community 

           in the convent in the year following her appointment, but nothing was done to ensure the safety 

           and protection of the children in her care. 



8.199      Sr Rosetta was Resident Manager of Cappoquin for two years in the 1970s, and she appointed 

           Sr Callida as her successor. Sr Callida was a young Sister who had worked in the group home 

           for some years prior to her appointment. She had completed the childcare course in Kilkenny in 



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           the mid-1970s, and was a secondary school teacher by profession. She was, in short, an ideal 

           candidate to take up the position of Resident Manager, and appeared to have all the attributes 

           necessary to make a success of the job. However, there were fundamental flaws to her character 

           that caused major problems in the School: she was not a good manager/administrator, and she 

           had very poor communication skills. These flaws were exacerbated by her relationships with two 

           members of the Community that prevented proper monitoring of her behaviour and a long-standing 

           problem of alcohol dependency. 



8.200      The  problems  caused  by  Sr  Callida’s  personality  were  obvious  to  any  observer  of  the  group 

           homes, and yet the Sisters in the Community in Cappoquin failed, for over a decade, to act to 

           protect the children in her care, who were traumatised and neglected as a result. 



8.201      Sr Rosetta identified Sr Callida’s drinking problem as dating to an incident in which one of her 

           residents was killed in an accident on his first day at work. He was 16 years old at the time, and 

           his death had a severe impact on Sr Callida. Other Sisters who gave evidence to the Committee 

           have also traced her alcohol dependency to this event that occurred in the late 1970s: 



                  It was the first of drinking that I heard was that the older boys who came back and knew 

                  him in St Michael's and stayed in the group home, I heard there was drink flowing, but I 

                  couldn't do  much about  it at that  sensitive time.  Seemingly it must  have gone  on from 

                  there, that was [the late 1970s], I don't know which. I think that made an awful change in 

                  her life. Maybe I didn't give her enough attention to help her over that or whatever. It was 

                  only looking back on it maybe I should have. The drink story went on from there. 



8.202      Sr Rosetta confirmed that other members of the Community shared her concerns at Sr Callida’s 

           drinking.  Members  of  the  public  also  voiced  their  concern:  ‘Yes.  Well,  there  was  other  people 

           outside told us too about it’. 



8.203      Until  the  early  1980s,  Sr  Rosetta  continued  as  Superior  in  the  convent  in  Cappoquin  and  did 

           nothing to address the issue of Sr Callida’s behaviour, other than, in the late 1970s, to appoint a 

           fellow  Sister,  Sr  Melita,17   as  a  ‘companion’  to  encourage  her  to  interact  more  fully  with  the 



           Community  in  the  convent.  Unfortunately,  Sr  Melita’s  ability  to  alert  her  superiors  as  to  the 

           seriousness  of  Sr  Callida’s  mismanagement  of  Group  Home  A  was  compromised  when  they 

           developed  a  close  intimate  relationship.  Sr  Melita  remained  in  Cappoquin  until  the  mid-1980s, 

           when she was transferred. 



8.204      Sr Rosetta was then replaced by Sr Leola,18  who let matters deteriorate even further. 



8.205      In  the  mid-1980s,  the  six  Sisters  of  Mercy  convents  in  the  Diocese  of  Waterford  and  Lismore 

           came together under the overall control and direction of the Provincial Superior of the Diocese, 

           who was Sr Viola. This Sister thereby assumed ultimate responsibility for the Sisters’ undertakings 

           in Cappoquin. 



8.206      Sr Viola was aware of Sr Callida’s drinking before her appointment in the mid-1980s. She had 

           been approached by a member of the public in the early 1980s, who expressed concern about 

           what was happening in Cappoquin. She suggested that the complaint should be communicated 

           to the Superior in Cappoquin, but she herself did not follow it up. 



8.207      In addition, she heard reports within the Community: 



                  So I would have picked up a little bit from the leader in Cappoquin that there was some 

                  – a little concern around the possibility of drink in the childcare home. 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 



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  8.208    When asked whether she had any concerns about the impact of Sr Callida’s behaviour on her 

           ability to carry out her work, she said: 



                  Had I any concern? I suppose the answer to that is that I didn't – because I had never 

                  seen it personally and I had never seen the effects of it and everything I was hearing, if 

                  you like, or seeing myself didn't support the fact that it was affecting management or the 

                  home. So, I didn't address that part of it then. 



  8.209    She did not take immediate action, but instead set about building trust with Sr Callida: 



                  my memory, would have been that if this is a concern then we need to build trust, to build 

                  a relationship, to come to some understanding of childcare, so that we can address the 

                  issue  when  we  have  more  concrete  evidence.  So  that  was  a  deliberate  decision  that 

                  we took. 



  8.210    Sr Viola said that this process of building up trust involved calling over to the group home and 

           having tea with Sr Callida on a few occasions during the year, as well as attending in-service days 

           with her. 



  8.211    The emphasis, however, was all on Sr Callida and, by her own admission, Sr Viola did not talk to 

           the staff or to the children during these visits. She did not identify the chronic problems that were 

           causing such difficulties for the children and the staff there: 



                  I certainly would have felt that the place looked okay. The children looked okay. To me, I 

                  wouldn't have had any immediate concerns at the time. 



  8.212    This was a missed opportunity, and it allowed Sr Callida to continue behaviour that was, by any 

           standards, inappropriate and dangerous. 



  8.213    Sr Viola appointed Sr Serena as Superior to the convent in Cappoquin, and gave her instructions 

           to keep an eye on Sr Callida and report back on her behaviour. At the same time, Sr Callida’s 

           previous  confidante,  Sr  Melita,  was  transferred  from  Cappoquin  and  appointed  as  Superior  in 

           another school. This was regarded by Sr Callida as a great loss, both to her personally and to the 

           group home, and she and a number of the children rang Sr Viola to express their dismay at Sr 

           Melita’s departure. 



  8.214    Sr Viola gave evidence that she had briefed Sr Serena on Sr Callida’s alcohol problem when she 

           appointed her to Cappoquin, and had asked her to monitor the situation for her. Her evidence in 

           this regard was vague, however: 



                  I would be very surprised if I didn't. Because it was the thing that we had seriously tried 

                  to build. Liliana19  and myself had seen that as a concern and it was like please observe, 



                  please support, please build the relationship and keep in touch with us. 



  8.215    Sr Serena in her evidence was quite clear that she was only told to integrate Sr Callida into the 

           Community in the convent, and was not asked to monitor her drinking. 



  8.216    Sr Serena found the move to Cappoquin difficult. When asked by Sr Viola to go there as local 

           leader, ‘very, very, very reluctantly I said yes’. 



  8.217    Sr Serena did not see her remit as extending to the children in the group homes. She stated that 

           she was  the leader of  the Community  in Cappoquin, and  also had teaching  duties in  the local 

           secondary school, but did not regard the running of the homes as something she was concerned 

           with. She visited Group Home A very regularly, as her friendship with Sr Callida grew, and even 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 



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           helped  out  with  homework  occasionally,  but  she  never  saw  her  role  as  any  more  than  that  of 

           a visitor. 



8.218      At first, Sr Serena felt she was resented by the children and by Sr Callida, who were still feeling 

           the loss of Sr Melita. By degrees, however, she built a close relationship with Sr Callida: 



                  Yeah, the friendship between us developed. Yes, it took almost a year, I think, before – 

                  well, it took her a long time to warm to me, as well, because I think Sr Melita was a good 

                 friend of hers and I felt Callida probably missed her a lot. And it would have taken Callida 

                 a long time to get to know me as well. So, it didn't happen overnight, it was a process 

                 over really the first year, I think. The first year. 



8.219      After that first year, she began to spend more and more time with Sr Callida: 



                  Sometimes I went down – this is later on now when I got to know her quite well and we 

                 became quite friendly. We would go down and we would go out socialising, the two of us, 

                 away from Cappoquin. We would go out and have a drink or two. I would have a drink 

                 and so would she. 



8.220      They  would  both  return  to  the  group  home  after  a  night  out,  and  Sr  Serena  stayed  with  Sr 

           Callida overnight. 



8.221      Sr  Serena  confirmed  that  the  children  were  left  under  the  care  of  a  lay  worker  during  these 

           excursions. 



8.222      The two Sisters also went away for holiday weekends together: 



                  There were some weekends. With Sr Callida, yeah, there were some weekends that we 

                  went away. I remember – and I remember some of the children coming with us. Two or 

                 three weekends through the time that I was there. But not all of the children. There would 

                 be three or four children with us ... Well, the place I remember is [Kerry] ... [The hotel] had 

                 special – at least I was told they had special bargains, or whatever. So it was generally, as 

                 far as I remember it was [a] hotel in [Kerry], yeah. There were good weekends I thought. 

                 I thought they were good weekends. 



8.223      Sr Serena conceded that it was unusual for a Sister in a Community to go away for the weekend 

           with another Sister, ‘Well, you know, I know it wasn't right. It wasn't’. 



8.224      As her relationship with Sr Callida developed, she became more compromised: 



                 As I got to know Sr Callida a bit better it began to interfere with my job as local leader. 

                 Because I felt within myself a great discomfort that I was not doing what I should have 

                 done. I felt sometimes as time went on, that I was living a lie and that made me extremely 

                 unhappy within myself. That is one of the huge difficulties, looking back on my time in 

                  Cappoquin, that is one of my great sorrows, that is why I asked the Community, especially 

                 on one occasion, when Cappoquin was closing down; I asked for their forgiveness, I felt 

                 I let them down. In fact, I felt I let everyone down, including Sr Callida and Viola. 



8.225      Her ability to do her job was affected: 



                  Well,  I  suppose,  I  felt  I  compromised  myself  and  therefore  I  didn't  have  the  freedom, 

                 maybe, to – let me think about that now. I sort of lost my independence and my right to 

                 be independent and, therefore, I really I felt I had no voice anymore and no authority over 

                 anything really, including the community. The community were extremely kind and very – 

                 I don't know what they understood, I never asked them, but they were extremely accepting 

                 and forgiving, I suppose, and kind. But I was deeply unhappy within myself for a long time 



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                  towards the end. For a long time. And I suppose, yeah, I was. That has lived with me 

                  ever since. 



8.226      When asked what the sleeping arrangements were for the  children that accompanied them on 

           these weekends, she said that they all shared a family room: 



                  Well there were small double beds, so there would have been –  if there were three or 

                  four of them they would have been two by two, two by two in the beds and Sr Callida and 

                  I would have shared the main bed. So we would have all been in the same room. 



8.227      Sr Serena was remorseful for letting down her Community and Sr Viola and Sr Callida. She was 

           asked whether she felt she had let the children down, ‘I suppose I didn't – I wouldn't have seen it 

           like that’. 



8.228      She admitted that her relationship with Sr Callida prevented her from seeing how bad things were 

           in Group Home A, and it also lost her the trust of the staff there: 



                  I thought initially that I got on well with the staff, because we used to chat and talk around 

                  the table and obviously they lost any confidence –  they knew I didn't have a role there 

                  but at the same time they lost any confidence I think or any trust they had in me, which 

                  was  absolutely  understandable.  That  was  quite  significant  because  when  we  did  have 

                  a  meeting  eventually  it  really  went  nowhere  because  they  had  lost  trust  in  me.  And  I 

                  accept that. 



8.229      Throughout the first three years of her time in Cappoquin, Sr Serena was in almost daily contact 

           with her immediate Superior, Sr Viola, who taught in the same school: 



                  That's another place where I reneged my responsibility because I was torn between loyalty 

                  to Viola and the Congregation and loyalty to Callida. So because I was carrying so much 

                  self-blame and shame and guilt and all sorts of things around my role – or myself, I tended 

                  to shy away from talking about things like that to Viola. So that's why I said a minute ago 

                  that I failed Viola as well. 



8.230      The result of this conflict of loyalties was that, when Ms Waters, the House Mother of Group Home 

           B, came to her with serious complaints about Sr Callida in the late 1980s, she did not tell Sr Viola 

           but tried to deal with the matter herself. She failed dismally, and Ms Waters went over her head 

           to  Sr  Viola,  who   came    and   interviewed    staff  and   removed    Sr   Callida  from   her  position   as 

           Resident Manager. 



8.231      Sr Callida’s removal came as a shock to Sr Serena, who claimed that she had no idea that things 

           had deteriorated as badly as they had by the early 1990s. However, she knew of the problems 

           that caused so much distress to the staff. She was aware that some ex-pupils regularly stayed 

           overnight in Group Home A, and she was also aware that these men were sometimes drunk and 

           would be dangerous around young children. She was also aware that Sr Callida absented herself 

           from the home for long periods and that she regularly drank, sometimes in the company of Sr 

           Serena. What was clear from Sr Serena’s evidence was that she never considered the safety or 

           welfare of the children in Group Home A. She professed herself as shocked at the evidence of 

           the care workers who described conditions as dirty and neglectful. In her own evidence, she said 

           that she considered the children were ‘spoiled’: 



                  If I had seen anything, if ever I had seen anything in relation to the children in Cappoquin 

                  that worried me or upset me, because I was a teacher and because I had care for children, 

                  I would have been very – I would have done something about it. But I didn't see anything. 

                  I didn't see anything that really concerned me in relation to the staff treating the children, 

                  or anyone treating the children badly. 



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8.232      Sr Serena conceded that she did not really know what her responsibilities were in Cappoquin: 



                 I see what you are saying, I suppose really now that we are talking this is probably the 

                 first time ever that I have had to sit down and really think about my role, because it has 

                 been put to me the way you have been. I suppose it was all laissez faire. It was all a bit 

                 nebulous, it was, because it only now really, as you ask those questions now, I know what 

                 you  are  saying,  I  have  to  say  I  wouldn't  have  seen  that  connection.  It  was  all  a  bit 

                 nebulous, yes it was, everything was a bit nebulous, really. 



8.233      She  said  that,  although  she  was  seriously  compromised  in  the  carrying  out  of  her  duties  in 

           Cappoquin, none of the other 10 Sisters who were resident there ever said anything to her or to 

           Sr Viola: 



                 They probably noticed that I was spending more time down there than I should have. I 

                 tried – I think I would say I tried not to neglect my duties above. I loved them dearly and 

                 I spent a lot of time with them and I tried to do my work there as well as I could. 



8.234      Sr Callida’s removal as Resident Manager did not end the problems caused by her time in charge 

           there. She bitterly resented her removal and defended her record in Group Home A vehemently. 

           She  continued  living  in  the  convent  for  two  years  after  her  removal,  and  interfered  with  the 

           committee that had been put in place by Sr Viola to run the homes pending the appointment of 

           a new Resident Manager. This interference continued intermittently until she eventually left the 

           Congregation in the mid-1990s. 



8.235      Sr Clarice was a retired teacher in the primary school who had a ‘fair’ degree of contact with the 

           children in the group homes. She recalled that, in the early 1990s, Sr Viola asked her to help out 

           the staff in the group homes and to ‘be there to help them’. She was already aware that the staff 

           were having difficulties with Sr Callida at the time and, although she says she did not know the 

           specifics, ‘I think they were getting contradictory messages about the children who were in the 

           home and they were stressed’. 



8.236      Sr Callida persisted  in making contact with some of  the children, by meeting them  outside the 

           home. She was particularly obstructive when attempts were made to unite one girl with her mother. 

           This was a child with whom Sr Callida had had a close bond, which was a matter of concern to 

           the management committee. 



           Sr Callida’s evidence 



8.237      Sr  Callida  accepted  that  there  were  times  when  she  drank  a  lot,  but  did  not  agree  with  the 

           witnesses who testified as to the extent of her drinking: ‘I don’t accept – what’s the word I am 

           looking for? The bigness of it’. 



8.238      She denied that her drinking was problematic: ‘There was never a time when I was out of order 

           or didn’t know my place or was falling all over the place. I dispute that’. 



8.239      Sr Callida was asked to comment on the appropriateness of conducting intimate relationships with 

           two of the Sisters in the presence of the children. She did not accept that she had a relationship 

           with one of the Sisters and stated: 



                 The one I acknowledge had nothing to do with the house. In my room there were two 

                 beds and we had a bed each and that was that. But there was an occasion or two outside 

                 of the home when it wasn’t appropriate. 



8.240      She denied that she had favourites amongst the children, or that she favoured Group Home A 

           over Group Home B. She believed that she had a good relationship with staff members, apart 

           from  Ms  Waters  who  she  described  as  ‘kind  of  aloof’.  She  did  not  accept  the  evidence  of  Ms 



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----------------------- Page 1156-----------------------

           Waters that staff were frustrated, and that staff and children were unhappy. She believed at the 

           time that Ms Waters was making these allegations and complaints out of spite. 



8.241      Although she accepted that some people stayed overnight in the homes from time to time, ‘I don’t 

           accept that they were allowed roam around’. She said that the only people who stayed over were 

           past pupils and her own brother. She did not accept evidence from the staff members that one 

           past pupil in particular was a regular visitor and was often drunk: 



                  No, I never saw Mr Owens drunk. But ... his co-ordination was so poor that he fumbled 

                  and stumbled. ... Mr Owens stayed twice. 



8.242      She did not accept the belief, held by members of staff and some members of the Community, 

           that she had a domineering and intimidating management style and that people feared her, nor 

           did  she  accept  the  evidence  that,  following  her  removal,  she  was  insubordinate  and  interfered 

           with the new management in the group homes. 



8.243      Even  at  this  remove,  Sr  Callida  was  unable  to  explain  to  the  Committee  what  went  wrong  in 

           Cappoquin during her tenure: ‘I don’t know what went wrong. I just don’t know ... Because we had 

           great times and good times and happy times’.’ 



8.244      It was clear from her evidence to the Investigation Committee that Sr Callida did not have any 

           real insight into how she was perceived by other people. She believed she was a good manager, 

           that the children and staff were happy, and that staff problems stemmed from the personality of 

           one member of staff who was spiteful towards her. 



8.245      One of the Sisters who gave evidence gave a description of Sr Callida’s personality as one of 

           great power that seemed to work towards negating the power of others. She was intimidating and 

           forceful. This evidence was challenged, and it was suggested that the Congregation was taking a 

           one-sided    view   of  her   relationships   with  people.    There   was,   however,     evidence    from   staff 

           members as  to the difficulties  they had  in communicating with  her. She had  a divisive  style of 

           management and was not well disposed to any criticism or suggestions. 



8.246      Following her removal in the early 1990s, Sr Callida was told to stay away from the group home 

           and children, in order to avoid confusion for the children. The Congregation had great difficulty in 

           getting Sr Callida to comply with its wishes. Initially, she continued to come to work every day, 

           and later she tended to stay around the grounds of Cappoquin, waiting for the children on their 

           way to and from school. Sr Callida remained defiant, and it took almost a year to resolve these 

           problems. 



           The role of the Departments of Education and Health 



8.247      The children were let down by poor supervision and monitoring from the Departments of Education 

           and  Health.  Mr  Granville,  the  Inspector,  identified  staff  problems  in  1981.  He  thought  that  the 

           Resident Manager was young and inexperienced. Right up to his last report, he continued to have 

           concerns about staff rostering and the erosion of continuity with the children due to staff changes. 

           Mr Granville had no responsibility for the Health Board children who were coming and going in 

           the home, with little or no contact or support from social workers. 



8.248      Responsibility for Cappoquin was transferred from the Department of Education to the Department 

           of Health from 1st    January 1984, but until 1991 inspections were not carried out because of lack 



           of staff. 



8.249      The  South  Eastern  Health  Board  was  aware  of  rumours,  in  the  mid-1980s,  that  the  Resident 

           Manager was absenting herself from the Centre and was drinking heavily. There was no formal 

           inspection  system.  An  official  paid  a  surprise  visit  to  the  Centre,  when  he  found  the  Resident 



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----------------------- Page 1157-----------------------

          Manager  present.  He  was  satisfied  with  what  he  saw  and  did  not  take  any  action.  He  did  not 

          speak to any of the children or to the staff or to the nuns in the Community. The Resident Manager 

          was removed in the early 1990s for the very concerns that were being spoken about. 



          What the Congregation says 



8.250     In its Submission to the Investigation Committee, the Congregation pointed out that suspicions of 

          child abuse did not form any part of the reason for the dismissal of the Resident Manager by the 

          Superior in the early 1990s. It submitted that all the evidence and contemporaneous documents 

          were consistent with the reason for her dismissal being her inappropriate drinking and major staff 

          communication problems, with the obvious knock-on effect these had for the children in the home. 



8.251     The Congregation submits that discreet steps were taken in response to concerns expressed by 

          members of the Community and by people outside. One sister was asked to be a companion to 

          Sr Callida in the hope that she would be a good influence because she did not drink. However, 

          that did not happen. Instead, as the Congregation submission put it, the two nuns: 



                developed a relationship with each other. This may have had an impact on [Sr Melita’s] 

                capacity to observe [Sr Callida’s] behaviour in an objective manner. It was one of several 

                unusual aspects to the Cappoquin story involving [Sr Callida] as to the manner in which 

                (informal)  human  arrangements  for  monitoring  her  ran  into  the  sand.  In  the  event,  [Sr 

                Melita] did not transmit any concerns about [Sr Callida] to anyone in leadership. 



          The  submission refers  to another  nun, Sr  Serena, who  was ‘specifically  asked to  report to  the 

          diocesan  leadership  about  whether  or  not  there  was  any  substance  to  the  rumours  about  ‘Sr 

          Callida’s drinking’. The Diocesan Leader was reassured that there was not but the submission 

          admits that the system for monitoring Sr Callida failed ‘for unusual and unexpected reasons.’ 



                This unusual matter was the development of a relationship between [Sr Callida] and [Sr 

                Serena], which compromised [Sr Serena] and prevented the reporting system devised by 

                [Sr Viola] from working effectively. 



          The result was that no information of a drink problem or of any other problems reached the ears 

          of the leadership from internal congregation sources. 



8.252     There was a conflict of evidence between Sr Viola, the senior diocesan nun, and Sr Serena, the 

          local head, as to the latter’s role in monitoring Sr Lucilla. Sr Serena testified that the only brief 

          she had was to befriend Sr Callida and encourage her to become closer to the Community. She 

          denied that she was ever asked to report specifically to the Diocesan Leadership about whether 

          or  not  there  was  any   substance  to   the  rumours  about    the  drinking. The  Congregation     has 

          submitted  that  there  was  a  system  for  monitoring  Sr  Callida  but,  for  unusual  and  unexpected 

          reasons, the system failed. 



8.253     The problems that faced Mr Lloyd, when he arrived in Cappoquin in the early 1990s, clearly did 

          not arise overnight. The problems were long standing and had deteriorated steadily over the years. 

          It was well known amongst staff and members of the Congregation that the Resident Manager 

          was drinking heavily. A number of Sisters believed that the drinking began after the death of a 

          pupil in the late 1970s. She had been spoken to a number of times about the matter. The Resident 

          Manager was in denial and, when one particular lay staff member complained to her about alcohol 

          consumption on the premises, she was dismissed. Certainly, by the mid-1980s the leaders of the 

          Community had expressed concern to the Superior of the convent about the Resident Manager’s 

          drinking, but it took the resignation of two young lay staff members in the early 1990s to force 

          them to address the issue properly. 



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          The mid-1990s 



8.254     The Superior General of the Sisters of Mercy, kept a detailed diary of the events that unfolded 

          over this period and recorded allegations, complaints and concerns about Sr Callida. 



8.255     In the early 1990s, Sr Callida told the Superior General that she had obtained a position with the 

          Health Board in a project involving the care of a young man. The Superior General informed the 

          Health Board of her concern about Sr Callida’s suitability for the post because of the complaints 

          that had come to her notice, including information from Mr Lloyd. In the course of the resulting 

          Health  Board  investigation,  it  emerged  that  one  of  the  Board’s  own  senior  social  workers  had 

          given Sr Callida a glowing reference, even though he knew that she had been dismissed from her 

          job in Cappoquin. 



8.256     The Health Board did not look beyond the social worker’s reference and offered Sr Callida the 

          job. This happened, despite the fact that the Chief Executive Officer of the Health Board had been 

          informed in the early 1990s of Sr Callida’s dismissal, and she herself had been in communication 

          with  the  Health  Board  disputing  her  removal.  The  social  worker  should  not  have  given  the 

          reference and was seriously at fault in doing so. The Health Board should have been able, from 

          its  records,  to  notice  the  discrepancy  between  the  favourable  reference  and  the  fact  that  the 

          candidate had been dismissed from her previous post. 



8.257     Sr Callida left the Congregation in the mid 1990s. Shortly after that, the Superior General was 

          asked for a reference for the former Sr Callida, and she recorded her response in her diary: 



                Phone call from XXX in Dublin looking for a reference for [Callida]. Asked the nature of 

                work – laundry for hospitals. Told her she had been a member of the congregation. She 

                asked what was my connection with her – diocesan superior. I said that I believed she 

                was a hard worker when in hospital for the elderly. She said I seemed hesitant. Told her 

                I did not really know [Callida]. 



8.258     In the late 1990s, the matron of another institution contacted the Sisters of Mercy to complain at 

          the failure of the Congregation to inform her fully of Callida’s background. A senior member of the 

          Congregation testified that the overall policy with regard to references was that of being honest 

          and upright. 



          Conclusions 



8.259     •     Sr  Callida was  an  incompetent  manager who  exhibited  a  lack  of basic  management 

                skills  including   rostering,   proper   record    keeping,   communicating       with   staff and 

                children, consistency and avoiding favouritism. Each of these deficiencies would have 

                represented a serious flaw in a Resident Manager but, taken together, they constituted 

                a disastrous mixture. 



          •     She  consumed  alcohol  in  front  of  the  children  to  excess  and  she  was  drunk  and 

                incapable on occasion. 



          •    Her behaviour was unpredictable and irrational; she bullied the staff and occasionally 

                beat the children. 



          •    Sr Callida exposed children to additional risk by going away unannounced leaving the 

                children in the charge of junior staff who had no way of contacting her and also by 

                permitting male outsiders to have access to the home and to stay overnight even when 

                she was not there. 



          •    It was wrong for the Resident Manager to have children sleeping in her bedroom and 

                for her and the Sister with whom she was conducting a relationship to take children 

                away for weekends to hotels to stay in ‘family rooms’. 



          372                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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           •    Congregation  witnesses admitted  to  some  knowledge  of  Sr Callida’s  behaviour,  but 

                 did not feel they could do anything about it, and the situation drifted on over 12 years 

                 until it developed into a crisis. 



           •    There was no proper supervision of the Manager. 

           •    The Community did not have the interests of the children as their priority. Any action 

                 taken   by   the  Congregation       focussed     exclusively    on   the   Resident    Manager.     The 

                 children were not considered. 



           •    The Health Board neglected its supervisory function in respect of children for whom it 

                was responsible. One of its senior Health Board officials permitted his friendship with 

                 the Resident Manager, to cloud his judgment, and he failed to recognise gross failures 

                 of management as a result. No proper reviews were carried out by the Board’s social 

                workers. 



           •    The children in Cappoquin were let down and endangered by each of the institutions 

                 and agencies in whose care they were placed, by the persons in positions of authority 

                 over  them,  and  by  persons  in  supervisory  roles.  They  were  fortunate  to  have  care 

                workers who were more dedicated to their tasks and more committed to the interest 

                 of the children than their superiors. 



           Physical abuse 



           Position of the Sisters of Mercy 



8.260      In their Submission to the Investigation Committee, the Sisters of Mercy stated that the Committee 

           was not in a position to reach firm conclusions on allegations of physical abuse ‘as distinct from 

           the reasonable use of corporal punishment’ where the events alleged arose over 35 years ago. 

           They accepted that corporal punishment was used in Cappoquin and ‘regret its use and its impact 

           on the children’. 



8.261      From the total of nine ex-residents who appeared before the Committee, the majority described 

           one or more incidents of physical punishment. 



8.262      A  witness,  who  was  admitted  to  Cappoquin  as  a  baby  in  the  early  1950s,  described  how  a 

           particularly severe beating by one of the Sisters destroyed his trust in the adults who were looking 

           after him. He was in bed and was naked because he had been treated with ointment. One of the 

           lay staff gave him a painting set, which he used to colour two religious statues in the room. He 

           recalled a nun (Sr Adriana he thought) coming into the room and: 



                 ... she kind of lost reasoning and, I suppose,  from her point of view I was desecrating 

                 something very religious but from my point of view I was just painting, you know. She just 

                 kept hitting and hitting and wouldn't stop. So, I ran for the door ... I was running in the 

                 dark,  I  just  wanted  to  get  away,  I  was  just  running  in  panic.  She  just  kept  hitting,  and 

                 coming  after  me  down  the  stairs  ...  and  I  kept  banging  on  the  door  and  banging  and 

                 banging  until  somebody  actually  came  out  and  she  just  kept  hitting  and  hitting  until 

                 somebody came out and stopped her ... Up to then I would have to say while I got a clout 

                 every  now  and  again  for  not  doing  something  or  you  got  a  slap,  but  it  wasn't  with 

                 viciousness, not in the same way with viciousness, this was just temper let loose. I don't 

                 know if that person, to me, even if they said sorry, I wouldn't have understood it, I really 

                 wouldn't have. 



8.263      The Sister beat him with an ordinary, classroom cane, but it was much worse than punishment 

           in school: 



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                  It was a cane. About two or three feet long, made of bamboo, with a kind of bend on it 

                  like that (indicating) ... they used to use them in the classroom for striking the boards or 

                  tables or hitting somebody. But when you have a naked child and you stand back at two 

                  or three feet and let fly as an adult the cane doesn't stop when it hits the flesh, it cuts, 

                  you know. 



8.264      Although this witness was only six or seven when this incident occurred, he was able to distinguish 

           this beating from the ordinary corporal punishment he received from time to time in the School. 

           He had been slapped with the cane before, although it had not been a common occurrence. The 

           beating had a lasting effect: 



                  After that I would say that the trust had gone out, the trust had gone out of it. You never, 

                  ever would allow people get that close to you and you were always looking for a way out. 

                  If somebody raised their voice or anything you would instantly go into fear because I didn't 

                  understand, I didn't understand the power behind it. I am trying to explain that as a child 

                  when somebody does that to you it is the sheer power and the frightedness of it that kind 

                  of haunts you, it comes back to you and when any other adult raises their voice the next 

                  you expect is the assault coming behind it ... 



8.265      His recollection of Cappoquin was that younger nuns could not challenge older nuns, even if they 

           saw something wrong: 



                  It gave that person then the power ... There is no system, nobody said stop if an older 

                  person done something. That's the way it was, they seemed to rule it, you know. 



8.266      He described the nun who beat him as being ‘very domineering’, and said that the person who 

           stopped the beating had not challenged her for what she was doing. 



8.267      He   said   another    nun   who    was   there,   Sr  Mariella,20   ‘was   a  very   standoffish   person,    very 



           authoritarian ... She would be more than likely to hit you twice as fast as anybody else’. 



8.268      Although the younger nuns or novices were able to relate to the children, the older members of 

           the staff were more inclined to punish, ‘[They] believed in punishment for the sake of punishment 

           and that if we punish you enough as a child it will make you a better person, you know’. 



8.269      He went to Artane when he was 10 years old, and notwithstanding his experiences in Cappoquin 

           still believed that the Sisters there did their best and, in contrast with Artane, genuinely tried to 

           care for the children. 



8.270      Another ex-resident who was in Cappoquin in the 1970s described the nuns there as ‘unreal’: 



                  As far as abuse was concerned. They had the bamboo sticks as long as the handle of a 

                  brush ... They would actually beat you wherever they would want to beat you. There is 

                  no such thing as put out your hands, they would hit you on the legs, they would hit you 

                  on the back. I actually seen one incident where there was actually a chap poked in the 

                  eye with it and they had the cheek to turn around and go down to the chapel after it. What 

                  they went to the chapel for, I don't know. 



8.271      He named two nuns, Sr Carina and Sr Lorenza,21                who he said were particularly severe. In the 



           case of Sr Lorenza, he said that, although she could be nice: 



           20 This is a pseudonym. 

           21 This is a pseudonym. Sr Lorenza later worked in St. Joseph’s Industrial School, Kilkenny. See St Joseph’s Industrial 



              School, Kilkenny chapter. 



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----------------------- Page 1161-----------------------

                  ...  she  could  get  very  contrary.  She  could  be  a  nice  nun.  I  suppose  she  could  be  an 

                  understanding nun, we'll say. But yet if she lost the cool she lost the cool, she wouldn't 

                  spare you any more than Sr Carina would spare you. 



8.272      A witness, who was admitted to Cappoquin at four years of age in the late 1950s, described a 

           severe beating he received from the Resident Manager.22               He had been called into her office and 



           handed a letter sent to him by his mother. Sr Carina asked him to read it, but he could not read: 



                  I remember then I got a beating over that. I remember she beat me so much I ended up 

                  down at the wall, at the end of the wall, she had beat me that much. Then at the end of 

                  it all she just got the letter and she said "seen as you can't read the letter it is no good to 

                  you" and she tore it up. 



8.273      He recalled another nun, Sr Mariella, giving him a severe beating because he did not hear a bell 

           ringing. He had just come out of hospital after an operation on his ears and had bandages on, 

           which affected his hearing: 



                  ... but I couldn't hear nothing and all I could see was everybody running. So, I didn't run. 

                  Next thing Sr Mariella started belting me with the cane, all over and she hit me in the ear 

                  and I ended up back in there again, back in the hospital. 



8.274      The witness remembered one nun in Cappoquin with particular fondness: 



                  The reason I have always loved Sr Adriana is one particular incident involving again Sr 

                  Carina, the time when we went to the toilet, you went to the toilet at certain times, right 

                  ... So you were lined up and you were told when to go into the toilet, when it was your 

                  turn, in you go, the nun would tell you. It came to me anyway and I didn't want to go, I 

                  didn't want to, you know what I mean. So with that I was brought back into the office. I 

                  must have been about eight, nine at the time, eight at the time. I was brought back into 

                  the office. Again I got beaten. I was stripped and put on the, what do you call it, the office 

                  desk, she used have a big desk she used have all her things on it. I got put on that, and 

                  I was beaten. 



                  But when I woke up on that I didn't wake up on the desk, I woke up in the bed. The first 

                  thing I see when I woke up was Sr Adriana. She had one hand on my forehead and she 

                  was holding her beads with the other hand. That's a picture I never forgot and I never will. 

                  Because that brought home to me, in later years as I got older, the difference. That there 

                  was good and bad. And that's why I have never blamed the nuns or anyone else for what 

                  happened to me. I have never even blamed the Christian Brothers, because that particular 

                  incident always stayed in my mind. 



8.275      Another complainant spoke about a particular incident with Sr Carina: 



                  I remember Sr Carina bringing me in between –  down on the nun's side of the School, 

                  like, and when I looked at this woman I could see fire in her eyes, like, and I knew what 

                  I was expecting from her and I couldn't prevent it and she caught me and she put me 

                  over her knee and she literally whipped the backside off me with her whole hand. She 

                  said to me, "I am going to leather you ... until I put blisters on your backside", and she 

                  meant it what she said, like. I remember after that I couldn't sit down. I looked at her hand 

                  and her hand was sore red from swinging it. The ring that she was wearing you could see 

                  the white of the band, that will just tell you how red her hand was from lashing me, like. 

                  She  was  a  good  woman  herself  with  the  cane,  like,  you  know  ...  Once  or  twice  that 

                  happened to me. 



           22 Mother Carina. 



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           Bed-wetting 



8.276      Given  the  ages  of  the  children  in  Cappoquin,  it  was  inevitable  that  bed-wetting  was  a  major 

           problem. The Sisters of Mercy accepted that there may have been occasions when children ‘were 

           punished and consequently humiliated for bedwetting, and, recognising the deep hurt and trauma 

           this must have caused to the children, apologise sincerely for this’. 



8.277      One complainant said fear was the cause of bed-wetting, as far as he was concerned: 



                  Normally if I destroyed the bed it was because of the person present, I would be afraid to 

                  go to the toilet, and if I didn't go to the toilet and I got to bed I would be afraid afterwards 

                  that I would be chastised. 



8.278      He said that the consequence of wetting the bed depended on who was on duty. Some of the 

           staff just cleaned it up, others would slap the child. 



8.279      Another complainant, who had a problem with wetting the bed, said that the nuns would hit children 

           for this: 



                  The boys that wet the bed, they'd have to take off the sheet, their face could be dipped in 

                  it first, their face could be shoved down into it and they would get a few clouts and clatters. 



8.280      The punishment appeared to get more severe when one lay person, Ms Lambert,23  was employed 



           to supervise the dormitories. 



8.281      A witness recalled the fear he felt at night, knowing that he would be beaten by this staff member 

           the next day if he wet himself: 



                  ... I had a habit of wetting the bed and she Ms Lambert would come in in the morning and 

                  ask anyone that wet the bed to stay in your bed, which I did stay in the bed ... If you went 

                  back to your bed, you had to go back into it and sit there and wait for your turn ... She 

                  came around, hit all the other young kids, you are sitting there and you are waiting and 

                  you are watching her, waiting for my turn, to lie over the bed and a big cane before you 

                  went to school, before you had breakfast ... That went on all the time I wet the bed and I 

                  wet the bed for a long time, for years. That was my torture for that. Sometimes I used to 

                  stay awake, try  and stay awake, I  couldn't, I was young.  Try to keep my  friend awake 

                  beside me. I used to have nightmares ... Yeah, I know that's what I was frightened of, 

                  going to sleep. If you wet it a second time you get more, you know what I mean. It might 

                  be five of the best and then ten of the best. 



8.282      Another witness had a similar experience of this staff member: 



                  Ms Lambert would come up in the mornings and if we wet our bed we had to lie in our 

                  own bed. Often the case I ended up lying in my own urine and excretion at times and she 

                  would hit us over the legs, the buttocks and on the back. She was quite cruel, Ms Lambert 

                  ... It went on for a long period of time ... there was a little red dimmer light with Jesus on 

                  it in the cross, in the bottom, and I remember I used to look up at it and I used to say 

                  to  God,  "Please,  do  not  let  me  wet  the  bed  tonight,  do  not  let  me  excrete."  I  used  to 

                  be awake. 



           Lay staff 



8.283      Some  witnesses  described  the  lay  staff  as  being  more  abusive  than  the  Sisters.  One  witness 

           recalled being lined up after returning from a family holiday and being beaten by the staff member 

           identified in the bed-wetting section above, Ms Lambert: 



           23 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1163-----------------------

                 I remember when we came back from holiday with my mother and father and that, and 

                 we were all lined up and she just started hammering us with the stick, she did ... She 

                 done it on many occasions, you know. 



  8.284    Another witness who was there in the 1940s and 1950s recalled that the day-to-day running of 

           the Institution was left to lay staff and that the Sisters had more of a supervisory role. He had no 

           problems with any of the nuns, but he said the lay workers could be cruel. He found bath-time 

           particularly difficult: 



                 ... they would hit me and hit my hands if I am holding the bath on the side, you know 

                 when you are very small and you are trying to hold the bath and I was fearfully afraid of 

                 water, and they would hit your hands away and catch your head like that and push you 

                 down  underneath  and  try  to  get  the  soap  off  you.  Sometimes  they  would  be  laughing 

                 while they are doing this and they would take a great bit of fun in doing –  ducking you 

                 under the water and making you feel like you are going to drown. 



  8.285    Although this witness believed that the Sisters in charge knew that the lay staff were cruel to the 

           children but did not interfere, he still associated whatever happy memories he had of Cappoquin 

           with the Sisters. 



  8.286    Another lay  member of staff was  mentioned by one  complainant, who described her  using the 

           handle of a brush to beat him: 



                 ... she swung at me, I ducked from her and got under the table, but she used the handle 

                 of a brush and beat me wherever she could hit me. 



  8.287    Although Sr Isabella treated him in the infirmary for the injuries he had received from this beating, 

           she would not believe that they had been inflicted by a staff member. 



  8.288    Physical punishment in Cappoquin continued after the Industrial School had been closed and the 

           group homes were established. One care worker in Group Home A described seeing a child with 

           marks on her legs as a result of a beating by Sr Callida. 



  8.289    Mr Lloyd, who succeeded Sr Callida as Resident Manager, reported that children had told him of 

           beatings and punishments that were completely inappropriate and severe. 



  8.290    Sr Callida was asked whether she had ever beaten any of the children, and she said that there 

           were three episodes that stood out in her mind. She was Resident Manager during the 1980s, 

           when there was almost universal opposition to physical punishment of children. 



           Peer abuse 



  8.291    One complainant described an incident that occurred in the evening when all the boys were in 

           one room watching television. He alleged that he was being sexually abused by two older boys, 

           and this aspect of the story is told below. These older boys had been transferred from Artane and 

           they were put in charge of all the boys in the evening, when the lay staff and the nuns were off 

           duty. They had canes and used them on the boys: 



                 my brother was being belted with this bamboo stick by the other man ... he was crying 

                 and I heard my brother crying and I was sitting down looking at the television ... I just 

                 turned around and as he had it over his shoulder like that I caught it and I said to him, "if 

                 you don't stop now I am going tell what you are doing to me." 



  8.292    The sexual abuse stopped after that incident. 



  8.293    He said that boys could receive beatings from these older boys for minor things: 



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                  He could have told him “pick up that piece of paper on the ground there” and we would 

                  keep looking at the television and that would rise him, so he would just go to him and pull 

                  him out of the chair. 



8.294      He said the beatings could be ‘Across the legs, across the backside and the hands’. 



8.295      A number of older boys exercised this kind of unsupervised authority over the children during the 

           evening. They instilled fear into the younger boys by beating them with canes. 



8.296      He thought that the management of the School must have known about this: 



                  They must have known it. Yeah, they must have known. I believe they did know it ... Them 

                  boys didn't take it upon themselves to say, "come on ... we will get the sticks and we'll 

                  look after these boys." They obviously got authority from someone to do it and they didn't 

                  get it from us. 



8.297      The Sisters have submitted that, as only one witness gave evidence that older boys were given 

           power over the younger boys and none of the staff or Sisters involved at the time are in a position 

           to give evidence to the contrary, the evidence is so tenuous that no conclusions adverse to the 

           Sisters could reasonably be supported. However, the abuser in this case gave a statement to the 

           Gardai, admitting the sexual abuse and acknowledging that he was left in charge of the younger 

                   ´ 

           boys in the evening. 



           Positive evidence 



8.298      Although all of the complainants from Cappoquin described physical punishment or abuse, many 

           recalled particular nuns who were good or kind to them. 



8.299      One  nun  who  came  in  for  special  praise  was  Sr  Isabella.  When  asked  what  it  was  about  Sr 

           Isabella that singled her out, one witness said: 



                  ... What was it that made Sr [Isabella] the best of them? I never actually seen her being 

                  violent with anyone. I never seen her being violent with myself. To me, she was a good 

                  caring kind of a woman. But done her job. If someone needed chastising –  if someone 

                  needed  chastising  she  would  shout,  point  her  finger.  I  never  actually  seen  her  hitting 

                  anyone, or she never hit me. 



8.300      Another witness said of Sr Isabella: 



                  ... there is one nun that I still write to ... Sr Isabella, who was outstanding, and I would 

                  have to say that of all the nuns there, she was the one that – she ran the infirmary, I think, 

                  if my memory serves me right. But she would have been one that probably exhibited what 

                  should have been rather than what was ... 



8.301      Another    complainant,     who    made    allegations    against   a  man    he   was    fostered   out  to  from 

           Cappoquin, went even further: 



                                                                                                                   24 

                  You know, if you wanted to find good people Sr Isabella, Sr Carina and Sr Serafina                  were 

                  three walking saints. It is just the staff I didn't like. 



           Conclusions 



8.302       1.   The incidents of physical punishment described by complainants went beyond what 

                 was   permitted.     The   children    were    very   young,    and   such    severe    punishment       was 

                 uncalled for. 



           24 This is a pseudonym. 



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            2.   Caning  very  young  children  was  unnecessary  and  abusive  by  the  standards  of  the 

                 time. 



            3.   Untrained lay staff were unsupervised and given too much control over the children, 

                 and this resulted in cruelty. 



            4.   Allowing  older  boys  to  discipline  smaller  children  using  corporal  punishment  was 

                 reckless and dangerous. 



           Sexual abuse 



           Sexual abuse by Mr Restin25              in Cappoquin and Passage West 



8.303      Mr  Restin  was  a  childcare  worker  in  Cappoquin  in  the  late  1970s.  He  had  previously  been 

           employed by the Sisters of Mercy in another of their industrial schools in Passage West, County 

           Cork, during the mid-1970s. 



8.304      In the mid-1990s, Mr Restin was arrested in England and charged with three offences of indecent 

           assault  on  a  boy  under  16  and  with  possession  of  indecent  photographs  of  children.  He  was 

           sentenced  to  18  months  imprisonment,  of  which  he  served  nine  months.  Following  his  prison 

           sentence, he spent a period of four months in a psychiatric hospital because of depression and 

           then lived in a probation hostel for a further six months. He returned to Dublin in the late 1990s. 



8.305      An ex-resident of Cappoquin disclosed to his psychiatrist that he had been sexually and physically 

           abused by a number of named individuals, including Mr Restin, whilst in the Institution. He was 

           advised to report the abuse and, in 2000, he made a full statement to the Gardai. 

                                                                                                           ´ 



8.306      Mr Restin was interviewed by the Gardai the following year, and admitted sexually abusing boys 

                                                            ´ 

           in Passage West and Cappoquin. Two years later, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment: 

           six  years  for  possession  of  pornographic  material,  and  two  sentences  of  two  years  each  for 

           indecently assaulting a boy in Cappoquin and a boy in Passage West. 



8.307      Mr Restin told the Committee that he did not know the identity of the two boys in respect of whom 

           he had pleaded guilty: 



                  I am doing two years for a victim in Passage West and I am doing two years for a victim 

                  in Cappoquin and I do not know who either of those victims are, at this point ... I pleaded 

                  guilty ... I am convinced that whoever they are I ... did abuse them or I wouldn't have said 

                  I did. 



8.308      Three witnesses gave evidence that Mr Restin sexually abused them in the Industrial School in 

           Cappoquin, and a further two witnesses described being sexually and physically abused by him 

           in Passage West. 



8.309      Mr Restin was placed with the nuns in Cappoquin at three months of age, where he remained 

           until he was nine and a half years old. He was then transferred to St Patrick’s Industrial School, 

           Upton and was discharged on the day before his sixteenth birthday. 



8.310      Mr  Restin  gave  evidence  that  he  was  subjected  to  serious  sexual  abuse  whilst  in  Upton  by  a 

           Priest and by a Brother. 



8.311      During his time as a child in Cappoquin and Upton, he was aware of sexual activity among other 

           boys and he also became involved. He said it was not widespread but it went on. 



           25 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1166-----------------------

8.312      He became a nurse because he realised he had a problem forming relationships with adults, and 

           thought he might be able to resolve these difficulties through his nursing vocation. 



8.313      After four years’ training, he qualified as a nurse and, on one occasion, was sent on special duty 

           to attend a patient who needed treatment in hospital in Cork. At that time, a young resident of 

           Passage West Industrial School was in the hospital where he spent approximately one month. Mr 

           Restin befriended the boy and got to meet the Resident Manager of Passage West, Sr Vita,26  who 



           regularly visited the hospital. When the boy left hospital and returned to Passage West, Mr Restin 

           began to visit Passage West at weekends, when he would spend time there, play ball with the 

           children and occasionally have a meal with the nuns in their dining room. He said that the Resident 

           Manager  was  aware  of  his  medical  training  and  that  she  also  knew  he  was  an  ex-Cappoquin 

           resident. 



8.314      After some months, the Sisters in Passage West offered him a job, at first mainly as a driver. He 

           said  the  job  was  better  paid  than  nursing,  the  hours  were  more  flexible  and  he  was  provided 

           with accommodation. 



8.315      He unsuccessfully applied for leave of absence from his nursing job, so continued to be employed 

           as a nurse whilst also working in Passage West. 



8.316      Mr  Restin  agreed  with  the  suggestion  that  the  moves  to  Passage  West  and  subsequently  to 

           Cappoquin  might  have  been  deliberate,  to  gain  access  to  young  boys.  He  admitted  that  he 

           sexually abused a number of boys – he recalled around five in Passage West, but he denied ever 

           forcing any boys to engage in oral sex, as had been alleged. He described how he had a routine, 

           and that oral sex was not part of it. He also denied that he had ever raped boys, and he told the 

           Committee the reason: 



                  I  suppose  the  fact  that  I  was  raped  myself,  it  was  something  that  I  found  extremely 

                  offensive and it is something I have never done. 



8.317      Mr   Restin   admitted    abusing    one   of  the   complainants     who    gave   evidence     about   abuse    in 

           Passage West. 



8.318      The complainant was admitted to Passage West in the early 1970s. When his mother died in the 

           late  1960s,  he  became  involved  in  petty  crime  and  he  was  committed  by  the  District  Court  to 

           Passage West until he was aged 16. 



8.319      Soon after he arrived in Passage West, he came across Mr Restin. Initially, he thought he was 

           friendly. The sexual abuse started soon after meeting him and continued until Mr Restin left the 

           Institution.  He  was  forced  to  engage  in  mutual  masturbation  and,  after  his  first  experience,  he 

           initially tried to avoid contact with Mr Restin by trying to keep a low profile and staying out of his 

           way. This did not work and the abuse continued on a regular basis in a variety of locations in the 

           Institution. He always felt under threat of a beating or punishment if he did not co-operate with Mr 

           Restin. He then began absconding from Passage West. On one occasion, one of the nuns and 

           Mr Restin came to the Garda Station to bring him back to the School and, when they got back, 

           they gave him a severe beating with a stick. Another time, when he was on a visit home, his father 

           noticed marks on his body from a beating. He told his father that Mr Restin had beaten him, and 

           his father planned to confront Mr Restin when he called to collect him after the weekend to bring 

           him back to Passage West. Some form of altercation took place, and it required the intervention 

           of the Resident Manager and her assistant, before his father agreed to allow him to return to the 

           School. He did not tell his family about the sexual abuse at the time. 



           26 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1167-----------------------

8.320      Some time later, he realised that Mr Restin was abusing others. He began to notice signs as boys 

           emerged eating sweets, having spent some time with Mr Restin. He and two other boys went to 

           the Resident Manager, Sr Vita, in her room and told her what Mr Restin was doing. She seemed 

           sympathetic and asked them to name the boys who were being abused. He named about 12 to 

           15 boys, and the other boys named a few. He was called to her room later that evening, where 

           the boys he had named were lined up. The Manager asked them in turn if Mr Restin was ‘doing 

           stuff’  to  them,  and  all  the  boys  except  for  one  denied  it.  The  witness  and  the  other  boy  who 

           confirmed the abuse were taken to the hall and given beatings, which were so severe that the 

           other boy was injured and required stitches. The witness absconded a few days later with two 

           other boys. He thought that he was not caught for about two and half weeks and did not recall 

           being punished, which he felt was because the Resident Manager was well aware of why he ran 

           away. Mr Restin did not bother him after that, and he could not remember when Mr Restin left 

           Passage West. 



8.321      Mr Restin had to engage in protracted correspondence with his employers as he sought leave 

           from  the  hospital  where  he  worked  to  attend  the  childcare  course  in  Kilkenny.  This  leave  was 

           finally granted in the early 1970s, but he did not attend the course either in the year the leave 

           was granted or the following year. 



8.322      The records show that in one particular academic year 19 persons attended the Kilkenny childcare 

           course instead of the usual 20, and Mr Restin was not one of them. It appears that his application 

           was  blocked  as  a  result  of  an  unfavourable  response  given  by  Sr  Vita  to  a  query  made  by  a 

           Department of Education official in reference to Mr Restin’s suitability for the post. 



           Complainant evidence from Passage West 



8.323      Another complainant who gave evidence recalled the arrival of Mr Restin. His memory was that 

           one of the pupils was not well and went to hospital. On his return, Mr Restin was with him. He 

           understood he was a nurse and was there to attend to medical issues. He fell off a bicycle and 

           hurt his testicles and sustained a number of bruises in that area. He went to see Mr Restin who 

           brought him into his cubicle off the dormitory. He applied cream to the affected area. Mr Restin 

           then undressed and told the complainant to masturbate him, which he did. Mr Restin then gave 

           him sweets and told him to keep quiet. The witness said that he had to masturbate Mr Restin in 

           this way on several occasions. 



8.324      He said that Mr Restin raped him on three occasions. The first time, it happened in a field to which 

           Mr Restin had driven him. The second was in Mr Restin’s cubicle in the dormitory, and the third 

           in an old disused train carriage in the school grounds. He said Mr Restin punched and beat him 

           on the back during one rape. After the last occasion, he did everything in his power to avoid Mr 

           Restin, by staying close to the other boys and his brothers. He said he then built up courage to 

           go to the head nun in the convent, which was separate from the School. He said he told her at 

           the front entrance to the convent that Mr Restin was sexually abusing him. She told him to go 

           back to the School and she would speak to somebody about it. Some time later, Sr Vita called 

           him and accused him of spreading wicked lies and gave him a severe beating. Soon after this, 

           Mr Restin left. 



8.325      Sr Vita worked in Mount St Joseph’s Industrial School in Passage West from the early 1940s to 

           the early 1980s, and was Resident Manager from the early 1970s until she left. She was a qualified 

           nurse. She is now deceased. Her evidence was taken on commission at a nursing home in Cork. 

           Sr  Vita’s  recollection  was  that  the  first  complainant  above  told  her  about  Mr  Restin,  who  had 

           threatened to do something to him and to a number of younger boys. She said that she asked 

           him whether Mr Restin had threatened to beat him, to which he replied that he had not. She did 

           not pursue the matter further ‘in my innocence and ignorance I suppose’ and said she did not 

           know what the boy could have meant, although she did believe that he had been threatened by 



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----------------------- Page 1168-----------------------

           Mr  Restin.  She  sent  for  Mr  Restin,  but  he  had  left  the  Institution  by  then.  She  never  saw  him 

           again. She said that she phoned Cappoquin looking for him but he was not there. In a statement 

           made to the Gardai she said: 

                                  ´ 



                 After [the complainant] had told me about [Mr Restin] I tried to contact him in Cappoquin. 

                  I wanted to talk with him to find out if it was true or false what [the complainant] had said. 

                  I did not get to speak with him, I left a message for him to contact me, but he did not. 



8.326      In the Garda statement she added: 



                  I sent word to Cappoquin Orphanage through a nun here that I felt that [Mr Restin] was 

                  not a suitable person to be with children. 



           The story of Mr Restin resumes in Cappoquin 



8.327      Mr Restin’s evidence was that he did not believe he was asked to leave Passage West, nor did 

           he think Sr Vita knew he had abused boys there. He arranged to move to Cappoquin while he 

           was still working in Passage West. He was vague in his evidence as to how the job arose. He 

           believed that he met Sr Isabella from Cappoquin while he was doing an interview for the childcare 

           course    at Waterford     Regional    Technical    College.   Cappoquin     was   nearer    to Waterford     than 

           Passage West, and would be more convenient if he was doing the course. He believed that he 

           might have told Sr Isabella he was thinking of doing the course, and thought that she suggested 

           that he contact Cappoquin. 



8.328      The job he got in Cappoquin involved general childcare duties, and teaching a remedial class of 

           boys who had reading difficulties. He said that he assumed he would have sought a reference 

           from Sr Vita for the course and for his move to Cappoquin, but there was no record of any such 

           request or reference on file in either Cappoquin or Passage West. The records show that, while 

           Mr Restin was in Passage West, he was also spending time in Cappoquin Industrial School. In 

           the early 1970s, an official from the Department of Education carried out a general inspection of 

           Cappoquin Industrial School and reported that: 



                 A ... nurse ... visits the school every few weeks to lend assistance in placements (he helps 

                  out similarly in the Passage West School in Cork). 



8.329      Mr Restin thought that he abused three boys in Cappoquin. He described the method he used to 

           get to know the child. He said he never used threats and just became friendly with them and then 

           ‘they would literally do what you want’. He gave rewards such as sweets but rarely gave money. 

           He said he would stop if the boys wanted him to and denied that he ever forced them. 



8.330      A  former  resident  said  that  Mr  Restin  began  to  abuse  him  when  he  was  aged  10.  The  abuse 

           started  when  Mr  Restin  came  into  his  dormitory  one  night,  woke  him  and  brought  him  to  his 

           bedroom.  Mr  Restin  fondled  his  genitals  and  made  the  boy  do  the  same  to  him.  On  another 

           occasion, when Mr Restin was giving injections, he again molested the boy. He told the boy that, 

           if he did not tell anyone, he would get a pair of roller skates. Mr Restin continued to abuse the 

           boy in this way until his sudden departure from the School. 



8.331      Another witness said he was sexually abused by Mr Restin in the same way on one occasion. He 

           remembered being called into Mr Restin’s office and told to take down his trousers, whereupon 

           Mr  Restin  fondled  his  genitals.  He  was  under  the  impression  that  Mr  Restin  was  a  doctor  in 

           Cappoquin. He thought he was aged around six or seven when this occurred. 



8.332      A further witness recalled that the children were told one Saturday they were going to receive an 

           injection. They were told to go to the old school (St Ita’s) and line up in the hallway. Mr Restin had 

           a small room off one of the classrooms. The boy was brought in and told to drop his underwear. Mr 



           382                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1169-----------------------

           Restin and Sr Lorenza were present, and Sr Lorenza began to feel his testicles and she told him 

           they were normal. He then remembered getting an injection in the buttocks. 



8.333      One  other  witness  gave  evidence  that,  although  he  himself  was  not  abused  by  Mr  Restin,  he 

           remembered him. There was a lot of talk amongst the boys about his giving injections, touching 

           bottoms and things like that, but he never touched him. He was close to one of the Sisters and 

           thought Mr Restin would have been afraid he would talk. He never spoke to the Sisters about 

           what he heard. 



8.334      Sr  Viviana  worked  in  Cappoquin  at  the  same  time  as  Mr  Restin.  He  was  a  nurse  and,  to  her 

           recollection, had a lot to do with the boys. He drove a bus and brought children to the swimming 

           pool. She said that, as a nurse, he would have taken care of their health. She did not recall him 

           giving injections, but there was a room in Cappoquin that was called the surgery, and she often 

           met him coming in and out of there. She said she was always uneasy about Mr Restin, although 

           was not specific as to why: ‘There was something about the man that I didn’t tune in to’. 



8.335      Another nun, Sr Clarice, described the circumstances of Mr Restin’s departure. At the time, she 

           was the teaching principal of the girls’ primary school in Cappoquin and a former Superior of the 

           convent. She had contact with the Industrial School because some of the children attended the 

           primary school and she also helped out at weekends and holiday periods. She remembered Mr 

           Restin as a kind of supervisor in the institution. He was an assistant leader in the Scouts. One 

           day a scout leader warned her about him saying ‘Sr Clarice, go home to Sr Carina and tell her to 

           try and get rid of Mr Restin and do that soon’. 



8.336      She went straight to the convent and told the Superior; together, they went to see the Resident 

           Manager, who listened attentively. The manager said that Mr Restin was due to bring the children 

           for an outing the following day and she would put a stop to that. She got rid of him soon after that. 

           The scout leader explained that, while sexual abuse was not spelled out to her by the local man, 

           she sensed the meaning and urgency of the message he was conveying. She said in evidence 

           that she never discussed Mr Restin’s previous work history with anybody. She did become aware 

           afterwards that he had worked  in Passage West in the industrial school, because  there was a 

           Sister in Cappoquin who had a sibling, also a Sister, in Passage West: 



                 and I think she wrote to her, but it was only just – I never read the letter and I never knew 

                 anything,  but  it  was  really  on  the  urgency  of  [the  local  man],  that’s  how  I  went  to  the 

                 Superior and that’s how we went to (the Resident Manager). 



8.337      Mr Restin left Cappoquin suddenly. He did not now remember the circumstances and he thought 

           someone may have said something to the nuns about him abusing boys. 



8.338      There is very little information about where Mr Restin was between the time he left Cappoquin in 

           the mid-1970s and his departure for England in the late 1970s. He said that after Cappoquin he 

           went to work in Cork before he left for England. Initially, he worked in a bar and then returned 

           to nursing. 



           Conclusions 



8.339      •    Mr  Restin’s  unsuitability  for  work  with  children  was  clear  from  his  time  in  Passage 

                West, but that information was not effectively communicated to Cappoquin. 



           •     Although     his  unsuitability    to  take  part   in  a  childcare    course    was   known     to  the 

                 management of Passage West and to the Department Inspector, he was able to remain 

                 in his position in Cappoquin. 



           •    If proper inquiries had been made, he should not have been employed in Cappoquin. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                  383 


----------------------- Page 1170-----------------------

           •    Children had complained about Mr Restin’s abuse, but action was only taken when an 

                 adult  raised  the  alarm.  Children  were  not  listened  to  or  believed  when  they  spoke 

                 about what was happening to them, and this allowed abuse to continue. 



           Visits to Mount Melleray 



8.340      Witnesses from Cappoquin gave evidence about visits by boys to the Cistercian Abbey at Mount 

           Melleray. One former resident alleged that he had been sexually abused there in the course of a 

           weekend visit. 



8.341      Mount Melleray Abbey is situated about four miles from Cappoquin and is run by the Cistercian 

           Order.   There    was   no  formal   relationship   between     Mount    Melleray   Abbey    and   St.  Michael’s 

           Cappoquin. Informally, however, it would appear that eggs were delivered weekly to the industrial 

           school from the poultry farm and twice a year surplus apples were delivered. Some minor plumbing 

           work was carried out by a monk on occasions and a priest monk from the Abbey went weekly to 

           hear the nuns confessions and to say Mass when the local priest was on holidays. The Sisters 

           also negotiated the transfer of a site from the Abbey farm to accommodate their group homes in 

           or around 1972. 



8.342      Br Cosimo27  was professed in 1957. He attended the oral hearings of the Committee and he said 



           that he acted as the general handyman at the Abbey. It was traditional that once or twice a year 

           he collected excess apples harvested at the nearby Glencairn Abbey and delivered them to St. 

           Michael’s Industrial School. He got to know the children and the Sisters and it occurred to him 

           during  these  visits  that  the  boys  would  benefit  from  spending  occasional  weekends  in  Mount 

           Melleray where they could enjoy fresh air, gardens and the grounds of the Abbey. He said he had 

           also  observed  that  the  industrial  school  was  cramped  and  there  were  very  few  recreational 

           facilities available for the children. 



8.343      Sr Violetta28  or Sr Carina selected the boys who were to spend the weekend. Typically, they would 



           be picked up at the School by one of the guests staying in the Abbey, as Br Cosimo did not drive 

           at the time. They would have their tea, play table tennis or board games, and then retire to bed 

           at around 8.30pm. The boys usually came in the winter months, when the guesthouse was less 

           busy. Br Cosimo would take them for long walks, and he acquired toys and a bicycle for them. 

           None of the other monks had any involvement with the children, as it was considered to be his 

           project and therefore was his responsibility. 



8.344      It  appears  that  from  the  beginning  other  members  of  the  Community  were  unhappy  with  the 

           presence of young, boisterous and sometimes raucous boys roaming around the Abbey, unsettling 

           the quiet, monastic atmosphere. Br Cosimo had a bedroom in the guesthouse. He said that he 

           sometimes  slept  on  a  mattress  on  the  floor  of  the  bedroom  where  the  boys  slept  if  they  were 

           unsettled. He also agreed that he would lie on their beds to talk to them and settle them down at 

           night. As far as he could remember it was always on the outside of the covers. If the boys were 

           making  noise  or  messing  he  would  sometimes  have  to  come  from  his  own  bedroom  to  settle 

           them down and he would be dressed in either his habit or his pyjamas. He never touched them 

           inappropriately and any touching was inadvertent and had no sexual element. He was aware that 

           some of the boys who visited were emotionally disturbed and craved attention. It would have been 

           usual for him to give the children a cuddle or a kiss on the cheek or forehead when they arrived 

           in Melleray and when they left. He had no sense of awareness at the time that any of his actions 

           were inappropriate or open to misinterpretation by the boys. 



           27 This is a pseudonym. 

           28 This is a pseudonym. 



           384                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1171-----------------------

8.345      Some  of  the  members  of  the  Community  complained  to  the  Abbot  Visitor  during  a  Canonical 

           Visitation to the Abbey, and the visits were discontinued in early 1975. 



8.346      Sr Viviana was in charge of the group home known as Group Home B and said that she had had 

           no concerns about Br Cosimo and the children until the issue was raised in public in 1996. In 1995 

           she had been interviewed by Sr Isabella in relation to the recollections of her time in Cappoquin. Sr 

           Isabella kept notes of her interview and in those notes a suggestion was made that Sr Viviana 

           had   in fact  some    concerns    about   Br  Cosimo    at  the  time,  enough    concern   to  warrant   her 

           interviewing the boys and visiting Melleray Abbey to speak with a senior member of the community 

           with whom she was friendly. When she was reminded about this she gave a vague account of 

           what transpired. It appears that some time in 1974, one or more of the lay staff in the group home 

           mentioned to her that the children were spending a bit of time with Br Cosimo and wondered if 

           this was okay. She was satisfied that Sr Violetta and Sr Carina were happy but she agreed that 

           the lay staff were uneasy about the boys going out. She said that when the concerns of the lay 

           staff were expressed she had no sense of this having anything to do with sex. She interviewed 

           the boys and talked about it and she said she personally felt there was nothing in it. The senior 

           member of the community was a friend of hers and she used to talk to him. She remembered 

           going to see him and expressing a concern that Br Cosimo was taking the boys and asked him 

           what did he think. He told her that Br Cosimo was a ‘man’s man’ and she read nothing more into 

           that other than that he was not very friendly with women. She said she thought no more about it. 

           She  does  not  recall  when  in  1974  this  happened  and  had  no  recollection  if  there  was  any 

           connection  between  her  conversation  and  the  visits  of  the  boys  being  brought  to  an  end  in 

           February 1975. 



           Conclusions 



8.347      •    There was no proper assessment of Mount Melleray as an appropriate place to send 

                children in care for weekend breaks. 



           •    Staff in the institution were uneasy and expressed concerns about the visits. 

           •    The  way  that  Sr  Viviana  dealt  with  the  staff  unease  about  the  visits  showed  her 

                awareness  of  risk  to  the  boys.  The  information  that  Br  Cosimo  was  a  ‘man’s  man’ 

                should not have given any reassurance. In the result, although she carried out some 

                 investigation by interviewing the boys and speaking to the Abbot, she did not properly 

                assess     the  situation   and   remove     the   risk  to  the  children    that  had   clearly   been 

                 identified. 



           •    Sleeping arrangements were wholly unacceptable. 



           A recorded case of sexual abuse 

8.348      In the mid-1980s, a young boy, David,29        who was in care in Cappoquin, was placed in part-time 



           employment in a local hotel. He suffered from an intellectual disability, but was able to perform 

           odd jobs there and he returned to the group home at night. 



8.349      In the course of this employment, he was subjected to sexual assault by a chef working in the 

           hotel. 



8.350      The first person to discover the abuse was the boy’s mother, who reported it to his social worker. 

           Around the same time, his house parent in Cappoquin became suspicious and spoke to the boy. 



8.351      The social worker in her evidence did not recall being contacted by a member of the boy’s family, 

           even   though   she   had  made    a  contemporaneous       note   of this  contact.  She   did  recall  being 



           29 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 385 


----------------------- Page 1172-----------------------

            contacted by the House Parent, who told her that a named boy was being sexually abused by a 

            member of staff in a hotel where he was employed for work experience. She then informed the 

           senior social worker, and a meeting was arranged with the Health Board’s solicitor to see what 

           to do. 



8.352      The Resident Manager, Sr Callida, and the house parent also attended this meeting. The witness 

           said that part of the reason for the meeting was that the local Gardai had been approached, but 

                                                                                                ´ 

           the boy was not willing to make a statement. The advice at the meeting was to contact the Garda 

            Superintendent  in  the  event  of  the  boy  not  making  a  complaint.  She  did  not  speak  to  the  boy 

           about this matter, even though she was his social worker. She left that to his care worker, the 

            House Parent, because she felt that only one person should speak to a child regarding matters 

            like this. 



8.353      They waited for the Gardai to tell them how to proceed but she said that, in the meantime, the 

                                            ´ 

            man involved had left the hotel employment. It appears from the documentation, however, that 

           the  employee  did  not  leave  the  hotel  until  some  time  later,  and  was  recorded  as  being  an 

           employee throughout this time. The boy also continued his employment in the same hotel during 

           this time. 



8.354      The social worker had known about the allegation of abuse earlier, from David’s mother. It appears 

           from her records that she initially discounted the allegation, without checking either with Cappoquin 

           or with David. She did not believe what she was being told about the abuse, as the relationship 

            between the family members was difficult. She telephoned Sr Callida about it, who told her she 

           would check it out but thought it was untrue. She herself did not speak to the child, nor did she 

           speak to the care worker involved. 



8.355      The  House  Parent,  Ms  Faughnan30           suspected  at  first  that  David  was  beginning  to  smoke  and 



           drink, but he denied it when confronted by her. She decided to keep a close eye on him. When 

           she was cleaning his room, she discovered money, more than he should have had. He told her 

            he got it from an employee of the hotel and it transpired, when she further questioned him, that 

            he was being sexually abused in return for money. 



8.356      The Resident Manager, Sr Callida, was away for the weekend when the boy revealed this to her. 

            Ms  Faughnan  went  straight  to  the  Gardai  but  they  would  not  formally  take  a  statement  in  the 

                                                               ´ 

           absence of the Resident Manager, who was David’s legal guardian. The House Parent then went 

           to the hotel and confronted the employee, who admitted the abuse. She told him that she had 

           spoken to the Gardai and that he should leave his job, as she did not feel that the boy should 

                                     ´ 

            have to leave because of his actions. She then contacted David’s social worker from the South 

            Eastern Health Board and attended a meeting with the Health Board later. At that meeting, she 

           was told that, as she had no witness to her conversation with the employee, nothing could be 

           done. She did not feel she got any support from her superiors, and got the sense that she had 

           overstepped her boundaries by the action she had taken. The following day, she observed that 

            David was not at work and she was relieved that he had been kept at home. He approached her 

           and said that he was not going to take the matter any further and was not pursuing it with the 

            Gardai. She questioned him as to why, and he told her he just did not want to. She noticed that 

                   ´ 

            he had a new radio. He told her that Sr Callida had given him a new radio and a new bicycle. 



8.357      A second record of this allegation of abuse was contained in a memorandum written by a senior 

            member of the Health Board: 



                  I visited the group home ... and learnt from the staff that David has been sexually abused 

                  by a fellow employee at his place of work. 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 



            386                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1173-----------------------

                  This  has  been  reported  to  the  local  Garda,  the  staff  in  the  home  and  myself,  we  are 

                  making further enquiries. 



8.358      The memorandum does not advise of the previous allegation made by the family member to the 

           social worker a month earlier. 



8.359       No documentation has been discovered as to how the author of the memorandum handled the 

            matter or how, a week later, the meeting came to be arranged at the offices of the Health Board 

           solicitors which was attended by a senior official from the Health Board, the social worker, the 

            House Parent of the boy who was the centre of the allegation and Sr Callida. The Health Board 

           was concerned to establish if: 



                  (a) A complaint could be made leading to criminal prosecution; 



                  (b) What are the Boards obligations in relation to [the boy] in its voluntary guardianship 

                  capacity. 



8.360      The possibility of a complaint being made on the boy’s behalf was left open. The Health Board 

           was anxious that the boy would continue in the work placement. The advice given, as recorded 

            in the solicitor’s note, was that: 



                  ... the knowledge of these occurrences would be extremely embarrassing for the Board’s 

                  Staff if  there were to  be a  recurrence of these  incidents and a  complaint made  by the 

                  parent or other parties at a later date. 



                  ... If there was any further risk to [David] of any nature then they would have to weigh this 

                  against    the  value    of  the  placement     to  him    and   preferably    withdraw    him    from   the 

                  placement. 



                  I stressed to them that it was of utmost concern that they do not expose themselves to 

                  the risk of a potential complaint in relation to the care given to [David]. It would only take 

                  one incident, and a complaint arising out of same to call into question the actions of the 

                  Boards staff ... 



8.361      They were advised against approaching the hotel and told instead to contact the Gardai. 

                                                                                                                       ´ 



8.362      There  is  no  record  of any  contact  being  made  by  either  the  Health Board  official  or  the  social 

           worker  with  the  Gardai  in  this  regard.  However,  the  Health  Board  solicitor  advised  the  social 

                                        ´ 

           worker in a letter that he had spoken to the Superintendent of the Gardai in Cappoquin who told 

                                                                                                     ´ 

            him they had ‘taken the matter up’ with the alleged abuser prior to Christmas and this person, 

           while unlikely to disclose anything, would: 



                  ... be in fear of the consequences of a Garda investigation and we can only hope that this 

                  will ensure his co-operation ... I think you would have to be reasonably certain that there 

                  is still a problem there before bringing serious consequences to bear on [him]. 



8.363      The Health Board official who attended the meeting in the solicitor’s office also gave evidence to 

           the  Investigation  Committee.  He  commended  the  House  Parent  for  personally  confronting  the 

            alleged abuser and for the initiative she showed in dealing with the information she had received 

           from the child. He was not happy in relation to the lack of support she received from Sr Callida in 

           the  follow-up to  the  case. He  sensed  that  there was  an  active encouragement  of  David not  to 

            make anything more of his complaint, because of the consequences it might have for the Centre. 

            He did not want to go as far as to say that there was a feeling that the Resident Manager had 

            prevented a  prosecution, but rather that  ‘there would have  been frustration that rather  than an 

           intervention being assisted it had been in some way derailed’. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                        387 


----------------------- Page 1174-----------------------

8.364      He   also   noted   that  Sr  Callida,   although    present,   did  not  participate   at  the  meeting     in the 

           solicitor’s office. 



8.365      Sr  Callida  gave  her  version  of  events  to  the  Investigation  Committee.  She  explained  that  the 

           reason why she did not get involved at the Health Board meeting was because the House Parent 

           had looked after it from the beginning and was the liaison with the boy. When it was suggested 

           to her that, as Resident Manager of the Centre, this was a serious matter of a sexual assault on 

           a child in her care who had an intellectual disability, she said she did not see it as her function to 

           deal with it or report it to the Gardai. She left it to the House Parent to deal with it as the boy had 

                                                     ´ 

           reported to her. Sr Callida said in evidence that it was purely coincidental that the boy got a new 

           bicycle around this time. She suggested that it might have been for his birthday and he needed a 

           bike to get to work. She did not keep a record of this incident. 



8.366      Sr Callida’s behaviour in giving the boy the bicycle made her junior colleague suspicious that she 

           was discouraging him from pursuing a complaint or prosecution. There is no evidence that that 

           was her motivation but, at a sensitive time in a serious case of sexual abuse, what she did was 

           an example of extremely bad management and of irresponsibility. 



           Conclusions 



8.367      •     This complaint of sexual abuse was made in the late 1980s, and the House Parent had 

                 no  hesitation  in  informing  the  Gardai  and  the  Health  Board.  She  noticed  the  boy 

                                                                  ´ 

                 behaving unusually, investigated and discovered that he was being sexually abused. 

                 The way she discovered the abuse, followed it up and reported it were examples of 

                 proper care, which placed the boy’s interest first. 



           •     The other parties involved failed in their duties. Sr Callida conveyed mixed signals as 

                 to her attitude to the issue. 



           •     The Health Board failed to establish the facts, including interviewing the boy; failed to 

                 supervise the social work contacts with the boy and his family; and failed generally to 

                 act in the best interests of the boy. 



           •     The  actions  of  the  Resident  Manager  and  the  Health  Board  suggest  that  damage 

                 limitation was their primary consideration. 



           Testimony regarding befriending/foster families 



8.368      Cappoquin, like most other industrial schools, operated a system whereby children were sent to 

           ‘befriending/foster families’ during holiday periods. Two of the witnesses described very different 

           experiences. One was sent with his brother to a wonderful family. He loved going there so much 

           that he wanted the family to adopt him. The other witness described staying with a befriending 

           family  for  a  few  months,  during  which  time  he  met  an  older  man  who  worked  in  a  local  youth 

           centre. This man showed him a lot of affection, so he requested his house mother in Cappoquin 

           to allow him to move in with him. Permission was given and he moved in. The man repeatedly 

           sexually abused him. 



8.369      The witness said that the experience had a lasting effect on his sexuality, and that he encountered 

           many difficulties in life forming relationships. The Sisters submitted that, as regards this alleged 

           abuse carried out by a third party outside the School, it is difficult to see how the Sisters could 

           have any case to answer in terms of the inability to foresee the abuse. 



8.370      There  appears  to  have  been  no  system  for  vetting  families  or  of  aftercare  and,  the  children 

           themselves were ill-prepared to deal with abuse or exploitation when they left the convent. 



           388                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1175-----------------------

          Peer sexual abuse 



8.371     A Garda investigation into Cappoquin uncovered serious sexual abuse of younger boys by some 

          older boys. One of the perpetrators admitted sexually abusing boys there. He said that he himself 

          had been abused whilst in care and that, when he was moved to Cappoquin, he knew no better. 

          In his statement, he admitted abusing a pupil whilst there, and this pupil gave evidence to the 

          Investigation  Committee,  where  he  described  how  he  had  been  subjected  to  sexual  assault, 

          including rape, by older boys in Cappoquin. When one of these boys beat his brother badly, he 

          stopped the beating by threatening to tell the Resident Manager what was happening. The sexual 

          abuse stopped after he threatened to tell. This witness also told the Investigation Committee that 

          he observed older boys taking younger boys into their beds at night and he suspected what was 

          going on. 



8.372     Another witness described how he saw ‘the lads having sex with each other inside in the home’. 



          Conclusion 



8.373     •    Children were left in the care of older boys in the evening, and this practice allowed 

               physical and sexual abuse to occur. The failure to protect children from such abuse 

               was a reckless and negligent breach of duty on the part of the Sisters of Mercy. 



          General conclusions 



8.374      1.  Many of the faults of the Institution were caused by inept management at local level in 

               the  group  homes  and  in  the  Cappoquin  Community.  The  structure  of  the  Sisters  of 

               Mercy, which limited the pool of Sisters who could be appointed as Resident Manager, 

               was a contributory factor, but there was a fundamental failure by the Institution and 

               the Community to give priority to the interests of the children in their care. 



          2.   Sisters  who  gave  evidence  lacked  understanding  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 

               malfunction  of  the  Institution  and  the  impact  on  the  children.  Even  at  this  remove, 

               some   expressed     concern   for  their  fellow  Sisters   but  did  not   feel  that, as   a 

               Congregation, they let the children down. Lay staff confirmed that most of the Sisters 

               in  Cappoquin  were  cold  and  unfeeling  towards  the  children,  although  one  or  two 

               Sisters were mentioned by complainants as being kind and caring. 



          3.   Organisations providing care for the needy and vulnerable must have procedures for 

               monitoring the service, but this was not the case in this Institution. The Community in 

               Cappoquin was inward-looking and motivated by loyalty to its own members, to the 

               detriment of the children in care. 



          4.   The Department of Education complained about the neglect in the School in the 1940s, 

               but it was unable to effect any change for far too long. 



          5.   The  Department     was  negligent   in  inspecting   the  institution from   the  mid  1960s 

               onwards and failed to identify the dysfunction in the group homes in the 1980s. 



          6.   The Department of Health did not provide regular supervision of the children whom it 

               placed in Cappoquin and did not carry out proper inspections. The children were let 

               down by those who purported to look after and protect them. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                      389 


----------------------- Page 1176-----------------------

 390                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1177-----------------------

          Chapter 9 



          St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

           Clifden (‘Clifden’), 1872–1983 



           Establishment and history 



9.01      The Sisters of Mercy established a convent and an orphanage for girls in Clifden, County Galway 

          in 1861 at the request of a local priest. Clifden is located in a remote area approximately 50 miles 

          west  of Galway.  A branch  house was  later set  up in  neighbouring Carna.  The orphanage  was 

          certified as an industrial school for girls on 15th  July 1872. 



9.02      The Mercy Convent in Clifden formed one of five independent units of the Mercy Congregation 

          within  the  Diocese  of  Tuam.  From  its  formation  in  the  late  19th  century  until  1971,  it  had  its 

          own governance structure and was completely autonomous. The convent was overseen by the 

          Archbishop of Tuam. In 1971, the five Mercy convents in Tuam amalgamated to form one diocesan 

          unit, in line with similar changes taking place throughout the country within the Congregation of 

          the Sisters of Mercy. 



9.03      The photographs and plans provided by the Sisters of Mercy show the Industrial School as a large 

          imposing building, with the convent immediately adjacent. 



9.04      The original two-storey orphanage building was constructed in 1862, and various additions were 

          made to it over the years. In 1873, after it had been certified as an industrial school, an additional 

          wing was built and, in 1880, a new internal national school and dormitory were erected. In 1886 

          a  kitchen,  pantry,  dairy,  lavatory  and  infirmary  were  added.  The  next  major  extension  to  the 

          premises took place in 1933, when four classrooms were added. This was the internal national 

          school, where the Industrial School children were taught. Just yards away, within the grounds of 

          the complex, stood Scoil Mhuire national school, where the children from the surrounding district 

          were taught. Eventually, in 1969, some 33 years after Justice Cussen recommended in his report 

          that, where possible, children in industrial schools should attend local national schools, the two 

          national schools amalgamated. 



          Staff and management 



9.05      Most of the Sisters in Clifden had completed secondary school education and, on entering the 

          Congregation, many went on to train as teachers in Carysfort Training College. 



9.06      As each convent within the Congregation formed its own autonomous unit, the Resident Manager 

          and Sisters appointed to work in the Industrial School had to be drawn from the pool of Sisters 

          available in the mother house in Clifden and Branch house in Carna. The Mother Superior of the 

          convent made the appointments. 



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----------------------- Page 1178-----------------------

9.07       There were three Resident Managers in Clifden during the period under review: Sr Alma1  held the 

            position of Resident Manager until her retirement in 1942, and was succeeded by Sr Roberta,2 

           who  held  this  post  until  1969;  and  Sr  Sofia3     then  took  over  as  Resident  Manager  until  1984, 



           following  the  resignation  of  the  certificate  by  the  School  in  1983.  During  Sr  Roberta’s  27-year 

            reign, she also held the position of Mother Superior for two terms, her last term ending in 1971 

           when the five Mercy convents in the Diocese of Tuam amalgamated. Clifden was very influenced 

            by the personal qualities of Sr Roberta, who ran the School in a strict authoritarian manner. Her 

           departure from the School coincided with the opening-up of the whole industrial school system 

           that occurred after the Kennedy Report in 1970. 



9.08       A significant factor in the running of Clifden was the enormous workload undertaken by Sr Roberta. 

           According to the evidence of the Congregation, she worked long, punishing hours in the Institution. 

           Whilst this can be seen as laudable on the part of the Sister, she was not able to care for the 

           children properly and did not seek extra help from the local convent. 



9.09        Until 1969, when the two national schools amalgamated, three teachers were assigned to teach 

            in the internal national school. They had little or no involvement with the children outside school 

            hours.  There  were  usually  three  or  four  Sisters,  including  the  Resident  Manager,  appointed  to 

           work full-time in the Industrial School. Their duties ranged from supervising meals to working in 

           the kitchen, bakery, nursery and laundry. Until 1969, the religious staff worked seven days a week, 

           with little or no holidays. 



9.10       The Sisters were further aided by lay staff, some of whom were former residents. There was an 

           average of eight to 10 former residents who stayed on to work in the Industrial School at any one 

           time.  Most  of  these  left  some  time  in  their  20s.  They  had  no  formal  childcare  training  and 

           completed their education at primary school level. The profile of lay staff changed in the 1970s, 

           when professionals such as teachers and care workers became involved with the School. 



9.11       There  was  no  childcare  training  available  in  Ireland  until  the  1970s,  when  a  full-time  childcare 

           course commenced in Kilkenny in 1971.4 



9.12       Sr Renata5  completed a childcare course in Kilkenny in 1974, and Sr Sofia and Sr Olivia6  attended 



           an in-service training course in Goldenbridge on Saturdays the same year. 



            Children 



9.13       The majority of children sent to Clifden were committed by Orders of the District Court under the 

            provisions of the Children Acts and School Attendance Act. Children were committed to Clifden 

           from all over the country notwithstanding its isolated location. There was no train service beyond 

           Galway  City  and  the  town  was  served  by  an  infrequent  bus  service.  In  1933,  the  School  was 

           certified to take 100 girls over the age of six. The accommodation limit was fixed at 120 girls. In 

            1937,   the  School    accommodated        142    children,  although,    until  the  mid-1950s,     the  numbers 

            remained at or approximately 120. 



9.14        In 1944, the Department of Education changed its system of paying capitation grants to industrial 

           and reformatory schools, from a system of payment according to the number of children they were 

           certified to accommodate, to one under which the schools were paid according to the number of 

           children actually accommodated, up to the limit of their accommodation number. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 

           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 This is a pseudonym. 

           4 See the chapter on St Joseph’s and St Patrick’s Kilkenny for further details in relation to this course. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 

           6 This is a pseudonym. 



           392                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1179-----------------------

9.15       Sr Roberta applied to the Department of Health in 1956 for the reception of children from the local 

           authorities. Whilst there is no documentary material confirming the approval of her application, it 

           appears  that  it  was  granted,  and  there  is  a  letter  from  the  Department  of  Education  to  the 

           Department of Health referring to the School in favourable terms. 



9.16       On  8th   June  1959,  Sr  Roberta  applied  to  the  Department  of  Education  for  a  revision  in  the 



           certificate to enable the School  to accept junior boys. In support of her  application, she stated 

           that, if successful, this would enable siblings to stay together rather than being scattered to various 

           schools    around    the  country.   She    also  made     similar  representations     to  the  Minister   for  the 

           Gaelteacht, and added, ‘For some time past our numbers here have fallen so we are most anxious 

           to get the little boys’. The ISPCC supported the application, describing the School as ‘excellent’. 



9.17       Dr   Anna    McCabe,7     the  Department      of Education     Medical    Inspector,   recommended        that  the 



           Certificate be revised to accommodate a limit of 140 children, including boys up to the age of 10. 

           Indeed, she described Clifden as a ‘particularly good and well run school’. 



9.18       However, at  the eleventh hour, Sr  Roberta withdrew her  application to the Department,  as the 

           Archbishop of Tuam refused to support it. It is not clear why the Archbishop made this last-minute 

           objection, but the following year Sr Roberta renewed her application, this time with the consent of 

           the Archbishop. She explained: 



                  He has now given us the permission as our numbers have decreased very much since 

                  then. 



9.19       The application was granted, and a notice appeared in Iris Oifigiuil on 7th                 October 1960, which 

                                                                                           ´ 

           stated that the certificate for the School had been revised to allow for the admission of junior boys, 

           and the certified accommodation limit was increased to cater for 140 children. In the 1970s, as 

           numbers diminished, boys were permitted to stay into their teenage years. 



9.20       During the 1960s, Sr Roberta actively sought new pupils. In response to rumours in 1964 that the 

           Industrial School in Westport was due to close, she wrote to the Department and stated that she 

           ‘would be more than grateful if you could see your way to send us a few pupils’. In 1967, she 

           wrote to the Department, thanking them effusively for sending the School five children. 



9.21       In  1969,    during   the  transitional  period   when    Sr   Sofia  took   over   as  Resident    Manager,     the 

           Department reviewed the situation and the official concluded that: 



                  Clifden is too small a town to accommodate an industrial school that would be as large 

                  as St Josephs is at present. It appears to me that maybe 40 or 50 children consisting of 

                  boys and  girls would be  a sufficient enrolment  for Clifden industrial  school. In the  final 

                  analysis, the range of necessary services, consisting of schools etc are too restrictive for 

                  an institute of this type in a small town. 



9.22       The    Archbishop      of  Tuam     agreed     with  the   proposal     to  reduce    numbers.      In  1971,    the 

           accommodation limit was reduced to 60 children. 



9.23       Mr Graham Granville, who was appointed to the position of Child Care Advisor in the Department 

           of Education in the mid-1970s, noted in his Inspection Report of the same year: 



                  It would appear upon examination of the files etc. that in the past many of the children 

                  admitted to Clifden were received into Care to be removed “out of sight out of mind”. 



9.24       This policy in his opinion was applied especially to children of different racial backgrounds. 



           7  Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       393 


----------------------- Page 1180-----------------------

9.25       A women’s magazine carried a feature in the late 1960s commenting on the fact that there were 

           13 mixed race children in Clifden out of about 80. By 1980, the profile of the children had changed, 

           in that the majority were local children from the surrounding areas. 



           Group homes 



9.26       From the early 1970s, the idea of converting Clifden into a group-home school was suggested. 

           The Department  kept a critical  eye on the  School, after shortcomings  in its management  were 

           exposed in 1969. The future of the School was reviewed, and it was agreed that numbers should 

           be reduced and the School divided into three groups of between 15 and 20 children, in line with 

           the Kennedy Report recommendations. The Archbishop of Tuam backed the proposal. However, 

           plans were put on hold following a Department inspection in the early 1970s. 



9.27       In the early 1970s, the Reverend Mother, Sr Antea,8  wrote to the Department offering the use of 



           a  vacant  building  for  the  purposes  of  a  group  home.  Nothing  appears  to  have  come  of  this 

           proposal, although the following year the Department put the idea of group homes back on the 

           agenda by agreeing to consider a modest grant towards the project. 



9.28       The concept was referred to in the Department’s Inspection Reports in the late 1970s and again 

           in  the  final  Inspection  Reports  of  the  early  1980s,  but  dwindling  numbers  made  the  project 

           redundant. 



           Closure of Clifden 



9.29       In June 1982, the Resident Manager informed the Department that she had given permission to 

           the Galway Association for the Mentally Handicapped to use part of the Industrial School building 

           for their own purposes. She indicated that this was likely to be a permanent arrangement as the 

           building was too large for the group of 24 children resident in the Industrial School. 



9.30       In 1983, that number had further dwindled to 15, prompting the Resident Manager to write to the 

           Department, stating ‘Due to circumstances beyond our control and after consultation with officials 

           of  the  Western  Health  Board,  and  also  due  to  lack  of  referrals  from  the  Health  Board  we  are 

           reluctantly obliged to close the Home in Mid July’. 



9.31       A report by Mr Ciaran Fahy, consulting engineer, on the buildings and accommodation in Clifden, 

           appears in the Appendix to this chapter. 



           The Investigation 



9.32       The Investigation Committee heard evidence in three phases. The first phase involved a public 

           hearing   at  which    Sr  Margaret    Casey,    Provincial   Leader    of  the  Western     Province   of  the 

           Congregation of Sisters of Mercy, gave evidence on behalf of the Congregation on 10th                  January 



           2006. She had no direct involvement with Clifden apart from spending a fortnight there before the 

           School closed down. She drew from the following sources of information in preparing her evidence 

           for the Commission’s inquiry: 



                  •    archival records held by the Congregation; 

                  •    material received from the Commission by way of discovery and complainants 

                        statements; 



                  •    documentation arising out of litigation proceedings; and 

                  •    conversations with Sisters who were part of the Community in Clifden. 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 



           394                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1181-----------------------

 9.33      In her evidence of 10th  January 2006, she set out in detail the Congregation’s position with regard 



           to St Joseph’s Industrial School, Clifden. 



 9.34      In the second phase of the inquiry, the Investigation Committee heard evidence in private hearings 

           from 10 complainants and, at the request of the Sisters of Mercy, from a former resident who had 

           positive memories of her time in Clifden. The Committee also heard evidence during this phase 

           from four respondents, including three members of the Congregation. 



 9.35      Finally, in the third phase of the Committee’s inquiry, Sr Margaret Casey again gave evidence at 

           public hearings on 15th    and 16th   May 2006 and was questioned in relation to the Congregation’s 



           position in light of the evidence that had emerged during the private sessions. 



           Physical abuse 



           Documentary material 



 9.36      There is one documented case of excessive corporal punishment in Clifden, which relates to an 

           incident which occurred in the early 1980s. 



 9.37      A number of siblings were placed in Clifden and reported incidents of violence towards them by 

           a particular lay worker. One of the girls had sustained bruising to her left buttock, allegedly as a 

           result of being hit with a wooden spoon for being unable to do her homework. This allegation gave 

           rise to a Western Health Board investigation. 



 9.38      The matter arose when the Community Care Team in the area in which the children resided wrote 

           to the Western Health Board. The letter expressed concern about the possibility of the children 

           being sent back to Clifden: 



                 Our  anxiety  is  that  in  the  event  of  the  parents  being  unable  to  cope  effectively  in  the 

                 future, the only option open is to return these children to this pathogenic atmosphere. 



 9.39      The  Community  Care  Team  requested  that  ‘the  quality  of  caring  in  this  Residential  Home  for 

           children’ be investigated and expressed  the opinion that ‘this alleged violence is the  work of a 

           particular staff member, rather than residential care policy’. 



 9.40      There is no documentation relating to the Western Health Board investigation, except a reference 

           by a Department inspector to the fact that one had taken place. A list of staff members available 

           for this time reveals that this staff member remained in employment in Clifden. 



 9.41      There  is  no  record  of  a  punishment  book  as  required  by  the  regulations  being  maintained  in 

           Clifden. A book was discovered by the Congregation for the period 1933 to 1956, but it does not 

           provide  details of  any punishments.  It is  a general  commentary on  the conduct  of the  children 

           which, according to this record, was invariably very good. 



 9.42      Sr Margaret Casey confirmed that corporal punishment was a feature of life in Clifden, and she 

           stated   that it was    the  norm   at  the  time.  The   principal   form  of  punishment     was   slapping, 

           administered by hand, cane, flat stick or ruler, usually by the Sister on duty. She found no evidence 

           of a policy under which children were sent to the Resident Manager or other senior figures for the 

           administration of punishment, and conceded that punishments were carried out in the presence 

           of other children, usually on the spot. She referred to the punishment book mentioned above, and 

           confirmed it was not maintained after 1956 and was general in nature. 



 9.43      Sr Casey acknowledged that the documented case of excessive corporal punishment referred to 

           above was ‘a significant incident’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                  395 


----------------------- Page 1182-----------------------

9.44      She  conceded  that,  with  the  benefit  of  hindsight,  both  the  Congregation  and  individual  Sisters 

          regret  the  use  of  corporal  punishment  and  recognise  the  potential  effects  on  these  already 

          vulnerable children. 



9.45       In the course of an apology to former residents of Clifden, Sr Casey stated: 



                I  suppose  we  do  recognise  that  the  children  that  were  committed  to  our  care...were 

                vulnerable and we do recognise that they were traumatised. The system that prevailed in 

                the Industrial School mitigated against giving them the necessary affection and care that 

                their vulnerability required ... It was necessary dealing with such large numbers to maintain 

                order  and  strict  discipline  was  required.  This  obviously  had  a  negative  effect  on  the 

                children and unfortunately we deeply regret that this may have been excessive at times 

                and for this we are truly sorry. 



9.46      All of the complainants who gave evidence alleged physical abuse. They asserted that various 

          implements were used to inflict punishment, including a ruler, cane, a bunch of keys and a towel 

          roller.  Allegations  were  made  against  members  of  the  Congregation,  lay  workers  and  older 

          children. 



9.47      A common thread running through the testimony of the complainants was that punishment was 

          meted out indiscriminately and that this created an environment of fear. One witness, who was a 

          resident for eight years from the early 1950s, stated: 



                it didn’t really matter what you were beaten for, it was just one of those things, if they saw 

                you there and you weren’t doing something then you got beaten for it. 



9.48      Another witness, a resident for 12 years from the late 1950s, stated that they were punished: 



                For nothing, just because they felt like it. If they were angry then they just took it out on 

                you, sometimes you were an innocent victim just sitting there, or just playing and then 

                they attacked you, it all depends on what moods they were in. 



9.49      A witness, who was committed for just over a year in the early 1960s when she was 12 years 

          old, remarked: 



                Anybody got it, it didn’t make a difference. If you were just in the wrong place at the wrong 

                time or if you were too slow to get your work down or if you didn’t get down the stairs 

                quick enough or if you ran...Anywhere they could get you they would hit you. Mainly on 

                the head. That was the sorest. They would hit you with the keys, that was sore. 



9.50      Another witness, who was committed to Clifden before she was a year old and spent her entire 

          childhood there during the 1960s and the 1970s, commented: 



                I lived in, I think – I watched – I was punished, other kids were punished, I think it was 

                being in an environment controlled in fear. I think I was very afraid of the nuns, very afraid 

                of getting things wrong. I think I was constantly in that state of fear of being punished. 



9.51      She added that when the anticipated punishment was actually delivered, it came almost as a relief. 



9.52      A witness, who was committed to Clifden in the late 1950s, at the age of 11, and remained there 

          until she was 16, recalled, on arrival with her sisters, being met by a lay worker. The children were 

          told to take their clothes off for a bath. One of her younger sisters was reluctant to be parted from 

          her favourite red boots. The witness tried to prevent the lay worker from taking the boots and she 

          was punched around the head and told that she would not be permitted to back-answer in Clifden. 

          She further alleged that this carer regularly hit her with a bunch of keys. 



          396                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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9.53       Another witness, who was in Clifden in the early 1960s when she was 12, described an incident 

           in  which  she  and  a  boy  were  confronted  by  a  Sister  one  afternoon  for  coming  back  late.  She 

           asked them whether they had had intercourse but they did not understand what it meant. She 

           made the boy pull down his trousers in front of the witness and she beat him with a cane. The 

           witness refused to undergo the same humiliation and tried to escape. The nun pushed her through 

           a glass door. Her hand went through the glass and she banged her chest hard against a brass 

           knob in the door. The Sister proceeded to hit her on the back with a bamboo cane. She did not 

           receive any medical treatment for her injuries. Her chest injury got progressively worse and, when 

           she complained to the same Sister, she was beaten again. Eventually, another Sister discovered 

           the extent of the injury and took her to a doctor. She was admitted to hospital for two and a half 

           weeks. Her family were not informed that she was in hospital. The school record indicates that 

           she was suffering from mastitis, as does a record signed by the GP on the day she was admitted 

           to hospital. 



9.54       A witness who spent her entire childhood in Clifden during the 1960s and 1970s, made several 

           allegations of physical abuse by the Sisters. She stated that, when she was five, a friend blamed 

           her for bringing a cup of water into the schoolroom, which was forbidden. She was punished by 

           a Sister who hit her with a hand brush. She remembered a number of children who had run away 

           being beaten with a cane by a Sister whom she specifically remembered, as she used to dye her 

           hair in the Institution. This Sister gave evidence to the Investigation Committee and vehemently 

           denied this allegation of abuse. 



9.55       Sr Olivia,9  taught the children spelling, and the witness remembered not being able to spell the 



           word  ‘colour’. The Sister hit her with a hand brush four or five times. She said, ‘Sometimes when 

           you cried that seemed to encourage them to hit more’. She recalled other occasions on which she 

           was beaten by the same Sister, including an incident in which she was beaten for not being able 

           to read a passage from the Bible. 



9.56       This witness made allegations of physical abuse against Sr Olivia who denied them. Sr Olivia did 

           confirm that her usual method of administering punishment was to slap children. She accepted 

           that occasionally she thumped the children. She added that this did not happen often and she 

           was not aggressive with the children, but accepted that some degree of force was involved and 

           that she would always regret it afterwards. She stated that, if she felt that she had punished the 

           children unfairly, she would talk to them about it afterwards. Sr Olivia did not recall ever speaking 

           to this witness referred to above after a punishment. 



9.57       Sr Olivia furnished an additional statement dealing with the allegations made against her. In this 

           later statement, she accepted that she occasionally used a hand brush to punish children, whereas 

           in her first statement she stated that she slapped children with her hand only. She explained that 

           initially  she  was  devastated  by  the  allegations  made  and  was  confused.  She  did  not  want  to 

           implicate  any  other  Sister,  or  indeed  herself,  by  conceding  that  they  used  a  hand  brush  to 

           administer punishment. She went for counselling and came to terms with the fact that they had in 

           fact  used  a  hand  brush  for  this  purpose.  As  conditions  improved  in  Clifden,  this  method  of 

           punishment was used less frequently. 



9.58       She  stated  that  there  was  no  special  place  where  children  were  sent  for  punishment.  It  could 

           happen anywhere. She would resort to the hand brush for punishment when, for example, the 

           Resident Manager was away. Sometimes, she had difficulty controlling children and, rather than 

           face the possibility that the nuns in the convent would tell the Resident Manager, she used the 

           hand brush to restore order. The Resident Manager also used the hand brush, but not as often 

           as she had better control of the children. 



           9 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    397 


----------------------- Page 1184-----------------------

9.59       Another  respondent  Sister,  who  taught  the  children  from  the  early  1960s,  gave  evidence  that 

           discipline was maintained in the classroom by slapping the children. She used a flat stick called 

           a ‘slapper’. If a child was very bold, she would administer two slaps to each hand. Former residents 

           referred to being beaten, whereas she would describe the punishments as being slapped. 



9.60       The Sister recalled an incident involving a complainant whom she would have regarded as her 

           pet. One day, another Sister came to her with the girl and said that she had misbehaved. She 

           slapped her twice. She felt that the complainant never forgave her for this punishment and their 

           relationship was never the same again. The complainant had made allegations of serious abuse 

           against a number of Sisters including this respondent. 



9.61       Sr Elana,10  who taught in  Scoil Mhuire from the mid-1950s, and after the  amalgamation of the 



           schools, admitted that she did punish children by slapping them on the hands with either a flat 

           stick or a cane. In the late 1960s, she read a series of articles by Dr Cyril Daly published in the 

           daily newspapers, advocating the abolition of corporal punishment. She accepted his views and 

           did not engage in this practice after that. 



           Conclusions 



9.62        1.  Control in Clifden was maintained through a regime of corporal punishment that was 

                pervasive and, on occasions, excessive. 



            2.  Punishment was administered  for trivial offences and  led to a climate of  fear in the 

                Institution. 



            3.  In  the  absence  of  a  properly  maintained  punishment  book,  it  is  not  possible  to  say 

                how    much     physical    punishment      occurred     in  Clifden,   although     the   evidence    of 

                witnesses would indicate that it was considerably in excess of what would have been 

                regarded as normal at the time. 



            4.  Former     residents    and   staff  confirmed      the  existence     of  ‘pets’  in  the   Institution. 

                Favouritism in such a setting was damaging and undermining because it resulted in 

                discrimination between children. 



           Neglect 



9.63       There were three Resident Managers in Clifden for the period under review, one of whom held 

           the position for a continuous period of 27 years from 1942. 



9.64       Until  the  early  1970s,  there  were  on  average  three  full-time  members  of  staff  working  in  the 

           Institution  looking  after  a  large  number  of  children.  In  the  1970s,  the  number  of  staff  in  the 

           Institution  increased,    with  teachers    and   care   workers    being   employed     from   outside   the 

           Congregation. Childcare training  became available in the  1970s, with a course  commencing in 

           Kilkenny and the Sisters in Goldenbridge providing an in-service training course for members of 

           the Congregation. 



           Evidence 



9.65       Sr  Margaret  Casey  accepted  that  the  staff-child  figures  were  totally  unacceptable  by  today’s 

           standards. 



9.66       She also accepted that the focus was on material things such as shelter and clothes as opposed 

           to care for the children, and that this was reflected in the staff numbers in the School. She said 

           that the Sisters in the School worked under very difficult conditions without support services. When 

           further questioned in regard to the difficulties encountered in the late 1960s, she conceded that 



           10 This is a pseudonym. 



           398                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1185-----------------------

           during this period,  ‘it would appear that the children were being neglected but I would have seen 

           it more as a management failure than actually neglecting the children’. 



9.67        Referring to the  fact that there was  a significant pool of  Sisters in the convents  in Clifden and 

           Carna  Sr  Casey  stated  that  each  of  these  Sisters  was  involved  in  her  own  ministry,  teaching, 

            nursing etc, or retired or engaged in their own professional training, and that there was in fact no 

           surplus supply to direct to the Institution. 



9.68       Two respondent Sisters referred to staff and management issues in their evidence. One worked 

            in the Industrial School from the late 1960s until it closed and stated that, when she was sent to 

           Clifden, there were 86 children and three full-time members of staff: herself, the Resident Manager 

           and a lay worker. Another Sister helped out on a part-time basis. It was a chaotic and stressful 

           environment, involving long working hours and no holidays. She did not make any representations 

           to her superiors at the time for assistance, and simply managed with what she had. She was very 

           unhappy and did seek a transfer. She was told to ‘hold on for a while, you know, that we will get 

           you  out  of  it’.  Matters  did  not  improve  until  the  early  to  mid-1970s,  when  a  combination  of  a 

           decrease in the number of residents and an increase in staff numbers succeeded in reducing the 

            pressure. The Sister confirmed that she did not undergo any childcare training until the mid-1970s, 

           when she attended an in-service training course in Goldenbridge. 



9.69       Another respondent, Sr Carmella,11           who was both teacher and principal in the internal national 



           school from the early 1960s stated that she did not bring any of her concerns to the attention of 

           Sr Roberta who held the posts of Resident Manager and Reverend Mother: 



                  No, I did not discuss with the Reverend Mother. I just did what the Reverend Mother told 

                  me to do and my work was to teach in the School and that was it. That was what was 

                  allotted  to  me  and  I  did  what  I  could  there.  But  it  was  –  the  Reverend  Mother,  she 

                  determined the lot of each individual. 



9.70       She simply did what she was told to do, as Sr Roberta ‘was that kind of person that her word was 

           law, she was in authority and that was it’. 



9.71       She stated that Sr Roberta, the Resident Manager, and Sr Veronica,12  her Deputy, were strict with 



           the  children  and  could  have  shown  them  more  compassion.  She  accepted  that  the  Resident 

            Manager might have appeared frightening to a child, ‘she had a very strong voice, her voice alone 

            would frighten you and I say that alone would make a child afraid’. 



9.72       Sr Carmella accepted that there were some teething problems when a new Resident Manager 

           was appointed in 1969, and recalled the Gardai  calling to the School in relation to an incident. 

                                                                      ´ 

           She was asked about a query, in a Department Inspection Report for this period, regarding the 

           reasons behind the shortage of Sisters in the Industrial School, despite the fact that they formed 

           part of a Community of 40 Sisters. Her rationale for this situation was that nobody wanted to work 

           for the new Resident Manager. She reiterated Sr Casey’s evidence that all of the Sisters in the 

           convent had their own duties, such as working in the hospital or domestic economy school, or 

           they were retired nuns. There were not any nuns available to work in the Industrial School. 



9.73        In  the  late  1960s,  the  Department  of  Education  discovered  that,  small  babies,  admitted  to  the 

           institution, were being sent out to families in the countryside without the consent of the Department 

           or County Council. They sought an explanation from the Resident Manager, who responded that 

           this had arisen as a result of an outbreak of smallpox and the need to isolate the babies. She 

           confirmed that she paid the families £2.00 per week and supplied them with necessities, including 



           11 This is a pseudonym. 

           12 This is a pseudonym. 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       399 


----------------------- Page 1186-----------------------

            baby foods, drops, clothes, prams and cots. She stated that she believed that this course was in 

           the best interests of the children but agreed that it would not happen again. 



9.74       There was a difficult transition period in 1969 when Sr Roberta, the Resident Manager, resigned 

            her  post  after  27  years  and  a  new  Resident  Manager,  Sr  Sofia,  was  appointed.  At  that  stage, 

           there were 89 children in the School and two permanent staff members. The Acting Inspector of 

            Industrial and Reformatory Schools, Mr Phelan,13 visited the School in October 1969 and advised 



           the Dublin Metropolitan Children’s Court that Clifden was over-crowded and that no further children 

            should be committed there. 



9.75        Following  this  inspection,  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Education  wrote  to  the 

           Archbishop of Tuam in October 1969, expressing his concern at the staff shortages in Clifden: 



                  My Lord Archbishop, 



                  I am aware of your deep interest in the welfare of the children in St. Joseph’s School, 

                  Clifden, and on that account I request the assistance of Your Grace in the solution of the 

                  following problem relating to the institution. 



                  In  the  course  of  a  recent  visit  to  St. Joseph’s  the  acting  Inspector  of  Reformatory  and 

                  Industrial  Schools  was  concerned  to  find  that  a  group  of  the  older  girls  were  flouting 

                  authority   by   refusing   to  attend   school,   by   roaming    the  streets   of  Clifden   after  dark 

                  catcalling and behaving rudely to their elders and that the Gardai had visited the school 

                                                                                                  ´ 

                  last  week  with  a  view  to  establishing  a  more  disciplined  behaviour  on  the  part  of  the 

                  children in residence there. 

                  In the opinion of the acting Inspector, which is shared by Father Costello,14                  a curate in 



                  the parish, whom he called on during the course of his visit, the serious deterioration of 

                  standards in St. Joseph's is directly attributable to the insufficient staff employed to look 

                  after the 85 boys and girls at present in the institution and as a consequence this shortage 

                  of staff places an intolerable and unfair burden on the shoulders of Sr. Sofia, who has 

                  recently been assigned to manage the industrial school. 



                  To organise efficiently an institution of the size and nature of St. Joseph's, two additional 

                  nuns one of whom, if at all possible, should have experience in nursing or child care would 

                  need  to  be  allotted  full  time  to  assist  Sr.  Sofia  in  her  duties  and  extra  lay  help  is  also 

                  needed in the kitchen and dormitory to the extent decided by Sr. Sofia. It is in connection 

                  with the former requirement that I would ask Your Grace to approach Mother Roberta, the 

                  Superior of the community in Clifden, to ensure that the two additional nuns referred to 

                  above be assigned to full time duties in St. Joseph's as a matter of urgency, if effective 

                  control of the older girls is to be restored and a source of grave criticism of the industrial 

                  school removed. 



                  In regard to the engagement of extra lay staff as required by Sister Sofia, I would like to 

                  make the following point for Your Grace' s information, Mother Roberta has been resident 

                  manger     of  the  school    for a  number     of  years   and    in this  position   has   received    the 

                  maintenance grants paid by this Department and the local authorities responsible for the 

                  children detained in the school by court order. It seems, however, as a result of the recent 

                  inspection that by reason of advancing years and other duties in her capacity as Superior 

                  of the convent, Mother Roberta now has little time to devote to the actual day to day care 

                  of the children though she still controls the finances of the school. In my opinion this is an 

                  entirely unsatisfactory arrangement which must restrict Sr. Sofia in the employment of the 

                  extra lay assistance which she so badly needs, and the introduction of the other measures 

                  deemed essential if all round standards in the school are to be raised. 



            13 This is a pseudonym. 

            14 This is a pseudonym. 



           400                                                              CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1187-----------------------

                  Administratively it would be a simple matter to change the payment of the maintenance 

                  grants  from  Mother  Roberta  to  Sister  Sofia  but  in  the  particular  circumstances  of  the 

                  community in Clifden this change would not be effective unless Your Grace interfered to 

                  make it so. Accordingly, I would also ask Your Grace to use your good offices to ensure 

                  that the financial control of the maintenance grants paid by this Department and the Local 

                  Authorities in respect of the committed children is placed in the hands of Sr. Sofia so that 

                  she may have a free hand in her efforts to restore to St. Joseph's School its former high 

                  standard of performance in the field of caring for the deprived and underprivileged child. 



                  I have the honour to be, my Lord Archbishop, 



                  Yours sincerely, 



                  Assistant Secretary. 



9.76       The Archbishop duly made representations to Sr Roberta who assured him that extra staff would 

           be deployed in the School. 



9.77       The acting Inspector again inspected the School a few months later and found conditions much 

           improved, as documented in his internal memorandum: 



                  St. Joseph’s, Clifden 



                  Runai-Cunta, 

                    ´       ´ 



                  On my visit to Clifden Industrial School ... I found that the new manager had made good 

                  progress  in  the  task  of  restoring  acceptable  standards  in  the  conduct  of  this  school. 

                  Numbers  have  been  reduced  from  85  to  72,  and  dormitories  were  clean  and  smelt 

                  pleasantly  and  a  new  locker  has  been  purchased  for  every  child.  In  the  refectory  new 

                  chairs have been provided and a substantial dinner has replaced the “traditional” bread & 

                  tea as the Saturday mid-day meal. Minor improvements in the washing facilities have also 

                  been made and Sr Sofia has a programme of painting & decorating, additional heating 

                  and a more suitable arrangement of w.c. accommodation in the pipeline. Furthermore she 

                  has   increased    the   staff from   three   to  nine   and   has   been   successful     in placing   or 

                  transferring six senior girls who had got completely out of hands. 



                  We  discussed  further  reductions  in  numbers,  additional  staff  who  would  sleep  in  and 

                  become more involved in the social life of the children and the assistance of an Art teacher 

                  who would help plan a more individual colour scheme in the children’s dress. Most schools 

                  buy in bulk from shops and factories which can effect a saving of up to 35% but can result 

                  in  the  child  having  to  fit  the  article  rather  than  the  opposite.  Sr  Sofia  was  advised  to 

                  postpone structural alterations for the present and to expect a visit next May to discuss 

                  the progress of her plans. The Archbishop was to pay a further visit .... 



                  I  subsequently  saw  Fr.  Costello  C.C.  who  supports  Sr.  Sofia  in  her  determination  to 

                  improve matters in St. Joseph’s. Dialogue on most matters will shortly be allowed in the 

                  community at Clifden which may reveal why out of a strength of 40 nuns only two are 

                  willing to work in the industrial school, though all have taken vows to care for “the poor 

                  the sick and the ignorant”. 



                  [A]  Having seen  the chaos  which existed  with 85  children in  residence and  insufficient 

                  staff & the relative improvement with 72 children and additional staff, I am now moving 

                  towards    the  view   that  in  a  small   town   like  Clifden   with  its limited   services   and   its 

                  comparatively     isolated   position,   the   number    of  children    who   could    be  successfully 

                  integrated in the school life and social activities of the district should be not more than 40- 

                  50 (boys + girls) and if you agree, I will discuss this question on the phone with Sr Sofia. 

                  In the meantime I am asking [a], Kindergarten Organiser to call on Sr Sofia and advise 

                  her on the employment of the children’s time outside school hours. 



                  [Handwritten notes at bottom of page] 



            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    401 


----------------------- Page 1188-----------------------

                  Since writing this report Sr. Sofia phoned to say that the Archbishop had visited ... & she 

                  felt  he  would  like  to  be  informed  of  the  results  of  the  recent  inspection.  In  view  of  his 

                  continuing  interest  it  might  be  well  to  put  the  proposal  at  A  above  to  him  in  the  first 

                  instance together with the recent views on the school. 



 9.78      The Archbishop was kept informed of developments and agreed that, ultimately, numbers would 

           have to be reduced. 



 9.79      A further inspection some five months later reported that five Sisters worked part-time on a regular 

           basis in the School, and an additional Sister had been appointed on a full-time basis. 



 9.80      Dr Anna McCabe was appointed Medical Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools in 1939 

           and held the post until 1965. She also carried out General Inspections of the schools. 



 9.81      There  are General  Inspection Reports  available for  most of  the 1940s  and 1950s.  All of  these 

           reports, without exception, refer to Clifden in glowing terms. Year after year, it is referred to as an 

           excellent  and  extremely  well-conducted  school.  The  Resident  Manager,  Sr  Roberta,  and  her 

           deputy, Sr Veronica, are also praised and referred to as very capable and kind. The last Inspection 

           Report by Dr McCabe with regard to Clifden is dated 1962. 



 9.82      Sr  Casey  and  complainant  witnesses  testified  that  inspections  were  notified  to  the  school  in 

           advance and that conditions were improved for the visits. 



 9.83      Dr  McCabe  carried  out  Medical  Inspections  at  the  same  time  as  the  General  Inspections,  and 

           these are documented separately. All of her Medical Reports are very positive. 



 9.84      The local GP completed Quarterly Medical Returns for the Department which noted that the health 

           of the children was excellent, their diet varied and they were well nourished, clean and neat in 

           appearance.      The    children   were    taken   for  walks    and   drives   in  the   countryside     and   the 

           accommodation was in good condition. 



 9.85      Dr C E Lysaght was contracted by the Department of Education to conduct one-off inspections of 

           industrial and reformatory schools in 1966. He provided a detailed General and Medical Inspection 

           Report in regard to Clifden after an inspection in 1966. 



 9.86      Overall,  his  report  was  very  positive.  He  asked  why  the  industrial  school  children  were  taught 

           separately from the local children and was told by Sr Veronica that this was the way it had always 

           been and that, in any event, the local primary school was too small to cater for them. 



 9.87      There was a hiatus in inspections until 1969, when the Acting Inspector visited the School and 

           was alarmed to find it overcrowded and understaffed. 



 9.88      It is apparent that the reports of the acting inspector were more child-centred than those of his 

           predecessors, who tended to concentrate on the physical aspects of the Institution as opposed to 

           the standard of care provided to the children. 



 9.89      Mr Graham Granville was appointed to the position of Child Care Advisor in the Department of 

           Education in the mid-1970s. He conducted five inspections of Clifden between the mid-1970s and 

           the early 1980s. In general, these reports were positive although he expressed concern about the 

           aftercare and the socialisation of the children into the community. 



           402                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1189-----------------------

          Food 



9.90      Sr Casey said she had spoken to two Sisters who expressed concern about the adequacy of the 

          food in the School in the mid-1960s. She accepted that, in the 1950s and through to the early 

           1960s, the food was very basic; at teatime they had bread, butter and jam every day. 



9.91       Most  of  the  complainants  made  allegations  regarding  the  poor  quality  and  quantity  of  food  in 

          Clifden. Many of the witnesses recall always being hungry, and resorted to stealing food intended 

          for the farm animals and bread from the bakery. 



9.92      Another former resident, who spent her childhood in Clifden during the 1960s and 1970s, stated 

          that conditions changed in 1969 when a new Resident Manager was appointed. There seemed 

          to be more money and they never went hungry. This contrasted with previous years, when she 

           recalled  always  being  hungry  and  eating  food  destined  for  the  pigs.  However,  with  the  regime 

          change, she recalled ‘another type of panic around food, because we had to eat what we got and 

          if we didn’t eat it we got lashed. Well, I got hit. I remember get – being beat because I couldn’t 

          eat my food’. She recalled, in particular, being beaten by one Sister for not eating her food quickly 

          enough, but this Sister denied hitting the witness or any other child across the face for not eating 

          their food quickly. 



9.93      One  respondent  who  gave  evidence  was  a  national  schoolteacher  who  had  taught  children  in 

          Carna  national  school  before  being  transferred  to  Clifden  internal  national  school  in  the  early 

           1960s. She stated that, in comparison with the children in Carna, the Industrial School children 

          were well fed and clothed. 



9.94       In its Submissions, the Congregation concedes that: 



                 in view of the repetition of complaints about food, and the evidence of certain particular 

                complainants  such  as  [the  complainant  named]  it  seems  likely  that  hunger  was  a  real 

                 issue for the children in Clifden industrial, at least up to a certain period of time, perhaps 

                the late 1960’s ... The food does not seem to have been adequate in quantity to satisfy 

                the appetite of the children. It is accepted that children probably did, on occasion, steal 

                 loaves of fresh bread and extra portions of food whenever they could. 



          Education 



9.95       In 1939, a  Preliminary Report was carried out by  a Department Inspector into the  feasibility of 

          amalgamating the internal national school and the local national school, Scoil Mhuire, which were 

           located yards from each other within the same grounds. The manager of both schools, Mother 

          Alma, was open to the idea, but expressed reservations about the attitude of parents of children 

           in Scoil Mhuire to the proposal. 



9.96      The Department Inspector reported in May 1942 that while in his view it was perfectly feasible to 

          amalgamate the two schools: 



                The Rev. Mother of the Community, Mother Alma, who is manager of both schools, and 

                the principal teacher of the Convent N.S. are all three opposed to the idea of having the 

                 pupils of both schools taught together, mainly because they fear that the parents of the 

                children attending the N.S. would object. I think it likely that there would be some such 

                objection. 



9.97       Furthermore,  £4,000  had  recently  been  spent  on  upgrading  the  Industrial  School  classrooms, 

          which  would  be  wasted  if  an  amalgamation  took  place.  The  inspector  concluded  that,  ‘In  my 

          opinion, the pupils of the Industrial School would not gain, educationally or otherwise, by being 

          taught along with the pupils of the other school and I do not think the present arrangement should 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             403 


----------------------- Page 1190-----------------------

           be altered’. The Department accepted the conclusions of the inspector and the status quo would 

           remain unchanged until July 1969 when the two schools were amalgamated. 



9.98       In 1972, the Sisters expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of post-primary educational facilities in 

           the area, and in particular the lack of vocational training. They maintained that this had impeded 

           the  development  of  the  Industrial  School.  The  Department  investigated  the  matter  and  was 

           reasonably happy with  the facilities available. A  vocational school replacing the  two secondary 

           schools in Clifden was opened in the mid-1970s. 



9.99       Sr Casey stated at the Phase I public hearing: 



                 Up to the ‘60’s the level of education was generally that of Primary Cert, but there was 

                 industrial training provided as well and the children would have been expected to engage 

                 in  significant  amounts  of  domestic  work  depending  on  their  age,  such  as  the  laundry, 

                 kitchen and bakery and at any given time a child would have helped on the farm. These 

                 things all of them together would undoubtedly have made the children feel that in some 

                 sense their childhood was thwarted or stunted. 



9.100      She added that, in the 1970s, there was a drive to ensure that those children who were capable 

           and  interested  in  pursuing  post-primary  education  were  given  the  opportunity  to  do  so.  Again, 

           during the 1970s, children were sent to different schools in the locality, or indeed sent to boarding 

           school, in an effort to minimise the institutional nature of their upbringing and enable them to mix 

           with other children. 



9.101      Sr Casey accepted that it would have been better, from a socialisation point of view, if the children 

           had been amalgamated with the local national school children back in 1942 when the issue was 

           first raised. It was put to her that the reasoning behind objecting to the amalgamation reflected 

           less  a  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  children  and  more  an  interest  in  preserving  the  financial 

           investment    which   had   been   made    in  the  School.    Sr  Casey    accepted    that  this was    one 

           interpretation of the matter. 



9.102      Many of the complainants gave evidence as to the inadequacy of the standard of education they 

           received in Clifden. 



9.103      One witness, who was committed to Clifden in the early 1950s at the age of seven and spent 

           eight years there, stated she was continuously reprimanded in class, both physically and verbally, 

           to the extent that she found it impossible to learn anything. In one particular class, she regularly 

           had to stand in a corner wearing a dunce’s hat. She has difficulty reading and writing to this day. 

           As regards practical skills, she learned to cook and do laundry work. The only training she received 

           in preparation for life after Clifden was domestic training. 



9.104      Two  other  witnesses  complained  that  an  over-emphasis  on  religious  studies  deprived  them  of 

           other educational skills. One of these witnesses was five years old when she was sent to Clifden 

           in the late 1950s. She stated: 



                 You were drilled with religion and if you didn’t know it that you got beaten and that you 

                 had to stand on the desk or kneel down and face the blackboard or face the wall, turn 

                 around against the wall ... we didn’t go on to the Leaving or Inter or anything. We were 

                 not even able to read or write when we left the Institution. It was just sheer luck that we 

                 did survive. We had the survival skills but we did not have the educational skills. 



9.105      She  also  alleged  that  she  was  taken  out  of  class  to  take  care  of  young  children.  The  second 

           witness,  who  was  committed  to  Clifden  in  the  early  1960s  and  spent  just  over  a  year  there, 

           described the Sister who taught her as vicious. She had a bamboo cane, which she used with 



           404                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1191-----------------------

           great zeal if the children did not know their lessons. She concentrated on religious studies. She 

           alleged that they spent more time trying to avoid beatings than learning. 



9.106      The Congregation denied that there was an emphasis on religious studies and that children were 

           taken out of class to engage in domestic chores. 



9.107      Another former resident in Clifden, who was committed in the late 1950s at the age of 10 and 

           remained there until she was discharged at the age of 16, also alleged that she often worked in 

           the nursery during school hours. She stated that the standard of her education did not improve 

           on  what  she  had  been  taught  prior  to  being  committed.  The  school  records  indicate  that  her 

           reading, writing and calculation were ‘basic’ when she came to the School, but she insisted that 

           her abilities in these areas were very good at this stage. She also asserted that, when she sat the 

           Primary  Certificate,  all  of  the  children  copied  from  each  other  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the 

           supervising Department inspectors. The Congregation submits that this latter allegation is utterly 

           implausible. 



9.108      A complainant who spent her childhood in Clifden during the 1960s and 1970s gave evidence in 

           relation to the Sister who taught her in 6th   class: 



                 we were terrified of her because she was very cruel. I used to be dreading going into her 

                 class because she used to teach in 6th       class and I spend years dreading going into her 



                 class because I feared that she would punish me. 



9.109      When she finally did go into 6th    class, she found that she was not afraid of the teacher. In fact, 



           the Sister ignored her completely in class because she gave backchat on one occasion. She does 

           not recall ever being beaten by her, nor witnessing another child being beaten in class. However, 

           the witness does recall Sr Elana ‘lashing’ children for attempting to run away. She stated that this 

           Sister had a reputation of targeting the industrial school children for punishment. 



9.110      This respondent, Sr Elana, remembered the complainant as a quiet girl. She accepted that she 

           was strict in class but maintained that this was necessary to preserve order. When the two national 

           schools merged in 1969, she felt that some of the industrial school children would have benefited 

           from remedial teaching which was not available at that time. She did not have any time to give 

           special attention to pupils in need. 



9.111      Another Sister, Sr Carmella, felt that the School was under-staffed. The children did not achieve 

           as well academically as their peers in Scoil Mhuire. 



9.112      She said that no real efforts were made to deal with the fact that the industrial school children 

           were behind educationally in comparison with the pupils in Scoil Mhuire. She helped them with 

           their  study  in  the  afternoons  and  another  Sister,  who  was  partially  blind,  helped  with  reading, 

           spelling  and  tables,  but  that  was  the  extent  of  the  assistance  given.  She  stated  that  they  did 

           eventually catch up with the other pupils. Ultimately, the amalgamation improved them in every 

           way,  ‘Their outlook, their behaviour and everything. They learned from the other children’. 



9.113      Despite the apparent emphasis on educating the children, most of them were destined for a life 

           in some sort of domestic service. Sr Carmella’s explanation was that such an outcome was never 

           questioned:  ‘I think the order of the day was that in the end of it they were going to end up as 

           domestics’.  Sr  Roberta,  who  held  the  position  as  Resident  Manager  until  1969,  decided  who 

           would  go  on  to  secondary school.  She  would  have  liked  to  have  seen more  children  go  on  to 

           further education. 



9.114      Sr Carmella stated that chores did not interfere with their schooling and were carried out before 

           and after school. Girls between 14 and 16 years of age took part in a domestic economy course. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               405 


----------------------- Page 1192-----------------------

           The children were taught music after school and there was an emphasis on musical education in 

          the School. She was not of the view that inordinate pressure was put on the children with regard to 

          their performance for the Christmas concert and thought that they quite enjoyed the preparations. 



9.115      She denied that there was a marked emphasis on religious education over other subjects, and 

           stated that half an hour every day was given towards religious education. The School followed 

          the national school curriculum and was subject to Department inspections. 



9.116      On the question why the children did not fare better academically, the Congregation submitted 

          that the following factors should be taken into account: 



                  •    The  psychological  and  emotional  state  of  these  vulnerable  children,  as  well  as  the 

                       effects  of institutionalisation,  which would  have had  repercussions on  their ability  to 

                       learn. 



                  •    The pre-existing standard of education of children who were older when committed. 

                  •    The absence of remedial facilities. 

                  •    The effects of corporal punishment and such practices as wearing a dunce’s hat. 

                  •   The absence of motivation where there were no post-primary educational opportunities 

                       and  the  emphasis  in  the  industrial  training  provided  focused  largely  on  a  future  in 

                       domestic service. 



                  •    The gap between what the prescribed curriculum offered and the needs of children in 

                       institutional care. 



9.117      •   The standard of education in Clifden was below that available in local national schools. 

                The  failure  to  amalgamate  the  children  with  local  children  for  national  schooling 

                caused    disadvantage,     both   socially   and   educationally.    The   interests   of  the  local 

                community and the Congregation were placed ahead of those of the children in care. 

                Excessive corporal punishment had a damaging effect on institutionalised children. It 

                would appear that children in Clifden were regarded as suitable for domestic work and 

                trained accordingly. The Congregation was correct to draw attention to the ‘effects of 

                corporal punishment and such practices as wearing a dunce’s hat’. 



           Chores/Industrial training 



9.118      Sr Casey confirmed that children  had to rise early in the morning, on  a rota basis, to light the 

          furnaces and fires. This practice stopped when central heating was installed in the School in the 

           early 1950s. 



9.119      The children did various chores around the School and, when old enough, assisted in the laundry 

           and  bakery  and  on  the  farm.  She  did  not  accept,  based  on  the  enquiries  she  made,  that  the 

           children  engaged  in  heavy-duty  work  on  the  farm.  The  extent  of  their  involvement  would  have 

           been limited to collecting eggs, cleaning the hen-house and making butter. She conceded that the 

          work in the laundry was hard until the 1960s, when machinery was introduced. She did not accept 

          that children were taken out of school to assist with domestic chores. 



9.120      She added that the Congregation: 



                 again  with  hindsight  would  wish  to  acknowledge  that  the  routine  nature  of  the  School 

                 reflected in the institutional nature of the setting was very far removed from what children 

                 would have experienced in the ordinary rhythm of a family home. It’s possibly true to say 

                 as well that the routine nature was the way Sisters’ lives was organised themselves so it 

                 was transposed to the Industrial School setting. 



          406                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1193-----------------------

 9.121     Most of the complainants alleged that they had to rise early in the morning, on a rota basis, to 

           carry in turf and coal to light the boilers. One complainant, who was in Clifden from the late 1950s 

           and remained there until the early 1970s, added that, if the pot of water for tea was not boiled by 

           8am, those on duty were beaten and were put on the rota for the following week. 



 9.122     Another recurring complaint was that older girls were taken out of school to look after babies and 

           toddlers, a claim denied by the Congregation. 



 9.123     A complainant, who was committed at the age of 10 in the late 1950s and remained there until 

           the  mid-1960s,  asserted  that  she  worked  on  the  farm  and  assisted  with  haymaking.  She  also 

           worked in the laundry from the age of 11 and washed the nuns’ clothes. 



 9.124     Another  complainant,  sent  to  Clifden  at  the  age  of  12  in  the  early  1960s  for  just  over  a  year, 

           stated  that  regular  chores  included  picking  weeds  and  thistles from  the  nuns’  graves,  washing 

           and polishing floors, and working in the laundry. 



 9.125     The Congregation submits that it is likely that complainants merged together the different types 

           of chores   they   engaged    in  at different  ages   and   failed to  distinguish  between    chores    and 

           industrial training. 



 9.126     In Clifden, as in all girls’ industrial schools, much of the maintenance and upkeep of the School 

           was done by the residents, often in the guise of domestic training. 



 9.127     •    Clifden was characterised by an exceptionally small staff, and it is therefore inevitable 

                that the heavy maintenance work associated with a large institution was done by the 

                girls themselves. Even complainants who were critical of the School conceded that it 

                was kept spotlessly clean, and it was clear from the reports of Dr McCabe that she 

                was impressed  by the  hygiene standards there.  This was  achieved by a  disciplined 

                round of chores and duties on the part of the girls. 



           •    It also appears that the older girls had to provide the high level of care needed by the 

                very young children. 



           •    The  distinction  between  using  children  as  a  labour  force  and  providing  them  with 

                industrial  training  was  an  important  one.  The  failure  to  observe  this  distinction  in 

                Clifden sometimes led to exploitation. 



           Health/Hygiene 



 9.128     A complainant described the general state of cleanliness of the children as follows: 



                 They were filthy, black eyes, dirty clothes or torn clothes ... the hair was sore, and the 

                 fleas used to eat right through the hair, all scabbed. The children’s hair was full of scabs, 

                 full of sores, oozing and the filth and dirt and blood coming from the hair. 



 9.129     She said she never had a toothbrush in Clifden. The children washed their teeth with bread soda. 

           They were bathed about once a month. There were two big baths, and the children queued up 

           naked for their baths. She found this humiliating as she started to develop. The younger children 

           went first and, while water was added at intervals, it was filthy by the time the last of the girls took 

           their bath. 



 9.130     A witness from the mid-1960s said that the older children checked the younger children’s heads 

           for lice and, if lice were discovered, the children were called dirty or filthy. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                407 


----------------------- Page 1194-----------------------

 9.131     Head lice were a constant problem which was treated by putting a white powder in the child’s hair 

           and by keeping the hair short. The Resident Manager, Sr Roberta, used to check their heads for 

           lice and children whose heads were infested were beaten. 



 9.132     Another complainant, sent to Clifden at the age of 12 in the early 1960s stated that the children 

           had to sit down every evening and inspect each other’s heads for lice. 



 9.133     A complainant remembered during the 1960s a lay worker cutting her hair in a very rough manner, 

           leaving her with chunks of hair missing. 



 9.134     Every night, both boys and girls got undressed downstairs. They went up to bed in their underwear. 

           She remembered feeling shy in front of the boys. They kept their nightdresses under their pillows. 

           Each morning, they went downstairs to dress. She remembered always being cold. 



 9.135     A  number  of  complainants  stated  that  they  received  no  information  about  menstruation  or  the 

           facts  of  life.  When  their  periods  started,  they  depended  on  the  older  girls  to  explain  what  was 

           happening. Girls left Clifden with little or no knowledge of adolescent development and the facts 

           of life and were extremely vulnerable in the outside world. This fact should have been apparent 

           to the Sisters who cared for them. 



 9.136     Sr  Carmella  gave  evidence  that  the  children  kept  their  school  clothes  in  the  classroom,  and 

           changed before and after school. This was a practice that she had introduced, as the children 

           used come to school late because they could not find items of clothing. They knitted their own 

           jumpers and she helped them make their own skirts. They wore overalls over their clothes after 

           school. The children’s hair was always clean and she never observed any children with lice. 



 9.137     •    There was undue emphasis on cleaning and polishing the premises of the Industrial 

                School and far less emphasis on the personal cleanliness of the children. 



           •    The  lack  of  any  proper  preparation  for  menstruation  was  insensitive  and  amounted 

                to neglect 



           Bed-wetting 



 9.138     One complainant, who was resident in Clifden for 12 years from the late 1950s, stated that children 

           who wet the bed at night did not have sheets. A rubber cover was put over the mattress. They 

           were not permitted to wear nightclothes and slept naked. If they wet the bed, they were beaten. 

           Their blanket would have to be washed that day and put back on the bed semi-dry. 



 9.139     Another former resident in Clifden from the age of 10, who was committed in the late 1950s and 

           remained there until she was discharged at the age of 16, described how children who wet the 

           bed were called ‘pissy beds’. One of the Sisters or a lay worker would make them wrap the wet 

           sheets around them whilst they cleaned under their bed. 



 9.140     A further witness, who was committed to Clifden for just over a year in the early 1960s at the age 

           of 12, recalled one boy who was punished for wetting the bed by being sent out to the cows in 

           the field with his wet sheet wrapped around him. 



 9.141     •    Bed-wetting was a perennial problem in Clifden and  there is no evidence of a more 

                enlightened approach there. One witness gave convincing evidence of boys being left 

                to  sleep  directly  on  rubber  mattresses  without  sheets  or  pillows.  This  was  a  harsh 

                treatment for children who wet the bed. Another gave evidence that sheets were put 

                on    these   beds     when    the   Department       inspector    was    due.    The   Congregation 

                acknowledged       that   it was   possible    that  children    who    wet  the   bed   were   treated 

                inappropriately. 



           408                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1195-----------------------

           Contact with families 



           Documentary material 



9.142      Clifden is located in a rural area 50 miles west of Galway City. Public transport consisted of an 

           infrequent bus service. Children were committed from all over the country by the District Courts. 

           Only one  of the 10 complainants  who gave evidence  to the Investigation Committee  was from 

           County Galway. A document discovered by the Department which gives details of children in care 

           in  the  mid-1970s  shows  that,  out  of  the  48  children  in  care,  only  two  came  from  Galway.  In 

           contrast,  by  the  early  1980s  the  majority  of  children  in  Clifden  were  from  County  Galway  and 

           surrounding areas. 



9.143      Given the fact that the majority of the children placed in care came from deprived backgrounds, it 

           was very difficult for families to maintain contact with their children in Clifden. It is clear that little 

           regard was given to the recommendation, contained in paragraph 52 of the Cussen Report, that 

           children should be sent to industrial schools near their homes whenever practicable. 



9.144      In  the  representations  made  by  the  Resident  Manager  to  the  Department  for  the  admission  of 

           junior boys to the School in 1959, and again in 1960, she stated that the admission of young boys 

           with their sisters would keep siblings together and so assist in the formation of familial bonds. She 

           also stated that, in any event, girls in the School met up with their brothers in St Joseph’s Industrial 

           School,  Salthill  on  a  regular  basis.  The  Western  Health  Board,  who  supported  the  proposal, 

           reiterated these arguments in their own representations to the Department. 



9.145      Mr Granville’s Inspection Reports in the 1970s and 1980s make reference, over and over again, 

           to the limited contact between children and their families despite ‘every effort’ being made. He 

           also referred to the lack of personal effects, such as photographs etc. 



9.146      Sr Casey acknowledged that there was little contact between children and their families, largely 

           because they came from far-flung parts of the country. There were no restrictions imposed by the 

           School on children visiting home, unless it was inappropriate to do so. If family did visit, they were 

           always welcomed and, if they sent gifts or letters, these were passed on to the children. 



9.147      She stated that children were sent to families in Galway and surrounding counties for holidays 

           from the 1960s, in an effort to give the children some idea of what family life was like. 



9.148      Many of the complainants have bitter memories of the absence of any effort on the part of the 

           Sisters to maintain links with their families and, in some cases, the derogatory manner in which 

           the Sisters referred to their families. 



9.149      Sr Carmella was of the view that the children had little knowledge of the outside world and were 

           insular in their outlook: 



                  They hadn’t an idea what family life was like. I remember a child asking me – she saw an 

                 ad in the paper for Stork margarine, it was a family sitting around the table and she said 

                 to  me,  “is  that  what  a  family  is  like?”  They  hadn’t  a  clue.  They  hadn’t  an  idea  what  a 

                 dwelling house was like. They were used to big rooms and big utensils and everything 

                 big. They just didn’t have a clue, until they went out on holidays later on. 



9.150      She found her years teaching the industrial school children very fulfilling:  ‘I felt that I was taking 

           the place of their parents and the majority of them could confide in me’. 



9.151      She agreed that there were some children who should never have been in the School and would 

           have been better off at home. The system had no means of catering for children who required 

           extra care and attention, or bright children whose talents could have been fostered. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   409 


----------------------- Page 1196-----------------------

 9.152     •    The geographical location of Clifden made it almost impossible for children to remain 

                in contact with family. 



           Preparation for departure/aftercare 



 9.153     Mr Granville made a number of references in his inspection reports to the deficiency in aftercare 

          facilities and the lack of co-ordination of such facilities between the School and the Health Board. 



 9.154     Sr Margaret Casey said that the children received industrial training, which consisted of tuition in 

           crafts, needlework,    knitting, laundry,  housekeeping,     gardening,    minding   young   children   and 

           serving in the parlour: ‘this was seen as industrial training and as an effort to prepare them for life 

           after the industrial school and for future employment’. She accepted that, until 1969, the primary 

           career envisaged for the children was a career in domestic service. 



 9.155     Former residents complained that they were not given any advance notice that they were due to 

           leave the Institution. 



 9.156     One witness, a resident in Clifden during the late 1950s and 1960s, stated that she was told the 

           morning she left that she would be leaving Clifden that day. The nuns had organised a job for her 

           in the laundry of a hospital in Galway. 



 9.157    Another witness, who spent over five years in Clifden from the late 1950s when she was 10 years 

           old, is adamant that she left the Institution, months after her sixteenth birthday, contrary to certain 

           Department  and  Sisters  of  Mercy  records.  However,  the  Department  pupil  file  for  this  witness 

           appears  to  substantiate  her  claim.  The  file  shows  that  her  height  and  weight  were  measured 

           approximately three months after her sixteenth birthday. She confronted a Sister about this at the 

          time who responded, ‘You are nothing but a pauper’. When she did eventually leave, she was not 

           given advance notice. 



 9.158     The positive witness proposed by the Congregation who gave evidence also spoke about being 

           retained after her sixteenth birthday, and stated that Sr Roberta decided when girls could leave 

           and that her word was law. 



           Emotional abuse 



 9.159     Sr Margaret Casey conceded: 



                 at the very least that the individual needs of the child could not be addressed, that each 

                 child’s  potential  could  not  be  known  or  realised  so  we  do  accept  that  some  children 

                 experienced life there as being harsh and also impersonal, in fact even abusive. For this 

                 we are deeply sorry. 



 9.160     She puts this down in part to the fact that the child-staff ratio was very high until the 1970s, and 

           in part to the lack of training for staff in childcare. 



 9.161     She was asked whether there was, in effect, an embargo on showing affection. Sr Casey accepted 

          that Sisters were discouraged from showing affection to the children, and said that this had to be 

          viewed in the context of the vows taken by the Sisters when entering religious life. Rather than 

           showing  love  and  affection  to  one  person,  you  measured  out  the  same  degree  of  affection  to 

           everyone. 



 9.162     Many of the complainants alleged that Sisters and a lay worker often made disparaging remarks 

           regarding their families and treated them disrespectfully if they came to visit. 



          410                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1197-----------------------

 9.163     Sr Olivia accepted that, particularly during her early years in Clifden, it was a cold, bleak place 

           with little room to show love or affection to the children. 



 9.164     Sr Carmella stated that the children craved affection, which they sought from the Sisters. They 

           were not chosen as pets by the Sisters, rather they would attach themselves to a particular Sister. 

           However, there was, in effect, a prohibition on showing affection to the children, and the Sisters 

           were encouraged to maintain their distance. 



 9.165     The two national schools merged in 1969 and the children from the Industrial School joined the 

           local children in Scoil Mhuire. Sr Carmella explained: 



                 they  found  it  very  hard  to  mix  in  the  beginning,  they  felt  very  insecure  the  first  year 

                 because they didn’t seem to belong anywhere. They were very secure down with us and 

                 how they were like thrown in with the town’s children and I felt they were lost the first year. 



 9.166     Prior to this, they did not mix at all with the people from the locality, as the Resident Manager did 

           not allow it. 



 9.167     This respondent stated that many of the Sisters had good relationships with the children and there 

           was a fair amount of interaction between the Sisters in the convent and the children. When asked 

           to  elaborate  on  this  interaction,  however,  she  stated  that  the  children  were  often  up  in  the 

           convent cleaning. 



 9.168     Sr Elana, who taught in Scoil Mhuire from the late 1950s, confirmed that the convent, where she 

           resided, was on the same grounds as the Industrial School, although the Sisters in the convent 

           had  little  contact  with  the  children.  It  was  a  relatively  large  community,  with  approximately  30 

           Sisters  in  the  late  1960s.  They  were  not  encouraged  to  interact  with  the  children  from  the 

           Industrial School. 



 9.169     Two  former  residents  of  Clifden  had  positive  memories  of  small  acts  of  kindness  to  them  by 

           some nuns, even though they sometimes occurred in circumstances where other nuns had been 

           particularly cruel. 



 9.170     A witness, who was sent to Clifden at the age of 10 in the late 1950s and remained there until 

           the mid-1960s, recalled good memories of one respondent, Sr Carmella. She remembered being 

           hit by her on only one occasion. This Sister was kind to the children and the witness felt that she 

           could  talk  to  her.  She  alleged  that  this  Sister  gave  her  white  socks  to  wear  in  order  to  cover 

           bruises  on  her  legs  that  she  had  sustained  at  the  hands  of  Sr  Veronica.  The  Congregation’s 

           Submission following the Phase III hearings rebuts the accusation that Sr Carmella was somehow 

           complicit in physical abuse. 



 9.171     The witness described another Sister, who worked on the farm, as a lovely nun. She would allow 

           the children to eat the left-over food from the convent, which had been destined for the pigs. 



 9.172     At  Christmas  time,  the  children  would  receive  a  handkerchief,  comb  or  hair  slide  in  a  brown 

           paper bag. 



 9.173     They were taught singing and dancing and performed at feiseanna. 



 9.174     Another complainant, who was committed to Clifden for just over a year in the early 1960s when 

           she was 12 years old, recalled one particular Sister who was kind: ‘When Sister Veronica beat us 

           up, or Sister Roberta, and we would be sore or crying she would always put her hand on your 

           shoulder and tell you not to cry, that everything would be okay. But everything wasn’t okay down 

           there. Everything was bad’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                  411 


----------------------- Page 1198-----------------------

  9.175    The witness also named one Sister who was fine, because she did not beat the children. 



  9.176    Her abiding positive memory of Clifden is spending time with the animals on the farm. 



  9.177    The recollection of complainants, that Clifden was a cold, cheerless environment with little 

           emotional contact from the Sisters who worked there, is borne out by the evidence of the 

           Sisters themselves. 



  9.178    The Congregation proposed that evidence should be heard from a former resident, Mary,15  who 



           had positive memories of the Institution. 



  9.179    In addition, in its written Submissions to the Commission, the Congregation asked the Investigation 

           Committee to take account of the evidence of one of the complainants, who was committed to 

           Clifden at the age of eight in 1966 and remained there for a year and a half, and who it asserts 

           was  a  reliable  witness  and  ‘showed  balance  and  emotional  closure  or  maturity  in  the  way  he 

           described life in the school’. 



           Congregation’s witness 



  9.180    Mary was  committed to Clifden  when she  was two years  old, in the  late 1940s,  and remained 

           there until the mid-1960s. 



  9.181    She  was  part  of  a  group  of  children  known  as  the  ‘specials’.  These  were  children  who  were 

           considered delicate and they were given a special supplementary diet. Every day at 11am, they 

           were taken out of school and given an egg-flip and cod liver oil. As she got older, she was chosen 

           to run errands down in the village. 



  9.182    She  accepted  that  at  times  some  children  were  hungry.  For  breakfast,  they  had  two  slices  of 

           buttered bread with tea. At lunchtime, they had potatoes and vegetables. During school term, they 

           had porridge every day at 3pm in the back yard. They had bread with butter and jam for supper. 

           On Sunday, they had bacon and cabbage. They had dessert three times a week. They always 

           used delph and cutlery and never ate with their hands, as was alleged by one complainant. 



  9.183    The witness did not accept that children ate food from the pigs’ buckets as a regular occurrence. 

           Once or twice a year, when nuns were finally professed, the children were given food left over 

           from the visitors: 



                  you know, they would bring the food that was left over from all their visitors, we would 

                  have to – there would be a few people who would have to carry it out, so they would bring 

                  it down the walk and they would put it down and we would all go into it. But that was not 

                  something that was daily or weekly or thing, absolutely, that's not true. 



  9.184    She said that they occasionally stole bread from the bakery, but this was more out of devilment 

           than hunger. Sr Gina16  supervised meals, and there was no bullying over food at mealtimes: 



                  Clifden was very regimented and everything had to be done in order, because don’t forget 

                  there was so many of us. 



  9.185    The building was kept immaculately and fires burned throughout the day. It was very cold at night, 

           however, after the fires went out. 



           15 This is a pseudonym 

           16 This is a pseudonym. 



           412                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1199-----------------------

9.186      The Resident Manager always ensured that they were well dressed from head to toe. None of the 

           children went barefoot. They were always made to feel that they were as good as anybody else. 

           The witness described her as harsh, strict and dedicated: 



                 Oh, yeah. Roberta had a very authoritarian voice and if she walked up to you she would 

                 say, "Hi, how are you." Her voice would cut you. We feared her to a certain extent but yet 

                 in our own way if Roberta was sick, we always lined up to go to visit her and she loved 

                 the attention that she got from us. She was very strict, don't get me wrong, and she could 

                 have been very hard at times but I think anything that she did for the children she did – 

                 in other words, if she bought stuff, she had to buy the best because she would make sure 

                 that anyone in the town couldn't be talking about, "oh, look at how badly they are dressed" 

                 or something like that. She always examined things, everything with her was very ritual, 

                 the way she did things. 



9.187      She said that she did not like a lay worker, Ms Aherne,17 whom a number of other witnesses have 



           described as harsh. She said this worker was so eager to please the Resident Manager that she 

           was unreasonably hard on the children. 



9.188      Mary  said she  was  punished by  the  nuns,  but only  when  she had  done  something wrong  and 

           never excessively. She was slapped on both hands,  ‘if you did wrong it was written down and 

           before you went into your lunch she would call out the names that those were to be lined up for 

           a beating’. The beating consisted of being slapped on the hands with a ruler or stick. Only one 

           particular Sister used a cane to hit children. 



9.189      She later elaborated on this theme: 



                 Sr Gina was the only one that used the cane. We hated the cane because the cane was 

                 much sharper. The sticks weren’t bad but the cane was fierce. She would have been the 

                 only nun that would walk around with the cane. 



9.190      The witness was asked why Sr Gina would be walking round with a cane when she was not a 

           teacher, and she replied: 



                 she was supposed to be in charge of the children ... She left in [the early 1960s] ... we 

                 rejoiced over that, that was the best thing that happened. 



9.191      Clothes were examined every Monday and if you had a hole in a garment, you were given a week 

           to mend it. If it was not mended, you would be punished. 



9.192      Sr Roberta was feared by the children, and this witness remembered her screaming voice. She 

           said, ‘Her voice would cut you ... when Sr Roberta screamed she kind of like screamed in general, 

           everything she said was a scream’. 



9.193      One  of  the  reasons  for  Sr  Roberta’s  habit  of  screaming  was  that  she  was  partly  deaf.  This 

           witness said: 



                 In  one  sense  you  kind  of  feared  Roberta,  there  is  no  doubt  about  it  if  someone  is 

                 screaming at you all the time. But the way we would refer to Mother Roberta was, “oh, 

                 she was cracked. She’s daft”. But she was by no means cracked or daft ... She was like 

                 a sergeant major. 



9.194      She added later: 



                 [Roberta] never liked any of the nuns to have any pets. But she had her own, don’t get 

                 me wrong, she had her own. 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   413 


----------------------- Page 1200-----------------------

9.195      She  summed  up  the  general attitude  of  the  girls  to  Sr  Roberta  by saying,  ‘we  would  say,  “oh, 

           yeah, Roberta was cruel but she was very decent”’. She added, ‘We always refer to her as being 

           very decent and very kind’. 



9.196      She described Sr Roberta’s deputy, Sr Veronica,18              as  ‘more of a nag but she got very excited 



           because Roberta would be always screaming at her, “get this” and “do that” and everything else.’ 

           She was a very nervous individual and always had to have things just right. 



9.197      The relationship between Sr Roberta and the rest of the staff, particularly Sr Veronica her deputy, 

           was always authoritarian. She said: 



                  Sr Veronica had to do everything the way that Roberta wanted it. Roberta would scream at 

                  her the same way she screamed at the kids. She screamed at all the nuns the same way. 



9.198      The witness remembered one or two of the staff with affection. She described one of the Sisters 

           who taught her as kind, but she did not have a lot to do with the children. Another Sister who was 

           in charge of the farm was also very nice. One of the Sisters taught music, and those involved in 

           music  travelled  to  different  places  playing  with  the  band.  A  handy-man  was  employed  to  help 

           around the School, and she described him as a comedian. 



9.199      She said that the worst aspect of living in the School was that there were so many children in it, 

           and it was necessarily very regimented. She felt very alone. Certain categories of children were 

           picked upon by their peers. Those who had family and received packages were seen as better 

           than those who did not. Those from Dublin saw themselves as more elite than those from the 

           Midlands.  Children  from  the  Midlands  were  ‘the  lowest  of  the  low,  because  you  were  one  of 

           Maguires’. Mr Maguire19 was the ISPCC Inspector for that area. Travellers were marginalised and 



           she recalled that, when the more impoverished children were brought to the School, they would 

           invariably be filthy and their hair would be crawling with lice. 



9.200      A lay worker was in charge of ensuring that the children’s heads were free from lice. Sr Roberta 

           examined the children’s heads every week. If lice were discovered, a lotion was put in their hair 

           and it was combed with a fine toothcomb. In extreme cases, their heads were shaved. 



9.201      She did not recall the nuns referring to the children’s background, apart from one Sister who made 

           derogatory references about where the children came from. 



9.202      Her recollection was that the nuns were not permitted to show the children any sort of physical 

           affection. ‘No,’ she said, ‘there was absolutely no affection’. She added: 



                  If one of nuns put their hands around you and Mother Roberta found that out, forget it, 

                  they were in real trouble. There was no such a thing. 



9.203      She described a particular occasion when one nun, Sr Maria,20  took pity on her: 



                  I remember one incident where Sr. Maria had us all lined up and she asked us all what 

                  we would really – she was asking something, you know, about ourselves what we really 

                  thought. I know I was at the end of the line and she asked me, I said, "I really want to 

                  find my mother." She really took that very, very bad. She went out – it really bothered her. 

                  At the end, she told me to stay behind and she says, "take anything you want from this 

                  press." She says, you know – she kind of did it like this, not a thing. But she did give me 

                  a hug and she says, "oh", she says, "one day you will and you are a special child of God", 

                  and something like that. But now she would make sure that nobody else saw her and that 



           18 This is a pseudonym. 

           19 This is a pseudonym. 

           20 This is a pseudonym. 



           414                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1201-----------------------

                  was it. So, no, they were no way affectionate, no way, no how. If you left and you came 

                 back a nun would give you a hug. But not while you were in the school, no. 



9.204      Similarly, the older girls looking after the younger children would not dare to show their charges 

           affection. She was asked about looking after the babies, if she would have shown affection to a 

           little child of three or four. She replied: 



                  Yeah, you might, but it wasn't something you really kind of got yourself really into, that – 

                 you know. I never saw anyone really cuddling, you know. Maybe a baby trying to keep 

                 them quiet or something, but other than that you wouldn't pick a child up ... 



9.205      She was often chosen to run errands in the village. She stated that Sr Roberta tried to take this 

           job away from her several times, but she had struck up a good relationship with the town’s people 

           and, at her request, they would write to the Resident Manager asking her to make sure that she 

           would be the one coming for the messages. She believed that the Resident Manager had to keep 

           in with the town’s people and so would do what they said. She added: 



                 she kind of resented me for that, she would say, “you old pet, get out of my sight, you 

                 old pet”. 



9.206      The witness described the education she received as standard. Everyone could read and write by 

           the time they left the Institution. Those with learning difficulties went to one particular nun for extra 

           tuition. She taught everything by rote. They did not receive any formal sex education and learned 

           about the changes during puberty from each other. 



9.207      Birthdays were always celebrated and the children received gifts of sweets, fruit and a comb and 

           ribbons  for  their  hair.  They  also  had  toast  the  morning  of  their  birthday.  Christmas  was  also 

           celebrated. 



9.208      She  recalled  regular     visits  from  the  local  doctor  and  the  Department  Inspectors.        When  the 

           inspector was en route from Lenaboy, the School would receive a message alerting them to the 

           fact that she was on the way. She did not accept that bed linen and clothes were changed for the 

           purpose of these visits. The children had to make sure that they were clean but, otherwise, very 

           little had to be done in preparation for the visit, as the School was always in good order. 



9.209      She did not have any contact with her family while in the Institution. She stated that the nuns did 

           not know anything about the children’s background. Before allowing children home to their families 

           on holidays, Sr Roberta would conduct inquiries to ensure that the home environment was in no 

           way  irregular.  If  children  wished  to  trace  their  relatives  after  leaving  the  Institution,  Sr  Roberta 

           supplied the address at which a copy of your birth certificate could be obtained. 



9.210      This witness was kept on in the Institution for a year and a half after her 16th birthday. It was not 

           her choice and  she had wanted to  leave, but it was  Sr Roberta who decided  when each child 

           could go. She was on night duty for three years before she was permitted to leave. She never 

           received any payment for the work done in the Institution after her official discharge date. 



9.211      Her first job after leaving the Institution was as a cleaning lady in a Dublin hospital. Sr Roberta 

           organised this job. She said the Resident Manager would try to assist any former resident who 

           ran into difficulty after they left Clifden. In the late 1960s, the witness moved abroad to where her 

           mother lived. 



9.212      She has always kept in contact with the nuns and feels more of a familial bond with them than 

           with the family she discovered outside the country. She is married with children and has never 

           gone into detail with her children about her upbringing. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    415 


----------------------- Page 1202-----------------------

9.213      The witness has kept in contact with a number of former residents, some of whom have made 

           efforts to induce her to submit a claim to the Redress Board alleging abuse. She did not believe, 

           however, that her experience of Clifden was abusive. She made contact with her mother after she 

           left Clifden and felt that her mother considered her an intrusion into her life. That was, for her, a 

           much greater hurt and betrayal than anything that had happened to her in Clifden. 



           Complainant whose evidence the Congregation regarded as reliable 



9.214      The Sisters of Mercy described this witness, who was in Clifden for just over a year in the 1960s, 

           as ‘essentially a reliable witness’. The complainant was born in the late 1950s in the Midlands. 



9.215      He had previously been in a residential institution in Lenaboy, County Galway and had very happy 

           memories of his time there. He recalled spending some time at home after being discharged from 

           Lenaboy. He had always had enough to eat but recalled his mother crying a lot. When she told 

           her children that she had to go away for a while because she was ill, he stated,  ‘we took it we 

           were  going  back  to  Lenaboy  because  we  liked  Lenaboy,  Lenaboy  was  very  good.  We  were 

           actually looking forward to it, believe it or not, it was going to be a bit of a holiday but it wasn’t 

           you know’.  Instead, he found himself in Clifden. He found Clifden a very different environment: ‘I 

           was cold, I was hungry, I was lonely, you know, miserable ... I thought it was a cruel regime, that’s 

           the way I would have looked at it now, very cruel’. 



9.216      He  recalled  being  barefoot  for  what  felt  like  a  year.  They  were  given  footwear  but  it  would  go 

           missing. He remembered his feet being cold and having a boil on his foot. It was generally the 

           boys who were barefoot. 



9.217      He recalled another boy who was stronger and faster than the rest: ‘It was the law of the jungle’, 

           and he would rush down in the morning and steal food from the other children’s plates. He blamed 

           the  system  which  allowed  this  type  of  bullying  to  take  place  rather  than  the  culprit  who,  he 

           accepted, was also  hungry. The food was  not bad; there was  just never enough of  it. He was 

           always hungry. They had bread with jam and a cup of tea in the morning, if another child did not 

           get to it first. There was a bakery in the School and he remembered the smell of freshly baked 

           bread coming from it. The children used to sneak in and steal bread from the bakery. 



9.218      He said that they did not receive any toys at Christmas, although the Christmas dinner was very 

           good and in particular the plum pudding. The School put on a play each Christmas which was 

           regarded as a big event. If you misbehaved, you were excluded from participating in the play. 



9.219      Amongst his chores was mopping up urine in the dormitories after children had wet the bed at 

           night-time. His brother would clean any faeces from the beds. 



9.220      He recalled sleeping on rubber sheets, and bed linen only being provided when the Departmental 

           inspections  were  due  to  take  place.  In  general,  there  were  no  sheets  or  pillows  on  any  of  the 

           boys’ beds, only a rubber mattress. The boys slept two to a bed. 



9.221      The  witness  said  that  one  of  the  ISPCC  inspectors  forewarned  the  nuns  of  the  fact  that  a 

           Departmental Inspection was imminent. The witness described the change in regime when the 

           inspector visited: 



                 The thing about it is what I used to remark was that when the inspectors would come, 

                 and the inspectors did come, that everything would improve for that time that they would 

                 be there. Dinners would be good, sheets on the beds, pillows, you know. 



9.222      He went on to say,  ‘You would be kind of bulling that the inspectors had left because the good 

           times were over’. 



           416                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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9.223      He was never permitted to go home on holidays. His mother sometimes came to visit, if she could 

           get a lift, but she was never allowed in. She had to sneak in the back entrance to visit her children 

           and, when the nuns discovered the fact that she was there, she would run away. 



9.224      He stated that he learnt little at school because he was taught through Irish. He could not keep 

           up with the class because he had a poor aptitude for languages. He received extra tuition from 

           one particular Sister, Sr Magda,21       who showed him great kindness. She also gave him treats of 



           bread with butter and sugar. 



9.225      Regarding nuns who lived in the convent, he said, ‘The nuns lived in a different area of the School 

           and there was a lot of nuns that you wouldn’t get to meet’. 



9.226      He described the Resident Manager’s deputy, Sr Veronica, as ‘... a tyrant. Very very cruel, very 

           tough. Very very tough...She would be the one – if there was any corporal punishment she would 

           be the one to dish it out and Sr  Roberta as well’. He could not remember being beaten by any 

           other  nuns  other  than  this  particular  Sister  and  the  Resident  Manager.  He  remarked  that,  in 

           hindsight, the corporal punishment administered in Clifden was probably no more severe than that 

           administered in other schools at the time. He said: 



                  Well, when you are being punished, it is like everything else, you will always take it that 

                  no  one  has  ever  been  punished  as  hard  as  you,  it  is  human  nature...  .  The  corporal 

                 punishment, when you look back on it now, probably was no different than other schools. 

                  It was just the hunger and the cold. 



9.227      He was transferred to the Christian Brothers’ Industrial School in Salthill in the late 1960s. He was 

           fed and treated better in Salthill. He recalled: 



                  as tough and all as Salthill was we got well fed and treated that good bit better really in 

                  Salthill ... There was a difference, believe it or not, between Clifden and Salthill. A good 

                  difference, a major difference. 



9.228      Of the three institutions he spent time in, Clifden was the toughest, mainly because of the cold 

           and hunger. In particular, he recalled being treated with kindness in Lenaboy: 



                  But all I can remember from [there] was the kindness. They were very, very kind to us ... 

                  The kindness, they were very, very kind [there]. When we were being taken out of [there] 

                  to go home I actually missed it. 



9.229      He did not accept that his experience in Clifden had impacted adversely upon his life in any great 

           way:  ‘Things like that you just try to bury it, bury it in the back of your mind and go forward you 

           know’. He is now a tradesman and is married with children. 



9.230      Among the points emerging from these witnesses are: 



                   •    Both spoke of the inadequacy of the diet in terms of quality and quantity and both 

                        spoke of being hungry. Although one witness said that there was no bullying at 

                        meal times, the other was quite clear that this did occur and it meant that smaller, 

                        weaker children went without. 



                   •    Both described a different member of the religious staff as being cruel, as well 

                        as a lay worker, and one of these witnesses identified the regime as harsh and 

                        cruel. In particular, the positive witness’s description of the Resident Manager 

                        was indicative of a person unsuited to caring for children. 



                   •    One of the witnesses said that the Sisters were prohibited from any display of 

                         physical affection, which she identified as a hardship for the nuns themselves. 



           21 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     417 


----------------------- Page 1204-----------------------

                     Moreover,  she  learnt  from  the  nuns  to  keep  a  distance  and  not  cuddle  the 

                     younger children placed in her care. There can be no doubt that the constant 

                     rejection   of  very   vulnerable    children   instinctively  seeking    this  kind   of 

                     reassurance  and  affection  would  have  had  an  extremely  damaging  effect  on 

                     them. It seems extraordinary that a Congregation of nuns who had been engaged 

                     in childcare for over 100 years would have continued this attitude towards the 

                     children  in  their  care  when  they  must  have  seen  the  damage  it  was  doing.  It 

                     would seem that the observance of the discipline of the Congregation was given 

                     priority over the interests of the children. The banishment of the expression of 

                     affection may have made the Sisters appear to be acting fairly, by making them 

                     treat all children in the same way, but it also made them detached and distant, 

                     and at worst cold and cruel. 



                •    Both witnesses confirmed what a number of complainants have said about this 

                     and other institutions, that the authorities were warned when an Inspector from 

                     the Department of Education was coming, and clothes, bedding and food were 

                     improved  for  the  occasion.  These  two  witnesses  differed  as  to  the  amount  of 

                     preparation that was made, but it is clear that the preparations ensured that the 

                     inspectors    did  not  get  an  accurate   picture  of  the  Institution during   these 

                     inspections. 



                •    The positive witness, Mary in particular spoke of there being  ‘elite’ groups, as 

                     well as marginalised children such as Travellers. She recalled that the Resident 

                     Manager  had  pets.  Religious  and  lay  staff  members  denigrated  the  children’s 

                     background. These facts indicate that, whilst, for some, Clifden may not have 

                     been a bad place to be, for others it was harsh and abusive. 



                •    The positive witness was detained for 18 months after her discharge date, to go 

                     on working in the Institution. She said that she did not want to stay and asked 

                     to be let out, but she was clearly a reliable and responsible young person and 

                     was detained  at the will  of the Resident  Manager. Although this  witness does 

                     not make a complaint about being kept on, it was clear exploitation and a failure 

                     to consider the best interests of the child. 



                •    One   of  these  witnesses    was  introduced   by  the  Congregation     as  a positive 

                     witness. She balanced her criticisms of the regime by testifying that the good 

                     the  Sisters did  outweighed their  shortcomings, but  her  evidence nevertheless 

                     contained quite severe criticisms and  acquires increased importance because 

                     she was advanced by the Congregation as a positive witness. 



          General conclusions 



9.231      1.  Clifden was isolated and inaccessible for an industrial school. Contact with families 

               was nearly impossible because of its location. Many children came from distant parts 

               of the country, contrary to an important Cussen Report recommendation that children 

               be sent to schools near their families. 



          2.   Sr Roberta was Resident Manager for 27 years and established a strict, authoritarian 

               and  cold  regime  unsuitable  for  caring  for  children.  During  her  administration,  the 

               School was also very understaffed. 



          3.   Corporal punishment was over-used as a first option for enforcing discipline and was 

               not restricted to cases of serious misbehaviour. 



          4.   Children  were   institutionalised  by  the  time  they  left, particularly those   who   were 

               committed from a young age. They had no concept of normal family life. They were 

               not shown love or affection by the nuns, and only had contact with the Sisters who 

               worked in the convent (and Scoil Mhuire after 1969). The Sisters in the convent made 



          418                                                   CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1205-----------------------

     an appearance once a year at the Christmas concert, but they were discouraged from 

     having any other contact with the children who lived only yards away. 



5.   Mr Graham Granville noted as late as the 1970s that the children had very few visible 

     reminders of home such as family photographs, which added to the isolation and lack 

     of identity that they felt after leaving the Institution. 



6.   The  Congregation  accepts  that  the  nuns’  vows  dictated  that  they  led  a  regimented 

     lifestyle, which was reflected  in the strictly controlled manner in  which the children 

     were brought up and in the absence of any demonstration of affection by the nuns. 



7.   The  standard   of  education   was   low  and  there   was  little emphasis   on  academic 

     achievement, which reflected the low aspirations the Sisters had for the children as 

     regards future careers. 



8.   The  children  were   poorly  prepared   for  leaving  the  Institution and   there  were  no 

     aspirations for  them beyond careers  in domestic  service. There was  no preparation 

     for departure. Many of the children had no idea what lay ahead when they were sent 

     off to jobs in towns and cities. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                     419 


----------------------- Page 1206-----------------------

Appendix 1 

Report by Mr Ciaran Fahy (19th                                      January 2006) 



1.0 Introduction 



The purpose of this report is to describe the physical surroundings of St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

Clifden with particular reference to the buildings. It is based on research carried out by Mr Ciaran 

Fahy  during  the  course  of  which  all  of  the  relevant  documentation  in  the  possession  of  the 

Commission  to  Inquire  into  Child  Abuse  was  examined.  On  12th         September  2005,  Mr  Fahy 



visited  the  Industrial  School  in  Clifden  in  the  company  of  the  Senior  Executive  Engineer  with 

Galway  County  Council  to  examine  the  Industrial  School  building  and  also  to  meet  with  the 

Manager  of  the  nearby  Elmtree  Centre.  Subsequent  to  this,  there  was  a  meeting  with  one  of 

the  Sisters  (who  had  taught  in  the  school  in  the  mid-1960s)  at  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  premises 

in Galway. 



This report is to be read in conjunction with drawings and photographs as follows: 



      — Drawings 

      Two  drawings  provided  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  prepared  by  Scott  Tallon  Walker, 

      Architects  for  the  Sisters  in  2001,  and  shows  a  site  map  and  a  ground  floor  plan.  The  4 

      photographs were similarly provided. 



2.0 Background 



2.1 Location 



St Joseph’s Industrial School, Clifden was certified in July 1872 and was closed down in 1984. It 

was located at the north eastern edge of Clifden due north of the road from Galway and the train 

station. It was located on higher ground with the front elevation of the building facing due south 

over the town. 



In drawing 1, the small building slightly forward of the Industrial School and to the right of it is the 

laundry which apparently was built about the same time. It should be noted there is a hospital 

further to the east of the Industrial School and obviously this was not in position in 1898. 



2.2 Foundation 



There is some uncertainty about when exactly the Industrial School was built. The County Council 

who now have possession of the building had a report prepared by the National Building Agency 

in June 2005. This report suggests the Industrial School was purpose built in 1870, opened in 

1871 and certified in July 1872. This report then goes on to say: ‘an increase in the number of 

children attending the school required an increase in the size of the building. In 1881 the Industrial 

School building was extended to the west creating an additional wing on the side of the building’. 



Some details have also been provided by the Sisters of Mercy which show they moved to Clifden 

from Galway when invited to do so by the local parish priest and established a convent on 16th 



July  1855.  It  appears  that  in  about  1859,  the  Sisters  became  involved  in  caring  for  orphaned 



420                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1207-----------------------

Catholic  children  using  a  premises  rented  from  the  Franciscan  Brothers.  The  details  from  the 

Sisters of Mercy suggest that the Industrial School was constructed in 1862 near the convent and 

apparently was built on eight acres (about 3 hectares) of land. 



2.3 Subsequent History 



It is clear that subsequent to its initial construction, the Industrial School in Clifden was extended 

on  a  number  of  occasions.  The  NBA  Report  says  that  St  Joseph’s  Roman  Catholic  Church 

alongside it was built in 1879 and the spire was added in 1898. This report concludes that the 

laundry was built as part of the initial construction and as regards the Industrial School itself, it 

suggests extensions were carried out as follows: 



        — 1871 the building was extended to the west towards the convent or the Church. 



        — Some time after 1898 the building was extended to the east apparently adding five bays, 

              apparently in an attempt to restore the original symmetry by matching the two central 

              projecting bays. 



        — About 1932, it is believed that further modifications were made since there is reference 

              in the Irish Builder of July 1932 to an Invitation to Tender for alterations and additions, 

              including  a  new  wing,  bake  house,  etc.  The  NBA  believe  that  the  windows  in  the 

              western and probably the eastern end of the building were altered at that time and it 

              also appears that four classrooms were incorporated in the building. 



The information from the Sisters of Mercy suggests that additions and alterations were carried out 

as follows: 



        — 1873, it seems an additional wing was built together with baths and water closets and a 

              new boundary was erected at a total cost of £3,588. 



        — 1880, a new school room and dormitory was provided at a cost of £528. 



        — 1886, it appears the limit of the school was increased to 80 and about that time there 

              were new additions consisting of a kitchen, pantry, dairy, lavatory and infirmary. The 

              Sisters of Mercy suggest that this was the last significant extension to the school. 



        — 1911, apparently the school rooms and dormitories at that time were heated by hot water 

              pipes and open fireplaces. It is not known if this simply is a recording of fact or whether 

              this was work carried out at that time. 



        — 1933, four classrooms were built. 



Details from the Sisters of Mercy suggest that the school was originally certified in 1872 for 25 

pupils and this was increased to 80 in 1886. This limit was further extended to 100 in 1832, 120 

in 1944 and 140 in 1960. Details from the Sisters of Mercy suggest that the numbers of children 

in the school ranged between 100 and 127 between 1935 and 1965 increasing in line with the 

certified limit. 



The Sisters of Mercy were based in the convent alongside the Industrial School and in addition to 

this they were also involved in running the girls’ primary school, apparently located behind the 

convent  further  up  the  hill.  They  also  ran  a  girls’  secondary  school  and  the  hospital  which  is 

located to the east of the Industrial School. It appears they operated a farm close to the Industrial 

School with the farmyard located just to the east of the Industrial School and the laundry. There 

is  little or no   information   in  relation   to this  and   it is  suggested     that  the  farm   extended     to 

approximately 12 hectares (about 30 acres) and it apparently closed down in 1969. It appears the 

Sisters of Mercy ran a commercial laundry in this building alongside the Industrial School but this 

apparently had ceased as a commercial laundry by 1940 and subsequent to this, it was used only 

for the Industrial School and also for the nuns in the convent. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       421 


----------------------- Page 1208-----------------------

The Industrial School closed in 1984. It appears the building was disused for a number of years 

before a portion of it was used as a Day Centre by the Clifden Support Centre. The convent itself 

closed on 5th  July 2001. Subsequent to this that building was extensively extended to the rear and 



is now used as a home for the elderly. 



3.0 Details 



3.1 General 



The site is shown in the Scott Tallon Walker drawing based on a survey carried out in October 

2001, just after the convent closed. The first of the drawings show the site generally at a scale of 

1:200, while the later drawings shows the ground floor at a scale of 1:100. The drawings have 

obviously been reduced for incorporating in this report and as such while they are to scale they 

are no longer to the scale referred to on the drawings. 



The first drawing shows the location of the convent together with the Industrial School and the 

laundry  located  just  to  the  right  of  it.  Broadly  speaking,  the  Industrial  School  is  rectangular  in 

shape  incorporating  four  projections  on the  southern  facade  while  at  the  rear,  there is  a  small 

                                                                    ¸ 

courtyard enclosed towards the right hand side of the drawing. 



3.2 Farm 



Little  or  no  information  is  available  as  regards  the  farm  associated  with  the  Industrial  School. 

During the meeting with the Sister who had taught in the school, she said she felt the farm was 

approximately 30 acres. She said the nuns had a supply of milk, butter and eggs from the farm 

and in addition they kept pigs and turkeys. There was also a glasshouse for tomatoes located 

behind or to the north of the convent and equally, there was a farmyard located to the east of the 

laundry which is now occupied by the Western Health Board as shown in the Scott Tallon Walker 

layout drawing. 



She indicated that the farm closed in 1969. 



3.3 Main Building 



The building is a two storey although there was a small basement at the eastern end which in 

later  years    at  least   contained    a   boiler.  Broadly    speaking,     the  dormitories    and    sleeping 

accommodation        together   with  bathrooms      were   located   at  first floor  level. The    ground    floor 

contained the classrooms, recreation area, dining and cooking facilities. Finally, it should be noted 

that there was a single storey bakery located to the right rear at the main block as shown in the 

Scott Tallon Walker drawing no. 2, thus forming a small enclosed courtyard at the eastern end of 

the building. 



The  first  floor  of  the  building  contained  five  dormitories  together  with  two  main  bathrooms,  an 

infirmary  as  well  as  some  other  bedrooms  and  stores.  In  addition,  a  1944  drawing  shows  the 

nun’s   bedroom     immediately     behind    the  Sacred    Heart   dormitory    as  the  Resident    Manager’s 

bedroom.  The  two  guest  bedrooms  shown  in  front  of  the  bakery  behind  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes’ 

dormitory were apparently used by staff as well as visitors calling to the school. 



The details provided in 1944 refer to the first floor containing five dormitories together with the 

infirmary and four staff bedrooms. In each case the height of the dormitories was 4.6m and they 

all had electric light and central heating. Details of the individual dormitories are given below: 



       St Catherine’s                   14.0 x 6.2m                            39 children 

       St Anne’s                        10.5 x 6.2m                            21 children 



422                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1209-----------------------

       St Joseph’s                      10.5 x 6.2m                           20 children 

       Sacred Heart                     11.5 x 6.3m                           20 children 

       Lady of Lourdes                  7.8 x 5.9m                             14 children 

       Infirmary                        8.1 x 4.3m                             12 children 



The 1944 details also speak of the lavatories or bathrooms on the first floor and identify these as 

‘black’ and ‘white’. Black is described as having 70 wash hand basins and one slop hopper while 

the white bathroom was fitted with 44 wash hand basins and one slop hopper. The 1944 report 

also speaks of a bath, two WCs and one wash hand basin for the staff on the upper floor. There 

appear to have been no toilet facilities for the girls on the first floor although, there is reference to 

a range of six toilets at ground floor with a further nine toilets being located outside the school 

some 20 to 25m from it. 



The ground floor layout is shown in the Scott Tallon Walker drawing no. 2 with the use of individual 

rooms marked in. The drawing clearly shows the arrangement of the bakery at the north eastern 

corner  of  the  building  thus  forming  a  small  internal  courtyard.  The  1944  details  describe  four 

classrooms on this level together with a sewing room, a dining hall, kitchens, pantries, bathroom, 

storerooms and a nursery. Six WCs at the ground floor level, presumably for the use of the children 

while there is also reference to a bathroom containing three baths and one wash hand basin. 



The position of the two kitchens is shown in the Scott Tallon Walker drawing towards the rear of 

the building. To the left of this is what is described as the domestic economy room, which was 

also a kitchen but was used more for the teaching of cooking and each of these two kitchens was 

provided with a range, while there were obviously pantry and scullery facilities alongside them. 



The location of the bakery is unchanged from 1944 and is as shown in the Scott Tallon Walker 

drawing. To the left of this, what is shown as the cloakroom appears to have been the bathroom 

with the three baths located there. The boot store beside these is shown in some of the other 

details as a flour store but it is also described as a wardrobe room. 



The four classrooms were at the eastern end of the building with three of these being marked as 

such in the Scott Tallon Walker drawing. The remedial room appears also to have served as an 

office  and  for  storage  to  some  extent  with  three  main  classrooms  being  towards  the  front  of 

the building. 



The purpose of the room shown as the recreational hall is not entirely clear. On the 1944 sketch 

it seems to be shown as a sewing room and this would be consistent with some dimensions given 

at that time. The nursery appears to have been located at the north western corner of the building 

where  the  sitting  room  is  shown  on  the  Scott Tallon  Walker  drawing.  Equally,  the  dining  room 

seems  to  have  been  located  towards  the  front  of  the  building  just  to  one  side  of  the  entrance 

hallway and the 2001 partition appears to have been simply added after the school was closed. 

There appears to have been a second dining room on the front corner of the building to the left 

of this. 



Some dimensions were provided in 1944 as set out below: 



      — Classroom No 1 (nearest to the recreational hall) 

                    6.4m x 5.9m x 3.7m high. 35 pupils. 



      — Classroom No 2 (on the other side of the accordion partition) 

                    6.4m x 5.6m x 3.7m high. 30 pupils. 



      — Classroom No 3 (corner room) 

                    7.8m x 5.9m x 3.7m high. 35 pupils. 



      — Classroom No 4 (remedial room) 

                    6.1m x 3.4m x 3.0m high. 20 pupils. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     423 


----------------------- Page 1210-----------------------

      — Nursery 

                   6.1m x 6.1m x 4.0m high. There is a note to the effect ‘20 infants usually occupy 

                   this room’. 



      — Sewing Room 

                   7.5m x 6.2m x 3.7m high. The room apparently accommodated 40 children. 



      — Recreational Hall 

                   44.6m x 4.1m x 4.6m high. This is described as being capable of being used by 

                   120 children at one time. 



The main entrance into the building appears to have been at the projection on the front of the 

building shown in the centre of photograph no. 1 of the 2001 photographs taken by Scott Tallon 

Walker. This led directly to the main stairs serving ground and first floor level and the ground floor 

level  is  shown  in  photographs  38,  39  and  42.  To  the  left  of  this  the  dining  room  is  shown  in 

photographs 33 and 35 and the partition in this room shown in photograph no. 33 seems to have 

been  a  later  addition  after  the  school  was  closed.  The  dining  room  at  the  corner  is  shown  in 

photographs 34 and 37 with the first of these showing an internal porch at the entrance into the 

building   nearest   the  convent.    Photograph     no.  36  was    taken   in the   nursery   behind,   while 

photographs 57 and 59 were taken in the storeroom and utility room on the Scott Tallon Walker 

drawing.  It  appears  that  these  were  used  at  certain  points  as  a  pantry  and  also  as  an  office. 

Photograph 54, apparently was taken in the kitchen used to teach domestic economy and shows 

the position of the range while photograph no. 60, was taken in the other kitchen and shows the 

corresponding     range.   Photograph     58   was   also   taken   within  the  same    kitchen   area   while 

photographs 50 and 51 were taken in the scullery behind it. 



Photographs 52 and 53 were taken in what is described as a cloakroom but which also served as 

a bathroom, while photograph no. 49 was taken outside the boot room and photographs 47 and 

48  show  the  stairs  nearby  which  obviously  provided  secondary  access  between  the  first  and 

ground floor. Photographs 23, 24 and 25 were taken within the courtyard while photograph no. 27 

shows  the  bakery  taken  from  the  courtyard.  Photograph  no.  44  was  taken  within  the  corner 

classroom, while photograph no. 41 was taken in the double classroom alongside looking into the 

recreational hall. Finally, photographs 43, 45 and 46 were all taken within the recreational hall. 



3.4 Laundry 



The laundry is shown in the recent photographs nos. 3, 15 and 16 and is positioned generally 

alongside  the  main  building  and  shown  in  the  Scott  Tallon  Walker  drawing  no.  1.  It  is  broadly 

rectangular in shape and two storey. The stairs within the building have been removed and it is 

now only used for storage but there is still some old laundry equipment within the building and 

structurally it appears to be in reasonable condition. 



3.5 Services 



There seems to have been a form of central heating in the school going back to 1911 and in 1944, 

it is clear the building was provided with central heating and electric light throughout. The central 

heating was fired using turf and coke and in winter it operated from 6.30 a.m. until 9.00 p.m. It 

appears each room was also fitted with a fireplace but fires were only lit in the kitchens and the 

sewing room at ground floor level. 



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2001 Drawing 1 



2001 Drawing 2 



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2001 Photographs 



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          Chapter 10 



          Our Lady of Succour Industrial 

          School, Newtownforbes 

          (‘Newtownforbes’), 1869–1969 



          Introduction 



10.01     Newtownforbes was chosen as the first module for investigation by the Committee because, at 

          that time, there were just six complaints made against the School. The scheduling of the hearings 

          was  halted,  however,  by  the  review  process  in  2003.  Much  of  the  evidence  had  already  been 

          gathered, and discovery directions had been issued to the Department of Education and Science, 

          the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  the  Bishop  of  Ardagh  and  Clonmacnoise  and  three  of  the  complainant 

          witnesses   in 2002.   Two   procedural   hearings  took  place   in 2002   regarding  variation  of the 

          discovery directions issued to the Department of Education and Science and the Sisters of Mercy 

          respectively. The first procedural hearing was at the instigation of the Sisters of Mercy and was 

          held in private on 14th  November 2002. The second procedural hearing was at the instigation of 

          the Department of Education and it also took place in private on 6th      December 2002. 



10.02     Five complainants were heard by the Investigation Committee. 



          Background 



10.03     Newtownforbes was certified as an industrial school for girls in 1869. The Congregation of the 

          Sisters of Mercy managed the School from that date until its closure in 1969. As with all other 

          industrial schools, Newtownforbes was regulated by the Department of Education. 



10.04     The establishment of the Industrial School in Newtownforbes was brought about by the then local 

          landlord,  Lord  Granard,  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  from  the  convent  in  Longford.  In  1869,  Lord 

          Granard  invited  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  to  establish  an  orphanage  for  abandoned  children  and  a 

          school to educate the poor of the town. To this end, he obtained the certification for the Industrial 

          School from the Department of Education on 29th        November 1869, one month in advance of the 



          Sisters  of  Mercy   arriving there.  Three   Sisters from   the  convent   in Longford   were   sent  to 

          Newtownforbes under the direction of the then Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Dr McCabe. 

          They arrived on 13th  December 1869. Lord Granard provided the Sisters with a vacant house and 



          gardens rent-free, in addition to an annual cash donation of £90. 



10.05     The Sisters established St. Michael’s Convent in the house provided by Lord Granard, and this 

          convent became autonomous from the Longford Convent in 1871. The Sisters then embarked on 

          a large building project, which by 1879 consisted of the Industrial School, a day school, a laundry 

          and dormitories on the grounds. These buildings were added to over the years. In 1904, an 11- 

          acre farm was acquired by the Sisters in Newtownforbes across the road from the convent on the 

          main Dublin to Sligo road. A bakery was also in operation on the grounds. In 1913, a further 15·5 

          acres were obtained through the Land Commission in the adjoining townland of Carrickmoyragh 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                           429 


----------------------- Page 1216-----------------------

           which  was  beside  the  convent.  Also,  in  1913,  the  laundry  was  expanded  and  new  machinery 

           was installed. 



10.06      Until 1942, the Industrial School had its own internal primary school. However, in 1942, the internal 

           primary school was closed and the industrial school children from then on attended the external 

           primary  school,  which  was  also  run  by  the  Newtownforbes  Sisters.  This  change  was  made 

           presumably in response to the Cussen Report recommendations. 



10.07      In 1951, a secondary school was established at Newtownforbes, which also became a boarding 

           school.  When  the  Industrial  School closed  in  1969,  the  boarding  school  took  over parts  of  the 

           building. 



           Numbers 



10.08      In 1869, the School was certified for the reception of 145 girls, but with accommodation provision 

           for 240. The School received children committed by the courts, children placed by local authorities 

           under  the  Public  Assistance  Acts,  and  later  the  Health  Acts,  and  it  also  accepted  voluntary 

           admissions. 



10.09      The number of children in residence in the School fluctuated from year to year. Over the period 

           1940 to 1969, approximately 320 children passed through the School. The highest number of girls 

           recorded in the School during the period under consideration was in 1948, when there were 175 

           girls in total in the School, of whom 159 were committed through the courts, nine placed under 

           the Public Assistance Acts, and the remaining seven were voluntary admissions. After 1948, the 

           numbers  in  the  School  began  to  steadily  decline.  In  1953,  there  were  126  girls  in  total  in  the 

           School, of whom 101 were court committals, 18 were placed under the Public Assistance Acts, 

           and seven were voluntary admissions. This number dropped to 94 in 1955, which consisted of 73 

           court committals, 14 Public Assistance cases and seven voluntary admissions. Then, in 1958, the 

           numbers     further  dropped    to 68   in total,  which   consisted   of  47  court   committals,   14   Public 

           Assistance cases and seven voluntary admissions. By 1969, when the School closed, there were 

           only five pupils resident in the School. 



10.10      The decline in numbers was of major concern to the Resident Manager of Newtownforbes in the 

           1950s and 1960s. It became such a concern to her that she sought to increase the numbers by 

           having   young    boys   admitted    to  the  School.   In  1956,   the   Resident   Manager     wrote   to  the 

           Department of Education seeking permission for the acceptance of boys under eight years of age. 

           The Department Inspector had indicated that this would not be possible as there were already 

           schools for young boys which were not full. 



10.11      The majority of children who were sent to Newtownforbes came from Dublin, and in fact 60 percent 

           of  them  were    committed    through  the    Children’s   Court  in  Dublin.   The  main    reasons    for  the 

           committal  of  these  children  included  poverty,  death  of  a  parent,  or  being  an  illegitimate  child. 

           Poverty, in short, was the overriding reason for many of the admissions to the School. 



           Closure 



10.12      The Industrial School closed on 31st  August 1969. The Resident Manager, Sr Lucia,1 wrote to the 

           Department of Education on 27th  August 1969 informing them of their intention to close the School 



           at the end of the month. However, she had forgotten to provide the requisite six months’ notice of 

           intention to resign the certificate for the School, as required by section 48 of the Children Act, 

                                                                         th  August 1969 as notification of resignation 

           1908. The Department therefore took the letter of 27 

           of the certificate of the School, the expiration of which took effect on 26th         February 1970. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1217-----------------------

10.13     The  Resident   Manager    wrote  to  the  Department    on  19th September    1969,   apologising  for 



          overlooking the requirement of six months’ notice. In this letter, she pointed out that they had no 

          option but to close the School because of the decline in numbers: 



                May I mention we very much regret having to close down “Our Lady of Succour School”. 

                It has been our principal work for almost 100 years, now, and the work we dearly loved, 

                but with the great fall in numbers we were forced to do something about it. Now the whole 

                building is fully occupied as secondary school classrooms. 



10.14     At the time of closing, there were five pupils resident in the School. The two youngest girls were 

          transferred to Moate Industrial School, and two others were returned to their respective fathers. 

          The fifth girl was retained until the expiration of her committal term, with a view to sending her to 

          nursing school in England. 



10.15     The buildings which housed the Industrial School were subsequently subsumed by the secondary 

          boarding school. The boarding school closed in 1987 and the property was sold in 1990. In that 

          same year, the laundry was demolished and, by 1999, the convent and its grounds were sold and 

          apartments were subsequently built on the site. 



          Finance 



10.16     As Newtownforbes operated as an independent unit, it was responsible for its own financing and 

          administration. The main source of income for the Industrial School was the capitation grants from 

          the Department of Education. The Sisters of Mercy stated that their financial records showed that 

          the School operated within a range of 5 percent of the money provided by the capitation grant. 

          Another source of income for the Community was the laundry, which was a public laundry. The 

          farm only provided limited income because of its small size. It did not even enable the School to 

          be self-sufficient in milk, butter and vegetables. The boarding school also provided income to the 

          Community and this amount increased over the years. There is no direct evidence to show how 

          much the industrial school contributed financially to the Community in Newtownforbes. 



10.17     It is clear, however, that the reduction in numbers in the Industrial School, from the late 1950s 

          onwards,   made   the  School   uneconomical.   The   capitation system   of  funding  was  based   on 

          numbers  in  the  Institution  and  when  numbers  fell,  income  dropped.  The  Resident  Managers’ 

          Association consistently looked for increased capitation allowances when, in fact, that would have 

          had  limited  impact  on  small  schools  such  as  Newtownforbes  that  had  dramatic  reductions  in 

          numbers. 



          Sources of information 



10.18     Contemporaneous      documentation    for the  time  period  under  review   was  furnished  from   the 

          following sources: 



                 •   the Department of Education and Science; 

                 •   the Sisters of Mercy; 

                 •   the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise; and 

                 •   the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. 



10.19     Garda statements, which were not available at the time of the hearings, were furnished in March 

          2005. The hearings were concluded in January 2005. 



10.20     The Sisters of Mercy have little or no surviving administrative or management documentation in 

          respect  of  Newtownforbes.  Most  of  the  surviving  documentation  furnished  to  the  Investigation 

          Committee by the Sisters of Mercy consisted of individual pupil files and medical reports. However, 

          a set of documents entitled ‘Report on School Activities’ which covered the period 1938 to 1958 



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----------------------- Page 1218-----------------------

           were  furnished  by  the  Sisters,  and  they  provide  additional  information  regarding  the  Industrial 

           School. These reports were submitted annually to the Department of Education. The Sisters of 

                                                                                                  ´ 

                                                                                        ´                 ´ 

           Mercy  also  commissioned  Dr  Moira  Maguire  and  Professor  Seamus  O  Cinneide  to  prepare  a 

           report on Newtownforbes, which was furnished to the Committee. 



10.21      Oral testimony was available from five witnesses who had made complaints to the Investigation 

           Committee  about  the  Institution.  Two  respondent witnesses  gave  evidence  to  the  Investigation 

           Committee. They had worked in the Industrial School and the primary school respectively during 

           the  time  period    under  review.  The  Provincial       of  the  Western  Province,  which       now  includes 

           Newtownforbes, gave general evidence in respect of the School. In addition, a number of witness 

           statements  from  various  members  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  who  had  worked  in  Newtownforbes 

           during  the  time  period  were  provided  to  the  Investigation  Committee.  These  persons  were  not 

           named as respondents. They had worked primarily in the primary school but had had some contact 

           with  the  Industrial  School  over  the  years  in  terms  of  supervision.  A  total  of  13  such  witness 

           statements were furnished. 



           The witnesses 



10.22      Originally,   six  complainant     witnesses    had   lodged    complaints    to  the  Investigation    Committee 

           against Newtownforbes. At the time of the hearings, this number had fallen to five. Their combined 

           periods  of  residence  spanned  from  1939  to  1965.  Most  of  these  witnesses  spent  their  entire 

           childhood in the School. 



10.23      Three respondent witnesses had been due to give evidence to the Committee, but one was unable 

           to do so because of illness. The two witnesses who did give evidence had spent long periods of 

           time working in Newtownforbes. These witnesses were aged 84 and 85 years respectively at the 

           time  of  the  hearings.  One  of  these  witnesses,  Sr  Francesca2,  had  worked  exclusively  in  the 

           Industrial  School  from  1946  to  1963.  The  other  witness,  Sr  Elena3,  had  taught  in  the  primary 



           school from 1947 to 1963 and had no direct contact with the Industrial School itself. 



10.24      Sr Margaret Casey, the Provincial of the Western Province of the Sisters of Mercy, gave evidence 

           at the Phase I and Phase III public hearings in respect of Newtownforbes. As a child, she and her 

           family lived directly across the road from the Industrial School at Newtownforbes, and they were 

           therefore familiar with the children who attended there. In addition, she attended the same primary 

           school as the industrial school children. 



           Management structure 



10.25      The convent in Newtownforbes was an autonomous unit from 1871 to 1979. The nuns who worked 

           in Newtownforbes were entirely responsible for the management, financing and administration of 

           the School. In particular, the Resident Manager and the Sisters who worked in the School were 

           appointed from the Newtownforbes convent, and no other source of staffing was available. 



10.26      In 1979, there were six such independent Sisters of Mercy convents in operation in the diocese 

           of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. These six convents were subsumed into a single diocesan unit with 

           a revised governance structure in 1979. This occurred with all the Sisters of Mercy convents that 

           were in operation in all the dioceses throughout the country. In 1994, the 26 independent diocesan 

           units in the country merged to become a single Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, which is in 

           existence  to  the  present  day.  Within  this  organisation  structure,  there  is  one  Congregational 

           Leadership and a Provincial Leadership Team for each of the four Provinces in the State. 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1219-----------------------

           Numbers in the convent 



10.27      The Superior of the convent at Newtownforbes was also the Resident Manager of the Industrial 

           School. One Resident Manager’s period in office spanned 22 consecutive years, from 1947 until 

           the closure of the School in 1969. All of the Resident Managers for the time period under review 

           are deceased. 



10.28      A total of 30 nuns were in the convent but, at any given time, approximately five or six of them 

           were of retirement age and unavailable for work. 



10.29      The number of nuns who worked in the Industrial School ranged from five, in 1935, to nine in the 

           period from 1945 to 1955. The remaining nuns were involved in teaching in the primary and the 

           secondary schools and working in the bakery, the public laundry and on the farm. Each nun who 

           worked in the Industrial School had a designated role, such as looking after the babies, working 

           in the kitchen and other duties. Only two Sisters worked full-time in the Industrial School from the 

           mid-1940s to the 1960s, and they were responsible for the day-to-day care of the children. One 

           of them was involved in the general running of the Industrial School, and the other was primarily 

           concerned with the provision of clothing. These two nuns slept in the Industrial School itself. 



10.30      No  records  exist  as  to  the  number  of  lay  staff  who  worked  in  the  Industrial  School.  The  1966 

           General Inspection report of the Medical Inspector, Dr Lysaght, who reported to the Department 

           of  Education,  noted  ‘no  lay  helpers  in  this  school’.  At  the  Phase  I  public  hearing,  Sr  Margaret 

           Casey acknowledged that they had very little information on the number of lay staff, but said there 

           appeared to have been  ‘at least one or two’. She also acknowledged that, at different intervals, 

           some former pupils remained on as lay staff and assisted the nuns in the Industrial School. 



           Ethos and organisation 



10.31      A former nun, Sr Elena, who had taught in the primary school for a period of approximately 16 

           years, provided useful information on the workings of the Community and the interaction between 

           the Reverend Mother and the Sisters: 



                 ... We ... had no say in anything in the Community. It was ruled, it was governed from the 

                 top, just a select few that’s all. 



10.32      The upper echelon of the Community, she said, consisted of four nuns: the Reverend Mother, the 

           Mother Assistant, the Bursar and the Novice Mistress. She referred to them as the ‘elite’. These 

           four nuns, it seems, governed the workings of the entire Community of the Sisters of Mercy at 

           Newtownforbes. The remaining Sisters outside this inner circle had no voice or authority regarding 

           the operation of their Community. Sr Elena described the role played by the remaining Sisters as: 

           ‘you followed blindly and dumbly’. 



10.33      In effect, the organisational structure operating at Newtownforbes was a two-tier system, with the 

           Reverend Mother and  three other nuns at the top,  and the remaining nuns at  the base. As Sr 

           Elena stated, ‘You had the elite and you had the everyday folk’. 



10.34      She became disillusioned with this system and eventually left the Sisters of Mercy in 1973. 



10.35      The  ethos of  the  Sisters  of Mercy  lent  itself to  the  creation  of this  two-tier  system.  One of  the 

           essential rules of the Sisters of Mercy was the vow of obedience. In particular, Rule 28 of the 

           1926 Constitution, which is replicated in Chapter 7 of the 1954 Constitution, states: 



                 The Sisters are always to bear in mind that by the vow of obedience they have forever 

                 renounced their own will and resigned it to the direction of their Superiors. They are to 

                 obey the Mother Superior as holding her authority from God rather through love than from 



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                 servile fear. They shall love and respect her as their mother, without her permission they 

                 shall not perform public penances. 



10.36      Rule 29 of the 1926 Constitution takes this a step further and states: 



                 They are to execute without hesitation all the directions of the Mother Superior, whether 

                 in matters of great or little moment agreeable or disagreeable. They shall never murmur 

                 but with humility and spiritual joy carry the sweet yoke of Jesus Christ. 



10.37      This  rule  meant  each  Sister  was  expected  to  follow  unquestioningly  the  will  of  the  Reverend 

           Mother. In particular, it hindered her ability to question the system or to suggest improvements if 

           she disagreed with certain aspects of the management and administration of the School. At the 

           Phase III public hearing, Sr Casey was questioned on the impact that the vow of obedience had 

           on a Sister’s ability to question her Superior on how a school such as Newtownforbes was being 

           run. Sr Casey conceded that it was not the done thing to question authority at that time. She said: 



                 But it would have been true, as well, that out of the obedience that it wouldn’t have been 

                 the accepted or the norm for somebody to complain to the person in authority about how 

                 the place was being run, because to do so would have been seen not merely as a kind 

                 of personal failing but it would also have shown that in some way that their inability to 

                 cope with the challenges of religious life. 



10.38      Another consequence of this two-tier system was that background information on a child, when 

           she was admitted, was not passed down the line to the Sisters working in the School. The theory 

           behind this policy was that all children would be treated equally if personal details were not known, 

           but it meant that children who came from particularly tragic or traumatic backgrounds received no 

           special  care  or  attention.  This  ‘one  size  fits  all’  approach  was  not  appropriate  for  meeting  the 

           emotional needs of children in care. 



           Physical abuse 



          Attitude of Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy 



10.39      The Sisters of Mercy in their Opening Statement and in evidence at the Investigation Committee 

           Phase I public hearing conceded that ‘corporal punishment was a feature of industrial school life’. 

           They also acknowledged that: 



                 Slapping was the principal form of punishment administered with a cane or a stick by the 

                 sister in charge or on duty or in more extreme cases by the Resident Manager. 



10.40      Furthermore, it was accepted that ‘most children would have experienced corporal punishment at 

           some time during their time in the industrial school’. This, they conceded would ‘undoubtedly have 

           had a traumatic effect on the children’. The Provincial of the Western Province of the Sisters of 

           Mercy, Sr Casey, who gave evidence at the Phase I public hearing, also conceded that the regime 

           in Newtownforbes was harsh and did not take into account the individual needs of the children. 

           She said: 



                 We  also  accept that  some  of  the children  who  experienced  this  regime, not  merely  as 

                 harsh and impersonal, but that they experienced it as abusive and humiliating. We are 

                 deeply sorry that this is the situation and we would like to add our and share in the public 

                 apology already made earlier this year by our Congregation leader ... to the children who 

                 were in our industrial school and who are now adults if what they experienced was this. 



10.41      Punishment could be administered by any member of staff and was not confined to the Resident 

           Manager alone. Sr Casey said: 



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                Corporal punishment was a feature of the life in the Industrial School, and the primary 

                school, I suppose, as well. Slapping with the cane or a stick was the usual way that this 

                corporal punishment would have been administered. It was usually administered by the 

                person who was in charge, more often than not on the spot. In the primary school, which 

                I can just speak of for myself, it would have been in the presence of other people. If it 

                was  a  serious  offence  it  was  the  Resident  Manager  that  punished.  I  do  know  from 

                speaking with the Sister who minded the small babies that she said that she couldn't slap, 

                it was one of two other Sisters that could slap if a punishment was needed. But it is likely 

                that most of the children that went through the school would have experienced corporal 

                punishment at some stage. 



10.42     Sr Casey also asserted that, from 1956 onwards, the Resident Manager forbade the novices to 

          slap any of the children in the Industrial School. 



10.43     Corporal  punishment  was  inflicted  by  means  of  a  stick  or  a  cane.  Sr  Casey  said  that,  in  her 

          experience from the primary school, the cane was not carried about by the Sisters: 



                 The stick or the ruler would have been there on the teacher's desk so then if the Sister 

                needed to administer it for whatever reason it was there at her hand. 



10.44     The Sisters of Mercy acknowledged that corporal punishment was not confined to the classroom, 

          but Sr Casey did not have any personal experience of what occurred in the Industrial School. 



10.45     Other forms of punishment were resorted to in Newtownforbes. Such punishments included putting 

          a child sitting alone at a ‘punishment table’ or putting her to the back of the classroom. Witnesses 

          also made reference to children being placed in a small room on their own as a punishment. Sr 

          Casey  confirmed that  a  room  known as  St  Rourke’s did  exist  in  Newtownforbes, although  she 

          was  not  able to  identify  which  of two  possible  rooms  it was.  She  confirmed  that children  were 

          confined in this room as a punishment. 



10.46     Speaking from her own experience in the primary school, Sr Casey said that punishable offences 

          would  have  included  being  late  for  class,  attempting  to  answer  back  or  not  knowing  lessons. 

          However, she said that she did not really know what was considered a serious enough offence to 

          warrant being referred to the Resident Manager. 



10.47     Sr Casey recalled seeing the industrial school children being slapped. She stated: 



                One  Sister  slapped  children  from  the  industrial  school  on  the  knuckles.  This  seemed 

                wrong  to  me  then  and  as  I  look  back  now,  even  more  so.  I  recall  another  Sister  who 

                slapped too much and for what seemed little reason. 



10.48     During the hearing, she elaborated further by saying: 



                 The punishment at times took a level that I would have deemed to be unacceptable and 

                I just wish to repeat what we have already said as Sisters of Mercy, that we really deeply 

                regret and apologise for any hurt and damage that was caused to the children that passed 

                through our schools. 



10.49     Sr Casey also acknowledged that bed-wetting was a problem and children were slapped for bed- 

          wetting. She emphasised, however, that it was only the older girls who were slapped, and that 

          children under eight years of age were not punished for wetting the bed. 



10.50     She  said  that  there  was  very  little  understanding  about  the  whole  problem  of  bed-wetting,  its 

          causes  and  the  shame  associated with  it.  One  of  the  other  solutions  used at  that  time  was  to 

          deprive the children of a drink after a certain hour in the evening. 



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----------------------- Page 1222-----------------------

10.51      She was questioned about the rationale for slapping, and the policy of withholding fluids in the 

           evening, as neither approach appeared to have had an effect on resolving the problem. She could 

           not shed any light on whether these practices were even questioned. 



10.52      Sr Casey had spoken to Sisters about whether head-shaving was used as a punishment. She said: 



                  I spoke to Sisters about that and the majority wouldn't have remembered shaving of hairs 

                  being used as a punishment. In the course of conversation though with one she felt that 

                  it may have been used but nobody could tell me for certain that it was used. They could 

                  say  that  shaving  of  the  hair  was  not  uncommon  when  children  became  infested  with 

                  lice, or whatever. But the Sisters would have offered me the view that it wasn't used as 

                  a punishment. 



           Documented instances of punishments 



10.53      No punishment book was kept in Newtownforbes at any time during its history, and this fact was 

           confirmed by Sr Casey. In addition, there were no letters or documents dealing with instances 

           of physical punishment discovered to the Investigation Committee. However, the Department of 

           Education  discovery  indicated  that  the  Department  Inspector  was  concerned  that  the  children 

           were being mistreated in the early 1940s. 



10.54      Dr  Anna  McCabe4       visited  the  School  in  1940  and  had  noticed  in  the  infirmary  that  there  was 

           bruising on many of the girls’ bodies. In her letter of 12th         February 1940 to the Reverend Mother 



           of the School, Sr Lucia, she stated: 



                  I was not satisfied in finding so many of the girls in the Infirmary suffering from bruises on 

                  their bodies. 



                  I  wish  particularly  to  draw  attention  to  the  latter  as  under  no  circumstances  can  the 

                  Department  tolerate treatment  of this  nature and  you being  responsible for  the care  of 

                  these children will have some difficulty in avoiding censure. 



10.55      The  discovery  contained  no  response  to  this  letter,  suggesting  no  reply  was  written  by  the 

           Reverend Mother. The Sisters of Mercy contended that the letter of 12th                 February 1940 from Dr 



           McCabe had not in fact been sent, as no such letter was found in their archive. The Congregation 

           also said that it had  been unaware of these allegations of neglect until  these documents were 

           furnished to it by the Commission as part of the discovery process in 2004. It acknowledged, once 

           it had seen these documents, that it was ‘deeply disturbed’ and it accepted the negative reports 

           of the Department. 



10.56      The Sisters of Mercy submitted annual reports to the Department of Education on the School’s 

           activities spanning the period 1938 to 1958. These reports do not reflect the views expressed by 

           the  Inspector in  February 1940  which raised  the issue  of bruising  on the  bodies of  girls  in the 

           infirmary. In these reports, the Sisters were eager to satisfy the Department that the most cordial 

           and friendly of relations existed between staff and pupils. The 1941 report stated ‘Nothing but the 

           most cordial and friendly relations exist’. In 1948, it was noted that ‘A very happy homely spirit 

           prevails between nuns and pupils’. 



10.57      In some years, the annual reports refer to punishments, including the ‘Deprivation of Treats’, which 

           was considered ‘seldom necessary’, or being placed at a separate table in the dining hall, or being 

           given a ‘small charge instead of Recreation, or, Transcribing some papers of Literature’. The 1944 

           report noted that: 



           4 Dr Anna McCabe was the Department of Education Inspector for most of the relevant period. 



           436                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1223-----------------------

                the greatest punishment of all is to be brought under the notice of the Superior, on her 

                making visits to the school, their faults made known to her. And thus their good name 

                gone. 



10.58     In 1947, the report noted that ‘Junior Children receive a “Motherly slap” on their arm’. The 1948 

          report commented that ‘junior children receive a light slap or a caution’ or they could be ‘Brought 

          before Superior and their good name gone’. 



10.59     These reports indicate that the Sisters of Mercy were aware of proper standards of punishment. 

          The wording of these reports is very similar and repetitive so their value is questionable. 



          Evidence of respondents 



10.60     A  respondent  witness,  Sr  Francesca,  who  worked  in  the  Industrial  School  for  nearly  20  years, 

          gave evidence. The picture that emerged was that the large numbers in the School meant that 

          discipline and control were important issues in the management of the School: 



                Well, you had to be formal with them and strict. You had to be, not harsh with them, no, 

                but I’d say formal with them. 



10.61     She  added  that  another  way  of  being  formal  was  to  impose  a  rule  of  silence  at  night  in  the 

          dormitories. She said slapping was always a last resort and that she would avoid slapping the 

          children if she could. Treats were used as an enticement for the children to behave. When children 

          had to be slapped, she conceded that she did slap them with a stick or a cane or a ruler on the 

          hands. She also acknowledged that they would be placed in a small room, for a period of half an 

          hour to an hour as punishment. One such room was known as St Rourke’s. 



10.62     She  said  some  children  went  through  the  School  and  were  never  slapped,  and  she  disputed 

          allegations that beatings were constant: 



                ... if you take a 100 children, invariably somebody is going to be punished, but I wouldn’t 

                say it was constant beating. 



10.63     Sr Francesca attributed much of the blame to the Department and the medical profession, for not 

          providing the nuns with better advice on how to deal with the problem of bed-wetting. 



10.64     She added: 



                ... in hindsight and from experience I really feel that slapping children was not the solution 

                or the answer, and I am sorry I ever did it. I don’t think I would do it now or I wouldn’t do 

                it now. 



10.65     The other respondent witness, Sr Elena, said that corporal punishment was necessary at times. 

          Corporal punishment was also a deterrent against bad behaviour: with the threat of punishment, 

          the pupils were more likely to co-operate and behave in class. She admitted that she used corporal 

          punishment in the class by slapping with a cane or ruler. She claimed that she was strict but fair, 

          and worked in the best interests of furthering the education of the children. To this end, she agreed 

          that  discipline  and  corporal  punishment  were  part  of  the  regime  and  necessary.  In  evidence, 

          she stated: 



                ... They   appreciated   discipline  in the  class  very,  very  much   and   they  worked   very 

                favourably with me and we got on. There was a good rapport between us, even though I 

                was strict, but they knew I worked for their good and that was my one aim, to help every 

                child as possibly best I could. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             437 


----------------------- Page 1224-----------------------

10.66      However, she disputed that corporal punishment was something that was used on a daily basis. 

           She said she had noticed a cane one day: 



                  and I said I will bring in this today, and if they see it in my hand it might keep them a bit 

                  quiet, they will sit down. They will know that I am on high today. 



10.67      Further, she acknowledged that she treated the industrial school children differently: 



                  I know you would have to be strict, very strict with them because learning and school and 

                  books wasn’t their forte. 



10.68      Sr Elena also admitted that she was exacting in her standards in the classroom, particularly with 

           regard to homework, and if children did not have their homework done she would give them  ‘a 

           smack now and again’. She acknowledged that she was more exacting with the children from the 

           Industrial School. 



10.69      This evidence confirmed Sr Casey’s impression from her own recollection of national school that 

           industrial school children were treated more harshly. 



           Witness statements 



10.70      Thirteen witness statements were furnished to the Investigation Committee on behalf of the Sisters 

           of Mercy. These 13 statements were from nuns who had taught in the primary school. Each of 

           them stated that corporal punishment was used in the School but it was not ‘in any way constant 

           or excessive’. All of their statements repeated the words: 



                  corporal   punishment      was    used    only   as   correction    for  misbehaviour.     It  was    not 

                  administered for trivial reasons or for no reason at all. 



10.71      Four  of  the  13  Sisters  who  submitted  witness  statements  were  in  Newtownforbes  serving  as 

           postulants in the early 1940s, the time when Dr Anna McCabe was highly critical of the Institution. 

           Yet, each of these nuns claimed that the children were well cared for. It is impossible to reconcile 

           these Sisters’ memories of Newtownforbes with the documented material. The repetition of the 

           words  ‘corporal  punishment  was  used  only  as  correction  for  misbehaviour’  was  formulaic  and 

           defensive and tended to undermine the independence of the statements. 



           Allegations of physical abuse 



10.72      The   witnesses     who   appeared     before   the  Committee      complained     of  severe   physical    abuse, 

           including  beatings.  They  claimed  that  such         beatings  were  administered  for  bed-wetting,  not 

           knowing schoolwork, talking, and other behaviours. 



           Bed-wetting 

10.73      One  witness,  Sarah,5     resident  in  Newtownforbes  in  the  late  1940s  to  the  early  1950s,  vividly 



           recalled being hit by a nun around the head for wetting the bed. She said that anyone who wet 

           the bed was punished by a beating with a stick or a slap around the head. The punishment was 

                                                                                                                         ´ 

           administered there and then. They were told that they were ‘stupid’ or were called ‘an amadan’ or 

           ‘an eejit’, anything to make them feel ‘degraded’. 



10.74      One  witness,  Hannah,6      resident  in  Newtownforbes  from  the  mid-1940s  to  the  mid-1950s,  also 



           recalled getting ‘unmerciful beatings for wetting the bed’. The residents would have to display their 

           wet sheets to the nuns and then they would be beaten. 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 

           6 This is a pseudonym. 



           438                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1225-----------------------

           Not knowing schoolwork 



10.75      Sarah recalled being beaten with the side of a ruler on her knuckles for attempting to write with 

           her left hand: 



                 I went to pick up a pencil with my left hand and I got the ruler, not the flat of the ruler, the 

                 side of the ruler on the back of the hand, on the knuckles to make sure that, you know, 

                 you didn’t do that again. 



10.76      Another witness, Rachel,7      resident in Newtownforbes from the late 1930s to the late 1940s, also 



           alleged that she was beaten for not learning passages from the Bible in school. On this occasion, 

           the nun who was teaching her, Sr Carla8, kept her back after class and swung her around by the 



           hair until she had lumps in her hair. As a result of being kept behind after class, this witness was 

           late for her dinner and so she was hit on her back with a cane by the nun in charge of the dining 



                          9 

           hall, Sr Paola . 



10.77      Hannah recalled that she was beaten for not knowing her lessons, or not getting them right in 

           school, or not being able to read. She alleged that a cane or a strap was used to beat them with. 

           She alleged that they were beaten on the hands with the cane, a ruler or the leather strap. 



           Miscellaneous punishments 



10.78      Rachel recalled being beaten with a belt by a nun, Sr Paola, as she and two other girls had fallen 

           asleep in the same bed together. The next morning, they got another beating with a cane by a 

           different nun, Sr Francesca. They were then aged about 10 or 11 years. This witness also took 

           issue with the documents from the Sisters of Mercy stating that the children received a ‘light slap’. 

           She said they got a beating and not a light slap. 



           Conclusions on physical abuse 



10.79       1.  In the absence of documentary evidence, it is not possible to reach conclusions as to 

                whether     the   corporal    punishment      used    in  Newtownforbes        was   so   excessive     or 

                pervasive as to amount to abuse. Documentation would have provided contemporary 

                evidence about the extent to which corporal punishment was used, and the policy of 

                the authorities as to its use. Without it, the evidence presents two conflicting accounts. 

                Ex-residents who gave evidence indicated that it was widespread and severe, and was 

                administered for trivial offences, not just serious breaches of discipline. The Sisters 

                of Mercy, on the other hand, did not dispute that corporal punishment was a feature 

                of life in the School, and that children were slapped with a cane, a ruler or a leather 

                strap, however they believed it was not excessive or abusive, but appropriate for the 

                time. 



            2.  Older children were physically punished for bed-wetting. Ignorance was no excuse for 

                the mismanagement of nocturnal enuresis in this way. Whilst blame must attach to the 

                Department  of  Education’s  Medical  Inspector  for  failing  to  address  the  issue,  the 

                Sisters should have informed themselves of current thinking about how to deal with 

                the problem. 



            3.  Other forms of punishment besides corporal punishment could be abusive when they 

                caused humiliation, rejection or fear. 



            4.  The letter of Dr McCabe in February 1940 referring to bruising on children’s bodies is 

                disturbing.  Sisters  who  were  in  Newtownforbes  at  the  time  gave  evidence  that  the 

                children were well cared for. None of them appeared to have been aware that children 

                had been mistreated in the School. 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 

           8 This is a pseudonym. 

           9 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                  439 


----------------------- Page 1226-----------------------

           5.   In the national school, the Industrial School children were treated more harshly than 

                the town children. One of the Sisters who taught in the School claimed that she had 

                to  be more  severe  on these  children  and appeared  to  defend this  severity  as being 

                necessary. 



           6.   Despite the Department’s regulations forbidding the use of corporal punishment for 

                failure at lessons, it was used for that purpose. 



           Neglect 



          Documented evidence about living conditions in the School 



           Living conditions in the 1940s 



10.80     The picture of the School that emerges from the Department’s records is one of serious neglect 

           in the early years under review. A letter dated 12th    February 1940 to the Resident Manager of the 



          School from the Department’s Medical Inspector, Dr Anna McCabe, reveals the appalling neglect 

          of the children. In this letter, Dr McCabe expressed her disappointment at the ‘lack of supervision’ 

           in the School and, more importantly, her dismay at the filthy dirty condition of the children: 



                 I cannot find any excuse which would exonerate you and your staff from the verminous 

                condition of several of the children’s heads. 



10.81      Dr McCabe was highly critical ‘in finding so many of the girls in the Infirmary suffering from bruises 

          on their bodies’, stating, ‘under no circumstances can the Department tolerate treatment of this 

           nature  and  you  being  responsible  for  the  care  of  these  children  will  have  some  difficulty  in 

          avoiding censure’. 



10.82      Further neglect was noted in this letter by the ‘untreated abscess I discovered in the child in the 

           Infirmary’. She attributed the cause of the serious neglected state of the children to the lack of 

          adequate and appropriate supervision by the nuns. She prevailed upon the Resident Manager to 

          take  immediate  action  to  remedy  these  problems,  particularly  by  increasing  staff  numbers  to 

          ensure stricter supervision. No further action was taken by Dr McCabe except for the threat of 

          taking the ‘matter further’ if the situation did not improve by her next visit. 



10.83      It is strange that conditions had deteriorated so rapidly in just 10 months because, in April 1939, 

          when Dr McCabe had visited the School, she found it to be in ‘a clean healthy state’ and the food, 

          she noted, ‘was of very good quality’. 



10.84     The  inspection  reports  for  1941  and  1942  are  missing.  The  next  available  General  Inspection 

           report of Dr McCabe is that of 30th   September 1943. On that occasion, she found that the School 



           had ‘much improved since previous inspections’. Her only criticism was the fact that many of the 

          children had no shoes and were going around barefoot. She found that 12 small babies ‘had no 

          shoes at all’ and noted that they ‘looked forlorn and cold’. She was of the view, however, that the 

           medical  care  and  supervision  of  the  children  had  improved.  Following  on  from  this  visit,  the 

           Department of Education Chief Inspector wrote to the Resident Manager on 13th               October 1943 



           regarding the lack of shoes for the younger children. He requested the Resident Manager to take 

           ‘immediate steps to remedy this matter’ and pointed out in the letter that the practice of allowing 

          children  to  go  barefoot  was  condemned  ‘on  medical  grounds  as  exposing  the  children  to  the 

          danger of infection from cuts’. 



10.85      By 1944, conditions had deteriorated yet again in the School. When Dr McCabe visited the School 

          on  15th  June  1944  she  wrote,  ‘I  regret  to  state  that  this  school  has  gone  back  since  my  last 



           inspection’. 



          440                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1227-----------------------

10.86      In particular, the cleanliness and hygiene of the children was a great cause of concern again: 



                 The  children  looked  and  were  very  untidy,  necks  and  hair  badly  washed  and  in  most 

                 cases heads were verminous. 



10.87      On this visit, she also found that 13 children had lost weight but this, it seemed, was attributed to 

           their  having  home  visits  or  having  returned  from  hospital.  She  prevailed  upon  the  Resident 

           Manager to make a number of improvements, particularly with regard to the supervision of the 

           children. From this report it seemed that the supervision was left to the girls themselves instead 

           of members of the religious community. 



10.88      Dr McCabe made a number of recommendations for improving the standard of cleanliness and 

           hygiene in the School. She recommended providing additional bathrooms, a toothbrush for every 

           child, and a nailbrush and more mirrors. She had also complained about the lack of adequate fire 

           exits in one of the dormitories. One particular dormitory only had one fire exit instead of two, the 

           number the Department felt was necessary ‘so as to obviate, as far as possible, the danger of the 

           loss of life through fire’. 



10.89      When Dr McCabe visited the School the following year, on 3rd              July 1945, she found that there 



           was ‘much improvement generally’. In particular, she was of the view that the children were ‘clean 

           and well cared’ and there was ‘better supervision all round’. 



10.90      On her next visit on  1st   May 1946, Dr McCabe had similar comments  to make, noting that the 



           ‘children were much cleaner and tidier’ and the supervision was much better. Again, in 1947, Dr 

           McCabe made the same comments, particularly that the children were cleaner and neater, and 

           the supervision was better. In 1948, it was noted that extra staff were given over to the Industrial 

           School. 



10.91      In contrast with Dr McCabe’s report in 1948, where she recorded that the School had improved 

           and the children were ‘well cared and supervised’, there is a contemporaneous complaint from a 

           parent of children at the School. A father had visited and had found that his girls were ‘suffering 

           from scabies for months past’. He made a complaint to the Department of Education in person on 

           24th  April 1948. He said that ‘One of the girls hands is practically disabled from the sores between 



           her fingers’. 



10.92      He also complained about the ‘very bad condition’ of the children’s footwear and the fact they had 

           no  stockings.  The  Departmental  note  which  recorded  this  complaint  stated  that  the  parent  in 

           question was asked to put his complaint in writing. It is not known whether he ever did so, but it 

           would appear that he did not. The note ended ‘nothing further in this case’. 



           Living conditions in the 1950s 



10.93      Conditions seemed to have improved considerably in the 1950s, and they never reverted to the 

           neglect  of  the  1940s.  This  improvement  was  in  spite  of  a  significant  fall-off  in  numbers,  which 

           must have had a serious impact on the finances of the School. 



10.94      Declining  numbers  were  a  constant  source  of  worry.  The  only  issue  raised  by  the  Resident 

           Manager  with  the  Departmental  Inspector  was  the  decline  in  the  number  of  admissions  to  the 

           School and the resulting reduction in income. In 1954, Dr McCabe’s inspection report noted that 

           the Resident Manager was ‘very anxious about falling numbers’. On every subsequent visit by Dr 

           McCabe, the Resident Manager spoke to her about this issue and, in 1956, suggested taking in 

           small boys. Dr McCabe informed her that it would not be possible, as the junior schools were also 

           experiencing  a  decline  in  numbers  and  that  there  were  three  other  schools  in  the  locality  who 

           could take in little boys. In 1957 and 1958, the General Inspection Report noted that the Resident 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 441 


----------------------- Page 1228-----------------------

          Manager was ‘very perturbed about the falling numbers’. In 1959, Dr McCabe again commented 

          that the Resident Manager was ‘very upset that the numbers for admission are falling’. 



10.95     Dr McCabe did not comment on the impact of the reduced numbers on the ability of the Sisters 

          to deliver an appropriate standard of care to the children. 



          Living conditions in the 1960s 



10.96     The issue of falling numbers continued to be a preoccupation of the Resident Manager throughout 

          the 1960s. Each year from 1960 to 1964 the General Inspection Reports noted that the School 

          was ‘very well run’. Each category of inspection was noted as being ‘very good’, particularly food 

          and diet, health, clothing and sanitation. Dr McCabe commented in 1964: 



                The   Resident   Manager     is very  co-operative   and   kind  and  anxious   to  make   all the 

                improvements she can. 



10.97     The final Inspection Report for the School was dated 28th          July 1966 and was conducted by Dr 



          Lysaght. Overall, he found that the School was well run in each area of inspection. 



          Response of the Sisters of Mercy to the documents 



10.98     The Sisters of Mercy were unaware of the contents of the Department of Education records in 

          respect  of  Newtownforbes  until  they  were  furnished  to  them  by  the  Committee  as  part  of  the 

          discovery  process  in  2004.  They  said  that,  before  their  discovery,  they  were  unaware  of  such 

          dreadful conditions existing in the School in the 1940s. Sr Casey at the Phase I public hearing 

          acknowledged that, once they had seen the documents, they had become very concerned: 



                 We   were   deeply   disturbed   when   we   received   the  Department     discovery   of  those 

                documents between ’40 and ’45. I immediately set about meeting all who had worked at 

                any stage in the orphanage to try and see could they help throw light on these documents, 

                because  that  was  the  first  time  that  we  were  aware,  and  that  we  had  sight  of  those 

                documents. 



10.99     They   asserted   that  their  knowledge    of  conditions  in  the  School   was   very  limited  as  their 

          Congregational archive did not reveal such neglect. The material consisted of medical records, 

          school registers, education levels of the children, and very general information which did not in 

          any way  ‘corroborate the complaints that had been made by the complainants’. Apart from the 

          lack of documentary material, their attempts to discover more about the School were hampered 

          by the fact that many Sisters who had worked in the School had since died. In particular, all of 

          the Resident Managers during the period under review were deceased. When the allegations of 

          abuse came to light, it was a source of ‘shock’ to the Sisters of Mercy. 



10.100    It was even more of a shock to the Sisters when the revelations were made in the ‘Dear Daughter’ 

          programme shown on television in 1996 because: 



                ... it did come as a shock to us at that time, particularly in view of the fact that up until 

                then  quite  a  few  of  the  former  residents  would  have  been  in  the  pattern  of  not  only 

                contacting different Sisters, but actually coming back and visiting the convent. 



10.101    When questioned about the maltreatment of the children that appeared to have occurred, on the 

          basis of these documents, Sr Casey accepted at the Phase III public hearing the negative reports 

          of the Department and acknowledged: 



                 That was a difficult period in the time of the Institution and we deeply regret that, but from 

                then   on,  I think written  into  the  record  again   from  the  opening   appearance     at the 

                Commission ... most of the reports showed a marked improvement. 



          442                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1229-----------------------

10.102     Sr  Casey  was  unable  to  provide  any  explanation  for  the  bad  management  in  the  1940s.  She 

           offered  the  view   that a  change    in  Resident   Manager     in 1947    seemed    to  bring  about   an 

           improvement  and,  from  then  on,  supervision  became  a  central  issue,  which  led  to  improved 

           conditions.  She  was  informed  by  one  Sister  who  worked  in  the  School  at  that  time  that     ‘the 

           supervision and  all that became  a big  issue ... it  was a huge  issue, that  you could never,  you 

           know, leave the children alone, that there would always have to be somebody there at meals or 

          getting up or whatever’. 



10.103     One of the Sisters, Sr Francesca, who gave evidence commented on this issue. She stressed 

          that the Resident Manager was very insistent that the children should be supervised at all times, 

           but she was unaware of the reason for it. This would indicate that Dr McCabe’s criticisms had 

           been communicated to the management of Newtownforbes at the time, notwithstanding the lack 

           of  any  documentary  evidence  of  such  communication.  It  was  consistent  with  the  hierarchical 

           structure  of  the  Sisters  that  the   nuns   working   on   the  ground    were   not  informed   of  the 

           Departmental criticisms. 



           Food 



10.104     Dr McCabe’s first General Inspection report of 14th       April 1939 was very positive about the food. 



           She found it was ‘of very good quality’ and ‘plentiful’. However, by 1944, the food had deteriorated 

          to being ‘fairly satisfactory’. In that year, she also noted that 13 children had lost weight, but this, 

           it seemed, was attributed to their having been sick and having just returned from hospital. For the 

           remainder of the 1940s, Dr McCabe consistently described the food as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘good’ in 

           her reports, without providing any details. 



10.105    Throughout the 1950s, the food was described by Dr McCabe as ‘very good’. Her reports during 

          these years are repetitive, as they consistently referred to the food as being ‘well balanced’ and 

           ‘attractively served’. 



10.106    Again, in the 1960s, the food was described by her as ‘very good’. The General Inspection Report 

           of 1964 contained a sample menu drawn up by the Resident Manager, which illustrated the type 

           of food provided for one particular day. According to this menu, the children received bread and 

           butter and either porridge and fried bread or sausages and black pudding or eggs for breakfast. 

           Dinner consisted of soup or milk, roast beef or boiled meat, potatoes and vegetables in season, 

           and  a  milk  pudding  or  fruit  pie  dessert.  Lunch  consisted  of  tea  with  bread  and  butter,  meat 

           sandwich or summer salad, and a fruit cake or pastries, and supper was milk or cocoa with bread, 

           butter and jam, and black pudding occasionally. Special mention was made of delicate children 

           receiving  an  egg  flip  at  11am  and  cod  liver  oil  at  4.30pm.  Dr  Lysaght,  who  took  over  from  Dr 

           McCabe, also described the diet as ‘well balanced and varied’ in his 1966 report. 



10.107     One of the nuns, Sr Francesca, who worked in the School from 1946 to 1963, gave evidence that 

          the children received a hot breakfast in the winter time, which consisted of fried bread with either 

           cocoa or tea and they also got porridge. In the evening, they received tea and bread and butter 

          for their supper. She thought that the children received eggs twice a week as they had a farm 

          with chickens and hens. She said that the children and the nuns received the food from the same 

           source. She explained: 



                 we got the milk from the farm and they got milk from the farm, we got the bread from the 

                 bakery and they got the bread from the bakery. Meat was ordered from the one butcher, 

                 we got it in the convent and they got it. From my knowledge of the Sister in charge of the 

                 food in the dining room, she was very exact that they would have good food. 



10.108     She was of the view that they received enough food, but that: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               443 


----------------------- Page 1230-----------------------

                 children are always hungry, even in boarding schools, but, like, I can understand that they 

                say that they were hungry, you know, but they got their regular meals and good meals. 



10.109    She confirmed that children who were delicate or underweight were given an egg flip or cod liver 

          oil in between meals by being taken out of school. Rachel also said,  ‘I used to actually have to 

          leave my class and go up for an egg flip and cod liver oil at 10.00 o’clock’. 



10.110     Hannah, who was in the School between the mid-1940s and mid-1950s, recalled that she was 

          constantly hungry during her time there:  ‘I know we were always hungry, terrible hunger, hunger 

          pains’. 



10.111    She complained of being so hungry that they used to  ‘eat the grass’ which grew in the School 

          grounds. However, she recollected that they received three meals a day: the breakfast consisted 

          of porridge and bread and dripping; the dinner was a stew with potatoes; and supper was bread 

          and  jam.  She  added  that  she  never  remembered  receiving  an  egg  at  all  while  she  was  in  the 

          School, but she conceded that it could have been the case that she disliked eggs and added,  ‘I 

          know I was a very bad eater’. 



           Clothing 



10.112    One of the Sisters, Sr Francesca, who was responsible for the clothing of the children, and who 

          worked in the Industrial School from 1946 to 1963, gave evidence that every Christmas she tried 

          to have something new for the children to wear, as her own mother always had new clothes for 

           her when she was growing up. She strove for individuality: 



                my ambition was to get them out of uniform. Now they all wouldn’t be the same, there 

                 would be as many colours as the rainbow, and I was very proud of the fact that I was 

                able to do something like that for them. 



10.113    She wanted each child to have three sets of clothes: one for school, one for outside school, and 

          one for good wear. By the time she left the School in 1963, each girl had three sets of sandals 

          and shoes and three outfits of clothing. The Resident Manager got her the material to make the 

          clothes, heavy material for winter and lightweight for summer. She also taught the girls how to 

           make clothes and to knit: 



                 They were very proud of the fact they were able to do it because I taught them how to 

                 use patterns, how to cut out clothes and how to use knitting patterns. 



10.114    According to her, each girl had a locker assigned with a number which was for laundry purposes 

          only.  The  clean  clothes  were  put  into  the  lockers  once  a  week  and,  on  laundry  day,  the  girls 

          changed and brought the soiled clothes down into a hamper that went to the laundry. Each item 

           had a number to avoid getting mixed up and, when the clothes were brought down to the hamper, 

          the  girls  showed  the  numbers.  She  stressed,  however,  that  the  underwear  was  not  examined, 

          as alleged. 



10.115    She said that she had no recollection of children being without shoes. She was not able to provide 

          any information as to the state of the children’s clothes in the early 1940s. 



10.116    Sr Elena, who taught in the primary school, stated the children from the Industrial School were 

           ‘always scrupulously clean and very well groomed’, and she never saw any of them ‘with broken 

          shoes, strapless shoes or whatever could be wrong with them’. She was also of the view that their 

          clothing was no different to the clothing worn by the day pupils from the town. 



          444                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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10.117     Sarah, who entered the School in the mid-1940s when she was aged one and a half years, and 

           stayed until the early 1950s, when she was eight years approximately, recalled being constantly 

           cold at night time in bed. 



10.118     Rachel described the clothes and the undergarments as  ‘big like denim jeans’ which were only 

           changed once a month and  ‘it was too bad if you had an accident’. However, she said the bed 

           linen  was  ‘very  clean’ and  the  beds  were  cleaned  and  dusted  every  Saturday  morning.  She 

           acknowledged  that they  had  a toothbrush  each,  but shared  the  same bath  water  when having 

           a bath. 



10.119    Witnesses said that children were not told about menstruation. Another distressing aspect for the 

          witnesses as children was the complete lack of information provided on the facts of life and their 

          total ignorance concerning this subject. Two witnesses stated that there were no sanitary towels 

           provided. 



           Conclusion 



10.120     •     Food   and    clothing   improved     over   the   years.   In  particular,   Sr  Francesca     made 

                considerable     efforts   to  clothe   the  children    properly.   Problems     with   these   basic 

                elements of care that emerged in the 1940s appear to have been caused by a lack of 

                proper  supervision  on  the  part  of  the  Sisters.  As  there  were  almost  no  lay  staff 

                employed, it must be concluded that the Institution was run largely by the older girls. 

                Once supervision was improved, the standard of care improved. 



           Education 



10.121     In  1942,  the  internal  primary  school  at  Newtownforbes  merged  with  the  town  national  school, 

          which was situated on the same grounds as the Industrial School, and from then on the industrial 

           school pupils attended the same school as children from the town. This change was in accordance 

          with one of the recommendations of the Cussen Report in 1936. Literary instruction for juniors 

           (children under 14 years) was to be not less than four and a half hours daily, and for seniors not 

           less than three hours. 



10.122     Children over 14 years followed the Domestic Economy Course for industrial school training in 

           subjects including needlework, laundry, housewifery, dressmaking and cookery. The Children Act, 

           1941, provided for an extension of the period of detention of industrial school children to enable 

          them to attend second level education. Sr Casey at the Phase I public hearing stated that the 

           records of the Sisters of Mercy showed that, in 1950, three pupils got such extensions. She added 

          that, in 1950 or 1951: 



                 there  is  a  reference  in  our  archives  to  seven  attending  secondary  school,  five  getting 

                 honours in Caffrey’s exam, I think that was a business examination or book keeping or 

                 something of that nature. 



10.123    The school register, she said, also showed that, between 1952 and 1962, at least eight children 

          were attending the secondary school. She drew on her own experience as a pupil and recollected 

          that, in the 1960s, there were ‘at least 12 to 16 from the industrial school’ attending the secondary 

           school, but they did not actually proceed to Leaving Certificate class, and she only remembered 

           one  going  as  far  as  fourth  year.  However,  she  pointed  out  that  this  was  at  a  time  before  the 

           introduction  of  free  education,  which  came  about  in  1967,  and  most  children  left  school  at  14 

          years of age. In her own class, 30 sat the Intermediate Certificate, but only 13 went on to do the 

           Leaving Certificate. 



10.124     She  was  of  the  view  that  children  who  showed  an  academic  interest  were  encouraged  by  the 

           nuns to remain on in secondary education. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               445 


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10.125    One of the biggest grievances of the complainant witnesses was the lack of education and career 

          opportunities available to them: the industrial school children were prepared for domestic service 

          rather than any other career. Sr Casey at the Phase III public hearing conceded this point, but 

          sought to put it in the context of the time: 



                 Certainly the training was for domestic service, but if one puts that in the context, that at 

                 the time and the years that we are talking about domestic service would have been what 

                most of the people in the country would have went into. Because if you even look at the 

                 Central  Statistics  Office,  figures  from  there  would  have  indicated  that,  for  example,  of 

                people  gainfully  occupied  by  occupation  in  1946  that  in  personal  service  there  were 

                 102,000.  83%  were  women  and  of  that  79,000  of  them  were  employed  as  domestic 

                servants, so it wasn’t unusual in the wider context. 



10.126    She also pointed out that some of the girls from the Industrial School went into nursing and into 

          retail. She acknowledged that not all the children from the Industrial School sat for the Primary 

          Certificate, but added that ‘every effort was made to give the children a basic primary education’. 



           Evidence of respondents on education 



10.127    Sr Elena, who worked in the primary school, taught fifth and sixth classes combined, amounting 

          to  approximately  35  children.  She  commented  on  the  difference  between  the  industrial  school 

          children and the town children. She noted that the industrial school children lacked the advantage 

          of coming from a home with all its attendant love and care and affection, and said that they were, 

           ‘slower and more indifferent and hadn’t their heart in it all. They just came to school because they 

          had to go to school’. 



10.128     Furthermore, she felt that they had no ambition, whereas the day pupils from the town were very 

          anxious to  ‘get on’ and were progressive, and some of the industrial school children were very 

          weak.  She  made  extra  efforts  to  help  them  but,  with  some  children  who  were  very  bright  and 

          some who were weak in the same class, it made teaching difficult. She was sympathetic: 



                 I always thought, you see, they hadn’t the advantages of coming from a home. They were 

                in the same environment all the time, surrounded by the same four walls, and I kept that 

                before me to try and have them as good as the others, as possibly as good as the others. 



10.129    She did not believe in ostracising weaker children and never kept children at the back of the class, 

          or considered them dunces, as alleged by some of the complainants: 



                 I never did it because I didn’t believe in it. I didn’t believe in ostracising some children and 

                saying they were dunces or branding them. I never did it, and that is why, you see, I was 

                rather strict, maybe, and perhaps, I would say, harsh with them to try and bring them on 

                and make them realise that they were as good as the next and that they could do it if they 

                made an effort. That was always at the back of my mind. 



10.130    Sr Elena disputed the contention made by some complainants that they learnt nothing while in 

          school, and said that she  ‘always insisted that they be able to read, write and spell and stand up 

          for themselves’. She insisted: 



                 that was my motto, with taking an interest in them and working with them and perhaps 

                pushing them and driving them, a lot of them they didn’t want to do it. That’s what I aimed 

                at all the time. Any industrial school children, I don’t like using that word, but anyway – 

                any of these children that I had in my class, they were treated the very same as every 

                 other child and I insisted that they did their homework and I took it and corrected it and 

                showed them their mistakes. There was no exceptions made, and I would be harder on 

                 them, I suppose, than on the others because they had less sense. Some of them had no 

                interest in themselves, whether they got on or whether they didn’t, but then as they would 

                get older, they’d say, “I wasn’t taught” or “I wasn’t helped” or whatever the case may be. 



          446                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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10.131     Sr Elena said that she had no input into where the children went afterwards. She acknowledged 

           that many of them went into domestic service. Her duty was to teach and she was confined to 

           that, she had no say in anything else: 



                 You know, we just taught them and prepared them, and then outside of school there was 

                 two  other  Sisters  with  them  who  taught  them  husbandry  and  cleaning  and  all  that  to 

                 prepare them; exactly. 



10.132     She could not discuss such matters with anyone in authority, not even the headmistress of the 

           primary school, because ‘the headmistress had no interest in the Industrial School’. 



10.133     When questioned further, she clarified that the headmistress was only interested in the day pupils 

           and not the industrial school pupils. She did not approve of this attitude, but felt that she was in 

           no position to challenge it, as she was a much more junior Sister and had no say: 



                 It wasn’t right. To me more time should be given with the children in the Industrial School 

                 than  those  coming  from  their  homes  because  of  the  disadvantages  that  the  industrial 

                 school children were under and what they were deprived of, of a home and parents and 

                 love and care, and all the rest of it. 



10.134     Sr Elena said she was very much aware of the needs of the industrial school children, but claimed 

           she was helpless to do anything because of the hierarchical system. Each of the Congregational 

           witnesses acknowledged that the needs of the industrial school children were not met, although 

           they  differed   on  the  reasons    why.   At  Newtownforbes,       the  recommendation       of  the  Cussen 

           Commission  to  integrate  industrial  school  children  was  implemented  but  the  evidence  of  the 

           complainants was that they were very aware at that time that the system discriminated against 

           them. 



           Evidence of complainants on education 



10.135     Hannah,  who  was  there  from  early  1940s  to  the  mid-1950s,  stated  that  she  ‘didn’t  get  much 

           schooling’, adding that she ‘was a very slow child’. Her lack of schooling resulted in her not being 

           able to read and write to the present day. She explained her illiteracy as follows: 



                 I wasn’t taught to read and write because, as I said, perhaps I was a slow child and I 

                 didn’t get that care like the other children did. The other children got more care than me, 

                 I  do  not  know  why.  Is  it  because  I  was  abandoned  or  I  didn’t  have  anybody,  I  do  not 

                 know? My education was non-existent. 



10.136     When she left the School, she got a job as a domestic in England working for a lady who looked 

           after her like a daughter and with whom she spent 10 years. 



10.137     Her lack of education, she said, had ruined her life: 



                 I  can’t  say  I  can’t  get  on  with  my  life,  but  I  could  have  been  anything.  I  want  to  be 

                 somebody but I can’t. Even the college I go to now, I get great support from them, not 

                 from the Irish Government. I don’t get any help at all. It has just blighted my life. 



10.138     She added: 



                 I just want to know why, why I wasn’t educated and why I wasn’t looked after as a normal 

                 human being, you know. 



10.139     She explained further: 



                 I was going to go on for nursing but the education stopped me, the reading and writing. 

                 The barrier was – I couldn’t cope at all with it. I was failing all the exams and it just was 

                 dreadful. And that was something I wanted to do in life and I didn’t get the opportunity. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   447 


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10.140     Sarah, the witness who was beaten with a ruler for using her left hand, said that as a result of 

          this treatment and her consequent fear, she was unable to learn anything in school and was put 

           sitting at the back of the class: 



                 Because I was left handed and I really couldn’t learn nothing, I was just living in fear in 

                 that place, you know. That is all I remember about school, sitting in the back of the class, 

                 not with all the other children in the front. 



10.141     She said that, when she was taken out of the School at the age of eight years and returned to 

           her mother, she attended the National School on Baggot Street, where she was put into a baby 

           class where ‘children were playing with sand’. 



10.142    A different attitude was expressed by another witness, Rachel, who had no complaints about the 

           quality  of  the  education  and  who  obtained  the  Primary  Certificate.  In  fact,  she  said  she  ‘loved 

           school because it was an escape from work’. 



           Chores 



           Evidence of the Sisters of Mercy 



10.143    At  Phase  I,  Sr  Casey  acknowledged  that  the  children  were  engaged  in  ‘significant  amounts  of 

           domestic work, as well as other work in the laundry, in the farm, in the bakery, depending on their 

           age’. She acknowledged the effect that this would have had on them: 



                 So this undoubtedly would have impacted on the children. In fact, the children could easily 

                 have felt that their lives were thwarted and stunted by this type of regime. 



10.144    The  chores  which  the  children  were  required  to  do  were,  according  to  the  Sisters  of  Mercy, 

           ‘perceived as being part of their industrial training’. The main complaint of the witnesses was the 

          vast amount of  physical work that they  had to do. The  argument put forward by  the Sisters of 

           Mercy was that such work formed part of the Domestic Economy Course, which each girl from 14 

          years  of  age  was  required  to  undertake.  The  course  included  subjects  such  as  needlework, 

           cookery, laundry, housewifery and dressmaking. The Reports of School Activities which cover the 

          years  1938  to  1958,  which  were  submitted  to  the  Department  of  Education  annually  by  the 

           Resident Manager, make reference to these subjects. The 1948 report said: 



                 These girls take their turns in assisting in their own school kitchen and dining hall, prepare 

                 trays up for their friends. Assist under the direct supervision of a nun in the bathing and 

                 toilet of young children. Also in sweeping, dusting of convent parlour and halls, washing 

                 tiles, answering hall doors to prepare them for their future employment. 



10.145     From the age of 14 years onwards, Sr Casey said the girls worked in different areas of the School, 

           including the farm, the laundry and the bakery. She recalled hearing the girls singing while they 

          were scrubbing the cloisters. However, the evidence given was that the girls were carrying out 

          this type of work long before they were 14 years of age. The Sisters of Mercy stated that ‘children 

           of all ages carried out domestic chores according to what was considered suitable to their age’. 



           Evidence of complainants 



10.146     Many of the witnesses complained of the hard physical work known as chores which they had to 

           do in the School as children. 



10.147     Rachel recounted that they ‘had to work very, very hard’. She gave evidence of the type of work 

          that was part of the daily routine of the Industrial School. From the age of seven or eight years, 

           she said she was on her knees scrubbing and polishing floors, cloisters and big dormitories. When 

           she was 10 or 11 years, her main chore was looking after the babies, which entailed getting up 

           at 6 o’clock in the morning to wash and dress them and to wash their sheets if they had been 



          448                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1235-----------------------

          soiled, as there were no nappies. She had to look after approximately nine or 10 babies in one 

          dormitory. She slept in the dormitory with them. 



10.148    Rachel said that there were three girls looking after the babies and toddlers, one for each of the 

          three dormitories. In the mornings, she had to wash and dress the babies, and give them their 

          breakfast of porridge, all before she went to school. No adult, lay staff or nun slept in the dormitory 

          with the babies. When she went to school, two nuns, one of whom was very old, would look after 

          the babies. Once school was finished for the day, she had to go back to look after these young 

          children and take them out to the yard to play. At 5 o’clock, she had to get the children washed 

          and ready for bed before she had her own tea. From 7 to 9 o’clock in the evening, the witness 

          described that she had her study time and then, at 9 o’clock, she went back to the children. At 

          midnight, a nun rang the bell and she got the babies up to put them on their potties. The routine 

          was the same at weekends. Rachel commented that a doctor had told her that she was a mother 

          before  she  was   a  child, ‘I find I am   living my  childhood   through   my  little three year  old 

          granddaughter’. 



10.149    This  witness’s  favourable  comment  about  the  education  that  she  received,  because  it  was  ‘an 

          escape from work’, becomes understandable when seen against the background of chores she 

          had to do. 



10.150    Hannah gave detailed evidence of the daily routine, involving the various chores which she was 

          required to do. From the age of 11 or 12 years, her job was to make the bread in the bakery, 

          early in the morning before going to school: 



                A particular day, would be you would be up fairly early and you would have to get up to 

                make the bread in the bakery. We were quite young at that time, I am not quite sure of 

                the age but we used to have to make bread at quite an early age. Some of the girls were 

                quite small. They had to stand on stools to go in to make the bread, like troughs, to make 

                the bread. 



10.151    After working in the bakery in the morning, they then went and had their breakfast before attending 

          school. Other chores included washing and scrubbing the floors in the dormitories, staircases and 

          in the convent. Even during holiday times, there was work to be done. She recalled that they had 

          to tease mattresses during the holidays. This witness also worked in the laundry from the age of 

          14 or 15 years. Contrary to what the nuns asserted, that the girls were happy whilst doing this 

          type of work and were singing, she said  ‘We were always quiet and the nun would be saying the 

          rosary around you or whatever, especially in the laundry’. 



10.152    Hannah described the chores they had to carry out as ‘hard labour’. She alleged that they had to 

          wash the nuns’ clothes and do the ironing. 



          Conclusions on neglect 



10.153     1.  The care of the children was seriously neglected in the early 1940s. In particular, the 

               health and hygiene of the children suffered. 



           2.  The children received a basic primary education, but their career opportunities were 

               predominantly limited to domestic service. 



           3.  The Industrial School children were treated more harshly in school than pupils from 

               the town, and this impacted on their ability to thrive educationally. 



           4.  Children  from  a  very  young  age  were  required  to  undertake  heavy  physical  chores 

               which exceeded their capabilities. 



           5.  Children  over  14  years  were  required  to  carry  out  heavy  physical  labour  under  the 

               guise of industrial training. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                         449 


----------------------- Page 1236-----------------------

           6.   Children were required to provide care for infants, without adult support or supervision 

                from a young age. 



           Emotional abuse 



10.154     The Sisters of Mercy, in their Opening Statement, conceded that ‘the individual needs of each 

           child could not be addressed; that each child’s potential could not be known or realised’. They 

           acknowledged: 



                 It  is  undoubtedly  the  case  that  the  children  being  placed  in  industrial  schools  were  a 

                 particularly  vulnerable   population,   not  merely   because    they   were   children,  but  also 

                 because, in many cases, of the deprived circumstances from which they were coming. 

                 We recognise that there was no identification or understanding of many of the special or 

                 particular needs these children must have had, and that this lack of understanding showed 

                 itself in many aspects of the running of the schools. 



10.155     Sr Casey at Phase I referred to the limitations of the system which, she said, did not and could 

           not  give  individual  attention  to  the  children.  She  pointed  out  that  the  School  catered  for  large 

           numbers of children and there was only a handful of nuns to take care of them. She said that they 

           had no childcare experience. 



10.156     The  system    was   that  two  nuns   worked    full-time in  the  School,   with  others  stepping   in  for 

           supervision  purposes.  These  nuns  worked  long  hours,  seven  days  a  week,  which  in  itself  put 

           pressure on them and  ‘would have had a huge impact on the children that were resident at the 

           time’. She said that the ‘complaints made by former residents brought home to us in a very vivid 

           manner the experience of the children, and how this kind of a system just couldn’t meet the needs 

           of children’. 



10.157     Sr Francesca noted that the children in Newtownforbes did not get many visits from their families. 

           It was rare that a child would get a visit. They did not get letters from their families on a regular 

           basis, and some of the children did not hear from them at all. She said that, when she was working 

           in  the  School,  she  was  not  aware  of  this  need  to  belong  to  a  family.  She  only  realised  with 

           hindsight the yearning the children had to belong to a family: 



                 in  hindsight  again,  we  tried  to  give  them  everything,  we’ll  say,  materially,  spiritually, 

                 physically, but we couldn’t give them what they were longing for and that was family. 



10.158     Sr Elena commented on the longing for a family and the effect of the break-up of the family unit 

           on the children. The industrial school children ‘longed for affection’: 



                 Well, I remember school time, 3:15 or whatever, when we’d close the school, they’d hold 

                 on  to  you  and  hold  your  hands  and  come  along  with  you.  To  me,  that  was  they  were 

                 yearning for affection. 



10.159     She also noticed that: 



                 I saw all these children confined, you know, to a very small area and they looked forlorn, 

                 many of them. 



10.160     She added, ‘nobody seemed to claim them’. 



           450                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


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          Evidence of complainants 



           Loss of family 



10.161     Rachel referred to the break-up of the family and the fact that, although the family home was in 

           Dublin, she and her sister were sent to Newtownforbes: 



                 I was taken away at three years of age ... My sister was eight and I was three years of 

                 age ... I want to know why we were sent, myself and my sister were sent 80 miles away 

                 where we had contact with nobody, no family, no nothing. So with the result I lost out on 

                 a family. 



10.162    She had contact with her older sister in Newtownforbes and said that she seemed to bear the 

           brunt of the regime on her behalf. There was no preparation for leaving the School when her time 

          came at age 16. She remembered that she was not even informed that she was going home. A 

          dress and a coat were made for her, and a lay person who worked in the School brought her to 

          the train station, where she was met by two boys who delivered her to her parents. 



           Death of a child 



10.163    The death of a child that Rachel used to look after had a very traumatic and distressing effect on 

           her. One morning, the child was not well and she knew there was something wrong with her: 



                because she was just lying around and I took her on my lap and I hugged her and tried 

                 to comfort the child, although I was only a child myself. I sent up word to say that the 

                 child wasn’t well, but nobody came down. 



10.164    She heard that the child had died when she returned from school: 



                 So when the school was over that day we heard that she was after dying, and I still see 

                her on the bed with her little long dress laid out and we all queued up to see her. That 

                lasted with me for my life, I always wondered where the child was buried. 



10.165    The  death  of  this  young  child  was  very  distressing  for  her,  particularly  because  of  the  lack  of 

           information provided and the fact that she believed no funeral took place: 



                 It haunted me all my life wondering where that child was buried because there was no 

                 funeral. 



10.166    Another source of distress was that she was never told the cause of the child’s death. Records of 

          the Sisters of Mercy noted that the child died of cardiac disease. Another note recorded the name 

          of the child, and the fact that a nun and a senior girl were with her when she died. The Sisters of 

           Mercy at the hearing of this witness apologised for this traumatic event in her life. They said: 



                 The Sisters of Mercy would like to apologise to you for the trauma you must have suffered 

                 from witnessing her in that state of ill health. 



10.167    They gave an undertaking to the witness to inform her of the location of the grave subsequently. 



           General conclusions 



10.168     1.   Prior to 1954, numbers were adequate to ensure that Newtownforbes was financially 

                viable. However, the Department of Education Inspector in the 1940s was very critical 

                of the health and living conditions of the children in the School. It is clear that children 

                during this period suffered serious neglect. 



           2.   Complainants spoke of poor food and clothing in the period after 1954, although there 

                is no evidence that the children were malnourished or starved. Without a large farm 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              451 


----------------------- Page 1238-----------------------

     or  a  profitable  industry  to  supplement  the  capitation  grant,  the  management  would 

     have had to struggle economically, resulting in the poor provision of basic needs. 



 3.  The  day-to-day  care  of  the  children  was  undertaken  by  just  two  or  three  Sisters. 

     Management ought to have recognised the inevitable consequence of such a system. 

     It  was  abusive  for  the  Sisters,  who  had  a  heavy  burden  of  responsibility  and  work 

     placed on them, and on the children, who could not have received adequate care and 

     attention. 



 4.  In  order  to  control  such  large  numbers  of  children,  the  Sisters  resorted  to  a  strict 

     regime, depending to a large extent on corporal punishment. It became extensive, and 

     used  for  minor  misdemeanours,  and  even  though  it  may  not  have  been  abusive  in 

     terms of severity, it did result in control through fear. 



 5.  Transferring    the  Industrial  School   children   to  an  external   national  school   to  be 

     educated alongside  children from the  local community  should have been  a positive 

     development, but real integration did not happen. Teachers treated them more harshly 

     and  the  headmistress     ‘had  no  interest’  in  the  Industrial  School  children.  They  felt 

     different, isolated and inferior as a result. 



 6.  Instead   of  getting  more    encouragement      to  learn,  the  Industrial  School    children 

     experienced  a  more  punitive  regime,  and  therefore  became  more  disadvantaged.  A 

     Sister  who   taught   in  the  national  school   admitted    that  she  used   more   corporal 

     punishment  on  the  Industrial  School  children  because  they  ‘had  less  sense’.  She 

     described them as ‘slower and more indifferent and hadn’t their heart in it at all’. Such 

     children needed encouragement and not a punitive, oppressive regime. 



 7.  Heavy physical duties were required of children from a very young age. These chores 

     were unsuitable because of the physical demands they made and the responsibilities 

     placed on young shoulders. Children were required to do onerous chores before going 

     to school, which affected their ability to learn. 



 8.  Residents    were   required    to  provide   care   for  infants  without   adult   support   or 

     supervision. This was an unreasonable burden of responsibility, inappropriate to their 

     age and was neglectful of the residents and of the infants. 



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          Chapter 11 



          St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

          Dundalk (‘St Joseph’s’), 1881–1983 



          Background 



11.01     St Joseph’s, Dundalk was first certified as an industrial school in 1881 and continued in existence 

                                                                                                ´ 

          until 1983. The Rules and Regulations for Certified Industrial Schools in Saorstat Eireann, which 

          governed all industrial schools, were signed by the Resident Manager of Dundalk on 13th  January 



          1933 and approved by the Minister for Education. The rules gave the name of the school as ‘The 

          Dundalk Industrial School, Co. Louth for Roman Catholic Girls’. 



11.02     It  remained  a  school  for  girls  until  1965,  when  boys  were  first  admitted.  The  School  received 

          formal recognition in 1971 for the reception of young boys up to the age of 10 years. 



11.03     The original school was established at the height of the Famine in 1847 by invitation of the parish 

          priest and a number of concerned residents in Dundalk. The Sisters of Mercy came to Dundalk to 

          work for the poor and sick, and five Sisters from Dublin formed the original group. A house, which 

          was formerly the offices of the Excise Commissioners, was provided for them in Seatown Place, 

          and it became known as St Malachy’s Convent. From 1855 onwards, the Sisters began to care 

          and provide accommodation for orphans. In 1877, two three-storey houses adjacent to the convent 

          were purchased for use as an orphanage. The funding came from Archbishop Kieran, who was a 

          former parish priest of Dundalk, from a number of donations, and from the proceeds of a bazaar. 

          The school numbers increased, and to accommodate the children an additional wing was built. By 

          1900, the School had become one long building made up of four adjoining three-storey houses. 



          Numbers 



11.04     In 1933, the School was certified for 100 children. The average number of pupils in the decades 

          that followed was as follows: 



                 1940s          56 

                 1950s          42 

                 1960s          22 

                 1970s          14 



          Location 



11.05     The location of the School on the main street gave it the advantage of being close to the local 

          community, unlike other industrial schools. The Provincial leader of the Sisters of Mercy of the 

          Northern  Province,  Ireland,  Sr  Ann  Marie  McQuaid,  summarised  these  advantages  in  the  first 

          public hearing: 



                they were out regularly, both on walks and whatever activities were on in the town. Way 

                back even, I saw it in the Punishment Book of the 1930s, they were getting out to the 

                pictures which were being held in the town hall. The older girls got permission to go out 



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      to do messages, to bring the little ones on walks. Also, the people of Dundalk ... seemed 

      to have embraced the children because there was tremendous interaction, there was a 

      lot of support and care from the people of Dundalk for the children right through the 100 

      years including a god-parenting programme where people god-parented each child within 

      the Institution. 



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11.06      One  witness,  Elaine,1    who  was  there  in  the  1940s  and  1950s,  confirmed  that  the  local  people 



           befriended them. She said: 



                  The local people were quite good, they would send in treats like boxes of sweets, my job 

                 would be to answer the letters thanking them. 



11.07      The location of the School had many disadvantages too. The site was restricted, and offered little 

           space for development. As Sr McQuaid explained: 



                  They had a small yard at the back with a shelter for the children with a roof and three 

                 sides and a hot pipe that ran through it and connected to the laundry ... On wet days, 

                 they were in the School. 



11.08      At the earlier public hearing, she described the atmosphere of the School in more detail: 



                 It was a cold building. Even when the heating was put in in ’51 it was still cold and they 

                 supplemented it in the 70s and they still had to put in heaters. It has long narrow corridors 

                 and it is more long than it is broad. It has a basement and three floors and an attic so it 

                 was a very formidable building for little children who were already traumatised to suddenly 

                 arrive in. 



11.09      The    limitations    of  the   physical     accommodation         became      a  recurring     theme     in  the 

           Department  of  Education  General  Inspection  reports  for  the  period  under  review.  The 

           biggest    drawback      was   that   the  School    lacked    adequate     recreational     facilities  for  the 

           children.  An  outdoor  concrete  yard  was  all  that  was  available,  until  an  adjoining  field, 

           owned by the adjacent primary school, was used from 1952. This was of great concern to 

           the Department of Education over the years and, in particular, the Medical Inspector, Dr 

           McCabe.  Another  Inspector  from  the  Department  of  Education,  Mr  Sugrue,  visited  the 

           School in 1958, with the principal intention of providing additional recreational facilities for 

           the School. 



11.10      It was not until the late 1960s that steps were eventually taken to bring about improved recreational 

           facilities. It would seem that the School lurched along for many years with very little improvement 

           or  modernisation  of  the  resources,  undertaken  either  by  the  school  management  or  by  the 

           Department of Education. 



           Closure 

11.11      The School officially closed in 1983. In a letter dated 24th  March 1983, the Sisters of Mercy applied 



           to the Department of Education to resign the certificate for St Joseph’s. The Minister for Education 

           withdrew the certificate under the 1908 Act with effect from 24th          September 1983. 



11.12      Three  reasons brought  about  the  closure of  the  School. First,  the  Kennedy  Report (1970)  had 

           recommended the introduction of a group home system, but the physical structure and layout of 

           the School in Dundalk made such a system difficult. The Sisters of Mercy tried to introduce it by 

           establishing  smaller  groups,  with  children  divided  by  age.  However,  the  group  home  structure 

           could only be achieved on a different site and in purpose-built accommodation. The Department 

           Inspector in his General Inspection Report dated May 1973 stated: 



                 This is one Home, almost certainly, where we will be spared the concern of providing a 

                 Group Home – at least for the present – for lack of suitable site(s). 



11.13      Moreover, the Department of Education’s architect, on an inspection of the School in 1976, stated 

           unequivocally     that  ‘This  building  is  a  death   trap’.  He   also  stated   that,  ‘There   is only   one 

           Architectural solution to this case and that is vacate the present buildings’. He was also strongly 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1242-----------------------

           of the view that under no circumstances should State monies be spent on the building except for 

           first aid repairs. 



11.14      The  second  reason  for  the  closure  of  the  School  was  that  Health  Boards  in  the  1970s  were 

           focusing  more  on  fostering  as  a  means  of  caring  for  children  rather  than  residential  care  in 

           institutions. 



11.15      The third factor that contributed to the closure of the School was staffing: the Resident Manager 

           was elderly and in poor health in the 1970s; and it was difficult to recruit staff. 



11.16      All  these  difficulties  led  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  to  enter  into  discussions  with  the  Department  of 

           Education in 1977 regarding the closure of the School. 



11.17      To enable the older girls to complete their terms in St Joseph’s, the Sisters undertook the closure 

           gradually. By 1979, the number of children resident in the School had fallen to eight. In 1983, there 

           were just three senior girls resident in the School when it officially closed, and accommodation was 

           provided for them in an apartment opposite St Joseph’s. 



           Management 



11.18      The  Mother  Superior  in  St  Malachy’s  Convent,  which  was  situated  adjacent  to  the  Industrial 

           School,    officially  had  overall  responsibility  for   its  management.      She   appointed  the    Resident 

           Managers  and  was  the  person  who  made  decisions  about  major  expenditure.  The  Resident 

           Managers were responsible for the day-to-day running of the School. 



11.19      There were three Resident Managers during the period 1936 to 1983. Their terms of office were 

           1926–1945, 1945–1963 and 1963–1983. 



11.20      All three Resident Managers are now deceased. 



           Sources of information 



11.21      In carrying out its inquiry into St Joseph’s, there were three sources of information available to 

           the Committee: 



                    (1)  The  evidence  given  by  three  former  residents  of  the  School.  Originally  21  written 

                         statements of complaint were received by the Investigation Committee in respect of 

                         St Joseph’s Industrial School, Dundalk. As a result of these numbers, Dundalk was 

                         listed within the ‘top 20 institutions’ to be heard [third interim report Dec 2003].2  These 



                         20 institutions were ranked according to the number of complaints made against them. 

                         By the time the hearings were scheduled, however, only three elected to give evidence 

                         before the Committee. The implications of this reduction in the number of complaints 

                         are discussed later. 



                    (2)  The evidence given by Sr McQuaid, Provincial Leader of the Sisters of Mercy of the 

                         Northern Province. She gave evidence in public at Phase I and again in public during 

                         Phase III hearings. 



                    (3)  The documentary evidence from the records of the Department of Education, Sisters 

                         of Mercy and the Archbishop of Armagh. 



           2 Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Third Interim Report, December 2003. 



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----------------------- Page 1243-----------------------

           Time period of complaints 



11.22      There were three complainant witnesses, spanning the period from 1946 to 1974. 



           Education 



11.23      Children in St Joseph’s attended an internal primary school that followed the same curriculum as 

           the local primary school, which was for children of the parish and which was located behind the 

           Industrial School. The internal school closed in 1942, and the St Joseph’s children were enrolled 

           in the convent primary school with the children from outside. The School re-located in 1954 to 

           new premises a short distance away. Attendance at external national schools was recommended 

           by  the  Cussen    Commission     in  its 1936   Report,   and  the  1942   development     was   beneficial, 

           especially when the combined school moved away from the industrial school complex in 1954. 



11.24      In  its  Opening  Statement  the  Congregation  offered  explanations  for  the  educational  difficulties 

           experienced by children in the Industrial School: 



                 It seems likely that many of the children had particular educational difficulties because of 

                 their  disadvantaged  backgrounds  and  the  traumatic  upheaval  they  had  experienced  in 

                 their lives by being separated from family and sent into an industrial school. 



11.25      Most  of  the  children  who  went  there  were  very  young  on  entry,  aged  two  years  and  upwards. 

           Whatever the cause of the under-achievement, the nuns concede that ‘it is undoubtedly the case 

           that the method of education provided was inadequate for the needs of many of the children’. 



11.26      The Congregation acknowledged the fact that many of the girls left the School with only a basic 

           level of primary education, but submitted that in Ireland generally, few girls attended secondary 

           schools  at  that  time.  Two  of  the  former  residents  complained  about  the  limited  education  they 

           were given. 



11.27      At the Phase III public hearing, the representative of the Sisters of Mercy expressed her regret 

           that many of the children did not get a better education and that many of them did not develop 

           their full potential. She added, however, that some children performed better than others at school. 

           Indeed, some went on to secondary school, and to do nursing or secretarial work. At the public 

           hearing Sr McQuaid conceded that, in general, there was a lack of awareness of the educational 

           needs of the children in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Furthermore, there were no special needs 

           teachers or classes to cater for children who had been displaced or traumatised. The majority of 

           girls  got  no  more  than  the  basic  level  of  education  and  most  ended  up  in  domestic  service, 

           irrespective of their abilities. 



           Industrial training 



11.28      There were specific regulations from the Department of Education governing the curriculum to be 

           offered in industrial schools. The object was to provide the children with skills and training so that 

           they could become self-reliant in later life. For girls, according to the Sisters of Mercy, this training 

           involved a compulsory programme in childcare, cookery, dairying, housekeeping and crafts. They 

           acknowledged  that  a  number  of  children  have  felt  aggrieved  at  having  to  do  housework  and 

           chores, because they saw it as doing menial work for the sake of the convent rather than practical 

           training in preparation for employment. The Sisters of Mercy added that, from the 1970s onwards, 

           this practice of working in the convent ceased. 



11.29      Some older girls in the early years were trained to work in the public laundry but they were not 

           allowed  to  use  the  machinery,  which  limited  the  value  of  this  work  as  industrial  training.  The 

           Congregation said it recognised the resentment of many former pupils at the narrow employment 

           opportunities provided for them. They also recognised that the full potential of many of the children 

           in the School was not realised and that, as a result, great suffering had been caused. 



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          Department of Education and Science records 



11.30     The General and Medical Inspection Reports dating from 1939 until the closure of the School give 

          a contemporary account of conditions in St Joseph’s. From 1939, when she was appointed, until 

          1965,   these   inspections  were   carried  out  by  the  Department’s    Medical   Inspector,  Dr  Anna 

          McCabe. The School was inspected under various headings, such as accommodation, condition 

          of  premises,   equipment,    sanitation, health,  food   and  diet, clothing,  recreation  facilities and 

          precautions against fire. 



11.31     The Department’s records reveal the pivotal role of the Resident Managers in the running and 

          policy-making of the School. The Department seldom got involved in management issues. 



11.32     With the exception of two years in the 1940s, the Inspector reported that the children were well 

          cared for from a physical point of view. 



          Conditions in the School in the 1940s as revealed by Medical Inspections 

11.33     The earliest report by Dr McCabe is one dated 1st        May 1939. She found that the buildings and 



          equipment were in good order, the children appeared well looked after, and the food was of good 

          quantity and quality. Her only criticism was the lack of playing fields for the children, as they had 

          only a large paved courtyard for recreation. 



11.34     The next Inspection Report is dated 9th      February 1944. On this occasion, Dr McCabe found the 



          School clean and well kept, with the children well cared for. Her only criticism was that the blankets 

          for the children were worn and needed replacing. A letter from the Department Inspector to the 

          Resident Manager  requested her  to implement  the recommendations  of the  Medical Inspector. 

          The Resident Manager took great exception to the comment that the blankets were worn, and 

          wrote to Dr McCabe informing her that there was indeed a large supply of blankets in the School, 

          which she had not noticed. Dr McCabe replied by expressing her surprise at the upset caused to 

          the Resident Manager, and stating that it was not a personal reflection on her part but that it was 

          her duty as the Medical Inspector to ensure that the children had warm bedclothes, and where 

          she saw blankets beginning to wear thin she had to inform the appropriate Resident Manager to 

          replace them so as to ensure a continuing supply of blankets for the children. 



11.35     Dr  McCabe  inspected  the  School  again  on  22nd     September  1944.  Her  report  was  even  more 



          critical of the conditions in the School on that occasion. The premises were described as not well 

          kept,  with  a  general  air  of untidiness   around   the  place.  Food   was  considered    to  be  fairly 

          satisfactory, but she suggested increasing the amount of milk and providing chips several times 

          a week during the winter months. The clothes of the children were described as fairly good but 

          rather  patched.   Again,   Dr  McCabe     remarked   on   the  absence    of recreational  facilities and 

          suggested acquiring the loan of a field from the convent. On this occasion, she was highly critical 

          of the management of the School saying: 



                There is a general air of laissez-faire all over the place. I was most disappointed to find 

                very many of the children with verminous and nitty heads – necks not washed or ears. 



11.36     She recommended that the Resident Manager acquire the assistance of a young nun. She drew 

          the Resident Manager’s attention to the “verminous” and neglected state of the children’s hair, to 

          the fact that the children were underweight, and told her to supply more milk and chips in winter. 



11.37     Again,  this  report  was  followed  up  by  a  letter  to  the  Resident  Manager  from  the  Inspector  of 

          Industrial and Reformatory Schools, requesting that Dr McCabe’s suggestions be carried out. The 

          Resident  Manager  replied  that  they  were  being  implemented.  Another  letter  in  January  1945 

          enquired whether the recommendations had been effected. The Resident Manager furnished a 

          response on 16th  January 1945, stating that the recommendations had indeed been implemented, 



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           save for the fact that there was no young Sister available but a matron had been hired to assist 

           in the dressing rooms. 



11.38      Dr McCabe made two inspections in 1945, in February and September. Conditions were reported 

           to be satisfactory and it was also noted that a young nun had been appointed as an assistant to 

           the Resident Manager and that there had been a change of Resident Manager that year. 



11.39      However, the following year, the inspection yielded poor results again. On 28th  June 1946, having 



           visited the School, Dr McCabe remarked scathingly in her report on the deterioration in standards 

           from the previous year. She was highly critical of the running of the School: 



                 The school on the whole is very carelessly run and slip-shod - the children are anything 

                 but clean – the supervision is hopeless. Practically every single child in the school had a 

                 verminous and nitty head which proves the total lack of supervision in the Dressing Room. 



11.40      She found that children ‘under 6 were very badly supervised – their ears and heads were in a 

           dirty state and they had a neglected appearance’. In her report she stated that she had addressed 

           her concerns to the Resident Manager, who had informed her that the conditions were due to the 

           fact that her assistant was out sick and had not been replaced. Dr McCabe clearly found the state 

           of affairs to be completely inadequate and unsatisfactory, stating ‘this is neglect, this just cannot 

           be excused’. 



11.41      The report made clear her low opinion of the management of the School. She wrote: 



                 This  school  is  peculiar  in  that  there  never  seems  to  be  any  lively  interest  taken  in  the 

                 children, there is always an apathetic air about the place. The Rev Mother is never very 

                 interested in the Industrial School and when I have asked for extra help she always has 

                 an excuse that she would willingly give it had she sufficient staff to call upon. 



11.42      She summed up her frustration with the regime as follows: 



                 if these people are going to run a school they must look after these children – otherwise 

                 I  will  have  to  recommend  that  they  are  not  fit  to  look  after  children  and  have  them 

                 transferred elsewhere. 



11.43      She did not accept the lack of staff as a valid excuse, and she issued a warning: 



                 Now, if Dundalk wish to keep their school they will have to make changes and employ 

                 people who are interested in this work and who will supervise the children. 



11.44      Dr McCabe commented, ‘I have nothing to say about the food as all the children are adequately 

           fed and look well, if dirty’. Indeed, she commented that this aspect was the only redeeming feature 

           of the running of the School. She ended her report by writing: 



                 I  had  really  hoped  for  more  changes  when  the  new  Sister  started  but  instead  of  any 

                 improvements the reverse has taken place. 



11.45      The Department again followed up the report by writing to the Resident Manager, reiterating the 

           matters raised by Dr McCabe in her report, namely the poor hygiene of the children, the lack of 

           supervision in the dormitories, “the verminous and nitty heads”, the poorly kept premises, and the 

           fact that the assistant nun was absent for long periods of time and had not been replaced. 



11.46      The Resident Manager replied that they were in the process of carrying out the recommendations. 

           She informed the Department that the assistant nun had returned and that extra help had been 

           engaged for helping with the small children. She also informed him that the staircase and corridors 

           were in the process of being painted. However, there was no mention of any steps being taken 



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          to  improve  the  hygiene  of  the  children  or  carry  out  the  other  recommendations  in  the  Medical 

           Inspector’s report. 



11.47     Two inspections were carried out in 1947. After the first, on 9th May 1947, Dr McCabe noted that 

           ‘the school   has  certainly  improved’   and   that  the children   were   well cared   for. The   second 

           inspection  was  on  13th  November  1947,  when  she  reported  the  School  as  having  ‘definitely 



           improved’. From that time on, her reports repeatedly noted that the School was improving. 



11.48     Whilst noting routinely that the School had improved and that the children were better cared for, 

           in her report of 21st  June 1948, Dr McCabe continued to make suggestions for bettering the lives 



          of the children in the School, particularly in regard to recreational facilities such as a play hall. 

          This was still a matter of concern to the Department in 1958, when Mr Sugrue, the Inspector of 

           Industrial Schools, visited. 



           Conditions in the School in the 1950s as revealed by Medical Inspections 



11.49     Throughout the 1950s, Dr McCabe reported improvements in the School and specifically referred 

          to the painting of the dormitories, classrooms and corridors in 1951 and the installation of central 

           heating in October of that year. In 1952, she noted the acquisition of a field from the primary school 

          for recreational use by the industrial school children. In March 1953, Dr McCabe commented that 

           ‘lots remain to be done yet’. She noted in that year that there was still no recreation hall. She also 

           remarked that the Resident Manager was very kind, but tired and in need of a change, however 

          she noted that the assistant nun was very good to the children. She reported that the nuns were 

          concerned about the falling numbers in the School. 



11.50      In  April  1955,  Dr  McCabe  recorded  in  her  Report  that  the  School  had  improved  and  that  the 

           Resident Manager was anxious to further improve conditions. She  also noted that the children 

           looked well cared for. 



11.51     On 19th  January, on her first of three visits in 1956, she noted that the School continued to improve 



          and that the children were much improved since attending the national school in Dundalk. They 

          were well fed and clothed. Again, she commented on the fact that the children had no indoor play 

           hall and could only play in the field attached to the primary school. On her second visit, on 14th 



           May 1956, she remarked that the School was well run and that the Resident Manager and Sister 

           in charge were kind and good to the children. She pointed out ‘whilst the school is good and there 

           is little fault to find, there is a little lack of initiative in running it’. She noted that the children now 

           had a play hall but she added that more could be done with this space to make it attractive and 

           bright. In August 1956, she again noted that the School was well run and the children well cared 

          for, and she further noted that the Resident Manager was to make improvements in the play hall. 



11.52      In 1957, the School received two visits from Dr McCabe. The first, in February, noted that the 

          School was well run and that the nuns in charge were very kind and good. Again, she wrote of 

           her aspirations for improvements in the recreation hall, saying ‘it just requires a little initiative to 

          get things going’. The following June, which Dr McCabe referred to as an ‘incidental visit’, she 

           noted that the School was well run and that improvements were certainly taking place but that a 

           lot remained to be done. 



11.53      In her report of March 1958, however, a more critical tone emerged. She remarked that the School 

          was well run but not as efficient as it could be. Again, she made reference to the lack of initiative 

          on the part of management in making changes in the School. She referred to the children using 

          the  field from  the  national school  for  play  and not  having  facilities on  their  own premises.  The 

           Department Inspector, Mr Sugrue, visited the School in September 1958, and wrote a report. The 

           main purpose of his visit appeared to have been the lack of recreational facilities in the School. 

           He  stated that  he was  ‘quite satisfied  with the  general catering  for the  children’s welfare  apart 



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----------------------- Page 1247-----------------------

           from  recreational  facilities’,  adding  that,  ‘There  is  a  great  need  for  a  Recreational  Hall  and  for 

           better facilities for outdoor games and pastimes’. He went on to say that he had discussed this 

           need with the Reverend Mother and the other nuns in charge of running the Industrial School, 

           including   the  Resident    Manager     and    the  Sister  in  charge,    pointing  out   to  her  that  such 

           improvements in recreational facilities had not been pressed upon the School greatly, due to the 

           low level of the grant, but now that the grants had been increased substantially, he was insisting 

           on efforts being made to remedy these defects. He suggested converting part of the old vacant 

           national  school  buildings  into  a  recreational  hall,  and  the  playground  attached  to  the  national 

           school could be made available as a playground. He also pointed out that the children could use 

           two tennis courts adjacent to the School. Having discussed these ideas with the nuns in question, 

           he found them to be enthusiastic about carrying out his suggested improvements. 



11.54      After Mr Sugrue’s visit, Dr McCabe inspected the School in October 1958, and found that there 

           was great activity going on in the School, with many of Mr Sugrue’s suggestions being rapidly put 

           into practice. She noted that the new Reverend Mother was very enthusiastic and co-operative. 

           Also, she noted that an opera was being organised for Christmas. 



11.55      The  year  1959  saw  three  inspections  of  the  School  by  Dr  McCabe,  in  March,  May  and  June, 

           although she issued just one report. In it, she stated that the School was very well run and that 

           many improvements had been made and continued to be made. 



           Conditions in the School in the 1960s as revealed by Medical Inspections 



11.56      Again  on  29th   and  30th  April  1960,  Dr  McCabe  referred  to  continued  improvements  but  was 



           characteristically vague. For example, she said that much needed to be done, but it was hoped 

           that  changes  would  be  carried  out  in  time.  She  felt  that  the  Resident  Manager  and  staff  were 

           willing  and  co-operative  and  she  found  the  Resident  Manager  kind  and  attentive.  The  same 

           comments were made in January 1961, that the School was well run and that improvements had 

           been  made  and  continued  to  be  made.  In  1962,  she  considered  the  School  was  still  well  run. 

           Redecoration had been completed. She noted again that the Resident Manager was very kind. 

           After a second inspection in September 1962, she again said the School was being very well run 

           and the Resident Manager very capable. The falling numbers were of concern to the Resident 

           Manager. Dr McCabe also remarked that she had visited the sea-side residence of the School 

           and found ‘all very well and enjoying the holiday’. In 1963, there were four visits by the Medical 

           Inspector to the School. After these visits, she found the School again to be very well run, with 

           the Resident Manager being very capable and kind and interested in the children, and noted that 

           she had done her best to make any improvements that were suggested. 



11.57      Following Dr McCabe’s departure from her post in 1965, Dr Lysaght carried out a full inspection 

           on 24th  March 1966. In his lengthy report he remarked that: 



                 There is a kindly & intimate atmosphere in this comparatively small school which makes 

                 up for its old fashioned & rough furniture and equipment. The fact that the numbers are 

                 low and the buildings not fully occupied tend to make it feel bland by comparison with 

                 more compact building or one in which all the rooms are occupied. Much could be done 

                 to bring it up to date by way of say modern beds. 



           Conditions in the School in the 1970s as revealed by Departmental Inspections 



11.58      The next inspection, by Dr Lysaght, did not take place until November 1971. The state of affairs 

           existing in the School at that time are outlined with some acerbity as follows: 



                 Two    elderly  nuns   are  mainly   responsible    for the   running   of this  school,   both  spent 

                 practically all their religious life in this one school on this same work ... It seems as if the 

                 school staggered on for years with little interest or encouragement from the Department. 



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                 It  was  left  to  the  Sisters  themselves  to  make  a  break-through  when,  in  1967,  they 

                 embarked     on   major   works   of  alterations   and   improvements.     I  understand    that  was 

                 primarily sparked off by the election, in 1966, of a new Reverend Mother, who has given 

                 this  work  her  whole-hearted  interest,  sympathy  and  practical  support.  Until  her  arrival, 

                 (two sisters) admitted to me that they felt this school was virtually a barracks! 



11.59      In  April  1973,  the  Inspector  noted  the  change  in  the  type  of  child  who  was  resident  there, 

           remarking  in  his  report  on  the  fact  that  ‘Dundalk  seems  to  have  more  than  its  quota  of  slow 

           learners and retarded pupils’. 



11.60      The report of March 1976 is very complimentary of the work of the Resident Manager, in achieving 

           a  high  degree  of  stability  for  the  children  and  in  creating  a  warm  and  friendly  environment  for 

           them. Interestingly, the Department Inspector noted: 



                 This establishment is a text book example of the people playing the more important role 

                 than the building. 



                 The children were all very happy and relaxed with their staff both Lay and Religious – 

                 they were able to talk and play freely without any inhibitions. 



11.61      Contrasting  views  were  expressed  by  Department  Inspectors.  Dr  Lysaght  amended  his  1976 

           report in complimentary remarks: 



                 This was a worthwhile and valid visit where one could state objectively that the present 

                 Child Care practices are geared towards the interest of the children, there is a healthy 

                 happy atmosphere ... 



11.62      However, when the School was next inspected by Mr Graham Granville in February 1977 he was 

           very critical: 



                 the Resident Manager ... has endeavoured to operate a residential children’s home for a 

                 very long time now under extremely exacting and formidable conditions within her own 

                 community ... is now showing signs of being a sick person and tired. The children are not 

                 suffering unduly at present, nevertheless, the future is very uncertain, and I would see a 

                 grave  risk  to  the  children’s  safety  if  there  were  to  be  fire,  and  combine  this  lack  of 

                 enthusiasm towards the children’s social and academic development and one has certain 

                 crucial problems, that cannot be over looked. 



11.63      The Department’s view of the School in an internal memorandum dated February 1977 considered 

           the  School  to  be  inadequate  on  a  number  of  fronts.  It  listed  the  concerns  of  the  Department, 

           namely  the  condition  of  the  outside  of  the  building;  the  need  for  decorating  the  inside;  the 

           inadequate maintenance of health records; contact with local schools; assessment procedures; 

           co-operation with social workers; contact with parents; and the very inadequate fire precautions. 

           The list of requirements was considered formidable, and the Department saw it as a matter of 

           urgency to decide what had to be done with the School. Because of these factors and the falling 

           numbers, the eventual decision taken was to close the School, which came about in 1983. 



           Life in the School 



11.64      Elaine, a witness who spent her entire childhood from aged three to 16 years in the Institution in 

           the  1940s  and  1950s,  was  able  to  recall  the  living  conditions.  She  was  born  in  a  home  for 

           unmarried mothers in Dublin and, at the age of three, transferred to St Joseph’s as a voluntary 

           admission. Her earliest memories of the School were from age seven. She described life in the 

           School as being ‘dull ... grey. Nobody cared ... The food was awful’. She said there was very little 

           meat and the dinners consisted mainly of soup and potatoes. 



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11.65     She criticised the clothing. She was given a set of summer clothes in April that had to last right 

          through until September and October, with the result that she was often frozen. Her dress was 

          made  of  calico.  All  the  children  suffered  from  chilblains.  The  jumpers  and  stockings  which  the 

          children knitted themselves did not keep them warm in the outside yard where they spent a lot of 

          time. They wore their winter coats only when they went for walks on Sundays. 



11.66     She described the daily chores that the children were required to do. She explained that every 

          child was given a chore that was her special responsibility: 



                 There was two lasses looked after the kitchen ... Other girls would ... look after the convent 

                ... There was one lassie that had the laundry ...We all had chores. Some had the kitchen 

                duties, some was cleaning up the pantries and things like that. Mine was the youngsters, 

                there wouldn’t have been many, not in today’s terms. It seemed an awful lot then and it 

                seemed a big chore. You had to look after them. You combed their hair, you fine combed 

                their  hair  and  make  sure  there  was  no  nits  and  things  like  that.  We  didn’t  have  any 

                toothbrushes so we didn’t have to look after our teeth ... 



11.67     She began this  ‘child minding children’ from the age of about 10 or 11. She went on to explain 

          the system: 



                 We  would  have  lived  on  landings.  Well  there  was  the  first  landing,  second  and  third 

                landing. Mine would have been the charges on the third landing, they were the younger 

                people ... They would have been maybe two to seven. 



11.68     Elaine recollected that, when Dr McCabe would visit, everything would be lovely and clean. The 

          beds would be dressed to perfection and the children would receive eggs twice a week for a few 

          weeks prior to the visit by the Medical Inspector. 



11.69     She spoke positively of the  ‘Fairy Godmother’ system, introduced in the early 1950s, which was 

          a programme for people from the area to take the children in the Institution out for an afternoon and 

          take them to tea. They would also visit them at Christmas and Easter. She spoke with fondness of 

          the godmother to whom she was sent. She also spoke favourably of the summer holidays spent 

          at the nuns’ house in Carlingford. She recalled that, at the holiday home in Carlingford, there were 

          some lovely nuns who did not work in the Institution. 



          Physical abuse 



11.70     The position of the Congregation was that the first time they became aware of complaints about 

          St  Joseph’s  was  in  October  1999,  with  the  publication  of  Suffer  the  Little  Children  by  Eoin 

          O’Sullivan and Mary Raftery. In their Opening Statement the Congregation submitted: 



                Allegations  of  abuse  from  former  residents  of  St  Joseph’s  came  as  a  source  of  deep 

                shock to us, and particularly to the Sisters of the Dundalk Community, a number of whom 

                had worked in the industrial school over the years, and were in regular contact with many 

                former residents. 



11.71     They went on to say: 



                Former  residents  differ  in  their  memory  of  the  use  of  corporal  punishment  during  their 

                time in St  Joseph’s. Some have painful memories of  it and say they experienced  it as 

                excessive, others say it was not. While it is denied that excessive punishment was used 

                in St Joseph’s, given the number of years covered by the period under review, together 

                with the number of children in residence, it is unlikely that corporal punishment was not 

                sometimes administered unfairly or harshly. 



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11.72      Elaine  spoke  of  ‘harshness’.  She  recounted  several  instances  of  beatings.  One  occasion  was 

           when she asked the then Resident Manager if she could sit the scholarship examinations for the 

           secondary school. She was bright and loved school. When she made her request the Resident 

           Manager ‘beat [her] within an inch of [her] life for taking that scholarship from people outside’. 



11.73      The worst part was the fear of the punishment, and the waiting to be punished. She described 

           one nun as ‘very rough ... for an old nun’ and added: 



                 She would give you six of the best and you would be lined up for half an hour before you 

                 got the six of the best, so the trauma of waiting to be punished and then being punished. 



           They could be punished for little or nothing, for talking after lights out at bedtime: 



                 It didn’t have to be anything in particular ... Because ... we were always told we were bold 

                 anyway so it didn’t matter. 



11.74      She recalled two other occasions when she was beaten. One was when she was aged 12 or 14 

           years and was in charge of younger children on a walk. Because she was unable to time the walk, 

           they  went  too  far  away and  returned  hours  late  and  she  was  beaten with  a  stick.  The  second 

           occasion was when young children in her care contracted ringworm and she was beaten for that. 



11.75      She  also  complained  of  being  struck  by  a  member  of  the  lay  staff,  one  of  a  number  of  young 

           women  from  a  domestic  college  in  the  west  of  Ireland  who  were  sent  to  St  Joseph’s  on  work 

           placement for approximately one year. 



11.76      The witness recalled this lay staff member as being very rough with the children: 



                 But she would often get a child and she would pull her by the hair and swing her, only 

                 the wall would stop the person. They would go sliding down. She broke every brush we 

                 ever had in the house. We didn't have many ... She would be murdering them, using them 

                 as rulers. She just flogged people. When she left the place, and she was only there for a 

                 year, there wasn't a brush in the place when she left. 



11.77      The children did not complain about this staff member and she completed her placement. The 

           witness explained that there was no one to complain to: 



                 I don't think that any of us had the knowledge or the wherewithal to complain. We were 

                 at these people's mercy. 



11.78      On the other hand, although physical punishment from the nuns was not as severe, she found 

           what she called the psychological abuse more damaging: 



                 I wish sometimes they would have beaten the living daylights out of me, it would have 

                 been easier, but the psychological abuse, it stays forever and ever and ever. 



11.79      Jane,3  who was resident in the Institution in the late 1960s and early 1970s, gave evidence of 



           being caned frequently by the Resident Manager. She admitted that she was  ‘a bit on the wild 

           side’,  and  got  into  trouble  in  the  school.  Jane  further  stated  that  the  Resident  Manager  who 

           punished her was also very good to her. 



           Rules and regulations on corporal punishment 



11.80      An unusual feature of St Joseph’s, Dundalk is the existence of a punishment book, which covers 

           the period 1888 to 1950. The Institution is unique among Sisters of Mercy industrial schools in 

           being able to produce such a record. There is no explanation for its discontinuation in 1950. 



           3 This is a pseudonym. 



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11.81     Punishment books were required by the regulations governing industrial schools, but there was a 

          failure  generally  to  comply  with  this  requirement.  They  were  intended  to  control  the  level  of 

          corporal   punishment    administered    and   should   have   had   an  impact   on   the  nature   of the 

          punishments given. 



11.82     If the book is an accurate record, it indicates minimal use of corporal punishment and employment 

          of  a  range  of  deprivations  for  misconduct  by  children,  but  the  evidence  before  the  Committee 

          casts doubt on the completeness of the information in the punishment book. Girls could be beaten 

          on the spot and capriciously by all staff members, and none of that was recorded. 



11.83     The Sisters of Mercy, in preparing for the St Joseph’s hearings, obtained information ‘from people 

          who had  contact with St  Joseph’s in the  period under review,  including former staff,  residents, 

          professionals, Sisters of St Malachy’s Community, former Superiors of the convent, volunteers and 

          neighbours’. The Opening Statement summarised the information obtained from these sources: 



                Former staff acknowledge that moderate corporal punishment was used in St Joseph’s 

                for misdemeanours, disobedience, insolence, unruliness, bullying, and deny that it was 

                ever  deliberately  excessive.  The  hand,  a  ruler,  stick  or  cane  was  used.  Normally  the 

                Resident Manager administered the punishment, and this was done in her office, or in a 

                room  called  St  Brigid’s  parlour.  Both  of  the  Resident  Managers  disapproved  of  any 

                member of staff using any form of corporal punishment on the children, and clearly made 

                this  known,   not  only  in  the  industrial school   but  also  in the  local  primary   school. 

                Regrettably this was not always adhered to, and one member of staff remembers being 

                reprimanded for slapping a girl who had spat at one of the Sisters. It is also recalled that 

                a member of staff found mistreating a child was not retained in the school. 



                Former  residents  differ  in  their  memory  of  the  use  of  corporal  punishment  during  their 

                time in St  Joseph’s. Some have painful memories of  it and say they experienced  it as 

                excessive, others say that it was not. While it is denied that excessive punishment was 

                used  in  St  Joseph’s  given  the  number  of  years  covered  by  the  period  under  review, 

                together with the number of children in residence, it is unlikely that corporal punishment 

                was not sometimes administered unfairly or harshly. 



11.84     Sr McQuaid reiterated the point at the Phase I hearing: 



                I suppose knowing human nature and knowing the length of the period of time and the 

                number of children I think it would be unrealistic to say that there weren’t times when a 

                child could have been treated harshly. 



11.85     In her evidence during Phase III, Sr McQuaid described an instance that occurred in the 1950s, 

          when a member of staff beat the children with a hairbrush. She was reported by one of the senior 

          girls to the Resident Manager who subsequently dismissed her. The evidence of Elaine was that 

          one abusive lay worker who beat the children with a hairbrush remained for the duration of her 

          placement and would not have been due to be retained in any event. 



11.86     Sr  McQuaid  apologised  to     ‘anybody  who  suffered  either  because  of  unmerited  or  excessive 

          punishment, either from a Sister or from ones that we didn’t even notice’. With hindsight, they said 

          they deeply regretted the use of corporal punishment. They realised that even when it was not 

          excessive, it must have had a greater impact upon a child living in an institution. 



11.87     The rules governing corporal punishment were strict. In no circumstances was it permitted to be 

          inflicted on a girl over 15 years and, for those under that age, it was reserved to the Manager or 

          authorised person. From 1946, the Department of Education’s policy was that corporal punishment 

          was a course of last resort and only for grave transgressions. 



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11.88     The  Congregation  stated  that  there  was  an  emphasis  on  occupation  and  regimentation  as  a 

          means of management and control of the children, ‘particularly in the 1940s and 1950s when the 

          numbers  of  children  were  large’.  It  accepted  that  the  impact  on  the  children  would  have  been 

          restrictive  and  frustrating,  but  said  that  the  atmosphere  became  more  relaxed  when  numbers 

          decreased in the period 1960 to 1983. It is interesting to note, nevertheless, that the staff-child 

          ratio in the period 1940 to 1983 was 1:9, which was much better than the norm for the time: 



                 There were usually three Sisters and employed staff and that wasn’t counting the staff 

                who came in, Sisters who came in in the morning and the evening, so it was amazing 

                that it was that. 



          Sisters of Mercy Records: Annual Reports 1934–1958 



11.89     Records provided by the Sisters of Mercy include yearly reports written by the Resident Manager, 

          giving a brief account of the activities of the School and running from 1934 to 1958, after which 

          the practice appears to have ceased. The reports gave an overview of life in the School for each 

          year under different headings: education/literary instruction, industrial training, fire drill, recreation, 

          home leave, conduct of pupils, buildings and equipment, and aftercare. 



11.90     Under the heading ‘conduct of pupils’, details of the punishment of pupils was described in general 

          terms.   There   was   rarely mention    of physical   punishment:    the  most   usual  punishment    was 

          deprivation  of  certain  activities  or  treats,  such  as  an  after-dinner  sweet  or  the  weekly  walk, 

          depending on the seriousness of the misdemeanour. 



11.91     The information was of a very general nature with some statistical material. These reports were 

          the only contemporary record of life in the School, and the information recorded is unfortunately 

          of limited value and varies little from year to year. 



           The punishment book 



11.92     The punishment book covered the period from 1888 to 1950. At the opening public hearing (Phase 

          I), Sr McQuaid said that the punishment book was still in existence but that it had not been filled 

          in after 1950. She explained: 



                 Yes, we did have the book, which we gave to the Commission, but it was blank. And I 

                must say I would have had the question that is probably in your mind, why it was blank. I 

                don’t have an answer, except that I am conscious that in the couple of other institutions 

                that I am aware of that had Punishment Books theirs seem to have ended in the 1950s 

                as well. 



11.93     The entries in the book were recorded under headings such as the date, the name of the pupil, 

          the offence committed by the pupil, who reported the offence, the punishment, and remarks on 

          the case. 



11.94     Offences warranting punishment included the following: 



                 •    being insubordinate and disrespectful to teacher. 

                 •   taking fruit from the pantry. 

                 •    showing disregard to directions. 

                 •    going out to visit relations without permission. 

                 •    Giving unnecessary trouble and showing insubordination. 

                 •   taking money from past pupil without leave. 

                 •   wasting time during literary work and showing insubordination to teacher. 

                 •    leaving school and going up town without permission. 



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                  •    taking pocket money from another child and spending it without permission. 

                  •    showing disregard for directions and taking correction badly. 

                  •    tampering with keys. 

                  •    disobeying school rules and defying teacher. 

                  •    being  insolent  on  different  occasions  –  disregarding  orders  given  by  the  sisters  and 

                       being disrespectful to teachers. 



                  •    refusing to go to recreation. 



11.95      The book in many cases recorded that no punishment was imposed and, where punishment was 

           decided upon, the forms of reprimand included being: 



                  •    kept from Sunday walk, 

                  •    deprived of Sunday outing, 

                  •    deprived of Pictures Matinee, 

                  •    Placed at the Junior Table in Dining Hall, 

                  •    deprived of day at the Sea. 



11.96      Physical punishment was recorded as slapping by the Sister in charge or the Resident Manager. 

           Six entries of slapping as a form of punishment were recorded in the book. For the most part, 

           punishment was deprivation of some kind. In this regard, the book’s authenticity as a record is not 

           consistent with the witnesses who spoke of corporal punishment as being much more pervasive. 



11.97      There is no evidence that Inspectors systematically inspected the punishment book. 



11.98      The question is whether the book is an accurate and complete record of discipline in the Institution 

           up  to  1950.  If  it  is,  it  demonstrates  the  benefits  of  an  ordered  system,  in  which  the  Resident 

           Manager  exercised  independent  judgment  and  a  flexible  approach  to  punishment.  It  is  clear, 

           however, that it does not contain any record of informal or casual chastisement by nuns or lay 

           staff, and the existence of such other modes of punishment undermined the justice of the formal 

           system. 



11.99      Emmett,4    who was in St Joseph’s as a boy from the early 1970s, described a frightening ordeal 



           to which he was subjected in a very cruel punishment, when he was put into a small cupboard 

           known as ‘the black hole’: 



                  The black hole is an area which is situated in the basement of the convent, right beside 

                 the kitchen area.  It is about three,  maybe four by four  square, and in height  also. It is 

                 totally black. One was thrown into there kicking and screaming, not wanting to go there, 

                 terrified and wanting to get out because it is not a nice thing to go into and just being left 

                 there all night. 



                 Myself and my brother were put in there. Why I can’t recall. I was terrified being put in 

                 there, kicking and screaming, wanting to be let out ... whatever I have done wrong sorry, 

                 just let me out, let me out. My brother also tried to calm me down but I almost turned my 

                 anger out onto him ... all I knew was that this is totally wrong and bad to be done and 

                 there is nothing one could do about it. One kicked at the door to be let out and only to be 

                 told that if you keep kicking on the door you are going to stay in there much longer. It 

                 could be five minutes and at the time it was all night. An incident which happened in which 

                 I was in there all night on my own, Sr Sienna5           put me in there ... In the early hours, it 



                 must  have  been  six  around  o’clock  ...  I  heard  a  noise  outside  and  I  thought  it  was  Sr 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 

           5 This is a pseudonym. 



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                  Sienna and I said, “please let me out. I will be good, I am sorry for whatever I have done”, 

                  only for one of the kitchen staff to open the door and say to me, “what are you doing in 

                  there?” Naturally I would be so scared to say it to her, because I wouldn’t want to get her 

                  into trouble because God knows what the nuns would do to her. She says, “well okay I’ll 

                  let you out but don’t tell the nuns that I have let you out.” I would have clambered out of 

                  it and creeped and went straight upstairs to my bed. That would be one of the worst times 

                  that it happened. 



                 Another time ... I did kick and push the door to get out but Sr Sienna opened the door 

                  and gave me a slap, and of course gave (my brother) a slap just as bad ... 



11.100     The ‘black hole’ may have been an alternative to corporal punishment, but this boy was so terrified 

           by being locked in that dark recess that the experience was akin to psychological torture for him, 

           as the nun must have known and intended. 



11.101     He  also  recalled  a  humiliating  incident  when  he  was  put  into  a  girl’s  dress  by  the  Resident 

           Manager, who paraded him throughout the School in front of all the other children and staff. He 

           was about five years old at the time when this incident happened. 



11.102     •    There  was  no  evidence  of  dependence  on  corporal  punishment  to  control  children. 

                 There was an effort to make it a punishment of last resort, and the fact that the School 

                 maintained a punishment book for a considerable period of time indicates an intention 

                 to  regulate    corporal     punishment.      It  also   provides     evidence     that   other   forms    of 

                 correction, such as losing privileges or being demoted, were used. Unfortunately, an 

                 informal  system  also  operated,  sometimes  cruel,  that  undermined  the  value  of  the 

                 formal policy. 



11.103     Sample extract from punishment book 



            Date                   Offence                 By Whom                Punishment             Remarks on the 

                                                           Reported                                      Case 



            August 1947            Disobedient, sulky      Principal Teacher      Kept from going to     These 5 girls 

                                   and muttering          and also Miss A.6       see Procession         seem to be 



                                   when corrected.                                and celebration of     leagued together 

                                   Troublesome to the                             St Patrick’s           to give trouble. 

                                   Sisters in P.                                  Centenary. 

                                   School. 



            September 1947         Refused to do her       Miss B.7               Just insisted on its 



                                   charge. Impertinent                            being done. 

                                   to teacher. 



            September 1947         Attacked each          In the presence of      [Pupil] slapped by     Not much 

                                   other quarrelling      all the children in     Sister Sienna.         improvement. 

                                   over something         Dining Hall. 



            October 1947           Separated from          Teacher who was        Not allowed out 

                                   teacher when out       in charge.              following Sunday. 

                                   walking, went a 

                                   different road. 



           6 This is a pseudonym. 

           7 This is a pseudonym. 



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            Date                 Offence               By Whom               Punishment            Remarks on the 

                                                       Reported                                    Case 



            October 1947         Left school without   Missed by             No punishment 

                                 permission in early   everyone. Had to      given. 

                                 morning. Went out     be followed by 

                                 to the country.       teachers in a 

                                                       motor. 



            October 1947         Hid all day in the    Missed from           No punishment 

                                 attic. Only missed    dining, then          given. 

                                 when the children     reported to 

                                 came to dinner.       Guards. 



           Neglect and emotional abuse 



11.104    The Congregation does not dispute the evidence that there was neglect for a period in the 1940s 

           at St Joseph’s. It acknowledges with regret the criticisms contained in the 1944 and 1946 Reports 

           by  the  Department  of  Education  Inspector.  It  points  out,  however,  that  after  1946  conditions 

           improved and the neglect of the earlier years never re-emerged in St Joseph’s. In making this 

           assertion, it relies on the Inspection Reports after 1946. 



11.105    The Sisters of Mercy also acknowledged the failure to meet the educational needs of the children 

           and  conceded  that,  ‘it  is  undoubtedly  the  case  that  the  method  of  education  provided  was 

           inadequate for the needs of many of the children’. They accepted the fact that many of the girls 

           left the School with only a basic level of primary education. The Congregation also recognised the 

           resentment  of  many  former  pupils  that  they  had  been  given  narrow  employment  opportunities. 

          They further conceded ‘the full potential of many of the children in the school ‘was not realised, 

           and that this has caused great suffering’. 



11.106    The witness complained about being belittled: 



                 I always remember (the teacher) would say you are the lowest of the low, you are the 

                 worst of the worst. We would often go out to the grass and try to see what the lowest low 

                 was, how low could you put your hands ... That was constant. We were never encouraged 

                 to think beyond the four walls that we were in. 



11.107    The staff did not do what the children needed in order to feel secure and loved: 



                 it was the psychological abuse that was generally meted out because people didn’t see 

                 children  as  children.  We  weren’t  people,  we  were  kind  of  fodder  and  nobody  thought 

                 enough to give us a hug or love us, or do anything that would have made our lives better. 



                 ... I am not saying they were psychologically abusive. What I am saying is that they didn’t 

                 know how to look after children, they took on a job they were incapable of doing. 



11.108     Elaine summed up how she felt on leaving St Joseph’s with the simple phrase, ‘we were there for 

           the duration and turfed out on the streets then’. 



11.109     She could forgive the poor food and conditions, but found it hard to forgive the emotional abuse 

           and lack of love shown to the children: 



                 But the food was bad. Although I don't blame the nuns on the food, I don't blame them in 

                 that. In my own reading in history we did have the war and there was the rations, I don't 

                 blame them for that. What I always get annoyed with and I find no forgiveness was the 

                psychological  abuse  and  the  lack  of  love.  That  would  have  cost  them  nothing.  A  kind 

                 word.  But  there  was  that  constant  –  we  were  psychologically  abused,  like,  whatever  it 

                 was about poor unmarried mothers. I am glad it doesn't happen today. 



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           Separation from family and loss of identity 



11.110     Issues of identity and family featured prominently in the evidence of all three complainants. 



11.111     Elaine was born in a home for unmarried mothers and transferred at the age of three years to St 

           Joseph’s, where she remained until she reached 16. When her first child was born, she began to 

           search for information about her own mother, a quest which continued on and off for 30 years, 

           with  the  help  of her  children.  At  the  end  of her  search,  in  the  mid-1990s,  an  elderly nun  in  St 

           Joseph’s produced from her papers a letter written by the witness’s mother 50 years earlier, and 

           this letter was sent to her along with other papers released on threat of court proceedings. This 

           letter was   a  source    of  comfort   and   reassurance,    and   eased    the  sense   of  abandonment 

           experienced by the witness down through the years. She explained: 



                 Well, my belief  is that I was transferred to  St Joseph’s Orphanage in Dundalk  and my 

                 mother was never told. The only reason I know she was never told was because later on 

                 in 1946 she writes to the convent and she is looking to know where her daughter is. She 

                 is wanting to know would they mind if [she] sent me a little something ... I just believe that 

                 she should have been told ... It is the only letter. But she is quite upset about it, she‘s 

                 heartbroken in that letter. There is one line in it that says “next thing I know the baby is 

                 gone”. That jumps out any time I read it. 



11.112     Elaine was resentful that society had enforced the separation of mother and child because of its 

           intolerance of illegitimacy. She was also told erroneously that her mother was dead. In fact, she 

           died much later and could have seen her grandchildren. She recalled being told that her mother 

           was  dead  and  experiencing  no  reaction.  She  said,     ‘What  do  you  do?  I  mean  I’d  never  had  a 

           mother up to that. I didn’t cry or I don’t remember crying. They were just words’. 



11.113     Sr  Sienna  who  had  been  Resident  Manager  had  meticulously  retained  papers  relating  to  the 

           witness,  including  this  letter.  Elaine  was  grateful  that  the  Sister  had  preserved  them  but  was 

           frustrated when she would not hand them over. Only the threat of court proceedings forced their 

           production.  There  was  no  understanding  that  children  needed  and  were  entitled  to  information 

           about their families. She said: 



                 Originally when my first baby was born, and that would have been in the mid 1960s, I had 

                 gone back to the orphanage because the orphanage was still open and I was literally told 

                 to get on with my life. I wasn't told who I was or anything like that. I did want to know 

                 because I had a child then and motherly instincts must have told me I had a mother and 

                 she must have had some feelings too. 



11.114     She greatly treasured the letter which recorded her mother’s concern: 



                 ... I was absolutely thrilled to get it. Even though it hurts it is a letter that – I will always 

                 treasure  it,  it  is  heartbreaking.  She  couldn't  tell  anyone,  she  was  like  myself  she  was 

                 alone. I did better than her I ended up with a family I could have. I do treasure the letter 

                 it says a lot. It says little but it says an awful lot. As I say, there is one line in it "the next 

                 thing I know the baby is gone". She doesn't know and it is heartbreaking that somebody 

                 could take her child and not tell her. 



11.115     Jane was originally detained with her sister and a cousin in an industrial school in the West of 

           Ireland. She was transferred first to the Midlands, and then to St Joseph’s, without her other family 

           members. The reason for this separation was not apparent. The result was a complete loss of 

           contact with her sister and cousin. When asked about them she replied, ‘I really don’t know now, 

           they probably just made their own way on over to England or Australia, whatever’. 



11.116     Emmett was one of a large family, all but one of whom were sent to industrial schools. He was in 

           St  Joseph’s  for  five  years,  and  was  less  than  four  years  of  age  on  admission.  He  went  on  to 



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           another institution, about which he was positive in his recollections, but described how he had 

           become institutionalised, with consequent difficulties in maintaining relationships, including those 

           with his brothers and sisters. 



11.117     He described his need to form attachments, and he expressed this in a letter he wrote in 1986 to 

           the Resident Manager: 



                 I was just thinking to myself, as I have always thought, of that I can never say that I never 

                 had a mother and father because I have had that, and that’s you and Fr Burke.8  Just like 



                 all mums and dads, you fed me, clothed me, taught me to read and write, brought me on 

                 holidays. I will never forget and loads more and I love you both and always will. 



11.118     He was asked if he stood by those sentiments today and he replied: 



                  Yes, I would ... Fr Burke ... I wish he was my dad, because I loved him so much. He’s 

                 one in a million ... Sr Sienna as much as there is a lot of good fond memories, and I stand 

                 over the letter and those words I have said in it ... there is a lot of good but yet there is 

                 bad ... I thought she was so good and the next minute she turned bad, by locking me in 

                 the black hole and humiliating me and embarrassing me and hitting me in her office. 



11.119     He was eloquent in describing his yearning for a family life he never had. He said: 



                 Father Burke was very affectionate and you would get a hug from him and so forth, but 

                 naturally children need ... more than that, more loving and to be wanted. As all children 

                 would, as anybody in general does. I felt I wasn’t getting that ... I felt that it was an uphill 

                 battle on my own against all the other environments ... just doing what father tells you to 

                 go to school at this time and you come back at this time, go to bed at this time. That’s 

                 fine, because one is institutionalised ... I find it easy to work in these environs, because I 

                 have been brought up in them. If I had joined the army I would have had no problems. 

                 But moving into ... the normal world, it is totally different. Naturally I would see the bond 

                 of family that [the family that befriended me] have with their daughter ... it is so beautiful 

                 that it is something that I wanted to express but I didn’t know where to express it. I just 

                 found that very, very difficult. 



11.120     Even relationships with his fellow pupils from St Joseph’s proved transient. He explained: 



                  The funny part about it all, living so long in [another industrial school] and so long in St 

                 Joseph’s I am in contact with none of them ... all children were put into institutions but 

                 they  weren’t  made  to  feel  together,  to  be  integrated  more  so,  so  they  can  bond  good 

                 relations.  Now,  when  I  try  to  bond  relations  with  the  children  ...  one  would  have  been 

                 slowly doing it. Next minute ... you are cast right out of it. I have never seen any of the 

                 girls or the school since then, until the school closed down. The only contact that there 

                 would be with your peers, to the nuns ... The problem with this is that I am going through 

                 a third party. 



11.121     He then gave a moving description of his ideal of family life, something he had never had. He said: 



                 (The family) is the foundation of their (children’s) life and if they have as many of their 

                 siblings and their uncles and aunts and moms and dads and grandparents and whoever 

                 else all round them, they will have so much love the strength that will come from that that 

                 they  will  be  a  much  stronger  person.  The  confidence  will  be  very  strong  and  the  self- 

                 esteem will be very strong and nothing will hurt them. I believe that to the fullest. 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 



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          Limited nature of the Investigation 



11.122    While  21  written  statements  of  complaint  were  submitted  to  the  Investigation  Committee,  only 

          three former residents came forward to give evidence. 



11.123    There were no living respondents, and no evidence was heard from people who had worked in 

          the School. The material that was therefore available was a limited amount of oral testimony and 

          the information contained in the written records. 



          General conclusions 



11.124      1.  The  relatively  small  number  of  children  in  St  Joseph’s  was  an  important  factor  in 

                making this a less abusive institution. 



            2.  The  buildings  were  extremely  cold,  unfriendly  and  forbidding,  ‘a  barracks’  before 

                1960, and attempts to improve them made little impact. 



            3.  The   children   were   poorly  educated    and   trained,  and   their  full potential  was   not 

                realised. 



            4.  Family    contacts    were   not   maintained     and   children   were    deprived    of  crucial 

                information that would have helped them form family ties and establish identity. 



            5.  For most of its existence, recreational facilities were almost non-existent. The children 

                were  kept  occupied  by  doing  daily  chores.  The  need  for  children  to  play  was  not 

                considered by management. This regime harmed their emotional development. 



            6.  The children came from deprived backgrounds and the conditions did little to help 

                them. 



            7.  The  punishment  book,  even  though  it  is  not  a  complete  record,  is  evidence  of  an 

                attempt to control corporal punishment. 



            8.  Problems  arose from  time to  time in  this  Institution because  of the  incapacity of  a 

                Resident Manager, by reason of old age and/or infirmity. The management system of 

                the Congregation was slow to remedy the situation. The Department of Education was 

                limited  to  exhortation  and  threat,  but  was  unable  to  effect  the  necessary  change 

                because the Mother Superior appointed the Resident Managers. 



            9.  There  was  neglect  of  children  in  1944  and  1946,  including  gross  indifference  to 

                hygiene, where the children were left with ‘verminous and nitty heads’. 



          10.   Despite the forbidding environment and the fear induced by some punishments, the 

                children did not live in constant fear. The Sisters, particularly in the latter years, were 

                more  approachable  and  involved.  A  small  anecdote  told  by  Sr  Ann  Marie  McQuaid 

                illustrates this point: when Inspection Reports said the School needed painting, the 

                Sisters ran bazaars and collected door to door in Dundalk and Dublin to fund the cost; 

                they  could  afford  the  paint  but  not  a  painter,  so  four  of  the  Sisters,  including  the 

                Reverend  Mother  and  the  Resident  Manager,  two  Sisters  from  the  School  and  the 

                caretaker  of  the  convent,  painted  the  building  from  basement  to  top  floor  at  night- 

                time; a former resident told her that they used to creep out of bed to see the nuns 

                without their veils. 



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           Chapter 12 



           Sisters of Charity 



           Introduction 



12.01      In the early part of the nineteenth century, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Troy, wanted to establish 

           a religious community of women to serve the needs of the poor in the city, similar to the Daughters 

           of Charity who worked in France. 



12.02      His coadjutor, Dr Murray, met Mary Aikenhead, and he thought she was ideally suited to carry out 

           this plan. In 1812, Dr Murray sent Mary Aikenhead and a companion to begin their training in the 

           religious life to the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary run by the Loreto Sisters in York, England. 

           The rules of this Institute at that time were based on the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus 

           (Jesuits),  and   the  initial formation  of  Sr  Mary   Augustine,    as  she   became,    were   based    on 

           Ignatian spirituality. 



12.03      Sr Mary Augustine and her companion, Sr Mary Catherine, returned to Dublin in August 1815, 

           and Dr Murray appointed Sr Mary Augustine as the Superior of the new Community. The Sisters 

           made the usual three vows of religion – chastity, poverty and obedience – and an additional fourth 

           vow  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  service  of  the  poor.  The  following  year,  Dr  Troy  canonically 

           established the new Institute under the title of ‘Pious Congregation of Sisters of Charity’. 



12.04      Soon  after  its  establishment,  the  Sisters  began  their  visitation  of  the  poor,  and  found  that  the 

           Rules of the Constitution of the Society of Jesus which they had chosen to follow were not suited 

           to  the  type  of  apostolic  life  of  their  new  Institute.  A  new  Constitution  was  drafted  by  Sr  Mary 

           Augustine, with the assistance of a Jesuit Priest, and was submitted to Rome for approval in 1824. 

           The Rules and Constitution were deliberated on in Rome during the pontificates of Leo XII and 

           Pius  VIII,  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  accession  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI  that  they  were  finally 

           approved in 1833. 



12.05      The original documents remained unchanged until 1917, when the Constitution was revised and 

           modified  in  line  with  the  new  Code  of  Canon  Law.  The  next  revision  took  place  in  1971,  in 

           accordance with the wish of Vatican Council II, and an Interim Revised Constitution was approved 

           by Rome and put to the General Chapter of the Congregation in 1977. The Congregation felt that 

           another draft was necessary, as they considered that the new Interim Constitution did not reflect 

           the early Ignatian spirituality. A Congregational Committee was formed, and a new Constitution 

           was drafted using the original 1833 Constitution and key parts from the Constitutions of the Society 

           of Jesus. As the new Constitution was drawn from the original document, a second contemporary 

           document was drawn up to encompass the teachings of the Vatican II Council and this was entitled 

           ‘The  Complementary  Code  to  the  Constitutions.’1       The  new  Constitution  was  circulated  to  the 



           members of the Congregation in 1980 and, over the next three years, it was revised and edited 

           and prepared for submission to the Sacred Congregation for Religious in Rome in April 1984. It 

           was approved in August 1985. 



           1 Complementary document. 



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12.06      In 1995, it was recognised by the General Chapter that the Complementary Code needed updating 

           and, after a wide-ranging consultation process throughout the Congregation, a new Complementary 

           Document was produced in 2001. The Sisters used the Jesuits’ document ‘Complementary Norms’ 

           to assist them in the production of this document. 



12.07      Today,  the  Religious  Sisters  of  Charity  have  around  150  communities  in  six  regions  and  two 

           provinces, spanning four continents. They continue the work of their founder, Mary Aikenhead, in 

           three ministries: education, healthcare and pastoral/social. The Sisters of Charity in Australia are 

           a distinct Congregation since 1842 with their own Congregational leader. 



           Governance of the Congregation 



12.08      The Congregation is centrally governed by a council known as the General Chapter, which is the 

           supreme law-making body in the Institute and is based in Dublin. This is headed up by an elected 

           congregational leader with the assistance of her council. A congregational meeting is held every 

           six  years  to  elect  a  leader  and  council,  and  to  deal  with  the  affairs  of  the  Congregation.  An 

           important duty of the congregational leader is to make Visitation to all of the Sisters in their various 

           residences and ministries every six years. She may delegate this task to one of her council. 



12.09      There are three regions and two Provinces headed up by a Provincial/Regional Leader who, with 

           her  team,  provide  the  link  between  the  local  communities  and  the  central  government.  She  is 

           appointed by the congregational leader, who consults with the Sisters in the region/province to 

           find  the  most  suitable  person.  The  leader  must  visit  all  of  the  Sisters  in  their  residences  and 

           ministries ordinarily every two years, except in the year when this is done by the congregational 

           leader or one of her assistants. 



12.10      The Sisters live in the local community to which they are assigned, and a leader is appointed by 

           the provincial/regional leader, following consultation with Sisters in the community and subject to 

           the approval of the congregational leader with her council. The community leader is appointed for 

           three years, and may be reappointed for a second or third term in exceptional circumstances only. 



12.11      The congregational leader, with the  consent of her council, has the power to  remove the local 

           superior from office for a grave reason. 



12.12      Chapter 4 Section 232 gives an insight into the type of person that should be considered for the 

           role of community leader: 



                 3. Care should be taken that whoever is appointed to the office of superior be a person 

                 of  great  virtue,  edification,  self  abnegation  and  one  whose  obedience  and  humility  are 

                 well  proved.  She  ought  to  be  discreet,  suitable  for  governing  and  experienced  both  in 

                 practical and spiritual things. She should know how to mingle firmness with kindness at 

                 the proper times and have patience and endurance in bearing the responsibilities of her 

                 office. Finally, she should be one in whom the higher superiors can confide and to whom 

                 they can with security communicate their authority. For the greater this delegated authority 

                 will be, the better with the houses be governed and the works of the house promoted for 

                 greater divine glory. 



           The community leader must also appoint a ministress and bursar to assist her. 



12.13      She  must  give  the  rules  which  relate  to  her  office  to  each  Sister,  and  take  care  that  no  one 

           interferes in the business of another. 



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12.14      The  ministress  acts  in  the  absence  of  the  community  leader  and  also  makes  provision  for  the 

           material things needed for the community. The bursar administers the property and funds of the 

           house and keeps an account of income and expenditure. 



           Recruitment 



12.15      In  the  past,  the  Sisters  of  Charity  recruited  two  types  of  Sisters:  superior  degree  Sisters  and 

           second degree Sisters. Second Degree Sisters who entered the Congregation were confined to 

           ‘domestic  employment  suitable  to  their  vocation’.  They  were  required  to  be  ‘content  with  the 

           occupations  of  Martha’  and  interiorly  to  ‘esteem  all  as  being  superior  to  themselves,  and,  with 

           religious simplicity and modesty, to give each one exteriorly the honour and reverence which her 

           station requires’. 



12.16      The  Rules  of  the  Religious  Sisters  of  Charity  provided  as  follows  in  relation  to  second  degree 

           Sisters: 



                  10. Finally, let them remember, that as the peculiar office of those in the superior degree 

                  is to promote the end of this Congregation, by instructing the poor, visiting the sick etc. 

                  etc.  so  their  own  peculiar  office,  is  to  employ  themselves  in  whatever  lowly  of  humble 

                  occupations     may    be   allotted   to  them;    persuading     themselves     that   by   aiding   the 

                  Congregation in these offices, in order that the other members may, with less interruption 

                  attend  to  their  own  peculiar  duties,  they  serve  the  same  Master  of  all,  our  Lord  Jesus 

                  Christ;  since  they  do  so  for  love  and  reverence  of  the  Divine  Majesty.  With  as  much 

                  humility and charity as possible, let them be ready to perform with great exactness the 

                  office assigned to them. Thus they will not only receive the reward of their own fatigue 

                  and labour, but likewise become partakers in all the good works which God, to the praise 

                  and  glory  of  His  holy  Name,  may  vouchsafe  to  effect  by  the  ministry  of  the  whole 

                  Congregation, and in all the Indulgences and spiritual favours which the Apostolic See 

                  has graciously deigned to grant for its members, for the advantage of their souls. 



                  ... 



                  20. When any one admitted into this Congregation has received one degree, she must 

                  not seek to be advanced to another. Let her endeavour to acquire perfection in her own; 

                  employing herself wholly in the service and for the glory of God, and leaving the care of 

                  all other things to the Superior, who holds the place of Jesus Christ our Lord. 



12.17      Today,  the  Congregation  Manual  states  that  each  Sister  and  each  local  community  must  take 

           responsibility for encouraging vocations and, in each part of the Congregation, there is a formation 

           team, whose members are the Provincial/regional leader and the Sisters who are appointed to 

           direct the formation of candidates, postulants, novices and the members, both in temporary and 

           perpetual profession. 



           Apology 



12.18      The  Sisters  of  Charity  were  involved  in  five  industrial  schools,  including  St  Joseph’s  and  St 

           Patrick’s, Kilkenny and Madonna House, Dublin. 



12.19      The  Sisters  of  Charity  have  never  issued  a  general  public  apology  in  respect  of  child  abuse. 

           However, the Congregation has issued three specific apologies relating to the criminal convictions 

           of three of its staff, one in Madonna House and two in St Joseph's, Kilkenny. 



12.20      The apology in relation to Madonna House was issued in 1994 and read: 



                  The   Religious    Sisters  of  Charity   are   deeply   concerned     and   saddened      by  what   has 

                  happened to the children at Madonna House. We offer our heartfelt apology to each and 



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----------------------- Page 1262-----------------------

                  every person who has suffered in a situation where we tried to ensure that they would 

                  experience warmth, care and support. 



12.21      The  second  apology  was  issued  at  the  sentencing  of  a  male  childcare  worker  in  St  Joseph’s 

           in 1997: 



                  While   other   Orders    might   have   found   that   the  States   of  Fear   programme      or  other 

                  publications  or  broadcasts  was  their  moment  of  realisation,  I  think  it  was  the  criminal 

                  conviction of that child care worker that was a very significant moment certainly for me 

                  and those other sisters who attended and for the  congregation subsequently. For us it 

                  was a brutal initiation into the reality of sexual abuse of the most depraved kind. While I 

                  would  have  read  the  Garda  statements  that  the  children  made  against  this  child  care 

                  worker,  it  became  very  real  when  the  boys  were  asked  to  speak  in  Court  and  they 

                  described    a   most   horrific  litany  of   terror  and   hurt   and   humiliation    and   pain   and 

                  powerlessness. It was at that moment I think for us as a congregation it became real. I 

                  am not saying we accepted it or understood it, but it became real for us then. 



12.22      The  third  apology  was  issued  when  another  childcare  worker  from  St  Joseph's,  Kilkenny  was 

           convicted. It read, inter alia: 



                  We are appalled that a care worker employed at St. Joseph's for 9 months from '76 to '77 

                  abused children in his care and we are offering counselling services etc. 



                  He came to St. Joseph's as a qualified care worker, had excellent references from his 

                  former employees in the UK, and was interviewed by representatives from St. Joseph's 

                  and from the Department of Education ... 

                  Peter  Tade’s2    abuse  of  the  children  at  St.  Joseph's  has  caused  untold  misery  for  the 



                  men involved.  Nothing can make up  for what happened  to them and we  deeply regret 

                  their suffering. 



                ´ 

12.23      Sr Una O’Neill, Superior General of the Congregation, told the Investigation Committee at The 

           Public Phase I hearing on 7th       February 2005 that: 



                  The  issue  of  making  a  public  apology  didn't  really  arise  for  us.  Our  response  to  the 

                  emergence of the allegations was twofold. When we received the allegations through legal 

                  means we responded to them legally through our solicitors. At the same time we were 

                  trying to respond pastorally and that pastoral response was a continuation of what had 

                  been happening on the ground with the Sisters who had actually been in these childcare 

                  homes. Many of our past residents have maintained their  contact with the Sisters who 

                  were their carers and that continued and I think some of the Orders have expressed the 

                  way in which that continued. 



12.24      Sr O’Neill stated that the Sisters provided two aftercare centres and a fund for past residents: 



                  past residents of our schools can apply for help for ongoing education, for counselling for 

                  themselves or their families, grants for those who are experiencing particular problems, 

                  with regard to family health, employment, accommodation, contributions towards funerals 

                  and burials for those who may not have immediate family, grants for those who may want 

                  to set up a little business or whatever, for those who are searching for parents or siblings, 

                  and for reunions and holidays. 



12.25      Sr O’Neill said that the Congregation contributed to the Redress Fund: 



                  we   had  a   number    of  civil cases    before  the   Court   at  that  time   ...  We  had   had  the 

                  experience, I had the experience of attending these court cases and I had seen what that 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1263-----------------------

                 process  had  done  particularly  to  the  men  who  had  taken  the  cases  against  us.  I  had 

                  spoken to them about the experience with both of them. I saw what it did with both the 

                  volunteers and the staff who had to testify. There was a strong pastoral reason for us not 

                  subjecting anybody to that kind of process if we could avoid it. 



                  We also felt the definition of abuse was so broad that it would invite many more cases 

                  against  us  and  in  fact  that  has  proved  to  be  the  case.  There  has  been  a  very,  very 

                  significant increase in the number of cases that have come in from 2000 up to today, very 

                  significant increase for those that had come in beforehand. 



                  We also felt that if we didn't contribute to the scheme, maybe we were wrong in this, we 

                  felt that perhaps the Redress scheme would give a partial payment to the children and 

                  then they would seek the rest from us through legal means and that would have been the 

                  same reason as I have given beforehand. 



                  The same thing again I suppose the cases before the courts take a very long length of 

                  time as we had experienced and we felt that if the Redress scheme to which we could 

                  contribute could be up and running it would mean that those cases would be heard much 

                  more swiftly than in the courts. It was our view that this process would be preferable to 

                  our past residents and to the staff and sisters than going through the difficulties of the 

                  court  system  and  also  of  course  that  the  substantial  amount  of  money  that  would  be 

                  expended in legal fees could be avoided if we did contribute. We felt it would bring finality 

                  to all of that. 



12.26      In their Final Submissions to the Investigation Committee following the hearings into St Joseph’s, 

           Kilkenny and St Patrick’s, Kilkenny, the Sisters of Charity submitted that the sexual and physical 

           abuse that was perpetrated on the children in these Schools was inflicted by parties other than 

           members of the Congregation. Therefore, they stated, ‘the issue of making a public apology did 

           not arise for the Sisters of Charity’. 



12.27      They stated, however, that ‘the Sisters of Charity are absolutely and deeply sorry that any children 

           in their care were abused in any way’. 



12.28      They accepted that ‘A certain number of children suffered appalling abuse’. They also submit that 

           the manner in which the Sisters organised and ran their schools led to the risks and incidence of 

           child abuse being minimised and to appropriate action being taken when abuse was discovered. 



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          Chapter 13 



          St Patrick’s Industrial School, 

           Kilkenny, 1879–1966 



          Introduction 



13.01     In 1879, the Bishop of Ossory, Dr Moran, acquired from the State an agricultural college known 

          as ‘model farm’, for the purpose of establishing an industrial school for the boys of the diocese. It 

          was situated just over a mile outside Kilkenny city, and consisted of a large house with outbuildings 

          on about 80 acres of land. He invited the Sisters of Charity to take over the management and 

          control of the model farm and convert it into an industrial school. 



13.02     On 23rd  December 1879, St Patrick’s was certified as an industrial school for the admission of 186 



          boys up to the age of 10 years. 



13.03     St Patrick’s Industrial School closed on 25th    November 1966. All the boys resident in the School 



          at  the  time  were  transferred   to other  institutions. Later  that  year, with  the  approval   of the 

          Department of Health, St Patrick’s reopened as a school for children with severe or minor learning 

          difficulties. It still provides residential care, day care, respite care and a special school for those 

          with learning disabilities. 



          The children 



13.04     During the period under investigation, 1933 to 1966, 1,282 boys passed through St Patrick’s. Of 

          those, 1,176 were committed by the courts and 106 by other means. When the boys reached the 

          age of 10, they were transferred to other industrial schools, usually at the end of a quarter. In 

          March 1965, at the suggestion of the Resident Manager in a letter to the Department of Education, 

          a new policy was adopted whereby the boys remained in St Patrick’s until the end of the school 

          year. 



          Sisters and staff working in the Industrial School 



13.05     The  Sister  who  was  appointed  as  the  local  Superior  in  St  Patrick’s  generally  also  acted  as 

          Resident Manager of the Industrial School. 



13.06     The Sisters in the Community worked in various capacities in St Patrick’s, ranging from teachers 

          and  carers  to  working  in  the  kitchen  and  laundry.  In  general,  the  number  of  Sisters  in  the 

          Community  was  between  12  and  14,  although  it  is  not  clear  how  many  of  them  were  actively 

          engaged  in  the  work  of  the  School.  The  Community  also  employed  lay  female  staff  to  work 

          alongside the Sisters. Men were employed in the farm to work under the direction of a steward. 

          In the later years, a few male employees were employed to care for the boys, supervising them 

          at play and taking them for walks. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             479 


----------------------- Page 1266-----------------------

13.07      This  Institution,  like  its  counterpart,  St  Joseph’s,  Kilkenny,  was ahead  of  its  time.  Some  of  the 

           Sisters of Charity received proper childcare training in a year-long course in London. The records 

           indicate  that  two  Sisters  from  St  Patrick’s  went  to  London  for  a  refresher  course  in  1956  and 

           introduced  the  groups  system  to  St  Patrick’s.  It  had  already  been  introduced  into  St  Joseph’s 

           Industrial School, also located in Kilkenny, which catered for girls up to the age of 16. 



13.08      In February 1966, the Department of Health wrote to the Superior General of the Sisters of Charity 

           at Mount St Anne’s, Milltown, confirming a discussion held the previous month, in which it was 

           agreed that St Patrick’s would cease to operate as an industrial school and would be used ‘on a 

           permanent basis, as a residential centre for moderately and severely handicapped children – girls 

           and young boys’. 



13.09      Accordingly, in May 1966 the Superior General gave six months’ notice of the Sisters of Charity’s 

           intention to resign their certificate as an industrial school. 



13.10      Thirty  boys   were   transferred    to St  Joseph’s,    Kilkenny,   some    to  Artane,   and   the  rest  were 

           transferred  to  other   industrial  schools.  The  Sisters     received  a  list  of  the  transfers  from  the 

           Department of Education, and they wrote back to the Department in July 1966, suggesting a few 

           alterations to the  list, as some of the boys  had friends and wished to  be placed together. The 

           Resident Manager enclosed the modified list for the Department. 



           Allegations of abuse 



13.11      The Investigation Committee heard evidence from nine witnesses who were resident in St Patrick’s 

           until they were transferred to another institution when they reached the age of 10. 



13.12      The period of residence of the witnesses in St Patrick’s covered the period 1943 to 1966, when 

           the School closed. Three witnesses were in the Institution in the mid to late 1940s; the remaining 

           six were resident in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The majority of the witnesses were in the 

           Institution from the age of 4 to 10 years. 



13.13      Apart from the correspondence in the 1940s relating to children’s failure to gain weight and going 

           barefoot, the Department did not appear to have had any concerns about this Institution. Each of 

           the witnesses was transferred to another industrial school and had serious complaints to make 

           about the later institution. All of them had been committed to St Patrick’s when they were nine 

           years   of  age   or  younger.    Their  memories     of  life in  the  Institution  were,   therefore,   vague. 

           Nevertheless, many of them had very specific memories of incidents that occurred during their 

           time there, which helped form a picture of St Patrick’s. 



           Allegations of physical abuse 



13.14      A complainant who was in St Patrick’s in the 1940s recalled the Institution before it was divided 

           into the group system: 



                 It was a kind of a – it was a real institution, like. You know, like an orphanage, that's how 

                 I felt. It was a very harsh regime as regards discipline ... I remember we were in the – it 

                 was like an auditorium that we were in. First thing in the morning before school we would 

                 do our catechism. We had to learn our catechism ... I remember one little boy ... he forgot 

                 his  catechism.  He  couldn't  remember  what  it  was  and  the  sister  that  was  doing  the 

                 catechism  –  I  can't  remember,  I  wouldn't  be  sure  of  her  name.  It  could  have  been  Sr 

                  Tyra.1 She gave him, like, a beating in front of all of the boys. We were all sort of sitting 



                 there. She said "I am going to make an example of this boy and this is what you will get 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1267-----------------------

                  if  you  don't  remember  your  catechism".  She  beat  him  with  a  billiard  cue  ...  Full  length 

                  billiard cue, yes. That was the one major incident I can remember at that school. 



13.15      He said the beating took place in the front of a large hall where all the boys could see it: 



                  He was brought down to the front where everyone could see him and the nun got this 

                  billiard cue. She made him bend over and she gave him a hell of a beating. Obviously we 

                  were terrified of seeing this. 



13.16      The witness believed the boy was about seven or eight when this happened:  ‘We were ever so 

           small. We were really tiny in size’. 



13.17      This incident stood out in his mind: 



                  Well,  I  could  still  hear,  even  still  today  I  can  still  hear  the  swish  of  a  billiard  cue.  She 

                  swung it around with all her might. You could hear the wind going through the billiard cue 

                  and the little fellow screaming. It's sort of something you wouldn't forget. 



13.18      That was the most severe beating he remembered in St Patrick’s. Lesser physical punishment 

           was administered for failure at lessons. It was, he said,  ‘Less severe, they would get the back of 

           the ruler’. 



13.19      This complainant recalled being fearful during his time in St Patrick’s: 



                  Well, it was a very harsh regime. The discipline  was, you know, they were very – you 

                  were just frightened. You were just frightened because you would get a belt for any little 

                  thing. If you stepped out of line on anything or you were in the wrong place you would 

                  have to explain yourself. Just like, an atmosphere of fear, really, prevailed in the place, 

                  you know. 



13.20      He recalled being punished: 



                  Oh, yes, you would get plenty of slaps. You would be slapped any time you stepped out 

                  of line. I don't know what we would do to get it. I can't recall why I would be slapped. You 

                  had to toe the line. It was a very strict regime. 



13.21      He  said  that  all  the  nuns  were  not  bad  and  he  recalled  some  good  ones.  Overall,  there  was 

           strict discipline: 



                  The Reverend Mothers, they were generally austere people. You saw them just fleetingly. 

                  Of course, these places were run almost, you would say, military lines. You could feel 

                  that there was a chain of command. They were very organised, very precision running 

                  places; you know. Apart from there wasn't much stimulation or there wasn't – I wouldn't 

                  say there was happy memories there, really. You were just there and that was it, like. Up 

                  against maybe the remaining orphanages we were probably living in heaven. That's all I 

                  can say. 



13.22      A  witness  who  was  there in  the  1940s  and  1950s  differentiated  between  the lay  teachers  and 

           the nuns: 



                  You  see,  the  teachers  didn't  used  to  really  punish  you.  They  were  pretty  good,  the 

                  teachers were. The nuns used to come and repeatedly hit you if you stood out of line. 



13.23      He said that this punishment was hard and frequent. 



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----------------------- Page 1268-----------------------

13.24      A complainant, who spent seven years in St Patrick’s until he was transferred to another industrial 

           school in the mid-1960s, described the punishment he received for bed-wetting: 



                  I suppose what I would like to talk about was the punishments I received as a child when 

                  I  wet  the  bed  ...  It  happened  for  most  of  my  time  when  I  was  in  St  Patrick's.  The 

                  punishment I received for wetting the bed was I was put into a galvanised bath down near 

                  the toilets, this was full of Jeyes Fluid, and a bucket was put into the bath and the water 

                  poured over my head and I was made sit there for five minutes. As I got out of the bath I 

                  was beaten on the behind. 



13.25      He said that this cold bath and physical punishment continued daily, from the age of five to the 

           age of 10: 



                  I suppose every morning when I got up it was something I knew I would have to face, this 

                  punishment for wetting the bed. There was nights where I did get up and I was terrified 

                  to go to the toilets, it was easier just to wet the bed. 



13.26      During his time there, corporal punishment was administered for misbehaviour: 



                  I received severe beatings when I was, as they say, bold. One of the things the nuns sort 

                  of  enmeshed  into  the  boys,  into  me,  when  I  go  to  [another  industrial  school]  to  the 

                  Christian Brothers, they would teach me manners. By the time it did come to the stage 

                  when  we  would  be  going  to  [another  industrial  school]  we  were  terrified  of  [another 

                  industrial school] before we ever went there. 



13.27      Another  complainant,  who  was  in  St  Patrick’s  in  the  1960s,  was  committed  by  the  courts  for 

           stealing  when  he  was  eight  years  old.  He  was  brought  down  handcuffed  by  two  Gardai.  He 

                                                                                                                          ´ 

           described what happened to him: 



                  When  I  went  out  first  I  was  frightened,  I  was  nervous,  I  was  crying  for  several  nights 

                  wanting to go home and that and I started wetting the bed. The nun used to come and 

                  stick my face in it. Then she would start calling me two and three times a night to go to 

                  the toilet. That went on for quite some time there. 



13.28      He explained that he had not suffered from this problem before coming to St Patrick’s, apart from 

           once or twice. In St Patrick’s it was a regular problem. He said that he was called out regularly 

           during the night, and that meant he did not wet every night. On one occasion, a nun tied him up 

           with a towel because he was wetting so much: 



                  If I couldn't stay in the bed without wetting it then she would put me in a place where I 

                  could wet all I wanted and it wouldn't make any difference. That was the kind of attitude 

                  that was taken ... I went out to the toilet after the one gave me a belt on the back of the 

                  neck to get me out of the bed. She followed me out to the toilet, I was lying on the floor 

                  and she pulled my legs up on the rails and tied my legs to the rails, I was upside down. 

                  She went out and closed the door. I thought I was going to be left there all night. That 

                  was it. It could have been five minutes or five hours, I don't know. She came back in then 

                  and put me back in the bed. 



13.29      Shortly after that incident, he ran away from St Patrick’s: 



                  It was shortly after the hanging me up by the feet, because not only was I going to bed 

                  nervous but I also was wondering was this going to happen again or would she leave me 

                  there, call me earlier, leave me there longer. I didn't know. I had to try and get away. 



13.30      He got as far as Kilkenny station when he was found by two nuns from the convent and brought 

           back: ‘I got a hiding’, he said, ‘I got the head boxed off me’. 



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----------------------- Page 1269-----------------------

13.31      This witness had very specific memories of incidents but was not able to remember the names of 

           the nuns. He explained why: 



                  There was two nuns there, I don’t know their names. When I was there the people that 

                 was there were just nuns. Like, there was no names, there was no – it was Sister this and 

                 Sister that ... it was just Sister, Sister, Sister, there was no names that I can remember. 



13.32      A witness who was in St Patrick’s during the 1960s recalled the punishment for bed-wetting: 



                 My memories are very limited. One of the most profound memories in my mind was being 

                 made to stand against a wall for hours and hours on end ... In the end I would end up 

                 banging my head off the wall. 



13.33      He said that this standing against the wall occurred mainly during the night in the dormitory: 



                 Mostly at night-time. I remember it used to go on until it became dawn outside ... I think 

                 it was a standard form of punishment, if you like. 



13.34      There would sometimes be other boys with him, and it would be a form of punishment for doing 

           things  like  wetting  the  bed.  It  happened  about  twice  a  week  and  it  was  also  accompanied  by 

           physical punishment: 



                 I remember a cane used to be brought down on the palm of the hand ... I remember the 

                 sound of the cane as it hit the apron as a warning sort of thing and then you got it. 



13.35      When asked whether he had any happy memories of Kilkenny he said: 



                 None at all. I have no other memories of Kilkenny whatsoever. 



13.36      A  witness,  who  was  in  St  Patrick’s  in  the  1960s  for  five  years,  recalled  two  lay  teachers  who 

           inflicted severe punishment: 

                 Ms Adams,2  she was a very big woman. One could imagine a child of seven years of age 



                 or around that age group, this woman, we wore short trousers in the School at the time, 

                 she would open the collar of the shirt, you could have been caught talking in Mass or they 

                 would see fit at the time themselves that you would be misbehaving, she would be able 

                 to catch you by the collar of the shirt like that (indicating), with the strength of her upper 

                 hands she would be able to lift you up that way, upside down. Ms Spencer3                   would give 



                 you a good beating with a leg of a chair or lump of a stick, whichever she would have at 

                 the time. That could happen maybe two or three times a week depending on what way 

                 they felt ... It wasn't an isolated, no. 



13.37      He explained: 



                 Ms Adams would have held you up and Ms Spencer would have done the beating ... She 

                 held you up by the back of the collar of the shirt and trousers being short trousers, she 

                 was able to catch the two legs of the trousers and she would hold you horizontally ... Ms 

                 Spencer would beat you on the legs and on the bottom with a stick ... A leg of a chair. 



13.38      This witness attended school at a local De la Salle National School. He said that three Brothers 

           took the view that the boys from the convent needed toughening up: 



                  They always had the tendency, there was myself and another chap there, you were from 

                 the convent, you were maybe soft as in too well looked after and plenty of good beatings 

                 with the cane wouldn't go astray on you. It would harden you up and toughen you up for 

                 the outside world when you went away from the nuns. 



           2 This is a pseudonym. 

           3 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1270-----------------------

13.39      Another ex-resident, who was in St Patrick’s in the 1950s, recalled a particular beating of a boy, 

           during which four other boys were required to hold him down: 



                  It wasn't me that was held down. It was one of the boys that was asked to accompany 

                  the boy that had supposedly done something wrong to hold him down. One had to hold 

                  each hand and the others had to hold a leg each and the nun spanked the boy on that 

                  table like that. 



13.40      He did not know what had merited the beating: 



                  No, we were playing. And the nun just picked at random, picked four boys to come in with 

                  this particular other boy. 



13.41      He only recalled this happening on this one occasion, but he was unhappy about it: 



                  I didn't like the idea at all. But to say no was – that was not a possibility either, you couldn't 

                  say no. 



13.42      When asked whether the nun had struck him with her hand, he replied: 



                  There was an instrument used, yes ... I can't remember. I believe it could have been a 

                  stick, there always seemed to be one item used. 



13.43      In the classroom the stick was used: 



                  Yes, we used to get slapped on the hand ... Three or four maybe, I can't be sure. 



13.44      This complainant also recalled another incident of punishment: 



                  That  happened  before  lights  out  in  the  dormitory.  A  cat  or  a  kitten  came  in  and  was 

                  running around the dormitory, started climbing up on the curtains and that, three or four 

                  of us just hopped out of bed to chase the cat and we were caught doing that by the nun. 

                  I believe it was three or four of us, I can't remember for sure. But we were ordered down 

                  into a room with a tiled floor on it and we were asked to strip off and lie on the floor. She 

                  said  she  would  come  back  later  on  and  not  to  move,  don't  dare  move.  When  she  did 

                  come back later, I could not tell you how long it was, she gave us each a few slaps on 

                  the backside as we were lying on the floor, told us to get dressed. On the way up to the 

                  dormitory,  we  met  the  head  nun  and  she  asked  the  other  nun  what  were  we  doing.  I 

                  remember the nun clearly stating that we were knitting mats. I couldn't believe that a nun 

                  would tell a lie to another nun. 



           He explained that the boys often knitted mats in the School. 



13.45      He remembered other children being taken out of the dormitory to be punished, but he did not 

           know what punishment they received: ‘No, you very seldom spoke about things’. 



           The evidence of the Sisters of Charity 



                                                                ´ 

13.46      In the course of her Opening Statement, Sr Una O'Neill, the Superior General of the Congregation 

           of the Religious Sisters of Charity gave general information about St Patrick's. This included the 

           Congregation's view as to how the Institution operated and what life was like there. 



13.47      She was asked about corporal punishment in the School: 



                  Well, slapping was obviously a form of punishment that was used to discipline the children. 

                 As far as we can gather it was normally done with the palm of the hand and a cane or 

                  ruler was sometimes used. 



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13.48      She had been unable to establish what other forms of punishment were used, such as placing 

           the children in isolation, but found no evidence of this. In the later years of the Institution, there 

           was a shop and the children could be deprived of pocket money. 



13.49      Bed-wetting was a problem: 



                  Indeed, yes, it was a problem. We are quite clear I think as to what happened. We were 

                  told that in the earlier days that any older child who wet his bed had to bring down the 

                  wet sheets to the laundry in the morning. He might be left standing beside his bed for five 

                  to ten minutes when it was discovered that the bed was wet ... Then in the play hall when 

                  they lined up to go to school they would have been called out and they would have been 

                  slapped for wetting the bed. 



13.50      Children who continuously wet the bed were woken up twice at night and were given limited fluids 

           after tea. 



                               ´ 

13.51      According to Sr Una, the slapping would have stopped in the late 1950s and 1960s and, after that 

           time, the staff brought down the wet sheets. 



13.52      On the general regime she said: 



                  While we know the general organisation and routine of the school it is possible that events 

                  occurred of which the sisters and the staff were not aware, although there is no evidence 

                  of this in the documentation. I think I said earlier that no matter how much you tried to 

                  care for your child or your children even in a family you cannot preclude the possibility of 

                  bullying  or  exploitation  or  whatever,  as  we  know,  tragically.  The  children  were  closely 

                  supervised but this may not have precluded isolated incidents of rough play, bullying, etc. 

                  The harshness of punishment would probably have varied depending on the personality 

                  of  the  staff  and  the  sisters.  I'm  sure  that  some  of  the  punishment  must  have  been 

                  experienced by the children as harsh and humiliating and unmerited. Undoubtedly each 

                  child and each Sister and each member of staff has their own interpretation of what life 

                  was like in St Patrick's institution. 



13.53      In their final submission after the Phase III hearings, the Sisters stated: 



                  The  Committee  heard  evidence  from  nine  former  residents  of  St  Patrick’s  Industrial 

                  School. This school closed in 1966 and the Sisters of Charity were unable to respond to 

                  the  evidence  because,  given  the  passage  of  time,  there  was  no-one  left  who  could 

                  evaluate  or  respond  to  these  allegations  by  means  of  firsthand  evidence  or  even  by 

                  hearsay. 



                  It  is  undoubtedly  the  case  that  physical  punishment  took  place  in  St  Patrick’s  but  the 

                  Sisters of Charity are not in a position to comment on their own behalf as to what occurred. 

                  They are prejudiced in that regard due to the delay in these allegations coming to the fore. 



13.54      The Sisters of Charity accept that some excessive punishments were inevitable over the 

           years, but no record of them exists. There was no punishment book in St Patrick’s and no 

           record was kept of any punishment, so no contemporary documentation is available. It is 

           impossible, therefore, to judge the extent to which individual memories of St Patrick’s were 

           typical of the Institution as a whole. 



           Allegations of sexual abuse 



13.55      Three  witnesses  gave  evidence  of  being  sexually  abused  by  three  different  lay  workers  in  St 

           Patrick’s,  Kilkenny.  All  three  against  whom  the  allegations  were  made  are  dead.  The  Sisters 

           submit that they have been unable, due to the passage of time, to source information to assist 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      485 


----------------------- Page 1272-----------------------

           the Investigation Committee with its inquiry into these allegations of sexual abuse. The Sisters did 

           provide a list of former male staff, which corroborated one of the allegations, to the extent that the 

           men named by the complainant were identified as being in the Institution at the time. The names 

           recalled by the complainant were close but not identical to the names of former staff members on 

           the list. 



13.56      There    were    no  documented       cases    of  children   being   sexually    abused    in  St  Patrick’s.   The 

           Community annals covering the period 1879 to 1966 contained no records of any incidents of that 

                              ´ 

           nature. Sister Una O’Neill, in the Phase I public hearing, said the first time the issue of sexual 

           abuse was mentioned was when: 



                  in the summer of 1999 a past resident called to St Patrick’s for a visit ... He was trying to 

                  trace a man whom he said had worked in the laundry in St Patrick’s while he himself was 

                  a resident. He alleged that the man had abused him sexually and the sister undertook to 

                  try  and  make  inquiries  which  she  did,  but  no-one  in  St  Patrick’s  remembers  the  man. 

                  That’s not to say he wasn’t there. Nobody remembered him. 



13.57      Within a few months, the Sisters of Charity received a solicitor’s letter. She explained: 



                                                                                                                            th 

                  We first became aware of allegations of abuse in St Patrick’s I suppose formally on 27 

                  January 2000 when we received correspondence from a firm of solicitors regarding a past 

                  resident who had been in St Patrick’s and who was alleging abuse. 



13.58      When the Sisters of Charity received these three complaints, they made a general review of the 

           documents and files relating to St Patrick’s. Again, the results were the same: 



                  We found nothing in their files nor indeed in any of the documentation to substantiate the 

                  specific   allegations   that  were    made    by   the  11   men    who   are   appearing    before    the 

                  Commission       ... There   is  neither   documentary      evidence     nor  is  there   supplementary 

                  evidence from the sisters who would have lived there at the time. 



           Complainant evidence 



13.59      One resident, who was in St Patrick’s from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s, made allegations of 

           sexual assault against a farmhand. He told the Committee: 

                  His  name  was  Bruce4      and  he  used  to  look  after  us  at  playtime,  you  know.  He  always 



                  carried  a  stick  with  him.  There  was  one  occasion  where  I  had  25  on  each  hand,  well 

                  several of us had that, we don’t know the reason for it. He use to take me down to the 

                  hay barn and strip me off and he would strip himself off and, you know, I had to do things 

                  to him and he tried to do things to me of a sexual nature ... it happened – six, seven and 

                  eight years old, during the summer months mostly ... I knew what he was doing. I didn’t 

                  feel right, if you know what I mean, but I didn’t know what it was all about. I knew I was 

                  doing something wrong. 



13.60      When asked if the perpetrator was a teenager or an adult, he replied: 



                  A teenager I would say ... Small type of fellow, with ginger hair ... [It happened] at playtime. 

                  He would take me down to the hay barn. He would just “come along, come with me” and 

                  you knew something was going to happen and there was nothing you could do about it; 

                  you couldn’t go to anybody ... I wanted it to stop, but I didn’t know how to go around about 

                  it ... he was violent ... He worked on the farm and I think he used to look after the boiler 

                  house as well, He was an odd job man if you like ... 



           4 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1273-----------------------

                 He would take me up to the hay loft, make me take my clothes off and he take his off. 

                 He’d lie me on the hay and he’d started interfering to me and I had to do the same to 

                 him. He would lie on me and press up against me and all that type of thing. 



13.61      In  his  statement,  he  said  he  had  a  clear  impression  the  nuns  had  known  what  was  going  on. 

           He explained: 



                 they brought a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and we had to go into the classroom. I 

                 can’t remember the nun’s name but she asked me about it, did he do anything to me, did 

                 he interfere with me. I had to look at the statue and I said no because I was frightened. 



                 All I know is that there was some of us standing outside and then we was called in. We 

                 went through one classroom and it was in the other classroom you had to go in ... I never 

                 seen him after that day. 



13.62      The  witness  was  very  explicit  about  the  abuser,  the  nature  of  the  abuse,  and  the  subsequent 

           investigation. He said he did not know in advance why he was being brought into the classroom 

           ‘until I got in there’. The statue of the Virgin Mary ‘wasn’t normally there, no, and I had to look at 

           it’. He recalled the kinds of questions that the nun asked: 



                 I can remember asking about Bruce, did he ever do anything to me, and I must tell the 

                 truth and all this. I remember looking down and shaking my head and saying no. 



13.63      ‘I was too frightened’, he added. ‘Of Bruce, of getting beaten up and that again’. 



13.64      From  this  witness’s  account,  it  would  appear  that  the  abuse  had  been  detected,  and  involved 

           several  boys,  although  until  then  the  witness  had  believed         ‘I  was  the  only  one’.  When  the 

           investigation was taking place, he recalled, ‘I wasn’t the only one that went in, I think that quite a 

           few of the young fellows went in’. 



13.65      He could not, however, recall the name of the nun who questioned him He said, ‘I can’t remember, 

           I have been trying to think of it. She was in charge of the classes’. 



13.66      Another witness, who was in St Patrick’s from the late 1940s to the early 1950s, and who was 

           under 10 years of age, also alleged he was abused while there. He told the Committee: 



                 there was a lay worker as they call ’em ... As far as I could see he was a handyman, he 

                 was working on all parts of the School. ... He was a kind of under handyman to a man 

                 called Mr. Fitzgerald5    and he used to give him his orders ... I only know his first name, 

                 Charles,6   I never knew his second name ... Well, he was always abusing boys, always. It 



                 was    well  known    amongst     the  boys   themselves.     Mr  Fitzgerald   and   him   lived  in  an 

                 apartment,  they  both  had  a  room  each,  he  used  to  take  us  in  there  when  there  was 

                 nobody about and then let us out, you know, tell us to say nothing and let you out when 

                 no-one was looking. It was so frequent or so often that the boys, we used to be waiting 

                 for  it  to  happen  to  see  who  was  going  to  be  picked  next.,  that  type  of  thing.  You  just 

                 happened to be nearest to the door or whatever, you know. Whatever opportunity he got 

                 you know it was going to happen, ’til one day Mr Fitzgerald caught him letting me out of 

                 the door, out of the bedroom. He came back to his bedroom for something and he actually 

                 took him out in the yard and he hit him two or three times in the face over it, and he had 

                 a black eye for weeks ... I heard Mr Fitzgerald saying, “don’t ever let me catch again, I 

                 told you about that” ... he caught him with my trousers down and telling me to pull them 

                 up, and pushing me towards the door ... Mr Fitzgerald knew exactly what he was doing 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 

           6 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                  487 


----------------------- Page 1274-----------------------

                and he gave him a good three or four smacks in the face ... It was the talk of the school 

                for a week about what happened. 



13.67     He was able to describe the man: 



                At that time I would say he was about around thirtyish I suppose, thirtyish mark. I always 

                remember  his  face,  he  was  like  a  weather  beaten  fisherman,  he  had  a  wrinkly  face.  I 

                could put him in his 30s, between 20 and 30, 25 and 30, something like that. Maybe more. 



13.68     He did not report the abuse: 



                there was no-one to tell because the people above you were too, you were frightened of 

                them, you know. I mean you couldn’t treat them as a mother or a father, you just couldn’t 

                run to them and say “someone done this to me” because you were all in the same boat. 

                When nobody else is saying anything you don’t say anything. 



13.69     Despite receiving a black eye, the man continued to make advances: 



                We always thought, “has it stopped?” He tried it again several times. He tried it even after 

                I left the School. 



13.70     He said he was followed some time later, when he was in another industrial school, to his home 

          town, and Charles had got him into a field, but he had hit Charles and escaped on his bicycle. 



13.71     The third witness to complain of being sexually abused was in St Patrick’s a decade later, between 

          the years of the late 1950s and mid-1960s. He also described sexual abuse by a layman employed 

          by the School. He recalled: 



                The refectory was to the left as you walked down this corridor, to the right hand side there 

                was this door out on to the yard. When you went around the corner there was a boiler 

                house or something and there was a bedroom in there where [he] stayed. He brought me 

                there on many occasions and he sexually abused me. This small one bedroom, just basic, 

                there was a boiler house, very warm building. 



13.72     He described what happened: 



                he used to take his trousers down and he would have me playing with his penis and he 

                would play with his own penis and ejaculate over me and he would play with my penis 

                and kiss the lower part of my body ... [I was] Approximately eight years of age or possibly 

                from seven up to ten years of age. I am not exactly sure of the year. 



13.73     When he was asked if he ever mentioned this to anybody in the School, he replied: 



                No, because I was terrified. He threatened me that he would throw me in the furnace if I 

                said anything. I think his reward to me he used to give me sweets. There was a three 

                wheeled tricycle, a big one. I could have a spin on this, this was something I never had 

                before so this was my reward ... I knew it was wrong but I was terrified. 



13.74     In their written Submission after the Phase I and Phase III hearings, the Sisters of Charity wrote: 



                In relation to St Patrick’s, due to passage of the time the Sisters of Charity were unable 

                to source any information to assist the Commission in its inquiry into allegations made by 

                a  number  of  former  residents  ...  These  former  residents  were  at  St  Patrick’s  between 

                1943 and 1965. None of them ever told anyone in authority of what had happened to them 

                and the allegations only emerged many decades later. Although one of these witnesses 

                suspected  the  Sisters  knew  of  abuse  by  one  of  the  workers,  there  was  nothing  in  the 

                evidence  to  suggest  that  they  in  fact  knew  or  somehow  ought  to  have  detected  the 

                activities described by these witnesses. No-one was convicted of abuse at St Patrick’s. 



          488                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1275-----------------------

                 There were no records or documents of any kind found anywhere that might have assisted 

                  in an evaluation of this evidence. There was no corroboration. For the Sisters of Charity, 

                  responding to these allegations was a practical impossibility. 



           Conclusions 

13.75      •    There was no culture of facilitating disclosure. Children felt afraid of telling the nuns 

                 what had happened, ‘When nobody else is saying anything you don’t say anything’. 



           Neglect and emotional abuse 



13.76      The witnesses gave varying accounts of their experiences as young children in St Patrick’s. They 

           range  from  criticisms  of  the  food,  clothing  and  education  to  acknowledgments  that  life  in  St 

           Patrick’s had positive features. All of these men had been separated from their families when they 

           were very young, which affected them all their lives. 



13.77      One complainant, who spent seven years in St Patrick’s in the late 1950s and 1960s, said: 



                  To  this  very  day  I  still  don't  have  a  relationship  with  my  family  ...  As  I  was  saying  the 

                 nurturing  wasn't  entered  into  our  lives  as  children.  I  felt  there  should  have  been  more 

                 attachment. 



13.78      He found working with victims of institutional abuse of great benefit to him: 



                  It has, yes, because I suppose, in one way, [the organisation] makes me feel a bit – or 

                 maybe it's the first time in my life I was doing something from here and helping others. I 

                  can see some people coming in and I can see myself within these people where I was 

                 stuck three to four years ago. 



13.79      This  complainant,  who  alleged  that  he  was  sexually  abused  in  St  Patrick’s,  continued  to  feel 

           isolated. He said there was no-one he could look up to in the School: 



                  It takes many years in your life to sort of pick up the courage to reach out and ask for 

                 help. The only help I ever received was when I entered the psychiatric hospital and that's 

                  where,  I  suppose  –  most  of  my  life  I  never  trusted  people  in  authority,  I  never  trusted 

                  Gardai,   teachers,   judges,   anybody     in  authority,  I would    never   have   trusted   them.   I 

                         ´ 

                 suppose when you trust somebody, this would have been because of the sexual abuse, 

                  when you trust somebody what do they need in return? That would have been a big part 

                 of my pain. Now, I have reached a stage where I am not afraid to reach out and ask for 

                 help if I need help, it's okay. It's a long journey and I am still on it ... There was no-one 

                  there – I suppose, I don't know, I can only speak on behalf of myself, you can never trust 

                 anybody. I just couldn't trust people. Anybody who was kind to you needed something in 

                 return and my experience within the industrial School it was sexual favours. 



13.80      Another complainant, who was in the School in the 1960s, was asked if he developed an emotional 

           bond with the woman who was in charge of his group: 



                 No, you were treated – you were all treated very much the same. You got into bed and 

                 got out of bed. You were told the various routines that were there. You were never given 

                 any instructions as regards privileges or anything like that. You were never told when you 

                 actually went there that you had privileges, if you were disobedient that these privileges 

                  would be taken away ... We never knew what the privileges were. We never got them to 

                 have them taken away. 



13.81      This witness had been born to an unmarried mother, and he said that, although he never wrote 

           to her whilst he was in Kilkenny, she did visit once a year to see how he was doing. He was asked 

           whether he was shown any tenderness, affection or encouragement in St Patrick’s, and he said 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   489 


----------------------- Page 1276-----------------------

           he had not been. He was asked whether he would describe his childhood in St Patrick’s as happy, 

           and he said: 



                 It would    be  hard  to  describe    what   one   would   call  happiness    when    one   hadn't  had 

                 happiness, according to the previous situation I was in. I probably would have found it a 

                 little bit more comfortable. It's very hard to describe what a happy childhood is when you 

                 come     through   the   system    up  to  that  stage,   one   didn't  understand     what   a  happy 

                 childhood is. 



13.82      He tried to sum up the feeling of powerlessness: 



                 I  suppose  if  one  was  to  look  back  and  describe  the  impact  on  the  childhood  within 

                 Kilkenny, it felt very much like – I am describing it from a different aspect, you were like 

                 the mouse in the corner of the room and the cat standing back a couple of feet away from 

                 you,  and  this  cat  is  very  powerful  and  tall,  the  mouse  felt  small,  very  weak  and  very 

                 vulnerable, you had no control over anything that was being applied. It would be the same 

                 with the cat, the mouse had no control when the cat was going to strike with the claw and 

                 kill it. That would be the basis of the regime. 



13.83      He was asked if he could single out any nun as having been good to him: 

                                                                                                7  there, I remember. A 

                  There was – let me think of her name now – there was a Sr Selma 

                 round faced nun, wore glasses, she was very much into music. She would have taught a 

                 lot  of  bits  of  music,  the  melodica  and  things  like  that.  She  would  have  had  a  different 

                 approach in seeing things. She would have been a younger nun at this stage in her life 

                 and the others would have been a good bit older. 



13.84      One complainant thought St Patrick’s was better than other institutions he went to: 



                 No, St Patrick's compared to the other institutions I was in was not bad, but it was bad 

                 enough for  me to remember  various things. I  do have flashbacks  when I come  across 

                 certain smells, certain farmyard things, I do think – and cocoa I can't stand. 



13.85      Another ex-resident spoke of the effect of being separated from his family: 



                  Yes, I have contact. My family are like strangers to me. I mean I know them all, I know 

                 where they are, but they are just like strangers. I don't know them as brothers and sisters. 



13.86      He explained that he had only made contact in the last few years and that he had learnt that his 

           father had been a good father and did not want his children taken away:  ‘He died of a broken 

           heart’. 



13.87      This complainant explained what brought him to the Committee: 



                  Well, I respect the fact that Ireland is doing something about it. I do respect that and it's 

                 good to know that you may be able to stop it happening again. What happened was wrong 

                 and it shouldn't have happened. I don't blame the people that are around today for what 

                 happened then. I am glad that Ireland has been able to grasp the nettle and take it on 

                 board  and  try  and  do  something  about  it.  I  applaud  the  Commission  for  that  ...  That's 

                 exactly why I am here, to make my point known to you. 



13.88      One witness was rescued from abject neglect and brought to St Patrick’s. 



                 My father used to very seldom work, he's worked for farmers but very seldom. Most of 

                 the time he used to go out playing at the accordion, at the crossroad dances and the Feis 

                 Ceoil or whatever, you know. When he'd come home at night – well, before he went out 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 



           490                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1277-----------------------

                 he used to lock us all in the coal hole, the three of us in the coal hole, and let us out when 

                 he come in because there was no-one to look after us. One night we got out of the coal 

                 hole and I went down to the church [local], there is two churches there, there is, the Friary 

                 and the other church, it was Christmas time and I took money out of the crib, the crib 

                 money,  and  bought  three  Mars  bars  for  myself,  [and  two  sisters]  in  one  of  the  shops. 

                 Somebody reported me buying them because they knew us around there that we never 

                 had anything and that's actually why we were sent away, I think. He always locked us in 

                 the coal hole. I remember that time when we were being arrested, that's the only time I 

                 ever remember the priest or the police getting involved ... Not out of the theft in the church 

                 but out of being seen buying the Mars bar and everybody knew we shouldn't have had 

                 money to buy them, you know ... From there on I suppose we were kept an eye on and 

                 we were eventually sent away because of that. We were always scruffy, we never washed. 

                 Our hair – actually I had nits and lumps, all kind of scabs on my head when they sent me 

                 away. I can remember that, being washed and cleaned and you had your head shaven 

                 and that, you know. 



13.89      On an application to court by the ISPCC, two of the children were put into care, but the oldest girl 

           of 14 years was kept at home: 



                 There was three of us taken, my oldest sister, my other sister and me, and two of us were 

                 sent away because they said my oldest sister had to stay to look after my father, he had 

                 no-one to look after him. She stayed there to look after him and we were sent away. 



13.90      He spoke about the great relief he felt at being listened to and believed: 



                 Well, the only thing I want to add really is I feel very relieved after 40 years, I used to tell 

                 people sometimes when I was drunk in the pub, you know. You would meet somebody 

                 and they would bring something up and you would kind of ... you could see it in their eyes 

                 that  their  weren't  listening  to  you,  they  would  be  looking  at  you  like  a  zombie,  either 

                 straight through you or over your shoulder. The next day I would feel sorry for telling them. 

                 It might take me a week to get over the guilt of him knowing and telling someone else 

                 because they didn't listen. In the last two or three years since I have had counselling and 

                 all I have noticed people listening, looking at you straight in the eye and listening to you. 

                 That has made a big difference to me in my confidence. It has made me feel that I can 

                 move on, which is something I never felt before ... Belief is the main word in this, belief, 

                 or listening. Not even belief but actually listening and saying "oh, did that happen to you" 

                 ... People seem to have changed because whether they just wanted to – people used to 

                 look at me and say that happened inside walls, it's got nothing to do with me. Now people 

                 are saying, they are looking through the wall or over it. They are listening to you. You 

                 are  not  talking  gobbledegook  or  things  like  that.  The  difference  that  has  made  to  me 

                 is unbelievable. 



13.91      Another ex-resident, who used to receive occasional visits from his older sister, recounted a story 

           that had left a lasting impression: 



                 My  sister  ...  came  to  visit  me  there  once  and  we  were  going  through  the  School  and 

                 passed by the kitchen and the kitchen door was open. There was an old nun at the sink 

                 and I remember [my sister] asking me if I wanted a drink of water. I said I would love one. 

                 She asked the nun, I couldn't believe she had the nerve to ask the nun for a drink. The 

                 nun came over and asked if I would rather have a glass of milk instead of water. I couldn't 

                 believe that she would ask me if I wanted a glass of milk. I thought that was the greatest 

                 thing ever. It's the only time I ever remember getting a glass of milk. 



13.92      Although  he  had  no  memory  of  the  food  he  got  in  St  Patrick’s:    ‘That  glass  of  milk  sticks  out 

           like anything’. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               491 


----------------------- Page 1278-----------------------

13.93     This complainant said that the children were afraid to ask for a glass of water in the summertime. 

           He said that they would get water out of the toilet cistern rather than ask for it: 



                 The cistern is the part up top that stores the water and you pull the chain, it had a chain 

                 on  it.  There  was  four  or  five  cubicles  with  a  partition  between  each.  I  can't  remember 

                 exactly how many cubicles there were or how many toilets there were. The cubicles did 

                 not reach the wall and we used to – two of us, one would stand on the toilet and the other 

                 would give us a lift up and we would sit on that partition wall and lean across and scoop 

                 the water into our mouth from the cistern. I would get down then and give him a hand to 

                 get up to get the water out. 



13.94     When asked why he did not ask for a glass of water, he explained: 



                 You dare not ask, you just did not ask for things in that School ... There used to be buckets 

                 of water taken out by this man, I remember, but it wasn't often enough. 



13.95     A   subsequent    occasion,   when    the  witness   was   in  another   industrial school,   illustrated the 

           relationship he had with the nuns in St Patrick’s: 



                 Guinness  put  on  a  show  at  Christmas  time  and  boys  from  the  schools  were  asked  to 

                 either do something on stage for entertainment for everyone. I was learning how to Gaelic 

                 dance at the time so a Christian Brother asked me if I'd do some dancing so I did. When 

                 I got back to my seat I turned around and there was two nuns I remembered from Kilkenny 

                 coming towards me. My first reaction was "what the hell have I done now?" They came 

                 over and just asked me how I was. They were a bit disappointed that I danced and didn't 

                 sing and that was all. I was glad that was all was the problem. 



13.96     When  he  saw  the  nuns  coming  towards  him,  he  assumed  he  was  going  to  be  punished  for 

           something. 



           Physical care 



13.97     The fact  that the complainants  had all  been in St  Patrick’s as very  young children  meant that, 

           although they had specific memories, they did not recall general conditions in the School. From 

          the documentation, St Patrick’s appeared to be a well-run institution. 



13.98      In the  first record of  a General  Inspection, dated 22nd    April 1939, Dr  Anna McCabe  visited the 



           School  and  found  the  children  well  cared  for  and  well  looked  after.  There  was  plenty  of  good 

           quality food and the children were well clothed. 



13.99      In September 1940, the Bishop of Ossory, Bishop Patrick Collier, wrote to the Kilkenny Journal in 

           support of an appeal by the Sisters for charitable funding from the people of the diocese. In that 

           letter, he spelled out very clearly the high regard he had for the work of the Sisters: 



                 Without looking for a penny for themselves, these devoted Religious give their time and 

                 talents to their little Charges with a loving care surpassing that of natural parents. It is 

                 only just and right that their lives should be kept free from the nightmare of want, and the 

                 constant fight to pay their way. 



13.100    The Bishop directed that his letter, together with a letter from the Reverend Mother, should be 

           read  at  all  masses.  The  Reverend  Mother’s  letter  was  also  printed  by  the  newspaper.  She 

           explained that St Patrick’s had 186 children aged between one and 10. Out of this, only 135 were 

           in receipt of the full State grant of 12 shillings per week. Another 27 were aged between four and 

           six, and were paid for at a rate of 10 shillings per week. In addition, the School had about 24 

           children under four years of age, for whom the Government did not pay any grant: 



          492                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1279-----------------------

                  These we admit when our room allows, to save them from destitution and the dangers 

                  of Proselytism. 



13.101     The large number of additional children put a strain on the finances. Industrial schools were not 

           intended for babies but this was a time of great poverty in Ireland and clearly the Sisters were 

           faced with hard choices. The choices made impacted on the level of care available to the children 

           who had been committed by the courts and in respect of whom funding was made available by 

           the State. It was the children as well as the Sisters who made the sacrifices for the babies taken 

           in by St Patrick’s. 



13.102     The  next  record  of  a  General  Inspection  was  on  10th         December  1943,  over  four  years  later. 

           Although it referred to a previous inspection dated 29th          November 1942, no record of Dr McCabe’s 



           findings  in  1942  have  survived.  She  described  the  School  as  well  conducted,  clean  and  the 

           children well cared for. Her next inspection was dated 5th            July 1944, and she requested that the 



           supply of milk to each child be increased to one pint per head per day, and butter to be increased 

           to 6 ozs. She was concerned about the lack of an external fire escape.8                 She also drew attention 



           to the fact that the children were barefoot in the playground. 



13.103     On 19th   July 1944, the Department wrote to the Resident Manager pointing out that, although the 



           School continued to be well conducted and the children generally were well cared for, they were 

           not putting on sufficient weight: 



                  He is concerned, however, to note that a number of them have not been putting on weight 

                  at the normal rate. It is essential that each child should receive a minimum of one pint of 

                  milk per day and should be allowed the full butter ration of six ounces per week, and I am 

                  to request you to make the necessary arrangements to have this done. 



13.104     It requested that the practice of allowing children go barefoot should be discontinued. Each child 

           was also to be supplied with a toothbrush. 



13.105     This letter appears to have called into question the suitability of the Resident Manager because, 

           two  months  later,  it  was  proposed  to  replace  her  with  a  Sister  who  was  66  years  old.  The 

           Department  wrote  to  Dr  McCabe  seeking  her  views  on  the  suitability  of  this  appointment.  Dr 

           McCabe replied that: 



                  I am not in favour of appointing as Resident Manager old or elderly women as they are too 

                  set in their ways and are very difficult to deal with regarding new changes and innovations. 



13.106     One Departmental official shared Dr McCabe’s concern but felt that, in the absence of ‘any specific 

           age rule’, it would have to be agreed to. A senior official suggested a solution: 



                  I agree with Dr McCabe that this lady is rather old (over 66 years) to discharge the active 

                  duties of  Manager of an  institution like  an Ind. Sch.  An appointment of  this kind  is not 

                  subject  to  the  Minister’s  approval,  but  he  has  power  (Section  5(4)  of  the  1941  Act)  to 

                  request the removal of a R. Mgr. on the grounds of unsuitability, and that power might be 

                  availed of in this case if it is decided that the appointment should not be approved. 



13.107     The   Minister   suggested     that  this  should   not   be  framed  as     a  formal   request   but  should    be 

           suggested more informally. This action was followed, and a letter was sent by the Department to 

           Managers of St Patrick’s in October 1944, referring to the proposed appointment: 



                  it is observed that this Sister is over 66 years old. It is considered that a person of that 

                  age  would  be  unable  to  give  the  necessary  personal  attention  to  the  duties  which  a 

                  Resident Manager of an Industrial School is expected to discharge. In the circumstances, 



           8 February 1943: the Cavan Industrial School fire – 35 children died. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                       493 


----------------------- Page 1280-----------------------

                 it is requested that a younger member of the Community be appointed to the position as 

                 soon as possible and that the new appointment be notified to the Department. 



13.108     The   appointment     of  the  older   nun  did   not  proceed,    and   a  younger    Sister,  Sr  Frida,9  was 



           appointed instead. 



13.109     In March 1945, two letters were sent to the Department defending the Sisters’ decision to allow 

           the children go barefoot in the summer, and requesting that the Department should reconsider its 

           direction to acquire sandals. One of these letters appears to be from a doctor or pharmacist living 

           locally, and the other was from Dr Peter Birch, the Bishop of Ossory. In a letter which he claimed 

           was unsolicited by the Sisters, Dr Birch asked that the edict in relation to the boys going barefoot 

           be reconsidered. He suggested that the boys loved the freedom of playing barefoot in the summer, 

           and most children in ordinary homes would be allowed this freedom. 



13.110     This was followed by a letter to the Department from the Resident Manager, where she also took 

           up the issue. The Department consulted Dr McCabe and suggested that perhaps a compromise 

           could be reached, whereby children over six years of age could go barefoot. Dr McCabe was not 

           willing to stand down on the issue. Her main reason for this was the danger of infections from 

           cuts and bruises – in particular, tetanus. 



13.111     The Department wrote to the Resident Manager on 14th               March 1945, and refused to change its 



           position on the matter. It suggested that sandals could be acquired from the boot suppliers. In an 

           addendum      to  her  General    Inspection   Report    dated   14th March    1945,   Dr   McCabe     made    an 

           additional note dated 11th     April 1945, where she noted the difficulty the Resident Manager was 



           experiencing in obtaining sandals. She conceded that, if they could not be procured, she would 

           make  an  exception  to  the  rule  for  the  summer  months  only.  Despite  obtaining  a  number  of 

           samples,  and  several  months  of  correspondence,  it  appears  that no  suitable  sandals  could  be 

           found, and the rule was relaxed for the summer of 1945. 



13.112     From 1945 until 1964, Dr McCabe visited St Patrick’s annually and was generally pleased with 

           how the School was run and the condition of the buildings. She repeatedly stated that the children 

           were very well cared for and happy. Improvements to the buildings were being made constantly, 

           and the accommodation and equipment were very good. In the late 1950s, the group family system 

           was introduced and the children were divided into three groups. Dr McCabe described the new 

           group system as very satisfactory. 



13.113     For some of her inspections, Dr McCabe did not generate a separate report but simply made an 

           addendum  to  the  previous  Inspection  Report,  saying  that  the  School  was  running  well.  She 

           appeared to visit the School very regularly. A single report covered the period from March 1961 

           to  June  1963,  and  against  each  of  four  entries  is  stated,  ‘Very  well  run  school.  Children  very 

           well cared’. 



13.114     Each category of inspection is graded ‘v.good’, with Health achieving ‘excellent’. 



13.115     A review of the Medical Inspection files for the relevant period shows that Dr McCabe was satisfied 

           with  the  health  of  the  children  and  the  attention  being  paid  by  the  Sisters  to  record  keeping. 

           Furthermore, in one instance, the Sisters paid for private treatment of over 40 children. 



13.116     One complainant who was in the Institution during the 1940s, which was the period criticised by 

           Dr McCabe, shared her views on the food there: 



           9 This is a pseudonym. 



           494                                                           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1281-----------------------

                 Oh, it was terrible food ... You would get kind of watery soup. There might be bits of celery 

                 in it. It used to make me almost heave. Just, maybe, bits of meat and potatoes in it. The 

                 food, it wasn't very good. It wasn't something you looked forward to. You had to take it 

                 because there was nothing else. So the food was very bad there, I thought ... there was 

                 regular  meals.  You  got  breakfast,  a  bit  of  porridge  in  the  morning.  I  was  like  a  gruel, 

                 watery porridge. Then you got the dinner. Dinner was very poor. Then you got a bit of 

                 supper,  a  bit  of  bread  and  jam.  That's  all  I  can  remember  ...  Very  little  meat.  I  can't 

                 remember ever getting eggs or bacon or anything like that. I'd never known food like that. 



13.117     Another complainant was also in the School during that period. He was admitted in the mid-1940s 

           after the break-up of his parents’ marriage: 



                 Well,  food,  we  could  have  done  with  a  bit  more,  you  know.  You  didn't  get  a  lot  for 

                 breakfast,  there was  only  a bit  of  a  slice of  bread  and a  mug  of tea.  You  had a  bit  of 

                 dinner then in the middle of the day and you had the same thing as you had for breakfast 

                 later on. 



13.118     A witness who was there in the 1950s was critical of the food. He recalled: 



                 It was kind of a green mash, it was cabbage stalks and potatoes ... I remember getting 

                 that almost every day I was there: Green mash, bread and dripping, watery Cocoa. Egg 

                 flip, that was a kind of boiled milk with boiled eggs chopped up and put into it, you were 

                 given a ladle of it. There was other stuff they gave, castor oil with molasses in it in a big 

                 ceramic jug. The food wasn't that good. 



13.119     A witness who attended the School in the 1960s was quite clear that he had fared better in St 

           Patrick’s than he would have at home: 



                 I know myself that you got food on a regular basis there; you got your breakfast, your 

                 dinner, your tea and you got cocoa going to bed. Food was not a problem there, I never 

                 felt hungry there. I might have felt frightened but I never felt hungry. 



           General conclusions 



13.120      1.   It was not possible for a handful of nuns to give an appropriate level of care to nearly 

                200 very young boys, irrespective of how hard–working and dedicated they were. 



            2.  There was no accountability in the administration of punishment. 



            3.  The authorities in St Patrick’s failed in their duty to keep proper records. The absence 

                of documentary evidence, accordingly, does not mean that there was no abuse. 



            4.  Record  keeping  is  part  of  the  duty  of  care  and  is  intended  to  make  an  institution 

                accountable.  The  absence  of  records  has  put  both  the  Sisters  of  Charity  and  the 

                witnesses at a disadvantage. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 495 


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 496                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1283-----------------------

          Chapter 14 



          St Joseph’s Industrial School, 

          Kilkenny, 1873–1999 



          Brief history of the School 



14.01     The Sisters of Charity were approached by the Bishop of Ossory, Dr Moran, in 1872 and asked 

          ‘to care for the little homeless girls of the poor’. They had been a presence in Kilkenny since 1861, 

          caring for the sick in fever and work house hospitals and prisons. 



14.02     A site was purchased on the Waterford Road, and the Sisters moved into a large cottage on the 

          grounds.  In  September  1873,  a  new  building  comprising  a  convent,  school  and  chapel  was 

          opened. The School was certified on 22nd   March 1873 for the reception of 126 girls, of whom 100 



          were chargeable. This was increased to 130 in 1950. 



14.03     The School was transferred to the South Eastern Health Board on 6th        April 1999. At that time, 



          there were 10 children in care in two houses, Avondale and Crannog. Avondale was purchased 

          by the Sisters of Charity in 1976, and leased to the South Eastern Health Board in 1999, and later 

          transferred to them under the Redress Scheme. The other home, Crannog, was built by the Sisters 

          of Charity with funds raised locally and through an exchange of land between the Sisters and the 

          County Manager. In 1995, an adjoining house was purchased by the South Eastern Health Board, 

          and the two houses then formed one unit. The original house was transferred, free of charge, to 

          the South Eastern Health Board in 1999. 



14.04     The  Sisters  of Charity  provided  a  detailed  description  of all improvements,    changes   and 

          adaptations  made  to  the  buildings  and  grounds  between  1876  and  1984,  which  appears  at 

          Appendix 1. 



14.05     The photograph of the convent and part of the Industrial School: 



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----------------------- Page 1284-----------------------

           The children 



14.06      During the period under review, 1,900 children passed through St Joseph’s, Kilkenny. Most of the 

           children were committed through the courts in the earlier years, and the majority came from the 

           counties Kilkenny, Tipperary, Dublin, Laois and Carlow in the period 1933 to 1966. 



14.07      The Sisters of Charity also managed an industrial school for young boys known as St Patrick’s 

           Industrial School in Kilkenny. It operated from 1879 to 1966. Between the period 1933 and 1966, 

           the records of the Sisters show that 127 girls in St Joseph’s had brothers in St Patrick’s at the 

           same time. 



14.08      The children admitted to Kilkenny were very young. Between 1933 and 1966, 221 of the children 

           admitted were under five years of age; 234 were aged between five and 10; and only 101 were 

           over 10 on admission. The proportion of very young children increased between 1966 and 1999: 

           362 children under five years of age were admitted, and 261 were under 10; only 112 children 

           were over 10 on admission. 



           Sisters and staff working in the Industrial School 



14.09      There were 18 Resident Managers in St Joseph’s during the relevant period. In most cases, the 

           Resident Manager was also the Local Superior. A number of Sisters from the Community were 

           involved in the School, and a small number of lay staff worked in the School in teaching, farming 

           and laundry. 



           Sources 



14.10      The sources of information were: 



                  •    the evidence of former pupils; 

                  •    the evidence of staff members; 

                  •    the evidence of respondents; and 

                  •    the records in relation to the School which were furnished to the Commission on foot 

                        of discovery directions to the Department of Education, Sisters of Charity, Diocese of 

                        Ossory and An Garda Siochana. 

                                                   ´     ´ 



           The period 1933 to 1952 

14.11      In  the  first  record  of  a  General  Inspection  dated  22nd April  1939,  Dr  Anna  McCabe  visited  the 



           School and was approving. The children looked happy and content, were well clothed and fed, 

           and she was impressed with the large amount of home preserves that were used. 



14.12      The  next  record  of  a  general  inspection  was  9th    December  1943,  over  four  years  later,  and, 



           although it recorded a previous inspection in November 1942, no note or record of her findings in 

           1942 have survived. She described the School as well conducted, clean and well kept. Food and 

           diet were described as satisfactory, and clothing as fairly good. There was no fire escape, but fire 

           drill  was  practised  regularly  and  there  were  six  ladders  available  for  escape  from  the  building, 

           which  was  not  too  high.  On  23rd   February  1943,  35  children  had  perished  in  a  fire  in  Cavan 



           Industrial School, and fire safety was high on the agenda of the Inspector at this time. 



14.13      On 4th  July 1944, Dr McCabe paid another visit to the School and found a generally well conducted 



           school.  She did  not  think the  children  were  getting an  adequate  supply of  milk  and butter  and 

           insisted that it should be increased. She was still concerned about the lack of fire escapes, and 

           wrote in detail about the dangers for the children in the dormitories, particularly the one situated 



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----------------------- Page 1285-----------------------

           over  the  domestic  economy  kitchen,  where  a  fire  could  start.  Dr  McCabe  found  the  children’s 

           health to be good on this visit. 



  14.14    Following this inspection, by letter dated 5th  August 1944, the Department Inspector wrote to the 



           Resident Manager and requested that each child should receive a minimum of one pint of milk 

           per day, together with the full amount of butter ration allowed by the Department of Supplies. 



  14.15    Because of the tragedy in Cavan, the Department was very concerned that all children could be 

           safely evacuated in the event of a fire. The Inspector expressed the Minister’s grave concern that 

           there  was  only  one  exit  from  a  dormitory  accommodating  21  children,  which  led  to  another 

           dormitory accommodating 57 children, which in turn had two exits close together leading to the 

           same corridor. It was evident to him that children in all of these dormitories would be trapped in 

           the  event  of  the  corridor  filling  with  heavy  smoke.  He  requested  that  the  Resident  Manager 

           immediately set about providing an adequate fire escape. 



  14.16    The  Resident  Manager  responded,  by  letter  dated  7th       September 1944,  that  the  children’s  diet 



           had been adjusted, and she was working in conjunction with the Resident Manager in the nearby 

           St Patrick’s Industrial School, Kilkenny to resolve the fire escape problem and, by March 1945, 

           the Inspector was able to report that the fire escape was in place. 



  14.17    In  her  inspection  report  dated  15th    March  1945,  Dr  McCabe  described  the  newly  appointed 

           Resident Manager, Sr Irma,1  as excellent. She noted a nurse had been appointed to take charge 



           of the younger children and thought it was a step in the right direction. 



  14.18    For the next 10 years, Dr McCabe visited St Joseph’s, Kilkenny on an annual basis. Her reports 

           about the  School indicated an exceptionally  high level of  satisfaction with all aspects,  and she 

           was particularly enthusiastic about the Resident Manager, whom she described as very capable 

           and someone who had added much to the School. A very efficient nursery was established for 

           the very small children and added much to their comfort. 



  14.19    Two witnesses, who were resident in the Industrial School in the mid to late 1940s, gave evidence. 

           The witnesses were siblings who were placed in care after the death of their mother. This was a 

           period during which St Joseph’s was still operating as a traditional industrial school. 



  14.20    Although both witnesses experienced feelings of rejection at being placed in care, they were also 

           aggrieved  at what  happened to  them whilst  in St  Joseph’s. They  described the  upset at  being 

           separated from their brothers who were placed in another industrial school. 



  14.21    They both described Sr Elvira,2  who was a school teacher, as being particularly nasty and cruel. 



           They said that she punished children for no apparent reason and also locked them in a cupboard 

           without food or drink until late at night. This Sister left in the mid-1940s, and one of the witnesses 

           said that things improved following her departure. 



  14.22    Both witnesses told of lay staff who were former pupils and who were left in charge of the children. 

           One  lay  staff  member  was  described  as  particularly  nasty  and  is  alleged  to  have  kicked  and 

           beaten the children. 



  14.23    They also recalled the daily routine in the School, which involved getting up early in the morning, 

           attending Mass, followed by breakfast and doing chores, which involved a lot of scrubbing and 

           polishing. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 

           2 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1286-----------------------

14.24      It is clear from the annals of the Sisters of Charity that, from the mid-1940s, they were aware of 

           the  limitations  of  industrial  school  life  on  the  development  of  the  children.  They  saw  that  the 

           restrictions placed on nuns by their profession narrowed their social contacts, and this affected 

           the children who left the industrial schools ‘knowing nobody and knowing nothing of the ordinary 

           etiquette of social life’. 



14.25      Change began with the appointment in 1944 of the new Superior who was praised by Dr McCabe. 

           Sr Irma was trained in child psychology and believed that the children should be encouraged to 

           treat St Joseph’s as their home, given more freedom and trusted to go out alone. 



14.26      These reflections by the Congregation on their own mission, together with the publication of the 

           Cussen Report in Ireland and the Curtis Report in England, prompted the Sisters to draw up a 

           five-year plan to implement change. 



14.27      Among the changes were: 



                  •    Children were to be given much more freedom. 

                  •    Regimentation was to be abandoned, and the children were to be trusted and treated 

                        as individuals. 



                  •    There was to be more careful and sympathetic supervision by the Sisters, and they 

                        were to be encouraged to use their imagination with the children. 



                  •     Children  were to  be allowed  out in small  groups of  two’s and  three’s to  replace the 

                        ‘dreary crocodile to shop with their pocket money, to go walking and on picnics and 

                        holiday excursions’. 



                  •    Efforts were to be made to keep siblings together, and children from the same family 

                        were to be given a table to themselves in the refectory. 



                  •    A new nursery unit was to be built. 



14.28      Following the publication of the Curtis Report in 1946, a childcare course was set up in London 

           by the Sisters of the Holy Child. The course was of one year’s duration. Initially, two Sisters of 

           Charity took the course and, subsequently, 10 Sisters completed their training in residential care 

           of children in the 1940s. Thirty more Sisters attended short courses in the early 1950s. Also, in 

           the  1950s,  a  number  of  Sisters  were  sent  by  Sr  Irma  to  train  in  the  English  Child  Psychology 

           Course. The annals note that this experience ‘has changed the whole attitude to the treatment of 

           Industrial School children’. 



14.29      In 1952, the word ‘Institution’ was dropped, and the School was officially known as ‘Girls Industrial 

           School’  and  thereafter  always  referred  to  as  St  Joseph’s  Girls’  School.  The  premises  were 

           remodelled  to  provide  for  groups,  and  the  large  group  of  130  children  was  broken  into  three 

           smaller  groups  of  30,  providing  for  children  between  seven  and  16.  These  groups  were  given 

           Saints’ names, but in fact became known as ‘sets’, distinguished by different colours: red, green 

           and blue. The younger children formed a fourth group, the nursery group. 



14.30      Each  group had  its own  sitting room  and separate  dining room  which were  newly painted  and 

           decorated. From 1953, the children from fourth class upwards attended outside schools, and the 

           annals for that year remarked: 



                 This gives them the opportunity of mixing with children who have their own homes – in 

                 this way they hear something about home life. 



14.31      By 1954, the School was grouped into four self-sufficient units, and Dr McCabe in her report of 

           that year noted that the residents were mixing with children from outside at recreation and school. 

           She felt they were much happier and lived a more normal existence. The Sisters were also very 



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           enthusiastic about the changes brought about in the children as a result of the new system, and 

           this was noted in Dr McCabe’s report dated 14th          September 1954. 



14.32      The group home system was recommended by the Kennedy Report in 1970, and many institutions 

           were  thereafter  obliged  to  close  or  adopt  the  group  home  system.  By  that  time,  the  Sisters  of 

           Charity had been operating a group system for almost 20 years, thanks largely to the vision of 

           Sr Irma. 



14.33      •    At an early stage the Sisters of Charity identified the fundamental flaws of the system 

                 of large-scale institutional care for young children. 



           •    They also recognised the difficulties that those who took religious vows encountered 

                 in meeting the social and emotional needs of children. 



           •     From the late 1940s the Sisters of Charity sent their members abroad for training in 

                 childcare and child psychology. They applied this training to their childcare practices 

                 in Ireland, to the great benefit of the children under their care. 



           Sexual abuse incident of 1954 



14.34             th                                                            3 

           On 25    October 1954, the new Resident Manager, Sr Tova,  wrote to the Department of Education 

           asking them to give her immediate permission to transfer two girls. She described both of them 

           as not fit to be with younger children, owing to their immoral conduct and bad influence. She wrote: 



                 Already they have taught –  them sinful sexual acts, that makes it expedient to dismiss 

                 them from this school immediately. 



14.35      The Department informed Dr McCabe about the application, and she left immediately for Kilkenny 

           to conduct a general inspection. 



14.36      She spent two days there and, in her General Inspection, she reported in the usual glowing terms 

           with regard to the condition of the School and the facilities for the children. Under the heading 

           ‘General  Observations  and  Suggestions’,  she  wrote,  ‘I  had  a  long  discussion  with  Resident 

           Manager regarding this school’. 



14.37      Dr McCabe made no further comment in that document as to what they discussed. 



14.38      In a separate 10-page hand-written report signed and dated 1st            November 1954, Dr McCabe gave 



           a  very  detailed  account  of  the  investigation  she  carried  out.  This  revealed  that  a  painter,  Mr 

           Jacobs,4  who had been in the employ of the Sisters for a period of 30 years, had sexually abused 



           some of the girls. Dr McCabe’s report was a revelation in what it disclosed about St Joseph’s and 

           attitudes to sexual abuse of children at that time. 



14.39      Dr McCabe’s report began with an account of her conversation with the Resident Manager, who 

           had  identified  two  girls,  one  aged  15  and  the  other  aged  13,  as  having  ‘corrupted  the  whole 

           school’. Dr McCabe reported: 



                 Apparently the girls had got into each others beds and had invited other children into their 

                 beds and have “behaved immorally” with them. Also the Resident Manager informed me 

                 that other children in the school were also engaging in immoral practices and she named 

                 several girls. 



           3 This is a pseudonym. 

           4 This is a pseudonym. 



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14.40      Dr McCabe listed 11 children, one of whom was only eight years of age. Three of the children 

           were 10 years old, two were 11, two were 12, and three were 13 years old. One child’s age was 

           not mentioned. One 10-year-old was described as having ‘... indulged in immoral practices with 

           another young child’. The eight year old ‘knew a lot’ as she had been associating with boys and 

           girls before   admission.     Generally,   these   children   were   described    as   ‘associating   with’  other 

           children and being up to ‘immoral practises’. One 13-year-old, who had already been transferred 

           to Limerick Reformatory, was described as ‘a very bad type’. 



14.41      Dr McCabe acted promptly and appropriately. She reported: 



                  I asked the Resident Manager to round up all the children she suspected or knew to be 

                  behaving badly and I told her I would interview each child separately and also that she 

                 was to institute “one way traffic” so that they could not compare notes. 



14.42      Dr McCabe’s account of her interviews indicates that she approached the children in a friendly, 

           non-threatening manner. The little girls agreed that they had got into each other’s beds but did 

           not admit any serious misconduct. One 12-year-old, however, was more forthcoming: 



                  I questioned xx and told her I had heard she was a naughty girl and had been behaving 

                  badly in the school, pulling up skirts and getting into one another’s beds. She said she 

                  had done these things and I said to her “now isn’t that a silly way to behave” and she 

                 agreed it was and that she would not do so again. I asked her who had taught her these 

                 tricks and she told me she had learned them in the school. 



14.43      Dr McCabe continued to question the child and asked her whether anyone had pulled down her 

           knickers. She said her mother had done it once to punish her, and then she said Mr Jacobs had 

           done it to her. The girl then gave Dr McCabe a detailed description of what ensued, the particulars 

           of which need not be included in this report. It is sufficient to say that the story told by the child 

           showed that the behaviour of the employee was not a casual or chance encounter, but was the 

           result of careful preparation by a calculating child abuser. The innocence of the child in sexual 

           matters was apparent from her account. 



14.44      Dr McCabe then questioned the two girls mentioned. They both described very similar conduct by 

           Mr Jacobs. One child said that she had told Sr Stella5           ‘who put her to bed and shut the door’. 



14.45      Dr  McCabe  then  asked  the  Resident  Manager  about  Mr  Jacobs  and  was  told  that  he  was  ‘a 

           marvellous man and the mainstay of the Institution’, who had been employed by ‘Four Reverend 

           Mothers’ over a period of 30 years. He was a married man with a large family. 



14.46      Dr McCabe told the Resident Manager about the child [BB] who had reported the matter to Sr 

           Stella: 



                 The Resident Manager told me that she was on holidays when that had happened but on 

                  her return she heard all about it but was inclined to disbelieve it “as these children are all 

                 so  well  informed  before  they  come  into  the  school  and  often  tell  a  lot  of  lies  that  it  is 

                 difficult to believe them”. When I mentioned XX and AA she was really shocked. 



                  I asked her why when she had heard about BB why she had not informed the Department 

                 and  ask  them  to  investigate  the  matter.  She  told  me  really  she  thought  the  child  was 

                  imagining it. 



14.47      A different account appeared in a statement prepared by the Sister in question, Sr Stella, which 

           was  taken  after  Dr  McCabe’s  investigations.  She  said  that  she  observed  a  child  in  tears  after 

           coming from the School where Mr Jacobs had given her sweets. According to this account, the 



           5 This is a pseudonym. 



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           Sister asked the child whether anything had happened in the School, and the child said no, that 

           she had only gone in to Mr Jacobs for sweets. 



14.48      There  was    no  explanation  offered  for     the  account  given     by  Sr  Tova  to   Dr  McCabe,  which 

           corroborated the child’s story that she had told Sr Stella what had happened. 



14.49      Dr McCabe asked to interview the two girls for whom the application to transfer was made, and 

           she interviewed the older of the two, who was almost 16 years old and who was working in the 

           laundry to keep her away from the other children. She could not elicit any information from her. 



14.50      Dr McCabe then discovered that the Resident Manager had already transferred the second girl to 

           a reformatory in Limerick. This child had told one of the Sisters that her uncles had been interfering 

           with her before she had come to St Joseph’s. In an account of this, the nun in question stated: 



                 Then  I  discovered  that  for  two  years  prior  to  her  coming  here  she  had  on  countless 

                 occasions indulged in sexuality with her two uncles and with other boys. We got none of 

                 those details about her when she was being committed to the school. I reported the matter 

                 immediately to Mother Vera6  who took action. 



14.51      This was the child who had been described as a ‘bad type’. The Reverend Mother had telephoned 

           the  Good  Shepherd  Convent,  a girls’  reformatory  in  Limerick,  and  had  asked  that the  child  be 

           taken immediately. Dr McCabe advised the Resident Manager that what she had done was illegal 

           and she had no authority to transfer the child without Departmental permission. 



14.52      On receipt of Dr McCabe’s report, a number of Department officials met and made the following 

           proposals: 



                   (1)   Dr  McCabe  was  asked  to  visit  Kilkenny  and  confer  with  the  local  parish  priest  or 

                         administrator who might wish to bring it to the attention of the Bishop. 



                   (2)   The Resident Manager was to be advised to dispense with the services of the painter 

                         with least possible delay. 



                   (3)   To advise the Resident Manager to immediately request the return of the child who 

                         had been transferred to St Joseph’s in Limerick without sanction. 



14.53      The memorandum setting out these proposals went on to state: 



                 When these matters were dealt with and a further report from Dr McCabe received after 

                 her interview with the ecclesiastical authorities, the question of the transfer or the disposal 

                 otherwise of the two girls can be considered. 



14.54      Statements were taken from three of the Sisters in charge of the group about the type of immoral 

           conduct they observed over the period leading up to the investigation by Dr McCabe in November 

           1954.  It  appeared  that,  over  a  period  of  six  months,  these  Sisters  had  noticed  changes  in  the 

           behaviour of some of the children. In May 1954, one Sister had observed some of the little children 

           out of their beds at night without their night dresses on. The instigator appeared to be an ‘older’ 

           child,  who  was  eight  years  old.  She  reported  the  matter  to  her  superiors  and  to  a  priest.  The 

           children were punished, and were given stern lectures, and matters appeared to settle down in 

           that dormitory. 



14.55      Nothing  further  happened  until  the  next  August,  when  she  discovered  two  children  had  been 

           sleeping together and, a fortnight later, heard a child refer to two girls ‘going out with each other’. 

           At  this  point,  she  questioned the  children  closely,  and  discovered  that  one  of the  children  had 

           been sexually abused by her uncles before coming to St Joseph’s. 



           6 This is a pseudonym. 



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14.56      Sr Tova then took up the story. She said that, as soon as she discovered the child’s sexual history, 

           she  arranged  for  two  Sisters  to  accompany  her  to  Limerick,  and  wrote  to  the  Department  for 

           sanction  for  that  transfer,  and  for  the  transfer  of  an  older  girl  to  St  Anne’s,  Kilmacud.  This 

           precipitated Dr McCabe’s investigation and the revelations about Mr Jacobs, which she confirmed 

           came as a great shock, as he had been working in the School for 30 years and ‘no-one had ever 

           suspected him’. 



14.57      When speaking to Sr Tova, Dr McCabe dismissed the behaviour of the other children as childish 

           playing and did not think it merited any further action. The Sisters, however, wanted all the children 

           concerned transferred out of St Joseph’s. A few days after Dr McCabe’s visit, one of the children 

           was found ‘doing an immoral act in the playground before young children’, and this confirmed the 

           Sisters in their view that all of the children involved should be transferred out of St Joseph’s. 



14.58      A meeting was held on 5th        November 1954 attended by Mother General, the Reverend Mother, 



           Dr McCabe and the Assistant Secretary to the Department. From the account of this meeting, it 

           would appear to have been a damage limitation exercise on the part of the Sisters. 



14.59      The Mother General and the Reverend Mother informed the meeting that they were satisfied that, 

           apart from the Jacobs affair, things were not as bad as originally thought. The matter had been 

           brought under control by the removal of certain girls, diligence on the part of the Sisters, and the 

           fact that, as a result of the group system, the ‘evil had not extended beyond a single group’. They 

           also said that ‘the affair in which XX had been concerned with Mr Jacobs had occurred in the 

           summer of 1953 and not, as had first been thought, during last summer’. 



14.60      In a complete contradiction of what had been reported by Dr McCabe, the Sisters then said that 

           Sr Stella had not been informed that relations with Mr Jacobs ‘had gone beyond him giving her 

           sweets’. The Sisters accepted that Sr Stella should have had her suspicions aroused when she 

           discovered the young girl in tears so soon after being given sweets by Mr Jacobs. 



14.61      The meeting was then joined by the local parish priest, Fr Curran.7               He had read Dr McCabe’s 



           report.  He   attempted    to  make    light of  what   had   happened,     asserting    that ‘the  happenings 

           concerned were such as frequently occur in girls’ schools throughout the country’. The account of 

           the meeting stated: 



                 We  did  not  accept  this  view,  and  on  Dr  McCabe’s  pointing  out  that  a  peculiar  vicious 

                 aspect  of  Jacobs  depravity  was  that  he  had  entered  upon  his  misdeeds  with  malice 

                 aforethought, Fr Curran admitted the heinousness of Jacobs offences, but continued to 

                 make light of the misconduct of the girls amongst themselves. It had become evident that 

                 Fr Curran’s stand was to prevail upon the Department not to take steps that would bring 

                 Jacobs into Court. On the Assistant Secretary enquiring further in this regard, Fr Curran 

                 stated  plainly  that  he  would  appeal  to  the  Dept  not  to  take  any  measures  with  regard 

                 to Jacobs. 



14.62      He appealed to the Department on the grounds that, although Jacobs deserved penal servitude, 

           the court case would bring the convent into great disrepute, and the children involved would have 

           to  give  evidence,    and   this  would  do   them  immense      harm.    Mr  Jacobs    had   been  dismissed 

           immediately following Dr McCabe’s disclosure: 



                 The Reverend Mother here confirmed that she had paid Jacobs and dismissed him, on 

                 that day, but without giving him any reason ... Jacobs had, she said, received his dismissal 

                 in silence. 



           7 This is a pseudonym. 



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14.63      When the suggestion was made by the Department that the Bishop should be informed, Fr Curran 

           was strongly opposed to this move, as his Lordship was old and deaf and the affair would upset 

           him. He agreed to accept full responsibility for this decision, should the Bishop ever learn of the 

           affair. He undertook also to interview Mr Jacobs and intimate to him that he was not yet out of the 

           woods, and that everything would depend on his future conduct. He said he would, ‘Put the fear 

           of God into Jacobs’. 



14.64      The Department officials were impressed with Fr Curran: 



                 Fr Curran is obviously a very sensible and shrewd pastor and on consideration for his 

                 years we felt that a visit on our part to the Bishop was not called for. We agree also to 

                 recommend that no steps be taken towards a prosecution of Jacobs. 



14.65      The meeting then had to decide how to deal with the children involved. The whole matter had 

           originally come to light because of a request for a transfer of two children because of immoral 

           behaviour. It was decided that these two children, together with a third girl, should be removed – 

           two to their families, and one to St Anne’s Reformatory in Kilmacud. It was felt by the Sisters that, 

           with  the  ‘ring  leaders’  gone,  the  rest  of  the  children  would  forget  the  episode,  although  strict 

           supervision would now be necessary, particularly during meal times. 



14.66      The Reverend Mother then called in the four Sisters who had charge of the children and, in the 

           presence of Dr McCabe and the Assistant Secretary, she praised their devotion but advised them 

           and, in particular, Sr Stella that they needed to be much more vigilant and enquiring when it came 

           to the children. 



14.67      The Departmental officials recommended a course of action to the Department. By letter dated 

             th November, the Resident Manager was notified that one girl could be transferred to Kilmacud 

           10 

           Reformatory and two others returned to their parents and grandparents. 



14.68      On 28th  November 1954, the Mother General of the Congregation wrote to the Assistant Secretary 



           of the Department to thank him for his kindness: 



                 I shall never forget your kindness during your visit to Kilkenny, and you may count on my 

                 poor prayers. Please God, the unpleasant affair is closed forever and we shall hope that 

                 there shall never be a repetition. 



14.69      The matter of the children abused by Mr Jacobs was not addressed by that meeting. The Resident 

           Manager continued to correspond with the Department about the four girls who had been identified 

           as  having  been  abused  by  Jacobs,  in  order  to  have  them  transferred  from  the  School,  in  the 

           interests of the other children. She wrote two days after the meeting: 



                 The other three children ... have still fresh in their memory the experience they had with 

                 Mr Jacobs in 1953. They also know about each other’s contact with him, which shows 

                 they must have and probably still are discussing this matter among themselves. 



14.70      It  does  not  appear  from  the  records  that  the  permission  was  granted,  as  three  of  their  names 

           appear seven months later in a report to the Chief Inspector by Dr McCabe dated 22nd  June 1955. 



           The Reverend Mother General had asked Dr McCabe to meet her in Milltown in Dublin, at the 

           headquarters  of  the  Congregation  in  Ireland,  to  discuss  the  situation  in  Kilkenny  where,  once 

           again,  she  was  concerned  about  the  behaviour  of  six  of  the  girls.  These  six  girls  were  aged 

           between 9 and 13, and two of them had revealed to Dr McCabe the previous November that they 

           had been sexually abused by Mr Jacobs. They were now seen as a corrupting influence on the 

           rest  of the  children, particularly  their own  siblings in  the School.  The Reverend  Mother told  Dr 

           McCabe that she was concerned that the six girls were continuing to corrupt the little ones, by 

           giving them bad example at every opportunity. Dr McCabe was surprised as to how this could be 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                505 


----------------------- Page 1292-----------------------

           the  case  if  the  children  were  contained  in  one  group.  She  was  informed  the  problem  arose  at 

           recreation time when the groups mixed. Dr McCabe’s report was summarised in the Department 

           of Education submission: 



                 The Rev. Mother claimed that these children were “misbehaving themselves with each 

                 other  and  with the  small  children”.  They were,  she  said,  “giving  bad example”  ...  They 

                 were  said  to  have  taken  girls  from  another  group,  brought  them  up  into  the  fields  and 

                 taught them “wrong in the grass”. When the Sister-in Charge inquired into their behaviour, 

                 one of them remarked, “It was no harm”. Mr Jacobs, the painter dismissed by the school 

                 the year before, had said that he was “an old man and it was no harm” ... Much of the 

                 “bad  behaviour”  came  to  light  as  some  of  the  girls  were  preparing  for  their  first  Holy 

                 Communion and though, when questioned, there were many “denials”, one child told the 

                 Rev  Mother  that  [named  child]  was  “doing  it  constantly”.  For  her  part,  the  Rev  Mother 

                 considered 11-year-old [named child] “the most hardened”. 



14.71      This characterisation of the child as the most hardened was offensive and unjust, having regard 

           to the brutal and invasive sexual assaults she had suffered. 



14.72      Dr  McCabe  then  visited  St  Joseph’s  to  investigate  these  complaints,  and  she  made  a  written 

           report on 24th  June 1955. She concluded that two children (aged 11 and 13) were the ‘ringleaders’ 



           and that another (aged 13) was ‘a good follower’. The two children mentioned by her had been 

           identified as having been abused by Jacobs in her visit in November 1954; the third child was a 

           sister of the 11-year-old mentioned above. 



14.73      This 11-year-old child was described by Dr McCabe having ‘a very bad influence and I think the 

           youngsters are terrified of her. She seems to have great power over them’. 



14.74      Another child was mentioned as ‘one of Jacobs unfortunates’ although her name had not appeared 

           in the November 1954 report. Dr McCabe reported: 



                 There was another child mentioned [child named](11) but she did not try tricks herself but 

                 had been one of Mr Jacobs unfortunates, but on discretely questioning her, I discovered 

                 that he had only started on his campaign when he was disturbed! 



14.75      Dr  McCabe  discussed  the  supervision  with  the  Reverend  Mother  and  was  told  the  staff  would 

           need to have eyes in the back of their heads to deal with the problem: 



                 I enquired about the playground – there is a small patch of grass on it and here some of 

                 the performance takes place and also in a shed in the playground. Apparently the little 

                 ones play “House” there (as the Sisters thought) but really this performance was taking 

                 place. 



                 I consider that the nuns have slipped up in their supervision. 



14.76      All the girls were part of one group, although they did interact with younger children in other groups 

           at recreation. Dr McCabe observed: 



                 The  “good  girls”  are  very  alert  and  it  is  really  through  them  that  the  nuns  got  to  know 

                 about the behaviour in the grass. Now there is a kind of reign of terror there and if anyone 

                 of these girls (mentioned above) approaches a child she “runs a mile and screams”. 



14.77      Following a meeting with the Chief Inspector of the Department, it was decided to transfer nine 

           girls to Kilmacud, and the transfer was authorised on 28th          June 1955. 



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----------------------- Page 1293-----------------------

14.78      In  her  General    Inspection    Report   dated    22nd  to 23rd  June    1955,   the  entry   under   ‘General 



           Observations and Suggestions’ stated: 



                 I visited this school to investigate a complaint made to me by the Mother General and 

                 Reverend Mother of the school about certain children’s behaviour in the school. As result 

                 of  all  this  10  girls  were  transferred  to  Kilmacud  Reformatory.  The  chief  cause  of  this 

                 outbreak was “lack of supervision” on the part of the community. 



14.79      The   Department     of  Education    made    observations     on  these   events   in  its submission    to  the 

           Committee. The Department stated: 



                 The response to abuse in Kilkenny illustrates how the Department and the religious dealt 

                 with issues of child sexual abuse at the time, in particular: 



                  •     The apparent inability of the Sisters of Charity to detect what appears to have been 

                        widespread sexual abuse carried out by a long-term workman. It may not have begun 

                        with the children mentioned here. 



                  •     The decision of the Department, on the advice of the parish priest, not to pursue the 

                        prosecution  of  Jacobs,  having  considered  the  concern  expressed  by  the  priest  to 

                        protect the children from further trauma as well as the reputation of the convent. 



                  •     The absence of professional counselling or sex education for the girls affected. 

                  •     The concern to remove certain girls from the school and the perception that the girls 

                        who  had  been  sexually  abused  were  compromised  in  some  way.  Some  were  sent 

                        back  to  their  families,  with  no  provision  for  helping  them  come  to  terms  with  what 

                        had happened. 



14.80      Sr  Astrid8 was  appointed  to  the  staff  of  St  Joseph’s  one  year  after  these  events  in  1955.  She 



           confirmed that she heard nothing about the circumstances that had led to so many of the children 

           being  removed  and  to  the  dismissal  of  an  employee  who  had  been  in  the  School  for  over  30 

           years. She said that no protocols were in place at any time for dealing with allegations of sexual 

           abuse by the children, and the matter was never mentioned. This was notwithstanding the clear 

           responsibility placed on the Sisters by Dr McCabe for failing to supervise the children properly. 



           St Anne’s, Kilmacud 



14.81      The need for a dedicated reformatory for girls arose in January 1942, when two girls who had 

           been committed to St Joseph’s Girls’ Reformatory in Limerick for ‘serious moral offences’ were 

           deemed  by  the  Resident  Manager  to  be  unsuitable.  She  requested  that  they  be  immediately 

           discharged, in order to protect the other children and the interest of the School. It was suggested 

           within the Department of Education that the ‘most convenient solution’ would be to establish a 

           second reformatory school for girls who had committed moral offences. One of the problems this 

           Institution could address was the question of children over the age of 12 who were in an industrial 

           school and were found to be ‘exercising an evil influence over the other children’. Although the 

           Minister  had  the  power  to  transfer  these  girls  to  a  reformatory,  in  practice  this  did  not  happen 

           because the only reformatory for girls, in Limerick, would not take such children. St Anne’s was 

           run  by  Our  Lady  of  Charity  Order,  who  had  ‘intimated  that  they  intended  to  conduct  it  for  the 

           benefit of girls with marked tendencies of a certain nature’. 



14.82      In  fact, it would    appear   that  the  only   cases   envisaged     for St  Anne’s    were   ‘where   the  girl 

           disapproved of the intercourse and made a report to the Garda, or had an illegitimate baby to the 

           public knowledge, or where her relations or friends learned of the act and reported it’. 



           8 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                    507 


----------------------- Page 1294-----------------------

14.83      It was to this reform school that the nine children from St Joseph’s were sent. They were all 13 

           years of age or younger, and at least four of them had been the victims of severe sexual crimes 

           whilst in the care of the nuns. 



           Complainant evidence 



14.84      A  witness  who  was  in  the  School  during  the  1954  investigation  and  who  was  one  of  the  girls 

           transferred to Kilmacud gave evidence. She had not been abused by Jacobs, and it seems that 

           she was sent to Kilmacud because her sister, who had been abused, was going there. 



14.85      Sharon9    was one of five children. She lived with her parents in Dublin. The home situation was 



           not good: her father and mother had problems, there was domestic violence and alcohol abuse, 

           and the family faced eviction. In these circumstances, the children were taken into care. She and 

           two of her sisters were admitted into St Joseph’s, Kilkenny. She saw very little of her two sisters 

           in the School. Her parents did not visit, her mother only came once. Her first memories were of 

           being very frightened and trying to keep herself small. She hid under beds or behind her older 

           sister. She remembers being very lonely and isolated. She had no one to turn to except her sister. 



14.86      Prior to the day of the transfer to St Anne’s, she remembered the ‘set’ she was in were summoned 

           into the sitting room. They were told that some of them had been very bold. She has only a hazy 

           recollection  of  what  else  was  said,  but  the  outcome  of  it  was  that  nine  or  10  of  them  were 

           segregated and not allowed to mix with any other girls. They were kept in cubicles in the dormitory 

           and could not leave there, other than to get food and then return. She remembered Sr Ella10  and 

           Sr  Liv11  were  there  at  the  time,  as  were  a  number  of  other  nuns.  They  were  told  they  had 



           committed  mortal  sins  and  sins  of  immodesty.  She  and  her  older  sister  were  transferred,  but 

           another sister was left behind and she did not see her again until she was 16. 



14.87      On the day of the transfer, she was pleased because she thought they were only going out for 

           the day, as they were told they were going to the zoo. She was shocked to discover this was a 

           lie:  it  was  the  first  time  a  nun  had  lied  to  her.  Her  transfer  papers  to  Kilmacud  described  her 

           as ‘not of previous good character’. She only saw these papers recently, when revealed by the 

           Commission, and was deeply upset at this description, as she was only 10 years old at the time. 



14.88      Sharon said that the nuns in St Joseph’s were obsessed with religion. There was an endless litany 

           of  Mass,  Novenas,  Benediction,  retreats,  fasting,  grace  before  and  after  meals,  prayers  night, 

           noon and morning, and so on. She felt that the nuns were more concerned with saving their souls 

           then   anything    else.  They    did  not   encourage     the   children   to  nurture   friendships,   and   she 

           remembered one occasion in particular: when she held the hand of a friend as they went for their 

           Sunday walk, a nun came from behind and silently separated them. 



14.89      This witness remembered very little about her schooling or the teachers, other than a climate of 

           fear in the classroom. She attended school within the Institution. Sr Liv was the schoolteacher, 

           and she was very strict and used a stick to slap children. 



14.90      Sharon    said   that  St  Anne’s,    even   though    it was   a  reformatory    for  girls, was    wonderful    in 

           comparison  to  St  Joseph’s.  There  was  more  freedom,  she  did  not  feel  she  was  under  the 

           microscope. She never felt safe in Kilkenny, but she did not have the same feeling in St Anne’s. 

           The transfer papers had described her as ‘not of previous good character’, yet the Sisters in St 

           Anne’s  never  made  her  feel  like  that.  In  St  Anne’s,  she  was  recognised  as  a  person.  As  an 

           example, she described the following: 



           9  This is a pseudonym. 

           10 This is a pseudonym. 

           11 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1295-----------------------

                  In a little way ... that I was walking on my first walk and Sister Ellen12, who was in charge, 



                  actually took my hand. I can never forget that moment because on the one hand what 

                  was so sinful in Kilkenny, well maybe that is going too far but I wasn’t allowed to do that 

                  and here I was in St Anne’s and Sister Ellen took my hand. 



14.91      She was introduced to the world of books in Kilmacud and became an avid reader in later life, 

           despite having been classified as almost illiterate in Kilkenny. The food in St Anne’s was not good 

           but, because she was happy there, it did not seem to matter. 



14.92      She  is  close  to  her  sisters.  She  only  found  out  in  recent  times  that  her  older  sister  had  been 

           abused by Mr Jacobs in 1954, and that would have accounted for the complainant’s removal from 

           St Joseph’s. Her younger sister remained in Kilkenny. 



           Sisters of Charity Submission 



14.93      In  their   Submission,     the   Sisters   of  Charity   disclosed     that  the   current   leadership    of  the 

           Congregation first heard about the Jacobs case when they were shown documents discovered by 

                                                                                                     ´ 

           the Department of Education in the course of investigating a complaint. Sr Una O’Neill stated: 



                  There is no record of any kind in any of the files of the Sisters of Charity regarding this 

                  matter and they were not aware of what had happened until the Commission made the 

                  file available for inspection to the Congregation’s Solicitors in 2001. 



14.94      The Sisters of Charity submitted their observations on the case. Their position was defensive. In 

           relation to the discovery of abuse by Dr McCabe, they stated: 



                  Even Dr Anna McCabe with her medical training, expertise  and the high reputation for 

                  professionalism which she appears to have earned within the Department (in the opinion 

                  of the current Secretary General), had to persist in her interviews and questioning before 

                  evidence of abuse emerged. 



14.95      From  the  documents,  however,  it  would  appear  that  the  abuse  emerged  in  the  course  of  very 

           gentle   questioning  that    did  not  depend     on  medical    training  and  expertise.    Dr   McCabe  was 

           thorough and prepared to coax and listen: the Sisters allude to this approach as ‘persistence’. 



14.96      The Submission went on to state that there was no evidence that the Sisters were ‘anything other 

           than totally co-operative throughout Dr McCabe’s investigation’. Given that the investigation was 

           into the serious sexual crimes against eight- and nine-year-old children in their care, nothing less 

           than total co-operation would have been expected. 



14.97      The Submission further asserted that, had the Sisters themselves discovered Mr Jacobs’s abuse, 

           they  would  have  acted  as  decisively  as  they  did  when  it  was  brought  to  their  attention  by  Dr 

           McCabe. The documents indicated the abuse was indeed brought to their attention by one of the 

           little  girls,  and  she  was  not  believed,  and  her  complaint  was  dismissed  by  both  Sr  Stella  and 

           Sr Tova. 



14.98      The Submission concluded: 



                  In these circumstances any adverse finding against the Sisters or criticism of them would 

                  be unfair and unwarranted. 



14.99      This Submission was prepared in 2006. It did not address the appalling plight of the children who 

           were abused by Mr Jacobs; it did not examine the attitude of the Sisters in seeking to remove the 

           victims to a reformatory; it did not question the integrity of Sr Tova, who gave one account to Dr 



           12 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      509 


----------------------- Page 1296-----------------------

           McCabe about the complaint made to Sr Stella, and a completely different one to the Department 

           officials and the parish priest; it did not acknowledge the damage done to these children by the 

           sexual abuse and its consequences, which included the children being isolated from their friends 

           and removed to reformatories. Far from trying to help these damaged girls, the Sisters chose to 

           dispose of them as bad influences. With their removal, the whole episode was expunged from the 

           history of St Joseph’s. 



14.100     •    The  nuns  investigated  the  sexual  behaviour  among  the  girls  and  identified  those 

                involved, but did not take the next step of asking why this behaviour had happened. 

                They  blamed  the  children  for  immorality  but  did  not  follow  up  the  inquiry  as  Dr 

                McCabe did. 



           •    This abuser had been employed in St Joseph’s for 30 years before his activities were 

                revealed, but the 1954 episode was treated as a single episode, and the full extent of 

                the  sexual  abuse  of  the  children  was  not  established  and  no  attempt  was  made  to 

                do so. 



           •    Notwithstanding the more progressive attitude the Sisters had towards childcare, they 

                were still unable or unwilling to believe the child who complained about Mr Jacobs. 

                Dr McCabe uncovered the serious sexual abuse going on in St Joseph’s by listening 

                to the children. 



           •    The attitude of the Sisters appeared to be to blame the children for having been abused 

                by Jacobs, and they sought to have them transferred away from the Institution. 



           •    No lessons were learned from this incident. The risk that unsupervised access posed 

                to   the   children,   particularly    by   male    employees,      was    never    acknowledged       or 

                addressed.  No  procedures  were  put  in  place  and  no  warnings  given  to  staff  about 

                listening  to  children  who  complained  of  sexual  abuse.  This  was  to  have  serious 

                consequences  less  than  20  years  later,  when  two  dangerous  sexual  abusers  were 

                employed in the School. 



           Alleged sexual abuse by a foster family 



14.101     Annette13 was resident in St Joseph’s, Kilkenny from the early 1950s to the early 1960s. She was 



           three months old when admitted into care. 



14.102     She described growing up in St Joseph’s as a sad and lonely existence. She was never treated 

           with kindness or respect. The nuns told them they were the children of prostitutes. The staff were 

           cruel. She was often locked up in a cubby hole as a punishment for talking in the dormitory at 

           night,  so  she  learned  not  to  speak.  It  was  a  frightening  experience,  and  she  was  afraid  to  do 

           anything other than pray to get out. She was often hit with a leather strap. 



14.103     She  was  in  the  ‘red  set’,  a  less  favoured  group  in  St  Joseph’s.  She  thought  the  food  was 

           horrendous: she described getting cocoa, and lumpy porridge for breakfast. She never felt full and 

           was always aware of being hungry. She liked school, however, and was a good student. 



14.104     In May 1961, she was released by order of the Minister for Education to Mr and Mrs Lacey.14  She 



           was nine years old. She remembered being sent to the Reverend Mother’s office and there was 

           a couple sitting there. They seemed quite old to her and they were introduced to her as her uncle 

           and aunt. She went out with them for day trips initially, and then she spent a couple of weeks 

           over Christmas. The Sisters asked her how she got along and, at that stage, she thought it was 



           13 This is a pseudonym. 

           14 This is a pseudonym. 



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----------------------- Page 1297-----------------------

           fun being brought to the seaside and given treats. She recalled the food they gave her was very 

           rich and, because they gave her toys, she thought she had landed in heaven. 



14.105     She testified that, when she was released into the care of the Laceys, things changed. She was 

           sexually abused by Mr Lacey. He built a corrugated shed in the garden which he used solely for 

           the purpose of raping her. He told her it was a playhouse. She believed Mrs Lacey knew what 

           was going on as, after being raped, she told her to have a bath. It happened two or three times a 

           week in various places, wherever they were living at the time, until she managed to  ‘get away’ 

           from them at the age of 15. 



14.106     The couple travelled all over the country and spent time in Kildare, Wicklow, England, Wales etc. 

           When she was 11, they were living in Northern Ireland, and she managed to run away at that 

           stage, but was caught and returned to them. After this incident, she was sent by them to England 

           to live in Mr Lacey’s brother’s house, and the couple later followed over. During the 131  weeks 

                                                                                                                     2 



           that she spent there, she recalls regularly being given a drink and falling asleep; she would wake 

           up next morning, partially clothed and very sore. She complained to Mrs Lacey, and was punished 

           by being hit with a leather and locked in a cellar, or she was deprived of food. She was forced to 

           work  for  the  couple  in  all  of  their  various  enterprises,  including  an  ice  cream  parlour  and  a 

           restaurant. 



14.107     Annette now knows that the Laceys were not in fact married. They were of different religions and, 

           although one of the conditions for them to be allowed to foster her was that they would protect 

           her religion, they never brought her to mass or church when she was with them. 



14.108     Annette  was  not  aware  until  recently  where  she  read  the  documentation  that  the  Sisters  were 

           opposed to her going to the Laceys. 



           What the documents revealed 



14.109     The documents reveal mistakes by the Department of Education. The story is recounted here in 

           some detail as an example of how failure to follow up and supervise children placed in foster care 

           could leave them totally unprotected 



14.110     In November 1960, Mrs Lacey wrote to the Rev Mother in St Joseph’s, having been referred by 

           an official from the Adoption Board Dublin. She and her husband were anxious to have a little girl, 

           as they had no children of their own. She described herself as having the means to give the child 

           a good home, a mother and father’s real love, and a good education. She said they were both 

           Catholics and in good health. The Laceys said they were married in 1928, 33 years prior to the 

           application in 1961. 



14.111     Sr Klara15 wrote to a senior official of the Department of Education on 25th            November 1960, telling 



           him of the request from the Laceys. She explained that Annette could not be adopted legally, as 

           her   mother   was    alive  but  untraced.    She   suggested     that  perhaps    the  Laceys     could  be   her 

           Godparents, and sought his opinion on this matter. She hoped he could help find the mother so 

           that her consent for adoption or the Godparenting arrangement could be sought. 



14.112     Sr Klara wrote again on 3rd  December 1960, advising the official of the Department that the Gardai 

                                                                                                                              ´ 

           had had  no success in tracing  Annette’s mother and  wondering whether she should  go ahead 

           with allowing the child go to the Laceys. She suggested getting a reference from the parish priest 

           before making a final decision. At this stage, the Laceys had brought the child out for outings and 

           were keen to take her. The official advised her to get the reference from the parish priest before 

           allowing it to go ahead. 



           15 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      511 


----------------------- Page 1298-----------------------

14.113     On 10th   December 1960, Sr Klara wrote to Mr Wade of the Department of Education as follows: 



                  Since our conversation (phone) I have received a letter from my friend to whom I wrote 

                  for information re. couple who wish to adopt Annette. It seems this “party” is only here for 

                  the  past  few  months  from  England.  The  husband  is  a  lapsed  Catholic,  and  the  wife  a 

                  Protestant.  As  we  have  been  warned  that  “couples”  are going  through  Dublin  trying  to 

                  adopt children, and from the information just received, I don’t think it wise to go any further 

                  unless we get a very definite proof of the suitability of the Adopting Parents. 



14.114     Sr Klara wrote again to Mr Wade on 12th          December 1960, expressing her continuing uneasy mind 



           regarding  the  couple  who  wished to  adopt  Annette,  and  seeking  his  advice  as to  whether  she 

           should pursue the matter with the parish priest in the UK, as the couple had only resided four 

           months  in  Ireland.  The  parish  priest  in  Terenure  had  vouched  that  they  were  attentive  to  their 

           Church duties in the four months that he knew them and were worthy and reliable people. 



14.115     Sr Klara  came under increasing  pressure from the  Laceys, who were  indignant that Mr  Wade, 

           when he interviewed them, had information to suggest that they were not Catholics. Mrs Lacey 

           denied this and said they attended Mass every Sunday. Sr Klara remained very doubtful about 

           them. 



14.116     On  15th   December  1960,  in  an  internal  memorandum  to  the  Inspector  in  the  Department  of 



           Education,     the  author   advised    that  he   had   spoken    to  the   parish   priest  in  Terenure,    who 

           recommended that the child should be allowed out to the Laceys for Christmas. 



14.117     In a letter dated 15th   December 1960, Mrs Lacey wrote to the Department: 



                  Dear Sir, 



                 As requested I herewith make an application for permission to have Annette the child from 

                  St. Joseph’s Industrial School, Kilkenny for the Christmas period. My husband and I have 

                  already had her out for one day and we have asked the Mother Superior to let us have 

                  her with us, as we are giving a children’s party at our cafe, and the Mother Superior said 

                                                                                      ´ 

                  as far as she was concerned it would be alright. The child having no parents or relatives 

                  we are both willing to help her in every way possible, by giving her a good home, with a 

                  Mother’s and Father’s love, bringing her up in the Catholic faith, and educating her in the 

                  best possible manner. We are quite aware on account of her age that we cannot adopt 

                  her legally, but are more than willing to be her Foster Mother and Father. My husband 

                  being Managing Director of a large firm tells you that we have the means to do the very 

                  best for the child. Trusting you will grant us this permission. 



                  Yours Faithfully 



                  Mrs Lacey 



14.118     A note on the letter said: ‘Phoned Sr Klara and informed her of our inquiries. She is now satisfied 

           to release child for Xmas holidays and we are to [make] ... inquiries regarding Lacey couple with 

           a view to advising mgr on question of release on supervision certificate TOR 16/12/60’. 



14.119     On the same document, the particulars with regard to her release for Christmas were recorded, 

           together with a note of an interview with the Laceys on 16th            December 1960: 



                  Interviewed Lacey couple – wife claims to be a convert and husband to have been reared 

                  a  catholic  but  has  not  been  assiduous  in  the  practice  of  his  religion.  He  undertook  to 

                  produce their marriage certificate. 



           512                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1299-----------------------

14.120    In a letter to Mrs Lacey dated 8th    January 1961, Sr Klara informed her that Annette was safely 



          back  in  Kilkenny  and  had  been  telling  the  Sisters  about  the  wonderful  time  she  had  with  ‘my 

          Mammy and my Daddy’ and thanking her for giving her such a good time. 



14.121    The child obviously had an accident whilst with the couple, because Sr Klara also noted that ‘on 

          the following day she would take Annette to the Dr. to have the stitches removed D.V’. 



14.122    It  appeared  from  the  documentation  that  followed  that  the  Laceys  travelled  to  the  UK  in  early 

          January 1961, to expedite references and other matters required for the adoption of Annette. Mr 

          Lacey had written  to his parish priest in Oldham  in England, seeking confirmation that  he was 

          married in the Catholic Church. The parish priest was unable to provide this, but said he saw no 

          reason to doubt Mr Lacey’s word that he had been. There was also a short note from another 

          parish priest where the Laceys resided for six years, which said the couple were known to him 

          and well suited to have care of a child. 



14.123    On 8th  February 1961, the Laceys contacted the Department to press for the release of Annette, 



          citing the fact that they had purchased a new house and were anxious to purchase furniture with 

          Annette  in  mind.  This  prompted  Mr  McDevitt  to  write  to  the  parish  priest  of  Oldham  to  seek 

          confirmation  that  the  Laceys  had  married  in  the  Catholic  Church  sometime  in  1928,  possibly 

          around May. He could not provide the exact date. 



14.124    He did not receive a reply and followed this up with another letter on 9th       March 1961. This letter 



          was returned to Mr McDevitt with the following handwritten note by the parish priest: 



                St. Mary’s Oldham 



                Dear Sir, 



                As far as we can ascertain the facts given by Mr Lacey are true and to be believed. 



                Sincerely yours, P.P 



14.125    The Laceys followed up with another letter to the Department on 16th          March 1961, pressing the 



          Department for a decision about releasing Annette to them. They felt they had provided more than 

          enough information to the Department about themselves and asked the Department to give the 

          matter urgent consideration. 



14.126    In  a  detailed  report  in  April  1961,  concerning  the  Laceys’  application,  Mr  Wade  wrote  to  Mr 

          McDevitt, Inspector. He set out the circumstances of how the couple came to Ireland in 1960 and 

          immediately contacted the Adoption Board with regard to taking a child into their household. They 

          had been referred by the Adoption Board to St Joseph’s, Kilkenny as an institution that might be 

          able to ‘supply their want’. Sr Klara understood from this referral that they had been vouched for 

          by the official in the Adoption Board, and she introduced the couple to Annette. Mr Wade had met 

          the couple on several occasions  as they had called into the Department. On  the surface, they 

          appeared pleasant but he had a number of concerns. First, Mr Lacey admitted to being lax about 

          his religious duties; secondly, Mrs Lacey protested that she was a convert to Catholicism but was 

          hazy as to the date of her conversion from the Protestant religion; and, finally, although she could 

          give the location, she was not sure of the exact date of her marriage to Mr Lacey. Added to this, 

          Sr Klara had her own doubts about the couple’s religious persuasion and had been warned that 

          couples were going about the country seeking to adopt infants – therefore, she was not prepared 

          to make the decision on her own authority. Mr Wade concluded that the application should be 

          refused on the grounds that the whereabouts of the child’s mother were unknown and her consent 

          would be needed for final discharge, coupled with the vague replies by the Laceys about their 

          marriage. 



14.127    This report was passed on to the Secretary of the Department by Mr McDevitt on 26th  April 1961, 



          with a long handwritten note attached. He described the case as somewhat difficult, because the 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             513 


----------------------- Page 1300-----------------------

           Laceys appeared on the face of it to be the ideal couple to be given the care of the child, were it 

           not for their difficulties in verifying their pasts so far as religion was concerned. He had spoken 

           with them and felt they were not being frank about the matter, although very anxious to get custody 

           of the child. The clergy in Britain had not been helpful in clarifying the matter. He concluded his 

           report with the following: 



                  Considering (1) that the child’s parents may still be and probably are alive; (2) that the 

                  child was committed on grounds which are now invalid and that some doubt may therefore 

                  be  entertained  as  to  whether  the  Minister  has  power  to  discharge  her  on  supervision 

                  certificate (’tho I think he has), and that there is the possibility of endangering her faith, 

                  the  balance  of  argument  appears  to  be  against  acceding  to  the  application  and  I  so 

                  recommend. If approved, I suggest that refusal be communicated in interview. 



14.128     In  an  internal   memorandum  to        the  Minister  dated    28th  April  1961,   the  author    (T.O  R)   also 



           expressed some reservations but, overall, was in favour of letting the child out to the couple. His 

           reasons were that, in the first instance, it was against the Constitution for the child to be detained 

           by  them  under  any  circumstances.  Secondly,  two  parish  priests  were  satisfied  that  the  girl’s 

           religious affairs would be catered for, and so the Department was covered from the moral point 

           of view. As for his own conscience, he would be guided by the fact that nothing but good could 

           come from her being with this couple. He recommended that the child should be allowed to live 

           with them on the understanding that either parent could come forward to claim her back at any 

           time. 



14.129     She was discharged by order of the Minister to Mr and Mrs Lacey on 5th                  May 1961. 



14.130     The following additional particulars were recorded: 

                  Annette was discharged on May 5th          1961 by Order of the Minister of Education to Mr and 



                  Mrs Lacey, [address redacted]. Mr McDevitt and the Resident Manager (Sr Klara) were 

                  not in favour of this adoption. 



14.131     On 11th   May 1961, Mr and Mrs Lacey were  informed officially in writing that, after very careful 



           consideration,  the Minister  for  Education  had now  ordered  the release  of  Annette  to their  care 

           with the condition attached that, if her parents at a future date claimed custody, they would have 

           to immediately surrender the child to them. Mr McDevitt signed the letter on behalf of the Minister 

           and also asked the couple to keep him informed of any change of address made by them. The 

           Resident Manager in Kilkenny was informed in writing at the same time. 



14.132     Precisely one year later, on 11th       May 1962, Mr Wade received a memorandum from one of the 



           Departmental officials who said he had called on Mr and Mrs Lacey at the address where they 

           were living when Annette was discharged to them. He spoke to the woman who now occupied 

           the house. She told him the Laceys had left a long time ago, had sold their business and now 

           had either a pub, or a fish and chip shop in the Southeast. 



14.133     Enquiries were made by the Department with the Gardai in the Southeast on 22nd                     May 1962, and 

                                                                              ´ 

           neither Annette nor the Laceys had ever been heard of. Eventually, the Gardai located the Laceys. 

                                                                                                       ´ 

           The Department noted that they should have been informed of their change of address by them, 

           and it was felt that enquiry should be made in regard to Annette’s welfare, spiritual and otherwise. 

           This note is dated 28th     May 1962. 



14.134     Sometime  between  June  and  September  1962,  Mrs  Lacey  wrote  to  the  Reverend  Mother  in 

           Kilkenny from her address, expressing a wish to return Annette because she said Annette was 

           lying, stealing and using bad language. They had had to remove her from her school in a local 



           514                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1301-----------------------

           convent, as she was not making any progress, and she was a constant worry to them and clearly 

           did not appreciate what was being done for her. 



14.135     Sr Hanna,16 who had taken over from Sr Klara, informed Mr McDevitt about the letter and advised 



           him that she had written immediately to Mrs Lacey to tell her the child would be welcome back in 

           St Joseph’s and was expecting her back any day. 



14.136     This prompted the following letter to be sent by the Laceys to the Department on 3rd                  September 



           1962: 



                  Dear Sir, 



                 Some time ago I wrote to the Rev. Mother at Kilkenny School stating that we were very 

                 disappointed  in  Annette,  the  way  in  which  she  had  turned  out,  by  stealing  things,  and 

                 above all telling lies, not thinking they would inform you in this matter. However, since we 

                  have  warned  her  that  she  would  have  to  go  back  to  St.  Joseph’s  she  has  improved 

                 considerably,  and  is  now  attending  the  local  school.  I  know  in  her  heart  of  hearts  she 

                 does not want to leave us, or to go back. Owing to my writing this letter we have had a 

                 visit from the Rev. Mother, and she advised us to have an older girl who was well moulded 

                 and whose character was well formed. She thought and we both agreed with her, that it 

                 would help Annette very much to have somebody like that, as we feel it would break her 

                  heart to be sent back now after 18 months and we do not wish to part with her unless 

                 she commenced her bad ways again. As you know we are in a position financially to have 

                 another    girl,  also good   accommodation  to       accept  an    older   girl  like the Rev  Mother 

                 suggested and we would train her to take a good position in life. Trusting you will be able 

                 to arrange this for us ... Yours faithfully ... 



14.137     This letter was sent to the Resident Manager for her observations on the matters raised in it. Sr 

           Hanna called the Department and spoke to Mr Wade, who noted her views in a handwritten note 

           dated 18th   September 1962: 



                 Sister Hanna called on 12/9/62 to discuss this case. She is very worried about Annette 

                 and would like her to be anywhere but with the Lacey’s, whom she considers unsuitable 

                 to rear the child. Her offer of a second girl to the Lacey’s was made in the hope of getting 

                 Annette back and she had no intention of fulfilment. 



14.138     Following this memorandum, it appears that Sr Hanna and Mr McDevitt paid a visit to the Laceys 

           and told them that Annette’s grandfather was seeking custody, and Rev Mother wished to have 

           her returned to the School by Sunday 7th         October. 



14.139     The Laceys wrote to the Department on 1st             October 1962, expressing this as a great shock to 



           them, as they had been told 18 months previously by the then Rev Mother that she was the only 

           child available in Kilkenny that had no parents. They insisted that she did not want to leave them 

           and had come to know them as her parents. They said they had inquired about the grandfather, 

           who was out all day and only returned late at night, so she would not get the care and attention 

           she needed. They also said that Mr McDevitt had indicated that it was a matter between Reverend 

           Mother and themselves, as he could not force them to give up the child. They pleaded with the 

           Department to assist them in the matter. 



14.140     The Department acknowledged receipt of the letter on 2nd October 1962 and advised that inquiries 



           were being made. The question is whether anybody spoke to Annette. The person who was best 

           placed to deal with any reservations about the Laceys was Annette. There is no record of any 

           communication with Annette, either by the Department or by the Sisters. 



           16 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     515 


----------------------- Page 1302-----------------------

14.141     The next piece of correspondence on file is four months later, dated April 1963, and was a note 

           from the Laceys to the Department advising them that they were returning to England on 9th  April 



           1963.  They  explained  the  short  notice  due  to  delays  in  finalising  deals.  They  expressed  their 

           intention to send Annette to a Catholic boarding school as soon as they were settled in England 

           and  gave  their  new  address.  They  told  the  recipient  not  to  worry  about  her,  as  she  would  be 

           brought up as a good Catholic and with a good education. 



14.142     A  break  in  the  documentation  then  occurred,  but  Annette’s  evidence  was  that,  throughout  this 

           time,  she  was  subjected  to  severe,  continuing  sexual  abuse  by  Mr  Lacey,  both  in  Ireland  and 

           in England. 



14.143     Four years later, the following letter was received by Rev Mother in St Joseph’s, Kilkenny from a 

           Church of Ireland Vicar based in Northern Ireland dated 22nd              May 1967, and read as follows: 



                  Very Rev and Dear Mother, 



                  I wish to make enquiries about a child who was possibly fostered or adopted from your 

                  Orphanage some years ago. I have only the scantiest details concerning her and I would 

                  be grateful if you could assist me in disseminating the facts. 



                  1) Childs name: Annette – Surname unknown 



                           1 

                  Age: 14 –15 

                           2 



                  2) Party who fostered or adopted her: Mr Lacey and his wife Roman Catholic and Church 

                  of England respectively. 



                                      ´ 

                  Occupation: Cafe caterers since 1966, formerly Industrial Caterers in England or Wales 

                  some years ago. 



                  The child has not practiced her religion since coming here nor has she been encouraged 

                  to do so. She has been absent from school since February at her “parents’” connivance. 

                  I fear she may be in real danger from lack of proper supervision. “Parents” unsuited to 

                  the task of properly rearing the girl. If this child has ever been in your care, and if you still 

                  have any legal authority over her would be grateful if you would let me know. The local 

                  Divisional Welfare Offices are also interested in the child and have left the matter in my 

                  hands to see if something could be done for the child before it is too late. Please forgive 

                  me putting such a problem before you – If you have any facts concerning her I would be 

                  grateful if you would let me know at your earliest convenience. 



                  Respectfully yours 



                  Vicar 



14.144     The Resident Manager sent a copy of the letter to Mr McDevitt on 4th                 June 1967, reminding him 



           of their reservations about the couple at the time and recalling that they had done their best to 

           prevent her leaving St Joseph’s. 



14.145     In January 1968, concern for the welfare of Annette moved from Northern Ireland to the UK. The 

           Children’s Officer in the UK wrote to the Education Officer in Belfast, reminding him to follow up 

           with the Department of Education in Ireland concerning this child. The inquiry was forwarded to 

           the Department sometime after 15th          March 1968. 



14.146     On 30th   September 1969, when Annette was 17 years of age, the Children’s Officer in the County 



           Borough of [place redacted] wrote to the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools with the 

           following information: 



           516                                                             CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1303-----------------------

                 Dear Sir, 



                 Re: Annette – 1.11.52 



                 The above named girl was placed by you in 1961 from St Joseph’s School, Kilkenny into 

                 the care of Mr and Mrs Lacey who were, at that time, living in, Co Dublin. 



                 After moving from place to place in Ireland the Lacey’s eventually came to live in [the UK]. 

                 Over  the  last  few  months,  they  have  alternatively  written  letters  complaining  about  the 

                 girl’s behaviour and asking for help and others to say that everything was alright and they 

                 preferred not to be visited. 

                 On  the  13th  August,  1969,  Mr  and  Mrs  Lacey  deposited  Annette’s  belongings  in  the 



                 Department with a final letter to say that they wished to have no more to do with her. 



                 As we have no background knowledge of this girl prior to her going to live with the Lacey’s, 

                 I would be most grateful for any information you could supply regarding Annette’s case 

                 history before this time. 



                 Yours Sincerely 



                 [Children’s Officer] 



14.147     The  Department  did  not  respond  until  four  months  later  and,  in  a  letter  dated  January  1970, 

           they stated: 



                 Dear Madam, 



                 With reference to the enquiry you made in September last in regard to above-named girl, 

                 I am directed to inform you that according to the records of this office, Annette was an 

                 illegitimate child, the daughter of [details redacted mother later re-married] ... The couple 

                 separated. It is believed they are in England, but the address of either party is not known. 



                 Annette was baptised a Roman Catholic. She was committed to the care of St Joseph’s 

                 Industrial School, Kilkenny by order of Court [date redacted]. She remained in that school 

                 until May 1961, when she was discharged to the custody of Mr and Mrs Lacey, then living 

                 in Co Dublin [address redacted]. The Lacey’s later went to reside in England. It was made 

                 a condition of the discharge of Annette to their care that should either or her parents at a 

                 future  date  claim  custody  of  this  child  the  Lacey  family  would  have  no  option  but  to 

                 surrender her immediately to such parent. 



                 I am to express regret for delay in replying to your letter and that we have no more useful 

                 information to give. The Resident Manager of St Joseph’s School, Kilkenny, may be able 

                 to  supply  more  details  in  the  case,  such  as  Annette’s  progress  at  school,  names  and 

                 addresses of relatives or friends in this country. 



                 Your Faithfully 



14.148     By this time, January 1970, Annette was almost 18 years old. 



14.149     •    The documents in this case disclose that considerable thought was given to placing 

                the  child  with  the  Laceys  but  they  do  not  record  that  the  essential  requirement  of 

                supervision, namely communication with the child, took place. 



           Complainant account of sexual abuse by fostering family 



14.150     Another complainant was five years old when she was committed to St Joseph’s with two of her 

           sisters,  and  remained  until  she  was  16.  She  was  from  a  Traveller  family  and  could  remember 

           many  arguments  between  her  mother  and  father  as  a  young  child.  She  did  not  remember  the 

           court  experience,  but  her  sister  told  her  that  she  did  not  think  the  family  understood  that  the 

           committal would be for such a long period. Her brother was committed to another industrial school 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                               517 


----------------------- Page 1304-----------------------

          at the same time, and she never saw him during those years. Her father was killed in the late 

          1960s.  She  has  since  been  told  by  relatives  that  he  was  disappointed  and  remorseful  that  he 

          never managed to get his family out of St Joseph’s. 



14.151    This witness’s main complaint was that she had been sexually abused by the father of a family to 

          whom she was sent for holidays. She stated that children in St Joseph’s went out on holidays on 

          a regular basis. They were sent to families for the month of August. A large group of them would 

          go up to Dublin on the train to be met by their host families at Heuston Station. She was sent to 

          a family who had no children of their own. Initially, she was sent with another girl from St Joseph’s 

          and it was all very exciting. She was paraded around by the couple to their friends’ houses and 

          shown off as the ‘child they had for the month of August’. The husband started to abuse her. It 

          started with touching and eventually led to more serious abuse. She cannot understand how the 

          family were not vetted. She was discharged to them, and the abuse continued when she lived 

          with them full-time. When she started dating her boyfriend, she told him what was going on and 

          he confronted the man’s wife and told her what her husband was doing. 



14.152    She said she had been taken out of school because the couple permission to have her discharged 

          to them. They suggested that she could work for them in their office in Dublin. She stayed with 

          them for about a year. 



14.153    She  remembered  an  occasion  when  another  pupil  of  St  Joseph’s,  who  was  staying  with  a 

          befriending family, called to visit her. The father attempted to abuse the young girl, who had to 

          lock herself into a bathroom. The girls discussed it afterwards, but the complainant was the only 

          person the girl spoke to. 



14.154    She had very few vivid memories of her initial period in St Joseph’s. She was committed with two 

          of her sisters. The three of them were put into the green set in the charge of two nuns, one of 

          whom she described as ‘evil’. The other would hit the children across the ears for no apparent 

          reason. 



14.155    She  went  to  school  in  St  Joseph’s  primary  school  and  then  to  the  Presentation  Convent  in 

          Kilkenny. She did well in school and was quite disappointed when she was taken out just before 

          she was due to sit her Intermediate Certificate to stay with the foster family. 



14.156    She  believes  that  she  was  treated  differently  from  other  girls  in  St  Joseph’s  because  of  her 

          travelling background. For example, she suffered verbal abuse, being called ‘tinker’ by other girls. 

          Her sisters received similar treatment. The nuns knew it was going on, but there was no attempt 

          to stop it by the Superiors or those in charge. She also felt her family were discriminated against 

          when they visited her. 



14.157    She has heard from other family members that her father often cycled from [another county] where 

          he worked to see them but was turned away. She made inquiries about this from family members, 

          and she found out recently that her father had tried on several occasions to get the children out 

          of the School. For the past 30 years she had believed that her father did not care about his family. 

          It was only when the documents were shown to her in the process of this inquiry that she learnt 

          the true situation and it has angered and upset her greatly. She believed that, if he had succeeded 

          in getting them out, they would at least have been loved. They never got any love in the School. 

          As a result, she found it difficult to this day to hug her own children. 



14.158    She maintained some contact with her friends from St Joseph’s, and has attended some reunions 

          to see them. She does not regard it as her home nor does she go to see the nuns: she attends 

          just to stay in touch with the girls, as they have a lot in common. Most of the girls in her set, the 

          green set, have very bad memories but she believes that girls in other sets would have different 



          518                                                       CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1305-----------------------

           memories. In particular she says that those in the blue set ‘were made’. The sets were segregated: 

          every child in the green set felt they were nobodies, and she believed that was the reason why 

          they were in that set. Most of the girls in it came from dysfunctional families. The red set was not 

          too bad – they were  ‘half right’. The blue set was a totally different scene, because they got all 

          the extras. Sr Astrid had overall responsibility for all sets, but was specifically in charge of the 

           blue set. Once assigned to a set, there was no possibility of moving to another. 



14.159    She thought Sr Astrid would like to believe that she was close to all the children, but that was not 

          the case. The children tried to keep in with her but Sr Astrid had her own cronies and pets, and 

          she gave them extras. 



14.160     It is  difficult to see  how the  nuns in St  Joseph’s could have  known if  a befriending family  was 

          abusive unless the child herself told them. However, they should have taught the girls to recognise 

           inappropriate behaviour and to report it. 



14.161     Differential treatment between the units is a major criticism of the institution. 



           Positive witnesses 



14.162    The first positive witness proposed by the Sisters had no contact with her natural parents and was 

          almost two and a half years old when she was placed in St Joseph’s. In her early period there, 

          she was cared for in the nursery but she had very little recollection of that time. 



14.163     During the rest  of her period in  St Joseph’s, she was  part of a group  known as the  ‘blue  set’, 

          which had Sr Astrid in charge, assisted by a number of lay staff. There were 30 girls in the blue 

          set, ranging from five to 16 years. Once a child was assigned to a set, it was usual for her to 

           remain there. She cannot remember any occasion when a child was transferred from one set to 

          another, nor does she think it would have been possible to ask for a change of set. The different 

          sets would get together during recreation in the playground, and when they went to outside school 

          after the age of 10 or 11. They also came together in the recreation hall for an hour or two of 

          television,  as  there  was  only  one  television  at  that  time.  Each  set  had  its  own  dormitories, 

          subdivided into senior and junior, its own sitting room and refectory. 



14.164     Daily life in St Joseph’s involved a routine of getting up in the morning before school and carrying 

          out a number of chores. The older girls would have some duties in looking after the younger girls, 

          to ensure they were getting their meals or that they were going to church in the mornings. Children 

          did  the  washing  up  after  meals.  On  reflection,  she  was  very  satisfied  with  the  food.  They  had 

           porridge  for  breakfast,  and  dinners  varied  with  food  such  as  stews,  corned  beef  and  smoked 

           haddock. They had a drink of cocoa after school, and tea, bread and jam at teatime. The older 

          girls sometimes helped out in the nursery, especially during the summer months. Before she left, 

          she had also worked in the bread room. 



14.165    She went to school in St Joseph’s until the age of 11, and then on to the Presentation Convent in 

           Kilkenny, which was a 20-minute walk away. Two or three girls walked to and from school together 

          each  day.  They  returned  home  for  lunch.  She  had  no  problems  in  school  and  made  a  lot  of 

          friends, especially through sports. She did not recall any difficulty integrating with the girls in the 

           Presentation Convent. She was encouraged by the Sisters to stay on and further her education, 

          and she believed herself and two other pupils were the first girls to do their Leaving Certificate 

          from  St  Joseph’s.  She  passed  it  and  went  on  to  Secretarial  College  and  subsequently  had  a 

          successful career. 



14.166    She made good friends within St Joseph’s and was still in contact with many of them. They were 

          scattered widely around the world, in London, Germany, Italy and the United States. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              519 


----------------------- Page 1306-----------------------

14.167     During the summer months, there were outings to the seaside. In August each year, St Joseph’s 

           closed and all the girls went out to families. She went to a family in Sandymount, Dublin, which 

           she found a very positive experience. 



14.168     She described Sr Astrid as a very gentle person who did not slap the children. She hardly ever 

           raised her voice to anyone. She was very good to them. The main means of discipline was to 

           remove privileges, such as the film night or the weekly pocket money. 



14.169     That was the situation in the blue set. From what she has heard, the experience in other sets was 

           a little different: control was achieved more by voices raised in temper, and the atmosphere may 

           have  been  different,  as  some  of  the  nuns  and  staff  were  more  strict.  She  has  not  heard  any 

           complaints about physical punishment, but she knew that bed-wetters probably had to wash their 

           own sheets. 



14.170     She did not remember any children in her set ever being put in a cubby hole as a punishment. 

           She did recall that there was a cubby hole which held sweeping brushes and the like. She had 

           heard of the threat of being put in a cubby hole in the other sets, but not in her set. She did not 

           know what went on in other sets. 



14.171     Overall, she found the experience in St Joseph’s a good one, but she did find life a bit restricted. 

           This may have been for security reasons, but everything, even hours of play, was regimented to 

           a certain time. 



14.172     She has kept contact with Sr Astrid over the years. When she left St Josephs, she stayed in a 

           house in Dublin which was solely used for the purpose of looking after the girls when they arrived 

           in Dublin. She has attended reunions in Kilkenny every two years for the past 14 or 15 years. 



14.173     The second positive witness had been in care from the age of four, and was 12 years old when 

           she arrived at St Joseph’s in the mid-1960s. From the start, she thought it was really good and 

           settled  in easily.  She  was  placed in  the  red set  with  her  sister, who  was  two  years older.  Mrs 

           Dunphy17  was in charge and personally she found her nice, but thought she could be strict, and 



           some  younger  children  may  have  found  her  a  bit  cross.  Discipline  was  enforced  by  stopping 

           pocket money or not allowing children to view the film. 



14.174     She remained in the red set until she was transferred to the green set two years before she left 

           St Joseph’s. She did not ask for the transfer, but was pleased with the move and thought there 

           was a very good atmosphere in the green set. Sr Tilda18  was in charge and she was kind to all 



           the children. She was older by then and was allowed a lot more freedom. The girls were friendly 

           and  she  was  very  involved  in  sports.  She  won  All-Ireland  camogie  medals.  She  believed  that 

           every opportunity was given to her to develop in St Joseph’s, and she felt she did a lot better than 

           many children from ordinary homes. During summer holidays, she went to a befriending family 

           who were extremely kind to her. She did her Leaving Certificate and said that anyone inclined to 

           do so was encouraged to study and do well. Subsequently, she did a commercial course in Dublin 

           in a private college and eventually got a good job. She thought the driving force for all of this was 

           Sr Astrid. 



14.175     She  believed  that  St  Joseph’s,  Kilkenny  would  have  been  a  role  model  as  a  school,  had  it 

           remained single sex. The introduction of boys was not good for the School. One of the things she 

           missed about the School was not being part of a family and not being shown affection. She found 

           things were sometimes a bit rigid, but felt this was mainly because there were a large number of 

           children to cater for. 



           17 This is a pseudonym. 

           18 This is a pseudonym. 



           520                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1307-----------------------

14.176     Sr Astrid was asked whether she agreed with the suggestion that those who were in the ‘blue 

           set’, which was under her immediate control, fared much better than the children in the other sets. 

           Sr  Astrid  insisted  that  she  did  not  treat  any  of  the  children  differently.  The  groups  were  very 

           separate. She did not accept that the blue set got things that the others did not. She said that the 

           Superior gave all the groups the same things, but thought that perhaps sometimes someone from 

           her own family might come and give her group extra sweets and things like that. She agreed that 

           Traveller children could be called names by the others, as they had a lot of children round the 

           place and name-calling was inevitable. 



14.177     •    The group care system could not replace a loving family, but it did offer a more child- 

                centred environment where children were encouraged both socially and educationally. 



           •    Attending the external school worked well for the children, and there is evidence at 

                this  time  of  good  integration  between  the  children  from  St  Joseph’s  and  the  local 

                community. 



           The Group Homes 



14.178     The system of grouping children into smaller units appeared to work reasonably well throughout 

           the  1950s  and  into  the  1960s.  In  1966,  however,  a  decision  was  taken  to  close  St  Patrick’s, 

           Kilkenny as an industrial school. It had catered for boys up to the age of eight and had been run 

           by the Sisters of Charity. Many of the residents of St Joseph’s had brothers in St Patrick’s and, 

           indeed,  this  was  one  of  the  reasons  the  Department  of  Education  gave  for  recommending  the 

           transfer of the boys to St Joseph’s. Accordingly, 28 boys were transferred, to be retained until 

           eight years of age. 



14.179     The sudden increase in numbers, and the integration of boys into the School, caused problems 

           for the management. 



14.180     In an undated document entitled ‘Report for The Department of Education’, which would appear 

           to  have  been  written  in  late  1969,  the  case  was  made  for  the  need  for  St  Joseph’s  Industrial 

           School to move toward forming group residences in the community. The report stated that, during 

           the year 1968/69, the Sisters experienced much unrest and disturbance amongst the children. It 

           manifested  itself  in  a  variety  of  ways,  such  as  absconding  and  repeated  ‘burning  incidents’. 

           According to the report, these problems arose mainly because of lack of proper accommodation, 

           and proper staff and recreational facilities, which were all put down, in turn, to lack of financial 

           assistance. 



14.181     The report further stated that, in an effort to cope with this problem in May 1969, a small group of 

           the most disturbed children was placed in a house in Kilkenny donated by Bishop Birch, under 

           the  care  of  one  of  the  Sisters,  and  the  children  were  treated  in  every  respect  like  an  ordinary 

           family. This project, initially an experiment, was a great success, and it became clear that efforts 

           like this would eliminate many of the problems in St Joseph’s. 



14.182     According to the report, the Sisters consulted with experts in the US and Britain, and set about 

           reorganising the Institution in groups/units as close as possible to the ordinary family. Four groups 

           with  16  children  and  three  groups  with  10  in  each  were  formed,  with  children  of  both  sexes, 

           ranging between the ages of two and 18 years. Children under two years were kept in a separate 

           nursery. Each of the separate groups was staffed by three adults. Alterations were made to the 

           Institution and the old national school to accommodate the groups, and two dwelling houses were 

           purchased. The Sisters asked the Department to assess the situation as soon as possible, as the 

           Congregation could not meet all the costs involved, and needed assistance with reconstruction 

           work, the purchase of recreational facilities and transport for the children. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 521 


----------------------- Page 1308-----------------------

14.183     On  12th   September  1969,  Bishop  Birch  followed  up  this  proposal  by  formally  requesting  the 



           Department      for  financial  assistance    to  enable    St  Joseph’s    to  carry   out  the  programme       of 

           reconstruction which would bring the Institution in line with modern thinking on childcare. 



14.184     The  Sisters  went  ahead  with  their  plans.  They  altered  the  existing  buildings  and  acquired  two 

           houses in a nearby housing estate, half a mile away, to set up two ‘family-type’ houses. This was 

           done without sanction from the Department of Education, which was presented with the problem 

           of whether to finance the venture, when it had not sanctioned it in advance. The Department of 

           Finance refused the request for extra funding. 



14.185     On 11th   September 1969, Mr Wade from the Department travelled to Kilkenny with Mr Madden to 



           inspect the ‘unauthorised works’ which were at that time being carried out, and about which Dr 

           Birch and Sr Wilma19       had called to see the Secretary of the Department. Mr Wade set out the 



           situation as far as he saw it: 



                  To  fully  understand     how   the  nuns    in charge    of  the  Industrial   School   came    to  find 

                  themselves in their present plight the following comment may be of assistance. Since the 

                  appointment of Dr Birch as Bishop of Ossory there has been a convulsion in the social 

                  conscience of the laity and clergy in the Diocese of Ossory resulting in a welter of activity 

                  for the underprivileged from child adoption to geriatrics embracing also itinerants. Nuns, 

                  priest and students from St Kieran’s Seminary are involved to a greater extent than ever 

                  before among the poor and needy. A social centre has been erected on the grounds of the 

                  community, a nursery to facilitate adoption work has been approved by the Department of 

                  Health and will also be erected on the convent grounds and there are itinerants settlement 

                  schemes,  meals  on  wheels,  companions  for  the  old  etc  etc.  Add  to  this  a  favourable 

                  comment from a member of the Committee on the Reformatory and Industrial Schools on 

                  the standards of St Joseph’s, advance information from a member of the Committee that 

                  the group system of caring for children would be a recommendation and that grants would 

                  be available for building to assist in the changeover from the present methods and the 

                  stage was set for the nuns to run off in all directions without an Architect (except for on 

                  one item, play space and enclosed gymnasium) without authority, without money or the 

                  overdraft facilities to pay for the job. 



14.186     He was sorry for the situation the nuns found themselves in, describing it as quite pathetic. He 

           felt that: 



                  the Bishop abetted by a young radical member of the community played a large part in 

                  creating this situation and it seems the Department will have to come to the rescue by 

                  making a case to the Department of Finance for an ex gratia grant. 



14.187     He also advised that the new Resident Manager needed to be told that policy making and major 

           decisions in matters that concern the welfare of committed children had to have the approval of 

           the Minister, who alone was the responsible authority in these areas. 



14.188     The case was made by the Secretary of the Department of Education to the Department of Finance 

           on  behalf of  the Sisters  of Charity  in a  memorandum dated  7th           October  1969. It  stated  that St 



           Joseph’s, Kilkenny was a well-run school and, in the view of the Minister, would always have a 

           place in the field of childcare: 



                  not alone for its success as an industrial school, but, because of the considerable increase 

                  in costs if it were to be replaced by an institution under lay management. 



           19 This is a pseudonym. 



           522                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1309-----------------------

14.189    The Department of Finance refused to make the payment, as provision in the Vote for the Office 

          of Public Works for school building was already over-expended. 



14.190    The Department of Education wrote again to Finance on 2nd          March 1970, advising them that they 



          had a surplus of £15,000 from the Reformatory and Industrial School budget, and wondered if 

          they could pay this out to the Sisters. The Department of Finance gave their sanction and the 

          money was paid. 



14.191    A General Inspection was carried out on 7th       November 1971; the previous one had taken place 

          on 8th  May 1970. The Inspector noted under Sanitation, Health, Food and Diet that it was quite 



          obvious that these were given top priority by the Sisters. He found the premises in good condition, 

          and the changeover from institutionalisation to the group home system was well underway. The 

          staff  were  hard  working  and  forward  thinking.  The  Sisters were  planning  to  acquire  the  use  of 

          another nearby house for adolescent boys, as the Resident Manager was concerned about these 

          children. He also met and had a long discussion with Sr Wilma regarding the childcare course 

          in Kilkenny. 



14.192    Mr Crean inspected the School on 10th        November 1972 and was very pleased with the School. 



          He made the following general observations: 



                In  the  last 4  or 5  years   the Community     at  St Joseph’s    has  spent  generously    and 

                constructively – works of improvement are still in progress. It is a wonderful home for the 

                children in care – it caters for 100 children on average – boys and girls from the age of a 

                few weeks, up to 17+  in the case of girls and 15+  in the case of boys. 



14.193    Mr   Crean   praised   the  way  in  which   day-to-day   problems    were   courageously    tackled.  The 

          education of the children was given top priority. Thirteen girls and one senior boy were in different 

          boarding  schools.  There  was  never  a  failure  at  Intermediate  Certificate,  Leaving  Certificate  or 

          Group Certificate level. 



14.194    Much  of  the  correspondence  in  1973  between  the  Department  of  Education  and  the  Resident 

          Manager related to finance. It is clear from this correspondence that the Department officials were 

          very much on the side of the Sisters of Charity. As far as they were concerned, St Joseph’s was 

          one  of  the  most  progressive  schools  in  the  country  and  had  carried  out  extensive  works  of 

          adaptation and purchase of property to form self-contained group homes. Since 1968, the Sisters 

          had expended a total of £80,000, and the State had contributed £24,000 towards it by 1973. The 

          Department was critical of how the Sisters had embarked on such a substantial programme of 

          development, but was in no doubt that the augmented capitation grants were being put to proper 

          use. The properties acquired were vested in the Sisters and not in the State, and the Department 

          of Finance was reluctant to give grants towards the acquisition of property on which it would have 

          no claim. 



14.195    Two Department officials visited Stanhope Street Convent in Dublin on 18th          May 1973, where the 



          Sisters were proposing to set up an aftercare hostel for up to 13 senior girls from Kilkenny who 

          would be commencing work or continuing with studies in Dublin. The estimated cost was £21,000. 

          They  agreed  to  recommend  to  the  Department  that  they  should  provide  £15,000  toward  the 

          project. 



14.196    In the final paragraph of the memorandum of the visit, the following is recorded: 



                Sister Astrid adverted also to problems relating to emotional disturbance among children 

                in  the  Kilkenny  home.  It  was  agreed  that  this  was  a  growing  problem  in  these  homes 

                which needs consideration. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             523 


----------------------- Page 1310-----------------------

  14.197   It appeared from the correspondence between Sr Astrid and Dr Paul McQuaid, Consultant Child 

           Psychiatrist, dated 12th    December 1973 that he had found that a significant number of children in 



           care in St Joseph’s were seriously or moderately disturbed. This led to a visit to Kilkenny by a 

           Principal Officer from the Department on 29th April 1974. He met with Sr Astrid, Resident Manager, 



           the  Programme  Manager  for  the  South  Eastern  Health  Board,  and  the  Bishop  of  Ossory.  The 

           focus  of  the  visit  was  to  assess  the  needs  of  the  School  and  future  trends  in  dealing  with  the 

           problem of emotionally disturbed children in the home. 



  14.198   The first report from Inspector Graham Granville was dated 22nd                 February 1976, and was very 



           positive about all aspects of the School in terms of facilities and care for the children. The Sisters 

           complained to him of lack of follow-up by social workers who requested places for children, had 

           them  admitted,  and  then  failed  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  child;  and  they  sought  Mr  Granville’s 

           assistance in tackling this problem. 



  14.199   Around this time, the School was experiencing problems with some of the children, in particular 

           with getting them to attend the local schools and to be accepted there. 



  14.200   The problem with local schools came up for mention again in a General Inspection Report dated 

           27th  January 1977 carried out by Mr Granville. He noted that, although the children attended local 



           schools  and  were  allowed  to  join  in  school  activities,  there  was  not  good  contact  between  the 

           local schools and the residential home with regard to the children’s progress etc. In a handwritten 

           note on the end of the report, it was decided that the Schools Inspector would meet the Bishop 

           and Sr Astrid to try and resolve the education problem. The author noted that Kilkenny was by far 

           the biggest residential home in the country, and perhaps the unwieldy size was responsible for 

           some of the problems. 



  14.201   Mr Granville concluded his report in January 1977 with the following comment: ‘This residential 

           complex has a great deal to offer the South Eastern district if it is properly supported and guided’. 



           Allegations of sexual abuse in the 1970s 



  14.202   In January 1995, a Garda Sergeant, stationed at Kilkenny Garda Station, began an investigation 

           into allegations of sexual and physical abuse at St Joseph’s School in Kilkenny. In the course of 

           his  enquiries,  he  heard  allegations  of  severe  sexual  abuse, including  buggery,  and  of  physical 

           abuse  against two  men  who had  been  employed  in St  Joseph’s  during the  1970s.  The first  of 

           these allegations involved Thomas Pleece,20            who was employed in St Joseph’s from 1972 until 



           1976, when he was summarily removed by the Resident Manager following complaints by boys. 



  14.203   The second man was Peter Tade,21            who succeeded Mr Pleece as a care worker in St Joseph’s 



           in 1976. 



  14.204   Thomas Pleece admitted sexual abuse in St Joseph’s, as well as in St Augustine’s where he had 

           worked previously, and also to abusing two boys fostered by him after he left St Joseph’s. He was 

           indicted on 271 counts and received a 10-year sentence in October 1997. 



  14.205   Peter  Tade  was  indicted  on  10  counts  and  he  was  sentenced  to  four  years’  imprisonment  in 

           June 1998. 



  14.206   According to the Congregation,1995 was the first time it became aware of allegations of sexual 

           abuse in St Joseph’s. 



           20 This is a pseudonym. 

           21 This is a pseudonym. 



           524                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1311-----------------------

           Thomas Pleece 



14.207     After  the  decision    to  take  in  young    boys   in 1966,   the   Department     of  Education    Inspectors 

           recommended that St Joseph’s should employ male staff to help care for them. The first of these 

           carers was Thomas Pleece. 



14.208     The  decision  to  close  St  Patrick’s  and  transfer  the  boys  to  St  Joseph’s  caused  a  number  of 

           problems for St Joseph’s. The girls resented the presence of the boys in the School, and it was 

           difficult to keep boys and girls separated at night. 



14.209     Thomas Pleece completed the course and, on completion, was highly recommended to Sr Astrid, 

           who  appointed  him  with  sole  responsibility  for  16  teenage  boys.  He  was  House  Parent  for 

                                                                                                   ´ 

           Summerhill,  one  of  the  group  homes  in  St  Joseph’s.  According  to  Sr  Una  O’Neill,  who  gave 

           evidence to the Committee as Superior General of the Congregation: 



                  He was the House Parent for Summerhill so he would effectively have been in charge of 

                  the house. The manager would have visited as she did fairly regularly all of the houses 

                  each day and every evening. She and all concerned thought it was a great achievement 

                  to have a man in charge of the boys. In his professional child care capacity it was assumed 

                  that he would act as a father figure and role model for them. 



14.210     This  was  a  view  echoed  by  Mr  Graham  Granville  at  the  time,  who  wrote  of  Mr  Pleece  in  an 

           Inspection Report of November 1972: 



                  ... he is young – probably 28 years – single and naturally at ease with youngsters whilst 

                  unobtrusively  maintaining  discipline.  If  he  applied  and  were  selected  for  Oberstown,  I 

                  understand he would be badly missed at St Joseph's. 



14.211     Thomas Pleece said in evidence that he first became involved with childcare when he started to 

           work in St Augustine’s Special School in Blackrock. He admitted to sexual abuse of boys in St 

           Augustine’s. He had formerly worked in a factory. 



14.212     From Blackrock he went to the childcare course in Kilkenny in 1971. He said that he did not have 

           the  necessary  educational  requirement  for  the  course,  and  was  therefore  surprised  to  get  an 

           interview. He had to provide them with an essay/project to satisfy the educational aspect. He also 

           had a formal interview with three or four persons on the panel. He had the requisite two years’ 

           experience in childcare in St Augustine’s, and he provided three references. He was one of only 

           three lay persons who attended the first course in 1971. The other 17 participants were Religious. 

           The college organised a placement for him in St Joseph’s. He lived in St Joseph’s during the year 

           of the course and, in return for his accommodation, he did a couple of hours each evening doing 

           games  with  the  children.  He  also  attended  short  placements  in  the  probation  service  and  in  a 

           school in the UK as part of the course. 



14.213     At the end of the year, he was offered a job in St Joseph’s and took up the position in September 

           1972. He explained: 



                  I was approached by Sr Astrid and asked if I would be interested in taking over the group 

                  of boys in St Joseph's, that they were going to put all the boys together and once the 

                  holidays came in June, that they would be splitting that mixed group up and changing that 

                  unit to a boys’ unit and I could take it over as the team leader there, if you like. 



           Mr Pleece said that, although he would have had regular contact with social workers, volunteers 

           and two other Sisters in the Community who worked in the unit, it was Sr Astrid who was most in 

           contact with him: 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      525 


----------------------- Page 1312-----------------------

                  I  suppose  Sr  Astrid  was  the  one  that  would  have  had  her  finger  on  anything  that  was 

                  going on in the unit. You must remember that Sr Astrid was a mother figure to all of the 

                  children in St Joseph's. The boys, I mean, idolised her. When she came over, like, it was 

                  an  event  every  time  because  they  all  wanted  to  speak  to  her  and  give  her  a  hug  and 

                  whatever, you know. She was wonderful with the children. 



14.214     Thomas Pleece left St Joseph’s between September 1973 and April 1974 and went to work in 

           Drogheda, where he was offered a job which paid slightly better than St Joseph’s. He paid one 

           visit to Kilkenny during the time he worked in Drogheda, and became aware that the children were 

           not happy with his replacement. Sr Astrid met him and they discussed the possibility of his coming 

           back. He agreed, provided she could match his salary in Drogheda. He returned to Kilkenny in 

           April 1974 and remained there until 1976. 



           Sr Wilma 



14.215     From  1964,  Sr  Wilma  lived  in  St  Joseph’s  Convent  in  Kilkenny  and  worked  in  Kilkenny  Social 

           Services.    She   had    daily  contact   with   the  Sisters   in  the  Community.      She    assisted   in  the 

           establishment of the childcare course in Kilkenny in 1971. 



14.216     She recalled that Thomas Pleece attended the first childcare course in Kilkenny and was the first 

           layman  to  do  the  course.  She  interviewed  him  with  all  the  other  applicants.  He  satisfactorily 

           completed the course and she was sure she would have recommended him to the Sister in charge 

           in St Joseph’s, although she did not remember specifically doing so. She recalled he was a good 

           student and had impressed on the course. Once Thomas Pleece started to work in St Joseph’s, 

           she had no contact with him. She may have met him once or twice in the grounds but had no real 

           contact. In her Garda statement, she recalled he had an Alsatian dog which she was terrified of. 

           She did not remember discussing his progress in St Joseph’s. Sr Astrid did not tell her about his 

           dismissal or the circumstances surrounding it. She did not know why he left and never enquired 

           about it. 



           Richard Evans22 



14.217     Richard Evans did part-time work at St Joseph’s five nights per week. He helped the children with 

           sport  and  homework,  and  did  leisure  supervision.  He  recalled  the  boys  coming  to  him  with 

           allegations that they were being interfered with by Thomas Pleece: 



                  It was in the spring of ‘74 ... After a lot of conversation with the boys, a lot of cajoling, 

                  they came to me and they were saying that Mr Pleece was abusing them. The way they 

                 put it was he was interfering with them when they were in bed at night ... Joe,23                Simon24 

                  and Justin,25   and there was a few more of them. They didn't want to go to tell anybody 



                  because they knew they were going to be punished if they did. They were going to suffer 

                  repercussions.  Because  there  was  an  awful  lot  of  abuse  going  on  that  I  knew  nothing 

                  about, physical and sexual, and I knew nothing about it. I wouldn't have known anything 

                  about it at the time. 



14.218     The boys complained again: 



                 After about two, three weeks they came back to me again and they were afraid to go at 

                  the  start  and  said  they  wouldn't  go  to  report  it  to  anybody,  there  was  no  one  going  to 

                  listen  to  them.  I  said,  'What's  the  harm  in  going  over  and  telling  the  Reverend  Mother 

                  anyway? ... They were complaining about Thomas Pleece interfering with them in bed, 

                  their private parts, interfering with them, taking them out of bed and bringing them to his 



           22 This is a pseudonym. 

           23 This is a pseudonym. 

           24 This is a pseudonym. 

           25 This is a pseudonym. 



           526                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1313-----------------------

                room and that sort of stuff ... I listened to what they were saying and I said, “We'll have 

                 to do something about it. We need to tell somebody this is going on, that it needs to stop”. 

                 Even at that stage they still weren't prepared to, you know, to make it public that they 

                 were going to go to somebody in authority ... I think a lot of it was the fact that if Thomas 

                 Pleece found out about it they would get more abuse, they would get physical abuse. 



14.219     Mr Evans was aware that someone in authority needed to be told what was going on: 



                 I asked them would they jointly come over to see the Reverend Mother and I would make 

                 an appointment for them to meet her. I don't know what night of the week or anything. 

                Joe was the only one who decided he would come with me. We rang the doorbell over in 

                 the  main building  and I  looked for  the Reverend  Mother and  we went  into the  parlour, 

                Joe, myself and the Reverend Mother. I can remember it so clearly. I sat on the left-hand 

                side, Joe sat in front of me and the Reverend Mother was on my right. I would say for 

                half an hour, three quarters of an hour we talked about the general interference and Joe, 

                 as a young lad of that age, was not prepared to turn around and say he's touching me or 

                 feeling my private parts or naming the parts or what he was doing but he was interfering 

                is the way he put it. It was vague enough and probably gives as much as I would give at 

                 that stage either. 



14.220     He  said  that  Sr  Astrid  listened,  but  asked  no  questions  about  what  was  being  communicated 

          to her: 



                 She listened, didn't say an awful lot. I vaguely recollect that she said, “Well, I'll look into 

                it”. There was something of that – something close to that ... I think the words she used 

                 were that “I will do something about it” or – I don't know what way it was put but we left 

                saying there was something going to happen. That was my impression leaving. 



14.221     Mr Evans recalled saying something to Thomas Pleece after he had spoken with Sr Astrid: 



                 ... But after the occasion of going seeing the Reverend Mother with Joe I remember saying 

                something – Now, I can't remember exactly what I said, but I think I said it to Thomas 

                 Pleece that if you are interfering with them boys, “You shouldn't be interfering with them 

                boys”, or “You should leave them alone” or “What the hell is going on” or something of 

                 that nature I said to him. His reaction was “What business is it of yours?” or “You are only 

                such and such, what the hell are you going to do about it?” or something like that. 



14.222    Whatever was said, Thomas Pleece resented Richard Evans after that: 



                 Now, Thomas Pleece always had an Alsatian and that was his main threat with everybody, 

                 the Alsatian would be put on you or set on you if you opened your mouth or stepped in 

                 the  wrong  place.  He  did  resent  me  after  that.  It  was  quite  obvious  that  he  must  have 

                known or found out we had gone to the Reverend Mother and he wasn't happy about it. 

                 I don't think after that occasion that I ever spoke to him after that. 



14.223     Mr Evans described Sr Astrid as being ‘ferociously calm about the whole thing’. She did not say 

           much or express horror at what she was being told. He was, however, quite sure that something 

          would be done about it. He said:  ‘I think I spoke to [another nun] at one stage about it’. 



14.224    Sr Astrid had maintained that  she had no recollection of anyone speaking to  her about sexual 

          abuse by Thomas Pleece, consequently Richard Evans was asked to spell out how explicit he 

           had been with her: 



                 Well, I originally stated to the Reverend Mother that Thomas Pleece was putting his hands 

                in under the bedclothes in interfering with the boys’ private parts and that Joe was there 

                 to  make  a  complaint.  He  didn't  particularly  say  that  Pleece  was  catching  them,  feeling 

                 their penises or anything but he was interfering with them under the clothes, their private 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                             527 


----------------------- Page 1314-----------------------

                 parts I think is the way he put it. But there was no mention of other than that. From what 

                 has transpired since that, there was an awful lot worse than that going on. But that didn't 

                 come out with Sr Astrid that night. 



14.225     Though the boys had not been explicit even with Richard Evans, he had no doubt that what was 

           happening was wrong and had to be stopped: 



                 I knew it was wrong, what was going on. What they had said to me was wrong, it shouldn't 

                 have been going on there. 



14.226     He went on to say: 



                 I  didn't  even  understand  up  to  the  time  we  had  gone  to  the  Reverend  Mother  the  full 

                 extent of what they were saying to me. I only knew that interfering with boys in bed was 

                 wrong and an older man interfering with boys was wrong. But the full extent of it I definitely 

                 would say I didn't understand. 



14.227     He was asked whether he had considered going to the Gardai, and he replied: 

                                                                                   ´ 



                 No, not at that time. Ever since that, ever since I have heard that there was nothing ever 

                 happened about it, and the extremes of it and the extent of it, I live with the fact that I 

                 made major mistakes myself as an individual of 20, 22 years of age, I should have went, 

                 instead of going to the Reverend Mother, I should have went to the Garda, I should have 

                 went to the Health Board, I should have went a whole lot of places, but I didn't. 



14.228     The evidence of the witness was that the fact that the boys were being sexually interfered with 

           was undoubtedly stated to Sr Astrid and that she would have understood that there was more 

           going on than was being described to her. 



14.229     That meeting between Joe, Richard Evans and Sr Astrid took place at the beginning of the spring 

           of 1974, some months after Thomas Pleece had been brought back to Kilkenny from his eight- 

           month period of employment in Drogheda. 



14.230     Richard Evans did not work in Kilkenny during that summer of 1974, and when he returned he 

           was not assigned to Summerhill, the house run by Mr Pleece. Instead, he worked in the main 

           house with younger boys. He said that he did not enquire whether things had been resolved but, 

           some  time  later,  he  met  one  of  the  boys  in  town  on  Saturday.  He  asked  him         ‘has  anything 

           happened up there since?’, and the boy responded, ’Not a thing, it got worse’. 



14.231     Mr Pleece continued to work as a care worker in Summerhill until 1976. 



           The evidence of Thomas Pleece 



14.232     Mr Pleece gave his own account of the circumstances of his leaving in 1976 to the Investigation 

           Committee: 



                 Well, I was just reading Sr Astrid’s account of what happened, but her recollection is a 

                 little wrong in some respects. First of all, a problem had arisen in St Joseph's that I didn't 

                 know about. There had been a complaint made against me. I didn't know this, but one 

                 morning I got a message from Sr Astrid that I wasn't to send the children to school, that 

                 I was to the bring them over to the convent, to the parlour. There was two big rooms in 

                 the convent. Which I did, and other members of staff were there as well. There were two 

                 other members of staff. So they were all there. All the boys were all put into the one room. 

                 I wasn't told anything of what was happening. The boys were being brought into another 



           528                                                          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1315-----------------------

                 room one by one. I was later to learn that – because I was the last person to go in and it 

                  was Dr Black 26    that was interviewing each boy and every member of staff. 



14.233     Thomas Pleece said that Dr Black asked him how he was getting on, and whether he had any 

           problems in the School. He then told Mr Pleece that there had been a complaint against him: 



                 He told me that there was a complaint. He didn't say what the complaint was, he just said 

                  there was a complaint and that they were looking into it. He found that he didn't find any 

                  credence in what the lads had said, and everything was fine, you know. 



14.234     Mr Pleece went back to his unit after this interview with the doctor and resumed his duties. He 

           added: 



                  It was about a week later or maybe two weeks later, I am not 100% sure, that I met Sr 

                 Astrid  in the  yard. She  told  me that  – what  she  said was  the boys  were  saying things 

                 about me and that she wasn't very happy and that she had – actually she had said – after 

                  the interview with Dr Black, that next morning, she did mention about that there was a 

                  complaint made but that she thought everything was going to be okay now because Dr 

                 Black had vindicated any allegation that was made. 



14.235     Mr Pleece stated to the Committee that he presumed that the complaint made and referred to by 

           Dr Black and Sr Astrid was one of sexual abuse: 



                  You  know,  this  is  where  the  misconception  was.  I  thought  she  was  talking  about  the 

                 sexual abuse. I never dreamed that she was talking about physical abuse. She was under 

                  the impression, obviously, that it was physical abuse, you know ... I just took it for granted 

                  that one of the lads had said that I had abused them. Especially if it was Joe. 



14.236     Mr Pleece asked Sr Astrid whether he was being sacked: 



                  I asked her did she want me to leave and she said, well, it might be better for everybody 

                  concerned if I was to leave. I did say to her, “Are you sacking me, am I getting the sack?” 

                 Because  I  wouldn't  have  been  too  happy  about  that.  She  said,  “Well,  no,  if  you  are 

                 resigning, that's fine, there's no problem”. 



14.237     At  all  times,  Thomas  Pleece  presumed  that  Sr  Astrid  had  received  a  complaint  about  sexual 

           abuse. He had been sexually abusing the boys and, in particular, had abused Joe, who he knew 

           had made the complaint. It was only when he heard Sr Astrid’s statement to the Commission, that 

           she had had no complaints of sexual abuse, that he questioned this assumption. At no time was 

           the subject matter of the complaint raised with him. All he was ever told, by both Sr Astrid and Dr 

           Black, was that a complaint had been made. No details of the complaint were ever spelt out to him. 



14.238     He described his interview with Dr Black: 



                 He was asking general questions about the discipline in the unit and how I disciplined the 

                 boys, and what kind of problems were arising out of that. I was talking to him for about 

                 half an hour, you know. 



14.239     Thomas  Pleece  agreed  that  the  whole  investigation  conducted  by Dr  Black  was  a  momentous 

           occasion and he was worried. He had refused the older boys permission to smoke and that had 

           caused  problems  but,  because  the  complaint  against  him  had  come  from  Joe,  a  boy  he  had 

           actually abused, he presumed the issue was sexual abuse: 



                  Well I had understood that that's what he said to Sr Astrid because I was just putting two 

                 and two together when she said to me there was a complaint. There couldn't be anything 

                  else because there was no physical abuse. 



           26 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     529 


----------------------- Page 1316-----------------------

  14.240  Although    Thomas     Pleece   disputed    the  extent   of  the  abuse   he   perpetrated    on  Joe,   he 

          acknowledged that abuse had occurred: 



                 You see because I went into Joe’s room and I fondled him, and I committed abuse on 

                him, when I was confronted by Sr Astrid by a complaint I immediately thought that's what 

                it was, that Joe had said to her that I had gone into his room. So he was right, like, that 

                part of it was right. 



  14.241   It was Thomas Pleece’s understanding that Dr Black had been asked by Sr Astrid to investigate 

          allegations of sexual abuse, and had found no evidence against him. Dr Black did not spell out 

          the complaint against him, and Thomas Pleece was afraid to ask. 



  14.242  Thomas Pleece denied absolutely that he ever physically abused boys: 



                 Well, in regard to physical abuse – I mean, I don't mind the boys claiming that I abused 

                 them sexually, you know, the three lads that I involved myself with. But for any boy to say 

                 that I physically abused them, I deny that completely. 



  14.243   He said he only ever laid a hand on boys for three reasons: one, if he was in danger from another 

           boy; two, if a boy was about to self-harm, he would restrain him; and three, in self-defence, which 

           he said never arose. Therefore, when Sr Astrid tackled him, the thought of physical abuse did not 

          enter his head because he had not done it. The only thing she could have been talking about was 

          sexual abuse, which he had done. 



  14.244  Thomas Pleece left St Joseph’s within a day or two of Sr Astrid speaking with him: 



                But I know that she was calling a halt, anyway, to me working with the boys. I would have 

                put the lads to bed that night and I would have said that I was leaving. I think that there 

                 was only two weeks or something to the summer holidays or something like that. 



  14.245   He was paid up to the summer and was given to understand by Sr Astrid that he would get a 

           reference. Although he left believing he had been accused of sexually abusing boys, he stated 

          that  he  left  on  good  terms.  He  came  back  to  reunions  at  Christmas  and  the  like  for  years 

          afterwards, and the invitations for this were extended by the Convent. He said: ‘I know I left under 

          a cloud in Kilkenny. But I left, as I thought, on good terms’. 



  14.246  Thomas Pleece continued in jobs that brought him into close contact with vulnerable young people 

          and children. 



  14.247   In September 1977, Thomas Pleece got a job in a probation hostel in Cork which accommodated 

           boys in their late teens. He assumed they would have sought a reference from St Joseph’s for 

           him there, although he did not see one. 



  14.248   He and his wife applied to foster two young boys in 1978. They were vetted before being accepted. 

           He said that it never crossed his mind that the fact that he had been asked to leave for sexual 

          abuse in Kilkenny was a disadvantage to his application for foster children: 



                 We had a number of interviews with the social worker, I don't know how many there was 

                now,  but there  was quite  a few,  and we  were in  the office  another day  and  there was 

                maybe three people there, and we had interviews with the head social worker, and the 

                social worker that had been interviewing us. That was about it. They passed us to foster. 



  14.249   He assumed that they would have contacted his previous employers but, as this was during the 

           period when he still had regular contact with Sr Astrid and the convent, he was not concerned 

          that he would not be given a reference by them. 



          530                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1317-----------------------

14.250     He did not link his sexual abuse at work with fostering children: 



                  You see those kind of things didn't enter into one's head at the time. Abuse wasn't – I 

                  didn't see it as abuse ... Well, the only thing I was to reassure myself was that it wouldn't 

                 happen again, ever. That's the assurance I had to give myself, in any other job, because 

                  I wasn't going to let this happen again because I knew I wouldn't survive a second one ... 

                  Yes, in a job situation. That I would never, ever cross the line again, you know, which 

                  I didn't. 



14.251     Mr  Pleece subjected  the  two fostered  boys  to  a horrific  ordeal  of sexual  abuse  once they  had 

           become teenagers, but he did not abuse again, according to himself, in his employment. In his 

           Garda statement, he admitted to abusing the boys from when they were about 11 to 15 or 16. 



14.252     The hostel in Cork closed down in 1979, and Mr Pleece was offered a job in the detention centre 

           run by the Oblate Fathers in Lusk and for this he required references from previous employers. 

           He gave St Joseph’s as a reference because he had asked Sr Astrid if there was going to be a 

           problem with references before he left and he understood from her that he would be okay on that 

           front. At the interview for Lusk he was asked why he resigned from St Joseph’s and explained it 

           by saying he resigned to take a ‘year out’ from childcare. 



14.253     He worked in Lusk until 1985, when it closed down, and then was out of work for a period until 

           he  took  up  another  post  in  Ballymun,  also  in  childcare.  He  worked  there  for  two  years.  Then 

           he worked in a home for children in Dublin  as Assistant Manager, and was arrested while still 

           employed there. 



14.254     As  well as  the two  boys he  and his  wife fostered,  they also  adopted two  children.  Again, they 

           were  subjected  to  a  rigorous  investigation  process  before  the  adoptions  were  sanctioned.  His 

           employment record would have been made available, but it is not clear whether any direct contact 

           was made with St Joseph’s as to his suitability. 



           Evidence of Dr Black 



14.255     Dr Black worked for the Brothers of Charity in Belmont Park between 1972 and 1976, and his job 

           at the time involved the assessment of children with behavioural problems. This work brought him 

           in regular contact with St Joseph’s, Kilkenny, and he knew Sr Astrid well. He estimated that he 

           would visit St Joseph’s about 15 times a year. He had no recollection of being asked by Sr Astrid 

           to conduct an inquiry or try to find out why some of the boys in Summerhill were unhappy. The 

           mode of inquiry that Thomas Pleece said had taken place would have taken much longer than an 

           afternoon visit. He could not have questioned more than one or two boys in that space of time. 

           As far as he was concerned, he never carried out this alleged investigation. 



14.256     On the question of the more casual inquiry suggested by Sr Astrid, he said that he would not have 

           used the phrase that she ‘had nothing to worry about’. He would have said that he could find no 

           evidence of the alleged offence. In addition, Dr Black said that he would most likely have written 

           a report, which he would have left in St Joseph’s. 



14.257     Although he visited a number of residential schools during his time as a psychiatrist, Dr Black said 

           that he had never had a complaint of physical or sexual abuse from any child ever. He said that 

           this was not surprising to him, as he did not really get to know the children well enough for them 

           to trust him. 



           Sr Astrid 



14.258     Sr  Astrid  stated  that  she  had  no  memory  of  a  meeting  with  Richard  Evans  and  Joe  in  which 

           Thomas Pleece’s sexual abuse of the boys was raised. She remembered that Joe came to see 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     531 


----------------------- Page 1318-----------------------

           her  once  or  twice,  but  did  not  remember  Mr  Evans  accompanying  him.  She  did  not  disagree 

           with Mr Evan’s recollection, as she believed he was an honest man, but she did not remember 

           it herself. 



14.259     Sr Astrid was asked if she made Thomas Pleece aware in 1976 that Joe had made allegations of 

           a sexual nature against him, as stated by him in his Garda statement. She replied, ‘No, that never 

           – I have no recollection of that’. Thomas Pleece also said that Dr Black was brought in to conduct 

           an inquiry. She was asked if she had brought Dr Black in to carry out an inquiry. She replied: 



                  Dr Black came regularly to St Joseph’s, he was just on his way to the – he called regularly 

                  to see us in St Joseph’s, to see had we any problems and usually he saw some of the 

                  girls. At that particular time the lads were inclined to run away a bit and come back to me 

                  and tell me he was tormenting them or at them. Well, I said wouldn’t – now he was come 

                  at that particular time and I said would you have a chat with the boys and see how they 

                  are, have they any special reason for running away. 



14.260     She  agreed  that  a  number  of  boys  had  complained  to  her  that  Thomas  Pleece  was  ‘at  them’, 

           which she understood to mean beating them or punishing them. On the particular occasion when 

           she dismissed Thomas Pleece, it was one boy who came. That boy was Simon. She was surprised 

           by her use of the term ‘abuse’ in her Garda statement: ‘abusing is there, but at that stage I knew 

           nothing about abuse, sex abuse; that’s the truth’. 



14.261     She  realised  something  was  wrong,  in  the  sense  that  she  thought  the  beating  was  more  than 

           usual. Simon told her ‘we are not able to stick it’. 



14.262     To the question why Thomas Pleece was asked to leave, she replied: 



                  Well, when Simon told me that day in the yard, you know, that it was very bad. “We can’t 

                  stick it,” I said, “Well I’ll have to go to Thomas Pleece myself”. I went to Thomas Pleece 

                  that very day myself and said to him “you can’t stay here any longer because the boys 

                  are very unhappy”. 



14.263     Sr Astrid was asked how often she had spoken to Thomas Pleece about being too rough with the 

           children before she had dismissed him. She said it happened a few times: 



                  You see I'd have to go over to him when the lads were run away or anything and they'd 

                  be coming to me. I'd have to go over and say " ... there is something wrong with this the 

                  lads shouldn't be afraid of you and you shouldn't be beating them". Then eventually he'd 

                  take them back,  sure some of them  wouldn't even go back  I would have to  take them 

                  down  to  one  of  the  houses.  One  particular  lad,  he  said  "I  won't  go  back  to  him  now, 

                  Sister". I said, "all right, sure come on for a night or two but it will be harder on you then 

                  when you do go back." But after a few days talking to him and that I'd take him back. 



14.264     Sr Astrid said that this had ‘probably happened a few times’ and remembered big groups of boys 

           being involved. 



14.265     Notwithstanding her decision to remove Thomas Pleece immediately, Sr Astrid was adamant that 

           she had not been told of sexual abuse. 



14.266     In 1979, less than three years after Mr Pleece had been dispatched from St Joseph’s, a letter was 

           sent to Sr Astrid by the Department of Education looking for a reference. It said: 



                  I wish to refer to Mr. Thomas Pleece, who has been offered a post as Housemaster in 

                  Scoil  Ard  Mhuire,  Lusk,  Co  Dublin.  Mr.  Pleece  has  claimed  service  in  your  residential 

                  home from 1972 to 1976. Perhaps you would be good enough to state; 



                  1. the nature of the post occupied by Mr. Pleece; 



           532                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1319-----------------------

                 2. whether service was full-time and satisfactory; 



                 3. the first and last date of service. 



  14.267   Sr Astrid replied by stating that Thomas Pleece had worked in St Joseph’s as a House Parent 

           from 1972 until 1976. Nothing in her reply indicated any difficulty with Mr Pleece, in spite of the 

           clear invitation at 2 above to express any reservations she might have. She said: 



                 I suppose one thing I wasn't good at writing letters myself, but I don't know why I wrote 

                 such a short note; that I didn't say he wasn't satisfactory. 



  14.268   She said that she would have said on the telephone that she would not have had Thomas Pleece 

           back in St Joseph’s: 



                 I did. I had told him on the phone you see, that was the trouble. They rang me up, you 

                 know,  for  a  reference  ...  Well  the  information  I  gave  on  the  telephone,  that  I  wouldn't 

                 employ, re-admit Thomas Pleece or that I wouldn't have him. 



  14.269   She went on to say: 



                 I remember getting phone calls from different places where Thomas Pleece applied when 

                 he  left  St  Joseph's.  I  know  the  only  answer  I  ever  gave  was  "I  wouldn't  have  Thomas 

                 Pleece back in St [Joseph’s]” – or I wouldn't reply. 



  14.270   Sr  Astrid  confirmed  that  she  did  not  think  Thomas  Pleece  was  suitable  to  work  with  children 

           because she believed that he was severe with them. 



  14.271   •    Mr  Evans’  account  of  his  meeting  with  Sr  Astrid  and  Mr  Pleece’s  account  of  his 

                departure are consistent with an allegation of sexual abuse. 



           •    Had  Mr Pleece’s  behaviour  been  identified  and  acknowledged, other  children  would 

                have been spared abuse and suffering. 



           •    Having dismissed Thomas Pleece, Sr Astrid should not have given him a reference for 

                another job that would bring him into contact with children. 



           Peter Tade 



  14.272   Peter Tade was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison at Kilkenny Circuit Criminal Court 

           on 9th June 1998. He died in prison in 1999 before the hearings into St Joseph’s took place. 



  14.273   Sr Astrid recalled that, after Mr Pleece’s removal, there was a staff shortage in St Joseph’s. 



  14.274   Sr Astrid said: 



                 When Thomas Pleece was gone I immediately rang the Department. I told Mr. Granville 

                 that I had dismissed Thomas Pleece and would he kindly come down to help me to put 

                 an ad in the paper and have the right salary. He came down, we wrote the ad, I posted it 

                 to the paper. Then when the people applied, came in, I told him that we had so many, but 

                 there was only one qualified person. I said "would you come down to interview if he [is] a 

                 state  qualified  person?"  And  he  did.  He  came  down  to  the  parlour  and  the  two  of  us 

                 interviewed Peter Tade. 



  14.275   According to Sr Astrid, Peter Tade was an elderly man and had great references. He was a very 

           religious and serious man. Both she and Mr Granville agreed that he should be offered the job. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                 533 


----------------------- Page 1320-----------------------

14.276     A trainee care worker, Donal Kavanagh,27  who was in Summerhill at the time of Thomas Pleece’s 



           removal, gave evidence about the events which led to his resignation from St Joseph’s in 1977. 



14.277     He  had  returned  to  Ireland  in  1976  having  spent  some  time  abroad  and  began  to  assist  in  St 

           Joseph’s  teaching  sports  to  the  boys  on  three  evening  a  week.  This  was  done  on  a  voluntary 

           basis, as he was acquainted with a female volunteer who worked with the children in St Joseph’s. 

           He was asked to work in the Summerhill unit following the sudden departure of Thomas Pleece. 

           He did not have a formal interview for the job. He did not know Thomas Pleece but was simply 

           asked to step into his unit until they found a replacement for him. Initially, he worked alone, with 

           the assistance of a Sister who did the cooking. 



14.278     After  some  months,  around  August  1976,  Peter  Tade  arrived  and  was  appointed  as  a  House 

           Parent, and Mr Kavanagh became his assistant. Five months later, Donal Kavanagh resigned and 

           wrote a letter of resignation which stated: 



                  Dear Rev Mother, 



                  Please accept this as my letter of resignation. I leave for the following reasons: Having 

                  two house fathers in Summerhill might work under different circumstances; but in the case 

                  of  Mr  Tade  and  I  it  is  not  working.  I  feel  and  fear  that  at  the  present  time  Mr  Tade  is 

                  neither mentally nor emotionally stable enough to give the boys the security and example 

                  they  need.   Furthermore      I feel  the  situation   in  Summerhill     at the   moment     is  highly 

                  undesirable and unsafe. 



                  This  is  not  a  hasty  or  reckless  judgment,  but an  opinion  formed  after  working  in  close 

                  proximity with Mr Tade for four months, and it is not without great thought and extreme 

                  reluctance that I now bring these matters to your attention; but as my first responsibility 

                  is to the boys in all conscience I must. 



                  Having  been  assured  that  there  is  no  chance  of  transferring  to  another  group,  I  must 

                  therefore with even greater reluctance submit this, my resignation. 



                  Yours sincerely, 



14.279     A copy of this letter was sent to the Bishop, Dr Birch. 



14.280     Soon after he took up his post as Housemaster, Mr Kavanagh observed that Mr Tade shouted 

           and screamed at the boys. He was very volatile. Some of the boys complained to him that Mr 

           Tade came into their rooms at night, especially after he had had a few drinks. They complained 

           that  he  was  physically  abusive  to  them.  Mr  Kavanagh  challenged  Mr  Tade  about  the  boys’ 

           complaints.  Mr  Tade  denied  any  wrongdoing,  and  Mr  Kavanagh  initially  accepted  his  word. 

           Subsequently,  the  boys  came  to  him  again  and  said  that  things  were  worse  because  he  had 

           spoken to Mr Tade. He then reported it to Sr Astrid, and she seemed quite shocked by what he 

           told her and said she would do something about it. He met her on at least two occasions. The 

           second time he told her that the boys were continually complaining that nothing had been done, 

           and he felt he could not continue working in the unit with Mr Tade and sought a transfer. 



14.281     Mr Kavanagh explained that, at that time, he was in his mid-20s, with almost no experience in 

           childcare. However, he knew the difference between right and wrong, and he believed the children 

           were being beaten and he was concerned for them. He decided he would have to resign. 



14.282     He spoke with Sr Wilma and told her that the boys were being physically abused. He believed 

           this conversation took place soon after he tendered his letter of resignation. He believed that he 

           told  her  only  about  physical  abuse,  as  it  never  occurred  to  him  that  they  were  being  sexually 

           abused. 



           27 This is a pseudonym. 



           534                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1321-----------------------

14.283    After he resigned, he continued to worry about the children. He had an introduction to the Bishop 

          of Ossory and a meeting was arranged. The Bishop was very concerned about what he was being 

          told, and Mr Kavanagh believed that the Bishop saw Sr Astrid and the Mother Superior, and may 

          have discussed this with Sr Wilma. 



14.284    Sr Astrid was asked for a reference for both Mr Thomas Pleece and Mr Donal Kavanagh, and she 

          gave them the following reference: 

                21st  August, 1979, 



                Dear Sir, 

                With reference to your letters of 16th  August re 



                      1.   Mr. Thomas Pleece 



                      2.  Mr. Donal Kavanagh 



                Both men were in employment here as 



                      1.   Housefather 



                      2.  Trainee Child Care Worker 



                respectively during the periods mentioned. 



                With good wishes, 



                Yours sincerely – Sr Astrid 



14.285    In  the  course  of  her  evidence,  Sr  Astrid  was  shown  a  copy  of  Donal  Kavanagh’s  letter  of 

          resignation, which was written in January 1977. She was asked what her understanding of that 

          letter had been. She told the Committee that she was glad when she got Mr Kavanagh’s letter 

          that he was leaving and she explained to the Committee that she had not really read his letter 

          properly at the time – she believed he had not written it himself: 



                I admit I didn't read the letter properly. I had never got a complaint from anybody. None 

                of the boys said anything about Peter Tade to me. 



14.286    She said that she did not trust Donal Kavanagh, although she did not explain why. She agreed 

          that it was almost impossible to get care workers at that time, either qualified or unqualified, but 

          she still did not want to retain Mr Kavanagh, who had asked for a move away from Peter Tade. 

          Mr Kavanagh surmised that her antipathy stemmed from his desire to unionise the workforce in 

          St Joseph’s. 



14.287    She said she never discussed the letter with Bishop Birch and never met him about it. It was only 

          on reading the letter more recently that she understood that he was trying to help the boys but, 

          at the time, she was happy to see the back of Donal Kavanagh. 



14.288    Sr Astrid denied that Donal Kavanagh had ever approached her previously about Peter Tade’s 

          behaviour. The first she knew about it was when she got his letter of resignation. 



14.289    Sr Astrid said that she showed Mr Kavanagh’s letter to Graham Granville at the time, although Mr 

          Granville had no recollection of it. 



14.290    She said that she did not know what Peter Tade did after leaving St Joseph’s. She believed that, 

          because he was quite an old man, he would not have worked in childcare again. She confirmed 

          that she had never been approached for a reference for him. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                         535 


----------------------- Page 1322-----------------------

14.291     Sr Astrid was asked whether she would have sacked Peter Tade if she knew he had been shouting 

           at  boys  and  beating  boys.  Her  reply  was,  ‘Well,  I  would  have  spoken  to  him  about  it  ...  No  I 

           wouldn’t have sacked him, no’. 



14.292     At the time of Donal Kavanagh’s resignation, Sr Astrid said that she had received no complaints 

           about Peter Tade but, six months later, a complaint of sexual abuse was made to her. She told a 

           Garda about the allegation, and asked him to accompany her to Dublin to confront Peter Tade 

           about it. 



14.293     The Garda worked as a volunteer in St Joseph’s, Kilkenny. He became involved through another 

           Garda, who did similar work with the children and encouraged him to get involved. Both these 

           men became friends and confidantes to Sr Astrid. 



14.294     Sr Astrid appeared to take a back seat in the questioning of Peter Tade. She said that the words 

           ‘sex abuse’ were not used, but that Tade admitted to improper behaviour: 



                  When [the Garda] was questioning him. Whatever he was saying to – I took it that there 

                  was something improper going on. He didn't use the word sex abuse ... 



14.295     She said all the questioning was about the one incident: 



                 It was all about that incident. But that incident didn't seem very serious really ... It didn't. 

                  The little boy had a sore bottom or something and he looked at it. 



14.296     She was asked why, if the incident did not seem serious, she had travelled to Dublin and asked 

           the Garda to accompany her in order to confront Peter Tade. She gave no clear answer to that, 

           although  she  did say  that,  once  Peter  Tade  had made  his  admission,  she  had told  him  not  to 

           return to St Joseph’s. Nevertheless, she was clearly concerned enough at the initial complaint to 

           move fairly quickly to talk to Peter Tade. 



14.297     The Garda gave evidence to the Committee. He had no involvement with Thomas Pleece but he 

           did recall Peter Tade as a care worker in St Joseph’s. He remembered that a complaint was made 

           by Gerry,28  who was the son of a family who befriended children in St Joseph’s. 



14.298     Peter Tade used to take Richard,29         who was a boy in care in St Joseph’s, and Gerry on fishing 



           trips and for spins in his car. Peter Tade took photographs of them. The Garda described what 

           happened: 



                 the circumstances were that Peter Tade had taken photographs of Richard and Gerry. He 

                  used to take them fishing and took them for spins in his car. But Gerry’s mother discovered 

                 that Peter Tade's face, he was in one of the photographs, had been scratched and pins 

                 driven through it and she suspected something was wrong. She spoke to him and he told 

                 her that Peter Tade did something to him. As far as I recall it was a bank holiday weekend 

                 and Peter Tade was off, he was on leave and he was in Dublin, Sr Astrid said she had to 

                 get rid of him or ask him to leave. I came to Dublin with her – or I came to Dublin and I 

                 met her in Dublin. 



14.299     The Garda had met Gerry’s parents before he left, and they were not anxious to make a formal 

           complaint. They did not want any publicity whatever about their son. The term ‘sexual abuse’ was 

           not used, but the Garda was in no doubt that an indecent assault had taken place. 



           28 This is a pseudonym. 

           29 This is a pseudonym. 



           536                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1323-----------------------

  14.300   When confronted by Sr Astrid and the Garda, Peter Tade admitted that he had abused Gerry. He 

           admitted  that  he  touched  the  child  improperly.  Sr  Astrid  told  him  he  could  never  return  to  St 

           Joseph’s or have any contact with the children there. 



  14.301   The Garda did not take a statement from Sr Astrid at the time, on the basis that there was no 

           formal complaint from Gerry’s parents, despite the fact that he had an admission from Peter Tade 

           himself. He also did not question any of the children who had been in the care of Peter Tade for 

           the previous 10 months in St Joseph’s, and he did not think that Sr Astrid had done so either. As 

           far as he was concerned, it was an isolated incident that had been dealt with. Peter Tade left for 

           England, and there were no more complaints about him. He said he wrote a short report for his 

           Superintendent that Peter Tade had been dismissed from St Joseph’s for an incident. He never 

           saw that report again. 



  14.302   He said that it was 1995 before he realised that the incident with Gerry was not an isolated one, 

           and Peter Tade had been abusing boys in St Joseph’s since he had arrived 10 months previously. 



  14.303   He felt he knew the children in St Joseph’s well, and regretted that they did not trust him enough 

           to confide in him. He admitted that there was an awareness of a certain amount of sexual activity 

           between the children. 



  14.304   Neither the Garda nor Sr Astrid saw fit to question Richard, the boy from St Joseph’s who was 

           with Gerry in the defaced photograph, and who had also been taken on the trips with Peter Tade, 

           about whether he had been interfered with by Tade. It is difficult to understand why they did not 

           question the other boys in the home where Tade had worked for 10 months. There was a failure 

           on the part of both the Garda and Sr Astrid to face up to the danger Peter Tade posed to other 

           children. 



  14.305   Peter  Tade  died  whilst  serving  the  four-year  sentence  imposed  on  him  by  the  Circuit  Criminal 

           Court in 1999. He had pleaded guilty to seven counts of indecent assault against three former 

           residents of St Joseph’s and Gerry, the boy who had made the complaint in 1977. 



  14.306   Peter  Tade  had  given  a  full  statement  to  the  investigating  Garda  in  1995,  in  which  he  had 

           described being sexually abused by a family friend at seven years of age. In the mid-1960s, whilst 

           working in a boys’ club in England, he had first abused a boy of 14 years. He was over 30 at the 

           time.  He  had  abused  more  children  after  that  and,  in  1967,  took  his  first  job  in  childcare.  He 

           described a series of incidents of abuse of young boys aged from about 11 to 14. He worked in 

           a number of residential homes, but his activities were never uncovered. 



  14.307   He returned to Ireland to take up the job in Kilkenny in 1976, and his pattern of abuse continued. 

           He listed a number of boys that he had sexually abused in Kilkenny and a number of boys he had 

           physically abused. 



  14.308   After his encounter with Sr Astrid, he returned to England and continued his abusive behaviour 

           until, one day, a boy he had been abusing for over two years finally told the housemaster of the 

           school  he  was  working  in.  He  denied  the  abuse  and  was  acquitted  by  Middlesborough  Crown 

           Court in 1988. 



  14.309   By  1995,  he  had  moved  back  to  Ireland  and  when  confronted  by  the  investigating  Garda  he 

           admitted abusing boys in Kilkenny. 



  14.310   When Peter Tade was sentenced, the Sister of Charity issued a statement as follows: 



                 the first complaint we received about Peter Tade concerning sexual abuse was made on 

                 a  weekend  in  June,  1977,  when  Peter  Tade  was  away  in  Dublin.  One  of  the  children 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                537 


----------------------- Page 1324-----------------------

                  made a specific complaint of abuse against him to the sister in charge, she immediately 

                  called in a local Garda who was involved with St. Joseph’s in a voluntary capacity and 

                  they  both  travelled  to  Dublin  to  confront  Peter  Tade.  This  confrontation  resulted  in  his 

                  immediate dismissal. Peter Tade never returned to St. Joseph’s. 



14.311     Two volunteer workers who were in St Joseph’s during Thomas Pleece’s and Peter Tade’s time 

           there said they had no idea that these men were abusing children. 



14.312     A third man, however, had been told about sexual abuse in the School. Patrick McGovern30  helped 



           out in St Joseph’s on a voluntary basis with the entertainment in the School. He had a fair amount 

           of contact with the School, and would call in and play music for the children. In or around 1974, 

           a friend of his asked him to meet his daughter who was working in the School. She said to him 

           that one of the boys was being molested in bed in the School. He understood that it was sexual 

           molestation. He called to the convent and told Sr Wilma about this: 



                  I did, I called to the convent. It was dark, miserable weather, I can remember it well, being 

                  on the front step of the convent, there was a light over the door, it was really Dickensian, 

                  I knocked on the door and Sr Wilma came out. I knew her more than I knew the other 

                  nuns so I was glad it was her that answered the door. 



14.313     He continued: 



                  I said to you her, I said I have had a bad complaint, and she said – well bad complaints 

                  to her would be a daily thing, she would have to hear it first before she'd agree it was 

                  bad. So I said to her I have a report that there is a boy being molested, and she just took 

                  a step back and said, [Patrick] you can, as sure as you are standing there, that's not the 

                  word she used, it doesn't happen. They have a habit of – or there is a history there of 

                  boys and girls making up stories to gain attention. I said is that the way it is? She said 

                  that's the way it is. So I said thanks very much, and I went back to the person, the young 

                  girl I spoke to earlier on and said nothing is going to be done, it is not going do be followed 

                  through, because we know now there was reason to follow it through. 



14.314     He said that, after speaking with Sr Wilma, he was satisfied that nothing further would be done 

           about the complaint: 



                  No, she made it plain to me that nothing was going on. So I respected her a great deal, I 

                  have to say that at that stage, and I was happy that what she was saying was exactly 

                  how things were, that there was nothing going on. It was only when evidence came up 

                  later that I was annoyed that I didn't do more 



14.315     He came forward in 1995 and made a formal statement to the Gardai in relation to this when he 

                                                                                              ´ 

           read the revelations about abuse in the newspapers. 



           Sr Wilma 



14.316     Sr  Wilma  told  the  Committee that  she  only  knew  Peter  Tade  to  see around  the  grounds  of  St 

           Joseph’s. She remembered Donal Kavanagh, as she knew him  from around Kilkenny and she 

           knew his family. She recalled Donal Kavanagh complaining to her that Peter Tade was physically 

           abusing the children. He did this in the context of speaking to her about doing the childcare course 

           and, in the course of that discussion, he mentioned that Peter Tade slapped the children. She 

           remembered telling him that he should go to Sr Astrid about it. 



14.317     In her interview with the Gardai in December 1995, she stated: ‘I picked up on it that he might 

                                                 ´ 

           have been sexually abusing them as well’. In her evidence to the Commission, Sr Wilma corrected 



           30 This is a pseudonym. 



           538                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1325-----------------------

           that  statement.  She  said  she  made  a  mistake  in  her  Garda  statement,  and  that  she  could  not 

           possibly have known about sexual abuse back in 1970 when Donal Kavanagh spoke to her. She 

           did know about incest and men interfering with girls, but she knew nothing about men interfering 

           with boys. She also suggested in her evidence that her statement to the Gardai was somewhat 

                                                                                                           ´ 

           informal,   and   not   as  formal   as   the  signed    document     would    suggest.   It took   place   in  her 

           solicitor’s office. 



14.318     She said she did not personally arrange for Mr Kavanagh to see the Bishop, but found out later 

           that he did see him. Her action was to tell him to talk to Sr Astrid about the complaint, and she 

           would have taken no further action in regard to the matter. As far as she was concerned, Sr Astrid 

           was in charge of the matter and would have been dealing with it properly. 



14.319     Sr Wilma told the Committee that, back in the 1970s, if she was told that an adult was molesting 

           a child, she would not have interpreted that as meaning some kind of inappropriate activity. Patrick 

           McGovern gave evidence that he complained to her that one of the boys was being molested by 

           a care worker. She had no recollection of it at all. Patrick McGovern said that her response was 

           to dismiss it as not having happened. She said that, even if she had been told, she would have 

           done nothing more that tell them to go to the person in charge of the Institution. 



14.320     She said in response to questioning that she did not find it at all extraordinary that, when Peter 

           Tade  was  sacked  for  interfering  with  a  boy  who  was  visiting  the  School,  it  was  not  discussed 

           among the Sisters in the Community. It was the business of people in residential care and ‘we did 

           not discuss our works, we simply didn’t’. 



14.321     She continued: 



                  it wasn’t extraordinary at that time, it wasn’t extraordinary that I did not know about Peter 

                  Tade. It wasn’t extraordinary at all. It was normal. When it came to our works and this 

                  was about work, this was about Sr Astrid area of work. When it came to our works I may 

                  as well have been living in Kerry as living in St Joseph’s. That’s reality. 



14.322     Despite    running   the   childcare   course   in  residential   care  in  Kilkenny,   she   was   living  with  a 

           residential institution on her doorstep, and she knew nothing about what was going on inside it. 

           Sr Wilma attended a number of meetings with Bishop Birch and the Department of Education. 

           She    also  signed    a  report  on   proposed     changes    about    to  take  place   in  St  Joseph’s.    She 

           acknowledged that a newspaper article written by her in 1999, which asserted that she had nothing 

           whatsoever to do with St Joseph’s, was not entirely accurate. 



           Other allegations of abuse 



14.323     In  the  course  of  the  Garda  investigation  in  1995,  a  female  care  worker  admitted  to  sexually 

           assaulting a number of boys in the School by taking them into her bed and fondling them. She 

           said she was 16 years old at the time and was unaware that what she was doing was wrong. The 

           boys were seven or eight at the time. Once she got older, she realised that this was wrong. 



14.324     Sr Astrid recalled another bizarre incident. Some time around 1966 or 1967, young deacons from 

           St Kieran’s College came to St Joseph’s to help with the children. A year or two later, towards the 

           end of the 1960s, some of these students came to Summerhill to supervise the boys at night time. 

           She was told that the students, she believed there were four involved, and the boys in Summerhill 

           were running around naked. She did not see it herself but told the Garda about it. He reported it 

           to  the  President  of  St Kieran’s,  who  in  turn  informed  the  Dean  of Students.  She  said  that  she 

           herself spoke to the President of the college about the incident, and the students did not return to 

           St Joseph’s after that. She did not mention this incident to anyone and none of the children made 

           any complaints. Sr Astrid commented that, although she did not think that there was any question 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      539 


----------------------- Page 1326-----------------------

           of sexual abuse in this incident, she was sufficiently worried to speak to the Garda and to discuss 

           it with the President of the College: 



                  But I didn’t, you see the trouble with me was I didn’t know about sexual abuse, you see. 

                  That was the trouble with me. 



14.325     She did not agree that she buried her head in the sand on this issue. 



           The Kilkenny childcare course 



14.326     The Sisters of Charity were the first Congregation to establish a training course for people involved 

           in childcare. The course was first held in 1971 and was attended mainly by religious. 



14.327     Sr Wilma said the idea came from Bishop Birch, and she drew up an outline for the course which 

           was  presented  to  the  Department  of  Education.  They  agreed  to  fund  it,  and  it  was  eventually 

           recognised  as  an  official  qualification  in  residential  childcare,  and  was  also  recognised  by  the 

           Central  Council  for  Education  and  Training  in  Social  Work  in  London.  Both  she  and  Mr  Pat 

           Brennan31    had considerable experience in social work and working with children, but neither of 



           them had actually worked in residential childcare. 



14.328     Mr  Brennan,  who  was  the  Director  of  the  Kilkenny  Diploma  Course  in  Residential  Childcare, 

           described the course and the training it offered. The course, which ran for 10 years from 1971 to 

           1981, came about as a result of the recommendations in the Kennedy Report. Bishop Birch offered 

           the Department of Education a house in Kilkenny, and the Bishop sponsored and designed the 

           course.  Mr  Brennan  was  acquainted  with  Bishop  Birch  and  was  offered  the  job  of  running  the 

           course.  Sr  Wilma  was  one  of  the  lecturers  on  the  course  on  a  part-time  basis.  Students  who 

           attended the course were sent on placements for in-house training, and St Joseph’s was one of 

           the  placement  centres.  He  believed  that  Sr  Wilma  was  the  supervisor  of  the  placements  in  St 

           Joseph’s; it was considered to be her domain and, as a result, he had very little to do with St 

           Joseph’s. 



14.329     Prospective students on the course were interviewed by a panel of five, including Mr Brennan and 

           Sr Wilma. There were normally around 50 applicants for 20 places. The requirements were: two 

           years’  experience  in  residential  childcare,  the  Leaving  Certificate,  three  references,  and  two 

           essays.  He  said  that  the  issues  of  child  sexual  abuse  or  incest  were  never  discussed  on  the 

           course and were not on the agenda. From 1973, there was a huge preoccupation with physical 

           abuse, mainly because of the controversial Maria Colwell case in England, where a child died in 

           1973 as a result of failure to protect the child in a violent family situation. 



14.330     The course contents included training on how to deal appropriately with bed-wetting. The course 

           attempted to try and make the participants think for themselves and make decisions on their own, 

           without allowing their religious training to shape all their decisions. The participants were almost 

           entirely  made  up  of  religious  personnel,  and  this  caused  some  tensions.  He  said  that  some 

           participants left the course, and he was met with some opposition about the content of the course. 



14.331     Students were followed up after the course. Once a year, there was a residential weekend and 

           they met socially. He personally called on some of the students to assess progress. The course 

           did not require formal feedback from Resident Managers of the institutions to which the students 

           were sent. The course ceased in 1981 because it could not get the professional recognition from 

           the National Council for Educational Awards. 



           31 This is a pseudonym. 



           540                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1327-----------------------

14.332     •    The Pleece case and the Tade cases indicate a high level of immaturity and naivety in 

                 dealing  with  issues  of  sexual  abuse,  particularly  on  the  part  of  Sr  Astrid.  Allowing 

                 these men to leave St Joseph’s and continue with careers in childcare was dangerous 

                 and irresponsible. It was not enough to remove them from St Joseph’s. These men 

                 posed a risk to children and, with her experience in childcare, Sr Astrid should have 

                 been aware of that. 



           •    The inability to face up to the problem of men abusing young boys was not confined 

                 to  the  Sisters.  Experienced  Gardai  and  professionals  were  also  inadequate  in  their 

                                                             ´ 

                 response to this issue. 



           The period 1978–1990 



14.333     Sr Astrid continued as Resident Manager of St Joseph’s until 1986, when she was replaced by Sr 

           Livia.32  This was a turbulent period for the Institution, when established methods were questioned, 



           particularly by qualified lay staff who were employed there. The documentation revealed a degree 

           of  tension  between  the  Department  of  Education  and  the  Resident  Manager  about  keeping 

           numbers down. The School was perceived as having too many children to care for any of them 

           properly, although this was not a view shared by the Sisters. 



14.334     This  was  a  period  of  transition  between  the  Department  of  Education  and  the  Department  of 

           Health.  Responsibility  for  St  Joseph’s  was  transferred  to  the  Department  of  Health  in  January 

           1984. 



14.335     On  14th  October  1977,  Mr  Granville  attended  St  Joseph’s  to  give  the  staff  a  formal  lecture  on 



           leadership in the group homes, and to discuss the future of St Joseph’s with the Provincial and 

           Sr Astrid. It was agreed that the aim would be to try and reduce the numbers in the homes to 60 

           by 1980. Mr Granville believed that the large numbers in residence were partly responsible for 

           difficulties with the local day schools. They also discussed plans to employ a social worker for the 

           children. Health Board social workers at that time were not geared specifically towards children. 



14.336     From November 1977, the Department began to focus their attention on the size of St Joseph’s, 

           Kilkenny. This followed a report by Graham Granville on the future needs in residential homes. In 

           an internal memorandum dated 16th  January 1978, senior Department officials were in agreement 



           that over 100 children was too large in Kilkenny, and around 60 maximum was a more desirable 

           figure.  The  Department  was  perplexed  by  the  fact  that  Kilkenny  was  so  full,  when  the  homes 

           in other  areas were faced  with decreasing numbers  and many were  considering closing in  the 

           near future. 



14.337     The reason for the Department of Education’s dissatisfaction with the large numbers in Kilkenny 

           is  evidenced  by  a  four-page  letter  dated  8th     May  1978.  In  this  letter,  Thomas  O’Gilin  of  the 



           Department of Education invited Mr T O’Dwyer, Principal Officer in the Department of Health, to 

           meet  and discuss  the question  of the  future development  of residential  homes. He  set out  the 

           changes that had taken place over the years since the Kennedy Report in the area of building 

           programmes and in the declining number of children committed through the courts and the ISPCC. 

           This had led to a situation where, in most cases, the homes’ finance for current costs came from 

           the  Health  Boards  who  had  the  largest  number  of  placements,  yet  responsibility  for  capital 

           financing  still  remained  entirely  with  the  Department  of  Education.  This  created  the  anomaly 

           because provision of capital money entailed a planning function, but the information needed for 

           planning for future needs had to come from the Health Boards who were placing the majority of 

           the children. The Task Force currently studying the situation were most likely to recommend the 



           32 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                     541 


----------------------- Page 1328-----------------------

          transfer of responsibility for residential homes to the Department of Health but, in the meantime, 

          many urgent problems existed that required the co-operation of the two Departments. 



14.338    In a report on a visit to St Joseph’s, Kilkenny dated 25th  April 1979, the author met with Sr Astrid 



          and  was  made  aware  of  a  number  of  her  concerns  with  regard  to  the  difficulties  still  being 

          experienced  by  short-term  children  fitting  into  the  outside  schools,  where  they  underwent  the 

          double trauma of change from their own homes to residential care and out of the residential home 

          into a strange school. She also drew his attention to the fact that, after prolonged negotiation, the 

          social worker who had been released from the South Eastern Health Board (SEHB) to work in St 

          Joseph’s for a two-year period had now been recalled to normal duty, due to staff shortages in 

          the SEHB. Finally, she requested grant assistance for the aftercare residence under construction. 



14.339    On  23rd  January  1980,  the  Department  noted  that,  despite  the  plans  to  reduce  numbers,  the 



          Kilkenny   returns   of September     1979   showed    124   children  still in residence.   Following   an 

          investigation  into  this,  it  was  discovered  that,  while  there  had  been  no  children  committed  to 

          Kilkenny since 1977, the Health Boards were making full use of the resulting vacancies, obviously 

          with the co-operation of the Resident Manager. 



14.340    In his report dated 2nd  February 1980, Mr Granville submitted what he considered were the direct 



          relevant factors to the population figures of St Joseph’s, Kilkenny. First were the changes brought 

          about by the Kennedy Report, which meant that residential homes moved away generally from 

          large institutional centres to group homes, and this dramatically dropped the number of residential 

          places on a national basis. Secondly, the lack of social work support services to the any of the 

          children in residential care in the SEHB area. Thirdly, there was a lack of preventative work being 

          carried out under the School Attendance Act. Finally, the growth in population had not been taken 

          into consideration by the SEHB when planning for provision of their services. 



14.341    In  conclusion,   Mr  Granville   recommended      that  Sr  Astrid should   be   instructed  to cease   all 

          admissions until the numbers were down to 70. He also recommended that no money should be 

          paid for the work on the aftercare hostel until numbers were reduced. He noted that Kilkenny had 

          an excessive number of trainees and not enough trained staff. 



14.342    Mr Granville carried out a General Inspection on 25th  May 1980; the previous inspection was dated 

          27th  January  1977.  He  inspected  all  the  group  homes  and,  in  general,  his  comments  were 



          favourable. In January 1981, Mr Granville, in an addendum to his General Inspection report, noted 

          that Summerhill had been redecorated and refurbished to an excellent standard. The five other 

          group  homes,  however,  still  needed  attention,  and  only  two  were  in  satisfactory  condition.  He 

          noted that there were too few staff and some were untrained in the nursery, where babies were 

          in  residence   for far  too  long.  He  was   very  concerned    about   the  emotional   damage     being 

          inadvertently  caused  by  being  handled  by  so  many  different  staff,  and  discussed  this  with  the 

          Resident Manager. There were 41 staff in total in the School, two male and 39 female. There had 

          been 32 changes of staff since 1977. His concluded his report with the following: 



                Conclusions: 



                 1. The overall total number of children in residential care has not decreased over the past 

                few years, which is a disappointing factor. Page 211 records 113 children in residence, 

                two more than at the latest inspection. There is a marked increase in the numbers in the 

                nursery and in the short term unit St Teresa’s ... In my opinion there are far too many 

                children in residential care in a city the size of Kilkenny. 



14.343    He concluded this report by stating: 



                I would state that the Manager has a very serious communication problem with the staff 

                in the group homes. There would seemingly be a lack of information at all levels being 



          542                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1329-----------------------

                  exchanged and I would have to raise questions about this matter. I did discuss it with the 

                  Manager and I came to the conclusion that it has been a perennial problem, as far as I 

                  am concerned. It has always been extremely difficult to obtain the facts about Kilkenny, 

                  due   to  the  defensive     protective   air  around    the   centre.   Nevertheless,     one   has   to 

                  consistently maintain a working relationship with the manager and centre even at times 

                  that may be extremely difficult. 



14.344     The  following  year,  he  inspected  the  School  again,  in  February  1982,  and  continued  to  be 

           concerned about the quality of care in the nursery and discussed this with the Resident Manager. 



14.345     He carried out another General Inspection a year later, in February 1983, and noted that there 

           were no longer any male staff in the group homes and felt this was a serious omission in the care 

           teams. He was concerned about the increase in staff turnover (seven in the year) and the shortage 

           of religious Sisters due to illness and training. Twelve of the care staff, which represented nearly 

           50%, were on childcare courses, which presented a serious management issue and were being 

           replaced by substitute staff on a part-time basis, which he was not happy or satisfied with, as the 

           children had no continuity with staff. 



14.346     Summerhill was now known as Sancta Maria, and provided additional short-term accommodation. 

           The  nursery  had  been  closed,  which  was  a  major  achievement.  The  quality  of  care  within  the 

           nursery had not been satisfactory, and the Manager was aware of his views backed by evidence. 

           He was still concerned about the high number of children in care in Kilkenny, too high for the city 

           to absorb in socialisation and academic terms. 



14.347     St Joseph’s asked the Department in late 1983 to sanction a remedial teacher to be attached to 

           the School. The difficulty for the School centred around the fact that local schools were unwilling 

           to  cater  for  children  on  ‘short  term’  stay  in  St  Joseph’s.  On  16th     February,  officials  from  the 



           Department of Education, Department of Health and South Eastern Health Board met to discuss 

           the special educational needs of short-term referrals, where it was agreed that the Department of 

           Education would consider approving the services of an extra teacher, on a trial basis, to cater for 

           the needs of these children. 



14.348     Sr Ronja,33 who was in charge of Avondale was the subject of complaints by two childcare workers, 



           in 1986 and 1990 respectively. 



14.349     A  woman  in  Avondale  from  1985  to  1986  made  complaints  including  institutionalisation  of  the 

           home, lack of consideration given to professional opinions of staff, authoritarian-style leadership, 

           failure to cater for the emotional needs of the children and corporal punishment. 



14.350     The complaint was investigated by a Health Board official, but he dismissed it. Sr Ronja said she 

           had no recollection of this investigation, and did not recall speaking with him, despite being shown 

           contemporary documentation of such meetings. 



14.351     In April 1990, childcare practices in Avondale came under scrutiny once again. Another childcare 

           worker met with Sr Alicia34  and the Health Board official and outlined the difficulties in Avondale in 



           regard to the manner in which the childcare services were being conducted there under Sr Ronja. 



14.352     She expressed grave concern about the following areas: 



                    1.   Corporal Punishment – severe in some cases 



           33 This is a pseudonym. 

           34 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      543 


----------------------- Page 1330-----------------------

                   2.   Control of food – being stored in room of House Parent and not available to childcare 

                        staff 



                   3.   Provision  of  mundane  food  at  certain  times  and  better  food  being  produced  when 

                        house parent appeared 



                   4.   Refusal of houseparent to communicate with staff 



                   5.   Undermining of decision made by childcare staff 



                   6.   Problems with staff roster and rostering of house parent 



14.353     She  informed  the  meeting  that  another  qualified  care  worker  in  the  house  was  threatening  to 

           resign unless matters improved quickly. 



14.354     On 30th   April 1990, in a letter addressed to Sr Alicia, Programme Manager of the South Eastern 



           Health  Board,  Sr  Ronja,      House  Parent  of  Avondale,  tendered  her          resignation,  having  been 

           assigned by her Superior General to a missionary post overseas. 



14.355     The childcare worker gave evidence of her experience in St Joseph’s. She completed the Kilkenny 

           childcare course in 1974/75 and obtained a contract in Avondale in St Joseph’s for a six-month 

           period from January to July 1990. There were 11 children in the unit, and Sr Ronja was in charge. 

           At the start of her assignment, Sr Alicia warned her that the person she would be working with 

           was   ‘quite  difficult’. What   transpired    was   that  she   found   the  systems    in  place   in  Avondale 

           institutional and sterile, and the staff were mainly involved in cleaning, sewing and cooking, with 

           little time devoted to the emotional needs of the children. Very little affection was demonstrated, 

           and  there  was  one  particular  child  singled  out  for  favouritism.  The  children  told  her  they  were 

           beaten quite severely, and she had no reason to doubt what they were saying to her. Food was 

           of reasonable quality but was rationed, and there was no flexibility around the portions the children 

           were allowed. She found all this extraordinary in the 1990s. 



14.356     She   met  with    Sr  Alicia  and   a  Health   Board   official  about   her  concerns  in    April  1990.   She 

           complained about Sr Ronja‘s management of the children in the house. There was no consultation 

           over key decisions, and Sr Ronja was an autocratic manager. She felt that Sr Ronja resented her 

           and perceived her as upsetting the apple cart. Children were not allowed to show any signs of 

           independence. For example, she allowed the older children to walk to mass by themselves one 

           day, and Sr Ronja took grave exception to this. 



14.357     Sr Ronja also gave evidence. She joined the Sisters of Charity in the mid-1970s. She started in 

           St Joseph’s in 1977 and remained there until 1990. She was a qualified childcare worker. Sr Ronja 

           worked in St Joseph’s initially and, in 1981, she became House Parent in a group home known 

           as Avondale, which catered for 15 children aged 2 to 15 years. She reported directly to Sr Astrid 

           and,  in  the  beginning,  she  only  had  one  live-in  staff  member,  Barbara  Brady,35            who  was  a 



           tireless worker. 



14.358     Sr  Ronja  tried  to  ensure  that  the  children  in  her  group  home  were  properly  fed,  clothed  and 

           attended  school.  She  enforced  discipline  by  occasionally  slapping  the  younger  children  on  the 

           backside with an open hand and sending them to their rooms. With the older children, she would 

           ground them from a disco or swimming. 



14.359     Sr Astrid gave evidence that she witnessed Sr Ronja physically punishing a pupil. Sr Ronja did 

           not  remember  this  occasion,  although  she  did  remember  having  to  slap  the  boy  once  for  not 

           attending  school  and  forging  notes  of  excuse.  Sr  Astrid  said  in  her  Garda  statement  that  she 

           recalled that some of the children complained to her that Sr Ronja was cruel to them. She said 



           35 This is a pseudonym. 



           544                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1331-----------------------

          that,  one  day,  Sr  Ronja  had  a  small  boy  in  the  convent  parlour.  She  recalled  hearing  the  boy 

          screaming because Sr Ronja was beating him. She said that Sr Ronja was reprimanded for that. 



          General conclusions 



14.360     1.   The   Sisters  of  Charity    were   progressive     in their  approach     and   unique    among 

               Congregations in sending their members to the UK to undergo courses in childcare 

               and, as a result, they split up the Institution into separate units, which worked much 

               better than the large unitary institutions. 



           2.  Notwithstanding the favourable evidence about this Institution, children were severely 

               physically punished and treated unsympathetically by some of the care staff, which 

               continued into later years. Even when complaints were made, no action was taken by 

               management to protect the children. 



           3.  Differential  treatment  between  the  units  is  a  major  criticism  of  the  Institution.  The 

               quality of care depended on which unit the child was placed in. The blue unit was run 

               by Sr Astrid, the Resident Manager, and the girls in it received the most favourable 

               treatment, according to the evidence. This Sister was very kind and there was little or 

               no corporal punishment, and the girls in her group considered themselves, and were 

               considered, to be the lucky ones. 



           4.  No lessons were learned from the Jacobs case at the time, and no proper system of 

               record keeping or monitoring was introduced. In its Submissions, the Congregation 

               did not address the serious implications of this case. The apology referred only to the 

               two    convicted    abusers    and,   even    then,   no  Congregational      responsibility    was 

               acknowledged. 



           5.  Sr Astrid eventually removed Mr Pleece and, later, Mr Tade after complaints were made 

               to her about them. However, she did not face up to what had happened to the children. 

               She  failed  in  her  duty  to  provide  accurate  information  to  other  bodies  and  thereby 

               exposed other children to the risk of abuse. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            545 


----------------------- Page 1332-----------------------

Appendix 1 



1876–1882 



       •    Ten acres purchased for farm. 

       •    Foundation stone for new chapel and convent. 

       •     Main  sewer  installed  from  school  to  river.  Grant  of  £100  from  Corporation  paid  for 

             installation. 



       •     Convent  cells  were  demolished  to  provide  dormitories  for  the  children  and  a  new 

             Lavatory. 



       •     Water   supply   previously   provided   in barrels  now    replaced   by  flow  conveyed    by 

             machinery from the River Nore. 



1888–1894 



       •    Wall to enclose the farmyard. 

       •    New stable, coach house and hennery built. 

       •    Entrance gate erected. 

       •    New wing erected. Consisted of School room 62 feet long and 27 feet wide, with 59 

             bedded dormitory over it. Mr Stephen Lalor builder. Mr Byrne architect. 



1894–1900 



       •    Veranda erected: glass-roofed passage leading from the playhall to the Schoolroom 

             and other parts of the Institution. 



       •    New Entrance gate. 

       •    Rebuilding of Institution stairs and other improvements following a fire. 



1900–1905 



       •    A new Technical room erected with a small Dormitory for the little ones above. Built by 

             Mr Cleere and completed by 8th      May 1903. 



       •    Review Fields purchased under the new Land Act by Mr Buggy solicitor. 



1905–1915 



       •     1907:  House  and  premises  of  Mr  Pembroke  of  Patrick  Street  rented  for  us  by  Mr 

             Lanigan, Solicitor. Rent was £24 per annum with 82 year lease. 



       •    Boundary wall built; cattle houses and stables built on farmyard side and an entrance 

             in the farmyard made with a new gate for cattle and fodder. Cost £204.10.0 Completed 

             in May 1908. Architect Mr Burden of Kilkenny. Fee £8. 



       •    Electric light brought to Convent and Institution by Ampere Electrical, County Dublin. 

             Completed in January 1910. 



       •     1914:   New   bathroom    with  two   baths,  foot  baths,  hair-washing    baths,  dispensary 

             apparatus with one bath and three up to date w.c.’s, copper boiler and large cylinder 

             installed. Cost £282.12.1. Mr Cleere, builder. Mr Young, plumber. 



       •    New copper piping installed by Mr Young. Cost of £407.10.0. 

       •    1915: Repairs to gable end of Steward’s House, boundary wall and cow house. 

       •    Cottage completely renovated. Cost £217. Builder Mr Cleere. Sanitary arrangements 

             by Mr Young £33. 



546                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1333-----------------------

  1925 



       •    Electric Battery renewed: £243. It supplies Institution, Convent and Laundry. 



  1926 



       •    New system of conduit pipes in the children dressing room installed. Cost £142.10.0 

       •    Field purchased of 8 acres at £450. 



  1927 



       •    Heating apparatus installed in new play hall which heats St Mary’s and St Michael’s 

            dormitories, as well as the Dispensary, Nursery, Infirmary and schoolroom. 



  1928 



       •    Completed the Central heating of Institution- including children’s refectory, workroom, 

            Linen room. Teachers room, lower corridor and upstairs, all dormitories, corridor etc. 

            – also convent. 



  1930 



       •    New hostel for the girls to replace the cottage. Cost: £377. 



  1932 



       •    Store  room  in  Institution  retiled,  new  presses  fitted  and  a  Carron  Range  erected  to 

            replace the old one. 



       •    Back playground was cemented. 



  1933 



       •   Veranda passage rebuilt and enlarged. 

       •    Part of roof re-slated and fitted with snow-boards. 

       •    Part of wall cemented. 



  1934 



       •    Battery for electric light renewed. New house constructed for same. 



1935–1941 



       •    Two  fields  purchased  known  locally  as  Morrissey’s  fields  for  a  playing  field  for  the 

            children  adjoining  the  school  yard  and  another  large  field  adjacent  to  the  convent 

            grounds. 



       •   A modern playground built and equipped. 

       •    1936: New Girl-Guide hall built and opened on 2nd      February. 



  1938 



       •    New water tank erected for the Institution. Holds 4,000 gallons of water Cost £131.10.0 



  1942 



       •   Owing to the shortage of Fuel Oil the ESB installed their Plant in the Institution, Convent 

            and laundry, re-wiring the whole premises. 



       •    Gas Stoves were erected in Hostel and Institution – as it was impossible to get fuel. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                           547 


----------------------- Page 1334-----------------------

       •    Kooks Joy Range was also installed in Institution Kitchen, at a cost of £50 for Cooking 

            purposes and heating water etc. 



1944 



       •    A concrete stairs was erected at the cost of £200, making an external exit from two 

            Dormitories at the back of the Institution, from the back playground in case of fire. 



1946 



       •    Hostel was repainted, the dining room greatly improved by being painted cream and 

            light oak. The large refectory table was replaced by for small tables placed in each 

            corner of the room with a serving table in the centre, a new set of chairs completed 

            the furnishing. In 1947 a pretty green lino and cretonne curtains added greatly to the 

            appearance of the room. 



1947–1953 



       •    Playground equipped with swings for Seniors and Juniors, also 

       •    in 1948 the playground was equipped with the very latest swings for both seniors and 

            juniors. A ‘Great Stride’ was also erected and see-saws. A fine sand pit complete with 

            cement table. 



       •   A nursery was built for the babies costing approx. £3,000 

       •   A new Lavatory Block was built costing about £2,000 

       •    The Kitchen was equipped with all Electric Fittings. 

       •    The Institution was re-modelled to make it suitable for the new ‘Family Group’ system 

       •    Between 1947 and 1949 much repair work undertaken. Cost approx. £900. 

       •    The walls around the playground had to be renewed. 

       •   The Institution Kitchen was turned into an all-electric one – Potato Peeler – Baking and 

            Roasting Ovens –  Stewpan etc. The floor was redone in green and cream Terrazzo 

            costing approx. £1,000. 



       •   A much needed Sanitary Block was built for night use. It contained five lavatories and 

            a sluice. It also was done in Terrazzo. 



       •   Two of the Junior dormitories were also fitted with a lavatory each and a footbath. The 

            approx. cost was £2,000. 



1950 



       •    New Nursery completed. It contains a sunny day Nursery and Refectory. 



1953 



       •    The  night  Nursery,  Baths  and  Toilets  were  added,  thus  completing  the  babies  suite 

            of apartments. 



1953–1959 



       •    The paths round the Convent were treated by Roadstone, the Children’s playground 

            had a hard court laid, and it is fenced round it can be used to advantage as a Baby’s 

            Pen when not in use for the other children, it is marked and equipped for Tennis and 

            Basket Ball. 



       •   A new fowl house was built at the cost of £550 approx. 



548                                                      CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1335-----------------------

1959–1965 



       •     Walls between old kitchen and little pantry knocked down. Room painted as play-room 

             for children from 4 years upwards. 



       •     1961: In St Bernadette’s house two dormitories were painted. lino laid on stairs. 

       •     Small room fitted out for past pupils who return for visit of a few nights of weeks. 

       •      1962:  In  the  children’s  houses  new  colourful  tiles  went  into  their  refectories  and 

             corridors 



       •     Up to this time, our heating was all by coal and coke, but in October the Convent and 

             school went on to oil heating. 



       •     The school was painted in bright, lovely colours and two new toilets were added to the 

             baby room. 



       •     Babies playroom was painted in bright grey colours and old benches were converted 

             into little seats with pretty, flowered, cretonne covers, Their bathroom was done up. 



       •     A dormitory in each house was painted. 

       •     1965: Fire precautions installed after inspection by Mr Madden. Partition installed on 

             the top of the stairs in the Institution. The panels were to be of fire glass. All the panels 

             in the existing doors between the groups had to have panels of fire glass also. 



       •     Painting of the refectories in St Bernadette’s and St Theresa’s Houses and the sitting 

             room in St Joseph’s house. 



       •     A new up to date cow byre constructed. Grant to be provided by the Department. 



1965–1984 



       •     1969: the first group of children moved out of St Joseph’s into St Kieran’s lodge. 

       •     The school (Summerhill) was renovated and turned into a group home and the three 

             houses in the main building were also renovated and turned into self-contained homes 

             with gas cookers and fridges in the kitchenettes. 



                th 

       •     19   March 1970: a group of twelve children moved to Beechpark, which is a residential 

             area about one mile from St Joseph’s. 



       •     In March 1970 a grant of £15,000 was received from the Department towards the cost 

             of the following works totalling £26,600: 



                   — Repairs to roof and floors of section of main building                                £7,000 

                   — Levelling of field                                                                    £1,500 

                   — Completion of work on group home in main building                                     £6,000 

                   — Adaptation of old school                                                              £4,500 

                   — Purchase of two houses                                                                £7,600 

                   — Work on two group homes within main building                                         £13,000 

                   — New laundry for residential home                                                      £4,000 

                   — Renovation of two buildings (Maryville and No 45 Waterford Road)                      £4,000 

                   — Renovation of Chapel                                                                 £20,000 

                   — Central Heating                                                                      £17,300 



       •     A grant of £9,000 was paid at the close of the financial year 1971/72 towards the cost 

             of  building  and  equipping  a  sports  hall  estimated  to  cost  up  to  £20,000.  Before  the 

             work could be commenced, however, ‘it came to the nuns’ notice that plans were going 

             ahead for the erection on a nearby site of a parish community hall. The project at the 

             residential home had therefore to be left in abeyance’. The grant was then used for 

             other repairs in the house. 



CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                      549 


----------------------- Page 1336-----------------------

       •    Thereafter  there  is  no  record  of  the  improvements,  additions,  renovation  in  each 

            House. 



       •    In March 1976, ‘Avondale’, a bungalow on the Waterford Rd., was purchased by the 

            Sisters of Charity at a cost of £29,000. 



       •    In 1976 St Joseph’s purchased a plot in the back garden of the Convent in Tramore. 

            A mobile home for the children and caravan for the Sisters was purchased. The mobile 

            home proved too small and confined for the numbers so a house was erected in 1978 

            to accommodate a maximum of forty children for holidays. 



       •    1984 grant of £5,000 from SEHB towards repairs to floor in Slievenamon After-Care 

            Hostel, Stanhope Street. 



550                                                    CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1337-----------------------

          Chapter 15 



          St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls, 

          Cabra 



          Introduction 



          Background 



15.01     St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls opened in August 1846 in the grounds of the Dominican Convent 

          in Cabra in Dublin. It is managed by the Dominican Sisters under the trusteeship of the Catholic 

          Institute for Deaf People (formerly the Catholic Institute for the Deaf), which is under the patronage 

          of the Archbishop of Dublin. 



15.02     The School was established at the request of Fr Thomas McNamara, a Vincentian Priest from 

          Phibsborough, Dublin who was one of the founding members of the Catholic Institute for the Deaf. 

          In 1845 when the Institute was founded there were no Catholic schools for the education of deaf 

          children. The Catholic Institute for the Deaf sought to change this and, as a result, St Mary’s school 

          was established for the education of deaf girls and in 1856 a boy’s deaf school was founded, also 

          in Cabra, which was managed by the Christian Brothers. 



15.03     Early in 1846 two Dominican Sisters went from Ireland to Le Bon Sauveur Institute for the deaf in 

          Caen in Normandy to study the French system of teaching the deaf. Two deaf pupils accompanied 

          them.  French  sign  language  was  used  at  the  school  in  Caen  and  the  Sisters  on  their  return 

          adapted this signing method to suit the English language. For a hundred years this sign language 

          system (also known as Manualism), which was modelled on the French sign language was taught 

          in St Mary’s. The boys’ school in Cabra also adopted this teaching method. In 1946, St Mary’s 

          changed  from  signing  to  the  Oral  method,  known  as  Oralism.  This  consists  of  lip  reading  and 

          speech  training  rather  than  relying  on  gestures  and  signs.  Oralism  is  the  preferred  teaching 

          method employed in the School to the present day. 



          Population 



15.04     When St Mary’s opened in August 1846 it had 15 pupils, which increased to 50 in 1850. In 1952 

          there were 177 children in the school. In 1985 the school had 350 girls enrolled. It accepts both 

          day pupils and boarders. Girls were admitted to the school from the age of four years through to 

          17 or 18 years of age. 



          Management 



15.05     The School is managed by a Board of Management with a Principal and Vice-Principal in day to 

          day   charge.  When    it was   first opened   in 1846   the  School   was   directly managed    by  the 

          Dominican Sisters. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                           551 


----------------------- Page 1338-----------------------

           Structure 



15.06      The pupils were divided into three main groups: (a) profoundly deaf; (b) partially deaf; (c) deaf 

           students with other disabilities. Until 1974 boarders were divided into groups of approximately 30 

           according to age. After 1974 the groups were reduced in size to 16 or less. Each group had a 

           Sister in charge, a housemother and a sewing girl. The babies group had two sewing girls. 



15.07      The School consists of a primary and post-primary section. 



15.08      In 1973 a new residential school for the hard of hearing pupils, known as Rosary School, was 

           built. It was situated a quarter of a mile from the main school of St Mary’s. At that time it consisted 

           of 12 classrooms, a general purpose room, a library, a staffroom, offices, a cookery room and 

           store room. A school Inspection report in 1984 carried out by a Department of Education Inspector 

           noted  that  the  school  was  ‘clean,  comfortable  and  well-maintained’  and  ‘located  in  pleasant 

           grounds’. 



15.09      In 1987 a new school for deaf multiply disabled children was built on the grounds of St Mary’s. It 

           was   known     as  the   Marian    School.   It consists    of  four  large   classrooms,     two  shared-area 

           classrooms,  a  staffroom, a  library,  a  large kitchen,  an  art  room and  play  hall.  The pupils  were 

           grouped into eight classes according to disability, age and academic ability. By 1990 there were 

           seven full-time teachers employed. 



           Funding 



15.10      Originally, the School was funded by the Catholic Institute for the Deaf. They received a grant 

           from the local authorities where the children came from. The school made an application to the 

           Catholic Institute for funding based on the number of days each child was resident in the school. 

           The remainder of the funding came from charitable bequests or fundraising. It was not until 1952 

           when the School was officially recognised by the Department of Education as a special school 

           that  it received    funding    from   the   Department.     The    Department     of  Health    later  assumed 

           responsibility for the residential aspects of the School. 



15.11      In 1960 the grant paid by the local authorities for the maintenance of the children amounted to 

           £80.00  per  pupil  per  year.  In  a  letter  from  the  Department  of  Education  to  the  Department  of 

           Finance seeking an increase in the staffing levels dated 1st March 1960, the Department officials 

           pointed out that  this figure of £80  was insufficient to maintain  a child in the  School. They also 

           asserted that ‘no other maintenance grant’ was provided to the nuns. Reference was also made 

           to the high cost of hearing equipment necessary for deaf children. For example, in 1960 a group 

           hearing aid consisting of a large table with plastic top, microphones and wiring for 12 individual 

           hearing aids cost £250. 



           The Investigation 



15.12      Twenty one  statements of  complaint were  furnished to  the Investigation  Committee. Response 

           statements  were  supplied  by  both  the  Dominican  Sisters  and  the  Department  of  Education  in 

           respect of these written complaints. 



15.13      The investigation into the School consisted of a review of the material produced by the Department 

           of Education and Science, the Dominican Sisters, the Catholic Institute for the Deaf, the Garda 

           Siochana,  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  and  the  complainants’  statements.  Thirteen  complainants 

             ´ 

           attended for interview out of 23 who were invited to attend. These interviews took place at the 

           Commission’s offices and at various other locations around the country and in the United Kingdom. 



           552                                                            CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1339-----------------------

           Education 



          Primary education 



15.14     On  21st  April  1952,  Sr  McEvoy,  Prioress  of  St  Mary’s  wrote  to  the  Department  of  Education 

          seeking recognition as a special  school. She insisted that due to the nature  of deafness small 

          class sizes were necessary and that ‘there can be no mass teaching of deaf children, each child 

           has her  own separate problem’.  She felt  that 10 to  a class would  be ideal  but ‘twelve may  be 

          allowed under stress’. Sr McEvoy also emphasised the importance of speaking: 



                Another point of difference is the fact that it is a residential school. The time spent outside 

                class – play, meals, etc. – is as important for the education of these children as the time 

                spent in class; our’s is now an up-to-date oral school and in consequence the children 

                 must be kept speaking at all times, and not allowed to use sign language. This work is 

                done by a qualified matron. She would have to be included in the recognised staff, as 

                well as a Principal and a Vice Principal. 



15.15     A report for the Department of Education in 1952 noted that there were 177 pupils in the school 

          aged between four and 18 years. The staff consisted of six nuns and six lay teachers who were 

          assisted  by  five  deaf  adults.  Two  of  the  nuns  were  fully  trained  as  teachers  of  the  deaf  and 

          the  remaining  staff  members  had  experience  in  teaching  the  deaf  but  their  qualifications  were 

           ‘approximate to the qualification of untrained teachers’. The report commented that the premises 

          and  equipment  were  excellent  and  ‘that  the  whole  direction  shows  an  enthusiasm,  vision  and 

           progressiveness  which  should  make  the  institution  a  model  not  alone  for  this  but  for  other 

          countries’. The Department felt that a staff of 12 teachers would be needed for the recognition of 

          the school together with a new set of minimum qualification requirements for teachers, assistants 

          and Principals. The teacher pupil ratio was to be 14:1. The Department sought the approval of 

          the Department of Finance for these proposals on 1st August 1952. 



15.16     The Dominican Sisters generally accepted the Department’s proposals, but they were concerned 

          about  the  high  pupil–teacher  ratio.  In  a  letter  to  the  Department  of  17th  September  1952,  Sr 

           McEvoy pointed out that there should only be a maximum of 10 deaf children to one teacher in a 

          class. She asserted that this was a ‘matter of universal experience’. She also took issue with the 

           Department treating them as a national school and reminded them that the Sisters had never at 

          any time applied for recognition as a national school and stated that they had ‘declined to do so 

          for  many  years,  because  we  believe  that  many  of  the  Department’s  regulations  for  National 

          Schools are incompatible with the proper running of a residential school for deaf children’. She 

          again reminded the Department that ‘Our application was for recognition as a special school, and 

          we  understood  before  making  the  application  that  your  Department  had  initiated  a  scheme  for 

          special schools’. 



15.17      In 1955, the Department of Finance sanctioned the pupil teacher ratio for the school at 10 pupils 

          to  one  teacher  which  was  to  be  calculated  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  children  ‘in  average 

          attendance’ in a year. On 27th January 1960 the Department of Education wrote to the Department 

          of Finance seeking to change the requirement of staffing levels based on the number of children 

           in attendance in a year to the number of children enrolled in the school in any given year. The 

           reason   was  that  the  numbers    of  children  in attendance    often  fluctuated  due   to illness  and 

           hospitalisation. The Department also pointed out in this letter that: 



                 ...The authorities of the Department of Education of the Deaf at Manchester University 

                 have been reported as being of opinion that St. Mary’s is one of the leading schools for 

                deaf in the world and that there are only two others – one in Holland and the other in 

                America – to compare with it. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                              553 


----------------------- Page 1340-----------------------

15.18      The Department of Finance refused the request and stated that the staffing levels in the school 

           were ‘already liberal comparing favourably even with the special quotas for other categories of 

           handicapped children...’. The Department of Education replied by letter dated 1st March 1960 and 

           argued that the only correct basis of comparison of staffing levels could be made with deaf schools 

           in  other  countries  and  not  with  other  special  schools.  They  pointed  out  that  in  deaf  schools  in 

           England  there  was  one  teacher  to  every  eight  students  on  the  rolls  and  such  a  similar  basis 

           operated in the United States. In English deaf schools, children were not removed from the school 

           rolls  even  when  they  were  in  hospital,  unlike  their  Irish  counterparts  who  had  to  remove  their 

           names    from  the  rolls  when   in  hospital.  On   22nd   March   1960,   the  Department     of  Finance 

           capitulated. 



15.19      School  Inspection Reports  show that  in 1985  the average  number of  pupils in  each class  was 

           between seven and eight. In 1986 the pupil teacher ratio was 6:1. 



           Post-primary education 



15.20      In the late 1950s the School began providing secondary education. At that time the number of 

           students was  quite small and  the School was able  to meet the  needs of these  students either 

           within the primary staff quota or with minimal extra teachers. It operated along the lines of the 

           secondary top model where primary teachers taught primary classes in the mornings and taught 

           various subjects to students for the Intermediate and Leaving Certificates in the afternoons. From 

           the mid-1960s the demand for post-primary education grew. The School responded to the demand 

           by  employing  more  teachers.  The  Department  of  Education  was  not  directly  involved  with  the 

           provision of post-primary education and  it was only with the publication of the  1965 Report on 

           Mental Handicap that the State gradually became more involved not only in the provision of special 

           schools and services for the learning disabled but also in the areas of education of the deaf and 

           the blind. 



15.21      A Departmental Committee was set up to review the education of hearing-impaired children and 

           it  began  its  work  in  the  late  1960s.  The  Committee’s  report,  the  first  official  Irish  Government 

           report on the subject, was published in 1972. 



15.22      The report made some general recommendations about the desirability of the two Cabra schools 

           co-operating  in  the  provision  of  services.  The  Principal  of  St  Joseph’s  at  the  time  who  was  a 

           member of the Committee dissented from the opinions of the rest of the group on the question of 

           co-operation. Although, some attempts at co-operation were made during the 1970s, no significant 

           developments  occurred.  By 1989,  24  full-time  permanent teachers  were  employed  in the  post- 

           primary  section  of  St  Mary’s  even  though  the  post-primary  section  of  the  school  did  not  have 

           official status  as  a  proper   post-primary    school.  Technically   and   administratively   the  school 

           operated as a special national school for the hearing impaired with a post-primary facility. 



15.23      The Department were anxious that serious consideration be given to the amalgamation of both 

           schools at least at post-primary level. In their view, the post-primary sections of both schools were 

           overstaffed and not understaffed as contended by both school principals. 



15.24      In correspondence      between    the  Department     of  Education    Special   Schools   section   and  the 

           Manager  of  St  Mary’s  commencing  in  February  1965,  the  Sisters  pressed  the  Department  to 

           sanction an extra teacher and a financial contribution towards the cost of a prefabricated building 

           in  which  they  proposed  to  establish  a  special  class  for  emotionally  disturbed  deaf  girls.  The 

           Department  had  no  objection  in  principle  to  this  proposal  provided  the  staff  pupil  ratio  was 

           maintained at agreed levels. 



           554                                                         CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1341-----------------------

          Nature of allegations 



15.25     The  complainants’  statements  alleged  physical  abuse,  sexual  abuse,  neglect  and  emotional 

          abuse. 



15.26     Twenty complainants alleged excessive corporal punishment by nuns, teachers and lay staff using 

          a  variety  of implements.    The  complaints    included  allegations  of  punishment    for using  sign 

          language by being slapped and having hands tied behind the back. 



15.27     Allegations  were  made  of  sexual  abuse  by  visiting  priests  and  the  Congregation  admitted  that 

          such an allegation was made against a priest, who left shortly after that and never returned. 



15.28     Nineteen complainants alleged neglect in respect of one or more of the following: education, food, 

          accommodation and medical care. 



15.29     All of the complainants alleged emotional abuse in respect of prevention of use of sign language, 

          segregation from other children based on hearing impairment, fear, bullying or humiliation. 



          Response of the Dominican Sisters 



15.30     In their respondent statements, the Dominican Sisters stated the following in general terms: 



                 •    They  accepted  that  corporal  punishment  was  used  but  denied  that  children  were 

                      ‘beaten’. 



                 •    They  stated  that  Oralism  was  the  preferred  option  from  1947  and  that  signing  was 

                      discouraged. 



                 •    They denied that a child was physically punished for signing but accepted that a child 

                      may have been slapped if they persisted. 



                 •    They  did not  respond  to  specific allegations  of  abuse  against  individuals due  to  the 

                      passage of time which they contended made it prejudicial to them. 



15.31     The Department of Education decided in 1990 that their policy should be pragmatic and flexible 

          and open to all aspects of education of the deaf including the communication issue. They decided 

          they would have a caring and flexible system of education of every deaf child from an early age 

          and  certain  modes  of  communication  should  not  be  seen  as  mutually  exclusive  or  as  having 

          inherent  or  distinct  qualities  which  made  them  better  than  others.  Special  schools  should  be 

          encouraged to base their methods on real needs of the children not on any particular approach 

          to  the  education  of  the  deaf.  Regular  reviews  of  programmes  of  work  and  individual  progress 

          would be undertaken. With regard to post-primary education the Department saw the way forward 

          to  amalgamate  St  Mary’s  and  St  Joseph’s  in  Cabra  into  a  single  community-type  post-primary 

          school. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            555 


----------------------- Page 1342-----------------------

 556                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1343-----------------------

          Chapter 16 



           Mary Immaculate School for Deaf 

          Children 



          Introduction 



          Background 



16.01     In  July  1955,  at  the  request  of  the  then  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Dr  John  Charles  McQuaid,  the 

          Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross of Liege, met officials from 

          the Department of Education with a proposal to establish a school for deaf boys aged between 

          three and 10 years in Beechpark, Stillorgan, County Dublin. 



16.02     These  proposals  were  subsequently  formalised  in  a  letter  from  the  Provincial  Superior  to  the 

          Department of Education seeking recognition of Beechpark, Stillorgan as a residential school for 

          deaf boys between the ages of three and 10 years. 



16.03     The Department having obtained the necessary sanction from the Department of Finance gave 

          recognition to the School on the basis of the Congregation’s proposals on 10th April 1956. The 

          School   was   named    ‘Mary  Immaculate     School  for  Deaf  Boys’.   The  School   patron   was   the 

          Archbishop of Dublin and it was owned and managed by the Congregation of the Daughters of 

          the Cross of Liege. The School closed in 1998 due to lack of pupils. 



16.04     The property in Stillorgan had been purchased by the Sisters for the purposes of opening a school 

          for deaf children. However, the property was in a state of disrepair and needed work done so, in 

          the interim, the School operated from St Gabriel’s Hospital in Cabinteely. 



16.05     It appears that the impetus for such a school came from some parents of profoundly deaf children, 

          who approached the Archbishop, seeking the establishment of a school for younger children, as 

          St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys in Cabra run by the Christian Brothers only took boys from the 

          age of seven years upwards. St Mary’s in Cabra run by the Dominican Sisters only catered for 

          deaf girls. 



16.06     The  School  was  recognised  as  a  special  national  school.  It  catered  for  profoundly  deaf  boys 

          between the ages of six to nine years and served as a preparatory school for St Joseph’s School 

          for Deaf Boys in Cabra. 



          CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                            557 


----------------------- Page 1344-----------------------

Original residential school and school between 1956 and 1962. 



The school from 1962. 



 558                                               CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1345-----------------------

           The Investigation 



16.07      The Investigation Committee was unable to conduct a full hearing into this institution. The principal 

           difficulty was in obtaining statements of complainant witnesses. Protracted correspondence and 

           discussion failed to produce agreement as to arrangements for taking statements that would be 

           considered satisfactory. Twenty-one complaints were made to the Investigation Committee and 

           20 written statements were furnished. The legal team interviewed all the complainants. 



16.08      The  result  is  that  the  investigation  into  the  School  was  confined  to  a  review  of  the  discovered 

           material   produced    by   the  Department     of  Education    and   Science,    the  Congregation      of the 

           Daughters     of the   Cross   of  Liege,  the   Garda   Siochana,     the  Archbishop     of Dublin   and   the 

                                                                      ´ 

           statements furnished. The discovered material was limited in nature. A review of the discovery 

           documents furnished did not provide any contemporary evidence to substantiate complaints. The 

           school log, which was carefully maintained, recorded activities and outings. Progress reports on 

           the  children  were  maintained.  The  reports  of  the  Department  of  Education  Inspectors  on  the 

           teachers were satisfactory. There are no records of complaints by parents to either the School or 

           the Department of Education. 



16.09      A Garda Investigation into allegations of sexual and physical abuse at Beechpark was carried out 

           in 2001/2002 but the Investigation Committee received information from the Chief State Solicitor’s 

           Office that no file was sent to the DPP as the allegations concerned common assault and were 

           statute barred. 



           Education 



16.10      The school followed a primary school curriculum with emphasis on speech, lip reading and the 

           acquisition of language. 



16.11      The policy in Ireland at the time was to teach children through the ‘oral/ aural’ method which was 

           widely used throughout Europe for the education of the deaf. 



16.12      The Congregation accepted that Oralism had its critics and did not suit every child in the school. 

           They say that if a child was struggling, an assessment conference was convened and a decision 

           made  as  to  how  to  cater  for  the  needs  of  the  child.  Complainants  alleged  that  children  were 

           punished  and  beaten  for  using  sign  language.  In  their  Statement  the  Congregation  stated  that 

           children were not beaten for signing. They accepted that children were discouraged from signing 

           and may have got a slap on the hand and/or been reprimanded verbally for doing so. 



           Nature of the allegations 



16.13      Twenty  statements  of  complaint  were  furnished  by  the  complainants.  Allegations  were  made 

           against six members of the Congregation and two members of the lay staff. The school opened 

           in 1956 and closed in 1998 and the complaints span most of that period. 



16.14      Sr Ernesta1  occupied a senior position in Beechpark for nearly one-third of its existence. She was 



           described  as  a  very  strict  authoritarian  nun.  She  enforced  the  rule  against  signing  and  it  was 

           alleged that  she slapped  children who  signed. The  complainants also  said that  their education 

           suffered because of the enforcement of Oralism. 



16.15      All of the complainants who were present during Sr Ernesta’s regime described being lined up in 

           the morning to go to the toilet and expected to ‘perform on demand’ and were punished if they 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



           CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II                                                                   559 


----------------------- Page 1346-----------------------

          did not do so. Many of them complained of being given laxatives for this purpose. This routine 

          was carried out every day and the children did not have privacy with regard to their toilet routine. 



16.16     A number of the complainants described the food as poor and basic and that they were forced to 

          eat it. A number of complainants stated that the food was fine, much like home-cooked food, and 

          they could ask for extra helpings. 



16.17     Five other nuns  were criticised, but most complaints were  about Sr Ernesta. She was  the nun 

          who slapped for signing, enforced the toilet regime and force fed those who would not eat. She 

          slept near the dormitories and supervised the children at night. 



          Response of the Congregation to the allegations 



16.18     The Congregation acknowledged that the School followed the oral/aural method of teaching the 

          deaf. This they said was considered at the time the best way to educate the deaf. Consequently, 

          the children were discouraged from signing and may have got a slap on the hand and/or been 

          reprimanded verbally for doing so. They do not accept that children were beaten for signing. 



16.19     They accepted that between the years 1961 and 1971 there was a ‘toileting routine’ in the morning. 

          They do not accept that the children were punished or humiliated or made the object of public 

          derision   during  this  ‘toileting’ process.  They    acknowledged     that  some    children  may   have 

          unconsciously     been   worried  about   it. They   accepted   that  today   this routine  would   not  be 

          considered ‘best practice’, but in the late 1950s and in the 1960s it was not questioned. It ceased 

          in 1971 when the children were divided into smaller groups. The Congregation stated that as a 

          general  rule  laxatives  were  not  arbitrarily  given  to  any  pupil,  only  when  necessary  if  it  was 

          considered a child was constipated. This was done under the supervision of the school nurse who 

          liaised with the school doctor. 



16.20     The Congregation stated that the food was wholesome and plain but in the early years it did not 

          have   the  variety  that was   available  from   the  1970s.   They  believed   that  children  were   well 

          nourished and did not accept that children were force fed. 



16.21     The Congregation acknowledged that Sisters carried keys for safety reasons from the late 1970s. 

          Prior to that, the keys were hung high over the doors. They accepted that a Sister might have had 

          a key in her hand while trying to get the attention of a profoundly deaf child who may on a rare 

          occasion ‘have got a tip of a key on the back of his hand to gain his attention’. They accepted 

          that this could be painful and not ‘good practice’ and may remain in the memory of the person 

          concerned. They denied that keys were used to deliberately hit the children. 



16.22     The Congregation supported Sr Ernesta in denying allegations that she beat the children or hit 

          them with a stick or ruler. The School was small and the staff were a closely knit community. If 

          she had beaten the children, Sr Ernesta would have been reported to the Manager of the school 

          for mistreating pupils and abusing her position as Principal. Rules and regulations were necessary 

          even  if  they  appear  harsh  and  unreasonable  by  the  standards  of  today.  Changes  were  made 

          during 1971 which led to a more lenient regime. Most of this forward thinking and planning was 

          the ‘brain child’ of Sr Ernesta. 



          560                                                        CICA Investigation Committee Report Vol. II 


----------------------- Page 1347-----------------------

                                 Part 1 



CICA Report Vol III Confidential Committee                                   1 


----------------------- Page 1348-----------------------

2                                                  CICA Report Vol III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1349-----------------------

           Chapter 1 



           Introduction 



1.01       The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (the Commission) was established in May 2000 

           pursuant to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act, 2000 as subsequently amended by 

           the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Act, 2005 (the Acts).1  The 



           Commission was initially established on a non-statutory basis following a public apology on 

              th May 1999 by the Taoiseach to those abused as children in Irish institutions over previous 

           11 

           decades. High-profile media coverage of the experiences of children in Irish institutions was 

           widely broadcast at this time. 



1.02       The non-statutory Commission, which comprised three members, made recommendations to the 

           Oireachtas, including that the Commission should be put on a statutory basis. The Commission 

           to Inquire into Child Abuse Act (the Act) was enacted on 26th  April 2000 and the Statutory 

           Commission was established on 23rd          May 2000, pursuant to the Act. The Act, as amended, 



           governs the functions, powers and procedures of the Commission. The Commission as 

           established under the Acts consists of a Chairperson, who is a Judge of the High Court, and 

           ordinary members known as Commissioners. 



1.03       The remit of the Commission under the Acts was to hear evidence from witnesses about 

           childhood abuse in Irish institutions, as defined by the Acts, and who were less than 18 years at 

           the time. 



           Functions of the Commission 



1.04       The Commission was given four distinct functions: 



                  •    To hear evidence of abuse from persons who allege they suffered abuse in childhood 

                        in institutions during the ‘relevant period’2 



                  •    To conduct an inquiry into abuse of children in institutions during that period and to 

                        determine the causes, nature, circumstances and extent of such abuse 



                  •    To inquire into the manner in which children were placed in, and the circumstances in 

                        which they continued to be resident in, institutions during the relevant period 



                  •    To prepare and publish reports on the results of the inquiry and on its 

                        recommendations in relation to dealing with the effects of such abuse and to prevent 

                        where possible and reduce the incidence of abuse of children in institutions and to 

                        protect children from such abuse.3 



           1 See Appendix 1 and 1A for copies of these Acts. All further references in the Confidential Committee’s Report to 



             sections of the 2000 Act shall refer solely to the section and not name the Act, e.g. section 1 of the ‘2000 Act’ shall be 

             referred to as ‘section 1’. All references to sections in other Acts shall contain details of the section and the Act. The 

             Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Act, 2005 shall be referred to as the ‘2005 Act’. 

           2 For the Confidential Committee this ‘relevant period’ was from 1914-2000. 

           3 Sections 4 and 5 as amended by sections 4 and 5 of the 2005 Act. 



           CICA Report Vol III Confidential Committee                                                                      3 


----------------------- Page 1350-----------------------

1.05       The legislation provided for the establishment of two committees of the Commission, the 

           Confidential Committee and the Investigation Committee. Details of the members of the 

           Confidential Committee, both past and present, are set out in Appendix Two. The Commission’s 

           functions of hearing evidence of, and inquiring into, abuse were performed through the 

           Confidential Committee and the Investigation Committee. Members of the Commission were 

           assigned to one or other Committee; they could not be members of both. Persons who wished 

           to give evidence about abuse had to choose to give their evidence either to the Confidential 

           Committee or the Investigation Committee. The Commission and its Committees were 

           independent in the performance of their functions.4 



           Confidential Committee 



1.06       This is the final Report of the work of the Confidential Committee (the Committee), provided for 

           in section 16 of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act, 2000, as amended.5  This 



           Report presents the oral evidence recounted by 1,090 witnesses who attended hearings with 

           the Committee between 2000 and 2006. This report also includes information contained in the 

           3rd Interim Report dated December 2003. 



1.07       The principal functions of the Confidential Committee were: 



                   •    To provide a forum for persons who have suffered abuse in institutions during their 

                         childhood, and who did not wish to have that abuse enquired into by the 

                         Investigation Committee to recount their experiences and make submissions in 

                         confidence 



                   •    To receive evidence of such abuse 

                   •    To make proposals of a general nature with a view to their being considered by the 

                         Commission in deciding what recommendations to make6 



                   •    To prepare and furnish reports.7 



1.08       The mandate of the Committee was to hear the evidence of those who wished to report their 

           experiences in institutions in a confidential setting, as defined in the legislation. The legislation 

           provided that the Confidential Committee was to endeavour to ensure that meetings of the 

           Committee at which evidence was being given were conducted so as to afford to witnesses an 

           opportunity to recount in full the abuse suffered by them in an atmosphere that was sympathetic 

           to, and understanding of, them, and as informally as was possible in the circumstances. 8 



           Defined categories of abuse 



1.09       The Committee was required to hear the evidence of witnesses9  who wished to report four types 



           of abuse as defined by the Acts. The definitions changed in the 2005 Act and the changes 

           made by the 2005 Act are highlighted in bold below: 



                  Physical abuse: 

                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child. 



           4  Section 3(3). 

           5  Section 11 of the 2005 Act. 

           6  Section 15(1) as amended by section 10 of the 2005 Act. 

           7  Section 16 as amended by section 11 of the 2005 Act. 

           8  Section 4(6) as substituted by section 4 of the 2005 Act. 

           9  In the Confidential Committee Report the evidence of witnesses is generally referred to as ‘reports’. 



           4                                                               CICA Report Vol III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1351-----------------------

                 Sexual abuse: 

                 The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                 or another person. 



                  Neglect: 

                  Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, 

                  in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                 serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare. 



                  Emotional abuse: 

                 Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                 expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                 development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.10 



1.10       The Committee classified all reports of abuse under one of the above types, as defined by the 

           Acts. Witness reports of abuse included all four types, and combinations of those types of 

           abuse. The definition of abuse includes acts that occurred to children, as well as acts of 

           omission, such as medical, social, educational or emotional neglect that ‘results, or could 

           reasonably be expected to result’11  in having serious adverse effects on them both at the time 



           and afterwards. 



1.11       Individuals applied to give evidence of the abuse suffered by them in a range of Irish 

           institutions. The definition in the 2000 Act of ‘institutions’ includes ‘a school, an industrial school, 

           a reformatory school, an orphanage, a hospital, a children’s home and any other place where 

           children are cared for other than as members of their families’.12  Many witnesses were admitted 



           to more than one institution and may have reported abuse in one or more institutions. The 

           majority of witnesses reported more than one type of abuse. 



           Defined institutions 



1.12       Industrial and Reformatory Schools were residential institutions that admitted boys and girls 

           during their time of operation. There were 60 certified Industrial or Reformatory Schools in 

           Ireland during the period covered by this Report. The Schools were gender segregated with the 

           exception of 12 industrial schools that were designated as mixed, admitting both boys and girls. 



1.13       For the purposes of this Report ‘Other Institutions’ is the collective term used to refer to all 

           institutions apart from Industrial or Reformatory Schools that fell within the definition of 

           institutions. Such ‘Other Institutions’ included: general, specialist and rehabilitation hospitals, 

           foster homes, primary and second-level schools, Children’s Homes, laundries, Noviciates, 

           hostels and special needs schools (both day and residential) that provided care and education 

           for children with intellectual, visual, hearing or speech impairments, and others. 



1.14       The evidence heard by the Confidential Committee regarding Industrial and Reformatory 

           Schools and ‘Other Institutions’ are presented separately in this Report. 



           Evidence 



1.15       The Report contains information given in evidence to the Committee on the demographic and 

           social circumstances of witnesses before their admission to the institutions, their experiences 

           and reports of abuse while in the institutions and their life following discharge from the 

           institutions. Less detailed information was obtained in relation to the social circumstances of 



           10 Section 1(1) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 

           11 Section 1(1) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 

           12 Section 1(1) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



           CICA Report Vol III Confidential Committee                                                                        5 


----------------------- Page 1352-----------------------

           witnesses who, while attending ‘Other Institutions’, had remained in the care of their own family, 

           for example witnesses who reported abuse in primary or second-level schools. 



1.16       The Committee was required to hear witness accounts of abuse that occurred in the past during 

           a ‘relevant period’ as defined by the Acts.13  The Committee determined the relevant period as 



           between 1914 and 2000, being the earliest date of admission to out-of-home care and the latest 

           date of discharge of those applicants who sought to give evidence to the Committee14. 



1.17       Witness evidence included reports of both single incidents and multiple episodes of abuse over 

           a length of time in institutional care for each individual. This Report is a comprehensive account 

           of the information provided by witnesses about incidents and details of abuse they were able to 

           recall and wished to report to the Committee. 



1.18       The Report is structured as follows: 



                   •    Part 1 



                        – Chapters 1–5: Introduction, methodology and overview 



                        – Chapters 6-9: Record of abuse and experiences in Industrial and Reformatory 

                              Schools 



                        – Chapter 10: Positive memories 



                        – Chapter 11: Current circumstances 



                   •    Part 2 



                        – Chapter 12: Introduction to Part 2 



                        – Chapters 13–18: Record of abuse and experiences in ‘Other Institutions’ 



                        – Chapter 19: Concluding comments 



           13 Section 1(1). 

           14 This includes both Industrial and Reformatory Schools and ‘Other Institutions’. 



           6                                                               CICA Report Vol III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1353-----------------------

           Chapter 2 



           Methodology 



2.01       The following chapter describes the procedures and methods by which the Committee carried 

           out its mandate under the Acts. This includes the procedures for dealing with applications, the 

           arrangement of hearings, the prioritisation of elderly and infirm witnesses and the adjustments 

           made for witnesses in particular circumstances. It also includes details of the procedures 

           employed to protect the confidentiality of the evidence provided and the method by which 

           witness evidence was compiled. Mindful of the statutory requirements of the Committee to hear 

           evidence of abuse, maintain witness confidentiality, and to make proposals and prepare a final 

           report, a method of work was established that:1 



                  •    Ensured complete confidentiality in relation to information provided to the Committee 

                  •    Maintained confidentiality of witnesses in relation to both their identity and their 

                        evidence 



                  •    Provided an appropriate setting for witnesses to give their evidence in confidence 

                  •    Established clear liaison and communication procedures 

                  •    Was accessible to witnesses who were unable or did not wish to travel to Dublin 

                  •    Allowed for the recording, storing, coding and retrieving of 1,090 files of evidence. 



           Personnel 

2.02       Six (6) Commissioners served on the Committee at different times between 2000 and 2008.2  At 



           any one point there were two Commissioners conducting hearings and for a period there were 

           four Commissioners so occupied. The Committee also employed Witness Support Officers. The 

           role of the Witness Support Officer facilitated communication between the applicant3  and the 



           Committee, as direct contact between witnesses and the Commissioners was restricted to the 

           hearings. The Witness Support Officer made the arrangements for witnesses to travel to their 

           hearings, either in Ireland, the UK or elsewhere. They arranged accommodation and offered 

           other assistance for witnesses and their companions prior to and following the hearings. In 

           addition, at different times between 2000 and 2008, Administrative and Research Assistants 

           were employed. The Committee engaged various expert services for specific legal advice, 

           database construction and software security, research, data compilation and presentation. The 

           Committee had at all times adequate resources to undertake its work. 



           Undertaking of confidentiality 



2.03       The Acts give a commitment of confidentiality in relation to information furnished to the 

           Committee. The Acts require that the Report of the Confidential Committee should not identify or 

           contain information that could lead to the identification of witnesses, or the persons against 



           1 Sections 4(6), 15(1) and 16 as amended. 

           2 See Appendix 2. 

           3 The term applicant refers to all individuals who applied to be heard by the Confidential Committee, not all of whom 



             proceeded to become witnesses and give evidence. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                   7 


----------------------- Page 1354-----------------------

           whom they made allegations, the institutions in which they alleged they were abused or any 

            other person.4    It is a criminal offence to breach the assurance of confidentiality provided by the 

           Acts to witnesses and to the work of the Committee.5  The Acts do not permit the Report to 

            contain findings in relation to particular instances of the alleged abuse of children.6 



2.04        The provisions of the Acts do not allow any person about whom reports of abuse were made to 

           the Confidential Committee, or others connected with the institutions, to challenge the 

            statements made. The confidential nature of the Committee’s work also means that information, 

            documents or evidence provided to the Committee could not or cannot be disclosed to the 

            Investigation Committee of the Commission or elsewhere.7                Exceptions to this were allowed for in 

            only extremely limited circumstances and these are detailed below.8 



2.05        Before attending their hearing witnesses were informed that the hearings of the Committee were 

            entirely confidential and that no information or material from their hearing would be transferred 

           for use in any other forum. This was emphasised before hearings with the Committee. It is 

            believed therefore that there could be no secondary motivation attached to a witness’s decision 

           to report to the Committee. 



2.06        The undertaking of confidentiality was converted into a set of rules and protocols that applied to 

           the Commissioners and to all members of the secretarial, administrative, executive and 

            managerial staff of the Committee, technology and other experts, researchers and any other 

            persons in contact with the work of the Committee. The Commission drew up a set of 

            procedures in relation to electronic communications, which covered such matters as use of 

            emails, passwords, storage and the copying of data and restrictions on the electronic transfer of 

            materials. It was emphasised that the duty of confidentiality applied to the period after the 

           termination of employment with the Commission and after dissolution of the Commission. 

           All members of the Confidential Committee subscribed to a protocol on conflict of interest. 



2.07        The location of the staff and materials of the Committee was within a secure office area, access 

           to which was strictly limited. The offices were located in a building occupied by a number of 

            different agencies, which provided an element of anonymity to witnesses. 



            Exceptions to confidentiality 



2.08       Witnesses who chose to give their evidence to the Committee were, subject to the following four 

            exceptions, assured complete confidentiality and their allegations were not investigated. The 

            Committee was legally obliged to disclose information obtained by it either where disclosure was 

            necessary to: 



                   •     Perform its functions under the Act 

                   •     Prevent the continuance of an act or omission constituting a serious offence (by 

                         making a report to the Garda Siochana) 

                                                                ´ 



                   •     Prevent, reduce or remove a substantial risk to life, or prevent the continued abuse of 

                         a child by making a report to designated persons9  or 



                   •     Comply with an order of the High Court.10 



           4 Sections 4(6), 5(4), 11(2), 15(1), 16(2), 27, 32, 33, and 34 as amended. 

           5 Section 27(6). 

           6 Section 16(2). 

            7 Section 27(1). 

           8 Sections 27(2), 27(3). 

           9 Section 27(2). 

            10 Section 27(3). 



            8                                                              CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1355-----------------------

           Applicants 



2.09       One thousand five hundred and forty one (1541) people applied to give evidence to the 

           Committee. Individuals could contact the Commission in person, by telephone, by letter or 

           through the Commission’s website. People who contacted the Commission were initially 

           provided with information about both the Investigation and Confidential Committees. Application 

           forms for both Committees were also provided. Individuals indicated which Committee they 

           wished to attend by completing in writing the appropriate application form.11 



2.10       On receipt of an application form, the Confidential Committee sent more detailed information to 

           the applicant about that Committee and the hearing process. The information was provided in 

           the form of an ‘information pack’12  which explained how the Confidential Committee hearings 



           were arranged and conducted. The website and information pack also contained a photograph 

           of an informally furnished room, in which the Commissioners heard the witnesses’ evidence. 



2.11       The following is a summary of the general route to a Confidential Committee hearing: 



                   •    Individual heard about the work of the Commission from media reports and notices 

                         placed by the Commission, through contact with a social or health service in Ireland 

                         or overseas, from meetings held by survivor-oriented organisations in Ireland or 

                         overseas, from a friend, family member or persons previously associated with the 

                         institutions. 



                   •    Applicant contacted the Commission to request information. 

                   •    Applicant obtained information about the Commission’s work and application forms. 

                   •    Applicant selected which of the two Committees he/she wished to attend. 

                   •    Applicant returned a completed application form to the Confidential Committee. 

                   •    The Confidential Committee ascertained whether the applicant fell within the remit of 

                         the Acts. 



                   •    Receipt of the application was confirmed and further information about the Committee 

                         was sent to the applicant. 



                   •    A Confidential Committee hearing was scheduled for the applicant. 



2.12       Four hundred and fifty one (451) of the 1,541 applicants did not proceed to give evidence in the 

           following circumstances: 



                   •    One hundred and thirty six (136) applicants withdrew from the Confidential 

                         Committee process to transfer to the Investigation Committee, as provided for under 

                         the Acts.13 



                   •    One hundred and twenty one (121) applicants applied to give evidence but later 

                         withdrew their application for unspecified reasons. 



                   •    Ninety two (92) applicants were deemed to have withdrawn as they did not respond 

                         to any subsequent communication from the Committee. 



                   •    Fifty two (52) applicants withdrew when appointments were made with the 

                         Committee, stating they were too distressed or no longer wished to attend a hearing. 



                   •    Eighteen (18) applicants were withdrawn from the process due to death or serious 

                         physical or mental illness. 



           11 See Appendix 3, which includes a copy of the CICA Information Leaflet and the Application Form. 

           12 See Appendix 4, 4A and 4B,which includes a revised edition of the Information Pack, sample appointment letter and 



              a photograph of the Hearing Room. 

           13 Section 19 as amended by section 14 of the 2005 Act. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                        9 


----------------------- Page 1356-----------------------

                   •    Sixteen (16) applicants indicated a wish to attend a scheduled hearing but failed to 

                         attend on the day and did not request a rescheduled date. 



                   •    Sixteen (16) applicants were withdrawn because they fell outside the remit of the 

                         Acts for different reasons, including not having been a child of less than 18 years at 

                         the time of the reported abuse. 



           Transfers between Committees 



2.13       A number of applicants who had applied to give evidence to the Confidential Committee 

           subsequently applied to transfer to a hearing of the Investigation Committee and vice versa. 

           Such transfers had been envisaged and were provided for in the 2000 Act.14                   Evidence given to 



           the original Committee had to be disregarded by the original Committee once the transfer was 

           effected. Altogether 253 witnesses transferred from the Investigation Committee and 136 

           witnesses transferred from the Confidential Committee.15 



           Witnesses 



2.14       The Confidential Committee heard from 1,090 witnesses who applied to give evidence of abuse 

           they experienced as children in Irish institutions. They had been discharged from, or left, the 

           institutions between 1922 and 2000, and were residing in Ireland, the UK and other parts of the 

           world. 



2.15       A small number of third-party witnesses applied to give evidence and the Commission decided 

           that they could be heard by the Confidential Committee for the potential beneficial effect it may 

           provide. Sixteen (16) hearings were attended by third-party witnesses who came to report abuse 

           on behalf of their deceased family members or spoke of their own children who had been 

           abused in institutions and who did not seek to give direct evidence themselves. The emphasis 

           of the evidence given by third-party witnesses was on the impact on them of their relatives’ 

           abuse. While the evidence of adults other than persons who suffered abuse as children in 

           institutions could not be included as evidence of abuse, the testimony of third-parties was 

           included in consideration for the overall proposals. 



2.16       Additionally, it was not possible to establish prior to their hearings that the evidence of 60 of the 

           1,090 witnesses would fall outside the remit of the Acts, for one or more of the following 

           reasons: 



                   •    They were not less than 18 years at the time the alleged abuse occurred. 

                   •    The abuse described did not fall within the meaning of the Acts. 

                   •    The abuse described did not take place in an institution as described within the 

                         meaning of the Acts.16 



                   •    They were unable to give a sufficiently coherent account of their evidence to meet 

                         the criteria of the Acts. 



2.17       The direct evidence of 1,014 of the 1,090 witnesses that fell within the remit of the Acts is 

           presented in the following chapters. Fifty one (51) of the 1,014 witnesses reported abuse in 

           more than one institution, 36 of those reported abuse in Industrial and/or Reformatory Schools 

           and ‘Other’ Institutions. As a result there is some unavoidable overlap in the evidence reported 

           in certain sections of this report. 



           14 Section 19 as amended by section 14 of the 2005 Act. 

           15 These figures do not include all dual applicants. 

           16 Section 1(1). 



           10                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1357-----------------------

           Prioritisation of witnesses 



2.18       When scheduling hearings the Committee took into account the age, state of health and any 

           other relevant facts brought to its attention in relation to persons wishing to give evidence. 

           Priority was given to elderly witnesses and those in poor health. The evidence of prioritised 

           witnesses was heard in the earlier period of the Committee’s hearings, between 2000 and 2003. 

           Where necessary the Committee scheduled hearings overseas and travelled to hear evidence 

           from elderly witnesses and those in poor health who were unable to travel to Dublin. 



           Hearings 



2.19       A Witness Support Officer co-ordinated the hearing appointments and associated arrangements. 

           The first witnesses to the Committee were heard in September 2000. The Committee heard its 

           final witness in March 2006. The timing of hearings were scheduled in order to maintain witness 

           confidentiality and anonymity. 



2.20       The majority of hearings were held in the Commission offices in Dublin. One hundred and sixty 

           six (166) of the 1,090 hearings were held in other locations in Ireland and in locations overseas. 

           Witnesses who were house-bound through illness or disability who wished to be heard in their 

           home or place of residence were facilitated. A number of hearings were conducted in hotels in 

           provincial centres to facilitate witnesses who had particular difficulty travelling to Dublin, and the 

           evidence of three witnesses was heard in Irish prisons. Witnesses who lived overseas and 

           wished to give their evidence in Ireland were facilitated by assistance with travel and 

           accommodation arrangements within guidelines established by the Department of Education and 

           Science. A number of witnesses had not been back to Ireland for a substantial length of time. 

           Some had never returned since their departure as young people and the Committee hearing 

           was the occasion of their first return visit. See Table 1 for details of hearing locations: 



                             Table 1: Location of Hearings – Male and Female Witnesses 



              Location of hearing                Males                     Females                Total witnesses 



            CICA offices                           501                        423                         924 



            USA                                       2                          0                           2 



            Ireland                                 57                          30                         87 



            UK                                      31                          44                         75 



            Mainland Europe                           1                          1                           2 



            Total                                  592                        498                        1090 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           Process of hearings 



2.21       The hearing of witnesses’ evidence took place over a six-year period between 2000 and 2006. 

           Over 2,000 hours of evidence was recorded. All Confidential Committee hearings were 

           conducted by two Commissioners except in circumstances when only one Commissioner was 

           available; this occurred infrequently. The hearings were audio recorded where the witness 

           consented to it; where consent was not given no audio record was made and the 

           Commissioners present made a contemporaneous written record as required by the Acts.17                  In a 



           small number of instances the recording was subsequently discovered to be blank or incomplete 



           17 Section 7. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                11 


----------------------- Page 1358-----------------------

           due to either a technical fault or human error. In these circumstances contemporaneous notes 

           were retained. The evidence of witnesses was recorded in the following way: 



                   •    The audio recording discs were individually numbered and archived. 

                   •    The archive was managed in a secure and systematic fashion. 

                   •    Anonymous extracts from the hearings were entered into a database using a large 

                         number of pre-formulated headings (fields) that permitted observations to be made in 

                         general terms on matters specified in the Acts.18 



                   •    The amalgamated evidence and the conclusions are presented in this Report. 



2.22       In the course of the hearings, witnesses recounted their experiences in their own way and the 

           majority of witnesses were able to give a clear account of their experiences. Witnesses with 

           communication disabilities were assisted as necessary. Some had prepared for the hearing and 

           brought written statements and supporting documentation to assist them. Others came to their 

           hearings prepared to speak unaided. A small number of witnesses requested that their written 

           statement be read into the record. Others requested that their companion at the hearing speak 

           on their behalf. The witness was required to verify the account given in these circumstances and 

           witnesses could add to the verbal account as they wished. In accordance with the Acts, 

           witnesses were not permitted to take notes during their hearing or otherwise record their 

           hearing. The witnesses were not provided with a copy of the mini-disk recording of their 

           hearing.19  The summarised report of the witnesses’ evidence with details of the abuse history 



           was entered into the database following the hearing. This record was confirmed and agreed by 

           the Commissioners who attended the hearing. Witnesses were offered the opportunity to come 

           back and listen to the recording of their hearing if they wished.20 



2.23       Witnesses could speak as briefly or in as much detail as they wished at a hearing. Most 

           hearings lasted between one and two hours. The Commissioners listened to and recorded the 

           evidence provided. Witnesses were asked if they wished to make a self-directed statement or to 

           be assisted by general questions, for example ‘Can you tell us about your family?’ or ‘What was 

           your first memory of ...named School...?’ or ‘What do you want to tell the Commission about 

           what happened to you?’ Many witnesses asked for initial assistance in the form of questions 

           from the Commissioners. A number of witnesses reported that they had never disclosed their 

           experiences to anyone before, either to their parents, spouse, partner, their own children, their 

           siblings or others. In accordance with the Acts, the witnesses were provided with a sympathetic 

           forum in which to present their evidence, unchallenged.21  Witnesses who became distressed 



           while recounting their experiences were given time to continue their account. During the 

           hearings Commissioners sought clarification of certain points made by witnesses where 

           necessary, in order to fully understand the information provided. There was no requirement or 

           provision under the Acts for legal representation at hearings of the Confidential Committee. 



2.24       There was no contact between Commissioners and witnesses outside the hearings. All contact 

           was directed through the Witness Support Officers. These contacts arose in replying to letters, 

           phone calls, forwarding information packs, arranging appointments for hearings, reimbursing 

           expenses, liaising with counsellors and arranging for witnesses to return to listen back to their 

           audio-recorded evidence. 



           18 Section 4(1)(b), as amended by section 4 of the 2005 Act. 

           19 Section 27(1). 

           20 Statement delivered at the First Public Sitting, 29th June 2000, 3rd Interim Report page 240. 

           21 Section 4(6)(a) and (b) as amended by section 4 of the 2005 Act. See also paragraph 2.43 below. 



           12                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1359-----------------------

           Companions at hearing 



2.25       Witnesses could be accompanied to the hearings by a companion if they so wished. It was the 

           witness’s choice whether the accompanying person attended the hearing or waited in a nearby 

           waiting room for the duration of the hearing. Confidentiality bound the accompanying person. 

           Those who wished to be accompanied by a sign language interpreter or other professional 

           person were facilitated to do so. There was no requirement or provision under the Acts for 

           witnesses to have legal representation at Confidential Committee hearings. The number of 

           witnesses who chose to attend hearings with and without a companion is shown below: 



                           Table 2: Companions at Hearings – Male and Female Witnesses 



            Companions                         Males             %      Females            %         Total           % 

                                                                                                  witnesses 



            Accompanied, at hearing               205           35          194           39          399           37 

            Accompanied, not at hearing           179           30          215           43          394           36 

            Unaccompanied                         208           35           89           18          297           27 

            Total                                 592          100          498          100        1,090          100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



2.26       Almost three quarters of the witnesses (73%) were accompanied to the Commission. Half of 

           these witnesses were accompanied by their companion throughout their hearing with the 

           Committee and the other half requested that their companions remained in the waiting room 

           while they were giving their evidence to the Committee. A noticeably larger proportion of male 

           witnesses were unaccompanied when they attended for their hearing. 



           Compilation of evidence 



2.27       The Committee hearings generated three types of witness information from which this Report is 

           compiled: 



                  •    The oral evidence of witnesses recorded at the hearings 

                  •    Points of clarification sought by Commissioners on particular matters 

                  •    Documents, statements, letters, certificates or photographs shown to and provided by 

                        witnesses to the Commissioners. 



2.28       The Committee engaged a research consultant to design a detailed database template for 

           archiving witness evidence. This database was used by the Commissioners to record the 

           accounts of witnesses in such a manner that the information obtained could be analysed and a 

           comprehensive report, with conclusions of a general nature, produced. Assessments were made 

           of some information to facilitate classification of data. Examples of this are the information on 

           parental occupation status22     and the classification of different forms of abuse as provided for in 



           the Acts. 



2.29       The Committee made a decision to present the evidence reported by witnesses in a gender- 

           differentiated way. The rationale for this was that boys and girls were segregated in the majority 

           of institutions that were managed by different religious Congregations and Orders, State 

           agencies and voluntary sector organisations. Further, there were some differences in the 

           recounting of individual experiences by male and female witnesses that the Committee 

           considered should be treated separately. 



           22 This is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two-parent 



             households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole parent 

             was recorded, in so far as it was known. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  13 


----------------------- Page 1360-----------------------

2.30       In most instances information is presented in the order of frequency reported except where data 

           for male and female witnesses is presented conjointly. In those instances the male data is 

           presented first, as male witnesses formed the largest overall cohort. 



2.31       Witness evidence in relation to Industrial and Reformatory Schools and ‘Other’ Institutions 

           covered an 86 year period, from the earliest admission date of 1914 to the latest discharge date 

           of 2000. Thirteen (13) witness reports referred to admissions between 1914 and 1930, and 10 of 

           the witness reports related to discharges after 1990. It was decided to arrange the evidence in 

           four time periods to facilitate sorting. The chosen time periods were: pre-1960s, 1960s, 1970s, 

           1980s and later. Occasionally throughout the report references are made to specific decades 

           within these time periods to reflect witness evidence. The year of final discharge was designated 

           as the determining factor for allocation to a time period. Therefore, where reference is made to 

           evidence pertaining to one time period the segment of evidence will include some matters that 

           relate to a previous decade or time period.23 



2.32       Each witness provided evidence in their own way and each witness’s experience was unique, 

           therefore, it is not possible to present complete and comparable data for all witnesses. For 

           instance many witnesses reported that they had no memory of their own treatment as very 

           young children in institutions. Reports of abuse to babies and younger children are almost 

           exclusively confined to what witnesses reported they observed. The Report is largely silent on 

           the abuse perpetrated on children who were too young to accurately recall their own 

           experiences. Some witnesses also acknowledged gaps in both their specific and general recall 

           of events, with many clearly stating that they wished to report what they actually remembered, 

           even if it was incomplete. 



2.33       The Report is a summarised compilation of the evidence provided. In this context, the Report 

           provides no further analysis beyond what was necessary to report as required by the legislation. 

           The evidence was recorded within a fixed database and, as a result, some elements of the data 

           presented are necessarily incomplete. In some instances aspects of the same information are 

           presented under different headings due to unavoidable overlap between categories of abuse. 



2.34       It is anticipated that this Report may be read by people from a wide range of backgrounds in 

           terms of age, belief and ethnicity and for that reason there are footnotes throughout the text 

           clarifying the meaning of certain terms used. 



2.35       Readers will note that some coincidences of numbers occur throughout the Report. Where the 

           same number appears in different contexts it should be noted that they have been checked by 

           the Committee and are correct. 



2.36       In the interest of clarity, Industrial and Reformatory Schools, religious Brothers and Sisters and 

           Children’s Homes are referred to by upper case designations to distinguish them from primary 

           and second-level schools, children’s family homes and sibling brothers and sisters. 



2.37       For the purpose of compiling this volume of the Report persons referred to by the witnesses as 

           being in charge in management positions are described as authority figures and may include 

           Resident Managers, Reverend Mothers, Brother Superiors and school Principals. 



           23 For example: as witness evidence is presented according to the decade of discharge, a witness who spent 12 years 



              in a school and was discharged in 1962 will have been included in the 1960s cohort although the majority of that 

              witness’s experience will relate to the 1950s. 



           14                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1361-----------------------

           Use of quotations 



2.38       Most chapters in this Report quote extensively from witnesses’ direct evidence to the 

           Committee. The purpose of the use of quotations is to provide a representative account of the 

           witnesses’ experiences in their own words, including colloquialisms and informal terminology, for 

           example, many witnesses referred to Industrial Schools as orphanages. 



2.39       The italicised words used in the quotations are the actual words used by the witnesses at their 

           hearing. All names and identifying details are deleted to preserve anonymity and are substituted 

           by ellipses, a set of three dots, and anonymous references, for example X or Y. Further, for the 

           purposes of clarification explanatory comments are included in brackets in some quotations. The 

           choice of quotations intends to represent the range of experiences described, including those 

           concerning family circumstances and subsequent effects on adult life. 



2.40       In order to preserve confidentiality, no person or place can be identified in this Report or 

           elsewhere. 24  The source of each quotation used is anonymised and, where necessary and 



           appropriate, the Committee has made use of neutral characters and words, for example: X, Y 

           and Z or ‘named city’. 



           Documentation 



2.41       Witnesses were invited to bring supporting documentation to their hearing, if they wished, and a 

           number brought copies of documents relating to their admission that they had acquired under 

           the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003, and other searches. Included among the 

           documents provided by witnesses to the Commissioners were: 



                  •    Admission records 

                  •     Documents from institutional centres 

                  •     Medical records 

                  •     Birth certificates 

                  •     Letters from the Department of Education and Science25 



                  •     Court orders 

                  •     Correspondence between their families, the institutions and relevant authorities 

                  •     Letters from the gardai and others seeking payments from parents 

                                                  ´ 



                  •     General correspondence 

                  •     Newspaper cuttings relating to their admission 

                  •     Personal photographs from their time in the institution. 



           Emergency counselling and medical services 



2.42       Some witnesses reported that they found attending their hearing with the Committee a daunting 

           prospect. The National Counselling Service (NCS) in Ireland provided for a counsellor to be 

           available on call during the time all hearings were scheduled. The Witness Support Officers 

           liaised with the NCS and the health service at a local medical clinic in anticipation of the 

           possible need for emergency assistance arising from the hearing. Counselling services were 

           available through the Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy (ICAP) service in the UK to 

           facilitate witnesses resident in the UK. Witnesses who had not previously availed of a 



           24 Section 16(2)(a). 

           25 Formerly the Department of Education. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                   15 


----------------------- Page 1362-----------------------

           counselling service were provided with the necessary information regarding either their local 

           NCS office or ICAP, if they so requested. 



           Returning to hear evidence 



2.43       For a period of three months after the Committee concluded its hearings, witnesses were able, if 

           they so wished, to listen back to their evidence that had been audio-recorded by the Committee. 

           The listening did not constitute a hearing and witnesses could not alter, add in, or take away 

           any written record of their evidence. The opportunity to listen to the recording of their hearing 

           was offered for the potential beneficial effect it would provide.26       Seventy four (74) witnesses 



           returned to listen to some or all of their recorded evidence. 



           Reasons given for attending the Confidential Committee 



2.44       The witnesses reported different reasons for applying to be heard by the Committee, which are 

           categorised in Table 3 below. The most frequently cited reasons were a wish to have the abuse 

           they experienced officially recorded and a desire to tell their story. The protection of children 

           and the prevention of future abuse were other reasons frequently given for providing evidence. 

           Witnesses stated their hope that, by reporting their own experiences and having them placed on 

           public record the need for greater vigilance and protection for children in out-of-home care 

           would be recognised in future. 



            Table 3: Witnesses’ Reason(s) for Giving Evidence to the Confidential Committee – Male 

                                                     and Female Witnesses 



            Reasons for giving evidence                Males           %     Females           %         Total         % 

                                                                                                     witnesses 



            To record abuse                              174          29         114          23         288          26 

            To tell their story                           84          14          88          18         172          16 

            Prevent abuse in the future                  111          19          97          19         208          19 

            Therapeutic benefit                           98          17          85          17         183          17 

            Encouraged by others                          61          10          67          13         128          12 

            Sense of obligation                           23            4         11           2          34           3 

            Other reasons                                 31            5         31           6          62           6 

            Not stated                                     10           2           5           1         15           1 

            Total                                        592         100         498      (100)*       1,090         100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



2.45       One hundred and twenty eight (128) witnesses reported being encouraged by a range of 

           people, including family members, other survivors, counsellors and solicitors to apply to the 

           Committee. They expressed the hope that attending the Committee would help them put painful 

           memories of the past behind them and achieve ‘closure’. A small number of witnesses reported 

           that they had been encouraged to attend by former staff of the institutions. 



2.46       Witnesses also reported that there were positive aspects to their treatment in institutions that 

           they wished to have acknowledged. 



2.47       Those who reported attending the Committee out of a sense of obligation often commented that 

           they came forward to support others, especially in relation to institutions where they believed 

           abuse was less often acknowledged. 



           26 Section 4(6). 



           16                                                           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1363-----------------------

2.48       Sixty two (62) witnesses gave other reasons for attending, including some who hoped to gain a 

           better understanding of their admission to an institution and many who, in addition to recounting 

           the history of their own abuse, also came to speak for siblings and co-residents who had died in 

           tragic circumstances. 



2.49       The following quotations illustrate the reasons stated by witnesses for giving evidence to the 

           Committee: 



                 I think I wanted someone to listen to me, nobody ever listened to us, nobody ever asked 

                 us how we were feeling. When our mother died we were never spoken to, we cried for a 

                 reason, nobody ever asked why, nobody ever said “if you have a problem come to me”. 

                  We did not know how to post a letter or buy a loaf of bread ...(after discharge)... I 

                 wanted to be heard really. 



                                                                   • 



                  They all said “that couldn’t have happened” but they can’t say that to 5000 of us when 

                 we all have a similar story to tell. 



                                                                   • 



                 For all the children who died in care and cannot speak for themselves. Listening to 

                 fellows being flogged ... I just wanted to forget them but I couldn’t forget them ... fellows 

                 were being told not to tell their parents. I’m not interested in any compensation but there 

                 should be some official record of what happened. The most important thing is that 

                 disabled children would be educated without abuse being done to them. 



                                                                   • 



                 Lots of others would love to come to tell their story but they can’t because their lives are 

                 destroyed with drink and drugs and everything. My story is their story too. 



                                                                   • 



                 I know many of the others are not around to tell. To protect kids, give a double look at 

                 the guy you think is such a great guy, who offers to do things with kids, who is 

                 supposed to be a lover of kids or whatever, where you think he seems to be a sports 

                 man ... look again, because, once a kid is sent down the wrong way it seems to live 

                 with them for ever. There is a ... wall of silence that no one knows unless you are within 

                 the School. You need to bring things in to protect the kids. 



                                                                   • 



                 I blame the Government, they gave the religious orders the power, they should have 

                 come and checked you, if it was monitored they wouldn’t have the power to do what 

                 they did.... Is anyone ever going to listen? I had to prove myself, everyone is entitled to 

                 have their say and now ... after today ... I will just burn it ...(supporting documents)... in 

                 front of me, I’ll finish it. 



                                                                   • 



                 I knew 7 people who in a space of 6 months after leaving ...named School... committed 

                 suicide. ... I know an awful lot of people who just cannot come forward to this day, an 

                 awful lot are dead. 



                                                                   • 



                 I wanted to see if there is something good that can come from it, that what happened 

                 will be made public in print. When I started there was nothing about money, nothing at 

                 all about money, it’s not money. All I want is justice. ... What could you do with money? 



                                                                   • 



                 I am here today because I am not a number, I am a human being. 



                                                                   • 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                   17 


----------------------- Page 1364-----------------------

                Why ...(come forward)...? How come I am feeling this 50 or 60 years on? How come 

                someone didn’t come and ... do something about it, say “are you alright?” I grew up so 

                emotionally bruised and battered, psychologically I couldn’t do anything. I wanted 

                someone to tell me why it happened. From 0 till 18 I was a figure under section 

                something ...(Children Act, 1908).... Initially I wanted to confront somebody from that 

                bloody School and say “why did you do that to me?” 



                                                              • 



                So that there will be a report which will advise social workers to monitor children in care 

                more closely. 



                                                              • 



                To record abuse, perhaps it will go some way towards stopping the belief that children 

                won’t remember. 



                                                              • 



                I want people to know it was not safe for children in those Schools.... It was a School 

                from hell, they were dangerous people. I will never forgive them, there were people in 

                charge they done nothing about it, you were under lock and key, you got the life kicked 

                out of you and no one does anything about it. 



                                                              • 



                It’s a must ... you were allotted to listen to me, it’s going to close a chapter in my life 

                and I’m happy to release it all. 



                                                              • 



                No one was prepared to stand-up, the government allowed the religious institutions to 

                care for children, it was out of their hands. The religious just did not know how to cope, 

                they had no background whatsoever in childcare. 



                                                              • 



                We have been quiet long enough. 



                                                              • 



                It’s a report for social workers, to monitor more carefully, there should have been 

                monitoring. If there had been more outsiders coming into the School, you know you 

                would have got to know them. Letting the children know that they have someone to talk 

                to, if they have a problem and ... someone you could trust outside, they would have to 

                be outside, a separate thing from the School. If I had someone to talk to, separate, that 

                I could trust ... it would have helped me. It has been a great help to talk about it. 



                                                              • 



                I feel that nobody listened to us as children, and thank God someone is listening to us 

                now. 



2.50      Chapter 3 provides information on the demographic profile of the 791 witnesses whose evidence 

          was included in the abuse reports in relation to Industrial and Reformatory Schools (Schools). 

          Evidence provided by the 259 witnesses who reported abuse in ‘Other Institutions’ is covered in 

          Chapters 12–18 of this Report. Thirty six (36) of the witnesses reported abuse in both Schools 

          and ‘Other Institutions’. Their evidence is recorded as it relates to either the Schools or the 

          designated ‘Other’ Institutions. 



          18                                                      CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1365-----------------------

           Chapter 3 



           Social and demographic profile of 

           witnesses – Industrial and 

           Reformatory Schools 



3.01       This chapter of the Confidential Committee Report provides an overview of the personal details 

           of 791 witnesses, 413 male and 378 female, who gave evidence to the Committee about the 

           abuse they experienced in Industrial and Reformatory Schools. Industrial and Reformatory 

           Schools were residential institutions that in Ireland were generally owned and managed by 

           religious Congregations and were publicly funded. Industrial Schools admitted neglected, 

           orphaned or abandoned boys and girls who were either sent there by order of the courts or, in 

           exceptional circumstances, could be placed there on a voluntary basis by parents or guardians. 

           Young people were admitted to Reformatory Schools by order of the courts, having committed 

           an offence. 



3.02       Thirty six (36) of these witnesses, 24 male and 12 female, also reported abuse in ‘Other 

           Institutions’. The information pertaining to witness abuse experiences in ‘Other Institutions’ is 

           referred to elsewhere in this Report.1 



3.03       The reports of abuse refer to 55 certified Schools within the Industrial and Reformatory School 

           system in Ireland between the years 1914 and 1989.2  The number of abuse reports varied in 



           relation to different Schools and over different decades. The number of reports per School is 

           indicated below: 



                  •    Six (6) Schools were the subject of more than 40 reports each, totalling 395 reports 

                       altogether. 



                  •    Five (5) Schools were the subject of 21-34 reports, totalling 135 reports. 

                  •    Thirteen (13) Schools were the subject of 11-20 reports, totalling 193 reports. 

                  •    Eleven (11) Schools were the subject of 6-10 reports, totalling 91 reports. 

                  •    Twenty (20) Schools were the subject of 1-5 reports, totalling 57 reports. 



3.04       There were different points of entry into the School system for witnesses depending on their 

           age, gender, family circumstances and the precipitating factors for their admission. The 

           demographic information compiled in the following chapter was provided by witnesses from their 

           own memory, supplemented at times by information provided to them by relatives and others, in 

           addition to information available through official records. The following sections outline the pre- 

           admission social and family circumstances of the 791 witnesses, reported to the Committee. 



           1 See chapters 12-18. 

           2 Of note is the fact that witness reports from ‘Other Institutions’ referred to discharges up to the year 2000. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                               19 


----------------------- Page 1366-----------------------

           Parental marital status 



3.05       Five hundred and thirty six (536) witnesses (68%), 310 male and 226 female, who gave 

           evidence to the Committee reported that their parents were married, separated or widowed, at 

           the time of their birth.3  The following table represents the information provided by witnesses as it 



           was known to them at the time of their hearings: 



                 Table 4: Marital Status of Witnesses’ Parents at Time of Birth – Male and Female 

                                             Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



            Marital status of parents            Males          %        Females          %          Total         % 

                                                                                                  witnesses 



            Married                               276          67           188          50          464           59 

            Single                                 79          19           132          35          211           27 

            Separated                              25           6           27            7           52            7 

            Extra-marital relationship             9            2            9            2           18            2 

            Co-habiting                            7            2            6            2           13            1 

            Widowed                                9            2           11            3           20            3 

            Unavailable                            8            2            5            1           13            1 

            Total                                 413          100          378          100         791          100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



3.06       As shown, there are notable differences in the information provided by male and female 

           witnesses in these categories, for example: 67% of male witnesses reported that their parents 

           were married compared to 50% of female witnesses. Two hundred and twenty nine (229) 

           witnesses (29%) were either non-marital or extra-marital children, 88 of whom were male and 

           141 were female. One hundred and twenty six (126) of those witnesses reported they had 

           siblings, most, but not all of whom were in out-of-home care. In general, witnesses born of an 

           extra-marital relationship reported being admitted to out-of-home care as infants and had a 

           similar pattern of institutional care as non-marital children. 



3.07       Thirteen (13) witnesses did not provide information or had no knowledge of their parent’s marital 

           status. 



           Parental occupational status 



3.08       The following table indicates the occupational status or estimated skill level of the witnesses’ 

           parents at the time of admission, as reported by the witnesses. In two-parent households the 

           father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

           parent was recorded. 



           3 This percentage is based on a total of 791 witnesses who reported abuse in Industrial and Reformatory Schools. 



           20                                                           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1367-----------------------

              Table 5: Occupational Status of Witnesses’ Parents – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



            Occupational status4                 Males          %         Females         %           Total         % 



                                                                                                   witnesses 



            Professional worker                     3            1            6            2            9            1 

            Managerial and technical                4            1            4            1            8            1 

            Non-manual                             14            3           15            4           29            4 

            Skilled manual                         23            6           22            6           45            6 



            Semi-skilled                           50           12           23            6           73            9 

            Unskilled                             277           67          253           67          530           67 

            Unknown                                42           10           55           15           97           12 

            Total                                 413          100          378         (100)*        791          100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



3.09       Five hundred and thirty (530) witnesses (67%) reported that their parents were unskilled at the 

           time of their admission to out-of-home care and a further 97 reported that their parents’ skill 

           levels were unknown to them. There were 5% more female witnesses reporting such lack of 

           information than male witnesses. 



           Siblings 



3.10       Six hundred and eighty four (684) of the 791 witnesses (86%) reported that they had brothers 

           and/or sisters, some or all of whom may also have been in out-of-home care. A further 38 

           witnesses reported not knowing whether or not they had any siblings. For the purpose of this 

           Report, half-brothers and sisters are included as siblings when the witness reported having lived 

           with them as family members. The following table indicates approximate family size reported by 

           witnesses: 



               Table 6: Number of Siblings – Male and Female Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                             Number of siblings                                     Number of witnesses 



                                       0                                                      69 



                                     1 – 5                                                    405 



                                    6 – 10                                                    209 



                                   11 – 15                                                    64 



                                     16+                                                       6 



                                  Unknown                                                     38 



                                    Total                                                     791 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



3.11       Two hundred and seventy nine (279) witnesses (35%) reported having six or more brothers and 

           sisters with 70 of those witnesses being from families of 12 children or more. The average 

           family size reported by the 684 witnesses was 6 children. The other 107 witnesses were 

           deemed to be single children without siblings, having either stated that they knew they had no 

           siblings or that they have never been able to establish the facts in relation to their family of 



           4 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



             parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

             parent was recorded, insofar as it was known. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                   21 


----------------------- Page 1368-----------------------

           origin details. Allowing for families represented by more than one witness to the Committee, the 

           791 witnesses represent 663 families. There were an estimated 4,139 children in those families. 



           Residences prior to admission 



3.12       The majority of witnesses reported a relatively settled history in relation to where they resided 

           prior to their admission to a School, as shown in the following table: 



            Table 7: Number of Residences Prior to Admission to Industrial and Reformatory – Male 

                                     and Female Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



             Number of prior residences         Males          %        Females          %          Total         % 

                                                                                                 witnesses 



                          One                     312          76          261          69           573           72 

                          Two                     47           11           55          15           102           13 

                         Three                     8            2           7            2           15            2 

                          Four                     2           (0)          0            0            2           (0) 

                          Five                     0            0           2            1            2           (0) 

                      Unavailable                 44           11           53          14           97            12 

                         Total                   413          100          378         (100)*        791        (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied to percentages 



3.13       Five hundred and seventy three (573) witnesses (72%) reported that admission to a School was 

           their first change of residence. Approximately half of these witnesses reported being admitted to 

           a School from their family home in the context of some crisis and consequent intervention. A 

           further 102 witnesses (13%) reported having two changes of residence before they were 

           admitted to the School system, many of which were placements in Children’s Homes from 

           mother and baby homes or foster care prior to being transferred to an Industrial School. The 97 

           witnesses reported as unknown in this category are a combination of witnesses who did not 

           have any information about their early circumstances or who did not provide information about 

           their residence prior to admission. As may be observed, male witnesses reported somewhat 

           more stability in their place of residence prior to admission to the School system, with 7% more 

           male witnesses reporting only one prior residence. 



           Place of birth 



3.14       Witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee reported that they were born in 25 of the 26 

           counties in the Republic of Ireland and in two of the Northern Ireland counties, in addition to 

           England, Scotland and Wales. See the following table for details: 



           22                                                          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1369-----------------------

             Table 8: Place of Birth, by County or Other Location – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                     Reformatory Schools 



                County – place of birth                 Males                  Females             Total witnesses 



            Carlow                                        4                        5                       9 



            Cavan                                         2                        3                       5 



            Clare                                         7                        16                      23 



            Cork                                         64                        37                     101 



            Donegal                                       2                        0                       2 



            Dublin                                       188                     140                      328 



            Galway                                        13                       20                     33 



            Kerry                                         6                        12                      18 



            Kildare                                       3                        8                       11 



            Kilkenny                                      6                        5                       11 



            Laois                                         5                        8                       13 



            Limerick                                     33                        22                      55 



            Longford                                      3                        0                       3 



            Louth                                         5                        13                      18 



            Mayo                                          5                        3                       8 



            Meath                                         3                        1                       4 



            Monaghan                                      2                        1                       3 



            Offaly                                        5                        9                       14 



            Roscommon                                     1                        7                       8 



            Sligo                                         2                        3                       5 



            Tipperary                                     16                       15                      31 



            Waterford                                     10                       11                      21 



            Westmeath                                     5                        7                       12 



            Wexford                                       6                        8                       14 



            Wicklow                                       2                        4                       6 



            Northern Ireland: Derry                       0                        1                       1 



            Northern Ireland: Tyrone                      0                        1                       1 



            England/Scotland/Wales                        14                       18                      32 



            Unknown                                       1                        0                       1 



            Total                                        413                     378                      791 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



3.15       Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Tipperary were the birth counties of 314 male witnesses 

           (76%) and 234 female witnesses (62%). 



3.16       A small number of witnesses were of Irish Traveller or mixed-race backgrounds and to maintain 

           anonymity no further information can be provided. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                               23 


----------------------- Page 1370-----------------------

           Current country of residence 



3.17       As previously stated and show in the following table, many witnesses who gave evidence to the 

           Committee were residing outside Ireland at the time of their hearing: 



               Table 9: Country of Residence of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                                            Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



            Country of residence         Males           %         Females           %           Total           % 

                                                                                              witnesses 



            Ireland                       279           68            182           48            461            58 

            UK                            118            29           172            46           290            37 

            USA/Canada                     8             2             13            3             21            3 

            Australia/New Zealand          5             1             7             2             12            2 

            Mainland Europe                3             1             4             1             7             1 

            Total                         413          (100)*         378           100           791          (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied to percentages 



3.18       As indicated, there was a significant difference between the numbers of male and female 

           witnesses living in Ireland and in the UK. Sixty eight percent (68%) of male witnesses were 

           living in Ireland at the time of their hearing compared with 48% of female witnesses. Most of the 

           witnesses living in the UK reported being there since they were discharged from the Schools or 

           shortly thereafter. Many commented on the considerable help and assistance they received, 

           both at a personal and professional level, from health and welfare services in the UK. 



           Age at time of hearing 



3.19       At the time of their hearings 656 of the 791 witnesses (83%) were over 49 years of age, with 57 

           of those witnesses aged over 70 years. See Table 10 for more complete details: 



           Table 10: Age Range of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Industrial and 

           Reformatory Schools 



                Age range           Males            %          Females            %            Total           % 

                                                                                             witnesses 



              30 – 39 years           12             3              6              2             18              2 

              40 – 49 years           54             13             63             17            117            15 

              50 – 59 years          186             45            193            51             379            48 

              60 – 69 years          119             29            101            27             220            28 

                70 + years            42             10             15             4             57              7 

                   Total             413            100            378           (100)*          791           100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding down was applied to percentages 



3.20       As the table demonstrates, 76% of the total number of witnesses who gave evidence in relation 

           to Schools were aged between 50 and 70 years at the time of the hearing. There were some 

           differences between the ages of the male and female witnesses, with 74% of male witnesses 

           aged between 50 and 70 compared with 78% of female witnesses. In addition, 6% more male 

           witnesses were aged over 70 years. 



3.21       Chapter 4 provides information on the reported circumstances that led to these witnesses being 

           placed in out-of-home care as children. 



           24                                                          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1371-----------------------

          Chapter 4 



          Circumstances of admission to 

          Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



4.01      This chapter describes the circumstances of admission to care of the 413 male and 378 female 

          witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee about their experiences of abuse in Schools. 

          Thirty eight (38) Schools were situated in rural and provincial Ireland and 17 were in cities. 



4.02      There were 18 junior and senior boys Schools named in evidence to the Committee. The junior 

          Schools admitted boys up to the age of 10 years and were all managed by religious Sisters. 

          Boys were generally transferred to senior boys Schools when they were 10 years old. However 

          evidence was heard of boys being transferred to senior Schools as young as eight years of age 

          and of boys younger than 10 years being placed directly in senior Schools. These Schools were 

          managed by Brothers and/or priests and, with some variations, admitted boys between the ages 

          of 10 and 16 years. 



4.03      There were 37 girls Schools reported in evidence to the Committee. A number of these Schools 

          were certified to admit girls and boys up to the age of 10 years. In the period after the mid- 

          1970s a number of girls’ Industrial Schools began to admit boys and girls, both individually and 

          in family groups. As reported, girls generally remained in the same School for the duration of 

          their admission. Eleven (11) Schools were the subject of reports of abuse by both male and 

          female witnesses. 



4.04      The Reformatory Schools were all gender segregated and were certified to admit young people 

          from the age of 12 years who were convicted of an offence. 



4.05      Seven hundred and nine (709) of the 791 witnesses (90%) were first admitted to residential 

          institutions between 1914 and 1965. The remaining 82 witnesses were first admitted to an 

          institution in 1965 or later. The earliest date of admission relating to Schools for male witnesses 

          covered in this section of the Report was 1919. All 413 male witnesses had been discharged 

          from the School system by 1989. The earliest date of admission for the 378 female witnesses 

          was 1914, all of whom had been discharged from the School system by 1988. The educational, 

          social and welfare changes introduced nationally in the 1960s and 1970s were reflected in the 

          evidence heard by the Committee, as noted throughout the Report. 



4.06      For the purpose of analysis and reporting the Committee combined witness evidence into four 

          periods by the decade of the witness’s discharge. The four periods were: pre-1960s, 1960s, 

          1970s, and 1980s. The breakdown for each decade is shown below. 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                      25 


----------------------- Page 1372-----------------------

           Table 11: Number of Witnesses by Decade of Discharge – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                       Reformatory Schools 



             Decade of discharge          Males            %          Females           %            Total            % 

                                                                                                  witnesses 



                   Pre-1960s                177            43            133            35            310            39 

                  1960 – 1969               170            41            169            45            339            43 

                  1970 – 1979               50             12            68             18            118            15 

                  1980 – 1989               16             4              8              2             24             3 

                      Total                 413           100            378           100            791            100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



4.07       It is important to note witnesses discharged in one decade may have been in residential care 

           and also reported abuse in relation to the previous decade.1 



           Pathways to Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



4.08       Witnesses who gave evidence were admitted both directly from their parents’ home to the 

           Schools and also from various other residential settings, including: 



                   •    Mother and Baby Homes. These were often either the place of birth or first residence 

                        for non-marital children. A number of witnesses reported that they remained in these 

                         homes with their mothers, for up to 3 years. 



                   •    County Homes. These were also both places of birth and first residences. Some 

                        witnesses reported being with their mothers in county homes until they were up to 

                        five years old. 



                   •    Foster Care. Provided for infants and young children in some circumstances prior to 

                         placement in an Industrial School. Before 1983 such arrangements were also known 

                        as ‘boarding out’ or ‘at nurse’. 



                   •    Children’s Homes. These facilities admitted infants and young children. A number of 

                        witnesses reported being placed in Children’s Homes until they were transferred to 

                        an Industrial School. 



4.09       Witnesses who were admitted to Schools from the above facilities were most often non-marital 

           children, frequently referred to as ‘orphans’. The term orphan was used by witnesses in relation 

           to their own circumstances and in reference to co-residents who had no contact with any family 

           outside the institution. Witnesses generally believed that these residents had been in institutions 

           all their lives and either had no known family or their parents had died. Many later learned that 

           they had lived with their mothers for the first few years of their lives and/or had been initially 

           reared by relatives prior to placement in out-of-home care. A number of those witnesses who 

           identified themselves as orphans reported that frequently their mothers had, for various reasons, 

           been unable to support them. The majority of these witnesses had known little or nothing about 

           the circumstances of their admission to out-of-home care. This lack of information included not 

           knowing where they had been born, who their mothers and their fathers were, whether they had 

           siblings, why their parents were unable to care for them and who decided they would be 

           admitted to the Industrial School system. In many instances information available to witnesses 

           through Freedom of Information legislation and other sources in later years indicated that they 

           were not in fact orphans. Witnesses described learning that their parents, particularly mothers, 

           had made representations to the authorities to have them placed close to where they lived. 



           1 For example: as witness evidence is presented according to the decade of discharge, a witness who spent 12 years in 



             a school and was discharged in 1962 will have been included in the 1960s cohort although the majority of that 

             witness’s experience will relate to the 1950s. 



           26                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1373-----------------------

           Others reported that their parents had sought to have them released before the full term of their 

           detention and also requested information about their children from whom they had been 

           separated. Witnesses reported that most often these requests had not received a favourable 

           response at the time. However, for a number of witnesses access to such information facilitated 

           contact with family previously unknown to them. 



4.10       Admissions to Industrial Schools were frequently by Court Order, applications for which could be 

           made by Inspectors from the NSPCC/ISPCC and the Gardai. Information provided to the 

                                                                                    ´ 

           Committee indicated that Inspectors from the Society applied for Court Orders on behalf of 120 

           male witnesses (29%) and 208 female witnesses (60%) who were admitted to Industrial 

           Schools. Placements in voluntary Children’s Homes and foster care were reported to have been 

           generally negotiated by individual arrangement between a child’s parent, guardian, public 

           assistance boards, local authorities and Health Boards, and the operators of the respective 

           services. Some of these placements were by Order of the Court following on application by the 

            Health Board. 



4.11       ‘Boarding out’ and foster care arrangements were other options for the care of a child in 

           circumstances where the parents were unable to provide the necessary care. Records provided 

           to the Committee by witnesses suggest that access to these placements depended on various 

           factors, including either the ability of the mother or her family to pay, the official involvement of 

           State agencies and the availability of appropriate residential services. 



4.12        In addition to reports of parental payment for foster care and other placements, the Committee 

           heard evidence from many witnesses of the requirement for parents to contribute financially 

           towards their children’s maintenance in Industrial Schools. Copies of correspondence, shown to 

           the Committee by witnesses, between their parents and Department of Education officials, 

           Gardai and Resident Managers indicated that such payments were assiduously pursued by their 

                   ´ 

           officials. 



                  I was illegitimate ... I went into the orphanage ...(Industrial School).... My mother was 

                  unmarried, her mother had died in childbirth. My grandfather never saw me, my father 

                  didn’t want to know.... She was wandering the streets and there was this man a Mr 

                  ...X... he was sort of in charge, an overseer, of unmarried mothers, to keep an eye on 

                  them for the Government. He got her into the workhouse ... run by nuns and she 

                  worked scrubbing and cleaning ... the nuns told her she had to be punished for 

                  committing a mortal sin, they were the words from my mother to me. She was there 

                  from when she was 7 months pregnant until I was born.... She was kept in the 

                  workhouse, for 2 or 3 months. Then her sister went up one Sunday to see her, and took 

                  me and her out. She then went to work ... it was then I was left with ...(foster mother).... 

                  I was minded by ...(foster mother)... for the first 2 years ... and my mother paid that 

                  woman to mind me. It ...(the cost)... became too much for her I suppose and I went to 

                  ...named School... through the Courts. It was through Mr ...X ... I went into the 

                  orphanage ...(Industrial School).... I did not know I had gone through the Courts until I 

                  got the records, it said my mother was incapable of minding me and so I went into the 

                  orphanage. 



4.13       The chart below is an outline of the general pathways into and through institutional care for 

           most witnesses who gave evidence in relation to abuse in Industrial Schools. The representation 

           of Court intervention on the Chart is intended to indicate that it was not a necessary prelude to 

           admission to the Industrial Schools. It is important to note that children were also admitted to the 

           Schools without recourse to the Courts. 



            CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                      27 


----------------------- Page 1374-----------------------

                                     Figure 1: Outline of Pathways to Industrial Schools 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Court involvement – see Chapter 4.3 



           **Girls/Mixed Industrial Schools – Small number of girls Schools also admitted boys up to the age of 8-10 years, prior to 



           transfer to senior boys Schools. There was no distinction between junior and senior Schools for girls as there was for 



            boys. 



           ***Some boys were discharged at this stage. 



4.14       The Committee heard accounts of older children being looked after by relatives while younger 

           siblings went into care. In other instances babies were kept at home either with parents or 

            relatives while the other children were admitted to care. 



                   •     Five hundred and seventy (570) witnesses (72%), 327 male and 243 female, reported 

                         being admitted directly from parental and extended family homes to either an 

                         Industrial or Reformatory School. 



                   •     Ninety six (96) witnesses, 29 male and 67 female, reported being admitted to an 

                         Industrial School from mother and baby homes, county homes, hospitals and hostels 

                         where they were born and where many had spent some time with their mothers prior 

                         to their admission to Schools. 



                   •     Fifty three (53) witnesses, 22 male and 31 female, reported being admitted to 

                         Industrial Schools from foster care placements, including ‘boarding out’ and ‘at nurse’ 

                         arrangements. 



                   •    Thirty seven (37) witnesses, 23 male and 14 female, reported being admitted to 

                         Industrial Schools from Children’s Homes. 



                   •    Three (3) witnesses reported being admitted to an Industrial School from special 

                         needs schools. 



                   •    Thirty two (32) witnesses, nine male and 23 female, have been unable to determine 

                         where they were prior to their admission to an Industrial School. 



4.15       One hundred and two (102) male witnesses (25%) were initially admitted to junior Schools as 

           young children and transferred to a senior School at between eight and 10 years of age. 



           28                                                               CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1375-----------------------

           Reasons for admission 



4.16       Social circumstances, including combinations of poverty, illness, neglect, parental death, non- 

           marital birth and unemployment were reported as significant factors in the admission of all 791 

           witnesses to the School system. Two hundred and forty one (241) witnesses (30%), 119 male 

           and 122 female, reported parental alcohol abuse, poverty, unemployment, family violence and 

           lack of care and control at home as contributory factors in their admission to a School. 



4.17       Two hundred and twenty nine (229) witnesses (29%), 88 male and 141 female, identified 

           themselves as non-marital children, who as a consequence of the circumstances of their birth 

           were generally in some form of institutional care for most of their childhood. 



4.18       One hundred and forty (140) witnesses (18%), 75 male and 65 female, reported the death of 

           one or both parents as a significant factor in their admission to a School. Of those, the mother’s 

           death preceded admission in 82 instances and father’s death preceded admission in 49 

           instances. Death of both parents was reported as a reason for admission in nine instances. The 

           main known causes of death reported by male and female witnesses were tuberculosis, 

           mother’s death in childbirth, cancer and heart disease. 



                  My father died, my mother had 8 of us. She went to the parish priest, she was friendly 

                  with him, and he said “put them into an orphanage until you get yourself sorted out in 

                  your new home”. So she went to the Court, she was looking for a pound, that’s all she 

                  wanted, a pound a week. But they threw her out of Court and put us into Schools, all 

                  except the youngest of us. 



4.19       One hundred and eleven (111) witnesses (14%), 107 male and four female, reported that their 

           conviction for criminal offences was the major factor leading to their admission to a School.2  The 



           nature of the offences mainly involved theft of food, fuel, bicycles, clothing or money. There 

           were eight reports from male witnesses of admission as a result of charges for more serious 

           offences such as ‘breaking and entering’ and ‘attacks on the person’. 



4.20       Sixty seven (67) witnesses, 38 male and 29 female, reported parental abandonment as a factor 

           in the circumstances leading to their admission. Fifty one (51) of these reports referred to 

           fathers leaving the family home, sometimes to seek work in the UK or USA, at other times 

           leaving the family home in the context of domestic violence, alcohol abuse or illness. Witnesses 

           reported the remaining parent, usually the child’s mother, was unable to manage alone and by a 

           variety of means children were placed in institutional care. Sixteen (16) witnesses reported that 

           their mother left the family home, in circumstances similar to those reported above and with 

           similar consequences. 



                  I didn’t deserve the life they gave me, I was and am branded a criminal by the Courts 

                  and I did nothing wrong, all because the ...X... County Council wouldn’t spend a few 

                  lousy pounds repairing our house and because they would rather give money to the 

                  ...named religious order... to look after us than give my mother some help after he 

                  ...(father)... left so that we could stay together as a family.... 



4.21       Fifty six (56) witnesses were admitted to institutional care as a result of a Court Order under the 

           School Attendance Acts. Non-attendance at school was reported by a number of witnesses to 

           be the result of difficult circumstances at home, including poverty, neglect and domestic 

           violence. Parental alcohol abuse was a frequent feature of these reports. Eleven (11) male 



           2 The age of criminal responsibility under the Children Act, 1908 was seven years. The age was raised to 12 years by 



             section 52 of the Children Act, 2001. This was subsequently amended by section 129 of the Criminal Justice Act, 

             2006 which confined the power to bring criminal proceedings against children to those aged 12 and older with certain 

             exceptions. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                      29 


----------------------- Page 1376-----------------------

          witnesses reported being absent from school specifically because of learning difficulties and/or 

          severe treatment at school. 



4.22      Fifty four (54) witnesses, 19 male and 35 female, reported chronic illness and hospitalisation of 

          a parent as the main contributing factor in their admission. Twenty six (26) witnesses reported 

          that their mothers were in psychiatric hospitals and five others reported that their fathers had 

          psychiatric illnesses. Ten (10) witnesses reported that one of their parents had tuberculosis and 

          the remaining parent was unable to cope alone, resulting in the more dependant children being 

          admitted to an Industrial School. Other witnesses reported that both parents had tuberculosis. 



                Mum had TB, my father couldn’t look after us ... he was an alcoholic. I was put in by 

                Court Order ...(with consent of parents).... My sisters joined me, except my eldest sister, 

                she stayed with my Nan.... I have no recollection because I was only 18 months 

                ...(old)... going there. Basically from what my sister told me I know it was 3 or 4 months 

                after me that they came in. All my mam’s family had died of TB, she was the only one 

                that survived, basically she was on her own. I saw my father once, I remember him 

                coming up one Christmas. I didn’t know I had brothers until ...(later years).... 



                                                               • 



                Seven of us went into institutions. The baby she ...(mother)... kept and an older sister as 

                well. The house was examined, it was in very poor circumstance. I have a letter from 

                the sergeant ...displayed copy of correspondence and garda report.... My father had a 

                disability. I remember it ...(admission)... distinctly. I was going in ... I was sitting on my 

                mother’s lap, she left me and she didn’t come back and get me. ... She didn’t visit until I 

                was 5, I didn’t recognise her as my mother. 



                                                               • 



                They brought us to the Court. I remember my father screaming ...distressed... he was a 

                good father. I remember him playing with us, he was a good man, he’d play with me 

                and my sister, he did not want us to go. I remember the love my parents had for me, 

                they were poor and my mother was another religion. 



                 •    Thirty two (32) witnesses, 21 male and 11 female, reported being admitted to a 

                       School following family disruption through parental separation, cohabitation or as a 

                       result of extra marital relationships. 



                 •    Twenty seven (27) witnesses, 10 male and 17 female, reported that their parents, 20 

                      fathers and seven mothers either were or had also been in prison. 



                 •    Five (5) witnesses, two male and three female, reported being admitted to a School 

                       because of familial sexual abuse. 



                 •    Sixty five (65) witnesses, 57 male and eight female, stated that they have not been 

                       able to determine the circumstances of their admission to institutional care. 



          Admission by Court Order 



4.23      Six hundred and eighty four (684) admissions of 356 male and 314 female witnesses were 

          required by Order of a Court. These included 14 admissions to more than one institution under 

          separate Court Orders. The admissions took place as the result of a Court Order under 

          provisions of the Children Act, 1908, as amended, and the School Attendance Acts, 1926-1967. 



4.24      The following chart summarises the provisions of the Children Act, 1908, as amended, and the 

          School Attendance Acts, 1926-1967 under which these witnesses were admitted to Industrial 

          and Reformatory Schools. 



          30                                                        CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1377-----------------------

    Table 12: Summary of Statutory Provisions under which Witnesses were Detained in 

     Industrial and Reformatory Schools – Male and Female Industrial and Reformatory 

                                                       Schools 



 Source of jurisdiction            Grounds                                             Number of          Number of 

                                                                                      court orders      court orders 

                                                                                          males            females 



 Children Act, 1908 section        In need of Care/Protection where the child 

                                   was under 15 years old (under 14 up to 

                                    1942) 



 58(1)(a)                          Found begging or receiving alms                          10                22 



 58(1)(b)                          Found not having a home or not having                    141               207 

                                   parent/guardian exercising proper 

                                   guardianship. 



 58(1)(c)                          Found destitute where parent/s are in                     3                 7 

                                   prison. 



 133(17)                           Found destitute being an orphan.                          3                 3 



 58(1)(d)                          Having a parent/guardian who by reason                   15                31 

                                   of reputed criminal or drunken habits is 

                                   therefore unfit to have care of the child. 



 58(1)(h)                          Found destitute and parent/s unable to                   30                38 

                                   support child. 



 Children Act, 1908                Uncontrollable 



 58(4)                             Parent unable to control the child and                    4                 1 

                                   desires child be sent to Industrial School. 



 Children Act, 1908                Offender – Committal to Industrial School 



 58(2)                             Child under 12 charged with offence,                     25                 0 

                                   where Court decides to send him or her to 

                                    Industrial rather than Reformatory School. 



 58(3)                             Child aged between 12 and 14,(13 before                  40                 1 

                                    1942), charged with an offence, and not 

                                   previously convicted, where Court decides 

                                   to send him or her to Industrial rather than 

                                   Reformatory School, and he or she will 

                                   not exercise an evil influence over other 

                                   children there. 



 Children Act, 1908                Offender – Committal to Reformatory 

                                   School 



 57(1)                             Offender from age 12 up, but less than                   42                 2 

                                    17, (16 before 1942), could be sent to 

                                   Reformatory School. 



 School Attendance Acts,           Non-Attendance at School 

 1926-1967 



 Section 17(4)                     Where parent has used all reasonable                     55                 1 

                                   efforts to cause child to attend school or is 

                                   convicted for second time (of failing or 

                                   neglecting to send a child to school). 

 Others3                                                                                     1                 2 



 Total admissions by                                                                       369                315 

 Court Order 



Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



3  For reasons of confidentiality details regarding the provisions governing these admissions cannot be specified. 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                           31 


----------------------- Page 1378-----------------------

4.25       The section of legislation under which witnesses were most frequently admitted to the School 

           system was section 58(1)(b) of the Children Act, 1908, under which 141 male admissions (38%) 

           and 207 female admissions (66%) were effected. Section 58(1)(b) of the Act provides for 

           situations where a child is found not having a home or having a parent or guardian not 

           exercising proper guardianship. 



4.26       There were six witnesses admitted under section 133(17) of the 1908 Act, which specifically 

           provided for the detention of children ‘found destitute, being an orphan’.4 



4.27       One hundred and eleven (111) admissions (16%) of 107 male and four female witnesses were 

           under sections of the Children Act, 1908 that refer to offenders.Twenty five (25) of these 

           admissions were of witnesses who were charged with offences when they were less than 12 

           years old and a further 41 were of witnesses who were aged between 12 and 14 years. 



4.28       Fifty six (56) witnesses, all except one of whom were male, were admitted to the School system 

           under section 17(4) of the School Attendance Act, 1926. This Act and its amendments were 

           applied to children who failed to attend school and were younger than the official school leaving 

           age of 14 years. School Attendance Officers and gardai generally initiated Court proceedings in 

                                                                             ´ 

           these circumstances. 



4.29       Many witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee reported being angry that the wording of 

           their Court Order appeared to ‘criminalise’ them for reasons such as ‘found not having any 

           home or settled place of abode, or visible means of subsistence, or having a parent or guardian 

           who does not exercise proper guardianship’.5  The absurdity of an infant being charged with 

           ‘receiving alms’ was remarked upon. 6 



           Age on first admission 



4.30       The following information refers to what was known regarding witnesses’ age when they were 

           first admitted to any form of care outside their own family. Many witnesses were admitted to 

           Schools from other institutions where they may have resided from birth or early childhood. The 

           age of first admission to out-of-home care for both male and female witnesses is shown in Table 

           13: 



            Table 13: Age on First Admission to Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                       Reformatory Schools 



             Age at first       Males              %            Females             %             Total             % 

             admission                                                                         witnesses 



              0–5 years           133              32             244               65             377              48 

             6–10 years           119              29              99               26             218              28 

             11–15 years          144              35              35               9              179              23 

             16–17 years           17              4                0               0               17               2 

                Total             413             100              378             100             791            (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied to percentages 



4.31       The marked difference in the age profile of witnesses’ admission to out-of-home care is 

           demonstrated in this table. One hundred and thirty three (133) male witnesses (32%) compared 



           4  Section 133(17) of the Children Act, 1908. 

           5  Section 58(1)(b) of the Children Act, 1908. 

           6  Section 58(1)(a) of the Children Act, 1908. 



           32                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1379-----------------------

           with 244 female witnesses (65%) were admitted to out-of-home care in their first five years of 

           life and 61% of male witnesses compared to 91% of female witnesses reported being placed in 

           out-of-home care by the age of 10 years. Finally, 161 male witnesses (35%) were first admitted 

           to care at age 11 years or older, compared with 35 female witnesses (9%). 



           Length of stay 



4.32       It can be observed from information provided by witnesses that the length of stay in out-of-home 

           care varied depending on a number of factors including their age at the time of admission and 

           the particular reasons for their admission. As shown in Table 13, most female witnesses were 

           admitted at a young age and spent longer periods of time in institutions. By contrast, a higher 

           percentage of male witnesses (39%) than female (9%) were admitted over the age of 10 years 

           and were discharged within six years. 



4.33       The majority of witnesses were in care for more than six years. The average length of stay for 

           male witnesses was seven and a half years and the average length of stay for female witnesses 

           was 11 years. Table 14 below shows the length of stay in out-of-home care for both male and 

           female witnesses: 



                 Table 14: Length of Stay in Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                     Reformatory Schools 



             Length of         Males             %           Females             %             Total            % 

            stay in care                                                                    witnesses 



              0–5 years         181              44              53             14             234              30 

             6–10 years         109              26             103             27             212              27 

            11–15 years          99              24             181             48             280              35 

              16+ years          24              6               41             11              65              8 

                Total           413             100             378             100            791             100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



4.34       As the table shows, 345 witnesses (44%), 123 male (30%) and 222 female (59%), were in out- 

           of-home care for more than 10 years. Two hundred and thirty four (234) witnesses (30%), 181 

           male and 53 female, were in out-of-home care for five years or less. 



4.35       Witnesses admitted to Schools for committing an offence under sections 57(1) and 58(3) of the 

           Children Act, 1908 were generally admitted at a later age and for a briefer and defined period of 

           time than those admitted under section 58(1)(b). For the female witnesses brief admissions to 

           Schools were an unusual experience and in most instances reflected admissions at a later age 

           in the context of a family crisis or an offence. 



           Age when discharged 



4.36       Four hundred and eleven (411) of the 791 witnesses (52%), 198 male and 213 female, were 

           discharged from the Schools when they were 16 years of age or older. With the exception of 

           admission to Reformatory Schools, it was most often reported that court-ordered admissions 

           were until the witness was 16 years rather than for a specified number of years. Seventy five 

           (75) witnesses were discharged before their 14th        birthday, 30 of whom were male and 45 



           female. Table 15 shows the age of discharge for both male and female witnesses. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                33 


----------------------- Page 1380-----------------------

            Table 15: Age when Discharged from Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                        Reformatory Schools 



              Age when           Males             %            Females             %              Total             % 

             discharged                                                                         witnesses 



              <10 years            3                1               11               3               14               2 

             10–13 years           27               7               34               9               61               8 

             14–16 years          315              76              243              64              558              71 

              17+ years            68              16               90              24              158              20 

                 Total            413              100             378              100             791            (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied to percentages 



4.37       Five hundred and fifty eight (558) witnesses (71%) left the School system between the ages of 

           14 and 16 years. Of those, 319 witnesses (40%), 130 male (31%) and 189 female (50%), 

           reported being discharged when they were 16 years old. A further 158 witnesses (20%) were 

           discharged up to 10 years later. Forty eight (48) of those witnesses, six male and 42 female, 

           reported being kept on to work either within the School or for an individual or a service 

           associated with the School. 



4.38       Sixty nine (69) witnesses, 19 male and 50 female, who remained in the School system after 

           their 16th  birthday, had been in institutional care since they were aged three years or younger 



           and were regarded as orphans, having no known family contact. Thirty eight (38) male 

           witnesses who were discharged over the age of 16 years were admitted under Court Orders 

           that permitted their detention until they were 18 years old. Sixteen (16) witnesses, eight male 

           and eight female, remained residents in the School after their 16th             birthday to continue 

           secondary education.7 



4.39       The next five chapters of the Report summarise the evidence provided by witnesses regarding 

           family contact, everyday experiences and abuse while in the Schools. 



           7  With permission from the Department of Education and the consent of the parent(s) or guardian, detention could be 



             extended beyond the residents’ sixteenth birthday (but not beyond their seventeenth birthday) for the purpose of 

             further education or training. See section 12 of the Children Act, 1941. 



           34                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1381-----------------------

           Chapter 5 



           Family contact 



5.01       This chapter presents a range of information provided in relation to witnesses’ families, including 

           witnesses designated as ‘orphans’ who in fact had living parents. The extent of information 

           provided by witnesses to the Committee about family contact was determined by numerous 

           factors, particularly the availability of family information to the witnesses themselves. In most 

           instances where family information was available, witnesses generally reported having siblings 

           or relatives and that they lived at home or with extended family for some time prior to their 

           admission to out-of-home care.1 



           Prior to admission 



5.02       Witnesses who had been in care since birth were too young at the time to recall what happened 

           to them. ‘I don’t know why I was there, where I was before, who sent me there ... no idea what 

           happened.’ Others were unclear about the detail of their family circumstances but remembered 

           being admitted to out-of-home care with their brothers and sisters and at times being visited by 

           relatives. A number of these witnesses learned subsequently that they had lived with their 

           parents and/or relatives for some time before being admitted to care, but had no sense of being 

           part of a family network while they were in the School system. Many other witnesses had clear 

           memories of living with their parents or with their relatives before their admission and 

           maintained contact with their family throughout their time in institutional care. 



           Siblings in care 



5.03       Six hundred and eighty four (684) witnesses (86%) reported having siblings, of whom 256 male 

           (62%) and 270 female (71%), reported having brothers and/or sisters who were also in out-of- 

           home care. A further 59 witnesses reported they did not know enough about their family 

           circumstances to know whether or not they had siblings in care. The Committee heard evidence 

           that 2,275 children were placed in out-of-home care from the families of these witnesses. Most, 

           but not all, of those children were placed in Industrial Schools. A number were also placed in 

           Children’s Homes, foster homes and other institutions. 



5.04       Two hundred and fourteen (214) witnesses who attended the Committee had at least one other 

           sibling who also attended hearings with the Committee. In total these witnesses represented 86 

           families.2 



5.05       The most common pattern reported by witnesses admitted as part of a family group was of 

           being taken to Court along with their siblings and from there being transferred to one or more 

           Schools. Admissions of family groups generally occurred in the context of a family crisis or 

           intervention in circumstances of illness, poverty or neglect. Most often siblings were reported to 



           1 See chapter 4: Chart 1 Pathways to Industrial and Reformatory Schools. 

           2 For the purpose of compiling demographic information on the witnesses’ family background, it was necessary to 



             include each witness’s details in the overall numbers resulting in unavoidable overlap in some categories. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  35 


----------------------- Page 1382-----------------------

          be separated, younger boys being sent to junior or mixed Industrial Schools and the girls were 

          admitted to girls Schools. Boys over the age of 10 years were admitted to senior boys Schools. 



                My first memory ... I was taken to ...named School... with my sisters in the car. ...(I 

                was)... 4 years. ... I did observe the garda car turning into the ...named girls School... 

                and I knew then that was where my sisters were going. My youngest brother stayed 

                with my grandmother, we lived within a stones throw of the School. I started crying for 

                my sisters and got a slap across the face, that was my first experience of ...named 

                School.... 



                                                             • 



                I didn’t know I had sisters until I was over 10 or so ... I wasn’t even told they ...(X and 

                Y)... were my sisters, I thought they were just other girls that were in there like me. I 

                didn’t know I had a brother. I was 2 when I went in there, he was in ...named boys 

                School... When he was 16 he came to see us. ... I couldn’t believe I had a brother, there 

                was no bond there.... 



          Parental contact 



5.06      Six hundred and twenty eight (628) of the 791 witnesses (79%), 349 male (85%) and 279 

          female (74%), reported having resided with parents or relatives prior to their admission to out-of- 

          home care. Although many of these witnesses reported having no memory of family contact 

          they became aware of their family identity in more recent years through records they obtained 

          under the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003 and through subsequently re- 

          established relationships. 



5.07      A further 110 witnesses (14%), 46 male and 64 female, reported being in out-of-home care, 

          including mother and baby homes, foster care, hostels or county homes, since birth. On the 

          basis of what subsequently became known to them about their admission many of the witnesses 

          surmised that they were with their mothers for various periods of time from their birth before 

          they were placed in the School system. Other witnesses reported that they learned in recent 

          years that the possibility of their placement with members of their extended family was not 

          explored at the time. 



                There was a space on the form... (admission documents)...(which stated)... “Was the 

                guardian informed?”...It just said “Nil”.There was no effort to place me with...named 

                relative...She was quite clear she would have had me, had she known. 



5.08      Fifty three (53) witnesses (7%), 17 male and 36 female, reported having been in out-of-home 

          care since birth. At the time of their hearing no contact had ever been made by relatives or 

          through family tracing services and they described their past as a mystery. 



          Role of extended family 



5.09      The important role played by relatives, particularly maternal grandparents, in the lives of 

          witnesses both before and during admission was repeatedly emphasised. Witnesses whose 

          parents died or who were ill, hospitalised, or had abandoned their families were often cared for 

          by grandparents, aunts, uncles and occasionally older siblings for periods of time. There were 

          accounts heard of older children being looked after by relatives while younger siblings went into 

          out-of-home care and of babies being kept at home either with the remaining parent or relatives 

          while older children were admitted to an institution. 



5.10      One hundred and fifty six (156) witnesses (20%), 81 male and 75 female, reported that 

          members of their extended family, i.e. grandparents, aunts and uncles, were their primary care- 

          givers before their admission. Sixty three (63) of those witnesses, 32 male and 31 female, 

          reported being reared by their grandparents prior to their admission to institutional care. In most 



          36                                                      CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1383-----------------------

          instances these subsequent admissions occurred in the context of the grandparent dying, 

          becoming ill or too frail to provide ongoing care. 



5.11      Fifty three (53) of the 156 witnesses, 18 male and 35 female, reported that they initially lived 

          with a parent in the same house as members of their extended family. Many of these witnesses 

          were extra-marital children whose mothers were supported by their parents and siblings until 

          prevailing circumstances forced the child’s admission into out-of-home care. 



5.12      Another 58 witnesses, 24 male and 34 female, reported that relatives lived near the family home 

          but were unable to assist with care-giving, for reasons including poverty, lack of adequate 

          accommodation or having families of their own to look after. A small number of witnesses 

          reported that relatives had been prepared to provide care when a remaining or bereaved parent 

          was no longer able to do so but such arrangements were not put in place. A small number of 

          witnesses reported hearing that parents had not wanted their children to be separated and sent 

          to different relatives or that proposed placements with relatives were not acceptable to the 

          remaining parent. Several witnesses commented on the irony of being then separated for the 

          duration of their time in institutional care. 



          During admission 



5.13      Six hundred and eighty four (684) witnesses (86%) reported having siblings and 374 of those 

          witnesses (47%) reported having little or no contact with any family members during their time in 

          the Schools. As non-marital children many of those witnesses would, effectively, have had no 

          known extended family communicating with them. 



                I’d just like to say that the worst thing you can do to any family is separate them. The 

                State robbed me of my childhood and my brothers and sisters. It was bad enough to be 

                taken away from my mother and father but terrible to be taken away from my brothers 

                and sisters. 



           Contact with siblings 



5.14      One hundred and ninety two (192) witnesses (28%) who had siblings, 102 male and 90 female, 

          reported losing contact with their brothers and sisters following placement in the Schools. 

          Additionally, a number of witnesses who were non-marital children were totally unaware that 

          they also had siblings in care. Forty three (43) witnesses, 29 male and 14 female, reported 

          being unaware that siblings were placed with them in the same School at the time. This 

          information was only revealed to them in later years when contact was re-established. Other 

          witnesses reported knowing they had brothers or sisters in the same School but had little 

          contact with them due to the regimented nature of everyday life. With few exceptions, witnesses 

          reported that no perceivable attempt was made by the authorities to promote family contact 

          between siblings in the gender-segregated School system in the period prior to 1970. ‘If the 

          nuns had a Feast Day then we were all allowed sit together, all my sisters. That was the only 

          time.’ 



                 When my father died, my mother ... looked after us, but she worked. ... We were taken 

                to ...named School... we were separated, my brother clung to me, I didn’t know where 

                he went. Suddenly after all the years I met my sister ... we were in the same School, 

                they would not let us see her. About four years after I left I got to meet her. My brother 

                was there ...(in the same School)... but we didn’t interact ever as brother and sister, we 

                weren’t together. 



                                                               • 



                I was shocked ... that was the first time I knew I had an elder brother. ... I had an 

                inclination that I had sisters because of the situation on the beach. We wouldn’t be 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                             37 


----------------------- Page 1384-----------------------

                allowed to cross to see them....Our orphanages was brought to ...named... beach and 

                ...residents from girls School... would have been brought down the same day, but they 

                 were kept over there ...(indicating a line in the sand).... They were there and the next 

                thing you hear “that’s my brother ...X... over there”. I remember ...named sibling... 

                saying it. But you weren’t allowed have the conversation, you could look across the 

                beach and that was it, there was a line you know ... “thou shall not pass”. That line is 

                still there, by the way, we ...(siblings)... find it hard ...(to communicate)... from lack of ... 

                contact as children. 



                                                                • 



                 The only way I knew I had a brother was they used to serve Mass on a Sunday morning 

                and that was our only chance of getting to see them. We would all see them, but they 

                 were not allowed speak to us. We were proud of them, one was very handsome.... Later 

                 when they were older they were allowed over on a Sunday but they were not allowed in, 

                they had to stand at the door, we could talk to them there. Usually visitors were allowed 

                into the parlour, they weren’t. 



5.15      The separation of brothers and sisters from each other in the Schools was reported by 

          witnesses to be compounded by the practice of placing siblings with different ‘foster’ or ‘holiday’ 

          families, where contact between them could not be maintained. However, it was more often 

          reported by witnesses discharged since the 1970s that siblings were placed together in smaller 

          group homes or with the same ‘holiday’ families. 



5.16      One hundred and forty (140) witnesses (20%) reported that they were admitted to out-of-home 

          care because of parental death and the subsequent separation of siblings was reported to have 

          had a devastating impact on familial bonds. 



5.17      An exception to the frequently reported separation of siblings was the experience of brothers 

          and sisters being admitted to mixed gender Schools where it was expected in a small number of 

          Schools that the oldest sister would look after her younger siblings. This convention was 

          reported by a number of witnesses to have contributed to maintaining a bond between siblings 

          that endured into later life. However, some witnesses reported that these expectations had a 

          negative impact on sibling attachment through placing unreasonable demands on children to 

          assume a parental role. The Committee also heard accounts of older brothers and sisters 

          returning to visit siblings after their discharge. ‘My brother ... visited me once, he was not 

          encouraged and was told by staff not to be in touch, but I held his address in my head and 

          found him ...(following discharge)... and we are now close.’ 



          Parents and relatives 



5.18      Three hundred and seventy six (376) witnesses (48%), 173 male (42%) and 203 female (54%), 

          reported that contact had been maintained with and by their family for the duration of their stay 

          in the School. Witnesses reported that the most typical opportunities for contact with their 

          siblings, parents and relatives existed through informal visiting arrangements, on monthly visiting 

          Sundays, visits home and to relatives during school holidays, letters and parcels sent by parents 

          and relatives and occasional phone calls. Witnesses from some Schools were allowed to go 

          home for weekends if they lived nearby. Visits and other forms of contact were treated as 

          privileges and could be withheld for a variety of reasons. 



                I got sent away for mitching from school. ... I did not get harmed there, but I never got 

                home for the 5 years ...(of admission).... I was due to go home once but I broke a 

                 window with a football and the Brothers would not let me home. 



                                                                • 



          38                                                         CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1385-----------------------

                My mother came down to visit me and she was not allowed in because I was all 

                bruised, she had to wait outside while all the others ...(visitors)... were in. 



5.19      Witnesses also reported that visits home depended on their parents’ ability to pay the necessary 

          transport fare, which in the case of residents at some Schools was a considerable and often 

          unmanageable expense. Many witnesses were placed too far from home to allow for visits and 

          that poverty and distance contributed to loss of family contact. ‘We had no visits from anyone, 

          they were too poor, we were too far away’, ‘You could have a visit once a month, if your mother 

          had the fare, it would be a week’s wages.’ 



                My mother didn’t want me to go to ...named School.... She wanted me to go to ...named 

                School in local town.... She lived near there, but no, I had to go to ...named School.... 



5.20      The continuity of family contact either in the form of visits home or visits from parents and other 

          family members was reported by 71 witnesses as the only good memory they had of their time 

          in the School. Some witnesses described their parents putting considerable effort into 

          maintaining contact with them during their admission. A small number of Schools were reported 

          to have provided assistance and support for parents who had to travel long distances to visit 

          their children. 



                I was one of a large family. I had both brothers and sisters in separate institutions, our 

                mother visited regularly before going to work in the UK. She spent 2 weeks of holidays 

                in Ireland every year, week one with the boys, week 2 with the girls, nuns in ...named 

                School... (helped her). 



5.21      Female witnesses recalled sitting in parlours with parents and relatives who came to visit. In 

          some Schools nuns were reported to supervise the visits directly by controlling the conversation 

          and determining when the visit was over or by their presence in the same room while parents or 

          others were visiting. Other witnesses reported an awareness of contact with their parents being 

          monitored by external authorities. 



                My mother, she came in ... to see me down the years and took me out twice, she had to 

                get permission from the ...local authorities... this is on the records ...displayed copy of 

                records.... She got permission, it was written down, that I was to be taken out on such a 

                day, at such a time and brought back on such a day at such a time. 



5.22      The Committee heard reports of parents in poor circumstances being turned away or treated 

          discourteously when they came to visit. Female witnesses reported that some girls’ Schools had 

          a ‘poor parlour’ where impoverished parents or visitors were directed. In particular, witnesses 

          whose parents were members of the Travelling community reported this to be a common 

          occurrence. In a number of boys Schools witnesses were warned prior to family visits they were 

          not to discuss what happened in the School or to talk about being beaten or otherwise abused. 

          The visits in the boys’ Schools were not generally reported to have been overseen in the 

          manner reported by female witnesses. 



5.23      The involvement of grandparents, aunts and uncles in maintaining family contact was reported 

          by many witnesses to have provided continuing contact in the absence of parents through 

          death, illness or emigration: ‘My mother ...(who had gone to the UK)... visited once, my aunt 

          visited every month even though she had a large family of her own’. 



5.24      A number of witnesses reported having no contact with their parents apart from occasional visits 

          in the early years of admission, particularly those who reported that their families had 

          disintegrated in circumstances of poverty, illness and death. Others reported feeling abandoned 

          when their parents went to the UK in search of work and an alternative life. Anger was 

          expressed by a number of witnesses towards parents who did not visit or maintain contact with 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                             39 


----------------------- Page 1386-----------------------

          them while they were in the Schools and who in their view demonstrated a lack of care and 

          concern for them in this and other ways in the process of their admission and thereafter. Some 

          witnesses acknowledged that their parents were also victims in circumstances of poverty, illness 

          and both rural and social isolation. 



                My ma came down every month. You had one visit a month, and if she couldn’t come 

                she would send my eldest sister. She ...(mother)... was very religious and if you said 

                anything of beatings she would not believe you. 



                                                             • 



                I had 3 visits in 5 years in ...named School... my mother came to collect a borrowed 

                coat I had worn in Court ...(on the day of admission).... A cousin came to tell me my 

                mother had died; and my sister came to tell me the whole family were moving to 

                England and would send for me when they could. I was allowed out to attend my 

                brother’s funeral. 



5.25      Many male and female witnesses reported an acute awareness of the protective factor 

          associated with having either family contact while they were resident in the Schools or external 

          contact with concerned adults such as ‘holiday’ families or ‘godparents’. Witnesses believed that 

          residents who had family or other visitors were less likely to be physically or sexually abused. 

          Visitors were seen as people to whom abuse could be disclosed abuse and/or who may act 

          independently to complain about evidence of abuse in the form of bruises or other injuries. 



          Following discharge 



5.26      Five hundred and seven (507) witnesses (64%), 247 male (60%) and 260 female (69%), 

          reported some form of contact with parents, siblings and relatives following their discharge from 

          the Schools as follows: 



                 •   One hundred and eighty nine (189) witnesses (24%), 125 male and 64 female, 

                      reported that they were discharged from the School to their family home. 



                 •   One hundred and ninety three (193) witnesses (24%), 77 male and 116 female, 

                      reported that they were subsequently cared for by extended family, grandparents, 

                      aunts, uncles and older siblings. 



                 •   One hundred and twenty five (125) witnesses (16%), 45 male and 80 female, 

                      reported having no contact with their parents or siblings until recent years when, 

                      through their own efforts, and at times with the assistance of family tracing services, 

                      contact was re-established. 



5.27      Witnesses reported that contact with parents or relatives after their discharge from the Schools 

          was influenced by many factors, in particular their age when they were first admitted and the 

          extent of family contact throughout their admission. 



                The family was supportive and kept in contact, visits, parcels, summer holidays home. I 

                went back home. 



5.28      The nature of family bonds and the strength of extended family relationships prior to admission 

          were reported by witnesses to have influenced their connection with family when they returned 

          home. Contact of any kind with family members while in the Schools was positively connected 

          to ongoing relationships following their discharge. However while almost three quarters of all 

          witnesses were admitted from the care of either their parents or relatives, fewer than one in four 

          witnesses were discharged to the family home. 



5.29      Two hundred (200) witnesses (25%), 87 male and 113 female, reported that they lost contact 

          with their extended family one way or another through the process of their institutionalisation. 



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          They stated that that being separated from parents, siblings and others with whom they had 

          affectionate bonds was traumatic and had a devastating impact on their emotional development. 



                They were giving a man’s salary to the religious to keep us, me and my sister and 

                brothers, but would not give it to my dad to keep us together. After my mother died, we 

                were very poor. My father would be dressed so poorly when he visited us. The local TD 

                did try to help my father and spoke to ...Ministers of Government... to help my father get 

                us, but he did not succeed.... Once we were split the link was broken, it’s hard to link 

                back up again. We think we can be together, my sisters, but we can’t. 



                                                             • 



                My mother tried to get me out when I was 15. She tried, she wrote to ...the Government 

                Minister.... Br ...X...he wrote to her and said “no he is better off here”.... My mother she 

                wrote every week, she had it hard too. We were branded as criminals when we came 

                out just because we were poor. 



                                                             • 



                My father, he tried so many times to get us back and they would not let him have us. I 

                did not know where he was ...(when discharged)... he tried really hard. I think he gave 

                up in the end, I remember him crying from the time he came in ...(to visit)... ’til the time 

                he left ...(contact had been lost).... I didn’t even know he was dead ...crying.... He 

                always came to see us. 



5.30      Admission arrangements were also described as having an impact on the subsequent contact 

          between siblings following discharge. When sibling groups were admitted to out-of-home care, 

          sisters who were placed together in the same School were more likely to maintain contact 

          following discharge. In circumstances where their brothers were placed in separate Schools 

          subsequent contact was more often minimal, and frequently lost, following discharge. 



                We are all strangers, we don’t know each other, we were all destroyed in our heads, the 

                family is split up, but in touch, the years of separation did too much damage. 



5.31      Thirty three (33) witnesses reported that they were given inaccurate information about their 

          parents, including being told that they had no parents or that they were dead and discovering in 

          recent years, following search and tracing, that this was not the case. 



                I was told about 15 years ago my mother was dead, they told me all my records were 

                destroyed. ...Then... after 47 years I had contact with my mother, I picked up the phone 

                and she said “it’s your mum”. 



5.32      A number of witnesses also learned in later years that their parents had visited or written to 

          them but that the contact was denied and letters were not passed on. Such discoveries were 

          particularly distressing for witnesses who learned they had unknowingly lived near their parents 

          and/or other relatives for much of their adult lives. Other witnesses reported learning about the 

          existence of parents and relatives after their mother or father had died and experienced a 

          double loss as a result. 



                The nuns told me my mother was dead, they said “do you see that star up there, well 

                she is up there”. Then a few years ago, I got a phone call to say my mother was dead 

                ...(had just died).... ... I’m in such shock, I can’t believe it. I asked some questions and 

                then said “it’s got to be my mother”, if only I had been given a chance to see her, to say 

                goodbye and to say “look mum I understand and I forgive”. 



5.33      The upset and associated loss of secure relationships that followed separation from parents and 

          siblings was reported by almost all witnesses, including those who had no known family. In 

          different ways this experience of loss of family left a mark on each witness’s memory and was a 

          background to their reports on life in the Schools. The following chapters outline the everyday 

          routine of institutional life reported by the witnesses and the types of abuse they experienced 

          and wished to report. 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                         41 


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42                                                 CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


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          Chapter 6 



          Everyday life experiences of male 

          witnesses in Schools 



6.01      This chapter of the Report refers to the information provided by the 413 male witnesses in 

          relation to their everyday life experiences in Schools over a period of 67 years between 1922 

          and 1989. Witnesses reported improvements in the physical structure and the facilities in the 

          majority of Schools during the relevant period. 



6.02      There were many consistencies in the reports heard from male witnesses in relation to all the 

          Schools over almost seven decades. Witnesses reported that staff in junior boys’ Schools were 

          almost exclusively female, both religious and lay, with the exception of workmen in the gardens 

          and farms attached to some Schools and convents. Senior boys’ Schools employed few female 

          staff in the period prior to the 1970s with the exception of a small number of Schools where lay 

          nurses and ancillary staff worked in the infirmaries, laundries, kitchens and religious staff 

          houses. 



6.03      The daily routine was described as commencing with an early morning call by bell for Mass, 

          followed by breakfast in a communal refectory. Witnesses referred to a regimented day where 

          activities were controlled by bell ringing and whistle blowing. The main meal was in the middle 

          of the day with evening meal provided at approximately 5:30pm. Witnesses reported going to 

          bed at various times between 7:30pm and 9pm. Bedtimes changed with other aspects of care 

          provision in the post-1960s period. Witnesses from different Schools gave varying accounts of 

          how their day was structured and what they did in the afternoons, early evenings and at 

          weekends. A mixture of work and recreation was uniformly reported with different emphasis on 

          each in different Schools and over different decades. 



6.04      Clothing was made on site in many boys’ Schools prior to the 1960s, and in some instances 

          including the 1960s. Witnesses described being allocated a set of clothes when they were 

          admitted: knee-length tweed trousers and jacket, woollen jumper and knee socks, nightshirt and 

          boots. The clothes were identified as theirs by number. Underwear was confined to underpants 

          and was not provided in all Schools. Most Schools provided ‘Sunday suits’ for Sundays and 

          special occasions. Winter coats and wet weather clothing were rarely reported as were caps, 

          gloves or scarves. Witnesses reported that the material used for the trousers and jackets was 

          rough tweed, made in the weaving shops, and was uncomfortable, especially when wet. Boots 

          were described as heavy, with steel caps or hob nails to minimise wear and tear. The 

          Committee heard evidence of improvements in the standard of clothing provided and of more 

          appropriate clothing for winter being provided from the mid-1970s. Some witnesses from that 

          period had new clothes bought for them which were for their own use and not shared with other 

          residents. 



6.05      Personal hygiene was reported as attended to in a regimented manner using shared facilities 

          with little or no toiletries provided before 1970. Increased provision of soap, toothbrushes, 

          towels, toilet paper, combs and hot water were reported during the 1970s and 1980s. Witnesses 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                       43 


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          consistently described sleeping in large dormitories without any privacy or space for personal 

          possessions until individual cubicles and smaller shared bedrooms were introduced from the late 

          1960s in many Schools. 



6.06      Silence was commonly enforced in the dormitories, during mealtimes and while working. As 

          described, silence was expected among the residents throughout most of the working day, 

          including at times during recreation periods. 



          Work 



6.07      Work was presented by the majority of witnesses as a central feature of daily life in the Schools 

          from a young age. Witnesses from junior Schools reported having daily domestic chores, while 

          those from senior Schools described manual work as an integral part of their day, particularly 

          from early adolescence. The types of work described included both indoor and outdoor work in 

          the weaving, shoemaking, tailoring, and carpentry workshops, kitchens, staff residences, 

          farmyards, fields and bogs, as well as day labouring for local farmers and businesses. The 

          Committee heard reports from most witnesses about their experience of being engaged in often 

          heavy, manual work as children for or on behalf of the Schools. 



6.08      There were 245 reports of farm work that involved herding and milking cows, cleaning sheds, 

          tending cattle, pigs and poultry, saving hay, picking potatoes, collecting and spreading seaweed 

          as fertiliser, felling trees, cutting wood, cutting and saving turf on the bog and picking stones. 

          Use of machinery on the farms was minimal and long hours were worked in all weather. 



                From arrival at 12 I was assigned to the farm, I was afraid of animals. It was a big farm, 

                only one lay worker and an elderly Brother. Boys did everything, milked morning and 

                evening, herded animals, dropped potatoes, sowed sugar beet, turnips, hay making and 

                harvesting. On a rote basis, we had to stay up all night with pigs who were due a litter, 

                it was hard work, particularly in winter when no extra clothing was provided. 



6.09      The trade workshops were a feature of the School system in the period prior to the 1970s. 

          There were 206 specific accounts of time spent in one or more different trade areas, referred to 

          as ‘shops’. The most commonly reported trades were tailoring and shoemaking. The work in 

          these settings was believed to be predominantly related to meeting the institutions’ needs for 

          clothing, boots and leather straps. 



                In the shoe shop you started off as a polisher, you polished the boots for everyone. 

                Then you became a repairer, there was top, a piece of a tyre cut to save it ...(the 

                boot)... when you were playing football. There was ...number... lads doing them. Then 

                there was the “generals” who made the shoes and then there was the head shoe boy. 



                                                            • 



                Everyone worked from day one. I was assigned to tailoring at 13 ...(years of age)... 

                instead of school. I was not able to read and write. The tailoring was initially confined to 

                making and mending boys’ clothing. 



6.10      Associated trade activities were darning, mending, knitting and weaving, although accounts of 

          these tasks were less often heard. While 27 witnesses reported developing skills in a trade that 

          subsequently led to gainful employment most reported that the skills they learned were 

          redundant when they were discharged as the weaving, tailoring and shoemaking trades had 

          been largely mechanised. Other witnesses reported being so badly affected by the abuse they 

          experienced in the context of work in the trade shops that they avoided similar work when they 

          were discharged. 



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6.11      The kitchens were another area where residents worked, both within the School and in the 

          adjacent religious congregation houses. There were 78 separate reports of working in the 

          kitchens. This work was more generally favoured as it provided access to extra food and 

          warmth. The work described included washing and peeling potatoes, carrying heavy pots, 

          scrubbing pots, pans and floors. Kitchen work was described as undertaken by one or two 

          residents at a time and as more isolated than other work areas. The less attractive component 

          of kitchen work for male witnesses was that the kitchens were frequently the domain of a single 

          Brother, several of whom were reported as particularly harsh and abusive. 



6.12      Witnesses generally reported that they had little choice about the type of work they were 

          appointed to do: 



                Eventually I got a job in the shoe repair shop where I was not welcomed as I was left 

                handed, I hated working there. 



                                                               • 



                I was told after 2 months “it is time to start earning your keep”. I was put to work in the 

                Brothers’ kitchen where I remained during my stay in School. This meant I missed Mass 

                as I had to prepare for breakfast for the Brothers and missed school as I was needed in 

                their kitchen. 



6.13      There were 21 witness reports relating to discharges prior to 1970 of being directly involved in 

          commercial enterprises for the School, e.g. making Rosary beads for sale, chopping and selling 

          firewood, tailoring, making furniture and working for local farmers and businesses. 



6.14      Changes were reported to have been introduced in the 1970s and 1980s that facilitated more 

          choice, including paid work outside the institution, e.g. the local creamery, factory or hotel during 

          the summer holidays and less work on farms attached to the Schools. 



6.15      There were few accounts of domestic staff being employed in the institutions; witnesses 

          reported that the residents generally did all the housekeeping work, with the exception of the 

          laundry. Local women were reported to be employed by some institutions, mainly in this area, 

          but had little contact with the residents. Witnesses discharged in the late 1970s and 1980s 

          reported the main type of work undertaken to be routine household chores that some Schools 

          used as an opportunity for residents to earn points that could be exchanged for privileges such 

          as home leave and outings. 



          Food 



6.16      Food was generally served in large refectories designated for residents with members of 

          religious and lay staff taking their meals in a separate area. Most witnesses commented on the 

          provision of food, which was generally regarded as inadequate. The standard breakfast diet 

          described was salted porridge with or without bread and tea or cocoa. The main meal was 

          consistently described as boiled potatoes with vegetables and some meat. The evening meal 

          was often bread and dripping, or jam and tea or cocoa. 



                I worked for a time in the kitchen and used to see ...(what was provided)... vegetables 

                came from packets, once a week mince, fish once a week. All meat was boiled and 

                streaky. We were constantly hungry and we robbed each others food, you just grabbed. 

                Youngsters who were weak suffered. 



6.17      Witnesses reported that there was little or no access to extra food except what might have been 

          obtained opportunistically by residents working in kitchens or the farmyards. Witnesses reported 

          that cake and biscuits, jelly, ice cream and lemonade were at times provided on special 

          occasions. Fruit was reported as an exceptional treat, most often at Christmas when witnesses 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            45 


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          reported receiving an orange. Many witnesses reported that the only eggs provided were boiled 

          eggs on Easter Sunday. 



6.18      In more recent years witnesses commented that sausages, chips, eggs, cheese, fish fingers, 

          cornflakes and milk puddings became part of the regular diet. Varying accounts were given of 

          both the quantity and quality of the food provided with improvements noted in both areas in the 

          reports relating to the 1970s and later. 



          Play and recreation 



6.19      The principal recreational pursuits reported by 226 witnesses in the decades prior to the 1970s 

          were Gaelic sports, particularly hurling and football. A small number of Schools were reported to 

          have been actively involved in competitions and games often involved travelling to outside 

          venues. This was an attraction in itself as the games provided an opportunity to interact with 

          ‘outsiders’, and on occasion provided access to better food. The external competitions were 

          believed by witnesses to provide some protection and relief from physical abuse. 



6.20      Apart from participation in organised Gaelic team sports the most frequent reports regarding 

          recreation were of witnesses playing in the yard and making their own entertainment. In 

          addition, handball and boxing were reported as recreational activities by 131 witnesses and a 

          small number competed nationally. Many witnesses discharged before the mid-1960s reported 

          that performing drill movements and gymnastics for long periods was a common activity and 

          was feared by those who were not well co-ordinated, due to the harsh nature of some ‘drill 

          masters’. 



6.21      Indoor recreation facilities and activities were less frequently reported but included table tennis, 

          card and board games, reading and listening to the radio in recreation halls. Witnesses 

          described the limited availability of recreational equipment and resources. One hundred and 

          eleven (111) witnesses reported they enjoyed attending films both within the Schools and in 

          later years at local cinemas. Sixty-four (64) witnesses reported that long regimented walks on 

          Sundays in silence ‘in line like a crocodile’ were less than enjoyable. Routes described by 

          witnesses were up to 10 miles long. 



6.22      Six (6) senior Schools were reported to have had bands and the Committee heard 40 witness 

          accounts of playing in the band as a recreational activity. As with some competitive sports being 

          a band member provided opportunities to travel around the country, including trips to race 

          meetings, regattas and other local sporting events and, in some instances, overseas. Band 

          membership and associated activities were regarded as a privilege and provided welcome 

          respite from the institution. As with other activities that had a public component, band 

          performances also provided opportunities for extra food. It was reported that these privileges 

          were counter-balanced by exceptional demands on their performance, appearance and general 

          behaviour. 



6.23      In a small number of Schools summer holidays and trips to the seaside were a popular break 

          from the everyday routine of life. Thirty three (33) witnesses from Schools situated near the sea, 

          lakes or rivers described being taken swimming and also for holidays at the seaside. 



               Recreation all depended on the Brother, if he had an interest. There was one Brother 

                who loved swimming. He brought us all the time, you could go down and dive in. 



6.24      Witnesses reported improvements in recreational facilities and equipment after the 1960s. 

          These changes included the development of external links to local communities, involvement in 

          local clubs, outings to the cinema, new playground equipment, increased availability of library 

          facilities and more access to television and radio. A further change reported in the 1980s was of 



          46                                                     CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


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          residents being divided into small groups with individual facilities for play and recreation in each 

          group. 



          Education 



6.25      Classroom education at primary level was described as mainly provided on-site in the Schools 

          prior to the 1970s with classrooms either located within the same buildings or on the grounds of 

          the Schools. In the majority of boys Schools reported to the Committee primary level classrooms 

          were segregated and not attended by children from the local area. Teaching staff were 

          described as both religious and lay and predominantly male. Witnesses discharged up to and 

          during the 1960s reported that generally their classroom education finished when they were 14 

          years old with a few accounts heard of witnesses attending either technical or secondary school 

          during that period. 



6.26      All 413 male witnesses reported attending primary school for some time during their admission 

          to the Schools. Eighty five (85) witnesses reported passing their Primary Certificate 

          examinations. An additional 65 witnesses reported attending technical or secondary schools in 

          the local area, mainly since the 1970s. Twenty five (25) of these witnesses received their Group, 

          Intermediate or Leaving Certificates. Twenty (20) witnesses described the positive value of the 

          education and training they received. 



6.27      Prior to the 1970s, classroom attendance in a number of Schools was described as generally 

          confined to the morning period followed by afternoons spent working in the trade workshops or 

          on the farms. A number of witnesses reported being removed from the classroom to work full- 

          time. Many witnesses stated that the main emphasis in the School was on manual work for the 

          institution with minimal emphasis on academic education apart from Irish and religion: 



               Education was not important. You were moved from class to class; the main aim was to 

               get you working at 14. The teachers ran a strict regime rather than provide knowledge. 



6.28      Many witnesses described their time in the classroom as dominated by fear, the anticipation of 

          being abused and that the classrooms were frightening places. 



6.29      Witnesses reported that there was little assistance for residents who found school work difficult. 

          There were a small number of exceptions where accounts were heard of special arrangements 

          being made to meet the residents’ particular educational needs. In a small number of Schools 

          remedial help was provided for residents who had learning difficulties. 



6.30      Witnesses discharged during and since the 1970s more often reported that their education 

          continued beyond the primary school level. Those who attended secondary and technical 

          schools in the local area appreciated the benefit this opportunity allowed to have contact with 

          the outside world. They also reported a consequent reduction of abuse and bullying from both 

          staff and residents in the Schools. A small number of witnesses reported being sent out of the 

          institution to mainstream boarding schools and were encouraged to do the Leaving Certificate 

          examinations and to enrol in higher education colleges. 



6.31      The majority of witnesses reported finishing their classroom education by the time they were 14 

          years old. The following table shows the reported school leaving age of male witnesses: 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                      47 


----------------------- Page 1394-----------------------

               Table 16: Reported School Leaving Age – Male Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                       Reported school leaving age                                  Number of witnesses 



                               Under 10 years                                                  2 



                                 10–12 years                                                  29 



                                 13–14 years                                                  260 



                                 15–16 years                                                  100 



                                Over 16 years                                                 17 



                                Not available                                                  5 



                              Total Witnesses                                                 413 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



6.32       Three hundred and thirty seven (337) witnesses (82%) reported that they left school when they 

           were aged 14 years or over. There were 71 witnesses who reported that their classroom 

           education finished before the official school leaving age and five for whom there was no 

           information available. 



           Religion 



6.33       The practice of religious observance was reported to have brought comfort and sanctuary to 

           some witnesses and hurt to others. There were 381 accounts of regular attendance at Mass in 

           the 26 Schools that were reported to the Committee, with daily Mass more commonly reported 

           by witnesses discharged before the mid-1970s. Daily Rosary, evening benediction and prayers 

           were described as part of the regular timetable by 187 witnesses. Attendance at Mass was 

           either within the institution or at the local parish church where witnesses generally reported 

           being segregated from local people: ‘We sat in our own corner’; ‘We had to attend side chapel 

           in the local parish church’. 



6.34       Catechism was reported by many witnesses to have been taught ‘vigorously’ in the classroom to 

           the detriment of other lessons. 



6.35       Clergy from local parishes and elsewhere were reported to undertake a chaplaincy role in some 

           Schools. Witnesses reported that these members of the clergy said Mass, heard Confessions 

           and officiated at various religious ceremonies during the year. It was generally believed that they 

           did not otherwise have a formal role in the operation of the Schools. 



           Health and medical care 



6.36       Provision for the assessment and treatment of residents’ health needs was inconsistent as 

           reported among the Schools. Routine medical inspections were reported in most of the Schools 

           and varied from cursory to regular and comprehensive. There were 327 witness reports of some 

           attention and treatment from health professionals being available to residents. Ninety seven (97) 

           witnesses reported having no recollection of receiving any medical or other attention regarding 

           their health. 



6.37       Witnesses reported being assessed and treated for normal childhood accidental injuries and 

           illnesses as well as physical injuries resulting from assault while resident in the Schools. Medical 

           inspections, on-site infirmaries, immunisation and dental treatment were reported by many 

           witnesses, as indicated in the following table: 



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               Table 17: Types of Healthcare Reported – Male Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                                 Healthcare                                          Number of reports 



                              Infirmary available                                             228 

                               Nurse available                                                185 

                              Doctor attendance                                               115 

                             Hospital attendance                                              106 

                                 Dental care                                                  65 

                                Immunisation                                                  53 

                              Medical inspection                                              29 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



6.38       Two hundred and twenty eight (228) witnesses reported that there was an on-site infirmary in 

           the School for the provision of medical care and attention. The infirmaries were described as 

           varying in size from a designated 10-bed unit to a space under the stairs. Infirmaries were 

           generally described as the domain of either male or female religious staff and, in a few 

           instances, lay female nurses. In some Schools the infirmary was reported to be a room where 

           the nurse kept supplies of medicines, including: iodine, bandages and cod liver oil. Residents 

           were sent there for attention and returned to bed in their dormitory. 



6.39       There were 185 witness reports of availability of nursing care by religious and lay staff in the 

           Schools’ infirmaries. Witnesses reported being sent to the nurse for treatment of ailments 

           including: cuts, bruises, scabies, lice, ringworm, impetigo, boils and abscesses, colds, flu, and 

           rectal prolapse. Childhood injuries, both accidental and non-accidental, were reportedly treated 

           by the nurse and included broken bones, lacerations, and eye, ear and head injuries. Witnesses 

           stated that there was a limited range of non-prescribed medication available and described cod 

           liver oil, castor oil, ‘Black Jack’ and iodine being regularly used. 



6.40       One hundred and fifteen (115) witnesses reported being seen by local doctors while in the 

           School and 53 witnesses reported being immunised by either a doctor or a School nurse. 



6.41       The Committee heard 106 witness accounts of hospital attendance while in the Schools for the 

           treatment of accidental and non-accidental injuries in addition to normal childhood conditions 

           such as tonsillitis, appendicitis, tuberculosis, and eye and ear infections. 



6.42       Nursing staff were reported to be employed in some Schools at different times and the presence 

           of staff described as ‘nurses’ was recalled by witnesses in other Schools. Witnesses reported 

           that unqualified staff carried out many treatments such as lancing boils, treating ringworm and 

           other infections, lacerations and injuries without medical advice. 



6.43       There were 65 reports of dental treatment, which were reported by witnesses to be mainly 

           extractions. Dentists were reported to have made routine visits to some Schools and in other 

           instances witnesses reported attending local dentists. Among those discharged before the 

           1970s a number recalled having their teeth extracted without anaesthesia. 



           Inspections 



6.44       The Committee heard 145 reports of inspectors visiting the Schools. Witnesses were not always 

           clear which government department the inspectors represented. There were 82 reports of 

           government inspectors visiting the Schools who, it was believed, were primarily concerned with 

           the condition of the physical surroundings. There were 29 reports of classroom inspectors, often 

           referred to as the Cigire. Witnesses believed that these inspectors were concerned with aspects 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                   49 


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          of their education and did not specifically address the individual care and welfare needs of the 

          residents. Witnesses also reported that doctors visited for routine medical inspections. 



6.45      Ninety seven (97) witnesses reported that the general conditions for their care and welfare were 

          temporarily improved for inspections, with extra food, toothbrushes, schoolbooks, better clothes 

          and bedding reported as available for the duration of the inspector’s visits. Fifty four (54) 

          witnesses reported that the Schools were thoroughly cleaned in preparation and 32 witnesses 

          described being dressed in their ‘Sunday best’ or ‘going-out’ clothes when inspectors came. 

          Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported that bedspreads were put on each bed prior to visits from 

          a Department of Education or other inspector and were removed when the inspector left. 

          Witnesses recalled that the leather straps were put away and residents were warned 

          beforehand to be on their best behaviour and told that the inspector was ‘the teacher’s boss’. 

          Forty one (41) witnesses stated that they were coached in advance about what they could and 

          could not say when the inspectors came. Sixty four (64) witnesses stated that residents were 

          not spoken to directly and that staff were always present. 



                I have no memory of anything really being inspected, we were never spoken to, we 

                wore our Sunday clothes and had extra food. We saw them at a distance, you would 

                see them for a moment standing and looking, they were always accompanied, you 

                would be asked to recite a poem for them in class. 



                                                             • 



                We always knew when inspectors were coming as white quilts and pillows were put on 

                the beds. The inspectors walked around with the Brothers, they didn’t speak to the 

                boys. 



                                                             • 



                The food was always very good with chops or other recognisable meat, vegetable and 

                dessert for the inspection. Boys were coached by Br ...X (Resident Manager)... to say it 

                was like this all the time, the inspector spoke to boys, who followed the instruction with 

                Br ...X... present and did not complain. 



          Official visitors and others 



6.46      In addition to routine inspections there were 34 witness accounts of official visitors, including a 

          President, Taoisigh, government ministers, bishops, judges, foreign dignitaries and officials from 

          the Gaelic Athletic Association, politicians, celebrities and superiors of religious orders. There 

          were a further 19 witness reports of visits by priests to examine catechism in the classroom and 

          to conduct retreats. Other visitors included parish priests, professionals and local personalities. 

          Preparations were reported to have been undertaken prior to all visits. A number of Schools 

          were reported to have had official visiting Sundays, usually on a monthly basis, for residents’ 

          parents and relatives. 



6.47      A small number of witnesses reported being specially dressed up and shown to visiting couples 

          understood to be prospective adoptive and foster parents, some of whom selected witnesses 

          and/or their siblings to adopt or foster. 



                Once a month on visiting Sunday the place was cleaned, we all wore our best clothes, 

                the parents were conducted around, by the priests and Brothers who monitored the 

                visits, we were all warned to say nothing. 



          Volunteer workers and visitors 



6.48      Witnesses reported that volunteer workers and visitors were involved with many Schools in what 

          they believed to be an informal capacity to assist with the residents’ care and recreation 



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          activities. Witnesses reported that these volunteers were generally described as members of the 

          public, mostly male, both lay and religious. They assisted with regular activities such as 

          homework and sport. Some befriended particular residents and took them out of the School 

          either for day outings or overnight trips and holidays. Witnesses also reported regular visits to 

          the Schools by clergy and Brothers who were not part of the day-to-day School staff or did not 

          appear to have any specific role or function within the School. In addition there were reports 

          from a small number of Schools where visiting Brothers and novices relieved care staff during 

          summer holidays. 



          Arrangements for discharge 



6.49      Many witnesses reported that they experienced considerable adjustment difficulties when they 

          were discharged, including feeling abandoned and unable to cope with the transition from 

          institutional care. Their isolation from the outside world while residents of the Schools, the rural 

          location of a number of Schools and the loss of family contact during admission was described 

          repeatedly by witnesses. Many witnesses stated that the only preparation for their discharge 

          was being told of their discharge date. As 232 male witnesses had been in residential care for 

          between six and 18 years, many without any family contact, the experience of leaving the 

          Schools was particularly traumatic. These witnesses reported that they had almost no 

          experience of everyday life outside an institution and no experience of being on their own prior 

          to being discharged. 



6.50      Male witnesses discharged before 1970 gave accounts of being given a new suit of clothes for 

          their departure, sometimes referred to as ‘the liberty suit’. Witnesses who worked in the tailoring 

          shops reported making their own discharge suit and in so doing were alerted to the fact of their 

          imminent release. 



6.51      Witnesses reported a variety of arrangements made for their discharge from the Schools. One 

          hundred and ten (110) male witnesses reported that they were discharged home to their 

          families. Where parental contact had been maintained with witnesses while they were in the 

          School the transition home was more often reported to have been positive. Having a supportive 

          family network generally contributed to subsequent stability. 



                (Brothers)... they more or less told you before you left ...named School... that if you 

                talked about any of the crap that was going on there ... I would be brought back for 

                another 2 years. That I could be kept there until I was 18, for 2 more years. So when I 

                was out I was straight on the B and I boat ...(to England).... My mother gave me the 

                money. I went to the brother ...(witness’s sibling).... I couldn’t read and write, I couldn’t 

                fill out a form to try for a job. I worked on the buildings. 



6.52      One hundred and six (106) witnesses reported that some arrangements were made for their 

          aftercare in the form of placement in employment, with lodgings provided in many instances. 

          The majority of the witnesses who reported being discharged to employers as live-in labourers 

          had spent most of their lives in an institution and/or reported that they had no known family 

          contacts. A small number of witnesses noted that the intervention of the Agricultural Inspectors 

          was helpful in obtaining ‘back’ wages and having social welfare contributions credited where 

          they had been denied. 



6.53      There were 12 witness accounts of being visited following discharge by lay or religious staff 

          from the School and of receiving valued assistance from the religious staff when they got into 

          difficulties. In some situations where work placements broke down alternative positions were 

          found, mostly in better circumstances. 



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6.54       There were a number of witness reports of employment placements that provided enduring 

           support. Several witnesses spoke with feeling about the families they worked for who, in the 

           words of one witness, ‘showed me the only kindness I had ever known’. Another witness stated: 



                  I didn’t get much preparation leaving the School at 16. The family I went to helped me, 

                  they stood me in great stead and I am still in touch with them. 



6.55       Thirty two (32) witnesses from a small number of Schools reported receiving some post- 

           discharge support during the 1970s and 1980s. For example, 10 witnesses reported that 

           accommodation in a hostel was arranged for them when they were discharged and was 

           described as ‘a halfway house for institutionalised boys trying to find their way. Conditions there 

           were excellent’. Another hostel was reported as being helpful through its policy of not charging 

           residents from Schools for their accommodation until they found employment. However, while 

           witness reports of being discharged from Schools since the 1970s indicated improvements in 

           discharge planning, and that some preparation for independent living and follow-up were 

           provided, such improvements were inconsistent. 



6.56       A number of witnesses presented the Committee with copies of correspondence between their 

           parents, Resident Managers, gardai and Department of Education officials relating to their early 

                                                      ´ 

           release. Eight (8) witnesses reported being granted early release to their parents following such 

           parental intervention. 



6.57       The aspects of everyday life described in this chapter provided the context in which witnesses 

           experienced the abuse reported in the following chapter. 



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           Chapter 7 



            Record of abuse (male witnesses) 



7.01       This chapter describes the nature and extent of abuse reported in evidence to the Committee by 

           413 male witnesses in relation to 26 Industrial and Reformatory Schools in Ireland. The 413 

           witnesses made 482 reports of abuse regarding the four types of abuse defined by the Acts.1 



           Those four types are physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse. Not all 26 

           Schools were reported for each of the four types of abuse. 



7.02       The report of abuse by a witness may either refer to descriptions of single episodes or to 

           multiple experiences of being abused in a School. In most instances reports of abuse refer to 

           more than one episode of abuse and more than one type of abuse. One hundred and sixty six 

           (166) witness reports (34%) were of all four types of abuse. Sixty eight (68) witnesses reported 

           abuse in more than one School. 



7.03       The chapter is divided into five parts, addressing each of the four abuse types and describing 

           what was known about the abuse at the time it occurred. The reports of abuse compiled in this 

           chapter refer to admissions and discharges to Schools between 1922 and 1989. Twenty four 

           (24) of these reports refer to abuse in both Schools and ‘Other Institutions’. All the reports of 

           abuse in relation to ‘Other Institutions’ are referred to elsewhere in the Report. 2  3 



7.04        For the purpose of compiling this Report, witness evidence is presented by period of discharge 

           as follows: pre-1960s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Witnesses, who were discharged in one period, 

           may have spent time in out-of-home care in the previous decade(s).4 



7.05       As previously stated a number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School and 

           reported abuse in more than one School. Three hundred and twenty five (325) witnesses made 

           reports about abuse in one School, the other 68 witnesses reported as follows: 



                   •     Sixty three (63) witnesses reported abuse in two Schools. 

                   •     One witness reported abuse in three different Schools. 

                   •    Three (3) witnesses reported abuse in two Schools and one ‘Other Institution’. 

                   •     One witness reported abuse in two Schools and two ‘Other Institutions’. 

                   •    Twenty (20) witnesses reported abuse in one School and one ‘Other Institution’. 



           1 A number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School, and made reports of abuse in more than one School, 



             therefore the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 

           2 ‘Other Institutions’ – includes: general, specialist and rehabilitation hospitals, foster homes, national and secondary 



             schools, children’s homes, laundries, Noviciates, hostels and special needs schools (both day and residential) that 

             provided care and education for children with intellectual, visual, hearing or speech impairments and others. 

           3 See chapters 12-18. 

           4 For example: as witness evidence is presented according to the decade of discharge, a witness who spent 12 years in 



             a school and was discharged in 1962 will have been included in the 1960s cohort although the majority of that 

             witness’s experience will relate to the 1950s. 



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7.06       Four hundred and sixteen (416) or 86% of male abuse reports refer to senior Schools for boys. 



           Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child.5 



7.07       This section describes reports of actual incidents of physical abuse, non-accidental injury and 

           lack of protection from such abuse given in evidence by witnesses to the Committee. The types 

           of physical abuse reported included hitting, punching, kicking, flogging, and bodily assault with 

           implements. The Committee heard disturbing accounts of severe assaults causing injuries that 

           required medical intervention. Witnesses also reported being abused by being immersed in 

           water, being burned, and subjected to what they believed to be deliberate and persistent 

           physical cruelty. 



           Nature and extent of physical abuse reported 



7.08       There were 474 reports of physical abuse involving 26 Schools given in evidence by 403 male 

           witnesses (98%), some of whom were admitted to more than one School. While many witnesses 

           reported that the abuse was pervasive, they particularly wished to report extraordinary incidents 

           from their experience. Other witnesses reported multiple episodes of physical abuse. Witnesses 

           reported being physically abused by religious and lay staff and others including: visiting clergy, 

           members of the general public and men in work and holiday placements. Witnesses also 

           reported being physically abused by co-residents. 



7.09       The number of witness reports heard in relation to physical abuse in different Schools varied, as 

           follows: 

                   •    Four (4) Schools were collectively the subject of 230 reports.6 



                   •    Four (4) Schools were the subject of 20-34 reports, totalling 111 reports. 

                   •    Eight (8) Schools were the subject of 6-19 reports, totalling 86 reports. 

                   •    Ten (10) Schools were the subject of 1-5 reports, totalling 18 reports. 



7.10       The Schools that were the subject of 230 reports accounted for 49% of all physical abuse 

           reports by male witnesses. 



7.11       Physical abuse was reported in combination with the other three types of abuse. There were 

            166 reports of combinations of all four abuse types reported by the male witnesses. See Table 

            18: 



           5 Section 1(1)(a). 

           6 In order to maintain confidentiality further details regarding the numbers of abuse reports in these Schools cannot be 



             specified. 



           54                                                              CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


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                Table 18: Physical Abuse Combined with Other Abuse Types – Male Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



                                Abuse types                            Number of reports                     % 



            Physical, emotional, neglect and sexual                            166                          35 



            Physical, emotional and neglect                                    120                          25 



            Physical and neglect                                                66                          14 



            Physical, neglect and sexual                                       49                           10 



            Physical                                                           24                            5 



            Physical, emotional and sexual                                     20                            4 



            Physical and emotional                                              15                           3 



            Physical and sexual                                                 14                           3 



            Total reports                                                      474                        (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



7.12       In total 249 witness reports of physical abuse (53%) were combined with reports of sexual 

           abuse and 24 reports refer to physical abuse alone. 



7.13       The following table shows the distribution of witness accounts of physical abuse across the 

           decades covered by this Report. 



            Table 19: Number of Physical Abuse Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – Male 

                                             Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                  Decade of discharge                Number of physical abuse                           % 

                                                               reports 



                        Pre-1960s                                 197                                   42 



                          1960-69                                202                                    43 



                          1970-79                                 58                                    12 



                          1980-89                                 17                                    4 



                           Total                                 474                                  (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



7.14       While the largest number of physical abuse reports (202) related to the period of discharge 

           1960-1969, 77 of those witnesses spent the greatest proportion of their time in the Schools 

           during the preceding decade. 



           Description of physical abuse 



7.15       Witnesses described a daily existence that involved the possibility of being hit by a staff member 

           at any time, for any reason or for no reason. Witnesses also reported being physically abused 

           by co-residents. It is notable that witnesses at times described daily, casual and random 

           physical abuse as normal and wished to report only the times when the frequency and severity 

           of the abuse was such that they were injured or in fear for their lives. Three hundred and forty 

           six (346) of the 403 witnesses reported that they were subjected to frequent physical violence; 



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          they described a climate of pervasive fear in the Schools and provided consistent reports of 

          generally not knowing why they were being beaten. 



7.16      The forms of physical abuse reported by witnesses to the Committee included punching, 

          flogging, assault and bodily attacks, hitting with the hand, kicking, ear pulling, hair pulling, head 

          shaving, beating on the soles of the feet, burning, scalding, stabbing, severe beatings with or 

          without clothes, being made to kneel and stand in fixed positions for lengthy periods, made to 

          sleep outside overnight, being forced into cold or excessively hot baths and showers, hosed 

          down with cold water before being beaten, beaten while hanging from hooks on the wall, being 

          set upon by dogs, being restrained in order to be beaten, physical assaults by more than one 

          person, and having objects thrown at them. 



7.17      The locations where physical abuse was reported to have taken place included: classrooms, 

          offices, cloakrooms, dormitories, showers, infirmaries, refectories, the bedrooms of staff 

          members, churches, work areas and trade shops, fields, farmyards, play/sports areas and 

          outdoor sheds. 



                I had a hiding in the boot room, you had to take your shirt off, you were completely 

                naked and he ...(Br X)... beat me with a strap and a hurley stick on the behind and the 

                legs and that. 



                                                               • 



                I was beaten up quite a few times for not making the bed right, I had to go to the boot 

                room. We used have long night shirts then you know, he ...(Br X)... dragged it off me, 

                naked and whop, he knocked hell out of me, he knocked the shit out of me ... he hit 

                with a leather strap with coins in it. One Brother ... he used a tyre he did, a bicycle tyre, 

                it used to wrap around your arm. That was for wiping my nose in my sleeve, he didn’t 

                like that, it “wasn’t a nice thing” he said. 



7.18      A small number of witnesses stated that Brothers were trained to beat residents and reports 

          were heard of religious Brothers demonstrating the exercise of discipline to trainee Brothers. 



                One day it was ...visitor’s day... they used to pick about half a dozen lads. You would be 

                called to the hall. I was picked once and they would actually show the ...visiting student 

                Brothers... how to do the hiding. The Brother who was in charge of the playground, 

                mostly Br ...X... or Br ...Y... would show them how it’s done, they would give you a 

                hiding to show them and then they would have a go, with the black jack ...(leather)... 

                with loops of lead in it or steel. 



7.19      Witnesses reported being introduced to a strict regime from the moment of their arrival in the 

          School. 



                 We were met by Br ...X... he ruled the roost, he told us about the rules, said if we ran 

                away there was severe punishment, the second time our head would be shaved and the 

                third time we would be sent to ...named School.... He then stripped us off, told us to 

                bend over the desk; he hit the desk with a leather strap and said, “Say the Our Father”. 

                I could not say it. He hit me across the legs and warned me not to step out of line. He 

                told us to get in the shower, cold water, “to scrub away your sins”, with carbolic soap. 

                He then left and came back with clothes, comb ... he hit me with the strap when I had 

                the clothes on because I should be in pyjamas. We went to the dormitory, the boys 

                were asleep, he said, “This will always be your bed unless you wet the bed, then you 

                will end up with the smellies with Mr ...Y...”. It was dark, there was no food. I was very 

                upset and frightened. Then that night Mr ...Y... came walking down with his walking 

                stick, he touched my penis with the stick and said, “Don’t ever let me catch you”. Later I 

                could hear kids crying as he lashed kids with a stick, getting them up for the toilet. That 

                was my first night in ...named School.... 



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                                                               • 



                The day I arrived there, I was in the yard and there was all these boys, they all seemed 

                like giants. I remember running up to this man and saying “hello Father” he laid into me, 

                he was a very cruel man, I thought he was a priest, he said “don’t call me Father”. He 

                laid me on the ground, he gave me a few terrible clatters and I was terrified from that 

                moment. He was Br ...X... I was terrified of him, oh Lord! ...distressed... he was just 

                cruel. 



          Implements of physical abuse 



7.20      In addition to physical abuse as the result of bodily assault by punching, hitting and kicking, 

          witnesses reported a variety of implements were used to beat and physically abuse residents. 

          The ‘leather’ was the most commonly reported implement with 381 witness accounts heard of its 

          use in all 26 Schools. Witnesses described the leather strap as strips of leather sewn together, 

          measuring about two inches wide, half an inch thick and about 18 inches long. One end was 

          described by a number of witnesses as shaped for a handgrip. A number of witnesses reported 

          that some of these leather straps contained metal or coins to add weight. Five (5) witnesses 

          provided accounts of either making or seeing these embellished leather straps being made in 

          the bootmaking workshops. 



                They used the leather for the least excuse. It was heavy, stitched and with waxed ends. 

                It was very painful, you would scream in pain. As convent boys we didn’t have a 

                chance. The other boys, the city kids who were tough, and the Brothers, all picked on 

                us. We stuck together which wasn’t a good idea. 



                                                               • 



                Some of the Brothers had different leathers, I know because I made them when I was 

                14, in the boot room, some of them had little tiny leads in them, some had coins, some 

                were straight. They weren’t soft, they were hard. 



7.21      A witness reported that while he was being beaten the leather split apart and coins fell out. Two 

          (2) others reported being marked by the key sewn into the end of the leather strap. Another 

          witness reported being sent with a new strap from the workshop to a classroom, where the 

          Brother told him to hold out his hand to test it for him. He was struck a number of times on each 

          hand before being told it was satisfactory and that he could return to the workshop. 



7.22      Witnesses described other leather straps of varying dimensions: some were described as 

          leather belts, others as longer, thinner straps referred to as whips. Two (2) witnesses from two 

          different Schools described being beaten with leather straps with leather thongs attached to the 

          ends, one witness discharged in 1950 referred to the strap as a cat-o’-nine-tails. 



                I’ll never forget the cat-o’-nine-tails, 10 tongs ...(thongs)... it used to have knots across 

                the bottom. Observing other boys stripped and the blood running down as they were 

                being flogged across the body, it was terrible. There must have been a new rule by the 

                Government at some stage because it happened no more. 



7.23      There were 232 accounts of being hit or beaten with a variety of sticks, including canes, ash 

          plants, blackthorn sticks, hurleys, broom handles, hand brushes, wooden spoons, pointers, 

          batons, chair rungs, yard brushes, hoes, hay forks, pikes and pieces of wood with leather 

          thongs attached. One hundred and eighteen (118) witnesses reported being beaten with canes 

          and 37 with hurleys. Other implements described included bunches of keys, belt buckles, drain 

          rods, rubber pram tyres, golf clubs, tyre rims, electric flexes, fan belts, horse tackle, hammers, 

          metal rulers, butts of rifles, t-squares, gun pellets and hay ropes. Witnesses also reported 

          having objects thrown at them, such as blocks of wood or sliotars. 



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                I was crying, I wouldn’t stop crying. He ...(Br X)... caught me by the hair. I was down in 

                the ground and the first thing he could lay his hand on was a hammer and he hit me 

                and damaged me ... (described and displayed mark to hand)... if you moved out of turn 

                or something you got hit. 



                                                               • 



                Br ...X... flogged me on the bog. We, another fella, were messing laughing and grinning. 

                He ...(Br X)... hadn’t got his leather and he walked over to a tree and got a branch and 

                he peeled it and said “take off your trousers”. I thought he was only joking, he got 

                ...named co-resident... to hold me and he ...(Br X)... lashed me. He should be in hell 

                now, he lashed me. I was bleeding, I was sent to the nurse. 



7.24      Thirty four (34) witnesses described being forced into scalding or freezing showers or baths as 

          deliberate punishments, including a number who reported being hosed with cold water before or 

          after a severe beating. One witness reported that his head was held under water in a sink while 

          working in the kitchen, another reported having his head held under water while bathing. 



7.25      Twenty two (22) witnesses described various means by which they were physically abused by 

          burning and scalding; all the incidents reported were isolated and included being burned with 

          matches and cigarettes, having fingers put into electric sockets and having scalding water 

          thrown at them while working in the kitchen. One witness who reported being scalded was so 

          badly burned that he was hidden from sight during a subsequent inspector’s visit. 



7.26      There were reports from three Schools of dogs being used by staff members to assault and 

          frighten residents, the dogs were described in some instances as pets. In other instances 

          witnesses reported staff ‘patrolling’ with large dogs including Alsatians that were believed to be 

          used as a threat against misbehaviour. 



                 There was this man there he had ... 3 dogs, he was an outsider ...(lay ancillary 

                worker)... I was sent over to the hay barn to stack hay as punishment, the 3 dogs were 

                set on me and the scar is there now where they bit me, you can see the mark on that 

                finger ...(displayed scar to Commissioners)... I asked to go down to the nurse and he 

                said “no”. Anyway, the next morning it was gone all septic and I had to go down to 

                ...named hospital... where they put all stitches in it. 



          There were also four references by witnesses of being threatened and intimidated by Brothers 

          who had dogs and carried guns for hunting. 



7.27      Witnesses described various styles of physical punishments that were perpetrated by priests, 

          Brothers and lay staff in different Schools over the decades. ‘You got to know every Brother’s 

          punishment, they all had their different style of hitting.’ Witnesses from two Schools reported 

          that particular Brothers put their leather straps into the fridge or outside overnight to freeze 

          them. ‘They’d leave the leathers out on the window sill for the night, you know in the frost, to get 

          it hard.’ Witnesses also reported a Brother’s practice of rubbing salt on the leather strap that he 

          used. Methods of physical punishment were also reported to vary both between staff and 

          Schools. For example, witnesses discharged from three Schools in the 1970s and 1980s 

          described being locked out overnight as a punishment, referred to as ‘freezing time’. Being 

          locked out in cold weather and left to sleep outside were reported as alternative punishments to 

          being beaten. Another witness described the following: 



                One new lad came and he was covering himself getting dressed. This Brother decided 

                he was going to make a man out of him, so he pulled off his clothes. The young fella 

                started crying and Br ...X... hung him out the window ...(from a height)... by the 2 legs, 

                we all saw it. You were always in fear of that sort of thing. Different Brothers did 

                different things. 



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          Circumstances of physical abuse 



7.28      In addition to reports of what appeared to be indiscriminate violence, witnesses reported being 

          beaten for other reasons, including: bed-wetting and soiling, inattention in the classroom, left- 

          handedness, stammering, not knowing lessons, disclosing physical and/or sexual abuse, 

          absconding, ‘stealing’ food, talking in line, delay in obeying an instruction, ‘looking the wrong 

          way’ at a staff member, attending the infirmary, complaining of feeling unwell, general wear and 

          tear on clothing and footwear, talking at meals or in bed, talking to girls, playing soccer, losing a 

          game against an outside team, perceived sexual thoughts or actions and not being able to carry 

          out work tasks quickly and properly. 



                If you turned up late ... he ...(Br X)... used to do an inspection, if there was a speck of 

                dirt, that would trigger it off. He used a leather, hand, cane on the legs, hand, arse or 

                wherever ...(he)... had a temper, you would be black and blue, you would be on the 

                floor. He used to make you take your trousers down and he would give it to you on the 

                behind or wherever, he did it to me a few times. You wouldn’t do anything because he 

                had a whistle and he would call other Brothers and they would weigh in, when these 

                guys got going you would do nothing, if they couldn’t get you one way they would get 

                you the other, kick, hit, you were knackered. 



                                                            • 



                He ...(Br X)... flogged me one time, I was working in the piggery. I used to be starving, 

                the pigs used to get the Brothers’ leftovers and one day there was lovely potatoes and I 

                took some and I took a turnip. Br ...X... caught me and he brought me up to the 

                dormitory, he let down my trousers and he lashed me. He always wore a leather, 

                around 18 inches ...(long)... and it was all stitched with wax, his leather was very thin. It 

                was about an inch and a half, others had leathers about 2 inches. He lashed me, he 

                flogged me. 



7.29      The Committee heard repeated reports from the 403 witnesses of specific forms of physical 

          punishment, which were described as routinely meted out for particular behaviours. The most 

          commonly reported of these targeted behaviours were bed-wetting, soiling, absconding and 

          schoolwork. 



          Bed-wetting and soiling 



7.30      Bed-wetting was reported to have been targeted for punishment in all 26 Schools. One hundred 

          and twenty four (124) witnesses reported that they were harshly punished for bed-wetting, 99 of 

          those accounts related to witnesses discharged before 1970. The punishments described 

          ranged from being hit on the hands to being flogged naked in front of others. The persistance of 

          bed-wetting led to physical punishment becoming a daily ritual for many witnesses. With few 

          exceptions, the arrangements for handling bed-wetting were described as inducing fear and 

          terror on a constant basis and, with some variations, followed a similar pattern up to the 1970s. 



7.31      It was frequently reported that residents who wet their bed were made to sleep in either a 

          separate dormitory or in a separate section of the main dormitory. It was also reported that nine 

          of the 26 Schools for boys employed a night watchman who woke habitual bed-wetters during 

          the night to use the toilet. The Committee heard consistent reports of particular practices in 

          relation to the management of bed-wetting, including all bed-wetters being woken, being 

          checked for wet beds, being beaten with a stick while in bed and being forced to wait for lengthy 

          periods in cold bathrooms to use the toilet. Witnesses also reported being hit as they stood 

          waiting; others reported that beds were inspected each morning, followed in some Schools by 

          an immediate beating if the bed was wet. 



                I was beaten stark naked for wetting the bed, 2 or 3 different people would beat me. 

                You would be called up after breakfast by Br ...X.... He was evil. He liked beating kids 



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                naked, he would put your head between his legs ...(while he beat you)... for wetting the 

                bed, and more bed-wetting boys would be there as well ...(watching)... The night 

                watchman would get you up at night with a stick, every night. He would beat you out of 

                the bed. You’d have to bring the sheets up to be washed to the laundry and a bigger 

                boy would beat you with a stick there, he was the senior in the laundry. 



7.32      One witness who was transferred from a junior to a senior School when he was eight years old 

          described how he had wet his bed for a long time and was used to it being managed fairly 

          sympathetically. On the first and subsequent morning’s inspection in the senior School when his 

          bed was found to be wet, the person in charge recorded his number. He was told to bring his 

          wet sheet to the drying room for use the following night. After breakfast he was sent to join a 

          line of boys outside the office and when his number was called he was sent into the office and 

          given ‘6 or 12 slaps with the leather on the hands, wrist or backside’. He reported that he did 

          not know why he was being beaten, he had never been punished for bed-wetting before and 

          could not understand what he had done wrong. Nobody explained anything to him. Another 

          witness explained his experience: 



                Every night I was beaten for wetting the bed, the first night I said “the nuns didn’t beat 

                me for bed-wetting”, he ...(Br X)... said “you’re here now”. Br ...X... would make you 

                kneel down at the bed to pray, he would call out the boys every night ...(who had wet 

                their bed)... he would beat you with the leather, if you pulled away he would get hold of 

                you and hit harder, if you fell to the floor he would pull you up by the chin, twist your 

                ear, pull you by the hair. After the beatings he would play the guitar and sing 

                ...(popular)... songs. 



7.33      In other Schools the punishment for bed-wetting was reported to have been reserved for 

          bedtime when those who had wet their beds the previous night were lined up to await a beating 

          either on their hands or bare buttocks. Many of the 124 witness reported that they were beaten 

          in the morning and again at night. Other witnesses reported being sent to ‘the office’ where 

          punishment was meted out, usually in the form of strokes of the leather on the hands or 

          buttocks, described by one witness as follows: 



                You had to fold your bed every morning. Anyone who wet the bed had to stand out. It 

                was the fear. You were told to go to the office. Usually it was after school when they 

                bate ...(beat)... us. They never did it before school ’cos you’d be going to school crying. 

                 There’d be 20 or 30 lads all waiting to be beaten, lined up outside the office ... it would 

                only be that size ... (indicated small space)... That’s where we would get our beatings. 

                You were just so scared; you didn’t know who was doing the beatings.... You were 

                better off not looking at the strap, it would frighten you more. It would depend who was 

                on and the form of the Brother how many slaps you’d get. You’d be told to drop your 

                pants and tip your toes. ... The lads, my friends, would try and get me out of bed at 

                night-time to go to the toilet. 



7.34      Witnesses described trying to stay awake so as not to wet their bed. The rules in some 

          dormitories were said to preclude getting out of bed at night. In other Schools witnesses 

          reported being reluctant to go to the toilet during the night for fear of being followed and abused 

          by the night watchman or older co-residents. There were 43 witness reports of being beaten and 

          sexually abused by night watchmen and older co-residents in this context. 



7.35      Cold showers and baths were described as a punishment for bed-wetting in the latter decades, 

          with six such witness accounts from three Schools in the 1970s and 1980s. 



7.36      Witnesses also reported going to considerable lengths to swap or hide their wet sheets, 

          acknowledging that sometimes others were punished as a result. Other residents jeered those 



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          who wet their bed and some witnesses spoke with regret about their actions as children in this 

          regard. 



7.37      Soiling was reported less frequently and most often in the context of severe beatings. Fifteen 

          (15) witnesses reported they were either beaten because they soiled themselves or soiled 

          themselves as they were being severely beaten. Witnesses reported being publicly beaten with 

          leather straps and hurleys and humiliated by having their faces pushed into their soiled 

          bedclothes. Seven (7) witnesses specifically described soiling themselves as a response to 

          extreme fear. 



                I soiled myself a lot there, it was after a battering in the yard, it started after that, I never 

                done it before that. After I got a hiding in the yard, this Brother came over and caught 

                me by the back of the neck and swung me around. 



                                                               • 



                In the classroom Br ...X... threw me out the window one day because I soiled myself. He 

                was a bully, he hit me with the leather on the hands and he’d fist you as well ...indicated 

                being hit on face.... 



          Absconding – running away 



7.38      Running away was a feature of life in the Schools and the majority of witnesses made some 

          reference to either running away, thinking about doing so, or observing what happened to 

          returned absconders. Witnesses consistently reported that residents who absconded or ran 

          away were severely beaten and flogged upon their return to the School. The public nature and 

          severity of the beatings were described as traumatic, and made a lasting impression on those 

          who witnessed them in addition to serving as a caution against absconding. Reports of running 

          away were frequently accompanied by accounts of persistent physical and sexual abuse. 



                I ran away a few times. He ...(Br X)... was trying always to put his hand down my leg.... 

                (On return to the School)... I was put up on rafters. There was an old shed there, it was 

                a barn, I was tied to the rafters, he ...(Br X)... had the rope over the top, I was like that 

                ...demonstrated spread out facing down... he lashed me with the leather, over the back 

                and down the arms, that happened on 4 or 5 occasions, I ran away again after that. 



7.39      There were 95 witness reports from 13 Schools of severe beatings as punishment for 

          absconding throughout the entire period covered by the Report. The most frequent and most 

          severe beatings pertained to the discharge period prior to 1970. The forms of physical abuse 

          reported for absconding included: public beatings partly or fully naked, hair being shaved, 

          deprivation of food and transfers to more distant and what were believed to be more restrictive 

          institutions. In one School there were several reports of returned absconders being forced to 

          wear oversized clogs as a deterrent. ‘They used to give me clogs so that I wouldn’t run away, or 

          boots that were too big you couldn’t get far in them.’ Beatings of returned absconders were not 

          always conducted in view of the other residents but were reported to be regularly within earshot, 

          in the Resident Manager’s office, on the stairwell or in another room routinely used for such 

          purpose. 



7.40      Thirty (30) witnesses reported that they had their heads shaved as part of the punishment for 

          absconding, six of whom reported having it done more than once. Witnesses reported that head 

          shaving marked them as a returned absconder and therefore subject to further random beatings 

          from both staff and co-residents. 



7.41      There were 18 witness reports of absconders from three different Schools being beaten and 

          otherwise punished by co-residents following public beatings by religious staff members. It was 

          the reported practice in one School that the returned absconders were placed in the yard and 

          the other residents were encouraged to kick and punch them while staff watched: 



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                I ran away when I was 12, I was caught and 2 of them ...(Br X and Br Y)... would lay 

                into you and not only the Brothers but the lads as well, especially the monitors. They 

                were told they could not see their film because of me, I got the head shaved, a scissors 

                and the hand clip. 



                                                             • 



                One day a gang of us went for a walk into a field, we were told we could. They had farm 

                workers out with dogs looking for us. We were caught and brought back. We were taken 

                onto the yard, they let the dogs go ...(attacking)... and the boys would line up and hit 

                you with whatever they had in their hand, kick you, you had to run through the line. This 

                was a punishment to let the boys know that if it ever happened again this is what would 

                happen. That night you were beaten again, you were thrown over the bed ...crying.... 



7.42      A small number of witnesses described being forced to search for boys who ran away. One 

          witness describes: ‘(Br X)... forced me to catch lads who were absconding, if you didn’t find 

          them you’d get their hidings as well’. 



7.43      Four (4) witnesses from two different Schools reported that they were beaten on the soles of 

          their feet with a cane and leather strap as a punishment for running away. Witnesses from three 

          other Schools reported being made to stand or kneel in the recreation yards following their 

          beatings and were ostracised by their peers. Two (2) witnesses from the latter Schools reported 

          being made to kneel in the yard for several hours in their underpants in winter and were 

          incontinent while kneeling there. The punishment for absconding in a number of Schools was 

          reported to include being put on reduced food and being forbidden to associate with others. 

          Witnesses described being made to walk around the yard alone for several weeks. Others 

          reported being made to kneel in the refectory while they ate bread and water. This punishment 

          was described as continuing for days and up to three weeks in one instance. One witness 

          reported that when he was brought back after running away his head was shaved and he was 

          later taken from his bed, stripped and beaten, punched and kicked by a group of six Brothers in 

          front of other residents. 



                Anyway, 3 of us decided that we could not stick it ...(being beaten)... anymore, every 

                time you looked he ...(Br X)... was after you. We could not take it, we ran away. We 

                were out for about a fortnight and we were caught. I did not get flogged at the time but 

                ...named 2 co-residents ...(were told)... “take off your pants” and they got 25 stripes. 

                Now, I didn’t because I was 2 years younger and only had been there a while. The 3 of 

                us were put into the refectory, they got 3 mugs and 3 chairs and said “kneel down” and 

                we were like that for a week.... We had to kneel on anthracite coal in the kitchen, my 

                knees were all bleeding. 



7.44      A further punishment associated with absconding was depriving the other residents of watching 

          the weekly film. This particular punishment was reported to prompt residents to abuse those 

          who had run away in retaliation for missing out on this popular treat, as one witness described: 



                I was put outside ...(yard punishment)... for about 3 months. Then after about 3 months 

                they would let you go to the film but they would not let you watch it. You would have to 

                sit with your back to the film and everybody would be watching you. It was just sheer 

                terror really, sheer fear. Fear was the most cruellest part of it. 



7.45      Five (5) witnesses reported that they were transferred directly to other Schools with harsher 

          regimes as punishment for absconding. 



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           Classroom education 



7.46       One hundred and fifty seven (157) witnesses reported being physically assaulted in the 

           classroom. Witnesses described the liberal use of the leather, cane and wooden ruler or stick on 

          the face, palms, wrists, tips of the fingers, forearms, legs, backs of the hands, across the 

           shoulders, back and the bottom. Learning was reported to have been dominated by the fear of 

           punishment for various reasons including for not knowing the correct answer, being left handed, 

           being unable to read when called upon and being unable to speak clearly, as described by a 

          witness discharged in the 1960s: 



                 If he ...(Br X)... asked a question and you put the hand up, you got a beating if you 

                 could not ...(give the right answer).... If you were too slow with the answer you got 

                 beaten. ... I got to the stage that I didn’t answer because I would get a beating. 

                 Everything operated on fear. There was one Br ...X... if you done it too slow he hit you, 

                 he had 2 leathers, if he appeared on the scene there was fear. No matter what you 

                 done, you would always get it wrong. If you frowned or a flinch ... he would hit you. 



7.47      Witnesses who have struggled with poor literacy all their lives described years of humiliation and 

           abuse in the classroom. In four Schools, witnesses described being bent over desks, forced to 

           remove their trousers and being beaten in front of the entire class. Witnesses described being 

           restrained in different ways including having their heads wedged in a window and in a drawer 

          while they were beaten on the bare bottom. The following is an additional account of abuse in 

          the classroom: 



                 Br ...X... was a very, very hard man. In each classroom they had a special stool that you 

                 stood up on and you got it across the legs or the arse. Everything was done in public. It 

                 depended on what was going on, if there was laughing or if you threw something. 



7.48       Other classroom punishments reported were: ear pulling, being lifted up by the hair or cheeks, 

           beaten on the soles of the feet, having objects thrown at the head or body and being made to 

           stand facing the wall with arms elevated until fatigued, when a beating would ensue. Several 

          witnesses reported having their face slapped or boxed repeatedly while their head was held 

           steady by a tuft of hair. This practice was referred to by witnesses as a ‘jaw warmer ’ or ‘rabbit 

          punch’. 



                 One time in the class, my arms would be black and blue, both arms, because I couldn’t 

                 read a couple of lines in Irish, he ...(Br X)... beat me.... He’d put you in the corner, your 

                 hands would be up like that ...(displayed arms raised)... if you dropped them you’d get 

                 the leather. He put me in the back of the class and he’d tell you to run to him, he’d put 

                 his fist out like that ...(indicated fist and outstretched arm)... and you’d run into it.... It 

                 would be the kick in the shins you would get off him. As soon as you hit the deck he 

                 would pull you up by the ears for what we used to call the rabbit punch, you know, like 

                 that ...indicated hand movement... with the side of his hand on the neck, he’d chop you, 

                you’d go down on the deck. I was out ...(unconscious)... that day, you’d be reeling ... an 

                 11 year old child. 



7.49       In addition to the consistently severe forms of physical abuse reported in the context of bed- 

          wetting, running away and the classroom, male witnesses also reported being routinely 

           physically abused in the process of various other everyday activities. Examples of these 

           activities were personal care, recreation and work. 



           Personal care 



7.50      Witnesses discharged before 1970 reported the widespread practice of residents being beaten 

           in the dormitories, washrooms and cloakrooms. One hundred and thirty two (132) witnesses 

           described such beatings as punishment for not having washed properly or quickly enough, being 

           last out of the bathroom, having torn or worn clothing or footwear or a missing item of clothing. 



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          Holes in socks, jumpers or footwear and tears in trousers or jackets were also described as a 

          common cause of punishment. Witnesses also reported being beaten when they took their worn 

          or torn clothes to be repaired and hit if they did not have them mended or clean before an 

          inspection. 



                In the morning time there would be an inspection, if there was a button missing you’d 

                get whacked. You’d get a smack in the ear with the hand. 



                                                             • 



                I got such a hiding because my pants were soiled. One day I put up my hand, I wanted 

                to go to the toilet but the Brother he wouldn’t let me go. I had to wash my underpants 

                and then at the inspection they were dirty, I got a hiding for that. 



                                                             • 



                You’d be hit if your lace was open, if your clothes weren’t clean, if your hair wasn’t 

                combed. They’d come up at you from behind or from the side and hit you at full force – 

                you wouldn’t see it coming. 



7.51      Random beatings in bed at night were also described. Night watchmen were reported to have 

          patrolled the dormitories during the night in nine Schools. Both the night watchmen and religious 

          staff are reported to have checked that residents lay in a particular way in their beds, reports of 

          this experience vary over the years and between the different institutions. Witnesses from some 

          Schools consistently reported being beaten if they were found lying with their hands under the 

          bedclothes, others were beaten if they did not have their arms and hands crossed over their 

          chest in a particular way. Witnesses believed the reason for this enforced practice was to avoid 

          what religious staff referred to as the ‘sin’ of masturbation. 



                You couldn’t sleep on your back, your ass would be so sore ...(after a beating)... you’d 

                want to sleep on your belly, but they wouldn’t let you sleep, you had to sleep in a 

                particular way, on your back. 



7.52      Showers were reported as locations of abuse in six institutions. The most commonly reported 

          reasons for being beaten in the showers were not washing properly, ducking out of unbearably 

          hot or cold water or attempting to avoid sexual assault. Religious and some lay staff were 

          reported to supervise the showers, usually alone. Some residents described being checked as 

          they left the shower area and were pulled aside for punishment if not considered to be properly 

          washed, at other times it was reported that they were randomly struck with either a leather strap 

          or a stick as they were showering or as they filed past the supervising staff member. A specific 

          complaint about these beatings was the pain of being beaten on wet skin and the humiliation of 

          being beaten while naked. 



                Showers were too cold or scalding.... All the time you had to steel yourself, some of my 

                worst nightmares are of the dormitory and the showers, they were a nightmare. 

                Someone, Br ...X... would turn it ...(water)... on, it was too hot or too cold, you jumped 

                out and suddenly you would see this black figure, and you would see a strap coming at 

                you and you would be leathered, you would hear this series of screams all along the 

                cubicles as another ...(co-resident)... got it. The worst for me was you were trapped, you 

                could not hide in the cubicle. They were the danger times, you couldn’t disappear in the 

                shower. 



7.53      Witnesses also reported being physically abused when they were sent to the infirmary for 

          treatment of an injury or ailment. Four (4) Brothers who were in charge of the infirmaries in 

          different Schools were identified as beating residents who were sent to the infirmary. One 

          Brother was named by seven witnesses as abusive in this manner. It was reported that some 

          lay nurses were also harsh, including one who was reported by seven witnesses: ‘she was 



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          cruel, vicious, would pour a bottle ...(of iodine)... all over you if she was in a bad mood, in your 

          eyes, burn your scabs’. 



7.54      Eight (8) witnesses reported being beaten in the context of religious practice, including the 

          performance of their duties as altar boys, being late, falling asleep or being inattentive at Mass, 

          and forgetting to say prayers in the refectory. 



          Recreation 



7.55      One hundred and sixty five (165) witnesses reported being physically abused while involved in 

          recreational activities. Recreation areas including yards, playing fields, gyms, recreation halls 

          and music rooms were described as places where it was necessary to be alert and to avoid staff 

          who took advantage of opportunities to abuse residents. There were reports from a number of 

          Schools of drill in the yard being routine, under the supervision of lay drill masters. 



7.56      Witnesses from all Schools described being physically abused by religious staff in the course of 

          playing football and hurling. Among the methods of abuse described was a practice of excessive 

          use of force in play by certain priests and Brothers and putting less able residents or those 

          selected for punishment between the goal posts as target practice for hurling and football. 



7.57      In six Schools witnesses described being beaten for winning a game or a point against a 

          Brother and/or being punished if the team lost a match against an outside team. This threat of 

          punishment was described by one witness as making them ‘ferocious opponents with a 

          reputation for being hard’. 



                In the sports Br ...X... was involved in hurling and football, if you weren’t up to scratch, 

                particularly hurling, a fist would come out of nowhere and he would hit you. You’d be 

                walloped ...(by Br X)... on the field. 



                                                               • 



                Br ...X... and Br ...Y... were like 2 bruisers going around, you wouldn’t mind the regular 

                punches and belts as they were passing any day, but Br ...X... beat the shit out of me 

                like I was a punch bag in front of all the others at a football match. ... He picked me up, 

                head butted me, kicked me and left me in a terrible state to show me and all of us who 

                was boss. I got the worst hiding ever ... beaten with the leather and stick. I had cracked 

                ribs, my face was bruised and swollen, I was kicked in the head and stomach. 



7.58      Playing soccer was reported as forbidden in a large number of Schools, with 10 witness 

          accounts of being beaten when caught. 



                Another time I was caught heading the ball, you were not allowed play soccer you 

                know, by Br ...X.... He said “I warned you”. He caught me and brought me around to the 

                toilets. He had this tyre like you’d have at home, off a pram you know ...(witness 

                described being beaten with a rubber tyre)... . He left me ...crying.... God, the fucking 

                swelling that came up ...crying... you’d try and pull away and he’d hit you on top of the 

                head and hit you with his fists. 



7.59      Music practice rooms and gymnasiums were also reported as locations for physical abuse in 

          many of the Schools reported to the Committee. These discrete locations were reported to also 

          allow opportunities for boys to be isolated. Twenty five (25) witnesses from a small number of 

          Schools reported severe physical abuse in the context of band activities. These reports were 

          most often connected to the specific staff member in charge of the activity. In general, reports of 

          physical abuse in these locations were routine and frequently associated with sexual abuse. 



                It was 7 nights a week practice ...(band)... until you were 16, 7 to 10 at night. The other 

                lads would be playing soccer or watching TV. He Br ...X... he would know straight away 



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                  who was playing a false note. The first one who played a false note he would clatter 

                  with his hand he would just lift you up, catch you by the hair like that and lift you off the 

                  chair and clatter you as you were going down. 



7.60       A small number of Schools were reported to have had boxing clubs. Nine (9) witnesses reported 

           being abused in the context of boxing activities, including being pitted against older, stronger 

           residents as a punishment. One witness reported that he was ordered by a Brother to join the 

           boxing club, but he refused as he had no interest in boxing. The witness reported that for a 

           week afterwards he was taken from his bed each night and beaten with a strap by the same 

           Brother. He eventually agreed to join the club and was forced to spar with other residents who 

           were more experienced, he was repeatedly beaten in the ring. The witness believed these 

           beatings in the boxing ring stopped when a lay staff member threatened to go to the gardai. 

                                                                                                                       ´ 

           Witnesses also reported being made to box in the ring as a punishment for fighting amongst 

           themselves: 



                  If you were caught fighting you were made ...(by Br X)... to put on gloves and fight the 

                  other boy involved. It could be you were picked on by a bigger boy in the first place, 

                  who then got permission to beat you properly. 



7.61       Other witness reports regarding boxing included being made to fight regardless of fear, being 

           forced to participate in a boxing competition for the entertainment of visiting Brothers and being 

           forced to fight naked. 



           Work 



7.62       One hundred and forty eight (148) witnesses made 197 reports of being physically abused in 

           the context of work, including being hit, kicked, punched and beaten. Farm work, trade shops 

           and kitchens were the most frequently reported areas of work associated with physical abuse, 

           particularly among those discharged before 1980. Witnesses reported that particularly harsh 

           religious and lay staff were in charge of work in these areas in a number of Schools. The 

           conditions under which residents were at times required to work were also reported as abusive 

           in certain Schools. Witnesses stated that the relative seclusion of work areas from the main 

           thoroughfare of activity in the Schools further increased the risk of abuse – for example kitchens 

           and farm sheds where residents were often reported to have worked in isolation with a single 

           staff member. 



7.63       There were 97 reports of being physically abused while working on the farms, in the farmyards, 

           tending farm animals and in the fields attached to the Schools. There were a further 19 reports 

           of being abused while working on the bogs. Witnesses described physically punishing work such 

           as picking and breaking stones, cutting turf, pulling beet by hand from the ground, turning hay 

           by hand, pulling trees from the ground, cutting timber and manually compacting silage. In 

           addition to being abused while they worked, witnesses also described physically punishing work: 



                  They used to get the tractor to cut the grass, to save the hay. They used to get a line of 

                  us along one end of the field and bend over and physically scrape all the grass with our 

                  hands.... Named lay ancillary worker... used to be there with a big stick and if you stood 

                  up you got a smack of it across the back of the head or the back. We used to have to 

                 pull the trees and the stumps up out of the ground with chains and move big rocks with 

                  a chain. Your hands would be blue.... 



                                                                    • 



                  Br ...X... I learned to hate, he was the most evil .... Any dirty job I would get it, he took a 

                  dislike to me. I always got the job of staying up when the little piglets would be born, up 

                  all night. One day the sow had lain on top of the piglets and some of them were dead. 

                  That man he was evil, you’d think I had shot somebody the hiding he gave me. ... I was 

                  horse whipped with the leather, beaten to a pulp ... crying and screaming and wet 



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                myself ... when he stopped he said “now pull up your trousers and go and feed those 

                pigs”. 



                                                               • 



                I couldn’t lift the buckets ...(working on the farm).... He, Br ...X... had a big long stick, he 

                was whipping you across the legs, across the arse like he would a cow. I couldn’t lift the 

                buckets. 



                                                               • 



                One time when I was learning how to milk, the cow put her hoof in the bucket and Br 

                ...X... lifted me by the ears, the skin come off under his nails, and threw me on the 

                ground,. He gave me a few digs and boxed me in the ribs, just hit you anywhere he 

                liked. The next morning I fell off the stool and the same thing happened again, my ears 

                were bleeding. 



7.64      There were 41 reports of being physically abused while working in the kitchens, mainly those 

          attached to the Schools where food for the residents was prepared and served. Eleven (11) 

          reports were from one School and almost all referred to one particular Brother. There were nine 

          reports from a second School where the kitchen was also the domain of a Brother reported to 

          be particularly harsh. Witnesses reported being abused in many ways, including being beaten, 

          having their heads plunged into sinks of water, locked into fridges, and deliberately scalded as 

          punishments for dropping crockery, saucepans of food, taking food, not working quickly enough, 

          and burning food. 



                He Br ...X... used to run the kitchen, he had this habit of waving his big leather strap ... 

                and any time he felt like it he would just hit you. You would get a couple of clatters for 

                no particular reason. ... He was wired to the moon. 



7.65      There were 26 witness reports of physical abuse in the weaving, tailoring, shoemaking, darning 

          and painting workshops. They reported that these areas were under the charge of staff, most of 

          whom were lay ancillary workers, who in some instances punched, kicked and beat and threw 

          objects at residents. Physical abuse in this context was mainly reported to occur in relation to 

          specific work tasks. 



7.66      Many other reports of physical abuse in work contexts included: working in the laundries, 

          infirmaries, making Rosary beads and other religious objects, chopping sticks, carrying turf and 

          coal, emptying latrines, cleaning boots and shoes, scrubbing and polishing floors, building, 

          cleaning toilets and pulling grass. 



                My job at one time was to hand out clean laundry to other boys. One day I remember 

                one boy did not get clean underwear for some reason and Br ...X... got 2 boys to hold 

                me across the bed. He pulled down my pants and beat me across the bare backside 

                with his leather strap. I got 10 to 15 lashes from him for this incident. 



7.67      Three (3) witnesses reported being physically abused when sent out to work for local farmers 

          and others while resident in the Schools. 



          Specific practices used in physical abuse 



7.68      In addition to the forms of abuse described above, witnesses reported that staff at times 

          employed certain practices that intensified the experience of being abused. The most frequently 

          reported were flogging, delayed punishment and being beaten by more than one person. 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            67 


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          Severe beatings and flogging 



7.69      The Committee heard evidence from 78 witnesses in relation to 13 Schools that they were 

          stripped, and severely beaten. Forty seven (47) of those witnesses from nine Schools reported 

          being beaten in public. These beatings were most commonly reported to have been with a 

          leather strap, sometimes a cane, and administered by more than one staff member on the 

          naked back and buttocks. The beatings were described as ‘fiercely brutal’ and ‘unmerciful’ and 

          were frequently referred to as floggings, and were associated with particular staff members. 

          Eleven (11) witnesses from one School reported being beaten naked. In another School, 14 

          witnesses reported being flogged, 12 of whom were naked or partially clothed. Twelve (12) 

          witnesses from two other Schools gave accounts of being beaten naked themselves or 

          witnessing co-residents being severely beaten while naked. 



7.70      These beatings and floggings were reported to have taken place most often in the recreation 

          yards, the boot rooms, the refectories and the stairwells. Witnesses described at times being 

          made to bend over desks, stairs, benches, vaulting horses or to bend over with their fingers 

          under their toes to be beaten on their bare back and buttocks. Forty eight (48) witnesses 

          reported that they were beaten or kicked to the ground and that the beating frequently continued 

          while they were on the ground. Witnesses commenting on the public floggings said that some 

          residents ‘couldn’t stand at the end’ and recalled, ‘the beating went on until they ... (Brothers)... 

          were exhausted’. 



                They had what they called the public floggings, where you would be brought out in the 

                middle of the ...(yard).... If they wanted to make a real example of you they would have 

                all the other lads there and you would have to kneel down. I was flogged by 4 of them 

                ...(Brothers)... one time. ... I was lashed.... They used to flog you at night time, you 

                would be bruised all over, you would be sore at night, you wet the bed. 



7.71      Witnesses reported being flogged and severely beaten for many reasons, including: disclosing 

          or reporting abuse, absconding, speaking to visiting girls, riding a visitor’s bike, refusing to clear 

          blocked toilets, taking food, fighting, delay in lining up, not washing properly or having torn 

          clothes. 



                When I was there 3 blokes ...named co-residents... they ran away and when they were 

                brought back, they were flogged, on one of these vaulting horses. We were all there. Br 

                ...X... said “I’m going to make an example of these boys”, and one by one they came 

                out, no trousers on them ... naked from their waist down, each one individually over the 

                vaulting horse, he flogged them. Well you could see their backsides going red blue, red 

                blue, the whole School watching. 



7.72      Twenty three (23) witnesses described injuries to their genitalia as a result of being kicked or 

          flogged. Eighteen (18) witnesses described being hosed with cold water or having cold water 

          thrown on them prior to, or in the course of a severe beating. A witness gave the following 

          account of a severe beating when he was found in the company of co-residents who had been 

          talking to some girls visiting their brothers in the School: 



                Br ...X... met the boys coming up from talking to the girls, he sent them down to the 

                washroom, he told me to go too, but I wasn’t with them. He told the 3 of us to get into 

                bathing togs. He went out and got the leather strap, like the cut-throat razor, he came 

                in, took off his coat and his collar and I never in all my life seen anything like what he 

                done. He started beating us, saying we were talking to the girls ... he took off his shirt ... 

                he didn’t beat me so much as the others. One of the lads started soiling themselves, he 

                beat them so much, grabbing himself saying, “I’ll give ye girls”, rubbing himself. One of 

                the lads was in bits, they were in a terrible state. 



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7.73      Witnesses reported being filled with terror as religious staff appeared to lose control when they 

          were administering physical beatings or floggings. It was reported that such beatings frequently 

          resulted in injury or, in 22 reported instances, rendered the resident unconscious. Eight (8) of 

          the 22 witnesses reported that they passed out while being beaten and woke up in bed unable 

          to move. There were 36 accounts of witnesses being unable to sit or lie on their back for some 

          days after being beaten, and a further 28 accounts of being unable to walk following a beating 

          or flogging. 



                I remember another boy who would not cry. I remember one day he got 50 slaps on one 

                hand and then 50 on the other and then another 50. This Brother got so mad that he 

                ...(co-resident)... would not cry. He, Br ...X... kicked the legs from under him and kicked 

                him to the ground and kicked him until he went unconscious. He was just lying there 

                with his eyes staring up to the sky. 



7.74      Eleven (11) witnesses reported that the flogging or beating they received was so severe that 

          they thought they were going to be killed. Five (5) witnesses from two Schools reported that 

          named co-residents were never seen again following a severe beating. 



                I remember this one Brother. The boys would be crying in the morning going into class. 

                He’d start with sums, always an awkward division. I remember one boy in the class 

                ...named co-resident.... He was asked a question this time, he made the awful mistake 

                of saying he knew the answer but couldn’t get the answer out, and with that this Br 

                ...X... went absolutely berserk.... The brutality of that man, he hit him everywhere, with 

                the leather. He ...(co-resident)... was trying to avoid being hit. I never saw him ...(co- 

                resident)... again. I often did think about him, whether he went blind or not, I don’t know. 

                I never saw him again. 



7.75      Five (5) witnesses reported being locked in a dark room in solitary confinement for a number of 

          days after a severe beating. Witnesses from a number of Schools reported that there were 

          rooms where residents were left for days after severe beatings. A witness reported that he and 

          others dropped bread through the window bars to a co-resident who was locked in that room. 

          Other witnesses reported spending days or weeks in the infirmary following a severe beating or 

          flogging. 



          Delayed punishment 



7.76      Witnesses from six Schools reported an extensive practice of the delayed administration of 

          physical punishment, which was described as ‘a double punishment, waiting to be beaten and 

          the beating itself’. Experiences of delayed punishments described by witnesses were: kneeling 

          on the floor in the classrooms, refectories or in the yards and standing in their nightshirts at 

          night for long periods in the dormitories, waiting to be taken to the boot rooms, washrooms or 

          stairwells to be flogged. Witnesses who wet their beds described the misery of waiting to be 

          beaten each morning or evening in a routine fashion, in dormitories, offices or elsewhere. 

          Returned absconders and others who had infringed a rule reported a component of the 

          punishment was waiting to be beaten. They described being unable to sleep at night in 

          anticipation of being taken out of bed for physical punishment. Witnesses also described being 

          taken out of bed unexpectedly to be beaten for unknown reasons, making the possibility of 

          being beaten a constant threat. 



                You did not know when it was going to happen, they ...(Brothers)... would leave you 

                until you were nice and snug, you’d think you were safe. I don’t remember their names. 

                One of their favourite habits was to wait until you nearly fall asleep, and then they would 

                bring you down the marble stairs. You would be in ... like a grandfather’s nightshirt, with 

                nothing else underneath, and they would lift that up, and have you bent over the stairs. 

                They would whip you then with this strap. 



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7.77       Witnesses described the psychological distress and physical pain of being made to stand facing 

           a wall for lengthy periods, with arms raised waiting for a beating. They stated that they were hit 

           if they moved or dropped their arms and were terrified as they waited, not knowing what form 

           the physical punishment would take or when it would happen: 



                  The worst abuse was being put ...(standing)... and you would be there for about 3 hours 

                  and you would be waiting. Then they would send you to the boot room and give you a 

                  hiding. Sometimes they wouldn’t give you a hiding that evening but the next day and 

                 you would have all that day to think about it and stuff, it would do your head in. ...The 

                  wall was the length of the dormitory and your toes would have to toe the wall, tight to 

                  the wall, and if you moved there were monitors, they used to watch you and they would 

                  report you to the Brother. ... You stood with your hands behind your back, your nose, 

                 your head on to the wall. ...You’d have to stay there until the lights were dimmed and 

                  then you would be taken to the boot room for the hiding. I think that was the worst thing 

                  of all. 



7.78       The practice of lining residents up to await punishment was described as a punishment in itself 

           as witnesses believed it was intended that they hear the cries of their co-residents in advance of 

           their own punishment. 



                  Br ...X... was an awful man, he was in charge of ...(recreation)... I got a lot of hidings off 

                  him. He had a strap about 2 inches thick and he would take down your pants and 

                  sometimes he’d say “come down to my office after” and there would be about 6 or 7 

                  fellows there queuing up. You could hear the fellow inside. There would be crying and 

                  they would be shouting and you would be terrified outside. You’d be next in then, you’d 

                  be frightened, very, very frightened, the screaming, it was awful. The hidings was for 

                  everyday carrying on, you know kids like. We were all afraid. 



           Abuse by more than one person 



7.79       Fifty nine (59) witnesses reported episodes of being physically abused by more than one person 

           simultaneously. Of those reports there were 42 witness accounts of two or more religious staff 

           coming to the dormitories at night and removing residents from their beds. Witnesses reported 

           being brought to either cloakrooms, boot rooms, showers and bathrooms or the rooms of 

           religious staff members where they were stripped and placed across a table, bed or chair and 

           beaten by more than one priest or Brother. The Committee also heard reports of residents being 

           held down by co-residents under the instruction of a Brother. A small number of witnesses 

           reported being held with their head between the thighs of one of the priests or Brothers while 

           another priest or Brother beat them on the bare bottom with a leather strap. Witnesses also 

           reported being severely beaten as part of a group for various reasons, for example when no one 

           admitted to talking during silent periods or when a staff member wanted a resident to admit to a 

           misdemeanour. Many witnesses described the involvement of more than one religious staff in 

           the episodes of severe beating or flogging, and the assault being so severe that they sustained 

           an injury. 



                  You would get it ...(the leather)... on the back of the leg, on the arms, on the back on 

                  the head, anywhere. This guy ...(Br X)... had a temper he had a severe temper, like a 

                  horse. You could end up down ...(on the ground)... kicked, hit, leathered, you’d be black 

                  and blue I was hit to the floor, you would be black and blue, bleeding. I got quite a few 

                  with my trousers down and leather. ... He had a whistle and there were religious staff 

                  near by, they would weigh in, 3 or 4 of them, you daren’t react to these people. If they 

                  were physically abusing someone else you daren’t do anything or you would be for the 

                  high jump yourself. 



                                                                    • 



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                One fella ...(co-resident)... called my mother a bastard. I hit him a box. ... They 

                ...(Brothers)... told me to get into my togs and go up to the shower. After the cold 

                shower the 2 of them ...(Brothers)... got 2 sally rods and they beat me, God did they 

                beat me. You would feel the welts on your legs, I mean real dents on your skin. 



                                                             • 



                Named School... ruined my life. Night-times were the worst; if you weren’t taken out of 

                bed and beaten you were listening to it happening to someone else. You could hear the 

                screams all over the whole building at night it was so quiet. Up to 4 Brothers would 

                come and take a boy out of bed on some pretext and give him a hammering, make you 

                take off your nightshirt, they would do what they wanted. They were like a pack of 

                hunting animals. 



                                                             • 



                At night-time you’d be in your nightshirt, 2 of them would hold you down, you could be 

                asleep or on the mark of going asleep, it was always at night time. Three of them would 

                come in. Two of them and the third one would do the beating. The strap ... (standing up 

                demonstrating hitting)... it was done in frenzy, like they did not want to be caught.... 



7.80      There were five accounts of boys being tied down before being beaten; in one circumstance a 

          witness described being tied to a bench and beaten. Another witness reported that a Brother 

          sent him to the office, where he was told to take his clothes off, two Brothers took turns beating 

          him on his body and hands until ‘I thought I was going to be killed’. The witness further reported 

          his legs were swollen with open lacerations. 



7.81      A witness, who reported he was wrongly accused of stealing from another resident, described 

          being told by the Resident Manager ‘to take your punishment like a man’. He was then taken to 

          the office and beaten by two Brothers, on the face, buttocks, hands, wrist and arm until the 

          witness confessed to something he had not done. In a number of Schools the Resident 

          Manager was reported by witnesses to be involved directly in the physical punishment of 

          residents along with other religious staff and in other Schools there were reports of the Resident 

          Manager being called on to agree a punishment. 



          Injuries 



7.82      Witnesses reported a catalogue of injuries to themselves and co-residents as a result of 

          physical abuse by religious and lay staff members in the 26 Schools reported to the Committee. 

          Two hundred and twenty four (224) reports were heard of injuries including: breaks to ribs, 

          noses, wrists, arms and legs, injuries to head, genitalia, back, mouth, eye, ear, hand, jaw, face 

          and kidney. Sixty four (64) witnesses reported being left unable to walk, sit, stand or lie down as 

          a result of those injuries. Other injuries included burns, dog bites, lacerations, broken teeth, 

          dislocated shoulders, injuries to the soles of feet, and burst chilblains. Chilblains were a 

          common ailment in the pre-1970s period and male witnesses reported experiencing severe pain 

          after being struck on hands and legs with chilblains. Witnesses reported that at times they were 

          beaten until their chilblains burst and bled. 



                I suffered from chilblains. I had poor circulation, really festering sores, your fingers as 

                white as sheets, I had to dress my own. I couldn’t get my feet into shoes. One morning 

                after very heavy rain the ground was water-logged, I didn’t want to go over and get my 

                feet wet and aggravate the condition ...(chilblains).... He ...(Fr X)... caught me up in his 

                arm and took me across the yard, walked me across ... on sore feet on the wet ground 

                ... and dropped me in the hall. ... He took his revenge out on me, he walloped me with 

                his stick, he walloped me for a full quarter of an hour or more. 



                                                             • 



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               He ...(Br X)... went around all the beds, you had the clothes, blankets and stuff rolled 

               back and if you made one mistake, whack right across the legs. If you couldn’t get the 

               right answer or recite the Our Father or Hail Mary, all in Irish, he would whack you 

               across the soles of the feet with a bamboo cane. I saw boys there who couldn’t walk the 

               next day. You were supposed to learn while you were in bed and recite it for him. 



7.83      Many witnesses reported more than one injury, which included the following: 



                •    One hundred and eighty six (186) witnesses reported being marked, bruised or 

                     swollen with welts. 



                •    Seventy one (71) witnesses reported blood being drawn. 

                •    Sixty (60) witnesses reported eye and/or ear injuries. 

                •    Forty four (44) witnesses reported head lacerations. 

                •    Thirty two (32) witnesses reported injuries to their hand, three of whom reported 

                      permanent damage. 



                •    Twenty eight (28) witness reported broken ribs, arms or legs. 

                •    Twenty three (23) witnesses reported injury to their genitalia. 

                •    Twenty two (22) witnesses reported receiving injuries that left them unconscious. 

                •    Twenty two (22) witnesses reported being scalded or burned. 

                •    Twenty (20) witnesses reported broken noses. 

                •    Twenty (20) witnesses reported split lips or broken teeth. 

                •    Seventeen (17) witnesses reported injuries to their face or jaw. 

                •    Thirteen (13) witnesses reported injuries to their feet. 

                •    Eight (8) witnesses reported injuries to their back. 

                •    Four (4) witnesses reported suffering kidney damage. 

                •    Three (3) witnesses reported being stabbed with farm and kitchen implements. 



7.84      There were multiple injuries reported in relation to particular Schools and staff members, for 

          instance 126 witnesses from three Schools reported injuries including broken bones, fractured 

          limbs, head injuries, broken teeth and being left bleeding and bruised. Six (6) witnesses from 

          one School named a particular Brother as the perpetrator of severe injuries, including broken 

          noses and facial injuries: 



               I lost my 2 front teeth because of a whack like that ...demonstrated strike of the hand... 

               out in the yard. If you got too near him...(Br X)... he would just whack you, he’d flatten 

               you. ... A few days later I was sent to the doctor because my mouth was all up. ... He 

               sent me on to the dentist in ...named town.... 



7.85      Twenty five (25) witnesses reported being hospitalised for different non-accidental injuries, as 

          described above. Six (6) of these reports referred to one particular School. Others described co- 

          residents being hospitalised for treatment of their injuries following physical assault by a 

          religious or lay staff member. 



               Fr ...X... laid me out cold for talking; he walloped me so fast I couldn’t see it coming. He 

               broke my nose, I had to go to hospital. He knocked me clean out. I had 2 big black eyes 

               and the nurse sent me to the hospital. 



                                                            • 



                The 2 years I had there I did not get over it for many, many years. I was shattered. ... I 

               suffered fierce violence there. I saw one boy ...named co-resident... battered on the bog, 



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                  he got such a beating from Br ...X... that his back was broken and he was shifted off to 

                  hospital in ...named town.... 



7.86       Witnesses reported that in a number of Schools a member of the religious staff or an older 

           resident accompanied them to the hospital and in most cases spoke to the hospital staff on their 

           behalf. Witnesses reported being warned by the person who had beaten them and by other staff 

           to tell the doctor the injuries were caused accidentally. 



                  One day I was on the farm and we were messing, me and ...named co-resident... 

                  squirting milk at each other. There was a Mr ...X (named lay ancillary worker)... there 

                  and he told Br ...Y.... He ...(Br Y)... came over and dug his nails into the back of my 

                  ears and then he hit me with his clenched fists on the jaw and of course I went down. I 

                  was in the infirmary myself for 6 or 7 weeks after that because they smashed my jaw, 

                  my gum was all gone, inside of my face was all ripped. Br ...Y... took me to ...named 

                  hospital... he done all the talking and he said “if anyone asks you, you have an abscess 

                  on your gum”. I was back in the infirmary, the treatment I was getting was hot salty 

                  water. It started getting a bit easier for me after that. 



7.87       Nineteen (19) witnesses reported being treated by a nurse in the School for injuries, including 

           broken bones and lacerations following physical abuse. There were 12 further reports of non- 

           accidental injuries being treated by a visiting doctor and another 10 reports of witnesses 

           spending lengthy periods of time in the infirmary while they recovered. Witnesses at times 

           reported such treatments were abusive in themselves. 



                  My bed was near the medicine cabinet, there was this thing called horse iodine that 

                  they put on cuts the pain of it was unbelievable. ... I saw these 3 boys lining up and Br 

                  ...X... he painted their backside and legs with this stuff. I will never forget them jumping 

                  around and screaming in pain, it was just terrifying. 



                                                                     • 



                  Mr ...X..., lay worker, he was staying there ...(in the School).... He’d stay for a few days 

                  and then he’d come back. He hit with something like half a board and a cane, beaten all 

                  over. He used a board on the soles of my feet and I couldn’t walk after it. I had to drag 

                  my feet and try to walk, it was that sore. 



           Reported abusers 



7.88       The 474 reports of physical abuse heard by the Committee identified 556 individuals by name 

           as physically abusive, 110 of whom were also reported as sexually abusive.7  Witnesses 



           reported being physically abused by a variety of personnel including religious and lay staff who 

           were in positions including Resident Managers, teachers, and care and ancillary staff. It should 

           be noted that Resident Managers or their designated deputies were authorised as 

           Disciplinarians, as regulated. Witnesses also reported being physically abused by older co- 

           residents. Seven (7) witnesses reported being physically abused by members of the public 

           including visitors to the Schools and the employers on work placements. 



7.89       In addition to those named by witnesses there were 30 reports of physical abuse by religious 

           and lay staff and co-residents who were not identified by name. A number of witnesses who 

           made reports of physical abuse to the Committee stated that they either did not wish to name 

           the person who abused them or had no memory of the name of that person. 



                  He ...(Brother)... gave me a hiding. I don’t remember who that was, I didn’t know his 

                  name. It’s only the ones that really hurt you are the ones that stuck in your memory. 



           7 A number of witnesses reported being abused by more than one abuser, therefore, the number of reported abusers is 



             greater than either the number of witnesses or the reports of abuse. 



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7.90       For the purpose of this Report the term ‘care staff’ is used to describe religious and lay staff 

           whose main contact with the witnesses was in the context of their everyday care. Those 

           described in the table below as care staff were reported to have been in charge of the 

           dormitories and most activities of daily living such as personal hygiene, bathing, dressing, meals 

           and recreation. Witnesses reported the increasing presence of trained childcare workers from 

           the 1970s onwards in a number of Schools. The main distinction made between care and 

           ancillary staff was that those described as care staff had a supervisory function while the 

           ancillary workers were reported to have had designated tasks such as night watchman, working 

           in the laundry, kitchen or on the farm. The following table shows the positions reported to be 

           held by named physical abusers in, or associated with, the Schools: 



                 Table 20: Position and Number of Reported and Named Physical Abusers – Male 

                                             Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



               Reported position held by named abusers                        Males                      Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                      65                            9 



            - Care staff                                                       227                          21 



            - Teacher                                                          49                            7 



            - Ancillary worker                                                 53                            2 



            - External priest                                                   5                            0 



            Lay 



            - Care staff                                                        6                            7 



            - Ancillary worker                                                 42                            5 



            - Teacher                                                          27                            8 



            Work placement provider                                             3                            0 



            General public                                                      4                            0 



            Co-resident                                                         15                           1 



            Total                                                              496                          60 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



7.91       As  may  be  seen  in  the  above  table,  394  of  those  named  by  witnesses  as  physically  abusive 

           (71%) 

           were male religious staff within the Schools, a further 39 named abusers were religious Sisters. 

           Ninety five (95) lay staff, 75 male and 20 female, were named by witnesses as perpetrators of 

           physical abuse. 



           Religious (staff and others) 



7.92       Witnesses identified 399 male religious, 378 Brothers and 21 priests by name as physically 

           abusive. As well as staff of the School, these included five priests who provided a pastoral 

           service to the residents, members of a religious order on holiday and visiting religious staff who 

           assisted with sport, recreation and other activities. The number of reports of physical abuse in 

           relation to particular religious staff varied considerably, as follows: 



                  •    Two hundred and eight (208) male religious were named once each by single 

                        witnesses. 



                  •     One hundred and thirty four (134) male religious were each reported as physically 

                        abusive by between two and nine witnesses. 



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7.93      Sixteen (16) Brothers in four particular schools were identified by name as physically abusive in 

          244 witness reports and a further 53 male religious were identified in multiple reports by 

          witnesses from those Schools. 



7.94      The religious staff identified as physically abusive were reported to have been engaged in all 

          areas of the Schools, including the classrooms, dormitories, kitchens, workshops, farms and 

          recreation areas. 



               Br ...X... he went over and got an ordinary leather ... and he started beating me. I was 

               so frightened, he had the door locked, it was inside in the refectory. He beat me for a 

               long, long time. ... I had marks on my legs, marks on my back. I was terrified with the 

               beating I got. ... Another young fellow ...named co-resident... I seen the same Brother 

               one day in the kitchen picking up a big iron poker and giving him a ferocious belt across 

               the head. 



7.95      Sixty-five (65) of the named male religious staff reported as physically abusive were identified by 

          witnesses as being in positions of authority, including Resident Managers within the Schools. 

          The remaining 329 Brothers and priests named by witnesses were reported to be care, teaching 

          and ancillary staff within the Schools. Witnesses described some of the religious staff having 

          different roles within the School and at times were not clear whether the ascribed role was in 

          fact the individual’s dominant function within the institution. For example, witnesses referred to 

          religious staff in authority as the Superior, Reverend Mother, School Master, Officer in Charge, 

          Head Brother or Sister, and Brother or Priest in Charge. 



               He ...(Br X)... reported me to Br ...Y (Resident Manager).... He used deal out the 

               punishment for the running away or any trouble in the yard. Br ...Y... he told me to get 

               into ...named location in School... that was where all the punishment was dished out. I 

               was made face the wall in there for maybe half an hour or that. He made me sit down, 

               there was a school bench.... Br ...X... came in and the other one ...(Br Y)... got the other 

               side and he grabbed me arms, made me put me arms over the bench so you couldn’t 

               get your legs out. They pulled me trousers down, he had ... they used to call it a black 

               jack, it was like the rim of a pram that was broke, the rubber rim, they used get that 

               behind on you, they used hit you with that. The pain off that was unbelievable that day 

               ...distressed.... I got about 10 of them that day. Then I was put back on the wall, they 

               came back after about an hour and they done it again, no Br ...X... did it, but the 2 of 

               them was there. 



7.96      There were 39 religious Sisters named as physically abusive by witnesses. The reports of abuse 

          by Sisters refer to five junior and mixed gender Schools. Nine (9) Sisters were identified as 

          Resident Managers, one of whom was named by five witnesses. 



               I was messing around ... and this nun Sr ...X... was her name she got a hurley, a plastic 

               hurley, she lashed me out of it with this hurley. There was another Sr ...Y... she was 

               teaching me the clock and she used to hit me on the face when I didn’t understand it. 



7.97      Ninety four (94) Brothers and five priests were named as both physically and sexually abusive 

          by witnesses. 



          Lay care and ancillary staff 



7.98      There were 95 lay staff, 75 male and 20 female, identified by name as physically abusive by 

          male witnesses. A further 34 lay staff were identified by their position, but not by name, by male 

          witnesses. 



7.99      Forty two (42) of the lay staff who were reported as physically abusive were ancillary staff 

          employed as night watchmen, drill masters, farm workers, maintenance and trade workers. 



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          Witnesses reported that contact with lay ancillary staff was mainly in the dormitories, showers or 

          in the context of work activity on the farm, in the kitchens or in trade shops where they were in 

          constant contact with the staff who abused them. 



                They had a large shower area. We had one shower per week. The showers were back 

                to back. The person in charge of the baths, he was a lay person, if he wasn’t happy he 

                used to examine boys. To his reckoning if the boys weren’t clean enough, he’d examine 

                you, he would poke and hit you with a stick. I was walloped ... quite a few times, you’d 

                cower in the shower, he would wallop you, in the genital area and on the posterior. 



7.100     Three (3) particular lay staff were identified by name in the evidence of 35 witnesses and a 

          further 13 lay staff were identified by name by between five and nine witnesses who gave 

          evidence to the Committee. 



                He was cruel ...named lay ancillary worker.... He was an animal, he was a giant of a 

                man. We were only kids. If you done something out of line you would get a toe in the 

                arse, or a whack of a stick, whatever he had in his hand. You’d be out in the field, you 

                would think you would be running around playing, no such thing, you were there to 

                work. 



7.101     Twelve (12) watchmen were identified by 30 witnesses as physically abusive. The night 

          watchmen were employed to supervise the dormitories during the night and were reported to 

          attend to residents who wet their bed. The main reports of physical abuse by night watchmen 

          occurred in that context. 



                This man had the job of walking up and down the dormitory all night. One night I woke 

                up and this torch was shining in my face. ... He told me to get up and he took the 

                walking stick and he gave me 10 whacks on one hand and then he gave me 10 more. 

                He left me standing there while he did his rounds and then he came back and he gave 

                me 10 more, I was shaking. I wet myself ...distressed.... He went around again and he 

                came back again, at this time I don’t know what to do, I am shaking. I wet the floor, he 

                gave me 10 more on each hand. I got 60 whacks of a cane, a little boy for waking up 

                when a torch was shone on his face. Then he said “go back to bed”. I didn’t know what 

                to do, I cried, totally bemused at this savagery. That was the start of 4 years, night after 

                night after night he would walk around, I would pray “don’t stop, O God please don’t 

                stop. If I’m seen to be awake what will I get?” I saw him hit many boys. One time when 

                he was walking around the dormitory, I could hear him and I ...(soiled)... myself, now 

                how frightened can you get? 



7.102     Twenty seven (27) male lay staff reported as physically abusive were classroom and other 

          teachers employed in the Schools. They were generally described as harsh disciplinarians who 

          dispensed punishments for schoolwork and perceived misbehaviour. 



                The PE teacher beat us with his fists and boots for coming last in the race, for smiling at 

                the wrong time. 



                                                             • 



                There were lay teachers, I don’t know about qualification or anything like that. One of 

                them was alright, he tried to help us. Mr ...X... was sadistic, he took his belt off to me 

                once and took my trousers down, oh it makes my heart run faster when I talk about him. 

                It was terrible, terrible ...distressed.... He was the one who would use whatever he got 

                hold of and he used put you over a chair and he also would cane the soles of your feet. 



                                                             • 



                One of the school masters ...(lay teacher)... during the first year I was there, the first 

                year, was a very sick man. ... One winter’s morning we were all lined up and told “say 

                the Our Father”, not in English but in Irish. We started off and said ... we just knew the 



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                 opening and the first 2 words. We couldn’t get any farther, how could we? We were not 

                 taught it and because we could not get any farther we got ...demonstrated being hit... on 

                 our hands with a strap. A strap with rivets in it because it was held together with little 

                 nails. 



7.103      The 20 female lay staff who were reported as abusers included teachers, care and ancillary 

           workers. Five (5) infirmary nurses were among the female lay staff reported by witnesses as 

           abusive. Witness reported being abused by beatings and by the harsh treatments they applied. 



                 Named lay ancillary worker... she was a lay care worker, when she was away on 

                 holidays I never wet the bed, but when she was there I got hammered for wetting the 

                 bed. If she spotted you ... taking bit of bread from another lad ... she would tell you you 

                 were going to get hammered the following morning. You didn’t get it there and then, you 

                 would be worried about it and you would get it the next morning. ... But she ...named lay 

                 ancillary worker... was unreal.... You got up at half 6 or 7 o’clock and you would have to 

                 hold on to the iron bed with one hand and holding up the nightshirt with the other, and 

                 she would get one of the prefects to hold you ... she would hit you with a hurley or 

                 whatever she could lay her hands on, a broom handle, it could be 10 to 20 strikes. You 

                 would be polishing floors after that on your knees and you could get it again, you would 

                 not be able to sit down. 



                                                                 • 



                 Nurse ...X... enjoyed hurting kids, she had no sympathy. You would rather put up with 

                 pain than go to her. All the boys were afraid of her; she was very brutal. 



7.104      Eleven (11) male lay staff who were reported as physical abusers were also the subject of 

           sexual abuse reports. 



           Co-residents 



7.105      Thirty eight (38) witnesses reported that pervasive bullying was associated with physical abuse 

           by older co-residents in the Schools. There were 16 reports of co-residents identified by name 

           as physically abusing witnesses and 22 other accounts that referred to groups of unnamed older 

           residents as physically abusive. Witnesses reported that in some Schools older residents were 

           appointed by religious staff as monitors and it was said that they used the opportunity to exert 

           their authority in various ways, including beating younger co-residents. 



                 I will never forget the brutality that went on in that place. ... I have got to tell someone 

                 before I depart this earth. We were constantly beaten with ash wood sticks by the senior 

                 boys left in charge of the playground. This amounted to extreme cruelty as little boys, 

                 only 6 or 7 years old.... They were allowed to carry sticks and they could do what they 

                 liked. ... In the yard they would be in charge, no one ever supervised that and they 

                 could do what they liked. I could never understand that. They were in charge of the 

                 dormitories, and the way they got you up with the stick, like, it was unbelievable. 



7.106      Evidence was also heard of residents being directed by religious staff to attack, kick and beat 

           their co-residents. Witnesses reported it was their belief that certain older residents were known 

           to be favoured by those in charge and therefore had the freedom to behave as they wished 

           without fear of reproach. 



                 I answered back in a sort of a cheeky way, and he ...(Br X)... said “wait a few minutes” 

                 and went out. I didn’t know what he had in mind, he came back with a couple of older 

                 boys and he said something like “teach him a lesson”. You see you have to remember 

                 in ...named School... at the time each of the Brothers had their own little flock, he had 

                 his own little pets. In later time I learned these boys used to work on the farm. Anyway 

                 Br ...X... he urged these lads on, they started punching and kicking me, I was in ... a 



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                  corner trying to hide my face from the kicks. Well I was left with blood coming from my 

                  eye, from my lip and from my eyebrow. 



7.107      Physical assaults by older residents were sometimes reported to have occurred in the context of 

           sexual abuse and witnesses reported being physically intimidated by older boys in this way as a 

           warning against reporting sexual abuse. 



           Other reported abusers 



7.108      Witnesses reported being physically abused by named individuals who were neither staff nor 

           residents in the School. Three (3) witnesses reported being physically abused when they were 

           in external placements for work or holidays that had been arranged by the School. Two (2) other 

           witnesses reported being physically abused by male lay members of the public and an 

           additional two witnesses reported being abused by ex-residents who they remarked had the 

           freedom to return to the School and associate with residents unsupervised. 



           Sexual abuse 



                  The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                  or another person.8 



7.109      This section summarises the evidence provided by witnesses of sexual abuse ranging from 

           contact sexual abuse including rape and associated physical violence to non-contact abuse 

           such as enforced nakedness and voyeurism. Witnesses were generally distressed when 

           describing their experiences of sexual abuse. They spoke in as much or as little detail as they 

           wished. Some witnesses provided detailed and disturbing accounts of sexual abuse, other 

           accounts were sufficient to clarify the acute or chronic nature of both contact and non-contact 

           sexual abuse. 



                  A priest sexually abused me. ... It’s not very easy to talk about it.... There is things there 

                  but I don’t know how to get them out. I’d love to be able to come out with them, but I 

                 just can’t.... There’s no easy way of saying things like that. 



           Nature and extent of sexual abuse reported 



7.110      Two hundred and forty two (242) male witnesses (59%) made 253 reports of sexual abuse in 

           relation to 20 Schools.9     Eleven (11) witnesses reported sexual abuse in relation to two separate 



           Schools. Witnesses described their experience of sexual abuse as either acute incidents or 

           multiple episodes that, for some, occurred throughout their entire admission in the School. 

           Witnesses reported being sexually abused by religious and lay staff in addition to other adults, 

           most of whom had some association with the Schools. Witnesses also reported being sexually 

           abused by co-residents. 



7.111      The frequency of sexual abuse reports varied widely between Schools: 

                   •    Four (4) Schools were collectively the subject 156 reports.10 



                   •    Five (5) Schools were the subject 10-17 reports, totalling 67 reports. 

                   •    Eleven (11) Schools were the subject of 1-6, totalling 30 reports. 



7.112      One School was the subject of 29% of all sexual abuse reports heard by the Committee. 



           8 Section 1(1)(b). 

           9 A number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School, and made reports of abuse in more than one School, 



             therefore the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 

           10 In order to maintain confidentiality further details regarding the numbers of abuse reports in these Schools cannot be 



              specified. 



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7.113      Sexual abuse was reported to occur in combination with other types of abuse as shown in the 

           following table: 



                 Table 21: Sexual Abuse Combined with Other Abuse Types – Male Industrial and 

                                                        Reformatory Schools 



                                Abuse types                             Number of reports                      % 



            Sexual, emotional, neglect and physical                              166                           66 



            Sexual, neglect and physical                                         49                            19 



            Sexual, emotional and physical                                       20                             8 



            Sexual and physical                                                   14                            6 



            Sexual, emotional and neglect                                         2                             1 



            Sexual and neglect                                                    1                            (0) 



            Sexual                                                                1                            (0) 



            Total reports                                                        253                          100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



7.114      One hundred and sixty six (166) reports were of all four types of abuse and constituted 66% of 

           the sexual abuse reports. In 249 instances (98%) witnesses reported both sexual abuse and 

           physical abuse. 



7.115      As with the other abuse types, sexual abuse was most often reported by witnesses who were 

           discharged during the 1960s. The following table shows the distribution of witness accounts of 

           sexual abuse across the decades covered by this Report: 11 



             Table 22: Number of Sexual Abuse Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – Male 

                                              Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                   Decade of discharge                 Number of sexual abuse                              % 

                                                                 reports 



                         Pre-1960s                                  88                                    35 



                          1960-69                                  119                                    47 



                          1970-79                                   37                                     15 



                          1980-89                                   9                                      4 



                            Total                                  253                                  (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



7.116      There are some proportional differences between the sexual abuse reports and the combined 

           abuse reports for each discharge period. For example, there were 203 reports of abuse from 

           177 witnesses discharged prior to 1960, and 43% of those reports were of sexual abuse. By 

           contrast, there were 60 reports of abuse from 50 witnesses discharged in the 1970s of which 

           62% were reports of sexual abuse. 



           11 For example: as witness evidence is presented according to the decade of discharge, a witness who spent 12 years 



              in a school and was discharged in 1962 will have been included in the 1960s cohort although the majority of that 

              witness’s experience will relate to the 1950s. 



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           Description of sexual abuse 



7.117      Witnesses described contact sexual abuse including: inspection of genitalia, kissing, fondling of 

           genitalia, forced masturbation of, and by, an abuser, digital penetration, penetration by objects, 

           oral and anal rape and attempted rape, by individuals and groups. Witnesses also reported 

           several forms of non-contact sexual abuse including detailed interrogation about sexual activity, 

           indecent exposure, inappropriate sexual talk, voyeurism, and forced public nudity. Some 

           witnesses gave accounts of isolated incidents of sexual abuse and others reported being 

           sexually abused on many occasions, over a period of months or years. The Committee 

           developed a classification of the different forms of sexual abuse described by witnesses, which 

           are shown in the following table: 



                 Table 23: Forms and Frequency of Sexual Abuse Reported – Male Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



                          Forms of sexual abuse                       Frequency reported                    % 



            Inappropriate fondling and contact                                 183                          32 



            Forced masturbation of abuser by child                             89                           16 



            Use of violence                                                    88                           16 



            Anal rape                                                          68                           12 



            Masturbation of child by abuser                                    50                            9 



            Oral/genital contact                                               30                            5 



            Non-contact abuse including voyeurism                              25                            4 



            Attempted rape                                                      14                           2 



            Kissing                                                             12                           2 



            Digital penetration                                                 6                            1 



            Total                                                             565*                        (100)** 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Witnesses reported more than one form of sexual abuse 



           **Some rounding up/down was applied 



7.118      The most frequently described form of sexual abuse was inappropriate fondling of which there 

           were 183 reports. In 50 instances inappropriate fondling was combined with reports of 

           masturbation of the witness by the abuser. Forced masturbation of the abuser by the witness 

           was reported by 89 witnesses, 30 of whom reported being coerced and physically assaulted 

           while being subjected to masturbation and oral/genital contact. 



7.119      Sixty eight (68) witnesses reported being anally raped. There were a further 14 reports of 

           attempted rape and six reports of digital penetration. Many of these reports were associated 

           with violence, of which there were 88 reports in total, including 23 reports of injuries to genitalia 

           by beating with a leather and kicking. 



7.120      Reports of non-contact sexual abuse included 15 accounts of witnesses being questioned and 

           interrogated about their sexual activity and knowledge and 10 reports of voyeurism and indecent 

           exposure. 



7.121      The secretive and isolated nature of sexual abuse was frequently described. Many witnesses 

           reported that the fear of severe punishment and the threat of either them or their siblings being 

           sent to a more restrictive institution inhibited them in both resisting and disclosing sexual abuse. 

           Witnesses further reported that the culture of obeying orders without question, the authority of 



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          the abuser and the experience of not being believed and being severely beaten after they 

          reported abuse, rendered them powerless to stop the abuse. 



          Circumstances of sexual abuse 



7.122     Sexual abuse was reported to have occurred mainly in private and occasionally in the company 

          of other residents and staff members. Witnesses reported being sexually abused in many 

          locations, including: dormitories, sleeping quarters and offices of staff members, cloakrooms, 

          churches, sacristies, classrooms, workshops, kitchens, infirmaries, showers, toilets, outside 

          sheds and farm buildings, fields, recreation areas, motor vehicles, private homes, commercial 

          premises, and other off-site locations. Witnesses stated that particular areas of activity such as 

          kitchens, farmyards, infirmaries and music rooms provided opportunities for staff members to 

          isolate residents without fear of disturbance. 



7.123     Sexual abuse was also reported to occur off-site when residents were taken out of the institution 

          for holidays, outings or work placements, by individuals who sexually abused them. Witnesses 

          reported that sexual abuse was often preceded by physical violence that they believed was 

          intended as an intimidating threat. Others described receiving special attention and experiencing 

          friendly encounters over periods of time that they welcomed, as many of them experienced no 

          other kindness or affection, an example of which is described below: 



               One night I was lying in bed and I was woke up by ...(Br X)... he said “I’m not going to 

               harm you or anything, don’t be afraid”. At that time I thought he just wanted to chat, I 

               thought it was a normal thing. The next thing he sat on my bed, he said “don’t be afraid, 

               I’m not going to hit you”. The next thing he took hold of my hand, put my hand on his 

               privates, I took my hand away and with that he slapped me, he slapped me quite a few 

               times and I was crying and he left. He came back later, he opened his trousers and took 

               my hand and put it on his privates, out of total fear I obeyed. He instructed me in what 

               to do and that amounted to masturbation and that continued over the time I was there. 



7.124     Witnesses repeatedly stated that co-residents who had no family contact were the most 

          common victims of sexual abuse. They referred to these co-residents as orphans and 

          ‘conventers’ and many witnesses remarked that they considered themselves lucky not to be 

          selected for sexual abuse. 



                There were 2 different types of boys, the outsiders who had parents and the orphans. 

                The orphans were always on the lookout for danger, learning to survive. They had no 

               one to look out for them. It was a constant struggle to survive, you would make no eye 

               contact, you would keep your eyes down in order to avoid punishment. You were 

               thinking “there’s no way out”. You blamed yourself. 



                                                           • 



               Anytime he got the opportunity he got access, he ...(Br X)... used to masturbate himself 

               over me and make me do the same to him. It stared when I was 10 and a half or 11 

               and it went on ’til I was 14. He used to swamp me with gifts, sweets, money. He said it 

               was our secret. He stopped me going to my godparents, he was afraid I would tell. It 

               was mainly the orphans who were abused bad, they had no one to turn to. I had no 

               one. I was 2 years there before I ever went out. There was no one to tell. 



          Violence 



7.125     There were 88 witness reports of sexual abuse and associated physical violence, 15 of these 

          reports related to one School. Many of the reports heard were of witnesses being beaten while 

          their abusers masturbated, or of the witnesses being beaten on their bare buttocks while they 

          were held against the abusers’ genitals. Witnesses described physical abuse perpetrated in the 

          context of sexual abuse as serving to both enforce compliance with the sexual assault and as a 



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          means of securing the silence of the witness concerned. Witnesses who reported being sexually 

          abused, including being anally raped, named Brothers about whom the Committee heard a 

          number of reports of sexual abuse: 



                He was a very bad man, a very dirty man, he used to keep me back after school and do 

                things to me, not very nice things. He used to lock the doors and put books up against 

                the window, tell me to take off my clothes. He touched me, made me touch him, then 

                beat me so that I wouldn’t tell anyone. He made me clean up after him. He hurt me very 

                badly, forced himself on me. Then, when you’d go to school next day you’d wonder who 

                is it going to be today? ... Other boys were kept back too. 



                                                             • 



                Br ...X... came and pulled me from my bed into his bedroom, he turned his wireless up 

                to full volume and said “take that nightshirt off, you can scream now as much as you 

                like, you little bastard”. He masturbated himself with his left hand while he was hitting 

                me with his strap.... He just brought the strap down on me and kicked me with his boots 

                on, that is all he was wearing.... He threatened that if I told anyone the same would 

                happen again. 



                                                             • 



                One particular morning he ...(Br X)... put me up against the wall because I was left 

                handed, he put me hands up against the wall like that ...indicated arms stretched above 

                head... he started flogging me with the leather strap. This particular session I lost all 

                control and soiled myself, he took me by the ear straight out, around to the showers. He 

                wanted me to strip off and get into the shower, the water was freezing. ... It’s very hard 

                for me to tell this ... but I want to tell it anyway ... I was crouched down in the corner, he 

                grabbed me by the hair into the cubicle, dragged me up off the floor, on the lats you 

                know, lats for the seats and he buggered me again, and told me to shut up, I was 

                screaming, I was in sheer pain you know. He had done it before in my bed and he 

                made me bleed, he tore the skin you know. It could be once a week and then he 

                mightn’t come near you for a month. It lasted for all the years I was there. 



7.126     Sexual abuse associated with violence was also reported to be accompanied at times by 

          serious threats of physical harm, including risk to life, for the perceived purpose of instilling fear 

          and enforcing compliance. For example, witnesses reported being threatened that if they ever 

          told anyone what happened to them they would be ‘drowned in the slurry pit’, ‘sent to a worse 

          place’, ‘killed’ or in one instance, ‘cut up and buried in a bag in the bog’. This latter threat was 

          issued by a lay ancillary worker who the witness reported challenged him with a knife. 



7.127     Witnesses reported being beaten or exposed to harsh treatment by co-residents in advance of 

          sexual abuse episodes and made frequent reports of severe beatings culminating in a violent 

          sexual assault. 



                The damage that they, boys, done to boys was unbelievable, what was going on. They 

                ...(co-residents)... were after beating them so much ... they were beaten and beaten 

                until they done it ...(sexual abuse).... They were beaten into submission. 



          Abuse by more than one person 



7.128     There were 16 witness accounts of sexual abuse being perpetrated by more than one religious 

          staff simultaneously, generally in association with physical assault. Witnesses described being 

          sexually abused over a period of time by a number of Brothers who also severely physically 

          abused. Some witnesses believed that they were subsequently abused by other Brothers who 

          became aware that they were the victims of ongoing abuse. The reports refer to six separate 

          Schools, with 11 witness reports made in relation to two of those Schools. Sexual abuse 

          associated with severe physical violence involving more than one staff member was generally 



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          reported as having occurred at night. Witnesses reported being taken from their beds and 

          brought to staff members’ bedrooms, bathrooms or other areas, where they were abused by two 

          or more Brothers and/or priests. 



7.129     In relation to one School, four witnesses gave detailed accounts of sexual abuse, including rape 

          in all instances, by two or more Brothers and on one occasion along with an older resident. A 

          witness from the second School, from which there were several reports, described being raped 

          by three Brothers: ‘I was brought to the infirmary...they held me over the bed, they were 

          animals....They penetrated me, I was bleeding’. Another witness reported he was abused twice 

          weekly on particular days by two Brothers in the toilets off the dormitory: 



                One Brother kept watch while the other abused me ...(sexually)... then they changed 

                over. Every time it ended with a severe beating. When I told the priest in Confession, he 

                called me a liar. I never spoke about it again. 



                                                            • 



                I would have to go into his ...(Br X’s)... room every time he wanted. You’d get a hiding if 

                you didn’t, and he’d make me do it ...(masturbate)... to him. One night I didn’t 

                ...(masturbate him)... and there was another Brother there who held me down and they 

                hit me with a hurley and they burst my fingers ...displayed scar.... 



          Grooming and inducements 



7.130     Witnesses reported that sexual abuse was frequently preceded by the abuser’s attempts to win 

          their trust by expressing concern for their welfare or giving them small treats such as comic 

          books, extra blankets, chocolates or fruit. ‘On your birthday you got a bottle of orange but you 

          would have to ... you had to go up to the Brother and sit on their lap....’ Witnesses also reported 

          being taken away from the School for outings and being sexually abused while they were out. 



                This Brother used to follow the band around, Br ...X... introduced me to him. He wasn’t 

                from our School, he was a fully fledged Brother from another School. He got friendly 

                with me, over friendly you know, he used to take me out. He took me to ...named town... 

                he told them ...(Brothers)... he was going to stay with his sister. He booked us into a 

                hotel, and he touched me and things, rubbing and kissing me, he assaulted me, he did 

                not have anal sex. I did not know anything about sex. I felt I had done something wrong. 

                ... I went to Confession about it and the priest said “don’t worry about it” and he gave 

                me a prayer to say as penance. I thought he would do something about it, you know, 

                that he would put a stop to it, but nothing happened. 



                                                            • 



                Br ...X... he had a kind way with him and you would be kinda looked after, if other 

                Brothers were at you he would have a go at them. ... One day he called me into this 

                little room ... he was saying to me “you are doing very well here, you are really coming 

                along very well”. After a while he said “you are such a good looking boy you know, I 

                have plans for you, we are going on a trip...”.. I thought “Well, he was just being nice”. 

                ... Well after a while he took my hand and he placed it on his private parts you know, so 

                he said to me “don’t be afraid”, things like that and at the same time I was shaking, and 

                as he was talking he kept on rubbing my hand up and down his privates. The next thing 

                was, he was opening his buttons, his trousers, you know ... and he told me to ...crying... 

                take down my trousers ...crying...witness described anal rape.... 



7.131     A number of witnesses reported being sexually abused while working in the kitchens where 

          access to extra food served as an inducement, prior to being sexually abused. The kitchen was 

          identified as a location for sexual abuse due to its relative isolation from the rest of the School. 

          As previously reported the kitchens in some Schools were described as the domain of a 

          particular Brother with few intrusions by either staff or residents. 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                        83 


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                 I was sexually abused by a Brother, he used to fondle me, he used to masturbate 

                 himself over me, it happened mainly when I was helping in the kitchen, in a room at the 

                 back. The sexual abuse always happened outside the sight of everybody. 



7.132      Staff whose sleeping quarters were adjacent to the dormitories were reported to employ various 

           excuses for having residents in their rooms. Witnesses reported being sent to the priests’ or 

           Brothers’ rooms to light fires, make beds, tidy up or clean the rooms. At times witnesses 

           reported being invited to listen to the radio or music in a Brother or priest’s bedroom as a 

           special treat. At other times, witnesses remarked that their expressed interest in some topic or 

           sport provided the Brother or priest with the opportunity to engage them on an individual basis, 

           as a prelude to inappropriate sexual contact. 



                 I was playing basketball one day and Br ...X... came over to me and said to me, says he 

                 “I have some sweets for you upstairs...”. ...(He told me)... to come up to his room. I 

                 genuinely thought I was going to get some sweets. He went into his room and came out 

                 naked, he told me take off my clothes, he rubbed some oil on me and he buggered me, 

                 I was in a bad way after that. He took me into his room and locked the door, and it was 

                 oral sex and all of that. ... I don’t like talking about it. 



7.133      Witnesses reported that in some Schools residents who were selected for sexual abuse by 

           religious staff at times received special treatment. A number of witnesses who were sexually 

           abused described being known as ‘specials’ of a staff member and reported that being selected 

           as ‘special’ protected them from physical abuse, to some extent. They described the associated 

           disadvantages attached to this position, particularly being isolated from their peer group whom 

           they believed did not understand the price they were paying for perceived privileges. A small 

           number of witnesses in such circumstances acknowledged having conflicted feelings about 

           being sexually abused, especially in situations where the sexual abuse was not associated with 

           violence. 



                 Br ...X... he was brutal, he was a pig. ... They would call him a paedophile nowadays, 

                 he had his favourites, we called them “oh that’s so and so’s ...(pet)...”. He ...(Br X)... 

                 would be holding this little fella’s hand and that kinda thing. I was not sexually abused, 

                 I’d be telling a lie if I said I was, but I saw them. 



           Voyeurism and other non-contact abuse 



7.134      Witnesses described as sexually abusive the manner in which certain staff members supervised 

           the areas of personal care. The practice of communal showering and bathing was reported as 

           commonplace and not in itself abusive. However witnesses reported lone male staff staring at 

           residents as they showered and subjecting them to intrusive examinations of their genitalia and 

           other body parts. Reports of such violations of personal privacy were frequently accompanied by 

           reports of physical abuse and subsequent sexual assault, including rape, in the shower areas. 



7.135      Three (3) witnesses reported being watched by a Brother as he masturbated while they 

           showered. Other witnesses described Brothers examining their bodies with particular attention to 

           their genital area on the pretext of inspecting if they had washed thoroughly in the shower. A 

           further form of voyeurism was reported by three witnesses who were forced to spar naked in the 

           boxing ring while being watched by a number of Brothers and visiting clergy. 



7.136      Fifteen (15) witnesses reported being questioned and interrogated in different ways about their 

           sexual activity and awareness of sexual matters. Witnesses from two Schools reported that 

           these interrogations were conducted in a methodical manner and focused on sexual activity 

           between residents. Residents and witnesses were subsequently punished as a result of what 

           was told. Witnesses from two Schools also described being required to keep a diary of their 

           sexual thoughts that they had to give one of the Brothers to read and that they were then 



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          questioned about. Witnesses described being distressed by the interventions and that ‘you 

          never knew what they wanted’. Other witnesses reported being questioned about their contact 

          with girls or boys prior to admission or during holidays that they believed was, at times, a means 

          of determining how susceptible they may be to allowing sexually inappropriate behaviour. Such 

           interrogations were also described as opportunities for inappropriate sexual talk. 



                He ...(Br X)... came into the recreation hall one night and said “come here a minute” and 

                brought me up to his room. He started talking about something and then he started on 

                sex, he started talking about sex. He asked me “have you ever had sex with a girl?” I 

                said “no”, he kept at me and at me saying “you did, you did, come on tell me the 

                truth...”. He threatened and he said “I’ll bring up Br ...Y...”. He was real evil ... 

                sometimes you couldn’t sit down you, would be so sore after a beating. So I said to 

                myself I’ll have to say yes. So I said “yes”, and he said “how do you do it?” and I 

                haven’t a clue.... 



          Reported abusers 



7.137     Two hundred and forty six (246) lay and religious staff and others were reported as sexual 

          abusers by male witnesses. One or more reports of sexual abuse were made against each of 

          those identified as sexual abusers. Witnesses identified 186 perpetrators of sexual abuse by 

           name, 110 of whom were also named by witnesses as physically abusive. A further 60 

           unnamed perpetrators were identified by their position or occupation. It is possible that there is 

          some overlap between those identified by name and those who were not named. The abusers’ 

           identity was often protected by the reported practice of abusing residents at night when ‘you 

          only saw the cloak’. Witnesses gave accounts of being warned not to turn around as they were 

           being raped, which they believed was to preclude them from identifying the abuser. 



                He told me to lean over the desk and pull my pants down. I didn’t know what he was 

                going to do ...crying.... I felt something rubbing up and down against my backside. I tried 

                to look around but the way he had me pinned down on the desk I couldn’t move, and 

                the next thing I felt this sharp pain ... it was so severe. I never felt anything like it.... 

                After he finished he told me “you be a good boy now go out and play with the other 

                boys” and after that I decide that I had to get out of here, and I absconded and I was 

                brought back and I got another beating. 



7.138     Those reported to the Committee as sexual abusers included male and, to a much lesser 

          extent, female religious staff who were in positions of care and authority including Resident 

           Managers, teachers and ancillary workers. Lay care and ancillary workers, teachers, visiting 

           professionals, volunteer care givers providing holiday and work placements, adult friends and 

           relatives of staff and volunteers, ex-residents and co-residents were all identified as perpetrators 

          of sexual abuse. The Committee heard evidence of sexual abuse by religious staff from 15 of 

          the 20 Schools where witnesses reported being sexually abused. Evidence was heard of sexual 

          abuse by lay staff and others from all 20 Schools. The following table shows the positions 

           understood by witnesses to be those held in or in association with the institutions by reported 

          sexual abusers: 



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                Table 24: Position and Number of Reported Sexual Abusers – Male Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



                  Position of reported sexual abusers                         Males                      Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                      23                            1 



            - Care staff                                                       87                            3 



            - Teacher                                                          24                            0 



            - Ancillary worker                                                  17                           0 



            - External priest, Brother or other clergy                          8                            0 



            - Clerical student                                                  1                            0 



            Lay 



            - Care staff                                                        6                            6 



            - Teacher                                                           2                            0 



            - Ancillary worker                                                  11                           0 



            Weekend or holiday placement carer                                  1                            0 



            Work placement provider                                             1                            0 



            Visitor and volunteer workers                                       9                            0 



            Local workmen, general public or others                             6                            0 



            Ex-resident                                                         1                            0 



            Co-resident                                                        37                            2 



            Total                                                              234                          12 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



7.139      As indicated, the majority of sexual abuse reported was perpetrated within the Schools by 

           religious staff with 151 (65%) of all those identified as sexually abusive being male religious 

           staff, 139 Brothers and 12 priests. Altogether 180 religious and lay staff within the Schools were 

           identified as sexually abusive. 



           Religious (staff and others) 



7.140      Witnesses reported being sexually abused by 151 male and four female religious staff in 15 

           Schools where sexual abuse was reported. Five (5) witnesses also reported that they were 

           sexually abused by external clergy and Brothers who were visiting the Schools or others to 

           whom witnesses were sent to work. As previously stated external clergy included priests and 

           others of higher rank. These visiting religious were described as either friendly with religious 

           staff or visiting the School in a pastoral role. There were also four reports of sexual abuse by 

           either a clerical student or visiting members of the congregation in relation to four other Schools. 

           In all but one instance sexual abuse by external clergy and Brothers were described as isolated 

           occurrences. The forms of sexual abuse reported included anal rape, oral/genital contact, 

           masturbation, kissing, inappropriate fondling, indecent exposure and voyeurism. 



                 I always thought there was someone coming for me. It’s only when I think back now 

                 they ...(Brothers)... were so clever. I don’t know if you get what I’m saying to you, with 

                 regards paedophilia if you know what I mean, they had a knack of it. ...The sexual 

                 abuse or the physical abuse wouldn’t start straight away, but don’t forget you’re 11 

                 years of age, you’re lonely, you have nobody. The next thing the Brother would put his 

                 arms around you or he would be nice to you. It was somebody to hold on to, then after 



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                a while the sexual abuse would start. ... To this day it kills me, I tried to please them. I 

                tried to please them for a hug, somebody to put their arms around you. You were 

                constantly told "nobody wants you, you’re not wanted”.... He’d bring you into a room and 

                put the arm around you and giving you a sweet and then hands would drop down and 

                eventually he would bugger you. I thought I was a bad boy and that ...(sexual abuse)... 

                was your punishment. When they’d get fed up with you they would start hitting you. 

                After the sexual act you would get a box in the mouth off him.... It started after 2 weeks 

                there, new comers were like new meat. 



7.141     Six (6) Brothers were each reported by between 10 and 21 witnesses as having sexually 

          abused them. These six Brothers were identified by a total of 89 witnesses and came from two 

          particular Schools. These Schools had both the largest number of staff reported as sexually 

          abusive and the most reports of sexual abuse made about particular staff members. 



                Br ...X... sent for me, I had to go to his room and he said “kneel down and close your 

                eyes”. ... He put his penis in my mouth ...crying and distressed... and I opened my eyes 

                and he boxed me in the eyes. You couldn’t do anything if they came to abuse you, they 

                would hit you a box or anything like that. 



7.142     Among the religious Sisters, Brothers and priests who were reported as sexual abusers 24 were 

          believed by witnesses to be Resident Managers or officers in charge of the Schools. Ninety (90) 

          religious staff, including three religious Sisters and three priests, identified as abusers were in 

          care roles and 24 were in teaching roles. Seventeen (17) religious staff identified as sexual 

          abusers were occupied in an ancillary capacity on farms, in kitchens, laundries and infirmaries. 

          Religious ancillary staff were described as having control over their area of work, particularly 

          kitchens, farmyards, and infirmaries, where they were identified as sexually abusing many 

          witnesses. 



                 The first job I had was in the laundry, after a few weeks he ...(Br X)... called me in to the 

                office and said “if you ever have any problems don’t hesitate to come to me”. He had 

                his arm around me at this stage, he put his other hand down inside my trousers.... I 

                pulled away and wouldn’t allow him to do it, he hit me a box in my face with his fist and 

                told me to get out of his office. ... Twice I had to masturbate him ...(Br X)... in the 

                hospital ...(infirmary).... The hospital was the place where they would give the boys 

                medication. ... He’d bring you in and he’d pull across the curtains. ... He’d ...(Br X)... 

                have his Cassock up underneath the band, the belt, and he’d get me to rub him. 



                                                               • 



                 While working in the kitchen I was kissed by Br ...X... regularly and the boys who 

                witnessed it ridiculed me. ... Br ...Y... made me fondle him and rubbed himself up 

                against me. 



7.143     The four religious Sisters identified as sexually abusing male witnesses were attached to 

          different Schools and were each the subject of single witness reports. In three instances they 

          were described as inappropriately fondling and exposing themselves to the witnesses in the 

          context of personal care activities. In the other instance a witness reported that a religious Sister 

          sexually abused him by fondling and masturbation in the company of both male and female lay 

          care staff. 



7.144     As previously reported, 94 Brothers and five priests were named as both physically and sexually 

          abusive by witnesses. 



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          Lay care and ancillary staff 



7.145     Witnesses identified 19 male and six female lay staff as sexually abusive. The main 

          occupational group identified were lay ancillary staff of whom 11 were named by 21 witnesses. 

          These staff were mainly night watchmen and farm workers employed by the Schools. The most 

          frequently reported form of sexual abuse perpetrated by male ancillary staff was anal rape and 

          masturbation. Two (2) lay teachers and trade instructors were reported by a small number of 

          witnesses as sexually abusive. The other lay staff who were identified as sexually abusive were 

          both male and female care staff. Reports of sexual abuse in relation to these staff refer mostly 

          to those discharged in the 1970s and 1980s and the forms of abuse generally reported were 

          inappropriate fondling and masturbation. 



                There was a number of lads in the dormitory ...who wet the bed. ... I was one of those. I 

               never wet the bed before going to ...named School.... ...Named lay ancillary worker... 

               knew exactly who to take out ...(to the toilet).... There was this night watchman who got 

               the boys out of the bed.... One particular night I was told to stay back when the other 

               boys went back in. The first instance I had I was in the cubicle and I was told to take my 

               pyjamas down and he fondled my privates and he told me to do the same to him. This 

               went on for a couple of nights, then one particular night.... Same again, I was the last 

               one back in and the same again, and then it got worse. ... The next time it was totally 

               different ...witness described anal rape.... I screamed but he put his hand over my 

               mouth, I don’t know how long it went on for and was told to go back to the bed and say 

               nothing. I got back in to bed, wrapped myself up in a ball as small as could be. It was 

               different, I was crying. The next thing I woke up and the sheets were destroyed with 

               blood. 



7.146     One witness, discharged in the 1970s, reported that he was repeatedly sexually abused by a 

          male lay care staff member under the pretence of being physically abused or punished, which 

          the witness believed a female religious staff member condoned. The witness described the 

          abuser warning him that he could avoid further beatings if he co-operated with the abuser’s 

          sexual demands. The witness reported that he saw other residents beaten in public for 

          complaining about sexual abuse by this particular lay care worker. 



7.147     As reported elsewhere, 11 male lay staff who were reported as sexual abusers were also the 

          subject of physical abuse reports. 



          Co-residents 



7.148     There were 39 reports from witnesses of being sexually abused by co-residents in all the 

          Schools referred to by witnesses and across all decades about which reports were made. ‘It 

          was the older boys. Basically they would drag your trousers down and masturbate you.’ Seven 

          (7) co-residents were identified by name. The largest number of reports of sexual abuse by co- 

          residents related to four of the Schools identified. Included in the 39 reports were two reports of 

          sexual abuse by fondling and inappropriate contact by female co-residents in two different 

          Schools during the 1980s. Reports of sexual abuse by older co-residents were most often 

          associated with physical abuse and reports of bullying. 



                There was an older boy there he was the teacher’s pet, his name was ...X.... He 

               sexually abused me and most of the boys in the School. He was a right bully. 



                                                           • 



               (On admission)... I was taken into the washroom ...(by)... the Brother and a young fella, 

               he was about 16 years old. First they got me the clothes, the School clothes. They were 

               taking me to be washed. I had to strip off in front of the young fella, the Brother went 

               off. The young fella washed me and then when he was drying me he started to interfere 

               with me, I knew what he was doing. I started to scream. The Brother came back in and 



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                said “what’s happening?” ...(The)... young fella said “he won’t let me wash him”. ...(I 

                said)...”he gave me a slap on the face”. ...(Brother said)... “I’m not asking you.” I was 

                only in the School for an hour. 



7.149     The Committee heard 19 witness reports of sexual abuse by older residents in a number of 

          Schools. In most instances the reports of sexual abuse by co-residents were of aggressive 

          assaults by more than one co-resident resulting in masturbation or anal rape. Witnesses 

          reported being waylaid by older co-residents in the toilets, yards and corridors where there was 

          little supervision. Some witnesses stated that being sexually abused by older co-residents 

          offered them a measure of protection from physical abuse by other residents and that at times 

          the experience of such sexual activity was consensual. Seven (7) witnesses reported that they 

          sexually abused younger residents or engaged in consensual sexual activity with a co-resident. 



                There was things ...(sexual abuse)... going on, between the lads, and I was absorbed 

                into it. The way we behaved with one another, it was all based on fear. The physical 

                violence ... it was the way the whole thing was held together. ... You had the strongest 

                to the weakest boys, the strongest can pick on anybody, the strongest do it to the 

                weakest boys and the darkness is handed out back along. 



7.150     In a small number of Schools, witnesses reported being sexually abused by older residents who 

          had a disciplinary role and were known as monitors. There were six reports from four different 

          Schools of sexual abuse by co-residents being observed by religious staff and another 19 

          reports from witnesses who believed that such behaviour was either condoned or actively 

          encouraged by the religious staff. 



                Some of the senior boys were rapists themselves. My way of looking at it now was they 

                were institutionalised themselves because the School was mixed, you had juvenile 

                offenders, you had kids from broken homes, you had orphan kids, they never saw a 

                woman around the place. All you seen was guys. I was ...(sexually)... abused by a lot of 

                these older boys. Within the first 3 months I was there, the older boy who was on my 

                table, he was in charge ... he seemed to get on very well with the Brothers. He was 

                always well treated by the Brothers. He abused me in a garden shed with another boy 

                and a Brother. ... They subjected me to being raped, and I was threatened that I would 

                be thrown in the slurry pit. The Brother, Br ...X... raped me in front of the boy.... That 

                was the only time where there was a boy and a Brother together. 



          Visitors and volunteer workers 



7.151     There were 11 reports of sexual abuse perpetrated by nine male individuals who were described 

          as visitors and volunteer workers visiting the Schools. These reports referred to five Schools. In 

          most instances the individuals were identified by name and were described as having some link 

          with the School through individual members of the religious staff. The sexual abuse reported in 

          relation to these male visitors and volunteer helpers included fondling, masturbation, kissing, 

          and anal rape. 



7.152     The Committee heard reports of sexual abuse by visitors and volunteer workers from seven 

          witnesses in relation to one specific School. These men were members of the general public, 

          each of whom was believed to be known to religious staff. The witnesses described being 

          collected by car and taken to men’s homes, the cinema or on trips to the seaside or country. 

          Four (4)) witnesses reported being taken with co-residents on a regular basis, one by a group of 

          men overnight and the other three witnesses by a man in a van who bought them sweets and 

          ice-cream and sexually abused them by fondling or masturbation, either in the van or in his 

          home. Four of the 11 witnesses reported being taken alone for overnight excursions where they 

          shared rooms and beds with identified abusers in their homes, guesthouses or other 

          accommodation. Witnesses described these outings as apparently spontaneous. 



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                  The man who took you out on your own, I don’t know how it happened, I don’t know 

                  how you were chosen, the Brother came out in the yard and would say “who wants to 

                  go?” If I had been street wise I could have avoided this, I didn’t know “bent” or “gay”. 

                  The School band had been up and down the country for engagements, one Sunday we 

                  were in ...named town... this guy arrives up ... I was called to the office, the next I know 

                  is, “Mr ...X... is going to take you out for the day”. The next thing I knew was this guy 

                  was getting me into the car ... and I knew this was different because we were driving 

                  out to the country, I knew by the signs. I knew ... we would not get back for 9 o’clock.... 

                  We drove to a country town, it was a quiet town. ... There was no stopping for tea or 

                  chips or anything like that. The next thing we were in his house, and it was straight into 

                  the bedroom. I see this framed photograph of myself on the mantelpiece. He shows me 

                  the bedroom and says “this is where we are going to sleep”. ... But I had no pyjamas, 

                  no overnight things or anything, and he says “we are going to bed” and I thinks to 

                  myself, “where is my bed?” and the next thing he takes off his clothes and is naked. I 

                  had never seen a man completely naked before. I think to myself “well, I’ll keep my 

                 jocks on, I’ll keep my socks on”. ... My mind is completely racing, I don’t know what to 

                  think, I think “what will I keep on?” ... I have a memory of him trying to muster some 

                  words “it’s a bit of fun” or something ... “I’m not going to hurt you”. He was physically 

                  trying to touch me, the rest is a blank, I don’t remember anymore. 



7.153      One witness reported that having told the priest in Confession that he had been sexually abused 

           by a male visitor, he believed the priest informed a Brother who subsequently beat him for 

           ‘...taking the good name of a decent man who is sacrificing his home for the sake of a 

           guttersnipe like you’. 



7.154      A small number of witnesses from two Schools reported having extended contact with visitors 

           and volunteer workers who they remarked were friendly with the female religious Resident 

           Managers and appeared to have free access to the Schools. These visitors helped residents in 

           various ways, including with their homework and took them on outings and for holidays. A 

           witness reported that he was sexually abused over a three-year period by one such visitor. 

           Another witness gave the following account of being sexually abused and raped by a male 

           visitor: 



                  She ...(Sr X)... introduced a personal friend of hers called ...named male visitor.... He 

                  was not employed by the Sisters or the Health Board. He started to come once a week, 

                  maybe twice a week, and then it was building up. He was there a lot of the days in the 

                  evenings after work ... and most of the weekend. Now ...named male visitor... was the 

                 person who sexually abused me while I was in ...named School.... He was very close to 

                  Sr ...X.... He took an interest in me. I thought it was brilliant because for the first time 

                  someone was taking an interest in me. ... He came in to say good night to us. He went 

                  around to everybody and said goodnight ... and then he came and sat on my bed and 

                  told me he loved me and I was a great boy and he started tiddling ...(tickling)... me. This 

                  was all very gradually. He started putting his hands in my pyjamas, very touchy, now I 

                  didn’t mind and it was our secret and that sort of thing. Then he got permission to bring 

                  me to his house ... and he would abuse me there and he brought me away for a 

                  weekend sometimes and he abused me. 



           Work, weekend and holiday placement providers and others 



7.155      Five (5) witnesses gave evidence to the Committee that they were sexually abused in external 

           placements while still a resident of the Schools. The witnesses were abused while placed with 

           families either for holidays, weekends or to work. Two (2) witnesses reported being sexually 

           abused by male members of the general public while they were on leave from the School. One 

           of those witness stated that he was sexually harassed and raped over a period of months by 

           three local men who he stated knew he was from an Industrial School and took advantage of his 



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            circumstances to intimidate and abuse him. The witness reported being afraid of the 

            repercussions of telling anyone what was happening to him. The second witness was raped by 

           two men he encountered in the vicinity of the School as he was returning from a visit. Another 

           witness reported that he was sexually abused by the male relative of a family he went to for 

            holidays. One witness reported being sexually abused during admission to a local hospital from 

           the School and another witness reported being molested by the man he was sent to on licence 

           for work.12 



            Neglect 



                  Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                  serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                  serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.13 



7.156      This section summarises witness accounts of general neglect. Descriptions of neglect refer to all 

            aspects of the physical, social and emotional care and welfare of the witnesses, impacting on 

           their health and development. Neglect refers to both actions and inactions by religious and lay 

           staff and others who had responsibility and a duty of care for the residents in their charge. It 

            also describes other forms of neglect that are regarded as having a negative impact on the 

            individuals’ emotional health and development, for example a failure to protect from harm and 

           failure to educate. As the reports of neglect refer to systemic practices, this section of the 

            Report does not identify individual abusers. 



            Nature and extent of neglect reported 



7.157      Three hundred and sixty seven (367) male witnesses (89%) made 408 reports concerning the 

            neglect of their care and welfare in 22 Schools.14  The frequency of neglect reports by witnesses 



            in relation to individual Schools varied, as with the other types of abuse. 

                   •     Five (5) Schools were collectively the subject of 260 reports.15 



                   •     Six (6) Schools were the subject of 10-26 reports respectively, totalling 106 reports. 

                   •     Eleven (11) Schools were the subject of 1-9 reports, totalling 42. 



7.158       Five (5) Schools were the subject of 64% of all neglect reports to the Committee. 



7.159      As with the other types of abuse neglect was reported in combination with all four types of 

            abuse in 166 instances. 



            12 See sections 67 and 70 of the 1908 Act which allowed for residents to be placed for employment outside the School, 



              under an extension of their court order. 

            13 Section 1(1)(c), as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 

            14 Note – a number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School, and made reports of abuse in more than one 



              School, therefore the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 

            15 In order to maintain confidentiality further details regarding the numbers of abuse reports in these Schools cannot be 



              specified. 



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             Table 25: Neglect Combined with Other Abuse Types – Male Industrial and Reformatory 

                                                                Schools 



                                 Abuse types                             Number of reports                      % 



            Neglect, emotional, physical and sexual                              166                            41 



            Neglect, emotional and physical                                      120                            29 



            Neglect and physical                                                  66                            16 



            Neglect, physical and sexual                                          49                            12 



            Neglect and emotional                                                  3                             1 



            Neglect, emotional and sexual                                          2                            (0) 



            Neglect and sexual                                                     1                            (0) 



            Neglect                                                                1                            (0) 



            Total                                                                408                          (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



7.160      As shown, 401 reports of neglect were combined with physical abuse. 



7.161      As with the other types of abuse the extent of neglect reports varied according to the relevant 

           discharge period. Table 26 shows the distribution of witness accounts of neglect across the 

           decades covered by this Report: 16 



                  Table 26: Number of Neglect Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – Male 

                                               Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                   Decade of discharge                Number of neglect reports                            % 



                         Pre-1960s                                  178                                    44 



                          1960-69                                   172                                    42 



                          1970-79                                   47                                     12 



                          1980-89                                   10                                      2 



                            Total                                   407                                   100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           Areas of neglect 



7.162      This Report categorises neglect of care under the headings of food, clothing, heat, hygiene, 

           bedding, healthcare, education, supervision and preparation for discharge that were referred to 

           by witnesses with varying levels of detail. There was inevitable overlap between the different 

           categories of neglect and other types of abuse, as outlined in other sections of the Report. 

           Witnesses described the impact that the neglect they endured had on their social and emotional 

           welfare, including effects on later life. 



           16 For example: as witness evidence is presented according to the decade of discharge, a witness who spent 12 years 



              in a school and was discharged in 1962 will have been included in the 1960s cohort although the majority of that 

              witness’s experience will relate to the 1950s. 



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           Food 



7.163      There were 379 witness reports of food provided to residents being inadequate in both quality 

           and sufficiency. The reports referred to 21 Schools. Three hundred and forty nine (349) reports 

           of poor and inadequate food were made by witnesses who were discharged before 1970. Some 

           witnesses reported having so little to eat that at times they were starving. The Committee heard 

           many reports from witnesses of attempts to satisfy their hunger by ‘raiding’ the garden, orchard 

           and kitchens for extra food, eating grasses, dandelion, hawthorn, sorrel leaves and wild berries 

           found while out on walks and while working in the fields. Witnesses also reported taking food 

           from slop buckets, potatoes and other feed prepared for pigs, skimmed milk for calves and dried 

           animal feed in the farmyards. Bread dipped in dripping and shell cocoa described by one 

           witness as ‘unsweetened sludge’ was a standard part of the diet recounted by witnesses 

           discharged in the years before the 1960s. 



                 In the morning you got 2 cuts of bread and dripping, the dripping was put on the night 

                 before. The food was terrible there, you were hungry, it was rationed even though the 

                 place was self-sufficient. They had their own tomatoes and orchard too, but we never 

                 got them. 



                                                                   • 



                 Hunger was extreme, we stole cattle nuts and mangels and the hosts from the altar 

                 because we were so hungry. 



                                                                   • 



                 You were hungry all the time, all the bloody time. We got bread and dripping, it would 

                 be rock hard by the time you got it. ... I was always hungry, there was never enough. ... 

                 I worked in the kitchen and you stole for your friends, if you were caught, you were 

                 terrified. 



7.164      Throughout all decades reported to the Committee witnesses noted differences between the 

           quality and quantity of food available to them and that which was provided for the religious staff, 

           as observed by witnesses who worked in kitchens preparing and serving food for both residents 

           and staff. 



                 I had to serve breakfast for the Brothers, as you got older you used to serve breakfast. I 

                 couldn’t believe the breakfast they had.... I can’t believe what we get and what they get. 

                 One day I nicked an orange, they get a whole orange! There was a woman there. She 

                 cooked breakfast for them. 



7.165      Many witnesses said that although there were large farms attached to their Schools the produce 

           from the farms was generally not provided for the residents. Witnesses from six Schools 

           described preparing potatoes and other vegetables for sale and being involved in the distribution 

           of various types of farm produce for sale outside the School. Witnesses who were prescribed 

           special diets or extra milk and eggs reported that the recommended food was not always 

           provided for them although they stated that in some Schools it was available for sale. 



                  The food was poor and scarce, I was always hungry, the boys harvested the produce 

                 from the farm but it was not provided to them, the Brothers’ kitchen was separate and 

                 their food was much better. 



                                                                   • 



                  We used go to the farm and rob spuds, they used to cultivate the farm in fields out the 

                 back ... the veg they grew they used to make money, string beans and all ... used be 

                 sold, I used to see them. 



7.166      In addition to reports about the inadequate amounts of food provided to residents, witnesses 

           also reported that the lack of supervision in the refectories meant that in several Schools the 



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          youngest or most recently arrived residents were dependant on older residents leaving enough 

          food for them to eat in the rush for what was provided. Witnesses reported being frequently left 

          without any food: 



                I was always cold and hungry, smaller and weaker boys missed out in the general grab 

                for food which was not supervised or was supervised and condoned by the Brothers ... 

                and in the refectory it meant older boys ate most of the food. 



                                                               • 



                You had a loaf of bread between 4, and you would have a tin saucer, you would put a 

                cross on it and you’d spin the knife ...(to see who got the largest share)... it was never 

                even. 



7.167     Witnesses said that extra food was at times provided for favoured residents or for those who did 

          labouring work for the School: 



                The food was very poor. We were always hungry but when we were working building ... 

                (new buildings) ... the work crew got a fry up breakfast, for extra strength. 



7.168     Witnesses reported improvements in both the quantity and variety of food provided in most 

          Schools during the 1970s and 1980s. There were, however, seven reports of inadequate 

          provision of food from witnesses who were discharged in the 1980s. These reports referred to 

          Schools that had consistently been the subject of reports of dietary neglect during the preceding 

          decades. Improvements in dietary provision during the 1970s and 1980s were often reported to 

          be related to the presence of certain staff members: 



                The food was terrible, we never had enough. Lumpy porridge, glue and lumpy potatoes, 

                stew sometimes, bread and cocoa. The boys traded for food. We were told to tell the 

                ...inspector... that we got better food than we actually did. Everything improved after Br 

                ...X ... (Resident Manager)... left. 



7.169     Lack of access to drinking water was also described and deprivation of any form of liquid from 

          mid-afternoon was reported as a standard method of addressing bed-wetting. 



          Clothing 



7.170     There were 275 witness reports of inadequate provision of clothing and footwear in relation to 

          19 Schools. Two hundred and thirty six (236) of those reports (86%) refer to witnesses 

          discharged from 16 Schools before 1970. The most common reports made were of poor quality 

          and ill-fitting clothes and shoes. Witnesses who were discharged during the 1940s and 1950s 

          reported that their clothing and boots were most often made in the School. Shoes and boots 

          were described as ill fitting, often mended and re-mended and uncomfortable. 



                Misfits clothes, like hand me down clothes, and the boots clattering, they were too big, 

                we would be like the German army. 



                                                               • 



                We had no underwear, that changed in the 70s. You were in ...pants and ... shirt, they 

                were all made in the School too, shoes, boots the lot, they were all made there. Anyone 

                who had a hole in their sock at the inspections got a beating for that too, the boots were 

                too big or too small. 



7.171     It was generally reported that witnesses’ own clothes were removed when they were admitted, 

          to be replaced with what were at times inferior quality clothing. Skin irritation and abrasions 

          caused by rough material rubbing on bare skin, referred to by witnesses as ‘ire’, was frequently 

          reported. ‘You wore this tweed, you got a red mark on your leg, it would itch, it was sore’ and 

          ‘The clothes were very bad, particularly the trousers, very bad. Whatever the material it was 



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          something like bulls wool, it irritated the skin...’. This problem was considerably worse for those 

          witnesses who wet or soiled themselves, as replacement clothes were frequently unavailable. 

          Many witnesses who wet their beds were not given clean or dry clothing. In addition to the 

          discomfort this practice caused, the resulting malodour led to witnesses being shunned by other 

          residents. 



7.172     Witnesses also commented on the lack of warm and adequate clothing for cold and inclement 

          weather. The lack of an outdoor coat or jacket was commonly reported and witnesses who 

          worked on the farm or on the bogs had no provision made for suitable protection for either the 

          weather or work conditions. 



7.173     The lack of underwear and the humiliation of being seen poorly dressed in public was 

          consistently described: 



                The clothes were brutal I wore short pants and no underwear until I was 14, even while 

                attending the local secondary school. The clothes came from a general ...(communal)... 

               pool and marked us out as from the orphanage ...(Industrial School).... 



7.174     Witnesses reported being forced to spend periods of time out in the recreation yards in all 

          weathers or sheltering in sheds during wet weather, without coats or suitable clothes. Witnesses 

          described the ‘absolute misery’ of being routinely compelled to stay outdoors in cold weather 

          and being too cold to play or move around: 



                We were in a big shed with seats all around, it was cold, there was nothing in it, you 

                wouldn’t put a cow in it. 



7.175     Special clothing, often described as ‘best clothes’, was available when inspectors and others 

          visited. In some Schools good clothes and shoes were also provided for Sunday walks and 

          special occasions. By contrast to the usual clothing provided, witnesses who were members of 

          School bands reported that the clothes provided for public performances were of a high quality 

          and well maintained. 



7.176     A further concern for witnesses regarding their clothing was the expectation that their clothes 

          and footwear be maintained without defect. Weekly inspections were conducted and reported to 

          arouse fear in anticipation of a beating, for worn, torn or missing items of clothing. 



          Heating 



7.177     The lack of adequate heating was reported by 265 witnesses from 11 Schools that were the 

          subject of neglect reports. Two hundred and thirty five (235) reports of inadequate heat and 

          warmth relate to witnesses discharged before 1970. The 30 reports of inadequate heating from 

          witnesses discharged since 1970 represented 39% of all neglect reports for that period. 



7.178     The system of heating most commonly described in Schools prior to 1970 was of a solid fuel- 

          fired boiler that supplied hot water for washing and for radiators that were located around the 

          School. In a number of Schools witnesses reported that prior to the 1960s there was no heating 

          in the dormitories, which were generally described as large rooms with high ceilings, bare 

          windows and no floor covering. Chilblains were commonplace during winter months and were 

          reported to be a cause of constant pain and discomfort. In the earlier decades many Schools 

          had open fires in the classrooms, which were generally described as warmer than other parts of 

          the School. 



          Hygiene 



7.179     Two hundred and seventeen (217) witnesses discharged before 1970 reported poor hygiene 

          practices in relation to 16 Schools, and varied throughout the years reported on. Witnesses 



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          discharged before 1960 reported that bath and lavatory facilities were of a basic standard with 

          many reports of dry toilets, no toilet paper and no facility for hand washing. 



                We were on straw mattresses on the floor, the rats would go for you if you had any 

                food.... They were as hungry as we were. I got bitten on the ear, another fellow got 

                bitten on the mouth. ... There were dry toilets, the boys cleaned them out. I never did 

                myself, I avoided it. ... The clothes were very, very rarely washed. You’d have to go for 

                a swim to wash. 



                                                              • 



                The toilet situation was abominable, there were old toilets with no doors and you could 

                not sit down on them, nobody cleaned them. You would prefer to go out to the field if 

                you got a chance. 



7.180     Daily personal hygiene practices were not often recounted by male witnesses, but accounts 

          were heard of queuing up for face and hand washing and teeth-brushing at communal sinks. 

          The sharing of wet towels or sheets to dry off after a shower or bath was commented on by 

          many witnesses. Most Schools had regular baths or communal showers, with the exception of a 

          small number of Schools that were described as having communal baths like swimming pools. 

          The routine for bathing varied from School to School over the decades, witness reports ranged 

          from weekly to seldom. 



                There was a big trough, you got into that with a togs on you to wash, that was the bath. 

                You took off the togs then and gave it to the next guy, the water was never changed for 

                the whole lot of the lads. 



7.181     Witnesses from Schools with shower facilities reported that the water was most often scalding 

          hot or freezing cold. Strict and severe discipline was imposed if residents attempted to avoid the 

          discomfort of extreme water temperatures. ‘In the shower if the water was too hot or too cold 

          and you pulled out you were hit with the leather by Br ...X.... He lined you up and leathered you 

          naked.’ 



7.182     Provision for toileting at night was reported as basic in a number of Schools for witnesses 

          discharged before the 1960s. Evidence was heard of chamber pots or buckets being shared 

          between many residents and that emptying chamber pots was regarded as a punishment. 

          Washing facilities were inadequate, especially in the period before 1970 and residents who wet 

          and soiled themselves were easily identified by their odour. Witnesses reported that mattresses 

          were not replaced and sheets and nightshirts were dried without being washed and witnesses 

          consistently described the overwhelming odour of urine in the dormitories. 



7.183     Those witnesses discharged between the 1970s and 1990 reported improved hygiene practices, 

          with toilet blocks built in many Schools and communal showers converted into shower cubicles. 

          However, the inadequate provision of clean, dry sheets and bedding for witnesses who wet and 

          soiled their beds, and of appropriate washing facilities, was reported to the Committee by 

          witnesses in relation to all decades. 



7.184     Despite the inadequate provision of hygiene facilities, witnesses reported that they were 

          expected to be clean and tidy at all times. The daily or weekly personal inspections were feared 

          events, leading to a beating if the required standard was not met. 



          Education 



7.185     The neglect of education was reported by many witnesses who referred to the lack of adequate 

          teaching and support for learning. Witnesses consistently reported that the fear of abuse, having 

          to work for the institution and lack of attention to their learning difficulties contributed to the 

          overall neglect of their education. 



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7.186      Sixty nine (69) witnesses reported being illiterate when they were discharged from the Schools 

           and many others acknowledged that poor literacy and numeracy skills had been a serious 

           impediment in their subsequent lives. Two hundred and sixty three (263) witnesses (64%) 

           reported that they were discharged from the School system without sitting for their Primary 

           Certificate. 



7.187      The Committee heard evidence from witnesses that their education was neglected as a result of 

           having to undertake work that they believed contributed to the functioning and productivity of the 

           particular School. Fifty three (53) witnesses were taken out of class to work on farms and in 

           trade workshops without any further education when they were 13 years old. Another 31 

           witnesses were removed from the classroom to work full-time between the ages of eight and 12 

           years old, two of these witnesses were placed working full-time before they were 10 years old. 

           Witnesses reported working both within the School and at times being sent out to work for local 

           farmers and others who they understood had some association with the priests and Brothers in 

           charge of the Schools. 



7.188      Witnesses also reported being deprived of education due to a lack of protection in the 

           classroom; 79 witnesses described their time in the classroom being dominated by fear and the 

           anticipation of being either physically or sexually abused, resulting in them being unable to 

           learn. 



7.189      Witnesses with learning difficulties and speech impediments reported being the target of 

           sustained abuse and criticism in the classroom. ‘In school I was picked out and made stand out 

           in front of class with a dunces cap on my head. “You’re a dunce” was wrote on my cap.’ The 

           Committee heard 17 reports of witnesses being ridiculed and constantly punished as a result of 

           their difficulties. 



                  He’d say, “You’re an imbecile, an idiot, that’s what you are.... What are you? What are 

                 you?” I’d have to say “I’m an imbecile, Brother” or he wouldn’t stop. ... I didn’t even 

                  know what an imbecile was. 



           Bedding 



7.190      Witnesses discharged before 1970 made 156 reports of poor bedding in relation to 16 Schools. 

           The main neglect reports about bedding concerned the poor quality and lack of adequate 

           blankets and clean bedding provided to the residents. In particular, witnesses who wet their 

           beds frequently reported that their mattresses and bedclothes were neglected and constantly 

           smelled of urine. 



7.191      Witnesses from one School, where all aspects of care were reported as neglected, described 

           the beds as ‘filthy’. Mattresses were described as rotten from urine, sheets were rarely changed, 

           blankets were thin and lice infested and bedding was changed infrequently, in advance of 

           inspections. Witnesses discharged from three other Schools before 1960 reported that the 

           mattresses were lice and flea infested and that checking blankets for fleas was a regular task. 

           Witnesses from these Schools had to make their own mattresses, filled with straw, cocoa fibre 

           or dried husks. 



7.192      Witnesses from three Schools who wet their beds reported having to sleep directly on rubber 

           sheets. Witnesses from two Schools reported that co-residents who soiled their beds were 

           forced to sleep on straw mattresses that were placed directly on the floor. Others described 

           mattresses that were made of hessian sacks filled with straw. Canvas ‘stretcher beds’ were 

           reported from another School in the 1950s and 1960s, and iron beds with metal springs in most 

           Schools for all periods. Improvements were reported in the 1970s and 1980s. 



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          Healthcare 



7.193     Sixty six (66) witnesses gave accounts of inadequate medical attention including being ignored, 

          punished or ridiculed when they complained of being unwell or injured. Accidental injuries and 

          childhood illnesses were reported by many witnesses to have been left untreated. Witnesses in 

          a number of Schools reported never seeing a doctor or that the doctor was only ever called to 

          see someone who was ‘really ill’. One witness who reported his finger and thumb were broken 

          when he fell off a cart in a farm accident, had to continue working and received no subsequent 

          treatment, ‘it mended by itself’. The Committee heard reports from three Schools of weekly 

          and/or monthly visits by the local doctor. In one School a local doctor’s regular visits were 

          described to be like ‘troop inspections’, where he walked past rows of residents and asked if 

          everyone was ‘alright’. 



7.194     The area of neglect in healthcare most frequently reported by witnesses was the absence of 

          investigation into the cause of non-accidental injury to residents. Witnesses reported being 

          attended by visiting doctors and nurses attached to the Schools’ infirmary, as well as attending 

          doctors’ surgeries and local hospitals with injuries received as a result of abuse. In the majority 

          of instances witnesses stated that the doctors and nurses who treated these injuries failed to 

          make inquiries as to the cause of the injuries and most witnesses reported being returned to 

          abusive environments without investigation or an assessment of risk. The Committee heard 

          reports of various ‘treatments’ including ‘splints’ and bandages being applied, as well as 

          ointment, iodine and caustic soda being administered to the residents by the infirmary nurse 

          following physical abuse or injury. 



7.195     Most Schools were reported to have had an infirmary, some of which had a nurse in attendance. 

          The infirmaries in four Schools about which there were many reports of abuse to the Committee 

          were described by witnesses as places to be avoided due to the fear of abuse by members of 

          religious and nursing staff in charge. Nurses were generally remembered as non-committal 

          about non-accidental and other injuries. Repeated wounds from beatings were reported to have 

          elicited no query from most nurses as to their cause, while some were sympathetic but unable 

          to intervene on the residents’ behalf: ‘what could she do, they employed her’. One witness 

          stated that in recent years he met a School nurse who had treated his injuries following a 

          particularly severe beating. She remembered the incident and told him she ‘could do nothing 

          about it’, as she had been sworn to secrecy. In one School witnesses were attended by a nurse 

          who ‘did not want to know what happened when boys turned up badly beaten’. 



7.196     A number of witnesses reported that their parents brought them to hospital while they were at 

          home on leave, two of whom had their broken arms examined and treated. Their injuries were 

          sustained as a result of physical assault in the School by religious staff. Both witnesses said 

          they had not received any treatment at the time of the initial injury in the School. Another 

          witness was hospitalised while on weekend leave for treatment of abscesses that had been 

          neglected in the School. 



7.197     Three (3) witnesses reported the death of boys who they described were ignored or neglected 

          when they complained of being sick. One witness reported his belief that a co-resident died as a 

          result of eating poisonous berries. Two (2) witnesses reported being hospitalised following 

          suicide attempts in the context of abuse episodes. They were transferred back to the institution 

          without psychological assessment or treatment. 



          Supervision 



7.198     Witness accounts of inadequate supervision and lack of appropriate care and protection were 

          heard in relation to all decades. Witnesses described supervision ranging from ‘patrolling’ yards 

          with sticks and the regimented use of a whistle, to young children being left in the care of older 

          residents without any supervising adult staff. ‘If the babies were crying some boys would be 



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           designated to get up and have a look, I remember turning them around or moving them. What 

           were they doing letting an 8 year old boy do that?’ Large numbers of residents were routinely 

           under the supervision of a single staff member or other co-residents in areas including 

           classrooms, trade shops, farms, bogs, dormitories, refectories and yards. ‘I recall only 2 

           Brothers being in charge of 200 boys; the bullies were given a free rein.’ 



7.199      One hundred and thirty eight (138) witnesses reported that the lack of supervision of religious 

           and lay staff by managers facilitated opportunities for physical, sexual and emotional abuse. 



                  I was in there for 4 years, Fr ...X (Resident Manager)... was in charge. I only saw him 5 

                  or 6 times in the 4 years.... Lack of supervision by priests who were in charge meant 

                  that prefects had a free hand and when I reported ...(the abuse)... to Fr ...X... he 

                  wouldn’t hear of it. 



7.200      Similarly, witnesses reported that the lack of supervision of older residents provided 

           opportunities for bullying and abuse among co-residents. Forty (40) witnesses from 10 Schools 

           stated that the absence of supervision led to bullying of younger or more vulnerable residents by 

           co-residents. ‘Bullying thrived in the absence of supervision ... and was condoned by religious 

           staff.’ 



7.201      Night watchmen were reported to have been employed by nine of the Schools referred to by 

           witnesses. There were 43 separate reports of physical and sexual abuse by these men, who 

           had responsibility for residents in the dormitories during the night. Three (3) night watchmen 

           were consistently described as drunk while on duty, patrolling with a stick that they used freely 

           both to waken witnesses to use the toilet during the night and to punish them if they had wet 

           their beds. 



7.202      Staffing levels were commonly reported by witnesses to have been inadequate over substantial 

           periods of time. The Committee heard a small number of accounts where former residents 

           remained on as staff. It was believed they had no contact with their own family, were not 

           trained, and were engaged as live-in staff. These staff were involved in supervising residents 

           and were frequently described as emphasising order and discipline in a harsh and abusive 

           manner. 



7.203      The Committee also heard reports from witnesses that changes of staff and Resident Managers 

           could have a noticeable impact on the atmosphere in the School, increasing or decreasing the 

           risk of further abuse for residents: ‘The peaceful life of the School was shattered when this 

           Brother came. He was brutal and went berserk. He enjoyed beating us and took every chance 

           to do it’. 



7.204      The lack of adequate supervision and follow-up was reported by witnesses who were placed by 

           the Schools with ‘foster’ and ‘holiday’ families or on work placements while still under the age of 

           16 years. A witness who had been placed with a farming couple without follow-up or supervision 

           when he was 10 years old had to work hard from the day he arrived and being told by the 

           ‘foster’ father: 



                  We gave the nuns £10 and a box of chocolates for you, if we had bought a pair of suck 

                  calves they would be worth more to us now. 



           He was never paid, but had been ‘fed well and not been beaten’. This witness also reported 

           being sexually abused by local men who he believed were aware he had come from an 

           Industrial School. 



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          Preparation for discharge 



7.205     One hundred and ninety seven (197) witnesses (48%) reported that there was no planning or 

          arrangements made for their discharge or aftercare. Witnesses consistently stated that they 

          were not adequately prepared for independent living, felt they belonged nowhere and to nobody, 

          and that the transition to the outside world was traumatic. These reports referred to discharges 

          in all decades. The areas of neglect most frequently reported in relation to preparation for 

          discharge by male witnesses were the following: 



                 •    Lack of acknowledgement regarding separation and loss 

                 •    Lack of preparation and training in basic life skills 

                 •    Lack of assessment, supervision and follow-up of placements 

                 •    Lack of opportunity to develop social and relationship skills. 



7.206     The most common report regarding discharge was of residents being given a day’s notice that 

          they were leaving the School and given the fare either home or to other destinations. For many 

          witnesses who had been reared in institutional care since birth and who had no known family, 

          no knowledge of or links with the outside world, this lack of preparation and opportunity to say 

          goodbye to siblings, co-residents and staff was often catastrophic. In these circumstances a 

          number of witnesses stated that they were subsequently imprisoned, homeless or in emotional 

          turmoil in the immediate years after their discharge from Schools. 



                There was no aftercare; I got long pants for the first time and let go ... I was lost, I 

                wanted to go back. 



                                                             • 



                When I left on my sixteenth birthday, I got nothing, no job, no advice, nobody said 

                goodbye. I walked down ... to get the bus and it was the loneliest day of my life. 



                                                             • 



                There were some of them ...(co-residents)... who didn’t even get the correct fare for 

                where they were going to, it was just “welcome to the world”. They got nothing. 



7.207     The institutional regime, the abrupt nature of their discharge and the lack of any training in basic 

          life skills such as handling money, budgeting, using public transport or of participating in any 

          social network left witnesses and residents unprepared for integration with the outside world. 

          Many witnesses reported not being given any advice or assistance to help them cope with 

          everyday living away from the institutional life to which they had been accustomed. 



7.208     Sixty eight (68) witnesses described discharge arrangements ranging from being given a name 

          and address on a piece of paper and the train or bus fare, to being sent directly as live-in 

          workers to farmers and shop owners whom they had never met before. Witnesses reported that 

          in their opinion the lack of assessment of these placements and follow-up supervision of the 

          care provided led to a number of those witnesses being abused physically and sexually when 

          placed by the School. Thirteen (13) witnesses were sexually and/or physically abused by their 

          employers and others in work placements following discharge. 



7.209     One hundred and twenty five (125) witnesses (30%) reported that they were discharged home 

          to their families. Many arrived at their family home to find that their parents had not been notified 

          of their return, or that they no longer lived there. 



                The day before my sixteenth birthday I was dropped in the city centre with 10 shillings 

                by Br ...X... I did not know where the family was – they had been re-housed. 



7.210     A number reported being unable to settle at home, that they felt misunderstood and out of 

          place. They could not talk about what had happened to them while they were in the Schools and 



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           many witnesses reported having no idea how to relate to others, including their own families, 

           without being either frightened or aggressive. 



7.211      A number of witnesses reported having no experience of trusting relationships prior to their 

           discharge. They said that the culture and fear of abuse to which they had become accustomed 

           was such that following their discharge they were unable to form any attachments and had little 

           idea about how to cope with relationships. 



7.212      Twenty one (21) witnesses discharged during the 1970s and 1980s reported that preparation for 

           their transition to independent living was inadequate and that they received no aftercare or 

           support from the Schools or other health or welfare services when they were discharged. Others 

           reported improved planning and aftercare arrangements during this period. 



           Emotional abuse 



                  Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                  expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                  development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.17 



7.213      This section describes witness evidence of emotional abuse by deprivation of family contact, 

           personal identity, secure relationships, affection, approval and a lack of safety and protection. 

           These deprivations impaired the social, emotional and physical functioning and development of 

           witnesses and were identified by them as generally disturbing both at the time and in the 

           subsequent course of their lives. 



7.214      Emotional abuse described by witnesses frequently referred to practices that were part of the 

           Schools’ routine and that failed to recognise the individual needs of children and provide 

           adequate care. Practices such as the separation of siblings, regimented routines and enforced 

           isolation were reported as part of the culture of the institutions. A further component of 

           emotional abuse described by witnesses referred to the constant physical and sexual abuse that 

           engendered an atmosphere of fear. Emotional abuse was described as pervasive and systemic 

           and was generally not ascribed to individual staff members. For this reason the following section 

           does not include a list of reported abusers as has been outlined in previous sections. 



           Nature and extent of emotional abuse reported 



7.215      The Committee heard 327 reports of emotional abuse from 293 witnesses (71%) in relation to 

           23 Schools.18  Thirty four (34) witnesses reported emotional abuse in more than one School. The 



           frequency of reports of emotional abuse varied between Schools. 

                   •    Three (3) Schools were collectively the subject of 155 reports.19 



                   •    Five (5) Schools were collectively the subject of 101 reports. 

                   •    Fifteen (15) Schools were the subject of 1-11 reports, totalling 71 reports. 



7.216      Three (3) Schools were the subject of 47% of all emotional abuse reports and, by contrast, 15 

           other Schools were together the subject of 22% of reports. 



7.217      Emotional abuse was reported to occur in combination with other types of abuse as shown in 

           the following table: 



           17 Section 1(1)(d), as amended by the section 3 of the 2005 Act. 

           18 A number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School, and made reports of abuse in more than one School, 



              therefore the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 

           19 In order to maintain confidentiality further details regarding the numbers of abuse reports in these Schools cannot be 



              specified. 



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               Table 27: Emotional Abuse Combined with Other Abuse Types –Male Industrial and 

                                                        Reformatory Schools 



            Abuse types                                                 Number of reports                      % 



            Emotional, neglect, physical and sexual                              166                           51 



            Emotional, neglect and physical                                      120                           37 



            Emotional, physical and sexual                                       20                            6 



            Emotional and physical                                                15                           5 



            Emotional and neglect                                                 3                             1 



            Emotional, neglect and sexual                                         2                             1 



            Emotional                                                             1                            (0) 



            Total                                                                327                         (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



7.218      As previously shown, 166 abuse reports were of all four types combined. In all but six instances 

           (98%), witnesses reported emotional abuse in conjunction with physical abuse and in 291 

           instances (89%) witnesses reported both emotional abuse and neglect. There was some 

           inevitable overlap between the reports of emotional abuse and the other three abuse types 

           given in evidence. 



7.219      The following table shows the distribution of witness accounts of emotional abuse across the 

           decades covered by this Report: 20 



           Table 28: Number of Emotional Abuse Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – Male 

                                              Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                   Decade of discharge               Number of emotional abuse                             % 

                                                                 reports 



                         Pre-1960s                                 134                                    41 



                          1960-69                                  137                                    42 



                          1970-79                                   45                                    14 



                          1980-89                                   11                                     3 



                            Total                                  327                                    100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



7.220      As noted with other abuse reports almost 45% of the reports relating to those discharged in the 

           1960s refer to witnesses who spent the majority of their time in the Schools during the 1950s. 



           Description of emotional abuse 



7.221      Witnesses reported a daily existence in the Schools that was dominated by fear, humiliation, 

           loneliness, and the absence of affection. Fear was strongly associated with the daily threat of 

           being physically and otherwise abused and seeing co-residents being abused. Constant 

           apprehension about the next abuse to which they would be subjected was also a feature. 



           20 For example: as witness evidence is presented according to the decade of discharge, a witness who spent 12 years 



              in a school and was discharged in 1962 will have been included in the 1960s cohort although the majority of that 

              witness’s experience will relate to the 1950s. 



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           Witnesses reported being humiliated and denigrated in many ways, both deliberately in the 

           presence of others and, less directly, in the way they were spoken to and treated. The rejection, 

           hostility and criticism of staff was consistently described by witnesses as a cause of great 

           distress. The isolation of witnesses from their parents and other family members was traumatic. 

           The most frequently reported areas of emotional abuse are summarised and include: deprivation 

           of affection, personal ridicule, deprivation of family contact, the denial of identity, being given 

           false and/or inaccurate information regarding their background, and witnessing others being 

           abused, the associated guilt and constant apprehension. 



                  Even when I was in the dormitory you used to hear the frock, the thing they 

                  ...(Brothers)... used wear. I’d hear them walking down and you’d be hoping they would 

                  not stop at you. I remember in the bed praying to God they would take somebody else 

                  instead of you, and then would say “thanks God for saving me”. You’d feel guilty about 

                  that.... The screams of the fellas being abused, everyone could hear it.... I was actually 

                  terrified. 



           Deprivation of affection 



7.222      One hundred and ninety four (194) witnesses described the lack of physical and verbal affection 

           shown to them throughout their time in the School system. They reported receiving minimal 

           emotional support, encouragement or comfort in the course of their childhood in institutional 

           care. ‘There was a belief that you were on your own as a child or young person with no one to 

           talk to about worries, fears, abuse or family.’ The rigid and harsh structure of institutional life 

           excluded the development of affectionate attachment or any close relationships. Demonstrations 

           of physical affection were described as specifically discouraged by staff. 



                  I remember the loneliness. You’d be in bed at night and you would be wondering, why 

                  didn’t mam come or why didn’t dad come? There was no one to hug you. I was not 

                  physically harmed there. It was emotional, nobody would come to you, it was just an 

                  emptiness, nothing to latch onto. I don’t understand how they didn’t see it. You’re lonely, 

                  unloved, unwanted. 



7.223      As the circumstances of admission for many witnesses involved separation from their parents 

           and siblings, witnesses described the subsequent deprivation of affection as a particularly 

           serious and traumatic loss. News about their parents and family members was cherished 

           information that a number of witnesses reported was routinely withheld for various reasons. One 

           witness said that following his mother’s death a Brother whom he had beaten in a game on the 

           playing pitch said: ‘Well here’s one game you’re not going to win, your mother died 3 weeks 

           ago’. 



7.224      Thirty (30) witnesses specifically reported on the unavailability of any person to confide in, which 

           led to the belief that there was nobody who cared for or about them: ‘the worst thing was having 

           no one to talk to, no one said a nice word to you. It was clear no one cared if you lived or died’. 

           ‘Orphans’ and other witnesses who had been in care since early childhood, were particularly 

           affected by the deprivation of any affectionate attachment or emotional bond. 



                  He, Br ...X... told to get my clothes on me ...(following public beating)... told to get out 

                  and head back down to the yard. You tried to get yourself together, tried to sit down. I 

                  was marked, I was cut.... There was this bench along by the wall.... I don’t think I ever 

                  heard anybody ever asked ...(ask)... “were you alright?” The other kids come around 

                  you, laughing at you, jeering, they were just saying “glad it wasn’t me”. You looked after 

                  yourself. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                     103 


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          Personal ridicule and public humiliation 



7.225     One hundred and sixty nine (169) witnesses reported that they were personally ridiculed and 

          denigrated on a regular basis during their time in the Schools. Being verbally abused by staff 

          was reported as a feature of everyday life in the dormitories, classrooms, refectories and other 

          areas. Verbal abuse was frequently described as associated with physical abuse and part of the 

          daily pattern of communication: ‘we were made to feel constantly ashamed’. Ridicule in class 

          was described as a routine experience by 21 witnesses who had learning or associated 

          difficulties. Nine (9) witnesses described being ridiculed in class because they had a stammer 

          and of being repeatedly told there was no point in educating them. 



                I had a very bad stammer when I was there, didn’t have it before. Had to go to ...named 

                hospital... to get it remedied. ... I suffered quite a lot because of that, in the classroom 

                and so on. I was not able to get an answer out in the class. If I put my hand up, you’d 

                get a beating for that. Most of my life there operated on fear, of beatings and adults. It 

                got to a stage with the stammer that I just didn’t answer questions, that was quite 

                frightening. Some of the Brothers were quite sadistic. 



7.226     As previously reported, witnesses were routinely humiliated by the methods used to punish 

          residents for bed-wetting. Fifty two (52) witnesses described the humiliation associated with 

          having to wear wet sheets on their head and in other ways endure public embarrassment. 

          Twenty three (23) witnesses said that they were constantly ridiculed when called offensive 

          names by staff, such as ‘slasher’ and ‘smelly’. 



7.227     Other witnesses reported being forced to carry out certain tasks intended to punish and 

          humiliate both themselves and other residents. Examples of such tasks were being made to 

          watch steps for three hours ‘so as to be sure they were still there’, kneel in their underpants in 

          the yard for hours, being forced to run into a wall and injure themselves in front of co-residents 

          and to repeatedly shift a load of potatoes from one side of a shed to the other over an entire 

          day. Another witness described a co-resident’s punishment for giving him extra bread: 



                He ...(co-resident)... had to carry the food down to the turkeys and then he had to kneel 

                in with the turkeys and have his bread and water in there. That was his punishment for 

                3 weeks. 



                                                             • 



                If you did a job like bring in the coal, there might be some extra food. You’d stand with 

                your plate at the end of the table ...(in the refectory)... and waiting to be called. There 

                would only be a few pieces of food and you wanted to make sure you got a bit. He’d 

                ...(lay ancillary worker)... call you up and then when you were half way up he’d say 

                “false alarm” and you’d have to go back with nothing. They do that to small children. ... 

                These are the things that stay in you, it happened so many times. 



7.228     Four (4) witnesses reported that as native Irish speakers they were ridiculed about their poor 

          spoken English. Others with speech impediments reported being made to read aloud in front of 

          others and were both ridiculed and punished for their lack of fluency. Witnesses who had a 

          disability described being subjected to additional ridicule; for example a witness who had a 

          physical deformity described being made the target of ridicule by staff during communal bath 

          time. Witnesses remarked that while children in day schools may have suffered similar ridicule, 

          those in the Schools lived with it all the time. 



          Exposure to fearful situations 



7.229     One hundred and twenty (120) witnesses reported being constantly afraid. They described a 

          range of circumstances in which they were in fear for their own and others’ safety. In a number 

          of different Schools witnesses described their experience as a ‘living hell’, ‘pure terror’, and 



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          ‘mental torture’ referring to being beaten, the anticipation of being beaten and the sight of others 

          being beaten. Eleven (11) witnesses reported the fear and threat of harm being so extreme that 

          they feared for both their own lives and for the safety of their co-residents. Five (5) witnesses 

          reported co-residents were never seen again following particularly severe beatings. All five 

          believed that these residents, three of whom were from the same School, may have died. 



                There were some Brothers there who were A1. ... Then there was ...crying... ...Br ...X..., 

                nasty bastard. The man doesn’t deserve to be called Brother. I was only 5 feet away the 

                day it happened ...crying.... He had a habit, every day ... he’d walk up and down the 

                refectory, that was his ritual. If he walked in everyone was on edge.... I’m not sure why 

                but this evening he Br ...X... walked straight down the passage way and he dragged 

                ...named co-resident... out of his chair ...crying... and he gave him an unmerciful 

                beating, an unmerciful beating. I’m telling ye he did not stop with that leather strap. Now 

                all the Brothers used to carry the leather strap, but I’m telling ye, you wouldn’t beat an 

                animal the way he beat ...named co-resident.... To this day it haunts me, the whole 

                place was full and he was left lying. Br ...X... cleared the place out, you all had to get 

                out of the refectory, I was even told to get out of the kitchen. That was the last time, the 

                very last time, I seen ...named co-resident.... I think it was 3 days afterwards I heard he 

                was dead.... It has haunted me. After that Br...X... quietened down for awhile. I think he 

                knew anyway.... 



                                                               • 



                You were in constant fear, you were terrified all the time. There would be a sudden 

                explosion of punishment as the poor souls were thrashed or whacked. In class I would 

                be so fearful I would be shaking as the Brother passed, who might hit you for no 

                reason. ... In the first 4 years ... I was filled with fear and terror, for yourself and for the 

                next one to you. I would shut myself down and make myself invisible, I must not be 

                seen or heard. You could be punished for anything at anytime and for nothing at 

                anytime.... I resented someone exploding and beating someone senseless just because 

                they were in a bad mood. 



                                                               • 



                Fear is what we were ruled by and every day you lived in fear, as those so called 

                Brothers, lay staff and older boys, either appointed or self-appointed head boys, could 

                do what they liked to you for even the slightest wrong and you had no one to turn to. 

                You just had to try and keep your head down and get on with it. 



                                                               • 



                Everything operated on fear, you suffered, and you suffered big time, some physical, 

                some mental. You could be put facing the wall for 2 hours, you would have your nose 

                touching the wall, and if you moved at all, you’d suffer, it was mental suffering as well. 

                You also had to put your fingers touching the wall, whoever ...(Br X)... was on 

                rec...(supervisory duty in recreation area)... would watch you and if you moved you’d 

                have to go to his office later and be leathered ... it was an inhuman way of treating 

                people. 



7.230     A cause of considerable fear that was recounted by 59 witnesses from nine Schools was the 

          prospect of being stripped to be beaten or having to watch co-residents being beaten without 

          their clothes. Such beatings were frequently in front of co-residents and staff and in public areas 

          such as the dormitories, refectories and recreation yards. 



                One boy tried to abscond, it was Br ...X’s... class. There was an incident and he ...(Br 

                X)... got the whole class to come to the classroom, there were 2 other Brothers there 

                too. This Br ...X... took his tunic off, and he had a striped shirt with, not a collar but a 

                half collar on it and he had braces on. I will never forget, I can see it to this day. They 

                took this boy’s pants off and put him over a form, a type of stool, you know a long stool, 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            105 


----------------------- Page 1452-----------------------

                  and he beat the living daylights out of him. He got the biggest hiding of his life with a 

                  leather strap with coins in it, you could see the track of them on his skin. Br ...X... threw 

                  water on him. A lot of the boys watching got sick, listening to the screaming like that, no 

                 pants on, you know, it was like watching Mutiny on the Bounty. That boy was not able to 

                  walk for a month. 



7.231      Witnesses described the staff and others who abused them as creating an atmosphere of fear 

           to augment control that they reported was reinforced in many Schools by the use of military-like 

           regimentation. Examples of regimentation included: marching in formation, using whistles in 

           place of verbal commands, public punishments, placing boys on a ‘charge’ for misbehaving and 

           patrolling the yards and dormitories with sticks. 



                  Br ...X... he was brutality personified. The moment he came out into a yard of 150 boys 

                 playing, cheering, laughing there was silence. When you just saw him in his long 

                  soutane, silence, he marched in, blew the whistle and you would automatically line up in 

                 your lines of 12. If he ...(Br X)... blew the whistle, within 10 seconds you would not hear 

                  a sound, 150 boys were in line within ten seconds or otherwise you knew you were in 

                  for punishment. ... When he was in charge the life of every boy went into a depression, 

                  he was that cruel. Every day at 4 o’ clock on the dot we were lined up in the yard and 

                  the punishment names were called out, those boys would have to line up in front of the 

                  others, roll up their sleeves and get their beating for bed-wetting. 



7.232      Witnesses reported being particularly fearful at night as they listened to residents screaming in 

           cloakrooms, dormitories or in a staff member’s bedroom while they were being abused. 

           Witnesses were conscious that co-residents whom they described as orphans had a particularly 

           difficult time: 



                  The orphan children, they had it bad. I knew ...(who they were)... by the size of them, I’d 

                  ask them and they’d say they come from ...named institution.... They were there from an 

                  early age. You’d hear the screams from the room where Br ...X... would be abusing 

                  them. 



                                                                    • 



                  There was one night, I wasn’t long there and I seen one of the Brothers on the bed with 

                  one of the young boys ... and I heard the young lad screaming crying and Br ...X... said 

                  to me “if you don’t mind your own business you’ll get the same”. ... I heard kids 

                  screaming and you know they are getting abused and that’s a nightmare in anybody’s 

                  mind. You are going to try and break out. ... So there was no way I was going to let that 

                  happen to me.... I remember one boy and he was bleeding from the back passage and I 

                  made up my mind, there was no way it ...(anal rape)... was going to happen to me. ... 

                  That used to play on my mind. 



7.233      In addition to the constant fear of being beaten or watching others being beaten, 15 witnesses 

           reported that following a severe beating they were left with the threat that the beating would 

           continue at a later time. Anticipating further abuse and the dread associated with the uncertainty 

           was described by witnesses as particularly distressing. 



                  You are standing up against the wall for hours and then you are told to come back the 

                  next night and the following night and you knew damn well you were going to get the 

                  hiding of your life. 



7.234      Five (5) witnesses from two Schools described the terror they experienced when threatened with 

           guns by staff. As previously reported, seven witnesses from three Schools reported being set 

           upon and injured by dogs handled by religious and lay staff, some of whom also handled or 

           threatened them with guns. One witness described a gun being discharged by a religious staff 



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----------------------- Page 1453-----------------------

           member who was pursuing him across a field. Another witness who had been previously 

           assaulted was further terrified when his abuser carried a gun; 



                  Once, I had been there about 3 months, it was the autumn, and Br ...X... who assaulted 

                  me when I first arrived. He called me and he had a shot gun, he gave me an axe. He 

                  took me off to the woods and he made me take my trousers down, he took out his penis 

                  and he tried to rape me but I ran away and found my way back to the School. Later I 

                  met him and he gave me a half crown. 



7.235      The allocation of age-inappropriate tasks on farms, operating machinery and tending livestock 

           were reported at times as exposing the witnesses to frightening situations, as this work was 

           often performed by them on their own, unsupervised or under the direction of particularly harsh 

           staff. 



           Denigration of family of origin 



7.236      Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported being subjected to ridicule about their parents and 

           families, most often in public in the course of being abused. The sons of lone mothers, ‘orphans’ 

           or ‘conventers’ were reported as particular targets for such abuse, being told that their mothers 

           were ‘sinners’, ‘slags’ and ‘old whores’ who did not want them or could not care for them. Others 

           reported hearing their families described as ‘scum’, ‘tramps’ and ‘from the gutter’. Witnesses 

           admitted to institutions in the context of family difficulties reported being subjected to the 

           constant denigration of their parents. Witnesses recalled being constantly told their parents were 

           ‘alcoholics’, ‘prostitutes’, ‘mad’ and ‘no good’. Seven (7) witnesses reported being verbally 

           abused and ridiculed about their Traveller and mixed race backgrounds. ‘Br ...X... called me a 

           knacker and said my parents didn’t want me, I felt worthless and degraded.’ 



                  It was a very tough place for me, one nun locked me in a closet, beat the hell out of me 

                  with a leather strap. She didn’t like blacks, she called me Baluba, every time the Irish 

                  soldiers were attacked in the Congo she attacked me. 



           Deprivation of contact with siblings and family 



7.237      Sixty seven (67) witnesses reported being deprived of contact with their parents, brothers and 

           sisters while they were in the Schools. They also reported being actively denied information 

           about their parents and siblings. Some witnesses commented that they were too young when 

           they were first admitted to know who their brothers or sisters were and were never told. The 

           deprivation and loss of contact with parents and siblings was reported to be a matter of deep 

           distress, grief and anger that led to the fragmentation and loss of family networks by the time 

           many witnesses were discharged from the Schools: 



                  We were all split up and we still are, 5 of us were in 4 different Schools. One brother, I 

                  did not know of his existence until I was 13 ...(years old).... 



                                                                    • 



                  I found out after 50 plus years that I had a brother, my brother was looking for me for 20 

                 years and he couldn’t find me. He was fostered out, he had a better life. He knew he 

                  had a brother. I was never sure but he was younger than me. It made an awful 

                  difference to me to meet him, it is brilliant like, it’s a great thing. Why, why did they 

                  break us all up? Why didn’t they leave the 2 of us together? They didn’t have to break 

                  us up. They should have told us about each other. 



7.238      Forty four (44) witnesses described how contact with their siblings was actively discouraged or 

           denied. They reported being separated from their sisters and brothers while in the Schools and 

           being denied contact with them. Witnesses also reported being punished if found attempting to 

           communicate with their siblings who were in other sections of the same School. Some 

           witnesses reported that their brothers were transferred or discharged from the School without 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                    107 


----------------------- Page 1454-----------------------

          them being told or having an opportunity to say goodbye and as one witness remarked: ‘in time 

          I forgot I had brothers’. Twelve (12) witnesses reported learning as adults that they had spent 

          several years in the same place with a brother without ever knowing he existed, and others 

          spoke of their loss of contact with sisters who were in nearby Schools. A witness, whose sisters 

          were in the local girls Industrial School reported: 



                I was absolutely devastated, when I discovered my sisters were down the road in 

                ...named School.... I know them now, but I don’t know them, we never were meshed, we 

                have occasional contact. I never met them while I was in ...named School.... At 13 years 

                I met my sisters, someone said “they are your sisters”. I didn’t know what a sister was. 



                                                              • 



                I remember talking to a boy in ...named School... who asked me my name and said he 

                thought we were brothers, he then left. I now know it was my brother, and I have 

                discovered not long ago that I have 3 other brothers and sisters. 



                                                              • 



                I didn’t find out I had 3 sisters until I was 21 years of age. ... I didn’t know if my father 

                was alive or not, I didn’t know my mother. I ended up in a place I didn’t know, I was 4 

                years ...(there).... ... I met my grandmother and she said to me “it wasn’t for the want of 

                trying” ...(that contact was not maintained).... She told me none of my family were 

                allowed to have any information about where anyone of us were. I had 2 brothers, they 

                were there with me. I have no family recollection. ...(When discharged)... I left for 

                England and never wanted to come back. 



7.239     A small number of witnesses reported that personal and family information was deliberately 

          denied and withheld by failure to inform residents of their family details. Eighteen (18) witnesses 

          reported being told that their parent or parents were dead or that they had no family and learned 

          as adults that this was not the case. 



                They told me that my mother was dead and that it was no wonder as I was a bad boy, 

                that it was my fault. I grew up thinking I had killed her somehow. Recently I discovered 

                that she only died ...(a few years previously)... and that for most of our lives we lived 

                quite near each other. 



7.240     The Committee heard reports from four witnesses of their siblings being adopted while they 

          were in the Schools. Witnesses from a small number of Schools described being lined up and 

          viewed by visiting couples who they believed selected a child for adoption. A small number of 

          witnesses reported that their siblings ‘disappeared’ and they discovered later they had been 

          adopted. Witnesses consistently reported that they got no further information and there was no 

          further contact once their sibling left. One witness reported he was the only member of his 

          family who remained in the School: 



                One day he ...(witness’s brother)... was there, the next day he was gone. It was like a 

                slave market, you were all lined up, people walking up and down, they picked him out 

                and left me. ... The family were separated forever on the day we went into care. 



7.241     A small number of witnesses reported not being told when parents or close family members 

          died and of not being allowed to attend their funerals. They commented that they were often 

          given this information some time after the event. A witness who represented his School in 

          boxing competitions reported that the news of his mother’s death was withheld for three months 

          ‘so as not to take my mind off boxing’, hesitated: ‘they tried to break your spirit there’. 



7.242     Twenty three (23) witnesses reported being denied visits home for holidays and that letters were 

          withheld as punishment. 



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                The morning the boys were going home it was a nightmare ...(for those deprived of 

                home visits as punishment).... They would get up, have their cup of tea, then they would 

                be down in the hall with their little suitcases or whatever. We would be up in the 

                dormitory looking out the window at them going up... to the bus. I never heard so many 

                children screaming in all my life ...distressed.... I lost my privileges once, I was caught 

                smoking. My mother tried to intervene with the Minister for Education, but he said no 

               you have to do it according to the rules or whatever. I lost my holidays over it. 



7.243     Circumstances surrounding the denial of contact with parents, withholding family information and 

          the provision of false information about parents were reported by witnesses to be the cause of 

          profound and unresolved upset and anger. 



                What kills me to this day is why they did not give me my belongings when I left ...named 

                School.... My things, who my mum was and where I was born and where she was from. 

                I felt hurt, I had to wait 50 odd years to see an ad in ...English newspaper.... Why the 

                Brothers did not give me that ...information... who my mum was ...crying .... I talk to her 

                friend now and she ...(mother)... always tried to find me. She used to look at the kids 

                going up to school and she used be always talking about what age she thought I ought 

                to be. She always spoke about me when she seen the kids and she wondered whether I 

                was alive or whether I was dead. Why was I not given that information? Why was I not 

                told? I made inquiries, but I had nothing to go on. 



          Bullying 



7.244     There were 99 witness reports of bullying by co-residents from 16 Schools. The practice of 

          bullying in this section refers mainly to the intimidating and aggressive behaviour reported by 

          witnesses in relation to co-residents. Threats of physical violence, intimidation and bullying by 

          religious and lay staff while also referred to is described in more detail in the context of physical, 

          sexual and emotional abuse reports. Explicit and implicit threats of physical harm were the most 

          frequently described demonstrations of bullying by male staff. Witnesses reported being forced 

          to behave as they were instructed by the threat of punishment or physical abuse. 



7.245     Bullying by co-residents with the perceived permission and encouragement of the School staff 

          was reported to be a regular feature in eight Schools. The playgrounds and yards, in particular, 

          were described as frightening places by many witnesses who were exposed to bullying by older 

          residents. Witnesses reported a practice of staff punishing individual residents by sending them 

          out to the yard to be ‘charged’, kicked and otherwise assaulted by their peers or set up to fight 

          them in the boxing ring. ‘He ...(Br X)... would get 2 older lads to bully you, they would get 

          cigarettes from him.’ 



7.246     Physical and sexual abuse were core components of the bullying reported by witnesses. Older 

          residents were reported to congregate in unsupervised gangs in particular Schools where 

          bullying was most frequently reported. The gangs fought amongst themselves and were also 

          reported to target certain residents for bullying and sexual abuse. ‘Orphans’, new residents and 

          others who did not have visitors or older brothers to protect them were described as particularly 

          vulnerable to being bullied in these circumstances. Witnesses further reported that residents 

          who were sexually abused by religious staff were at times identified as ‘Brothers’ pets’ and 

          targeted by co-residents for bullying. 



                I wasn’t a hard man. I came from a convent, I was an orphan. It was terrible for us, we 

                got a terrible time, we got bullied by the kids as well. They would take your food off you, 

               you wouldn’t dare tell on them, they would batter you. 



                                                            • 



                It was a very, very cruel place, there was no sense in it or need for it, it was especially 

                bad for the orphans, we were treated differently. ... The Brothers promoted bullying 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                       109 


----------------------- Page 1456-----------------------

                especially of the orphans. I done a lot of crying when I was in ...named School... I 

                wouldn’t let anyone see me but I would curl up at night in bed and cry. 



7.247     Witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee were of the opinion that bullying by older 

          residents was used to maintain control in some Schools with the knowledge and support of 

          those in charge. In other Schools witnesses described poor supervision and staffing, with 

          consequent bullying by older residents who were assigned the task of maintaining order. 



                Bullying, you would see other boys crying, you’d know what had happened. But to go to 

                the Brother, the bullying would only get worse and nothing was going to get done about 

                it. I was fearful every place, the whole environment will haunt me for evermore. 



7.248     In five Schools older residents were described as monitors in positions of delegated authority. 

          Reports were heard from three Schools of monitors patrolling the recreation yards, sometimes 

          with sticks, and the apparent authority to beat co-residents at will, as described: 



                Supervision by Fr ...X... and his successor was non existent. ... Monitors and bullies had 

                a free rein with younger boys and were abusive. The ...(priests and Brothers)... knew 

                what was happening and turned a blind eye. 



          Witnessing the abuse of others 



7.249     Witnessing the abuse of co-residents was reported as disturbing at the time and as contributing 

          to life-long distress. Fifty eight (58) witnesses from nine Schools reported they saw co-residents 

          beaten and flogged; some of these witnesses were forced to hold down co-residents. Those 

          who witnessed public beatings described the experience as distressing and traumatic and many 

          were distressed as they gave their evidence of such beatings. They reported that seeing others 

          being beaten and hearing their screams was often worse than being beaten themselves. This 

          experience was particularly disturbing when they had to watch their own sibling being beaten. 

          Witnesses reported that screaming did not lessen the beating and believed that the screams 

          were intended to be heard as a warning to others. 



                You’d hear the echo. ... You could hear the cries. ... It would sort of echo through the 

                building. You’d hear the boys crying when they’d be getting a beating, and then they 

                would come back into their bed and they would be crying. You couldn’t go near their 

                bed to comfort them, you’d be wanting to, but you couldn’t because you would get it 

                yourself. 



                                                             • 



                You could not hear or talk of the pain ...(to other residents)... when they were beating 

                you. If you did you might feel it too and you couldn’t carry that extra burden, each one 

                had to carry his own pain alone. 



7.250     A number of witnesses described being made to watch as co-residents were beaten or flogged 

          to the point of severe injury or unconsciousness. 



                We were marched up to a room ... we were put sitting around the gymnastic table, we 

                called it ... the horse, we were put sitting around, from the youngest to the oldest boy. 

                We watched 4 Brothers walk in with 3 boys ...named co-residents.... I know one of 

                them, within a year of leaving he had hung himself ... they were stripped naked while 

                the Brothers held their hands and their legs and this Br ...X... removing his soutane and 

                his collar dramatically began to flog these guys within an inch of their life. Observing 

                excrement coming out of the boys’ behind and blood flowing down their legs, I literally 

                trembled and I know kids all around us trembled in silence, some were crying for the 

                poor boys. Their screams for mercy were seared into your very brain. 



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----------------------- Page 1457-----------------------

7.251      A large number of witnesses reported the continuing traumatic impact for them of being 

           gathered together to watch co-residents being beaten: 



                 A Brother beat this kid for a half hour. We were all crying. His brother was crying, he 

                 was in bits. Mr ...X (lay ancillary worker)... stood there and watched that and never lifted 

                 a finger. Them things stay on your mind ...(the memory of it).... You don’t have to think 

                 about it, it’s there, you’d be lying in bed and it would come to you. 



                                                                  • 



                 (Named co-resident)... was a lovely lad. He used to sing and we would sit around 

                 listening, he always knew all the words. He and another boy decided to run away, we 

                 were all punished, there were no films and we all went to bed early, we cursed them. 

                 They were gone for a week and eventually brought back. We were all lined up and they 

                 were battered, then 4 Brothers took them into a room, with hurling sticks and leathers, 

                 we could hear them screaming, when they came out they were unrecognisable, purple 

                 ears, totally closed up eyes, backside totally out of shape, I’ll never forget it. You heal, 

                 but it takes months and you’re never the same again after it. I never heard him singing 

                 after that. 



           Isolation 



7.252      Thirty two (32) witnesses reported being ostracised by their peers or were otherwise isolated 

           while resident in the Schools. This was a practice for punishing returned absconders in a 

           number of Schools. Witnesses also reported being physically isolated in the infirmaries following 

           a severe beating while their bruises and injuries healed. They reported being confined to bed for 

           days or weeks without contact with their peers or co-residents. A small number of witnesses 

           reported being locked in animal sheds and outhouses as punishment for perceived 

           misdemeanours. 



7.253      Isolation from the ‘outside world’ was frequently described by witnesses, especially those who 

           had lived at home and been part of a community, attending school, playing and having the 

           freedom to associate with others. Many commented on the fact that the Schools themselves 

           were so isolated that they rarely ever saw anyone apart from their co-residents and staff 

           members. A large number of witnesses emphasised the painful experience of loneliness as a 

           result of both the physical isolation and the regime in the Schools, which kept residents silent for 

           long periods, frowned on the normal rough and tumble of play and forbade or discouraged 

           friendships and contact between siblings. 



7.254      The Committee heard evidence that residents were regularly reminded of the possibility of 

           further isolation by being sent away to a more restrictive institution as punishment. They 

           understood that there were harsher and less physically accessible Schools where boys were 

           sent when they got into trouble. The disappearance of co-residents who had been severely 

           beaten contributed to the sense of fear reported by witnesses in this regard. 



                 One afternoon we were all sitting at our desks and about 6 Brothers came in, they 

                 pulled out this boy and they beat him, kicked him, punched him and they used to have 

                 big straps at him.... They carried him off somewhere.... This little boy was as hard as 

                 nails, he couldn’t cry we knew that, he had no tears, you wouldn’t go against him, he 

                 would flatten you. I never did know what happened to that boy, he just vanished poor 

                 devil. I never saw him again. You see in School you don’t say nothing, you mind your 

                 own business, you don’t even look, like that, you use your eyes, nothing else. 



7.255      Eight (8) witnesses reported that they themselves were transferred to other institutions when 

           they were returned after running away or following altercations with staff. Six (6) of these 

           transfers occurred without prior notice and, in three instances reported to the Committee, 

           witnesses believed they occurred without the appropriate legal arrangements being made or 



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----------------------- Page 1458-----------------------

           parents notified. One witness reported being severely beaten by a nun on a daily basis, and 

           was threatened that if he told anyone about being abused he would be beaten more severely 

           and separated from his peers, a threat that was ultimately carried out: ‘I used get so angry with 

           the beatings I got from her, I broke a ... bottle and she ...(Sr X)... sent me to ...(the)... psychiatric 

           hospital’. 



                 As punishment for running away Br ...X... used to have me kneeling on my knees on 

                  concrete until we went to bed at night. ... I had a hard time there, the physical abuse 

                  was brutal. Every chance I got I ran away I would be brought back and I would get a 

                  hiding from Br ...X.... We ...ran away.... We were brought back and I got a hiding off Br 

                  ...X.... We were brought into Court in ...named town... the next day. We were remanded 

                  and we were brought back to ...named School.... The following week then we went into 

                  Court and I was sent to ...another named School.... 



           Deprivation of identity 



7.256      Witnesses reported that the experience of living in the regimented School system contributed to 

           a sense of having no individual identity. The use of an allocated number instead of a name was 

           reported by 25 witnesses and many others stated that they were either not spoken to 

           individually or were only ever referred to by their surname. Ordinary daily activities were ordered 

           by bells and whistles, and for witnesses discharged prior to the 1970s most of those activities 

           were conducted in large groups. Witnesses who had spent most of their childhood in institutions 

           and/or had no family contact described an accompanying sense of being ‘nobody’. Additional 

           components of the deprivation of identity were a lack of recognition of witnesses’ birthdays and 

           the denial of sibling relationship, even when brothers or sisters were in the same School. 

           Witnesses reported being discharged without any information regarding their date and place of 

           birth and that the subsequent search for this information was not always fruitful. Two (2) 

           witnesses who spent their entire childhoods in institutions reported being unable to apply for 

           passports because they have never been able to establish a birth record or obtain a birth 

           certificate. 



                  You had your number on the clothes. You were called by number or they would say 

                  “you, you”. Some of them would call you by name. 



                                                                    • 



                  We came to Ireland...(to get passport)...because we wanted to go to Spain, but my birth 

                  was not registered so I could not get it. 



                                                                    • 



                  You never remember anybody there because you never knew anybody by names, you 

                  were just there as a number.... 



                                                                    • 



                  I got some bits of paper off the Department of Education that gave me some idea, 

                  because before that I hadn’t got a clue. I just thought I was born and got put away. 



           Knowledge of abuse 



7.257      Due to the generally public and frequent nature of the physical and emotional abuse inflicted on 

           residents, witnesses stated that staff and co-residents were unavoidably aware of its 

           occurrence. Witnesses also reported disclosing abuse to their parents, relatives and people in 

           authority, both within the institution and outside, including to gardai and other professionals. The 

                                                                                          ´ 

           Committee also heard and was presented with documentary evidence of correspondence 

           between parents and the Department of Education regarding complaints of abuse. Witnesses 

           stated that the response to their disclosures of abuse ranged from being punished and further 

           abused, being ignored or to being protected from harm. In a small number of instances 



           112                                                            CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1459-----------------------

          witnesses stated that they were aware that some investigation took place following disclosures 

          of abuse. 



          Abuse observed by others 



7.258     Witnesses reported that the abuse they experienced and the injuries they sustained in the 

          course of being abused were observed by others within the School on a daily basis and on 

          occasion by the general public. The following is a list of religious and lay staff identified by 

          witnesses as having observed residents being abused: 



                 •   Care staff 250 reports 

                 •   Authority figures 133 reports 

                 •   Ancillary staff 93 reports 

                 •   Teaching staff 87 reports 

                 •    Resident Managers 61 reports. 



7.259     Those described as care staff and ancillary workers were both lay and religious. The 133 

          reports that refer to authority figures relate to religious persons described as ‘in charge’ without 

          reference to their particular role, such as Superior, Reverend Mother, or Sister, Brother or Priest 

          in Charge. The experience of observing others being abused and the frequent failure of staff to 

          intervene in these circumstances was reported by witnesses to be a cause of distress and is 

          described in more detail elsewhere. ‘You’d be black and blue and the teachers would never ask 

          you ...(what had happened)....’ 



7.260     The Committee heard reports that on occasion Brothers had to physically restrain other religious 

          staff who were thought to be in danger of seriously harming a resident. There were occasional 

          accounts heard of staff intervening to terminate an incident of abuse or to rescue a resident 

          from assault by another staff member and move them to safety. 



                He started beating me. I was so frightened, he had the door locked, it was inside in the 

                refectory. He beat me for a long, long time. There was another Brother, an old man, and 

                he tried to get in. He started shouting out in the hall. I had marks on my legs, marks on 

                my back. 

                                                             • 



                He ...(Br X)... caught me ... and he threw me into the piggery.... I was told to stay there, 

                it was locked from the outside. Another Brother came along and he got me out. 



7.261     Witnesses stated that their abuse was at times evident to members of the public and external 

          professionals who observed them on walks and other activities in the community or who may 

          have tended their injuries when they were brought to local hospitals and surgeries. A number of 

          witnesses reported being treated sympathetically by members of the public on occasion and 

          believed it was in response to awareness of their abuse. 



          Disclosing abuse 



7.262     One hundred and forty six (146) of the 413 witnesses (35%) reported that they told an adult they 

          were being physically or sexually abused, 42 of them reported disclosing abuse to more than 

          one person. The disclosures were to adults in positions of perceived trust and authority both 

          within and external to the Schools. The following table lists the positions witnesses understood 

          were held by the adults to whom they disclosed their abuse while still resident: 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                        113 


----------------------- Page 1460-----------------------

            Table 29: To Whom Abuse Disclosed while Resident – Male Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                 To whom disclosed abuse while resident                                    Number of reports 



             Parents or relatives                                                                   62 



             Religious 



             - Staff                                                                                32 



             - Resident Manager                                                                     26 



             - Non-staff                                                                             13 



             Lay 



             - Staff                                                                                20 



             External professionals 



             - Medical staff                                                                         19 



                              ´ 

             - Garda Siochaana                                                                       14 

                        ´ 



             - Social workers                                                                        2 



             Total                                                                                  188 



            Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



7.263       As can be seen, the largest number of disclosures was made to parents or relatives. 

            Collectively, there were 78 reports of disclosure to religious and lay staff including care, teaching 

            and ancillary staff. Those described as religious non-staff were priests in the Confessional and 

            other religious Brothers, clergy and nuns who were not members of the School staff, but were 

            associated with the Schools either by their proximity or some visiting arrangement. 



7.264       Witness accounts of disclosing abuse to external professionals refer to medical staff seen while 

            attending hospitals for the treatment of injuries, doctors who attended the Schools to treat 

            injuries and social workers. Many witnesses expressed enduring anger about the inaction of 

            people they perceived to have the necessary authority to intervene and protect them. 



                  I remember Dr ...X... from the town stitched me up once when I had my lip split open by 

                  Br ...Y.... But I was warned to tell the doctor I had fallen or he ...(Br Y)... would get me. 



7.265       A number of witnesses reported being threatened that if they told anyone about the abuse they 

            had experienced there would be more severe repercussions. Five witnesses stated that 

            members of the religious staff visited them or their parents at home to reinforce their warning 

            not to report or disclose their abuse. 



                   One time I had to go to hospital ...following severe beating.... Fr ...X... came down to my 

                  mother’s house, and he begged my mother, on his knees on the floor in my mother’s 

                  house for forgiveness for what they done. They beat me so bad they got worried. My 

                  mother forgave them, he wouldn’t go out of the house until she did. She told me this in 

                  later years. 



                                                                       • 



                  Br ...X... followed me up to ...home town... and went up to my mother’s house, and he 

                  brought me over to a guest house and ...described sexual abuse.... At that time he 

                  threatened me that if I opened my mouth I would go back and do the time ...(remaining 

                  period of Court Order)... even in years to come, and at that time we were used to being 

                  told these things. 



7.266       Disclosing abuse to Gardai was reported to have occurred generally in the context of being 

                                             ´ 

            returned to the School after absconding or when parents accompanied witnesses who were on 



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----------------------- Page 1461-----------------------

           leave to the Garda station to make a formal complaint. In a small number of instances witnesses 

           reported their own abuse to Gardai. In separate instances, four witnesses who absconded told 

                                                     ´ 

           the Gardai who was returning them to the School that they expected to be badly beaten by the 

                        ´ 

           Brothers. The witnesses believed the Gardai made some inquiries about this and as a result 

                                                                ´ 

           they escaped the usual beating meted out to returned absconders. Another witness reported 

           that his mother told the Resident Manager she intended reporting the fact that he was being 

           abused to the Gardai; he stated his mother was pressurised into not contacting the Gardai and 

                                    ´                                                                                   ´ 

           subsequently the abuse stopped. 



                  I was marked ...(following beating)... after I ran away.... I wasn’t let out for 3 month after 

                  that, all the black and blue marks were gone there were just orange marks left .... When 

                  I went home I told me mother about the hidings and she took me down to ...named... 

                  police station. When I told the police he said “what School are you in?” and I said 

                  ...named School... and he said “what are you there for?” I said “not going to school” and 

                  he said “come on are you joking me or what?” I said “I’m there for not going to school” 

                  and he started laughing. My mother got a bit annoyed at him laughing at us, and they 

                  more or less kicked us out of the police station. After that I never told anyone, you 

                  wouldn’t trust anyone after that. 



           Outcome of disclosure 



7.267      Witnesses reported that disclosing abuse elicited varying responses including being ignored, 

           punished and not believed, in addition to having the reported abuse investigated and abusers 

           being dismissed or transferred from the School. Witnesses stated that the strict regime within 

           the Schools, together with the harsh enforcement of rules and the constant threat of physical 

           abuse left them feeling powerless and unprotected. 



                  Two fellas went to Confession and told the priests what was happening about the 

                  beating. The next day we were all brought up and they were beaten, severely beaten 

                  and we were told “whatever happens in here stays here”. 



                                                                     • 



                  We ran away, made it to ...named town.... The police car stopped us and asked us 

                  where we were going, and where we had come from ... and he said “why are you 

                  running away?” My brother told him about the beatings ... we didn’t want to say anything 

                  about the sexual.... He ...(garda)... brought us back to ...named School... and told the 

                  nun what we were saying. They really tortured us after that. There was a man ...named 

                  lay care staff... and there was another woman and there was Sr ...X.... They beat us 

                  with whatever come to hand. That time you couldn’t say anything against nuns or 

                  priests or anything like that.... 



                                                                     • 



                  Afterwards I met Br ...X... going down the stairs, he beat the crap out of me. “You know 

                  to keep your mouth shut” he’d say “you know what you’ll get if you don’t keep your 

                  mouth shut”.... It was complete fear, I couldn’t tell anyone, the fear you know. 



7.268      Fifty seven (57) witnesses reported that when they disclosed abuse or it was evident by their 

           injuries that they were being abused they were ignored and the abuse continued, leading them 

           to believe that aggression and violence was part of the culture of the School. A number of 

           witnesses stated that it was their belief that both religious and lay staff knew that residents were 

           being abused and were at times sympathetic but were powerless or unwilling to change 

           anything. 



                  He ...(Br X)... tried to rape me every chance he got.... He nearly killed me in the hay 

                  barn, he got me up this ladder sitting on top of the hay, he was mucking about with me, 

                  at first I thought it was just horse play, he was trying to get my trousers down....I 

                  screamed and he put his hand over my mouth. Mr ...Y (lay ancillary worker)... heard the 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                      115 


----------------------- Page 1462-----------------------

                scream and he came in, he was only there for a few seconds, he saw that Br ...X... had 

                his hands over my mouth. I threw myself down the bottom, I was lucky it was 12 or 14 

                foot down, and I ran out and said to him “don’t you ever touch me again”. He said he 

                would kill me if I ever opened my mouth, he never touched me again after that. 



                                                             • 



                He ...(Br X)... beat me up, my lip was busted, my eye was swollen and all my face was 

                red. Nobody asked me what happened. None of the other Brothers said anything.... No 

                Brother entered the domain of another without knocking and getting permission first. 



                                                             • 



                The ...(Resident Manager)... knew what was happening. They ...(Brothers)... were 

                sadists, they were evil and cruel. Of course they knew what was happening ... to say 

                they didn’t is like saying you were standing by a motorway and saw no traffic. 



7.269     Many witnesses reported that the risk of being deprived of family visits or being prevented from 

          going home on leave deterred them from disclosing abuse. Others reported that when they did 

          tell someone they were being abused they were either ignored or not believed and as a result 

          they learned to remain silent, believing that nobody would listen to them. A witness who told a 

          priest in Confession about being sexually abused reported that he was told to ‘keep your 

          thoughts to yourself as you could hurt so many people’. Another witness who told his parents 

          that he had been sexually abused reported that: 



                My mother and my father came up to visit me and I told them what had happened 

                ...(sexual abuse)... they confronted Br ...X.... He had a story, told them I was sick and I 

                was hallucinating and they believed him. 



7.270     Forty four (44) witnesses reported being severely beaten in the context of disclosing both 

          physical and sexual abuse and that the prospect of further beatings was generally sufficient to 

          maintain silence. Witnesses reported being beaten when they told others including staff 

          members, priests in Confession, police and visitors or their parents or relatives that they had 

          been beaten or otherwise abused. Witnesses described an atmosphere of fear that prevented 

          talking about being abused due to the risk of further abuse, as witnesses described: 



                Br ...X... punched a boy in front of all the staff ... to make him retract his story of sexual 

                abuse against Br ...Y... and to make the boy tell everyone he had engaged in sexual 

                activity with another resident. You learned that talking only led one way ... to a beating. 



                                                             • 



                He ...(Br X)... asked me what had happened, and there was a rule in ...named School... 

                that you did not tell on another Brother because he would beat you up. So I could not 

                tell him and he kept me in the dormitory for a few days and the same thing happened 

                again ...(the sexual abuse continued).... 



7.271     A witness who disclosed being sexually abused by a Brother while on an outing reported the 

          consequence for him: 



                The next morning I told ...co-resident (about physical and sexual abuse)... and he took 

                me to Br ...X (Resident Manager)... and he said I was talking “badness”. I told him 

                exactly what had happened, and he gave me a hiding, he punched and kicked me. He 

                used a short stick, blackjacks we used to call them. He used to bend you over the 

                bench, sometimes a monitor used to hold you or sometimes another Brother. But this 

                time he took me to the hall to give me the hiding. 



7.272     Thirteen (13) witnesses who disclosed their experiences of abuse to their parents reported being 

          discharged home or granted early release following representations to the Department of 



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----------------------- Page 1463-----------------------

          Education and other authorities. In some instances these representations were made directly to 

          the Minister, also through local politicians, and by writing to the Department. In most reported 

          instances the representations were made by the witnesses’ parents. There were three reports of 

          early release being facilitated by external professionals. There were six further reports of 

          representations being made to external authorities for the witnesses’ early release that were 

          denied. One witness reported that his mother attempted to obtain the services of a solicitor, 

          without success, in her effort to report abusive behaviour and obtain early release. Another 

          witness reported being offered early release in return for his silence: 



                After I was raped and got a terrible beating by 2 men, they beat the shit out of me. Their 

                faces were distorted. I couldn’t see who they were. I barely crawled to the door, the 

                nurse sent me to ...named... hospital. ... After I came out of the hospital Fr ...X... he was 

                director at that time, he called me in and said ... “if you say you weren’t beaten up we 

                will let you out of here in a few days”. I was just trying to get home, like, so I said I 

                wasn’t beaten. He called all the Brothers in, there was a garda there and everything. He 

                ...(Fr X)... said “now ... tell them what you told me”. So I said I wasn’t beaten. All I 

                wanted to do was get home, so I got home. 



7.273     A number of witnesses reported positive responses to disclosure, including 20 reports of the 

          abuser being removed or transferred and 17 accounts of the abuser being reprimanded in some 

          way. These witnesses reported being most often aware of positive outcomes of their disclosure 

          by a cessation of abuse and a belief that their abuser was disciplined. Such outcomes followed 

          eight reports to Resident Managers or others in charge, by the witnesses or their parents. 



7.274     There were isolated accounts heard of positive outcomes as a result of the assertive 

          intervention of parents, relatives, professionals and members of the public following disclosures 

          of abuse by witnesses. For example a witness reported that when he absconded following a 

          beating he was given a lift by a member of the public to whom he disclosed details of his abuse. 

          This person treated him kindly and convinced him to return to the School where he spoke to the 

          person in charge regarding the alleged abuse. The witness reported that he was not 

          subsequently punished or beaten and that the person returned some time later to check on his 

          welfare. 



7.275     The Committee heard isolated reports of lay staff members being dismissed. In one situation a 

          lay teacher was reported to the Resident Manager by a group of residents after an incident of 

          sexual abuse. Other witnesses reported being moved to a different dormitory as protection from 

          the negative attentions of a night watchman. Less frequent beatings from a care worker followed 

          an intervention by one witness’s grandfather. 



7.276     Witnesses recalled that Brothers ‘disappeared’ from time to time and it was assumed there had 

          been complaints about them. The Committee heard a small number of accounts of Brothers 

          leaving in the wake of a particular incident of abuse. Most often the reports were of a Brother’s 

          absence noticed in the belief he had been ‘sent away’ as a witness described: 



                ...he was evil, you would never know when he would come up behind you. He was 

                taken out the back way one afternoon and he was never seen again, thanks be to God. 



7.277     While 25 witnesses reported that disclosing abuse to their parents resulted in a positive 

          outcome where the abuse ceased and they were either protected or released, 12 witnesses 

          reported that their parents were unable or unwilling to believe that religious staff were abusive. 

          Some parents were reported to regard the witnesses’ abuse as justified punishment for 

          misconduct, believing ‘the Brothers could do no wrong’. 



                I told my father what was going on ...(sexual abuse).... I told him what Br ...X... was 

                doing to me, and the father thumped me and said “how dare you say anything like 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                         117 


----------------------- Page 1464-----------------------

                that?” There was nothing physical for him there to see, if I had cuts or bruises he would 

                have believed me. 



          Witnesses response to abuse 



7.278     Three hundred and eight (308) witnesses reported that fear was their predominant response to 

          the abuse they both observed and experienced and that on occasion they feared for their own 

          and others’ lives. Eleven (11) witnesses reported fearing that they would be killed. Witnesses 

          also described harming or attempting to harm themselves in the context of being abused. They 

          reported wishing that the physical or sexual abuse they were subjected to would cease and 

          being unable to trust that anyone would help or believe them if they disclosed what was 

          happening. 



                We never told anyone what was happening. We thought they had the right to do what 

                they were doing, to beat us. Why would we tell anyone when they would only beat us 

                more? We were terrified of those men in long trousers, we were just little fellas in short 

                trousers. The worst part for me was the dormitory and the bed-wetting ...(and the 

                beatings).... I still wet the bed and hate going away anywhere because I am so 

                embarrassed about it. I tried to kill myself there. 



7.279     Ninety five (95) witnesses reported absconding and another 28 reported that they tried to run 

          away in order to escape the environment of fear and repeated physical and sexual abuse, 

          including flogging. Resisting sexual abuse was reported to generally result in physical violence 

          and further sexual abuse. There were 14 witness accounts of sexual abuse ceasing following 

          gestures of resistance and avoidance. In a number of instances these witness reported 

          subsequently becoming the target of routine physical abuse. 



                One day in the laundry he ...(Br X)... was coming up behind me, I knew what he wanted 

                ...(sexual abuse)... and I just freaked. I picked up the first thing that came into my hand, 

                I hit him and knocked his glasses off. He kicked me up the arse and that was it, I was 

                out of the laundry ...(where witness had been working).... He was always at me after 

                that, every chance he’d get he would have me down on my knees in the yard as 

                punishment for something. 



                                                             • 



                He, Fr...X..., would take out 6 or 7 for walks and would sexually abuse you, you know. If 

                you protested well then he would not bring you the next time ...(out for walks).... I got 

                punished when I protested, I got punished after that for no reason. 



                                                             • 



                The farmers ...(residents who worked on farm)... were always the last in to the showers. 

                It ...(sexual abuse)... only happened when you were clean. Other times you would stink 

                and they wouldn’t touch you, so I used let myself really stink. 



7.280     Two hundred and eight (208) witnesses described not knowing what to do in response to being 

          abused. They reported feeling helpless and defenceless and under constant threat of further 

          abuse. 



                Very seldom, boys did fight back, they had great courage. ... God did they have courage 

                those who fought back. I always regret I didn’t fight back ...crying.... You knew from the 

                day you arrived no one was going to help you, there was no one. 



7.281     One hundred and forty six (146) witnesses who had been threatened or punished following 

          disclosure of abuse reported that they subsequently withdrew emotionally and isolated 

          themselves as they felt powerless and did not trust that any protection was available. Other 

          responses included screaming, crying, suppressing anger, bed-wetting and soiling. Of those 



          118                                                     CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1465-----------------------

          who reported a history of bed-wetting while in the School a large number reported that they did 

          not wet their bed prior to admission. ‘I became a very bad bed-wetter I had never been a bed- 

          wetter before. ... Every night I was there for 5 years there was a list called out of those who had 

          wet the bed.’ 



                I lived in terror and fear. I started wetting the bed, I never did it before. You would stand 

                at the end of the bed for the punishment ... slaps with a leather strap all over. ... I tried 

                not to sleep I’d try and hide the stain, so as not to be punished. It became a way of life. 

                Some boys could take a hundred slaps and would not cry, others would be screaming 

                for mercy. 



                                                               • 



                But even when you weren’t being hit, you could hear this echo, in this big dormitory like 

                a hall, and you could hear the crushing sound, and the blow, and the screams, night 

                after night after night. I used to do this ...demonstrated rocking motion... to take me 

                away from it, the beatings and the screaming and the fear. I wanted to stop it, I would 

                dream about getting a gun and shooting them to stop it. 



7.282     Eighteen (18) witnesses reported that they attempted to commit suicide and actively harmed 

          themselves during their time in the Schools, most frequently in the context of being sexually 

          abused or being consistently physically abused. Attempts at self-harm included throwing 

          themselves from heights, ingesting objects, overdosing on veterinary medication, self-mutilation, 

          attempted drowning and self-inflicted burns. Others described having suicidal thoughts or a wish 

          to die or hurt themselves. 



                I cut myself, overdosed, swallowed pins. I was ashamed and embarrassed. ... I ripped 

                myself apart, cut myself, legs, arms. I mean seriously, I was admitted to hospital.... 



                                                               • 



                I tried to kill myself in the time I was there. I locked myself in the bathroom and I was 

                running against the wall trying to injure my head on the wall. I think there was an awful 

                lot of fellas who did commit suicide. You had nobody, absolutely nobody. You couldn’t 

                turn to anybody, you never felt safe, the kitchen, the dormitories, the farmyard. I used to 

                go into a cupboard and cry. 



                                                               • 



                I went down and got a piece of glass and cut my hand. I didn’t care what happened, I 

                just wanted to get out of the School. I just thought that by cutting my hand I’d be taken 

                up to the hospital and could tell someone there. The nurse saw my hand cut and asked 

                me what happened and I told her ...(about being severely beaten by Br X).... I was 

                terrified they ...(Brothers)... would know I’d told her, she created murder and told 

                Fr ...Y.... But he did nothing. 



                                                               • 



                When I was in bed I used to cry and wish I’d die. I’d think “I don’t want to wake up”. 

                Whenever you were in the dormitory you knew there was something going to happen to 

                you. You’d want to be dead instead of waking up. 



7.283     In addition to the witnesses who reported harming themselves, a number also reported that they 

          contemplated harming lay and religious staff who were abusive and in five instances described 

          actively doing so. 



7.284     In summary, this chapter has provided an overview of abuse reported to the Committee by 413 

          male witnesses in relation to Industrial and Reformatory Schools. The reported abuse was 

          differentiated by type: physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse presented 

          accordingly. Where possible, the chapter sections have been illustrated with direct quotes from 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                           119 


----------------------- Page 1466-----------------------

         witnesses, some of whom were recounting their experiences for the first time to a third party. 

         While describing their experiences witnesses also gave accounts of the circumstances in which 

         the abuse occurred and the traumatic impact of their experiences both at the time and as they 

         are recalled. In addition, the information provided about the position and occupations of those 

         who were reported abusers is included with witness accounts of who they told, and what they 

          believe was known about the abuse they experienced at the time. 



7.285    The following two chapters will provide similarly detailed information about the general 

         conditions and everyday life experiences in the girls Schools together with reported abuse 

         experiences of 378 female witnesses. 



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           Chapter 8 



           Everyday life experiences of female 

           witnesses in Schools 



8.01       This chapter summarises the information provided by the 378 female witnesses about their 

           experience of education, work, health, recreation and other aspects of everyday life in Schools 

           over a period of 74 years between 1914 and 1988. All the Schools referred to by female 

           witnesses were managed by religious Sisters. 



8.02       There were many consistencies in the reports heard by the Committee from female witnesses in 

           relation to all the Schools. Witnesses reported living in large unheated buildings with communal 

           dormitories and poor hygiene facilities, as part of a strictly controlled regime that allowed little 

           time for recreation and was largely isolated from the outside world, including their family. 

           Witnesses reported their time was occupied between work, school and recreation with varying 

           emphasis on each in different Schools and over different periods of time. 



8.03       In relation to admissions prior to the 1970s, the most common features reported by witnesses 

           were descriptions of the daily routine, including an early morning call by bell for Mass followed 

           by breakfast in a communal refectory. Meals were routinely provided in large refectories at fixed 

           times, the main meal being in the middle of the day and a light meal provided at approximately 

           5.30pm. Witnesses went to bed at various times between 6pm and 9pm, with more flexibility in 

           recent years. 



8.04       Clothing and footwear was reported by many witnesses to have been of inferior quality and 

           generally distributed from a stock of donated second-hand items that were kept in a central 

           clothing store. Reports regarding clothing and personal care varied between Schools over 

           different periods of time. A number of Schools employed someone to make and mend clothing. 

           In other Schools older residents and lay staff were reported to have made the clothes and 

           taught the younger residents how to do so. Many witnesses reported knitting jumpers and socks 

           for themselves and co-residents. Many witnesses reported that they never owned a new pair of 

           shoes. There were a few reports of winter coats being provided on an individual basis but more 

           commonly that they were shared for use as needed. Witnesses discharged during the 1970s 

           and 1980s reported being more often allowed to select their own clothes and no longer having 

           to share clothing and footwear. 



8.05       Personal hygiene was attended to using shared facilities with little or no toiletries or sanitary 

           protection said to be provided in the majority of Schools in the period before the1970s. 

           Witnesses reported increased provision and availability of hot water, soap, towels, toothbrushes, 

           sanitary towels, toilet paper, combs and hairbrushes in later years. Since the mid-1970s, 

           accommodation was reported to have improved with residents moving to smaller units, either 

           adapted or purpose built, with modern facilities. These units catered for smaller groups of 

           children with trained care staff in some Schools in the late 1970s and 1980s. Other changes 

           reported included attending primary and second-level school and other activities outside the 

           institution. 



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8.06      A consistent feature reported in most Schools prior to the 1970s was the code of silence that 

          was enforced during many activities, particularly while working, in the dormitories and during 

          mealtimes. 



          Work 



8.07      The Committee heard evidence from 337 female witnesses of being involved in work and 

          physical labour during their time as residents in the Schools. Work was described as graded 

          according to age and it was reported that residents from some Schools were expected to work 

          from the age of seven years. A small number of witnesses reported that they started working at 

          five years of age. Most witnesses spoke about the lack of staff available to do domestic work 

          and of the priority given to the completion of allocated work to the exclusion of education or 

          play, as one witness said: ‘We cared for them, they did not care for us’. The work described by 

          witnesses included domestic tasks in the Schools, kitchens, convents, local presbyteries, the 

          homes of local families, and on adjoining farmyards. Work of a commercial nature including 

          laundry, Rosary bead and rug making, embroidery, and knitting were also described. Many 

          witnesses reported that residents received no payment for this work. 



8.08      Work in some Schools was described as beginning before breakfast and continuing until class 

          commenced, to be resumed after school. General cleaning chores such as sweeping, scrubbing 

          and polishing were reported as work tasks by 337 witnesses. Residents were responsible for 

          their own bed making and dormitory cleaning, in addition to cleaning and polishing corridors, 

          staircases, chapels, classrooms and associated convents, and other buildings. Witnesses 

          reported being made to clean or polish the same area a number of times until the desired 

          standard was reached. Witnesses reported that in nine Schools the residents were also required 

          to clean or work in the kitchen of an affiliated boarding school, hospital or nursing home. 



8.09      One hundred and forty seven (147) witnesses reported working in laundries both for the 

          institutions and convents, and on a commercial basis for external institutions including hospitals, 

          hotels, boarding schools and people from the local town. Many gave accounts of receiving no 

          payment for the work. Witnesses reported having to wash, starch and iron nuns’ habits, clerical 

          vestments and altar linen, sheets, shirts and table linen. The work in the washrooms and 

          laundries was described as laborious, without the aid of washing machines or other equipment 

          in the period prior to the 1960s. Witnesses recalled standing on boxes as small children to reach 

          into laundry troughs and washing nun’s sanitary cloths in cold water with bare hands. 



8.10      It was the practice in most of the girls Industrial Schools to accept admissions of female infants, 

          and a number of Schools also admitted male infants. The work of providing care for these 

          children was reported to be mainly undertaken by the residents. The ongoing care of babies and 

          very young children, including siblings, was reported by 123 witnesses. This work included 

          feeding, dressing, washing and toileting the children who were often referred to by witnesses as 

          their ‘charges’. Witnesses reported that in a number of Schools they shared their beds with their 

          young ‘charges’. Other witnesses were required to get up at night to feed babies who slept in 

          cots beside their beds. Many witnesses described the overwhelming nature of the childcare 

          task, including eight witnesses who described having to assist toddlers with rectal prolapse. 



                I distinctly remember the babies would be on potties for a long time and sometimes the 

                older children would lift them up and with a cloth push this thing ...(rectal prolapse).... I 

                didn’t know what was going on at the time. 



8.11      Witnesses reported that there was little or no adult supervision as they performed their childcare 

          tasks. A number of witnesses described the difficulty they experienced caring for young children 

          without the benefit of being well cared for themselves. As a consequence some witnesses 

          acknowledged that at times they treated their young ‘charges’ harshly. A small number of 



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          witnesses stated that they were so hungry that they helped themselves to food provided for the 

          babies, replacing milk with water in the babies’ bottles. 



8.12      Most Schools and convents had residents assigned to answer the doorbell and do other jobs 

          similar to those of a parlour maid. Twenty four (24) witnesses reported being sent as 

          housekeepers to local clergy and families, 13 witnesses reported receiving payment for this 

          work and others reported that they believed payment went directly to the religious congregation. 



8.13      Kitchen duties and work in the attached bakeries were reported by 121 witnesses. Descriptions 

          of this work in 14 Schools included: washing dishes and pots, scrubbing floors, foraging for 

          firewood, lighting and stoking fires, lifting large pots of boiling water and peeling large quantities 

          of potatoes and other vegetables. Many of the witnesses reported that this work provided 

          access to extra food and warmth, it also involved long hours and was arduous. Work in staff 

          kitchens was seen as particularly advantageous as there was access to better quality food. 

          Some Schools had both commercial and domestic bakeries where residents worked, and in 

          some instances continued on a full-time basis on completion of their education. 



8.14      Commercial contract work was described as a significant activity in four Schools by 84 

          witnesses and included piece work in the form of making Rosary beads, scapulars and other 

          religious items. In one School it was reported that young residents made novenas for which it 

          was believed financial donations were received by the School. The majority of witnesses stated 

          that no payment was received for this work. 



8.15      Working in the farmyard, fields, gardens and on the bogs were described as routine activities in 

          both urban and rural Schools. While it was reported that the female religious congregations 

          generally employed lay male ancillary staff to work on their farms, 97 witnesses reported being 

          involved in farm work including haymaking, saving turf, churning butter, sowing and picking 

          potatoes, milking cows and feeding animals. Weeding gravel driveways, convent graveyards 

          and plucking the convent lawns by hand were other outdoor tasks reported by witnesses from 

          several Schools. 



8.16      Witnesses reported what they regarded as unsafe practices related to cleaning and fire lighting 

          in five different Schools. In two Schools residents had to clean high external windows with one 

          resident holding the ankles of another resident who was cleaning the windows. Five (5) Schools 

          were reported as having residents light fires and furnaces in the early hours of the morning for 

          the School heating, laundry and cooking systems. Carrying turf and coal and keeping the 

          furnaces fired was part of the work described by witnesses. 



8.17      Thirty two (32) witnesses described a distinction being made in the work allocated to residents 

          who had families and those regarded as ‘orphans’ who described themselves as at times 

          allocated particularly unpleasant tasks such as clearing drains and unblocking and cleaning 

          toilets. Other witnesses said they observed ‘orphans’ frequently undertaking demeaning tasks. 



8.18      Sewing, knitting and decorative needlework were regular semi-recreational activities; several 

          witnesses reported making clerical vestments, as well as socks, jumpers, dresses and school 

          uniforms for co-residents. Specialised needlework and knitting was also undertaken for what 

          witnesses understood was the commercial market and a number of witnesses reported being 

          regularly occupied knitting Aran sweaters, making rugs, embroidering tablecloths, vestments and 

          other cloths for shops and church use. 



                They used to have these huge tablecloths and I used to have to do embroidery on it 

                and do the designs, I used do the crochet. I used do the vestments, the nuns used give 

                them as gifts to the priests. I used to have to do all the sewing for the girls plus all the 

                knitting during the school’s holidays. Remember I was 14 years old at the time. 



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8.19      Witnesses reported that mending clothes was a regular occupation in 16 Schools, others gave 

          accounts of lay staff being employed in sewing rooms. In five Schools it was reported that 

          residents darned socks and jumpers for local boys’ Industrial Schools and fee-paying boarding 

          schools. 



8.20      Other assigned tasks included residents both making and ‘teasing’ their own mattresses. 

          Mattress teasing was reported as a regular summer activity by 18 witnesses from five Schools. 

          This was described as hard and unpleasant work, ‘teasing and re-stuffing the mattresses was 

          our summer holiday’. 



8.21      The following account of a typical day was given in evidence by a witness who reported she 

          was removed from the classroom at the age of 12 years to work full-time in the Industrial 

          School: 



                There was no electricity in the laundry and it was steam mechanised. Myself and 

                ...named 2 co-residents... were told we had to work from Monday morning. Three of us, 

                we used to have to go down and light the furnace that heated the whole school part. On 

               Monday we got up at 6 o’clock in the morning, we lit the fire, then 3 of us took it in turn 

               to keep shovelling the coal in to keep the steam up in order that the machinery in the 

               laundry ... would keep going. On the Tuesday we had the ironing to do ... we had ...(a 

                large number of)... nuns in the convent and we had to do their ironing and the white 

               things had to be starched. I had to get up at 7 o’clock and there was a round boiler 

               thing. We, 3 of us had to light that and as soon as it got red hot you put the old 

               fashioned irons around it, between 20 and 30 irons. The older girls, there were 8 senior 

               girls, were given the job of ironing all the white things for the nuns. On Wednesday that 

                was the baking day.... On Thursday we would go out and weed the garden ... or ... in 

               summer if there was turf coming in, the lorry would just leave the turf there and the nun 

                would come in and say “you, you and you go out and throw in that turf.” On Thursday 

               the 3 of us used to have to go down and clean that big boiler out, clean the ashes and 

               set it again for Friday and the laundry. On Saturday then we would do odd jobs, go over 

               to the convent and did “blocks” ... polish the floors with these big block things to get up 

               a shine on them. 



8.22      Witnesses reported changes in relation to work practices in the later years covered by this 

          Report. The commercial contract work and the practice of residents undertaking work external to 

          the School was no longer routine. However, three witnesses reported caring for babies and 

          young children in the 1970s and 1980s and that the practice of doing household chores 

          continued. 



          Food 



8.23      The inadequate provision of food was widely reported by witnesses. The standard diet described 

          by witnesses for the years prior to the 1970s was porridge, bread and dripping and tea or cocoa 

          for breakfast. The main meal was consistently reported to be of boiled potatoes with vegetables 

          and on occasion some meat or fish. The evening meal was most often described as bread and 

          jam and tea or cocoa. Witnesses reported that there was little or no access to extra food except 

          what might have been obtained opportunistically by residents working in kitchens and 

          elsewhere. 



                The nuns’ bins would be lovely, you would eat the bread out of their buckets, you would 

               get it as you were walking along the path in the garden going down to the work in the 

               fields, you’d pick out the bread. 



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8.24      Varying accounts were given of both the quantity and quality of the food provided with 

          noticeable improvements reported after the 1970s. Witnesses reported that in more recent years 

          sausages, chips, vegetables, eggs, cheese, fish fingers, cornflakes and milk puddings became 

          part of the regular diet. 



8.25      Special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, First Holy Communion and saint’s feast days 

          were reported to be at times celebrated with cake and biscuits, jelly, ice cream and lemonade. 

          Many of the convents had orchards, glass houses and kept poultry; however witnesses stated 

          that fruit and eggs were rarely provided, with the exception of Christmas and Easter when 

          oranges and eggs were reported as traditional treats. 



          Play and recreation 



8.26      Witnesses reported that play and recreation were described as peripheral to everyday life for the 

          Schools’ residents, particularly for those discharged before the 1960s. Toys, books and play 

          equipment were largely non-existent in most of the Schools during that period. Witnesses 

          reported playing in fields and ‘making our own fun’ and described making small dolls and balls 

          from scraps of cloth. In a number of Schools voluntary organisations brought presents to the 

          residents at Christmas; it was frequently reported these were locked away and never used. 

          Fourteen (14) witnesses described having toys and books given as presents taken from them to 

          be locked away in a toy cupboard and taken out when visitors came. In a small number of 

          instances, witnesses believed that these toys and books were given away by the Sisters to their 

          own relatives. The lack of any place to keep personal possessions made it difficult for residents 

          to retain a doll, toy or book given as a gift or sent by their family. Witnesses reported that a 

          small number of Schools provided film shows for the residents. 



8.27      Witnesses reported that most Schools had recreation halls that were described as places to 

          congregate in wet weather or in the wintertime, often in enforced silence. Recreation halls were 

          also used for school concerts and plays held at Christmas and for visiting dignitaries. There 

          were accounts from a number of Schools of residents competing in Irish dancing competitions 

          and playing musical instruments at the Feis Cheoil. Accounts were heard also of a number of 

          Schools having bands and/or choirs that performed at these competitions and various local 

          events. 



8.28      While sport was a less common feature of life in the School system for girls than it was for boys 

          153 witnesses reported that they played in the yard or surrounding fields in all weathers and 

          were forced to spend long periods outdoors. Eighty (80) witnesses described the regular long 

          Sunday walk with pairs of girls walking ‘like a crocodile’ for up to 10 miles with religious staff or 

          older residents in charge. One witness described how they spent time at recreation: 



                We used to have a spinning top and put coloured things into it and we used to play 

                hopscotch. We had basketball. There is no use telling a lie, we had a shed and we used 

                to play among ourselves. 



8.29      Day trips to the seaside and swimming were reported by 47 witnesses as a treat during the 

          summer months in particular Schools. 



                A couple used come and they would take us to the seaside, take us to the beach. We 

                used to be in this bus, we had buckets and spades, the whole lot of us went. You’d be 

                so excited. We had plastic cups and loads of sandwiches. I remember them buying us 

                all a ball and buckets. 



8.30      Witnesses from 11 Schools reported on improvements in recreation facilities during the 1960s, 

          including the provision of swings, merry-go-rounds and slides in the play yard and board games, 



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           skipping ropes, radios, gramophones, television and books in the recreation rooms. Further 

           improvements were reported in the 1970s and 1980s with increased involvement in cultural, 

           recreational and social activities including music and choirs in the local area. Visits to the 

           cinema and in some instances activities with children of local families were also reported. Other 

           improvements described by witnesses included the opportunity to be involved in outdoor sports, 

           games and competitions including basketball, volleyball and tennis. 



           Education 



8.31       Most Schools for girls had their own primary level classrooms attended solely by the residents. 

           A small number of Schools were part of larger establishments that included primary and 

           secondary schools attended by both children from the local area and residents from the 

           Industrial School. Reports were also heard of local children, frequently referred to as ‘outsiders’, 

           attending class within the Industrial School setting. 



8.32       Three hundred and seventy six (376) witnesses reported attending classes at primary level for 

           some period of their time in the Schools. The majority of witnesses, 220 (58%), reported having 

           completed their education by 14 years of age, when most reported that they commenced 

           working full-time in or for the institution. The following table outlines the reported school leaving 

           age of female witnesses: 



              Table 30: Reported School Leaving Age – Female Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                       Reported school leaving age                                 Number of witnesses 



                                  Under 10                                                    8 



                                    10–12                                                     34 



                                    13–14                                                    178 



                                    15–16                                                    129 



                                   Over 16                                                    22 



                                 Unavailable                                                  5 



                                No schooling                                                  2 



                              Total witnesses                                                378 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



8.33       As the table indicates, two witnesses reported that they received no schooling and never 

           attended class. Eight (8) witnesses stated that they were taken out of school to work full-time 

           before the age of 10 years and a further 34 witnesses reported not attending school after 12 

           years of age. The majority of these witnesses reported that they worked in the Schools or 

           related areas instead of attending class. One hundred and twenty nine (129) witnesses reported 

           that they remained in school until they were 15 or 16 years old, 105 (28%) of whom attended 

           secondary or vocational school in the local community or, in a small number of instances, 

           attended boarding schools. 



8.34       Forty one (41) of the 105 witnesses who reported receiving secondary level education were 

           discharged from care in the 1970s and 1980s. 



8.35       Some witnesses reported having done well in school and enjoyed learning but were not allowed 

           to continue their education as they were competent domestic workers: 



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                During the summer holiday they said “you are not going back to school”. They had me 

                making vestments for the priests, for the first year I did not get paid, the second year 

                they put a small bit in a post office book that they gave me and I going. I was good at 

                maths and science I got 100 once and they said I had copied, you know they put you 

                down, you were no one, you were no use. I loved school, when I was taken out I cried, I 

                loved the science in the secondary I would have loven ...(loved)... to be a nurse, I could 

                have done better if I had done my Inter, I have a big gripe about that. They took me out 

                because I was good at sewing they wanted me for the vestments. Others who had a 

                mother were kept in school I had no one to say you can’t take her out. When I was 16 I 

                wanted to be going and they said you can stay and train someone in, so I had to stay 

                for a year and trained in another girl. 



8.36      Many witnesses reported that their education was inadequate, particularly for those discharged 

          before the 1970s. Changes regarding access to education and the active encouragement of 

          religious staff to continue their education were noted by witnesses discharged in the 1970s and 

          1980s. A number of witnesses were supported to attend technical and secondary schools and 

          commercial colleges and an increased number reported taking part in State examinations. 



                The nuns were very kind they sent me to ...named... college in the evenings to study 

                shorthand and typing.... I still wanted to be a nurse, one nun used to encourage me and 

                the other would say “no she is too delicate, she would never last”.... I left at 18 and went 

                straight to England to be a nurse. The nuns helped me ...(with fare and application).... 



          Religion 



8.37      Mass and Rosary were described by witnesses as standard features of daily life in the 

          institutions. Witnesses attended Mass early in the morning, before breakfast. Some witnesses 

          described a routine of saying three rosaries a day while kneeling on wooden or stone floors. The 

          recitation of litanies while residents were preparing for bed was also reported. In some Schools 

          the Rosary accompanied work tasks and witnesses reported that any slacking in responses 

          could lead to punishment. Catechism was reported to have constituted a large segment of the 

          educational activities in several Schools in the decades prior to the 1970s, with witnesses 

          reporting: ‘all they cared about was religion’ and ‘we ate, slept and drank religion’. 



8.38      Witnesses reported that the notion of the ‘devil’ as a force of evil was emphasised by the 

          religious staff. A large number of witnesses stated that they were constantly told they were 

          sinners as a result of their parents’ behaviour. Residents reported being prevailed upon to pray 

          for their own and their parents’ forgiveness and be grateful for the care they were receiving. 



8.39      The Committee heard witness accounts of religious feast days being strictly observed; Lent, the 

          months of May and November and the feast days of the Sisters’ patron saints generally 

          necessitated particular practices, which were both penitential and celebratory. Witnesses 

          reported that the clergy were accorded particular respect and were attended to diligently by the 

          staff and residents. Chapel choirs were a point of pride for some Schools especially when 

          members of the public were in attendance. 



          Health and medical care 



8.40      Three hundred and twenty five (325) witnesses described some form of healthcare provision 

          including medical attention, inspection or immunisation for themselves or other residents in the 

          Schools. 



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8.41       As with the male witnesses, female witnesses reported being assessed and treated for normal 

           childhood accidental injuries and illnesses as well as non-accidental physical injuries while 

           resident in the Schools. Table 31 describes the types of healthcare available: 



              Table 31: Types of Healthcare Reported – Female Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                                 Healthcare                                          Number of reports 



                               GP attendance                                                  176 



                             Hospital attendance                                              152 



                              Infirmary available                                             135 



                                 Dental care                                                  85 



                              Medical inspection                                              67 



                                Immunisation                                                  62 



                               Nurse available                                                52 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



8.42       One hundred and seventy six (176) witnesses recalled the attendance of a doctor during their 

           time as residents, which included being seen by the local doctor either in their surgery or, more 

           commonly, in the School and the doctors’ attendance at routine medical examinations in the 

           School. Visits by medical inspectors were reported. Witnesses from one School reported the 

           local doctor conducting a bi-monthly inspection of residents. Immunisation and the testing of 

           residents for tuberculosis were reported as routine components of some medical inspections. In 

           other Schools routine examinations of weight and height were the only medical attention 

           reported. A number of witnesses reported changes to their diets and other aspects of their care 

           following inspector’s visits. 



8.43       One hundred and fifty two (152) witnesses reported attending hospital for in-patient and out- 

           patient treatment of conditions including: tuberculosis, gastroenteritis, appendicitis, rheumatic 

           and other fevers, surgical treatment of ear, nose, throat and other complaints. Twenty three (23) 

           witnesses reported being hospitalised for treatment of accidental injuries and 33 others reported 

           receiving hospital treatment for non-accidental injuries. Witnesses reported attending hospitals 

           and clinics for investigations both in their local area and to specialist centres. Attendance at a 

           specialist clinic or hospital was more commonly reported after 1970, with witness reports of 

           attending specialist appointments for eye, ear and skin ailments as well as child and adolescent 

           mental health services. 



8.44       One hundred and thirty five (135) witnesses described infirmaries in 18 Schools; other Schools 

           were reported to use the dormitories as infirmaries. In most accounts infirmaries or dormitories 

           were described as isolated, lonely places that were rarely supervised. Witnesses reported the 

           rule of silence in the infirmary and dormitories increased the sense of isolation as did the 

           absence of staff dedicated to the care of residents who were ill. 



8.45       Nursing staff were employed in some Schools at different times and the presence of staff 

           described as ‘nurses’ was recalled by witnesses in other Schools. Other witnesses believed that 

           the nursing function was performed by untrained staff. Witnesses reported that unqualified staff 

           carried out many treatments such as lancing boils, treating ringworm and other infections, 

           lacerations and injuries without medical advice. 



8.46       Witness accounts of dental care indicated that dentists attended regularly in some Schools and 

           in others when requested. In most instances the reported dental treatments were extractions, 

           with or without anaesthetic. 



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          Inspections 



8.47      The Committee heard 219 reports of inspectors visiting the Schools. Witnesses were not always 

          clear which government department the inspectors represented. There were reports of 

          government inspectors visiting the Schools who, it was believed, were primarily concerned with 

          the condition of the physical surroundings and reports of classroom inspectors, commonly 

          referred to as the Cigire. Witnesses believed that these inspectors were concerned with aspects 

          of their education and did not specifically address the individual care and welfare needs of the 

          residents. Sixty seven (67) witnesses reported the visits of medical inspectors, who conducted 

          routine physical inspections, including evaluating height, weight, hearing and sight. 



8.48      While witnesses reported they were generally not spoken to by the visiting inspectors, in the 

          period prior to 1970 one inspector was mentioned by 49 witnesses, including six who specifically 

          reported being spoken to directly: ‘There was a nice woman Inspector, she would speak to us, 

          we were coached in what to say though.’ 



8.49      The majority of witnesses reported advanced knowledge of the forthcoming inspections and the 

          Committee heard 123 accounts of special preparations being made, including cleaning, 

          polishing and, in some instances, painting the School prior to the visit. Others reported being 

          hidden during the inspectors’ visits because they were bruised or injured. Witnesses from one 

          School reported that newly renovated bathrooms were opened for inspectors’ visits and were 

          immediately relocked and not used again after they left. In another School residents were 

          moved to a new building for the duration of the inspector’s visit. Witnesses reported that special 

          provisions were made available to residents for the period of the inspection including special 

          clothing, extra bedding, improved food and the provision of toiletries. One hundred and sixteen 

          (116) witnesses reported that special clothing and bedding was provided to them prior to 

          inspections and 109 witnesses described having better and more plentiful food while the 

          inspection lasted. ‘A man walked around with 2 nuns. He did not speak to the children. Table 

          cloths and china was put out for the visit, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste was out as well and 

          taken back after the visit.’ 



8.50      In the period prior to 1970 toilet paper and toiletries such as soap and toothbrushes were 

          provided for the duration of inspections in most Schools: 



                We were told to be on our best behaviour, we were all lined up, I’d be dying to say 

                something but knew I would get into trouble. The floors were polished, new towels and 

                bars of soap would be put out, but you couldn’t touch them. When they left everything 

                was put back. 



8.51      In addition to the physical preparations, 62 witnesses reported being coached and warned about 

          how to behave and what to say to the inspectors’ and that staff were present for the duration of 

          the inspection. ‘We were all done up, afraid to blink an eye, we were schooled in what to say, 

          you knew you’d get punished.’ 



8.52      The Committee heard witness accounts of preparations that involved rehearsing songs, poems 

          and Irish dancing to perform for the inspectors who, apart from these appearances, were 

          described as mainly seen at a distance, accompanied by staff. The majority of witnesses who 

          recalled the inspections were clear that when the inspectors left all changes were reversed and 

          life returned to the way it had been. Exceptions to this were a small number of witness reports 

          of improvements in care and conditions following medical inspections. 



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           Officials, dignitaries and other visitors 



8.53       Witnesses reported that many official visitors and dignitaries visited the Schools over the years, 

           including: a President, ministers for education, bishops and other clergy, and local or national 

           figures. Other visitors recalled were members of charitable boards, commercial organisations, 

           voluntary groups and others whom the witnesses could not identify. Advance preparations for 

           such visits were reported. 



8.54       Witnesses described visits to the Schools by members of the public who were reported to 

           provide holiday placements for residents at weekends and during school holidays and were 

           referred to as ‘holiday’ families, ‘godparents’ and ‘foster’ families. Witnesses from a number of 

           Schools who had no known family contact, many of whom described themselves as orphans, 

           reported being sent regularly to the homes of these families. Another category of visitor 

           described by a small number of witnesses was prospective foster and adoptive parents who 

           they stated visited the Schools to select a child to foster or adopt. Witnesses described being 

           dressed for the occasion and ‘paraded’ with other residents in front of these visitors hoping to 

           be selected. 



8.55       Witnesses stated that they were usually not spoken to by visitors and were warned against 

           speaking to them: 



                 Visitors came, we always thought this was our chance to tell someone what was 

                 happening, but we never got near them, the place was lovely, food, clothes, all changed 

                 until they left. 



           Arrangements for discharge 



8.56       Witnesses who had spent most of their childhood in institutional care reported a sense of 

           displacement and bewilderment when discharged from the Schools. Many reported that the 

           transition from care provided an opportunity for freedom, but was also a time of disappointment 

           and loss. Three hundred and twenty five (325) female witnesses were in residential institutions 

           for between six and 18 years and many had only ever known life in an institution. 



8.57       One hundred and eighty (180) witnesses reported being discharged home or to the care of older 

           siblings and extended family. Those witnesses who had been able to maintain contact with their 

           parents, siblings and relatives through visits and holidays during their admission generally 

           reported a more positive outcome when discharged home. Others commented on the difficulty 

           they experienced reintegrating with families from whom they had been separated for a number 

           of years. 



                 My mother turned up the day before I was 16. I had not seen her for years. I was 

                 handed over to her and we couldn’t relate; I found it very hard to get on with the life and 

                 left for England. 



8.58       Witness reports about their discharge ranged between Schools who provided ongoing support 

           and follow-up to others where witnesses reported being discharged without any discussion or 

           plans, as discussed elsewhere. Forty six (46) witnesses reported being placed directly in 

           employment by School staff when they were discharged. Many expressed ambivalence about 

           the arrangements made for their aftercare. While the stability of accommodation and 

           employment was valued, many reported that the lack of preparation for leaving, including the 

           opportunity to say goodbye, was traumatic. 



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                 I found a bed-sit myself, I had to leave school as I had no way to feed myself, a teacher 

                 found a job for me in a local shop. 



8.59       A number of witnesses reported that live-in work arrangements were helpful, providing a place 

           to stay and some security in the absence of family or the necessary skills to live independently. 

           Nineteen (19) witnesses described their first employer as their ‘salvation’ in that they were kind, 

           treated them well and encouraged them to socialise and in some instances to pursue further 

           education or training. A small number of witnesses reported that they remained in their original 

           place of employment for many years and a number have maintained ongoing contact with their 

           former employers. 



8.60       Twenty nine (29) witnesses reported that when they found themselves in difficulty following 

           discharge, they received help and support from the religious staff in a number of Schools that 

           maintained an informal open-door policy for ex-residents. Three (3) witnesses reported being 

           assisted by religious staff when they became pregnant and were without other support. 



8.61       Witnesses from a small numbers of Schools reported that they were allowed to live in the 

           School for a period when they were first working while they were getting established. Others 

           reported being offered temporary employment and lodgings at their former School when work 

           placements were not satisfactory and reported being found jobs where they were able to train 

           and prosper. 



8.62       The Committee heard several reports from witnesses that former co-residents provided them 

           with a place to stay and assistance with finding work when they were discharged. The women 

           provided a substitute family network for witnesses who reported that they would otherwise have 

           been alone in the world. The witnesses also reported that for some this network of former co- 

           residents has remained a significant support throughout their lives. 



8.63       Fourteen (14) witnesses reported that they returned to the School for annual summer holidays, 

           in part because they had nowhere else to go, did not know how to make alternative 

           arrangements for themselves and did not want their work colleagues to know they had no 

           family. 



8.64       Nine (9) witnesses reported being discharged to their ‘holiday’ or ‘foster’ families where they 

           found safety, stability and, for some, life-long support. Other witnesses reported that these 

           families assisted with finding them work and supporting them to become independent following 

           their discharge. 



8.65       Some changes in practice and procedures for aftercare were reported by witnesses who were 

           discharged during and after the 1970s, with a small number of Schools establishing group 

           homes on the grounds of the old institutions and others providing supported semi-independent 

           living in associated hostels. The Committee heard 12 witness reports of places in hostels or 

           transition houses being found for witnesses when they were discharged. Five (5) of these 

           reports related to discharges after 1970. Other Schools provided practical and financial support 

           for residents to continue education and training. 



8.66       Four (4) witnesses reported being granted an early discharge to their parents following 

           representations made to various authorities. Two (2) witnesses remained at home, without 

           formal consent, following disclosure of abuse to their parents. Others became aware through 

           records they obtained under the Freedom of Information legislation1  that their parents had made 



           1  Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003. 



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         written representations to various authorities seeking their early release. Witnesses who had 

         previously felt abandoned gave accounts of being comforted by this information. 



8.67     Witness evidence of abuse experienced in the Schools is summarised in the following chapter, 

         much of which was reported to occur in the course of day-to-day life as described above. 



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            Chapter 9 



            Record of abuse (female witnesses) 



9.01       This chapter summarises the nature and extent of abuse reported to the Committee by 378 

           female witnesses in relation to Schools in Ireland that admitted girls. The 378 witnesses made 

           389 reports regarding four types of abuse specified by the Acts.1  They are physical and sexual 



           abuse, neglect and emotional abuse. Not all Schools were reported for each of the four types of 

           abuse. 



9.02       The report of abuse by a witness may either refer to a single episode or multiple experiences of 

            being abused in a School. In most instances reports of abuse refer to more than one episode of 

           abuse and more than one type of abuse. One hundred and twenty three (123) witness reports 

           (32%) were of all four types of abuse. Eleven (11) witnesses reported abuse in more than one 

           School. 



9.03       The chapter is divided into five parts that address each of the four abuse types and what was 

            known about the abuse at the time it occurred. The reports of abuse compiled in this chapter 

            refer to admissions to Schools between 1914 and 1988. Twelve (12) of these witness reports 

            refer to abuse in both Schools and ‘Other Institutions’. The reports of abuse in relation to ‘Other 

            Institutions’ are referred to in Chapters 12-18.2 



9.04        For the purpose of compiling this Report, witness evidence is presented by period of discharge 

           as follows: pre-1960s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Witnesses who were discharged in one period 

            may have spent time in care in the previous decade(s).3 



            Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child.4 



9.05       This section describes witness evidence of actual incidents of physical abuse, non-accidental 

            injury and lack of protection by failing to prevent such abuse, given in evidence by witnesses to 

           the Committee. Witnesses described being abused by many means including being beaten, 

            punched, bitten, kicked, slapped and bodily assaulted by hand and by implements, being force 

           fed, physically restrained, burned and subjected to deliberate physical cruelty. The Committee 

            heard disturbing accounts of severe assaults causing injuries. 



           1 A number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School, and made reports of abuse in more than one School, 



             therefore the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 

           2 ‘Other Institutions’ – includes: general, specialist and rehabilitation hospitals, foster homes, primary and second-level 



             schools, Children’s Homes, laundries, Noviciates, hostels and special needs schools (both day and residential) that 

             provided care and education for children with intellectual, visual, hearing or speech impairments and others. 

           3 For example: as witness evidence is presented according to the decade of discharge, a witness who spent 12 years in 



             a school and was discharged in 1962 will have been included in the 1960s cohort although the majority of that 

             witness’s experience will relate to the 1950s. 

           4 Section 1(1)(a). 



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           Nature and extent of physical abuse reported 



9.06       There were 383 reports of physical abuse given in evidence to the Committee by 374 witnesses 

           (99%) involving 39 Schools. Witnesses reported being physically abused by religious and lay 

           staff and other adults who were associated with the Schools. Witnesses also reported being 

           physically abused by co-residents. The number of witness reports heard in relation to physical 

           abuse in different Schools diverged widely: 

                   •    Three (3) Schools were collectively the subject 144 reports5 

                   •    Eight (8) Schools were the subject of 12-18 reports, totalling 119 reports 

                   •    Nine (9) Schools were the subject of 6-10 reports, totalling 74 reports 

                   •    Nineteen (19) Schools were the subject of 1-5 reports, totalling 46 reports. 



9.07       In most instances, reports of physical abuse were combined with reports of other types of 

           abuse. The following table illustrates the combinations of abuse types and the frequency with 

           which the different combinations were reported by witnesses: 



               Table 32: Physical Abuse Combined with Other Abuse Types – Female Industrial and 

                                                        Reformatory Schools 



                                 Abuse types                             Number of reports                      % 



             Physical, emotional and neglect                                     226                            59 



             Physical, emotional, neglect and sexual                             123                            32 



             Physical and neglect                                                 20                            5 



             Physical and emotional                                                8                            2 



             Physical                                                              3                             1 



             Physical, emotional and sexual                                        2                             1 



             Physical and sexual                                                   1                            (0) 



            Total reports                                                        383                          (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



9.08       One hundred and twenty three (123) witness reports (32%) were of all four types of abuse. With 

           six exceptions every report of abuse made by witnesses included reports of physical abuse and, 

           as indicated, physical abuse was most often reported in conjunction with emotional abuse and 

           neglect (59%). In 126 instances (33%), physical abuse was also reported with sexual abuse and 

           the Committee heard three witness reports of physical abuse only. 



9.09       As with male witnesses, the largest number of reports made to the Committee relates to 

           witnesses discharged during the 1960s. Table 33 shows the distribution of witness accounts of 

           physical abuse across the decades covered by this Report: 



           5 In order to maintain confidentiality further details regarding the numbers of abuse reports in these Schools cannot be 



             specified. 



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               Table 33: Number of Physical Abuse Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – 

                                        Female Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                  Decade of discharge               Number of physical abuse                           % 

                                                               reports 



                        Pre-1960s                                132                                   34 



                         1960-69                                 175                                   46 



                         1970-79                                  69                                   18 



                         1980-89                                  7                                    2 



                           Total                                 383                                  100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



9.10       Physical abuse was a component of the vast majority of abuse reported in all decades and 46% 

           of physical abuse reports refer to witnesses who were discharged from Schools between 1960 

           and 1969. It is noted, however, that approximately 50% of the witnesses discharged in the 

           1960s were in institutional care for most, if not all, of the previous decade. 



           Description of physical abuse 



9.11       The forms of physical abuse reported by witnesses ranged from being smacked on the hand to 

           being beaten naked in front of others. They described being hit, slapped, beaten, kicked, 

           pushed, pinched, burned, bitten, shaken violently, physically restrained, and force fed. The 

           Committee also heard reports of witnesses having their heads knocked against walls, desks and 

           window ledges, being beaten on the soles of their feet, the backs of their hands, around their 

           heads and ears, having their hair pulled, being swung off the ground by their hair, and made to 

           perform tasks that they stated put them at risk of harm and danger. The locations where 

           physical abuse was most frequently reported to have occurred included dormitories, refectories, 

           landings, corridors, classrooms, churches, offices, kitchens, work areas and recreation halls. 



                 (We were)... beaten everywhere, bang your head off the wall, pinch your cheeks, beat 

                 you with a cane.... She ...(Sr X)... would grab you and hit you. 



                                                                  • 



                 I remember once I got a big yellow blister on my hand, it was really painful.... Normally 

                 when you got a beating from someone you had to hold your hand out for a slap like that 

                 ... (demonstrated outstretched palm)... not always of course, some of them would hit 

                 you anywhere on the legs or anywhere. ... She ... (Sr X)... said “Why are you holding 

                 your hand out like that? Give me the other hand”....You have to have 10 on that hand 

                 and 10 on the other. I couldn’t part with this hand, it was yellow and throbbing it was, 

                 and she forced it open and slapped it. The blister burst, I’ll never forget the pain. 



9.12       Further forms of physical abuse described by witnesses involved being made to kneel for hours 

           on hard surfaces, both indoors and in outside yards, being locked in confined and dark areas 

           such as coal houses, furnace rooms, animal sheds, broom cupboards and fridges, made to 

           stand for lengthy periods and being doused and immersed in cold water. 



9.13       The physical abuse described by the majority of witnesses included both detailed accounts of 

           particular beatings and more generalised accounts of the daily experience of being hit and 

           otherwise physically abused or witnessing others being abused. 



           Implements of physical abuse 



9.14       The most commonly reported implement used to physically abuse a resident was some type of 

           a wooden stick. One hundred and sixty six (166) female witnesses reported being hit or beaten 

           with wooden sticks, blackthorn sticks, rulers, pointers, window poles, wooden spoons and other 



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          kitchen implements, chair legs, wooden crutches, hurley sticks, cricket bats, coat hangers, towel 

          rollers and sally rods. A further 77 witness reports were heard of being hit or beaten with 

          bamboo canes. ‘They would hit you anywhere, the nuns, with a wooden spoon, a silver spoon or 

          a cane. I remember I had the stripe of the cane on my leg, the mark.’ 



                I remember getting the spoon, the wooden spoon. Sr ...X... was running after me and I 

                was running from her, you would be all stinging and raw where she hit you. You would 

                be sore. 



9.15      Ninety nine (99) witness accounts were heard of being beaten with leather straps, including 

          cinctures, some ‘with strings attached to them’ and thin straps on occasion referred to as whips. 

          In addition there were a further eight accounts of witnesses being hit with large Rosary beads 

          and crucifixes that nuns wore at their waist. 



9.16      There were 37 witness reports of being beaten with brushes of various kinds, including hand 

          brushes, sweeping brushes, hairbrushes and yard brushes. 



                Once she ... (named lay care staff)... came into the dormitory and another girl and I 

                were talking, she went and got a wooden hairbrush and she came and pulled down my 

                pyjamas and she whacked me on the bottom. She whacked me so hard it was 

                impossible to sleep afterwards, and the next day it was still sore. 



9.17      Having objects such as a wooden statue, metal tray and knives thrown at them was reported as 

          a physical abuse by a small number of witnesses. 



9.18      In addition to being hit, witnesses reported that, at times they were burned, had water thrown 

          over them or were held under water, as described: 



                 •    Nineteen (19) witnesses reported being put into cold or scalding baths or 

                      showers. 



                 •    Twelve (12) witnesses reported having water thrown over them, five of whom were 

                      scalded with hot tea or water. 



                 •    Eight (8) witnesses reported having their heads held under water, including two 

                      whose heads were held under a cold running tap. 



                 •    Five (5) witnesses reported being burned with hot pokers or by having their hands 

                      held to a fire or on a hot stove. 



                 •    Two (2) witnesses reported having their fingers held to electric sockets. 



                One of the girls she was very sick. I let her come into my bed one morning, she was 

                very, very ill. They brought me down to the shoe room, they stripped me off, they threw 

                cold water over me ... (prior to severe beating).... It was the shoe room you know where 

                all the shoes were, even now if I get the smell of shoe polish, the feeling of 

                enclosement, it was awful. 



9.19      Six (6) witnesses gave accounts of nettles being used by nuns when punishing residents. They 

          described being pushed into patches of nettles, hit on the legs with them, and, in one instance, 

          their bed being full of nettles. ‘Sr ...X... put nettles in the bed of the girls who wet the bed.’ Other 

          witnesses described being pinched with pliers, jabbed with a knitting needle, hit with shoes, a 

          shovel, wet dishcloths, bunches of keys, serving spoons, scissors, electric cord and the treadle 

          belt from a sewing machine. 



          Circumstances of physical abuse 



9.20      Witnesses described being beaten and otherwise physically abused for many reasons and for 

          no reason at all, which created an environment of pervasive fear. They described physical 



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          abuse in the context of being punished for some misdemeanour, real or perceived, or simply for 

          being in the wrong place at the wrong time. ‘No reason was needed, I was hit because I could 

          be hit.’ Witnesses who had little or no family contact, those who were described as orphans, 

          were reported to be most vulnerable to harsh physical discipline. 



9.21      The most commonly reported circumstances that precipitated beatings were: bed-wetting, rule 

          breaking, ‘stealing’ food, perceived failure at work or educational tasks, soiled or torn clothing, 

          disclosing abuse to others, talking, untidiness, answering back, running away, left-handedness, 

          indiscipline, being cheeky, talking to boys, appearing to engage male attention, having fun and 

          refusing to eat. Other behaviours for which witnesses reported being physically abused included: 

          perceived misbehaviour of younger siblings, babies in their care crying, being sick, linking arms 

          with another resident and not getting up in the morning when called. As one witness said: ‘I 

          suppose I was bold, but how bold can a child of 9 be?’. 



9.22      There were consistent reports from witnesses of particularly harsh and humiliating methods of 

          physical punishment and abuse for certain behaviours, for example bed-wetting, running away, 

          school work and not meeting the required standard for hygiene and personal care. 



          Bed-wetting and soiling 



9.23      One hundred and seven (107) witnesses (28%) reported being beaten and otherwise physically 

          punished for bed-wetting during their time in Schools. The Committee also heard a small 

          number of accounts of physical abuse for soiling. There were accounts heard of severe abuse 

          for bed-wetting and soiling by witnesses discharged in all decades up to and including the 

          1980s. It was reported as routine for residents to have their beds inspected in the morning and 

          those with wet sheets were punished. Witnesses reported being beaten for bed-wetting in the 

          morning and/or in some Schools again at night, either on the hands or bare buttocks, with a 

          cane, strap or wooden brush. Witnesses described the usual procedure for managing wet 

          bedclothes was to take the wet sheets from the bed and either carry them to the laundry or to a 

          drying room. Twenty three (23) witnesses reported standing with their wet sheet on their head or 

          shoulder outside the Sister’s office, often that of the Resident Manager, waiting to be beaten. 

          Twenty seven (27) witnesses also reported being made to wear their wet sheets during 

          breakfast, to the classroom or while saying the Rosary. 



                If you wet the bed, Sr ...X... made you stand out at the bed with the sheet over your 

                head, if you fell asleep she would come out with the stick. She hit you on the back and 

                then you would be so sore you couldn’t sleep. 



                                                             • 



                You’d be hammered, I used to get killed for it ...(soiling the bed).... Sr ...X... with a cane 

                she used to call me into a small room, she’d be pacing up and down, she would lay into 

                me. 



                                                             • 



                Every night you ...(bed-wetters)... would have to stand at the end of your bed, holding 

                on to the bed, she ...(lay care staff)... would tell you to face straight ahead, in your 

                nightdress, she would hit you with a steel coat hanger, other staff would hold up the 

                nightdress. If you got into bed and cried you would have to get out and the same would 

                happen again. 



                                                             • 



                I started wetting the bed. I don’t remember wetting the bed before I was about 6 or 7. 

                There were about 30 of us in the dormitory, only a handful of us wet the bed. We had to 

                stay with the younger ones until we stopped wetting the bed and in my case that was 

                about 10 or 11.... We had long brown mackintoshes ... (rubber sheets)... under our 

                sheets, I remember pulling the sheets off so you wouldn’t wet the sheet, if you wet the 



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                mackintosh maybe nobody would notice. We had to bring our wet sheets to the girl in 

                charge who would swipe you across the face with it and bring you in to the dressing 

                room for a flogging. I remember trying so hard not to wet the bed.... I remember sitting 

                on the toilet and falling asleep, going back to bed and still waking up soaking wet. 



9.24      Witnesses described the distress they experienced observing their younger siblings being 

          physically punished for bed-wetting. Many described protecting them from beatings by any 

          means, including pretending that they had wet the beds themselves and taking the punishment 

          instead of their siblings. They also described hiding wet sheets and trying to dry sheets in 

          advance of an inspection. In some instances witnesses reported swapping their sibling’s wet 

          sheet with that of another resident who was then punished instead. 



                The girls who wet the bed got beaten. I never wet the bed but my sister did and my 

                older sister and I used to get up early and make sure her bed was dry so that she didn’t 

                get hit, the babies who wet the bed got beaten. We would change her bed. I know it’s a 

                horrible thing but we would change the bed with someone else, so that she did not get 

                hit and if we didn’t get time we’d change her with our own bed and we’d take the 

                beating. We just didn’t want her to get hit, she was only a baby. The punishment was, 

                beaten with a leather strap all over. The nun used to get a big girl to go around and 

                check what one was wet, what one was dry. You couldn’t save everyone you know. 



9.25      Other methods of punishment described for bed-wetting in a small number of Schools were 

          being locked in a cupboard, put into cold baths, beaten with nettles, and put into clothes dryers 

          and other confined spaces. Six (6) witnesses from one School reported being made to spend 

          the night outside in the pig sty or locked under the stairs as punishment for bed-wetting. 



          Classroom education 



9.26      The Committee heard evidence from 58 witnesses of being physically abused in the classroom. 

          They reported being hit on the back of the legs, knuckles, backs or palms of hands with sticks, 

          canes, rulers and straps. Witnesses stated that the precipitants for punishment included, not 

          giving the right answer, academic inability, talking, ‘being cheeky’, inability to speak Irish, left- 

          handedness, and making mistakes, for instance in needlework or playing a musical instrument. 

          Witnesses who attended ‘outside’ school in the local area frequently stated that they were 

          beaten for being late and not having homework done as a result of the competing demands on 

          them to do domestic chores in the School. 



                There was one nun, a teacher, who beat me black and blue, there were lumps and 

                bruises on the back of me hands. All this beating was over Irish lessons which I never 

                used since. 



                                                              • 



                I was left handed, they used to tie my hand. You were told to pick your stick, you were 

                told to pick out your bamboo ...(to be beaten with).... The more you screamed the more 

                you got beaten.... If you pulled back your hand you got an extra beating. 



9.27      A number of witnesses reported being beaten every day in class because, due to learning 

          difficulties, they were unable to learn. 



                I had an awful problem in the classroom, I had a problem reading. The more you made 

                mistakes ... it was terrible ... she ...(Sr X)... would humiliate you, and it stays with you. 

                Sr ...X... used hit me with this long belt, they used to have this long belt, they didn’t care 

                where they hit you it was just wallop, wallop. 



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          Work 



9.28      Forty seven (47) witnesses reported being physically abused in the context of work activities in 

          the Schools. They described being required to work, both inside and outside the Schools, in 

          many areas, in the kitchens, laundries, bakeries, workrooms, gardens, farms, bogs, convents 

          and residences of clergy, from as young as five years of age. Witnesses reported being beaten 

          as they worked scrubbing and polishing the floors of corridors, dormitories, refectories and 

          staircases, and being beaten for not working fast enough or to the satisfaction of whoever was 

          overseeing the work. 



                There was the scrubbing, the drying, the polishing and if there was one speck you 

                would have to do it all over again, she ... (lay care staff) ... would then hit you. She had 

                total control, the nun just passed through, they were in the convent, they had nothing to 

                do with us. I hated 3 o’clock in the afternoon because I had to go back to the work and 

                they ... (town children) ... were going home ... from school, you were going back to her. 

                You got beaten for nothing, she had free rein. Sometimes it would be a wooden brush, 

                hair brush or a wooden spoon from the drawer. She also had a leather with a buckle 

                she would hit you with it, but not with the buckle, the other end of the belt. 



                                                             • 



                We would be put down in the dining hall, a massive big room, down on your knees, this 

                would be a punishment, scrubbing, constantly on your knees. That was a punishment, 

                you couldn’t get up out of there until it was all clean, clean. 



9.29      Witnesses reported being physically abused in the performance of other domestic tasks such as 

          not getting fires lit in time to heat water, scorching clerical vestments and religious habits, 

          cutting themselves while slicing loaves of bread, dropping crockery, not chopping enough sticks 

          or carrying enough coal, getting their clothes dirty while carrying coal, dropping trays while 

          serving visitors in the parlours and burning bread in the bakery. 



9.30      It was consistently reported that residents in charge of younger co-residents were punished for 

          any perceived transgressions committed by the children for whom they were providing care. 

          Witnesses reported being punished if their ‘charge’ wet their bed, wet or soiled their clothes or in 

          other ways failed to do what they were expected to do. 



                The older girls, we would have “charges”, would be in charge of the younger girls. We 

                would have to get up in the night and take them out to the ...toilet.... If they happened to 

                wet the bed you would get beaten for it. They couldn’t help wetting the bed, but you got 

                beaten for that.... If your charge was found with lice in their hair you would be punished 

                for it, you were supposed to keep one another’s hair clean. 



9.31      The Committee heard evidence that some work activities involved safety risks for the residents, 

          for example being given responsibility for lighting and maintaining furnace fires, carrying heavy 

          pots of boiling water and food, cleaning windows on upper floors and being sent alone to work 

          for people who were unknown to them. Other witnesses reported that being taken out of class 

          and being deprived of recreation was punitive. Certain work tasks were considered physically 

          abusive in themselves; for example, four witnesses reported having to clear blocked drains and 

          toilets with their bare hands on a regular basis as physically abusive. 



                I was seldom allowed out to the yard to play with the other kids. I remember that I was 

                washing nappies, doing the washing, servile work, out in the ... yard, breaking sticks, I 

                was about 9 or 10 maybe. The working continued until I left. I remember being out in 

                the ... yard, and to the best of my memory they were like floorboards, piles of old 

                floorboards, like from old buildings and we had to chop them up into small sticks for the 

                fire. I was in possession of a hatchet, I remember hitting it off the concrete and watching 



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                the sparks fly, thinking maybe I’d like to be hitting something else. We’d be out there 

                hail, rain or snow. I’d be burned in the summer and soaked in the winter. 



                                                             • 



                At 12 years I was taken out of school to work. I got the 9 toilets to do ...(cleaning 

                toilets)... then I had to work in the kitchen.... Then there was the chickens we used to 

                have to put the head of the chicken under the handle of a brush and twist its neck, you 

                know, then it would be dead and we used to have to put it in a bucket of hot water to 

                pluck the feathers. I never saw the chickens after that, I don’t remember ever eating 

                chicken. I used to see other girls ... (when working)... and I’d see them in the summer 

                holiday, and they would be typing but I didn’t, I didn’t get that chance. ... I don’t know 

                why. 



          Personal care 



9.32      One hundred and thirty three (133) witnesses cited various aspects of personal care as the 

          focus of physical abuse. Torn or dirty clothing was reported to provoke punishment, as did 

          losing hair clips, shoe buckles, hair ribbons and handkerchiefs. Witnesses also reported being 

          beaten if they failed an inspection for cleanliness following bathing or washing. Others reported 

          that they were beaten for not having their socks pulled up properly, poor posture, for wearing a 

          bra and for having long, untidy or lice infested hair. 



                We washed our feet at night time in very, very cold water, it was out in a back yard.... 

                There would be a couple of old towels there to dry them. You then went in and had to 

                kneel down for the inspection. There was this lady there ...(lay care staff).... If there was 

                one speck on your feet, she whipped you across the legs with a cane and you were put 

                out again. If there was a speck on your sheet the Reverend Mother would come up and 

                you were lined up for a thrashing.... She had a certain way of doing it. She’d get the 

                lady to hold your hand and she’d beat you until she was tired and then she’d beat the 

                other. 



                                                             • 



                One lay member of staff ...X... she was cruel, she was absolutely cruel. There was one 

                punishment she gave me that I will never forget it in my life. She used to say “hold your 

                head up”, she was very nasty. She got my hair and she tied it and she pulled my head 

                back like that ... (demonstrated hair being tied to belt at back holding head up in fixed 

                position) ... and she got a string and she tied it up. Oh the pain of it. So my head was 

                up like that, held like that for a couple days, that is why I will never forget it. The nuns 

                knew of it but they gave her a free hand. 



9.33      Thirty seven (37) witnesses reported being beaten for having soiled sheets or pants and/or 

          seeking sanitary protection when menstruating. Facilities for managing menstruation were widely 

          reported as poor and witnesses described being fearful of asking for sanitary protection. This 

          fear inevitably led to clothes and sheets being soiled, and consequent punishment. The lack of 

          toilet paper and washing facilities were reported by witnesses to contribute further to soiled 

          underwear. 



                Queuing up for your underwear once a fortnight, I always dreaded it. They would check 

                your underwear and if they were soiled you would get whacked for it with a hand brush, 

                21 times. It was ...named lay care staff... who done it. ... So on Wednesday night you 

                would wash it and wear it wet so that you wouldn’t get hit. 



                                                             • 



                The washroom was known as the most fearful, there was no escape.... If the toothpaste 

                was all gone by the end of the year you got beaten. Then there was the underwear, you 

                all had to undress in front of everybody and then you would have to walk up to her 



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                ...(lay care staff)... with your underwear, if it was stained you had to wear it on your 

                head and stand there and then you got beaten by her. 



9.34       Head lice and scabies were reported as contributing to the risk of physical abuse in the form of 

           head shaving, hair cutting and ‘body-painting’ with white emulsion. The manner in which these 

          treatments were undertaken was the source of many witness reports of physical abuse. The 

          emulsion caused skin irritation and was reported to have been applied in a rough manner with 

           large brushes. 



9.35       Fourteen (14) witnesses who were discharged prior to 1970 reported having teeth taken out 

          without any anaesthetic. Witnesses reported that crying when teeth were being extracted led to 

           physical abuse by accompanying staff members in a number of instances. 



           Rule breaking 



9.36      The Committee heard evidence of witnesses being physically punished for rule breaking. 

           Examples of rule breaking were talking during ‘silent periods’, running in corridors, entering 

           places that were out-of-bounds, fainting or coughing in church, getting out of bed at night, being 

           in another resident’s bed, talking to boys and being thought to seek male attention and talking to 

          town children. Examples of being punished for rule breaking included the following witness 

          accounts: 



                It was a cruel harsh place.... It was illegal to go out. ... Our letters were always opened 

                and read, she ...(Mth X)... asked “who posted this letter you wrote to your mother?” She 

                came into the dining hall where we eat our meal. ... I knew I was in deep trouble. Sr 

                ...Y... came right up to me and told me “you posted the letters, why didn’t you own up?” 

                I said I was afraid, she said to me “you go right up to Mth ...X...”. She was outside 

                 walking, I told her I posted the letter, she drew out and she hit me across the face 

                several times and “now”, she said, “go down and stand up on the table in the refectory 

                and when I go down I will deal with you”. I went down and took my shoes off and stood 

                 up on the table. She came down and told me to go up to her room. She sent ...lay care 

                staff... to get the cane, she beat me and beat me and beat me, it went on for weeks 

                every time she would pass, she would be walking, she beat me on the legs with a cane. 

                 Once when I felt faint I went to pass out, they said I was as white as a sheet, I heard 

                her say “it’s not my fault I didn’t do anything to her”. ... It was Mth ...X... she was the 

                one who would do all the beatings, after that she began to ease off on me, she got ...lay 

                care staff... to help, if ...lay care staff... wasn’t around she did it on her own too. 



                                                                • 



                 Well this night she ...co-resident... was having fits and I was frightened and I got into the 

                bed of another girl. The nun come up in the morning and found us, she made us sleep 

                on the concrete floor, locked in the cloakroom for 3 nights for getting into the bed of 

                another girl. We didn’t know what we had done wrong. 



9.37       Rules of silence were enforced in most Schools at some part of the day. Witnesses discharged 

           in the period up to 1970 reported in many Schools it was routine for work and most day-to-day 

          activities to be conducted in silence, as described: 



                 The silence was terrible, we suffered in silence, hours and hours of silence, worked in 

                silence and got a severe beating if caught talking. 



9.38      Witnesses described how as children they were forced to lie in their beds in certain positions 

           including: on their backs with their arms crossed over their chests, on their right side, arms 

          crossed and facing the chapel or with their arms crossed on top of the bedclothes. Inspections 

          were carried out and children woken and, in some instances, physically punished if found not 

           lying correctly. 



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                  You had to sleep with hands out like this ...(demonstrating position)... and your fingers 

                  touching you shoulders it was like that and it was very uncomfortable, if you moved you 

                  got a beating. 



9.39       Witnesses reported that they were punished for answering back, being assertive, defending 

           others or attempting to intervene on their behalf in the course of a beating. These behaviours 

           were described as frowned upon and heavily sanctioned. 



9.40       Refusing to eat was another reported precursor to punishment as it was generally expected that 

           all food would be eaten. Witnesses described nausea, distaste and illness as reasons for 

           refusing to eat. Forty one (41) witnesses reported being forced to eat, frequently by having their 

           heads held and mouths prised open. Seven (7) witnesses reported being beaten for refusing to 

           eat and eight others reported being physically forced to eat regurgitated food. 



                  I remember sitting at the table and, excuse me now, but being forced to eat my own 

                  vomit because you were not allowed leave the table until you eat, if you didn’t eat it I 

                  would get a slap for retching. Sr ...X... hit on the head. They used to hit with the ring 

                  they had on their finger or with the knuckles on the head or with a steel comb. The food 

                  would be there the next day and it would be left there until you eat it, you would be days 

                  without eating and there would be mould on it, so you would have to eat it. 



9.41       Taking food from the kitchen, pantry, fields, gardens, scrap buckets and animal houses was 

           regarded as rule breaking and punished accordingly. Twenty two (22) witnesses reported being 

           beaten for ‘stealing’ food. All reported that they took the food because they were hungry or in 

           some instances because it was irresistibly appetising as in the case of scraps from the convent 

           kitchen or the priests’ breakfast tray. 



                  I was hungry, I took an apple. ... I took it off the ground, one of the nuns caught me ... 

                  and she gave me a slap on the face ... and she said “when you come in I want to see 

                  you”. I was kind of afraid, I was kinda confused. I said to myself “will I get over the 

                  railings or what will I do?” ... Anyway they called me out and 6 nuns held me and they 

                  cut my hair ...crying.... I just can’t believe that some people would do that to me. I don’t 

                  know why they done that, if I had done something, I don’t know why they done it, I did 

                  nothing wrong, I was hungry. 



           Absconding – running away 



9.42       Twenty one (21) witnesses reported running away for reasons including physical and sexual 

           abuse. Eleven (11) witnesses who ran away reported being severely beaten when they were 

           returned to the School. Nine (9) of these witnesses were returned by the Gardai and described 

                                                                                                           ´ 

           often being greeted warmly on their return and later beaten by one or more Sisters when the 

           Gardai had left. Five (5) witnesses reported being beaten in a small room separate from the 

                   ´ 

           other girls. 



9.43       Witnesses consistently reported that residents who absconded were severely beaten in a small 

           number of Schools either naked or partially clothed when they were returned. The public nature 

           and severity of the beatings were described as traumatic, serving as a caution against 

           absconding and leaving a lasting impression on those who witnessed them. 



                  The police took us back, it was the second time I ran away. I was stripped to my 

                  knickers, Sr ...X... was supposed to hold me and she started beating me as well as Sr 

                  ...Y.... I was 13 years, I was beaten in the rec in front of everybody, it did not happen in 

                  that way again. 



9.44       Other punishments for absconding reported by witnesses included three witness accounts of 

           being locked in small rooms and given bread and water or cocoa for several days after running 



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           away. Other witnesses described seeing co-residents following such beatings with their heads 

           shaved, bruised and marked. A number of witnesses reported having their hair cut or head 

           shaved as a punishment for running away. 



                  They cut my hair ... they had this big thing, a blade, you know like an old man shaving, 

                  one of the nuns just had this thing on my head like a man for shaving himself. 



                                                                    • 



                  I suppose we were about 9 or thereabouts, 3 girls from the orphanage got out, they ran 

                  away and got about 12 miles.... They were caught by the Gardai and brought back. Not 

                                                                                              ´ 

                  that night but maybe the next night, we were all brought to this inner parlour. ... There 

                  was tiered seating in each parlour ... we had to sit and watch. They ...(Sr X and Sr Y)... 

                  were there, and Sr ...Z... was brought over from the convent, this was all planned, she 

                  was to beat these girls who ran away. Sr ...Z... she was really, really cruel we were 

                  terrified of her, Sr ...X... and Sr ...Y ... and she took out the leg of a chair, it was the leg 

                  of a chair, that’s as true as I’m sitting here sitting looking at your face, she took it out 

                  from under her garb, and she lashed into these girls and we were all terrified. We were 

                  spectators, an exhibition was made out of them and she beat those girls into pulp for 

                  running away. She took the leg of a chair back to the convent with her because they did 

                  not want us to see it. That has stayed with me, to this day I have nightmares about it. 



           Specific practices used in physical abuse 



9.45       Witnesses reported that staff at times employed severe practices that increased the traumatic 

           impact of the physical abuse to which they were subjected. The most frequently reported such 

           practices were ‘thrashing’, delayed punishment, being beaten by more than one person and in 

           front of others. 



           Severe beatings and thrashing 



9.46       Reports were heard of witnesses being severely beaten, the reason for which was not always 

           clear to them. A number reported being severely beaten following disclosures of abuse, running 

           away, and rule breaking. Other beatings were reported to be unpredictable and generally 

           attributed to a small number of the named religious and lay staff. The most severe forms of such 

           beatings were attributed to nine nuns. These beatings were generally referred to as ‘thrashings’, 

           ‘whippings’ or ‘floggings’ and were described as physical assaults that were often administered 

           in front of others. 



9.47       The Committee heard 69 witness accounts of beatings by more than one person in relation to a 

           small number of Schools, including nine that referred to witnesses more recently discharged in 

           the 1970s. Such beatings were by two or more staff beating the witness simultaneously or one 

           beating the witness while others, including co-residents, held them down. The role of the second 

           person was either to hold the child being beaten or to participate in the beating. The public 

           nature of these beatings was described by witnesses as a further component of the abuse that 

           had a lasting traumatic effect. Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported being stripped of all their 

           clothing to be beaten and another 41 witnesses reported being beaten partially naked either 

           privately or in front of co-residents in areas including the dormitories, refectories or classrooms. 

           Witnesses also reported being restrained to be beaten; for example, seven witnesses reported 

           that their wrists were tied to the frame of the bed that they were lain across, either naked or with 

           their nightdress pulled up. 



9.48       Others described being made to bend over chairs or other furniture to be beaten on their bare 

           bottom, backs of their legs and backs. Attempts to escape from the beating resulted in being 

           beaten more severely. Witnesses reported that severe beatings at times caused injury, drew 

           blood and generally left the witness marked with bruises, welts or red marks. One witness 

           described her bottom looking ‘like a plaid skirt’ after a beating. 



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                She ... (Sr X)... brought me upstairs, she’d throw you on the first bed inside the 

                dormitory door, she put me across the bed naked, it was always naked, herself and Sr 

                ...Y... and tied me to the bed with a sort of a tweedy rope. She had this thing of tying 

                you to the bed, an iron bed, you know, and you couldn’t move then... She would beat 

                you with the leather strap and count to 100 as she was beating. Then she’d say “get up 

                and go down and do your homework”. I know I was beaten often with a strap but I was 

                beaten like that 5 or 6 times. If you cried you got worse so I learned not to cry. 



                                                             • 



                She ...(Sr X)... literally took off your underwear and got one of the bigger girls to hold 

                your hands and another held your legs and literally walloped you until you were 

                bleeding and you were hot and sticky and you went to bed and slept that off if you 

                could. ... (It would)... leave bumps on you. 



                                                             • 



                If you did something bad during the day you would be laid across the table in the 

                refectory, you would be beaten on the behind with the cane and anywhere else if you 

                used your elbow to protect yourself. I was sent to the middle of the room, with all the 

                children standing around so they could see. The other girls would be in the refectory, 

                you would be beaten on the behind, your skirt lifted up. She ...(Sr X)... would have them 

                there watching you, some of them would be crying, they would be scared. 



                                                             • 



                After school I was told to go and wait at the top of the stairs, to a small room where Sr 

                ...X... and Sr ...Y... would make you kneel with your knickers down. They would beat 

                you on the bare backside with a stick, sometimes you would have to hold each other 

                down. If you were on your own they would hold you by the hair ... 6 severe whacks with 

                a stick, if you jumped around you would get more. 



9.49      The Committee heard evidence from 31 witnesses of what they believed was a loss of control 

          by staff to the point where other residents or staff intervened to protect a resident. They 

          described the person beating them as ‘in a lather of sweat’ and ‘out of control’. In relation to the 

          most severe beatings witnesses described nuns being very angry and being in a rage. A small 

          number of witnesses described being beaten to the point that they feared for their own lives 

          and/or thought that the person beating them would collapse or suffer a heart attack. 



                I remember her putting that cane in water and then whacking us, the cane had a crook 

                and she would catch us around the neck. Mth ...X... she would loose control her eyes 

                would roll, she would really flip, she would be in a sweat, her face would be so red. 



          Delayed punishment 



9.50      Witnesses from a small number of Schools stated that at times the more severe beatings were 

          administered in a deliberate and planned manner. They described being made to wait, 

          sometimes overnight for beatings by the Resident Manager or other religious staff. In a number 

          of Schools it was reported that the Resident Manager publicly called out the names of residents 

          who were to be beaten, at a later time, by another Sister. They reported that being sent to wait 

          in a particular place generally indicated a more severe beating. Witnesses variously reported 

          being ‘sent to the office’, to ‘wait by your bed’, ‘stand on the landing’, ‘stand in the refectory’ and 

          ‘wait outside the chapel’. Fifteen (15) witnesses reported being left waiting for lengthy periods of 

          time, sometimes in the dark, naked or in their nightdress, to be physically punished. Others 

          described waiting with co-residents for their turn to be beaten. Some witnesses described the 

          waiting as often worse than the beating. 



                She ... Sr ...X... would hit you with a cane in public, but she would hit you in private too. 

                She would make me go to the dormitory and wait by my bed, I knew then it was going 



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                 to be a bad one. ... I’d have to get into my nightdress, and wait and when Sr ...X... 

                 would arrive I’d have to take it off. She’d beat on the bare bottom, she’d work up such a 

                 sweat I thought she was going to get a heart attack. She’d ... be breathless, no matter 

                 how you yelled you were sorry, you weren’t sorry enough I guess. 



                                                                   • 



                 She ...(Sr X)... had cuffs in her pocket, she’d take the cuffs out, we used make them, 

                 things you know you would put them up over your sleeves to protect whatever they had. 

                 She pulled the skirt up, they had a big wide skirt you know, and she’d pin the veil back 

                 over her shoulder like hair. She was getting herself ready, and she took her time doing it 

                 eyeballing me all the time, then she’d take out the strap, all rolled up in her pocket she 

                 carried it with her all the time on her, the keys were on a strap, she’d hit you with them, 

                 big huge keys too. 



           Injuries 



9.51       Witnesses made 136 reports of sustaining injuries as a result of physical abuse. Many 

           witnesses reported more than one injury and 109 (80%) of the reports refer to admissions prior 

           to 1970. The injuries included broken bones, head injuries and damage to eyes and ears, 

           lacerations that required stitches as well as injuries to their backs, legs and arms. Thirty three 

           (33) witnesses reported that they attended hospital with injuries received following physical 

           abuse by religious and lay staff, eight of whom said that no questions were asked about how 

           their injuries occurred. 



                  •     Fifty seven (57) witnesses reported bleeding and/or being marked with welts and 

                        bruises following physical assaults. 



                  •     Nineteen (19) witnesses reported receiving injuries to their head, four of whom lost 

                        consciousness. 



                  •     Eighteen (18) witnesses reported being attended by a local doctor for treatment of 

                        their injuries, including witnesses who had partially severed earlobes reattached. 



                  •     Thirteen (13) witnesses reported being left untreated following physical assault and 

                        injury. 



                  •     Thirteen (13) witnesses reported receiving eye or ear injuries following assault with a 

                        strap, stick or brush. 



                  •     Sixteen (16) witnesses reported broken noses or bones in their hands or arms. 

                  •     Ten (10) witnesses reported being scalded, burned by a hot poker or having their 

                        hands held over a fire. 



                  •     Nine (9) witnesses reported that as a result of beatings they were unable to sit, walk 

                        or move a limb for a time. 



                  •     Six (6) witnesses reported injuries with knives, in some instances requiring stitches. 

                  •     Four (4) witnesses reported treatment for infections caused by imbedded splinters 

                        and brush bristles as a result of beatings. 



                 My wrist broke, it was a nun broke it with a hurley ... (while beating witness)... there was 

                 metal bands around them. She whacked me, she caught me there ... (indicated spot on 

                 arm)... oh the pain it was awful, I was cheeky or something. When it’s going to be bad 

                 weather it hurts. 



                                                                   • 



                 She ...(Sr X)... had a pointer stick, you would have to put out your left hand and then 

                 your right. One time, after a beating from her I had to go to the infirmary and ...(Sr Y)... 

                 she put iodine on it ...(injured arm)... for me and I had to wear a sling on my arm, she 

                 made a timber sling from wood for me. 



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                                                             • 



                Two nuns ...Sr X and Sr Y ...(beat me).... I was in bits, Jesus Christ, it was just awful. 

                They left me all night, it was cold there ...(shoe room)... the next morning they took me 

                out, I was in bits I was all black and blue.... They took me to the infirmary and the nun 

                there said “my God we are going to have to get her to hospital”, they said “no”. They left 

                me in the infirmary. 



9.52      The Committee heard from a number of witnesses that they were denied visits from their 

          parents or were kept in bed, out of sight from visiting family members and inspectors, including 

          seven witnesses who gave evidence of being hidden from visiting inspectors, because they 

          were bruised or otherwise injured following beatings. 



9.53      There were 16 reports from witnesses of injury in one particular School, including three 

          accounts of being unable to walk following a severe beating and four accounts of head injury. 

          One witness reported being unconscious following a beating by two Sisters and then being 

          hidden from the visiting doctor. Another witness reported the following experience of being 

          severely beaten in the same School: 



                Sr ...X... she took me by the top of the uniform and pulled me into the kitchen she gave 

                me 16 of the best across the knuckles with the pantry roller.... At first I couldn’t feel the 

                pain because I was after being in such pain with the chilblains. Then she said “16 on 

                the back”.... She didn’t get to finish the 16 on my legs the sweat was running off her so 

                much. It was only when I went to move I collapsed, I couldn’t move with the pain, my 

                knees were twisted.... She called in 3 girls to help me up to my bed and there I stayed 

                for almost 3 months. I couldn’t move with the pain in my hands and my legs and I never 

                even got a tablet. She told me not to open my mouth or if I did I’d get worse. I was 

                warned to keep it to myself, I had an accident that was it. 



9.54      Five (5) witnesses from another School reported injuries, including two who gave accounts of 

          hospital admissions for head injuries in the 1960s. There were no injuries reported in any other 

          period for this School. It is of note that in both this School and the School mentioned in the 

          previous paragraph, the Resident Managers at the time were identified by witnesses as the 

          perpetrators of many reports of severe beatings and abuse. 



          Reported abusers 



9.55      Three hundred and seventy four (374) witnesses identified 354 people by name as physically 

          abusive. Witnesses reported being physically abused by a variety of staff, religious and lay, who 

          they understood were engaged as Resident Managers, teachers, nurses, care and ancillary 

          staff. It should be noted that Resident Managers or their designated deputies were authorised 

          as Disciplinarians, as regulated. 



9.56      In addition to reports of physical abuse by both religious and lay staff, there were a small 

          number of adults not employed as staff, but associated with the Schools who were named as 

          physical abusers. Witnesses also reported being abused by co-residents. In addition to those 

          named as physically abusive by witnesses, there were six religious staff, 20 co-residents and 11 

          lay staff who were identified by their position but not by name. 



9.57      The following table lists by position held those reported as physical abusers by witnesses: 



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               Table 34: Position and Number of Reported and Named Physical Abusers – Female 

                                             Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



               Position held by named physical abusers                        Males                      Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                       0                           54 



            - Care staff                                                        0                           130 



            - Teacher                                                           0                           42 



            - Ancillary worker                                                  0                           15 



            - External priest or other clergy                                   4                            0 



            Lay 



            - Care staff                                                        0                           50 



            - Teacher                                                           0                           14 



            - Ancillary worker                                                  2                           15 



            Weekend or holiday placement carer                                  1                            2 



            Work placement provider                                             0                            2 



            Co-resident                                                         0                           23 



            Total                                                               7                          347 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



9.58       As Table 34 shows the majority of those reported as physically abusive were female religious 

           staff, reflecting the staffing profile in institutions in the period up to the 1970s. The witnesses 

           described the different staff by name and according to their understanding of the staff person’s 

           position and role within the School. 



9.59       The term ‘care staff’ is used for the purpose of this Report to describe religious and lay staff 

           whose main contact with the witnesses was in the context of their everyday care. Those 

           described above as care staff were in charge of the dormitories and activities of daily living such 

           as washing, dressing, meals and recreation. Care staff were described as having a more 

           supervisory function and the ancillary workers were described as having designated tasks such 

           as working in the laundries, kitchens or the Schools’ grounds and farms. Witnesses generally 

           believed that care staff employed in the Schools prior to the 1970s did not have professional 

           training and reported that a small number were ex-residents of the Schools. Authority figures 

           were generally religious staff who held what were perceived by the witnesses to be positions of 

           authority. They were described as ‘in charge’, Officer in Charge, Sister in Charge, Reverend 

           Mother or Resident Manger. The external male clergy who were described as physically abusive 

           were reported to be priests and others of higher rank who at times provided a pastoral service 

           to the School. 



           Religious (staff and others) 



9.60       Witnesses named 241 religious Sisters and four members of the clergy as physically abusive. 

           The Committee heard evidence about a small number of Schools where named religious staff 

           were reported as physically abusive by many different witnesses and in other Schools single 

           witness reports were heard about many named abusers. For example, three Schools were the 

           subject of 144 (38%) physical abuse reports, 72 of which were made in relation to two Sisters. 



                  •     Four (4) Sisters were named as physical abusers by 125 witnesses. 

                  •     Seventy six (76) Sisters were named as physical abusers by between 2-9 witnesses. 

                  •     Five (5) Sisters were named as physical abusers by between 10-20 witnesses. 



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                 •   One hundred and sixty (160) religious, 156 Sisters and four members of the clergy, 

                      were named as physical abusers in single witness accounts. 



9.61      Among the 241 religious Sisters reported as abusive, 54 were identified as authority figures or 

          the Resident Managers in charge of the Schools and 130 were described as care staff. In 

          addition, 42 Sisters were described as teachers and 15 as ancillary workers occupied in the 

          kitchens, laundries, sewing rooms and on the farms. The four members of the clergy identified 

          as physically abusive were reported to have pastoral and other roles within the Schools and 

          were described by witnesses as physically abusing them in different circumstances. A witness 

          who was constantly punished for bed-wetting reported that she prayed and asked for guidance 

          to stop bed-wetting. She reported the following consequences: 



                I went to one nun and said “I had this dream that I saw God coming off the cross and 

                he won’t let me wet the bed anymore”. I got a belt with her hand across the face. So 

                she marched me down to the priest, made me go to Confession, I was to denounce the 

                devil and all my sins. ... When I went in to make Confession I knew something was 

                going to happen. I said “I saw God and he said I wasn’t going to wet the bed anymore”. 

                I was made make a Confession, it was the same priest as said Mass every day. He 

                brought me into the ...room... and he said “denounce the devil or you will go to hell”. ... I 

                said “but Father, I did see God and he said he won’t let me wet the bed anymore”. He 

                made me bend over on a chair it was like a bishop’s chair, and he lashed me. He made 

                me take down my underwear. ... Next day I told them that it was a dream, I had told her 

                it was a dream. 



          Lay care and ancillary staff 



9.62      Witnesses identified 79 female and two male lay staff as physically abusive. As indicated in 

          Table 34, 50 of the female lay staff were described as care workers and 14 were teachers. In a 

          number of girl’s Schools the title of ‘teacher’ was ascribed to lay staff who were not involved in a 

          formal educational role. 



9.63      Ten (10) of the named lay care and ancillary workers were described by witnesses as former 

          residents who it was believed were reared in the Schools and had spent their lives in the 

          institution. Many witnesses expressed sympathy and understanding for that group of staff, who 

          were employed in both care and ancillary roles within the Schools. Nine (9) female lay staff, 

          including some former residents, were the focus of 70 witness reports and were recalled as 

          extremely harsh in their dealings with witnesses and other residents. ‘She was a lay worker 

          Miss ...X (lay care staff)... used to hit us with the big keys, she was kind of a supervisor. I 

          thought I was never going to get out alive.’ 



                When you got older you were allocated the task of looking after her ...(named lay care 

                staff).... You would have to go into her room and tuck her into bed and then you would 

                sometimes have to sleep in her room in the other single bed and you would be terrified 

                that your breathing would waken her. You’d have to dust her room, mind her make up, 

                and bring her tea in bed if she ever took a day off. I used to live out my life wondering 

                how will I escape a beating, how will I escape being sent to bed without anything to eat? 

                It could be a random outburst, somebody getting a beating for raising your eyes, for 

                getting your hat wet. 



9.64      Two (2) men employed as tradesmen and general handymen in the institutions were reported to 

          have been physically abusive, one of whom was reported to have assisted a religious Sister, at 

          her request, to beat a witness. 



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          Co-residents 



9.65      Witnesses reported that in a small number of Schools there was pervasive bullying and in many 

          instances it was stated that bullying occurred with the knowledge and awareness of staff. Fifty 

          three (53) witnesses reported being beaten or otherwise physically abused by co-residents, 23 

          of whom were identified by name. There were another 30 reports heard by the Committee of 

          physical abuse by older co-residents who were not identified by name. 



                 Two girls ...(co-residents)... hit me with a broom and cut my eye, I’ve got scars to prove 

                it.... I thought they were going to kill me. I went to the hospital, I remember the doctor, 

                Dr ...X.... He asked me what had happened but I was too scared to tell him in case I’d 

                get beaten again, I told him I fell because you’d be scared. I had stitches ...(displayed 

                mark to Commissioners).... No one ever said anything about it, the nuns were never 

                there.... I mean I was covered in blood and my sister asked me what happened, my 

                sister took me to the hospital. 



                                                               • 



                An older girl ...(named co-resident)... she made my life hell ...crying.... She got the 

                sweeping brush one day, she brought me up to where the turf was and she said “I am 

                going to beat you until you tell me you are afraid of me”. Oh, she used beat me so 

                much. She’d say “you get me bacon, eggs and sausage” and she knew well I could 

                never get that ...crying.... I used get into the little hole, you know where the chickens get 

                in, at least I would have eggs for her ...crying.... I was so afraid, she was cruel. 



9.66      Witnesses reported that older residents were supported by the staff to maintain discipline and 

          that they were also involved in administering punishment. In the absence of staff supervision in 

          some Schools older girls were described as having the task of caring for co-residents in the 

          dormitories and recreation areas. Many of the beatings by co-residents reported by witnesses 

          were in the context of older girls being left in charge of babies and young children whom they 

          physically punished for bed-wetting and various perceived misdemeanours. Older girls were also 

          reported to be involved in beating younger residents while working alongside ancillary care 

          workers. 



          Other reported abusers 



9.67      Witnesses also reported being physically abused by individuals who were neither staff nor co- 

          residents while in holiday or weekend placements. It was a commonly reported practice in a 

          number of Schools that the Resident Manager or those in charge made arrangements for some 

          residents to spend holidays with or work for local families. The Committee heard three accounts 

          of witnesses who were hit or beaten when on weekend or holiday leave with such families. 



                 The families we were sent out to, the first one, her husband was a nice man. One time 

                she was hitting me and her husband said “you can’t be doing that”. ... I remember my 

                time there being very, very unhappy, every time I was due to go I would always be sick. 

                From the time we would arrive there she would talk to Sr ...X.... When she ...(Sr X)... 

                would be gone she ...(the ‘foster’/‘holiday’ mother)... would hide my sister and tell me 

                she was gone, I was 6 or 7, even younger than that. I used to feel sick and start getting 

                sick, then she would let my sister out and she would tell me it was only a joke. One time 

                I got sick and left a bit of vomit on my hair, she clattered ...(hit)... me for that. 



9.68      Two (2) other witnesses reported being beaten by employers in work placements, the witnesses 

          had been placed there during the school holidays. In each instance the witnesses reported 

          being hit as a reprimand for unsatisfactory work. 



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           Sexual abuse 



                  The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                  or another person.6 



9.69       This section summarises the evidence provided by witnesses of being sexually abused for the 

           gratification of others while a resident of the Schools. The reported abuse ranged from contact 

           sexual abuse, including vaginal and anal rape, to non-contact abuse such as enforced 

           nakedness and voyeurism. Recounting sexual abuse to the Committee was described as a 

           difficult experience for witnesses, who spoke in as much or as little detail as they wished when 

           describing the abuse they experienced. Some witnesses struggled to find words to express the 

           details of what happened to them while others were able to provide full and at times disturbing 

           accounts. The descriptions provided were sufficient to clarify the acute or chronic nature of both 

           contact and non-contact sexual abuse. 



           Nature and extent of sexual abuse reported 



9.70       Reported abuse ranged from inappropriate fondling and touching to oral/genital contact, vaginal 

           and anal rape. There were 128 reports of sexual abuse from 127 female witnesses (34%).7                      One 



           witness reported that she was sexually abused in two different Schools. Witnesses described 

           their experience of sexual abuse as either acute or chronic episodes occurring throughout their 

           admissions in the Schools. Witnesses reported being sexually abused by religious and lay staff 

           in addition to other adults, the majority of whom were understood to be directly associated with 

           the Schools. Witnesses also reported being sexually abused by co-residents. 



9.71       The frequency of sexual abuse reports varied widely between 35 Schools: 



                   •    Two (2) Schools were collectively the subject of 37 reports. 

                   •    Seven (7) Schools were the subject of 5-8 reports, totalling 43 reports. 

                   •    Twenty six (26) Schools were the subject of 1-4 reports, totalling 48 reports. 



9.72       One hundred and twenty three (123) reports were of all four types of abuse combined, as 

           shown below: 



               Table 35: Sexual Abuse Combined with Other Abuse Types – Female Industrial and 

                                                       Reformatory Schools 



                       Abuse types                        Number of reports                               % 



              Sexual, emotional, neglect and                       123                                   96 

                          physical 



              Sexual, emotional and physical                        2                                     2 



              Sexual, emotional and neglect                         1                                     1 



                    Sexual and neglect                              1                                     1 



                    Sexual and physical                             1                                     1 



                       Total reports                               128                                  (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



9.73       There were no reports of sexual abuse alone and, almost all reports were of sexual abuse 

           combined with physical abuse, neglect and emotional abuse. 



           6 Section 1(1)(b) 

           7 One witness reported sexual abuse in more than one School. 



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9.74       The following table details the distribution of sexual abuse reports, according to the witnesses’ 

           discharge period: 



            Table 36: Number of Sexual Abuse Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – Female 

                                             Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                  Decade of discharge                 Number of sexual abuse                            % 

                                                               reports 



                        Pre-1960s                                 22                                    17 



                          1960-69                                 64                                    50 



                          1970-79                                 35                                    27 



                          1980-89                                  7                                    5 



                           Total                                  128                                 (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



9.75       Sixty four (64) reports (50%) of sexual abuse were made by witnesses discharged from Schools 

           in the 1960s. It is important to note that approximately half of the witnesses discharged in the 

           1960s were in institutional care for most, if not all, of the previous decade. It is also of note that 

           a higher proportion of the abuse reports by witnesses discharged in the 1970s and 1980s were 

           of sexual abuse; for example there were eight reports of abuse from witnesses discharged in 

           the 1980s, seven of which were of sexual abuse. By comparison there were 178 reports of 

           abuse from witnesses discharged during the 1960s, 64 of which were of sexual abuse. 



           Description of sexual abuse 



9.76       The secretive and isolated nature of sexual abuse together with witnesses’ experience of having 

           their complaints disbelieved, ignored or punished contributed to the environment in which sexual 

           abuse was reported to have occurred. Witnesses reported that the culture of obeying orders 

           without question together with the authority of the adult abuser rendered them powerless to 

           resist sexual abuse. Witnesses further reported that the fear of punishment, the threat of being 

           sent to a more restrictive institution or their siblings being removed to another School also 

           inhibited them in resisting, reporting or disclosing sexual abuse. Some witnesses spoke for the 

           first time about being sexually abused during their hearings with the Committee. 



9.77       Witnesses reported sexual assaults in the forms of vaginal and anal rape, oral/genital contact, 

           digital penetration, penetration by an object, masturbation and other forms of inappropriate 

           contact, including molestation and kissing. Witnesses also reported several forms of non-contact 

           sexual abuse including indecent exposure, inappropriate sexual talk, voyeurism and forced 

           public nudity. Witnesses gave accounts of being sexually abused both within the Schools and in 

           other locations while in the care of the authorities in charge of the particular institution. They 

           reported being sexually abused in many locations, including: dormitories, schools, motor 

           vehicles, bathrooms, staff bedrooms, churches, sacristies, fields, parlours, the residences of 

           clergy, holiday locations and while with godparents and employers. The Committee developed a 

           classification of the different forms of sexual abuse described by witnesses that are shown in 

           the following table: 



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                Table 37: Forms and Frequency of Sexual Abuse Reported – Female Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



                          Forms of sexual abuse                       Frequency reported                    % 



            Inappropriate fondling and contact                                 102                          38 



            Enforced nakedness/ voyeurism                                      52                           19 



            Vaginal rape                                                       27                           10 



            Forced masturbation of abuser by child/mutual                      22                            8 

            masturbation 



            Attempted rape and associated violence                              15                           5 



            Kissing                                                             14                           5 



            Vaginal penetration by objects                                      10                           4 



            Digital penetration                                                 8                            3 



            Oral/genital contact                                                7                            3 



            Indecent exposure                                                   6                            2 



            Anal rape                                                           3                            1 



            Other                                                               8                            3 



            Total                                                             274*                        (100)** 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some witnesses reported more than one form of sexual abuse 



           **Some rounding up/down was applied 



9.78       Vaginal and anal rape, forced masturbation, oral/genital contact, various forms of vaginal 

           penetration and attempted rape with associated violence accounted for 92 of the witness reports 

           made to the Committee. Five (5) witnesses reported that they sustained injuries as a result of 

           the sexual abuse to which they were subjected. 



9.79       One hundred and two (102) other witnesses gave accounts of what was recorded as 

           inappropriate contact including touching and fondling of breasts, genitalia, and buttocks. 



9.80       The application of white lotion for the treatment of scabies was reported by 10 witnesses as a 

           form of sexual abuse. The witnesses described both religious and lay female staff applying the 

           lotion, paying particular attention to their genital area and breasts and passing derogatory 

           remarks about their bodies. Four (4) witnesses reported being forced to wash the breasts of 

           female religious staff. 



9.81       Thirty five (35) witnesses from 16 Schools reported the practice of being stripped naked to be 

           beaten as sexually abusive and stated that this happened most often in view of others but 

           occasionally in private. Two (2) witnesses reported being observed by a workman and a priest 

           in the course of naked beatings. 



                 She ...(Sr X)... would lay you across the bed and give you unmerciful beatings. I 

                 remember one day she had hit me on this side so much that I had to move and turn 

                 around, there was this priest there, and I looked around, and he was smiling. 



9.82       Non-contact sexual abuse also included enforced nakedness that witnesses considered 

           voyeuristic. Seventeen (17) witnesses described the manner in which they were made to stand 

           in line without clothes waiting for a bath while being observed by staff and co-residents as 

           sexually abusive. This practice was reported consistently from four Schools for both pre- and 

           post-pubertal residents. 



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9.83      Six (6) witnesses reported being subjected to indecent exposure by men including clergy who 

          visited their Schools and men in families where they were sent to work or for holidays. The other 

          form of non-contact sexual abuse reported by eight witnesses included being exposed to 

          inappropriate sexual conversation and adult sexual activity. 



          Circumstances of sexual abuse 



9.84      Witnesses consistently reported that sexual abuse occurred in an environment of fear and 

          secrecy. Sexual abuse was also described as prevailing in circumstances where special 

          relationships of trust existed between the abusers and those responsible for the welfare of those 

          they abused. In particular witnesses commented on the relationship between religious Sisters 

          and clergy. One witness stated ‘He ...(Fr X)... was always around the School, morning, noon 

          and night, including bath time and bedtime. He was in the School for all meals’. Witnesses who 

          had little or no family contact formed the majority of those who reported being sexually abused 

          among the female cohort. These witnesses were believed to be particularly vulnerable to the 

          effects of harsh discipline. Sexual abuse was also reported to have occurred in the absence of 

          appropriate supervision, particularly in holiday and work placements in the community, and 

          when adults from outside the School, understood to be in positions of trust, were given 

          unsupervised access to residents. 



9.85      The culture of fear engendered by persistent physical abuse, affectionless discipline and 

          inadequate supervision provided circumstances where witnesses reported being sexually 

          abused without recourse to protection or appropriate intervention. The following sections 

          describe particular features of the circumstances in which female witnesses reported being 

          sexually abused. 



          Threats 



9.86      Fifty three (53) witnesses described how abusers forcibly coerced them to comply with and 

          remain silent about sexual abuse by means of verbal threats and actual violence. In the most 

          extreme instances witnesses reported that their lives and the lives of their siblings were 

          threatened. One witness described being taken down to the furnace room when she was a 

          young child by a workman and told he would put her in the fire if she told anyone their ‘secret’. 

          A witness who reported being raped, by a named lay ancillary worker, on a number of occasions 

          was silenced by threats: 



                He ...X... got us back to his house, said he had a sandwich for us. After that he used to 

                follow me around the place, the nuns would have to be blind not to see this. He 

                threatened to burn down the School and threatened to kill my sisters, so you went to 

                bed at night petrified, thinking he was going to break in and burn down the School. You 

                were just petrified, so if I didn’t go to his house, this is what he would do, burn down the 

                School and kill my sisters. He ...(witness described anal rape)... several time over years 

                ...crying.... It stays with you, it sticks in my mind, and the threat to burn down the 

                School. 



9.87      Another witness reported that she was frequently sexually abused by a visiting external child 

          welfare professional who threatened that her sibling would be placed for adoption if she told 

          anyone about his abuse of her. The Committee heard evidence from three witnesses of sexual 

          abuse by this man. 



                Mr ...X... he sexually abused me, we used to have to go and see him, we had a sick 

                room for children who were sick, we used to have to go in there ...crying.... He used 

                make, you know, make me ...crying... take off all my clothes and used to make me lie 

                on the floor ...crying.... It started happening, um, it seemed quite a long time after my 

                First Holy Communion and then it stopped then when I got my period. He was always 

                on his own. I think Mth ...Y... was probably somewhere around. ... He probably used to 



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                 come and go as he pleased, he used bring me chocolates. He used to say “this will be 

                 our little secret, if you do tell anyone we will send ...witness’s sibling... for adoption”. I 

                 was frightened to death, I never ever said anything. It happened more than once. 



9.88       Thirty seven (37) witnesses reported being sexually abused by men in families where they were 

           placed for holiday or to work. Many reported that the fear of being returned to the Industrial 

           School, sent to a Reformatory School or transferred to a laundry or psychiatric hospital was the 

           most common experience. Many witnesses reported that it was generally known there were 

           ‘worse places’ where girls were sent when they were thought to have disclosed abuse or 

           misbehaved. The threat of being ‘sent away’ was a potent incentive to which several witnesses 

           reported they responded by enduring the abuse to which they were subjected. 



           Abuse by more than one person 



9.89       Twelve (12) witnesses reported being sexually abused in what they believed was a deliberate 

           manner by more than one person simultaneously. Nine (9) of those accounts referred to abuse 

           within the Schools, eight of which referred to combinations of male or female lay staff with 

           religious staff. The other report was of abuse by a priest and a Sister. Three (3) reports referred 

           to abuse by other adults that occurred while in the care of, but external to, the School, on work 

           or holiday placements. 



9.90       Five (5) of the above witnesses reported being abused by being molested and digitally 

           penetrated by combinations of religious and lay staff, both male and female. Three (3) of those 

           witnesses reported being sexually abused on different occasions by two religious Sisters, a 

           member of the clergy and a lay male care worker. The other two witnesses reported being 

           sexually abused on a number of occasions by pairs of female lay care workers. One witness 

           also reported that episodes of sexual abuse perpetrated by two female lay staff were associated 

           with physical violence during which she was stripped of her clothes and beaten. Another witness 

           reported being restrained by two male ancillary workers in a farm shed while she was sexually 

           assaulted. The men were employed by the Sisters as farm workers. Another witness gave the 

           following account of being sexually abused by a lay care worker: 



                 I was sexually abused by a nun and a carer ... (lay care staff).... He was supposed to be 

                 in charge of the boys section. He had no business over with the girls. There was a nun 

                 with him ...Sr X and lay care worker... she would come into the room with him. You 

                 didn’t need a nun to wash you at 13 years of age, but she did, she would fondle you in 

                 the bath and examine you and get you ready for him .... He used then collect me from 

                 boarding school and he used do it ... touching, fondling and then you would have to 

                 masturbation...(masturbate)... him.... I remember even telling Sr ...Y (Resident 

                 Manager)... and she told me to keep the rug over my legs in the car. 



9.91       Two (2) witnesses reported being sexually abused by lay female staff members and other 

           adults, one by lay female care workers and their female friends, the other by a lay female care 

           worker and an older male resident in the institution. Two (2) witnesses reported being raped and 

           otherwise sexually assaulted by pairs of men while they were placed by the School with ‘holiday’ 

           families. In one instance the men were farm workers employed by the particular family where 

           the witness was placed. In the other instance the men lived locally and were known to be aware 

           that the witness was from an Industrial School. They threatened her that she would be sent 

           back to the institution if she told anyone that they had abused her. Another witness described 

           being sent to work for a family during school holidays where she was sexually abused by two 

           female members of the family. She reported being molested and forced to witness the sexual 

           activity of adults. 



           Inducements 



9.92       There were 11 accounts of witnesses being given inducements or bribes in return for either 

           compliance or silence following incidents of sexual abuse. Money and sweets were the main 

           inducements reported by witnesses. Pennies, sixpences, half-crowns and ten-shilling notes were 

           received from two local priests, two workmen and a doctor. One witness reported being so 



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           worried about being asked where she got the money that she threw it away before she returned 

           to the School. Another witness reported being given a gift by the person who sexually abused 

           her which she treasured as it signified some kindness to her and was her only personal 

           possession. Another witness was given items of clothing by a man who abused her over a 

           period of time. She described how good it felt to own nice things that were both new and 

           fashionable. The witness remarked on the fact that none of the staff questioned how she had 

           obtained these items. 



           Reported abusers 



9.93       One hundred and twenty seven (127) witnesses identified 188 people about whom there were 

           one or more reports of sexual abuse in relation to 35 Schools. One hundred and thirty two (132) 

           of those individuals were identified by name. The other 56 reported abusers were not identified 

           by name but by what witnesses understood to be their position in the institution and they are 

           included in the total number of sexual abusers described below. It is possible that there is some 

           overlap between those identified by name and those who were not named. 



9.94       Those reported to the Committee as sexual abusers included: religious and lay staff, adult 

           friends and relatives of staff, external clergy and professionals, ex-residents and co-residents. 

           Also reported by witnesses as perpetrators of sexual abuse were adults to whom witnesses 

           were sent for external holiday placements and other adults in work placements or associated 

           with work placement providers. The following table lists by position held those reported as 

           sexual abusers by female witnesses: 



               Table 38: Position and Number of Reported Sexual Abusers – Female Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



                   Position of reported sexual abusers                        Males                      Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                       0                            4 



            - Care staff                                                        0                           10 



            - Teacher                                                           0                            1 



            - External priest or other clergy                                   14                           0 



            - Novice and clerical student                                       1                            1 



            Lay 



            - Care staff                                                        2                           12 



            - Ancillary worker                                                  15                           0 



            External professional                                               4                            0 



            Family member                                                       9                            0 



            Weekend or holiday placement carer                                 23                            0 



            Work placement provider                                             17                           2 



            Associate of weekend or holiday provider                            14                           0 



            General public                                                      10                           0 



            Ex-resident                                                         2                            1 



            Co-resident                                                         8                           38 



            Total                                                              119                          69 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



9.95       The above table shows that 144 (77%) of those identified as sexual abusers were non-staff 

           members, 79 of whom were external to, but associated with, the Schools. They included holiday 

           and work placement providers, relatives and friends of people in those placements, external 



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          clergy and clerical students, professionals, and ex-residents. Nineteen (19) other individuals 

          were identified as members of the general public and witnesses’ family members who abused 

          them while on leave from the School. 



                 •    Twenty nine (29) named abusers were reported by 37 witnesses from two Schools. 

                 •    Sixty five (65) other named abusers were each reported by between five and nine 

                       witnesses from 10 Schools. 



                 •    Thirty eight (38) named abusers were each reported by between one and four 

                       witnesses from 19 Schools. 



          Weekend, holiday, and work placement providers 



9.96      The most frequently reported group of adult sexual abusers were members and relatives of 

          families to whom residents were sent from the Schools for either a holiday, weekend or work 

          placement. These were known as ‘holiday’, ‘weekend’ or ‘foster’ families or ‘godparents’. There 

          were 42 men and two women identified by the female witnesses as sexually abusive in these 

          circumstances. It was consistently stated that the religious Sisters in charge of the Schools 

          arranged the placements, visits or holidays, most often without consultation with the resident 

          being placed. It was stated that these placements were generally arranged for residents who did 

          not have their own families to visit during the school holidays. Witnesses consistently reported 

          that there was little or no supervision or follow-up by staff from the Schools in relation to these 

          placements. 



9.97      Twenty three (23) witnesses reported being sexually abused by the fathers of families to whom 

          they were sent for weekends or holidays. The Committee heard 13 reports of witnesses being 

          sexually abused, by male relatives in seven instances and by sons of the families with whom 

          they were placed in six other instances. Two (2) witnesses reported being raped by both the 

          adolescent son and a friend in their holiday placement. In both of these instances the witness 

          was less than 12 years old at the time. 



                I remember going back in the car, he ...(father in holiday family)... stopped and said to 

                me “if you tell anyone ...(about sexual abuse)... I will tell the priest it was your fault”. 

                 This is the hold they had over you, you were petrified. The nuns wouldn’t believe you. I 

                told Sr ...X... once and she beat me black and blue with a hand brush, she said “you are 

                a terrible liar” and what a good family they were. O God, I can’t even talk about it, I feel 

                sick ...distressed.... I couldn’t sleep at night it was on my mind for a long time. I went to 

                that family every month until I ...(left the School)... even after I had told Sr ...X.... 



9.98      Thirteen (13) witnesses reported being sent by School staff to particular weekend and ‘holiday’ 

          families where they were repeatedly raped or sexually assaulted, despite a number indicating to 

          staff that they did not want to go. Some witnesses complained to the religious Sisters in the 

          School that they did not like going to a particular family where they were being sexually abused 

          and reported that they were not sent again. Other witnesses were told they should be grateful to 

          the family for their kindness and continued to be sent. 



9.99      Witnesses also reported the practice of residents being sent by staff in the Schools to mind 

          children and do housework for families during school holidays and being sent out to work for 

          local families and clergy in the afternoons and at weekends. Twelve (12) men, including one 

          member of the clergy, were identified as sexually abusive by witnesses in this context. All the 

          witnesses reported being less than 16 years old at the time they were abused. The abuse 

          reported included rape and attempted rape, digital penetration, molestation and genital 

          exposure. One witness reported that she was hospitalised having taken an overdose of tablets 

          in the context of repeated rape by the father of the family in her work placement. The family 

          were professionals and made discreet arrangements for her to be hospitalised, following which 



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          the sexual abuse ceased although she continued to be sent to the family. She reported she had 

          told the religious Sisters she did not like going to this family but they insisted she continue. 



                I think they were very, very stupid, the people in the care home. We were very unhappy 

                going out and they should have known that. I feel very, very angry with them. 



9.100     Two (2) witnesses reported being sent at different times as the live-in housekeeper for a local 

          member of the clergy who was identified by name. They both described being fondled by him, 

          bringing him breakfast in bed and being forced to observe him washing and dressing himself. 

          One witness refused to go back to his house after she woke to find him standing over her in bed 

          one morning. Witnesses said that this member of the clergy had a reputation for inappropriate 

          sexual behaviour and he was named in three other witness accounts of sexual abuse. 



9.101     Five (5) witnesses reported being sexually abused during the night by male employers in work 

          placements, two of whom reported being raped in these circumstances. Others described 

          attempted rape or did not describe the sexual abuse in detail. 



                I was working looking after the children. One time the mother had gone away. She was 

                very nice, he... (work placement father)... was horrible.... One time she left me looking 

                after the children. I was in bed he ...(work placement father)... came to me in to bed, I 

                was asleep and he woke me up, and took me to his room ...crying.... I didn’t know why, 

                I didn’t know what he was trying to do, he tried to rape me.... I was so scared, I was 

                terrified. I couldn’t tell anyone, there was this threat of being sent to ...named laundry.... 



          Religious (staff and others) 



9.102     There were 31 male and female religious, including a clerical student and a novice, reported as 

          having sexually abused witnesses during their time in Schools. Twenty seven (27) named 

          Sisters and clergy were each identified by individual witnesses as perpetrators of sexual abuse, 

          four others were named by more than one witness. The Sisters were all members of the 

          Schools’ religious Communities. The clergy included priests and others of higher rank from the 

          external community who had contact with the Schools in various capacities. The types of 

          contact sexual abuse reported included vaginal and anal rape, oral/genital contact, 

          masturbation, kissing and inappropriate fondling and touching. 



9.103     Witnesses reported being sexually abused by 16 nuns, 10 of whom were named. The abuse 

          included contact sexual abuse such as kissing, fondling and vaginal penetration by an object. 

          Sexual abuse by religious Sisters was most often reported to have occurred in collaboration with 

          another person, either religious or lay staff, in the context of personal care and preparing for 

          bed. Four (4) witnesses also described separate instances of inappropriate fondling by Sisters. 

          ‘At night she would come to the bedroom, stroke my breasts, and then give me a packet of 

          biscuits and say something like it was all temptation from the devil.’ 



9.104     Fourteen (14) clergy, 11 of whom were named, were reported by 23 witnesses to have sexually 

          abused them. The reported abuse ranged from inappropriate touching and fondling to vaginal 

          and anal rape. Two (2) of the clergy were each named by five witnesses as perpetrators of 

          sexual abuse, both of the witnesses and their co-residents. One of the priests was described as 

          ‘thinking he owned the convent and us girls’ as a witness described: 



                He was always there ...(Fr X)... when we were getting a bath, he was there all the time. 

                I could see what he was doing to other girls, touching them. Nobody wanted to bring his 

                breakfast in, none of the girls. We used say it to Sr ...Y... she was a nice nun, she 

                would have protected us from the other nuns, she was a lovely nun. But she couldn’t 

                see past Fr ...X... because he was a priest. We said to her what he was doing and she 

                said “but he is a priest, he is just being friendly”. I rebelled against him then when I was 



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                  I2 or 13, I fought him and wouldn’t let him go near me. He beat me then with a leather, 

                  a belt from his trousers ... on the legs, on the hand and the back of the hands. 



9.105      Six witnesses reported being sexually abused when they were serving breakfast to visiting 

           priests in the parlour. One priest was reported to have his breakfast in the parlour and ‘sent for 

           girls every morning’. A witness described the priest as sitting her on his lap, where he fondled 

           her, kissed her on the lips and gave her money saying ‘you’re a good girl’. This witness reported 

           that the priest was attended at mealtimes by residents ‘who he fondled constantly’, kissing, and 

           touching them. Other witnesses provided the following accounts of being sexually abused by 

           local and visiting priests: 



                  The parish priest used to be always around at the time, around the convent. He used to 

                  pick me up in the grounds or if you went in to him with his breakfast, he would put you 

                  sitting on his knee and give you a kiss on the mouth. He would put me sitting on his 

                  ...(genitalia).... 



                                                                     • 



                  There was a visiting priest, Fr ...X... he used to come in holiday time and say Mass. I 

                  had the job of polishing the sacristy, I had to peep in to see if he was gone. He called 

                  me in. He was a tall man, he called me over, I had to kneel next to him, the next thing I 

                  could feel his hand up under my underwear. I nearly died, I thought “Jesus what will I 

                  do?” I couldn’t tell anyone. They were Gods, the priests were God, no one would 

                  believe you. I was about 11. 



9.106      Three (3) female witnesses reported being fondled and kissed by a clerical student and a 

           Novice who were on placement in their respective Schools. 



           Lay care and ancillary staff 



9.107      Witnesses reported 29 lay care and ancillary staff, 17 male and 12 female, as sexual abusers. 

           Fourteen (14) of those reported were lay care staff, including childcare workers and 15 were 

           ancillary workers. The 14 lay care staff were identified by name; 12 were female and two were 

           male. Six (6) of the female care staff were described as former residents of the School who had 

           been retained as live-in care staff. 



9.108      Twenty five (25) lay staff, 11 care staff and 14 ancillary workers, were the subject of single 

           witness reports of sexual abuse. Four (4) other lay staff were each the subject of more than one 

           report; one care staff member was reported as sexually abusive by six witnesses and two others 

           were each reported by two witnesses. One ancillary worker was also reported by two witnesses. 



9.109      The most commonly reported form of sexual abuse described in relation to this group of lay care 

           staff was masturbation and fondling. Witnesses reported at times being taken out of their beds 

           to warm a staff member’s bed, where they were then sexually abused. Others reported being 

           inappropriately fondled on the pretext of checking if they had wet their beds. One witness 

           reported that she was sexually abused on a regular basis by a childcare worker as he drove her 

           to school. The abuse involved fondling and forcing her to masturbate him. The following account 

           refers to one witness’s abuse experience during the 1980s: 



                  Every night he ...(lay care staff)... used to come up to the room, there were 3 girls in it, 

                  and he used to come up to the room every night and absolutely insist that he would put 

                  Sudocreme on us. There was absolutely no reason for it, down with the knickers and all, 

                  he insisted on doing it to every one of us. 



9.110      Witnesses reported 15 ancillary workers as sexually abusive, 12 of whom were identified by 

           their occupations and three others were identified by name. Witnesses reported the ancillary 

           workers as farm workers, gardeners, tradesmen and caretakers employed by the religious staff 



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           on the grounds of the Schools. The forms of abuse described were vaginal rape, oral/genital 

           contact, masturbation and inappropriate fondling. As described, the abuse generally occurred in 

           sheds and work areas used by the abuser and most often under threat not to tell anyone. Three 

           (3) witnesses from different Schools reported being sexually abused by ancillary workers who 

           lived on the Schools grounds. 



                 I ... used to go out to the garden, there was this man in the fields there ... (lay ancillary 

                worker).... He’d say “howya”. ... I said “hello” but I didn’t have anything to do with him. 

                 He brought me into a room, it was kinda like a little house and locked the door and ... 

                 he raped me, he just took every thing off me and he kept saying, “you tell them and I’ll 

                 kill you”, I was only about 14. I felt dirty and to this day I feel dirty. 



                                                                • 



                 There was a man there, he worked as the...lay ancillary worker... there. He had a shed, 

                 he would get you in there and feel your breasts and your privates, feel you all over, he 

                 was just ...ugh... he used to do it to all the girls. You’d know because all the girls would 

                 be talking about it. You daren’t tell the nuns they wouldn’t believe you, they all liked him. 



           Co-residents 



9.111      Reports of sexual abuse by co-residents were concentrated in particular Schools at particular 

           periods of time. There were 46 witness accounts of sexual abuse by male and female co- 

           residents, 38 of those reports related to abuse by older girls and eight reports were of abuse by 

           older boys. Two (2) male co-residents who were identified as abusers were described as having 

           learning difficulties. The most frequently reported circumstance of co-resident or peer sexual 

           abuse was of witnesses being abused over a period of time by residents who were understood 

          to have been given some authority over them and who threatened to beat or otherwise 

           physically abuse them if they did not comply. A small number of witnesses reported extreme 

          threats including of being killed, or that their siblings would be beaten, abused or sent away. 

          Accounts of abuse included being taken into an older girl’s bed and fondled, forced to 

           participate in mutual masturbation, and fondled in the process of bathing or providing personal 

           care. 



                 She ...(older co-resident)... used take me to the boiler house and make me fondle her. 

                 She used not do it to me but make me do it to her. She was cruel, I told ...named lay 

                 care staff... she told me not to be bothering her. The nuns did nothing about her, they 

                 weren’t blind, they saw what was happening. 



9.112      Most witnesses reported being between seven and 12 years old when they were abused by co- 

           residents and in some instances it was reported that the sexual abuse progressed to become 

           consensual. Witnesses reported that there was minimal supervision in the dormitories or 

           sleeping areas at night in those Schools where sexual abuse by co-residents was identified. 



9.113      Of note is the higher proportion of reports of co-resident abuse from witnesses discharged 

           during the 1970s and 1980s. Twenty seven (27) reports (59%) of co-resident abuse was 

           reported by witnesses discharged since 1970. A particular feature of peer sexual abuse reported 

           by witnesses discharged after 1970 was the number of accounts of abuse by groups of co- 

           residents. Five (5) witnesses reported being regularly abused by groups of older girls, and in 

           one instance older boys, using coercion to force compliance. The witnesses reported being 

           locked in toilets or taken to isolated rooms and fields where they were sexually abused and 

           personally degraded. One witness reported that she was beaten so badly in the course of such 

           an assault that she had to be taken to a local doctor for stitches. The lack of adequate 

           supervision was consistently reported in the context of peer sexual abuse. 



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          Family members – relatives 



9.114     Six (6) witnesses placed from their families in institutional care reported being sexually abused 

          by their family members to whom they were sent for weekends and holidays or into whose care 

          they were discharged from the Schools. Two (2) witnesses reported being raped by their fathers 

          to whom they were discharged despite, they believed, there being a known history of violence 

          and incest. One witness reported being sent to an uncle’s house for holidays where she was 

          sexually abused and molested by both her uncle and two male cousins. Another witness 

          reported being fondled and otherwise sexually abused by her grandfather when on holiday 

          leave; she reported another family member was aware of the abuse at the time. 



          Professionals 



9.115     The Committee heard evidence from witnesses of abuse by four professionals who were not 

          members of staff, but provided a service to the residents in the School. These individuals were 

          described as taking opportunistic advantage of the witnesses’ circumstances to sexually abuse 

          them. 



9.116     The professionals identified by witnesses as sexually abusive were three doctors and one 

          external professional with responsibility for child welfare associated with the Schools. The 

          doctors were reported to have fondled and masturbated witnesses in the course of physical 

          examinations. The professional person was reported by three witnesses to have sexually 

          assaulted and raped them. 



                The ...external professional... he was worse than the nuns, Mr ...X ... even the thought 

                of him makes me cringe. We would go in one at a time in the parlour. ... I hated him. ... 

                Oh, he was horrible, horrible, ugh, the thought of him ...distressed.... Nobody liked 

                seeing him, being sent to him. He’d have papers, I suppose you’d call them files ... he 

                seemed to be there a lot, nobody liked him. The nuns were never there, they would 

                knock on the door and put their hand on your back and push you in. Nobody liked him, 

                nobody liked going to him ...distressed.... I remember the door opening and that was it. 



          Members of the general public 



9.117     Ten (10) members of the general public, all male, were identified by seven witnesses as having 

          sexually abused them by vaginal and anal rape, molestation and inappropriate contact. The 

          witnesses remarked that these men were aware they came from an Industrial School. Those 

          reported as abusive included public service workers, visitors and others whom the witnesses 

          encountered in the course of some everyday activity in association with the School. The 

          consistent theme with these reports of sexual abuse was the lack of due care and protection 

          provided to the witnesses by those responsible for them. 



                On the way to ...named city... for an eye appointment in the ambulance, there was 

                nobody with me there or back. The driver, he made me masturbate him, he put his 

                fingers in me, on the way there and again on the way back. I told another girl, she told 

                the nuns, 4 of them ... (Sisters)... beat me. 



                                                            • 



                He... (visitor)...asked us to cane him on the bare bottom with the cane. He wanted to 

                take girls out of...named School...to be nice, I got a packet of Aeros...(sweets)...You 

                never came back saying that...(sexual abuse) ...happened. 



          Ex-residents 



9.118     The Committee heard reports of sexual abuse by ex-residents who witnesses stated were 

          allowed to return on a casual basis to two Schools following their discharge. Three (3) witnesses 

          described the ex-residents as being friends or having special relationships with staff members; 



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           they were said to have unsupervised access to the School and its residents. In one instance the 

           reported abuse occurred over a period of years and continued until the late 1980s: 



                  I was abused ...(from)... the age of 6 ’til I was 14. He was kind of a past pupil. ... He 

                  was friends with the staff. There was a room where past pupils used to sleep, he would 

                  come into the room at night, he used to tell me, “you tell anyone and your ...family 

                  members... will be moved and you will be on your own”. I didn’t eat for a year, I went 

                  silent for a year, I went from minding myself to nothing. He was always there. I seen 

                  school as my escape.... I’d fall asleep in the class because of all the abuse I was going 

                  through at night time. I was afraid to sleep at night but I felt safe in school, one teacher 

                  was my first good memory. Someone should have asked what was happening.... 



           Pregnancy 



9.119      Among the 27 witnesses who reported being raped, four reported pregnancies while still in the 

           care of the School. The witnesses reported that three of those pregnancies proceeded to full 

           term and one miscarried. One witness reported she was sexually abused by a labourer on the 

           farm attached to the School and she became pregnant at 15 years of age. Another witness 

           reported that she was discharged by the School to the care of a male relative when she was 15 

           years old. She became pregnant as a result of rape by this man and the child was placed for 

           adoption. This adoption was reported to be facilitated by the Resident Manager of the School 

           where she had been a resident. 



                  I had a child then ... I will never get over that, that will never go away from me. ... You 

                  can ask the hospital ...named hospital.... I had a little child. I went and told them 

                  ...(Sisters)... about rape, and they killed me. I told 2 nuns, they put me into ...named 

                  psychiatric hospital.... I told them, 2 nuns, they said, “no, no, he would never do that”. 

                  They killed me, they said, “you are filth, you are filth”. I will never forgive them. I often 

                  thought of going out and telling the guards ...(Gardai)... but I was afraid, I was terrified. 

                                                                                ´ 

                  They said I broke a window, they said I was mental. ... After that even the doctor said “I 

                  don’t know what you are doing in hospital”.... The doctor said I didn’t need to be there, I 

                  went to ...named mother and baby home.... 



9.120      A third witness had been sent as a live-in housemaid to the relatives of a Sister from the 

           School. A visitor to the house was reported to sexually abuse her on a regular basis when the 

           family were absent. The witness became pregnant and her child died at birth. The fourth witness 

           reported that she became pregnant as the result of being raped by the father of the family 

           where she was sent to work; she reported that her pregnancy miscarried and that she had to 

           deal with the physical and emotional consequences on her own. 



           Neglect 



                  Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                  serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                  serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.9 



9.121      The following section summarises witness evidence of general neglect. Descriptions of neglect 

           refer to all aspects of the physical, social and emotional care and well-being of the witnesses, 

           impacting on their health and development. It also describes other forms of neglect that are 

           regarded as having a negative impact on the individuals’ emotional health and development, for 

           example a failure to protect from harm and failure to educate. Neglect refers to both actions and 

           inactions by religious and lay staff and others who had responsibility and a duty of care for the 

           residents in their charge. As the reports of neglect refer to widespread institutional practices, this 

           section of the Report does not identify individual abusers. 



           9 Section 1(1)(c) as amended by the section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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           Nature and extent of neglect reported 



9.122      Three hundred and sixty seven (367) female witnesses (97%) made 374 reports of neglect of 

           their care and welfare in relation to 39 Schools.9         Neglect was not reported in all Schools in all 



           decades. Many forms of neglect were reported and include neglect of care, health, education 

           and welfare. The frequency of neglect reports in relation to individual Schools varied, as with the 

           other types of abuse. 

                   •    Three (3) Schools were collectively the subject of 141 reports.10 



                   •    Seventeen (17) Schools were the subject of 6-17 reports, totalling 189 reports. 

                   •    Nineteen Schools (19) were the subject of 1-5 reports, totalling 44 reports. 



9.123      Neglect was reported in combination with three other abuse types in 123 instances. The reports 

           of neglect were principally combined with reports of physical and emotional abuse as shown in 

           Table 39: 



                    Table 39: Neglect Combined with Other Abuse Types – Female Industrial and 

                                                        Reformatory Schools 



                                 Abuse types                             Number of reports                      % 



             Neglect, emotional and physical                                     226                            60 



             Neglect, emotional, physical and sexual                             123                            33 



             Neglect and physical                                                 20                            5 



             Neglect and emotional                                                 3                             1 



             Neglect, emotional and sexual                                         1                            (0) 



             Neglect and Sexual                                                    1                            (0) 



            Total reports                                                        374                          (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



9.124      The following table details the distribution of neglect reports according to the witnesses’ 

           discharge period. 



                Table 40: Number of Neglect Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – Female 

                                               Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                   Decade of discharge                Number of neglect reports                            % 



                         Pre-1960s                                  131                                    35 



                          1960-69                                   170                                    45 



                          1970-79                                   67                                     18 



                          1980-89                                    6                                      2 



                            Total                                   374                                    100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           9 A number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School, and made reports of abuse in more than one School, 



             therefore the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 

           10 In order to maintain confidentiality further details regarding the numbers of abuse reports in these Schools cannot be 



              specified. 



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9.125     The distribution of neglect reports for the decades of discharge are similar to those reported by 

          witnesses for physical abuse. Ninety six percent (96%) of reports of neglect by female witnesses 

          were in conjunction with physical abuse. 



          Areas of neglect 



9.126     This Report categorises neglect of care under the headings of food, clothing, heat, hygiene, 

          bedding, healthcare, education, supervision and preparation for discharge, all categories that 

          were referred to by witnesses with varying levels of detail. As throughout the Report, there was 

          inevitable overlap between the different categories of neglect and other types of abuse. 

          Witnesses described the impact of the reported neglect on their social and emotional welfare, 

          and many reported the particularly vulnerable position of orphans and those who had little family 

          contact. 



                The girls from the workhouse ...(orphans)... they were treated worse, they suffered 

                worse. ... When we were out for a walk we would bring them back bits of chewing gum 

               and haws that we found on the hedges and on the ground, we were all so hungry and 

                they didn’t get out. ... (Orphans)... clothes were different, big patched knickers, boots 

                with no soles in them. 



          Food 



9.127     Hunger, together with the inadequate provision and poor quality of food, was the area of neglect 

          most consistently reported by witnesses. There were 335 witness reports of the food provided to 

          residents being of poor quality and/or inadequate quantity. These reports referred to 37 Schools 

          across all the decades from which there were neglect reports. One hundred and sixty eight 

          (168) witnesses (46%) described being constantly hungry, and at times ‘starving’, while resident 

          in the Schools. The constant state of hunger led to witnesses attempting to supplement their 

          diet in whatever way they could. ‘If you saw anybody eating anything you just went up and 

          grabbed it, we were always hungry.’ 



               A cup of cocoa and one slice of bread for breakfast. Lunch was cold soupy type thing, 

               lumpy potato, you were so hungry you’d eat it. Then in the afternoon it was scraps, bits 

               of stale bread ... we’d be killing each other to get as much as we could, trample each 

               other. We were all like vultures, like dogs eating off the ground to get as much as we 

                could. We were so hungry. ... You were always looking out for a bit of food, the 

                teacher’s dining room, you’d run in and grab what was left.... Or you’d get the key of the 

               pantry and go in you were so hungry. 



9.128     Prior to the 1960s many Schools had bakeries associated with the kitchens. Working in the 

          bakeries and kitchens allowed access to the pantry, extra bread and leftover food. Seventy (70) 

          witnesses described taking food, if and when they had the opportunity, as a means of survival. 

          Witnesses reported taking food from the kitchens and pantries and also reported taking fruit and 

          vegetables from the nun’s kitchens, orchards, glasshouses and vegetable gardens. They 

          recalled ‘stealing’ apples and sweets from shops in the town, ‘stealing’ lunches from day pupils 

          and fruit from local orchards. In addition to food taken in this manner 53 witnesses said that they 

          foraged for leftover scraps and took animal food and slops intended for the farm animals or from 

          ash pits in the gardens where kitchen refuse was dumped. Witnesses described fighting with co- 

          residents for the contents of the scrap bucket from the nun’s kitchen. One witness remembered 

          with gratitude a staff member who worked in the School’s staff kitchen: 



                I never had enough, I used to eat from the bins. There was a nun in the kitchen, she 

                was an angel, Sr ...X.... I can honestly say she was an angel, she used to throw food 

               away in such a way that it didn’t get ...pause... contaminated you’d say now. She threw 

               it away in such a way that we’d get it, she put it in a place she knew you would get it. 

                She was very good, she’d leave apple skins and something that was nice.... A boiled 

                egg, I used to love, but we got them very rare. I was always hungry. If you were 



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               punished you were put starving anyway. I used to be caught picking food out of the bins 

               and you would be put starving, for 2 or 3 days, you wouldn’t be given anything, all 

               meals ...(were stopped)... for a couple of days. 



9.129     Twenty seven (27) witnesses provided reports of seeing and preparing more plentiful and 

          appetising food in the Sisters’ kitchens and dining rooms. Serving food to clergy, staff and 

          visitors in the parlours allowed illicit access to some of this food. A small number of witnesses 

          recalled being sent to post food parcels to nun’s relatives at Christmas time and of potatoes and 

          other food being given to visiting professionals to take away with them. 



                I was hungry all the time. I was caught robbin’ bread and they were all told not to talk to 

               me. ... I was working in the kitchen and you’d see the carved roast for the convent but 

               you never got it. You might get the leftovers if you worked in the kitchen. 



9.130     Witnesses said that poor supervision by staff during meals resulted in older residents taking 

          food from younger and more vulnerable co-residents. It was also reported that some witnesses 

          took the food and milk provided for infants and younger residents they were looking after in the 

          nurseries. 



9.131     Twenty two (22) witnesses provided accounts of eating grass, leaves and berries. They reported 

          that they ate field crops including oats, ‘crows’ bread’, ‘bread and cheese leaves’, ‘sally grass’ 

          and juice from rose stems, hawthorn berries and apple cores, orange peels and chewing gum 

          from the pavement. Others reported eating flowers, eggshells, candles, glue and, in the reports 

          of two witnesses, the pink ointment used to treat boils. 



                I was always going around looking for food. If I was down the town and someone threw 

               away an apple core I would pick it up off the ground and eat it. 



9.132     Twenty six (26) witnesses reported on the lack of access to drinking water, and stated that 

          drinking from the toilet bowl was their only means of obtaining water. They described being 

          given nothing to drink except what was provided during their mealtimes. This practice was 

          reported in relation to 10 Schools and to have continued in some Schools until the 1970s. 



                You’d be more thirsty than anything else, we’d drink water out of the toilets, there would 

               be little worms in the water, the older girls would show us how to spit them out like that 

                ...demonstrated.... But you weren’t afeared ...(afraid).... It was the nuns you feared. 



9.133     Reports regarding food from witnesses discharged in the 1970s and 1980s were more 

          concentrated on the type of food than the quantity of food provided. Witnesses said they were 

          expected to eat food they did not like and were not offered any choice in what they had to eat. 

          They also reported that access to food was strictly limited to meal times. 



          Hygiene 



9.134     The Committee heard 277 witness reports of poor facilities for the provision and maintenance of 

          personal hygiene in 35 Schools across all the decades, with particular emphasis on those 

          discharged prior to 1970. Many of the hygiene practices were described as primitive and 

          degrading. 



9.135     The use of communal and shared baths was reported to be a common practice. A small number 

          of Schools were reported to have large communal baths where many residents were bathed 

          together. Others had regular bathtubs that were shared by more than one resident at a time and 

          consecutive groups used the same water. ‘You would line up naked, you would be with your 

          own age group but your dignity was taken, the same bath, same water for everyone.’ Bathing 

          was reported to take place at the end of the week, usually on a fortnightly or monthly basis, and 

          coincided with the distribution of clean underclothes. There were several reports from witnesses 



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          discharged before 1960 where baths were provided infrequently in tubs with water carried from 

          the kitchens. Cold-water baths were reported as routine in one School in the pre-1960s period 

          unless the laundry was in operation. In other Schools, cold-water baths were reported as 

          punishment for bed-wetting: ‘Cold bath if you wet the bed, otherwise you had to put on this frock 

          going into the bath in front of others’. Witnesses said that the furnace was lit to provide hot 

          water for the laundry and residents were then bathed in laundry tubs. Witnesses had to dry 

          themselves with large sheets and towels shared by many co-residents. In one School residents 

          were bathed in tubs in an outside building and waited in line without clothes in the open air. By 

          contrast, in other Schools modesty was closely monitored when bathing, residents in those 

          Schools had to wear a chemise when they were in the bath. Older residents were reported to 

          wash younger co-residents under this garment and great care was taken to keep one’s body 

          covered at all times. 



                You got in to the bath with the chemise and there were 2 nuns holding a big sheet so 

                you got out and went into the toilet to dress, still in the chemise. 



9.136     Witnesses discharged prior to 1960 reported that in some Schools residents shared 

          toothbrushes, other witnesses reported having no toothbrushes and cleaned their teeth with 

          their fingers dipped in salt. The majority of witnesses had no individual toiletries, including 

          toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap, which they reported were put in the bathrooms before 

          inspections and later removed. 



9.137     Ninety one (91) witnesses reported that arrangements for the management of menstruation 

          were poor or non-existent in relation to almost all Schools across all decades covered by this 

          Report. Witnesses from four Schools stated that there were no sanitary towels provided for their 

          use. Residents were obliged to use newspaper, rags and whatever suitable material they could 

          find as substitutes. In a number of Schools witnesses described being provided with reusable 

          sanitary cloths. In the period up to the 1960s it was commonplace for residents to hand-wash 

          their own sanitary cloths, the adequate provision of which was frequently problematic as they 

          were carefully rationed. Witnesses from 13 Schools reported that in addition to their own, they 

          also had to hand wash nun’s personal garments including sanitary towels. Witnesses stated that 

          the poor facilities for bathing and the changing of personal garments led to considerable 

          discomfort, chapped skin, rashes and offensive personal odours. 



                And the periods, queuing up for sanitary towels, you got 2 that was it. It was horrible, 

                you would smell. You would wash them out and put them back on wet. 



9.138     Four (4) Schools were reported to have dry toilets prior to 1960; these toilets were outside and 

          unlit. Cleaning toilets and clearing blocked drains was a work task reported as given to residents 

          without protection for their hands and minimal washing facilities. At night time chamber pots 

          were provided under beds for residents of all ages in most Schools prior to the 1960s. In one 

          School a witness reported that ‘a bucket in a cupboard was the only toilet for 50 girls locked in 

          the dormitory overnight’. 



                The toilets were always overflowing, it was terrible, we kept ...(cleaned)... them, the 

                girls, you had to keep the toilets the same as the floors, we unblocked them. The stench 

                was terrible. 



                                                             • 



                I had charge of the toilets downstairs and they were ... filthy, you had to clean them. 

                There was no toilet paper or anything, oh God, they were awful. 



9.139     Five (5) Schools were reported as getting new indoor toilet and bathroom facilities in the 1950s. 

          Witnesses from more than one of these Schools stated that they were not allowed to use the 

          new facilities for some time after they were installed. They reported that these new facilities 

          were opened for use before inspectors or visitors came but otherwise remained unused. 



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                We had a lavatory room as they called them, but we weren’t allowed use them. When 

                inspectors came there was a towel on every sink and a bar of carbolic soap. There was 

                new bathrooms, but we never used them. 



9.140     Forty eight (48) witnesses from 12 Schools reported infestations or infections with some or all of 

          the following: head lice/nits, scabies, thrush, ringworm, impetigo and fleas. Witnesses who had 

          head lice commented that the treatment was at times to cut the infected residents’ hair. 

          Witnesses from two Schools reported that they manually picked the lice from each other’s hair. 

          Other treatments included the application of undiluted Jeyes Fluid, paraffin, treatment lotion and 

          fine combing. ‘When we got there ...(when first admitted)... we were put into the care of 2 

          helpers who put us into a Jeyes Fluid bath, who cut our hair, steel fine combed our hair.’ Staff in 

          three Schools were reported to deal with scabies infections by painting residents with a white or 

          purple solution; witnesses reported that they stood in line naked for this treatment and that the 

          same brush was used on many residents. Witnesses reported that spraying residents’ heads 

          and beds with DDT was the treatment for fleas and head lice in six Schools in the pre-1960s 

          period. 



                There was about 26 beds in each room. The beds were full of fleas, they used to put 

                DDT on the bed. Sometimes it was entertaining, we’d watch it jump and say “look at this 

                one, look at this one”. 



          Clothing 



9.141     There were 272 witness reports of insufficient and poor quality clothing in relation to 37 Schools. 

          The reports referred to witnesses discharged in all decades up to and including the 1980s. 

          Witnesses consistently reported that their clothes and footwear were old-fashioned, ill-fitting, 

          uncomfortable and unsuitable for cold and wet weather. 



9.142     Witnesses generally reported that their own clothes were removed when they were admitted and 

          replaced with clothes that were, at times, of inferior quality. This was a reported practice in the 

          Schools regardless of the condition of the witness’ own clothes. The loss of personal items of 

          clothing was described as traumatic for some witnesses who had been specially dressed for the 

          occasion in new clothes, or their First Holy Communion and Confirmation clothes. The clothes 

          provided were described as uniform and were reported to have often been made in the 

          institution, especially in the period prior to the 1960s. There were a small number of reports from 

          Schools where flour sacks were used to make clothes and underclothes. 



9.143     Seventy seven (77) witnesses reported having to wear pre-worn, ill-fitting footwear to which 

          many attributed long-standing problems with their feet. A small number of witnesses reported 

          being bare-footed at times when no shoes or socks were available. These reports were from 

          witnesses discharged prior to 1960 when witnesses rarely reported having new shoes. There 

          were 36 reports of bags of second-hand clothes being periodically thrown out on the floor and 

          residents being left to scramble for what they could find. 



9.144     Before 1970, several institutions were reported to have had ‘Sunday clothes’ including coats and 

          shoes. These clothes were worn when visitors and inspectors came and whenever the residents 

          went out, for example for Sunday walks, to perform in competitions, to attend hospital or to see 

          a doctor. Witnesses also reported that their clothing was generally not adequate for inclement 

          weather and many described being forced outdoors in winter for recreation periods without 

          appropriate clothing, such as coats, rainwear, hats, gloves or scarves, being provided. 



9.145     Witnesses described underwear garments as loose and shapeless with limited availability of 

          bras for residents in many Schools prior to the 1970s. It was frequently reported that during the 

          early years witnesses were supplied with bodices that were worn tightly bound to flatten their 

          breasts. 



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                I went with a bra on me, and there was an older girl there and she said Mth ...X... said 

                “take off that bra” and she gave me this thing ...(bodice)... and it had strings on it. It was 

                to flatten me.... I used to be in agony, but they made me wear it. 



9.146     For witnesses discharged in the 1970s and 1980s clothing continued to constitute reports of 

          neglect and many described being embarrassed by old-fashioned and second-hand clothes that 

          identified them as ‘industrials’ or orphans in the outside world. Nineteen (19) witnesses 

          discharged in the 1970s reported that they did not have clothes of their own and that everything 

          they wore was communal property. 



                One nun, she was teaching us, I remember her saying we were being stigmatised going 

                to school outside and they would have to do something about it ...(get new clothes).... 

                She used to say it was not nice, she was in the convent and she couldn’t go against 

                them ... (Sisters in charge of residents).... 



9.147     Nineteen (19) witness accounts were heard of the best clothes being given to residents who 

          were regarded as ‘pets’ of staff members while others fought for something that would fit them. 



          Heating 



9.148     There were 241 witness reports of poor heating in relation to 35 Schools across all decades. 

          Witnesses described enduring memories of being cold, a particular feature of which was the 

          pain of chilblains on the hands and feet. Chilblains were a common ailment in the pre-1970s 

          period and witnesses reported that the pain experienced after being beaten on chilblained hands 

          and legs was extreme. 



9.149     The heating arrangements described in Schools during the years before the 1960s were mainly 

          of open turf and coal fires in classrooms and some recreation areas. Witnesses reported that 

          the furnaces used for heating water for the laundries supplied heat to the refectories, 

          classrooms and dormitories in later years and a number of witnesses reported that heating was 

          limited to times when the furnaces were lit for the laundries. Dormitories were generally 

          described as large cold rooms with bare wooden floors and windows. Witnesses also reported 

          that inadequate clothing and bed-coverings contributed to being cold. Reports regarding heating 

          from witnesses discharged in the 1970s and 1980s were mainly concerned with being poorly 

          clothed for cold weather and having to spend long periods outdoors in cold and wet weather. 



          Supervision 



9.150     One hundred and ninety five (195) witnesses reported poor or inadequate supervision by staff 

          leaving them unprotected from harm and exposed to abuse. Orphans and those with little family 

          contact while resident in the Schools were reported to have been particularly affected by the 

          lack of supervision. Witnesses stated that ‘orphans’ did not have the protection afforded by visits 

          from parents or relatives or older sisters to defend them from abusive staff and co-residents. 

          The three most frequently reported consequences of poor or inadequate supervision were: 



                 •    Bullying and physical abuse 

                 •    Sexual abuse by staff and co-residents 

                 •    Compromised care of babies and toddlers. 



9.151     Twenty nine (29) witnesses reported that supervision at play times was inadequate and that 

          bullying by co-residents was a frequent occurrence. Components of the bullying behaviour 

          reported by witnesses included being sexually and physically abused, in addition to being 

          exposed to less direct forms of abuse such as being reported to staff for punishment, forced to 

          do unpleasant tasks and being deprived of food. Supervision in the refectories and dormitories 

          was generally described as minimal, with, in some Schools, as many as 100 residents routinely 



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          reported to be supervised by one staff member. Witnesses stated that the lack of supervision in 

          the refectories allowed older residents to have first pick of the food or simply take it from 

          younger residents, who were generally left to fend for themselves. 



                There was fighting among the girls, there was no supervision at all. On Saturday there 

                would be no staff and the beatings by the older girls ... they were terrible, terrible. 



9.152     The Committee heard 71 witness accounts of negligent care where residents were left in charge 

          of younger co-residents without support or supervision. Witnesses from a small number of 

          Schools reported that residents from the age of eight years were left in charge of babies and 

          toddlers. Some witnesses reported that minding babies was their exclusive occupation and that 

          they were taken out of class for this purpose; others reported being rostered to mind the babies, 

          including getting up at night to feed them. Some were so tired the next day they fell asleep in 

          the classroom. Witnesses reported that staff checked to see that residents had fed, dressed and 

          changed the infants, otherwise there was no ongoing supervision of the ‘charges’ care. 



                I used to have to look after the babies. I used to have to wash them, feed them and 

                clean them, get them ready for bed. They were like little babies.... You learned, the 

                older girls would show you. I was about 11 or 12 ... there were about 6 or 7 babies. 



                                                              • 



                I remember my brother and his girlfriend coming to visit me, he heard he had a sister. I 

                remember it because he brought a cake. They wanted to take me out for an ice cream 

                and they said “no”. I was minding the babies. ... I was only a child myself. I used to 

                have to sleep in the nursery with these babies and there was a row of all these babies 

                and you would have to get up in the night, if they cried, or to go to the toilet, or that. 

                You did it a week at a time, there was only one consolation the next week you were 

                allowed to have a lie on.... 



9.153     Twelve (12) witnesses reported being so hungry that they either ate the babies rusks and dried 

          food or took their milk, substituting it with water in the babies’ bottles. Several witnesses 

          expressed regret about their own harsh treatment of babies and commented on feeling 

          conflicted about resenting the infants they were obliged to look after when their own care was 

          neglected. Others felt sorry for the infants and developed close affectionate bonds with those 

          they had cared for over an extended period of time. 



9.154     Witnesses reported that there was poor supervision in the absence of staff in many of the 

          Schools over different periods of time. Residents from three Schools were locked in dormitories 

          overnight in the absence of a staff member. Witnesses also reported that there were few 

          domestic staff employed and as a result the residents were required to do the housework, 

          including working in the convent and other areas. This work was reported as generally checked 

          by older residents or lay staff. 



9.155     Most Schools employed some lay staff who were generally believed to be untrained for the task 

          of providing care for children. Witnesses reported that there were some residents retained when 

          they were 16 years old by the nuns to work as lay staff, many of whom were believed to have 

          been in the Schools all their lives. Witnesses expressed some understanding for the frequently 

          harsh behaviour of these staff: ‘They treated others as they were treated themselves’. 

          Witnesses said that lay staff including the former residents received no specific training for their 

          work with children until the 1970s and 1980s when it was reported that staff from certain 

          Schools were trained as childcare workers: 



                The workers were the same age as ourselves like, if we were 15 they were 18.... They 

                started training when I was there; they used to tell us one day a week that they were 

                going for training. 



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9.156     Witnesses also reported that tradesmen, gardeners and farm workers were employed in most 

          Schools and there were isolated reports of these male ancillary staff being inappropriately 

          involved in the care and management of residents. 



9.157     A further area of neglect identified by witnesses in the context of poor supervision related to 

          external placements. Witnesses reported being sent to families they had not previously met and 

          were not visited by any staff from the Schools while they were there. In addition to those sent to 

          families for weekends and holidays others reported being placed alone in work settings at an 

          inappropriate age. For example, girls ranging in age from 10-13 years were sent to housekeep 

          for local families, shopkeepers or clergy. Twenty nine (29) witnesses placed with families for 

          holidays or to work reported being sexually and physically abused in such situations where they 

          were vulnerable and unsupervised. 



          Education 



9.158     Educational neglect was described by many witnesses both in terms of the standard of 

          education provided and, for some, receiving no education at all. One hundred and eighty seven 

          (187) witnesses reported leaving school with poor literacy skills and no qualifications. Sixty three 

          (63) witnesses reported long-term literacy problems. Witnesses reported that their education 

          was neglected through the competing demands of domestic work, excessive emphasis on 

          religious instruction, fear of punishment in the classroom and being discriminated against as 

          children from an Industrial School. Other witnesses reported that they received no assistance for 

          their learning difficulties and were significantly disadvantaged in later life as a result. 



                If you weren’t bright they didn’t help you and anyway you couldn’t learn with the 

                beatings. I only learned how to clean and cook. Mth ...X... used to say to me “you think 

                you will be a star but you won’t be, the way your mother turned out”. .... When I was 

                leaving Sr ...Y... said “don’t turn out like your mother” ...(mother had been in laundry).... 

                I did not know what she meant.... 



                                                              • 



                My days were reduced to the laundry and cleaning and scrubbing. You would be getting 

                younger children up and cleaning them and potties ...(chamber pots)... etcetera. Then it 

                was cleaning, polishing and scrubbing, cleaning corridors, folding clothes and the 

                laundry.... I left not able to read and I was always embarrassed of my writing, it’s very 

                childlike. Even taking down a message in my job I practice it a hundred times. There 

                was an awful lot of work and no education which is something I always regret. Only a 

                very selective few were sent out to school. 



                                                              • 



                You were constantly told you were a misfit, I had a problem no one could understand, I 

                couldn’t write. There were pets, they got special help with their classes, good looking, 

                sweet little angelic looking girls, they were the pets. I got no help, I asked for it but I 

                wasn’t a pet. 



9.159     One hundred and seventy eight (178) witnesses (58%) reported that they completed their 

          classroom education by the age of 14 years, of whom 34 reported that they did not attend class 

          after 12 years of age. Eight (8) witnesses stated that they were taken out of class to work full- 

          time before the age of 10 years, including two who reported no memory of ever attending 

          school. 



                We had some sort of education up until about 7 ...(years old)... after that I had no 

                education. After that it was decided who would go to school, outside school ...(local 

                primary school).... I put up my hand, Sr ...X... said “you aren’t going anywhere”. 



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9.160      In a number of Schools the strenuous nature of the work, rising early for kitchen or laundry 

          duties, and caring for younger co-residents at night left witnesses tired and unable to benefit 

          from education. Ninety eight (98) witnesses reported being kept from attending class to work in 

          and for the institution when their stated wish was to continue their education. Forty five (45) 

          witnesses reported that they were at times called away from the classroom or came late to class 

           because of chores they had to do beforehand. Others reported being routinely kept out of class 

          on a rotating basis to work in the kitchens and other parts of the institution. Six (6) witnesses 

           reported that they attended class only for the day of the inspector’s visit and that they were 

          otherwise occupied with domestic chores. In the main these reports related to witnesses 

          discharged before the 1970s: 



                I was a very intelligent child. I would soak up knowledge and really resent not having 

                had the chance to have a really good education. ... (I was)... pulled out at 11 and a half 

                or 12 and worked in the orphanage. ... Work in the orphanage prevented me studying. I 

                got highest marks in Primary Certificate in the whole school ...(local primary 

                school)...(and was)... sent around to the whole school with the certificate. 



                                                                • 



                I was in the secondary school one day, I was there for 6 months, she ...(Sr X)... came in 

                and called me out and she said ...“Y...(named co-resident)... is going today, she is 16 

                and you are now taking her place”. I was going to work in the kitchen. I was so 

                shocked, I really wanted to stay in school. ... I had to go to the kitchen and then I was 

                moved to the farm. 



9.161     There were reports heard of 17 Schools where residents and local children shared the same 

          classrooms either within the Industrial School or in the local community. In 13 Schools residents 

          were reported to attend class in the local primary, secondary or technical schools and in four 

          other Schools the classes were attended by both School residents and local children. Twenty 

          five (25) witnesses reported educational discrimination and neglect in these circumstances 

          either in the classrooms attached to the Schools or in the local schools. They reported being 

          discriminated against in different ways, for example reporting that they were not allowed to play 

          with or speak to children from the town and often had to sit together at the back of the class. 

          Witnesses also reported that they were referred to collectively by teachers as ‘the industrials’, 

           ‘the orphans’, ‘the house children’ or similar terms. They reported having to wear clothes that 

          distinguished them from the other pupils and being treated as part of a separate group. 

          Witnesses from three Schools reported that as residents of the Industrial School it was their task 

          to clean the local schools’ classrooms and in another School to clean and work in the secondary 

          school’s boarding house. 



9.162      Many reports were heard of co-residents being given preferential treatment in relation to school 

          attendance, particularly from Schools where residents attended external primary, technical and 

          secondary schools. Witnesses frequently remarked that they were not allowed to go out to 

          school because they were not favoured as ‘pets’ of the religious staff. Forty two (42) of the 83 

          witnesses who reported attending second level education did so in the period before free 

          secondary education was introduced. 



                 They used to say to us, “3 children would be picked” to go for education. I was bright I 

                 wanted to get ahead, I wanted to go to secondary school. I didn’t get the opportunity. 

                 Three girls were picked, they were ... (pets) ..... I think it was a bit of class distinction, if 

                they came from a better background, or if their aunt was a nun they would be picked. 



9.163     Witnesses reported that at times their educational opportunities were denied by not having their 

          own school books or the facilities or encouragement to do homework in the evenings. Many 

           reported being denied the opportunity to participate in extra curricular activities and that, having 

           been reared and educated in an institutional setting, the adjustment to attending second level 



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          schooling in the local area was a considerable challenge. As a witness said: ‘I didn’t know how 

          to act with people outside the School when I went to the tech ...(technical school)...’. 



          Bedding 



9.164     The quality of bedding provision was reported as poor by 185 witnesses, the majority of whom 

          emphasised being cold in bed. These reports were in relation to 31 Schools across the 

          decades. Poor bedding also referred to lumpy mattresses, insufficient blankets, sheets changed 

          infrequently, mattresses and bedding smelling of urine and no provision made for seasonal 

          variations in temperature. Rubber sheets were reported to be used in place of a cotton sheet in 

          some Schools for residents who wet their beds and were described as being cold and 

          uncomfortable to sleep on. There were reports from three Schools of all residents having to 

          sleep on rubber sheets. Others had to carry their wet cotton sheets all day and sleep on them 

          that night. 



9.165     Witnesses from a small number of Schools reported having to share their bed with either a 

          sibling or a younger co-resident. For some witnesses there was a comfort in this arrangement; 

          for others it was regarded as unpleasant especially in the context of bed-wetting. 



                 We slept 2 to a bed. I would be up all night clapping the sheet, trying to dry the sheet to 

                avoid a beating for my sister and blowing on it. I never had my own bed. Later I shared 

                a bed with another girl. 



          Healthcare 



9.166     One hundred and thirty eight (138) witnesses reported that when they were ill or injured their 

          healthcare was neglected and necessary treatment was not provided. Forty nine (49) witnesses 

          reported being punished, not believed or ignored when ill. Witnesses stated: ‘I got better by 

          myself’ and ‘The nuns always thought we were pretending or were looking for notice, it was a 

          crime to be sick’. 



9.167     A large number of witnesses reported that ‘no heed was taken unless you were very ill’ and 

          gave accounts of being hospitalised with infections, appendicitis, ulcers secondary to chilblains, 

          rickets, anaemia, and failure to thrive. Ten (10) witnesses reported suffering with severe 

          headaches and episodes of fainting that were ignored by staff. Sixteen (16) others reported 

          having recurrent earaches that were untreated, resulting in infections and perforated eardrums. 

          Six (6) witnesses reported they suffered permanent hearing loss. 



9.168     A further area of healthcare neglect reported to the Committee by witnesses in the period prior 

          to the 1980s was the lack of investigation by medical and nursing staff who observed or were 

          involved in treating non-accidental injuries in the School, local clinics or hospital settings. 

          Eighteen (18) witnesses reported being attended by a doctor in the School for treatment of an 

          injury, including suturing following assaults, and they were neither questioned about how the 

          injury occurred nor was any intervention made to protect them from further abuse. 



9.169     A small number of witnesses reported that medical advice was not acted upon and that 

          prescribed medical treatment was discontinued in the School. One witness stated that she was 

          hospitalised with tuberculosis while resident in a School. At her hearing, she provided copies of 

          her medical discharge reports containing specific recommendations to the Resident Manager. 

          The medical report advised that she should be moved to a more protective environment and 

          receive better nourishment; she said that neither recommendation was followed. 



9.170     The availability of staff to assist and supervise children who were ill was reported to vary over 

          the decades and between different Schools. Twenty six (26) witnesses said that they were put 

          in the dormitories, left alone and unattended while they were sick. In a number of instances 



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----------------------- Page 1518-----------------------

           witnesses reported being locked into dormitories and infirmaries during the day while they were 

           ill. 



9.171      One hundred and fifty two (152) witnesses reported attending hospital for treatment, a number 

           of whom were admitted for reasons including childhood accidents and illness such as fevers, 

           tonsillitis, ear infections and lacerations. As previously reported, 33 residents were admitted for 

           injuries following physical abuse. 



                  I went to hospital ...(with a broken wrist following beating).... I had to walk to the 

                  hospital, it was 3 quarters of an hour to walk, another girl came with me. 



9.172      Two (2) witnesses reported they developed osteomyelitis, which they believed was due to the 

           delay in receiving medical attention when they were first symptomatic. In one of these instances 

           the witness reported that the hospital surgeon who saw her as an adult commented on the 

           contribution of avoidable delay to the final outcome of the osteomyelitis in her foot and the need 

           then for surgery. Another witness reported she had part of her hand amputated following an 

           accident with a bread-slicing machine in the School kitchen. 



9.173      A number of witnesses reported that improvements in health care provision depended on 

           changes of staff and the attitude of the Resident Manager: ‘I was looked after in a kind, loving 

           way if I was sick until I was 12 and then with a change ...(of Resident Manager)... it all 

           changed’. 



9.174      An additional form of neglect reported by witnesses was the failure to provide medical records to 

           them when they were discharged. Twenty two (22) witnesses reported that the absence of any 

           information on their medical history has been a significant problem in adult life. A number of 

           witnesses reported that their medical care was compromised by this lack of information and led 

           subsequently to an avoidance of doctors and medical treatment, as they did not wish it to be 

           known that they were reared in an institution. 



           Adolescent development 



9.175      Preparation for puberty was specifically reported by 36 witnesses as an area of neglect through 

           misinformation, lack of education and discussion of all sexual matters. The onset of 

           menstruation was described as a particularly distressing experience for many female witnesses 

           due both to their own lack of understanding about what was happening and the response of 

           staff to their circumstances. Witnesses reported that adolescent development and menstruation 

           were not discussed and that in many instances their attempts to seek advice and reassurance 

           were harshly sanctioned. Witnesses reported feeling that normal bodily changes were faults of 

           some kind. A witness reported that when she started to menstruate, she was sent for by the 

           Resident Manager who gave her a lecture about being dirty, calling her a ‘filthy devil’. 



                  There was absolutely no sanitary facilities for a girl at a certain time of your life, you had 

                  to make do yourself. We got no advice at all, we learned from older girls.... We used 

                  talk among ourselves. When it ...(menstruation)... first happened to me I hadn’t the 

                  courage to go up and ask, we were very much afraid to ask ...(for sanitary protection).... 



                                                                     • 



                  After I had my period the nuns kept telling me “you can now have a baby if a man 

                  touches your hair”. So when this foster father began touching my hair I thought I was 

                  pregnant. 



9.176      In addition to the distress associated with menstruation in these circumstances witnesses 

           reported being humiliated and abused in response to any appearance of physical development. 

           They reported feeling embarrassed and ashamed of their breast development. Witnesses 



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          reported that an aspect of the neglect experienced in this regard was being forced to wear 

          inappropriate garments for the purpose of concealing normal physical development. 



                When we started to grow breasts, we couldn’t ask the nuns anything, you weren’t 

                allowed grow breasts, I was told my breasts were ugly. ... I was friendly with an outside 

                girl and she gave me a black bra, you know ... brassiere, we were not allowed wear 

                them. Well she, Sr ...X... caught me and she threw me into a room and she beat me 

                black and blue. We were not allowed wear them you know. 



                                                             • 



                I was obviously growing up by now and I had quite big breasts. Sr ...X... would come up 

                to me get hold of my breasts and squash them as hard as she could, she would then 

                order me to “flatten them down and stop encouraging” it ... “flatten them down, flatten 

                them”. She would scream at me. So I would just try and hold myself in ’til she left me 

                alone. ... Then one day she got hold of me and told me she had got me a “roll on”, I 

                thought I was going to get some nylons ...(stockings)... and felt very grown up. She said 

                “this will help to keep you in”. ... When I put it ...(corset)... on she made me haul it up 

                over my breasts to flatten them down, I could hardly breathe and I had to wear this over 

                my breasts for months. 



9.177     Witnesses reported having little or no knowledge of intimate relationships and being misinformed 

          about basic details regarding sexual matters. Some witnesses, including three who stated they 

          were unable to read, described being handed a book on the facts of life when they were 

          discharged. Others reported receiving minimal education in relation to sexual matters during the 

          1970s and 1980s. Witnesses frequently stated that they received no sex education and that 

          sexual matters were never discussed by the staff. The absence of open discussion and 

          information and the culture of silence, fear and denial that witnesses described regarding sexual 

          matters in the Schools were reported to have contributed to neglect and abuse on several 

          levels. A witness who was discharged after 16 years in the School, without any preparation for 

          outside life or relationships with men, reported being raped and abandoned on her first date. 

          Other witnesses said: ‘the facts of life were never discussed, I knew it ... (sexual abuse)... was 

          wrong but we had no language to tell’. 



                We didn’t know anything about getting a period. There was nothing about a period only, 

                “if you sit beside a man you get pregnant”. I remember getting a period, I thought 

                something was wrong with me. I didn’t tell anyone because I was afraid, I thought “I’ll 

                get into trouble”. There was no one to tell. 



                                                             • 



                We had no sex education, the only sex education we had was about 10 minutes, from 

                the priest. He did a thing on the blackboard to the whole class. 



          Preparation for discharge 



9.178     Witnesses reported that with little or no preparation for independent living their discharge from 

          the Schools and transition to life outside the institution was traumatic and, for some, 

          overwhelming. Areas of neglect most frequently reported by female witnesses in relation to their 

          discharge were: 



                 •    Lack of preparation and training in basic life skills 

                 •    Lack of assessment, supervision and follow-up of placements 

                 •    Lack of opportunity to say goodbye to siblings and friends 

                 •    Lack of personal information and related documentation. 



9.179     A large number of witnesses who had spent most of their childhood in institutional care reported 

          a profound sense of displacement and bewilderment when discharged from the Schools. It was 



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          reported as common for residents to be informed they were being discharged on the morning of 

          their departure or the previous evening, without any prior discussion. Most witnesses stated that 

          they left the Schools with few possessions, some reported they were given a suitcase or brown 

          parcel containing a change of clothing, and others described leaving with ‘the clothes we stood 

          up in’. Reports of poor preparation for discharge were heard from witnesses in relation to all 

          decades, including the 1980s. ‘You were shown the door and put out, none of us had anywhere 

          to go. The door was open and you were out with 2 suits and your underwear.’ 



9.180     Most witnesses stated that they left the Schools without necessary life skills, including the ability 

          to handle money, shop, budget, cook, pay bills, use public transport or to participate in the 

          social world beyond the institution. They reported not being given any advice to assist them 

          cope with living outside the institutional life to which they had been accustomed. 



                After I left I used to sleep in the mart in ...local town... for about 2 weeks. I had nowhere 

                to go and so I said I’d go to England. When I went over, you know, I couldn’t give the 

                right change, I just didn’t know ...(how to handle money).... 



9.181     A witness from one School reported that a bequest was made by an ex-resident to the institution 

          to allow each resident to receive a small amount of pocket money each week to foster 

          independence. The witness reported that residents lined up to get the money each week. It was 

          immediately taken back and the residents were informed it was being saved for them. This 

          witness reported that she asked for it when she was being discharged and was told it had been 

          used to buy her clothes. 



                I didn’t know anything about money. ... You don’t know how to go into the shop and ask, 

                you never done daily things, you never done your own washing, so you had to find out 

                ...by ... trial and error. I remember going into ...(department store)... and the girl there 

                helped me, she was great. I had never bought clothes before. I had to learn all this, pay 

                your rent, pay your light ...(electricity bill)... and all this, even when you were leaving 

                they should have told us, or got us ready, given us some information but they gave us 

                nothing, we had to apply for everything and then it was different to what you were told in 

                the School. 



9.182     A number of the 64 witnesses who were discharged to their family home commented on the 

          difficulty they experienced reintegrating with families from whom they had been separated, in 

          some situations with little contact for a number of years. Witnesses described being dropped on 

          their parents’ or older siblings’ doorstep without prior notice or any further contact, follow-up or 

          aftercare. Among the circumstances which confronted witnesses were impoverished living 

          conditions, homelessness, sexual abuse and rejection by families who had become strangers. 



9.183     Witnesses reported being placed directly in employment without consultation as to what they 

          wished to do. ‘I was still in their grip, they took me, they told me without asking me. They took 

          me to ...named city... and put me to work in hospital.’ The limited information provided about 

          where they were going and what work they were expected to do was reported repeatedly by 

          witnesses. They reported not being given any practical advice or reassurance about what their 

          new situation might entail or who to contact if they experienced any difficulties. Witnesses 

          described being handed a train and/or boat ticket, with the address of a prospective employer or 

          relative and left to make their own way to Dublin, London or another city in the UK. The 

          Committee heard a small number of reports of witnesses wandering aimlessly when they arrived 

          until ‘rescued by the Police’ or some kind-hearted person who assisted them in getting to their 

          destination. 



9.184     Sixty one (61) witnesses reported being abused in work and holiday placements, many of whom 

          emphasised that the lack of adequate assessment and supervision of aftercare left them 



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          vulnerable to abuse. Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported being abused in various ways by 

          employers following their discharge, often under threat of being returned to the Schools if they 

          resisted or disclosed their abuse. The types of abuse reported by witnesses in these 

          circumstances included physical and sexual abuse, not being paid and working excessively long 

          hours. 



                We used to go on holidays and from the first day I hated it. He was all right, the 

                father..... She ...(mother in the holiday family)... wanted me to look after the kids and do 

                the work, she was cruel. She made me ...(work).... I was in secondary school for one 

                year, and then I went to the holiday family and at the end of the summer, the School 

                used to phone up and say to come back, this time they did not phone so ... the family 

                phoned and the nuns said “will you not keep her, is there not a school there that she 

                can go to?” So they kept me and did not send me to school, I was a skivvy. I was only 

                about 14 and got no more school.... 



9.185     Fourteen (14) witnesses reported being transferred to laundries when they were discharged, 

          with no recollection of any formal transfer procedure. One witness reported being transferred to 

          a laundry as punishment for having a boyfriend; others reported being transferred as 

          punishment for what might be described as assertive behaviour. 



                I’m pushed up against the wall and they ...Sr X and 3 lay staff... had me in on the wall 

                beating the head off me, beating me unconscious. I put me hand out to save myself.... I 

                knocked Sr ...X’s...veil off, it was accidental I did not strike that nun. I’m put into this 

                room, it was out in the yard, there was no light in it and I was there until next day. Then 

                I’m taken out by a Miss ...Y... a lady she was, a real lady she was a lovely woman, and 

                she told me I was being sent down the country, I was being transferred. She put her 

                arms around me and said “I’m sorry”.... I went down ... early in the morning and never 

                got a chance to say goodbye to my sisters.... (Sent at 13 years to work in laundry) 



9.186     The lack of planning and involvement of witnesses in any discussions about discharge resulted 

          in them having no time or opportunity to say goodbye to siblings and friends. This abrupt ending 

          to their years in care was reported by witnesses to be traumatic. ‘No great goodbyes from what 

          had been my home for 9 years’. Discharges in these circumstances were particularly distressing 

          for witnesses who were leaving younger siblings behind whom they knew were being abused. 

          Others reported that the loss of friendships was distressing, both at the time and in subsequent 

          years, as they never regained contact. 



                It was the day our ...witness’s sister... left, I were sitting on the swing. I were crying, my 

                sister, she just said goodbye to me. I just heard that she was gone for good, she didn’t 

                know herself where she was going. She ...(Sr X)... gave me a backhander because I 

                was crying. I split my head. I told them ...(in the hospital)... I fell, the nun was there 

                beside me you couldn’t say anything or you’d get worse. 



9.187     Another witness who had spent several months in hospital following a leg injury was 16 years 

          old when she was ready to be discharged. The witness reported that the Resident Manager of 

          the School where she had previously resided for many years refused to readmit her or offer any 

          further assistance. She was discharged from hospital to the local county home and reported 

          ongoing medical problems that required several subsequent operations. 



9.188     Many witnesses reported that there remained a consistent lack of preparation for independent 

          living and little aftercare provided by Schools in the 1970s and 1980s. Others reported that there 

          were some improvements and changes in practice and procedures since the 1970s, with 

          planned discharges and some preparation for independent living. 



                Sr ...X... said “it’s time for ye to leave”. I said “what?” She said “I’m going to give ye a 

                few days now, you can finish your Junior Cert and then you have to go”. We ...(witness 



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                  and co-resident)... thought, “what on earth are we going to do, where are we going to 

                  go?” We had nothing. Within a couple of days we had found a flat, the 2 of us, we found 

                  it ourselves and we left out the door with a couple of suitcases. I had to leave school, I 

                  would have liked to have stayed on. I did alright in my Junior Cert, but I had to leave. A 

                  teacher in the school phoned up and explained the situation and got me a job. 



                                                                     • 



                  When I left I wanted to do ...training... she ...(Sr X)... was giving out about the funds 

                  ...(cost).......named lay care staff... persuaded her to let me go. I remember I was 

                  brought up to a big city, a place I hadn’t a clue of where we were, I was put into a B&B 

                  by Sr ...X... and Sr ...Y... and she ...(Sr X)... gave me a cheque for £200 and I had to 

                  find a flat for myself, I had no pots, no pans, nothing, I was on my own. There were 

                  times when I was there when I was hungry, a friend from School would give me soup 

                  and bread. 



9.189      Most witnesses who had been in institutional care for an extended period of time reported that 

           when they were discharged they were given little information about the terms of their admission 

           or discharge, their medical history or any of their formal documentation such as educational or 

           birth certificates. The Committee heard 15 reports of witnesses being provided with incorrect 

           information regarding family circumstances, for example being told that their parents were 

           deceased or that they had no siblings. For many of these witnesses such misinformation has 

           continued to be a cause of great distress and unresolved anger: 



                  I applied for my birth cert after I left the School and discovered that my mother wasn’t 

                  married. I had been told all my life ... (in named School)... that she was dead and that 

                  my father died when I was 2. It was a shock, I went looking ...(for information)...when I 

                  was getting married and the priest put me off.... Since then ...(in recent years)... I got 

                  the details off the social worker, she arranged for me to meet her ... (witness’s birth 

                  mother).... When I met the poor lady, she was a lovely woman, she didn’t want me 

                  given up, she was supposed to be paying for me. They ...(Sisters)... had her name and 

                  details all the time and she lived near, and none of this was told you before you left. 

                  They should have talked to us, you had to deal with it all yourself, it ...(the information)... 

                  was coming through the post, in a flat, on your own, finding out she was alive all the 

                  time. 



           Emotional abuse 



                  Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                  expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                  development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare11 



9.190      This section of the Report describes witness evidence of emotional abuse by deprivation of 

           secure relationships, family contact, identity, affection and approval, and by both a lack of safety 

           and a lack of protection from harm. Such deprivations impaired the social, emotional and 

           physical functioning and development of witnesses and were identified by them as disturbing 

           both at the time and in the subsequent course of their lives. 



9.191      Emotional abuse described by witnesses generally referred to routine practices that failed to 

           recognise the individual needs of children and provide adequately for their care. Practices in 

           relation to personal care, the separation of siblings, and enforced isolation and silence were 

           reported as part of the rigid institutional system. A further component of emotional abuse 

           described by witnesses referred to the constant physical and verbal abuse that engendered a 

           culture of fear. Emotional abuse was described as pervasive and systemic and was less often 

           ascribed to individual staff members. Therefore, while some staff were identified by witnesses, 

           the following section does not include a list of reported abusers. 



           11 Section 1(1)(d) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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           Nature and extent of emotional abuse reported 



9.192      The Committee heard 364 reports of emotional abuse by 356 witnesses (94%) in relation to 40 

           Schools that admitted girls.12  There was a wide variation in the number of reports made in 



           relation to each School. 

                   •    Two (2) Schools were collectively the subject of 115 reports.13 



                   •    Seventeen (17) Schools were the subject of 6-20 reports, totalling 198 reports. 

                   •    Twenty one (21) Schools were the subject of 1-5 reports, totalling 51 reports. 



9.193      Emotional abuse was reported in combination with each of the other abuse types, physical, 

           sexual and neglect, as shown in the following table: 



              Table 41: Emotional Abuse Combined with Other Abuse Types – Female Industrialand 

                                                        Reformatory Schools 



                                 Abuse types                             Number of reports                      % 



             Emotional, neglect and physical                                     226                            62 



             Emotional, neglect, physical and sexual                             123                            34 



             Emotional and physical                                                8                            2 



             Emotional and neglect                                                 3                            1 



             Emotional physical and sexual                                         2                            1 



             Emotional                                                             1                            (0) 



             Emotional, neglect and sexual                                         1                            (0) 



            Total reports                                                        364                           100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



9.194      Emotional abuse was reported in combination with all three of the other abuse types in 123 

           instances. Three hundred and fifty nine (359) reports (95%) of emotional abuse were combined 

           with physical abuse and 126 reports (35%) combined emotional abuse with sexual abuse. 



9.195      Table 42 below details the distribution of emotional abuse reports according to the witnesses’ 

           discharge period. 



               Table 42: Number of Emotional Abuse Reports by Decade of Witnesses’ Discharge – 

                                          Female Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



                   Decade of discharge               Number of emotional abuse                             % 

                                                                 reports 



                         Pre-1960s                                  123                                    34 



                          1960-69                                   168                                    46 



                          1970-79                                   66                                     18 



                          1980-89                                    7                                      2 



                            Total                                   364                                   100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           12 A number of witnesses were admitted to more than one School, and made reports of abuse in more than one School, 



              therefore the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 

           13 In order to maintain confidentiality further details regarding the numbers of abuse reports in these Schools cannot be 



              specified. 



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9.196     It is of note that 20% of the emotional abuse reports were made by witnesses who were 

          discharged after 1970, which was similar to those of physical abuse and neglect . 



          Description of emotional abuse 



9.197     The main forms of emotional abuse identified by witnesses included: humiliation and ridicule, 

          deprivation of contact with siblings and family, rejection, loss of identity, lack of affection, threat 

          of harm and deliberate exposure to frightening situations. Other forms of emotional abuse 

          included a punitive emphasis on religion, public humiliation and personal ridicule, denigration of 

          family of origin, isolation, criticism and verbal abuse, and the unreasonable imposition of 

          responsibility. There is some unavoidable overlap between the different forms of emotional 

          abuse and between emotional abuse and other types of abuse, particularly physical and sexual 

          abuse. 



          Personal ridicule and public humiliation 



9.198     The most consistently reported form of emotional abuse described by female witnesses was 

          humiliation and ridicule. One hundred and ninety seven (197) witnesses described being 

          humiliated and ridiculed by a variety of means including name calling, being humiliated about 

          personal hygiene, being subject to constant criticism, being made to publicly beg forgiveness for 

          alleged misconduct, being made to stand or kneel to eat meals at a penance table, having 

          attention called to physical disabilities or impairments, being forced to stand naked in front of 

          others and having soiled underwear exhibited for ridicule. 



9.199     The most frequently cited occasion for public humiliation was in the management of bed-wetting. 

          Witnesses who wet their bed described having to carry wet mattresses and walk with wet sheets 

          over their head and shoulders through the School and across the yards to drying rooms, the 

          laundries, or while sitting in the refectories. In three Schools it was reported that witnesses had 

          to drape wet sheets on their shoulders in classrooms shared with local children. Eight (8) 

          witnesses reported that the Resident Manager of a particular School forced those who wet their 

          beds to wear their wet sheet or pants on their head or shoulders as they walked as far as the 

          School gate. Others reported being forced to stand in the refectory with the wet sheet on their 

          back while they ate breakfast or while watching others eat. 



9.200     Witnesses also reported being humiliated regarding their dress and general appearance. For 

          example, a witness reported being punished by being forced to wear a dress made from a flour 

          sack, which was removed in advance of an inspector’s visit. Others described having to wear 

          ragged clothes to school in the company of children from the town and being teased about their 

          poor attire. Another witness who needed glasses and had been recommended by the doctor to 

          sit in front of the class reported that the Sister ridiculed her in front of the class saying ‘we would 

          not like to look at this ugly girl all day, would we girls?’ Witnesses reported being mocked by 

          staff about their personal appearance and humiliated by having attention drawn to adolescent 

          changes: 



                One time my sister brought me a bra. Sr ...X... made me stand up in the hall in front of 

                the whole school and made me take it off and said “who do you think you are?” 



9.201     Twenty three (23) witnesses reported enforced public nakedness as a cause of distress and 

          humiliation. They described being beaten naked in front of others, being made to stand in line 

          without any clothes and being bathed with others. Witnesses described the humiliation of being 

          beaten on their bare buttocks and being forced to remove their skirts and pants, or pull up their 

          nightdresses, having to bend over a chair or a desk or being held down on a bed or across a 

          table to be beaten. The humiliation and shame of being observed while being physically abused 

          in this manner was commented on by witnesses: 



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                  You got blamed even if you didn’t do it. She ...(Sr X)... took my knickers down once 

                  ...(in front of co-residents)... “let this be a lesson to you all” she said, she put me across 

                  her knee. I would have been about 8, and she beat me and beat me with a whip, a whip 

                  type stick until I cried. 



                                                                    • 



                  I’ll never forget that beating, all the girls watching. The worst thing was not the beating 

                  but your naked bottom being seen by all the girls, it was so embarrassing. 



9.202      Fifty four (54) witnesses reported being called derogatory names and being subjected to 

           derisory comments. Others reported being treated with hostility and told they were not liked by 

           anybody. The classrooms and dormitories were the most frequently cited locations of such 

           ridicule, which focussed on academic difficulties, their parent’s impoverished circumstances, 

           their personal appearance and hygiene. 



                  The emphasis was on making you submit, cower, creep, crawl, we were beaten if we 

                  were sad, “take that glum look off your face” and if you were happy, “why are you 

                  smiling? I’ll take you off your high horse”. 



9.203      Name-calling by lay and religious staff was reported as a common occurrence and included: 

           ‘devil’s handmaid’, ‘tar babies’, ‘shawlies’, ‘Baluba’, ‘pauper’, ‘tinker’, ‘trash’, ‘dirty stinking 

           trollop’, ‘illegitimate’, ‘slut’, ‘sinners’, ‘bastards’, ‘idiot’, ‘dunce’, ‘thick’, ‘liar’, ‘bandy legs’, ‘wet the 

           bed’, ‘Dublin nobodies’, and ‘street kids’. 



9.204      One hundred and twenty four (124) witnesses gave accounts of being personally ridiculed, 

           which most commonly involved being ridiculed about soiled bedding and underwear in public by 

           religious staff including Resident Managers. The public demonstration of soiled bedding and 

           clothing was humiliating and a source of great distress. Many witnesses described having their 

           underwear inspected on a regular basis and being punished and publicly ridiculed if they were 

           soiled. 



                  It’s so hard, we had no toilet paper, you would have to stand naked. If your knickers 

                  were dirty, as they would be after 2 weeks, you would be beaten, by ...Sr X and Sr Y.... 



                                                                    • 



                  Every week we used have to hold up the gusset of the nicks ... (pants)... and show it 

                  off, if it was marked you used to have to stand out in front of the class. I was so terrified 

                  ... (that)... I used hold up my clean ones and wear the old ones for weeks. 



9.205      Witnesses reported that the humiliation of having their soiled pants displayed in public was 

           compounded during adolescent years as signs of menstruation were treated as a grave 

           transgression. Witnesses also reported being called derogatory names in relation to matters of 

           personal hygiene and being subjected to comments that attracted the derision and criticism of 

           others. 



9.206      Twenty nine (29) witnesses who attended school with children from the local town, frequently 

           referred to as ‘townies’, reported being the subject of ridicule and constant criticism in front of 

           their peers. For example, a witness who was a talented musician and was chosen to perform 

           music in public described the confusion associated with being expected to perform well and then 

           being punished for her success. 



                  Mth ...X... hit me across the face with her hand and said “don’t get above your station”. 

                  You were expected to play ...(musical instrument)... well and you were punished if you 

                  played well. 



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9.207     The humiliation of being segregated in the class by religious staff, some of whom were reported 

          to have a dual role as carer and teacher, and of being identified as ‘orphans’ was described as 

          being the cause of enduring distress and anger by a large number of witnesses. ‘Orphans go 

          down to the back of the class’. 



                Sr ...X... gave us orphans a dog’s life. It was a living nightmare. She called us the scum 

                of the earth, she refused to teach the orphans ...described being excluded from a school 

                pageant.... 



                                                              • 



                We were kept separate from the townies, they were warned we could steal. We had a 

                special entrance and were not allowed mix with them. 



                                                              • 



                We sat together, we knew we were different, we were told we were different. Sr ...X... 

                said “don’t forget where you come from”. ... You were the scum of the earth.... “Get 

                back to the orphanage where you belong.” 



9.208     Witnesses described being targeted for personal ridicule in many ways, including being made to 

          stand in the classroom wearing a hat with ‘dunce’ written on it or with signs around their necks 

          with ‘liar’ and ‘stupid’ written on them. 



9.209     There were accounts from five Schools of witnesses being required to kneel down, kiss the floor 

          and beg the Sisters’ forgiveness for perceived transgressions. This punishment was reported to 

          be carried out in front of the assembled residents. 



9.210     A witness who had been sexually abused within her family described the Resident Manager of 

          the School where she was placed when she was 10 years old telling her co-residents that she 

          was ‘morally dirty’ and that they were not to speak to her or play with her. 



          Exposure to fearful situations 



9.211     One hundred and forty-three (143) witnesses described regular, and at times constant, exposure 

          to frightening situations. In the words of one witness: ‘It was pure fear, you would wake up every 

          day and wonder “what’s going to happen to me today?”’. Witnesses described a pervasive fear 

          of being hit and never knowing what might happen next and being constantly apprehensive 

          about the next episode of abuse. 



                Always screaming, wailing, you would be hearing it as you would be going through the 

                corridor, you would hear the screaming, and you would say “Jesus Christ who is getting 

                beaten today?” 



                                                              • 



                You lived in appalling fear, the most appalling fear, you would be terrified. You did not 

                know at what time you would get a beating. I couldn’t explain to you the fear, it was 

                terrible. There was this nun ... she was a very, very wicked woman.... She beat you 

                whenever she felt like it. 



9.212     In particular witnesses described hearing the screams of girls locked in cupboards and isolated 

          rooms, having to watch young babies being beaten and being themselves locked outside in 

          yards, sheds or in animal houses. For some witnesses the environment of fear was reinforced 

          by death threats against them and/or their siblings particularly in the context of disclosing abuse. 

          Witnesses described the Schools as places with many locked doors and staff who walked 

          around carrying large bunches of keys. The threat of being locked away in isolation in a 

          cupboard, under the stairs or in a room was a daily reality. 



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                 There was this girl ...named co-resident... she used wet the bed.... Sometimes the girls 

                 would have to put her up on the table in the dining room, and they would put this big 

                nappy on her in front of all the girls. She ...lay care staff... said she would make an 

                example of her, it was terrible, all the little ones would be crying. At night time we would 

                be told to take her ...named co-resident... out to where the coal was. ... It was a very 

                small space with no light and we would have to lock her in. She would just go in like a 

                dog, she was so beaten down, and she was left there all night ...crying.... I almost get 

                sick now when I think of it, that I sometimes turned that key and locked her in 

                ...crying.... It was hard, in your head you were screaming “stop, leave her alone”, you 

                 were in such fear ...crying.... She would just pick you out of the line and you had to do 

                it, you’d be beaten, you literally lived in fear for you life. 



9.213      Fifty one (51) witnesses reported being subjected to the explicit and implicit threat of being ‘sent 

          away’. They reported knowing that co-residents were sent to other more restrictive institutions, 

           including psychiatric hospitals, laundries and Reformatory Schools, often behind a veil of 

          secrecy. 



                If you did anything wrong you would be told the black van will come for you, you lived in 

                fear of being sent away in the black van. Sr ...X... would threaten you if you didn’t go to 

                school or whatever, the black van would come for you. I don’t know ... where they all 

                 went, they all went missing. I know one girl is up there in ...named psychiatric hospital.... 

                I went to see her myself, she is there to this day. Sr ...X... said she was mad in the 

                head, and all she used to do was sit in a corner and play the tin whistle. She was sent 

                away in the black van, and then you would say “where is ...named co-resident... gone?” 

                 You would be told “she is gone away in the black van”. ... If you did something, like 

                steal the nun’s fresh bread, you would be after doing something you shouldn’t have 

                done or one time a girl set fire to a bin. They were sent away in the black van. 



                                                                • 



                 You saw the same atrocities being committed and you could do nothing about it, you 

                tried to do something about it but you were afraid of what would happen to you. I 

                 worried in case I would not get out of that place alive, there was a point when I thought 

                 “be careful”. There were some girls and you didn’t know what’s happened to them. 



9.214     A small number of witnesses reported that co-residents who had been ill or who were injured 

          following a severe beating were also among those who disappeared and it was not known 

          whether they had been hospitalised or had died. The fear of being sent away was reinforced by 

          the overnight disappearance of co-residents who were discharged without having the 

          opportunity to say goodbye to their sisters, friends and co-residents. Witnesses described older 

          siblings ‘disappearing’ in this manner and not realising what had happened to them until years 

           later. One witness described her own departure: 



                 They told you very quietly you were going, just going now! I got a brown case. You 

                kinda didn’t want to go ...crying.... You couldn’t say goodbye to your friends. Sr ...X... 

                 wrote to the family ...(work placement)... and told them not to let me pal with other girls 

                from the School...(also placed locally). 



9.215     The particular fear associated with these threats of being sent away was the belief that those 

          who were transferred to other institutions were then never released. ‘We suffered the fear of 

          being sent to ...laundry... that was the fear that hung over you. ... I saw many a girl go there, I 

          can name them ...named co-residents.... We never saw them again.’ One witness reported that 

          a co-resident was accused of stealing a small amount of money from a local member of the 

          clergy, as a result of which she was subsequently sent to a psychiatric hospital. 



                 There was a room, it was my nightmare that room, I was never sent there. She ...(Sr 

                X)... would send them there, some girls, the ones who fought back, and you would hear 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            181 


----------------------- Page 1528-----------------------

                them screaming, the screams! And you would never see them again, they would be 

                sent away. I was terrified my sister would be sent to a laundry because some of them 

                girls were. 



9.216     In addition to the fear of being sent away many witnesses believed they could be retained in the 

          School indefinitely. This belief was partially reinforced by the fact that in many Schools there 

          were former residents who had stayed on in the institution and became part of the staff group. 

          Those regarded as orphans, who had no contact with their own family, described being 

          particularly fearful of this outcome. 



9.217     Witnesses also described as frightening the experience of being given responsibility for the care 

          of babies and young children without appropriate assistance and supervision. Witnesses 

          described the distress experienced by being made to provide care for their younger siblings and 

          being held responsible for their conduct and behaviour, as one witness remarked ‘I was only a 

          child myself’. They described feeling guilty when their ‘charges’ or younger siblings were 

          punished. The allocation of age-inappropriate tasks such as fire-lighting, ironing, the operation of 

          laundry equipment, and kitchen work were all reported as imposing a risk to safety and 

          unreasonable expectations on a child. 



9.218     Witnesses described a variety of fear inducing situations that were specific to certain staff, for 

          example several witnesses reported being terrorised by staff who dressed up as ghosts and 

          other figures for the purpose of frightening young residents. Others reported that staff had pet 

          animals that they used in an intimidating manner with residents who were frightened of them. 



                Sr ...X ... she used set the farm dogs on us, you were petrified, wherever you hid the 

                dogs would sniff you out, you would have to climb the fence to get away from them. 



          Denigration of family of origin 



9.219     One hundred and seven (107) witnesses reported that their mothers, fathers or entire families 

          were openly denigrated by both religious and lay care staff in the Schools. In most instances the 

          denigration took the form of verbal abuse and criticism of a witness’ mother, parents or family in 

          the course of being berated or physically abused for some misdemeanour. ‘They would make 

          me feel I was a nobody. They would say “you are ruined, you are ruined like your mother”, Sr 

          ...X... and Sr ...Y... they never stopped.’ Forty (40) witnesses reported that their single mothers 

          were the subject of specific denigration by religious staff. Witnesses stated that the severity of a 

          beating or other physical punishment was regularly associated with remarks about the child’s 

          mother. This was particularly so for witnesses who were non-marital children and had been in 

          institutional care since birth. They recalled being told as they were beaten that it was for ‘the 

          sins of your mother’ and that they would ‘end up in the gutter like your mother’. 



                And in the month of November we used to have to pray for our mothers and fathers 

                who died, we had to pray for them to get out of purgatory but the orphan girls, they 

                were treated worse. They would be told “your mother is burning in hell, you will be 

                punished for the sins of your mother, you workhouse girls”. Then one girl, she was a bit 

                older than me, she was from the workhouse, I remember her being told by the nuns 

                “your mother will never get out, she will be in hell, because of what she did”. 



                                                             • 



                I had ear infections and was told I did not deserve any treatment. Sr ...X... told me I was 

                a spawn of the devil and I didn’t deserve any treatment. “You are the spawn of the devil, 

                every decent person who meets you will know you are the spawn of the devil.” 



9.220     Witnesses described being told their mothers were ‘sinners’ or ‘filthy prostitutes’ and that they 

          were in the School as a result of their mother’s sins. Hearing it said that their mothers were 



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----------------------- Page 1529-----------------------

           sinners was a cause of great distress to many witnesses, who described feeling responsible for 

           the fact that their mothers were ‘so bad’. 



                  If you stepped out of line she ...(Sr X)... was always insulting my mother and my father, 

                  she’d say “your mother is a woman of the streets”, and every night I used be in turmoil 

                  in bed and worried about my mother on the streets. I didn’t know what she meant.... We 

                  were considered the dregs of society.... My mother was a different religion. We were 

                  made to feel so dirty and so low. 



9.221      Twenty (20) witnesses described being told that their parents had rejected and did not want 

           them, usually in the context of being punished and in conjunction with being criticised. 

           Witnesses described this form of abuse as particularly disturbing. 



                  One day, this nun said “if you had a wish what would you wish for?” And I said, without 

                  hesitation, it just came out, “I want to find my mother”. “What?” she said “your mother 

                  gave you away, she wouldn’t have anything to do with you” she shouted. I ran out and 

                  ran to this huge big hallway. I remember sitting there and saying “what have I done, why 

                  doesn’t my mother want me?” I was so upset.... I cried myself to sleep. You had nobody 

                  ... to talk to. 



                                                                    • 



                  She ...(Sr X)... would tell us to get dressed up, that our mother was coming up, and 

                  we’d all go up and she’d come along laughing and say “what are you smiling at? Your 

                  mother is not coming, she doesn’t want you, she doesn’t love you, she has another 

                  family”. She’d show us a photograph of our mother with a family she was working for in 

                  the town, she’d say “your mother doesn’t want you”. 



9.222      Seventeen (17) witnesses reported that their mothers’ ethnicity and religion were denigrated by 

           religious staff. Witnesses of mixed race reported being referred to by derogatory names relating 

           to their skin colour and, along with their mothers, being subjected to racial slurs. 



                  I used to pal with ...named co-resident.... Sr ...X... used put her into a bath because she 

                  was coloured, she used to tell her there was a smell off her. No money would ever, 

                  ever, ever compensate her for what she suffered. 



9.223      One witness reported that derogatory comments were initiated by the Sister in charge and taken 

           up by other staff and girls. Her mother was described as ‘a useless English Protestant’ and 

           when the witness was in trouble it was ascribed to her  ‘Protestant blood’. Another witness 

           reported being constantly taunted by the Sister in charge about the fact that her mother had left 

           her and her sibling and returned to England: 



                  You lot are being kept by us, cleaning for you, feeding you, caring for you, educating 

                  you while your mother ... is in England enjoying herself and does not even bother to 

                  write to you. 



9.224      A small number of witnesses further reported that their parents were humiliated when they came 

           to visit, either by being shown into what was described as ‘the beggars’ parlour’ or being made 

           to wait outside while their child was called. ‘The nuns told me my mother was a prostitute.... 

           They wouldn’t let her in the gate.’ 



9.225      Seven (7) witnesses reported being verbally and otherwise denigrated because they were 

           members of the Travelling community. They described being told that they came from the 

           roadside and other residents were actively encouraged to jeer at them. 



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           Deprivation of contact with siblings and family 



9.226      As reported elsewhere, a large number of witnesses commented on the fragmentation of their 

           families as a result of the deprivation of contact with their siblings and relatives. This separation 

           and loss of contact led to difficulties reintegrating with their family after they were discharged 

           and was reported by many witnesses to be a cause of distress and anger for them, both at the 

           time and in their subsequent lives. 



9.227      Fifty five (55) witnesses reported that their parents and relatives were either forbidden or 

           discouraged from visiting them, 28 gave accounts that family members were turned away when 

           they arrived at the School. Witnesses who were marked from physical abuse were often not 

           allowed visitors. Others reported that their parents were sent away if deemed to be intoxicated 

           or otherwise unsuitable to be seen. Deprivation of family visits was reported as a routine 

           punishment for alleged misconduct in a number of Schools. 



                  I was in there for all the 40s. There was terrible cruelity ...(cruelty)... terrible cruelity. I 

                  was writing a letter to my aunt, to tell her of the beatings. They found the note.... She 

                  ...(Sr X)... put me across that bed and gave me a terrible beating . ... I never recovered 

                  from that beating. I had to take down my clothes and take off my knickers. Oh, that 

                  beating ...distressed.... That hurt me very much. I got over the physical, but I often 

                  wondered why did they beat me like that? That was hard for me ...crying.... I had to live 

                  with that, it affected me terrible. I was not let go on holiday to my aunt that year 

                  ...crying.... 



9.228      Following her mother’s death, one witness reported that she and her siblings were placed in the 

           local Industrial School despite, what she believed, was her father’s wish that they remain at 

           home. He did odd jobs in the School for the Sisters and the witness reported not being allowed 

           to speak to him while he was there. She described watching him through a window as he was 

           working and hoping he would look up to see her. 



9.229      Eighty three (83) witnesses reported that knowledge about their brothers and sisters was 

           withheld or denied by those in charge of the School. The Committee heard evidence that prior 

           to the 1970s, with few exceptions, no attempt was made to maintain contact between siblings in 

           separate institutions or to keep witnesses informed of their siblings’ whereabouts following 

           admission or transfer to different institutions. Some witnesses reported that they never saw their 

           brothers or sisters again after they had left the Court on the day they were placed in the 

           Industrial School. Others reported that information about brothers and sisters who were placed 

           in the same institution was also withheld. Witnesses reported being denied contact with brothers 

           who were in nearby institutions and in a number of Schools the existence of siblings was not 

           acknowledged. 



                  He ...(witness’s brother)... came over every Sunday. She ...(Sr X)... didn’t like that. She 

                  used to try and find work for me so that I wouldn’t see him. I remember one Sunday the 

                  others asked me to get the ball, I climbed up on the scullery roof. She tied me to the 

                  stairs for this and when my brother came she sent him down to embarrass him to see 

                  his sister tied up. She then sent him up and made him wait and wait, in the end she let 

                  me up to see him when she knew he was gone. I was bitter about that. 



9.230      Some older siblings reported knowing that they had family in the School but that through the 

           arrangement of facilities, with older children separated from younger ones, they lost contact with 

           their own siblings. ‘They separated the brothers and the sisters, if something came up that they 

           had to tell us then you would meet them, you would be lined up.’ Other witnesses said that the 

           practice of referring to residents by their allocated number contributed to loss of contact with 

           their own brothers and sisters as their family name was not used. Alternately witnesses who 



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          were admitted to a School at a very young age frequently had no memory of older siblings who 

          may have been with them and then left the School. 



9.231     The Committee heard three witness accounts of twins being separated. In one instance twins 

          who had been together throughout their lives were separated by the removal of one twin to 

          another School. The separation was instigated by misbehaviour and the Resident Manager’s 

          belief that one twin would be ‘better off’ without the other. The emotional consequences of this 

          trauma were reported to have been enduring. 



9.232     Thirty five (35) witnesses reported being either given misleading information or denied any 

          information about their parents. One witness was not aware that she had living parents and 

          learned of their existence when told by a Sister that her Confirmation photo would be sent to 

          them. This Sister was reported by another witness to have refused her mother permission to 

          visit and refused to give the witness parcels from home. The Committee heard 47 accounts of 

          letters and parcels being withheld by those in charge of various Schools. 



                We ...(witness and co-resident)... were supposed to be sisters, we were told we were 

                sisters up ’til 11, and then they told us we weren’t and then they split us up.... It was 

                terrible, terrible sad because you thought you had a sister and then you discovered you 

                hadn’t, you were cut away from her.... I didn’t know that my brother and 2 sisters were 

                taken away from my mother and sent to ...named Schools.... I got all that ...(official 

                records)... back about a month ago.... On the files it says my mother wrote to the 

                convent and asked them could she take me back, and some TD, I don’t know what his 

                name is, said “no” and then he said “yes she can go home to the mother”. Then the 

                nuns said “no it wouldn’t be good, the mother would make her go out to work and take 

                the money off her”. I always thought my mother didn’t want me, she had married ... and 

                wrote to the convent.... It had an awful effect on me, that she didn’t want me, but she 

                had tried to get me home to her.... When I read them papers it threw a different light on 

                it, she did try. It was the nuns that were stopping it. The communication went back to 

                when I was about 12 or something, she wanted me back, I have the files. 



9.233     In addition to the reported trauma associated with loss of contact with parents, relatives and 

          siblings, a small number of witnesses also reported the distress of being removed from weekend 

          and ‘holiday’ families where they had developed strong attachments. Other witnesses recalled 

          being told they were getting ‘too close’ to the family and their placements were terminated. 



                I had one really, really lovely experience with ...named ‘foster’ family.... They wanted to 

                adopt me ...crying... they were lovely, I loved them so much. I would have been 

                educated and been part of a family ...crying... but they weren’t allowed.... I had to go to 

                another family, most of them were awful. 



          Deprivation of affection 



9.234     The Committee heard 119 witness reports of emotional abuse in the form of deprivation of 

          affection. Witnesses reported a constant and basic absence of affection and approval during 

          their time in the Schools and that this loss had a lasting impact. Lack of affection was described 

          as the absence of a kind word, praise or encouragement, any gesture or demonstration of 

          affection or the acknowledgement of pain and upset. The lack of an attachment figure and 

          secure relationship left many witnesses feeling disconnected and insecure. Witnesses who were 

          in Schools from a young age reported this absence with particular emphasis. ‘You wouldn’t 

          know what love or sympathy looked like.’ 



                It takes me a long time to trust people.... I know I suffered in my head when I was there, 

                I had a lot of anxiety. ... There was never any contact ... no hug or anything like that.... I 

                don’t ever remember any contact with anyone as a small child. 



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9.235     Several witnesses described being deprived of objects that they were attached to at the time of 

          their admission, including, pictures, dolls and soft toys. This deprivation extended to pets that 

          some witnesses became attached to while they were residents of the Schools. 



                We were not allowed animals.... I was an animal lover, there were wild cats and kittens 

                going around starving, I used to sneak them into the dormitory. I had a kitten. She, this 

                nun, called me one night, I won’t mention her name, if I do it will make me feel sick. ... 

                She said “you see that kitten you have there” ... she got me out of my bed by the hair, 

                and brought me down, they had one of those Aga stoves she said “that cat you have 

                there” ... I can still see the stove that you put coal in the top, she said take “that top off”. 

                I had to go up on my knees, she said “take the top off”, I had to do what I was told. 

                What I had to do next was the killer ...distressed.... I had to put the cat in there and put 

                the lid on it ... and the screams.... Then she...Sister... said “go back to your bed”. The 

                next morning ... she got me out of my bed and she made me rake that fire out ... and I 

                had to pick that up ...crying... and she said “never again bring a cat into this dormitory” 

                ... That’s the worst thing that ever happened to me in ...named School... I think I was 

                about 12 at the time. 



9.236     The majority of witnesses reported that religious and lay staff actively discouraged commonly 

          used forms of affection, including hugs and words of comfort or approval both between residents 

          and from older girls towards the younger residents in their care. A number of witnesses 

          described the pleasure they obtained from looking after babies and young children for the 

          opportunity it provided to both give and receive affection. They reported that although 

          affectionate attachments were not condoned, they were discreetly maintained. Witnesses 

          recalled not understanding why they were punished for demonstrating their affection to co- 

          residents and friends. 



                Sometimes if the baby cried they would lift it up by its feet and wallop it. You couldn’t 

                have a pet, you were not allowed to show loving towards any little baby. When you were 

                minding ...(babies)... you were not allowed pick it up if it was crying.... You’d have to 

                pick them up and put them on pots, the bigger girls would show you. I remember being 

                put on the pot myself by the older girls. 



                                                              • 



                We were standing in a line for Confession, we were 3 in a line about 20 of us, and you 

                know the way your pal wants to be your partner ...(linking arms)... you want to be hers, 

                you know, like friends. Mth ...X... came along, she just dragged me out of the line by the 

                head and brought me into the store room. She took a big scissors and she ...crying... 

                cut my whole head in pieces, she cut the hair in lumps. She left me there on my knees 

                the whole day, when I would hear her coming, I would be on me hunkers and I would 

                start kneeling. I was kneeling from 12 o’clock until 6 o’clock that evening. 



          Witnessing the abuse of others 



9.237     One hundred and six (106) witnesses reported that observing other residents being beaten or 

          otherwise abused was a most disturbing experience that endured in their memory. The public 

          nature of physical abuse, as previously described, led to many residents being routinely 

          exposed to the trauma of watching and hearing their co-residents being abused. 



                I saw her once, this girl was in it ...(bed).... Mth ...X... came up with that cane and pulled 

                out the bedclothes ...crying... she walloped her ...crying... in front of all of us, she 

                walloped her until she was tired ...crying.... That poor girl she suffered, they were very 

                hard on her, the ...lay care staff members... who worked there, punishments were 

                severe. 



                                                              • 



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                 We witnessed it ...(sexual abuse of co-residents by external clergy).... But we couldn’t 

                 do nothing. He used put his hand up and down her skirt. One of the girls, she was 

                 abused terrible by him, she spent years in a mental hospital, she was one of the gullible 

                 ones. 



                                                                  • 



                 We used to have a cook. She was very slow, she couldn’t talk right, he ...(external 

                 priest)... used go to her room at night-times ...(and sexually abuse her).... We used to 

                 hear her cry, her room was beside our bathrooms. All the girls, we didn’t know exactly 

                 what he was doing to her, we used hear her cry, she was an old woman but slow, she 

                 cried all the time in the kitchen. 



9.238      Having to observe others being punished was regarded as being a deliberate strategy to deter 

           residents from whatever behaviour was being sanctioned. Witnesses described the particularly 

           harsh treatment to which returned absconders were subjected as an example of punishments 

           being used as a deterrent. Some witnesses reported that watching others being beaten was 

           worse than being beaten oneself, particularly when the resident being beaten was a younger 

           resident or one’s sibling. 



9.239      Twenty seven (27) witnesses reported watching their own brother or sister being beaten, 

           including at times being forced to assist by restraining their hand or limb while they were being 

           hit. Other witnesses, who were themselves immature, had responsibility for caring for younger 

           co-residents, including siblings, described the distress they experienced when their ‘charges’ 

           were beaten. 



                 Some of the kids ...(charges)... used wet the bed they used to have to clean their own 

                 bed up and they would be hit. They used to have to clean the faeces and everything, 

                 that was not fair, that’s ...(soiling)... a nerves thing. I used to feel sorry for them. I 

                 remember a nun beating a child up because he wet his nappy or something, she 

                 slapped him with her hand over and over. I said “you shouldn’t beat him”. 



                                                                  • 



                 I was like a mother hen to them, I loved them and was afraid of anything happening to 

                 them. I’d hug them and mind them, I can’t do it now ...(to own children).... My mind was 

                 full up of watching my 2 sisters ...(being beaten).... I was never able to say to my 

                 children I ...(love you).... 



                                                                  • 



                 The girl who was in charge of you ...(older girl)... would have to wait by you while you 

                 were being beaten, and then they would take you away and clean you up, and stay with 

                 you until you were OK.. 



                                                                  • 



                 My sister ... was making her Holy Communion, I was 5 and she was 7 at the time 

                 ...crying.... I was waiting for her to come down with her dress on.... You know the way 

                 you were not supposed to eat before Holy Communion? I was waiting and the next 

                 thing she was tumbling over the banister, because she ate a sweet. She was thrown 

                 over the banister, by Sr ...X.... They were saying, “she ate a sweet, she ate a sweet”, 

                 that was totally against the rules you know. I could hear the nun screaming at her, she 

                 hit her and she put her over the banister there was kind of a long stairs. I saw blood, I 

                 saw her on the floor, that’s my first memory of ...witness’s sister... and I don’t remember 

                 anything after that, all I remember is her lying there. I just wanted to see her in her 

                 dress. I still have nightmares of that. 



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9.240      Many witnesses reported that they preferred to be beaten themselves than watch others being 

           beaten. They reported that they intervened with staff when possible if a younger or more 

           vulnerable child or sibling was being beaten. The Committee heard three accounts from 

           witnesses who were transferred to more restrictive institutions following such altercations with 

           staff. 



           Isolation 



9.241      Eighty two (82) witnesses gave accounts of being isolated, ostracised and segregated from their 

           peers. They reported being locked up by religious and lay staff under stairs, in broom 

           cupboards, fridges, washing machines, coal sheds, toilets, furnace rooms, outhouses and in 

           sheds with animals, as punishment for various behaviours. There were many reports of some of 

           these locations being infested with mice and rats. 



                  The cubby hole ... was the worst, if you were bold or wet the bed they put you in there, 

                  in the dark on your knees and you daren’t come out. Sr ...X... said before she put me in 

                  “mind you don’t get eaten by the rats”. There were brushes in there and polish, I can’t 

                  forget that smell. There was someone in there daily.... A lot of my punishment was 

                  because I wasn’t eating. 



9.242      Witnesses also reported being separated from their co-residents for periods of time in 

           bathrooms, on corridors and staircases and alone in dormitories. Reports of isolation included 

           being confined in these places in the dark, which exacerbated the distress experienced. 

           Witnesses described hearing the Sister turning the key in the locks of doors and cupboards and 

           walking away. Seven (7) witnesses reported that they were forgotten about and were rescued 

           by others in response to their screams. Four (4) witnesses from one School reported being 

           made to spend the night in an outside shed with the pigs. Another witness reported being 

           locked into an outside toilet by religious staff and that her cries were heard by a man passing on 

           the street who came in and drew attention to the fact she was there. She was released by one 

           of the Sisters who berated her for being silly enough to lock herself in to the toilet and causing 

           everyone to worry about her. 



9.243      In addition to reports of being physically isolated, a number of witnesses reported being 

           ostracised by co-residents on instruction from religious staff. Witnesses reported being made to 

           sit apart from co-residents in the classroom and refectory and being ostracised in the 

           playground: 



                  The priest was told that I was bold and that no one was to talk to me, they were all told 

                  not to talk to me.... There was no one to talk to, no one knew what you were feeling, 

                  there was no one to say “you’re alright”. You would be mortified, the whole School 

                  would know, you would be called out for robbing ...(food)... or talking. The others would 

                  be told not to talk to you, it sounds silly now but it was the fear ...(of being ostracised).... 

                  It was all you had, the cha cha ...(chit chat)... with the others, and then they would be 

                  afraid to talk to you. It was awful, you would be isolated, it was awful. 



                                                                     • 



                  When it came to Sunday they used go out for a walk, I was locked in there ... (small 

                  room)... as a punishment. There was no toilet, no chair to sit on, no running water, if 

                  you needed to go to the bathroom you couldn’t. 



           Deprivation of identity 



9.244      Forty one (41) witnesses reported being deprived of their individual identity in various ways, 

           including being called by a name other than their own, by an allocated number, or by their 

           surname. Witnesses reported being told when they were admitted to the School that they would 

           be called by another name because there was already a resident with their name or because 



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          their name was not a recognised saint’s name. ‘Sr ...X... called me ...Y...(not own name).... My 

          name wasn’t saintly, so she gave me a different name.’ 



                Reverend Mother never called me my own name, I was ...X.... She said because I 

                reminded her of a girl who had been there and had left there. I was supposed to be the 

                living picture of her, so my name was changed from ...X... to ...Y.... She called me her 

                name. 



                                                             • 



                I was always called orphan, the “orphans” this and the “orphans” that. I was never 

                called my name, I never knew when my birthday was. One time ...on birthday... Sr ...X... 

                called me and said to me “now you see it, now you don’t.” She dangled this, a bracelet, 

                in front of me and said it was my birthday. I didn’t know, she took it back. 



9.245     The use of a number to identify residents was regularly reported prior to the mid-1960s. The 

          allocated number was put on the residents’ clothes and was reported by some witnesses to be 

          the most frequently used form of identification. ‘I was called by ...number.... It took away who I 

          was, I was never called anything else.’ 



9.246     Witnesses also reported being punished for certain personal attributes and characteristics, for 

          example being left-handed or having red hair, which they stated were referred to as ‘signs of the 

          devil’ by some Sisters. Witnesses said that at times they were punished simply for the way they 

          looked, and for what was perceived as vanity by religious staff. 



                I was hit for ... having red curly hair, for nothing ... you were not allowed have curly hair, 

                you had to have straight hair like Our Lady. Another girl ... she was battered for having 

                curly hair. I was beaten mercilessly for that, Sr ...X... was a monster, she beat me for it. 

                ... She’d drag you into the office and take her long cane and just beat you and beat you, 

                she was monster in her heart, she beat me black and blue. She had a bamboo cane 4 

                foot long, she beat me into pulp. She’d be frothing at the mouth anywhere she could get 

                me, she wouldn’t stop. She’d say “you curled your hair last night” and when I’d say “yes, 

                I curled it” she’d stop. I can still hear the cane swooshing, she would hit you anywhere 

                she could get a lash at you, face, head, hands, back ... because I had curly hair. She 

                would call me before I’d go to school, she had castor oil, she would press it into my 

                head, to make it ...(hair)... straight, my face would be swollen from the beatings, the oil 

                would be running down your face. ... You couldn’t have curly hair. 



9.247     Witnesses reported that not being told they had brothers and sisters in the same or adjacent 

          Schools, in addition to the lack of family contact, contributed to a sense of having no real 

          identity and of being ‘nobody’. This feeling was compounded by being called by number rather 

          than their name and having no sense of being part of a family network. 



9.248     Many witnesses who had no family contact reported never knowing basic facts about their own 

          history such as their correct birth name, when their birthday was and where they were born. 

          Birthdays were reported to have been rarely acknowledged for residents in the Schools before 

          the 1970s and many witnesses reported being discharged without any information or record 

          regarding their date or place of birth. They reported being forced by circumstances in later years 

          to search out the necessary records in order to register their marriage, to apply for a passport 

          and for other reasons. 



                It took me years of writing before I found out my own background ... after years and 

                years of searching and negative responses. I have found out my own family ... it was 25 

                years of looking. My names are wrong on the paperwork, my mother had registered me 

                under ...family name.... I have been writing various letters to different departments, even 

                to Government Departments to find out my own family. I learned last year that the nuns 

                in ...named School... knew that I was not ...allocated family name.... I was ...actual 



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                  family name.... We all went in ...(to the Schools)... for different reasons, I know there 

                  was poverty in Ireland.... When I found the records, from the Courts through the 

                  Freedom of Information, I have been dealing with ...Government Department... for years 

                  and they never told me about my records being wrong, even though they had the 

                  information, they just did not tell me. I found out my mother had been paying for me and 

                  had contact, then I was moved to ...School some distance away and contact was lost.... 



           Punitive aspects of religion 



9.249      Fifty three (53) witnesses reported that punitive aspects of religious conviction were emphasised 

           at considerable emotional cost to them as young people, while they were isolated from all forms 

           of reassurance and affection. Puberty, menstruation and adolescence provided the context for 

           abuse reported by witnesses around religious themes. Fear of the devil, hell, eternal damnation 

           and being told that they were innately ‘bad’ and ‘sinners’ were described as powerful means of 

           emotional abuse. For example, a witness reported that a nun burnt her with a hot poker so that 

           she would ‘know what the fires of hell were like’. 



9.250      As previously remarked, witnesses who were left-handed or had red hair reported being 

           persecuted by certain nuns in a small number of Schools. There were reports of witnesses 

           being stigmatised and being told they were ‘the hand of the devil’, that they were evil and would 

           burn in hell because they were left-handed. Others reported that their red hair was the subject 

           of criticism and contempt, that it was cut short and at times kept covered. 



                  She ...(Sr X)... told me I was the devil’s child ...(because of red hair)... and put me into 

                  this room ...(furnace room).... She said “you are the devil’s child, see those flames, you 

                  are like the devil”. I thought it was the devil, and she left me there for ages. It was dark, 

                  and I definitely thought I was going to die. It was the most frightening thing I ever saw 

                  ...crying.... 



                                                                     • 



                  The worst thing was my period.... When she’d ...(Sister)... beat me, she’d say “I’ll knock 

                  the devil out of you if it’s the last thing I do, your mother is a whore, she is a prostitute”. 

                  When I got my period I thought this was it, it was the devil coming out. When I got my 

                  period, I had to queue, my knickers were all stained and wet. Well, what she ...(Sister)... 

                  did, she took me down to a room, where the younger kids were, all the girls were sitting 

                  there she lifted my dress up and said “you see this, this is the devil coming out of her, 

                  this is what happens when you are like ...surname of witness...”. Those kids would not 

                  play with me. The following time it happened, I was so afraid, I hated it so much that I 

                  robbed knickers from someone else and flushed my own down the toilet. 



           Bullying 



9.251      Ninety six (96) witnesses reported being bullied by older girls who were co-residents in the 

           Schools. There was a tradition described in the majority of Schools of the ‘older girls’ being in 

           charge and, at times, having premature responsibility for the care of co-residents. These older 

           girls were often reported to be about 15 years old and soon to be discharged. They were often 

           believed to be favourites of the Sisters and known to have special privileges in some Schools. 

           These particular residents were described as having the freedom to bully younger residents 

           without fear of reprimand. Some were also described as kind and often had favourites of their 

           own. They were described as left in charge of groups of children at different times, including: 

           Sundays, evenings, night and play times, without any supervision by staff. 



                  The older girls, along with the teachers from outside the school were put in charge of 

                  that ...(dormitories)... and life became unbearable. The older girls had to do the laundry 

                  and because I wet the bed every night, when the nuns were gone into pray, we were 

                  flogged. We were beaten with sticks, legs of chairs, twigs, planks, anything, by the older 



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                 girls and the teachers ...(lay care staff)... who had to supervise the dormitories, they 

                 didn’t teach in classrooms, we had lovely teachers there. We were beaten, called all 

                 sorts of names, had the hair pulled out of our heads.... We were threatened when we 

                 screamed with pain, with bars of soap stuck in our mouths and towels tied around our 

                 mouths so that the nuns couldn’t hear us screaming whilst they were praying. ... The 

                 older girls would count up to 20 and if you weren’t in bed you got beaten, and they 

                 would count to 20 again and if you weren’t asleep they would beat you again. I would 

                 do anything to avoid these punishments and they used to say “I will let you off the 

                 flogging if I can have your 2 slices of bread and dripping”.... The older girls were sort of 

                 bullies, they used to have dresses of their own, they would wash them and you used to 

                 have to dry them under your sheet with the heat of your body and have them dry by 

                 morning and you got beaten if they weren’t dry in the morning. There was no heating in 

                 the dormitory we used to have to heat their beds and then get into your own cold one. 



           Knowledge of abuse 



9.252      Knowledge of the abuse experienced by residents in Schools was reported as established by 

           various means. Witnesses reported disclosing abuse to their parents, relatives, and people in 

           authority both within the institution and outside, including to Gardai. A number stated that their 

                                                                                        ´ 

           parents made written complaints to the Department of Education about the neglect and abuse of 

           their children. Witnesses also commented that awareness of abuse arose from direct 

           observation of abuse as it occurred generally in the presence of staff, co-residents and others. A 

           number of accounts were heard by the Committee that witnesses were treated by external 

           medical and nursing staff for injuries resulting from abuse. The outcome of abuse disclosure 

           ranged from disbelief to investigation, witnesses being punished, perpetrators being moved and 

           being protected from further harm. 



           Abuse observed by others 



9.253      Three hundred and sixty nine (369) witnesses reported that staff and co-residents observed the 

           abuse in the Schools, although not all incidents of abuse were directly observed. Relatives as 

           well as staff and co-residents were considered to be aware of abuse by the observable injuries 

           incurred by residents as a result of being beaten or assaulted. A number of witnesses described 

           staff members, relatives and external professionals being visibly shocked by the injuries and 

           deprivations to which residents were subjected. They reported that, in some instances, 

           protective action was taken as a result. 



                 Mth ...X... she never liked me. ... She threw the jug of hot water over me over my face. I 

                 started screaming ... and this nun, Sr ...Y..., she was very nice, she was a lovely 

                 person, came along and she took me by the hand up to the infirmary and Sr ...Y... 

                 looked after me. She put something cool and white on my face, she took care of me, 

                 she was a nurse. 



9.254      Several witnesses reported overhearing nursing and medical staff discussing both their injuries 

           and their neglected circumstances when they attended hospital for treatment. A witness recalled 

           that a nurse in casualty treating her injury following a beating did not believe her when she said 

           that she had fallen out of a tree. The witness was accompanied by one of the Sisters. She had 

           been threatened and was afraid to tell the hospital staff that she had been beaten. 



9.255      Witnesses reported that the abuse they experienced and the injuries that they sustained were 

           observed by others within the Schools on a daily basis. The following is a breakdown of those 

           who witnesses reported as having observed the abuse 



                  •     Care staff               160 reports 

                  •    Authority figures        146 reports 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  191 


----------------------- Page 1538-----------------------

                   •    Ancillary workers           91 reports 

                   •     Resident Managers          48 reports 

                   •    Teaching staff              48 reports. 



9.256      Those described as care staff and authority figures were religious and lay staff including care 

           staff and ancillary workers in what witnesses understood to be positions of authority. Those 

            referred to as Resident Managers refer to officers in charge and Reverend Mothers, understood 

            by witnesses to be responsible for the management of the Schools. 



9.257      The failure of staff to intervene when a resident was being abused was most often ascribed by 

           witnesses to the culture of the School that allowed abuse to be an accepted part of life. This 

           failure on the part of both religious and lay staff to exercise their authority and fulfil a duty of 

           care and protection to the residents in their charge contributed to enduring anger, described by 

           a number of witnesses. Two (2) witnesses reported that Sisters in charge of their School 

           observed the sexually inappropriate behaviour of a local parish priest and advised them that this 

            priest’s company should be avoided; the priest said Mass in the School and involved himself in 

           the activities of the residents on a regular basis. 



           Disclosing abuse 



9.258      One hundred and fifteen (115) witnesses (30%) reported that they told someone, either a 

            parent, relative, staff member, other adult or co-resident about being physically or sexually 

           abused while they were resident in the Schools. These reports relate to 27 Schools identified to 

           the Committee. The following table shows those to whom witnesses reported disclosing abuse 

           during their admission. It indicates the number of reports made to each of the identified groups 

            by the 115 witnesses. 



            Table 43: To Whom Abuse Disclosed while Resident – Female Industrial and Reformatory 

                                                                 Schools 



                              To whom disclosed while resident                                    Number of reports 



             Parents and relatives                                                                          50 



             Religious 



            - Staff                                                                                         32 



            - Resident Manager                                                                              10 



            - Non-staff                                                                                     1 



             Lay 



            - Staff                                                                                         18 



             External professionals 



            - Medical staff                                                                                 7 



                            ´ 

            - Garda Siochana                                                                                7 

                       ´ 



            - Social worker                                                                                 2 



             Co-residents                                                                                   21 



            Total                                                                                          148 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



9.259      As indicated, while the largest number of witness reports of disclosure were to parents and 

            relatives, the Committee heard 61 reports of abuse being disclosed to the combined categories 



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----------------------- Page 1539-----------------------

           of religious and lay staff. In addition to the above information 21 witnesses reported telling co- 

           residents about their abuse. One gave the following account of what happened following her 

           disclosure: 



                  My uncle came in one day. I told him I was beaten, he complained to the authorities and 

                  they contacted Sr ...X.... She came into the class one day and that was my first public 

                  beating. She took my clothes off except for my knickers and my shoes and my socks. 

                  She said “can anyone see marks on this child?” and everyone said “no”, and then I got 

                  my first public beating. That became my punishment, a public beating ... with a stick. 



9.260      Fourteen (14) witnesses gave accounts of the authorities in the School being spoken to and 

           challenged about the abuse following disclosure to parents and relatives. As a result they were 

           subsequently punished either by being beaten, denied family visits or ostracised from their peer 

           group. Six (6) other witnesses gave reports of written complaints about the abuse being made 

           by relatives, four of whom were granted early release from the School. The Committee heard 

           accounts of other parents threatening legal action, including reports to the Gardai or other 

                                                                                                           ´ 

           authorities. In two instances parents did not return witnesses from weekend or holiday leave and 

           no further action was taken. The Committee heard isolated accounts of parents being berated, 

           placated and denigrated by religious staff whom they confronted with allegations of abuse. 



9.261      Many witnesses reported being deterred from disclosing abuse for reasons including: threats of 

           harm to themselves, their siblings or family, general fear and fear of further punishment, threats 

           of being transferred to a more restrictive institution, the authority of an older person, bullying and 

           the anticipated disbelief of others. ‘I couldn’t tell anyone, no one believed you, you were told to 

           shut up.’ Forty nine (49) witnesses reported being told not to tell anyone about the abuse they 

           experienced and were threatened with further abuse, or on occasion death, if they did. 



                  I remember her ...(mother)... saying “are they good to you?” Sr ...X... was outside the 

                  door and she came in and said “you have to go Mrs ...Y...”. I knew not to say 

                  ...(anything about being hit)... you would be beheaded, you would be afraid of your life 

                  to say what was happening to you. 



9.262      Witnesses frequently described the prevailing climate of secrecy and denial in the Schools that 

           acted as a further deterrent. A witness who had been sexually abused reported that she had 

           never disclosed her abuse, in the belief that she would be sent to a laundry, as a co-resident 

           had been. Witnesses who were sexually abused also reported that the threat of condemnation, 

           being blamed for the abuse and the associated humiliation and shame were powerful 

           disincentives to disclose abuse. 



9.263      Witnesses discharged in more recent years reported that there were more opportunities to talk 

           to external professionals and other adults about what was happening in the Schools, although 

           they were not always believed and the subsequent interventions did not always have positive 

           outcomes. Two (2) witnesses who were discharged by the mid-1980s said that their abuse was 

           addressed by social workers. In one instance, following written representation by her 

           grandmother, the witness was eventually moved to a different School by a social worker, where 

           she reported she was happy. Another witness said that despite intervention by their social 

           worker the abuse continued: 



                  I saw many social workers over the years, they were no help. The first one arranged to 

                  meet us in groups every 2 weeks, the first time we spoke about what was happening it 

                  went back to the nuns, something was said to them by the social worker and we got a 

                  beating. Subsequently we were seen with the nun present. I have seen the social work 

                  record, they took what nuns said as gospel, everything was from their perspective. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                    193 


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           Outcome of disclosure 



9.264     Witnesses reported different responses to their disclosures of abuse including being ignored, 

           punished, disbelieved or protected. Positive action was also reported as taken by Residents 

           Managers and others who investigated reports of abuse and in a number of instances dismissed 

           or transferred staff who were found to have been abusive. 



                  •    Sixty eight (68) witnesses reported that their complaint received no response, that 

                       abuse was seen as part of the culture of the institution, was concealed, and 

                       continued. 



                  •    Thirty six (36) witnesses reported being beaten for disclosing that they were being 

                       physically or sexually abused. 



                  •    Thirty four (34) witnesses reported that their disclosures were dealt with in a positive 

                       manner and the abuse ceased. 



9.265      The 36 witnesses who reported being punished for disclosing abuse described various means 

           by which their disclosures were dealt with. In certain instances protective action was taken in 

           addition to being punished, while in the majority of instances reported to the Committee 

           punishment was the only known outcome of disclosure. 



                 I told another girl ...(about sexual abuse)... she told the nuns, 4 of them beat me, they 

                 said I had to go to Confession. I had to say it so loud so that she would hear me 

                 confess my sin, then she knew that I had confessed and they ...(four nuns)... said a 

                 chant over me. They decided a time and place to beat the devil out of you, they didn’t 

                 do it straight away, they made you wait. I always remember her saying ... “you’re a filthy 

                 Communist”, it was the time Kennedy ...(US President)... died. The priest didn’t give me 

                 any penance. 



9.266      Other witnesses reported being removed or sent home following disclosure of abuse without any 

           acknowledgement of what had occurred. 



                 I tried to escape once to tell the police what was going on. They locked all the shutters, 

                 they locked me up and told me “I’ll tell your mam to come and get you”. I wasn’t allowed 

                 eat with the kids for 3 weeks. I wasn’t allowed talk to the other girls. Then they made 

                 arrangements for me to go to my mam. They brought me to the airport. ... Sr ...X... and 

                 Sr ...Y... and she said “you mustn’t say anything about the School”. 



9.267     A small number of witnesses reported that when they disclosed abuse by a religious person 

          they were warned against identifying the abuser and forced to name another person. One 

          witness reported that following a beating by a nun, who ‘always had a cane hanging out of her’, 

           her hands were so swollen that she was unable to play the piano. The witness told her music 

          teacher who was a member of the religious staff about the beating and the nun replied: ‘“She 

           ...Sr X... didn’t, don’t ever say that. It was one of the older girls wasn’t it?” I was not let resume 

          practice until I said it was an older girl’. 



9.268      Positive outcomes of disclosure fell into two main categories: removal or admonishment of the 

           reported abuser and protection of the witness from further abuse. ‘She ...(Sr X)... was taken out 

           of there, then the beating stopped.’ 



                 There was a Sister there and she caught me eating the butter, I was so hungry. She 

                 caught my head and she banged it and banged it off the churn, and I remember putting 

                 my hand up and there was blood. The next thing I know was I woke up in bed and all 

                 the nuns were coming to see me and bringing me fruit, an apple and an orange, that I 

                 had never seen before. After that I got an easier time, and that nun was sent away. I 

                 never saw her again. 



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9.269      Eighteen (18) of the 38 witnesses who reported telling their parents that they were being abused 

           and 17 other witnesses who reported abuse to authority figures within the Schools reported that 

           their disclosures instigated positive and protective responses including the dismissal of abusive 

           staff. Witnesses reported that disclosures of abuse to parents was more often believed, but that 

           parental intervention did not always lead to a cessation of abuse. 



                  I did not get out of the bed for nearly 3 months ...(following severe beating)... and when 

                  I did I found it very hard to walk. The Reverend Mother came up to me after about 2 

                  months and she said “...X... I know who did this.” I said “I’m not going to tell”. She said 

                  “I’ll say the name and then we’ll see about it, you don’t have to tell.” ... Sr ...Y...was 

                  gone out of the home after that, she was gone ... for a certain period ... she 

                  disappeared. 



9.270      Following their disclosures of abuse 10 witnesses reported being protected from further abuse 

           either by being moved to a different area in the School away from the reported abuser, being 

           transferred from the School to a safe environment or being discharged. Two (2) other witnesses 

           reported that less severe beatings from religious staff followed an intervention from their 

           parents. One witness, who told a hospital nurse about being abused, had her hospital admission 

           extended over the Christmas period. 



                  There was a change with a new Reverend Mother, she took a liking to me and I was 

                  like a pet, she took me in the parlour and gave me cake, it ...(sexual abuse)... all 

                  stopped then. 



9.271      Four (4) female witnesses from one School made reference to the positive intervention and 

           kindness of a member of the clergy who recognised the difficulties they experienced; he was 

           trusted by the residents and listened to their concerns. The witnesses said that they were not 

           punished as a consequence of confiding in him. In their view he facilitated changes that were 

           appreciated; for example he arranged for residents to participate in recreational activities in the 

           local area and for them to be provided with more fashionable clothes. This member of the clergy 

           was also reported to have helped several witnesses by arranging supportive holiday families 

           and employment placements for them, where they thrived. Witnesses said that his intervention 

           protected them from further abuse. 



9.272      Sixteen (16) disclosures made to Resident Managers and external professionals resulted in 

           abusers being either admonished or removed, or the resident being moved. A witness told a 

           local priest that she was being sexually abused in her work placement and was moved from the 

           house the following day and protected from further abuse. In seven instances witnesses 

           reported Gardai became aware of their abuse and in some instances investigated the reports 

                              ´ 

           made to them. Four (4) reported running away after beatings and were returned to the School 

           by Gardai, who were generally sympathetic. One witness’s father went to the Gardai and she 

                       ´                                                                                         ´ 

           was returned to the School on the understanding that she would not be beaten again. The 

           witness said that she was treated better subsequently. Another witness presented herself to the 

           Gardai and told them she had been abused; they returned her to the School and were critical of 

                   ´ 

           the religious staff for failing to report her absence. A witness from a different School having 

           disclosed abuse reported the following outcome: 



                  One day I was called to the parlour and Sr ...X (Resident Manager)... was there and 

                  there was a Garda there, he had a hat under his arm, he said to me “I don’t want you to 

                  tell me about anything else just ...Y (ancillary male lay staff)...”. You see I had started to 

                  tell him about Mr ...Z (holiday family father)... who had ...(also)... abused me. He said “I 

                  don’t want you to tell me about that, I only want you to tell me about ...Y...”. I told him 

                  everything that happened. I never saw ...Y... again. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                      195 


----------------------- Page 1542-----------------------

9.273     Witnesses stated that they believed lay care staff and ancillary workers in a number of Schools 

          were aware that residents were being abused, and that at times they indicated sympathy and 

          expressions of comfort. However, these lay staff were described by a number of witnesses as 

          powerless to act as their livelihood depended on the goodwill of the religious Sisters. In other 

          instances witnesses believed that abuse was part of the culture of the institution and that 

          residents were powerless to change anything by disclosing mistreatment. 



9.274     Seventeen (17) witnesses reported being severely physically abused when they disclosed that 

          they had been sexually abused by either priests or other members of the clergy, men in families 

          to whom they were sent for weekends, holidays or to work and members of the general public. 

          A witness said that she was told ‘wash out your dirty mouth’ when she disclosed being sexually 

          abused by a priest. When a witness disclosed sexual abuse by a ‘holiday’ father she was told 

          ‘you are making this up about the good people taking you out’. Witnesses reported being 

          compelled to maintain their silence about abuse they experienced from adults held in high 

          regard by the religious Sisters. 



9.275     There were six reports of witnesses being beaten and punished for other forms of disclosure 

          including telling inspectors that preparations had been made for their visit and sending a letter of 

          complaint regarding abuse to a relative. Other witnesses said they were punished for telling 

          priests that they were abused, one of these disclosures was in Confession. A further witness 

          stated that she was punished for telling the Resident Manager about a religious Sister who had 

          beaten a resident. 



9.276     Following their disclosures of abuse a small number of witnesses reported being ostracised and 

          isolated from both staff and co-residents, three others reported being transferred to a more 

          isolated School. 



                Sr ...X... she beat me inhuman, she tore me hair out, a big tuft of hair. I picked the hair 

                up and put it underneath the stage and got out through the window and headed to my 

               father. I said “Dad please help me I can’t take anymore”. ... The policeman come 

               knocking at the door. He ...(witness’s father)... showed the hair to the policeman and the 

               bruises all on my body.... he said “how can anyone do that?” ...The policeman said “you 

               bring her back on your word” to my father ...(who lived nearby).... He brought me 

               back.... When I went back in she Sr ...X... told the girls my father was dirt and he was 

                this and that, none was to speak to me. ... So I was like a hermit, done me chores, went 

                to bed in the dormitory and no one could talk to me. 



          Witnesses response to abuse 



9.277     Witnesses reported a range of personal responses to being abused, often reporting more than 

          one response: 



                •    Two hundred and eighty five (285) witnesses reported fear as their main response to 

                      being abused; 251 of those witnesses specifically described staff using their status 

                      and authority to intimidate and bully the residents. 



                •    One hundred and ninety three (193) witnesses reported that they did not know what 

                     to do and felt powerless to act, with no one to talk to or protect them. 



                •    One hundred and forty six (146) witnesses who reported becoming withdrawn or 

                      mute in the context of ongoing abuse stated that they were afraid of telling anyone 

                     what was happening to them. Witnesses described ‘trying to be invisible’ in order to 

                      avoid the attention of anyone who might hit or otherwise abuse them. 



                •    Forty three (43) witnesses reported that they ran away or absconded from the School 

                      generally in the context of being severely physically and/or sexually abused. A further 



          196                                                    CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1543-----------------------

                       16 witnesses attempted to run away but were either caught or prevented from doing 

                       so. 



                 •    Seventeen (17) witnesses reported having suicidal thoughts, 12 of whom reported 

                       actively harming themselves while they were resident in the Schools. All attempts of 

                       reported self-harm followed episodes of physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Most 

                       accounts of suicidal thoughts or wishes related to situations where witnesses 

                       described themselves as hoping the abuse would end, not being believed and feeling 

                       fearful and helpless. Forms of reported self-harm included taking an overdose of 

                       tablets, attempted drowning, refusing to eat, ingesting objects and poisonous 

                       substances, jumping from heights, and self-harm by mutilation or burns. 



                 •    Eight (8) witnesses reported that they developed eating disorders or feigned illness, 

                       which in some instances led to hospitalisation. 



                One day I thought I would poison myself. ... I sat down one day all on my own 

                ...crying... and I got a bundle of haws and started putting them in my mouth and I said 

                “maybe God will take me” ...crying.... ... It didn’t work. In the month of the poor souls I 

                always prayed that someone would come and take me ...(wishing would die).... 



                                                               • 



                Sometimes the window would be open, and I’d say “I’ll jump out the window if you touch 

                me again”. One time I said “I’m going to drop down to the concrete and kill myself if you 

                touch me”. I got 3 weeks of beatings for that. 



                                                               • 



                One day ... I got a beating. I thought I’m going to end up killing myself, I can’t take any 

                more, I wanted to kill myself. We went out and walked along by the railway tracks and 

                walked along waiting for the train to come to throw myself under it. If I seen a train ... I’d 

                be ready for a coffin.... 



9.278     Other responses to abuse described by witnesses included: bed-wetting, self-blame, 

          suppression of anger, crying and becoming withdrawn. ‘I went into myself after that ...(severe 

          beating)... sort of gave up, never talked to anyone, went into myself. I stopped talking.’ Many 

          witnesses reported that they had not bed-wet prior to their admission and considered bed- 

          wetting to be a response to being abused. 



                I was getting terrible lashings. Sometime it would be 2 nuns, sometimes it would be 

                one, you got the stick, the cane. I did not know why they were lashing me and then I 

                realised it was for wetting the bed.... I had started to wet the bed.... There would be 

                nights I wouldn’t sleep for fear I would wet the bed. 



9.279     A witness who had experienced consistent abuse in a School reported that she deliberately 

          remained in contact with the staff and residents after she was discharged and continued to visit 

          the School where she had been placed for many years ‘to keep an eye on things for the 

          younger kids’. 



9.280     Ten (10) witnesses reported that they intervened to protect another resident, sometimes their 

          sister or brother, from being beaten and others described instances of spontaneous assertion in 

          retaliation to being abused, including both physically and verbally challenging their abuser. 

          Assertive responses resulted at times in protection from further beatings and at other times 

          witnesses were punished, isolated or transferred to other institutions. Some witnesses described 

          feeling relief when they stood up for themselves. 



                I stood up for myself, I had to fight back or I wouldn’t have come out alive. 



                                                               • 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            197 


----------------------- Page 1544-----------------------

                They put me into a kind of detention room after that ...(confrontation with religious 

                Sister).... For a week I was on my own.... I said to myself maybe it’s me causing the 

                trouble. I kinda went in on myself after that. 



                                                            • 



                I just rebelled and I tore off her veil and called her a bloody old bitch. She dragged me 

                off by the hair, she said “that’s the last of you”. She ran off up the corridor and I knew I 

                was in for it then, she always threatened ...(that)... she would get rid of me and she did. 

                She sent me off that night to ...named laundry.... 



9.281     In summary, this chapter has provided an overview of abuse reported to the Committee by 378 

          female witnesses in relation to Schools over a 74-year period between 1914 and 1988. The 

          reported abuse was differentiated by type and presented accordingly with direct quotes from 

          witnesses, some of whom were recounting their experiences of abuse for the first time. 

          Witnesses also gave accounts of the circumstances in which the abuse occurred and the 

          traumatic impact of their experiences both at the time and as they were recalled. In addition, the 

          information provided about the status and occupations of those who were reported abusers is 

          included with witness accounts of what they believe was known about the abuse they 

          experienced at the time. 



9.282     The following two chapters will provide information on positive memories and experiences in the 

          Schools and the current life circumstances, including the enduring impact of abuse, reported by 

          the 791 male and female witnesses. 



          198                                                     CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1545-----------------------

          Chapter 10 



           Positive memories and experiences – 

           male and female witnesses 



10.01     In addition to reporting abuse many witnesses wished to emphasise positive aspects of the care 

          they received in Industrial and Reformatory Schools. They commented that memories of 

          kindness remained with them for many years. 



          Details of good memories 



10.02     Accounts of care, kindness, attention and support provided by individual religious and lay staff 

          were given in evidence by both male and female witnesses. Such experiences included 

          incidents and encounters both within the School and in the wider community. 



          Kind staff 



10.03     Two hundred and eighty four (284) witnesses, 168 male and 116 female, recounted the 

          kindness of individual religious and lay staff. The witness description most often reported was 

          the absence of physical abuse, ‘He did not hit’ and ‘she didn’t hit girls or scream at them’ were 

          typical of remarks by witnesses regarding kind members of the religious staff. Other acts of 

          kindness by religious and lay staff reported to the Committee included being given extra food, 

          spoken to kindly, shown affection, having a blind eye turned to behaviour others would report, 

          creating a positive environment and being called by one’s first name rather than by a number or 

          surname. Another kindness was being allowed to have pets particularly cats and dogs as 

          occasionally reported. Other witnesses commented on the special attention they received from 

          individual staff that continued over a number of years and was of lasting benefit. 



                Br ...X... he seemed to have an understanding of us, he was the best one I met in my 

                life. I felt safe with him, he didn’t wear the strap like a 6 gun, ready to shoot everyone, 

                compared to the others he was kind. He was able to help with my reading and he would 

                put a mark saying “well done!” 



                                                               • 



                One very, very kind person, she was Sr ...X... she was old, a lovely person. I have great 

                memories of her. She would come in to call us, open up the curtains and she would be 

                singing in the morning. She was lovely to us, she wasn’t long there. 



                                                               • 



                The kindest thing that ever happened to me was a nurse, she was called ...Ms X... we 

                were all around saying the Rosary and she put a sweet in my hand, one sweet. I didn’t 

                want to eat the sweet I wanted to hold on to it, somebody gave me something, 

                somebody was kind. It became a regular thing about once a week, one sweet. I began 

                to look forward to it.... 



10.04     Witnesses also reported that kind religious staff offered protection by assigning them chores in 

          areas where they were less likely to be hit and rescuing them from beatings by other staff. Other 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            199 


----------------------- Page 1546-----------------------

           positive memories described by witnesses were of religious staff interacting with residents in a 

          friendly manner and demonstrating concern about their distress and injuries. 



10.05     There were several religious Sisters and Brothers mentioned with affection by witnesses from 

          different Schools. One Brother who was named by eight witnesses was reported to have 

          supervised the residents on Sundays and encouraged them to talk to him. He was described as 

          often giving sweets to those who were crying or upset and speaking kindly to them. Six (6) 

          female witnesses from one School recalled a Sister who had been caring and kind throughout 

          their time spent in the institution. It was remarked that acts of kindness were generally 

          demonstrated in private. Words of encouragement and praise were remembered warmly by 

          witnesses as rare experiences and were usually reported to have been associated with 

           particular named staff members. 



                 One Brother was kind and used to give me a bit of a boost, when playing football he’d 

                say “you’re good”. 



                                                                • 



                 Sr ...X... who worked in the laundry was kind, if I got coal for her she would say “you’re 

                 a good girl” and “thank you”, such was the level of deprivation that one word of kindness 

                 was remarkable. Sr ...Y... who worked in the kitchen was also kind, she gave bread 

                 dipped in gravy. 



                                                                • 



                 One nun she was absolutely lovely, I am a nurse today because of her, she was the 

                nun in the infirmary, she would get you something and say “don’t say a word”. 



                                                                • 



                 They were not all bad – there was one Brother he was an old man, he was. When he 

                got his food he would take it out of his pocket and give it to us, bread and butter it was 

                lovely it was. He was a lovely old man. 



                                                                • 



                 It was kinda safe around him, I used to like going for walks with him; no one else could 

                 touch you when you were out with him. 



                                                                • 



                A nun would call girls over and give them food out of her pocket and say “there 

                 creatureen, run”. 



10.06     Sixteen (16) witnesses reported enjoying kind treatment from lay and religious staff when they 

          were ill. Being treated gently and with consideration was noted by witnesses in contrast to the 

           more familiar experience of staff as critical, unfriendly and frequently abusive. Witnesses from a 

           number of Schools recalled the kindness and attention they received from lay female nurses. 

          One nurse was mentioned by several male witnesses as a trusted confidant to whom residents 

          could talk without fear and who, at times, acted as an advocate on their behalf. 



10.07     Witnesses identified 98 lay staff as kind, attentive and helpful including teachers, nurses, care 

          staff and ancillary workers. Witnesses particularly commented on the positive influence of those 

           lay care staff and ancillary workers who lived outside the confines of the School. There were 

           numerous reports of these staff members inviting residents to their homes and introducing a 

           lighter atmosphere to the everyday routine and work environment. Witnesses also commented 

          on a sense of safety that existed when these lay staff were around. Four (4) male witnesses 

          said that the spouses of lay staff provided extra food and were kind to residents when the 

          opportunity arose. One female witness stated that contact with these lay staff ‘Let you believe 

          life could be different’. 



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10.08     The encouragement and kindness of some lay classroom teachers was recalled with 

          appreciation by 41 male and 17 female witnesses. These reports referred both to teachers 

          within the Schools and others who taught residents attending local primary, secondary and 

          technical schools in the community. ‘Teachers who treated us without prejudice were a joy’. 



                The lay teachers encouraged you to do homework, they had hope in you, they wanted 

               you to do well. 



10.09     Particular lay care staff, including some who were former residents of the School, were 

          described by 25 female witnesses as kind and protective: ‘she understood, she would not report 

          you’. However, witnesses also remarked that kind staff did not stay long or that they changed 

          their behaviour and attitude as they were assimilated into the culture of the institution. 

          Witnesses discharged from the mid-1970s increasingly described lay staff as promoting changes 

          in the conditions in the Schools and attempting to offer protection from abuse. 



               Some lay staff were a good team, they used to fight ...(for residents).... I heard them 

               fighting on the phone with Sr ...X (Resident Manager)... for better things for the kids. 



10.10     Fifteen (15) male and 16 female witnesses from different Schools reported that a change of 

          Resident Manager or other person regarded as being in a position of special authority led to a 

          decrease in abuse and an improvement in the general routine and care. Witnesses remarked on 

          the relief experienced when new Resident Managers changed practices of communal bathing 

          and showering and made provision for residents to have more privacy. Six (6) of those reports 

          related to the period prior to 1960. Improvements reported in the 1970s included increased 

          contact between siblings and family members, less physical punishment, a change from 

          dormitories to small cubicles with more privacy, better hygiene practices, attending schools in 

          the local town and being part of activities in the local area. All of these changes were described 

          as having positive benefit. 



                They took down our names and date of birth. My older sister told them my birth date, 

               she knew as older sisters would. My birth date was written “unknown”. “Anything about 

               this child known?” It was written down “unknown”. I was being treated for a heart 

               problem before I went ... it was written down “unknown”. I was given a number ... and 

               there I was given a name I didn’t know. The head nun changed after a year and a half 

               and she looked through the records and noticed I didn’t have a name or anything and 

               got my birth date and my name, I had had no name for a year. 



          Community contact 



10.11     Eighty five (85) witnesses described their involvement in local activities such as attending school 

          in the local town, Feis Cheoil and sporting competitions, Irish dancing, choir practice, music, 

          outings and seaside holidays. The benefit of seeing the world outside the institution and having 

          the opportunity to make friends with peers who were not part of the institutional system was 

          emphasised by many witnesses. 



10.12     Film shows were reported as a regular and popular pastime in the boys Schools with 109 

          witness accounts of either watching films in the School or attending local cinemas. Films were 

          described by witnesses as providing a welcome escape from the daily reality of institutional life 

          and respite from being hit, especially in Schools where the film shows were also attended by 

          local townspeople. Both male and female witnesses also commented on the positive experience 

          of holidays and day trips to the beach from the Schools. 



10.13     Nineteen (19) male witnesses reported positive memories of playing in the School band and/or 

          singing in School choirs. They stated that, in addition to developing valuable skills, this 

          involvement contributed towards a more positive self-image. Witnesses reported opportunities to 



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          travel for performances, at times meeting families who treated them kindly and exposed them to 

          different ways of life. 



10.14     Christmas activities were described by a number of witnesses as memorable. The provision of 

          better food, presents and the experience of a more relaxed atmosphere were all remarked on as 

          good memories of Christmas by both male and female witnesses. Witnesses from a small 

          number of Schools reported that considerable effort was put into arranging festivities and 

          entertainment, usually in conjunction with organisations from the locality. Occasions when there 

          were inspections or special visitors were also mentioned as enjoyable and memorable because 

          of the availability of extra food and a festive atmosphere. 



10.15     The kindness of local people was remembered by 20 witnesses. Some local shopkeepers were 

          mentioned for giving residents sweets or ice cream. One witness stated that when one of the 

          Sisters sent her to the local shop to get a dozen new canes the shopkeeper broke the canes on 

          his knee in front of her and told her to tell the Sisters he had none left. 



10.16     The kindness of external clergy from the local community was remembered by a small number 

          of witnesses and left a lasting impression. One member of the clergy was reported by several 

          witnesses to use his influence to modify conditions for residents within the School and 

          attempted to ensure their protection. 



                 The priest, who used to come in ...(to the School)... he came up and gave me 10 

                shillings, and a word of kindness. I don’t know how he knew I was going ...(being 

                discharged)... and he didn’t want anything for it. It was such an act of kindness, the 

                nuns gave me 2/6 pence and no word of anything. The bus fare was 4/6 pence, had it 

                not been for him, he probably changed a lot of lives by his act of kindness. I knew there 

                was someone in the world who had been kind, just ...(that)... one act of kindness. 



           Weekend and holiday families 



10.17     Seventy five (75) witnesses, 28 male and 47 female, reported on the positive experience of 

          regular visits to weekend and ‘holiday’ families, also known as ‘foster’ families and ‘godparents’, 

          which were facilitated by those in charge of the Schools. Witnesses reported that visits to these 

          families provided an experience of family life, with appropriate care and attention that in many 

          instances has lasted to the present day. Contact with ‘godparents’ and ‘foster’ and ‘holiday’ 

          families were regarded by some witnesses as protective as they had access to someone 

          outside the School. 



10.18     The positive experience of becoming involved in family life, forming attachments and having 

          relationships outside the School in a non-abusive environment was commented on by many 

          witnesses. Further positive memories of ‘holiday’ family contact included the experience of 

          respect for privacy in matters of self-care, being given new and fashionable clothes, receiving 

          Christmas and birthday presents, and having better and more plentiful food. ‘Godparents’, 

          ‘holiday’, work placement and foster families were also reported by a number of witnesses as 

          acting as advocates for them and as challenging punitive decisions made by the religious staff 

          concerning witnesses. Twenty eight (28) witnesses described being treated as a member of the 

          family and reported being given assistance to pursue further education and training. 



                My first job, the people ...(work placement family)... were very nice, they were very good 

                to me. Br ...X... fixed up all that, they took me everywhere. They took me out for meals. 

                 They were like a mother and father.... 



                                                                • 



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                 Going out to “godmother’s” family opened my eyes to how life could be, they were very 

                 kind and fought to keep the contact when the nuns stopped it because they thought I 

                 was spoilt ... they saved my sanity. 



           Family contact 



10.19      Seventy one (71) witnesses, 32 male and 39 female, reported that contact with their own 

           parents, siblings and relatives was a positive experience that was greatly valued. Annual 

           holidays spent with family at Christmas or summer as well as visits from parents, grandparents 

           and other family members were regarded as something to look forward to and were reported by 

           witnesses to be a protective factor against beatings. Further, ongoing family contact after 

           admission was consistently emphasised by witnesses as having a positive influence on 

           reintegration with their families after discharge. The positive value of letters, parcels and other 

           chance contacts such as meeting and seeing brothers and sisters while out walking or in the 

           church were also recalled as positive memories by witnesses. 



                 The family was supportive and kept in contact, visits, parcels, and summer holidays 

                 home. I went back home. 



10.20      Efforts made by parents and relatives to visit and stay in contact with witnesses, following 

           admission to the Schools, were also retained as good memories. A number of witnesses were 

           aware during their stay in the Schools that their parents and/or relatives made considerable 

           efforts to maintain contact with them and support them while they were there. Others became 

           fully aware in recent years of the efforts made in this regard. 



                 Mam always came to visit us during school holiday, Christmas and Easter and that. She 

                 was working in London. 



           Response to disclosure 



10.21      Eighty (80) witnesses, 46 male and 34 female, reported that when they disclosed abuse, their 

           complaints were dealt with in a positive manner and generally the abuse ceased. Disclosures of 

           abuse were made to parents, relatives, siblings, external professionals, gardai, religious and lay 

                                                                                                      ´ 

           staff including Resident Mangers and others in positions of authority. The relief of being listened 

           to and believed was described by witnesses as a turning point in their experience of being in the 

           Schools. Positive responses to disclosures of abuse included being moved from the situation 

           where the abuse occurred, having reports of abuse taken up formally by parents and relatives 

           through written representations to the Department of Education and confronting religious staff in 

           charge of the Schools regarding the reported abuse. Further positive responses to these 

           interventions included early discharge from the Schools, the dismissal or admonishment of 

           abusive staff and the cessation of further abuse. 



                 I told my mother about a lot of the abuse. She wrote in to the Minister and she 

                 conveyed my complaints and she got a letter back to say “in view of the circumstances I 

                 am releasing ...witness... to the custody of his mother”. 



10.22      At times positive outcomes were reported to have occurred as a direct response to the 

           disclosure and in other instances witnesses reported that they were initially punished but that 

           subsequently the abuse ceased, their abuser left or they were granted an early discharge. One 

           witness reported that she was regularly beaten by the lay teacher in the outside school she 

           attended. She reported that the Resident Manager visited her classroom and successfully 

           confronted the teacher, following which the abuse stopped. 



           Friendship 



10.23      Forty nine (49) witnesses, 18 male and 31 female, reported that friendships with co-residents 

           were an important and positive experience for them during their time in the Schools. Many 



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          described establishing strong friendship bonds with co-residents that are maintained to the 

          present day. Some witnesses who had no known family contact described these friends and 

          former co-residents as their ‘real family’. Twenty three (23) witnesses also described the 

          importance of friendships with boys and girls from the local towns who were in class with them 

          or who they met through sport or other activities. They recounted positive memories of 

          classmates who were friendly towards them in the playground, invited them to their homes, to 

          attend birthday parties and who gave them comics, sweets and small gifts. 



10.24     Thirty one (31) female witnesses from eight Schools gave varying accounts of ongoing 

          friendship networks including some who meet regularly and support each other through life 

          crises. A number of witnesses were accompanied to the Committee by women who had been 

          their childhood friends and others who provided support to them when they were first discharged 

          from the Schools many years ago. Witnesses described the importance of their friendships with 

          men and women who ‘really understand what it was like to have been there’. Other witnesses 

          described the enormous sense of loss they experienced when discharges precluded the 

          opportunity to say goodbye to their friends. 



                Never being able to say goodbye to your friends, that is my real tragedy, it haunts me to 

                this day. All these years wondering what has happened to them are they alive, are they 

                dead? We were so close, we were as close as sisters. 



          Work 



10.25     A number of witnesses described the experience of working on the farms and in the kitchens as 

          a positive memory. Twenty (20) male witnesses reported that farm work was a sanctuary for 

          them as they were left alone and enjoyed the work. A number of the witnesses described the 

          farmyards and fields as places of safety ‘away from the battering’ that also provided access to 

          extra food. 



                Potato picking was not too bad because there was a big fire at the end and you could 

                cook the potatoes, we did it for local farmers and got half a crown at the end of it. 



10.26     Other aspects of work were reported by witnesses as positive experiences. For example, one 

          witness enjoyed ploughing with workhorses kept on the School’s farm and another had a 

          particular talent for handling animals. Witnesses commented on the pleasure they got from 

          working alongside kind staff in these areas. One witness described looking forward to the days 

          when she worked on the School’s farm: 



                She ...(Sr X)... gave me extra eggs and potatoes and I always remember the good 

                feeling I had ...(working with her).... 



10.27     A number of female witnesses mentioned caring for young children as a valued opportunity to 

          relate affectionately to another person. In this context 14 female witnesses recalled with 

          fondness older girls who cared for and protected them when they were young and in a small 

          number of instances reported maintaining contact with them in the years since. 



          Post-discharge 



10.28     In addition to routine assistance received from staff when they were being discharged, seven 

          male and 29 female witnesses reported receiving further assistance from religious and lay staff 

          when they got into personal or employment difficulties after leaving the School. The witnesses 

          emphasised how important this help was to them and remember with gratitude the assistance 

          they received. A number of witnesses reported being rescued from homelessness and were 

          offered temporary accommodation in the School. There were a number of reports of alternative 

          employment being found for witnesses by the staff in such circumstances where their first job 

          was not satisfactory. 



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                Following discharge... We had to write back to them, report back to them, and if we 

                were in need of a job we had to report back to them again. We had no other place to 

                turn, the only place we could turn was back there. I finally wrote back to Mother ...X... 

                and told her the situation. “Come back” she said “you could probably do with a couple of 

                days, come back. You can stay here and we’ll have a chat about a job” she said. I gave 

                in my notice and went back, for 6 months I think. They were very nice to me when I got 

                back and she said “what kind of a job would you like?” ... (Placed by religious staff in 

                satisfactory alternative employment) 



                                                            • 



                This man...(named priest)... approached me, he said “have you got a job?”...he said “I 

                run a boys’ hostel”, he took us to the boys’ home and he made a phone call. Then he 

                called us and put us on the bus and the first stop was the General Post Office in 

                London. He took us in to the post office and he had a word with the manager, he... 

                (manager)... called us in one by one and said “you just have been released from the 

                Free State Army... what time would you like to start?” I said “what shifts have you? I’ll 

                take the one at night time. I’ll start tonight. He said “you’re not in the country a day 

               yet”...The priest got all 12 of us jobs...5 bob a week in the hostel, all meals threw in. I 

                stayed 2 and a half years. 



10.29     Three (3) witnesses who had early unplanned pregnancies reported being given shelter and 

          support by the Schools while their babies were young. One witness reported that, shortly after 

          her discharge, she and her family were given financial assistance to return to Ireland from poor 

          circumstances in the UK. Others reported being assisted to find employment in the local area 

          when they could not settle further away. A small number of female witnesses reported having 

          maintained contact with individual religious Sisters over many years, receiving gifts when they 

          got married and being assisted to finish their education and pursue careers. ‘The staff were kind 

          to me on the whole. They sent me a cheque when I married.’ 



          Care and education provided 



10.30     A small number of witnesses were appreciative of the staff that cared for them even though they 

          wished to make clear that they also experienced abuse in the Schools. ‘They gave children a 

          great life, they did not mean what they did, no matter how cruel they were, where would I have 

          been without them?’ Some witnesses expressed the view that the religious and lay staff in 

          charge of them probably did the best they could under difficult circumstances and four witnesses 

          said that in retrospect, they appreciated the sense of security provided by being contained in an 

          institutional environment when they were young. 



10.31     Witnesses discharged since the mid-1970s more frequently commented on having positive 

          experiences during their stay in Schools. Some witnesses reported on general improvements in 

          the standards of care and assistance received from staff. Examples of improvements in the 

          standards of care included the establishment of group homes on the grounds of some Schools 

          and the increased likelihood of siblings being admitted and remaining together. There were nine 

          witness reports of the positive experience of living in a small mixed group in the care of trained 

          lay care staff. Witnesses from some Schools reported other positive changes in the way they 

          were prepared for discharge, including access to ‘pre-leaving’ care groups, which were designed 

          to train residents for independent living, for example learning how to budget, cook or pay bills. 



10.32     Twenty male (20) and 32 female witnesses commented on the positive value of the education 

          and training they received in the classrooms and trade workshops from lay and religious 

          teachers. In later years there were more frequent reports of support for regular school 

          attendance and further education that was also appreciated. 



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      The education was good there, I’ve got to be honest. It depends on how you are 

     yourself. What I mean by education ... you had the opportunities there, you had day 

     school and night school.... You had the carpenters shop there, you had the shoemakers 

     shop there, the garden and the farmers, there was a tailors shop there too. 



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           Chapter 11 



           Current circumstances 



11.01      The Acts allowed the Committee to hear both evidence of child abuse and the continuing effects 

           on the witnesses.1  This chapter refers to the adult life circumstances of the 413 male and 378 



           female former residents of the Industrial and Reformatory Schools who reported to the 

           Committee regarding their experiences of childhood abuse. It summarises the information 

           provided by witnesses during their hearings about a range of life experiences including 

           relationships, parenting, family contact, occupational status, accommodation, health status and 

           enduring effects on family and personal life. 



           Relationships 



11.02      Many witnesses stated that their childhood experience of abuse and emotional deprivation 

           inhibited their capacity to form stable, secure and nurturing relationships in adult life. However, 

           despite the emotional difficulties described by both male and female witnesses, a high 

           proportion of them reported being married or in long-term relationships that were described as 

           mostly happy, often enduring despite severe difficulties. 



11.03      At the time of their hearing 388 of the 791 witnesses (49%), 203 male and 185 female, reported 

           being married, 343 of those marriages were reported to be of between 20 and 60 years’ 

           duration. An additional 70 witnesses, 40 male and 30 female, reported being in stable non- 

           marital relationships, including 10 same-sex partnerships, seven of which were male and three 

           were female. See the following table for details: 



            Table 44: Status and Duration of Witnesses’ Relationship at the Time of Hearing – Male 

                                     and Female Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



              Duration           0–19 years             20–39 years            40–59 years           Total        % 



            Status of         Males     Females      Males      Females      Males     Females 

            relationship 



            Married             11          34         144        128          48         23          388         49 

            Single              16          16         38          24          36          2          132         17 

            Separated           26         36           9           7          0           0          78          10 

            Co-habiting         34         27           6           3          0           0          70          9 

            Divorced            16          25          9          15          0           1          66          8 

            Widowed             16         32           3           5          0           0          56          7 

            Unavailable         0           0           0           0          0           1           1          (0) 

            Total              119         170         209        182          84         27         791         100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



11.04      When reading the above table it is of note that at the time of their hearing 401 witnesses (51%), 

           240 male and 161 female, were aged over 60 years, and a further 298 witnesses (38%), 131 

           male and 167 female, were aged between 50 and 60 years. 



           1 Sections 1(1), 4(1)(a) and 16 as amended by sections 3, 4 and 11 of the 2005 Act. 



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11.05     Many witnesses reported that they got married within five years of being discharged from the 

          School, often to their first boyfriend or girlfriend. Witnesses described their partners providing a 

          sense of connectedness and stability they had not previously experienced and showing them 

          the first real kindness they had ever known. ‘I was grateful someone wanted me, no one had 

          before’. A large number of witnesses talked about their good fortune to have married partners 

          whose families were supportive and kind, including them in a family network for the first time. 

          Many witnesses acknowledged being difficult to live with but that their partners’ support and 

          understanding allowed their relationships to be maintained. 



11.06     One hundred and eighty two (182) witnesses (23%), 107 male and 75 female, reported being 

          unable to express their feelings to their partner. In addition to the abuse experienced by 

          witnesses, the negative attitudes to normal physical and sexual development experienced during 

          their childhood was described as having a detrimental impact on personal relationships. Some 

          witnesses reported that, not having experienced any demonstrations of affection as children, they 

          were now unable to show affection but had partners who understood or accepted this difficulty. 



11.07     Seventy two (72) witnesses, 19 male and 53 female, reported sexual difficulties as a significant 

          problem in their experience of close relationships. Sixteen (16) witnesses, six male and 10 

          female, stated that their childhood experiences of being sexually abused contributed to 

          confusion about sexual orientation. 



11.08     Witnesses were frank in their descriptions of themselves as unprepared for marriage and family 

          life. They reported on their difficulties dealing with emotional demands and the expectations of 

          physical affection and sexual intimacy in the absence of any previous experience of affectionate 

          attachment. Many male witnesses who married described the ‘wilderness’ of relationships with 

          others, in particular with their spouse and subsequently with their children and extended 

          families: 



                The worst thing was not being able to relate to others, not knowing how to give and 

                receive love. I didn’t know what love was. 



                                                               • 



                When I came out ...(discharged)... I was 16, I was really one year old. I couldn’t cope, I 

                couldn’t handle it. I know where it all went wrong, emotionally I’m a cripple. 



11.09     Eighty (80) witnesses, 19 male and 61 female, reported having unhappy or, at times, 

          ‘disastrous’ first marriages followed by happier, more stable and complementary partnerships in 

          later years. These witnesses often reported that they married at a young age and acknowledged 

          being too immature to cope with the demands of commitment, family life and intimacy. Many 

          also acknowledged that poor partner choices reflected their immaturity, lack of supportive 

          networks and their overwhelming desire for a companion. A female witness stated: ‘I got married 

          for something to call my own.... I knew once you were married they couldn’t get you back’. Many 

          female witnesses said that they married in the context of unplanned pregnancy and ten 

          witnesses reported marrying before they were 20 years old in such circumstances. 



11.10     Seventy eight (78) of the 413 male witnesses described being in long-term relationships that 

          were marked by difficulties related to their own behaviour and personality traits such as the 

          need to be alone, difficulty expressing affection, physical and verbal aggression, sexual 

          difficulties, moodiness and an inability to provide materially for their families: 



                It’s a darkness that they gave me. I live alone, my family don’t come near me.... My 

                children don’t know me. ... I couldn’t relate in a normal context to my family. I didn’t 

                know when I married my wife that I wasn’t capable of being a husband, I was 19. ... I 

                knew I was not good enough.... I was no father at all. I remember asking “why, why did 

                this happen to me?” 



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                                                                   • 



                 I have 2 families... (children with 2 partners)...I find it hard to stay in the relationship. 

                 That’s it, that’s the problem. I can’t seem to settle down for long, you want to be on your 

                 own a lot. Some nights when I’m home I stay in my room a lot, I like to be on my own. I 

                 never talk about it I keep it all to myself. I never see anyone from the school, it would 

                 remind you too much of it. I do get depressed at times. 



11.11      One hundred and forty four (144) witnesses, 60 male and 84 female, reported that their 

           marriages had broken down. Domestic violence, combined with emotional and sexual difficulties, 

           was cited as a precipitating factor in most of these instances. Seventy eight (78) of those 

           witnesses, 35 male and 43 female, were separated and the other 66 witnesses said that their 

           marriages had ended in divorce. 



11.12      Violence was reported to be a significant feature in the relationships of both male and female 

           witnesses. Sixty seven (67) male witnesses stated that their relationships were dominated by 

           their physically abusive behaviour towards their partners, and 49 of those witnesses stated that 

           their violent behaviour was associated with alcohol abuse. Thirteen (13) other male witnesses 

           reported that their marriages, either current or previous, had been marked by their violent 

           behaviour but that time and intervening circumstances had facilitated change and that their 

           relationships had improved. 



11.13      Sixty four (64) female witnesses reported being in relationships where there were ongoing 

           difficulties related to domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and issues related to control and 

           authority. Some witnesses described their own contribution to these violent relationships through 

           their tendency to be angry, quick-tempered, and verbally and physically aggressive. Thirty (30) 

           female witnesses reported being physically aggressive or violent towards others, including their 

           partners. Others described marrying men who controlled their lives, who taunted them about 

           their background in an institution and perpetuated the type of abusive relationships they had 

           previously experienced. Twenty (20) of the female witnesses who remained in violent 

           relationships said they were accustomed to a level of aggression; as one witness commented: 

           ‘You think everyone is going to hit you’. Many female witnesses reported that they regarded 

           being hit as an unavoidable feature of interpersonal contact. Female witnesses who remained in 

           unhappy marriages reported doing so for many reasons, including a sense of responsibility to 

           provide their children with more stability and security than they themselves had experienced in 

           childhood. 



11.14      A number of male and female witnesses said that they were in long-term relationships but were 

           unable to make a commitment in marriage, fearing they would be ‘trapped again’ as they felt 

           they had been in the institution. Witnesses stated that other reasons for avoiding the 

           commitment of marriage were a fear of being exposed as ‘illegitimate’ and as having been 

           reared in an institution. Witnesses spoke about being able to maintain a veil of secrecy about 

           their background as a single person, which they feared losing if they married: 



                 I made all kinds of excuses as why I didn’t want to get married ... the truth was it meant 

                 I would have to show my birth certificate and I was ashamed of that ... anything rather 

                 than he find out I was illegitimate, because he was a nice middle class 

                 ...(professional).... 



11.15      One hundred and thirty nine (139) witnesses, 83 male and 56 female, reported life-long isolation 

           and loneliness, often describing themselves as ‘married loners’, despite being in long-term 

           relationships and having children. The inability to form or sustain intimate, trusting relationships 

           was described as the inevitable result of affectionless and often violent childhoods. The wife of 

           one witness who attended the hearing with her husband said that she lived with a ‘stranger’ and 



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          never really knew her husband. Other companions described the isolated lives some witnesses 

          led, for example: 



               It’s the middle of the night he ...(witness)... wakes up with these mad screams. ... He 

               spends the greater part of his life in his room, he comes down and brings his meals up, 

               if he falls asleep the children can hear him scream. 



11.16     There were 132 witnesses who were single at the time of their hearing, of whom 72 males and 

          36 females reported having never married or formed any stable relationships. A number of male 

          witnesses reported outwardly successful lives that they maintained by moving around while 

          avoiding attachments. Others, both male and female, reported living quiet, isolated existences 

          that suited them, having struggled for years to fit into a more mainstream life: ‘they locked me 

          up inside myself and threw away the key’. 



11.17     A further 32 male and 26 female witnesses described themselves as having been in 

          relationships for periods of time but were unable to sustain a commitment to their partners. A 

          small number of male witnesses described living a nomadic existence, working on farms and 

          building sites. Some married for a short time but could not sustain the commitment and reported 

          abusing drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism for painful and intrusive memories: 



               The skills I had honed in ...named School... how to hide and not show feelings, were a 

               disadvantage in adult life outside. I could not sustain relationships, express my feelings. 

               I was closed off. 



11.18     Both male and female witnesses reported that the past had been locked away until media 

          publicity in the 1990s forced memories back into awareness. Thirty nine (39) witnesses, 18 male 

          and 21 female, reported that they had never disclosed details of their abuse to their partners or 

          told anyone about their past until their hearing with the Committee. Disclosure to spouses, 

          partners and family members in recent years was reported to have had varying effects on family 

          relationships. Witnesses reported that talking about their traumatic childhoods allowed some of 

          their families to understand their troubled and at times disturbed behaviour. Spouses and adult 

          children who attended hearings as companions often stated that it was easier to cope with 

          aggressive or withdrawn behaviour when they had some understanding of the witness’s 

          background. For other witnesses the public reminder of their past increased pressure on already 

          fragile relationships. A number of witnesses stated that the open acknowledgement of their 

          abuse made everyday life more difficult as it reactivated feelings of pain and anger. A number of 

          companions acknowledged a history of disturbed family relationships that had a traumatic effect 

          on their own lives: 



               He would have terrible violence with the drink. He would always provide for us, we 

               never went without. My dad had a problem with alcohol, my dad beat me and my mum, 

               he was very violent. He loved me but he didn’t know how to show it. 



          Parenting 



11.19     The amount of information provided about family life and parenting varied considerably among 

          the male and female witnesses. Many witnesses spoke frankly about their experiences as 

          parents while others did not provide much information about this aspect of their lives. Six 

          hundred and fifty three (653) male and female witnesses (83%) reported having parented and/or 

          reared children. This number included witnesses’ own biological children and non-biological 

          children who were reared as their own, including a number of fostered and adopted children. 



11.20     Three hundred and nineteen (319) male witnesses (77%) reported having children, with family 

          size varying between one and 11 children. Fifty (50) witnesses reported having six children or 

          more and the average family size reported by male witnesses was four children. 



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11.21      Three hundred and thirty four (334) female witnesses (88%) reported having children. Family 

           size varied between one and 15 children, with 31 witnesses having six children or more. The 

           average family size reported by female witnesses was three children. 



11.22      The Committee were told that in total, 653 witnesses parented 2,158 children. These include 

           both non-biological children raised by some witnesses and biological children who were raised 

           without the witnesses’ support, some of whom were adopted or placed in out-of-home care. 



                  •     Forty three (43) female witnesses reported rearing their children as lone parents. 

                  •    Thirty six (36) female witnesses reported placing children for adoption shortly after 

                        birth. The witnesses reported that 42 of their children were placed for adoption. 

                        Twenty seven (27) of the reported adoptions were of children born to women within 

                        three years of their discharge from the School system. 



                  •     Sixteen (16) children of nine female witnesses were reported to have been placed in 

                        out-of-home care, either with extended family members or in residential or foster 

                        care. 



                  •     Nine (9) female witnesses reported having an unplanned pregnancy between the 

                        ages of 14 and 16 years. 



11.23      Aspects of the parent–child relationship described by 653 male and female witnesses who had 

           children are shown below, in the order of frequency reported: 



            Table 45: Relationship with Own Children – Male and Female Industrial and Reformatory 

                                                              Schools 



            Relationship with children*            Frequency          Frequency         Total witness         % Total 

                                                  reported by         reported by          reports            witness 

                                                      male              female 

                                                   witnesses          witnesses 



            Reported normal                            115                106                221                 34 

            Overprotective                             63                 116                179                 27 

            Unable to show affection                   80                  92                172                 26 

            Harsh                                      73                  52                125                 19 

            Varied between children                    26                  49                 75                 11 

            Abusive                                    24                  17                 41                  6 

            No comment                                 25                  16                 41                  6 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           n = 653 (319 male and 334 female) 



           *Witnesses could give more than one answer 



11.24      Two hundred and twenty one (221) witnesses (34%), 115 male and 106 female, described 

           having ‘normal’ or good relations with their children. Many witnesses described the pleasure 

           they derived from having children of their own and being able to provide them with the love and 

           security they had not received themselves. Relationships between witnesses and their children 

           were described as influenced by their own childhood experiences, which many said left them ill- 

           prepared for the role of being a parent. ‘I worry about them and I’m proud of them but I can’t tell 

           them’. 



                 You forget you have a soft side. It’s good to be soft but I don’t think I showed it enough 

                 to my kids, I regret that now. 



11.25      One hundred and seventy nine (179) witnesses, 63 male and 116 female, described themselves 

           as overprotective of their children to the point that it created difficulties between themselves and 

           their partners as well as with their children. For some witnesses the fear of their children being 

           harmed or getting into trouble and consequently being placed in out-of-home care was difficult 



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----------------------- Page 1558-----------------------

           to tolerate and resulted in excessive vigilance and control. This was described by witnesses as 

           contributing, in some instances, to an authoritarian approach to parenting and to being 

           overprotective. These parent–child relationships were often characterised by overindulgence and 

           separation anxiety. For many female witnesses having their own child was described as a 

           pivotal life experience and as one witness said: ‘gave me something of my own for the first time 

           in my life’. 



11.26      The inability to be affectionate with their children was reported by 172 witnesses (22%), 80 male 

           and 92 female, as a general feature of the parent–child relationships: ‘I can’t cuddle my own 

           kids’. Witnesses reported that having not experienced affection themselves they found it difficult 

           to be physically demonstrative. Sixty five (65) of the witnesses, 29 male and 36 female, who 

           described themselves as harsh or abusive in relation to their children also reported their inability 

           to demonstrate affection as a significant feature of their relationships: 



                 I had no maternal instinct at all. No, I didn’t want them when they were babies. I did 

                 what I had to do, it was my duty.... My ...husband... would bring them up on his knee, 

                 he’d hug them and kiss them. I pushed them away, I wasn’t able to do it. I’d eat the 

                 face off them. I always said to them “you’ll get what I never got”. I done my best for 

                 them I encouraged them all the way. ... I can do it ...(be more affectionate)... with the 

                 grandchildren. 



                                                                   • 



                 I never gave my daughters or my sons a hug. I associate touch with sex, I could not put 

                 my arms around them. I am always wary if I bump into someone. I am always saying 

                 “sorry, sorry, sorry”. ... I feel so dirty, afraid. ... I was very strict with my boys. I’d follow 

                 them anywhere. I was terrified they would end up.... I know they were hurt. I was lucky. 

                 My wife, I can never stop apologising to her, I put her through hell.... She’s like an 

                 anchor. 



                                                                   • 



                 I don’t know how she ...(wife)... put up with me, not being able to relate to my wife and 

                 my children. I can bark orders at them. I bitterly regret that. My wife does the emotional 

                 bit because I am not able to do it, I so regret that. 



11.27      One hundred and twenty five (125) witnesses (19%), 73 male and 52 female, reported 

           themselves as harsh in their treatment of their children, many of whom described carrying a 

           burden of guilt in that regard. Forty one (41) witnesses, 24 male and 17 female, reported 

           abusing their children including episodes of serious harm and neglect to the point where the 

           children were placed in out-of-home care. Some witnesses lost contact with their children in the 

           context of poor relationships in the early years of family life, others were able to overcome the 

           difficulties and reported that relationships with their children improved over time: 



                 They took my kids off me when they were younger because I couldn’t cope, they went 

                 to fostering, I had a breakdown. After a while I got them back.... 



                                                                   • 



                 I was kinda sick parenting them.... My sons didn’t have it easy either, I remember 

                 thinking ...(of ending own life)... and thinking of the 2 boys that I would bring them with 

                 me as well. They got involved in drink and drugs.... One got into treatment ... he’s doing 

                 fine now. 



11.28      Six (6) male witnesses described being physically abusive, which resulted in serious injury to 

           their wives and/or children. A number of witnesses reported a sense of guilt about how they may 

           have contributed to their children’s difficulties resulting, in some instances, in drug abuse and/or 

           early deaths: 



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                I was very hard on my kids. It got so much that my kids ended up hating me. I always 

                had a problem with drinking that was my downfall and my aggression regarding my kids. 

                I had a good wife and she stood by me and my sons and my daughters, I can go to any 

                of them but I can’t live with them. I lost...children through drugs, the drink was my 

                downfall. 



11.29     Five (5) female witnesses reported that their partners had sexually abused their children, two of 

          whom were reported to have received custodial sentences. 



11.30     Seventy five (75) witnesses, 26 male and 49 female, described having variable relationships 

          with their different children, some finding one or other of their children more difficult to relate to 

          and acknowledged being excessively strict as a result. A number of witnesses described being 

          harsh on their older children and being much closer to their younger children. Other witnesses 

          said that the relationships with their children improved as they got older and they were able to 

          talk to them about their own childhood experiences. A large number of both male and female 

          witnesses reported having more affectionate, close and rewarding bonds with their 

          grandchildren than they had with their own children: 



                I would love to have said the word “mum”. ... When my daughter says it and when I 

                hear my grandchildren say it, it’s lovely. ... My joy today is my grandchildren, they’re 

                lovely. 



                                                               • 



                I stopped it ...(hitting children)... because ... I said it is not the right thing to do. When I 

                had my second child I stopped. My first child thinks terrible of me because I hit her. It 

                does affect them too you know. I used have them cleaning all the time, that’s the way I 

                was brought up. I should never have hit them, I feel a lot of guilt in myself for doing this 

                to them. I was a terrible mam, I was. We get on all right now. 



11.31     A number of adult children who accompanied witnesses to hearings described the shock they 

          experienced when they first became aware of the abuse and deprivations their parents endured 

          as children. Some stated that learning about their parents’ childhood experiences helped them 

          to understand and accept the hardship of their own traumatic childhoods with parents who were 

          excessively punitive and critical or unable to show affection. The daughter of a witness attending 

          as a companion reported: 



                My father never spoke to us, you got hit. He’d hit me mammy, he’d hit me, he’d hit my 

                brothers. He was aggressive, he was violent, none of the rest of his family are like this. 

                He has mellowed, he is not like that now, we can talk for hours. The difference with the 

                grandchildren.... He was very good to us material wise, he was a good father that way. 



11.32     Forty one (41) witnesses, 25 male and 16 female, made no comment about their relationship 

          with their children. 



          Occupational status 



11.33     Since their discharge from the School system 509 witnesses (64%), 279 male and 230 female, 

          spent the majority of their working lives in paid employment. Two hundred and fifty (250) of 

          those witnesses (32%), 151 male and 99 female, reported being in paid employment for more 

          than 30 years. A further 90 female witnesses worked full-time in the home caring for their 

          families for 30 years or longer. The following table shows the witnesses’ employment status at 

          the time of their hearing: 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            213 


----------------------- Page 1560-----------------------

            Table 46: Witnesses Employment Status at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Industrial 

                                                   and Reformatory Schools 



             Employment status            Males           %          Females           %            Total           % 

                                                                                                 witnesses 



            Employed                       116            28            148            39           264             33 

            Retired                        106            26            71             19           177             22 

            Disability                     87             21            61             16           148            19 

            Unemployed                     61             15            38             10            99            13 



            Self -employed                 31             8             10             3             41             5 

            Defence Forces                  4             1              0             0              4             1 

            Volunteer                       1              0             3             1              4             1 

            Working at home                 7             2             44             12            51             6 

            Unavailable                     0             (0)            3             1              3            (0) 

            Total                          413          (100)*         378           (100)*         791            100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



11.34      The above information needs to be considered in the context of the witnesses’ age. At the time 

           of their hearing 152 witnesses (19%), 102 male and 50 female, were aged 65 years and over 

           and a further 504 witnesses (64%), 245 male and 259 female, were aged between 50 and 65 

           years. 



11.35      Among the 148 witnesses (19%) who were on disability benefit at the time of their hearing, 27 

           were aged 60 years or older and 45 were on disability benefit for more than 20 years. 



11.36      Female witnesses who were discharged before the mid-1970s reported that their working lives 

           were generally influenced by marriage and parenthood, with 42 of the witnesses who married 

           and had children during that time reporting they did not work outside the home until their 

           children were grown up. Seven (7) male witnesses reported that their partners were the main 

           income earners in the family, a number of those witnesses chose to work at home to avoid the 

           pressure they had previously experienced in the work place. They described this arrangement 

           as providing a feeling of control over their day-to-day circumstances that they could not achieve 

           in open employment situations. 



11.37      Self-employment was reported by witnesses to have been a constructive response to managing 

           authority and a desire for independence. Several male and female witnesses described 

           themselves as ‘workaholics’ some of whom reported building up successful businesses that 

           allowed them to keep busy and take their mind off their traumatic past. Others reported a liking 

           for solitude and self-motivation, which favoured self-employment. 



                 I can’t hold a job, I can’t focus, I can’t work with anyone. I walk off a job when people 

                 start to show authority, I walk away. I struggle. I have had ...(many jobs, now works 

                 alone)... which I find the best I don’t have to answer to anyone. 



                                                                   • 



                 I loved the freedom of being able to do things...(working for self)... and not being 

                 chastised... 



11.38      Many male and female witnesses described the detrimental effects of a poor education on their 

           work lives. Poor literacy, combined with the stigma of having been in a Reformatory or Industrial 

           School, led to many witnesses ‘keeping their heads down’ to avoid criticism or the shame of 

           being ‘found out’ as having been in an institution. They found it difficult to progress beyond 

           unskilled labouring, factory or cleaning work and had poorly provisioned retirements. They 



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           described their working lives as a constant struggle to survive without drawing attention to their 

           perceived shortcomings, both educational and social. 



                 You were put down a lot, if anyone says “where are you from?” Well you have nowhere, 

                 have you? If you say Dublin, then they say “where?” and you just can’t say, it’s that 

                 stigma. I thought people would judge me badly. 



                                                                   • 



                 When I came out ... the lack of education hit me. I was unskilled, I was terrified, I 

                 couldn’t put ...(name of School)... on the form. I couldn’t go back into education 

                 because, what is education? It is beatings. 



                                                                   • 



                 I go haywire when anyone gives me an application form to fill out...I haven’t got the 

                 confidence, I know what my writing is like, I know what my spelling is like... 



                                                                   • 



                 I was in ...named company...for 25 years and they said you’ll have to learn 

                 it...(computer)...I was terrified I would show myself up. I can’t go over the boss and say 

                 “can I have...?”. I can’t go up and approach him. It’s not because of him, it’s because of 

                 me...I’m terrified. Then they...(work colleagues)... say to me “you should go for that”, if 

                 they only knew the truth, I don’t want anyone to know my background...instead of 

                 moving up in work I’ve moved down. I couldn’t say I want more because I’d be afraid. 



11.39      One witness whose life was, like many others, a catalogue of jobs with varying levels of 

           responsibility, always on the move, afraid of being found out as being from an Industrial School 

           and having no family stated: 



                 I had the capacity to find a cosy corner somewhere, settle in and keep to myself and 

                 then the day would come when I would feel comfortable and give my opinion about 

                 something and they would all wonder where that came from, I’d show myself as 

                 someone with a brain. Then I would have to move on again, afraid I’d be discovered 

                 ...(to have been in an Industrial School).... 



                                                                   • 



                 I work nightshift, which suits me grand because they leave me alone, nobody bothers 

                 me. I can just get on with my work, they know I’m a good worker. I always keep busy 

                 myself, that’s how I cope. 



11.40      Table 47 below shows the highest education level attended, but not in all instances completed, 

           by both male and female witnesses: 



                 Table 47: Highest Level of Education Attended – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



               Highest level of           Males           %          Females           %            Total           % 

                  education                                                                      witnesses 



            Primary                        327            79            249            66           576             73 

            Secondary                      52             13            83             22           135             17 

            Third level                    34              8            44             12            78            10 

            No schooling                    0              0             2             1              2            (0) 

            Total                          413           100            378          (100)*         791            100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  215 


----------------------- Page 1562-----------------------

11.41      Two (2) female witnesses reported never having attended any form of classroom education. All 

           other witnesses reported attending class for some period during their childhood, a number of 

           whom reported attending only prior to their admission to the Schools. 



11.42      With little or no preparation for open employment and life outside the institution the initial 

           experience of being discharged was described by the majority of witnesses as a shock. As 

           noted previously, aftercare provision and follow-up, with the exception of job placement, was 

           reported as minimal or non-existent for the majority of witnesses and those who had spent most 

           of their lives in an institution and had no family contact reported severe difficulties adjusting to 

           society when they were discharged. 



                 I found it very difficult moving into a different society, I found it very, very hard. I was 

                 very shy, felt everybody was looking at me.... When I was 16 I got a job in a ... shop. I 

                 could not get used to farthings and 3-halfpence and things like that. They threw me out. 

                 ... I felt all the girls were laughing at me.... I was good for nothing at that stage. 



                                                                   • 



                 Jobs I found very hard. I worked in Dublin for 3 years, the longest job I had. I had to 

                 work to pay my rent, when you’re not living with family...I used to think everybody was 

                 looking at me. I used to get red in the face. Getting a job...(in a public service area)...I 

                 was looking and learning and listening to how people behaved and copying them. I 

                 wasn’t asked questions, I was there on my own...I was in charge...I got confidence. 



11.43      The pattern of emigration from Ireland to the UK seeking employment was a feature of 

           witnesses’ lives in the period, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. At the time of their hearing, 

           290 witnesses (37%) were living in the UK. Casual labour, factory and domestic work were 

           commonly reported employment options in the lives of witnesses discharged up to mid-1970s 

           both in Ireland and the UK. The following table shows the occupational status of witnesses on 

           the basis of their main form of employment, as reported at the time of their hearing: 



                   Table 48: Occupational Status of Witnesses – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



             Occupational status         Males            %          Females           %           Total            % 

                                                                                                 witnesses 



            Semi-skilled or                298            72            262            69           560            71 

            unskilled 

            Non-manual                     29             7             56             15            85            11 

            Skilled manual                 63             15            19             5             82            10 

            Professional                    7             2             22             6             29             4 

            Managerial/technical            16            4              9             2             25             3 

            Unavailable                     0             0             10             3             10             1 

            Total                          413           100           378            100           791            100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



11.44      One hundred and seventy (170) of the 791 male and female witnesses (21%) reported being 

           placed directly into live-in jobs, including with farmers, shopkeepers, hotels, hospitals, and 

           members of religious orders, when they were discharged from the School system. Many of 

           those witnesses described being paid a minimal rate, sometimes not regularly or at all and were 

           allowed little more freedom than they had in the School system. The employment placements 

           were generally either in the vicinity of the institution from which they had been discharged or in 

           Dublin. As reported previously, 27 witnesses reported being physically and sexually abused by 

           their employers and by others in the context of their work setting in the years immediately 

           following their discharge. In several instances the abuse was described as continuing over a 



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----------------------- Page 1563-----------------------

          long period of time. The witnesses routinely reported that they felt powerless to protect 

          themselves and stop the abuse. 



11.45     Thirty eight (38) male witnesses reported being sent to work for farmers when they were 

          discharged from a School. Thirteen (13) male witnesses reported being treated as family 

          members and although they worked hard were happy to do so in exchange for the kindness 

          they experienced. At the time of the hearings four witnesses were still living, or in regular 

          contact, with the family they had been sent to many years previously. Less positive accounts 

          were also heard of witnesses being ‘treated like slaves’, made to sleep in out-houses, eat meals 

          separately from the employer’s family, sometimes outside the house, and were expected to 

          wash in the yard or out-houses. Witnesses who had spent many years in an institution reported 

          the experience of living and working with a family as alien and that they did not know how to 

          behave or understand what was expected of them. A number reported that they worked hard 

          but did not have an aptitude for farm work; others enjoyed the work to which they had become 

          accustomed while in the Schools. 



11.46     Twenty nine (29) male witnesses reported being placed by the School in trades; for seven of the 

          witnesses these work placements developed into ongoing careers. The jobs were reported to 

          draw on the trade skills acquired in the Industrial School. Tailoring was the most frequently 

          reported trade, with 15 witness reports of being placed in jobs in the clothing industry. Nine (9) 

          witnesses reported being placed in the shoemaking industry; five others reported being sent to 

          work as bakers and carpenters. 



11.47     Nine (9) male witnesses reported making careers in the music industry following their 

          experience in the School bands. Some of the witnesses became professional musicians; others 

          were music teachers or involved in related careers. Music was reported to be an important part 

          of the lives of most of those witnesses and an acknowledged positive outcome of their 

          experience in the institution. 



                I done a bit of music and a bit of folk singing in sessions, there was a lot of drink around 

                too, then I done drugs. I overdosed...Then things came right, my head got clear and 

                things came right in the music. 



11.48     Seventy one (71) male witnesses joined either the Irish Defence Forces or overseas armies at 

          some time during their life. Many witnesses described the Army as providing security, shelter 

          and a structured regime in addition to career opportunities and the possibility of travel. Twenty- 

          two (22) male witnesses had substantial and positive careers in the Army, 10 of whom spent the 

          majority of their working lives there. 



                The Army was another way, a lot of the lads joined the Army. It was the same 

                as...named School...but you got paid for it. You had the rules and regulations, you had 

                punishment but you got paid. 



11.49     Sixty one (61) male witnesses were unemployed at the time of their hearing, 46 of whom had 

          been unemployed for more than 20 years. 



11.50     One hundred and three (103) female witnesses (27%) reported being sent to work for families or 

          religious congregations on a live-in basis when they were discharged from the Schools. Forty six 

          (46) of these witnesses reported being placed in these positions without any prior discussion. As 

          with the male witnesses, female witnesses had routinely never met their new ‘employer’ before 

          the day they were collected, sent or brought to their new place of employment. Witnesses who 

          were sent to work for religious congregations became live-in housekeepers or cleaners in 

          hospitals, Schools, boarding schools, presbyteries, nursing homes and laundries. The majority 

          of witnesses reported that these work placements were like an extension of their experience in 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                        217 


----------------------- Page 1564-----------------------

          the Schools, with less abuse. The accounts of such placements were varied. Approximately a 

          third of the witness reports were positive in that the families, nuns and clergy employing them 

          were kind and treated the witnesses well. A number of witnesses reported that their employers 

          encouraged them to socialise and, over time, helped them to pursue further education or 

          training, for example doing commercial courses or nursing training. Fifteen (15) female 

          witnesses reported maintaining contact with these initial employers up to the present day. 



11.51     Another 163 female witnesses (43%) reported that following their discharge they found 

          themselves jobs in domestic situations for the first couple of years. At least half of the female 

          witnesses who were employed in domestic service in the early years after their discharge 

          remained in similar occupations for the rest of their working lives, either on a live-in basis as 

          priest’s housekeepers, hospital domestics, nannies and housekeepers or as cooks, cleaners, 

          laundry workers, seamstresses and care attendants. Many witnesses stated that they were 

          trained primarily to clean and, as a result, have been much in demand as housekeepers and 

          cleaners. 



11.52     Female witnesses discharged since the 1970s increasingly reported being placed in clerical and 

          other positions, for which some had received secretarial training in the School. Thirty two (32) 

          female witnesses reported having trained as nurses, mainly in the UK. Those female witnesses 

          who were not initially employed in domestic or clerical occupations reported being occupied in a 

          variety of areas including a number who returned home and assisted their mothers in caring for 

          younger brothers and sisters. 



11.53     One hundred and ninety six (196) witnesses, 102 female and 94 male, described chaotic work 

          lives; many were periodically employed but were unable to stay in the same job for long. The 

          majority of the female witnesses who were casually employed reported working as 

          housekeepers, waitresses, cleaners and factory workers, while the male witnesses in this 

          category worked as construction workers, farm labourers, taxi drivers and factory workers. All 

          cited their lack of education and poor literacy skills as impediments to a more stable work life. 



11.54     Male and female witnesses also described the difficulty they experienced getting on with work 

          colleagues and dealing with work place authority. Male witnesses reported that the lack of 

          education, the effects of alcohol abuse, aggressive behaviour, lack of trust and poor self-esteem 

          had a negative influence on their work lives. Female witnesses frequently reported that in 

          addition to their lack of education, a fear of authority and of making mistakes led them to avoid 

          positions of responsibility in the work place and deterred them from seeking promotion; a 

          number of male witnesses also reported this experience. Many male and female witnesses said 

          that their experiences in the School system left them with a tendency to be excessively anxious 

          and suspicious, creating subsequent difficulties in both their work and home lives. 



                When I started work it was tough. If someone came in to the restroom I would run in to 

                the loo and lock myself in, I was terrified in case they spoke to me....I feel so stupid at 

                work,...they do...(record)... minutes and everybody takes turns...I was going to say to 

                them “I’m not good at that” but I thought they’d ask “why?” 



                                                            • 



                If anyone annoys me I start a row. I have to be on my own, I can’t get on with people. I 

                have done every job under the sun. I’ve worked hard but move a lot. It’s hard to trust 

                anyone and I was unpredictable. 



                                                            • 



                In England I would love to have been on the buses ...(working on the buses).... But, I 

                couldn’t fill in forms.... Even when you went out with a boyfriend you thought you 

                weren’t good enough for him, you weren’t good enough for anyone really. You were with 

                friends but they were better than you. ... The girls that you were with you’d always be 



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----------------------- Page 1565-----------------------

                afraid you’d let something slip, in case they’d say “oh she came from ...named 

                School...”. But in England there was no one watching you, no one knows anything about 

                me. ...(I was)... always told by nuns “you are the rubbish of Ireland”. ... In England 

                nobody knows me.... 



11.55     Thirty one (31) male and female witnesses reported being unable to sustain regular employment 

          as a result of serious mental health difficulties. 



11.56     It is of note that 56 female witnesses were in non-manual occupations compared with 29 male 

          witnesses. Twenty two (22) female witnesses and seven male witnesses reported having 

          completed university degrees as mature students and were in different professional occupations. 

          Twenty five (25) witnesses, 16 male and nine female, were employed in senior managerial or 

          skilled technical occupations for which they had received specialised training. 



                I left here... (Ireland)... because of...(discrimination)...I was frustrated with Ireland. I said 

                “to hell with this, I’m getting out of this country”. I went to ...(university abroad)... I have 

                never been unemployed... I put Ireland behind. 



11.57     Eleven (11) witnesses, six male and five female, reported that they joined religious communities 

          when they were discharged from the Schools. The majority of these witnesses reported they left 

          the communities before completing their training. 



11.58     Reports of long-term unemployment among male witnesses were associated with reports of time 

          spent in prison. Fifty nine (59) male witnesses (14%) reported having spent time in prison in 

          either Ireland or the UK, and a number in both jurisdictions, since their discharge from the 

          School system. In most instances the first period of detention was within five years of being 

          discharged, and this experience established a pattern followed for life for many of the witnesses. 

          Larceny, public order offences, serious assault, grievous harm and other criminal offences were 

          reasons given by a number of witnesses for their prison sentence. Three (3) male witnesses 

          reported being charged with the sexual abuse of minors. 



          Accommodation 



11.59     Most of the 413 male and 378 female witnesses reported stable current accommodation 

          arrangements and almost half the witnesses reported owning their own home. Many witnesses 

          described the importance of having a home to call their own and described the sense of security 

          they felt on achieving this. 



                I had to work to buy my house, my house comes before everything, that’s mine, no-one 

                will take it off me...I will work all the hours until my mortgage is paid. That’s what I 

                learned in ...named School.... What I have is mine...I had no home for so long, I had 

                nothing..., I worked a good bit of overtime to buy a house...I have my privacy and I have 

                my independence, no-one will take that off me. 



11.60     The accommodation circumstances reported by witnesses at the time of the hearing are shown 

          in Table 49 below: 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            219 


----------------------- Page 1566-----------------------

            Table 49: Accommodation of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Industrial 

                                                   and Reformatory Schools 



               Accommodation             Males            %          Females           %           Total            % 

                                                                                                 witnesses 



            Owner occupiers                163            39            184            49           347             44 

            Local authority/council        153            37            135            36           288            36 

            housing 

            Private rented                 41             10            31             8             72             9 

            accommodation 

            With relatives                  18            4              4             1             22             3 

            Sheltered housing               14            3              5             1             19             2 

            With friends                    7             2              6             2             13             2 

            Hostel                          3             1              2             1              5             1 

            Institution                     4             1              0             0              4             1 

            Information not                 10            2             11             3             21             3 

            available 

            Total                          413           100           378           (100)*         791          (100)* 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



11.61      Accommodation referred to as sheltered housing included group homes and supported facilities 

           in the community provided by social and mental health services. Accommodation described as 

           institutional included psychiatric hospitals and prisons. 



11.62      Homelessness was a reported feature in the earlier years following discharge of 22 of the male 

           witnesses and 40 of the female witnesses who spoke to the Committee. A small number of male 

           witnesses reported ongoing periodic homelessness in recent years. 



                 I slept in down and out places where it was really cheap. ... I was thinking would I come 

                 back ...(to Ireland)... but you can’t come back, you know nobody. I slept rough because 

                 I had nowhere to stay, I used to sleep in the park. I met ...named ex co-resident.... I got 

                 a job in ...named establishment... where all the boys used go. But, I had nowhere to 

                 stay and I used to be standing up nearly falling asleep during work. I got a place in 

                 ...named city... but we ...(former co-residents)... got thrown out of that because we 

                 couldn’t pay. I then got a job as a labourer, it was a job, it was just there, nobody asked 

                 questions, you didn’t have to fill a form up or anything. I was there for 12 years. ... I felt 

                 ashamed, I didn’t want people to know who I was. 



           Health 



11.63      Male and female witnesses provided information about their current physical and mental health 

           status and wellbeing, either directly or in the context of discussing their adult life circumstances. 

           Many witnesses reported multiple health concerns, currently and in the past. For the purposes 

           of writing this Report, witnesses’ health status was categorised as good, reasonable and poor 

           based on the information witnesses provided either directly or indirectly about their past and 

           current health history in the course of their hearings. 



           Physical health 



11.64      The following table outlines the physical health status described by male and female witnesses 

           at the time of their hearing: 



           220                                                           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1567-----------------------

            Table 50: Current Physical Health Status – Male and Female Industrial and Reformatory 

                                                              Schools 



                Physical health          Males            %         Females           %            Total           % 

                     status                                                                     witnesses 



            Good                           163            39           131            35            294            37 

            Reasonable                     148            36           170            45            318            40 

            Poor                           101            24            77            20            178            23 

            Unavailable                     1            (0)            0              0             1             (0) 

            Total                         413          (100)*          378           100            791           100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



11.65      The information provided by 294 witnesses (37%), 163 male and 131 female, indicated that they 

           enjoyed a good level of physical health and well-being, notwithstanding the fact that they may 

           have some health problems currently or in the past. Three hundred and eighteen (318) 

           witnesses (40%), 148 male and 170 female, described having reasonable physical health. The 

           most common feature of this group of witnesses was that they reported having physical health 

           problems either currently or in the past, which continued to have an impact on their lives. They 

           generally regarded their physical health problems as being manageable and often age-related. 

           There were 178 witnesses (23%), 101 male and 77 female, who gave a history of poor physical 

           health. The fact that poor health was reported by 25% of male witnesses compared with 20% of 

           female witnesses may be in part related to the older age profile of the male witnesses. 



11.66      The most frequently reported physical health complaints for both male and female witnesses 

           were cardio-vascular problems such as heart disease, angina and hypertension. One hundred 

           and forty (140) witnesses (18%), 76 male and 64 female, reported various combinations of 

           these conditions including a number who had suffered strokes or had heart surgery. Eighty nine 

           (89) witnesses, 45 male and 44 female, described having gastric conditions including ulcers and 

           gall bladder problems in addition to kidney and liver disorders. Seventy four (74) witnesses, 49 

           male and 25 female, reported respiratory problems of various kinds including asthma, 

           emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Sixty seven (67) witnesses, 31 male and 36 female, 

           reported suffering with different forms of arthritis and rheumatism all of which negatively affected 

           their mobility and sense of well-being. 



11.67      Certain health problems were more frequently reported by either male or female witnesses; for 

           example 17 male witnesses, compared with three female witnesses, reported that their health 

           problems were directly linked to their alcohol abuse. Thirteen (13) female witnesses reported 

           having had hysterectomies and 10 also reported having osteoporosis. Eleven (11) male 

           witnesses reported having hip, knee or other joint replacements and operations compared with 

           four female witnesses. Twenty three (23) witnesses, eight male and 15 female, reported being 

           diagnosed and treated for cancer. Twenty two (22) male witnesses reported being treated for 

           diabetes and gout, compared with seven reports by female witnesses of treatment for diabetes. 

           Eleven (11) witnesses, five male and six female, reported being treated for tuberculosis as 

           adults. 



11.68      Three (3) male witnesses reported being HIV positive and a further three male witnesses 

           reported having hepatitis. 



11.69      Finally, the Committee heard 60 reports of multiple health problems from female witnesses 

           compared with 47 similar reports from male witnesses and male witnesses generally reported 

           being less inclined to seek medical advice than female witnesses. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                 221 


----------------------- Page 1568-----------------------

           Mental health 



11.70      The following table provides an overview of the mental health status of the witnesses as 

           described by them, either directly or indirectly, in the course of their hearings. Good mental 

           health was less frequently reported than good physical health: 



              Table 51: Current Mental Health Status – Male and Female Industrial and Reformatory 

                                                              Schools 



             Mental health status         Males           %          Females           %            Total           % 

                                                                                                 witnesses 



            Good                           117            28            74             20           191             24 

            Reasonable                     183            44            181            48           364             46 

            Poor                           112            27            123            33           235             30 

            Unavailable                     1             (0)            0             0              1            (0) 

            Total                          413          (100)*         378           (100)*         791            100 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Some rounding up/down was applied 



11.71      One hundred and ninety one (191) witnesses (24%), 117 male and 74 female, described good 

           mental health and well-being. These witnesses reported being reasonably happy and did not 

           feel that their personal or social relationships were markedly affected by emotional or 

           psychological difficulties. There was a notably larger proportion of male than female witnesses 

           who reported good mental health, 28% compared with 20%. 



11.72      Poor mental health was indicated by a constellation of current and debilitating mental health 

           concerns including suicidal thoughts and attempts, depression, alcohol and substance abuse, 

           eating disorders and treatments including psychiatric admission, medication and counselling. 

           One witness gave the following description of the enduring effects of his childhood abuse; 



                 I used to sleep rough and I’d have to ask a garage “Can I clean your cars?” I tried to get 

                 back my dignity that I lost, I can’t get it back. They broke me, they did...the problem is 

                 still there when you wake up. I’m on tablets for the best part of my life, I’m in and out of 

                 hospitals, I took overdoses, I tried to hang myself. All the pressure builds up. I’m kinda 

                 seeing psychiatrists all my life. Doctor...named psychiatrist...is very good, I talk to her. 

                 Counselling was very disturbing for me. I couldn’t take any more of it ...I should not 

                 have been on medication all my life. There’s times I sat in my bedroom for 2 to 3 days 

                 without coming out. 



11.73      Substance abuse was reported by 22 witnesses, 12 male and 10 female, who reported poor 

           mental health and 10 other witnesses of this group, four male and six female, reported ongoing 

           eating disorders. 



11.74      Witnesses described as having reasonable mental health were differentiated from those who 

           were described as having poor mental health by the degree to which they reported their lives to 

           be currently affected by depression, alcohol and substance abuse. Many remarked that 

           memories of past trauma were not easily forgotten and that they abused alcohol at times in their 

           attempts to cope with painful memories and intrusive thoughts. A number of witnesses reported 

           being assisted by mental health and other support services during stressful periods of their lives. 

           Mental health indicators are shown in the following table: 



           222                                                           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1569-----------------------

                 Table 52: Mental Health Indicators in Adult Life – Male and Female Industrial and 

                                                       Reformatory Schools 



                 Mental health           Reports           %          Reports           %            Total            % 

                   indicators*           by male                     by female                      witness 

                                        witnesses                    witnesses                      reports 



            Psychiatric admission           86             21             84            22            170            21 

            Suicidal thoughts &             197            48            210            56            407            51 

            attempts 

            Counselling required            204            49            217            57            421            53 

            Alcohol abuse                   217            53            90             24            307            39 

            Substance abuse                 59             14            31              8             90            11 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Witnesses could report more than one mental health indicator 



           Alcohol, substance abuse and self-harm 



11.75      Alcohol abuse was reported to be a dominant feature in the lives of 307 witnesses (39%), 217 

           male and 90 female. One hundred and thirty eight (138) of those witnesses reported a history of 

           alcohol abuse combined with suicidal thoughts and attempts. Of the 86 male witnesses who 

           reported having been admitted to psychiatric hospitals for treatment, 63 also reported a history 

           of alcohol abuse. There were 84 female witnesses who reported having been admitted to 

           psychiatric hospitals for treatment, 35 of whom reported a history of alcohol abuse. 



                 By 17 or 18 I was an alcoholic. It ...(alcohol)... blocked it off for me, the orphanage 

                  ...(Industrial School).... I’ve had 5 operations on my arm and the doctors say it is muscle 

                  damage from the beatings, the one with a brush. I have 5 scars ...(scars on arm shown 

                 to Commissioners).... I have been in mental hospitals and tried to kill myself. The 

                 psychiatrist asked me what am I keeping in my head? I said “I can’t tell, you wouldn’t 

                 believe it”. You would be afraid to tell, the fear is still there. I am now in counselling and 

                 it took me an awful long time to say it ...(to describe abuse)..., a long time. 



                                                                    • 



                  I went to England, I think I was about 34, not working, just drifting. I had a job on 

                 building sites but lost that through the drinking. I went to a lot of places for the drink, 

                  drying out, I’m still attending group therapy. I’m not working at all, I’m on disability 

                 because of health problems. I just drink away the day...The doctor says it has to do with 

                  what happened...(childhood abuse). 



11.76      Substance abuse was a less common feature, with 90 witnesses (11%), 59 male and 31 female, 

           reporting that either they were using or had used illegal substances or abused over-the-counter 

           or prescription medication. Reports of substance abuse, both legal and illegal, were strongly 

           associated with reports of alcohol abuse, in 47 instances for male witnesses and 22 instances 

           among female witnesses. 



11.77      Four hundred and seven (407) witnesses (51%) spoke about their own suicidal thoughts and/or 

           attempts and the death by suicide of their friends and siblings. Forty three (43) of the 407 

           witnesses who reported a history of suicidal thoughts also reported having made one or more 

           suicide attempts. ‘I tried to commit suicide a few times ... terrible depressed, no one knows 

           about it.’ A further five witnesses, three male and two female, reported episodes of ongoing self- 

           harm. One witness stated that 17 of the 39 co-residents in his class photograph had committed 

           suicide over the years since they were discharged. Many others said they were prompted to 

           speak to the Committee on behalf of a sibling or friend who had died by suicide and who shared 

           the witnesses’ childhood experience of abuse in institutions. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                    223 


----------------------- Page 1570-----------------------

          Impairments 



11.78     Fifty one (51) witnesses, 29 male and 22 female, who gave evidence of abuse in Schools 

          reported having disabilities that affected their overall health and impaired their functioning as 

          follows: 



                 •   Thirty one (31) witnesses, 15 male and 16 female, were hearing impaired. 

                 •   Twelve (12) witnesses, seven male and five female, were physically impaired. 

                 •   Nine (9) witnesses, six male and three female, were visually impaired. 



11.79     Many of the witnesses with impairments stated that their respective difficulties were the result of 

          either illnesses or injuries in childhood that were neglected while residents in the Schools. 

          Reported physical impairments included partial limb amputation, kidney damage and back 

          injuries that, in one instance, necessitated the use of a wheelchair. Seven witnesses presented 

          medical reports at their hearing that suggested their physical impairments were the result of 

          childhood trauma. Other witnesses gave accounts of receiving medical treatments since they 

          were discharged, including surgery, for conditions that they believed were associated with 

          childhood abuse. 



                I was an outcast because I couldn’t read or write, I couldn’t read because I couldn’t see 

                the blackboard. I was always put back to the back of the class. I could never understand 

                why they did not pick up that I had very bad sight. When I went to ...named city... I 

                asked for my eyes to be tested I went to the eye and ear hospital... and the doctor said 

                to me “where were you until now?” and I told him and he said “they have an awful lot to 

                answer for”. 



                                                             • 



                I have discovered ... from the files, from a year old the ear was weeping ... no 

                treatment. I have a perforated eardrum. When I was an adult it started weeping. They 

                brought me into hospital and they have tried to dry it up, they brought me down to 

                theatre but the doctor said the wall is broken down and surgery could cause more 

                damage. It is constantly at me. ... It drives me scatty ... things annoy me. I don’t know 

                where that came from, whether it is from being slapped all the time. 



          Effects on adult life 



11.80     Most witnesses reported life-long negative effects and damaging physical, psychological, and 

          social consequences of childhood abuse in Schools. The legacy of alcohol abuse, depression, 

          physical and verbal aggression, anger, lack of trust, and social isolation was evident in the 

          accounts provided by many witnesses about their adult lives. 



11.81     The negative effects reported are not mutually exclusive and were not prioritised by witnesses, 

          who could report more than one effect. Table 53 lists the difficulties experienced by the 413 

          male and 378 female witnesses in their adult lives, in order of frequency reported. 



          224                                                     CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1571-----------------------

              Table 53: Reported Effects on Adult Life – Male and Female Witnesses Industrial and 

                                                      Reformatory Schools 



                               Male witnesses                                         Female witnesses 



            Effects on adult life*      Number of      % of male     Effects on adult life*     Number of         % of 

                                         reports       witnesses                                  reports        female 

                                                                                                               witnesses 



            Lack of trust                    233            56       Lack of self-worth              250            66 



            Loner                            224            54       Lack of trust                   242            64 



            Alcohol abuse                    213            52       Counselling required            217            57 



            Anger                            207            50      Suicidal feelings or             210            56 

                                                                    attempt 



            Counselling required             191            46      Abuse not easily                 180            48 

                                                                    forgotten 



            Lack of self-worth               157            38      Anxious and fearful              172            46 



            Abuse not easily                 155            38       Feeling isolated                171            45 

            forgotten 



            Depression                       152            37       Loner                           159            42 



            Suicidal feelings or             151            37       Depression                      140            37 

            attempt 



            Feeling isolated                 145            35      Anger                            136            36 



            Aggressive behaviour             126            31       Feeling different to            135            36 

            – Physical                                              others 



            Nightmares                       121            29       Nightmares                      121            32 



            Aggressive behaviour             116            28      Tearfulness                      120            32 

            – Verbal 



            Withdrawal                       116            28      Withdrawal                       118            31 



            Unable to show                   107            26       Overprotective of               117            31 

            feelings to partner                                     children 



            Feeling different to             102            25       Post-traumatic effect           116            31 

            others 



            Unable to settle                 102            25      Sleep disturbance                101            27 



            Post-traumatic effect           93              23       Unable to show                  92             24 

                                                                    feelings to children 



            Sleep disturbance               84              20      Alcohol abuse                    90             24 



            Unable to show                  83              20       Feelings related to             81             21 

            feelings to children                                     being a victim 



            Feelings related to             75              18       Unable to show                  75             20 

            being a victim                                          feelings to partner 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           n = 413 men and 378 women 



           *Witnesses could report more than one effect. Answers under 18% not shown 



11.82      The majority of witnesses reported multiple effects, as Table 53 indicates. A high percentage of 

           both male (56%) and female (64%) witnesses reported being unable to trust others. There were 

           some gender differences between the negative effects most frequently reported. For instance 

           50% or more male witnesses reported abusing alcohol, feeling angry, and being a loner. By 

           contrast 56% or more female witnesses reported experiencing lack of self-worth and 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  225 


----------------------- Page 1572-----------------------

           contemplating or attempting suicide and 24% reported abusing alcohol. In addition to the above- 

           mentioned negative effects on their health and personality, 408 witnesses (52%) reported that 

           they attended counselling either currently or in the past, and many commented on the beneficial 

           effects they had experienced. A large number of these witnesses reported attending counselling 

           through the National Counselling Service, which was established by the Government in 2000. 

           The service was committed to working with adults who had been abused as children in Irish 

           institutions. 



                 I won’t even go into the house some days. I was a right bastard ...(as a husband).... 

                 She’d ...(witness’s spouse)... find me facing the wall, she’d wake up in the morning and 

                 find me standing facing the wall ...crying.... It’s smashing to talk about it and the 

                 counselling is free. 



                                                                  • 



                 I’ve had a stable life, but male pride stops me from saying I’m depressed. I get down, 

                 am a loner, don’t mix, have been on the drink in the past, but counselling has helped. 



                                                                  • 



                 You can knock the walls down but can’t ease it from ...distressed.... I carried it in the pit 

                 of my stomach all my life. 



11.83      Three hundred and twenty seven (327) witnesses (41%) gave evidence that the memories of 

           the abuse they experienced remain with them to the present day. 



                 I wish I could get rid of all this, it’s in my head all the time. I used to have terrible 

                 nightmares, the only one I could see was this nun who used to hit me all the time. I did 

                 take an overdose, I did try to end my life. I was very confused. I never knew who I was. 



                                                                  • 



                 He ...(Br X)... haunts me, I can smell him, I can see his gait ... not a week goes by, but I 

                 think of him. 



                                                                  • 



                 The sexual abuse ... that’s irreversible. It’s the sexual behaviour that separates me from 

                 my family. I can’t work, I can’t go out, I’m nothing. Every day I want to kill myself. 



                                                                  • 



                 I was not able to go to ...(children’s)... parent-teacher meeting because I didn’t feel I 

                 could talk ...crying.... I didn’t think I was able to speak like another ...(parent).... I wasn’t 

                 like another because of the way I was reared. I often cried when they were at school 

                 and he ...(husband)... at work.... I was afraid that if I told people, I was afraid I’d be 

                 locked up. I was afraid they would send me away. I always feel sad. 



                                                                  • 



                 The other thing is, not being able to read and write was my downfall.... I didn’t tell my 

                 family until about 2 years ago. ... It can be very lonely ... even at Christmas time with 

                 my family there. I get lonely like remembering all the times I was on my own. I do have 

                 to go out for walks, I have to be on my own. 



                                                                  • 



                 Thinking about it after I often wondered had we a right to complain, but we had no one 

                 to complain to. 



                                                                  • 



                 Loss is the most significant word in my life. I lost my mother ... my childhood, my 

                 education and nothing will ever get them back. 



           226                                                          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1573-----------------------

11.84      Two hundred and nine (209) witnesses (26%) reported suffering from the effects of trauma and 

           described themselves as constantly vigilant and anxious, having disrupted sleep and nightmares 

           with little respite. 



                  I was going to take my own life, one of the other girls did, she took her own life. You are 

                 suspicious ... all the time, it’s always there, it will be there ’til the day I die.... You can’t 

                 put the clock back.... I’d like to have a childhood but I never knew what a childhood 

                  was.... That will be a nightmare ’til the day I die, I will bring that to the grave with me. 



                                                                    • 



                  I hate anyone standing behind me, I still feel as if someone is going to go for me 

                 because I was beaten around the head a lot. 



                                                                    • 



                  I was terrified with the beating I got. My ould mind went a bit that day I’d say. To me, I 

                  was never the same young fellow after that, I wasn’t the same young fella that went 

                 home. I wasn’t mental but when I went home I’d be looking under the bed and like that. 

                  I couldn’t be happy for years and years. I was squeamish and frightened everywhere I 

                  went. 



11.85      One hundred and eight two (182) witnesses (23%) described themselves as having difficulty 

           expressing affection or emotion to their partner and 175 witnesses (22%) stated that they had 

           difficulty showing feelings to their children. 



11.86      There were distinct differences between the reports of male and female witnesses regarding 

           aggressive behaviour. One hundred and twenty six (126) male witnesses (31%) reported being 

           physically aggressive compared with 30 female witnesses (8%) who reported being physically 

           aggressive to others. 



                  I can be very aggressive, my children seen it, I should never have been a father. I can’t 

                 hug or show affection or anything. 



                                                                    • 



                  I used to smack them ...(own children)... as kids, thinking it was the right thing to do, we 

                  were beaten all the time. I was bringing my kids up the way I was brought up. I was hit 

                 all the time. 



11.87      Two hundred and thirty four (234) witnesses (30%) described themselves as withdrawn and also 

           stated that they had difficulty relating socially and felt different to others. Many described feeling 

           isolated, frequently moving home, and feeling generally disconnected. 



                  You had to survive on your own, always on your own.There was nobody to back you up. 

                  It’s been like that and I will die like that because I can’t change what happened. I can’t 

                  change my personality and the way I am. It’s been like somebody put you in a prison 

                 and you are expected to change when you come out. Unless there are services there to 

                 help you, and there’s nothing, you are not going to change. You are still going to have 

                  the mentality of being a loner and keeping people at a distance and being very anti- 

                  establishment. 



                                                                    • 



                  I never had the equipment to survive any type of close relationship. I never had the 

                 ability to survive any close relationship, I couldn’t give enough of myself. 



11.88      Two hundred and forty two (242) witnesses (31%) reported experiencing nightmares and 

           associated sleep disturbance. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                    227 


----------------------- Page 1574-----------------------

                It stays with you, it sticks in my mind. You still have the nightmares, they still go on, 

                they haven’t left me yet, I still wake up in the middle of the night.... You went to bed at 

                night you couldn’t move or couldn’t breathe ...(not knowing when)... you would be hit 

                with the hand brush. 



11.89     Sixty seven (67) witnesses, 42 male and 25 female, reported problems with substance abuse. 

          Thirty nine (39) witnesses, 10 male and 29 female, reported having eating disorders. 



11.90     There were a range of other adverse effects reported in smaller numbers, by both male and 

          female witnesses. For example, between 75 and 150 male and female witnesses reported 

          significant difficulties with parenting, sexual relationships, and feelings of being powerless and 

          disadvantaged. 



                When I went home I couldn’t communicate with anyone. I couldn’t sit at the table with 

                the family. I used to eat with the chickens out the back, I did not know how to get on 

                with people, I didn’t know what to do.... I only knew beatings. I went off to England, they 

                told me they didn’t want me either, never to come back. I ended up inside ...(in prison)... 

                many times, and tried to hang myself. 



11.91     A small number of witnesses, both male and female, reported having difficulties as adults 

          establishing their personal and family identity. The evidence reported to the Committee included 

          accounts of having no official record of their birth place or birth certificate, names on birth 

          certificates were found to have been changed by School staff, and requests for clarification of 

          personal and family identity were withheld by religious and State authorities. The witnesses 

          presented correspondence at their hearing that they reported having obtained under the 

          Freedom of Information legislation in relation to these matters. Witnesses reported that they 

          experienced difficulties when applying for passports or pensions in later life and when seeking to 

          trace their parents or family of origin. 



                I had been searching for her ...(mother)... and searching for her, it was my one wish in 

                life to find her. I have done so much trying to search for my family. I had been trying to 

                trace her, that was the sad part ... there was a brick wall every time. I have no 

                certificate, this is what really got me. 



11.92     A small number of witnesses described being contacted by representatives of the Schools or 

          religious organisations by telephone, personal visits, and through arranged meetings in recent 

          years. Some witnesses reported feeling threatened and intimidated by such contact that they 

          described as being for the purpose of character references for forthcoming court proceedings, 

          offers of compensation and apologies for past abuse. One male witness described a chance 

          encounter in the following account: 



                I met Br ...X.... I saw this man and he said “I know you”, he said “I remember you, you 

                were a Mass server, you were quite good in school”, and he said “I gave you a terrible 

                time in school. I am so sorry, I gave you an awful time and I’m sorry for all the times I 

                hit you, I beat you around the place”. ...distressed and crying... I could have killed him, I 

                felt like killing him, he said “I am so sorry. If it’s any consolation to you, I am sorry for 

                what the School done”. I said nothing to him. 



11.93     Thirty eight (38) witnesses, 28 male and 10 female, described being thankful for the good lives 

          they have now. Nineteen (19) witnesses, 15 male and four female, reported they experienced 

          no long-term negative effects as a result of their childhood experiences in Schools. Many of 

          these witnesses described their good fortune to have met people who helped them when they 

          left the Schools. Others described the abuse they experienced as an isolated component of their 

          time in institutional care, aspects of which had been positive. 



          228                                                       CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1575-----------------------

          Religion now practised 



 11.94    Two hundred and ninety three (293) witnesses (37%), 156 male and 137 female, stated that 

          they are practising Catholics and 11 others are practising members of different religious 

          denominations. 



 11.95    Many witnesses described themselves as ‘lapsed Catholics’ who had disengaged from the 

          Church, but whose belief in God was unchanged. Witnesses described the continuing anxiety 

          associated with encountering members of religious congregations. ‘I cannot serve a nun now 

          where I work they ...(colleagues)... call it “nun alert”.’ Others reported they avoided entering 

          buildings associated with religious congregations, such as churches and schools, for fear of 

          reactivating memories of their abusive experiences. 



 11.96    One hundred and twenty (120) witnesses (15%), 62 male and 58 female, described themselves 

          as having completely rejected the idea of religion. Sixty three (63) witnesses did not comment 

          on their religious practise. 



 11.97    The following chapters present the evidence of 259 witnesses who reported abuse in ‘Other 

          Institutions’ including 36 witnesses who also reported abuse in Industrial and Reformatory 

          Schools. 



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                                 Part 2 



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           Chapter 12 



           Introduction to Part 2 



12.01      The following six chapters contain evidence given by 259 witnesses to the Confidential 

           Committee in relation to experiences of childhood abuse in a range of day and residential 

           institutions and services. The Acts identified a number of settings and services that children 

           attended, or in which they received out-of-home care. For the purpose of the work of the 

           Commission and its Committees the Acts defined an institution as: 



                 a school, an industrial school, a reformatory school, an orphanage, a hospital, a 

                 children’s home and any other place where children are cared for other than as 

                 members of their families.1 



12.02      Accordingly, in addition to Industrial and Reformatory Schools, witnesses applied to give 

           evidence of their abuse in Children’s Homes, hospitals, primary and second-level schools, foster 

           care, services for children with special needs, and other residential facilities for young people. 

           The evidence related to abuse experienced when the witness was less than 18 years of age. 



12.03      The Industrial and Reformatory Schools were all funded by the Department of Education and 

           managed by religious Congregations and Orders. The 161 services, schools, hospitals and other 

           facilities reported in the following chapters were funded and managed by various statutory, 

           private and voluntary agencies. These agencies included the Departments of Education and 

           Health, religious Congregations and Orders. 



12.04      Two hundred and fifty nine (259) witnesses made 289 reports of abuse in relation to institutions 

           and services other than Industrial and Reformatory Schools. The evidence related to a period of 

           81 years, between 1919 and 2000, being respectively the earliest year of admission and latest 

           year of discharge of witnesses who reported childhood abuse in these ‘Other Institutions’. 



12.05      Among the 259 witnesses who gave evidence in relation to ‘Other Institutions’ 51 reported 

           abuse in more than one institution. The majority of witnesses reported more than one type of 

           abuse. Thirty six (36) of the 51 witnesses reported being abused in both Industrial and/or 

           Reformatory schools and one or more of the other institutions or services. Ten (10) witnesses 

           reported abuse in more than one type of service, for example in both a Children’s Home and a 

           hospital, and 18 witnesses reported abuse in more than one facility within the same type of 

           service, for example in two primary schools. 



12.06      There were 161 different out-of-home care facilities identified in evidence by the 259 witnesses. 

           The details from those reports are presented in the following six chapters, categorised by type 

           of institution or service: 



                  •    Residential and day services for children with special needs 

                  •    Children’s Homes 

                  •    Foster care 



           1 Section 1(1). 



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                  •    Hospitals 

                  •    Primary and second-level schools 

                  •    Residential laundries, Novitiates, hostels and other out-of-home settings. 



12.07     The Confidential Committee’s functions, procedures and method of work outlined in chapters 1 

          and 2 of this Report apply to all 1,090 witnesses. The general social and demographic profile of 

          those witnesses is reported collectively in chapter 3 with more specific detail regarding the 259 

          witnesses included in chapters 13-18 as they apply. 



12.08     The following chapters are arranged in a form similar to the earlier chapters relating to Industrial 

          and Reformatory schools, with some notable exceptions. The Committee decided to aggregate 

           information in a number of instances in order to maintain anonymity and confidentiality. This was 

           in part due to the fact that there were both smaller numbers of witnesses in each category and 

           more easily identifiable services. Male and female witness reports were not segregated for 

          similar reasons. When there were notable differences, numbers for each gender were identified, 

          otherwise they were reported collectively. 



12.09     Another difference is that witness reports in relation to services in chapters 13-18 refer to more 

           recent decades than the Industrial and Reformatory schools’ reports. At the time of writing, 

          services in the categories reported in chapters 13-18 continue to exist, unlike those reported in 

          the preceding chapters, most of which had ceased operation by the 1970s. 



12.10     There was considerable variation in the length of time witnesses spent in hospitals, primary and 

          second-level schools, Children’s Homes and other out-of-home placements. A number of 

          witnesses reported abuse that occurred in the course of brief admissions and isolated incidents 

          of abuse perpetrated by one individual. Many of those witnesses did not wish to comment on 

          other aspects of the service in which the abuse occurred. Other witnesses gave evidence of 

           being abused by several people on a frequent basis over a number of years and provided 

          detailed accounts of their life in the residential facilities. 



12.11     While there were many similarities between the reports made by witnesses in relation to abuse 

           in Children’s Homes and Industrial and Reformatory Schools there was less uniform information 

          available to the Committee regarding the other services reported in the following chapters. 

          Consequently, the information presented in chapter 14 more closely resembles the reports in 

          chapters 3-11. All other chapters have less detailed information about witness demographics, 

          everyday life in the institutions and the witnesses’ current life experiences. 



12.12      For the purpose of compiling this Report persons referred to by the witnesses as being in 

          charge in management positions are described as authority figures and may include Resident 

           Managers, school Principals, Matrons, Reverend Mothers and Brothers in Charge. 



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           Chapter 13 



           Special needs schools and 

           residential services 



13.01      This chapter of the Confidential Committee Report presents witness evidence of abuse in 

           schools and residential services1  providing care and education for children with special needs as 



           a result of learning, physical, visual, hearing or speech impairment and disability. Some of the 

           schools also had facilities for children to attend from home on a daily basis. A number of the 

           services were formerly known as schools for the mentally handicapped and for deaf and blind 

           children. 



13.02      Arrangements were made by the Committee to ensure that each witness was afforded the best 

           possible opportunity to place their experiences on record. Witnesses could be accompanied by 

           a companion or professional person to provide support and any necessary assistance during 

           their hearings. Some intellectually disabled witnesses chose to be accompanied by social 

           workers, care workers or other professionals, without whose presence and support a number of 

           witnesses would otherwise have been unable to attend. Commissioners and witnesses were 

           facilitated during some of the hearings by Irish Sign Language (ISL) and British Sign Language 

           (BSL) interpreters. As reflected in the Report, a number of intellectually disabled witnesses 

           attended to give evidence regarding specific incidents of abuse and gave no further information 

           about their current lives, personal history or everyday experience in the facilities where they 

           resided as children. A small number of hearings were conducted in or close to the witnesses’ 

           place of residence. 



           Witnesses 



13.03      The Committee heard 59 reports of abuse from 58 witnesses, 39 male and 19 female, in relation 

           to their time in 14 different special needs schools and residential services, which were all 

           managed by religious Congregations. One witness reported abuse in two different special needs 

           schools. Nine (9) of the special needs day and residential facilities were gender segregated and 

           five were mixed gender facilities for at least some period of their operation. 



                  •    Thirty seven (37) witnesses reported abuse in day and residential schools and 

                        services for intellectually disabled children. 



                  •    Nineteen (19) witnesses reported abuse in day and residential schools and services 

                        for children with sensory impairments2. 



                  •    Two (2) witnesses reported abuse in schools and services for children with physical 

                        disabilities. 



           1 The terms schools, services and facilities are used interchangeably throughout this chapter of the Report and signify 



            the complex range of services provided. 

           2 The principal sensory impairments referred to are those of sight and hearing. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                235 


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13.04      In addition to the accounts of abuse in special needs schools and services that are summarised 

           below, four witnesses also reported abuse in Industrial Schools, foster care and a Children’s 

           Home, the details of which are covered in the relevant chapters of this Report. 



13.05      This Chapter refers to a 58-year period, with the earliest admission to out-of-home care being in 

           1935 and the latest year of discharge being 1993. 



13.06      Ten (10) of the schools and services were located in Irish cities and the other four were in rural 

           and provincial locations. 



           Social and demographic profile of witnesses 



13.07      Varying levels of detail were provided to the Committee by witnesses regarding their 

           background and social circumstances. A number of witnesses reported knowing very little about 

           their family of origin or the circumstances of their admission to the schools and services. Details 

           regarding family of origin, place of birth, current residence and other aspects of the witnesses’ 

           lives are, therefore, not always complete. They are differentiated by gender when there are 

           notable differences. The age profile of witnesses at the time of their hearing is shown in the 

           following table: 



            Table 54: Age Range of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Special Needs 

                                              Schools and Residential Services 



                   Age range                      Males                      Females                 Total witnesses 



                  20–29 years                        2                           1                           3 



                  30–39 years                        2                           2                           4 



                  40–49 years                       10                           8                           18 



                  50–59 years                       15                           7                          22 



                  60–69 years                        9                           1                           10 



                    70+ years                        1                           0                           1 



                      Total                         39                          19                          58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.08      The majority of witnesses were aged less than 60 years at the time of their hearing. Compared 

           with the age profile of witnesses reporting abuse in other settings a notably high proportion of 

           witnesses reporting abuse in special needs facilities were in their 20s and 30s. 



13.09      Thirteen (13) of those who reported being abused in special needs services were discharged 

           during the 1980s and 1990s. A further 36 witnesses were discharged during the 1960s and 

           1970s. The remaining nine witnesses were discharged prior to 1960. 



13.10      Thirty five (35) witnesses, 29 male and six female, reported being born in three Irish counties. 

           The remaining 22 witnesses were born in 12 other Irish counties, the UK and elsewhere. There 

           was no information available regarding the birth place of one witness. At the time of their 

           hearings 52 witnesses were living in Ireland and six were residing in the UK. 



13.11      Forty three (43) witnesses, 27 male and 16 female, reported being born into two-parent families. 

           Eight (8) witnesses were the children of single mothers, and six witnesses did not know or did 

           not provide information about their parents’ marital status, as outlined in the following table: 



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           Table 55: Marital Status of Witnesses’ Parents at Time of Birth – Male and Female Special 

                                           Needs Schools and Residential Services 



                    Marital status of parents                    Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Married                                                27                     16                      43 



            Single                                                 7                       1                       8 



            Widowed                                                0                       1                       1 



            Unavailable                                            5                       1                       6 



            Totals                                                 39                     19                      58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.12      The occupational status of witnesses’ parents at the time of their admission was not always 

           reported to the Committee, and was at times unknown. Table 3 indicates the information 

           provided by witnesses regarding their parents’ occupational status:3 



             Table 56: Occupational Status of Witnesses’ Parents – Male and Female Special Needs 

                                                Schools and Residential Services 



                      Occupational status                        Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Professional worker                                    0                       1                       1 



            Managerial and technical                               0                       1                       1 



            Non-manual                                             4                       3                       7 



            Skilled manual                                         5                       2                       7 



            Semi-skilled                                           4                       1                       5 



            Unskilled                                              14                      8                      22 



            Unavailable                                            12                      3                      15 



            Total                                                  39                     19                      58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.13      Fifteen (15) witnesses did not report or did not know their parents’ occupational status at the 

           time of their admission, further reflecting the fact that many of the witnesses had little or no 

           information about their family of origin. 



13.14      Forty two (42) witnesses reported having siblings, including 17 who had brothers and sisters in 

           out-of-home care, some of whom were in special needs schools as a result of disability. 

           Altogether the 17 witnesses reported having 38 siblings in out-of-home care. Thirty three (33) 

           witnesses were from families of five or more children and nine witnesses reported having 

           between one and three siblings. Twelve (12) witnesses provided no detailed information 

           regarding their family of origin and four witnesses reported that they had no siblings. 



           Circumstances of admission 



13.15      The admission circumstances reported by the 58 witnesses varied but were principally related to 

           the perceived educational and treatment needs of children with specific impairments or 

           disabilities, for example hearing and sight impairments and learning disabilities. 



           3 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



             parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

             parent was recorded, in so far as it was known. 



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13.16      Thirty seven (37) witnesses reported being placed in a special needs school from their family 

           home following assessment of their particular learning or treatment needs. Six (6) of those 

           admissions were reported to have occurred in the context of family breakdown occasioned by 

           parental death, serious illness or marital separation. Six (6) of the 37 witnesses reported that 

           they had started attending local primary schools where their learning difficulties were first 

           recognised. In most instances the witnesses were the only members of their family to be placed 

           in an institution. 



13.17      The other 21 witnesses reported being placed in special needs schools for a variety of reasons, 

           17 had more than one previous placement and had been in residential facilities since early 

           childhood. Eight (8) of these 17 witnesses reported that they were born to single mothers and 

           had been in residential institutions since birth, five of whom were admitted to special needs 

           services from Industrial Schools or Children’s Homes and three were admitted from mother and 

           baby homes or county homes. Six (6) witnesses did not know or were unable to report on the 

           circumstances that led to their placement in residential facilities; in three instances 

           accompanying care workers confirmed that nothing was known and no records were available 

           regarding the witnesses’ early life history. 



13.18      The following table indicates the age at which witnesses were first admitted to out-of-home care 

           including admissions to other facilities prior to a special needs service: 



            Table 57: Age on First Admission to Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Special Needs 

                                              Schools and Residential Services 



            Age of first admission                Males                      Females                 Total witnesses 



                    0–5 years                       15                          13                          28 



                   6–10 years                       14                           2                           16 



                   11–15 years                       9                           3                           12 



                    16+ years                        1                           1                           2 



                      Total                         39                          19                          58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.19      Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported being admitted to a residential facility for the first time 

           before the age of six years and 30 witnesses reported being in residential facilities for more than 

           10 years, as the next table indicates: 



            Table 58: Length of Stay in Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Special Needs Schools 

                                                    and Residential Services 



              Number of years in                  Males                      Females                 Total witnesses 

                       care 



                    0–5 years                        6                           1                           7 



                   6–10 years                       16                           5                          21 



                   11–15 years                      11                          12                          23 



                    16+ years                        6                           1                           7 



                      Total                         39                          19                          58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.20      The length of time witnesses reported spending in school and residential services varied. On the 

           basis of information provided this variation could be understood to have been influenced by the 



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           witnesses’ age when first admitted, the different reasons for their admission and their family 

           circumstances. The average length of stay in residential care reported by the witnesses from 

           special needs schools and services was 11 years. It is important to note that not all of the time 

           indicated was spent in special needs facilities, it also included time spent in mother and baby 

           homes, children’s homes and other residential services. 



13.21      While more than half of the witnesses were admitted to the schools and residential services 

           from their family homes, and had living relatives, they reported having spent most of their 

           childhoods in institutions. The majority of specialist facilities and treatment services were 

           centrally located during the period covered by this Report. At the time it was common for both 

           children and adults from rural and provincial areas to travel long distances for specialist 

           treatment. Care and residential services were, consequently, a practical necessity. As the 

           following table shows, almost half of the witnesses reported being over 18 years of age when 

           they were discharged from those residential facilities: 



           Table 59: Age when Discharged from Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Special Needs 

                                              Schools and Residential Services 



             Age when discharged                  Males                      Females                       Total 

                                                                                                        witnesses 



                    <15 years                        8                           1                           9 



                     16 years                        6                           2                           8 



                     17 years                        6                           7                           13 



                    18+ years                       19                           9                           28 



                      Total                         39                          19                           58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.22      Twenty five (25) of the 28 witnesses who reported being discharged when they were over 18 

           years of age also reported having remained in supported accommodation placements for most 

           of their adult lives. In many instances these accommodation facilities were provided by the same 

           organisations who managed the special needs services where the witnesses had been admitted 

           as children. The accounts of abuse included in this report occurred when the witness was under 

           18 years of age, in accordance with the provisions of the Act. 



           Record of abuse 



13.23      The nature and extent of abuse reported by witnesses varied, and reports included descriptions 

           of single incidents of abuse and accounts of multiple experiences of being abused over long 

           periods of time. 



13.24      Most of the facilities were the subject of more than one witness report: 



                  •     Nine (9) special needs facilities were each the subject of 4–12 reports, totalling 54 

                        reports. 



                  •     Five (5) facilities were each the subject of a single report. 



13.25      Forty one (41) witnesses reported abuse over a 35-year period prior to 1970 and the remaining 

           17 witnesses gave evidence in relation to their admissions throughout the 1970s, 1980s and the 

           early 1990s. 



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                                                                                         4 

13.26      Witnesses reported the four abuse types as defined by the Acts : physical and sexual abuse, 

           neglect and emotional abuse. Abuse reports included single incidents of abuse and 

           combinations of abuse as follows: 



                   •     Forty eight (48) witnesses reported physical abuse. 

                   •    Thirty six (36) witnesses reported sexual abuse. 

                   •    Twenty five (25) witnesses reported neglect. 

                   •    Twenty four (24) witnesses reported emotional abuse. 



13.27      Combinations of the four abuse types were reported in the order of frequency shown below: 



            Table 60: Abuse Types and Combinations – Male and Female Special Needs Schools and 

                                                         Residential Services 



                      Abuse types and combinations                                       Number of reports 



            Physical and sexual                                                                   13 



            Physical, neglect and emotional                                                       11 



            Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional                                                9 



            Physical                                                                               9 



            Sexual                                                                                 9 



            Physical, sexual and neglect                                                           2 



            Physical, sexual and emotional                                                         2 



            Physical and neglect                                                                   1 



            Physical and emotional                                                                 1 



            Sexual and neglect                                                                     1 



            Neglect and emotional                                                                  1 



            Total                                                                                 59 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.28      As shown, the most frequently reported abuse combination was physical and sexual abuse, of 

           which there were 13 reports. There were a further nine reports of physical and sexual abuse 

           combined with emotional abuse and neglect. In all, 26 witnesses reported being both physically 

           and sexually abused in facilities for children with special needs. 



           Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child.5 



13.29      This section describes reports of physical abuse, non-accidental injury and lack of protection 

           from such abuse given in evidence by witnesses to the Committee. The forms of physical abuse 

           reported included hitting, punching, kicking, beating, bodily assault with implements, and 

           immersion in water. The Committee heard accounts of assaults that were so severe that injuries 

           were caused which required medical intervention. 



13.30      There were 48 reports of physical abuse from 32 male and 16 female witnesses in relation to 13 

           of the 14 special needs schools and facilities reported in this category. Twenty eight (28) reports 

           related to experiences in schools and facilities for children with intellectual disabilities. Nine (9) 



           4 Section 1 as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 

           5 Section 1(1)(a). 



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          facilities were the subject of between two and 10 reports, totalling 43 reports. Five (5) facilities 

          were each the subject of single reports. 



          Description of physical abuse 



13.31     Witnesses reported that while attending special needs services they were physically abused and 

          assaulted by various means including being hit with leather straps, canes, spade and broom 

          handles, various types of sticks and brushes, kitchen implements, wooden coat hangers and 

          rulers. They also reported having their heads held under water, being put into cold baths, having 

          their hair cut and pulled, being forcibly fed, and being locked in outhouses, sheds and isolated 

          rooms. Witnesses with sensory impairments described the particular fear and trauma associated 

          with being physically abused when they could not see or hear abusers approaching them. 



13.32     Other forms of physical abuse and assault reported by witnesses included being punched and 

          kicked, pinched, slapped across the face and ears, held by the throat, lifted by the hair and 

          ears, and having their left hands or both hands tied behind their back to prevent use. 



                There was a whole load of them... (religious and lay staff)... who’d slap me across the 

                face or with the strap on my legs .... I didn’t feel I was a trouble maker but I was active, 

                they just picked on me ... they just kept slapping me the whole time and they all said I 

                was a trouble maker, they gave me a bad name. 



13.33     Witnesses reported being severely physically punished for certain behaviours, in response to 

          particular occurrences and frequently for no reason that they could understand. Among the 

          events reported to have been so punished were: running away, bed-wetting, talking to co- 

          residents, not completing chores, disclosing abuse, being forced by violence to carry out sexual 

          acts, taking food, making mistakes in the classrooms or workshops, using sign language, not 

          using disability aids properly, losing or damaging disability aids, wear and tear on clothing, 

          walking out of line, having soiled sheets or underwear, and being out of bed. Several witnesses 

          reported that using sign language and writing with their left hand was forbidden. 



                The first time I was hit, a crowd of us used to queue to get our hair combed. The 

                Brother in charge ...(named religious) ... said to me “you are going without getting your 

                hair combed”. I wasn’t, he beat me then.... He put me over his knees and hit me with 

                his hands, I was totally puzzled, I couldn’t figure out why I was hit. I hadn’t done 

                anything wrong, I hadn’t been hit at home even though I had done things wrong.... That 

                was the first of many times being hit ... It was Br ...X.... He invented excuses for hitting 

                fellas, such as he invented this thing that ...younger co-residents... could not talk to 

                ...older residents.... He’d beat you for a lot of things with the leather, your trousers 

                would be down, it ... (the beating)... could be over the stool or over his bed. One of the 

                things was I got beaten for putting polish on my socks, you’d get beaten if you didn’t 

                have Rosary beads with you, they used have Rosary every night. If a fella had a hole in 

                his jumper, if it turned into a hole before I realised it, I would be beaten. 



                                                             • 



                Br ...X... would bring the bed-wetters into his room and flog them. He’d make them have 

                a cold bath whether it was winter or summer and you could hear the screams, the 

                screams, he was very violent. He was a big strong fit man, I was petrified of him, it 

                came back to me in dreams, the dreams of it returned. 



                                                             • 



                There is the whole issue of... (mannerisms)..., people have sort of mannerisms maybe, 

                shaking backwards and forwards, you’d be beaten for that. 



                                                             • 



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                We were punished for signing. ... It was very, very difficult to control. ... It was our 

                language, it was the way we communicated. It was natural for us to use gestures, we 

                were deaf. 



13.34     The random nature of some beatings was described by witnesses. One said he was severely 

          beaten after the residence he occupied was accidentally flooded. He was not there when the 

          accident happened, but was blamed nevertheless. Another witness described how a particular 

          staff member would: ‘beat you wherever he could get you, I got used to being beaten up, I didn’t 

          care’. Others commented that they did not know why they were being beaten as nobody 

          explained anything to them. They accepted physical abuse as part of life in the institution. 



13.35     Witnesses said they were physically abused in many locations but most often in the classrooms, 

          dormitories, stairs and corridors, staff bedrooms, and in the external playing areas. Five (5) 

          witnesses reported being held down across furniture by older residents to be beaten on their 

          bared bottoms by religious and lay staff. 



          Injuries 



13.36     Ten (10) witnesses reported receiving injuries as a result of the physical abuse they 

          experienced, including five accounts of receiving wounds that bled and four accounts of 

          extensive bruising. There were separate accounts of injury to one witness’s arm that the witness 

          believed resulted in permanent disability and injuries to another witness’s head and ears, which 

          were believed to be the cause of subsequent hearing loss. Another witness stated that she 

          required sutures to her arm following a severe beating with a broom handle. Both religious and 

          lay staff were reported to have perpetrated abuse that resulted in these injuries and one female 

          witness reported injuries that were the result of being assaulted by a group of older co- 

          residents. 



                She ... (Sr X)... beat me,... (on)... me arms, me legs. She used to put me across the 

                table and beat me, it could be the strap, the ruler, it could be anything, she used pinch 

                me so hard. I used be black and blue my legs would be black when she’d be finished 

                with me. 



          Reported abusers 



13.37     Evidence was heard regarding 80 staff and co-residents who physically abused witnesses in 

          special need facilities. 



13.38     Witnesses identified 57 staff, 24 male and 33 female, by name as physically abusive. A further 

          16 staff, 13 male and three female, were identified by their position as abusive but were not 

          named by witnesses. Thirty seven (37) of those identified by name were religious staff and 20 

          were lay care staff, teachers and ancillary workers. Eight (8) named staff who were identified as 

          physically abusive were also reported as being sexually abusive. It is possible that there is 

          some overlap between staff identified by name as abusive and those who were not named by 

          witnesses. 



13.39     There were seven accounts of physical abuse perpetrated by co-residents, including three co- 

          residents who were named by witnesses. The other four accounts were of groups of co- 

          residents referred to as ‘gangs’ who were physically abusive and who taunted and threatened 

          witnesses and other residents. Witness information regarding precise numbers of co-resident 

          abusers was incomplete. As numbers are uncertain, each group is included in the following 

          table, as one abuser and, therefore, could be considered an under-representation of the actual 

          number of co-residents reported as abusers. It is also possible that there is some overlap 

          between co-residents identified by name as abusive and those who were not named by 

          witnesses. 



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13.40      Table 8 shows details regarding the reported position and numbers of named and unnamed 

           individuals described as physically abusive: 



            Table 61: Position and Number of Reported Physical Abusers – Male and Female Special 

                                           Needs Schools and Residential Services 



                  Position of reported physical abusers                        Males                       Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure                                                   6                             5 



            - Care staff                                                         18                            5 



            - Teacher                                                            7                             7 



            Lay 



            - Care staff                                                         0                            11 



            - Teacher                                                            2                             4 



            - Ancillary worker                                                   4                             4 



            Co-resident                                                          6                             1 



            Total                                                                43                           37 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.41      Eleven (11) of the religious staff reported as physically abusive were described as either being 

           in charge of the institution or the Principal of the school. The 34 religious and lay staff, listed in 

           Table 8 as care staff, were described by witnesses as having contact with residents in the 

           context of their personal or everyday care. Lay staff who were occupied as night watchmen and 

           laundry workers, and others with designated tasks, are identified above as ancillary workers. 

           Religious and lay staff listed in Table 8 as teachers were either referred to as teachers by 

           witnesses and/or were described as abusing witnesses in the classroom. 



                  There was one person very cruel, he was a teacher, he used to tell us he would go to 

                 hell when he died because he did not beat us enough. He had been in another school 

                 and he was dumped into ... (witness’s special needs school).... He was a very 

                  unsuitable man, he would use a full cane with the ridges on it, he would beat you 

                 anywhere. I remember him beating me around the neck, it was quite strong, he was 

                 lashing out generally. Usually it was for inability to learn Irish, I was not bad at Irish, he 

                 beat me, I don’t know why, I didn’t know what was happening to me. 



           Sexual abuse 



                  The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                  or another person.6 



13.42      This section summarises the witness evidence given of sexual abuse, ranging from contact 

           sexual assault including rape to non-contact abuse, such as voyeurism and inappropriate sexual 

           talk. Witnesses gave as much or as little detail as they wished when describing their 

           experiences of being sexually abused. While some witnesses provided detailed and disturbing 

           accounts of sexual abuse, less detailed accounts were sufficient to clarify the acute or chronic 

           nature of both contact and non-contact sexual abuse. 



13.43      Thirty six (36) of the 58 witnesses who reported abuse in schools and residential services for 

           children with special needs reported being sexually abused. The 36 reports were from 29 male 

           and seven female witnesses in relation to 10 separate special needs facilities. Twenty seven 



           6 Section 1(1)(b). 



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          (27) reports referred to abuse in facilities for children with intellectual disabilities and eight 

          reports referred to facilities for those with sensory impairments. One report referred to abuse in 

          a residential facility for physically disabled children. Eight (8) facilities were the subject of 

          between two and 10 reports, totalling 34 reports. Two (2) others were each the subject of single 

          reports. 



          Description of sexual abuse 



13.44     The forms of sexual abuse reported by the 36 witnesses included voyeurism, inappropriate 

          fondling, mutual masturbation, oral/genital contact, penetration with objects, kissing, vaginal and 

          anal rape. Eleven (11) witnesses, nine of whom were male, reported being raped. With one 

          exception witnesses reported being raped many times, in some instances on a regular basis for 

          periods up to five years. 



13.45     Witnesses reported that sexual abuse occurred in private and was most often perpetrated by 

          specific individuals over a period of time. Witnesses from three facilities described being taken 

          from their beds at night by male religious staff and being sexually abused in the staff members’ 

          bedrooms. They reported being raped, fondled and molested, and some described being unable 

          to walk following such episodes of abuse. Other witnesses reported being sexually abused by 

          staff members while engaged in routine activity or while entrusted to their care. 



                There was another Brother, he brought me into his room I didn’t like it, he did things, he 

                hurt me. I was crying ... it was at night time, he made me do things.... He did things to 

                me ... he hurt me. Sometimes he took me into his room, he slept in a room on his own 

                off the dormitory. ... I didn’t like that going on. He was nice to me after it ...(anal rape).... 



                                                               • 



                I was sexually abused by ...named lay ancillary worker... at 13 or 14 years of age, a few 

                times. He agreed to bring me home to where I came from for a visit. I knew him so well. 

                He started to touch me in my private parts and kissed me. He stopped in a lane on the 

                way home ...distressed.... It’s all bad. 



13.46     Witnesses also described being raped and/or inappropriately fondled in their own beds at night 

          by religious and lay staff. Other locations of sexual abuse reported by witnesses included toilets, 

          bathrooms, dormitories, classrooms, yards, play areas and off-site locations. 



                Br ...X... used do dirty things to me at night when I’d get my period. He used to wake 

                me at night and took off all my clothes and pull the things up on me. He raped me when 

                I’d get my period, he did it 5 or 6 times and he’d touch my chest.... I told ...named lay 

                care staff... and she put me to bed late ... (to avoid contact with Br X).... 



                                                               • 



                From the time I was 7 until I was 14, maybe 3 nights a week maybe 4, 2 or 3 Brothers 

                sexually abused me. They took turns, not every day, doing the night duty, walking 

                around ... they had different shifts, they would enjoy themselves. They knew which boy 

                was in the bed. ... Sometimes they would follow me behind the toilets in the day time 

                and do it again, they would pretend to dry ...(me)... with the towel and they would do 

                that, mess with you, kissing, touching.... 



13.47     Six (6) male witnesses reported that violence was a component of the sexual abuse. They were 

          either beaten before they were abused or sexually violated as they were being beaten. 

          Witnesses reported being subjected to extreme forms of physical violence, including having their 

          heads held under water, being bound and gagged and otherwise restrained while being sexually 

          assaulted and being beaten with leather straps on their bare bottom prior to being sexually 

          assaulted. Two (2) of the six witnesses reported being physically and sexually assaulted by 

          ‘gangs’ of co-residents. 



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13.48     A female witness reported being sexually abused by the father in a ‘holiday’ family to whom she 

          was regularly sent from the special needs facility for many years. The witness believed that 

          reports of abuse had been made in relation to this man prior to her being sent to the family. She 

          did not understand what was happening, as she did not know what sexual abuse was. She had 

          no family or other visitors and nobody to whom she could confide about her experiences at the 

          time. 



13.49     Three (3) male witnesses reported different forms of non-contact sexual abuse including being 

          shown pornographic photographs, being photographed while naked and being stared at by 

          religious care staff supervising showers and swimming activities. 



13.50     Witnesses reported being forced to endure and comply with sexual abuse through threats of 

          violence, isolation from their peers, deprivation of family visits and being threatened that they 

          would be reported to authority figures. Witnesses also reported being subjected to various 

          bribes and inducements, including money, cigarettes, sweets and alcohol: 



                Another Brother ...(X)... (teacher)... he used to bring a white bag with scones in it from 

                the Brothers’ kitchen to our rooms and he would give the scones to the children who 

                would let him feel their legs and touch them. ... He would examine their essays, check 

                their spellings. ... He would check us all out closely and while he was doing that he 

                would be sitting quite close to us and feeling our legs, at that stage I was quite 

                innocent. 



                                                             • 



                One ...(Br X)... didn’t teach in class, he would look after pupils, he was a big man. ... On 

                the day before I left I asked him for ...a book... he told me to go upstairs. He suggested 

                he would go to the room where he kept his books, but he took me to his bedroom and 

                he closed the door and I got a fright. ... He pushed me over onto his bed, he was 

                wearing his habit. I was trying to resist, I could see his face, he was really red in the 

                face. ... I couldn’t feel his private parts because he had his habit on and that was ok. ... 

                (witness described molestation)... .Afterwards he gave me a bar of chocolate and told 

                me to keep quiet about it, I was very shocked. 



13.51     Two (2) male witnesses from one facility reported that male religious staff who were sexually 

          abusive would select them and other residents to accompany them on outings to town where 

          they were taken into pubs and given alcohol. One witness reported being taken by a Brother to 

          a pub instead of the cinema and returning to the cinema before the film finished. This Brother 

          was reported to have sexually abused the witness on a regular basis over a three-to four-year 

          period. 



13.52     One witness named a man by whom he was sexually abused. He was a member of the public 

          who had access to the grounds of the intellectual disability service, and who befriended the 

          witness in the course of his activities there: 



                He ...(X)... asked me to meet him one night outside. ... I got out the window and I met 

                him down the way, he came out in his car and he made sure there was nobody looking 

                and he asked me to get in. He was doing his usual thing on the way across ... (touching 

                witness).... I thought he was bringing me home but we ended up in a Bed and 

                Breakfast. ... By that stage I knew what he was doing was wrong. He took my clothes 

                off ... he just did what he wanted to do to me ... (witness described anal penetration).... 

                He said if I ever told anybody he’d get me, he’d know where I was. ... He left me home 

                to my parents’ place, they were waiting outside the door, he walked up and said “I found 

                your son, he was walking the streets, I picked him up”. ... He never told them anything 

                about what he’d done. ... (Witness never saw abuser again).... 



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           Reported abusers 



13.53      The individuals identified as sexually abusive came from a wider range of occupations both 

           within and outside the institutions, than those reported as physically abusive, and almost half of 

           those reported as sexually abusive were co-residents. 



13.54      There were 28 staff, 26 male and two female, identified by witnesses as being sexually abusive, 

           including 19 who were named. Seventeen (17) of the named staff members were male and two 

           were female. Thirteen (13) of those named were religious staff and six were lay care staff and 

           ancillary workers. One male religious staff member was specifically described as the person in 

           charge. The other religious staff were described as being in care roles at the time of the abuse 

           although their assigned roles were not always clear to the witnesses. 



13.55      There were a further nine reports of sexual abuse by religious and lay staff where the reported 

           abusers were not identified by name. They were described by their role as Brothers, night 

           watchmen and care staff. It is possible that there is some overlap between those staff who were 

           identified by name and those who were not named. 



13.56      Two (2) Brothers were identified by name as sexually abusive by six separate witnesses and 

           three other Brothers were each identified by name by two separate witnesses. A further 14 other 

           religious and lay staff were each the subject of single reports of sexual abuse. 



13.57      The following table lists the number of named and unnamed sexual abusers, by their reported 

           position: 



             Table 62: Position and Number of Reported Sexual Abusers – Male and Female Special 

                                          Needs Schools and Residential Services 



                  Position of reported sexual abusers                         Males                      Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure                                                   1                           0 



            - Care staff                                                        16                           0 



            - Teacher                                                            1                           0 



            - Ancillary workers                                                  1                           0 



            - External clergy                                                    1                           0 



            Lay 



            - Care staff                                                         1                           1 



            - Ancillary worker                                                   6                           1 



            Visiting professional                                                1                           0 



            Weekend or holiday placement carer                                   1                           0 



            Volunteer worker                                                     1                           0 



            General public                                                       1                           0 



            Co-resident                                                        23                            4 



            Total                                                              54                            6 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.58      Twelve (12) witnesses identified 16 co-residents by name as sexually abusive. One co-resident 

           was identified by name by three witnesses. There were a further 11 reports of sexual abuse by 

           co-residents who were not named. In five instances witnesses reported being frequently sexually 



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           abused by co-residents over a period of years. As with staff members, there may be some 

           overlap between those co-residents who were named as abusers and those who were not 

           specifically named. 



13.59      Those reported as sexually abusive included three groups of male co-residents who were 

           described as threatening and physically intimidating in addition to being sexually abusive. Two 

           (2) witnesses described being assaulted by groups of co-residents who restrained them and 

           subjected them to penetration by objects. As witness information regarding the precise numbers 

           of abusive co-residents is incomplete the numbers reported above could be considered an 

           under-representation. 



13.60      In addition to staff members and co-residents who were reported as sexual abusers there were 

           five witness reports of sexual abuse being perpetrated by the following male adults who were 

           external to the institution: a visiting GP, a chaplain, a father in a ‘holiday’ family, a male member 

           of the public, and a volunteer worker who took residents out to the cinema. 



                 There was a man ... (member of the public)... he used to watch me, he was always a bit 

                 of a loner. ... He came across me one day when I was alone and he invited me into ... 

                 (the)... shed and he started touching me. It happened on 3 occasions. He wasn’t part of 

                 the staff but he used to use the facilities. To begin with he used to just touch me, then 

                 he removed my clothes. ... There was a dirty mattress and he pushed me down and he 

                 got on top of me, he was pushing himself up and down on top of me, he had his clothes 

                 off. I didn’t really understand what he was doing. 



                                                                   • 



                 When I was taken out... (by holiday family)... I was abused, I was sexually abused, it 

                 was a man... (father in holiday family).... I was sent out nearly every weekend and 

                 holidays and it went on for years and years of my life...distressed...I can’t get over it, it 

                 just gets to me. I was 7 years of age. 



           Neglect 



                 Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                 serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                 serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.7 



13.61      This section summarises witness accounts of general neglect. Descriptions of neglect refer to all 

           aspects of the physical, social and emotional care and welfare of the witnesses. It also 

           describes other forms of neglect that are regarded as having a negative impact on the 

           individual’s emotional health and development, for example failure to protect from harm, to 

           educate and to adequately supervise. 



13.62      There were 25 reports of neglect heard by the Committee from 13 male and 12 female 

           witnesses in relation to 11 special needs schools; three of the schools were the subject of 

           reports by both male and female witnesses. Sixteen (16) reports were related to witnesses’ 

           experiences in schools for children with sensory impairments. Six (6) schools were the subject 

           of between two and seven reports, totalling 20 reports. Five (5) schools were each the subject of 

           single reports. 



           Description of neglect 



13.63      The forms of neglect reported to the Committee included inadequate education and training, 

           poor and insufficient food, poor hygiene, lack of recreational activities and inadequate 

           supervision. 



           7 Section 1(1)(c) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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          Supervision 



13.64     Eleven (11) witnesses identified poor supervision as a source of neglect in the schools where 

          they were placed. One witness described being sexually abused by a member of religious staff 

          at night in his bed although a Brother had supervisory duties in the dormitory and ‘was there in 

          a flash if you whispered to another boy’. Nine (9) witnesses, both male and female, reported 

          being physically and sexually abused by staff and co-residents in circumstances where there 

          was no effective supervision. Witnesses also reported being abused by groups of co-residents in 

          circumstances where there was no available protection and where older residents had 

          unsupervised access to younger, vulnerable residents. 



13.65     Witnesses described making various attempts to protect themselves or seek protection from 

          others. One witness who was sexually abused by a co-resident was separated from the abusive 

          co-resident by care staff to whom he had disclosed the abuse. This resulted in an improvement 

          in his situation until the following year when there was a change of staff and he was once again 

          placed in proximity to the person who had previously abused him. He was once again abused 

          on a regular basis for some time by that person. Another witness reported being repeatedly sent 

          to a holiday family where she was sexually abused, despite her protests that she did not want to 

          return there. She believed that staff should have responded to her indications that she was 

          unhappy although she felt unable to articulate that she was being sexually abused. 



          Education 



13.66     Fourteen (14) witnesses reported inadequate education as their main form of neglect. They 

          gave examples of educational disadvantage caused by being made to work instead of attending 

          school. Witnesses reported that in schools for children with sensory impairments classwork was 

          primarily focussed on using disability aids, such as hearing aids, speech and vocalisation aids 

          and touch text for those with sight impairments. Most of the 14 witnesses reported that their 

          education was impeded by fear of physical abuse in the classroom. 



                The inspectors would come in, but they ...(teachers)... generally knew when they were 

               coming. ... Everything was lovely, the stick would be put away, out of sight. 



13.67     Three (3) witnesses reported that their sensory impairment was not recognised and they were 

          inappropriately placed in schools for learning disabled children where their educational needs 

          were neglected. 



13.68     Witnesses with sensory, physical and intellectual disabilities commented on the accompanying 

          communication difficulties they experienced. Deaf witnesses described the distress they endured 

          when forced to communicate through speech instead of sign language and the considerable 

          time and effort that was devoted to teaching them Oralism while forbidding any other form of 

          communication: 



                They were treating me like a stupid ...child... because I didn’t learn properly. I was very 

               intelligent when I was small, I was very quick at picking up things through sign but I 

               couldn’t learn through oralism, I was very, very low, my confidence was gone, my self- 

               esteem was gone. I was very, very disappointed with myself, because I couldn’t learn 

               through oralism, and then they would hit you if you didn’t understand and so we 

               pretended to understand to avoid being hit all the time. 



13.69     Witnesses with intellectual disabilities repeatedly commented on the fact that ‘nobody explained 

          anything’ as a result of which they did not understand what they were supposed to do and at 

          times why they were being punished or abused. Witnesses with sight and physical disabilities 

          commented that they were treated as if they were deaf, that staff frequently spoke about them 

          as if they were not there and that nobody ever asked them for their opinion. 



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13.70      In addition to the reports of inadequate classroom education five witnesses reported that the 

           education and training offered in the workshops attached to the schools did not prepare them for 

           independent living following their discharge. The lack of preparation for independent living was 

           reported as abusive. They commented on the traumatic impact of being discharged from the 

           shelter of residential settings without any aftercare or follow up: 



                  (Discharge preparation)...didn’t give us a great start, the best of us got through, if you 

                 had a strong character and if you came from a strong family home, that would support 

                 you but if you didn’t have that going for you, you kind of fell into a survival method. 



           General welfare and personal care 



13.71      Four (4) particular special needs schools were reported more often than others as providing a 

           poor standard of physical care. Witnesses from those facilities consistently described cold, 

           hunger, inadequate clothing and poor hygiene facilities. Ten (10) witnesses from those schools 

           reported being frequently hungry or being forced to eat unpalatable food, three of whom also 

           reported being forced to eat regurgitated food. 



13.72      Poor hygiene and management of menstruation was cited by four female witnesses as an 

           aspect of their neglect. They described being given little or no information about menstruation 

           and were not provided with sanitary protection or the necessary facilities to maintain appropriate 

           personal hygiene. Four (4) other witnesses described not having their own clothes and having to 

           wear clothes from a communal supply that was infrequently changed and laundered. 



13.73      Female witnesses reported being expected to undertake domestic work within the schools and 

           two described being exploited as unpaid domestic staff. In addition to work tasks being 

           described as an alternative to classroom education in the special needs facilities, witnesses also 

           remarked on the absence of recreational activities. Witnesses with restricted mobility 

           commented on the boredom associated with institutional living where it was reported that no 

           effort was made to occupy or provide age-appropriate activities to children who were bed-bound. 



13.74      Witnesses also reported being subjected to inappropriate daily routines that they believed were 

           maintained for expedience. One example provided was of being awakened at 6:00 every 

           morning to be washed and dressed by the night staff before they finished their shift. She 

           reported being then left sitting in a cold room, waiting for breakfast that was not served until 

           approximately two hours later. 



           Emotional abuse 



                 Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                  expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                  development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.8 



13.75      This section describes witness evidence of emotional abuse by deprivation of affection, family 

           contact and approval, loss of identity, and a lack of safety and protection. It refers to both what 

           was done by religious and lay staff and others who had responsibility for the residents in their 

           care and what they failed to provide. These deprivations impaired the social, emotional, physical 

           functioning and development of witnesses and were identified by them as generally disturbing 

           both at the time and in the subsequent course of their lives. 



           8 Section 1(1)(d) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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13.76     The Committee heard 24 reports of emotional abuse by 11 male and 13 female witnesses in 

          relation to 10 special needs facilities. Fourteen (14) of the reports referred to witnesses’ 

          experiences in services for children with sensory impairments. Six (6) facilities were the subject 

          of between two and seven reports, totalling 20 reports. Four (4) facilities were each the subject 

          of single reports. 



          Description of emotional abuse 



13.77     Emotional abuse described by witnesses included deprivation of family contact, social isolation 

          and humiliation, lack of affection, personal ridicule, constant criticism, bullying, fear and threats 

          of harm. 



                I can only think of years of abuse and torture and being a punch bag and crying.... 

                Lonely and crying in bed most of the time and being scared and not being able to tell 

                anyone. 



                                                             • 



                To begin with, I was more or less bullied ... (by)... older lads ... often times they used do 

                it for money. ... We used to go out and do work experience ... anytime I’d get paid for it 

                they’d want the money off you ... I tried to say I didn’t have it, or something. ... They 

                used to call me all sorts of names. ... I thought at first I’d avoid them, but every time I 

                went to go off somewhere they’d follow me. ... They went on to kick the back of my 

                heels, pushing me down the stairs, stick my head underwater and stuff. 



          Personal ridicule and humiliation 



13.78     The most consistently reported form of emotional abuse by the witnesses with special needs 

          was of being denigrated, humiliated and disparaged about their appearance, mannerisms and 

          intelligence. They reported being called names and made the subject of derogatory comments 

          by certain staff, some of whom encouraged co-residents to jeer at their behaviour. Witnesses 

          said their weakness and distress was subject to particular derision and they were further 

          humiliated when they cried or demonstrated distress. 



                They treated me like a dog, I couldn’t read and I couldn’t speak, the ...religious staff... 

                called me names, terrible, they beat me up with a leather. 



          Deprivation of family contact and identity 



13.79     A reported consequence of the loss of family contact in the process of being institutionalised 

          was loss of identity. Twelve (12) of the 58 witnesses reporting abuse in special needs schools 

          had little or no information about their birth or family, and had no contact with family members 

          after their admission. Three (3) witnesses had no information at all about their family of origin, 

          and all they knew about themselves was their name. 



                I suppose some of it was my fault really, I was looking for my mother, there was no 

                answers... I heard girls talking about their Mammies and I had nobody to come up to 

                see me, nobody. I knew nothing... (about family)... so I took these fits of tempers, I was 

                a handful. 



13.80     In general, witnesses reported that family contact was restricted to the routine Christmas, Easter 

          and summer school holidays. Witnesses who were admitted to special needs services from 

          home gave accounts of being deprived of contact with their families after their admission and of 

          family visits being denied as punishment for alleged misbehaviour. Several witnesses 

          commented on the fact that their homes were long distances from the schools and as a result 

          their families were unable to visit. They reported that all other contact, apart from going home 

          for holidays, was confined to letter writing, which had particular limitations for residents with 

          sight and learning impairments. Witnesses reported that their letters were dictated and strictly 



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          controlled. ‘We were not allowed to ask for anything or to say anything about our daily life 

          there.’ 



          Deprivation of affection 



13.81     Witnesses commented on the absence of any demonstration of verbal and physical affection 

          towards them by staff. For those witnesses admitted at a young age from family homes where 

          they had experienced warmth and affection this deprivation had a particularly disturbing impact. 

          Witnesses with sensory impairments found being ‘sent to Coventry’ particularly distressing. They 

          described not being spoken to by staff and co-residents, and being isolated in rooms. 



13.82     Many deaf witnesses described how distressing it was to be denied the use of sign language, 

          which was their only means of communication. Sign language was also the accepted manner in 

          which many witnesses communicated with their family. Loss of contact with family members was 

          accentuated for some witnesses as a result of their parents being told by staff in some schools 

          not to use sign language during holidays. Deaf witnesses who were compelled to communicate 

          verbally reported being socially isolated as a result of the difficulty they experienced with this 

          process. Witnesses reported that loneliness and isolation were further exacerbated by 

          restrictions on communication and the reported disapproval of friendships between residents. 



          Exposure to fearful situations 



13.83     Witnesses with sensory impairments described their extreme fear and distress when they were 

          locked in rooms as punishment. One witness described the terror experienced when locked in 

          an outhouse with animals, another of being left overnight in a washroom without any bedding as 

          punishment for bed-wetting or other alleged misdemeanours. 



                I was locked in the washroom overnight. ......( named religious staff member)... would 

                walk out and close the door, you’d have your ...night clothes... on and you could stand 

                at your basin and do what you liked but you had to stay there, no blankets, mattress, 

                sleep on the bare floor. We used to get together in a corner and try to keep each other 

                warm, it was scary, you’d hope that nothing would happen, you could also be there on 

                your own. ... You could be there for more than a few nights in a row, freezing cold. 



13.84     Witnesses who were sexually abused described the pervasive fear associated with constant 

          vigilance in anticipation of the next episode of abuse. Other witnesses with learning disabilities 

          reported being terrified of making mistakes and that learning was stifled by the fear of physical 

          punishment and humiliation. 



13.85     Eight (8) witnesses reported being sexually abused by staff members who also subjected them 

          to severe physical abuse. They reported being intimidated by staff as a warning against 

          disclosure, they lived in fear of certain staff members who abused them on a regular basis, 

          reinforcing silence by threats of further abuse. 



13.86     In addition to the reports of abuse by staff and other adults, there were 33 reports of physical, 

          sexual and/or emotional abuse by co-residents. Witnesses generally described abuse involving 

          co-residents as occurring either in the company of other residents, described as ‘gangs’, or in 

          open places where it was believed others could observe what was happening. Inadequate 

          supervision exposed vulnerable residents to bullying and abuse and created fearful situations 

          that many witnesses reported being forced to endure. 



13.87     Four (4) witnesses gave accounts of their lives being threatened by groups of co-residents who 

          bullied them. One witness reported to a staff member that he was being sexually abused and 

          bullied by a group of co-residents, which resulted in further abuse from his co-residents. He 

          reported that they held him over a stairwell and threatened to drop him the next time he told 



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          anyone that he was being abused. He was further threatened that his younger sibling would be 

           punished in the same way. Another witness reported being threatened that he would be pushed 

          from a height if he disclosed physical abuse and bullying by co-residents. 



                 They ... (older co-residents)... brought me up to the top of ... in the grounds and held my 

                hands behind my back and pushed me over to look down off it, I thought they were 

                going to push me down off it, lucky enough someone was passing by and they saw 

                 what was happening and they stopped, when the fellas saw who was there they ran 

                 away. 



          Witnessing the abuse of others 



13.88     Several witnesses described the distress they experienced as a result of hearing and seeing co- 

           residents being beaten and humiliated. The sound of other children being beaten was reported 

          to be particularly distressing in addition to the pervasive fear generated in an environment 

          where, as the following witnesses described, there was a constant threat of being hurt: 



                 You see a lot of the trouble for me was listening to fellas getting beaten, listening to 

                 fellas being flogged. I remember a fella who used to shake himself and shake his hands 

                 and things like that, he was quite bad at it. This Br ...(X)... got an idea into his head that 

                he would stop this fella from doing these things. Every time he saw him doing it he’d 

                slap him, he’d stop him by hitting him. Eventually he stopped...shaking... during the day, 

                he’d wag in the bed at night and the bed was a noisy springy bed. This Brother would 

                beat him in bed at night. ... That chap became a bed-wetter after that happened. The 

                bed-wetters, I’d hear the screams, it would give me a dry retch even though I had 

                nothing in my stomach, it used to affect me very badly. 



                                                                • 



                He... (lay teacher)... beat them ...(co-residents)... around the room like cattle, they would 

                be crashing into desks and he would say “would you mind my lovely furniture”. It was 

                 very bad listening to it. I couldn’t learn, you couldn’t learn in the atmosphere of violence 

                 ... if you didn’t give an answer you‘d get battered. 



           Knowledge of abuse 



13.89     Witnesses believed that much abuse was reported at the time and that staff and residents were 

          aware of it or had observed it, and people outside the institution were also told about it. 

          Witnesses also observed the abuse of their co-residents. Witnesses reported that disclosures of 

          abuse were at times investigated with positive results. Other witnesses stated they were either 

           ignored or punished. 



13.90     Witnesses generally reported having great difficulty in finding ways of disclosing their abuse to 

          anyone. In all instances the witnesses’ particular disability was described as a barrier to 

          communication and disclosure, both at the time and subsequently. A number stated that this 

          difficulty was particularly highlighted when addressing such a sensitive topic as sexual abuse. 



                 I never told my parents because I didn’t know what to say ... and I didn’t know if they’d 

                believe me and it’s only now, many years later, that these secrets are out in the open 

                 and the Brothers can be challenged and that is why I’m here to tell you. 



                                                                • 



                 I reported to the ...lay Principal.... I do feel it’s ...(sexual abuse)... my fault, I told him 

                 ...(named lay ancillary worker)...I didn’t want sex but he wouldn’t listen to me. I wish I 

                 could forget about it but I can’t, it makes me sick and angry. 



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13.91      Twenty six (26) witnesses reported telling someone at the time that they were being abused, 19 

           of those witnesses stated they were believed, but not necessarily with positive consequences. 

           Disclosures were most often made to parents, staff and authority figures within the school. 

           There were isolated accounts of disclosure to the gardai and a visiting priest. ‘I ran away once, 

                                                                             ´ 

           the police found me. I tried to tell them I wasn’t happy and what was happening, but they 

           wouldn’t believe me.’ Another witness gave the following account of what happened when his 

           mother complained about physical abuse: 



                 My mother was washing me, she seen the bruises, my older brother saw black and 

                 blue. I didn’t understand, I was used to it. She said “what happened, where did you get 

                  that?” I had bruises all over my body. She wrote a letter to the head Brother and he 

                 sent for my mother. My mother and me went to talk to him and he said it wouldn’t 

                 happen again. I was about 8 or 9. After that, the next day, a few Brothers beat me up 

                 and said “shut your mouth”. They beat me up... really it was terrible. My mother did 

                  complain but what could you do? 



13.92      Witnesses with intellectual disabilities described being bullied and threatened by staff and co- 

           residents not to tell others they were being abused. They also reported being punished and 

           further abused when they disclosed their abuse to others. The impact of this experience was 

           made evident to the Committee by a number of witnesses who sought reassurance from 

           accompanying companions and from the Commissioners that they would not be punished or ‘get 

           in trouble’ for attending the Commission. 



13.93      Seven (7) witnesses reported that when they told staff they were being abused they were not 

           believed and the staff did nothing to address the reported complaint. Witnesses commented on 

           the fact that disclosure often resulted in being punished for ‘telling tales’. In other circumstances 

           witnesses reported that while their disclosure was punished, the abuse subsequently stopped. 



                  I went back to the orphanage and told them that I was being abused, she... (person in 

                 charge)... told me “you are always causing trouble”, she wouldn’t listen to me. She told 

                 me I was lying. How can any child... (make up something like that )... she wouldn’t listen 

                  to me. I didn’t even know what sexual abuse was. I thought it was the right thing, he 

                  was giving me money. When I tried to explain to one of the nuns that he was touching 

                 me she said “there you are, lying again” and pushed me away. 



           Outcome of disclosure 



13.94      The Committee heard evidence that in seven instances the offender was removed from the 

           school following disclosure to either the witnesses’ parents or staff within the school. An 

           additional three witnesses reported being separated from abusive co-residents that led to a 

           cessation in the abuse for some time. Another witness reported that religious staff in charge of 

           one school appeared to be aware of sexual abuse among residents and became more vigilant 

           in their supervision of recreation time. 



13.95      Two (2) other witnesses reported that their parents wrote letters of complaint to the person in 

           charge who subsequently met them and minimised the seriousness of the disclosed abuse. ‘I 

           told my parents, they believed me, as far as I know. My mother wrote to ...named lay teacher... 

           but it made no difference.’ There was no positive outcome for these witnesses. Another 

           witness’s father intervened and spoke to the person in charge, it was believed the reported 

           abuser was reprimanded but not removed. Following parental intervention another witness 

           reported being removed from the residential part of the service to continue attending as a day 

           pupil. 



13.96      A positive example of external intervention was provided by a witness who complained 

           repeatedly to staff that he was being bullied by older co-residents and was punished in 



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----------------------- Page 1600-----------------------

           response. Despite his complaints being ignored by staff he persisted in complaining about being 

          constantly picked on and taunted by a group of older boys whom he feared. The witness 

           reported that one day this group of co-residents threatened his life in a public place. A passing 

           member of the public saw what was happening and intervened ‘Actually a doctor rang the staff 

          and they were told off for it. ... I think they were a bit afraid after that.’ 



           Positive experiences 



13.97     Twenty six (26) witnesses reported having some positive memories of their time in the special 

           needs schools and services. The kindness of religious and lay staff was often reported in 

           relation to admission to the facilities and the assistance provided to witnesses when they were 

           leaving. Fourteen (14) witnesses commented on the good experience of having kind teachers 

          and 11 religious staff were named as particularly kind by a number of witnesses. 



                 Some of the nuns were very, very nice. I can’t take that away from them... I’d have to 

                say they were fairly good to us....There was one nun, Sr ...Y..., she was a nice person, 

                she took me and said “listen, you aren’t a bad person”. 



                                                                • 



                 The... (lay care worker)... was one of the nicest, kindest people ever in my life, he would 

                give us chocolate to keep us quiet, rocked us to sleep. I don’t remember anything bad 

                 ever happening with him. 



13.98     Three (3) other witnesses commented on the positive changes introduced by new staff, 

           particularly those in authority. One of those witnesses reported that, following such a change, 

           more thorough assessments took place, as a result of which the witness was transferred to 

          another facility where his particular educational needs were addressed. 



13.99     Ten (10) witnesses commented positively on the level of care provided to them and the general 

          and academic education they received. They commented on the beneficial outcome to them of 

          treatment and training provided by the special needs services. In a small number of instances 

          witnesses reported that their families were unable to care adequately for them or that they were 

          abused and neglected prior to their admission. The witnesses remarked that their placement in 

          the special needs school or service had a protective component for which they were grateful. 



13.100    Six (6) witnesses commented that family visits and the opportunity to go home for holidays and 

           be outside the institutions were the most positive memories of their time there. 



          Current circumstances 



13.101    The following section summaries the information provided by witnesses during their hearings 

           regarding their adult lives, including details about relationships, employment and parenting. It 

          also identifies some of the reported ongoing effects of childhood abuse in the witnesses’ lives. 



          Relationships 



13.102    Thirty two (32) of the 58 witnesses, 22 male and 10 female, who reported being abused in 

          special needs facilities were single at the time of their hearing. Twenty eight (28) of those 

          witnesses reported never having been married or involved in intimate relationships. Four (4) 

          other witnesses were currently single having been previously involved in relationships for short 

           periods. Twenty two (22) witnesses, 13 male and nine female, were married. Four (4) other 

          witnesses reported being in long-term relationships, currently or in the past. 



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13.103    Twenty six (26) witnesses, 19 male and seven female, who reported being single and who had 

          never married, were in sheltered living situations or had lived in residential facilities for most of 

          their lives. Eighteen (18) witnesses, 11 male and seven female, who were married at the time of 

          their hearing described their marriages as happy, stable, supportive and of many years duration. 

          Several witnesses reported meeting and marrying partners who had similar childhood 

          experiences as their own. 



                Met... (my)... husband to be, got married and didn’t go back to work. When I met my 

                husband we had great communication ... I was so happy to be with him ... we left all the 

                past behind, we really forgot about that ...(childhood abuse)... 



13.104    Eighteen (18) witnesses described themselves as having struggled with the effects of 

          institutional care and abuse for years following their discharge from special needs schools and 

          residential facilities. Childhood sexual abuse was reported by 10 witnesses to have had a 

          particularly detrimental effect on their adult relationships. Alcohol abuse and unresolved anger 

          were noted features of the relationships difficulties described by a small number of witnesses. 



                I started drinking too much, found myself not able to go into work the next day and I 

                didn’t feel very good about that ... went to AA ... for all my sins I think I do still drink 

                more than I should ... they all say to me “you’re such a nice man without it” ... 



                                                                • 



                For...years after I left I lived the best I could. I wasn’t aware that things were so difficult 

                as they were, I normalised all that went wrong...That left me socially very difficult...I 

                couldn’t handle it at all, relationships and that... 



                                                                • 



                I’d say all the group... (former co-residents)... ended up in trouble with alcohol, or social 

                isolation or didn’t make it into relationships at all.... A lot of them... (are)... very bitter and 

                isolated, they continue to survive, just survive. 



13.105    Counselling and the support of partners, family and professionals were all reported to have 

          contributed to happier outcomes for a number of witnesses. 



                Married... ( many years)... very happy. My wife understands my problem. We 

                have...children. I didn’t understand for a long time, when I got married first ... about... 

                (sexual)... relations...(until)... I went to see the counsellor ... I don’t know how ...wife ... 

                did enjoy the relationship. Because of sexual abuse in the school, that put me off... I 

                can’t enjoy sexual relations... (but)... we have worked it out,... wife...is brilliant. 



          Parenting 



13.106    Twenty (20) witnesses, 12 male and eight female, reported having a total of 59 children. Ten 

          (10) described having good relationships with their children. Four (4) witnesses described 

          themselves as overprotective of their children and another three reported being harsh or abusive 

          parents. They reported hitting and slapping their children, commenting that they treated their 

          children as they had been treated themselves. 



                 When my children were bold or wild I slapped them. Sometimes I slapped them around 

                the face and I remember one day.... I slapped him... (son)... repeatedly around the face. 

                He started crying, he got frightened, I lost my temper with him I think, I didn’t realise 

                until afterwards that it was wrong to slap. It was what I had learned in school ... I didn’t 

                know anything about child abuse. I remember when I was driving there was a 

                big...(advertising poster)... about how not to slap your child, that it can affect them 

                mentally, and that had a huge impact. I was wondering, you know, what did I do to my 

                children?... (I)... felt so guilty, so very, very guilty. I was very hard on them, I did slap 

                them very hard ... distressed and crying ... I remember seeing this poster and I felt so 



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----------------------- Page 1602-----------------------

                guilty.... I loved them... and they loved me and I remember thinking why did I do that to 

                them?... I realised I learned that from the school, they did that to me all the time and I 

                did that to the children. I feel terrible guilty about that ... and then I stopped and they 

                behaved very well after that. 



13.107    Other witnesses described being angry a lot of the time for unspecified reasons. They now 

          believe their anger and unhappiness was related to childhood experiences, which they 

          acknowledge contributed to unhappy family lives for their own children. 



          Occupational and employment status 



13.108    Twenty-three (23) witnesses, 15 male and eight female, were employed at the time of their 

          hearing, three others were working at home and three were retired. Five (5) witnesses reported 

          being unemployed and the remaining 24 witnesses, 18 male and six female, were in receipt of 

          disability income. Five (5) of these 24 witnesses had been previously employed for substantial 

          periods of time. 



13.109    As previously stated, many of the 19 witnesses with sensory impairments commented on the 

          inadequate level of education provided for them in the schools, where the main emphasis was 

          on remediation for their particular disability. They reported being denied both an academic 

          education and the means to communicate effectively in mainstream society. These witnesses 

          repeatedly remarked on the consequent disadvantages for them in their later work lives. While 

          many witnesses established themselves in successful careers, they nevertheless reported 

          having struggled for years to overcome the shortcomings of their education. 



13.110    Eighteen (18) of the 58 witnesses reported receiving second-level education for some time in 

          their adolescence. Five (5) of these 18 witnesses subsequently attended third-level education. 

          The remaining 40 witnesses reported attending school at primary level, in 20 instances until they 

          were aged 16 years or older. 



13.111    Witnesses generally commented on the difficulty they experienced finding employment when 

          they were discharged from the special needs schools and services. It was consistently reported 

          that there were little or no formal placement or aftercare services available for them as young 

          people with special needs. Telephonist training, tailoring, shoemaking, clerical employment, and 

          assembly work were traditional areas of work mentioned for those with sensory and other 

          impairments. Witnesses commented that these designated fields of employment did not suit 

          everyone but prior to the 1970s there was very little, if any, choice available. 



13.112    Twenty three (23) witnesses reported having stable and predominantly satisfying work careers 

          and often commented on the helpful intervention of individuals they met along the way. One 

          witness described himself as fortunate to work with someone who acted as a mentor and who 

          advised the witness to travel and experience life in other places. He reported that he would be 

          forever grateful for the encouragement he received from this person and was aware that his 

          own circumstances were better than many of his peers who remained in the same jobs where 

          they were originally placed by the school. 



13.113    Three (3) female witnesses reported being retained in their particular special needs schools as 

          domestic workers for a number of years. These witnesses all subsequently arranged alternative 

          employment for themselves outside the institutions and commented on the assistance they were 

          grateful to receive from kind work colleagues in the schools. 



13.114    Five (5) witnesses reported that they are involved in the disability sector either working within 

          organisations for people with disabilities or on behalf of people with special needs. 



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13.115    Twelve (12) witnesses stated that they have been in sheltered work situations since they were 

          discharged from the special needs schools and services, some of which have been provided or 

          supported by the same organisations who managed the special needs facilities. Involvement in 

          the sheltered employment programs was, in some instances, part of the aftercare service 

          provided by organisations in conjunction with sheltered accommodation. Other sheltered 

          employment services were provided by voluntary community-based organisations to which 

          residents were referred when they were discharged from the special needs schools. 



13.116    For other witnesses employment was reported as a problematic area of their lives. Fifteen (15) 

          reported having great difficulty settling into employment and as a result have been unemployed 

          for substantial periods of time. The Committee heard numerous reports of witnesses being 

          poorly treated by employers and making frequent job changes in attempts to find better 

          situations. Relations with work colleagues were citied as a problem area. Several witnesses 

          reported that communication difficulties with their work colleagues contributed to them feeling 

          victimised in various ways. Others commented on the fact that they were disadvantaged in 

          employment situations by what they regarded as the prejudice of both co-workers and 

          employers towards people with disabilities. The lack of preparation for independence and a 

          social life outside the institutional setting was believed by many of these witnesses to have 

          contributed to the particular difficulties experienced. 



                I was raped when I was... (homeless)... it was a bad rape. I think I had a breakdown, I 

                was working on kind of overdrive ... I didn’t care anymore what happened to me, I’d get 

                a job and then I’d lose it. I felt like I closed down a great deal. I gave up wanting to get 

                a job. 



                                                             • 



                I was happy... (at work)... and everything was good, but as soon as I was given out to 

                again it all came flooding back. They were wrong at school to be constantly giving out to 

                us, because we didn’t know how to answer back, we didn’t know how to be ... assertive. 



13.117    Seven (7) witnesses stated that they have been on disability income all their lives and had never 

          participated in any formal employment activity. 



          Accommodation 



13.118    Witnesses reported having reasonably settled accommodation, with 18 witnesses owning their 

          own home. Most of the 23 witnesses who were living in sheltered accommodation had resided 

          there since their time in the special needs facility. As previously stated, sheltered 

          accommodation programs were, and continue to be, provided by some of the special needs 

          services as part of their ongoing service delivery. Witnesses in sheltered accommodation 

          programs described different living situations. A number lived in group homes with other adults 

          who had similar needs and required minimal daily assistance. Others lived in small residential 

          units with 24-hour staff cover. Witnesses in sheltered accommodation generally reported having 

          good support services and relatively secure accommodation. Lack of income security provided 

          considerable difficulty for 17 witnesses, who were dependent on the private rental market or the 

          goodwill of friends and relatives for accommodation. Reported housing arrangements at the time 

          of hearings were: 



                 •    Twenty three (23) witnesses lived in sheltered accommodation. 

                 •    Eighteen (18) witnesses reported that they owned their own homes. 

                 •    Eleven (11) witnesses lived in rented accommodation, either in the private or public 

                      sector. 



                 •    Six (6) witnesses lived with friends or relatives. 



          Health 



13.119    During the course of their hearings witnesses provided general information regarding their health 

          and well-being, both directly and in the context of describing their current life circumstances. For 

          the purpose of writing this Report the Committee categorised witnesses’ physical and mental 



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----------------------- Page 1604-----------------------

           health status as good, reasonable or poor based on the information provided at the hearing 

           about their current and past health history. Twenty two (22) of the witnesses who had 

           intellectual impairments provided minimal details regarding their health status and are 

           categorised as ‘unknown’ in the absence of sufficient information being provided to allow a more 

           accurate description. 



13.120     Sixteen (16) of the 36 witnesses who provided information about their general health status 

           described having good physical health. In general these witnesses commented that they have 

           not had any major health concerns apart from routine or age-related conditions that had 

           responded well to treatment. 



13.121     Fifteen (15) witnesses described physical health circumstances that the Committee categorised 

           as ‘reasonable’ for the purpose of this Report. The witnesses reported having, and receiving 

           treatment for, a range of conditions including heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, irritable bowel 

           syndrome and epilepsy, which continue to have some debilitating effect on their everyday lives. 



13.122     Five (5) witnesses reported poor physical health including terminal conditions and the chronic 

           symptoms of alcoholism and eating disorders. One witness reported poor physical health as the 

           consequence of a severe physical disability. At the time of their hearings, four of the five 

           witnesses who described serious physical health concerns also reported experiencing poor 

           mental health. 



            Table 63: Current Physical Health Status – Male and Female Special Needs Schools and 

                                                       Residential Services 



             Physical health status               Males                      Females                 Total witnesses 



                      Good                           9                           7                           16 



                   Reasonable                        8                           7                           15 



                       Poor                          4                           1                           5 



                   Unavailable                      18                           4                          22 



                      Total                         39                          19                          58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.123     Eleven (11) witnesses reported having no particular mental health problems. Six (6) of the 11 

           witnesses who reported good mental health described experiencing some emotional difficulties 

           in the past. Such difficulties included anxiety, loneliness and depression, which they believed 

           was related to their childhood abuse. A number of witnesses reported that counselling had 

           helped them to deal with their emotional difficulties and others commented that they had learned 

           to accept their painful memories and experiences of their childhood. 



                 Since I’ve gone to counselling and that I don’t feel as bad as I used to ... I think the 

                 counsellor put it into perspective ... It wasn’t my fault, I’ve nothing to be ashamed of .... 



                                                                   • 



                 Counselling was very helpful. It’s finished. I miss her... (counsellor)... terrible but she 

                 thinks I was ready to finish. 



                                                                   • 



                 I... (get depressed)... sometimes,...(there’s)... no treatment, nobody could cure me. I’ll 

                 go with it to the grave. I’ll never change, it’s impossible, it’s in my mind. 



13.124     Fourteen (14) witnesses described a range of mental health concerns including depression, 

           alcoholism and anxiety, which have had a notable impact on their lives and which in five 

           instances have necessitated in-patient psychiatric treatment in the past. Three (3) of the 14 

           witnesses reported that their alcohol abuse was a response to feelings of depression, loneliness 

           and anger related to childhood abuse. One witness reported a past history of self-harm and two 



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----------------------- Page 1605-----------------------

           other witnesses reported that they had acted on suicidal thoughts in the past. The mental health 

           status of these 14 witnesses was categorised as reasonable by the Committee and were 

           markedly different to the circumstances of other witnesses whose mental health status was 

           categorised as poor. 



                 A certain thing will remind me of it... (childhood abuse)... like food reminds me of it. I do 

                 attribute myself being overweight to... (childhood memories of food)..., now I eat what I 

                 want when I want it, and not horrible food and food that was never touched in 

                 there...(school)..., not potatoes. I was bulimic for a while first when I left... but I stopped 

                 that ... and self harm, I was cutting myself. 



13.125     The 11 witnesses categorised as experiencing poor mental health circumstances reported 

           ongoing feelings of depression with past or current thoughts or attempts of suicide. They 

           reported being currently treated with medication for their depression and three witnesses had 

           received in-patient psychiatric treatment in the recent past. Two (2) witnesses described 

           suffering with agoraphobia and another witness reported repeated attempts at self- harm. Five 

           (5) of the 11 witnesses described themselves as being actively suicidal in the past. 



             Table 64: Current Mental Health Status – Male and Female Special Needs Schools and 

                                                      Residential Services 



              Mental health status                Males                      Females                 Total witnesses 



                      Good                           6                           5                           11 



                   Reasonable                        8                           6                           14 



                       Poor                          7                           4                           11 



                   Unavailable                      18                           4                           22 



                      Total                         39                          19                           58 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



13.126     In summary, the most consistently reported features of the health profile of witnesses who had 

           attended special needs facilities was depression with associated alcohol abuse, suicidal 

           thoughts and self-harm. Twenty two (22) witnesses reported being treated for depression either 

           currently or in the past and 31 witnesses reported having received counselling. 



           Effects on adult life 



13.127     Communication impairments restricted a number of witnesses’ ability to report in detail about 

           their experiences. It was also remarked that sensory and other impairments made it difficult for 

           witnesses and others to access information about the work of the Commission. It is important to 

           note that the evidence presented to the Committee was received from witnesses who were less 

           restricted than others in their capacity to communicate independently and/or had access to good 

           support networks. Witnesses repeatedly made the point to the Committee that this was not the 

           reality for many of their former co-residents. Nine (9) of the 58 witnesses in this group did not 

           elaborate on their life experiences since being discharged from the special needs services they 

           attended as children. A number had gone on to live in sheltered accommodation facilities 

           provided by the same organisations who managed the special needs services they had 

           previously attended. 



13.128     The table below lists the negative effects described by the 49 witnesses, 32 male and 17 

           female, who reported abuse in special needs services and also gave an account of their adult 

           life circumstances. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  259 


----------------------- Page 1606-----------------------

  Table 65: Reported Effects on Adult Life – Male and Female Special Needs Schools and 

                                             Residential Services 



                    Male witnesses                                          Female witnesses 



       Effects on adult life*             Number of              Effects on adult life*            Number of 

                                           reports                                                   reports 



 Counselling required                         17          Counselling required                          14 



 Abuse not easily forgotten                   12          Abuse not easily forgotten                    12 



 Lack of trust                                12           Feeling isolated                              9 



 Suicidal feelings or attempt                 12           Lack of trust                                 9 



 Alcohol abuse                                11          Anxious and fearful                            8 



 Feeling isolated                             11           Post-traumatic effect                         8 



 Angry                                        10          Tearfulness                                    7 



 Loner                                         9           Loner                                         7 



 Sleep disturbance                             9           Mood instability                              7 



 Gender identity and sexual                    8           Feeling different from peers                  5 

 problems 



 Lack of self-worth                            8           Feelings related to being a                   5 

                                                          victim 



 Anxious and fearful                           7          Suicidal feelings or attempt                   5 



 Nightmares                                    7          Alcohol abuse                                  4 



 Tearfulness                                   6          Angry                                          4 



 Feeling different from peers                  6           Issues of needing approval                    4 



 Mood instability                              6          Sleep disturbance including                    4 

                                                           nightmares 



 Feelings related to being a                   5          Somatic symptoms                               4 

 victim 



 Withdrawal                                    5          Withdrawal                                     4 



 Aggressive behaviour –                        4          Aggressive behaviour –                         3 

 verbal                                                   physical 



 Post-traumatic effect                         4           Eating disorder                               3 



 Unable to settle                              4           Fear of failure                               3 



 Issues of self-blame                          3           Feelings related to being                     3 

                                                           powerless 



 Feelings related to being                     2          Aggressive behaviour – verbal                  2 

 powerless 



 Overly compliant behaviour                    2           Issues of self-blame                          2 



 Somatic symptoms                              2          Overprotective of children                     2 



 Unable to show feelings to                    2           Unable to show feelings to                    2 

 children                                                 children 



 Unable to show feelings to                    2          Aggressive behaviour –                         1 

 partner                                                   psychological 



 Aggressive behaviour –                        1          Over harsh with children                       1 

 psychological 



 Find others with similar                      1          Sexual problems                                1 

 experiences 



 Overprotective of children                    1           Unable to settle                              1 



 Substance abuse                               1           Unable to show feelings to                    1 

                                                           partner 



Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



n = 32 male and 17 female 



*Witnesses could report more than one effect and female witnesses reported a wider variety of effects 



260                                                            CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1607-----------------------

13.129     Twenty one (21) of the 49 witnesses who provided information about their adult life 

           circumstances described an ongoing sense of isolation and inability to trust others. Fourteen 

           (14) of those witnesses reported life-long difficulties as a result of the sexual abuse they 

           experienced, particularly in terms of their ability to trust people. Other witnesses reported that 

           separation from their families in childhood has contributed to their sense of feeling isolated and 

           different from others. For some witnesses the relationships with their brothers and sisters have 

           never been properly restored, depriving them of practical and emotional support networks in 

           their adult lives. 



                 No contact whatsoever ... (with siblings) ... I’ve tried, the only thing I can say is I’ve tried 

                 to get in contact with each and every one,... but they have their own...(difficulties). 



13.130     In addition to feeling isolated, between 12 and 17 witnesses also described feeling angry, at 

           times having suicidal thoughts and experiencing sleep disturbance. Fifteen (15) witnesses 

           reported that they abused alcohol to the extent that it had a negative effect on their lives. 



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----------------------- Page 1608-----------------------

 262                                               CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1609-----------------------

           Chapter 14 



           Children’s Homes 



14.01      This section of the Report presents the evidence provided to the Confidential Committee by 

           witnesses in relation to their experiences of abuse in Children’s Homes in Ireland over a period 

           of 73 years between 1919 and 1992. The majority of Children’s Homes, previously known as 

           orphanages and approved schools, were managed by Catholic religious communities or Boards 

           of Trustees affiliated to Protestant churches. In latter decades a number of Children’s Homes 

           were managed and funded by State agencies. The Homes were generally privately managed 

           and were, in earlier decades, not subject to the same statutory inspections as the Industrial 

           Schools. Placement of a child in a Children’s Home could be made directly by their parent, or 

           guardian, on a voluntary basis. Such placements occurred most frequently in the context of a 

           family crisis and were paid for by private means. Other sources of funding included private 

           endowments and charitable benevolent funds. A child could also be placed in a Children’s 

           Home by order of the court under the Children Act, 1908 following an application by officers1  of 



           the local health authority or the regional Health Board, and in particular circumstances by the 

           Garda Siochana.2 

                     ´ 



           Witnesses 



14.02      Sixty one (61) witnesses, 38 male and 23 female, gave evidence to the Committee about their 

           experiences of abuse in 19 Children’s Homes. Witnesses gave evidence in relation to 16 mixed 

           gender Homes, and three Homes for boys. Nine (9) mixed gender Homes were the subject of 

           reports by both male and female witnesses. Four (4) witnesses each made reports of abuse in 

           relation to two Homes. 



14.03      Witnesses who reported abuse in Children’s Homes gave evidence in relation to their 

           experiences in residential care across all decades as follows: 



                   •    Thirty (30) witnesses were discharged prior to 1960. 

                   •    Sixteen (16) witnesses were discharged in the 1960s. 

                   •    Eleven (11) witnesses were discharged in the 1970s. 

                   •    Four (4) witnesses were discharged in the 1980s and 1990s. 



14.04      Twelve (12) of the Children’s Homes were located in Irish cities and the other seven were 

           located in provincial and rural areas. 



14.05      In addition to the reports of abuse outlined in this chapter, seven witnesses also gave evidence 

           of abuse in other out-of-home care placements. Those included Industrial Schools, foster care,3 



           1 Officers – Children’s officers were employed by local health authorities prior to 1970 and were increasingly replaced 



             by social workers thereafter. 

           2 Children Act, 1908 section 64. 

           3 Foster care – previously known in Ireland as ‘boarding out’, also referred to as ‘at nurse’, is a form of out-of-home 



             care that allows for a child to be placed in a family environment rather than an institution. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                    263 


----------------------- Page 1610-----------------------

                                                  4 

           hospitals, special needs services , primary and second-level schools, and residential work and 

           other settings, details of which are reported in the relevant sections of this Report. 



           Social and demographic profile of witnesses 



14.06      On the basis of the information provided by witnesses at their hearings it is understood that their 

           pathways of entry into Children’s Homes varied depending on their age, gender, family 

           circumstances, and the context of their admission. The following section outlines the pre- 

           admission social and family circumstances of the 61 witnesses who gave evidence to the 

           Committee, and was provided by them on the basis of what was known to them from their own 

           family history and from official records. 



           Age at time of hearing 



14.07      As indicated in Table 66, 22 of the witnesses were over 60 years of age at the time of their 

           hearing and three witnesses were under 40 years, with the majority of witnesses reporting 

           abuse in Children’s Homes being in their 50s and 60s, as follows: 



               Table 66: Age Range of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Children’s 

                                                                Homes 



                   Age range                       Males                      Females                  Total witnesses 



                   20–29 years                       2                            0                            2 

                   30–39 years                       0                            1                            1 

                   40–49 years                       12                           2                           14 

                   50–59 years                       10                           12                          22 

                   60–69 years                       11                           8                           19 

                    70 + years                       3                            0                            3 

                      Total                          38                          23                           61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           Place of birth 



14.08      Forty three (43) of the 61 witnesses who gave evidence about abuse in Children’s Homes 

           reported that they were born in Dublin. Sixteen (16) witnesses were born in 11 other Irish 

           counties, and two were born outside the State. 



           Parental marital status 



14.09      More than half of the witnesses reported that they were born into two-parent households, 

           including those where parents were subsequently widowed or separated, as Table 67 illustrates: 



                Table 67: Marital Status of Witnesses’ Parents at Time of Birth – Male and Female 

                                                         Children’s Homes 



                   Marital status of parents                    Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Married                                               17                      10                     27 

            Single                                                 9                      7                      16 

            Separated                                              4                      4                      8 

            Widowed                                                1                      1                      2 

            Co-habiting                                            2                      0                      2 

            Unavailable                                            5                      1                      6 

            Total                                                 38                     23                      61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           4 Special needs services – includes day and residential schools and facilities designated to meet the educational needs 



             of children with intellectual, physical or sensory impairments. Such services were generally managed by religious 

             congregations and were both publicly and privately funded. 



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14.10      There were some gender differences in the information provided by male and female witnesses 

           in these categories. A slightly higher proportion of female witnesses reported being born to 

           single mothers, while more male witnesses stated that they had no information about their family 

           of origin. 



           Parental occupational status 



14.11      Most witnesses provided information regarding their family background and Table 68 indicates 

           the occupational status or estimated skill level of their parents at the time of admission, reported 

           by the witnesses:5 



                Table 68: Occupational Status of Witnesses’ Parents – Male and Female Children’s 

                                                                Homes 



                      Occupational status                       Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Professional worker                                    4                      2                       6 

            Managerial and technical                               1                      0                       1 

            Non-manual                                             3                      2                       5 

            Skilled manual                                         1                      3                       4 

            Semi-skilled                                           3                      0                       3 

            Unskilled                                             18                      12                     30 

            Unavailable                                            8                      4                      12 

            Total                                                 38                      23                     61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.12      Thirty (30) witnesses reported that their parents were unskilled at the time of their admission, by 

           contrast with 12 witnesses who reported their parents were professional, managerial or non- 

           manual workers. Generally, witnesses admitted to the Children’s Homes from other institutional 

           settings were unable to report any detailed information about their parents’ occupational status. 

           Many of those witnesses had been in out-of-home care since infancy. 



           Current country of residence 



14.13      Many of the 61 witnesses who gave evidence about their experiences of abuse in Children’s 

           Homes were residing outside Ireland at the time of their hearing, as shown in Table 69: 



               Table 69: Country of Residence of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                                                         Children’s Homes 



             Country of residence                  Males                      Females                  Total witnesses 



            Ireland                                  28                           11                          39 

            UK                                        6                           11                          17 

            USA/Canada                                3                           0                            3 

            Australia/New Zealand                     1                           0                            1 

            Mainland Europe                           0                           1                            1 

            Total                                    38                           23                          61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.14      As illustrated in the above table there was a notable difference between the numbers of male 

           and female witnesses living in Ireland and in the UK. Female witnesses’ country of residence 

           was equally divided between Ireland and the UK, with almost half of the witnesses living in each 

           country at the time of their hearing, whereas the majority of male witnesses were resident in 

           Ireland. 



           5 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



             parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

             parent was recorded, in so far as it was known. 



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          Siblings in care 



14.15     Fifty five (55) witnesses reported having a total of 224 siblings. Six (6) witnesses reported that 

          they were lone children. Thirty eight (38) witnesses, 23 male and 15 female, reported having 

          111 siblings in out-of-home care. 



14.16     Witnesses gave accounts of out-of-home care being provided for their siblings in a range of 

          settings including Industrial Schools, foster care, special needs services, and Children’s Homes. 



          Circumstances of admission 



14.17     There were some differences in the admission circumstances of the 61 witnesses to Children’s 

          Homes compared with those admitted to Industrial or Reformatory Schools. Most witnesses 

          stated that they were admitted to the Homes on a voluntary basis without the involvement of 

          court proceedings. A small number of witnesses informed the Committee that they believed they 

          were placed in Children’s Homes on an order of the court under the Children Act, 1908 following 

          an application by the local health authority or the Health Board. 



14.18     Thirty nine (39) witnesses, 24 male and 15 female, reported that their first admission to a 

          Children’s Home was directly from their family home. Many of the witnesses reported that 

          members of their extended family had been involved in their care and that they were admitted in 

          the context of parental illness, death, marital separation or abandonment. Five (5) of the 39 

          witnesses stated that they were admitted from the homes of extended family members. Three 

          (3) female witnesses reported that their fathers, who were either widowed or had sole custody, 

          were encouraged by local clergy to place their daughters in out-of-home care. They gave 

          accounts of learning from family members that it was perceived to be inappropriate at the time 

          for lone fathers to rear female children. 



14.19     Fifteen (15) witnesses, eight male and seven female, reported that the Children’s Homes were 

          their second or third placements having previously been in other settings, including hostels, 

          county homes, foster care, and mother and baby homes. Three (3) of these witnesses reported 

          spending up to four years in mother and baby homes along with their mothers and a further four 

          witnesses stated that they were placed in mother and baby homes without their mothers. Some 

          witnesses believed their working mothers had contributed financially for the care provided in the 

          mother and baby homes. Others commented that due to a lack of family or State support their 

          mothers had no alternative but to place them in out-of-home care. Four (4) of the witnesses 

          reported being transferred to Children’s Homes following a brief placement in Industrial Schools 

          where they were initially admitted on court orders under the Children Act, 1908 or the School 

          Attendance Acts, 1926 to 1967. 



14.20     Seven (7) witnesses provided no information or reported that they had no knowledge of their 

          family circumstances prior to their admission to out-of-home care. A number of these witnesses 

          believed they were abandoned as infants. 



          Age on first admission to out-of-home care 



14.21     Among the witnesses reporting abuse in Children’s Homes the age of entry to out-of-home care 

          varied. Fifteen (15) witnesses reported being admitted to Homes before their second birthday, 

          seven of whom reported being in out-of-home care, generally in mother and baby homes. A 

          further 25 witnesses reported being admitted by the age of six years. Table 70 illustrates the 

          age range of witnesses on first admission: 



          266                                                    CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


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              Table 70: Age on First Admission to Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Children’s 

                                                              Homes 



             Age of entry to care                Males                     Females                 Total witnesses 



                   0–5 years                       23                          17                         40 

                   6–10 years                      13                          4                          17 

                  11–15 years                      2                           2                           4 

                      Total                        38                         23                          61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.22      Witnesses admitted at a later age were generally placed in out-of-home care as a result of 

           parental illness, separation or death. 



           Length of stay in out-of-home care 



14.23      The length of time witnesses reported being in out-of-home care ranged from one to 18 years, 

           as shown in Table 71: 



               Table 71: Length of Stay in Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Children’s Homes 



            Length of stay in care               Males                     Females                 Total witnesses 



                   0–5 years                       4                           2                           6 

                   6–10 years                      14                          8                          22 

                  11–15 years                      18                          10                         28 

                  16–18 years                      2                           3                           5 

                      Total                        38                         23                          61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.24      The average length of stay was 11 years for female witnesses and seven and a half years for 

           male witnesses. Fifty five (55) witnesses spent more than six years in out-of-home care. A 

           number of witnesses reported being transferred to other institutions and did not spend the entire 

           period of their residential care in Children’s Homes. 



14.25      The following table displays the age at discharge of witnesses who reported abuse in Children’s 

           Homes: 



             Table 72: Age when Discharged from Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Children’s 

                                                              Homes 



            Age when discharged                  Males                     Females                 Total witnesses 



                   <10 years                        1                          1                           2 

                  10–13 years                      11                          5                          16 

                  14–16 years                      19                          9                          28 

                   17+ years                       7                           8                          15 

                      Total                        38                         23                          61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.26      Fourteen (14) witnesses, 12 male and two female, reported being transferred from Children’s 

           Homes to Industrial Schools. Nine (9) of those were transferred prior to the 1960s. The majority 

           of these witnesses, who were discharged when they were aged between 14 and 16 years, had 

           spent over nine years in out-of-home care. In general, male witnesses were transferred from 

           Children’s Homes to senior Industrial Schools at 10 years of age. 



14.27      A small number of witnesses who remained in Children’s Homes after 17 years of age reported 

           being assisted with education and training. Others described being supported by the staff and 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                               267 


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           continued to reside in the Homes until they were settled in accommodation and employment, 

           during the 1980s and 1990s. 



           Everyday life in children’s homes 



14.28      This section presents the information provided by 61 witnesses regarding aspects of their every 

           day life in Children’s Homes, including education, work, health and recreation. The witnesses’ 

           descriptions of everyday life in these Homes differed from accounts heard of Industrial Schools 

           in a number of aspects. The physical structure of the Homes was generally smaller, there were 

           fewer residents, and, with few exceptions, admission was on a voluntary basis. Further, in a 

           number of Children’s Homes witnesses reported being encouraged and supported to attend 

           second-level education and more often commented that professionally trained lay childcare 

           workers were employed since the 1970s.6 



           Education 



14.29      Witnesses reported that, prior to the 1970s, classroom education was generally provided within 

           the Children’s Homes and in boarding schools located on the same site. Witnesses also 

           reported attending primary, secondary and vocational schools in the local community. Those 

           who attended off-site schools reported that they valued the opportunity to mix with pupils from 

           the local community and the contact it provided with the outside world. 



14.30      With the exception of one female witness, all the witnesses gave accounts of attending primary 

           school and the majority attained their Primary Certificate.7 



14.31      Twenty three (23) witnesses, 14 male and nine female, reported that they received second-level 

           education, 10 of whom succeeded in attaining their Intermediate/Junior, Leaving or Group 

           Certificates. Others obtained secretarial and technical qualifications with the support of religious 

           and lay staff from the Homes. 



           Food 



14.32      The diet in the period prior to the 1970s was typically described as porridge for breakfast with 

           either tea or cocoa, potatoes with meat and vegetables for the midday meal, and bread and tea 

           for the evening meal. A number of witnesses who were admitted in the 1960s and remained in 

           Homes throughout the 1970s reported improvements in the quality and availability of a more 

           nourishing and varied diet during that period. 



           Health and medical care 



14.33      The Committee heard evidence from witnesses of the health care provided to them in Children’s 

           Homes, with improvements in the availability and range of services in more recent decades. 

           Thirty eight (38) witnesses reported receiving some type of medical attention including 

           attendance by a doctor or a nurse, treatment in the infirmary, and immunisation. Sixteen (16) 

           witnesses described being attended by a family doctor. Accounts were heard of infirmaries or 

           sick bays being available in 10 Homes. Eighteen (18) witnesses reported attending hospital for 

           illnesses including: scarlet fever, appendicitis, diphtheria, and rheumatic fever. Six (6) other 

           witnesses reported attendance at outpatient clinics or hospital casualty departments for various 

           reasons including the investigation of physical illness, treatment for accidental and non- 

           accidental injuries, and assessment at child and adolescent mental health services. 



           6 Formal child care training was first established in Ireland in the 1970s. 

           7 Primary Certificate – examination certificate awarded at the end of primary school education, it was abolished in 1967. 



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          Work 



14.34     Forty (40) witnesses reported being involved in some form of work while resident in the 

          Children’s Homes. The majority of these accounts related to the period prior to the 1970s. 

          Witnesses described performing domestic tasks such as cleaning, polishing and working in the 

          convent, and in a small number of instances serving meals to visiting priests. Other witnesses 

          reported working for what they believed was the commercial gain of religious congregations 

          including work in laundries, on farms, and in homes for the elderly. 



14.35     Witnesses from a small number of the Children’s Homes gave accounts of undertaking domestic 

          chores in fee-paying boarding schools attached to the convents; some commented on the 

          apparent inequality of their circumstances by contrast with pupils in those schools. 



14.36     Six (6) female witnesses reported providing care for infants and younger residents in the 

          Children’s Homes. Some witnesses described these responsibilities as inappropriate for their 

          age due to their lack of emotional maturity, the inadequacy of their own care, and the lack of 

          supervision or support provided by staff. 



          Play and recreation 



14.37     Fifty four (54) witnesses commented on the various opportunities provided for play and 

          recreation. Activities included outings to the sea, cinema, and the availability of television, books 

          and toys. Other types of recreation included Irish dancing, Sunday walks and participation in 

          Gaelic games. Many witnesses reported being encouraged by staff to participate in sport and 

          other recreational activities. 



14.38     Greater availability of equipment and games, and the opportunity to be involved in activities in 

          the local community were reported by witnesses discharged in the 1980s and 1990s. Witnesses 

          commented that such activities outside the Homes facilitated reintegration on discharge and 

          gave them a sense of connection with the community outside the institution. 



          Religion 



14.39     Witnesses commented that religion was an important aspect of everyday life and 44 witnesses 

          reported religious practices that included attendance at daily Mass, reciting the Rosary, and 

          attending Sunday Church. 



                ...Named Children’s Home... was modelled on religious life, a very strict regime. The 

                silence was constant except for very short periods, you could speak only if spoken to. 



          Official visitors and inspections 



14.40     Twelve (12) witnesses, reported visits by adults from outside the institutions including 

          benefactors, the Cigire in the classroom, and others whose identity was not always clear to 

          witnesses. One witness recalled the visit of prospective foster parents who walked up and down 

          a line of residents for the purpose of selecting a child for fostering. Many reported that 

          preparations were made for these visits, which included cleaning the institutions, residents being 

          provided with special clothing and toys, and improvements in food for the duration of the visit. 

          Others commented that the residents were never spoken to during these visits. 



                There was a big flap every now and again when visitors came, some of them were 

                charity people. ... Children in the lower grades were given the toys that were on shelves 

                or on windows and which they didn’t know how to handle and were afraid to do anything 

                with in case of punishment later. 



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           Preparation for discharge 



14.41      Witnesses commonly reported that they were not adequately prepared for discharge and that 

           the transition to independent living was often difficult. Witnesses, who had been in institutions 

           since early childhood, described feeling abandoned, displaced and lost on leaving the Children’s 

           Homes. Other witnesses for whom family contact had been maintained by visits and holidays 

           throughout their admission generally reported continued family contact following their discharge. 



14.42      The Committee heard evidence of ongoing difficulties from those witnesses whose siblings had 

           been placed in different institutions or for whom family contact had been restricted or not 

           supported. Witnesses’ evidence of loss of contact with siblings during admission and the 

           subsequent difficulties reconnecting with family members when they were discharged is 

           described later in this chapter. One male witness discharged in the 1980s gave an account of 

           his discharge experience: 



                 I was given a bus ticket and told to get the bus, my family lived in ...named town... many 

                 miles away. I did not return home as I was not wanted. There was no follow-up by the 

                 service. I spent many years drifting. 



14.43      Witnesses reported being discharged from Children’s Homes to a variety of settings. Nineteen 

           (19) witnesses reported that arrangements were made for them to work in live-in positions with 

           families, or to be placed in hostels where some follow-up was provided. Others reported that 

           they were encouraged to continue their education and were supported in applying for 

           occupational training when they were discharged. Eight (8) witnesses, five male and three 

           female, were discharged to their extended family. 



           Record of abuse 



14.44      The Committee heard 65 reports of abuse from 61 witnesses, 38 male and 23 female, in relation 

           to 19 Children’s Homes over the period 1919 to 1992.8            Four (4) male witnesses each reported 



           abuse in two Children’s Homes. Reports of abuse by a witness may be either descriptions of a 

           single incident of abuse or multiple experiences of abuse over a period of time. The Committee 

           heard multiple abuse reports in relation to nine of the 19 homes reported: 



                  •    Six (6) Homes were each the subject of between four and 10 reports, totalling 63 

                        reports (47 male and 16 female). 



                  •    Three (3) Homes were each the subject of either two or three reports, totalling 31 

                        reports (18 male and 13 female). 



                  •    Ten (10) Homes were each the subject of single reports, five male and five female. 



14.45      Witnesses reported all four types of abuse: physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional 

           abuse alone and in combination, as follows: 



                  •     Fifty seven (57) witnesses reported physical abuse. 

                  •     Forty two (42) witnesses reported emotional abuse. 

                  •     Forty one (41) witnesses reported neglect. 

                  •    Twenty nine (29) witnesses reported sexual abuse. 



14.46      Table 73 outlines the combinations and frequency of abuse types, as reported by witnesses: 



           8 Note – a number of witnesses were admitted to more than one Children’s Home, and made reports of abuse in more 



             than one Children’s Home, therefore, the number of reports are greater than the number of witnesses. 



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----------------------- Page 1617-----------------------

                   Table 73: Abuse Types and Combinations – Male and Female Children’s Home 



                      Abuse types and combinations                                     Number of reports 



            Physical, emotional and neglect                                                      16 



            Physical, sexual, emotional and neglect                                              15 



            Physical and emotional                                                                7 



            Physical and neglect                                                                  6 



            Physical, sexual and emotional                                                        5 



            Physical, sexual and neglect                                                          5 



            Physical and sexual                                                                   4 



            Physical                                                                              3 



            Sexual and emotional                                                                  1 



            Sexual                                                                                1 



            Emotional                                                                             1 



            Neglect                                                                               1 



            Total                                                                                65 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.47      Fifty (50) witnesses reported that abuse was a regular occurrence either witnessed or 

           experienced on a daily basis. As indicated above, the most frequently reported combination of 

           abuse types by both male and female witnesses were physical and emotional abuse with 

           neglect. The Committee heard 30 witness reports of sexual abuse in combination with other 

           types of abuse. 



           Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child.9 



14.48      This section describes witness reports of incidents of physical abuse, non-accidental injury, and 

           lack of protection from harm. The reports included detailed and disturbing accounts of assaults 

           experienced. The forms of physical abuse included beating, punching, kicking, assault with 

           implements and being immersed in water. 



14.49      Fifty seven (57) witnesses, 36 male and 21 female, who gave evidence to the Committee 

           reported physical abuse in 19 Children’s Homes. Witnesses made 61 reports of physical abuse 

           over a 70-year period. The number of witness reports of physical abuse in different Homes 

           varied as follows: 



                   •    Two (2) Children’s Homes were collectively the subject of 24 reports. 

                   •    Seven (7) Children’s Homes were the subject of between two and five reports, 

                         totalling 27 reports. 



                   •    Ten (10) Children’s Homes were the subject of single reports. 



           Description of physical abuse 



14.50      Witnesses reported being physically abused for many reasons or for no reason that they could 

           understand. Many gave accounts of being constantly fearful of physical punishment. Behaviours 

           precipitating abuse included bed-wetting, disclosing abuse, underachieving in the classroom, 



           9 Section 1(1)(a) 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                     271 


----------------------- Page 1618-----------------------

          failure to meet expected standards of personal care and care of their clothing, running away, 

          breaking the rule of silence, taking food, and other perceived misconduct. 



14.51     Witnesses from four Children’s Homes gave accounts of a harsh environment where explosive 

          episodes of physical abuse were experienced or witnessed, with no understanding of why they 

          were happening. Some witnesses reported being beaten in association with sexual abuse. 



14.52     Nine (9) witnesses from a small number of Homes described being beaten in the presence of 

          staff and co-residents, when they were either partially undressed or stripped naked. 



14.53     Witness reports of physical abuse included being punched, kicked, hit with knuckles, hair pulled 

          and cut, being force fed, and lifted by the ears and hair. The Committee also heard reports of 

          witnesses being forced to kneel for long periods, being beaten on the feet, backs of the hands, 

          fingertips and legs. They also described their heads being hit off radiators, wedged in a door or 

          submerged under water. The witnesses reported being beaten with various implements 

          including leathers, sticks, strips of rubber, brushes, hurleys, badminton racquets, rulers, whips 

          and bunches of keys. A small number of witnesses reported being forced to eat quantities of 

          mustard, having their mouths and other body parts, including genitalia, scrubbed with 

          nailbrushes, and being held under a cold tap. 



                On a Saturday morning we used to do work around the orphanage, clean up, sweep up 

                floors, that sort of thing.... We had to clean up around old fashioned urinals, pick up 

                papers out of the shore, that was my job. I was only 8, 9, or 10 at the time.... One day 

                he .... (named religious staff)... was not happy with the result of what I had done, that 

                resulted in another frenzied attack of kicking.... He punched me, straight in with the fist 

                and when you're down the boot came out then. You’re a kid, you're in a ball trying to 

                protect yourself the best possible way. 



                                                               • 



                Sr ...X... beat me at night, before I would go to sleep, to stop me from wetting the bed. 

                When that didn’t work she beat me before I would go to school, this continued over all 

                the years in the orphanage, she made me an example. It went on ’til I was 13 ...(years 

                old)... everyday. I learned not to cry, she would hit me more if I did cry. Before she beat 

                me I would have to carry my sheets across through the house to the laundry, she would 

                bend me over a bath or over the rocking horse and on bare skin she would beat me 

                with whatever was handy, cane, strap or brush. The final straw was Sr ...X... came into 

                the bathroom and said “by the time I have finished with you ...(witness’s surname)... the 

                devil will be out of you”. She had the bath ready, she had this nailbrush, she scrubbed 

                my private area with it so much I was so sore, then she decided to put my head 

                underwater ...(saying)... “you will be clean after this”. I had to fight for breath I couldn’t 

                breathe, it seemed like an endless time, as if she wasn’t going to stop, I was frozen. 



                                                               • 



                He ... (named male religious staff )... would lift boys by forelocks and try to punch boys 

                where bruising would not show. 



14.54     Both male and female witnesses reported being physically abused in various locations including 

          classrooms, dormitories, refectories, bathrooms, recreation halls, work and play areas, grounds 

          of the Homes, and in the homes of ‘holiday’ families. A small number of witnesses from one 

          Children’s Home reported being abused by being isolated, physically punished, and threatened 

          not to disclose that they were abused in the infirmary. One witnesses commented ‘because of 

          the general fear you were afraid to go to the ...infirmary...’ 



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14.55      The majority of the 24 witness reports from two Homes were of severe abuse including being hit 

           on the bare buttocks, being submerged and held under water, and being instructed to hit other 

           residents. Ten (10) male witnesses from one of these Children’s Homes commented that 

           physical beatings were severe, unpredictable and unprovoked. Six (6) of the 10 witnesses 

           reported sustaining injuries to their hands, feet and heads. Two (2) witnesses described their 

           experiences in the following words: 



                 It just continued on and on a daily basis, just random attacks on different individuals. 

                 There doesn't seem to be any logical reason for the attacks, unprovoked, if he ... 

                 (named male religious Resident Manager)... felt like laying into somebody he would just 

                 do it. It was constant. You might be queuing up for food and it would be a dig ... 

                 (punch)... put into some guy, a wigging ... (pulling by the ear)... pull somebody out. ... It 

                 was just random attacks, there was no control on it, for no apparent reason, a constant 

                 barrage of abuse, mentally abuse you and physically abuse you. 



                                                                 • 



                 She ... (Sr X)... pulled my pants down and beat me around the kitchen, when she was 

                 finished she sent me out to face the other lads with my trousers down. Still she was not 

                 finished, I was sent to wax and polish the refectory, as I finished she opened the door 

                 and in came one of the older boys. He told me she sent him in to beat me. I kept 

                 moving around the tables pleading and in the end he didn’t hit me. I spent the night 

                 locked in there. 



           Bed-wetting and soiling 



14.56      Twenty one (21) witnesses, 13 male and eight female, reported being physically punished for 

           bed-wetting or soiling. The Committee heard many reports of physical punishment combined 

          with critical and humiliating comments in relation to bed-wetting. Witnesses stated they were 

           beaten on the hands or on the bare buttocks, and in two Homes the residents were beaten 

           partially naked. Witnesses also described having their faces pushed into wet and soiled sheets, 

           locked outside in sheds or in dark cupboards, and having their heads immersed in water. Two 

           (2) male witnesses stated that they were held under water by the genitalia in baths as a 

           punishment for bed-wetting. Female witnesses reported being made to stand in cold baths. The 

          following is a witness’s account of punishment for bed-wetting: 



                 From the word go I witnessed terrible, terrible physical abuse. On my first morning I 

                 woke up and I seen ... named male religious staff... and he had a young guy, probably 

                 about my own age, 6 or 7, this young guy had wet the bed and...named male religious 

                 staff... had him by one arm and one leg, he looked like a spider monkey. He had a sink 

                 filled with cold water and he was dumping him up and down in it, the kid was gone off 

                 his head screaming. I had never seen this before in my life, I could not give expression 

                 to it, frozen disbelief, I couldn't react, I couldn't speak .... 



                                                                 • 



                 I was punished for bed-wetting. I had to sit with my hands on top of my head and... 

                 (be)... beaten on the toes with a stick or put across the bed in a nightshirt and beaten 

                 on the bare bottom. 



           Classroom education 



14.57      Twenty one (21) witnesses, 14 male and seven female, described being physically abused in 

          the classroom. Many of the witnesses described the classroom as a place of fear, particularly 

           associated with a small number of named abusers. Witnesses reported being punished for 

           reasons such as left-handedness, resisting sexual fondling, lack of fluency in Irish, and speech 

           or writing difficulties. One witness who was left handed described his hand being tied to the side 

           of the desk at study time and then being beaten for any mistakes he made. Another witness 

          who was left- handed described her abuse: 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                              273 


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                  Sr ...X... beat me regularly for being left-handed, saying “no convent girl is going to be 

                  left-handed, left-handed people are for the devil”. Sr ...Y... stuck sewing needles in the 

                  back of my hand for sewing with my left hand. I was beaten on the palms, back of 

                  hands, with the leather strap, ruler, bamboo stick, my hands were beaten so badly they 

                  bled. When my hands were bleeding I was isolated in the infirmary until they healed. 

                  She ... (Sr X)... got me to wet my hands before she hit me sometimes. In school I was 

                  made stand on the desk, if my hands were bleeding I was slapped on the backs of my 

                  legs. I was so bad one day all the class cried with me, I used to blank out the pain. 



           Other circumstances of physical abuse 



14.58      Twenty nine (29) witnesses from 10 Children’s Homes reported harsh and often unpredictable 

           physical punishment for various other reasons. The circumstances precipitating abuse included 

           neglect of one’s personal care and clothing, not eating the food provided, answering back, the 

           disclosure of sexual abuse and ‘breaking the silence rule’. In one Home witnesses reported that 

           following inspection of their shoes and clothing residents were beaten if the items were soiled, 

           damaged or lost and that losing a stud from one’s boots led to being beaten on the soles of the 

           feet. Others reported that breaking the rule of sleeping with their arms crossed, fainting or falling 

           asleep in the chapel or not responding promptly while praying led to being hit with a cane by 

           staff. 



14.59      Two (2) witnesses from two Homes reported being sent by care staff to stand waiting for 

           punishment by lay staff in authority for ‘anything that was considered rebellious’ such as talking 

           in the dormitory or ‘answering back’. In both instances the witnesses described that the 

           perpetrators of the beatings had a reputation for severe physical abuse. One witness described 

           anticipating the abuse and demonstrated efforts to protect himself from the assaults: 



                  Once you were standing in this big long corridor there would be 2 or 3 ... (co-residents) 

                  ... you are not thinking of them, you are just thinking of yourself, which way were you 

                  going to do ... demonstrating protecting face with arms ... so you protected yourself with 

                 your arm like that but then you got it round the edges .... The worst part was ... you 

                  were told at night time they would say “go in to the ... (room) ... wait for me” ... that was 

                  the worst part. You knew you were going to get a beating, waiting for the beating you 

                  knew what it was going to be like ...(a severe beating) ... 



14.60      Five (5) witnesses from two Homes reported that there was an atmosphere of bullying and 

           intimidation by older residents. They described being physically and verbally abused, and in 

           some instances they believed this occurred with the knowledge and consent of staff in authority. 

           Two (2) witnesses from one Home believed that older residents were encouraged by the lay 

           resident manager to physically punish younger residents and that they were then rewarded with 

           treats such as extra cigarettes and outings to the cinema: 



                  There was a lot of bullying there, not the kids of your own age, there would be the odd 

                  scuffle you'd understand that, you know. The boys older than us would beat us up a lot, 

                  they would give fearsome beatings. I often ended up with black eyes and face busted to 

                  the side, bruises all over me body from kickings.... ... If you complained about it the 

                  head people would turn around and say to you, “oh you got that for arguing with a 

                 young fellow your own age”, so where do you go from that? They never got disciplined. 

                 Actually the main man of the place, who used to run the place, used to use the older 

                  boys to do his punishment for him, that’s kinda how he run the place.... The orders were 

                  coming from him, we used to get 4 or 5 cigarettes, he’d give them 20 or 30, he was 

                 paying them for what they were doing, they would get extra pocket money. 



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           Injuries 



14.61      Twenty one (21) witnesses, 15 male and six female, from 10 Children’s Homes reported that 

           they sustained injuries from physical abuse. The types of injuries reported included four mouth 

           and facial injuries, three broken bones, and three head injuries which rendered witnesses 

           unconscious. Many witnesses described being left marked and bleeding. One male witness 

           reported being unconscious following a severe beating by two female lay staff and woke up to 

           find a splint on his arm. Another witness gave an account of bruising to his genitalia following a 

           beating. 



14.62      Six (6) witnesses, four male and two female, reported receiving medical attention following 

           incidents of physical abuse, and three witnesses reporting attending hospital for treatment of 

           injuries. Two (2) male witnesses who reported being severely physically assaulted in one 

           Children’s Home described attending hospital on three different occasions with injuries to their 

           head and stomach. 



14.63      Two (2) witnesses from two different Homes reported that following severe beatings by male 

           religious and lay care staff two co-residents were never seen again. 



           Reported abusers 



14.64      Fifty seven (57) witnesses reported that they were physically abused by 67 perpetrators, 

           including religious and lay staff, co-residents and other adults who had access to the Homes. 

           Fifty four (54) reported abusers were identified by name and the 13 who were not named were 

           described by their position or function within the Home. It is possible that there is some overlap 

           between those identified by name and those who were not named. Table 74 lists the position 

           held and number of reported abusers: 



                 Table 74: Position and Number of Reported Physical Abusers – Male and Female 

                                                        Children’s Homes 



                 Position of reported physical abusers                        Males                      Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                        8                           8 



            - Care staff                                                         1                          13 



            - Teacher                                                            4                           4 



            - Ancillary worker                                                   0                           1 



            - External priest                                                    1                           0 



            Lay 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                        2                           1 



            - Care staff                                                         4                           8 



            - Teacher                                                            3                           1 



            - Ancillary worker                                                   1                           0 



            Weekend or holiday placement carer                                   1                           0 



            Ex-resident                                                          0                           1 



            Co-resident                                                          3                           2 



            Total                                                              28                           39 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



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14.65      Twenty six (26) of the female perpetrators of physical abuse were reported to be religious 

           Sisters and 14 were religious Brothers or priests. 



14.66      Sixteen (16) religious staff reported to be physically abusive were understood to be in positions 

           of authority in the Children’s Homes and were given various titles by witnesses including: 

           Resident Manager, Officer in Charge, Brother in Charge, Reverend Mother or as the Head of 

           the orphanage. 



14.67      Lay care staff, including residential house-parents, were reported to be involved in the everyday 

           living activities in the Homes, and ancillary workers were generally involved in building, 

           maintenance or farm work. One lay care worker described by a witness as ‘the cruelest person’ 

           was reported by two witnesses as constantly beating residents for no reason. Other lay staff 

           reported as physically abusive were teachers, including three school Principals. 



14.68      A witness reported being beaten by the Resident Manager on both hands with a cane until he 

           was unable to lift his hands. The Resident Manager was also described as regularly hitting 

           children's heads off the wall. 



14.69      The Committee heard evidence regarding three Children’s Homes of consistent and severe 

           physical abuse by a small number of named abusers. One male religious staff member was 

           identified by seven witnesses as a perpetrator of severe physical abuse. He was described by 

           witnesses as ‘brutal’ and ‘vicious’. One witness reported ‘He’d beat the living daylights out of 

           you, especially if you had no one to tell’. 



                 Physical abuse was constant and worst at night.... (named religious staff X),...slept in 

                  the dormitory and used to beat boys for misbehaviour, he used a leather strap and also 

                 a strip of rubber.... He was particularly vicious and appeared to gain pleasure from 

                 beating boys. I was beaten severely by...named religious staff Y... when I was returned 

                 each time after running away following a beating, he would have helpers for the 

                 beatings. I saw one boy stand up to... named religious staff Y. I never saw him ... (co- 

                  resident)... again. ... Named religious staff Y... beat boys with a leather strap with pieces 

                 of lead at the end ... (he also) ... beat boys with a hurling stick and another... unnamed 

                  male religious staff ... used catch the boys behind the door in a head lock and beat 

                  them with his fist. 



14.70      Eight (8) female religious and lay staff in one Children’s Home were identified by many 

           witnesses as physically abusive. A number of these staff members were described as 

           particularly harsh in their punishment of residents and some were reported to have immersed 

           residents who wet the bed in cold baths and held them underwater. 



14.71      Five (5) witnesses, three male and two female, gave accounts of being physically abused by co- 

           residents. Witnesses from one Home reported that older residents took charge of the residents 

           at playtime with, they believed, the consent of staff. This was described as ‘lookout time’ and 

           was reported to be the likely time for sexual and physical abuse. 



           Sexual abuse 



                  The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                 or another person.10 



14.72      This section presents witness evidence of sexual abuse ranging from contact sexual abuse 

           including molestation, vaginal and anal penetration to non-contact sexual abuse such as 

           voyeurism. Some witnesses provided detailed and disturbing accounts of the sexual abuse they 



           10 Section 1(1)(b) 



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          experienced, other accounts were sufficient to clarify the nature and extent of the reported 

          abuse. 



14.73     Twenty nine (29) witnesses, 20 male and nine female, reported being sexually abused in 15 

          Children’s Homes. More than half of the male and over one third of the female witnesses who 

          reported abuse in Children’s Homes reported sexual abuse. Two (2) male witnesses each 

          reported sexual abuse in two Homes. 



14.74     Witnesses made a total of 31 reports of sexual abuse. The frequency of sexual abuse reported 

          by witnesses varied between Children’s Homes as follows: 



                 •    Five (5) Homes were each the subject of between three and five reports, totalling 21 

                       reports. 



                 •    Two (2) Homes were each the subject of two reports, totalling four reports. 

                 •    Eight (8) Homes were each the subject of a single report. 



14.75     Sexual abuse was reported in combination with physical and emotional abuse and neglect in 30 

          witness reports. 



14.76     The Committee heard accounts from some witnesses of sexual abuse as an acute episode of 

          assault while others described chronic abuse involving molestation and penetration over a 

          number of years. A number of witnesses described coercive methods used by adults to 

          physically force witnesses to yield to abuse. 



          Description of sexual abuse 



14.77     The forms of sexual abuse reported by witnesses included inappropriate fondling, masturbation, 

          oral/genital contact and rape. Witnesses reported the chronic and coercive nature of the sexual 

          abuse they experienced, giving accounts of being forced to comply with sexual molestation in 

          return for money, alcohol, shelter or affection. Witnesses reported that sexual abuse was 

          perpetrated in both public and private areas of the Homes and outside the institutions. Many 

          witnesses reported that sexual abuse occurred in circumstances of restricted access and in 

          isolated situations including the homes of volunteers, basements, boiler rooms, recreation 

          rooms, bathrooms, sacristies, confessionals, garden sheds, and the sleeping quarters of staff 

          members. A small number of witnesses described how people who abused them forced their 

          compliance by means of threats and actual violence. Male witnesses consistently reported that 

          when abused by a person in a position of authority they felt defenceless and powerless to either 

          physically resist or disclose the abuse because of the threat of physical retaliation. The following 

          is the account of one witness: 



                ... I don’t want to go into any great detail ... if you went into ... (recreation room) ... there 

                was a lock on the door and there was nothing you could do. Using a very mild word I 

                would have to say, the very first time he ... (lay care staff) ... raped me ... distressed and 

                crying ....He did threaten me but ... crying ... you just feel like at that age anyway, with 

                the experience ... of not being believed, it was just dismissed ... even if you went to the 

                guards, who would believe you? ... People were very ignorant at that stage.... 



14.78     Of the 29 witnesses who reported sexual abuse in Homes, 19 gave accounts of molestation 

          including masturbation, fondling and oral/genital contact: 



                I have memories of her ...(named female religious staff) ... being on top of me and 

                touching me, I think I was about 3 or 4, she used to say I was her special. She used 

                bring me off with her friend ... a woman friend in the car for a treat. They would stop for 

                a picnic, and they would be touching me, mostly just touching with my clothes half on 



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                and half off. She told me when I was about 10 I was no longer special because I ... had 

                2 figures in my age. I don’t know whether she moved on to someone younger.... 



                                                            • 



               At the age of 9 or 10 years when delivering the priest’s breakfast I was made to stand 

                beside him while he rubbed his hand up and down my leg, later he put his hand inside 

                my pants, I had to stand while he did this waiting for him to tell me to take the covers off 

                the food dishes and dismiss me. I would cry afterwards, a nun saw me cry one day and 

                asked me what was wrong, I told her I didn’t like the priest and was not going into the 

               parlour again and if made to do so I would run away. The nun gave me tea and toast in 

                the kitchen. I do not remember seeing the priest again. 



14.79     Ten (10) witnesses, seven male and three female, reported being raped while resident in a 

          Children’s Home. They gave accounts of these assaults being perpetrated by staff, peers and 

          others associated with the Homes. In some instances witnesses reported being coerced, 

          threatened and subjected to physical violence in association with being raped. One witness 

          reported multiple episodes of anal rape causing injury. Others stated that they were repeatedly 

          raped over a number of months and believed the assaults stopped when the perpetrator began 

          to abuse a younger resident. 



                It happened a good few times maybe every week or every 10 days, sometimes it would 

                be twice a week, it all depends you know. It just kept going until I was released after a 

               year. Other kids would say ... “it was your turn tonight”, I would not know what they 

                mean like the first 2 weeks I was in there, I would not have a clue what they were 

                talking about. There were little boys, the beds were beside each other there and they 

                would be over at your bed talking and afraid... (saying)... “I hope it’s not me tonight”. 

                Janey, there was nothing you could do for them, on the other hand you were afraid 

               yourself. You knew what they were saying was correct and the same time you would be 

                hoping it wouldn’t be you yourself.... It was the younger fellas that got called out. 



14.80     A female witness reported being sent by a religious Sister to Confession having been accused 

          of stealing money and sweets. She recounted that the priest, having heard her Confession, 

          undressed her and vaginally and anally raped her, ‘and threatened me never to say ... 

          (anything)... when I went back to the orphanage’. Another witness reported that the visiting 

          chaplain raped and otherwise sexually and physically abused her in the sacristy, confessional, 

          convent grounds, and in the boiler room on many occasions over a period of four years. 



14.81     A small number of witnesses reported that the violence associated with sexual abuse was so 

          severe that they were helpless and unable to protect themselves. 



               X ...(named volunteer worker)... came with another man every Sunday morning after 

                breakfast. On the first week he selected me for some sort of pretext for punishment, he 

                took off his belt ...and beat me... from head to foot in front of all the others. Then he 

                shut me in a cupboard for half an hour before sending me to the dormitory where he 

               gave me another beating before raping me. This was repeated every Sunday for 12 

                weeks, and then he moved on to another boy. They came every Sunday for the 3 years 

                I was there. 



14.82     Nine (9) male witnesses from a small number of Homes reported that religious staff, visiting the 

          dormitory at night, sexually fondled them in their beds. Others described being taken from their 

          dormitory and raped by male lay staff. Witnesses also reported that molestation and 

          inappropriate sexual contact took place in public locations such as cinemas, classrooms and 

          external social venues. 



               At the Christmas party for boys provided by ...(named voluntary organisation)... I was 

                taken to the toilet by a volunteer called ...X.... He masturbated me and gave me 2/6. 



                                                            • 



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                 He ... (named lay Resident Manager)... would ... distressed... well he used to come to 

                 the dormitory, you know, come to your bed at night. He’d say “come out here...”. You’d 

                 get out of bed and you would only have a pair of underpants and a vest on you. He 

                 would take you out to ... (external building)... and he would start abusing you in different 

                 ways, sexual ways. He would make you take off your clothes and do things to you that 

                 he shouldn’t be doing ... (witness reported anal penetration, masturbation, fondling and 

                 use of violence).... I said I would run away. I tried to stop him, he would beat you very 

                 severely with a strap. One time I remember next day I was very sore, I couldn’t walk or 

                 nothing, I had to stay in bed, he said I was sick or something. 



           Reported abusers 



14.83      A total of 43 perpetrators, 34 male and nine female, were identified in evidence to the 

           Committee as having sexually abused 29 witnesses. Men and women described as abusers 

           included named and unnamed religious and lay staff, adult male volunteer workers and visitors, 

           external priests and Brothers, older residents, and others. Thirty one (31) of the reported 

           abusers were identified by name. Witnesses identified another 12 abusers by their position or 

           function either in the Home or in association with the Home. It is possible that there is some 

           overlap between those identified by name and those who were not named. The following Table 

           lists the positions held and the number of reported sexual abusers: 



           Table 75: Position and Number of Reported Sexual Abusers – Male and Female Children’s 

                                                               Homes 



                  Position of reported sexual abusers                         Males                      Females 



            Religious 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                        3                           2 



            >- Care staff                                                        2                           3 



            - Teacher                                                            1                           0 



            - Ancillary worker                                                   1                           0 



            - External priest or Brother                                         4                           0 



            Lay 



            - Authority figure including Resident Manager                        1                           0 



            - Housemaster                                                        2                           0 



            - Care staff                                                         1                           2 



            - Ancillary worker                                                   2                           0 



            Family member                                                        1                           0 



            ‘Foster’ or ‘holiday’ placement carer                                2                           0 



            Volunteer workers and visitors                                       8                           1 



            General public                                                       1                           0 



            Ex-resident                                                          2                           0 



            Co-resident                                                          3                           1 



            Total                                                              34                            9 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.84      Eleven (11) of the reported abusers were religious Brothers or priests and five were religious 

           Sisters. Male volunteer workers were reported to visit the Children’s Homes with the consent 

           and cooperation of staff and management. Five (5) witnesses from one Children’s Home 

           reported nine individuals, including five volunteer workers, as sexually abusive. Among those 



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----------------------- Page 1626-----------------------

          reported as abusive was a religious Resident Manager of the Home, who was also reported by 

          a number of witnesses as physically abusive. 



14.85     Nine (9) witnesses reported sexual abuse by both religious and lay care staff. Five (5) religious 

          staff in positions of authority were reported as abusers, including one religious Resident 

          Manager who was the subject of three witnesses’ reports of sexual abuse. One lay care worker 

          was reported by two witnesses to have sexually abused them, progressing from molestation to 

          anal penetration. 



                My second key worker ... named lay care worker... started to abuse me from an early 

                age. He first brought me to the ... named place... room where younger boys were only 

                allowed go accompanied by a staff member. He locked the door and raped me, he 

                abused me in the dormitory where other boys slept, in disused rooms and in a ...named 

                place... where staff could take boys for treats. The abuse happened about 3 times a 

                week, whenever he was on duty, over a year and half. 



14.86     Three (3) witnesses, one male and two female, reported being abused by female religious staff. 

          The male witness described being aggressively fondled and forced to fondle his abuser. He 

          reported that he was threatened that he would go to hell if he disclosed that he was being 

          abused. A female witness described being beaten and then fondled by a female religious in a 

          position of authority within the Home. Another female witness reported being taken out of the 

          Home by a religious Sister and her female friend who sexually molested her. 



14.87     Witnesses described the practice in three Children’s Homes of male volunteer workers visiting 

          the Homes. They believed these men assisted the Resident Managers or those in charge by 

          providing help with homework, recreational activities and transport. Some were reported to be 

          constant visitors at weekends and were welcomed by residents because they provided 

          opportunities for contact outside the Home, taking residents to the cinema, swimming and on 

          other outings. Other volunteer workers were reported to be involved on an occasional basis 

          providing children’s parties, holidays and weekends away from the institution. Two (2) volunteer 

          workers were reported to provide accommodation and support during the witnesses’ transition to 

          independent living. 



14.88     The Committee heard evidence from nine witnesses, eight male and one female, of being 

          sexually abused by eight male volunteer workers, seven of whom were named. One volunteer 

          worker was the subject of two reports of sexual abuse. Witnesses described the male abusers 

          as providing inducements such as outings from the Home, and promises of accommodation and 

          employment following discharge. 



                Two men who were regular visitors to the Home fondled me, they did it to other boys, 

                we all learned to avoid them. One of these men, a constant nightly visitor to help with 

                homework, took me home. He offered me a roof over my head when I left, I had 

                nowhere else to go, there followed sexual abuse ... (rape)... over years.... 



                                                            • 



                There was a visitor... (named volunteer worker) ... who used to come and take you out 

                every 3 or 4 weeks, 3 or 4 boys, they...(lay Resident Managers).. would pick you out, all 

                delighted to have an outing. He would make us all one by one pee in a milk bottle and 

                then fondle us and would afterwards give us a sweet each and tell us we were good 

                boys... 



                                                            • 



                (Named volunteer worker) ... a visitor who took boys out at weekends. We would have 

                to share his bed, then he would masturbate me and try to get me to masturbate him 

                back. 



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14.89      Seven (7) witnesses, five male and two female, reported being sexually abused by older co- 

           residents and ex-residents. The abuse described included rape and masturbation. Ex-residents 

           were reported to return to one Children’s Home where they had unsupervised access overnight 

           to all areas of the Home. 



14.90      Three (3) female witnesses reported being sexually abused by external priests. Two (2) of the 

           witnesses reported being raped by two named priests when they went to Confession. One 

           witness reported that the abuse continued over a number of years following her discharge from 

           the Home. One male witness was sexually abused by a visiting Brother when he was 

           supervising residents in the absence of the regular staff. 



14.91      Two (2) female witnesses reported being sexually abused while in placements arranged by 

           authority figures from the Children’s Homes. One reported abuser was described as a ‘foster 

           father’ and the other was a male adult in the witness’s work placement. Both witnesses reported 

           that they disclosed their experience of abuse to the staff in the Homes and one was punished 

           and made to return to the placement and the other witness’s complaints were ignored. 



14.92      Two (2) female witnesses reported being abused by lay ancillary staff who were employed in the 

           environs of the Homes. 



           Neglect 



                 Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                 serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                 serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.11 



14.93      This section presents witness reports of neglect of their care, welfare and education. 

           Descriptions of neglect refer to all aspects of the physical, social and emotional care and 

           welfare of the witnesses that had implications for their physical, psychological and social 

           development. 



14.94      The Committee heard 43 reports of neglect from 41 witnesses, 20 male and 21 female, in 

           relation to 17 Children’s Homes. Two (2) witnesses each made reports of neglect in relation to 

           two Homes. Reports included neglect in combination with physical, sexual and emotional abuse. 

           Two (2) of the 17 Children’s Homes were the subject of both male and female reports. 



14.95      As with the other abuse types the frequency of neglect reports by witnesses varied in relation to 

           individual Children's Homes, as follows: 



                  •    Two (2) Children’s Homes were collectively the subject of 15 reports. 

                  •    Three (3) Children’s Homes were each the subject of four reports, totalling 12 

                        reports. 



                  •     Four (4) Children’s Homes were each the subject of two reports, totalling eight 

                        reports. 



                  •     Eight (8) Children’s Homes were the subject of a single report. 



           Description of neglect 



14.96      The most consistently reported area of neglect by witnesses in Children’s Homes was the 

           neglect of and inadequate provision for their education. Witnesses also described neglect of 

           their safety and welfare and a failure to provide protection from harm. Reports regarding 



           11 Section (1)(1)(c) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act 



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          inadequate food, clothing and neglect of their health were more commonly reported by 

          witnesses discharged prior to the 1970s. 



          Education 



14.97     Thirty five (35) witnesses, 23 male and 12 female, reported that their education was neglected. 

          Ten (10) witnesses reported being removed from the classroom to work in or on behalf of the 

          Home and that they were denied any further opportunity to avail of formal schooling ‘I worked 

          out on the farm picking potatoes and carrots – there was no education there’. A witness who 

          reported that she was sent to an external second-level school and was later abruptly withdrawn 

          by the religious Sister stated the following: 



                I loved school, I really, really loved school ... I got as far as ..., I prepared for my 

                Intermediate. I got good reports and everything before that and then the nun suddenly 

                said “you’re not going to stay on in school anymore. Your mother’s not sending any 

                money for books” and they took me out and sent me to work in ... named hospital ... as 

                a cleaner. I was so distraught, that killed me.... 



14.98     Others reported that due to their fear of abuse in the classroom they were unable to learn and 

          that they were denied the opportunity to acquire an education. 



14.99     Thirteen (13) witnesses reported that they left the Children’s Home with no education or literacy 

          skills. A small number of witnesses reported that their particular learning difficulties were not 

          assessed and that no educational assistance was available to them. They also reported being 

          either ridiculed or ignored as a result of their learning difficulties. 



                I received no education at all. I was seen as retarded because I had ... medical 

                condition.... I cannot now read or write. Silence was the daily code, you were never 

                allowed speak to others. I spent most of the time working hard from an early age. I had 

                no friends and no outside contact with anyone. 



14.100    Four (4) witnesses who attended class in the local community reported being singled out for 

          ridicule by teachers and pupils. One witness reported ‘We were put at the back of the class and 

          ignored. Nobody played with us. We were told we need have no aspirations above cleaning’. 



          Supervision 



14.101    The neglect of safety and welfare, inconsistent staffing and poor supervision were a frequent 

          focus of witness reports. Twenty eight (28) witnesses, 13 male and 15 female, reported being 

          abused in the absence of supervision by staff. A number of female witnesses reported being 

          cared for at night by older residents, and others reported that they themselves were forced to 

          provide care for infants, without access to or the supervision of adult staff. Six (6) of the 

          witnesses who reported sexual and physical abuse in Children’s Homes stated that the absence 

          of supervision and the lack of consistent staff attention made them vulnerable to abuse. One 

          male witness reported ‘the inadequate supervision of older boys allowed rapes to take place. I 

          was raped on 2 occasions by older boys’. Another describing the difficulty of not being believed 

          or protected by staff commented ‘They changed. It was always changing, a new staff could 

          come today and tomorrow he would be gone ... 



14.102    Witnesses from three Homes commented on both the lack of supervision of volunteer workers 

          and other visitors, and the unsupervised access of ex-residents to the Home. In the absence of 

          critical overseeing of staff, visitors and co-residents, witnesses reported they were abused both 

          within the Home and on outings. A male witness reported ‘the most serious neglect was to be 

          sent out at weekends to ...X..., a volunteer, without any supervision or follow-up, where I was 

          sexually abused’. 



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----------------------- Page 1629-----------------------

           Food 



14.103     Twenty five (25) witnesses, 12 male and 13 female, reported that the quality and quantity of 

           food was inadequate and that they were at times so hungry that they took food from kitchens, 

           farms attached to the Homes, and waste bins. The majority of these reports were made by 

           witnesses discharged prior to 1970. Witnesses who worked in the kitchen described the staff 

           diet as superior to their own. ‘The staff bins were the best, they had the best scraps’. In addition 

           to reports of insufficient food, witnesses from a small number of Homes also reported being 

           deprived of meals as a punishment for breaking rules including being late for meals. 



           Personal care and healthcare 



14.104     Eighteen (18) witnesses, nine male and nine female, reported the lack of adequate hygiene 

           facilities to maintain their personal care. Witnesses reported inadequate provision of appropriate 

           clothing and toiletries and having to share baths with co-residents. Four (4) witnesses reported 

           the poor provision of appropriate sanitary wear and some commented on the lack of education 

           with regard to sexual matters. Four (4) other witnesses from one Home gave accounts of Jeyes 

           Fluid being used in baths that were either too hot or too cold. 



14.105     Thirteen (13) witnesses, six male and seven female, commented that when they were ill or 

           injured they did not receive adequate medical attention. One female witness described being left 

           unattended in the infirmary with an injury to her hand. A male witness stated that his nose was 

           broken and he was unconscious following an assault by a member of religious staff, he 

           commented that he was removed from the classroom by the Resident Manager but that he 

           received no attention for his injuries. Witnesses from three Children’s Homes reported that staff 

           from both within the institution and from external agencies neglected to investigate the cause of 

           their injuries. They reported attending hospitals, doctors and clinics where they were rarely 

           spoken to directly about how they received the injuries with which they were presenting. 



                 You got injuries that would mend themselves. I went to the doctor he would not hear tell 

                 of it, he’d say “you’ll be ok after a few days”. 



           Discharge and aftercare 



14.106     Many witnesses commented on the lack of preparation or planning for discharge and reported 

           that their transition to independent living was traumatic. Witnesses who had no family contact 

           during their time in the Children’s Homes or who had been reared entirely in institutional settings 

           reported feeling bewildered when discharged. A female witness described her experience on 

           leaving: ‘I didn’t know how to behave in a household ... I hated it. I didn’t know how to behave in 

           somebody’s home.’ 



14.107     Twelve (12) witnesses, five male and seven female, reported that the absence of supervision or 

           follow-up while in their aftercare placements exposed them to risk and abuse. Others reported 

           being discharged without any accommodation arrangements and having to sleep rough. Three 

           (3) witnesses reported being placed in employment by the Children’s Homes where they 

           received no payment for their work. 



           Emotional abuse 



                 Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                 expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                 development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.12 



           12 Section 1(1)(d) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act 



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14.108    This section presents witness evidence of emotional abuse by deprivation of family contact, loss 

          of identity, lack of opportunities for secure relationships, affection, and approval. Witnesses 

          described an environment of pervasive fear and a lack of safety and protection. These losses 

          impaired the social, emotional and physical functioning and development of witnesses and were 

          identified by them as generally disturbing, both at the time and in the subsequent course of their 

          lives. Emotional abuse refers to both actions and inactions by religious and lay staff and others 

          who had responsibility for the care and safety of residents. 



14.109    Forty two (42) witnesses, 22 male and 20 female, made 45 reports of emotional abuse 

          regarding 16 Children’s Homes. There was some variation in the number of reports made in 

          relation to each Home: 



                 •    Three (3) Children’s Homes were the subject of two to five reports, totalling 20 

                      reports. 



                 •    Three (3) Children’s Homes were each the subject of four reports, totalling 12 

                      reports. 



                 •    Three (3) Children’s Homes were each the subject of two reports, totalling six reports. 

                 •    Seven (7) Children’s Homes were each the subject of a single report. 



          Description of emotional abuse 



14.110    Witnesses from a number of Homes reported that they experienced sustained abuse when 

          exposed to ridicule, rejection, criticism and blame that left them feeling confused, vigilant and 

          anxiously anticipating the next episode of physical or verbal abuse. All except one report of 

          emotional abuse was combined with reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse and/or neglect. 



          Exposure to fearful situations 



14.111    Thirty five (35) witnesses, 21 male and 14 female, reported being fearful and feeling under a 

          constant threat of abuse. Twenty nine (29) of these reports referred to six Homes where 

          accounts were heard of a pervasive fear of physical and sexual abuse: ‘You were all tensed up 

          all the time. It was the beatings ... thinking of the beating. It was the waiting instead of getting it 

          done there and then, the waiting, it was agony’. Witnesses commented on the long-term 

          negative impact of growing up in an environment dominated by fear, trying to please others, 

          avoid condemnation and witnessing others being abused. 



14.112    Witnesses consistently reported that the lack of protection from harm and the risk of punishment 

          if they discussed or disclosed their abuse compounded their fear. Four (4) witnesses gave 

          accounts of being threatened, isolated and removed from contact with their peers for disclosing 

          abuse to external agencies and to staff. Witnesses who had no family contact and were 

          considered to be orphans believed that they were more vulnerable to abuse. ‘Fear was a 

          constant companion. You awoke in fear and went to bed in fear’. 



14.113    Four (4) witnesses reported being fearful when they were removed from day-to-day activities in 

          the Homes and were subjected to sexual abuse. They described being isolated from staff and 

          peers, being taken to external venues by volunteer workers or being locked in isolated rooms 

          where they were sexually abused. 



14.114    Witnesses stated that they were put outside overnight or locked in small rooms or cupboards 

          without food or light. One witness reported that ‘a very cruel nun’ locked her in a cupboard and 

          threatened that she would not be allowed out until arrangements were made for her transfer to 

          an Industrial School. 



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          Personal and family denigration 



14.115    Twenty eight (28) witnesses, 18 male and 10 female, reported being exposed to constant 

          criticism, hostility, personal ridicule, verbal abuse, and the denigration of their families. 

          Witnesses reported that they were ridiculed about their family circumstances of poverty, parental 

          alcohol abuse and the marital status of their parents. Lone mothers were reported to be the 

          subject of particular denigration: ‘I was told my mother was a prostitute and that I belonged in 

          the gutter.’ 



                Me and my brother were told by staff not to play with other children who had families 

                because we were bastards who should have been drowned when we were born. Our 

                mother visited once a year, we were told not to say anything to her or we would get it 

                ...(abuse)... worse. 



                                                                • 



                Before Sr ...X... beat me I would have to carry my sheets across through the house in 

                public to the laundry. She would say “the devil is inside you, ...(you)... can’t go to Mass 

                until you have a bath”. She mocked me because I was an orphan and I was not allowed 

                opportunities like other children. 



14.116    Eight (8) witnesses, five male and three female, discharged from Homes in all decades, 

          described various forms of emotional abuse associated with bed-wetting and personal hygiene. 

          They described being made to carry their wet and soiled sheets in public, being called 

          derogatory names, and having their faces forcibly rubbed into wet sheets. Other punishments for 

          bed-wetting reported by a small number of witnesses was the humiliation of having their heads 

          shaved and being forced to stand in front of religious statues for long periods. Four (4) 

          witnesses described being humiliated by the practice of staff commenting on their soiled 

          underwear in front of co-residents. 



                 We were punished if our pants were soiled although often there was no sanitary towels, 

                there was no preparation for periods, and you were told it...(menstruation)... was the 

                 Virgin Mary’s gift. 



          Deprivation of affection 



14.117    Twenty seven (27) witnesses, 12 male and 15 female, reported an overall absence of affection 

          or any kindness towards them; they commented on the lack of awareness or understanding of 

          their need for affection and stability as children. ‘There was no understanding of our needs. You 

          had nobody to turn to, you were on your own.’ 



14.118    A number of witnesses who had no contact with any family member and had been reared in 

          institutional care reported that they had no experience of any demonstration of affection and 

          were deprived of any emotional bond. The absence of the opportunity to form a secure 

          attachment was reported to contribute to a sense of disconnection in relationships, both at the 

          time and in adult life. In these circumstances witnesses commented that special attention, 

          demonstrations of affection or treats occasionally available from staff and others, including 

          volunteer workers, made them vulnerable to abuse. In the course of their hearings many 

          expressed distress and unresolved anger that their emotional needs as children were not met. 



14.119    The lack of emotional support or comfort in dealing with the death of a parent or sibling was 

          described by a small number of witnesses. One witness reported that on returning from his 

          father’s funeral he was told to ‘stop snivelling ... he is dead. Now you have no one to go to with 

          your tales’. 



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----------------------- Page 1632-----------------------

          Witnessing the abuse of others 



14.120    Nineteen (19) witnesses, 17 male and two female, described their experience of fear, distress 

          and shame when they were forced to observe co-residents being severely beaten. Eleven (11) 

          of the witnesses reported witnessing severe physical abuse of their co-residents in four 

          Children’s Homes. One witness named four other residents whom he witnessed being severely 

          beaten and commented that they were ‘subjected to extremes of brutality’. Another witness 

          commented: ‘... Named male religious staff... was particularly vicious to boys without parents, 

          the orphans’. 



14.121    Four (4) witnesses from one Children’s Home, which was the subject of reports of physical and 

          sexual abuse, identified the same religious staff member as the person who abused their co- 

          residents. Witnesses described unresolved anger and upset about what they observed and a 

          number were distressed in the process of recounting what had happened to their childhood 

          peers. 



                Named male religious staff...would lose his temper and beat boys viciously, I was hit by 

                him, but I watched severe violence to older boys. In particular I saw ...named co- 

                resident... so severely beaten until he was unable to stand up, he beat him as one man 

                would do to another and not as a man to a boy. He punched him under the chin, about 

                the face and body, and left him in a heap. 



                                                             • 



                Looking back as an adult I did receive abuse, some terrible attacks, but I think 

                psychologically I’d be left more with what I witnessed than what I received. When I was 

                on the receiving end, you just kept your head down, you put yourself into a ball, you 

                didn’t see what was happening to you. Somehow the mind switches off, somehow you 

                can accept it, you just put your head down and stay going and pick yourself up. 

                Personally what I witnessed left more of a scar than what I received. 



          Deprivation of family contact and loss of identity 



14.122    Ten (10) witnesses reported being deprived of contact with their family members, including five 

          who reported being separated from siblings placed in the same Children’s Homes. Others 

          described being deprived of visits from parents and family members as a punishment for the 

          breach of a rule or, they believed, to prevent them revealing an injury or disclosing abuse. 

          Witnesses also reported being forbidden to speak to their older siblings in the same institution. 



14.123    The loss of identity was compounded for witnesses by separation from their siblings. Other 

          witnesses described the loss and disadvantage they experienced both at the time and in their 

          later lives, due to the lack of information provided about their family, their birth and the 

          circumstances of their admission. 



14.124    One witness gave an account of a visit from her mother to advise of her imminent plan to 

          emigrate: as it was not a scheduled visiting day the nun in charge did not allow use of the 

          parlour and terminated the visit. Another witness reported that the religious Resident Manager 

          was believed ‘not to like women and tried to actively discourage my relationship with my sister. 

          He took much the same line with my mother and this was hard.... I knew she ... (mother)... 

          cared for me’. 



14.125    Others reported that letters were opened and that ‘the nuns dictated letters to parents, you 

          could never tell anyone how unhappy you were’. 



14.126    Five (5) witnesses reported that the consistent use of a number rather than their own name 

          deprived them of their individual identity. One witness commented that she did not know the 

          names of other children who were her daily companions ‘only their number’. A female witness 



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----------------------- Page 1633-----------------------

           reported having her name changed when she was admitted, as she did not have a saint’s 

           name. Another witness described being physically and verbally abused: 



                 Sr ...X... used every opportunity to demean me by calling me by my number, prodding 

                 me with her large crucifix on her Rosary beads, beating me with a strap for 

                 infringements of discipline. She blamed me for the death of a classmate ... for failing to 

                 swallow the host at Holy Communion and ... (then)... vomiting, saying “even God 

                 doesn’t want you”. 



14.127     A number of witnesses who had no information about their family or were unaware of their 

           family history commented on the difficulties this created in adult life when they attempted to 

           trace their family of origin. One witness reported that his surname had been changed from his 

           original family name while in out-of-home care. Another witness described inventing a fictitious 

           family history to avoid revealing that he had spent his childhood in an institution. A further 

           witness reported that he was unable ‘to face returning’ to Ireland, in spite of a wish to trace his 

           family, because of the ongoing impact of his childhood experience of abuse. 



           Knowledge of abuse 



14.128     Witnesses stated that staff and co-residents were aware of the physical and emotional abuse 

           inflicted on residents due to the fact that it frequently occurred in public and on a daily basis. 

           Witnesses also reported disclosing abuse to their parents, relatives and people in authority, both 

           within the institution and outside, including to Gardai and other professionals. The investigation 

                                                                        ´ 

           and outcome of abuse disclosures varied as outlined below. 



           Abuse observed by others 



14.129     The Committee heard evidence from 58 witnesses, 36 males and 22 females, that the abuse 

           they experienced was observed by many people including lay and religious staff, teaching staff 

           in schools outside the Homes, and other residents. A number of witnesses believed that there 

           was knowledge and awareness of abuse as a result of the presence of the following adults and 

           co-residents during the abuse episodes: 



                  •     Other residents      48 reports 

                  •     Care staff           21 reports 

                  •    Authority figures     13 reports 

                  •    Ancillary staff        8 reports 

                  •    Teaching staff         3 reports. 



14.130     Thirteen (13) witnesses reported that abusive behaviour was a way of life in the Children’s 

           Homes and that they believed staff and residents were powerless to do anything to stop it. 

           Witnesses believed that staff members were afraid of losing their jobs, and co-residents were 

           afraid of being abused or punished themselves if they spoke out against the abuse they 

           observed and experienced. 



                 No one in the hospital ever asked what happened to you, the nurses knew from our 

                 appearance, we were skinny, they’d say “ah, they are from the orphanage down the 

                 road”, no one ever asked.... Other people knew about it, doctors knew about it, nurses 

                 knew about it, lay teachers knew about it, other ...male religious staff... knew about it, 

                 nobody was prepared to stand up and say, “stop you can’t do that to a child”.... It was 

                 complete fear, sheer bully-boy tactics that stopped people, adults were in fear of ...( 

                 named male religious staff)... probably. A lay teacher had a job and said “if I report this 

                 my job is gone, my income is gone, where am I going to seek work?”. 



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           Disclosing abuse 



14.131     Eighteen (18) witnesses, 12 male and six female, stated that they disclosed details of their 

           physical and sexual abuse to others during their time in Children’s Homes. Five (5) male and 

           four female witnesses specifically reported disclosing sexual abuse. Witnesses reported 

           disclosing abuse to adults both within and external to the Homes and in some instances to more 

           than one person: 



                   •    Nine (9) witnesses disclosed their abuse to an authority figure in the Children’s 

                         Home, including a Resident Manager. 



                   •    Six (6) witnesses disclosed abuse to a parent. 

                   •    Three (3) witnesses disclosed abuse to teachers, Gardai, staff and siblings. 

                                                                                           ´ 



                  Following discharge there was an inquiry in the parlour where I was interviewed by a 

                  group of men, ...named male religious staff... had told me to be very careful about what 

                  I would say happened to me, he threatened me. I told them I had fallen over a wall. ... I 

                  was in constant fear.... 



14.132     Two (2) male witnesses reported receiving medical attention for injuries and commented that 

           they had been threatened not to tell anyone how their injury occurred. ‘I had been warned by ... 

           named male religious staff... to say I had fallen down the stairs’. One of these male witnesses 

           stated that as an older boy he attended the casualty department with junior residents who were 

           injured following beatings by members of lay and religious staff. He reported being warned not 

           to comment on the circumstances in which the injuries occurred: 



                  Nobody said anything, everybody kept themselves to themselves.... You would be told 

                  to go back to your bedroom and keep your mouth shut. You couldn’t do very much 

                  anyway, you would be that sore the next day after all the beatings ... (associated with 

                  sexual assault)... 



                                                                    • 



                  I remember I got a good cut across the head there, I had to go to hospital. When ever 

                  ...named male religious staff... had gone beyond his limit and he knew what he had 

                  done required medical attention you ...(resident)... were put in charge of an older guy 

                  ...(co-resident)... to go to the hospital. 



           Outcome of disclosure 



14.133     Witnesses reported a range of responses to their disclosures of abuse including: being 

           protected from further abuse, punished, ignored or not believed. Eight (8) witnesses reported 

           that they were physically punished and threatened following their disclosures of abuse. Seven 

           (7) other witnesses gave accounts of the abuse continuing, with no immediate action being 

           taken. 



                  There was a little fellow there called ...named co-resident..., he hung himself since. We 

                  did run away one time because of the abuse was going on towards us. We ran to a 

                  Garda station in ...named town... and we reported it but there was nothing done about it. 

                  We told them what was going on and the kind of abuse that was going on, I knew what 

                  was going on was wrong. I remember well one of the guards ...(Gardai) ... picking up the 

                                                                                                      ´ 

                 phone and phoning ...named Children’s Home.... We were brought back to the place 

                  ...(by the Gardai).... We went through hell then when we went back, we got more 

                                     ´ 

                 punishment we were put to bed on the spot... An older fellow would say “come on and 

                  have a game of football”, you did not know what was going to happen and 2 or 3 of 

                  them would kick you around the field or kick you around the yard and say “if ever you 

                  go forward and do that again ...(disclose abuse)... you won’t get out of here alive...”. 

                  That was one of the reasons you didn’t tell anyone, that was part of the reason why we 

                  ran away from there, there was no one to talk to, my parents didn’t come and visit me, 



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----------------------- Page 1635-----------------------

                no phone calls, no letters. If you went forward and said “I’m after get... (getting)... 

                beaten up”, they would say “you are telling tales”. They wouldn’t want to hear tell of it 

                and that word would be passed on to the head person who was running the place and 

                then you would be in serious trouble.... 



                                                                • 



                I was regularly raped and forced to have oral sex by the chaplain and when I told an old 

                nun what he was doing to me I was punished. She called me the devil’s daughter.... 



14.134    A witness who reported sexual abuse was discharged to the care of his mother and described a 

          subsequent visit from staff of the Children’s Home to his mother’s home: 



                 Three weeks after discharge I was visited at home by ...named male religious staff ... 

                and 2 other men who were not introduced. He threatened me, as I had told another ex- 

                resident about the sexual abuse ... perpetrated by named male religious staff..., that I 

                was spreading rumours and said to me “you could go to jail, and never see your mother 

                again. I am in a position to get you locked up and the key thrown away”. 



                                                                • 



                I was left in the infirmary for a long time on my own for telling my father about the ill- 

                treatment, no one was allowed see me there. Sr ...X... pretended to my father that I was 

                sick. 



14.135    Five (5) witnesses reported it was their belief that following their disclosure the offender was 

          reprimanded or removed. A number of witnesses commented that while they were not aware of 

          any action being taken at the time of their disclosures they later realised that their abusers were 

          no longer working in the Homes. A male witness who reported that his abuse continued for 

          some time after his disclosure stated: 



                I went to a person after a few months after it...(abuse)... continued and it...(disclosure)... 

                wasn’t listened to ... The person I went to was in a very strong position of power in 

                ...named Children’s Home ...he said “no I don’t believe you and anyway keep quiet” .... 

                From that moment on I kept it to myself ... the abuse continued after that for a while and 

                then the Health Board came in ... they spoke to the management. No-one spoke to me, 

                he... (named lay care worker)... was fired ... After he left things improved for me. I 

                always thought in my head someone would come and ask questions but it never 

                happened... 



14.136    Three (3) witnesses reported that their parents confronted the Resident Managers with the 

          accusations of abuse following disclosures by them. Two (2) of these witnesses gave accounts 

          of being beaten by staff following their disclosures and in the third instance the abuse ceased 

          and the witness was protected from further abuse. 



14.137     In one instance a male witness reported that a female lay ancillary worker who had physically 

          abused him was herself stripped and beaten in front of all the residents by a staff member in 

          authority. This ancillary worker was believed to be a former resident of the Home. 



          Response to abuse 



14.138    Witnesses in a number of Children’s Homes in the period prior to the 1970s reported that where 

          abuse was a feature of everyday life they accepted physical punishment as normal. Other 

          witnesses from a small number of Homes and throughout all decades reported experiencing and 

          witnessing severe, unpredictable and unprovoked violence, which they described as both 

          traumatic at the time and as having had an enduring impact on their lives. Witnesses reported a 

          range of responses to such abuse and often reported more than one response: 



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                •    Fifty two (52) witnesses, 27 male and 25 female, reported that they did not know 

                     what to do, felt defenceless and withdrew into themselves. 



                •    Thirty six (36) witnesses, 20 male and 16 female, reported that their predominant 

                      response to abuse was fear for their own safety and the safety of co-residents. 



                •    Nineteen (19) witnesses, 12 male and seven female, reported that they began bed- 

                     wetting in response to constant abuse. 



                •    Eight (8) witnesses, six male and two female, reported running away from the Homes 

                     to avoid abuse. 



                •    Three (3) witnesses, one male and two female, reported that they attempted to harm 

                     themselves. 



14.139    A witness who reported persistent sexual abuse over a number of years stated that his abusive 

          experience led to bed-wetting, and his attempts to discuss his abuse with staff were ignored: 

          ‘We all started wetting the bed, no staff ever asked ‘why are you wetting the bed, what’s wrong 

          with you?’ 



          Positive experiences 



14.140    Forty nine (49) witnesses, 29 male and 20 female, reported having had positive experiences 

          and some good memories of their time in Children’s Homes. Fifteen (15) witnesses described 

          the kindness of particular religious staff, the absence of punishment, and protection from 

          beatings as positive experiences. Staff were also reported to have demonstrated kindness by 

          providing extra food. Seven (7) witnesses commented on the kindness of two named female 

          religious staff from one Children’s Home. ‘She ... (Sr X)... was elderly and always told me to 

          smile when I was down, I still do it and it works.’ 



14.141    Twelve (12) witnesses reported that various lay staff were kind and attempted to care and 

          provide for their needs by protecting them from abuse and other harm. 



14.142    For some witnesses the sense of security and attention they experienced while in the infirmaries 

          or in hospital was a positive experience. Three (3) witnesses commented on the kindness of the 

          nun in charge of one infirmary: ‘I enjoyed going to the infirmary and the attention I got there’. 



14.143    Twelve (12) witnesses described any contact with family members, including visits or holidays at 

          home and visits from parents, siblings and grandparents as their abiding good memory of their 

          time in the Homes. Nine (9) other witnesses reported that ongoing family contact both protected 

          them from abuse and enabled them to reintegrate more readily with their families when they 

          were discharged. 



14.144    Nine (9) witnesses described the positive value of the education they received, including their 

          success in State examinations. Others described good memories of attending school outside the 

          institutions, supportive teachers, friendship with pupils from the local community, and interaction 

          with people from the local towns. 



14.145    Six (6) witnesses reported that their involvement with Gaelic games or Irish dancing was 

          beneficial and enjoyable. Others valued the opportunity of learning to play musical instruments. 



14.146    Five (5) witnesses appreciated the value of visiting ‘holiday’ families or ‘godparents’ and working 

          for local families. They stated that contact with families outside the Homes enabled them to 

          experience family life and commented that relationships established through those placements 

          had sustained them as children and in adult life. Others commented on the help they received 

          while in their work placements from both lay and religious staff. A female witness reported she 



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----------------------- Page 1637-----------------------

           benefited from support she received from a religious Sister: ‘... there was one nun there who let 

           me type in the evenings ... she was very helpful ... she was so, so nice, she was kind’. 



14.147     Seven (7) male witnesses who reported sexual abuse in Children’s Homes commented that they 

           appreciated the overall care and education provided to them. Other witnesses, both male and 

           female, commented that they benefited from opportunities to return to the Homes when they 

           were discharged, for aftercare group support. A female witness stated: ‘You would go back to 

           where you were brought up. They had a monthly meeting to see how you were getting on and 

           things ... ‘ 



           Current circumstances 



14.148     Sixty one (61) witnesses gave accounts to the Committee of their current life circumstances and 

           the effects of their childhood abuse experiences on their subsequent lives and relationships. 

           Witnesses provided information about their social circumstances, family relationships, 

           occupation, health, and the ongoing impact of their childhood abuse. 



           Relationships 



14.149     The Committee heard consistent reports from witnesses of their difficulties establishing and 

           maintaining secure, stable relationships in adult life. Many witnesses reported an inability to trust 

           and relate in intimate relationships. They believed these difficulties to be a consequence of 

           childhood abuse, including the deprivation of secure emotional attachments and nurturing 

           relationships. Others described difficulties and differences with their partners in communication, 

           conflict resolution and parenting styles. 



14.150     The following table illustrates the status and length of the witnesses’ relationships as they 

           reported at the time of their hearings: 



             Table 76: Status and Duration of Witnesses’ Relationship at the Time of Hearing 2000- 

                                        2008 – Male and Female Children’s Homes 



                   Duration                 0-19 yrs               20-39 yrs               40-59 yrs             Total 

                                                                                                              Witnesses 



            Status of relationship      Males     Females      Males      Females      Males     Females 

            Married                       1           1          19           7          2           4            34 

            Single                        1           2           5           0          3           2             13 

            Separated                     2           1           1          0           0           0             4 

            Co-habiting                   2           1           0          0           0           0             3 

            Divorced                      0           1           0          2           0           0             3 

            Widowed                       2           2           0          0           0           0             4 

            Total                         8           8          25          9           5           6            61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.151     Forty five (45) witnesses, 27 male and 18 female, were or had been married, 32 of whom had 

           been married for more than 20 years at the time of their hearing. Nineteen (19) of the 45 

           witnesses, 12 male and seven female, described being happily married. Others described 

           marriage as providing stability and a sense of connection: ‘I married the first person that showed 

           me love’. 



14.152     Eight (8) witnesses, six male and two female, reported that they were married before they were 

           20 years old and had conflictual, ambivalent and, in some instances, violent relationships in the 

           early years of marriage. Another five witnesses, one male and four female, reported being 

           involved in violent relationships where alcohol abuse and issues relating to control contributed to 

           marital difficulties. 



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14.153    Thirty nine (39) witnesses, 28 male and 11 female, reported that the inability to trust and relate 

          in intimate relationships were key features of their relationships with spouses and partners. Male 

          witnesses more commonly remarked on their inability to communicate, and their tendency to 

          become isolated, alienated and withdrawn within their partnerships, as one witness commented: 

          ‘It’s hard to be involved, hard to build a bond’. Three (3) witnesses stated that they had never 

          spoken about the abuse they experienced in Children’s Homes to their spouses. 



14.154    Nine (9) witnesses, three male and six female, reported being unable to settle and described 

          themselves as unable to remain involved in a long-term, committed relationship. 



14.155    Twelve (12) witnesses, eight male and four female, reported being single for various reasons 

          that included being ‘unable to trust anyone and form a lasting relationship’. Three (3) of these 

          witnesses commented on difficulties in sexual relationships. Others stated that ‘family life is 

          alien’ and ‘I’m not good with relationships’. 



14.156    Seven (7) witnesses, three male and four female, reported being divorced or separated at the 

          time of their hearing and included alcohol abuse, gambling, mental illness, and domestic 

          violence among the issues that contributed to the breakdown in their marriages. Some female 

          witnesses gave accounts of being involved in relationships in the past but had made a 

          deliberate decision to separate and remain on their own. 



          Parenting 



14.157    Many witnesses who had children of their own reported that their parenting relationships differed 

          according to the stages of their children’s development, their experience as a parent and their 

          own progress since being discharged from the institutions. A male witness made the following 

          comment: 



                 When my son reached the age I was when I was kicked and beaten I got very upset, it 

                all came back, I got depressed.... I got violent and abusive in the family.... I was 

                suicidal.... I was so affected by what I saw and what was done to me ... it marked me all 

                my life. 



14.158    Forty nine (49) witnesses, 29 male and 20 female, reported having children of their own, with 

          family size varying between one and eight children. The average family size was four children. 

          The 49 witnesses reported having 173 children. The majority of witnesses reported that they 

          reared their own children, with the exception of: 



                 •    Five (5) witnesses who reported that altogether 19 of their children had spent periods 

                       in out-of-home care. 



                 •    Three (3) female witnesses who reported that they had placed their first-born child for 

                       adoption. 



                 •    Two (2) female witnesses who reported that their children were reared by the 

                       children’s biological fathers. 



14.159    Many witnesses considered their inability to parent effectively to be a result of the deprivation 

          and abuse they experienced during their own childhood: 



                I never really had a childhood, some days I wish I had .... I find myself playing with my 

                own son now...crying ...I’m over-protective with my kids ... to be honest I can’t picture 

                myself without the kids ... I had to make a heart breaking decision to put ... (child) ... 

                into voluntary care ... (the child is) ... going on the same path as myself ... I live for me 

                kids. 



                                                                • 



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                 None of my children are living with me, some of them are in care, some of them are 

                 with their dad. I see them all... I need to be beside them. I like being near them, I can 

                 phone up anytime... 



14.160     Twelve (12) witnesses, seven male and five female, gave accounts of being unable to 

           demonstrate feelings of affection to their own children, having grown up in harsh environments 

           without any affectionate bond themselves. One male witness commented ‘I can’t walk over and 

          just give them a hug, I have big trouble showing affection, I never knew what a hug was ’. Two 

           (2) male witnesses described having particular difficulties showing affection to their sons and 

           ‘not being available’ as fathers, which they believe to be the result of their own sexual abuse. A 

           female witness describing the impact on her of institutional care commented: 



                 It was an abnormal sort of growing up ...it was a very cold, soul-less place. I have a 

                 granddaughter now and she loves a cuddle and I think of her and I think now “who ever 

                 cuddled me when I was little, who ever put their arms around me?”. The nuns... there 

                 were so many of us, they probably didn’t have time but there were lay women there, 

                 they were just so cruel... 



14.161     Witness reports of parenting were characterised by accounts of an inability to demonstrate 

           feelings of love and affection, strenuous efforts to ensure their children were protected from 

           harm, and ambivalent parent–child relationships. Many believed that separation, and the loss of 

           experiences of family life with their own parents and siblings, the lack of a nurturing environment 

           in childhood, combined with the abuse they experienced left them ill-equipped to parent 

           successfully. Others described feelings of enduring sadness regarding the loss of a parent at an 

           early age and being subsequently reared in a Children’s Home without a sense of security or 

           attachment. 



                 I couldn’t deal with my own family, my own children, I didn’t want to know. Childhood 

                 was very hard, very, very hard. I love me children, but bonding was very, very hard. I 

                 would never do nothing wrong to my children, I would never hurt them in that way.... I 

                 would shout or roar at them and would go, and maybe not come back for 7 or 10 days. 

                 That would be very damaging to them ... they are in care, they said I was not a proper 

                 father towards the children.... I feel angry, very, very angry towards institutions. 



14.162     The following table illustrates the nature of the parent–child relationships, as described by 49 

           witnesses who had children: 



                  Table 77: Relationship with Own Children – Male and Female Children’s Homes 



                  Relationship with children*                Frequency              Frequency            Total witness 

                                                            reported by            reported by               reports 

                                                          male witnesses        female witnesses 



            Reported normal                                      10                      4                     14 

            Unable to show affection                              7                      5                     12 

            Overprotective                                        4                      6                     10 

            Harsh                                                 2                      4                      6 

            Variable among children                               4                      3                      7 

            Abusive                                               2                      1                      3 

            No comment                                            1                      1                      2 

            Total number of reports                              30                     24                     54 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Witnesses could give more than one answer 



14.163     Some witnesses stated that as a result of their own harsh treatment in childhood they made 

           strenuous efforts to protect their children, resulting, at times, in their being overprotective 

           parents. A number of witnesses expressed anger that the emotional abuse they experienced 



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          was having a detrimental impact on the next generation as a consequence of their parenting 

          and relationship difficulties. 



14.164    Fourteen (14) witnesses, 10 male and four female, reported having generally good parent–child 

          relationships despite encountering some periods of difficulty with one or other of their children. A 

          number of witnesses commented that difficulties arose when their child was the same age as 

          they were at the time they were abused. Many witnesses commented on the support and 

          positive contribution of spouses who assisted them in their parental role and were understanding 

          of the difficulties they encountered. 



14.165    Seven (7) witnesses reported that their children had significant behavioural and emotional 

          difficulties that required episodes of residential and day treatment in mental health and addiction 

          counselling services. Four (4) witnesses reported the loss of children in tragic circumstances, 

          including suicide and accidents. 



14.166    Six (6) witnesses reported that the regimented and abusive environments they experienced in 

          Children’s Homes contributed at times to harsh relationships with their own children. Five (5) 

          other witnesses described having been physically abusive to their children. A small number of 

          witnesses reported that contact with their adult children had been lost following episodes of 

          abuse or neglect in their childhoods. 



14.167    It was frequently remarked by witnesses that the difficulties they experienced as parents and the 

          inability to show love and affection to their own children were overcome in their role as 

          grandparents. Many witnesses reported having mutually rewarding and enjoyable relationships 

          with their grandchildren. 



           Contact with family since discharge 



14.168    The practice of separating boys and girls when they were admitted to out-of-home care in the 

          pre-1970s was reported by witnesses to have contributed to the fragmentation of their families. 

          The painful impact of being separated from siblings was experienced both during the witnesses’ 

          time in the institutions and following discharge. Thirty (30) witnesses, 17 male and 13 female, 

          reported feeling disconnected, having little contact with their siblings and other family members 

          since their discharge from the Homes. A number of these witnesses reported feeling rejected by 

          and alienated from their family members, which they believed was the result of separation and 

          lack of contact in their childhood. 



14.169    Twenty one (21) witnesses, 14 male and seven female, reported that contact with family 

          members was frequently characterised by ambivalence and conflict. Many witnesses described 

          having ongoing and close contact with a number of their siblings and almost no communication 

          with others. Seventeen (17) witnesses gave accounts of receiving help and support from 

          extended family members following their discharge, including grandmothers, aunts and uncles, 

          in the absence of such assistance being available from parents and siblings. 



14.170    Ten (10) witnesses had no contact with any family members, including four male and two 

          female witnesses who had no information about their families in spite of their attempts to trace 

          relatives. 



          Occupational and employment status 



14.171    The majority of witnesses reported a history of full employment since their discharge from the 

          Children’s Homes. Twenty (20) witnesses, 15 male and five female, reported being employed for 

          30 years or more. A further 13 witnesses, five male and eight female, were employed for 10 

          years or more. Thirty one (31) witnesses, 17 male and 14 female, reported being in full-time 



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           employment at the time of their hearings. Table 78 illustrates the employment status of 

           witnesses reported at their hearing: 



                  Table 78: Witnesses’ Employment Status at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                                                        Children’s Homes 



                      Employment status                         Male                 Female             Total witnesses 



            Employed                                              8                     12                     20 

            Retired                                              11                      2                     13 

            Disability income                                     2                      1                      3 

            Unemployed                                            8                      2                     10 

            Self-employed                                         6                      2                      8 

            Defence Forces                                        3                      0                      3 

            Working at home                                       0                      4                      4 

            Total                                                38                     23                     61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.172     The following table provides a breakdown of the witnesses’ reports of their current occupational 

           status at the time of their hearing: 



                 Table 79: Witnesses’ Occupational Status at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                                                        Children’s Homes 



                      Occupational status                      Males                 Females            Total Witnesses 



            Professional                                          0                      1                      1 

            Manual and technical                                  4                      2                      6 

            Non-manual                                            3                      5                      8 

            Skilled manual                                       11                      2                     13 

            Semi-skilled                                          8                      3                     11 

            Unskilled                                            12                      8                     20 

            Unavailable                                           0                      2                      2 

            Total                                                38                     23                     61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.173     Twenty (20) witnesses reported being employed in unskilled positions. Most had spent many 

           years of their childhoods in residential facilities and reported that they were ill-equipped for any 

           employment other than domestic positions or unskilled work. A number of these witnesses found 

           employment in institutional settings as cleaners, waiters and porters and in the Defence Forces. 



14.174     A number of witnesses commented that their lack of education while in the Children’s Homes 

           contributed to subsequent difficulties with employment. The table below illustrates the highest 

           education level attended, but not in all instances completed, by both male and female 

           witnesses: 



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              Table 80: Highest Level of Education Attended – Male and Female Children’s Homes 



                  Highest level of education                   Males                Females            Total witnesses 



            Primary                                              16                     9                     25 

            Secondary                                            14                     9                     23 

            Third level                                          8                      4                     12 

            No education                                         0                      1                      1 

            Total                                               38                     23                     61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.175     The 12 witnesses who attended third-level education reported doing so as adults and a number 

           reported having had years of successful employment, including careers in nursing, retailing, and 

           management. One female witness reported that she never attended school. 



14.176     Other witnesses described having difficulties with authority, which led to frequent changes of 

           employment and periods of unemployment. A small number of these witnesses later established 

           themselves in successful, long-term self-employed careers. 



           Accommodation 



14.177     Forty seven (47) witnesses reported having stable housing arrangements at the time of their 

           hearing, as shown in the following table: 



           Table 81: Accommodation of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Children’s 

                                                               Homes 



                       Accommodation                           Males                Females            Total witnesses 



            Owner occupiers                                     23                     12                     35 

            Local authority/ council housing                     5                      7                     12 

            Private rented accommodation                         4                      2                      6 

            With relatives                                       1                      1                      2 

            Sheltered housing                                    0                      1                      1 

            With friends                                         1                      0                      1 

            Hostel                                               1                      0                      1 

            Unavailable                                          3                      0                      3 

            Total                                               38                     23                     61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.178     A number of witnesses described earlier periods of unstable housing with frequent changes of 

           address. Many had lived in temporary accommodation during the initial years following their 

           discharge. Ten (10) witnesses, eight male and two female, reported having been homeless and 

           living in transient accommodation facilities at some time in the past. 



           Health 



14.179     Witnesses provided information to the Committee about their general health and well-being in 

           the course of their hearings. For the purpose of writing this Report the Committee categorised 

           the witnesses’ physical and mental health status as good, reasonable or poor based on their 

           past and current health history. The following table illustrates the physical health status 

           described by witnesses at the time of their hearings: 



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                  Table 82: Current Physical Health Status – Male and Female Children’s Homes 



             Physical health status               Males                     Females                 Total witnesses 



                      Good                          20                          7                           27 

                   Reasonable                       17                          15                          32 

                      Poor                          1                           1                           2 

                      Total                         38                          23                          61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.180     Most witnesses reported either good or reasonable physical health. There was a notable gender 

           difference between the 20 male and seven female witnesses who described themselves as 

           being in good physical health. Thirty two (32) witnesses stated that their health was reasonable, 

           notwithstanding treatment currently or in the past for conditions such as diabetes, 

           cardiovascular, and thyroid and urinary problems, some of which were age related. Six (6) 

           witnesses stated that they suffered recurrent back pain and four witnesses believed that their 

           current hearing loss, thyroid conditions, and other ailments were linked with neglect of their 

           healthcare as children in the Homes. Witnesses who described poor physical health had 

           generally experienced long-standing ill-health. 



14.181     In the course of their hearings witnesses also provided information about their mental health. 

           Witnesses’ mental health status was categorised on the basis of the information they provided 

           regarding their past and current well-being, and their need for psychiatric treatment and 

           counselling services. Table 83 outlines witnesses’ current mental health status: 



                   Table 83: Current Mental Health Status – Male and Female Children’s Homes 



              Mental health status                Males                     Females                 Total witnesses 



                      Good                          11                          8                           19 

                   Reasonable                       17                          9                           26 

                      Poor                          10                          6                           16 

                      Total                         38                          23                          61 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



14.182     Nineteen (19) witnesses described their mental health as good. They commented that generally 

           they had been able to resolve the trauma associated with their childhood abuse in spite of 

           occasional sadness. Some of those witnesses reporting that they benefited from counselling and 

           assistance from mental health and other services, particularly in the early years following 

           discharge. 



14.183     Twenty six (26) witnesses were categorised as having reasonable mental health. Many of the 

           male witnesses commented that they used alcohol to help them cope with difficult memories. A 

           number stated that they were unable to talk openly to others and found discussion of their past 

           experiences too traumatic and as a result had not used counselling or other services. A male 

           witness commented that he managed to cope with his own depression and suicidal thoughts, 

           stating: ‘I could never go that far... (suicide)... although I often think about it’. Female witnesses 

           in this group commented that in spite of periodic feelings of anxiety or depression they managed 

           to cope with their difficulties with the assistance of ongoing personal and professional support. 



14.184     The 16 witnesses whose mental health was described as poor gave accounts of frequent and 

           lengthy admissions for inpatient psychiatric treatment, repeated episodes of self-harm and 

           suicide attempts. Nine (9) witnesses reported that they had made one or more suicide attempt 

           and three witnesses reported a history of substance abuse. A number of witnesses described 

           enduring many years of depression, alcohol dependency and extreme anxiety. Some 



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          commented that they were dependant on personal support services and required intensive 

          ongoing assistance. 



14.185    Two (2) witnesses, one male and one female, gave the following accounts of their history and 

          the impact their experience of abuse has had on their adult lives: 



                You would try to block it out of your mind and get on with life but at night it would come, 

                the nightmares.... Crying in bed at night, thinking back on what happened me, it never 

                goes away .... Walking along the street... at night time, you always feared someone was 

                going ...(pause) ... coming behind you ....I always go around with this carving knife in 

                my pocket...cutting my arms was a way of letting the anger out... 



                                                              • 



                I came back to nowhere.... I had nowhere to go. My sister took me in for a while.... I 

                started to get panic attacks, I thought I was dying, I thought I had a brain tumour, the 

                doctor kept on telling me I was alright, it’s not physical. ... I was suicidal, they took me 

                into ... a locked ward, I spent ...(many months)... there. I used to just lose control.... I 

                took overdoses.... Then it...(details of abusive experiences)... started coming out and I 

                started getting angry, I wouldn’t do anything to anybody when I was angry, only to 

                myself and would start cutting my arms ... it was my way of releasing.... They ... 

                (hospital staff) ... said my problems were so deep in the past.... 



          Effects on adult life 



14.186    Many of the 38 male and 23 female witnesses described what they believed were the damaging 

          consequences of their experiences of child abuse in Children’s Homes. They described 

          difficulties in many areas of their lives including health, family and social relationships and 

          reported that their childhood experiences of abuse had multiple effects on their adult lives, as 

          outlined in Table 84: 



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 Table 84: Reported Effects on Adult Life – Male and Female Witnesses Children’s Homes 



                    Male witnesses                                          Female witnesses 



         Effects on adult life*             Number of              Effects on adult life*            Number of 

                                              reports                                                  reports 



 Lack of trust                                   26        Lack of self-worth                             20 



 Angry                                           19        Lack of trust                                  16 



 Counselling required                            19       Abuse not easily forgotten                      13 



 Loner                                           19        Counselling required                           13 



 Suicidal feelings or attempts                   19        Feeling different from peers                   12 



 Alcohol abuse                                   16        Feeling isolated                               12 



 Feeling different from peers                    16        Suicidal feelings or attempt                   10 



 Abuse not easily forgotten                      14        Loner                                           8 



 Feeling isolated                                14        Post-traumatic effect                           8 



 Mood instability                                14        Unable to show feelings to partner              8 



 Nightmares                                      14        Withdrawal                                      8 



 Anxious and fearful                             13       Angry                                            7 



 Aggressive behaviour – verbal                   12       Anxious and fearful                              7 



 Lack of self-worth                              11        Tearfulness                                     7 



 Unable to settle                                11        Feelings related to being a victim              7 



 Feelings related to being a victim              10        Mood instability                                7 



 Unable to show feelings to partner              10        Nightmares                                      6 



 Aggressive behaviour – physical                 9         Overprotective of children                      6 



 Sleep disturbance                               9         Sleep disturbance                               6 



 Unable to show feelings to                                Feelings related to being 

 children                                        9         powerless                                       5 



 Post-traumatic effect                           8         Issues of needing approval                      5 



                                                           Unable to show feelings to 

 Withdrawal                                      7         children                                        5 



 Over harsh with children                        6        Alcohol abuse                                    4 



 Aggressive behaviour –                                    Find others with similar 

 psychological                                   5         experiences                                     4 



 Tearfulness                                     5         Issues of self-blame                            4 



 Issues of needing approval                      5         Overly compliant behaviour                      3 



 Overprotective of children                      5         Sexual problems                                 3 



 Sexual problems                                 5        Aggressive behaviour – verbal                    2 



 Issues of self-blame                            4         Fear of failure                                 2 



 Feelings related to being 

 powerless                                       3         Over harsh with children                        2 



 Gender and sexual identity 

 problems                                        3         Somatic symptoms                                2 



 Thankful for what we have now                   3        Aggressive behaviour – physical                  1 



                                                          Aggressive behaviour – 

 Fear of failure                                 2         psychological                                   1 



 Overly compliant behaviour                      2         Substance abuse                                 1 



 Somatic symptoms                                2         Thankful for what we have now                   1 



 Substance abuse                                 2         Unable to settle                                1 



Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



n = 38 male and 23 female 



*Witnesses could report more than one effect and male witnesses reported a wider variety of effects 



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14.187     The table indicates some gender differences. For instance most of the female witnesses 

           reported issues related to feelings of self-worth compared with less than a third of the male 

           witnesses. Half of the male witnesses reported that they were loners and experienced feelings 

           of unresolved anger, compared with less than a third of the female witnesses. 



14.188     Sixteen (16) witnesses described feelings of terror, anger and disconnectedness associated with 

           childhood trauma. Others described the fear and enduring shame that sexual abuse generated 

           in them as children and eight witnesses described ongoing psychological and sexual difficulties 

           associated with their sexual abuse. 



                 I didn’t go home.... I just started wandering here and there. I went to ...named place of 

                 refuge.... I was 13 or 14. I stayed in hostels. Once I came out of there ...(Children’s 

                 Home)... I went to hell on the drink, life was really difficult. My life was destroyed, as I 

                 get older it gets worse. I ended up in psychiatric hospitals, I used to cut myself up.... I 

                 would just get depressed and start thinking of the things that were done to me, it 

                 ...(experiences of sexual abuse)...would play on your mind. Then you would think of 

                 suicide, I tried it several times, I was sent to the hospital then. I was off drink for several 

                 years.... We were sent there ...(Children’s Home)... to be corrected not to be abused like 

                 that. I still wake up at night, some nights I am afraid to go asleep at night, thinking 

                 ...(over 20)... years down the road that someone has just come into the room, thinking I 

                 am back at that place again, that this ...(sexual and physical abuse)... is happening all 

                 over again. Counselling has helped a good bit, but it can’t really bring out what’s 

                 happened to you, it can’t take away what’s happened to you. 



14.189     Many witnesses commented on their limited potential in employment situations due to the 

           neglect of their education. Others reported having difficulty with authority, never looking for 

           promotion, being constantly vigilant and as one witness remarked in relation to the workplace ‘I 

           kept my head down’. A male witness who described continuing difficulties in many areas of his 

           life stated: 



                 Nearly every job I had I lost it over the drink because I couldn’t handle it ... (memories 

                 of sexual abuse) ... I’d feel more relaxed with the drink otherwise I’d be as nervous as 

                 hell... I kind of block it out now, they are bad thoughts ... I just try and get on ... I came 

                 ... (to hearing) ... for someone to talk to, you see there is very few people you can talk 

                 to. I never tell anybody. I didn’t tell her ... (spouse) ... most of it. I just told them ... 

                 (children) ... I was in an orphanage. 



14.190     As previously reported male and female witnesses stated that their experience of abuse 

           influenced their relationships, particularly as a result of their inability to trust, the sense of shame 

           and the lack of confidence they have endured throughout their lives. 



                 I couldn’t really meet people ... I was so used to the orphanage, it was a confined place. 

                 It’s hard to explain, you get very paranoid and all of a sudden you think someone is 

                 going to force you or something like that... 



                                                                   • 



                 I didn’t know how to behave with people outside ... I didn’t feel good about myself. I had 

                 such an inferiority complex and I didn’t know how to behave ... when I went to a party 

                 I’d sit in a corner ... 



14.191     The separation from their parents and siblings and the difficulties encountered when re- 

           establishing contact with their families following discharge was reported as a continued source 

           of distress and anger for a number of witnesses. A female witness commenting on her attempts 

           to re-establish a relationship with her mother stated: 



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                I still wanted to get to know her. I still wanted to understand. I still wanted to be with her 

                ... we just didn’t get on ... all the anger came out ... there was never any closeness 

                there, ever ever. It was so sad ... 



 14.192   Many witnesses reported a life-long history of difficulties coping with everyday life and 

          socialisation. The reported difficulties included isolation, withdrawal, feeling different from their 

          peers, and being unable to show affection to their partners and children. Approximately half of 

          the witnesses reported having been assisted through counselling. 



 14.193   This section of the Report has summarised the experiences of the 61 witnesses who reported 

          abuse in Children’s Homes over a period of 73 years, the majority of whom were discharged 

          after 1960. 



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          Chapter 15 



          Foster care 



15.01     Foster care, previously known in Ireland as ‘boarding out’ or ‘at nurse’, is a form of out-of-home 

          care that allows for a child to be placed in a family environment rather than an institution. Foster 

          care has been provided over the years through the State and non-government sectors, and by 

          both formal and informal private arrangements. Funding for these placements was generally 

          made to the foster parents by the organisation responsible for the placement or by the child’s 

          relatives. Foster care arrangements, including the assessment of potential foster carers, the 

          supervision of foster placements, and payment allowances for children in foster care have been 

          standardised and become better regulated in recent years. 



          Witnesses 



15.02     The Confidential Committee heard evidence from 24 witnesses, eight male and 16 female, who 

          reported being abused while in foster care. The reports related to 22 foster care placements. 

          The witnesses identified 18 foster families by name and location, four others were referred to by 

          their geographic location. Two (2) of the 18 named foster families were each reported as 

          abusive by two separate witnesses. 



15.03     The reports of abuse in foster care refer to a 64-year time period between 1931 and 1995, being 

          the years of earliest admission and the latest discharge reported by witnesses. The majority of 

          reports of abuse in foster care refer to placements before 1960. Sixteen (16) witnesses, four 

          male and 12 female, were originally placed in foster care prior to 1960 and 12 of those 

          witnesses, three male and nine female, were also discharged before 1960. Five (5) of the 

          witnesses who reported abuse were discharged from their foster care placements in the 1980s 

          and 1990s. 



15.04     Seven (7) witnesses, five male and two female, reported abuse in other placements in addition 

          to foster care, including Industrial Schools, Children’s Homes, a special needs school, and a 

          primary school. Witness evidence regarding those accounts is reported in the relevant chapters 

          of this Report. 



15.05     Twelve (12) of the foster homes reported were in rural locations and 10 were in cities and 

          provincial towns. 



          Social and demographic profile of witnesses 



15.06     The majority of witnesses reporting abuse in foster care were the children of single parents and 

          had scant information about their family background and social circumstances. They generally 

          knew little about their family of origin and were reliant on official documentation for details of 

          their place of birth and early life experiences. This documentation was most often reported to 

          have been obtained through Freedom of Information legislation, family tracing services and 

          other charitable organisations. 



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 15.07    Family of origin, place of birth and current residence details are differentiated by gender when 

          there are notable differences; otherwise they are reported collectively. 



 15.08    Twelve (12) of the 24 witnesses reported that they were born in Dublin, 11 witnesses were born 

          in eight other Irish counties and one witness was born outside the State. 



 15.09    Fourteen (14) witnesses reported that their mothers were unmarried at the time of their birth. 

          Three (3) female witnesses reported being the children of extra-marital relationships who were 

          placed in foster care as infants by mothers who reared other children within marriage. A further 

          three witnesses reported not knowing anything about the circumstances of their birth. 



 15.10    Four (4) witnesses reported being placed in foster care in the context of marital separation or 

          parental illness. 



 15.11    Ten (10) witnesses reported having siblings, some of whom they had contact with during their 

          childhood and others who they have only become aware of in recent years through the process 

          of family tracing. Nine (9) of these witnesses reported having siblings in care. Two (2) of those 

          witnesses reported being initially placed from their family homes in the same foster home as 

          their siblings with whom they maintained contact. Five (5) of the witnesses reported that they 

          and their siblings had been placed in out-of-home care because their mothers were lone parents 

          and unable to support them due to their social and economic circumstances. 



 15.12    Eight (8) witnesses had never been able to establish whether or not they had any siblings or 

          other living relatives and six witnesses reported that they had no siblings. 



 15.13    Witnesses had relatively little information about their parents’ occupational status, which in 13 

          instances was reported as unskilled and in 11 instances was recorded as unknown. 



 15.14    At the time of their hearing the age of witnesses who reported being abused in foster care 

          ranged between 20 and 74 years. Ten (10) witnesses were aged over 60 years at the time of 

          their hearing. A further nine witnesses were aged between 40 and 59 years and five others 

          were under 40 years of age. 



 15.15    At the time of their hearing 19 witnesses were living in Ireland and five were resident in the UK. 



          Circumstances of placement in foster care 



 15.16    Twenty (20) of the 24 witnesses had been in foster care or institutional care since their first year 

          of life. As previously stated, most of these witnesses were the children of lone mothers who 

          were reported to be unable to care for them for various reasons. 



 15.17    Four (4) witnesses reported that they lived with their parents for the first few years of their lives 

          but were then placed in foster care following family breakdown, parental illness or marital 

          separation. These witnesses were initially admitted to Children’s Homes, Industrial Schools or 

          other institutions with siblings from whom some were then separated. 



 15.18    Among those witnesses who reported being in out-of-home care for lengthy periods, seven 

          witnesses reported that their placement in foster care followed a series of other placements over 

          a period of up to seven years. These witnesses reported being in Children’s Homes, county 

          homes, hospitals or Industrial Schools for varying periods of time prior to being placed in foster 

          homes that, in most instances, became their final childhood residence. All of these witnesses 

          were the children of lone mothers with whom they reported having no further contact. 



 15.19    Seven (7) other witnesses were fostered before their first birthday from the institutions where 

          they had been born, including county homes, mother and baby homes and nursing homes. 



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15.20      Six (6) witnesses reported being transferred to foster homes from different placements, including 

           other foster homes, where they had been happily settled over a number of years. Two (2) of the 

           six witnesses reported being placed with foster families following the closure of the residential 

           institutions where they had lived for many years. 



15.21      Twenty (20) witnesses reported spending between 11 and 18 years in foster care and other 

           forms of institutional care. Five (5) of those witnesses continued to live with their foster families 

           after the age of 18 years in circumstances that are referred to later in this chapter under the 

           heading of current experiences. 



15.22      Three (3) witnesses reported being fostered and in other forms of alternate care for between 

           eight and 10 years. Two (2) of those witnesses gave accounts of being adopted by their foster 

           parents. The third witness was transferred from an abusive foster placement to an institutional 

           setting. A fourth witness reported being in foster care for less than a year prior to being returned 

           to their biological family. 



           Record of abuse 



15.23      Eight (8) male and 16 female witnesses who reported being abused in foster care made reports 

           in relation to 22 different foster homes. As stated above, the reports relate to a 64-year period 

           between 1931 and 1995, and refer to all four types of abuse, physical and sexual abuse, 

           neglect and emotional abuse. Reports of abuse by a witness may be either descriptions of a 

           single incident of abuse or multiple experiences of being abused over a long period of time. In 

           most instances witnesses who reported abuse in foster care made reports that referred to more 

           than one incident of abuse and more than one type of abuse. The most frequently reported 

           abuse types were physical and emotional abuse, as detailed below: 



                  •    Twenty one (21) witnesses reported physical abuse. 

                  •    Twenty (20) witnesses reported emotional abuse. 

                  •     Seventeen (17) witnesses reported neglect. 

                  •     Fifteen (15) witnesses reported sexual abuse. 



15.24      Twenty three (23) witnesses made reports of more than one abuse type and nine witnesses 

           reported all four types of abuse, as shown in the following table: 



                     Table 85: Abuse Types and Combinations – Male and Female Foster Care 



                     Abuse types and combinations                                    Number of reports 



            Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional                                              9 



            Physical, neglect and emotional                                                      4 



            Physical and emotional                                                               4 



            Sexual, neglect and emotional                                                        2 



            Physical, sexual and neglect                                                         1 



            Physical, sexual and emotional                                                       1 



            Physical and sexual                                                                  1 



            Physical and neglect                                                                 1 



            Sexual                                                                               1 



            Total                                                                               24 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



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15.25      Combinations of physical and sexual abuse were reported by half of the witnesses, in addition 

           to further reports of emotional abuse and neglect. 



           Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 



                                       1 

                  injury to, the child . 



15.26      This section of the Report presents the evidence given to the Committee by witnesses regarding 

           their experiences of being physically abused and injured by non-accidental means, and their 

           lack of protection from such abuse while in foster care. The forms of abuse reported included 

           hitting, punching, kicking and bodily assault with implements. Witnesses also reported being 

           physically abused by being burned, spat upon and immersed in water. 



15.27      There were 21 reports of physical abuse from eight male and 13 female witnesses in 19 foster 

           care placements. Four (4) witnesses reported being physically abused in two particular foster 

           placements. 



           Description of physical abuse 



15.28      Fifteen (15) of the 21 witnesses who reported being physically abused described being beaten 

           regularly with sticks or household implements, including wooden spoons, rolling pins, broom 

           handles, dishes, and coat hangers. One witness reported being beaten with a leather harness 

           and a stick. Others described being ‘thrashed with a chain’ and beaten with a horsewhip. Five 

           (5) of the witnesses reported being beaten on a daily basis. One witness recounted how her 

           foster parents took turns to hold her down and beat her. Witnesses also described being 

           slapped, punched and kicked by their foster parents and other family members. The locations of 

           physical abuse described by witnesses included the foster homes, farm sheds and fields. 



                  It’s the physical beatings and kickings. He ... (foster father)... would, for no apparent 

                  reason ... deal out.... It was like a daily ritual, any whimsical time that suited him ... he 

                  beat us.... I have this vision in my mind of cowering in a corner and being beaten with a 

                  stick, and kicked. 



                                                                    • 



                  She ... (foster mother)... always slapped in the head or in the face and you would 

                  always be in a corner, just getting one slap after another into the face. ... You couldn’t 

                  even think past putting your hands up to stop the slaps hitting you. ... You would be 

                  trying to protect yourself and she would be screaming “don’t you dare protect yourself” 

                  and you would try and put your hands down but it just couldn’t be done. That happened 

                  a good few times, that’s what happened when you did things wrong. 



15.29      Four (4) witnesses described being burned by various means including being struck with hot 

           pokers, pushed into fires, and having hot liquid thrown over them. Two (2) witnesses described 

           having their heads held under water until they thought they might drown, as punishment for bed- 

           wetting. Two (2) foster mothers were reported to regularly wash out the witnesses’ mouths with 

           soap for allegedly telling lies or as a general punishment. 



                  Mother ...(foster mother )... got the poker, she stuck it in the fire and took it out, it was 

                  so hot, you could see through it and said to my ...foster father... “hold her”, 

                  my...(foster)... father said “this is going too far, no way”.... She said “hold her” and he 

                  held me back in the chair, she said to put my hand out, and she placed the poker in it 

                  ...distressed... and all I remember is passing out.... The pain, I’ll never forget it.... 



           1 Section 1(1)(a). 



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15.30     Witnesses reported being physically abused in response to various perceived misdemeanours 

          and other behaviour, including bed-wetting, telling lies, speaking to and being friendly with local 

          children, and not keeping up with chores, particularly farm work. Four (4) female witnesses 

          believed that they were physically abused both as a means of coercion and ensuring silence 

          about sexual abuse. 



15.31     Fifteen (15) witnesses, both male and female, who reported abuse in foster care prior to the 

          1980s reported being required to undertake hard physical labour, particularly farm work. One 

          witness reported being required to ‘work like a man’ from the age of eight years. He described 

          having to milk cows, save turf and hay, clean out sheds, take fodder to animals and tend sick 

          animals. He and other witnesses reported being withdrawn from school to work. Several 

          witnesses also reported heavy workloads both in the foster homes and outside on farms. ‘I was 

          there to be their slave’. A female witness reported that she was expected to do all the 

          housework in a home that kept paying guests. Another witness described life in a ‘chaotic’ foster 

          home where the family moved frequently and her work included getting each new home ready in 

          advance for the other family members. 



          Injuries 



15.32     Eight (8) witnesses gave disturbing accounts of severe physical abuse that resulted in them 

          being physically injured or harmed in some way. The isolation of many foster homes, as 

          described by witnesses, increased their sense of helplessness regarding physical abuse. One 

          witness stated that he was regularly beaten until he was so badly injured on one occasion that 

          an ambulance was called and he was removed from the foster placement permanently: 



                I was beaten to the point of a child’s submission to death, I gave up and I hoped I would 

                die.... Obviously someone had been watching, because that particular evening when I 

                was so weak from the beating, I think I may have passed out. ... Blood...(was)... pouring 

                out of me. ... I was taken away by ambulance.... A nurse assisted me, she was very 

                kind. 



15.33     Another witness stated that he was taken to hospital on two separate occasions following 

          incidents of abuse. On one occasion he reported that he had been burned on the legs and 

          forehead by a hot iron and on the second occasion he was treated for a head injury after the 

          foster mother struck him with a kitchen implement. 



15.34     A female witness who reported being regularly ‘thrashed’ to the ground by both foster parents 

          described being sent to school wearing long stockings to cover bruises and injuries on her legs 

          and on one occasion wore a cap to cover lacerations to her head. The witness reported that no 

          enquires were made about her injuries. 



15.35     A witness reported severe physical and sexual abuse throughout her time in a foster home 

          where she was placed as an infant and where she also witnessed other foster children, 

          including babies, being abused. Another witness who had been in foster care since infancy and 

          gave evidence of repeated abuse had a deformed arm and a scar that she believes were the 

          result of early injuries of which she had no memory. The injuries described in the following 

          quotes occurred in the same foster home as mentioned above. 



                This little girl ...(another foster child)... that came ... we seemed to spend our time sitting 

                around the fire, she was there, I remember she seemed quite small, and they ...(foster 

                parents)... were saying “let’s see how much pain she can stand” and they got the hot 

                poker and burned her wrist ...distressed.... I don’t know how they could be so cruel ... or 

                why ...distressed.... I have a burn on my wrist and I can only suspect that the same 

                happened to me. 



                                                              • 



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                  She ... (another foster child)... I don’t know if she supposedly told a lie, was standing 

                  there ... and they were literally trying to pull her tongue out with a gadget ... a pincers or 

                 something.... I remember feeling so terrible, helpless for her, ’cos I’d probably be lined 

                  up next if I expressed what I felt for her. 



15.36      A male witness reported that his nose was broken following a blow to the face by a member of 

           the foster family. No medical attention was sought and the witness reported having respiratory 

           difficulties since that time. This witness also reported that bruises from beatings were 

           camouflaged by his foster mother. 



15.37      There were five witness accounts of physical assaults causing bleeding, including one instance 

           when a witness reported that her foster mother deliberately caught her hand in a door during an 

           argument; she subsequently lost a fingernail. 



                  She gave me my last hiding when I was 17 or 18, with the broom handle, I was 

                  cowed...she got me in the face. Of course you were always locked up in the dark room, 

                 and I bled like a pig, so I rubbed it all over me, so when she came in she nearly had a 

                 heart attack. 



           Reported abusers 



15.38      Witnesses reported being physically abused by both foster parents and their biological children. 

           Thirteen (13) foster mothers and four foster fathers were reported as being consistently abusive. 

           Twelve (12) of the 17 foster parents were identified by name and four of them were each named 

           by two witnesses. 



15.39      Three (3) witnesses reported that their foster parents’ biological children also abused them. In 

           one instance the reported abuse was perpetrated by several of the foster parents’ children 

           acting in unison. The witness reported being treated like a punching bag and as the scapegoat 

           for the biological children’s own misdemeanours. The witness believed that the foster parents 

           were aware of this ongoing abuse and condoned it by their failure to intervene. The other two 

           witnesses reported being physically abused by foster siblings in the presence of their foster 

           parents with, it was believed, their consent. 



           Sexual abuse 



                  The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 



                                       2 

                 or another person . 



15.40      This section presents the evidence of both acute and chronic sexual abuse, provided by 

           witnesses to the Committee. The reported abuse ranged from contact sexual abuse, including 

           rape and associated physical violence, to non-contact abuse such as voyeurism and 

           inappropriate sexual talk. Many witnesses found it difficult to report the details of their sexual 

           abuse. They reported as much or as little detail as they wished when describing their 

           experiences, and at times confined their accounts to general statements regarding contact or 

           non-contact abuse. 



15.41      The Committee heard 15 reports of sexual abuse from two male and 13 female witnesses in 

           relation to foster care placements. The reports relate to 13 foster homes. Two (2) foster homes 

           were each the subject of separate reports of sexual abuse by two witnesses. 



           2 Section 1(1)(b). 



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           Description of sexual abuse 



15.42      The forms of sexual abuse reported included exhibitionism, exposure to inappropriate sexual 

           behaviour and talk, oral/genital contact, fondling, masturbation, digital penetration, and anal and 

           vaginal rape. Seven (7) witnesses reported being raped, including one witness who reported 

           that she became pregnant as a result of rape by her foster father. 



15.43      Witnesses described being sexually abused within the foster homes, in fields, farm buildings and 

           in local business premises. Sexual abuse was frequently reported in combination with physical 

           abuse that was believed to have been used as a threat against the disclosure of sexual abuse 

           and as a component of the sexual abuse. A witness reported the following account of sexual 

           abuse when she was approximately 10 years old: 



                 I’m in the kitchen with ...foster father... and he starts fixing the curtains and makes sure 

                 no one can see in and I’m thinking “what’s he doing that for?” ... Next thing he picks me 

                 up and puts me on the table and takes me knickers off. ... I’ll never forget his eyes, they 

                 were all glassy ... (witness described penetrative assault) ... and I say “you’re hurting 

                 me”. ... And he stops and he puts me knickers back on and he takes me off the table 

                 and he says “don’t tell your mother, you know what she’s like” and I says to myself 

                 “what was all that about?” 



15.44      Twelve (12) witnesses reported being sexually abused as young children by male foster family 

           members. Each of these witnesses reported being abused on a regular basis in their own beds, 

           elsewhere within the foster home, when taken for walks or while engaged in farm work. They 

           described being raped, violently assaulted, and exposed to pornography and images of 

           bestiality. 



                 If he ...(foster parents’ biological son)... was in bed of a Sunday, she’d ...(foster 

                 mother)... send me down to call him. He’d... (digital penetration described)... and I 

                 remember I was bleeding, and I was afraid and I didn’t know what to do. ... He used to 

                 say to me “if you say anything you will be taken back to a Home” ...distressed.... 



                                                                   • 



                 I woke up with him... (foster father)... in the bed with me and he had penetrated me with 

                 his fingers and I was very sore, I tried to scream but nothing would come out.... He 

                 warned me not to say anything, that he’d kill me if I did. 



                                                                   • 



                 Her son...(foster mother’s biological son)...he did pornography, I now know what it is, I 

                 didn’t then... and all the locals used to come for the stuff...it was animals and humans 

                 he did.... 



15.45      One witness reported she was sexually abused by a workman on the farm where she was also 

           abused by the foster parents’ son. Another witness reported being sexually abused from the age 

           of approximately five years, and described abuse that progressed from fondling to digital 

           penetration and progressed to full intercourse when she was seven years old. This witness 

           reported being sexually abused by both her foster father and foster brother, and believed that 

           her foster father encouraged his adolescent son to abuse her to deflect attention from his own 

           abuse of her at the same time. 



15.46      Six (6) witnesses reported their belief that their sexual abuse by male family members was 

           tolerated, if not encouraged, by the foster mother. Three (3) witnesses believed that their foster 

           parents condoned and facilitated sexual abuse by their sons, one of whom was an adult. Four 

           (4) of the witnesses reported being sexually abused when their foster mothers were absent from 

           the home either working or visiting relatives. 



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                 Everything was for ...named foster brother.... There was luxuries bought for ...X... 

                 because he was out working and I wasn’t. ...Foster mother... would go out and leave me 

                 there on me own with him. ... He’d start doing things like tucking me dress into me 

                 knickers, he was 16 then. ... His face was so red. ... He’d have biscuits hidden in the 

                 room and he’d give me the biscuits and I’d just stand there and I’d be eating the biscuits 

                 and he’d be doing all this to me. Although he was doing this ... a strange feeling comes 

                 over you because you know it’s wrong, you know what he’s doing is wrong but you can 

                 do nothing about it because you’re not in control, he’s in control. Your mind just moves 

                 away from it, you’re kind of a zombie in other words. Then when we’re in the house on 

                 our own he starts making me undress ... and he’s there all the time and I wake-up in the 

                 morning he’s on top of me. ... He’d have a fist up to my face ... threatening me ...(to 

                 stay quiet).... 



                                                                  • 



                 The auld fella ...(foster father)... never stopped pulling himself ...(masturbating).... He’d 

                 come in drunk and start chasing you around the house wanting to kiss you. ... It was 

                 revolting. ... She ...(foster mother)... would think it was just a bit of fun, but it wasn’t, it 

                 was dirt. ... It suited her ...(that his attention was diverted).... 



15.47      Three (3) witnesses reported being sexually abused by male adults from the local community 

           who they believed were aware that they were foster children. All three witnesses reported being 

           fearful that disclosure of their abuse would result in them being removed from foster homes 

           where they were otherwise happy. The witnesses commented on their fear of being returned to 

           the institutions where they had previously resided and where they reported being subjected to 

           more pervasive abuse. 



15.48      Another witness reported being moved from a Children’s Home where she had been sexually 

           abused by a visiting priest. The same priest subsequently visited the foster home where she 

           had been transferred and he continued to abuse her there. 



15.49      Three (3) witnesses, two of whom were male and one was female, described inappropriate 

           sleeping arrangements in the foster placements where they shared beds with male adults who 

           sexually abused them. 



15.50      There were consistent accounts from four female witnesses of being sexually abused on a 

           regular basis by the foster fathers in two foster homes over many years. The witnesses were 

           placed in the foster homes as toddlers. All four witnesses reported being forced to spend 

           lengthy periods of time working in the fields and farmyards with their foster fathers who routinely 

           sexually abused them by fondling and masturbation and in two instances by digital penetration 

           and rape. The witnesses also reported being subjected to severe physical abuse by both their 

           foster parents. 



           Reported abusers 



15.51      The 15 witnesses reported being sexually abused while in foster care by 18 individuals, 17 male 

           and one female. Thirteen (13) of the reported abusers were identified by name and the other 

           five were referred to by there status as foster parent, workman or other. 



15.52      Five (5) witnesses reported being sexually abused by more than one individual in their foster 

           care placements. One witness reported being sexually abused by both a foster mother and her 

           son. Eight (8) witnesses reported sexual abuse perpetrated by six foster fathers and by four 

           biological sons of foster care providers. 



                 I used to think that sexual abuse meant rape. I didn’t understand, I thought I was bad 

                 and that it only happened to me. He ... (foster parents’ son)... used to maul...(my)... 



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                 private parts. ... If she ... (foster mother)... was going off he’d say to leave me...(at 

                 home)... he wanted me to do things, she’d say to stay at home, there was work to be 

                 done. He’d abuse me every opportunity he got. 



15.53      Six (6) of the 15 witnesses reported being sexually abused by eight male adults who were 

           members of the local community or others who were not members of the foster family 

           household. They included a local youth, workman, neighbour, shop-keeper, priest, and relatives 

           of the foster parents. The witnesses encountered these men when they were sent for messages 

           to local shops or were unsupervised, either in the foster homes or in other locations in the 

           community. 



           Neglect 



                 Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                 serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                 serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.3 



15.54      Witnesses reported that their care was neglected at many levels both by the actions and 

           inactions of those who had a duty of care for their welfare They reported neglect both while in 

           foster care and in the process by which foster families were selected and supervised. 



           Description of neglect 



15.55      The main areas of neglect reported by 17 witnesses were; the inappropriate placement of 

           children with foster parents who were unable to meet their developmental and social needs, the 

           subsequent absence of supervision of the foster care placements, neglect of bodily integrity, 

           lack of adequate food and clothing, neglect of education and inappropriate work. A further area 

           of neglect reported by witnesses in this group was the lack of provision made for their future and 

           the failure to provide aftercare or transitional support from the age of 16 years. 



           Work 



15.56      Fifteen (15) witnesses reported having to work for their foster parents, in 10 instances on the 

           family farm caring for animals, cleaning farm buildings, working in the fields, cutting and drawing 

           timber, turf and hay, and carrying water. This work was reported to have taken precedence over 

           other activities, particularly school attendance. Ten (10) witnesses reported being responsible 

           for a large share of the housework in the foster homes including cooking, sewing, cleaning and 

           carrying water. Five (5) witnesses reported being sent to work for neighbouring farmers and the 

           relatives of their foster parents as ‘hired help’, but received no payment. 



                 Physically having to work so hard, we weren’t big.... It seemed like it was always 

                 freezing cold, snow and frost.... In winter ... sawing down trees, in the midst of him 

                 ...(foster father)... hurling abuse.... The memory of dragging what seemed like trees 

                 across fields to the back garden and then sawing them down to logs.... 



                                                                   • 



                 We cut wood everyday when we came home from school and in the summer holidays 

                 we went felling.... They felled the trees and I was always considered a man in relation to 

                 the cross cut... (saw)... You would always be up to your knees in water and you had to 

                 saw... and trim the tree and it had to be cut up and brought back... and got ready... for 

                 the people who wanted it....Every Saturday you took the wood to town...the school 

                 holidays were taken up with this... 



           3 Section 1(1)(c) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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          Education 



15.57     Eleven (11) witnesses reported on the lack of education they were afforded through being kept 

          out of school to work at household or farm chores. A number of the witnesses commented on 

          the fact that education was generally regarded as a low priority by their foster parents. 



                School ... was a very difficult time ... the worst thing was not being allowed to do 

                homework.... I would be trying to do it on the side of the road.... I wanted to be 

                educated.... I managed to scrape through the Primary Cert and I took home this 

                certificate, and was so proud of it. I remember her ...(foster mother)... holding it up and 

                ceremoniously tearing it, ripping it up ... and threw it straight in the fire. 



15.58     Five (5) witnesses reported that they received little formal education as a result of the demands 

          placed on them to do household and farm work for their foster parents. One witness who had 

          been sexually abused reported that when she became disruptive at school she was excluded 

          and kept at home full-time to help her foster mother with a home-based commercial enterprise. 



          General welfare and personal care 



15.59     Eight (8) witnesses reported being sent to school in clothing inferior to that worn by local 

          children. Poor quality and inadequate clothing was reported to have been replaced with good 

          clothes on special occasions, such as official visitors calling and outings. 



15.60     Eight (8) witnesses described receiving insufficient food and, in particular, being isolated at 

          mealtimes when they were either not permitted to eat with the other family members or were 

          given inferior food. One witness described being made to sit in the corner of the kitchen, where 

          he recalled being thrown food scraps from the table: 



                On all occasions when dinner was taking place ... I was put into the corner ... of the 

                kitchen.... I had my dinner fed to me by ... one of the men ... in the house ... (who) 

                would throw it ...(a piece of meat)... into me in the corner and I would eat that. 



                                                               • 



                I remember coming in from school and the skillet was on the floor on the piece of 

                sacking...cows udders, pigs tails, cabbage...you weren’t allowed to the table...everything 

                was Middle Ages, I don’t know why we deserved that. 



15.61     This witness also reported being told that when he was moved to another placement his new 

          foster mother had to prevent him from eating the hen’s food in the farmyard. He believed he had 

          been so hungry in the previous placement that he had developed a habit of eating the animal 

          feed. 



15.62     In seven foster homes all aspects of care were reported as neglectful, including both insufficient 

          bedding being available and inadequate hygiene facilities. One witness reported on the lack of 

          privacy available in the foster home where she was regularly stripped to be washed in the 

          kitchen in front of male adults. Five (5) witnesses, three male and two female, reported being 

          made to share beds with adults, despite there being alternative sleeping arrangements 

          available. As previously mentioned, three of these witnesses reported being sexually abused. 



15.63     Eight (8) witnesses reported that their foster parents always had at least one other and often 

          several foster children at the same time. The belief that they were regarded as a source of 

          income rather than children in need of care was expressed by many of the witnesses. 



          Supervision and inspections 



15.64     Fifteen (15) witnesses recalled officials visiting their foster homes. These visitors were described 

          as social workers, public health nurses, and others, some of whom were known by name but not 



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----------------------- Page 1659-----------------------

          by their professional role. The Committee heard from witnesses that after the mid-1980s official 

          visits were more regular. Seven (7) witnesses reported that social workers called to the foster 

          homes on a regular basis. Several of the visiting social workers, public health nurses, and other 

          officials were described as not speaking directly to the witnesses or other foster children but 

          instead spent their time talking with the foster mothers. There were three reports of visiting 

          inspectors being shown bedrooms used by family members where they were incorrectly told the 

          witness and other foster children slept. One witness who reported being sexually abused on a 

          regular basis within her foster home recalled the inspector’s visits, and another commented on 

          the preparation made for planned visits: 



                Miss ...X..., a nice young lady, she used to come to the house, used to drop in and just 

                look at me, and on the face of it I would be seen to be well fed and kept very clean and 

                well dressed. So, on the face of it, I would be seen to be well looked after but ... in 

                hindsight ... I should have been taken away and spoken to on my own. 



                                                            • 



                Visitors...do-gooders would come, the ladies with the cars and the furs would come. 

                She...foster mother ...got all the clothes from the pawn...(shop)... and all the stuff would 

                be home out of the pawn and would be laid out and then they went back again when 

                they left...In those days of course you didn’t have a voice, nobody thought you had a 

                brain even. 



15.65     In one instance a witness reported that she believed the social worker was a social 

          acquaintance of the foster parents, which made it difficult for the witness to disclose sexual 

          abuse. Another witness recalled that official visitors came to see two other foster children in the 

          home but nobody ever came to see her: ‘Someone ...(inspector)... called to see them 2 girls 

          ...(foster siblings).... Nobody ever called to see me. ... The other 2 girls were paid for, they had 

          to go to school, but I wasn’t.’ Witnesses were of the view that official visits were prearranged, 

          they recalled being dressed in their ‘Sunday clothes’ and that the house was tidied by way of 

          preparation for the inspectors. 



15.66     Three (3) witnesses reported that their foster parents applied to adopt them; all reported being 

          abused in their foster homes. One of these witnesses reported that the only visit she could recall 

          during her lengthy foster care placement was when a woman came to assess her foster parents’ 

          suitability as adoptive parents. The adoption was not approved but she remained in the foster 

          home, where she reported that she continued to be abused. The other two witnesses reported 

          that each of their foster homes had been visited on a regular basis by women whom they 

          identified as nurses. The witnesses reported being officially adopted by their foster parents when 

          they were approximately 10 years old and recalled no further visits from the nurses. Both 

          witnesses reported that they continued to be abused following their adoption. Their evidence 

          relating to abuse during the post-adoption period is not included in this report, being outside the 

          remit of the Commission. 



          Socialisation and follow-up care 



15.67     Eleven (11) witnesses reported being deprived of the opportunity to socialise and play. Five (5) 

          witnesses reported that they were not allowed to play with local children and seven witnesses 

          reported having no toys or playthings. The dominant memory for these 11 witnesses is of 

          working, either on the farms, in the houses, or for relatives and neighbours of the foster parents. 



15.68     Failure on behalf of the supervising authorities to provide for the practical and psychological 

          needs of young people in foster care was highlighted as an area of neglect by many witnesses. 

          This concern was specifically raised in relation to the absence of any preparation for discharge 

          from foster care or preparation for a more independent adult life. Witnesses reported having to 

          resort to their own courage and ingenuity when they reached the age of 16 years. They then 



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----------------------- Page 1660-----------------------

           became aware that they could or would have to leave the foster home as the authorities no 

           longer had responsibility for their placement and foster payments had ceased. 



                  She took everything I had, clothes, photographs, everything, so I went and got a job and 

                  told nobody, I got the job with an agency and I went and I never came back to Ireland 

                  until I knew she was dead. I used to ring...local person...and ask if she was still alive. I 

                 know it was very callous of me but the hold and damage she did to my life... 



15.69      In addition to the lack of preparation provided for witnesses’ discharge from foster care, the lack 

           of support of post-discharge follow-up was reported as a further area of neglect. 



15.70      Seven (7) female witnesses reported that they became pregnant and/or married before they 

           were 20 years old to ‘escape’ foster homes from which there appeared to be no other route to 

           independence. 



                  In my opinion I was thrown to the wolves ... the injustice ... because I feel nobody cared. 

                  I got married at 17 for security, he was ...several years... older than me. I tried to get out 

                 of a bad situation but I got into a worse one. 



15.71      Five (5) other witnesses reported that they never left their foster homes as they had ‘nowhere 

           else to go’ or felt duty-bound to remain and care for elderly foster parents in what one witness 

           referred to as a ‘prison’. The witnesses reported that they remained in their foster homes until 

           they married or until their foster parents died. 



15.72      Six (6) witnesses left their foster care placements in varying circumstances. Four (4) witnesses 

           reported that they drew attention to their unhappiness by running away, disclosing abuse or 

           asking to be moved. Two (2) witnesses were then placed in hostels where they reported 

           receiving more support and professional assistance for their particular difficulties. Another 

           witness described being given a home by a kind elderly neighbour who acted as a guardian until 

           his death when the witness was a young adult. 



15.73      Two (2) witnesses reported being sent to work as live-in domestics in institutional settings where 

           they remained until they were sufficiently confident to move to positions where they had more 

           freedom. Three (3) other witnesses found jobs when they were 16 years old and gradually 

           became more independent and/or got married. 



15.74      Four (4) witnesses who had minor disabilities gave accounts of being ‘dumped’ one way or 

           another when they became ill, their principal foster carer died or the witness reached the age 

           when foster care payments ceased. In these circumstances witnesses reported that different 

           people, including relatives of the foster parents and welfare professionals, arranged assistance 

           for them, including placement on a training program, transfer to a rehabilitation hospital and 

           support with independent living. 



15.75      Two (2) witnesses reported that they returned to live with their biological families when the 

           difficulties that led to their out-of-home placement had been resolved. 



           Emotional abuse 



                 Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                 expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                 development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.4 



           4 Section 1(1)(d) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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----------------------- Page 1661-----------------------

15.76      The emotional abuse reported to the Committee included verbal abuse, social isolation and lack 

           of affection, denial of contact with other children, denial of identity, personal ridicule, humiliation, 

           and family denigration. Witnesses also reported being subjected to constant threats of 

           abandonment, including being told that they would be ‘sent back’ or ‘sent away’ to an Industrial 

           School if they misbehaved or displeased their foster parents. 



           Description of emotional abuse 



15.77      The experience of being placed with foster families was marked by loneliness and isolation for 

           many of the 24 witnesses who gave evidence to the Committee, 18 of whom reported being 

           emotionally abused while in foster care. They reported feeling ‘abandoned’ to their fate, ignored 

           by State authorities, and forgotten about by parents and relatives, including biological parents, 

           some of whom subsequently married and reared families. 



15.78      Four (4) witnesses reported being placed with foster families where they were exposed to 

           trauma and emotional instability in the context of domestic violence, marital conflict or mental 

           illness. 



                 There were rows all the time, when something would go wrong we ... (foster children)... 

                 were called names. If something was lost ... (foster mother would say)... “that bastard’s 

                 lost it”. ... (foster carers were)... always throwing things around. 



15.79      Four (4) other witnesses reported being removed from placements where they had been settled, 

           and relocated with different foster carers. They reported that the transfers occurred without 

           discussion. The witnesses believed that their placement transfers were facilitated for the specific 

           purpose of providing company and assistance to elderly, childless individuals and couples. 



15.80      One witness described spending the first nine years of his life in a foster home where he was 

           very happy and where he suffered no abuse. He recounted being sent with 24 hours’ notice and 

           no explanation to another foster home where he was physically and sexually abused. Another 

           witness reported being removed from a settled placement to be sent as a foster child to an 

           elderly woman, commenting that the papers facilitating this placement were signed by a priest 

           who was a close relative of the woman. A male witness reported being sent from a residential 

           institution where he had been placed with his siblings. He reported that he was placed with a 

           farming couple who had no children, where he worked hard until he was discharged to his own 

           family when he was 16 years old. 



           Lack of affection 



15.81      Eleven (11) witnesses reported being shown no affection by their foster parents. The experience 

           of being deprived of affection was particularly remarked upon by witnesses who were placed 

           with families where there were biological children. Witnesses reported being treated differently 

           and less favourably than the biological children; for example three witnesses reported being 

           sexually abused by the sons of their foster parents from whom they were afforded no 

           protection. 



15.82      Eight (8) witnesses reported that their foster parents were consistently harsh and unkind to 

           them. They reported being treated as unpaid labourers rather than as children and frequently 

           reminded that they were ‘orphans’. 



                 She ... (foster mother)... was always telling me “I’m not your mother, I got you from the 

                 Home and I can give you back just as quick”. ... This woman didn’t want me and she 

                 couldn’t get rid of me. 



                                                                  • 



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----------------------- Page 1662-----------------------

                  We had to put up with her ... (foster mother)... and her uncontrollable temper. She will 

                  probably never know the hurt she has caused or the influence she has had. I don’t think 

                  she ever saw me as a child, just an annoyance and every little thing I did just annoyed 

                  her. She hated me, she told me often enough. 



           Social isolation 



15.83      A number of witnesses described being isolated from support both within the foster home and in 

           the wider community. They reported being forbidden to speak or interact with the biological 

           children in the family and were discouraged from sharing confidences with other foster children. 

           Witnesses described witnessing other foster children in the family being abused but feeling 

           unable to defend them or offer them any support for fear of attracting similar abuse themselves. 

           ‘We...foster children... didn’t talk to each other, we all lived in a sort of personal isolation 

           because we couldn’t trust each other... 



15.84      Witnesses also described being prevented or discouraged from interacting with neighbours. 

           Three (3) witnesses regarded this as a protective measure due to the derogatory manner in 

           which they were treated by the neighbouring children. Witnesses also reported being ostracised 

           in the local school, subjected to offensive remarks from other children and, in four instances, 

           from teachers. ‘Some of the local school children knew we were bastards, told us so and threw 

           stones as we passed’. Other witnesses believed that being forbidden to speak to local children 

           was a means of reinforcing their isolation and sense of being different from other children. 



15.85      It was reported that the neighbours of one foster family were particularly kind and it was 

           believed that they attempted to protect the foster children in various ways. A witness reported 

           that she and other foster children were sent out at night to steal from these neighbours’ fields, 

           causing much fear and anguish: 



                  We’d be sent to steal firewood from the neighbours...you’d be frightened and they’d ... 

                  (foster parents)... kind of absolve themselves of all responsibility because they’d say ... 

                  “you’re orphans, we won’t have any responsibility, that ... (stealing)... is expected of you 

                  kind of people”.... You knew you were doing something wrong, at school we knew the 



                   th 

                  7  commandment, “thou shalt not steal”.... I was totally confused by all this and the fact 

                  that they’d ... (foster parents)... report it was us who stole.... It wasn’t a nice feeling. 



           Personal denigration 



15.86      Denigration and humiliation was described by witnesses as taking several forms. Fourteen (14) 

           witnesses reported being called names, with particular reference to the circumstances of their 

           birth: ‘nothing but a bastard’, ‘you are whore’s milk’, ‘a black man’s bastard’, ‘Local people 

           referred to us as... ‘X’s... (foster mother’s)... bastards’. Witnesses also reported being called 

           derogatory nicknames with reference to personal features or characteristics. Three (3) witnesses 

           had physical disabilities that they reported were the subject of constant ridicule and humiliation. 



15.87      Other experiences reported by witnesses were being denied privacy for bathing, being subjected 

           to derogatory remarks about bed-wetting and other personal matters in front of members of the 

           household, and being made to eat apart from the family or outside the house with farm animals. 

           One witness described being made to walk several miles to Mass each Sunday, while there 

           were bicycles in the house that he was never allowed to use. 



           Denial of identity 



15.88      Five (5) witnesses reported that they did not know their own birth names or were not called by 

           their birth names and three witnesses reported being misled about their biological family. 



                  The problem is I wasn’t registered when I was born, I have no birth cert. I was baptised 

                  twice, but I have no birth cert. When I was going to buy a house one time, they said I 



           316                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1663-----------------------

                had to get a ... birth cert. I went in to Lombard House looking for a birth cert ... never 

                heard of me. You can’t go away or anything, or you can’t get a passport. 



                                                               • 



                I wasn’t ever called by my name.... It is hard ... (to talk about)... some of this thing, 

                because it is so personal ...distressed... because it’s like remaining that person ...(with 

                the derogatory name)... and I think they did a good job. I was called ...X (reference to 

                physical attribute)... I’d only ever hear my... (real)... name when the authorities came. ... 

                I can see this man, this tall stately person, coming down on a bicycle. I think he used to 

                pay them their dues for foster care ... then I’d know my name. 



                                                               • 



                She’d ... (foster mother)... say I was nobody anyway.... I felt this psychological abuse 

                was very hard to take.... She succeeded in making me feel I was nobody. 



                                                               • 



                I find my childhood haunts me. I’ve been searching for who I was...I sat for a week 

                when I got the letter to say that I actually came from somewhere...when I go to Ireland I 

                actually feel the pain of not belonging. 



                                                               • 



                When I was 15 I thought that maybe someone would come and say “well here’s your 

                letters and your papers and things about your mother” and all that but the people that 

                knew my mother would never tell me anything. Up to less than 10 years ago there were 

                people who knew her but they wouldn’t tell me anything. 



15.89     One witness became aware that the foster mother knew the whereabouts of the witness’s 

          siblings but refused to disclose this information. Another witness reported being told as a child 

          that his biological parents were dead and subsequently learned that his foster carers had always 

          known that this was not true. Another witness reported becoming aware in more recent years 

          that a child who was in the same foster home throughout childhood was, in fact, a sibling. 



          Knowledge of abuse 



15.90     Witnesses commented that the public nature of certain aspects of the abuse they were 

          subjected to made awareness by others unavoidable. They reported being abused in front of 

          others, being visibly neglected and unhappy and presenting to doctors and hospitals for the 

          treatment of injuries inflicted through abuse and violence. They reported being aware that 

          neighbours, teachers, visiting professionals and members of the local community knew they 

          were being abused in their foster homes. Witnesses reported that disclosures of abuse were at 

          times investigated with positive outcome. Other witnesses stated they were either ignored or 

          punished when they disclosed their abuse. 



15.91     Eleven (11) of the 24 witnesses reported that they disclosed their abuse to someone or 

          confronted their abuser and successfully resisted any further abuse. 



                When I was 17 I went to...professional...one day, I didn’t know where to go... I spent 

                about 2 hours, I brought everything...(sexual abuse)... out to her, crying to her, non- 

                stop... and although I didn’t know it at the time she obviously reported it to the Health 

                Board and it was to get priority... I read that on the files... (afterwards)... but it never got 

                priority, nobody ever came back to me. 



15.92     Eight (8) of the 11 witnesses reported their abuse to professionals, including visiting nurses, 

          social workers and the local family doctor. In each instance, with one exception, the disclosure 

          was responded to in a positive manner in that the witness was believed and either moved from 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                           317 


----------------------- Page 1664-----------------------

          the foster home or the abuse ceased. In some instances the response was not immediate but 

          did occur eventually. Four (4) of the witnesses were removed from their foster homes, two of 

          whom were placed in residential institutions and continued to spend holidays with the foster 

          parents. Another witness was removed from an abusive foster home and placed with a kind but 

          elderly foster carer who died when the witness was 14 years old. As previously stated one 

          witness reported that she ran away from her foster home where she was abused and was taken 

          in by a neighbouring family where she continued to live, with the knowledge of the visiting 

          inspector. Despite informing this person about the severe daily abuse she had experienced, the 

          witness reported that other foster children remained in that foster placement. Another female 

          witness reported that following a ‘savage rape’ she haemorrhaged and fainted in a public place, 

          following which her foster mother became aware of her sexual abuse and although she 

          remained with that foster family the foster father ceased abusing her. 



15.93     One witness reported that her disclosure of physical abuse to the visiting social worker resulted 

          in further abuse and a deterioration in the already conflicted relationship with her foster mother. 



15.94     Six (6) witnesses reported that they either told their foster mothers that they were being sexually 

          abused by their foster fathers or the foster mothers became aware of the sexual abuse as a 

          result of subsequent events. In four instances the foster mothers were reported to either 

          disbelieve the witness or blame them for the resultant problems in the family. One witness 

          reported that her foster mother said ‘there are no bad men, only bad women’, when she learned 

          that the witness had been sexually abused by the foster father over a number of years. Another 

          foster mother was reported to blame the witness for trying to ‘come between’ herself and her 

          husband. The witness reported that the foster mother was physically abusing both the witness 

          and another foster child in the foster father’s absence. 



                We said to ...foster mother... that he was always pulling on himself ... (masturbating)..., 

                but she didn’t believe us. She said we were just jealous, that we didn’t want her to be 

                going out at night time,... (leaving witness with foster father)... and she ignored it. 



15.95     Two (2) witnesses reported that while their foster mothers were distressed by the disclosures of 

          sexual abuse against their husbands, they accepted what they were told and assisted the 

          witness to be protected. The witnesses acknowledged positive aspects of the general care they 

          received in the foster homes and were afraid that the security of their placement would be 

          compromised by disclosing the fact of their sexual abuse. 



15.96     Three (3) witnesses believed that other adults were aware of the abuse they were subjected to 

          by observing what happened. They reported that no action was taken to address the abusive 

          situations. For example, one witness described being constantly assaulted by a member of the 

          foster family. This behaviour occurred in view of the foster parents whom the witness believed 

          exploited her presence in the family as a means of coping with their other difficulties. In a 

          separate foster home another female witness stated that she was treated by the family doctor 

          for burns to her arm having been hit with a hot poker by her foster mother. 



                Eventually they called the doctor, she warned me when he came I was to keep my 

                mouth shut, she would tell him what happened.... I thought, “at least, thank God, it will 

                come out now” ...distressed... because I didn’t think she would tell a lie.... But she told 

                the doctor that she couldn’t keep me away from the fire and that I had come down and 

                put my hand straight on the bars...(of the fire grate).... The doctor told me off. 



15.97     A witness who reported being taken to hospital for treatment of burns and a head injury 

          following different assault incidents reported being asked no questions by the hospital staff 

          regarding how his injuries were sustained. This witness also reported being sent to school with 



          318                                                      CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1665-----------------------

          his arm in a sling following a beating without any questions being asked by the teachers 

          regarding his injury. 



15.98     One witness’s disclosure of sexual abuse precipitated an investigation by the supervising 

          authorities. The witness reported that she believed the outcome of the investigation was 

          compromised by the fact that the professionals and foster parents were socially acquainted. The 

          witness reported being eventually successful in having her abuse acknowledged and being 

          protected from further abuse. 



          Positive experiences 



15.99     Thirteen (13) witnesses reported a range of positive experiences in relation to their time both in 

          foster care and in employment placements after they were discharged. Despite making reports 

          of physical and sexual abuse six witnesses also reported that their foster parents were kind and 

          provided them with good homes where they felt accepted. These reports related to both non- 

          abusing foster parents and, in three instances, to the foster parent who also abused them. 



                I don’t want to take it...(childhood abuse)... any further.... They...(foster parents)... are 

                part of my family now, always will be...I think no matter who you are or where you are in 

                life you all need somewhere to go back to, we all need a base...just to say to anybody 

                that you have a family somewhere, that you’re not a total orphan. I do need a family, of 

                course I do, I’m a human being. 



                                                              • 



                I never knew I could do things ...everyone worked very hard to help me... (at work)...the 

                people I worked with were really kind, the tutors used to carry on at me saying “come 

                on”...(by way of encouragement) 



                                                              • 



                My boss used to say “you have your black dog”...(depression)... and I’d say “yes”, she’d 

                say “go work out the back where no-one will disturb you”. 



15.100    Three (3) witnesses stated that they enjoyed going to school where they were well treated by 

          kind teachers whom they believed were sympathetic regarding their home circumstances. Four 

          (4) other witnesses commented on the particular kindness of neighbours whom they believed 

          knew they were not well treated in their foster placements and found opportunities to extend 

          small treats. One witness described being given sweets by the shopkeeper when sent to get 

          alcohol for a foster parent. Other witnesses commented: 



                I would go to a neighbour who I knew would welcome me...they have been very 

                important people in my life, very influential because of their kindness. 



                                                              • 



                I could smell trouble and get out the window like greased lightning and go to the 

                neighbours at the back, they understood. 



15.101    Four (4) witnesses reported that they were well provided for in their foster homes in terms of 

          being well fed and clothed but that they were expected to work hard in exchange for the care 

          they received, as one witness remarked ‘it was ok until the work started’. 



          Current circumstances 



15.102    The witnesses who reported abuse in foster care described widely divergent adult life 

          circumstances, the main themes of which are reported below. On the basis of information 



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----------------------- Page 1666-----------------------

           provided, it is believed that these differences reflect the length of time witnesses spent in out-of- 

           home care, the extent of abuse they were exposed to while in foster care, the circumstances in 

           which the abuse occurred, and the outcome of their disclosures at the time.5 



           Relationships 



15.103     Eleven (11) witnesses were married at the time of their hearings and another three were 

           widowed after marriages of over 20 years’ duration. While acknowledging difficulties, seven of 

           the witnesses reported that their marriages were stable, happy and supportive as did two of 

           those witnesses now widowed: 



                  I am so, so lucky I met...wife..., such a lovely woman, I am sure I must have been a 

                  terrible torment to her at times. 



                                                                    • 



                  I was terrified of getting married, I didn’t know if I could love someone...my husband, he 

                 put up with me. I wasn’t interested in sex, to me it was dirty, it had no nice romantic feel 

                  about it. I feel I was a failure as a wife to him...sex was always a chore and that was 

                  wrong, but I could do nothing about it. I tried to compensate... I kept a good home.... 



15.104     Six (6) witnesses reported that their marriages had been or were currently unhappy and 

           unstable, four of them reported living with violent and abusive partners and two were separated 

           from previous partners with whom they had children. 



15.105     Three (3) witnesses had either married or become involved in a relationship and become 

           pregnant before they were 20 years old. They each described their early relationships as 

           unsuccessful attempts to have a life of their own away from their foster family. 



15.106     Five (5) witnesses who were single stated that they had either not been able to sustain an 

           intimate relationship because they felt too ashamed of their personal circumstances or were 

           deterred from engaging in a close relationship by their experience of being sexually abused. 

           Three (3) other witnesses were separated. 



15.107     Two (2) witnesses reported that they were co-habiting, one of whom had experienced long 

           periods of homelessness and emotional turmoil, while the other, younger witness reported a 

           briefer and more settled relationship history. 



15.108     Several witnesses also commented on the general difficulty they experienced relating to people 

           they met socially, after they left foster care. They described social relationships as complicated 

           by their inexperience of normal social interactions and family relationships. Witnesses reported 

           learning how to cope by observing others and by being fortunate enough to have kind 

           employers who understood their difficulties. Some witnesses commented that they have 

           continued to struggle with this aspect of their lives. 



                  I didn’t know how to function and I’d have to go around and ask people “how do I deal 

                  with this?” I pick people and I latch on to them and I learn from them because I suppose 

                  they have certain values I look for...I mean you can’t love unless you are shown love... 



                                                                    • 



                  That,...(working as live-in housekeeper)... was the first time that I saw what a family life 

                  was... to see how a family lived together, see how it could be. 



           5 This section contains some unavoidable overlap with the details provided by seven witnesses who also reported 



             abuse in other out-of-home settings. 



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          Parenting 



15.109    Twenty (20) witnesses, six male and 14 female, reported having a total of 76 children, not all of 

          whom they subsequently reared. One witness reported that she placed a child for adoption and 

          two others reported that their children were either placed in foster care or reared by their 

          biological fathers. Three (3) witnesses reported that they either adopted children or reared step- 

          children in addition to their own biological children. 



15.110    One witness reported that one of her children was sexually abused by a violent partner, four 

          other witnesses commented that their parenting experience was negatively influenced by the 

          presence of violent and abusive partners, or by their own harsh and critical behaviour. 



15.111    Two (2) witnesses reported that they had no children and there was no information available 

          regarding two other witnesses’ parenting experience. 



15.112    Ten (10) witnesses reported that they enjoyed being a parent and had good relationships with 

          their children, most of whom were independent adults at the time of the hearings. Education and 

          family stability were important aspects of the parenting experience for these witnesses. 



                We reared the... children we had... it was a terrible struggle...financially...it wasn’t easy, 

                but it was joyful at the same time. We have a wonderful family of children and grandkids 

                now and I am so happy that I got to this stage because there were periods in my life 

                when I thought I was going to be killed or die and that is a fact. 



15.113    Eight (8) witnesses reported that relationships with their children varied over the duration of their 

          parenting. Five (5) witnesses commented on the difficulties they experienced with their first child 

          compared with later children. The different experiences were attributed in some instances to 

          post-natal depression, immaturity, and the early death of a child. 



15.114    Four (4) witnesses commented on their difficulty establishing emotional bonds with their own 

          children. One witness described herself as being a ‘terrified mother’, who, as a result of her 

          childhood experiences, lacked confidence in her ability to relate to her children. Another witness 

          described a close relationship with her family who learned to live with her difficulty expressing 

          emotion: 



                I’ve gone numb inside...it’s what it does to your feeling...I couldn’t say “I love you”, she 

                ...(granddaughter) ...tells me she loves me and I can’t tell her... my son teases me 

                because he knows I can’t cope with emotions... they’re used to it. 



          Occupational and employment status 



15.115    Eleven (11) witnesses reported attending second or third-level education, while 12 others did not 

          proceed beyond primary school. As previously reported 11 witnesses reported being kept out of 

          school on a regular basis to work for their foster parents, five of whom reported receiving a 

          negligible education as a result of the expectations placed on them to assist with farm and 

          housework. Witnesses commented that their subsequent working lives were disadvantaged by 

          this early neglect of their education. Witnesses also reported being sent to work when they 

          reached school-leaving age in jobs that provided no prospects for their future employment but 

          that were seen to provide an extra source of income for their foster parents. 



                She...(foster mother)... never let me out of her clutches until I was 20 and went 

                away...(left Ireland).... When I was 15 she arranged for me to go into the commercial 

                laundry for 2 and a half years. She collected the money for that, I never saw it. There 

                was...X number...of us there and no records. I went to...named hospital...after that and I 

                have no records there either...invisible...I can’t get a pension you see because there is 

                no records and no contributions paid, they said that was because it was a training 

                school. I don’t know what we were training for...I was on men’s shirts, ironing them for 2 

                years. 



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----------------------- Page 1668-----------------------

15.116     Table 86, which follows, shows the highest level of education attended, but not necessarily 

           completed, by witnesses reporting abuse in foster care placements: 



                  Table 86: Highest Level of Education Attended – Male and Female Foster Care 



                  Highest level of education                   Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Primary                                               4                      8                     12 

            Secondary                                             3                      4                      7 

            Third level                                           1                      3                      4 

            Unavailable                                           0                      1                      1 

            Total                                                 8                    16                     24 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



15.117     Seven (7) witnesses reported being employed at the time of their hearings, seven others were 

           retired, and a further three witnesses reported being actively engaged in home duties. Five (5) 

           witnesses reported being unemployed at the time of their hearing, having been previously 

           employed, and two witnesses had been out of work for several years and were in receipt of 

           disability income. 



15.118     Thirteen (13) witnesses reported having been in stable employment for between 10 and 50 

           years. Male witnesses reported being principally employed in skilled trade and labouring 

           positions and female witnesses reported that they worked in a range of domestic and service 

           positions. Two (2) female witnesses trained in professional occupations and two others were 

           promoted to positions of responsibility in administrative occupations. 



15.119     Six (6) female witnesses reported that they were occupied in home duties for most of their lives, 

           having worked briefly in unskilled positions before they married. Five (5) witnesses reported that 

           they never worked for any substantial period of time. They described themselves as unable to 

           deal with authority and/or cope with the demands and expectations of the workplace: ‘The only 

           thing I know is how to survive, I don’t know how to progress.’ 



           Accommodation 



15.120     Most witnesses reported having stable and secure living arrangements at the time of their 

           hearings. A small number of witnesses were dependant on the private rental market, community 

           support services, or the support of relatives. Three (3) witnesses reported having experienced 

           long periods of homelessness and instability in the past and four others reported having been 

           dependant on the goodwill of their foster families for shelter in later adolescence and adulthood. 



                 I’ve never really had my own place, I’ve been just pushed and pushed around...I always 

                 dream that I could have a home where I could put my head down and nobody could 

                 come in through that wall... 



                                                                   • 



                 The thing about orphans is that when we get into trouble the only place they can put us 

                 is into prison...because we don’t have homes to go to, we don’t have people to latch 

                 onto... 



15.121     At the time of their hearing witnesses described their accommodation as follows: 



                  •    Ten (10) witnesses owned their own homes. 

                  •     Eight (8) witnesses lived in local authority housing. 

                  •     Four (4) witnesses were living in private rented or sheltered accommodation. 

                  •    Two (2) witnesses lived with relatives. 



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          Health 



15.122    During the course of their hearings witnesses provided general information regarding their health 

          and well-being, either directly or while describing other aspects of their lives. For the purpose of 

          writing this Report the Committee categorised the witnesses’ physical and mental health status 

          as good, reasonable or poor based on the information they provided about their past and 

          current health history. 



15.123    All 24 witnesses reported either good or reasonable physical health circumstances, 10 of whom 

          described themselves as experiencing good physical health without any particular health 

          problems that affected their day-to-day functioning. 



15.124    Fourteen (14) witnesses were categorised as having a reasonable level of physical health. They 

          reported histories of ongoing illness and physical complaints that have had some impact on their 

          everyday functioning, but were not debilitating. Three (3) of the witnesses reported having 

          digestive problems that required surgery. Two (2) other witnesses reported that they have been 

          treated for cancer and a further five witnesses reported suffering with arthritis, kidney problems, 

          and the physical symptoms associated with an eating disorder. 



15.125    Four (4) of the14 witnesses who described reasonable health circumstances reported physical 

          impairments as a result of congenital deformities and childhood illnesses, including polio. In 

          each instance the witness reported that their physical disability has had negative consequences 

          and affected their availability for work to varying degrees. 



15.126    Witnesses who reported being abused in foster care reported more mental health difficulties 

          than physical health concerns. 



15.127    Seven (7) witnesses, three male and four female, described poor mental health circumstances 

          and reported being hospitalised for the treatment of depression and suicide attempts, recently 

          and in the past. Several witnesses described themselves as having nervous dispositions and 

          being in need of ongoing professional support. They also reported that their ability to work and 

          maintain positive social relationships has been restricted by their mental health difficulties. 



15.128    Seven (7) witnesses reported their mental health as good, three of them described experiencing 

          low moods at times but being generally able to maintain a positive attitude. Ten (10) witnesses 

          gave accounts of reasonably stable mental health. They described themselves as suffering with 

          depression or anxiety attacks either currently or in the past, which they manage with the 

          assistance of counselling, medication and other types of support. 



15.129    Among the witnesses who reported being abused in foster care a higher proportion of female 

          witnesses reported receiving in-patient psychiatric treatment and a higher proportion of male 

          witnesses reported having either considered or attempted taking their own lives. 



          Effects on adult life 



15.130    Witnesses who reported being abused in foster care frequently commented on their inability to 

          trust people and the damaging effect this had on their interpersonal and social relationships. 

          They also reported feelings of loneliness, isolation and worthlessness. Witnesses who had spent 

          most of their childhood and adolescence in foster care reported being ‘alone in the world’ when 

          they left their foster homes, accentuating the sense of isolation they had previously experienced: 



               A lot of people think it’s just talk is going to solve the problem but it’s not, who are you 

               going to talk to?... I’ve had flats years ago but I’ve walked out of them because of 

               loneliness. A lot of people go to the drink... if I had a wish I’d wish I could have a home 

                that nobody could put me out of, and I’d wish I could have people around me. I can’t go 

                to the foster parents and say “will you be my friend?”... there’s no place for me, not 

                even on the streets. 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                       323 


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15.131     The following table highlights the areas of difficulty described by eight male and 16 female 

           witnesses, in the order of frequency reported: 



                Table 87: Reported Effects on Adult Life – Male and Female Witnesses Foster Care 



                               Male witnesses                                          Female witnesses 



            Effects on adult life*                     Number of      Effects on adult life*                    Number of 

                                                         reports                                                  reports 



            Counselling required                            5         Counselling required                           12 



            Abuse not easily forgotten                      4         Lack of self-worth                              9 



            Lack of trust                                   4         Lack of trust                                   9 



            Loner                                           4         Loner                                           8 



            Suicidal feelings or attempt                    4        Tearfulness                                      7 



            Aggressive behaviour – verbal                   3         Feeling isolated                                7 



            Angry                                           3         Post-traumatic effect                           7 



            Feeling different from peers                    3        Anxious and fearful                              6 



            Feeling isolated                                3         Mood instability                                6 



            Lack of self-worth                              3         Feelings related to being a victim              5 



            Substance abuse                                 3         Nightmares                                      5 



            Withdrawal                                      3         Suicidal feelings or attempts                   5 



            Aggressive behaviour – physical                 2        Withdrawal                                       5 



            Anxious and fearful                             2        Abuse not easily forgotten                       4 



            Mood instability                                2         Issues of needing approval                      4 



            Overprotective of children                      2         Overly compliant behaviour                      4 



            Aggressive behaviour – 

            psychological                                   1         Sexual problems                                 4 



            Alcohol abuse                                   1         Somatic symptoms                                4 



            Tearfulness                                     1        Alcohol abuse                                    3 



            Fear of failure                                 1        Angry                                            3 



                                                                      Feelings related to being 

            Feelings related to being a victim              1         powerless                                       3 



            Nightmares                                      1         Issues of self-blame                            3 



            Post-traumatic effect                           1         Sleep disturbance                               3 



            Sexual problems                                 1         Unable to settle                                3 



                                                                      Unable to show feelings to 

            Sleep disturbance                               1         children                                        3 



            Unable to settle                                1         Feeling different from peers                    2 



            Unable to show feelings to 

            children                                        1         Substance abuse                                 2 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Witnesses could report more than one effect and female witnesses reported a wider variety of effects 



15.132     Nine (9) witnesses reported experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviour in addition to 

           descriptions of mood fluctuations and tearfulness. Problems associated with sleep disturbance, 

           anxiety, social withdrawal and anger were reported by more than a quarter of all the witnesses. 



           324                                                            CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1671-----------------------

                If I had an argument with somebody,... (I would think)... should I hit the person or...Now 

                I wouldn’t, I think it could be to do with maturity. Years ago if somebody stood in my 

                path, yes... (I would hit them)...and I’m amazed that I haven’t ended up in prison. 



                                                                • 



                I suffered depression... I have attempted suicide. When I was 15...I took a load of 

                tablets belonging to ...foster mother...I didn’t know what half of them were. I went to bed 

                and took them and said “this is it” in my own head and the following morning then I 

                woke up and I’m still here...and then about 2 or 3 years ago everything got on top of me 

                again and I took an overdose again. 



15.133    Seventeen (17) of the 24 witnesses reported having received counselling to help them deal with 

          these and other issues. Many witnesses commented that access to counselling has only been 

          available to them in recent years, with generally positive effects. Witnesses also remarked they 

          became more aware of their need for help to deal with their past experiences as they got older, 

          while stating it was often difficult to take the first step 



                I just completely suppressed everything, had forgotten everything... then everything 

                started coming back to me. I never had counselling, I never had anyone to talk to... I 

                was threatening for some time that I was going to do something... (about it)... I needed 

                to get my head sorted out... and I suppose I didn’t want to face up to it either at the 

                same time. 



15.134    With the exception of a small number of instances where social workers were reported to have 

          been involved in supervising foster placements in more recent years, the Committee heard 

          consistent reports of widespread neglect of witnesses’ physical, emotional and developmental 

          needs while placed in foster care. This neglect was compounded by a lack of assistance and 

          support in the process of leaving care. 



                 When I was 15 I thought someone, other than...foster mother...would plan my life, or 

                say “we’d get you a decent job” or say “this is what happens now”... 



15.135    Eleven (11) of the 16 witnesses who were discharged from foster placements when they were 

           15 years old reported that few arrangements or provisions were made for their subsequent 

          support. They described being treated, in some instances, as ‘slaves’, without any regard for 

          their developmental and emotional needs. There were eight accounts of witnesses being placed 

          with elderly, childless foster parents for the purpose, they believed, of providing assistance and 

          company for the foster parents. Accounts were heard of relatives ejecting witnesses from the 

          foster homes where they had been placed as young children, when a foster parent died, without 

          regard for their future welfare. In those instances where the witnesses were over 16 years old 

          they were no longer the responsibility of the social services. They had remained living in their 

          foster homes because they had nowhere else to go or it was mutually convenient for them to 

          remain with their elderly foster parents. 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                             325 


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 326                                               CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1673-----------------------

           Chapter 16 



           Hospitals 



16.01      This chapter summarises witness reports given in evidence to the Confidential Committee in 

           relation to 18 different facilities categorised under the general heading of Hospitals. Among the 

           facilities reported to the Committee and categorised as hospitals for the purpose of this Report 

           were general hospitals, specialist and rehabilitation hospitals, and county homes. The facilities 

           reported in this section were funded to provide a service to the public and were managed by a 

           variety of organisations including religious communities, boards of management and State 

           bodies. 



           Witnesses 



16.02      The Report refers to hospital admissions between 1935 and 1991. The 56-year period covers 

           the date of earliest admission and latest discharge of witnesses who reported abuse in hospital 

           settings. Seven (7) of the facilities were city based and 11 were in provincial and rural areas. 



16.03      There were 33 reports of abuse made by 31 witnesses, 17 male and 14 female, in relation to 

           the 18 hospitals or other facilities categorised by the Committee as hospitals. One witness 

           reported abuse in three different hospitals. There were between two and seven reports in 

           relation to four of the hospitals and the remaining 14 hospitals were each the subject of single 

           reports. 



16.04      Four (4) witnesses reported abuse in other settings in addition to hospitals, two reports were 

           made in relation to Industrial Schools and one each in relation to a Children’s Home and 

           another residential facility. The abuse details regarding those accounts are recorded in the 

           relevant chapters of this Report. 



           Social and demographic profile of witnesses 



16.05      Family of origin, place of birth and current residence details will be differentiated by gender 

           when there are notable differences. Among the witnesses who reported abuse in hospitals, eight 

           were born in Dublin and, of the remaining 22 witnesses, 21 were from 15 other counties in 

           Ireland and one was born outside the State. All 31 witnesses reported that they came from two- 

           parent households, although at the time of admission six witnesses reported that their parents 

           were either widowed or had separated. 



16.06      Witnesses reported their parents’ occupational status as shown in Table 88:1 



           1 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



            parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

            parent was recorded, in so far as it was known. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                327 


----------------------- Page 1674-----------------------

                Table 88: Occupational Status of Witnesses’ Parents – Male and Female Hospitals 



                      Occupational status                      Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Professional worker                                   0                      1                     1 

            Managerial and technical                              1                      1                     2 

            Non-manual                                            0                      1                     1 

            Skilled manual                                        2                      2                     4 

            Semi-skilled                                          1                      2                     3 

            Unskilled                                            10                      5                    15 

            Unavailable                                           2                      3                     5 

            Total                                               16                     15                     31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.07      Information regarding parents’ occupational status was not reported, or available, in five 

           instances. 



16.08      Twenty four (24) of the 31 witnesses reported having ongoing contact with their parents and/or 

           other family members during their time in hospital and when they were discharged. Four (4) 

           other witnesses reported having little or no family contact following their admission and feeling 

           abandoned by their parents in the process. Information regarding family contact was not 

           available about the remaining three witnesses. 



16.09      All 31 witnesses reported having siblings and 27 came from families of more than four children. 



16.10      Six (6) witnesses reported having siblings who were also in out-of-home care. Five (5) of those 

           witnesses reported that they and their siblings were admitted to out-of-home care in the context 

           of parental death, illness or impoverished circumstances and neglect. They were admitted to 

           Children’s Homes, Industrial Schools or county homes. Another witness reported having a 

           sibling who was also in a long-term hospital placement for medical reasons. 



16.11      At the time of their hearing most witnesses were aged between 40 and 59 years and three 

           witnesses were aged under 40 years, as the following table indicates: 



               Table 89: Age Range of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Hospitals 



                   Age range                      Males                      Females                 Total witnesses 



                  20–29 years                        1                           1                           2 

                  30–39 years                        1                           0                            1 

                  40–49 years                        6                           3                           9 

                  50–59 years                        6                           6                          12 

                  60–69 years                        3                           3                           6 

                   70 + years                        0                           1                            1 

                      Total                         17                          14                          31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.12      Twenty three (23) witnesses were living in Ireland at the time of their hearing and eight were 

           resident in the UK. 



           Circumstances of admission 



16.13      Witnesses reported being admitted to hospital in various circumstances for both brief and 

           lengthy periods of time. Among the reasons stated for admission to these facilities were acute 

           and chronic illness, physical disability, convalescence, and for social reasons such as parental 

           abandonment and family crises caused by illness, death and marital separation. 



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16.14      Sixteen (16) witnesses reported being hospitalised for the treatment of illnesses and disabilities 

           that necessitated lengthy admissions and that, in a number of instances, resulted in life-long 

           health and mobility impairments. 



16.15      Eight (8) of the 16 witnesses reported having serious injuries, illnesses and physical disabilities 

           including spina bifida and polio, which required medical treatment not available to them at the 

           time on an outpatient basis. Five (5) other witnesses who were hospitalised for the treatment of 

           chronic conditions reported being diagnosed with tuberculosis and were in-patients for between 

           one and 14 years. Three (3) witnesses reported that they were admitted to hospital as a result 

           of a combination of illness/disability and what they believed was their family’s inability to care for 

           them. Some admissions that were believed to have been initiated as family respite placements 

           extended into long-term admissions due to the unavailability of out-patient facilities, especially in 

           rural areas. 



16.16      Eight (8) witnesses reported being hospitalised for the treatment of acute medical illnesses or 

           injuries, including pleurisy, diphtheria, rheumatic fever, appendicitis and sports injuries. These 

           witnesses had relatively brief admissions, of between a few days and several months’ duration. 



16.17      A further six witnesses were admitted to hospital facilities because their respective families were 

           reported to be unable to cope with their child’s illness or disability and/or associated parental 

           responsibilities. In three instances witnesses reported being placed in county homes following 

           the death of a parent while awaiting longer term residential placements. Two (2) of the 

           witnesses were then transferred to Industrial Schools and one witness reported being retained in 

           a county home until sent out to work at 14 years of age. 



16.18      One witness reported that he was transferred to an adult psychiatric hospital from an Industrial 

           School following an altercation with staff in the context of physical abuse. 



16.19      The evidence presented by witnesses would indicate that the age of admission to these hospital 

           facilities varied according to the reason for admission. Most admissions were at relatively young 

           ages, with 18 of the 31 witnesses admitted to hospital facilities when they were aged five years 

           or less, as shown in the following table: 



               Table 90: Age on First Admission to Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Hospitals 



            Age of first admission                Males                      Females                 Total witnesses 



                    0–5 years                        9                           9                          18 

                   6–10 years                        4                           3                            7 

                   11–15 years                       3                           1                            4 

                   16–17 years                       1                           1                            2 

                      Total                         17                          14                          31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.20      Four (4) witnesses reported being admitted to hospitals at birth or in early infancy as a result of 

           their physical disabilities and that they remained in residential facilities for the duration of their 

           childhood and adolescence. Other witnesses reported that, as a result of their disability, they 

           were unable to attend their local primary school when they reached school-going age, and were 

           instead admitted to residential facilities. 



16.21      The length of time the 31 witnesses reported being in out-of-home care varied between five 

           days and 18 years. Fifteen (15) of the 31 witnesses reported spending five years or less in 

           hospital for treatment of their particular illness or disability. Table 91 illustrates the range of time 

           witnesses reported being hospitalised and in out-of-home care: 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  329 


----------------------- Page 1676-----------------------

                    Table 91: Length of Stay in Out-of-Home Care – Male and Female Hospitals 



             Length of stay in care               Males                     Females                 Total witnesses 



                    <1 year                         4                           4                           8 

                    2–5 years                       3                           4                           7 

                   6–10 years                       3                           5                           8 

                    10+ years                       7                           1                           8 

                      Total                         17                          14                          31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.22      The average length of stay reported by witnesses in the hospital facilities was seven years for 

           male witnesses and four and a half years for female witnesses. Eight (8) witnesses reported 

           being abused during admissions of less than one year. There was a marked difference in both 

           the average length of stay and type of abuse reported by male and female witnesses. A higher 

           proportion of female witnesses reported abuse during brief hospital admissions and more male 

           witnesses reported being abused in the course of lengthy admissions. These differences were 

           reflected in the ages at which witnesses reported being discharged from out-of-home care, as 

           shown below: 



              Table 92: Age when Discharged from Out-of-home Care – Male and Female Hospitals 



             Age when discharged                  Males                     Females                 Total witnesses 



                    <7 years                        0                           3                           3 

                   8–10 years                       3                           6                           9 

                  11–15 years                       6                           2                           8 

                    16+ years                       8                           3                          11 

                      Total                         17                          14                          31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           Record of abuse 



16.23      As already stated, 31 witnesses, 17 male and 14 female, made 33 reports of abuse in relation to 

           18 institutions referred to as hospitals. One witness reported being abused in three different 

           hospitals in the course of consecutive admissions. The 33 reports covered a 56-year period and 

           included all types of abuse defined by the Acts, specifically physical and sexual abuse, neglect 

           and emotional abuse.2  A report of abuse made by a witness may either refer to a description of 



           a single episode or to multiple experiences of being abused. In most, but not all, instances 

           reports of abuse in hospitals refer to more than one episode of abuse and more than one type 

           of abuse. 



16.24      All four abuse types were reported with similar frequency as detailed below: 



                  •    Nineteen (19) witnesses reported physical abuse. 

                  •    Sixteen (16) witnesses reported neglect. 

                  •    Fifteen (15) witnesses reported emotional abuse. 

                  •    Fourteen (14) witnesses reported sexual abuse. 



16.25      Sixteen (16) witnesses reported that abuse was a regular occurrence and was most frequently 

           reported as a combination of abuse types, as outlined in Table 93: 



           2 Section 1(1) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



           330                                                          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1677-----------------------

                        Table 93: Abuse Types and Combinations – Male and Female Hospitals 



                      Abuse types and combinations                                       Number of reports 



             Physical, neglect and emotional                                                         9 



            Sexual                                                                                   8 



             Physical and neglect                                                                    4 



             Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional                                                 3 



             Physical and emotional                                                                  3 



             Neglect and emotional                                                                   2 



             Physical, sexual and emotional                                                          1 



             Physical and sexual                                                                     1 



             Physical                                                                                1 



            Sexual and neglect                                                                       1 



            Total                                                                                   33 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.26      Twenty four (24) reports were of combinations of abuse, 21 of which included physical abuse. 

           The most frequently reported combination of abuse was physical and emotional abuse and 

           neglect, reported by nine witnesses. It is notable that eight reports were of sexual abuse alone. 

           In those eight instances witnesses described their experience of being sexually abused as 

           isolated events in the course of their hospital admission. 



16.27      Fourteen (14) of the 18 hospital facilities reported to the Committee were each the subject of 

           single reports. The other four hospitals were each the subject of between two and seven 

           reports, totalling 19 reports. 



           Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child.3 



16.28      Reports of physical abuse included descriptions of incidents of physical abuse, non-accidental 

           injury and lack of protection from such abuse. Accounts were heard of witnesses being hit, 

           beaten with implements, and kicked. Accounts were also heard of witnesses being immersed in 

           water, physically restrained and isolated. 



16.29      There were 22 reports of physical abuse by 19 witnesses in relation to 10 hospital facilities, as 

           follows: 



                   •     Four (4) hospital facilities were each the subject of two to four reports, totalling 16 

                         reports. 



                   •    Six (6) hospital facilities were the subject of single reports. 



16.30      Nine (9) reports related to witnesses discharged in the 1950s and five related to witnesses 

           discharged in the 1970s. The remaining eight reports were related to discharges in the 1940s, 

            1960s and 1990s, in diminishing frequency. 



           3 Section 1(1)(a). 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                      331 


----------------------- Page 1678-----------------------

          Description of abuse 



16.31     The most frequently reported form of physical abuse was being hit as punishment for perceived 

          misdemeanours, examples of which included bed-wetting, talking, crying, and not knowing the 

          answers to a question. Witnesses reported that physical abuse was also precipitated by refusing 

          to demonstrate functional abilities for visiting experts and medical consultants, not eating the 

          food provided, and not following staff instructions. 



16.32     Witnesses reported that they were hit with sticks, canes, straps, scissors, hair and hand 

          brushes. Witnesses also reported having their hair pulled, being punched, kicked, immersed in 

          cold water and being subjected to painful treatment procedures with little care or consideration. 

          They reported being force fed, left lying in wet beds or on bedpans for lengthy periods, and 

          being made to kneel on the floor or stand with their arms raised for extended periods of time. 



                I would have been about 9 or 10, there was this ...named female nurse... and she used 

                to go around with this plastic ...implement... hitting children for stupid things, such as not 

                standing in a queue, not going to school, not being on time. You might be at physio ... 

                (physiotherapy)... and not be able to get to your classroom on time.... She hit ... across 

                the hand, across the head, across the back of the legs. Everybody would know about it. 

                I seen children with marks on the backs of the legs, blood and everything. She was 

                really evil. I got a belt one day with her hand and with her...implement.... I retaliated 

                once. I hit her in the chest with my head and got a real walloping off the staff then.... 

                The staff did not care what way you were treated.... 



16.33     Witnesses described being physically abused in their hospital beds, on the wards, in bathrooms, 

          dining rooms, classrooms, treatment and consulting rooms, and other areas within the hospital 

          environment. 



16.34     The majority of witnesses who reported abuse in this section were bed-bound either because of 

          the traditional practice of a hospital ward where patients were kept in bed, or because of the 

          nature of their disability or illness. Immobile patients were described as especially vulnerable 

          and dependant. Several witnesses reported being subjected to painful treatments and 

          interventions while they were unable to move. A witness described having partially healed cold 

          sores pulled repeatedly from her lips while she was restrained in bed. Another witness reported 

          that the Sister in charge dropped him to the ground as a punishment: 



                I remember one morning ... I was about 5 and I was sat up in the bed ... and I heard a 

                voice behind and there’s a very tall nun looking down on me and she’s not pleased, I 

                can tell by her face. She said I’d offended God, she called me a cripple. I remember it’s 

                the first time I was ever called a cripple. ... She said before I was fit to meet him ... 

                (God)... again, I’d have to be broken and she just picked me up out of the bed and she 

                threw me down onto the ground ...distressed.... She’d just kick the shit out of me, picked 

                me up and punched and beat me. That was not the first time ... (to be beaten)..., but it 

                was the first time I was conscious that this is serious. ... After that I kept very, very quiet 

                ... invisible ... where you think if you don’t speak you’re not going to get beaten, if you’re 

                quiet there’s no excuse to beat you. 



16.35     Other witnesses who were subjected to routine and painful physical interventions including 

          injections, joint manipulation and surgery, reported being punished if they resisted or objected to 

          the treatments. Being unable to move independently created particular difficulties in these 

          circumstances. 



                I couldn’t run away, but I could hide under the bed in the corner, where they couldn’t get 

                at me. They used to have to beat me out with a stick. 



                                                             • 



          332                                                      CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


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                In all the time there I never remember getting a painkiller, the nuns used have this thing 

                about pain where they’d believe you could be redeemed through pain. ... I remember a 

                lot of pain, you didn’t complain because you knew you weren’t going to get anything for 

                it, you’d grin and bear it, that’s the way it was. 



16.36     Witnesses who were physically disabled or who had restricted mobility described being roughly 

          treated by staff, causing injury in two instances. One witness described a member of the 

          hospital care staff throwing her from one bed onto another in anger, which resulted in her falling 

          and cutting her head. Another witness reported that a staff member pushed a trolley at her that 

          knocked her over and caused an injury to her head that required medical attention. On both 

          occasions the incidents were reported to staff in authority as ‘accidents’ within hearing of the 

          witnesses. 



16.37     Witnesses reported being punished for bed-wetting by having wet sheets draped over their 

          heads, being left lying in wet sheets for long periods, and left sitting on bedpans, they believed, 

          to avoid having to change wet or soiled sheets. Two (2) witnesses reported being forced to 

          kneel or sit partially clothed against a wall with their arms extended ‘for hours’ as a punishment 

          for bed-wetting. Another witness reported being smacked on his bared bottom in front of adult 

          male patients on the ward where he was the only child. 



                All the kids were frightened of calling on the nurses...we were not allowed out of bed on 

                our own, we couldn’t put a foot out of bed...there were terrible punishments, if you 

                wee’d ... (urinated)... the bed, they made you remove the jacket of your pyjamas and 

                they made you kneel against this wall, supplicate against this white clinical wall with 

                your arms in the air until they decided it was time to go back to bed. If you defecated 

                you lost your top and bottom and you’d be naked, kneeling against this wall ... with your 

                hands above your head. 



16.38     Five (5) witnesses reported being physically restrained by staff. Two (2) of those witnesses 

          described being forcibly medicated while restrained and another witness described being tied to 

          the rail of the hospital bed to curtail any movement. The other three witnesses reported being 

          locked in cupboards or confined spaces overnight. Witnesses reported being restrained in these 

          ways for reasons such as refusing to co-operate with a treatment procedure, for retaliating to a 

          physical assault by staff or for indiscipline. 



16.39     Three (3) witnesses reported being physically abused and beaten by older co-patients whom 

          staff entrusted with the task of ‘minding’ younger patients on the ward in their absence. 

          Witnesses stated that the older patients regarded this as an opportunity to hit them without fear 

          of reproach. One witness reported being ‘terrorised’ by an older patient whom he believed the 

          staff were unable to control on the ward and at times had to restrain. The same witness 

          reported being abused and threatened by another co-patient in the absence of adequate 

          supervision. 



          Reported abusers 



16.40     Witnesses reported 23 individuals as physically abusive, 10 of whom were named female staff 

          members. Six (6) of the named physical abusers were identified as lay nurses and four as 

          religious Sisters who were believed to be nurses. One religious Sister was identified by name as 

          physically abusive by four witnesses and a female lay nurse was similarly identified by two 

          witnesses. The other eight named female staff were the subject of single witness reports. 



16.41     There were another nine accounts of abuse by unnamed religious and lay care staff, including 

          nursing staff, and three reports of older patients physically abusing witnesses. There were three 

          accounts of groups of care staff being abusive without an individual perpetrator being identified. 



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           Two (2) reports of unnamed abusers refer to male nursing staff and co-patients. One witness 

           reported being physically abused by the husband of a lay care worker to whom he had been 

           sent to work from the hospital. It is possible that there is some overlap between those named 

           and not named as abusers. 



           Sexual abuse 



                  The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                 or another person.4 



16.42      Witness reports of sexual abuse given in evidence to the Committee referred to both contact 

           and non-contact abuse, with the majority referring to contact sexual abuse, predominantly rape. 

           Reports of sexual abuse from male and female witnesses in relation to hospital facilities were 

           noteworthy as most often single or infrequent incidents. 



16.43      Fourteen (14) witnesses reported being sexually abused, eight of whom reported sexual abuse 

           as the only category of abuse experienced. A further six witnesses reported being sexually 

           abused in combination with other forms of abuse. The 14 reports of sexual abuse refer to 12 

           different hospital facilities, as follows: 



                   •    Two (2) hospitals were each the subject of two reports, totalling four reports. 

                   •    Ten (10) hospitals were each the subject of single reports. 



16.44      There were five reports of sexual abuse by witnesses discharged in the 1960s, and two each in 

           relation to the 1940s, 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. There was one report in relation to the 1990s. 



           Description of abuse 



16.45      Witnesses described being subjected to contact sexual abuse including fondling, digital 

           penetration and rape. Female witnesses also reported being subjected to painful internal 

           examinations and male witnesses reported being fondled and masturbated under the pretext of 

           medical examinations in hospital settings. 



16.46      Witnesses reported that they were sexually abused in their hospital beds, in examination rooms 

           and cubicles, doctors’ offices, bathrooms, and toilets. Incidents of sexual abuse were described 

           as unobserved by others and generally as occurring in discrete and isolated locations. 



16.47      Six (6) of the reports of sexual abuse were single incidents, including four accounts of rape or 

           penetrative assault. The witnesses described being confronted in their beds by men they did not 

           recognise who motioned to them to keep quiet while they digitally penetrated and/or fondled 

           their breasts or genitals. 



                  I was awakened by this guy and he was half into the bed, he was at me down there... 

                  (genital area) ...I tried to move up in the bed and he punched me pretty hard around the 

                 body. I kept quiet then. I don’t know how long he was there...I don’t know who it was, 

                  there was no word spoken at all...distressed ...I found that the worst of all, I can see him 

                 looking at me. I thought he had a short white coat on...I couldn’t be sure...any doctor 

                  who ever came in there... (to the hospital)... had a longish coat... I was wishing I could 

                 meet him, and if I had a shotgun... 



16.48      Four (4) witnesses described being inappropriately fondled and penetrated, both digitally and by 

           objects, in situations where there was inadequate supervision. The witnesses reported being 

           isolated by older patients who abused them. One witness reported being forced into a toilet 

           cubicle by an older boy on three occasions where he was inappropriately fondled and anally 



           4 Section 1(1)(b). 



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           penetrated with an object. A female witness admitted to hospital with an acute illness at six 

           years of age reported being fondled and abused on several occasions by an older boy while 

           another male patient kept watch. The witness reported that the ward was generally well 

           supervised and she was well cared for by the staff. She had no family contact during her 

           hospital admission. Another witness reported being sexually abused by fondling by an adult 

           male patient in circumstances where the witness was not adequately supervised. 



           Reported abusers 



16.49      There were three male staff members identified by name as sexually abusive by witnesses, two 

           of whom were reported to have been medical doctors, and a third was described as a hospital 

           orderly. 



                 He ... (named doctor)... proceeded to open my trousers and pulled me pants down to 

                 me knees and started to masturbate me and ask me questions, “when did I last have 

                 sex with a girl?” ... And then he asked me to stand up and turned me around and 

                 ...witness described anal penetration.... 



16.50      Six (6) witnesses reported being sexually abused by unnamed male and female nursing, care 

           and ancillary staff. As previously stated another witness reported being raped in a hospital ward 

           as a young child by an unidentified man whom he believed was the priest who provided a 

           pastoral service to the hospital. 



                 I had been sexually abused in that home ... (named hospital).... My memory is of 

                 somebody taking me by the hand.... I can remember the sound of the cassock that they 

                 wear whenever they are walking, I remember the swishing that it makes.... They would 

                 have been big and strong, maybe like a father figure.... He took me into a room where 

                 the curtains were pulled, there was a light shining through the curtain.... The name of 

                 the person, I wouldn’t have a clue. 



16.51      In one instance a witness reported being raped and inappropriately fondled by an unidentified 

           male wearing a white coat. Another male witness reported being inappropriately fondled and 

           subject to inappropriate attention including sexually explicit talk by a female nurse. 



16.52      Four (4) other witnesses, two male and two female, reported being fondled and/or anally 

           penetrated with objects by unnamed older co-patients, both male and female. 



16.53      Two (2) female witnesses reported being subjected to internal examinations by female lay and 

           religious staff when they were found talking or interacting with male co-patients. One witness 

           reported that she was restrained by two nuns while another nun conducted a painful internal 

           examination on her for reasons that were not explained to her at the time. The second witness 

           reported being abused in the same manner on three separate occasions by female lay staff. A 

           third female witness reported being fondled, internally examined and digitally penetrated by an 

           unnamed medical doctor while she was in hospital for treatment of a viral illness. 



           Neglect 



                 Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                 serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                 serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.5 



16.54      The following section refers to the evidence of neglect provided by witnesses to the Committee 

           including neglect of their education, inadequate provision of food, poor hygiene and poor 

           supervision. A further aspect of neglect reported by witnesses was the placement of children 



           5 Section 1(1)(c) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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          and juveniles in treatment facilities for adults, including a psychiatric hospital, without provision 

          for their developmental and educational needs. 



16.55     Seventeen (17) witnesses made 19 reports of neglect. One witness made reports of neglect in 

          relation to three hospitals. The reports related to nine hospital facilities, as follows: 



                 •    Four (4) hospital facilities were each the subject of two to four reports, totalling 14 

                       reports. 



                 •    Five (5) hospital facilities were each the subject of single reports. 



16.56     Nine (9) witnesses reported being physically and sexually abused in the absence of adequate 

          supervision, for example being a child left in a ward of adult patients and being left unobserved 

          and unsupervised in hospital rooms and cubicles. One witness was sent out to work for local 

          farmers as a day labourer from the county home where he was placed as a young child. He 

          reported being both physically abused and neglected in these work placements where nobody 

          ever called to check on his welfare. 



16.57     Five (5) of the eight hospitals about which the Committee heard reports of neglect were adult 

          hospitals or county homes to which witnesses were admitted as children, and where, as one 

          witness remarked: ‘there was no one there to protect me, no one to look after me’. They 

          reported that they had no contact with other children and no provision was made to address 

          their childhood fears and anxieties. One witness gave the following account of his transfer to a 

          psychiatric hospital when he was 14 years old: 



                The nuns sent me into a mental home for about 2 years. ... I had a fight with one of the 

                lads ... (co-residents)..., they thought I was a bit of a bully. ... Sr ...X... said “you are 

                going away for a bit of a holiday somewhere”. ... I landed up in ...named psychiatric 

                hospital.... She ... (Sr X)... was gone out the door and I couldn’t get out the door and the 

                windows was all locked. ... I was the youngest patient in the hospital, locked in, I was 

                there for about 2 years. It was worse than hell. They gave me shock treatment and 

                drugged me up to the last. Three or 4 of them would tie me down when they were trying 

                to give me injections. They locked me into a padded cell for about a day and night ... 

                when I tried to put my hands through a window. 



16.58     Nine (9) witnesses reported that the food in the hospitals where they were patients was 

          ‘appalling’, ‘disgusting’, ‘terrible’ and that there was ‘very little of it’. One witness described being 

          nauseated by the food and was force fed when he refused to eat it. Another witness reported 

          being made to eat his food from the floor if he spat it out. 



16.59     Six (6) witnesses reported that they received little or no education during their time in hospital; 

          one witness believed that due to his physical infirmity he was regarded as intellectually disabled 

          and was consequently not allowed to proceed to second-level education. Another witness was 

          completely bed-ridden for three years during which time she stated she received no schooling or 

          intellectual stimulation of any kind. A witness from one hospital commented that all the children 

          were treated as if they had a ‘mental disability’, and there was no proper assessment of 

          individual needs. 



16.60     Five (5) witnesses reported that they wet and soiled their beds, dressings and clothing because 

          their toileting needs were not properly attended to by staff and four witnesses reported that 

          because they wet their beds their personal hygiene was neglected; they were left in wet beds for 

          long periods and not assisted to the toilet when required. 



                There’s little things, that for a child they’d be a big thing, but for an adult maybe not, like 

                wanting to go to the toilet and they ... (lay staff)... not listening to you. I’d called a couple 



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                  of times and they just ignored you and would be giving out to you ... and then I’d have 

                 an accident in the cot and they’d beat you. 



           Emotional abuse 



                 Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                  expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                  development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.6 



16.61      This section refers to witness evidence of emotional abuse including; lack of affection and 

           approval, deprivation of family contact and personal denigration which had an effect on 

           witnesses social, emotional and physical functioning and development. 



           Description of emotional abuse 



16.62      The forms of emotional abuse reported included; exposure to frightening situations, lack of 

           affection, criticism, humiliation, deprivation of family contact, witnessing the abuse of others, and 

           the failure to provide for their emotional needs as children, particularly while in adult hospital 

           facilities. Loss of identity and lack of safety and protection were other components of the 

           emotional abuse reported by witnesses: 



                  It’s something you won’t forget, them iron-bar cots... the little one beside me, she was 

                  crying, God love us we used put our hands out between the bars and hold her hand for 

                  comfort, you know... I never remember any kindness, never heard my name. 



                                                                    • 



                  I didn’t know what affection was, anyone to put their arm around you, you’d no 

                 support.... 



16.63      Seventeen (17) witnesses made 18 reports of emotional abuse. One witness reported being 

           emotionally abused in two different hospital facilities. The 18 reports referred to nine hospital 

           facilities, as follows: 



                   •    Five (5) hospital facilities were each the subject of two to four reports, totalling 14 

                        reports. 



                   •    Four (4) hospital facilities were each the subject of single reports. 



           Exposure to fearful situations 



16.64      The anticipatory fear experienced by witnesses in relation to medical procedures was one of the 

           most frequently reported abuses in this category. Several witnesses emphasised the fear 

           associated with waiting for the day when the treating doctor would come. They recalled a lack of 

           information and reassurance provided by nursing and other staff regarding their painful 

           treatments. 



                  I couldn’t understand why people could send you different places and you don’t know 

                  what they’re like. ... Nobody told me nothing. ... I had a friend who told me he had to go 

                  to hospital himself when he broke his leg ... he was a soccer man. ... He explained to 

                 me that he had to go to get his leg fixed up ... (similar medical treatment as witness)..., 

                 but nobody else told me anything. ... People used run me life for me, used tell me what 

                  to do and where to go. 



16.65      Many witnesses commented on the frightening reality of being children in a hospital, particularly 

           those who reported being placed in county homes or those who were on wards shared with 

           adult patients. They described observing the pain and, at times, death of other patients without 



           6 Section 1(1)(d) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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          any acknowledgement by staff of the distress it may cause them, as recalled in the following 

          three witness accounts: 



                They ... (co-patients)... were put into beds with old men in the county home, we all 

                shared a big dormitory, old men, boys, all. The old men went in there to die. There 

                wasn’t a week or a day when someone didn’t die. They came in there to die. 



                                                              • 



                The ward that we would have been in you would have had geriatrics, Downs Syndrome 

                people and children, everyone would have been in these big wards ... no segregation or 

                anything. People would have died roaring absolutely roaring during the night, they would 

                have been dead in the morning and taken out then 



                                                              • 



                Then you’d hear the other kids, you’d hear them crying and you’re thinking “what’s 

                happening?”...The thing is you’re a cripple and why should a cripple have to go through 

                that? 



16.66     Isolation was a form of punishment reported by six witnesses and included being locked in a 

          darkened room, a linen cupboard, an outside shed, being ignored, not spoken to, put to bed 

          early, and excluded from recreational activities and the company of co-patients. Witnesses 

          described such punishments: 



                There was a change of Reverend Mother ...named religious staff .... She came in with a 

                whipping attitude.... I did not want to be an exhibition to someone who was coming in. 

                She came in this afternoon with Health Board people and she says “now show these 

                people what you can do” ...(witness instructed to demonstrate unusual physical 

                dexterity).... I said “no, I don’t want to do it”.... That evening I was summoned to the 

                convent, she came in and she’d tell the nurse to leave, she ridiculed me then for not 

                doing this exhibition. I was banned from everything. ... I wasn’t allowed out anywhere, I 

                had to come straight back to my ward from school, if there was homework I was to do it 

                and then be put to bed, no telly ... the curtains were to be pulled around the bed ... they 

                couldn’t turn off the telly for the other lads. I wasn’t to play with anybody or go around 

                with friends, nothing for 2 weeks. 



                                                              • 



                If you were sick in school and got sent back up to the ward ... you’d have hell to pay. ... 

                They ... (lay staff)...were like the priests, they’d give you penance ... (for being sent back 

                to the ward).... Like one day she ...(lay ancillary worker)... locked me in the ...(linen)... 

                room and she wouldn’t let me out, locked me in ... and I didn’t get out until the following 

                morning, left me there in the dark and I was petrified. ... One of the orderlies came 

                down in the morning to get the linen to make the boys’ beds and he said “Jesus, Mary 

                and Joseph, what are you doing in there?” I was sitting in there on a pillow and she’d 

                taken away my chair ... (wheelchair).... 



16.67     Witnesses also reported being punished for behaviours over which they had no control. For 

          example witnesses who were immobile reported being punished for bed-wetting. 



16.68     Witnesses who were placed in adult hospital wards, where they were the only child among a 

          large number of elderly patients, also reported that experience as frightening. Witnesses 

          commented that no allowance was made for the fact that they were children, there were no toys 

          to play with and there was no acknowledgement of childhood fears and anxieties. Several 

          witnesses described being treated as objects of amusement by staff, without respect for their 

          feelings:  They’d... (lay staff)... make fun of you because of how you spoke and they’d call you 

          names to do with where you’re from. I was from...X... and they’d call you...X..., it sounds funny 

          but it wasn’t funny to a child. 



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                You never had the confidence to ask them what are they talking about...it just went over 

                your head, what they said, you weren’t allowed to speak, you just had to go and find 

                out. 



16.69     A witness who was placed in an adult psychiatric hospital at 14 years of age described being 

          placed in a locked ward with disturbed and institutionalised adults, and told the Committee: ‘I 

          saw things and things happened that I can never talk about.’ 



16.70     Witnessing co-patients being beaten, force-fed and humiliated was reported by five witnesses as 

          a frightening experience. 



                There was a nun called Sr ...X ... she was the worst, most violent, most terrifying person 

                I have come across in my life. ... She had a number of sticks of different shapes and 

                sizes. ... (One day) ... when she called in a lad to her room ... she didn’t close the door 

                and I just remember seeing him ...(co-patient)... get a crack across the side of the head 

                and he didn’t fall backwards and he just slumped like a rag doll, unconscious, and I just 

                knew that one day I’d have to go in there. 



16.71     Two (2) other witnesses commented on the fact that they believed they were in hospital 

          because they were going to die, although nobody spoke to them directly about this or provided 

          any reassurance to allay their childhood anxieties. 



          Personal denigration and humiliation 



16.72     Witnesses spoke about the indignity they experienced at the hands of staff, especially in relation 

          to personal hygiene and toileting. 



                I used to go home for the summer and used to come back for the head shaving and the 

                sheep dipping ... for lice. ... I suppose we weren’t as health conscious then as we are 

                now. The bus used to collect us in the afternoon and drop us back to ...(named 

                hospital)... and a male orderly that was on would be there, there was no “welcome 

                back” or greeting or anything, just fuck them all in the bath and the disinfectant piled in 

                and you’d be brought out and your head shaven completely. ... The staff didn’t care 

                what way you were treated, every kid went through it. 



                                                             • 



                When we didn’t have wheelchairs we had to crawl up the steps on our knees, to go to 

                the toilet out in the yard, and in the wintertime that is terrible when you’re not able to 

                walk. ... But they treated us any way they liked, that was their idea, we had to do what 

                they wanted, not what you wanted yourself. 



16.73     One female witness reported being prevented from using her wheelchair to go the bathroom by 

          herself, although she was capable of managing the task independently. The witness commented 

          that, instead, she was ‘manhandled’, in and out of the toilet. Similarly, she reported not being 

          allowed to feed or dress herself as she was considered too slow. Another witness described the 

          way in which toileting was managed on the ward of a hospital where children were bed-bound 

          but not immobile: 



                They ... (staff)... hated to be disturbed at night.... If one wanted to go the bathroom we 

                defecated or wee’d ... (urinated)... into our face flannels and we’d all rush to the loo in 

                the morning to get rid of it.... Scrubbing and scrubbing the face flannels.... The smell of 

                it was appalling. 



16.74     Three (3) male witnesses reported being bed-bound and having to pass a urine bottle around 

          from one to the other and being punished if it was dropped. 



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                 There was this pee jar ... (urine bottle)... it was passed from bed to bed between the 

                lads. ... This morning I dropped it and she ... (Sr X)... came around with the stick.... I got 

                24 slaps on the hand, she couldn’t hold my hand in front, to hit me on the hand in front 

                ...(due to disability)... and what did she do but she pulled the hand behind and hit me 

                like that ...distressed... I got 24 slaps. 



16.75     Other witnesses reported being reluctant to request assistance from certain staff who 

          complained when asked to take them to the toilet. The witnesses reported they were 

          subsequently punished for wetting or soiling themselves. One witness who wet her bed was put 

          outside at night to await the ‘special ghost train that comes to take children who wet their bed’. 

          Another witness gave the following account of being punished because his physical disability 

          prevented him from being able to perform certain functions: 



                 The abuse was unbelievable, Jaysus, like, the beatings for no reason. I was beat for 

                being unable to tie my shoes.... This particular nun... (distressed) ... was most abusive, 

                it was one of them ... (wooden stick)... she had.... I could not put down my hand... 

                Witness described particular physical disability....They beat me the whole day the day of 

                the Communion because I could not put my hand down, for the photograph for my 

                mother.... You were afraid of your livin’ daylights. 



16.76     Tensions between staff members were described as, at times, influencing how patients were 

          treated. A witness reported overhearing an argument about her admission to the ward. She was 

          aware that certain staff objected to her admission and she believed she was treated harshly as 

          a result. Other witnesses reported overhearing staff discussing their personal attributes and 

          medical conditions as if they were not there, without any direct discussion with the witnesses 

          themselves. 



                 They used have a discussion when they were bathing me, on my head, the size of me 

                head and I remember them saying “this one has a very small head, I wonder will she be 

                alright”. I remember thinking “what am I going to do about my small head?”... 



          Deprivation of family contact 



16.77     Many witnesses were admitted to hospitals that were located long distances from their family 

          home, and as a result family contact was unavoidably disrupted. Those who had lengthy 

          admissions frequently reported feeling alienated from their family as a result. 



                I was in ...X... hospital from birth. I was born with a disability called ...named condition.... 

                I spent all my life in and out of institutions. ... I had a lot of operations, I was going for 

                experimentation because they didn’t know a lot about it ... (named condition).... I was 

                very little at home, they sent me home once for a holiday but I had to come back 

                because I didn’t know what home was. My mother would visit about once a fortnight, but 

                I knew very little about brothers or sisters. 



16.78     Limited access to transport and telephones at the time contributed to the witnesses’ sense of 

          isolation. The hospitals’ rules regarding visiting arrangements were described as an additional 

          deterrent to family contact in these circumstances. 



16.79     One witness described her mother regularly making a long journey by bus to visit her and on 

          each occasion being obliged to wait outside for several hours after the official visiting time was 

          over, until the return bus arrived. On one occasion when the witness’s mother could not visit, 

          her sisters made the journey instead. They were not allowed to visit the witness and had to wait 

          outside the hospital until their transport arrived at the end of the day. Another witness described 

          her parents waving to her through a window when they arrived outside the regular visiting hours 

          and were denied admission to see her. 



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16.80     Eight (8) witnesses reported that their lengthy admissions to hospitals or county homes were in 

          the context of social or family difficulties, combined in most instances with specific health 

          problems. 



                I hope to God that anyone, ... never has to go to a place like that anymore ... you see 

                you don’t know what places are like when you don’t know nothing about them, when 

                you are just landed in and they ...(family members)... say “I have to leave you here now 

                and I’ll be up ...(to visit)... and I’ll write and I’ll ring you and see what happens”, and 

                there’s me left sitting there thinking “what’s next?” 



16.81     Marital separation, illness and family disharmony were described as factors that contributed to a 

          number of protracted hospital admissions. Six (6) of the witnesses reported having little or no 

          subsequent contact with their parents or other family members. They reported that staff told 

          them that they were in hospital because they were not wanted or because their parents could 

          not look after them. 



16.82     Letters, food parcels and presents from family members were reported to have been periodically 

          retained by staff in some hospitals. A witness reported that food and toys she received from 

          home were often taken by staff members who either kept them or gave them to other patients. 

          Another witness reported being teased by care staff who openly consumed the sweets and 

          other food she had been given by visitors. 



          Knowledge of abuse 



16.83     Evidence was given of witnesses disclosing details of abuse to parents, relatives, care staff, and 

          other professionals both within and outside the institutions. The investigation and outcome of 

          abuse disclosures varied. Witnesses also commented that the public nature of certain aspects of 

          the abuse they experienced made awareness unavoidable. They reported being abused in front 

          of both other patients and staff members. A number of witnesses also remarked that the manner 

          in which they were treated by staff was seen by many who visited the hospitals. Three (3) 

          witnesses reported attending secondary schools in the local community where teachers were 

          supportive and were believed to be aware of the deprivations and abuse the witnesses 

          experienced in the hospital facilities where they resided. 



          Abuse observed by others 



16.84     Twenty (20) witnesses reported that their abuse was directly observed by others during their 

          admission, mainly by other patients and nursing and care staff. Two (2) witnesses reported that 

          physical abuse of patients was witnessed by a doctor on one occasion and by various staff 

          members on an ongoing basis in another facility. One witness described the look of shock on a 

          visiting doctor’s face when he walked into a ward to see a patient being hit by a staff member. A 

          witness reported that staff members attempted to compensate for the charge nurse’s harsh 

          treatment of patients by being discreetly kind afterwards. 



16.85     As previously mentioned the public nature of daily routines on a hospital ward where patients 

          were confined to bed resulted in many witnesses being aware of abuse through direct 

          observation. Witnesses believed that staff were similarly aware of what occurred. 



          Disclosing abuse 



16.86     A number of witnesses commented that there was nobody they could talk to about the abuse 

          they experienced. Some witnesses had no visitors and others remarked that there was no 

          opportunity to talk privately when visitors did come. Witnesses with communication difficulties 

          were particularly disadvantaged in relation to disclosing the abuse they were experiencing at the 



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----------------------- Page 1688-----------------------

           time. Witnesses also commented on the fact that they did not understand what was happening 

           to them and were afraid to talk to anyone about it: 



                  I kind of know why I didn’t tell my mother what was going on, because I didn’t know 

                  what was right and what was wrong, so if I’d have told my mother she’d have gone 

                  mad. 



                                                                    • 



                  I used hear the nun saying “are you going to tell your mammy, are you going to tell your 

                  mammy?”...then it clicked, I said to myself that if I tell my mother then I’ll get another 

                  hiding. 



                                                                    • 



                  I couldn’t tell my parents ... (about sexual abuse) ...you just done what you were told. 

                  There was very little communication ... I didn’t know what the hell was going on, I 

                  thought it was all medical and you’d be thinking what were they at? 



16.87      Ten (10) witnesses reported telling someone about the abuse they experienced. Seven (7) of 

           the reported disclosures were to parents or relatives and three were made to external 

           professionals, including social workers, gardai and a school counsellor. A number of other 

                                                                  ´ 

           witnesses reported that they disclosed the abuse they had experienced for the first time when 

           they attended the Commission. 



                  It is so important to tell someone about my experience...about what happened to me in 

                  hospital. The only time I ever talked about it before was to my wife... (recently)...not all 

                  the details. I wanted to tell someone, I didn’t know who to tell. I was going to tell the 

                  guard... (gardai)..., but that would upset all my family...I dearly wanted to tell someone, 

                  in case I passed away and it would never be told. 



           Outcome of disclosure 



16.88      Seven (7) witnesses reported that they were believed by those to whom they disclosed their 

           abuse, including staff, other professionals and family members. In six instances the witnesses 

           received positive responses to their abuse disclosures including the dismissal of an abusive staff 

           member. In two instances, witnesses’ subsequent reports to the gardai were stated to be have 

                                                                                               ´ 

           been investigated without any charges being made against the reported abusers. 



16.89      One witness reported that staff members both within the hospital and through external services 

           defended him in disputes with the religious Sister in charge. They attempted to protect him from 

           abuse by her and complained to the higher authorities about the mistreatment to which he was 

           subjected. The witness understood that staff members were initially threatened with dismissal for 

           taking this stance on his behalf. He was subsequently transferred to a more supportive 

           environment with the assistance of professionals external to the hospital. 



16.90      Another witness told a relative that he was being beaten. When a complaint was made to the 

           religious Sister in charge about the witness’s treatment the relative was sent a written request to 

           stop visiting, which he ignored. The witness commented that he subsequently received better 

           treatment, especially when he had visitors. 



                  It was worse for others, I had ...relative... who visited me, they... (relatives)... took me 

                  out and I told them.... Relatives... confronted staff ... to an extent it made a difference, I 

                  was left alone for the day they knew ...relative... was coming. Sr ...X...wrote to my 

                  mother to stop... relative... coming to visit me. 



16.91      Two (2) witnesses told their parents about isolated experiences of being sexually abused in the 

           course of brief admissions. They reported their parents believed them and advised on how to 



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           protect themselves from further abuse; the witnesses were not aware of further action being 

           taken. 



16.92      Two (2) other witnesses who reported that their disclosures were not believed commented that 

           their parents were unable to accept that sexual or physical abuse would occur in a place such 

           as a hospital, where people were being looked after. Another witness reported being punished 

           when she told a member of staff that she was being physically abused by another staff member. 



           Current circumstances 



16.93      This section summarises the information provided by witnesses during their hearings regarding 

           their adult lives. It contains information about relationships, parenting, employment, general 

           health, and the continued effect of childhood abuse on their adult lives, including some 

           unavoidable overlap with the details of four witnesses who reported abuse in other institutions. 



           Relationships 



16.94      Fifteen (15) witnesses reported having happy marital and personal relationships, including three 

           witnesses who are now widowed. Six (6) witnesses were in unhappy relationships, two of which 

           were characterised by violence. Ten (10) witnesses reported that they have been unable to 

           establish or maintain an intimate relationship. 



16.95      Thirteen (13) witnesses returned to live with their parents when they were discharged, most of 

           whom had been in hospital for relatively brief periods for the treatment of acute medical 

           conditions. Witnesses who spent lengthy periods of time in hospital reported having difficulty 

           adjusting to life at home or in the community following their discharge. Parents and siblings 

           were described as strangers by a number of witnesses who had spent their entire childhood in 

           hospital. 



16.96      Seven (7) witnesses reported that they were discharged from hospital to live with extended 

           family members who had maintained contact with them throughout their admission. They 

           reported that their relatives kept in contact with them in the absence of parental contact due to 

           death, illness or abandonment. 



16.97      Eight (8) witnesses reported that following their discharge from the hospital setting they 

           continued to live in some form of institutional or supported accommodation as adults. The 

           witnesses all reported that they have been unable to live independently or sustain formal paid 

           employment. The following table outlines the witnesses’ relationship status at the time of their 

           hearing: 



           Table 94: Status of Witnesses’ Relationships at the Time of Hearing 2000-2006 – Male and 

                                                        Female Hospitals 



                      Relationship status                      Males                Females            Total witnesses 



            Married                                               9                     6                     15 

            Single                                                4                     4                      8 

            Widowed                                               0                     3                      3 

            Co-habiting                                           1                      1                     2 

            Separated                                             2                     0                      2 

            Divorced                                              1                     0                      1 

            Total                                               17                     14                     31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



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           Parenting 



16.98      Nineteen (19) witnesses reported having children and for the most part described their parenting 

           experiences as happy. The witnesses had between one and seven children. Two (2) witnesses 

           reported that their children were raised by their partners and that they have not maintained 

           close contact with them. 



           Occupational and employment status 



16.99      Fourteen (14) witnesses reported having a stable work record with regular employment in a 

           variety of occupations including nursing, teaching, management, shop and factory work, and 

           skilled trades. Five (5) witnesses reported being actively involved in the disability sector. Nine 

           (9) other witnesses reported having erratic work histories as unskilled and casual workers. 

           Others who had been in hospital for long periods of their childhood commented that the lack of 

           formal education, training and preparation for independent living made it initially difficult for them 

           to find employment or to progress beyond unskilled or casual work. 



                  I had no education, my work wouldn’t involve money, I wouldn’t be able to make up 

                 money or fill books, so all my work was on a building site... with the shovel and pick. 



                                                                    • 



                 My first job, I felt so stupid... this woman said to me “what time is it?” and I said “I 

                 haven’t got my glasses with me”...so she said “how can you do your stitching 

                  then?”...she knew I couldn’t tell the time and she helped... (taught)... me. 



16.100     Table 95 shows the witnesses’ occupational status7  as reported at the time of their hearing: 



                 Table 95: Witnesses’ Occupational Status at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                                                               Hospitals 



                      Occupational status                       Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Unskilled                                              6                       3                      9 

            Non-manual                                             2                       3                      5 

            Managerial and technical                               2                      2                       4 

            Professional worker                                    0                      2                       2 

            Skilled manual                                         1                       1                      2 

            Semi-skilled                                           1                       0                      1 

            Other                                                  4                       3                      7 

            Unavailable                                            1                       0                      1 

            Total                                                 17                     14                      31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.101     Seven (7) witnesses categorised as ‘Other’ in the above table reported that their disabilities and 

           personal circumstances have precluded them from formal employment. There was no 

           information available regarding one witness’s occupational status. 



           Accommodation 



16.102     Most witnesses lived independently and had stable housing arrangements. Fifteen (15) 

           witnesses owned their own homes and another six witnesses were living in local authority 

           housing. Five (5) witnesses were living in supported accommodation facilities such as sheltered 

           housing for people with disabilities and facilities run by government and non-government 

           agencies. A further three witnesses described their living arrangements and other aspects of 



           7 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



             parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

             parent was recorded, in so far as it was known. 



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           their personal lives as uncertain and that they relied on the support and assistance of 

           community agencies. There was no detailed information available for two witnesses. 



           Health 



16.103     The health status of witnesses who reported abuse in hospital facilities reflected the fact that 

           many were initially admitted to hospitals as a result of serious illness or significant disability. 

           Information regarding health was provided by witnesses both directly and in the course of 

           describing their current life circumstances. For the purpose of writing this Report the Committee 

           categorised the witnesses’ physical and mental health status as good, reasonable or poor based 

           on the information provided about past and current health history. Table 96 illustrates the 

           physical health status of witnesses at the time of their hearing: 



                       Table 96: Current Physical Health Status – Male and Female Hospitals 



                    Physical health status                     Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Good                                                  1                      6                      7 

            Reasonable                                           12                      7                     19 

            Poor                                                  4                      1                      5 

            Total                                                17                     14                     31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.104     Seven (7) witnesses described their current physical health as good and reported no particular 

           concerns. They reported making good recoveries from tuberculosis or other illnesses for which 

           they had been hospitalised as children. 



16.105     Nineteen (19) witnesses described having reasonable physical health. They reported current 

           physical health problems that were age related and/or the manageable consequences of their 

           particular medical condition. 



                 I’m on an invalidity pension, it seems when you have my complaint it can affect a lot of 

                 things so I have to see a specialist a couple of times a year. 



                                                                   • 



                 I had a discharge in me ear, all that banging around the head and pulling your hair gave 

                 me a mastoid, I’m sure it did...all the smacking around and the noise over not speaking 

                 up... 



16.106     Six (6) of the 19 witnesses were wheelchair dependant or required mobility aids. Six (6) 

           witnesses reported experiencing ongoing health difficulties that required surgery and other 

           treatments. They reported that their mobility was restricted and that their lives were affected on 

           a daily basis by the ongoing effects of their childhood illnesses and congenital conditions. 



16.107     Five (5) witnesses reported having poor physical health that curtailed their daily functioning and 

           independence. The witnesses reported their difficulties to be a consequence of their 

           impairments, inadequate treatment, negligent care, physical abuse and associated injuries in 

           childhood. 



16.108     More witnesses reported good mental health than good physical health circumstances, as the 

           following table indicates: 



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                         Table 97: Current Mental Health Status – Male and Female Hospitals 



                     Mental health status                      Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Good                                                  8                      9                     17 

            Reasonable                                            4                      4                      8 

            Poor                                                  5                      1                      6 

            Total                                                17                     14                     31 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



16.109     Seventeen (17) witnesses reported having no particular mental health problems in their adult 

           lives. A number of witnesses acknowledged experiencing both anger and sadness when 

           reflecting on the treatment they were subjected to as hospitalised children, but do not consider 

           that their mental health was adversely affected as a result. 



16.110     Eight (8) witnesses reported experiencing a notable level of depression, for which four witnesses 

           reported receiving treatment including medication and hospitalisation. They reported their 

           difficulties to have lessened as they got older and also in response to treatment and counselling. 



                 I was cracking up except I didn’t know it...I remember I was working in...X company...I 

                 remember crying and not knowing why, and not being able to stop it and I knew that I 

                 was in trouble....The best decision ever was to accept responsibility for my life, that I 

                 was the only one who could do anything about it... 



                                                                   • 



                 I had to go for a lot of therapy then...I was very angry, very aggressive. I was 

                 depressed, I didn’t know what was happening to me...I went for a long time, I found it 

                 very helpful. 



16.111     Six (6) witnesses were categorised as experiencing poor mental health, which was signified by 

           depression, hospitalisation, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol abuse. In some instances witnesses 

           reported these experiences being also associated with violence. One witness reported life-long 

           emotional and mental health difficulties that he believed were the result of the treatment and/or 

           abuse he was subjected to in a psychiatric hospital as an adolescent. 



           Effects on adult life 



16.112     Approximately half the witnesses who reported being abused as children in hospital facilities 

           described life-long negative effects of the abuse they experienced, including being hospitalised 

           and treated for depression and suicidal behaviour, abusing alcohol, and experiencing 

           relationship difficulties, social isolation and continued feelings of anger. 



                 The nightmares were there but gradually they stopped... I lost me childhood, I lost me 

                 schooling, and I lost me confidence. 



16.113     The following table lists the difficulties described by the 17 male and 14 female witnesses in 

           their adult lives, in order of frequency. They are not mutually exclusive and were not prioritised 

           by witnesses, who could report more than one effect. 



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                        Table 98: Reported Effects on Adult Life – Male and Female Hospitals 



                               Male witnesses                                           Female witnesses 



                     Effects on adult life*            Number of               Effects on adult life*            Number of 

                                                         reports                                                   reports 



            Angry                                           10        Abuse not easily forgotten                      10 



            Counselling required                             8        Anxious and fearful                              5 



            Abuse not easily forgotten                       7        Lack of self-worth                               5 



            Alcohol abuse                                    7        Counselling required                             4 



            Feeling isolated                                 6        Angry                                            3 



            Lack of self-worth                               6        Tearfulness                                      3 



            Mood instability                                 6        Feeling different from peers                     3 



            Aggressive behaviour – physical                  5        Feelings related to being a victim               3 



            Lack of trust                                    5        Lack of trust                                    3 



            Post-traumatic effect                            5        Post-traumatic effect                            3 



            Anxious and fearful                              4        Unable to show feelings to partner               3 



            Feelings related to being a victim               4        Loner                                            2 



            Loner                                            4        Nightmares                                       2 



            Suicidal feelings or attempt                     4        Overprotective of children                       2 



            Aggressive behaviour – verbal                    3        Overly compliant behaviour                       2 



            Feelings related to being 

            powerless                                        3        Sexual problems                                  2 



            Nightmares                                       3        Somatic symptoms                                 2 



            Overprotective of children                       3        Suicidal feelings or attempt                     2 



            Sleep disturbance                                3        Withdrawal                                       2 



            Unable to settle                                 3        Alcohol abuse                                    1 



            Withdrawal                                       3        Fear of failure                                  1 



            Aggressive behaviour – 

            psychological                                    2        Feeling isolated                                 1 



            Gender identity and sexual                                Feelings related to being 

            problems                                         3        powerless                                        1 



            Somatic symptoms                                 2        Issues of needing approval                       1 



            Unable to show feelings to 

            children                                         2        Mood instability                                 1 



            Unable to show feelings to partner               2        Sleep disturbance                                1 



            Tearfulness                                      1        Not applicable 



            Fear of failure                                  1        Not applicable 



            Over harsh with children                         1        Not applicable 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           n =  17 male and 14 female 



           *Witnesses could report more than one effect and male witnesses reported a wider variety of effects 



16.114     The experience of feeling abandoned by parents and family was frequently reported by 

           witnesses in relation to their hospitalisation. Thirteen (13) witnesses, especially those who 

           remained in hospital for a substantial period of their childhood, remarked on the sense of loss 



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          they experienced. Several witnesses commented that their admission to hospital was a 

          distressing experience for their parents, and in some instances led to a sense of alienation from 

          the family members who had remained at home. Many witnesses commented that, as a result of 

          being hospitalised, they felt different from their siblings and less a part of their family: 



                I had my own ways of doing things, I was bold...what they... (family) ... would call bold, 

                because in the hospital you had to fight, I had to fight for whatever...to be myself, 

                whatever that was, They ...(family) ... found that difficult. 



                                                               • 



                I remember losing any sense of belonging, or any sense of family at quite an early age. 



                                                                • 



                It was very difficult to fit back into the family when discharged from hospital, I remember 

                being brought home and remember there was a party and I was taken around to each 

                one of them ... (siblings) ... and I didn’t know any of them...distressed...and that was 

                hard. 



16.115    Witnesses commented that childhood experiences of separation and isolation made it more 

          difficult to form close attachments with their own partners and children. Witnesses who were 

          sexually abused described a particular difficulty in relation to intimate relationships in adulthood. 



                I was very angry with my husband and then I said “He doesn’t deserve this”... I had to 

                let him alone...he was a good man ... I had to look at my own issues... we are still 

                together anyway! 



16.116    Witnesses who were admitted to hospital from families where there were close and affectionate 

          relationships described being shocked to find themselves both witnessing and being subject to 

          abuse they had not previously encountered. A number of these witnesses described being now 

          fearful of authority and generally more anxious in their adult lives than their siblings who had 

          remained at home. Two (2) of these witnesses commented on the reactivated trauma they 

          experienced when their own children were admitted to hospital many years later. 



16.117    The lack of formal education combined with years of being treated as a sick and disabled 

          person while in hospital was reported by many witnesses to have had a long-term negative 

          impact on their lives. Alcohol abuse, depression and suicidal thoughts were reported by 

          approximately one quarter of the witnesses as life-long consequences of their childhood abuse 

          experiences. Counselling was reported to have helped some witnesses address issues related 

          to their past. 



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           Chapter 17 



           Primary and second-level schools 



17.01      Children’s education in Ireland is provided for at primary and second-level through the primary, 

          vocational and secondary school system. Attendance at full-time education was compulsory for 

           all children between six and 14 years until 1969 when the official school-leaving age was 

           increased to 16 years. Primary education has been universally free in Ireland since the 

           nineteenth century, and second-level education became universally free in 1967. There are also 

           private fee-paying day and boarding schools at both primary and second-level.1 



17.02     The majority of primary schools are publicly funded parish schools. Prior to 1975 the schools 

          were managed by an individual manager, usually the parish priest. In 1975 the administration 

           and management of the schools were transferred to boards of management, who included 

           representatives of the parents, teachers, school patrons and the local community. School 

           patrons were usually the local bishops. In recent years multi-denominational and non- 

           denominational schools have been established. 



17.03      Second-level education is provided through secondary, vocational, community and 

           comprehensive schools. Secondary schools are generally State funded and are privately owned 

           and managed, generally by boards of governors or trustees, the majority of whom are religious 

           communities. Vocational schools are State funded and administered by vocational education 

           committees. Community and comprehensive schools are State funded and managed by boards 

           of management. 



           Witnesses 



17.04     This chapter presents evidence given to the Confidential Committee by 70 witnesses, 56 male 

           and 14 female, of their experiences of abuse in schools in Ireland between 1932 and 1992. 

          Witness accounts of the abuse they experienced, the circumstances in which the abuse 

           occurred, and the response of others to the abuse is reported. The information provided by 

          witnesses at their hearings regarding their current life circumstances and the reported impact of 

           childhood abuse on their subsequent physical, psychological and social development is also 

           recorded. 



17.05     There were 82 reports of abuse by 70 witnesses in relation to 73 different schools over a 60 

          year period between 1932 and 1992. Fifty five (55) primary schools were the subject of witness 

           reports, 22 of which were mixed gender schools under the auspices of the local parish. A further 

           33 schools were under the auspices of Catholic religious communities, other denominations and 

           secular management structures. 



17.06      Eighteen (18) second-level schools were the subject of reports of abuse by 22 witnesses. 

           Fourteen (14) of these schools were second-level schools for boys, two were second-level 

           schools for girls, and two were mixed gender vocational and technical schools. Four (4) second- 

           level schools were each reported by two male witnesses. Nine (9) male witnesses reported 

           being abused in both primary and second-level schools. Twelve (12) of the 22 witnesses 

           reported abuse in second-level schools prior to 1967. 



           1 Department of Education and Science: www.education.ie. 



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17.07      Eleven (11) schools were fee-paying boarding schools, three of which were primary and eight 

           were second-level schools. 



17.08      The reports related to abuse in 36 city schools, 25 schools in provincial towns and 12 rural 

           schools. 



           Social and demographic profile of witnesses 



17.09      The majority of witnesses were between 50 and 60 years of age at the time of their hearing. 

           Three (3) witnesses were aged over 70 years and two were less than 30 years of age, as 

           shown in the following table: 



              Table 99: Age Range of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Primary and 

                                                      Second-Level Schools 



                           Age range                            Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



                           20–29 years                             2                       0                      2 

                           30–39 years                             7                       0                      7 

                           40–49 years                            11                       4                     15 

                           50–59 years                            21                       6                     27 

                           60–69 years                            13                       3                     16 

                            70 + years                             2                       1                      3 

                              Total                               56                      14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.10      Fifty nine (59) witnesses, 45 male and 14 female, were residing in Ireland at the time of their 

           hearing. Eleven (11) witnesses were living in the UK and one witness was living in North 

           America. 



17.11      Twenty three (23) witnesses reported that they were born in Dublin and 43 witnesses were born 

           in 18 other counties in Ireland. Four (4) witnesses were born outside the State. 



17.12      Sixty four (64) witnesses, 50 male and 14 female, reported that their parents were married at 

           the time of their birth. Four (4) male witnesses reported being born to single mothers and two 

           male witnesses’ parents were separated or widowed at the time of their birth. 



17.13      In most instances witnesses provided information to the Committee about their parents’ 

           occupational background as described in Table 100.2 



              Table 100: Occupational Status of Witnesses’ Parents – Male and Female Primary and 

                                                      Second-Level Schools 



                      Occupational status                       Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Professional worker                                    7                       1                      8 

            Managerial and technical                               6                       0                      6 

            Non-manual                                             6                       6                     12 

            Skilled manual                                        10                       5                     15 

            Semi-skilled                                          10                       1                     11 

            Unskilled                                             13                       0                     13 

            Unavailable                                            4                       1                      5 

            Total                                                 56                      14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           2 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



             parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

             parent was recorded, insofar as it was known. 



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17.14      It is of note that the majority of female witnesses reported that they were from a non-manual or 

           skilled manual background. The majority of male witnesses reported being from semi-skilled or 

           unskilled backgrounds. Information was not available regarding the parental occupational status 

           of five witnesses. 



17.15      Sixty two (62) witnesses reported that they had siblings, and the majority were from families of 

           under six children. 



           Family and care circumstances 



17.16      Sixty seven (67) of the 70 witnesses who reported abuse in primary and second-level schools 

           were in the care of their parents at the time they experienced abuse in school. Fifty eight (58) 

           witnesses lived at home with their families and attended day school and nine witnesses were in 

           fee-paying boarding schools. Three (3) male witnesses were in out-of-home care, two of whom 

           reported that they were placed in boarding schools by the authorities in their Industrial Schools. 

           The other witness was resident in a Children’s Home and attended a primary school. 



17.17      The official school leaving age prior to 1969 was 14 years. Table 101 illustrates the witnesses’ 

           school leaving age reported at their hearing: 



           Table 101: Age on Leaving School – Male and Female Primary and Second-Level Schools 



                    Age on leaving school                      Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



                            <13 years                             4                      0                      4 

                            14 years                             11                      2                     12 

                            15 years                              7                      1                      8 

                            16 years                             12                      2                     14 

                            17 years                              9                      3                     12 

                            18+ years                            13                      5                     18 

                           Unavailable                            0                      1                      1 

                              Total                              57                     14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.18      Three (3) of the four witnesses who reported leaving school at 13 years or under stated that 

           they left for reasons associated with their special needs and the fourth left on completion of 

           sixth class. 



           Record of abuse 



17.19      The Committee heard 82 reports of abuse from 70 witnesses in relation to 73 different schools. 

           The 82 witness reports of abuse in primary and second-level schools heard by the Committee 

           related to a 60-year period between 1932 and1992. The report of abuse by a witness may either 

           refer to descriptions of single episodes or to multiple experiences of being abused over time in a 

           school. Witnesses reported physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse. The 

           frequency of witness reports about each school is as follows: 



                  •     Fifty one (51) primary schools were each the subject of a single report, the majority of 

                        which were mixed gender schools. 



                  •     Fourteen (14) second-level schools were each the subject of a single report, 12 of 

                        these were boys’ schools. 



                  •    Three (3) boys’ primary schools were the subject of two reports each, totalling six 

                        reports. 



                  •     Four (4) boys’ second-level schools were the subject of two reports each, totalling 

                        eight reports. 



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                   •    One boys’ primary school was the subject of three reports. 



17.20      Twelve (12) male witnesses reported abuse in more than one school. Nine (9) witnesses 

           reported abuse in national and secondary schools and three reported abuse in two national 

           schools. Evidence from five witnesses who also reported abuse in Children’s Homes, foster care 

           and Industrial Schools is included in the relevant chapters of this Report. 



17.21      The 82 witness reports of abuse varied over a period of seven decades, as follows: 



                   •    Twenty three (23) witness reports refer to witnesses who left school prior to 1960. 

                   •    Thirty four (34) witness reports refer to those who left school during the 1960s. 

                   •    Sixteen (16) witness reports refer to those who left school during the 1970s. 

                   •    Nine (9) witness reports refer to those who left school during the 1980s and 1990s. 



17.22      Twenty five (25) of the 70 witnesses described experiences of abuse between 1970 and 1992, 

           and more than half of the witness reports of sexual abuse relate to that period. Combinations of 

           abuse types reported by the witnesses are illustrated in Table 102: 



            Table 102: Abuse Types and Combinations – Male and Female Primary and Second-Level 

                                                                Schools 



                      Abuse types and combinations                                     Number of reports 



            Physical                                                                              21 



            Sexual                                                                                17 



            Physical and emotional                                                                12 



            Physical and sexual                                                                   11 



            Physical, neglect and emotional                                                        6 



            Physical, sexual and emotional                                                         5 



            Sexual and emotional                                                                   5 



            Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional                                                2 



            Emotional                                                                              2 



            Sexual and neglect                                                                     1 



            Total                                                                                 82 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.23      The most frequently reported types of abuse were of physical and sexual abuse alone, of which 

           there were 21 reports, 20 male and one female, and 17 reports, 15 male and two female, 

           respectively. In addition there were high numbers of reports of physical abuse combined with 

           either sexual abuse or emotional abuse. Many of the witnesses reported being abused on a 

           daily basis while they were pupils in the class of particular teachers, including school Principals. 

           Others reported acute single episodes of abuse in circumstances where they were isolated from 

           their peer group. 



           Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child.3 



           3 Section 1(1)(a). 



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17.24     This section describes witness reports of incidents of physical abuse, non-accidental injury, and 

          lack of protection from harm. Witness evidence included reports of both single incidents and 

          multiple episodes over time in a school. The forms of physical abuse reported included: beating, 

          kicking, punching, and other bodily assaults. 



          Description of physical abuse 



17.25     The Committee heard 57 reports of physical abuse by 50 witnesses, 40 male and 10 female. 

          The reports were in relation to primary and second-level schools, both day and boarding. Thirty 

          nine (39) primary schools and 14 second-level schools, including one vocational/technical 

          school, were the subject of physical abuse reports. Seven (7) witnesses reported physical abuse 

          in two schools. Four (4) schools were each the subject of two reports of physical abuse. 



17.26     In the majority of instances the abuse was reported to have occurred in the classrooms, 

          corridors, and within the general school environs. Witnesses commonly reported being 

          physically abused as a punishment for mistakes in lessons, not giving the correct answer in 

          class, being unable to do school work to the required standard or for no reason they could 

          understand. A witness described being punched, kicked and hit for failing to give a correct 

          answer in class. Witnesses also reported being punched, beaten and stood on in the context of 

          being sexually abused or for disclosing sexual abuse. 



                There was a priest in ...named boarding school.... I was tiny, he beat the living crap out 

               of me from the time I went in, for 3 years. He was Fr... X ... (Principal).... He was a bully 

               and picked on me for no reason, he battered me for fun. 



17.27     Witnesses described being beaten with leather straps, canes, wooden dusters, cricket bats, sally 

          rods, and wooden sticks including chair legs and map poles. They reported being beaten on 

          their hands, legs, on both covered and bare buttocks, and while held down on the desk. In 

          addition to being hit with implements, male and female witnesses also reported being punched 

          in the face, hit around the head, back and shoulders, pulled and lifted by their hair and ears, 

          and kicked to the ground. The following is a report of physical abuse by a male religious 

          teacher: 



               He’d grab you by the hair like that and he’d pull you up to the blackboard by the hair. 

               He’d grab me by the nose, eventually my nose was broken, the doctor confirmed for me 

               the nose was broken .... He’d slap you on the bottom, pants was down, 4 slaps and he 

               would always go up higher on the spine for the last 2 slaps. He’d tell you to pull trousers 

               down and if you did not pull it down he’d pull it down ... 



17.28     Witnesses commented that pupils who appeared to have learning difficulties or were from 

          disadvantaged backgrounds were beaten and punished more severely than others. One witness 

          described a pupil with learning difficulties being beaten regularly on the back of the hands for 

          not holding his hand up high enough. Another witness stated that ‘...it depended on your family, 

          or where you came from, ... maybe people that were not that well-educated, or that were not 

          that assertive...’ were more vulnerable to abuse. 



17.29     Ten (10) male witnesses reported being distressed while in the class of specific teachers in 

          primary school due to the constant, and at times severe, physical abuse. They described a 

          general atmosphere of fear where physical abuse was unpredictable, for reasons they could not 

          understand, and at times in association with sexual abuse. Four (4) male witnesses gave 

          accounts of being beaten or kicked to the ground. One witness stated that he and another pupil 

          were often selected for beatings because they were the biggest boys in the class ‘I was beaten 

          into a heap on the floor for no reason except my height’. Another witness reported that on an 

          occasion when a leather strap was not available the teacher tore the wooden roller from the wall 

          map, broke it in half and hit everyone in the class. 



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17.30      Two (2) of the above witnesses who gave evidence of severe physical abuse described 

           constant beatings. One stated that the teacher insisted that he sat at the end of a row of desks 

           and as he passed said; ‘Are you paying attention? ... and with that his foot would go out and 

           he’d give me a kick on the shin’. The witness reported the Brother said prior to beating him on 

           the bare buttocks ‘I hate your guts. I’ll give you something to remember for the rest of your life’. 

           The other witness stated that he and his fellow pupils were either made to stand at the back of 

           the class or lie across their desks waiting to be beaten. 



17.31      Thirteen (13) witnesses reported to their parents or others that they were physically beaten in 

           association with sexual abuse or in the context of disclosing sexual abuse. One witness 

           described his experience of persistent physical and sexual abuse: 



                 While this...(sexual abuse)... was going on I used to get some pretty bad beatings from 

                 him in the classroom. One day he was beating me really badly across the back and on 

                 the shoulders with the leather and I remember wetting my trousers with the fright of it... I 

                 could never tell anyone, no one would really believe you... and I started getting some 

                 bad beatings in the yard and the cloakroom from other boys and that was it. I just kept 

                 moving, stayed away from everyone as much as I could. 



           Injuries 



17.32      Thirteen (13) witnesses, 11 male and two female, reported sustaining injuries as a result of 

           physical abuse following which a number were temporarily unable to walk or write. The injuries 

           reported included: head and leg injuries, lacerations to hands and backs, bruising, and loss of 

           teeth. One witness reported that he suffered a lacerated skull and damage to one eye, which 

           led to partial blindness. Another witness reported being taken to hospital after he had been 

           beaten unconscious. A female witness described being beaten on the tips of her fingers, palms 

           and backs of her hands on occasion until her ‘hands were red raw’. 



           Reported abusers 



17.33      Witnesses reported being physically abused by teachers including school Principals. They also 

           reported being physically abused by older pupils, care staff in boarding schools, and by a 

           visiting priest. Of the 80 individuals reported to be perpetrators of physical abuse witnesses 

           identified 57 by name, while others were identified by their role or position in the school, as 

           illustrated in the following table. 



                Table 103: Position and Number of Reported Physical Abusers – Male and Female 

                                              Primary and Second-level Schools 



                 Position of reported physical abusers                        Males                      Females 



            Religious 



                   - Principal                                                  6                            0 



                   - Teacher                                                   29                            6 



                   - External priest                                            1                            0 



            Lay 



                   - Principal                                                  4                            0 



                   - Teacher                                                   23                            6 



                   - House-parent                                               1                            0 



            Other pupil                                                         4                            0 



            Total                                                              68                           12 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



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17.34      Forty one (41) religious teaching staff, six of whom were priests, were named by witnesses as 

           perpetrators of physical abuse. Thirty three (33) lay teaching staff were also named as abusive. 

           Ten (10) of those named as abusers were identified by witnesses as the schools’ Principals. 

           Two (2) other individuals reported as abusers were a visiting priest and the house-parent in a 

           boarding school. 



17.35      Four (4) male witnesses reported being abused by other pupils, one of whom stated that he was 

           caned by older boys and that when he became a prefect he caned younger pupils himself. The 

           other three witnesses gave accounts of being beaten by older boys whom they believed were 

           forced by two religious and one lay teacher to ‘deliver’ punishments. One of these witnesses 

           described being made to kneel with his hands on the floor while a fellow pupil was instructed by 

           his teacher to take his trousers down and beat the witness in front of the class. 



17.36      Three (3) witnesses reported being abused by male and female lay teaching staff. The abuse 

           described was beating with a stick on the hands and legs for being late for school or for 

           academic failure. A female witness gave an account of being beaten by a male lay teacher 

           when she attempted to disclose that he had sexually abused her. Another witness stated that a 

           lay teacher stood on her toes and punched her in the chest in order to intimidate and restrain 

           her while he sexually abused her. 



           Sexual abuse 



                 The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                 or another person.4 



17.37      This section presents evidence reported by witnesses to the Committee of their experiences of 

           sexual abuse in primary and second-level schools. The abuse reported ranged from contact 

           sexual abuse involving vaginal and anal rape and sexual molestation to non-contact abuse 

           including voyeurism and exhibitionism. Some witnesses provided detailed accounts of the 

           sexual abuse they experienced. Other accounts were sufficient to clarify the acute or chronic 

           nature of the abuse. 



17.38      Forty (40) witnesses, 34 male and six female, made 40 reports that they were sexually abused 

           in 35 schools: 23 primary, 11 second-level and one vocational/technical school. Nine (9) of the 

           schools that were the subject of reports of sexual abuse were fee-paying boarding schools, two 

           of which were primary-level schools. One male witness reported being sexually abused in both 

           primary and second-level schools. Five (5) primary schools were each the subject of two reports 

           of sexual abuse. The reported abuse in these schools was perpetrated by religious teaching 

           staff, five of whom were identified by name. 



           Description of sexual abuse 



17.39      The Committee heard reports from witnesses that they were sexually abused by various means 

           including rape, fondling, oral/genital contact and masturbation. Witnesses described being 

           abused in various locations including classrooms, dormitories, toilets, recreation areas, and staff 

           rooms. Witnesses also reported being abused outside the schools in places such as hotels, 

           private homes, and while away on school outings or holidays. 



17.40      Twenty seven (27) witnesses reported chronic sexual abuse continuing over a number of years 

           by a named abuser, generally a class teacher. Others described single acute episodes of 

           abuse, including vaginal and anal rape. 



           4 Section 1(1)(b). 



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17.41     Of those witnesses, 22 described being sexually molested in public situations, including 

          hallways, corridors and classrooms. Witnesses described teachers fondling their breasts and 

          genitalia while reading to the class. A number of female witnesses described male teachers, 

          including a school Principal, moving from pupil to pupil, at the back of the class on the pretext of 

          helping or checking schoolwork while fondling their breasts. ‘He would lean over you, down on 

          top of you, you can’t even think.’ The following witness accounts refer to abuse in primary 

          schools: 



                I was around 10 or 10 and a half, it was ...named primary school.... He'd ...(Br X)... used 

                ask me up to the desk, he’d start putting his hand up my trousers fondling my genitals 

                and backside and he would stand up in front of all the pupils who were about the same 

                age as myself. ... He’d stand up behind me and rub himself up against me at the back. 

                This went on for about a year that I was in that class, it happened everyday, maybe 

                twice a day.... 



                                                               • 



                We went to the local school ...named primary school... there. We grew up with the fact 

                that the Principal was always very interested in girls. We came to accept it as normal 

                even though deep down in our heart we knew it wasn’t normal. Growing up through 

                those years, trying to avoid him.... We’d sneak in in the morning and try to hide ... and 

                sneak down to our classroom without confronting him. In the morning he would expect 

                you to come up and say “Dia is Muire dhuit”, and hold us, as girls, in between his legs 

                and you know, hold us into him. ... The same would happen with play.... He’d hold you 

                into himself.... You would try to run and he would catch you ... hiding from him, you 

                would be ashamed of yourself if you were the one picked on....There was a lot of 

                fondling that you didn’t want. You ran and looked for cover, dodged at every 

                opportunity. 



                                                               • 



                This Brother, I can’t remember his name ... after he saw I was interested in learning 

                about the equipment used to take me into a corner behind the stage where he would 

                take my penis out and play with it and then I’d have to take his out ... (witness 

                described oral/genital contact) ... It just went on like that... 



17.42     Other witnesses gave accounts of being forced to watch their abuser masturbate or being 

          masturbated by their abuser. One female witness reported that her abuser put her under his 

          desk, blocked her from view of the class and then exposed and masturbated himself. 



17.43     A total of nine witnesses, seven male and two female, reported being raped while pupils in 

          primary or second-level schools by seven named male religious teaching staff, one lay teacher, 

          older unnamed pupils and by a visiting priest. Witnesses reported being raped when they were 

          isolated from their peer group and other staff, including when they were locked into classrooms, 

          when they were taken away from home overnight by religious teaching staff, when visited in 

          hospital, and in the dormitory of a boarding school. One witness who reported being raped when 

          taken from the classroom gave the following account: 



                He took down his trousers and raped me. There was blood ... he took out his hanky and 

                wiped it off and folded it and put it in his pocket. I was very quiet, I said nothing. He 

                brought me back to the class, I could hardly walk, I sat down beside ...named 

                classmate... and was asking her if she had this test, he heard me talking to her and he 

                ... he hit me .... I had never been hit before.... I was terrified. 



17.44     The Committee heard accounts from two witnesses of attempted rape, both witnesses described 

          using physical force to resist the sexual assault. 



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17.45     Five (5) witnesses, four male and one female, reported digital vaginal and anal penetration. The 

          reports described such abuse taking place ‘quietly’ at the back of the class and in private 

          locations when they were coerced to comply with the abuse either by physical force or explicit 

          verbal threats. In one instance a witness described the religious teaching staff member in a 

          primary school putting a cloak over his head and holding him close with the belt of his cassock 

          while abusing him. Other reported experiences of abuse included: 



               It began, I thought the priest was just being friendly, arms around you kissing you. He 

               used to come into the showers after a game.... First of all I should say I didn't know 

               what sexual abuse was at that time, I didn't know what physical abuse was. I might use 

               the phrase “he hit me”. 



                                                            • 



               He ...(Fr X)... he used to come to the dormitory at night and he would attempt oral sex, I 

               didn't know what he was doing, like kissing and all this.... The next thing he’d say “I 

               hope you haven’t got any dirty photographs in your locker”. I didn't even know what a 

               dirty photo was at the time. The next thing he started showing me pornography 

               photographs, he’d say he found them in so-so’s locker. It wasn’t homosexual nature, it 

               was heterosexual. I couldn’t tell my mother, the priest could do no wrong, she said “a 

               priest wouldn’t do a thing like that”. ... He was waiting for me and attempted a serious 

               assault ...witness described attempted rape.... 



17.46     Six (6) witnesses reported that sexual abuse, including oral/genital abuse and masturbation, was 

          associated with physical violence. A number of those witnesses described being forcefully 

          coerced to submit to sexual molestation. Seven (7) other witnesses stated that they were beaten 

          if they disclosed or resisted the assault. A male witness who reported being sexually abused by 

          a teacher stated that threats not to tell were reinforced by physical violence ‘he...(Br X)... gave 

          me terrible beatings, he destroyed my life’. 



17.47     Reports of non-contact sexual abuse included three accounts from male witnesses of being 

          watched by a religious staff member while urinating or being forced to watch their abuser 

          urinate. Other witnesses reported being photographed and shown pornographic pictures. 



17.48     Six (6) witnesses described being sexually abused when taken out of the school. Five (5) of 

          those witnesses stated that they were taken away overnight by teachers. This abuse included 

          masturbation, fondling and attempted rape. Three (3) of the male witnesses reported that the 

          teachers became friendly with their parents and were allowed to take them away overnight for 

          trips during which they were abused. One male witness reported being blindfolded and being 

          forced to touch the genitalia of a lay male teacher who had taken him to his home and locked 

          him in a room. The abuse reported in these instances was extensive and continued over a 

          period of years. Two (2) witnesses who reported being sexually abused over a number of years 

          in primary and second-level schools described their experiences: 



               He ...(Br X)... took me to ...named isolated place.... I can remember the place vividly, 

               there were lots of hedges, protruding rocks and that sort of thing. He would be fondling 

               me, he’d take my trousers down, he turned me around and sodomised me, he did other 

               things as well. Br ...X... he had a camera, he photographed myself naked, primarily 

               around the genitals.... It was horrendous, absolutely horrendous up there with him. 



                                                            • 



               He ...named lay Principal... would give me tasks to do and follow me into a room or a 

               corner. ... He opened his trousers, masturbated himself and held on to me with the 

               other hand.... On another occasion ... he pushed me into a cubicle, took down his 

               trousers and underwear... witness described attempted rape. 



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17.49      Six (6) witnesses described being selected by a teacher to help with tasks after school, being 

           given treats, extra tuition and other privileges. These witnesses reported being abused including 

           by oral/genital contact, masturbation and anal rape. One female witness reported sexual abuse 

           that was perpetrated both in the school and at outside venues when a teacher took 

           inappropriate photographs, and allowed his male friends to molest the pupils. Aspects of the 

           abuse perpetrated by a Principal was described ‘he put his arms around me and pulled me 

           close ...breathing on you...he kissed me on the lips. He would lean over girls to help with 

           homework, everyone disliked it’. Other male and female witnesses stated: 



                 He had a pupil every year that he picked out to collect the roll book; they were always 

                 seen as the teacher’s pet, he was the Principal. There were 2 other teachers in the 

                 school, who were women; they were in the junior classes. I had him in 5th              and 6th  class. 



                 I’m sure I wasn’t the only one but I was that person one year. I had to collect the roll 

                 book and when I was coming back he would be waiting for me in the corridor. 



                                                                   • 



                 He gave me ... (gifts)... to give to my dad. At that stage he was getting to know the 

                 family.... He brought me into town, into ...named hotel.... That was after he got to know 

                 my mum and dad. All I can remember was going up a stairs, a passage. 



17.50      A number of witnesses commented on the disparity of power between them and their abusers. 

           They stated that children of widowed or lone mothers, parents of devout religious background 

           and families in poor circumstances were more vulnerable and a number of witnesses described 

           being abused in such circumstances. 



           Reported abusers 



17.51      The Committee heard evidence from witnesses of sexual abuse by religious and lay teaching 

           staff, including school Principals, external priests, external professionals, and house-parents. 

           Thirty eight (38) of the 40 reported perpetrators of sexual abuse were identified by name. The 

           two unnamed abusers were described as older pupils. Table 104 illustrates the position and 

           number of abusers reported: 



            Table 104: Position and Number of Reported Sexual Abusers – Male and Female Primary 

                                                   and Second-level Schools 



                  Position of reported sexual abusers                         Males                      Females 



            Religious 



                  - Teacher                                                    16                            1 



                   - Principal                                                  6                            0 



                   - External Priest                                            3                            0 



            Lay 



                   - Teacher                                                    4                            0 



                   - Principal                                                  5                            0 



                   - Vice-Principal                                             1                            0 



                   - House-parent                                               1                            0 



            External professional                                               1                            0 



            Other pupil                                                         2                            0 



            Total                                                              39                            1 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



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17.52      Male and female witnesses reported being sexually abused by 17 religious teaching staff and by 

           four lay teachers. Eleven (11) school Principals, six religious and five lay, were also identified by 

           witnesses as perpetrators of sexual abuse. Three (3) witnesses reported being abused, 

           including by vaginal and anal rape, by external priests who had an association with the school in 

           a pastoral role. Two (2) witnesses reported being sexually abused by unnamed older pupils in 

           two boarding schools, including one report of rape. One female religious staff member in a 

           boarding school was reported by a male witness to have sexually abused him by inappropriate 

           fondling. 



17.53      A male witness reported that he was abused both in primary and second-level school by two 

           religious Brothers from the same Community. He described being first abused before he was 10 

           years old while isolated from other pupils. The reported abuse progressed to masturbation and 

           oral/genital contact. The witness stated that in the course of being sexually abused he was 

           severely physically abused and was hospitalised as a result. The witness also reported that 

           when he moved to the second-level school he was subjected to various forms of sexual abuse, 

           including rape, by a different teacher who was also a religious Brother attached to the same 

           Community. The witness reported that in both schools he was deliberately separated from his 

           peers by his abusers prior to being abused. 



           Neglect 



                 Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                 serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                 serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.5 



17.54      This section presents the evidence of witness reports of neglect in primary and second-level 

           schools. The reports referred to the neglect of safety and failure to protect witnesses from 

           abuse, contributing to neglect of their education and welfare. 



17.55      Nine (9) witnesses, five male and four female, reported neglect in relation to nine primary and 

           second-level schools. The accounts were combined with reports of physical, sexual and 

           emotional abuse. The most frequently reported combination of abuse with neglect was 

           emotional abuse. 



           Description of neglect 



17.56      Neglect of education and lack of protection were the most commonly reported areas of neglect 

           by witnesses from primary and second-level schools, the majority of whom were in the care of 

           their parents and living at home. 



17.57      A number of witnesses commented that their abusive experiences left them lacking confidence 

           and fearful of teachers. They reported being unable to benefit from further educational 

           opportunities, were unsuccessful in exams and in some instances withdrew from school. Two (2) 

           of those witnesses stated that a pattern of truancy and school avoidance developed in an effort 

           to avoid abuse and that their persistent absences left them without skills or academic 

           achievements. 



17.58      Other witnesses reported that their education was neglected as a result of abuse, criticism and 

           fear in the classroom. Six (6) witnesses stated that they were stigmatised because they had 

           learning difficulties or were from socially deprived backgrounds and, therefore, were considered 

           to be undeserving of an education. Three (3) of those witnesses reported that they left school 

           before the official school leaving age and that no assessment was made of their specific 



           5 Section 1(1)(c) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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           learning needs. One male witness commented that he was illiterate when he left school having 

           been ignored by his teacher who regarded him as ‘riff-raff’. 



17.59      Most of the nine witnesses reported that teachers and other lay and religious staff did not 

           protect them, despite having observed inappropriate behaviour or having been informed of 

           physical and sexual abuse. 



17.60      In a number of instances witnesses believed their parents were prevailed upon by their abusers 

           to dismiss the witnesses’ reports of abuse. One witness commented ‘no one asked me what 

           was wrong, I wanted to die so badly’. A male witness who stated that his mother reported his 

           persistent and severe physical abuse to the religious Principal in charge of the school was 

           subsequently beaten and warned not to make any further complaint. 



17.61      Others believed that their safety and welfare was neglected by school staff and external 

           professionals due to the status of their abusers as religious persons, teachers or prominent 

           members of the community. 



           Emotional abuse 



                 Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                 expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                 development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.6 



17.62      This section describes witness accounts of emotional abuse by failure to protect from abuse and 

           harm resulting in fear for their own and others’ safety. Emotional abuse refers to both actions 

           and inactions by school staff who had responsibility for the safety of pupils. The Committee 

           further heard reports of being verbally abused by critical, hostile and demeaning comments. 

           Witness experiences of humiliation and ridicule were also described. Emotional abuse was 

           reported to have had a negative impact on witnesses’ social, psychological and emotional well- 

           being and to have had an enduring effect on their lives. 



17.63      The Committee heard 32 reports of emotional abuse from 24 male and eight female witnesses. 

           Two (2) primary schools were each the subject of two reports of emotional abuse and the 

           remaining 28 schools were the subject of single reports. Twenty one (21) of the 28 schools were 

           primary schools and seven were second-level schools. 



17.64      There were 30 witness reports of emotional abuse in combination with other forms of abuse. 

           The majority of accounts of emotional abuse referred to the circumstances in which the 

           respective witnesses reported being either physically or sexually abused. 



           Description of emotional abuse 



17.65      Witnesses from a number of schools reported that they experienced persistent emotional abuse 

           in the context of being exposed to criticism, ridicule and humiliation. They also described being 

           constantly vigilant about the next episode of physical abuse and of feeling ashamed and fearful 

           regarding their experiences of sexual abuse. 



           Humiliation 



17.66      Twenty four (24) witnesses described being routinely humiliated and ridiculed for reasons 

           including being the child of single parents or of impoverished background, academic failure, 

           poor hygiene, having an unusual name or accent and having a physical disability. A male 

           witness reported that he was made to wear a girl’s dress while he was publicly beaten. A female 



           6 Section 1(1)(d) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act 



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           witness stated that she was forced to stand in a corner wearing a placard declaring that her 

           family were poor. The religious Sister who taught her repeatedly told the class ‘you don’t want to 

           turn out like ... (witness’s name)...’. 



17.67      Two (2) male witnesses who described being exposed to ridicule and humiliation in front of the 

           class gave the following accounts of their experiences: 



                 The rubbish bucket was a thing that was put on your head and left on it all day, and you 

                 were left standing in the corner. The headmaster came in ...(to the classroom and 

                 said)... “He’s going nowhere and don’t you know he never will go anywhere, don’t you 

                 know his mother wasn’t married”. 



                                                                 • 



                 Br ...X ... constantly picked on me in front of the whole class.... He made disparaging 

                 comments about my clothes, hygiene and general appearance. He did not like me, he 

                 beat me from one end of the school to the other and dragged me about by the ears and 

                 hair. 



17.68      Two (2) witnesses described being humiliated by the attentions of a teacher who sexually 

           abused them in public places. Others recounted the humiliation of being beaten on their bare 

           buttocks in front of the other pupils, or being ostracised by being made to kneel or stand while 

           being physically abused in public by their teacher, as one witness explained: 



                 He was cruel ... he knew I wasn’t bright and I knew he knew I wasn’t bright so 

                 whenever he wanted a victim ... he’d bring you up and slap you across the face in front 

                 of everyone. 



           Fear 



17.69      Nineteen (19) witnesses described an atmosphere of fear in the school that contributed to the 

           overall experience of abuse and made it difficult to learn. A witness who reported being abused 

           in the classroom commented ‘fear was every day, will I be abused today?’ 



17.70      Seven (7) witnesses reported that witnessing the abuse of others was disturbing, and in a small 

           number of schools they described a general atmosphere of intimidation and threat. One witness 

           reported that he was ‘terrified’ at the prospect of moving to a senior class where he could hear 

           the teacher administer severe beatings. Another witness commented on the atmosphere created 

           by a teacher who was verbally and physically abusive: ‘what was particularly traumatic was his 

           shouting all day, which struck terror into the pupils’. A male witness described witnessing a 

           fellow pupil having to be carried home following a ‘severe assault’ by a lay teacher. 



17.71      Five (5) witnesses described being constantly vigilant in the context of being sexually abused 

           and told that if they did not behave in a particular way and comply with their abusers’ wishes 

           they would be punished, shamed and blamed for participating in the abuse. A male witness 

           stated that over a two-year period he was repeatedly raped and was constantly threatened that 

           he would be sent away. He stated that he was ‘kept in terror by Br ...X...’ in case the secret of 

           his sexual abuse became public. 



17.72      A number of witnesses who reported being sexually abused also described an accompanying 

           sense of guilt and shame that was reinforced by being told that behaviour of a sexual nature 

           was sinful. One female witness who reported being raped by a visiting priest said ‘he told me I 

           would go to hell, I thought maybe he was right’. A male witness described his distress in this 

           regard: 



                 It was the mortal sin of it ...distressed ... you had all this stuff about being prepared to 

                 die and dying in your sleep. Even still I don’t go to sleep, would be 2 or 3 in the 



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                morning. I think maybe it’s connected in some way in having to go into Mass the next 

                morning and go to Communion, that was an even bigger sin, I already had a sin on my 

                soul, a mortal sin ... distressed ... 



17.73     Four (4) witnesses described being made a scapegoat by religious staff in boarding schools 

          through being segregated from their peers, constantly verbally abused, deprived of family visits 

          and subjected to various threats. A witness who reported being sent to a boarding school from 

          the Industrial School where he was placed commented: 



                He ... (Fr X)... threatened to send us back to ...named Industrial School.... We were 

                scared, you spent all your life in fear. For us ... (pupils from Industrial School)... I got 

                more of the leather strap, you rarely saw any of the other boys get hit by Mr ...Y... (lay 

                teacher).... Fr ...X... would hit you ... all over, the hands, the legs, the backside, all over 

                the body.... Always up in his room. There was not many days in the 3 years that I 

                wasn’t hit by him. I’d be black and blue all over. I used to be crying with fear. 



          Knowledge of abuse 



17.74     Witnesses consistently commented that the public nature of the abuse, in the presence of staff 

          and other pupils, made awareness inevitable. The Committee heard evidence of abuse 

          disclosures to family members, staff and professionals, both within and external to the schools. 

          A small number of witnesses commented that their parents were highly vigilant and protective 

          due to the level of awareness in the local community about certain teaching staff who were 

          abusing pupils. A number of other witnesses who were subject to persistent sexual abuse 

          described being ridiculed, or shunned by other pupils leading them to believe that there was a 

          general level of awareness about the abuse in the school. Witnesses believed there was 

          awareness among school staff due to the inappropriate attention they received publicly from 

          particular male teachers. Sexual abuse was believed to be known to female teachers who in 

          some instances ‘shielded girls’. 



                The other teachers must have known something but they couldn’t say anything, you 

                know how it was then with jobs. But I remember some of them hanging around 

                sometimes and taking you out of his ...(abusive teacher)... way. 



                                                               • 



                The female teachers were lovely but they never took a stand against this, I don’t know if 

                they were able to or not. They would try to protect you, they were grand, they were 

                lovely. When we were away ...(on school related activity)... we were staying in a hotel 

                he came up into the room, you pretended you were asleep. The female teacher was 

                there she stayed with him to make sure, like, that he didn’t do anything to us, they 

                protected us. What he did was take some photographs of girls asleep. He started sex 

                education with us, it was unusual at the time. I remember the female teachers saying 

                “they’re not ready”. They were trying to verbalise their own disapproval. 



17.75     Witnesses commented that where abuse was perpetrated by more than one abuser or in the 

          presence of a second adult awareness was inevitable. Two (2) witnesses gave accounts of 

          being abused by more than one male religious staff simultaneously. Another witness reported 

          that he was raped by a teacher outside the school in the presence of another religious Brother. 



          Disclosing abuse and outcome of disclosure 



17.76     Twenty eight (28) witnesses reported that they disclosed the fact that they were being abused. 

          The majority of witnesses who disclosed abuse were male. The reports related to 22 primary 

          and six second-level schools. Witnesses stated that the response to the disclosure of their 



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           abuse ranged between being listened to and protected, to being punished, and in a number of 

           instances the reported abuse was investigated. 



17.77      Eighteen (18) witnesses stated that they told their parents that they were being abused. In 10 

           instances witnesses reported that their parents believed them and some stated that physical 

           abuse was seen as part of the culture of the school, where parents accepted physical abuse as 

           routine punishment for misbehaviour: 



                  You couldn’t go home and tell your mother, my father was in England. There was no 

                  work here at the time ... if I went home and told my mother she’d say “well you must 

                  have done something to deserve it”. You wouldn’t be given your sixpence for the 

                  cinema. I didn’t say very much. She’d say “were you bold in school today?” 



17.78      Seven (7) male witnesses reported that their parents confronted the abusers or the school 

           authorities. One of the witnesses reported that his parents were asked by two priests to ‘hush 

           up’ the abuse, another witness reported that his mother was verbally abused by the Principal 

           following her complaint about his abuse. The mother of another witness who attended part of 

           her son’s hearing with the Committee described her encounter with the school authorities: 



                  I went to see Fr ... X ... (named priest) ... he was walking up and down in the church 

                  grounds. I was walking behind him telling him the story. “All lies, all lies” he says. I says 

                  “my children has no need to tell lies, they can come home and talk about it and they’re 

                  not beaten”. I said “Am I going to send for the father or are you going to do 

                  something?”...the priest said... “Oh, don’t tell...(her husband)...”...So anyhow I left it to 

                  him. He...(lay teacher)...was brought up before them, they knew what was going on. 



17.79      The Committee heard evidence that in some instances while the abuse was initially denied, 

           following the intervention of parents the witnesses were protected from further abuse. In five 

           primary schools witnesses reported that abusers were removed. Other reported responses by 

           parents to disclosures of abuse included a parent threatening to make a report to the Gardai 

                                                                                                                         ´ 

           and two witnesses being moved from the school by their parents and sent to another school. 



17.80      Nine (9) other witnesses reported disclosing their experiences of abuse to adults in positions of 

           authority including, school Principals, religious staff, Gardai and staff in a Children’s Home. Five 

                                                                                 ´ 

           (5) of these witnesses reported being punished or further abused following their disclosure. One 

           witness reported that when he disclosed abuse in Confession, he was assaulted and raped by 

           the confessor. The other four witnesses commented that their reports of abuse were 

           investigated and that they were protected either immediately or at a later time. 



17.81      Six (6) witnesses who disclosed abuse in second-level schools reported that no protective action 

           was taken and the abuse continued. Five (5) of the reported disclosures were to persons in 

           authority. One witness stated that he told another pupil of his experiences of abuse. Two (2) 

           witnesses reported being punished for what were regarded as false allegations. A female 

           witness commented that she was ‘really, really annoyed that other teachers never said 

           anything’. 



17.82      One male witness reported that following ongoing sexual abuse over two years he refused to 

           continue attending school. The witness stated that investigation by the school attendance officer 

           led to him being threatened with being sent to an Industrial School. On returning to school his 

           abuser kept him in the classroom during break time and continued to abuse him on a more 

           frequent basis. Another male witness reported that when he attended hospital for treatment 

           following both sexual and physical assault no enquiries were made regarding how he had 

           sustained his injury. The witness reported that the school Principal who had sexually abused 

           him had ‘an air of authority and high standing in the community’ and that, when he was 

           confronted by the witness’s parents, he denied the abuse. A witness who reported abuse in both 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                     363 


----------------------- Page 1710-----------------------

           national and second-level schools stated that as an adolescent he took an overdose in order to 

           avoid persistent abuse and that he tried to tell others but was unable to describe what 

           happened. Another witness commented that he developed skills ‘by crying, mitching, avoiding 

           confrontation and cheating ... to survive the regime of brutality on a daily basis’. He stated that 

           he attended the Committee because he wished to speak about what ‘surpassed even that ... 

           (daily brutality).’ 



17.83      Seventeen (17) witnesses reported being unable to tell their parents at the time about the abuse 

           they experienced. They believed their parents thought the abuse was justified punishment for 

           some misconduct. Other witnesses described being ashamed of being abused, and thought that 

           their parents would not believe they were being sexually abused as ‘priests would not do that’. A 

           male witness who reported being physically and sexually abused stated that he wished the 

           teacher who abused him would disfigure him in some way so that people could see something 

           happened to him, and that they would then believe him. 



                  I wanted him to burst my hands so that everyone would see. I’d hoped he’d break my 

                  fingers or my face, that someone would believe me. He’d ...(Br X)... call us in and give 

                  out, say he would call the guards ...(Gardai).... We hoped he would but he never did.... 

                                                                     ´ 

                  He bought me lots of things but it was never worth it... (witness reported sexual 

                  abuse) ... 



17.84      A number of witnesses stated that on occasion they were protected from abuse and removed to 

           safety by teachers who were not directly involved in the abuse. Other witnesses commented 

           that due to their parents’ care and diligence they were protected from abuse. 



17.85      Five (5) witnesses reported that a number of years after leaving school, investigations were 

           carried out by the Gardai following official complaints of abuse. Two (2) other witnesses stated 

                                         ´ 

           that they were offered money as compensation by or on behalf of their abusers subsequent to 

           disclosures of abuse. 



           Current circumstances 



17.86      The Act enabled the Committee to hear both evidence of child abuse and the enduring effects 

           on those who suffered abuse. Seventy (70) witnesses who reported abuse in primary and 

           second-level schools gave accounts to the Committee of their adult life circumstances. In the 

           course of their hearings witnesses provided information about their social circumstances, 

           relationships, and the enduring effects of abusive experiences on their psychological, emotional 

                                   7 

           and physical health . 



           Relationships 



17.87      Many witnesses stated that their experiences of abuse had a traumatic impact on their 

           subsequent relationships and made it difficult to sustain secure, stable attachments in adult life. 

           Others described having partners who had been supportive and understanding and that they 

           had achieved some happiness, notwithstanding occasional difficulties. A number of male 

           witnesses commented that they were unable to sustain close relationships and had a tendency 

           to ‘run from relationships’ or felt ‘unable to love people’. 



17.88      Thirty nine (39) witnesses reported being married at the time of their hearing, 21 of whom 

           described being happily married. Others described being involved in satisfying second 

           partnerships having had difficulties in earlier marriages. Table 105 outlines the relationship 

           status of witnesses at the time of their hearing: 



           7 This section contains some unavoidable overlap with the details provided by five witnesses who also reported abuse 



             in other out-of-home settings. 



           364                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1711-----------------------

             Table 105: Status of Witnesses’ Relationships at the Time of Hearing 2000-2008 – Male 

                                      and Female Primary and Second-level Schools 



                     Status of relationship                    Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Married                                              29                     10                     39 

            Single                                               14                      1                     15 

            Separated                                             4                      0                      4 

            Widowed                                               2                      2                      4 

            Co-habiting                                           6                      1                      7 

            Divorced                                              1                      0                      1 

            Total                                                56                     14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.89      Twenty six (26) witnesses reported having had difficulties establishing and maintaining 

           relationships. They commented that they lacked confidence, found it difficult to socialise and had 

           trouble trusting others, as one witness remarked: ‘I don’t trust no one’. Other witnesses reported 

           being isolated, withdrawn and being preoccupied by details of past abuse to the detriment of 

           adult relationships. 



17.90      Fifteen (15) witnesses stated that they had difficulties in intimate relationships, generally 

           attributed to childhood experiences of sexual abuse. Some witnesses described ambivalence 

           about sexual and gender identity at some point in their lives. Others described life-long 

           difficulties in their intimate relationships: 



                 I had relationships, there was one getting very close to marriage. I bailed out .... I had 

                 great difficulties in sexual relationships. I had a lot of anger in myself... 



                                                                   • 



                 There’s a lot of frustration there and my marriage is not particularly great ... (sexual 

                 relationship) ... because of this whole thing .... 



           Parenting 



17.91      Witnesses described having variable relationships with their children ranging from being 

           overprotective to being harsh, and in some instances abusive. Others commented that 

           relationships with their children changed over time depending on the developmental age of the 

           child and their own development as parents. Witnesses commented that their confidence as 

           parents was linked, at times, with their own progress and recovery from past abuse. A number 

           of witnesses reported parenting difficulties to be the result of their depression or in the context 

           of marital disharmony. 



17.92      Forty nine (49) witnesses, 39 male and 10 female, reported having children. Twenty four (24) 

           described their children as doing well in many aspects of their lives. They enjoyed regular 

           contact, supportive and mutually rewarding relationships with their children. 



                 I did try to commit suicide ... I was on a bridge and the light of my children’s faces... 

                 (prevented suicide attempt) ... that’s probably why I’m here today ... 



17.93      Nineteen (19) witnesses described being strict, overprotective and at times harsh parents, 

           leading to relationship breakdown with their children. One witness commented: ‘I became a 

           bully, I became an abuser too. My boy, I clattered him. I hurt my wife, I hurt everybody’. Another 

           witness stated:  ‘In the last year or so I have been angry with... (children).... I’ve never hit my... 

           (children)... but I shout. They’re great, lovely...’. 



17.94      Two (2) witnesses reported that three of their children were sexually abused, both within and 

           outside the family. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  365 


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17.95      Five (5) male witnesses were non-custodial parents and generally described inconsistent 

           contact with their children. A small number of witnesses reported that they co-parented their 

           partners’ children. 



17.96      Six (6) witnesses did not provide details about their parenting experiences. 



           Occupational and employment status 



17.97      Forty three (43) witnesses reported a stable and consistent history of employment in a wide 

           range of occupations. They reported successful careers in trades, professional and managerial 

           positions, factory and labouring work, and a number were self-employed. Seventeen (17) of the 

           43 witnesses reported that they had successful careers following further education and training 

           as adults. Table 106 outlines the employment status reported by witnesses at the time of their 

           hearing: 



           Table 106: Witnesses’ Employment Status at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Primary 

                                                   and Second-level Schools 



                      Employment status                        Males                Females            Total witnesses 



            Employed                                             24                      9                     33 

            Retired                                              11                      0                     11 

            Self -employed                                       10                      0                     10 

            Unemployed                                            6                      1                      7 

            Disability income                                     5                      0                      5 

            Working at home                                       0                      4                      4 

            Total                                                56                     14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.98      Six (6) male witnesses reported difficulties maintaining stable employment due to alcohol or 

           drug abuse and two witnesses reported that they had never been employed. Four (4) female 

           witnesses reported having worked in the home since they married. Others reported that they 

           were no longer employed, were retired or were in receipt of disability income. 



17.99      Table 107 illustrates the level of education attended, but not in all instances completed, by 

           witnesses who reported abuse in schools: 



            Table 107: Highest Level of Education Attended – Male and Female Primary and Second- 

                                                           level Schools 



                  Highest level of education                   Males                Females            Total witnesses 



            Primary                                              13                      1                     14 

            Secondary                                            26                      7                     33 

            Third level                                          17                      6                     23 

            Total                                                56                     14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.100     A number of witnesses reported that they attended second-level school but were unable to 

           successfully complete their education due to the trauma of their abusive experiences. They 

           described being fearful, unable to concentrate and distracted by the risk of further abuse or 

           memories of past abuse. Seventeen (17) witnesses gave accounts of attending third-level 

           education as mature students. 



           Accommodation 



17.101     Most witnesses reported having stable and secure housing arrangements as illustrated in the 

           following table: 



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            Table 108: Accommodation of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female Primary 

                                                   and Second-level Schools 



                        Accommodation                          Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Owner occupiers                                      36                      12                     48 

            Local authority/council housing                       7                       0                      7 

            Private rented accommodation                          5                       0                      5 

            With relatives                                        4                       1                      5 

            Sheltered housing                                     1                       0                      1 

            Hostel                                                1                       0                      1 

            Unavailable                                           2                       1                      3 

            Total                                                56                      14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.102     Fifty five (55) witnesses described having stable accommodation arrangements at the time of 

           their hearings, either as home owners or as council housing tenants. A number of the 15 

           witnesses in other types of accommodation reported a history of unsettled lives, broken 

           relationships and periods of ill-health. 



           Health 



17.103     During the course of their hearings witnesses provided general information about their physical 

           and mental health, either directly or in the context of describing their current life circumstances. 

           For the purpose of writing this Report the Committee categorised the witnesses’ physical and 

           mental health status as good, reasonable or poor based on the information they provided 

           regarding their past and current health history. 



17.104     Witnesses more frequently reported experiencing good physical health than good mental health. 

           The following table illustrates the status of physical health described by witnesses: 



             Table 109: Current Physical Health Status – Male and Female Primary and Second-level 

                                                              Schools 



                    Physical health status                     Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Good                                                 32                       9                     41 

            Reasonable                                           20                       4                     24 

            Poor                                                  4                       1                      5 

            Total                                                56                      14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.105     The majority of witnesses indicated that they experienced good physical health, while some may 

           have had age-related conditions that required treatment. The five witnesses who described poor 

           physical health reported chronic illness, some of which they associated with trauma and their 

           childhood abuse experience or with disability. Others described poor health in the context of 

           recent illness, surgery or accident. Witnesses who described having reasonable physical health 

           described some stress-related conditions including chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel 

           syndrome and physical conditions associated with alcohol abuse. The most commonly reported 

           areas of physical ill-health for this group of witnesses were: arthritis, diabetes, back pain, heart, 

           gastric and thyroid conditions. Two (2) witnesses reported having had hepatitis. 



17.106     The following table illustrates the witnesses’ current mental health status as described by them: 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                  367 


----------------------- Page 1714-----------------------

              Table 110: Current Mental Health Status – Male and Female Primary and Second-level 

                                                              Schools 



                     Mental health status                      Males                Females            Total witnesses 



            Good                                                23                      5                     28 

            Reasonable                                          17                      7                     24 

            Poor                                                16                      2                     18 

            Total                                               56                     14                     70 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



17.107     Witnesses whose mental health was categorised as good gave accounts of being generally able 

           to leave the memories of their past abuse behind, and being sustained by supportive 

           relationships and a fulfilled work life. Six (6) of those witnesses who described generally good 

           mental health also reported a past history of depression and alcohol abuse, and had attended 

           mental health services and counselling in relation to their past difficulties. 



17.108     Twenty four (24) witnesses gave accounts of having reasonably good mental health while they 

           also reported histories of depression, suicidal thoughts and attempts. Many described a level of 

           continued distress and alcohol abuse leading to some day-to-day difficulties that were 

           manageable. 



                 At that stage of my life I was heavy into drink ... huge problem. I was into drugs as well 

                 ... I was going downhill. I started stealing for my habits ... The drinking got so bad I 

                 decided myself I had to do something about it,...(I was drinking )... a bottle of whiskey or 

                 brandy a day ... It was great for me at the time to get over those years, it helped me 

                 black out... (memories of abuse)....I went away to ...treatment centre... When I was 

                 there drying out ... I told part of my story ... (of sexual abuse) ... 



17.109     There was a marked gender difference between witnesses who described poor mental health. 

           Sixteen (16) male and two female witnesses, reported a history of repeated admissions to 

           psychiatric hospitals, many suicide attempts, disabling anxiety and depression, leading at times 

           to isolation and withdrawal from social and family life. A number of witnesses reported that their 

           past abuse had a profound impact on all areas of their lives and that they were unable to benefit 

           from the help that they had repeatedly sought. Six (6) male and one female witness gave 

           accounts of substance abuse. 



           Effects on adult life 



17.110     The most frequently reported effect of childhood abuse on the adult lives of witnesses who 

           reported abuse in primary and second-level schools was the impact on their emotional wellbeing 

           and the consequences for their personal, family and social relationships. Table 111 illustrates 

           the effects described by the 56 male and 14 female witnesses. The effects are not mutually 

           exclusive and were not prioritised by witnesses. 



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----------------------- Page 1715-----------------------

  Table 111: Reported Effects on Adult Life – Male and Female Primary and Second-level 

                                                    Schools 



                    Male witnesses                                          Female witnesses 



         Effects on adult life*             Number of              Effects on adult life*            Number of 

                                              reports                                                  reports 



 Counselling required                            38        Lack of self-worth                              9 



 Alcohol abuse                                   28       Anxious and fearful                              8 



 Lack of trust                                   25        Counselling required                            8 



 Angry                                           24       Abuse not easily forgotten                       7 



 Loner                                           24        Feelings related to being a victim              7 



 Abuse not easily forgotten                      23        Feeling isolated                                6 



 Lack of self-worth                              21        Issues of self-worth                            6 



 Suicidal feelings or attempt                    21       Angry                                            5 



 Feelings related to being a victim              18        Mood instability                                5 



 Unable to settle                                18        Somatic symptoms                                5 



 Post-traumatic effect                           17        Suicidal feelings or attempt                    5 



 Anxious and fearful                             15       Alcohol abuse                                    4 



 Mood instability                                15        Feeling different from peers                    4 



                                                           Feelings related to being 

 Withdrawal                                      14        powerless                                       4 



 Feeling different from peers                    13        Loner                                           4 



 Nightmares                                      12        Post-traumatic effect                           4 



 Feeling isolated                                11        Sexual problems                                 4 



 Gender and sexual identity 

 problems                                        11        Overprotective of children                      3 



 Sleep disturbance                               11       Withdrawal                                       3 



 Aggressive behaviour – physical                 10        Tearfulness                                     2 



 Aggressive behaviour – verbal                   10        Eating disorder                                 2 



 Sexual problems                                 10        Issues of self-blame                            2 



 Unable to show feelings to partner              9         Overly-compliant behaviour                      2 



 Somatic symptoms                                8         Substance abuse                                 2 



 Over harsh with children                        6        Aggressive behaviour – physical                  1 



                                                          Aggressive behaviour – 

 Substance abuse                                 6         psychological                                   1 



 Unable to show feelings to 

 children                                        6        Aggressive behaviour – verbal                    1 



 Tearfulness                                     5         Fear of failure                                 1 



 Feelings related to being 

 powerless                                       5         Issues of needing approval                      1 



 Overprotective of children                      5         Nightmares                                      1 



 Issues of needing approval                      5         Over harsh with children                        1 



 Eating Disorder                                 4         Unable to settle                                1 



                                                           Unable to show feelings to 

 Issues of self-blame                            4         children                                        1 



 Aggressive behaviour – 

 psychological                                   3         Unable to show feelings to partner              1 



Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009. 



n = 57 male and 14 female 



*Witnesses could report more than one effect and male witnesses reported a wider variety of effects 



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----------------------- Page 1716-----------------------

17.111    Many witnesses reported difficulties encountered in their day-to-day lives, and stated that 

          enduring anger and distress continued to affect them. A female witness stated ‘there was 

          nothing normal about life’. Another witness described herself as an angry person who puts on a 

          mask to hide her pain, sadness and loneliness: ‘You are never sure when it ... (memories of 

          abuse)... will raise its ugly head’. A number of male witnesses commented that they had 

          suppressed memories of abuse at a cost to their personal and family relationships: ‘You put up 

          a front, I blanked it out’. Another witnesses commented: 



                 The anger started coming at me again. I went on an anger management course... the 

                anger went on and on. I was still saying nothing ... (to spouse) ... I broke down and told 

                her the whole thing .... It explained to her a lot of the behavioural problems I had, 

                because I had good positions...(employment)... but I never let anyone come near me... 



17.112    Witnesses consistently reported that the damaging consequences of their childhood abuse also 

          affected the next generation. Twenty two (22) reports were heard by the Committee of 

          witnesses being excessively harsh, overprotective or of being unable to demonstrate affection to 

          their children. 



                 They’ll have a good childhood ... I’ll find a balance. I’m sure it shows through sometimes 

                ... (spouse) ... thinks I’m too liberal with them ... 



                                                                • 



                I don’t think I’ve ever damaged them since... I love them ... they treat me now as the 

                child ... I love it ... we’ve had some hard times together but we get on and they’re great. 



17.113    Twenty seven (27) witnesses reported that the traumatic effect of their abusive experiences had 

          led to significant distress and reported that they suffered from panic and anxiety attacks. 

          Witnesses also described other continuing effects that had a negative influence on work, social 

          and personal areas of adult life. Many witnesses commented on struggling with anxiety, feelings 

          of guilt, fear of failure and powerlessness. Twenty six (26) witnesses reported that they 

          experienced impulsive anger and at times were aggressive in their behaviour. A male witness 

          who reported sexual abuse over a number of years gave the following description of its enduring 

          effect on many areas of his adult life: 



                I just ran and ran and I’m running since.... I was on the move and have stayed on the 

                move for last 35-40 years. A lot of jobs, a lot of places, big jobs, small jobs, dirt jobs, 

                high jobs.... business is gone, no money... You feel so powerless,... a non-entity... 



17.114    Forty six (46) witnesses reported that they had required counselling and psychiatric treatment in 

          order to enable them cope with the enduring effects of their childhood abuse. Thirteen (13) of 

          these 46 witnesses reported having received in-patient psychiatric treatment. Eleven (11) of the 

          46 witnesses reported actively attempting to take their own lives and a further 15 reported that 

          they experienced suicidal thoughts currently or in the past. A witness stated that he had ‘a lot of 

          problems with health... I was in hospital... I spent a year really suicidal.’ 



17.115    Thirty two (32) witnesses reported abusing alcohol, and described other associated distress, 

          including disturbed sleep and at times excessive vigilance and suspicion: ‘If I see people talking 

          I wonder is it about me, I am still running away from it ... (memories of abuse) ...’ 



17.116    Many witnesses commented on the benefit for them of being believed, understood and 

          supported by their counsellors, others in the health services and fellow survivors of abuse. A 

          witness commenting on the value for him of group support stated: ‘... I feel when I come out of 

          the group I’m not on my own, I’m not a freak ...’ 



17.117    Others who reported being repeatedly subjected to severe sexual and physical abuse over a 

          sustained period of time reported that, in spite of their abuser’s criminal conviction, monetary 



          370                                                        CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1717-----------------------

          compensation or family support their lives continued to be troubled by feelings of anger and 

          despair. A small number of male witnesses expressed anger that their abusers were transferred 

          to other schools:  ‘The rate at which they were moved, I don’t understand why.’ 



                 The thing that hurts most is that there was a paedophile ring running in that school, I 

                know 5 guys that were abused and are now dead. Nobody did anything ... dead pupils 

                 don’t count .... If they put their hands up and said “what happened was well out of order, 

                 what can we do to help?” ...(but)... nobody gives a shit, they do nothing. 



17.118    A number of witnesses commented that adversarial processes and criminal investigations in 

           recent years had both reactivated the trauma of past abuses and brought some relief and 

          validation. 



                 It isn’t like as if it was all those years ago, it’s like as if it was 5 minutes ago ...crying.... 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                             371 


----------------------- Page 1718-----------------------

 372                                               CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1719-----------------------

          Chapter 18 



          Residential Laundries, Novitiates, 

          Hostels and other Out-of-home 

          Settings 



18.01     This chapter of the Confidential Committee report presents evidence from witnesses about a 

          range of other settings that were outside the main groupings already covered in this Report. 

          These included residential laundries, hostels, Novitiates, short-term residential services for 

          children and adolescents, and other residential settings. The facilities were generally funded and 

          managed either by the State or by voluntary agencies. 



          Witnesses 



18.02     Twenty five (25) witnesses, 12 male and 13 female, made 26 reports of abuse in relation to 15 

          facilities, including five Novitiates, four residential laundries, and three hostels over a period of 

          52 years between 1948 and 2000. Sixteen (16) witnesses were either discharged, or left the 

          settings of their own accord in the 1960s and four in the 1950s.Five (5) witnesses were 

          discharged between 1970 and 2000. 



18.03     Eight (8) of the reported facilities were located in Irish cities and seven were in provincial towns 

          or rural areas. 



18.04     Sixteen (16) witnesses reported that they had also been admitted to other institutions, including 

          Industrial and Reformatory Schools, hospitals, and Children’s Homes, 13 of them reported 

          abuse in the other institutions. Six (6) witnesses reported that they had been in more than one 

          Industrial School. 



          Social and demographic profile of witnesses 



18.05     Family of origin, place of birth and current residence details will be differentiated by gender 

          when there are notable differences, otherwise they are reported collectively. Nine (9) of the 

          witnesses who reported abuse in residential work and other out-of-home settings were born in 

          Dublin and the remaining 16 were from 10 other counties in Ireland. 



18.06     At the time of their hearings six witnesses were over the age of 60 years, 15 were between 50 

          and 60 years and a further two were between 40 and 50 years. Two (2) witnesses were under 

          30 years of age. 



18.07     Table 112 illustrates the marital status of witnesses’ parents at the time of their birth, the 

          majority of whom were reported to be married: 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                        373 


----------------------- Page 1720-----------------------

                Table 112: Marital Status of Witnesses’ Parents at Time of Birth – Male and Female 

                     Residential Laundries, Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                    Marital status of parents                    Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Married                                               11                       8                      19 

            Single                                                  0                      4                       4 

            Separated                                               1                      0                       1 

            Co-habiting                                             0                      1                       1 

            Totals                                                12                      13                     25 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.08      Seventeen (17) witnesses reported the occupational status of their parents at the time of 

           admission to out-of-home placement as unskilled. Four (4) witnesses reported their parents as 

           occupied in managerial, clerical or skilled manual positions. Information is not available 

           regarding the occupational status of the remaining four witnesses parents.1 



18.09      All 25 witnesses said they had siblings, 11 of whom had brothers or sisters in Industrial or 

           Reformatory Schools and two others had siblings in Children’s Homes. 



           Circumstances of admission 



18.10      Witnesses gave accounts of a range of social circumstances prior to their admission, including 

           being in the care of their parents or in out-of-home care. The average age of admission to the 

           institutions was 14 years. Three (3) witnesses were admitted under 14 years of age. 



                  I was being abused by my step-father. When I approached my mother, she went to the 

                 priest and the nuns and it was decided that I was the one to be sent off.... I was put into 

                  the laundry, I was only 10. The people there were horrified, they would say “what are 

                 you doing here, sure you're only a child?” The nun said “it’s best you don’t talk about 

                  this, your family will be disgraced”. I was to forget about it...(sexual abuse)... and it 

                  wasn’t to be discussed.... I came down with my case, it was tied with twine, and I was 

                 put into a laundry van. My mother said “why is she going in a laundry van? She is 

                  definitely going to get educated?” They told her I would get an education. 



18.11      The typical length of stay in these institutions was relatively brief, compared with admissions to 

           Industrial and Reformatory Schools and other facilities. The average length of admission was 

           two years. Five (5) witnesses reported they were resident for less than one year. Witnesses 

           reported being aged between 14 and 22 years on leaving the residential facility as shown. It 

           should be noted that the accounts of abuse included in this report occurred when the witnesses 

           were less than 18 years of age, in accordance with the provisions of the Acts. 



                   •    Seven (7) witnesses were 15 years or under. 

                   •    Four (4) witnesses were 16 years. 

                   •    Seven (7) witnesses were between 17 and 18 years. 

                   •    Seven (7) witnesses were between 19 and 22 years. 



18.12      Ten (10) witnesses, one male and nine female, said they had been transferred from Industrial 

           Schools to these settings and others had subsequent admissions to Industrial or Reformatory 

           Schools. Two (2) other witnesses were transferred from a hospital and a Children’s Home. 



           1 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



             parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

             parent was recorded, insofar as it was known. 



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18.13     Three (3) female witnesses said they were transferred to residential laundries from Industrial 

          Schools following confrontations with religious staff whom they challenged about abuse of 

          themselves or of their co-residents. Another female witness stated that she was transferred to a 

          laundry at 13 years to work. She stated that she was told by the Sister in charge that she was 

          being sent to work in order to compensate the Order as her mother had been unable to meet 

          the required payments for her keep in the Industrial School. 



18.14     Nine (9) witnesses reported being placed in residential settings from their family home by or with 

          the support and consent of their parents or other family members. Five (5) male witnesses 

          stated that they entered Novitiates with their parents’ support in circumstances of financial 

          hardship. They said that they learned about the opportunity of a religious life and receiving an 

          education when members of particular religious Orders visited their primary schools to recruit 

          boys to join their community. Four (4) female witnesses stated that they were placed in 

          residential laundries or other work settings with the knowledge or support of parents or relatives 

          in the context of poverty, death of a parent and personal or family crisis including familial abuse. 

          Two (2) of these witnesses stated that they or their relatives were told, prior to admission, that 

          they would receive an education that never materialised as they were involved from the outset 

          in full-time work within the institution. 



                Me Dad died and we were that poor me mam went off to England to get a living, you 

                couldn’t get a living around there...(local area) I was with an aunt, we were at school but 

                you had to buy everything and there wasn’t the money. I was working in the fields, 

                trying to help out, that’s what I was mostly doing. A priest came by and he said I wasn’t 

                doing good at school and he said he would find me a good place. He rang my mother 

                up in England and she was delighted, you know, a convent ...crying... she was grateful. 

                My mother agreed to it, she said the nuns were so holy, they done good in there, I 

                would get a good education and be well looked after. 



                                                                • 



                My mother and father would have wanted the best for me. I was happy as Larry, I’d be 

                down the fields playing football. I’d have my lessons done because they said I was 

                bright.... There was a lot expected of me.... The Brothers came around to the school, 4 

                of them came round, and sure when I seen the pitches,...(pictures of facilities in 

                Novitiates)... the hurling and football I thought this was great. ... The only one in the 

                school that was picked ... (selected to join Noviciate)... was myself. My mother and 

                father were very poor, they sold a sow and a litter of bonbhs to kit me out.... I was 

                reminded in the school that they were short of money and that really and truly I should 

                be very grateful I was there. I was told that by Br ...X.... Going back that time to have 

                someone... (in the family)... in the religious was a big thing. I was 13. 



           Record of abuse 



18.15     Twelve (12) male and 13 female witnesses gave evidence of 26 reports of abuse in 15 

          institutional settings. One witness reported abuse in two institutions in this category. Witnesses 

          reported all four types of abuse: physical and sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse, as 

          defined by the Act. Thirteen (13) witnesses, five male and eight female, also reported abuse in 

          Industrial and Reformatory Schools, in Children’s Homes and hospital. Witness accounts of 

          abuse were descriptions of single incidents of abuse or multiple episodes of abuse experienced 

          over a period of time. 



18.16     The number of witness reports of abuse in different residential facilities varied as follows: 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                             375 


----------------------- Page 1722-----------------------

                   •    Five (5) residential facilities were the subject of two to five reports, totalling 16 

                         reports. 



                   •    Ten (10) residential facilities were each the subject of single reports. 



18.17      The most frequently reported abuse types were physical, sexual and emotional abuse, as 

           follows: 



                   •    Fourteen (14) witnesses reported physical abuse. 

                   •    Fourteen (14) witnesses reported emotional abuse. 

                   •    Ten (10) witnesses reported sexual abuse. 

                   •    Eight (8) witnesses reported neglect. 



18.18      Fourteen (14) witness reports referred to more than one type of abuse and to combinations of 

           abuse, as shown in the following table: 



              Table 113: Abuse Types and Combinations – Male and Female Residential Laundries, 

                                    Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                      Abuse types and combinations                                      Number of reports 



            Sexual                                                                                  5 



            Physical, emotional and neglect                                                         4 



            Physical                                                                                4 



            Emotional                                                                               3 



            Physical and sexual                                                                     2 



            Physical and emotional                                                                  2 



            Sexual and emotional                                                                    2 



            Neglect and emotional                                                                   2 



            Physical, sexual, neglect and emotional                                                 1 



            Physical and neglect                                                                    1 



            Total                                                                                  26 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.19      Twelve (12) witness reports were of single abuse types, either sexual, physical or emotional, 

           and all other witnesses reported combinations of abuse types. 



           Physical abuse 



                  The wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury on, or failure to prevent such 

                  injury to, the child.2 



18.20      This section of the chapter presents evidence heard by the Committee regarding witnesses’ 

           experience of being physically abused and the lack of protection from physical harm while in 

           these residential settings. The nature of physical abuse reported included being beaten with 

           implements, punched, kicked, and subjected to bodily assaults. 



18.21      The Committee heard evidence from 14 witnesses of physical abuse they experienced in seven 

           institutions. 



                   •    Three (3) institutions were the subject of multiple reports, totalling 10 reports. 

                   •    Four (4) institutions were each the subject of single reports. 



           2 Section 1(1)(a). 



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          Description of physical abuse 



18.22     Witnesses reported that factors precipitating physical abuse included attempts at resisting 

          sexual abuse, disclosing abuse to parents, breaking the rule of silence, protecting co-residents 

          from punishment, and general lack of control exercised by staff. Witnesses were beaten with 

          sticks, hurleys, batons, keys and leather straps and stated that they were punched, kicked, 

          forced to stand while taking meals, forced to kneel for long periods, locked out overnight, and 

          having their hair cut off. The physical abuse occurred within different areas of the institutions’ 

          buildings including refectories, dormitories, bathrooms, yards and workrooms. 



18.23     Five (5) male witnesses from one institution reported being severely beaten in an out-of-control 

          manner. Two (2) witnesses described severe and unpredictable beatings all over the body. One 

          witness reported being ‘thrashed with a leather’, and another reported that ‘they beat the lard 

          out of me’. 



                That night I got beaten up by the new staff... (lay staff member)... that came on.... He 

                dragged me out of the bed and he started beating with this baton and he was kinda 

                saying “you better not escape out of here” and he start whipping me across the legs, 

                dragging me out of the bed, pulled me around the floor. He banged the side of me teeth 

                off the bed and ... (I)... got a few wallops across the face. I got a right beating. He kept 

                beating me, I don’t know what kind of anger got into him, I couldn’t understand the 

                anger that came into him.... One of the lads roared “leave him alone”.... I told ...lay 

                ancillary worker ... the next morning, she asked me “what’s wrong?” I had a cut lip, me 

                teeth was chipped, my tooth was loose. 



18.24     Two (2) institutions were each the subject of two reports of physical abuse. One male witness 

          described an incident of violence when his attempts to avoid sexual abuse were stopped by a 

          ‘clattering around the face with open hands’ and having his head held in the toilet bowl. 



18.25     Seven (7) female witness reports related to continuous hard physical work in residential 

          laundries, which was generally unpaid. Two (2) witnesses said that the regime was ‘like a 

          prison’, that doors were locked all the time and exercise was taken in an enclosed yard. 

          Working conditions were harsh and included standing for long hours, constantly washing laundry 

          in cold water, and using heavy irons for many hours. One witness described working hard, 

          standing in silence and being made to stand for meals and kneel to beg forgiveness if she 

          spoke. Another witness stated that she was punched and hit as a threat not to disclose details 

          of her everyday life working in the laundry to her family. Three (3) witnesses gave the following 

          accounts of physical abuse: 



                Every morning we were up at 5 o’clock in the summer and 6 o’clock in the winter. We 

                slaved all day.... They starved and worked us to death while they lived in luxury. The 

                nuns were all very hard and nasty, they used to shave our hair off ...distressed... we 

                had to suffer in silence. I hope no one has to suffer like us. We had nowhere to run or 

                no one would believe you.... I often burned myself...(while working, ironing) ... but got no 

                sympathy ...distressed.... One time I had a terrible arm, it didn’t heal up, I had burned it 

                and the dye of the uniform ran into it, and that was the first time I saw a doctor.... 



                                                            • 



                You couldn’t laugh or talk in there ’cos you were just battered. A nice nun in the convent 

                talked to us, Sr ...X... got to hear about it and she just battered us, on the back of the 

                hands, anywhere, and if she got the curtain rail that would go across you. It didn’t 

                matter what she had in her hand. She was like a Hitler ...crying.... My whole childhood 

                was gone in that place. 



                                                            • 



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                 We were beaten regular, I have got a mark still on my back. Mth ...X... was the evil cow, 

                 and then there was the helpers that would hold you down while she was battering you 

                 and they would cut lumps ... out of your hair.... I was 11 ... years old. I was battered 

                 with a big belt both by the nun and helpers.... 



           Injuries 



18.26      Three (3) male witnesses reported that they had sustained physical injuries as a result of 

           assault. One witness stated that his hand was caught in a door as he attempted to escape 

           being sexually abused. Two (2) witnesses from another institution were punched and severely 

           beaten, sustaining injuries to their noses, faces and backs. One witness reported that the 

           assault on him stopped when co-residents intervened to protect him. 



           Reported abusers 



18.27      Witnesses reported being physically abused by staff in the institutions and by older co-residents. 

           It is possible that there is some overlap between those identified by name and those who were 

           not named but identified by their role or function within the institution. 



18.28      Three (3) religious staff, one male and two female, were named as perpetrators of physical 

           abuse. Four religious staff, two male and two female, were not named but identified by 

           witnesses as authority figures. One male lay care staff was identified by name and five other lay 

           staff were identified by position, including a Resident Manager. The Committee heard two 

           witness accounts of abuse by older co-residents one of whom commented that he believed the 

           physical assault was instigated by the Resident Manager. 



           Sexual abuse 



                 The use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual gratification of that person 

                 or another person.3 



18.29      This section presents the evidence of sexual abuse heard by the Committee from witnesses in 

           residential training, work and other out-of-home facilities. The majority of reports were of contact 

           sexual abuse, including rape and associated physical violence. Witnesses’ evidence described 

           both single incidents of sexual abuse and chronic abuse over an extended period. Some 

           witnesses provided detailed accounts of the abuse they experienced. Other accounts were 

           limited to clarifying the acute or chronic nature of the abuse and whether it was contact or non- 

           contact abuse. 



18.30      Ten (10) witnesses, eight male and two female, made 10 reports of being sexually abused in 

           eight residential settings. Five (5) reports from male witnesses relate to abuse in Noviciates and 

           three others relate to aftercare hostels and other residential facilities. One female witness 

           reported being abused in an institution where she was employed as a ‘live-in’ domestic worker 

           and another gave an account of being abused over an extended period by an older co-resident 

           in a laundry. 



           Description of sexual abuse 



18.31      The Committee heard eight witness reports of sexual abuse, including inappropriate fondling, 

           masturbation, vaginal, oral and anal penetration with objects, oral/genital contact and rape. 

           Witnesses reported that the abuse was associated with physical violence in circumstances such 

           as when attempting to escape the abuser, as a threat against disclosure and as a component of 

           the sexual assault. Two (2) witnesses described non-contact sexual abuse in the form of 



           3 Section 1(1)(b). 



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----------------------- Page 1725-----------------------

          inappropriate questioning about sexual relationships and being watched while attending to 

          personal hygiene. 



18.32     Witnesses were sexually abused in a range of locations including, classrooms, recreation 

          rooms, dormitory cubicles, toilets, sacristies, bedrooms, offices of religious and lay staff, and 

          other locations outside the institution such as sports fields and sheds. 



18.33     Five (5) witnesses described isolated incidents of abuse that happened in an opportunistic 

          fashion over short periods of time. Five (5) other witnesses gave accounts of being abused over 

          a period of up to three years, including the following: 



                We were living in a big dormitory, a kind of cubicle thing...he ... (named religious staff)... 

                came down to me in the middle of the night and started talking to me, maybe once a 

                week or twice a week ....He showed a bit of friendship to me, I remember getting ...(a 

                gift) ... from him, I was delighted at the time.... I think I was going out of my mind, I 

                couldn’t correlate religion and sex... 



18.34     Four (4) male witnesses reported being raped; in addition there were three reports of oral, 

          vaginal and anal penetration with objects. Two (2) of the witnesses reported being repeatedly 

          raped over a period up to two years by religious superiors who were involved in pastoral, 

          educational and sporting activities. Two (2) other witnesses reported being raped by a visiting 

          professional and by a lay staff member in a position of authority. 



18.35     Witnesses stated that physical violence, intimidation and threats were used in order to force and 

          restrain them while sexual abuse was perpetrated. Two (2) male witnesses stated that the force 

          used in sexual abuse caused bleeding and injury. Another male witness reported that his sexual 

          abuse by two religious staff was accompanied by violence and inducements. He stated that in 

          order to avoid persistent sexual abuse he was constantly vigilant and careful not to be caught 

          alone with the abuser. He described placing himself with others in the most public position 

          possible in order to protect himself. 



18.36     Four (4) other male witnesses described contact sexual abuse including forced masturbation by 

          the abuser, fondling of genitalia, and digital penetration. 



                Br ...X... he escorted me to the dressing room. He closed and bolted the door. He 

                started by rubbing my knee first. He then started fondling my private parts. He then 

                masturbated me and made me masturbate him. ... I felt so bad, ashamed. 



18.37     One female witness gave an account of being sexually abused over a three-year period by an 

          older female co-resident who was otherwise kind to her. The witness described being isolated 

          from her peers and being threatened that she would be sent away if she ever told anyone about 

          the abuse. Another female witness was sexually abused by masturbation and fondling by a 

          priest in the institution where she worked. 



          Reported abusers 



18.38     The Committee heard evidence from 10 witnesses of being sexually abused by 12 staff and 

          others, including an older resident. Eleven (11) of the abusers were male, five of whom were 

          identified by name. Others were identified by their reported position or status in relation to the 

          institution, as outlined in the following table: 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                           379 


----------------------- Page 1726-----------------------

                 Table 114: Position and Number of Reported Sexual Abusers – Male and Female 

                     Residential Laundries, Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



              Position of reported physical                      Males                                Females 

                         abusers 



            Religious 



                   - Authority figure                               5                                     0 



                   - Teacher                                        2                                     0 



                   - External priest                                1                                     0 



            Lay 



                  - Resident Manager                                1                                     0 



            Visiting professional                                   1                                     0 



            Co-resident                                             1                                     1 



            Total                                                  11                                     1 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.39      Four (4) witnesses gave accounts of rape and violent assault by four named abusers, of whom 

           three were religious Brothers, in addition to a visiting lay professional. Six (6) male religious in 

           positions of authority, two of whom were priests, were reported by witnesses to have abused 

           them by masturbation, fondling and voyeurism. The lay individuals reported by witnesses as 

           perpetrators of rape were identified as a Resident Manager, and a visiting professional. Two (2) 

           witness accounts were heard of sexual abuse by co-residents. 



           Neglect 



                 Failure to care for the child which results, or could reasonably be expected to result, in 

                 serious impairment of the physical or mental health or development of the child or 

                 serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.4 



18.40      The witness reports refer to neglect of education, health, welfare and safety and the lack of 

           protection from harm. Witnesses reported that these experiences had an impact on their 

           physical and emotional health and welfare, both at the time and in later life. 



           Description of neglect 



18.41      The main areas of neglect reported by witnesses from these residential settings were lack of 

           safety and protection from abuse, neglect of developmental and health needs, including neglect 

           of education, inadequate supervision of everyday care, age inappropriate work, and lack of 

           adequate food. Witnesses also said that there was a lack of preparation for transition to 

           independent living following discharge. 



18.42      Eight (8) witnesses, two male and six female, made reports of neglect in relation to seven 

           institutions. One institution was the subject of two reports and the remaining six institutions were 

           each the subject of single reports. 



18.43      Five (5) witnesses reported that food was inadequate and insufficient, three of whom described 

           being constantly hungry or ‘starving’. 



                  You got bread and dripping. You could not eat it, but it was left there and after 3 days of 

                 no food you’d eat it. 



           4 Section 1(1)(c) as amended by section 3 of the 2005 Act. 



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18.44      Three (3) witnesses stated that their health was neglected. One witness reported that when he 

           was ill his requests for medical attention were ignored and he subsequently required emergency 

           surgery. Two (2) female witnesses reported neglect of other aspects of their healthcare, 

           including no treatment for injuries and burns. 



18.45      Four (4) female witnesses reported that their education, social development and emotional well- 

           being were neglected as they were constantly forced to work without pay for long hours, with 

           limited time for education or recreation. The lack of safety, adequate food and a supportive 

           educational environment was frequently commented by witnesses. The following witness 

           accounts refer to areas of neglect already mentioned: 



                  They called it education, you learned Irish and religion, but none of us could pick it up. 

                  There you were, standing up by the wall and you’d get battered again. How could you 

                  learn? It was the house of horrors, everyone screaming at night, how can you learn? 

                  You were terrified, absolutely terrified. You were “a dope” and “a dunce” and ... (they 

                  said)... your mother was no good. ... Then you would go up to the convent and you 

                  would be washing their pots, scrubbing the floors. It was like manna there, ...(they 

                  had)... the best of everything, their food, ... and you would be starving. I got ...(ill).... I 

                  was locked in a room for 3 days. She ...(religious Sister)... would throw you food on the 

                  floor like you were a dog... 



                                                                     • 



                  The first day I was shown the laundry and the next day I was put in it.... I did starching, I 

                  did priests’ cloaks, you know the long white things they wear? I did collars, you had to 

                  keep ironing them until they become real stiff. There was a little wooden thing you could 

                  stand on.... There was a little bit of relief that you got a night’s sleep ... but you knew it 

                  was wrong that I wasn’t going to school. 



18.46      Two (2) male witness reports in relation to one institution described a bleak atmosphere where 

           there was no daily routine. They commented that there was no structure, education or activity 

           programme for residents who were generally unsupervised for long periods. They reported being 

           abused by both staff and co-residents due to the lack of supervision by the Resident Manager. 



18.47      Witnesses reported that the transition to independent living was difficult due to the isolation from 

           the outside world and lack of preparation for discharge. Four (4) witnesses stated that they were 

           provided with no life skills and no aftercare on leaving the residential institution. A number 

           described being vulnerable to further abuse in circumstances where they had no support, they 

           were confused and unsettled in work and in their accommodation. Witnesses also gave 

           accounts of being neglected and abandoned in some instances by both their family and the 

           institution. 



           Emotional abuse 



                 Any other act or omission towards the child which results, or could reasonably be 

                  expected to result, in serious impairment of the physical or mental health or 

                  development of the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behaviour or welfare.5 



18.48      This section describes witness evidence of abuse by emotional deprivation, exposure to 

           constant fear and a lack of safety and protection. Emotional abuse refers to both actions and 

           inactions by religious and lay staff who had responsibility for the care and safety of residents 

           and was described as constant and pervasive. Witnesses believed this abuse contributed to 

           difficulties in their social, emotional and physical functioning at the time and was identified by 

           them as negatively affecting their psychological well-being at the time and in their later life. 



           5 Section 1(1)(d) as amended by section 3 the 2005 Act. 



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          Description of emotional abuse 



18.49     The emotional abuse reported by 13 witnesses, four male and nine female, included deprivation 

          of contact with a child and other family members, loss of personal identity, social isolation, 

          constant fear, deprivation of liberty, public humiliation, loss of affection and secure relationships. 

          The Committee heard evidence of verbal abuse including ridicule, public criticism and 

          denigration. 



18.50     Ten (10) institutions were the subject of 14 reports of emotional abuse by 13 witnesses, as 

          follows: 



                 •    Three (3) institutions were collectively the subject of seven reports. 

                 •    Seven (7) institutions were each the subject of single reports. 



          Public humiliation and personal denigration 



18.51     Ten (10) witnesses, three male and seven female, reported that they were emotionally abused 

          by being publicly humiliated and/or demeaned in the following manner: by removal of items of 

          clothing in public signifying ‘disgrace’, having to make public confessions, and being ridiculed in 

          public for bedwetting. ‘There would be a big placard stuck on your back “wet the bed” stuck on 

          it, and there would be a placard out in the yard, a prison yard, and your name would be stuck 

          on that.’ 



18.52     A witness reported that she was ridiculed and shamed for three days as a punishment for 

          breaking crockery. Others described public ridicule for breaking the rule of silence. Another 

          witness described having to make a public Confession each month in front of his peers as 

          punishment for disrupting a class and a female witness gave the following account of her 

          humiliation: 



                Down in the laundry you slaved all day. Most of the day was strict silence.... ...Sr X... 

                would sit on the throne and God help you if you broke your silence. She would report 

                you to Mth ...Y... and you would have to stand when you went in for your food, your 

                chair was taken away and you ate off the floor.... After 3 days you would have to kneel 

                in front of Mth ...Y... and you would have to say these words, I will never forget them: “I 

                beg almighty God’s pardon, Our Lady’s pardon. Pardon, my companions, pardon for the 

                bad example I have shown”. I would then take a bow and ask her could I have my seat 

                back. 



18.53     Both male and female witnesses commented on the difficulties they experienced when they 

          were leaving the institutions. A male witness stated that there was ‘a label of shame’ attached to 

          those leaving Novitiates and that the remaining residents were told that those who left had their 

          ‘lives destructed’ and subsequently lived in poverty. 



          Fear 



18.54     Nine (9) witnesses were constantly fearful in anticipation of episodes of further abuse. Three (3) 

          male witnesses from one institution commented that they were vigilant in an environment of 

          threat that was unpredictable and disorganised, where they felt trapped and powerless. 



                It was a big ... (building) ....There was one big room with nothing in it at the time, there 

                was nothing for the lads.. The ...lay authority figure... wielded the baton, he would say 

                “tell me who done it or yous are all getting it”.... It was bleak, no pictures, no TV, 

                nothing. He got me with a bunch of keys and he paralyzed me ...distressed... he got me 

                there ...(demonstrated being punched)... with the bunch of keys.... I later got lashed, he 

                beat me all over... (on the)...legs, back. 



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18.55     The fear of being sent to a more severe environment as punishment was a constant threat for a 

          number of witnesses who had previously been transferred and for others who were aware such 

          transfers were possible. 



                It was clear you were there for the rest of your life. The problem was there was a fear 

                hanging over you because if you went to a Sister to ask for a job outside you could get 

                sent to a worse place. There was a worse place ... that was known about... 



18.56     One witness also described having to care for babies, including a terminally ill infant, without 

          support, supervision or training. She regarded these expectations as abusive. 



          Loss of liberty and identity 



18.57     Six (6) female witnesses who were placed in residential laundries reported that the loss of 

          liberty, social isolation and the deprivation of identity had a traumatic impact on them. 

          Friendships were discouraged or forbidden, communication was severely limited by the rule of 

          silence and doors were constantly locked. Two (2) witnesses stated that restrictions on their 

          liberty contributed to a feeling of being treated like a prisoner. They described their punishment 

          for breaking the rule of silence as having their head shaved and being made to take meals 

          separately from their peers. 



                When I got there they... (religious staff)... took all your clothes off ...crying.... Cut all your 

                hair off and bandaged you ... (breasts)... up so that you wouldn’t look like a girl, 

                because your body was sin and belonged to the devil. 



                                                               • 



                I was locked up in the...laundry, 6 years I was there. I was told I wasn’t capable of 

                holding down a job. I was put in the middle of older and middle aged women, I cried for 

                weeks and weeks on end, I was a nobody...I was 16.... I was locked away, working 6 

                days a week in the laundry and in the kitchen on Sunday.... I was never beaten there or 

                name- called.... It was like a prison, the very same as a prison, I done nothing... 

                (wrong)... 



18.58     Two (2) female witnesses commented that when they were admitted to different institutions at 

          15 years of age they were ‘given’ a name and that their own name was no longer used. 



                On the day of admission ... the nun said to me “from today on your name is ...X... (not 

                own name)... don’t tell anyone where you came from or who you are”. 



18.59     One witness reported that, having been observed talking with boys, she was not allowed out of 

          the institution for two years except under supervision to attend healthcare appointments. 



          Loss of affection and attachment 



18.60     The lack of affection and opportunity for attachment was reported by six witnesses who 

          commented on living a suppressed life without adequate and safe care, closeness or 

          demonstration of affection. Witnesses reported feeling disconnected from their family and in 

          some instances were forbidden to establish friendships with co-residents. The lack of positive 

          regard or words of approval was frequently commented on. 



18.61     Three (3) female witnesses reported that many of their older co-residents who had given birth 

          were constantly denigrated. The ‘constant warning against men’ and the loss of opportunity for 

          age-appropriate social development had a negative impact on their ability to establish 

          relationships later. 



          CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            383 


----------------------- Page 1730-----------------------

          Deprivation of family contact 



18.62     Eight (8) witnesses reported being deprived of contact with their families or relatives. Four (4) 

          male witnesses stated that when they were in Novitiates they were not allowed contact with their 

          own family members. The deprivation extended to a restriction on mail and the exclusion of their 

          parents from any involvement in decisions regarding their health, welfare or education. A 

          witness commented that he was ‘firmly dissuaded from an ongoing relationship with my parents’. 

          Another male witness commented that it was forbidden to have pens and paper and another 

          remarked that contact with parents was referred to as ‘scandalous’. Others described the 

          restrictions placed on communication: 



                Your letters were read... (by religious staff)... going out and coming in....One time I 

                wrote a letter ...(saying) ... “I have a very bad headache today” ... I got the letter 

                back...(and was told by religious staff)... “don’t be bothering your mother”.... It was fierce 

                unhappiness, you couldn’t tell anyone...The pressure not to leave was fierce heavy... 



                                                             • 



                Once a month you would be made write a letter. They would be standing over you, 

                everyone wrote the same, you couldn’t tell ... (what was happening).... You were in 

                there and under them and that was it, your family wasn’t let near you.... 



18.63     A female witness reported that her child, who had been in the same institution with her as an 

          infant was later placed in foster care. The witness stated that she was not consulted about the 

          placement and that the arrangements were made without her consent or knowledge. 



          Knowledge of abuse 



18.64     The pervasive and public nature of abuse in some institutions, the fact that it was on occasion 

          administered by more than one person raised awareness among staff and residents. Witnesses 

          believed that the structure of the work and the daily routine of some institutions were known to 

          many, both internally and externally. Witnesses gave accounts of being verbally abused 

          themselves in front of others and of observing others being humiliated, threatened and 

          physically punished. Witnesses also gave accounts of disclosing the abuse they experienced 

          both within and outside the institutions. The investigation and response to disclosures of abuse 

          varied. 



18.65     One witness reported that co-residents were aware of his abuse and intervened to stop a lay 

          staff member physically assault him. Two (2) witnesses, who were abused by more than one 

          person simultaneously, believed that the lay Resident Manager instigated staff and residents to 

          abuse co-residents physically. 



          Disclosure of abuse and outcome 



18.66     Nine (9) witnesses, three male and six female, reported that they disclosed the abuse both 

          within and outside the institution. Three (3) female witnesses reported telling family members, 

          others told co-residents. Two (2) female witnesses were punished by staff when they spoke 

          about sexual and physical abuse. Another witness stated that she was believed and removed 

          from the institution when she informed a family member of her abuse. A female witness reported 

          that she was physically abused and threatened by a religious Sister in the presence of her 

          mother as she attempted to talk about what happened to her: 



                I said I will have to tell her ... (witness’s mother)... about me not getting educated, that’s 

                when I got a few little thumps. She ... (religious Sister)... punched me into the stomach 

                first, and stamped on my toes and said “don’t tell your mother you are not getting 

                education, your night classes are starting soon”. I wanted to be able to read and write ... 



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                 (Witness reported receiving no further education).... She says “if you say anything to 

                 your mother your life will be made unbearable”.... I was 10 ... (years old).... 



18.67      Four (4) witnesses reported that their disclosures initially led to further punishment and 

           thereafter in three instances it also led to some protective action. Two (2) witnesses were 

           transferred and protected by religious staff members. In one instance the witness believed a 

           report was made to external authorities. 



18.68      Two (2) male witnesses gave accounts of being raped in circumstances of disclosure. One 

           witness described confiding in a religious Superior that he was sexually abused prior to entering 

           the Novitiate, he reported that he was subsequently raped by this Brother. Another witness 

           stated that he was sexually assaulted by a Resident Manager who was investigating a prior 

           physical assault by another staff member: 



                 He ... (lay Resident Manager)... took me into another room and asked me what was 

                 going on ... (inquiring about physical assault by other staff).... I was roaring and crying. 

                 All of a sudden he slipped his hand down the back of me trousers ...witness described 

                 digital penetration.... He hurt me and after that I was bleeding. He hurt me he did, I 

                 didn’t know what was going on. It was the man in charge who done that.... 



18.69      A witness reported that she was not believed and no action was taken when she told an 

           external professional that she was deprived of her freedom and age-appropriate socialisation in 

           the institution. 



           Positive experiences 



18.70      Fifteen (15) witnesses reported that aspects of their experiences in these out-of-home 

           placements were positive, and they had some good memories of their time in institutional care. 

           Five (5) witnesses reported that the general routine including educational, recreational and 

           social activities was positive and enjoyable. 



18.71      Two (2) witnesses reported that kind nuns supported them, provided occasional treats, and 

           facilitated excursions outside the institutions. Two (2) male witnesses commented that, 

           notwithstanding the sexual abuse they experienced, they also had positive encounters with their 

           abusers. Other witnesses valued the opportunity for friendships with co-residents while in the 

           institutions. 



18.72      Many witnesses reported that visits from their parents and contact with family were valuable and 

           sustained them while they were in the institutions. Others commented that any contact with the 

           outside world was appreciated. 



18.73      Four (4) witnesses reported that the institutions provided them with respite and protection from 

           the physical or sexual abuse they had experienced prior to their admission while in the care of 

           their families. 



           Current circumstances 



18.74      The Act enabled the Committee to hear both evidence of child abuse and the continuing effects 

           on those who suffered abuse. In the course of their hearings witnesses provided information 

           about their social circumstances, relationships, and the enduring effects of their abusive 

           experiences on their psychological, emotional and physical health. This section contains some 

           unavoidable overlap with the details of 13 witnesses who also reported abuse in other 

           institutions. 



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18.75      Ten (10) witnesses reported that they returned to their family home when they left the residential 

           facility. A number of the witnesses described difficulties reintegrating with their family and left 

           home within a short period. Four (4) of the 10 witnesses stated that they were sexually or 

           physically abused by family members when they returned home. 



18.76      Two (2) witnesses gave accounts of being placed in work situations by religious staff and seven 

           others were transferred to Industrial or Reformatory Schools or residential laundries. Others 

           described periods of homelessness and early involvement in criminal activity on leaving the 

           institution. 



           Relationships 



18.77      Eighteen (18) witnesses reported having difficulties establishing stable adult relationships. They 

           described particular difficulties in relation to trust, intimacy and safe partnerships that were free 

           of violence. 



                  I used to be roaring and bawling after I married...it was the first bit of love I was ever 

                 shown in my life. I do try to be with people and get in contact with them, but something 

                 gets in the way, I can’t do it... 



18.78      Many witnesses gave accounts of ambivalent, unstable and disrupted relationships 

           characterised by conflict, abuse and unhappiness. Six (6) witnesses gave accounts of marital 

           violence, three of whom reported having histories of criminal convictions. Eleven (11) witnesses 

           reported that they were divorced or had separated from their original partner or spouse and a 

           number of those witnesses were in new relationships at the time of their hearing. Five (5) 

           witnesses reported a happy or stable marriage lasting many years, or a happy second 

           partnership. 



           Parenting 



18.79      Nineteen (19) witnesses reported having children of their own. A number of witnesses 

           commented that relationships with their children who were born later in the witnesses’ lives were 

           less conflicted as they had achieved a greater degree of stability in their lives over the years. 

           Many witnesses who reported having their own children described variable parenting 

           relationships over different stages of their children’s development. 



                  I did the best with what I had, which wasn’t a whole lot ...I feel guilty and I will do till the 

                 day I die...It was partly my fault for the kids turning out that way, but I had no role model 

                 as a mother I knew no better.... She...(daughter)... blames me for everything that went 

                  wrong in her life, she says I was never there for her....The poor kids missed out on so 

                 much, I did not know how to hug or kiss or cuddle them... 



18.80      Seven (7) witnesses described having difficulties, including being unable to show affection, 

           being harsh, and at times abusive when their children were young. These difficulties were said 

           to have contributed to the subsequent loss of contact with children. Four (4) witnesses reported 

           that they were not involved in rearing their own children. Two (2) of these witnesses had 

           children placed for adoption and two others had children who were reared in out-of-home care. 



18.81      Five (5) witnesses reported enjoying stable and happy relationships with their children. 



18.82      Four (4) witnesses reported that their children had difficulties related to alcohol or drug 

           addiction, and two others stated that their children were ‘in and out’ of prison. 



                  They had it terrible with me. One of them is a pure junkie and the other has a problem 

                  with the drink, I think he has HIV. His children are in care. I never told them any of me 



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                 problems. She ...(his spouse)... used to hide the kids when I’d come in with the drink, I’d 

                  be roaring and shouting. 



           Occupational and employment status 



18.83      At the time of their hearing most witnesses were or had been employed for a substantial period 

           of their lives. Table 115 illustrates the employment status of witnesses at the time of their 

           hearing: 



                 Table 115: Witnesses’ Employment Status at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                     Residential Laundries, Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                       Employment status                         Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Employed                                                3                       3                      6 

            Retired                                                 0                       3                      3 

            Disability income                                       2                       2                      4 

            Unemployed                                              4                       1                      5 

            Self-employed                                           2                       1                      3 

            Working at home                                         1                       3                      4 

            Total                                                  12                      13                     25 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.84      Four (4) of the witnesses who were unemployed described a history of alcohol/drug abuse 

           and/or reported that they had served a period in prison. Others reported that they had periods of 

           employment but were unable to settle, had difficulties with authority in the workplace or with 

           peers, and as a result they changed jobs frequently. A number of witnesses reported that they 

           had been successful in their own businesses where they valued their autonomy and had control 

           over their work situation. Others sought work where they were isolated and did not have to mix 

           with colleagues:  ‘It was after all the staff left, I had a cleaning job everyone was gone and I was 

           on my own, it suited me that way, I didn’t mix.’ 



18.85      The following table illustrates witnesses’ occupational status6  at the time of their hearing: 



                 Table 116: Witnesses’ Occupational Status at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                     Residential Laundries, Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                      Occupational status                        Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Professional                                            0                       1                      1 

            Non-manual                                              3                       2                      5 

            Semi-skilled                                            1                       1                      2 

            Unskilled                                               5                       9                     14 

            Managerial                                              2                       0                      2 

            Skilled manual                                          1                       0                      1 

            Total                                                  12                      13                     25 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.86      More than half the witnesses were categorised as unskilled, a number of them reported that 

           they had received an inadequate education and that their employment opportunities were 

           limited. Nine (9) witnesses reported that they were still working at the time of their hearing. 



           6 The categorisation is based on Census 2002, Volume 6 Occupations, Appendix 2, Definitions – Labour Force. In two- 



             parent households the father’s occupation was recorded and in other instances the occupational status of the sole 

             parent was recorded, in so far as it was known. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                     387 


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           Accommodation 



18.87      The majority of witnesses reported having stable housing arrangements, including more than 

           half who owned their own homes. The following table outlines witnesses’ accommodation type 

           reported by them at the time of their hearing: 



                  Table 117: Accommodation of Witnesses at Time of Hearing – Male and Female 

                     Residential Laundries, Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                        Accommodation                          Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Owner Occupiers                                       5                      9                     14 

            Local authority/council housing                       1                      2                      3 

            Private rented accommodation                          1                      0                      1 

            Institution                                           1                      0                      1 

            With friends                                          1                      0                      1 

            Unavailable                                           3                      2                      5 

            Total                                                12                     13                     25 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.88      Four (4) witnesses reported that they had periods of homelessness or had spent periods of time 

           in transient accommodation. 



           Health 



18.89      Witnesses provided information about their general health and well-being either directly or in the 

           context of describing other aspects of their lives in the course of their hearing. For the purpose 

           of writing this Report the Committee categorised the witnesses’ physical and mental health 

           status as good, reasonable or poor based on their past and current health history provided by 

           them at their hearing. 



18.90      The following table describes the current status of witnesses’ physical health: 



               Table 118: Current Physical Health Status – Male and Female Residential Laundries, 

                                   Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                    Physical health status                     Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Good                                                  6                      5                     11 

            Reasonable                                            4                      4                      8 

            Poor                                                  1                      4                      5 

            No record                                             1                      0                      1 

            Total                                                12                     13                     25 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.91      Witnesses whose health was categorised as good described a range of arthritic, bronchial or 

           vascular conditions that were not considered by them to be debilitating. Those witnesses who 

           described reasonable physical health reported having conditions associated with arthritis, 

           circulation and back pain. Five (5) witnesses who described poor physical health reported 

           histories of hypertension and digestive disorders that had a significant impact on their day-to- 

           day lives. 



                 I got lots of complications nervous tummy, that’s tension. I’m on tablets for blood 

                 pressure and the tension... 



18.92      Witnesses described considerable mental health difficulties that in many instances continued to 

           affect their everyday lives. The following table provides an overview of the mental health status 

           described by witnesses: 



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                Table 119: Current Mental Health Status – Male and Female Residential Laundries, 

                                   Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                      Mental health status                     Males                 Females            Total witnesses 



            Good                                                  1                      3                      4 

            Reasonable                                            6                      4                     10 

            Poor                                                  5                      6                     11 

            Total                                                12                     13                     25 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



18.93      Four (4) witnesses who described good mental health reported that their early adult lives were 

           marked by ‘turmoil’, including unplanned pregnancies, suicide attempts, and episodes of 

           depression. Those who said they were now living more fulfilled and independent lives stated 

           that among the factors that had contributed to their recovery were receiving counselling, hearing 

           apologies issued by their abusers and having their abuse acknowledged. 



18.94      The witnesses whose mental health was categorised by the Committee as reasonable based on 

           the information provided reported suffering occasionally with anxiety, depression and problems 

           related to alcohol abuse. Witnesses also described feelings of sadness and resentment about 

           past abuse that at times led to tearfulness. Many witnesses reported that these concerns 

           continued to negatively effect their lives notwithstanding their attempts to suppress painful 

           memories. 



18.95      The 11 witnesses whose mental health was categorised as poor reported a history of 

           depression, repeated suicide attempts, alcohol abuse and repeated hospital admissions. They 

           described high levels of anxiety, sleep disturbance, ongoing suicidal thoughts and attempts. Half 

           of those witnesses reported requiring continued medication. Other aspects of mental health 

           difficulties described were feelings of paranoia, volatility and at times feeling ‘tortured’ with 

           flashbacks. The witnesses reported that their experiences of childhood abuse continued to affect 

           their lives, contributing to trauma and ill health that impacted on their family and work 

           relationships. 



                 I was very ill, I was hospitalised...I would be very edgy...the doctor asked me a few 

                 questions. He recommended me to go to see the psychiatric unit.... I have been 

                 attending counselling since, I am on medication... 



18.96      More that half the witnesses who reported abuse in residential work and other settings reported 

           episodes of self-harm and suicidal thoughts; six had attempted to take their own lives. 



           Effects on adult life 



18.97      Nineteen (19) witnesses described ongoing distress and difficulty coping with their personal, 

           family and work lives. They reported that they continued to suffer with a range of problems 

           associated with the trauma of their abuse. One female witness gave an account of a recurring 

           nightmare where she ‘is locked there for life’; her previous experience of being forced to stay in 

           a closed institution was described as having had an enduring effect on her adult life. 



18.98      The following table illustrates the effects on their lives described by 12 male and 13 female 

           witnesses. They are not mutually exclusive and were not prioritised by witnesses. 



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               Table 120: Reported Effects on Adult Life – Male and Female Residential Laundries, 

                                    Novitiates, Hostels and Other Out-of-home Settings 



                               Male witnesses                                          Female witnesses 



                      Effects on adult life*              Number               Effects on Adult Life*              Number 

                                                             of                                                       of 

                                                          reports                                                  reports 



            Counselling required                              9       Lack of trust                                    9 



            Alcohol abuse                                     8       Mood instability                                 8 



            Suicidal feelings or attempt                      8       Suicidal feelings or attempts                    8 



            Lack of trust                                     7       Counselling required                             7 



            Aggressive behaviour – physical                   6       Nightmares                                       7 



            Angry                                             6      Angry                                             6 



            Loner                                             6      Tearfulness                                       6 



            Mood instability                                  6       Feelings related to being a victim               6 



            Post-traumatic effect                             5       Lack of self-worth                               6 



            Aggressive behaviour –                            4      Abuse not easily forgotten                        5 

            psychological 



            Aggressive behaviour – verbal                     4      Anxious and fearful                               5 



            Feeling different from peers                      4       Feeling isolated                                 5 



            Gender and sexual identity problems               4       Loner                                            4 



            Nightmares                                        3       Unable to show feelings to children              4 



            Sexual problems                                   3       Unable to show feelings to partner               4 



            Sleep disturbance                                 3       Feeling different from peers                     3 



            Abuse not easily forgotten                        2       Sleep disturbance                                3 



            Anxious and fearful                               2       Unable to settle                                 3 



            Fear of failure                                   3      Withdrawal                                        3 



            Feeling isolated                                  3      Aggressive behaviour – verbal                     2 



            Feelings related to being a victim                2      Alcohol abuse                                     2 



            Feelings related to being powerless               2       Feelings related to being powerless              2 



            Issues of needing approval                        3       Issues of self-blame                             2 



            Over harsh with children                          2       Over harsh with children                         2 



            Unable to show feelings to partner                2       Overprotective of children                       2 



            Withdrawal                                        2      Aggressive behaviour –                            1 

                                                                      psychological 



            Tearfulness                                       1       Issues of needing approval                       1 



           Source: Confidential Committee of CICA, 2009 



           *Witnesses could report more than one effect 



18.99      The Committee heard accounts from many witnesses of difficulties settling in employment or 

           relationships following their discharge, which in many instances continued through their later 

           adult lives. They described frequent movement between Ireland and the UK, life-long isolation 

           and loss of family contact. 



                  When I came out I was like a wild cat, I did not know what way to turn.... My life is 

                 destroyed. I never go outside the door... 



                                                                    • 



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                I used to go down with the drink, I kept moving jobs.... All my life I blamed myself, I had 

                the guilt of it....When I realised I was a victim, in counselling, in the last few years up to 

                that I blamed myself....I blame myself for not being that friendly with any of my brothers 

                and sisters.... 



                                                                • 



                Once you have been there ... (abused)... you never get out of their sights. I never come 

                back since the day I left this country.... 



18.100    Witnesses gave accounts of physical or verbal aggression that affected their relationships. 

          Others described enduring feelings of anger and reported that their abusive experiences are not 

          easily forgotten. 



                 When I drank no one could ever hurt me, no one could physically hurt me again. I drank 

                like a fish.... I’d get terrible flashbacks ... (to episodes of sexual abuse with violence)... 

                and then I’d get panic attacks. I had no respect for myself.... I had numerous 

                hospitalizations ...described attempts at self-harm.... I ended up in the ... (homeless 

                shelter).... There’s a child ... that I haven't seen for ... years. There was no point 

                because of the drink. 



18.101    All male witnesses who reported abuse in Novitiates stated that they left the religious 

          Communities as young adults. They gave accounts of feeling disconnected for many years and 

          had difficulties settling in work, relationships and accommodation. Three (3) witnesses described 

          experiencing shame as having ‘let the whole family down’ or that they had brought shame on 

          both themselves and their families. One male witness commented that he found it difficult to live 

          in Ireland with the label of having failed to complete religious training. Witnesses reported that 

          treatment for depression, alcohol abuse, and issues related to trust and anger contributed to 

          more settled lives and relationships in later years. 



18.102    Fifteen (15) witnesses reported that they required counselling and therapy currently or in the 

          past, a number of whom described the benefit for themselves and for their families. 



                My counsellor, she was a life-saver really. She understands, she was very conscious of 

                the fact of the effect it could have on me. She is the one person I don’t feel ashamed 

                with, I felt ashamed most of my life, I felt bad most of my life. I’m working hard at not 

                feeling bad again.... When I walk up the street I’m still very much on the edge.... 



18.103    Six (6) male witnesses reported that they had histories of involvement in criminal activity and 

          associated violence, four of whom gave accounts of having served custodial sentences. These 

          witnesses each reported being abused in more than one out-of-home facility as children. 



                ...Thirty five years ago this happened to me.... I know I’m a decent person or I was a 

                decent person until I was 14 years of age, I didn’t know anything. I just feel bitter and 

                resentful, why I couldn’t have a better life, a better marriage and do the things a father 

                wants to be? I’ll never be their father because I’m not around.... It carried with me all my 

                life, the violence, which I’m not proud of... 



18.104    Difficulties in work situations, overcoming poor self-image, lack of self-worth and educational 

          disadvantage was commonly reported. Female witnesses described being anxious, fearful, 

          lacking trust and having episodes of tearfulness. A number of those who had experienced abuse 

          in laundries and other residential facilities described effects such as claustrophobia, sleep 

          disturbance, enduring anger, and shame related to having been ‘inside an institution’. Other 

          witnesses described feelings of guilt and self-blame, which in some instances led them to feel 

          that they were responsible for the sexual and other abuse they had suffered: 



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----------------------- Page 1738-----------------------

                I couldn’t have a man who showed friendship to me. Every time you had a good job I 

                moved....There was a man who ... (offered assistance with employment)...I couldn’t trust 

                him. That happened a lot of times in my life... 



18.105    A number of witnesses commented to the Committee that the effects of their childhood abuse 

          ‘are still felt’, and as one witness reported; ‘for several years I had nightmares of being drawn 

          back to the Institution’. Others remarked that coping with memories of childhood abuse is a 

          constant struggle: 



                The older I get I find these years haunt me, I will carry it to the grave with me.... The 

                nuns made you feel as if you’re a nobody and you never have any roots.... As the years 

               go by you try not to be spiteful, I try not to be bitter. ... I have bad days and then I have 

               good days. 



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          Chapter 19 



          Concluding comments 



19.01     This volume of the Commission’s report presents the compiled oral evidence of over 1,000 

          witnesses who attended the Confidential Committee to report their childhood experiences of 

          abuse in Irish institutions between 1914 and 2000. In most instances the reported abuse 

          occurred while witnesses were in the care of the State. They reported being physically, sexually 

          and emotionally abused and neglected by religious and lay adults who had responsibility for 

          their care, and by others in the absence of adequate care and supervision. 



19.02     The following chapter highlights aspects of the recounted evidence of childhood abuse 

          including; the circumstances in which it occurred, the level of awareness of that abuse in society 

          at the time, the function of the reported abusers in the childrens’ lives and the intergenerational 

          consequences of the abuse witnesses experienced. Proposals for change in order to better 

          protect children in the future are summarised. 



19.03     Witnesses gave many reasons for attending to give evidence to the Confidential Committee, 

          predominantly a wish to contribute to an official account of the abuse they experienced as 

          children in out-of-home care. Most expressed the hope that a formal record of their experiences 

          would contribute to a greater understanding of the circumstances in which such abuse occurs 

          and would assist in the future protection of children. 



19.04     The Committee heard oral evidence of abuse in 216 different settings including; Industrial and 

          Reformatory Schools, primary and second-level schools, Children’s Homes, hospitals, foster 

          care, schools and residential facilities for children with special needs, hostels, residential group 

          homes, novitiates, laundries and other settings where children were placed away from their 

          families. There were multiple reports of abuse in relation to many of the identified settings. 



19.05     Witnesses who reported abuse to the Confidential Committee were most often in out-of-home 

          care placements from an early age. Most witnesses were admitted to such care from parental or 

          extended family homes, generally for reasons associated with their social circumstances, 

          including; poverty, parental illness and death, marital separation, non-marital birth, special 

          needs, unemployment and lack of care and protection. With the exception of witnesses who 

          reported being abused in primary and second-level schools the majority of witnesses to the 

          Committee were deprived of contact with their parents, extended family or others to whom they 

          could confide while in the schools, institutions or settings where the reported abuse occurred. 



19.06     More than 90% of all witnesses reported being physically abused while in out-of-home care. In 

          addition to being hit and beaten witnesses described other forms of abuse such as being 

          flogged, kicked and otherwise physically assaulted, scalded, burned and held under water. 

          Witnesses reported being beaten publicly in front of other staff, residents, patients and pupils as 

          well as in private. Many reports were heard of witnesses being beaten naked and partially 

          clothed, both in private and in front of others. They reported being beaten and physically 

          assaulted with implements that were for the specific purpose of inflicting pain and punishment, 

          such as leather straps, bamboo canes and wooden sticks. In addition, witnesses gave evidence 



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----------------------- Page 1740-----------------------

          that everyday implements were routinely utilised for the purpose of striking children. Witnesses 

          described pervasive abuse as part of their daily lives. 



19.07     Physical abuse was reported to have been perpetrated by religious and lay staff, older residents 

          and others who were associated with the schools and institutions. Detailed accounts were heard 

          of injuries received as a result of physical assaults perpetrated by staff in the institutions, 

          including broken bones, head injuries and lacerations that required medical treatment and 

          hospitalisation. Witnesses consistently commented on the fact that nobody spoke to them or 

          enquired about the cause of their injuries and that efforts were made to conceal injuries. 



19.08     Sexual abuse was reported by more than half of all the witnesses. Acute and chronic contact 

          and non-contact sexual abuse was reported, including vaginal and anal rape, molestation and 

          voyeurism, in both isolated assaults and on a regular basis over long periods of time. The secret 

          nature of sexual abuse was repeatedly emphasised as facilitating its occurrence. Both 

          residential and day settings provided opportunities for perpetrators of sexual abuse to assault 

          children in the absence of adequate supervision and through the failure of individuals and 

          organisations to recognise potential risk to children. 



19.09     Witnesses reported being sexually abused by religious and lay staff in the schools and 

          institutions and by co-residents and others, including professionals, both within and external to 

          the institutions. They also reported being sexually abused by members of the general public, 

          including volunteer workers, visitors, work placement employers, foster parents, and others who 

          had unsupervised contact with residents in the course of everyday activities. Sexual abuse was 

          reported to have occurred both within the institutions and when children were taken away for 

          excursions, holidays or to work for others. 



19.10     Disclosing sexual abuse generally provoked disbelief and further abuse. Witnesses who 

          disclosed sexual abuse were subjected to severe recrimination by those who had responsibility 

          for their care and protection. Female witnesses described, at times, being told they were 

          responsible for the sexual abuse they experienced, by both their abuser and those to whom 

          they disclosed abuse. 



19.11     Neglect was frequently described by witnesses in the context of physical, sexual and emotional 

          abuse. Neglect of a child’s care and welfare occurred both in the form of what was done to them 

          by those who were responsible for their care and what they failed to do to protect and nurture 

          them. Lack of adequate food, warmth, clothing, health care, hygiene and recreation are 

          indicators of neglect of the care of children. Failure to provide for their safety, education and 

          development are further indicators of neglect about which the Committee heard many reports, 

          and which had implications for health, employment, social and economic status in later life. 



19.12     Emotional abuse was also reported by witnesses in the form of lack of attachment and affection, 

          loss of identity, deprivation of family contact, humiliation, personal denigration, exposure to fear 

          and the threat of harm. Furthermore, many witnesses recalled the devastating emotional impact 

          and feeling of powerlessness associated with observing their co-residents, siblings or others 

          being abused. This trauma was acute for those who were forced to participate in such 

          incidents. 



19.13     Awareness of the abuse of children in schools and institutions was believed to exist within 

          society at both official and unofficial levels. Professionals, including Government Inspectors, 

          medical practitioners, and teachers had a role in relation to various aspects of children’s welfare 

          while they were in schools and institutions. Local people were employed in most of the 

          residential facilities as professional, care and ancillary staff. In addition, members of the public 

          had contact with children in out-of-home care in the course of providing services to the 



          394                                                     CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1741-----------------------

           institutions both at a formal and informal level. Witnesses commented that while many of those 

           people were aware that life for children in the schools and institutions was difficult they failed to 

           take action to protect them. 



19.14      Contemporary complaints were made to the Gardai, the Department of Education and others by 

                                                                         ´ 

           witnesses, their parents and relatives, generally in the aftermath of an injury, when visible marks 

           of a beating were observed or when a child who had run away was being returned to a 

           children’s home, reformatory or industrial school. Gardai were at times reported to request 

                                                                               ´ 

           leniency on the child’s behalf when they were returned, in the knowledge that absconders were 

           harshly treated. 



19.15      Children with intellectual, physical and sensory impairments and children who had no known 

           family contact were especially vulnerable in institutional settings. They described being 

           powerless against adults who abused them, especially when those adults were in positions of 

           authority and trust. Impaired mobility and communication deficits made it impossible to inform 

           others of their abuse or to resist it. Children who were unable to hear, see, speak, move or 

           adequately express themselves were at a complete disadvantage in environments that did not 

           recognise or facilitate their right to be heard. 



19.16      The enduring impact of childhood abuse was described by many witnesses who, while reporting 

           that as adults they enjoyed good relationships and successful careers, had learned to live with 

           their traumatic memories. Many other witnesses reported that their adult lives were blighted by 

           childhood memories of fear and abuse. They gave accounts of troubled relationships and loss of 

           contact with their siblings, extended families and with their own children. They also described 

           lives marked by poverty, social isolation, alcoholism, mental illness, sleep disturbance, 

           aggressive behaviour and self harm. 



19.17      Seventy percent (70%) of witnesses reported receiving no second-level education and, while 

           many witnesses reported having successful careers in business and professional fields, the 

           majority of witnesses heard by the Committee reported being in manual and unskilled work for 

           their entire working lives. 



19.18      Testimony provided by over 1,000 men and women who attended the Confidential Committee to 

           report their accounts of childhood abuse gave rise to the following proposals for consideration in 

           the Commission’s overall recommendations for the future: 



                   •    The promotion of a child’s health and well-being are dependent on their physical, 

                         emotional, educational and social needs being met. Children in out-of-home care 

                         require a comprehensive care plan to address those needs. 



                   •    An extra duty of care exists in relation to children and young people who are cared 

                         for in loco parentis. The history, patterns and risk factors in relation to the abuse of 

                         vulnerable children need to be acknowledged, understood and recorded. 



                   •    Children from a background of deprivation and poverty are at greater risk of abuse. 

                         Effective early intervention programmes which support and assist parents to maintain 

                         their children in safe environments minimise the risk of abuse. 



                   •    As physical abuse continues to be a commonly experienced form of child abuse, it is 

                         essential that education, training, and support services are availabel to assist those 

                         with responsibility for the care of children. The legality of physical abuse requires 

                         review. 



                   •    Fear, shame, guilt, and loyalty to family and carers militate against disclosing sexual 

                         abuse. Grooming and the predatory behaviour of sexual abusers combined with the 

                         secret and isolated nature of the abuse itself are common features of the sexual 

                         abuse of children, most notably in closed systems. 



           CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                     395 


----------------------- Page 1742-----------------------

       •    Failure to speak directly to children about what happened to them allowed abuse to 

            continue. In order to properly promote the safety and welfare of children and young 

            people services need to take considered account of the childs’ perspective and 

            enable their voices and wishes to be heard. 



       •    The need for a secure attachment and affectional bond with a consistent care-giver is 

            critical to the emotional well-being of a child. Institutional care and the associated 

            frequent changes of care-giver and multiple foster care and other placements fail to 

            meet this fundamental need. 



       •    Children need to know who they are, where they came from and the details 

            necessary to establishing their individual identity, such as their birth and health 

            records, photos of people close to them and of themselves at different stages of their 

            childhoods. 



       •    The absence of official records, information and documentation that validate identity 

            had a detrimental effect on the lives of many men and women who were reared in 

            out-of-home care. Contact with parents and extended family and their involvement in 

            planning and decision making regarding all aspects of children’s and young people’s 

            development is critical to their sense of belonging and identity. 



       •    Civil society has a responsibility to ensure the safety of children. Many people, 

            including extended family members, neighbours, staff in schools, hospitals and other 

            health services, had some awareness of the abuse of children in schools and 

            institutions in the past and failed to act to protect them. 



       •    Procedures to facilitate access to services with a statutory responsibility for the 

            protection of children are required. Raising public awareness regarding the reality of 

            child abuse and establishing clear procedures which enable children, staff and others 

            to make complaints and raise concerns about the welfare of children would assist in 

            the prevention of child abuse. 



       •    Policies that recognise the reality of child abuse are vital to ensure that disclosures of 

            harm and abuse by children and young people are not ignored. Procedures for inter- 

            agency cooperation, including clarification of roles and responsibilities, need 

            comprehensive review, continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure they remain 

            relevant and effective. 



       •    Children and young people with special needs may be particularly vulnerable due to 

            a disability and require the expertise of specifically trained staff to assist 

            communication and assess risk of abuse. Dedicated in-patient facilities for children 

            and young people with mental illness should be developed. 



       •    The duty of care for children and young people reliant on the care and protection of 

            the State extends beyond the time of discharge. Comprehensive aftercare services 

            that assist young people in the transition to independent living are vital. 



       •   All out-of-home placements for children and young people, whether in primary, 

            secondary or tertiary care, require regular inspection on a statutory basis to ensure 

            the proper duty of care is being fulfilled by those in charge. 



       •    Services where children and young people are cared for away from their families 

            require independent inspection and oversight to ensure that their needs are not 

            compromised. Witness evidence points to the fact that when services are not 

            independently inspected and monitored abuse occurs and continues. 



396                                                      CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1743-----------------------

Appendix 1 



                                            ———————— 



                                       ´                    ´   ´            ´             ´ 

         AN BILLE UM CHOIMISIUN CHUN DROCHUSAID LEANAI A FHIOSRU, 2000 

                   COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE BILL, 2000 



                                            ———————— 



                                   EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 



                                            ———————— 



General 



   The purpose of the Bill is to establish a commission to be known as the Commission to 

Inquire into Child Abuse. The Commission will have three primary functions. Firstly, to provide 

for people who suffered abuse in childhood in institutions a forum in which they can tell of that 

abuse. Secondly, to inquire into allegations of abuse and to determine its nature, the 

circumstances in which it occurred and its extent as well as establishing the extent to which 

institutions, management and regulatory authorities had responsibility for the abuse. Thirdly, to 

publish a report to the public. In its report the Commission may identify institutions in which 

abuse occurred, and the persons who committed it. It may also make findings as to the 

responsibility in respect of abuse of the management, supervisory and regulatory authorities and 

may identify persons who carried out, or failed to carry out, their functions. The report may also 

contain recommendations relating to the measures necessary to address the continuing effect of 

abuse on people who suffered it and recommendations relating to the prevention of child abuse 

in institutions. 



Provisions of the Bill 



   Section 1 defines the terms used in the Bill: 



“abuse” is given a broad definition and includes causing physical injury to a child; using a child 

for sexual gratification; failure to care for a child where this seriously affects a child's health, 

development, behaviour or welfare and any other act or failure to act which results in serious 

damage to the health, development, behaviour or welfare of a child; 



“child” is defined as a person who has not reached 18 years of age at the time the abuse was 

committed; 



“institution” means any place where a child is cared for other than in the family setting. It 

includes a school, an industrial school, a reformatory school, an orphanage, a hospital or a 

children's home; 



“relevant period” is defined in such a way as to allow flexibility to the Commission to decide 

what period its inquiries will cover. The definition specifically refers to the period from 1940 up to 

1999, but the Commission can investigate incidents of abuse before and indeed after this date if 

it so decides. 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                              397 


----------------------- Page 1744-----------------------

  The definitions section also provides in subsection (2) that references to abuse in institutions 

include abuse which occurred outside an institution to a child who was at the time resident there 

and which was assisted or contributed to in any way by a person connected with the institution. 



   Section 2 provides that the Minister for Education and Science will by order determine the day 

when the Commission is to be established. 



   Section 3 provides that the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse will be established on a 

day decided by the Minister for Education and Science. It will have corporate status with a 

separate legal identity. Subsection (3) specifically provides for the independence of the 

Commission, and its members, in the performance of their functions. Once the Minister is 

satisfied that the Commission has completed its task, he or she may by order dissolve it. This 

will not be done without consulting the Chairperson of the Commission. 



   Section 4 sets out the main functions of the Commission. These can be broadly divided into 

two main areas. Firstly, the Commission will give an opportunity for people who have suffered 

abuse in an institution to tell of that abuse. The other main function of the Commission will be 

investigative in nature. The Commission, through its Committees, will investigate the abuse of 

children in institutions; determine the causes, nature, circumstances and extent of the abuse; 

and determine the extent to which the institutions, their management, administration and 

regulation contributed to abuse. The Commission will also prepare and publish a report on its 

findings (for more details on the report see section 5). Investigations carried out by the 

Commission will be conducted in whatever way the Commission decides is most appropriate. 

Subsection (4) provides that the Government may confer additional powers on the Commission 

which are connected with the functions provided in the Bill. The purpose of this provision is to 

allow for some flexibility should the Commission find as it progresses in its work that it needs 

additional functions to carry out its mission effectively. 



   Subsection (6) of this section addresses the unique circumstances and difficulties associated 

with a commission inquiring into abuse of people in childhood. The Bill requires the Commission 

and its Committees to bear in mind the need of people who have suffered child abuse to tell 

others of that abuse, the difficulty they may experience in doing this and the possible benefits 

that may result in telling their story. The Commission is obliged to try to ensure that the 

atmosphere in which the telling of abuse occurs is one which is as sympathetic and informal as 

possible, given the rights of others and the requirements of justice. The Commission 

proceedings are also to be as informal as is possible in all the circumstances. 



   Section 5 provides that the Commission will publish a report to the general public within two 

years of its establishment setting out the result of its inquiries and its findings. In the report the 

Commission may make recommendations on how the effects of abuse on victims can be 

addressed and on measures to prevent abuse in institutions. If the Commission is satisfied that 

abuse of children occurred in a particular institution, it can name the institution concerned and 

the people responsible for the abuse. The report can also include findings in relation to the 

management, administration, operation and regulation of the institution and the people who 

exercised these functions. However, the report must not identify people who were abused or 

contain findings in individual cases of alleged abuse. Subsection (4) provides that in the case of 

findings based on findings of the Confidential Committee, the report must state that the 

evidence relating to such findings was not and could not be challenged and was not 

corroborated (unless it has been corroborated). These provisions arise from the fact that the 

Confidential Committee (see section 15) will receive evidence in total confidence from people 

who do not wish to have their allegations of abuse inquired into. The Commission may publish 

interim reports if this is necessary. 



   Section 6 provides that the Commission will be composed of a chairperson and a number of 

ordinary members. The Chairperson will be appointed by the Government. The ordinary 

members will also be appointed by the Government, following consultation with the Chairperson. 



398                                                      CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1745-----------------------

   Section 7 provides for arrangements for the holding of meetings and provides that the 

Commission itself will determine the manner in which it will conduct its procedures and whether 

meetings will be held in public or not. Subsection (4) provides for the making of a record of the 

Commission's proceedings and how the records of the Commission are to be dealt with after the 

Commission is dissolved. 



   Section 8 provides for the seal of the Commission. 



   Section 9 provides for the appointment and secondment of members of staff of the 

Commission. The Commission may appoint its own staff subject to the consent of the Minister 

for Education and Science and the Minister for Finance. In addition, the Minister for Education 

and Science and the Minister for Health and Children may second members of their staffs to 

assist the Commission. 



   Section 10 provides that there will be two committees established within the Commission — a 

Confidential Committee and an Investigation Committee. Each member of a Committee will be a 

member of the Commission and a person is prohibited from serving on both committees. It will 

be possible for a Committee to hold hearings outside the State. 



   Section 11 provides for the meetings and procedures of Committees. Meetings of the 

Confidential Committee will be held in private. Meetings of the Investigation Committee during 

which evidence is given about individual cases of alleged abuse will be held in private. Other 

meetings of the Investigation Committee will be held in public or in private as the Committee 

decides. The Committees will determine their own procedures. 



   Section 12 provides for the main functions of the Investigation Committee — to give victims of 

abuse an opportunity to tell their story; to investigate that abuse; to determine the nature of the 

abuse and why it happened; to determine the extent to which the institutions, and the way they 

were managed and regulated, contributed to the abuse and to report to the Commission as a 

whole. 



   Section 13 provides that the Investigation Committee will prepare a report on the results of its 

inquiries and present it to the Commission. If it is satisfied that abuse of children occurred in a 

particular institution, the Committee can include this in its report, and can name the institution 

and the people responsible for the abuse. The report can also include findings in relation to the 

management and regulation of the institution and as to the people responsible for these 

functions. The report will not contain findings on any particular case of alleged abuse. The 

Committee may make interim reports. 



   Section 14 provides for the Investigation Committee's powers. These include powers to 

compel witnesses to attend the Committee and to produce documents either in person or by 

sending them to the Committee; to make discovery of documents in a similar manner as arises 

in High Court proceedings and to give any other directions necessary for the carrying out of its 

inquiries. In exercising these powers the Committee shall have the powers, rights and privileges 

of the High Court. If a person fails to comply with a direction of the Committee, the Committee 

may apply to the High Court for an order directing the person to comply. A person who fails to 

comply with a direction of the Committee, who refuses to take the oath or refuses to answer a 

question or who otherwise acts in a way which if done before a court would be contempt of 

court will be guilty of a criminal offence and subject to the penalties set out in section 35. The 

Committee may examine witnesses on commission outside the State. A person who gives false 

evidence to the Committee will be guilty of an offence and will be liable to a penalty in the same 

way as a person who commits perjury before a court. 



   Section 15 provides for the functions of the Confidential Committee. Its primary purpose is to 

provide an opportunity for abuse victims who wish to tell of the abuse suffered by them but who 

do not wish to have that abuse inquired into. This Committee therefore is largely therapeutic in 

its functions and as a result it will make general findings only. 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                       399 


----------------------- Page 1746-----------------------

   Section 16 provides that the Confidential Committee will prepare a report setting out its 

general findings. The report must not identify people who were abused or contain findings in 

individual cases of alleged abuse. The report will be presented to the Commission. The 

Committee may make interim reports. 



   Section 17 provides that statements by members of the Commission or a person working for 

the Commission will enjoy absolute privilege. This applies to statements made since the 

establishment of the commission to inquire into child abuse established by a Government 

decision of 11 May, 1999. 



   Section 18 provides that a person who provides evidence to the Commission, an inquiry 

officer or to a person appointed by the Commission to interview witnesses outside the State will 

be covered by the same privileges and immunities as a witness before the High Court. 



   Section 19 provides that, a victim of abuse may decide to stop giving evidence to a 

Committee, decide not to give any evidence to any Committee or decide to change Committees. 

If a victim decides to change Committees, the evidence given will be disregarded other than in a 

prosecution for perjury or obstructing the Commission. 



   Section 20 provides that the Minister for Education and Science may draw up a scheme 

whereby witnesses at the Commission or a Committee may be paid reasonable expenses. 

Subsection (4) provides in particular for the paying of expenses relating to the discovery 

process. 



   Section 21 contains a number of provisions relating to the giving of evidence to the 

Commission or Committees. A person will not be entitled to refuse to answer a question or to 

refuse to hand over a document to the Investigation Committee on the ground that the answer 

or the document might incriminate him or her. On the other hand a statement or admission 

made before the Commission or a Committee, to a person taking evidence abroad, to an inquiry 

officer or in a document prepared for any of these bodies or people will not be admissible 

against the person making it or his or her employer. These provisions are aimed at encouraging 

maximum co-operation with the Commission's investigation functions. 



   Section 22 provides for the taking of evidence on oath. 



   Section 23 provides for the appointment of inquiry officers whose primary function will be to 

carry out preliminary inquiries with witnesses and potential witnesses before the Commission or 

the Committees. The purpose of this exercise is to assist the Commission and the Committees 

by establishing in advance the kind of evidence which witnesses propose to give and the areas 

where evidence of one person will be contested or agreed by others. The inquiry officers will 

operate on the basis of the consent of the witnesses concerned. In effect, if a witness refuses to 

co-operate, the Commission may rely on its compellability and other powers. 



   Section 24 enables the Commission to appoint advisers and researchers. 



   Section 25 empowers the Commission to seek the approval of the High Court for any act it 

proposes to carry out or on any matter relating to such an act. The purpose of this provision is 

to give legal certainty to the acts and decisions of the Commission and thereby avoid litigation. 

The Court may make whatever order or direction it considers appropriate. In general the Court 

is to give priority to such requests. 



   Section 26 provides that the High Court may order the disclosure of information to the 

Commission or the Investigation Committee where it considers this to be in the public interest, 

even if the disclosure is prohibited by law. The provision is an added guarantee that the 

Commission and Committee cannot be hampered in their investigations. 



   Section 27 relates to information provided to the Confidential Committee. Since this 

Committee will hear evidence of abuse only from people who do not wish to submit to the 

investigation process and whose evidence will not be challenged or inquired into, the section 

places a prohibition on any disclosure of information provided to the Committee. Subsections (2) 

and (3) provide the only exceptions to this general prohibition — where the disclosure arises in 

the course of the performance of a function under this Bill when enacted e.g. the making of a 

report under section 16; where disclosure is to a legal representative and is necessary in judicial 



400                                                      CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1747-----------------------

review proceedings against the Committee; to the Garda authorities where the person making 

the disclosure believes it is necessary in order to prevent a serious offence; to an appropriate 

person under the Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act, 1998 (usually a Garda or 

designated health board officer) if the person believes that the disclosure of the information is 

necessary to prevent, reduce or remove a substantial risk to life or to prevent the continuance of 

abuse of a child and to a court in judicial review proceedings involving the Committee and 

where the court so orders. Subsection (5) provides a further and continuing protection for the 

confidentiality of the Confidential Committee's proceedings by providing that the records of the 

Committee will not come within the provisions of the National Archives Act, 1986. 



   Section 28 provides for much less restriction on the disclosure of information to the 

Commission and the Investigation Committee than the restrictions in respect of the Confidential 

Committee. A person cannot be obliged by law to disclose information provided to the 

Commission or the Investigation Committee but a disclosure must be made to the Garda 

authorities where the person making the disclosure believes it is necessary in order to prevent a 

serious offence and to an appropriate person under the Protections for Persons Reporting Child 

Abuse Act, 1998 (usually a Garda or designated health board officer) if the person believes that 

the disclosure of the information is necessary to prevent, reduce or remove a substantial risk to 

life or to prevent the continuance of abuse of a child. 



   Section 29 makes it an offence to obstruct the Commission, a Committee or a person taking 

evidence abroad. 



   Section 30 imposes a duty on a person, who has documents in his or her possession or 

control which is relevant to the work of the Commission, to preserve the document until the 

Commission has completed its work and makes failure to preserve the document an offence. 



   Section 31 gives certain protection to the records of the Commission or the Committees from 

discovery in legal proceedings. An order for discovery shall not be made against the 

Commission or the Committees in proceedings to which they are not a party. In addition, where, 

upon the dissolution of the Commission, it places documents in the custody of a person, other 

than the original owners of the documents, a discovery order cannot be made against the 

custodian of the documents. Finally, subsection (3) ensures that the mere fact that the 

Commission is in possession of a document does not prevent discovery being made against the 

owner of the document. The document is deemed to be in the possession and control of the 

owner and the Commission is obliged to make it available to him or her. 



   Section 32 ensures that the Official Secrets Act, 1963, does not restrict the giving of evidence 

to the Commission or a Committee. 



   Section 33 gives an exemption from the Data Protection Act, 1988, for data in the possession 

of the Commission and a Committee. In the case of the Confidential Committee the exemption 

is permanent and extends to any data given into the custody of a person after the dissolution of 

the Commission. 



   Section 34 restricts the application of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, as regards 

records held by public bodies where access could prejudice the effectiveness of the 

Commission. In reaching an opinion on the extent to which prejudice could be caused or where 

the balance of public interest lay, the public body head must consult with the Chairperson of the 

Commission. Where records of the Confidential Committee are transferred to a public body for 

safekeeping on the dissolution of the Commission access shall not be given to them under the 

Act. 



   Section 35 sets out the penalties which are to be imposed in respect of offences set out in 

various sections of the Bill. 



   Section 36 is a standard provision relating to expenses which are to be met from public funds. 



   Section 37 provides for the short title of the Bill when enacted. 



An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaiochta, 

                                      ´ 

   Feabhra, 2000. 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                    401 


----------------------- Page 1748-----------------------

 402                                               CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1749-----------------------

Appendix 2 



                                           ———————— 



                                 ´                    ´  ´            ´             ´         ´ 

    AN BILLE UM CHOIMISIUN CHUN DROCHUSAID LEANAI A FHIOSRU (LEASU) 2005 

          COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE (AMENDMENT) BILL 2005 



                                           ———————— 



                                  EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 



                                           ———————— 



Introduction 



The purpose of this Bill is to give effect to the recommendations of the Report to the 

Government of the Review Group on the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, and the 

Report and subsequent recommendations of Mr Justice Ryan on the workings of the 

Commission. The amendments proposed in the Bill will better enable the Commission to 

complete a full inquiry into child abuse within a reasonable timeframe and at reduced cost. The 

Bill will also establish a statutory framework for the operation of an Education Fund for former 

residents of institutions and their families. Finally, the Bill will make a number of technical 

amendments to the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002. 



Provisions of the Bill 



                                                 PART 1 



                                        Preliminary and General 



   Section 1 sets out the short title of the Bill and that parts of it can be interpreted and cited in 

combination with the legislation it is amending. 



   Section 2 defines “Principal Act” in the Bill as the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 

2000. 



                                                 PART 2 



                                     Amendments of Principal Act 



   Section 3 amends certain definitions used in the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 

2000 (ie the Principal Act). The change to the definition of “abuse” is designed to allow the 

Commission to make a finding of abuse where it might be reasonable to assume that the acts or 

omissions concerned caused serious harm to the person. 



   Sections 27 and 28 of the Principal Act require the disclosure of information given to the 

Commission or its committees to the Gardai if the person is acting in good faith and reasonably 

                                                ´ 

believes that the disclosure is necessary in order to prevent a serious offence occurring. The 

new definition of “serious offence” will widen this obligation to prevent an offence carrying a 

sentence of at least 1 year's imprisonment instead of the current requirement for the offence to 

carry a 5 year prison term. 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                           403 


----------------------- Page 1750-----------------------

   Section 4 amends section 4 of the Principal Act by changing the functions of the Commission 

in a number of respects. It extends the functions to include a duty on the Commission to inquire 

into the manner in which children were placed in institutions and the circumstances in which 

they continued to be resident there. It also removes the requirement that it be satisfied that 

abuse occurred in order to determine the nature, causes and circumstances of abuse. This will 

remove the requirement for a two phase process in hearing evidence which would have led to 

unnecessary delays and costs in the Commission carrying out its functions. In effect, the section 

removes the obligation on the Investigation Committee to hear all complainants and gives it a 

discretion as to which witnesses it considers should be called to a full hearing to ensure that the 

Inquiry's functions are fulfilled. 



   Section 5 amends section 5 of the Principal Act by allowing the Commission to include in its 

report findings that abuse of children occurred in a particular institution where it would be 

reasonable to reach such a conclusion. This reduces the burden on the Commission which, at 

the moment, must be satisfied that a particular person actually suffered serious harm as a result 

of the acts they have complained of. The Commission will now be able to conduct its inquiry as 

a whole in one phase in respect of any particular institution or period. The Commission will also 

be able to identify the institution where the abuse took place and the person who committed the 

abuse provided that he or she has been convicted of an offence relating to the abuse. 

   In preparing its report the Commission will be required, insofar as its report is based on 

evidence recorded by the Confidential Committee, to have regard to the fact that the evidence 

received by the Confidential Committee could not be tested, challenged or corroborated. 



   Section 6 changes section 11 of the Principal Act by permitting the Investigation Committee to 

hold meetings in public if it considers this appropriate and to hold joint hearings which can be 

attended by survivors and their representatives, and respondents and their representatives, 

again where the Committee considers this appropriate. This will allow the Committee, for 

instance, to jointly take the evidence of a number of survivors who have made similar 

allegations in relation to particular individuals in a particular institution. 

   This section will also allow a Committee to sit in single member divisions. They could deal 

with non-controversial matters and thereby speed up the work of the Committee. 



   Section 7 amends section 12 of the Principal Act by providing that the Investigation 

Committee will provide an opportunity to survivors to recount the abuse they suffered in 

institutions as far as is reasonably practicable. This amendment, in combination with the 

amendment in section 4, will allow the Committee to call before it people whose accounts it 

considers will provide it with the greatest possibility of arriving at the truth of what occurred. 

   This section will also permit the Investigation Committee to inquire into the manner and 

circumstances in which children were placed and resident in institutions. 



   Section 8 amends section 13 of the Principal Act. It removes the obligation on the 

Investigation Committee to satisfy itself that abuse took place in individual cases before 

reporting its findings in relation to abuse of children in a particular institution. It also restricts the 

capacity of the Committee to name individual perpetrators of abuse to where a person has been 

convicted of a criminal offence involving abuse or has pleaded guilty to this kind of offence. 

Finally, the section will allow the Committee to produce interim reports which are final in relation 

to the issues they deal with. 



   Section 9 amends section 14 of the Principal Act by conferring additional powers on the 

Investigation Committee in its taking of evidence. It will now be entitled to require the discovery 

of documents, to furnish interrogatories (or questions) which must be replied to, and to require 

parties to admit facts, statements and documents. The evidence obtained will be presumed to 

be prima facie evidence of the matters it relates to. Where a person, without good reason, 

refuses to comply with one of these requirements, or with a direction issued under section 14(1) 

of the Principal Act requiring the giving of evidence to the Committee, the chairperson of the 

Committee can award costs against him or her. Finally, the section provides that the 



404                                                        CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1751-----------------------

Investigation Committee will take evidence of a person's conviction for abuse of a child as 

evidence before the Committee of that abuse. 



   Section 10 amends section 15 of the Principal Act. Following on from the findings of the 

Supreme Court in the Abeylara case, it removes the power of the Confidential Committee to 

make findings of a general nature. Instead, the Committee will have power to make general 

proposals with a view to having them considered by the Commission in deciding what 

recommendations it should make in its report. 



   Section 11 amends section 16 of the Principal Act by removing the power of the Confidential 

Committee to include in its report findings of a general nature. Instead, the Committee will now 

have power to prepare a report based on the evidence it has received and containing proposals 

of a general nature. 



   Sections 12, 13, 15 and 20 amend sections 17, 18, 21 and 31 respectively of the Principal Act 

by replacing the term “inquiry officer” with the term “authorised officer”. These amendments are 

linked with section 16 of the Bill. 



   Section 14 amends section 19 of the Principal Act. It provides that a person may cease giving 

evidence to the Investigation Committee subject to the consent of that Committee, the rights of 

others and the requirements of justice and may, with the consent of the Confidential Committee, 

give evidence to it of the abuse being alleged. 



   Section 16 amends section 23 of the Principal Act. “Inquiry officers” will now be known as 

“authorised officers” and may be consultants as well as members of staff of the Commission. In 

addition to their existing functions, they will also perform whatever other functions the 

Investigation Committee determines in order to assist it or the Commission carrying out their 

tasks. 



   Section 17 amends section 25 of the Principal Act by allowing applications to the High Court 

by the Commission for a direction to be heard in public or private, which will be at the discretion 

of the Court. 



   Section 18 allows the Commission to direct one committee to hear evidence in relation to a 

longer period of time than the other committee. In performing its functions, the Commission 

must take account of any reports made in relation to that longer period. 



   Section 19 provides a statutory procedure of judicial review in relation to Commission or 

Committee decisions. A person may question a determination of the Commission or a 

Committee by applying to the High Court for a judicial review within 2 months of the 

determination. The High Court will grant leave if it is satisfied that there are substantial grounds 

for believing that the determination is invalid or ought to be expunged. The 2 month period can 

be extended if the Court considers that there are good reasons for doing this. An appeal of a 

decision on a judicial review by the High Court may be brought to the Supreme Court only if the 

High Court agrees that its decision involves a point of law of exceptional public importance and 

that it is in the public interest for the Supreme Court to hear the appeal. 



   Section 21 ensures the smooth transition of the Commission's work pending the enactment of 

this amending legislation. 



                                                  PART 3 



           Education (Former Residents of Certain Institutions for Children) Finance Board 



   Section 22 provides for definitions to be used in this part of the Bill. 



   Section 23 requires that within one year of the Act being passed by the Oireachtas the 

Minister must set a day to be the day the Education (Former Residents of Certain Institutions for 

Children) Finance Board is established. 



   Section 24 provides for the establishment of the Education (Former Residents of Certain 

Institutions for Children) Finance Board which will be a corporate body. The Board will be 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                          405 


----------------------- Page 1752-----------------------

independent in the performance of its functions. Provision is also made for dissolution of the 

Board on completion of its work. 



   Section 25 states that the principal functions of the Board are to pay grants to former 

residents of institutions and their relatives, to determine and publish criteria on which decisions 

to pay grants will be based, and to provide information in relation to the educational services for 

which grants are available. 



   Section 26 requires the Minister for Finance to pay to the National Treasury Management 

Agency the sum of \12.7 million which was paid to the State as part of an agreement with 

certain religious congregations, plus any interest which that sum has since earned, less any 

sums paid before the Act is passed to former residents of institutions and their relatives to assist 

them to avail of educational services. The Agency will deposit the money in an investment 

account. The Agency will invest any monies not required in a given financial year in securities or 

authorised investments and returns from those investments will be paid into the account. Each 

year the Agency will pay a grant to the Education Finance Board to meet the Board's 

expenditure. 



   Section 27 permits the Board to pay grants to former residents of institutions or relatives of 

former residents to assist them to avail of educational services. The Board will have discretion 

as to the amount of the grant, the educational service for which it is paid, the frequency of 

payment, and the conditions to be attached to the grant. It will have to decide on criteria by 

which decisions on grants will be made and will have to publish those criteria. 



   Section 28 requires the Board to develop and publish the procedures governing the 

applications for grants, how the Board considers the applications, and how communication 

between the Board and applicants will happen. Grants paid to applicants can only be used to 

pay for the educational services specified by the Board. The Ombudsman will be entitled to 

investigate decisions on grants made by the Board. 



   Section 29 provides that the Board will consist of a chairperson and 8 ordinary members 

appointed by the Minister for Education and Science. Four of the members must be former 

residents of institutions. 



   Section 30 provides for the employment of staff by the Board, their remuneration and terms 

and conditions of service. 



   Section 31 provides for the keeping of accounts by the Board and for the audit of such 

accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Minister will be required to have the 

accounts and theC&AG's report on them laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. 



   Section 32 requires the Board to publish an annual report and to provide a copy of it to the 

Minister who must lay it before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Board must provide the 

Minister with such information on its activities as requested by him or her and may also provide 

information relating to applications and decisions relating to grants to any other appropriate 

person. However, the Board will be precluded from providing information that could lead to the 

identity of an applicant being disclosed. 



   Section 33 provides for a procedure to remove the Board from office where the Minister 

believes that it has failed, neglected or refused to perform any or its functions, has failed to 

perform any of its functions effectively, or has contravened the Act in some other way. Provision 

is also made for the appointment of a replacement Board by the Minister. 



                                                 PART 4 



                                             Miscellaneous 



   Section 34 provides for a number of amendments to the Residential Institutions Redress Act 

2002 including the following— 



406                                                       CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


----------------------- Page 1753-----------------------

        •    The offence of giving false evidence to the Redress Board or the Review Committee 

              is extended to any person who gives such evidence, regardless of whether or not 

             they have made an application for an award 



        •    In future, where an award is made but the applicant dies before deciding whether or 

              not to accept it, the award will not die with them. Where they are survived by a 

             spouse or child, he or she may proceed with the application on the deceased's 

              behalf. If the deceased does not have a spouse or child, the applicant will be 

             deemed to have accepted the award which will be paid to their estate 



        •    The Board will have a discretion in deciding whether or not it needs to request a 

              medical report on the applicant and removes the obligation on the applicant to 

             appear in person at a Board hearing 



        •    The Board will now have a discretion in relation to the evidence it is required to rely 

              upon in cases where an application is made on behalf of a deceased person 



        •    The Board will have power to establish a committee to regulate its procedure and 

              business 



        •    A cooling-off period will be provided for permitting an applicant who appeals an 

             award to withdraw the appeal within2 weeks of submitting it to the Review 

             Committee 



        •    Where the Board directs that an award must be paid in instalments or some other 

              manner because the applicant is incapable of managing the monies, he or she will 

              have1 month to appeal this direction to the Review Committee 



        •    The Board may arrange for awards payable in instalments to be administered by the 

             Courts Service for the applicant's benefit in accordance with the direction and rules 

             of court. The applicant will be entitled to apply to the Court to vary the terms on 

             which the award is administered 



        •    A number of changes are made to the names of institutions to delete duplications 

             and correct errors in their names as they currently appear. 



   Section 35 provides for the Minister's power to make regulations and orders and the 

requirement that they be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. It also confirms the 

Government's power to extend the life of the Commission which will need to be extended by 

Order in May 2005. 



   The Schedule is concerned with the membership and meetings of the Education Finance 

Board. It provides for the seal of the Board, tenure of office, the offices of chairperson and 

deputy chairperson, meetings of the Board, minutes of meetings and its power to act 

notwithstanding vacancies and through standing orders or otherwise. 



An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaiochta, 

                                      ´ 

   Marta 2005. 

      ´ 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                    407 


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Appendix 3 



Members of the Confidential Committee 



Confidential Committee Commissioners 



                Member                             Date of appointment                      Date of resignation (if 

                                                                                                   applicable) 



                                                         rd                                        th 

 Mr Bob Lewis CBE                                     23   May 2000                              19   July 2000 

 Retired Director of Social 

 Services Stockport 

 United Kingdom 

 Dr Patrick Deasy                                     23rd May 2000                              30th  April 2003 



 Retired Consultant Paediatrician 

 Dr Kevin McCoy                                       21st November 2000                         30th  April 2003 



 Retired Chief Inspector 

 Social Services Inspectorate 

 Northern Ireland 

 Ms Norah Gibbons                                     23rd May 2000 



 Childcare Director 

 Ms Anne McLoughlin                                   23rd  January 2002 



 Social Work Senior Clinician 



                                                         th 

 Ms Mary Fennessy                                     19   April 2004 

 Head Social Worker 



Confidential Committee Administrative Staff 



                Member                             Date of appointment                      Date of resignation (if 

                                                                                                   applicable) 



                                                         th                                        th 

 Ms Mary Durack                                       16   August 1999                           12   August 2005 

 Witness Support Officer 

 Ms Helen Lynch                                       25th  August 1999                         2nd  March 2006 



 Administrator 

 Ms Jacqueline Curran                                 8th  April 2002                           27th  October 2003 



 Witness Support Officer 



                                                         th                                        th 

 Ms Melanie Hall                                      13   September 2004                        11   March 2005 

 Witness Support Officer 

 Ms Norella Broderick                                 21st February 2006                        29th  September 2006 



 Administrator 

 Ms Sandra Hoswell                                    9th October 2006                           30th  April 2007 



 Administrator 

 Ms Danielle Griffin                                  30th  April 2007                          29th  August 2008 



 Administrator and 

 Research Assistant 



                                                         th                                        th 

 Ms Catherine Mulligan                                10   September 2008                        15   January 2009 

 Administrator 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                                               409 


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Appendix 4 



Picture of Confidential Committee Hearing Room 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                411 


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Appendix 5 



Sample appointment letter 



Mr X 

Main St 

Ballynew 



                         Invitation to meet the Confidential Committee 



Dear Mr X, 

Thank you again for offering to help the Commission in its work by meeting the Confidential 

Committee. 

I am writing now to confirm that we are pleased to offer you an appointment to meet (named 

Commissioners) of the Committee on: 



at 



Following our conversation I will take it that you are definitely coming unless something 

unforeseen happens at your end. In that case please let me know as soon as you can. 



Before you come to the Commission, please read the enclosed leaflet. If there is anything 

in it that you would like to talk over, or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to phone 

me and I will do my best to help. 

With regard to expenses please see information leaflet on the witness expenses scheme which 

is enclosed .In relation to travel we will refund transport costs to and from your home. We will 

also pay an allowance of 19 Euros each for you and a companion of your choice for meals and 

refreshments. Payment will be made by cheque or postal order which we will post to you as 

soon as possible after your hearing. 

You are welcome to bring to bring any documents, papers, pictures etc., that might help you in 

telling your story to the Committee. Other people have found this to be helpful. 



I will be meeting you when you come to the Commission and will introduce you to (named 

Commissioners). 



I look forward to meeting you on 



Yours sincerely, 



—————————————————— 

Mary Durack, 

Witness Support Officer. 

Direct Phone Line = 

Encl: 

Information Leaflet 

Expenses leaflet. 

Photo of Confidential Hearing Room. 

Map and directions to Commission 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                      413 


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Appendix 6 



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Appendix 7 



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Appendix 8 



Information on your visit to the Confidential 

Committee 



        1.  This booklet is being sent to you with your letter of appointment. If we have been 

            unable to reach you by phone to confirm that the date is suitable for you, we ask that 

            you contact us as soon as possible to confirm that you will attend. Once you accept 

            an appointment, that time is reserved for you and will not be offered to anyone else. 



             Requests for second appointments will go to the Commissioners of the 

            Confidential Committee for decision. They will grant second appointments only 

             in very exceptional circumstances. This is because of the number of people 

            waiting to meet the Confidential Committee, and the Committee is conscious of the 

             need to see all applicants as soon as possible. 



        2.   The role of the Confidential Committee is to provide a place for you to tell your story 

             to experienced people who will understand you. 



        3.  The following may help you to plan your visit to the Confidential Committee of the 

            Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: 



              (i) the length of your visit will depend on how long you need to speak with us – we 

                  would not anticipate any session lasting more than two hours; 



             (ii) do allow yourself sufficient time for travel; 



             (iii) you are welcome to bring a companion with you when you meet the 

                  Confidential Committee. In most cases you can decide if you would like your 

                  companion to sit with you during the hearing or to wait for you in our waiting 

                  room. However there are 2 exceptions to this: 



                 •    If your companion is under the age of 18 he or she cannot go into the 

                      hearing room. 



                 •    If your companion is a survivor who is going to the Investigation 

                      Committee, it is not in their legal interests to sit in on your hearing 

                      and we would ask that you make your companion aware of this. 



                 Your companion will be asked to keep the hearing confidential. 



             (iv) you can arrange to come and see the offices in advance of your own hearing if 

                  that would be helpful; 



             (v)  on your arrival, the staff of the Commission will greet you and will answer any 

                  queries you may have; 



             (vi)  a person who is apparently under the influence of alcohol, other substances or 

                   medication will have his/her hearing deferred; 



            (vii)  you will be introduced to the members of the Confidential Committee who will 

                   listen to your experiences; 



            (vii)  you can speak in your own time and in your own words. If you would prefer it, 

                   the Committee members will help you to tell your story by asking you some 

                   questions. The Committee may also ask you some questions to be sure they 

                   fully understand your story and to clear up any misunderstandings; 



CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee                                                            427 


----------------------- Page 1774-----------------------

             (viii)  if you wish for a break during the hearing, that will be arranged for you; 



              (ix)  the Commission has arranged with a local general practice group to provide 

                    same day, by appointment, consultation for victims if the stress of the hearing 

                    necessitates such care; 



              (x)   a recording will be made of the hearing. A copy of that recording cannot be 

                    taken away from the office and no other record can be made of the hearing; 



              (xi)  you can come back, with the companion who comes with you to the hearing, to 

                    listen to the recording at a later date if you wish. This must be arranged with 

                    the staff of the Confidential Committee; 



             (xii)  when the hearing has finished, a member of staff will be available to you as 

                    part of the witness support programme of the Commission. They will have 

                    information on special counselling services in your area if you would like to 

                    receive that; 



             (xiii) the Commission is aware that speaking of your experiences to us may be very 

                    distressing and driving afterwards can be especially difficult. It can be helpful to 

                    arrange to have a friend collect you after the hearing if you are coming on your 

                    own. You may wish to take the rest of the day off. 



        4.   Reports to the Authorities: 



              No report on anything you tell the Confidential Committee will be given to the 

              authorities, except in the following circumstances: 



              If the Committee has reason to believe that: 



             •    a serious crime is being committed; 

             •    a serious risk to a person’s life exists; or 

             •    abuse of a child is ongoing. 



              In any of those situations, the person is obliged to report the matter to the Gardai or 

                                                                                                               ´ 

              to the health board. 



        5.    Contact after your hearing: 



              The witness support officer will check if you would like her to call you in the days 

              following the hearing to check how you are. If you agree, she will call you. If you do 

              not wish her to contact you, that is fine. You can contact the Commission if you have 

              any enquiry. 



        6.   After your hearing, you may discover or remember additional information that you 

             would like the Committee to have. You are welcome to send such information to the 

             Committee. Because this would be classified as confidential evidence, it is important 

             that you only address it to the Commissioners who were involved in your hearing. 



        7.   Report of the Confidential Committee: 



              The Confidential Committee will write its report when all of its hearings are 

              completed. The Confidential Committee cannot name any individuals or places in its 

              report. 



428                                                             CICA Report Vol. III Confidential Committee 


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          Chapter 1 



          Department of Education 



          Part 1 The functions of the Department 



          Introduction 



1.01      The Department of Education had overall responsibility for the Reformatory and Industrial School 

          System  and  for  Marlborough  House  detention  centre.  The  Department  provided  finance  to  the 

          schools and oversaw their operation, leaving day-to-day control to the Congregations and Orders 

          that operated them. The Department  had a duty to ensure that the rules  and regulations were 

          observed, that finances were correctly utilised and that reasonable standards were maintained. 

          The principal method of monitoring the schools was the inspection system, which was carried out 

          by members of the Department’s Reformatory and Industrial Schools Branch. 



1.02      The  timeframe  of  this  investigation  falls  between  the  publication  of  the  Cussen  Commission’s 

          Report into Reformatories and Industrial Schools in 1936 and the Kennedy Report on the Schools 

          in 1970. The Cussen Report endorsed the system contingent upon the implementation of its 51 

          principal conclusions and recommendations, but the implementation of these recommendations 

          by  the  Department  of  Education  was  inconsistent  and  intermittent.  Consequently,  the  system 

          continued largely unchanged until the late 1960s. By the time the Kennedy Report was published 

          in 1970, the system had greatly declined and the report itself was more of an obituary than a death 

          sentence. The events that led to the ending of the system had little to do with policy decisions by 

          the Department of Education, and that also is part of the story. Consideration of the Department’s 

          role is thus largely confined to the 34 years between these two reports. 



1.03      The Secretary of the Department of Education in evidence to the Investigation Committee in June 

          2006 admitted that there had been ‘significant failings’ by the Department: 



                As Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science I wish to state publicly 

                here today that there were significant failings in relation to the Department’s responsibility 

                to the children in care in these institutions and that the Department deeply regrets this. 



                Children were sent to industrial and reformatory schools by the State acting through the 

                courts. While the institutions to whose care they were committed were privately owned 

                and operated the State had a clear responsibility to ensure that the care they received 

                was appropriate to their needs. Responsibility for ensuring this lay with the Department 

                of Education, whose role it was to approve, regulate, inspect and fund these institutions. 

                It was clear that the Department was not effective in ensuring a satisfactory level of care. 

                Indeed, the very need to establish a Commission of Inquiry testifies this. 



1.04      This chapter deals with general topics: particular events and the Department’s role in them are 

          discussed in the chapters on individual schools. 



1.05      The Minister for Education had legal responsibility in respect of schools. Under the Children Act 

          1908, children could only be committed to a school that was certified. The Minister held the crucial 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                   1 


----------------------- Page 1776-----------------------

           legal power of certification (1908 Act, sections 45, 58 and 91). Certification was granted for an 

           indefinite period, not on an annual basis. The Minister had the power under section 47 to withdraw 

          certification from schools; certification was intended to be the means by which the Minister could 

          control many significant features of the schools. However once a school had been certified, there 

          were  heavy  pressures  against  the  use  of  derecognition  and  there  are  no  cases  of  its  actually 

           being done. 



1.06      When  certified,  schools  were  furnished  with  a  document  that  stated  the  name  of  the  school, 

          geographical  location,  date  of  certification,  conditions  of  admission,  the  number  of  children  for 

          which the school was certified and the name of the agency running the school. The document 

          was signed and dated by the Minister for Education and by the manager of the school. 



1.07      Certification  of  a  school  was  contingent  upon  acceptance  by  the  school’s  management  of  the 

          entire ‘Rules and Regulations for the Certification of an Institution as an Industrial School’, and 

          these rules were listed in the certification document. It was a seven-page document that set out the 

           legal framework for almost every aspect of a resident’s circumstances, including accommodation, 

          clothing,  diet,  instruction,  conditions  on  which  children  may  attend  National  Schools,  industrial 

          education, inspection, religious exercises and worship, discipline, punishments, recreation, visits 

          from friends and relatives, children placed out on licence or on apprenticeships, treasury grants, 

          discharge, visitors to the school, timetables, journals, the medial officer, inquests and returns to 

          the Department. However, there were no regulations governing the ratio of staff to children. 



1.08      The Rules remained in practically the same form throughout the history of Industrial Schools. They 

          were  in  signed  standardised  form  in  1933  but  they  were  still  signed  in  the  same  way  by  the 

           institution and the State. 



1.09      The  Minister for  Education derived  further powers  from the  Children Act  1908, sections  54-84, 

          which included the authority to: 



                  •    determine    the  amount    of the  government     contributions  towards    the  expenses    of 

                       children; 



                  •   sanction alterations in buildings; 

                  •    discharge (with or without conditions) or transfer inmates; 

                  •    allow the removal of a child by emigration; or 

                  •    remit payments towards the child’s maintenance ordered to be made by the parent. 



1.10      The  Children  (Amendment)  Act  1941  gave  the  Minister  the  power  to  direct  the  removal  of  a 

           Resident Manager. This power which was very occasionally invoked to bring pressure to bear on 

          the management of the schools to remove the Manager. 



           Part 2 The structure of the Department of Education 



           The Reformatory and Industrial School Branch 



1.11      Throughout  the  period  under  consideration,  the  unit  dealing  with  schools  was  the  Reformatory 

          and Industrial Schools Branch or RISB. This division was responsible for overseeing the certified 

          school   system    and  was   also   responsible   for  the  administration   of the  detention   centre   in 

           Marlborough    House.    This  Branch    predated   independence      and   changed    little following the 

          establishment of the Free State. 



1.12      The RISB occupied a lowly place in the Department’s hierarchy. Supervising the RISB and the 

           primary schools unit, as well as other units, was an Assistant Secretary, who was subject only to 



          2                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1777-----------------------

           the Secretary of the Department, but it is likely that the RISB received little of his attention. Again, 

           compared with other branches, for instance the Primary Schools unit, which had a Principal Officer 

           as their head, the head of the RISB was, until the reform of 1971, a relatively junior official. During 

           the period 1941-65, he was usually at or about Assistant Principal level. The only other figure in 

           the RISB at even a medium level was the Medical Inspector, an important and central position 

           held during the 1940-64 period by Dr Anna McCabe. 



1.13       An increased workload for the branch was brought about by the changes created by the Children 

           Act 1941. For instance: a medical inspection was established; capitation grants were to be paid 

           for under-sixes, teachers of literacy subjects in the schools had to be assessed in order to receive 

           recognition as national teachers; and the Department had to allocate half of parental contributions 

           to  local  authorities  instead  of  sending  the  entire  amount  to  the  Exchequer.  Thus  the  workload 

           increased and, consequently, the level of clerical assistance had to be augmented. As of 1943 

           (and  after  1943  there  were  no  changes  until  the  early  1970s),  the  RISB’s  establishment  was 

           as follows: 



                   •     Inspector (Assistant Principal); 

                   •     Medical Inspector (a qualified doctor); 

                   •     Staff Officer Grade I (approximately equivalent to a higher executive officer); 

                   •     Clerical Officers (two); 

                   •     Writing Assistants (two); 

                   •     Stenographer; 

                   •     Part-time Parental Money Collectors (two). 



1.14       According to a 1960 organisation and management survey of the RISB, carried out in 1959, by P 

            ´ 

           O Maitiu, a principal in the Department, during the period 1943-59, 85 percent of the RISB’s time 

                     ´ 

           was spent on five main routine clerical tasks: 



            Collecting and accounting for parental monies                                            25% 

            Filing and registration                                                                  20% 

            Applications for release of children                                                     20% 

            Check of county council accounts                                                         10% 

            Preparation of annual report                                                             10% 



1.15        Mr  R  MacConchradha,  a  Higher  Executive  Officer  in  prisons  administration  but  formerly  in  the 

            Department of Education, wrote on 20th April 1968 to Mr McCarthy, his superior in the Department 

           for Justice. Mr MacConchradha expresses his views frankly: 



                  Even at the risk of breaking confidence, may I say that the Industrial School system has 

                  been centrally administrated in a very plodding way, with little sympathetic involvement or 

                  thought  for  the  children.  Finances  have  been  ungenerous  for  years  and  what  forward 

                  thinking there was, came from individuals in the conducting communities. The lot of the 

                  children, especially the boys, is very sad and there is an unbelievably entrenched ‘status 

                  quo’ to be overcome, not least in the Department of Education, if there is to be any change 

                  for the better. 



1.16        Further  evidence  of  the  unimportance  assigned  to  this  field  is  the  lack  of  written  information 

           regarding its role within the Department; for instance: 



                  Despite a number of institutional histories of the Department of Education, to date none 

                  have explored the role of the Department in relation to reformatory and Industrial Schools. 

                  Nor   does    O’Connor,      a  former    secretary    of  the   Department      of  Education     mention 

                  reformatory or industrial schools in his personal reflections on his role in that Department 

                  between     1957    and    1968.   Likewise     renewed     histories   of  the   Department      of  Local 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  3 


----------------------- Page 1778-----------------------

                 Government and Public Health and from 1947, onwards the Department of Health (now 

                  Health and Children) and Department of Local Government (now Environmental and Local 

                 Government), do not explore the child welfare dimension of their work. 



1.17       However  following  the  publication  of  the  Kennedy  Report,  the  RISB  became  the  fulcrum  for 

           instituting the changes recommended in the Report and it underwent restructuring. The section 

           was renamed ‘Special Education (2)’ in 1972 and a review of the staffing structure in the Special 

           Education  Section  was  undertaken  in  November  1973.  The  review  concluded  that  the  staffing 

           situation was inadequate and that the inspection system was hampered by this staff shortage. In 

           1975, the was the post of Child Care Advisor was created. 



1.18       In general, the Department of Education was regarded as a conservative Department producing 

           little  by  way  of  policy.  Even  on  the  wider  fronts  of  primary  and  secondary  education,  its  main 

           concern  lay  with  curricular  content  rather  than  wider  social  justice  issues,  such  as  what  today 

           would be called access to education. Further, the Department ‘enjoyed a reputation for secrecy’ 

           and this secrecy would have had the effect of rendering it difficult for any countervailing pressure 

           to that of the Church, even had there been any, to assert itself. 



1.19       In the case of Reformatory and Industrial Schools the conservative tendency was exacerbated by 

           the fact that the unit with full-time responsibility for the schools was located at such a low level in 

           the Department hierarchy. 



1.20       The unit did not initiate reform and did not confront the vested interests that reform would have 

           stirred up. 



           Schools’ dominance over the Department 



1.21       The  Department  had  the  power  of  fixing  the  capitation  fee  and  in  theory  this  power  gave  it 

           considerable control over the institutions However, the Department did not use such increases as 

           an opportunity to impose changes of policy on the schools. When the Department succeeded in 

           providing increased funding for the schools, it communicated in non-specific terms its wish to see 

           improvements made in the standard of care provided to the children in the schools. For instance 

           the Departmental circulars to Resident Managers announcing the increases in 1947, 1951, 1952 

           and 1958 stated the Minister’s expectation that, with the improved financial position, schools would 

           effect, without delay, substantial improvements in the standard of diet, clothing and maintenance 

           of the children. There is no evidence to show that these broad admonitions were followed up by 

           attempts  to  verify  that  these  substantial  improvements  had  actually  materialised.  Few  circulars 

           were as specific as the following (Circular 1/1952 (10th March 1952)): 



                 The Minister trusts that consequent on the improvements in the financial position of the 

                 schools as a result of the increase of 5/- weekly in 1951 and of this increase of 6/- weekly 

                  in  the  amount  of  the  Capitation  Grants  that  the  Managers  of  the  Schools  will  be  in  a 

                  position to effect substantial all round improvements where necessary. Each child should 

                 get as a minimum one pint of milk daily, the full ration of butter and sugar, and 4 to 6 ozs 

                 of meat at each meal at which meat is served. It is desirable, that the children’s breakfast 

                 should include an egg, sausage, rasher, tomato or other suitable relish and that the dinner 

                 should  be  a  substantial  meal  consisting  of  soup  (where  practicable),  meat,  vegetables 

                  (including  potatoes)  to  be  followed  by  a  dessert  such  as  pudding,  jelly  stewed  or  raw 

                 fruit, cereal. 



1.22       The  circular  met  a  polite  but  prompt  rebuff  in  the  form  of  a  message  from  a  meeting  of  the 

           Managers’ Association (letter from Chairman to Department, 31st March 1952), which said that, 

           given   the   prices,  this  ‘recommendation’       was   not   ‘practical’. Indeed    as   the  Department      of 

           Education submitted; 



           4                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1779-----------------------

                Evidence provided to the Commission by Mr Granville also underlines the dominant role 

                that school  authorities continued  to play  [into the  1980s] in  the operation  of residential 

                homes and special schools post-Kennedy. The religious orders, it is clear, remained the 

                ultimate decision-makers. 



1.23      The real authority lay with the schools and the religious, because they owned and managed the 

          institutions,  and  their  constant  claim  was  that  the  State  under-resourced  the  Congregations  in 

          carrying out the State’s duty. One example of what a later generation would call ‘agency capture’, 

          where a regulatory body is effectively controlled by the body it is supposed to regulate, may be 

          seen in the way in which the Resident Managers’ Association looked confidently to the Department 

          to champion them against third-party criticisms. For instance, the Association asked to meet the 

          Minister for Education to discuss: 



                (2) The extract, from Circular Letter No. 7/52 issued by the Department of Health, which 

                reads — 



                   ‘It is generally agreed that the institution is a bad substitute for the normal home life for 

                   children.  It is recognised   in the  existing  Regulations,   which  prescribe   that Public 

                   Assistance Authorities shall not send a child to a certified school if the child can be 

                   suitably boarded out. Every effort should therefore be made to have children placed in 

                   suitable foster homes before having recourse to their maintenance in an institution.’ 



                (3) The uncalled for and offensive remarks regarding Industrial and Reformatory Schools 

                made by some District Justices and published in the newspapers. 



1.24      In response to this letter the Minister ‘promised to do everything he could to help these Schools’. 



1.25      The schools’ control over the Department can be seen in the way decisions were made in the 

          early 1950s about mixing offenders and non-offenders in Industrial Schools. The question whether 

          children  who  had  been  convicted  of  offending  seriously  or  repeatedly  should  live  in  the  same 

          school  as  those  in  need  of  care  should  have  been  a  key  policy  issue  for  the  Department  of 

          Education. 



1.26      What happened in practice was that the matter was decided by the Christian Brothers. In a letter 

          to  the  Minister  of  Education  dated  19th  March  1954,  the  Provincial  advised  the  Minister  for 

          Education  that,  in  future,  Letterfrack,  County  Galway,  would  be  reserved  for  boys  who  were 

          offenders; whilst the Christian Brother Industrial Schools at Artane, Glin, Tralee and Salthill would 

          no longer accept boys who were offenders. 



1.27      Two District Justices expressed opposition to this move. In a letter dated 30th July 1954, District 

          Justice  J  J  O’Hora  advised  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  that  the  arrangement  involving 

          Letterfrack  would  cause  serious  difficulties  for  the  Children’s  Court  in  Limerick.  The  Justice 

          requested    that the  Minister  make   representations   to  the  Brother  Provincial  of the  Christian 

          Brothers to have either Glin or Tralee appointed for the reception of cases in which offences had 

          been   proved.   However    the   Department    had   earlier consulted   with  the  Christian   Brothers 

          requesting that it reconsider its decision regarding Letterfrack but the Order’s position remained 

          unchanged. 



1.28      Secondly,  District  Justice  McCarthy,  Children’s  Court  Judge  in  Dublin  from  1941-57,  stated  in 

          1954 in open court, that he would not be prepared to send to Letterfrack the type of boy for whom 

          the  school  was  supposed  to  be  reserved  henceforth,  until  such  time  as  the  ‘non-offenders’  at 

          present in the school were transferred to other schools. As a result, a conference was convened 

          on 14th May 1954 and, attended by the District Justice, the Department’s Secretary and Assistant 

          Secretary (Micheal O’Siocfradha) and Br O’Hanluain, the Provincial of the Order. The compromise 

          reached was that the Manger of Letterfrack would transfer all the boys sent by local authorities 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                      5 


----------------------- Page 1780-----------------------

           and a number of non-offenders committed by the courts until the total number at Letterfrack was 

           85. They would be sent to Salthill, mainly, and to Artane and other schools. 



1.29      These diverse opinions illustrate that the question of whether offenders and non-offenders should 

           be  held  in  the  same   institution was   an   issue  on  which   informed    opinion  could   differ. The 

           Department  ought  to  have  developed  a  considered  policy  in  consultation  with  the  schools  and 

           ought then to have ensured that the schools observed it. Instead, it appears to have simply allowed 

          the  question  to  be  decided  by  the  Congregation.  For  example,  in  1954  the  Department  noted 

           resignedly: 



                 The Provincial (of the Christian Brothers) has informed the Department that his Council 

                 have decided to introduce into the Industrial Schools conducted by their congregation a 

                 measure of segregation. They have, accordingly, arranged that the Industrial School in 

                 Letterfrack  is  to  be  reserved  for  boys  brought  before  the  court  and  found  guilty  of  an 

                 offence. All such boys, if committed to an industrial school will not now be accepted into 

                 their schools by the resident managers of the Artane, Salthill, Tralee and Glin Industrial 

                 School. The Industrial Schools for senior boys at Upton, Clonmel and Greenmount [non- 

                 Christian Brother School] will continue to accept boys as heretofore. 



1.30      When addressing this question, before CICA, the Department of Education simply stated: 



                 The  policy  regarding  the  category  of  child  admitted  to  and  detained  within  a  particular 

                 school was a matter for the Religious Order concerned and the Department had no role 

                 in the committal process. While the courts ordered the detention of a child, the Resident 

                 Manager of a School could exercise his/her power to refuse to accept this child into the 

                 school. Similarly the Religious Order could decide to change the category of child being 

                 admitted to a school. 



          The essential question, however, is broader than the legalities involved. For the schools to work 

           properly the system needed an authoritative overseer. If the Department declined to play such a 

           role then there was no one to do so. 



           Part 3 Departments of Health and Justice 



           Differences in attitude between the Departments of Education and Health – 

           ‘boarding out’ 



1.31       One  noteworthy  aspect  of  the  State’s  approach  to  childcare  was  the  difference  between  the 

           policies  and approaches  of the  two Government  Departments with  responsibility in  the area  of 

           childcare. 



1.32      They  had  divergent  attitudes  to  boarding  out  as  an  alternative  to  the  schools  for  dealing  with 

           needy children. The Department of Health’s general policy, repeatedly stated, was that maintaining 

           children in their families of origin should be encouraged and, if this was not possible, foster care 

           rather than institutional care should be provided. In sharp contrast, the Department of Education 

           believed  firmly  that  institutional  care  offered  many  benefits  and  in  March  1946  went  so  far  as 

           expressly to prohibit the boarding out of children from Industrial Schools. 



1.33       Reflecting on this divergence, a Department of Education memo, written in 1964, stated. 



                 It  seems  strange  that  two  Government  departments  should  be  at  variance  on  such  a 

                 fundamental issue. I spoke to an official of the Department of Health and apparently that 

                 Department considers that a home, even a disrupted home, is preferable to an institution 

                 however  good...Industrial  school  managers  are  not  in  the  most  favourable  position  for 

                 supervising the treatment of boarded out children and this Department has no officers for 



           6                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1781-----------------------

                 that kind of work. On the other hand the Department of Health has its own Inspectors for 

                 inspecting foster homes etc... 



                 If the practice of boarding out children becomes widespread the industrial schools could 

                 very well become uneconomic but it is submitted that to keep children in institutions for 

                 the sake of the institutions would be inverted thinking. Modern thinking as practised by 

                 Department of Health and abroad, regards institutionalism as a dehumanising factor and 

                 instead   favours   a  home   environment     as  a  proper   place   for a  child  to  develop   its 

                 personality.  Moreover     the  decision  of  this Department     to  prohibit boarding    out  from 

                 industrial  schools   was   taken   at  a  time  when    economic     conditions   were   very   bad 

                 (immediately post-war) and was based on fear of an inquiry rather than on what was best 

                 for a child. 



1.34       The enthusiasm of the Department of Health for ‘boarding out’ and the reluctance of some health 

           authorities to implement this policy is apparent in a note of September 1964 from M Division of 

           the Department of Health, which states: 



                 Art 4 of the Boarding Out Regs, 1954 provides that ‘a health authority shall not send a 

                 child to a school approved by the Minister under Section 55 of the Act unless such child 

                 cannot be suitably and adequately assisted by being boarded-out’. Health Authorities do 

                 not always comply with  this provision of the Regulations and  it is normal departmental 

                 procedure to challenge the continued maintenance of children in institutions who would 

                 seem to be suitable for boarding-out. Such action is taken on the recommendations of the 

                 Inspector who is supplied with a list of all children in institutions under Section 55 of the 

                 Health Act, 1953, on the occasion of her bi-annual visit to the health authority offices. 



           Reasons for the different attitudes of Health and Education 



1.35       The different attitudes between two Departments of State are not easy to explain. Education had 

           neither access to, nor direct knowledge of, boarding out and its legislative powers were confined 

           to supervising    the  school  authorities.  By   contrast,  boarding   out  was   and   always   had   been 

           organised by way of local boards of health, the Department of Health being the central Department 

           for these agencies. Thus, the Department of Health had access to the information obtained by the 

           boards  of  health  as  well  as  information  gathered  by  its  own  inspectors  whose  responsibility 

           extended to both boarding out and the Industrial Schools. In short, Health had a more informed 

           view, whereas, short of major legislative changes, which no one in the Department contemplated, 

           it  would  have  been  impossible  for  Education  to  get  any  children  boarded  out  or  to  acquire 

           knowledge of the subject. 



1.36       The Department of Health took more individual interest in each child than Education. For example, 

           by  way   of  a  Department    of  Health   circular,  health  authorities  were   requested    to  establish 

           arrangements between the health authority and the Manager of the school whereby a child could 

           be visited at any reasonable time and at regular intervals, by an authorised officer of the health 

           authority or of the Department of Health. The reason given for this decision was to ascertain if 

           any children were suitable for transfer to relatives or to foster homes. Likewise the Department of 

           Health, or the health authorities, kept track of family circumstances and there are files in which it 

           is evident that the return of a child to his or her family was initiated by Health, rather than being, 

           as in Education, a reaction to a parental request to the Minister to grant early discharge. 



           The Department of Justice 



1.37       The only responsibilities that the Department of Justice had as regards the detention of persons 

           under the age of 16 years were 



                        (a)   if they were certified unruly or depraved by a court under sections 97 and 102 of 

                              the Children Act 1908, they could be detained in an adult prison and 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          7 


----------------------- Page 1782-----------------------

                         (b)   the Department had responsibility for certifying places of detention for children (i) 

                               arrested in connection with an offence held pending an appearance before court 

                               or (ii) remanded in custody by the court pending trial (as ‘the police authority’) 

                               under section 108 of the Children Act 1908. There was also the possibility under 

                               section 106 for a child to be sentenced to such a place of detention for a period 

                               not exceeding one month. The Department of Education was responsible for the 

                               inspection of such places of detention pursuant to section 109(3). 



1.38       Justice was mainly involved by way of its responsibility for the District Court and the Gardai, who 

                                                                                                                        ´ 

           were the major channel by which children were committed to the schools. In addition, Justice was 

           responsible for places  of detention including St  Patrick’s and Shanganagh Institutions,  in other 

           words, institutions exclusively for delinquent juveniles. 



1.39       However,  the  public  and  sometimes  even  officials  did  not  appreciate  that  the  Industrial  and 

           Reformatory  Schools  were  not  primarily  for  delinquent  children  and  consequently,  it  was  often 

           assumed that the Minister for Justice was responsible for them. The Minister for Justice, in the 

           1960s    and   afterwards,    on  a   number    of  occasions,    indicated   disquiet   at  the  Department      of 

           Education’s performance or made an attempt to urge that Department into reforms. A letter dated 

           October 1963, addressed to the Minister for Education, Patrick Hillery, was drafted for the Minister 

           for Justice, Charles J Haughey. It stated: 



                  ...I hope    that  the   Inter-Departmental      Committee’s      recommendations        in  relation  to 

                  Marlborough House and the Industrial School system will find ready acceptance, the more 

                  so  as  the  recommendations  are  subscribed  to  by  the  expert  from  Education  on  the 

                  Committee.  In  particular  I  should  like  to  see  some  action  taken  to  establish  Visiting 

                  Committees and After-care Committees for the Industrial Schools. Contrary to views held 

                  earlier  in your  Department it  has now  become apparent  that the  Managers of  schools, 

                  such as Artane, are not opposed to such a development. 



1.40       A civil servant had written at the top of this letter ‘Minister, Unless somebody prods the Department 

           of Education the Committee’s work will go for nought, to a large extent.’ A second copy of the 

           letter is scored through and endorsed: ‘Letter need not issue – I have spoken to Dr Hillary [sic].’ 



1.41       Evidence of confusion as to who was responsible for the schools system also came from members 

           of  the  public  addressing  complaints  regarding  the  schools  to  the  Department  of  Justice.  For 

           instance, in 1953, an ex-resident, wrote to Justice to complain about his experiences in Baltimore, 

           who  passed  on  his  letter  to  Education;  and  a  former  night  watchman  at  Glin  wrote  both  to 

           Department of Education and Minister for Justice. Justice dealt with criminal justice, including the 

           courts and prisons. In the public mind, it followed that Justice was involved with the schools. 



1.42       Marlborough      House     Detention    Centre    was   administered     by   the  Department      of  Education, 

           notwithstanding its repeated attempts to transfer responsibility to the Department of Justice. See 

           the discussion of this matter in Volume I Chapter 16 



           Part 4 The Cussen Commission 



1.43       It seems that the impetus for the establishment of the Cussen Commission came from a desire to 

           evaluate the entire schools system prior to the long overdue amendment of the 1908 Act. The 

           Minister for Education, in his speech at a public session, to open the Cussen Commission (The 

           Irish Times, 8th May 1934; DD vol 151, vol 1621, 11th April 1934) identified as among the reasons 

           why the system called for examination: the training provided by the schools might be out of date 

           in  terms  of  the  gradual  disappearance  of  village  tailor,  shoemaker  and  carpenter;  the  fact  that 

           some of the children were ‘mentally deficient’; and the increase in juvenile offenders. The Minister 

           also stated that the legislation that created the system in the first place was predicated on the 



           8                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1783-----------------------

           assumption that it would deal primarily with delinquent children, whereas by 1934 the institutions 

           catered primarily for poor and neglected children. 



1.44       Despite this  encouraging launch,  contemporary press  and Oireachtas  reaction to  Cussen, who 

           published  the  Report  on  17th  August  1936,  was  slight.  There  appears  to  have  been  no  press 

           report on Cussen. The absence of political interest can be measured by the lack of debate that 

           the  report   received    in the   Oireachtas.    There    were   only  six  Dail   questions    dealing   with  the 

                                                                                           ´ 

           recommendations.  These  questions  were  spread  out  over  several  years  and  centred  on  the 

           monetary aspects of the Cussen proposals, including a question on whether or not teachers of 

           literacy subjects in Industrial Schools were to be paid for by the State, and whether or not the 

           Summerhill  detention  home  should  be  closed.  However,  no  other  specific  aspect  received  any 

           parliamentary notice. 



1.45       Overall,   the   Cussen     Report    endorsed     the  existing   schools    system,    though    subject   to  the 

           implementation of its 51 principal recommendations and conclusions: 



                  As a result of our investigations we are satisfied that subject to the introduction of various 

                  changes  which  we  have  indicated...the  present  system  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial 

                  Schools  affords  the  most  suitable  method  of  dealing  with  children  suffering  from  the 

                  disabilities to which we have referred, and we recommend its continuance. 



1.46       The primary response to these recommendations came in the form of the Children Act 1941 which 

           amended the Children Act of 1908. Although some recommendations did get a green light to a 

           greater or lesser extent, it is revealing to examine the recommendations that were overlooked. 

           While  the  non-implementation  of  some  recommendations  can  be  explained  by  way  of  fiscal 

           limitations and structural deficiencies within the Department, others are more difficult to explain. 

           Full  implementation  would  have  involved  a  greater  role  for  the  Department  and  this  may  have 

           been viewed at the time as an encroachment into the Church’s domain. 



1.47       One objective of the Cussen Committee was to help remove negative stereotypes and criminal 

           connotations associated with the children in the certified school system. It was the firm belief of 

           the Commission ‘that in the main the problem is one not of criminal tendencies, but of poverty’. 

           Cussen encouraged a change in terminology to aid in the reduction of the stigma associated with 

           certified   schools:   for  example      recommendation        number     11   suggested     replacing    the  term 

           ‘committal order’ with the term ‘admission order’, and similarly the terms ‘Industrial School’ and 

           ‘Reformatory’  were  to  be  replaced  with  ‘National  Boarding  Schools’  and  ‘Approved  Schools’ 

           respectively. Furthermore Cussen stated that these titles should be for administrative purposes 

           and  each  school  should  have  its  own  individual  name,  which  would  include  any  classification 

           denoting its status. Cussen ultimately believed that neither the schools nor the public should view 

           children in reformatories as criminals; 



                  Although the young persons committed to the Reformatories have been found guilty of 

                  offences  it  is  the  case  that  the  percentage  of  them  who  subsequently  make  a  further 

                  appearance in the Courts is negligible. It follows, we suggest that such young persons 

                  cannot in any sense fairly be looked upon as criminals 



1.48       In line with this proposal, Cussen wished to remove other aspects of the committal proceedings 

           that could contribute to the idea of criminality, such as: 



                   •    the Children’s Court should be separated from the District Court; 

                   •    judges should not wear robes in Children’s Court; 

                   •    Gardai should not wear uniforms in court nor when they were bringing the children to 

                                ´ 

                         the schools. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                 9 


----------------------- Page 1784-----------------------

1.49       This child-centred approach of the Cussen Report also manifested itself in a desire to maintain 

           each  child’s  identity  and  family  connection.  It  was  the  belief  of  the  Commission  that  school 

           Managers  were  to  be  fully  aware  of  all  of  the  children  under  their  care.  Therefore,  Cussen 

           recommended that more detailed information about each child be provided to the schools upon 

           committal. This information was to include a birth or baptismal certificate and a synopsis of each 

           child’s  history  including  comments  from  Justices  where  appropriate.  This  information  was  to 

           remain  confidential.  In  addition  children  were  to  be  committed  to  Industrial  Schools  as  near  to 

           their  homes  whenever  practicable  –  subject  to  the  discretion  of  the  Justices  –  so  as  to  allow 

           parents easier access to their child and thus preserve familial ties. 



           Cussen on Resident Manager 



1.50       The functions to be performed by the Resident Manager of an Industrial School included the ability 

           to manage all staff, control discipline within the school and, primarily, to be fully knowledgeable of 

           the circumstances of each child in their care: 



                  The success attained by these schools depends in large measure on the personality and 

                  fitness for office of the Managers – their capacity in directing their staffs, their power to 

                  make every pupil feel that the Manager is his guardian and his friend, while maintaining 

                  an ever vigilant but unobtrusive discipline. 



1.51       The Department’s concern as to the age of certain Resident Managers was a recurring theme 



1.52       The Cussen Commission considered the role to be one which required ‘qualifications and gifts that 

           might not be considered indispensable in ordinary schools’. Consequently, the choice of person to 

           fulfil this role was regarded as a most important decision and it was recommended that ultimate 

           approval for this post should rest with the Minister for Education. The Report went further to state 

           that the Minister for Education should also have the power to remove Resident Managers who 

           were derelict in their duties. The report maintained ‘that it should be within the competence of the 

           Minister  to  report  to  his  or  her  Superior,  with  a  view  to  replacement,  a  Manager  who  is  found 

           unsatisfactory’. 



1.53       The response to this recommendation came in the form of section 5 of the 1941 Act, which gave 

           the Minister the power, for the first time, to direct the removal of the Resident Manager. 



                  If the Minister is satisfied that the Resident Manager of a certified school has failed or 

                  neglected to discharge efficiently the duties of his position or that he is unsuitable or unfit 

                  to discharge those duties, the Minister may request the managers of the school to remove 

                  such  Resident  Manager  from  his  position  and  the  managers  shall  comply  with  such 

                  requests (unless withdrawn) within one month after receipt thereof. 



1.54       Crucially, however, the Act did not allow the Minister for Education the power of veto over the 

           selection of a Manager or approve appointees to the role as recommended by Cussen, though 

                                                                          ´ 

           this had been part of the Bill as introduced in the Dail. The Resident Managers’ Association was 

           against this change and protested to the Department and also lobbied the Opposition party who 

                                                                                                                              ´ 

           supported their protests. The Government withdrew the provision at committee stage in the Dail 

           and substituted a new section 5, which gave the Minister no power at the appointment stage and 

           merely  provided  that  the  Minister  had  to  be  notified  of  the  appointment  within  10  days  of  its 

           occurring. Following the appointment of a Resident Manager a Departmental form known as ACA 

           1 was completed by the new Resident Manager and by the representative of the Managers of the 

           school and returned to the Department in accordance with the legislation. 



1.55       The Department of Education was reluctant to exercise its power of removal. There are only two 

           known     occasions    where    the   Department      invoked    this power:    the   removal    of  the  Resident 

           Managers from Lenaboy, Industrial School, Galway and St Michael’s Cappoquin in Waterford. 



           10                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1785-----------------------

           Lenaboy Girls Industrial School, Sisters of Mercy Salthill, Galway 



1.56       In 1942 an internal Department of Education memo discussed the findings of Dr Anna McCabe’s 

           inspection  of  Lenaboy  Industrial  School.  The  inspection  report  expressed  grave  unease  at  the 

           actions of the Resident Manager. 



                 The produce of the garden  was sold. The old sister in charge of  the kitchen protested 

                 against  the  starvation  of  the  children  –  she  and  another  old  sister  were  removed  and 

                 replaced    by  two   young   novices  who     dare  not   challenge    the  Superior’s   orders.   It  is 

                 rumoured  that  the  tea  ration  is  also  sold.  (It  is  certain  that  the  children  have  not  been 

                 getting it.) The suggestion made by Dr McCabe last year that skipping ropes and a net 

                 ball  should  be  provided  evoked  the  remark  If  she  thinks  I’m  going  to  throw  away  my 

                 money on skipping ropes, she’s mad. 



1.57       The memorandum reiterates Dr McCabe’s concerns 



                 The  Resident  Manager  is  a  miserly,  ruthless  old  woman  of  70  years  who  has  as  her 

                 objective the reduction of the debt on the institution. She has been hardened by age and 

                 a  lifetime  spent  in  Magdalene  Homes.  She  has  no  experience  of  children  and  has  no 

                 sympathy with them. Her fortes are finance and farming. She set about obtaining her end 

                 with cold thoroughness. 



1.58       An official at the Department of Education stated in a memo that Lenaboy represented a 'clear 

           case for action under section 5(4) of the 1941 Act'. On 14th September 1943, the Department 

           wrote to the Mother Superior stating that the Minister felt the Resident Manager of Lenaboy was 

           unsuitable  for  the  role  and  asked  that  she  be  removed  from  that  position  and  a  more  suitable 

           person  be  appointed  in  her  place.  Over  one  week  later  on  23rd  September  1943  the  Mother 

           Superior of the Order replied to the Department to say that a new Resident Manager had been 

           appointed. 



           St Michael’s Cappoquin, Sisters of Mercy, Waterford 



1.59       As with Lenaboy, the removal of the Resident Manager was precipitated by an inspection by Dr 

           Anna McCabe in 1943. Dr McCabe found the children to be undernourished, where 61 out of the 

           75  boys  in  the  school  were  under  the  normal  weight  for  their  age-height  groups.  An  internal 

           Department  of  Education  memorandum  referred  to  St  Michael’s  as  ‘another  school  run  by  the 

           Sisters  of  Mercy’  with  ‘a  long  record  of  semi-starvation’.  After  much  bitter  correspondence  the 

           Department  was  forced  to  issue  a  statutory  request  for  the  removal  of  the  Resident  Manager 

           whom  Dr  McCabe  described  as  a  ‘ruthless  domineering  person  who  resents  any  criticism  and 

           challenges advice’. After much wrangling, a new Resident Manager was eventually installed. 



1.60       This incident is an excellent illustration of the relationship between the religious Orders and the 

           State.  The  requests  for  the  improvement  in  diet  in  the  school  had  begun  in  December  1943 

           following an inspection report. The removal of the Resident Manger was requested under statute 

           by the Minister in September 1944 but only came about in November 1944. The lack of urgency 

           following a statutory request by the Minister of Education and the language used by the school in 

           the correspondence with the Department is further evidence of the timidity of the Department in 

           dealing with the school. For instance in response to the statutory request to remove the Resident 

           Manager     the  reverend    mother    replied   a  week   later  ‘I am   looking   into  the  matter   and   will 

           communicate with you later’. 



1.61       On the other hand, these cases demonstrate that, when the Department was prepared to insist 

           and to invoke the statutory power, the religious authorities responded. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             11 


----------------------- Page 1786-----------------------

           Smaller schools 



1.62       The Cussen Report also recommended that schools should have no more than 250 children at 

           one  time  which  would  permit  the  Manager  ‘to  make  every  pupil  feel  that  the  Manager  is  his 

           guardian and friend’. With this in mind the Report advocated the division of Artane, which at that 

           time was home to over 800 boys. The Report recommended that Artane be subdivided into four 

           separate  schools,  each  with  its  own  Manager,  segregating  the  children  according  to  age  and 

           attainments.    However     the  Christian   Brothers   argued    against   the  division  of  Artane   in  their 

           submission to the Cussen Committee; 



                 Again it is said: ‘Artane is too large’. We reply that nevertheless it has exceeded beyond 

                 all expectations. We would go further and say that in its largeness lies its chief merit and 

                 advantage;  for  it  is  size  and  its  multiplicity  of  activities  that  afford  exercise  to  those 

                 following the various trades, etc within its own precincts...We hold that its great educative 

                 value is due to its size, and accompanying circumstances; for if a boy has only moderate 

                 intelligence,  it  must  develop  owing  to  the  thousand  and  one  influences  to  which  he  is 

                 subject. 



1.63       This recommendation of the Cussen Commission was never implemented by the Department of 

           Education and, as preferred by the Christian Brothers, Artane remained as a single institution. 



           Lack of educational qualifications 



1.64       Until  the changes  brought  about by  the  Kennedy  Report in  the  1970s, the  staff  of the  schools 

           seldom if ever had any education or training for their exacting role in childcare. The view seems 

           to have been taken by the Department that the training and development of religious and lay staff 

           in the institutions was largely a matter for the religious Orders. 



1.65       This lack had been perceived by the Cussen Commission, which sent questionnaires to school 

           Managers  regarding  the  qualifications  and  numbers  of  teaching  staff  within  their  schools.  The 

           information  received  showed  a  large  deficit  in  the  numbers  of  qualified  literary  teachers.  The 

           schools  which  completed  the  questionnaire  disclosed  that  in  the  girls  schools  there  were  81 

           teachers of literary subjects of whom only six were trained; the equivalent for senior boys schools 

           was 73 literary teachers of whom 38 were trained. Reformatory Schools’ educational standards 

           were deemed to be of an even lower standard than Industrial Schools: Cussen commented that 

           ‘the standard of teaching and qualifications of the teachers in Reformatories are not high’. 



1.66       It was also the case that there was a lack of fully trained teachers because, commencing in 1932, 

           on the basis of a request from the Christian Brothers, it became the policy of the Department of 

           Education  to  allow  Brothers  to  interrupt  and  defer  completion  of  the  required  two-year  teacher 

           training after one year and to work in schools, with a view to completing their training within three 

           years. In 1943 the Department agreed to extend this to a period of five years. Upon completion 

           of their first year of teacher training the Brothers then became known as untrained assistants, who 

           under  the  Rules  and  Regulations  for  National  Schools,  were  allowed  to  teach  in  a  temporary 

           capacity for up to five years. This relaxation was extended to the other Orders in 1943 and came 

           to an end only in 1962-63. 



           Education in the Reformatories and Industrial Schools 



1.67       Subject to the requirement of industrial training, the same pattern of education, including the same 

           external  exams,  applied  in  principle  to  residents  of  the  Industrial  Schools  as  to  the  general 

           population. 



           12                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1787-----------------------

1.68       The Cussen Commission was mandated to examine the: 



                 ... (2) the care, education and training of children and young persons in Reformatories 

                 and Industrial Schools, and their aftercare and supervision when discharged from these 

                 institutions. 



1.69       Recommendations 20-29 of the Cussen Report addressed these issues. 



           Literary instruction 



1.70       Each  Industrial  School  signed  a  commitment  that,  in  view  of  receiving  the  grant  for  literary 

           teachers, out of the Vote for Primary Education, it would comply with the Rules and Regulations 

           for National Schools. Rule 7 of the 1933 Rules and Regulations for the Certification of an Institution 

           as  an  Industrial  School  provided  that  all  children  should  be  instructed  in  accordance  with  the 

           programme  prescribed  for  National  School  and,  in  this  regard,  children  under  14  years  of  age 

           (juniors) were required to have literary instruction and study not less than four and a half hours, 

           five days a week. 



1.71       The literary instruction  included: Irish, English, Maths, History, Geography,  Needlework, Music, 

           Rural Science or Nature Study, Drawing and Physical Education. The Industrial Training, which 

           was  particular  to  the  Industrial  and  Reformatory  Schools,  included:  Cookery,  Laundry  Work  or 

           Domestic Economy (girls), Manual Instruction (boys). At the other stage, Seniors (children over 

           14) were to have literacy instruction, not less than three hours, five days a week. 



1.72       Departmental inspectors’ reports, prior to the Cussen Inquiry, described the educational standard 

           of  certified  schools  as  satisfactory  in  general;  however  the  Cussen  Report  concluded  that,  ‘in 

           some of the schools the work done is rather mediocre’ and the teaching staff were of ‘slender 

           qualifications’.  Artane  was  specifically  mentioned  for  providing  only  the  minimum  standard  of 

           literary education. Cussen suggested a number of reasons for the disparity between educational 

           standards in National Schools and Reformatory and Industrial Schools, one being that the school 

           Managers were under no obligation to employ teachers trained to National Schools standard. 



1.73       The lack of standardised teacher qualifications within the system led the Report to recommend 

           that teachers in both Reformatories and Industrial Schools should have the same qualifications 

           as  teachers  in  National  Schools.  It  was  also  recommended  that  teachers  in  certified  schools 

           should receive the same pay and conditions as National Schools teachers. This, Cussen argued, 

           would attract qualified teachers and remove the stigma associated with working within this system. 

           The financing for this was to come from the Vote for Primary Education. 



1.74       Upon publication of these recommendations the Department of Education began the process of 

           examining their feasibility. In 1939 a number of inspections took place in certified schools in order 

           to examine the qualifications of the teachers and establish the basis for state grants. The reports 

           from the inspectors show that although the Cussen recommendations stated that certified school 

           teachers must be as qualified as National Schools teachers, in practice exceptions were made for 

           teachers who, although not technically as qualified as National Schools teachers, were deemed 

           to deserve the same recognition. Indeed Rule 73 of both 1932 and 1946 Rules and Regulations 

           for  National  Schools  provided  for  the  recognition  of  ‘untrained’  teachers  as  National  Schools 

           teachers   also.   It was   not  until  1946   that  a  Department      of Education     circular  sent  to  all 

           Reformatories  and Industrial  Schools, stated  that all  religious staff  must be  qualified under  the 

           terms of Rule 85(6) of the Rules and Regulations for National Schools. 



1.75       In February 1943, following the shift to payment of literary teachers, the Department of Education 

           issued revised instructions to inspectors in relation to Industrial Schools. It was made clear to the 

           inspectors that the programme of instruction in all Industrial National Schools was the ordinary 

           National School programme, except for the Domestic Economy subjects. In furnishing a report on 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           13 


----------------------- Page 1788-----------------------

          a teacher the inspector was to bear in mind the circumstances in which many of them had been 

          exceptionally recognised, and thus make allowances before deciding whether to rate a teacher 

          as non-efficient.  For those  teachers whose  teaching efficiency  was deemed  unsatisfactory, the 

          Department approved the recommendation that these unqualified lay teachers should be given 

          other  duties  or  retired  with  a  pension,  the  cost  of  which  was  to  be  defrayed  by  the  school 

          Managers. 



1.76      The Cussen Commission included a number of further recommendations with regard to education, 

          including sending children within the system to local National Schools where possible. This policy 

          of sending children to local schools allowed for greater contact with other children. At the time of 

          the Report, the Commission estimated that approximately 33 percent of the schools did send their 

          students to National Schools. This figure did not increase substantially until the 1970s. 



1.77      Cussen    also  recommended      recognising    Industrial Schools   as   National  Schools   when    local 

          National Schools were unable to accommodate the children from Industrial Schools. The object 

          was to attract more teachers into the Industrial Schools, as there was a stigma associated with 

          working in them. The full implementation of this recommendation did not occur until 1945 when a 

          Department of Education submission to the Government made clear the Department’s objection 

          to the persistent inequality between National Schools and certified schools. 



          Differing needs of the residents: children with intellectual disabilities 



1.78      A number of recommendations in the Cussen Report refer to the problem of the appropriate care 

          and education of children with intellectual disabilities. Figures provided by the Resident Managers 

          to the Cussen Commission show that in August 1934 there were 56 intellectually disabled children 

          (10 boys and 46 girls) in certified schools and an additional 46 children with physical disabilities (26 

          boys and 20 girls). However other figures show that this may have been a gross underestimation. 



1.79      The Cussen Report makes reference to the general absence of legislation regarding the care and 

          treatment   of  people  with  intellectually disabilities in Ireland  and   the consequent     difficulty in 

          effectively dealing with the issue within the certified school system. Overall the Report was against 

          the  idea  of  sending  intellectually  and  physically  disabled  children  to  Industrial  Schools.  The 

          amalgamation of children with differing educational needs was recognised as unsatisfactory and 

          the benefits of educating these children separately was emphasised in the report. 



1.80      Recommendation  33  advocated  the  establishment  of  an  institution  specifically  for  the  care  of 

          intellectually  disabled  children  with  separate  departments  for  the  physically  disabled  under  the 

          auspices of the Department of Education. The Report also recommended that, pending a medical 

          report,  judges  be  empowered  to  send  these  children  to  specialised  institutions  instead  of  the 

          schools: 



                If it is found from the report of the examining doctor that the child is physically or mentally 

                abnormal or if the doctor is unable to form a definite opinion the justice should, if the case 

                is one calling for detention in a school, order the child to be sent to the institution especially 

                certified for such cases. 



1.81      The   Secretary   General   of  the  Department    of Education    and  Science    told the  Investigation 

          Committee  that    ‘the  Government    decided...that  it  shouldn't be  made    mandatory  to  have    an 

          assessment,  I  think  that  was  in  1956...’.  The  number  of  intellectually  and  physically  disabled 

          children  within  the  Reformatory     and  Industrial  School   system   is  unknown.    No   medical   or 

          psychological research material exists to support the figures supplied by the Cussen Report. The 

          Kennedy Committee established that there was a significant level of educational disadvantage in 

          the schools and there were no remedial resources available. 



          14                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1789-----------------------

1.82       Br Burcet was both a teacher (1954-55) and a principal (1956-69) in Artane Industrial School. In 

           his evidence he describes the large numbers of physically and mentally disabled children in Artane 

           during his tenure and contends that there was a change in the type of boy sent to Artane in the 

           late 1950s and early 60s. It is his belief that with the development of social welfare services in 

           Ireland the demographic of the resident population of Artane began to change ‘I had a sense that 

           more disturbed children were coming into us in the 1960s, certainly in the 1960s.’ 



1.83       Br Burcet attempted to introduce a special needs programme within the school. He described the 

           resistance from the Department of Education in relation to any deviation from the National Schools 

           curriculum. His belief  was that the physical welfare of  the children was the primary  concern of 

           the Department 



                  So, if you are asking me how did the Department see Artane, they were looking at it from 

                 a physical care philosophy. I would say they were quite happy. 



           Post-primary education in Industrial Schools 



1.84       From the 1950s, the Department’s annual reports indicated a concern that secondary education 

           should be provided to children who would be able to benefit from it. For example, the Report of 

           1954–55 stated that: ‘every effort is being made to make post-primary education available to those 

           pupils suited to such’ but the evidence is that it happened in few cases. 



1.85       The  annual  report  of  1932-33  noted  that  ‘a  few  schools  have  afforded  promising  girls  special 

           opportunities  for  higher  education’  and  this  trend  continued  in  the  following  years.  But  a  1952 

           document, noted that St Joseph’s, Tralee was the only boys Industrial School to send its children 

           to secondary school. With regards to the numbers of children, approximately 250 Industrial School 

           pupils were in post-primary education, either in secondary tops, secondary schools, and vocational 

           schools or in vocational classes confined to Industrial School pupils. The gender breakdown is 

           striking: 11 percent of the girls (i.e. 180) against 41  percent of the boys (i.e. 70). 

                                                                      2 



1.86       The proportion of Industrial School pupils receiving post-primary education was always very low, 

           and negligible in the case of Reformatories. As of 1963, out of the seven schools for senior boys, 

           only  two  sent  boys  out  to  local  secondary  or  vocational  schools  and  only  one  provided  a  full 

           vocational course within the institution. Conversely, almost all the girl schools, with only one or 

           two exceptions, had pupils attending outside secondary or vocational schools. In some cases the 

           secondary school was conducted by the religious community and was located beside the Industrial 

           School; generally, however, the girls in full-time post-primary education were receiving it outside 

           the institutions. 



1.87       It is not until 1950-51 that the Department’s annual reports started to provide data on the numbers 

           who obtained an Intermediate Certificate or Leaving Certificate: 



                    Year                Boys/Inter             Girls/Inter          Boys/Leaving           Girls/Leaving 



                    1951                     0                      5                      0                      2 



                    1952                     0                     11                      0                      1 



                    1953                 Unknown                Unknown               Unknown                Unknown 



                    1954                 Unknown                Unknown               Unknown                Unknown 



                    1955                     4                     21                      0                      5 



                    1956                     1                     13                      0                      4 



                    1957                     1                     18                      2                      2 



                    1958                     1                     20                      0                      3 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              15 


----------------------- Page 1790-----------------------

           Applications for extension of detention 



1.88       The Cussen Report noted that in some schools children were retained beyond the age of 16 years 

           (the age of discharge) so as to enable them to derive benefit from a special course of training, 

           and that such training was undertaken at the sole expense of the school. The Report advised that 

           the Minister be given power, where he was satisfied the circumstances so warrant, to authorise a 

           resident to remain in a school up to the age of 17 years, subject to the payment of an appropriate 

           grant and this proposal was implemented by the Childrens Act 1941. For the remainder of the 

           1940s,  applications  were     very  small,  ranging  from     two  to  seven  per  year.   The  numbers  of 

           successful applications rose slightly in the 1950s, peaking at 23 a year, in a school system then 

           catering for 4,000 or so children. The reasons for the extensions, according to annual reports for 

           the period, were to pursue secondary, vocational or commercial courses and occasionally to sit 

           the civil service examinations or attend nursing training. 



           Cussen recommendations on training 



1.89       A  number  of  the  Cussen  Report  recommendations  with  regard  to  training  came  from  a  report 

           entitled ‘Report on the Occupational Training provided in the Senior Boy’s Industrial Schools and 

           in  Glencree  Reformatory’,  which  was  compiled  by  four  Departmental  inspectors  as  part  of  the 

           Cussen Committee’s Inquiry and was published as Appendix H of their Report. 



1.90       The Commission was largely dissatisfied with the provision of training in the certified schools. The 

           relevance  of  certain  trades  and  the  validity  of  the instruction  provided  were  questioned,  noting 

           that there was a ‘complete absence of fully qualified instructors’. With regard to agricultural training 

           the Commission found that ‘The training in farming is unsatisfactory, the work being unorganised 

           with no systematic instruction in field or in the classroom’. The Commission also feared that the 

           children were being treated as unpaid labourers and received no educational value for their time 

           on  the  farm.  Cussen  consequently  recommended  the  employment  of  a  full-time  farm  manager 

           with sufficient expertise allowing him to act as instructor. Cussen (para 57) advocated a wage to 

           be held in trust for those children working in the schools, stating that: 



                 as the labour of the inmates is of some value to them it should be provided that a special 

                 portion of the cash value of the work of the girls for whom grants have been paid should 

                 be placed to their credit and made available for them on leaving. 



1.91       The implementation of this recommendation did not occur. No record of a discussion of it within 

           the Department has been discovered. 



1.92       As with agricultural training, the motivation for training children in a number of technical disciplines 

           seemed to be predicated upon the interests of the schools. The Report stated (at para 111) ‘It 

           appears to us that in the majority of the schools the trades taught – many of which are obsolescent 

           – have in view the needs of the institution rather than the future of the boys’. 



1.93       Cussen  recommended  (para  23)  therefore  that  more  suitable  and  relevant  crafts  should  be 

           introduced in agricultural districts such as woodwork, thatching and harness making. Geographical 

           proximity in relation to training was considered very important 



                 Schools in the vicinity of cities and industrial centres should be set aside for the teaching 

                 of  special  trades,  and  pupils  in  other  Industrial  Schools  where  similar  facilities  are  not 

                 available should be transferred to these schools, if they are considered likely to benefit 

                 by a course of industrial training. 



1.94       In the case of agricultural instruction, Cussen recommended the careful selection of tradesmen to 

           train  the  children.  and  that  the  Department  establish  special  courses  to  train  instructors  in  the 

           methods    of  teaching.   In  order  to  ensure   that  the  training  received   by  the   pupils  was   both 



           16                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1791-----------------------

           worthwhile and relevant the Cussen Report advocated regular occupational training inspections 

           by inspectors of the Technical Instruction Branch of the Department. 



           Post-Cussen 



1.95       After the Cussen Report, consistent criticism of the schools’ training can be seen in the annual 

           reports of the Department of Education. These reports observed once again ‘the work turned out 

           is principally for the use of the schools. The annual reports from this time also show that there 

           was a continuing difficulty in placing the boys in employment following their training. The visitation 

           report   for  Artane,   8-13th   December      1952,   took   a  rather   different  approach     to  this  subject, 

           remarking  happily:  ‘Our  institutions  owe  a  great  deal  to  those  boys  who  work  full  time  at  their 

           trades. Their work is of great financial advantage to each establishment.’ 



1.96       In 1946 the Minister for Education enquired as to the suitability of the trades taught. He questioned 

           that  a  pupil  in  Artane  Industrial  School  was  being  taught  gardening,  which  he  felt  ‘was  not  a 

           suitable occupation in this day and age’. He requested that the matter of teaching trades in general 

           be looked into. A Departmental memorandum was compiled in response to the Minister’s request, 

           outlining the challenges facing the Resident Managers in this area, not least of which was finding 

           suitable employment for the children. The memo went on to warn that if the Department ‘interferes 

           much in the matter there might be a danger of the Managers trying to transfer their responsibility 

           to the Department’. The memo also alluded to the severe criticism the Department had faced in 

           1952 from the Committee on Youth Unemployment for its failure to implement the recommendation 

           of the Cussen Report with regard to industrial training. The author of the memo recommended 

           that enquiries be made to the schools regarding: 



                   •    what trades were taught in the years 1943, 1944, 1945; 

                   •    the numbers of boys released into the trades taught; and 

                   •    the number of boys who were sent into different trades to the ones taught. 



1.97       Significantly,  the  Artane  statistics  collected  in  response  to  these  inquiries  indicated  that  all,  or 

           nearly all, the boys went to employment in the trades in which they were trained. The gardening 

           and  tailoring  figures  for  Greenmount,  Carriglea  and  Clonmel,  however,  show  that  a  significant 

           number of boys did not end up in the trades in which they had been trained after they left their 

           school. 



1.98       In February 1955, the Joint Committee of Women’s Societies and Social Workers wrote to the 

           Department  recommending  that  qualified  teachers  should  be  provided  to  train  the  children  in 

           trades.   Over   a  decade     later, the   situation  appears    to  have    remained    unaltered.    In  1966   a 

           delegation    from  the   Junior   Chamber  of      Commerce  was        sent  to  Artane   Industrial   School  to 

           ascertain what could be done to help. Their report identified difficulties with the industrial training 

           provided,  specifically  that  the  workshops  and  equipment  were  out  of  date.  The  authors  of  the 

           report considered the training the boys received was not adequate and would not allow them to 

           achieve employment in their craft. It also commented that, even if a boy became proficient in a 

           trade, his training would not be recognised by a trade union. 



1.99       About the same time, a letter of 10th February 1966 by Department of Education, replying to a 

           letter from Joint Committee of Women’s Societies and Social Workers, stated: 



                                                                                                    ´ 

                  In  the  matter,  however,  of  entry  of  industrial  school  pupils  to  Colaiste  Mhuire,  Cathal 

                  Brugha Street, an Agricultural School or College, Commercial School or the Civil Service, 

                  it would be extremely unusual for any person to enter any of these before at the very least 

                  seventeen years of age. The normal entry to them would be at about eighteen years of 

                  age.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  unusual  for  children  to  remain  in  industrial  schools  after 

                  sixteen, which is the statutory term of their committal. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                17 


----------------------- Page 1792-----------------------

                 There is, however, another reason why it would be unlikely that children from industrial 

                 schools should enter such institutions as you mention. It is that entry is by competition, 

                 usually  on  the  basis  of  a  written  examination  and that  the  great  majority  of  children  in 

                 industrial schools are there on the grounds of ‘lack of proper guardianship’. This means 

                 that they come from unsettled homes; from which most of them have not been regular 

                 attendees  at  school and  so  are  educationally retarded.  Their  chances  at a  competitive 

                 examination are therefore small indeed and so, as far as I know, there are none of them 

                 at the institution mentioned. 



1.100      In earlier  decades,    some    individual  trade  unions   seem    to  have   had  a  policy  of  preventing 

           employers from recognising such training, or counting it as part of apprenticeship, and giving jobs 

           on the basis of it, thus in large measure rendering it pointless (Cussen Report, para 123). The 

           trade  unions  were  presumably  protecting  their  members  by  upholding  the  traditional  means  of 

           entry. However in 1968 the Department of Education was advised by the Department of Labour 

           that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions was concerned that career guidance and apprenticeship 

           training did not appear to be receiving sufficient attention in the schools judging by the attainments 

           of the ex-pupils of Industrial Schools in later life. They recommended the establishment of fully 

           trained career guidance officers and the re-assessment of apprenticeship training. 



1.101      •    Cussen  had  stated  that  the  whole  system  of  training  had  needed  revision.  What 

                followed, however, in terms of Departmental policy was a piecemeal set of circulars, 

                and advisory actions which resulted in little change. In a statement to the Commission 

                in  2006   the   Department      acknowledges       that  it did  not   give  this  matter    ‘sufficient 

                attention’. 



           The Cussen recommendations on aftercare 



1.102      The Cussen Commission were deeply unhappy with the schools’ provision of aftercare, which was 

           intended to support the placing of children in trades and occupations for which they have received 

           training in the schools. The Christian Brothers were cited as particularly negligent in their duties: 



                 We are not satisfied as to the adequacy of the methods of supervision and aftercare of 

                 children  discharged  from  these  schools,  particularly  in  the  case  of  boys  leaving  the 

                 Industrial Schools which are under the management of the Christian Brothers. 



1.103      Figures  taken  from  the  Cussen  Report  for  the  years  1932-33  illustrate  what  happened  to  both 

           boys and girls who left Reformatories and Industrial Schools after their periods of detention: 



                                                          Table 1 Boys 



              Occurrence after discharge                Industrial Schools                      Reformatories 



            Returned home                                        191                                  39 



            Sent to employment                                  623                                   12 



            Retained awaiting employment                          8                                    0 



            Recalled by Manager                                  26                                    0 



            Returned of own accord                               44                                    4 



            Could not be traced                                   4                                    4 



            Total                                               822                                   51 



           Source: Cussen Report 



           18                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1793-----------------------

                                                            Table 2 Girls 



               Occurrence after discharge                 Industrial Schools                       Reformatories 



            Returned home                                          148                                    14 



            Sent to employment                                    552                                     5 



            Retained awaiting employment                           30                                     0 



            Recalled by Manager                                    26                                     0 



            Returned of own accord                                 39                                     4 



            Could not be traced                                     2                                     4 



            Total                                                 730                                    19 



           Source: Cussen Report 



1.104      Both  of these  tables show  that a  quarter of  boys and  a quarter  of girls  did  not move  from the 

           schools  into  employment,  with  a  large  proportion  returning  home  at  the  end  of  their  detention. 

           Aftercare was deemed especially important by the Cussen Commission as it was seen as a way 

           of assisting the boys and girls who received poor occupational training. 



1.105      The Report acknowledged the difficulties in securing employment in the skilled trades even for 

           children who did not attend Industrial Schools and commented on the large numbers of Industrial 

           Schools    boys   who    gained   work   as   agricultural  or  farm   labourers    regardless    of their  trade. 

           Consequently Cussen advocated the payment of a capitation grant by the State towards the cost 

           of apprenticeship. Several reasons were put forward as to why this system was so disorganised, 

           including the idea that Managers did not fully appreciate their responsibilities in this area. Cussen 

           suggested  that  school  Managers  take  a  more  proactive  role  in  securing  employment  for  their 

           students. This included establishing communication with the local labour exchange to determine 

           what types of trade were in demand. In addition it was suggested that the Manager should explain 

           to the children that if they faced any difficulties during the statutory period of aftercare they were 

           entitled to return to the school in seek of help or advice. 



           Post-Cussen 



1.106      In 1952 at a meeting with representatives of the Department of Education and Justice McCarthy 

           of  the  Dublin  Metropolitan  District  Court,  Fr  Reidy,  Resident  Manager  of  Daingean,  stated  the 

           there was ‘Not much done in aftercare’ and expressed his views as to why the boys had difficulty 

           securing employment: 



                  Lads  now  are  much  lasier  [sic]  and  more  apathetic  to  work  than  20  years  ago.  This 

                  problem is partly a result of social welfare schemes. (It is) important therefore to get them 

                 to work at anything at all. 



1.107      In response Justice McCarthy suggested that it was this thinking, i.e. that ‘getting them work at 

           ‘anything’ was perhaps to some extent the cause of the trouble’. Justice McCarthy also suggested 

           the  establishment  of  a  hostel  for  the  boys  to  enable  them  to  adjust  to  life  after  the  institution. 

           However  Fr  Reidy  disagreed,  saying  that  it  was  a  better  option  to  break  up  the  association 

           amongst the boys after they left Daingean. 



1.108      In August, 1966, a letter to the Minister for Education from Minister for Justice, stated 



                  ...I am suggesting that you, coming to the problems with a fresh mind, might have a look 

                 at the industrial schools system. I have no doubt that the lack of proper after-care is a 

                 grievous fault in the system and that there are ample resources of voluntary assistance 

                 only waiting to be harnessed and guided. I think that a vigorous approach to the managers 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              19 


----------------------- Page 1794-----------------------

                of the industrial schools – individually or collectively would make it extremely difficult for 

                them to maintain a negative attitude. 



1.109     The file shows a reply from the Minister for Education stating that he would have a good look at 

          the Industrial School system and would be in touch. A few months later, the Kennedy Committee 

          was set up, by the Minister for Education. 



1.110     Thirty years after the publication of the Cussen Report, a Department of Education memo to the 

          Minister of Finance highlighted the lack of progress in the area of aftercare stated, ‘In general, 

          with the exception of Artane, they (the schools) lack any kind of aftercare or organisation’. 



          Part 5 The inspection system 



1.111     From the late 1920s until the mid 1960s there were three types of inspection. Firstly, there was 

          the educational inspection, which was concerned with education in the National School. Secondly, 

          there was a medical inspection performed by the Medical Inspector. Thirdly, there were general 

          inspections  to  ascertain  the  quality  of  residential  care  provided  for  the  children,  which  were 

          sometimes carried out by the official in charge of the Reformatory and Industrial School Branch, 

          but were generally done by the Medical Inspector at the same times as the medical inspection. 

          While there were occasions, particularly in the early 1940s, where general and medical inspections 

          were held separately, a trend developed over time where both would be carried out simultaneously 

          in  the  one  visit  by  the  same  Department  inspector.  The  Department’s  archive  of  medical  and 

          general inspections shows that, from 1939 to 1965, Dr McCabe carried out the medical inspections 

          and the majority of the general inspections of the Industrial and Reformatory Schools. 



1.112     Following Dr McCabe’s retirement in 1965 the Department of Education left the post of Medical 

          Inspector unfilled until the appointment of Mr Graham Granville in 1976. In the intervening decade 

          a number of changes took place. In the absence of a dedicated Medical Inspector, inspections 

          were initially augmented by, and then replaced with, medical reports by medical officers retained 

          by  each  individual  school.  From  1961  to  1963,  these  medical  reports  were  submitted  to  the 

          Department on a quarterly basis. From 1963 to 1978, the medical reports were submitted on a 

          twice-yearly basis. 



          General inspections 



1.113     The benchmarks for standards of residential care were set out in the Rules and Regulations that 

          were issued to school Managers by the Department on certification. Department circulars were 

          issued from time to time to supplement them. 



1.114     The   general    inspection   covered   premises    including   playground,    dormitory,   kitchen;  living 

          conditions generally such as clothing or diet; as well as staff and accounts. The report was based 

          in part on a printed checklist with entries for accommodation, equipment, sanitation, health, food 

          and    diet, clothing,   recreation   facilities and   precautions    against   fire. The    reports  were 

          impressionistic in character – they were structured so as to give a general account of conditions 

          within a school, dealing generally with the quality of residential care provided and the condition of 

          the children. They left out everyday treatment, including corporal punishment. They did not give 

          detailed information and did not deal with policy matters. 



1.115     The  inspectors’  reports  were  not  published.  If  a  school  was  satisfactory,  the  inspection  would 

          result  in  only  a  short  record.  After  the  particular  headings,  there  was  a  section  for  general 

          observations and suggestions, which might be as brief as ‘well-run school’. On the other hand, 

          where there was something wrong, these observations could run for several pages. Comments in 

          inspection  reports  under  the  various  headings  ranged  from  excellent  to  fair  to  poor.  Where 



          20                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1795-----------------------

          standards  fell  below  what  was  expected  (e.g.  inadequate  diet)  the  Department  wrote  to  the 

          Resident Manager in the school with a view to having this rectified, though with mixed success. 



          Medical inspections 



1.116     The Cussen Report (para 86) was critical of the inspection system operated by the Department 

          of  Education   up   to that  point. Cussen    described   as   ‘unsatisfactory’  the system    of medical 

          inspection  in  schools  and  urged  that,  in  addition  to  the  medical  examination  of  children  on 

          admission, a periodic medical examination should be carried out by a doctor ‘specially trained in 

          the  diagnosis of  children’s diseases,  physical and  mental’. In  response, Dr  Anna McCabe  was 

          appointed in April 1939. One part of the medical report was a checklist focussed on the health of 

          individual children, with headings such as teeth, thyroid, nail biters, stammer, eyesight. 



1.117     The principal duties of the Medical Inspector were: 



                  (1)   protecting the health of the children; 



                  (2)   making arrangements for the children when they are sick or when they need some 

                        medical attention such as for eyes, teeth etc.; 



                  (3)   general  health  considerations  –  food  and  clothing,  sleeping  facilities,  conditions  of 

                        work and so on; 



                  (4)   evaluating the medical services to schools, i.e. care provided to children by the school 

                        doctor, including: 



                       (a)   keeping a record of the medical examination given to a child when committed; 



                       (b)   the medical examination the school doctor performs on the children when he/she 

                             visits the school from time to time. 



1.118     Dr McCabe’s appointment coincided with efforts to revise the system used for recording medical 

          information on pupils and the issue was the subject of two Department circulars between 1940 

          and 1943. The first of these, Circular 205/39, issued to Resident Managers on 5th June 1940, 

          announced the introduction of a ‘standardised’ form, which would give both the particulars of the 

          medical examination on admission and the subsequent medical history of the child while in the 

          school. Such a record, which was the responsibility of the Manager, had the advantage of easy 

          reference and was intended to be forwarded with the child on transfer to another school. In terms 

          of  medical history,  the form  included a  record of  illness section,  under which  was entered  any 

          treatment a child received in either the school infirmary or external hospital. A quarterly reading 

          of height and weight was also to be entered on the form. It was evident from the documentation 

          available that the Department placed great importance on the physical health of the children and 

          wrote  to  the  schools  following  Dr  McCabe’s  suggestions  regarding  referrals  for  treatment  and 

          dietary recommendations. A  continuous reduction in weight  would raise concerns in  relation to 

          adequacy of diet. 



1.119     A  second  circular  was  issued  on  28th  September  1943  to  remind  Resident  Managers  of  their 

          responsibilities in the matter of the 'safeguarding' of the health of the children. They were also 

          advised that the Minister attached the ‘utmost importance’ to the punctilious observance of Rule 

          22 of the Rules and Regulations for Certified Schools, which required the appointment of a medical 

          officer for the school who would issue quarterly medical reports on the sanitary state of the school 

          and the health of the children. The circular continued: 



                It  frequently  happens  that  the  Quarterly  Medical  Return  furnished  by  a  School  to  this 

                Department states that no children, or merely a small number, are suffering from disease, 

                while the inspection by the Department's Medical Inspector carried out at the end of the 

                quarter  in  question,  reveals  that  a  much  larger  number  of  children  are  suffering  from 

                diseases. It should be clearly understood that the primary responsibility for the health of 

                a School rests on the Resident Manager and on the School Medical Officer. The function 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       21 


----------------------- Page 1796-----------------------

                of  the Department's    Medical   Inspector   in this matter   is to satisfy  herself  that their 

                arrangements for keeping a watch on the children’s health and providing medical attention 

                where required are working satisfactorily. 



1.120     The annual reports of the Department of Education frequently refer to the fact that the medical 

          inspector had viewed the quarterly medical reports kept by school Managers in consultation with 

          the local medical officers. Furthermore, despite what appears as initial resistance to their use by 

          some school Managers, Dr McCabe was able to cite evidence from medical records as proof of 

          underfeeding in schools in the mid 1940s. 



          Frequency of inspections 



1.121     Not all schools were inspected each year, as required by the legislation. The frequency of school 

          inspection  varied  from  school  to  school  and  from  year  to  year  and  some  schools  were  visited 

          more frequently than others. 



1.122     For example, Baltimore school was subject to three inspections in one year (1947), while Artane 

          went three years without any inspection (1950-52). The records did not reveal why some schools 

          were inspected more often than others. In certain cases complaints or issues of a serious nature 

          were  brought  to  the  Department’s  attention  and  a  special  inspection  of  a  school  was  ordered. 

          Geography  and  accessibility  may  also  have  been  a  factor.  In  1949,  for  example,  no  Industrial 

          School  in either  Connacht or  Ulster received  a visit  from a  Department inspector.  In the  same 

          year, the inspectors had five contact days (days where the inspector was present in a school to 

          conduct a general or medical inspection or both) with Dublin’s seven Industrial and Reformatory 

          Schools; seven contact days with the 12 schools in the rest of Leinster; and five contact days with 

          the  Munster   schools.   The   following  year,  1950,  the  number    of  contact  days   between   the 

          Department and the various schools revealed the following regional spread: Connacht (1); Dublin 

          (1); Leinster (9); Ulster (2); and Munster (3). 



                                        Table 3 Frequency of inspections 1940s 



                   Province               No of schools         Total no of inspections     Average inspections 

                                                                                            per school per year 



           Connacht                              10                        86                        .86 



           Dublin                                7                         82                        1.17 



           Leinster                              12                        129                       1.07 



           Munster                               23                       212                        .92 



           Ulster                                2                         16                         .8 



           Total                                 54                       525                        .97 



                                        Table 4 Frequency of inspections 1950s 



                   Province               No of schools         Total no of inspections     Average inspections 

                                                                                            per school per year 



           Connacht*                             10                        118                       1.18 



           Dublin                                7                         112                       1.6 



           Leinster*                             12                        229                       1.91 



           Munster*                              22                       235                       1.07 



           Ulster                                2                         26                        1.3 



           Total                                 53                       720                        1.36 



          22                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1797-----------------------

                                        Table 5 Frequency of Inspections 1960s 



                   Province                No of schools         Total no of inspections     Average inspections 

                                                                                             per school per year 



           Connacht                               9                         74                        .82 



           Dublin                                 6                         43                        .72 



           Leinster                              12                        112                        .93 



           Munster                               21                        146                        .70 



           Ulster                                 2                         14                        .70 



           Total                                 50                        389                        .78 



          Note that 12 schools closed between 1965 and 1969 and all are included in the above list. 



1.123     With regard to the rate of inspections Dr McCabe wrote in 1943: 



                I agree that these institutions should be subject to frequent inspection – my practice at 

                present is to pay a visit at least once a year to such institutions and if there is any need I 

                revisit them within three or four months to find if my instructions have been carried out. 



1.124     The figures show that in the 1950s the average number of inspections increased significantly. By 

          the 1960s the number of inspections fell again, to below 1940s levels. There were on average 

          0.78 inspections per school per year during the 1960s, although the number of schools decreased 

          steadily in the second half of the decade as a result of closures. Another reason for the decline 

          in inspections at this time was the retirement in the mid-1960s and non-replacement of Dr Anna 

          McCabe as Medical Inspector. 



1.125     144  inspections  for  32  schools  were  carried  out  during  the  1970s,  representing  an  average  of 

          0.45 inspections per school per year. The lowest point was 1975, when the Department inspected 

          no residential or special school. 



          Other limitation on the inspections 



1.126     A significant limitation that runs through the school system was that the Department’s inspectors 

          were  in  no  position  to  promise  or  provide  additional  resources  to  schools  to  enable  them  to 

          address shortcomings and bring about improvements. Inspections and action taken on the basis 

          thereof were pursued within the context of the available resources at the relevant time. The focus 

          was confined to material and physical aspects of residential care and, until the establishment of 

          the  Child  Care  Advisor,  was  without  reference  to  the  developmental  and  emotional  needs  of 

          children.  It  would  appear  that,  in  the  main,  schools  were  given  advance  notice  of  inspector’s 

          visits and residents have described how, as a result, proper blankets, eiderdowns, dishes – never 

          otherwise used etc. – were all on display. However, unannounced visits were not uncommon and 

          were used on occasion to check on schools where concerns had arisen. The Resident Manager 

          of Letterfrack, for example, protested that Dr McCabe periodically visited the school unannounced. 



1.127     Instances of abuse would not normally be brought to the attention of inspectors during the course 

          of  a  routine inspection  of  a  school.  Occasionally,  as  in  Newtownforbes  in     1940,  inspectors 

          identified evidence of mistreatment, and in this case the threat of censure was mooted: ‘I was not 

          satisfied in finding so many of the girls in the infirmary suffering from bruises on their bodies’, Dr 

          McCabe informed the Resident Manager in a letter: ‘I wish particularly to draw attention to the 

          latter as under no circumstances can the Department tolerate treatment of this nature and you 

          being responsible for the care of these children will have some difficulty in avoiding censure.’ 



1.128     However, most of the abuse cases were not discovered as a result of normal school inspections. 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                      23 


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1.129      Official concern at conditions in the school – and also the incomplete character of the information 

           available and perhaps a feeling of helplessness – was apparent from the response of the senior 

           childcare officer in the Department of Health to the medical report of the death of a child in St 

           Joseph’s Ferryhouse. She wrote: 



                  This shocking report confirms some unofficial information that I have had over the years 

                  concerning Ferryhouse...from what I have heard the ill treatment of the boys could do with 

                  investigation also. One person who spoke to me about this matter was an inspector of 

                  the ISPCC. It is scandalous that only the death of one of the boys has led to the conditions 

                  there coming to light. 



           One-off inspections 



1.130      Sometimes particular complaints or episodes were serious enough to lead to an inspector’s being 

           sent  to  make  a  more  wide-ranging  investigation  than  the  usual  regular  visit.  The  following  are 

           examples from the Department’s records. 



1.131      In Rathdrum in December 1947 a child of three was put in to a very hot bath and died a few days 

           later from his injuries. Dr McCabe was sent to inquire and discovered that at the time the victim 

                                          1 

           was  in  the  care  of  a  14 -year-old  laundry  maid.  The  school  was  inadequately  staffed,  partly 

                                          2 



           because  the  14  nuns  in  the  Rathdrum  Convent  were  old  and  incapable.  The  next  month  Dr 

           McCabe  returned  to  see  what  improvements  had  been  made  and  wrote  the  following  internal 

           report: 



                  I informed the Resident Manager that I did not consider she had sufficient staff at present 

                  and  that  she  should  employ  at  least  two  extra  helpers  immediately,  one  religious  if 

                  possible and the other a capable woman with experience of children. She told me she 

                  accepted this suggestion and would try to meet my requirements. She then informed me 

                  that she expected a castigation since the school had been ‘in the news’ so often. I told 

                  her that the most recent episode amounted, in my opinion to criminal negligence... 



                  I then informed her that I had given her one last chance to remedy her deficiencies and 

                  that if the school had any further complaints, which on investigation proved to be true that 

                  I  would  ask  for  her  removal.  Also  I  informed  her  that  I  would  like  to  see  the  Mother- 

                  General in Carysfort and ask her aid in insisting on this Resident Manager carrying out 

                  her duties properly. 



                  One facet of the resident manager I do not like is that she is inclined to be parsimonious 

                  and  grasping  about  money  and  again  on  this  occasion  she  said  the  grant  was  not 

                  adequate. I told her not to talk nonsense that schools catering for big boys 10-16 years 

                  could very well manage and that these boys eat far more than little boys and required 

                  more clothes! I consider it would be well to follow up my visit with a letter insisting on my 

                  suggestions being carried out and warning the resident manager that if she cannot cope 

                  with the situation she will have to be replaced. 



1.132      In fact, the letter of 25th February from the Department to the Manager, which was issued on the 

           basis of this internal report, recommended an increase of two staff but did not repeat any of the 

           condemnations or threats that, according to Dr McCabe’s memo of 14th February, she had made 

           orally.  These  oral  directions  from  Dr  McCabe  as  to  how  the  school  should  be  improved  were 

           unusually specific. 



1.133      An  earlier  visit  to  Rathdrum  in  October  1944  by  the  general  inspector  gave  rise  to  an  internal 

           memo to the Assistant Secretary, prepared as part of the discussion as to whether to dismiss the 

           Resident Manager (which did not in fact happen): 



                  Since  I  was  appointed  to this  branch  I  have  frequently  drawn  attention  to the  fact  that 

                  children in industrial schools are, in general, not properly fed...This is a serious indictment 



           24                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1799-----------------------

                 of  the  system  of  management  of  industrial  schools  by  nuns.  If  the  children’s  parents 

                 subjected them to semi-starvation and lack of proper clothing and attention from which 

                 they suffer in some industrial schools, the parents would be prosecuted. No laywoman, for 

                 instance could treat children as the former resident manager of Lenaboy did and escape 

                 punishment. Evidence is not wanting that the public have a shrewd idea of the conditions 

                 in  many  of  these  schools  and  that  the  public  conscience  is  stirring.  Last  February  for 

                 instance,  the  Minister  for  Local  Government  and  Public  Health  sent  the  Minister  the 

                 following extract from a letter which he had received from Deputy B Butler: — 



                    ‘A  strong  supporter  of  ours  in  the  Ranelagh  area –  I  think  he  is  a  sort  of  Probation 

                    Officer – asked me on Monday night to pass on the hint to you that the Labour Party 

                    are about to make capital out of the fact that the children in industrial schools are being 

                    literally starved through stoppage of supplies of oaten-meal and meat. I don’t think this 

                    can be so, but he appeared very earnest and insistent.’ 



                 Dr   McCabe     and   myself   have   conducted     a  strenuous    campaign     against   this  semi- 

                 starvation. On her inspections she has attacked it in every school where she found it ... I 

                 have  followed  up  her  reports  in  all  such  cases  with  official  letters,  generally  in  strong 

                 terms. We have before us the task of uprooting the old idea that industrial school children 

                 are a class apart who have not the same human needs and rights as other children. There 

                 may have been something to this idea in the last century, but the present position is that 

                 from a material point of view, running an industrial school on an aggregate grant of about 

                 18s/3d per head per week is a business proposition and the community should get value 

                 for its money. 



1.134      Nothing more was heard of the matter. 



1.135      Another example of an effective inspection is described in an internal memo of 2nd December 

           1944 from Dr McCabe to the Assistant Secretary: 



                 We arrived unexpectedly a short time before 12 and went straight to the refectory where 

                 the dinner was set out. Dinner consisted of one big slice of bread and jam for most of the 

                 children who come in and make short work of the bread together with a tin cupful of milk 

                 (about half a pint). We were told that the rice which, according to the dietary on the wall, 

                 should have been issued, did not arrive from Cork. 



                 I took the whole up fairly strongly with the Resident Manger. She kept up appearances 

                 for  a  while  and  then  confessed  to  me  that  everything  I  said  was  true  that  things  were 

                 worse even than I thought. One of her remarks was that she thought the children so badly 

                 nourished that their little legs were hardly able to carry them and that she had warned her 

                 authorities that they would lose their certificate. At their suggestion I sent for the Revd 

                 Mother, and the secretary and myself warned her in strong terms that the situation which 

                 had  existed  there  could  not  be  tolerated  any  further.  I  pointed  out  that  the  two  other 

                 schools run by the Order in Cork-Cobh and Kinsale – were at the very top of the list in 

                 the matter of food whereas Passage West had become a kind of a bye-word. The Revd. 

                 Mother  assured  us  that  arrangements  had  been  made  to  bring  the  diet  fully  up  to  the 

                 required standard and that there would, in future, be no cause for complaint. 



1.136      A letter from the Department to the Provincial of St Joseph’s Clonmel in December 1944 began 

           by thanking the Provincial for substituting a younger Manager at the behest of the Department 

           and went on to describe conditions of considerable squalor: 



                 Incidentally, I feel bound to say a word in defence of the inspectorial system. Admittedly 

                 an inspector who visits a school like yours for one day in the year cannot get a full and 

                 complete picture of the manner in which it is conducted. All we claim is that a lady like 

                 Dr. McCabe, who spends all her time at this  work, acquires the ability to get a picture 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          25 


----------------------- Page 1800-----------------------

                 satisfactory  as  a  result  of  her  reports.  The  system  has  its  faults  but  is  there  a  better 

                 alternative? 



                 Dr.  McCabe  suggests  that  the  dormitories  should  be  washed  out  at  least  once  each 

                 month, and that one sheet should be changed on each bed weekly. The sanitary annexe 

                 should be cleaned each day, and whitewashed and pointed as required. (On the occasion 

                 of her visit it was very dirty and the walls were defiled with excrement.) The trouble here 

                 and in kindred matters is, in her opinion, due to the failure of the widow and daughter in 

                 charge to do their work properly. Apparently they got a lot of help from the boys before 

                 the School was recognised as a national school. The boy’s time is now more fully occupied 

                 by literary and trade training and apparently the cleaners have been letting things slide. 



           Kennedy on inspections 



1.137      The   Kennedy     Report   was   especially    critical of the   inspection   system.   Criticism   was   made 

           concerning the inspectors’ failure to pay attention to the circumstances of individual children, the 

           piecemeal  character  of  the  inspections  and  the  missed  opportunities.  Its  verdict  was  damning 

           though  it  should  perhaps  be  noted  that  Kennedy  was  reporting  at  a  time  when  for  personnel 

           reasons the inspection system was in a trough. The Report was made between the retirement of 

           Dr  McCabe  in  the  mid  1960s  and  the  appointment  of  Mr  Granville  in  the  mid  1970s,  in  other 

           words a period when the Department did not have an inspector with professional expertise. The 

           Report concluded: 



                 The system of inspection has, so far as we can judge, been totally ineffective. In other 

                 countries the Inspectorate acts as a link between those in the field and those in central 

                 authority.  In  this  way  the  system  ensures  that  no  one  school  or  centre  is  working  in 

                 isolation, unaware of development in other regions. This has not been the position here. 

                 There is only one Inspector and he is, in fact, the Administrative head of the RISB of that 

                 Department. His time is, primarily, taken up with the administration of his Branch rather 

                 than the inspection of the schools. 



                 We are satisfied that the statutory obligation to inspect these schools at least once a year 

                 has not always been fulfilled but, even if it had, this would not have been sufficient. There 

                 must, in addition, be meetings where ideas are exchanged and discussed – they should 

                 not be merely fault-finding missions. 



                 We have been advised by those in other countries who operate such a system that, on 

                 the basis of the figures given of those at present in residential care, [a much lower figure 

                 than formerly] approximately five or six Inspectors would be required to operate a proper 

                 inspectorate based on a central authority. In this way, every school or Residential Home 

                 could  be  visited  frequently.  Every  child’s  case  history  could  be  periodically  reviewed. 

                 These visits might be made to inspect a particular aspect of the running of the home – on 

                 other occasions they could be 24-hour visits to study the ordinary routine of the home. 

                 Faults, grievances, suggestions and requests could be examined in a general context and 

                 the inevitable result would be an overall and continuing improvement in the system. 



1.138      One  of  the  results  of  the  Kennedy  Report  was  an  overhaul  of  the  inspection  system  and  the 

           appointment of Mr Graham Granville as Child Care Advisor in 1976. The difference between the 

           previous inspection system and the post-Kennedy system was that the new Child Care Advisor’s 

           role was to inspect the schools while focusing on the individual child rather than the institution. 

           Prior  to  Mr  Granville’s   appointment,     inspectors   had   adhered    to  a  standardised    checklist   of 

           conditions,  but  in  1976  a  new  form  was  introduced.  This  new  basis  for  assessment  was  a 

           departure from the old thinking and included enquiries into psychological services and individual 

           child assessment. The welfare of the child was paramount. Mr Granville’s inspection reports also 

           referred to medical aspects of each school ensuring that appropriate health and medical services 

           were available. 



           26                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1801-----------------------

           Diet and nutrition in the schools 



1.139      The widespread underfeeding of children was of particular concern to Dr McCabe, who disagreed 

           with the Cussen Report’s findings of 1936 that had described the diet of these children as ‘on the 

           whole adequate.’ Dr McCabe instituted a system of revised diet scales, nutritional education and 

           comprehensive medical charts recording the weight and height of each child, which she used as 

           evidence of underfeeding in the schools. In a letter sent from the Department of Education to the 

           Department of Finance, recognition is given to the value of correct medical records and stated 

           that these charts ‘brought about a marked improvement’. 



1.140      The Department did try to address the near-starvation level of diet during World War II. An attempt 

           at serious thinking is shown in a letter of 13th January 1945 from the Assistant Secretary in the 

           Department to the Minister for Finance. 



                  The Medical Inspector has stated time and again that the general standard of nutrition is 

                  too low. This grave state of affairs is due, to a degree, which varies depending on the 

                  individual School, to: 



                         1.   Inability to provide adequate quantities of food owing to the rise in prices; 



                         2.   Failure to do so owing to parsimony; and 



                         3.   Failure to provide a properly balanced diet (even when the quantity is adequate) 

                              owing    to  lack  of  training  in  the   management       if institutions  for  children   and 

                              ignorance of fundamental deictic principles. 



                  As  to  (1),  the  payment  of  the  State  capitation  grant  on  all  committed  children  and  the 

                  increase from 5s to 7s per week of the State and local authority grants for children under 

                  6, (both changes took effect as from the1st of July last), have done something to ease the 

                  schools’ financial position. When pressed to improve diet, however, managers complain 

                  continually that they cannot afford to do so, or that they can do so only by economising 

                  elsewhere e.g. in clothing. The Association of Managers has applied for an emergency 

                  bonus of 5s per week per child. There is no doubt that the schools, particularly the smaller 

                  ones and those that have no farms or very small ones have a case for an emergency 

                  increase in their income if they are to be compelled to maintain, and in many cases, to 

                  improve upon, their pre-war standards of food and clothing. 



                  As to (2), the strongest possible action has been taken in all cases where the Department 

                  was  satisfied  that  parsimony  was  the  predominant  cause  of  gross  malnutrition.  Two 

                  resident  managers  have  been  removed  from  office  at  the  request  of  the  Minister  for 

                  Education. Others have been solemnly warned and will be removed in due course if there 

                  is  no  adequate  improvement.  (in  one  such  case  in  Co.  Cork  the  warning  was  given 

                  personally    by   the  Secretary     of  the  Department      accompanied       by   the   Inspector   of 

                  Reformatory and industrial Schools.) 



                  As  to  (3),  this  is  a  contributory  cause  of  malnutrition  in  all  schools,  particularly  those 

                  conducted by nuns, and an effort to eradicate it is an essential part of the general attack 

                  on malnutrition. It is proposed to have a course in institutional management next summer 

                  and  to  invite  the  Sister  or  Sisters  in  charge  of  the  catering  in  each  of  the  43  schools 

                  conducted by nuns to attend. The City of Dublin Vocational Committee will be asked to 

                                                   ´ 

                  conduct  the  course  in  Colaiste  Muire  la  Tigheas,  Cathal  Brugha  Street,  and  to  make 

                  available the services of professors on their staff who are highly skilled in those subjects. 

                  From preliminary discussions between officers of the Committee and the Department it 

                  has  been  ascertained  that  the  course  could  be  specially  designed  to  suit  the  actual 

                  conditions existing in the schools. It would deal with fundamentals of institutional cookery 

                  as applied to industrial schools needs, on costing, storage, and preparation of foodstuff. 

                  In  addition,  the  Department’s  Medical  Inspector  would  avail  of  the  opportunity  to  give 

                  some lecture on balance in diet, hygiene, etc. The course should last for four weeks. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               27 


----------------------- Page 1802-----------------------

                 Having regard to the background out of which this proposal emerges persistent pressure 

                 by the Department on the schools to spend more money on food and constant complaints 

                 from the schools that they cannot afford to do so it will be clear that the course must not 

                 involve the schools in any expense if there is to be a reasonable prospect of securing 

                 their cooperation. It is proposed to make a grant of £9 towards the expense of each nuns 

                 travelling expenses, £6 for four weeks hostel expenses in  Dublin, and £1 for materials 

                 and  part  maintenance  (they  will  eat  the  meals  they  prepare).  Nuns  from  Dublin  City 

                 schools would receive the grant of £1 only. 



1.141      In a long memo of 25th November 1944 written by Dr McCabe to a senior colleague she enclosed 

           height  and  weight  charts  as  a  background  to  her  scientific  account  of  her  attempts  to  get  the 

           schools to feed the children appropriate and nourishing food. The following quotation gives the 

          flavour: 



                 For a considerable time past I have been carrying on a campaign for an improvement in 

                 the diet scales in the industrial and Reformatory Schools. Shortly after my appointment in 

                 1939 I revised all the diet scales and advised individual schools as to deficiencies in the 

                 diet scale. On the whole I secured a measure of cooperation. I introduced many items of 

                 food to the school diet which were not then in use because they were unknown to the 

                 school managers. For a time all went well but that was in the halcyon days when food 

                 was  plentiful and  fairly  cheap.  The position  on  this regard  cannot  now  be regarded  as 

                 satisfactory. 



           Dr McCabe and the Managers 



1.142      In the early part of her career Dr McCabe was vociferous in her demands for improvements in 

           diet and conditions in the schools and was quick to inform the Managers of her dissatisfaction. In 

           a memo sent by Dr McCabe to the Department on 25th November 1944, it is clear that her reforms 

          were often met with resistance from the schools and only instituted when Departmental pressure 

          was applied: 



                 In the great majority of schools the children get a bare subsistence diet and nothing more. 

                 I have had abundant and convincing proof of this and have effected an improvement in 

                 conditions  in  some  of  the  schools  only  after  the  strongest  measures  were  used,  e.g., 

                 Lenaboy and Passage West. 



1.143     The Resident Managers often ascribed failings on their part with regard to the shelter and diet of 

          the children to the inadequate funding received from the Department. The unavailability of funds 

          was proffered as an excuse by both the Department of Education and the Resident Managers, in 

           response to many of the weaknesses cited in the inspection reports. Consequently, Dr McCabe’s 

          work was hampered by the ongoing capitation negotiations between the Congregations and the 

           Departments of Education and Finance. At the end of her period in office in 1964, she wrote: 



                 I am constantly pressing for further improvements but I am met with the same query from 

                 all  concerned  ‘Where  is  the  money  to  come  from’...  This  state  of  affairs  puts  me  in  a 

                 very  invidious  position  as  I  am  unable  to  have  the  further  improvements  envisaged  by 

                 me implemented. 



1.144      Following an inspection of Letterfrack in 1957, Dr McCabe described the difficulty she faced in 

           attempting to improve conditions in the schools: 



                 I would really like to see a number of improvements here- clothing, living conditions and 

                 cooking arrangements. I have often made suggestions but each time I feel up against a 

                 stone  wall  as  always  I am  told  increase  the  grant  –  give  more money  and  of  course  I 

                 realize their difficulties – but all the same I will have to insist on better conditions for the 

                 boys. Br. Murphy the Resident Manager is very argumentative and difficult to persuade. 



           28                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1803-----------------------

1.145      Dr  McCabe  advocated  a  strong  response  to  Resident  Managers  who  refused  to  implement 

           recommendations: in striking contrast to the usual emollient words used by the Department, her 

           correspondence with certain Resident Managers was often peppered with strong language and 

           demands for improvements. One such letter to the reverend mother of Newtownforbes in 1940, 

           in relation to unsanitary conditions and neglect of sick children, states: ‘I cannot find any excuse 

           which would exonerate you and your staff.’ The inspector felt the best course of action was to hit 

           the schools in their purses and threatened to reduce or remove state funding or certification if the 

           Resident  Managers  did  not  comply  Nevertheless,  the  Department  considered  it  ‘impolitic’  to 

           withdraw the certificates of suitability. However, Dr McCabe did succeed in having two Resident 

           Managers removed from their positions as a direct result of her inspection reports. 



           Corporal punishment 



1.146      Ensuring that the children received adequate food appears to have been Dr McCabe’s primary 

           focus; the common use of excessive corporal punishment does not figure as prominently in her 

           work. In her general report of 1964 she states: 



                 Corporal  punishment  was  very  prevalent  when  I  first  visited  the  schools,  beating  of 

                 children being quite commonplace; in addition there was a form of sadism deplored by 

                 me  the  cutting  of  girls  hair  and  the  shaving  of  boys  heads.  All  this  has  been  virtually 

                 eliminated except for the unfortunate example of the nuns in Bundoran. 



1.147      Yet,  so  far  as  one  can  make  deductions  from  a  negative,  there  exists  little  to  suggest  that  Dr 

           McCabe actively attempted to prevent the excessive physical punishment of boys. Where criticism 

           did exist it was levelled mostly against the girls schools. In 1940, upon finding girls in the infirmary 

           in  Newtownforbes  showing  signs  of  physical  abuse,  Dr  McCabe  wrote  a  scathing  letter  to  the 

           Resident Manager, in which she wrote; 



                 I was not satisfied in finding so many of the girls in the infirmary suffering from bruises on 

                 their bodies. Under no circumstances can the Department tolerate treatment of this nature 

                 and  you  being  responsible  for  the  care  of  these  children  will  have  some  difficulty  in 

                 avoiding censure. 



1.148      Conversely in a boys’ reformatory the punishment received by a number of the children appeared 

           to  contravene  Department  regulations,  Dr  McCabe  is  not  recorded  as  having  challenged  the 

           Resident Manager. In a report to the Department on the basis of a complaint from the father of a 

           resident of Daingean  concerning excessive corporal punishment,  Dr McCabe wrote: ‘I  failed to 

           discover any marks on any boy including ...’. She also made disparaging remarks about the boys 

           in general, referring to them as ‘terrorists’ and stating that the boy whose father complained ‘is an 

           unpleasant type of boy’. 



1.149      Despite  the  1946  circular  stating  that  principals  could  draw  on  the  advice  of  the  Department's 

           Medical  Inspector  'regarding  any  children  who  are  specially  troublesome  of  difficult  to  control', 

           there is no evidence that Dr McCabe offered advice on how the troublesome boys could have 

           been treated differently. The standard forms completed by Dr McCabe and the other inspectors 

           did  not  contain  references  to  issues  of  discipline  or  punishment  until  Mr  Granville,  Child  Care 

           Advisor to the Department, noted that corporal punishment was still in use in the schools. 



           Punishment book 



1.150      The requirement to keep punishment books is provided for in Rule 12 of the Department’s Rules 

           and Regulations which states: 



                 The  Manager or  his  Deputy  shall be  authorised  to punish  the  Children  detained in  the 

                 school in case of misconduct. All serious misconduct, and the Punishments inflicted for it, 

                 shall  be  entered  in  a  book  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose,  which  shall  be  laid  before  the 

                 Inspector when he visits. The Manager must, however, remember that the more closely 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           29 


----------------------- Page 1804-----------------------

                  the school is modelled on a principle of judicious family government the more salutary will 

                  be its discipline, and the fewer occasions will arise for resort to punishment. 



1.151      Department files do not provide examples of these punishment books being kept by schools or 

           ‘laid  before  the  Inspector’.  The  inspector  did  not  refer  to  the  checking  of  punishment  books  in 

           her/his inspection report but would at times record that ‘Records were well kept’. It is possible that 

           schools kept these journals for  a time and subsequently disposed of them when  they were no 

                                                                                                                  ´ 

           longer needed. On 16th December 1970, the Minister for Education informed the Dail that: ‘No 

           industrial school now keeps a punishment book’. 



           Dr McCabe’s illness 



1.152      In the early part of her career, Dr McCabe was heavily critical of the schools, reporting findings 

           very different  from the relatively  favourable conclusions in  the Cussen Report  just a few  years 

           earlier. She stated that she was ‘simply horrified at the conditions existing in the majority of the 

           Schools’. However, her reports from the 1950s show a marked decline in detail with little of the 

           critical  commentary  that  had  characterised  the  reports  of  the  1940s.  While  it  is  possible  that 

           improvements were made during her tenure, and that the schools were better resourced, it is also 

           necessary to take into consideration the fact that from the late 1940s Dr McCabe was suffering 

           from recurrent illness. 



1.153      Although  there  is  no  definitive  diagnosis  of  Dr  McCabe’s  condition,  it  is  evident  from  medical 

           reports in her Departmental personnel file that she suffered from severe depression for much of 

           the  period  during  which  she  held  the  position  of  Medical  Inspector  with  the  Department.  This 

           illness  seems  to  have  commenced  in  the  late  1940s,  with  a  severe  episode  in  1951  requiring 

           hospital therapy. 



           Unfortunately, over the following number of years Dr McCabe’s health did not improve and began 

           to deteriorate seriously in the mid-1960s. Dr McCabe resigned in 1965. 



           Part 6 Innovations and Improvements 



           Structural reforms 



1.154      Before Kennedy, there was little thought given to a fundamental overhaul of the system. One of 

           the few considerations of structural change is contained in the following brief statement. T O’R on 

           15th March 1967 wrote in an internal memo. 



                  A new development in recent years in a number of the Industrial Schools has been the 

                  introduction of the Group System. Under this system it is claimed that the children feel a 

                  greater  degree  of  security,  become  more  alert,  make  better  progress  at  school,  are 

                  generally more friendly and more easily overcome their handicaps. The Minister would be 

                  glad  if  Managers  would  give  consideration  to  this  new  development  with  a  view  to  its 

                  introduction, where possible, into their schools. 4.12.24 noted that in a small number of 

                  schools, laudable efforts are being made to break the residential portion of the school into 

                  units and encouraged stronger efforts in this direction. 



                  One  line  of  approach  to  the  problem  of  the  Industrial  Schools  is  the  provision  of  a 

                  Prevention Centre. The importance of the Prevention Centre will lie not only in the turning 

                  back of the youngsters from their first steps in delinquency and the caring for innocent 

                  youngsters from broken homes, but also in that it will reduce considerably the number of 

                  children who will be committed to industrial schools. 



                  This raises the question of the second line of approach. It is that the industrial schools 

                  will in future have to devote themselves more to rehabilitation type of work. This will mean 

                  that they will have to organise the children into smaller groups and so have to employ a 



           30                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1805-----------------------

                 much larger staff of skilled personnel. The children will, learn by doing (as Senator Quinlan 

                 mentioned in the Seanad debate on ‘Investment in Education’). 



                 It might be unwise to bring up the matter of industrial schools as we are in no position to 

                 defend our achievement as far as the size of grants goes. 



1.155     Another rare example of this fundamental question being squarely addressed comes in a letter of 

           response   by   the Department     to  criticisms  put forward   by  the  Joint  Committee     of Women’s 

           Societies and Social Workers in 1955. 



                 The slogan that ‘a poor home is better for a child than the best institution’ is alright as a 

                 catch cry but is certainly not true if is meant by a poor home a home of squalor, hunger 

                 and malnutrition, vice and bad example. People before using such slogans should become 

                 familiar  with  bad homes  and  with  institutions such  as  industrial  schools or  orphanages 

                 which   are  conducted    on   proper   lines. These    latter, at least  the  industrial  schools 

                 administered by this Department, have considerably improved in the last 12 of 15 years, 

                 mainly through (1) a consciousness on the part of the conductors following the Report of 

                 the Commission of Inquiry into the R&I. School system of 1934-36, and the passage of 

                 the 1941 Children Act of the need for improvement standards in the schools, (2) efficient 

                 and  regular   inspection,   (3) the  Course    in  Childcare   in  1953   for nuns   engaged     in 

                 Orphanages  and  Industrial  Schools.  The  improvements  resulting  from  this  Course  are 

                 becoming evident as time goes on. 



                 With regard to the recommendation of the Women’s Committee the following comments 

                 are made in the order set forth in the Joint Committee’s letter. 



                        1.  That  the  maximum  number  in  any  institution  should  not  exceed  250.  The  only 

                            school which accommodates more than 250 is Artane. The question of breaking 

                            up  that  school  into  smaller  schools  was  recommended  by  the  Commission  of 

                            Inquiry  1934-36    but  nothing   came    if it mainly  due   to  the  opposition   of the 

                            conductors and the extra huge expenditure involved. I consider that in fact 250 is 

                            altogether  too  big  a  number  for  a  school  and  that  50-100  would  be  the  ideal 

                            number. 



                       2.   Division of children into groups. 



                 Kilkenny   Girls  School   (accommodation      130)   and   St.  Georges    Limerick   (170)  have 

                 introduced the group system. (Kilkenny in 1952 and Limerick quite recently). This means 

                 the grouping of the girls over 6 years of age in sections of 30 approx-each section under 

                 the  care  of  a  nun  who  acts  as  ‘House  mother’.  In  Kilkenny  each  section  has  its  own 

                 Dormitory, Dining Room, Living Room. I attach a description of the grouping system as 

                 given by Sr. Laurentia for the Kilkenny school at the Child Course held in Carysfort College 

                 in August, 1953. 



                 The  group  system  is  new  to  our  schools.  It  involves  the  school  in  extra  staff  and  in 

                 considerable expenditure to adapt the accommodation to the system. It is probable that 

                 with a little encouragement and coaxing form the Departments schools. The question of 

                 adopting it in boy’s schools, both senior and junior would present more difficulties than in 

                 the case of girl’s schools. 



           Closure 



1.156     The schools’ population peaked in the late 1940s. There was a steady decline in numbers through 

          the 1950s and the process accelerated in the 1960s. The Department of Education noted as early 

           as 1951 that since 1945 there had been an average of 250 vacancies in the Boys’ Schools. 



1.157      In 1955, the subject of closure was tentatively mentioned by the Secretary of the Department of 

           Education  in  negotiations  with  representatives  of  the  schools.  In  a  letter  from  the  Minister  for 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        31 


----------------------- Page 1806-----------------------

           Education to the Minister for Finance on 21st January 1965, the former noted ruefully that Finance 

           had been urging closures for years and then continued: 



                 Naturally your main concern is economy while mine is the upbringing of children. Certain 

                 aspects   of the  matter   of transferring   children  to other   schools   have   to be  carefully 

                 considered. Many children have god-parents in their school localities and quite a number 

                 of children  attend   schools,   national,  secondary    and  vocational   outside   the  industrial 

                 school.  It  may  not  be  possible  to  accommodate  such  children  suitably  if  transferred  to 

                 another district. 



1.158      In  1950,  there  were  50  Industrial  Schools.  In  the  1950s  five  schools  closed:  four  senior  boys 

           schools – Baltimore (1950); Killybegs (1950); Carriglea (1954); and Greenmount, Cork (1959) and 

           one girls school, Sligo (1958); but in the case of each of the boys’ schools there were particular 

           reasons that were at least as significant as the general trend. The next closure was Birr, Offaly 

           (1963).  During  1964-70,  17  more  schools,  more  than  a  third  of  the  total,  closed,  including  the 

           senior  boys’  schools  at  Upton,  Glin  and  Clonmel,  in  each  case  with  the  full  agreement  of  the 

           Orders concerned. By the time of the Kennedy Report in 1970, another 13 had closed leaving a 

          total of 29 still operating. 



1.159     The impression is that the closures that did occur pre-Kennedy (1970) did not come about because 

          the Department pursued a coherent policy and took a considered decision to bring them about. 

          The  closures  happened  because  the  Orders  wished  them.  On  23rd  May  1966,  the  Managers’ 

          Association wrote to the Department: 



                 At their meeting on last Friday there was a consensus of opinion amongst the Resident 

                 Manager that most of the Schools will be forced to close. 



                 If the present system is not acceptable to the public or the Government the Managers are 

                 prepared to close the schools next year, because they feel that the strain of working under 

                 present-day conditions is too acute to be continued. 



1.160      Making allowance for some element of bluff in this letter, it is unlikely that the schools would have 

           expressly  raised  such  a  fundamental  issue  as  closure  unless  they  believed  that  matters  had 

           reached  crisis  point.  In  1968,  the  Manager  of  Artane  visited  the  Minister  to  warn  him  that  the 

           Christian Brothers had decided to close Artane, though this closure did not in fact occur until 1969. 



1.161      One feature of the timing of most of the closures is that they coincided with the doubling in demand 

          for secondary school places, which followed on the abolition of secondary school fees. This was 

           announced suddenly by the Minister for Education, Mr O’Malley, in 1966 and came into effect in 

          August 1967. As a result, enrolment in day secondary schools rose from 148,000 in 1966-67 to 

           239,000 in 1974-75. 



           Part 7 The beginnings of change 



1.162      Both the public and the authorities began to lose confidence in the Industrial School system at 

          the same time. The Christian Brothers believed the ‘public had turned against them’, the image 

           of the schools having being damaged by ‘negative newspaper and television coverage ... and by 

           criticism from professional sociologists, [and even from] the clergy and the bishops’. The Christian 

           Brothers  referred  also  to  ‘Authorities  charged  with  improving  social  matters’,  who  they  felt  had 

           become ‘hostile to schools such as Artane... County Councils, the Department of Health and those 

          various organisations involved with the care of children would prefer to put them in foster homes 

           or with families, anywhere but in institutions such as Artane’. 



           32                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1807-----------------------

1.163     At the same time, there were various practical improvements in the schools, mostly because of 

          rising  economic  prosperity  in  the  1960s.  The  following  contemporary  account,  from  Michael 

          Viney’s 1966 Irish Times series, provides some examples: 



                A hundred boys is probably the most any one centre should contain, if the staff are to 

                have any chance of treating them as individuals. So consideration of closing Upton and 

                Letterfrack has not been without its ironies. For a hundred boys, more or less, is just what 

                each  of  them  has  now.  They  were  built,  of  course,  to  hold  far  more,  and  the  present 

                capitation  system  makes  it  uneconomic  to  run  them  at  less  than  three-quarters  full  – 

                about double their present population. Both Upton and Letterfrack have undergone major 

                reconstructions  and  improvements  in  the  last  few  years.  The  Department  of  Education 

                has   granted   large  sums    to build  or  convert  new   classroom    wings   and   the  orders 

                themselves    have   borrowed    heavily  from   the  banks   to pay   for other,  very  welcome 

                improvements. So just as these schools have been brightened out of all recognition, their 

                future has never seemed more uncertain. 



          Reports and other indicators 



          (1) OECD Report 



1.164     In 1961 one of a set of national surveys, a wide-ranging study of Irish education and training by 

          economic experts, was prepared by officials from the Department of Education in cooperation with 

          the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), under the chairmanship 

          of the economist and ex-civil servant, Professor Patrick Lynch. It included a section dealing with 

          the treatment of children in detention. This section criticised the operation of the schools attributing 

          many of their defects to the inadequacy of the capitation grant and also the substantial surplus 

          capacity within the schools, especially the girls schools, where there was only 37 percent utilisation 

          of space. 



          (2) The Commission on Mental Handicap 



1.165     In 1965 the Commission on Mental Handicap raised doubts about institutionalisation in a wider 

          context. Its report observed at para 138: 



                Orphans and unwanted and illegitimate children are a very vulnerable group. Many fail to 

                realise their potential through loss of firm ties of affection, lack of stimulation and absence 

                of  suitable  adults  to provide   a  feeling  of security  and   to meet   their  emotional   and 

                psychological    needs.   Legal  adoption,   where   it is possible,  is  undoubtedly    the  most 

                satisfactory method of dealing with the problem....family care is preferable to care in an 

                institution.... We are well aware of the wonderful work carried out in these institutions and 

                our regret is that because of a lack of appreciation of the psychological and emotional 

                needs  of  children  or  because  of  inadequate  staffing,  the  best  results  are  not  always 

                achieved. 



          (3) The Inter-Departmental Committee on Crime Prevention and Treatment of Offenders 



1.166     In  September  1962  an  Interdepartmental  Committee  was  established  to  inquire  into  possible 

          approaches  to  the  prevention  of  crime  and  the  treatment  of  offenders.  The  Committee  was 

          composed of senior officials of the Departments of Justice, Health, Education and Industry and 

          Commerce. Its proceedings concerning Fr Moore’s views on Artane are discussed in the chapter 

          on that institution (Volume I, Chapter 7). 



1.167     The   Committee’s    more   general   recommendations      as  to  Industrial and   Reformatory    Schools 

          anticipated those of Kennedy in some respects and echoed Cussen in others. One of its central 

          recommendations  was  the  introduction  of  proper  aftercare  supervision,  the  lack  of  which  they 

          viewed as ‘a most grievous fault in the system’. 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       33 


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           (4) The Tuairim Report 



1.168      The  Tuairim  Report  of  1966  was  another  harbinger  of  change  and  bookmarked  a  change  in 

           thinking  within  the  Department.  Tuairim  was  a  private  group  interested  in  publishing  ideas  for 

           practical,  social  or  governmental  reform.  One  of  its  best-known  reports  entitled  ‘Some  of  our 

           children’  evaluated    the  certified  schools   system    in Ireland.   In some    ways    its content   also 

           anticipated  that  of  the  Kennedy  Report.  The  Tuairim  Report  drew  attention  to  the  ‘failure  to 

           implement, other than a few’, the recommendations of the Cussen Commission. The Department 

           of Education concurred with a number of Tuairim’s findings and stated in an internal memo ‘it is 

           true that the whole system is in need of complete overhaul’. 



           (5) A play at the Abbey Theatre 



1.169      On 30th January 1961 a play by Richard Johnson,  The Evidence I Shall Give, was premiered at 

           the Abbey Theatre. It ran for 42 performances, and then was restaged in July of that year when 

           it ran for a further nine. It returned in August for 21 more, in September for nine, and finally in 

           October for six. Such a run, with a total of 87 performances, was most unusual. 



1.170      The author was a District Court judge. The play depicted a day in the life of a District Justice and 

           the  principal  case  was  an  application  to  have  a  13-year-old  female  inmate  of  an  orphanage 

           transferred to an Industrial School because her alleged disobedience made discipline impossible. 

           The protagonists were the defending solicitor, who was a kind and humane character, and who 

           argued that ‘small children need kissing and caressing’ and the Mother Superior of the home, who 

           was unloving and was driven by the need to enforce severe discipline and through it to bring the 

           children ‘to humility’. 



1.171      The children had been committed because their father could not afford to engage a woman to 

           look after his six children. The solicitor then calculated that with the capitation fee of £2.10s per 

           week per child, the Order was being paid £390 for the three sisters, and the other institution was 

           being paid £370 for the other three. ‘Will you agree’, he asked the mother-general, ‘that for £150 

           a year he could have got somebody to look after all six?’ 



1.172      The play ended with the young girl removing the scarf covering her head to reveal it to be shaven, 

           her punishment for absconding. The solicitor then addressed the court, saying ‘...what a dreadful 

           commentary on our so-called Christian State that the soul of a little child should be thus crucified 

           in order to instil humility’. 



1.173      Far from being controversial, the message of the play was well received by the audience and its 

           success reflected the readiness of the public to hear the criticisms made by the play. 



           The Kennedy Report 



1.174      In retrospect, the establishment of the Kennedy Committee to review Reformatory and Industrial 

           Schools    seems    more   like  an  obituary   than   a  death   warrant   for  the  existing  system.    In a 

           memorandum prepared by Tarlach O’Raifeartaigh, the Secretary, for the Minister for Education in 

           March 1967, he suggested that it would be ‘well worth considering whether the whole problem of 

           reformatory and industrial schools should not be our next major target’. The Minister, Mr O’Malley, 

           said he had always ‘felt deeply’ that children in care there had ‘a very special claim on society’. 



1.175      Formally, both the Department and the Minister emphasised that a revision of the existing schools 

           system should not be construed as an adverse reflection upon the management of schools by the 

           religious  Orders,  which  deserved  praise  for  the  ‘excellent  manner’  in  which  the  schools  were 

           conducted.  However,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Minister  O’Malley  privately  suspected  that  harsh 

           conditions were pervasive in the schools as is evident from an informal remark to his Department’s 



           34                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           representative on the Kennedy Committee: ‘I’m depending on you to see that this whole area is 

           properly cleaned up. I’m behind you.’ 



           Kennedy’s recommendations 



1.176      The  Committee  made  a  crucial  finding  in  relation  to  the  existing  system.  Paragraph  4.2  of  the 

           Report said that: 



                 ...there is, in general, a lack of awareness of the needs of the child in care. By this we do 

                 not mean physical needs which are, in the main, adequately if unimaginatively catered 

                 for. We are referring to the need for love and security. All children experience these needs 

                 from their earliest days; the child who has suffered deprivation has an even greater need 

                 for them. 



1.177      Noting   that  most   of those   working    in Industrial  Schools    and  Reformatories     had   little if any 

           qualifications,   the   Report    recommended:       proper    training,   the  transfer   of   administrative 

           responsibility for childcare to the Department of Health, and the system of payment on a capitation 

           basis to be replaced by a system based on agreed budgets so as to encourage improvement in 

           the children’s circumstances. However the Committee’s major recommendation was that: 



                 The  whole  aim  of  the  Child  Care  system  should  be  geared  towards  the  prevention  of 

                 family  breakdown  and  the  problems  consequent  on  it.  The  committal  or  admission  of 

                 children  to  Residential  Care  should  be  considered  only  when  there  is  no  satisfactory 

                 alternative. 



1.178      Like  the  Cussen  Commission  before  it,  the  Kennedy  Committee  also  supported  the  view  that 

           Resident Managers should have detailed knowledge of each child under their care. It was also 

           agreed that a proper system of determining a child’s background and capabilities was essential 

           in preventing an escalation of anti-social behaviour or educational disadvantage. In the Kennedy 

           Report it was concluded that: 



                 As the system operates at present, a child is often admitted or committed to the care of 

                 the school manager, who knows little, if anything, about the child's background. This can 

                 lead  to  great  difficulties,  particularly  in  the  case  of  delinquent  children,  or  those  with 

                 delinquent  or  anti-social  tendencies.  The  child  may  be  retarded,  suicidal,  homicidal  or 

                 homosexual, but the school authorities have no way of knowing this and by the time they 

                 learn it, much damage may have been done. 



           Part 8 The Department’s handling of complaints 



1.179      The chapters in Volumes I and II on the schools recount many instances of complaints that came 

           to the notice of the Department and the manner in which they were handled. Those cases are not 

           repeated here and the following remarks are confined to general issues. 



           Complaints from parents and members of the public 



1.180      The  Department  of  Education  wrote  to  the  Kennedy  Committee  to  explain  its  procedures  for 

           dealing with complaints from the public: 



                 Upon receipt of a complaint from a parent or guardian about the treatment of a child in 

                 an  industrial  school,  the  Manager  is  furnished  with  a  copy  of  the  complaint  and  his 

                 observations are requested. Depending on the seriousness of the complaint the Inspector 

                 of  Reformatory     and   Industrial  schools   will  also  interview   the  child  and   the  school 

                 authorities and take appropriate action where necessary. 



1.181      The Department also told the Committee it had ‘no complete record of all complaints received’ as 

           many  were  of  a  ‘trivial  nature’.  It  provided  the  Committee  with  nine  examples  of  complaints 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           35 


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          received in the previous five years, all but two of which were deemed to be baseless. Mr Mac 

          Uaid, an executive officer in the Department, wrote on another occasion: ‘Complaints about the 

          treatment of children in industrial schools are not infrequent but from experience I would say that 

          the majority are exaggerated and some even untrue.’ 



1.182     The  Department’s  submission  to  the  Commission  to  Inquire  into  Child  Abuse  summarised  the 

          situation: 



                The procedure for dealing with parent’s complaints was to refer them to the Manager of 

                the  school  for  consideration  and  depending  on  the  response  of  the  Manager  and  the 

                seriousness of the complaint to determine whether the matter should be pursued with the 

                school management. There does not appear to have been a defined system of assessing 

                the seriousness of a parental complaint and generally the Department did not interview 

                the parent or child concerned... There is no indication that complaints supported by public 

                representatives were taken more seriously than others. 



1.183     It added: 



                There  is  also  evidence  to  suggest  that  in  many  cases  the  Department  accepted  the 

                explanations  given  by  the  Resident  Manager  when  complaints  were  brought  to  his/her 

                attention and that the Department may have viewed some complaints with a degree of 

                scepticism. 



1.184     The Department’s submission also stated: 



                Where complaints were aired in the public media, the Department appears to have been 

                concerned to protect the reputation of the school while privately addressing concerns with 

                the religious order. 



          Enforcement 



1.185     At  the  conclusion  of  the  Department’s  investigation  of  a  complaint  or  episode,  some  kind  of 

          judgement  had  to  be  reached.  The  Department  generally  gave  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  to  the 

          school. Where an adverse conclusion was reached, the question of sanction, if any, depended on 

          the nature of the complaint. One possibility where a member of staff was personally culpable was 

          the removal of the staff member, which did happen but only on a very few occasions. As each 

          side knew, there was also the ultimate sanction of derecognition, but, as each side also knew, 

          this was the nuclear option, to which there were big disadvantages from the Department’s point 

          of view. 



1.186     •    The Department did not have a system for examining and investigating complaints. It 

                had a system that managed complaints in a way that minimised adverse publicity and 

                scandal.  Its  trust  in  the  religious  Congregations  led  to  a  sceptical  approach  that 

                rejected complaints in the majority of cases. The Department relied on the Resident 

                Managers to respond to complaints and tackle the issues raised. This approach was 

                a serious failure of the Department’s supervisory role. 



          36                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           Part 9 Missing files 



           Introduction 



1.187      The principal sources of documentary evidence in relation to Industrial and Reformatory Schools 

           are: 



                  •    the Department of Education and Science; 

                  •    other Departments of State including the Department of Health and Children and the 

                        Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform; 



                  •    the archives of the Congregations that managed the schools and reformatories. 



1.188      Records  on  Industrial  Schools  comprise  a  wide  range  of  internal  Departmental  files,  covering 

           areas such as: certification, general inspection and medical inspection. Registers on all children 

           who were admitted to the schools through the courts also exist and in some of these cases there 

           are files with varying degrees of detail on individual children. The completion of a comprehensive 

           archivist exercise on these records by the Department has resulted in the creation of a database 

           of approximately 36,000 entries. 



           Archival and discovery reports 



1.189      In 1996 the archives of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools were catalogued by an archives 

           and  records  management  company,  at  the  behest  of  the  Department  of  Education  and  the 

           National Archives. The records relating to the schools were mostly kept in the basement of Talbot 

           House,  a  building  on  the  grounds  of  the  Department  of  Education  headquarters,  Marlborough 

           Street, Dublin. In April 1998 the company submitted its final report to the Department. It noted the 

           poor   storage   conditions   in  which   these   sensitive  documents      were   kept,  so  much    so   that 

           documents had to be cleaned before cataloguing could begin. Its findings were: 



            (1)  Case files and registers: 



                  •    a total of 41,714 entries made in registers and case files 

                  •    there were no registers or case files for three schools. 



            (2)  Certification files: 



                  •    72 entries in the certification files. 



            (3)  Administrative files: 



                  •    792 entries in the administration files. 



            (4)   Miscellaneous registers 



                  •    31 entries in the miscellaneous registers. 



1.190      In  1999  Dr  Gerard  Cronin  undertook  to  complete  a  report  on  the  Reformatory  and  Industrial 

           Schools’  Archives  in  Athlone.  In  his  ‘Initial  Report  on  the  Reformatory  &  Industrial  Schools’ 

           Archives Athlone’ Dr Cronin stated: 



                 ...every so often I have come across items (sometimes misfiled) which directly or indirectly 

                 throw  unfavourable  or  critical  light  on  the  conditions  which the  young  offenders  had  to 

                 endure at the Daingean School. 



1.191      In 2004 Mr Noel Dempsey TD, the Minister for Education and Science, appointed Mr Matthias 

           Kelly  QC  to  conduct  an  independent  review  and  report  on  the  provision  of  discovery  by  the 

           Department of Education and Science to the Commission. There was a particular background to 

           this decision, which is explained at para 6 of Mr Kelly’s report: 



                 There has been criticism of the way in which the Department of Education and Science 

                 has  handled  the  process  of  discovery  of  documents  to  the  Commission.  In  the  Third 



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                 Interim Report, Ms Justice Laffoy recorded that the Commission were not satisfied that 

                the department had complied fully with an order for discovery. There were concerns that 

                the process of discovery was experiencing problems. It was against this background that 

                 I was asked to undertake this review. 



1.192      His main objectives were: 



                  (1)   to  review  the  processes  and  procedures  operated  by  the  Department  of  Education 

                        and Science in main discovery to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse; and 



                  (2)   to  make  such  recommendations  as  are  appropriate  in  relation  to  discovery  by  the 

                        Department of Education and Science. 



1.193     Although  the  Department  had  disclosed  its  historic  archive  to  the  Commission  voluntarily,  this 

          archive did not contain the total number of files relevant to the work of the Commission. Files not 

           included and identified by Mr Kelly QC were: 



                  •   27,000 pupil files; 

                  •    incomplete and early discharge papers; 

                  •   the working papers of the Kennedy working party; 

                  •    material separately held in safe storage within the Department; 

                  •    incident books; 

                  •    precedent books; 

                  •    miscellaneous files one would expect to find. 



          (1) 27,000 missing pupil files 



1.194     The   3rd  Interim   Report   by  CICA   describes   how    the  Department    of  Education   sent   to the 

          Commission a ‘Database of Former Residents of Reformatory and Industrial School’, containing 

          approximately 42,000 entries of pupils who were committed by the courts to Reformatories and 

           Industrial Schools during the allotted timeframe relevant to the Commission; however the database 

          does  not  contain  records  of  pupils  placed  in  Industrial  Schools  by  local  authorities  under  the 

           Public Assistance Acts or the Health Acts or voluntary placements. The Department should be in 

           possession of 41,000 pupil files. However files exist relating to only 14,000 pupils, therefore 27,000 

           pupil  files  are  missing.  Of  these  27,000  files,  18,000  relate  to  children  who  were  admitted  to 

           institutions from 1936 onwards. From 1960 onwards the Department is in possession of virtually 

           100  percent  of  pupil  records.  Matthias  Kelly  concluded  that  these  files  were  thrown  out  in  the 

           Department’s ‘general clear out’. 



          (2) Incomplete and early discharge files 



1.195      Early discharge papers relate to applications made by parents to the Department to have their 

          children released from institutional care. Some of the discharge papers are missing and in other 

          cases the record in relation to the individual is incomplete and some of these applications may 

           have been placed on the individual child’s pupil file. The Department has a register of applications 

          for early discharge dated 1951-60 only. Matthias Kelly stated within his report the importance of 

          these records for former Industrial School pupils, emphasising the need for these people to know 

          that their parents tried to ensure their release from the schools. Mr Kelly concluded that the papers 

          were lost as a result of the ‘general clear out’. 



          (3) The Kennedy working papers 



1.196     The report of Matthias Kelly concluded that the 10 working papers of the Kennedy Commission 

          were missing. Subsequently, in May 2004, seven of the working papers were given to CICA, and 

          an eighth was handed over in 2007. Mr Kelly in his report stated ‘In my view those working papers 



          38                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1813-----------------------

          are or may be relevant to the work of the Commission.’ However his report concluded that the 

          Department had done all within its capabilities to locate the two papers. 



          (4) Material separately held in safe storage within the Department 



1.197     In his evidence before the Commission Mr Liam Kilroy, when asked about the process of storing 

          files, suggested it was a practice within the Department to store documents in a separate filing 

          cabinet if the official was personally involved or the file was deemed unsuitable for general filing. 

          He explained: ‘If it was an issue with which I was personally involved ..., then I would retain the 

          papers in my room, in my office.’ 



1.198     Furthermore in his evidence before CICA on 4th March 2003 Mr Paddy Matthews referred to the 

          use of a safe to hold sensitive and confidential files. Mr Matthews claimed that Mr Luttrel, Head 

          of Document Registry Unit, kept confidential files in a little safe in the document registry in Tyrone 

          House. When asked what type of documents were kept in this safe, Mr Matthews replied: ‘I am 

          only going on what I heard now, but that any offences with a suggestion of a sexual offence in 

          them were kept there.’ Although the Kelly Report stated that all reasonable steps had been taken 

          regarding the issue of safe storage, Mr Matthews later went on to state that he too had a safe in 

          his office, which contained documents of a ‘sexual nature’. He said he had no log of the documents 

          contained therein. In further evidence before CICA, Mr Matthews claimed that he had only ever 

          heard of one complaint of a sexual nature (relating to Clonmel) He added:  ’I cannot remember 

          any other complaint now, to tell you the truth. I think if there was, I would have heard it.’ 



1.199     The report prepared by Mathias Kelly QC was critical of the way the Department had kept sensitive 

          papers on the Clonmel sexual abuse allegations in a temporary folder. 



1.200     The  file  known  as  TN030,  short  for  Temporary  Number  030,  was  kept  in  Liam  Kilroy’s  private 

          office. Liam Kilroy went on to affirm knowledge of two other files in his office relating to abuse – 

          Lisnagary in Limerick, Daughters of Charity (Q 20) and Finglas Children’s Centre. 



1.201     Mr Kelly concluded, however, that the case of TN030 was an isolated one and that in any large 

          organisation there will be the occasional instance of documents being wrongly filed and individual 

          idiosyncratic filing. He concluded, ‘I cannot, therefore, attach any weight to the suggestion that 

          “sensitive” documents were stored separately.’ 



          (5) Incident books 



1.202     Incident  books,   sometimes    called ‘log books’,   were  kept  by  the  various  schools   to record 

          significant incidents or events within the schools or institutions. Matthias Kelly concluded: 



                The  Secretary  General  has  assured  me  that  the  Department  does  not  generally  hold 

                incident books at all. The point is made, that if such books do exist, and I would expect 

                that such books do exist, they will be held by the various institutions themselves. 



          (6) Precedent books 



1.203     The  precedent  book  was  a  record  of  decisions  made  relating  to  the  certified  schools  system, 

          catalogued   in one   place  to allow  for administrative  ease.   Mr  Matthews,   a  former  Assistant 

          Secretary within the Department of Education, made reference to the existence of such a book in 

          his evidence before the Commission. He stated that: 



                the precedent book should still be there. No, there is no reason why it shouldn’t, because 

                all the sections in the place, it was an essential feature of Government business, to know 

                what the precedents were, just the same as in law. 



1.204     However Mr Kelly concluded: ‘In my view there is no hard or reliable evidence that the book, as 

          described, ever existed.’ 



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          (7) Miscellaneous files one would expect to find 



1.205     This category refers to the general gaps in information regarding the Department of Education’s 

          running of the Industrial Schools system. These files include certification files, general and medical 

          inspection reports, internal Departmental memos, letters and general correspondence. 



          Sex abuse files 



1.206     The Department of Education Statement to CICA in May 2006 stated: 



                There are few cases of reported sexual abuse in the industrial and reformatory schools 

                recorded in Departmental files (7 in all). We have no record of sexual of abuse issues 

                surfacing during the course of normal inspections. 



1.207     The seven abuse files are: 



                 •    Upton 1945 

                 •    Kilkenny 1954 

                 •    Ennis 1956 

                 •    Daingean 1959 

                 •    Artane 1960 

                 •    Mr Brander 

                 •    TN030. 



1.208     Ms Bridgid McManus, Secretary General of the Department of Education, gave evidence before 

          CICA on 13th June 2006. In light of the absence of Departmental records relating to incidents of 

          sexual abuse in the Industrial Schools and Reformatories over which the Department of Education 

          presided,  Ms  McManus  was  asked  if  any  efforts  were  made  to  ascertain  from  old  employees, 

          retired  employees  or  even  existing  employees  of  the  Department  who  worked  in  the  relevant 

          section, whether incidents of abuse may have been passed on to the Department, but were not 

          reflected in the files. All senior administrative staff in the Department, at principal officer level and 

          upward, and all existing and former Department inspectors were contacted. Following this line of 

          questioning  CICA  was  furnished  with  the  responses  received  by  the  Department  from  former 

          officials within the section; these responses did not give any information regarding undocumented 

          cases of sexual abuse. 



1.209     Subsequently  other  former  staff  members  who  had  previously  worked  in  the  RISB  or  Special 

          Education Section were contacted regarding specifically: 



                 •    the historic management and storage of files relating to the Industrial and Reformatory 

                      School system; 



                 •    their knowledge of any destruction or purging of such files; 

                 •     any   information   they  may    hold  with  regard   to  missing   files  or  gaps   in the 

                       Department’s records; 



                 •    departmental files relating to the Kennedy Committee; 

                 •    the use of a safe to hold sensitive and confidential files. 



1.210     With regard to information ascertained from these efforts the Department of Education informed 

          CICA that: 



                While  these  interviews provided  information  in  relation to  the  destruction  in 1958/59  of 

                some industrial and reformatory ledgers which predated the 1900s, they did not throw any 

                light on any of the other matters mentioned above or on any particular arrangements for 

                holding sensitive or confidential records in relation to incidents of abuse. 



          40                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           Mr Brander and TN030 



  1.211    The case of Mr Brander and the file entitled TN030 are of most relevance to this chapter. 



  1.212    In September 1997, the Gardai in Tullamore, County Offaly, wrote to the Department of Education 

                                               ´ 

           (Primary  Branch)  informing  them  that  Mr  Brander,  a  former  principal  of  Walsh  Island  National 

           School, was the subject of a Garda investigation. The investigation related to incidents that took 

           place during Mr Brander ’s time in Walsh Island. The Gardai requested any information regarding 

                                                                                  ´ 

           complaints the Department may have received during the time in question. The Department stated 

           that they conducted a ‘thorough search... Primary and Second Level Branches, but nothing came 

           to light at the time’. In January 1998 a file containing papers relating to Mr Brander was discovered 

           in Second Level Branch, Athlone. The papers included a letter, sent to the Department on 27th 

           May 1982, by Mr Rothe who identified himself as a national teacher, living in Edenderry, alleging 

           sexual abuse of boys by Mr Brander. Although a number of internal memos were found discussing 

           a possible course of action, no reply to Mr Rothe was found amongst the papers. 



  1.213    Among these memos was correspondence from a higher executive officer, dated October 1983, 

           stating than there were no records regarding Mr Brander as his cards and appointment file were 

           missing. 



  1.214    The full story of this man’s career of abuse is told in Volume I Chapter 14. 



  1.215    TN030 is a Department of Education file titled ‘Meeting with Clonmel Authorities, Wednesday 04th 

           December 1996’; the TN refers to the ‘Temporary Number’ assigned to this file. Contained within 

           this file is correspondence between the Department of Education and Science and the Rosminian 

           Order who operate St Joseph’s Special School, Ferryhouse, Clonmel. In particular it deals with a 

           series of contacts from 1980-97 between Departmental officials and the institution and refers to 

           incidents of child sexual abuse in the 1970s that are discussed in detail in Volume II Chapter 3. 



  1.216    In total there were three separate allegations made to the Department. 



  1.217    The  Commission  learned  about  the  existence  of  these  allegations  following  the  receipt  of  a 

           statement from a former Manager of St Joseph’s Special School. The Department had been made 

           aware of allegations of abuse as early as 1979. The Investigation Committee conducted a through 

           search of the documents given to them by the Department, but no file relating to these reports of 

           sexual abuse were discovered. 



  1.218    Following correspondence with the Chief State Solicitors office, the file relating to these matters 

           was  located  and  furnished  to  the  Commissions.  The  full  account  of  the  cases  appears  in  the 

           chapter on Ferryhouse Industrial School (Volume II Chapter 3). 



           Renmore 



  1.219    In  1969,  during  a  routine  inspection  of  Renmore,  a  Department  of  Education  inspector  was 

           approached by a 15-year-old boy who claimed to have been sexually abused by a senior member 

           of the staff of the school. Following questioning of the boy the inspector became satisfied that he 

           was telling the truth and informed his superior in the Department of Education, the Provincial of 

           the Brothers of Charity and the school Manager. 



  1.220    The Manager told the inspector  that he would investigate the complaint and within  a matter of 

           days informed him that the Brother had admitted to the sexual abuse of the boy and had been 

           transferred to a psychiatric hospital. 



  1.221    The inspector’s superior in the Department of Education requested a written report on the matter. 

           The  Department of  Education  were  unable to  produce  this report  and  consider  it missing.  The 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              41 


----------------------- Page 1816-----------------------

          report  was  last  seen  in  the  Department  in  1989  by  an  inspector.  The  Department  believe  it  is 

          impossible to say how or when the report went missing. 



          St Joseph’s Cabra 



1.222     A teacher in St Joseph’s Cabra was the cause of numerous complaints between 1980 and 1985. 

          The  matter  was  being  investigated  by  the  Department  of  Education,  which  had  withheld  his 

          teaching diploma pending investigation of the complaints. 



1.223     Fifty  nine  St  Joseph’s  teacher  files  were  furnished  to  the  Commission  by  the  Department  of 

          Education, but this teacher’s file was not among them. A letter dated 10th October 2007 from the 

          Chief State Solicitor’s office confirmed that the Department’s file register had a record of the file. 

          The letter also stated that the file could not be located and that the Department had no record of 

          any complaints in respect of this teacher prior to 1985. 



          Lota missing files 



1.224     Several files relating to Lota were also missing. The files, which should have been given to the 

          Commission  but  which  had  not  been  located,  were  listed  by  the  Department.  These  files  are 

          described as having gone missing since 2001 when they were catalogued. The Department gave 

          no explanation as to why these files have gone missing. 



          Concluding comment 



1.225     The Department of Education bore responsibility for the children placed by the State in its 

          care. There was no other body to watch over the interests of one of the most vulnerable 

          groups in the community. 



1.226     The Department retained the Industrial and Reformatory School system inherited in 1922, 

          making only a few minor changes when circumstances demanded them. The Department 

          continued to see itself, as Richard Mulcahy, the Minister for Education, put it, as ‘the man 

          with the oil-can’ who goes around attending to squeaks but makes no fundamental change 

          to the machinery. 



1.227     The unit dealing with the schools was at a very low level in the hierarchy of the Department. 

          It had considerable powers, but it lacked the initiative and authority to do anything more 

          than  maintain  the  status  quo,  and  keep  the  costs  down.  When  alternative  strategies  for 

          helping children in care emerged, such as boarding out, they were ignored. The Department 

          of Education’s submission to the Commission stated: 



                We do not have any records to suggest that this was actively considered by the 

                Department.     The   Department      did  not  see   itself as  having    an  active   policy  or 

                operational role in the committal of children to institutions and it seems likely that 

                it would have taken the view that the question of boarding out was a matter for the 

                Department of Health. 



           Could the government have done more to make the schools better run? 



1.228     Assuming that the Industrial Schools or something like them would have had to exist for 

          some children, much could have been done by the Department of Education to improve 

          their operation. 



1.229     The Department was, firstly, lacking in detailed information. The inspections were too few 

          and  too  limited  in  scope.  The  failure  to  insist  on  an  external  review  on  at  least  two 

          occasions during the period between Cussen and Kennedy was supine. The need for some 

          kind   of  external   informed    supervision     of  the  certified  schools    is  self-evident.   If the 



          42                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1817-----------------------

         Department had been in possession of better information about the schools, it would have 

         been   in a  stronger  position  to  exercise  control.  In addition,  greater  openness   would 

         probably have reduced the level of abuse: sunshine is the best disinfectant. It is plain too 

         from the chapters on individual schools that officials did know of many of the abuses that 

         were going on in the schools. 



1.230    The Department of Education should have exercised more of its ample legal powers over 

         the schools in the interests of the children. The power to remove a Manager given to the 

         Department  in  1941  should  have  been  exercised  or  even  threatened  on  more  than  the 

         handful of occasions when it was invoked. This would have emphasised the State’s right 

         to intervene on behalf of a vulnerable group. 



1.231    The Department was woefully lacking in ideas about policy and made no attempt to impose 

         changes that would have improved the lot of the detained children. 



1.232    Finally, evidence of the failures by the Department that are catalogued in the chapters on 

         the schools can also be seen as tacit acknowledgment by the State of the ascendancy of 

         the Congregations and their ownership of the system. The Department’s Secretary General, 

         at  a  public  hearing,  told  the  Investigation  Committee  that  the  Department  had  shown  a 

         ‘very significant deference’ towards the religious Congregations. This deference impeded 

         change, and it took the Kennedy Report in 1971 to begin the process of dismantling the 

         Industrial and Reformatory School system. 



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44                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1819-----------------------

           Chapter 2 



           Finance 



           Historical background: the capitation grant system 



 2.01     The legislation that established the Industrial Schools system expressly provided State funding 

          for maintenance of the children, but not for the establishment of schools themselves. The Children 

          Act 1908 continued this capitation grant system. 



 2.02     The Industrial Schools were owned by the religious Orders who provided the buildings and farms, 

          and they were responsible for improvements, alterations, extensions, renewals and repairs. The 

          expenses  for  renovations  and  repairs  were  to  be  paid  for  out  of  the  private  resources  of  the 

          congregations and by charitable donations. 



 2.03      By paying for the children rather than the institution the British administration avoided the delicate 

           issue of whether to give money directly to religious denominations. Protestant and Roman Catholic 

          communities were fearful of either side being given too much power by the authorities. 



 2.04      Local authorities were obliged under the 1908 Children Act to provide for the maintenance and 

           reception of offenders in Reformatory and Industrial Schools. They did not have to pay for children 

          who were admitted on the application of their parents or guardians or for children whose parents 

          were unable to look after them. Also they were exempt if the parents had committed an offence 

           punishable by imprisonment that resulted in their children detained. 



 2.05      Unlike  the  State  however,  the  local  Authorities  did  have  to  pay  for  children  in  excess  of  the 

          certification limit and for children under the age of six. 



 2.06     These provisions were altered in changes made in 1944 (see below). 



 2.07      Most of the children who were placed in Industrial Schools came from backgrounds of poverty 

          and deprivation. If the State saw fit to remove a child from its parents because the child was at 

           risk of malnutrition and neglect, it had an obligation to ensure that the institution into which the 

          child was placed did not also put it at risk of malnutrition and neglect. In other words, the capitation 

          grant  had  to  be  large  enough  to  keep  a  child  adequately,  so  that  a  proper  standard  of  care 

          was provided. 



 2.08     The  Department  of  Education’s  Rules  and  Regulations  were  clear  as  to  what  the  minimum 

          standards were. Rule 5 stipulated that 



                the children shall be supplied with neat, comfortable clothing in good repair, suitable to 

                the season of the year, not necessarily uniform either in material or colour. 



 2.09      Rule 6 provided minimum standards for an adequate diet: 



                The Children shall be supplied with plain wholesome food, according to a Scale of Dietary 

                to  be  drawn  up  by  the  Medical  Officer  of  the  School  and  approved  by  the  Inspector. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                      45 


----------------------- Page 1820-----------------------

                  Such food shall be suitable in every aspect for growing children actively employed and 

                  supplemented in the case of delicate or physically under-developed children with special 

                  food as individual needs require. No substantial alterations in the Dietary shall be made 

                  without previous notice to the Inspector. A copy of the Dietary shall be given to the Cook 

                  and a further copy kept in the Manager’s Office. 



2.10       It was    the  responsibility   of  the  Department     to  ensure    adequate    finance   for  these   minimum 

           standards  of  care,  and  it  was  the  responsibility  of  the  Resident  Manager  to  ensure  they  were 

           maintained. From time to time tensions arose because one or other failed in its obligations: the 

           Department could let funding become inadequate or the Resident Manager could allow basic living 

           conditions to fall below the standards set by the rules. 



2.11       During  the  period  under  investigation,  this  argument  about  funding  was  constant,  and  for  the 

           most part the Department sided with the Resident Managers. An internal Education Department 

           memorandum to the Minister in 1967 wrote that it was ‘in no position to defend its achievement 

           as far as the size of grant goes’.1 



2.12       A central figure in this argument was the Department’s medical inspector, whose role included 

           ensuring that basic conditions such as food and clothing and living conditions were appropriate to 

           promote general health. In many instances she accused the school of negligent mismanagement 

           of the funds, but she could also take the side of the Resident Manager and argue that funding 

           was inadequate to meet basic needs. 



2.13       The fundamental question, whether the State fulfilled its obligations under law to provide the basic 

           needs of children in care, is not an easy one, and perhaps no definitive answer is possible. 



2.14       The  Investigation  Committee  engaged  expert  assistance  from  Mazars,  Financial  Consultants. 

           Mazars     examined  the     available  financial   records    of  four  separate  institutions    and  they  also 

           addressed the general question of whether the capitation payments down through the years were 

           adequate to enable the institutions to provide for the children who were detained in them. The 

           Mazars report and submissions in response are considered later and are annexed to this chapter. 



            The basic cost of keeping a child in an industrial school 



2.15       The Cussen Report2  outlined the problems of estimating the cost of keeping a child in an Industrial 



           or Reformatory School: 



                  It is difficult to arrive at a figure which would reasonably represent the average yearly cost 

                  of maintenance      per   child  in the   schools.   This  is  due   in the   main   to  differences   of 

                  circumstances existing as between the various schools; many have farms which produce 

                  a  very  substantial  proportion  of  their  food  requirements,  while  others  with  small  or  no 

                  farms are forced to purchase such supplies either partly or wholly in the open market. In 

                  addition   variations   in  the   cost   of  materials    for  the   workshops,     clothing,   bedding 

                  bootmaking, etc, have to be considered. According to figures furnished to us for the year 

                  1933, the cost per head per annum for food varied in the Senior Boys’ Industrial Schools 

                  from  £7  1s  2d  to  £20;  for  wearing  apparel  from  £2  6s.  4d  to  £6  1s.,  and  for  medical 

                  expenses from 11s 7d to £2. In the Junior Boys’ Industrial Schools; food varied from £10 

                  10s. to £15 4s 2d. per head per annum; wearing apparel from £2 8s. 7d to £4 11s 9d., 

                  and medical expenses from 3s. 5d to £1 8s. In the Girls’ Industrial Schools food varied 

                  from  £9 8s.  to £26  per head  per annum,  wearing apparel  from £1  2s. 3d.  to  £11, and 

                  medical expenses from 3s. 11d. to £7. 



           1 Quoted in D of E submission, pp 103-4. 

           2 Report of Commission of Inquiry into the Reformatory and Industrial School System, 1934-36, paras 165-7. 



           46                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1821-----------------------

                 Corresponding figures from the Reformatories were: Boys’ School, food £30 per head per 

                 annum; wearing apparel, £8 16s. and medical expenses, £1. In the Girls’ Reformatories 

                 the figures were: food £14; wearing apparel, £6; and medical expenses £2 10s. 



                 The  disparities  in  cost  as  shown  are  probably  due  also  in  some  measure  to  a  lack  of 

                 uniformity  in  the  methods  of  cost  accounting  adopted,  as  the  diet  in  the  schools  are 

                 substantially  the  same,  and  the  fact  that  a  greater  proportion  of  foodstuffs  has  to  be 

                 purchased  in  some schools  as  compared  with others  would  hardly  explain the  marked 

                 differences in the cost of maintenance indicated by the figures obtained from the schools. 

                 We   are,  however,   satisfied,  as  a  result of  our  inquiries, that  the  schools   are  very 

                 economically managed, supplies being obtained where possible by contract or on equally 

                 favourable terms. 



2.16       The same question was raised in a letter by Mr Breathnach of the Department of Finance in 1957- 

           58. He wrote: 



                 There is another aspect of the question which puzzles us – the wide range of expenditure 

                 on various items by the schools, e.g. 



                 Item                                             Cost per head 

                 Food                                             £25.8 - £54.6 a year 

                 Fuel and light                                   £4.3 - £15 a year 

                 Clothing                                         £5.4 - £20.3 a year 

                 Salaries                                         £11.3 - £40 a year 



                 Do  you  know  why  it  should  cost  £2.1s  a  week  to  keep  each  of  117  inmates  in  St. 

                 Lawrence,  Sligo,  while  the  cost  of  keeping  120  at  Clifden,  Co  Galway,  should  be  only 

                 about £1.11s? It would be helpful if your Department could explain the disparity. 



2.17       The Department of Education attempted to gain information to establish the basic cost of keeping 

           a child in an Industrial School by requesting detailed accounts. These requests were made in the 

          following years: 



           1945         21 schools out of 52 responded 

           1947         statement of income and expenditure was received from all industrial schools 

           1950         42 industrial schools and one reformatory school provided statements 

           1954         nine schools provided accounts. 

           1955         The Resident Managers’ Association provided accounts for 22 schools 

           1962         The Department requested accounts from six representative schools. Nine schools 

                        provided statements. 

           1964         The Resident Managers Association provided a summary of the financial situation 

                        of 21 schools to support their application for an increase in the rate of the grant. 



           The request for accounts in 1945 



2.18       Despite the Department’s general recognition that the Industrial Schools were underfunded, they 

          were at times sceptical about the claims being made by the Resident Managers. 



2.19       For example, a deputation from the Resident Managers’ Association went to see the Minister for 

           Education on 10th July 1945 to request an increase in the capitation grant, the payment of salaries 

           to literary teachers and the application of medical and dental services to Industrial Schools. The 

           Minister told the deputation that if statements of accounts, preferably audited, were submitted they 

          would  be  examined  by  the  Department  with  a  view  to  submitting  them  to  the  Department  of 

           Finance.  He  stressed  that  a  convincing  case  would  have  to  be  made  for  an  increase  in  the 

           capitation grant. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       47 


----------------------- Page 1822-----------------------

2.20      Only 21 Industrial Schools submitted statements and, of these, just five were ‘stated to have been 

          prepared    by   accountants     and/or   auditors’.  They   were    Rathdrum     Junior   Boys’   School, 

          Goldenbridge, Westport, New Ross, and Wexford. 



2.21      Three  of  the  10  senior  boys’  Industrial  Schools  submitted  statements  prepared  by  the  Orders. 

          They were Greenmount, Upton and Ferryhouse. 



2.22      Four Industrial Schools for junior boys submitted statements: Passage West, Kilkenny, Drogheda 

          and Rathdrum. 



2.23      Fourteen     girls’ industrial  schools    made    submissions:     Clonakilty,   Kinsale,   Booterstown, 

          Goldenbridge,  Westport,  Birr,  Wexford,  Lakelands,  Kilkenny  female,  Ballaghaderreen,  Benada 

          Abbey, Whitehall, Dundrum (County Tipperary) and New Ross. 



2.24      These schools were run by the following orders: Rosminians, Presentation Brothers, Sisters of 

          Charity, Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of the Order of Our 

          Lady of Charity of Refuge, Sisters of the Presentation Order and Sisters of the Good Shepherd. 



2.25      These  21  statements,  covering  a  period  of  12  months  in  the  years  1944  and  1945,  were  duly 

          examined and the result was recorded in a Departmental memo as follows: 



                Three  of  the  accounts  showed  excesses  of  Income  over  Expenditure.  viz  Birr,  £1.2.5, 

                Dundrum £433 (excluding an amount of £810 claimed as ‘an allowance to Sisters wholly 

                employed in the Industrial School’ which would convert this surplus into a deficit of £377) 

                and New Ross £6.4.3. 



                The remaining accounts showed deficits ranging from £27 to over £5000. 



2.26      The Department went on to conclude: 



                The statements cannot be regarded as very reliable or as furnishing an accurate view of 

                the financial position of the schools. In some cases items of capital expenditure (especially 

                for repairs, renewals and additional buildings) have been included e.g. Whitehall, where 

                a deficit of £5,036 is shown a sum of £4,573 is stated to have been expended on building 

                repairs and erection of a new sanitary wing. 



                It  was also  observed that  in  many cases  the salaries  paid  from the  Primary Branch  to 

                members of the communities serving in the schools as literary teachers were not included 

                in the statements of Income. The inclusion of this item would in some cases reduce the 

                deficit to a negligible figure or convert it to a surplus of income over expenditure. 



                We  have  no  means  of  determining  from  these  statements  whether  the  produce  of  the 

                farms or gardens is supplied to the schools or charged against the school accounts at 

                wholesale or retail prices. 



2.27      Despite these criticisms of the accounting methods the Department did reach a conclusion: 



                On the whole we feel that the statements are not reliable. We also wish to point out that 

                the period to which they refer may be regarded as the period of the emergency when the 

                cost of food, clothing and other necessaries attained its maximum. In all the circumstances 

                and  making  allowance  for  an  anticipated  reduction  in  time  in  the  cost  of  these  items 

                consequent on the termination of the World War and a gradual easement in the supply 

                position we do not feel that on the information contained in these statements a convincing 

                case could be made to the Department of Finance for an increase in the Capitation Grant. 



          48                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1823-----------------------

2.28       In concluding that the capitation grant was adequate, the Department took into account the fact 

           that  most  institutions  had  not  bothered  to  submit  their  accounts,  despite  the  desired  increase 

           being dependent on their production. The Department wrote: 



                  We are also influenced in making this observation by the fact that a majority (over thirty) 

                  of the schools did not furnish any statements of income or expenditure in support of the 

                  claim for increased grants and also that as practically all the schools have farms attached 

                  the increased prices for agricultural produce during the emergency compensated to some 

                  extent for the rise in the cost of living. 



2.29       On    the  face   of  it, the  Department’s      demand     for  detailed   and   reliable  accounts     was   not 

           unreasonable,  but  many  institutions,  including  all  those  run  by  the  Christian  Brothers,  did  not 

           comply. The result was they lost their case for an increase in funding. 



2.30       The document also illustrates that the Department recognised that each institution had different 

           needs,  because  of  their  different  sizes  and  resources.  The  request  for  accounts  from  every 

           institution was an attempt to assess these differing needs that were not being met by the capitation 

           grant system. 



           The request for accounts in 1947 



2.31       In early 1947 the Resident Managers’ Association made a further application for an increase of 

           5/- per week in the combined payments for maintenance by the State and local authorities. The 

           rate  of  the  capitation  grant  at  the  time  for  the  State  was  7/-  for  Industrial  Schools  and  9/6  for 

           Reformatory Schools, with the local authorities paying 8/- to the Industrial Schools and a rate not 

           exceeding 9/6 and not less than 8/6 for the Reformatories. 



2.32       The Department replied: 



                  The Minister is prepared to have a careful examination made of the application received 

                  from the Managers’ Association and to reconsider the present grant if he is satisfied that 

                  a  sufficiently  strong  case    can  be   made    to  convince    the  Government      and   the  local 

                  authorities that these grants are inadequate to meet the present expenses of the schools. 

                  He  has,  accordingly,  directed  me  to  say  that  in  order  to  have  the  fullest  consideration 

                  given to the matter it will be necessary (this word is deleted and changed to ‘desirable’) 

                  for each Certified School to furnish detailed statements of its income and expenditure for 

                  the  year  ending  31st  March  1947.  If  it  is  not  practicable  to  have  the  statements  duly 

                  certified by an auditor they should be signed and certified by the School Manager. 



2.33       The Department then put in a reminder about the failed attempt two years previously to get such 

           accounts: 



                  In this connection I am to state that when similar statements were asked for in 1945 by 

                  the  Minister   through   the  Association     of General    Managers      in regard    to  a  previous 

                  application for an increase in the capitation rate for maintenance grants, only 21 out of a 

                  possible 53 furnished statements, and this factor rendered it difficult for the Minister to 

                  give favourable consideration to the application for increase. I am accordingly to request 

                  you to arrange to submit for the consideration of the Minister a statement of the financial 

                  position of school in respect of the twelve months period ending 31st March 1947. 



2.34       The Department then spelled out the kind of information wanted: 



                  The statement of the financial position of your school for the period mentioned (1/4/1946 

                  to 31/3/1947) should show in detail the items of expenditure appropriate to your industrial 

                  school only under the various heads viz. food, clothing, footwear, fuel, medical expenses, 

                  dental treatment, salaries and wages, etc. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              49 


----------------------- Page 1824-----------------------

2.35       It requested that the average yearly cost for these items ‘should be carefully calculated and shown 

           in a separate document accompanying the statement’. The document added: 



                 Where the cost of remuneration or maintenance of Religious members of the staff is part 

                 of the expenditure, any salary or other grant received by these members as Nat. Ins. Or 

                 any capitation grants paid to the school as a national school should be included as part 

                 of the school income. 



2.36      All schools did respond although not in the detail requested. Thirty seven reported a deficit per 

           head per week for each child in the institution, and 10 institutions reported substantial debts or 

           overdrafts. Two schools were noted as not having given particulars of the income from the farm. 

           However, in the absence of the detailed information sought no increase was granted. 



           The request for accounts in 1951 



2.37       The pressure on the Congregations to provide detailed accounts was increased in 1951 when it 

          was    proposed    to  set   up  an   interdepartmental    committee     with  representatives    from   the 

           Departments of Education, Finance and Social Welfare to inquire into the economic running of 

           the  schools.  In  the  meantime,  a  significant  increase  of  5/-  per  week  was  granted.  There  was 

           immediate opposition from the Resident Managers’ Association to the inquiry. The minutes of a 

           special meeting of the Christian Brothers’ Resident Managers to discuss the move, held on 14th 

           February 1951, noted: 



                 It was decided after discussion that the offer of an increase of 5/- per head, per week 

                 should be accepted under protest as to its inadequacy. 



                 It was agreed that the proposal of a special inspection by a Board of Inspectors from each 

                 of  the  Departments  of  Education,  Finance  and  Social  Welfare  should  be  treated  with 

                 extreme caution. It was not quite clear from the Department’s letter as to what was the 

                 function of this Inspection Board would be. It was feared that this might be an attempt to 

                 infringe upon the established rights of the Manager. It was obvious that the Department 

                 was  desirous  of an  opportunity  of  examining the  Financial  Accounts  of the  institutions. 

                 After discussing the various difficulties that might arise it was decided that at the General 

                 Meeting the Brothers should neither accept or reject the proposal but should press that a 

                 further letter be sent to the Department asking that their Association should be supplied, 

                 in writing, under definite headings, with what the proposed inspection is going to entail 

                 and what its powers would be. 



2.38       The Resident Managers were reassured that the Board of Inspectors was only going to establish 

           the right level of funding for the schools. The terms of reference were to inquire into the conditions 

           and circumstances of the Industrial and Reformatory Schools under the control of the Department 

           of Education and to make recommendations as to how they might be most efficiently and most 

           economically conducted. 



2.39       The Resident Managers refused, however, to consent to the inspection as ‘the terms of reference 

           to  the  inquiry  were  too  wide,  and  include  subjects  which  they  do  not  consider  relevant  to  the 

           question at issue’. On 6th April 1951 the Secretary of the Association wrote to the Minister: 



                 I have been directed by the Association to inform you that the members are strongly of 

                 the opinion that no useful purpose would be served by the holding of such an inquiry. 



2.40       Specifically they objected to the involvement of the Departments of Finance and Social Welfare, 

           believing that it constituted an attempt to interfere with the way in which the schools were run. 

           The Minister, Richard Mulcahy, tried to allay their fears, but the project was dropped in the face 

           of continued strong opposition. A further increase of 6/- per week followed in 1952. 



           50                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1825-----------------------

           The request for accounts in 1954 



2.41       When a further application for additional money was made in 1954, the Department tried again to 

           get  each  school  to  submit  accounts.  In  a  letter  to  every  Resident  Manager  the  Minister  again 

           requested     that  each   certified  school   should    furnish   detailed   statements    of  its income     and 

           expenditure  for  each  of  the  years  ended  31st  December  1951,  1952,  and  1953  together  with 

           ‘particulars of improvements carried out in those years and of further improvements contemplated’. 

           As well as demanding details about expenditure on food, clothing etc it asked for details about 

           the farm or garden, if the school had one. It stated, ‘the gross value of the food supplied to the 

           school and the proceeds of any sales should be shown in the statement as well as the working 

           total expenses. The value of the food should be calculated at market prices current at the time of 

           supply’.  It  also  asked  for  the  statement  to  include  gross  income  from  trades  and  industrial 

           activities. 



2.42       Unusually it also asked the Managers to furnish ‘a statement showing how far the requirements 

           and suggestions of the Circular of the 19th March, 1952 have been complied with’. This circular, 

           following the increase in the grant that year, asked for ‘all round improvements in the matter of 

           diet, clothing and facilities for indoor and outdoor recreation’. The Department asked specifically 

           for ‘Statements of Accounts (Receipts and Expenditure) for calendar years 1951, 1952 and 1953 

           showing in particular the amounts spent on food and clothing for those years’ and for statements 

           ‘indicating  improvements  to  accommodation  e.g.  new  recreation  hall,  new  domestic  economy 

           room etc. 



2.43       The Department, in short, was asking for proof that the extra money had been used in the way 

           intended.  The  letter  ended  with  a  reassurance  that  the  Department  had  no  hidden  motive  for 

           asking for such accounts: 



                  I desire to say that the information now asked for is not in the nature of an audit, or strict 

                  investigation, of the accounts of any school. It is required solely to enable the Minister to 

                  form a correct opinion of the actual financial circumstances of the various schools so that 

                  he may be in a position to consider the application made for an increase in the rates of 

                  capitation grants for maintenance. 



2.44       Accounts were received from just nine schools. They were Drogheda, Loughrea, Upton, St Anne’s 

           Kilmacud, Pembroke Alms Industrial School, New Ross, Waterford, Westport and Clonakilty. 



2.45       On  18th  May  1955  the  Resident  Managers’  Association  submitted  accounts  for  ‘an  unknown 

           number of schools’. There was no record on file requesting these accounts. They were returned 

           to the Association because ‘the Department was unwilling to accept these accounts in the format 

           presented’. The Association then submitted accounts for 22 Industrial Schools. The Department 

           no longer holds copies of these accounts and has no record of the 22 schools involved. 



2.46       Further attempts to get accounts were made in 1962, when the Resident Managers’ Association 

           submitted  accounts  in respect  of  nine  schools. The  Department  had  chosen six  representative 

           schools for the exercise. The schools that submitted accounts were Artane, Upton, Letterfrack, 

           Lakelands,     Moate,    St  George’s    Limerick,    St  Patrick’s   Kilkenny,   Drogheda      and   St  Kyran’s 

           Rathdrum. All nine schools showed excess expenditure over income. A major cause for this was 

           the drop in numbers. For example, St Kyran’s wrote,‘ 



                  The fall in numbers is a big concern with  us. There was some hope of keeping things 

                  going when we had between 120 and 110 on roll, but now we are nearly on the 70 line 

                  and still falling I see no hope of keeping the place going except financial aid is increased. 



2.47       Artane, which was certified to take in 830 boys, had just 430, only 367 of whom were committed 

           by the State. An analysis of the nine accounts showed that the congregations were finding it hard 

           to manage as numbers fell. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              51 


----------------------- Page 1826-----------------------

2.48       Finally, in 1964 the Resident Managers’ Association presented the Department with a two-page 

           document relating to the financial position of 21 schools. Most schools were shown to have excess 

           expenditure over income. 



2.49       Unlike  in  the  1950s,  when  accounts  requested  by  the  Department  were  not  forthcoming,  as 

           numbers  fell  and  income  dropped,  the  accounts  became  a  valuable  part  of  the  case  for  an 

           increase in the capitation grant. 



2.50       The figures can be represented in graph form as follows: 



2.51       The Department’s protracted struggle to get detailed accounts about each school reveals: 



                   (1)  The power of the Congregations to resist pressure from the Department. Within their 

                        institutions the Resident Managers had near absolute power and they defended their 

                        ‘established rights’ vigorously. Without their consent, the Department could not obtain 

                        what it wanted. 



                   (2)  The Department may have been sympathetic to the argument that the schools were 

                        under-funded  but  was  aware  that  the  situation  differed  across  institutions.  A  fair 

                        decision on how much was needed to keep a child in a school depended not just on 

                        the  cost  of  living  but  on  the  resources  of  the  school.  These  resources  remained  a 

                        largely unknown quantity. 



                   (3)  The accounts that were submitted were not as detailed as the Department wanted. 

                        Details  of  other  income,  such  as  from  the  farms  or  trades,  were  not  included  until 

                        the 1960s. 



                   (4)  The capitation grant remained the only system of funding given consideration. Despite 

                        repeated efforts by the Department of Education to find out the different needs of each 

                        institution, it failed. Without knowing the different needs of children in different schools, 

                        it  continued  the  system  of  paying  the  same  amount  for  every  child.  The  capitation 

                        grant remained the basic system until 1984. 



           The process for increases in the capitation grant 



2.52       The Department of Education determined the capitation grant rate for committed children, but any 

           increases were subject to the consent of the Minister of Finance. The process would begin with 

           submissions  from  the  Resident  Managers  to  the  Education  Department  making  a  case  for  an 

           increase  in  the  grant.  The  Department  would  consider  the  submission  and  would  then  put  a 

           proposal   to the  Department     of  Finance.   The   two  Departments     would   then  consult   and  the 

           Department of Finance would then come to a decision. It could refuse to sanction an increase, or 

           sanction one, usually at a lower rate than the one sought by Education. 



           52                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1827-----------------------

2.53        The Department of Finance was often sceptical as to whether the Resident Managers’ Association 

             or the Congregations had put the full picture before the Department of Education. The issue may 

             not have been a refusal by the Department of Finance to provide sufficient funds: it may well have 

             been  the  case  that  their  calculations  and  deliberations  led  to  its  settling  on  a  lesser  sum  as 

             being sufficient. 



             Changes to the capitation grant system over the years 



             Changes to method of payment 



             1944 Reforms 



2.54        There was no increase between 1939 and 1944 in the amount of the grant, although the cost of 

             living had risen significantly, which brought dissatisfaction with the grant scheme to a head and 

             led to three financial reforms.3 



2.55         (i) The most important of these concerned the termination of the ‘certified number’ requirement 

            which had applied to the Department, but not the local authority, contribution. How the system 

             operated is explained in the following Departmental minute: (see also Cussen, para 157) 



                    The practice of paying State Grant on an arbitrary number the ‘Certified Number’ in each 

                    School,     and    not   on   the   number      actually    under     detention     or  for   which    there    was 

                    accommodation, in a school, began in the 1870s. State expenditure on Industrial schools 

                    became limited to a figure fixed by the Treasury from time to time. This system seems to 

                    have been originally intended to keep control over the number of committals generally and 

                    to regulate their distribution throughout the country and amongst the various competing 

                    communities and bodies. 



2.56        At Independence, the system appears to have been taken over and continued without question. 

            The aggregate of the certificates then on issue to the Schools in the 26 counties (6,644) was fixed 

             as the maximum. In the course of a redistribution of certificates in 1939, it transpired that only 

             6,563  were  actually  on  issue  at  that  date,  and  the  maximum  was  reduced  to  that  figure.  This 

             number was an issue in 1944. 



2.57        As a result of the certified number limitation system,4  the actual number of children under detention 



             often exceeded the number chargeable to the State. However, in some cases schools refused to 

             accept  committals  above  the  certified  number.  Instead,  they  accepted  cases  under  the  Public 



            3 

                                                                                                                                ´ 

              These reforms are explained in a cogent six page Minute of 14th March 1944 written by the Department (O 

               Dubhthaigh, Leas Runai) to the Runai, Department of Finance. The Minute also questioned the certification system’s 

               legality: 

                    There is no justification for the ‘Certificate’ system. The Children Acts, 1908 to 1941, lay down the circumstances 

                    in which children may be committed to industrial schools. The Courts commit children to them in accordance with 

                    these Acts. At this stage the Certificate system operates inconsistently to allow payment of the State Grant on 

                    some of the children so committed and to forbid it on others. There seems to be no reason for the State’s failure 

                    to contribute to the support of some arbitrary number of those children. No such distinction is made, for instance, 

                    in the case of youthful offenders committed to Reformatories under the same Acts or of people sent to jail. If the 

                    purpose is to limit the number of children to which the Children Acts may apply, its legality is questionable. 

             Memo of 4th April 1951 from M O’Siochfradha states: 

                    In all cases the actual accommodation limit was greater than the certified number and in many cases it was 

                    considerably greater viz., Glin – accommodation 220, certified number 190; Letterfrack, accommodation 190, 

                    certified number 165; Artane, accommodation 830, certified number 800. 

             See also Education Statement, para 3.2. 



            4  At certain periods (e.g. 1940s) anxious consideration was given to the question of how many places to certify – 



              whether to raise or lower the previous year’s figure or to leave it the same. Among the factors weighing with the 

               person taking the decision (usually there was a significant contribution from Dr McCabe) was: the numbers of 

              committals anticipated; the suitability of the schools (e.g. accessibility from Dublin); the need to assist small schools 

              with disproportionately high overheads; a desire to avoid creating jealousy among the schools. 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                           53 


----------------------- Page 1828-----------------------

          Assistance Acts which were not counted against them under the certified number. In any case, 

          the  certified  number  restriction  was  abolished  by  a  Finance  minute  of  19th  April  1944,  which 

          announced that capitation grant should be paid on all children committed to industrial schools up 

          to the full number for which the schools had accommodation. 



2.58      (ii) Until 1939, in respect of a child under six only the local authority’s contribution (not that of the 

          Department) was paid and the local authority paid only about two-thirds of the contribution of that 

          for a child over six. The thinking was that children under six should be dealt with under the Poor 

          Law. However, the social outlook changed at the beginning of the Twentieth century and children 

          under  six  were  committed  to  industrial  schools  in  increasing  numbers.  These  children  were 

          accepted, effectively at less than half cost, by the Schools partly out of charity and partly so as to 

          have a reserve of children who could be put on the grant immediately they turned six. However, 

          in 1939, the Department started to pay a contribution of two thirds of the amount paid for an over- 

          six. And, as from the date of Department of Finance minute of 1944 mentioned in para (i), the full 

          amounts were paid by both the Department and local authority, irrespective of age. 



2.59      (iii) The Department of Education submission state that, before-1944, the process for claiming the 

          grants involved the Schools in furnishing a detailed account in respect of each child. After 1944, 

          the State capitation grant for a full quarter was paid by the Department at the end of each quarter. 

          This  was  based  on  the  number  of  committed  children  under  detention  on  the  last  day  of  the 

          preceding quarter, after the Manager had submitted a list of the names and registered numbers 

          of the children together with the name of the local authorities to which each child was chargeable. 



          54                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1829-----------------------

         Increases in the amount paid 



2.60     Capitation grants were increased from time to time by the Department over the relevant period. 



         CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                          55 


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2.61      There was no increase in the capitation grant between April 1939 and July 1944. The rate was 

           increased at two and three year intervals for the rest of the 1940s. It will be noted that there were 

          significant increases in the (state and local authority) capitation grant from 19/- in 1946 to 27/- in 

           1951  in  respect  of  Reformatory  Schools  and  from  16/- to  24/-  in  respect  of  Industrial  Schools. 

           (The figures used here combine both the central and local government contributions.) 



2.62      A substantial increase was also provided in the period 1951 and 1968, when the combined rate 

          for Reformatory Schools increased from 27/- to 85/- and from 24/- to 82/- in respect of Industrial 

          Schools. Strikingly, the capitation grant was then doubled in the following year to reach approx 

           171/- for Reformatory Schools and 165/- for Industrial Schools. 



2.63       In the 1950s, there was a six-year gap between 1952 and 1958 when no increases were made 

          and a  further five-year  interval between  then and  1963. For  the rest  of that  decade, increases 

          occurred every one or two years. There was a three-year gap between 1969, when the grant was 

          doubled, to 1972 when the grant was increased by a further £10.30 (roughly 200/-) in respect of 

           Reformatory  Schools  and  £9.90  (roughly  180/-)  in  respect  of Industrial  Schools.  The  figures  in 

           1972  represent  the  changeover  in  currency.  Thereafter  in  the  70s  and  80s  there  were  annual 

           increases to meet cost of living increases and wage increases. 



2.64      When  increases  were  granted,  the  Department  generally  sent  a  circular  to  say  that  it  was  the 

           Minister’s expectation that improvements in the care, diet and maintenance would be made, so 

          there was no suggestion that increases were just to maintain the status quo. 



2.65      Total expenditure out of public funds was: 



           Negotiations on capitation payments 1957 and 1969 



2.66      Two case studies outline the very different circumstances leading to the 1957 and 1969 increases. 

          The  earlier,  1957,  negotiations  were  typical  whereas  the  later  increase  was  exceptional.  The 

           Minister for Education and some of his officials met with a deputation representing the Resident 

           Managers’ Association. The deputation sought an increase of 40/- in the grant to a combined rate 

          of £3.10 per head per week. They argued that, owing to cost of living increases, the standard of 

          diet and clothing for the children entrusted to their care had fallen much below what was required 

          and that the buildings and accommodation facilities were in need of renovation. 



2.67      The Department then wrote to the Department of Finance supporting the claim and requesting a 

           minimum  increase  of  £1  in  the  weekly  capitation  grant  by  the  Department  and  in  that  of  local 

          authorities.  This  was  estimated  to  involve  extra  State  expenditure  of  £121,000  (on  top  of  the 

          existing  figure  of  about  £400,000)  in  a  full  year.  Education  admitted  that  there  had  been  an 

          approximate  increase  of  only  1/6th  in  the  cost  of  living  during  the  period  since  the  previous 



          56                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1831-----------------------

          increase. However, the size of the suggested increase was supported by: the steady decline in 

          the number  of committals to the  schools with no  corresponding fall in overhead  expenses; the 

          increases in wages of employees in the preceding four years; the need for greater effort to brighten 

          the lives of children; and the modernising of certain facilities in the schools. In January 1958, the 

          Department of Finance sanctioned an increase of 15/- in the State capitation rate for Industrial 

          and Reformatory Schools with a corresponding increase in the local authority contribution. 



2.68      By 1967, when another increase was sought, circumstances had changed. The religious Orders 

          were described as ‘gravely dissatisfied’ with the last increase and it appears that threats had been 

          made about closing all the  schools. The Department believed that this was not  such a remote 

          possibility as might be thought  and that it would, if it happened, constitute  a ‘national disaster’ 

          because  the  cost  of  maintaining  children  would  at  least  be  doubled;  for  in  Great  Britain  and 

          Northern Ireland, the cost was some three or four times the cost in Ireland. In those circumstances, 

          the Department recommended that a substantial interim increase was warranted, even pending 

          the outcome of the Kennedy Report, of 21/- per week. The Department of Finance’s response, in 

          February 1968, was that the proposed increase was disproportionate and also untimely, while the 

          system was being examined by Kennedy. Nevertheless, as an exceptional measure, Finance was 

          agreeable to a 15/- increase. 



2.69      The Department of Education submitted: 



                Records of the Department of Finance which were discovered to the Commission indicate 

                that in June 1969, the then Minister for Finance, Mr Charles Haughey, had met with a 

                group known as the Friends of Industrial Schools and indicated that he would authorise 

                a  doubling   of  the capitation   grant  in respect   of children  in  industrial schools.   The 

                Department     of  Finance   subsequently    notified  the  Department     of Education    of  the 

                Minister’s  decision..  The  Department  of  Education  records  also  indicate  that  the  then 

                Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, inquired from the Department about the capitation grant prior to 

                its doubling and was informed of its increase in letters from the Department respectively 

                dated 19 September 1969 and 24 October 1969. 



          Themes in the negotiations 



2.70      Many of the same themes recurred in each of the negotiations between the 1940s and the 1970s. 

          The  Resident  Managers  emphasised  the  increasing  cost  of  living  and  made  comparisons  with 

          British  and  Northern  Irish  fees,  and  with  prisons  or  private  schools.  As  discussed  above,  the 

          Department responded by asking for detailed accounts from the schools, justifying the request by 

          the need to persuade the Department of Finance of the case for the increase. 



2.71      Through    the  1950s   further  causes    of strain  on  the  schools’   finances   were  drawn    to the 

          Department’s attention. The major factors were the decline in the number of children, increases 

          in wages of lay staff and the need for repair of premises that were often nearly a century old. The 

          figures for all the schools were as follows. 



           Total capacity:                           7,484 

           Residents:                                5,227 

           Committed:                                4,662 

           Others:                                     565 

           Percentage occupancy:                      70% 



2.72      At least as early as September 1955, the Department of Finance raised the reasonable suggestion 

          of closing one-third of the schools in order to allow the remaining schools to operate at full capacity 

          and become financially viable. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     57 


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2.73      The minutes of a meeting on 20th November 1955 between the Minister for Education with his 

          officials and five representatives of the schools stated: 



                The  Secretary  said  ‘that  Ireland  was  very  fortunate  to  have  religious  communities  in 

                charge of these schools’. He wondered whether a partial solution would be for some of 

                the schools to be closed. From a social point of view, he said, the falling number was a 

                very good thing.... 



2.74      Two  years  later,  however,  in  a  letter  to  the  Department  dated  18th  June  1957,  the  Managers’ 

          Association wrote: 



                The Managers have had a desperate struggle to keep the Schools open but they cannot 

                be expected to accept children unless sufficient funds are made available. 



2.75       It is against this historical background that the question of the adequacy of the State funding of 

          the institutions has to be approached. 



          Department of Education’s attitude to level of funding 



2.76      The  Department  of  Education,  in  its  detailed  submissions  to the  Committee,  accepted  that  the 

          schools were badly funded by the State. The Department’s position down through the years was 

          generally sympathetic to the pleas of the institutions through the Resident Managers’ Association 

          for  increases  in  the  capitation  grant.  The  situation  in  the  1960s  brought  matters  to  a  head. 

          Numbers were falling dramatically and with that income was dropping. 



2.77      An internal Departmental memorandum dated 5th June 1963 outlined the situation: 



                The pressure for an increase in grants arises mainly from the falling numbers and chiefly 

                from the senior boys schools. In all the convent schools I have visited it appears that they 

                would be quite satisfied with the rate of grant provided that the schools were kept nearly 

                full, but many of the schools are less than half full. With many of their overheads fixed 

                the institutions would be uneconomic but in many of the convent industrial schools the 

                deficit  is  obviously  met  by  the  surpluses  on  national  and  post-primary  schools  run  in 

                conjunction with the industrial schools, the whole being run as one institution. None of the 

                senior  boys   schools   has  any   other  grant-winning   institution attached   and   they  find 

                themselves therefore unable to compensate for the falling numbers and increased grants 

                are therefore necessary in their cases. 



2.78      This same memo pointed out that ‘the element if any for the maintenance and improvement of 

          buildings was too small’. The buildings were old and in need of repair and modernisation, and the 

          Department had begun to pay a contribution to help the Orders carry out necessary work. 



2.79      The dwindling funds caused by falling numbers worsened because of the failure to rationalise the 

          system and close most of the schools as was suggested as early as 1955 by the Department of 

          Finance.  A  letter  dated  December  1964  to  the  Department  of  Finance  backed  the  Resident 

          Managers and asked for more funds rather than school closures: 



                We are satisfied that the present grants are insufficient to meet the current expenditure 

                of the schools and very many of them, if not the vast majority, can subsist only by meeting 

                the  continuing   deficits from   income   from   other  activities of the  communities     or by 

                charitable  donations   or  by  accumulating    debt,  the  last mentioned    occurring  even   in 

                schools conducted by nuns who are noted for prudent management. 



                Further expenditure in the schools is confined to bare necessities as their incomes will 

                not allow of any of the many improvements deemed necessary by this Department... 



                It should also be borne in mind that the school premises have all been provided free of 

                cost to the State and in the matter of structural improvements or repairs they qualify for 



          58                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1833-----------------------

                 State aid on the day-school portion of the premises only. It had been claimed in the past 

                 that  the  capitation  grants  contained  some  unspecified  element  in  respect  of  buildings 

                 maintenance but such, in fact, was not the case. 



                 These  institutions  have  been  treated  so  parsimoniously  by  the  State  that  there  is  now 

                 grave  danger  that  the  goodwill  of  the  religious  orders  concerned  will  be  lost  and  it  is 

                 unnecessary to indicate the enormous extra cost which will be involved were they to give 

                 up the work and be replaced by lay staff. 



2.80       The letter ended: 



                 In all these circumstances the Minister is satisfied that an increase of £1 a week in the 

                 capitation is less than that warranted but is the minimum that can reasonably be offered 

                 and it is suggested that the entire cost, estimated not to exceed £155,000 should be borne 

                 on the exchequer. 



2.81       In the period 1961-62 to 1967-68, there was a decrease by 12% in the overall funding of Industrial 

           Schools    from   £436,278    to  £385,812    but   the  fall in  committals    was   45.65%.    Funding    on 

           Reformatory  Schools  for the  same  seven-year  period increased  16%  from  £25,975 to  £30,144 

           with a 19% drop in committals from 177 to 144. 



2.82       By  contrast   the  two-year   period   from  1968-69    to  1969-70    was   a  period  of  uncharacteristic 

           generosity. The combined figures for the Industrial and Reformatory Schools show an increase of 

           28%, funding rising from £411,059 to £527,7731. Even so, the Kennedy Report in 1971 found the 

           schools under-funded. 



           Adequacy of funding 



           Submissions of Congregations 



2.83       The funding of Industrial Schools and Reformatories was raised in most of the submissions from 

           Congregations. 



2.84       In the Opening Submission to the Artane module, the Christian Brothers stated : 



                 The level of grant aid was a constant topic of discussion between the Resident Managers 

                 Association  and  the  Department  of  Education,  the  former  continually  insisting  that  the 

                 grants paid were seriously inadequate. 



2.85       The Congregation went on: 



                 The validity of the position held by the Resident Managers is strongly supported by the 

                 findings of the Kennedy Committee and by comparison with the levels of grant paid to 

                 similar institutions (Approved Schools) in neighbouring jurisdictions. 



2.86       The Submission then went on to compare the cost to the State of a residential school in Northern 

           Ireland with Artane and concluded that when salaries and other costs were taken into account, 

           the school in Northern Ireland was in receipt of considerably more funding than its counterpart in 

           the South. In particular, the Congregation compared the stipend paid to all the Brothers in Artane 

           with salaries paid in Northern Ireland and found the southern payment to be considerably less. 



2.87       Artane   was   a  large  well-appointed    institution  with  many    advantages     including  a  large  and 

           productive   farm.   Letterfrack,  on  the  other   hand,   was   a  considerably    smaller  institution  and 

           although it had a very large farm (amounting to some 827 acres), it was not good farming land 

           and was very labour-intensive. 



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 2.88      In the opening statement to the Letterfrack module, the Christian Brothers addressed the issue of 

          funding and again made comparisons with Northern Ireland in order to ground a contention that 

          funding was inadequate. The submission stated that Letterfrack was only able to survive because 

          of  the  produce   of  the  farm,  which   provided  food   for the  school   and  also  generated    some 

          additional income. 



 2.89      No special case of under-funding was made for Letterfrack although the much smaller numbers, 

           particularly after 1954, were a cause of considerable hardship to the boys there. 



 2.90     The submission for Tralee adopted a more instructive approach. Although it did make comparisons 

          with UK residential schools, it also set out wages paid to workers in the school for 1945, 1952 

          and 1962 and compared the stipend paid to all Brothers in the school with those wages. This is 

          explored in more detail below. 



 2.91      Carriglea  Park  made  the  same  submission  in  relation  to  adequacy  of  capitation  as  the  other 

           Christian Brothers’ schools and, like them, cited the Kennedy Report as support for their position. 

          This school closed in 1954 and, according to the opening statement: 



                A  surplus  of  £25,225  was  generated  between  1940  and  1954.  A  number  of  factors 

                contributed to this surplus, a major one being the age of the building. It was built in 1893 

                and was not in need of major renovation while the school remained open.......The number 

                of boys in the school was a viable one once it reached its promised certified number of 

                250 but it was the rises in maintenance grants in 1947 and 1948 that finally brought the 

                accounts out of an annual deficit situation. 



 2.92     This did not appear to be an adequate explanation for the surplus money in this institution at its 

          closure and indicated a significant level of funding until 1954. 



 2.93     Other Congregations made submissions on the question of funding. 



 2.94      In their opening statement, the Oblates compared the cost of caring for a child in a residential 

           institution today with the money paid to the Oblates for doing this job. They adjusted these figures 

          for  inflation  and  concluded  that, by  current  standards,  it  would  have  cost  the State  £10,060  to 

           keep one boy in Daingean in 1950. The Oblates received £52 for keeping each boy there. Much 

          of their submission was based on valuing the work done by the Order for the benefit of the school 

          and this is dealt with fully below. 



 2.95     The  Sisters  of  Mercy  made  a  submission  on  the  issue  of  funding  in  its  opening  statement  for 

           Goldenbridge. They stated: 



                 From   the  interview  with  the  former  Resident   Manager  and     from  the  limited  records 

                available it is clear that there was a constant struggle to provide even a basic standard of 

                 living for the children within the limits of the funding provided to Goldenbridge right through 

                 until the 1970s.... 



 2.96     The Sisters set out what they understood the capitation grant was intended to cover: 



                The capitation fees......were expected to cover wages and salaries for an average of eight 

                or nine staff, and other overheads such as food and clothing, fuel and light, insurance, 

                 repairs  to  the  buildings,  purchase  and  replacement  of  furniture,  recreation  expenses, 

                 hardware and all the usual household appliances. 



 2.97     Although  they  did  not  specifically  refer  to  capital  expenses,  it  would  appear  from  this  opening 

          submission that the Sisters did not expect the capitation grant to cover capital costs. 



          60                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1835-----------------------

2.98       The Sisters related the expenses of Goldenbridge to ordinary household expenses at the time, 

          which they submitted as being a valid comparator: 



                 Where  annual  accounts  are  available  they  show  that  overheads  alone  accounted  for 

                 around  60%  of  the  total  funding  received,  leaving  just  around  40%  ...for  food,  clothes, 

                 Medical care and recreational activities. The 1940s, 1950s and the 1960s were difficult 

                 times  for every  household in  Ireland struggling  to make  ends meet  on limited  incomes 

                 and it was no different for the Resident Manager of Goldenbridge. Difficult decisions had 

                 to be made on competing needs. 



2.99       In relation to Newtownforbes, which was a relatively small school with a maximum of 145 children 

           and often with numbers that fell well below that, the Sisters simply asserted: 



                 The  financial records  of Newtownforbes  have been  made available  to the  Commission 

                 and they indicate that the finances of the industrial school operated within a range of plus 

                 or minus 5% of the capitation budget. 



2.100      The  Sisters  of  Charity  ran  two   schools   that were   the  subjects   of detailed   analysis  by  the 

           Investigation Committee. The Sisters appeared to have a clearer idea of what the capitation grant 

          was  intended  to  cover  than  other  Congregations.  In  their  submission  on  St  Joseph’s  Kilkenny 

           they stated: 



                 It appears   that  in the  earlier  years   there  was   no  Capital  funding   provided   by  the 

                 Department for Capital development. 



2.101      The submission continued: 



                 Funding was provided from central funds by the Superior General in Dublin. 



2.102      The Sisters quoted a letter from the Department of Education to the Department of Health dated 

           8th May 1978: 



                 The provision of buildings was the orders’ contribution...the capitation grant was regarded 

                 as containing an element in respect of the maintenance of buildings. 



2.103      The  lack  of  financial  support  did  not  deter  the  Sisters  from  large-scale  capital  developments 

           throughout the 1950s and 1960s, which were largely funded through fund-raising activities and 

           through  contributions  from  the  Convent.  Much  of  this  development  consisted  of  the  purchase 

           of  property  for  the  development  of  group  homes  and  these  houses  remained  the  property  of 

           the Congregation. 



2.104      In general, all the opening statements that referred to finance submitted that there was a significant 

           lack  of  funding  by  the  State  and  this  impacted  upon  the  level  of  care  for  the  children  and 

           specifically in the provision of material necessities and comforts. 



2.105      There   were,   however,   questions    that  remained    unanswered.     There   were   indications   from 

           documents, particularly the Visitation Reports of the Christian Brothers, that the financial position 

           of some    schools    was   good   with   substantial  surpluses    in  some    cases.   There   was   also 

           documentation  from  the  Department  of  Finance  that  indicated  scepticism  about  the  pleas  for 

          funding supported by the Department of Education. 



2.106      On  the  other  hand,  Inspection  Reports  contained  references  to  children  being  poorly  fed  and 

           poorly  clothed  and  complainants  were  consistent  in  their  allegations  about  inadequate  food, 

           clothing and accommodation in most of the institutions investigated. 



2.107      The  documentation  furnished  by  the  Christian  Brothers  gave  rise  to  questions  on  the  issue  of 

          funding. In fairness it must be emphasised that the Christian Brothers kept better records than 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       61 


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other Congregations and also operated a system of internal inspection which revealed details that 

were not disclosed in other Congregations’ discoveries. For example, the Visitation Reports for 

Artane contained the following references to finance: 



         (1)   In  1934,  the  Visitor noted  ‘The  financial  condition  of  this House  is  strong’.  He  also 

               recorded:  ‘In  1934  the  deduction  from  the  school  income  for  the  services  of  the 

               Brothers was £3,920’. The Brothers made a contribution of £2,000 towards the cost 

              of building St Joseph’s Missionary College in Marino. 



         (2)   In 1937, the income for Artane was £29,000 and the expenditure was £31,000. There 

              was a sum of £10,000 in the bank left ‘for the building of new schools’ and there were 

              credit balances in both the Brothers and school accounts. The Superior gave a loan 

              of £6,000 towards the building of the noviciate as well as a subscription of £1,000. 

              Visitation dues and subscriptions towards central funds totalled £1,200. 



         (3)   In 1938 a farm of 49 acres was purchased by the school for £1,600. 



         (4)   In  1939  the  visitation  report  stated  ‘the  financial  state  of  the  school  and  house  is 

              sound’. At that point there was a total expenditure of £33,600 and the total income of 

              £28,700     but   the  Visitation   Report    noted    that  much     of  the  deficit  was    capital 

              expenditure.  The  salaries  to the  Brothers  amounted  to  £2,260  or £133  per  Brother 



                                                                                                        5 

              which would have been as much as a national school teacher at that time  . 



              The total number of employees amounted to 60 and their salaries for the year totalled 

              £9,000 which averaged out to about £132 per employee per year. 



         (5)   1940 saw the income for the school total £32,500 and £3,300 had to be drawn from 

              the reserve fund to meet the current expenses ‘owing to the laying in of large stocks’. 

              The farm expenses in that year were recorded as being £3,460. The Visitation Report 

              stated: ‘during the past 6 years Artane has invested in the building fund £16,500’. 



         (6)   The 1942 Visitation Report was extremely optimistic about the financial position of the 

               Institution, it stated: 



                The financial position is remarkably strong. The community account has a credit 

                at the bank of £6,990 and the school account has a credit of £3,568. The total 

                 receipts of the establishment last year amounted to £32,240 and the expenditure 

                was £29,733. The amount advanced from the funds as stipends for the community 

                was £4,280. The Community income from all sources was £6,001. All the trades 

                with the exception of that of the tin-smiths showed a profit. There was a net profit 

                on the farm of £1,774 and on the mill and bakery of £2,346. 



              The house-to-house collection made in the city and suburbs came in at about £500 

              annually and the Superior suggested that this collection be discontinued. 



              £500 was a substantial sum in 1942 and it was a indication of a level of comfort with 

              the funding that it was considered that it could be dispensed with. 



         (7)   In 1943, the Visitation Report stated: ‘During 1943, the school bought 32 acres of land 

              at Belcamp for £2,625’. 



         (8)   In 1944 the net amount in the building fund for the institution was almost £20,000. In 

               1945 this figure had increased to a net balance in the building fund of £29,500. 



         (9)   In 1951 the Visitation Report stated that, ‘the financial condition of Artane is not too 

              sound and it does not appear to be improving’. The excess expenditure over income 

               in the school was £8,306 between the years 1949 and 1951. This was due to capital 

              expenditure on a sanitary block and on a play hall and it still left a credit balance in 

              the building fund of £6,728. 



5  Data provided by Mazars indicates that a single man at the lowest point of the salary scale was paid £145 in 1944. 



62                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1837-----------------------

                 (10)   The Visitation Report of 1954 recorded that the financial position for Artane at the end 

                        of 1953 was fairly satisfactory. The school account showed a surplus income of £974 

                        and the house account surplus was almost £2,000. The credit balance at the end of 

                        1953 was nearly £3,000 higher than that at the end of 1952. 



                 (11)   The Visitation Report for 1955 stated : 



                          The  Financial  position  of  this  establishment  is  very  satisfactory  at  the  present 

                          time.....On both accounts there was a Credit Balance at the end of the year of 

                          £36,203, to carry on to the 1955 accounts. There is a sum of £30,000 invested in 

                          the Building Fund and, strange to say, taking this investment into account, there 

                          is due to the Building Fund a sum of £8800. 



                       This figure appears to have been the repayment to the fund of money advanced for 

                       the  sanitation  block  and  other  capital  expenses  and  was  repaid  the  following  year: 

                       ‘There  is  no  debt  on  the  establishment.  The  total  credit  to  the  Community  in  the 

                       Provincial fund is now £36,000.’ 



                 (12)   A  comprehensive  survey  of  the  financial  position  of  Artane  was  conducted  in  the 

                        Visitation Report of 1957 and 1958. By that time the number of boys had decreased 

                        significantly to 526 and it was seen that the staff of 68 to look after this number of 

                        boys was completely out of proportion: 



                          The wages bill for the 40 employees amounted to over £13,000 per annum which 

                          would be 25% approximately of the grants received from the industrial schools 

                          branch and the various county councils. If £300 per Brother were allowed it would 

                          mean that almost 45% of the grants given for the support of the boys would go 

                          in upkeep for the staff. In addition there were up to 168 boys employed without 

                          payment in various activities. 



                       The Visitation Report recommended that it was time to set up some sort of a committee 

                       of experienced Brothers to examine the whole situation. The Visitor did not think that 

                       Artane should be closed down: ‘it is the only school of its kind in the whole of Leinster’. 

                       In spite of the reduced grants and the rather wasteful manner in which the place is run 

                       at the  time of  visitation, Artane  had £45,000  in the  building fund  and approximately 

                       £17,000 in the bank. The latter large figure was caused by the arrival shortly before 

                       hand of the major grants. 



                 (13)   In 1962 the Visitor remarked: 



                          even though the numbers have fallen considerably your financial position is still 

                          strong. Most of the departments of Artane are self supporting but from the annual 

                          accounts it would seem that the farm could pay much better. With 300 of the best 

                          land of North County Dublin there should be a very substantial return for the year. 



                 (14)   After  1962, sales  of  land increased  the credit  balances  in the  house  accounts and 

                        made it difficult to establish what had derived from the school and what had derived 

                        from sales. 



2.108      What  emerged  from  these  references  was  that  Artane  was  a  large  contributor  to  the  Christian 

           Brother’s Congregation in Ireland. The Visitation Reports indicate that most of the money for these 

           contributions came from the house accounts that were funded almost exclusively by salaries paid 

           to Brothers. Given that Brothers had almost no living expenses because these were covered by 

           the school, the money paid in salary went in large part to the development of the Congregation. 

           There was clearly a greater surplus of funds during periods of high occupancy in the 1940s and 

           into the 1950s. 



2.109      The school appeared to have adequate funds to function and to allow for substantial payments to 

           the Congregation. 



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  2.110    Other Christian Brothers’ institutions had similar references in their Visitation Reports. 



  2.111    In Glin, the Visitor referred to the purchase by the school of farm land in 1938 and stated: 



                 The   finances   of  the  Establishment     were   able   to meet    this outlay   on  land   which   is 

                 necessary for the production of food for the School and training for the boys. 



  2.112    In 1941, the Visitor remarked: 



                 Financially the Institution is sound, and if the numbers keep up to the present average all 

                 will be well. 



  2.113    The Reports show a credit balance for most of the 1950s in Glin but, as in Artane, falling numbers 

           made the situation more difficult going in to the 1960s. A figure of £7,000 was recorded in the 

           building fund for most of the 1950s and 1960s. 



  2.114    Carriglea also had references to the sound state of its finances. In 1936, the Visitor stated: ‘the 

           Institution is in a sound state financially’. In 1937, the bursar was instructed that ‘The salaries of 

           the  Brothers  should  be  debited  against  the  school  just  as  are  the  salaries  of  other  officers  of 

           the Institution’. 



  2.115    Visitation Reports throughout the 1940s criticised the lack of proper book-keeping in Carriglea, 

           although such figures as could be extracted indicated that the school was making a surplus for 

           most  of the  years  it operated.  In  1951, it  was  again described  as  appearing to  be  ‘in a  sound 

           financial position’. 



  2.116    In 1953 the Visitor remarked: 



                 With almost £11,000 to its credit in the Bank and £4000 in the Building Fund, the financial 

                 position  of  the  establishment  is  satisfactory.  By  some  judicious  method  this  £11,000 

                 should be transferred to the Building Fund. To transfer it all by one cheque might not be 

                 desirable, as the Government – and possibly other parties also – seem to be anxious to 

                 probe into the financial position of industrial schools. 



  2.117    In 1954, the Visitor stated: 



                 The finances of this institution....are in a very sound condition. There is a sum of £16,000 

                 invested in the Building Fund.... 



  2.118    There  was  little  in  the  Visitation  Reports  of  Carriglea  to  indicate  an  institution  struggling  to 

           survive financially. 



  2.119    In 1954, the numbers in Letterfrack were reduced substantially in order to restrict that Institution 

           to boys convicted of criminal offences. Prior to 1954, it was not a very large school with numbers 

           ranging from 130 to 170. In 1954, the Superior observed: 



                 Financially you are solvent but it is evident that there is not a whole lot of money to spare 

                 when one considers the need for expenditure. 



  2.120    In 1955 however, the Visitor stated: 



                 The finances for the year 1954 are remarkably satisfactory. The total credit balance rose 

                 from £3117 14.5 to £3573.0.1. There was a surplus income in the school a/c of £914.7.4 

                 in spite of an abnormal purchase of a car for £521. 



  2.121    By 1956, the situation had deteriorated, but even then the Visitor sounded a note of optimism: 

           ‘With growing numbers his [the Manager’s] position is gradually though slowly improving.’ 



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 2.122     In 1960, the Visitor remarked: 



                 The  financial position  of the  establishment is  not too  sound but  if the  numbers can  be 

                 maintained about their present level [110] the place could carry on. 



 2.123     That forecast proved correct. In 1962 the Visitor observed: 



                 One wonders why the financial position of this house is not bad considering all the repairs 

                 and renovations which have been carried out during the past four years. If the various 

                 County Councils pay up their portion of the contribution due, the house should be solvent 

                 at the end of the year. 



 2.124     The financial situation was described as ‘sound’ in 1962 and ‘by no means bad’ in 1964. By 1972, 

           the Visitor could state: 



                 Both  house  and  school  are  in  good  financial  condition.  On  December  30  1972,  there 

                 was  a  balance  of  12,000  pounds  in  the  house  accounts  and  of  15,000  pounds  in  the 

                 school account. 



 2.125     Letterfrack closed the following year. 



 2.126     These  extracts from  the  Congregations’  Visitors do  not  indicate a  chronic  shortage  of funds  in 

           Letterfrack.  The  shortage  that  was  encountered  by  the  reduction  in  numbers  appears  to  have 

           been  quickly  made  up.  Letterfrack,  like  all  Industrial  Schools,  was  largely  dependent  on  the 

           capitation allowance and it appears that even at a time of reduced numbers, this was sufficient to 

           generate a substantial surplus by 1972. 



 2.127     In 1940, the Visitor to Tralee Industrial School made the following observation arising out of the 

           separation of the Industrial School, St Joseph’s, from the larger Community of Brothers who lived 

           in the adjoining monastery of St Mary’s: 



                 The only debt on the establishment is the sum of £600 due to St Mary’s Tralee. At the time 

                 the two Communities were separated it was arranged that St Joseph’s should contribute to 

                 St Mary’s £600 annually to help towards liquidating the debt on the new secondary school. 

                 This sum has been paid regularly up to 1938 but has not been paid for the year 1939. 



 2.128     In 1938, the total school grants to St Joseph’s amounted to £2,616 and £600 was a substantial 

           portion of that. St Mary’s Secondary school was a completely separate institution and none of the 

           boys from St Joseph’s attended it. 



 2.129     By 1941, the Visitor could state that although the school had operated at a deficit for that year: 



                 As  the  school  has  now  a  full  enrolment,  its  income  for  the  year  will  be  at  least  £1000 

                 higher than it was for last year. Hence the establishment is financially sound. 



 2.130     Throughout  the  1940s,  the  school  operated  at  a  deficit  although  it  did  engage  in  considerable 

           improvements during that time including the construction of a new chapel. 



 2.131     In 1953, the school acquired extra farm land for £3,000, which would appear to have been paid 

           for out of the school funds. For most of the 1950s, the school account showed a debit balance 

           whilst  the house  accounts  showed a  credit  balance.  In the  latter  part of  the  1960s, the  school 

           began showing a surplus and by 1969 the Visitor described the finances as ‘very sound’. 



 2.132     Tralee was a small industrial school by Christian Brothers’ standards with a population of just over 

           100 during the 1950s. It had a small farm of no more than 60 acres and the school struggled to 

           break  even.  The  house,  which  received  its  income  from  stipends  paid  to  the  Brothers,  had  a 

           steady surplus throughout the period and by 1966, there was £8,000 invested in the building fund. 



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2.133      Tralee  illustrated  the  impact  of  low  numbers  and  a  small  farm  on  the  ability  of  a  school  to 

           remain solvent. 



2.134      These extracts from Visitation Reports are selective and out of context and are not intended to 

           establish the particular facts about finance in the schools but rather to demonstrate the complexity 

           of the issue and the background to the brief to Mazars. 



           Building fund 



2.135      Details  of  the  building  fund  were  furnished  by  the  Christian  Brothers  between  July  2007  and 

           February 2008. 



2.136      The Congregation stated 



                 The Building Fund consisted of monies which were forwarded to the Provincial Councils 

                 by  communities  for  use  in  refurbishing  existing  schools  and  building  new  schools.  A 

                 Community submitted excess funds to the Building Fund, which funds could be called on 

                 for refurbishments and/or erections of new buildings. 



2.137      The Congregation was not in a position to say how much money in total was paid in to the building 

           fund by their Industrial Schools but the accounts furnished show that Artane was consistently one 

           of the largest contributors. Visitation Reports show payments into this fund by all the Industrial 

           Schools at some point. There was also some evidence of payments out of this fund by way of 

           loans to the schools but these were relatively small sums and were generally concentrated in the 

           period immediately prior to the closure of the institution as an Industrial School. For example in 

           1963, when numbers in Artane had fallen substantially, a large sum of money was spent building 

           a swimming pool. In Carriglea, after the decision was made to close down the Industrial School 

           and use it as a Juniorate for the Order, large-scale refurbishments of dormitories occurred. 



2.138      All  of  these  issues  outlined  above,  although  not  specifically  adverted  to  in  the  Mazars’  report, 

           formed part of the documentation used by Mazars to analyse the question of capitation funding. 

           They gave rise to a degree of unease on the part of the Committee regarding the true state of the 

           finances of some of the Industrial Schools. 



2.139      In addition, the opening statements of the Congregations raised a number of queries: 



                  •    Were Northern Ireland or UK costs valid comparators? 

                  •    Could the comments of Justice Eileen Kennedy, written in 1970 when the numbers had 

                        fallen dramatically, apply to the 1936–66 period of high occupancy? 



                  •    Was the capitation grant adequate to meet the basic needs of the children in care? 



2.140      The submission of the Congregations that Irish schools received considerably less funding than 

           their UK or Northern Irish counterparts was obviously correct. However, this did not necessarily 

           mean that Irish schools received so little funding that they were unable to provide a basic standard 

           of  care.  The  system  in  neighbouring  jurisdictions  was  fundamentally  different  in  that  they  had 

           phased out large institutional homes in favour of group homes from the 1920s and this inevitably 

           led to a move towards a budgetary system. A capitation system depended on large numbers of 

           children being committed, a budgetary system did not. It was because the capitation system had 

           encouraged Managers to keep large numbers of children that it was phased out in England and 

           abolished there in 1933 and in Northern Ireland in 1950. 



2.141      The Managers of schools in Ireland had to be aware of these developments in the UK and yet, 

           as  was  pointed  out  in  the  historical  introduction  to  this  chapter,  in  all  of  the  submissions  for 

           increased  payments  made  to  the  Department,  there  was  no  suggestion  that  the  system  itself 

           should be changed. 



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2.142      The capitation system had advantages for both the State and the religious Congregations. The 

           religious  communities  gained  by  undertaking  the  work  of  caring  for  poor  and  disadvantaged 

           children as part of their charism. They could ensure a Catholic upbringing for children in need of 

           care while educating them. 



2.143      The  State,  by  supporting  them  in  the  charitable  work  by  paying  maintenance  for  the  children, 

           gained    an   inexpensive     pool  of  care   workers    without    the  expense     of  paying   salaries   and 

           providing buildings. 



2.144      However,  the  capitation  system  required  schools  to  run  at  full  capacity  to  be  economical,  so 

           changes to this system were not undertaken because of the financial implications. It led to more 

           children being kept in the institution than was necessary because their presence served the needs 

           of the bodies in whose care they had been placed. 



            The terms of reference for Mazars 



                   •     Mazars  was  asked  to  look  at  the  adequacy  of  the  funding  provided  by  the  State  to 

                         establish  whether  this  sum  was  adequate  to  provide  basic  care  for  the  children  in 

                         residential institutions. 



                   •    Mazars was asked to examine the accounts of four sample institutions to see how the 

                         capitation grant was used and to identify what the overall financial impact the schools 

                         had on the Congregations that ran them. 



2.145      The method adopted by Mazars was to produce a draft report in the first instance, which was sent 

           to the Congregations responsible for the four institutions. These Congregations were invited to 

           make submissions on the general issue dealt with in Part I and Part II of the Mazars’ report as 

           well as the issues specific to their institutions at Part III. They submitted responses that Mazars 

           took into account in producing their revised report. 



2.146      This section contains the Mazars’ revised report, incorporating some subsequent corrections and 

           amendments, and the submissions made by the Congregations.6                     It has to be remembered that 



           the submissions were made in respect of an earlier version of Mazars’ report and so there are 

           some references in the responding submissions that do not relate to the revised report because 

           they  have  already  been  taken  into  account.  The  main  points  of  difference  and  argument  are 

           however reflected in the revised report and the various submissions. 



           Adequacy of capitation 



2.147      Chapter 4 of the Mazars’ report dealt with the adequacy of the capitation grant and summarised 

           its approach as follows: 



                  Adequacy      in  our   opinion   is  most    appropriately     considered     in  a  context    that   is 

                  contemporaneous and which agrees to the norms of the society at that time. In our work 

                  we  have  sought  to  compare  the  capitation  grant  to  available  contemporary  Irish  data. 

                  Adequacy is also properly assessed against the background of purpose. In the case of 

                  the Reformatory and Industrial schools, the purpose of the capitation grant is, in our view, 

                  contained in the guiding legislation.7 



2.148      Mazars  began  their  analysis  by  identifying  what  the  capitation  grant  was  expected  to  cover. 

           Because the schools were the private property of the religious owners, they submitted that the 

           grant was not intended to cover capital acquisitions or capital improvements beyond day-to-day 

           maintenance. This was not always understood by Managers: 



           6 Appendices to the Mazars’ Report are included on the Commissions website (www.childabusecommission.ie) 

           7 Mazars, Part 4.1. 



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                   From  the  information  available  to  us  we  understand  that  the  capitation  funds  were  in 

                  practice applied to any expenses deemed by the managers  of the institutions to relate 

                                                                  8 

                  broadly to the running of the institution . 



2.149       Mazars observed that it was both inevitable and appropriate that in the ‘community’ nature of the 

            whole    enterprise,    school     and   house     (ie  Congregation)       expenses      would     be   interrelated. 

            Nevertheless they deemed it important to identify what was intended to be covered: 

                  it appears reasonable to conclude that the intention in the Act9  is for the capitation funding 



                  to  apply    specifically   to  the  lodging,   clothing,   feeding    and   education     of  the   resident 

                  children.10 



2.150       Mazars used the Cussen Report as a point of departure and concluded: 



                  in  the  view  of  the  Cussen  Commission,  the  funding  to  the  schools  was  adequate  if 

                  supplemented with a grant towards teaching costs – provision for which was made early 

                  in the period under review11 



2.151       Cussen  also  suggested  bringing  the  local  authority  contribution  in  line  with  the  Department  of 

            Education payment and this was also done. 



2.152       Chapter 4 of the report looked at the rate of capitation increase against inflation and concluded 

            that ‘annual inflation exceeded changes in the capitation grant by 15 percent on average’ between 

            1939 and 1957. Between 1957 and 1969 ‘the annual capitation changes exceeded inflation by 58 

            percent on average’.12 



2.153       As  pointed  out  above,  other  factors  such  as  the  payment  of  capitation  to  the  under-sixes;  the 

            accommodation limit being used as the basis for payment; and the introduction of the National 

            School grant, all increased the actual income to the schools without an increase in the capitation 

            allowance during the 1940s and therefore a simple comparison of capitation and inflation does 

            not give the full picture. 



2.154       Having  compared  the  capitation  rates  and  economic  conditions  and  the  cost  of  living,  Mazars 

            concluded: 



                  Taking the review period in its entirety, the funding per head to schools did not decline in 

                  real/purchasing      power     terms   as   changes     in  the   capitation    grant   more    than   match 

                  movements in the general price level.13 



2.155       The  chapter  then  addressed  the  issue  of  adequacy  of  funding,  which  it  approached  from  two 

            points of view 



                    •    adequacy in accordance with the 1908 Act; 

                    •    adequacy in comparison with other frameworks of reference suggested. 



2.156       For the first, they used benchmarks that identified the cost of maintaining a child as opposed to 

            maintaining an institution and used: 



                    •    average household income per head; 

                    •    unemployment benefit. 



            8 Mazars, Part 4.2.3. 

            9 Section 44 of the Children Act 1908. 

            10 Mazars, Part 4.2.3. 

            11 Mazars, Part 4.3.1. 

            12 Mazars, Part 4.3.1. 

            13 Mazars, Part 4.3.1. 



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2.157      Specifically, Mazars did not accept the comparisons used by the Christian Brothers in some of 

           their submissions, which sought to compare the costs of a residential institution in Ireland with 

           one in the North or UK because of the different economic and social circumstances and because 

           the capitation system had been abolished in the UK in the 1920s and had been replaced with a 

            block grant system that was not dependent on large numbers of children being committed. It did, 

            however, note that the rate of increase in the two jurisdictions was largely in tandem. 



2.158       Mazars    also  believed    it was   invalid   to apply   modern     childcare    standards    retrospectively    as 

           suggested by the Oblates in their opening statement. 



2.159       Under the household income per head analysis, Mazars concluded: 



                  on average, the industrial school capitation grant was 88 percent of household income 

                  per head.14 



2.160      When compared with unemployment benefit, Mazars concluded: 



                  For the 30-year period, the industrial school capitation grant was on average 122 percent 

                  of  unemployment  benefit  payments.  Therefore,  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the 

                  capitation payments were sufficient to support a child as they exceed what was expected 

                  to support an adult male.15 



2.161       Mazars used the Central Statistics Office’s household budget survey covering the 1939–69 period 

           to ascertain expenditure on child maintenance and concluded: 



                  This analysis suggests that the weekly capitation was appropriate for its intended purpose 

                  as weekly capitation exceeded expenditure incurred per child by a typical household.16 



2.162       Mazars  also  noted  that  the  analysis  demonstrated  economies  of  scale  associated  with  child 

            maintenance. 



                  As the numbers of children in a household increase two things happen: (a) the incremental 

                  or marginal cost of that additional child is less than the incremental cost of the maintaining 

                  previous  child;  and     (b)  this  serves  to   drag  the  average  maintenance  cost          per  child 

                  downwards. Unfortunately we do not have data to measure the economies of scale likely 

                  to arise in a Reformatory or Industrial School situation.17 



2.163       Mazars concluded that the capitation grant was sufficient to feed, clothe and accommodate the 

           children in Industrial Schools to a basic but adequate level – no child should have been hungry, 

           cold or neglected. 



2.164       For many institutions other important factors came in to play. This was particularly true in the case 

           of  the  larger  boys’  schools  where  farming  was  a  significant  benefit  to  the  running  costs  of  the 

           schools.  Large  farms  in  schools  like  Artane,  Letterfrack  and  Daingean  were  worked  on  by  the 

            boys and allowed these schools to be almost self-sufficient in terms of food and even generated 

           extra income through selling produce. 



2.165       In addition, it was a consistent complaint even in contemporary documents that industrial training 

           was used as a means of providing for the needs of the institution rather than the needs of the 

           children. The impact of this varied from school to school and as between boys’ and girls’ schools. 



           14  Mazars, Part 4.4.2. 

           15  Mazars, Part 4.4.3. 

           16 Mazars, Part 4.4.4. 

           17  Mazars, Part 4.4.4. 



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 2.166     Clothing, footwear, food, cooking and property maintenance were provided to the institution by 

           the industrial training provided to the boys. 



 2.167     Clothing, cleaning, cooking and childcare were provided to the school by the industrial training 

           offered to the girls. 



 2.168     In some Sister of Mercy schools such as Goldenbridge, rosary bead making and other industries 

           provided a considerable extra income to the school. 



 2.169     There was evidence from complainants of baking and laundry facilities being made available to 

           the public for profit. 



 2.170     Not all schools had these additional factors but some did. At the very least it might be expected 

           that  in  schools  that  had  extra  resources,  the  capitation  grant  would  be  seen  to  go  further  and 

           provide a better standard of care for some children. There was little evidence that this occurred 

           and indeed some of the best physical care was given by schools such as St Joseph’s Kilkenny, 

           which had almost no farming and no outside source of income. 



 2.171     Another  significant  factor  identified  by  Mazars  was  the  economies  of  scale  that  applied  to  the 

           larger institutions. The Orders argued that the institutions’ fixed costs remained static irrespective 

           of how many children were there. This fact, which was used to ground an application for increased 

           funding when numbers began falling, was also true in reverse. Large institutions should have had 

           the benefit of savings when in periods of full occupancy and yet the evidence pointed to greater 

           deprivations during those periods. 



 2.172     Mazars’  findings  were  contrary  to  the  assertions  of  the  Congregations  and  the  Department  of 

           Education.  The  Commission  invited  submissions  from  the  four  Congregations  that  were  the 

           subject of the accounts analysis in the third part of the Mazars’ report and from the Departments 

           of Education and Science and Finance. 



           Response of the Christian Brothers 



 2.173     The submission by the Christian Brothers in response to Mazars was dismissive and critical of 

           the Mazars’ approach in relation to adequacy of the capitation grant. This document exhibited a 

           defensive   approach  by    this  Congregation    to  the  investigation  by  the  Committee.     Instead  of 

           seriously analysing the funding issue and acknowledging the validity of the questions raised, the 

           response sought to achieve by vehemence what it ought to be striving to do by way of analysis. 



 2.174     Mazars was asked to look at the capitation paid to ascertain whether it was enough to do the job 

           intended. Mazars was not asked whether the system was cheaper or more expensive than that 

           operated   elsewhere.    They   were   asked    simply   to analyse    whether   the  money    paid   for the 

           maintenance     of the  children   was   sufficient to  do  that. Mazars    used   comparators     that were 

           contemporaneous and directly relevant to the costs of childcare at that time. 



 2.175     Their analysis showed that when compared with costs in Ireland at the time, the capitation grant 

           was adequate to care for the children to a reasonable standard. Other factors such as economies 

           of scale, farming produce, contribution from trades and income from trades could be factored in, 

           depending on the individual school, and these would also impact on the resources available to 

           care for the children. 



 2.176     The Congregation did not respond to this analysis but simply dismissed the basis for it and insisted 

           that  the  only  valid  comparator  was  the  one  they  set  out  in  their  opening  statements,  that  of  a 

           school in Northern Ireland or in the UK. 



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2.177     The   Congregation    criticised  Mazars   for failing to  take  note  of  the  findings  of the  Kennedy 

           Commission (1970), the Tuairim report (1966), and the Department of Education submission to 

          this  Committee.  All  submitted  that  the  funding  to  Industrial  Schools  was  inadequate.  However, 

           both  of these  reports  were written  at  a  time when  numbers  had fallen  so  dramatically that  the 

          system of funding, based on capitation, was under pressure. Even at this time, the payment per 

          child  was  reasonable  but  the  costs  of  keeping  the  institutions  open  for  smaller  numbers  was 

           becoming more burdensome and was taking an increasing amount out of the maintenance grant. 

          The Department of Education acknowledged to the Committee that they had not conducted any 

           investigation into the rates of capitation but had simply relied on the Kennedy and Tuairim reports 

          and on the correspondence with the Resident Managers’ Association through the years. 



2.178     The   question   Mazars    was   asked   to  investigate  was   whether   the  capitation   was  adequate 

          throughout the relevant period including periods of high occupancy. 



           The Sisters of Mercy response 



2.179     Some issues arose in relation to the Sisters of Mercy and Goldenbridge that also gave rise to 

          questions on finance. 



2.180     The  Sisters  of  Mercy  ran  a  lucrative  bead-making  industry  in  respect  of  which  no  accounts 

          appeared to have survived. Inquiries by the Committee indicated that this activity brought in at 

           least £50 per week. 



2.181      In 1952, which was a time when the Resident Managers were demanding substantial increases 

           in capitation allowances, the Sisters bought a large house in Rathdrum, County Wicklow, with this 

           money, which they used as a summer house for the children for a couple of weeks every August. 

          There  was  no  record  of  any  other  Sisters  of  Mercy  schools  using  Rathdrum  and  there  is  no 

          evidence as to what it was used for during the other 11 months of the year. Such a purchase was 

           not consistent with an institution struggling to survive. 



          The  Sisters’  response  also  dismissed  the  comparators  used  by  Mazars  on  the  basis  that  they 

          failed to take into account the nature of the costs implicit in running an institution. It insisted that 

          the only valid comparator was with a UK institution but, like the Christian Brothers’ submission, 

          did not advert to the differences between the two systems. 



           The Rosminian response 



2.182     The Rosminians also disputed the comparators used because of the inherent expenses in running 

          an institution that were not reflected in ordinary household accounts. They stated: 



                 In  any  event,  and  critically,  the  schools  were  dealing  with  a  situation  which  required 

                 remedial and restorative standards of care. This cannot be done on a tight budget, never 

                 mind a persistent deficit. 



2.183     The  allegations  made  against  institutions  –  including  Ferryhouse  and  Upton  –  were  that  basic 

          care  was  not  provided.  The  Commission  accepts  that  high  levels  of  individual  care  were  not 

           possible  because  of  the  lack  of  funds,  but  was  concerned  to  establish  to  what  extent  serious 

           neglect could be excused. 



2.184     The Rosminians stated that their schools barely survived and that that would indicate either gross 

           mismanagement by the Order, or underfunding by the State. All the evidence, they maintained 

           pointed to the latter. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                      71 


----------------------- Page 1846-----------------------

           The Oblates of Mary Immaculate response 



2.185      The  Oblate  response  to  the  Mazars  report  was  also  defensive.  The  Oblates  saw  the  Mazars’ 

           report as an attempt to illustrate that the Order had profited from their involvement in Daingean 

           and set about dismissing that proposition. They did not see that Mazars was engaged in a much 

           simpler  task.  Their  response  set  out  the  arguments  for  using  UK  schools  as  a  benchmark  for 

           assessing the adequacy of the grant and they also engaged in a detailed exercise of looking at 

           the costs of childcare in institutions today and adjusting these costs for inflation. 



2.186      In  relation  to  the  ‘benchmarks’     used,   they   reiterated  the  point   made    by  the   other  three 

           submissions that 



                 Comparisons with the value of average family incomes, welfare benefits paid to families 

                 or  family  spending  are  unlikely  to  give  a  useful  measure  of  the  cost  to  the  Oblates  of 

                 running a residential institution. 



2.187      Whilst  this  is  true  to  a  certain  extent,  the  comparators  used  by  Mazars  are  valid  in  assessing 

           whether   funding   was    adequate    to  provide   basic  physical   care  such   as   food,  clothing  and 

           accommodation. 



           Conclusion 



2.188      The Mazars report raises doubts about the generally accepted proposition that funding for 

           the residential schools was so inadequate that children suffered neglect and deprivation. 



2.189      There were variables that had a considerable effect on the ability of schools to provide an 

           adequate standard of care. These include: 



                  •    The size of the school. Mazars calculated a break-even number in respect of the 

                        four schools. This would indicate that where numbers fell below a critical figure, 

                        which    varied   as   between     the  schools,     a  school    would    have    been    under 

                        financial pressure. 



                  •    Economies of scale were a significant factor in large schools. 

                  •    The ‘one size fits all’ approach by the Resident Managers failed to address the 

                        genuine needs of some of the smaller institutions. 



                  •    The existence of a farm that could provide food and fuel to the institution. 

                  •     Schools  with  an  internal  national  school  received  a  national  school  grant  in 

                        addition to the capitation grant. This grant was also based on capitation and was 

                        therefore more valuable to larger schools. 



                  •    Many schools used industrial training as a means of generating income and for 

                        providing the needs of the institution. 



           Value of work done by the Order 



2.190      The purpose of the residential school system was that the State and religious Orders would act 

           in partnership in providing care to poor and destitute children. The Religious would raise donations 

           for the establishment and upkeep of the schools and the State would pay to maintain the children. 

           By the time the Department of Education took over the running of these schools and by the start 

           of the period examined by the Investigation Committee, this dual role had become blurred for a 

           number of Congregations. Most religious Orders did not seek public subscription for the premises 

           used  as  residential  homes  and  used  the  capitation  grant  to  enhance  and  improve  them.  It  is 

           difficult to establish what effect, if any, this had on the funds available for the children and it varied 

           from school to school. 



           72                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1847-----------------------

2.191       In assessing the adequacy of the capitation grant, some Congregations have taken into account 

           the monetary value of the work done by the religious staff over the years. On a simple accounting 

            basis such an approach may be justified, but in determining whether the institutions had enough 

            money to provide the basic needs of the children, an analysis of what was, at the time, understood 

           to be the charitable nature of this work is important. 



2.192      The Christian Brothers were particularly defensive of the remuneration paid to the Brothers. Their 

            response submission criticised the suggested assumption by Mazars that everything earned by 

           the Christian Brothers in the community irrespective of source should have been available to the 

           school  ‘to  fund  its  losses’.  It  argued  that  this  was  tantamount  to  suggesting  that  anybody  who 

           worked  in state  institutions should  hand back  any money  left over  at the  end of  the  year. The 

           argument proceeded to criticise this approach as ignoring ‘obvious and unarguable facts.’ One of 

           these facts was that each and every Brother who provided his services to the industrial school 

           was entitled to remuneration and that such remuneration paid by way of stipend ‘was unarguably 

           the property of the community. If the State was running the institution itself it would have paid 

           each  and  every  person  employed  there  a  salary  which  would  have  been  the  legal  property  of 

           that person.’ 



2.193       In putting forward their analysis of the value of the Brothers’ work to the institution, the Christian 

            Brothers stated in their opening statement to the Artane module: 



                  the Brothers working in Artane were not paid a salary; instead a stipend for each Brother 

                  working  in  the schools  or  on  the administrative  staff  was  paid  to the  local  Community. 

                  This was in keeping with other schools or institutions in the capitation system. The annual 

                  stipend in Artane ranged from £142 per Brother in the 1940s to £300 per Brother in the 

                  1960s. Significantly the rate of stipend in Artane was lower than in other schools where 

                  the  rate  in  the  1960s  was  £550.  The  fact  that  the  Brothers  were  only  paid  a  stipend 

                  represented a clear saving to the State.... 



2.194      The statement then set out the 25 Brothers working in Artane in the 1960s and, by reference to 

            Northern  Ireland  salary  scales,  estimated  what  they  would  have  been  earning  in  salary.  They 

           concluded that had the State paid the Brothers’ salaries instead of stipends it would have cost the 

           State £14,070 per year in the mid-1960s.The stipends came to a total of £7,500 thus representing 

           a saving to the State of £6,570. 



2.195      As in the case of assessing adequacy of income, the Northern Irish comparator is less helpful 

           than an actual salary comparison in the Republic. According to the Christian Brothers’ Northern 

            Ireland comparator, eight primary school  teachers at £750 each at the lower end  of the salary 

           scale would have attracted a total of £5,800. In fact, in the State a primary school teacher at the 

            lower end of the salary scale earned £450 in 1963, which increased to £605 in 1964. The correct 

           figure for that one element of the Christian Brothers’ calculation is either £4,000 or £4,840. Similar 

           adjustments to each category of Brother employed in Artane would quickly erode any ‘clear saving 

           to the State’. 



2.196      The following is  a table of stipends paid to  Brothers in Artane, against primary  school salaries 

           from 1944 to 1968:18 



           18  Mazars ‘Analysis of Stipends in Lieu of Salaries & Teachers’ Pay, March 2008’. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                73 


----------------------- Page 1848-----------------------

                          Year                 Trained single teacher – lowest       Artane stipend per Brother 

                                                     point on salary scale 



                           1944                              \187                                \152 



                           1945                              \187                                \152 



                           1946                              \187                                \152 



                           1947                              \279                                \241 



                           1948                              \279                                \241 



                           1949                              \279                                \241 



                           1950                              \317                                \241 



                           1951                              \317                                \241 



                           1952                              \362                                \241 



                           1953                              \396                                \241 



                           1954                              \396                                \317 



                           1955                              \396                                \317 



                           1956                              \432                                \317 



                           1957                              \432                                \317 



                           1958                              \432                                \508 



                           1959                              \458                                \381 



                           1960                              \476                                \381 



                           1961                              \476                                \381 



                           1962                              \546                                \381 



                           1963                              \571                                \381 



                           1964                              \768                                \381 



                           1965                              \787                                \381 



                           1966                              \837                                \381 



                           1967                              \837                                \381 



                           1968                              \837                                \381 



2.197     Two important factors arise: 



                 •    All of the Brothers’ ordinary living expenses were paid by the school including food, 

                       accommodation and general maintenance of the monastery. The stipend, which was 

                       paid directly to the monastery, covered expenses such as clothing, holidays, travel and 

                       medical care. 



                 •    All Brothers received this stipend, even those in more menial positions in the school 

                       and  those  with  no  involvement  in  the  care  of  the  boys.  If  £300  represented  a  fair 

                       remuneration  for  a  Brother  who  was  a  teacher  in  the  school,  it  was  arguably  an 

                       overpayment for Brothers who worked in the kitchens or the farm. It was certainly an 

                       overpayment for those Brothers who were retired and elderly and who were not directly 

                       involved in the running of the school. 



2.198     Although the value of the stipend fell in the latter half of the 1960s, it was a generous payment in 

          the 1940s and 1950s and early 1960s. It allowed Artane and other schools to make significant 

          contributions to the building fund, which facilitated the development of Christian Brothers’ schools 

          outside of the Industrial School system. 



          74                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1849-----------------------

2.199       It is not correct to assert that the payment of stipends represented a significant saving to the State 

           on salaries that would otherwise have to be paid. The cost to the State of running institutions like 

           Artane was considerable. 



2.200       It is not clear that the cost to the State of paying all the Brothers in the institution a stipend was 

           fully understood by the Department of Education or the Department of Finance at the time. As was 

           shown in the historical section of this chapter, no proper breakdown of this figure was submitted to 

           the  Department  in  the  1940s  or  1950s  and  no  reference  appears  to  have  been  made  to  it  by 

           the Department in its communications with the Resident Managers’ Association when discussing 

            increases in grants. 



2.201      A  difficulty  with  the  Christian  Brothers’  submission  is  in  the  distinction  between  the  charitable 

           contributions  of  individual  Brothers  and  the  larger  interests  of  the  Congregation,  including  the 

           funding of its operations. 



2.202       In  respect  of  the  Reformatory  at  Daingean,  run  by  the  Oblate  order,  Mazars  stated  that  the 

            payments to the Province amounted to almost \50,000 over the period under review: 



                  A  report  prepared     on   behalf  of  the   Oblate  Order     in May  2002      indicates   that  these 

                  payments to the Province and to the Order members were funded by farm sales, stipends 

                  and donations. An analysis of payments to the Province and to the Order members in the 

                  context  of  the  surplus/deficit  generated  from  the  farm  and  income  from  donations  and 

                  stipends indicates, however, that in most years such income sources, when related costs 

                  are  taken  into  account,  would  not  have  supported  the  level  of  payments  made  to  the 

                  Province and to the Order members and, at an overall level for the period from 1940 to 

                  1969, payments to the Province and to the Order members would have exceeded these 

                  sources of income by an amount of approximately \25,111, i.e. farm income, donations, 

                  stipends and sundry sales together exceeded farm expenditure by just \35,395 and were 

                  not  sufficient  to  cover    payments  to  the  Province...  This  would,        therefore,  imply  that 



                                                                                                 19 

                  capitation grants were, in part, funding payments to the Province’               . 



2.203       In  response,  the  Oblate  Order  made  a  strong  submission  on  the  question  of  the  value  of  the 

           Order’s work in Daingean to the State. This was not part of their opening statement but it was 

           addressed by them in their response to the Mazars’ report. They stated: 



                  For example, the full value of the work done by the priests and brothers of the Oblate 

                  order should be counted as a cost to the school, matched by a liability from the school to 

                  the Oblate order. 



2.204      The economic consultants, Goodbody’s, engaged by the Oblates attempted to work out the cost 

           of the  work done by  the religious  against the value  to them of  their accommodation  and living 

           expenses. They stated: 



                  When a minimum value of the work done by the members of the order is recognised, and 

                  this value is reduced by maximum values for the value of the goods, services and cash 

                  provided    by   St  Conleth’s     to  the  Oblate    order   the   accumulated      loss   increases    to 

                  \113,947 [£96,268]. 



2.205      According to the accounts furnished by the Order, 10 percent of the total income received by the 

            institution was paid to the Order by way of stipends or direct payment to the Province20. If the figure 



           suggested by Goodbody’s for food and accommodation was added to that, a total of \251,000 



           19  Mazars, Part 8.2. 

           20  That is approx £69,000 out of a total of £726,881. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                75 


----------------------- Page 1850-----------------------

           was  used  by  the  Order  out  of  the  capitation  grant,  which  represented  approximately  1/3rd  of 



                        21 

           all income     . 



2.206      An important added factor is that Daingean accommodated a large number of retired priests who 

            had little or no contact with the school. A former Resident Manager of the Order was asked about 

           this  at  hearing.  It  was  pointed  out  to  him  that  of  the  five  priests  listed  in  Daingean,  only  one 

           appeared to have direct involvement with the school, and he said in respect of the other four: 



                  They were there for different purposes. It would often give a choice of say confessor for 

                  a boy. 



2.207      A former Resident Manager said that one priest was interested in arts and crafts and another in 

            music and that they involved themselves in those activities. 



2.208      Of  the  19  Brothers,  only six  or  seven  appeared  to  be  involved  with the  school  and  the  former 

            Resident  Manager  mentioned  a  number  of  Brothers  who  were  retired  and  still  living  in  the 

           Community and still receiving stipends. 



2.209       He confirmed that in addition to these stipends, a levy was paid to the Province to pay for the 

           training of new members. 



                  You see every community was expected to make some contribution to the central fund 

                  because men had to be provided and trained and things like that and this was common 

                  enough. 



2.210       He had a difficulty with this because he ceased paying this contribution in the 1960s when he 

            became Manager: 



2.211       Mazars observed: 



                  The Industrial and Reformatory Schooling system during the period under review did not 

                  provide  for  payment  by  the  State,  of  salaries  of  those  employed  in  the  running  of  the 

                  institutions. The matter of salaries would not appear to be a matter which was raised by 

                  the  Order  at  the  time  they  ran  the  Reformatory  in  Daingean.  Rather  they  appeared  to 

                  accept the responsibility of managing the Reformatory and, in so doing, participated in 

                  the system as it prevailed at that time.22 



2.212      The  analysis  by  Goodbody’s  was  designed  to  show  that  the  Order  had  not  profited  from  the 

           operation    of  Daingean      Reformatory     but  it actually   illustrated   the  lack  of  clarity  around    the 

            ‘voluntary’ or ‘charitable’ nature of the work. Whilst it may be an interesting exercise to calculate 

           the money that could have been paid to religious for the work done, the fact is this was not the 

            understanding at the time. This school was a charitable venture undertaken by a religious Order 

            in pursuance of its mission and was supported in that by the State. 



2.213       In their response to the Mazars report, the Rosminians stated: 



                  Whilst the Rosminians had a certain desire for autonomy in the operation of their Schools, 

                  it was not for the sake of protection of property as such, it was to preserve independence 

                  in undertaking charitable works. This was the nature of the support by the religious which 

                  the State undertook. ....The religious were used because they could be relied upon to act 

                  on the basis of charity and because they were the largest supplier of social service/welfare 

                  in the Country.  As they provided a service on  trust, their claim to be  struggling should 

                  have been taken more seriously. 



           21  That is £251,000 out of £726,881. 

           22  Mazars, Part 8.2. 



           76                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1851-----------------------

2.214      This  goes  to  the  core  of  the  matter  –  the  Congregations  were  on  trust  but  were  not  willing  to 

           reciprocate this trust by being transparent in their dealings with the State. There was no attempt 

           to identify institutions that, because of their size or their lack of a farm or even the age profile of 

           their pupils, would have been genuinely struggling to make ends meet. The Resident Managers’ 

           Association, dominated as it was by Managers from the large senior boys’ schools, had no real 

           interest  in  disclosing  how  they  spent  the  capitation  and  therefore  smaller  schools  that  had  a 

           genuine case were not heard. 



2.215      In the module on Goldenbridge, Sr Xaveria stated that prior to the appointment of Sr Bernadine 

           in 1943, the  capitation grant was paid to the  convent and an allowance was  then given to the 

           Sisters who were engaged in the running of the school. Although that practice stopped, the few 

           financial accounts that survived showed significant payments to Carysfort Mother House and to 

           the reverend mother: 



                 The accounts of Carysfort Mother House indicate payments received between 1939 and 

                 1954 on a monthly basis totalling between approximately \5000 and \9000 per annum 

                 described    as   ‘National   Education    Goldenbridge’.     The   Carysfort    accounts    indicate 

                 payments     totalling  between     approximately     \1000    and   \5000    per   annum     to  the 

                 Goldenbridge Convent and Goldenbridge school expenses. The source of the income is 

                 not clear nor is the extent to which the payments related to wages. It is also not clear how 

                 much  of  this  income,  or  expenditure,  relates  to  the  industrial  school,  rather  than  the 

                 adjacent national school.23 



2.216      Mazars also noted a payment of £90 per month to the reverend mother but were unable to say 

           what this payment represented because of a lack of information. 



2.217      The Sisters of Mercy did not offer any explanation for these payments, but they did not suggest 

           that in assessing the capitation grant adequacy, monetary value should be placed on the work of 

           the Sisters in Goldenbridge. 



           Conclusions 



2.218      The  extent  to  which  money  was  paid  out  of  capitation  to  the  Congregation  varied  from 

           school to school. Although it may not have represented a full wage for some of the work 

           done, when added to the living expenses provided by the school to the religious staff, it 

           amounted to a significant payment for this work. 



2.219      The submission by two of the Congregations that attempted to place a monetary value on 

           the work of their religious did not address the charitable nature of the undertaking. 



2.220      Full itemised accounts should have been available to the Department of Education clearly 

           outlining  the  expenditure  of  the  State  grant.  These  accounts  would  have  helped  form  a 

           more accurate view of the financial aspects of these schools if they had been preserved 

           by the Congregations. 



2.221      Not  all  Congregations  behaved  the  same.  There  was  evidence  from  smaller  institutions 

           with   small   numbers     and    little extra  income     that  were    clearly   struggling    to  survive. 

           Notwithstanding that, accounts of neglect and hunger were just as prevalent in the large 

           boys’ schools that were well funded particularly during periods of high occupancy. 



           23 Mazars, Part 7.2. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          77 


----------------------- Page 1852-----------------------

           Analysis of individual accounts 



2.222      Before discussing the Mazars’ report and the submissions made, some preliminary observations 

           are   necessary.    A  central   point  is  that  the  sources    of information    and   documentation      about 

           financing the institutions are limited and in some cases  virtually non-existent. If proper records 

           were available, it would be a relatively simple matter to analyse the accounts and to identify the 

           relevant issues to be considered. It is not possible to do that because either those records are 

           not available, or they were not kept in a manner that would enable such analysis to be made. 



2.223      Although the Christian Brothers records were reasonably detailed, they did not provide enough of 

           a breakdown to establish what payments were made. This was particularly true under the wages 

           and   maintenance      sections.   There    was   no   way   of  knowing     whether    these   sums    related   to 

           Congregation or school expenses. 



2.224      Other Congregations, such as the Sisters of Mercy and the Rosminians, have hardly any records 

           at  all.  It  is  not  clear  whether  these  were  never  kept  in  the  first  place  or  were  subsequently 

           destroyed. 



2.225      It is a significant criticism of the Congregations that they did not maintain proper records so as to 

           establish, to their own satisfaction if to nobody else’s, that they were using all the money that they 

           received from the State to provide for the children in care. They were in receipt of considerable 

           financial  aid  at  a  time  when  money  and  resources  were  scarce  and  they  had  an  obligation  to 

           account for this money properly. 



2.226      The first simple point accordingly, is that there is an extraordinary dearth of financial records in 

           regard to the Industrial Schools and that is the fault – and the serious fault – of the Congregations. 



           Artane 



2.227      The Mazars’ report noted that: 



                  Two separate sets of books and records were maintained by the Brothers in respect of 

                  the  institution  at  Artane  –  school  accounts  and  house  accounts.  The  school  accounts 

                  recorded all of the activities deemed to relate to the operation of the school, including the 

                  farm  and  trade  activity.  The  house  accounts  recorded  the  activity  of  the  community  of 

                  Brothers resident at Artane. The community also invested in the Order building fund, and 

                  details of balances held to the account of Artane are recorded in the financial information 

                  presented to us by the Christian Brothers.24 



2.228      The school accounts for the period 1940-69 show that expenditure exceeded income by \70,818. 

           The House Accounts for the same period show that income exceeded expenditure by \339,724. 



                  The   most    significant  items   contributing    to  the  recorded     surpluses    are   stipends   or 

                  allowances for the Brothers engaged in the day to day management of the institution, and 

                  income generated from the disposal of lands. During the 1940s stipends represented 85 

                  percent of total income of the house. In the 1950s stipends represented 68.6 percent of 

                  income, with sales of land generating a further 10.6 percent of total income. In the 1960’s 

                  stipends represented 22 percent of total income, with sales of land accounting for 63.2 

                  percent.25 



2.229      The Report concluded that the school: 



                  was  virtually  self-sufficient,  providing  the  majority  of  its  needs  from  the  farm  and  the 

                  various other activities carried on within the school. This is evidenced by the low levels of 



           24  Mazars, Part 5.1. 

           25  Mazars, Part 5.1. 



           78                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1853-----------------------

                  expenditure on clothing and provisions, and is also reflected in a number of the Visitation 

                   Reports... It is particularly evident that figures for the 1960s are impacted significantly by 

                  the   reducing    number     of  children    attending    the  school.   However,      over   a  number     of 

                  categories  expenditure  was  relatively  consistent  for  the  period,  for  example  provisions 

                  purchased, clothing and fuel, light and power, reflecting the unchanging requirement for 

                  this expenditure.26 



2.230       The trades and the farm contributed very significantly to the financial position of the institution. 



2.231       In regard to capital expenditure there were no major items in the 1940s and the school achieved 

            a surplus after capital expenditure in the 1950s. Such spending was at its greatest in the 1960s, 

            ‘reflecting  perhaps  the  need  to  address  degeneration  in  the  standard  of  accommodation  over 

            time’.27 However, 



                   It is not apparent from the Visitation Reports as to why the decision to take an extensive 

                  programme of upgrade and refurbishment was undertaken, when reports from the later 

                  part   of  the   1950s    stressed    the   uncertainty    of  the   future  of  the   institution  and    the 

                  inappropriateness       of  incurring    such   costs   in  that  environment.      The    most   significant 

                  element of the capital expenditure incurred by the school was during the period 1963 to 



                                                                                                                       28 

                   1968, when the numbers of children in the institution were significantly in decline. 



2.232       This expenditure was funded: 



                  primarily from the school account – with the exception of the items funded in the 1940s 

                  by the house, and refunds received from the Board of Works referred to above. The house 

                  accounts in the 1950s and 1960s show very low levels of capital expenditure. 29 



2.233       Mazars’ conclusions on Artane were as follows: 



                  The house benefited from the contribution of cost of production of food and maintenance 

                  from the school. The house also levied on the school a stipend per Brother. 



                  The house had beneficial rights to the lands and property and to any income from this 

                  source. The school, on the other hand, bore the cost of supporting the boys, the costs of 

                  employing the lay staff, the costs of maintaining and upgrading the buildings and making 

                  a contribution toward the costs of the community of Brothers. 



                   If the capital expenditure incurred at the school was to be excluded, then the capitation 

                  grant would have been sufficient to cover the operating expenses of the school. 



                  Obviously, our comments in chapter 4 regarding the appropriateness or otherwise of the 

                  State  providing  funding  towards  the  capital  costs  of  the  school  applies  in  the  case  of 

                  Artane.30 



                  The position could be summarised in tabular form as follows: 



             Total Expenditure                                             \2,364.996                                    100% 



             Funded by: 

             State and Local; Authorities                                  \1,868,443                                     79% 

             Other Income                                                    \425,734                                      18% 



             Deficit – funded by the Order                                   (\70,819)                                      3% 



            26 Mazars, Part 5.2. 

            27 Mazars, Part 5.2. 

            28 Mazars, Part 5.2. 

            29 Mazars, Part 5.2. 

            30 Mazars, Part 5.4. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  79 


----------------------- Page 1854-----------------------

           Submissions on behalf of the Christian Brothers 



2.234      The Congregation challenged five of Mazars’ assumptions, three of which were not accepted by 

           Mazars. They were that: 



                   •     the  land  at  Artane  was  gifted  to  the  Christian  Brothers  for  the  specific  purpose  of 

                         establishing an Industrial School; 



                   •    the State had no responsibility to provide capital funding; 

                   •    the Industrial School and Christian Brother community in Artane were a single unit. 



2.235      As the chapter on Artane shows, the documentary evidence indicated that Artane was acquired 

           for the purpose of establishing an Industrial School. The Christian Brothers have stated 31  that the 



           land   upon    which   the   Industrial  School    was   built  was   purchased      by  the  Congregation      with 

           Congregation funds. It had originally been intended for use as a novitiate for the Order but, upon 

           the request from Archbishop Cullen, it was decided to use the land for the provision of an Industrial 

           School for boys. However, a letter dated June 1870 by a proposed management committee to the 

           Chief Secretary for Ireland stated that Artane Castle plus 23 hectares of land had been purchased 

           for the purpose of setting up an industrial school.32  The property had been purchased for £7,000 



           and it was proposed that dormitories, classrooms etc would be erected for a further £1,600. 



2.236      The Christian Brothers stated: 



                  Public personages of all shades of opinion gave the school generous support. To raise 

                  the funds for the provision of permanent buildings a petition by a large number of people 

                  was presented to the Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor in response to this petition called a 

                  public meeting and substantial voluntary funds were soon received. From this response 

                  and from newspaper articles of the time it is clear that there was strong public support for 

                  the work of the school. The design, atmosphere and work ethos of the school received 

                  much  acclaim  from  numerous  eminent  persons  in  public  life  and  many  visitors  were 

                  impressed with what the witnessed. 



2.237      Whatever      about   the   initial proposal    that  £1,600    would    be   spent   building   dormitories    and 

           classrooms,  we  know  from  a  souvenir  Annual  which  was  published  by  Artane  in  1905  that 

           buildings which had cost over £60,000 had been erected at Artane by that time. 



2.238      The land associated with the school increased from 23 hectares (about 56 acres) up to a maximum 

           of 143 hectares (about 353 acres) by the early 1940s. 



2.239      The position therefore is not clear. Mazars were, however, entitled to rely on contemporaneous 

           documentation in the absence of any evidence to the contrary. The issue of capital funding has 

           already been dealt with above. There is no suggestion that the State was not obliged to provide 

           capital funding. The issue Mazars looked at was whether the capitation grant was intended to be 

           used for this purpose. The answer would appear to be that it was not. The Sisters of Mercy and 

           in particular the Sisters of Charity appeared to have understood this. Capital grants were available 

           for  building  projects  directly  connected  with  the  school  and  these  should  have  been  funded 

           separately  from  the  maintenance  of  the  children.  If  State  grants  were  inadequate  to  meet  the 

           needs, other fund-raising options could have been explored. The important point is that capitation 

           was intended for the children and should have been used for that purpose. 



           31  Submission of the Christian Brothers on the Review of Financial Matters Relating to the System of the Reformatory 



              and Industrial Schools, and a Number of Individual Institutions 1939 to 1969 - Appendices to the Mazars’ Report are 

              included on the Commissions website (www.childabusecommission.ie). 

           32  Ciaran Fahy Report: see Vol I, ch 7, Appendix. 



           80                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


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2.240      The third point raised addressed the issue of seeing the Community and the school as a single 

           unit. The Industrial School and the Community were in the main funded from the same source. It 

           is not possible to look at the issue of finance without regarding the operation as a single unit from 

           the point of view of the allocation of that funding. There was no specified sum that was designated 

           for  the  use  of  the  Congregation  out  of  State  payments.  Each  Congregation  made  their  own 

           decisions  on  how  much  would  be  allocated  to  that  purpose  and  therefore  the  funding  of  the 

           monastery had to be seen in the context of the overall financial position of the institution. 



2.241      The Christian Brothers’ submission argues strongly about what they were entitled to in terms of 

           property and salary, but never mentions the essential charitable nature of the work. Assumptions 

           about the altruism of the Brothers’ involvement in this work underscored its relationship with the 

           State and certainly formed the basis of the public’s view of the Congregation and its members. 

           From the tone of the Congregation’s submission it would appear that these assumptions were not 

           correct. The difficulty for the Committee is that for many other religious communities, charity and 

           altruism were very important and they did not see the Industrial School as a business but rather 

           as  a  calling.  It  is  clear  that  individual  Brothers  were  likewise  motivated  by  a  strong  sense  of 

           religious vocation. The Committee believes that many of the charitable, hard-working members of 

           the Community who gave their lives to the service of others would be disturbed at the tone of the 

           Congregation’s submission. 



2.242      The  Congregation rightly  point out  that, at  its closure,  Artane Industrial  School had  a deficit  of 

           \70,819 which was paid off by them in 1971. Much of this deficit arose during the 1960s when 

           large  capital  projects,  including  the  building  of  a  swimming  pool,  were  undertaken.  Visitation 

           Reports had been questioning the viability of Artane as an Industrial School from the late 1950s 

           and there is no indication in the documents as to whether these expenses were incurred in the 

           expectation that Artane’s future as an Industrial School was assured. 



           Goldenbridge 



2.243      Unlike the Christian Brothers, the Sisters of Mercy had no internal monitoring of their schools and 

           there is absolutely no written account surviving of what difficulties, if any, the school experienced 

           during  the  1940s,    1950s   and   1960s.   The   accounts    that survived   were   piecemeal     and  the 

           information contained in them was incomplete and confusing. 



2.244      There were no accounts produced for the period 1939-54. Six-monthly accounts were available 

           for the period 1955-69 with the exception of three sets ending 31st December 1957, 30th June 

           1968 and 30th June 1969. 



2.245      This fact alone is a matter of serious criticism of the Community. When private bodies receive 

           State funding there is an absolute responsibility to account for how that money was spent. That 

           was  even  truer  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  when  money  was  scarce  and  public  funding 

           limited. It is difficult to form any definitive view on Goldenbridge in the absence of proper records. 



2.246      However, the analysis by Mazars on the level of funding by reference to contemporaneous indices 

           would  indicate  that,  as  a  large  institution,  the  capitation  grant  should  have  been  adequate  to 

           provide a reasonable standard of physical care. Goldenbridge did not have a farm and did not 

           have profit-making trades shops, but it did have a thriving bead-making industry during the 1950s 

           and  into  the  1960s.  No  financial  records  survived  about  this  income  but  Mazars  were  able  to 

           establish an estimate of the income it generated. They stated: 



                 We understand that bead-making commenced as a trade within the school in the early 

                 1950s  and  ceased  prior  to  1970.  From  our  discussion  with  the  representatives  of  the 

                 Order, we believe that children made ‘decades’ of beads (the stringing of beads onto wire 

                 using pliers). Quotas were imposed in order to meet the requirements of their contracts 

                 with two companies. We understand that the quota was 60 decades per participating child 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         81 


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                 per day. We do not know how many children participated and no financial records of this 

                 income  source  have  been  made  available  to  us.  We  did  receive  correspondence  from 

                 one company which purchased the decades from Goldenbridge and we have used this 

                 data to estimate the range of possible income that has not been included in the accounts. 



                                                             Exhibit 51 



                  Bead Income 



                  Number of children                                      120            90            60            30 



                  Income per decade                                   IR£0.11       IR£0.11      IR£0.11       IR£0.11 



                  Income per annum                                   IR£3,432     IR£2,574      IR£1,716        IR£858 



                  Discounted income per annum                        IR£2,869     IR£2,152      IR£1,435        IR£717 



                 We understand that: 



                     •    There  were  quality  issues  with  the  decades,  for  which  we  have  discounted  our 

                          estimates by 5 percent. 



                     •    For most of July, August and Christmas there  was no production, for which we 

                          have discounted the estimate by 20 percent. 



                     •    On occasions the children worked six days a week, for which we have increased 

                          the estimate by 10 percent. 



                 This means that the range of income would be between IR£717 and IR£2,869 per annum 

                 depending on the number of children making the decades. We understand that the Sisters 

                 of Mercy believe that the income was at the lower end of this scale. 



                 We believe that the income generated may have been significant because an amount was 

                 used in 1954 to contribute to the purchase of a property in Rathdrum, County Wicklow. We 

                 have been advised by the Order that the property was used by children during holiday 

                 periods.33 



2.247      The   major   outgoings    were   food   (34%),    wages    (21%),   clothes   (12%),   building   repairs  and 

           decoration (11%), fuel and light (7%), furniture and fittings (3%), medical (1%) and other (11%). 

           Wages     comprised    staff  wages,    payments     to  the  Resident    Manager     and   payments     to  the 

           reverend mother. 



                 Limited information is available in relation to the staffing levels during the period 1939– 

                 69. We understand that generally the staffing consisted of two nuns (both teaching and 

                 one having the dual responsibility of resident manager), two lay teachers and a number 

                 of other staff (seamstress, domestic, etc). We note that based on records of 1955 there 

                 were eight members of staff excluding the nuns and teachers. This increased to eleven 

                 members of staff in 1958.34 



2.248      The school accounts available for the period 1955-69 showed a surplus of \33,410. 



2.249      As   already   outlined  above,    the  accounts    of  the  Carysfort   Mother    House    revealed    monthly 

           payments     totalling  approximately     \5,000.   \9,000    per  annum     were   received    from   ‘National 

           Education Goldenbridge.’ Mazars observed: 



           33 Mazars, Part 7.2. 

           34 Mazars, Part 7.2. 



           82                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1857-----------------------

                  The source of the income is not clear nor is the extent to which the payments related to 

                  wages. It is also not clear how much of this income, or expenditure, relates to the industrial 

                  school, rather than the adjacent national school.35 



2.250      The Report noted that the total capital expenditure during the period 1951-69 was \158,745. 



                  Capital   expenditure     using   the   school   account    was    primarily  on   building   repairs   and 

                  decorations  and  furniture  and        fittings.  In  the  1960s  this  amounted      to  19  percent  of 

                  expenditure. In 1969 repairs to buildings made up 29 percent of expenditure. We have 

                  received  some  records  in  respect  of  a  building  account  held  in  the  1960s  which  was 

                  funded by the school account and various grants. It is unclear how much of these funds 

                  were used for properties other than for the industrial school; although based on a sample 

                  review of such expenditure we did note a certificate of payment in respect of Rathdrum 

                  in the amount of IR£750. 



                  The  accounts  of  the  industrial  school  indicate  funding  given  to  capital  expenditure  of 

                  IR£2,000  for  the  purchase  of  a  holiday  home  in  1954,  with  further  contributions  to  the 

                  building fund account of IR£2,000 in 1959 and IR£4,000 in 1960, before a subsequent 

                  repayment from the building fund account to the school account of IR£1,050.36 



2.251       Mazars’ conclusion was that based on the limited information available, the financial position of 

            Goldenbridge  over  the  period  1939-69  ‘are  probably  best  characterised  as  being  one  of  being 

            close to break even’.37 



2.252      Where accounts are available, the position is summarised as follows: 



             Total Expenditure                                              \351,743                                   100% 



             Funded by: 

             State and Local; Authorities                                   \282,239                                     80% 

             Other Income                                                   \102,913                                    29% 



             Surplus                                                         \33,410                                      9% 



            (Mazars  noted  that  the  school  accounts  did  not  show  any  primary  grant  received,  with  the 

            exception of one period, and excluded income from the bead-making activity.)38 



2.253      The analysis by the Sister of Mercy accountants acknowledged weakness in the fact that it was 

            not possible to get supplementary explanations of various figures in the accounts. 



2.254       However, based on the financial information available, it suggested that in the period for which 

            accounts were largely available, 1951-69, the school did manage. It was however submitted that 

           this  was  ‘probably  best  characterised  as  being  close  to  break-even’.  It  suggested  that  whilst 

            Goldenbridge  had  an  overall  surplus  in  the  period  analysed,  this  largely  accrued  from  the  mid 

            1960s when pupil numbers increased and there was a 100 percent increase in capitation grant 

            in 1969. 



2.255       Unfortunately, much of this analysis is guesswork and there is no real way of knowing the extent 

           to which Goldenbridge contributed to the mother house or how any surplus funds were spent. 



           35  Mazars, Part 7.2. 

           36  Mazars, Part 7.2. 

           37  Mazars, Part 7.2. 

           38  Mazars, Part 7.4. 



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           Daingean 



2.256      An analysis of income and expenditure for the period 1940-69 indicated that ‘the school operated 

           at approximately a break-even position for the first two decades under review but ran into deficit 

           during the third decade.’39  The deficit in 1969 was \20,602. 



2.257      The  primary  sources  of  income  were  government  and  local  authority  grants.  Other  sources  of 

           income included farm sales, stipends, and sundry sales. Indirect sources of income involved the 

           labour of the boys in the trade workshops. 



2.258      Mazars  noted  that  the  expert  report  commissioned  by  the  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate  and 

           prepared by Goodbody Economic Consultants suggested that had the school paid wages to the 

           religious   staff  working    there  the   deficit would    have   been    larger.  Mazars     accepted    that  the 

           calculations carried out by Goodbody’s were reasonable but did not take into account: (1) the fact 

           that the reformatory was not a State school; and (2) the system did not provide for the payment 

           of wages at the time. 



2.259      Separate accounts were not kept for the farm. The school accounts showed the farm making a 

           loss of \25,003 over the period 1940-69. 



                  These figures do not, however, take into account the value of farm produce consumed by 

                  both the boys and the Brothers and Fathers resident at the School. In availing of farm 

                  produce to feed the boys and Brothers, there was, presumably, both a financial saving to 

                  the school, which would have resulted in lower total expenditure and lower deficits than if 

                  these costs were incurred externally, as well as a corresponding loss of potential income. 

                  Similarly, the accounts do not reflect the fact that labour on the farm was largely that of 

                  the boys and the Brothers. Again, there would have been a certain saving to the school 

                  in using this ready pool of labour as opposed to employing additional farm labourers.40 



2.260      A  Department  of  Education  Report  prepared  in  1955  stated  that  the  farm  was  making  profits 

           and  that  there  was  no  evidence  that  these  profits  were  being  ploughed  back  into  the  school. 

           Mazars concluded: 



                  The views of the Department Official are not consistent with the record in the financial 

                  statements, which show an overall deficit from the farm. We have not been able to identify 

                  a reason for this inconsistency.41 



2.261      As to capital expenditure, the terms of the lease required the Oblates to keep the premises in 

           suitable repair, and documentation from the Department of Finance indicated that the capitation 

           grant was sufficient to meet this expenditure. The State was responsible for all items of capital 

           expenditure from 1940-69. 



                  Despite the significant capital investment in Daingean in the period 1939-69, Department 

                  of  Education     records    indicate   that  Daingean      was   not   in  a  good    state   of  repair. 

                  Correspondence between the OPW and Departments of Finance and Education in 1969 

                  and   the  early   1970s    indicates   that  certain   buildings   in  Daingean     were    ‘structurally 

                  unsound’. A visit paid by an official of the Department of Education in 1967 echoes this 

                  view of the state of repair, referring to the premises being ‘in a bad state ........... should 

                  be demolished’42 



           39  Mazars, Part 8.2. 

           40  Mazars, Part 8.2. 

           41  Mazars, Part 8.2. 

           42  Mazars, Part 8.2. 



           84                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


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2.262      Mazars had not had sight of a balance sheet for Daingean during the period under review and 

           accordingly  it  was  limited  in  the  information  which  could  be  extracted  from  the  accounts.  The 

           salient points in assessing the overall financial consequences included the following: 



                   •    There was a deficit in the bank of the Reformatory School at 30th November 1969 in 

                         the amount of \11,710. 



                   •    The total deficits generated by the school over the period amount to \17,706. 

                   •    Expenditure on the buildings (furnishing and carpentry, repairs) amounted to \72,422. 

                   •     In analysing the farm income and expenditure in the school accounts, it can be seen 

                         that the farm made an overall deficit of \25,003. It is not known to what extent farm 

                         expenditure includes work of either a capital or a repairs and maintenance nature. 



2.263      The following is a summary of the financial position.: 



            Total Expenditure                                             \744,587                                   100% 



             Funded by: 

            State and Local; Authorities                                  \533,614                                     72% 

            Other Income                                                  \193,273                                     26% 



             Deficit to be funded                                           \17,700                                     2% 



2.264      Mazars also concluded that: 



                  An  examination  of  the  transcripts,  statements  and  documentation  of  the  Oblate  Order 

                  made  available  to  us  describes  a  situation  where  making  ends  meet  was  a  constant 

                  struggle, especially in light of the ongoing works and maintenance required ... 



2.265       It is clear from the financial statements reviewed that the expenditure on furnishing, carpentry and 

           repairs contributed significantly to the deficits in the school.43 



2.266      The Oblate submission in relation to the value of the work done by the Order has already been 

           discussed above and is central to the observations made about the overall financial position of 

           the Oblate Order and Daingean. 



2.267      The submission concurred with Mazars’ view that the accumulated loss of equivalent of \17,700 

           that was made over the period of operation of Daingean could not to be taken at face value to 

           indicate  that  the  capitation  grant  and  other  income  were  insufficient  to  cover  operating  costs. 

           Goodbody looked at the flow of payments and benefits between the Order and St Conleth’s to 

           see whether the services provided by the Order exceeded the value of goods and services moving 

           in  the  other  direction.  If  the  Order  gave  more  to  the  Reformatory  than  it  received,  then  the 

           inference  was  that  the  Oblates  subsidised  the  Reformatory.  If  the  situation  was  otherwise,  as 

           Mazars conclude, then the Oblates received a net benefit and can be said to have actually profited 

           from the operation. 



2.268      The accountants sought to complete the picture of the estimated surplus or deficit to the Order by 

           making appropriate allowances and adjustments. Having done this, Goodbody concluded that the 

           cost of operating St Conleth’s exceeded the capitation grant and all the other income sources and 

           that, therefore, the school could only operate because the members of the Order worked there 

           without  receiving  proper  compensation.  They  concluded  that  ‘it  is  clear  that  St  Conleth’s  was 

           operated at loss over the period in question. There was no possibility of the Oblate Order profiting 

           from the operation at St Conleth’s. In fact St Conleth’s was only able to operate due to a subsidy 

           from the order.’ 



           43  Mazars, Part 8.4. 



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2.269      Goodbody’s calculation was based on valuing the work of an average of 24 members of the Oblate 

           Order throughout the period in question at the average weekly wage of an industrial civil servant, 

           which meant a person working at unskilled or craft work. 



2.270      The    question    whether     the   Oblate   Congregation       profited   from   its  operation    of  Daingean 

           Reformatory thus resolves itself into a consideration of whether it is legitimate to value the work 

           of the members of the community in the way suggested by Goodbody in their report. If so, the 

           institution could not have operated except for the net contribution made by the Congregation. If 

           that approach is not to be considered legitimate, then it follows that the Congregation was in a 

           position to enjoy a surplus and it would also seem to follow that the capitation payments were at 

           least adequate. 



2.271      On the basis of the discussion already outlined on the issue of the value of the work done by the 

           Order, it is reasonable to conclude that Daingean Reformatory was adequately funded during the 

           relevant period. 



           Ferryhouse/Upton 



2.272      Very limited financial information was available for these institutions. In respect of Upton, there 

           were no records for 1940-49 but there were financial documents for the years 1952, 1953, 1960- 

           66. In relation to Ferryhouse, there were some records only for the years 1941, 1947, 1951-54, 

           and  1960-69.  In  addition  to  the  above,  Mazars  were  also  provided  with  the  accounts  of  the 

           Province for the periods 1952-53 and 1961-69. 



2.273      Because of the incompleteness of the records the figures can only be regarded as indicative. With 

           that qualification, for the years for which financial records exist, it appears that Upton enjoyed a 

           surplus of \24,284 and Ferryhouse a surplus of \26,901.44 



2.274      Mazars quoted from the submission made by the Order: 



                  The submission made by the Rosminian Fathers draws attention to a number of issues 

                  that are relevant not only to those Schools run by the Order, but also to the system of 

                  Reformatories and Industrial Schools in its entirety. These have been dealt with, in that 

                  context, in the early sections of this report. In summary, the issues raised by the Order 

                  are as follows; 



                   •     No  State  monies  were  available  to  assist  with  the  provision  of  buildings  and  other 

                         facilities in the Industrial Schools. 



                   •    The Order also notes ‘It must be kept in mind that the two Industrial Schools were only 

                         part  of  the  financial  burden  on  the  Province  that  also  had  to  provide  and  maintain 

                         houses for students who were called to join the Institute and who did not pay any fees 

                         for  their  training.  From  1945  onwards,  the  Province  had  a  further  call  on  its  limited 

                         financial resources when it was required to provide for the travelling expenses, health 

                         care and much more, of the members who went on mission to East Africa.’ 



                  The question of State funding of the property is, as we have already seen, complex, and 

                  is  relevant  to  our  understanding  of  the  relationship  between  the  State  and  the  Orders 

                  and their collective perception of their respective roles in relation to the provision of the 

                  Reformatory and Industrial Schools’45 



2.275      Mazars responded to these points: 



                  With regard to the additional financial burdens on the Order, we note that this question is 

                  relevant to an understanding of how the Religious Communities viewed the Schools as a 



           44  Mazars, Part 6.4. 

           45  Mazars, Part 6.4. 



           86                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1861-----------------------

                  potential contributor to other unfunded or under-funded activities of the Order. From our 

                  examination of the financial information made available to us by the Rosminian Fathers it 

                  is our view that the Schools did leave the Order in a net surplus position, to the extent 

                  that the closing balance sheets of the schools show an improved position on the earliest 

                  available accounts. However, the contribution of the Schools to other Community activity 

                  does not, based on the available information, appear to have been sufficient to yield the 

                  Order a significant surplus.46 



2.276       The Rosminian Order made a more reflective submission as part of its final submissions to the 

            Investigation  Committee.  They  stated  that  the  ‘Mazars  draft  report  raises  many  controversial 

            issues’.47 



2.277       They submitted that 



                  The predominant financial characteristic of the Schools was persistent under funding and 

                  accumulated debt. Where funding increased it was too little and too late, and the financial 

                  relationship    between     the  schools    and   the   State   was    adversarial.   We    have    already 

                  described how the Schools financial position was a struggle. In fact the relationship with 

                  the State is best described overall as dysfunctional. This is illustrated by two phenomena. 

                  Firstly,  the  Schools’    Inspector    usually    (but  not  always)    characterised     the   quality  of 

                  provisions     in  school    as   satisfactory,   but   increases     in  State   grants    were    usually 

                  accompanied  by  the  requirement  that  school  conditions  be  improved.  The  underlying 

                  conflict in those assessments disguised a lack of focused thought, and guided standard. 



                  Secondly, if it is assumed that funding was even barely adequate, the temptation for the 

                  Schools to seek maximum numbers of boys on the basis of economies of scale (same 

                  overheads,  more  income)  was  destructive  to  standards  of  performance,  because  boys 

                  were then being kept for money, and not vice versa.48 



2.278       The Rosminians also submitted that a ‘definition of the purpose of State funding to the schools’ 

           was irrelevant because: 



                  Whilst the use of its property was clearly donated to the Industrial School Purpose, the 

                  Order itself had very little other resources, and as the buildings aged and standards of 

                  living  rose,  the  Industrial  School  project  as  a  whole  obviously  had  increasing  capital 

                  needs. Whilst the issue of capital expenditure might well have become part of the polemic 

                  of the acquisition of State funding and increases, it was plainly unrealistic to expect an 

                  Order without substantial means to carry and ever increasing burden. This is very clearly 

                  acknowledged in the Cussen Report.49 



2.279       The   Rosminians      rejected   the  benchmarks       used    by  Mazars     as  unsuitable    comparators.      For 

            example the Rosminians object to the capitation grant compared to welfare grants as they feel 

           that  it  is  unjust  as  the  State  never  used  such  comparisons  when  determining  the  level  of  the 

            capitation grant.50  They also rejected the reasons advanced for not comparing the Irish capitation 



            rates to British rates. 



2.280       The Rosminians posited the view that: 



                  The  level  of  capitation  grant  was  never  claimed  to  be  enough  by  the  State.  It  was 

                  envisaged  as  contributory  funding.  It  was  calculated  on  compromise  and  accepted  in 

                  desperation.51 



           46  Mazars, Part 6.4. 

           47  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 13. 

           48  Rosminian Final Submissions, pp 13-14. 

           49  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 17. 

           50  Rosminian Final Submissions, pp 17-18. Cf p 19. 

           51  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 19. 



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2.281      The Rosminians  argue that  the capitation  grant was  deficient even  when capital  expenses are 

           excluded. ‘Comparison with weekly industrial earnings distributed per capita shows a shortfall in 

           all but 3 of the 30 years between 1939 and 1969.’52 



2.282      They do however concede that ‘Some fault could be attributed to the religious for not pursuing 

           closer accounting with the State.’53  The Rosminians also dispute that the relationship between the 



           State and the religious as ‘outsourcing’, as claimed by Mazars. The Rosminians counter that the 

           religious were used as it was known that they would ‘act on the basis of charity’: 



                  The two Rosminian Schools operated under constant financial constraint and uncertainty. 

                  Amongst     other   influences,   this  aggravated      disciplinary   issues.   Broken    windows     or 

                  equipment, soiled or torn clothes, perceived waste or stolen food, were punished partly 

                  because of the need for stringent economy.54 



2.283      The Rosminians concluded: 



                  Allowing  for  debate  on  the  complaints,  three  things  are  clear  beyond  interpretation  or 

                  opinion: 



                  What    was   achieved    by   the  Schools    was    only  possible   through    significant   financial 

                  contributions outside State funding. 



                  There is no evidence was waste or misdirection in the accounts. 

                  State funding was never regarded as adequate by the State or Schools...’55 



           Break-even point 



2.284      The  Mazars’  report  attempted  a  comparison  of  the  financial  data  available  in  respect  of  these 

           individual  institutions  for  two  sample  periods,  namely,  1951-55  and  1961-65,  to  ascertain  the 

           number of children necessary for the Institution to break even financially. 



2.285      Mazars reached the following conclusions. 



                  When we compare 1951–55 with 1961–65 we noted the following: 



                   •    The  breakeven  point  for  Artane  and  Upton  decreased  significantly  when  comparing 

                         1951–55 with 1961–65. In the case of Artane the breakeven level decreased due to 

                         the increase in the level of variable income and variable costs by approx. 100 percent 

                         to \255 and \126 respectively per child per year increasing the monetary amount of 

                         the contribution. In the case of Upton, unlike other  schools, variable cost levels per 

                         child  remained  constant  at  approx.  \110  per  child  per  year  while  variable  income 

                         increased by approx. 50 percent. 



                   •    Over time the contribution per child has increased. As identified above, this is due to 

                         the variable income increasing by a higher monetary value than the variable costs per 

                         child. The level of contribution was higher in the schools with a farm due to the farm 

                         income, which was an important source of additional funding for those schools. 



                   •    In line with the increased contribution, fixed costs and capital expenditure have also 

                         increased. 



                   •    The  break-even  analysis  for  the  sample  period  in  the  1950’s  shows  that  all  of  the 

                         schools, with the exception of Upton, had numbers of children in excess of the break- 

                         even  point  –  suggesting  that  they  should  have  been  in  a  position  to  run  at  least  at 

                         break-even. In the 1960’s, Artane and Daingean experienced a decline in the number 

                         of children to a point below their break-even point. 



           52  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 17. 

           53  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 20. 

           54  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 22. 

           55  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 23. 



           88                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                   •    The break-even calculation does not include capital expenditure. If capital expenditure 

                         were  included,  the  break-even  point  would  increase  in  each  school.  In  the  1950’s, 

                         capital expenditure was low and would not impact the break even point significantly. 

                         In the 1960’s, where capital expenditure was higher, adjusting for capital expenditure 

                         would mean that Artane, An Daingean, Upton and Ferryhouse would have numbers of 

                         children below their break-even point. 



                   •    In considering this analysis we believe that two points should be noted. The decline in 

                         the numbers of children during the late 1950’s and through the 1960’s meant that the 

                         schools   in  general    became     increasingly    uneconomic      to  run,  with   some    schools 

                         reaching  a  position  where  they  were  below  break-even  point.  However,  significant 

                         increases in the capitation grant in the late 1960’s, outside of our sample period, would 

                         have compensated for this to an extent. We also note that there is a strong argument 

                         that capital expenditure was not intended to be funded from the capitation grant – for 

                         the reasons we have examined in the early part of this report. If this is accepted as a 

                         reasonable understanding of the position, then the break-even analysis excluding the 

                         impact of capital expenditure is the more appropriate representation of the position of 

                         the  individual  schools,  as  regards  the  expected  impact  of  the  State  contribution.  Of 

                         course, the schools still had to fund this expenditure, from other sources if necessary.56 



2.286      The Rosminians rejected the use of the ‘break-even’ formula: 



                  the  condition  described  as  breaking  even  is  a  false  approbation.  The  School  simply 

                  postponed improvements in order to maintain existing services. Expenditure was dictated 

                  by necessity, and sometimes crisis rather than performance, or aspiration.57 



           Conclusion 



2.287       1.   There  was  no  opportunity  for  a  school  with  particular  need  to  have  a  voice  in  the 

                 negotiations with the Department. The negotiations were dominated by the larger boys 

                 schools which adopted a ‘one size fits all’ policy 



            2.   Smaller schools without these advantages struggled to survive. 



           56  Mazars, Part 9.2. 

           57  Rosminian Final Submissions, p 15. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               89 


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90                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1865-----------------------

Appendix 



Review of Financial Matters relating to the 

system of the Reformatory and Industrial 

Schools, and a number of individual institutions 

1939–69 (30th November 2007) 



Contents 

                                                                                              Page 



1. Introduction                                                                                  93 

   Terms of reference                                                                            93 

   Restatement of currency                                                                       94 

   Acknowledgments                                                                               94 

   Restrictions in use                                                                           94 



2. Findings of our review                                                                        94 

   Part 3 An analysis of the capitation method of funding the Institutions as operated at 

   the time.                                                                                     94 

   Part 4 An analysis of the adequacy of funding provided by the State                           96 

   Part 5 Christian Brothers Artane                                                             101 

   Part 6 Rosminian Fathers Upton and Ferryhouse                                                103 

   Part 7 St. Vincent’s Industrial School – Goldenbridge                                        105 

   Part 8 St Conleth’s Reformatory School, Daingean                                             107 

   Part 9 Comparative analysis                                                                  110 



3. An analysis of the capitation method of funding the Institutions as operated at 

the time                                                                                        112 

   3.1 Origins of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools system                                 112 

   3.2 Responsibility framework                                                                 113 

   3.3 The role of the Department of Education                                                  115 

   3.4 The role of other State Departments                                                      116 

   3.5 The role of the religious Orders and the Resident Managers                               118 

   3.6 Public funding of the Schools                                                            119 

   3.7 Related issues                                                                           128 



4. An analysis of the adequacy of funding provided by the State                                 129 

   4.1 Introduction                                                                             129 

   4.2 The capitation grant system                                                              129 

   4.3 Economic conditions and the cost of living                                               133 

   4.4 Adequacy of funding                                                                      134 



5. Christian Brothers – Artane                                                                  146 

   5.1 Background to financial information                                                      147 

   5.2 Analysis of income and expenditure                                                       149 

   5.3 Numbers of children and staff                                                            156 

   5.4 Financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children           159 



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6. Rosminian Fathers – Upton and Ferryhouse                                                      161 

   6.1 Background to financial information                                                       161 

   6.2 Analysis of Income and Expenditure                                                        163 

   6.3 Numbers of children and staff                                                             167 

   6.4 Financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children            167 



7. St Vincent’s Industrial School – Goldenbridge                                                 171 

   7.1 Background to financial information                                                       171 

   7.2 Analysis of income and expenditure                                                        172 

   7.3 Numbers of children and staff                                                             176 

   7.4 The financial consequences for the relevant institution as a result of caring for the 

   children over the period 1939–69                                                              177 



8. St Conleth’s Reformatory School – Daingean                                                    178 

   8.1 Background to financial information                                                       178 

   8.2 Analysis of Income and Expenditure                                                        179 

   8.3 Numbers of children and staff                                                             188 

   8.4 Financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children            190 



9. Comparative and break-even analysis                                                           192 

   9.1 Terms of reference                                                                        192 

   9.2 Comparative analysis                                                                      192 



92                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


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1. Introduction 



In 2004 the Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse (‘the Commission’) requested Mazars to carry 

out a review of certain financial issues relating to the operation of the system of Reformatory and 

Industrial  Schools  in  Ireland  during  the  period  1939–69.  Our  work  was  also  to  consider  the 

financial information available in relation to a number of individual institutions within that system. 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  reference  selected  by  the  Commission  we  have  carried  out  a 

review of documentation and files made available by the Commission by a number of religious 

Orders and Government Departments. This report is the output of that review, and is structured 

as follows 



Part 2 presents a summary of our findings in respect of each of the terms of reference defined 

by the Commission. 



Parts 3 and 4 deal with an analysis of the capitation system as it functioned at the time and the 

adequacy of funding provided by the State. 



Part 5 deals with the financial information available in respect of the Christian Brother institution 

at Artane, County Dublin. 



Part 6 deals with the financial information available in respect of the Rosminian Father institutions 

at Upton, County Cork and Ferryhouse, Clonmel, County Tipperary. 



Part 7 deals with the financial information available in respect of the Sister of Mercy institution at 

Goldenbridge, County Dublin. 



Part 8 deals with the financial information available in respect of the Reformatory at Daingean, 

County Offaly, run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. 



Part  9 contains  a  comparative  analysis  of  the  financial  information  available  to  us,  and  some 

observations on the impact of fluctuations in numbers of children in each school over the period 

1939–69. 



Terms of reference 



Our report to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is based on records and documentation 

extracted from the Commission’s document management system and documents provided directly 

to us by the relevant religious Orders. 



Our work to date, unless otherwise indicated, consists principally of the review and analysis of 

relevant   information.   In accordance     with  requirements     specifically identified  in  our  terms   of 

reference, we have considered; 



       •    An analysis of the adequacy of funding provided by the State; 

       •     A  review  of  the  application  of  State  funding  to  the  care  of  children  in  the  relevant 

             institutions 



       •    An analysis of the capitation method of funding the Institutions as operated at the time 

       •     A  commentary  on  the  effects  of  changes  in  the  number  of  children  in  the  relevant 

             institutions over the period 1939–69 



       •     The  financial consequences  for  the  relevant institutions  as  a  result  of caring  for  the 

             children over the period 1939–69 



       •    A commentary on staffing/student ratios over the period of the review. 



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Restatement of currency 



Our  work  focused  on  the  collation  and  analysis  of  information  from  the  Summation  Document 

Management System and provided by the relevant religious communities. Much of the relevant 

financial  information  we examined  contained  financial  information in  the  old  Irish pound  format 

(pounds/shillings/pence). 



We  compiled  a  model  to  accommodate  this  format  of  financial  information  from  the  relevant 

institution and convert contemporaneous Irish legal tender values to equivalent Irish Punt values 

and, ultimately, equivalent Euro values. 



Our   calculations  converted    the  old  Irish pound  format    on  the  basis   that  an  Irish  Punt was 

equivalent to 20 shillings and that there were 240 old pence in an Irish Punt. We then converted 

the figures to equivalent Euro amount using the fixed conversion rate of \0.787564 to an Irish 

Punt. This is the rate that prevailed at the time of the changeover to Euro. 



In  line  with  accounting  convention  we  have  not  adjusted  converted  financial  data  for  inflation, 

except where we believed that the illustration of a particular item in ‘today’s terms’ would be of 

use to the reader. 



Acknowledgments 



We  would  like  to  thank  the  Commissioners  and  staff  of  the  Commission  to  Inquire  into  Child 

Abuse,   the  members,     staff and   advisors   of  the  Christian  Brothers,   The   Institute of  Charity 

(Rosminian Fathers), Sisters of Mercy and Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, and the staff of 

the Department of Education, who assisted us in the course of our work. 



Restrictions in use 



Mazars assumes no responsibility in respect of or in connection with the contents of this report to 

parties other than to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. If others choose to rely on any 

way on the contents of this report they do so entirely at their own risk. 



Mazars 

Chartered Accountants 

Harcourt Centre, Block 3 

Harcourt Road 

Dublin 2 



30th November 2007 



2. Findings of our review 



Part 3 An analysis of the capitation method of funding the Institutions as 

operated at the time. 



 3.1   At independence, the Irish State inherited an established system of private Reformatory and 

       Industrial  Schools,  with  an  attaching  set  of  defined  relationships,  as  provided  for  in  the 

       Children Act 1908. There was no apparent suggestion that either this system or the roles 

       occupied by different participants in the system should change significantly until the 1960s. 



 3.2   The  key  participants  in  the  management  of  the  system  were  the  religious  Orders,  the 

       Resident    Managers’    Association,    the  Departments     of  Education,   Justice,   Health   and 

       Finance, and the local authorities. 



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 3.3   The key State roles were oversight and inspection – which were roles primarily inhabited 

       by the Department of Education – and the provision of funding, where again the Department 

       of Education had a significant role, subject to oversight and approval by the Department of 

       Finance. Local authorities also provided funds to the schools, under the terms of the relevant 

       legislation, in accordance with the rates set by the Department of Education. 



 3.4   The Children Act 1908 described the roles and responsibilities of the State authorities and 

       the schools as follows: 



        •    The State is responsible for the certification and inspection of schools. 

        •    The local authority is responsible for providing for the reception and maintenance of 

              the child in a suitable certified reformatory or industrial school – which responsibility it 

              can discharge by  ‘contract with the managers of any certified school for the reception 

              and  maintenance  therein  of  youthful  offenders  or  children  for  whose  reception  and 

              maintenance the authority are required under this section to make provision.’ 



        •    Both the State and the local authority have a responsibility to provide funding towards 

              the costs of a child maintained in a certified Reformatory or Industrial School. 



        •    The managers of the certified school have a responsibility, once they have accepted a 

              child, to teach, train, lodge, clothe and feed the child. 



 3.5   These roles were implemented as follows: 



        •    The Department of Education issued circulars defining the standards of treatment of 

              children in the Schools. 



        •    The Department of Education operated a process of inspection of schools. 

        •     The  State  and  local  authorities  provided  funding  through  the  capitation  grant,  the 

              primary grant and, occasionally, other grants for specific purposes. 



        •     The  religious  Orders  owned  and  managed  the  schools,  providing  clergy  to  act  as 

              managers and staff, and hiring lay staff. 



        •     The   Resident    Managers’      Association    acted    as  a  vehicle   for  interaction   with   the 

              Department of Education, including a role in seeking increased funding. 



 3.6   The primary payment by the State and local authorities, to the religious Orders in respect 

       of the schools was the capitation grant, although other funding was available through the 

       primary grant and, on a limited and case-by-case basis, for specific capital works. 



 3.7   The system of capitation grants provided for in the legislation was to provide funding towards 

       the  maintenance  costs  of  a  child  resident  in  a  Reformatory  or  Industrial  School.  This 

       responsibility  arises  from  section  73  of  the  Act,  which  defines  the  responsibility  of  the 

       Treasury – to approve and make payment of any sums ‘on such conditions as the Secretary 

       of  State  may,  with  the  approval  of  Treasury  recommend  towards  the  expenses  of  any 

       youthful offender or child detained in a certified school’ 



 3.8   While the treatment of capital expenditure appears to have varied over time, and the schools 

       applied capitation funding to capital expenditure, it is our opinion that the State did not intend 

       capitation funding to be applied to capital expenditure. We have looked first to the legislative 

       background when addressing this issue. The 1908 Act does not, in our view, appear to have 

       intended the capitation grant to cover items of capital expenditure – the Act refers to the 

       ‘expenses of any youthful offender or child detained in a certified school’. This also appears 

       to us consistent with the description in the Cussen Report of the arrangement for providing 

       school buildings of Reformatory and Industrial Schools.1  While a 1946 scheme proposed to 



       implement      a  system    of  payment,     as  part  of  the   capitation   grant,  towards     the  capital 

       expenditures of the schools, this scheme was discontinued within two years and, in notifying 



1 Section VIII of the Cussen Report, pp 40–7 – in particular we note that para 168 notes ‘It must not be overlooked that 



  the buildings, farms, plant etc. have as a rule been provided by the schools themselves.’ suggesting that the capitation 

  grant had not made provision for capital expenditure. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                 95 


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       the schools of this, the Department drew attention to the ‘clear understanding that the School 

       Manager shall accept liability for any building and repair work and the provision of equipment 

       for vocational training which the Minister considers necessary in their Schools’.2 



      While the introduction of the scheme does render the position potentially ambiguous, it is 

      our   view  that  the   State  was   unambiguous       in presenting    its understanding     that  the 

      termination of the scheme meant that the position originally set out in the Act was resumed 

      –  the  capitation  grant  did  not  include  a  contribution  towards  capital  expenditure.  This 

      understanding is also consistent with the findings of the Kennedy Report: 



          No   grants   are  made    available   for  maintenance,      renovation   or  modernisation      of 

         premises.’3 



      and 



          Separate    grants   should   be   available   to  cover   new    buildings   and   maintenance, 

          renovation    and   modernisation     of  existing   buildings   while  grants   for  educational 

         purposes should be made available and paid direct by the Department of Education.4 



 3.9   We note that there is evidence that the Resident Managers sought, in their response to the 

       1946    scheme,    to  assert  that  capital  expenditure    should   not  be   borne   by  the  Orders: 

       ‘increased Capitation Grant does not enable them to accept such a liability as indicated’.5 



3.10    Our finding at 3.8 should not be read to mean that capital expenditure is not relevant to an 

        understanding  of  the  operation  of  the  schools  –  we  deal  with  the  implications  of  capital 

        expenditure in Part 4, when we consider the issue of adequacy of funding to the needs of 

        an institution and again when we turn to the question of the implications for the Orders of 

        running the schools. 



Part 4 An analysis of the adequacy of funding provided by the State 



The capitation grant system 



 4.1   Under the capitation system a payment or grant per student accrued to schools weekly. The 

       payment came from two sources: a) local authorities and b) the Department of Education. 



 4.2   There were different capitation rates applicable to Industrial and Reformatory Schools, with 

       reformatory schools receiving a higher capitation rate. 



 4.3   While   income    to  schools   accrued    weekly    it was   not  paid  weekly.    In particular,  local 

       authorities were slow to release funds to the institutions. Although we have not seen records 

       to evidence the impact of this delay on the schools, it can be reasonably assumed to have 

       had cashflow implications for the institutions. 



 4.4   The capitation grant increased 17 times during the period 1939–69. The process by which 

       grant levels were increased appears to have been one of negotiation and, at times, almost 

       adversarial.   Typically,   the  institutions  lobbied   for an   increase   and   the  Department      of 

       Education, after consultation with the Department of Finance, agreed to an increase lower 

       than that sought. 



Adequacy in accordance with the 1908 Act 



 4.5   Neither  the  1908  Act  nor  the  1941  Act  defines  what  the  capitation  grant  was  to  cover, 

       beyond  making  it  clear  that  the  grant  was  towards        the  maintenance  of  a  child  in  an 

       institution. However, the 1908 Act defines the purpose of the schools – to include lodging, 

       clothing,  feeding  and  education  of  the  child.  Based  on  our  review  of  the  legislation,  it 

       appears reasonable that the grant was intended to contribute to these costs. 



2 DE1P0058-049/1. 

3 Kennedy Report, p 29. 

4 Kennedy Report, pp 30–1. 

5 DEIP0058-050/1 and DEIP0058-050/2. 



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 4.6   The funding of capital expenditure appears to be additional to these costs – we have dealt 

       in Part 3 of this report with our understanding of the treatment of capital expenditure under 

       the legislative framework. 



 4.7   Whether the State should have funded capital expenditure by another mechanism – as was 

       suggested in the Kennedy Report findings – is a question that we do not express an opinion 

       on,  and  which  the  Commission  may  wish  to  consider  in  the  light  of  all  of  the  evidence 

       available to it. 



 4.8   The Act clearly defined the responsibilities of the State and local authorities as certification 

       of and oversight of the schools, and provision of funding. The responsibility of the School 

       was to care for the child, once accepted into the institution. Again, we have dealt with this 

       in detail in Part 3 of this report. 



 4.9   An important consideration is that we have not seen a situation, in those schools examined, 

       where an Order sought to cease operation of a school, or where the State sought to revoke 

       the licence of a school, on grounds of inadequate conditions. 



4.10    We note that the system of payment of capitation changed in mid 1944 from being restricted 

        to a maximum based on the number of children certified for a school, to being based on 

        the number of children actually resident in the school. This had, in the case of a school 

        with numbers in excess of the certified level, the effect of increasing the funds provided to 

        the school. 



             We have examined data available which gives an indication of the adequacy of the 

             grant  provided  to  maintain  a  child  in  Ireland  during  the  period  under  review.  We 

             consider the following to provide useful benchmarks against which this issue can be 

             considered: 



4.11    At  the  start  of  the  review  period  the  capitation  grant  appears  to  have  been  deemed 

        adequate if supplemented by a grant to pay teacher salaries and the local authorities paid 

        the same grant as the State authorities – this view is expressed in the Cussen Report. In 

        1946  the  former  recommendation  was  implemented, with  the  introduction  of  the  primary 

        grant  for  teachers  in  Industrial  Schools.  In  the  case  of  the  Industrial  Schools  the  local 

        authority and State grants appear to have been harmonised from 1940 on. 



4.12    Over the entire 30-year period the general price level rose by 385 percent, the capitation 

        grant increased by 1,327 percent in the case of Industrial Schools and 1,375 percent in the 

        case of Reformatory Schools. Excluding the very significant increase in the grant in 1969, 

        the grant increased by 663 percent. This data shows that the grant increased by more than 

        inflation – it grew in real/purchasing power terms. 



4.13    Over   the   period   the   Industrial  School    capitation   grant   represented,     on   average, 

        approximately 88 percent of household income per person (not per child). If one accepts 

        the  assumption    that  household    income    is  not  spent  evenly   by   each   member     of the 

        household and that adults spend and consume more than children, then the capitation grant 

        would be closer to the average child’s share of average household income. 



4.14    For the 30-year period, the industrial school capitation grant was on average approximately 

        20  percent  above  unemployment  benefit.  For  the  years  1939–49,  where  capitation  was 

        lower  than  unemployment  benefit,  it  represented  92  percent  of  unemployment  benefit 

        provided. Thereafter, the grant exceeded unemployment benefit for 19 out of 20 years. 



4.15    Data   extrapolated    from  the   1965–66    Household     Budget    Survey    shows    that  weekly 

        capitation payments significantly exceeded average household expenditure per child during 

        the period 1960–69. 



4.16    Data   extrapolated    from  the   1951–52    Household     Budget    Survey    shows    that  weekly 

        capitation  payments  were  lower  than  average  household  expenditure  per  person  in  the 

        period 1947 to 1956. 



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4.17    We also have carried out, in Part 9 of this report, some break-even analysis of the financial 

        statements  provided  by  the  schools  reviewed.  Analysis  of  data  based  on  the  accounts 

        available for the period 1951–55 shows that all of the schools, with the exception of Upton, 

        were at or above the break-even number of students. Upton was, based on the average 

        number of students, at 85 percent of the break-even point. Analysis of data based on the 

        accounts available for the period 1961–65 shows that Artane and Daingean were below 

        their break-even point. Based on the average number of students over the period, Artane 

        was at 94 percent of the break-even point, and Daingean was at 93 percent of the break- 

        even point. This illustrates the impact of a decline in student numbers over time. 



4.18    The individual financial position of the schools examined is dealt with in later sections of 

        the report. At an overview level the Schools were generally close to break-even over the 

        period, with Artane showing a deficit of 3 percent of total expenditure, Daingean showing 

        a deficit of 2 percent of total expenditure, and Upton, Ferryhouse and Goldenbridge, based 

        on the limited financial information available for the period, also apparently close to a break- 

        even position. 



4.19    If capital and other building-related expenditure is excluded from the available accounts of 

        those schools examined, the income available to the schools is sufficient to meet the other 

        costs of the school. 



4.20    An analysis of the data provided by the 1951–52 and 1965–66 Household Budget Surveys, 

        set out in Part 4 of this report, shows that the capitation grant in respect of both Industrial 

        Schools  and  Reformatory  Schools  exceeded  the  cumulative  amounts  recorded  in  the 

        survey data as spent on food and clothing in those years for which data is available and 

        that the reformatory grant exceeded the cumulative amounts spent on food, clothing and 

        lodging  in  those  years.  The  Industrial  School  capitation  grant  exceeded  the  cumulative 

        amounts  spent  on  food,  clothing  and  lodging  in  all  years  after  1951  for  which  data  is 

        available. Prior to 1951 we note that numbers of children in the system were at a higher 

        level, and   economies     of  scale   may   have    compensated      for grant   levels  lower   than 

        Household Budget Survey benchmark data. 



4.21    We  note  that  the  primary  grant  is  reflected  in  the  accounts  of  very  few  of  the  schools 

        examined. It is not clear, as a consequence, whether all of the schools were in receipt of 

        the  primary  grant.  If  they  were,  this  unrecognised  income  would  obviously  improve  the 

        financial position of the schools in question. 



4.22    Those  schools  with  significant  farms  had  an  important  additional  resource.  These  farms 

        were, in  the schools examined, worked  by the children  resident in the institution.  Of the 

        schools examined, both Artane and Daingean had large farms, while the schools at Upton 

        and Ferryhouse had smaller farms. The school at Goldenbridge had a very small farm and 

        also had income from industrial activity – the assembly of rosaries by the children. 



4.23    Similarly, the school at Artane had a number of industrial activities, which contributed to 

        the economy of the school. 



4.24    Over the period, there appears to have been significant economies of scale in meeting the 

        cost of child maintenance. The 1965–66 Household Budget Survey analysis demonstrates 

        that  as  the  numbers  of  children  in  a  household  increase  there  are  two  effects  (a)  the 

        incremental  or  marginal  cost  of  that  additional  child  is  less  than  the  incremental  cost  of 

        maintaining the previous child and (b) this serves to reduce the average maintenance cost 

        per child. Based on a typical family of two adults and three children, the cost of maintenance 

        per child was approximately 60 percent of the average cost for the first child – indicating 

        the potential impact of economies of scale in this regard. 



4.25    We note that the impact of numbers of children, and the effect of economies of scale is 

        reflected in contemporary correspondence. This is considered in Part 3. 



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4.26    We also have noted the significant impact of reducing numbers on the schools. In the late 

        1950s the numbers of children in many of the schools began to decline significantly. At this 

        time, both the Resident Managers and the Department of Finance began to suggest that 

        some of the schools might have to be closed. In our view it appears that the reduction in 

        numbers brought the schools closer to a break-even point – as numbers fell, grant income 

        fell to a point where it was less efficient for the Orders to run the schools. 



Adequacy in comparison with other frameworks suggested 



4.27    A comparison  with the capitation funding  in the UK  shows that the Irish  capitation grant 

        was far lower than the UK amount. If it is accepted that the UK serves as a valid benchmark 

        for  measurement  of  the  adequacy  of  the  capitation  grant,  then  the  Irish  capitation  grant 

        may be considered to be inadequate. 



4.28    Similarly, if it is accepted that the calculation of costs of maintaining a child in a modern 

        institution is a valid benchmark for evaluation of the capitation grant over the period under 

        review, it may be concluded that the Irish grant is inadequate. 



4.29    We note that these comparators do not derive from the particular circumstances or context 

        that applied in Ireland at the time. We consider them to represent what may be termed a 

        contemporary, in the case of the UK, or retrospectively applied, in the case of more modern 

        comparators, best practice comparator and, as such, to be of limited use in determining 

        adequacy of the grant to purpose in the context of Ireland of the time. 



Conclusion 



4.30    The question of whether the capitation funding provided by the State and local authorities to 

        the Industrial and Reformatory Schools over the period 1939–69 was adequate is inherently 

        complex. This complexity derives from from the length of the period under examination and 

        the partial and, in parts contradictory, nature of some of the data available, the availability 

        of  other  resources  (for  example,  farm  produce)  and  funding  sources,  and  the  apparent 

        difference between the State and school’s understanding of the purpose of the grant. We 

        have   sought   in  our  work   to  consider   the  issue   from  as   many    different reasonable 

        perspectives as possible, to try to arrive at a balanced view of the issues involved. 



4.31    Analysis has been submitted to the Commission, and examined by us, that shows that the 

        schools had less funding than their equivalent in the UK, and that the schools did not have 

        sufficient grant income to provide for the levels of care expected in an equivalent modern 

        institution. Analysis has also been provided that demonstrates that, had the Orders charged 

        a salary for religious working in the institutions, the institution costs would have increased 

        significantly. In one sense, such comparators may provide a valid measure of adequacy. 



4.32    However, it seems to us that an at least equally valid measure of adequacy must be based 

        on the framework as it existed, and was participated in by all of the relevant parties. In this 

        framework, whatever opinions now may be in relation to the appropriateness of that system, 

        the schools had certain responsibilities and the State and local authorities had others. The 

        Orders may not have charged a full economic rate for the work of the religious staff in the 

        institutions. Neither did they pay those staff a full economic rate for their efforts. The system 

        was such that it relied on charitable contributions of time and effort by individual religious 

        staff,  and  by  contributions  from  outside  the  institutions  as well  as  contributions  from  the 

        State. Based on our consideration of the information available to us it is our opinion that 

        the adequacy of the grant should be considered by reference to the 1908 Act framework – 

        that is that the purpose of the grant is to provide funding towards the food, clothing, lodging 

        and education of the children – and in the context of Irish social and economic conditions 

        during the period. We note that adequacy, in these terms, does not necessarily represent 

        provision of sufficient funding to meet all of the costs of a particular school. 



4.33    In arriving at an opinion on the issue of adequacy we have noted the following matters: 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         99 


----------------------- Page 1874-----------------------

       •    The view expressed in a Department of Education memorandum to the Minister in 1967 

             in the context of setting up the Kennedy Committee states that the Department was 

             ‘in no position to defend its achievements as far as the size of the grant goes’. 



       •    Grant levels are lower than some of the available benchmark data in the 1940s and 

             part of the 1950s 



       •    There are a number of comparators – for example the UK data and the contemporary 

             data suggested in a number of submissions made to the Commission – which exceed 

            the amount of the capitation grant. 



       •    The Kennedy Report suggests that the grant level was inadequate. 



        Together these support a conclusion that the grant was not adequate to the needs of the 

        children in the schools. However, we also note: 



       •     Comparison     of the  grant  with  inflation shows    the  grant  to be   in excess   of  that 

             benchmark. This gives us an indicator of the relative purchasing power of the grant. 



       •    Comparison  with  the  level  of  unemployment  assistance  shows  that,  post  1949,  the 

             grant exceeded this basic level of State provision for an adult during the period. 



       •    The financial information available does not take into account the contribution from the 

            farms   and   industries  to  the  schools  –  which   were   worked    by  the  children  and, 

             accordingly, might be considered to supplement the grant. 



       •    From 1946 the primary grant was designed to meet the cost of teaching the children in 

             Industrial Schools – thus providing additional income to the schools towards one of the 

             purposes  of  the  capitation  grant.  This  income  was  not  available  to  a  Reformatory 

             School; however in this case a higher capitation grant attached. 



       •    Analysis of the school accounts available shows that the school income was sufficient 

            to meet the costs of the schools when capital expenditure is excluded. We have noted 

            that the position of the schools and the Department on the issue of payment of this 

             cost  appears   to  have   differed. We   also  note   that the  Orders   disagree   with  the 

             suggestion  that  the  capitation  grant  was  not  intended  to  fund  capital  expenditure  in 

            the schools. 



       •    The benchmark data from the 1951–52 and 1965–66 Household Surveys shows that 

            the  capitation  grant  in  respect  of  both  Industrial  Schools  and  Reformatory  Schools 

             exceeded the cumulative amounts recorded in the survey data as spent on food and 

             clothing in all years for which data is available and that the reformatory grant exceeded 

            the cumulative amounts spent on food, clothing and lodging in all years for which data 

             is available. The Industrial School capitation grant exceeded the cumulative amounts 

             spent on food, clothing and lodging in all years after 1951 for which data is available. 



       •    Economies of scale may have served to close the gap between the expenditure levels 

             per person in the 1940s and 1950s and the grant. 



       •    We also note that we have not seen a situation, in those schools examined, where an 

             Order sought to cease operation of a school, or where the State sought to revoke the 

             licence of a school, on grounds of inadequate conditions. This suggests that, at the 

            time,  neither  the  State  authorities  nor  the  Orders  considered  the  position  to  be  so 

             inadequate as to warrant closure. 



4.34   Taken together, these points suggest that the grant was adequate to provide for the needs 

       of the children in the context of Ireland of the period. 



4.35   Having considered all of the above information it seems to us persuasive that the analysis of 

        1951–52 and 1965–66 Household Surveys show that the Industrial School and Reformatory 

       School’s capitation grant exceeded the cumulative cost of food and clothing for all years 

       for which information is available in the period reviewed. This analysis also shows that the 

       grants exceeded the cumulative amounts spent on food, clothing and lodging in all years 



100                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1875-----------------------

       for  which  information  was  available  after  1951.  In  this  context  we  also  note  that  school 

        numbers were highest in the 1940s and that economies of scale may have compensated 

       for  grant  levels  that  were  comparatively  lower  than  the  extrapolated  Household  Budget 

       Survey    benchmark     data  during   this period.  Accordingly,    we  believe   it reasonable    to 

       conclude that the grant was adequate to supply the needs specified by the 1908 Act, as 

       judged against contemporary data. 



Part 5 Christian Brothers Artane 



The application of State funding to the care of children in the institution 



 5.1   The   income   and   expenditure   of  Artane   Industrial  School,  as   presented   in  the  school 

       accounts for the period 1939–69 is as follows: 



                                                 Exhibit 1 



                                       1940–49            1950–59            1960–69             TOTAL 



                                              \                  \                  \                  \ 



 INCOME                                493,018            871,580            929,580           2,294,178 



 EXPENDITURE                           507,429            842,366          1,015,201           2,364,996 



 SURPLUS /<DEFICIT>                   <14,411>             29,214           <85,621>           <70,818> 



 5.2   Capitation grants represented approximately 80–84 percent of income of the institution in 

       each decade over the period 1939–69. The total amount of capitation grants received over 

       the period was equivalent \1.87 million. 



 5.3   An  analysis  of  expenditure  as  recorded  in  the  school  financial  statements  presented  in 

       respect of Artane shows that funding was applied as follows 



                                                 Exhibit 2 



                                          1940–49                    1950–59                    1960–69 

                                                %                           %                          % 



 Industrial departments                       18%                        21%                          9% 



 Farm, poultry & garden                       12%                        12%                          7% 



 Salaries & wages                             28%                        20%                        16% 



 Provisions purchased                         13%                        16%                        17% 



 Clothing                                      3%                         2%                         4% 



 Fuel, light, power                            8%                         7%                          6% 



 Capital expenditure                             -                        1%                        18% 



 Transfer to community                         7%                        11%                          8% 

 account 



 Other                                        11%                        10%                        15% 



 Total                                       100%                       100%                       100% 



 5.4   An analysis of farm income and expenditure shows that the farm generated a surplus of 

       equivalent \79,271  over  the  entire  period.  We  note  that  farm  income  is  reflected  in  the 

       school  accounts,  and  the  farm  costs  were  charged  to  the  school.  It  appears  from  the 

       available evidence that this surplus does not include the produce consumed by the school 

       and house. Similarly, the internal contribution from trades does not appear to be measured 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       101 


----------------------- Page 1876-----------------------

       in the accounts. From the available evidence we believe that it is reasonable to conclude 

       that the contribution to the economy of the institution at Artane by the farm and trades was 

       significant. In addition to the economic contribution of the farm and trades to life at Artane, 

       these activities also served to train the boys for occupations outside of the institution. 



 5.5   Capital expenditure on the Industrial School was incurred primarily in the 1960s. Prior to 

       then,  considerable  concern  was  expressed  in  Visitation  Reports  both  about  the  state  of 

       repair of the school and the appropriateness of investing in such work given the uncertainty 

       regarding the  future of  the school. It  is not  apparent from the  Visitation Reports  why the 

       decision to undertake an extensive programme of upgrade and refurbishment was made, 

       when reports from the later part of the 1950s stressed the uncertainty of the future of the 

       institution and the inappropriateness of incurring such costs in that environment. We can 

       only suppose that either clarity was provided regarding the future use of the institution or 

       the state of disrepair was adjudged to have reached crisis proportions or that the Community 

       wished  to  ensure  that  the  facility  was  brought  up  to  an  acceptable  standard  before  the 

       premises ceased to be part of the Reformatory and Industrial School system. 



 5.6   The capital expenditure incurred in Artane was funded primarily from the school account – 

       with the exception of the items funded in the 1940s by the House, and refunds received 

       from the Board of Works referred to in the Visitation Reports that do not appear to have 

       been included in the accounts. The House accounts in the 1950s and 1960s show very low 

       levels of capital expenditure. 



 5.7   During the period, a large portion of the lands at Artane was sold by the Order. The funds 

       raised from these sales were recorded in the House accounts. 



Staffing/student ratios over the period of the review 



 5.8   The ratio of students to all staff was between 8 and 9 to 1 for most of the 1940s and 1950s. 

       From  the  late  1950s  the  ratio  increased  to  approximately 6  to  1,  ultimately  increasing  to 

       0.75  to  1  in  1969.Throughout  the  1940s  and  up  until  the  1950s  there  was  a  relatively 

       consistent number of lay employees and Brothers involved with the Institution. There were 

       approximately 38–46 lay workers and approximately 31–36 Brothers (with an average of 16 

       teaching in the primary school). When the school numbers fell significantly in 1955 to 653 

       (1954: 737), a decrease of 11 percent, the school responded by reducing the numbers of 

       Brothers from 36 to 26, while making little change to the number of lay workers. Through 

       the late 1950s and into the 1960s student numbers continued to fall by an average of 14 

       percent per annum. In response the number of lay staff employed was reduced considerably 

       from 44 in 1955 to just 12 in 1969. Twenty Brothers remained at the school in 1969. 



The financial consequences for the relevant institutions as a result of caring for the 

children over the period 1939 to 1969 



 5.9   The financial statements presented to us in respect of Artane show a situation where the 

       school ran at a loss, while the house achieved a surplus – some of which, we have been 

       advised, was used to clear school debts. 



5.10   This presentation derives from a definition of financial parameters; that is: 



       •    The school bore the costs of maintaining the children, operating the farm and trades, 

            feeding  and  paying  the  Brothers  (stipends)  and  lay  staff  (salaries),  and  funding  the 

             upkeep of the property. The income available for this purpose was, in the main, the 

             income provided by the State, supplemented by earnings from the farm and trades. 



       •    The  house  bore  the  costs  of  maintaining  the  community  of  Brothers.  The  income 

             available  to  this  end  was  the  stipends  from  the  school,  supplemented  by  rents  and 

             other income. The house had beneficial entitlement to the land and buildings, and held 

             any  revenues  from  this  source:  for  example  the  sale  of  lands.  Visitation  dues  were 

             returned to the Order from the house income. 



102                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1877-----------------------

5.11   As discussed in Part 3, the funding of capital expenditure from the capitation grant is not 

       consistent with our understanding of the framework provided for by the Children Act 1908 

       and the State position as expressed at the time of termination of the 1946 Scheme. If the 

       capital expenditure incurred at the school is excluded, then the capitation grant would have 

       been sufficient to cover the operating expenses of the school. 



5.13   The financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children over the 

       period 1939–69 might be summarised as follows; 



                                                Exhibit 3 



                                                                        \                     % 



 Total expenditure                                                 2,364,996                 100% 



 Funded by: 



 State and local authorities                                       1,868,443                   79% 

 Other income                                                        425,734                   18% 



 Deficit – funded by Order                                            70,819                    3% 



We understand that the Order funded a final overdraft on the school account of \111,737. The 

above summary is based on the presentation of the accounts discussed in paragraph 5.4 of Part 5. 



Part 6 Rosminian Fathers Upton and Ferryhouse 



The application of State funding to the care of children in the institution 



 6.1   No financial information is available in respect of the school at Upton for the years 1940–49. 

       Financial information is available in respect of the years; 



       – 1952, 1953 



       – 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966. 



       The school at Upton closed in 1966. 



       Similarly, a limited amount of financial information is available in respect of the institution 

       run by the Rosminian Fathers at Ferryhouse in County Tipperary. Financial accounts were 

       made available for the following years: 



       – 1941, 1947 



       – 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 



       – 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969. 



 6.2   An analysis of expenditure in Upton and Ferryhouse is set out in Exhibits 39 and 42 (Part 

       6) respectively. 



 6.3   We  note  that  the  accounts  available  record  that  capital  expenditure  in  the  amount  of 

       equivalent \59,420 was incurred at Upton during the period 1939–66. There is no evidence 

       that a specific contribution was made by the State in respect of this expenditure. We have 

       identified  capital  expenditure  in  the  accounts  of  Ferryhouse  in  the  amount  of  equivalent 

       \84,931. We note that in 1968 grant income of equivalent \19,173 was received in respect 

       of a new school building, although the source of this income is not identified. We have dealt 

       in an earlier chapter of this report with the issue of funding of capital expenditure. 



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----------------------- Page 1878-----------------------

Staffing/student ratios over the period of the review 



 6.4   Information is not available in respect of the staffing levels at Ferryhouse and Upton over 

       the period under review. 



             The financial consequences for the relevant institutions as a  result of caring for the 

             children over the period 1939–69. 



 6.5   The accounts provided show that the institution at Upton showed a surplus of income over 

       expenditure in all years presented except two – 1952, where the accounts showed a deficit 

       of equivalent \17, and 1962, where the accounts showed a deficit of equivalent \1,588. Of 

       the 15 years where accounts have been presented in respect of the school at Ferryhouse, 

       seven show a deficit, while eight show a surplus of income over expenditure. 



 6.6   We  have,  for  the  purposes  of  assessing  the  financial  consequences  for  the  Rosminian 

       Fathers of running the Upton and Ferryhouse schools, also examined the available financial 

       statements of the Province. 



             The  balance  sheets  of  the  schools  show  that  both  schools  had  a  surplus  of  assets 

             over liabilities at closure (Upton 31st December 1966: equivalent \17,233, Ferryhouse 

             31st December 1969: equivalent \19,790). Taken together, it appears that the schools 

             contributed a net surplus position to the Order at the end of the period reviewed. 



             The Province accounts at the same date show an excess of liabilities over assets of 

             equivalent \  10,661. 



 6.7   We note that the Rosminian Fathers have, in presenting information to us, drawn attention 

       to the history of under-funding and persistent scarcity of resource in the schools. They have 

       also noted that the community and schools were, of necessity, interdependent, and both 

       significantly dependent on the produce of the farm for essentials. The Order also notes that 

       the Province did not maintain central funds, and could not, accordingly, provide significant 

       additional support. The net liability position of the Province at 31st December 1969 supports 

       this contention. We attach at Appendix XIII the submissions of the Order in relation to the 

       financial position of the schools. 



             In our consideration of the submissions made by the Rosminian Fathers, we note the 

             following points as relevant: 



            — The Order has drawn our attention to the fact that the Province needed to fund other 

                  activities. It is our view that the schools were, when the entire period is viewed 

                  and based on the improved net asset position in the closing balance sheets of the 

                  schools, a net contributor to the Province, but that the yea-on-year contribution 

                  was not sufficient to yield the Order a significant surplus. 



            — We acknowledge that the accounts in certain years point to shortages of fundings 

                  in those years,  and that these highlight  the particular financial difficulties  of the 

                  relevant schools. However, we note that the balance sheets of the schools at the 

                  end  of  the  period  indicate  a  net  accumulation  of  assets  over  the  entire  life  of 

                  the school. 



            — There is evidence that additional capital funding appears to have been provided – 

                  presumably  by  the  State  –  in  respect  of  only  one  item  of  capital  expenditure 

                  incurred at the Upton and Ferryhouse schools – grant income in respect of a new 

                  school building received in 1968. We note, however, that it has not been possible 

                  to confirm the source of this grant. 



104                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1879-----------------------

Part 7 St. Vincent’s Industrial School – Goldenbridge 



The application of State funding to the care of children in the institution 



 7.1   A limited amount of financial information is available in respect of Goldenbridge industrial 

       school: 



       — No accounts were available for the period 1939–50 



       — Accounts were available for the period 1955–69 in six-monthly sets with the exception 

             of the six-month periods ended 31st December 1957, 30th June 1968 and 30th June 



                                                                   6 

              1969. The period ended 31st December 1960  has also been omitted from our analysis 

             as this appears to be a duplication of the 30th June 1960 accounts and therefore is of 

             questionable  validity.  Two  different  sets  of  accounts  were  made  available  to  us  for 

              1953. For the purpose of this analysis we have used SOMGB-00568/12 and SOMGB- 

             00568/13. In the years 19617  and 19638 we note that the accounts of the Goldenbridge 



             do  not  appear  to  tot  correctly.  We  have  used  the  detailed  analysis  in  the  accounts 

             rather than relying on sub-totals as presented. 



 7.2   We have not received any financial information from the Sisters of Mercy in relation to bead- 

       making. We have calculated, based on information from a company that Goldenbridge sold 

       beads to, that the likely range of the annual income from beads was IR£717 per annum to 

       IR£2,869 per annum. 



 7.3   We  note  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  1953  accounts,  there  is  no  record  of  the  school 

       having received primary grant funding in respect of teachers in the Industrial School. 



 7.4   A building account was operated during the period under review. We received accounts for 

       the  period  1961–66  in  six-monthly  sets  with  the  exception of  the  six  months  ended  30th 

       June 1962 and 30th June 1964. 



 7.5   The income and expenditure statements for  the industrial school, for the years provided, 

       show a surplus of \33,409 



 7.6   The most significant items of expenditure can be summarised as follows: 



                                                    Exhibit 4 



                                                                        1951–60                      1961–69 

                                                                               %                            % 



 Dietary expenses                                                              34                           26 



 Wages                                                                         21                           18 



 Clothing                                                                      12                           12 



 Building repairs and decorations                                              11                           16 



 Fuel and light                                                                 7                           7 



 Furniture and fittings                                                         3                            3 



 Medical                                                                        1                           2 



 Other                                                                         11                           16 



 Total                                                                        100                          100 



The wages identified above consist of staff wages, payments to the Resident Manager and payments to the reverend 



mother. 



 7.8   Capital  expenditure  in  the  school  account  amounted  to \68,745  recorded  in  the  income 

       and  expenditure  statements  received.  This  was  mainly  attributable  to  repairs  to  building, 



6 SOMGB-00568/49-55. 

7 SOMGB-00568/58. 

8 SOMGB-00568/84. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             105 


----------------------- Page 1880-----------------------

       decorations and furniture and fittings. Capital expenditure financed from the building account 

       during  the  period  1961–66  amounted  to  \90,000,  giving  a  total  capital  expenditure  of 

       \158,745 for the period reviewed. Due to the incomplete nature of the records we are unable 

       to  determine  whether  the  lodgements  to  the  building  account  represent  capital  grants  or 

       general funding of the school which was allocated to capital expenditure. It is unclear how 

       much  of  this  fund  was  used  for  properties  other  than  for  the  Industrial  School;  although 

       based on a review of a sample of such expenditure we did note a certificate for payment in 

       respect of Rathdrum in the amount of IR£750 – suggesting that the fund was not applied 

       solely to the Industrial School.9 



Commentary on the effects of changes in the number of children in the relevant 

institutions over the period 1939–69 



 7.9   The number of children committed to Goldenbridge Industrial School peaked in the early 

       1960s and then began to decline in the late 1960s. 



A commentary on staffing/student ratios over the period of the review 



7.10    We understand that the staffing consisted of two nuns (both teaching and one having the 

        dual  responsibility  of  resident  manager),  two  lay  teachers  and  between  approximately  8 

        and 10 other staff (seamstress, domestic, etc.). We understand that numbers of teaching 

        staff remained constant during the period. 



Financial consequences for the relevant institutions as a result of caring for the children 

over the period 1939–69 



7.11    There was a surplus in the bank account of the Industrial school at 30th November 1969 

        of \16,265 



7.12    The  financial  consequences  for  Goldenbridge  of  caring  for  the  children  over  the  period 

        1939–69 may be characterised as being close to break-even. This view is consistent with 

        the  available  financial  statements.  We  note,  however,  that  the  school  accounts  do  not 

        include  funds  from  the  industrial activity  at  the  school,  and  that  they  do not  include  any 

        amount in respect of primary grant received, with the exception of an amount of IR£878 

        in 1953. 



7.13    There   were   peak   years   for payments     of  wages    and  salaries   in 1953    and  1954    of 

        approximated \4,900 per annum. These levels were not reached again until 1967. We note 

        from the payments books, which are only available subsequent to 1960, that they show a 

        payment, recorded as wages, to the reverend mother of IR£90 per month. We do not know 

        whether this payment actually represented wages or if the funds were used for the school 

        or for another purpose. 



7.14    The records of Carysfort Mother House shown to us indicate payments received between 

        1939 and 1954 on a monthly basis totalling between approximately \5,000 and \9,000 per 

        annum described  as ‘National  Education Goldenbridge’.  The Carysfort accounts  indicate 

        payments     totalling between     approximately     \1,000    and   \5,000    per  annum     to  the 

        Goldenbridge Convent and Goldenbridge school expenses. The source of the income is 

        not clear nor is the extent to which the payments related to wages. It is also not clear how 

        much  of  this  income,  or  expenditure,  relates  to  the  Industrial  School,  rather  than  the 

        adjacent national school. 



9 SOMGB-00490/1. 



106                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1881-----------------------

Part 8 St Conleth’s Reformatory School, Daingean 



The application of State funding to the care of children in the institution 



 8.1   The income and expenditure of St Conleth’s Reformatory School, Daingean, as presented 

       in the school accounts for the period 1940–69 is as follows: 



                                                  Exhibit 5 



                                                 1940–49         1950–59         1960–69           TOTAL 



                                                     \               \               \                \ 



 INCOME                                          148,231          223,993         354,657          726,881 



 EXPENDITURE                                     147,222          222,106         375,259          744,587 



 SURPLUS /<DEFICIT>                                 1,009           1,887        <20,602>        <17,706> 



 8.2   Capitation grants represented, on average, 76 percent of total income of the institution for 

       the period 1940–69. In individual years, however, grants ranged from a low of 58 percent 

       of  total  income  in  1969  to  a  high  of  90  percent  of  total  income  in  1941.  The  later  years 

       appear  to  reflect  lower  percentages  which  is,  in  part,  a  reflection  of  increasing  levels  of 

       income    being  generated    from  the   farm,  and   the  declining  numbers  of    children   in the 

       institutions. 



 8.3   An  analysis  of  expenditure  as  recorded  in  the  school  accounts  shows  that  funding  was 

       applied as follows: 



                                                  Exhibit 6 



                                                            1940–49            1950–59            1960–69 

                                                                  %                   %                  % 



 Dietary expenses                                                 19                  21                 19 



 Farm                                                             14                  17                 22 



 Clothing and shoe-making                                         14                  10                  7 



 Payments to province                                             14                   6                  4 



 Furnishing and carpentry                                          7                   9                 10 



 Wages                                                             7                  10                 10 



 Rent                                                              4                   3                  2 



 Fuel and light                                                    5                   6                 10 



 Car, lorry and freight                                            3                   5                  1 



 Medical                                                           3                   3                  3 



 Rates, taxes, and insurances                                      -                   1                  2 



 Other                                                            10                   9                 10 



 Total                                                           100                 100                100 



 8.4   Separate accounts were not maintained by the Order in respect of the farm and it has been 

       necessary therefore to base our examination on farm income and expenditure recorded in 

       the school accounts. These accounts do not, we understand, reflect the value derived by 

       the school  and the  Order from the  farm produce.  Nor do the  school accounts  reflect the 

       labour of the boys and the community members used on the farm. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         107 


----------------------- Page 1882-----------------------

              An analysis of the farm income and expenditure, as recorded in the school accounts, 

              shows that a deficit of \25,003 was generated over the period 1940–69. It is not known, 

              however, to what extent expenditure on the farm of a capital nature has been included 

              in arriving at this deficit. 



              Irrespective of  the size of  the accounting deficit  generated from the  farm, it is  clear 

              from  documentation  reviewed  that  a  benefit  was  derived  from  the  farm  in  that  the 

              residents were recorded as being well fed at least in the early 1940s when numbers 

              were at or near the highest level for the 30-year period.10 



              We  note,  in  this  context,  that  the  farm  was  owned  by  the  State.  The  views  of  one 

              official regarding the profit-generating ability of the farm and use to which such profits 

              should  be  put  are  stated  in  a  Department  of  Education  report  prepared  in  1955 

              following a visit to the school: 



                I am of the opinion that very handsome profits are made on the farm but I can 

                see no evidence of any of the profits being ploughed back for the benefit of the 

                boys or the improvement of the buildings.11 



              The views of the Department Official are not consistent with the record in the financial 

              statements,  which  show  a  deficit  from  the  farm,  and  it  is  not  clear  how  the  official 

              arrived at his opinion. 



 8.5   In addition, activities at the Reformatory School in Daingean included tailoring and shoe- 

       making which would have met a significant portion of the needs of the boys in this regard. 

       Documentation indicates that at one point production in the tailor’s shop was sufficient that 

       the school could provide for all clothing requirements.12 



 8.6   Under the terms of the lease agreement, the Oblate Order was responsible for repairs and 

       maintenance expenditure incurred at the school. This responsibility extended to keeping the 

       premises ‘in good and tenantable state of repair and condition’. It was the view of the State 

       that repair and maintenance expenditure was provided for in the capitation grant. 



        The accounts of the school record expenditure in the amount of \72,422 on repairs and 

        furnishing and carpentry over the 30-year period under review which represents 10 percent 

        of total expenditure for the period reviewed. While the farm land and buildings would appear 

        to have been kept in good condition, some of the buildings occupied by the residents would 

        appear to have been in disrepair.13 



 8.7   In  addition  to  this  repairs  and  maintenance  expenditure,  a  significant  amount  of  building 

       work was carried out by the OPW in Daingean between 1940 and 1969. Correspondence 

       reviewed indicates that requests for capital funding were ongoing throughout the 1939–69 

       period and both the State’s and the school management’s frustration in this regard is quite 

       apparent14. Over £85,500 (\108,563) was incurred by the OPW in capital expenditure up to 



       1960. Throughout the 1960s requests for additional work continued but it is less clear what 

       work  was  actually  sanctioned  and  ultimately  carried  out.  Despite  the  significant  capital 

       investment  and  repair  work  carried  out  in  Daingean,  Department  of  Education  records 

       indicate that Daingean was not in a good state of repair. Correspondence between the OPW 

       and Departments of Finance and Education in 1969 and the early 1970s which indicates 



                                                                                  15 

       that certain buildings in Daingean were  ‘structurally unsound’             . 



 8.8   In transferring the Reformatory to Daingean, there was a need for the Oblate Order to house 

       its training college elsewhere. An estate was purchased in Piltown, County Kilkenny for this 



10 Anna McCabe Report 13/1/1941. 

11 DEDAN0285-031. 

12 DNOB2016. 

13 DEDAN0285-031. 

14 DEDAN0282-046; DOF1939-02-110. 

15 DOF1966-00-070. 



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----------------------- Page 1883-----------------------

       purpose. This purchase was funded from monies received by the Order in relation to the 

       closure of the Glencree Reformatory. 



The effects of changes in the number of children over the period 1939–69 



 8.9   There  was  a  decline  in  numbers  of  children  committed  in  the  mid  to  late  1960s.  As  the 

       numbers dropped below 200 in the 1950s, the Resident Manager at Daingean expressed 

       the  view  that the  grant  should   be  on  a  sliding scale   since  the  overhead   costs  were 

       reasonably constant regardless of the number of boys while the income stream was linked 

       directly to the number of boys under detention. Break-even analysis carried out on a sample 

       basis  in  the  course  of  this  review  indicates  that  during  the  period  1951–55,  when  the 

       average  number  of  students  detained  was  156,  the  break-even  point  was  122  while  a 

       decade later, in the 1961–65 period, when the average number of students detained was 

       113, the break-even level was 121. 



Staffing/student ratios over the period of the review 



8.10   Throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s there were between 22 and 25 Oblate Fathers 

       and  Brothers  resident  at  the  school.  The  Oblates  were  assisted  by  two  lay  teachers,  a 

       carpenter, a tailor and a drill instructor giving a total staff complement of up to 30. The ratio 

       of students to number of staff ranges from 7:1 in the 1940s to 5:1 in the 1950s and 4:1 in 

       the 1960s. 



       The   staffing  structure, particularly  in terms   of the  numbers    of Fathers   and   Brothers, 

        remained broadly the same over the entire period. 



The financial consequences for the institution as a result of caring for the children over 

the period 1939–69 



8.11   A  balance  sheet  has  not  been  available  in  respect  of  St  Conleth’s  Reformatory  School, 

       Daingean for any of the years under review. 



8.12   The  total  deficit  generated  by  the  school  as  recorded  in  the  accounts  over  the  period 

        1939–69 amounts to \17,706 with the result that there was a deficit in the bank account of 

       the Reformatory School at 30th November 1969 in the amount of \11,710. 



8.13   A summary of the financial effect on the Order of running the school is as follows; 



                                                Exhibit 7 



                                                                       \                          % 



 Total expenditure                                               744,587                      100% 



 Funded by: 



 State and local authorities                                     533,614                       72% 

 Other income                                                    193,273                       26% 



 Deficit to be funded                                             17,700                         2% 



       We note that the school remained open after the period of our review. We are not aware 

       whether the deficit identified above remained at the date of closure of the school and how 

       any such deficit, if it existed, was funded. 



8.14   The position illustrated by the transcripts, statements and documentation provided by the 

       Oblate  Order,  who  ran  the  school,  is  that  making  ends  meet  was  a  constant  struggle, 

       especially in light of the ongoing works and maintenance required. Repair and maintenance 

       expenditure,  being  the  responsibility  of  the  Oblate  Order  under  the  terms  of  the  lease, 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     109 


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        represented a constant outflow of funds and contributed significantly to the deficits at the 

        school. 



8.15    The   Order   contends    that  the  non-payment      of salaries   to  Brothers   and   Fathers   who 

        dedicated their time to the School went some way towards minimising the deficits incurred. 

        While it is noted that the Oblate staff in St Conleth’s were not in receipt of a salary, the 

        accounts indicate that there were payments during this period to the Province and that in 

        addition  to  this  there  was  expenditure  incurred  in  respect  of  retreats,  the  sacristy  and 

        sanctuary,  fathers’  allowance  and  sundries  as  well  as  reimbursement  of  expenses  of 

        Fathers/Brothers. Amounts paid in this regard are outlined below. The Brothers and Fathers 

        also boarded and lodged at the school. 



                                                   Exhibit 8 



                                             1940–49            1950–59            1960–69             TOTAL 

                                                 \                  \                  \                  \ 



 Payments to Province                       20,087             13,650             16,189            49,926 



 Retreats & holidays                         2,112              3,338              9,061             14,511 



 Sacristy & sanctuary                           983             1,838              1,468              4,289 



 Stipends to provincial                         115                  -             3,104              3,219 



 Fathers allowance & sundries                   665             1,186              3,317              5,168 



 Fr Shannon’s disbursements                     838                  -                  -               838 



 Fr Keane’s passage                              71                  -                  -                71 



 TOTAL                                      24,871             20,012             33,139             78,022 



 % of total expenditure                       16%                 9%                 9%                10% 



8.16    It has been submitted the Commission that had the school paid salaries to the members of 

        the Order working in the school, the deficits would have been higher, and that the salaries 

        would  have  exceeded  payments  made  to  the  Province  and  amounts  expended  to  the 

        benefit  of  the  Order  or  its  members  working  in  the  school.  This  logic  is  supported  by 

        calculations   of  salary  levels  from   the  time,  and   the   calculations   appear   reasonable. 

        However, we note in this regard that: 



       •     it was quite clear at all times that the school was not a state school; 

       •    the system of Reformatory and Industrial Schools did not provide for payment, by the 

             State, of salaries to these employed in the school, and the Order willingly participated 

             in the system; 



       •     the  Order  did  not  pay  salaries  to  the  relevant  staff,  as  they  gave  up  their  time  and 

             labour as part of their vacation. 



             Accordingly, we do not think it is appropriate to restate the accounts to recognise these 

             salaries, as to do so would not accurately represent the situation at the time. 



Part 9 – Comparative analysis 



Comparative analysis 



 9.1   When provisions and operational expenses were considered together the level of this aspect 

       of expenditure as a percentage of total costs was relatively consistent across the schools 

       irrespective of whether they had a farm. 



 9.2   The level of capital expenditure varies significantly between schools but peak expenditure, 

       with the exception of Daingean, consistently occurred in the late 1960s, which is notable as 

       children numbers were falling at that stage. There was discussion throughout the 1960s as 



110                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1885-----------------------

       to what future the schools had – and there appears to have been a decision (although no 

       explanation as to why) across in all schools to invest in buildings towards the end of the 

       decade. In Daingean, expenditure on capital items is spread more evenly across the period. 



 9.3   Wages, salaries stipends and other religious costs were most significant as a percentage 

       of total costs in the earliest years for which accounts are available. 



 9.4   Stipends  and  other  religious  costs  in  isolation  as  a  percentage  of  total  costs,  within  the 

       same time period, vary significantly. We are not aware of the rationale for the level of these 

       charges. One explanation may be that the level of stipends varied with the level of funds 

       available. This explanation would also be consistent with a larger school being able to be 

       more efficient in terms of cost per child and therefore generating a larger surplus available 

       for distribution to the religious Order. 



Break-even analysis 



 9.5   When  variable  income  and  expenditure  are  considered  in  combination  we  can  see  that 

       there  is  consistently  a  positive  contribution.  A  positive  contribution  indicates  that  income 

       was available towards the funding of fixed and other costs. Over time the contribution per 

       child  has  increased.  This  is  due  to  the  variable  income  increasing  by  a  higher  monetary 

       value than the variable costs per child. 



 9.6   The break-even  point for Artane and  Upton decreased significantly  when compared over 

       time. In the case of Artane the break-even level decreased due to the increase in the level 

       of  variable  income  and  variable  costs  by  approximately  100  percent  to  \255  and  \126 

       respectively per child per year, increasing the monetary amount of the contribution. In the 

       case  of  Upton,  unlike  other  schools,  variable  cost  levels  per  child  remained  constant  at 

       approximately \110  per child per  year while  variable income increased  by approximately 

       50 percent. 



 9.7   The break-even analysis for the sample period in the 1950s shows that all of the schools, 

       with the exception of Upton, had numbers of children in excess of the break-even point – 

       suggesting that they should have been in a position to run at least at break-even. In the 

       1960s,  Artane  and  Daingean  experienced  a  decline  in  the  number  of  children  to  a  point 

       below their break-even point. 



 9.8   The break-even calculation does not include capital expenditure. If capital expenditure were 

       included,   the  break-even    point  would   increase   in  each   school.   In the  1950s,    capital 

       expenditure was low and would not impact the break-even point significantly. In the 1960s, 

       where  capital  expenditure  was  higher,  adjusting  for  capital  expenditure  would  mean  that 

       Artane, An Daingean, Upton and Ferryhouse would have numbers of children below their 

       break-even point. 



 9.9   In considering this analysis we believe that two points should be noted. The decline in the 

       numbers of children during the late 1950s and through the 1960s meant that the schools 

       became increasingly uneconomic to run, with  some schools reaching a point where they 

       were below break-even point. However, significant increases in the capitation grant in the 

       late 1960s, outside of our sample period, would have compensated for this to an extent. 

       We also note that there is an argument that the capitation grant was not intended to fund 

       capital expenditure – for the reasons we have examined in the early part of this report. If 

       this is accepted as a reasonable understanding of the position, then the break-even analysis 

       excluding the impact of capital expenditure  is the more appropriate representation of the 

       position of the individual schools, as regards the expected impact of the State contribution. 

       Of course, the schools still had to fund this expenditure, from other sources if necessary. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        111 


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3. An analysis of the capitation method of funding the Institutions as 

operated at the time 



This section of our report provides an analysis of the capitation method of funding the Institutions 

as operated during the period 1938–69. In doing so, we have sought to provide the reader with 

details, in summary form, of the Industrial and Reformatory School system as it applied in Ireland 

between 1939 and 1969, an understanding of the roles of the various institutions active in that 

system and the background to the funding of the Schools under relevant legislation. 



3.1 Origins of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools system 



The  Irish  system  of  Industrial  Schools  and  Reformatories  pre-dates  the  State.  Much  of  the 

governing legislation and, accordingly, structures and frameworks implemented to give effect to 

this legislation, relevant to the period of our review was passed when Ireland was a constituent 

part of the UK. Subsequent to the foundation of the Irish State this legislation was retained on the 

statute book, and the framework within which these institutions were funded and run remained 

in place. 



The childcare system in Ireland evolved from various systems of aid to the poor. In the middle 

19th  century  the  only  public  provision  for  children  was  in  workhouses.  Subsequently  voluntary 

institutions operated under the auspices of religious organisations and charitable persons provided 

in some measure for the care of juvenile offenders. These institutions did not receive assistance 

from public monies and were not subject to inspection or supervision by any State authority. 



Reformatory schools were introduced to Ireland under the Reformatory Schools (Ireland) Act 1858 

which provided for the State certification of such institutions to care for juvenile offenders. The Act 

certified  a  number  of  existing  voluntary  institutions  and  homes  as  suitable  for  the  reception  of 

youthful offenders committed by the courts. It also provided for an inspection process. 



The introduction of reformatories was followed by a different type of institution – Industrial Schools 

– to meet the needs of neglected, orphaned and abandoned children. 



The Industrial Schools (Ireland) Act 1868 provided for the establishment of Industrial Schools in 

Ireland. The Act did not provide for the cost of establishment of such schools. Public bodies were 

precluded from establishing Industrial Schools or making contributions towards such costs. The 

State provided funds to the schools by means of a capitation grant. Thus, the legislation provided 

a framework  within which concerned  sections of society  could establish Industrial  Schools and 

receive funding from the State towards the operation of those schools. We understand that this 

role was often assumed by various religious congregations, often with the support of concerned 

citizens  or  groups   of  citizens  who   provided   property   or  capital  funding   to permit   the  initial 

establishment of the schools. 



The  Prevention  of  Crimes  Act  1871  extended  the  classes  of  children  who  might  be  sent  to 

Industrial Schools. 



Reformatory Schools were reserved for those children who had committed and were convicted of 

an offence. Industrial Schools, on the other hand, were designed to prevent children becoming 

candidates for Reformatory Schools by removing them from a socially undesirable environment 

and providing them with an industrial training. 



The 1868 Act was replaced by the Children Act 1908, which provided that schools were certified 

and  funded  by  the  State  and  the  State  had  role  in  ensuring  that  minimum  standards  were 

maintained, that finances were in order and that the legislation was observed. 



112                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1887-----------------------

Defining an ‘Industrial School’ 



Section 44 of the Children Act 1908 specifies an Industrial School as  ‘a school for the industrial 

training   of  children,  in  which   children   are  lodged,    clothed,  and    fed  as  well  as  taught’.   The 

expression ‘children’ means persons under the age of 14 years but was later revised upward in 

the Children Act 1941 to 17 years of age. 



Defining a ‘Reformatory School’ 



Section 44 of the Children Act 1908 defines a Reformatory School as  ‘a school for the industrial 

training of youthful offenders, in which youthful offenders are lodged, clothed, and fed as well as 

taught’. The age limits that applied in reformatory schools were the same as those that applied in 

Industrial Schools. 



The Children Act 1908 amended the preclusion from public establishment of schools but limited 

use was made of the powers. Up until the 1940s almost the entire capital cost of Industrial and 

Reformatory  Schools  was         met  by  religious  orders     and  private  charitable  societies.  It     is  our 

understanding that the network of schools was, by the time of the 1908 Act, well-established and 

that there was no suggestion of a need for change by either the State or the relevant Orders. In 

essence, the newly independent Irish State inherited a system of schools that were by then well 

established, and an attendant funding structure which provided for the payment by the State of a 

grant on a capitation basis towards the cost of maintaining those children in the schools. 



The 1926 School Attendance Act provided for committal proceeding to be taken against parents 

who failed to send a child to school or parents who failed to respond to a warning notice sent by 

school attendance committees. 



The 1929 Children Act made it easier to commit children. The 1941 Children Act made it possible 

to commit children without parental consent in limited circumstances. The 1941 Act also extended 

the age limits of children who could be committed from 14 to 17. 



The  1952  Adoption  Act  was  viewed  as  a  contributory  factor  in  the  subsequent  decline  in  the 

number of children in Industrial Schools.16 



3.2 Responsibility framework 



We believe it important, in considering the terms of reference prescribed by the Commission, to 

clearly  identify  the  roles  and  responsibilities  of  the  relevant  participants  in  the  operation  of  the 

Reformatory      and  Industrial   Schools.    These  roles    and   reponsibilities  derive    from,   in  the  first 

instance, the legislative framework of at the time. 



The primary piece  of legislation governing the  Reformatory and Industrial Schools  operating in 

Ireland during the period 1939–69 was the Children Act 1908. This Act prescribed the recognition 

of schools, the responsibilities of the Treasury (or Central Government – post-Independence, the 

Department      of  Education     and   Department     of  Finance     took  this  role),  local  authorities   and 

Managers of the schools. It also defined the relationship between the State, local authorities and 

schools. In particular, we would draw attention to: 



        •    Section  45,  which  defined  the  basis  for  recognition  of  a  school  by  the  Secretary  of 

              State as fit for the reception of children, upon inspection by the authorised inspectors 



        •    Section 52, which defines the responsibilities of the Managers of a school, once they 

              have accepted a child – to teach, train, lodge, clothe and feed the child – ‘when they 

              have  once  so  accepted  any  such  offender  or  child  they  shall  be  deemed  to  have 



16 The Department of Education’s Statement to the Commission, p 9 of the full report. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               113 


----------------------- Page 1888-----------------------

             undertaken to teach, train, lodge, clothe and feed him during the whole period for which 

             he is liable to be detained in the school’ 



        •    Section 73, which defines the responsibility of the Treasury – to approve and make 

             payment  of  any  sums  ‘on  such  conditions  as  the  Secretary  of  State  may,  with  the 

             approval  of  Treasury  recommend  towards  the  expenses  of  any  youthful  offender  or 

             child detained in a certified school’ 



        •    Section 74, which defines the responsibility of the local authority – to provide for the 

             reception and maintenance of the child in a suitable certified reformatory or industrial 

             school 



        •    Section 74(8), which permits the local authority to  ‘contract with the managers of any 

             certified  school  for  the  reception  and  maintenance  therein  of  youthful  offenders  or 

             children  for  whose  reception  and  maintenance  the  authority  are  required  under  this 

             section to make provision’ 



        •    Section  48,  which  prescribed  the  conditions  under  which  the  managers  of  a  school 

             could resign certification 



        •    Section 56, which provided for the establishment of a superannuation scheme for the 

             officers of the school by the Managers of the certified schools, either individually or 

             collectively. 



The schools were the property of the religious Orders. In this regard we note both from the legal 

position – the properties comprising the schools were in the possession of the individual Orders, 

in the case of Daingean by way of lease – and the organisation of the school activity – that is, 

each school was managed on a day-to-day basis without direct interference from the State, the 

decisions  made  in  terms  of  acceptance  of  children,  daily  activities  within  the  schools  and  the 

continued  operation  of  the  individual  school  rested  primarily  with  the  Resident  Manager  of  the 

school.  This understanding  is also  consistent with  the statement  in the  Artane submission  that 

‘The  schools  were  the  property  of  the  Orders  and  as  such  they  were  entitled  to  protect  and 

safeguard    their  interests   in these   schools.’17and    with  the   file note  documenting      discussions 



between the State and the Order at the time of foundation of the Daingean Reformatory –  ‘Mr 

Frank Duffy, representative of the Dept of Ed, made it quite clear that the Reformatory School 

though recognised and financed by the State was not a STATE INSTITUTION but a private school 

under  the  management  of  a  religious  body.  There  was  no  legislation  to  constitute  it  a  STATE 

INSTITUTION’.18 



State funding appeared to have been considered to be a contribution towards the reception and 

maintenance of a child, rather than an undertaking to fund the entire cost of any school. In this 

regard we would draw attention to: 



        •    The  submission  from  the  Rosminian  Fathers,  which  states  ‘The  level  of  capitation 

             granted was never claimed to be enough by the State. It was envisaged as contributory 

             funding.  It  was  calculated  on  compromise  and  it  was  accepted  in  desperation.  All 

             residual expenses were carried by the Order’;19 



        •    An early version of the 1946 scheme to provide for some element of capital expenditure 

             suggested that capital expenditure would be funded one-third by the relevant Order, 

             one-third by the local authority and one-third by the Exchequer – ‘Local authorities to 

             compound for their statutory liability for provision, etc, of schools by bearing one-third 

             of the cost of authorised expenditure for the purpose, the amount to be apportioned 



17 Page 8, Submission of the Christian Brothers, December 2006. 

18 Oblates of Mary Immaculate Discovery file/FDR working file, pp 97 and 98 (Resident Managers Management File) – 



   10/02/41 Memo drawn up by Provincial of meeting on 07/02/1941 to discuss amendments to the lease drafted by 

   Board of Works. 

19 Page 19: Submission of the Rosminian Fathers, January 2007. 



114                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1889-----------------------

             amongst them by reference to the number of committed children chargeable to each. 

             The  State  to  undertake  liability  for  an  equal  contribution.  The  schools  to  pay  the 

              remaining third.’20 



Taken together, it is our view that the framework of operation of the schools, was one where the 

State sought to place relevant children in privately owned and operated schools, in accordance 

with section 74 of the 1908 Act. The State made provision towards the costs of maintaining those 

children   resident   in  the  schools    by  means     of a   capitation   grant.  The   respective    roles  and 

responsibilities of the State and schools are described in greater detail in the following paragraphs, 

but might be summarised as: 



        •    The State is responsible for the certification and inspection of schools. 

        •    The local authority is responsible for providing for the reception and maintenance of 

             the child in a suitable certified reformatory or industrial school – which responsibility it 

             can discharge by  ‘contract with the managers of any certified school for the reception 

             and  maintenance  therein  of  youthful  offenders  or  children  for  whose  reception  and 

             maintenance the authority are required under this section to make provision’. 



        •    Both the State and the local authority have a responsibility to provide funding towards 

             the costs of a child maintained in a certified reformatory or industrial school. 



        •    The Managers of the certified school have a responsibility, once they have accepted a 

             child, to teach, train, lodge, clothe and feed the child. 



3.3 The role of the Department of Education 



The 1908 Act provided for a measure of oversight of the system of Reformatory and Industrial 

Schools  by  the  State,  a  role  which  was  occupied  by  the  Department  of  Education,  during  the 

period 1939–69. 



The relationship between the Department of Education and the religious Orders was set against 

the  context    of the   time  and   the   reliance   on  the   religious  order   for  first- and   second-level 

education.21   The Department clearly recognised the autonomy of the religious congregations in 



managing  and  operating  privately  owned  Industrial  and  Reformatory  Schools.  The  Department 

was also aware that it was reliant on the religious congregations for care and education of the 

children in Industrial and Reform Schools. 



It was    originally  proposed    (in  the  Children’s    Bill 1941)   that  the  appointment      of a  Resident 

Managers  would  be  subject  to  approval  of  the  Department  of  Education.  Following  apparent 

opposition  from  the  Resident  Managers  this  requirement  was  reduced  to  a  simple  notification 

when the Children Act was passed. Accordingly, the Department of Education had little or no role 

in  the  appointment  of  staff.  The  appointment  of  a  Resident  Manager  had  to  be  notified  to  the 

Department and even then it was after the event, not beforehand. Employment of staff was left to 

the Resident Manager22. 



The Department oversight role was limited to: 



        •     Evaluating     school    management        through    the   general     inspection    and    medical 

              inspection process 



        •    Assessing teaching practice through the standard inspection process. 



The Department issued circulars to Resident Managers addressing various policy, funding and 

administrative  issues  such  as:  capitation,  diet,  teaching  standards,  teachers  pay,  home  leave, 



20 CBMIN-012/1 & CBMIN-013/1. 

21 The Department of Education’s Statement to the Commission. 

22 Taken from the Department of Education’s Statement to the Commission, Part 5. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              115 


----------------------- Page 1890-----------------------

travel  etc. Many  of  the circulars  appear  to  be in  response  to concerns  of  the Department  with 

regard to particular aspects of school management.23 



It was often the case that an increase in capitation was accompanied by a circular/communication 

from   the   Department      of   Education     to  the   Resident    Managers      making     it  clear  that   the 

Department/Minister expected the increased capitation to be reflected in the improvements in the 

diets, clothing, health and welfare of the children. One example is that the Minister expected ‘all 

round’ improvements in the schools, particular with regard to dietary provision24. In another case, 



a 1947 circular states 



       The Minister trusts that following the improvement in their financial position as a result of 

       the increase in the rate of capitation grants the schools will effect with the least possible 

       delay substantial improvements in the standard of dietary, maintenance, clothing &c., of 

       the children committed to their care.25 



The Department appeared to be sympathetic to the position of the schools and usually lobbied 

the Department of Finance for an increase in capitation significantly higher than that ultimately 

awarded. 



Department of Education statement 



In its submission to the Commission the Department says: 



       The Department’s records indicate that it pressed the Department of Finance for additional 

       funding  during  much  of  the  period  and  was  successful  in  securing  increases  in  the 

       capitation  grants  at  various  intervals.  At  the  same  time  there  was  recognition  that  the 

       funding increases secured did not go far enough. A Departmental memorandum to the 

       Minister  in  1967  in  the  context  of  setting  up  the  Kennedy  Committee  states  that  the 

       Department  was  ‘in  no  position  to  defend  its  achievements  as  far  as  the  size  of  the 

       grant goes’. 



We have considered this submission in arriving at our findings. 



3.4 The role of other State Departments 



While  the  Department  of  Education  was  responsible  for  overseeing  and  funding  the  care  and 

education of the children, it did not have a policy or operational role in regard to the committal 

into care. This was overseen by the Departments of Justice and Health. Similarly, the role of the 

Department  of  Education  in  relation  to  matters  of  finance  was  limited  –  ultimately,  all  financial 

decisions  were  subject  to  the  oversight  and  approval  of  the  Department  of  Finance.  At  inter- 

Departmental  level,  most  of  the  material  seen  by  us  relates  to  communications  between  the 

Department of Education and the Department of Finance. 



The Department of Finance 



This was the Department with which the Department of Education had most contact in relation to 

industrial and reformatory schools. 



Since the foundation of the State the Department of Finance has had a central role in the economic 

and financial management of the State and the overall management of public funds. The Ministers 

and Secretaries Act 1924, section 1(ii), lays out the functions of the Department: 



       The   Department      of  Finance    which    shall  comprise     the  administration     and   business 

                                                        ´ 

       generally of the public finance of Saorstat Eireann and all powers, duties and functions 



23 For example, DE1P0059-008/4, DE1P0058-106/2, CBMIN-07/1 and CBMIN-101/2. 

24 DE1P0058-106/2. 

25 DE1P0058-049/2. 



116                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1891-----------------------

       connected  with  the  same,  including  in  particular  the  collection  and  expenditure  of  the 

                              ´ 

       revenues of Saorstat Eireann from whatever source arising (save as may be otherwise 

      provided by law), and the supervision and control of all purchases made for or on behalf 

       of and all supplies of commodities and goods held by any Department of State and the 

       disposal thereof, and also the business, powers, duties and functions of the branches and 

       officers of the public service specified in the first part of the Schedule to this Act, and of 

       which Department the head shall be, and shall be styled an t-Aire Airgid or (in English) 

       the Minister for Finance. 



Thus, as the Department responsible for all State expenditure, the Department of Finance had an 

oversight and approval role in relation to any State monies applied to the schools. This role is 

reflected Children Act 1941 whereby any changes in the capitation rates required the consent of 

the Minister for Finance, but it extended to all categories of Exchequer expenditure on the schools. 



The files provided by the Department of Finance illustrate the detailed nature of this role – not 

only did the Department of Finance oversee and approve the annual estimates in relation to voted 

expenditure on the Reformatory and Industrial Schools, but any supplementary expenditure, even 

where amounts were relatively small, seem to have been passed to the Department for approval. 

The files presented include, for example, individual medical expenses, transport expenses and 

requests for funding of the attendance of children at events such as Feiseanna, presented to the 

Department of Finance for approval. 



Contacts  and  discussions  between  the  Department  of  Education  and  Department  of  Finance 

almost  exclusively  centred  on  financial  matters.  A  great  deal  of  correspondence  is  given  over 

to consideration of capitation rates as the Department of Education required approval from the 

Department of Finance when increasing capitation as per section 21 of the 1941 Act. 



There are also a number of internal file memoranda and copies of letters from the Department of 

Education     to the   Residential    Managers     noting   the  need    for additional   school-level    financial 

information to build a strong case for submission to the Department of Finance. 



The Department of Finance almost never granted the full amount of the increase sought by the 

Department of Education. There may be several reasons for this but the main two reasons noted 

in the material reviewed are: 



(1) The State’s inability to fund a higher rate of increase 



(2) The Department of Finance’s apparent view that the Department of Education was, in today’s 

      language, prone to ‘regulatory capture’ – it was considered to be possibly too sympathetic to 

      the religious orders. For example, when discussing the failure to conduct the 1951 proposed 

      Inter-departmental Review the note reads: 



       The [Residential] Managers by withholding their consent frustrated the intention. Grounds 

       of objection    (Department     of  Education     minute   of  20.1.51)   are   unconvincing     (amour 

      propre?). 



       If  the  situation  of  the  schools  were,  indeed,  as  desperate  as  represented  a  more  co- 

       operative approach might be expected and a willingness to furnish to public authorities all 

       evidence reasonably required26 



The Department of Justice 



There was limited contact between the Department of Education and the Department of Justice 

on  Industrial  and  Reformatory  Schools.  Where  contact  is  recorded  in  the  files  seen  by  us  it  is 

limited to specific topics such as Marlborough House (a State-run institution). 



26 DOF1975-02-095/1. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              117 


----------------------- Page 1892-----------------------

By  and  large,  the  Department  of  Justice  appears  to  be  at  a  remove  from  the  Industrial  and 

Reformatory School system. However, it should be noted that under the Children Acts most of the 

children committed to the institution were committed by the District Court. 



The Department of Justice is also connected to the system of Reformatory and Industrial Schools 

by way of the role of members of An Garda Siochana in conveying children to the schools. 

                                                         ´ 



The Department of Health 



The Department of Health was responsible for the boarding out of children to residential care. 



It appears from the files available to us that there was limited contact between the Department of 

Education and Health for most of the review period. 



Under  the  1939  Public  Assistance  Act  and  the  1953  Health  Act  the  schools  ‘could  apply  for 

approved status from the Department of Health that would allow them to receive certain funding 

for  children  placed  there.’27    In  practice  very  few  of  the  children  detained  were  placed  in  these 



institutions by the Department of Health (most were placed by the courts). 



3.5 The role of the religious Orders and the Resident Managers 



A  number  of  religious  Orders,  as  we  have  seen,  ran  individual  Reformatories  and  Industrial 

Schools. The reasons for this derive from the particular history of the need for such schools in 

Ireland and also, in all likelihood, from the individual religious missions of the relevant Orders. 



The  schools,  and  the  assets  attaching,  were  in  most  cases,  the  property  of  the  Orders.  The 

schools were not regarded as State institutions in any case that we have seen. Under section 52 

of the Act, the Managers of a school had primary responsibility for the care of a child, once that 

child had been accepted into the school. 



The direct running of the schools was delegated to a Resident Manager. Under the Children Act 

1908 Resident Managers were fully responsible for care of children accepted into their institution. 

Under the Act, when a child is accepted by a school the manager of the school is deemed to have 

accepted to undertake to teach, train (where relevant), lodge, clothe, and feed the child during the 

whole period of detention at that school. 



It  should  also  be  noted  that  Residential  Managers  had  the  power/discretion  whether  or  not  to 

admit  a  given  child  to  their  institution  (section  52  of  the  Children  Act  1908).  For  example,  in 

1972 the Resident Manager of Daingean indicated that the following categories of boys would not 

be admitted: 



        (a) Those over 16 years of age 



        (b) Those guilty of a violent crime 



        (c) Those who were difficult to handle due to psychiatric problems. 



Section 48 of the 1908 Act prescribed the process by which a school could resign certification. 



The day-to-day running of the schools and care of the children in the school fell under the remit 

of a Resident Manager as they operated the schools. Resident Managers were charged with the 

employment  and  supervision  of  all  staff  in  the  schools.  Based  on  our  review  of  the  available 

documentation, it appears that the Resident Manager was always a member of the Order running 

the particular institution. 



27 The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse hearing on 21st June 2004. Transcript of Dr Eoin O’Sullivan’s testimony, 



   p 43. 



118                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1893-----------------------

The Resident Managers’ Association 



The documentation available to us also includes copies of minutes and correspondence kept by 

the  Resident  Managers’  Association,  and  internal  memoranda  kept  by  the  Christian  Brothers 

relating  to  proceedings    of  that  Association.   This   documentation     illustrates the   role  of the 

Association as a vehicle for the concerted lobbying of the State on behalf of the individual schools. 

The  Association  appears  to  have  convened         meetings  approximately  annually,  circulating  an 

agenda  and  seeking  the  views  of  the  Resident  Manager  of  each  of  the  relevant  schools.  The 

Association  then  wrote  to  the  Department  of  Education  expressing  a  collective  view  on  issues 

arising. There is also evidence on the files that representatives of the Association met with the 

Minister for Education on a number of occasions during the period under review. 



3.6 Public funding of the Schools 



3.6.1 Capitation 



The 1908 Act specified two sources of public funds for Reformatory and Industrial Schools: 



       •    Contributions from the Treasury: ‘paid out of money provided by Parliament such sums 

             on such conditions as the Secretary of State may, with the approval of the Treasury, 

             recommend towards the expenses of any youthful offender or child detailed’. 



       •    Contributions from local authorities: ‘where a child is ordered to be sent to a certified 

             industrial school, it shall be the duty of the [local authority] to provide for his reception 

             and maintenance in a certified industrial school’. For the purposes of the Act a child is 

             presumed to reside in the place where the events which cause the child to be sent to 

             a reform school occurred, unless it can be proven otherwise. 



Collectively, these sums are referred to as the capitation grant. 



The Act also covered non-public funds: 



       •     Where  a  child  is  sent  to  a  school  at  the  instance  of  guardians  or  other  responsible 

             parties, those voluntarily sending the child  ‘shall contribute towards the maintenance 

             of the child ... such a sum as may be agreed upon between them and the managers 

             of the certified school ... or in default of agreement as may be fixed by the Secretary 

             of State’. 



       •    Where a child is detained in a reform school the parents, guardians or other responsible 

             parties  ‘shall, if able  to do   so, contribute   to  his maintenance     therein  a  sum   not 

             exceeding such sum as may be declared ... to represent approximately the average 

             cost of maintenance of youthful offenders of children’. The sum specified was to be 

             paid to the Exchequer, not the individual school. 



Thus, the Act entitled the State to recoup from the child’s parents monies expended on detaining 

a child in an Industrial/Reform Schools. However, more often than not the monies could not be 

collected and it appears that the State eventually made little active effort to collect the parental 

contribution  where  it  was  not  forthcoming  as  the  collection  system  was  not  cost-effective  to 

operate. Where it was collected the parental contribution accrued to the State, not the school in 

which a child was detained. 



3.6.2 Teachers salaries – the primary grant 



In 1945 national school recognition was awarded to those Industrial Schools that provided primary 

education  within  the  institution.  These  schools  were  subject  to  the  Rules  and  Regulations  for 

National   Schools    and  were   provided    aid on   the  same    basis  as  other   national  schools.   In 

accordance with the Rules and Regulations, the primary grant was a grant paid by the Department 

to cover the salary costs of recognised teaching staff. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        119 


----------------------- Page 1894-----------------------

Recognised teaching staff were identified when the Resident Manager notified the Department of 

appointments to teaching posts which were subject to Department sanction. Once an appointment 

was sanctioned by the Department, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations, the Department 

arranged for the funding/payment of the teachers salaries. 



Recognised  teaching  staff  in  schools  owned  and  operated  by  religious  Orders  were  subject  to 

different arrangements in relation to funding of salaries depending on whether the school opted 

as a classification national school or a capitation national school. The difference between these 

designations was that the classification national schools were schools where the salaries were 

paid directly to the teachers by the Department of Education, while in a capitation national school 

grants were paid to the manager of the school to cover the salaries of the teachers. 



In March 1946, a circular was issued to the schools asking them to opt for their preferred method 

of  payment.  Department  records  indicate  that  the  majority  of  industrial  schools  opted  to  be 

classified as capitation national schools, and to have grants paid to the managers of the school. 



The issue of registration of staff as recognised teachers eligible for funding under the State primary 

grant  was  an  important  one  in  the  1940s.  It  appears  from  our  reading  of  the  files  that  the 

Department permitted the recognition of unqualified members of the Orders working in schools, 

on the grounds of their experience working in the institutional schools. From the perspective of 

the Orders, such recognition was important and had significant financial consequences. There is 

evidence  that  the  Orders  sought  to  ensure  that  as  many  Religious  as  possible  were  afforded 

recognition.  A  letter  from  the  Managers  of  the  Industrial  Schools28      on  the  topic  of  teachers’ 



salaries notes: 



      In schools in which the teaching staff is composed of both members of the Community 

      and of lay teachers, it is assumed that in determining the maximum recognised staff the 

      members of the Community will always have precedence of the lay teachers. 



A perhaps related matter is the question of pensions. It has been suggested to us, in the course 

of  our  meetings  with  the  relevant  Orders,  that  the  State  has  not  made  any  provision  for  the 

pensions of recognised teachers who were members of the religious communities. Section 56 of 

the  1908  Act  provided  for  the  establishment  of  a  superannuation  scheme  for  officers  of  the 

schools, either individually or collectively by the schools. 



With   the  exception    of  the  reference    in  the  Act,  we   have   not   been   able   to  identify  any 

documentation dealing clearly with this issue and have not seen any information that would permit 

us  to  estimate  the  sums  that  might  be  involved.  The  question  of  whether  the  State  had  an 

obligation to meet such payments is also complex. It is our understanding that the primary grant 

was in essence a payment administered by the schools – in other words that the sums paid under 

this heading were paid to the school, and not directly to the individual recognised teachers. We 

have  also  seen  that  the  schools  were  privately  owned.  There  is  inherent  in  such  a  system  a 

question of who is the legally responsible employer of the teachers. This complexity is suggested 

in later documents included in the Department of Finance files – where individual lay teachers 

seem to have been considered for pensions on a case-by-case basis.29 



3.6.3 Other income 



There   are,  on   the  files provided,   examples     of  Resident   Managers      seeking,   and   obtaining, 

additional funding from the Department to cover expenses that might be reasonably expected to 

be funded out of the capitation payment. For example: 



28 CBMIN-018/2. 

29 DOF 1959-00-055/1 to 1959-00-55/4. 



120                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1895-----------------------

        •     Prior  to  1943–44  travel  expense  by  children  going  home  on  holidays  were  paid  by 

              family  members  and/or  Residential  Managers30.  From  1943–44  the  Department  of 



              Education asked the Managers to cover the cost of travel and meals where necessary. 

              However, where the cost of travel exceeded the weekly capitation grant for the child 

              the Department would refund the excess payment. 



        •    Entertainment expenses were at times reimbursed – such as the cost of summer camps 

              or attendance at drama competitions. 



3.6.4 Capital 



A particular complexity in relation to our work was the appropriate treatment of sums expended 

in relation to capital items by the schools. This issue has consequences for consideration of the 

adequacy of the capitation grant. Again, we have looked first to the legislative background when 

addressing this issue. The 1908 Act does not, in our view, appear to have intended the capitation 

grant to cover items of capital expenditure. This appears to us consistent with the description in 

the  Cussen  Report  of  the  arrangement  for  defraying  the  costs  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial 

Schools31. While the 1946 scheme proposed to implement a system of payment, as part of the 



capitation grant, towards the capital expenditures of the schools, this scheme was discontinued 

within two years and, in notifying the schools of this, the Department drew attention to the 



       clear  understanding  that  the  School  Manager  shall  accept  liability  for  any  building  and 

       repair  work  and  the  provision  of  equipment  for  vocational  training  which  the  Minister 

       considers necessary in their Schools.32 



       While the introduction of the scheme does render the position potentially ambiguous, it is 

       our  view    that  the  State   was    unambiguous       in  presenting     its understanding      that   the 

       termination of the scheme meant that the position originally set out in the Act was resumed 

       –  the  capitation  grant  did  not  include  a  contribution  towards  capital  expenditure.  This 

       understanding is also consistent with the findings of the Kennedy Report: 

       No grants are made available for maintenance, renovation or modernisation of premises.33 



       and 



       Separate grants should be available to cover new buildings and maintenance, renovation 

       and modernisation of existing buildings while grants for educational purposes should be 

       made available and paid direct by the Department of Education.34 



Provisions of the 1908 Act 



Section 55 of the 1908 Act provided that ‘No substantial addition or alternation in the buildings of 

a certified school shall be made without the approval in writing of the Secretary of State.’ As we 

have  already  noted,  sections  73  and  74  of  the  1908  Act  provide  for  a  contribution  towards 

maintenance costs through the capitation grant, with subsection 74(13) of the Act providing for 

such expenses to be defrayed from local authority funds. Section 74(8)(a) of the Act states that a 

local authority: 



       may,  with  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  State  undertake  or  combine  with  any  other 

       such authority in undertaking, or contribute such sums of money upon such conditions as 

       they   may    think   it fit towards,     the  establishment,      building,   alteration,   enlargement, 



30 DOF1943-00-172/1. 

31 Section VIII of the Cussen Report, pp 40–7 – in particular we note that para 168 notes ‘It must not be overlooked that 



   the buildings, farms, plant etc. have as a rule been provided by the schools themselves.’ suggesting that the 

   capitation grant had not made provision for capital expenditure. 

32 DE1P0058-049/1. 

33 Kennedy Report, p 29. 

34 Kennedy Report, pp 30–1. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  121 


----------------------- Page 1896-----------------------

       rebuilding, or management of a certified school, or for the site of any school intended to 

       be a certified school. 



Section 74(14) of the Act states: 



       (14)  Money  may  be  borrowed  by  a  local  authority  for  the  purposes  of  defraying  or 

       contributing towards the expenses of establishing, building, altering, enlarging, rebuilding, 

       or purchasing land for the use or site of— 



          (a)  A  reformatory  school,  under  and  in  accordance  with  the  Local  Government  Act, 

          1888, in  the case  of the  council of a  county, and  under and  in accordance  with the 

          Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, in the case of a council of a county borough. 



          (b)  An  industrial  school,  under  and  in  accordance  with  the  Education  Acts,  1870  to 

          1907. 



       Provided that the maximum period within which money so borrowed is to be repaid shall 

       be sixty years. 



Our reading of the Act suggests that it is more reasonable to conclude that the Act separates the 

provision of a contribution in respect of the reception and maintenance of a child at one of the 

institutions, from the provision of grants to assist the capital expenditure associated with a school. 



This view also appears to be consistent with the comments in the Cussen Report: 



       It must not be overlooked that the buildings, farms, plant etc. have as a rule been provided 

       by the schools themselves. 



suggesting that the capitation grant was not considered to have provided for capital expenditure.35 



The 1946 scheme 



The 1946 scheme, on the other hand, suggests that there was some intention to include capital 

expenditure in the capitation grant. The history of this development merits some detailed attention 

as it illustrates the contemporary positions of the Orders and the relevant Departments. It was 

also, to our knowledge, the only negotiation regarding the basis of provision for capital expenditure 

during the period. 



It was proposed in 1946 that the provision of special buildings and equipment grants be abolished 

and replaced by an additional grant payable under the standard capitation scheme. The reasons 

given for this recommendation were: 



       (1)  The  schools  which  do  not  avail  of  those  special  grants  [under  the  Buildings  and 

       Equipment Grants scheme] will be at a disadvantage 



       (2) The proposed merging of the special grants would be more acceptable to the schools 

       in  general  that  the  existing  arrangement  and  would  act  as  a  greater  incentive  to  carry 

       out  any  necessary  building  improvements  and/or  provide  the  necessary  equipment  for 

       vocational training. 



       (3) The new arrangement would be less complicated, more easily administered and would 

       obviate   the  necessity    for  keeping    detailed   accounts     the  checking     of which    occupy 

       considerable time this Branch.36 



The impetus for the 1946 scheme came from both the schools and the Department as noted in 

an August 1947 Department of Education memo: 



35 Section VIII of the Cussen Report, pp 40–7 – the quotation is drawn from para 168 (see also fn 33). 

36 DE1P0058-037/4. 



122                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1897-----------------------

      It is felt that the discontinuance of the Scheme for the provision of Building and Equipment 

      Grants and the incorporation of these grants in the grants for maintenance would be very 

      welcome to the schools managers. This proposal, it might be mentioned, has, in fact, on 

      more that one occasion been made by various School Managers.37 



Support  for  a  scheme  of  this  sort  is  illustrated  by  a  memo  on  a  building  and  equipment  grant 

scheme  prepared  by  the  Residential  Managers  for  submission  to  the  Minister  for  Education  in 

1940: 



      Basic Principle: Local authorities to compound for their statutory liability for provision, etc., 

      of school by bearing one-third of the cost of authorized expenditure for the purpose, the 

      amount to be apportioned amongst them by reference to the number of committed children 

      chargeable to each. The State to undertake liability for an equal contribution. The schools 

      to pay the remaining third. 



      Provision of Funds: Capitation grant payable by local authorities and State to be increased 

      provisionally by 6d per week each.38 



In December 1945 an official from the Department of Education wrote to the Resident Managers 

with details of the draft building and equipment scheme39. The indication was that the Resident 



Managers were, on the whole, in favour of the scheme as indicated by the Resident Managers 

document entitled  ‘OPINION OF THE RESIDENT MANAGERS re: PROPOSED SCHEME FOR 

ALTERATIONS, REPAIRS, ADDITIONS, etc., etc.’40 



A  letter  from  the  Resident  Managers’  Association  to  the  Department  of  Education  following  a 

meeting on the suggestion of replacing the buildings and equipment grants noted: 



      The  Meeting  welcomed  the  proposal,  and  appreciated  the  efforts  being  made  by  the 

      Department to better the conditions of the Schools. ... The simplest arrangement, in the 

      Managers’ opinion, is that the 1/- should be added to the grant, i.e. the present grant be 

      raised to 16/- per week. 



      The Managers would be prepared to place this extra sum (1/- per head per week) in a 

      special a/c to be known as ‘The Repairs and Equipment Fund’ (or some such name), and 

      to use such monies solely for repairs, improvements, equipment etc. Two-thirds only of 

      the amount of such expenditure in any financial year would be drawn from this Fund. The 

      Managers would show in the Returns each quarter, or preferably at the end of the financial 

      year, the amount spent from the Fund, with, if necessary, receipts or vouchers.41 



However, the Resident Managers wrote to the Department of Education in October 194642  to voice 



their objections to some of the conditions attached to the scheme grants. 



As  a  result  of  the  objections  raised  the  Department  informed  the  schools  on  11th  November 

1947 that: 



      The Scheme for the payment of Capitation Grants at the rate of 1s/- weekly towards the 

      cost of Buildings and the provision of Equipment for Vocational Training which came into 

      operation on the 1st   of October 1946 is to be discontinued after 31st      December 1947 as it 



      was not acceptable to some of the Schools. The State Capitation Grant is being increased 

      by an equivalent amount, this increase is being given on the clear understanding that the 

      School Manager shall accept liability for any building and repair work and the provision of 



37 DE1P0058-037/4. 

38 CBMIN-013/1. 

39 CBMIN-032/1. 

40 CBMIN-031/1 to CBMIN-031/3. 

41 CBMIN-034/1. 

42 CBMIN-035/1. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       123 


----------------------- Page 1898-----------------------

      equipment     for vocational   training  which   the  Minister   considers   necessary    in  their 

      Schools.43 



The Resident Managers again wrote to the Department on January 1948 to object to the conditions 

attached to the revised grant as noted in a circular: 



      Some  points in  the Circular,  however, have  caused the  Managers a  certain amount  of 

      uneasiness. They consider that the second part of the paragraph 3 – 



         ‘This  increase  is  being  given  on  the  clear  understanding  that  the  School  Managers 

         shall accept liability for any building and repair works and the provision of equipment 

         for vocational training which the Minister considers necessary in the Schools’ 



      And the latter parts of paragraph 8 – 



         ‘He also expects that such improvements in School accommodation and equipment as 

         will bring the Schools up to modern standards will be undertaken as soon as possible. 

         In this connection the Minister desires to stress the need for improved technical training 

         in  Senior  Boys  Schools  and  he  would  urge  that  special  attention  be  given  to  this 

         important matter’ 

      Would seem to throw an undue burden on them.’44 



While the Resident Managers accepted the increase capitation they felt the 



      increased Capitation Grant does not enable them to accept such a liability as indicated 

      [by the Minister]45 



Based on the documentation available, it is our view that the 1946 scheme did not represent an 

intention  by  the  State  to  take  responsibility  for all capital  expenditure   at  the  schools.   The 

documentation suggests that: 



       •    The  original  proposed  scheme  was  that  the  State/local  authorities  would  contribute 

            towards    the  costs  of  any   capital expenditure    –  two-thirds  being   the  suggested 

             proportion, capped at an amount of 6d per week. 



       •    The State believed that the school Manager was responsible for the capital expenditure 

            –  ‘This increase is being given on the clear understanding that the School Managers 

             shall accept liability for any building and repair works and the provision of equipment 

             for  vocational  training  which  the  Minister  considers  necessary  in  the  Schools’46   – 



             although this position was contested by the Orders. 



       •    The scheme was discontinued after 31st December 1947, and the State contribution 

             grant increased – with the Department restating its contention that there was a ‘clear 

             understanding that the School Manager shall accept liability for any building and repair 

             work and the provision of equipment for vocational training’. 



We note that the schools put some of the capitation grant funding towards capital expenditure, 

and  that  this  would  appear  to  have  been  evident  in  financial  statements  sent  by  the  Resident 

Managers’ Association to the Department of Education. If this understanding is correct, it would 

seem at odds with the legislative background and the statement made by the Department at the 

time of termination of the 1946 scheme. We also note that the State made separate contributions 

towards capital expenditure, suggesting that it did not consider the capitation grants to cover such 

expenditure, which appears more consistent with the legislation. Examples of this are the case of 

an additional grant made available to St Michael’s School, Cappoquin, in respect of the building 



43 DE1P0058-049/2. 

44 CBMIN-037/1. 

45 DE1P0058-050/1 and DE1P0058-050/2. 

46 CBMIN-037/1. 



124                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1899-----------------------

costs of a new school47, and the provision of Board of Works funding to Artane in the 1960s. The 



Rosminians also appear to have received funding towards a new school building at Ferryhouse 

in the late 1960s. 



The Kennedy Report 



Finally,  we  note  the  consideration  that  the  capitation  grant  did  not  include  provision  for  capital 

expenditure seems to be consistent with the findings of the Kennedy Commission. 

      No grants are made available for maintenance, renovation or modernisation of premises.48 



and 



       The  Committee  is  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  the  system  of  payment  of  grants  on  a 

      capitation  basis  should  be  discontinued  and  replaced  by  an  annual  grant,  based  on  a 

      budget    of estimate    costs  submitted    by  each   school,   sufficient  to cover   all costs   in 

      connection with the maintenance of children. 



      Separate grants should be available to cover new buildings and maintenance, renovation 

      and modernisation of existing buildings while grants for educational purposes should be 

      made available and paid direct by the Department of Education.49 



In our opinion, it is more reasonable, therefore, to conclude that the legislation did not provide for 

State funding of capital expenditure at the schools by way of the capitation grant, but that separate 

funds could have been made available under the terms of section 74 of the 1908 Act. 



3.6.5 Availability of financial information to the State 



The  Department  of  Education  sought  audited  accounts  from  the  schools  and/or  school  level 

financial information prepared on a comparable basis on a number of occasions.50 



From our review of material made available by the Department of Education it appears that the 

financial information was received from the schools on the following occasions: 



       •     1939 

       •     1946 

       •     1947 

       •     1950 

       •     1954 

       •     1955 

       •     1962 

       •     1964. 



We have attached the evidence made available to us by the Department in Appendix XXI to this 

report. At an overview level it appears that while some schools provided accounts, others did not. 

In some of the correspondence seen by us Department officials expressed some difficulties with 

the comprehensiveness and comparability of some of the financial statements provided. It is not 

possible to identify which particular schools are referred to in the records seen by us, and copies 

of the relevant financial statements do not appear, in many cases, to have survived. 



47 DECAP058-059/1. 

48 The Kennedy Report, p 29. 

49 Kennedy Report, pp 30-1. 

50 DE1P0059-008/1. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          125 


----------------------- Page 1900-----------------------

3.6.6 The proposed Inter-Departmental Committee Review 



In 1951 a cabinet sub-committee comprising the Departments of Education, Finance and Social 

Welfare proposed to establish an Inter-Departmental Committee to investigate how the schools 

might be run most economically and efficiently. The Committee was to involve the Departments 

of Education, Finance and Social Welfare. 



There was opposition to the proposed review by the Industrial and Reformatory School Managers 

Association. The Association took particular exception to the involvement of the Departments of 

Finance and Social Welfare on the basis that the Department of Education was fully aware of the 

circumstances  in the  schools.  They also  feared  that  the inquiry  would  be ‘the  thin  edge of  the 

wedge  in  an  attempt  by  the  State  to  impose  its  control  on  the  detailed  management  of  the 

schools’.51 



The Managers were of the ‘opinion that the terms of reference of the enquiry are too wide and 

include subjects which they do not consider relevant to the question at issue’. They particularly 

objected to the organisation and conduct of the schools being subject to review.52 



Despite reassurance from the Minister for Education and the Minister’s view that the inquiry was 

an ideal tool to help secure an increase in funding the Resident Managers remained ‘unaltered in 

their opinion that the terms of references to the enquiry were too wide, and include subjects which 

they  do  not  consider  relevant  to  the  question  at  issue’.53 The  proposal  appears  to  have  been 



abandoned  at  this  time  by  the  State  as  the  Review  required  the  willing  consent  of  Resident 

Managers. 



We  have  summarised  the  documentation  we  have  seen  in  respect  of  this  proposed  review  in 

Appendix XXII to this report. 



3.6.7 Liability for injury 



The  extent  to  which  the  State  regarded  the  Resident  Manager  as  responsible  for  the  children 

committed  to  institutions  is  reflected  in  internal  communication  with  regard  to  a  child  seeking 

damages following an accident while detained in a reformatory in the early 1950s. A letter notes 

that the Department of Finance advised the Department of Education not to involve itself in any 

outlay with regard to the case. It was clear from the 1908 Act that liability rested with the Resident 

Manager. The letter goes on to say ‘In this connection it is understood that it is not the practice 

to indemnify Managers of National Schools in any way against similar claims against them’54  and 



that similar treatment was to apply to Reformatory and Industrial Schools. In the event, the matter 

was not resolved. The case did not proceed as the child and his family emigrated. 



Policy in this regard appears to have changed by the 1980s, based on the evidence of a later 

case relating to an accident to a child in 1971 (but which was not fully resolved until 1983). The 

Chief State Solicitor advised that the  ‘the Minister for Education has no obligation in the matter 

and whether the State should shoulder the responsibility for any award against the Defendants 

was one of policy’.55   The policy in this case was to treat Residential Homes like comprehensive 



and community schools and thus the school received an ex-gratia payment of the amount awarded 

to the plaintiff as there was no evidence of negligence. 



51 DOF1975-02-057/1. 

52 CBMIN- 045/1. 

53 DE1P0058-89/1. 

54 DOF1953-00-039. 

55 DOF 1975-03-019/1. 



126                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1901-----------------------

3.6.8 Overall State contribution to Reformatory and Industrial Schools 1939–69 



From our examination of the files, it is apparent that the State contribution to the Reformatory and 

Industrial Schools was not confined to the Capitation Grant. We have, in our review of the files 

available to us, noted that references to funds or resource being made available to Reformatories 

or Industrial Schools can be summarised under the following headings: 



        •    Reformatory and Industrial School vote – includes direct contributions to the schools, 

              including the capitation grant 



        •     Department      of  Education     vote  –   the  primary    school   grant   was    available   to  the 

              Reformatory and Industrial Schools in respect of recognised teachers 



        •    Board of Works/Office of Public Works vote – funding was provided in respect of certain 

              capital projects. 



Unfortunately, insufficient information exists to quantify the full contribution under each of these 

headings.  We  have,  however,  carried  out  a  review  of  the  State  appropriation  accounts  for  the 

period 1939–69 and identified the following as the amounts expended by the State on the system 

of  Reformatories  and  Industrial  Schools.  We  believe  that  these  represent  the  most  significant 

contributions by the State to the system, with the exception of the primary school grant – which 

is subsumed in the overall primary school vote and indistinguishable from payments to national 

schools. A full analysis of the relevant appropriation accounts is at Appendix XIX. 



Summary analysis of relevant appropriation accounts 1939–69 



                                                     Exhibit 9 



 1939–69                                                                                           Equivalent \ 



 Vote on Reformatory and Industrial Schools 



 Reformatory Schools                                                                                     329,007 



 Industrial Schools                                                                                    5,610,406 



 Places of detention                                                                                      97,468 



 Conveyance expenses                                                                                      13,253 



 Parental moneys – collection                                                                             19,224 



 Building & equipment grant                                                                               57,617 



 Appropriation in aid56                                                                                (159,434) 



 Vote on Public works57                                                                                  139,204 



It should be noted that these figures do not include local authority capitation payments. Including 

these  amounts  would  approximately  double  the             figures  above  for  Reformatory  Schools  and 

Industrial Schools, based on the capitation rates over the period. 



While the amounts paid to the schools under the primary school grant cannot be identified in the 

appropriation accounts, the individual schools examined did receive funding under this heading in 

relation to recognised teachers. To illustrate the point, our analysis of the Artane school accounts 

show that the primary school grant typically represented an additional 10 percent of income on 

top of the standard capitation grant. The school accounts for Upton support a contention that this 

may be a reasonable understanding of the contribution from this source. 



56 It is not clear what this amount represents. It may be reasonable to assume that it includes contributions from 



   parents/guardians in relation to children detained in Reformatory and Industrial Schools. 

57 This expenditure was incurred between 1940 and 1951, and related to the Daingean Reformatory. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                127 


----------------------- Page 1902-----------------------

3.7 Related issues 



In dealing with the nature and context of the system of Reformatory and Industrial Schools, we 

believe it relevant to deal with two other issues. The first of these, the issue of quality of training, 

relates to one of the core missions of the system. The second item that we consider relevant is the 

question of the role of economies of scale in relation to the financial management of the schools. 



3.7.1 Quality of industrial training in schools 



The  1936  Cussen  Report,  a  review  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools,  was  critical  of  the 

education and training provided in the industrial and reform schools: 



      The farms fail, however, to achieve their primary objective. They do not serve to train the 

      boys in farming. The boys are little more than juvenile labourers ... there is no organised 

      training of any kind and no systematic instruction. 



There is support for this view in a 1942 file note58       by the Department of Finance that reads: 



      Technical training in the industrial and reformatory schools has up to the present consisted 

      to a large extent in the utilisation of the boys, in connection with trades pursued in the 

      Institution  with  a  view  to  making  the  Institution  self-sufficient,  to  as  great  a  degree  as 

      possible. 



This view is echoed in an internal note by the Christian Brothers headed ‘Points for Discussion at 

Managers’ Meetings’ in 1960. It commented that: 



      From what I have observed over the past ten years in our schools, the boys are being 

      used, they are not being trained.59      (Emphasis by the author of the note) 



      In addition, the Department of Educations statement points out that the Irish Congress of 

      Trade Unions was concerned in 1968 that career guidance and apprenticeship training 

      did not receive enough attention in Industrial Schools. Proof of this was evidenced by the 

      poor labour market performance of pupils post detention. 



3.7.2 Economies of scale 



There  is  a  recognition  of  the  economies  of  scale  involved  in  running  schools  to  be  found  in  a 

memorandum by the Resident Managers’ Association. The memorandum relates to a deputation 

going before the Minister for Education in circa 1946 and point (g) of the memo reads: 



      When the number of children detained in the Schools is below the certified number. Here 

      the Managers think a grant equal to about three-fifths of the normal grant ought to be paid 

      for the number the School is below the certified number. This is considered necessary to 

      meet overheads and expenses.60 



      This  logic  is  paralleled  in  a  letter  to  the  Department  of  Education  in  1957  from  the 

      Provincial of the Christian Brothers suggesting that Artane is uneconomical at 500 boys. 



      In the final chapter of this report we have sought, in relation to each school, to provide an 

      indicative analysis of the point at which the schools became uneconomical to operate. 



58 DOF1942-00-056/1. 

59 CBMIN-109/1. 

60 CBMIN-030/2. 



128                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1903-----------------------

4. An analysis of the adequacy of funding provided by the State 



4.1 Introduction 



This section of our report seeks to provide an analysis of the adequacy of the capitation funding 

provided by the State. In so doing this section provides an explanation of the capitation funding 

system and its purpose, details changes in the capitation rates payable to schools and considers 

its adequacy relative to a number of contemporaneous benchmarks. 



Context for analysis of adequacy of the capitation grant 



We believe that it is also important to clarify the background against which the capitation grant 

adequacy is assessed. Adequacy in our opinion is most appropriately considered in a context that 

is contemporaneous and which agrees to the norms of the society at that time. In our work we 

have sought to compare the capitation grant with available contemporary Irish data. Adequacy is 

also properly assessed against the background of purpose. In the case of the Reformatory and 

Industrial  schools,  the  purpose  of  the  capitation  grant  is,  in  our  view,  contained  in  the  guiding 

legislation. 



The  methodology  followed  in  our  assessment  of  adequacy  was  to  seek,  in  the  first  instance, 

to  understand the  relationship  between  the parties  and  framework which  set  out  the roles  and 

responsibilities of each party. We have dealt with these issues in Part 3 of this report. Our work 

also included obtaining a definition of what the capitation grant was intended to cover – a matter 

which is dealt with in the paragraphs below. 



We then sought to understand what contemporary Irish information would provide evidence of this 

cost. In our view the benchmarks selected, which give a view of different levels of maintenance 

provision  made  by  the  State,  and  of  contemporary  income  and  expenditure  levels,  provide  a 

reasonable basis for understanding the maintenance cost of a child. This chapter of our report 

deals with these elements of our work. 



4.2 The capitation grant system 



4.2.1 The Children Act 1908 



In Part 3 of this report we have examined the background to the system of capitation funding as 

it  operated  in  the  period  1939–69.  The  Children  Act  1908  provided  the  basis  for  payments  by 

State and local authorities towards the costs of maintaining children in Industrial and Reformatory 

Schools. This legislation was updated in the Chidren Act of 1941. 



4.2.2 The Children Act 1941 – the capitation system 



Our understanding of the functioning of the capitation system during the period 1939–69 is based 

on information extracted from the Commission’s database and an examination of the Children Act 

1941 and related statutory instruments pursuant to section 21 of that Act. 



Under the capitation system a payment or grant per student payable by the Exchequer accrued 

on a weekly basis to each Industrial School. The actual payment to an Industrial School came 

from two sources: 



1. Local authorities: Under section 21 of the Children Act 1941 each local authority is obliged to 

make  a  payment  to  the  relevant  Industrial  School  keeping  a  child  originating  from  within  its 

geographical boundaries. The rate of payment was prescribed by statute. Every time there was a 

change in the local authority capitation rate the change was made by way of statutory instrument. 

Up to  mid-1944 the capitation  grant was  broken into two:  one payment for  those less  than six 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           129 


----------------------- Page 1904-----------------------

years  of  age  and  a  slightly  higher  payment  for  those  aged  six  and  older.  After  mid-1944  local 

authorities made a flat rate payment regardless of age. 



2.  The Department of Education: A weekly payment per head also accrued to industrial schools 

from the Department. Changes in the capitation rate from the Department of Education do not 

appear    to  be  made    by   way   of  statutory  instrument    and   the  mechanism      for  changing    the 

Department’s capitation rate is not specified in the Children Act 1941. As with the local authority 

grant, the Departmental grant was a flat rate per child regardless of age, post 1944. 



Up to the end of June 1944 the capitation grant was restricted to the number of children for which 

schools were certified and it was calculated on a day-to-day basis. From 1st July 1944 the grant 

was paid in respect of the number of children committed under detention up to the limits of the 

accommodation approved for the school. Another change was that the total grant to a school was 

calculated by reference to the number of children detained on the last day of the preceding quarter. 

It would  appear     from   correspondence  on      file  that this change  was     made    for  administrative 

convenience, not for financial reasons. 



The system of payment of capitation changed from being restricted to a maximum based on the 

number of children certified for a school, to being based on the number of children actually resident 

in the school had, in the case of a school with numbers in excess of the certified level, the effect 

of increasing the funds provided to the school. 



While  the  income  to  Industrial  Schools  accrued  weekly  it was  not  paid  weekly.  We  know  from 

correspondence  on  the  Commission’s  files  that  local  authorities  were  slow  to  release  funds  to 

schools,  an  issue  which  was  at  the  heart  of  several  communications  to  the  Department61.  A 

Department of Education memorandum62             as late as 1981 noted that many local authorities paid 



capitation grants only half-yearly and, in many cases, irregularly. Indeed, it made several attempts 

to encourage local authorities to pay grants more frequently. These attempts were made directly 

to  local  authorities   and   through   the   Department     of  Environment     under    whose    remit  local 

authorities fell. 



The Department of Education paid its portion of the grant to schools on a quarterly basis. 



4.2.3 Purpose of funding 



Of central importance to an understanding of the capitation system is the question of what was 

the purpose of the funding – to what, specifically, were the funds to be properly applied? From 

the information available to us we understand that the capitation funds were in practice applied to 

any expenses deemed by the managers of the institutions to relate broadly to the running of the 

institution.  It  may  be  considered,  given  the  ‘community’  nature  of  the  Orders  managing  the 

institutions, and the inter-relationships between the activity of running the schools, the farms and 

other  trades  attached  to  the  schools,  and  the  Order  or  ‘house’  activities,  that  this  was  both 

inevitable  and  appropriate.  Nonetheless,  from  the  point  of  view  of  clarity,  we  believe  that  it  is 

appropriate to consider what the Act intended as the purpose of the capitation grant. 



Section 21 of the Children Act 1941 states that: 



      The Minister [for Education], with the consent of the Minister for Finance and the Minister 

      for Local Government and Public Health, may make regulations prescribing the payments 

      to be made by local authorities to the managers of certified schools for the maintenance 

      of such children and youthful offenders as such local authorities are liable under section 

      74 of the Principal Act to maintain. 



61 System reference ART0381-045. 

62 System reference DE2P0050-010. 



130                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1905-----------------------

Neither  the  Children  Act  1941  nor  the  Children  Act  1908  (the  Principal  Act)  defines  the  term 

maintenance or specify what it includes. 



Section 44 of the Children Act 1908, however, specifies an industrial school as  ‘a school for the 

industrial training of children, in which children are lodged, clothed, and fed as well as taught’. 



Read together, it appears reasonable to conclude that the intention in the Act is for the capitation 

funding to apply specifically to the lodging, clothing, feeding and education of the resident children. 

This  is  also  consistent  with  the  State  assertion  in  relation  to  the  1946  scheme  that  liability  for 

building works be borne by the schools, rather than the State. 



In this regard, it is also relevant to note that: 



        •    The school managers, once they had accepted a child into the school, bore primary 

             responsibility for the care of that child. 



        •    The schools examined appeared not to have made any distinction between capital and 

             non-capital expenditure when spending capitation funding received. 



Lodging 



The institutional land and buildings derived from a number of sources, but it is our understanding 

that the school buildings were either provided directly by the State (as in the case of Daingean) 

or  established  by  the  individual  religious  Order.  This  background  raises  the  question  of  what 

precisely  was  the  capitation  grant to  fund  in  this  regard  –  was  it for  example  intended  to  fund 

reasonable maintenance costs and upgrade costs of the school and dormitories? Was it to fund 

the acquisition of lands and other buildings for farm, trade or other activities? Was it to fund the 

housing and other lodging needs of the religious and lay staff involved with the institution? 



We have already considered the legislative framework and other available information and have, 

in  Part  3,  concluded  that  the  capitation  grant  was  not  intended  to  cover  capital  expenditure 

incurred by the school. 



Accordingly, in our consideration of the issue of adequacy, we have assumed that the capitation 

grant was to cover the cost of lodging those children committed to institutions. We have sought 

to identify relevant contemporary benchmarks including this cost, as a means of understanding 

the adequacy or otherwise of the capitation grant in this regard. These benchmarks are dealt with 

in the remainder of this part of our report. 



We note that examination of individual schools shows, as we have already mentioned, a number 

of approaches to the funding of capital expenditure requirements of the schools – including use 

of  capitation  funding  and  provision  of  additional  funds  by  way  of  Board  of  Works  grants,  for 

example.  In  the  absence  of  information  in  relation  to  the  condition  of  individual  schools,  the 

definition  of  an  adequate  condition,  and  the  cost  of  bringing  schools  to  such  a  condition,  it  is 

impossible for us to comment as to whether the State contribution, such as it was, to capital costs 

of the schools, was adequate during the period 1939–69. Equally, it is beyond the scope of this 

work to express a view as to whether the State legally or otherwise had an obligation to fund the 

schools in this regard. 



Clothing and feeding 



The  provision of  food and  clothing for  the children  resident in  the institutions  is complicated  in 

those   institutions  that  operated    farms   and   other   trades.  In  essence,    many    institutions  were 

adequately resourced to be largely self-sufficient in these terms. Identifying the extent to which 

farm and trades contributed to a particular institution is difficult as the accounting records, as was 

the convention, generally provide only for income arising from sales to third parties – that is, they 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             131 


----------------------- Page 1906-----------------------

do not value the produce utilised within the institution – while recognising all costs of production, 

with the notable exception of the labour of the children resident in the institution. One view of the 

operation of this aspect of the activities of the schools was; 



       Technical training in the industrial and reformatory schools has up to the present consisted 

      to a large extent in the utilisation of the boys, in connection with trades pursued in the 

      Institution  with  a  view  to  making  the  Institution  self-sufficient,  to  as  great  a  degree  as 

      possible.63 



Education 



The educational needs of children in the Industrial Schools was provided by a combination of lay 

and religious teaching staff. Where the institution included a registered national school, the State 

national school system provided funding in this regard. In addition to formal academic education, 

which   consisted    primarily   of  primary   school    education,   in  some    instances    augmented      by 

continuation school, many of the children were provided with training for a particular occupation 

– usually in the form of supervised work on the school farm or trade shops. 



4.2.4 Capitation rates 1939–69 



Exhibit  10 shows  the  capitation  rates analysed  by  funding agency.  As  we  have already  noted, 

changes in the local authority grant rates were made by Statutory Instrument and can be tracked 

over the reference period 1939–69. While the table shows the grant levels in ‘old money’ where 

the value  before the  ‘/’ are  in shillings and  value after  the ‘/’  is in  pence. Equivalent \  amount 

values are also shown. 



                       Exhibit 10: Weekly capitation grant per child 1939–69 



63 DOF1942-00-056/1. 



132                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1907-----------------------

Exhibit 10 illustrates the following points: 



        •    While the grant increased 17 times over the reference period, changes were not made 

             at regular intervals. Almost every time the rate increased following a number of years 

             without increase it was increased again within 12 months. 



        •    The irregular timing of capitation rate increases, which reflects the adversarial nature 

              by which increases in capitation rates were made. Those who ran Industrial Schools 

              lobbied  hard  for  an  increase  in  the  grant,  the  Department  of  Education  and/or  the 

              Department of Finance resisted the calls for an increase, and when an increase was 

             finally granted it was often a lower increase than was sought and so on.64 



        •    The increase  in 1969 is remarkably  high compared to previous increases.  We have 

              been unable to ascertain why there was an increase of this magnitude at a point when 

              many of the schools were closing. The Sisters of Mercy submission to the Commission 

             suggests that the 1969 increase was prompted by criticisms of the level of funding at 

             the time the Kennedy Report was being compiled.65 



4.3 Economic conditions and the cost of living 



4.3.1 Inflation 



To put the data in Exhibit 10 into some  context Exhibit 11 illustrates the rate of change in the 

general price level (i.e. inflation) over the period 1939-69 and the rate of change in the capitation 

grant.  For comparability  both  the capitation  grant  and  the general  price  level are  set  at 100  in 

1939 to form two equivalent indices. 



   Exhibit 11: The rate of change in the weekly capitation grant per child and the general 

                                              price level 1939–69 



64 System references UPT0150-055, NTFSOM0080-016, DE1P0056-027 & DE1P0056-028. 

65 Report on Financial Matters Relating to St. Vincent’s Industrial School at Goldenbridge, p 21. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              133 


----------------------- Page 1908-----------------------

Exhibit 11 shows that: 



       •    The capitation rate per child in a reformatory school was slightly higher than the rate 

             per Industrial Schools child. Both rates moved in step as changes in the Reformatory 

             and Industrial School capitation rates were made simultaneously. 



       •     Between 1939 and 1950 the rate of increase in the capitation grant lagged inflation, 

             which means it fell in real terms and in purchasing power. During this period the CPI 

             index grew by 83.4 percent, while the Industrial School capitation grew by 53.2 percent 

             and  the  Reformatory  School  capitation  grew  by  77.2  percent.  The  1950–51  figures 

             show respective cumulative increases of 88.9 percent (CPI), 73.4 percent (Industrial 

             Schools) and 116.5 percent (Reformatory Schools). 



       •     It was not until 1957 that the rate of change in the Industrial Schools capitation grant 

             exceeded the rate of change in general price level. 



       •     Between  1939  and  1957  the  average  gap  between  the  Industrial  School  capitation 

             grant index and the inflation index was 15 percent p.a. in favour of the inflation index 

             – annual inflation exceeded changes in the caption grant by 15 percent on average. 



       •     Between  1957  and  1969  the  average  gap  between  the  Industrial  School  capitation 

             grant index and the inflation index was 58 percent p.a. in favour of the capitation grant 

             index – annual capitation changes exceeded inflation by 58 percent on average. 



       •    Over the entire 30-year period the general price level rose by 385 percent, the grant 

             increased   by  some    1,300   percent   –  increasing   by  1,327   percent   in the  case   of 

             Industrial Schools and 1,375 percent in the case of Reformatory Schools. 



       •     Again,  the  impact  of  the  1969  increase  in  capitation  is  marked,  and  represents  a 

             significant  element  of  the  overall  increase.  However,  even  before  this  increase,  the 

             capitation grant had increased by 663 percent compared to its 1939 level, significantly 

             more than the movement in the general price level over the same period. 



Also of relevance to this analysis is the Cussen Report’s finding in 1936 which indicated that the 

funding  to  the  schools  would  be  adequate  on  the  basis  that  schools  received  both  capitation 

funding   and   a  grant   towards   the   costs  of  providing   teaching   staff  –  a  finding  that  was 

subsequently implemented. 



      After a careful review of all relevant circumstances we have come to the conclusion that 

      the position would be reasonably met if, as recommended at paragraph 145 above, the 

      schools were relieved of the cost of Literary teachers, and if, in addition, the present State 

      payments were supplemented by a grant of equal amount from the Local Authorities, the 

      rates of payment to be subject to periodic review so as to bring them into line with any 

      appreciable variations in the cost of living figure, or with any material alterations in the 

      numbers of children committed. 



This implies that, in the view of the Cussen Commission, the funding to the schools was adequate 

if supplemented with a grant towards teaching costs – provision for which was made early in the 

period  under  review.  In  the  case  of  Industrial  Schools  the  State  and  local  authority  capitation 

grants appear to be equal, over the period 1939–69. Taking the review period in its entirety, the 

funding  per  head  to  schools did  not  decline  in  real/purchasing  power  terms  as changes  in  the 

capitation grant more than match movements in the general price level. 



4.4 Adequacy of funding 



4.4.1 The benchmarks and their context 



The question of whether the State funding provided was adequate, or not, is complex. In reviewing 

the documentation available to us, we have seen many expressions of the view that funding was 



134                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1909-----------------------

not adequate. We have also seen evidence that the grant may have been adequate to maintain 

a child. We have seen that the schools examined managed to operate at a point close to break- 

even for much of the period. In this section of the report we seek to understand each of these, 

perhaps conflicting, points as they relate to our terms of reference. 



The question of adequacy of funding is in our view linked to an understanding of the purpose of 

the funding and of the respective roles and responsibilities of the schools, and of the State and 

local authorities. 



In our view the 1908 Act provides a clear statement of the purpose of funding and of the relevant 

roles and reponsibilities. 



We note that the Orders, in their submissions to the Commission, have expressed the view that 

the capitation grant was inadequate. This view appears to derive from comparison with a number 

of alternate frameworks – most notably, modern costs of such care, the contemporary grant under 

the UK framework and an understanding that the capitation grant was intended to fund the entire 

cost of running an institution – as well as from a review of the historical correspondence between 

the  Resident  Managers’  Association  and  the  Department  of  Education,  which  shows  that  the 

schools constantly sought increased funding. We also note that the Department of Education, in 

its  evidence  to  the  Commission,  has  expressed  a  view  that  the  grant  was  not  adequate.  This 

assertion   derives  from   the  Department’s    own   review   of the  historical  opinions   of the  grant 

contained    in the  Department     correspondence     files –  most   significantly, the  statement    in a 

memorandum at the time of the setting up of the Kennedy Commission that the Department was 

in ‘no position to defend its achievements as far as the size of the grant goes’. 



We  believe  that  it  is  appropriate  to  distinguish  between  these  two  views  of  the  question  of 

adequacy – that is, a view that the question of adequacy should be considered against a definition 

of  purpose  of  the  grant  as  provided  for  in  the  1908  Act  –  and  a  view  that  derives  from  an 

understanding of what the various commentators consider that the grant should have covered – 

that is, full costs of a school, comparable with modern best practice or the UK system of funding 

and so on. Accordingly, we divide our work in this section into two parts, as follows; 



       •    Adequacy in accordance with the 1908 Act 

       •    Adequacy in comparison with other frameworks of reference suggested. 



Adequacy in accordance with the 1908 Act 



Our objective in considering benchmark data is to provide a basis for fairly assessing whether the 

capitation grant was adequate to maintain a child as provided for in the legislation. To this end, it 

is important to recognise that the measures proposed concentrate on: 



       •    Benchmarking the cost of maintaining a child, as opposed to meeting the cost of an 

             institution. Institutional issues are addressed separately in subsequent chapters 



       •     Benchmarking  the  cost  of  maintaining  a  child  at  the  time,  i.e.  the  benchmarks  are 

             contemporaneous and relevant to the standard of living that applied at the time 



       •     Benchmarking  against  minimal  standards,  as  they  deal  with  average  data  or  State 

             contribution in a framework of provision for basic means. 



We identified the following benchmarks as providing a reasonable basis of comparison in that they 

each illustrate (or help to illustrate) the costs of maintaining a child over the period under review: 



       •    Average household income per head 

       •    Unemployment benefit. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       135 


----------------------- Page 1910-----------------------

It is our view that these benchmarks provide a reasonable basis for consideration of the question 

of adequacy of funding. 



We  have  also  sought  to  develop  an  ‘expenditure  on  child  maintenance’  approach,  which  we 

believe  also  serves  as  a  reasonable  benchmark  for  evaluating  the  adequacy  of  the  capitation 

grant to the needs of a child resident in the institutions. This benchmark is derived from available 

CSO information in respect of expenditure patterns in the 1950s and 1960s. 



These benchmarks are selected to indicate what the then State provision for maintenance was 

and to identify  what the costs of  maintaining a child were  at the time. Accordingly,  there is no 

reason to expect any benchmark to exactly match the grant per head – we do not suggest that 

the  State  authorities  would  have  necessarily  considered  such  benchmarks  when  agreeing  the 

capitation rate. 



Adequacy in accordance with other frameworks of reference suggested 



The question of adequacy of the capitation grant can also be considered from another perspective 

– that of the adequacy of the grant to the needs of the institution. This perspective brings with it 

consideration of the  management of resource available  to the institution. This  perspective also 

leads us to consider the following factors: 



        •    The cost of providing staff to care for the children. On the issue of childcare, it is true 

             that  the  average  household  got  the  benefit  of  ‘free’  child  supervision,  which  was 

             typically provided by the mother of the house as the marriage bar was in operation at 

             the time. However, the maintenance costs of the child supervisor had to be borne by 

             the household just as it was borne by the schools. Thus, the comparison is valid as 

             the  costs  of  child  care are  inherent  in  the  cost  of  living  and had  to  be  funded  from 

              household     income.    There    is  inevitably    some    differential   between     the   cost   of 

              maintaining the childcarer and the cost of a salary for a childcarer, but we consider 

             that economies of scale – the ratio of children to carer was typically higher in a school 

             than in the average household – counterbalance this consideration. 



        •    The value to the institutions of farm produce and other goods to which the children in 

             the institutions contributed by virtue of their labour on the institution farms and trade 

             workshops. 



        •    The lodging costs of a child – we have already dealt, in Part 3, with the issue of the 

              capital expenditure costs incurred by the institutions. 



        •    Economies of scale. 



The  institutions  may  have  borne,  from  the  capitation  grant,  costs  of  childcare  that  would  not 

ordinarily  have  been  borne  by  the  typical  family.  Equally,  the  institutions  benefited  from  the 

availability of goods produced by the unwaged labour of children in the care of the institutions. 



We  have  dealt  with  this  issue  in  part  in  the  sections  of  the  report  dealing  individually  with 

institutions,  by  considering  the  financial  consequences  for  each  institution  over  the  period.  We 

also, in this regard, have noted the impact of reducing numbers on the schools. In the latter part 

of the 1950s the numbers of children committed for Reformatories and Industrial Schools began 

to decline significantly. At this time, the Resident Managers also began to suggest that some of 

the schools might have to be closed66. In our view it appears that the reduction in numbers brought 



the  schools  close  to  a  break-even  point  –  as  numbers  fell,  grant  income  fell  to  a  point  where 

it  was  inefficient  for  the  Orders  to  run  the  schools.  We  have  dealt  with  this  issue  in  Part  9  of 

this report. 



66 DOF1975-02/095/1. 



136                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1911-----------------------

Alternate benchmarks 



In addition to the benchmarks used, some other potential benchmarks were initially considered 

but  not  used.  In  general,  we  have  not  used  these  benchmarks  as  they  deal  with  the  issue  of 

adequacy  from  the  perspective  of  different  regimes  to  that  which  existed  at  the  time.  We  do, 

however, consider this type of benchmark in the course of our findings. The potential benchmarks 

and the reasons for not analysing them in detail are as follows: 



        •     State  funding  provided  to  Northern  Irish  and/or  British  certified  schools:  A  detailed 

              comparison was initially considered but after some research we believed comparison 

              invalid for the following reasons: 



              – The economic and social circumstances in Ireland and the UK were quite different 

                    over the period. For example: 



                    •    Irish wages were lower 

                    •    Irish unemployment rates were higher 

                    •    There was substantial outward migration from Ireland 

                    •    Ireland’s income per head was about half that of the UK. 



              – The evidence of Dr Eoin O’Sullivan is that the systems that operated in Ireland and 

                    the  UK  were  very  different  both  in  terms  of  (a)  school  funding  and  (b)  school 

                    organisation. 



                 Question: Do we have comparisons with the position of funding as it applied in 

                 England and Wales? 



                 Answer: They [Children’s'  Branch of the Home Office] identified  a key problem 

                 with the funding, that the capitation system of funding encouraged managers to 

                 retain high numbers of children. ... They identified this as a key stumbling block 

                 to the reform of these institutions. In the early 1920's they abolished the capitation 

                 system and replaced it with a block grant system.67  68 



                 So we see very clearly from the annual reports of the Children's Branch of the 

                 Home      Office    its  antipathy    towards      institutionalism    [that   is,  industrial    and 

                 reformatory schools], as they call it. ‘An ugly word for an ugly thing’, they describe 

                 it  as.  So  consistent  effort  from  1913  onwards  to  decrease,  to  close  down  the 

                 institutions, to take over management of the institution from lay management, to 

                 reform the funding system and to explore alternatives to institutionalism.69 



                 In  1933  in  England,  they  abolished  the  system  of  reformatory  and  industrial 

                 schools and the year later, 1934, they abolished the system in Scotland.70 



                                                                                    71 

                  The system is abolished in Northern Ireland in 1950. 



              –  Contemporaneously,  the  Department  of  Finance  was  of  the  view  that  there  were 

                    significant   differences     between     the   British  and    Irish  school    systems     when    it 

                    commented: 



67 The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse hearing on 21st June 2004. Transcript of Dr Eoin O’Sullivan’s testimony, 



   p 49. 

68 This view is also consistent with the comment on p 30 of the Kennedy Report: ‘This total dependence on the 



   capitation grant could lead to a situation where managers are reluctant to discharge pupils eligible for release or even 

   to send them for psychological assessment (with consequent possibility of transfer) or for treatment to other 

   institutions because of the financial loss involved.’ 

69 The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse hearing on 21st June 2004. Transcript of Dr Eoin O’Sullivan’s testimony, 



   p 81. 

70 The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse hearing on 21st June 2004. Transcript of Dr Eoin O’Sullivan s testimony, 



   p 82. 

71 The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse hearing on 21st June 2004. Transcript of Dr Eoin O’Sullivan’s testimony, 



   p 82. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                     137 


----------------------- Page 1912-----------------------

                We  were  then  aware  of  the  disparity  between  our  [Irish]  rates  and  the  British 

               rates. The systems and their managements are not comparable.72 



       •    Boarding schools: such schools were not considered a valid comparator as 



            – The nature and purpose of the schools were very different 



            – The funding model differed substantially. 



       •    Marlborough House: it was not regarded as directly comparable as its purpose differed 

             from other certified schools – it was a short-stay facility and, as a State-owned facility, 

             subject to a different funding regime than privately owned and operated schools. 



       •     Modern  residential  care  facilities:  We  do  not  believe  it  to  be  valid  to  apply  modern 

             childcare standard retrospectively as there are many differences in the standards of 

             care that would render such a comparison meaningless. For example, the following 

             items are taken from the research and recommendations of the Kennedy Report and 

             the  Interim  Report73  and  Final  Report74  of  the  Task  Force  on  Child  Care  Services, 



             describing  some  of  the  changes  under  consideration  at  the  time  that  those  reports 

             were drafted: 



            – The move to small group residential homes 



            – The improved focus on education as opposed to industrial training 



            – The use of highly specialised staff 



            •    An enhanced focus on the family 

            •    A greater focus on parental rights and the rights of the child. 



4.4.2 Average industrial earnings and average household size 



Data on average industrial earnings was sourced from the CSO’s historical records. This data is 

presented in euro equivalents in Exhibit 12, along with income after child support payments from 

the Exchequer. 



72 DOF1975 -02-095/2. 

73 DE1P0121-010/1 to DE1P0121-010/40. 

74 DHEMST2-013. 



138                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1913-----------------------

           Exhibit 12: Household earning, household income and income per capita 



          Weekly         Weekly household             Avg.            Income per      Ind School     Reform. 

          industrial      income (with                 household      capita          weekly         School 

          earning         children’s                   size                           capitation     weekly 

                                      * 

                          allowance)                                                                 capitation 



   1939       \3.77                  \3.77                   4.31         \0.87           \0.79          \0.79 

   1940       \3.90                  \3.90                   4.31         \0.90           \0.79          \0.79 

   1941       \3.95                  \3.95                   4.31         \0.92           \0.79          \0.79 

   1942       \4.09                  \4.09                   4.31         \0.95           \0.95          \1.14 

   1943       \4.33                  \4.33                   4.31         \1.00           \0.95          \1.14 

   1944       \4.66                  \4.66                   4.31         \1.08           \0.95          \1.14 

   1945       \4.48                  \4.48                   4.31         \1.04           \0.95          \1.14 

   1946       \4.86                  \4.86                   4.16         \1.17           \1.02          \1.21 

   1947       \5.78                  \5.78                   4.16         \1.39           \1.21          \1.43 

   1948       \6.37                  \6.37                   4.16         \1.53           \1.21          \1.43 

   1949       \6.69                  \6.69                   4.16         \1.61           \1.21          \1.43 

   1950       \6.86                  \6.86                   4.16         \1.65           \1.37          \1.71 

   1951       \7.70                  \7.70                   4.07         \1.89           \1.71          \1.90 

   1952       \7.70                  \8.40                   4.07         \2.06           \1.71          \2.10 

   1953       \8.53                  \9.23                   4.07         \2.27           \1.71          \2.10 

   1954       \8.80                  \9.50                   4.07         \2.33           \1.71          \2.10 

   1955       \9.28                  \9.98                   4.07         \2.45           \1.71          \2.10 

   1956       \9.75                \10.45                    4.06         \2.57           \1.71          \2.10 

   1957      \10.02                \11.01                    4.06         \2.71           \2.86          \3.05 

   1958      \11.24                \12.23                    4.06         \3.01           \2.86          \3.05 

   1959      \11.63                \12.62                    4.06         \3.11           \2.86          \3.05 

   1960      \12.52                \13.51                    4.06         \3.33           \2.86          \3.05 

   1961      \13.43                \14.42                    3.97         \3.63           \2.86          \3.05 

   1962      \14.72                \15.71                    3.97         \3.96           \2.86          \3.05 

   1963      \15.43                \16.42                    3.97         \4.14           \3.17          \3.36 

   1964      \16.99                \17.98                    3.97         \4.53           \3.49          \3.68 

   1965      \17.69                \18.68                    3.97         \4.71           \4.29          \4.48 

   1966      \18.72                \20.34                    4.01         \5.07           \4.29          \4.48 

   1967      \19.66                \21.28                    4.01         \5.31           \4.76          \4.95 

   1968      \21.78                \23.40                    4.01         \5.84           \5.24          \5.43 

   1969      \23.07                \24.69                    4.01         \6.16         \10.48          \10.86 



Note: Children’s allowance was introduced in 1944 and between 1944 and 1952 only the third and subsequent children 

qualified. Please note that children’s allowance was intended as a support payment or income supplement; it was not 



intended to meet the full maintenance cost of a child. 



Sources: Some Statistics of Wages and Hours Worked (Various1940–70), CSO. 

Historical social welfare data provided on request by Department of Social and Family Affairs. Census Reports 



(1939, 1946, 1961 & 1971), CSO. 



As were the social norms of the time, the typical household had one male wage earner, as the 

convention  was  that  married  women  ceased  to  work  outside  the  home  post-marriage.  Hence, 

average weekly household income can be approximated by adding weekly industrial earnings to 

the child support payment to which all parents/guardians were entitled. Our analysis assumes two 

children per household as this is a fair reflection of the average household size throughout the 

review period (as confirmed by the relevant population census). 



Once we divide weekly household income by average household size we get the first benchmark 

against which to compare capitations payments – household income per capita. Please note that 

in constructing this benchmark we do not assume that capitation payments should be equal to 

household     income    per   capita.  However,     the   comparison     is  illustrative of  the   correlation   in 

movements in household income per capita and capitation payments. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             139 


----------------------- Page 1914-----------------------

For  ease  of  interpretation  the  last  three  columns  in  Exhibit  12  above  are  shown  graphically  in 

Exhibit 13. 



                   Exhibit 13: Household income per head and capitation rates 



Sources: 



Some Statistics of Wages and Hours Worked (Various1940–70), CSO. 



Historical social welfare data provided on request by Department of Social and Family Affairs. 



Census Reports (1939, 1946, 1961 & 1971), CSO. 



The data and the graph show that: 



       o For the years between 1939 and 1949 the industrial school capitation was 88 percent of 

             household income per head (not household income per child). 



       o For the years between 1950 and 1959 the industrial school capitation was 83 percent of 

             household income per head (not household income per child). 



       o For the years between 1960 and 1969 the industrial school capitation was 92 percent of 

             household income per head (not household income per child). 



Thus, we see a drop in the level of capitation as a percentage of average household income per 

capita in the 1950s and early 1960s, but this gap was closed and subsequently reversed. Over 

the 30 years weekly capitation payments to Industrial Schools tracked the movement in income 

per  head  as,  on  average,  the  Industrial  School  capitation  grant  was  88  percent  of  household 

income per head. Broadly speaking this exhibit illustrates that the variables, household income 

per capita and capitation payments, moved in line over the period with capitation lagging behind 

household income per head. 



140                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1915-----------------------

4.4.3 Unemployment benefit 



Those  who  were  in  paid  employment  and  made  sufficient  social  insurance  contributions  were 

entitled to unemployment benefit. Exhibit 14 shows capitation payments against a single male’s 

weekly unemployment benefit between 1939 and 1969. 



                       Exhibit 14: Unemployment benefit and capitation rates 



Sources: 



Historical social welfare data provided on request by Department of Social and Family Affairs. 



The data and Exhibit 14 show that: 



       o For the years between 1939 and 1949 the industrial school capitation was 92 percent of 

             unemployment benefit. 



       o For the years between 1950 and 1959 the industrial school capitation was 121 percent of 

             unemployment benefit. 



       o For the years between 1960 and 1969 the industrial school capitation was 155 percent of 

             unemployment benefit. 



For  the  30-year  period,  the  industrial  school  capitation  grant  was  on  average  122  percent  of 

unemployment  benefit  payments.  Therefore,  it  is          reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  capitation 

payments  were  sufficient  to  support  a  child  as  they  exceed  what  was  expected  to  support  an 

adult male. 



4.4.4 Expenditure on child maintenance 



The following analysis draws on the CSO’s Household Budget Survey of 1965–66 and uses the 

data for that year to construct an index of household expenditure per child. 



The 1965–66 Household Budget Survey data was gathered in such a way that it is possible to 

extrapolate the expenditure differential between: 



        •    Households with just two adults 

        •    Households with two adults and one child 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            141 


----------------------- Page 1916-----------------------

       •     Households with two adults and two children 

       •     Households with two adults and three children. 



By examining the expenditure differential across the relevant expenditure categories covered by 

the  Act  (lodgings,  clothing,  feeding  and  education)  we  calculate  a  measure  of  expenditure  per 

child  for  that  year.  By  adjusting  for  inflation  it  is  possible  to  produce  an  index  of  household 

expenditure per child over the review period as shown in Exhibit 16. This index is most robust for 

the five years before and after 1965–66. 



           Exhibit 15: Average household expenditure per child index 1965–66 base 



                                                   1960-69 



This  analysis  suggests  that  the  weekly  capitation  was  appropriate  for  its  intended  purpose  as 

weekly capitation exceeded expenditure incurred per child by a typical household. 



Our analysis (detailed data in Appendix II) also demonstrates that: 



       •     For households with one child, the weekly capitation was, for most of the period, less 

             than the actual expenditure incurred in maintaining that only child. 



       •     For households with two children weekly capitation was always significantly more than 

             the actual expenditure incurred in maintaining the second child. 



       •     For  households  with  three  children  weekly  capitation  was  always  significantly  more 

             than the actual expenditure incurred in maintaining the third child. 



What this points to is that there are clear economies of scale associated with meeting the costs 

of child maintenance. As the numbers of children in a household increase two things happen: (a) 

the  incremental  or  marginal  cost  of  that  additional  child  is  less  than  the  incremental  cost  of 

maintaining the previous child; and (b) this serves to drag the average maintenance cost per child 

downwards. Unfortunately we do not have data to measure the economies of scale likely to arise 

in a Reformatory or Industrial School situation. 



It must be noted that for the reference household in the 1965–66 survey, household expenditure 

exceeds income by some 15 percent. We have not sought to question the validity of the CSO’s 

data as there are many possible reasons for this such as: 



       •     It may well have been the case that households were spending more that their income 

             either by going into debt or running down their savings. 



       •    True household income may have exceeded stated income, e.g. undeclared income. 



142                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1917-----------------------

A  similar  household  analysis  was  undertaken  using  the  CSO’s  Household  Budget  Survey  of 

1951–52. In this case we are only able to construct an index of household expenditure per person 

(not per child). It is our view reasonable to consider that more is spent on goods and services per 

adult than is spent per child. This view is supported by the fact that where household expenditure 

data is split between expenditure on adult and children’s items the adult expenditure is higher, 

e.g.  clothing  in  the  1951–52  Household  Budget  Survey  and  the  1965–66  Household  Budget 

Survey. Further support for this view is provided in the analysis of the 1965–66 Household Budget 

Survey on which the expenditure per child is calculated. 



We use as our reference household the largest possible household category with 8.31 persons. 

The reason for choosing largest possible household category as the reference household is that, 

of  all  possible  households,  it  contains  the  greatest  number  of  children.  In  this  case  children 

accounted  for  3.96  persons  or  48  percent  of  the  household.  By  way  of  comparison,  children 

account  for  just  32  percent75   of  persons  in  the  average  household  across  all  categories  in  the 



sample. Thus, our reference household is the household with the highest proportion of children. 



Again, we adjust our analysis to exclude expenditure headings not covered by the capitation grant, 

e.g. alcoholic drink and tobacco. 



    Exhibit 16: Average household expenditure per person index 1951–52 base 1946-56 



As  before,  the  index  is  most  robust  for  the  five  years  before  and  after  1951–52,  but  it  is  still 

illustrative for the entire period. 



This  exhibit  demonstrates  that  in  the  period  1946–56  the  capitation  grant  was  less  than  the 

average  expenditure per  person  in  a  large  household.  From  the  late  1940s  the  gap  narrowed 

significantly and was reversed by 1957. However, this composite household is made up of 3.96 

children and 4.35 adults and it is reasonable to expect that the adult expenditure is pulling the 

average expenditure per person upwards. 



75 1951/52 Table 2, Household Budget Survey, CSO. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             143 


----------------------- Page 1918-----------------------

For both the  1951–52 and the 1965–66  Household Budget Surveys the source  data has been 

analysed to show expenditure on lodging, clothing, feeding and other goods and services. The 

reason for doing this is to show expenditure under the headings relevant under the 1908 Act, i.e. 

lodging (which is taken to include fuel and lighting), clothing and feeding. All items that do not fall 

into  this  classification   are  classed    under    ‘other’ and    include   expenditure    on   services, 

miscellaneous items and sundry items, e.g. transport, entertainment, education and training, etc. 

While education was included under the 1908 Act a direct comparison with household expenditure 

data in respect of this item is not informative because the expenditure in the household survey 

relate to incidental costs of education, while the expenditure in the schools refers to the cost of 

teaching.  It  should  also  be  noted  in  this  context  that  the  Industrial  Schools  were,  from  1946 

onwards, in a position to receive the primary grant, contributing towards the cost of educating the 

children in the schools. 



For the 1965–66 Household Budget Survey we are able to show expenditure per child. As noted, 

it  shows  that  the  average  expenditure  per  child  is  below  both  capitation  rates  which  is  taken 

to  imply  that  the  capitation  grant  was  capable  of  maintaining  a  child  by  comparison  with  the 

domestic setting. 



    Exhibit 17: Average household expenditure per child index 1965–66 base 1960-69 by 

                                         expenditure category 



Examining the lodging, clothing, feeding and other expenditure we can see the following: 



       •    Food was the most expensive item of expenditure (accounting for 39 percent of total 

             the weekly analysed). 



       •     Lodging,   which   includes   fuel and   light, was  the  second    most   expensive    item  of 

             expenditure (34 percent of expenditure). 



       •    Clothing was the least expensive item of expenditure (5 percent of expenditure). 

       •    The  ‘other’  category  was  the  third  most  expensive  item  of  expenditure  (22  percent 

             of expenditure). 



This  analysis   further  supports   our  interpretation   of the   capitation  grants’  adequacy     to the 

requirements of the 1908 Act, as it was sufficient to cover food, lodging and clothing. It was also 

sufficient to cover the other expenditure items reflected in the 1965–66 Household Budget Survey. 

144                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1919-----------------------

For the 1951–52 Household Budget Survey we show expenditure per person, not per child, as 

we are unable to isolate the expenditure per child. The exhibit demonstrates that in the period 

1946–56  the  capitation  grant  was  less  than  the  average  expenditure  per  person       in  a  large 

household. However, this composite household is made up of 3.96 children and 4.35 adults and 

it  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  adult  expenditure  is  pulling  the  average  expenditure  per 

person upwards. 



  Exhibit 18: Average household expenditure per person index 1951–52 base 1947-56 by 

                                        expenditure category 



Looking at expenditure on the basis of lodging, clothing, feeding and other expenditure shows: 



       •    Food was again the most expensive item of expenditure (accounting for 46 percent of 

            total the weekly spending analysed). At all times in the period 1947–56 the capitation 

            grant was sufficient cover food costs based on the expenditure incurred per person in 

            the domestic setting. 



       •    Clothing amounted to 12 percent of expenditure and at all times in the period 1947–56 

            the  capitation  grant   was   sufficient cover  clothing  and   food  costs   based   on  the 

            expenditure incurred per person in the domestic setting. 



       •    Lodging represented 14 percent of expenditure. The cumulative cost of lodging, clothing 

            and feeding were covered by the Reformatory School grant for the 1949–56 period. 

             However, it was not until 1951 that the weekly Industrial School grant was sufficient to 

            cover the cumulative costs of lodging, clothing and feeding 



       •    In  the  1951–52  Household  Budget  Survey  the  other  category  was  the  second  most 

            expensive item of expenditure (27 percent of expenditure). Our analysis indicates that 

            the capitation grant, at best, only made a contribution towards this cost. However, this 

            expenditure category included items not covered by the Children Act 1908. 



4.4.5 Comparison with Britain 



Just as we were able to establish the weekly capitation rates in the State from the Children Act 

1941 and related statutory instruments pursuant to section 21 of the Act a similar exercise was 

conducted    for Britain. This   yielded  comparative    Exchequer    capitation  payments,    channelled 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     145 


----------------------- Page 1920-----------------------

through  local  authorities,  under  the  Children  and  Young  Persons  Act  1933  in  (a)  England  and 

Wales and (b) Scotland. 



As noted earlier in this chapter, we believe that the usefulness of this comparator is limited, as it 

does not relate to the regime that pertained in the Republic of Ireland. However, we do believe 

that it provides some indication of the relative scale of funding, in comparison with some of our 

near neighbours. 



                Exhibit 19: Capitation rates in Ireland, Scotland, England & Wales 



Sources: 



Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and related statutory instruments (UK) 



From 1939–47 the capitation rates in Ireland and Scotland were comparable but about half the 

rate available in England and Wales. From 1948 onwards a widening gap opened between the 

UK and Irish capitation rates. It is noticeable that changes in the capitation rates tend to move in 

tandem; however we do not draw a particular conclusion from this point. 



5. Christian Brothers – Artane 



This  section  of  our  report  deals  with  our  consideration  of  the  financial  information  available  in 

respect of the Industrial School at Artane, County Dublin, run by the Christian Brothers between 

1939  and  1969.  In  the  course  of  our  review  we  considered  the  following  terms  of  reference 

identified by the Commission: 



        •    A review of the application of State Funding to the care of children in the institution 

        •    A  commentary  on  the  effects  of  changes  in  the  number  of  children  in  the  relevant 

             institutions over the period 1939–69 



        •    A commentary on staffing/student ratios over the period of the review 

        •    The  financial consequences  for  the  relevant institutions  as  a  result  of caring  for  the 

             children over the period 1939–69. 



146                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1921-----------------------

5.1 Background to financial information 



The Industrial School at Artane was founded in 1870 on lands at Artane Castle purchased for an 

amount of Stg£7,000. We have seen the following documentation in relation to this transaction, 

and the subsequent establishment of the industrial school. 



       •    Draft conveyance dated 18th July 1870 

       •    Memorial of conveyance 19th July 1870 

       •    Letter dated 20th June 1870 on behalf of the purchasers of Artane Castle to the Chief 

             Secretary   for  Ireland  requesting   that  the  facilities be  examined     for and   granted 

             certification as an Industrial School 



       •     Letter dated 5th July 1870 from Mr John Lentaigne, Inspector, reporting on a visit to 

             Artane Castle on 24th June 1870 and concluding that the facilities were well suited to 

             the purpose of an Industrial School. 



These documents are at Appendix XXIV. The letter of 5th July 1870 refers to the purchase of the 

lands as being for the purpose of an Industrial School. The opening paragraph of the letter notes: 

      I beg to report that on the 24th    ultimo I visited Artane Castle, Co. Dublin, and found it in 



      every  way,  well  suited  for  the  purposes  of  an Industrial  School  for  boys.  Indeed  I  was 

      consulted as to its fitness before the purchase was concluded. 



We understand that the Christian Brothers have identified documentation from 1927 that indicates 

that the lands at Artane Castle were initially purchased for the purpose of the establishment of a 

novitiate. This does not appear to accord with the sequence of documents identified above or with 

the history of the school recounted in the letter of 5 July 1870. 



The Christian Brothers managed the facility at Artane from 1939 to 1969. The facility provided 

accommodation in respect of 772 children committed there at 30th September 1939 declining to 

24 children by 30th September 1969. 



Artane incorporated a primary school for those children committed to the institution. A continuation 

school functioned in the evening time for those who worked on the farm or in trades. A vocational 

school was also operated in Artane. Trades taught included: 



       •    Farming (including poultry) 

       •    Tailoring 

       •    Weaving and hosiery 

       •    Carpentry 

       •    Baking 

       •    Bookmaking 

       •    Painting 

       •    Hairdressing and laundry. 



The  Christian Brothers  in  Artane  also operated  a  substantial farming  operation  in  a number  of 

dispersed locations. The table at Exhibit 20 shows the locations and quantity of land farmed as at 

November 1949. We are aware from a Visitation Report that a parcel of land was sold during the 

year 1959 for an amount of equivalent \4,839,76          which would have reduced the figures quoted 



below. The Visitation Report from May 1968 makes a reference to  ‘negotiations are at present 

proceeding to sell nearly half the total area. About 100 acres are being retained in the immediate 

vicinity of the buildings.’ 



76 Information taken from Visitation Report dated November 1960. Commission document Number CBVART – 044. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        147 


----------------------- Page 1922-----------------------

                         Exhibit 20 – Artane farm land – November 194977 



 Farmlands                            Acreage                             Type 



 Belcamp Farm                         32 Acres                            Grazing land 

 Woodville                            63 Acres                            Grazing land 

 Kilmore                              76 Acres                            Tillage and grazing land 

 Home Farm                            182 Acres                           Tillage and grazing land 



 Total                                353 Acres 



A number of the Visitation Reports make reference to the extent of the work performed on the 

farm by the boys and also the transfer of produce from the farm to the institution. The Visitation 

Report from November 1950 refers to the value of produce from the farm provided to the institution 

– the amount quoted in the report equates to an equivalent \12,269. Total income from all sources 

for the institution in 1950 was an equivalent \64,452. 



Books and records 



Two  separate  sets  of  books  and  records  were  maintained  by  the  Brothers  in  respect  of  the 

institution at Artane – school accounts and house accounts. The school accounts recorded all of 

the activities deemed to relate to the operation of the school, including the farm and trade activity. 

The house accounts recorded the activity of the community of Brothers resident at Artane. The 

community also invested in the Order building fund, and details of balances held to the account 

of Artane are recorded in the financial information presented to us by the Christian Brothers. 



Summary income and expenditure – school accounts 



                     Exhibit 21 – Summary income and expenditure 1940–69 



                                          1940–49           1950–59            1960–69            TOTAL 



                                                  \                 \                 \                 \ 



 INCOME                                    493,018           871,580           929,580          2,294,178 



 EXPENDITURE                               507,429           842,366         1,015,201          2,364,996 



 SURPLUS /<DEFICIT>                      <14,411>             29,214          <85,621>          <70,818> 



The  accounts  of  the  Artane  Industrial  School  income  and  expenditure  accounts  for  the  period 

1940–69 record that the expenditure exceeded the income by equivalent \70,818. 



1940–49 



The combined deficit of equivalent \14,411 for the period 1940–49 was funded in part by: 



       •    A transfer from the Building fund of equivalent \4,263 in 1940 

       •    An increase in the Schools overdraft to equivalent \5,742 at the end of the decade. 



1950–59 



In the years to 1959 a surplus of equivalent \29,214 was realised. During this period there was a 

very low level of capital expenditure. Any surplus generated was carried forward from year to year 

for use by the school. 



77 Information taken from Visitation Report dated November 1949. Commission document Number CBVART – 013. 



148                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1923-----------------------

1960–69 



The figures for this period show the overall deficit generated was equivalent \85,621. The major 

factor giving rise to the deficit is that significant capital expenditure, particularly on the building, 

was made during this period. The amount expended was equivalent \182,098. 



Summary income and expenditure – house accounts 



We have carried out an examination of the house accounts as the interaction of the house and 

school appear central to an understanding of the financial position of the Artane institution. The 

house accounts presented to us cover the years 1940–69. These accounts show that the income 

credited to the House exceeded expenditure by equivalent \339,724. 



                     Exhibit 22: Income and expenditure summaries 1940–69 



                               1940–49               1950–59              1960–69                  Total 



 Income                          78,696              134,781               391,294               604,771 



 Expenditure                     76,113               77,721               111,214               265,048 



 Surplus                          2,583               57,061               280,080               339,724 



The most significant items contributing to the recorded surpluses are stipends or allowances for 

the  Brothers  engaged  in  the  day  to  day  management  of  the  institution,  and  income  generated 

from the disposal of lands. During the 1940s stipends represented 85 percent of total income of 

the house. In the 1950s stipends represented 68.6 percent of income, with sales of land generating 

a  further  10.6  percent  of  total  income.  In  the  1960s  stipends  represented  22  percent  of  total 

income, with sales of land accounting for 63.2 percent. 



5.2 Analysis of income and expenditure 



School accounts 



The main sources of income recorded in the school accounts are as follows: 



       •    Department of Education grants 

       •    County and borough council grants 

       •    Primary school grant 

       •    Industrial departments 

       •    Sale of farm produce 

       •    School band performances. 

The main sources of expenditure over the period 1939–69 include: 



       •    Wages, salaries and insurance stamps 

       •    Industrial departments 

       •    Farm (including poultry farm) 

       •    Provisions purchased 

       •    Clothing 

       •    Repairs and decoration 

       •    Fuel, light and power 

       •    Rents, rates and taxes 

       •    Band expenses 

       •    Laundry and cleaning. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       149 


----------------------- Page 1924-----------------------

For   the  years   where    detailed   information    was   available   we   carried   out   an  analysis   of  the 

percentage of total income for the Institution deriving from the Department of Education and the 

county and borough councils (capitation grants). As can be seen from Exhibit 23 below the most 

significant  portion  of  income  for  the  institution  over  the  period  1940–69  was  derived  from  the 

Department  of  Education  –  including  primary  school  capitation  funds  –  and  the  county  and 

borough council grants. 



                              Exhibit 23: Main sources of income 1940–69 



 Sources of Income                                1940–49                   1950–59                   1960–69 



                                                         %                         %                         % 



 Capitation/Maintenance Grants                          84                         81                        81 



 Sundry Income                                            2                         1                         2 



 Trades/Farm Income                                      10                        15                        13 



 School Band                                                                        1                         3 



 Sweet Shop and Store                                     1                         1                         1 



 Total                                                97%                       99%                      100% 

 Other income sources 

 immaterial 



From the detailed income and expenditure accounts provided in Appendix IV it is apparent that 

the school was virtually self-sufficient, providing the majority of its needs from the farm and the 

various  other  activities  carried  on  within  the  school.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  low  levels  of 

expenditure on clothing and provisions, and is also reflected in a number of the Visitation Reports: 



       Two beasts are killed weekly for consumption in the Institution. The farm supplies, besides 

       meat,   milk,  potatoes,   vegetables,     meal   and   a  good   quantity   of  flour  used   in  bread 

       making.78 



       The main  idea in  working it  is to supply  the needs  of the  boys and  Brothers. It is  well 

       stocked  and  cultivated.  The  milk  supplied  last  year  amounted  to  £2482:17:6;  wheat 

       £1,100; meat, potatoes and vegetables together £5,817. The net gain on the farm for the 

      period  was  £6,600.  A  staff  of  9  workmen  helped  by  50  boys  can  do  all  the  work  in 

       connection with the stock, crops and harvesting.79 



       To provide the Artane boys with breakfast 100 gallons of tea are necessary. To provide 

       them  with  dinner  for  a  week  requires  two  well  finished,  fat,  three  year  old  cattle.  Two 

       hundred 4lb loaves just meet the breakfast table.80 



The   main    items   of  expenditure    in  each   of  the   decades    examined      are  summarised      in  the 

following table. 



78 Visitation report 1947, system reference CBVART 011/4. 

79 Visitation report 1950, system reference CBVART 015/3. 

80 Visitation report 1950, system reference CBVART 015/4. 



150                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1925-----------------------

                Exhibit 24 – Analysis of the major items of expenditure 1940–69 



                                                            1940–49            1950–59             1960–69 



                                                                   %                  %                   % 

 Industrial departments                                          18%                21%                 9% 



 Farm, poultry & garden                                          12%                12%                 7% 



 Salaries & wages                                               28%                 20%                16% 



 Provisions purchased                                            13%                16%                17% 



 Clothing                                                         3%                 2%                 4% 



 Fuel, light, power                                               8%                 7%                 6% 



 Capital expenditure                                                -                1%                18% 



 Transfer to Community account                                    7%                11%                 8% 



 Other                                                           11%                10%                15% 



 Total                                                         100%                100%               100% 



It  is  particularly  evident  that  figures  for  the  1960s  are  impacted  significantly  by  the  reducing 

number of children attending the school. However, over a number of categories expenditure was 

relatively consistent for the period, for example provisions purchased, clothing and fuel, light and 

power, reflecting the unchanging requirement for this expenditure. Break-even analysis, which is 

detailed further in Part 9 of this report, examines this issue in more detail. 



Farm and industrial expenditure 



We have already noted that the institution at Artane included a sizeable farm and a significant 

number of trades, which the boys worked at as part of their training. The accounts presented to 

us show both income and costs relating to the farm and trade activity. These are summarised in 

exhibit 25 below. 



                       Exhibit 25 – Farm and industrial expenditure 1940–69 



                                          1940–49            1950–59            1960–69               Total 



 Farm income                                54,671           133,947            122,122            310,740 

 Farm expenditure                           58,979             99,624             72,866           231,469 

 Farm surplus/deficit                      (4,308)             34,324            49,256              79,271 



A  review  of   the  available  visitation  reports  indicates  that   these   figures  may   not  be  entirely 

consistent with other contemporary records. The 1947 Visitor commented that: 



       There was a net gain on the farm last year of £2,763. 



The 1946 accounts show a net deficit for that year of £1,143. Similarly, the 1950 accounts show 

a  deficit  of  £3,471,  while  the  Visitation  Report  for  that  year  suggests  that  the  farm  recorded  a 

surplus of approximately £6,000. Later Visitors Report surpluses that align more closely with the 

accounts presented. 



The produce of the industrial trades seems to have been primarily consumed by the institution. 

The  accounts  of  institution  do  not  identify  significant  earnings  from  this  source.  The  Visitation 

Report of 1952 comments: 



      Artane  has  a  more  elaborate  organisation  of  trades  than  our  other  Industrial  Schools. 

       These  trades  serve,  or  are  supposed  to  serve,  a  dual  purpose  –  training  the  boys  for 

      outside  life  and  balancing  the  Artane  budget....each  shop  has  one  or  more  trained  lay 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          151 


----------------------- Page 1926-----------------------

       tradesmen.  In  practice,  some  of  the  trades  serve  only  one  purpose.  For  example,  the 

       wages of the  two shoemakers amount to £800 per  annum. It is believed that  this sum 

      plus the money expended on leather would supply the boys with factor-made boots for 

      one year. On the other hand, the tinsmiths supply the establishment with such things as 

      kitchen-ware,  refectory-ware  at  a  cost  well  below  factory  prices,  but  no  boy  has  been 

      placed as a tinsmith in any outside factory in the past six years.81 



       From   the   available   evidence    we   believe   that  it is reasonable     to  conclude    that  the 

      contribution to the financial position of the institution at Artane by trades and, in particular, 

      farm was very significant. 



       In  addition  to  the  economic  contribution  of  the  farm and  trades  to  life  at  Artane,  these 

      activities  also  served  to  train  the  boys  for  occupations  outside  of  the  institution.  The 

      Christian Brothers have provided us with the following analysis of the numbers of boys 

       participating in trades over the period of our review. 



                                                     Exhibit 26 



 Trade                            1943     1944     1945      1946     1947     1950     1963      1965     1966 



 Bakers                             11       16       10         9       10        9        6        d. 

 Barbers                             4        8 

 Blacksmiths                         6        6        4         5       d. 

 Bootmakers                         46       50       35        41       35       41       16        ?         x 

 Carpenters                          6        6        7         6        6        9      21*         2        x 

 Cart/wheelwrights                  13       14       14        14       d. 

 Farmers                            65       60       66        60       73       50       13         6        6 

 Fitters                            10        9        8         7        6        7        3        ?         d 

 Gardeners                          15        ?       14        ?        ?         ?        1        ?         ? 

 Laundry                                                                                    3        ?         ? 

 Millers                            ?         2        -         -        -        -        d 

 Painters                            4        8        7        10       12       13        6         6        d 

 Poultry farmers                     5        ?        5        ?        ?         ?        3 

 Tailors                            92       75       80        54       42       46       20         5        x 

 Tinsmiths                           2        ?        3         7       ?         6 

 Waiters/kitchen                    10        ?        ?        ?        ?         ?       10        ?         ? 

 Weavers                            18       25       23        24       30       32       23         5        x 

 Total                          267**       279      276       237      214      213      128      24?       6? 

 Total in school                   800      812      818       794      789      762      317       301      327 



        Sheet-metal working: discontinued in the early 1940s due to wartime shortages of material. 



       * Includes 10 in carpentry machine shop 



       ** Excluding 40 part-timers included in 1943 returns 



       x These shops, together with metal-working, continued (no numbers given) 



       d Discontinued 



Capital expenditure 



There  were  no  major  items  of  capital  expenditure  for  the  Institution  over  the  period  1940–49 

although    an  amount     of  IR£18,916     (approximately  \24,000)       was   expended     from   the   house 

accounts in 1948 and 1949 on a new sanitary block, a play shelter and a hen house. The overall 

deficit achieved for the institution over this period was equivalent \14,411. 



81 Visitation report 1952, system reference CBVART 018/3 & 018/4. 



152                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1927-----------------------

During  the  period  1950–59  the  school  achieved  a  surplus  of  equivalent \29,214,  after  capital 

expenditure     of equivalent  \8,388.      Capital   expenditure    was    greatest   during   the  1960s    when 

equivalent \182,098 was spent on improvements and additions to the institution. 



We have seen that the level of capital expenditure was quite low for much of the 1940s, with the 

exception of the additions recorded in the house accounts in the latter part of the decade, and 

1950s. The expenditure in the 1960s was very significant by comparison, reflecting perhaps the 

need to address degeneration in the standard of accommodation over time. The Visitation Reports 

provide  us  with  some  evidence  as  to  the  condition  of  buildings,  although  they  are  far  from 

unanimous in their appraisal – some Visitors appearing to place more emphasis on the cleanliness 

and order of the institution, while others drew attention to progressive decline of aspects of the 

state of the premises. The 1947 Visitation Report presents a summary of that Visitor’s impression: 



      All  of  the  premises  are  being  cared  for  very  well.  The  newer  portion  of  the  Brothers 

       Dwelling  shows  signs  of  dampness.  The  boy’s  lavatories  are  altogether  antiquated.  I 

       believe   new  ones    are  to   be  built  in the  near   future.   The  school    buildings  are    also 

       condemned as unsafe and new ones will be required as soon as possible. The playhall 

       is too small and is unheated in winter. The shower-baths and foot-baths are good and 

       efficient. The dormitories are neatly kept and the floors spotlessly clean.82 



While the records show that expenditure was incurred in the late 1940s on the upgrade of some 

of these items, later reports record continuing concerns in this regard: 



      A good deal of repair work is calling out for attention in this establishment. In the large 

       main buildings the roofs are in a bad state due to deterioration of lead and timber. Rain 

       is coming down in some parts and, as a consequence, the paint is perishing right down 

       to the Main Hall. These repairs demand immediate attention. In the Brothers’ Monastery, 

       there is similar deterioration due to leaking roofs and the Bathroom is in a bad state.83 



       To provide adequate and suitable accommodation and recreation halls for the boys is a 

       crying  necessity.  But  as  the  future  of  the  school  is  so  uncertain  it  would  probably  be 

       unwise to undertake any major schemes at present. A new toilet block for the Brothers 

       residence was completed last year at the cost of £1200. The house and Chapel including 

       the Sacristy are clean and well kept.84 



The  issue  of  whether  and  how  the  school  premises  might  be  improved,  given  the  declining 

numbers of residents from the 1950s, was further considered in later reports. It appears that two 

options were contemplated – building a new school or creating new classroom space in the main 

building.   The   1959    Visitation  Report    indicates    that  this  latter option   was    approved     by  the 

Department.85 



The  1960s  saw  a  considerable  investment  in  Artane.  The  1963  Report  describes  some  of  the 

expenditure incurred: 



       The   present    Superior    has   been   responsible     for quite   a  number     of  very  necessary 

       improvements      in  the   Institution  since   he   became     Superior    in  1958.    The   following 

      particulars    give  some     idea   of  the  extent    of  these   improvements.       I give   also   the 

       approximate costs. 



      Alterations, additions and repairs to boys kitchen and refectory £29,253.0.0 



       Repairs to dormitories, which includes painting £4,933.0.0 



       Repairs to boys’ washrooms and toilets £7,559.0.0 



82 Visitation report 1947, system reference CBVART 011/4. 

83 Visitation report 1955, system reference CBVART 024/2. 

84 Visitation report 1957, system reference CBVART 030/4. 

85 Visitation report 1959, system reference CB VART 040/2. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               153 


----------------------- Page 1928-----------------------

       Repairs to work-shops, which includes some new machinery £4,668.0.0 



       General repairs to roads including re-surfacing‘ £3,000.0.0 



       Repairs to dwelling house, which includes painting £1,698.0.0 



       New class rooms and boiler house. Total expenses £24,427.0.0 



       Less amount refunded by the Board of Works £14,341.0.0 

       Net amount incurred by Artane £ 9,906.0.0.86 



We note that the Board of Works refund mentioned above is not reflected in either the school or 

house accounts. An amount of £6,441 is recorded in the 1971 school accounts, but we believe 

that to relate to subsequent works. 



It  is  not apparent  from  the  Visitation     Reports  as  to  why     the  decision  to  take    an  extensive 

programme of upgrade and refurbishment was undertaken, when reports from the later part of the 

1950s stressed the uncertainty of the future of the institution and the inappropriateness of incurring 

such costs in that environment. The most significant element of the capital expenditure incurred 

by the school was during the period 1963–68, when the numbers of children in the institution were 

significantly in decline. 



Funding capital expenditure 



The capital expenditure incurred in Artane was funded primarily from the school account – with 

the exception of the items funded in the 1940s by the house, and refunds received from the Board 

of Works referred to above. The house accounts in the 1950s and 1960s show very low levels of 

capital expenditure. 



The house accounts presented to us also make reference to a building fund account. This shows 

a net asset of £193,000 at 31st July 1969, an amount which is consistent with the 1968 Visitation 

Report87. This fund does not seem to have been drawn on to provide for the significant capital 



expenditure in the 1960s. It is not clear from the accounts presented how the assets in this fund 

were accumulated or where the funds were held, although taken together with the cash on hand 

of the house, it appears that virtually all of the surplus in the house accounts has been lodged 

either to the house bank account or the building fund . Accordingly, it is reasonable to conclude 

that the primary source of this fund is the sources of income of the house – with the receipts from 

the sale of lands at Artane contributing significantly to the fund. 



Closure of the Industrial School 



The Industrial School at Artane was closed in 1969. Subsequently, the property and lands were 

used    as  a  secondary     school,   operated     and   managed      by  the  Christian    Brothers.   It is  our 

understanding that the beneficial title to the lands and property at Artane continued to be vested 

in the Christian Brothers Order. 



The house accounts 



We  have  been  provided  with  House  Accounts  for  Artane  for  the  period  1940–69.  We  have 

extracted from these accounts a summary of the key items of income and expenditure by decade. 



86 Visitation report 1963, system reference CBVART 049/2 & 049/3. 

87 Visitation Report 1968, system reference CBVART 062/5. 



154                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1929-----------------------

                       Exhibit 27 – Analysis of the house accounts 1940–69 



                                               1940–49               1950–59               1960–69 



                                                     \         %           \         %           \         % 



 Income 

 Dividends on stock                              3,631      4.6%         682      0.5%         874      0.2% 

 88Limited stipends                             31,039     39.4%       1,450      1.1%           0      0.0% 



 Rents receivable                                1,905      2.4%       3,720      2.8%       2,781      0.7% 

 Interest on loans                               4,692      6.0%     10,558       7.8%     30,911       7.9% 

 Bank interest receivable                           508     0.6%         574      0.4%      4,675       1.2% 

 Sales of land                                        0     0.0%     14,394      10.7%     247,450     63.2% 

 Old age pension                                      0     0.0%         367      0.3%      1,001       0.3% 

 Teachers pension                                     0     0.0%         940      0.7%      9,588       2.5% 

 Brother's allowance                            36,204     46.0%     92,532      68.7%     86,088      22.0% 

 Teachers salary                                      0     0.0%           0      0.0%      2,655       0.7% 

 Other                                              717     0.9%        9565      7.1%      5,272       1.3% 



                                                78,695    100.0%     134,781    100.0%     391,294    100.0% 

 Expenditure 

 Vegetables, fruit, garden                          253     0.3%          47      0.1%           0      0.0% 

 Groceries,tobacco, mineral                      1,030      1.4%       3,629      4.7%       6,368      5.7% 

 Wine etc.                                       1,152      1.5%       1,806      2.3%       2,352      2.1% 

 Clothing                                        6,227      8.2%       7,489      9.6%      7,729       6.9% 

 Laundry and cleansing                              895     1.2%       1,465      1.9%      1,204       1.1% 

 Medical expenses                                4,604      6.0%       5,897      7.6%      4,591       4.1% 

 Postage, papers stationery                         866     1.1%       1,182      1.5%      1,432       1.3% 

 Vacation expenses                               6,731      8.8%     10,861      14.0%     11,734      10.6% 

 Travelling                                      1,234      1.6%       2,324      3.0%       3,522      3.2% 

 Alms, donations, mass                           3,751      4.9%       1,755      2.3%      3,040       2.7% 

 Fuel and light                                      17     0.0%           0      0.0%           1      0.0% 

 Visitation dues                                16,481     21.7%     31,747      40.8%     34,346      30.9% 

 Rents, rates, taxes, insurance                       4     0.0%           0      0.0%           0      0.0% 

 Repairs of premises                             1,359      1.8%         599      0.8%         589      0.5% 

 Capital expenditure                                736     1.0%         962      1.2%         955      0.9% 

 Interest on loans and overdrafts                2,765      3.6%       2,358      3.0%           0      0.0% 

 Bank charges, cheques                               18     0.0%          39      0.1%          46      0.0% 

 Sundries                                        1,596      2.1%       5,560      7.2%     33,305      29.9% 

 Capex and cash – school                        26,395     34.7%           0      0.0%           0      0.0% 



                                                76,113    100.0%     77,721     100.0%     111,214    100.0% 



 Surplus                                         2,582               57,061                280,080 



As  we  have  already  noted,  the  house  accounts  show  a  surplus  for  the  period  1940–69  of 

equivalent \339,723.  This  surplus  arises  primarily  in  the  1960s,  although  each  of  the  decades 

reviewed shows a surplus of income over expenditure. 



1940–49     shows    a  surplus   of equivalent  \2,582.     During   the  decade    the  house    contributed 

equivalent \26,395 toward capital expenditure on the school. Stipends, including limited stipends, 

of equivalent \67,243 represented 85 percent of total income during the period. 



1950–59 shows a surplus of equivalent \57,061. Brothers’ allowances were augmented by the 

proceeds of disposal of lands at Artane and interest income to provide for costs that, excluding 

capital  expenditure  on  the  school,  had  increased  by  over  50  percent  on  the  previous  decade. 

Visitation dues represented a significant portion of the increase, accounting for 40 percent of total 

expenditure during the period. 



88 We understand that limited stipends represent capitation grant funding lodged directly to the house account during 



  the period 1940–46. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         155 


----------------------- Page 1930-----------------------

1960–69 shows a surplus of equivalent \280,080. The most significant element of income is the 

proceeds from sale of lands at Artane. Excluding this income, other income of equivalent \143,844 

was sufficient to cover costs booked during the period, leaving a contribution towards surplus of 

equivalent \32,630. 



An overview of the three decades might be summarised as follows: 



                                   Exhibit 28 – Overview 1940–69 



                                                                                                   \ 

 Stipends, salaries and allowances                                                          261,863 

 Rent, dividends and interest                                                                65,510 

 Other Income                                                                                15,554 



 Operating expenditure                                                                    (153,530) 

 Visitation dues                                                                            (82,575) 



 Surplus before capex                                                                       106,822 



 Income from sale of lands                                                                  261,844 

 Capital expenditure                                                                        (28,942) 



 Surplus per house accounts                                                                 339,723 



5.3 Numbers of children and staff 



Number of residents 



Exhibit 29 below graphs the numbers of children committed to Artane over the period 1939–69, 

the reference period for our report. 



 Exhibit 29: The number of children committed at Artane from 30th September 1939 to 30th 



                                            September 1969 



We can see from the above figures that there was a steady and almost unchecked decline in the 

number of children committed from the late 1940s. 



The break-even analysis at Part 9 considers this issue in more detail. 



156                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1931-----------------------

Staffing numbers 



From the Visitation Report of November 1952 we are aware that ‘Artane has a more elaborate 

organization  of  trades  than  our  other  Industrial  Schools’.  The  types  of  trades  offered  included 

bakers, blacksmiths, boot makers, carpenters, fitters, millers, painters, tailors. Due to the variety 

of  trades  offered  there  was  also  a  consequent  demand  for  lay  workers  and  instructors  for  the 

various trades and farm work. 



      Exhibit 30: The number of lay workers v number of Brothers employed in Artane 

                             Industrial School during the review period 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       157 


----------------------- Page 1932-----------------------

The student to staff ratio over the period, is summarised in Exhibit 31 below. The overall ratio of 

students to all staff was between 12 and 15 to 1 for most of the 1940s and 1950s. From the late 

1950s the ratio increased to approximately 10 to 1, ultimately increasing to 2 to 1 in 1969. 



                             Exhibit 31 – Student to staff ratio 1939–69 



* Estimate – figures not available for year 



The Visitation Report dated November 1957 gives an insight into the implications of the declining 

numbers of residents at Artane. 



      The falling numbers in the Primary School is reflected in the small number available for 

      part-time trades and obviously it will be getting more and more difficult to maintain such 

      a diversity of Trades. This diversity also increases the numbers on the staff. At present 

      there are 28 active Brothers and at least 40 other employees. A staff of 68 to look after 

      526  boys  would  appear  to  be  completely  out  of  proportion.  Their  wage  bill  for  the  40 

      employees amounts to over £13,000 per annum which would be 25% approx of the grants 

      received from the Industrial Schools Branch and the Various County Councils and if even, 

      say, £300 per Brother were allowed it would mean that almost 45% of the grants given 

      for the support of the boys goes out in upkeep for the staff. In addition to all this there are 

      168 boys employed, without payment, in various activities. 



Throughout the 1940s and up until the 1950s there was a somewhat consistent number of lay 

employees and Brothers involved with the institution. There was approximately 38–46 lay workers 

and approximately 31–36 Brothers (with an average of 16 teaching in the primary school). When 

the school numbers fell significantly, for the first time, in 1955 to 653 (1954: 737), a decrease of 

11  percent,  the  school  responded  by  initially  reducing  the  numbers  of  Brothers  from  36  to  26, 

while  making  little  change  to  the  number  of  lay  workers.  Through  the  late  1950s  and  into  the 

1960s student numbers continued to fall by an average of 14 percent per annum. In response the 



158                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1933-----------------------

number  of  lay  staff  employed  was  reduced  considerably  from  38  in  1955  to  just  12  in  1969, 

however there was not a dramatic decrease in the numbers of Brothers involved in the School. 

From the Visitation Report of May 1968 we know that there were 25 Brothers employed, and 20 

at May 1969. 



An  analysis  of  payroll  records  made  available  to  us  by  the  Christian  Brothers  shows  that  the 

average  number  of  employees  in  each  activity  was  as  follows.  In  addition  we  understand  that 

approximately 15 Brothers taught in the school. 



                                                   Exhibit 32 



                                                   1940–49                1950–59                1960–69 



 Bakers                                                    1                      1                       1 

 Boilersman                                                1                      2                       1 

 Bootmaker                                                 2                      2                       2 

 Carpenter                                                 1                      2                       3 

 Cart/wheelwright                                          1                      0                       0 

 Chaplain                                                  0                      0                       1 

 Farmers                                                  14                     14                      10 

 Gardeners                                                 1                      1                       2 

 Laundry                                                   4                      5                       3 

 Kitchen                                                   2                      2                       2 

 Millers                                                   1                      1                       0 

 Painters                                                  1                      1                       1 

 Tailors                                                   2                      3                       3 

 Teachers                                                  5                      2                       1 

 Tinsmiths                                                 1                      1                       1 

 Weavers                                                   2                      3                       2 



 Total                                                    40                     39                      30 



Appendix V to this report summarises the numbers and roles of Brothers at Artane over the period 

1939–69.  Appendix  VI  provides  information  in  relation  to  the  lay  staff  employed.  Appendix  VII 

deals with the numbers of Brothers employed as teachers. 



5.4 Financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children 



In  the  normal  course,  one  would  look  to  a  balance  sheet  or  statement  of  affairs  as  a  primary 

record  of  the  financial  position  and,  accordingly,  the  financial consequences  of  an  activity.  We 

have not had sight of a balance sheet in respect of Artane Industrial School for any year during 

the period under review. However, we have been advised that an overdraft of equivalent \111,737 

was  cleared  by  the  Order  in  respect  of  the  school,  at  closure.  This  overdraft,  while  somewhat 

larger  than  the  deficit  recorded  in  the  school  accounts,  might  be  considered  to  represent  the 

significant element of a balance sheet at 1969. Similarly, while a formal balance sheet has not 

been prepared for the house, we believe that the building fund and bank balances attaching to 

the house constitute the most significant components of a balance sheet. Obviously, both of these 

‘balance sheets’ exclude the value of the lands and buildings at Artane, which might properly be 

included either to the account of the house,or the Order, as we understand that the title to the 

property is vested in a number of Brothers on behalf of the Order. For the purposes of our work 

we have assumed that neither the school nor the house had any significant assets and liabilities, 

other than the land and buildings at Artane and bank accounts identified, at 1st January 1940, an 

assumption broadly corroborated by the Visitation Report of 194289  which notes: 



       The Community account has a credit at Bank of £6,990, and the School account has a 

      credit of £3,568. 



89 Visitation Report 1942, system reference CBVART 004. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            159 


----------------------- Page 1934-----------------------

While these sums were not insubstantial at the time, they are of a magnitude that suggest that it 

is reasonable to believe that the surplus/deficit shown in the school and house accounts, and the 

various bank and building fund balances at 1969 represent an accurate picture of the financial 

consequences of running the institution from 1939–69. 



The closing balance sheet of the community at Artane might be summarised as follows; 



                                                      Exhibit 33 



 Cumulative 1939–69                                     School                  House                     Total 

                                                           \                       \                        \ 



 Cumulative surplus/ (deficit)                               (70,818)                 339,724                  268,906 



 Represented by: 



                                                                     90                      91 

 Balance at bank                                            (97,407)                 116,422                    19,015 



 Building fund                                                                        245,059                  245,059 



 Land & buildings92 



 Net assets/(liabilities)                                    (97,407)                 361,481                  264,074 



We  have  been  advised  that  the  Order  funded  a  final  overdraft  on  the  school  of  equivalent 

\111,737. 



The Visitation Report of 1966 comments as follows on the relationship between the School and 

the House: 



       The Accounts are carefully kept and everything ‘shows’ for any Department Inspector to 

       inspect. There are two Accounts – a School Account and a House Account. In addition to 

       supporting the boys the School supports the Brothers to the extent of food, maintenance 

       but not clothing or medical or any luxury items. In addition there is transferred from the 

       School Account to the House Account each year £300 per Brother for extra services, etc. 

       This is shown in the School Accounts. There is a debt on the School of £72,891-10-4, 

       interest free because the House Account carries a Savings Account in the Bank of that 

       amount. In the Building Fund the House Account has £193,000 on loan in addition. The 

       School Account runs at a deficit each year due to the fact that it gets only £5-7-6 per boy 

       per week,  which is not  enough, they  say. It seems  that the Bursar’s  Office is  run very 

       efficiently and with care.93 



As well as presenting the extent of the economic relationship between the school and the house, 

the above extract also clearly states the understanding of how a financial dividing line was to be 

drawn  between  the  two  elements  of  the  community  at  Artane.  The  house  benefited  from  the 

contribution of cost of production of food and maintenance from the school. The house also levied 

on the school a stipend per Brother. 



90 Source: bank statements provided by Christian Brothers. 

91 Source: Visitation Report 1968, system reference CBVART 062/5. This report also identifies the Building Fund 



   balance shown in this table. It puts the School overdraft at that date as £81,547 (equivalent \103,543). 

92 No value is ascribed to the land and buildings at Artane. It would appear reasonable to assume that a valuation at 



   1969 would have been at least as much as, and possibly in excess of, the value of disposals in the late 1960s, as 

   approximately 100 acres of land and substantially all of the buildings were retained by the Order. 

93 Visitation Report 1966, system reference CBVART 060/3. 



160                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1935-----------------------

The house had beneficial rights to the lands and property and to any income from this source. 

The school, on the other hand, bore the cost of supporting the boys, the costs of employing the 

lay staff, the costs of maintaining and upgrading the buildings and making a contribution toward 

the costs of the community of Brothers. 



If  the  capital  expenditure  incurred  at  the  school  was  to  be  excluded,  then  the  capitation  grant 

would have been sufficient to cover the operating expenses of the school. 



Obviously,  our  comments  in  Part  4  regarding  the  appropriateness  or  otherwise  of  the  State 

providing funding towards the capital costs of the school applies in the case of Artane. 



The financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children over the 

period 1939–69 



The financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children over the period 

1939–69 might be summarised as follows; 



                                                   Exhibit 34 



                                                                                                 \             % 



 Total expenditure (Exhibit 11)                                                         2,364,996          100% 



 Funded by: 



 State and Local authorities94                                                          1,868,443           79% 

 Other income95                                                                           425,734           18% 



 Deficit – funded by Order                                                                (70,819)           3% 



As we have seen, the Order funded a final overdraft on the school account of \111,737. 



6. Rosminian Fathers – Upton and Ferryhouse 



This Part of our report deals with our consideration of the financial information available in respect 

of the Industrial Schools at Upton, County Cork, and Ferryhouse, Clonmel, County Tipperary, run 

by the Rosminian Fathers between 1939 and 1969. In the course of our review we considered 

the following terms of reference identified by the Commission; 



        •    A review of the application of State funding to the care of children in the institution 

        •    A  commentary  on  the  effects  of  changes  in  the  number  of  children  in  the  relevant 

             institutions over the period 1939–69 



        •    A commentary on staffing/student ratios over the period of the review 

        •    The  financial consequences  for  the  relevant institutions  as  a  result  of caring  for  the 

             children over the period 1939–69. 



6.1 Background to financial information 



We  have  been  asked  by  the  Commission  to  examine  two  Industrial  Schools  operated  by  the 

Rosminian Fathers – Upton in County Cork and Ferryhouse, at Clonmel in County Tipperary. 



94 See Appendix IV. 

95 See Appendix IV. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            161 


----------------------- Page 1936-----------------------

Upton was originally founded as a Reformatory in 1860 by the Cork Society of St Vincent de Paul. 

The  Rosminians  were  asked  by  the  Society  to  run  the  Reformatory.  We  understand  that  the 

original buildings at Upton were provided by the Cork Reformatory Society, a subsidiary of the St 

Vincent  de  Paul  Society.  The  Reformatory  closed  in  1889  and  reopened  five  days  later  as 

Danesfort Industrial School. The application on behalf of management for a change in certification 

was prompted by a decrease in the number of boys being sent to Reformatories, coupled with a 

sharp increase in numbers sent to Industrial Schools. The Industrial School closed in 1966.96 



The Industrial School included a farm, some of which, we have been advised, was purchased by 

the Institute of Charity. The table at Exhibit 35 shows quantity of land farmed. 



                                        Exhibit 35 – Upton farm land 



 Farmlands                              Acreage                                Type 



 Farm                                   100 Acres                              Mixed 



No  financial  information  is  available  in  respect  of  the  years  1940–49.  Financial  information  is 

available in respect of the years: 



        - 1952, 1953 



        - 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966. 



Ferryhouse was originally founded and certified as an Industrial School in 1884. The institution 

included a small farm. We understand that the land and buildings at Ferryhouse were gifted to 

the Order by Count Arthur Moore, MP.97 



                                    Exhibit 36 – Ferryhouse farm land 



 Farmlands                              Acreage                                Type 



 Farm                                   9-50 Acres                             Mixed 



Again, a limited amount of financial information is available in respect of the institution run by the 

Rosminian Fathers at Ferryhouse in County Tipperary. Financial accounts were made available 

for the following years: 



        - 1941, 1947 



        - 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 



        - 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969. 



The Irish Province of the Institute of Charity ran the Industrial Schools of Upton and Ferryhouse 

and also operated a house of formation for students of the Order, at Omeath in County Louth. In 

addition to the accounts of the two Industrial Schools we have been given sight of the accounts 

of the Province for the following years; 



        - 1952, 1953 



        - 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969. 



96 Historical data from Brid Fahy Bates PhD The Institute of Charity: Rosminians Their Irish Story 1860-2003. 

                        ´ 

97 See Appendix XIII – Submission from Rosminian Fathers. 



162                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1937-----------------------

6.2 Analysis of Income and Expenditure 



Upton 



                     Exhibit 37 – Summary income and expenditure 1950–69 



                                   1952–539898              1960–669999                               TOTAL 



                                                         \                         \                        \ 



 INCOME                                            47,628                   310,392                  358,020 



 EXPENDITURE                                       47,578                   286,158                  333,736 



 SURPLUS                                                50                   24,234                    24,284 

 /<DEFICIT> 



From our analysis of the available Upton Industrial School income and expenditure accounts for 

the period 1940–69 we can see that income for the years presented exceeded the expenditure 

by equivalent \24,284. Obviously, the figures above are aggregated for the purposes of illustration 

only – the financial outcomes for the institution are dealt with below in the section of this report 

dealing with the balance sheet of the school and Province. 



1952–53 



In the years 1952 and 1953 a surplus of equivalent \50 was realised. During this period there 

appears to have been a very low level of capital expenditure incurred, and this is consistent with 

other information provided to us by the Order. 



1960–66 



The figures for this period show that the overall surplus generated was equivalent \24,234. The 

school income and expenditure figures include income and expenditure from the farm and garden. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  school  income  and  expenditure  accounts  presented  for  the  period 

1960–62 did not include farm income and expenditure. To make the data comparable, the farm 

income and expenditure figures have been included for 1960–62100. Capital expenditure for years 



available during this period represents 16 percent of total expenditure. 



Sources of income 



The income of the institution came from a number of sources. Over the period 1950–69 the main 

sources were: 



       •    Department of Education grants 

       •    County and borough council grants 

       •    Primary school grant 

       •    Voluntaries 

       •    Farm income 

       •    Masses. 



For   the  years  where    detailed  information    was   available  we   carried  out   an  analysis   of the 

percentage of total income for the institution deriving from the Department of Education and the 



98 For the period 1950–59, accounts are only available for 1952 and 1953. 

99 For the period 1960–69, accounts only available until 1966, year in which the school at Upton was closed. 

100 For the majority of years the farm income and expenditure figures included in the school accounts do not agree to 



   the farm accounts. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         163 


----------------------- Page 1938-----------------------

county and borough councils (capitation grants). As can be seen from Exhibit 38 below, over 60 

percent of income of the Institution over the period 1950–69 was derived from the Department of 

Education and county and borough council grants. 



                              Exhibit 38: Sources of INcome 1950–66 



 Sources of income                                                   1952–53                     1960–66 

                                                                           %                            % 



 Capitation/maintenance grants                                             64                           63 

 Farm income                                                               15                           20 

 Voluntaries                                                                9                            0 

 Primary school grant                                                       0                            6 

 Mass                                                                       5                            2 



 Total                                                                   93%                         91% 

 Other income sources immaterial 



The main items of expenditure over the period 1950–66 were: 



       •    Wages, salaries and insurance stamps 

       •    Farm and garden 

       •    Capital expenditure 

       •    Provisions 

       •    Bread 

       •    Clothing 

       •    Fuel, light and power 

       •    Meat and fish 

       •    Rents, rates and insurance 

       •    Laundry and cleaning. 



An analysis of expenditure during the years for which information is available shows that salaries 

and  wages  represent  a  more  significant  portion  of  overall  expenditure  in  earlier  years,  while 

expenditure on capital items and farm and garden increased over time. 



                            Exhibit 39: Analysis of expenditure 1950–66 



                                                                                 1952–53         1960–66 



                                                                                        %               % 

 Salaries and wages                                                                  17%               7% 

 Farm and garden                                                                     15%              19% 

 Provisions                                                                          14%               4% 

 Capital expenditure                                                                  6%              19% 

 Bread                                                                                6%               9% 

 Meat and fish                                                                        8%               6% 

 Clothing                                                                             7%               5% 

 Fuel, light and water                                                                5%               5% 

 Rates, rent and insurance                                                            3%               -% 

 Prov contribution                                                                     -%              3% 

 Masses                                                                               5%               2% 

 Other                                                                               14%             21% 



 Total                                                                              100%            100% 



164                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1939-----------------------

Capital expenditure 



From our review of the income and expenditure accounts of the school over the period 1950–66 

we note that capital expenditure in that period totalled equivalent \59,420. There is no evidence 

that  the  State  made    a  specific  contribution   in  respect   of the  capital  expenditure    at  Upton 

Industrial School. 



Ferryhouse 



From our analysis of the Ferryhouse Industrial School income and expenditure accounts for the 

period  1940–69  we  can  see  that  on  an  overall  level  the  income  exceeded  the  expenditure  by 

equivalent \26,901  for  these  years  available.  Again,  the  figures  above  are  aggregated  for  the 

purposes of illustration only – the financial outcomes for the institution are dealt with below in the 

section of this report dealing with the balance sheet of the schools. 



                    Exhibit 40 – Summary income and expenditure 1940–69101 



                                      1940–49              1950–59              1960–69               TOTAL 



                                              \                    \                    \                   \ 



 INCOME                                 19,806               90,183              404,474             514,463 



 EXPENDITURE                            24,039               85,551              377,972             487,562 



 SURPLUS                               <4,233>                4,632               26,502               26,901 

 /<DEFICIT> 



Income sources 



The Income of the Institution came from a number of sources. Over the period 1940 to 1969 the 

main sources were: 



       •     Department of Education grants 

       •    County and borough council grants 

       •    Government grants 

       •     Local authority grants 

       •    Voluntaries 

       •     Farm income 

       •    Salaries 

       •     Masses. 



For   the  years  where    detailed  information    was   available  we   carried  out   an  analysis   of the 

percentage of total income for the institution deriving from the Department of Education and the 

county and borough councils (capitation grants). As can be seen from Exhibit 41 below the most 

significant source of income (70–77 percent) for the institution over the period 1940–69 was the 

capitation grant. 



101 For the period 1940–49, accounts only available for 1941 and 1947. For the period 1950–59,accounts only available 



   for 1951,1952,1953 and 1954, For the period 1960–69, accounts available for all years with the exception of 1963. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         165 


----------------------- Page 1940-----------------------

                                Exhibit 41: Sources of income 1940–69 



 Sources of income                                           1940–49             1950–59              1960–69 



                                                                    %                   %                    % 

 Capitation/maintenance grants                                      75                  77                   70 

 Farm income                                                         7                  10                   12 

 Voluntaries                                                         9                   2                    0 

 Salaries                                                            5                   0                    0 



 Poor law contributions                                              0                   0                    3 

 New school building                                                 0                   0                    5 

 Masses                                                              0                   5                    0 



 Total                                                           96%                  94%                 90% 

 Other income sources immaterial 



An analysis of the expenditure incurred by the institution during the period shows that salaries 

and wages represented 20 percent of expenditure in the early years of the period, but declined in 

significance  over  the  period.  Capital  expenditure  increased  from  5–19  percent,  over  the  same 

period. 



                             Exhibit 42 Analysis of expenditure 1940–69 



                                                                    1940–49          1950–59          1960–69 

                                                                           %                %                % 



 Salaries and wages                                                        21               10                7 



 Provisions                                                                14               14                0 



 Farm & garden                                                              -                9               13 



 Groceries                                                                 14                0               13 



 Fuel, light and heat                                                       5                7                5 



 Clothing and bedding                                                       5                7                3 



 Bread                                                                      6                8                0 



 Meat                                                                       4                4                6 



 Capital expenditure                                                        5               12               19 



 Tailoring                                                                  3                -                6 



 Building and repairs                                                       3                -                - 



 Footwear                                                                   2                2                - 



 Travelling                                                                 2                -                3 



 Masses                                                                     -                4                - 



 Interest, bank charges and loan payment                                    -                2                6 



 Medical, printing & postage, church expenses &                             3                3                - 

 recreation expenses 



 Rent, rates, insurance                                                     -                1                2 



 Provincial contributions                                                   -                -                3 



 Other amounts                                                             13               19               14 



 Total                                                                 100%             100%             100% 



Other amounts include professional fees, wine and spirits, petty cash, tobacco, maintenance fees, 

charitable donations, provincial levies and loan repayments. 



166                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1941-----------------------

Capital expenditure 



From our review of the income and expenditure accounts of the school over the period 1940–69 

we noted that capital expenditure in that period based on available information totalled equivalent 

\84,931.  We  note  that  in  1968  there  was  a  contribution  of  equivalent \19,173  towards  a  new 

school building. This has been classified under the heading ‘other grants’, although the source is 

not identified. 



6.3 Numbers of children and staff 



Information  is  not  available  in  respect  of  the  numbers  of  staff  at  Upton  over  the  period  under 

review. Information in respect of the numbers of children in residence at the school was derived 

from  data  provided  by  the  Department  of  Education  to  the  Commission  and  is  attached  at 

Appendix XVII. The impact of changes in the numbers of children over the period is considered 

further in Part 9 of this report. 



6.4 Financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children 



The Province accounts 



We  have  carried  out  a  review  of  the  financial  data  in  respect  of  the  Province,  from  financial 

information presented by the Rosminian Fathers. Our key observations, based on this review, are 

as follows: 



       •     A very limited amount of financial information is available in respect of the Province. 

             Financial Accounts were available for the following years: 



            – 1952, 1953 



            – 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969. 



       •    The bank balance of the Province at 31st December 1969 shows cash in bank and in 

             hand totalling equivalent \4,087. 



       •     The  accounts  provided  show  that  the  Province  showed  a  surplus  of  income  over 

             expenditure in all years presented except two – 1966, where the accounts showed a 

             deficit of  equivalent    \36,   and   1967,   where    the  accounts    showed     a  deficit  of 

             equivalent \2,944. 



       •    Capital expenditure during the years examined amounted to equivalent \2,041. 



                     Exhibit 43 – Summary income and expenditure 1950–69 



                                                  1952–53                  1960–69                    TOTAL 



                                                         \                         \                        \ 



 INCOME                                            47,895                   218,661                  266,556 



 EXPENDITURE                                       47,334                   211,496                  258,830 



 SURPLUS                                               561                    7,165                     7,726 

 /<DEFICIT> 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         167 


----------------------- Page 1942-----------------------

Sources of income 



The main sources of income over the period 1950–69 are outlined below. 



1952–53 



Income  of \16,228  in  1952  derived  primarily  from  Masses  (\12,281).  Financial  information  in 

respect  of  1953  shows  no  income  from  Masses  but  that  the  significantly  increased  income  of 

\31,667 derived mainly from the contributions of Upton (equivalent \1,359), Clonmel (equivalent 

\1,521)  and  Omeath  (equivalent  to \5,286)  as  well  as  Kilmurry  (equivalent  \9,980)  and  the 

repayment of loans, made to the USA (equivalent \5,064). 



1960–69 



In  the  period  1960–69,  income  derived     primarily  from  Provincial  contributions  and  stipendia 

missarum. 



                           Exhibit 44: Main Sources of Income 1950–69 



 Sources of income                                                            1952–53           1960–69 

                                                                                    %                  % 



 Masses                                                                           26%                12% 

 Schools                                                                          45%                 8% 

 Provisional contributions                                                         0%               23% 

 Stipendia missarum                                                                0%               39% 

 Other sources                                                                    13%                 2% 



 Total                                                                            84%               84% 

 Other income sources immaterial 



Expenditure 



The main items of expenditure over the period 1950–69 are outlined below. 



1952–53 



Expenditure  in  1952,  in  an  amount  equivalent  to \16,140,  was  incurred  primarily  in  respect  of 

scholastics,  novitiate,  juniorate,  missions  and  travel.  Total  expenditure  in  1953,  equivalent  to 

\31,194, included spending on travel and schools as well as transfers to other accounts. 



1960–69 



Funds available in the period 1960–69 were expended primarily on interest costs, mandates and 

subsidies, transfers to stipendiorum, Glencomeragh, schools and in reducing the overdraft. 



                Exhibit 45: Analysis of the major items of expenditure 1950–69 



                                                                              1952–53           1960–69 

                                                                                    %                  % 



 Scholastics                                                                       3%                   0 

 Novitiate                                                                         5%                   0 

 Juniorate                                                                        12%                   0 

 Missions                                                                          3%                   0 

 Interest                                                                          0%                10% 

 Travel                                                                           17%                 1% 

 Transfers                                                                        26%                 2% 

 Schools                                                                          24%                 3% 

 Glencomeragh                                                                      0%                 4% 

 Mandates & subsidies                                                              0%               38% 

 Reduction of overdraft                                                            0%                 7% 

 Transfer stipendiorum                                                             0%               22% 



 Total                                                                            90%              100% 



168                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1943-----------------------

Amounts     expended  on     capital  items  would  not    appear   to  be  significant  –  amounting  to    an 

equivalent    of \2,041.   Glencomeragh       was   at  first the  Scholasticate    for the   Province   but  it 

subsequently served as the Novitiate and at times catered for Novices and Scholastics together. 

Some or  all of the  expenditure on Glencomeragh  (total equivalent to \9,129) may however  be 

capital  in  nature.  Expenditure  on  schools  represents  payments  from  the  Province  to  Omeath, 

Fermoy, Kilmurry and Upton. 



Statement of Affairs at 31st December 1969 



The  statement  of  affairs  of  the  Province  at  31st  December  1969  shows  assets  and  liabilities 

as follows: 



                                                  Exhibit 46 



                                                                                  £                  \ 



 Assets 

 Bank                                                                                3,160               4,012 

 In hand                                                                                 58                  74 

 Prize bonds                                                                            285                 362 

 Various loans                                                                      12,170              15,453 

 Cork marts                                                                             600                 762 

 No. 3 account                                                                      18,784              23,851 



                                                                                    35,057              44,514 



 Liabilities 

 Pro missis translates at transferendis                                                 860              1,092 

 Interest on loans due to burses                                                        708                 899 

 Funeral expenses                                                                       150                 190 

 Overdraft                                                                          44,000              55,868 



                                                                                    45,718              58,049 



 Excess of liabilities over assets                                                 (10,661)           (13,535) 



Upton 



The  balance  sheet  of  the  school  at  31st  December  1966  shows  a  net  surplus  of  equivalent 

\17,233. 



Ferryhouse 



The  balance  sheet  of  the  school  at  31st  December  1969  shows  a  net  surplus  of  equivalent 

\19,790. 



A summary position is also suggested for those years where accounts are available: 



                                                  Exhibit 47 



                                 Upton                                            \                  % 



 Total expenditure                                                                 333,736               100% 



 Funded by: 



 State and local authorities                                                       242,823                73% 

 Other Income                                                                      115,196                34% 



 Surplus                                                                            24,284                 7% 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         169 


----------------------- Page 1944-----------------------

                                                  Exhibit 48 



                              Ferryhouse                                          \                  % 



 Total expenditure                                                                 487,562               100% 



 Funded by: 



 State and local authorities                                                       369,317                76% 

 Other Income                                                                      145,146                30% 



 Surplus                                                                            26,901                 6% 



As the records are incomplete, this summary can only be regarded as indicative. 



We note that the Rosminian Fathers have, in presenting information to us, drawn attention to the 

history of under-funding and scarcity of resource in the schools. They have also noted that the 

community schools, were of necessity, interdependent, and both dependent on the produce of the 

school farms for essentials. The Order also notes that the Province did not maintain central funds, 

and could not, accordingly, provide significant additional support. The net liability position of the 

Province  at  31st  December  1969,  supports  this  contention.  We  attach  at  Appendix  XIII  the 

submissions of the Order in relation to the financial position of the schools. 



The submission made by the Rosminian Fathers draws attention to a number of issues that are 

relevant not only to those schools run by the Order, but also to the system of Reformatories and 

Industrial Schools in its entirety. We have dealt with these, in that context, in the early sections of 

this report. In summary, the issues raised by the Order are as follows; 



       •     No  State  monies  were  available  to  assist  with  the  provision  of  buildings  and  other 

             facilities in the Industrial Schools. 



       •    The Order also notes ‘It must be kept in mind that the two Industrial Schools were only 

             part  of  the  financial  burden  on  the  Province  that  also  had  to  provide  and  maintain 

             houses for students who were called to join the Institute and who did not pay any fees 

             for  their  training.  From  1945  onwards,  the  Province  had  a  further  call  on  its  limited 

             financial resources when it was required to provide for the travelling expenses, health 

             care and much more, of the members who went on mission to East Africa.’ 



The question of State funding of the property is, as we have already seen, complex, and is relevant 

to  our  understanding  of  the  relationship  between  the  State  and  the  Orders  and  their  collective 

perception of their respective roles in relation to the provision of the Reformatory and Industrial 

Schools. 



With regard to the additional financial burdens on the Order, we note that this question is relevant 

to an understanding of how the religious communities viewed the schools as a potential contributor 

to other unfunded or under-funded activities of the Order. From our examination of the financial 

information made available to us by the Rosminian Fathers it is our view that the schools did leave 

the Order in a net surplus position, to the extent that the closing balance sheets of the schools 

show an improved position on the earliest available accounts. However, the contribution of the 

schools to other community activity does not, based on the available information, appear to have 

been sufficient to yield the Order a significant surplus. 



170                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1945-----------------------

7. St Vincent’s Industrial School – Goldenbridge 



We have carried out a review of the financial data and related information in respect of St Vincent’s 

Industrial  School,   held  on   the  Commission     database    system    and   from  financial  information 

provided by the Sisters of Mercy. 



Our   work   to date   consists   principally of  the  review   and   analysis  of  relevant   information   in 

accordance with applicable requirements specifically identified in our terms of reference. These 

are: 



       •     A  review  of  the  application  of  State  funding  to  the  care  of  children  in  St  Vincent’s 

             Industrial School 



       •     A  commentary  on  the  effects  of  changes  in  the  number  of  children  over  the  period 

             1939–69. 



       •     The  financial  consequences  for  the  relevant  institution  as  a  result  of  caring  for  the 

             children over the period 1939–69 



       •    A commentary on staffing/student ratios over the period of the review. 



7.1 Background to financial information 



St Vincent’s Industrial School was certified as an industrial school in 1880. The Sisters of Mercy 

managed  the  industrial  school  at  Goldenbridge  between  1939  and  1969.  The  facility  provided 

accommodation  in  respect  of  140  children  committed  there  at  30th  September  1939  and  141 

children at 31st December 1969. For most of its existence the industrial school was certified for 

girls up to the age of 16 years and from 1954 its certification included permission to accept boys 

up to the age of 10 years. 



The combined Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy was founded in 1994. Prior to that, the Order 

was divided into distinct congregations – one for each diocese. Each diocese had its own mther 

gneral  and  cuncil.  Goldenbridge  Industrial  School  was  associated  with  Goldenbridge  Convent 

(approximately 20 nuns), which was a branch house of Carysfort Mother House within the Dublin 

diocese. On the same grounds as the industrial school were the convent, the external convent 

primary school, the secondary top and a small farm. We understand that the small farm consisted 

of a couple of acres that was used to keep a few cows and crops, which were used to supply 

the convent. 



We have not received any financial information for the school for the years 1939–54. Accounts 

were  available  for  the  period  1955–69  in  six-monthly  sets  with  the  exception  of  the  six-month 

periods ended 31st December 1957, 30th June 1968 and 30th June 1969. The period ended 31st 

December 1960102      has also been omitted from our analysis as this is a duplication of the 30th 



June 1960 accounts which therefore questions their validity. Two different sets of accounts were 

made available to us for 1953. For the purpose of this analysis we have used accounts reference 

SOMGB-00568/12  and  SOMGB-00568/13.  In  the  years  1961103               and  1963104   we  note  that  the 



accounts  of  the  Goldenbridge  do  not  appear  to  tot  correctly.  We  have  accordingly  used  the 

detailed analysis rather than relying on sub-totals as presented in the accounts. 



The school ceased to be an Industrial School in the mid-1980s. 



102 SOMGB-00568/49-55. 

103 SOMGB-00568/58. 

104 SOMGB-00568/84. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         171 


----------------------- Page 1946-----------------------

7.2 Analysis of income and expenditure 



The  income  and  expenditure  of  Goldenbridge  Industrial  School,  as  presented  in  the  school 

accounts for the period 1955–69 is as follows: 



                                                 Exhibit 49 



                                                               1955–60            1961–69             TOTAL 



                                                                      \                  \                  \ 



 INCOME                                                        154,582            230,570             385,152 



 EXPENDITURE                                                   146,256            205,487             351,743 



 SURPLUS                                                          8,326             25,083             33,409 



Commenting on the funding of the school Sr Helena O’Donoghue noted: 



      In any examination of standards in the Industrial Schools the issue of funding is critical. 

      From interviews with the former Resident Manager and from the limited records available 

      it is clear that there was a constant struggle to provide even a basic standard of living for 

      the children within the limits of the funding provided to Goldenbridge right through until 

      1970s when the capitation fee per child was doubled overnight on the eve of a General 

      Election.105 



The main sources of income recorded in the school accounts are as follows: 



       – Dublin Corporation 



       – Council grants 



       – Dublin Health Authority 



       – The Department of Education. 



We note that, with the exception of one year there is no evidence that the school received any 

primary grant funding in respect of national school teachers. Those accounts relate to the period 

ended 31st December 1953 and refer to income from ‘Department of Education – Primary Branch 

– Capitation Grant for National School’. The grant received is represented in the accounts as an 

amount of IR£878. 



The main items of expenditure over the period include: 



       – Food 



       – Clothing 



       – Salaries and wages 



       – Repairs and decoration 



       – Rent, rates and taxes 



       – Fuel, light and power 



       – Furniture, fittings and bed linen. 



105 Statement of intended evidence by Sister Helena O’Donoghue (OSBG-002/32). 



172                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1947-----------------------

Income 



For  the  years  where  detailed  information  was  available  we  analysed  the  percentage  of  total 

income for the institution deriving from the Department of Education and the county and borough 

councils (government and local authority grants). As seen below the most significant portion of 

income is from government and local authority grants. 



                                              Exhibit 50 



 Income                                                                     1951–60            1961–69 



 Dublin Corporation                                                             37%                31% 



 Treasury (Department of Education)                                             46%                34% 



 County councils                                                                 4%                 8% 



 Dublin Health Authority                                                         0%                11% 



 Other                                                                          13%                16% 



 Total                                                                         100%              100% 



Government and Local Authority grants varied between 84–87 percent of total income recorded 

by  the  institution between   the  years  1951–69.    (This  includes  treasury  amounts106   that  we 



understand were capitation grants.) In total, the amount received over the period was equivalent 

to \304,519. 



We understand that bead-making commenced as a trade within the school in the early 1950s and 

ceased prior to 1970. From our discussion with the representatives of the Order, we believe that 

children made  ‘decades’ of beads  (the stringing of  beads onto wire  using pliers). Quotas  were 

imposed in order to meet the requirements of their contracts with two companies. We understand 

that the quota was 60 decades per participating child per day. We do not know how many children 

participated and no financial records of this income source have been made available to us. We 

did receive correspondence from one company which purchased the decades from Goldenbridge 

and we have used this data to estimate the range of possible income that has not been included 

in the accounts. 



                                              Exhibit 51 



 Bead Income 



 Number of children                                       120            90            60            30 



 Income per decade                                    IR£0.11       IR£0.11       IR£0.11      IR£0.11 



 Income per annum                                    IR£3,432      IR£2,574      IR£1,716       IR£858 



 Discounted income per annum                         IR£2,869      IR£2,152      IR£1,435       IR£717 



We understand that: 



       •    There   were  quality  issues  with  the decades,    for which  we   have  discounted   our 

            estimates by 5 percent. 



       •    For most of July, August and Christmas there was no production, for which we have 

            discounted the estimate by 20 percent. 



106 SOMGB-00568/12. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                  173 


----------------------- Page 1948-----------------------

       •     On occasions the children worked six days a week, for which we have increased the 

             estimate by 10 percent. 



This  means  that  the  range  of  income  would  be  between  IR£717  and  IR£2,869  per  annum 

depending  on  the  number  of  children  making  the  decades.  We  understand  that  the  Sisters  of 

Mercy believe that the income was at the lower end of this scale. 



We believe that the income generated may have been significant because an amount was used 

in 1954 to contribute to the purchase of a property in Rathdrum, County Wicklow. We have been 

advised by the Order that the property was used by children during holiday periods. 



Expenditure 



The most significant items of expenditure can be summarised as follows; 



                                                 Exhibit 52 



                                                                                  1951–60            1961–69 

                                                                                        %                   % 



 Dietary expenses                                                                       34                  26 



 Wages                                                                                  21                  18 



 Clothing                                                                               12                  12 



 Building repairs and decorations                                                       11                  16 



 Fuel and light                                                                          7                  7 



 Furniture and fittings                                                                  3                   3 



 Medical                                                                                 1                  2 



 Other                                                                                  11                  16 



 Total                                                                                 100                 100 



The wages above consist of staff wages, payments to the Resident Manager and payments to 

the Reverend Mother. 



Wages and salaries 



Limited information is available in relation to the staffing levels during the period 1939–69. We 

understand that generally the staffing consisted of two nuns (both teaching and one having the 

dual responsibility of resident manager), two lay teachers and a number of other staff (seamstress, 

domestic, etc). We note that based on records of 1955 there were eight members of staff excluding 

the nuns and teachers. This increased to eleven members of staff in 1958. 



We noted a number of inconsistencies in relation to wages and salaries: There were peak years 

for payments of wages and salaries in 1953 and 1954 of approximately \4,900 per annum. These 

levels were not reached again until 1967. 



174                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1949-----------------------

                                                    Exhibit 53 



                  Wages and salaries                                            1953 & 1954 



 Non-teaching staff                                                                \1,400 



 Lay teachers and nuns                                                             \1,900 



 Unknown                                                                           \1,600 



 Total wages per accounts                                                          \4,900 



The data from the year where wage analysis is available, which is based on the staff numbers 

and   weekly    wages     in 1955107,    can   be  used    to  recalculate    the  annual    staff  wages    to  be 



approximately \1,400  per  annum  based  on  eight  staff  members.  The  difference  is  likely  to  be 

made  up  of  payments  to  the  two  lay  teachers  and  the  two  nuns.  Based  on  average  industrial 

wages in 1955 this would account for approximately \1,900.108We do not know what payments 



made  up  the  remaining \1,600.  However,  we  note  from  the  payments  books,  which  are  only 

available  subsequent to  1960,  that they  show  a payment,  recorded  as wages,  to  the reverend 

mother of IR£90 per month. We do not know whether this payment actually represented wages 

or if the funds were used for the school or for another purpose. 



The accounts of Carysfort Mother House indicate payments received between 1939 and 1954 on 

a  monthly  basis  totalling  between  approximately  \5,000  and \9,000  per  annum  described  as 

‘National Education Goldenbridge’. The Carysfort accounts indicate payments totalling between 

approximately  \1,000  and \5,000  per  annum  to  the  Goldenbridge  convent  and  Goldenbridge 

school expenses. The source of the income is not clear nor is the extent to which the payments 

related  to  wages.  It  is  also  not  clear  how  much  of  this  income,  or  expenditure,  relates  to  the 

Industrial School, rather than the adjacent national school. 



                                                    Exhibit 54 



Capital expenditure 



                        1951–69                                                       \ 



 Building Account                                                                  90,000 



 Accounts summary: 



 Repairs, Buildings and Decorations                                                50,195 



 Machinery and new equipment                                                         227 



 Furniture, fittings and bed linen                                                 11,084 



 Crockery and Hardware                                                              1,030 



 Hardware                                                                           6,209 



 Total                                                                             158,745 



The  total  capital  expenditure  during  the  period  1951–69  was \158,745.  The  following  items  of 

capital expenditure items were noted during our review: 



       –  1941: New recreation hall 



       –  1954: A holiday home at Rathdrum 



107 SOMGB-00568/21. 

108 See Exhibit 3, Part 4. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              175 


----------------------- Page 1950-----------------------

       –  1955: New heating system installed 



       –  1958: Re-wired 



       –  1960: Small villa at entrance gate for residents’ visitors 



       –  1963: Four new dining rooms; a recreation hall and playground 



       –  1963: New dormitory 



       –  1964: New external primary school. 



Capital expenditure using the school account was primarily on building repairs and decorations 

and furniture and fittings. In the 1960s this amounted to 19 percent of expenditure. In 1969 repairs 

to buildings made up 29 percent of expenditure. We have received some records in respect of a 

building account held in the 1960s that was funded by the school account and various grants. It 

is unclear how much of these funds were used for properties other than for the industrial school; 

although based on a sample review of such expenditure we did note a certificate of payment in 

respect of Rathdrum in the amount of IR£750.109109 



The accounts of the Industrial School indicate funding given to capital expenditure of IR£2,000 for 

the purchase of a holiday home in 1954, with further contributions to the building fund account of 

IR£2,000 in 1959 and IR£4,000 in 1960, before a subsequent repayment from the building fund 

account to the school account of IR£1,050. 



Building fund 



As we have noted above, the building account was operated during the period under review. We 

received accounts for the period 1961–66 in six-monthly sets with the exception of the six months 

ended 30th June 1962 and 30th June 1964. The following information has been extracted from 

those accounts: 



       – Approximately \90,000 was spent during the period 1961–66 with \68,500 spent during 

            the period 1964–66. 



       –  The  main  identified  contributors  to  the  funding  were:  Board  of  Works \32,000;  Dublin 

            Corporation \15,000 and Treasury (Department of Education) \17,000. 



       –  Due to incomplete records we are unable to determine whether other lodgements to the 

            building account represent capital grants or general funding of the school which was 

            used for capital expenditure. 



The building fund account is summarised in Appendix XV. 



7.3 Numbers of children and staff 



Below  is  a  summary  of  the  number  of  students  attending  St  Vincent’s,  Goldenbridge  and  the 

income and expenditure per student for that year. 



109 SOMGB-00490/1. 



176                                                                               CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1951-----------------------

                                             Exhibit 55 



          Year                 No of students         Income per student     Expenditure per student 



                                                              \                         \ 



           1951                     150                       85                       83 



           1952                     154                       89                       82 



           1953                     158                       109                      111 



           1954                     151                       106                      112 



           1955                     161                       81                       93 



           1956                     161                       99                       87 



           1957                     163                       136                      108 



           1958                     166                       90                       110 



           1959                     158                       151                      131 



           1960                     161                       198                      121 



           1961                     163                       113                      130 



           1962                     190                       99                       108 



           1963                     176                       111                      125 



           1964                     194                       162                      136 



           1965                     174                       197                      133 



           1966                     165                       195                      195 



           1967                     147                       275                      226 



           1968                     139                       279                      166 



           1969                     141                       323                      222 



We can see from the above figures that the number of children committed to Goldenbridge peaked 

in the early 1960s and then began to decline in the late 1960s. 



As noted above accounts were not available for the six months ended 31st December 1957, 31st 

December 1960, 30th June 1968 and 30th June 1969 and therefore for these years income and 

expenditure figures were calculated on a pro-rata basis in order to achieve comparable figures. 



We understand that there was no significant fluctuation in teaching staff during the period. Limited 

information was available in relation to non-teaching staff. 



7.4 The financial consequences for the relevant institution as a result of caring 

for the children over the period 1939–69 



The financial consequences for Goldenbridge of caring for the children over the period 1939–69 

are probably best characterised as being one of being close to break-even. The following table 

illustrates, for those years where accounts are available, the position. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                              177 


----------------------- Page 1952-----------------------

                                                 Exhibit 56 



                                                                                        \                  % 



 Total expenditure                                                               351,743               100% 



 Funded by: 



 State and local authorities                                                     282,239                80% 

 Other income                                                                    102,913                29% 



 Surplus                                                                           33,410                 9% 



We note that there was a surplus in the bank account of the Industrial School at 30th November 

1969 of \16,265, which is consistent with the position indicated in the above summary. We also 

note  in  this  regard  that  the  school  accounts  do  not  show  any  primary  grant  received,  with  the 

exception of one period, and exclude income from the bead-making activity. 



8. St Conleth’s Reformatory School – Daingean 



This part of our report deals with our consideration of the financial information available in respect 

of  the  Reformatory  School  at  Daingean,  County  Offaly,  which  was  run  by  the  Oblate  Order 

between  1940  and  1969.  In  the  course  of  our  review  we  considered  the  following  terms  of 

reference identified by the Commission; 



       •    A review of the application of State Funding to the care of children in the institution 

       •     A  commentary  on  the  effects  of  changes  in  the  number  of  children  in  the  relevant 

             institutions over the period 1939 to 1969 



       •    A commentary on staffing/student ratios over the period of the review 

       •     The  financial consequences  for  the  relevant institutions  as  a  result  of caring  for  the 

             children over the period 1939–69. 



8.1 Background to financial information 



On   6th  August    1940,  St  Conleth’s   School    in Daingean,    County    Offaly,  was   certified as  a 

Reformatory School to be managed by the Oblate Order. The Oblate Order had, up until this time, 

run a training college for those wishing to enter the Order at Daingean, with the premises leased 

from the State since 1932 on a 99-year lease while the adjoining lands were owned by the Order. 

The facility in Daingean was identified as a replacement for the Reformatory School in Glencree, 

which had been operated by the Oblates until 1940, having previously been run as a reformatory 

school since the late 1800s, and as an army barracks and convict prison prior to that. 



In one of the sequence of transactions related to the establishment of the reformatory school at 

Daingean, the State purchased the farmland from the Oblate Order at a price of £4,500 (\5,714), 

including  £1,000  (\1,270)  for  farm  buildings  which  the  Oblates  had  erected  on  the  lands,  and 

entered into a new 50-year lease agreement at an annual rental of £350 (\444). In addition the 

State paid to the Oblates a sum of £6,000 (\7,618) for improvements that they had carried out to 

the buildings at Daingean and £2,500 (\3,174) towards the liquidation of debts incurred by them 

in running the reformatory in Glencree. 



Some of the monies paid to the Order were used to fund the purchase of an estate in Piltown, 

County Kilkenny for the purpose of housing the Oblate Order’s training college. 



178                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1953-----------------------

The farmland at Daingean comprised 259 acres of which a portion was given over to a dairy herd 

and  70  acres  of  which  were  under  tillage.  The  farm  supplied  milk,  butter,  meat,  potatoes  and 

vegetables for the school. In addition to the farm produce, two bogs owned by the school provided 

fuel and bread was baked in the school bakery. 



Activities  at  the  school  included  tailoring,  shoemaking,  woodwork,  farmwork,  and  working  the 

bogs, while football, hurling and handball were played during free time. There was also a school 

band and mobile cinema. Ninety boys were members of the local defence forces. In 1945 a new 

theatre was completed where the boys put on performances both for the school and the general 

public.  During  the  1950s  and  1960s,  about  40  boys  attended  the  technical  school,  another  40 

attended   the  remedial    school  while   the  remainder    were   engaged    in whatever    trades   and 

activities existed. 



The   staff at Daingean     included  the  Resident   Manager,    chaplain,   approximately    four Oblate 

Fathers,  up  to  20  Oblate  Brothers,  two  lay  teachers,  one  tailor,  one  shoemaker,  three  farm 

workers, one PE teacher (part time). 



The  school  at  Daingean  had  an  accommodation  limit  of  250  boys.  Just  over  220  boys  were 

transferred   from   Glencree    to  Daingean    in  August    1940.   The   war   years   saw   Daingean 

accommodating its highest levels of inmates. From the information available it would appear that 

student numbers reached a high of 240 in 1943 and dipped as low as 92 in 1969. 



Financial information has been reviewed for all years from 1940. 



8.2 Analysis of Income and Expenditure 



                                                Exhibit 57 



                                       1940–49             1950–59            1960–69              TOTAL 



                                              \                   \                   \                  \ 



 INCOME                                 148,231            223,993             354,657             726,881 



 EXPENDITURE                            147,222            222,106             375,259             744,587 



 SURPLUS /<DEFICIT>                       1,009               1,887           <20,602>           <17,706> 



As can be seen from the analysis, the school operated at approximately a break-even position for 

the first two decades under review but ran into deficit during the third decade. 



1940–49 



Whilst deficits existed in the years 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1949 a small surplus of \1,009 

was  generated  during  the  decade.  ’Proceeds  of  sale  of  Glencree’  of \4,444  were  recorded  as 

income in 1943 (resulting in a surplus of \4,469 in that year) but were then transferred out in the 

following year (resulting in an overall deficit of \6,209 in 1944). It is not clear from the accounts 

where these proceeds were transferred to or what specifically the proceeds related to. The deficit 

in  1944  was  also  driven,  in  part,  by  a  bakery  installation  amounting  to \1,200.  Deficits  were 

generated in each of the years 1946 (\587), 1947 (\188), 1949 (\1,204). It is noted that in 1946 

and 1947 turf was purchased for other sites operated by the Oblate Order in Dublin. 



What this broad  analysis of income and  expenditure, and resulting surpluses/deficits,  shows is 

that, by and large throughout the 1940s, the school was run within the funds available. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                      179 


----------------------- Page 1954-----------------------

1950–59 



While the overall surplus of \1,887 generated for the decade 1950–59 is not significantly different 

from that generated in the previous decade, an examination of individual years show erratic results 

which range from a deficit of \891 to a surplus of \1,798. There appears to be a trend of a year 

of deficit being followed by a year of surplus. Significant one-off items of expenditure during these 

years included the following: 



                                                 Exhibit 58 



                Year                             Expenditure                           Amount 



                                                                                          \ 



                1952                          Technical school                          1,439 



                1957                    Schoolbooks & newspapers                        3,595 



                1958                        Payments to council                         1,439 



1960–69 



Significant deficits were generated in all but two years throughout the 1960s. These deficits would 

appear to derive from increased expenditure across a number of different headings which include 

holidays  and  retreats;  coal,  gas,water  and  lighting;  repairs;  education;  stipends  to  Fathers  and 

provincial;  farm.  There  would  also  appear  to  have  been  significant  petty  cash  drawings  in  the 

1960s (amounting to \9,604), the purpose of which is not identified. Throughout the 1960s income 

generated from the farm appears to have increased quite substantially – from \12,709 in 1940–49 

to \73,685 in 1960–69. 



Income sources 



Government and council grants were the primary sources of income for the Reformatory School 

in  Daingean. Other  income  included  farm sales,  stipends  and sundry  sales.  The  source of  the 

stipends  is  not  clear  from  the  documentation  available.  An  analysis  of  the  percentage  of  total 

income for  the institution which derived  from the Department  of Education and the  county and 

borough  councils  (government  and  council  grants)  is  outlined  below.  The  analysis  shows  that 

Government grants accounted for a proportionately smaller amount of total income in later years. 

This reflects both the falling number of boys being admitted in later years as well as the increased 

farm income. 



180                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1955-----------------------

                                                Exhibit 59 



           Sources of Income                    1940–49               1950–59               1960–69 



                                                   %                     %                     % 



 Government and council grants                     83                    77                    67 



 Farm                                               9                    14                    21 



 Stipends                                           3                     3                    3 



 Sundry sales                                       -                     5                     - 



 Shop                                               -                     -                    1 



 Other                                              5                     1                    8 



 Total                                            100%                 100%                  100% 



In addition to these direct sources of income, activities carried out at the school, which involved 

the labour of the boys, also generated some income which went directly to the Province – the 

annual   sale  of  work  was:   ‘an  annual   effort from   here  (Daingean)    towards   the  missionary 

endeavour’. 



We note that the amount of funds raised from this source is not known. 



Expenditure 



The main categories of expenditure over the period 1939–69 include: 



       – Clothing 



       – Furnishing and carpentry 



       – Payments to Province 



       – Dietary expenses 



       – Wages 



       – Farm expenses. 



The  main  items  of  expenditure,  as  a  percentage  of  total  expenditure,  in  each  of  the  decades 

examined are summarised in the following table. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                    181 


----------------------- Page 1956-----------------------

                                                  Exhibit 60 



                                                   1940–49                1950–59                1960–69 



                                                      %                      %                      % 



 Dietary expenses                                     19                     21                     19 



 Farm                                                 14                     17                     22 



 Clothing and shoe-making                             14                     10                      7 



 Payments to Province                                 14                      6                      4 



 Furnishing and carpentry                              7                      9                     10 



 Wages                                                 7                     10                     10 



 Rent                                                  4                      3                      2 



 Fuel and light                                        5                      6                     10 



 Car, lorry and freight                                3                      5                      1 



 Medical                                               3                      3                     33 



 Rates, taxes and insurance                            -                      1                      2 



 Other                                                10                      9                     10 



 Total                                                100                    100                    100 



From the detailed income and expenditure accounts provided it is apparent that the school was 

to some degree self-sufficient, with the majority of dietary needs coming from the farm. Reports 

in 1941 from Anna McCabe, the Medical Inspector, indicate that the boys were well fed which was 

helped  significantly  by  the  farm  produce110.  In  addition,  activities  at  the  Reformatory  School  in 



Daingean included tailoring and shoemaking which would have met  a significant portion of the 

needs  of  the  boys  in  this  regard.  Documentation  indicates  that  at  one  point  production  in  the 

tailor’s shop was so high that they could provide all of their own clothes.111 



Expenditure of the school includes payments to the Province which amounted to almost \50,000 

over the period under review. ‘The Oblates levied an administration fee on the school as it did on 

every house in the Province’112. 



A report prepared on behalf of the Oblate Order in May 2002 indicates that these payments to 

the Province and to the order members were funded by farm sales, stipends and donations. An 

analysis of payments to the Province and to the order members in the context of the surplus/deficit 

generated from the farm and income from donations and stipends indicates, however, that in most 

years such income sources, when related costs are taken into account, would not have supported 

the level of payments made to the Province and to the order members and, at an overall level for 

the  period  from  1940–69,  payments  to  the  Province  and  to  the  order  members  would  have 

exceeded  these  sources  of  income  by  an  amount  of  approximately \25,111,  i.e.  farm  income, 

donations, stipends and sundry sales together exceeded farm expenditure by just \35,395 and 

were not sufficient to cover payments to the Province. 



110 Anna McCabe Report 13/1/1941. 

111 DNOB2016. 

112 Oblate Statement 1949–55. 



182                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1957-----------------------

                                                Exhibit 61 



This would, therefore, imply that capitation grants were, in part, funding payments to the Province. 

One  view  which  has  been  expressed  is  that,  since  the  farm  was  owned  by  the  State,  funds 

generated  from  the  farm  should  have  been  returned  to  the  State.  This  view  is  suggested  by 

Department  of  Finance  considerations  at  the  time  when  the  Reformatory  School  was  being 

transferred from Glencree to Daingean – 



      it would seem reasonable that any profit arising on the farm should accrue to the State ... 

      As the grants should enable the Reformatory to be conducted in a satisfactory manner, 

      the profits on the farm should not be diverted to the Order.113 



It is assumed that these payments to the Province replaced the direct payment of a stipend to 

members of the Oblate Order working at the institution. The members of the Order in Daingean 

did  benefit  from  board  and  lodging  as  well  as  benefiting  from  farm  produce.  We  have  been 

informed by representatives of the Oblate Order that they also received a small amount of pocket 

money  for  their  holidays.  Income  and  expenditure  accounts  for  the  school  indicate  that  total 

expenditure in the amount of approximately \78,000 was incurred on holidays, retreats, Father’s 

allowances and sundries, stipends to Provincial, and payments to Province. 



The report prepared by Goodbody Economic Consultants on behalf of the Order and submitted 

to the Commission in May 2007 makes the point that had the school paid salaries to the Fathers 

and Brothers working in the institution that the amount of such salaries would exceed the amounts 

received by the Province and as a consequence deficits of the school would have been higher 

than those presented in the accounts. The calculations prepared by Goodbody’s appear broadly 

reasonable. However we believe it important to bear in mind the system that prevailed at the time 

(as described in Parts 3 and 4 above). That the Reformatory was not a State school is quite clear 

in documentation reviewed: 



      During the Conference two very important factors from an Oblate point of view and bearing 

      on the work of the Reformatory were discussed and accepted as defining accurately the 

      status  of  the  Oblates   in  Daingean,    viz  (a) Mr   Frank   Duffy,  representative    of the 

      Department     of Education,    made   it quite  clear  that  the  Reformatory    School   though 

      recognised  and  financed  by  the  State  was  not  a  State  Institution  but  a  private  school 



113 DOF1939-02-020. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                      183 


----------------------- Page 1958-----------------------

       under  the  management  of  a  religious  body.  There  was  no  legislation  to  constitute  it  a 

       State institution, (b) that should the Oblate Congregation at any time feel the yearly rent 

       of E350 too burdensome it had two alternatives, first, to approach the Government for a 

       remission of part of this burden or for an increase in grant and secondly, it had the option 

       on six months notice to the Government at any time to relinquish the work of conducting 

       the Reformatory.114 



The Industrial and Reformatory Schooling system during the period under review did not provide 

for payment, by the State, of salaries of those employed in the running of the institutions. The 

matter of salaries would not appear to be a matter that was raised by the Order at the time they 

ran the Reformatory in Daingean. Rather they appeared to accept the responsibility of managing 

the Reformatory and, in so doing, participated in the system as it prevailed at that time. 



We also understand that the Order itself did not pay salaries to the Fathers and Brothers who 

gave up their personal time and labour as part of their vocation. To restate the accounts, therefore, 

to take into account theoretical salaries would not, in our view, accurately represent the situation 

as it pertained at that time. 



Farm income and expenditure 



Separate accounts were not maintained for the farm at Daingean for the period under review. We 

have not seen a clear definition of what the category ‘farm sales’ included but it is assumed that 

this income source derives from excess produce being sold to third parties. 



From the information provided in the school accounts we can see that the farm generated a deficit 

of income over expenditure in each of the three decades, as outlined below. These figures do not, 

however, take into account the value of farm produce consumed by both the boys and the Brothers 

and Fathers resident at the School. In availing of farm produce to feed the boys and Brothers, 

there was, presumably, both a financial saving to the school, which would have resulted in lower 

total  expenditure  and  lower  deficits  than  if  these  costs  were  incurred  externally,  as  well  as  a 

corresponding loss of potential income. Similarly, the accounts do not reflect the fact that labour 

on the farm was largely that of the boys and the Brothers. Again, there would have been a certain 

saving to the school in using this ready pool of labour as opposed to employing additional farm 

labourers. 



                                                     Exhibit 62 



                                           1940–49             1950–59             1960–69              TOTAL 



                                               \                   \                   \                   \ 

 Farm sales 115                             12,709              32,446         73,685 116               118,840 



 Farm expenditure                           20,883              40,294              82,667             143,844 



 SURPLUS /<DEFICIT>                        <8,174>             <7,848>             <8,982>             <25,003> 



A  Department of  Education report  prepared in  1955 following  a visit  to the  school provides  an 

insight  into  one  observer’s  opinion of  the  profit-generating  capacity  of  the  farm  and the  use  to 

which these profits were put: 



114 Resident Managers Management File. 

115 Farm sales are taken directly from the accounts provided. Other income categories such as ‘sundry sales’, 



   ‘unspecified’, etc may represent income generated from the farm but due to the uncertainty have been excluded from 

   this analysis. 

116 Farm sales presented in the accounts show zero farm income in 1968 despite expenditure in that year of \12k. 



184                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1959-----------------------

      I am of the opinion that very handsome profits are made on the farm but I can see no 

      evidence of any of the profits being ploughed back for the benefit of the boys or for the 

      improvement of the buildings.117 



The same report goes on to say: 



      I could not help forming the impression that if the Institution and the farm attached to it 

      were part of the one business it should be a matter of very little difficulty for the authorities 

      of the school to make very considerable improvements in the interests of the boys without 

      appealing to the Department for an additional grant. 



From  a  comparative  description,  in  this  same  report,  of  the  farm  buildings  and  the  buildings 

occupied by the boys, there would appear to have been a very notable difference: 



      the   kitchen  and   the  dining-room     .......... reminded  me   forcibly  of  the  conditions   so 

      eloquently described by Dickens and which were common in poorhouses in England at 

      this time .......... In contrast to the conditions for the boys, the conditions for the milking 

      herd were excellent. The byre was a beautiful cut-stone building – an old building but very 

      well  maintained  –  beautifully  clean,  well  washed  out  and  the  cattle  very  well  cared  for 

      ............The attention paid to the cattle was in marked contrast to the care for the feeding 

      of the boys. 



The views of the Department official are not consistent with the record in the financial statements, 

which  show  an  overall  deficit  from  the  farm.  We  have  not  been  able  to  identify  a  reason  for 

this inconsistency. 



Capital expenditure 

In January 1940 the property at Daingean was valued at £8,436.118 



The Oblate Order entered into a 50-year lease agreement with the State dated 10th September 

1941. Under the terms of this lease, the lessees (being the Oblate Order) were required to: 



      repair, cleanse, maintain, amend and keep the said messuage and buildings and all new 

      buildings  which  may  at  any  time  during  the  said  term  be  erected  on  and  all  additions 

      made  to  the  demised  premises  and  the  fixtures  therein  and  the  walls,  fences,  roads, 

      sewers, drains and appurtenances thereof with all necessary reparations, cleansings and 

      amendments whatsoever ... in good and tenantable state of repair and condition.119 



Department     of  Finance    documentation     indicates   that  the  income    to  the  Oblates   under   the 

capitation grant system was regarded by the Department as being adequate to meet repair and 

maintenance expenditure: 



       The  grants  are  fixed  so  as  to  cover  not  only  the  maintenance  of  the  boys  but  the 

      maintenance      of  the   buildings.  The    Order   in  the   past  made     a  profit  out  of  the 

      Reformatory.120 



Expenditure  of  a  capital  nature,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  responsibility  of  the  State  and,  in 

entering into the new lease agreement with the Oblates, it was acknowledged that certain further 

improvements to Daingean would be required. 



       The  cost  of  acquiring  the  farm  and  farm  buildings  and  of  compensation  to  the  Oblate 

      Order in respect of additions to the premises, as well as of the further improvements now 



117 DEDAN0285-031. 

118 DOF1939-02-167. 

119 DOF1939-02-162. 

120 DOF1939-02-018. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         185 


----------------------- Page 1960-----------------------

       authorised and of such works as may be found necessary in future, will fall to be borne 

       on the Vote for Public Works and Buildings.121 



The accounts of the school record expenditure in the amount of equivalent \72,422 on repairs 

and  furnishing  and  carpentry,  which  represents  10  percent  of  total  expenditure  for  the  period 

reviewed. The breakdown of this spend over the three decades is notably different however, as 

outlined below, with an increasing level of expenditure incurred in later years. 



                                                    Exhibit 63 



                                          1940–49             1950–59             1960–69             TOTAL 



                                              \                   \                   \                  \ 



 Furnishing & carpentry                     10,113             20,799              37,074             67,987 



 % of Total expenditure                      7%                  9%                 10%                 9% 



 Repairs                                       -                  -                4,435               4,435 



 % of Total expenditure                        -                  -                  1%                 1% 



A significant amount of building work was carried out in Daingean between 1940 and 1969.122 



From documentation made available it appears that the steps involved in the carrying of capital 

works were as follows: 



        •     The   Oblate    Fathers   contacted     the  Department      of  Education    to  request    specific 

              renovations at the school. 



        •    Department of Education contacted the Department of Finance to obtain approval for 

             the funding of the works. 



        •    If the Department of Finance grants permissions it sent a memorandum to the Board 

             of Works to initiate the works. 



        •    The Project Architect from the Board of Works would then make direct contact with the 

              Reformatory Manager to determine the specifics of the works to be carried out. 



        •    The Board of Works would then conduct a publicly advertised tender competition to 

             select contractors for the project. The Board of Works would manage the process of 

             selection of contractors. 



        •    The Board of Works monitored progress on the assignment and managed all payments 

             to the contractors. 



Correspondence reviewed indicates that requests for capital funding were ongoing throughout the 

1939–69 period and both the State’s and the school management’s frustration in this regard is 

quite apparent.123 



Correspondence between the OPW and the Department of Finance indicates that building work 

carried out between 1940 and 1963 included the following124: 



121 DOF1939-02-028/1. 

122 The Commission has written to the OPW seeking clarification of this point but a complete response has not been 



   available to date. 

123 DEDAN0282-046; DOF1939-02-110. 

124 DOF1939-02-199/1. 



186                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1961-----------------------

                                                 Exhibit 64 



                    Date of completion                                    Work carried       Approximate 

                                                                               out           expenditure 



                                                                                £                  \ 



       1941         Sanitary annexe                                           4,000              5,079 



       1944         Wooden huts to serve as dormitory for 35 boys             5,500              6,984 

                    and a recreation hall 



       1948         New west wing                                            23,000             29,204 



       1954         New east wing                                            25,000             31,743 



       1958         Demolition Works (St Joseph’s wing, BOOT                 28,000             35,553 

                    Shop, old recreation hall, wash house, shelter at 

                    rear of boot house) 

                    New works (two play shelters, two handball 

                    alleys, new residence for 12 Brothers, paving of 

                    new recreation ground) 



      TOTAL                                                                  85,500            108,563 



Despite the building work undertaken in the 1940s and 1950s, inspection reports indicate that the 

farm  buildings  were  in  better  repair  and  condition  than  the  living  accommodation  for  the  boys. 

Department of Education records from the mid-1950s include the following comments: 



      Dr McCabe informed me that she has been pressing for years on the authorities of the 

      school  certain  improvements  in  the  interest  of  the  boys  both  spiritually  and  materially. 

      Some of these have been carried out though with considerable reluctance and the almost 

      invariable answer given to her when she suggests improvements is that there is no money 

      available for such.125 



During   the  early  1960s    requests   for capital  funding   continued    with  approximately    £35,000 

(\44,441) being requested for an assembly hall, games room and boot hall although this does not 

appear  to  have  been  sanctioned  by  the  Minister  for  Finance.  A  further  £6,000  (\7,618)  was 

sanctioned in 1967 in respect of fire precaution works. In 1969 the Committee on Reformatory 

and Industrial Schools visited Daingean and, in their interim report, identified the need for works 

which the OPW costed at a minimum of £85,000 (\107,928). It is not entirely clear whether this 

amount    was    in fact  sanctioned    by   the  Department     of  Finance    but  there  appear    to  be 

recommendations within the Department files to provide sanction for this amount126. 



In considering the substantial capital and maintenance spend throughout the period, it is notable 

that this trend of significant capital investment continued right up until the reformatory at Daingean 

closed  in  1973.  Documentation  from  1969  indicates  that  the  future  of  the  institution  was  given 

some consideration in the context of the £85,000 (\107,928) capital funding request. Assurance 

seems to have come from the Department of Education in this regard in correspondence of 30th 

May 1969: 



      Whatever  the  recommendations  of  the  Committee  on  the  future  of  St  Conleth’s,  this 

      Department is satisfied that the building will continue to be occupied as a reformatory for 

      a further period of at least 10 years.127 



125 DEDAN0285-031. 

126 DOF1966-00-073. 

127 DOF1966-00-66. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       187 


----------------------- Page 1962-----------------------

Despite  the  significant  capital  investment  in  Daingean  in  the  period  1939–69,  Department  of 

Education  records  indicate  that  Daingean  was  not  in  a  good  state  of  repair.  Correspondence 

between  the  OPW  and  Departments  of  Finance  and  Education  in  1969  and  the  early  1970s 

indicates that certain buildings in Daingean were ‘structurally unsound’.128 A visit paid by an official 



of the Department of Education in 1967 echoes this view of the state of repair, referring to the 

premises being ‘in a bad state ... should be demolished’.129 



Closure of Reformatory School 



The  Kennedy  Report  in  1970  recommended  that  Daingean  ‘should  be  closed  at  the  earliest 

opportunity and replaced by modern special schools conducted by trained staff’. 



St Conleths Reformatory School in Daingean was closed in October 1973, and replaced by Scoil 

Ard  Mhuire,  Lusk.  The  land and  buildings  at  Daingean  were  surrendered  to  the State  with  the 

exception of a house at the entrance to the Reformatory which was retained by the Oblates and 

the gate lodge which was disposed of, to the occupant of 26 years, on terms recommended by 

an OPW valuer. The transfer value of the house to be occupied by the Oblates was a point of 

some contention  – the original  OPW valuation (£20,000/\25,395)  was disputed by  the Oblates 

due to the fact that they had recently incurred £12,000 (\15,237) on a milking parlour and the fact 

that  they  would  need  to incur  expenditure  on  repairing  and  redecorating  the  house130. It  is  not 



entirely clear what value was ultimately ascribed to this transaction and we have not seen any 

documentation in relation to payments made in this regard. 



8.3 Numbers of children and staff 



Below is a summary of the number of students attending St Conleth’s, Daingean and the income 

and expenditure per student for that year. 



128 DOF1966-00-070. 

129 DEDAN0276-105. 

130 DOF1966-00-077. 



188                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1963-----------------------

                                               Exhibit 65 



    Date       Average students per year         Income per student           Expenditure per student 



                                                          \                              \ 



     1940                 222                             31                             24 



     1941                 221                             65                             63 



     1942                 223                             65                             60 



     1943                 240                             85                             66 



     1944                 236                             68                             95 



     1945                 224                             78                             75 



     1946                 199                             73                             76 



     1947                 178                             70                             71 



     1948                 206                             80                             75 



     1949                 201                             76                             82 



     1950                 175                             98                             103 



     1951                 178                             110                            100 



     1952                 177                             133                            134 



     1953                 152                             150                            141 



     1954                 142                             148                            154 



     1955                 130                             160                            160 



     1956                 166                             132                            122 



     1957                 163                             131                            138 



     1958                 154                             167                            170 



     1959                 172                             177                            172 



     1960                 187                             92                             97 



     1961                 181                             183                            204 



     1962                 146                             254                            234 



     1963                 117                             285                            291 



     1964                 129                             222                            294 



     1965                 108                             350                            393 



     1966                 119                             342                            344 



     1967                 107                             359                            301 



     1968                 104                             424                            449 



     1969                 92                              488                            572 



St Conleth’s had an accommodation limit of 250 students. It would not appear to have reached 

this limit at  any  point,  240  students   being  the  highest   number   under   detention   (in 1943). 

Documentation indicates that the numbers under detention were at the highest levels during the 

war years as a concerted effort was made by the relevant authorities to minimise the number of 

offending children on the streets. 



We  can  see  from  the  above  figures  that  there  was  a  rapid  decline  in  numbers  of  children 

committed in the mid to late 1960s. As the numbers dropped below 200 in the 1950s, the Resident 

Manager  at  Daingean  was  of  the  view  that  the  grant  should  be  on  a  sliding  scale  since  the 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                   189 


----------------------- Page 1964-----------------------

overhead  costs  were  reasonably  constant  regardless  of  the  number of  boys,  while  the  income 

stream was linked directly to the number of boys under detention. This point was raised at an 

interview given by the Minister of Education to the Resident Manager in 1950. The Minister vetoed 

the idea at that time on the grounds that a new wing at the school had just been completed and 

it was not considered to be the optimal time to draw the Department of Finance’s attention to the 

falling numbers: 



       The  Minister  stated  that  the  time  immediately  following  our  successful  struggle  for  the 

       provision of the  new wing is not  the best time to  ask the Minster for  Finance for extra 

       grants nor the best time to bring to the attention of the Minister for Finance that committals 

       are  falling  so  low  that  the  new  wing  might,  perhaps,  not  be  needed.  The  question  of 

       increased grants would seem, therefore, to be a matter for a later date.131 



The falling numbers of children contributed significantly to the deficit position of the school in the 

1960s. This issue is dealt with further in Part 9. 



Statements from the Oblate Order indicate that the staff structure remained essentially the same 

throughout  the  school’s  lifetime.  The  staffing  of  the  Industrial  School  at  Daingean  included  on 

average 20 Oblate Brothers, 4–5 Oblate Fathers, plus a visiting medical officer and dentist, two 

lay teachers, a carpenter, tailor, laundrywoman, two night men, a drill instructor and farm workers. 

As detailed above, the Oblates, who made up a significant portion of the staff, were not in receipt 

of salaries although there were ‘allowances’ paid to the Fathers as well as payments that went 

directly to the Province. 



In 1946 the Department of Education proposed to appoint two full-time technical instructors for 

the school and in 1967 the Department of Education recognised St Conleth’s under the national 

school grouping and agreed to pay the teachers accordingly. Up until this point the salaries of the 

teachers had been borne by the school. Towards the end of the period under review, in the mid 

to late 1960s, the staffing complement was enhanced with the addition of a matron, 2–3 further 

teachers,  three  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  four  women  in  the  kitchen.  A  growing  number  of  outside 

professionals were also involved in the school. Three Oblates qualified as teachers and a further 

four or five qualified in childcare and childcare management. 



8.4 Financial consequences for the relevant institution of caring for the children 



We have not had sight of a balance sheet for St Conleth’s Reformatory School, Daingean for the 

period  under  review.  Our  assessment  of  the  financial  consequences  is  therefore  limited  to  the 

information  which  can  be  extracted  from  the  income  and  expenditure  accounts  provided.  The 

salient points in assessing the overall financial consequences include the following: 



        •    We understand that there was a deficit in the bank of the Reformatory School at 30th 

              November 1969 in the amount of \11,710. 



        •    The total deficits generated by the school over the period amount to \17,706. 

        •     Expenditure on the buildings (furnishing and carpentry, repairs) amounted to \72,422. 

        •     In analysing the farm income and expenditure in the school accounts, it can be seen 

              that the farm made an overall deficit of \25,003132. It is not known to what extent farm 



              expenditure includes work of either a capital or a repairs and maintenance nature. 



A summary of the financial effect of running the school is as follows; 



131 DEDAN0276-018. 

132 This is based on figures taken from farm income and farm expenditure lines in the accounts. Farm sales presented 



   in the accounts show zero farm income in 1968 despite expenditure in that year of \12,000. Other income categories 

   such as ‘sundry sales’ and ‘unspecified’ may represent income generated from the farm but due to the lack of 

   certainty have been excluded from this analysis. 



190                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1965-----------------------

                                                    Exhibit 66 



                                                                                              \                   % 



 Total expenditure                                                                    744,587                 100% 



 Funded by: 



 State and local authorities                                                          533,614                  72% 

 Other income                                                                          193,273                 26% 



 Deficit to be funded                                                                   17,700                  2% 



We note that the school remained open after the period of our review. We are not aware whether 

the deficit identified above remained at the date of closure of the school and how any such deficit, 

if it existed, was funded. 



An  examination  of  the  transcripts,  statements  and  documentation  of  the  Oblate  Order  made 

available to us describes a situation where making ends meet was a constant struggle, especially 

in light of the ongoing works and maintenance required: 



       The income deficit, plus the capital starvation for building projects, put a severe strain on 

       Oblate management throughout the fifties and sixties. The Oblates were in no position to 

       provide cash injections from other funds.133 



Repair and maintenance expenditure, being the responsibility of the Oblate Order under the terms 

of the lease, represented an ongoing outflow of funds. 



The Oblate Order’s statement for the period 1964–72 is of the opinion that the deficits: 



       were made up by contributions from various sources: chiefly the produce and income of 

       the  farm,  but  also  occasional  stipends  received  by  members  of  the  community,  and 

       signally  by  the  non-payment  of  proper  salaries  for  Oblate  staff,  and  some  charitable 

       contributions from the public.134 



The Resident Manager was of the opinion that introducing some form of sliding scale of grants 

when numbers dropped below 200 would have made for better financing of the school. Such a 

sliding scale was not, as we have seen, realised and as the numbers fell the deficits generated 

by  the  school  increased.  In  analysing  income  and  expenditure,  however,  in  these  later  years 

where numbers fell and deficits increased, there was also increased expenditure on the following 

categories of expenditure: 



133 Oblates Discovery file, p 84. 

134 Oblates Discovery file, p 83 (1964–72 Oblates Statement). 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               191 


----------------------- Page 1966-----------------------

                                                 Exhibit 67 



                                     1940–49                    1950–59                     1960–69 

                                        \                           \                          \ 



 Holidays & retreats                  2,112                       3,338                      9,061 



 Furnishing, carpentry,               10,113                     20,799                      41,510 

 repairs 



 Education                               -                          -                        1,755 



 Fathers allowance &                   665                        1,186                      3,317 

 sundries 



 Stipends to Provincial                115                          -                        3,104 



 Petty cash                              -                          -                        9,604 



 TOTAL                                13,005                     25,323                      68,351 



It is clear from the financial statements reviewed that the expenditure on furnishing, carpentry and 

repairs contributed significantly to the deficits in the school. 



9. Comparative and break-even analysis 



9.1 Terms of reference 



We have carried out an analysis of the financial data in respect of Goldenbridge in County Dublin, 

Upton in County Cork, Ferryhouse in County Tipperary, Artane in County Dublin and Daingean in 

County  Offaly.  The  sources  of  the  financial  data  were  the  Commission  database  system  and 

information prepared and provided to us by the respective religious Orders. 



Our   work   to date   consists  principally  of  the  review  and   analysis   of relevant   information   in 

accordance with applicable requirements specifically identified in our terms of reference. These 

are: 



       •    A review of the application of State funding to the care of children in the schools 

       •    A  commentary  on  the  effects  of  changes  in  the  number  of  children  over  the  period 

             1939–69 



       •    The financial consequences for the schools as a result of caring for the children over 

             the period 1939–69. 



9.2 Comparative analysis 



The expenditure of the schools at Goldenbridge, Artane, An Daingean, Upton and Ferryhouse has 

been analysed into common areas and summarised into five-year periods commencing from the 

date  from  which  financial  information  is  available.  These  figures  therefore  represent  the  data 

available in the school accounts for the period 1939–69. Information not available for certain years 

and parts of years is dealt with in detail within the respective chapters. The groups of similar costs 

used for this analysis are detailed below: 



192                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1967-----------------------

 Expenditure category         Details 



 Provisions                   Provisions purchased, food, clothing, medical expenses, laundry and 

                              cleaning, aftercare, shoe making and bootshop 



 Operational Expenses         Industrial departments, farm poultry and garden, sweet shop and store, 

                              stationery, telegraph, telephone, postage, books for schoolrooms and library, 



 Building-related             Ordinary repairs and decorations, fuel, light, power, rent, rates, taxes, 

 expenditure                  insurance, classrooms and payments to council 



 Capital Expenditure          Expenditure on building works, furniture, fittings, machinery and hardware 



 Recreational                 Band expenses, games, awards, entertainment and holidays 



 Salaries                     Salaries, wages, insurance and stamps 



 Traveling                    Travelling expenses, car and lorry and freight. 



 Professional and             Bank charges, interest, solicitors fees and valuer’s fees 

 financial-related 

 expenses 



 Stipends and religious-      Stipends, transfer to community account, donations and payments to priests 

 related expenses 



 Sundry expenses              Other expenses and petty cash 



                                                 Exhibit 68 



 Goldenbridge                                    1951–55         1956–60          1961–65         1966–70 

 5-Year intervals                              Average %        Average %       Average %        Average % 



 Provisions                                        53%             44%              48%             29% 

 Operational expenses                               0%              1%              2%               2% 

 Building-related expenditure                      18%             24%              19%             42% 

 Capital expenditure                                3%              7%              5%               6% 

 Recreational                                       0%              0%               1%              1% 

 Salaries                                          24%             21%              22%             17% 

 Travelling                                         1%              2%              2%               2% 

 Professional and financial-related                 0%              0%              0%               0% 

 expenses 

 Stipends & religious-related expenses              0%              1%               1%              1% 

 Sundry expenses                                    1%              0%              0%               0% 

 Total                                            100%             100%            100%             100% 



                                                 Exhibit 69 



 Artane                             1941–45      1946–50      1951–55     1956–60      1961–65      1966–71 

 5-Year intervals                  Average%     Average%     Average%    Average%     Average%     Average% 



 Provisions                           16%          16%          19%          19%         20%          26% 

 Operational expenses                 30%          32%          36%         28%          19%          12% 

 Building-related expenditure         15%          15%          11%          12%         13%          15% 

 Capital expenditure                   1%           1%          2%           7%          20%          13% 

 Recreational                          1%           1%          1%           2%           2%           6% 

 Salaries                             32%          23%          19%         20%          16%          18% 

 Travelling                            0%           0%          0%           0%           0%           0% 

 Professional and financial-           0%           1%          1%           0%           0%           0% 

 related expenses 

 Stipends & religious-related          5%          11%          10%         12%           9%           6% 

 expenses 

 Sundry expenses                       0%           0%          1%           2%           1%           4% 

 Total                                100%        100%         100%         100%         100%        100% 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        193 


----------------------- Page 1968-----------------------

                                             Exhibit 70 



 An Daingean                     1941–45     1946–50    1951–55     1956–60    1961–65     1966–69 

 5-Year intervals               Average%    Average%   Average%    Average%   Average%    Average% 



 Provisions                        36%        34%         36%         35%        29%         29% 

 Operational expenses              15%         20%        19%         20%        20%         23% 

 Building-related expenditure      10%         9%         10%         12%        14%         12% 

 Capital expenditure               8%          9%          9%         10%         8%         12% 

 Recreational                       1%         2%          1%         2%          0%          0% 

 Salaries                          5%          8%         10%         9%          8%         12% 

 Travelling                        3%          5%          6%         7%          2%         0% 

 Professional and financial-        0%         0%          0%         0%          0%          0% 

 related expenses 

 Stipends & religious-related      17%        13%          9%         5%          7%         2% 

 Expenses 

 Sundry expenses                   5%          0%          0%         0%         12%         10% 

 Total                            100%        100%        100%       100%        100%       100% 



                                             Exhibit 71 



                                                                         1952–53 & 

 Upton                                                                    1960–61        1962–66 

 intervals                                                               Average %      Average % 



 Provisions                                                                 34%            22% 

 Operational expenses                                                       20%            17% 

 Building-related expenditure                                               6%              6% 

 Capital expenditure                                                        9%             26% 

 Recreational                                                               2%              4% 

 Salaries                                                                   11%             6% 

 Travelling                                                                 3%              2% 

 Professional and financial-related expenses                                4%              0% 

 Stipends & religious-related expenses                                      3%              7% 

 Sundry expenses                                                            8%             10% 

 Total                                                                     100%            100% 



 Ferryhouse                                                1951–54        1960–65        1966–69 

 intervals                                                Average %      Average %      Average % 



 Provisions                                                  39%            39%            27% 

 Operational expenses                                        12%            15%            13% 

 Building-related expenditure                                9%             12%            15% 

 Capital expenditure                                         14%             7%            24% 

 Recreational                                                1%              0%             0% 

 Salaries                                                    13%             7%             8% 

 Travelling                                                  1%             4%              3% 

 Professional and financial-related expenses                 3%              1%             0% 

 Stipends & religious-related expenses                       5%              6%             5% 

 Sundry expenses                                             3%              9%             5% 

 Total                                                      100%           100%            100% 



Provisions and operational expenses 



Provisions consist of food and clothing, while operational expenses consist mainly of farm and 

trade costs. To show a like-for-like comparison, these expenses were compared together across 

the five schools in order to include a cost element of providing farm and other trade produce to 

the school. We noted that these costs as a percentage of total costs normally fall within the range 

45–55 percent with the following exceptions noted and explained below: 



       •   A number of the schools fall below the percentage range in the post-1966 range due 

            to an increase in building-related and capital expenditure. 



194                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1969-----------------------

       •     Also,  in several   schools,  the  number    of  children  was   decreasing,    reducing   both 

             provisions and operational expenses incurred as a percentage of total costs. 



Building-related expenditure and capital expenditure 



We have considered these categories in combination because capital expenditure in some schools 

would have been analysed under various areas that would be contained within this combination. 

The  non-capital  elements  of  building-related  expenditure  include  rent  and  rates,  light  and  heat 

and repairs and renewals. The level of expenditure varies significantly between schools but peak 

expenditure consistently occurred in the late 1960s. From documentation made available to us 

and  discussed  elsewhere,  there  appears  to  have  been  discussion  throughout  the  1960s  as  to 

what future the schools had. 



Wages and salaries and stipends and religious-related expenses 



Wages and salaries in some schools include stipends and other payments to the members of the 

religious Order running the school. Therefore, in order to prepare a like-for-like comparison we 

will consider a combination of the wages and salaries and stipends and religious-related expenses. 

Based on the comparison across the schools we noted the following: 



       •     These   costs  as  a  percentage    of  total  costs were  most  significant  in   the  earliest 

             accounts available. 



       •    The  percentage  of  total  costs,  within  the  same  time  period,  varies  significantly.  For 

             example during 1951–55 the cost to Artane represented 29 percent compared with 14 

             percent and 18 percent for Upton and Ferryhouse respectively. It is unclear as to why 

             these costs varied so widely. 



       •    The stipends and religious-related expenses in isolation, within the same time period, 

             also  vary  significantly. For   example    during  1951–55    the  cost   to Artane   and   An 

             Daingean represented 10 percent and 9 percent respectively compared to 3 percent 

             for Upton and 5 percent for Ferryhouse. Goldenbridge’s nil percentage for this expense 

             category is because payments to the Order are included in wages and salaries in their 

             accounts. One explanation for the difference between the institutions may be that the 

             level of stipends varied with the level of funds available. This explanation would also 

             be consistent with a larger school being able to be more efficient in terms of cost per 

             child and therefore leaving a larger amount available for distribution to the community. 



Break-even analysis 



We  calculated  the  break-even  point  across  all  schools  for  two  sample  periods  –  1951–55  and 

1961–65. 



For the purpose of this analysis, the following assumptions have been used: 



       •    Variable income consists of funding received on a per-child basis (i.e. government and 

             council  capitations  funding  and  primary  grant)  together  with  farm  and  other  trade 

             income. 



       •    Other income consists of any income other than variable income. 

       •    Variable costs consist of both expenditure on provisions and operational expenses. 

       •    Fixed costs consist of wages that remained reasonably static with movement in child 

             numbers  and  other  costs  with  the  exception  of  capital  expenditure  which  is  shown 

             separately and required irrespective of the number of children resident at a point in 

             time. 



       •     Contribution  per  child  is  calculated  by  dividing  the  excess  of  variable  income  over 

             variable costs by the average number of children. This represents the annual amount 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       195 


----------------------- Page 1970-----------------------

            that  the  variable  income   for  each  child  contributed   to fixed  costs  and   capital 

            expenditure. 



       •    The break-even point is calculated by dividing the contribution per child into the fixed 

            costs. This represents the number of children required for the school to cover both its 

            fixed and variable costs. 



       •    Where the financial information has been unavailable in a particular period we have 

            indicated the alternative period used. 



  Exhibit 72: 1951–55 (Upton is calculated using accounts for 1952–53 and Ferryhouse is 

                             calculated using accounts for 1951–54) 



                                     Goldenbridge       Artane         An        Upton      Ferryhouse 

                                                                   Daingean 



                                           \              \            \            \            \ 



 Expenses –annualised: 



 Fixed                                   6,510          37,454       7,955        9,268        7,535 



 Variable                                7,924          48,076       11,173      13,117       10,871 



 Capital                                  516            1,867       1,966        1,404        2,982 



                                         14,950         87,397       21,094       23,789      21,388 



 Income – annualised: 



 Fixed 



 Variable                               14,349          89,803       21,379      21,055       20,609 



 Other                                    168            895          120         2,745        1,937 



                                         14,517         90,698       21,499       23,800      22,546 



 Average no of children                   154            710          156          118          187 



 Contribution per child                   42              59           65          67           52 



 Break-even point                         155            635          122          138          145 



       •   When variable income and expenditure are considered in combination we can see that 

            there is consistently a positive contribution within the range of \42–67 per child per 

            year across the schools considered. A positive contribution indicates that income was 

            available to fund fixed and other costs. 



       •    The contribution generated was used for fixed costs and capital expenditure. 



We calculated the break-even point across all schools for the period 1961–65, which showed the 

following results: 



196                                                                               CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1971-----------------------

  Exhibit 73: 1961–65 (Ferryhouse is calculated using accounts for 1960–62 and 1964–65) 



                                        Goldenbridge        Artane          An          Upton      Ferryhouse 

                                                                        Daingean 



                                              \                \             \            \             \ 



 Expenses –annualised: 



 Fixed                                      10,147          45,144        16,937        13,099       13,040 



 Variable                                   11,253          41,576        17,120        19,387       19,033 



 Capital                                    1,193           21,323         2,957        10,638        2,290 



                                           22,593          108,043        37,014        43,124       34,363 



 Income – annualised: 



 Fixed 



 Variable                                  23,945           84,080        32,975        42,836       33,752 



 Other                                       285             4,099         955          3,340         2,590 



                                           24,230           88,180        33,930        46,176       36,341 



 Average no of children                      177              330          113           166           168 



 Contribution per child                       72              129           140          142            88 



 Breakeven point                             141              350          121            92           149 



When we compare 1951–55 with 1961–65 we noted the following: 



       •     The break-even point for Artane and Upton decreased significantly when comparing 

             1951–55 with 1961–65. In the case of Artane the break-even level decreased due to 

             the increase in the level of variable income and variable costs by approximately 100 

             percent  to \255  and  \126  respectively  per  child  per  year  increasing  the  monetary 

             amount of the contribution. In the case of Upton, unlike other schools, variable cost 

             levels per child remained constant at approx. \110 per child per year while variable 

             income increased by approximately 50 percent. 



       •     Over time the contribution per child has increased. As identified above this is due to 

             the variable income increasing by a higher monetary value than the variable costs per 

             child. The level of contribution was higher in the schools with a farm due to the farm 

             income, which was an important source of additional funding for those schools. 



       •     In line with the increased contribution, fixed costs and capital expenditure have also 

             increased. 



       •     The  break-even  analysis  for  the  sample  period  in  the  1950s  shows  that  all  of  the 

             schools, with the exception of Upton, had numbers of children in excess of the break- 

             even  point  –  suggesting  that  they  should  have  been  in  a  position  to  run  at  least  at 

             break-even. In the 1960s, Artane and Daingean experienced a decline in the number 

             of children to a point below their break-even point. 



       •    The break-even calculation does not include capital expenditure. If capital expenditure 

             were  included,  the  break-even  point  would  increase  in  each  school.  In  the  1950s, 

             capital expenditure was low and would not impact the break-even point significantly. 

             In the 1960s, where capital expenditure was higher, adjusting for capital expenditure 

             would mean that Artane, An Daingean, Upton and Ferryhouse would have numbers of 

             children below their break-even point. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          197 


----------------------- Page 1972-----------------------

       •    In considering this analysis we believe that two points should be noted. The decline in 

            the numbers of children during the late 1950s and through the 1960s meant that the 

            schools   in  general   became    increasingly   uneconomic     to  run,  with  some   schools 

            reaching  a  position  where  they  were  below  break-even  point.  However,  significant 

            increases in the capitation grant in the late 1960s, outside of our sample period, would 

            have compensated for this to an extent. We also note that there is a strong argument 

            that capital expenditure was not intended to be funded from the capitation grant – for 

            the reasons we have examined in the early part of this report. If this is accepted as a 

            reasonable understanding of the position, then the break-even analysis excluding the 

            impact of capital expenditure is the more appropriate representation of the position of 

            the  individual  schools,  as  regards  the  expected  impact  of  the  State  contribution.  Of 

            course, the schools still had to fund this expenditure, from other sources if necessary. 



198                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 1973-----------------------

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



                                    APPENDIX I : 



            ADEQUACY OF FUNDING – TABULATED DATA 


----------------------- Page 1974-----------------------

      COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

       COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

      REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

       REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

      November 2007 



   Data to Support Exhibit 11 

   This information illustrates the rate of change in the general price level (inflation) over 

   the period 1939 – 69 and the rate of change in the capitation grant. For comparability 

   both the capitation grant and the general price level are set at 100 in 1939 to form 

   two equivalent indices 



            CPI Annual Percentage Change 

            (Mid-Feb to Mid-Feb) 



                                                         Weekly Capitation                Weekly Capitation 

                 CPI %             CPI Index                     Index                             € 

                                                      Industrial      Reformatory      Industrial   Reformatory 

1939                         -        100.0               100.0            100.0          0.79           0.79 

1939/40            13.2               113.2               100.0            100.0          0.79           0.79 

1940/41            10.7               125.3               100.0            100.0          0.79           0.79 

1941/42            8.7                136.2               100.0            100.0          0.79           0.79 

1942/43            15.2               156.9               120.3            144.3          0.95           1.14 

1943/44            8.4                170.1               120.3            144.3          0.95           1.14 

1944/45            -0.3               169.6               120.3            144.3          0.95           1.14 

1945/46            -0.3               169.1               120.3            144.3          0.95           1.14 

1946/47            0.3                169.6               129.1            153.2          1.02           1.21 

1947/48            7.1                181.6               153.2            181.0          1.21           1.43 

1948/49            0.0                181.6               153.2            181.0          1.21           1.43 

1949/50            1.0                183.4               153.2            181.0          1.21           1.43 

1950/51            3.0                188.9               173.4            216.5          1.37           1.71 

1951/52            10.7               209.2               216.5            240.5          1.71           1.90 

1952/53            7.9                225.7               216.5            265.8          1.71           2.10 

1953/54            1.0                227.9               216.5            265.8          1.71           2.10 

1954/55            1.8                232.1               216.5            265.8          1.71           2.10 

1955/56            4.2                241.8               216.5            265.8          1.71           2.10 

1956/57            2.1                246.9               216.5            265.8          1.71           2.10 

1957/58            7.1                264.4               362.0            386.1          2.86           3.05 

1958/59            2.0                269.7               362.0            386.1          2.86           3.05 

1959/60            -2.0               264.3               362.0            386.1          2.86           3.05 

1960/61            3.0                272.2               362.0            386.1          2.86           3.05 

1961/62            3.7                282.3               362.0            386.1          2.86           3.05 

1962/63            3.6                292.5               362.0            386.1          2.86           3.05 

1963/64            3.3                302.1               401.3            425.3          3.17           3.36 

1964/65            7.5                324.8               441.8            465.8          3.49           3.68 

1965/66            2.2                331.9               543.0            567.1          4.29           4.48 

1966/67            3.9                344.9               543.0            567.1          4.29           4.48 

1967/68            4.6                360.7               602.5            626.6          4.76           4.95 

1968/69            6.7                384.9               663.3            687.3          5.24           5.43 

1969/70            5.9                407.6              1326.6           1374.7          10.48          10.86 


----------------------- Page 1975-----------------------

   COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

    COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

   REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

    REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

   November 2007 



Tabulated Data to Support Exhibits 13 – 14 



                                         Exhibit 4               Exhibit 5 



                                        Household            Unemployment 

                                     Income per Head             Benefit 



                              1939                €0.87                  €0.95 

                              1940                €0.90                  €0.95 

                              1941                €0.92                  €0.95 

                              1942                €0.95                  €0.95 

                              1943                €1.00                  €0.95 

                              1944                €1.08                  €0.95 

                              1945                €1.04                  €0.95 

                              1946                €1.17                  €0.95 

                              1947                €1.39                  €1.43 

                              1948                €1.53                  €1.43 

                              1949                €1.61                  €1.43 

                              1950                €1.65                  €1.43 

                              1951                €1.89                  €1.43 

                              1952                €2.06                  €1.43 

                              1953                €2.27                  €1.52 

                              1954                €2.33                 €1.52 

                              1955                €2.45                 €1.52 

                              1956                €2.57                  €1.90 

                              1957                €2.71                  €1.90 

                              1958                €3.01                  €1.90 

                              1959                €3.11                  €1.90 

                              1960                €3.33                  €1.90 

                              1961                €3.63                  €2.07 

                              1962                €3.96                  €2.07 

                              1963                €4.14                  €2.39 

                              1964                €4.53                  €2.70 

                              1965                €4.71                  €2.70 

                              1966                €5.07                  €3.34 

                              1967                €5.31                  €3.34 

                              1968                €5.84                  €3.66 

                              1969                €6.16                  €3.66 


----------------------- Page 1976-----------------------

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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

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                               APPENDIX II : 



Average Household Expenditure per Child Index 1965/66 Base & 

                               1951/52 Base 


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Supporting Data for Exhibit 15: Average Household Expenditure per Child 

Index 1965/66 Base 



                       First Child    Second      Third Child    Average 

                                        Child                    per Child 

          1939               €1.21        €0.35         €0.30         €0.71 

          1940               €1.22        €0.35         €0.30         €0.72 

          1941               €1.40        €0.40         €0.35         €0.83 

          1942               €1.57        €0.45         €0.39         €0.93 

          1943               €1.72        €0.50         €0.42         €1.01 

          1944               €2.03        €0.58         €0.50         €1.20 

          1945               €2.22        €0.64         €0.55         €1.30 

          1946               €2.21        €0.64         €0.55         €1.30 

          1947               €2.21        €0.63         €0.54         €1.30 

          1948               €2.21        €0.64         €0.55         €1.30 

          1949               €2.38        €0.68         €0.59         €1.40 

          1950               €2.38        €0.68         €0.59         €1.40 

          1951               €2.40        €0.69         €0.59         €1.41 

          1952               €2.48        €0.71         €0.61         €1.46 

          1953               €2.78        €0.80         €0.68         €1.63 

          1954               €3.01        €0.87         €0.74         €1.77 

          1955               €3.04        €0.87         €0.75         €1.79 

          1956               €3.10        €0.89         €0.76         €1.82 

          1957               €3.24        €0.93         €0.80         €1.90 

          1958               €3.31        €0.95         €0.82         €1.94 

          1959               €3.56        €1.02         €0.88         €2.09 

          1960               €3.63        €1.04         €0.90         €2.14 

          1961               €3.56        €1.02         €0.88         €2.09 

          1962               €3.67        €1.05         €0.91         €2.16 

          1963               €3.81        €1.10         €0.94         €2.24 

          1964               €3.95        €1.14         €0.97         €2.33 

          1965               €4.09        €1.17         €1.01         €2.41 

          1966               €4.42        €1.27         €1.09         €2.60 

          1967               €4.59        €1.32         €1.13         €2.70 

          1968               €4.80        €1.38         €1.18         €2.83 

          1969               €5.13        €1.47         €1.26         €3.01 


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Supporting Data for Exhibit 16: Average Household Expenditure per Person 

Index 1951/52 Base 



             Weekly Ind. School    Weekly Reformatory      Avg. Expenditure per 

                 Capitation         School  Capitation            Person 

       1939              €0.79                      €0.79                  €0.97 

       1940              €0.79                      €0.79                  €0.97 

       1941              €0.79                      €0.79                  €1.12 

       1942              €0.95                      €1.14                  €1.26 

       1943              €0.95                      €1.14                  €1.38 

       1944              €0.95                      €1.14                  €1.62 

       1945              €0.95                      €1.14                  €1.77 

       1946              €1.02                      €1.21                  €1.77 

       1947              €1.21                     €1.43                   €1.76 

       1948              €1.21                      €1.43                  €1.77 

       1949              €1.21                     €1.43                   €1.90 

       1950              €1.37                      €1.71                  €1.90 

       1951              €1.71                      €1.90                  €1.92 

       1952              €1.71                      €2.10                  €1.98 

       1953              €1.71                      €2.10                  €2.14 

       1954              €1.71                      €2.10                  €2.16 

       1955              €1.71                      €2.10                  €2.20 

       1956              €1.71                      €2.10                  €2.29 

       1957              €2.86                      €3.05                  €2.34 

       1958              €2.86                      €3.05                  €2.50 

       1959              €2.86                      €3.05                  €2.55 

       1960              €2.86                      €3.05                  €2.50 

       1961              €2.86                     €3.05                   €2.58 

       1962              €2.86                      €3.05                  €2.67 

       1963              €3.17                     €3.36                   €2.77 

       1964              €3.49                      €3.68                  €2.86 

       1965              €4.29                      €4.48                  €3.07 

       1966              €4.29                      €4.48                  €3.14 

       1967              €4.76                      €4.95                  €3.26 

       1968              €5.24                      €5.43                  €3.41 

       1969             €10.48                     €10.86                  €3.64 


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 Supporting Data for Exhibit 17: Average Household Expenditure per Child 

                   Index 1965/66 Base by Expenditure Category 



         Weekly Ind.      Weekly      Food     Clothing   Lodging     Other     Total 

         Capitation €    Reform.     Only €     Only €     Only €     Exp €     Exp € 

                        Capitation 

                             € 

  1939            €0.79       €0.79    €0.42      €0.03      €0.50     €0.26       €1.21 

  1940            €0.79       €0.79    €0.42      €0.03      €0.50     €0.26       €1.22 

  1941            €0.79       €0.79    €0.48      €0.03      €0.58     €0.30       €1.40 

  1942            €0.95       €1.14    €0.54      €0.04      €0.65     €0.34       €1.57 

  1943            €0.95       €1.14    €0.59      €0.04      €0.71     €0.37       €1.72 

  1944            €0.95       €1.14    €0.70      €0.05      €0.84     €0.44       €2.03 

  1945          €0.95        €1.14     €0.76      €0.06      €0.92     €0.48     €2.21 

  1946            €1.02       €1.21    €0.76      €0.06      €0.92     €0.48       €2.21 

  1947            €1.21       €1.43    €0.76      €0.05      €0.91     €0.47       €2.20 

  1948            €1.21       €1.43    €0.76      €0.06      €0.92     €0.48       €2.21 

  1949            €1.21       €1.43    €0.82      €0.06      €0.99     €0.51       €2.38 

  1950            €1.37       €1.71    €0.82      €0.06      €0.99     €0.51       €2.38 

  1951            €1.71       €1.90    €0.83      €0.06      €1.00     €0.52       €2.40 

  1952            €1.71       €2.10    €0.85      €0.06      €1.03     €0.53       €2.47 

  1953            €1.71       €2.10    €0.95      €0.07      €1.15     €0.60       €2.77 

  1954            €1.71       €2.10    €1.04      €0.08      €1.25     €0.65       €3.01 

  1955            €1.71       €2.10    €1.05      €0.08      €1.26     €0.65       €3.04 

  1956            €1.71       €2.10    €1.07      €0.08      €1.28     €0.67       €3.09 

  1957            €2.86       €3.05    €1.11      €0.08      €1.34     €0.70       €3.23 

  1958            €2.86       €3.05    €1.14      €0.08      €1.37     €0.71       €3.30 

  1959          €2.86        €3.05     €1.22      €0.09      €1.47     €0.76     €3.55 

  1960            €2.86       €3.05    €1.25      €0.09      €1.50     €0.78       €3.62 

  1961            €2.86       €3.05    €1.22      €0.09      €1.47     €0.77       €3.55 

  1962            €2.86       €3.05    €1.26      €0.09      €1.52     €0.79       €3.66 

  1963            €3.17       €3.36    €1.31      €0.09      €1.58     €0.82       €3.80 

  1964            €3.49       €3.68    €1.36      €0.10      €1.64     €0.85       €3.94 

  1965            €4.29       €4.48    €1.41      €0.10      €1.69     €0.88       €4.08 

  1966            €4.29       €4.48    €1.52      €0.11      €1.83     €0.95       €4.41 

  1967            €4.76       €4.95    €1.58      €0.11      €1.90     €0.99       €4.58 

  1968            €5.24       €5.43    €1.65      €0.12      €1.99     €1.03       €4.79 

  1969           €10.48      €10.86     €1.76     €0.13      €2.12     €1.10       €5.11 


----------------------- Page 1980-----------------------

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 November 2007 



Supporting Data for Exhibit 18: Average Household Expenditure per Person 

                   Index 1951/52 Base by Expenditure Category 



           Weekly      Weekly       Food    Clothing   Lodging    Other €    Total € 

            Ind.       Reform.     Only €     Only €    Only € 

         Capitation   Capitation 

              €           € 

   1939        €0.79        €0.79    €0.46      €0.14     €0.12      €0.27      €0.99 

   1940        €0.79        €0.79    €0.46      €0.14     €0.12      €0.27      €1.00 

   1941        €0.79        €0.79    €0.53      €0.16     €0.14      €0.31      €1.15 

   1942        €0.95        €1.14    €0.60      €0.18     €0.16      €0.35      €1.29 

   1943        €0.95        €1.14    €0.65      €0.20     €0.17      €0.38      €1.41 

   1944        €0.95        €1.14    €0.77      €0.24     €0.20      €0.45      €1.66 

   1945        €0.95        €1.14    €0.84      €0.26     €0.22      €0.49      €1.82 

   1946        €1.02        €1.21    €0.84      €0.26     €0.22      €0.49      €1.81 

   1947        €1.21        €1.43    €0.84      €0.26     €0.22      €0.49      €1.81 

   1948        €1.21        €1.43    €0.84      €0.26     €0.22      €0.49      €1.81 

   1949        €1.21        €1.43    €0.90      €0.28     €0.24      €0.53      €1.95 

   1950        €1.37        €1.71    €0.90      €0.28     €0.24      €0.53      €1.95 

   1951        €1.71        €1.90    €0.91      €0.28     €0.24      €0.53      €1.97 

   1952        €1.71        €2.10    €0.94      €0.29     €0.25      €0.55      €2.03 

   1953        €1.71        €2.10    €1.01      €0.31     €0.27      €0.59      €2.19 

   1954        €1.71        €2.10    €1.02      €0.32     €0.27      €0.60      €2.21 

   1955        €1.71        €2.10    €1.04      €0.32     €0.28      €0.61      €2.25 

   1956        €1.71        €2.10    €1.09      €0.34     €0.29      €0.64      €2.35 

   1957        €2.86        €3.05    €1.11      €0.34     €0.30      €0.65      €2.40 

   1958        €2.86        €3.05    €1.19      €0.37     €0.32      €0.70      €2.57 

   1959        €2.86        €3.05    €1.21      €0.37     €0.32      €0.71      €2.62 

   1960        €2.86        €3.05    €1.19      €0.37     €0.32      €0.69      €2.57 

   1961        €2.86        €3.05    €1.22      €0.38     €0.33      €0.72      €2.64 

   1962        €2.86        €3.05    €1.27      €0.39     €0.34      €0.74      €2.74 

   1963        €3.17        €3.36    €1.31      €0.41     €0.35      €0.77      €2.84 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 


----------------------- Page 1991-----------------------

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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 


----------------------- Page 1992-----------------------

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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

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                                           APPENDIX III : 



                                  UK Capitation Grant Data 


----------------------- Page 1993-----------------------

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   November 2007 



Supporting Data for Exhibit 19: Capitation Rates in Scotland and England and Wales 



Taken from the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and related SIs. 



                   Scotland - Capitation         England & Wales - Capitation 

         1939                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1940                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1941                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1942                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1943                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1944                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1945                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1946                         €1.08                                 €1.90 

         1947                         €1.59                                 €2.22 

         1948                         €2.54                                 €3.34 

         1949                         €2.86                                 €3.56 

         1950                         €2.86                                 €3.56 

         1951                         €3.11                                 €4.00 

         1952                         €3.11                                 €4.32 

         1953                         €3.11                                 €4.32 

         1954                         €4.19                                 €4.51 

         1955                         €4.61                                 €5.12 

         1956                         €4.61                                 €5.12 

         1957                         €5.24                                 €6.45 

         1958                         €5.33                                 €6.45 

         1959                         €5.33                                 €5.78 

         1960                         €5.33                                 €6.45 

         1961                         €6.67                                 €7.44 

         1962                         €7.55                                 €8.23 

         1963                         €8.67                                 €8.77 

         1964                         €9.12                                €10.55 

         1965                        €10.01                                €11.88 

         1966                        €10.89                                €13.00 

         1967                        €12.00                                €14.34 

         1968                        €12.44                                €16.23 

         1969                        €13.12                                €17.78 


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                                     Scotland - Capitation 

                                     £                 S                 D 

                  1939                                      17                  0 

                  1940                                      17                  0 

                  1941                                      17                  0 

                  1942                                      17                  0 

                  1943                                      17                  0 

                  1944                                      17                  0 

                  1945                                      17                  0 

                  1946                                      17                  0 

                  1947                                      25                  0 

                  1948                                      40                  0 

                  1949                                      45                  0 

                  1950                                      45                  0 

                  1951                                      49                  0 

                  1952                                      49                  0 

                  1953                                      49                  0 

                  1954                                      66                  0 

                  1955                                      72                  6 

                  1956                                      72                  6 

                  1957                                      82                  6 

                  1958                                      84                  0 

                  1959                                      84                  0 

                  1960                                      84                  0 

                  1961                                     105                  0 

                  1962                                     119                  0 

                  1963                     6                16                  6 

                  1964                     7                 3                  6 

                  1965                     7                17                  6 

                  1966                     8                11                  6 

                  1967                     9                 9                  0 

                  1968                     9                16                  0 

                  1969                    10                 6                  6 


----------------------- Page 1995-----------------------

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                                England & Wales - Capitation 

                                    £                 S                 D 

                 1939                                       30                 0 

                 1940                                       30                 0 

                 1941                                       30                 0 

                 1942                                       30                 0 

                 1943                                       30                 0 

                 1944                                       30                 0 

                 1945                                       30                 0 

                 1946                                       30                 0 

                 1947                                       35                 0 

                 1948                                       52                 6 

                 1949                                       56                 0 

                 1950                                       56                 0 

                 1951                                       63                 0 

                 1952                                       68                 0 

                 1953                                       68                 0 

                 1954                                       71                 0 

                 1955                                       80                 6 

                 1956                                       80                 6 

                 1957                      5                 1                 6 

                 1958                      5                 1                 6 

                 1959                      4                11                 0 

                 1960                      5                 1                 6 

                 1961                      5                17                 3 

                 1962                      6                 9                 6 

                 1963                      6                18                 3 

                 1964                      8                 6                 3 

                 1965                      9                 7                 3 

                 1966                     10                 4                 9 

                 1967                     11                 5                 9 

                 1968                     12                15                 6 

                 1969                     14                 0                 0 


----------------------- Page 1996-----------------------

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                                      APPENDIX IV : 



                               Artane Industrial School 



                     Income and Expenditure 1940 – 1969 


----------------------- Page 1997-----------------------

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                                    1940      1941       1942        1943       1944      1945       1946       1947        1948      1949       Total 



Income                               €          €          €          €          €         €          €           €          €          €          € 



Ministry of Education             19,685      19,863    19,863     19,863      15,350    20,335    20,336      18,227     23,814     25,760    203,095 



County & Borough Councils         13,805      13,918    13,477     20,662      20,617    20,570    20,365     20,389      24,046     25,623    193,473 

Capitation grants - primary 

school                            -          -         -           -           -         -         -          5,081       7,697      5,029     17,808 



Other                             7,825      7,156      7,058      6,242       6,302     8,361     9,976      7,500       8,011      10,210    78,642 



Total Income                      41,315     40,936    40,398      46,767      42,268    49,266    50,678     51,198      63,568     66,623    493,018 

Expenditure 

Industrial Departments            13,784     7,870     6,403       8,514       5,436     8,098     9,357      8,911       11,989     10,406    90,767 



Farm, Poultry and Garden           265       3,485     4,259       8,808       3,887     4,706     6,535      7,489       9,364      10,181    58,979 

Salaries, Wages, insurance 

stamps                            15,008      14,828    14,834     14,737      12,398    13,466    13,805      14,618     14,315     14,509    142,518 



Provisions Purchased              5,325      3,983     4,789       5,409       4,980     6,929     8,227      8,296       8,128      9,246     65,313 



Clothing                          1,747       1,115    2,305       1,185       847       1,826     1,814       729        1,341       865      13,773 



Medical Expenses                   152        173       149         160        88         143       254        187         163        241      1,709 



Laundry and Cleansing              945        212       500         331        293        306       444        596         848        786      5,262 

Ordinary Repairs and 

decorations                        493        527       1,015      1,081       1,580     1,211     1,922       724         820       1,731     11,103 



Furniture, Library                 279        517       585         946        277        359       260        447        1,006      1,070     5,747 



Fuel, light, power                2,677      2,848     2,953       4,445       2,757     4,925     4,449      7,372       5,222      4,469     42,118 



Rent, rates, taxes                1,674       1,726     1,788      1,337       938       1,023      909        1,077      1,121      1,379     12,972 



Insurance                          423        469       590         423        479        474       481        514         526        795      5,173 

Stationery, telegraph, 

telephone, postage                 137        136       225         136        131        131       168        166         126        136      1,491 



Classrooms                         207        221       244         381        201        183       284        138         292       98        2,249 



Band expenses                      121       79         110        99          107        154       316        180         256        391      1,813 



Sweet Shop & Store                 528        852       881         188        373        378       306        197         185        260      4,150 

Games, Awards, 

Entertainment                      110       89         223         245        309        348       290        215         258        236      2,322 



Boys' travelling expenses         90          109       102         103        94         102       105        133         119        175      1,133 



Bank Charges and Interest         -          -         -           -           25        20        27         23          20          720      835 



Capital Expenditure               -          -         -           -           -         -         -          -           -          -         - 



Sundries                          17          1        60           249        251        256       166        258         364        175      1,798 

Transfer to Community 

Account                           -          -         -           -           4,845     4,845     3,596      7,720       7,720      7,479     36,205 



Total Expenditure                 43,982     39,239    42,016      48,776      40,294    49,884    53,716     59,990      64,184     65,348    507,429 



Grant Surplus/Deficit             <2,668>     1,698     <1,618>    <2,009>     1,974     <618>     <3,038>    <8,792>     <616>      1,275     <14,412> 


----------------------- Page 1998-----------------------

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               November 2007 



           Artane Industrial School Income and Expenditure 1950 - 1959 



                               1950        1951        1952        1953       1954       1955        1956       1957         1958      1959       Total 



Income                           €           €           €          €           €          €          €           €          €           €          € 



Ministry of Education        24,553      28,460       35,332     35,909     34,914      26,132     30,432     26,353      28,488     33,271      303,844 

County       &     Borough 

Councils                     24,496      27,244       33,905     34,221     38,490      46,185     33,375     30,236      32,946     40,761     341,859 

Capitation      grants    - 

primary school               5,492       5,987        6,143      6,868      6,660       6,854      6,736      5,261       4,989      4,988      59,978 



Other                        9,911       8,684        12,535     15,012     21,930      22,320     21,213      19,473     16,097     18,722      165,897 



Total Income                 64,452      70,375       87,915     92,010     101,994     101,491    91,756     81,323      82,520     97,742      871,578 

Expenditure 

Industrial Departments       14,465      19,765       12,556     16,102     20,689      26,645     19,954      15,623     19,026     13,707      178,532 

Farm,       Poultry    and 

Garden                       11,246      10,226       9,341      14,446     13,557      10,951     6,450      6,462       11,023     5,933       99,635 

Salaries,          Wages, 

insurance stamps             14,508      15,275       15,672     16,500     16,985      17,248     16,736      17,040     17,272     17,833      165,069 



Provisions Purchased         8,185       8,208        12,796     16,005     15,302      16,604     16,423      13,539     12,931     12,904      132,897 



Clothing                      570        1,891        1,177      1,440      2,526       1,774       984        857        1,129      1,901       14,249 



Medical Expenses              273        204           135        272       241         203         149        188        136        171         1972 



Laundry and Cleansing         596        978           330        116       250         573        1,050       750        951        1,050       6,644 

Ordinary     Repairs   and 

decorations                  5,380       1,708        1,006       673       1,611       1,602       799        1,418      1,957      1,435       17,589 



Furniture, Library            550        349           300        965       1,337       397         190        310        1,365      331         6,094 



Fuel, light, power           4,772       7,839        5,144      4,692      6,176       5,603      6,591      7,952       5,225      5,607       59,601 



Rent, rates, taxes           1,360       1,181        1,186      1,300      1,117       1,180      1,286       1,241      1,498      1,362       12,711 



Insurance                     869        524           632        512       523         538         655        642        684        665         6244 

Stationery,      telegraph, 

telephone, postage            119        173           146        236       338         206         179        223        225        216         2061 



Classrooms                    330        452           495        423       441         329         348        305        197        290         3610 



Band expenses                 152        476           218        574       1,512       509         627        504        1,934      1,194       7,700 



Sweet Shop & Store            410        444           651        960       908         1,015       552        502        502        538         6,482 

Games,             Awards, 

Entertainment                 213        316           253        574       199         394         272        260        317        537         3335 



Boys' travelling expenses    97          118          56         57         22          37         10          18         52         60          527 

Bank       Charges     and 

Interest                     1,050       1,220         606        691       434         942         278        302        79         18          5,620 



Capital Expenditure          -           -            -          5,988      -           -          -          -           -          2,400       2,400 



Sundries                      210        1,614         288        288       1,610       1,860      2,692       895        573        842         10,872 

Transfer    to  Community 

Account                      7,720       7,961        7,720      7,961      10,317      9,840      9,523      8,888       12,697     9,904       92,531 



Total Expenditure            73,073      80,923       70,709     90,774     96,095      98,452     85,749     77,920      89,772     78,899      842,366 



Grant Surplus/Deficit        <8,622>     <10,548>     17,206     1,237      5,899       3,040      6,007      3,403       <7,251>    18,843      29,212 


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             Artane Industrial School Income and Expenditure 1960 – 1969 



                             1960          1961         1962          1963           1964         1965         1966         1967          1968        1969        Total 



Income                         €             €            €             €             €             €            €            €             €           €            € 

Ministry of 

Education 

                          31,718          29,540      27,617         25,900        29,132        32,333       35,442       35,290        32,738      19,623      299,333 

County & Borough 

Councils 

                          40,875          36,127      27,210         42,487        30,184        28,544       43,650       44,831        41,371      28,612      363,891 

Capitation grants – 

primary school              5,833         5,639        7,008         7,204         9,090         10,991       10,507       12,559        11,736       4,595      85,162 

Other 

                          18,488          20,515      19,640         17,792        18,875        20,655       12,349       20,356        15,234      17,291      181,195 

Total Income 

                           96,914         91,821       81,475        93,383        87,281        92,522       101,949      113,036       101,079      70,121     929,581 

Expenditure 

Industrial 

Departments 

                          16,095          14,392      12,390         12,822        7,466         9,933        7,127        3,446         3,064       2,320       89,055 

Farm , Poultry & 

Garden 

                          5,481           10,060      7,987          7,396         6,286         7,780        8,035        11,260        6,655       1,926       72,866 

Salaries, Wages, 

insurance stamps            17,666        17,101       17,110        16,994        18,054        17,009       16,602       19,936        17,016       9,755      167,243 

Provisions 

Purchased 

                          13,994          15,698      14,671         15,895        19,059        20,077       19,732       16,988        25,625      9,255       170,994 

Clothing 

                          2,100           1,977       3,223          2,110         2,434         3,348        9,101        13,758        7,254       312         45,617 

Medical Expenses 

                          136             174         131            150           118           75           211          131           283         88          1497 

Laundry and 

Cleansing 

                          866             1,073       1,630          1,559         1,202         1,448        908          1,204         1,359       551         11,800 

Ordinary Repairs 

and decorations             4,341         2,867        6,143         4,727         5,617         3,435        1,427        1,789         1,439        2,974      34,759 

Furniture, Library 

                          762             265         813            3,676         2,269         489          519          480           729         36          10,038 

Fuel, light, power 

                          5,443           6,269       6,186          6,991         5,381         5,620        5,842        7,326         9,569       4,297       62,924 

Rent, rates, taxes 

                          1,475           1,527       1,449          1,228         2,632         1,460        1,516        1,554         1,727       217         14,785 

Insurance 

                          423             1,049       750            822           937           928         -            1,644          1,647        753        4,044 

Stationery, 

telegraph, 

telephone, postage         222            244         274            270           305           380          409          711           692          333        3840 

Classrooms 

                          173             279         380            536           272           340          648          399           573         41          3641 

Band Expenses 

                          1,431           2,034       2,619          1,403         1,754         1,432        805          1,246         1,144       8,114       21,982 

Sweet shop & Store 

                          622             764         843            761           709           764          401          220           265         95          5444 

Games, Awards, 

Entertainment 

                          970             750         554            782           569           828          665          753           648         226         6745 

Boys' travelling 

expenses 

                          61              112         72             46            55            118          123          127           364         107         1185 

Bank Charges and 

Interest 

                          11              25          24             24            23            28           13           25            18          15          206 

Sundries 

                          804             843         571            4,527         2,486         1,248        354          1,012         622         978         13,445 

Capital Expenditure 

                          24,474          8,961       13,088         22,412        40,818        13,826       17,063       3,018         564         1,778       146,002 

Capital 

Expenditure- 

Swimming Pool                            -            -             -             -             -            5,079         27,555        2,348        1,114      36,096 



                                         -            -             -             -             -            -            -             -            - 


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                        1960       1961       1962       1963        1964       1965      1966       1967       1968      1969      Total 



Income                   €          €          €           €          €          €          €          €         €         €          € 

Transfer to 

Community 

Account               9,523       9,523     9,523       9,904       10,285     9,523     9,904      9,523      8,380     -        86,088 

Total Expenditure 

                      107,073    95,988     100,431    115,034     128,731    100,090    106,484   124,104    91,982     45,283   1,015,200 

Grant 

Surplus/Deficit       <10,159>   <4,167>    <18,956>   <21,652>    <41,451>   <7,568>   <4,536>    <11,068>   9,096      24,839   85,619 


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                                  APPENDIX V : 



         Brothers Employed in Artane Industrial School 1939 - 1969 


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                        Total no. of                                Teaching 

Date of                 Brothers               Teaching Brothers    Brothers -        Brothers engaged in 

                                                                    teaching at       the farm, Kitchens, 

Visitation              (Taken from            in the Primary       trade school      office, aftercare, 

                                                                    (evening 

Report                  visitation reports)    School- taken        classes)          stores, infirmary 



                                               from visitation or                     and aged brothers 



                                               school returns (SR) 



27.10 -                     32                 17 (SR)                1 (SR)             14 

03.11.1939 

   16-20 11 1940            31                 14 (SR)                1 (SR)             16 

   06-11.10.1941            31                 17 (SR)                2 (SR)             12 

   02-04.11.1942            32                 17 (SR)                2 (SR)             13 

   15-20.11.1943            35                 16 (SR)                3 (SR)             16 

30.10.1944                  33                     16                    3               14 

2-7.11.1945                 34                     17                    4               13 

   15-26.10.1946            33                 14 (SR)                3 (SR)             16 

   14-18.10.1947            36                 16 (SR)                3 (SR)             17 

19.11.1949                  32                 15 (SR)                4 (SR)             13 

   17-22.11.1950            34                 15 (SR)                4 (SR)             15 

   08-13.12.1951            35                     15                    3               17 

   07-12.11.1952            34                     15                    5               14 

   12-18.03.1954            35                     16                    4               15 

   12-18.03.1955            36                     14                    5               17 

27.01.1956                  26                     15                    5               6 

   23-29.03.1957            30                     12                    4               14 

   18-25.11.1957            31                     11                    4               16 

30.10-03.11.1958            27                     12                    3               12 

29.11-05.12.1959            27                     11                    2               14 

2-5.11.1960                 25                     10                    2               13 

   18-25.01.1962            28                     11                    2               15 

27.02-04.03.1963            27                     11                    0               16 

29.10.1963                  29                     11                    1               17 

   10-16.02.1965            28                     11                    2               15 

05.11.1965                  26                     11                    0               15 

5-10.12.1966                26                     12                    0               14 

   12-23.05.1968            25                     12                    0               13 

29.05.1969                  20                     9                     0               11 


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                              APPENDIX VI : 



Number of Lay Staff Employed in Artane Industrial School 1939 – 

                                    1969 


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   Number of lay staff in Artane Industrial School at end of September each year 1939 -1969 

   as recorded in the Wages Book 



   (3 additional personnel may be added each year – the Doctor, Nurse 

   and Chaplain were recorded in the Cheque Payments Book rather than Wages Books) 



                             PER RECORDS PROVIDED BY THE 

                       CONGREGATION OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS 

   YEAR                                         Number of STAFF 

   September       1939                                59 

   September       1940                                56 

   September       1941                                57 

   September       1942                                55 

   September       1943                                54 

   September       1944                                54 

   September       1945                                58 

   September       1946                                57 

   September       1947                                51 

   September       1948                                51 

   September       1949                                48 

   September       1950                                47 

   September       1951                                48 

   September       1952                                49 

   September       1953                                45 

   September       1954                                44 

   September       1955                                44 

   September       1956                                42 

   September       1957                                42 

   September       1958                                41 

   September       1959                                40 

   September       1960                                39 

   September       1961                                35 

   September       1962                                40 

   September       1963                                36 

   September       1964                                36 

   September       1965                                30 

   September       1966                                31 

   September       1967                                28 

   September       1968                                24 



   September       1969                                12 


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                                 APPENDIX VII : 



        Number of Brothers employed as Teachers in Artane 


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                    YEAR             No of            No of Brother 

                                                      Teachers (both primary 

                                     Students         and trade) 

                               1939        772                    18 

                               1940        800                    15 

                               1941        800                    19 

                               1942        800                    19 

                               1943        800                    19 

                               1944        812                    19 

                               1945        818                    21 

                               1946        794                    17 

                               1947        789                    19 

                               1948        819                    19 

                               1949        794                    19 

                               1950        762                    19 

                               1951        738                    18 

                               1952        728                    20 

                               1953        694                    20 

                               1954        737                    20 

                               1955        653                    19 

                               1956        560                    20 

                               1957        481                    16 

                               1958        422                    15 

                               1959        428                    13 

                               1960        392                    12 

                               1961        371                    12 

                               1962        353                    13 

                               1963        317                    11 

                               1964        306                    11 

                               1965        301                    12 

                               1966        327                    12 

                               1967        272                    12 

                               1968        198                    12 

                               1969        24                       9 


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           APPENDIX VIII : ROSMINIAN FATHERS – UPTON 



                    Income and expenditure 1952-1953 


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                                                             1952             1953 

            Income                                            €                 € 

            Treasury                                             5,764            5,872 

            County councils                                      5,929            6,193 

            Borough councils                                                      6,876 

            Other                                               10,533            6,461 

            Total Income                                        22,226           25,402 



            Expenditure - 



            Medical                                                 231              658 

            Wages & Social security                              3,700            4,258 

            Provisions                                           3,268            3,333 

            Bread                                                 1,390           1,617 

            Meat and fish                                         1,874           1,881 

            Clothing                                              1,595           1,720 

            Shoe shop                                               797 

            Footwear                                                                 298 

            Rates, rent and insurance                               721              474 

            Fuel light water                                      1,350           1,171 

            Land commission                                                          174 

            Revenue commission                                                        24 

            Stamps and stationery                                   260              130 

            Farm and garden                                      2,924            4,093 

            Car and travel                                          279              580 

            Bank interest                                                            196 

            Church                                                  119              194 

            Boy's games                                             485              395 

            Masses given to Province                              1,112           1,359 

            Sundries                                                 64               65 

            Telephone                                                72               76 

            Community                                               570 

            Charity                                                  14               20 

            Fr. Arthur’s                                             40 

            Books and papers                                         17 

            Province exchange of cheques                                          1,112 

            Special(films,entertainment,gifts)                       59 

            Capital expenditure                                   1,301           1,507 

            Total expenditure                                   22,243           25,335 



            Surplus/ Deficit                                      <17>                67 


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            APPENDIX IX : ROSMINIAN FATHERS – UPTON 



                    Income and expenditure 1960-1966 


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                                                                      1960            1961           1962            1963            1964            1965           1966 



                    Income                                              €              €               €               €               €               €              € 



                    Government grants                                14,423.46       14,253.53       13,863.64       27,104.03       27,524.11       25,972.49     21,572.85 



                    Health Authorities                                               2,347.20         1,796.17                                                        526.94 



                    Board of assistance                               3,654.65 



                    Co and Borough Council                          14,215.82        13,686.04       13,969.28 



                    Primary schools                                                                                  3,787.41         3,345.76       10,013.15        133.32 



                    Other                                           10,667.27        14,585.96       15,349.49       17,360.53      13,915.06        11,979.98     14,344.22 



                    Total Income                                    42,961.20        44,872.73       44,978.57       48,251.98      44,784.93        47,965.63     36,577.33 



                    Expenditure - 



                    School wages ( and nat insurance)                 2,316.51         3,505.35       3,211.80        3,443.01        3,286.08        2,496.31      1,433.53 



                    Bread                                             2,449.30        2,471.06        2,721.30        6,195.57        4,907.54        4,665.02      3,009.28 



                    Meat and fish                                     2,081.56        2,344.57        2,480.94        2,787.66        3,132.44        3,076.58      2,578.84 



                    Provisions                                        4,202.20        3,463.31        3,503.59 



                    Minerals wines whiskey                               264.47         231.77          183.90          249.08          232.36          190.46        227.28 



                    Laundry                                                                                              43.64 



                    Furniture and books                                                                                 250.87 



                    Sundries                                                                                             84.82 



                    Cigarettes                                           440.29         496.43          629.29          643.26          595.51          537.10        519.32 



                    Community(inc.retreat)                               378.48         468.93          374.89 



                    Medical                                              501.69         777.73          521.53          657.65          636.14          467.26        641.22 



                    Shoe shop                                            558.00         770.38          453.41 



                    Clothing and community footwear                   3,208.07         1,437.43       2,087.51        2,101.75        1,880.48        1,778.90        864.69 



                    Rent rates and insurance                             672.92         450.82          407.29 



                    Fuel light and heat                               1,046.30        1,217.89        1,679.04        2,796.06        2,886.11        2,219.50      2,070.94 



                    Book stationery and postage                          243.76         235.04          278.10                          157.45          113.01        102.85 



                    Car and travel                                       638.67       1,392.55          806.33          340.24          646.30        1,184.67        458.38 



                    Holidays                                                                                                            575.19          420.28        590.43 



                    Recreation                                                                                          616.42          745.34          591.70        479.96 



                    Personal sundries                                                                                   203.01 



                    Church and mass payments                                                            790.86          576.84          115.55          132.05        157.45 



                    Expenditure (continues)                           1960            1961           1962            1963            1964            1965           1966 


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                                                                         €               €               €                €               €               €               € 



                    Church requisites                                     168.15           123.63 



                    Boy's expenses (travel and games)                     434.71           398.08          582.77          161.42 



                    Holy souls box                                         33.84 



                    Mission box                                            18.41            10.07 



                    Rosminians missions                                                                     19.05 



                    Juniors                                               332.86           193.48           52.86 



                    Bank fees                                               9.05            10.62           11.94                           63.49            33.01         15.24 



                    Telephone                                              52.77            66.51           83.47          164.27          135.86           121.89        151.10 



                    Insurances and Licenses                                                                                411.93          453.30           434.25        506.63 



                    Mass stipends                                                                                       1,147.84         1,560.51         1,316.72      1,994.76 



                    Prov contribution                                                                                   1,877.90         3,249.26         2,307.11        827.87 



                    Alms                                                                                                     9.37            5.08            10.16          6.35 



                    Province and scholastics                                               274.73          492.38 



                    Province (inc loan £1,500 )+£1500                  3,364.81 

                    Scholastics:medical 

                    meals,holidays,books                                  219.66 



                    University fees                                       402.51 



                    Diocesan collection                                    44.61            22.02           43.62                                            71.11 



                    Subscriptions Gratuities                               66.03           195.54           45.81 



                    Hall                                                                   222.20          118.26                          148.56                          40.63 



                    Masses                                                                 724.70 

                    Exchange cheques and guarantee 

                    payments                                                            3,848.39 



                    Miscellaneous                                           6.37             5.57            3.52 



                    Charity                                                 9.59             9.97            6.29 



                    Bal of undisbursed petty cash                          41.67                            29.00 



                    Farm and garden                                    9,550.33         7,701.91       11,898.75         7,092.34        6,565.82        6,075.70       6,697.87 



                    Shop supplies                                                                                          675.96 



                    Diocesan payments                                                                                       36.84 



                    Workman's compensation                                                                                                 279.34           298.39        299.66 



                    Nat school supplies                                                                                    205.42 



                    Expenditure (continues)                            1960             1961            1962            1963            1964            1965            1966 


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                                                                    €              €              €              €              €              €             € 



                   Investment                                                                                                                2,524.24 



                   Farm capital account                                                                                                                    9,091.32 



                   Hall: new projects                               292.04 



                   Capital expenditure                            1,600.01        6,614.09      13,049.58      10,676.34      10,013.15      12,585.64     2,119.19 



                                                                 35,649.64       39,684.77      46,567.08      43,449.51      42,270.85      43,651.06    34,884.78 



                   Surplus/ Deficit                               7,311.56        5,187.96      -1,588.51       4,802.47       2,514.08       4,314.57     1,692.55 


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           APPENDIX X : Rosminian Fathers – Ferryhouse 



                    Income and expenditure 1940-1949 


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                                                                  1941          1947        Total 

                                                                     €            € 



         Income: 

         Treasury grants                                                      4,069          4,069 

         Ministry of education                                                                   0 

         Government grants                                       3,948                      3,948 



         Co and Borough council                                  2,594         4,171         6,765 

         Other                                                   3,114         1,911 

                                                                9,655         10,150        19,806 



         Expenditure: 

         Salaries and wages                                      2,921         2,022         4,943 

         Groceries                                                            1,774          1,774 

         Bread                                                                1,547          1,547 

         Meat                                                                    842           842 

         Potatoes                                                                882           882 

         Vegetables                                                              377           377 

         Milk                                                                    813           813 

         Clothing bedding                                                     1,250          1,250 

         Footwear                                                                511           511 

         Hardwear polish                                                         306           306 

         Fuel light and heat                                                  1,292          1,292 

         Laundry                                                                 188           188 

         Provisions                                              3,282                      3,282 

         Boys clothing                                             142                         142 

         Travelling                                                252           182           435 

         Medical                                                   301                         301 

         Interest                                                  115                         115 

         School books                                               19                          19 

         Printing, stationery, books and newspapers                 19            60            78 

         Postage, telegrams and telephone                           34            60            94 

         Church expenses                                            63            44           107 

         Shop                                                        9                           9 

         Gratuities                                                 19                          19 

         Games, recreation outings                                  61                          61 

         Furniture and household expenses                          181                         181 

         Washing fuel and light, turf and wood                     337                         337 

         Soap soda                                                  57                          57 

         Electric and engine exp                                   118                         118 

         Industrial dept. tailor and housing                       669                         669 

         Bootmaker                                                 130                         130 

         Wine and spirits                                          130                         130 

         Insurance                                                 214            92           306 

         Rent rates                                                 56            57           113 

         Home disposals                                             10                          10 

         Sundry school expenses                                     26                          26 

         Special bal on motor car                                  146                         146 

         Special bal on a/c engine                                 104                         104 

         Clothing (bedding) and mending                             79                          79 



                                                                  1941          1947        Total 


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         Expenditure cont’d                                           €            €             € 



         Medical and dentist                                        108                         108 

         Tobacco                                                     96                          96 

         Personal sundries                                            6                           6 

         1/3 wine and spirits                                        65                          65 

         Interest on bank overdraft                                              123            123 

         Interest on provincial loans                                            109            109 

         Building and repairs                                                    791            791 

         Doctors salary                                                           63             63 

         Nurses salary                                                            91             91 

         Running cost and maintenance                                             89             89 

         Charitable contributions                                                 20             20 

         Sports equipment and boys entertainment                                  73             73 

         Medicines and hospital                                                  199            199 

         Capital expenditure                                        409          791 

                                                                10,177        13,862         24,039 



         Surplus/Deficit                                           -522        -3,711 


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           APPENDIX XI : Rosminian Fathers – Ferryhouse 



                    Income and expenditure 1950-1959 


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  November 2007 



                                                      1951          1952           1953          1954      Total 

Income:                                                 €             €             €             € 



Ministry of education                                  6794.76       8645.37        9817.79       9862.21      35120.13 

Co and Borough council                                 6400.28       7920.78       10008.56       9688.74      34018.35 

Other                                                  2202.41       4439.69        6842.97       7559.77      21044.84 

                                                    15,397.45      21,005.84      26,669.32     27,110.71     90,183.32 

Expenditure: 

Salaries and wages                                     2502.72       1413.76        1596.97       2682.35       8195.80 

Farm wages                                                            722.99         990.40                     1713.38 

Provisions                                             5931.85                      3075.14       3898.39      12905.38 

Travelling                                              106.66        145.80         358.98        312.44        923.89 

Medical                                                 343.53        178.91         231.90        141.33        895.67 

Printing, stationery, books and newspapers              108.92         44.62         151.02        140.55        445.11 

Postage, telegrams and telephone                         53.33         57.46         139.71         77.57        328.06 

Church expenses                                         125.98        121.54         164.66        375.92        788.10 

Games, recreation outings                               275.30        181.28         121.49        314.32        892.40 

Furniture and household expenses                                                                                   0.00 

Fuel, light and power                                  1481.92       1157.67         318.98       2278.01       5236.59 

Rent rates insurance                                    212.19        209.13         157.24        551.36       1129.91 

Clothing (bedding) and mending                         2161.64       1347.57        1881.80       1285.60       6676.61 

Interest and bank charges                               172.38         92.22           5.71       1702.16       1972.47 

Footwear and shoe shop                                  723.75        175.77         434.28       1020.50       2354.30 

Pension                                                                66.03          66.03         66.03        198.08 

Meat                                                                  802.26        1078.95        770.27       2651.48 

Bread                                                                1722.56        2590.65       2703.74       7016.95 

Installation of ESB                                                   815.46         385.35                     1200.82 

Tobacco                                                               166.93         260.55        204.66        632.14 

Farm and garden                                                      2099.02        3398.10       3718.24       9215.35 

Soap and polish                                                       100.80          68.54                      169.34 

Donations                                                              20.32                                      20.32 

In exchange for cash                                                   40.63                      1654.57       1695.20 

Buses to camps for boys                                                53.33                                      53.33 

Masses                                                                991.98        1317.34       1358.02       3667.35 

Petty cash                                                            316.16                       274.26        590.43 

S. Books                                                               97.40                                      97.40 

Whiskey and wines                                                                     91.12        280.27        371.39 

Solicitor                                                                            233.63                      233.63 

Loan to Kilmurry house                                                               253.95                      253.95 

Bakery                                                                                             719.94        719.94 

Architect                                                                                          288.23        288.23 

Fr. Provincial and Fr Egan                                                                          76.18         76.18 

Gift to Omeath                                                                                      12.70         12.70 

Capital Expenditure                                    3298.47        917.39        3740.58       3973.28      11929.72 



                                                    17,498.64      14,059.00      23,113.08     30,880.89     85,551.79 



Surplus/Deficit                                       -2,101.19     6,946.84       3,556.24     -3,770.18      4,631.71 


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November 2007 



           APPENDIX XII : Rosminian Fathers – Ferryhouse 



                    Income and Expenditure 1960-1969 


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                                            1960        1961       1962       1964        1965        1966        1967        1968        1969 

                                              €          €           €          €           €           €           €           €           €          Total 

     Dept of agriculture                                                                               241.25                                            241.25 

     Dept. of Education                    15142.86    13528.91   12221.86                                                                           40,893.63 

     Local Authorities Grants              15420.37    13757.36    9389.19   25171.11   27,997.72   29,953.12   43,601.54   38,245.78   40,725.58   244,261.77 

     Other                                 10535.99    11341.26   11710.63    5906.14     9583.98     4154.58     16184.08    32757.97    16902.75    119077.40 

     Total                                 41099.22    38627.53   33321.69   31077.25    37581.71    34348.95     59785.62    71003.75    57628.33  404,474.05 

     Expenditure - 

     Groceries                              3551.93     3541.77    3817.00   6,516.71    6,318.22    6,743.58    6,530.26    6,209.02    5,518.28    48,746.77 

     Meat                                   1910.70     2033.82    1789.10   2,276.01    2,822.63    2,817.55    3,548.92    4,070.78    3,052.45    24,321.95 

     Bread and bakery equipment             2480.65     2508.66    2481.91                                                                            7,471.22 

     Beers, wines and spirits                                                   40.54      224.74      124.43       223.47      180.30       59.68       853.18 

     Farm (wages not included)              6011.16     4635.51    3476.71    4891.83    4,866.91    4,055.54    6,150.61    7,775.88    7,105.45    48,969.59 

     Garden                                   46.56       58.28      37.94                                                                               142.78 

     Poultry                                 371.73      253.03     173.74                                       1,992.22                             2,790.72 

     House                                  3561.27                                                                                                   3,561.27 

     Shoe shop                               931.68     1089.16    1217.74    1163.40                                                                 4,401.98 

     Tailoring shop                         2525.79     2684.51    2574.56    2105.61    2,326.16    2,735.02    1,814.46    2,776.92    3,269.58    22,812.58 

     Laundry                                                                   575.53      330.13      378.38       285.69       76.18       53.33    1,699.25 

     Heat, light and power                   281.79      284.28     833.38    1153.09    2,915.32    3,554.00    2,549.63    4,498.68    4,234.58    20,304.75 

     Lorry and fuel                         1832.07     1895.48    2042.63                                                                            5,770.17 



     Rates, insurance,licences               665.14      678.10     724.51     972.25      709.78      712.32       665.34      919.29   1,031.03     7,077.77 



     Postage, freight and office supplies    253.19      262.37     226.00     186.33      212.05      203.16       224.74      206.97      260.30    2,035.10 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



                                            1960       1961        1962       1964        1965        1966        1967        1968        1969 

                                              €          €          €           €          €           €           €           €           €          Total 

     Medical supplies                        423.84     454.31     551.09      426.44      446.95      540.91      514.24      731.37      359.34    4,448.49 

     School supplies                         253.19     275.19     411.81      128.41                                                                1,068.60 

     Games, Films, Entertainment             209.95     225.61     142.85      118.48      309.82      572.65      306.01      264.11      129.51    2,278.98 

     Boys                                                                                                          222.20                  234.90       457.11 

     Books and stationery                                                      105.79      201.89      292.04      196.81      372.03      318.70    1,487.27 

     Tobacco                                 372.71     349.81     361.41      367.20      311.09      255.22      355.53      407.59      633.60    3,414.14 

     Wines and spirits                        31.27      42.54      67.96                                                                               141.77 

     Car, travel, holidays                   942.69     942.07     943.25    1,598.07    1,791.60   1,118.64    1,009.44    2,177.60    1,603.68    12,127.04 

     Telephone and telegrams                  70.89      71.64      74.66                                                                               217.19 

     Alms                                                                                               25.39                   21.59                    46.98 

     Prov Procurator                        1585.32    1922.43                                                                                        3,507.75 

     Fr Hickey                               146.72                                                                                                     146.72 

     Fr Murray                                74.60                                                                                                      74.60 

     Fr M.Reen                                15.87                                                                                                      15.87 

     Fr G.Cassidy                              3.83                                                                                                       3.83 

     Church and Grotto                       129.58     172.05     164.63      158.56      185.38      109.20       95.23      200.62      179.03    1,394.29 

     Wages and soc welfare ins              2353.51    1948.45    2589.96     2279.07   2,547.09    2,568.68    3,528.60    4,519.00    5,482.73    27,817.09 

     Christmas fund                          304.79     244.46     301.41                  271.72      295.85      148.56       21.59       66.03    1,654.41 

     Glencomeragh                            358.10     253.95                                                                                          612.05 

     Omeath Burse                            190.46     190.46     190.46                                                                               571.38 

     Investment in overdraft(a.c no 3)                  442.67     193.64                                                                               636.30 

     Br. O'D's Pension to Prov Proc.          43.02                                                                                                      43.02 

     Loan                                      5.65                                        102.85                  120.63                               229.12 

     Loan repaid                                                                                                2,539.48                              2,539.48 

     Charity                                  62.48                                                                                                      62.48 

     Holy Fathers Jubilee Fund                12.70                                                                                                      12.70 

     Interest on overdraft                   667.87                                                     96.50                                           764.37 


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COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



                                              1960       1961        1962        1964        1965         1966        1967        1968         1969 

                                               €           €           €           €           €           €            €           €           €           Total 

     Reduction of overdraft                   3809.21   2539.48     6348.69                  1,269.74   1,269.74                  2,539.48                 17,776.33 

     Provincial contributions                                                    2082.37    1,498.29    2,453.13     2,201.73                  2,158.55   10,394.08 

     M McAssey fund                                                                                         15.24                                              15.24 

     Carpentry                                                                    361.65                                                                      361.65 

     Knitting                                                                     206.66                                                                      206.66 

     Central heating                                                                           634.87                                                         634.87 

     Laundry machine                                                                        1,128.80                                                       1,128.80 

     Mission funds                                                                              78.72                                                          78.72 

     Sundries                                                                                  317.43                   104.12       91.42                    512.97 

     Provincial levy                                                                                                             1,973.17                   1,973.17 

     Personal                                                                                                                        19.05       82.53        101.58 

     Band                                                                                                                            48.25       81.26        129.51 

     Transfer to No 2 account                                                                                                    3,809.21                   3,809.21 

     Boys in training                                                                                                                           133.32        133.32 

     Woodstown                                                                                                                               1,230.38      1,230.38 

     Electrical wiring                                                                                                                          761.84        761.84 

     Biafra fund                                                                                                                                190.46        190.46 

     Capital expenditure                      263.85    3820.30     2528.66      3235.01    4,778.02    4,018.72   18,526.75    30,678.14     3,951.42 

                                           36755.76    33820.38    34265.69     30949.01     36600.20    34955.89   53854.67      74588.22    42181.97   377,971.78 



     Surplus/Deficit                         4343.47    4807.15      -944.00      128.23       981.51     -606.93    5930.95      -3584.47    15446.36      26502.27 


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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



                                      Appendix XIII : 



                    Submissions from Rosminian Fathers 


----------------------- Page 2023-----------------------

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           a g4pa%w        qap)) smiqq01(M@          ~  r  m  m   ~sagmj o a1g ' p ~ may, 

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=-=!D-          pSugumuow a m w 013upqosp seu o p u y sy saasu o ~ s s ~ o = ) 

              a q       a)snbapema       v 0 ; ~-9snoyrCuadpm u@n  9       ~s1u o g r q ! ~ 

   mop^ ur pamm asngr!p1193mtpaym a@gsavqs1q!nrar  s , u o ! s s ~ o ~ jpedo 


----------------------- Page 2024-----------------------

  Before dealing with these specifically it may be worth saying a few words about 

  background       TheInstituteof Charity is divided intoProvinces and other 

  circumscriptionslike Vice-Provinces andRegions.                    Provinces have their own form 

  of governancewith a Provincial atthe head.               Thisperson is appointedby the Superior 

  General and is accountableto him.             The Irish Province ofthe Institute of Charitywas 

  established in    1931but there were communities of members in Ireland since 1866. 

  Before becoming a Province, the Houses of the Institute in Ireland were part of the 

  EnglishProvince.        Therewere only three suchhouses: Upton (Co,Cork), a 

  Reformatory and later anIndustrial School, Clonmel (Ferryhouse) (CO-Tipperary)an 

  Industrial School and Omeath (Co..Louth), a house of formationfor students aspiring 

  to become membersof the Institute.  At thecommencementof the lrish Province, the 

  few communitiesof the Institute in the United States(a few parishes and one High 

  School)were alsojoined  to the Irish Province, which was officiallyknow as the Irish- 

  American Province.  This arrangement lasted until the late  1960's when America 

  became a separateProvince.           When the Irisb American Province was createdit 

  consisted of 30professed members in Ireland and 14professed members in the u.s.~ 



  In the financial context it isimportantto be aware of the origins and development of 

 the Irish Province.       At its beginningsthe Province did not possess nor wasit later 

 endowedwith enormouswealth.                 TheIndustrial School atUpton had a fhirly 

 substantial farm of over ahundred acressome of which had been purchased by the 

 Institute of Chariv, the Schoolat Clonmelhi,at the outset, only avery small 

 amount of land (circa 9 acres)':which          was part of the original endowment; the house 

 at Omeathhad a small farm attached.              The original buildings atUpton wereprovided 

 by the Cork Reformatory Society (a subsidiaryof the Vincentian or St.Vincent de 

 Paul Society); those at Clonmelby CountArthur Moore MP.,and Omeath were the 

 gift of a benefactor.     All subsequentdevelopment of buildings and acquisitionof 

 lands atUpton and Clomnel were financedby the Ifi3€ituteof Chari F The Statedid 

 not provide any of the buildings forthe historical Industrial Schools  and from 1921 

 until the mid  1960'spractically nothingwas received by way of grants for 

 development or maintenanceof buildings.                There is someevidence thatthe two 

 Industrial Schools,Upton and Clomnel while under the aegis of the English Province 

 of the Institute of Charity were regarded as the 'poor relations'  of the other houses in 

 that Province and -especially inthe yearsprior to the establishmentofthe Irish 

 Province- were allowedto rundown.'              The costs of renovation and maintenanceof 

 the Schools at Upton and Clonmel had to be borne by the fledglingIrish province6. 



3 '  h  f  d 'members arethosewhob          etaken vows. 

 'Cf. Commission ofloquj. into theRefbrmatory andhiusbidSchool System 1934-196 (The 

CussenReport), n. 23, p.10 and cf.alsoAppendbr B 

 'Cf. thenote foJlowing 

   TheSormation r e g a d ithe origins oftheZrishProvinceand its 6nancial conditionatthe timeis 

mainly derived from aIeCter ofFr-ThornasHickey  (thefirst Provincial) to FrHughMacFadden a later 

Provincial.  The letter isdated October 11" 1956.    Fr.Hickeysaysthat pn 19311 '      e  rmrchehtion 

analZoc&on     off25,OOO was d     e by hEnghh ProviTlce'However, f8,oOO  ofthiswas emmarked as 

the cordnion ofthe newProvinceto the establishmentof an iaterdonal studeut housein Rome 

andthe remainderwas notsdlicieatto purchase and renovatethe NovitiateHouseofthenewProvince 

at Kilmurray,  Co,Cork    It would seemthat the Province had to borrow fkomthe outset. Fr-Hickeygoes 

onto say re the housesatUpton and Clonmel:'llw!improvemen& litt k C/ptort                were d    e e   r 

very strongand mtittueclprexwrefnnnhe EabrdmonAuthorities.             Ibe hglishP r o v i d  hadnever 

takenany interest in thisSchool mdit MY      M     d owr to UYin apitiable   d  t  i w    Clonmel war 

even in worsed t i o n     It was aM      l wirhour claw nwxru.dwith onlythemadprimitiw toilet 



                                                                                                         l 


----------------------- Page 2025-----------------------

  cussen7in 1938was well aware of the situation in Industrial Schoolsgenerally: "...It 

  must not be overIooked thaC the buildings,farms, plant,         etc., have as a rule been 

 providkd  by the scbI.v thvelvc.v, without the aid of theStale undLocaIAuthorities, 

  and that the improvements,alterations, extensions,renewals and repairs necessury to 

  meet changingcircwmtances have been dependent toa large extent on charitabte 

  contributionsand on theprivute  resources ofthe imtituliom.             This arrangement, 

  while advantageour to t  k farpuyer, h       v limited the activities of theM m g c ~ r sand 

  hindered development in many directions" (CussenReport,n 168,pp.43-44). 

  The above quotationmerits careful analysis and, presumably, it will receive suchfrom 

 the Ryan Commission.          In the context ofthe developingIrish Provinceof the 

 Institute of Charity, the provision of plant, the maintenance andrepair of buildings 

 built in the mid to late 19&century,was aheavy burden               It must be kept in mind 

 that the two Industrial Schoolswere only apart of the financialburden on the 

 Provincewhich alsohad to provide andmaintain houses for studentswho were called 

 tojoin  the Instituteand who did not pay any fees fortheir training.          From  1945 

 onwards, the Province had a M  e  r call on its limited financialresources when it was 

 required to provide forthe travellingexpenses,health care and much more, of the 

 members who went on mission to East Africa.             The hvince, while it did receive 

 some financialhelp from the English Province in  1931, was not in receipt of ongoing 

 help fiom that or fromany other quarter-         There hasnever been atradition in the 

 Institute of receivingany financefrom what mightbe termed 'central funds'                In fact 

 suchfunds donot exist.       Any monies receivedby the Wtute (including its 

 Provinces) by way of legacies, donationsetc.,if not alreadydesignatedby the donor 

 for a particular cause or work, have to be sodesignated by the S-or               General. 

 Apart from a few relatively small grantsthe Irish Province never received help from 

 any fundsdesignatedby the Superior~ e n e d ' .          As far asthe Industrial Schoolsat 

 Upton and Clonrnel areconcerned, the readily apparent consequenceof all the above 

 is that the fishProvince was always strugglingto d           n    ~ annadequatestandard of 

 living forthe persons detained in the Institutions and, indeed, forthose charged with 

 their care.  While h4hagers (the Provincial Superiors) and Resident Managers might 

 have aimedfor a standard abovethe mediocre, they m l y achievedanything 

 approachingthe ideal.       Government Inspectorsin their Reports on these ~ c h o o l s ~ 

 oftenp r e s c n i changesbut theydid not prescrii how these changeswere to be 

 financed     Resident hhnagers, were personalities of varyinghue: some were good 

 fund-raisersandgood at public relations; somewere endowed with                         common 

 senseand business acumen; othershad little of these qualitiesand all had no specific 

training for their position.     Neither did anyof their staffuntil the late 1970's apart 

fromthe teachers inthe Primary Schoolsandeven here one could questionif anything 

these had received in Training Collegewould have preparedthem forthe largely 

remdal typeof educationneeded espe~dlyby the majorityof the statuton'ly 

committed residentsof the Schools. 

Another aspectto be borne in mind when consideringthe Accounts isthe interweave 

between School, Fam andCommwWtyIncome andExpenditure.                       Having land was 

seen as anecessity to produce food (e-gmilk,potatoes, and vegetables) for all the 



accommu&ion      £3,000hadl0 be qwnt onclksrwmand CoSZeB.  Later-more recerttfi£28,000 have 

                                                                   ' 

been.spent ontheC:/ontnelSchool tomake it tk,%hodthat it m 

7 Cf.note4 above 

  Cf.Appmdix A below: A Note onthe F          iAtlFairsofthe lrish Province ofthe Lnstituteof 

Charitv. 

9 The Laffoy/Ryan C   d  o  nwiIl, undoubtedly,have access to all these. 


----------------------- Page 2026-----------------------

residents on the campus and to provide some incometo the Province.     The 'story' of 

Upton and Clonmel doesnot showthat the f m sthere were enterprisesthat ever 

made large profits.  There aremanyreasonsfor this: the depressed economic climate 

in heland especially in the 1940's, the unscientific approachto farming and  h 

budgeting in those years. Perhaps the greatest factor militatingagainst good farm 

managementwas that none of those in chargehad any specifictrainingfor their task. 



From the financialpoint of view, one has the clear impressionthat the management 

and maintenance of the historical Industrial Schoolsat Upton and Clonrnelwas a 

constant struggle, which left those in chargewith littletime or energyto make the 

kind of additional improvementsthat manyof them undoubtedly would have wished 

to make. 


----------------------- Page 2027-----------------------

01  png    Xg pamolln r/n~p~anoay1 018u?p~omr,anp 1s2~atulzappug01  snq asnoy 


----------------------- Page 2028-----------------------

 conjionted with a very heavyfinancial burden".              Kaving described Fr.Tom Hickey 



 as one who had:  "carte-blanch to agood extent during thep v t  25years  in 



 managing the affairs ofthe Province ... " Fr. MacFadden seemsto have included with 



 his ownletter an extract from a letter that Fr.Hickey had sent to him.4 



 In a letter of 3 0November~       1957there is an interesting paragraph         The context 



 surrounding ths is the proposed setting up of a Novitiate in the American part of the 



 Province, following Fr-Gaddo's visitation there in October of that year and the 



 detrimental financial consequences for Ireland, entailed by such a move.              In the 



 course of his letter Fr.MacFadden says:  "ThetwoIndwtriul ,Cchoo/.s were undertuken 



 as workv of charity dthefiuits cfthefanns  go to their support with the subsit$ 



fiom   the Governmentwhich of itselfwould be imdequute. " To be noted here, 



 perhaps, is that in the estimation of the Provincial the financial wntribution by the 



 State to the two Lnhstrial School was only a subsidy.            In the same context, the letter 



 of 3"'December gives some insight asto how the Industrial Schools  (and even 



 StJoseph's Drumcondra)were regarded: It must be>ernernberedthut the two 



 Idustrial L  k  h  ~andl  ~St.Joseph *SDmrncondra aregreat works of charity bul ooj'nu 



 benefir to [he~rde/amlikeyour  great Colleges inIta& and the two inEngland                     The 



 rnissionsdforwhich theProvince has beenmainly responsible is nosource ofgain 



  Weh    e theNovitiute undJuniorate (...) which are not sources ofgain orprofit.  " 



 He then goes on to ask a question:"  T  hquestion is t k nhow w i l l h e l d cuny on the 



 works of churity undertakn, andprepcrtemenfor             the missions with rrlI the expenses 



 invofved,maintain theJuniorate andNovitiate andpay oflgraduafly the huge debt 



 incurred?     It is idle tosay now thatsuch U debt should not have been i n w e d but 



   A COPYofthis extiac! is appendedto these notes. 

   Quite obviousty 'fbxial benefit' iswhat isintended. 

 6 Here is meant the then mission territory of a region ofwhat is now Tamaak, where persarmel from 

 the Irish-AmericanProvia;e badbeen worldng since 1945 


----------------------- Page 2029-----------------------

 the hurdfact    remaim that it [is] an obligation that can't be shirked  "  He ends the 



 letterby agajnreferring to his distress at being: "confronted with such a debt with 



 1111fe or no resources to clear it. " 



In the course of a letter of 6&December  1957,refemng to a report made by Fr-Torn 



 fickey on monies received from America, Fr MacFadden is making Fr.Gaddo aware 



that the previous Superior General (Fr.Bozzetti) had siphoned off some h d s fiom 



America and applied them to works in Italy: $  16.000for Domodossola College and 



 $15,000 for Sicily. 



On the  14h December 1957,where he comments on a meeting held at Clonmel 



(Ferryhouse)of the three ~ r c ~ b ~ t eresidentr . ~ ' in Ireland, he goes on to say that the 



Province debt was a debt:  "incurredin the name of lhe unitedProvince [Irish- 



American Province] und the overdr~fl~~permittedby the Bunk weregiven on the 



credt cf  theIr~vh-AmericanProvince. "  The letter continues, hoping that the 



brethren in Ireland will not become discouraged:            "seeingtkd there iissuch U h  e  ~  q 



burden ofdebt to be cleared and the tmk seeming$~mpssibk with m)hope of 



developmentbecause of ourfiruvlcial embarrassment. " There is a post-script to the 



letter suggestingthat the monies being contributed in America towards the formation 



of the msh] students in Rome: "'should comethroughlreltutd us thut would help 



sustain the  redi it here ofthe Province before the authorities offhe Bank andwould be 



an affirmution of theprantee  given byyourpredecessor to the B&                      "  From 



Fr.MacFaddenYsletters ofthis period, one can seethat the Province debt weighed 



heavily on hlrnpersonally.8  There are also some examplesof how bad things were: In 



November  1958, "exceptforfires          in certain roorns, "there was no heating at Upton. 



Presbyters in the Institute of Charity arememberswho have taken afourthvow thathas amongits 

obligationswatching over tbe 'poverty'ofthe Institutei.e.ensuring thatthe income oftbe Lnstituteis 

applied to works ofcharity only. 

  Cf. Letter of 3 l" January  1958where he sayshe is sufferingfiom stomach ulcers. 


----------------------- Page 2030-----------------------

 When Fr.Eugene Arthurs was ordained Bishop of Tanga (Tanzania) in August 2958, 



 the Province could not afford the expenses of the Ordinationmeal, which Bishop 



 Arthurs hmself paid for from donations received atthat time. (Letter of 20"  January 



  1959).    Buttherewassomeimprovementinthesituationan~writingfiom 



 Ferryhouse on the 3d February 1959,Fr.MacFadden was able to tell the General: 



 "The Rector pr.P.Spelrnan] wasable to reduce the debt [on F  q  h  v  e  ] by £3,000 



 thepllsr yeur  u p r tfrom minor improvements" 



 Bishop Arthurs made a suggestion in that same month that an extra man be assi_med 



 to 'mission propaganda'9  in Ireland and that the Province keep half the takings9'' 



 Likewise in America an extraman could beput on 'propaganda'  and 25% ofthe 



 income would come to Ireland.           It is not clear, at the present stage of research, if any 



 of these suggestionswere ever implemented               Writing on the 21*February  1959, 



 Fr.MacFadden saysthat the:  ')?inunciu/situutionseemed better hut the debts ure high 



 andyears will be required to clear them. "  Onthe 28&of the samemonth, he refers 



 to the closing of Greenrnount Industrial School as  "hnice bit ofnews "because the 



 influx of boys from Greenrnountto uptonu            "willhe a bigjhmcieI help in the 



 management of ourSCFLOOI'' 



 But the increase in numbers atUpton did not solve allthe problems.                  On April 2la 



 1959,Fr.MacFadden is telling the General that the Province probably would not be 



justified   in having the thesis of one of the membersprinted because it would have 



 limited appeal andthe Province "isunable toflordsuch              expense." More expense 



 was incurred in January 1960when Glencomeraghwas bought for £7,000,as a 



 Scholasticate. 



   This was the term then in usefor fund-raising. 

 'O This hasto beunderstood inthe contextofthe Province having to sustain the expenditurefor tbe 

 education, training, equipment a dtravel hthemissionaries. 

 " Onthe 3 l* March  1959.97  (ninetyw e n ) boys fiom Greenmount School were admitted toUpton 


----------------------- Page 2031-----------------------

  But the 'Greenmount factor' washaving some effect and Fr.MacFadden was able to 



  say in a letter dated l* March 1960regardingUpton:               "%rnmrhcrs in the,School are 



  huppily keeping up-there i s a big reduction on the debt of the hare-less by f4.000. 



 AN  the account.~Jiomthe various k . e . vare not in yet so thafthePruv.Proarafor 



  cun letyou have U statement. "lZ 



  On the  17" August  1960Fr.MacFaddenreminds the General (who was about to 



  embark on ajourney  to America) that he hopes the brethren in America will be 



 disposed to contribute generouslyto the purchase of the new Scholasticateand goes 



 on to say: "We h  e  n 'tthepurchase mmey un1as.s by raising the overdrafl in the 



 Bank which m  a  o additional intwc?,vtto bepaid  and that iswhut iscrippling thispa~i 



 of theProvince-trying tofindthe interestyeurly  und not being able to reduce the 



 Province debt. " 



  On the  1l"  February 1961(thenew Scholasticateat Glencomeragh had openedthe 



 previous October), he thanks the General for "udvuncing£-3,000or ,so towwds the 



 purchase  of the new Scholasticate."But'            he goes &Ito express a pessimistic view 



  "If a r that thisProvince or thispurtof theProvince inIreland will never be uble to 



 stand alone or independent,fmrmciaflj~,inview ofthe three houses devoted to works 



 of ch~rity'~whichcun never be expected to carry or supportthe three houses of 



finnation-the     Schofarticate,Novifiute&~uniorate"." 



 However, around this time ClonturkHouse was purchased for circa E 8,O.I5  In  a 



 letter of 1   4February~    1x1,Fr.MacFadden tells the General:  "Therewill be no 



    Annual Statements of Accounts were meantto be sentto the Superior General.       An effortwill be 

 madeto trace extant copies &her     in the IPAor the AG. 

 '"    thistime the' three houses' were: Upton,Ferrytrouse and Drurncondra. 

 l4 These housesw  e  : Glencomaagh, Kibnmay and Omeath 

 l5  There isa letter inthe IPA,  dated 18" February 1x1,fiom Fr.Gaddoto Fr.MacFaddeo, giving 

 permissionto buy Clonhrrk for Lit.  18 million 


----------------------- Page 2032-----------------------

  additional burden on the Province became of rhepurchs-e of the property.                  The 



  neces.varyf  d  v  will he got from  other . ~ ~ ~ ~ r c e s " ' " 



  There is a reference in a letter of 3* July     1961to the fact that that the Superior 



  General himself gave money towards some building at Omeath. 



  Omeath came into the picture again in May  1962when there was a request from there 



  for permission to build a Hall.      TheProvincial reports that he has told theOmeath 



  community thatthey mustcollect (i.e. hndraise) a few thousand themselvesbefore a 



  start could bemade. 



 On the 28"    September 1962, Fr.MacFadden tells Fr-Gaddothat he is:  "cullinga 



 meeting of Rectorsfor      OcioberPhere ut i@on  to talk over thefimnciul              stute of 



 each house and toseefsome           ofthe houses wuld contribute to the ProvincialFurui- 



 suy  the two Sch00l.s  ppton and  Ferryhouse] U&         Dnuncondru Hntlre. " 



  Themeeting was  held and on the 18&OctoberFr-MacFaddenindicatesto the 



 Fr.Genera1that the initiativefor that particular meeting had corne fiorn Fr-O'Brien 



  [ProvincialProcurator].      He then goes on to make a brief report on the main points 



 discussed, and concludes:  "TheProvinciul debt stunds still [sic] c ~f t 57,000-not 



 possible     present   to effect a reduction as theProvincialProcwa~orhtoprovide 



for  an extru house, the new L%hoZusticute[Glencomeraghopened in October 19601. 



 Thefuture    is bright, h w w e r , as helpwz/(beforthcomingfiomDnmrconcfru, Upton 



 and the School ut CYonmel.         Weure assuming that the number ofboys utboth 



 schools ismamfainedl7         There is much repair work to be dunehere m Uptond                 a 



 buildingprogramme  ut Drumwitdru, but utthe lutterpZuce fundsare increasing with 



 their variousappeals and means ofw-raising.                 Ourfarm were ccmridered- how 



 16 These'm'weremade up of a grant of 33,000 fiom theHospitalsTrust aodfimd-raising efforts 

 directed byFr.Con Cmrell as is evident h m a letter ofFr.Cottrellto tbeProviocial, dated 2zd Iaouary 

 1960(IPA). 

 "In fact, Uptw industrial School closed lessthan four years later. 


----------------------- Page 2033-----------------------

 to incrw~eproductivity  and plansfor         developing the dairy indu~tryat Kilmt~try& 



 [@tonwhich w  d  d giveagoodf m i a Z            return (...)  Withina cmpZe of-years[@ton, 



 Drumcondru & Clonme1should he able to make afairfinancial                   contrihtdion to the 



 Prov.Fd.,      in addition to theirMavs stiped. "IS          There follows this optimistic 



 note:  "Here at  Cjptonthe wheat crop brought inf           2,000 inspite of the had stmmer. " 



 From a letter of 30&July  1963it is clear that Fr.Vincent Kmedy had sought 



 permission from the General to take out a Bankloan to build the Hall atOmeatk 



 On the 29'    September 1963,Fr.Arthur J.O9Brienwho had been Provincial Procurator 



 (and Manager at Upton and then Ferryhouse) returned to America                   Fr.William 



 O'Reilly became the Manager at Ferryhouse and Provincial Procurator.                   According 



 to Fr.MacFadden7sletter of 7&Novernebr  1963,Fr.07Reilly "is               concerned about the 



jkncial     situation asProvincialPrt~'taator." 



 A meeting of Rectors was held atClonmel on November I8&1963with financehigh 



 on the agenda.      Suggestionswere made about giving:           "apercenfage oftoralfukings 



 in the three uctive houses19to the  'Provincinl~ u n k''. It was proposed that this 



 suggestionbe followed upat the end of the year,           "butin the meantime the homes of 



 Drumcondra and [@tonare committed through theirRectors to help ourfirtlmciailv.'" 



 Onthe 4'    February 1964,Fr-MacFaddenmentions that a few donations towards the 



 education of studentshad been received but not amounting to morethan £1,500. 



 "O£Feringsfor Masses celebratedby priests in the various communitiesweut (as they sfiU do) to the 

 ProvinceFunds. 

 I 9 'Active' house.are those that generate income;housesthat depend on a Province contributionare 

 called 'passive' 


----------------------- Page 2034-----------------------

                                               n-000'9~30%a       m uo)cIn ~ea1y ayl ICq pasnm 



     a%mp a q JOJ      w!ep    a3uerna.q a q 1q1sMau S!      aJaq3 '9961JaqruaAoN            aql n o 



                                                                                     ,paLerap 



    otaAq p p f i m u ! ~ o ~~d      J WO   y s g ay1otmueU!ruaX  Ap;.rlrenb           m u a w U! 



 Pm3u! W  W  o asntrsaq              @laUa9aylPaUJJ0.F@SJod'ld             '996 1Apf .61    ayl W 



                                        .'                               ,,, 'am!AoJdJq1om-1 



   01 uan!3dlay lnt~umgayjXl!mn~odurajpudms  01 hr),,~,sa~auaq/Cntu I!               ,,,:[e31~au.q1 



     ur rotemmupm p t 3 u ~ o q - m m~ l            3v -JJ wog ~ A I - 1  s  ~ aqq JaUaI e ruoy 



     atonb 01no saos aH       - p 3 n paq~  01 a    q I ~ yMj m u i ~01 ~ a 2 ppqu u n  ayj  ,,:pm 



pamamur sr m r p o q a q j o uapmq pr3ueuy atp u o ~ d n j o8ursop aw t p t ~-y)earug 



      %lp@a~ @ Q n 3 ! d  a u m g mo!Iuam  y&od'Jd               '9961 Y 3 J W   ,,l $0JaUal snlul 



                                          IZ"  .s.~rv@j/oCTIS  uozr~.gs~u~uqn~q    j ucolJuralqo~d 



n salnj!j.ruoDjmp pun punlaq  U!~naXs!yjuas?l o,Vn               jsmajul  yung  ayjj m / j ajouI   ,, 



                                                                                  . S ~ U O UOI N lOJ 

 : s ~ aqS S961 l  a  q  O  m .S ayl U 0  e3!J3UIV WOlJ OppE).J+JW ~     U   ~  U   M 



 a3u!~oqaqjjo ved m          u  a  q aql 01U O ! ~ ? ? A uo 1uafiyllCsrod*~d' ~ 9 6jo1   ~ l eaqlj tq 



      a d -/Cunurl1~{ O ~ W J  q j  uo auop s ~ d a ql j  l o J M oj OO_Cp m j3a/oJd   q jym]s 01 



 00o6[Aayjounpun  sZu!plfnqay1 ~o/pasln~unol ay1pur$a~01                 000'z /Clawnu-h~nu~~y 



         ~ 0 J p p mm  '  p ,pul;{o1 p  a  z  w  a      q    - m mzu!=g           hwa-112 



  uo!~uaui01  1dmn amnu$uo ymor  IOU  lluys~,, :oppq-~-~d01law1v30 asno3 ay1ul 



          'laqalw47.ayl W             'm61Apf U1  @f3UFo&J JaAO 3001WWOSU                    q  J d 


----------------------- Page 2035-----------------------

hthe ForsythfGaddocorrespondence for  1967there are some attached pages with 



 opinions re the proposed transfer of the Novitiate from Kilmurry to Dublin                        Inone of 



 these, probably that of Fr.W.O7Reilly,the Provincial Procurator, there is a strong note 



 of caution:  "thereisstill a debt of neurlyf          100,000 which HASto bepuid              " 



 On the 24'     September 1968,Fr.Fors-yth makes reference to the                 "contractbehveen 



Blshop Arthurs und theP r ~ v i n c e "and~ ~goes on: " Thefimnciirlprop',.sa/.~ure 



 impossible a syou b w our situation and a threeyear tourfmi.v.vioncaie.v                     returning 



every threeyecrrs  insteud of .six originuliy]ulso impo.~.sib/eowing tofimciul 



 implications."        Further on in the same letterhe implies that the American cow is 



going dry:  "Ol~rfiwnciulresources depend on the cont~ibutionsfiomAmerica to cr 



large extent (...). Wehave not receivedhelp$nancial  helpfor   some time. 



 Onthe  15'  November  1969,Fr.Forsyth thanksthe General for his "kindfimciui 



help "and there is a similarreference in a previous letter. 



On the 5&December 1969Fr-Forsythwrites:  "A v&                       mundane note hut we thnk 



God that thisyear  theProvincial debt wasreduced by f5.000  thank^  toyour  k i d help 



and that of others i.e.for       1969.    1do not mention these matters inpublicfor               many 



           .I 



reasons. 



Onthe  19'     February 1970Fr-Forsythreturnsto the theme of finance: "Weclre not in 



afinanciulposition tosupport a threeyear  tow ofthe missionsmui rwwevenmore so 



Uwe are completely on our ownfinamiully.                 " 



Onthe  12&October 1970he tells Gaddothat Fr.Michae1McGough, then Provincial in 



l4  Thiswas about kes for themissionariestravelling onhome leave and back to Afiicaandalso 

about money for theirholidays etc. 

   A decisionin principle had been takenby theGeneral to make Amerita a separateProvioce, 

somethingthat happened officially in April  1971. 


----------------------- Page 2036-----------------------

 England, had      "agreedtogive theIrish Province a loan off 5,000 to be repuid over 



 t ;me." 



 With his letter of  1  9March~      1971Fr.Forsyth seemingly included a Statement of 



 ProvinceAccounts and says:  "Abw fsuy a word aboul the materiulsde of things 



 which also m      ~betspoken d      o   ~  .Plea~ejindenclosed,F  d  k  , a S t a t c m oof~ ' 



 Accountsfor     the Province, ending December  1970 and asyou  will note (with 



 ~ r . ~ e c r e t u rthclty ) ~the~  Lord has been v a y kindto us. T?te M i n g     "Vuritm 



 Loans" f   12,I 70.00 @/us-f     600.00 andf     285.00 etc.) ure mostly Bursesfor          the 



 Education ofStuciEntsfi,r !he~ r i e s t k x dand~ , that covers @iuo m~no)~~thepresent 



 Provinciul Overdraft o f f 14,000.00.         The individual houre~'hme their debts which 



 can be reduced arid cleared in time with God's help.  ((@tonowes also theEngksh 



 Provincef     5,000.00 utpresent  on lotm).        Wetoo are veryptefirlfir your kind und 



generous help withtIhc Provincial Ovm&ajL  " 



 On the 15&November  1971,in telling Gaddo about the decisionto move the 



Novitiate to Dublin, Fr.Forsyth  -asking advice &to where the Province would get 



 money for the newbuilding. 



 In a letter of 15h October 1972he informsthe General that Kilmurray was sold for 



 590,000but there was a £20,000 debt to be paid off there [on the farm] and the new 



Novitiate cost £ 40,000. 



 In a final letter mentioning finance 3 d ~ a r c h1973,Fr-Forsythtells Fr-Gaddothat the 



 Government is finding £70,000  for the extension at ClonW,  "wehave t                    o  w 



f 5,000. " 



    This isFr.Forsyth'sway ofmaking surethat Fr.Gaddo, an Italian will undmstand Irish aammts i.e, 

using the help of his Secretary an Englishman. 

   Duringhis tennas Provincial Fr.Forsytb establisheda number of Bursa. 

    Italian: 'more or less' 


----------------------- Page 2037-----------------------

 Fr-Bernard (Brian) McNally was installed a s Provincial of the Irish Province on the 



 1  6July~ ~1973. His Provincialatewas a short one due to ill health        Writing to 



 Fr.Gaddo on the 25&July,      1973he saysregarding the proposed Secondary School at 



 Drumcondra:  "Evendid we hcrve a suitable site our share in the comtruction of any 



Secohdary School atpresm  would cost the Province at lest £l 00,000andlJmht  f 



 we could carry thut burden.# 9 2 9 



 On the 28&October  1973he commentsthat:  "hordm to save asubstuntial rmunmt oj' 



money-ut lemt f2Operperson "it had been decided that students from the Province 



returning to Rome at the end of that summer would travel overland and not by air. 



 There are no further details re the financial situation in the McNally/Gaddo 



correspondence. 



   In February 1974,  Fr.McNaHy met with the Secretary of the Depamnerd ofEducationandrexived 



of 25& February [l9741 


----------------------- Page 2038-----------------------

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



                                    APPENDIX XIV : 



                  Rosminian Fathers - Province Accounts 


----------------------- Page 2039-----------------------

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



               Province Accounts Analysis                    1952        1953       1961        1964        1965        1966       1967        1968        1969     TOTAL 

                                                               €           €           €          €           €           €           €          €           €            € 

               Income 



               Masses                                        12,280.94             10,393.35   11,860.00                                                                34,534.29 



               USA contribution                              1,363.70               3,699.25                                                                             5,062.95 



              Contributions from sisters                       634.87       72.38                                                                                           707.24 



              Transfers                                         380.92     253.95                                                  2,539.48    2,539.48                  5,713.82 



               Refunds                                          933.89                            467.00                  171.17       18.96                  123.42     1,714.44 



               Pensions,donations,rent,supplies, wills & 

              gifts                                             552.20     253.31               1,153.00        15.66   2,031.58      63.49    1,781.51    1,269.74      7,120.48 



               Unidentified income                              81.11   5,979.25                                                                                         6,060.36 



               Industrial Schools                                      21,543.46                                                                              253.95    21,797.40 



               Individuals                                                2,517.81                              21.59                                                     2,539.40 



              Sale of cottage                                              380.92                                                                                           380.92 



               Rome                                                        507.90                                                                                           507.90 



              Glencomeragh rent                                             24.23                                                                                            24.23 



               Fathers and brothers                                                 2,901.35                              380.92                 312.10       162.53     3,756.90 



               Land Bonds                                                               13.60                                                                                13.60 



               Rent                                                                     35.50                                                                                35.50 



               Prize Bond                                                               63.49                                                                                63.49 



              Curran's Brushes Made                                                    249.19                                                                               249.19 



              Cattle & Farm Produce                                                 1,947.88                                                                             1,947.88 



               Provisional contributions                                                        8,032.00  11,170.46     9,419.07   9,836.98   11,707.14  11,631.32      61,796.96 



              Stipendia Missarum                                                                          22,521.15    25,020.81  20,764.03   16,431.16  18,871.65    103,608.80 



              Stocks,Rents, Dividends                                      134.06                              185.79      190.56    226.71    1,137.70    1,086.32      2,961.14 



               Funeral Expenses                                                                                190.46                                                       190.46 



               Retreat - Loftus Hall                                                                            15.24                                                        15.24 



              Sale of books                                                                                     61.58                                          31.74         93.33 



               Bulmer's (for boys)                                                                              47.32                                                        47.32 



               For African student                                                                              31.74                                                        31.74 


----------------------- Page 2040-----------------------

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



              Province Accounts Analysis                    1952       1953        1961       1964        1965       1966       1967        1968       1969     TOTAL 

                                                              €          €           €          €           €          €           €          €          €            € 



              Supplies                                                                                     304.74      118.09       38.19     241.25     119.36         821.62 



              Burses                                                                                                   412.66      317.43     317.43                 1,047.53 



              Sale of "Consul"                                                                                         177.76                                           177.76 



              In trust                                                                                                             809.33                               809.33 



              Contributions for Fr. Prov's car                                                                                     380.92                               380.92 



              Towards Glen'ragh                                                                                                    184.11                               184.11 



              Sale of cattle                                                                                                                 1,339.80                1,339.80 



              Sale of students car                                                                                                            190.46                    190.46 



              Income tax refund                                                                                                               138.57     236.96         375.53 



              For the gen chapter from English 

              Provincial                                                                                                                      253.95                    253.95 



              Total Income                                16,227.63   31,667.25  19,303.61   21,512.00  34,565.72    37,922.63 35,179.63   36,390.54  33,786.98    266,556.01 


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                 Expenditure                              1951        1953       1961        1964       1965        1966       1967        1968       1969     TOTAL 

                                                            €           €          €           €          €           €          €           €          €            € 



                 Scholastics                               1,282.84                                                                                                1,282.84 



                 Novitiate                                 2,166.17                                                                                                2,166.17 



                 Juniorate                                 5,550.03                                                                                                5,550.03 



                 Missions                                  1,627.73                                                                                                1,627.73 



                 Dollars 3061                             1,363.70                                                                                                 1,363.70 



                 Individual                                  126.97                                        190.46      35.55   1,620.69      181.70                2,155.38 



                 Medical, chemical, hospital                 508.20     243.87                                         84.50       49.20                 306.13    1,191.90 



                 Insurance and Interests                     794.27     880.54   3,288.16    2,314.00   3,132.38     2,999.44  2,784.85    3,795.95   2,151.83    22,141.42 



                 Travelling(incl. Italy, USA and UK)       2,479.07   5,446.92      288.33     620.00       86.32     420.88      536.91                 618.74   10,497.18 



                 Province administration                     241.25     253.95                                                                                        495.20 



                 Transfers                                           12,414.43                                                 1,523.69    2,760.73               16,698.85 



                 Industrial Schools                                  11,377.65   6,227.28        0.00        0.00       0.00        0.00      81.26        0.00   17,686.19 



                 Capital Expenditure                                    380.92                             593.34                 907.86                 539.64    2,421.76 



                 Clothing                                               195.63                                                                                        195.63 



                 Glencomeragh                                                     5,134.85       0.00   3,491.78      502.82        0.00       0.00        0.00    9,129.44 



                 Car expenses                                                       376.50     606.00                                                                 982.50 



                 Books, fees, stationery and printing                               613.39                 371.08                  87.61      25.39      190.97    1,288.44 



                 Fathers and Brothers                                               213.43                 562.79    1,118.11     533.29   1,469.72      421.55    4,318.89 



                 Income Tax                                                         140.17                  20.00                             20.00                   180.16 



                 Subscriptions Patrician Year                                        76.18                                                                             76.18 



                 Mandates and subsidies                                                     11,876.00  13,825.54    14,508.92 14,869.90   11,654.93  12,839.24    79,574.52 



                 Transfer of Masses                                                          2,880.00                                                              2,880.00 



                 U.C.C students                                                                822.00                 382.93      314.23     271.53                1,790.70 



                 Reduction overdraft                                                           500.00   1,269.74     1,269.74  2,539.48    3,809.21   6,348.69    15,736.86 



                 do. Allowance                                                                 100.00                                        573.92      573.92    1,247.84 


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                Expenditure                              1951        1953       1961       1964        1965       1966       1967       1968        1969     TOTAL 

                                                           €           €          €          €           €          €          €           €          €           € 



                Insurance, Rates                                                             184.00      244.50     335.85      277.92     163.43     292.78    1,498.47 



                Miscellaneous:Holidays, Medical,  etc                                        328.00                                                                328.00 



                Transfer stipendiorum                                                                 9,877.81   11,312.82  10,158.55   8,420.31    7,272.93   47,042.42 



                Refunds                                                                                  821.84      47.32                                         869.16 



                Prize bonds                                                                               50.79                                                     50.79 



                For African student                                                                       63.49                                                     63.49 



                C/A fees and cheque book                                                                              2.22        3.49                               5.71 



                supply and excess stipends                                                                          154.76                                         154.76 



                Charity                                                                                               3.81                 879.93       6.35       890.09 



                Burses                                                                                                          761.84     317.43               1,079.28 



                Courses                                                                                                          97.77      82.79     367.02       547.57 



                Basins etc K'murry                                                                                              416.47                             416.47 



                To English Provisional                                                                                                     253.95                  253.95 



                To house (cattle)                                                                                                          389.17                  389.17 



                Chapter expenses                                                                                                640.20     634.87   1,349.73    2,624.80 



                Total Expenditure                       16,140.24  31,193.91   16,358.29  20,230.00  34,601.85    33,179.65 38,123.97  35,786.22  33,279.52   258,893.65 



                Income less expenditure                     87.40     473.35    2,945.32   1,282.00      -36.12    4,742.98 -2,944.34      604.32     507.46    7,662.36 


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                       APPENDIX XV : GOLDENBRIDGE 



                  INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 1951-1969 



                                               & 



                        BUILDING ACCOUNT 1961-1966 


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Income                       1951        1952        1953        1954         1955        1956        1957         1958        1959        1960         1961 

                                €           €           €           €            €           €           €           €            €           €            € 

Dublin Corporation       6,127.51     5,279.05   6,623.94                 3,156.61    6,628.65     6,244.93   3,208.45    7,063.27     9,848.58    9,909.20 

Treasury                 5,588.79   7,053.80     7,891.60                 7,746.58    7,637.89     3,648.50   9,941.77   15,977.89     5,573.22    9,226.42 

Meath County 

Council                     35.59 

Kildare Co. Council        558.14      632.62      611.38 

Wicklow Co. Council        116.58      134.43      148.97 

Carlow Co. Council          35.59       71.36       49.65 

Dublin Co. Council         324.00      550.72      476.15 

Credit Interest                                     11.87                                            21.97        26.47       20.44        6.29        12.82 

Heating+Cleaning 

Grant                                               33.01                    31.30      159.61                    82.67                                57.14 

Free Books                                           7.05                                 6.09                     5.14                                 5.14 

Unspecified                                                 16,001.02                                                        333.88 

County Councils                                                          1,415.66     1,210.49      697.09    1,443.27       378.13      383.41    1,930.43 

Boards of 

assistance                                                                   74.10                                99.57      180.38 

Voluntary Pupils and 

other sources                                                               513.30      173.45      486.75       219.79       25.65      139.67       210.05 

Rent for St Joseph, 

Rathdrum                                                                    104.75      104.75 

Discounts etc..                                                                          19.78 

Cookery Grant                                                                                                                                          68.57 

Rathdrum                                                                                                                                               10.64 

Dept. of Education                               1,115.46 

Parents 

Contributions                                       63.49 

Total Income            12,786.20   13,721.98  17,032.57    16,001.02   13,042.30   15,940.71     11,099.24  15,027.13   23,979.64   15,951.17    21,430.41 


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Expenditure                          1951         1952          1953         1954          1955           1956         1957          1958         1959        1960          1961 

                                       €             €            €             €             €              €            €            €             €           €            € 

Food                             4,378.91    5,681.04     7,802.54      7,427.97      4,384.63       4,563.56     1,917.60     5,487.17      4,927.46    2,945.06     6,753.35 

Clothing                        1,229.64     2,169.98     1,771.28      1,714.15      1,387.81       1,566.59     1,282.35     2,435.74      2,534.49    1,619.16     2,468.29 

Salaries and wages              2,045.28      2,655.64    4,924.67                    2,341.94       2,903.94     1,644.31      3,509.09     3,755.61    1,877.69     3,905.78 

Drugs and medical 

expenses                           135.90        48.19         93.31        94.58        188.40         107.47       103.43         84.45        97.86       60.31        204.11 

Telephone                           54.88        43.26                                    93.55         113.24        34.84         92.88       189.44       73.62        317.31 

Chapel & Rev. chaplain             170.60       144.46                                   269.60         211.53       169.45        257.24       396.62      300.24        320.04 

Stationery and printing              5.88         5.18                                     7.81          77.67        33.85         99.71       163.22       26.83        116.77 

Laundry and cleaning               135.09        23.30        253.95       291.60         88.07         109.77       166.34        524.30       117.76      149.89        118.47 

Repairs to Buildings and 

Decorations                     2,805.55         65.37        724.04       610.11     2,739.84       1,089.78     1,141.53      1,919.79     4,505.65       667.36     2,635.57 

Rents, Rates and Taxes             226.79       210.42        171.83                     577.96         764.48       255.36        735.18       644.71      283.09        550.30 

Fuel, Light and Power              360.67     1,317.32        906.47       920.41     1,243.64          990.87    1,009.42     1,254.65      1,224.70       894.40    1,852.14 

Insurance                          111.29        74.97        139.67       139.67 

Machinery and new 

equipment                          226.62         0.00 

Books for schoolrooms & 

library                             47.65        23.60 

Bank charges and debit 

interest                            44.99        28.98          8.02         4.63          4.18           7.72         5.45         10.89        11.57        5.45         75.93 

Furniture, fittings and 

bed linen                          560.84       231.69        304.74       345.43        800.42         399.00       539.55        577.78       837.94      115.37        798.49 

Girl's travelling expenses                                     19.05        20.32 

Cost of Band                                                   12.70        11.43 

Aftercare                                                      12.70        15.24 

Holidays                                                       74.44        72.38 

Sundries                                                      220.11       204.69 

Rent                                                                        91.42 

Rates (Water)                                                               74.79 

Salaries of School Staff                                                   944.11 

Salaries of Employees                                                   3,999.67 


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Expenditure 

(continued)                       1951         1952         1953         1954           1955          1956         1957         1958         1959        1960         1961 

                                      €            €            €            €             €             €            €            €            €          €            € 

Crockery and Hardware                                                                 109.86        575.80       343.97 

Allowance for sisters                                                                 361.88 

Travelling and postage                                                                238.06        165.83       102.63       416.09       292.00      212.08       347.31 

Recreational expenses                                                                  23.62         39.57        26.66       168.79        40.12       13.75       221.59 

Sollicitor's fees, etc..                                                              113.97 

Swimming Pool                                                                          63.49 

Garden Seeds etc.                                                                       9.52 

Donations                                                                              15.74         74.77                     18.03        39.43       26.73        59.65 

St Joseph's Holiday's 

home cottage                                                                                        222.20 

Petty Cash expenses                                                                                  44.77 

Hardware                                                                                                                      522.84       921.91      432.17       340.92 

Extraordinary expenses                                                                                                        134.86         9.55       38.09 

Unspecified 



Total Expenditure             12,540.58    12,723.40   17,439.52    16,982.60     15,063.99     14,028.56     8,776.74    18,249.48    20,710.04    9,741.29   21,086.02 


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Income                                      1962           1963         1964            1965           1966         1967         1968         1969 

                                              €              €             €              €              €             €            €           € 

Dublin Corporation                     5,281.21      15,395.60                    15,059.75       4,208.28    12,219.29     4,666.66     4,228.95 

Treasury                                9,529.10      3,725.09                    13,607.33     14,430.26     14,398.51 

Credit Interest                            17.97           4.69         7.91           64.10         187.83       427.39       385.92       286.26 

Heating+Cleaning Grant                     69.84          69.84 

Free Books                                  5.40 

Unspecified                                                       28,245.83 

County Councils                        2,370.19       2,105.92                     2,224.78       6,376.37     2,054.19        755.95    1,480.16 

Voluntary Pupils and other 

sources                                   123.80         166.34 

Grants                                                                                205.51          22.10       430.44        45.71    1,570.67 

Cookery Grant                                             99.04 

Gifts                                      12.70                                      203.16         114.28                    126.97       215.86 

Dublin Health Authority                                                            1,113.66       3,225.05      6,630.06    6,897.94     7,534.49 

refund for use of telephone for 

Mr Bolger                                                                              12.70           0.00 

Army allowance                                                                                       107.90 

Children's Crafts                                                                                              2,056.98         25.39 

Dept. of Education                                                                                                          6,725.08     6,980.78 

Rent for grazing                                                                                                                31.74 

Most reverend Dr Dunne                                                                                                                      571.38 

Total Income                           17,410.21     21,566.52    28,253.74      32,490.99      28,672.07     38,216.86    19,661.36    22,868.55 


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 Expenditure                                      1962           1963           1964            1965          1966           1967          1968           1969 

                                                     €              €              €              €             €               €             €              € 

 Food                                          5,143.73      7,081.40       8,128.45       7,094.64      7,884.87        6,296.16      2,648.67       3,764.17 

 Clothing                                      2,374.87      3,289.43       4,458.80       3,412.33      3,931.97        2,367.66        854.89      1,030.05 

 Salaries and wages                           5,098.09       4,678.16       4,462.00       4,724.15      4,703.99        5,369.28      2,907.50      3,057.69 

 Drugs and medical expenses                     269.26         867.52       1,448.19          246.20        279.94         324.10        304.50          56.99 

 Telephone                                      267.01         323.85         256.99          303.07         77.29          88.92         46.89          55.51 

 Chapel & Rev. chaplain                         340.89         329.52         330.58          234.77        637.83         474.11        143.80          50.64 

 Stationery and printing                         96.31         102.26         115.17          216.92        397.49         482.69        189.55         229.51 

 Laundry and cleaning                           213.70          20.05         250.37          334.33        293.55         461.77         78.77         206.31 

 Repairs to Buildings and Decorations          1,734.92      1,156.21       2,675.60       2,019.39      6,365.46      12,496.04         927.12      3,915.83 

 Rents, Rates and Taxes                         985.90         687.77         923.02          650.33     1,258.88        1,247.39        855.12         650.30 

 Fuel, Light and Power                        2,151.99       1,657.17         983.15       1,892.58      2,775.14        2,412.87        739.30         666.17 

 Bank charges and debit interest                 13.01          31.72          51.08           21.59         12.38          17.62         14.28          16.13 

 Furniture, fittings and bed linen              824.76         218.60         550.01          590.96     2,022.38          230.85        567.04         567.74 

 Travelling and postage                         345.05         337.88         612.28          575.52        723.05         495.02        848.22         336.23 

 Recreational expenses                           74.28         131.30         185.70          280.27        371.31         170.98        103.86         225.71 

 Donations                                       52.82          89.90         137.89           83.29         35.43         161.55         57.54         187.17 

 Hardware                                       571.26       1,043.71         772.08          253.29        246.09         252.53        156.88         694.90 

 Total Expenditure                           20,557.85      22,046.45      26,341.36      22,933.63     32,017.05      33,349.54      11,443.93     15,711.05 

Note: Only 6 months of accounts for the years 1957, 1960, 1968 and 1969. 


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                           30-Jun-       31-Dec-     30-Jun-     31-Dec-      30-Jun-     31-Dec-     30-Jun-       31-Dec-      30-Jun-       31-Dec-     30-Jun-       30-Dec- 

Building account                  61            61          62          62          63           63          64            64           65            65          66            66 

Income                        €            €            €            €           €           €           €            €             €             €            €            € 

Treasury                   1,269.74     1,269.74          0.00   1,269.74    2,022.25    1,269.74          0.00          0.00         0.00    4,636.99          0.00    4,699.94 

Corporation                2,590.27           0.00        0.00        0.00   1,269.74          0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00    7,973.57 

Dublin Corporation 

(Dec 66)                        0.00          0.00        0.00        0.00        0.00         0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00    3,809.21 

Treasury (II)                   0.00          0.00        0.00        0.00   1,015.79          0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00          0.00 

Health Authority                0.00          0.00        0.00        0.00        0.00         0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00    1,189.49 

Gift                            0.00        126.97        0.00        0.00        0.00         0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00          0.00 

Refund board of 

works                           0.00          0.00        0.00        0.00        0.00         0.00        0.00          0.00  19,490.48      6,285.20     6,983.56           0.00 

Refund of 

W.J.Bolger                      0.00          0.00        0.00        0.00        0.00         0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00    1,009.44          0.00          0.00 

Interest on a/c                85.05        139.07        0.00        6.73        3.75         5.62        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00          0.00 

Unidentified                    0.00          0.00        0.00        0.00        0.00         0.00        0.00   11,120.85           0.00          0.00        0.00          0.00 

                          3,945.05       1,535.79         0.00   1,276.47    4,311.52    1,275.36          0.00   11,120.85    19,490.48     11,931.64     6,983.56    17,672.21 

                                                                                                                                                                   - 

In Bank                  10,292.92      13,603.08   5,986.19        928.97       31.30       105.26      725.33   -5,263.12     -4,565.03     -3,300.05    7,074.92         -91.48 

                          14,237.95    15,138.87    5,986.19     2,205.43    4,342.82    1,380.61        725.33    5,855.30    14,925.45      8,631.59        -91.36   17,580.73 



Expenses                        0.00     9,152.67   5,057.22     2,174.13    4,237.56        655.29  5,988.44     10,420.32    18,225.38     15,706.25          0.00   18,518.62 

                                                                                                              - 

In Bank                  14,237.95       5,986.19       928.97       31.30      105.26       725.33  5,263.12     -4,565.03     -3,300.05    -7,075.04        -91.36       -937.96 

                          14,237.95    15,138.87    5,986.19     2,205.43    4,342.82    1,380.61        725.33    5,855.30    14,925.33      8,631.21        -91.36   17,580.67 

Breakdown of exp                0.00          0.00  5,057.22          0.00        0.00       655.29  5,988.44     10,420.32           0.00          0.00        0.00   18,518.62 

Banagher Tiles 

Limited                         0.00     4,571.06         0.00   1,777.63       634.87         0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00          0.00 

Banagher Tiles 

Limited                         0.00     4,444.08         0.00        0.00   2,212.33          0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00          0.00 

O Connor & 

Aylward                         0.00        137.13        0.00       53.33       57.14         0.00        0.00          0.00       936.81        746.61        0.00          0.00 

Transfer to current 

a/c                             0.00          0.00        0.00        0.00   1,333.22          0.00        0.00          0.00         0.00          0.00        0.00          0.00 


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                        30-Jun-     31-Dec-    30-Jun-    31-Dec-    30-Jun-   31-Dec-    30-Jun-     31-Dec-     30-Jun-     31-Dec-    30-Jun-     30-Dec- 

Building account              61          61         62        62         63         63         64          64          65          65         66          66 

Expenses (cont.)          €           €           €         €          €          €          €          €           €           €           €          € 

Mr Walsh                    0.00        0.00       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00      595.19       71.42       0.00        0.00 

Messrs W.J Bolger           0.00        0.00       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00  15,617.78   12,443.43        0.00        0.00 

Forde                       0.00        0.00       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        0.00      253.95       0.00        0.00 

Kenny & Company             0.00        0.00       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        0.00    1,323.05       0.00        0.00 

Varming & 

Mulcachy                    0.00        0.00       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        0.00      548.95       0.00        0.00 

General distribution        0.00        0.00       0.00    343.17       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00    1,066.58        0.00       0.00        0.00 

Roadmakers 

Limited                     0.00        0.00       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        0.00      297.06       0.00        0.00 

Interest                    0.00        0.00       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        9.02       21.78       0.00        0.00 

Cheque book                 0.00        0.39       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        0.00        0.00       0.00        0.00 

                            0.00    9,152.67  5,057.22   2,174.13   4,237.56     655.29  5,988.44   10,420.32   18,225.38   15,706.25        0.00  18,518.62 

Debts owed to 

industrial schools          0.00        0.00       0.00  3,809.21       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        0.00    7,618.43       0.00        0.00 

Lodged to account           0.00        0.00       0.00  2,022.25       0.00       0.00       0.00        0.00        0.00        0.00       0.00        0.00 

CLOSING BANK                                                                                     - 

BALANCE                14,237.95    5,986.19     928.97     31.30     105.26     725.33  5,263.12    -4,565.03   -3,300.05   -7,075.04     -91.36     -937.96 

DIFFERENCE                  0.01      634.88       0.00      0.00       0.00       0.01       0.00        2.44        0.12        0.38      -0.12        0.19 


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                           APPENDIX XVI : DAINGEAN 



                  INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 1940-1969 


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Income and Expenditure 



                                     1940        1941        1942       1943      1944      1945     1946      1947     1948      1949      1950      1951      1952 

                                       €          €           €          €          €        €         €        €         €         €        €         €         € 

Receipts 

Government & Council Grants            5,911     12,806      12,736    13,980    14,468    13,839    12,381   10,548   13,608    13,075    14,435    16,033    18,411 

Farm Sales                               618         844      1,305     1,348     1,260     1,935       977    1,273    1,555     1,595     2,104     2,598     4,185 

Stipends                                 146         309         450       422       289       429      470       415      445       535       607       751       839 

Sundry Sales                              38          28          21        17         0         0       12         0        0         0         0        44         0 

Shop (Boys)                                            0           0         0         0         0        0         0        0         0         0         0         0 

Other                                     83         295          52    4,551        149    1,237       620       233      828        99        66        89        91 



                                      6,795      14,281      14,563    20,317    16,166    17,440    14,460   12,470   16,435    15,304    17,212    19,516    23,525 



Payments 

Farm                                     812      2,148       2,247     1,868      2,579    2,963    2,039     1,611    2,093     2,523     5,833     2,214     3,455 

Clothing Items (including 

Repairs)                                 407      1,408       1,645     2,614      2,439    1,157     1,449       668    1,423     1,710    1,164     1,286     2,281 

Shoe-making                              313         630         462       688       655       598      867       439      560       635       496    1,068        591 

Furnishing and Carpentry                 130         673         622    1,385      1,256    1,309       660       964    1,489     1,624    1,395     1,877     2,378 

Payments to the Province                   0      1,905       2,286     3,174     2,032     2,539     2,539    1,803    2,539     1,270        952    1,270     1,905 

Car, Lorry and Freight                   122         296         380       205       798       278      552       376      524       669       799       676       982 

Rent and Insurance                         0         729         492       521       656       578      572       567      557       610       609       658       719 

Rates, Taxes, and Insurance               57         168           0         0         0         0        0         0        0         0         0         0         0 

Dietary Expenses                      1,338       3,350       2,687     2,832      3,007    3,418     3,229    2,665     2,873    2,682     3,048     4,439     5,020 

Medical                                  251         284         305       363       374       510      277       322      373       613       661       484       805 

Coal, gas, water and lighting          1,146      1,183          821       531       806       918      665       436      573       636       607    1,069     1,113 

Wages                                    377         721         744       926       992       992    1,012    1,175     1,213     1,554    1,597     1,745     1,992 

Other                                    384         453         699       743     6,781    1,501     1,186    1,632     1,138     1,984       873       932    2,501 



                                      5,337      13,946      13,389    15,849    22,374    16,760    15,047   12,657   15,354    16,508    18,034    17,717    23,743 



Surplus/(Deficit)                      1,458         335      1,174     4,468     -6,208       680     -587      -187   1,081     -1,204      -822    1,799       -218 


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Income and Expenditure Continued 



                                      1953       1954       1955        1956        1957       1958      1959      1960     1961      1962       1963       1964 

                                       €           €          €           €           €          €         €         €        €        €           €          € 

Receipts 

Government & Council Grants            17,190    15,005     14,983      16,415       16,026    18,618    24,587   14,435   24,062    26,972       20,473   24,184 

Farm Sales                             4,705      5,049       4,846           0       4,640          0     4,319   2,104    7,215     8,606      11,242     3,686 

Stipends                                  728        779        797           0          605         0      705       607      747       743         800       383 

Sundry Sales                                0          0          0      4,647             0    6,490         0         0        0         0           0         0 

Shop (Boys)                                 0          0          0           0            0         0        0         0        0         0           0         0 

Other                                     104        141        127         781            0       649      803        66    1,100       730         686       331 



                                      22,727     20,974     20,754      21,843       21,271    25,757    30,413   17,212   33,124    37,051      33,200    28,583 



Payments 

Farm                                    3,810     3,994       3,802       3,375            0    5,289     4,928    5,833    8,559     6,633        6,867    5,137 

Clothing Items (including 

Repairs)                                1,687     1,245       1,054       1,284       1,179     1,460     3,880    1,164     3,284    3,573        3,122    3,029 

Shoe-making                               677        957          0         796       1,079     1,162         0       496        0         0           0         0 

Furnishing and Carpentry               2,101      1,550       1,925      1,765        2,121     2,376      3,312   1,395    3,845     4,156        2,450         0 

Payments to the Province               1,270      2,539       1,905       1,270       1,270          0     1,270      952    2,539    2,539        2,539    2,539 

Car, Lorry and Freight                  1,969        620        920       2,144       2,057     1,740        45       799        0        11           0    3,645 

Rent and Insurance                        996        368          0         717          825       947     1,240        0        0         0           0         0 

Rates, Taxes, and Insurance                 0        422        715           0            0         0        0       609    1,305       890       1,197    1,064 

Dietary Expenses                       4,166      4,864       4,963      4,311        4,396     5,065      7,440   3,048     7,141    6,549        5,592    7,426 

Medical                                   432        603        905         807          914    1,048       585       661    1,309       684         934         0 

Coal, gas, water and lighting             945        961      1,058      1,391        1,540     1,855      2,751      607    3,280    3,248        3,374    7,146 

Wages                                   2,240     2,413       2,967      1,505        2,433     2,508     2,812    1,597     4,118    4,292          830       428 

Other                                   1,102     1,330         541         912       4,592     2,762     1,440       873    1,468    1,535        7,043    7,405 



                                      21,395     21,865     20,754      20,277       22,407    26,212    29,702   18,034   36,850    34,111      33,948    37,821 



Surplus/(Deficit)                       1,332       -891          0      1,566       -1,136       -455      711      -822   -3,726    2,940         -748   -9,238 


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Income and Expenditure Continued 



                                    1965     1966     1967       1968         1969       TOTAL 

                                     €         €        €         €             €                   € 

Receipts 

Government & Council Grants         23,726   26,454  24,394      27,848         26,011                  533,614 

Farm Sales                          9,722    10,079  10,004            0        11,028                  118,840 

Stipends                             2,318   2,347     1,382           0             0                   19,049 

Sundry Sales                            0         0      776           0             0                   12,073 

Shop (Boys)                           973       743      556         704           262                    3,237 

Other                                 953    1,110     1,174     15,320          7,604                   40,069 



                                   37,692    40,734  38,285      43,872        44,905                   726,881 



Payments 

Farm                                 9,825   7,145     7,169     12,035         13,462                  140,248 

Clothing Items (including 

Repairs)                             3,572    3,596    3,086      1,896          1,207                   58,969 

Shoe-making                             0         0        0           0             0                   13,169 

Furnishing and Carpentry             4,336    5,613    5,377      4,932          4,971                   67,987 

Payments to the Province             2,539    2,539        0           0             0                   49,926 

Car, Lorry and Freight                  0         0        0           0             0                   20,604 

Rent and Insurance                  1,221     1,286        0      1,828          1,607                   18,301 

Rates, Taxes, and Insurance             0         0      953           0             0                    7,380 

Dietary Expenses                    6,142     6,549    8,235     10,010        10,138                   146,620 

Medical                              2,118   2,184     1,295         992           926                   22,018 

Coal, gas, water and lighting        3,303    3,254    4,181      4,492          3,668                   57,559 

Wages                                4,368   5,056        65      6,250          9,535                   68,455 

Other                                4,918   3,787     1,677      4,077          7,082                   73,351 



                                  42,341     41,009  32,038      46,512        52,596                   744,587 



Surplus/(Deficit)                   -4,649     -275    6,247     -2,640         -7,691                  -17,706 


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                                 APPENDIX XVII : 



                         NUMBERS OF CHILDREN IN 



           INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS AND REFORMATORIES 



                                     1939 - 1969 


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                                                         Industrial Schools                                                        Reformatory Schools 

         Total in            % of                                        % of                       % of      All Sch as %  Total in 

Year               Artane              Upton    % of total  Ferryhouse             Goldenbridge                                        Daingean     % of total 

         Ind Sch.            total                                       total                      total     of total      Ref Sch. 

    1939       6145      772   12.56%       105    1.71%             166    2.70%               139    2.26%        19.24% 

    1940       6180      820   13.27%       106    1.72%             159    2.57%               148    2.39%        19.95%                      222 

    1941       6765      817   12.08%       136    2.01%             162    2.39%               142    2.10%        18.58%                      221 

    1942       6889      817   11.86%       171    2.48%             161    2.34%               149    2.16%        18.84%                      223 

    1943       6699      810   12.09%       217    3.24%             167    2.49%               153    2.28%        20.11%          280         240     85.71% 

    1944       6525      820   12.57%       207    3.17%             168    2.57%               147    2.25%        20.57%          288         236     81.94% 

    1945       6400      820   12.81%       213    3.33%             165    2.58%               146    2.28%        21.00%          273         224     82.05% 

    1946       6510      811   12.46%       211    3.24%             170    2.61%               146    2.24%        20.55%          237         199     83.76% 

    1947       6346      797   12.56%       189    2.98%             171    2.69%               150    2.36%        20.60%          209         178     84.93% 

    1948       6367      830   13.04%       177    2.78%             193    3.03%               148    2.32%        21.17%          248         206     83.06% 

    1949       6117      803   13.13%       142    2.32%             185    3.02%               148    2.42%        20.89%          245         201     82.04% 

    1950       5984      776   12.97%       136    2.27%             179    2.99%               148    2.47%        20.71%          210         175     83.21% 

    1951       5844      749   12.82%       129    2.21%             178    3.05%               150    2.57%        20.64%          214         178     83.18% 

    1952       5679      732   12.89%       115    2.03%             193    3.40%               154    2.71%        21.02%          198         177     89.27% 

    1953       5448      696   12.78%       121    2.22%             198    3.63%               158    2.90%        21.53%          175         152     86.86% 

    1954       5128      739   14.41%       114    2.22%             188    3.67%               151    2.94%        23.24%          173         142     82.08% 

    1955       4883      650   13.31%       128    2.62%             187    3.83%               161    3.30%        23.06%          157         130     82.59% 

    1956       4470      630   14.09%       181    4.05%             192    4.30%               161    3.60%        26.04%          172         166     96.51% 

    1957       4308      496   11.51%       124    2.88%             184    4.27%               163    3.78%        22.45%          208         163     78.25% 

    1958       4135      426   10.30%       130    3.14%             195    4.72%               166    4.01%        22.18%          192         154     80.21% 

    1959       3994      446   11.17%       216    5.41%             195    4.88%               158    3.96%        25.41%          208         172     82.81% 

    1960       3805      421   11.06%       190    4.99%             187    4.91%               161    4.23%        25.20%          226         187     82.52% 

    1961       3686      395   10.72%       195    5.29%             186    5.05%               163    4.42%        25.47%          205         181     88.29% 

    1962       3517      367   10.44%       190    5.40%             163    4.63%               190    5.40%        25.87%          177         146     82.34% 

    1963       3240      341   10.52%       169    5.22%             161    4.97%               176    5.43%        26.14%          154         117     75.76% 

    1964       2969      319   10.74%       148    4.98%             141    4.75%               194    6.53%        27.01%          175         129     73.57% 

    1965       2708      314   11.60%       126    4.65%             135    4.99%               174    6.43%        27.66%          138         108     78.02% 

    1966       2456      307   12.50%        85    3.46%             141    5.74%               165    6.72%        28.42%          145         119     82.24% 

    1967       2120      298   14.06%         0    0.00%             170    8.02%               147    6.93%        29.01%          132         107     80.68% 

    1968       1831      230   12.56%         0     0.00%            138    7.54%               139    7.59%        27.69%          151         104     68.54% 

    1969       1271       50    3.93%         0     0.00%            159   12.51%               141   11.09%        27.54%          100          92     92.00% 


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                                        APPENDIX XVIII : 



                                 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 



                                                     OF 



                                 SCHOOLS EXPENDITURE 


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Goldenbridge 

                                                            Average                  Average                  Average                  Average 

5 Year Intervals                                1951 - 55                1956 - 60                1961 - 65                1966 - 70 

                                                               %                        %                        %                        % 



Provisions                                        39,328         53%       30,801          44%      54,177          48%       42,631        29% 



Operational Expenses                                  291          0%          950          1%       2,087           2%        2,414          2% 



Building Related Expenditure                      13,512          18%      17,381          24%      21,562          19%       62,911        42% 



Capital Expenditure                                2,580           3%        5,266          7%        5,964          5%        8,741          6% 



Recreational                                          258          0%          289          0%          912          1%        1,872          1% 



Salaries                                          17,858          24%      15,026          21%      25,297          22%       25,413        17% 



Traveling                                             277          1%        1,189          2%       2,218           2%        3,484          2% 



Professional and Financial Related Expenses           205          0%           41          0%          193          0%           60          0% 



Donations & Religious Related Expenses                 16          0%          381          1%          554          1%          720          1% 



Sundry Expenses                                       425          1%          183          0%            -          0%            3          0% 



Totals                                            74,750                   71,506                  112,965                   148,251 


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Artane 

                                                                                                                                    Total 

                       Total                 Total                 Total                 Total                 Total 

                                Average              Average               Average               Average               Average     1966 -    Average 

5 Year Intervals      1941 -                1946 -                1951 -                1956 -                1961 - 

                                   %                     %                     %                     %                     %        71 (5       % 

                        45                    50                    55                    60                   65 

                                                                                                                                    yrs) 



Provisions 

                     35,723       16.2%    49,744       16.5%    81,023         19%    82,209         19%    106,051         20%   118,295         26% 

Operational 

Expenses             64,897       29.5%    96,442       32.1%    159,356         36%   123,535        28%    101,827         19%  56,129         12% 

Building Related 

Expenditure          33,819       15.4%    44,333       14.7%    46,888         11%    52,014         12%    67,826        13%    65,652         15% 

Capital 

Expenditure          2,684         1.2%    3,216         1.1%    9,336           2%    29,832          7%    106,617         20%  60,370         13% 



Recreational 

                     1,763          0.8%   2,430         0.8%    5,026           1%    8,046           2%    12,725          2%   29,055           6% 



Salaries 

                     70,263       31.9%    68,673       22.8%    81,681         19%    86,548         20%    86,269        16%    80,091         18% 



Traveling 

                     510           0.2%    608           0.2%    290             0%    201             0%   403              0%   721              0% 

Professional and 

Financial Related 

Expenses             45            0.0%    1,617          0.5%   3,893            1%   688              0%   124              0%  83                0% 

Donations & 

Religious Related 

Expenses             9,690         4.4%    32,595       10.8%    43,800         10%    50,536         12%   48,758           9%   27,807           6% 



Sundry Expenses 

                     817           0.4%    1,116         0.4%    5,595           1%    5,733          21%    9,618           1%    13,706          4% 



Total 

                     220,211               300,774               436,886               439,342               540,216              451,910 


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An Daingean 



                                                                                                                                                   Total 

                         Total      Average       Total       Average     Total      Average      Total      Average     Total         Average    1966-       Average 

5 Year Intervals        1941 - 45   %            1946 - 50    %          1951 - 55   %           1956 - 60   %          1961-1965      %          1969        % 



Provisions                 29,426         36%        26,180        34%      37,526         36%      40,777        35%        54,475         29%      50,114        29% 

Operational 

Expenses                   12,581         15%        15,807        20%      21,052         19%      23,714        20%         37,021        20%      39,811        23% 

Building Related 

Expenditure                 7,834         10%         6,878         9%       9,895         10%      14,615         12%        26,028        14%      21,269         12% 



Capital Expenditure         6,445          8%         7,185         9%       9,832          9%      10,968        10%         14,787          8%     20,893        12% 



Recreational                1,078           1%        1,362          2%       1,272         1%       2,009          2%             -         0%            -         0% 



Salaries                    4,373          5%         6,551         8%      11,356         10%      10,855          9%        14,036          8%     20,906        12% 



Traveling                   2,497          3%         3,733         5%       6,305          6%       8,006          7%         3,656         2%            -         0% 

Professional and 

Financial Related 

Expenses                        63         0%             -         0%            -         0%            -         0%             -         0%            -         0% 

Donations & 

Religious Related 

Expenses                   13,560         17%         9,860        13%       8,237          9%       5,358          5%        12,695         7%       2,539          2% 



Sundry Expenses             4,460          5%            46         0%            -         0%          330         0%        22,369        12%      16,623        10% 



Totals                     82,319                    77,600                105,475                 116,632                  185,067                172,155 


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Upton 

                                 Total 

                                1952 -                    Total 

                                 53&       Average       1962 -     Average 

5 Year Intervals 

                                1960 -         %          66 (5         % 

                                  61                      yrs) 

                                (4yrs) 

Provisions                      43,330          34%      51,193           22% 

Operational Expenses             25,643         20%      40,520           17% 

Building Related 

                                  7,326          6%      15,050            6% 

Expenditure 

Capital Expenditure              11,314          9%      60,310           26% 

Recreational                      2,280          2%        8,402           4% 

Salaries                        13,781          11%      13,871            6% 

Traveling                         4,604          3%        4,180           2% 

Professional and 

Financial Related                 5,176          4%           692          0% 

Expenses 



Donations & Religious 

                                  4,553          3%      16,262            7% 

Related Expenses 



Sundry Expenses                   9,604          8%      21,444            9% 

Total                          127,610         100%     231,925         100% 


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Ferryhouse 

                                    Average              Average               Average 

                           (4 yrs)              (5 yrs)               (4 yrs) 

                                       %                     %                    % 

                           1951 -                1960 -               1966 - 

5 Year Intervals 

                             54                   65                   69 



Provisions                              39%                   39%                  27% 

                           33,498               68,405                56,715 



Operational Expenses        9,988       12%                   15%                   13% 

                                                26,758                27,162 

Building Related 

                                          9%                  12%                   15% 

Expenditure                 7,567                19,925               31,260 



Capital Expenditure                     14%                    7%                  24% 

                           11,930                11,452               49,123 



Recreational                              1%                   0%                    0% 

                               892                1,007                1,402 



Salaries                                13%                    7%                    8% 

                           11,003                11,718               16,201 



Traveling                                 1%                   4%                    3% 

                               977                6,218                5,909 

Professional and 

Financial Related                         3%                   1%          97         0% 

                            2,494                 1,304 

Expenses 

Donations & Religious 

                                          5%                   6%                    5% 

Related Expenses            4,565                10,030               10,155 



Sundry Expenses                           3%                   9%                    5% 

                            2,637                14,999               10,474 

Total                      85,551      100%    171,817       100%    208,498      100% 


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       APPENDIX XIX : STATE APPROPRIATION ACCOUNTS 



     VOTE ON INDUSTRIAL AND REFORMATORY SCHOOLS 


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                                              Vote on Reformatory and Industrial Schools (€) 



                                                                                     Parental 

           Reformatory         Industrial      Places of       Conveyance           Moneys -             Building &                           Appropriation 

                                                                                                                              Sub Total                               Total 

             Schools           Schools        Dentention        Expenses           Collection         Equipment Grant                              in Aid 

                                                                                    Expenses 

  1939          4,726.73        134,720.99            503.62            167.30               502.84                      -    140,621.48             2,554.21       138,067.27 

  1940          6,349.43        140,168.96            537.12            196.06               493.24                      -    147,744.81             3,516.59       144,228.22 

  1941         10,772.27        145,236.87            603.68            364.50                37.81                      -    157,015.13             3,936.99       153,078.14 

  1942           8,143.54       147,267.85            584.07            305.25               420.89                      -    156,721.60             4,189.27       152,532.33 

  1943           8,339.17       148,478.73            719.56            559.23               444.04                      -    158,540.73             4,734.63       153,806.10 

  1944           9,203.24       150,496.72         1,372.66             602.73               453.70                      -    162,129.05             5,723.20       156,405.85 

  1945         10,093.52        157,610.86         1,680.49             530.15               551.35                      -    170,466.37             7,460.80       163,005.57 

  1946                   -                -                -                 -                    -                      -                -                   -                - 

  1947           8,999.84       159,838.20         1,709.38             354.66               659.88            21,479.09      193,041.05            10,836.35       182,204.70 

  1948           7,454.48       147,748.40         1,879.17             519.49               781.88            18,529.85      176,913.27            10,689.89       166,223.38 

  1949         10,732.46        199,790.72         2,190.36             357.67               941.80            11,756.00      225,769.01            12,059.63       213,709.38 

  1950                   -                -                -                 -                    -                      -                -                   -                - 

  1951           9,803.06       188,350.25         2,323.49             390.61           1,005.53               5,068.20      206,941.14            12,054.24       194,886.90 

  1952         11,657.95        231,652.86         2,595.99             436.07               996.44                 784.76    248,124.07             9,340.04       238,784.03 

  1953         13,829.43        284,801.11         2,661.89             439.94               910.07                      -    302,642.44             8,445.03       294,197.41 

  1954         10,917.21        272,621.65         2,830.25             476.15           1,024.68                        -    287,869.94             7,878.00       279,991.94 

  1955         11,529.22        257,378.45         3,301.32             570.11               996.74                      -    273,775.84             6,915.00       266,860.84 

  1956         10,615.01        242,566.95         2,985.15             407.59           1,010.71                        -    257,585.41             5,984.00       251,601.41 

  1957         11,082.27        229,152.17         3,679.70             384.73               912.94                      -    245,211.81             5,172.00       240,039.81 

  1958         12,843.40        216,336.70         3,448.61             631.06           1,460.20                        -    234,719.97             6,899.00       227,820.97 

  1959         16,570.08        283,503.31         3,753.35             523.13               998.01                      -    305,347.88             4,603.00       300,744.88 

  1960         18,832.76        299,599.78         3,990.79             615.82           1,053.88                        -    324,093.03             4,482.00       319,611.03 

  1961                   -                -                -                 -                    -                      -                -                   -                - 

  1962                   -                -                -                 -                    -                      -                -                   -                - 

  1963         17,222.73        259,486.21         6,914.99             539.64               703.43                      -    284,867.00             4,979.00       279,888.00 

  1964         14,344.23        241,910.50         8,544.07             647.57               799.93                      -    266,246.30             4,610.00       261,636.30 


----------------------- Page 2065-----------------------

   COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

   COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

   REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

   REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

   November 2007 



                                         Vote on Reformatory and Industrial Schools Continued (€) 



                                                                             Parental 

                                                                                                 Building & 

         Reformatory       Industrial      Places of     Conveyance          Moneys -                                             Appropriation 

                                                                                                Equipment           Sub Total                           Total 

           Schools          Schools       Dentention      Expenses          Collection                                                 in Aid 

                                                                                                   Grant 

                                                                            Expenses 

  1965                -               -              -               -                    -                    -               -                 -               - 

  1966       19,369.85       297,114.90       8,839.92          634.87               584.08                    -    326,543.62           3,710.00     322,833.62 

  1967       21,167.80      282,653.85        8,696.44          834.22               547.26                    -    313,899.57           3,514.00     310,385.57 

  1968       20,371.68      245,395.93      10,531.21           810.09               500.28                    -    277,609.19           2,706.00     274,903.19 

  1969       24,036.14      246,523.46      10,590.89           954.84               432.98                    -    282,538.31           2,441.00     280,097.31 



 Total     329,007.51     5,610,406.38      97,468.18       13,253.49           19,224.61             57,617.90   6,126,978.07        159,433.87    5,967,544.20 



Note:  No records were available for the years 1946, 1950, 1961 – 1962 and 1965. 


----------------------- Page 2066-----------------------

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



         APPENDIX XX : EXPENDITURE CATEGORISATION 



                      FOR COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 


----------------------- Page 2067-----------------------

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



             Expenditure Category                                     Details 



 Provisions                                        Provisions purchased, food, clothing, medical 

                                                  expenses, laundry and cleaning, aftercare, 

                                                  shoe making and bootshop 

 Operational Expenses                              Industrial departments, farm poultry and 

                                                  garden, sweet shop and store, stationery, 

                                                  telegraph, telephone, postage, books for 

                                                  schoolrooms and library, 

 Building Related Expenditure                     Ordinary repairs and decorations, fuel, light, 

                                                   power, rent, rates, taxes, insurance, 

                                                  classrooms and payments to council 

 Capital Expenditure                               Expenditure on building works, furniture, 

                                                  fittings, machinery and hardware 

 Recreational                                      Band expenses, games, awards, 

                                                  entertainment and holidays 

 Salaries                                          Salaries, wages, insurance and stamps 

 Traveling                                        Travelling expenses, car and lorry & freight. 

 Professional and Financial Related Expenses        Bank charges, interest, solicitors fees and 

                                                  valuer’s fees 

 Stipends & Religious Related Expenses             Stipends, transfer to community account, 

                                                  donations and payments to priests 

 Sundry Expenses                                  Other expenses and petty cash 


----------------------- Page 2068-----------------------

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



                                APPENDIX XXI : 



       Provision of Accounts to the Department of Education 


----------------------- Page 2069-----------------------

 Appendix A 



 In the  course of  an  application for financial  assistance   in   relation to  the  operation   of 

 Glencree Reformatory School, the Oblate Order submitted accounts to the Department 

 on  1 9May~ ~ 1939 for the fifteen months ended on the 31StMarch  1939. 



 Correspondence in relation  to this application   including the submitted accounts is held 

 on file FPl2. 



 On  lothJuly  1945, the Minister requested   the Association  to provide audited accounts 

 to  the  Department.   Records   indicate that  statements were   received   from   twenty-one 

 Industrial Schools by  2oLhFebruary   1946.      A  list of the twenty-one  schools concerned 

 is attached as Appendix  B.     The Department no longer holds  copies of  the  statements 

 received.                          c - 4        d., 



                      -.F 



 Correspondence in relation to this application  is held on file G007BVoll 



On    gth  April   1947,   the  Department      requested   each    school  to  submit    detailed 

statements of its income and expenditure for the year ending 31S'March             1947. 



Records   indicate   that  statements  of  Income  and Expenditure  were   received   from   all 

Industrial Schools by     1'' August  1947.  The Department no longer holds copies of the 

statements received but holds a summary financial statgrnent created at the time which 

lists the schools concemed.      A copy of this summary financial statement is attached as 

Appendix C. 



Correspondence in relation to this application is held on file G007BVoll. 



On  61h July   1950, the  Minister  requested     the   Association  to  provide   statements  of 

accounts from the individual schools for the periods ended 31''  December            1949andlor 

31SL 

     March 1950. 



On  21"  July   1950, statements  of    accounts  for  the  financial  year  1949 in respect  of 

forty-two Industrial  Schools and one   Reformatory  School  (St. Conleth's,  Daingean) 

were  submitted  to  the  Department.      The  Department  no  longer   holds  copies  of  the 

statements received but holds  a summary financial statement created at the time which 

lists the schools concemed. A copy of this summary financial statement is attached as 

Appendix D. 



Correspondence in relation to this application is held on file G007BVoll 


----------------------- Page 2070-----------------------

 In  connection with   an  application made in February     1953by  the Resident  Manager's 

 Association for an increase  in the rate of  grant, the   Department,  on    1"January    1954, 

 requested   each  Industrial   School  to  submit   detailed  statements  of  its  income    and 

 expenditure for each of the three years ended 31S'December 1951, 1952and  1953. 



 Accounts were received   from nine  schools   on unrecorded  dates in  early      1954.  A  list 

 of the  nine  schools  concerned    is   attached as  Appendiv   E.   There   is  no  record to 

 indicate if accounts   were received   from any other  schools other than  the .nine schools 

 listed.  However,    in  a letter   to the Minister   dated  circa  loth February     1954,   the 

 Resident Managers  Association   stated  that    "it was  decided  that  it was  impossible to 

 compile accounts as asked for". 



 Correspondence     in  relation  to  this  application  is held   on  file G007BVo12.      The 

 accounts for the nine schools are held on file G007(C). 



 On  181hMay    1955,the Association  submitted statements of  accounts for an unknown 

 number of  schools.  There  is no  record   on file outlining a request  for these   accounts. 

 The   Department     no longer   holds   copies  of the  statements   of  accounts   received. 

 Records    indicate   that  the  Department  was   unwilling to  accept   these  statements  of 

 account  in  the format  presented    and   they   were   returned to  the  Association on  24'h 

 October 1955. 



 On  7'h November     1955, the  Resident   Managers  Association     submitted  accounts  for 

 twenty-two   Lndustrial   Schools.    The   Department     no  longer    holds  copies  of  the 

 accounts    received.   Following     an  examination     of'-related  records    on file,  the 

 Department   is   not in a   position  to  confirm the  identity of twenty-two    schools  for 

which accounts were submitted. 



 Correspondence in relation to this application is held on file G007BVo12. 



On 24thJanuary  1962,the Department requested the Association to submit income and 

expenditure    accounts   for  the  previous   year  in  respect   of six  representative   but 

unnamed schools.      On 5thMarch  1962, the Resident Managers Association  submitted 

statements of  account to the Department in respect of nine Industrial  Schools.         A list 

of the nine-schools concerned is attached as Appendix F. 



Correspondence   in  relation  to  this   application  including   the  statements  of accounts 

received is held on file G007. 



On  2nd December      1964, the  Resident     Managers  Association     presented  a  two-page 

tabular financial  statement in  support of  an  application  for an increase  in  the rate  of 

grant   payable.    This  tabular   financial   statement  provided    summary      information 

regarding the financial position  of twenty-one  schools for the years  1962 and 1963. A 

copy of this tabular financial statement is attached as Appendix G. 



Correspondence in relation to this application is held on file G007. 


----------------------- Page 2071-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2072-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2073-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2074-----------------------

                                                                                                                                                                                                              L 

                                                                                                                                                                                                             - 

                                                                                                                                                                                                             rL' 



                                                                                                                                                                                                             n 

                                                                          I  H  D  D  B  ~  W  . BlXML8     ( 8 a n i o r B o g s ) 



                                        8 i u a t m i a l position  - T e a r i/4,U - 3 / 3 / 4 7      (mm   d i m ~ o e e &i n Btatamanta       or  AccouDts 



                                                                I                  mtmittsd  by       Yanagars.    ) - 



                                                                                                                                      Daf La lt 

                                           WO.   o r                      Bscaipta               Sxpsnmom             Lose               POr                        Ponvrlcl 

             asha01                        O b l l d r a ~                                                                              h e a d 

                                                                                                                                         Wr 

                                                                                                                                        Waak 



                                                                                                                                        a.  d. 

                                                                          E     a   d            e         a   d      E     . P         - 



             Opton                         H  6                        W 9 . i q . 3            9,696.    8 .  Ic    376.17.     l. -       8     Ihis    m h o o l ham   an  o v s l d W t 

                                                                                                                                                  ores A?2,500 a s      wall    m m s lora 

                                                                                                                                                  f o r b u i l d i n g purposan   i  r  u tha 

                                                                                                                                                  Order    of   n a n r b E 9 , 0 0 0 . 



                                                                                                                                                                                                a 

             B a l t i m o r e             135                         5,U3. l  l               5,160.16.      g            -              -      This mbool        i s  not   oouductsd 

                                                                                                                                                  tb.  m t l m f a o t i o m or t h e Daprt-- 

                                                                                                                                                  ~  n   t  . It  h. a dobt o f       L 3 , W 

                                                                                                                                                  r h i o h t h e man.gumant     a r e 

                                                                                                                                                  e t v l a a r o u r i n g t o r e d u c e hY s t r i o l 

                                                                                                                                                  s O  o D 0 ~ . 



             Bresamonnt                    m                          10,070.19.k              1 1 , 1 2 9 . 7 . 5  1 , 0 5 8 . 8 . 1   1 . 0     S r p o n d i ~ m L n a l u d e m c o a t o f 

                                  a n d soh001     s t a f f                                                                                      uaFnbnmnoa        Qo.   of  B a h o o l B  b  Z  i  . 

                                        of 1 6                                                                                                    Inooma     i n o l u d a a grsnte r  r  o  m 

                                                                                                                                                  P  r  b  ~  gBranch    paid   to  mrsbern 

                                                                                                                                                   or  E I O ~ I O Oetarr.~ 



             ~ r t a n e                   m5                         42.153.    4.   3        46,612-10.10         4,459.14. 7         2.   0 

I                                 sod soh001      staff                                                                                                                                          l 

  --          . -            - ---    ,& 51 


----------------------- Page 2075-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2076-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2077-----------------------

I                                                              hi; 


----------------------- Page 2078-----------------------

9Lmnoial          p o s i t i o n  - Yeer      l/W- 31/3/47                   ( s s disclosed i n           Btatarnentu        of 



                                    Aooounta         #ubmitted        by   ~ s n a g a r a ) . 



                   4,317.10.11                5 , 2 9 1 . 1 . 0          RJ.IO.I                     2. 9           his  s c h o o l     bag  a l e 0    a   d e b t  or E800       for 

                                                                                                                   e a h o o l  r a p b l r s c a r r i e d  o u t  i n   the laat 

                                                                                                                   3   Years. 

                   3,578. 0.         5       3,854.9.tO                '276.     9-     5         i.9 



                   2,064. 9.         3        2,549.16.         9       4a5.      7.    6        3.     6                                                                                     -1 



                   4,22.-13.          5       4,h80.-3.         9            251.10.    4         1 .   0         P a m    n t t a o h s d to  Convant         from  which i s 

                                                                                                                  mapplied        v a ~ t a b l e ~ . r n i l endk    ogge     t o 

                                          1                        /                         1                   II n d u s t r i a l Bchool       st o u r r a n t   a s r k a t  prlasm. 

                   6 , I U .   4-     9   1   "7-47.      b.    5  1     l " 0 1 9     8 ,   I     ;:  ITa eIbI tLn~~acmh oo uon) ht iandgont o31/3/47e i ,641. o 1u-t s 4-t s n a i n a 



                   4,567.         5.10        6.427.      4.11,      1,859.19.         I 

                   3,545.       5.    9       4,618.11.6              1,073.      5.    9          . 3            fnoludsd         i n  t h e  a r p o n d l t u m   for    t h i n  soh001 



                                                   8 



                   3,418.10.'        6 .      3,U0.16.  6                       - 


----------------------- Page 2079-----------------------

  et t h e     bagtnning         o f   t h s  y a e r . 

  Hanagemoat           e t e t s  t h e y  bad    a  c o n a l d e r a b l a 

  stook      of        a-mr      c l o t h i n g ,  b e d d i n g  &c. 



1 Expansas         d o   n o t  i o o l u d e d e b t s  or    E387.5.1 

I f o r   p m v i s i o n s . 



   Phls e a h o o l      hea    a n   o u t a t s n d i n g d e b t  of 

   E200. 



   T h i n  soh001       . p o t    approxlmetaly            EJ.200 on 

   b u l l d i n g  end    r c p a i r a during t h e         yaar.       I t 

   b   e  e o   o u t s t a n d i n g dabt of fi3.250.9.7. 



   Thie s c h o o l      had     c o n ~ i d a r a b l o ~ t o c k aof 

   pro-rar        o L o t h i n 3 m e t o r i a l  on    hande w h i c h 

   e r e   now    n a a r l y  sxhsuetad. 


----------------------- Page 2080-----------------------

                 F i a s n c i ~ lp o a l t i o n - Y o w 1/4/46  - 31/3/47  (Be         d i s o l o e s d i n Btataments     o f Accounta 

                                                    e u t m i t t e d  by Yenagora). 



                         no.o r                                                                                  norici t 

 BOI1[XIL                c h i l ~ r a n   Xmaaiptr                Erpansaa                 Gem                  par    hand                        Ramsrkn 

                                                                                                                 par   m a t . 

- 



                                              E      r    d           E       a    d         E     a      d         r e  d 

 Benmdn     A b h y           100          L,706.11.       0        6,560.    7,[1         1,853.16.      1         7.   1.         I r ~ o o d i t u r ai o a l u d a a an i t e m 

                                                                                                                                    of  E727 f o r    e l a o t r i o a l l n a t a l l - 

                                                                                                                                    a t i o n a . 



  B l i p                     199          8,952.     l.3           8,682.    2.   7             -                      -          P h i a e c h o a l shwa    a  o r a d l t 

                                                                                                                                   b n l ~ n c aof   E269.18.      8. 



  ~emplemom                   9            2,282.     9.   7       2,350.     8.   8'          67.1 7.    l              5 

  Camha1                      113          4.4~4.19.0              4,601.17.       8            116.18.   8              5 



 Duwata.                      74           2.907.16-  4            3,455-10.       0            547.13.   0         2.10 



  T a t e r r o d             160          6,992.16.       7        7,798-16.                 805.19;     5          i.I+ 



  Yoata                        56          2,311        6. 4        2.6-16.   7.   1              305. -. 9         2.   1          T b i e school    m b t e a  t h a t s l n o a 

                                                                                                                                    1939 th&       e x p a n d i t u r a e r a a b . 

                                                                                                                                    t h a i r inooma    by  an   era* 

                                                                                                                                     250  per    snnum. 



  New   RoBB                   87          3,559.1lkIO              3,355-13.      8                  -               -             Thin   m o o 1   ahawe    a  o r a d l t balanoa 

                                                                                                                                    f o r the   partod    under     rariam     of 

                                                                                                                                    E.4.  1.  2 


----------------------- Page 2081-----------------------

304.     5 .  2            1.   3           T h i s   s c h o o l r e p o r t . b h e t   t h a l $ 

                                             lisbillttcs oxcood                t h o l r  a w s s t # 

                                             by E< ,265.15.7.              Thsy     e t e t a  that 

                                             t h e i r  r i n a o a l a l p o s i t i o n would 

                                             bu  much      mare     uuravourmbla           wars      I  t 

                                             n o t   f o r t h e i r  f o r a a l g h t in 

                                             p u m h a e i n g   lnrm        u e n t t t i a s o f 

                                             c o a l  aI7d   a e r a e l s  ? r i o a . s s g v &c) 

                                             p r i o r  t o  t h a  war    and     d u r i n g  t h e 

                                             e a r l y  part     or   1940.     Large       ~ t o o k u 

                                             or   clottiio& and           f o o t w a s r l a m    a l e 0 

                                             o b t a l n c d during       t h i e  p a r i d . 

                                             These      stocka, i t         i s  s t a t e d , e r a 

                                             now    n a a r l y  cxhauatod. 


----------------------- Page 2082-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2083-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2084-----------------------

                                                                                                                                                                                      l 



                                                                                                                                                 0:        S"       , 

                                                                                                                                                       aim* 

                                                                                                                                      IOOIID*    h l m~ ~ m l ) 

                                   '1               '0 '67     'TWL        -*I    'f     'LrQ'TT                9  '5qL.6                        L61 



                                                                                                                                                OY         JO 

                                                                                                                                                       rrnr m 

                                                                                                                                      P D W * mDo1oQl) 

                                    -   -G         -r    -*n -@nz           01  -I      -V(R'SI            .E   -v     -curnc                    su                                    I 



               7'6I-rRL5-3 

          m 6 Y N U  us 

    Bsyama-        aw-a  sq; 

   U1   .O=@I.U    7 190C    I.;                                                                     I 



  :2t:::A:Zew:;                 : 

     ',..lT'bP1      J0J  POP                                                                                                                (6JO JJ-l* 

. ~  . n  - m   6DI ~ ~mm-      !                                                                     ,                               Toor-  *.(~TO~T) 

      r       ~  I  I  P  P  . a: .  OT-S          .B    7  '2-            7 h.          .oTtl'51         ' E   '61     'LN'-'-.                 roz                   ~ ~ 1 9 1 1 . s 

                                                                                                                                                                                       I 

                                                                                                                                               [.iSk*3* 

                                                                                                                                      loos,.     ..pllao,) 

                                     -?-v           -6   '01- r w          ot  .rr      -*IzrSn .          7 .r        -r?sSc-,                  291             U 0 0 J J J . 7 3 ~  + 

                                                !                                                                                                                ' 

                                                                                                                                                 ZI  a 0 

                                                                                                                                    u . 2 .   p q o .   PO. 

                 -                    2          ,   '1  '1  ' 6 W I       'T     TI      'M'ST           'T1 'P        '026'ZK  /               <v1             I  .eTl)TJ*.C 

                                                 !                                                                                                               I 


----------------------- Page 2085-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2086-----------------------


----------------------- Page 2087-----------------------

                                                         0        R     '   N 

                                      t        r\        rl 

                                     W         m          I 

                                                                           N 

                                      d                           rlrl 

   4                                                                       A 



  vC 

   m                                  6        P-                 U         d 

                                      N                                     r- 

                                      m                                    Y) 

                                      3        f         r- 



              fi        d 

               D        D                       . 

               0        0               H 

              C       . S                0        0 

               U        0-               0        m 

               m 0       0 0            D   '     0 

C                4        3              W-       m- 

               m         l~              m w        zr 

O E g      4C.,       ocb+            TC       N m 

L L         P - r D   0-0             o m   u  m   c r 

$ z C J        Tr, "7cl                  Q 0       3 0 

                        FIG             BC        Sc 

  52           "  K  !  o m             &+%       ,-.& 

::0            C L      c-               ,,a      urn 

               - m     zm                E-       C  4 

              U                         4  9      .-m 


----------------------- Page 2088-----------------------

                114 

     (lnoludlng      ~ c b o o l 

      staff o f    6 ) 



                  7 9 

     (loolu3lng      school 

      etefE    of 4 ) 



                127 

   (inolu31ng       school 

1    a t e i f or 7 ) 



   (including      echo01 

     e t s f f o f 3 )                                                                                                                     t h l e School    h a s 

                                                                                                                                           outatsrding       debts 

                                                                                                                                           o f 23143. 



                100                                                                                                                        ~ u r p l \ ae359.3.   -. 

  (Inolu3i o g    s c h o o l 

   e t e r r of 6 ) 



                  59                                                                                                                       Hae   n debt    o f  S2000 

  ( i n c l u d i n g  oohool                                                                                                              oontmctad        i n 1947 

   e t s f f of  6 )                                                                                                                       tor   houeehold 

                                                                                                                                           r s q u l a i t s s which is 

                                                                                                                                           still  outatending. 



                                                                                                                                                                              I 

                                                                                                                                           Thle s c h o o l  hsa   s 

                                                                                                                                           Bat overdralt         o f 

                                                                                                                                          ,126250nnd  owes 

                                                                                                                                           e7ooo    in ru.eepact 

                                                                                                                                           of b u i l d i n g 

                                                                                                                                           lmpmvs~nentacbrrled 

                                                                                                                                           out   In  1949  and      . 

                                                                                                                                           1950. 


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  3                            U,.     U,      \o 

                                       U ) .   U)            m             m 


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I.--                I,.I- ..b.                     L"      ..(  .,, , 


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Schools for which accounts were received on5'                 March     1962 



         School 

I       Artane Industrial   School, Dublin 

2       Upton  Industrial  School, Cork 

3        Letterfrack Industrial   School, Galway 

4       Lakelands Industrial School. Dublin 

5       Moate Industrial  School, Westmeath 

6        St. George's Industrial   School, Limerick 

7        St. Patrick's  Industrial School, Kilkenny 

8       Drogheda Industrial School. Louth 

9        St. Kyran's  lndustrial School. Rathdrurn. Wicklow 


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COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

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November 2007 



                                             APPENDIX XXII 



                                       Proposed 1951 Review 


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Appendix XXII – Proposed Review 1951 



The documents that we have identified in relation to the proposed review of the schools in 

1951 are as follows: 



   Reference                                        Description 



CBMIN-045/1          Letter to Department which records the principle objections as 

                    being: 

                        •  Terms of inquiry are too wide 

                        •  Objection to the organisation and conduct of the schools 

                             being examined 

                    Noted that there was no objection to authorised officials of the 

                    Department visiting in their usual capacity 

CBMIN-051/1          Letter from Secretary advising RMA of proposed Enquiry 

CBMIN-052/1          Letter reporting consideration of the proposal – “inspection could 

                    serve no good purpose” 

CBMIN-053/2          Circular from Dept. summarising the proposal (2 March 1951) 

CBMIN-054/1          Resident Managers response 7 March 1951.           The letter notes: 

                        •  The RMA welcomes inspection by Department Inspectors 

                        •  The proposal is a departure from usual practice 

                        •  The terms of reference are vague 

                        •  That the RMA would like an explanation of what is meant by 

                             “Conditions and Circumstances” 

                        •  That the RMA wish to understand whether the 

                             recommendations of the Commission could restrict the 

                             powers of the Resident Managers 

                        •  That the RMA wish to understand whether future grants 

                            would be contingent on acceptance of the 

                             recommendations of the Commission 

CBMIN-056/1          Department letter in response (19 March 1951) 

CBMIN-058/1          RMA letter (to members) April 1951 regarding the response from 

                    Department.     The letter notes: 

                        •  Strong opposition to the proposal 

                        •  That the inquiry would create an undesirable precedent and 

                            tend towards an extension of State control 

CBMIN-059/1          Letter to Department summarising the opposition of the RMA to the 

                    proposal and seeking a meeting to discuss 

CBMIN-064/1          Letter summarising a meeting with Minister on 23 April 1951 



We also note the internal Department of Education memo dated 24th                        1 

                                                                              April 1951  on the 

Minister’s Conference on the 23rd of April 1951 with the President and Secretary of the 



Industrial and Reformatory School Managers Association. 



    “Br. Hurley gave as reasons for the Association’s disapproval of the proposed enquiry:- 



     1)   that it was felt that the enquiry reflected on the management of the schools, that the 

        Association took particular objection to the Departments of Finance and of Social 



1 Footnote 171 of the Department of Education and Science’s Statement to the Commission 


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        Welfare being associated with the enquiry when the Department of Education was 

        already fully aware of the circumstances of the schools; 



    2)   It appeared to the Association that the proposed enquiry would be the thin end of the 

        wedge in an attempt by the State to impose its control on the detailed management of 

        the schools. 



    The managers were very satisfied with the present system of inspection and believed that 

    the present system of management was ideal. 



    3)   They were particularly suspicious of the Department of Social Welfare appearing to 

        interface in the conduct of the schools and they also objected strongly to the 

        Department of Finance insisting on this enquiry. 



    4)   The Minister in reply informed them – 



        i)   that the State had no intention whatever of using this enquiry to obtain a further 

            footing in the schools. His policy was that the State should assist the schools and 

            once it is satisfied that the work is being done efficiently by the management to 

            interfere with them as little as possible; 



        ii)  the Managers were mistaken in the view that the enquiry had ever insisted upon 

            by the Department of Finance. As a matter of fact, he himself had insisted on the 

            enquiry and only with the greatest reluctance did the Department of Finance 

            agree to it. What had happened was that the schools were being given only half 

            the increase they had asked for and he was not prepared to leave the matter 

            there. One of his objects in this was to bring the officials of the Department of 

            Finance face to face with the realities in the schools. It had been suggested that 

            the Department of Social Welfare should also be associated with the enquiry and 

            he had welcomed this as he regarded this as a potential help in his struggle for a 

            increase of grants. Fr. Reidy and Br. Hurley stated that this threw a very different 

            light on the proposal and in these circumstances they, personally, were quite 

            willing for the proposed enquiry to proceed. It would be necessary, however, for 

            them to hold a meeting of the managers. They hoped to do this on Friday next but 

            it may be taken that the managers would now accept the proposal. 



            Fr. Reidy then asked what would be the nature of the proposed enquiry and the 

            Minister said that it would cover the physical and general welfare of the pupils, 

            their training and aftercare subsequent to discharge and above all their food, 

            clothing and housing. It might be that the Department of Finance representative 

            would desire that the schools accounts should be available in a uniform form. 



            The Minister thought for his part that it would scarcely be necessary to visit all of 

            the schools, that visits to ten or so typical schools would be sufficient. However, 

            that was a matter for the Committee. The Department’s representative on the 

            Committee will be the Inspector.” 


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                                      APPENDIX XXIII 



                      Balance Sheets – Upton & Ferryhouse 


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                                                0       0 



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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL MATTERS 

November 2007 



                                    APPENDIX XXIV: 



                 Documents relating to acquisition of Artane 


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  Typed version of draft conveyance dated   18/07/1870 furnished by Maxwells under 

                              cover of their letter of  14/05/07 



This Indenture made on the  18"      day of July in the year of our Lord   1870 between 



Frances Mary Callaghan of Artane Castle in the county of Dublin Spinster of the one 



part and James Aloysius Hoare, Richard Anthony Maxwell, John Augustine Grace, 



 Patrick Dominick McDonnell and Thomas Alphonsus Hoope all of North Richmond 



 Street in the city of Dublin hereinafter called the Purchasers of the other part. 



Whereas the said Frances Mary Callaghan being seized of an estate in fee simple in 



of the lands and heredits hereinafter described hath contracted with the said purchaser 



for the sale thereof to them for the sum of £7000 stg. Now this Indenture witnesseth 



that in consdn of said sum of £7000  paid by the said purchasers to the said Frances 



Mary Callaghan on the execution of these presents the receipt of which sum she doth 



hereby admit and from the same doth hereby release the said purchasers their heirs 



exors and ags the said Frances Mary Callaghan doth hereby grant unto the said James 

                                                          ,- 



Aloysius Hoare, Richard Anthony Maxwell, John Augustine Grace, Patrick Dominick 



MCDonnell and Thomas Alphonsis Hoare and their heirs all that and those that part 



of the lands of Artane south situated into the Barony of Coolock and County Dublin 



containing 54a3r4p  statute measure or thereabouts with the mansion house called 



Artane Castle and all other buildings standing thereon together with all fixtures 



commons waters water courses sewers         privileges easements advantages and appurts 



whatsoever to the said lands and heredits hereby granted belonging or with the same 



or any of them heretofore enjoyed or reputed or known as part thereof or appurtenant 



thereto and all the Estate rights title interest use trust property claim and demand 



whatsoever of her the said Frances Mary Callaghan in to or out of the samepremises. 



To have and to hold the said lands heredits and premises unto the said Jarnes Aloysius 


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   Typed version of draft conveyance dated  1810711870 furnished by Maxwells under 

                                  cover of their letter of  14/05/07 



 Hoare, Richard Anthony Maxwell, John Augustine Grace, Patrick Dominick MC 



 Donnell, Thomas Anthony Hoope and their heirs to the use of the said James Aloysius 



 Hoare: Richard Anthony Maxwell, John Augustine Grace, Patrick Dorninick MC 



 Donnell and Thomas Alphonsus Hoope their heirs and asigns for ever subject to a 



 certain Indenture of lease of a school house [This is the lease of the existing school 



 situate on the lands which is to be executed before this lease?] erected on a position of 



 said premises bearing date the               day of            1870made by the said Frances 



 Mary Callaghan of the one part and His Eminence Paul Cardinal Cullen and the Very 



 Reverend Cornelius Canon Rooney of Clontarf in the County of Dublin Roman 



 Catholic Parish Priest of the other part for the term of                         years from the 



          day of            at the yearly rent of one shilling payable half yearly on the 



          day of             and      day of            .  And the said Frances Mary Callaghan 



 doth hereby for herself her heirs exors and admons covenant with the said James A. 



 Hoare, R.A     Maxwell, J.A Grace, P.D McDonnell and T. A               Hoope their heirs and 



                                                                C- 



 asigns that she the said Frances Mary Callaghan now hath in herself good right, full 



 power and careful and absolute authority to grant the said lands heredits and premises 



 to their use and in manner aforesaid and that the same shall be entered upon and 



 enjoyed and the rents and profits thereof received and taken by the said Purchasers 



their heirs and assigns without any lawful interruption by the said   Frances Mary 



 Callaghan or any other person or persons whomsoever  free from or by the said 



Frances Mary Callaghan          her heirs, exors or adrnons indemnified against all estates, 



incurnbrances claims and demands whatsoever and further the she the said Frances 



Mary Callaghan and every person rightfully claiming any estate right, title or interest 



in to or out of the said lands heredits and premises will at all times hereafter at the 



request and costs of the said purchasers their heirs and assigns execute and do every 


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  Typed version of draft conveyance dated 18/07/1870 furnished by Maxwells under 

                              cover of their letter of  14/05/07 



such lanrful ?? and thing for the further better and more perfectly ?? the said lands 



heredits and premises to the uses and in manner aforesaid as by the said purchasers 



their heirs and assigns shall be reasonably required. 



In witness whereof 



Note: There is an illegible note on page 2 of the draft Conveyance. 


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            Typed version of Memorial h i s h e d by Maxwells under cover of their letter dated 

I  . 

                                                       14May 2007 



          To the Registrar appointed by an act of Parliament for registering Deeds, Wills and so 



          forth in Ireland. 



          A memorial of a conveyance dated the nineteenth day of July in the year of our Lord 



          one thousand eight hundred and seventy between Frances Mary Callaghan of Artane 



          Castle in the county of Dublin Spinster of the one part and James Aloysius Hoare, 



          Richard Anthony Maxwell, John Augustine Grace, Patrick Dominick McDonnell and 



          Thomas Alphonsus Hoope all of North Richmond Street in the City of Dublin 



          Gentlemen hereinafter called 'the purchasers'   of the other part. Reciting that the said 



          Frances Mary Callaghan being seized of an estate in fee simple in possession of the 



          lands and hereditments hereinafter described had contracted with the said purchasers 



          for the sale thereof to them for the sum of seven thousand pounds sterling said 



          Indenture witnessed that in consideration of said sum&              seven thousand pounds paid 



          by the said purchasers to the said Frances Mary Callaghan on the execution thereof 



          she the said Frances Mary Callaghan granted unto the said Jarnes Aloysius Hoare, 



          Richard Anthony Maxwell, John Augustine Grace, Patrick Dominick McDonnell and 



          Thomas Alphonsus Hoope and their heirs All that and those that part of the lands of 



          Artane South situated in the barony of Coolock and County of Dublin containing fifty 



          four acres three roods and four perches Statute measure or thereabouts with the 



          mansion house called 'Artane   Castle'  and all other buildings standing thereon 



          together with all fixtures commons waters water courses sewars  privileges easements 



          advantages and appurtenances whatsoever to the said lands and hereditaments thereby 



          granted belonging or with the same or any of them theretofore enjoyed or reputed or 


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trust property.. .into or out of the same premises To hold the said lands hereditments 



and premises unto the said James Aloysius Hoare Richard Anthony Maxwell, John 



Augustine Grace, Thomas Dominick McDonnell and Thomas Alphonsus Hoope and 



their heirs to the use of the said  James Aloysius Hoare, Richard Anthony Maxwell, 



John Augustine Grace, Patrick Dominick McDonnell and Thomas Alphonsus Hoope 



their heirs and assigns for ever subject to a certain Indenture of lease of a schoolhouse 



erected on a portion of the said premises bearing date the thirteenth day of July one 



thousand eight hundred and seventy made by the said Frances Mary Callaghan to His 



Eminence Paul Cardinal Cullen and The Very Reverend Cornelius          Cannon Rooney 



of Clontarf in the County of Dublin Roman Catholic Parish Priest for the term of nine 



hundred years from the thirteenth day of July one thousand and eight hundred and 



seventy at the yearly rent of one shilling payable half yearly on the first day of 



January and first day of July and said conveyance of which this is a memorial 



contained covenants by said Frances Mary Callaghan for herself, her heirs executors 



and administrators for good title quiet enjoyment freedom from incumbrances and 



further assurance the execution of which said deed  And this by the said Frances Mary 



Callaghan By Patrick Maxwell North Great Georges Street in the city of Dublin 



Solicitor And by Jarnes Hendley Quinn of  Henrietta  Street in said city of Cork. 



Signed and sealed by the said Frances Mary Callaghan in the presence of Patrick 



Maxwell and James Hendley 


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TYPED VERSION 



 13458 



                                                                5 July,  1870 



 Sir, 



With reference to your minute of the 21''  June, re the 

 accompanying letter, I beg to report that on the 24thultimo I 

visited Artane Castle, Co. Dublin, and found it in every way, well 

 suited for the purposes of an Industrial School for boys.   Indeed I 

was consulted as to its fitness before the purchase was concluded. 



The premises consists of a large dwelling house with extensive 

out-offices, garden, farm-yard &c standing on 56 StatuteAcres of 

rich arable land, well watered, sheltered by fine trees and enclosed 

on the North and East by a good wall. 



The proposed school is 2 L/z  miles from the General Post Office, 

Dublin in the Barony of Coolock, Co. Dublin -sitebeing a very 

healthy one, not far from the sea on the road to Malahide. 



The lands, which are held in fee simple have been purchased for 

the purpose of an Industrial School at a cost of £7,000 and it is 

proposed to erect additional buildings for Dormitories, 

 Classrooms, at a further outlay of £16,000. 



The Industrial School will be managed by the Christian Brothers, 

under aninfluential Committee which will include, amongst 

others, the six Gentlemen Members of the Committee of the St. 

Mary's Industrial School, Inchicore, Co. Dublin, who applied to 

the Chief Secretary to withdraw the Certificate from that 

Institution and which the proposed School at Artane is intended to 

replace. 



This establishment is well adapted for the instruction of boys in 

farm-work as well as trades, and I have no doubt that it will be 

efficiently carried on. 



Very young boys will be cared and trained in other Schools 

Managed by females and when of a sufficient age I propose that 

they be transferred under 32"       Section of the Act to this and 

similar Institutions. 



An efficient Staff has been selected. 


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A number of Gentlemen have consented to act as the General 

Committee of Management, and from the an executive Committee 

will be formed who shall have special charge of the Institution. 



Having regard to these facts, I  submit that a Certificate be granted. 

The School being designated The Artane Industrial  School for 

Roman Catholic Boys, Dublin. 



The Committee is so numerous that it will be unnecessary to 

gazette more   than the first five names on the list - .... .. ..... ... . 



    Cardinal Cullen 

    Lord 0'1-Iagan 

    Earl of Granard K.P. 

    Sir Jarnes Power Bart. 

    Very Rev. Doctor McCabe V.G. 



I have the honour to be 

Sir 

Your Obt. Servant 

John Lentaigne 

Inspt. 


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TYPED VERSION 



 12570 



                                                                                  17 Mountjoy Square, 

                                                                                                 Dublin 



                                                                                          20 June  1870 



To 

The Right Hon. 

Chichester Fortescue, 

Chief Secretary for Ireland 

Dublin Castle. 



Sir, 



The purchasers of Artane Castle and its Demesne of 56 statute acres of land, situatedwithin 

two miles of Dublin, are desirous that you may direct the property to be visited, and reported 

upon by the Lnspector of Industrial Schools. 



Should his report enable you to certify, that the property, in question, is suitable for the 

establishment of an Industrial School for Roman Catholic boys, under the "Lndustrial 

Schools' Act",  I am to request, on the part of the proposed Committee of Management,that 

you will grant the Certificate at your earliest possible convenience. 



I have the honour 

to remain 

Sir, 

Your very obt. Servant 



Charles Kennedy 



Mr Lentaigne 


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Submissions: 



                                                                         Page 



The Christian Brothers                                                  (1-28) 



The Sisters of Mercy                                                    (1-46) 



Oblates of Mary Immaculate                                               (1-8) 



Rosminian Institute                                                     (1-25) 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                        199 


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200                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           Chapter 3 



           Society and the schools 



           Prof. David Gwynn Morgan. 



           Part 1 Social, economic and family background 



           Child poverty in independent Ireland 



3.01       In a very real sense, poverty was the reason for the Industrial schools. The result of the adverse 

           economic  conditions of  the  times was  that  the  late 1920s,  30s  and 40s  were  scarred by  deep 

           poverty.   All the   classic  signs   were    there:  tuberculosis    (‘consumption’);   rickets;  anaemia; 

           emigration;  apathy;  money-lending  and  high  unemployment,  especially  in  the  cities  of  Dublin, 

           Cork, Waterford and Limerick. 



3.02       An economic depression lasted virtually throughout the 1920s and 30s. The war years, 1939-45, 

           were a period of further economic decline, with urban unemployment and a drop in real wages of 

           30 percent between 1939 and 1943 and a recovery to the 1939 figure only in 1949. Even then 

           stagnation set in until 1958. Thereafter, the economy grew at an unprecedented rate through the 

           1960s (about 4 percent pa) and through the 70s in a more patchy way. 



3.03       Another contributory factor to child poverty was the fact that during the period 1930-80, Irish levels 

           of fertility were consistently the highest in Western Europe. Infant mortality, often invoked as a 

           guide  to  living  standards,  was  90  per  1,000  in  1914.  Then  there  was  a  reduction  but  it  rose 

           significantly during World War II (indeed during the period 1936-48 it remained between 60-80 

           per 1,000).1  In sum, it was inevitable that one of the major (if seldom noticed) problems of public 



           policy  would   remain   a  significant  number    of poor   families.  At  the  root  of this  poverty  was 

           unemployment, coupled with the lack of welfare benefits. Usually the reason for low income was 

           unemployment,  which  was  heavily  concentrated  in         Cork,  Limerick,  Waterford  and  especially 

           Dublin. The following Table shows the unemployment rates. 



                                                     Unemployment rates 



            Year                  Dublin County Borough                       National 



                                  Unemployed            Rate as % of          Unemployed            Rate as % of 

                                  Figures               those available       Figures               those available 

                                                        for work                                    for work 



            1926                  13,580                14.7                  66,393                6.9 



            1936                  17,500                13.2                  83,235                8.5 



            1946                  13,141                9.7                   51,809                5.4 



            1951                  9,293                 6.2                   36,115                3.8 



            1956                  9,861                 6.6                   55,157                6.6 



            1961                  8,559                 6.1                   46,989                5.7 



            1966                  7,514                 5.1                   43,864                5.3 



           1 C O’Grada A Rocky Road: the Irish economy since the 1920s (Manchester UP, 1997) 17, 194 and Table 1.5. In 1949, 



            one child in 16 did not live to see his or her fifth birthday. 100 mothers died in childbirth in 1949 compared to fewer 

            than one per year at present (Central statistics Office, 2000). 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        201 


----------------------- Page 2242-----------------------

3.04        This general view is confirmed by a number of empirical pioneering surveys in or about the 1940s 

            by  doctors  or  other  public-spirited  citizens.  Writing  in  1938  about  the  general  population,  Dr 

            Fearon2    estimated  that  a  weekly  income  of  30  shillings  per  week  would  be  needed  to  keep  a 



            person,  and  of  this  amount  the  expenditure  on  food  would  be  10  shillings  for  a  diet  which  ‘is 

            almost’ nutritionally adequate. Yet 50 percent of the population had a weekly income of 20 shillings 

            or less and spent 8 shillings or less on food.3             In the same year, the Rotunda Hospital, in inner 



            North Dublin, almoners carried out a dietary survey on a small sample of 50 families living in one- 

            roomed tenements where the breadwinner was unemployed – in other words the families whose 

            children were most likely to be committed. The almoners found that when rent, insurance, fuel 

            and  light  were  paid,  the  average  weekly  sum  available  for  food  and  clothes,  for  each  family 

            member, was 3 shillings.4 



3.05        A few years later, in 1945, the cost of living had increased and another study of family income 

            told the same sad story. This study of 10,500 families drawn at random from the Corporation’s 

            information on families in Dublin, found that 55 percent of them had an income that was below 

            £2.10s 0d. The significance of the figure of £2.10s is as follows. The unemployment assurance 

            was relatively high but only lasted for a few months. Where a man was unemployed beyond this 

            period, he and his family would go on to either home assistance or unemployment assistance. In 

            1945,  in  the  case  of  Dublin  residents,  this  was  30  shillings  per  week.  In  addition,  children’s 

            allowances would bring in another 7s 6d, food and (in winter) fuel vouchers would bring in another 

            6 shillings, and there might also be a grant from St Vincent de Paul or another charity. Yet experts 

            at the time stated that the weekly minimum cost for a healthy standard of living ranged from £3.5s 

            0d. to £4.18s 0d for a family with five children between the ages of five and 15 (taking the lowest 

            figure for rent and for nutrition which will create healthy growth and resistance to the social disease 

            of tuberculosis and rheumatism). Extrapolating from these figures, one can deduce that throughout 

            the country, there was likely to have been at least 60,000 children who, because of either their 

            parents’ chronic unemployment or inadequate wages, were living at such levels of destitution as 

            to make them eligible for Industrial Schools.5 



3.06        A 1948 survey contrasted two types of meals, the ‘bread and spread’ and the cooked meal. The 

            ‘bread and spread’ consisted of a tea or milk drink, bread and a butter or jam spread. The cooked 

            meal consisted of fish, meat, or eggs and may also have included potatoes and vegetables or a 

            pudding. For children under 14 years of age in slum families, 44 percent of all the meals they ate 

            were  of  the  ‘bread  and  spread’  type,  while  these  figures  declined  to  36  percent  of  children  in 

            artisan families, and 18 percent in middle class families. The survey found that intakes of milk and 

            cheese  were  insufficient  in  all  income  groups,  although  the  deficiencies  were  most  marked  in 

            slum families. 



3.07        As   to  housing     for  the  poor,    there   was    even    at  the  higher    level   a  shortage     of  adequate 

            accommodation at affordable rents and, at the lowest level, an absence of any accommodation 

            that  was  not  overcrowded,  unheated  or  often  rat-infested.6              The  conditions  were  ‘often  quite 



            2 F Fearon ‘The National Problem of Nutrition’ Studies vol 26 (March, 1938). Twelve similar figures are given in an 



              article based on the families of 60 patients attending the Rotunda Hospital in GC Dokeray and WR Fearon ‘Ante- 

              Natal. Nutrition in Dublin’ (1938) Irish Journal of Medical Science (6th series) 80. 

            3 O’Cinneide and Maguire, pp 39-40. 

            4 E Holmes ‘Medical Social Work’ at the Rotunda in A Browne (ed) Masters, Midwives and Ladies in Waiting, p 216. 

            5 See, to similar effect: TWT Dillon MD ‘The Social Services in Eire’, Studies, September 1945 329; Dunne ‘Poverty 



              Problems for a Patriot Parliament’ Journal of the Statistical and Society Inquiry Society of Ireland, 1922:190; Dr 

              Clancy-Gore ‘Nutritional Standards of some working class families in Dublin’ Journal of the Statistical and Social 

              Inquiry Society of Ireland, vol 17 (1943-44) 241. 

            6 Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Housing of the Working Classes of the City of Dublin 1938-43 (Dublin: 



              Government Stationery Office, 1944), p 15, quoted in O’Cinneide and Maguire, p 22. 



            202                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2243-----------------------

           unsuitable  for  cattle’.7  Writing  about  housing  conditions  especially  in  urban  areas  in  the  1930s 

           O’Cinneide and Maguire state:8 



                  Studies   ... especially   in  urban   areas    in the   1930s    suggest    that  housing    conditions 

                  improved little from the beginning of the Irish Free State. In fact, one report noted that the 

                  number of urban families living in unsuitable or hazardous conditions in the intervening 

                  years rose from 25,820, in 1913 to 28,200 in 1938, in spite of slum clearance efforts in 

                  the intervening years. 



3.08       As late as 1950, there were 6,300 tenements housing 112,000 people or nearly one-third of Dublin 

           Corporation population.9 



                                      Table showing number of rooms per household 



                                    1926                   1936                   1946                   1961 



                                    No of                  No of                  No of                  No of 

                                    households/            households/            households/            households/ 

                                   persons                 persons                persons                persons 



            All areas 



            Private                47,000                 43,000                  34,000                 15,000 

            households in 1         140,000                125,000                89,000                 27,000 

            room 



            - with 1 or 2          24,000                  23,000                 20,000                 12,000 

            persons                35,000                  33,000                 28,000                 15,000 



            - with 3–5              17,000                 15,000                 11,000                 3,000 

            persons                85,000                  56,000                 43,000                 10,000 



            - with 6+  persons     6,000                   5,000                  3,000                  321 

                                   41,000                  36,000                 18,000                 2,000 



            Dublin City and County 



            Private                27,000                  27,000                 22,000                 11,000 

            households in 1        89,000                  92,000                 66,000                 21,000 

            room 



            - with 1 or 2           12,000                 16,000                 14,000                 9,000 

            persons                 18,000                 22,000                 19,000                 12,000 



            - with 3–5              11,000                 11,000                 9,000                  2,000 

            persons                42,000                 42,000                  33,000                 8,000 



            - with 6+  persons     4,000                  4,000                   2,000                  258 

                                   28,000                  28,000                 14,000                 2,000 



           Source: Census of Population 1961, Vol VI: Housing and Social Amenities, Table 6 



           NB Because of rounding to nearest thousand sums may not add up. 



3.09       The Table shows that, for instance, in 1946, there were 3,000 households comprising six or more 

           people living in  one-room accommodation. Two-thirds of these one-room  accommodation units 

           were in Dublin City and County. These figures were worse in 1936 and worse again in 1926. By 

           1961, however, there had been significant improvement on the 1946 figures. Small wonder that 

           the numbers of Dublin children committed for reasons of poverty were disproportionately high. 



           7 TWT Dillon ‘Slum clearance past and future’ Studies, March 1945, pp 13-20. 

           8 Department of Health, National Nutritional Survey (Dublin: Government Stationery Office, 1968) quoted in O’Cinneide 



             and Maguire The Industrial Schools: A Monograph, pp 33-4, citing as sources: WT Dillon ‘Slum Clearance Past and 

             Future’ Studies, March 1945, p 163; The Standard, 14th November 1931, p 9; The Standard, 27th September 1935, p 

             2; Irish Weekly Independent, 25th December 1937, p 8. 

           9 K Kearns Dublin Tenement Life (Gill and Macmillian, 1995). 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            203 


----------------------- Page 2244-----------------------

3.10       As the country became less poor through the late 1950s and 1960s conditions improved. In 1936, 

            in Dublin inner city, a family would have to consist of nine or more persons in one room to merit 

            Corporation housing. Even then, many families living 12 in one room had to refuse the offer of a 

            corporation    house    because     they  could   not   afford  the   rent.  With   the  advent    in  1950   of  the 

           differential  rents  system  for  corporation  houses,  this  difficulty  fell  away  and,  by  1961,  while 

            conditions were still not good, a family of three or four had a reasonable chance of rehousing. 



3.11       Although  conditions  were  worst  in  Dublin,  they  were  also  bad  in  the  provinces.  The  following 

           descriptions  of  family  circumstances  were  collected  by  O’Cinneide  and  Maguire  from  ISPCC 

           files:10 



                   •     One-roomed  house, mud-walled cabin,  overcrowded and condemned by  CMO. One 

                         bed for entire family (family of five, 1938, Arklow) 



                   •     Two-roomed house mud walls and thatched in very bad state of repair; no rent paid. 

                         Home congested and damp, unfit for human habitation (family of four, 1943, Wexford) 



                   •     Living in with the paternal grandfather in one room. Very little furniture. One double 

                         bed, poorly covered. One pram. Room clean and tidy. Family are overcrowded (family 

                         of six, 1954, Wicklow). 



3.12        Income shortage was often compounded by bad management and  debt was a major problem. 

            Credit unions did not start until the late 1960s. Moneylenders charged up to 100 percent interest 

            and took children’s allowance books as security. One poor mother described her whirligig of debt 

           – to the landlord, ESB, shop on the corner, moneylenders – as being ‘as if my head and my feet 

            are in a halter’.11  Alcoholism or gambling were other thorns. Parents were occasionally in such 



           severe straits that they refused to take their child home from maternity hospital. Dr Dillon wrote 

            in 1945:12 



                  The Poor cannot keep clean, because they are unable to buy soap or fuel to heat water. 

                  With   every    month    at  unemployment        their  position   becomes      more    desperate,    more 

                  hopeless, until they finally join the ranks of the unemployable. The mother starves herself 

                  to feed her children and, in a very high percentage of cases, is found on examination to 

                  be suffering from nutritional anaemia. The children fall behind in school and gradually slip 

                  down to a social status even lower than their parents. They are in the majority of cases 

                  all but useless to the modern employer. At the age of 18 they are replaced by some other 

                  unfortunate and join the ranks of the unemployable proletariat. There are families in Dublin 

                  in which the second generation is now well advanced on that dreary road. 



3.13        Family-planning  facilities  were  virtually  non-existent  and  many  marriages  floundered  owing  to 

           these extreme family stresses. For instance: 13 



                  A typical example of the emigration pattern of the 1940s and 1950s was an expectant 

                  mother  with  five children  alive  out  of eight  pregnancies,  who  usually became  pregnant 

                  during her husband’s infrequent visits home. She lived in two rooms at the top of a city 

                  tenement, and was known to the almoner from 1939 to 1957. She was distraught because 

                  she suspected that her husband, who was living in ‘digs’ in England, was having an affair 

                  with  his  landlady  –  ‘he  never  wires  but  send  money  regularly’.  She  described  him  as 

                  ‘indifferent’, having no affection for his children. 



3.14       As well as poverty, many related evils flourished in these extreme and unnatural conditions. In 

           the years leading up to independence, Crown books (court records) show that prosecutions for 



            10 O’Cinneide and Maguire ‘Findings from the ISPCC records’ (2000) second progress report to the Sisters of Mercy. 



              Industrial Schools in context project. 

            11 Rotunda Hospital Annual Clerical Reports for 1936-68, Social Services section. 

            12 Dillon The Social services in Eire, p 331: 

            13 Rotunda Hospital Annual Clerical Reports for 1936-68, Social Services section. 



           204                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2245-----------------------

            sexual crime involving children – indecent exposure, gross indecency, indecent assault, buggery 

            and  unlawful  carnal  knowledge  –  arising  out  of  acts  occurring  in  the  Dublin  tenements,  were 

            commonplace and prostitution was regarded as a common problem in Dublin. Of the 1,984 deaths 

            from venereal disease recorded in Ireland between 1899 and 1916, 69 percent of the victims were 

            children  under  five  years  of  age.14      However,  according  to  a  report  ‘contrary  to  the  currently 



            accepted opinion, VD was widespread throughout the country and it was disseminated by a class 

            of girl who could not be regarded as a prostitute’.15 



3.15        The illegitimacy rate was high (eg 295 per 1,000 births in 1929-30) and according . to one historical 

            survey: ‘To judge from the pages of the Cork Examiner, (from 1925-6) infanticide was a weekly, 

            if  not a  daily reality  in Ireland.’  The reports  were brief,  factual and  non-judgemental. The  most 

            usual outcome was  a guilty verdict ‘with a strong  recommendation to mercy’, partly due  to the 

            stigma already attached to the perpetrator and their family.16 



3.16        Against this background of extreme poverty, some saw the Schools as no worse than anything 

            else  and  as  offering  children  at  least  adequate  food  and  housing.  The  type  of  situation  which 

            might easily lead on to entry to an Industrial School is described in the Rotunda Hospital Annual 

            Report for 1955: 



                   Mrs X was delivered of her fifth child in November, 1954. She was under the care of the 

                   Hospital for her four previous confinements in 1946, 1947 1952 and 1953. She is of low 

                   intelligence and has served several sentences in prison always on charges of stealing. 

                   Her husband is frequently unemployed. The family is almost constantly in debt. When a 

                   social science student visited the home, both gas and electricity had been cut off due to 

                   non-payment of accounts and arrears of rent amounted to £3. 



                   In early February, 1955 the new baby was brought to the Paediatric Unit and found to 

                   have gained no weight since birth and was in poor condition due to neglect. The child had 

                  to be admitted to Hospital forthwith.17 



3.17        A  newspaper  report  (source  not  given,  in  Lunney,  at  93-9418)  gives  a  graphic  description  of 



            conditions in some Dublin homes under the heading of ‘Shocking Case of Neglect’, during the 

            Second World War years. 



                   Miss Hannah Clarke, Inspector of the NSPCC gave evidence in court, stating that when 

                   she visited the one roomed home of this particular family in Dublin, she found three very 

                   neglected children in the room. The eldest girl was six years of age. They were alone. 

                  According to Miss Clarke: ‘Mary was dirty, her hair verminous and her clothes dirty and 

                  verminous. She was wearing old slippers. Margaret was in the same condition. Carmel 



            14 JV O’Brien Dear Dirty Dublin (Dublin, 1978), pp 167-8. 

            15 NAI, DT, S4183, report on VD in the Irish Free State: Committee of Inquiry (1924–26). The report was not published 



              (ibid, 7th May 1927) Here one ought also to mention briefly the Carrigan Report on Sexual Offences (1931) which led 

              ultimately to the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1935. The immediate reason for its establishment was the fact that the 

              English Law in regard to sexual offences against young person had recently been made more stringent including law 

              on prostitution, carnal knowledge of an underage person. The Committee had a good deal of evidence about such 

              crime, from, for instance, Garda Commissioner Eoin O’Duffy. The Report was not made public on the advice of the 

              Department of Justice and the Catholic Church, because it was thought that it would show Irish sexual morals in a 

              poor light. The general lesson which this Report and its non-publication teaches is that there was a good deal of 

              sexual crime against children in the early 1930s and there is no reason to suppose that this position changed at any 

              rate for several decades; and also that the official approach was to sweep such matters under the carpet. The Report 

              did not discriminate between crimes taking place within the family or at a school of whatever type. See generally: 

              Report of the Committee on the Criminal Law Amendments Acts (1880-1885) and Juvenile prostitution (Dublin, 1931), 

              p 26; M Finnane ‘The Carrigan Committee of 1930-31 and the moral condition of the Saorstat’ Irish Historical Studies 

              (November 2001), p 519; F Kennedy ‘The Suppression of the Carrigan Report’ studies, Vol 89, No 356, p 362. 



            16 Louise Ryan ‘The massacre of innocence: Infanticide in the Irish Free State’, Irish Studies Review, No 14, Spring 



               1996, pp 17-21. 

            17 Rotunda Clinical Report for 1945-46, section on Social Services by the Almoner, Miss Murphy. 

            18 Lunney’s survey of the Sisters of Mercy Schools. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                   205 


----------------------- Page 2246-----------------------

                  was lying on a filthy bed. Her head was a moving mass of vermin. There was no food 

                  in  the  room  and  witness  went  to  a  shop  and  purchased  bread,  butter  and  milk  for  the 

                  children’s tea. 



                  The father stated that it was not his duty to clean the children while the mother admitted 

                  negligence  but  pleaded  ill  health.  Both  parents  were  sentenced  to  imprisonment.  The 

                  report went on to state that in the opinion of the presiding justice, Mr Little, ‘the children 

                  should be sent to one of those admirable institutions, miscalled industrial schools, which 

                  were really boarding schools for the poor. 



3.18        In the Rotunda Report for 1945-46 in the section on social services by the almoner, Miss Murphy, 

            another case was summarised as follows: 



                  Mrs    N  developed      phlebitis   following   her   discharge     from   the  wards    on   her   seventh 

                  confinement and she was advised to rest in bed at home. We were asked to arrange for 

                  a district nurse to dress her leg. Her home consisted of one small attic room. There were 

                  holes in the floor, the walls were wet and plaster was falling off them. All water had to be 

                  carried up from the ground floor. Mrs N was in bed. The head of the bed was against the 

                  damp wall and beside an open window. As a result, the baby had developed a cold. Mrs 

                  N and her husband and five children – the eldest aged 6 1                  years lived in this room and 

                                                                                           2 



                  slept together on the only bed. In spite of the difficulties, the home was reasonably clean. 

                  Mr N, an unemployed cattle drover, was dependent on 18/4 unemployment assistance, 

                   12/6  food  vouchers  and  5/-  children’s  allowance  pr  weekend  and  his  rent  was  10/-. 

                  Occasionally he obtained a day’s work and earned about £1. In addition the Society of St 

                  Vincent de Paul was giving him a food voucher value 4/- per week and the Catholic Social 

                  Service Food Centre was giving Mrs N dinner and milk every day. We applied at once to 

                  the Corporation Housing Department for accommodation for this family and seven months 

                  later they moved into a four-roomed corporation house. 



            State financial support 



3.19        In  1948,  the  maximum  rate  of  unemployment  assistance  was  38  shillings  per  week.  So,  for  a 

            family with five children, the total income including children’s allowances would have been 45s 

            6d. The NSPCC Annual Report of the Dublin Branch 1947-48 stated: 



                  Allowing for a moderate rent of, say, 5 shillings per week, the amount available per head, 

                  viz, 5/91  is well below the minimum necessary to provide food alone. ...It is true that in the 

                           2 



                  worst cases the home assistance authorities sometimes intervene with an allowance for 

                  rent; but the total is still insufficient to provide proper nourishment for the children, to say 

                  nothing of clothing or bedding, much less for any less necessary amenities. It is a small 

                  wonder that some parents give up the unequal contest and apply for the committal of their 

                  children  to  industrial  schools  on  the  grounds  of  inability  to  support  them,  when,  as  we 

                  have so often pointed out, they cost the public funds 15/-a head. 



3.20        The unemployment figures were as low as they were because of the emigration of thousands of 

            fathers, throughout the 1950s especially, and the fact that many do not feature in these figures 

            because they were trying to eke out a living on smallholdings of land. 



3.21        Despite the valuable work done by private philanthropic organisations, like the Saint Vincent de 

            Paul19   or  the  Catholic  Social  Welfare  Fund  or  such  local  charities  as  the  Marrowbone  Lane 



            19 In Limerick, in 1936, the Society provided boots and clothing to nearly 2,000 families, and disbursed nearly £2,000 in 



              assistance. This was in spite of the fact that the Society’s resources were so diminished, and their donations 

              significantly diminished, that they had been forced to reduce by nearly half the number of people they could assist 

              (The Standard, 3rd April 1936, four cited in O’Cinneide and Maguire The Industrial Schools Over a Hundred Years: A 

              Monograph, p 32). Dillon ‘The Social Services in Eire’ at p 329 states that, in 1943, the society distributed goods and 

              grants to the total value of \150,000. 



            206                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2247-----------------------

           Samaritan Fund, Evening Herald Boot Fund, Belvedere News Boys’ Club, Rotarians or the Penny 

            Dinners, the long-term problem was so great that only State support could ameliorate it. 



3.22       At  independence,  systematic  State  assistance  to  poor  people  was  confined  to  two  relevant20 



           supports. The first of these were the unpopular workhouses, which had been established in each 

            Poor  Law  Union.  Immediately  after  independence,  in  1922,  these were  reorganised  so  that,  in 

           each county, there was one central institution, under the control of a local board of health. Between 

            1913-14  and  1924-25,  the  numbers  of  people,  including  some  young  children,  living  in  these 

           institutions declined by one-third (from 27,000 to 18,000). 



3.23       The second form of assistance was originally known as ‘outdoor relief’ (so called, by contrast with 

           the   workhouses).      After   independence,      outdoor     relief was    renamed      home    assistance     and 

           restrictions on its payment to able-bodied persons or widows with a single child were dropped. As 

           a result, between 1920 and 1925, the numbers receiving outdoor relief/home assistance increased 

           from 15,000 to 22,000, which was still a very small figure having regard to the level of need, with 

           total  annual  expenditure  going  from  £114,000  to  £373,000.  The  1937-38  annual  report  of  the 

            Dublin branch of the NSPCC pointed out that while the rate of home assistance for Dublin was 

           adequate     at  25   shillings  per  week    for  a  family   of five  children,   rates   prevailing   elsewhere, 

           specifically  in  Wicklow  and  Kildare,  at  a  maximum  payment  of  10  shillings  per  week,  were 

           insufficient. Home assistance took the form not only of money but also food, clothing and bedding. 

           Another  form  that  home  assistance  might  take  –  free  or  low-cost  footwear  –  bears  directly  on 

           committal to Industrial Schools: for, to take an example, during a three-month period in 1944, the 

            Dublin Corporation School Attendance Committee dealt with 480 cases of non-attendance and, 

           in at least 80 cases, the reason given was that the children had no footwear in which to attend 

           school.21   In 1939 the unemployment figure was at 100,000, with over 83,000 people in receipt of 



           home assistance, of whom one-third resided in Dublin City or County). 



3.24        During the relevant period three further welfare benefits were instituted. The first of these, provided 

           under the Unemployment Assistance Act 1933 was unemployment benefit, that is (means-tested) 

           relief  of  able-bodied  men  and  women,  during  periods  of  temporary  unemployment.  Before  the 

            1933 Act, only a relatively small proportion of the population had been eligible for unemployment 

           benefit which was funded mainly by social insurance. This meant that generally it was confined to 

           better-off working people. The rest, including all agricultural workers and smallholders many of 

           them unemployed in all but name, had to rely on home assistance or the occasional emergency 

           relief provisions provided out of central funds during periods of severe unemployment. 



3.25       Secondly,     the  Committee      of  Inquiry   into  Widows’     and   Orphans’     Pensions     (1932-33)    made 

           recommendations that bore fruit rather quickly, in the form of the Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension 

           Act 1935. This established pensions, on a contributory basis, for widows and orphans of wage 

           earners; and also, on a non-contributory basis, for anyone in need. 



3.26        But  most    significant  of  all in  the  present    context   was    the  children’s   allowance,     which   was 

           introduced in 1944. At the start, when it was confined to the third and subsequent children under 

            16, it benefited 320,000 children. This was not means tested, and provided a regular allowance, 

           initially at the rate of 2s 6d per week. Dr Kennedy summarises the subsequent extension of the 

           children’s allowance:22 



                  Children’s allowances were extended to the second qualified child in July 1952, and to all 

                  qualified children from November 1963. Under the Social Welfare Act, 1973, the qualifying 

                  age for children’s allowance was raised to 18 years for children in full-time education, in 



           20 The other two income-support schemes, old age pensions and insured worker’s benefits, are not relevant. 

           21 The Evening Standard, 5th May 1939. 

           22                                ` 

              F Kennedy From Cottage to Creche (IPA, 2003), pp 218-9. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               207 


----------------------- Page 2248-----------------------

                  apprenticeships,      or  disabled.   The    total  number     of  families   in  receipt   of  children’s 

                  allowances has risen from 132,000 in 1944 to about 500,000 at present [2001]. 



3.27       When first introduced, children’s allowance cost the State £21              million. This was the equivalent of 

                                                                                     4 

            11  percent of national income or a quarter of the amount spent on all the other welfare payments 

             4 



           put  together:  old  age  pensions,  widows’  and  orphans’  pensions,  unemployment  insurance  and 

           assistance, workmen’s compensation, national health insurance and public assistance. 



3.28        It is generally accepted that the decline in numbers in the Schools from the mid 1940s was partly 

           due  to  children’s  allowances  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  numbers  being  committed  to  the 

            Industrial Schools peaked in 1943, the year before they were introduced. 



            Groups from which the children came 23 



3.29       Children from the following socio-economic groups were more likely to end up in a certified school: 



                    1)   Low-income and large families 



                    2)   Single-parent families 



                    3)   Orphans 



                    4)   Mentally-ill children. 



            1) Low-income and large families 



3.30       Children    from   the  lower   socio-economic       groups    were   represented     in  disproportionately     high 

           numbers  in  the  Schools.  The  reason  for  poverty  or  deprivation  might  be  badly-paid,  insecure 

           employment, unemployment or the loss of a parent. The Kennedy Report, Appendix E, Table 31 

           (Committee’s  survey)  gives  the  following  figures  (as  of  1968)  for  the  occupations  of  residents’ 

           fathers. The penultimate column gives the percentage for each occupation as their children were 

           represented  in  the  Schools.  For  comparison,  the  final  column  shows  the  percentage  of  each 

           occupation in the general national population. 



           23 School: A Sociological Study’ (1971) Unpublished M Soc Sci thesis, UCD. 



           208                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2249-----------------------

           Father’s          Industrial Schools           Reformatories 

           occupation 

                             Boys’    Girls’    Totals    Boys’    Girls’    Totals    Totals for         National 

                             Schools  and                 Schools  Schools             Industrial            % 

                                      junior                                           Schools and 

                                      boys’                                            Reformatories 

                                      Schools                                          % 



           Farmer            4        42        46                                     46       1.9%      28% 



           Higher                     7         7                                      7         0.3%     2.5% 

           professional 



           Lower                      9         9                                      9         0.4%     3% 

           professional 



           Employer/                  4         4                                      4        0.2%      1.5% 

           manager 



           Commercial                 12        12                                     12        0.5%     12% 

           worker (eg 

           agent) 



           Clerical          10       29        39        3                            42        1.7% 

           worker 



           Intermediate      27       85        112       4        1         5         117      4.7%      9.5% 

           non manual 

           worker 



           Skilled           44       118       162       6        1         7         169      6.8%      7% 

           tradesman 



           Semi-skilled      34       122       156       12       5         17        173       7%       7% 

           worker 



           Agricultural      22       76        98        1        1         2         100      4%        9% 

           labourer 



           Non-skilled       43       268       311       27       3         30        341      13.8%     5.5% 

           worker 



           Unemployed        39       169       208       16       -         16        224       9%       7.3 



           Disabled          6        67        73        5        1         6         79        3.2% 



           Itinerant         11       51        62        4         1        5         67       2.7% 



           ‘In England’      10       71        81        4         -        4         85        3.4% 



           Occupation        95       349       444       3        1         4         448       18.1% 

           unknown 



           No reply          306      203       509       20       24        44        553       22.3% 



           Totals            651      1,682     2,333     105      38                  2476 



3.31      The McQuaid Artane survey found that a disproportionate number of School residents came from 

          large families. 



          2) One-parent families 



3.32      A great proportion of children in the schools came from families that were non-marital or one or 

          both parents had died. Where it was the mother who died, then the conventional view might be 

          taken that the father, especially if a full-time breadwinner, was not equipped to bring up the family 

          (and  even,  because  of  an  unspoken  fear  of  incest,  where  there  were  daughters  in  the  family 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                  209 


----------------------- Page 2250-----------------------

            should not do so). If it was the father who died then, while the homemaker remained, there was 

            no breadwinner so that the family was likely to be impoverished. 



3.33        If the child was born out of wedlock, the mother was likely to find herself in either a mother and 

            baby home or a county home. The child might then be adopted formally or informally, boarded 

            out or sent to an Industrial School. 



3.34        The Kennedy Committee ascertained that only about 18 percent of children were known to the 

            School  to  have  parents  who  were  married,  alive  and  living  together.  Some  30  per  cent  of  the 

            children had one parent who was dead and it was not known in 35 percent of cases whether the 

            father was alive, although the mother was. 



3.35        The  background  of  broken  homes  from  which  many  of  the  residents  came  is  captured  by  the 

            Tuairim Report, 29: 



                  Some of the children in these schools will have no parents, or a parent with whom they 

                  have  no  contact,  others  may  have  both  parents  living  but  temporarily  or  permanently 

                  unable to provide for them. The committal of the children of one family to different schools, 

                  particularly if one parent is dead, often means the complete disintegration of the family as 

                  a unit. The surviving parent may marry again, set up a new home with the new spouse, 

                  and, when more children are born, abandon completely those of the first marriage who 

                  are, in any case, scattered in schools in different parts of the country. 



            3) Orphans 



3.36        There was a high number of orphans in Industrial Schools. The Kennedy Committee survey found 

            that the Schools knew that both of a child’s parents were dead in 11  percent of cases and did not 

                                                                                               2 



            know whether they were both alive in a further 10 percent. Another survey – Lunney’s survey of 

            the Sisters of Mercy Schools – which checked the various school admission registers from the 

            establishment  of  each  School  up  to  1950  –  elicited  an  average  figure  of  11.2  percent.24             As  a 



            comparison,  during  the  same  period,  the  numbers  of  orphans  was  about  0.25  percent  of  the 

            general population. 



3.37        The full significance of these striking findings, here and under category 2, is brought out by Dr 

            McQuaid: 



                  Not to know whether one or other or both of the parents were alive or dead... represents 

                  a  remarkable  level  of  basic  ignorance  of  the  facts  about  the  children,  in  dealing  with 

                  whom this information is most fundamental. For the responsible authorities (one does not 

                  necessarily  mean  the  schools)  not  to  be  aware  of  these  details  is  one  of  the  most 

                  shattering indictments of the ‘system’. For the children themselves, these facts are also 

                  vital. When one considers that in all of us the prime requirement for effective functioning 

                  is a secure and unshakable sense of identity, it must be plain to everyone that for a child 

                  not to know who his parents were, nor where they are, nor how he can get in touch with 



            24 Number of orphans admitted to various Industrial Schools from establishment to 1950 



                                                       Total 

            School                    Orphans                           Percentage of School population 

                                                       admissions 

            Clifden                   33               1,015            3.25 

            Clonakilty                188              1,306            14.39 

            Dundalk                   138              773              17.85 

            Galway                    78               1,090            7.16 

            Goldenbridge              85               1,755            4.84 

            Limerick                  285              1,663            17.14 

            Mallow                    41               751              5.46 

            Newtownforbes             241              1,434            16.81 

            Templemore                122              813              15.01 

            Westport                  94               1,065            8.83 



            210                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2251-----------------------

                  them and maintain contact, must seriously invalidate whatever else may be done to help 

                  and rehabilitate him. 



           4) Physical or mental illness 



3.38       O’Cinneide and Maguire observe: 



                  The Boards of Health and Public Assistance received many requests, from parents and 

                  guardians, resident managers of Industrial Schools, and other concerned individuals to 

                  have children with physical or mental handicaps admitted to the various institutions that 

                  catered   for  people   with   disabilities. The    various   local  authorities   seem    not  to  have 

                  operated  according  to  a  standardised  set  of  criteria,  and  many  cases  of  obvious  merit 

                  were  turned  down  because  parents  could  not  contribute  to  their  children’s  upkeep  in 

                  institutions.  For  the  most  part,  the  Boards  were  extremely  tight-fisted  when  it  came  to 

                  maintaining children in special institutions, and one can only imagine how many disabled 

                  children languished at home, with parents who could not cope or provide them with even 

                  a rudimentary education, because of the Board’s strident policies in this area. 



                  ...Cases that were clearly worthy, given the circumstances of the parents, were rejected 

                  on the grounds that the parents were not eligible for public assistance and thus the Board 

                  could not accept responsibility to maintain their children. 



3.39       The Kennedy Report, Appendix F, reported on a survey across different age groups and genders 

           testing for intelligence, perceptual ability and verbal reasoning etc. Each category revealed broadly 

           the same picture. The results of intelligence testing, in essence, were that (at p 113): 



                  11.9 per cent of children in Industrial Schools are mentally handicapped compared with 

                  approximately  2.5  per  cent  in  the  population,  and  that  36.6  per  cent  are  borderline 

                  mentally handicapped compared with approx 12.5 per cent in the population in general. 

                  This leaves 51.5 per cent who are of average or above average intelligence compared 

                  with about 85.0 per cent in the population at large. 



           Part 2 Other institutions for children in care 



3.40       A  child  might  live  in  a  School  and,  at  a  different  period,  in  one  of  the  alternative  residential 

           institutions.  An  example  of  such  transfers  is  given  by  Professor  Dermot  Keogh,  in  a  report  he 

           prepared for The Presentation Brothers relating to St Joseph’s Industrial School Greenmount and 

           submitted to CICA, at 108: 



                  According  to  Fr  James  Good,  who  was  appointed  chaplain  in  Greenmount  Industrial 

                  School in mid-1955, the following arrangements were in place in the Cork area for the 

                  receipt of children. Babies born in the home for unmarried mothers at the Sacred Heart 

                  Convent,  Bessboro,  normally  stayed  there  for  two  and  a  half  years  with  their  mothers. 

                  Between the age of two and a half and ten they lived in a junior Industrial School, generally 

                  Passage for boys and Rushbrooke for girls. On their tenth birthday, the boys were usually 

                  transferred to Greenmount or Upton. At age fourteen, they were ‘out of books’ and usually 

                  worked in the bakery or at shoe repairs. At sixteen, they were released to farmers, for 

                  whom they worked as labourers or to take up employment in the army, industry, domestic 

                  service or the trades. 



3.41       Two comprehensive tables25  show the various facilities available for children in care and also the 



           scale on which they had to be utilised. 



           25 Taken from E O’Sullivan, PhD. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            211 


----------------------- Page 2252-----------------------

 2 

 1 

 2 



                                                                   Table 5 Number of children regulated by census year 



                                        1861        1871       1881        1891        1901       1911        1926        1936       1946        1951        1961        1966       1971 



       Children in                     12,307      12,089     11,618       6,618      5,527       5,213       1,900       1,291       800         400         100         53          40 

       workhouses/county 

       homes 

       Children in mother and             -           -          -           -           -          -          607        887         869         817          -           -          - 

       baby homes 

       Children in Industrial             -        2,482       6,279       8,547      8,254       8,382       5,927      6,039       6,510       5,844      3,686       2,456       1,072 

       Schools under detention 

       Children in Industrial             -         200         434         376        298         427         350        250         150         89          99         123          70 

       Schools voluntarily 

       Children in Industrial             -           -          -           -           -          49          -           -           -         339        388         433         511 

       Schools by health 

       authorities 

       Total number in                             2,682       6,713       8,923      8,552       8,858       6,277      6,289       6,660       6,272      4,173       3,012       1,653 

       Industrial Schools 

       Children in Reformatory          539         970        1,151        786        596         652         115        109         237         214        205         145          42 

       Schools 

       Children in approved               -           -          -           -           -          -           -           -           -         245        425         532         788 

       institutions 

       Children in orphanages          5,000       5,000       3,000       3,000      3,000       3,000       2,500      2,500       2,000       1,000      1,000       1,000        750 

       Children in prisons              1,345       912         912         574        200          5           4           2          2           1           9           2          61 

       (under 16) 

       Children boarded out               -        1,476       2,250       2,540      2,370       2,623       1,906      2,304       2,419       2,283      1,692       1,162        914 

       Children hired out                 -           -          -           -           -          -           -          89         131         170        145         184         100 

       Children nursed out                -           -          -           -           -         411         803       2,800       2,493       1,500       505         382         365 

       (infant life protection) 



       Total                           19,191      23,553     25,644      22,724      20,245     20,762      14,112      16,271     15,631      12,902       8,254      6,472       4,713 

C      Population under 14              1903        1914       1614        1529        1353       1301         873         820        823         856         877        901         931 

 I 

C      (,000) 

 A 

 R     Number of children per           10.1        12.3        14.1       14.9        15.0        16.0       16.2        19.8        19.0        15.1        9.4         7.2        5.1 

e 

p      1,000 population 

o 

 r 

t 

 V 

       Ratio of children in                         14.7        10.4        7.8         7.5        5.8         4.2         2.1         2.1        2.3         2.5         2.7        2.4 

o      institutional care to non- 

 l 

 . 

 I     institutional care 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2253-----------------------

3.42       Dr O’Sullivan comments: 



                 The  table  presents  the  total  number  of  children  in  institutional  care  of  the  State,  of 

                 whatever   type,  as  a  ratio of  total population   under   the  age   of 14.  The   ratio  rises 

                 continuously from 1861. 1936 was the peak year, with 19.8 per 1,000 of all children under 

                 the age of 14, in the care of the State. This ratio dropped slightly to 19.0 in 1946 and had 

                 declined to 7.2  by 1966. The ratio of children  in institutional forms of care,  rather than 

                 family placements can also be clearly seen. Although the ratio declined significantly over 

                 the period under review, by 1966, there were still 2.7:1 children in institutional rather than 

                 non-institutional care. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     213 


----------------------- Page 2254-----------------------

 2 

 1 

 4 



                                                            Table 5.5a Number of children regulated by census year (%) 



                                      1861       1871        1881       1891       1901       1911       1926        1936       1946       1951       1961       1966        1971 



      Children in                     64.1        52.3       45.3       29.5       27.3       25.1        13.5       7.9         5.1        3.1        1.2        0.8        0.8 

      workhouses/county 

      homes 

      Children in mother and            -                                                                 4.3        5.5         5.7        6.3         - 

      baby Homes 

      Children in Industrial            -         10.7       24.5       38.1       40.8       40.4        42.0       37.1       41.6       45.3       44.7        37.9       22.7 

      Schools under detention 

      Children in Industrial            -         0.9        1.7         1.7        1.5        2.1        2.5        1.5         1.0        0.7        1.2        1.9        1.5 

      Schools voluntarily 

      Children in Industrial            -                                                      0.2        0.0        0.0         0.0        2.6        4.7        6.7        10.8 

      Schools by health 

      authorities 

      Children in Reformatory          2.8        4.2        4.5         3.5        2.9        3.1        0.8        0.7         1.5        1.7        2.5        2.2        0.9 

      Schools 

      Children in approved              -                                                                                                   1.9        5.1        8.2        16.7 

      institutions 

      Children in orphanages          26.1        21.6       11.7       13.4       14.8       14.4        17.7       15.4       12.8        7.8       12.1        15.5       15.9 

      Children in prisons              7.0        3.9        3.6         2.6        1.0        0.0        0.0        0.0         0.0        0.0        0.1        0.0        1.3 

      (under 16) 

      Children boarded out              -         6.4        8.8        11.3       11.7       12.6        13.5       14.2       15.5       17.7       20.5        18.0       19.4 

      Children hired out                -                                                                            0.5         0.8        1.3        1.8        2.8        2.1 

      Children nursed out               -                                                      2.0        5.7        17.2       15.9       11.6        6.1        5.9        7.7 

      (infant life protection) 



      Total                           100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0       100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0       100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0 



C 

I 

C 

A 

R 

e 

p 

o 

r 

t 

V 

o 

l 

. 

I 

V 


----------------------- Page 2255-----------------------

            Dr O’Sullivan’s comment here is: 



                   Table 5.5a shows the same data as Table 5; but in percentage form. This highlights the 

                   rapid growth of the Industrial School system as the primary form of state intervention into 

                   the  lives  of  children,  reaching  a  peak  in  the  1940s  and  1950s  with  just  over  half  the 

                   children regulated by the State in industrial schools. Although Boarding-out increased its 

                   share  of  children  in  care,  Reformatory  schools  for  convicted  delinquent  children  and 

                   prisons    played    a  relatively   minor    role   in  the  regulation     of  children   and    the   role  of 

                   workhouses  diminished  rapidly  from  the  1920s.  In  summary,  although  the  sites  for  the 

                   regulation of children shifted from the mid-nineteenth century, the number of children as 

                   a  ratio  of  those  under  14,  rose  steadily  throughout  this  period  and  only  declined  from 

                   the 1950s. 



3.43        Besides the Industrial Schools there were alternative residential institutions in which a child in the 

            care of the might be placed. 



            County homes (formerly workhouses) 



3.44        The Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act 1923 brought the administration of the public 

            assistance     services    formally    into  the   Irish  Free    State.   It provided     that  in  each    county    one 

            workhouse building should be retained as a ‘county home’ in which all the non-medical inmates 

            in the county were lodged. In the clinical language of a 1920s Report on the County Homes, there 

            were approximately: 



                   11,000 itinerant beggars who moved from workhouse to workhouse; a delinquent element, 

                   including  prostitutes  and  young  criminals,  often  the  product  of  an  earlier  workhouse 

                   upbringing; a large group of infirm old people no longer able to care for themselves; so- 

                   called idiots and imbeciles, mentally handicapped people for whom there was as yet no 

                   special public provision; lunatics unable to secure admission to the overcrowded district 

                   lunatic asylums; unmarried mothers and their so called illegitimate children; rejects of a 

                   disapproving society; and orphaned and abandoned children.26 



3.45        At   independence,         the    only    places     that   would     receive     unmarried       mothers      were     the 

            workhouses/county  homes.  In  1926,  there  were  over  a  thousand  unmarried  mothers  with  their 

            babies in county homes; by 1950, there were still over 800 children in county homes, but by 1966 

            only 53. The children remained for one or two years. 



            Mother and baby homes 



3.46        The undesirability of having mothers and their infants in the county homes was recognised and in 

            the   1920s    and   30s    the  policy   was    implemented       of  providing    ‘mother    and    baby’   homes     for 

            unmarried  women  who  were  having  children  for  the  first  time.  These  were  reserved  for  young 

            mothers who had ‘fallen’ once only and thus were likely to be ‘influenced towards a useful and 

            respectable life’27    (leaving those unmarried mothers pregnant for the second or later time to the 



            26 

                         ´ 

                      ´ 

               Saorstat Eireann Report of the Commission on the Relief of the Sick and Destitute Poor, including the Insane Poor 

               (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1928), p 5 (our italics); J Robins From Rejection to Integration: A Centenary of Service by 

               the Daughters of Charity to Persons with a Mental Handicap (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1992), pp 2-3. 

            27 Department of Local Government (1928) Annual Report 113, quoted in Kilcummins at p 84. In response about eight 



               ‘mother and child’ homes were set up for unmarried mothers giving birth for the first time. In 1922 the Sacred Heart 

               Home in Bessboro, County Cork, managed by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, was opened. 

               Similar homes were established by the same Order in Roscrea, County Tipperary, in 1930 and Castlepollard, County 

               Meath, in 1935. The Sisters of Charity of St Vincent De Paul opened a similar institution on the Navan Road, in 

               Dublin, in 1918 and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd opened a home in Dunboyne, County Meath, in 1955. In 

               addition, three special homes were provided by local authorities themselves in Tuam, County Galway, Kilrish, County 

               Clare and Pelletstown in County Dublin: See further Kilcummins ‘The Origins of Penal Policy’ in Crime Punishment 

               and the Search for Order in Ireland (IPA, 2003), pp 82-6. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                      215 


----------------------- Page 2256-----------------------

            county homes). As can be seen from Table 5.5, from the 1930s to the 1950s, there were more 

            than 800 children in mother and baby homes, but none by 1960. 



3.47        The usual practice in a county home or mother and baby home was for the mother and her child 

            to remain for one or two years, while the mother carried out domestic labour working to pay off 

            their keep and (possibly) to make another lapse unlikely. After that period the child was boarded 

            out28; or adopted (informally or when the Adoption Act 1952 came into force, legally) or sent to a 



            junior Industrial School. By the 1960s, it was also becoming more common for children to be taken 

            by their parents. 



            Institutions approved by Minister for Health (but not Industrial Schools) 



3.48        According to a Health Circular of 1954, there were 43 Schools and institutions approved by the 

            Minister for Health. One was also a Reformatory (St Anne’s, Kilmacud) and 30 were also Industrial 

            Schools, leaving 12 that were neither Industrial Schools nor Reformatories and thus not available 

            for committals through the courts. 



3.49        By  196929    there  were  18  institutions  approved  by  the  Minister  for  Health  which  were  not  also 



            certified  schools.  These  institutions  accommodated  (in  the  16  homes  that  responded  to  the 

            Kennedy questionnaire) just over 700 residents (aged 0-2 years: 278; 2-14: 328; 14-18:73). 



3.50        Kennedy30     showed the distribution of children in the schools with relatively few below the age of 



            six and observed that the figures seemed to suggest that a large number of pre-school children 

            were accommodated in homes and institutions other than Industrial Schools. 



            Voluntary homes 



3.51        Historically,  by  the  1850s,  the  majority  of  orphanages  had  been  taken  over  by  local  religious 

            congregations. Their funding came from relations of the children in the orphanages or other private 

            sources such as endowments or charity sermons. In addition, boarding out was phased out and 

            the orphanages became exclusively institutional. A number of these orphanages were certified as 

            Industrial Schools under the Industrial Schools Act 1868. However a majority remained outside 

            the State-subsidised scheme of institutional child welfare and a very few new orphanages were 

            established  in  the  twentieth  century.  These  institutions  were  officially  referred  to  as  ‘voluntary 

            homes’ because they were not State funded. In popular jargon, they remained ‘orphanages’.31  but 



            in many cases the residents were not orphans but simply children whose families were in crisis 

            of one sort or another. 



3.52        There was no State control, monitoring or supervision of such voluntary homes32  and consequently 

            no central source of information about them.33             Children were admitted on a voluntary basis. The 



            homes were not certified to receive children committed through the courts. They had considerably 

            more freedom of administration and organisation than did the certified schools and could exercise 

            more flexibility in admission and discharge. They were thought of broadly as institutions for the 

            middle classes34  and this was often indicated in their advertising. 



            28 National Archives, DT S14472b – Report of the Interdepartmental Committee appointed to examine the Question of 



              the Reconstruction and Replacement of County Homes, p 24. 

            29 Kennedy Report, Appendix E. 

            30 At para 3.2. 

            31 TE O’Sullivan Child Welfare in Ireland, 1750-1995: A History of the Present (TCD PhD, 1999), pp 204-7. 

            32 In other words, in the Irish Legislation there was no equivalent of Part V of the (English) Children and Young Persons 



              Act 1933 provides for the registration of all homes and other institutions, supported wholly or partly by voluntary 

              contributions, and receiving poor children and young persons. By section 25 of the Children Act 1908, there was a 

              bare power of inspection with no power further to intervene in any way and certainly none to investigate individual 

              children; nor was any duty to register imposed. 

            33 See eg Health Discovery, 42 

            34 Barrett, ‘The Dependent Child’ Studies, Winter 1955 at p 422. 



            216                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2257-----------------------

3.53       The average length of a resident’s stay in an orphanage was shorter than that in an Industrial 

            School. 



3.54       Thirteen  of  these  Homes  were  run  by  religious  Orders,  the  others  by  committees  or  private 

            individuals. Two were for short-stay children. The Tuairim Report35  found: 



                  The Homes’ relative independence makes it possible for the private Homes to develop in 

                  different ways from the certified schools. Many of them have evolved a ‘family’ system, 

                  and  in  most  children  have  fewer  restrictions  on  their  freedom  than  children  in  certified 

                  schools. These are some of the quotations from responses to our questionnaires: ‘As far 

                  as  feasible,  I  try  to  make  it  as  much  like  a  home  as  can  be.  There  is  a  minimum  of 

                  regimentation and the boys have much the same freedom as boys who live at home with 

                  their parents’. ‘We try to have our Home as like an ordinary Home as possible’. Our own 

                  impression  of  the  Homes  we  visited  endorse  these  statements  ...  Only  one  of  these 

                  Homes  does  not  send  at  least  some  boys  to  an  outside  school  for  tuition.  Boys,  in 

                  particular   seemed      to  have   greater    educational    opportunities     than   those   in  certified 

                  schools. 



                  The manager maintains close personal contact with the surviving parents or guardians 

                  of the children and very frequently the parents contribute something towards the child’s 

                  maintenance. By paying something the parents feel their responsibility and fulfil their duty 

                  to the best of their ability. 



3.55       The Kennedy Committee36           has the following information. 



             Number of      Number replying                           Numbers in various age groups 

             voluntary 

             homes 

             contacted 



                                                                      0-2 Years      2-14           14-18           Total 

                                                                                     Years          Years 



             24             20                                        66             571            365             992 



           This gives an average figure for residents in each School of 50 (Tuairim has a similar number of 

           orphanages  and  an  average  of  42)  compared  with  a  figure  for  Industrial  Schools,  in  1966,  of 

            about 100. 



            Protestant children 



3.56       The last Protestant Industrial School closed in 1917 so the only institution to which a child could be 

            committed was Marlborough House. Children who came before the courts were usually entrusted, 

           through the local Gardai, to the care of the local clergyman or minister of religion concerned and 

                                         ´ 

            he assumed responsibility for having them placed in the care of a suitable family, school or home.37 



3.57        In regard to children who were not committed by the courts but needed to be in care, many of the 

            Protestant homes situated in the State were closed or amalgamated. Although the numbers of 

            children for which the remaining homes had to provide was greatly reduced, so, were the sources 

           of their finance. Sometimes, the closing of a home or sale of a redundant building resulted in the 

            creation  of  a  fund  which  was  applied  for  the  support  of  children  in  the  remaining  homes  or  in 



           35 At pp 33-4. 

           36 Table 34. Kennedy states: ‘One of the tasks we attempted was to draw up a list of private voluntary Homes. Their 



              principal sources of information were the Irish Catholic Directory and the Church of Ireland Handbook, but as there is 

              no standardised classification of private Homes, it is possible that, in spite of independent checks, we have 

              overlooked some Home or school which should have been included.’ 

           37 Kennedy, para 1.5. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                217 


----------------------- Page 2258-----------------------

          ordinary boarding schools. Money from these and other charities was used to assist needy parents 

          to keep their children at home, each diocese having its Protestant Orphan Society, which made 

          such grants. Dr Barnardo’s Homes also provide grants for  Protestant orphans living in Ireland. 

          Another relevant factor is that there was a waiting list of would–be adopters. 



          Part 3 Facts and figures 



          Children 



3.58      The   size  of the  schools’  population   reflected  the  fluctuations in  economic    conditions.  After 

          independence, in 1924 the total population of all the Industrial Schools and Reformatories was 

          5,192. This figure remained steady in the 1920s and 30s. Then it rose to a peak of 6,979 in 1946- 

          47. After the high point of the 1940s, the population declined gradually in the 1950s and more 

          steeply in the 1960s and 70s. 



3.59      The reasons for the reduction  from the peak in the 1940s included the  introduction of children 

          allowances in 1944, the Adoption Act 1952 and the rising tide of the economy from the mid/late 

          1950s that lifted all boats. In addition, from the 1950s on and quickening in the 1960s, the courts 

          displayed a greater reluctance to send children away for long periods and when they did do so it 

          was only for shorter terms. 



3.60      While  the  numbers  committed  by  the  courts  fell  in  the  1960s,  there  was  an  increase  in  those 

          placed by local authorities. A possible explanation is that there is an irreducible minimum number 

          of children in the community who require alternative care to that of their own families and that 

          this number was gradually increasing because of a growing population, particularly in the larger 

          urban centres. 



          218                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2259-----------------------

Schools  38 



           School              Accommodation Limit                    Order                    Date closed** 



 Senior boys Schools 



 Artane, Dublin                            830                  Christian Brothers                 1969-70 



 Baltimore, County Cork                    170                   Order of Charity                     1950 



 Greenmount, County                        235                Presentation Brothers                   1959 

 Cork 



 Upton, County Cork                        300                     Rosminians                         1967 



 Killybegs, County                         144                   Order of Charity                     1950 

 Donegal 



 Carriglea, County Dublin                  260                  Christian Brothers                    1954 



 Letterfrack, County                       190                  Christian Brothers 

 Galway 



 Salthill, County Galway                   208                  Christian Brothers 



 Tralee, County Kerry                      150                  Christian Brothers                    1970 



 Glin, County Limerick                     214                  Christian Brothers                    1967 



 Clonmel, County                           200                     Rosminians 

 Tipperary 



 Junior boys Schools 



 Passage West, County                      80                    Sisters of Mercy 

 Cork 



 St Patrick’s, Kilkenny                    186                   Sisters of Mercy                     1967 



 Drogheda, County Louth                    150              Sisters of Charity of St V 

                                                                       de P 



 Cappoquin, County                         75                    Sisters of Mercy 

 Waterford 



 Rathdrum, County                          100                   Sisters of Mercy 

 Wicklow * 



 Girls Schools 



 Cavan                                     100                     Poor Clares                        1967 



 Ennis, County Clare                       110                   Sisters of Mercy                     1964 



 Clonakilty, County Cork                   180                   Sisters of Mercy                     1965 



 Cobh, County Cork                         60                    Sisters of Mercy 



 Kinsale, County Cork                      180                   Sisters of Mercy 



 Mallow, County Cork                       80                    Sisters of Mercy 



 St Finbarr’s, Cork                        200               Good Shepherd Sisters 



 Booterstown, County                       96                    Sisters of Mercy 

 Dublin 



 Goldenbridge, County                      150                   Sisters of Mercy 

 Dublin* 



 Lakelands, Sandymount,                    110                  Sisters of Charity 

 Dublin * 



38 Sources: Mary Raftery and Eoin O’Sullivan Suffer the Little Children: The Inside Story of Ireland’s Industrial Schools 



   (Dublin: New Island, 1999), Appendix 1; Dail Debates Vol 220, col 687-88 (2nd February 1966); Kennedy Report, 

   para 1.5; Cussen Report, para 17 and Appendix B; Department of Education complied from quarterly returns from 

   each School to the Department. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              219 


----------------------- Page 2260-----------------------

           School              Accommodation Limit                    Order                    Date closed** 



 High Park, Dublin                         100                  Charity of Refuge 



 Ballinasloe, County                       100                   Sisters of Mercy                     1968 

 Galway 



 Clifden, County Galway*                   120                   Sisters of Mercy 



 Lenaboy, County                           88 

 Galway* 



 Loughrea, County                          100                   Sisters of Mercy                     1967 

 Galway 



 Tralee, County Kerry*                     85                    Sisters of Mercy 



 St Joseph’s Kilkenny*                     126                  Sisters of Charity 



 St George’s Limerick                      170               Good Shepherd Sisters 



 St Vincent’s, Limerick                    180                   Sisters of Mercy 



 Newtownforbes, County                     240                   Sisters of Mercy                     1970 

 Longford 



 Dundalk, County Louth                     100                   Sisters of Mercy 



 Westport, County Mayo                     117                   Sisters of Mercy 



 Monaghan (moved to                        140                   St Louis Sisters                     1966 

 Bundoran, County 

 Donegal in 1958) 



 Ballaghadereen, County                    90                   Sisters of Charity                    1969 

 Roscommon 



 Birr, County Offaly                       100                   Sisters of Mercy                     1963 



 Summerhill, Athlone                       200                   Sisters of Mercy                     1964 



 Benada Abbey,                             106                  Sisters of Charity 

 Ballymote, County Sligo 



 Sligo                                     200                   Sisters of Mercy                     1958 



 Cashel, County                            125                 Presentation Sisters                   1969 

 Tipperary 



 Dundrum, County                           80                  Presentation Sisters 

 Tipperary 



 Templemore, County                        70                    Sisters of Mercy                     1965 

 Tipperary 



 Waterford                                 200               Good Shepherd Sisters 



 Moate, County                             74                    Sisters of Mercy 

 Westmeath * 



 New Ross, County                          100               Good Shepherd Sisters                    1968 

 Wexford 



 Wexford                                   146                   Sisters of Mercy 



 Mixed Schools 



 Killarney, County Kerry *                 138                   Sisters of Mercy 



*Girls Schools certified for the reception of a limited number of boys of tender years. Commencing in 1970, most of the 

junior Boys Schools also started to take girls. The only one to do so before 1967 has also been asterisked. In case of 

these schools, the figures given include boys and girls. 



**If no date appears, the school was still in operation in 1970. 



220                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2261-----------------------

            Reformatories 



3.61        At  independence,  there  were  four  Reformatories  in  the  Irish  Free  State  and  one  in  Northern 

            Ireland. However by 1927, the number had fallen to two. St Joseph’s Reformatory in Limerick was 

            for girls and was run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. The other was St Conleth’s for Boys 

            at  Daingean,  Offaly,  run  by  the  Oblates.  During  the  years  1934-41,  Daingean  was  temporarily 

            closed and the residents transferred back to Glencree, which had been Daingean’s predecessor. 

            In 1974, Daingean closed, to be replaced by Scoil Ard Mhuire in Lusk,39  which was initially run by 



            the Oblates but later transferred to the direct administration of the Department of Education. 



3.62        In  1944,  a  second  Reformatory  for  girls  was  established,  St  Anne’s  School  Kilmacud,  County 

            Dublin, conducted by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge. 



3.63        In 1949, there were 212 boys in Daingean, 31 girls in St Joseph’s, Limerick and 13 in St Anne’s, 

            Kilmacud. In 1967, there were 124 boys in Daingean and a total of 18 girls in St Joseph’s, Limerick 

            and St Anne’s, Kilmacud. 



            Industrial Schools 



3.64        The category of Industrial School covered a very wide range of institutions, from the equivalent of 

            orphanages run by nuns to usually larger institutions, which took young offenders. In the case of 

            a  girl,  a  resident  would usually  remain  in  the  same  school  until  released at  16.  But  junior  and 

            senior boys had separate schools. If a boy had been put into a school below the age of 10, he 

            would at that age be transferred from junior to a senior school.40 A number of senior boys Industrial 



            Schools in effect acted as Reformatories. There was no Reformatory for those under 12. Almost 

            all male offenders in this age group were sent to Letterfrack Industrial School, County Galway. 



3.65        At  their  maximum,  in  1898,  there  were  61  Industrial  Schools  caring  for  approximately  7,500 

            children in the 26 county areas. By 1922, there were 53 Industrial Schools. During the 1920s High 

            Park (previously a Reformatory) was receritified as an Industrial School and the girls’ Schools at 

            Roscommon and Tipperary were closed. Thus, by the time of the Cussen Report, there were 52 

            schools in operation certified for 6,400 children. 



3.66        For much of the period under review, there were 11 senior boys’ Industrial Schools, five junior 

            boys’, 35 girls’ and one mixed for girls and junior boys. Two senior boys Schools were closed for 

            particular  reasons in  1950. 41       Later on,  with the  fall in  numbers  of residents,  in the  1950s, two 



            senior boys’ (Carriglea, 1954; Greenmount, 1959) and one girls’ School (Sligo, 1958) closed. 



                                                                                                               42 

3.67        In the 1960s there was a steady stream of closures and by September 1969,                             there had been a 

            sharp  drop  to  31  schools.  The  remaining  Schools  numbered: senior  boys  –  five;  junior  boys  – 

            three; girls’ schools – 23. The remaining Schools were certified for more than 4,000 (1969-70) 



            39 Classified as a special school with the Department of Education, it is still in law a Reformatory which is managed by 



               the Oblate Fathers who have a long-standing tradition of residential child care in Ireland. It caters for up to 60 boys 

               from all parts of the Republic, as the only Reformatory facility. The age range of boys referred would be between 12 

               and 17 years and the other main criteria for admission include the seriousness of the offence and whether a 

               committal is for more than one year. The school is run on the basis of four units with one being an intake unit. 

            40 This transfer which was effected by means of three forms (until an administrative reform in the late 1950s reduced 



               this to one). First the Manager of the junior School completed a form of transfer which was returned to the 

               Department. This form was forwarded to the Manager of the senior School who returned it, signifying his willingness 

               to accept the child. Finally, the Minister made a transfer order, exercising his power under s 69(2) of the 1908 Act, 

               transferring a youthful offender or child from one industrial school to another. Notification of this was sent to the 

               Manager of each school. 

            41 These were the Baltimore Fishing School (under the management of a local board of which the Bishop of Ross was 



               chairman (SD, vol 25, col 495 (5th March 1941)), closed, under Departmental pressure in 1950; and the school in 

               Killybegs, closed, on its acquisition by military authorities in 1950. 

            42 Kennedy Committee, para 1.5. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                      221 


----------------------- Page 2262-----------------------

            children but were actually catering for 1,700. Artane, by far the largest school, closed in 1969. Its 

            numbers had fallen from 700 in the early 1950s to 300 as late as 1968. 



            The Orders 



3.68        After the closure of the last School under Protestant management in 1917, all the Schools were 

            owned and run by Catholic religious Orders, apart from two Catholic Schools that were run by the 

            local clergy and which closed in 1950. One of the consequences of the lack of positive control by 

            the Department is that the Orders that carried out the work of running Schools were usually self- 

            selected. This did not always make for an appropriate match. Kennedy43                     remarks gently ‘some of 



            the Orders in charge of Industrial Schools and Reformatories are engaged in other work which is 

            of  more    direct   concern    to  them    and    which    comes     more    into  the   public   eye’.   Likewise    a 

            Departmental memo of 30th September 1963 noted that: 



                  The Good Shepherd’s are not a teaching order and by vocation are better fit to look after 

                   underprivileged children than the Sisters of Mercy where, perhaps the Industrial School 

                   Section could be the poor relation in a foundation catering for Secondary, Primary and 

                   Domestic Economy training.44 



3.69        The  largest  male  Order  involved  in  Industrial  Schools  (as  also  in  regard  to  general  primary  or 

            secondary education) was the Christian Brothers who operated schools for senior boys (10 to 16 

            year olds) at Artane, Salthill, Letterfrack, Glin, Tralee and Carriglea. Two others were run by the 

            Rosminians (Clonmel, Upton) and one by the Presentation Brothers (Greenmount). 



3.70        The Sisters of Mercy ran two-thirds of all Schools consistently accommodating about 60 percent 

            of girls and 40 percent of all residents. As of 1950, they ran 22 of the girls’ schools, three of the 

            junior boys’ schools and the mixed school for girls and junior boys in Killarney (which was the 

            only  mixed  school  before  1954)  The  remaining  girls’  Schools  were  conducted  by  the  following 

            Orders: Poor Clares (one); Sisters of the Good Shepherd (four); Sisters of Charity (four); Sisters 

            of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge (one); Sisters of Saint Louis (one); and Sisters of the Presentation 

            Order (two). 



3.71        The Sisters of Mercy also ran four of the junior boys schools and the fifth was run by the (Irish) 

            Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. 



3.72        The  only  School formally  categorised  as  a ‘Mixed  School’  (as  far back  at  least  as the  Cussen 

            Report: para 18) was St Joseph’s, Killarney, which had accommodation limits of 98 and 50 for 

            girls and boys respectively. However, in the 1950s, because they were short of residents, a few 

            of the girls’ Schools started to take in junior boys. Commencing with Goldenbridge in 1954, eight 

            Girls’ Schools became what the annual reports describe as ‘Girls Industrial Schools certified for 

            the reception of a limited number of boys of tender years’. In practice, this seems to have meant 

            that they had accommodation limits for boys up to about 10-15 percent of the figures for girls. 



            43 At para 4.6. 

            44 The Poor Clares were founded in 1204, committed to a life of prayer and penance, among the strictest orders in the 



              Catholic Church. Generally, one might doubt as to whether celibates would make good mother and father figures 

              (horses for courses). How did the Poor Clares get into this field? Were they in need of the income? A contemplative 

              order, their concepts of love focussed on Christ and Our Lady had complete charge of young children deprived of 

              family life. The isolation of the community of St Joseph’s Orphanage, Cavan meant that the fire of 1943 claimed the 

              lives of 35 girls as well as one woman. 

               According to the official history of the Christian Brothers order (A Christian Brother (1926), pp 524-5): 

                  This was a congregation which stood apart as a body of men committed to the education of boys, especially poor 

                 boys; which before independence, had stayed outside the National System for ideological reasons; which asserted 

                 its independence from each local bishop; and which, most significantly, was the principal provider of secondary 

                 education for the Nineteenth and most of the Twentieth Century. 



            222                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2263-----------------------

           Boys and girls 



3.73       The   aggregate     Schools’    population,    from   all sources     (courts,  health   authorities,   voluntary 

           committals)  during  the  entire  1936-70  period,  contained  47  percent  boys  and  53  percent  girls 

           (though, in the case of Dublin County Borough this imbalance was reversed, with 56 percent boys 

           for the period 1939-59). The following Table gives the figures for particular years: 



                                     1937*              1939                1950               1960               1970 



            Boys Schools,        2,733 (45%)        2,786 (45%)        2,819 (47%)         1,709 (45%)         534 (43%) 

            Total 



            Girls Schools,       3,341 (55%)        3,440 (55%)         3,165 (53%)        2,105 (55%)         722 (57%) 

            Total 



           Source: Department of Education Annual Reports 



           *First year for which statistics by school available 



3.74       During the 1936-70 period, the average percentages of boys committed in each year were: 93 

           percent    (offenders),   90  percent    (non-School     attendance)     and   75  percent    (uncontrollable:   a 

           relatively small category). 



3.75       On the other hand, in the case of those sent by local health authorities for the 1949-69 period 

           (figures from Kennedy Report), the aggregate average figure is 49 percent for boys. For the large 

           group of children within the category ‘lack of proper guardianship’ (including ‘having no home’) 

           committal figures for the period 1936-70 show an average of 45 percent for boys. From 1949-50 

           until  the  early  1960s,  when  there  is  a  clear  change  in  the  pattern,  more  girls  than  boys  were 

           committed every year under ‘lack of proper guardianship’. Again, while the real figures are small 

           compared to the other categories, it is striking in the case of voluntary places the average figure 

           for those sent annually during the period is only 16 percent boys. 



3.76       One major reason why there were more girls overall lies in the age at which the children were 

           committed. The annual reports from 1937-46 show that for children committed under the age of 

           six the number of girls was 63 percent of the total. After 1946, annual education reports do not 

           give figures for those committed under the age of six. The closest information (in Table F of the 

           Kennedy Report) gives figures for the three categories: 10 years and under; 12-14; and over 14. 

           It is possible by comparing these figures with the total numbers to deduce the numbers of boys 

           and of girls below the age of 10 who were admitted. If a girl was committed at a younger average 

           age, she stayed for a longer period in the school. 



3.77       It is impossible to come to any definite conclusion on the question of whether the system was in 

           some way biased in favour of sending girls to Industrial Schools. The difficulty is that almost the 

           only information available is the net result, in other words the numbers of each gender sent to 

           the Schools. 



3.78       Recognition  of  an  imbalance  and  speculation  as  to  the  reasons  for  it  are  to  be  found  in  a 

           Department Memo, dated 16th April 1943. 



                  There are about 500 more girls than boys detained [the total School population in 1943 

                 was 6,000]. The difference between the numbers of girls and boys in some counties is 

                 very great, e.g. Co Sligo 139 girls and 35 boys; Co Wexford 175 girls and 85 boys; Co 

                  Monaghan 78 girls and 26 boys; Co Cavan 70 girls and 14 boys. A comparison of the 

                  numbers of girls in these schools from wealthy counties like Wexford and Sligo with the 

                  numbers    from   much    larger   and   poorer   counties   like  Donegal    (19)   and   Mayo    (112) 

                  suggests that undue advantage is being taken of Industrial Schools in some districts. 



                  This may be due to some extent to the better distribution of the girls’ schools (there are 

                  two in each of the counties Wexford and Sligo), and the objection of parents to allowing 

                  their children to be sent to schools at a distance from their homes. This does not, however, 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             223 


----------------------- Page 2264-----------------------

                  explain the fact that from Co Cork which is well supplied with Boys’ Industrial Schools, 

                 there are 298 girls in these schools as compared with 187 boys. 



                  The present unduly large number of girls in industrial schools must be due largely to the 

                 fact that the Managers have an organised system of ‘touting’ for children; they have social 

                 workers who act as a sort of agent and get children committed to the schools. We have 

                  no  means  of  preventing  this  practice,  but  I  suggest  that  we  consult  the  Department  of 

                  Local Government with a view to getting the assistance of the Local Country Managers 

                 to ensure that children are not committed without sufficient reason, and to obtain periodical 

                  reports on the parents means when children are committed on the grounds of poverty. 



3.79       It may be relevant here that there were more vacancies for girls. Another explanation that has 

           been offered is that the imbalance is a reflection of the Catholic Church’s traditional concern with 

           sex and sexual temptation. In one particular situation – a widower left with female children and 

           no female family member to act as a mother substitute – anecdotal evidence is that such figures 

           as the parish priest were quick to pronounce that the father could not cope and scandal might 

           follow if the father should attempt to do so. Accordingly, his daughters had to be sent away and 

           a School was often the recourse. 



           Size of schools 



3.80       Another difference between boys and girls lies in the difference in size of the Schools for each 

           gender. The following tables give the numbers of residents actually in the Schools, for the years 

           indicated, not the accommodation limits. 



                                                                  1946 



            Classification          Over 300      100-200      200-300       50-100     Under 50      Schools       Pupils 



            Girls only:                  -           14            -           21            1           36         3,666 



            Junior boys:                 -            2            -            3            1            6          596 



            Senior boys:                 1            5            4            -            -           10         2,595 



            Classification                              Average No of Pupils                           Range 



            Girls                                                  102                                38 to 200 



            Junior boys                                            93                                 42 to 183 



            Senior boys                                           260                                126 to 823 



           (Girls’ Schools started to take junior boys only in 1954.) 



                                                                  1966 



            Classification              Over 300        100-200        50-100       Under 50       Schools         Pupils 



            Girls only:                      -             1              8             13             22           1101 



            Girls and junior 

            boys:                            -             2              4              1             7             562 



            Junior boys:                     -             1              3              2             6             386 



            Senior boys:                     1              3             3              -             7             990 



            Classification                              Average No of Pupils                           Range 



            Girls, and girls and junior boys                       57                                 7 to 123 



            Junior boys                                            64                                 27 to 104 



            Senior boys                                            141                                64 to 310 



           Source: Annual returns made by the Schools to the Department: DE1P0085 



           224                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2265-----------------------

          These  Tables  shows  that  for  both  years  the  average  number  of  children  living  in  senior  boys’ 

          Schools was more than twice that for girls or junior boys’ School. Even if the figure for Artane is 

          excluded, this only reduces the average in 1946 from 260 to 177 against an average for girls of 

          102. In 1966, the corresponding figures are from 141 to 97 against an average for girls of 57 for 

          senior boys to 177 (1946) and 97 (1966). 



          Proximity of places available to resident’s homes 



3.81      The following table presents figures which show the places available in Schools in each county 

          and the number of residents who came from homes in that county. 



                                               Industrial Schools 1946-47 



                                             Boys                                        Girls 



           County         Accommodation      Residents      Ratio     Accommodation      Residents      Ratio 

                          in Schools         from homes               in Schools          from homes 

                                             in county                                    in county 



           Carlow         0                  19             X         0                   30            X 



           Cavan          0                  14             X          100                30            30% 



           Clare          0                  88             X          110                139           126% 



           Cork           785                243            31%        700                369           53% 



           Donegal        0                  13             X         0                   22            X 



           Dublin         0                  1061           X          360                811           225% 

           Corporation 



           Co. Dublin     1150               188            16%       96                  117           122% 



           Galway         398                131            33%        408                236           58% 



           Kerry          40                 100            25%        183                140           77% 



           Kildare        0                  44             X         0                   55            X 



           Kilkenny       186                64             34%        126                61            48% 



           Leitrim        0                  14             X         0                   24            X 



           Laois          0                  37             X         0                   35            X 



           Limerick       214                159            74%        350                190           54% 



           Longford       0                  16             X          240                18            8% 



           Louth          150                41             27%        100                38            38% 



           Mayo           0                  44             X          117                94            80% 



           Meath          0                  33             X         0                   28            X 



           Monaghan       0                  20             X          140                52            37% 



           Offaly         0                  42             X          100                46            46% 



           Roscommon      0                  29             X         90                  86            96% 



           Sligo          0                  25             X          305                86            28% 



           Tipperary      200                235            118%       275                305           110% 



           Waterford      75                 128            171%       200                108           54% 



           Westmeath      0                  53             X          274                52            19% 



           Wexford        0                  76             X          246                175           71% 



           Wicklow        100                51             51%       0                   31            X 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                 225 


----------------------- Page 2266-----------------------

3.82       On the assumption that when it was possible to do so, a resident from the county was sent to a 

           School in the same county, the third column shows the ratio of places in Schools to residents with 

           homes in that county. Where the ratio is less than 100 percent, it would have been possible for 

           the Schools in the county to have accommodated all the residents for that county. On the other 

           hand,  in  some  other  counties,  the  ratio  exceeds  100  percent.  This  means  that  the  number  of 

           residents with homes in the county exceeded the number of places in Schools in the county. Thus, 

           even assuming that none of the places in the Schools in a county was allocated to a resident from 

           outside, it would not have been possible for the Schools to have accommodated all the residents 

           from that county. In a number of counties, there were no Schools, which is indicated by an ‘X’ in 

           the third column. 



3.83        Figures are taken from the annual departmental reports for the year 1946-47, when the Schools 

           population was at its highest. The problem of children having to be sent to a School outside the 

           county of their homes would have lessened after 1946-47, although some allowance should be 

           made for the fact that two senior Schools, Baltimore and Killybegs, closed in 1950. Cork, Limerick 

           and Waterford cities’ figures are added to those of their counties. 



3.84        Most schools took only boys or only girls. The Table reflects this by giving separate figures for 

           boys’ and girls’ Schools. As regards boy’s Schools, the Table shows that in 17 of the counties 

           there were no Schools, so that residents from those counties had to be sent outside the County.45 



            In addition, the ratio exceeded 100 percent in Tipperary and Waterford. 



3.85        In the case of girls, there were seven counties with no Schools. And in Dublin Corporation, County 

            Dublin, Clare and Tipperary the ratio exceeded 100 percent so that some residents from those 

           counties had to be sent to a School outside the County. The most significant conclusion is that 

           for both boys and girls, the gravest effect on the family life of residents impacted on those from 

            Dublin. This effect was heightened both by the numbers going to the Schools from Dublin and 

           also by the distance from Dublin to most of the Schools outside Dublin. 



            Part 4 Independent monitoring 



            The Oireachtas 



3.86        During the relevant period, discussions of the Schools in the Dail were infrequent and brief, and 

           even more so in the Seanad. 



3.87       With a single exception, there were no general motions on Industrial Schools. Even the reaction 

           to  Cussen  and  Kennedy  came  not  in  the  form  of  a  formal  ministerial  statement  followed  by  a 

           debate, but as incrementally expanding replies to Dail questions. The exception was in the Seanad 

           and was a general discussion, lasting five hours, on a motion to take note of the Kennedy Report 

           (though taking place on 10th December 1973, some three years after publication of the Report) 

           proposed by Senators Robinson and West, representing Trinity College, Dublin. This elicited an 

           unusually     detailed,   unguarded     and   heartfelt   response     from   John   Bruton,    the  Parliamentary 

           Secretary at the Department of Education. 



           45 In fact, this effect is greater than appears from the Table since the Table treats boys in a single category yet boy’s 



              Schools were divided into those for junior or senior boys. A consequence would be that a greater number of boys 

              than those shown in the Table would have had to be sent outside their home county because there would have been 

              no School available for someone of their particular age. In the interest of simplicity we have not gone into this effect. 

              Another detail that is omitted, but which would have told in the opposite direction, is that, in some cases, girls 

              Schools took junior boys. This would have had the effect of enlarging the number of places available in the county to 

              boys. 



           226                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2267-----------------------

3.88        Likewise, there was little debate on the estimates for the Schools. With most estimates, Opposition 

            deputies    seize   the  latitude   allowed    to  roam    around    the   subject   matter,   unrestricted    by   the 

            procedural limitations that apply in other forms of proceedings. But in this field, the estimate was 

            usually passed off with an unchallenged statement from the Minister of the amount to be spent. 



3.89        The daily adjournment debate (a maximum of 30 minutes in all, consisting of a speech from the 

            member who initiated the debate, followed by a reply from the responsible Minister) enables a 

            member to agitate some matter in a fairly narrow, often local, field. This might have seemed to be 

           just the procedural vehicle for some allegations of individual injustice in a School to be ventilated. 

            In  fact  it  was  seldom  so  used.  One  exceptional  case  in  which  it  was  invoked  arose  out  of  an 

            incident in which a 14-year-old boy had his arm broken by a Brother at Artane using a sweeping 

            brush when he refused to submit to additional beating. Both the Minister (Sean Moylan) and the 

            Deputy, Captain Cowan, who raised the matter were concerned to emphasise that this was an 

            ‘isolated incident’. In response to the debate, the Minister remarked rather broadly, that ‘this is an 

            isolated incident...[and] any guarantee I give parents of full protection of their children is no licence 

            to any of the children to do what they like’. He stated that he had visited practically all the schools 

            and, rather unexpectedly, that ‘they are deficient in many things [and] in future a wider provision 

            for expenditure must be made if these schools are to serve the purpose they ought to serve in 

            the  nation’. In  one  other  rare adjournment  debate,  Deputy James  Dillon  set  out the  increasing 

            figures for the committals by the Dublin Children’s Court and asked unavailingly that the Minister 

            should review each individual committal.46 



                          ´ 

3.90        Although  Dail  questions  were  occasionally  the  source  of  some  exact  information  not  available 

            otherwise, they are of their nature episodic with their content depending on Deputies’ interests. 

            They concerned such issues as: funding of children’s travel home for holidays; the failure on the 

            part of the schools (or Department) to inform or warn parents when their children were transferred; 

            and  the  suggested  replacement  of  a  police  car  as  the  vehicle  for  conveying  children  from  the 

            Dublin Children’s Court to the Industrial School because of the embarrassment it caused.47                       Many 



            of the questions asked simply for the numbers of committals on the various legislative grounds, 

            in  the  previous  year,  figures  that  were  published  anyway  in  the  departmental  annual  reports. 

            Others  urged  medium-level  changes  of  policy,  for  instance,  repeatedly  in  the  late  1930s,  the 

            adoption of the Cussen Committee recommendation that the salaries of literary teachers should 

            be paid by the Department. The Deputy who asked the initial question seldom put a supplementary 

            in response to the Minister’s reply. 



3.91        In short, despite the panoply of weapons available to members, the ‘big issues’ in regard to the 

            Schools were raised only seldom and then usually without preparation, passion or persistence. 

            For  instance: ‘It  costs about  15 shillings  per week  to keep  [a child  at Industrial  School].  It has 

            often been said to me that if some of that money were used to help the parents, there would be 

            a  very  big  change  in  their  conduct.’48     (There  was  no  reply  to  this  from  the  Minister,  perhaps 



            because     he   concentrated      on   another     query   advanced      in   the  same     interjection.)   Another 

            comment was: 



                  Six months would be quite sufficient [for a child committed under the School Attendance 

                  Act]. There is a great inclination, when children are sent to Industrial Schools, to send 

                  them there for long periods. 



            46 DD vol 145, col 946–52 (23rd April 1954); SD vol 75, col 60 (1st June 1973); vol 252 (25th March 1971); DD vol 75, 



              col 150 (28th March 1939); vol 94, col 272-7 (13th June 1944), respectively. 

            47 For questions in this paragraph, see respectively DD vol 127, col 274 (7th November 1951) (stating that the police 



              car used to transport children to the schools had been replaced by a station wagon the previous month); vol 49, col 

              1359 (28th June 1944); DD vol 174, cols 126, 272 (8th and 9th April 1959). 

            48 DD vol 88, col 2271 (19th November 1942). 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  227 


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            To which the Minister replied: 



                   Absence from school leading to committal would never be of such a character that six 

                   months  would  be  sufficient  ...This  proposal  would  mean  setting  up  a  new  institution. 

                   Resident Managers would not accept a child for a short period.49 



            Next, as regards early discharge, Minister O’Deirg stated: 



                   If responsible people– the local clergy or prominent Deputies who show that they realise 

                   both sides of the case could testify to [the Minister] ... an application for early release will 

                   be considered.50 



            A  request  for  the  setting  up  of  a  system  for  hearing  individual  complaints  against  the  Schools 

            received  surprisingly  little  discussion  with  the  Minister  for  Education  emphasising  the  inherent 

            difficulty confronting anyone evaluating a complaint from a child or parent: 



                   You have the situation that the child probably had been proved before a police court to 

                   be a notorious liar... Nevertheless some great abuse may have crept in and you are in 

                   this dilemma, that it is impossible to satisfy your mind that the allegations made by the 

                   children have absolutely no foundation. 



            Improved after care was suggested, including compiling figures on those former school children 

            who were subsequently in trouble with the law.51  And it was put to the Minister, with no thorough 



            examination of the difficulties and possible solutions: 



                   if  he  will  get  his  colleagues  [in  Finance  and  Local  Government]  to  provide  for  suitable 

                   foster parents remuneration on the same scale as the state is paying to industrial school... 

                   half the number of children in Industrial Schools... will go into decent families.52 



            The following exchange was over in an instant: 



                   Mrs O’Carroll asked the Minister whether he is aware that the whole system of detention 

                   of boys and of Industrial Schools is out of date and needs to be reviewed and overhauled 

                   General Mulcahy: I am not so aware. 53 



            That is all 



                                                                                ´ 

3.92        There was an air of Ministerial detachment in the Dail exchanges arising out of the closure, in 

            1959,  of  Greenmount  School.  Deputy  Stephen  Barrett  asked  the  Minister  for  Education,  Jack 

            Lynch,  if  he  was  aware  that  the  Greenmount  children  had  been  ‘dispersed  without  any  prior 

            discussion with their parents and that, in fact, the parents were not aware that the children had 

            been removed from the Industrial School to other Industrial Schools until after the dispersal had 

            taken place?’ The Minister replied: 



                   The conductors of the school did so for what they considered good and sufficient reason 

                   and  there  was  no  intention  whatever  to  ignore  parental rights.  They  did  so  in  the  best 

                   interest of the management and conduct of the school. 



            49 DD vol 88, cols 2270–3 (19 November 1942). 

            50 DD vol 88, col 2273 (19 November 1942). See too, col 2536: 



                   I have a case here, for example, of a boy aged 11 years, who was three times before the court before he was 

                   committed in July 1941. In August, 1941, I ordered his release. He did not attend school, and during the period 

                   after I ordered his release in August, 1941, and before October, 1942, when he was recommitted, he was before 

                   the court no less than six times. 

            51 DD vol 66, col 25 (31st May 1937); DD vol 126, col 1732, 1744 (17th July 1951). 

            52 DD vol 94, cols 272-7 (13th June 1944). See also vol 126, cols 1699, 1731, 1744 (11th July 1951). 

            53 DD vol 151, col 20 (25th May 1955). 



            228                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


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            Deputy Barrett pressed the point by stressing that the interests of the parents had been ignored 

            and  that  the  promoters  of  the  Industrial  School  knew  that  they  were  ignoring  the  rights  of  the 

            parents. Minister Lynch’s answer was: 



                   I think it ought to be made clear that they acted strictly within their rights and within the 

                   terms of the Children Act, 1908, which governs the conduct of Industrial Schools.54 



3.93        The  tone  of  the  debate  was  invariably  respectful  and  grateful  to  the  authorities  who  ran  the 

            Schools55,     though    sometimes       there   was    an   air of   ‘formal   pleading’    about    this.  There    was 

            surprisingly little reference to what was happening in Northern Ireland or other jurisdictions.56Down 



            the decades, the same few members took part in debates, on the subject. 



            The newspapers 



3.94        When, as they did only spasmodically, the Schools were referred to in the newspapers, it was 

            mainly in three contexts. First were court reports of committal proceedings. Dr Maguire57  states: 



                   Regional  newspapers  and  several  of  the  Dublin  evening  papers  published  extensive 

                   accounts  of  committal  hearings  in  Children’s  Courts  in  Dublin  and  around  the  country, 

                   although it must be said that this coverage was varied and inconsistent: such reports were 

                   regular weekly or monthly features in some newspapers, while others reported on court 

                   proceedings not at all, or only in extraordinary cases. 



                   Both the (Dublin) Evening Herald and the (Dublin) Evening Mail (and later the Evening 

                   Press, which began publication in 1954), usually reported on the same cases each week, 

                   and   these    published     accounts      were    remarkably      similar.   It could    be   that   a  single 

                   correspondent provided coverage for all three papers, although it is impossible to know 

                   this for certain as the stories did not carry by-lines. Coverage of committal cases in the 

                   Dublin evening papers began to fall off in the early 1960s, and this trend could be due to 

                   a  variety  of  factors;  the  folding  of  the  Evening  Mail  in  mid-1962;  a  decline  in  court 

                   committals, and/or a growing trend towards an overhaul of the industrial school system 

                   coupled    with   a  growing     awareness      of  the   need    for  privacy   and   discretion    in  cases 

                   involving children. 



3.95        Secondly, there were accounts, generally in local papers, of the very occasional discussion of the 

            Schools at a local authority meeting. For there seems to have been, if only spasmodically, livelier 

            debate on the general topics of the School system at local authority meetings, sometimes inspired 

            by resentment at the financial burden imposed by local residents in the Schools. 



3.96        On this O’Cinneide and Maguire state58 



                   The  attitude  of  local  authorities  toward  their  responsibility  for  maintaining  children  in 

                   industrial schools, and general attitudes toward the efficacy of an institutional method of 



            54 DD vol 174, col 272 (9th April, 1959). 

            55 See eg DD vol 126, cols 1699, 1731, 1744. There were no sweeping condemnation, the equivalent of Deputy Dillon’s 



               comment on Summerhill, (not an Industrial School but a residential institution for juveniles (see 00) run by the 

               Department of Education). He stated: 

                   Summerhill is closed. Ten weary years of battering at the walls of Summerhill have at last brought them down. 

                   Deputies may remember the Taoiseach saying that he thought Summerhill a very nice place to which he would 

                   send his own children if they did not behave themselves... the alternative accommodation [is] Glasnevin. 

               FILL OUT. On another occasion, Deputy Dillon said he would not like to see greyhounds or terriers kept in 

               Summerhill: DD vol 88, col 1580 (28th October 1942). For Summerhill (later the place of detention was transferred 

               from Summerhill to Marlborough House) see: para 00. 

            56 Deputy A Byrne is an exception, referring to Scotland and the US at DD vol 82, cols 1120-1 (11th December 1940). 

            57 M Maguire ‘Briefing Paper Newspaper Research on Former Residents of Mercy Industrial Schools’, Sisters of Mercy 



               Industrial Schools in Context. 

            58 At 46. Sources: Connacht Tribune, 24th January 1931, p 2; Connacht Tribune, 22nd January 1938, p 3; Connacht 



               Tribune, 29th January 1938, p 6; Irish Weekly Independent, 13th April 1935, p 1; Irish Weekly Independent, 14th May 

               1932, p 9; Connacht Tribune, 8th July 1939, p 9; Irish Weekly Independent, 22nd November 1930, p 9. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                   229 


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                  dealing with poor and neglected children, are themes that run throughout press coverage 

                  of  local   authority   meetings     and    the   often   extensive    coverage      of  children’s   court 

                  proceedings.  In  an  interesting  and  insightful  discussion  at  the  monthly  meeting  to  the 

                  Galway Board of Health, one committee officer expressed a concern that the local ISPCC 

                  inspector, Mary Monnelly, was having children committed to institutions without the proper 

                  authority, and without consulting the appropriate local authorities. The Commissioner of 

                  the  Board  of  Health  instructed  the  superintendent  home  assistance  officer  to  inform 

                  Monnelly that she was to consult with the local authorities before seeking the committal 

                  of children to industrial schools. 



                  In 1938 the Galway County Homes and Home Assistance Committee had a discussion, 

                  that  was  reported  in  the  press,  about  the  merits  of  boarding-out  children  rather  than 

                  committing  them  to  industrial  schools.  The  committee  was  considering  a  proposal  to 

                  discontinue  boarding  children  out  n  favour  of  maintaining  all  local  authority  children  in 

                  industrial   schools.    Alice  Lister,   the  Department      of  Health    inspector    of  boarded-out 

                  children, argued that children could never receive the same kind of care and attention in 

                  an institutional setting that they could in a good foster home... 



                  Other members of the committee countered these claims by pointing out that industrial 

                  school  children  received  training  in  a  skill  or  trade  that  would  help  them  to  support 

                  themselves  upon  release,  while  children  boarded  out,  particularly  with  poorer  families, 

                  were not guaranteed such an education or training... 



                  After  much  debate  the  proposal  to  discontinue  the  boarding-out  system  was  defeated. 

                  The  following  week  the  local  newspaper,  the  Connacht  Tribune,  published  an  editorial 

                  that  attempted  to  provide  both  sides  of  the  story but  came  down  squarely  in  favour  of 

                  industrial schools. 



3.97       The  third  type  of  material  about  the  Schools  that  occasionally  appeared  was  human  interest 

           stories. For instance, an account of the visit of a dignitary (as when, in 1935, Eamon de Valera 

           visited Artane and spent two hours in the School ‘and was treated to a performance by the famous 

           Artane Boys Band’). Another similar report described a fund-raising carnival held at the Lenaboy 

            Industrial School in Galway city. 



3.98       The result was that, up to the time of the Kennedy Report, as Dr Keating writes59: 



                  [Apart  from  Michael  Viney’s  articles  of  1966]  the  rest  of  the  sparse  coverage  of  the 

                  Schools was treated either with the nostalgic gloss of Patrick J McNulty’s article of 20-21 

                  June, 1969 entitled Memories of Artane or as simple reportage devoid of analysis, despite 

                  opportunity  for  greater  analysis  as  a  result  of  conferences  on  the  inadequacies  and 

                  dangers of the system. 



3.99        Serious cases of sexual or physical abuse were not reported, even if they came to light by way 

           of a court case. Thus, for instance, a letter to  The Irish Times on 11th May 1999, from a former 

            reporter (and subsequently editor) of the Evening Herald, Brian Quinn, stated that in the 1950s 

           the writer had:60 



                  witnessed one of the worst of the Christian Brothers break into the office of the manager 

                  and demand that a court case that mentioned Artane should not be used in the Evening 

                  Herald. Before the manager could lift a phone, the Manager would push open the editorial 

                  door to tell us the manager had instructed that the case be dumped.... Those requests 

                  should have alerted journalists to start inquiries into what was happening in Artane. That 

                  we did not is a heavy burden. 



           59 At p 275 of his PhD thesis. 

           60 Brian Quinn, editor of The Evening Herald (1969–76). 



           230                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2271-----------------------

3.100       Significantly, the case referred to in this letter seems to have gone unreported also by the other 

            newspapers. Likewise, when in January 1951, an attendant employed at Marlborough House (not 

            an Industrial School, but a place of detention, run by the Department of Education) was convicted 

            of sexually abusing two boys detained in the institution, there were no newspaper reports. 



3.101       A Departmental report by Dr McCabe of 8th January, 1948 recorded that following the death of a 

            child in Rathdrum, owing to careless supervision, Dr McCabe visited the school and sought to get 

            a ‘callous’ resident manager to appreciate the gravity of what had occurred: 



                   I drew her attention to the bad impression that would be likely to be created regarding the 

                  conduct of affairs in her school on anybody who would read the inquest proceedings in 

                  the newspapers. She told me that the matter had been taken care of in Carysfort and that 

                  there would be no report in the press. 



3.102       Even if a skeleton made its way out of its cupboard, the newspapers could be persuaded to turn 

            their back. An example from as late as 1964 was a story about head-shaving in the  Connacht 

            Tribune, which was picked up by the British Sunday paper, The People; but no Irish national paper 

            reported the story. 



3.103       The   second     omission     was    even    more    serious.    With   very   few    exceptions,     there   was    no 

            comprehensive survey of the School system and no accounts of the every-day experiences of the 

            residents in the Schools. Specifically, so far as any serious discussion of the School system goes, 

            in  the  1940s  and  1950s,  only  two  contributions  in  daily  papers  have  been  found.  Each  was  a 

            multi-part feature in The Irish Times (referred to below). 



3.104       The Kennedy Committee Report, while it attracted more attention than any other single episode, 

            was not front page news. Even the significant Doyle Supreme Court constitutional case61  received 



            little coverage outside the The Irish Times of 13th October 1956. 



3.105       A series of four articles appeared anonymously (‘By a Special Correspondent’) in  The Irish Times 

            in February, 1950. The author appeared to have been well-informed about the system and aware 

            of the history of the institutions and of developments in the State and elsewhere. The series was 

            very critical of the system and proposed radical changes to do away with institutions. The writer 

            expressed limited approval of the Cussen Commission, which did valuable work but failed ‘to see 

            that something more revolutionary than improvements in the existing structure was necessary’. 

            There was little reaction to the articles, which seem to have gone largely unnoticed in official and 

            political circles as well as among the general public. 



3.106       The  lack  of  interest  generally  is  evident  in  a  response  by  the  Department  of  Education  to  a 

            question from the Commission stating that it had found no records referring to  The Irish Times 

            articles on child delinquency in 1950. This is consistent with an expectation that there would be 

            no interest in the matter among the electorate or public representatives. Otherwise, it would have 

            been expected that cuttings would be kept and a defence dossier compiled. 



3.107       Another breach in the iron curtain was the work of Michael Viney. He wrote a series of articles62 



            in  The Irish Times, based on six weeks’ research. Significantly, even this major series attracted 

            only  one  (published)  letter  to  the  editor,63      and  it  seems  likely  that  given  the  expenditure  of 



            resources, the paper would have published any reasonable letters received. Likewise, the series 



            61 See Appendix, Vol V, Part B. 

            62 This is one of a number of pioneering series by Mr Viney, 27th April– 6th May 1966. D Gageby ‘The Media’ in JJ Lee 



              (ed) Ireland 1945-70 (Gill and Macmillan, 1979), p 133, refers to ‘a whole new world of cool clinical reporting which 

              came from Michael Viney, with novel studies of unmarried mothers, alcoholics, deprived children and other castaways 

              of the 1960s.’ The other exceptions were  The Irish Times, 3rd February 1950 

            63 This letter (10th May 1966) was from Captain Edgar White from the First Dublin County Boys ‘ Brigade. It suggested 



              that uniformed organisations like the Boys’ Brigade, Catholic Boy Scouts, could provide persons capable of acting as 

              voluntary welfare liaison officers. A comment in response from Michael Viney indicated that in his opinion, voluntary 

              workers were not the answer and would only provide the State with ‘an excuse for further procrastination’. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  231 


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           was met by an eerie silence from other Irish newspapers, which declined the opportunity to mine 

           the rich lode, which, it might seem, had been opened up by Mr Viney. 



3.108      It should be noted that in the 1960s, the rare journalists who wished to do so, like Michael Viney 

           and another journalist, Joseph O’Malley (who wrote a single article in The Irish Independent) were 

           not discouraged by the Minister (George Colley) from visiting and inspecting the Schools subject 

           to  the  fact  that  the  particular  schools  permission  would  have  to  be  obtained.  And  in  fact,  the 

           Schools facilitated their visits. 



3.109      This  lack  of  investigation  and  reporting  may  reflect  the  absence  of  interest  in  this  subject  by 

           the public. As regards the personal attitude of journalists, a journalist who was the educational 

           correspondent of one of the national dailies in the 1960s recalls: 



                  We    saw    educational     issues   as   involving    middle    class   concerns     like  curriculum 

                  development or Church and State, not ‘the lesser breeds without the Law’ in the Industrial 

                  Schools. After Kennedy, there was some improvement but we didn’t push as hard as we 

                  should have done. 



           Reaction to press criticism 



3.110      When a rare derogatory comment was published, there was a strong defence from the Orders. In 

           the 1950s, Fr Nagle of Lower Glanmire Parish, Cork, said something that seemed to be a criticism 

           of the Schools; the Christian Brothers’ Managers’ Association was quick to demand an apology. 

           As reported, the priest had said: 



                  We are convinced that an indifferent home is better than a good institution, because in 

                  an indifferent home children receive at least from time to time some love, affection and 

                  interest  from  their  parents.  They  cannot  receive  this  in  the  institution  and  this  has  an 

                  unfortunate bearing on the children’s emotional and mental development. 



           The Managers’ Meeting of the Christian Brothers responded:64 



                  We assume that the institutions referred to are the Industrial Schools. You may not be 

                  aware  that  all  these  Industrial  Schools,  in  which  there  is  accommodation  over  seven 

                  thousand (7,000) children, are conducted by Religious Communities of Priests, Brothers 

                  and Sisters. According to your statement, as reported, children in these schools cannot 

                  receive even from time to time some love, affection and interest from the Religious who 

                  have dedicated their lives to this noble and necessary  work. Your statement has been 

                  deeply resented by the members or our Association and they fail to see what purpose 

                  such a statement, so unrelated to facts, can serve other than to belittle their work. 



           It was also stated that ‘Father Nagle was simply echoing his Bishop’s pronouncement – Dr Lucey 

           seems be totally opposed to the Industrial Schools System’. Fr Nagle’s reply was that: 



                  I did not state that the children cannot receive love etc from the religious. I stated that the 

                  they cannot receive parental love. I have the highest regard for the Religious who cared for 

                  those children. I genuinely apologise for any offence, but I insist that it was unintentional. 



3.111      Again, in 1963,  a solicitor, who was representing two  boys in Galway District Court,  urged the 

           court not to send his clients to Letterfrack. He said that every murderer in the country had served 

           time there and that he would prefer that his clients were sentenced to six months in prison than 

           two years in Letterfrack. The district justice’s response was to the effect that ‘there may be a great 

           deal in what you say but I cannot do anything about it’. Exceptionally this exchange was covered 



           64 Minutes of Christian Brothers’ Managers Meeting of 30th April 1957. 



           232                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2273-----------------------

            in The Evening Press, The Connaught Tribune, The Connaught Sentinel and The Tuam Star. The 

            manager of the school wrote to the Minister demanding to know what he proposed to do about 

            these ‘very scurrilous and false allegations’ and adding ‘I also wish to draw your attention to the 

            fact that too many TD’s are applying to Minister for Education to have certain boys discharged 

            from here.’65 



            Boards of Visitors, committees of management or godparents’ associations 



3.112       It might have been expected that, in the same way as prisons and (in recent times) national or 

            secondary  schools66,  each  Reformatory  or  Industrial  School  would  have  had  its  own  ‘Board  of 



            Visitors’, namely, a group of respected local citizens who would make regular visits to a school, 

            be aware of what was going on there, encourage improvements and inquire into any complaints. 



3.113       A broader question is why, until the 1970s, even in the wider educational field, there were no local 

            boards  overseeing  primary  and  secondary  schools.  The  answer  was  regarded  as  self-evident, 

            namely  that  the  religious  were  giving  their  entire  lives,  usually  working  long  hours,  for  scant 

            financial   reward,    to  serve   the   community      in  buildings    that  they   had    also  provided.     In  an 

            unsuspicious     and    deferential   age,   it would    have    seemed     perverse     to require    that  there   be 

            accountability to a board of lay outsiders. As against this, it might be thought that a special case 

            should be made in regard to Industrial and Reformatory Schools because they were closed worlds 

            with vulnerable inmates. 



3.114       In fact, relatively late – in 1962 – the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime 

            and Treatment of Offenders did recommend the establishment of visiting committees for certified 

            schools.  Mr  Haughey,  Minister  for  Justice,  wrote  to  Dr  Patrick  Hillery,  Minister  for  Education, 

            commending this proposal and received the following lukewarm and third-person response: 



                   In  view,  of  the  rejection  by  the  school  managers  some  years  ago  of  this  Departments 

                  proposal     that   they   be   visited  by   an   ad   hoc    committee     of   representatives      of  the 

                  Departments of Finance, Social Welfare and Education in connection with the managers 

                  appeal,  at  the  time,  for  improved  grants,  the  Minister  is  not  over-sanguine  as  to  the 

                  managers’ attitude to the idea of Visiting Committees. Neither is he clear as to how best 

                  such    committees,      if  agreed     to,  should    be   brought     into  existence.     He   proposes, 

                  nevertheless,      once    more    to  approach      the  Managers’      association     with   the  present 

                  suggestions.67 



3.115       Starting mainly in the 1950s, Godparents’ Associations grew up for some Industrial Schools but 

            they  had  no  formal  status,  their  central  purpose  being  to  provide  as  many  of  the  children  as 

            possible  with  a  person  or  family  who  would  take  a  personal  interest  in  them  and  bring  them 

            into  their  homes  at  some  weekends  or  holidays.  There  was  no  connection  between  individual 

            associations. The judgments  they expressed on the  Industrial Schools they knew  were usually 

            unfavourable  and their  presence  was  at best  tolerated  by Managers  and  at  worst regarded  as 



            65 DJ 93/182/17, cited in Keating at pp 201-2. We do not have the Minister’s response. On 18th February 1955, the 



              Joint Committee of Women’s Societies and Social Workers, who had a long-standing interest in the Schools wrote to 

              the Minister suggesting various reforms, among them a visiting Committee for each institution, appointed by the local 

              authority and comprising members of the council and outside social workers. 

            66 National School Boards of Management did not start until 1975; and Boards of Management for secondary schools 



              started somewhat later: Fuller Irish Catholicism since 1950 (Gill and MacMillan, 2002), p 161.(There is no need to go 

              into the precise gradation of functions and powers between committee of management or a board of visitors because 

              the essential point here is that there was next to nothing in the way of either type of body.) 

            67 DJ 93/182, quoted in A Keating, PhD, pp 224-6. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  233 


----------------------- Page 2274-----------------------

             meddling. The Catholic Godparents Guild68                 hosted children from several Schools throughout the 



             State. The other associations each focussed on a single school, for instance Artane or Upton – 

             or, at most, two Schools in the case of the Galway Godparents Association, which was concerned 

            with  the  children  in  St  Anne’s  Lenaboy  and  St  Joseph’s  Salthill.  This  association  found  the 

             Managers of each school uncooperative in the efforts it made to bring greater interest into the 

             lives of the children. 



             Pressure groups 



3.116       A pressure group that took an interest in the Schools from the 1940s-70s was the Joint Committee 

             of Women’s Societies and Social Workers. 69                  Their submissions to the Minister were striking for 



             raising not individual complaints but rather suggestions for the sort of innovation that ought to have 

             been debated more frequently within the Department and the Schools themselves. For instance a 

             letter of 2nd February 1966 to the Minister contains a constructive suggestion:70 



                    In the matter of further education, that is, in preparation for a career, we would advocate 

                    the authentic training of the Vocational School, which, again, could serve as an interim 



             68 According to the minutes of a discussion between the Inter-departmental Committee on the Prevention of Crime and 



               Treatment Offenders and the Catholic Godparents Guild, 6th November 1963, (the Kennedy Committee being 

               missing, we are using the evidence to the Inter-Departmental Committee): 

                    The Catholic Godparents Guild originated (1949) in personal contacts when Miss Wogan enlisted the aid of 

                    certain individuals in sending presents to industrial school children and it has preserved this personal, 

                    discriminatory approach to new membership. (In the first year of its existence it dropped 25 members who did not 

                    keep to the high standard set.) 

                Furthermore, the Guild has now for the first time a surplus of potential godparents, and proposes to communicate 

                with all industrial schools asking for the names of children. This move may enable it to interest more industrial school 

                managers in the idea of the Guild and in the ideas of Visiting and After-Care Committees. Mr MacDaibhid [of the 

                Department of Education] undertook to supply to Miss Fleming a list of all industrial schools. It was remarked that not 

                all industrial schools cooperate with the Guild, but Mr JJ McCarthy was able to assure the representatives that most 

                industrial school managers with whom the question of a Visiting Committee was raised had welcomed the idea. 

                In view of the experience of the Galway Godparents Association one would suggest that there was an element of 

                wishful thinking here. 

             69 However, occasionally suggestions came from, for example. 



                  i) Irish Association of Civil Liberties. On 28th May 1963, the Association proposed that the Department should take 

                    advantage of the declining numbers in the 1960s, to widen the categories of children they took, in order not to 

                    break up families, for instance: ‘Cavan Senior Girls school is looking for permission to take boys, Rathdrum junior 

                    boys wants authority to take girls and Drogheda junior boys would like to keep their children until the age of 

                    eleven years.’ 

                  ii) See, too, Knights of St Columbanus: letter to the Minister, 4th November 1966, complaining that Daingean 

                     residents were not eligible from free health services provided by the State and noting that the Knights took an 

                     interest in ‘after-care and improving amenities for the institution’. 

                  iii) Following a visit to Artane by the Junior Chamber Commerce, Junior Chamber, in a letter of 24th June 1966 

                     offers the help of its membership equipping the boys ‘to take their place in society’: see fn 215 of Education 

                     Discovery, May 2006. 

                  iv) See also the following extract from the Incorporated Law Society’s (18th January 1971) response to the 

                     Kennedy Report: 

                       The Society’s committee was chaired by Cork Solicitor, John B Jermyn. ‘Full use should therefore be made of 

                       Organisations like Rotary and the Lions Club. These Bodies consist of representatives of all the Professions 

                       and Trades and would find little difficulty in placing any boy or girl on release from an Industrial School. Some 

                       years ago a Scheme was evolved with the Cork Rotary Club for such a purpose. The intention was that the 

                       Club would form a permanent standing Committee who would make contact through the Manager of Upton 

                       Industrial School with all boys aged 14 or 15. They would get to know them as intimately as possible and 

                       learn their capabilities so that when their 16th birthday arrived they would be employed immediately in a 

                       suitable position. The Committee would then continue to act in loco parentis to the children so placed and be 

                       available at all times to advise them and help them out of trouble. Unfortunately the Scheme was killed at birth 

                       because the then Manager of Upton Industrial School would not give it his blessing as he felt that it 

                       constituted a trespass on his own preserves. 

             70 See the Department’s earlier brush-off on a memo submitted by the Joint Committee of Women’s Societies and 



               Social Workers on Children in Institutions, dated 18th February 1955. 

                    As the members of the joint committee heartily endorse the view that a bad home is better than the best 

                    institution they obviously have very little sympathy with or appreciation of the excellent work being done in Irish 

                    orphanages and Industrial schools for the homeless or deprived child. Indeed the Joint committee would appear 

                    to have a strong prejudice against the system and in these circumstances it is difficult to see what contribution 

                    they can make to the problem beyond airing their prejudices against the existing system. I hold that while the 

                    system can never replace the good or moderately good home, it has a lot to recommend it. 



             234                                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2275-----------------------

                  introduction to the normal community into which the boys must, in two years time, become 

                  suddenly integrated. This would of course necessitate their sharing the benefits accorded 

                  to other boys, but surely they have as great a claim. Towards this end we would suggest 

                  that a proportionate number of places be reserved at each Vocational School. 



                  We  have  been  particularly  interested  in  the  methods  used  by  Br  Stephen  Kelly  at  St 

                  Patrick’s  in  Belfast. He  employs  a  Social Worker,  a  layman,  who  meets each  boy  and 

                  follows his progress through the school, paying attention to his aptitudes. It is interesting 

                  to note that boys without homes are not automatically boys for farming.’ 



           Ministers 



3.117       Between 1970-74, the Minister for Justice was Des O’Malley (as it happens Donagh O’Malley’s 

           nephew and the inheritor of his Dail seat). In an interview in 2002, Mr O’Malley told Dr Keating 

           that he was concerned about the Industrial and Reformatory Schools sector, in part because of 

           the general public erroneous belief that it was the responsibility of the Department of Justice. A 

           few  months  after  taking  office  as  Minister  for  Justice,  Mr  O’Malley  happened  to  take  a  family 

           holiday in North Connemara near Letterfrack and heard and observed personally a certain amount 

           about  that  institution.  On  his  return  to  Dublin,  he  made  some  inquiries  and  was  told  by  the 

           Secretary of the Department to ‘leave it to Education’. 71 



3.118       In contrast, according to the memoirs of Padraig Faulkner, Minister for Education 1969-73: 



                  It was to be quite some time after I left the Department of Education that I first heard the 

                  word  ‘paedophile’.  During  my  time  as  Minister  I  hadn’t  an  inkling  that  child  sex  abuse 

                  existed.  When  I  published  the  Kennedy  Report  in  1970  Dail  questions  on  a  variety  of 

                  aspects of it came thick and fast. Some deputies praised the diligence and selflessness 

                  of the religious orders in caring for Children in care. Nobody raised the question of abuse. 

                  Dr Noel Browne and Dr John O’Connell were among my most persistent questioners and 

                  nobody doubts that if these deputies had heard so much as a whisper about abuse, they 

                                                                                ´ 

                  would immediately have raised the matter in the Dail. 



           Sexual abuse 



3.119       Even among external observers who scrutinised the schools, there seems to have been little or 

           no contemporary knowledge of sexual abuse. Mr Michael Viney, for instance, who visited several 

           schools, over a six-week period, in 1966 researching his 15,000-word series in The Irish Times in 

            1966, did not discover any evidence of sexual abuse (though, in those more innocent days, he 

           was not looking for any). In the Tuairim Report of 1966,72              nothing is said in about sexual abuse 



           because, according to one member, they could not believe what they were being told. 



3.120      A district court clerk who served in the 1960s remarked: 



                  We knew about the sexual abuse in the Schools because one of the Gardai who drove 

                  the  children  from  the  Court  to  the  Schools  told  us  about  it.  In  today’s  climate  I’d  have 

                  protested to the Department of Justice. But in those times, at best my protest would have 

                  been ignored, at worst I’d have been disciplined. 



            The public 



3.121       It  seems  that  the  general  public  living  in  the  locality  of  a  School  had  some  broad  idea  of  the 

           conditions.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  parents  to  threaten  children  who  were  misbehaving  with 

           some such formula as: ‘Stop it or you’ll be sent to Artane / Upton / Letterfrack...’ Both sides knew 

           what was meant. When John B Keane wrote in 1967 about farmers exploiting cheap labour of 



           71 This paragraph draws on the detailed account in A Keating, pp 244-89. See also Keating ‘Marlborough House: A 



              Case Study of State Neglect’ Studies Vol 93, No 371, p 325. 

           72 Some of our children – a report on the residential care of the deprived child in Ireland, No 13, January 1966 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               235 


----------------------- Page 2276-----------------------

           youths from an Industrial School, it seems likely that he expected his readers to know what he 

           was writing about.Letters of a Successful TD 73  contains the following passage: 



                  We will never again see a worker like Topper. I will never forget him a long as I live. You 

                  probably don’t remember Jeremy Tlopper. He died of TB when you were about three or 

                  four. It still plays on my conscience that I might have driven him too hard. In those days 

                  we used to get youngsters out of Kilnavarna Industrial School to work as farm labourers. 

                  They were usually aged about fifteen or sixteen. You didn’t have to pay them much and 

                  I know for a fact that most people paid them nothing. 



                  I had several lads but they were better for eating than they were for working. It was a 

                  mistake, too, to get fellows who hadn’t made their Confirmation because you would have 

                  to leave them off every day for catechism. 



                  Jeremy Topper was different. He had made his Confirmation. He was a great worker and 

                  a light feeder. He was as thin as a whippet but I never heard him complain and he worked 

                  out-of-doors, hail, rain, or shine. 



                  I often worry that I might have misused him, but no, that isn’t true, because he worshiped 

                  me as a son would. He had no father or mother but that was during the Economic War 

                  when nobody could afford a regular workman and dead calves were blocking the eyes of 

                  the bridges. 



                  The only labour we could afford were young lads or girls out of orphanages or Industrial 

                  Schools. Jeremy died when he was twenty but I think he killed himself. I never touched 

                  him, although I know of boys and girls who were whipped and punched like slaes and 

                  there were young girls who were badly abused by certain farmers who are pillars of the 

                  Church to-day. May God forgive them and the priests who knew what was going on. I put 

                  up headstone over Jeremy when he died. There was no cure for TB in those days. ... 



3.122      In that year, 1988, there was a more sceptical reaction to Paddy Doyle’s story74  of, amongst other 



           things, the violence of the nuns of St Michael’s Industrial School in Cappoquin. He recalled that: 

           ‘I  used  to  hear  people  refer  to  me  as  one  of  the  children  from  the  orphanage,  which  was  the 

           phrase locals used to soften the brutal reality of the Industrial School in their midst.’ 



3.123      The Task Force on Child Care Services 1980 refers to a most striking feature of the pre-Kennedy 

           system of residential care as being ...‘...the alarming complacency and indifference of both the 

           general public and the various government departments and statutory bodies responsible for the 

           welfare of children’. 



           Concluding comment 



3.124      Until very late in the day, the contribution made by the Oireachtas or the news media towards 

           supervision,  or  even  education  of  the  public,  in  regard  to  the  Schools,  appears  to  have  been 

           negligible.   Pressure    groups    were   rare  and   usually   ineffective   The   general   public   was   often 

           uninformed and usually uninterested. All these pools of unknowing reinforced each other. 



3.125      A trained social worker who practiced in the 1960s informed the Commission that: 



                  we knew that the Schools were ‘institutions’ with all that implied and were alert to try to 

                  avoid  them  or  minimise  a  child’s  stay  there;  but  on  the  other  hand  we  regarded  them 

                  as  safe  places  where  the  child  would  be  if  not  positively  cherished  at  least  ‘protected 

                  from harm. 



           73 Mercier Press, 1967. 

           74 God Squad, p 38. 



           236                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2277-----------------------

            Part 5 Family links 



3.126      The maintenance of family links was adversely affected by three issues, namely the geographical 

            distribution  of  the  Schools  and  the  problem  this  posed  for  parental  visits;  keeping  brother  and 

           sisters together; and home leave. The long-term social and psychological well-being of the children 

            required that they keep their links with their families.  This meant that siblings should as far as 

            possible  be  in  the  same  School  and  that  resident  children  should  be  kept  in  touch  with  their 

           families by holidays, parental visits and letters. These areas were often the subject of differences 

            between the Department and the Schools. The Department appears to have appreciated the need 

           for improvements but it was not sufficiently determined to overcome the opposition of the Schools 

           to  changes.     The    reason    for  this resistance     was   the   Schools’    fear  that  liberalisation   could 

            undermine  discipline.  Using  a  mixture  of  persuasion  and  financial  incentive,  the  Department 

            effected some improvements. Where there was a cost, a good deal depended on who paid for 

           the change; usually the Department ended up paying. 



            Geographic distribution 



3.127      The fact that so many of the Schools were located a long way from the homes of their residents 

            made contact with families almost non-existent, except for such limited holidays at home as were 

            permitted.   In  practice,   sending    a   Dublin   boy   to  Letterfrack    could   sunder    the  family   almost 

            completely. In very occasional cases, family circumstances were thought to be so bad that children 

           were deliberately sent to Schools at a distance from their homes in order to remove them from 

           their parents. 



3.128      The reason for the uneven geographic distribution of the Schools was explained in the Cussen 

            Report:75 



                  ...  on  the  introduction  of  the  system  most  of  the  Local  Authorities  were  unwilling  to 

                  contribute even towards the maintenance of the children, and as the Treasury grant was 

                  insufficient  for  the  building  and  equipment  of  such  schools,  their  establishment  was  a 

                  matter    of  some    difficulty. As   a  result,  various    Religious    Orders    were    requested    to 

                  undertake  the  work,  and  those  who  agreed  and  provided  suitable  premises  had  them 

                  certified.  Certificates    were,   therefore,    granted    with  little regard   to  the   geographical 

                  distribution of the schools. 



3.129      The  difficulties  were  exacerbated  by  the  fact  that  committals  were  disproportionately  high  in 

            Dublin.76 



3.130      As outlined in a Departmental memo in 1943, Munster had five senior Schools for boys and two 

           junior Schools whereas Leinster had only two of each. The memo continued: 



                  At the present time north of a line between Dublin and Galway there are no Senior Boys’ 

                  Industrial  Schools;  the  nearest  south  of  that  line  is  in  Clonmel  and  after  that  recourse 

                  must be had to Glin and Tralee (both of which have now numbers in excess of the certified 

                  complement – as also, incidentally, have the schools in Salthill and Letterfrack), or to a 

                  cluster of schools in a limited area in the extreme southwest, namely, Greenmount, Upton 

                  and  Baltimore.  Only  the  two  last-named  of  these  are  at  present  short  of  their  certified 

                  numbers. They therefore become of necessity the dumping-grounds for Dublin boys who 

                  cannot be sent to Artane or Carriglea. 



           75 At para 20. 

           76 M Osocpa’s memo of 4th April, 1951 states: 



                  Committals from Dublin City and County amount to between 30 to 40 per cent of the total committals; yet the 

                  accommodation of the schools in the Dublin Area (Artane and Carriglea – 1090) is only 34 per cent of the total 

                  accommodation for boys (3,229) and these two schools are required, in addition to giving vacancies for the 

                  Dublin committals, to cater for practically the rest of Leinster and the counties of Cavan and Monaghan. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                237 


----------------------- Page 2278-----------------------

3.131       The  Department  was  concerned  about  this  problem.77               One  way  that  it  could  use  to  ease  the 



            problem was in making transfer orders from junior to senior boys’ schools when boys were aged 

            10 years, on which occasion the Department could select Schools close to Dublin. In addition, 

            there  might  be  exceptional  transfers,  at  other  ages,  including  transfers  to  Dublin  on  emotional 

            grounds. 



3.132       An example of the way in which the Department could sometimes operate is shown in an internal 

            Departmental memo of 18th September 1963. It was noted that ‘St George’s Limerick was a good 

            school and that its Resident Manager has in a recent phone call, sharply rebuked the Department 

            for its lack of interest in the school and its problems. The memo continues: 



                   Dr McCabe has been asked to call on the Inspector of the ISPCC Limerick with a view to 

                   channelling  more  committals  to  St  George’s  School  and  on  the  closing  of  Summerhill, 

                   Athlone next December, New Ross and Waterford should be kept in mind when arranging 

                   the transfer of the children if the addresses and family backgrounds permit this course. 



3.133       In 1954, when the Christian Brothers announced that all offenders were to be sent to the School 

            in  Letterfrack,  District  Justice  McCarthy  requested  that  the  proposed  schools  for  offenders  be 

            located in a place less isolated than Letterfrack (eg Tralee or Glin) as he felt that Letterfrack would 

            not be the most suitable place for the rehabilitation of boys from Dublin City. However, this aspect 

            of  the  district  justice’s  complaint  fell  on  stony  ground.  Br  O’hAnluan  of  the  Christian  Brothers 

            replied that they had fully considered the question and that they had decided on Letterfrack. 



3.134       Naturally few of the resident’s families had cars and consequently a visit by them was effectively 

            impossible, unless pubic transport was available. As an example of the limitations of this: although 

            only 50 miles from Dublin, Daingean was even in 1966, served by a single daily bus from Dublin. 

            A further restriction, according to Michael Viney, was that parents were allowed to visit Daingean 

            only on the first Sunday of the month 



3.135       If a Dublin boy’s family wished to visit him at Letterfrack it would be difficult to do so and return 

            by public transport on the same day. It was said that, to facilitate such contact, the Manager was 

            good  enough  to  drive  pupils  to  the  nearest  railway  town,  50  miles  away,  so  as  to  avoid  the 

            necessity of a two-day journey.78 



3.136       More generally, the School authorities do not appear to have encouraged family visits. 



                                                               ´ 

3.137       In her evidence to the Commission, Sr Una O’Neill of the Religious Sisters of Charity observed 

            that there was 



                   nothing in place to give the impression that the visits of the parents to the children was a 

                   high priority ... I found no evidence of any expression of priority in terms of making sure 

                   that parents could visit their children. 



            77 The Department shared the Managers assessment that many schools were ‘in danger of becoming uneconomic’ and 



              accepted that as a consequence ‘the chances of modernising’ these schools became ‘increasingly remote’. One 

              solution considered was the closure of the least economic schools and the transfer of their children to more viable 

              schools, but it was accepted that it would be unfair to put children beyond the reach of those parents and relatives 

               who visit them. See, too, letter of 19th March 1954, letter from Christian Brothers (A OhAulain) announcing closure of 

              Carriglea and suggesting that distribution of former Carriglea residents should be sensitive to the location of their 

               homes. 

            78 A similar practice was to be reported in the case of a previous manager by the Tuairim Report (1966) 22 Some of 



               Our Children: See, like effect O’Connor (1963); Kennedy, para 6.22; McQuaid (1971)] 



            238                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2279-----------------------

            Parents’ travel expenses 



3.138      A constructive development came in 1971 by way of Circular No 30/71 providing for free travel 

           for parents visiting their children in a school. If they were medical card holders, both parents were 

            allowed the expenses of up to four visits per year. 



3.139      The  operation  of  the  scheme  was  delegated  to  School Managers  and  was  extended  gradually 

           during the 1970s, culminating in a 1979 Circular broadening the free travel initiative to brothers 

            and sisters. 



            Keeping brothers and sisters together 



3.140      There are reports of siblings who were at the same school seeing each other only by accident or 

           finding  out  later  that  the  two  had  been  at  the  same  school  at  the  same  time.  Here  the  school 

            authorities must have known and failed to put the two in communication. 



3.141       Internal memoranda show that the Department was aware of the danger of siblings losing contact 

           with eachother and attempted to do something about it:79 



                  It  is  the  settled  policy  of  this  Department  to  do  everything  possible  to  maintain  and 

                  encourage  family  ties  where  it  is  in  the  children’s  interest  to  do  so.  The  selection  of  a 

                  school  is  a  matter  for  the  committing  justice  in  the  first  instance  but  the  Department 

                  subsequently does all in its power to arrange transfers, as far as possible, to schools near 

                  the  children’s  homes,  and  to  have  members  of  the  same  family  detained  in  the  same 

                  school. Unfortunately, these post-committal adjustments are not always possible and, in 

                  any case, only touch the fringe of the problem. 



3.142      Transfer orders were sometimes made by the Department in order to keep a family in the same 

            School. Lunney80  writes after a study of entry registers in Sisters of Mercy Schools for the period 



            1869-1950, that: 



                  the admission registers of the Schools indicate that the Managers had a policy of keeping 

                  sisters  together  even  if  some  had  to  be  admitted  in  excess  of  the  certified  limit.  For 

                  instance, the manager of Goldenbridge School in Dublin often arranged for the transfer 

                  of a child from St George’s Industrial School in Limerick to Goldenbridge so that she could 

                  be with her younger sister. 



3.143      The  probability  is  that  practice  and  attitudes  varied  from  one  school  or  from  one  Manager  to 

            another. 



            Going home for the holidays 



3.144       Home leave was a matter for the School authorities to arrange in accordance with rules laid down 

            by  the  Department.  The  maximum  home  leave  allowed  each  year  was  seven  days,  until  1935 

           when  it  was  extended  to  14  days.  Following  a  recommendation  in  the  Cussen  Report81                    the 



            maximum period was extended, in 1944, to 21 days, and then to 31 days, in 1948. 



3.145       Generally, the Schools opposed leave.82  A letter from the Resident Managers Association to the 



            Department of Education of 7th June 1949, responding to a proposal, which was not adopted, to 



           79 Department document Ref No 63/1937. See, to rather similar effect 7th June 1937 internal Departmental memo and 



              letter from Mr Whelan to Deputy Secretary of Department ,14th September 1937 (116/37 DEI P0036). 

           80 At p 79. 

           81 At para 77. 

           82 The Manager had to make a return to the Department annually, giving: the name of each child, the periods of leave, 



              and the total number of days’ leave taken since above the limit of 31 days, the capitation grants would be affected. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                239 


----------------------- Page 2280-----------------------

            extend home leave to six weeks, stated that 37 of the 44 Schools who replied were opposed to 

           the increase: 



                  It  was  pointed  out  that  when  the  children  return  from  Home  Leave  there  is  always  a 

                  marked  disimprovement in  manners and  conduct; they  are often  very discontented.  All 

                  this is highly detrimental to the general spirit of the School, and it takes the children quite 

                  a long time to settle down again to the ordinary routine. 



                  Numbers of them return ill fed and sickly, in an unkempt condition, with clothes in a filthy 

                  condition. It takes weeks to get rid of the vermin. Sometimes their language is vile. 



                  Industrial School children generally belong to the poorest families and the home conditions 

                  are  often  most  unsuitable  and  undesirable...  A  high  percentage  of  these  children  are 

                  illegitimate and the mothers are not just what they should be; others have been the victims 

                  of  circumstances  getting  into  trouble  because  parents  or  guardians  failed  to  exercise 

                  proper control... It was also said that children who could with safety be allowed six weeks 

                  Home Leave should not be in any Industrial School; they should be discharged to their 

                  homes and not allowed to be living on public money. 



3.146      This  debate  concerned only  the  maximum  leave permitted,  which  was  rather theoretical,  since 

            each   Manager      had   discretion    to  allow   home    leave    up  to   the  maximum       specified   by   the 

            Department. As regards how much leave was actually granted, in a Departmental minute of 11th 

           April 1949 it was stated: 



                  An  analysis  of  the  Home  Leave  Returns  for  1948,  has  been  made  and  it  has  been 

                  ascertained that, of the 10 Senior Boys Industrial Schools, only one (Tralee) allowed all 

                  the boys who were given holidays, leave for the full period (31 days). Of the remaining 

                  five  Christian  Brothers  Schools  –  Artane  gave  a  maximum  of  21  days,  Carriglea  21, 

                  Letterfrack, 21 (1 boy, 29 days) Salthill, 28 and Glin, 28. In the other Senior Boys Schools, 

                  the   maximum       period   allowed     was   Baltimore,     18   days   (1   boy   20);   Clonmel,     30; 

                  Greenmount,  26;  and  Upton,  29.  In  Upton  46  boys  got  21  days,  52,  29  days  and  20, 

                  8 days. 



3.147       Of the 35 girls’ schools, 10 allowed some of the children sent home on holidays the full period (31 

           days). The other children in these and the remaining Industrial Schools for girls were sent home 

           for an average per child of about 22 days. 



3.148      Approximately  2,600  children  out  of  an  average  number  of  nearly  6,300  children,  or  about  41 

            percent under detention, were allowed home on holidays at all during 1948. The reasons why a 

           great  number  of  children  were  not  sent  on  holidays  were  given  as:  1)  unsuitable  parents  or 

            relatives; 2) unsuitable homes; 3) no parents or relatives; 4) no homes to which they could be 

           sent; 5) inability or unwillingness of parents or relatives to take charge of the children even for 

            a holiday. 



3.149       In  1960, in  an  internal  departmental survey,  it  was reported  that  one-third  of detained  children 

           were given home leave each year for a period not exceeding 31 days. 



            Licensing 



3.150      Apart from early discharge by the Minister, there were other ways in which a resident might leave 

            a School early. Theoretically, the most promising of these was release by the Manager on licence 

            under section 67 of the 1908 Act (as amended by section 13 of the 1941 Act).83                       This provision 



           83 As early as 1929, it was noted in a Department of Education memo (Misc /56) that while the numbers of committals 



              to Industrial and Reformatory Schools was somewhat higher than in Saorstat Eireann, the actual numbers in the 

              schools was less because the British school managers were making ‘more and more use of their power of ‘licensing’ 

              the children’. 



           240                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2281-----------------------

           allowed the Manager of either type of school to ‘licence out’ a child or young person to live with a 

           named ‘trustworthy and respectable person’. Thus a gradual assimilation of the child into society 

           could have been effected. 



3.151      But at no period does licensing appear to have been given a fair trial. Barnes notes84  that in 1884 



           the Aberdare Commission [into reformatory and Industrial Schools in Britain and Ireland] found 

           that managers were not using the licensing system extensively enough. Nearly a century later, 

           Kennedy85  found that only 32 out of 2,476 children had been licensed, and commented: 



                  the licensing system is being used only in very rare cases. This may in some instances 

                  be due to the difficulties which managers experience in contacting, without the aid of an 

                  aftercare service, suitable persons to accept the child or it may be due to a reluctance to 

                  release a child and suffer a reduction in the capitation fee payable to a school. Whatever 

                  the  reason,    it is  obviously   regrettable    that  the   licensing   system    is  not  used   more 

                  extensively. 



           Part 6 Changes 



           Proposed new school 



3.152      Throughout the 1940s, the total boys’ Schools’ population ranged around 3,000 and during the 

           period 1942-44 it exceeded 3,100. The total authorised accommodation capacity for boys’ Schools 

           was  3,380.  The  result  was  that  the  senior  boys’  Schools  were  overcrowded  and  there  were 

           protests from justices and Gardai, in open court, that the Children Act had become unworkable 

           owing to lack of accommodation. In addition, it was assumed that after World War II had ended 

           conditions as regards juvenile delinquency and poverty that had followed World War I would be 

           replicated, which would have meant a further increase in demand for places. 



3.153      To meet the increased demand, the Department’s view was that a new School of capacity 200- 

           250  was  necessary.  A  contrary  view  was  expressed  by  Managers  of  provincial  Schools  to  the 

           effect  that  the  establishment  of  the  proposed  School  would  affect  their  financial  viability  and 

           perhaps make it impossible for some of them to continue.86               Because so many of the children or 



           young persons came from Dublin, it was thought appropriate to locate the new School so that it 

           would be accessible to Dublin. 



3.154      The Department wrote to Br Quinlan, Provincial of the Christian Brothers.87 



                  At the moment there are over 250 senior boys from Dublin City and County in country 

                  industrial schools, and about 23 boys in the junior schools (all of the latter are situated 

                  outside the Dublin area). Many of the latter boys are due for removal to senior schools in 

                  the near  future, and a  large proportion  of them may  be regarded as  having a  claim to 

                  vacancies in Artane and Carriglea by reason of the fact that they already have brothers 

                  there and that their parents or relatives live in the Dublin areas. Owing to the distribution 

                  of the other industrial schools for boys it would be most convenient if the new school was 

                  situated to the north rather than the south of Dublin city, as it could thus absorb committals 

                  from the counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Meath etc, as well as Dublin. 



3.155      As regards which Order would provide the School, Archbishop Mc Quaid proposed the Christian 

           Brothers; but this offer was conditional on the State providing capital assistance. It was therefore 



           84 At pp 79-80. 

           85 Table 14. 

           86 Letter from M O’S to Assistant Secretary, 4th April 1951. It was also noted earlier that unless committals continued to 



              increase, it was likely that Baltimore would have to close. In fact, Baltimore closed in 1950. 

           87 11th August, 1943. See also Daly, p 78 (see Report of Department of Education 1929-30, p 109. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               241 


----------------------- Page 2282-----------------------

            politely turned down because the Presentation Brothers had offered to provide the School out of 

            its own resources.88  Accordingly, an arrangement was made with them to acquire land (160 acres 



            to  allow  for  the  farm)  and  construct  an  appropriate  building  for  a  School  in  Celbridge,  County 

            Kildare, 30 miles from Dublin. The total cost was £150,000, towards which the Department paid 

            a grant of £40,000. 



3.156       In fact, the boys’ Schools’ population peaked in 1946-47 and then started to decline steadily with 

            the  result  that  Celbridge  School  never  opened  and  the  building  was  eventually  used,  as  St 

            Raphael’s, by the St John of God’s Order, to teach skills to children with intellectual disabilities. 



            Size and organisation 



3.157       There was little in the field of fundamental change. One of the few considerations of structural 

            change  is  the  following  brief  statement  by  T  O’Raifeartaigh,  Secretary  of  the  Department  of 

            Education, on 15th March 1967 in an internal memo: 



                   One  line  of  approach  to  the  problem  of  the  Industrial  Schools  is  the  provision  of  a 

                   Prevention Centre. The importance of the Prevention Centre will lie not only in the turning 

                   back  the  youngsters  from  their  first  steps  in  delinquency  and  the  caring  for  innocent 

                   youngsters from broken homes, but also in that it will reduce considerably the number of 

                   children who will be committed to industrial schools. 



                   This raises the question of the second line of approach. It is that the industrial schools 

                   will in future have to devote themselves more to rehabilitation type of work. This will mean 

                   that they will have to organise the children into smaller groups and so have to employ a 

                   much larger staff of skilled personnel. The children will, learn by doing (as Senator Quinlan 

                   mentioned in the Seanad debate on ‘Investment in Education’). 



                   The maximum number in any institution should not exceed 250. The only school which 

                   accommodates  more  than  250  is  Artane.  The  question  of  breaking  up  that  school  into 

                   smaller  schools  was  recommended  by  the  Commission  of  Inquiry  1934-36  but  nothing 

                   came if it mainly due to the opposition of the conductors and the extra huge expenditure 

                   involved. I consider that in fact 250 is altogether too big a number for a school and that 

                   50-100 would be the ideal number. 



            Closure 



3.158       The Schools’ population peaked in the late 1940s and then there was a steady decline through 

            the 1950s, which accelerated in the 1960s. In the light of the figures, the Department of Education 

            noted, as early as 1951, that since 1945 there had been an average of 250 vacancies in the boys’ 

            Schools. 89 



3.159       Despite the obvious trend it took a long time for the Department to realise that the reduction in 

            the Schools’ population was irreversible and consequently that certain of the Schools should close. 

            The   Christian    Brothers    discussed     the   possibility   in  1954   at  a   Christian   Brothers’    Managers 



            88 Minister T O’Deirg to Archbishop. McQuaid letters, 15th August, 23rd September 1944. 

            89 On 4th April 1951, M O’S of Department wrote to the Assistant Secretary: 



                   Since 1945 there have on an average been 250 vacancies in the Boys’ Schools which tends to show that (i) the 

                   existing Industrial School accommodation for Senior Boys is adequate for the present conditions of comparatively 

                   full employment occasioned by the continuance of international tension and (2) with the improvement in the 

                   Social Welfare Services and general conditions (including housing) it is anticipated that less children will be 

                   committed to Industrial Schools on the grounds of poverty than heretofore. It must be remembered, however, that 

                   the incidence of the causes which leads to committals (unhappy marriages, poverty, illness or deaths of one or 

                   both parents, lack of control etc) is unpredictable and makes accurate forecasts of the number of committals very 

                   difficult. 



            242                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


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             Meeting,90    and the Department of  Finance had read the figures accurately at least  as early as 



             1955. In that year the subject was tentatively mentioned by the Secretary of the Department of 

             Education in negotiations with representatives of the Schools. In a letter to the Minister of Finance 

             on  21st  January  1965,  the  Minister  for  Education  noted  ruefully  that  Finance  had  been  urging 

             closures for years and then continued: 



                    Naturally your main concern is economy while mine is the upbringing of children. Certain 

                    aspects     of  the   matter    of   transferring    children     to  other    schools    have     to  be   carefully 

                    considered. Many children have god-parents in their school localities and quite a number 

                    of  children    attend    schools,     national,    secondary       and    vocational     outside    the   industrial 

                    school.  It  may  not  be  possible  to  accommodate  such  children  suitably  if  transferred  to 

                    another district. 



3.160        As of 1950, there were 50 Industrial Schools. In the 1950s four senior boys’ Schools closed – 

             Baltimore  (1950);  Killybegs  (1950);  Carriglea  (1954);  and  Greenmount,  Cork  (1959)91                          and  one 



             girls’ School: Sligo (1958). In the case of each of the boys’ schools, there were particular reasons 

             that were at least as significant as the general trend. The only closure before 1964 was Birr, Offaly 

             (1963). But during 1964-70, 17 more Schools – more than a third of them – closed including the 

             senior  boys  Schools  at  Upton,  Glin  and  Clonmel,  in  each  case  with  the  full  agreement  of  the 

             Orders concerned. By the time of the Kennedy Report, in 1970, a total of 29 Schools remained. 



3.161        To a large extent, the closures happened because the Orders wished them. On 23rd May 1966, 

             the Managers Association wrote to the Department: 



                    At their meeting on last Friday there was a consensus of opinion amongst the Resident 

                    Manager that most of the Schools will be forced to close. 



                    If the present system is not acceptable to the public or the Government the Managers are 

                    prepared to close the schools next year, because they feel that the strain of working under 

                    present-day conditions is too acute to be continued. 



             90 The Christian Brothers Managers Meeting of 12th January 1954 states: 



                    The question of the desirability of closing, for economic reasons, one of our Industrial Schools was discussed in 

                    detail and at length. It was mentioned that the Presentation Brothers were seriously considering the closing of 

                    Greenmount. [this actually occurred only in 1959] It was mentioned that His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin had 

                    expressed his preference for the smaller rather than the larger type of school. The Committee were of opinion 

                    that one of the schools should be closed but that the final decision should be left to the Provincial Council. 

                    Minutes of 28th April 1956 stated that: ‘it would be well, at least in order to shake up the Department, to propose 

                    that two of the Institutions (sic) should be closed’.’ 

             91 The St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount Cork annals for February 1959 record: 



                    The decline in the number of boys being committed to Industrial Schools had become very marked in recent 

                    years. The certified capacity of the school was 235 but at this time there were only 131 boys in the school. The 

                    meagre grant from the Government of 45/- per boy per week (only comparatively recently increased from 30/-) 

                    which had to cover food, clothing maintenance, provision of staff, other than the teachers in the class-room, etc 

                    made it very impractical to run the school efficiently. The second Juniorate at Passage West had its serious 

                    setbacks too. These two factors influenced the Higher Superiors to make the decision to close St Joseph’s as an 

                    Industrial School and made the building available as a Juniorate instead of St Teresa’s, Passage. 

             However Keogh (p 183) writes: 

                    There is another explanation for the decline in the numbers of the boys being sent to the school. According to Fr 

                    Good: ‘there were rumours after the events of 1955, the Church held an inquiry into allegations that two members 

                    of the Greenmount Community were involved in an abusive relationship with a number of boys.] Fr Good 

                    (Chaplain to Greenmount 1955-70) writes to the Commission on December 29, 2005) that Bishop Lucey had 

                    asked the sisters in Passage to ignore government transfer orders and keep the boys to their sixteenth birthday. 

                    They did so successfully, and the boys went to secondary or technical schools in Passage.’ Interview with Fr 

                    James Good, History Department, UCC Cork, December 2000. I have yet to seek confirmation of this view from 

                    the Sisters of Mercy. 

                    Sr Bernadette was in charge of the Boy’s Junior Industrial School, Passage West, Co Cork (recently deceased). 

                    Sr Bernadette told me that Bishop Lucey had come to her and directed her to tear up all transfers of boys from 

                    her school to Greenmount and Upton. These Government transfers took effect on the child’s tenth birthday. 

                    (providing them with the secondary/technical education) until their release from Industrial School care at age 16. 

                    This effectively closed both Greenmount and Upton in a relatively short time. 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                          243 


----------------------- Page 2284-----------------------

3.162      There may have been some element of bluff about this letter since the Managers were always 

           overtly  or  covertly  in  negotiation  with  the  Department  and  by  1966  were  genuinely  anxious  to 

           know the Department’s views. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the Schools would have expressly 

           raised  such  a  fundamental  issue  as  closure  unless  they  believed  that  matters  had  reached  a 

           crisis. In 1968, the Manager of Artane visited the Minister to warn him that the Christian Brothers 

           had decided to close Artane, though this did not in fact occur until 1969. 



3.163      The timing of the closures coincided with the doubling in demand for secondary school places 

           that followed on the abolition of secondary schools fees. This was announced by the Minister for 

           Education, Donough O’Malley, in 1966 and came into effect in August 1967. As a result, enrolment 

           in day secondary schools rose from 148,000 in 1966-67 to 239,000 in 1974-75.92  This meant that 



           the Orders had a ready use for the former Industrial School premises and staff. 



           92 J Coolahan Irish Education: history and structure (IPA, 1981), pp 194-95. 



           244                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2285-----------------------

            Chapter 4 



            Residential child welfare in Ireland, 

            1965-2008: an outline of policy, 

            legislation and practice: a paper 

            prepared for the Commission to 

            Inquire into Child Abuse1 



            Dr Eoin O’Sullivan, FTCD 

            Senior Lecturer, School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, 

            Dublin 2. 



            Introduction 



4.01        This paper aims to provide a review of the evolution of policy, legislation and practice in relation 

            to  child  welfare,  with  a  particular  emphasis  on  residential  childcare  from  the  mid-1960s  to  the 

            present. It does not claim to be exhaustive; rather it attempts to delineate a number of the key 

            shifts in the organisation of child welfare in Ireland that have led to the current configuration of 

            services.2   Furthermore, the paper does not fully embed the trajectory of change in child welfare 



            services within the broader social, economic, cultural and political environment that shaped Ireland 

            during   this   period.   The    changing     role  and    status   of  religious    Congregations       is  clearly   of 

            importance3, as are changing perceptions of the status and rights of children and the changing 

            structure  of  the family.4    Similarly,  the  economic environment  was  significant  in determining  the 

            level of funding available for child welfare, as was the political will for prioritising child welfare.5 



            Shifting forms of governance at national and local level have also shaped child welfare policies 



            1 In drafting this paper, I received considerable assistance from the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, in 



              particular Ms Feena Robinson and the Commissioners themselves, and for this I am most grateful. Mr Alan Savage 

              facilitated my access to relevant files in the Department of Health and Children and his courtesy and unfailing 

              assistance was much appreciated. The paper has benefited from productive conversations over a long number of 

              years with Dr Helen Buckley, Dr Shane Butler and Professor Robbie Gilligan. In particular, I would like to thank 

              Jessica Breen and Nicola Carr for their unfailing assistance and contribution to this paper. 

            2 For example, the paper does not deal with adoption policy during this period, although it may be argued that the 



              legalisation of adoption in 1952 contributed, in part, to the decline in the numbers of children placed in residential care. 

              For further details on adoption policy in Ireland, see Shanahan, S (2005) ‘The Changing Meaning of Family: Individual 

              Rights and Irish Adoption Policy, 1949-99’. Journal of Family History, 30, 1, 86-108 and Maguire, M (2002) ‘Foreign 

              Adoptions and the Evolution of Irish Adoption Policy, 1945-1952’. Journal of Social History, 36, 2, 387-404. 

            3 See Fuller, L (2002) Irish Catholicism since 1950: The Undoing of a Culture. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan and Donnelly, 



              JS (2002) ‘The Troubled Contemporary Irish Catholic Church’ in Bradshaw, B and Keogh, D (eds) Christianity in 

              Ireland: Revisiting the Story. Dublin: The Columba Press. 

            4 See for example, Curtin, C and Varley, A (1984) ‘Children and Childhood in Rural Ireland: A Consideration of the 



              Ethnographic Literature’ in Curtin, C, Kelly, M and O’Dowd, L (eds) Culture and Ideology in Ireland. Galway: Galway 

                                                                 ` 

              University Press; Kennedy, F (2001) Cottage to Creche: Family Change in Ireland. Dublin: Institute of Public 

              Administration; Walsh, T (2005) ‘Constructions of Childhood in Ireland in the Twentieth Century: A View from the 

              Primary School Curriculum 1900-1999’. Child Care in Practice, 11, 2, 253-69; and Earner-Byrne, L (2007) Mother and 

              Child: Maternity and Child Welfare in Dublin, 1922-60. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 

            5 See for example, Cousins, M (1999) ‘The Introduction of Children’s Allowances in Ireland 1939-1944’. Irish Economic 



              and Social History, 26, 35-53; McCashin, A (2004) Social Security in Ireland. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan and Fahey, T, 

              Russell, H and Whelan, CT (eds) (2007) Best of Times? The Social Impact of the Celtic Tiger. Dublin: Institute of 

              Public Administration. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                   245 


----------------------- Page 2286-----------------------

            over this period.6     These broader issues are well-documented elsewhere7                     and it is therefore the 



            intention of this paper to focus in a singular way on the specifics of residential childcare. Neither 

            does the paper attempt to provide an interpretation of the shifts in the function, organisation and 

            delivery of residential care in Ireland. Rather, by utilising the archival records of the Government 

            Departments centrally concerned with this area of public policy, the Departments of Health and 

            Education,  supplemented  by  a  secondary  literature,  the  paper  hopes  to  outline  the  intent  and 

            shifting concerns of policy makers, policy activists and service providers during the period under 

            review, particular the crucial period between 1965 and 1975. 



4.02        The paper suggests that the key debates in relation to the organisation, structure and delivery of 

            child   welfare     services,     in  particular     residential    childcare     services     took    place    between 

            approximately the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s, culminating in the Government decision of 11th 

            October 1974 to ‘allocate to the Minister for Health the main responsibility, including that of co- 

            ordination  in  relation  to  child  care’.  Although  the  intent  of  Government  may  have  been  clear, 

            the absence of clear guidance on what ‘main responsibility’ entailed was to cause considerable 

            administrative  and  Ministerial  difficulties  over  the  next  30  years.8         In  relation  to  residential  child 



            welfare services, the publication of the Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and 

            Industrial Schools’ Systems (Kennedy Report) in 1970 is an important catalyst in these debates. 

            The    analysis   of  the   child   welfare   system,     particularly   residential    childcare,    provided    by   the 

            Committee crystallised a view of the system that had gained significant momentum in the second 

            half of the 1960s that significant reform of the system was required, and the report acted as a 

            spur in its aftermath for the realisation of organisational change. 



4.03        The same Government decision that allocated to the Minister for Health primary responsibility for 

            childcare also established a Task Force on Child Care Services which submitted its report to the 

            Minister for Health in late 1980. This report exposed a number of difficulties that had emerged in 

            relation to implementing desired changes. These included the difficulty of devising new legislation, 

            despite  an  acknowledgement  that  it  was  required  and  the  scale  of  the  organisational  changes 

            required. An  evolving external  environment exacerbated  this, with  a professional  childcare and 

            social work cadre emerging alongside a decline in the role of Catholic Religious Congregations in 

            the delivery of childcare services. Eventually, primarily due to inter-departmental difficulties and a 

            lack of consensus on particular aspects of child welfare policy, particularly in the area of juvenile 

            justice, a staggered repeal of the Children Act 1908 emerged with the Child Care Act 1991, the 

            Educational      (Welfare)     Act   2000    and    the   Children     Act   2001,    primarily    sponsored      by   the 

            Departments  of  Health,  Education  and  Justice  respectively.  Ministerial  responsibility  for  child 

            welfare  services  was  formalised  in  the  early  1990s.  With  the  raising  of  the  age  of  criminal 

            responsibility to 12 (with certain exceptions) in 2006 and the ending of the role of the Department 

            of Education in the administration of residential childcare in 2007, the core recommendations of 



            6 The changing role of the Irish State is debated in Adshead, M, Kirby, P and Millar, M (eds) 2008) Contesting the 



              State: Lessons from the Irish Case. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 

            7 For a representative sample, see Girvin, B (2008) ‘Church, State and Society in Ireland since 1960’. Eire-Ireland, 43, 



              1&2, 74-98; Fuller, L (2005) ‘Religion, Politics and Socio-Cultural Change in Twentieth-Century Ireland’. The European 

              Legacy, 10, 1, 41-54; Daly, ME (2006) ‘Marriage, Fertility and Women’s Lives in Twentieth-Century Ireland’ (c 1900-c 

              1970). Women’s History Review, 15, 4, 571-85; Foster, RF (2007) ‘“Changed Utterly”? Transformation and Continuity 

              in Late Twentieth – Century Ireland’. Historical Research, 80, 209, 425; Ferriter, D (2008) ‘Women and Political 

              Change in Ireland since 1960’. Eire-Ireland, 43, 1&2, 179-204 and Breathnach, C (2008) ‘Ireland Church, State and 

              Society’, 1900-1975. The History of the Family. 13, 4. 333-9. 

            8 As McCullagh has argued in relation to the juvenile justice system ‘Since the foundation of the state, there has been a 



              remarkable agreement about the juvenile justice system. There was consensus that it was not working, there was 

              considerable consensus over how it should be reformed, and there was a seeming consensus that nothing would or 

              could be done about it.’ McCullagh, C (2006) Juvenile Justice in Ireland: Rhetoric and Reality in O’Connor, T and 

              Murphy, M (eds) Social Care in Ireland: Theory, Policy and Practice. Cork: CIT Press. p 161. In a similar vein, 

              O’Connor observed: ‘One of the puzzling enigmas of Irish Social Policy is the contrast between, on the one hand, the 

              clear endorsement of the family as the pivotal unit in Irish Society and, on the other hand, the reluctance up to very 

              recently to initiate legislative reform to protect the most vulnerable members of that group – children. O'Connor, P 

              (1992) ‘Child Care Policy: A Provocative Analysis and Research Agenda’. Administration, 40, 3, 215. 



            246                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2287-----------------------

            the Kennedy Report were realised. In the intervening period, a range of issues not specifically 

            discussed by the Kennedy Report were debated and policy decisions taken, particularly in relation 

            to child abuse and specifically abuse in institutional settings.9                These debates are, of course, not 



            unique  to  Ireland,  and  in recent  years  considerable  debate  has  taken  place  on the  extent  and 

            nature of abuse in residential childcare settings in, for example, the UK10  and Canada.11 



4.04        This  paper  firstly  provides  an  overview  of  the  current  configuration  of  child  welfare  services  in 

            Ireland. It then presents data on the shifting patterns of child welfare interventions between 1960 

            and the present, highlighting in particular the decline in the number of children in residential care. 

            The paper then reviews the debates on child welfare from the mid-1960s to the publication of the 

            Interim Report of the Task Force on Child Care Services in 1975, including in particular the Report 

            of  the  Committee  of  Enquiry  into  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools’  Systems.  Detailing  the 

            difficulties and delay in implementing the recommendations broadly agreed on then follows. The 

            paper explores, in particular, the difficulties in firstly transferring the majority of children’s homes 

            from the Department of Education to the Department of Health; secondly, the shift from funding 

            the homes on a capitation system to a budget system; thirdly, introducing new child welfare and 

            juvenile  justice  legislation  to  replace  the  Children  Act  1908  (as  amended);  and  fourthly,  the 

            provision of secure accommodation for children. The rationale for  selecting these areas is that 

            these  were  core  to  the  recommendations  of  the  Kennedy  Committee,  which  it  is  suggested, 

            summarised the views of a range of interested parties at that time. The difficulties experienced in 

            realising the recommendations of the Kennedy Report related not to a lack of effort by any party, 

            but reflected that despite a broad consensus on what should be done in the area of child welfare, 

            interested     parties   held   opposing      views    on   the  precise    mechanisms,        principles    and    pace   of 

            change required. 



            Section 1: Current organisation of child welfare in Ireland 



            Introduction 



4.05        In September 2008, there were 5,380 children in care in Ireland, of whom only 400 (or 7.4 percent) 

            were    in  residential    care.   This    is in  stark   contrast    to   the  position    in  the   late  1960s,     when 

            approximately 3,000 children were in various forms of residential care. At the end of the 1960s, 

            all  children’s  Residential  Homes  were  managed  by  either  Catholic  Religious  Congregations  or 

            voluntary organisations, whereas by 2008 the vast majority of homes were managed directly by 

            the State or it agents, with the last of traditional religious providers of residential care, the Sisters 



            9 See, Brennan, C (2007) ‘Facing What Cannot be Changed: The Irish Experience of Confronting Institutional Child 



              Abuse’. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 29, 3-4, 245-63; Ferguson, H (2007) ‘Abused and Looked After 

              Children as “Moral Dirt”: Child Abuse and Institutional Care in Historical Perspective’. Journal of Social Policy, 36, 1, 

              123-39; Ferguson, H (2000) ‘States of Fear, Child Abuse and Irish Society’. Doctrine and Life, 50, 1, 20-30 and 

              Christie, A (2001) ‘Social Work in Ireland’. British Journal of Social Work, 31, 1, 141-8. 

            10 See for example, Gallagher, B (2000) ‘The Extent and Nature of Known Cases of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse’. 



               British Journal of Social Work, 30, 6, 795-817; Corby, B, Doig, A and Roberts, V (2001) Public Inquiries into Abuse of 

               Children in Residential Care. London: Jessica Kinglsey; Colton, M (2002) ‘Factors Associated with Abuse in 

               Residential Child Care Institutions’. Children and Society, 16, 1, 33-44; Colton, M, Vanstone, M and Walby, C (2002) 

               ‘Victimization, Care and Justice: Reflections on the Experiences of Victims/Survivors Involved in Large-scale 

               Historical Investigations of Child Sexual Abuse in Residential Institutions’. British Journal of Social Work, 32, 5, 541- 

               51; Stein, M (2006) Missing Years of Abuse in Children’s Homes. Child and Family Social Work, 11, 1, 11-21; Shaw, 

               T (2007) Historical Abuse Systemic Review: Residential Schools and Children’s Homes in Scotland 1950-1995. 

               Edinburgh: Scottish Government; Sen, R, Kendrick, A, Milligan, I and Hawthorn, M (2008) ‘Lessons Learnt? Abuse in 

               Residential Child Care in Scotland’. Child and Family Social Work, 13, 4, 411-22. For a critical account of the claims 

               of historic abuse in children’s homes, see Smith, M (2008) ‘Historical Abuse in Residential Child Care: An Alternative 

               View’. Practice: Social Work in Action, 20, 1, 29-41. 

            11 See Bessner, R (1998) Institutional Child Abuse in Canada. Ottawa: Law Commission of Canada; Law Commission of 



               Canada (2000) Restoring Dignity: Responding to Child Abuse in Canadian Institutions. Ottawa: Law Commission of 

               Canada; Hall, M (2000) ‘The Liability of Public Authorities for the Abuse of Children in Institutional Care: Common 

               Law Developments in Canada and The United Kingdom’. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 14, 3, 

               281-301. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                        247 


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            of Mercy ceasing their direct involvement in 2003.12  On 1st March 2007 administrative and legal 

            responsibility for the Children Detention Schools, 13 with the exception of St Joseph’s in Clonmel14, 



            were    transferred  from      the   Department  of       Education  and       Science     to  the  Irish  Youth  Justice 

            Service15, an executive office of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. This transfer 



            thus ended the involvement of the Department of Education in the administration of residential 

            childcare,  a  role  they  commenced  in  June  1924.16              The  changes  arose  from  the  youth  justice 



            reforms     approved  by      Government        in  December       2005  following      a  review  carried      out  by  the 

            Department  of  Justice,  Equality  and  Law  Reform and  given statutory  effect  under  the  Criminal 

            Justice Act 2006.17 The rationale for transferring responsibility for the administration of the Children 



            Detention Schools from the Department of Education and Science was: 



                   the  Department  has  a  limited  role  in  the  provision  of  residential  care.  The  Department 

                   itself  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  administration  of  detention  schools  would  appear  to  be 

                   more appropriate to a body with experience and expertise in childcare, residential care 

                   and security issues.18 



4.06        This decision concluded  a debate, initiated some  40 years previously, over  which Government 

            Department should have responsibility for the administration of residential childcare in Ireland.19 



            12 It is estimated that over 43,000 children were placed in residential homes managed by the Sisters of Mercy between 



               1846 and 1997. See, Clarke, M (1998) Lives in Care: Issues for Policy and Practice in Irish Children’s Homes. Dublin: 

               Mercy Congregation and the Children’s Research Centre, TCD. pp 123-4. 

            13 These were: Trinity House School, Lusk, County Dublin; Oberstown Boys Centre, Lusk, County Dublin; Oberstown 



               Girls Centre, Lusk, County Dublin; and Finglas Child and Adolescent Centre, Finglas West, Dublin 11. 

            14 The children detention school in Clonmel became premises provided and maintained by the Heath Service Executive 



               under the Child Care Act 1991. Established in 2005, the Health Service Executive replaced a complex structure of 

               regional health boards, the Eastern Regional Health Authority and a number of other different agencies and 

               organisations. 

            15 According to the Report, ‘The primary aim of the proposed Youth Justice Service is to bring together the services for 



               all young offenders under one governance and management structure. The Youth Justice Service should therefore 

               assume responsibility for the operation of the children detention schools. Existing staff, financial resources and 

               infrastructure for these schools would transfer to the new Youth Justice Service. The Department of Education and 

               Science should continue to play an essential role in the provision of appropriate educational supports.’ Government of 

               Ireland (2006) Report on the Youth Justice Review. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 40. The Irish Youth Justice Service 

               (IYJS) was established in December 2005 and the main responsibilities of IYJS are to: develop a unified youth justice 

               policy; devise and develop a national strategy to deliver this policy and service; link this strategy where appropriate 

               with other child related strategies; manage and develop children detention facilities; manage the implementation of 

               provisions of the Children Act 2001 which relate to community sanctions, restorative justice conferencing and 

               diversion; Co-ordinate service delivery at both national and local level; establish and support consultation and liaison 

               structures with key stakeholders including at local level to oversee the delivery of this service and response; and 

               develop and promote information sources for the youth justice sector to inform further strategies, policies and 

               programmes. 

            16 Section 1(V) of the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 set out that ‘The Department of Education which shall 



               comprise the administration and business generally of public services in connection with Education, including primary, 

               secondary and university education, vocational and technical training, endowed schools, reformatories, and industrial 

               schools, and all powers, duties and functions connected with the same, and shall include in particular the business, 

               powers, duties and functions of the branches and officers of the public services specified in the Fourth Part of the 

               Schedule to this Act, and of which Department the head shall be, and shall be styled, an t-Aire Oideachais or (in 

               English) the Minister for Education.’ 

            17 In addition, the IYJS will assume operational responsibility for the detention of children aged 16 and 17. These 



               children are currently detained within the Irish Prison Service in St Patrick’s Institution. When Part 9 of the Children 

               Act 2001 is fully commenced, 16- and 17-year-old offenders will be detained in a children detention centre(s), 

               operational responsibility for which should reside with the Irish Youth Justice Service. 

            18 Government of Ireland (2006) Report on the Youth Justice Review. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 40. 

            19 It should be noted that this was proposed as an interim measure as the Review highlighted that the most appropriate 



               body was one which had responsibility for the care of young people and argued that ‘this would reflect the practice in 

               other international jurisdictions which have placed youth justice in structures which also have responsibility for the 

               delivery of broad child-related services. However, no existing social service structure seems appropriate for the 

               incorporation of a youth care and justice service at this time. The capacity of care and social services would have to 

               be expanded to cope with the introduction of these additional services and the organisational structures would need 

               revision to an extent not practical in the short term. Therefore, as an interim measure, it is proposed that a Youth 

               Justice Service, which would take responsibility for offending children only, be established under the aegis of the 

               Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Government of Ireland (2006) Report on the Youth Justice Review. 

               Dublin: Stationery Office. p 39. 



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             By 1984, the majority of Residential Homes had been transferred to the Department of Health, 

             with the Department of Education retaining responsibility for the administration of a small number 

             of  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools,  collectively  referred  to  for  administrative  purposes  as 

             Special    Schools      since    the   early   1970s.     Initially, the   Department        of  Health     wished     to  take 

             responsibility for these schools, but this was resisted by the Department of Education as it was 

             felt that as the educational facilities were provided on site, they were the appropriate Government 

             Department to administer them. By the mid-1980s, the Department of Education was agreeable 

             to  transferring  the  Schools  to  the  Department  of  Health,  but  by  now,  Health  was  not  willing  to 

             accept them. By the late 1980s, the Department of Education had firmly concluded that they were 

             not the appropriate Department to manage these schools, and recommended that the Department 

             of Justice take responsibility for their management. It was not until the mid-2000s that the issue 

             was finally resolved and the Department of Education finally severed their role in administering 

             the schools. Thus, from once being the Government Department with primary responsibility for 

             residential care for both offending and non-offending children for most of the 20th century, the 

             Department of Education and Science now has responsibility only for the educational input in the 

             schools.  Working  with  the  Office  of  the  Minister  for  Children  and  Youth  Affairs  (which  was 

             established in 2005), the objective of the Irish Youth Justice Service is to ensure co-ordination 

             between  the  various  agencies  that  provide  services  in  the  youth  justice  arena  (e.g.  probation 

             services, the Gardai, the courts etc.) in the context of the Children Act 2001 and in addition to 

                                       ´ 

             running the children detention schools as noted above. The establishment of both the Office of 

             the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and the Irish Youth Justice Service were in response 

             to  long-standing  criticisms  that  a  fundamental  flaw  in  the  Irish  child  welfare  system  was  the 

             absence of a lead Department, and a lack of co-ordination between the disparate elements that 

             made up the child welfare system.20 



             Co-ordination of childcare services 



4.07         The aforementioned Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) is part of the 

             Department of Health and Children. The role of the OMCYA, which was set up by the Government 

             in December 2005, is to implement the National Children’s Strategy21  and bring greater coherence 



             to policy-making for children. The OMCYA units that are part of the Department of Health and 



             20 These criticisms predate the foundation of the State. For example, in 1899, it was argued ‘In Ireland we are at once 



               met by the fact that State interference with children is carried out by different authorities who are not bound to consult 

               each other. The Inspector of Reformatories and Industrial Schools does not deal with children in workhouses. The 

               Poor-Law Inspector is not concerned with those in Industrial Schools. The Pauper Children’s Act sanctions another 

               interloper who is to inspect Local Government Board schools. The Prison authorities play the part of awkward foster 

               parents to children who drift into gaols. School Attendance Committees also have a finger in the pie. And various 

               boards of guardians can, to a large extent, experiment independently, according to their understanding, or want of it, 

               with childhood in its helpless stages.....it is a matter of chance under which regime a child may fall, according as he 

               first meets a relieving officer, a policeman, or a philanthropist connected with some school.’ (Daly, ED (1899) ‘The 

               Children and the State’. The New Ireland Review, July, pp 262-3). Millin, a decade later argued that ‘What we want in 

                Ireland is a Department for Children, which will in no way be connected with the workhouse, nor bear a name which 

               will cast a stigma on the children. The management of that Department should be largely, if not exclusively, in the 

               hands of women. There should be full power to board out any child in any part of Ireland; and no child should be sent 

               to an industrial school, unless sanctioned by the Department, after boarding-out has been tried, and has proved a 

               failure in each particular case. (Millin, SS (1909) ‘The Duty of the State towards the Pauper Children of Ireland’. 

               Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, Vol xii, pp 260-1.) After independence, the issue was 

               debated in the Report of the Commission on the Relief of the Poor, which rejected the establishment of a state 

               department dealing entirely with children, arguing that ‘we are not convinced that the interests of the children would 

               be better served by a single ‘mixed’ authority exercising a number of unrelated duties than by the several 

               departments amongst which these duties are at present distributed’. Report of the Commission on the Relief of the 

               Sick and Destitute Poor, including the Insane Poor. (1928) Dublin: Stationery Office, p 74. 

             21 The National Children’s Strategy, Our Children —  Their Lives, was published in November 2000. The three national 



               goals of the strategy are: (1) Children will have a voice in matters which affect them and their views will be given due 

               weight in accordance with their age and maturity; (2) Children's lives will be better understood; their lives will benefit 

               from evaluation, research and information on their needs, rights and the effectiveness of services; and (3) Children 

               will receive quality supports and services to promote all aspects of their development. On the background to the 

               Strategy, see Pinkerton, J (2001) ‘Ireland's National Children's Strategy – An Inside Outsider's View’. Children and 

               Society, 15, 2, 118-21. 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                           249 


----------------------- Page 2290-----------------------

            Children include: Minister’s Office Staff and Advisor, the Child Welfare and Protection Policy Unit, 

            the Childcare Directorate (formerly part of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform) 

            and  the  National  Children  and  Young  People’s  Strategy  Unit  (formerly  the  National  Children’s 

            Office22).  The  Minister  of  State,  who  has  special  responsibility  for  children,  is  officially  styled 



            Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, at the Department of Justice, Equality 

            and Law Reform and at the Department of Education and Science (with special responsibility for 

            Children), and is a junior ministerial post in the Departments of Health and Children, Education 

            and Science and Justice, Equality and Law Reform of the Government of Ireland. The Minister 

            works     together     with   the   various    senior    Ministers     in   these    departments       and    has    special 

            responsibility  for  children's  affairs.  The  Minister  of  State  does  not  hold  cabinet  rank,  but  does, 

            however, attend cabinet meetings. The position, in its current form, was created on 20th December 



                                                                                                                             23 

            1994. The current incumbent is Barry Andrews, TD, who took up the post in May 2008. 



4.08        In October 2008, it was announced that that the Children Acts Advisory Board would also come 

            under  the  OMCYA.  The  Children  Acts  Advisory  Board  was  established  under  the  Child  Care 

            (Amendment) Act 2007 on 23rd July 2007, which changed the name, and some functions of the 

            former    Special    Residential      Services    Board.24     The   Children     Acts   Advisory     Board    has    a  role 



            conducting or commissioning research, promoting enhanced interagency co-operation; promoting, 

            organising or taking part in, seminars and conferences; publishing guidelines on the qualifications, 

            criteria  for  appointment,  training  and  role  of  any  guardian  ad  litem  appointed  for  children  in 

            proceedings       under    the   Act   of  1991;    preparing    and    publishing     criteria  for  admission      to  and 

            discharge from special care units, in respect of children subject to special care and interim special 

            care orders in consultation with the Health Service Executive; giving its views on any proposal of 

            the Health Service Executive to apply for a special care order; and preparing reports on certain 

            court proceedings. The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2007 broadened the remit of the Board to 

            become an enhanced advisory and enabling body whose functions include providing advice to the 

            Ministers for Health and Children and Justice, Equality and Law Reform on policy issues relating 

            to  the  co-ordinated  delivery  of  services  to  at  risk  children/young  people,  specifically  under  the 

            Child Care Act 1991 and the Children Act 2001. 



            Legislative framework 



4.09        The Child Care Act 199125  (as amended) and the Children Act 200126  (as amended) have replaced 



            the Children Act 1908 and the Health Acts 1953 and 1957 as the primary statutory framework for 

            the care and control of children in Ireland.27  The Child Care Bill was enacted into law on 10th July 



            22 The National Children’s Office (NCO) was established in 2001 to lead and oversee the implementation of the National 



               Children’s Strategy. The NCO was given the lead responsibility for Goal 1 (children’s participation) and Goal 2 

               (research). In regard to Goal 3 (improving supports and services), the NCO had a particular responsibility for 

               progressing key policy issues identified as priorities by the Cabinet Committee on Children and which require cross- 

               departmental/interagency action. 

            23 Austin Currie first held the post between 2nd December 1994 and 26th June 1997. He was followed by Frank Fahey 



               (8th July 1997 – 1st February 2000); Mary Hanafin (1st February 2000-6th June 2002); Brian Lenihan (19th June 

               2002 – 14th June 2007); Brendan Smith (20th June 2007 – 7th May, 2008). Chris Flood held a co-ordinating post 

               between Health and Education between 1991 and 1994. 

            24 The Special Residential Services Board was established in 2001, having had an interim board from April 2000, and 



               put on a statutory basis in November 2003 pursuant to Part 11 of the Children Act 2001. Under this Act the functions 

               of the Board included the provision of policy advice to the Ministers with responsibility for Health and Children and 

               Education and Science on the remand and detention of children in detention schools and special care units. The 

               Board also had a remit to both co-ordinate and advise the courts on the appropriate placement of children in children 

               detention schools. 

            25 The final sections of the Child Care Act 1991 were enacted on 18th December 1996. 

            26 All sections of the Act, not already enacted, were enacted on 23rd July 2007 (SI No 524 of 2007 Children Act 2001 



               (Commencement) (No 3) Order 2007). 

            27 In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by Ireland in September 1992 and 



               came into force on 21st October, 1992. For further details, see Kilkelly, U (2008) Children’s Rights In Ireland: Law, 

               Policy and Practice. Tottel Publishing. 



            250                                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2291-----------------------

                                                             28, its purpose being to ‘up-date the law in relation to the care of 

              1991, as the Child Care Act 1991 

              children who have been assaulted, ill-treated, neglected or sexually abused or who are at risk’.29 



             The main provisions of the Act are: the placing of a statutory duty on health boards to promote 

             the  welfare  of  children  who  are  not  receiving  adequate  care  and  protection;  to  strengthen  the 

              powers of the Health Boards to provide childcare and family support services; the improvement 

             of  the  procedures  to  facilitate  immediate  intervention  by  health  boards  and  the  Gardai  where 

                                                                                                                                             ´ 

              children are in danger; the revision of provisions to enable the courts to place children who have 

              been assaulted, ill-treated, neglected or sexually abused or who are at risk, in the care of or under 

             the  supervision  of  regional  health  boards;  the  introduction  of  arrangements  for  the  supervision 

             and inspection of pre-school services; and the revision of provisions in relation to the registration 

             and  inspection  of  residential  centres  for  children.30                Also  of  note  is  section  24  of  the  Non-Fatal 



              Offences Against the Person Act 1997 which provided that: ‘The rule of law under which teachers 

             are    immune       from     criminal     liability   in  respect      of  physical      chastisement         of  pupils     is  hereby 

             abolished.’31 



4.10         The Children Act 2001, which was signed into law by the President on 8th July 2001, not only 

              repeals the Children Act 1908, it also introduces significant new sections to the Child Care Act 

                     32  Described by one author as ‘fundamental revolution in the law relating to juvenile justice’33, 

              1991. 

             the Children Act 2001 focuses on preventing criminal behaviour, diversion from the criminal justice 



             28 The Act superseded the Child (Care and Protection) Bill 1985. The second stage of the Bill was passed in the Dail on 

                                                                                                                                                  ´ 

                                                                                                                      ´ 

                23rd January 1987 but had not progressed further by the time of the dissolution of the Dail in January 1987. For 

                further details on the Act, see Ferguson, H and Kenny, P (1995) On Behalf of the Child: Child Welfare, Child 

                Protection and the Child Care Act, 1991. Dublin: A&A Farmar; Gilligan, R (1996) 'Irish Child Care Services in the 

                 1990s: The Child Care Act 1991 and Other Developments' in Hill, M and Aldgate, J (eds) Child Welfare Services: 

                Developments in Law, Policy, Practice and Research. London, Jessica Kingsley, pp 56-74 and Ward, P (1997) The 

                 Child Care Act, 1991. Dublin: Roundhall. 

             29 A number of studies have attempted to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the Child Care Act 1991 in achieving 



                the objectives set out in the Act. A non-exhaustive list of research on aspects of residential care includes: Gilligan, R 

                 (1996) ‘Children Adrift in Care?-Can the Child Care Act 1991 Rescue the 50 percent who are in Care Five Years and 

                 More?’. Irish Social Worker, 14, 1, 17-19; Stein, M, Pinkerton, J and Kelleher, P (2000) ‘Young People Leaving Care 

                 in England, Northern Ireland and Ireland’. European Journal of Social Work, 3, 3, 235-46; Buckely, H (2002) ‘Issues 

                 in Residential care’ in Buckely, H (ed) Child Protection and Welfare – Innovations and Interventions. Dublin: Institute 

                of Public Administration; Gilligan, R (2007) ‘Adversity, Resilience and Educational Progress of Young People in Public 

                Care’. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 12, 2, 135-45; Mayock, P and O’Sullivan, E (2007) Lives in Crisis: 

                Homeless Young People in Dublin. Dublin: Liffey Press. 

             30 See SI 259 of 1995 Child Care (Placement of Children in Residential Care) Regulations 1995 and SI No 397 of 1996 



                Child Care (Standards in Children’s Residential Centres) Regulations 1996. In addition, a Guide to Good Practice in 

                 Children’s Residential Centres was published by the Department of Health. The Department of Health published 

                National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres in 2001 and the Department of Education and Science 

                 published Standards and Criteria for Children Detention Schools in 2002. In 2006, the Health Service Executive 

                 published detailed guidance on promoting best practice on leaving care and aftercare. Health Service Executive 

                 (2006) Model for the Delivery of Leaving Care and Aftercare Services in HSE North West Dublin, North Central 

                Dublin and North Dublin. Dublin: HSE. 

             31 Corporal punishment was effectively prohibited from February 1982, when the Department of Education issued new 



                 regulations which outlined that ‘1. Teachers should have a lively regard for the improvement and general welfare of 

                their pupils, treat them with kindness combined with firmness and should aim at governing them through their 

                affections and reason and not by harshness and severity. Ridicule, sarcasm or remarks likely to undermine a pupil's 

                self-confidence should not be used in any circumstances. 2. The use of corporal punishment is forbidden. 3. Any 

                teacher who contravenes sections (1) or (2) of this rule will be regarded as guilty of conduct unbefitting a teacher and 

                will be subject to severe disciplinary action.’ For further information on corporal punishment in Ireland, see Maguire, 

                           ´ 

                                  ´ 

                 MJ and O Cinneide, S (2005) ‘“A Good Beating Never Hurt Anyone”: The Punishment and Abuse of Children in 

                Twentieth Century Ireland’. Journal of Social History, 38, 3, 635-52. 

             32  For further details on the provisions of the Act, see McDermot, PA and Robinson, T (2003) Children Act, 2001. 



                 Dublin: Thomson / RoundHall, Kilkelly, U (2006) ‘Reform of Youth Justice in Ireland: The “New” Children Act 2001. 

                 Part 1’. Irish Criminal Law Journal, 16, 4, 2-7 and Kilkelly, U (2007) ‘Reform of Youth Justice in Ireland: The “New” 

                Children Act 2001. Part 2’. Irish Criminal Law Journal, 17, 1, 2-8. 

             33 Shannon, G (2005) Child Law. Dublin: Thomson/Round Hall. p vii. For a comprehensive overview of juvenile justice in 



                 Ireland, see Walsh, D (2005) Juvenile Justice. Dublin: Round Hall and Bowe, J (2005) Literature Review and System 

                Review. Dublin: Irish Association for the Study of Delinquency and for a comparative history, Caul, B (1984) A 

                 Comparative Study of the Juvenile Justice Systems of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Unpublished PhD 

                thesis. Trinity College, Dublin. 



              CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                                    251 


----------------------- Page 2292-----------------------

system and introduces principles of restorative justice.34                       Crucially, and in contrast to the situation 



that prevailed for much of 20th century, the use of detention for a child is to be a last resort; the 

Act requires that all avenues be explored before it is used.35                         The main principles of the Children 



Act are: any child who accepts responsibility for his/her offending behaviour should be diverted 

from criminal proceedings, where appropriate; children have rights and freedoms before the law 

equal to those enjoyed by adults and a right to be heard and to participate in any proceedings 

affecting them; it is desirable to allow the education etc. of children to proceed without interruption; 

it is desirable to preserve and strengthen the relationship between children and their parents/family 

members; it is desirable to foster the ability of families to develop their own means of dealing with 

offending  by  their  children;  it  is  desirable  to  allow  children  to  reside  in  their  own  homes;  any 

penalty imposed on a child should cause as little interference as possible with the child’s legitimate 

activities, should promote the development of the child and should take the least restrictive form, 

as appropriate;36        detention should be imposed as a last resort and may only be imposed if it is 



the only suitable way of dealing with the child; due regard to the interests of the victim; a child’s 

age and level of maturity may be taken into consideration as mitigating factors in determining a 

penalty; and a child’s privacy should be protected in any proceedings against him/her. On 16th 

October 2006, under the Children Act 2001, the age of criminal responsibility was effectively raised 

from 7 to 12 years. Under the new provisions, no child under the age of 12 years can be charged 

with an offence.37        Before the Children Act 2001 was fully implemented, it was, 



34 On this shift, see Seymour, M (2006) ‘Transition and Reform: Juvenile Justice in the Republic of Ireland’ in Junger- 



   Tas, J and Decker, SH (eds) International Handbook of Juvenile Justice. Springer, pp 117-44 and O’Dwyer, K (2001) 

   Restorative Justice Initiatives in the Garda Siochana: Evaluation of the Pilot Project. Templemore: Garda Research 

   Unit. 

35 In a comparative context, this shift is somewhat at odds with a general drift towards more punitive polices for young 



   offenders. See for example, Muncie, J (2008) ‘The “Punitive Turn” in Juvenile Justice: Cultures of Control and Rights 

   Compliance in Western Europe and the USA’. Youth Justice, 8, 2, 107-21 and Muncie, J (2006) ‘Repenalisation and 

   Rights: Explorations in Comparative Youth Criminology’. The Howard Journal, 45, 1, 42-70. 

36 There are 10 community sanctions available to the courts under the Act: They are: community service order: a child 



   of 16 or 17 years of age agrees to complete unpaid work for a set total number of hours; day centre order: a child is 

   to go to a centre at set times and, as part of the order, to take part in a programme of activities; probation order: this 

   places a child under the supervision of the Probation Service for a period during which time the child must meet 

   certain conditions which are set by the court; training or activities order: a child has to take part in and complete a 

   programme of training or similar activity. The programme should help the child learn positive social values; intensive 

   supervision order: a child is placed under the supervision of a named probation officer and has to attend a 

   programme of education, training or treatment as part of their time under supervision; residential supervision order: 

   this is where a child is to live in a suitable hostel. The hostel is to be close to where they normally live, attend school 

   or go to work; a suitable person (care and supervision) order: with the agreement of the child’s parents or guardian, 

   the child is placed in the care of a suitable adult; a mentor (family support) order: a person is assigned to help, advise 

   and support the child and his/her family in trying to stop the child from committing further offences; restriction of 

   movement order: this requires a child to stay away from certain places and to be at a specific address between 7pm 

   and 6am each day; a dual order: this combines a Restriction of Movement Order with either supervision by a 

   probation officer or attendance at a day centre. The growing involvement with the Probation Service with young 

   offenders was reflected in the creation of Young Person's Probation (YPP), which is a division of the Probation 

   Service. The YPP works with approximately 600 young offenders nationally. As part of their role in working to reduce 

   offending, the YPP has responsibility for the implementation of certain provisions under the Children Act 2001. 

37 An exception is made for 10- and 11-year-olds charged with very serious offences, such as unlawful killing, a rape 



   offence or aggravated sexual assault. In addition, the Director of Public Prosecutions must give consent for any child 

   under the age of 14 years to be charged. Although the Act in general prohibits children less than 12 years of age 

   from being charged and convicted of a criminal offence, they do not enjoy total immunity from action being taken 

   against them. Section 53 of the Act as amended by section 130 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 places an onus on 

   the Gardai to take a child under 12 years of age to his/her parents or guardian, where they have reasonable grounds 

               ´ 

   for believing that the child has committed an offence with which the child cannot be charged due to the child’s age. 

   Where this is not possible the Gardai will arrange for the child to be taken into the custody of the Health Service 

                                             ´ 

   Executive (HSE) for the area in which the child normally resides. It is possible that children under 12 years of age 

   who commit criminal offences will be dealt with by the HSE and not the criminal justice system. 



252                                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2293-----------------------

                   substantially amended via the Criminal Justice Act, 2006. Among the areas where change 

                   has    taken    place    is  the   age    of  criminal    responsibility,     the   Diversion     Programme, 

                   arrangements for the detention of children and the introduction of a new regime to deal 

                   with anti-social behaviour.38 



4.11        The Children Act 2001 also amended the Child Care Act 1991 by allowing for establishment of 

            special  care  facilities  for  children  who  required  secure  accommodation.  This  amendment  was 

            necessitated by a series of actions that sought clarification on the implementation of section 5 of 

            the Child Care Act 1991. The key issue was by what criteria the provision in the Act stipulating 

            that health boards ‘take such steps as are reasonable’ be evaluated and what constituted ‘suitable 

            accommodation’ for homeless children?39                The first substantial challenge to  the use of bed and 



            breakfast accommodation for homeless children came in 1994. In the case of PS v The Eastern 

            Health Board40, it was argued that the Eastern Health Board (EHB) had failed to provide for the 



            welfare of the applicant under section 3 of the Act and to make available suitable accommodation 

            for him under section 5 of the Act. The applicant, who was 14 years of age at the time, had a 

            history of multiple care placements from a young age and had been discharged from a Residential 

            Home and spent 35 consecutive nights sleeping rough before the EHB had agreed to intervene 

            and provide him with accommodation. By the time the case reached the High Court, the applicant 

            had been placed in a health board premises along with another child and a number of security 

            staff. The EHB made the point that, under the Child Care Act 1991, they had no powers of civil 

            detention and, if the applicant would not co-operate, they were limited in the service they could 

            provide. 



4.12        In a series of further High Court actions, the courts identified a gap in Irish childcare legislation in 

            that health boards were adjudged not to have powers of civil detainment. The judgments resulting 

            from these actions led to the establishment of a small number of high support and special care 

            units for children by the Department of Health, in conjunction with the health boards.41                        However, 



            the number of children before the High Court continued to grow and, in July 1998, Justice Kelly 

            issued an order to force the Minister for Health to provide sufficient accommodation for the children 

            appearing before him in order to vindicate their constitutional rights. In his conclusion, Mr Justice 

            Kelly stated: 



                   It is no exaggeration to characterise what has gone on a scandal. I have had evidence of 

                   inter-departmental       wrangles     over   demarcation       lines  going    on   for  months,     seemingly 

                   endless delays in drafting and redrafting legislation, policy that appears to be made only 

                   to be reversed and a waste of public resources on. For example, going through an entire 

                   planning process for the Portrane development only for the Minister to change his mind, 

                   thereby necessitating the whole process being gone through again. The addressing of the 

                   rights  of  the  young  people  that  I  have  to  deal  with  appears  to  be  bogged  down  in  a 



            38 Kilkelly, U (2007) ‘Reform of Youth Justice in Ireland: The “New” Children Act 2001. Part 1’. Irish Criminal Law 



               Journal, 17, 1, 2. The provisos in relation to age of criminal responsibility are discussed above. In relation to the 

               diversion programme, the primary change is to expand to remit of the scheme to children aged 10 and 11, i.e. below 

               the age of criminal responsibility, for those deemed to be involved in anti-social behaviour. The changes in the 

               arrangements for the detention children relate to the transfer of administrative responsibility from the Department of 

               Education and Science to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The issue that generated most 

               adverse publicity was the introduction of new provisions for children deemed to be involved in anti-social behaviour. 

               For further details, see Garrett, PM (2007) ‘Learning from the “Trojan Horse”? The Arrival of ‘Anti-Social Behaviour 

               Orders’ in Ireland’. European Journal of Social Work, 10, 4, 497-511 and Hamilton, C and Seymour, M (2006) 

               ‘ASBOs and Behaviour Orders: Institutionalised Intolerance of Youth?’ Youth Studies Ireland, 1, 1, 61-75. 

            39 For further details, see, Ward, P (1995) ‘Homeless Children and the Child Care Act, 1991’. Irish Law Times, 13, 19- 



               21 and Whyte, G (2002) Social Inclusion and the Legal System: Public Interest Law in Ireland. Dublin: Institute of 

               Public Administration. 

            40 PS v Eastern Health Board (unreported, 27th July 1994), High Court, Geoghegan J. 

            41 For further information, see Kenny, B (2000) Responding to the Needs of Troubled Children: A Critique of High 



               Support and Secure Care Provision in Ireland. Dublin: Barnardo’s and Social Information Systems (2003) Definition 

               and Usage of High Support in Ireland. Dublin: Special Residential Services Board. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                      253 


----------------------- Page 2294-----------------------

                    bureaucratic      and   administrative       quagmire.     I  have    come     to   the   conclusion     that   the 

                    response of the Minister to date falls far short of what this Court was reasonably entitled 

                   to expect concerning the provision of appropriate facilities for young people with difficulties 

                    of the type with which I am dealing.42 



4.13        The Children Act 2001 inserted a new section into the Child Care Act 1991 (section 23) imposing 

            on the health boards a duty to seek a special care order in the District Court where the behaviour 

            of the child or young person was such that it imposed a real and substantial risk to his or her 

             health, safety, development and welfare and where it was necessary in the interests of the child 

            that such a course of action be adopted. By 2005, three special care units were established with 

            an approved bed capacity of 30, in addition to 13 high support units with an approved bed capacity 

            of 93.43                                                                                                         44 

                       In 2007, 34 children were placed in special care units, down from 55 in 2004. 



4.14         In  2000,  the  Education  (Welfare)  Act  was  passed  by  the  House  of  the  Oireachtas.  This  Act 

             replaced the School Attendance Acts 1926 to 1967.45                     It raised the minimum school leaving age 



            from 15 to 16, or the completion of three years of post-primary education, whichever is the later. 

            The Act established a National Educational Welfare Board, the objective of which is to develop, 

            co-ordinate and implement school attendance policy so as to ensure that every child in the State 

            attends a recognised school or otherwise receives an appropriate education; appoints education 

            welfare      officers    to   work     in   close     co-operation       with     schools,     teachers,      parents      and 

            community/voluntary bodies with a view to encouraging regular school attendance and developing 

            strategies to reduce absenteeism and early school leaving; maintain a register of children receiving 

            education outside the recognised school structure and assess the adequacy of such education on 

            an  ongoing  basis.  Reform  of  this  area  of  child  welfare  had  been  long  sought,  with  both  the 

                                                                                                                 ´ 

             Kennedy Report, and in the same year, the Commission on the Garda Siochana (generally known 

                                                                                                           ´ 

            as the Conroy report), highlighting the inadequacy of the system for regulating school attendance. 

            The Report argued that the Gardai had been called on to do many duties that had no connection 

                                                         ´ 

            with   their   primary    duties    as   policemen.      Included     in  a  menu     of   extraneous      duties    was    the 

            enforcement of the School Attendance Acts and recommendation 1188 argued that steps should 

             be taken to relieve the Garda Siochana from the obligation to carry out, most, if not all, of the 

                                                        ´     ´ 

            extraneous duties imposed upon them.46                 This view simply gave voice to a long-established trend 



            where  from  the  early  1950s  onwards,  the  Gardai                 had  scaled  down  their  involvement  in  the 

                                                                                ´ 

             implementation  of  the  School  Attendance  Acts  and  the  only  areas  where  school  attendance 

            officers  had  a  significant  presence  were  in  the  cities  of  Dublin,  Cork,  Limerick  and  Waterford 

            where school attendance committees were in operation. The Kennedy Report had argued that: 



                    Persistent absence from school may be one of the early warning signs of the existence 

                    of  families  and  children  in  difficulties.  Such  difficulties  may  be  physical,  psychiatric  or 

                    psychological.      Early   identification    of  and    treatment     of  the   causes     will,  therefore,    be 

                    necessary if the break-up of the family is to be avoided. Other possible causes are many 

                    and  varied.  Illness,  inadequate  parents,  unemployment  of  the  father  and  the  mother 

                   working, indifference of the parents to education may all lead to absence of one or more 

                    children  from  school.  The  child  may  be  experiencing  difficulties  at  school,  may  have 



            42 DB (a minor suing by his mother and next friend SB) v The Minister for Justice, The Minister for Health, The Minister 



               for Education, Ireland and The Attorney General and the Eastern Health Board (unreported, 29th July 1998). 

            43 The key distinction between high support units and special care units is that a child can be detained in a special care 



               unit but not in a high support unit, but there has been confusion as to the precise purpose and functions of high 

               support units. See Social Information Systems (2003) Definition and Usage of High Support in Ireland. Dublin: Special 

               Residential Services Board. 

            44 See Carr for further details on the mechanisms by which children enter such units. Carr, N (2008) ‘Exceptions to the 



               Rule? The Role of the High Court in Secure Care in Ireland’. Irish Journal of Family Law, 11, 4, 84-91. 

            45 For further details, see Fahey, T (1992) ‘State, Family and Compulsory Schooling in Ireland’. Economic and Social 



               Review, 23, 4, 369-95 and Department of Education (1994) School Attendance/Truancy Report. Dublin: Department 

               of Education. 

            46                                    ´ 

               Commission on the Garda Siochana (1970) Remuneration and Conditions of Service. Dublin: Government 

                                             ´ 

               Publications Office. p 201. 



            254                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2295-----------------------

                   physical disabilities such as hearing or sight defects. Backwardness may make it difficult 

                   for him to keep up with his class, unsuitable home conditions may make it impossible to 

                   prepare homework with consequence reluctance to attend school.47 



4.15        Thus, rather than viewing non-attendance at school through the prism of deviance or criminality 

            and  the  resulting  mode  of  intervention,  punishment:  non-attendance  at  school  was  viewed  as 

            symptomatic of a more deep-rooted maladjustment in the child’s life and requiring professional 

            intervention  in  the  shape  of  social  workers,  psychiatrists  and  psychologists.  Thus,  the  Gardai, 

                                                                                                                                      ´ 

            irrespective  of  their  reluctance  to  remain  involved  with  school  attendance  duties  because  of 

            operational restraints, had no role in this new understanding of the causes of non-attendance at 

            school and modes of intervention in solving the problem. The Kennedy report also stated that ‘It 

            is  obvious  that  the  present  School  attendance  system  needs  to  be  re-examined  and  a  more 

            efficient system evolved’,48       a statement that was to be echoed in numerous subsequent reports 



            that generally looked at the issue of school attendance in passing. 



4.16        For those working in the area of child welfare, particularly, social workers and care workers, the 

            Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 provides for a system of statutory registration for 

                                                                49 

            12  health  and  social  care  professions,            to  ensure  that  health  and  social  care  professionals 

            providing services are properly qualified, competent and fit to practice. This is the first time such 

            professionals are regulated under statute. The Act also provides for the establishment of a fitness 

            to practice structure to deal with complaints and other disciplinary matters. 



            Inspecting children in care 



4.17        The Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) was set up on an administrative basis in 1999 to inspect 

            social services in Ireland. The inspectorate emerged from the recommendations of the Report on 

            the   Inquiry   into   Madonna      House,     which    reported     in May     1996    and   recommended         that   an 

            Inspectorate      of   Social   Services     be    established     on    a  statutory    basis,    which    would     have 

            responsibility for ‘quality assurance and audit of childcare practice in all areas of personal social 

            services,  including  the  children’s  residential  sector.’50         From  1999  to  2007  the  work  of  the  SSI 



            focused on children in care, primarily on inspection of residential care. In 2004 a pilot inspection 

            of foster care services was conducted and this was followed in 2006 with inspections of two private 

            foster  care  agencies.  The  SSI  conducted  inspections  of  statutory  residential  childcare  services 

            (i.e. services managed by the Health Service Executive (HSE), formerly the health boards), under 

            statutory powers contained in section 69 of the Child Care Act 1991. SSI inspectors are authorised 

            to  enter   any    premises     maintained      by  the   HSE     under    the   Act  and    examine     the   state   and 

            management of the premises and the treatment of children there and examine such records and 

            interview    such    members       of  staff  as   they   see   fit. The    Department       of  Health    and   Children 

            administered it until May 2007, when it was established on a statutory basis as the Office of the 

            Chief Inspector of Social Services within the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).51 



4.18        In  addition,    the   Ombudsman         for   Children’s    Office    was   established      in  2004,    following    the 

            Ombudsman  for  Children  Act  2002,  which  commenced  in  its  entirety  on  25th  April  2004.  The 

            Ombudsman  for  Children  can  investigate  an  action  by  a  public  body,  a  school  or  a  voluntary 



            47 Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ Systems. (1970) Report. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 



               82. 

            48 Ibid. p 82. 

            49 They are: clinical biochemists, medical scientists, psychologists, chiropodists/podiatrists, dieticians, orthoptists, 



               physiotherapists, radiographers, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, social care workers and 

               social workers. 

            50 Department of Health (1996) Report on the Inquiry into the Operation of Madonna House. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 



               xi. 

            51 See, O’Brien, L (2008) ‘Protection through Inspection: An Exploration of the Effectiveness of Irish Inspection Services 



               in Relation to Promoting a Child’s Right to Make a Complaint in Residential Care’. Scottish Journal of Residential 

               Child Care, 7, 1, 14-20. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                      255 


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            hospital  where  it  appears  that  the  action  has  or  may  have  adversely  affected  a  child,  and  the 

            action  was  or  may  have  been  taken  without  proper  authority,  taken  on  irrelevant  grounds,  the 

            result of negligence or carelessness, based on erroneous or incomplete information, improperly 

            discriminatory, based on an undesirable administrative practice, or otherwise contrary to fair or 

            sound administration. The Ombudsman for Children can investigate an action on her own initiative 

            or where a complaint has been made to her. A complaint can be made by a child or by an adult 

            on behalf of a child.52 



            Child protection guidelines in Ireland 



4.19        The  development of  guidelines  on the  reporting,  investigation and  management  of child  abuse 

            cases in Ireland began at a meeting in the Department of Health in May 1975, the purpose of 

            which was to discuss the problem of ‘non accidental injury to children’ that had been brought to 

            the attention of the Department by medical consultants from Crumlin and Harcourt St Hospitals. 

            It was agreed at the meeting that 



                     (1)   there was a significant problem of non-accidental injury to children in Ireland; 



                     (2)   that the position should be examined and procedures suggested for dealing with such 

                           cases and for ensuring the co-operation of parties dealing with such cases; and 



                     (3)   that a central register of such cases should be examined. 



4.20        Following  the  meeting,  a  committee  was  established  to  address  the  above  issues,  comprised 

            principally  of  medical  doctors,  a  superintendent  public  health  nurse,  a  senior  ISPCC  officer,  a 

            medical social worker and two civil servants. A sub-group was subsequently formed to draw up a 

            detailed  memorandum  on  the  matters  considered  by  the  Committee.  Emerging  from  this,  and 

            assisted  by  information  obtained  from  British  authorities,  the  first  report  of  the  Department  of 

            Health Committee on Non-Accidental Injury was published in March 1976, providing a basis for 

            all subsequent child abuse guidelines issued by central government.53 



4.21        The focus of the Department of Health report was essentially clinical, emphasising the need for 

            early   identification   of  ‘battered’    children.   It  provided    an   ‘index   of   suspicion’    to  assist   the 

            identification of child abuse, which was almost entirely based on physical symptoms of injury, with 

            a proportionately marginal emphasis on ‘nutritional deprivation, neglect and emotional deprivation 

            and trauma’.54    It defined the case conference as an essential part of the ‘team effort’ required for 



            the investigation and management of suspected non-accidental injury (NAI). Overall responsibility 

            for  calling the  conference  was  assigned to  the  Director of  Community  Care  (a medical  doctor) 

            though the delegation of this function ‘to a senior member of his medical staff’ was permitted. The 

            list of suggested attendees demonstrated a clear expectation of significant involvement by hospital 

            staff in the management of the case. 



4.22        The  report  also  recommended  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  what  it  described  as  a 

            ‘central registry’ of cases ‘to act as a reference for personnel concerned to ascertain whether a 

            child was already widely known to different medical practitioners, hospitals or social workers as a 

            case of suspected or diagnosed non-accidental injury. The placement of the register in a paediatric 

            department, health board or the ISPCC was mooted, with the suggestion that, in Dublin, it should 

            be  administered  by  a  senior  medical  officer  in  the  child  health  section  of  the  EHB  to  facilitate 

            medical  involvement  and  medical  confidentiality.  While  it  was  also  suggested  that  ‘every  effort 



            52 See, Martin, F (2006) ‘Key Roles of the Ombudsman for Children in Ireland: Promotion of Rights and Investigation of 



              Grievances’. Dublin University Law Journal, 26, 56-82. 

            53 Department of Health (1976) Report of the Committee on Non Accidental Injury to Children. Dublin: Stationery Office. 



               In early 1977, a group of social workers published a discussion document on child abuse in Ireland: see. Dear, L, 

              Hand, D, Harding, M, McCarthy, I and Smyth, P (1977) Suffer the Children: A Discussion Document on Child Abuse 

              in Ireland. Dublin: North Dublin Social Workers. 

            54 Ibid. p 10. 



            256                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2297-----------------------

            should  be  made  to  provide  adequate  community  care  services  to  the  families  involved’,  and 

            awareness-raising        amongst      community      agencies      was    recommended         the   report    and    its 

            recommendations were primarily intended for medical staff. Responsibility for overall coordination 

            of services was to belong to the Department of Health, while it was recommended that the health 

            boards establish area committees, which would comprise of appropriate health board staff and 

            hospital representatives. 



4.23        Although the responses of some professional bodies e.g. the Irish Association of Social Workers 

            and  the  Eastern  Health  Board  Senior  Social  Workers  Group, were  critical  of  the  1976  report’s 

            over-concentration on the detection of physical signs of child maltreatment, and its neglect of the 

            emotional,  psychological  and  social  dimensions  of  child  abuse,  the  template  laid  down  in  this 

            report   formed    the  basis   of  the   guidance     documents      that  followed    it over   the  next   decade. 

            Guidelines up to 1987 were based on a conceptualisation of child abuse as ‘non accidental injury’, 

            which could be addressed by a sound system of reporting, with medical and legal interventions. 

            A Memorandum on Non-Accidental Injury to Children was published in 1977, based largely on the 



                           55 

            1976  report.     The  Memorandum  acknowledged  that  its  focus  was  mainly  on  physical  abuse; 

            stating that ‘in cases of injury arising from emotional deprivation or neglect, the evidence of such 

            injury might not always be as clear cut’ and that procedures for intervention in such cases would 

            have to be considered separately. The nature of the earlier recommended ‘central register’ had 

            been  changed,  reflecting  some  disagreement  about  its  purpose  and  function,  which  had  been 

            specified in written responses to the 1976 report. It was now recommended that a ‘list’ be kept by 

            the  Director  of  Community  Care  ‘to  help  assess  the  extent  of  the  problem’  and  to  provide 

            information  to  other  professionals  on  whether  a  child  had  previously  suffered  a  NAI.  It  was 

            suggested that the list be reviewed regularly with details ‘expunged’ when suspicions proved to 

            be unfounded. 



4.24        The memorandum laid quite strong emphasis on the requirement for staff training in the various 

            medical    and    community      based     services    for  children   and    families   to  improve     ‘knowledge, 

            awareness  and  vigilance’.  It  also  acknowledged  that  there  may  be  legal  deficiencies  requiring 

            reform and therefore recommended review to identify desirable legal changes and innovations. It 

            also drew attention to the necessity for An Garda Siochana to be notified if a possible breach of 

                                                                            ´     ´ 

            criminal law was indicated. 



4.25        Denis Greene, in one of the first published commentaries on legal aspects of non-accidental injury 

            to children, observed that: 



                  while I have acted for the Eastern Health Board and its statutory predecessors for many 

                  years, it has really only been in the past decade that I have been called upon to deal with 

                  cases involving children at risk. They have increased in number steadily over that period. 

                   I  cannot  say  whether  this  indicates  a  real  increase  in  absolute  terms  or  whether  the 

                  frequency  of  occurrence  is  not  greater  than  in  past  years  but  more  cases  are  being 

                  discovered because of the larger number of social workers now working in the community. 

                   Possibly both factors are involved.56 



4.26        In  1980,  the  Department  of  Health  published  the  first  complete  set  of  Irish  child  protection 

            guidelines, entitled  Guidelines on the Identification and Management of Non-Accidental Injury to 

            Children.57   A  list of  potential  clinical  indicators     of  child  abuse  was  again       provided,  and  the 



            necessity  for  the  co-operation  of  non-health  board  professionals  was  emphasised.  As  the  title 

            implies, the focus was still heavily on physical abuse of children, with ‘nutritional deprivation’ and 

            ‘signs of general neglect’ merely cited as part of the ‘index of suspicion’ of NAI. The roles of the 



            55 Department of Health (1977) Memorandum on Non-Accidental Injury to Children, Dublin: Department of Health. 

            56 Greene, D (1979) ‘Legal Aspects of Non-accidental Injury to Children’. Administration, 27, 4, p 460. 

            57 Department of Health (1980) Guidelines on the Identification and Management of Non-Accidental Injury to Children. 



              Dublin: Department of Health. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  257 


----------------------- Page 2298-----------------------

            Directors of Community Care were more clearly defined as responsible for the management of 

            child abuse in their areas, representing a slight shift to the community from the hospital or clinical 

            setting  reflected  in  the  earlier  documents.  Recommended  procedures  for  the  investigation  of 

            reports,  and  the  ‘monitoring  and  co-ordination’  of  child  abuse  cases  were  outlined,  the  case 

            conference  retained  a  central  position  and  the  maintenance  of  a  ‘list’  of  suspected  and  actual 

            cases of non-accidental injury was again recommended. The rights to involvement of parents in 

            case conferences or decision making were not mentioned. Another set of guidelines with the same 

            title was published in 1983 with basically the same contents with slightly more detailed guidance 

            on the transfer of information and the role of the health boards in circulating the guidelines. Despite 

            the fact that there was some awareness amongst child protection services at that time of child 

            sexual abuse, it was not mentioned in the guidance.58 



4.27        A more radical change was evident in the next set of guidelines, issued in 1987. A name change 

            to  Child Abuse Guidelines signified a broadening out of the concept of child abuse from NAI to 

            encompass  sexual  as  well  as  physical  abuse.59           The  Irish  Council  for  Civil  Liberties  sponsored 



            report into child sexual abuse in Ireland in 1988 argued that: 



                   Discovery     of  child  sexual    abuse     as  a   major   problem     is  recent    in  Ireland,   as  it is 

                   internationally, and has developed rapidly. In 1983, the Irish Association of Social Workers 

                   hosted a pioneering workshop on child sexual abuse, from which a working party and the 

                   Incest  Crisis  Service      developed.  By  1985,  the  Rape  Crisis           Centres  were  identifying 

                   survivors of child sexual abuse as a major client group.60 



4.28        In recent years historians have explored the degree to which knowledge of the sexual abuse of 

            children was known in Ireland before the 1980s, in most cases examining the work of the Carrigan 

            Committee.  In  June  1930,  the  Government  appointed  a  committee  ‘to  consider  whether  the 

            following  Statutes  require  amendment  and,  if  so,  in  what  respect,  namely  the  Criminal  Law 

            Amendment Act, 1880, and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885 as modified by later Statutes, 

            and  to  consider  whether  any  new  legislation  is  feasible  to  deal  in  a  suitable  manner  with  the 

            problem of Juvenile Prostitution (that is prostitution under the age of 21).’61                 The Committee was 



            chaired    by   William   Carrigan,     KC   Perhaps     the   most    significant   submission      received    by   the 

            Committee was from the Garda Commissioner at the time, Eoin O’Duffy. O’Duffy reported on what 

            he viewed as general immorality of the country: 



                   an alarming aspect is the number of cases with interference with girls under 15, and even 

                   under 13 and under 11, which come before the courts. There are in most cases heard of 

                   accidentally  by  the  Garda,  and  are  very  rarely  the  result  of  a  direct  complaint.  It  is 

                   generally    agreed    that   reported    cases    do   not   exceed     15   percent    of  those    actually 

                   happening.62 



4.29        O’Duffy recommended that the Criminal Justice Amendment Act 1885 required revision. Noting 

            that there were 31 prosecutions for defilement of girls under 16 in Dublin City between 1924 and 

            1929, and that ‘offences on children between the ages of 9 and 16 are, unfortunately, increasing 



            58 Buckley, H (1996) ‘Child Abuse Guidelines in Ireland: For whose Protection?’ in H Ferguson and T McNamara (eds) 



               Protecting Irish Children: Investigation, Protection and Welfare. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration, pp 37-56. 

            59 For further information on the incorporation of child sexual abuse in child abuse guidelines, see Cooney, T and 



              Torode, R (1988) Report of the Child Sexual Abuse Working Party. Dublin: Irish Council for Civil Liberties and 

               McKeown, K and Gilligan, R (1991) ‘Child Sexual Abuse in the Eastern Health Board Region of Ireland in 1988: An 

              Analysis of 512 Confirmed Cases’. Economic and Social Review, 22, 2, 101-34. 

            60 Irish Council for Civil Liberties (1988) Report of the Child Sexual Abuse Working Party. Dublin: ICCL. p 12. 

            61 Similar Committees of Enquiry had been established in England/Wales and Scotland in 1925 and 1926 respectively 



              to examine similar concerns, see Smart, C (2000) ‘Reconsidering the Recent History of Child Sexual Abuse, 1910- 

               1960’. Journal of Social Policy, 29, 1, 55-72. A similar reconsideration of the extent of knowledge of child sexual 

               abuse is also evident in the UK. See for example, Jackson, LA (2000) Child Sexual Abuse in Victorian England. 

               London: Routledge and Davidson, R (2001) ‘“This Pernicious Delusion”: Law, Medicine, and Child Sexual Abuse in 

               Early-Twentieth-Century Scotland’. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 10, 1, 62-77. 

            62 NA H247/41a. p 2. 



            258                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2299-----------------------

             in the country’ and ‘cases have occurred recently in which children between 4 and 5 have been 

             interfered  with’, 63the  age  at  which  such  defilements  should  be  classed  as  a  felony  should  be 



             raised from 13 to 16. In addition, any attempt to commit this offence should be classed as a felony. 

             He also added that for any offences against girls under the age of 13, he strongly advised the 

             ‘cat’ be used and ‘not just a few strokes, but the most severe application the medical advisor will 

             permit, having regard only to the physical condition and health of the offender’.64The Committee 



             reported      in   August       1931,      and     made      21     recommendations,            broadly      endorsing       the 

             recommendations made by O’Duffy and others, including raising the age of consent to 18 and 

             extending the time period for commencing a prosecution.65 



4.30         The other notable change in the Guidelines was the emphasis on inter-agency cooperation, and 

             the clear identification of the roles of various professionals, such as the community care social 

             worker, public health nurse, the child psychiatrist and ‘others’ including teachers, day care staff 

             and residential staff. The role of the Director of Community Care in investigation and management 

             was given a strengthened position in comparison to the dominant role of hospital staff in previous 

             guidance. However, the emphasis was still on assaultive abuse and neither neglect nor emotional 

             abuse was given any specific or separate consideration. Physical abuse and sexual abuse were 

             described in terms of signs and symptoms rather than definitions, thus excluding contextual factors 

             such    as   intention     of  the   alleged     perpetrator,     the    age    differential    or  relationship      between 

             themselves and the victim, or the environment in which abuse occurred. 



4.31         Over  the  following  decade,  a  series  of  events  changed  the  public  perception  of  child  abuse 

             irrevocably,     both   in   terms    of  increasing      awareness       and    higher    expectations      of   a  range    of 



                                                                                                                                           66 

             professionals in the child protection network. What became known as the Kilkenny Incest case                                    , 

             the ‘X’ case67, the Kelly Fitzgerald68, the West of Ireland Farmer69  case, and the Fr Brendan Smith70 



             63 NA H247/41a. p 5. 

             64 NA H247/41a. p 2. 

             65 For further details see, Keogh, D (1994) Twentieth-Century Ireland: Nation and State. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, pp 



               71-3; Finnane, M (2001) ‘The Carrigan Committee of 1930-31 and the “moral condition of the Saorstat”’. Irish 

               Historical Studies, xxxii (128): 519-36; Kennedy, F (2000) ‘The Suppression of the Carrigan Report – A Historical 

               Perspective on Child Abuse’. Studies, 86 (356), 354-63; Luddy, M (2007) Prostitution and Irish Society, 1800-1940. 

                Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp 227-37; Maguire, MJ (2007) ‘The Carrigan Committee and Child Sexual 

               Abuse in twentieth-century Ireland’. New Hibernia Review, 11, 2, 79-100; McAvoy, S (1999) ‘The Regulation of 

               Sexuality in the Irish Free State, 1929-1935’ in Jones, G and Malcolm, E (eds). Medicine, Disease and the State in 

               Ireland, 1650-1940. Cork: Cork University Press. pp 253-66; Smith, JM (2004) ‘The Politics of Sexual Knowledge: The 

               Origins of Ireland's Containment Culture and “The Carrigan Report”’ (1931), Journal of the History of Sexuality, 13, 2, 

               208-33. Crowley, U and Kitchin, R (2008) ‘Producing “decent girls”: Governmentality and the Moral Geographies of 

               Sexual Conduct in Ireland (1922-1937)’. Gender, Place and Culture, 15, 4, 355-72. 

             66 South Eastern Health Board (1993) Kilkenny Incest Investigation – Report presented to Mr Brendan Howlin T.D. 



               Minister to Health by South Eastern Health Board, May 1993. Dublin: Stationery Office. This investigation concerned 

               the sexual and physical abuse of a young woman by her father over many years. The notoriety surrounding the case 

               arose out of media reports of the father’s trial and sentencing for incest. It became known that the health and social 

               services had had over 100 contacts with the family in the 13 years prior to the prosecution, during which time the 

               abuse had continued. The television coverage of the case included an interview with the young woman, known by the 

               pseudonym of ‘Mary’, in which she criticised the social worker involved. In the wake of further widespread 

               condemnation of the child care services, the Minister for Health announced a public inquiry, the first of its kind in 

                Ireland. The inquiry team, under the chairpersonship of a judge, Catherine McGuinness, reported after three months. 

               The report identified a number of deficiencies in both the child protection system, and in the professional activities of 

               the various practitioners involved, particularly in relation to poor inter-agency cooperation and weaknesses in 

               management. For Ferguson in his analysis of the investigation argued that ‘The case has heightened public 

               awareness, made child abuse into a political issue and increased expectations that such cases “won’t happen again”. 

               There is, of course, no guarantee that a “Kilkenny”-type case will not happen again. But if, or when, it does it is 

               doubtful that an inquiry will be as reluctant to criticise individual professionals and the relevant government 

               departments.’ See, Ferguson, H (1993-4) Child Abuse Inquiries and the Report of the Kilkenny Incest Investigation: A 

               Critical Analysis. Administration, Vol 41, No 4, p 406. 

             67 See Holden, W (1994) Unlawful Carnal Knowledge: The True Story of the Irish ‘X’ Case. London: Harper Collins and 



               Smyth, A (1993) ‘The “X” Case: Women and Abortion in the Republic of Ireland, 1992’. Feminist Legal Studies, 1, 2, 

                163-77. 

             68 Keenan, O (1996) Kelly: A Child is Dead. Interim Report of the Joint Committee on the Family. Dublin: Government 



               Publications Office. 



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----------------------- Page 2300-----------------------

             case  had  broadened  the  public  view  of  the  nature  and  prevalence  of  child  sexual  abuse,  but 

             concern  had  also  grown  about  emotional  abuse  and  neglect.  In  addition,  the  Madonna  House 

             Inquiry71   and  the  television  documentary  ‘Dear  Daughter’72                 had  combined  to  inform  the  public 

             about dimensions of institutional abuse.73               One long-standing member of the Irish Association of 



             Care Workers described the mood at the time amongst care workers a follows: 



                    In   my    17   years    experience       of  direct    work    in  child    care,   I  never     witnessed      such 

                    disappointment  and  despair  among  my  colleagues.  Since  the  Madonna  House  child 

                    sexual    abuse     scandal      broke    20   months      ago,   there    have    been     a  stream     of  further 

                    allegations  and  suggestions  of  allegations  against  care  staff,  in  various  care  centres 

                    around     the   country.     This   has    led   to  fear,   upset     and   anxiety     among      conscientious 

                    professional child care workers.74 



4.32         There  were  also  the  beginnings  of  concern  about  the  potentially  intrusive  character  of  child 

             protection work and a growing awareness that early intervention of a more supportive and less 

             forensic  nature  would  provide  a  more  effective  means  of  assisting  vulnerable  families,  thus 

             lessening the potential for future harm.75 



4.33         During the same decade, the aforementioned Child Care Act 1991 had been implemented, and 

             the  services  operated  by  the  health  boards  in  respect  of  children  had  been  restructured.  In 

             addition,  the  Irish  Catholic  Bishops  also  produced  a  framework  for  responding  to  child  sexual 

             abuse  by  priests  and  religious  in  1996.76          The  question  of  introducing  mandatory  reporting  had 



             been  raised  and  dropped,  and  the  responsibility  for  the  management  of  child  abuse  was  re- 

             assigned from the medical directors of community care (whose posts were abolished) to the newly 



             69 See, McKay, S (1998) Sophia’s Story. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan and Sgroi, SM (1999) ‘The McColgan case: 



                Increasing Public Awareness of Professional Responsibility for Protecting Children from Physical and Sexual Abuse in 

               the Republic of Ireland’. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 8, 1, 113-27. Sophia McColgan's father, Joseph McColgan, 

               was convicted in 1995 of raping and abusing his children over a 20-year period which only ended in 1993. McColgan, 

               dubbed 'the West of Ireland farmer', was sentenced to 12 years in prison. 

             70 See Moore, C (1995) Betrayal of Trust: The Father Brendan Smyth Affair and the Catholic Church: Dublin: Marino 



                Books. Smyth, a member of the Norbertine Order, who died of natural causes in the Curragh prison in August 1997, 

               was sentenced to 12 years in jail having pleaded guilty to 74 charges of indecent and sexual assault committed over 

               a period of 35 years. He had previously served three years in jail in Northern Ireland for 43 similar offences. 

                Ferguson in a critical analysis of the popularisation of the ‘Paedophile Priest’ has argued that ‘The intense focus on 

               the sexuality of priests constitutes a selective response to recent disclosures of sexual abuse which not only raise 

                issues for the church, but serious questions about men, masculinity, the family, sexuality, and organisations. In 

               constructing the debate in terms of clerical celibacy and the “paedophile priest”, attention is deflected from the 

               fundamental issue that men from all social backgrounds commit such crimes of violence and are policed by a range 

               of organisations that are male dominated.’ Ferguson, H (1995) ‘The Paedophile Priest: A Deconstruction’. Studies, 

               84, 335, 247-56. 

             71 Report on the Inquiry into the Operation of Madonna House. (1996) Dublin: Department of Health. Madonna House 



               was opened on 20th January 1955 on the request of the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr McQuaid, and managed by the 

                Irish Sisters of Charity. It closed in 1995. 

             72 This documentary detailed the recollections of a former pupil in St Vincent’s Industrial School in Dublin during the 



                1950s (more commonly known as Goldenbridge). Inglis has argued that ‘The story of Goldenbridge is really a story of 

               the power of the media in Irish society and how it has become a dominant player in every social field. It demonstrates 

               the ability of the media, particularly television, to change the language and the stories about nuns and the Church 

               and thereby to shatter the myth which had been established. The ongoing, unquestioned, predisposition through 

               which the nuns were perceived, known and understood was broken. The documentary reflected the demise of the 

                Church’s ability to have only good stories told about itself.’ Inglis, T (1998) Moral Monopoly: The Rise and Fall of the 

                Catholic Church in Modern Ireland. Dublin: UCD Press, pp 229-30. 

             73 For an overview of aspects of the consequences of institutional sexual abuse in an Irish context, see O’Riordan, M 



               and Arensman, E (2007) Institutional Child Sexual Abuse and Suicidal behaviour: Outcomes of a Literature Review, 

                Consultation Meetings and a Qualitative Study. Dublin: National Suicide Research Foundation. 

             74 Dolan, P (1995) ‘Innocent but never exonerated! Guilty but never caught!’ Irish Social Worker, 13, 1, p 11. 

             75 Buckley, H, Skehill, C and O’Sullivan, E (1997) Child Protection Practices in Ireland: A Case Study. Dublin: Oak Tree 



                Press; Ferguson, H and O’Reilly, M (2001) Keeping Children Safe: Child Abuse, Child Protection and the Promotion 

                of Welfare, Dublin: A & A Farmar. 

             76 Report of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Advisory Committee on Child Sexual Abuse by Priests and Religious (1996) 



                Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response. Dublin: Veritas. 



             260                                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2301-----------------------

            created   posts    of  child  care   manager      in  each    community      care   area.77  Additional    posts   of 



            ‘community  child  care  worker’  and  ‘family  support  worker’  had  been  added  to  community  care 

            teams. It was in this context that Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection & Welfare 

            of Children were developed by a multi-disciplinary working group appointed by the Junior Minister 

           with responsibility for Health and Children and published by the Department of Health and Children 

            in 1999. A protocol had been published by the Department of Health in 1995 outlining the steps 

                                                  ´ 

            to be taken by An Garda Siochana and the health board when notifying each other of suspected 

                                             ´ 

            child sexual abuse and this was incorporated into Children First, along with broader definitions of 

            child  abuse  which  was  now  classified  into  four  types:  neglect,  emotional  abuse  (including  the 

           witnessing of domestic violence), physical abuse and sexual abuse, each of which was explicitly 

            defined  within  a  broad  context.  Children  First included  a  section  on  family  support,  which  was 

            recommended  for  early  intervention  into  cases  where  harm  to  a  child  had  not  reached  the 

            ‘abuse’ threshold. 



4.34        The guidance offered in the document went beyond identification and investigation to overall case 

            management  which  included  assessment,  planning,  intervention  and  review.  Unlike  previous 

            guidelines,  Children First was underpinned by a set of principles which included participation by 

            parents/carers and children  in conferences and the  development of child protection  plans. The 

            ‘list’ mentioned in earlier guidelines was restructured into the Child Protection Notification System 

           which was to be managed by a multi-disciplinary group of professionals. 



4.35        Recognition was given to groups of particularly vulnerable children including those in out of home 

            care, those with disabilities and those who were homeless. Acknowledgement of the potential for 

            abuse  by  persons  in  the  caring  professions  was  indicated  by  a  section  on  the  steps  to  take  if 

            allegations were made against employees or volunteers within a service. Children First stated that 

            it was intended to provide ‘overarching’ guidance, but that local areas and organisations providing 

            services to children and families would be expected to produce policies and guidelines tailored to 

            their own context. The provision of child protection training to a broad range of disciplines was 

            identified as  compulsory, and all  health board staff  were declared eligible  to receive reports  of 

            concerns about children. Children First also recommends the establishment of local and regional 

            child protection committees who would hold a monitoring role in relation to the operation of the 

            guidelines. 



4.36       While    Children  First  was  officially  ‘launched’  in  October  1999,  its  implementation  status  has 

            remained unclear up to the present time. ‘Implementation officers’ were appointed in each health 

            board   area.   A   National    Implementation      Group    (later  renamed      the  National    Implementation 

           Advisory Group, was formed and in addition, the Health Board Executive Agency set up a Children 

            First  Resource  Team  which  issued  guidance  on  assessment  and  the  operation  of  the  Child 

            Protection Notification System. Both these groups were disbanded in 2003, despite the fact that 

            the guidelines had not been fully implemented on a national basis. Training officers and advice 

            and information officers were appointed, the latter post carrying responsibility for liaising with and 

            providing Children First training for community and voluntary organisations. The Social Services 

            Inspectorate published a report in 2003 which reviewed the implementation process, and while it 

           was  generally  positive  about  the  advancement  that  had  been  made,  it  noted  that  progress  in 

            relation to Garda/health board cooperation, the child protection committees and planning for family 

            support services was inadequate. Problems of staff retention were identified, as well as a lingering 

            tendency  for  individual  health  boards  to  use  their  own  discretion  about  how  to  implement  the 

            guidelines. 



4.37        The  publication  of    Children  First  was  quickly  followed  by  a  succession  of  tailored  guidance 

            documents produced by the Irish Sports Council, the Department of Education and Science and 



            77 Department of Health (1997) Putting Children First: Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Children. Dublin: 



              Government Publications. 



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            the Catholic Church, to name a few. Guidance for the voluntary and community sector was also 

            produced  and  all  of  the  former  were  designed  to  comply  with  the  overarching  principles  and 

            practices of Children First. Reported concerns about children increased exponentially from 243 in 

            1978 to 21,040 in 2006, with the highest number of reports in the ‘neglect’ category, followed by 

            the child sexual abuse category. Reflecting the ever-widening pool of concerns about children, 

            the HSE now reclassified concerns of a less serious nature as ‘welfare’ reports which, in 2006, 

            accounted for over half of the reports made to the system. While the definition of ‘welfare’ is not 

            specified in guidance, it is assumed that these reports were considered to constitute situations 

            that  warranted  a  non-investigative  family  support  response.  The  HSE  Review  of  Adequacy  of 

            Child     and     Family     Services      2006      identified    factors     linked     to   ‘welfare’     including 

            emotional/behavioural  problems  in  children,  substance  abuse,  involvement  in  crime,  disability, 

            mental illness, domestic violence and parental inability to cope. 



4.38        When  the  Government  launched  Children  First  in  1999,  it  made  a  commitment  to  review  and 

            evaluate the effectiveness of the guidelines within a reasonable time frame. No such review had 

            occurred up to the publication of the Ferns Inquiry78  in 2005, but in his response to the report, the 



            then  Minister  for  Children,  Mr  Brian  Lenihan  TD,  undertook  to  conduct  a  review  of  national 

            compliance      with  the   guidelines.    To   this   end,   advertisements      were    placed    in  the   national 

            newspapers inviting interested parties to comment on Children First, meetings were held with key 

            stakeholders and Secretary Generals of government departments and a study was commissioned 

            to explore the views of service users. Responses to the consultation process indicated that while 

            there were difficulties and variations in practice around the country, there was general satisfaction 

            with the contents of  Children First and that most of the obstacles to their implementation were 

            concerned      with   local   operations     and    infrastructures     rather   than    the   guidelines     per   se. 

            Recommendations from the review suggested that revised guidelines should spell out more clearly 

            the roles of different government departments in protecting children and promoting their welfare 

            and require each public body to produce relevant policies and procedures. Measures to reduce 

            re-offending were also proposed, including Garda vetting. The review noted current difficulties for 

            members of the public and professionals in accessing the system in order to report concerns and 

            suggested measures to alleviate this situation. Methods to quality assure practices in the different 

            areas, early intervention and the establishment of local and regional structures to support the child 

            protection services were also suggested.79            The service users’ study focused more generally on 



            the child protection system but questioned the usefulness of the use of the ‘inconclusive’ category 

            as  an  outcome  of  investigation  given  the  difficulties  that  it  caused.  It  also  recommended  the 

            adoption  of  a  differential  response  to  reported  concerns  about  children.80          The  Ombudsman  for 



            Children  also  raised  concern  about  the  implementation  of              Children  First  in  November  2008 

            following a number of complaints to her office, and she announced an investigation into HSE child 

            protection practices in that regard. 



            Summary 



4.39        The issues highlighted above, the age of criminal responsibility, the inspection of children’s homes, 

            the shift from residential care to family based services, repealing the Children Act 1908 and the 

            unification and co-ordination of childcare services were all core recommendations of the Report 

            of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ Systems in 1970. They were 

            of course, not the only issues that concerned the Committee, as the discussion on child protection 

            guidelines above testifies, but they provide an indication of the slow pace of progress in achieving 



            78 In March 2003 the Minister for Health and Children announced the establishment of the Inquiry into the handling of 



              allegations of child sex abuse in the Diocese of Ferns. See Murphy, F, Buckley, H and Joyce, L (2005) The Ferns 

              Report: Presented to the Minister for Health and Children. Dublin: Stationery Office and Crowe, C (2008) The Ferns 

              Report: Vindicating the Abused Child. Eire-Ireland, 43, 1&2, 50-73. 

            79 Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (2008) National Review of Compliance with Children First: 



              National Guidelines for the Protection & Welfare of Children. 

            80 Buckley, H, Whelan, S, Carr, N and Murphy, C (2008) Services Users’ Perceptions of the Irish Child Protection 



              System. Dublin: Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. 



            262                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2303-----------------------

            the recommendations. It is evident that broad agreement on many of the issues highlighted in the 

            aforementioned Report was achieved in the decade between 1965 and 1975, and it was in the 

             implementation of change that blockages were encountered. Prior to the publication, and indeed 

            establishment, of the Committee to Enquire into the Reformatory and Industrial Schools System, 

             in  addition    to   the   well-known      Tuairim     Report,     a  number      of   other    significant    reports    and 

            commentary  were  circulated  that,  in  part,  anticipated  and  addressed  concerns  that  were  to  be 

             highlighted in the report of the Committee. Therefore, in understanding the context in which the 

             Reformatory       and    Industrial    School     Systems      report    was    compiled      and    the   basis    for  their 

             recommendations,  a  brief  overview  of  these  reports  and  commentaries  are  presented.  Before 

            doing so, however, the paper provides an overview of the data on children in care from the 1960s 

            to present, to place the policy debates in context. 



            Section 2: Trends in child welfare in Ireland, 1960-2006 



            Introduction 



4.40         In this section of the paper, a broad overview of the number of children in substitute care is firstly 

             provided, before exploring in more detail the numbers of children in different forms of residential 

                   81 

            care.      From    the   foundation      of  the  Irish   State,   the   numbers      of  children    in  alternative    care, 

             particularly residential care, were relatively high with upwards of 12,000 children in care in the 

                     82 During the mid-1950s, the numbers in alternative care dropped rapidly and by the end 

             1950s. 

            of the 1960s there were just over 1,200 children boarded-out or at nurse and approximately 3,000 

             in various forms of residential care. The numbers began to rise again from the early 1970s. From 

            the late 1980s, the numbers in substitute care began to rise again, with just over 5,000 children 

             in substitute care, but what is notable is that the majority of children are now in foster care rather 

            than residential care, as was the case until the early 1980s.83                     As shown in figure 184, the trend 



            towards the decline in the number of children in care (defined as children in various forms of foster 

            care and residential care) continued throughout the early to mid-1970s, but increased somewhat 

             in the late 1970s.85  A decline was evident again in the early 1980s, but the number of children in 



            care  has  been  rising  steadily  since  the  mid-1980s,  with  currently  over  5,000  children  in  State 

            care. 



            81 Data for this section of the are culled from two primary sources: The Annual Statistical Report of the Department of 



               Education which are available from the 1920s and the Department of Health Surveys of Children in the Care of 

               Health Boards which commenced in 1978. 

            82 The Department of Education in reviewing the organisation of Reformatory and Industrial Schools in 1927 compared 



               the numbers of children in such schools in England and concluded that a key reason why so many children in Ireland 

               were placed in Industrial Schools was that: ‘whereas in Britain the Industrial School is almost entirely a school for the 

                                                    ´ 

               conviction of delinquents in Saorstat Eireann it is mainly a camouflaged Poor Law School and that it has since the 

               beginning of the century tended more and more to this use so that now it contains a much greater number of children 

               who normally would be in Poor Law Institutions than the latter institutions themselves. The contrast with Great Britain 

               in this respect is very remarkable and one of the tasks of any Commission set up to enquire into the Industrial School 

               system here would be to report as to whether it would not be more desirable that all children who have to be 

               supported by rates or taxes because of destitution should not be dealt with in this way.’ 

            83 This trend was not unique to Ireland. For example, in the USA, the number of children in institutional care fell from 



               144,000 in 1933 to 43,000 in 1977. See Jones, MB (1993) ‘Decline of the American Orphanage, 1941-1980’. Social 

               Service Review, 67, 459-80. In England and Wales, the numbers of children in residential care declined 35,000 in the 

               mid-1950s to 13,300 in 1991. Butler, I and Drakeford, M (2003) Scandal, Social Policy and Social Welfare. Bristol: 

               Policy Press. 

            84 This figure excludes other forms of care such as pre-adoptive placements, those at home under care orders, 



               supported lodgings and other ad-hoc arrangements to facilitate the time series. 

            85 This apparent increase may be a result of a change in the method for recording children in care, see below for further 



               details. 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                         263 


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                                                 Figure 1: Children in care, 1970-2006 



                              Figure 2: Children in care, 1970-2006 per 1,000 children under 18 



4.41        Figure 2 shows this trend per 1,000 children under 18, highlighting that the increase in children in 

            care was not driven by broader demographic trends alone. The rate per 1,000 children increased 

            from two to over four children in care per 1,000 children under 18 from the late 1980s to 2006.86 



            Figure 3 provides a time series on the number of children in residential care in units under the 

            operational     and    legislative   ambit    of  the   Department       of  Health    and    Children/Health      Service 

            Executive  and  the  Department  of  Education  and  Science.  It  shows  a  very  dramatic  decline  in 

            numbers from approximately 2,200 children in 1970 to just over 400 in 2006.87                          As noted above, 



            while the overall number of children in care grew from the mid-1980s onwards, the type of care 

            placement shifted decisively from residential care to foster care. By 1980, as shown in figure 4, 

            there  were  slightly  more  children  in  foster  care  than  residential  care;  in  contrast,  currently  84 

            percent of all children in care are in foster care (including relative care).88 



            86 Although cross-national comparisons are fraught with difficulties, the rate in Ireland is lower than the rate in England 



               which was over five children per 1,000 population in 2006, but which had declined from a rate of nearly eight in the 

               early 1980s. See Rowlands, J and Statham, J (2009) ‘Numbers of Children Looked After in England: A Historical 

               Analysis’. Child and Family Social Work, 14, 1, 79-89. 

            87 This figure excludes other forms of care such as pre-adoptive placements, at home under care orders, supported 



               lodgings and other ad-hoc arrangements to facilitate the time series. The majority of these placements appear to be 

               separated children seeking asylum. 

            88 These national figures conceal considerable variations by health board area. For further details on foster care in 



               Ireland, see Gilligan, R (1990) ‘Foster Care for Children in Ireland: Issues and Challenges for the 1990s’. Dublin: 

               Department of Social Studies, Trinity College Dublin; Gilligan, R (1996) ‘The Foster care Experience in Ireland: 

               Findings from a Postal Survey’. Child: Care, Health and Development, 22,2, 85-98; Horgan, R (2002) ‘Foster Care in 

               Ireland’. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 3, 1, 30-50; Daly, F and Gilligan, R (2005) Lives in Foster Care – The 

               Educational and Social Support Experiences of Young People Aged 13-14 years in Long Term Foster Care. Dublin: 

               Children's Research Centre. 



            264                                                                                                CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                                        Figure 3: Residential care in Ireland, 1970-2006 



4.42        To put it another way, while the overall numbers of children in care have increased, the role of 

            residential care has moved from a position of dominance in the provision of alternative childcare 

            in Ireland to now being a residualised and specialised service.89 



               Figure 4: Children in residential care as a percentage of all children in residential and 

                                                         foster care, 1970-2006 



            Industrial Schools and Residential Homes 



4.43        As shown in figure 5, and outlined in greater detail later in the paper, the terminology for what 

            were reformatory and industrial schools changed over the period in question and figure 6 plots 

            both  the  closure  and  opening  of  schools  over  that  same  period.  Although  for  administrative 

            purposes, the terms reformatory and industrial schools were abandoned, it was not until 1st March 

            2007 that the relevant sections of the Children Act 2001 were enacted, formally abolishing the 

            term Reformatory and Industrial School. Figure 6 highlights the closure of more than 20 schools 

            between 1960 and 1970. 



            89 While this section of the paper provides an overview of the number of children in the care system based on 



              administrative data, relatively few studies have supplemented this secondary data with primary data. Notable 

              exceptions in respect of residential care not already cited include: Craig, S, Donnellan, M, Graham, G and Warren, A 

              (1998) ‘Learn to Listen’: The Irish Report of a European Study on Residential Child Care. Dublin: DIT; Edmond, R 

              (2002) Learning from their Lessons: Study of Young People in Residential Care and their Experiences of Education. 

              Dublin: Children’s Research Centre; Fahey-Bates, B (1996) Aspects of Childhood Deviancy: A Study of Young 

              Offenders in Open Centres in the Republic of Ireland. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Education, University 

              College Dublin. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                 265 


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                             Figure 5: Changes in titles of care institutions, 1960-2005 



                           Figure 6: Industrial Schools and Residential Homes, 1960-83 



4.44      Figures  7  through   10  below  represent   available data  on  children  in Industrial Schools   and 

          Residential Homes on 30th June of each year from 1970 to 1983. Responsibility for the majority 

          of the homes listed above transferred to the Department of Health at the beginning of 1984, an 

          issue that is dealt with at greater length later, thus the end date of 1983 for his data. Overall there 

          has been a slight decrease in the number of children in such institutions, with girls representing a 

          smaller proportion of their population each year as shown in figure 7 below. 



          266                                                                               CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2307-----------------------

           Figure 7: Children in care in Industrial Schools and Residential Homes by gender, stock 

                                                     figures 1970-83 



4.45      As shown in figure 8, there has been a substantial decline in the number of children committed 

          through the courts to Industrial Schools and Residential Homes from over 1,000 in 1970 to less 

          than 200 in 1983; this seems to explain most of the decrease in the number of children entering 

          this  type  of  care.  The  Health  Acts  remained  a  key  mechanism  for  committing  a  considerable 

          number of children. 



              Figure 8: Children in Industrial Schools and Residential Home by legal basis, stock 

                                                     figures 1970-83 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                 267 


----------------------- Page 2308-----------------------

4.46        Figures  9  and    10  shows  the  main       grounds  of  committal  and  discharge         modes  for  children 

            incarcerated in Industrial Schools and Residential Homes from 1960 to 1983. There are significant 

           gaps in information in both these figures due to the fact that statistics were not broken down by 

            Industrial Schools vs Reformatories during the years 1971 to 1977 inclusive. Between 1960 and 

            1970 most children were committed due to destitution or a lack of proper guardianship with smaller 

            numbers being committed due to school non-attendance or indictable offences; however, by the 

           time the statistics are available once more in 1978, the numbers of children being committed to 

           such institutions was in the single digits, often numbering less than five. 



               Figure 9: Children in care in Industrial Schools and Residential Homes by grounds of 

                                                 committal, stock figures 1960-83 



4.47        Figure 10 shows that the majority of children discharged from Industrial Schools and Residential 

            Homes were released either into employment or back into the custody of their parents.90                   However 



           once again, a sizeable portion of data is missing and by the time statistics are available again in 

            1978 children were either being released to their parents or being retained in care for the purposes 

           of further education. 



           90 The category ‘Returned to parents or friends’ is a sum of the three categories ‘Returned to Parents or Friends’, 



              ‘Returned to parents or guardians for employment’, and ‘Returned to parents or friends for further education’. 



           268                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2309-----------------------

               Figure 10: Children in care in Industrial Schools and Residential Homes by discharge 

                                                              mode, 1960-83 



            Reformatories and Special Schools for young offenders 



4.48        The    following     sections     presents      statistics    related    to   the    detention      of   children     in 

            Reformatories/Special Schools for young offenders. As can be seen from figure 11 below such 

            schools have often had a haphazard history, opening, closing, and changing names or locations. 

            The institutions initially designated as Special Schools were: St Joseph’s, Limerick (Reformatory 

            School  for  girls)91;  St  Anne’s,  Kilmacud,  Dublin  (Reformatory  School  for  girls);  St  Conleth’s, 



            Daingean, County Offaly (Reformatory School for boys); St Joseph’s, Letterfrack, County Galway 

            (Industrial School for boys)92; St Joseph’s, Clonmel, County Tipperary (Industrial School for boys); 

            St Laurences, Finglas, Dublin (Industrial School for boys).93 



4.49        The Daingean Reformatory School for Boys, ceased its function on 9th November 197394  and was 



            replaced by Scoil Ard Mhuire, Lusk, County Dublin, which was certified as a Reformatory School 

            on 30th January 1974.95         On  4th October 1983 the Provincial of the Oblate  Order informed the 



            Department of Education that it was the intention of the Order to withdraw from the management 

            of the school within 12 months. The Department made inquiries to ascertain whether any other 

            religious  Order  wished  or  were  in  a  position  to  replace  the  Oblates  and  were  informed  by  the 

            Education  Secretariat  of  the  Diocese  of  Dublin  that  no  other  religious  Order  was  available  to 

            replace the Oblates. Scoil Ard Mhuire ceased to operate as a certified Reformatory School with 

            effect  from  31st  August  1985,  thus  ending  the  involvement  of  the  Order  with  the  running  of 

            Reformatory      Schools     in  Ireland,   which    commenced,       with   the   certification   of  the   Glencree 

            Reformatory in County Wicklow, on 12th April 1859. 



            91 This School closed in the school year 1975-76. 

            92 This school closed in June 1974. 

            93 Opened 14th January 1972. 

            94 For further information on the Daingean Reformatory School, see McLaughlin, K (1987) The History of Irish 



              Reformatory Schools, 1858-1970. Unpublished Msc in Education, School of Education, Trinity College Dublin. 

            95 As Osborough has noted, this site ‘ was close to the very place where Walter Crofton planned to establish the first 



              reformatory school in Ireland in the late 1850s’. Osborough, N (1974) ‘The Penal System in Ireland – 2’. Irish Times, 

              3rd January p 12. 



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4.50        Trinity House School first opened on 14th February 1983 as a secure unit to cater for young male 

            offenders between the ages of 12 and 16 on admission. This was the first Reformatory School to 

            be managed directly by the Department of Education. The first four boys were transferred from 

            Loughan House, Blacklion, County Cavan on 24th March 1983, a reformatory school managed 

            by the Department of Justice which was certified on 4th October, 1978, and were soon followed 

            by  another nine  from the  same facility  the following  month. With  the opening  of Trinity  House, 

            Loughan House closed as a Reformatory and re-opened as a semi-open prison for adults. On 

            23rd July 1984, St Ann's Reformatory ceased to be certified at the request of the Sisters of Our 

            Lady of Charity of Refuge, who ran the home since it opened in May 1944,96                            and Cuan Mhuire, 

             Whitehall, Dublin (Reformatory School for girls) was opened.97                   Cuan Mhuire in turn closed in the 



            school     year   1990/91      and   was    replaced     by    Oberstown      Girls   Centre,     Lusk,    County     Dublin 

            (Reformatory School and Remand and Assessment Unit for Females). In the school year 1991, a 

            further new school was opened in Oberstown; this was  Oberstown Boys Centre, Lusk, County 

            Dublin (Reformatory School and Place of Detention for males).98                       In the school year 1999-2000, 



            St Laurence’s and St Michael’s were merged into the Finglas Children’s Centre and is now known 

            as the Finglas Child and Adolescent Centre. 



            96 The origins of the School lay in the early 1940s, when the Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, wrote to the 



               Department of Education seeking to establish a reformatory school to ‘receive girls under 17 who either (1) are 

               convicted of legal sexual offences or (2) are placed in dangerous surroundings and have marked tendencies towards 

               sexual immorality’. The Department noted that it was possible to place girls in either category in Industrial Schools, 

               provided they were less than 15 years of age. However, for those aged between 15 and 17, committal to a 

               reformatory school was only possible if the girl had been convicted for soliciting keeping a brothel, procuring for a 

               prostitute, and being a reputed prostitute and loitering in a public place for the purpose of prostitution. However, the 

               number of girls convicted for those offences was small. Based on figures supplied by the Department of Justice, the 

               Department of Education noted that over 80 girls were defiled annually. The Department of Education classified such 

               girls into three categories. ‘(1) girls who live in surroundings which could not be considered as bad; (2) girls who live 

               in surroundings which conduce to their downfall; and (3) girls who might be described as prostitutes.’ The Department 

               was of the view that girls in categories 2 and 3 were in need of committal to a suitable institution, but rarely were so 

               placed. Up to the early 1940s, the primary method of dealing with young girls, either convicted of a sexual offence, or 

               deemed to be sexually aware, was to place them in the only Girl’s Reformatory, St Joseph’s in Limerick, run by the 

               Sisters of the Good Shepherd. However, in a number of cases, the manager of the school, believing that such girls 

               were not amendable to reformation, placed them in one of the Magdalene Homes run by the same Congregation. 

               From the early 1940s, the Good Shepherd nuns started to refuse to accept any girl believed to be tainted with sexual 

               immorality. The main reason behind this decision was to force the Department of Education to provide them with 

               funding for a second reformatory school, which would cater exclusively for such girls. However, when the Department 

               of Education decided to establish such a school, it was the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Refuge who were 

               entrusted with the management. This new school was the St Anne’s Reformatory school for girls, which although 

               established in the mid-1940s, was only legislated for in 1949, under the Children (Amendment) Act 1949. 

            97 Cuan Mhuire was owned by the Irish Federation of the Sisters of Charity of our Lady of Refuge. The building was 



               originally constructed as a group home in 1997 and ceased that function in 1982. 

            98 For further information on the legal status of these schools and the categories of children that were eligible for 



               admittance, see Ring, ME (1991) ‘Custodial Treatment for Young Offenders’. Irish Criminal Law Journal, 1, 1, pp 59- 

               67. 



            270                                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2311-----------------------

                     Figure 11: Reformatories and Special Schools for young offenders, 1960-2005 



4.51        Over the past 35 years there has been a substantial decrease in the number of children held in 

            Reformatories and Special Schools. Figure 12 below shows this decline from a peak of just over 

            250 in 1971 to less than 100 in 2005.99  Also visible is the fact that historically, Reformatories and 



            Special  Schools,  unlike  Industrial  Schools,  confined  significantly  more  boys  than  girls,  a  trend 

            which has continued into the present day. 



            99 In March 2008, the Government approved the development of new national children detention facilities on the 



               Oberstown campus. The Government decision was informed by the report of the expert group on children detention 

               schools. The development will increase the accommodation capacity in the detention school service from 77 to 167 

               places and will be carried out in phases. There are already three detention schools on the site and the proposed 

               development will involve the demolition of some existing buildings on site and the retention of others but will consist 

               mainly of newly constructed facilities. After the design of the new facilities has been completed during 2009, a 

               tendering process will be undertaken to progress the construction element of the project, the first phase of which is 

               estimated for completion in 2012. This will provide 80 places to accommodate 16- and 17-year-old boys in order to 

               remove this age group from St Patrick’s Institution and to facilitate the transfer of boys from the existing Oberstown 

               boys school buildings. The second phase, which is envisaged for completion in 2014, will entail the demolition of the 

               buildings currently housing Oberstown boy’s school and the long-term unit of Oberstown girl’s school, as well as 

               several other buildings. This phase will also involve the construction of facilities for 57 young people. Some of the 

               existing buildings, including Trinity House School, will be retained, providing a total of 167 places when both stages of 

               the project are completed. Expert Group on Children Detention Schools (2007). Final Report. Dublin: Department of 

               Justice, Equality and Law Reform. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                      271 


----------------------- Page 2312-----------------------

             Figure 12: Children in care in Reformatories and Special Schools, stock figures, 1970- 

                                                            2005 



4.52      According  to  the  Department  of  Education  Statistical  Report  for  1977-78,  previous  to  1978  all 

          statistics  relating to  children   entering  Residential   Homes     and   Special   Schools   (formerly 

          Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools)  were  only  supplied  for  children  ‘committed’  by  the  courts. 

          From   1978  onwards     more   detailed  statistics are provided  on   the  mechanism  for    admission 

          including  ‘voluntary’,  ‘on  remand’  and  various  ‘Health  Acts(s)’.  Voluntary  only  appears  as  a 

          category for Special Schools for two years (1977-78 and 1978-79). To aid in the interpretation of 

          figure 13 below, statistics for children committed ‘voluntarily’ have been included along with those 

          for  children  being  held  ‘on  remand’.  These  totals  for  1970-74  are  year-end  totals  (with  the 

          exception of 1974 which is for 30th September 1974); from 1975 onwards they are totals at 30th 

          June of that year. What is most obvious from the figures below is the extensive decrease in the 

          number  of  children  committed  to  Reformatories  and  Special  Schools  through  the  courts  and 

          through the Health Acts. 



          272                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2313-----------------------

               Figure 13: Children in care in Reformatories and Special Schools by legal basis, stock 

                                                              figures, 1970-2005 



4.53        In  1978  the  grounds  of  committal  or  ‘circumstances’  under  which  children  were  committed  to 

            Special  Schools  and  Residential  Homes  were  changed  to  include  indictable  offences,  school 

            attendance,  and  lack  of  proper  guardianship.  As  shown  in  figure  14,  since  1978,  indictable 

            offences has been the dominant reason for which children were committed to such institutions.100 



            100 O’Sullivan provides one of the few accounts of the understanding that children committed to an Industrial school 



                (Letterfrack) had of the process that led to their committal. He argues that those he interviewed ‘repeatedly defined 

                the location of their prosecution and committal as a court of law – the fact that it has held in a special building or a 

                special room, on a different day or at a different time from the regular court sessions had no significance for them. 

                Their interpretation had a stark reality: they had been apprehended by the police and had appeared in court; their 

                committal had been the responsibility of the prosecuting police than of the Justice; they had been sentenced rather 

                than committed; in short their interpretation was a reflection of the adult criminal process of the adult criminal 

                process of apprehension, sentencing and incarceration.’ O'Sullivan, D (1977) ‘The Administrative Processing of 

                Children in Care: Some Sociological Findings’. Administration, 25, 3, p 428. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                        273 


----------------------- Page 2314-----------------------

            Figure 14: Children in care in Reformatories and Special Schools by circumstances under 

                                    which child was committed, stock figures, 1978-2005 



4.54        Similar  to  children  incarcerated  in  Industrial  Schools  and  Residential  Homes,  figure  15  below 

            shows that children in reformatories and Special Schools generally have been released back into 

           the custody of their parents or guardians101. However, a significant number of children have also 



            been discharged directly to detention centres, and since 2003 a small number of children have 

            also been sent directly to the care of the Prison Service (seven children in 2005). 



            101 The category ‘Returned to parents or friends’ is a sum of the three categories ‘Returned to Parents or Friends’, 



               ‘Returned to parents or guardians for employment’, and ‘Returned to parents or friends for further education’. 



            274                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2315-----------------------

            Figure 15: Children in care in Reformatories and Special Schools by mode of discharge, 

                                                     stock figures, 1978-2005 



           Foster and residential care 



4.55       The  following  section  is  based  upon  the  Department  of  Health  reports  from  1978  to  2005  on 

           children in care. These reports vary from year to year in whether they record data on the number 

           of  children  in  care  on  a  given  day  (stock),  the  number  of  children  who  were  admitted  to  care 

           during the year (flow), or a combination of these two types of data. Reports for the years 1978 to 

           1981 only recorded information on children either coming into care or those who were already in 

           care; it is only from 1982 onwards that stock data is available, providing information on children 

           in care on 31st December of the year. Data on children admitted to various types of care (foster, 

           residential,  etc.)  are  often  not  disaggregated  by  key  variables  such  as  gender  or  age  in  any 

           consistent manner (or sometimes not at all). Further complicating matters is the fact that there 

           are  no  available  reports  on  children  in  care  for  the  years  1986-88,  1993-95  or  1997.  This  is 

           particularly  regrettable  given  the  fact  that  significant  shifts  in  the  provision  of  care  for  children 

           occurred during these junctures. For example, the total number of children in state care began to 

           rise in the early 1980s and again saw a sharp increase in the mid-1990s. A move away from the 

           use  of  residential  care  and  towards  foster  care  also  seemed  to  occur  during  these  three-year 

           interludes as well; however, the lack of any data during this time means that our ability to make 

           inferences as to why such changes possibly took place is inherently limited. 



4.56       Furthermore, even when a report is available the data it is not always comprehensive. For example 

           in the 1978 Department of Health Report on children coming into care there is no information on 

           287  children  of  unmarried  mothers  awaiting  adoption  who  were  admitted  to  St  Patrick's  Home 

           during the year 1978 (p 3). Nor does the report include reasons for admission for 192 children 

           who were under supervision ‘at nurse’ in the Eastern Health Board. 



4.57       The following section attempts to overcome these limits in available data and roughly map the 

           changes in provision of childcare in relation to factors such as type of care, gender, and reason 

           for admission and type of care order. Where possible the most up-to-date categories used by the 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             275 


----------------------- Page 2316-----------------------

           Department of Health are used in order to provide a sense of continuity over time. Where this has 

           not   been   possible,   older   and   now   abandoned      categories    have   been    recoded    in a  logically 

           consistent fashion in order to correspond with the newer categories. Unfortunately, such recoding 

           was not always possible and many figures consist of a range of categories used from year to year 

           making for cumbersome interpretations of the collated data; however, it is also emblematic of the 

           inconsistency of the recording (or non-recording as often is the case) of such data on children in 

           alternative forms of care. 



            Type of foster care 



4.58       As  can  be  seen  from  figure  16  below,  the  number  of  children  in  foster  care  has  increased  in 

           general over the past 35 years. In particular, general foster care has steadily increased over the 

           years  while  private  fostering  (those  ‘at  nurse’)  has  been  overtaken  largely  by  fostering  by  a 

           relative.102  The last 10 years has also seen the creation of a very small number of special foster 



           care and pre-adoptive placements. 



              Figure 16: Number of children in foster careby type of foster care, stock figures, 1970- 

                                                                  2005 



           Reason for placement in care (both foster and residential) 



4.59       Since 2002 the Department of Health has subdivided the reasons for children being taken into 

           care into three categories: 



                    (1)   abuse; 



                    (2)   child-centred problems; 



                    (3)   family-centred problems. 



           102 For further details, see O’Brien, V (2002) ‘Relative Care: A Different Type of Foster Care’ in Kelly, G and Gilligan, R 



               (eds) Implications for Practice in Issues in Foster Care: Policy, Practice and Research. London, Jessica Kingsley. 



           276                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2317-----------------------

4.60        To ease interpretation, these three subgroups have been retained and where possible data from 

             previous annual reports has been placed into these categories based upon similarity103. Figure 17 



             below shows where abuse was cited as the primary reason that children were admitted to care 

            from 1978 to 2005. By far the largest increase has been in the number of children entering care 

            due to ‘Neglect’ from around 500 in 1980 to nearly 2,000 in 2005. 



                 Figure 17: Primary reason for admission to care, stock figures for abuse, 1978-2005 



4.61        As explained earlier, the primary reason children were taken into care over the past 35 years were 

            categorised as the parent’s inability to cope or care for their children (see timeline). Again, the 

             most recent (2005) categories are used in figure 18104  below to show the ‘family problem’ reasons 



            for  which  children  were  taken  into  care;  one  significant  shift  is  the  increase  in  the  number  of 

            children taken into care in response to the ‘abuse of drugs and/or alcohol’ by a family member 

            since the mid-1990s (shown in dark green). 



            103 For example, physical abuse did not exist as a reason for placement in care in 1978, however, for continuity children 



                in the category ‘non-accidental injury to child’ (n=34) are included in the physical abuse category. Similarly, for 1979 

                the physical abuse figure represents a sum of the categories ‘confirmed non-accidental injury’ (N=37) and ‘suspected 

                non-accidental injury’ (N=30). 

            104 For 1978, parent unable to cope represents the sum of the categories ‘mother deserted, father unable to care’ (82); 



                ‘unmarried mother, unable to care’ (389); ‘mother dead, father unable to care’ (36); ‘no family home’ (39); and 

                ‘unsatisfactory home conditions’ (100). Physical illness/ disability in other family member is based upon the category 

                ‘long-term illness of parent/guardian’ (93). Short term crisis represents the category ‘short-term illness of 

                parent/guardian’ (189). For 1979, this same figure is a sum of the categories ‘single mother, unable to care’ (925); 

                ‘parent deserted, remaining parent unable to care’ (341); ‘parent dead, remaining parent unable to care’ (198). 

                Physical illness/ disability in other family member is based upon the category ‘long-term illness of parent/guardian’ 

                (82). Parental disharmony is ‘martial breakdown’ (188) and ‘short term crisis’ represents the ‘short-term illness of 

                parent/guardian’ (177). For 1980, ‘other’ includes ‘both parents dead’ (61); parent unable to cope is a sum of 

                ‘unmarried mother unable to cope’ (1207); and ‘one parent family (other than unmarried mother) can't cope’ (458). 

                Parental disharmony once again represents ‘martial breakdown’ (320); and ‘short term crisis’ is based on ‘sudden 

                family crisis’ (397). finally, in 1981, ‘other’ is ‘both parents dead’ (60); parental disharmony represents ‘marital 

                disharmony’ (302); and short term crisis is ‘sudden family crisis’ (464). 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                         277 


----------------------- Page 2318-----------------------

              Figure 18: Primary reason for admission to care, stock figures for family problms, 1978- 

                                                                      2005 



4.62        Most children taken into care for ‘child problems’ were categorised as either abandoned or rejected 

            by their parents105 or were awaiting adoption106; a sizeable proportion were also recorded as being 



            ‘out of control’. 



           105 For 1978 the category ‘child abandoned/rejected’ is a sum of the categories ‘No parent or guardian’ (10) and 



               ‘Abandoned or deserted’ (66). 

           106 According to the 1979 report, all ‘children awaiting adoption’ (257) were apparently children of ‘single mothers’. 



            278                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2319-----------------------

             Figure 19: Children in care by primary reason for admission to care, stock figures for 

                                               child problems, 1978-2005 



          Family background of children in care 



4.63      There is no data available on family forms in the annual reports for 1978-81; however, there is 

          evidence from the statistics on reason for admission, that children of single mothers or lone parent 

          families in general are over-represented in the care system. For example in 1978, 389 children 

          were  reported to  be taken  into care  due to  being the  child of  an ‘unmarried  mother,  unable to 

          care’ and in 1979, all children awaiting adoption (257) were apparently children of ‘single mothers’. 

          Figure 20 below shows the family structures of children in care from 1982 to 2005. Lone parents 

          consistently make up the largest category followed by married couples (either living together or 

          apart). 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                  279 


----------------------- Page 2320-----------------------

                      Figure 20: Children in care by family structure, stock figures, 1982-2005 



           Categories and classification of children in care 



4.64       Classifications and counting methods vary considerably from year to year in the annual reports 

           published by the Department of Health on children in care. Such frequent, and for the most part, 

           unexplained    changes    complicate   what   ought   to be   the  rather  basic  task  of  outlining  and 

           interpreting trends in the provision of alternative care for children over time. However, the different 

          ways  in  which  children  are  categorised  and  their  families  categorised  also  serves  to  illuminate 

          the  perceived  ‘problem’ of  non-nuclear  family  forms; in  particular,  unmarried  mothers and  their 

           ‘illegitimate’ children. The timeline shown below in figure 21 is illustrative of the many changes in 

          categorisation  used  in  the  Department  of  Health  reports  over  the  period  1978  to  2005.  The 

          excessive focus on unmarried mothers can be seen by mapping the descriptions of such women 

          over time in relation to the reason their children were taken into care (shown in black) as well as 

          the descriptions of the child’s ‘status’ or family background/type (shown in red). 



          280                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2321-----------------------

                Figure 21: Changes in Department of Health Annual Reports Disclosure, 1978-2005 



4.65        For example, according to the Department of Health Report, Children Coming Into Care 1978, the 

           first  such  national  survey  of  children  in  care  of  the  health  boards,  the  primary  reason  children 

           were taken into care or placed under supervision107  for that year was that they were children of 



            ‘unmarried  mothers  who  were  unable  to  care’  (p  4).  This  category  represented  around  a  third 

            (33.8 percent) of all children taken into care by the State and is only followed by the ‘short-term 

            illness of parent/guardian’ which represented 16.5 percent of all children taken into care in that 

           year. Some other noteworthy reasons for children being taken into care that same year include: 



                   •     unsatisfactory home conditions (8.6 percent); 

                   •     parent/guardian in prison/custody (1.8 percent); 

                   •    travelling family (3.4 percent). 



4.66        In 1979, once again children of single mothers are recorded as being the single largest group of 

           young people placed in care. Correspondingly, the most common reason for children being taken 

            into care was ‘single mother, unable to care’ (28.5 percent). However, three other primary reasons 

           for admission were also focused on single parents, including: 



                   •     single mother, child-awaiting adoption (7.9 percent); 

                   •     parent deserted, remaining parent unable to care (10.5 percent); 

                   •     parent dead, remaining parent unable to care (6.2 percent). 



4.67       Taken  together,  children  of  single  parents  in  these  four  categories  represent  over  half  (53.1 

            percent) of all children in care of the State. In addition to the focus on single parents, two new 

            reasons for admission listed in the 1979 report reinforce the moral judgment of parents: 



                   •     marital breakdown (5.8 percent); 

                   •     inadequate parent (12.5 percent). 



4.68       The    1979   report   also   includes   an   interesting   survey    of  ‘underlying    family  problems’.     Such 

           additional descriptive information is rare in Department of Health Reports and provides an insight 

            into the reasoning behind children being taken into care; once again it highlights the emphasis 



            107 Children recorded as under ‘supervision’ refer to cases where the Health board has been notified by parents of 



               private fostering arrangements they have procured for their children (1978:2). 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               281 


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            placed on the perceived ‘problem’ of single mothers. According to this survey, by far, the leading 

            underlying family problem was perceived as ‘parental inadequacy’ (47 percent). Table 13 of the 

            report cross tabulates the underlying family problems with the primary reason children were taken 

            into care. Almost 20 percent of children taken into care were categorised as the children of ‘single 

            mother(s),  unable  to  care’  due  to  being  ‘inadequate  parent(s)’.  Despite  the  fact  that  the  report 

            presents unusually detailed information on why children were taken into care, it is nonetheless 

            limited by tautological thinking, as the second largest group in the table are described as children 

            of ‘inadequate parent(s)’ whose underlying problem is ‘parental inadequacy’. Fifty seven children 

            were  reported  to  be  living  in  a  home  with  an  ‘unsuitable  moral  atmosphere’;  representing  1.7 

            percent of the children in care. 



4.69        The 1979 report also provides more detail than many of the other Department of Health Reports 

            on Children in Care in the last 30 years in its explanation for some of the reasons children were 

            placed in residential care. By far the two primary reasons were that the child had two or more 

            siblings  already  in  care  or that  there  were  no  suitable  foster  parents  available. The  number  of 

            children  placed  in  residential  care  for  ‘other’  reasons  was  also  quite  substantial.  These  other 

            reasons  were  primarily  that  the  child  was  either  born  in  an  institution  or  was  born  to  a  ‘single 

            mother undecided about caring for child’. Interestingly, one case was recorded in which the mother 

            was  deemed  to  be  ‘disturbed’  and  another  was  recorded  as  having  been  a  child  ‘born  during 

            honeymoon’. 



4.70        The  1980-81  report  continues  in  the  reporting  of  ‘underlying’ family  problems  such  as  ‘inability 

            to  cope’  and  ‘marital  disharmony’.  However,  a  number  of  new  family  problems  appear  in  the 

            report including: 



                    •    drug addiction; 

                    •    promiscuous environment; 

                    •    over protective. 



4.71        It  is  not  until  1982  that  background  information  is  reported  separately  in  specific  regard  to  the 

            family structure of children in care. While being the child of a ‘one parent family unable to cope’ 

            was still the single largest reason for being placed in care (37 percent), the number of children 

            placed in care for this reason actually decreased by 10 percent from the 1981 figure. The report 

            further  grouped     children    into  three   ‘status’  categories:     ‘legitimate’;  ‘illegitimate’;  and,   ‘extra- 

            marital’.108  A little more than half of children in care during 1982 were recorded as legitimate (57 



            percent),  and  tended  to  be  placed  in  long-term  residential  care  (46  percent  of  all  legitimate 

            children).  On  the  other  hand,  children  who  were  categorised  as  ‘illegitimate’  or  ‘extra-marital’ 

            tended    to  be   placed    in   long-term    foster   care   (44   percent     and   66   percent    respectively). 

            Interestingly,  around  10  percent  of  all  ‘Illegitimate’  children  were  placed  in  private  foster  care 

            compared to less than 1 percent of either ‘legitimate’ or ‘extra-marital’ children. 



4.72        By 1984 these categories had once again changed and children were either recorded as ‘children 

            of married parents’, ‘children of unmarried parents’ or ‘children of married women where husband 

            is not father’. Children of ‘one parent families unable to cope’ still represented around a third of 

            children in care. The 1985 report continues in the use of these categories and is the last report 

            published until 1989. In the Department of Health report on children in the care of Health Boards 

            for 1989 the specific focus on ‘unmarried mothers’ is not as evident as in previous years. Instead, 

            the more inclusive language of ‘one parent unmarried’ is used; according to the report, this ‘means 

            an unmarried mother or father who is not living with a partner’. Significantly, this is also the first 

            year that the category of parents deemed ‘unable to cope’ (still the largest group at 31 percent) 

            are  not  specifically  identified  as  unmarried  or  single  parents.  The  categories  used  are  then 



            108 Children recorded as ‘extra-marital’ in status presumably meant that either the mother or the father of the child was 



               married, but not to one another. 



            282                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2323-----------------------

            consistent  for  the  next  three  years  until  1993  when,  once  again,  a  three-year  gap  in  annual 

            reporting occurs. When the next annual report was finally published again in 1996 the term ‘lone 

            parent’ had come into use and ‘parental illness’ had been combined into the ‘parents unable to 

            cope’ category of principal reasons for admission to care. Despite these changes, it remained that 

            around a third (32.96 percent) of children were taken into care for this reason. 



4.73        There is no data for 1997 but the 1998 report indicates that the percentage of children from lone 

            parent families increased to almost 40 per cent (38.58 percent). Also, worth noting is that this is 

            the first year that ‘parent unable to cope’ (26.58 percent) was not the dominant reason for children 

            being  admitted  to  care;  ‘neglect’  (26.71  percent)  accounted  for  slightly  more  cases  (five  more 

            children and a difference of less than half a percentage point). The term lone parent has been 

            further qualified in recent years (since 2002) to highlight the distinct group of lone parents who 

            are  unmarried  as  opposed  to  divorced  or  widowed.  In  2005,  the  most  recent  year  for  which 

            statistics are available on children in care from the Department of Health, 2,221 or almost half (43 

            percent) of children in care that year came from ‘lone parent, unmarried’ families.109 



            Summary 



4.74        From  the  1920s  to  the early  1950s  there  were  in  excess  of  8,000 children  in  various  forms  of 

            residential   care   (Industrial   Schools,    Reformatory      Schools,    Approved      Schools/institutions     and 

            private  orphanages)  and  a  further  4,000  children,  either  boarded-out  (public  foster  care)  or  at 

            nurse (private foster care). During the mid-1950s, the numbers in alternative care dropped rapidly 

            and by the end of the 1960s, there were just over 1,200 children boarded-out or at nurse and 

            approximately  3,000  in  various  forms  of  residential  care.  The  trend  towards  the  decline  in  the 

            number of children in care (defined as children in various forms of foster care and residential care) 

            continued throughout the early to mid-1970s, but increased somewhat in the late 1970s. A decline 

            was evident again in the early 1980s, but the number of children in care has been rising steadily 

            since the mid-1980s, with currently over 5,000 children in State care. While the overall number of 

            children in care grew from the mid-1980s onwards, the type of care placement shifted decisively 

            from residential care to foster care. By 1980, there were slightly more children in foster care than 

            residential care; in contrast, currently 84 percent of all children in care in foster care (including 

            relative care). Put simply, while the overall numbers of children in care have increased, the role 

            of residential care has become increasingly atypical and specialised while foster care has moved 

            to a position of dominance in the provision of alternative care for children. 



4.75        Also worth noting, is that the numbers of children entering care were relatively stable during the 

            late 1970s and 1980s, but quite suddenly grew dramatically in the mid-1990s. The reasons for 

            this are unclear, but in part reflect the gradual implementation of the Child Care Act 1991 and the 

            increase  in  the  number  of  social  workers.  Certainly,  a  substantial  increase  is  recorded  in  the 

            number of children entering care for reasons of ‘neglect’, from over 600 in 1992 to over 1,400 in 

            2005, which reflected growing awareness of different forms of child abuse during this period. The 

            legal basis for children in care shifted substantially in the late 1980s, with slightly more children 

            in care on the basis of a care order than on a voluntary basis. However, by 2000, a slight majority 

            of children in care were there on a voluntary basis, but in recent years, the numbers are almost 

            equal. In terms of gender, almost equal numbers of males and females are in substitute care. 



            109 This was noted early on in the collection of health board data, but the level of data was to crude to allow for any 



               explanation. See O’Higgins and Boyle (1988) State Care – Some Children’s Alternative: An Analysis of the Data from 

               the Returns to the Department of Health, Child Care Division, 1982. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute. 

               See also Richardson (1985) for an analysis of children in residential care in the Eastern Health Board area. 

               Richardson (1985) Whose Children? An Analysis of Some Aspects of Child Care Policy in Ireland. Dublin: Family 

               Studies Unit. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  283 


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4.76         As  noted  in  section  1,  the  1990s  saw  the  establishment  of  a  number  of  ‘high  support’110                      and 

             ‘special care residential units’.111        In October 2005, there were 141 children’s residential centres, 



             classified  in  descending  order  as  either  community  based  children’s  residential  services  (93); 

             hostels (14); high support (11); special arrangements (12); other (9) and special care unit (2).112 

             Reasonably detailed data113           is available for 2005, which shows that of those in residential care, 



             57 percent are in the old Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) area or, in other words, the 

             greater Dublin region. Since the 1970s, for most years in excess of half the children in residential 

             care were in this functional area. 



4.77         Although the decline in residential care was as equally dramatic as the decline in foster care in 

             the late 1960s – early 1970s, the numbers in residential care have continued to decline, whilst 

             foster care has shown a dramatic increase over the past 30 years.114  The number of children in 



             foster care increased from less than 1,500 in 1970 to over 4,500 by 2006. Part of the reason for 

             the sustained increase in foster care is the decline in the number of children available for adoption. 



4.78         The total number of children in Special Schools has dropped substantially over the past 35 years, 

             from 255 in 1971 to a mere 80 in 2005. This drop has been particularly pronounced over the past 

             decade.115     One  of  the  possible  reasons  for  the  decline  in  the  numbers  in  Special  Schools, 



             particularly in recent years, is the numbers of young people dealt with under the Diversion Scheme 

             operated by An Garda Siochana, with the number of young people cautioned under the scheme 

                                              ´     ´ 

             rising from less than 7,000 in the early 1990s to nearly 17,000 by 2007.116  Whilst the number of 



             children  in residential  care  declined  rapidly from  the  early 1970s,  the  number  of young  people 

             committed on conviction to prisons and places of detention, having hit an all time low of 179 in 

             1963, increased each year until the early 1970s. The numbers declined and then stabilised until 

             the late 1980s, when the numbers exceeded 800, but dropped rapidly to just fewer than 500 in 

             1991. The numbers then more than doubled to over 1,200 in 2001, and then once again declined 

             to just over 800 in 2005, but increased in 2007 to 1,053.117 Young people now represent just over 



             16 percent of all committals on conviction, compared to 27 percent in the early 1970s. In terms of 



             110 These are residential care units for children whose behaviour cannot be adequately catered for in other residential 



                care units and as a consequence, such units have extra staffing, education on site and access to specialist 

                therapeutic services. 

             111 These are secure residential care units for children aged between 12 and 17 who can be detained there under a 



                court order for their own welfare and safety. The latest data available from the Children Act Advisory Board indicates 

                that there are 25 places in special care units nationally (see: Social Information Systems (2008) Review of Special 

                Care Applications. Dublin: CAAB. 

             112 This figure excludes other forms of care such as pre-adoptive placements, at home under care orders, supported 



                lodgings and other ad-hoc arrangements to facilitate the time series. The majority of these placements appear to be 

                separated children seeking asylum. 

             113 The published data on children in care includes information on such crucial issues as family type, length of stay in 



                care or reason for admission to care but does not distinguish between residential care and other forms of care. 

             114 Although the nomenclature foster care has been in use for a considerable period of time, it only gained legal 



                currency with the publication of foster care regulations in 1995. SI No 260 of 1995. Child Care (Placement of 

                Children in Foster Care) Regulations 1995. Until 1995, the correct term was boarded –out children. For example, 

                starting in 1979, the term foster care rather than ‘Boarding-out’, is used by the Department of Health in compiling 

                data on children in the care of the health boards. For further details, see Gilligan, R (1990) Foster Care for Children 

                in Ireland Issues and Challenges. Dublin: Department of Social Studies and Hogan, R (2002) ‘Foster Care in Ireland’. 

                Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 3, 1, pp 30-50. 

             115 In 1995, the Irish National Teachers Organisation in a report on youthful offending recommended that ‘ A research 



                unit on the provision of services for young offenders should be established: to compile data from all residential 

                homes, to profile clients more extensively, to evaluate the effectiveness of current service, to provide information to 

                policy formulators and decision makers at Government level. The research unit should be adequately resourced in 

                order to carry out its functions effectively. The research unit should liaise with the social science departments of 

                universities in establishing specific research projects in the various residential homes. Annual reports on the 

                operation of the Juvenile Justice System should be published by the Department of Justice in conjunction with the 

                Departments of Education and Health. INTO (1995) Youthful Offending – A Report. Dublin: INTO. p 87. 

             116 Annual Report of the Committee Appointed to Monitor the Effectiveness of the Diversion programme for 2007 (2008) 



                Dublin: National Juvenile Office. p 14. 

             117 Data on the ages of those committed on conviction to prison and places of detention between 1995 and 2000 is not 



                available. 



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----------------------- Page 2325-----------------------

             gender, female committals have declined from a high of nearly 15 percent of all committals under 

             21 to just fewer than 4 percent in 2005.118 



4.79         Patterns in the provision of care for children have changed dramatically since the foundation of 

            the Irish State. In general there has been an overall increase in the number of children in care 

             over the past 35 years both in raw numbers and as a proportion (per 1,000 young people under 

             18), indicating a real growth in the number of children in care not attributable to a mere shift in 

             demographic patterns. Residential care, once the dominant form of substitute care for children in 

            the State, has been eclipsed by the use of foster care.119                     Changes in legislation combined with 



             an increase in the number of social workers and greater awareness of the needs of children have 

             contributed to this situation. The number of children in Special Schools for Young Offenders, in 

             particular, has decreased substantially over the past 35 years, while the number of young people 

             (under 21) in prisons and places of custody have increased and decreased intermittently over the 

             same period. It is worth noting the considerable challenges to the collation and interpretation of 

            the figures presented here. Substantial variations in nomenclature, definitions and counting rules 

             combined with a lack of detailed statistics and the transfer of responsibility between departments 

             make what should be a rather straightforward exercise (mapping trends in the care of children 

             over a relatively short 35-year period) into an arduous task.120 



             Section 3: 1965-1976 – residential childcare in transition 



4.80         In 1965, in a report on social research in Ireland conducted by a United Nations Advisor to the 

             Irish Committee on Social Research, included in the research needs identified the necessity for a 

             ‘survey of children in institutions with a particular view to the reason for their institutionalization’ 

             and ‘research into the methods of institutional and educational treatment and its effects’.121                          In the 



             same year, a survey team appointed by the Minister for Education to examine the Irish education 

             system  reported.  In  an  appendix  to  the  report  they  made  reference  to  the  Reformatory  and 

             Industrial Schools. In relation to the post-school career of those who left the schools, the survey 

            team noted: 



                    it seems desirable to improve the placement service, perhaps by providing the schools 

                    with   more    information      on   employment       opportunities.      Efforts   might    also   be    made     to 

                    improve the degree of supervision maintained during the two years after release. This is 



             118 O’Donnell, I, O’Sullivan, E and Healy, D (2005) Crime and Punishment in Ireland 1922-2002: A Statistical 



                Sourcebook. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration and Irish Prison Service (2008) Annual Report 2007. Dublin: 

                Irish Prison Service. 

             119 In a review of children in residential care in Europe in 1992, Ireland, along with Sweden, England, Wales and 



                Scotland were described as making comparatively high use of foster care. Madge, N (1994) Children and Residential 

                Care in Europe. London: National Children’s Bureau. p 71. Hazel, in an earlier comparative study, highlighted that in 

                Belgium, the majority of children in care were in residential care compared to the three other countries she surveyed, 

                Sweden, England and Wales. Sweden had negligible numbers of children in residential care and for those in 

                residential care, their stay was minimal. England and Wales operated a more balanced system with approximately 40 

                percent of children in need of alternative care in foster care. Hazel, N (1976) Child Placement Policy: Some 

                European Comparisons. British Journal of Social Work, 6, 3, 315-26. 

             120 In addition, as Buckley et al (2006) argue in relation to child care information in Ireland, ‘caution must necessarily be 



                applied when reviewing statistical information. For example, when statistics indicate an increase in the take up of a 

                certain service, it is clearly the case that what is being signified is as likely to be an increase in service provision for 

                this particular issue as it is to be an increase in the particular problem for which the service is intended. False 

                assumptions may exist concerning the consistency of criteria for counting certain data. Likewise, the data only 

                illustrate activities that are taking place with children and families who are in contact with services, therefore does not 

                indicate the level of unmet need in the population and the degree to which services are reaching or are accessible to 

                vulnerable sectors. Buckely, H, Giller, H and B Brierley, M (2006) ‘The Formation of Information in Child Care: 

                Herding Cats or Counting Sheep’. Administration, 54, 1, 72-87. 

             121 Friis, H (1965) Development of Social Research in Ireland. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. This report 



                resulted in the Economic Research Institute, established in 1959, expanding its brief to include social research and 

                becoming known as the Economic and Social Research Institute. The Institute was subsequently to publish two 

                significant reports on children in care. See, O’Higgins, K and Boyle, K (1988) State Care: Some Children’s 

                Alternatives. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute and O’Higgins, K (1993) Family Problems – Substitute 

                Care: Children in Care and their Families. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute. 



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                   difficult but the provision of hostel accommodation (or of other suitable accommodation 

                   where the numbers did not warrant a hostel) would be a help in this regard.122 



4.81        The survey team also noted the decline in the number of children in the schools and that most 

            schools  were  operating  under  their  capacity.  While  noting  that  the  under-utilisation  of  schools 

            could be viewed as an economic burden, the team also put forward the view that there was: 



                   an argument for tolerating rather more schools than the numbers would seem to warrant, 

                   on  the  grounds  that  schools  of  this  type  should  be  fairly  small  in  order  to  maintain  a 

                   personal relationship with each child. Also children should not be too far away from their 

                   parents and relatives – these schools are fairly widely scattered over the whole country. 

                    Nevertheless, it might be desirable to examine the possibility of closing some, particularly 

                   as the numbers in care have been declining fairly steadily in recent years.123 



4.82         1965 also saw the launch of the Fine Gael Policy document Towards a Just Society which inter 

            alia proposed to: 



                    Improve considerably the facilities in Industrial Schools and Reformatories, including the 

                   provision of adequate psychiatric care; to move wherever possible Institutions caring for 

                   young people to new, small and up-to-date buildings, and to establish small family group 

                   homes; to increase grants to the existing Institutions so as to permit them to expand and 

                   improve their facilities; to provide an adequate after-care and follow-up service for young 

                   people leaving Industrial Schools.124 



4.83        More generally, the publication in 1966 of the White Paper on Health Services and their Further 

            Development125        paved the way for a new administrative structure for the delivery of medical and 



            health services in Ireland, including community care services, which in turn were to deliver social 

            work services and particularly childcare services, within a system of regionalised health boards, 

            thus replacing the existing county-based system. Although 1965 is taken as the starting point for 

            this paper on the basis that a consensus was clearly emerging as to the desirability for shifting 

            the focus of the child welfare system and the limitations of the existing system of residential care, 

            a number of reports prior to this date had highlighted these issues. A non-exhaustive list includes 

            the Commission on Youth Unemployment126  (1951), the Report of Joint Committee on Vandalism 



            122 Department of Education (1965) Investment in Education: Annexes and Appendices. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 32. 

            123 Ibid. p 33. 

            124 Fine Gael (1965) Towards a Just Society. Dublin: Dorset Press. pp 25-6. 

            125 Department of Health (1966) ‘The Health Services and their Further Development’. Dublin: Stationery Office. 

            126 Chaired by John Charles McQuaid, the commission examined the issue of juvenile delinquency. The Commission 



                noted that young persons found guilty of a criminal offence and committed to Industrial schools formed only a small 

                proportion of those committed and that ‘mostly they are destitute or neglected children who are sent to the Industrial 

                Schools for their own protection.’ The Commission went on to argue, ‘What these children really need is a home, a 

                want which no institution can effectively supply. Family life being the ideal life for the young, we recommend that, in 

                cases in which it is found desirable to remove juveniles from their existing environment, consideration should be 

                given to the possibilities of boarding out as an alternative to continued detention in the Industrial School, cases being 

                reviewed periodically to determine suitability for boarding out. We further recommend that in connection with 

                boarding out, opportunities for training in agricultural and non-agricultural work be considered. An essential in any 

                boarding out scheme would be an adequate system of inspection. For those for whom it is necessary to provide 

                institutional treatment in Reformatory or Industrial Schools we recommend that, with a view to making up for the lack 

                of family atmosphere, these institutions be re-organised on a small unit basis and that women be included on the 

                staff of institutions catering for boys.’ Commission on Youth Unemployment (1951) Report. Dublin: Stationery Office. 

                p 40. 



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----------------------- Page 2327-----------------------

             and  Juvenile  Delinquency127            (1958),  Captain  Peader  Cowan’s  pamphlet  on  Reformatory  and 

             Industrial Schools (1960)128 and the Inter-departmental Committee on the Treatment of Crime and 

             Prevention of Delinquency (1962).129               For many commentators, it was the publication of a report 

             by the think-tank Tuairim that hastened the process of change in this area.130 



             Tuairim: Some of Our Children: a Report on the Residential Care of the Deprived 

             Child in Ireland 



4.84         The London  branch of  the organisation  produced this  report, published  on 12th  January 1966. 

             The core recommendation of the branch was that: 



                    the 1908 Children Act has out-lived its usefulness and that it should be superseded by an 

                    entirely new Children Act which would take into account the present needs of Irish society 

                    and contemporary theory and methods of child care and protection. 



             127 Established in early 1957 at the request of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Robert Briscoe, TD, following a 



                 meeting on 4th December 1956 organised by the Streets Committee of Dublin Corporation where groups concerned 

                 ‘at the increase in vandalism and misconduct among juveniles in the City’ were invited to attend. Chaired by DA 

                 Hegarty of the Civics Institute of Ireland, it included representatives from the Catholic Social Welfare Bureau, the 

                 Irish National Teachers Organisation, the Legion of Mary and the Society of St Vincent de Paul amongst others. In 

                their report the Committee outlined ‘an expert with long experience of work, expressed the opinion to us that our 

                 system of Institutions for juveniles is in certain respects not keeping with modern practices. We do not feel 

                 competent to express an authoritative judgment on this assessment, but we do consider that grounds have been put 

                forward to suggest the need for a review of the system. We desire to make it clear, however, that any criticisms 

                 expressed refer only to the system and not to the people who have to operate it, many of whom are engaged on 

                work requiring considerable self-sacrifice and which would only be undertaken by dedicated men and women.’ The 

                 Report then went on to highlight a number of areas, which they believed required changes. They included: 

                 ‘Institutions too large: Our Industrial Schools and Reformatories are Institutions in which the boys are far removed 

                from any family atmosphere. They are thus deprived of one of the most important influences in the shaping of 

                 character – in the preparation for life and in the provision of that sense of security which psychologists attach so 

                 much importance. Other countries have endeavoured to provide for this by breaking these Institutions down into 

                 ‘large family’ size units. This has happened to a very limited extent in this Country. Segregation: Children are 

                 committed to Industrial Schools for widely different reasons. Some of these children are merely unfortunate and 

                 innocent of any misdemeanour, i.e. the family is destitute, the children have been grossly neglected by their parents, 

                 or they have none. On the other hand, children are sent to Industrial Schools when they may have committed a 

                 comparatively serious offence – only a small proportion are sent to reformatories. These different types of boys 

                 present different problems and there appears to be a case for segregating them into special schools after they have 

                 spent a period in a grading centre. This would also reveal the mentally defective or subnormal children who should 

                 be sent to special institutions. Short Term Schools: Under the present system, boys are generally committed for a 

                 long period, but serious consideration should be given to the establishment of properly organised short term schools 

                 (also properly segregated) where boys could be sent from three to six months as a measure of correction. In these 

                 schools the truant, the boy who has gone beyond control, or the minor delinquent, might learn his lesson and acquire 

                 a sense of discipline making it possible for him to return to his home for a normal family upbringing.’ 

             128 Cowen, P (1960) ‘Dungeons Deep: A monopgraph on prisons, bortstals, reformatories and industrial schools in the 



                 Republic of Ireland, and some reflections on crime and punishment and matters relating thereto’. Dublin: Marion 

                 Printing. 

             129 This Committee received its warrant of appointment from the then Minister for Justice, Mr Haughey, TD. The 



                 Committee was chaired by Mr Peter Berry, Secretary of the Department of Justice and had representation from the 

                 Departments of Health, Education and Industry and Commerce. The terms of reference of the Committee were to 

                 ‘inquire into the present methods for the prevention of crime and the treatment of offenders, giving attention, in 

                 particular, to the following matters: (a) juvenile delinquency (b) the probation system (c) the institutional treatment of 

                 offenders and their after-care, and to recommend such changes in the law and practice as the Committee considers 

                 desirable and practicable. It recommended for example that: ‘The term industrial school should be abolished; Larger 

                 state grants should be made to industrial schools; A visiting committee should be appointed for every industrial 

                 school and in appropriate cases after-care committees should be set up as well; The industrial schools should be 

                 inspected more frequently than is at present and to enable this to be done an additional inspector should be 

                 appointed in the Industrial and Reformatory Schools Branch of the Department of Education; To ensure that 

                 adequate, proper bedding, clothing, footwear etc. is issued to the inmates of industrial schools, the scale of issue – 

                 showing minimum standards – should be prescribed by regulations; Adequate financial provision should be made for 

                 carrying out of essential maintenance and repair work and for the supply of proper recreational, ablutionary etc 

                facilities at industrial schools; A matron / Nurse should be appointed to the staffs of all industrial schools for boys 

                 and similar institutions; Generally speaking, boys from urban centres should not be set to serve lengthy sentences in 

                 an industrial school in a rural environment.’ 



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4.85         In addition, the report recommended that: 



                    All child care services should be co-ordinated in a single government department which 

                    would administer a subsidiary children’s department. We have considered the claims of 

                    the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Department of Justice and 

                    the  Department  of  Social  Welfare  and  have  concluded  that  the  Department  of  Health 

                    would be the most appropriate department to undertake this work...131 



4.86         The Tuairim Report also examined private voluntary homes for children, noting that there were 23 

             homes  that  they  were  aware  of,  13  managed  by  religious  Orders,  catering  for  nearly  1,000 

             children. They noted that the informal system by which children were admitted to these homes 

             had the advantage of bypassing the courts system, but that the danger existed that ‘illegitimate 

             children  may  be  dumped  and  conveniently  forgotten’  there.132                    In  commenting  on  the  Tuairim 



             report, the Reformatory and Industrial Schools branch of the Department of Education observed: 

             ‘It  seems on  the  whole to  have  been  compiled objectively  though  marred by  a  cheap jibe  and 

             untrue jibe at Irish.’133  The Department acknowledged that the system was in need as a complete 



             overhaul and that: 



                    ...the majority of the faults found with the reformatory and industrial schools system are 

                    soundly  based  and  confirmed  by  my  experience.  They  highlight  the  necessity  for  a 

                    complete review and overhaul of the entire system in operation for the care of children 

                    who lack proper guardianship, including delinquents, many of whom such as families of 

                    distressed  mothers  and  widows  could  be  better  cared  for  at  less  expense  to  the  state 



             130 London Branch Study Group (1966) Some of Our Children: A Report on the Residential Care of the Deprived Child 



                in Ireland. Tuairim Pamphlet No 13. Tuairim (the word means opinion in Irish) was established in 1954 to provide an 

                impartial discussion of ideas and policies. Describing itself as an association of people who are interested in ideas 

                and are not afraid of discussing them and learning the other man’s point of view, it published 18 pamphlets between 

                the 1950s and early 1970s on a host of diverse topics, ranging from the Irish Fish Industry, to Ireland and the United 

                Nations, to Irish education policy. It appears to have become defunct in the early 1970s. For further details on 

                Tuairim, see Hederman, M (2008) ‘The Tuairim Phenomenon – A Forum for Challenge in 1950s Ireland’ in Thornley, 

                I (ed) Unquiet Spirit: Essays in Memory of David Thornley. Dublin: Liberties Press. One of the members of the 

                Tuairim branch that produced the report on residential care was Peter Tyrrell. Tyrell, originally from East Galway, 

                was sent to the Letterfrack Industrial School in 1924. Tyrell, who died in 1967 having deliberately set fire to himself, 

                had written an account of his time in Letterfrack, but his account of the School only came to light when historian 

                Dairymaid Whelan found the manuscript in the papers of Dr Owen Sheehy Skeffington. The manuscript was 

                published in 2006 (see Tyrell, P (2006) ‘Founded on Fear’: Letterfrack Industrial School, War and Exile. Dublin: Irish 

                Academic Press and Whelan, D (2006) ‘Peter Tyrrell’s Account of Letterfrack, war and Exile’. Saothar – Journal of 

                the Irish Labour History Society, 31, 111-8). In addition to publishing the pamphlet on residential care, Mr James 

                O’Connor, a Dublin solicitor, read a paper on juvenile delinquency to a meeting of Tuairim on Friday 6th March 1959 

                and a revised version of that paper was published in the Jesuit journal Studies in 1963. In that paper O’Connor 

                argued that: ‘The system of institutional treatment in Ireland has serious defects and the courts, left with no 

                alternative, imposes it with reluctance. None of our schools are graded, and boys are committed there 

                indiscriminately without regard to their background, medical history, antecedents or suitability for the training which 

                they are to receive. The atmosphere is somewhat unreal, particularly in regard to lack of contact with the opposite 

                sex and this unnatural situation frequently leads to a degree of sexual maladjustment in the inmates. The numbers in 

                these institutions are very large and are comprised of cases, which limits, if it does not render impossible, individual 

                attention being given to boys who may be in need of special treatment. Discipline is rigid and severe, approaching at 

                times pure regimentation, with the result that the inmates are denied the opportunity of developing friendly and 

                spontaneous characters; their impulses become suffocated, and when they are suddenly liberated their reactions are 

                often violent and irresponsible’. O’Connor, J (1963) ‘The Juvenile Offender’, Studies, lii, 1,.80-81. 

             131 The rationale by Tuairim for selecting the Department of Health was: ‘the Department of Health already runs a 



                number of residential schools and Homes; it supervises boarding out of deprived children and places children in 

                certified schools and Homes under Section 55 of the Health Act, 1953; it has a basis on which local services could 

                be built and local health authorities employ public health nurses; the provision of substitute homes for children 

                deprived of their natural home and the ensuring of their mental and physical health is primarily the province of a 

                health authority; the Department of Health has considerable experience of organising and administering new services 

                in recent years.’ 

             132 London Branch Study Group (1966) Some of Our Children: A Report on the Residential care of the Deprived Child in 



                Ireland. Tuairim Pamphlet No 13, p 33. 

             133 The ‘jibe’ referred to was in relation to the absence of training courses for welfare workers and child care workers in 



                Ireland which, it was argued that ‘One of the results of this is a complete lack of understanding of the problems and 

                needs of the deprived children. Provided he is physically healthy, well clothed, obedient and can speak Irish, 

                officialdom is satisfied’. pp 14-15. 



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                   without  splitting  up  the  family.  The  low  grants  given  to  these  institutions  compare  very 

                   unfavourably with those given in most, if not all other European countries and pressure 

                   for increased grants in recent years has come mainly from the conductors of the boys’ 

                   schools as the majority of the girls schools are conducted by communities who engage in 

                   other activities the gains from which offset the losses on industrial schools. Virtually all 

                   the convent schools are will-nigh excellent, the glaring defect in the senior boys’ schools 

                   being the lack of the female hand in the domestic service. In the whole system the most 

                   serious defect is the absence of official after-care machinery. Secondly the operation of 

                   the domestic services in the senior boys schools should be undertaken by nuns or female 

                   lay staff. 



4.87        One of inspectors of boarded out children134               in the Department of Health, Miss Clandillon135, in 



            her review of the Tuairim report, although claiming that the report reflected some ‘muddled and 

            out-moded thinking’ was broadly positive stating that: 



                   there  are  some  sound  recommendations  in  the  Report.  Everyone  concerned  with  the 

                   welfare of deprived children would agree with the view that a new Children Act should 

                   supersede the present fragmented legislation and widen its scope.136 



4.88        The Commission  of Inquiry on  Mental Illness, published  the same year  as the  Tuairim Report, 

            recommended         that   ‘that  the  whole     problem     of  industrial   schools    should     be  examined’      and 

            regarded the ‘term industrial as applied to these schools, as obsolete and objectionable’.137  In the 



            same year a series of articles appeared in the Irish Times, written by Michael Viney. He argued 

            in the articles: 



                   (a)  That  most  juvenile  offences  in  the  Republic  are  rooted  in  social  conditions:  urban 

                   poverty    and    overcrowding,       deprivation     and   inadequate      family    welfare;    (b)  that   the 

                   children’s courts have lost faith in an out-dated and money-starved system of institutional 

                   care; (c) that probation, as an alternative has been emasculated by lack of training, lack 

                   of  staff  and  overwork;  (d)  that  in  the  piecemeal  partnership  between  two  Government 

                   departments and a variety of religious orders and agencies, proper liaison and aftercare 

                   is virtually unknown; (e) That vital psychological and psychiatric aspects of the juvenile 

                   problem are getting only token attention.138 



            134 These posts arose from concern with the system of private fosterage or ‘baby farming’ for children, which resulted in 



               the passing of the Infant Life Protection Act 1872, which allowed the officers of the Local Government to inspect 

                homes that were fostering or ‘nursing’ more than one child. Children in private fosterage, or ‘Nurse Children’, were 

                placed in foster homes by their own relatives – often-unmarried mothers – or by philanthropic societies or other 

                persons who paid for them. They were not supported out of the poor rate or any public fund. In March 1902, The 

                Lord Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury sanctioned the employment of a lady as an inspector, and the 

                appointment of a second lady inspector in November 1902. The duties of these inspectors were principally 

                connected with the boarding-out and hiring out of pauper children; but they also reported upon the administration of 

               the Infant Life Protection Act 1897.The two inspectors appointed, Mrs Dickie and Miss Kenny-Fitzgerald, were the 

               first women to hold senior posts in the civil service in Ireland. Daly, ME (1997)  The Buffer State. The Historical Roots 

                of the Department of the Environment. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration, p 34. The post of Inspector of 

                Boarded-out Children was ‘confined to women because of their superior knowledge of matters relating to the health 

                and up bringing of children’. NA S9880. 

            135 Ms Fidelma Clandillon was appointed to the newly formed Department of Health as an Inspector of boarded-out 



                children in 1948, covering all counties south of a line from Dublin to Galway. From the early 1970s her post was 

                reorganised as Social Work Advisor in Child Care, she retired in 1980. Following the retirement of Miss Murray in 

                1970, she had responsibility for boarded-out children in Ireland. For further details, see McCabe, A (2003) The 

                Inspection of Boarded Out Children in Ireland – The Legacy of Fidelma Clandillon. Irish Social Worker, 21, 1-2, pp 

               22-6. 

            136 Department of Health and Children. RM/INA/0/489385. 

            137 Commission of Inquiry on Mental Illness (1966) Report. Dublin: Stationery Office, p 74. 

            138 Viney, M (1966) ‘The Young Offenders’. Irish Times, 25th April. Viney wrote eight articles on aspects of the juvenile 



               justice system in 1966. They were ‘The Trouble with Larry’ (27th April); ‘Patterns of Crime’ (28th April); ‘The Caution 

                Man’ (29th April); ‘What Price Probation’ (2nd May); ‘The Hidden Motives’ (3rd May); ‘The Dismal World of Daingean’ 

                (4th May); ‘Children at Risk’ (May 5th) and ‘’The Young Offenders’ (6th May). 



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----------------------- Page 2330-----------------------

4.89       On   11th   November      1966,   Dr   CE   Lysaght    submitted    a  report   on  Industrial   Schools    and 

           Reformatories to the Minister for Education, Mr Donagh O’Malley. Commissioned by Mr George 

           Colley, the previous Minister for Education. Dr Lysaght outlined that: 



                 his personal instruction by word of mouth was not to confine myself to the purely medical 

                 and  physical  condition  of  the  children  but  to  go  into  and  report  on  their  environmental 

                 conditions which have a direct or indirect effect on their well-being and health, physical 

                 and mental. 



4.90       In his general report, he outlined that: 



                 the most striking feature is of course the diminishing numbers in the schools over recent 

                 years which has resulted in the closing of many schools already. Manifestly this downward 

                 trend will result in the closure of more. An unfortunate result of this downward trend is the 

                 creation of uncertainty as to the future of the schools and consequent hesitation on the 

                 part  of  religious  orders   to  undertake    works   of  improvements      involving   any  notable 

                 expenditure. 



4.91       Despite  questioning  the  managers  as  to  the  reasons  underlying  the  decline  in  numbers,  Dr 

           Lysaght  claimed  that  he  could  obtain  no  conclusive  result  and  that  it  seemed  the  result  of  a 

           number of factors. He went on to state: 



                 Legal adoption has been given as a cause but all agreed the numbers involved could not 

                 account for the marked fall. Another reason given and  also accepted as welcome was 

                 increased    earnings   and   consequent     increased    standard    of living  among    the  poorer 

                 classes.  Emigration  of    whole  families  of  the   poorer  class  to  Great  Britain    was  also 

                 considered a factor. The boarding out of children by Local Authorities was also mentioned. 

                 Nobody appears in a position to indicate its extent in their area but many considered its 

                 worth  had  been greatly  exaggerated  and  were critical  as  regards  boarded out  children 

                 they had received in their schools....In many schools, Managers and nuns were cynical 

                 as regards Local Authorities and said their officials would prefer to send children to any 

                 sort  of  home  rather  than  to  the  industrial  schools  and  in  fact  had  taken  children  from 

                 industrial schools without assigning any reason and placed them in homes. ...There were 

                 also statements made that some District Judges, no matter how bad the circumstances, 

                 would not commit children to these schools and they had a wrong conception of them. 

                 On inquiry I found that in only very few instances had District Judges visited these schools. 

                 It  would  seem  therefore  their  knowledge  of  them  was  obtained  second-hand  and  is 

                 hearsay which they would not themselves accept in Court as evidence. 



4.92       The other striking feature observed by Dr Lysaght was: 



                 the marked difference between the schools for girls operated by nuns and those for senior 

                 boys under the care of brothers. The former are without exception much superior in every 

                 way  and  beyond  explanation  by  way  of  smaller  numbers.  The  vast  majority  of  girls’ 

                 schools  are most  satisfactory and  in many  cases can  compare favourably  in regard  to 

                 care and comfort with not only the ordinary run of boarding schools for girls but with the 

                 most exclusive ones. The provision in these schools reflects great credit on the religious 

                 orders concerned. The same however cannot be said of the Senior Boys’ Schools which 

                 are in the main rough and ready. The absence of a woman’s hand was notable in many 

                 of them. 



4.93       An  issue  raised  by  the  Managers  with  Lysaght  was  that  of  keeping  children  for  an  extra  year, 

           particularly in light of proposals to raise the school leaving age. In particular he stated that the 

           Managers favoured the proposal ‘especially in the case of illegitimate children with nobody to care 

           for  them,  that  they  were  too  young  to  send  out  into  the  world  at  16’.  He  went  to  say  that  he 

           favoured such an extension and that ‘the army would seem a most suitable starting career for 



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           boys without relatives or friends. I understand the army will not take recruits until 18 years; this 

           training and way of life is not open to boys until they wait two years after leaving school, by which 

           time the world outside has made or broken them.’ He also observed that: 



                  a certain number of coloured children were seen in several schools. Their future especially 

                  in the case of girls presents a problem difficult of any satisfactory solution. Their prospects 

                  of marriage in this country are practically nil and their future happiness and welfare can 

                  only  be assured  in a  country  with a  fair multi-racial  population,  since they  are not  well 

                  received by either ‘black or white’. The result is that these girls on leaving the schools 

                  mostly go to large city centres in Great Britain. They are at a disadvantage also in relation 

                  to adoption and, as they grow up, in regard to ‘god-parents’ and being brought on holidays. 

                  It was quite apparent that the nuns give special attention to these unfortunate children, 

                  who are frequently found hot-tempered and difficult to control. The coloured boys do not 

                  present quite the same problem. It would seem that they also got special attention and 

                  that they were popular with the other boys. 



4.94        In addition to the report by Lysaght, the Department of Education received a detailed memo from 

           the  Association  of  Resident  Managers  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  on  24th  January 

            1967. In the memo the Managers highlighted the decline in the number of children and the closure 

           of  a  number  of  schools  in  the  previous  year.  In  addition,  they  highlighted  a  number  of  further 

           issues, including the unsatisfactory operation of the School Attendance Act, the lack of adequate 

           funding for aftercare and the need for additional psychologists and psychiatrists. A further issue 

           raised was the number of ‘pupils who are retarded and should not be in these schools’.139                       The 



           memo argued that such children place ‘a heavy burden on managers and staffs and then there is 

           the added difficulty of finding suitable employment for those pupils at sixteen years of age. There 

           should be a Special School for such pupils for they are a handicap to the other children and being 

           unable to keep up with the class, their education tends to become worse.’ 



4.95       However, the core issue highlighted was the alleged inadequacy of the capitation grant and they 

           concluded by stating: 



                  all the Industrial Schools are heavily in debt and that without immediate and substantial 

                  aid they will not be able to continue to do the work for which they were established. The 

                  question of closing the schools is under serious consideration by the managers because 

                  they are unhappy about the system. The Court approach is obsolete. The managers are 

                  painfully  aware  of  the  defects  that  exist  due  to  the  system.  They  would  be  more  than 

                  willing to remove these defects but are not in a position to do so owing to the inadequate 

                  maintenance grant. The managers know the claim the schools have on just judgment and 

                  just action. They trust that their labours will procure for them the support they desire in 

                  the  work  for  the  more  helpless  of  the  Irish  people.  They  calculate  that  a  maintenance 

                  grant of £8 per week is needed now, so that outstanding debts may be liquidated and the 

                  schools    brought    up   to-date   in  every   way.    We    are  chiefly   concerned     that   further 

                  development      should    preserve    which    is  valuable   in  existing   practice    and   that  any 

                  administrative change should above all be workable. 



4.96       The Managers then outlined 16 specific recommendations. They were: 



                    1.   As the term ‘Industrial School’ no longer applies to some of our institutions, since we 

                         do not admit children who infringe socially, a more appropriate name should be applied 

                         to these schools. 



           139 The memo was signed by Fr William McGonagle, OMI (Chairman and Manager of the Daingean Reformatory) and 



               Br FA O’Reilly (Hon Secretary and Manager of the Artane Industrial School) on behalf of the Association. 



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                    2.   Children from broken homes, or whose parents are ill, should not have to appear before 

                         the Children’s Court to be committed. If children are not committed it is impossible to 

                         obtain maintenance from County Councils. 



                    3.   As some of our children are backward when admitted classes in these schools should 

                         be small – 20 children per teacher so that individual attention could be given. 



                    4.   Supervisors and domestic staff should be paid by the health authority. Training courses 

                         for Supervisors are necessary. Personal salary for all lay members of the staff. 



                    5.   All public criticisms to be investigated and corrected by the Department. 



                    6.   Would suggest that Letterfrack should be under the jurisdiction of the Department of 

                         Justice and not under Education as at present. 



                    7.   When children are being transferred from an Industrial School to a Reformatory School 

                         at the age of 15 years or thereabouts, we think they should get an extension of time 

                         because it is impossible to do anything in 12 months or sometimes less. 



                    8.   That the rule regarding the length of time children may be away on holidays be relaxed 

                         and that the manager of each school be allowed to determine the number of days the 

                         children may remain out. 



                    9.   The  discharge of committed  children be  given  serious consideration, because there are 

                         many instances where children were discharged and the home conditions were very bad. 



                   10.   Children should be maintained until they reach at least 18 years of age or until they 

                         can do their Leaving Cert. examination if they so wish, or children learning trades be 

                         maintained until they have their time served. 



                   11.   Maintenance grant to be based on an average number of pupils. 



                   12.   Method  of  paying  grants  be  radically  changed.  Would  suggest  that  grants  be  paid 

                         every three months by Co. Councils and not every six months as at present. 



                   13.   Clarification of Health Act in regard to Industrial Schools. 



                   14.   Remission of rates on Industrial Schools. 



                   15.   Grants towards buildings and repairs should be made available. 



                   16.   That    a  statement     on   Government       Policy    towards    Industrial   Schools     would    be 

                         welcomed by Resident managers before next meeting at Easter. 



            Probation service for young people 



4.97        By the early 1960s, the number of full-time officers in Dublin was five with a caseload of less than 

            250. As a consequence of the lack of work, one probation officer was seconded to the adoption 

            board, a practice that continued over the years. In 1964 it was agreed to establish the post of 

            Probation Administration Officer and to employ six full-time staff, two male and two female to be 

            attached  to  the  Children's  Court  and  one  male  and  one  female  to  the  adult  Custody  Court  at 

            Chancery Street, with each officer having a caseload of 65 persons at any one time. Officers were 

            expected to be ‘well-educated, have satisfactory experience in social work and otherwise possess 

           the requisite knowledge and ability and be suitable to discharge the duties of the post of probation 

            officer’ and a qualification in social science was desirable, but not essential. As late as 1968, no 

           full-time  probation  officers  were  employed  outside  of  Dublin.  In  January  1969  a  review  of  the 

            Probation  and  After-care  Service  was  conducted  by  Mr  Mac  Conchradha140,  who  was  also  a 



            140 In an interview given on 30th April 2002, Mr Mac Conchradha stated that prior to moving to the Department of 



               Justice in the early 1960s, he had worked in the Department of Education for 15 years and claimed that his 

               appointment to the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ Systems was not welcomed in the 

               Department of Education as ‘I was a poacher turned gamekeeper. I knew the way they operated. I knew what a 

               backwater the reformatory and industrial school sector was...They [Education] didn’t want it. By and large the people 

               placed in that section wouldn’t have been placed anywhere else’. Keating, A (2002) Secrets and Lies: An Exploration 

               of the Role of Identity, Culture and Communication in the Policy Process Relating to the provision of Protection and 

               Care for Vulnerable Children in the Irish Free State and Republic 1923-1974. Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of 

               Communications, Dublin City University 



            292                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


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            member of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ Systems, being an 

            appointee of the Minister for Justice.141         Mr Mac Conchradha, in his report dated 14th July 1969, 



            concluded: ‘For all practical purposes, probation operates only in the Juvenile Court in the Dublin 

            Metropolitan District. Five officers – two men and three women are attached to this court at Dublin 

            Castle. They had approximately 600 cases during 1968.’142                   He noted that one of the reasons for 



            the absence of the widespread use of probation was: 



                   Strange as it may appear, District Justices generally (and most likely the Judges also) do 

                   not  seem  to  have  adverted  to  the  potentialities  of  probation.  This  was  both  my  own 

                   impression  and  the  opinion  expressed  of  their  colleagues  by  the  few  justices  that  are 

                   ‘probation minded’. It was often clear that invoking probation scarcely crossed their minds, 

                   although the virtual non-existence of a service was accountable to some extent for this. 

                   By and large, Justices were committed to the very conservative view, that probation, while 

                   not  so  specifically  so  limited  in  law,  has  in practice  been  considered  valid  for  the  very 

                   early offender amenable to supervision and ordinarily is indicated for juveniles only.143 



4.98        Mr   Mac    Conchradha       concluded     that   the  ‘Juvenile    Court   in  Dublin    Castle   requires    attention 

            urgently.’  Noting  that  approximately         300  juveniles  were  placed  on  probation            each  year,  the 

            relatively low number in part being explained by the ‘Justice’s feeling that the existing probation 

            staff could not cope with any more’, but also by his view that ‘what is certain is that there has 

            been no liberal or experimental use of probation. Consequently it cannot be excluded that there 

            would not be greater recourse to probation if more officers were available.’144  Mr Mac Conchradha 



            also provided background information of the emergence of pre-trial and pre-decision reports in 

            relation   to  juveniles    and   the   implementation      of  this  practice    prior  to  the   publication    of  the 

            Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ Systems. He outlined: 



                   For some years past, there has been an international trend for courts to have a social 

                   enquiry  made  about  offenders,  before  passing  sentence.  In  Britain,  this  has  been  the 

                   practice   with   young     persons     and   with   all  first committals     to  prisons.    The    practice 

                   commended  itself  to  Justice  Kennedy.  I  surmise  that  her  views  crystallised  from  the 

                   sessions of the Committee for Industrial and Reformatory Schools – of which she is the 

                   Chairman and I am the Minister’s nominee. The Committee discussed at length this matter 

                   of a court’s decision, in cases involving the prosecution of young people or their committal 

                   to care, being informed by their history and environment. The Committee’s favouring of 

                   this idea was supported by what they saw in Britain and throughout the Continent. Justice 

                   Kennedy introduced the procedure into the Juvenile Court in June 1968 and, in the case 

                   of every juvenile coming for the first time before the Court (1) on charge or (2) as liable 

                   to committal as being in need of care, remanded the case to enable the probation officers 

                   to  carry  out  a  pre-trial  social  enquiry.  There  was  simply  not  the  staff  to  undertake  this 

                   additional work. For ten months, the existing five officers have virtually done nothing else 

                   but prepare pre-trial reports. Contacts with and supervision of their probationers became 

                   irregular,  were  mostly  confined  to  urgent  matters  or  to  instances  where  there  was  an 

                   untoward     development       and   were    superficial   apart   from    this. Recently,     while   Justice 

                   Kennedy was ill, some of her colleagues, while supplying in the Juvenile Court, adverted 

                   to the practice and advised her that it was objectionable to have these reports compiled 

                   in advance of the hearing and that they should properly be prepared only when the court 

                   had reached a conclusion on the issue before it but in advance of deciding the outcome. 



            141 The terms of reference were (1) to investigate the probation and after-care service at first hand, (2) to report on the 



               improvements that might be feasible and necessary, (3) to implement those recommendations that might be 

               approved and (4) for the duration of the assignment to carry out the duties of the probation administration officer. 

               Mac Conchradha, R (1969) Report on an Assignment to Investigate the probation and After-Care Service and to 

               submit recommendations for Consideration. (Edited and Furnished to the Department of Finance). p 1. 

            142 Ibid. p 7. 

            143 Ibid. p 7. 

            144 Ibid. p 8. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                    293 


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                    Justice Kennedy  discontinued pre-trial  reports in  April 1969.  She intended  to introduce 

                    pre-decision reports there and then but, as the supervision of probationers had previously 

                    been so adversely affected in the existing staffing situation, she deferred the matter. The 

                    practice  of  having  a  pre-decision  report  prepared  for  the  information  of  the  court  is 

                    fundamentally  sound  and  is  supported  by  what  has  transpired  abroad.  It  is  most  likely 

                    that the Committee on Industrial and Reformatory Schools will recommend social inquiry, 

                    psychological assessment and medical psychiatric investigation, as a pre-requisite to the 

                    committal  of  young  persons  in  need  of  care  or  for  delinquency.  This  is  now  standard 

                    international practice and is something which Justice Kennedy will want to do, apart from 

                    all that, it would be a desirable advance and provision should be made for it.145 



4.99        The report recommended that the service be expanded, a new central headquarters provided in 

             Dublin and the recruitment of a substantial number of additional probation officers, prison welfare 

             officers and clerical staff. 



4.100       The long-standing Joint Committee of Women’s Societies and Social Workers146  also published a 



             series of recommendations on the future of child welfare in Ireland in 1970. Summarised in a letter 

            to the editor in the Irish Times, the Committee argued for: 



                     •     The urgent need for a new Children’s Act. 

                     •     The urgent need for co-ordination of departments dealing with children at State level, 

                           and at county level through a children’s committee. 



                     •     The  need  for  trained  social  workers  as  children’s  officers,  probation  officers,  school 

                           attendance officers, career guidance advisors and youth workers. 



                     •     A sincere effort is needed to keep the child in his own family and only when necessary 

                           a substitute family. Emergency care in an institution should be brief. We need to reduce 

                           the emotional disturbance caused by our present system. 



                     •     To prevent institutionalism fosterage should be encouraged by improving conditions, 

                           and allowing a more realistic maintenance (at present this varies from 12s 6d to £3 

                           per week, whereas institutional care, which causes most emotional disturbance, costs 

                           £8 5s. per week per child). 



                     •      Scattered     family   group     homes     such    as   those    established      in  Kilkenny,    are   better 

                           substitutes than institutions. 



             145 Ibid. p 9. 

             146 The Joint Committee was established in 1937 with the objectives of working ‘together in matters of mutual interest 



                affecting women, young persons and children and to study social legislation and recommend necessary reforms’. It 

                comprised of approximately 17 organisations including the Institute of Almoners, the Irish Countrywomen’s 

                Association, the Mothers Union and the Soroptimists. The Joint Committee campaigned on a range of issues and 

                had a particular interest in children in care. Only a few short years after their establishment, the Joint Committee 

                published a detailed ‘Memorandum on Children in Institutions, Boarded out and Nurse Children.’ In the memorandum 

                they argued inter alia that foster care had many advantages over institutional care for children; that all institutions for 

                children, both public and private, should be subject to regular inspection; that legal adoption was urgently required; 

                that foster care allowances were inadequate and that children’s officers be appointed to inspect foster children. In 

                relation to residential care, the memorandum recommended: ‘that all orphanages, institutions and industrial schools 

                should be subject to frequent inspections.’ The issue of inspection was a continuous demand from the Committee 

                over the decades. For example, in 1963, the Committee wrote to the Minister for Education asking him to consider 

                the ‘setting up of a visiting committee such as those operating in other institutions’. In 1967 the Committee sent a 

                further memorandum to the then Minister for Education, Donagh O’Malley arguing that ‘over the years the Joint 

                Committee has insisted that children should seldom be removed from a family and placed in an institution and that 

                instead, every assistance should be given to maintain the family intact either by financial help or long term 

                supervision by qualified social workers’ Joint Committee of Women’s Societies and Social Workers (1967) Children in 

                Care or Children’s Institutions. Dublin. For further details on the work of the Committee, see Skehill, C (1999) The 

                Nature of Social Work in Ireland. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellon Press and Skehill, C (2004) History of the Present of 

                Child Protection and Welfare Social Work in Ireland. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellon Press. 



             294                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                    •     Where  institutional  care  is  inevitable,  regulations  should  govern  qualifications  and 

                          number of staff, and special efforts should be made to enable these children maintain 

                          contact with their families. 



                    •    A visiting committee should follow the progress of each child through school reports 

                          and school medical reports. Backwardness should be detected early and dealt with in 

                          special cases. All successful pupils should be given the opportunity of vocational or 

                          secondary education. At present the proportion is unreal. 



                    •    Above all, the Joint Committee deplores the present practice of transferring deprived 

                          children from institution to institution, even at the age for employment. 



                    •     After-care  for  these  children  is  seriously  neglected.  Social  workers  are  essential  for 

                          career guidance and for placing the children in the normal community, in hostels, or 

                          preferably, families.147 



4.101       The Department of Health were also giving active consideration to the future of residential child 

            welfare in Ireland, in particular their responsibilities under the Children Acts and sections 55 and 

            56 of the Health Act 1953.148  On 23rd September 1968, Mr O’Rourke in the Department of Health 

            wrote a memo addressed to Miss Murray149  and Miss Clandillon, the Lady Inspectors of Boarded- 



            out Children. The memo argued that the Department of Health: 



                   should, at this stage, review the services, dealt with in this division, which are provided 

                  for children who come within the scope of the Children Acts and the relevant provisions 

                   of  the  1953  Act.  What  I  have  in  mind  is  that  we  should  consider  the  adequacy  and 

                   inadequacies of the services provided for boarded-out children, those placed in approved 

                   schools  and  those  who  are  at  nurse;  that  we  should  aim  at  suggesting  improvements 

                  which might be made in the existing services or innovations which are required to meet 

                   needs that at present are unfulfilled; consider the type of service which will be developing 

                   during the next decade or so and which will have to be organised within the framework of 

                   the regional service envisaged in the White Paper; consider, in particular, in the context 

                   of those regional arrangements, the type of case work which will need to be done at local 

                   level and the appropriate nature of the regional and departmental supervision which such 

                   services will need and, finally, study the services for which we, in this Department, have 

                   responsibility in the context of the total services required by the deprived child in general. 



4.102       His memo went on to note that having reviewed the available statistical data on children in care, 

            there was a: 



                   constant  and  continuing  decline  in  the  number  of  children  boarded-out;  the  consistent 

                   growth in those being adopted and a continuing fall in the number of children at nurse. 

                   The  disquieting  feature  which  it  also  shows  is  the  increase  in  the  number  of  children 

                   maintained by health authorities in approved schools despite the fact that policy, to date, 

                   has been to encourage boarding out or adoption to the greatest possible extent. 



4.103       In particular he wished the inspectors to 



                   critically  examine  the  service  as  it  exists  at  present  and  comment,  not  alone  on  its 

                   advantages, but on the deficiencies existing in it. 



            147 Irish Times, 24th June 1970. 

            148 All correspondence between O’Rourke, Clandillon and Murray is contained in the Clandillon papers, file no 



               RM/INA/0/489385 held by the Department of Health and Children. 

            149 Mary E Murray was appointed in 1946 as Inspector of Boarded out children and retired in 1970. She had 



               responsibility for such children in Dublin and all the counties north of a line between Dublin and Galway. See 

               McCabe, A (2000) The Inspection of Boarded-out Children 1897-2000 and its Impact on Child Care Standards. A 

               Dissertation submitted to the National University of Ireland, Dublin in part fulfilment of the degree of Master of Social 

               Science (Social Work). 



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4.104       Mr  O’Rourke  observed  that  it  appeared  increasingly  difficult  to  recruit  foster  parents  and  this 

            needed to be addressed and that the supervision of children, both ‘at nurse’ and ‘boarded-out’ 

            required attention. In relation to children maintained by health authorities in Industrial Schools, he 

            noted  that  such  children  were  not  subject  to  any  inspection  by  the  Department  of  Health  and 

            consideration of how best to address this issue was required. Finally, Mr O’Rourke noted that the 

            existing range of services was fragmented, and as a consequence ‘three departments all have 

            partial responsibility for the provision of limited services for children who, for reasons varying from 

            poverty to delinquency, come under central government control’ and this state of affairs ‘is not a 

            satisfactory  one’.  While  acknowledging  that  the  Commission  of  Enquiry  into  Reformatory  and 

            Industrial Schools, a Commission, which in his view, ‘shows an uninhibited tendency to exceed 

            its restricted terms of reference’ might deal with this issue in their report, Mr O’Rourke argued: 



                  what may be needed most of all is a broadly based commission with very wide terms of 

                  reference  which  would  enable  it  to  inquire  into  the  services  available  for  all  classes  of 

                  deprived children and to make recommendations about the manner in which they would 

                  be provided in the future. 



4.105       Both Miss Murray and Miss Clandillon provided detailed written responses to the memo and these 

            provide a snapshot of thinking in the Department of Health on the cusp of substantial changes in 

            child welfare in Ireland. Responding to the query as to why the numbers of boarded–out children 

            had declined over the previous decade, Miss Murray attributed it to introduction of legal adoption, 

           the continuing emigration of unmarried mothers, and most importantly, the: 



                  lack of interest in, or, in some cases, the positive antagonism to the scheme on the part 

                  of many health authorities and/or their officials. In Counties Louth and Sligo for example 

                  the  boarding  out  scheme  is  almost  non-existent  while  in  some  other  areas  it  is  barely 

                  tolerated. Boarding-out is the Cinderella of the local authority services and there is little 

                  informed opinion on the subject at a local level. The emphasis now is on legal adoption 

                  which was welcomed by the local authorities for the wrong reasons, viz. as a means of 

                  avoiding    financial   and   supervisory     responsibility   for  illegitimate   children,   and   health 

                  authority officials have been known to put pressure on unmarried mothers to allow their 

                  children to be placed for adoption, even to the extent of refusing any alternative help.150 



4.106       Murray  argues  that  the  advantages  of  boarded-out  over  other  means  of  dealing  with  deprived 

            children were well known and that the: 



                  deficiencies  in  the  boarding-out  scheme  as  it  operates  in  Ireland  may  be  traced  to  a 

                  general  lack  of  interest  which  manifests  itself  in  the  absence  of  a  uniform  system  of 

                  supervision,     the  appointment      of   unsuitable    officers,  and    as   mentioned     above,    an 

                  unsympathetic  attitude  on  the  part  of  many  health  authorities.  Failures  involving  the 

                  removal of the children are surprisingly rare in view of the haphazard administration, and 

                  in my area occur chiefly in Counties Dublin and Sligo...Boarding breaks down occasionally 

                  in Dublin due to (a) the background and heredity of some of the children which renders 

                  them more difficult to control than rural children, (b) careless and haphazard selection of 

                  foster  homes  and  foster  parents,  and  (c)  the  absence  of  preventative  and  remedial 

                  measures at a sufficiently early stage. Failures in Sligo are due, inter alia, to (a) the late 

                  age at which children are placed in foster homes (usually from Nazareth House, Sligo,) 

                  which militates against their settling down in normal surroundings, and (b) the complete 

                  lack of expertise in the selection of foster homes and foster parents. 



4.107       However, despite outlining these deficiencies and recognising that health authorities did not collect 

            statistics on the after-care of boarded-out children, Murray nonetheless noted: 



            150 Reply from Ms Murray and Ms Clandillon to Minute from Mr O'Rourke to Miss Murray and Miss Clandillon 23/10/68 



               re: review of child care services. 



            296                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2337-----------------------

                 While  the  occasional  failure  in  boarding-out  is  well  publicised  –  usually  by  interested 

                 parties – the outstanding success of the scheme as a whole is rarely alluded to. Former 

                 boarded-out children are represented in all walks of life. They are to be found in farming 

                 and business, as members of Religious Orders of Brothers, among nuns, teachers, civil 

                 servants, and nurses, in the army and naval service, in the hotel trade and in all skilled 

                 occupations.   At  the  moment     a  number    of  boarded-out    children  are  attending   Irish 

                 Universities, and at least four are studying for the priesthood. Foster parents have reason 

                 to  be  proud  of  the  work  they  have  accomplished  down  the  years,  frequently  without 

                 significant assistance from the local authority. 



4.108      Miss Clandillon was equally positive abut the after-care employment of boarded-out children in 

           her area, highlighting that ‘among the girls at least ten became nuns, one of whom is now on the 

           missions in Zambia and three are teaching in England.’ Like Miss Murray, Clandillon was positive 

           about the use of boarding-out and suggested that breakdowns in placement were comparatively 

           rare. She observed: 



                 the vast majority are illegitimate children who are born in mother-and-baby Homes and 

                 who  are  boarded-out  at  an  early  age  with  a  view  to  being  reared  as  members  of  the 

                 fostering  family  and  of  residing  permanently    with  the  foster  parents.   Removals    are 

                 comparatively rare, the chief reasons being the death of a foster mother in the case of a 

                 young child. 



4.109      However, she did note: 



                 the  need   for  close   liaison  between    Children’s   Officers  and   the   mother-and-baby 

                 homes....the mother’s background must be studied and also that of the putative father, 

                 although  the  latter  is  often  difficult  because  of  the  inaccuracy  or  lack  of  information 

                 available. Time must be allowed to ‘match’ a child to a family – placing any child in any 

                 home is worse than useless and may lead to very poor results in which the child is always 

                 the sufferer. 



4.110      Commenting on the issue of standards in foster homes, Murray claimed that: 



                 It is true that of recent years foster homes of an acceptable standard are in somewhat 

                 short supply but they are not as scarce as we are led to believe. The bias at local level 

                 against boarding-out may result in a prospective home being turned down for frivolous 

                 reasons,  or  a  prospective  foster  parent  being  disqualified  for  not  measuring  up  to  the 

                 bizarre or unrealistic standard set by some local official. 



4.111      Miss  Clandillon   argued   that  one  of  reasons   for the  difficulties observed    in recruiting  foster 

           parents was: 



                 The maintenance allowances paid to foster parents by health authorities vary enormously 

                 throughout the country. At present the highest rates are paid by Donegal: £104 per year, 

                 and lowest by Roscommon: £36 per year for the older children...A review of the reasons 

                 for the very great variations between health authority rates should be undertaken, the old 

                 argument usually given in defence of low rates was that the health authority did not wish 

                 to attract the wrong type of foster parent. This danger could be overcome only if each 

                 health authority has trained social workers who can evaluate the attitudes of prospective 

                 foster parents and their reasons for wanting to rear a child. It is time that foster parents 

                 were considered more as members of a team working for the deprived child in a semi- 

                 professional   capacity  and   that  the  allowance   reflected  this  recognition  of  their very 

                 responsible role. The great gap between the £214 per annum paid for children removed 

                 to schools and present rates paid to foster parents should be closed. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     297 


----------------------- Page 2338-----------------------

4.112       In relation to the increase in the number of children in approved schools and institutions, Murray 

            argued that local authorities favoured this method of dealing with deprived children because: 



                  the children are not subject to inspection either at local or Departmental level, no reports 

                  on their progress are called for, and no records or case histories have to be compiled in 

                   relation  to  them;  frequently  not  even  a  register  is  kept  despite  continuous  pressure  by 

                   inspectors.  Once  admitted  to  a  school,  therefore,  the  Health  Authority  has  no  further 

                  trouble with a child apart from an occasional letter from the Department inquiring why he 

                   has not been boarded-out. The easy answer to this is that a suitable foster home is not 

                  available and there the matter rests. 



4.113       Murray elaborated on this issue noting: 



                  Article  4  of  the  Boarding-Out  of  Children  Regulations,  1954  lays  down  that  a  health 

                  authority shall not send a child to a school approved by the Minister unless such children 

                  cannot be suitably or adequately assisted in being boarded out. Health authorities were 

                   reminded of this in paragraph 2 of circular 5/64 and again in paragraph 5 of circular 23/70. 

                   It  is,  nonetheless,  admitted  that  there  are  many  children  that  health  authorities  cannot 

                   place in foster homes or for adoption, e.g. lack of parent’s consent, or some physical or 

                   mental deficiency. As you know, in spite of constant reminders to health authorities and 

                   representations  by  this  Department’s  Inspectors  in  respect  of  individual  children,  the 

                   number of children maintained by health authorities in institutions continues to grow. In 

                   1968 and 1969 they were 648 and 715 respectively. Careful examination of the records 

                  for 1967 showed that the vast majority of these cases were children of broken homes or 

                  of parents suffering from mental or physical disabilities who refused consent to boarding 

                  out. Apart from the Industrial Schools (to which children are committed for minor offences 

                  as well as because they are in need of care and maintenance and of the use of which for 

                   Health  Act  children, the  Department’s  Inspectors  have never  been  in  favour) there  are 

                  only nine institutions approved by the Minister for Health for the purposes of section 55. 

                  Three of these are for Protestant children only; one for children under two years; two for 

                   boys and three for girls. One of these, the Convent of Mercy, Kells, has only 6 Health Act 

                  children, placed there by counties Meath and Westmeath; the Grange Convent until this 

                  year accepted girls over 11 years and has room for 25. This year they have added a new 

                   building  designed  to  accommodate  only  12  children  from  infancy  which  will  be  run  on 

                  group home lines. 



4.114       For Clandillon, one of the reasons for the increase in the number of children admitted to industrial 

            schools and other institutions was the: 



                   result of a poor staffing situation in particular counties. Usually where the County Medical 

                  Officer  and  a  number  of  Public  Health  Nurses  are  charged  with  the  care  of  deprived 

                  children and office staff are also involved in the maintenance of registers and casepapers 

                  there is little or no liaison with the mother-and-baby homes. Moreover, where a number 

                  of different people are involved in this work as a part of their main duties in another field, 

                  the results are usually poor and the service deteriorates because of the fragmentation of 

                  the  staffing  situation  –  what  is  everyone’s  business  becomes  nobody’s  business,  e.g. 

                   Laois, Offaly and recently Kildare and Carlow.151 



4.115       In contrast, counties that employed a children’s officer maintained contact with the mother and 

            baby homes and as a consequence: 



            151 Clandillon provided her report on Offaly as an example. The report showed that the vast majority were transferred 



               from the county home or mother and baby homes such as the Manor House Castlepollard. Clandillon described 

               these returns as ‘appalling’ stating ‘the ‘reasons for admission’ reveal a complete indifference to the fate of deprived 

               children. Obviously no effort whatsoever is made to find homes or adoptive parents for them’. She noted that in 

               Counties Laois and Offaly that there were 146 children in institutions and the ‘vast majority of whom appear to be 

               sent automatically’ and that ‘the present state of affairs should not be allowed to continue’. 



            298                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                 The  mothers  maintained  in  the  homes  thus  have  an  opportunity  to  discuss  with  the 

                 Children’s officer the alternatives open to them in making arrangements for their baby’s 

                 future. If the mothers wish to have their babies adopted they may be placed in homes in 

                 their county of origin (if the mothers do not object) or outside with the co-operation of the 

                 Children’s Officer for the outside area, or again, the mothers may decide they would prefer 

                 the  adoption  to  be  arranged  directly  by  the  Sisters  in  the  Home.  If  a  mother  opts  for 

                 boarding-out the Children’s Officer can arrange this in her own county. If, on the other 

                 hand,  a  mother  wishes  her  child  to  be  reared  in  an  institution,  possibly  in  the  hope  of 

                 visiting  the  child  from   time   to  time,  the  decision    must   be   respected,   though    the 

                 disadvantages of such an upbringing will naturally be pointed out to the mother. I have 

                 pointed out in my reports the necessity for close liaison between the Children’s Officers 

                 and the mother-and-baby homes and the dangers for the future welfare of the children 

                 where it is lacking. In one county, Kilkenny, a few years ago I found there were eleven 

                 cases of mothers leaving the Homes with their infants, ostensibly to return to their own 

                 parents,  and  in  none  of  these  instances  had  any  inquiries  been  made  as  to  the  final 

                 destination  of  these  infants.  Such  babies  may  not  be  brought  home  at  all  but  may  be 

                 committed quite unnecessarily to industrial schools or placed at nurse in most unsuitable 

                 and   unregistered    foster  homes.     The   seriousness    of  this  situation  is quite   evident. 

                 Obviously if the case history shows that the girl’s parents were aware of her confinement 

                 no harm can be done by inquiring whether she and her child did, in fact, return home. If 

                 the parents were not aware of the case, inquiry is more difficult but can still be made if 

                 sufficient  tact  is  used.  This  must  be  done  in  a  number  of  cases  where  a  mother’s 

                 whereabouts are unknown and her consent to adoption or boarding-out is required. 



4.116      In terms of the organisation of child welfare services, Clandillon argued that: 



                 the work for deprived children should be removed from the public health offices (County 

                 Medical officers and Public Health Nurses) where this arrangement exists in my area, e.g. 

                 Laois/ Offaly where, as I have pointed out earlier, hardly any children are boarded-out yet 

                 over  140  are  in  schools;  Wicklow,  where  the  C.M.C.  was  brought  into  the  work  very 

                 recently; Carlow / Kildare where, with the resignation of the Children’s Officer the work 

                 deteriorated rapidly in a little over a year; Waterford, Kilkenny, Clare. 



4.117      Children’s  officers  should  in  her  view  be  ‘professionally  qualified  social  workers  i.e.  those  with 

           post-graduate  qualifications,  should  be  appointed  to  children’s  officer  posts,  with  a  view  to  the 

           eventual  setting  up  of  a  social  work  department  in  each  health  authority  area’.  If  this  was  to 

           happen, such Departments, she argued: 



                 should cater for a much wider section of the community than children in need of social 

                 work  help.  They  should  include  families  at  risk  of  breakdown  for  various  reasons,  one 

                 parent  families  and    unmarried  mothers,  Child  Guidance  services,  social         care  of  the 

                 physically handicapped, mentally ill and mentally subnormal and social services for the 

                 aged. They should also cater for those who are incapable of providing for themselves or 

                 their dependents. A ‘homemaker’ service is of vital importance and also the supervision 

                 of day nurseries which should be obliged to register with the social service department. 

                 Housing  welfare  services  should  also  be  included  as  many  of  the  problems  of  family 

                 breakdown are associated with inadequate living accommodation. Adoption work should 

                 be transferred to the new Department and should be carried out only by staff having post- 

                 graduate training. It follows that social workers at present employed in various fields of 

                 social work would belong to the social services department: Children’s Officers, medical 

                 and psychiatric social workers, probation officers, housing welfare officers. 



4.118      What was required, Murray argued, was: 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         299 


----------------------- Page 2340-----------------------

                   making children maintained in institutions under section 55 of the Health Act subject to 

                   inspection  and  reports  both  at  local  and  departmental  level,  and  by  requiring  health 

                   authorities to keep personal files and case histories of these children in the same manner 

                   as for boarded-out children. The Department’s inspectors would then be in a position to 

                   make recommendations regarding the suitability or eligibility of the children for fosterage. 

                   At present the inspectors have instructions not to visit children in approved schools and 

                   institutions; and it was only recently, and after years of pressure by the inspectors, that 

                   the Department agreed to instruct health authorities to submit half-yearly returns of such 

                   children. 



4.119       Clandillon made similar observations when noting that: 



                   Although  children  are  admitted  to  approved  institutions  under  the  Health  Act  and  the 

                   Department and health authorities contribute to their maintenance there is no provision 

                   under     the   Act   for  their   inspection     by   officers    of  the   health    authorities    or   of  the 

                   Department.152       A  Department  circular  issued  to  health  authorities  2nd  July  1954  (no. 

                   37/54) drew attention to the lack of provision for inspection153: Unfortunately this was not 



                   followed up and at a later date it was decided in the Department that as the schools were 

                   under the Department of Education and inspected by one of their officers there was no 

                   need for inspection by the Department of Health. Thus it came about that nobody visited 

                   the Health Act children to ascertain the reason for their admission in the first place, their 

                   level of mental and physical development and their suitability or otherwise for adoption or 

                   boarding-out, unless a mother had indicated that she wished her child to be reared in an 

                   institution. These children might be described during these years as the ‘forgotten ones’. 



4.120       Clandillon also highlighted that returns of such children were not requested until 1965 and these 

            returns  ‘revealed  that  a  number  of  children  had  been  admitted  to  Industrial  Schools  and  other 

            institutions such as St Clare’s Stamullen, directly from a mother and baby home without notice 

            being given to the Department. Most of these children were moved on to senior Industrial Schools. 

            By then, little or no information was available as to their backgrounds.’ Clandillon went on to stress 

            the need for a system of inspection in the homes in order 



                   to ascertain the reason for admission if not already clear, to follow up mothers to obtain 

                   their consent to the boarding-out or adoption of suitable children, to arrange for mental 

                   assessment       in  some     cases     and   follow   up   for  admission      to  Special    Schools     where 

                   recommended,  and  to  check  that  physical  defects  are  being  treated,  including  those 

                   requiring  surgery.  The  longer  children  live  in  institutions  the  less  chance  they  have  of 

                   integration into families and the dimmer become their hopes of adoption. 



4.121       More generally, Murray signalled that a new system of child welfare was required and a broad- 

            based commission of inquiry as suggested by O’Rourke were required and that all services for 



            152 Section 47(3) of the Public Assistance Act 1939 allowed for (a) an inspector appointed by the Minister may at any 



                time visit and inspect such school and make such examination of the condition and management of such school and 

                the state and treatment of the children therein as he shall consider requisite; (b) whenever an inspector visits and 

                inspects such school under the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section, he shall report to the Minister the result 

                of such visit and inspection and of any examination made by him in the course thereof; (c) any public assistance 

                authority which has sent a child to such school may, at any time while such child is in such school, appoint a 

                suitable person to visit such school, and such person may visit and inspect such school accordingly; (d) the 

                managers of such school shall permit and give facilities for every such visitation, inspection, and examination as is 

                authorised by any of the foregoing paragraphs of this sub-section. The Health Act 1953, repealed this section. In a 

                memo dated 18th January 1963, both Murray and Clandillon highlighted this situation and recommended that ‘the 

                right of visiting such children be restored. There is no question of inspecting the school or of examining the 

                conditions or management, which may be considered to be a function of the Dept. of Education, but simply of visiting 

                the children with a view to having as many as possible placed in foster homes’. 

            153 ‘Where a child is placed in a school in pursuance of Section 55, the arrangements between the health authorities 



                and the Manager of the School should include provision that the child may be visited at any reasonable time by an 

                authorised officer of the health authority or of the Minister’. 



            300                                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2341-----------------------

            deprived children should be the responsibility of a single Department. The system of institutional 

            care was particularly in need of reform as Murray commented: 



                   At present children coming before a juvenile court as a result of poverty, neglect, or minor 

                   delinquency may be committed either to an Industrial School or to the care of a ‘fit person’; 

                   but  a  ‘fit  person’  within  the  meaning  of  the  Children  Act,  1908,  does  not  include  local 

                   authority. A local authority however may apply to the court to have a case dismissed and 

                   guarantee to take the child into care, but given the present climate of opinion at local level 

                   it is not surprising that apart from Dublin this solution is rarely availed of. 



4.122       Murray noted the limitation of the Children Act 1908 in this regard was removed in Britain and 

            Northern Ireland and urged a similar legislative change in Ireland; however, she also noted: 



                   this suggestion presupposes a properly organised and staffed social service department 

                   at local level capable of making the right decisions regarding the children confined to its 

                   care and with no motive other than their best interests. There appears to be no doubt that 

                   many of the children now condemned through no fault of their own in institutional life could 

                   be placed in a family circle if the law were amended and a serious effort made to provide 

                   the with foster parents. 



4.123       Clandillon offered a similar analysis arguing: 



                   the greatest need is for a new and comprehensive Children Act which would include the 

                   children boarded-out or in schools under the Health Act, 1953, those covered by Parts I 

                   and II of the Children Acts, 1908-1957, and many more who are included under any of 

                   these.   The    new    legislation    would    naturally   indicate    the   need    for  one    Government 

                   Department  to  be  responsible  for  all  the  services  for  children  in  need  of  help,  or  a 

                   Children’s Department as a subsidiary of one Government Department as is the case in 

                   England  and  Wales.  There  has  been  adverse  criticism  for  many  years  of  the  present 

                   arrangement whereby three Departments are concerned with different facets of the needs 

                   of deprived, delinquent or neglected children. 



4.124       She also found favour with the proposal for a broad-based Commission of Inquiry into Children’s 

            Services,  but  argued  that  ‘there  is  no  point  in  looking  into  the  causes  of  deprivation  –  family 

            breakdown, delinquency, illegitimacy and so on. There is little use in trying to improve the lot of a 

            child if the unfavourable circumstances which caused the trouble are allowed to continue. This 

            would  be  merely  putting  a  thin  coat  of  paint  on  rotten  wood.’154          Murray  concluded  her  memo 



            by stating: 



                   Without anticipating the report of the Committee on Industrial Schools it may be assumed 

                   that the day of the large Industrial School is over, and that in future, institutions in this 

                   category will take the form of much smaller units capable of giving individual attention to 

                   the children and of catering for special needs. The Department of Health has a special 

                   interest in the pattern which will emerge as children in the care of local authorities who 

                   need the discipline of an institution or who are unsuitable or ineligible for fosterage must 

                   be catered for in some type of school. The recommendations of the Committee therefore 

                   will be awaited not alone with interest but with some degree of apprehension. 



            154 She also argued ‘at least 80 percent of the membership of the Commission should be professional social workers 



               who are already working in various fields where children and their families are involved. A great deal of time and 

               energy is wasted if members have not got first hand knowledge of the matters to be studied. There should be a 

               professional social worker from the Family Welfare Bureau, of the Catholic Social Welfare Bureau, which provides 

               training in family casework for social science graduates during their professional training. There should also be 

               professional workers from the probation service and also housing welfare officers. The ISPCC should be represented 

               by one of their qualified social workers, and the Civics Institute, which does valuable work in caring for the young 

               children of working mothers in their day nurseries or creches, should also be represented’. 

                                                                       ` 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                   301 


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4.125      The  core  ideas  set  out  in  the  correspondence  between Clandillon,  Murray  and  O’Rourke  were 

           eventually  encapsulated  in  a  detailed  circular  issued  in  July  1970.155          This  circular  effectively 



           established  the  template  for  childcare  services  for  the  next  two  decades,  in  particular  the  shift 

           from  residential  care  to  foster  care  as  the  primary  form  of  extra-familial  care  in  Ireland  and  is 

           quoted in full in Appendix 1 to this report to give a sense of the importance of the document. 



4.126      The  Incorporated  Law  Society  of  Ireland  also  contributed  to  the  debate  on  the  future  of  the 

            Reformatory  and  Industrial  School  system  in  a  memo  to  the  Department  of  Education  in  April 

            1969. The memo recommended inter alia that separate institutions were required for children who 

           committed an offence and those who were taken into care. It further advocated the appointment 

           of a psychologist to each school and the development of group homes. The memo also highlighted 

           the absence of any provision for non-Catholic children which they argued was: 



                  completely unconstitutional and utterly unjust. If there were only one such child it is an 

                  inescapable obligation of the State to make precisely the same provision for that child as 

                  they would for a child of any other faith. It is accepted that there may be very few children 

                  of the Protestant faith or of the Jewish faith but it is believed that the statistics available 

                  are not reliable in as much as no committals are made of such children because there is 

                  no place for  them to go. If  there were a place  for them to go  undoubtedly many more 

                  cases would come to light. In any case the number of cases is quite beside the point. 

                  Under the Constitution and in justice equal provision must be made for all and this is a 

                  matter of the utmost urgency.156 



4.127      The memo also argued that while their recommendations would involve greater demands on the 

            Department of Finance, that: 



                  Fortunately there is ample room for improvement here because at the present time the 

                  fees paid by the State to institutions for the accommodation of children of this kind are 

                  completely inadequate and is the prime factor leading to the complete breakdown in the 

                  system.  Indeed  were  it  not  for  the  self-sacrifice  and  dedication  of  the  people  who  run 

                  these schools the whole system would have broken down completely long ago. 



4.128      Thus, in the immediate years preceding the publication of the deliberations of the Committee of 

            Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools Systems, a broad consensus had emerged on 

           the  difficulties  with  the  existing  system  of  child  welfare,  in  particular  the  provision  of  substitute 

           care.  The  need  for  new  legislation  was  acknowledged  by  all  and  the  dramatic  decline  in  the 

            numbers  in  residential  care  and  the  consequences  of  this  for  the  capitation  system  of  funding 

           were widely realised. 



            The establishment of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial 

            Schools’ Systems 



4.129      On 5th January 1967, Mr John Hurley wrote to the Minister for Education, Mr Donagh O’Malley 

           about  the  consequences  of  institutional  life  on  a  named  young  person.  He  also  enclosed  two 

           documents, both written by Fr Kenneth McCabe, one on juvenile delinquency, which was based 

           on McCabe’s studies of various institutions in the country, the second a descriptive account of St 

            Patrick’s Training School in Belfast. The first report argued that: 



                  Our  reformatory  and  industrial  school  system  as  it  stands,  is  at  best,  only  punitive. 

                  Reformatory and industrial schools are absolutely inadequately endowed. No institution 

                  could run on £3-10-0 per boy per week (This may not be an exact sum). The result is as 

                  one would expect. The food is bad. Boys are disgracefully dressed. In Daingean when I 



            155 Circular 23/70 15th July 1970 Children in Care of Health Authorities. Department of Health. 

            156 Irish Times, 22nd April 1969. The memo was prepared by Mr John B Jermyn, Mr Patrick Noonan and Mr William A 



               Osborne. 



           302                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2343-----------------------

                 was  there  (Summer  1964)  boys  were  not  supplied  with  handkerchiefs.  Spitting  was  a 

                 common habit. The boys got one shower per month (this at the height of summer). The 

                 school  had  only  seven  showers.  Too  much  time,  far  too  much,  is  spent  in  the  school 

                 square; a large yard where the boys just hang around for hours at a time. There is no 

                 segregation of new boys from the rest. A relatively good boy is thrown in with the rest 

                 and, within a month, he is as bad as all the others. 



4.130      He went on to claim that: 



                 The system in all our reformatory and industrial schools is repressive. Given the facilities 

                 at the disposal of the schools it seems unlikely that it could be otherwise. Boys are taken 

                 out of the natural (if defective) atmosphere of their homes and placed in an institution. If 

                 the institution is to succeed it must be as like a home as is possible. It will have the added 

                 job  of  supplying  the  defects  of  the  home  which  were  probably  the  root  causes  of  the 

                 delinquency. Perhaps the most obvious problem to begin with here is that of sex. Boys 

                 from  12  on  are  reaching  the  most  difficult  period  of  their  emotional  growth.  Too  often, 

                 even  in  reasonably  good  circumstances,  the  adolescent  will  turn  to  sex  for  an  escape 

                 from  the  hardships  of  everyday  life.  Nowadays,  even  though  it  is  largely  neglected  in 

                  Ireland, psychologists and educators insist on the need for positive sex instruction. The 

                  majority, if not all of, the boys in reformatory and industrial schools simply have no positive 

                 sex instruction. They are placed in a repressive system, at a time of intense emotional 

                 and sexual growth, with no instruction, and are expected to develop naturally. There is no 

                  need to go into the detail of how sex can ‘go wrong' at this stage and how habits can be 

                 acquired that will cause endless unhappiness in later life. What can we say of boys in 

                 abnormal and repressive environments? We can certainly say that only a miracle could 

                 avoid an intensification of the usual sexual problems. I want to stress this point for one 

                 very  important  reason.  In  any  boarding  schools  one  must  expect  a  certain  degree  of 

                 'homosexual' activity. We must emphasize, however, that homosexual activity is not the 

                 same as homosexuality. Placed in unnatural circumstances (an all boys school) boys will 

                  inevitably engage in such activities. They must be checked but they are not serious. In 

                 an 'intenser' atmosphere, such as an industrial school, this will be magnified. Boys will 

                  look for an outlet from repression and unhappiness in physical pleasure, either alone or 

                 with others. I have evidence that this is, in fact, the case in all industrial schools. I also 

                  have definite evidence of serious incidents of homosexual practices in some schools. A 

                 circumstance  that  doesn’t  help  matters  here  is  the  very  unsuitable  situation  of  most 

                  industrial  schools.  Daingean  is  situated  in  a  place  where  almost  all  outside  contact  is 

                  impossible. Letterfrack and Upton are even worse. It seems completely wrong to send a 

                  Dublin boy to an environment so different from his home environment. 



4.131      The following day, on 6th January 1967, the Taoiseach, Mr Lynch, wrote to Mr O’Malley noting that: 



                  During the course of being interviewed as the ‘Person in Question’ on R.T.E. on Thursday 

                  (5th) evening, Very Reverend Brother M.C. Normoyle, Vicar General of the Irish Christian 

                  Brothers,  mentioned  the  ‘difficulty  in  getting  Government  policy  in  regard  to  industrial 

                 schools’ and seemed to imply that this was a factor in closing some of them. This may be 

                 true but if it is not, much as I admire the Brothers, I would not wish to let the matter go 

                 without some comment. On the other hand, if there is something in what Brother Normoyle 

                  has said you might look into it.157 



4.132      The  response  from  Mr  O’Malley  to  Mr  Lynch  on  19th  January  reiterated  the  point  made  by 

           successive Ministers for Education, that the primary problem with the schools was the inadequacy 

           of the capitation grant. For Mr O’Malley, 



           157 Memo for Government: Proposed committee for Reformatory and Industrial schools. NA D/T 98/6/156 Children – 



              General. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           303 


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                  The only difficulty in regard to Government policy which these school managers have ever 

                  brought to the Department’s notice is that of the small size of grants and matters stemming 

                  from that. It is a constant cry with them that the grant is only about one-third that given in 

                  the six counties. There is of course something in this. It is not so easy for them to provide 

                  a building, maintain it, provide staffing, clothe and feed the pupils, take them on annual 

                  holiday, provide medical and other care for them, and so at £2.7s.6d per head per week. 

                  In fact, while the forty or so industrial schools generally are run very well, there are some 

                  marked  deficiencies  especially  in  relation  to  the  provision  for  the  psychiatric  treatment 

                  of children.158 



4.133       Mr O’Malley went on to dismiss Br Normoyle’s comments, claiming: 



                  I don’t know exactly therefore what Br. Normoyle was getting at and I have a shrewd idea 

                  that he wouldn’t know either. It was probably his first appearance on television and his 

                  instinct was to fob off from the Order any blame that might be going on. On the whole I 

                  would be inclined to let the matter go at that. He is not a man who normally opens his 

                  mouth much.159 



4.134       Mr O’Malley went on to express some minor reservations he himself had about the operation of 

           the schools or, more importantly in his view, the public image of the schools, as he believed that: 



                  One of the troubles in that regard is that Daingean reformatory, which is really suffering 

                  from    very   poor   accommodation,        understaffing     and    under-everything       practically,  is 

                  confused with the forty industrial schools of which the vast majority cater very well indeed 

                  for their children.160 



4.135       He then went on to say that he had a ‘notion of setting up an ad-hoc committee’ to report to him 

            on this matter, as ‘if it were to do nothing else, it might at least have the effect of allaying public 

            unease.’161   Mr O’Malley proposed this to the Association of Resident Managers of Reformatory 



            and  Industrial  Schools  who  responded  positively  ‘that  a  representative  number  of  the  schools 

           visited  by  a  group  of  persons,  appointed  by  you,  who  would  furnish  you  with  a  report  on  the 

            position as they would see it.’ The Resident Managers in their reply on 1st April 1967 stated that 

           they would: 



                  co-operate with you in whatever steps you may take to improve the system and dissipate 

                  the  public  image  which  is  detrimental  to  the  pupils  of  these  schools  and  frequently 

                  embarrassing to the managers and staffs. They also request that the visiting committee 

                  be appointed as soon as possible and that the report should be confidential and confined 

                  to yourself, the members of the committee and the managers. 



4.136       On  10th  May  1967,  Mr  O’Malley  received  a  deputation  from  the  Dublin  Junior  Chamber  of 

            Commerce  Mr DL  Lennon, Mr  J  Freeley and  Miss M  McGivern.  At the  meeting the  delegation 

            outlined  their  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Artane  Industrial  School,  particularly  the  extension  of 

           vocational  educational  classes  in  the  school.  From  a  note  of  the  meeting,  it  appears  that  Mr 

            O’Malley stated: 



                  he  was  concerned  about  the  public  image  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  and 

                  aware of a lot of vague public criticism of the system. He felt the time had come when a 

                  small lay independent committee should be set up to examine and report to him on the 

                  whole question in order to allay public disquiet. 



4.137       The matter was discussed with the delegation and the note of the meeting records: 



            158 Letter from O’Malley to Lynch 19/1/67. NA D/T 98/6/156 Children-General. 

            159 D/T 98/6/156 Children – General. 

            160 NA D/T 98/6/156 Children – General. 

            161 NA D/T 98/6/156 Children – General. 



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                  it was agreed that a committee of about seven would be ideal. The Minister thought the 

                  proposed     committee     should,    before   commencing       investigation,    be  as   conversant     as 

                  possible with similar problems in other countries. He also thought its inquiries might be 

                  extended to other associate fields, such as Magdalen Homes and that it should consider 

                  establishing liaison with other interested Departments, Health, Social Welfare, Justice and 

                  Labour. The Runai Cunta (D. O’Laoghaire) stated that the full co-operation of the schools 

                  could be counted on in any such investigation. The deputation assured the Minister that, 

                  if  requested,  one  or  two  of  their  members  would  be  willing  to  serve  on  the  proposed 

                  Committee. Finally the Minister said he planned to get the Committee formed in the near 

                  future with a view to commencing its inquiries in the Autumn. Terms of reference would 

                  be prepared, followed by a thorough briefing of the Committee and he would hope to have 

                  their report in six to nine month’s time. 



                ´                             ´ 

4.138       Mr O Laoghaire wrote to Mr O Raifeartaigh on 23rd May 1967 outlining the outcome of the meeting 

           with  the  deputation  from  the  Junior  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  noted  that  sanction  had  been 

            obtained from the Department of Finance for payment of a travel and subsistence allowance for 

            members  of  the  committee  and  that  the  resident  managers  had  agreed  to  co-operate  with  the 

                          ´ 

            inquiry. Mr O Raifeartaigh replied on 20th June stating that: 



                  I think the terms of reference should be broad in scope and suggest the following:- 



                          (1)   to make a survey of the active reformatory and industrial school system and to 

                                report thereon to the Minister, making such recommendations and suggestions 

                                as  they   think   might    be   helpful   to  him   in  considering     the   modification    or 

                                improvement thereof, and 



                          (2)   to visit the schools and to furnish a separate report to the Minister on each of 

                                them with such comments or recommendations as they deem appropriate. The 

                                above  suggested  terms  of  reference  do  not  include  the  Place  of  Detention, 

                                Glasnevin as it has already been decided to replace that institution and to frame 

                                fresh legislation which would considerably enlarge its functions and purpose. 



4.139       The following day, 21st June 1967, Fr Kenneth McCabe wrote to Mr O’Malley from St Anthony’s 

            Presbytery in Middlesex, stating: 



                  For many years I have been interested in the prevention and treatment of delinquents in 

                  Ireland.   One  aspect     that  interests  me     particularly  just  now    is the  ‘fate’  of  so  many 

                  reformatory     and   industrial   school   boys   who    fund   their  ways    to  Britain,  and,   almost 

                  inevitably, to trouble. I am just recently ordained but I can see possibilities and would like 

                  to begin as soon as possible to get something done for these boys. If anything is to be 

                  done, however, some change in policy at home would be essential. This would mainly 

                  entail an effort to keep track of where boys go in the months or year after they leave the 

                  schools, and, if they do come to Britain, to let us know. All this sounds elementary. From 

                  what I know of our present reformatory system, it would demand a radical reform of the 

                  whole approach to after-care. However, I won’t bore you with ideas. What I have in mind 

                  could only be adequately discussed in an interview. Should  you be interested in doing 

                  something  about  the  problem,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  meet  you  when  I  am  home  in 

                  Dublin in early August. Do please let me know and I can put a tentative programme on 

                  paper.  Just  for  the  moment  I  would  be  grateful  if  you  would  please  keep  this  letter 

                  confidential. I would ask in particular that you do no communicate it to the industrial school 

                  section of your department. If and when we meet I will let you know why I prefer to keep 

                  my suggestions separate from department level.162 



            162 McCabe wrote again on 9th July 1967 thanking O’Malley for his letter of the 3rd July and stating ‘I should be glad to 



               prepare a confidential memorandum for you, if you could let me know the particular aspects of the problem that 

               interest you particularly’. 



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                                   ´ 

4.140      On 24th June, Mr O Laoghaire wrote to the Assistant Secretary, Mr Mac Gearailt, outlining the 

           terms for the proposed committee. He stated: 



                          (a)   The terms of reference should be as precise as possible as follows: To survey 

                                the  Industrial   and   Reformatory      School    System     and   to  make    a  report   and 

                                recommendations to the Minister 



                          (b)   care must be taken to represent the opinion of the Secretary of the Managers 

                                Committee  The  report  should  be  confidential  and  confined  to  yourself  and  to 

                                members  of  the  Managers  Committee  –  letter  of  1/4/67.  The  members  of  the 

                                Committee should be instructed beforehand to be as discreet as possible and the 

                                question of what to do with the report should be left until the report is completed. 



                          (c)   Regarding the composition of the Committee, there are two proposed from the 

                               Junior  Chamber of  Commerce  together  with Declan  Costello.  I think  two  more 

                               from the country districts should be sufficient. 



                ´ 

4.141       Mr O Laoghaire further communicated with Mr MacGearailt on 30th June, stating: 



                  As a result of our discussions with the Minister on 30/6/67, it was agreed 



                          1.  that  the  Managers      would  be  approached  and         requested  not  to  insist     on  the 

                              confidential clause 



                         2.   that the terms of reference would be at ‘A’ above 



                         3.   that the following would be members of the Committee: John Hurley, Chairman, 

                              Declan  Lennon,  Margaret  McGivern,  Sr.  Kevin.  A  person  to  be  nominated  by 

                              Declan    Costello    T.D.   I think  it would    be   best  if the   Secretary    spoke    to Br. 

                              O’Raghallaigh about 1. and to Declan Costello about 3. We thought that a woman 

                              would result from 3 but on second thoughts maybe a man would suit better i.e. 3 

                              men & 2 women instead of 2 men & 3 women. 



                                       ´ 

4.142      On 6th July 1967, Mr O Raifeartaigh wrote to Mr Declan Costello TD. In the letter he stated: 



                  Further to our recent telephone conversation, please excuse my delay in letting you have 

                  the names of four people the Minister has in mind for the Committee on Industrial and 

                  Reformatory Schools which he proposes to set up. They are: -Mr. John Hurley, Chairman, 

                  Mr. Declan Lennon, Miss Margaret McGivern, Sr. Kevin. Mr. Hurley is Chairman of the 

                  Allied Cinemas group. Mr. Lennon was last year’s Chairman of Dublin Junior Chamber of 

                  Commerce. (He is also in the insurance business). Miss McGivern is also a member of 

                  Dublin Junior Chamber of Commerce. Sister Kevin is an expert in Social Science. I should 

                  explain  that  the  Dublin  Junior  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  had  for  some  time  been 

                  especially interesting itself in the Artane Industrial School for Boys. The terms of reference 

                  of  the  Committee  would  be  on  the  lines  of:  ‘To  survey  the  Industrial  and  Reformatory 

                  School system and to make a report and recommendations to the Minister’. The Minister 

                  would be happy to have from you a suggestion for a fifth member. 



4.143       Mr  Costello  replied  on  12th  July  and  suggested  the  Rev  Kenneth  McCabe  as  a  member.  He 

           outlined that: 



                  I  have  known  Father  McCabe  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  educated  in  Dublin  and 

                  joined the Jesuit order here and was a member of that order until last year. He was most 

                  anxious to do social work (particularly in the field of juvenile delinquency) and with the 

                  permission of his authorities he left the order and went to a diocese in England. He was 

                  ordained  a  priest  here  in  Dublin  in  the  month  of  June  but  is  now  as  indicated  by  his 

                  address working in an English diocese. I understand that he anticipates that he will be 

                  able to get permission from his Bishop to act on the Minister’s committee if it is thought 

                  fit  to  appoint  him  to  it  and  that  he  will  be  able  to  travel  to  Dublin  for  the  meetings  of 



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                  the  Committee.  Fr.  McCabe  has  been  intimately  acquainted  with  problems  of  juvenile 

                  delinquency and also industrial schools for many years. I know that in addition to great 

                  personal  interest  in  the  problem,  he  now  has  a  very  wide  knowledge  of  them.  He  has 

                  spent some time in the Daingean Reformatory and also, during his holidays, has studied 

                  the  problem  in  Northern  Ireland.  He  is  a  young  man  (in  his  early  thirties)  and  is  very 

                  intelligent and would make, I believe, a good committee member. He is a discreet person, 

                  but he has decided and firmly held views on how improvements in the present situation 

                  could be brought about and he would not, I believe, be in any way inhibited in expressing 

                  his views to the committee. 



4.144       On 4th August 1967, the Department of Education submitted a memo to Government proposing 

           to  establish    a  Committee     to  inquire   into  Reformatory     and   Industrial   Schools.    The   terms    of 

            reference for the Committee were to ‘to survey the Reformatory and Industrial Schools systems 

           and to make a report and recommendations to the Minister for Education’ and the rationale was 

           that: 



                  Representations       have   been    made     from   time   to  time   by   various   groups....that    the 

                  conditions  in  reformatory  and  industrial  schools  are  in  urgent  need  of  improvement. 

                  References have been made to this matter in the public press on many occasions. With 

                  a view to subjecting the problem to outside objective appraisal the Minister for Education 

                  proposes to appoint a committee to report and make recommendations to him in relation 

                  to it.163 



4.145      The initial proposed membership of the committee were: 



                  Chairman, Mr. John Hurley, Cinema manager – has wide social interests 



                  Mr Declan Lennon and Miss Margaret McGivern – members of the Dublin Junior Chamber 

                  of  Commerce  which  has  interested  itself  in  seeking  improvements  in  the  facilities  and 

                  amenities provided in Artane Industrial School. 



                  The Rev. Kenneth McCabe, S.J. Middlesex, England. He has done a great deal of work 

                  in the field of juvenile delinquency and neglected children. Specially recommended by Mr. 

                  Declan  Costello,  T.D.,  who  for  many  years  has  interested  himself  in  the  problems  of 

                  children suffering from physical or mental handicap. 



                  An   tSuir  Caoimhin     O’Caoimh      –  Little Sisters   of  the  Assumption,     Corbally,    Limerick. 

                  Prominent social worker attached to Limerick Social Service Centre. 



                  Br. Francis O’Reilly, Resident Manager Artane. Sec. Association of Resident Managers 

                  of Reformatory and Industrial Schools. 



                  Dr.   John    Ryan,    Medical     Director,   St.  John    of   God’s    Services     for  the   Mentally 

                  Handicapped.’164 



4.146      This  proposal  was  submitted  to  Cabinet  and  was  approved  on  5th  October  1967  subject  to  a 

            number of changes on the proposed membership of the committee. These changes were: 



                    (1)   The deletion of Rev K. McCabe; 



                    (2)   John Hurley to be an ordinary member – not chairman; 

                    (3)   DJ Miss Eileen Kennedy165  to be chairman; and 



                    (4)   the addition to the membership of the committee of a nominee each from the Ministers 

                          for Education, Justice and Health.166 



            163 D/T 98/6/156 Children – General. 

            164 NA D/T 98/6/156 Children – General. 

            165 Born in 1914, Ms Kennedy, who initially trained as nurse, was appointed a Justice of the District Court and Justice of 



               the Metropolitan Children’s Court in 1964: the first women to be appointed as a District Justice in Ireland. 

            166 NA D/T 98/6/156 Children – General. 



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4.147       On 12th September 1967, Mr Barry Early,167  a member of Dublin City Council, was also appointed 



           to the Committee and two days later, on 14th September 1967, the Department of Justice wrote 

           to the Department of Education informing them that ‘the Minister’s nominee for membership of the 

            committee is Mr Risteard Mac Conchradha, a higher executive officer, of the prisons division in 

           this Department’. The other Departmental nominees were Dr JG O’Hagan, Senior Medical officer, 

                                                          ´ 

            Department of Health and Mr Antoin O Gormain, Psychologist, Department of Education. At the 

            inaugural meeting of the Committee on 20th October 1967, O’Malley stated that his reason for 

            establishing  the  Committee  was  that  ‘various  individuals  and  groups  interested  in  sociological 

            activities, had from time to time represented that the provision being made in our reformatory and 

            industrial schools is in urgent need of improvement’. He further stated that the Committee ‘should 

            not feel that limits are being placed on their investigations’.168 



            The Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ 

            Systems 



4.148       The publication of the of the Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial 

            Schools’ Systems on 12th November 1970 is generally viewed as a pivotal moment in the history 

            of residential childcare in Ireland. The Report recommended, inter alia, that the childcare system 

            should be geared to the prevention of family breakdown and residential care should be considered 

            only when there are no satisfactory alternatives; that the system of institutional care should be 

            replaced by small group homes; the Reformatory at Daingean be replaced by a modern Special 

            School; Marlborough House be closed; childcare staff should be fully trained; children in residential 

            care should be educated to the ultimate of their capacities; after-care should form an integral part 

            of the child-care  system; administrative responsibility for  childcare should be transferred  to the 

            Department of Health, with responsibility for the educational element retained by the Department 

            of  Education;  there  should  be  a  new  updated  Children’s  Act;  the  age  of  criminal  responsibility 

            should be raised to 12 years; both Reformatory and Industrial Schools should be paid on a budget 

            system rather than the existing capitation system; an independent advisory body with statutory 

            powers should be established and there should be continuous research into childcare. 



4.149       In addition to these broad recommendations, the Committee made a number of recommendations 

            specific to residential care. These included: 



                   •     When  children  have  to  be  placed  in  residential  care,  those  from  one  family  should, 

                         where at all possible, be kept together. 



                   •     In order to create a home atmosphere the children should be reared in self-contained 

                         units in groups of not more than 7-9 children. In well populated areas these units could 

                         be purchased or rented houses in different housing areas. 



                   •     The term ‘Industrial School’ should be replaced by the term ‘Residential Home’. 

                   •     Each home should have house parents who would be responsible for the day-to-day 

                         running of the unit as a home. Where this is not feasible every home should have a 

                         house mother; continuity of staff in these units is fundamental. 



                   •     There should be no suggestion of a dormitory system in units. Children should sleep 

                         in bedrooms with not more than three and, in some cases, only one in a bedroom. 



            167 Early, in commenting on the composition of the committee observed that the ‘membership was unusual in many 



               ways. Three of the members were women including the Chairman; three were Civil Servants of whom only one was 

               an administrator; two were clerics. Four members of the committee had little or no practical experience of dealing 

               with deprived children and in particular children in residential care. Three of these members were actively involved 

               with the Junior Chamber of Commerce who were pressing for changes in the system.’ He also commented that ‘As 

               with most committees which sit for a long time the interest of some members waned. At the end of the period the 

               active members had been reduced to less than half of the total.’ Early, B (1974) ‘The Kennedy Committee and Its 

               Work’. CARE Newsletter, 1, 2, 2-3. 

            168 Irish Times, 21st October 1967. 



            308                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                   •     Units should house both sexes as in a normal home and children should be of different 

                         age groups. 



                   •    All homes catering for children in care should be subject to regular inspection. 

                   •     The    approach     to  deprived    children    in residential    care   should   be   one    of  over- 

                         compensation. 



                   •     The children should enjoy the right to, and be encouraged to have, personal property. 

                         This means that they should be given pocket money, and should have some say in 

                         the choice of their clothes. 



                   •     Children  should  be  encouraged  to  join  in  as  many  outside  recreational  activities  as 

                         possible and to use local facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, and playing 

                         fields.  They  should  be  encouraged  to  mix  with  friends  from  outside  and  allowed  to 

                         bring them to their homes as well as to accept invitations to visit their friends. 



                   •     Every effort should be made to foster the individuality of the children by allowing them 

                         to  encounter  and  cope  with  circumstances  existing  outside  the  home  as  much  as 

                         possible. 



                   •    When new buildings are being planned, units should be separate from one another. 

                   •    Where old buildings have to be adapted this adaptation should take the form of modern 

                         self-contained  units  with  their  own  bedrooms,  bathroom,  lavatories,  kitchen,  living 

                         room, dining-room and entrances. 



                   •     Where it is necessary to alter existing buildings not more than 3-4 units should be in 

                         the one building. 



                   •     Grants should be made available for building purposes as in the case of schools and 

                         hospitals. 



                   •     Before a child is admitted to residential care he should be assessed to ascertain where 

                         he can be suitably placed with most benefit to himself. 



                   •     For this purpose every region should have one centre designated as a reception and 

                         assessment centre. This centre should also be a Residential Home. 



                   •    This reception and assessment centre would receive all new cases and be responsible 

                         for collecting the background information required for the assessment of the child and 

                         his subsequent placement. 



                   •     Before a child is placed into residential care from a reception and assessment centre 

                         certain   records    concerning     him   should   be   obtained.    These    should    include   birth, 

                         baptismal and confirmation certificates, a social background report, a schools report, 

                         other personal records. These reports should accompany the child when placed. 



                   •     A  comprehensive  record  should  be  kept  of  every  child  in  residential  care  including 

                         medical    case  history,    school   progress  reports,     psychological     tests  and  any    other 

                         relevant reports.’169 



4.150      The apparent significance of the Report can be gauged by the observations of one commentator 

           with a long involvement in the provision of residential care, who argued: 



                  the  impetus  for  change  and  improvement  came  with  the  Kennedy  Report  of  1970.  A 

                  number of the larger, single sex, isolated institutions were closed down altogether. All the 

                  others  began  to  develop  small  units  within  their  buildings  and/or  group  homes  in  the 

                  community. Alongside with this, training at a basic qualifying level was initiated, starting 

                  in 1971 with one training centre, eventually rising to six separate centres...170 



            169 Reformatory and Industrial Schools Systems (1970) Report. Dublin: Stationery Report. pp 23-5. 

            170 Brennan, PD (1994) ‘Ireland: Changes and New Trends in Extrafamilial care in the last Two Decades’ in Gottesman, 



               M (ed) Recent Changes and New Trends in Extrafamilial Child Care: An International Perspective. London: Whiting 

               and Birch. pp 91-2. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               309 


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4.151       More generally, he argued that the report: 



                   brought about a remarkable shift in emphasis – from reformatory/punitive to caring; from 

                   large    institution    to    small    familial    group     homes;      from     controlling/corrective       to 

                   understanding/caring;  from  custodial  to  educative;  from  basic  vocational  training  to  all- 

                   round education; from untrained, with no opportunity for training, to professionally trained 

                   and  recognised  care  workers.  It  also  pointed  out  that  the  deprived  child  needed  an 

                   investment over and above that required for a child safely and securely growing up in its 

                   own  family.  It  also  set  in  train  the  up-dating  of  all  laws  relating  to  children  and  child 



                            171 

                   care... 



4.152       Denis O’Sullivan argues that it was only from the late 1960s, that a ‘social risk’ model of childcare, 

            which    had   influenced     policy   for  the   previous    hundred     years,    became      displaced    by   a  more 

            developmental model of childcare. This was brought about by the discovery of the ‘deprived child’ 

            in  Ireland.  Prior  to  this  period  childcare  intervention  was  viewed  as  ‘a  means  of  social  control 

            rather than of individual fulfilment’.172        The primary facets of the emerging developmental model 



            were disenchantment with institutionalisation and the need to move beyond a narrow interpretation 

            of childcare. Rather than focusing, almost exclusively, on the physical needs of the child, the need 

            to incorporate emotional and psychological dimensions in promoting the welfare of children gained 

            acceptance.  The  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  Systems  Report  (the  Kennedy  Report), 

            prefaced with the statement that ‘All children need love, care and security if they are to develop 

            into full and mature adults’173        most clearly articulated this shift. O’Sullivan has argued that ‘[the] 



            application of changing interpretations of equality to the life circumstances of children who came 

            into  care,  mediated  to  the  public  through  conferences,  publications  and  considerable  media 

            coverage, was to be one of the major sources of the “discovery” of the deprived child in Ireland’.174 



            However, while the Report was symbolically an important stage in the evolution of child welfare 

            and, in particular, residential childcare services, it is perhaps better understood as the distillation 

            of an understanding of the role, function and dysfunctions of residential care that had emerged 

            most articulately since the mid-1960s. The key recommendations of the report, from the need for 

            new legislation and the need to provide a coherent administrative structure were recognised and 

            broadly accepted before the report was commissioned. 



4.153       Mr Padraig Faulkner, the Minister for Education who received the report of the Commission, in 

            his memoirs recalled that: 



                   It  was  an  excellent  report,  highlighting  as  it  did  the  serious  deficiencies  in  the  service, 

                   which  I  accepted.  It  gave  my  Department  a  base  on  which  to  build  for  the  future....I 

                   remember being pleased that in reference to religious institutions the committee stated: 

                   ‘We are very much aware that if were not for the dedicated work of many religious bodies 

                   the position would be a great deal worse.175 



4.154       He further stated that: 



                   It was to be quite some time after I left the Department of Education that I first heard the 

                   word  ‘paedophile’.  During  my  time  as  Minister  I  hadn’t  an  inkling  that  child  sex  abuse 

                                                                                                ´ 

                   existed.  When  I  published  the  Kennedy  Report  in  1970  Dail  questions  on  a  variety  of 

                   aspects of it came thick and fast. Some deputies praised the diligence and selflessness 

                   of the religious orders in caring for children in care. Nobody raised the question of abuse. 



            171 Ibid. p 92. 

            172 O'Sullivan, D (1979) ‘Social Definition in Child Care in the Irish Republic: Models of Child and Child Care 



                Intervention’. Economic and Social Review, 10, 3, p 211. 

            173 Report on Industrial Schools and Reformatories (The Kennedy Report) (1970). Dublin: The Stationery Office p v. 

            174 O'Sullivan, D (1979) ‘Social Definition in Child Care in the Irish Republic: Models of Child and Child Care 



                Intervention’. Economic and Social Review, Vol 10, No 3, p 215. 

            175 Faulkner, P (2005) As I Saw It: Reviewing Over 30 Years of Fianna Fail and Irish Politics. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. 



                p 68. 



            310                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                    Dr.  Noel  Browne  and Dr.  John  O’Connell  were  among  my most  persistent  questioners 

                    and  nobody  doubts  that  if  these  two  deputies  had  heard  so  much  as  a  whisper  about 

                    abuse they would immediately have raised the matter in the Dail. I suppose in a way, like 

                                                                                                         ´ 

                    most people, I was living in an age of innocence when nobody believed that people in 

                    authority, be they religious or lay, could commit such heinous crimes.176 



             Establishment of health boards and child welfare 



4.155        It was only with the construction of health boards in 1970, as a result of the Health Act 1970, that 

             the  State  began  to  take  a  more  active  role  in  the  provision  of  childcare  services.177                      The  Act 



             established eight regional health boards and within each health  board a number of community 

             care areas. Previous to this Act, services were delivered by local authorities, for whom services 

             for children formed only a very minor proportion of their multitude of tasks.178                           Health boards had 



             responsibility for what were termed three ‘programmes’: (1) community care services; (2) general 

             hospital  services;  and  (3)  special  hospital  services.  Community  care  services  are  further  sub- 

             divided  into  three  sub-programmes  (i)               community  protection  sub-programme;  (ii)  Community 

             health services sub-programme; and (iii) community welfare sub-programme. Services for children 

             were  provided  through  the  community  welfare  sub-programme  of  community  care  services.179 



             Gilligan has argued that as health boards began to establish their own social work services, social 

             workers employed by the boards identified childcare as a priority and quickly subsumed the Irish 

             Society  for  the  Protection  of  Cruelty  to  Children180              as  the  key  agents  responsible  for  placing 

             children in care.181  This was facilitated by utilising the ‘fit person’ order182                    under the Children Act 

             1908,183 a section long forgotten, but initiated by Eastern Health Board social workers and adopted 

             by the other boards.184 



4.156        The Department of Education were also reorganising their services at this time and on 16th July 

             1971,  it  was  announced  that  ‘the  industrial  and  reformatory schools  branch  will  not  henceforth 



             176 Ibid. pp 70-1. 

             177 In a review of Social Work Services in 1985, it was noted ‘Both the Health Act, 1953 and the Children (Amendment) 



                Act, 1957 (which extended the powers of the Children Act, 1908) made specific provision for certain child welfare 

                 services. The 1953 Act and regulations made under it provided for the boarding out of children in certain 

                 circumstances. Regulations under the 1957 Act related to the discharge of children from residential care. These 

                 provisions led to the appointment in 1959 of twelve children’s officers throughout the country (Donegal, Mayo, Kerry, 

                 Cork, Carlow / Kildare, Cavan, Galway, Wexford, Limerick, Tipperary and two in Dublin). In addition to their duties 

                 under the legislation, these officers gave assistance to unmarried mothers and ensured that no child was admitted to 

                 residential care who could be boarded out or adopted. These children’s’ officers, who reported to assistant county 

                 managers, were not, initially, social workers. They were, for the most part, nurses. In 1959, Galway Health Authority 

                was the only agency to appoint a social worker for this work.’ The Report noted that while the Health Act 1970, 

                which established the regional health boards, did not make any specific provision for social work, the establishment 

                 of community care teams ensured the provision of a minimum level of social service provision in the community. On 

                 19th January 1973, the Department of Health issued guidelines on to the regional health boards on the development 

                 of social work within the community care services. In terms of priorities, the memo stated, ‘the existing statutory 

                 requirements in relation to the provision of services for deprived children must be given the highest priority. Where a 

                trained social worker is employed on this work its discharge is normally most effective; where the work is at present 

                 being undertaken by officers whose primary training has not been in the social work field the appointment of a 

                trained social worker would facilitate a professional review of such service’. The memo also noted ‘currently the 

                 Department has an Inspector who advises on child care work and three temporary Social Work Advisors who are 

                 seconded from health boards.’ 

             178 Skehill highlighted that certain difficulties existed in relation to the role of social workers in this new administrative 



                 configuration and to the nature of the social work task itself, observing that ‘social work as a strategy did not even 

                feature in the draft proposals for the newly structured health boards in 1970 (McKinsey Consultants, 1970). 

                 Moreover, evidence on social work developments and practices between 1970 and 1991 suggests that the 

                 profession was fraught with dispute and confusion over whether social workers should be experts in child protection 

                 or generic practitioners over this time period.’ Skehill, C (2003) ‘Social Work in the Republic of Ireland: A History of 

                the Present’. Journal of Social Work, 3, 2, p 149. 

             179 NESC (1987) Community Care Services: An Overview. Dublin: National Economic and Social Council. 

             180 A National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) was established in London in 1889 and a 



                 Dublin branch established in the same year. By the 1930s, more than 30 such branches were established in Ireland. 

                 In 1956, the Irish branches of the NSPCC split forming an Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. See 

                 Ferguson, H (1996) Protecting Irish Children in Time: Child Abuse as a Social Problem and the Development of the 

                 Child Protection System in Ireland. Administration, Vol 44, No 2, pp 5-36. 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                              311 


----------------------- Page 2352-----------------------

exist as a separate branch but will be joined to the Special Schools Sub-Section of the Primary 

                                                                                                                               ´ 

Administration branch under the Principal Officer L Lane and the Assistant Principal officer T O 

            ´ 

Gilin. L O Criodhain is appointed as an Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools in the 

    ´ 

                          ´ 

grade of HEO’. Mr O Maitiu later commented that the work of this subsection was ‘innovatory and 

                                   ´ 

in  some  ways  experimental.  It  calls  for  staff  of  a  high  quality’  Despite  this  re-organisation,  by 

                             ´ 

November 1973, Mr O Maitiu stated that ‘While significant headway has been made in bringing 

                                      ´ 

about  the  reform  of  the  old  discredited  system,  progress  in  some  aspects  has  not  been  as 

satisfactory  as  it  could  have  been,  mainly  because  of  staffing  problems.’  As  a  consequence, 

he  reported that  ‘resort has  been made  to keep  the work  of the  section above  the  water line’. 

These included: 



       (i) Formal inspections by HEO of residential homes and special schools suspended since 

       June 1973, apart from a few urgent journeys. As the HEO is bound by law to inspect each 

       school at least once a year, this is a matter of the gravest importance. (ii) Parental Monies 

       (a) Visits by E.O. to homes of parents have practically ceased. (b) arrears in payments of 

       parental  monies  not  being  fully  investigated.  As  a  result  the  weekly  amounts  collected 

       have fallen: immediate action is necessary if the continuing loss in revenue to the State 



181 Gilligan, R (1993) ‘Ireland’ in Colton, MJ and Hellinckx (eds) Child Care in the EC: A country-specific guide to foster 



    and residential care. Aldershot: Arena, pp 121-2. See also Ferguson, H (1996) ‘Protecting Irish Children in Time: 

    Child Abuse as a Social Problem and the Development of the Child Protection System in Ireland’. Administration, Vol 

    44, No 2, pp 5-36, for a similar analysis of the growth of statutory social work in Ireland. The number of social work 

    staff employed by the Eastern Health Board in childcare work rose from 13 in 1973 to 287 in 1998. McQuillan, P 

    (1977) ‘Family Support in Ireland’ in: CARE, Planning for Our Children. The Report of a Care Conference. Dublin: 

    CARE. p 39. On the development of social work and social work training in Ireland see Kearney, N (1987) ‘The 

    Historical Background’ in Social Work and Social Work Training in Ireland: Yesterday and Tomorrow. Department of 

    Social Studies, Occasional Paper No 1. Dublin: Department of Social Studies; Darling, V (1972) ‘Social Work in the 

    Republic of Ireland’. Social Studies, 1, 1, 24-37 and Luddy, M (2005) Women, Philanthropy and the Emergence of 

    Social Work in Ireland. Dublin: School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin. 

182 The validity of using this mechanism was the subject of the parliamentary question and the note the Minister was as 



    follows: A ‘Fit Person’ Order is an order, made by a court of competent jurisdiction, for the committal of a child or 

    young person to the care of a relative of the child or young person, or to the care of some other fit person named by 

    the Court, such person being willing to undertake such care. According to section 38 of the 1908 Act, the expression 

    ‘fit person’ in this context includes ‘any society or body corporate established for the reception or protection of poor 

    children or the prevention of cruelty to children’. This section does not however, provide an exhaustive definition of a 

    fit person and ‘some other person (section 21) other than a relative, society or body corporate may be regarded by 

    the Court as a fit person. Health Boards, established under the Health Act 1970 are bodies corporate. However, they 

    are not established solely for ‘the reception or protection of poor children or the prevention of cruelty to children’. 

    Moreover, although section 38 of the Children Act, 1908 appears in Part II of the Act, the functions of a Health Board 

    (as specified in section 6 of the Health Act, 1970) do not extend beyond Part I of the Children Act. Notwithstanding 

    the above position, the Departments former legal advisor was of the opinion that a health board can act as ‘fit 

    person’ as defined in the Children Act, 1908. A similar opinion was given by Mr Peter Shanley in his capacity as 

    legal advisor to the Task Force on Child Care Services. In practice, health boards are named as fit persons, but as 

    the legal validity of this situation has never been tested, the position remains in some doubt. Doubts expressed as to 

    the validity of ‘Fit Person’ orders are usually based on the question of the legality or otherwise of health boards 

    acting as ‘fit persons’ as described above. The Department is not aware that the constitutional validity of the 

    procedure has come into doubt publicly although the Department of Education in 1976 suggested that, without a 

    right of appeal, the exercise of ‘fit person’ rights by a health board could be challenged on constitutional grounds. 

    The suggestion arose from the fact that the 1957 Amendment of the Children Act, 1908 gave parents a right of 

    appeal in the event of a refusal by the Minister for Education to accede to request by them for discharge of a 

    committal order. This provision was made in legislation because an earlier High Court case had questioned the 

    adequacy of the Children Acts as they stood to afford due constitutional protection to parental rights. Note for 

    Minister PQ Children Act, 1908 28.06.78 –Children Act, 1908 – Health Boards as Fit Persons C1.04.02. 

183 However, it was found in 1989 by the Supreme Court in the case of The State (D and D) v G and the Midland Health 



    Board that health boards were in fact not ‘fit persons’ under the Children Act, 1908. This judgment necessitated the 

    introduction of emergency legislation to remedy the situation. The Children Act 1989 provided that ‘the expression fit 

    person in section 38 of the Children Act, 1908, includes and shall be deemed always to have included a Health 

    Board established under the Health Act, 1970, and the functions of a Health Board shall include and be deemed 

    always to have included the functions conferred on a fit person by the first mentioned act as amended by any 

    subsequent Act’. 

184 Gilligan, R (1993) ‘Ireland’ in Colton, MJ and Hellinckx (eds) Child Care in the EC: A country-specific guide to foster 



    and residential care. Aldershot: Arena, pp 121-2. See also Ferguson, H (1996) ‘Protecting Irish Children in Time: 

    Child Abuse as a Social Problem and the Development of the Child Protection System in Ireland’. Administration, 44, 

    2, pp 5-36, for a similar analysis of the growth of statutory social work in Ireland. 



312                                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2353-----------------------

                     is to be countered. (iii) Other duties: Certain of the minor duties of the clerical assistants 

                     have been curtailed or eliminated. 



             Responses to the Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and 

             Industrial Schools’ Systems 



4.157        After the publication of the  Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial 

             Schools’  Systems,  the  Department  of  Education  invited  observations  on  the  recommendations 

             contained in the report from various interested parties.185  Before examining these responses, it is 



             worth examining the initial response from the Department of Health. In a memo dated November 

             to from PW to Mr O’Sullivan, it outlined that: 



                     The main recommendation from the point of view of this Department would appear to be 

                     that the Commission recommends the taking over by this Department of the administration 

                     of the various Acts dealing with Child Care and the setting up within the Department of a 

                     Child Care Division which would deal with all aspects of child care. 



4.158        The consequences for the Department of Health was that: 



                     Apart from finance which would mean transfer not only from the Vote of Education to the 

                     Vote for Health, but also from local authorities to health boards of the cost of maintenance 

                     of committed children, there would be an increase in the routine work in child care. This 



             185 Somewhat ironically, the first substantial criticism of the Report were directed against the Chairperson of the 



                 Committee, District Justice Eileen Kennedy, when Nell McCafferty highlighted in a series of articles in the Irish Times 

                 the gap between the rhetoric of the report and the day-to-day reality of the Children’s Court in Dublin, presided over 

                 by Eileen Kennedy. See, McCafferty, N (1970) ‘Children in Court -1: Notes on Reality’. Irish Times, 9th December 

                 1970, more generally, see McCafferty, N (1981) In the Eyes of the Law. Dublin: Ward River Press. pp 74-93. Dr Ian 

                 Hart, later to become a member of CARE and the Task Force on Child Care Services, provided this description of 

                 the Children’s Court in Dublin in the Early 1970s. ‘...the Dublin Metropolitan Children’s Court, it must be plainly said 

                 that the court building was generally unsatisfactory. There was no proper waiting room, only a dirty room with a 

                 couple of benches. There was no consultation room for lawyers and the cell was dark and windowless. The child had 

                 to stand for the duration of his trial even though there were usually vacant benches. Gardai had a habit of mumbling 

                                                                                                                        ´ 

                 their evidence to the justice and the author often had great difficulty in hearing what they said. Cases were listed for 

                 only two times during the day, i.e. for the morning or afternoon session. Consequently, those involved in a case 

                 might have to waste a full morning or afternoon if the case was not called. There was a long delay in hearing 

                 appeals against sentences, often of the order of four to six months. Basically, the main defect was that the justice 

                 who worked about a four and a half day hearing cases, five days a week, had to deal with about 15,000 cases in a 

                 year (16,586 in 1970. The justice thus had to deal with perhaps 5,000 children in the course of one year.’ Hart, I 

                 (1974) Factors Relating to Reconviction among Young Dublin Probationers. Dublin: Economic and Social Research 

                 Institute. Paper No 76. p 67. On 14th January 1974, the Editor of the Evening Herald wrote to the Minister for Justice 

                 in relation to the Children’s Court, which he described as ‘a sad affair – mumbled evidence, poor representation and 

                 every sign of conveyor belt justice’. He continued that ‘I have been there and really it does little to even grapple with 

                 the clear result of every case – that the defendant will be back again...a more humane approach, plus rehabilitation 

                 is needed in the Children’s Court...I had a feeling that the free legal aid in the Children’s Court was of poor quality’ 

                 (D/Taoiseach 2005-7-21. Trial of Children). The Children’s Court remains the subject of considerable criticism in 

                 recent times. Kilkelly, in 2003 and 2004 aimed to evaluate the extent to which the Children Courts operate in line 

                 with national and international standards. She concluded, ‘Apart from the problems of delay and general inefficiency, 

                 the Court does not fare well when measured against international standards. Although the Children Act 2001 

                 attempts to distinguish the Children Court from its adult counterpart the fact that its provisions are inadequately 

                 implemented in practice means that, at best, the process is slow and inefficient and, at worst, it is failing to minimize 

                 the negative impact for a young person of an appearance in court, contrary to the Act’s objectives. The Children Act 

                 2001‘s provisions deal more with the administration of the court list than the administration of justice and, taken on 

                 their own, they fall short of prescribing how the Court is to be transformed into a specialist tribunal in which young 

                 people have the right to age-appropriate treatment, to have their privacy respected, and to understand and 

                 participate in their criminal proceedings as required by international standards. To a large extent, the Children Court 

                 continues to operate like an adult District Court and inadequate attention has been given to how to transform the 

                 court into a specialized forum for dealing in an age appropriate manner with young defendants. Nor is sufficient 

                 importance attached to the rights of young offenders – their right to a fair and expeditious hearing in the presence of 

                 their parents, and their right to be heard and to understand the proceedings that have such a dramatic effect on their 

                 lives. Inadequate efforts have been made to ensure that the young people before the Children Court are dealt with in 

                 a manner that takes account of not just their age, but also their maturity and intellectual and emotional capacities.’ 

                 Kilkelly, U (2008) ‘Youth Courts and Children’s Rights: The Irish Experience’. Youth Justice, 8,1, p 53. See also 

                 McPhillips, S (2005) Dublin Children Court: A Pilot Research Project. Dublin: Irish Association for the Study of 

                 Delinquency. 



              CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                                313 


----------------------- Page 2354-----------------------

                  work  is  at  present  dealt  with  as  part  of the  work  of  this  section,  which  also  deals  with 

                   Public Health Nursing Services, and the Maternity and Infant Care Scheme, and by two 

                   posts of Inspectors of Boarded Out Children. At present, one of these posts is vacant. 

                   The Department of Education Reformatory and Industrial School Branch is staffed by one 

                  A.P.O. who also acts as Inspector of the Schools, one HEO, one E.O., one C.O. and 4 

                   clerk  typists.  Individual  returns  are  received  from  each  school  by  the  Department  half 

                   yearly. 



4.159       The memo concluded 



                   While  the  taking  over  the  care  of  children  committed  through  the  Courts  for  indictable 

                   offences would be new to this Department, there is duplication between the work of this 

                   Department and the Department of Education where the taking of children into care for 

                   social reasons is concerned. I feel that this Department should take over administrative 

                   responsibility for the residential care of all children as recommended by the Committee, 

                   and that co-operation between the Department and the voluntary organisations running 

                   the schools might result in the closing of some of them and the adaptation of others to 

                   the requirements set by the Committee at the most economic price possible while meeting 

                   the high standards advocated. 



4.160       Miss Clandillon, who drafted a memo within three weeks of the publication of the Report, dated 

            4th December 1970, stressed the need for additional staff, particularly qualified social work staff 

            and the limitations of the existing system of training.186  She observed that: 



                   If it is agreed by the Departments concerned that the Department of Health should take 

                   over the children in Approved Institutions at present under the Department of Education 

                   it is inevitable that inquiries will be made as to the present social work staff both in the 

                   Department of Health and at local authority level. At present there are no social workers 

                   employed     by   the   H.A.s   in  the  following    areas:   Carlow,    Kildare,    Kilkenny,    Longford, 

                   Roscommon,        Leitrim,   Sligo,   Donegal,     Monaghan,      Laois,    Offaly,  Meath,     Westmeath, 

                   Waterford, Wicklow, Tipperary (N.R.) and Tipperary (S.R.) In Counties Wexford, Limerick, 

                   and Cavan the Children’s Officers have no formal training in social work. This applies to 

                   some of the Children’s Officers employed by Dublin Health authority and to one of the 

                   Cork Health Authority staff. While most of these officers are doing valuable work it would 

                   be  a  great  help  to  them  if  a  course  of  in-service  training  were  set  up  either  by  the 

                   Department of Health (on the lines of those organised by the Home Office in England) or 

                   else  as  an   extra   mural  course      run  by  the   Department       of  Social   Science    at  U.C.D. 

                   consideration  would  have  to  be  given  to  practical  work  as  well  as  lectures  on  various 

                   aspects of social work. For family case work it might be possible to arrange placements 

                   of one or two students at a time with the Family Welfare Bureau of the Catholic Social 

                   Service Conference which arranges training for social science graduates during their post- 

                   graduate  training.  Practical  experience  of  adoption  placements  and  procedures  might 

                   possibly  be  arranged,  again  for  one  or  two  at  a  time,  with  the  Catholic  Protection  and 

                   Rescue Society, South Anne St., Dublin, which is the only registered adoption society in 

                   the  country  having  sufficient  trained  staff.  On  the  other  hand,  it  might  be  found  more 



            186 Skehill estimates that by 1970, less than 100 social workers were employed in Ireland, and most of them were 



               working in hospitals. In relation to training, she notes ‘UCD was the first to establish a social science degree in 1954. 

               TCD introduced its degree in social studies in 1962, and UCC established a social science degree course in 1968. 

               Course curricula for this period shows that teaching of social work theories only became an essential component of 

               teaching from the late 1960s onward. In UCD, for example, Fr Kavanagh’s (1954) Manual of Social Ethics, based on 

               Catholic and Christian principles, remained on reading lists up to the 1970s. Thus, whereas in Britain, social workers 

               were becoming an established part of the growing welfare state and were being employed as child care officers, 

               probation officers, almoners, and so on, Irish social work was struggling to establish itself as a profession, gain 

               recognition from other professions, and find occupational spaces within which it could expand and develop.’ Skehill, 

               C (2000) ‘An Examination of the Transition from Philanthropy to Professional Social Work in Ireland’. Research on 

               Social Work Practice, 10, 6, p 698. 



            314                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2355-----------------------

                 convenient  to  send  the  few  C.O.’s  concerned  to  Britain  for  a  training  course.  In  areas 

                 where Public Health Nurses are working with deprived children this arrangement should 

                 be dropped and in these areas, listed above, qualified social workers should be appointed 

                 as soon as possible. 



4.161      Clandillon further argued that additional staff would be required in the Department of Health and 

           that  each  social  service  department  should  not  exceed  that  of  the  country  areas,  and  within 

           each department: 



                 there should be a qualified Senior Social Workers, with post-graduate qualifications and 

                 experience...who would direct and co-ordinate the work of the other social workers so that 

                 the  most  appropriate  member  of  the  staff  would  take  over  each  case  and  thus  avoid 

                 overlapping and waste of time and personnel. A weekly case conference should be held 

                 but the Senior Social Worker should be available for consultation in any case of particular 

                 difficulty. She should also supervise all initial placements of children whether for boarding- 

                 out or adoption. 



4.162      In relation to the Adoption Board, Clandillon noted that ‘it is a matter of concern that only a small 

           number of their welfare officers is qualified in social work and a recent advertisement in the daily 

           press for further officers for adoption, probation and prison welfare work equates qualified with 

           unqualified staff. At the present time I would not consider the Board a suitable agency to take 

           people seconded for in-service training’. She further noted that she thought ‘it unlikely that the 

           Department of Justice will agree to the inclusion of the Adoption Board and its officers under a 

           new Children’s Department though this could be of benefit to the children to be adopted’. 



4.163      In  more  general  terms,  Clandillon  suggested  that  when  responsibility  was  transferred  to  the 

           Department of Health: 



                 All  the  remaining  Industrial  Schools  and  the  two  Reformatories  should  be  visited  to 

                 ascertain  the  numbers  of  committed  children  and  the  reasons  for  committal.  All  the 

                 information possible should be collected on each child, including psychological test results 

                 in cases of doubt. The normal children who have no marked disturbance or behavioural 

                 problems should be placed as soon as possible with suitable relatives or foster parents. 

                 Both categories should be asked to take the children on a boarded-out basis. They should 

                 get supportive help from a social worker in helping the children to integrate into the family. 

                 Disturbed  children  and  members  of  families  who  are  being  kept  together  will  require 

                 special study. Some emotionally disturbed children will be better cared for in small units 

                 for such children where the close ties and demands of small family would be too much 

                 for them. They should have psychiatric help and the support of a highly qualified social 

                 worker. The ground work done in this field should be of benefit to the new departments 

                 as they  set up and  form the  basis from which  to work towards  the integration  of more 

                 children into the community. 



4.164      In addition, she argued that: 



                 the  takeover  of  the  children  at  present  under  the  Department  of  Education  should  run 

                 quite  smoothly    in areas    where   there   are  good   Children’s   Officers.  In  other  areas 

                 appointments of qualified and experienced social workers should be made as quickly as 

                 possible. These areas would need special help and consideration from the Inspector(s) 

                 of the Department at first but the Senior Social Worker could always keep in touch if any 

                 difficulty  arose.  It  would  be  valuable  to  have  a  seminar  for  all  the  staff  of  the  new 

                 departments here in the Department of Health to discuss the most efficient way to keep 

                 records and personal files, and so on, so that a similar pattern of organisation would be 

                 adopted in each region and in the county area offices throughout the country. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       315 


----------------------- Page 2356-----------------------

4.165       Clandillon envisaged the replacement of the large industrial schools with small group homes, 



                  housed in ordinary houses designed for family living in cities and towns. Again, ideally, 

                  the house should be run by married couples, the husband going out daily to his work and 

                  the  wife doing  the  running of  the  home.  It may  be  difficult to  get  sufficient numbers  of 

                  married    couples    who    would    be  interested    in  this  work.   It has   been    remarked     that 

                  breakdown in child care of this kind may occur if the couple has children of their own in 

                  the  pre-teenage  group.  It  would  be  more  useful,  therefore,  to  look  for  couples  whose 

                  families are grown up so that there is no conflict between the couple’s children and those 

                  entrusted  to  their  care.  If  such  couples  are  found  they  should  be  encouraged  to  meet 

                  each other from time to time in the presence of the appropriate social worker to discuss 

                  any problems. 



4.166       On 13th January 1971, the Irish branch of the Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry 

            provided the Department with their observations on the report. In a letter they stated: 



                  It would appear that the Committee of Enquiry, although stating in its opening remarks 

                  that it intended to cover the whole field of Child Care, did not, in fact, do so. There is no 

                  definition  of  what  percentage  of  the  population  is  under  discussion  and  there  is  no 

                  indication  of  what  percentage  of  children  require  care.  Although  generally  stating  that 

                  reform    is needed,     the   whole   effect   of  the  criticisms,   which    are  many     and   entirely 

                  substantiated by our experience, is unstructured, failing in total impact and unconnected. 

                  The  specific  problem  of  four  systems  of  central  governmental  control  is  not  tackled 

                  satisfactorily. We would support the proposition that responsibility for all aspects of Child 

                  Care be transferred to the Department of Health and, furthermore, we would consider that 

                  ideally  one  department  should  be  responsible  for  the  whole  system  under  review.  The 

                  lack of an adequate system of Social Administration and the lack of an establishment for 

                  social workers within central and local government prevents any improvement or action 

                  on foot of the Committee of Enquiry’s proposals. Social workers are of vital importance to 

                  adequately  gather  and  access  knowledge  of  the  child  and  his  family  before  ‘care’  is 

                  instituted and assisting in adequately ‘paving the way’ on this charge. The inadequacy of 

                  present  ‘would  be’  social  workers  is  perpetuating  the  naive  concept  of  Child  Care  and 

                                                                                        ¨ 

                  fails to recognize the developmental aspects of the child and his family. 



4.167       The letter concluded by stressing the grave concern of the Association that: 



                  the  many  excellent  recommendations  for  reform  and  improvement  in  the  Child  Care 

                  System contained on the Committee of Enquiry’s Report will not be acted upon or acted 

                  upon in a piece-meal fashion. It is obvious that a new Children’s and Families Bill should 

                                              ´ 

                  be presented to the Dail. In furtherance of the objectives of the Committee of Inquiry’s 

                  Report,  my  committee  is  of  the  opinion  that  there  is  urgent  need  for  a  government 

                  established Commission of Enquiry into the present Child Care System and allied areas 

                  of Social Service. 



4.168       The  Protestant  Child  Care  Association  also  replied  to  the  Department  of  Education  on  13th 

            January  1971.  They  welcomed  the  report  and  pressed  for  the  speedy  implementation  of  the 

            recommendations. They also made a number of recommendations not included in the Committee 

            of Enquiry’s report. These were: 



                   •     revise law on minimum age of criminal responsibility; 

                   •     age of criminal responsibility to be school leaving age; 

                   •     no corporal punishment in any establishment; 

                   •     part-time crash courses for senior staff; 

                   •     hostel provision for handicapped; 



            316                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2357-----------------------

                    •    protect the retarded; 

                    •     fine  for  fund  for  family  service  as  addition  to  maintenance  orders  for  absconding 

                          husbands; 



                    •    treatment advisory panel for juvenile court. 



4.169       They  concluded  by  stating  ‘We  are  strongly  against  placing  the  institutional  Child  into  further 

            institutions.’ 



4.170       Comhairle le leas Oige187  responded to the report on 14th January 1971 and stated: 



                   We welcome the report and whole heartedly agree with the recommendations made by 

                   the  Committee  of  Enquiry  into  the  Reformatory  &  Industrial  School  System.  We  are 

                   especially pleased to note that the Committee recognises the need for specially trained 

                   personnel in this field and recommends a break from the institutional to small group unit 

                   as a basis for an adequate system of child care. 



4.171       The Protestant Adoption Society also replied on 14th January 1971, and opened their letter by 

            stating, ‘In general this is a superb report’. However, they also noted: 



                   the  only  reference     of  consequence  to       non   Roman  Catholic        children   is  contained    in 

                   paragraph 1.5 on page 3.188  With this one paragraph the Committee appears to dismiss 



                   any further responsibility for non Roman Catholic Children. Although this paragraph so far 

                   as it applies to the rest of the Country may be correct, it is certainly not true of Cork. The 

                   position in Cork is that cases are referred by the Local Gardai and the Inspector of the 

                                                                                                 ´ 

                   I.S.P.C.C. first to the Pastor of the child’s religious denomination and / or to a layman and 

                   it is only when they fail adequately to deal with the case that it is likely to come before 

                   the Courts. However, very few non Roman Catholic children are ever brought before the 

                   Courts in Cork. The Authorities have long since learned that this is a completely fruitless 

                   exercise. They know only too well that since there is no Institution to which a child in need 

                   of  care  can  be  committed  the  Courts  are  powerless to  take  any  effective  action  in  the 

                   matter. The result is that these children are permanently deprived of the right guaranteed 

                   by  the  Constitution  to  the  same  treatment  as  their  peers.  Whilst  I  recognise  that  the 

                   smallness of the number involved creates special difficulties it is not good enough for the 

                   Committee to sweep the problem under the carpet. If, however, the Committee’s excellent 

                   recommendation to replace Industrial Schools by small residential homes containing not 

                   more than seven to nine children is implemented, then the problem of non Roman catholic 

                   Children should be simple to solve. 



4.172       The letter went on to comment that the report noted the link between young female offending and 

            prostitution,  but  that  they    ‘noted  with  some  alarm  however  the            first  recommendation  of  the 

            Committee on page 45 that a closed psychiatric unit for their treatment should be provided’. The 

            letter writer, Mr John B Jermyn conceded that he may have misinterpreted the intention behind 

            the recommendation, but that if it meant that: 



                   they should all be locked up in some special form of mental Asylum than I heartily disagree 

                  with it. However I cannot think that the present homes which mostly seem to be run by 

                   Religious Orders are adequate to deal with the problem however good the intentions of 

                   the people who run them. I cannot think that a life of prayer and penance is an adequate 

                   substitute in the minds of a young prostitute for thee rewards of her profession. Experience 

                   has shown that Alcoholics Anonymous saves more people from alcoholism than all the 



            187 Comhairle was established in 1942 as a sub-committee of the City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee and 



               renamed The City of Dublin Youth Service Board in 1995. 

            188 ‘Children other than Roman Catholics who come before the Courts are entrusted through the local Gardai to the 

                                                                                                                         ´ 

               charge of the local Pastor of their own denomination who sees to it that they are placed in the care of suitable 

               families or School.’ 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                 317 


----------------------- Page 2358-----------------------

                  Doctors and Psychiatrists put together. This is so because the alcoholics know they are 

                  being helped by others who have suffered the same torments as themselves. While I do 

                  not suggest by analogy that young prostitutes can be saved by ex-prostitutes neither do 

                  I  believe  that   they   can  be   rescued    by  professional     Virgins.   There  must     be  a  more 

                  reasonable solution than either permanent penance or incarceration in Asylums. 



4.173       In  relation  to  after-care,  the  letter  complimented  the  report  on  the  excellent  recommendations 

            noting: 



                  It  is  ludicrous  to  assume  that  a  child  brought  up  in  the  protective  atmosphere  of  an 

                  Institution is capable of looking after himself at the age of 16. Even a well adjusted boy 

                  of this  age with a  sound and  happy family background  is not capable  of doing  so and 

                  must rely for some time upon the help and advice of understanding parents. The child 

                  from an Industrial School, unless he is extraordinarily lucky in his first placement, has no 

                  chance whatever of succeeding. The present failure rate is horrifyingly high. 



4.174       The letter also argued that: 



                  There can be no doubt that it is far better for a child to be placed in a suitable foster home 

                  than  in  an  Industrial  School.  However,  the  emphasis  must  be  on  the  word  suitable.  In 

                  adoption    cases    the   Adoption    Board    insists   on  a   proper   investigation    of  the   home 

                  background and general suitability of the proposed adopting parents and ensure so far 

                  as it possible that the proposed adopting parents are of approximately the same social 

                  standing as the child’s natural parents. No less stringent enquiry should be made in the 

                  case of foster parents. It is a sad fact that the Cork Health Authority which is so excellent 

                  in  every  other  respect  falls  down  very  badly  indeed  in  this  particular  matter.  Details  of 

                  some of the more disastrous cases can be made available if required. 



4.175       In March 1971, the Council for Social Welfare189  organised a seminar in Killarney, to discuss the 



            implications of the Kennedy report. In an overview paper, Sr Winifred was broadly positive of both 

           the analysis and the recommendations in the Report. 



4.176       However, she did highlight that: 



                  there is not one word of appreciation or even commendation of the work done by voluntary 

                  bodies.  We  are  told  in  the  report  if  it  were  not  for  the  dedicated  work  of  many  of  our 

                  religious  bodies  the  position  would  be  a  great  deal  worse  than  it  is  now!  Talk  about 

                  damning by faint praise. The one stark and most obvious fact in the situation is nowhere 

                  stated. Just how could any body, voluntary or statutory, be expected to provide a skilled 

                  and humane service on the pittance granted by the State?190 



4.177       In her address to the seminar, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy highlighted what she claimed was a general 

            lack of confidence amongst the Religious providing childcare services. This lack of confidence, 

            she asserted, was: 



                  due in no small way to newspaper articles and TV programmes written and produced with 

                  inaccurate data or little insight into the nature of the life of the people whom they analyse, 

                  and sometimes hold up to ridicule. Criticism of the religious, especially the nun, by both 

                  clergy  and  laity  is  a  popular  sport,  and  can  be  quite  devastating.  We  are  out  of  date, 

                  immature personalities, when we are given credit for having any personality at all. Our 

                  attitudes to life, sex, to literature are out of touch and archaic. Our child care standards 

                  are low and our living standards are high. We give our children too much, or else we give 

                  them too little. Each of us could add to this litany of comments we have heard. Feedback 



            189 A Committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference. 

            190 Sr Winifred (1971) ‘Current Trends in Residential Child Care’ in Child Care – Papers of a Seminar held by the 



               Council for Social Welfare. Dublin: Council for Social Welfare. p 11. 



            318                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2359-----------------------

                    of  this  nature  is  shaking  the  confidence  of  the  religious,  and  they  are  understandably 

                    sensitive.191 



4.178        In his contribution to the seminar, Mr Antoin O’Gorman, a member of the Kennedy Committee, 

             responded to the points raised above about the role of the Religious in childcare, stated: 



                    I  think  it  is  right  and  appropriate  to  mention  that  the  Committee  did  state  clearly  and 

                    sincerely  that  in  point(ing)  out  limitations  in  the  systems  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial 

                    Schools it was not the intention of the Committee to criticise those responsible for running 

                    the schools. Another matter which I think should be stated is that it was not the stated 

                    intention either explicitly or implicitly that religious should cease to participate in the work 

                    or to run the homes and schools.192 



4.179        In  April  1971,  the  Association  of  Resident  Managers  of  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools 

             responded to the Committee of Enquiry’s Report. It described the Report as ‘an important event 

             in the history of child care in Ireland’193  and went on to state that the report: 



                    emphasised community responsibility in the matter and revealed the extent to which the 

                    community directly and through Government had failed to provide the support required by 

                    those within the system to attain the standards for which they strove....Media coverage 

                    following  the  publication  of  the  Kennedy  Report  emphasised  the  shortcomings  of  the 

                    system, and in general it appears that much of the good work done and being done was 

                    overlooked or misunderstood by the public at large. This is considered to be unfortunate 

                    in that it provides a scapegoat and diverts attention from the central point that ultimately 

                    the community as a whole is responsible for the system and for its development to meet 

                    modern standards by modern means. 



4.180       The response outlined how the Report was discussed by assembled Managers at three specially 

             convened means and that each Manager prepared and submitted an individual report which was 

             collated    to  form    a   composite       report    which    was     then    approved      by   the    Association.      The 

             submission noted: 



                    The Religious Orders wish to participate in the work and to contribute to the development 

                    of  a  better  system.  They  welcome  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Reformatory  and 

                    Industrial Schools in that it emphasise the need for Government and community support. 

                    As  this  document  shows,  they  are  in  agreement  with  the  Report  on  many  issues,  and 

                    have themselves been advocating such changes for a very long time. They are dissatisfied 



             191 Kennedy, S (1971) ‘The Role of the Religious in Child Care’ in Child Care – Papers of a Seminar held by the Council 



                for Social Welfare. Dublin: Council for Social Welfare. p 22. 

             192 O’Gormain, A (1971) ‘Report on Industrial and Reformatory School Systems’ in Child Care – Papers of a Seminar 



                held by the Council for Social Welfare. Dublin: Council for Social Welfare. p 62. 

             193 The response of the Resident Mangers to the Kennedy Report was considerably more positive than their response to 



                an earlier inquiry, chaired by Mr GP Cussen which sat between 1934 and 1936. This inquiry had terms of reference 

                to ‘inquire into and report to the Minister for Education on the present Reformatory and Industrial School system in 

                Saorstat Eireann, and matters connected therewith, including: (1) The existing statutory provisions and other 

                       ´ 

                regulations in relation to Reformatories, Industrial Schools and places of detention, and to the committal of children 

                and young persons thereto. (2) The care, education and training of children and young persons in Reformatories and 

                Industrial Schools, and their after-care and supervision when discharged from these institutions. (3) The treatment 

                and or disposal of children committed to Industrial Schools who are found to be suffering from physical or mental 

                defects. (4) The staffing of Reformatory and Industrial Schools, and the qualifications and conditions of service of the 

                teachers employed therein. (5) The arrangements for defraying the expenses of these institutions.’ The Managers in 

                a letter dated 8th May 1937, gave their response to the report which was published in September 1936, and outlined 

                that ‘the Managers felt that an undeserved slur was cast on their work in some of their findings, due to the prejudice 

                on the part of some member or members of the Commission. It is matter of serious moment that men and women 

                who have given their lives and labour in the cause of the education of these poor and often-times wayward children 

                amidst hardships, worries, inconveniences and misunderstandings; and all this time at considerable saving to the 

                State, should be harshly judged and found fault with by members of a Commission appointed by the Beneficiary. The 

                members of the Commission had no first hand experience of the work of the Industrial Schools and could not know 

                what it entails. Even the notes of appreciation in the Report appear to have been grudgingly given. It is easy for 

                Critics to tear a work to pieces but it is a different matter to re-construct.’ 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                        319 


----------------------- Page 2360-----------------------

                  with  the  system  now  in  existence  and  feel  they  have  tolerated  for  too  long  the  lack  of 

                  Government support and grossly inadequate financing. The Religious Orders involved in 

                  the field of Child Care wish to participate in the work but not necessarily to administer it, 

                  and  they  wish  the  Government  to  state  without  further  delay  their  view  on  the  role  of 

                   religious in child care. The Association recommends the earliest possible establishment 

                  of an advisory body to co-ordinate the general effort, and proposes in the meantime to 

                  establish  a  voluntary  advisory  body  representative  of  the  Association  and  professional 

                   interests,  to  devote  immediate  attention  to  the  areas  of  assessment,  training,  research 

                  and  optimum  use  of  existing  facilities.  The  Association  is  prepared  to  make  a  positive 

                  contribution towards the establishment of a better system of Child Care in Ireland. 



4.181       The detailed recommendations made by the managers are to be found in Appendix 2. In addition, 

            later that year, on 30th September, they reported: 



                  The Association of Resident Managers of Industrial and Reformatory Schools have made 

                   it clear in a report to the Minister for Education their conviction that the community as a 

                  whole must more fully recognise its responsibility to provide an improved system to care 

                  for deprived children, and that a central co-ordinating authority with statutory powers is 

                  essential to the effective operation of the system. It is recognised by the Association that, 

                  at  best,  it  will  be  many  years  before  a  statutory  body  can  be  formed,  and  they  have 

                  decided in the meantime to establish an Advisory Council with powers to form executive 

                  committees who will conduct working programmes in agreed priority areas; who will advise 

                  the  Association  on  ways  and  means  of  achieving  the  optimum  utilisation  of  present 

                   resources, and how best to contribute to the development in Ireland of the best possible 

                  system of child care.194 



4.182       The Eastern Health Board responded in July 1971 by enclosing the recommendations made by a 

            number of personnel in the Eastern Health Board concerned with deprived children following a 

            meeting in February of that year.195  The group noted that the report ‘did not deal with all children 



            in  care,   but   rather   concentrated      on   children    in  Industrial   and    Reformatory      Schools’,    but 

            nonetheless,  they broadly  agreed  with the  recommendations  of the  Report.  They did  however, 

            have a number of observations on the recommendations. They noted: 



                  that  there  is  a  growing  tendency  to  depart  from  the  group  home  system  in  England 

                   because  of  the  problem  associated  with  operating  a  group  home.  Staffing  problems 

                   present themselves, the hours of duty are a cause of concern to Trade Union Officials 

                  and the coming and going of staff members has the effect of subjecting the children to 

                  constant change, much to their detriment. It was felt that Group Homes have a part to 

                   play in a Child Care System but they not be accepted as recommended in the Report as 

                  the only form of Residential Care. 



4.183       The meeting also agreed ‘that a good Child Care Worker’ would be the best person to undertake 

            the task of after-care. It was noted that the Health Authority had no knowledge of the release of 

            children who were committed through Dublin Corporation and the Department of Education and it 

            was suggested that after-care for all children should be the responsibility of the authority. It was 

            agreed  that  there  is  a  great  need  for  Hostels  in  the  Dublin  area,  ‘particularly  to  accommodate 

            boys’. In relation to the administration of the system, the group argued that: ‘responsibility for all 



            194 The members of the Advisory Council were: Fr William McGonagle, OMI, Chairman, Dr Paul McQuaid, Mr Seamus 



               O Cinneide, Fr Jim Clarke, Mr Joe Dillon, Mr Dermod J Cafferky, Br Leo Clancy, Sr Carmel, Sr Liguori, Sr Kevin, Sr 

               Veronica, Sr Bernard, Sr Vincent, Sr Regina, Fr Vincent Kennedy, Br Stapleton and Miss Irene Diffy. 

            195 These were Mr FJ Donohue, Senior Administrative Officer, Welfare Department; Dr Paul McCarthy, Chief Child 



               Psychiatrist, Dublin Health Authority; Rev Sr Bernadette, Sister in Charge, St Patrick’s Home; Rev Sr Patricia, St 

               Patrick’s Home; Mr PM Sheehan, Section Officer, Children’s Section; Mr MJ O’Connor, Secretary, St Louise 

               Adoption Society; Misses K Neary and B Rutledge, Children’s Officers; Misses C Clyne, M Cox, E Lyng and S 

               O’Reilly, Social Workers. 



            320                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2361-----------------------

            aspects     of  Child   Care     should    not   be   divided    between     the   Department       of  Health    and    the 

            Department of Education, but rather that total responsibility should rest with the Department of 

            Health.’ 



4.184       In relation to residential care, the group ‘felt that the task of house-father and house mother may 

            have to be left to the religious communities’ and that ‘consideration should be given to the concept 

            of a new type of foster-parent who would take on the task as a regular working arrangement and 

            be paid an appropriate salary by the Health Authority’. The group elaborated on this point arguing: 

            ‘highly skilled women would be needed to undertake this arduous task. They should be the type 

            who would not become emotionally involved with every child placed in their care, and they should 

            be able to go looking after children, and accept the facts of the situation i.e. that the children will, 

            at some stage, be taken from them’. 



4.185       The group also agreed that ‘there is a need for some form of detention for teen-age girls’ and that 

            there ‘should be a two-sided approach to the problem of prostitution (a) the prevention of young 

            girls from setting out on such a career (b) the provision of an escape route for girls who genuinely 

            wish to reform their lives’. On legal issues, the group noted ‘the defining of Health Authorities as 

            “fit persons” will greatly increase the responsibilities of those Authorities. It is essential that they 

            have the resources necessary to meet the added responsibilities thrust upon them.’ 



4.186       In addition, a few weeks later, on 5th August 1971, a deputation from the Eastern Health Board 

            comprising the senior administrative officers of the Welfare Department, the Director of the Child 

            Guidance Clinic in the Mater Hospital, the Chief Child Psychiatrist of the Board and the Section 

            Officer  of  the  Children’s  Section  met  with  representatives  of  the  Department  of  Education  in 

            relation to accommodation for Dublin boys in Industrial Schools. The deputation highlighted that 

            while  450  boys  from  Dublin  were  accommodated  in  Industrial  Schools  throughout  the  country, 

            there were a further 90 to 100 boys for whom accommodation in Industrial Schools could not be 

            found.  The  health  board  deputation  claimed,  ‘many  of  them  are  disturbed  and  the  difficulty  of 

            getting schools to take many of them is resulting in their becoming a “hard core” of unwanted’. 

            The  Department  of  Education  were  of  the  view  that  this  difficulty  had  largely  arisen  from  the 

            closure of the Artane Industrial School on 30th June 1969. However some spare capacity existed 

            in the Salthill Industrial School in Galway and it was hoped that the opening of the new school in 

            Finglas would alleviate some of the difficulties.196 



4.187       The Department of Justice responded to the request for observations on the report on 20th April 

            1972. In relation to places of detention, they ‘considered that formal responsibility for providing 

            places of detention for juveniles would be more appropriately exercised by your Department than 

            by the Department of Justice which has heretofore had that formal responsibility as the successor 

            to the “police authority” referred to in the Children Act, 1908’. Responding to criticisms made of 



            196 The Department of Education also noted that they were in the process of opening a new school for young male 



                offenders in North County Dublin. In a memo to the Minister, it outlined, ‘Work on a new Training School at 

                Oberstown Balrothery, North County Dublin, began last April. It was planned following visits by officers of the 

                Department, members of the Oblate Community, and the Department’s Architect to modern training schools in 

                England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is being built on a sixty-acre site, which has been purchased from the 

                Oblate fathers. Oberstown will not be a new Daingean in a new setting. Qualified staff would cater for every need in 

                the new Training School – educational, psychological and sociological. It will be staffed and administered on the 

                most modern lines and will represent a completely new approach down to the last detail. Accommodation will be 

                provided at Oberstown in 4 self-contained units for 70 boys in the age-range 12-17. The modern concept of the role 

                and function of a reform school is that of rehabilitation of the young offender so that he may learn to take his place 

                as a useful member of the community. This general programme of rehabilitation will consist of (a) a school 

                programme to be implemented at times when schools normally operate (b) an educational programme based on 

                recreational and extra curricular activities for out-of-school periods (evenings, weekends, holidays) and (c) a social- 

                action programme including the provision of family counselling and after-care services. Such a programme is 

                expected to function ideally in the unit system which will obtain in Oberstown, where separate recreational, refectory 

                and sleeping accommodation and common educational facilities will be in operation. Oberstown will be designated a 

                special school and as such will have generous pupil/teacher ratio.’ 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                       321 


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            St  Patrick’s  Institution  and  the  aftercare  of  children  leaving  reformatory  and  industrial  schools, 

           they noted that improvements had been made to St Patrick’s since the preparation of the report 

            and that the welfare service operated by the Department had expanded since the publication of 

           the report with plans for further expansion. 



4.188      Although  not  formally  a  response  to  the  invitation  issued  by  the  Department  of  Education,  Mr 

            O’Mahony in an article in the Irish Jurist provided an overview, both of the Report and of the case 

            law on residential care in Ireland. In relation to the latter he observed that: 



                  There  is,  perhaps  unfortunately,  a  marked  absence  of  reported  decisions  of  the  Irish 

                  courts   on   the  provisions    of  the  Children    Acts   dealing   with   residential   care   and   the 

                  administrative  and  judicial  procedures  leading  to  it.  This  is  somewhat  surprising,  and 

                  disquieting, particularly when one considers, in the light of the Irish Constitution, the wide 

                  scope of Section  58 of the 1908 Act (as  amended) which gives statutory power  to the 

                  Children’s Court to commit children, up to the age of 15 years, to long periods of detention 

                  in industrial schools for a variety of reasons far removed from the criminal law. Such a 

                  sense  of  disquiet  is  greater  to-day  if  one  accepts  that  the  statutory  definition  of  an 

                  ‘industrial school’ as being ‘a school for the industrial training of children in which children 

                  are  lodged,  clothed  and  fed  as  well  as  taught’  is  not  now,  if  it  ever  was,  an  accurate 

                  definition, and that a place of detention would be closer to reality.197 



4.189       In relation to a core recommendation in the Kennedy Report and indeed a host of other reports 

           that  examined  residential  care  in  Ireland  that  the  Children  Act  1908  (as  amended)  should  be 

            replaced, Mr O’Mahony stated that: 



                  in the short term and from a strictly legal viewpoint, the case for a completely new Children 

                  Act is not as obvious as many would make it out to be. Clearly, if the immediate effect of 

                  an updating and consolidation of the law on this subject was the blotting-out of the past 

                  and the providing of inspiration for the future it could be argued for that reason alone new 

                  legislation would be worthwhile. However, there is, at present, sufficient statutory power 

                  to  have  most  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Kennedy  Report  put  into  effect,  because 

                  basically these recommendations come down to, (i) new buildings, and (ii) training and 

                  research as to what is best for children in residential care. New buildings require money 

                  from the State (i.e., the Department of Education) and there is sufficient statutory power 

                  for this to be done. Training and research also require money and time but not necessarily 

                  immediate new legislation.198 



            Response of the Department of Health 



4.190       Having earlier considered the recommendations of the report, on 4th February 1972, Mr O’Sullivan 

            drafted   a  commentary       for  Mr   O’Rourke     on   the   Kennedy      Report.   Acknowledging        that  the 

            Department of Health had a representative on the Committee, he nonetheless went to say that: 



                  The  report  of  the  Committee  could  be  criticised  on  the  grounds  that  it  has  dealt  with 

                  services outside the terms of reference prescribed for it by the Government. While the 

                  recommendations made by the Committee are in general exceedingly valuable, they may 

                  be questioned for example on the grounds that while the Committee dealt with Boarding- 

                  out for children, it had neither a Children’s Officer nor a health authority officer conversant 

                  with that field of activity, amongst its members. This may be the reason why the services 

                  administered  by  Health  Authorities  under  the  Health  Acts,  the  Children’s  Acts  and  the 

                  Adoption Acts (boarded-out and nursed out children etc.,) were not examined in the same 

                  detail as those available to children in Industrial and Reformatory Schools, although the 

                  total number of children dealt with by Health Authorities exceeds those dealt with by the 



            197 O’Mahony, MV (1971) ‘Legal Aspects of Residential Child Care’. The Irish Jurist (ns). pp 227-8. 

            198 Ibid. p 234. 



            322                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2363-----------------------

                   Department  of  Education  in  their  residential  schools.  Furthermore  the  Report  does  not 

                   give all the credit it might to the enlightened approach of many health authorities in this 

                   field. 



4.191       The memo, having dealt with the inadequacies of the Report, noted that it had: 



                   made  several  fundamental  recommendations  aimed  at  providing  an  efficient  and  fully 

                   satisfactory care system for all children requiring it. The achievement of this objective will 

                   of necessity take many years, as it would involve the implementation of new legislation, 

                   the recruitment and training of staff, and considerable expenditure both on revenue and 

                   capital projects. The principal recommendation which affects this Department is one which 

                   suggests     that  administrative     responsibility     for  all aspects     of  child   care   should    be 

                   transferred to the Department of Health. The immediate effect of the implementation of 

                   this  recommendation  would  be  the  handing  over  of  administrative  responsibility  for  28 

                   Industrial    Schools,     3   Reformatory      Schools      and    one    Remand       Home.     A    further 

                   recommendation made by the Devlin Committee199                   and supported by the Committee on 



                   Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  is  that  the  Department  of  Health  should  take  over 

                   from the Department of Justice responsibility for adoption work. 



4.192       Mr O’Sullivan went on to state that: 



                   Ideally  child  welfare  services  should  as  far  as  possible  be  planned  and  be  subject  to 

                   supervision  by  one  Department,  to  ensure  that  they  are  looked  at  in  a  comprehensive 

                  way and also to ensure there is no conflict in aims which may very well arise if the services 

                   are the responsibility of different Departments. Child care is but one aspect of family care 

                   and a proper family care service would in fact tend to eliminate the need for taking many 

                   children into residential care -e.g. children from broken homes or children whose mothers 

                   must  go  into  hospital  for  short-term  care.  Similarly,  it  is  not  satisfactory  to  isolate  the 

                   residential schools aspect of child care from the facilities provided for the community care 

                   of  the  child.  For  example  the  need  to  have  a  child  committed  to  an  Industrial  School 

                   should be considered in the light of the ability of the mother or other member of the family 

                   to care for it in its own home, supported, where necessary, by ancillary services, including 

                   day nurseries. While Health Authorities avail of the accommodation provided in Industrial 

                   Schools this Department has no control, no legal right of entry to inspect the Schools. It 

                   seems to be that good grounds exist for having all social aspects of child care including 

                     ` 

                   creches, day nurseries, boarding-out, residential care and adoption dealt with by the one 

                   Department. As it is not really feasible nor indeed desirable to separate child care from 

                   family care and as the latter seems to be a field in which the Department is becoming 

                   more    and    more    involved     it would     seem     logical   that  we    should    agree     with   the 

                   recommendations of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Committee that all aspects 

                   of child care should be dealt with by this Department. The Department of Education would, 

                   however, continue to have control of the educational aspects affecting the Schools. 



4.193       While acknowledging the desirability of such an administrative change, he went on to note: 



                   ..it is equally clear that this Department is not in a position to assume responsibility for all 

                   aspects    of  child   care,   including    residential    care,   until  an   adequate      staff  (both   at 

                   professional and administrative level) becomes available to provide a proper service. No 

                   real improvement will be effected in the existing services merely by transferring functions 

                   relating to Industrial Schools etc., to this Department. 



            199 The Report of Public Services Organisation Review Group, better known as the Devlin Committee, after its chairman 



               Mr Liam St J Devlin, was established in 1966 with the following terms of reference: ‘Having regard to the growing 

               responsibilities of Government, to examine and report on the organisation of the Departments of State at the higher 

               levels, including the appropriate distribution of functions as between both Departments themselves and Departments 

               and other bodies ...’.The recommendation was that ‘An Bord Uchtala (Adoption Board) and functions related to the 

               welfare of children generally should be transferred to the Department of Heath and Welfare’ (1969: 237). 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                 323 


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                    1. Adequate staff 



                    (a) Departmental – both professional and administrative. The Report recommends that 

                    establishment of a child care division in the Dept! 



                    (b) In the field – Health board staff providing child care services must be recruited in 

                    sufficient  numbers  and  appropriately  trained.  This  applies  also  to  staff  of  voluntary 

                    agencies active in child care. 



                    2. Adequate Services 



                    (a) (missing) 



                    (b) Residential schools and children’s homes must be modernised where necessary, 

                    and  their  role  must  be  more  closely  linked  with  the  necessary  community  services 

                    provided. 



                    (c) Services for day care of children require considerable expansion. 



                    (d) After care services, including advisory services, placement in employment, provision 

                    of hostel or other accommodation must be expanded. 



                 Unless  control  of  these  developments  rests  with  one  Government  Agency,  progress  in 

                 child  care  will  tend  to  remain  uncoordinated  as  at  present  and  will  also  be  slow  and 

                 haphazard. 



4.194      The memo concluded by arguing: 



                 I feel that there is not much point in commenting on the very many other recommendations 

                 made by the Committee until a decision is first taken on whether this Department will have 

                 overall responsibility for the Residential Schools. The recommendations are, however, in 

                 general acceptable, but I would have reservations about the establishment of a Statutory 

                 Advisory   Committee     as   suggested    in the   Report,   which   would   act  as  a  ‘watchdog 

                 committee’,    to encourage     the  training  of staff  and  the   undertaking   of  research   and 

                 publicity. If the other recommendations of the Committee are to be implemented, I would 

                 feel a better approach would be the establishment of a working group representative of 

                 the Departments concerned, the Health Boards and the organisations active in the field 

                 of  child  care, to  consider  existing  legislation, to  examine  developments  abroad, and  to 

                 advise on the broad lines of legislation which might be developed here. This group would 

                 also be useful in that it would give an opportunity to the various voluntary organisations 

                 to air their views at the formative stage of legislation on certain controversial aspects of 

                 child care which are bound to arise, e.g. the question of compulsory notification of both 

                 legitimate and illegitimate children placed in residential care for reward or not. Finally, I 

                 would  recommend  that  officers  of  the  Department  of  Education  should  be  invited  to 

                 discuss  the  report  with  officers  of  this  Department,  if  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion 

                 between the two Departments as to who should be responsible for industrial schools. 



4.195      Mr O’Rourke in his response to this memo stated that he had: 



                 some  misgivings  about  the  transfer  of  responsibility  in  relation  to  special  schools  and 

                 remand homes for those aged 15 and upwards to what is described in the report as a 

                 child  care division.  Nevertheless, I  would accept  that on  balance the  advantage lies  in 

                 placing,  in  the  one  Department,  administrative  responsibility  for  various  aspects  of  the 

                 care  of  deprived  children  mentioned  in  the  report  and  on  the  whole  my  personal  view 

                 would be that this recommendation is acceptable in principle. I would hope, however, that 

                 when the matter comes to be considered at Government level, it would be fully apparent 

                 that the radical improvement in services for deprived children suggested in this report is 

                 going to cost a great deal of money. Much of the expenditure will be on proper staffing 

                 and training and because of its nature will involve heavy revenue costs. There will also, if 

                 many of the report’s recommendations are accepted, be considerable capital expenditure 



           324                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                  involved  on such  residential homes  and special  schools will  be continue  to be  needed 

                  even if an adequate level of prevention services is built up. It would highly undesirable, in 

                  my opinion that an impression should be given that these proposals are to be accepted 

                  in principle unless there is at the same time a definite commitment to capital and revenue 

                  expenditure of an amount adequate to implement the recommendations. 



4.196      He concluded by stating: 



                  I would like to emphasise that in my opinion there can be no question of administrative 

                  responsibility for the services mentioned in this report being transferred to this Department 

                  without the establishment of a special division to undertake the reform of the services for 

                  deprived children...Unless there is an unequivocal commitment to providing the financial 

                  and staffing resources required to implement a reform programme in this field it would, in 

                  my opinion, be better to put the report away. 



4.197       In November 1971, the journalist Nell McCafferty, in an article in the Irish Times, noted that a year 

           had passed since the publication of the Kennedy Report and posed the question ‘Just what has 

           been    done    about    the   Kennedy     Report?’    Her    answer    was    that   the  report   contained      13 

           recommendations and that ‘the Government has taken action on one part of one recommendation, 

           relating to the training of staff responsible for child care. A one month residential course for senior 

           personnel was held in Dublin in July. Otherwise, nothing. It’s been a grim year for children.’200 



           Residential accommodation for offending children 



4.198       In July and August 1971, a deputation from the Department of Education visited the Daingean 

           Reformatory and the Salthill, Letterfrack and Clonmel Industrial Schools. 



4.199      The stated purpose of the visit was ‘a contribution towards an attempt at arriving at some tentative 

           conclusions     and   recommendations....in       the   context   of  considerations     for a   reorganised    and 

           modernised system of Industrial and reformatory Schools’. 



4.200      A   number    of  difficulties  with  the  children   described     as  ‘uncontrollable’    and   ‘fire-bugs’  were 

           identified by the manager of Daingean, Fr McGonagle, who stated that he was unwilling to accept 

           such children for any period of detention. The delegation concluded from this: 



                  It needs to be stated that the present situation appears to be highly unsatisfactory. A boy 

                  who will not be accepted by the manager of Daingean or Letterfrack (and Clonmel, which 

                  is still more inappropriate for such a type of child) either has to be set free on probation 

                  or sent for one-month to Marlborough House (or to St. Patrick’s201, if 16 years of age – or 



                  to  prison  in  certain  circumstances,  if  he  is  15  years  of  age).  Such  boys  committed  to 

                  Daingean or Letterfrack get to realise that the shortest route to release is to behave in 

                  such a way as lends to their again being brought before the Courts for a further offences 

                  and being committed to Marlborough House or being released on a suspended sentence. 

                  We  mentioned  tentatively  to  Fr.  McGonagle  the  possibility  of  the  provision  of  such  a 

                  suitable secure unit in connection with the new Reformatory School in Oberstown. The 

                  boys  in it  would be  separate from  the boys  in the  Reformatory School  and a  separate 

                  programme of courses would have to be arranged for them. The staff, however, would be 

                  common to both institutions and it would be under the administrative management of the 

                  Oblate Fathers. Fr. McGonagle appeared to be well disposed to this idea but, of course, 

                  could not commit himself or the Order in any way and the matter was left in abeyance at 

                  that stage. 



           200 McCafferty, N (1971) ‘Remember the Kennedy Report?’ Irish Times, 12th November, p 6. 

           201 On the history of St Patrick’s, see Osborough, WN (1975) Borstal in Ireland: Custodial Provision for the Young Adult 



               Offender 1906-1974. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. 



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4.201       Following on from their visit to Letterfrack, Salthill and Clonmel Industrial Schools, the delegation 

            observed  that  the  function  of  the  proposed  new  units  at  Finglas  would  have  to  be  taken  into 

            account in any future policy. The memo noted that the centre at Finglas: 



                   is  not a  replacement for  Marlborough House  in that  it does  not make  provision for  the 

                   ‘one-month  detainees’  or  for  the  ‘uncontrollable  or  fire-bug’  type  who  might  be  sent  to 

                   Marlborough House for one month. It will, however, assume the functions of Marlborough 

                   House in relation to Remand when the Remand and Assessment Centre is functioning. 

                   There remains  the question of the  provision to be  made for the ‘one  month detainees’ 

                   and the uncontrollable (including the fire-bug) type of boy. As already mentioned in this 

                   memorandum,         Fr.  McGonagle       and   Bro   McKinney       were   adamant      that  open    Training 

                   Centres were not adequate or suitable for a certain type of boy and that he could not be 

                   accepted  in  them.  It  had  already  been  decided  that  he  could  not  be  accepted  in  St. 

                   Laurence’s Training Centre, Finglas. In the course of a discussion which representatives 

                   from the Leinster Regional Health Board had in August with officials of the Department of 

                   Education reference was made to this problem. Both Dr. McQuaid and Dr. McCarthy, who 

                   were members of the deputation, stated that they had recently become confirmed in their 

                   view that such a type of boy existed for whom the Training Centres as envisaged – such 

                   as St. Laurence’s – were inappropriate and in relation to whom only a high security unit 

                   would  meet  requirements.  They  stated  that  plans  for  the  provision  of  such  a  unit  at 

                   Dundrum was at an advanced stage of preparation and that its availability within perhaps 

                   two years would serve to relieve the Department of Education of the necessity of making 

                   special provisions for this type of boy. It seemed that until alternative arrangements can 

                   be   made  in    relation   to  the   future  position  with    regard    to  the   ‘one   month  detainee’, 

                   Marlborough House would have to be kept open on a restricted scale. The Minister for 

                   Justice has been requested to agree that discussions should take place between officials 

                   of the Departments of Justice and Education in relation to this matter. 



4.202       On 15th March 1972, CARE – the campaign for the care of deprived children202                            – wrote to the 



            Minister for Education, Mr Padraig Faulkner, enclosing a paper setting out their views generally 

            on residential care for young offenders, and specifically on the proposals to establish a new facility 

            at Oberstown in North Dublin. They firstly outlined what they saw as the deficiencies in the system: 



                   (a) In the first place there is excessive reliance on residential care as compared with care 

                   of children in their own homes, in the community. (b) The residential system generally is 

                   undifferentiated in respect of the needs of children. Children are classified roughly by sex 

                   and by age but not according to their needs. (c) The buildings are old and make it difficult 

                   to avoid institutionalisation and to provide effective homely care. (d) The staff, with few 

                   exceptions, are untrained. Marlborough House recruits staff through the labour exchange. 

                   (e) The institutions are in most cases quite apart from the community in which they are 

                   located,  even  more  so  from  the  communities  from  which  the  children  are  drawn.  Thus 

                   they do not allow for a service which deals not just with the children but with their families 



            202 Originally called the ‘Group for the Advancement of Child Care’, CARE was established at the end of 1970 and was 



               formally launched in early February 1971. The initial publicity for the organisation stated that: ‘The Group for the 

               Advancement of Child Care is an independent, authoritative, single purpose body which has been founded to 

               promote actively the welfare of deprived children in Ireland and to look for improvements in children’s services. 

               Deprived children are children who, because of their family circumstances, or the environment in which they live, are 

               deprived of their facilities, the care and the opportunities, which they need and are entitled to. The group was 

               founded by, and is made up of, persons with expert knowledge and/or practical expertise of the problems of, and the 

               services at present available for, deprived children. These founder members now comprise the Council of the 

               Group...members of the Group act in an individual capacity; they do not represent organisations or special interests 

               other than the common interest of the Group. The Group is unique in being concerned with the whole field of 

               deprived children and in having no function other than a promotional or campaigning one.’ Of the founding two 

               members, two had served as members of the Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ 

               Systems and a further two were to become members of the Task Force on Child Care Services established in 1974. 

               A Department of Education memo in the early 1980s stated that ‘Since the group got power into their hands through 

               the Task Force they seem to have become comparatively quiet.’ CARE eventually disbanded in the mid-1990s. 



            326                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


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                   too. (f) Until now there has been no adequate system of assessment and referral which 

                   would ensure at least that residential care staff know  the background and problems of 

                   their  charges.  (g)  Apart  form  Marlborough  House  and  St.  Patrick’s  Institution  all  of  the 

                   Institutions are run on a voluntary basis by Religious Orders and they retain the freedom 

                   to accept or reject children sent to them. In the past year the boys’ reformatory in particular 

                   has  cut  down  on  the  number  of  boys  it  takes  because  of  lack  of  facilities.  In  these 

                   circumstances the courts are often unable to dispose of children to residential care even 

                   if they need it. (h) There are no specialist residential facilities for distinct problem-groups 

                   e.g. the emotionally disturbed and psychopathic young persons. (i) Marlborough House, 

                   the Remand Home, has been particularly criticised for its complete lack of facilities and 

                   adequate personnel. 



4.203       The delegation was particularly opposed to the proposed new Reformatory School to be built at 

            Oberstown as a replacement for the Daingean Reformatory (St Conleth’s). The reasons for their 

            opposition were fourfold. Firstly, 



                   the  location  of  the  proposed  institution  is  wrong.  An  institution  at  Oberstown  is  still  far 

                   from  the  city  of  Dublin  from  which  most  of  the  young  offenders  from  St.  Conleth’s  are 

                   drawn, so far in fact that it would be quite impossible to provide a service dealing with not 

                  just the boys but with their families too. On a less sophisticated level visiting by families 

                   would still be very difficult. In addition access to specialist services is more of a problem 

                   the farther away from Dublin – or another city – the institution is and the more difficult it 

                   is for specialists to be involved on a part-time basis. Secondly the Oberstown project is 

                   too big. It is widely agreed that institutionalism is largely a function of size; in that respect 

                   Oberstown function would relate to boys from all over Ireland. There is a strong argument 

                   for decentralisation of this function as opposed to its concentration in one place. Thirdly, 

                   the thinking embodied in the Oberstown proposals is conservative and incoherent. The 

                   problems presenting themselves to the Government are clear, though probably wrongly 

                   defined, and Oberstown is intended as the main solution to them. It will fit into the existing 

                   pattern of juridical and administrative structures which are grossly deficient. If it embodies 

                   any new thinking, this thinking is not carried through to any logical conclusion. It retains 

                   too many of the inherent disadvantages of the old outmoded system, many of which are 

                   associated with the proposed size and type of location. Fourthly the Oberstown project 

                   cannot  be  conceived  of  as  a  temporary  measure  pending  fundamental  rethinking  of 

                   legislation and comprehensive reform of services. The fact that it will cost so much and 

                   that it will exist in bricks and mortar will give it permanence, will make it liable to be cited 

                   as the solution to existing problems, and will thus pre-empt the choice of better options in 

                   the future. 



4.204       The paper also noted the reluctance of the Religious engaged in residential childcare to accept 

            certain   children    and   to  operate    ‘juvenile   prisons’.   Instead    of  the   Oberstown      project,   CARE 

            recommended that a secure unit for between 20-30 boys should be opened in, or close to, Dublin 

            and ‘should be managed, for the time being at least, by the Department of Education’. On 2nd 

            May 1972, a delegation203  from CARE held a meeting in the Department of Education with officials 



            from the Departments of Education, Health and Justice. The record of the meeting made by the 

            Department of Education noted that: 



                   Much  time  was  spent  in  discussing  the  security  arrangements  at  the  new  school  in 

                   Oberstown.  The  delegation  from  CARE  was  very  much  against  the  security  unit  being 

                   attached    to  the   school    for  the   reasons     already    discussed     at  other   meetings.     This 

                   resistance mellowed somewhat when it was explained in more detail by the Department 

                   what  was  involved  –  that  it  would  not  be  a  complete  security  like  a  prison  –  and  the 

                   reasons underlying it. The CARE people were dissatisfied with the location and size of 



            203 

                                    ´ 

                                           ´ 

               They were Seamus O Cinneide, Paul McQuaid, Ian Hart, Peter Shanley and Kathleen O’Higgins. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  327 


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                   Oberstown and the way these two things combined to stifle any other initiative. In relation 

                   to the last point, they were informed that the Department was not adverse to any other 

                   arrangement, for example, community based, but that whatever arrangement was chosen, 

                   there would be a need for Oberstown in the future. 



                                       ´ 

4.205       CARE  wrote  to  Mr  O  Floinn,  Runai  Cunta  of  the  Department  of  Education,  the  following  day 

            thanking him for the helpful meeting and outlining: 



                   We accept that the Oberstown project is going ahead and we hope to maintain an interest 

                   in its development and in the development of the associated establishments at Letterfrack, 

                   Clonmel  and  Finglas.  On  that  basis  I  would  like  to  reiterate  a  few  points  which  we 

                   mentioned  in  our  paper  or  which  came  up  in  the  discussion.  (a)  We  feel  that  children 

                   should  be  treated  with  reference  to  their  needs  and  not  with  reference  to  their  deeds: 

                   offenders, children who come before the courts, should not be segregated in committal 

                   from other children with the same problems who do not come before the courts. Thinking 

                   in terms of ‘reformatories’ and ‘junior reformatories’ would be a barrier to developments 

                   in this direction. (b) The future organisation of residential services for children will have to 

                   provide differentiated facilities to meet the different needs and problems of various groups. 

                   (c) If the high standard of services sought by CARE and envisaged by your Department 

                   are to be achieved and maintained it is not enough to have goodwill on the part of most 

                   of  those    who    are   engaged      in  planning    and    providing    the   services,    which    goodwill 

                   undoubtedly exists at present. It seems to us that detailed provision will have to be made 

                   with regard to inspection, co-ordination, training and research and that this will have to 

                   be  guaranteed  by  regulations,  stated  standards,  specific  administrative  structures,  and 

                   procedures as appropriate. 



            The CARE memorandum 



4.206       At  the  end  of  June  1972,  CARE  published  a  detailed  memorandum  on  deprived  children  and 

            children’s services in Ireland.204  The memorandum claimed: 



                   children’s  services  in  Ireland  are  vastly  underdeveloped  in  a  number  of  respects  as 

                   compared with other social services in Ireland or as compared with children’s services in 

                   other countries like ours. This is an indictment of our community and demands action now 

                   for reasons of justice and charity and even economy. The deficiencies in our provisions 

                   have long been recognised; they have been the subject of informed comment and protest 

                   for decades. But the protests have not been acted upon. The responsibility now devolves 

                   on us who can learn and speak out and act today. It is CARE’s purposes to strive that 

                   the community accepts this responsibility, that provisions are improved now – late in the 

                   day.205 



            204 A series of empirical studies of children in residential care, particularly institutions for young offenders which 



               appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which focused on the social and personal characteristics of 

                institutionalised children provided a research base, albeit comparatively small, for organisations such as CARE. The 

                picture that emerged from these studies showed institutionalised young offenders to be primarily male, 

               overwhelmingly from working class backgrounds, overwhelmingly from urban centres, the majority displaying low 

                levels of literacy and numerical ability, low IQ levels, coming from larger than average size families, and high levels 

               of parental separation. See Flynn, A, McDonald, N and O'Doherty, EF (1967) ‘A Survey of Boys in St Patrick's 

                Institution: Project on Juvenile Delinquency’. The Irish Jurist, Vol 2; Hart, I (1967) ‘The Social and Psychological 

                Characteristics of Institutionalised Young Offenders in Ireland’. Administration, Vol 16, pp 167-77; Hart, I (1970) ‘A 

                Survey of some Delinquent Boys in an Irish Industrial School and Reformatory’. Economic and Social Review, Vol 1, 

                pp 182-214; Hart, I (1974) Factors Relating to Reconviction among Young Dublin Probationers. Dublin: ESRI. 

                General Research Series No 76; Hart, I and McQuaid, P (1974)’ Empirical Classifications of Types among 

                Delinquent Referrals to a Child Guidance Clinic’. Economic and Social Review, Vol 5, No 2, pp 163-73; Power, B 

                (1971) ‘The Young Lawbreaker’. Social Studies, Vol 1, pp 56-79. 

            205 CARE (1972) Children Deprived: The CARE Memorandum on Deprived Children and Children’s Services in Ireland. 



                Dublin: Care. p 28. 



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4.207       Both  in  the  Memorandum  and  in  subsequent  publications,  CARE  argued  for  the  need  for  co- 

            ordination in the delivery of childcare services, arguing that ‘there is no one planning authority for 

            services for deprived children, no co-ordinating machinery, no means of overall development. The 

            interests of deprived children consequently suffer in the content of national planning.’206                    In relation 



            to residential care, CARE proposed: 



                   That  all  institutions  for  deprived  children  while  retaining  their  independence  should  be 

                   more fully integrated into a total child-care service under the Health Boards and should 

                   be inspected by the Boards’.207          That the regional care authorities in each health region 



                   should  together,  and  in  consultation  with  the  Health  Board,  work  out  a  plan  for  co- 

                   ordination and specialisation in residential care in the region’.208              The need for training for 

                   staff of residential care services.209       The need for extensive research designed to find the 

                   right methods of care for various categories of deprived children.210 



4.208       Later that year, CARE, in conjunction with a range of other organisations211  submitted a memo to 



            the  Government  demanding  one  Minister  for  children.  Having  outlined  the  difficulties  with  the 

            existing system of administration, the memo proposed: 



                   that one Government Minister should be designated as having overall responsibility, or 

                   the main responsibility, for deprived children and children’s services in Ireland. This means 

                   the  allocation  of  additional  functions  to  a  present  Minister,  not  the  creation  of  a  new 

                   Ministerial  post.  Any  less  radical  solution,  would  not  resolve  the  problems  we  have 

                   described.  The  establishment  of  a  co-ordinating  inter-departmental  committee  and  the 

                   appointment of an advisory body, have been recommended elsewhere: such structures 

                   are desirable but they alone could not meet the needs of the present grave system. With 

                   regard to the choice of department we think that the Department of Health is the most 

                   appropriate     department       to  have    charge     of  deprived     children.    At   the   moment      this 

                   department has many welfare responsibilities. In the long-term we foresee the possibility 

                   of  the   amalgamation        of   the   Departments       of  Health     and   Social    Welfare     into   one 

                   Department of Health and Welfare (as recommended by the Devlin Committee, 1969 and 

                   recently by the Catholic Bishops Council on Social Welfare) which would be responsible 

                   for health services, social security and social work services. Children’s services are only 

                   one  part  of  social  work  services  and  when  we  talk  of  the  co-ordination  of  children’s 

                   services  we  see  this  as  a  first  step  towards  the  ultimate  co-ordination  of  social  work 

                   services, or welfare services, at a national level. Children’s services, or welfare services 

                   generally, merge into other social services, such as housing and social security, at one 

                   end,   and    into  custodial    services    at  the  other.   For   this  reason     one   minister,   or   one 

                   department could not be responsible for all aspects of services which meet the needs of 

                   deprived children: what we are asking for is that responsibility, for the basic ‘children’s 

                   services’(emphasis in original) and responsibility for overall policy and planning in respect 

                   of  deprived     children    should    be   defined    and    allocated    to  one   Minister.    It might    be 

                   considered necessary to delegate this responsibility to a Parliamentary Secretary. In the 

                   first instance we would suggest that a children’s Services Section should be established 

                   within  the  Department  of  Health  under  a  Principal  Officer  with  no  other  responsibilities 

                   initially it would be the task of the section to survey all services for deprived children and 

                   to  consult     with   relevant    interests.    It  could    then   assume      planning     and    executive 



            206 Ibid. p 28. CARE subsequently organised a conference on the topic of ‘Planning for Our Children’ on 4th and 5th 



               April 1974. 

            207 Ibid. p 67. 

            208 Ibid. p 69. 

            209 Ibid. p 70. 

            210 Ibid. p 72. 

            211 These included the National Social Service Council, the Irish National Teachers Organisation, the Catholic Bishops’ 



                Council on Social Welfare, the Irish Association of Social Worker, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 

                Children, the Irish medical Association, the Association of Workers for Children in Care, the Psychological Society of 

                Ireland, the Incorporated Law Society and the National Youth Council of Ireland. 



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                 responsibility for a range of services at present coming under the three departments. The 

                 decision in principle to have one minister and one department with the main responsibility 

                 in  this  area  should  give  the  section  the  necessary  authority  to  approach  its  task  with 

                 commitment and strength. It would be of the utmost importance that the new Children’s 

                 Services Section should command child care expertise, or social work expertise, of a high 

                 order. A senior qualified social worker with expertise in child care should be recruited to 

                 the  section;  if  that  is  not  possible  expert  personnel  from  Ireland  or  abroad  should  be 

                 retained as consultants, at least in the short term. 



4.209      The initial response by the Department of Education to the suggestion from CARE and others that 

           one Minister and one Department be responsible for children’s service was: 



                 There   does   seem    to be  logic  in  the  recommendations      in  question.   So  far  as  this 

                 Department is concerned, this shows itself primarily in relation to the Residential Homes 

                 (formerly Industrial Schools) which now, with one or two exceptions, send all their children 

                 to school in the neighbouring national and post-primary schools and whose functions of 

                 caring for children seem most appropriately the administrative responsibility of a Welfare 

                 or Health Authority. In the case of the Special Schools (formerly Reformatory Schools), 

                 the residential and care function and the educational function are inextricably intertwined 

                 and it is difficult to see how they could be suitably separated. 



4.210      The note also observed that at the time of writing the Department of Health had not yet given their 

           considered views on this recommendation, but that the Department of Education understood that 

           while the Department of Health saw the merits of the case, the ‘Department felt itself to have so 

           many commitments at the present time that it did not welcome the financial and personnel problem 

           which would be attached to taking over a complex block of work’. In the Department of Health, 

           Clandillon drafted a discussion document in late 1972, outlining the recommendations of both the 

           Committee on the Reformatory and Industrial Schools System and the CARE memorandum. She 

           noted that while the recommendations of the CARE memorandum  ‘differ in some resects from 

           those  in  the  Kennedy  Report,  ...basically  it  is  a  re-hash  of  the  Kennedy  recommendations’.  In 

           particular Clandillon noted that both reports recommended: 



                        (a)  that the Reformatory at Daingean and the Remand Home in Marlborough House 

                             should be replaced and that the present institutional system of residential care 

                             should  be  replaced  by  groups  homes  which  would  approximate  as  closely  as 

                             possible the normal family unit; 



                        (b)  that an independent statutory board should be established. The Kennedy Report 

                             visualised  this  largely  as  an  advisory  board  but  interested  in  the  promotion  of 

                             child care. The CARE memorandum went further and visualised it as providing 

                             services directly and concerned with questions of planning, finance, organisation 

                             and   personnel,   and   with  responsibility  for  all residential  establishments,    for 

                             adoption and for preventative services. 



                        (c)  administrative responsibility for all aspects of child care should be transferred to 

                             the Department of Health. The Department would cater for all aspects of child 

                             care – prevention, boarding-out, remand, admission and committal to residential 

                             care, after-care and adoption. 



4.211      In relation to the recommendation that responsibility for all childcare services be transferred to the 

           Department of Health, Clandillon noted some potential difficulties. She argued that the Department 

           should not have responsibility for certain aspects of the childcare system, in particular, the juvenile 

           liaison scheme, the juvenile courts, the adoption service or the probation service. She noted: 



                 The concept of one Department having responsibility sounds ...take over everything which 

                 could  affect  the  welfare  of  children.  Included   would   be  family  income    maintenance, 

                 housing, employment and education. It would not, for instance, be feasible for a Minister 



           330                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2371-----------------------

                   for Health to have special responsibility regarding the type and amount of education which 

                  would be provided for children in poor areas. It is suggested that it has to be accepted 

                   that different  Ministers must have  responsibilities in the  field of child  care and that  our 

                   efforts must be devoted to seeing – 



                      (a) what is the most rational distribution of responsibilities, 



                      (b) how can co-ordination best be achieved and how can we ensure that an overall 

                      view of the problem is taken. 



                   On the distribution of services the main things in which it has been suggested that this 

                   Department should have responsibility are – 



                      (a)  adoption,  the  probation  service,  and  the  juvenile  liaison  service  –  all  at  present 

                      administered by the Department of Justice; 



                      (b) relations with the juvenile courts; 



                      (c) remand homes, reformatories and industrial schools – all now administered by the 

                      Department of Education. 



                   In regard to adoption, the Reports do not offer persuasive arguments why this should be 

                   transferred to the Department of Health other than the fact that is an important aspect of 

                   child care and is a substitute form of care. The Department of Justice has not taken an 

                   official  line  on  this  matter  but  officers  of  that  Department  with  whom  the  matter  was 

                   discussed feel that there is no reason why it should be transferred. They have built up a 

                   certain amount of expertise and they have established relations with the various bodies 

                   dealing with adoption. They agreed that close co-operation and co-ordination between the 

                  Adoption     Board    and   Health    Boards     are  important.    It must    be   remembered       that   the 

                  Adoption Board is an independent statutory body. I do not think that the taking over of the 

                  Adoption Board by this Department would lead to any substantial improvements although 

                   there is a theoretical justification for taking it over. In regard to probation, the officers of 

                   the Department of Justice felt that this service is closely linked with the Gardai, the Courts 

                                                                                                                  ´ 

                   and  the  prisons.  It  deals  with  both  juvenile  and  adult  offenders.  They  have  40  officers 

                   employed at present and it is intended to increase this number to 70. I do not think the 

                   taking over of this service is desirable. If we took it over we would have to establish close 

                   liaison with the adult service, with the prisons, the Gardai, and the Courts and the position 

                                                                                         ´ 

                  would probably be more complicated than it is at present. It is agreed that co-operation 

                   between the existing service and the Health Board service is very desirable. In regard to 

                   the juvenile liaison service, this is a system under which selected members of the Gardai 

                                                                                                                                 ´ 

                   talk  to  young  offenders  and  their  parents  and  frequently,  by  advice  and  persuasion, 

                   succeed in stopping delinquency. This is a scheme operated by the Gardai and I do not 

                                                                                                                 ´ 

                   think it would desirable that this Department should take it over. I do not think it would be 

                   desirable  that  we  should  attempt  to  deal  with  the  Courts.  The  problems  of  juvenile 

                   offenders are intimately linked with the whole problem of the operation of the Courts, the 

                   probation service, the work of the Gardai and the criminal law. I see no advantage in our 

                                                                     ´ 

                   trying to accept responsibilities for one portion. The need for co-ordination with the various 

                   other interests involved would probably leave the position worse than it is at present. 



4.212       On  the  question  of  responsibility  for  reformatories  and  remand  homes,  Clandillon  was  of  the 

            view that: 



                   It is not easy to make a firm recommendation in regard to which Department should have 

                   responsibilities for the reformatories and remand homes. The attitude of the Department 

                   of  Education  is  that  the  residential  and  educational  aspects  of  the  care  given  in  these 

                   centres  cannot  be  divorced  and  that  special  teaching  related to  the  deficiencies  of  the 

                   children is a vital element. There is a considerable amount in these views. On the other 

                   hand, the Department of Education has very limited responsibilities regarding the running 

                   of institutions. It is agreed that an input from the Health side is essential but whether this 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                 331 


----------------------- Page 2372-----------------------

                  health aspect should outweigh the educational aspect is not easy to decide. If there is co- 

                 operation it seems to me that there is no great need for the transfer of these centres to 

                 this Department.  There is, however,  a particular factor  which has to  be borne in  mind. 

                 There  seems  little  doubt  that  there  will  be  pressure  in  the  coming  years  for  a  special 

                 security unit to deal with disturbed and aggressive children and those who tend to escape. 

                 We already have a proposal to provide a special unit at Dundrum but this is intended for 

                  mentally ill and severely emotionally disturbed children. There is a tendency for voluntary 

                  bodies  to  be  selective  and  to  pass  on  to  somebody  else  those  who  create  too  much 

                 trouble. If we provide a special unit there is going to be considerable pressure on us to 

                 take anyone who causes any trouble and I could see considerable differences of opinion 

                  between us and Education. My feeling is that if Education want to keep the special schools 

                 we should agree, but that we should insist that they take the rough with the smooth and 

                 operate a special security unit as well as the normal centres where strict security is not 

                 a feature. 



4.213      In relation to Residential Homes, Clandillon noted the increase in the number of children placed 

           by health boards and that the Department of Education ‘seem prepared to agree that these homes 

           should be transferred to the Department of Health but the Parliamentary Secretary seems to have 

           some misgivings and reservations. Again these places could be operated by either Department 

           provided there is co-operation and liaison on balance, however, I think it would be more logical 

           that  they  should  be  under  the  control  of  this  Department.’  The  recommendations  outlined  by 

           Clandillon, as she acknowledged: 



                  leave things as they are and may seem to suggest that there was no justification for the 

                  Reports.  This  is  not  so.  A  lot  has  happened  since  the  reports  were  issued.  On  the 

                  Department  of  Justice  side  the  welfare  services  have  been  expanded  enormously  and 

                 there  are  plans  for  further  expansion.  On  the  education  side,  Marlborough  House  has 

                 gone, Daingean is on the way out and new centres have been provided at Finglas and 

                 considerable improvements in the residential centres have been made. On our side we 

                 are developing our welfare services and we visualise a far greater development under the 

                  proposed Departmental re-organisation. On co-ordination, we could probably achieve this 

                  by regular meetings between ourselves, Justice and Education....Over and above all this 

                  is the question of new legislation...A possible solution would be for each Department to 

                 deal  with  its  own  bit  of  the  legislation,  but  the  various  provisions  are  so  inter-linked  I 

                 think a comprehensive Act is essential. Instead, therefore, of simple liaison between the 

                  Departments of Health, Education and Justice, I would suggest the establishment of an 

                 advisory Council which would contain representatives of those Departments. It could be 

                 given  as  one  of  its  first  tasks  the  preparation  of  proposals  for  legislation.  The  Council 

                 should be appointed by the Minister for Health and it should report to him and he would 

                 take a lead role in the whole field. This, of course, will involve him in dealing with what 

                 will  be  a  complicated,  and  possibly  controversial,  Bill.  All  this  will  be  a  futile  exercise 

                  unless we have the staff and funds to deal with the problems which will arise. 



           Management of Residential Homes 



4.214      An emerging issue for both the Department of Education and the Department of Health was the 

           future management of children’s Residential Homes. In an undated memo, but probably late 1972, 

           relating to the closure of Letterfrack Industrial School and its possible replacement by a school in 

           Dublin, the future role of religious Congregations in managing Residential Homes was discussed 

           by the Department of Education: 



                 The Christian Brothers, who conduct Letterfrack Special School for delinquent boys, have 

                  informed the Runai that they propose to phase out the school and have offered lands at 

                 Swords, Co. Dublin for a new school in replacement....It doesn’t automatically follow that 

                  because Letterfrack is to be closed it must immediately be replaced. A replacement school 



           332                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2373-----------------------

                will cost something of the order of £300,000 to £400,000. The new schools at Finglas and 

                Oberstown will not be fully operative until early 1973 and mid-1973, respectively, and it 

                might be suggested that it will take some time before the impact of these new schools on 

                the delinquency problem is clear. Moreover, opinion generally at the moment is against 

                residential measures to cope with delinquency except as a last resort. As against this, if 

                a replacement for Letterfrack is in fact needed, delay could result in a serious position for 

                the Courts on the closure of Letterfrack. The Department of Justice strongly believes a 

                replacement  is  needed.  Growing  urbanisation  is  likely  to  lead  to  an  increase  in  the 

                delinquency problem. While there is a certain overlap between Finglas and Letterfrack, 

                the latter caters for a type of boy requiring a longer stay than is provided for in Finglas. 

                Much  of  the  opposition  to  residential  institutions  is  misinformed:  full  development  of 

                welfare services will still have a residue of boys who cannot be effectively provided for 

                except on a residential basis. 



4.215      It was also noted that: 



                Incidentally, while  the Christian Brothers  would operate the  school in Swords,  the land 

                would be bought from them by the Department. This was done in Oberstown where the 

                Oblates got the full market price from the State: there is no indication the Brothers would 

                sell the property at Swords to the State for less than market value. 



4.216      In considering future arrangements, the memo noted the arrangement in the newly opened centre 

          in  Finglas  where  ‘the  religious  order  administers  the  school  on  behalf  of  the  Department.  A 

          management      committee    representative   of  the State,  the  order  and   independent    lay  people 

          supervise the general operation of the school and the day-to-day running is undertaken by the 

          religious Director who is legally manager. A similar arrangement will operate in Oberstown.’ 



4.217      However, the memo highlighted that a number of difficulties had manifested themselves in this 

          arrangement, in particular: 



                  (1)   With all schools conducted by religious orders, lay teachers and lay housemasters, 

                       who will form the bulk of staff, will have practically no promotional outlets. This applies 

                        particularly to the new service of house master which will be almost entirely confined 

                       to the four schools of this type. 



                  (2)   The decline in vocations and the pressure on the resources of religious orders are 

                        resulting in a position in Finglas and Oberstown where the orders concerned have a 

                        major say in the control and running of institutions owned, built and financed entirely 

                        by the State and staffed largely by lay people. 



                  (3)   The   religious  working   in  these  schools   are   assigned   by   their orders   without 

                        consultation  with  the   Department.    In  view  of  the  degree   of  the  Department’s 

                        involvement  with  the  schools,  some  of  our  recent  experiences  in  relation  to  the 

                        assignment of personnel by the orders have been unsatisfactory.212 



                  (4)   The orders concerned do not specialise in education with the disadvantaged and there 

                        are tendencies to transfer talented personnel to other fields in which an order may 

                        have wider commitments. 



                  (5)   Past  experience  engenders  definite  reservations  on  the  suitability  of  the  Christian 

                        Brothers in particular to conduct residential schools.’ 



4.218      In considering the establishment of a school under lay administration, the memo notes:— 



                The objection to a proposal of this nature would be the fact that it would be a State school 

                in  the  straightforward  meaning  of  that  term  and,  secondly,  that  the  Christian  Brothers 

                could read into such an action wider implications for the State’s attitude to their place in 

                Irish education generally. The management arrangements could accommodate the first 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                    333 


----------------------- Page 2374-----------------------

                   of these objections to some extent and the second would be a matter of discretion in the 

                   approach to the Brothers. The proposal would also entail an approach to the Archbishop of 

                    Dublin and would not be feasible unless a site other than the Swords site were available. A 

                   further objection is that, with a religious order administering an institution, the Department 

                   escapes a certain kind of public criticism in relation to its day-to-day running. On the other 

                   hand, a new kind of criticism is developing in having all educational institutions conducted 

                   by orders and we have lately had raised with us the question of provision for Protestant 

                   children whose numbers are too small to warrant a special school. 



4.219       As the Department of Education was grappling with the management of reformatory and industrial 

            schools,  concern was  expressed in  the Department  of Health  in relation  to the  increase in  the 

            number of private orphanages, who because of rising costs, were seeking approval to allow health 

            board  children  to  be  maintained  by  them.  In  a  memo  dated  March  1973,  it  noted  institutions 

            seeking such approval in recent years included: 



                   St. Saviour’s Boys Home, Dominick Street; Mrs. Smyly’s Homes; Nazareth Home, Fahan; 

                    Extensions to Kill O’ The Grange Convent; Sacred Heart Home for Girls, Drumcondra; St. 

                   Vincent’s, Glasnevin. As a result, Health Boards, in some cases, accepted maintenance 

                   of  children  already  in  these  homes,  e.g.  Kirwan  House,  although  when  possible  they 

                   examined       the   possibility   of  boarding     these    children    out   with  relatives.    Mrs.   Smyly’s 

                    Homes, another Protestant orphanage, which includes a nursery from which children may 

                   be  placed  for  adoption,  had  on  29.09.1972,  29  children  being  paid  by  Health  Boards. 

                   Two other Protestant Homes had 15 H.A. children between them. These figures show an 

                   increasing reliance on Health Boards of private Protestant orphanages, which in former 

                   years    were    able    to  manage      an   income      from   investment      and    private   subscriptions. 

                    Because we have recognised the value of such orphanages as Kill O’ the Grange Convent 

                   and St. Joseph’s Tivoli Road, we have in recent years approved of grants by the Eastern 

                    Health  Board  to  assist  in  extending  and  improving  them.  We  are  particularly  aware  of 

                   these places because they assist and encourage the children to train for careers and keep 

                   in touch with them in after years. The Eastern Health Board which accepts a large number 

                   of   children    into   care   has    difficulty   in  finding   sufficient    suitable    foster   homes.      We 



            212 Denis O’Sullivan, who was conducting research in the Letterfrack Industrial School at this time noted that 



                ‘Discussions with present and past staff members of the Research School and other correctional schools controlled 

                by the religious Congregation suggested that in the past the allocation of a Brother to the Research school had been 

                sometimes used as a disciplinary measure, and even in recent times Brothers reported being sent to the school to 

                help them resolve religious and personal difficulties. In fact, shortly after field work was completed two members of 

                the teaching staff left the order. The Manager, like the other Brothers, had expressed no desire to serve in the 

                Research School and had no particular interest in this type of work or schooling before being allocated to the school. 

                His experience in the Research School however generated an interest in this type of work, but his superiors’ refusal 

                to allow him to attend a course in Residential Child Care indicated to him that his service in a correctional school 

                was to be short lived. The other Brothers do not appear to have developed any special interest in the type of pupil 

                they were dealing with. It was, for them, a phase in their career to which they applied themselves vigorously and with 

                professional concern, but none of them expressed a desire to devote himself entirely to this type of work. For the 

                manager and staff, then, it was a phase which soon would pass when they would be transferred back into the 

                regular school system.’ O’Sullivan, D (1978) ‘Negotiation in the Maintenance of Social Control: A Study in an Irish 

                Correctional School’. International Journal of Criminology and Penology, 6, 1, 34. Barry Coldrey, himself a Christian 

                Brother, has argued that: ‘the least qualified in the Religious Orders gravitated to work in childcare institutions. In 

                addition, before the Christian Bothers established specialist aged-care facilities for its own members, old, sick, odd 

                and mentally unstable members were commonly ‘hidden’ in institution communities. Brothers or Sisters who worked 

                long years ‘on the orphanage circuit’ had low status within their Congregations.’ Coldrey, B (2000) ‘A Strange Mixture 

                of caring and Corruption’: Residential Care in Christian Brother orphanages and Industrial Schools during their last 

                Phase, 1940s to 1960s. History of Education, 29, 4, 349-50. The historian, Professor Tom Dunne, reflecting on his 

                time in the Christian Brothers and their role in Industrial Schools has written that ‘it was generally believed in the 

                order that men were often sent to staff such terrible places because they had proved difficult, or inadequate, or had 

                got into trouble in ‘normal’ schools. They, too, often felt punished and incarcerated, and the threat of banishment, 

                especially to the more remote schools like Daingean (sic), was often the subject of nervous jokes. While their 

                ‘houses of formation’ were staffed with their brightest and best, the Brothers, it seems, often left the far more needy 

                boys of their industrial schools to the inadequate or the troubled, who were given no special training and little 

                supervision.’ Dunne, T (2002) ‘Seven Years in the Brothers’. Dublin Review, 6, 28-29. 



            334                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2375-----------------------

                 encouraged St. Vincent’s Glasnevin to seek approval for the purposes of section 55. As 

                 you will recall this orphanage was not keen to seek approval. It has a high standard of 

                 teaching  and  results,  and  was  afraid  that  the  acceptance  of  Health  Act  children  would 

                 lower  its  standards.  Ten  Health  Act  children,  nine  of  them  from  Dublin,  were  being 

                 maintained there on 30.09.1972. 



4.220      Part of the reason for the increase in the numbers of children admitted to residential care was: 



                 ...that there are many children that health authorities cannot place in foster homes or for 

                 adoption,  e.g.  lack  of  parent’s  consent,  or  some  physical  or  mental  deficiency.  As  you 

                 know,  in  spite  of  constant  reminders  to  health  authorities  and  representations  by  the 

                 Department’s     Inspectors    in  respect   of  individual  children,   the  number     of  children 

                 maintained by health authorities in institutions continues to grow. 



4.221      Later that month, a circular was issued to the health boards, which stated: 



                 Having regard to Article 4 of the Boarding Out of Regulations 1954, the Minister notes 

                 with concern that over the past few years in some areas the numbers of children placed 

                 by Health Boards in institutions has showed a marked increase. He is aware that this may 

                 be due to a tendency on the part of health boards to accept into care children who at one 

                 time would not be regarded as eligible for such services. It appears nevertheless that in 

                 some areas the policy of not providing care for such children other than in an institution 

                 is  not  strictly  observed.  This  may  be  due  to  difficulties  encountered  in  finding  suitable 

                 foster homes. Care should be taken to insert regularly in the public press advertisements 

                 seeking   such  homes.     No   doubt  health   board  personnel     with  direct  responsibility  for 

                 children in care will be aware of families suitable to rear such children and should be of 

                 assistance in bringing to the notice of such families the health board’s advertisements. 

                 Health Boards do not have to be reminded of he present high cost of maintaining a child 

                 in an institution. In light of recent increases in the cost of living they should review upwards 

                 the maintenance rates payable to foster parents as well as clothing allowances. 



           Implementing Kennedy 



4.222      On 18th May 1973, a draft memo for Government on the Kennedy Report was circulated in the 

           Department     of  Education.    The    memo     focused    primarily   on  the   issues   of  administrative 

           responsibilities  and  the  updating    of  legislation.  The  memo  signalled  that     the  Department  of 

           Education concurred with the recommendation of the Committee that ‘administrative responsibility 

           for all aspects of child care should be transferred to the Department of Health. Responsibility for 

           the education of children in care should remain with the Department of Education.’ However, this 

           could not  happen immediately  as ‘the  extensive measures  of re-organisation  and development 

           which are currently engaging the attention of the Department of Health and the health authorities 

           are unlikely to enable a transfer to take place without risk of some loss of efficiency.’ 



4.223      On this basis, the Department of Education proposed: 



                        (a)   that administrative responsibility for the appropriate institutions remain with the 

                              Department of Education for the time being; 



                        (b)   that  the  Department  of  Education  take  over,  again  for  the  interim  period,  the 

                              administration  of  similar  institutions  which,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they  do 

                              not accept children through the Courts, are at present under the Department of 

                              Health ; 



                        (c)   that the Department of Health retain responsibility for boarding-out children; 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         335 


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                        (d)  that the planning of the development of facilities for the institutions and children 

                             in question be jointly undertaken by the two Departments in an inter-departmental 

                             committee under the direction of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for 

                              Education and which would include also representation from the Department of 

                             Justice; 



                        (e)  that  the  Department  of  Health  arrange  with  the  local  health  authorities,  and 

                             through the inter-departmental committee, to place at the disposal of the schools 

                             the necessary psychological, psychiatric, medical and social worker service. 



4.224      In  relation  to  the  recommendation  in  the  Report  that  ‘all  laws  relating  to  child  care  should  be 

           examined,    brought   up-to-date   and   incorporated    into a  composite    Children   Act’,  the  memo 

           outlined that: 



                 pending  provision  of  the  new  institutional  arrangements  which  new  legislation  would 

                 embody, the exact outline of new legislation could not be anticipated. Moreover, it was 

                 difficult to see what direction new legislation should take in the absence of a decision in 

                 regard  to  administrative  responsibility...  The  Minister  therefore  proposes  that  an  inter- 

                 departmental committee be set up under the direction of the Parliamentary Secretary to 

                 the  Minister   for Education    and   comprising    representatives    of  the  Departments      of 

                 Education,   Health   and   Justice  and   of the  Attorney   general   to  examine    the present 

                 framework    of  laws  relating  to children,  to  consider   the  amendments,      deletions   and 

                 additions demanded in these laws by present-day circumstances and policies, to make 

                 recommendations and to prepare for submission to the Government the heads of a Bill 

                 embodying their recommendations.’ 



4.225      In addition, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Mr John Bruton outlined his 

           views in a memo to the Minister. Noting the recommendation of both the Kennedy Committee and 

           the CARE memorandum that responsibility for Residential Homes be vested in the Department of 

           Health, he argued: ‘unlike the Department of Education, the Department of Health does not at this 

           time have a staff with experience or competence in dealing with residential child care’. He also 

           argued that: 



                 the multiplicity of agencies dealing with individual families and the lack of longterm overall 

                 planning  –  will  not  be  solved  by  a  simple  transfer  of  Departmental  responsibility  for 

                 Residential Homes and Special Schools. Nor will it be solved by the setting up of a mere 

                 outside  advisory  body  as  proposed  by  CARE.  It  requires  the  establishment  of  more 

                 efficient  means  for  co-ordination  between  Departments  in  dealing  with  both  individual 

                 cases and overall policy. 



4.226      In relation to this overall policy, he proposed that: 



                 an   interdepartmental    committee     should   be   set   up   with  representation    from   the 

                 Departments     of Health,   Education,   Justice,  Finance    and  the  Attorney   General.   This 

                 Committee     should   draft a  new   Children’s   Act,  prepare   proposals    for the  long-term 

                 financing  of  Child  Care    Services   and   establish  permanent     consultation   procedures 

                 between    Departments     in  relation  to policy.  A   transfer  of  responsibility  will require 

                 legislation  anyway  and  thus  would  properly  form  part  of  the  new  Children’s  Act  which 

                 should be prepared by he inter-departmental committee suggested in the last paragraph. 



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4.227       Mr Bruton met with the Association of Workers for Children in Care (AWCC)213                         on 4th July 1973 



            and sought their views on the transfer of residential childcare services to the Department of Health. 

            Fr Gormley, on behalf of the organisation stated: 



                   that the administration of child care services by one Department would greatly facilitate 

                   the work, and the AWCC had stated this in its response to the Kennedy report. However, 

                   it was not for the Association to say which Department could best provide the services 

                   that  were  needed.  As  far  as  the  Association  was  concerned,  it  was  the  quality  of  the 

                   administration and the back-up services which counted. The real problems facing workers 

                   in the Homes were often haphazard method referral, the lack of assessment facilities in 

                   many areas, inadequate finance, the lack of ongoing support for children after they have 

                   left care. The Association saw the need for a Family Welfare Department which would co- 

                   ordinate the work and generate the various services which were needed. 



4.228       The  Department  of  Health  also  drafted  a  memo  for  Government  outlining  their  views  on  the 

            situation, particular the need for decisions to be made on matters arising from both the Kennedy 

            Report and the CARE memorandum and noting that ‘while the recommendations in the two reports 

            differ in some respects basically CARE reiterated the recommendations in the earlier Kennedy 

            Report’.  The  memo  acknowledged  that  progress  had  been  achieved  in  realising  some  of  the 

            recommendations of the Reports, ‘but there are two major areas which have not been dealt with 

            – the recommendations regarding the administration of services and the need for comprehensive 

            examination      and    up-dating    of  legislation    in  relation   to  child  care’.   the   memo     outlined    that 

            responsibility  for  the  probation  services,  the  juvenile  liaison  scheme  and  the  children’s  courts 

            should  be  retained  by  the  Department  of  Justice  rather  than  being  transferred  to  Health  as 

            recommended  in  the  Kennedy  Report.  The  memo  argued  that  Government  should  accept  in 

            principle  that  adoption  services  should  be  transferred  from  the  Department  of  Justice  to  the 

            Department of Health, but that ‘further consideration should be given to the question when the 

            transfer should take place’. On the issue of residential care, in relation to the reformatory schools 

            and remand homes, the memo noted that: 



                   a view has been put forward that the residential and educational aspects of care given in 

                   these centres cannot be divorced and that special teaching related to the deficiencies of 

                   the  children  is  a  vital  element;  this  is  a  cogent  argument  as  there  is  no  doubt  that 

                   education must be a major element no matter what Minister is responsible for the centres. 

                   However, while there may be little, if any, health or welfare content in the case of a number 

                   of residents their initial medical and social assessment would be an essential element. 

                   Furthermore, the Department of Health has wide experience in the running of institutions 

                   and many of the problems which would arise in regard to the centres would be similar to 

                   those    arising   in  other    residential    centres.    The    making     of  arrangements        for  more 

                   specialised  care  would  be  facilitated  if  one  authority  had  responsibility  for  all  centres. 

                   Again,    there   is  a  large    educational     element     in  mental    handicap      institutions   –  the 

                   Department of Education providing the necessary education works well. There is great 



            213 The Association of Workers with Children in Care (AWCC) was founded in the early 1970s and was effectively the 



               new name for Association of Managers of Reformatory and Industrial Schools The AWCC, which included both 

               Managers and Staff in residential care, had its beginnings in the early 1970s and at its foundation and through its 

               early years was dominated by religious. That dominance dwindled over time with the decline in vocations and the 

               movement away from residential child care by some of the religious orders. In the late 1980s, the staff formed their 

               own association, the Irish Association of Care Workers, later renamed as the Irish Association of Social Care 

               Workers. The original objectives of the organisation were: (1) to promote the welfare, education and rehabilitation of 

               children in care; (2) to promote a high standard of training and work in the care of children; (3) to encourage the 

               development of an integrated child care service by promoting co-operation and understanding between the various 

               agencies concerned with the welfare of children; (4) to act in liaison, as required, between children’s homes, 

               childcare agencies, Government Departments and regional health boards etc.; (5) to promote the welfare of those 

               caring for children by seeking to establish and maintain for them secure and adequate salaries and conditions of 

               service; (6) to promote a wide knowledge of recent developments in child care and to seek to show their relevance 

               and application to Ireland; (7) to review research and scientific literature and to initiate or promote research in 

                Ireland. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                     337 


----------------------- Page 2378-----------------------

                   need to build up expertise in the sphere of delinquent, aggressive and seriously disturbed 

                   behaviour and this almost certainly must be done on the health side. In the circumstances, 

                   the balance of argument appears to suggest that the Department of Health should take 

                   over responsibility for these centres. 



4.229       In relation to industrial schools, the memo argued that as these homes contained ‘an increasing 

            proportion of children sent by Health Boards and which can be regarded, to a considerable extent, 

            as  part  of a  family  care  service’, that  responsibility  for  the homes  should  be  transferred to  the 

            Department of Health and that the ‘Health Boards have the necessary staff expertise etc. to ensure 

            the best possible care for children in these homes’. 



4.230       An Inter-Departmental Working Party, along the lines suggested by Education, was established, 

            but   difficulties   were    evident    within    the   Department       of  Education      in  making      progress     in 

            implementing the recommendations of the Report and on maintaining their day-to-day obligations 

            in relation to Residential Homes, in particular, their inspectorial work. On 29th November 1973, 

                 ´ 

            Mr O Maitiu highlighted that the post of Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools had in 

                          ´ 

            effect  been  downgraded  from  an  assistant  principal  officer  to  that  of  a  higher  executive  officer 

            (HEO).  However,  ‘because  of  the  work  involved  in  implementing  the  Kennedy  Report  these 

            arrangements  have  proved  entirely  inadequate.  The  Report  has  involved  the  recasting  of  the 

            system  from  top  to  bottom  and  involves  work  of  very  high  quality.  The  HEO  has  not  found  it 

            possible to carry out his executive duties as officer in charge of the section and, at the same time 

                                                                                                                     ´ 

            perform his statutory duties as Inspector. The inspectorial work has suffered.’ Mr O Maitiu noted 

                                                                                                                              ´ 

            that the Kennedy Report had recommended that ‘approximately five or six Inspectors would be 

                                                                        ´ 

            required to operate a proper inspectorate’. Mr O Maitiu stated: 

                                                                                ´ 



                   This is a formidable indictment of the official attitude to the inspection of the homes and 

                   of  the  indifferent  approach  to  the  staffing  of  the  Inspector  post.  Three  years  later  the 

                   position, if anything, has worsened. Far from five or six Inspectors being appointed, there 

                   is now not even one Inspector fully on the job. Furthermore, the H.E.O. can only carry out 

                   an administrative inspection – he has no qualifications otherwise. He has not even the 

                   help of a Medical Inspector as this post has not been filled for some years. The situation 

                   is now arising where the personnel of the Schools is obtaining child-care qualifications 

                   (as a result of courses conducted on behalf of the Department), whereas the Department 

                   itself has no inspector qualified in this field. There is an urgent need now for an Inspector 

                   with suitable qualifications who will supervise the implementation of the Kennedy Report 

                   in the Schools and homes and advise and council staff, co-ordinate arrangements with 

                   Health boards and Courts, ensure that medical services etc. are provided, that children 

                   are  securing  the  education  best  suited  to  their  needs  and  aptitudes,  that  after-care  is 

                   receiving proper attention.214 



4.231       In addition, he noted that: 



                   the  Kennedy  Report  also  recommended  that  the  Children  Act  1908  and  other  relevant 

                   legislation be up-dated in a new composite Children’s Act. This has not yet been tackled 

                   – it was decided to wait until the outline of the new institutional and other services had 

                   emerged more clearly. However, considerable public pressure is now being exercised, as 

                   the existing legislation is entirely inappropriate to modern conditions. 



4.232       A fortnight earlier, the Kennedy Report was debated in the Seanad, the first time the report was 

            debated in either House. The Parliamentary Secretary at the Department of Education, Mr Bruton, 



            214 On 14th May 1975, the post of Child Care Advisor in the Department of Education was advertised. The advert stated 



               that ‘Candidates will be required to have about three years experience in social work, including experience in child 

               care after obtaining an appropriate professional or academic qualification such as a degree or diploma in Social 

               Science or a certificate in Residential Child Care or in Residential Social Work or a diploma in Institutional 

               Management’. The successful appointee was Mr Graham Granville. 



            338                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2379-----------------------

            outlined the progress on implementing the recommendations of the Report, but observed ‘to date 

            there has been a certain amount of secretiveness in the approach of my Department and also of 

            other  Departments  to  this  important  subject.  This  was  particularly  marked  during  the  tenure  of 

            office of the previous Government.’ On the issue of Departmental responsibility for child welfare 

            services, he argued: 



                   No matter where we draw the line as between one Department and the other, no matter 

                  where we lay the main responsibility, there will always be frayed edges, there will always 

                   be areas where demarcation will be unclear. Even within the terms of the Kennedy and 

                  CARE  recommendations  the  Department  of  Education  would  retain  responsibility  for 

                  general    education,     for  school    psychological     and    child  guidance     service,   for  school 

                  attendance,      for youth    service,   for  remedial    education,    for  education     of  the  mentally 

                   handicapped and so on. All these are matters which bear very significantly on the life of 

                  the  child  in  care  and  indeed  on  national  policy  in  relation  to  children  in  care.  To  take 

                  another     example,     the   Kennedy     proposal     that  in  the   case    of  special    schools    one 

                   Department  should  have  responsibility  for  the  residential  aspect  of  the  special  schools 

                  and another for the educational aspects, would introduce a duality of responsibility where 

                   in fact at the moment unity exists. It may be that the problem it is sought to solve, namely, 

                  the lack of co-ordination in overall policy-making and in dealing with the cases of individual 

                  children,    can   best   be   dealt   with  by   more    formalised     contact    between     the   various 

                  authorities  at  national,  regional  and  local  level  rather  than  by  shifting  responsibilities 

                  around from one Minister to another.215 



            Inter-departmental Working Party on the Kennedy Report 



4.233       In  February  1974  an  Inter-departmental  working  party  was  established to  ‘review  the  extent  to 

            which  the  Kennedy  Report  has  been  implemented  and  to  indicate  the  areas  which  still  await 

            implementation’  and  that  the  Working  Party  ‘would  form  a  briefing  for  a  group  to  be  set  up  to 

            recommend action, including legislative action, which should be taken in regard to improvements 

            in the field of childcare’. The Working Party systematically reviewed each of the recommendations 

            in the report. 



4.234       Recommendation  No  1  stated  that  ‘the  whole  aim  of  the  child-care  system  should  be  geared 

            towards the prevention of family breakdown and the problems consequent on it; the admission of 

            children to residential care to be considered only when there was no satisfactory alternative’. The 

            Working Party found that while it was not possible to compare the number of children in care in 

            late 1973 with the position that existed at the time of the Kennedy Committee were reporting, in 

            broad terms the number of children in Reformatory and Industrial schools had declined from 2,202 

            in  1969  to  1,495  in  December  1973.  It  also  noted  that  for  Departmental  purposes,  Industrial 

            Schools  were  now  referred  to  as  Residential  Homes  and  Reformatory  Schools  referred  to  as 

            Special Schools, although for legal purposes, they would retain their original designations. The 

            decline in the number of children in Industrial Schools, the Working Party suggested, was due to 

            a greater reluctance by the courts to commit children because of a lack of proper guardianship 

            was a contributory factor in addition to ‘improved living  standards generally and the continuing 

            impact of the Adoption Act 1952, and of Department of Health policy favouring boarding-out as 

            opposed to residential care.’ In relation to the Reformatory Schools, the introduction of the juvenile 

            liaison  scheme  in  the  early  1960s216      and  a  much  expanded  Probation  and  Welfare  Service217 



            helped divert many young people from having to be committed. 



            215 Seanad Eireann, Vol 76, 15th November 1973. 

            216 For further details, see Shanley, P (1970) ‘The Formal Cautioning of Juvenile Offenders’, The Irish Jurist. (NS) 2, 



               262-79. 

            217 By early 1972 there were 24 probation officers and 47 by 1974, with officers now deployed outside of Dublin and a 



               caseload of nearly a thousand. For further details, see McNally, G (2007) ‘Probation in Ireland: A Brief History of the 

               Early Years’. Irish Probation Journal, 4, 1, 5-24 and Geiran, V (2005) ‘The Development of Social Work in Probation’ 

               in Kearney, N and Skehill, C (eds) Social Work in Ireland: Historical Perspectives. Dublin: Institute of Public 

               Administration. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  339 


----------------------- Page 2380-----------------------

4.235      In relation to the two other forms of residential care for children, homes approved by the Minister 

          for Health under section 55 of the Health Act 1953 and voluntary homes which had not applied 

          for approval, the Working party noted that ‘Information is not to hand however of the numbers of 

          children in these institutions other than those placed by the health authorities not of numbers in 

          voluntary homes which had not applied for approval. This makes it impossible on available data 

          to state the present over-all position in relation to the numbers in residential care.’ They also noted 

          that  the  numbers  of  children  boarded-out  had  declined.  This  they  suggested  ‘may  be  due  to 

           increased utilization of adoption and a reduction, because of higher living standards and improved 

          services, the numbers of families who are inadequate to the point where arrangements away from 

          the family home have to be made for the children’. In relation to the question of improved services, 

          the  Working  Party  noted  that  ‘there  are  at  present  50  social  workers  employed  by  the  health 

           boards  together  with  60  social  workers  employed  by  voluntary  agencies  providing  services  on 

           behalf of health boards’ and that ‘The Minister for Health has stated his desire to have the numbers 

          of professionally trained social workers engaged in community work substantially increased and 

          to this end he has arranged with the two Dublin university colleges to provide 27 places this year 

          on professional social work courses for sponsorship by health boards.’ 



4.236      Recommendation No 2 of the Kennedy Report urged that the institutional system of residential 

          care should be abolished to be replaced by group homes. The Working Party highlighted that over 

           half the homes were in the process of adopting a group structure, this was done in three ways 

          with the aid of grants from the Department of Education: (1) by erecting new purpose built group 

           homes; (2) by purchasing private houses for adaptation as group homes; (3) by converting existing 

           buildings to the group home system. The Working Party noted that the ‘general tenor of the report 

          appears  to  envisage  the  present  system  of  large  institutional  buildings  being  replaced  by  self- 

          contained  units  for  7  to  9  children  each,  these  units  to  be  conducted  by  houseparents  and 

          approximating as closely as possible the normal family unit. This would seem to entail a radical 

           reorganization   of  the  residential  care   system,   as  it appears    to  imply  numbers     of small, 

           independent units.’ 



4.237      Recommendation  No  3  drew  attention  to  the  inadequacy  of  the  reformatory  system,  and  in 

           particular it said that St Conleth's Reformatory, Daingean, should be closed and replaced by a 

           more suitable building with trained childcare staff. The Working Party recorded that St Conleth's 

          closed in October 1973, and was been replaced by Scoil Ard Mhuire, in Lusk, County Dublin. The 

           Industrial School at Letterfrack, treated in the Kennedy Report as a junior Reformatory, closed on 

          30th June 1974. The Working Party noted that: 



                Some     controversy    has    surrounded    the   question    of  the   provision   of  custodial 

                accommodation in the new special schools. The Kennedy Report recommended that the 

                schools be open but that each should have a secure wing. The religious who conduct the 

                schools  do  not  feel  it  appropriate  that  they  should  administer  closed  units.  Pending 

                experience of the working of the schools and having regard to practical problems, special 

                arrangements  for  closed  custody  have  not  been  made.  There  appears  to  be  a  small 

                 minority of sociopathic offenders who cannot be contained in a special school and who 

                 require treatment in a closed psychiatric unit. Proposals are at present being examined in 

                the Department of Health for such a unit at Dundrum. It is possible that the presence of 

                this small but destructive group and the fact that suitable provision has not as yet been 

                 made for them is influencing attitudes in relation to some secure provision in the special 

                schools. If adequate special arrangements were made for this sociopathic group, it would 

                 help clarify this latter issue and it is possible that this would indicate that secure provision 

                at the special schools would be needed for persistent absconders. 



4.238      Recommendation No 4 related to the replacement of the remand home and place of detention at 

           Marlborough House, Glasnevin and the Working Party noted that Marlborough House closed on 



          340                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2381-----------------------

                                  218 and was replaced by the Finglas children's centre, which opened in January 

            1st August 1972 



                                                                                                          219 

            1972,     although     the   remand      unit   did   not   open     until  August     1973.       The    Working      Party 

            acknowledged that the detention function of Marlborough House was ‘purely punitive and of no 

            educational or rehabilitative value’ whereas the new Centre in Finglas provided special education 

            of up to 12 months for those committed, in a addition to a designated assessment facility.220 Again, 



            the Working Group remarked that: 



                   There  is  a  special  problem  at  present  in  relation  to  a  small  number  of  unruly  boys 

                   (probably     less   than   12   in  number)      aged    between      14   and   16   years.    Their   physical 

                   development makes it difficult to cater for them, in view of their conduct, in the remand 

                   unit and they cannot legally be taken in St. Patrick’s Institution unless they are 16. Under 

                   the present law, paradoxically, they may be committed to prison if they are at least 15 

                   years of age and if a court certifies that they are unruly. In the case of those between 14 

                   and 15 years of age, there is at present no provision. 



4.239       Recommendation No 5 was to the effect that the staff engaged in childcare work should be fully 

            trained.    The    Kennedy      Committee        said   that   this  should     take    precedence       over   any    other 

            recommendations. In response to this recommendation, the Working Party noted that a full-time 

            residential course in childcare, financed by the Department of Education, was established at the 

            School of Social Education, Kilkenny in 1971 and to date 41 students had successfully qualified. 

            The Department of Education also promoted the organisation of in-service training courses at St 

            Patrick's    Training    College,    Drumcondra;        St  Vincent's,    Goldenbridge;       the   Waterford     Regional 

            College  of  Technology,  and  Saint  Mary's  College,  Cathal  Brugha  Street.  The  Working  Group 

            compared  the  numbers  in  child  care  training  in  1969  and  1973  and  while  the  number  with  full 

            child-care training increased from 4 to 26, the numbers with no training also increased from 27 

            to 60. 



4.240       Recommendation  No 6  dealt with  the question  of educating  children in  care ‘to  the ultimate  of 

            their capacities’. The Working Party reported that, with the exception of two schools, the children 

            in the remaining Residential Homes attend primary and secondary schools, and the grants system 

            has been revised so that children in care can be paid for by the State while they complete their 

            education, up to third level as appropriate. It noted that ‘Grants on this basis are at present being 

            paid in respect of 70 such children.’ 



4.241       Recommendation No 7 stated that after-care should form an integral part of the childcare system. 

            In the case of the Residential Homes after-care is primarily the function of the Manager of the 

            home,  but  the  Working  Party  noted  that  the  Kennedy  Report  did  not  consider  this  adequate. 



            218 For further details on Marlborough House, see Keating, A (2004) ‘Marlborough House: A Case Study of State 



                Neglect’. Studies, 93, 371, 323-35. 

            219 The establishment of a remand home and assessment centre for children, which was eventually was established in 



                the early 1970s in Finglas, owed its origins to a proposal in 1946 from Dr McQuaid, the Archbishop of Dublin. 

                However, McQuaid wished to have the centre managed by a religious order, which the Minister for Education agreed 

                to, but the Archbishop was unable to locate an order for this work until the early 1960s. The De la Salle Order, had 

                to wait a further ten years before commencing the management of the centre, despite constant urgings from the 

                Archbishop to establish the centre. In a letter to the Taoiseach in 1966, McQuaid stated that: ‘I am grateful for your 

                note informing me of the position regarding the new remand home in Finglas. The delay is easily understood by me, 

                but if I stress that I initiated this project at least 19 years ago with the Department of Justice, you will realize my 

                desire to save so many lives that could be saved. When I see such vast sums being expended on the roads of 

                Dublin and the neighbouring counties, I may be pardoned in wishing that something could have been spent on 

                straightening the crooked souls of very many youths in the past two decades.’ The De La Salle Brothers withdrew 

                from the Centre in June 2004 over ongoing differences in opinion between the Brothers and the Departments of 

                Education and Justice on the role and function of St Michael’s Assessment Unit. 

            220 For further information on the remand and assessment functions of Finglas, see Mayock, P (1995) Residential 



                Assessment: A Comparative Study of Assessment Practices for Children and Young People ‘At Risk’ or ‘In Trouble’ 

                in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Unpublished M.Ed thesis, UCD; Anderson, S and Graham, G (2006) 

                The Custodial Remand System for Juveniles in Ireland. Administration, 54, 1, 50-71 and Seymour, M and Butler, M 

                (2008) Young People on Remand. Dublin: Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                        341 


----------------------- Page 2382-----------------------

           However, they also noted that the decline in the number of children in care has meant that it is 

           easier for the homes themselves to keep contact with the children after they leave. Although the 

           number  of  children  in  residential  care  was  in  decline,  they  argued  that  the  children  entering 

           residential care tended, not, as in the past, to be illegitimate or orphaned, but were in residential 

           care ‘because their families have been inadequate for the task of caring for them’. On that basis, 

           they concluded that ‘until the expanding social work service of the regional health boards have 

           developed beyond their present point of growth, it will not be possible to make fully satisfactory 

           aftercare arrangements for those children including support for their  families.’ In relation to the 

           special schools, the Working Party noted: 



                 arrangements have been made for the provision of after-care in the form of supportive 

                 supervision  through  the  Welfare  Service  of  the  Department  of  Justice.  Three  ‘half-way 

                 houses’ run by voluntary community groups and affiliated to the Welfare Service provide 

                 for approximately 30 boys aged 14 to 17 years and there are proposals for opening three 

                 further  such  houses.  In  addition,  arrangements  have  been  made  for  after-care  by  the 

                 Welfare Service of the Department of Justice to be extended to boys on their release from 

                 special schools. 



4.242      Recommendation  No  8  urged  that  administrative  responsibility  for  all  aspects  of  childcare  be 

           transferred to the Department of Health with responsibility for the education of children in care to 

           remain with the Department of Education. The Working Party reported that: 



                 While  this  matter  has  formed  the  subject  of  some  inter-departmental  discussions,  no 

                 decision  has  yet  been  taken  in  this  matter.  Legislation  would  be  required  to  carry  this 

                 recommendation  into  effect.  Pending  such  action,  this  recommendation  has  promoted 

                 increased liaison between the different Departments concerned and regular meetings are 

                 held between officers of the Departments in question. 



4.243      Recommendation  No  9  dealt  with the  updating  of  all  laws  related  to  childcare into  a  proposed 

           composite Children Act and Recommendation No 10 involved the raising of the age of criminal 

           responsibility from 7 to 12 years. The Working Party recorded these recommendations had not 

           yet been implemented. 



4.244      Recommendation No 11 was to the effect that the Special Schools and Residential Homes should 

           be paid on a budget system rather than by capitation grant. The Working Party reported that the 

           new Special Schools at Finglas and Lusk were being paid in this way and arrangements were in 

           train for this arrangement to be applied to the other Special Schools. However, they noted: 



                 No  firm  steps  have  yet  been  taken  to  put  the  recommendation  into  effect  in  the  26 

                 residential homes. In the first place, while the homes continue to be the responsibility of 

                 the Department of Education there would be practical administrative problems entailed in 

                 the direct supervision by the Department of the detailed budgets of so many individual 

                 homes.  Secondly,  transfer  to  a  budget  system  would  require  that  prior  agreement  be 

                 reached at least on staff structures (numbers, grades, qualifications, remuneration). The 

                 matter  is  at  present  being  approached  from  two  directions.  Firstly,  the  Association  of 

                 Workers in Child Care (AWCC), representing the management of residential homes and 

                 special  schools,  has  been  asked  to  provide  information  in  relation  to  actual  costs  of 

                 running homes. This will then be submitted to cost analysis with a view to considering the 

                 structure and financial implications of a possible budgetary basis of payment. The second 

                 approach  is  indirectly  through  the  discussions  on  training  referred  to  at  the  end  of  the 

                 notes on recommendation 5 above. Training requirements have consequences for career 

                 structures which in turn involve pay rates etc. Meanwhile, attention is being given to the 

                 maintenance as far as possible of the real value in money terms of the capitation grant. 

                 The rate of grant which had been doubled in 1969 was increased by 20 percent in 1972, 



           342                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2383-----------------------

                 by a further 10 percent in 1973 and approval is being sought for a further increase in 1974 

                 which would bring the total increase since 1969 to 50 percent. 



4.245      Recommendation No  12 was  that an  independent advisory  body be  established at  the earliest 

           opportunity to ensure that the highest standards of childcare are attained and maintained and the 

           Working Party noted that ‘this had not yet been done pending the determination of the matter of 

           administrative responsibility’. 



4.246      Recommendation  No  13  called  attention  to  the  need  for  continuous  research  in  the  field  of 

           childcare  and  the  Working  Party  noted  that  ‘there  is  at  present  no  research  being  done  by 

           Government Departments (as distinct from what may be in progress in University Departments)’. 



4.247      In relation to other recommendations contained in the Report, the Working Party reported: 



                 Under  the  recent  re-organisation  of  the  Department  of  Health,  a  Welfare  Division  has 

                 been established which has responsibility for general welfare services including child care. 

                 There is a Children’s Inspector attached to this division and one of the aims stated by the 

                 Minister is to orientate the welfare services towards the family. 



4.248      The Group also reviewed the existing legislative provisions relating the major recommendations 

           of the report, and noted: 



                 The laws concerned are chiefly the Children Acts (1908, 1934, 1941, 1949 and 1957), the 

                 Health  Act,  1953,  and  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children  Act,  1904.  The  Criminal 

                 Justice Act, 1960 and the prisons Act, 1970, relate to St. Patrick’s Institution. The Courts 

                 of Justice Act, 1924, governs the court procedures and probation is provided for in the 

                 probation  of  Offenders  Act,  1907.  Other  existing  legislation  which  may  be  considered 

                 relevant is the Adoption Acts, 1952 and 1964, and the School Attendance Acts, 1926 and 

                 1967 – in particular, in the case of the 1926 Act, the power of the district court to send a 

                 child to an industrial school. No statutory amendments have been made in regard to the 

                 legal recommendations on p.78 of the report. 



4.249      The  Working    Party  concluded    their  review  by   noting  that  the  Kennedy    Report,   as  its title 

           suggested, was primarily concerned with the Reformatory and Industrial Schools system and did 

           not  contain   a  comprehensive      overview    of all  aspects   of  childcare.   On   that  basis,  they 

           recommended establishing a group, who would have access to civil service and outside experts, 

           to consider and make recommendations in regard to: 



                  (1)   the  identification of  children  at  risk and   the  requirements    by  way   of preventive 

                        measures; 



                  (2)   the assessment of children at risk; 



                  (3)   the court system and the adequacy of methods of disposition (including boarding-out 

                        or fosterage and residential care); 



                  (4)   standards   of  child  care  in regard   to education,   trained  staff, specialist  services, 

                        buildings and equipment, etc.; 



                  (5)   provisions as to after-care, employment, etc. 



4.250      They further recommended that: 



                 In order that there be no undue delay, it should be possible for the group to consider more 

                 than  one  of  the  areas  simultaneously  and  to  make  interim  reports’.  In  addition,  ‘It  is 

                 essential  that  adequate,  full-time  secretarial  services  be  available  to  the  group....and 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                      343 


----------------------- Page 2384-----------------------

                  recommendations by the group should be accompanied by (a) draft heads of legislation 

                  where appropriate (b) estimates of cost where possible.221 



4.251       In  addition  to  the  review  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Kennedy  Report  by  the  Government 

            Departments  with  varying  levels  of  responsibility  for  residential  childcare,  the  Association  of 

           Workers for Children in Care (AWCC) and CARE, also conducted their own review of the degree 

           to   which    the  recommendations         had   been    implemented.       The   AWCC       made    the   following 

           commentary based on a survey of 1,215 children in 25 Residential Homes: 



                  It is clear that family breakdown accounts for an increasing number of children coming 

                  into care. These children, in the main, are coming from disturbed family backgrounds and 

                  have to suffer the further traumatic experience of separation from their families, however 

                  inadequate. They are children with problems. They are in need of therapy and treatment 

                  in  a  relaxed,  accepting  situation.  They  need  help  exploring  their  own  feelings  towards 

                  themselves,  their  peers  and       their  own  family.  The  Kennedy  Committee            did  not  pay 

                  sufficient  attention  to  the  increasing  incidence  of  disturbed  children  in  residential  care, 

                  and the implications of this for future planning. ....The group home model envisaged by 

                  Kennedy is suited to the long stay care of more or less normal children, and does not 

                  provide for the majority now in need of care, the children with problems.222 



4.252      They also argued that: 



                  ..some  form  of  closed  facility  for  boys  who  cannot  or  will  not  avail  of  the  programmes 

                  offered  in  St.  Laurences’s  or  Ard  Mhuire  is  necessary.  If  children  persistently  abscond 

                  from both centres, they are eventually left at large in the community, often living rough 

                  and   deteriorating    both   physically    and   socially.  Young     offenders    have   a   very   good 

                  understanding of the loopholes in the present legal system, and realise that if they are 

                  persistent enough they can escape the law.223 



4.253       However, the core concern for the AWCC was that: 



                  there is as yet no salary scale or career structure available for child care workers. Despite 

                  protracted    negotiations    between     the   AWCC      and   the  Department      of  Education,     the 

                  Department has not yet accepted the principle that such a scale and structure should be 

                  established  on  a  national  basis.  The  present  position  is  that  the  salaries  of  the  26 

                  Residential  Homes  must  be  paid  by  the  managers  of  these  homes  from  the  capitation 

                  grant provided by the Department. But increases in this grant have barely kept pace with 

                  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living,  and  have  in  no  way  taken  account  of  the  radical 

                  restructuring of these homes in recent years, resulting in a considerable intake of staff, 

                  mostly lay. The religious orders managing these homes are placed in the invidious position 

                  of not being able to provide lay workers with the adequate salary and security which is 

                  their  due....The    provision   of  training  facilities  for child  care   workers,    particularly   the 

                  diploma course at the Kilkenny School of Social Education, has attracted many more lay 

                  people    into   the   work    and   resulted    in  improved      standards     of  care   and    greater 

                  professionalism.     But   elementary     justice   requires   that   an  adequate      salary   scale   be 

                  available to these workers, and in the opinion of the AWCC this salary must be paid by 

                  the Department concerned. It cannot be provided from a system of capitation designed 

                  for an entirely different staffing structure, composed in the main of members of religious 

                  orders who rarely received any formal salary whatsoever.224 



           221 D/Taoiseach 2005/7/94. Children General. 

           222 AWCC (1974) Options in Residential Care. CARE Newsletter, 1, 2, 10. 

           223 Ibid. p 10. 

           224 Ibid. pp 10-11. 



           344                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


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4.254       CARE  also  set  out  to  review  the  recommendations  of  the  Kennedy  Report  ‘individually  and  in 

           sequence’. However, they argued that such an approach: 



                  ...was  a  mistake.  A  mistake  in  which  the  authorities  responsible  for  implementing  the 

                  Kennedy  recommendations  were  implicated  too.  In  general  we  would  agree  with  the 

                  recommendations of the report, but if they were interpreted exactly and implemented as 

                  they stand, we would have created new problems in order to solve existing ones. In the 

                  report  the  overall  subject  indicated  in  the  committee’s  terms  of  reference  is  dealt  with 

                  under  various  chapter  headings,  but  this  division,  and  the  sequence,  of  the  various 

                  aspects of the subject are not very systematic or logical. The report lacks coherence, it 

                  lacks  perspective  which  would  facilitate  planning.  The  need  for  the  overall  planning  of 

                  children’s services is recognised in the report, but the various disparate recommendations 

                  do not fit into an overall planning framework. For this reason Government agreement with 

                  the various recommendations is insufficient if the Government does not see them as part 

                  of  a  coherent  purposeful  approach  to  the  problems  of  deprived  children;  in  short,  the 

                  Government must be concerned with planning for deprived children.225 



4.255      On 17th June 1974, Mr John Bruton, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, 

           wrote  to  the  Minister  for  Education,  Mr  Richard  Burke,  outlining  the  state  of  play.  In  his  letter 

            he stated: 



                  while the Working party was originally intended to review progress and indicate gaps in 

                  the implementation of the Kennedy Report it has in its introductory statement gone farther 

                  and recommended the setting up of another working group. As I read the suggested terms 

                  of reference of this new working party it seems as if it would in effect be undertaking the 

                  production  of  another  (albeit  updated)  Kennedy  Report.  This  major  undertaking  is  not 

                  demonstrably necessary. The major lines of policy are in fact accepted by all and their 

                  main    problems    are   availability  of  resources,    administrative    procedures     and   enabling 

                  legislation. I feel that the proposed investigation is too broad and would stifle much needed 

                  action pending issue of its findings. It is also unwise in that it involves the handing over 

                  to a committee of issues which require more and not less political direction. I suggest that 

                  following alternative course of action. In order to provide a firm starting point for action, a 

                  decision should be taken now that the administrative responsibilities of each Department 

                  will  remain  as  they  are  at  present.  To  co-ordinate  day-to-day  implementation  of  policy 

                  an inter-departmental committee (similar to that in operation in relation to handicapped 

                  children)...To draw up legislation and consider such wider policy issues as may arise in 

                  the context of legislation another higher level; interdepartmental committee should be set 

                  up. As the primary task of this committee would be drawing up of substantive legislative 

                  proposals it would need to act under continuing political direction. Such continuing political 

                  direction would only be feasible if it consisted of public servants. 



4.256      On the basis of the proposals outlined in the letter, the Department of Education prepared a draft 

            memorandum for Government. In this the Minister for Education outlined his position in respect 

           of the proposal put forward by the Working Party, arguing ‘the modus operandi proposed by the 

           Working  party  would  appear  as  a  recommendation  for  another  (updated)  Kennedy  Report  and 

           would constitute a dilatory and abstract approach to the problem’. It reiterated the recommendation 

           from  the  Kennedy  Report  in  relation  to  administrative  responsibility  for  childcare  services,  also 

            noting that The Care Memorandum recommended ‘having one Minister and one Department have 

           the “main responsibility” for deprived children and children’s services’. The memo went on to state 

           that the  CARE Memorandum ‘does not, however, attempt to define what should be the limits of 

           this responsibility of the principal Minister (i.e. the Minister for Health) in relation to the services 

           which would remain with the Ministers for Education and Justice. Moreover, it would seem to take 



           225 CARE Newsletter, 1, 2, 5. 



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           no   account     of  the  very   important     principle  that   political  accountability    and   administrative 

           responsibility should rest with the same person.’226 



4.257      The view of the Department of Education was that: 



                  the  laudable    purpose     which   the   Kennedy     Committee      had   in mind    would    be  more 

                  appropriately achieved by establishing an efficient and politically directed system of co- 

                  ordination between the various Departments under which each would continue to play its 

                  existing specialist role as embodied in the concepts ‘Care’, ‘Education’ and ‘Justice’. To 

                  obtain the full benefits of specialisation, it is possible that services at present administered 

                  in one of the Departments for historical reasons might be more properly located in another. 

                  In the long-term, a re-arrangement of responsibility for services concerned preponderantly 

                  either  with   ‘education’   or  ‘care’  may    be  necessary     as  between     the  Departments      of 

                  Education and Health. This, for example, might involve the transfer of responsibility for 

                  residential homes (the former industrial schools) to the Department of Health. In the short 

                  term,   however,    the   Minister   for  Education    considers     the  present    would   not   be   an 

                  appropriate  time  for  such  a  transfer.  Many  of  the  services  concerned  with  deprived 

                  children are at present in the course of rapid development and the Minister fears that the 

                  task of undertaking a transfer of functions at this juncture, with all that this implies in the 

                  way of staff re-organisation and re-familiarisation, might retard rather than accelerate the 

                  immediate improvement and expansion of services. 



4.258      To achieve these objectives, the Minister argued that ‘the first task in order of priority, an inter- 

           departmental committee be established to update all legislation relating to child-care and consider 

           such wider policy issues as may arise in the context of such legislation’. He secondly, proposed 

           the  establishment  of  ‘a  permanent  committee  (the  ‘operations  committee’)  to  be  set  up  to  co- 

           ordinate  day-to-day  implementation  of  policy.  The  Committee  would  be  representative  of  the 

           Departments of Health, Education and Justice and would, in the first place, be a formalisation of 

           close contacts at present being developed between the three Departments.’ He finally proposed 

           that: 



                  an independent advisory body at national level be set up as recommended in the Kennedy 

                  Report    except   that,  at  least  pending     the  completion     of  the  work   of  the   legislation 

                  committee, the question of its having statutory powers should be postponed. The function 

                  of this committee for the time being would be to advise on specific matters referred to 

                  them by the legislation or operations committees or by the Government itself. 



4.259      The draft memo was circulated to various Departments who responded to the proposals outlined. 

           The Attorney General noted that the memo proposed to reject the recommendation of the Kennedy 

           Report, but that he believed ‘that the balance of the argument favours the Kennedy proposals’. 

           The Minister for Public Service: 



                  considered that a decision in principle should now be taken to allocate main responsibility 

                  in relation to child care to a single Department; the balance of logic and opinion suggests 

                  that the Department chosen should be the Department of Health. The first advantage of 

                  such a decision would be to indicate that the Government is committed to an approach 

                  based on ‘care’ rather than law enforcement in relation to children at risk and would direct 

                  the  attention  of  the  proposed  inter-Departmental  legislation  Committee  to  the  need  for 

                  such an approach in dealing with the reform of legislation relating to children. Secondly, 

                  it would place responsibility for co-ordination on an area of Government under a single 

                  Minister rather than on a Committee answerable to no single authority: the establishment 

                  of a permanent committee to co-ordinate day to day implementation of policy, would, in 

                  the Minister’s view, tend to blur lines of responsibility. 



           226 D/Taoiseach 2005/7/94. Children General. 



           346                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


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4.260      In addition, ‘because of the considerable organisation implications involved, a representative from 

           the Department of Public Service should be included on this inter-departmental Committee’. 



4.261      The Minister for Health argued that the ‘Government’s objective should be to institute, as quickly 

           as  possible,  a  unified  comprehensive  children’s  service,  with  administrative  structures  which 

           reflect the needs of the children concerned. A new Children’s Act is required to provide a modern 

           legal framework for the reformed services’. To achieve this, the Minister stated: 



                 that  the  inter-departmental     committee    approach,    even    with  the  inclusion   of outside 

                 experts, does not offer the best hope of a speedy review of law and policy in relation to 

                 children. Such a committee, because of the other commitments of those concerned, tend 

                 to be both slow and cumbersome....the Minister for Health believes that reform proposals 

                 can best be instituted by setting up a full-time task force, comprising representatives of 

                 the Departments concerned and selected outside experts. In all, he would not envisage 

                 more than ten task force members. This group would work directly to the Tanaiste and 

                 Minister for Health, and its function would be to prepare a new Children’s Bill and other 

                 reform proposals which he would bring to the Cabinet for decision. The task force would 

                 remain in existence until such time as the necessary reform proposals are laid before the 

                 Cabinet by the Tanaiste. It is envisaged that this should not take longer than 3-4 months, 

                 if the group is set up on a full-time basis....The Minister believes that unnecessary delay 

                 and confusion in planning will only be avoided if one Minister plays a lead role and he 

                 feels  that  he,  as  Minister  for  Health,  with  responsibility  for  a  wide  range  of  children’s 

                 services, should assume this role in planning the necessary reforms. 



4.262      The Department of Justice foresaw problems with vesting responsibility for children’s services in 

           one Department arguing that such a proposal ignored: 



                 the fundamental point that problems of young persons who come in conflict with the law 

                 or who are otherwise at risk cannot reasonably be divorced from problems of family stress; 

                 and that amongst factors that are relevant to family stress, such matters as housing and 

                 social welfare benefits are likely to be of major importance, so the argument for a ‘single 

                 department’ for children should logically lead to the conclusion that the Department should 

                 also  deal  with  housing,  social  welfare  benefits,  not  to  mention  family  law,  schools  and 

                 other matters. 



4.263      In addition, in relation to matters of legislation, 



                 it is the experience of the Department of Justice, repeated time and again, that attempts 

                 to  produce  ‘comprehensive’  legislation  on  what  are  very  complex  issues  invariably  not 

                 only prove more difficult (and time consuming) than originally estimated because of the 

                 number of unforeseen difficulties which the detailed examination throws up but also run 

                 up against the additional and important difficulty that a hold-up on one point means that 

                 everything is held up; and, in a matter as complex in its implications as this, there are 

                 bound to be very controversial points which will not prove possible to deal with quickly. 



4.264      However,  the  Minister  was  in  favour  of  the  establishment  of  the  ‘Operations  Committee’,  but 

           opposed to the establishment of an advisory committee on the grounds that: 



                 it would bring no practical benefit but on the other hand would mean the generation of a 

                 constant  stream  of  proposals  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  Government  to  pay  for  (and 

                 beyond    the   capacity   of available   resources    to  ‘process’   into  workable    schemes     or 

                 acceptable  legislation  even  if  they  were  basically  acceptable  in  principle)  and  that  the 

                 practical  result  would  be  the  existence  of  a  Government-sponsored  body  which  was 

                 serving only to generate public criticism. 



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4.265      The Department of Education, in reviewing the submissions to the draft memo to Government, 

            noted: 



                  that there is a fairly wide divergence in the course of action proposed by each Department. 

                  On  the question  of administration,  Departments of  Health, Public  Service and  Attorney 

                  General  believe  that     the  main  responsibility  for  planning  and        provision  of  child-care 

                  services should rest with the Minister for Health. Department of Justice, on the other hand, 

                  agree with this Department’s view that this is neither logical nor practicable. None of the 

                  ‘one-Department’ supporters have defined precisely what they mean by ‘child-care’ and 

                  none in effect have answered the point, that, in the nature of things, both the Departments 

                  of Education and Justice must continue to be responsible for many services in relation 

                  to children. 



4.266      The Department of Education therefore suggested that the: 



                  Department of Health proposal that a full-time task force be set up to complete the job in 

                  3 months is unrealistic. The Department of Justice rightly makes the point that this will be 

                  a  complex  and  time-consuming  task,  which  will  call  for  controversial  decisions.  This  is 

                  confirmed by own experience in making comparatively small amendments to the children’s 

                  acts.  Current    public   controversies     emphasise      how   difficult  it will to  be   to  produce 

                  legislation   which    will satisfy  all  shades    of  opinion    in  Church    and   State   and    meet 

                  constitutional requirements. 



4.267       In light of these difficulties, the Department of Education suggested: 



                  A possible way out of the dilemma might be to set up a small full-time working group or 

                  task force controlled by a part-time steering committee representative of the Departments 

                  concerned  plus  outside  interests.  (This  might  be  something  on  the  lines  of  the  OECD 

                  study   on   Investment      in  Education     where    a  small    team    of  full-time  experts    from 

                  Departments  and  Universities  worked  under  the  direction  of  a  broadly  based  steering 

                  committee).  Since  this  working  group  would  have  to  seek  advice  from  outside  bodies 

                  anyway,  it  would  seem  reasonable  to  postpone  the  setting  up  of  a  formal  advisory 

                  committee until a later stage. 



4.268      The  Department  of  Education  also  considered  the  possible  membership  of  this  task  force  or 

           working group, suggesting that outside expertise was required from ‘fields such as psychology, 

            psychiatry, social sciences, education’ as well as various organisations with an expertise in the 

                                                                                        ´ 

           area. On the question of chairmanship of the Committee, Mr O Maitiu highlighted that would be 

                                                                                                ´ 

            ‘a crucial issue’ and outlined that: 



                  We are not prepared to agree to have it operating under the aegis of the Minister of Health 

                  and   presumably      Dept   of  Health   would    be   opposed     to  someone     from    this Dept    as 

                  chairman. Would it go to sorting the situation if we proposed a chairman independent of 

                  all the Departments. Since law revision will be the task of the committee, I suggest that 

                  the Chairman should have a legal background – probably a member of the judiciary. 



4.269      The Parliamentary Secretary in reply stated that he was ‘favourable to outsiders being involved in 

            law preparation if it is on the basis of strict confidentiality of proceedings and non-publication of 

            recommendations. Does something need to be done to ensure this?’ 



4.270       In the memorandum to Government, the Minister for Education noted that having considered the 

           views of other Departments he remained of the view that the approach suggested by the Inter- 

            Departmental     Working     party  was    the  most    appropriate,    and   while  ‘a  full-time  task   force  as 

            proposed by the Minister for Health has its merits, he considers that a time-scale of three months 

           or so is unrealistic’. He proposed therefore that: 



           348                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2389-----------------------

                     (1)    administrative responsibilities to remain as at present in the short term. 



                     (2)    An inter-departmental committee to be established under continuing political direction 

                            to up-date all the laws relating to child care and to consider such wider policy issues 

                            as may arise in the context of such legislation. This Committee to be authorised to 

                            set up working parties, which would include experts from outside the public service, 

                            to consider specific proposals. 



                     (3)    A permanent inter-departmental committee on operational co-ordination to be set up. 

                            This  Committee  to  promote  the  establishment  of  local-co-ordinating  committees  at 

                            health  board  level,  starting  with  County  Child  Care  teams  which  would  review  the 

                            position in each area, 

                     (4)    A national advisory council on child care as recommended in the Kennedy Report.227 



4.271       However,      the   view    of  the   Department       of  Health    prevailed     and   on   11th    October     1974    the 

            Government made a decision to firstly allocate to the Minister for Health the main responsibility, 

            including that of co-ordination, in relation to childcare; and secondly authorised the Minister to set 

            up a working party to report within three months on the necessary updating and reform of childcare 

            legislation and of child care services. On 19th October 1974, Mr Brendan Corish, Tanaiste and 

            Minister for Health and Social Welfare issued the following press release: 



                   Last week the Government decided that I, as Minister for Health, should have the main 

                   responsibility  for  children’s  services  in  the  future.  I  welcome  this  decision,  since  the 

                   present arrangements whereby responsibility for children’s services is diffused between 

                   three Government Departments presents serious obstacles to reform. I intend to begin 

                   work    immediately      in  the   following    areas.    I intend    to  prepare     a  new    Children’s     Bill. 

                   Simultaneously, I will review and draw up proposals to improve and extend the services 

                   available to children. At the same time, it will be necessary to carry through reforms. To 

                   help me in this work, I am immediately setting up a full time task force comprising one 

                   representative from each of the Departments concerned with children’s services, together 

                   with a number of outside experts...Since the group will work on a full-time basis, I expect 

                   that my proposals for reform will be ready within a matter of very few months.228 



4.272       The Task Force on Child Care Services229  as it became known, was established with the following 



            terms of reference: 



                    (1) to make recommendations on the extension and improvement of services for deprived 

                           children and children at risk; 



                    (2) to prepare a new Children’s Bill, updating and modernising the law in relation to children; 



                    (3) to make recommendations  on the administrative reforms which may  be necessary to 

                           give effect to proposals at (1) and (2) above.230 



            227 D/Taoiseach 2005/7/94. Children General. 

            228 Ibid. 

            229 As one commentator acerbically noted ‘The title of the committee – a Task Force – suggests an image of urgency 



                and incisiveness that the committee’s deliberations did its best to overturn.’ McCullagh, C (1992) Reforming the 

                Juvenile Justice System: The Examination of Failure. Paper presented to the Conference on the State of the Irish 

                Political System, University College Cork, May, 1992. 

            230 The members of the Task Force were: Mr Flor O’Mahony, Advisor to the Minister for Health (Chair); Mr P Feeney, 

                                                                                                                                  ´ 

                Department of Finance; Mr Tomas O Gilin, Department of Education; Mr Ian Hart, Psychologist; Mr Seamus O 

                Cinneide, Social Administration; Miss Niav O’Daly, Social Worker; Mr Kevin O’Grady, Department of Justice; Mr P O 

                     ´ 

                Suilleabhain, Department of Health; Mr Matthew Russell, Office of the Attorney General. The Secretary to the Task 

                Force was Mr Brendan Ingoldsby, Department of Health and Councillor Peter Shanley, BL provided legal assistance 

                to the Task Force. An tOnorach Sean de Buitleir was appointed Chairman in December 1977 replacing Mr Flor 

                O’Mahony; Mr JV Hurley, Department of Health replaced Mr P O Suilleabhain in December 1977 and Mr Brian 

                Murphy, Department of the Public Service replaced Mr P Feeney in December 1977. Dr Ian Hart died in March 1980 

                and An tOnorach Sean de Buitleir died in July 1980. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                        349 


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4.273       However,  in  relation  to  the  first  decision,  no  guidance  as  to  the  extent  or  nature  of  the  ‘main 

            responsibility’ to be given to the Minister for Health was provided and this was to adversely impact 

            on both Ministerial and Departmental responsibility for different elements of the child welfare and 

            juvenile justice for a further 30 years. 



            Interdepartmental Committee on Mentally Ill and Maladjusted Persons 



4.274       Before the decision was taken to establish a Task Force on Child Care Services, in August 1974 

            the Interdepartmental Committee on Mentally Ill and Maladjusted Persons published two interim 

            reports. The first report was entitled Assessment Services for the Courts in Respect of Juvenile’ 

            and    the   second     The    Provision     of  Treatment      for  Juvenile     Offenders     and    Potential    Juvenile 

             Offenders.  In  respect  of  the  first  interim  report,  the primary  recommendation  of  the  Committee 

            was that: 



                   There should be established, on a permanent basis, an inter-departmental committee to 

                   co-ordinate the activities of the Government Departments concerned in relation to children 

                   and young persons. Its aim should be to keep the changing needs of the situation under 

                   constant review, to advise on any further provisions – remedial, administrative, legislative 

                   or  otherwise  –  which  it  considers,  from  time  to  time,  to  be  necessary  or  desirable  in 

                   relation to young persons who have come or are likely to come in conflict with the law or 

                   who  may  be  in  need  of  psychiatric  treatment.  It  should  also  have  the  opportunity  of 

                   expressing  its  opinion  on  the  provisions  of  any  projected  legislation  likely  to  have  an 

                   impact on the personal or social well-being of young people.231 



4.275       The Committee also reported that: 



                    It appears from enquiries made by the Committee that very little accurate information is 

                   available  in  regard  to  children  and  juveniles  who  appear  before  Irish  Courts.  In  the 

                   absence of adequate information about themselves, their social background, the offences 

                   with which they are charged and the court decisions, it is very difficult to decide the nature 

                   and extent of the facilities requires’ and on this basis recommended the establishment of 

                   a ‘suitably staffed research and statistics unit as a matter of urgency.232 



4.276       Crucially, the Committee recommended that children and juveniles should only be referred to a 

            residential unit after a full assessment and that ‘existing legislation should be amended to permit 

            remands       to  assessment       centres     for  periods    of   up   to  21   days    where     the   court   finds   that 

            necessary.’233      It  also  recommended  the  development  of  additional  assessment  centres  as  the 



            Committee noted that the existing centre in Finglas was insufficient to meet the ongoing needs. 

             In their second report the Committee recommended the expansion of the role of welfare officers 

            to  provide  non-residential  services  for  young  offenders.  In  terms  of  residential  services,  the 

            committee  recommended  the  development  of  small  residential  homes,  an  additional  Special 

            School to be built for young male offenders, and a closed unit for male offenders and a special 

            residential school for female offenders between the ages of 12 and 17. 



            231 First Interim Report of the Interdepartmental Committee on Mentally Ill and Maladjusted Persons (1974) Assessment 



                Services for the Courts in Respect of Juveniles. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 4. This Committee was established by 

                the Minister for Justice in January 1972 with the following terms of reference: ‘To examine and report on the 

                provisions, legislative, administrative and otherwise, which the Committee considers to be necessary or desirable in 

                relation to persons (including drug abusers, psychopaths and emotionally disturbed and maladjusted children and 

                adolescents) who have come, or appear likely to come, in conflict with the law and who may be in need of 

                psychiatric treatment’. Chaired by the Hon Mr Justice Henchy of the Supreme Court, other members included 

                Risteard Mac Conchradha who had been a member of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Systems Report; 

                         ´ 

                Padraig O Maitiu who was the Principal in the Reformatory and Industrial Schools section of the Department of 

                                 ´ 

                Education and Dr JA Robins from the Department of Health. In addition to the two reports mentioned above, a third 

                Interim Report entitled ‘Treatment and care of persons suffering from mental disorder who appear before the courts 

                on criminal charges’ was published in 1978. 

            232 Ibid. p 5. 

            233 Ibid. p 7. 



            350                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


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            Submissions to the Task Force on Child Care Services 



4.277      After its establishment, the Task Force on Child Care Services sought submissions from interested 

            parties. These submissions provide a useful snapshot of the views of various interest groups in 

            the mid-1970s. In their submission to the Task Force on Child Care Services the Irish Association 

            of Social Workers234, in relation to foster care argued that: 



                  There should be a recruiting programme for Foster Parents for temporary and long tern 

                  care and children with special needs. At present, there is no legal provision for short term 

                  Foster Care i.e. Mother in hospital, Father can’t cope – this provision could prevent a long 

                  term  break  down  of  the  family.  At  present,  children  in  such  emergency  situations  are 

                  placed  in  Children’s  Homes  where  they  cannot  have  such  personal  attention.  There 

                  should be no Age Limit for Foster Care. It is assumed that only babies and small children 

                  are suitable for foster care but we feel all  ages require and would benefit from such a 

                  personal type service as offered through Foster Care. Rules should be made governing 

                  the standards of assessment of Foster parents and the quality of support necessary to 

                  Foster Parents, the Foster Child and the natural family. Allowance should be made for 

                  adequate remuneration to Foster parents. All Agencies arranging Foster Care should be 

                  encouraged to understand the team approach, i.e. that Foster Parents should be seen as 

                  important members of the team caring for the child.235 



4.278       In relation to residential care, the Association argued: 



                  There should be increased and improved training facilities for staff of Residential Homes. 

                  There should be increased facilities for the emotional, educational and social assessment 

                  of each child as to define the most appropriate type of care for the child. This assessment 

                  unit will, of course, have to be Residential and we would need such units throughout the 

                  country. Each Health Board should have a wide range of residential facilities available to 

                  ensure that children are not placed away from their cultural background and natural family. 

                  These should include small group homes, Hostels, Homes for severely handicapped boys 

                  and girls, and homes for severely disturbed boys and girls. There should be as few as 

                  possible  single sex  homes.  There  should be  an  overall plan  worked  out  for each  child 

                  between the Agency placing the child and the Home. There should be regular reviews of 

                  the child’s progress, the suitability of the placement and the Child’s After Care at least 

                  annually.  The  Placing  Agency  and,  where  appropriate,  the  responsible  Health  Board 

                  Social Worker should be represented on this Review Board. There should be a registration 

                  of  all  Homes  and  regular  inspection  to  maintain  minimum  standards  of  entrance  and 

                  physical and emotional care which, at the same times, would give each home the chance 

                  to develop their own speciality.236 



4.279       The Manager of the Magdalen Home in Sean MacDermott St in Dublin, Sr Lucy Bruton suggested 

            the need for: 



                  A   facility for  young     itinerant  offenders,    who    are   becoming      legion   and   cannot     be 

                  accommodated in the present institutions, because such units are entirely alien to their 



           234 The Irish Association of Social Workers was formed in May 1971, and was the amalgamation of the Irish Society of 



               Medical and Psychiatric Social Workers and the Irish Association of Social Workers. 

           235 Recommendations (Part 1) on Developments in Child Care Services prepared by the Irish Association of Social 



               Worker. p 6. The Committee that prepared the document were Sr Marie Barry (Child Study Centre, St Vincent’s); 

               Miss Colette Delaney (ISPCC); Miss Letitia Lefroy (Dr Barnardos); Mr Chris Morris (Department of Justice); Mrs 

               Clodagh McStay (Temple Street Hospital); Sr Meave O’ Sullivan (Child and family Centre, Ballyfermot); Sr Francis 

               Regis (Temple Street Hospital); Miss Brid Rutledge (Eastern Health Board); Mr John Stokes (Church of Ireland 

               Social Services); Sr Francis Xaviour (Child Guidance Clinic, Temple Street); Mrs Gemma Rowley (Convener, 

               Organising Secretary, IASW). 

           236 Recommendations (Part 1) on Developments in Child Care Services prepared by the Irish Association of Social 



               Worker. pp 6-7. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              351 


----------------------- Page 2392-----------------------

                  culture and upbringing. I suggest a section of the Itinerant Settlement Committee, who 

                  could be appointed as ‘Fit Persons’ to look after such offenders.237 



4.280       The Social Workers of Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Dublin, in their submission argued 

            that: 



                  We feel that  foster parents should be drawn from  all stratas of society and  that where 

                   possible the child should be placed with people of a similar background to his own. It is 

                   important that a child in a foster home should receive adequate stimulation, particularly in 

                  early years. In order to acquire the right type of foster parent we consider that it is an 

                  absolute  necessity  that  they  should  receive  adequate  financial  compensation:  that  it 

                  should be looked upon as a profession or career rather than a ‘vocation’ or doing a good 

                  deed as in the past.’238 



4.281       As part of their submission to the Task Force, the Western Health Board reviewed a sample of 

            cases in their two residential facilities, St Joseph’s School and St Anne’s and provides a detailed 

            analysis of the changes that had taken place in these two Industrial Schools since the publication 

            of the Kennedy Report. The report, authored by R O’Flaherty, concluded: 



                   Both institutions visited are making sincere efforts to put into effect the recommendations 

                  of  the  Kennedy  Report  and  the  CARE  Memorandum.  Small  group  living  and  eating 

                  arrangements are taking effect. Small, private bedrooms, in which family members live 

                  together, help to preserve the all important family connection. The elder children are thus 

                   readily available to give support to younger siblings, and the youngsters know that help 

                   is near from the older children. The staffs are obviously keenly interested in the welfare 

                  of the children charged to their care. Staff are in constant contact with the family in the 

                   home  community, and  I was  impressed with  the depth  of their  knowledge about  home 

                  dynamics. I can see no reason why the group homes could not cater for both sexes. That 

                  said, the question still remains, why are these children in group homes? In only one case 

                  was a thorough pre-placement assessment done, with psychiatrist’s report recommending 

                  group home placement for a fixed time to provide needed controls. This treatment could 

                  just as well, I feel, have been provided in the child’s home community. One of the problem 

                  areas discovered, and one of the reasons why older children are placed residentially, is 

                   lack of ongoing casework services being available to foster home parents. With such help, 

                  foster  parents  could  be  aided  in  dealing  with  the  child’s  onset  of  adolescence  (many 

                   manifestations  of  which      are  quite  normal)  while      keeping  him  in  the  home....If       at  all 

                   possible, children should be allowed frequent visits to the natural family to both keep alive 

                  the family connection and to avoid over-identification with the institution which, in severe 

                  cases, may cause children to run back to the security they know, rather than try to get on 

                   in  a  new  living  arrangement...New  foster  parents  should  be  recruited  by  arrangements 

                   being made more attractive to potential foster home parents and, of course, counselling 

                  should be available to such persons recruited.’239 



4.282       In a separate submission replying to O’Flaherty’s report, the Manager of St Joseph’s Residential 

            Home in Lower Salthill, Br DE Drohan, made the following observations on the reasons why the 

            children were in residential care: 



            237 Submission to the Task Force on Child Care Services from Sr Lucy Bruton, Convent of Our Lady of Mercy, Lower 



               Sean MacDermott Street, Dublin 1, 10th December 1974. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force Submissions 

               Vol 1. 

            238 Recommendations and suggestions from the Social Workers of Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Dublin 12 to 



               the Task Force on Child Care Services, 12th December 1974. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force 

               Submissions Vol 1. 

            239 Summary of study of children in residential care in Western Health Board region by R O’Flaherty, August 1974 



               submitted to the Task Force on Child Care Services. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force Submissions Vol 1. 



            352                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2393-----------------------

                  The  family  structures  and  environment  from  which  these  children  come  from  cannot 

                  supply the physical, emotional and psychological needs of the child. Most of the parents 

                  are very inadequate. Relationships between the parents are shallow and in some cases 

                  they are only co-existing. The relationship between the children and the parents before 

                  coming into residential care was often shallow and of little therapeutic value. This should 

                  have  been  very  clear  to  Mr.  Flaherty.  We  fail  to  see  why  it  was  necessary  to  ask  this 

                  question.    We    can   state   that  the   group   residential   setting   has   helped    improve     the 

                  child/parent  relationship.  It  is  true  that  if  long  term  case  work  backed  up  with  in-depth 

                  social services had been given to these families there is the possibility that some of the 

                  children would not have come into residential care. But the hard fact must be faced that 

                  many of these parents are so damaged psychologically that they cannot give their children 

                  the love, concern, security and support that they need....We agree that every effort must 

                  be made to maintain the contact between the child and his parents. The parents should 

                  be allowed to visit the child frequently in the residential setting. Also the child should be 

                  allowed  to  visit  his  natural  family  frequently.  The  decision  for  this  must  rest  with  the 

                  professional child care worker after consulting other interested agencies. Serious ‘Stress’ 

                  can be put on the child who visits a home where the parents are suffering from psychiatric 

                  problems or where there are alcoholic parents / or a parent. This ‘stress’ can cause much 

                  disturbance to the child and retard the residential group home therapeutic programme. 

                  This is a point often missed by social workers.240 



4.283       The Manager of the other Residential Home in the Western Health Board, St Ann’s Residential 

            Home, Lenaboy, Taylor’s Hill, Sr M Veronica Walsh also commented on the report, noting: 



                  I  fail  to  see  how  these  children  could  be  provided  for  in  their  own  community  even  if 

                  special Education facilities were available as in Renmore. In most cases these children 

                  were emotionally disturbed prior to their admission and would require trained personnel 

                  to cater for their needs. I am not ruling out foster homes. There are exceptions but trained 

                  personnel are rarely found in such homes. We have personal experience in breakdown 

                  of foster homes, which leaves the children with a double rejection.241 



4.284       The  aforementioned  Joint  Committee  of  Women’s  Societies  and  Social  Workers  also  sent  a 

            detailed submission to the Task Force, noting: 



                  In the past, children have been too readily removed from their families. We are convinced 

                  that the appointment of a sufficient number of trained social workers would, quite often, 

                  prevent this happening. They, with their special skills, would detect some of the beginnings 

                  of  family   breakdown.      With   this  in  mind    we   have    often   recommended        that   school 

                  attendance  officers  should  be  trained  social  workers...we  do  not  agree,  however,  that 

                  Residential Homes (Industrial Schools) should be broken up into self-contained units, as 

                  this only perpetuates the old institutional environment. The Joint Committee of Women’s 

                  Societies would oppose the spending of State funds in this make-do manner. We want 

                  something  better  for  our  children...We  must  cease  to  institutionalise  our  children.  We 

                  recommend       in  order   of  preference:     Fosterage,     chosen    and   supervised     by   properly 

                  qualified Children’s Officers, and payment for services rendered by Foster Parents should 

                  relate  to  such  payments  now  made  to  institutions....Single  houses,  in  various  Housing 

                  Estates should be made available when enough foster homes cannot be found. This kind 

                  of placement is especially valuable when children of one family are taken into care. Cost 

                  must not be made an excuse for this kind of placement.242 



           240 Comments and suggestions re/ Mr Flaherty’s Report by DE Drohan, 7th November 1974. Department of Health 



               C.4.01.03 Task Force Submissions Vol 1. 

           241 Response to Report by Mr Flaherty, 17th November 1974. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force Submissions 



               Vol 1. 

           242 Recommendations to the ‘Task Force’.....re. Child Care Services from the Joint Committee of Women’s Societies 



               and Social Workers, 5th December 1974. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force Submissions Vol 1. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              353 


----------------------- Page 2394-----------------------

4.285       On the issue of juvenile justice, the Committee reiterated: 



                   our demand that the age of criminal responsibility should be raised to, at least, 12 years. 

                   We repeat also that changes must be made in the Court for children. We would suggest 

                   the Magistrates type of Court similar to the one used in England, but the Chairman must 

                   be qualified to deal with difficult children, and magistrates should be chosen from a Panel 

                   chosen from people with a wide experience of their problem. Free legal Aid should be 

                   readily  available,  and  there  must  be  an  increase  in  the  number  of  Probation  Officers 

                   throughout the Republic.243 



4.286       They also suggested an amendment to the Children Act 1908, as they argued: 



                   Managers of such schools should not have the power, given in the Children’s Act 1908, 

                   to  transfer  a  child  to  another  School  without  the  Court’s  sanction.  The  date  stated  for 

                   leaving should be strictly adhered to, and not as at present when girls have remained in 

                   convents for long periods until they have become unfit for re-emergence into society.244 



4.287       The voluntary organisation, Children First245, suggested that: 



                   The whole area of fosterage and residential care should be re-examined. Subject to proper 

                   regulations for supervision and inspection [both pre-and post-placement], fosterage, both 

                   short  and  long  term,  should  be  more  widely  encouraged.  In  cases  where  Residential 

                   Homes are the most satisfactory solution, the recommendations of the Kennedy Report 

                   should be implemented: Individual houses should be provided for 7-9 children of different 

                   ages and sexes cared for by a trained house mother and house father [the latter having, 

                   also a normal job].246 



4.288       The    Manager      of  St  Joseph’s,     Tivoli  Road,    Dun    Laoghaire,247      highlighted    the   importance      of 



            teachers and argued: 



                   Teachers in Primary Schools should be reminded that they are the ones who are in the 

                   best position to detect possible home problems. Neglect at home shows itself at school 

                   in sleepiness, non-attention, lack of concentration, homework badly done etc. Problems 

                   thus detected should be made known to the Community Social Worker.248 



4.289       On the suitability of placements, the manager suggested that: 



                   If children have to be put into care, it is very important that they should be put in the most 

                   suitable home. The amount of contact with the family which is desirable should be taken 

                   into  account.  Very  often  admissions  are  made  on  the  criterion  ‘wherever  there  is  a 

                   vacancy’ [While proximity to the home and surroundings of the child might be held as the 

                   ideal,  there  are  times  when  the  opposite  is  best  for  all].  The  Referral  Agency  should 



            243 Ibid. 

            244 Ibid. 

            245 ‘Children First’ was founded in May 1974 and gave priority to the following aims: to ensure that each child whose 



                interests would best be served by adoption should be eligible for adoption; to work for improvements in the practice 

               of adoption placement so that an adopted child can be guaranteed, as far as is possible, a secure and loving home; 

               to provide information, help and advice to prospective adoptive parents and to adoptive parents; and to provide a 

               forum for discussion of adoption and of possible improvements in adoption; to encourage research and to promote a 

               greater awareness of the value and merits of adoption. 

            246 Submission from ‘Children First’ to the Task Force on Child Care Services. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task 



                Force Submissions Vol 1. 

            247 St Joseph’s Tivoli Road, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin was managed by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Mary. 



                It was established in 1860 and was certified, from 1st April 1964, for the reception of children under section 55 of the 

                Health Act 1955. 

            248 Submission from Sr Maureen Hallissey, Manager, St Joseph’s, Tivoli Road, Dun Laoghaire to the Task Force on 



                Child Care Services. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force Submissions Vol 1. 



            354                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2395-----------------------

                   be able to protect the Residential Home from having to hand back innocent children to 

                   irresponsible parents who come and take them at whim.249 



4.290       In addition, she argued that: 



                  A full Report on each child to be sent by the Referral Agency to the Residential Home. A 

                  decision  made  as  to  who  the  Social  Worker  is,  who  is  responsible  for  the  child  being 

                  admitted. It is important that the Social Worker visit the child regularly. In the event of a 

                  change,  the  child  should  be  told,  and  the  new  Social  Worker  taking  over  should  be 

                   introduced by the one who is leaving. In regard to above, it is important that the Social 

                  Worker understand her role. She is the link between the child’s past and present, and she 

                  should support the child and help him to accept the fact of being ‘in care’.250 



4.291       The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in its submission noted that section 14 

            of the Children Act 1908, which related to begging, was being ignored and stated: 



                  We realise the futility of fining Itinerants as a deterrent, and it is a matter of concern to 

                   us, that, between the well-meaning efforts of the public who keep on giving money when 

                  approached, and the lenient ‘we have got to be the Travellers Friend’ attitude of Itinerant 

                  Settlement  Committees  Social  Workers,  many  children  are  exposed  to  cold  and  wet 

                  conditions.251 



4.292       For children in care, they recommended that there should be: 



                  a  Statutory  obligation  to  review  every  three  months  the  progress  of  any  Child  in  Care 

                  whether committed through the Courts, or admitted Voluntarily by a Home or through the 

                   Health  Board,  whether  short  or  long  term.  By  progress,  we  mean  the  child’s  physical, 

                  emotional, education and social well-being. Case Conferences should take place within 

                  the Homes so that caring Staff can be involved. We deplore the present system whereby 

                   Religious Staff in Residential care are often poorly qualified, unpaid and expected to work 

                   long hours under conditions of stress without adequate support or information. Offenders 

                  and non-offenders should not be mixed. Short term and long term should not be mixed. 

                  The only categories which should be mixed are sex, age and family structure. Residential 

                  care  should  be  seen  as  therapeutic  to  alleviate  emotional,  physical,  and  psychological 

                  damage.      Damage      during    developmental       years   may    have    resulted    from   inadequate 

                   parenting,    poor   housing    and    environmental      deficiencies.    All these    homes     will  need 

                   properly trained Child Care Staff with Director: preferably, we feel who should not be a 

                   religious. The Homes need a Social Worker of their own, to act both inside the Unit with 

                  Staff and Children, and to liaise with outside Social Workers. We feel this is better than 

                  an  outside  Social  Worker  who  is  unable  to  support  the  Caring  Staff,  who  indeed  may 

                   make them feel ‘threatened’ and cannot be aware of the internal day to day stresses. The 

                  turnover of External Social Workers is high and, most important, some children in care 

                   may be neglected completely if there is no inside Social Worker.252 



4.293       The system of inspecting children’s homes also required rethinking, their submission argued: 



                  The present system whereby the best toys and linen are brought out in anticipation of the 

                  visit from ‘The Department’ is futile. We feel that regular visiting of Children’s Homes by 

                  a qualified Social Worker who would do more than inspect the beds and have tea in the 

                   parlour.  Administration  Staff  in  Residential  Care  have  many  problems  which  could  be 



            249 Ibid. 

            250 Ibid. 

            251 Submission to the Task Force from the ISPCC Social Workers. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force 



               Submissions Vol 1. 

            252 Submission to the Task Force from the ISPCC Social Workers. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force 



               Submissions Vol 1. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                355 


----------------------- Page 2396-----------------------

                  ironed out if a sympathetic trained person visited regularly and spent perhaps a day or 

                  two getting the real feel of the home.253 



4.294       The Finglas Children’s Centre in their submission provided information on a sample of 442 boys 

           who had been referred to the Centre by the Courts for assessment during the period 14.01.1972 

           to 1.07.1974 and noted that: 



                  Inadequate parental support emerges as a salient contributory factor in the case of almost 

                  every boy who has been sent to the Centre for Assessment...While allowing for the fact 

                  that  43   percent    of  our   boys   were    from   economically     depressed      central   city  areas 

                  (predominantly Postal Area 1) and that 67 percent of them came from families in which 

                  there were at least seven children, (the contributory factors) are closely associated with 

                  a very distinctive feature of the children referred by the Courts for assessment, namely, 

                  physical diminutiveness.254 



            Interim Report of the Task Force on Child Care Services 



4.295       The Final Report of the Task Force was submitted to the Minister for Health in September 1980 

            and published in 1981 but, within a year of its establishment, the Task Force issued an interim 

            report stating that they had been able to ‘isolate a number of the more glaring gaps in our existing 

            range of services – gaps which we strongly feel should be filled as a matter of great urgency’.255 



            The Interim Report of the Task Force on Child Care Services was presented to the Minister on 

            19th September 1975 and was published on 18th November 1975. In presenting their report, the 

            Task Force outlined their modus operandi to date, which included reviewing the childcare system 

            in various countries, including visits to Scotland and London, and discussing various issues with 

            relevant experts in Ireland. However, they noted that ‘a major difficulty we faced throughout the 

            preparation of this Report is that the available Irish data is both partial and crude’.256                To in part 



            remedy this situation, the Task Force, in collaboration with the Irish Association of Social Workers 

            (IASW), conducted research on the extent of child deprivation in Ireland.257                  The Interim Report 



            made 14 main recommendations in all. They were: 



                   •     The  proposed  Council  for  the  Education  and  Training  of  Social  Services  Personnel 

                         should be instituted as a matter of urgency and its first priority should be to decide on 

                         the training needs of residential child-care staff. 



                   •     Three Neighbourhood Youth projects should be initiated in the immediate future, one 

                         each in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. 



                   •     Urgent consideration should be given to the provision of small residential units for very 

                         young children who need short-term care apart from their families and for whom foster 

                         care is not appropriate. 



                   •     The existing buildings at St. Joseph’s Special School, Clonmel should be replaced by 

                         a  special  school  providing  residential  care  for  60  boys  who  need  care  or  control 

                         additional to that provided by their families and who have serious educational problems 

                         as well. 



                   •     Additional hostel accommodation should be provided in Dublin for 30 homeless boys 

                         aged from 14 years upwards. 



           253 Submission to the Task Force from the ISPCC Social Workers. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force 



               Submissions Vol 1. 

           254 Memorandum submitted by the management committee of Finglas Children’s Centre to Task Force on the Reform of 



               Child Care Legislation and Services. Department of Health C.4.01.03 Task Force Submissions Vol 1. 

           255 Task Force on Child Care Services (1975) Interim Report to the Tanaiste and Minister for Health. Dublin: Stationery 



               Office. p 6. 

           256 Ibid. p 6. 

           257 Butler, S (1975) Report of IASW/Task Force Research project on Deprived Children. September. 



            356                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2397-----------------------

                    •    A special residential centre should be provided in Dublin to cater for about 15 disturbed 

                          boys aged from 15 to 18 years. 



                    •     The  proposed  Special  Residential  Home  at  Warrenstown  House,  Co.  Dublin  should 

                          provide intensive care for 24 acutely emotionally deprived boys and girls. 



                    •    A special school should be established in the Dublin area to cater for 25 to 30 boys 

                          aged 12 to 16 years who cannot be coped with in existing residential institutions. 



                    •     A  special  residential  centre  should  be  provided  in  Dublin  to  cater  for  12  severely 

                          disturbed girls aged about 14 to 18 years. 



                    •    A special school should be provided in the Dublin area for 25 girls aged from 12 to 17 

                          years, who have shown themselves to be too difficult or disruptive for existing facilities. 



                    •    A residential assessment centre for 10 girls should be provided in Dublin in association 

                          with the special school mentioned above. 



                    •    Two new open residential centres should be provided in Dublin, each catering for about 

                          eight  travelling   children    and   providing    a  range    of  support    services    and   day-care 

                          facilities for travelling families. 



                    •    A special residential centre should be provided in Dublin for a group of approximately 

                          12 travelling children who have been identified as being in need of residential care in 

                          a centre which can provide means of containment in the first instance. 



                    •     Within  the  existing  law,  certain  modifications  should  be  introduced  with  a  view  to 

                          achieving some reduction in formality in dealing with children’s cases in court.258 



4.296       The Task Force reported that they were ‘continuing our deliberations as rapidly as possible. Our 

            task is a complex one, since there are no easy solutions to meeting the needs of deprived children. 

            Our final report will be presented as soon as possible.’259            In a memo to Government it was argued 



            that the Report should be published as a matter of urgency as ‘(a) Many of the recommendations 

            contained in the Report are related to identified gaps in existing services which require to be filled 

            as a matter of urgency (b) the Minister is under strong pressure from many sources dealing with 

            the problem of Child Care to have the Report published.’ Notwithstanding the desire of the Minister 

            to publish the Report, it was emphasised ‘that agreement to publication of the Report would not 

            be  taken  as  commitment  to  the  recommendations  and  views  which  it  contained’.  Although  the 

            Departments  of  Education  and  Justice  had  no  objection  to  the  publication  of  the  Report,  the 

            Department of Finance stated: 



                   the Minister for Finance noting that the opinion that agreement to publication is not to be 

                   taken as a commitment to the recommendations or views contained in it is nevertheless 

                   concerned that publication of the report at this stage could lead to anticipation that the 

                   recommendations would be implemented at an early date. The Minister for Finance also 

                  wishes to remind the Government that in the prevailing financial and economic conditions 

                   no extra money can be provided in 1976 or for some time to come to implement any of the 

                   Report’s recommendations unless such money is made available as a result of genuine 

                   reductions in other Government expenditures; that no matter what humanitarian reasons 

                   may require improvements in health and social services, they cannot be met without extra 

                   resources and such resources are not available.260 



4.297       In  addition  to  the  reservations  expressed  by  the  Department  of  Finance,  the  Department  of 

            Education had a number of reservations about the recommendations. In relation to the issue of 

                                       ´ 

            juvenile   justice,  Mr   O   Maitiu   in  a   detailed   memo      on  15th   December       1975    noted    that  the 

                                                 ´ 



            258 Task Force on Child Care Services (1975) Interim Report to the Tanaiste and Minister for Health. Dublin: Stationery 



               Office. pp 8-9. 

            259 Ibid. p 6. 

            260 National Archives, Department of An Taoiseach, Children: General File. Memorandum for the Government, Interim 



               Report of the Task Force on Child Care Services, 10th October 1975. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                   357 


----------------------- Page 2398-----------------------

            Department of Education had in front of it, three different reports on the provision of facilities for 

           young  offenders,  the  first  and  second  interim  reports  of  the  Interdepartmental  Committee  on 

            Mentally Ill and Maladjusted Persons (The Henchy Reports) and the interim report of the Task 

                                                      ´ 

            Force on Child Care Services. Mr O Maitiu observed that: 

                                                               ´ 



                  The Henchy Committee was a committee of experts with particularly strong representation 

                  from the legal and medical professions. The Task Force is a committee with a somewhat 

                  more  limited  range  of  expertise  than  Henchy  (It  does  not,  for  instance,  include  any 

                  psychiatrist). A difference of approach therefore is to be  expected in the reports, apart 

                  altogether from the fact that each committee had different terms of reference. Henchy is 

                  concerned mainly with offenders and potential offenders, whereas the Task Force deals 

                  with   deprived     children    in   a   wider    sense.    Nevertheless       both    reports    adopt    a 

                  compassionate,  non-punitive, stance.  Both  concentrate on  the  needs  of children  rather 

                  than  on  the  nature  of  any  offence  committed  and  both  concede  that  a  whole  range  of 

                  facilities is necessary to satisfy these needs. 



4.298       In terms of responsibilities for the Department of Education, the services recommended by the 

            Task Force ‘are basically the same as those recommended by Henchy. These in turn are based 

            on  proposals  formulated  by  this  Department  over  two  years  ago  to  which  the  Department  of 

            Finance agreed in principle but which have been held up awaiting the Task Force Report. There 

            are some  important variations however,  which will have  to have to  be carefully considered.’  In 

           terms of facilities for children, ‘the only additional facility recommended by the Task Force as far 

            as this Department is concerned is the closed unit for aggressive and disturbed itinerants. We 

            had made no distinction between itinerants and ordinary children similarly disturbed.’ 



4.299       In  relation  to  the  specific  recommendations  of  the  Task  Force,  the  Department  of  Education 

            agreed that a Council for the Education and Training of Social Service Personnel was necessary; 

            however in relation to the proposed establishment of Neighbourhood Youth Projects, the memo 

            noted that this: 



                  scheme was conceived by the special education section over two years ago and Finance 

                  sanction  was  received  in  principle  for  projects  involving  capital  expenditure  of  about 

                  £100,000  in  Dublin,  Cork  and  Limerick.  The  Task  Force  agrees  that  the  Cork  project 

                  should go ahead under this Department, but recommends that the Dublin and Limerick 

                  projects be taken over by the Health Boards with less emphasis on formal education. This 

                  recommendation  shows  a  complete  lack  of  understanding  of  this  Department’s  plans, 

                  since the whole purpose of the projects is to get away from formal education. The Centres 

                  are intended mainly for truants, with whom formal education has failed. The programme 

                  would be ‘educational’ in the very widest sense of the term but would also be therapeutic 

                  and recreational. It is intended that the local committees administering the Centres will be 

                  representative of the various disciplines involved – including the ‘health’ disciplines – as 

                  are   the   Boards    of  Lusk    and    Finglas.   It does    not   make    sense     therefore   to   split 

                  administrative     responsibility   between     the  Departments       –  this  kind  of  split has   been 

                  condemned  as  one  of  the  evils  of  the  present  system.  I  think  therefore  that  the  three 

                  projects should continue to be the responsibility of this Department. 



                                                                                    ´ 

4.300       In relation to St Joseph’s Industrial School in Clonmel, Mr O Maitiu noted that: 

                                                                                            ´ 



                  plans for a new school with 100 places were at an advanced stage when the scheme had 

                  to  be  postponed  until  the  Task  Force  reported.  The  Task  Force  recommends  that  the 

                  accommodation  be  reduced  to  60.  This  reflects  the  views  of  the  CARE  lobby  which 



            358                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2399-----------------------

                   succeeded in reducing the accommodation in Lusk to 60 pupils also. As a result it is now 

                   a completely uneconomic unit to administer.261 



4.301       The  recommendation  for  a  special  school  for  boys  who  could  not  be  coped  with  in  existing 

                                                                                ´ 

            institutions was deemed to be a ‘top priority’ by Mr O Maitiu, 

                                                                                         ´ 



                   since in its absence nothing else can work. There should be no illusions about the type 

                   of boy it will cater for – the young gang leaders mainly from Dublin and Cork – who carry 

                   out vicious assaults, terrorise old people, steal cars, steal and wantonly damage public 

                   and private property. Since they will not be taken in Lusk or Finglas (or can easily abscond 

                   from these schools) they are effectively out of the reach of the law until they reach 16 

                   years of age, when St. Patrick’s Institution can take them. The proposed school will need 

                   to be very secure indeed and the staff will have to be carefully selected. To what extent 

                   education can help these boys is doubtful, but the effort must be made. Both Henchy and 

                   the Task Force agree that the accommodation should be provided for a maximum of 30 

                    boys.  The  Task  Force  however  visualises  that  this  should  be  broken  down  into  three 

                   different units – secure, intermediate and open respectively. While different degrees of 

                   security  can  be  visualised  it  is  hard  to  see  how  any  part  of  the  school  can  be  ‘open’, 

                   especially as perimeter security will have to be maintained. Obviously this will have to be 

                   teased out before detailed planning takes place. One solution might be to provide the unit 

                   on the land which the Department already owns at Lusk, with Lusk itself serving as the 

                   open unit. This is likely to be objected to very strongly by the Oblates. In any case, any 

                    ‘secure’  unit  will  have  to  be  under  lay  management  since  all  the  religious  orders  have 

                    indicated  that  they  are  no  longer  prepared  to  undertake  responsibility  for  the  custodial 

                   care of children. 



                                                                                           ´ 

4.302       With  regard  to  the  Special  School  for  girls  under  17,  Mr  O  Maitiu was  in  agreement  with  the 

                                                                                                    ´ 

            recommendation of the Task Force, subject to the same reservations as was the case in relation 

            to the equivalent unit for boys and also agreed that an assessment centre was required for girls, 

            which would also provide remand facilities. 



             The Interim Report and traveller children 



                                                                                                   ´ 

4.303        In relation to the proposed closed centre for traveller children, Mr O Maitiu observed that 

                                                                                                            ´ 



                   apparently  the  only  reason  the  Department  is  being  given  responsibility  for  this  is  that 

                    under  existing  legislation  the  Minister  for  Education  is  the  only  Minister  who  can  keep 

                   children    under     detention    in  secure     custody.     However      it is  difficult  to  see    how    any 

                   worthwhile education can be provided in such a centre and how such violent and anti- 

                   social children as these are known to be could be handled in such a small complex for 

                   24 hours a day. As far as the education of travellers is concerned, the Department’s policy 

                    has been strongly in favour of integration in ordinary schools and to set up a separate 

                   school for itinerant offenders will breach this long established practice. It is not clear why 

                   the  needs  of  these  children  cannot  be  met  within  the  closed  centres  recommended  at 

                   2.0.8 and 2.0.10 and very strong reasons would have to be advanced for the duplication of 

                   expenditure which would follow if a separate centre were set up for the travelling children. 



                  ´ 

4.304       Mr O Maitiu went on to make the following comments in relation to this issue: 

                           ´ 



            261 In a separate memo, O Gilin, the Department of Education representative on the Task Force outlined the process by 



                which the figure of 60 was arrived at: ‘(1) as a figure as high as 100 is redolent of old, unreformed child care, and 

                cannot be swallowed – on principle; being a school, there is some recognition of the fact that the modern child care 

                – preferred type of number such as 20 or 30 is altogether unrealistic in the circumstances; (3) so let’s split the 

                difference and arrive at 60 or so (At any rate, don’t let’s try to see if the a figure like 100 is not irrevocably attached 

                to old style institutionalism.’ 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                      359 


----------------------- Page 2400-----------------------

                   The Department is getting the really dirty end of the stick – the ‘toughies’ whom no-one 

                   else can handle. The religious orders will not take on the closed schools so we will have 

                   to administer them directly with no expertise in this type of situation. Statutorily, however, 

                   we cannot escape this responsibility. 



4.305       The provision of residential care for traveller children had earlier been discussed in the Department 

            of Education in April 1975, and each Residential Home and Special School was contacted in order 

            to ascertain the number of ‘itinerant’ children in care on 17th April of that year. The returns from 

            the  homes  and  schools  showed  there  to  be  104  ‘itinerant’  children  in  care  (84  in  Residential 

            Homes and 20 in Special Schools), which approximated to 8 percent of the total number of children 

            in residential care.262     On 30th April 1975, a meeting was held in the Department of Education to 



            discuss  ‘accommodation  for  ‘itinerant’  children  in  need  of  residential  care.’  The  meeting  was 

            attended by representatives from the Department of Education, Health, Local Government, Justice 

            and the Dublin Itinerant Settlement Committee. The Department of Education outlined the existing 

            services for such children and noted that there were insufficient places for such children in the 

            Dublin area and the children tended to abscond at the earliest opportunity. The meeting noted: ‘It 

            appears that the problem has arisen in an acute form only since the families began to move in to 

            the Dublin area, attracted by the rich pickings of a prosperous city.’ The representative from the 

            Itinerant Settlement Committee,263           Mr Victor Bewley, was of the view that there were 30-35 young 



            itinerants in the Dublin area in need of residential care, but that a ‘high proportion of these would 

            require secure care as they will not stay in open settings. A number of these children by now are 

            extremely  hostile  and  vindictive  and  very  little  can  be  done  with  them.’  He  also  informed  that 

            meeting     that   the   Committee       had    obtained     the  use    of  Collinstown      House     in  Clondalkin     to 

            accommodate itinerant children.  The Department of Education  informed the meeting that  if the 

            Itinerant Settlement Committee could obtain suitable premises, it would be prepared to seek the 

            sanction of the Department of Finance to assist with the capital expenditure and they would pay 

            the approved capitation grant for any children referred by the Courts. However, the representative 



            262 The application of the relevant provisions of the Children Act 1908 and the School Attendance Act 1926 to traveller 



                children was earlier discussed by the Commission on Itinerancy. Established in 1960 and reporting in 1963, the 

                Commission reported that ‘From enquiries made by the Department of Education, there were in September 1960, 

                only 160 itinerant children on the school rolls throughout the country, of whom 114 were said to be regular attenders. 

                These figures must be contrasted with the census figures, which showed that there were 1,642 children between the 

                ages of 6 and 14 years in itinerant families in December 1960, and 1,472 children in this age group in June 1961. It 

                is clear that almost no itinerant children attend school. The reasons for this, the Commission explained, was that ‘it 

                appears to have been decided by the Department of Education that it is impossible to deal effectively with the non- 

                attendance of the children of itinerants at school under the existing law laid down in the Children Acts and the 

                School Attendance Acts because, inter alia, of their quick passage from place to place and the requirement that it is 

                necessary that a parent be convicted on a second and subsequent offence before a child can be committed to an 

                industrial school for non-attendance at school.’....‘Section 118 of the Children Act, 1908, provides for the imposition 

                of penalties on persons who habitually wander from place to place and thereby prevent children from receiving 

                education. The Commission were unable to obtain information regarding the number of children of itinerant parents 

                who had been committed to industrial schools for non-attendance at school’. The Commission concluded by stating 

                they ‘fear that little if anything can be done in the immediate future for the education of the children of those 

                itinerants who continuously wander. A solution on the lines contemplated by Section 21 of the School Attendance 

                Bill, 1942, might be attempted, but in the view of the Commission such measures would be far too drastic. In present 

                circumstances, it is economically impossible for most itinerant families to remain in one district for the period of the 

                school year. The application of such provisions could only result in most itinerant children being taken from their 

                families and placed in institutions. Itinerants are very attached to their children and the evil social consequences and 

                the suffering which must follow would far outweigh the ‘advantages’ of an education imposed in such conditions with 

                its lasting legacy of bitterness. Indeed such a ‘solution’ of the itinerant problem generally has been suggested to the 

                Commission – not with a view to education as such but based on the belief that a separation of parents and children 

                would result in the children growing up outside the itinerant life and that thus in one generation the itinerants as a 

                class would disappear.’ Commission on Itinerancy (1963) Report. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 64. For a more recent 

                overview of traveller children in care, see O’Higgins, K (1993) ‘Surviving Separation: Traveller Children in Substitute 

                Care’ in Ferguson, H, Gilligan, R and Torode, R (eds) Surviving Childhood Adversity: Issues for Policy and Practice. 

                Dublin: Social Studies Press. 

            263 Itinerant Settlement Committees were established in every local authority area in 1969 following a recommendation 



                in the Commission on Itinerancy. For further information, see Crowley, UM (2005) Liberal Rule through Non-Liberal 

                Means: The Attempted Settlement of Irish Travellers (1955-1975). Irish Geography, 38, 2, 128-50. 



            360                                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2401-----------------------

            from the Committee stated that they had neither the time nor the resources to undertake this work, 

            but that the Committee would be prepared to participate in the management of such a unit. 



4.306       On  7th  May  1975,  the  Parliamentary  Secretary  at  the  Department  of  Education,  John  Bruton, 

            wrote to Larry McMahon, TD (Chair, Sub-Committee on Settlement of Travellers) and the Minister 

            for Local Government, James Tully, TD to outline his concerns in relation to traveller children. In 

            his letter, he noted: 



                   ...  it  would  seem  that  some  priority  would  need  to  be  given  to  settlement  of  the  real 

                   problem families, difficult though this may be. Otherwise the children will exact a terrible 

                   toll from society. Already it would seem that some of them at this stage are irredeemable. 



4.307       The primary response to the needs of these traveller children was the establishment of Trudder 

            House  in  Newtownmountkennedy,  County  Wicklow  in  1975  by  the  Dublin  Itinerant  Settlement 

            Committee.264      Trudder House was established following a fire in a Dublin bookshop, the APCK 



            bookshop in Dawson Street, in January 1975, apparently started by traveller children who were 

            sleeping rough at the rear of the shop. Eight boys, aged between 10 and 14, were charged with 

            starting  the  fire  along  with  other  charges.  The  case  highlighted  the  lack  of  facilities  for  such 

            children and Trudder House was the eventual outcome.265 



            Organisation of childcare services 



                                                                                                               ´ 

4.308       More generally in relation to the recommendations of the Interim Report, Mr O Maitiu observed: 

                                                                                                                        ´ 



                   the staffing situation will not permit us to handle any projects beyond those we are dealing 

                   with already. If there is a serious prospect that money will be made available, then we 

                   can assess the staff requirements more exactly. In particular we will need (a) a least one 

                   Assistant Principal Officer full-time. The present arrangement under which we nominally 

                   have Mr. Gillen’s Services on a half-time basis is ludicrous. It is now over a year since he 

                   was loaned to the Task Force for a job that was supposed to last three months; (b) Full- 

                   time architectural assistance will also be required (at present we have an Architect on a 

                   part-time basis for two days a week); (c) professional child care advisor. Recruitment of 

                   this  officer  is  in  hands  but  it  is  understood  that  the  man  selected  will  not  be  available 

                   before 2 February, 1976. (d) the existing law with all its illogicalities will still have to be 

                   contended  with.  As  a  result  of  the  recent  High  Court  case  it  now  appears  that  a  child 

                   guilty of many offences cannot be detained for more than a year unless convicted by a 

                   judge and jury. How could a secure centre be effective in their case? Obviously the legal 

                   position in such cases will now have to be clarified. 



                                           ´ 

4.309       On 6th March 1976, Mr O Maitiu formally wrote to the Department of Health outlining the response 

                                                    ´ 

            of the Department of Education to the Interim Report of the Task Force. The letter clearly outlined 

            the role of the Department of Education in the provision of services to children: 



                   I am to state that it should be clearly understood in this connection that the Minister for 

                   Education is prepared to shed his responsibility in connection with the proposals in the 

                   Task Force which are essentially educational in character. While he appreciates the very 

                   thorough and careful way in which the Task Force has investigated the issues involved, 

                   he would not necessarily agree with the details of every recommendation, particularly as 



            264 A residential home for Traveller girls, Derralossary House, in County Wicklow was opened a decade later. 

            265 Trudder House closed in April 1995 and residents were moved to a new centre in Clondalkin, Co Dublin. This 



               followed a series of allegations of child sexual abuse in the home. Trudder House was reopened in 1996 as a High 

                Support Unit and renamed Newtown House. More generally, Helleiner argues that, ‘[w]hile direct experiences of 

                institutionalization and frequent threats of removal were certainly part of Traveller childhood, there is, to date, no 

                evidence of a systematic state policy of intervention in the case of Traveller children.’ Helleiner, J (1998) ‘For the 

                protection of the children: The politics of minority childhood in Ireland’. Anthropological Quarterly, 71, 2, 56. See also 

                Breathnach, A (2006) Becoming Conspicuous: Irish Travellers, Society and the State, 1922-1970. Dublin: UCD 

                Press, pp 81-2 for a similar analysis. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                      361 


----------------------- Page 2402-----------------------

                   there is an acknowledged conflict between certain of these recommendations and those of 

                   the Interdepartmental Committee on the Treatment of Mentally Ill and Maladjusted Young 

                   Offenders, chaired by Judge Henchy. In deciding these points of conflict, due weight must 

                   be given to both sets of recommendations. 



4.310       In relation to the neighbourhood youth projects, the letter stated that the Department of Education 

            did ‘not consider it appropriate that the administration of any of these services should be allocated 

            to regional health boards’ and that the Department did not support any plan to reduce the number 

            of places in St Joseph’s Clonmel. The Department was prepared to accept responsibility for the 

            two Special Schools for disruptive children, but in relation to traveller children, the letter stated: 



                   It is the Minister’s firm policy that, as far as possible, the education of traveller children 

                   should be integrated with that of ordinary children.266              Furthermore, there are at present 



                   over 100 travelling children in care in existing residential homes and special schools who 

                   have  been  integrated  successfully  with  the  other  children.  The  Minister  feels  therefore 

                   that the question of providing a separate unit for the more difficult travelling children needs 

                   to be reconsidered. Given the nature and purpose of the two special schools proposed 

                   for  disruptive  boys  and  girls,  he  considers  that  any  travelling  children  requiring  special 

                   care could be adequately catered for in these schools, thus avoiding the stigma involved 

                   in  a  separate  unit  and  the  duplication  of  expensive  facilities.  In  addition,  the  Minister 

                   believes that it would be difficult to provide effective security in a building of this type and 

                   that it is likely to encounter bitter opposition from local residents at the planning stage. 



4.311       To move things forward, the letter also suggested ‘that the best way of doing this would be to set 

            up a formal co-ordinating committee representative of the two Departments and of the Department 

            of Justice on the lines already operated in regard to facilities for handicapped children’. 



4.312       This was agreed to by the Department of Health and the inaugural meeting of the Implementation 

            Committee took place on 8th October 1976. In relation to the first recommendation of the Interim 

            Task  Force  Report;  the  establishment  of  a  Council  for  the  Education  and  Training  of  Social 

            Services personnel; the meeting agreed to establish a Manpower Committee, with the Department 

            of Health having a lead role working in liaison with the National Council for Educational Awards 

            and  the  Higher  Educational  Authority.  On  the  second  recommendation:  the  establishment  of 

            neighbourhood youth projects; it was agreed that the initial resources would be put into the Cork 

            project and that the other projects would learn from their experience and with lead responsibility 

            residing with the Department of Education. With regard to the third recommendation, the provision 

            of  accommodation  for  children  on  a  short-term  basis,  it  was  agreed  to  expand  the  number  of 

            places available at Madonna House, but it was noted the ‘question of money being available is 

            the only problem’. The fourth recommendation: the replacement of St Joseph’s School in Clonmel, 

            was deferred until both Departments could agree on the size of the School. 



4.313       In addition, the meeting noted that the cost of replacing St Joseph’s would be in the region of £1 

            million and economic considerations would have to be taken into account. 



4.314       A further meeting took place on 13th October 1976 at which it was agreed to defer a decision on 

            the issues regarding St Joseph’s Special School in Clonmel. In relation to the recommendation of 



            266 This policy was developed in the late 1960s in a report produced by a Committee in the Department of Education to 



               review educational facilities for the children of itinerants largely in response to the aforementioned Commission on 

               Itinerancy, which reported in 1963. The Report stated that ‘The general aim in regard to itinerants is to integrate 

               them with the community, and the Department accepts that educational policy in regard to their children must 

               envisage their full integration in ordinary classes in ordinary schools. The degree to which such integration can take 

               place will vary with circumstances and time, and implementation of the policy, to some extent at least, may have to 

               keep in step with progress made towards the general integration of itinerants with the community.’ (An Roinn 

               Oideachais, The Provision of Educational Facilities for the Children of Itinerants – reprinted in vol 5 of Oideas, the 

               academic journal of the Department of Education and Science.) 



            362                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2403-----------------------

           the Interim Report that additional hostel accommodation be provided for homeless boys in Dublin, 

           the Committee agreed that ‘a further effort should be made to confirm with the Eastern Health 

           Board the extent of the problem and the best way of meeting it’. On the issue of the provision of 

           accommodation       for  seriously   disturbed   boys   and    girls, it was   decided    that  it would    be 

           ‘advantageous to arrange a discussion at which both the community care and psychiatric interests 

           would be  present’. In early 1977,  a memorandum for  Government was prepared to  outline the 

           proposed implementation programme arising from the Interim Report of the Task Force on Child 

           Care   Services.   The   memo     noted   that  a  number    of  developments     had   occurred    since  the 

           publication  of  the  interim  report  that  addressed  some  of  the  recommendations  contained  in  it, 

           including  the provision  of  an  open residential  centre  for traveller  children  at  Trudder House,  in 

           Newtownmountkennedy managed by the Dublin Itinerant Settlement Committee and the provision 

           of additional accommodation for children at Madonna House in Blackrock, County Dublin. 



4.315      In relation to the provision of a Special Secure School for boys, the memo noted that: 



                 the  provision  of  this  type  of  accommodation  is  regarded  as  urgent.  Experience  in  this 

                 country  is  similar  to  that  elsewhere:  there  is  a  small  group  of  disruptive  boys  who  are 

                 persistently and seriously delinquent and whom none of the existing institutions can cope 

                 with. Accommodation in a secure setting is required to meet the problem posed by them. 

                 The fact that such accommodation is not available enables these boys to flout the law 

                 with total impunity and leads others to follow their examples. 



4.316      The   memo  also    suggested     that  building  a  closed  unit,  situated  beside  Scoil   Ard   Mhuire  in 

           Oberstown, might be more economical than providing a completely new school, but that: 



                 the  Oblate  Fathers,  who  administer  the  school  are  quite  adamant  that  they  will  not  be 

                 involved  in  a  custodial  care  situation.  It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  a  closed  school, 

                 whether    built at Lusk   or  elsewhere,    would   have   to  be  administered    directly  by  the 

                 Department of Education. 



4.317      The provision of a Special School for girls who ‘proved themselves too difficult for existing facilities’ 

           was outlined. The memo stated: 



                 the  school  in  question  would  principally  be  for  girls  who  appear  before  the  courts  for 

                 offences  and  would  correspond  to  the  schools  for  boys  at  Finglas,  Lusk  and  Clonmel. 

                 While the number of girls who commit offences are very small in comparison with those 

                 of boys, there is no such residential school at all for girls. Accordingly the provision of this 

                 school  is  also  regarded  as  urgent.  It  is  proposed  that  the  centre  for  the  residential 

                 assessment of girls for the courts would be associated with this school as in the case of 

                 boys at Finglas. The school and assessment centre would have to be administered directly 

                 by the Department of Education as the religious orders at present caring for girls have 

                 intimated that they do not wish to be involved in a custodial school. 



4.318      The recommendation of the Interim Report that additional accommodation for homeless boys267 



           was required was called into question, as the memo outlined that 



                 with a view to confirming the extent of this problem and the extent to which it could be 

                 dealt with through available facilities, the Eastern Health Board were asked to consult with 

                 the various agencies already providing these facilities. As a result, some doubt has arisen 

                 as to the exact numbers to be catered for. It has been found that the numbers fluctuate. 

                 Some of those who appear to be homeless are not, in fact, so. They sleep rough for a 

                 few nights and then go back to their respective homes, only to be replaced by others, who 

                 in turn follow the same pattern. Some of the children who were thought to be homeless are 

                 itinerants and roam about at night until their parents come to collect them. Of those who 

                 were identified as positively homeless there were a number who would not in any event 

                 be suitable or amenable to normal hostel accommodation, even if there was a place which 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         363 


----------------------- Page 2404-----------------------

                   would take them. The problem as now understood might most appropriately be dealt with 

                   on the following basis: – (a) by the provision of a ‘casual’ hostel facility by the Eastern 

                   Health Board; (b) provision of the special secure school for boys; (c) making better use 

                   of existing hostel facilities; (d) making further progress with the steps being taken already 

                   to deal with the problem of itinerants. 



4.319       By the time of the publication of the Interim Report of the Task Force on Child Care Services was 

            published, the broad principles that were to inform child welfare policy for the next 20 years or so, 

            particularly    in  relation   to   alternative    care,   were    largely   established.      However,     a   number     of 

            difficulties remained in relation to the provision of secure accommodation for young people, the 

            function  and  purpose  of  the  juvenile  justice  system  and  overall  Ministerial  and  Departmental 

            responsibility     for  the   childcare     system.     The    numbers      of  children     in  residential    care    were 

            continuously      declining    and    foster   care   (particularly    with   the   establishment       of  the   Fostering 

            Resource  Group,  a  dedicated  team  of  social  workers  in  the  Eastern  Health  Board  in  1977),268 



            increasingly became the favoured means of the meeting the needs of children for whom alternative 

            care was required. 



            Section 4: Implementation, 1976-2001 



4.320       1970s, a range of implementation difficulties were emerging at a local level. One issue highlighted, 

            but  not  fully  resolved  in  earlier  discussions,  was  the  realisation  that  the  relationship  between 

            Central    Government  and         Residential     Homes  was        altering.  The     regional   health  boards       were 

            developing  childcare  services  and  recruiting  social  work  staff,  and  the  number  of  trained  lay 

            childcare staff in residential care was growing following the establishment of a training course in 

            Kilkenny  in  1971.  In  addition,  shorter  in-service  courses  were  established  in  Dublin,  Cork  and 



            267 With the gradual demise of the Industrial Schools, homeless children became more visible on the streets of Dublin, 



                and a number of voluntary agencies responded to their needs. In 1966 the Los Angeles Society was established 

                following a survey conducted by a number of voluntary agencies which estimated that as many as 150 boys were 

                sleeping rough in Dublin. The Society, after spending a year on various fund-raising projects, set up its first hostel for 

                homeless boys at 26 Arran Quay. In 1968, arising from the same movement which had led to the establishment of 

                the Los Angeles Society, a group of people with a common belief in the need for the provision of hostel 

                accommodation, especially for homeless girls in Dublin, formed the Homeless Girls Society and set about trying to 

                raise sufficient funds to establish such an intervention. Sherrard House in the North Inner City opened in 1970. A 

                limited after-care service was also available in Dublin for those children exiting the Industrial School system. Our 

                Lady’s Hostel for Boys at 64-65 Eccles Street, operating under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin, opened in 

                1963. Known as the Catholic Boys Home, and managed by a committee of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, it 

                targeted boys aged between 15 and 19 years. In September 1973, the newly established Simon Ireland produced a 

                report on unattached youth in Dublin. The report noted that while a number of general hostels accommodated young 

                people under the age of 25, only seven hostels existed specifically for what were termed unattached youths 

                (generally aged 14 to 20). For young males, three hostels were identified, with a capacity of 52 beds. One of the 

                hostels catered primarily for young persons in breach of the criminal law and the remaining two were described a 

                catering for ‘young boys from a variety of backgrounds – illegitimate, broken homes, orphanages, alcoholic parents 

                etc’. However, neither home had the capacity to accept ‘casuals’ i.e. emergency placements. A further four hostels 

                provided accommodation for 60 young girls, with 10 of them designated for emergency purposes. On 16th February 

                1976, An Coisde Cuspoiri Cioteann (The General Purposes Standing Committee of Dublin City Council) requested 

                that ‘a report be prepared by our Community and Environment Department on the problem of children who are 

                begging or sleeping rough’ (1976:1). The report was duly presented to the Committee in December of the same 

                year. Distinguishing between traveller and non-traveller children who were sleeping rough, the report argued that the 

                ‘nearest consensus regarding figures we have been able to secure from agencies involved in the problem is that the 

                number of children sleeping rough on any one night is likely to be measured in tens rather than hundreds’. In the 

                same year as An Coisde Cuspoiri Cioteann requested a report on children sleeping rough, a new lay voluntary 

                organisation was established to attempt to meet the needs of children, particularly boys, who were sleeping rough 

                and not accessing appropriate emergency accommodation. HOPE was founded in October 1975 by a German social 

                worker who, when visiting Dublin, was struck by the number of children sleeping rough. A public meeting was held 

                on 29th September 1976 to outline their objectives of obtaining both funding and a premises to allow them to 

                develop ‘an open house project – a place where young people could come to get food, shelter and friendship’. 

                However, they experienced considerable difficulty and it was only on 21st March 1977 that HOPE was in a position 

                to open a hostel at 42 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2. 

            268 See Gilligan, R (1997) ‘Ireland’ in Colton, M and Williams, M (eds) (1997) The World of Foster Care – An 



                International Sourcebook on Foster Family Care Systems. Aldershot: Arena. 



            364                                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2405-----------------------

            Waterford and later in a number of Institutes of Technology.269                The professionalisation of social 



            work and childcare staff was placing a strain on the Religious Managers of the Homes and many 

            of  the  structures  for  recruitment,  staffing  levels  and  pay  had  not  always  fully  reflected  these 

                                   ´ 

            changes or as Mr O Maitiu had put it ‘naturally enough, these people are demanding the rate for 

                                            ´ 

            the job’. A further issue was the provision of secure accommodation for children deemed to be 

            ‘uncontrollable’  in  open  institutions,  which  although  highlighted  by  both  the  Henchy  Committee 

            and the Interim Report of the Task Force, remained unresolved. 



            Staff recruitment and the death of HT 270 



4.321       The death of 9-year-old HT in the Royal British Hotel in Princess Street Edinburgh on 3rd October 

            1977 brought about a review of the recruitment of residential child managers and staff. HT, from 

            the North Inner City of Dublin, was placed in the care of the Irish Sisters of Charity in Madonna 

            House on 5th June 1974 along with a number of his siblings. HT remained in Madonna House 

            until 1st September 1976, when his mother removed him and two of his siblings. A further sibling 

            was  removed  on  24th  December.  The  children  were  allowed  to  remain  at  home  under  the 

            supervision of Eastern Health Board social workers. On 3rd February 1977 it was decided that 

            HT and two of his siblings be returned to Madonna House. On the basis that the placement was 

            now likely to be a long-term one, it was decided to transfer the children to St Kyran’s Residential 

            Home, Rathdrum County Wicklow on 5th September 1977. One of the staff members in Madonna 

            House was John Dwyer, originally from Wales, who had been interviewed for a post of trainee 

            child  care  worker  in  Madonna  House  in  September  1976,  responding  to  an  advertisement  for 

            female care assistants. Dwyer, who had spent 10 years with the De la Salle Brothers in England 

            and  had  trained  with  them  as  a  teacher  before  arriving  in  Ireland,  commenced  employment  in 

            Madonna House in September 1976. From an early stage, Dwyer took a particular interest in HT 

            with the result that the Manager, Sr Carmel, warned him about his over-involvement with the child. 

            Dwyer accompanied HT and a number of his siblings when they moved from Madonna House to 

            St Kyran’s in Rathdrum. On Friday, 16th September Dwyer brought one of the siblings from St 

            Augustine’s in Blackrock to St Kyrans. He then departed from St Kyran’s with HT. The following 

            day, Dwyer and HT boarded a flight to London and subsequently went to Scotland. In a hotel in 

            Edinburgh, Dwyer drowned HT in a bath and then attempted suicide, but survived.271 



4.322       On 1st November 1977, Mr O’Dwyer in the Department of Health highlighted in a memo to Mr 

            O’Rourke, and the Secretary of the Department that while he did not believe that there was any 

           justification for a public enquiry into the death of HT: 



                  The  circumstances  revealed  in  this  case  do  focus  attention  on  a  number  of  issues  in 

                   relation to residential care. It raises again the question of the extent to which the State 

                  should  supervise the  provision of  residential care  for children.  It draws  attention to  the 

                   need to (a) quickly conclude discussions with the Conference of Major Religious Superiors 

                   regarding the appropriate staffing levels of the homes and the further training needs of 

                  existing child care workers; (b) further examine the qualifications and training of residential 

                  care  staff,  particularly  those  who  have  managerial  or  supervisory  responsibilities;  (c) 

                   review  and  if  necessary,  tighten  up  the  procedures  to  be  followed  where  children  are 

                  allowed  to  be  outside  the  homes;  (e)  lay  down  specific  guidelines  to  be  followed  in 

                  establishing numbers  of children  present each  night and  the procedures  to be  put into 

                  operation where a child is missing from a home, including the arrangements for notification 

                  to the Gardai. 

                                  ´ 



            269 For further information on the training of child care workers, see O’Connor, P (1992) ‘The Professionalisation of Care 



               Work in Ireland: An Unlikely Development’. Children and Society, 6, 3, 250-66 and Crimmens, D (1998) ‘Training for 

               Residential Child Care Workers in Europe: Comparing Approaches in the Netherlands, Ireland and the United 

               Kingdom’. Social Work Education, 17, 3, 309-20. 

            270 All information in this section is contained in Department of Health and Children – C.10.03.05. 

            271 This incident formed the basis of the book, Lamb by Bernard McLaverty and the subsequent film of the same name. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  365 


----------------------- Page 2406-----------------------

4.323      He went on to note: 



                 It was  decided early this  year to adhere  to the capitation  system of financing,  pending 

                 decisions on the future arrangements generally for the administration of child care. It was 

                 also felt that the nature of the care to be given could best be done by the present voluntary 

                 organisations with minimal interference from statutory authorities. That point of view is, in 

                 my opinion, still valid, but only in a situation where we have ensured that the managerial 

                 and staffing arrangements are adequate both in quantity and quality. 



4.324      On 25th January 1978, Mr O’Dwyer submitted a more detailed report to Mr O’Rourke, and the 

           Secretary of the Department on the implications of the death of HT. In the note he outlined the 

           terms of reference of a review of the case: 



                 The  Minister  directed  the  officers  of  the  Department  should  review  the  circumstances 

                 surrounding  the  abduction  and  subsequent  murder  of  [HT]  to  identify  any  changes  or 

                 improvements       that  should   take   place    in  the  management,       staffing,  training  and 

                 administrative procedures in children’s residential homes. 



4.325      Following    meetings    with  various   officers  in  the  Eastern    Health   Board,   the   Department     of 

           Education, the Manager of Madonna House at that time, Sr Carmel Anthony, and the Manager of 

           St Kyrans, Sr Xaveria, Mr O’Dwyer wrote: 



                 I  would  be  optimistic  about  getting  a  very  positive  response  from  the  managers  of  the 

                 homes and the Conference of Major Religious Superiors in bringing about changes and 

                 improvements in the existing procedures. Until the middle of 1977, the authorities were 

                 very much concerned with financial problems but they are now reasonably satisfied with 

                 the  capitation  rate,  provided    it  is  adjusted  annually  to  take  account  of  inflation  and 

                 approved developments in the service. 



4.326      On the relationship between the statutory bodies and the Managers of the Homes, Mr O’Dwyer 

           observed: 



                 The review of this particular case and the discussions which have been going on with the 

                 Conference  of  Major  Religious  Superiors  during  1977  highlight  the  following  issues:  At 

                 present, managers as assigned by the head of the Order concerned without consultation 

                 with either the Department of Education or the health board. The nun or brother concerned 

                 may or may not have previous experience of child care. Some are drawn from the nursing 

                 and teaching professions. They may in turn and, in some cases at very short notice, be 

                 reassigned to either other duties or to another home. This may also happen in relation to 

                 religious  staff  at  a  lower  level.  This  state  of  affairs  was  never  very  desirable  but  was 

                 probably more acceptable when most of the staffs in the homes were religious and when 

                 the  provision  of  residential  care  for  children  had  not  been  professionalized  here  the 

                 introduction of many more trained lay staff and the generally more difficult type of child 

                 now  being  placed  in  residential  care  has  significantly  changed  the  demands  on  and 

                 expectations of managers. 



4.327      Mr O’Dwyer also noted that no formal training for managers existed, although the Department of 

           Education     did  provide    a  course    for  managers     until  1977.    On   this  issue,   Mr   O’Dwyer 

           recommended that: 



                 discussions  take  place  with  the  Conference  of  Major  Religious  Superiors  to  agree  on 

                 future minimal qualifications and experience of managers of residential homes; Where the 

                 Order    cannot   find  a  suitable   person,    the  post   be  advertised    and   filled by   open 

                 competitions;    Arrangements      be  made    to  meet   the  further  training  needs   of  existing 

                 managers; Pending decisions of the re-organisation of child care, the child care advisors 

                 of  the  Departments  of  Education  and  Health  be  consulted  about  any  proposed  new 

                 appointment of a manager and that one of them be on any interview board established to 



           366                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2407-----------------------

                 fill a manager post; agreement be reached on the future arrangements which will apply 

                 for the assignment and transfer of other religious staffs. 



4.328      Mr O’Dwyer further noted that: 



                 One of the more worthwhile points which emerge from the review was the need to clarify 

                 and emphasise the level at which and the way in which social workers responsible for the 

                 child  in  the  community  should  relate  to  the  authorities  of  the  home.  While  they  would 

                 obviously   have  casual   contacts   with  all the  staff dealing   with  the  child, the  formal 

                 relationship  should  be  with  the  manager  of  the  home,  and  with  her  agreement  (which 

                 would normally be automatic,) with the person in charge of the group in which the child 

                 lives. As between the social worker and the appropriate person within the home, there is 

                 an absolute necessity for a complete exchange of information on any matter affecting the 

                 child. If either the social worker or the child care worker is in possession of information 

                 which could be relevant to the child, then each is under an obligation to tell the other, 

                 irrespective  of  any  expectations  of  confidentiality  which  a  third  party  may  have  as  the 

                 original source of the information. (In the HT case, it would appear that the authorities of 

                 the home were not aware that John Dwyer had ambitions of becoming a foster parent to 

                 the child. He had confided this hope to the social worker dealing with the children). It is 

                 considered    that  this matter   should   be   discussed    with  the  Programme      managers, 

                 Community care, and that appropriate guidelines be worked out between representatives 

                 of the health boards and the authorities of the homes. 



4.329      Mr O’Dwyer highlighted the recent substantial changes that had taken place in the functions of 

           Managers  of  Residential  Homes,  including  the  shift  towards  group  homes,  the  decline  in  the 

           number of religious working in the Homes and the growth in trained lay staff. He further observed 

           that the children entering residential care were somewhat more disturbed than in the past. The 

           Managers now had to deal with trained social workers, employed either by the health boards or 

           other voluntary agencies. Mr O’Dwyer went on to suggest that: 



                 It is not clear that the implications of these changes have been fully recognised by all the 

                 managers. No significant initiative has been taken to help the managers cope with these 

                 changes and to look at the kind of training and support that they might now require. There 

                 are now more opportunities for problems arising in relation to selection, discipline, doubts 

                 about personal responsibility as between the manager and the person in charge of each 

                 group home, tension between the manager and the staff about salaries and other working 

                 conditions and, in general, a situation which demands more management skills than were 

                 perhaps required some years ago. During our discussions on the (HT) case, it was clear 

                 that occasions    will arise  when   the  manager    will need   to  have   access   to  specialist 

                 psychological and or other professional help on a ready basis. 



4.330      He went on to recommend that 



                 Discussions should take place with the Conference of Major Religious Superiors to (a) 

                 discuss  and  agree  the  key  functions  of  managers  of  residential  homes  (b)  identify  the 

                 kinds of professional support and advice that would appear to be required by managers; 

                 (c) agree on the arrangements which might be made to meet these needs. 



4.331      Mr O’Dwyer than outlined the procedures that were in operation when John Dwyer was recruited. 



                 John Dwyer was interviewed by Sister Carmel and accepted as a trainee. Within a short 

                 period of joining her staff, he was assessed by a psychologist and found to be suitable 

                 for  admission  to  the  training  course  at  Cathal  Brugha  Street.  The  arrangements  for 

                 selection in the case of trainees vary from home to home but, in general, the candidates 

                 are  normally  interviewed  by  a  suitably  constituted  board  and  references  obtained  from 

                 their  previous  employers  or,  where  they  have  not  been  previously  employed,  from  the 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     367 


----------------------- Page 2408-----------------------

                 persons nominated by them as referees. There are no definite guidelines at the moment 

                 in relation to the assessment of trainees. Generally speaking, most of the trainees have 

                worked in a home for two years before they are sent on the training course and during 

                the period of two years, if they are found unsuitable, their employment is discontinued. 

                 However, in some instances, because trainees have joined a union on starting work and 

                 because appropriate procedures have not been followed, it has not been always easy for 

                the managers of homes to terminate the employment. There is, therefore, the possibility 

                of managers taking the easy way out and not confronting those who may not be entirely 

                suitable. 



4.332      He concluded: 



                This is clearly an area on which there should be uniformity of approach and very definite 

                arrangements for ensuring that those who are to become child care workers are suitable 

                for the job. We have already been discussing this matter with the Conference of Major 

                 Religious Superiors and it has been agreed that there should be a training period of 2 

                years, during which the trainee would, in effect, be on probation. The matter has not yet 

                 been  discussed  with  the  union  but  we  have  emphasised  to  the  Conference  that  it  is 

                essential  to  retain  the  maximum  period  during  which  a  person  can  be  assessed.  As  a 

                corollary,  there  must  be  a  proper  assessment  procedure  and  an  early  warning  system 

                which gives the trainee full information on how he or she is viewed by a manager. 



4.333      Mr O’Dwyer then outlined a series of recommendations in relation to future staff recruitment: 



                 It is recommended  that agreement be reached  with the Conference of  Major Religious 

                Superiors that the following procedures will in future apply to selection and assessment:- 

                A  person   seeking   employment     as  a  child  care  worker,  whether    as  a trainee  or  an 

                experienced worker, will be interviewed by a panel consisting of the manager of the home, 

                suitably professionally qualified person and a third person who can provide a competent 

                objective view of the suitability of the candidate. The candidate’s written testimonials will 

                 be fully checked out and the manager of the home will make personal contact with the 

                 previous  employers  or  those  nominated  as  referees  A  police  report  on  the  person’s 

                suitability will be obtained; The person will be asked to undergo a full medical examination 

                and the medical report should include a psychiatric history; During the two year period in 

                which the trainee will be on probation, there will be an agreed assessment process, on 

                the lines already in use in the special schools at Lusk and Finglas, and there will be a 

                system  of  open  reporting  which  will  involve  the  manager  of  the  home  discussing  the 

                 regular assessment with the person concerned. If at any stage during the two years the 

                 person is deemed unsuitable, the manager will terminate his or her employment. 



4.334      On the responsibility of the Eastern Health Board, Mr O’Dwyer noted: 



                 In the case of children, such as (HT), who are committed to the care of the health board, 

                the health board is primarily responsible for controlling the location of the child at all times. 

                 Children committed by the courts to residential care are under the control of the manager 

                of  the  home  and  the manager  is  not  under  any  statutory  obligation  to consult  with  the 

                 Department  of  Education  in  relation  to  the  child’s  movements.  However,  there  is  in 

                 practice  a  very  close  liaison  between    the child  care  advisor   of the  Department     of 

                 Education  and  the  various  managers  of  the  homes.  Consequently,  it  is  felt  that  in  the 

                 interests  of  co-ordination  and  the  pending  the  enactment  of  amending  legislation,  we 

                should try to have the managers apply basically the same approach to all the children in 

                their  homes.  Transfers  of  children  from  one  home  to  another  are  not  very  frequent. 

                 However, where they do occur there is a need to phase the transfer over a period as to 

                enable the children to gradually become used to their new surroundings and the staff to 

                 looking after them. It is also necessary to ensure that all records are transferred from one 



          368                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2409-----------------------

                 home  to  another  and  that  there  is  a  proper  briefing  of  the  staff  of  the  home  receiving 

                 the children. 



4.335      On  28th  February  1978,  the  Department  of  Health  wrote  to  the  Rev  Brendan  Comiskey,  the 

           Secretary General of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors, outlining the recommendations 

           following from the review into the death of HT. The letter outlined that the recommendations were 

           discussed  with  the  Department  of  Education  and  that  both  Departments  wished  procedures  to 

           apply to all children’s homes. The letter did note that: 



                 It is accepted that if the managers of the homes were to insist on a strict application of 

                 the statutory provisions, they need not necessarily comply with some of the suggestions 

                 which have been made. It would, however, be hoped that agreement would be reached 

                 on procedures which would apply to all children, pending the enactment of the legislation 

                 which is expected to follow on the report of the Task Force on Child Care Services. 



4.336      Fr  Comiskey     passed    the  correspondence      on   to  the  Chairman     of  the  Resident    Managers 

           Association, Br Dermot Drohan, who stated that he had ‘a good look at it and I honestly cannot 

           disagree with any of the terms laid out in the report. To me it is simply asking us to sit up and 

           have a good look at ourselves.’ Two meetings were held by the Resident Managers in Dublin at 

           Goldenbridge on 13th and 21st June 1978 to discuss the implications of the review. Fr McGonagle 

           in his covering letter highlighted that: 



                 During our two meetings there was much soul searching and a strong endeavour to face 

                 up to the demands daily arising in an ever-changing situation from the social point of view 

                 and attitudes towards Church involvement and Religious participation in our own particular 

                 field of caring. There was also present a very strong preparedness to accept that things 

                 are not going to get any easier for us in the future but hopefully a better service would 

                 evolve to the benefit of all – children in care, care-workers, management. 



4.337      On 31st June 1978, Fr Comiskey wrote to Mr O’Dwyer and suggested that the Executive of the 

           Child  Care    Managers     meet   with   representatives    from   the  Department     of  Health   and   the 

           Department of Education. Having suggested a number of dates, Fr Comiskey went on to state that: 



                 The Managers Executive has brought it to my attention that the Health Boards received 

                 the same document  / letter prior to any discussion  with, or reply from, them.  They are 

                 deeply  disturbed  over  this,  as  are  their  major  superiors,  and  we  would  like  this  and  a 

                 number  of  other  points  cleared  up  before  proceeding  any  further  with  discussions  on 

                 the document. 



4.338      Mr O’Dwyer responded on 30th June stating: 



                 I am sorry to hear that your Superiors are concerned about the circulation of the document 

                 to  the  Programme  Managers,  Community  Care,  under  Health  Boards.  First  of  all,  this 

                 document has been circulated to them for information only. Secondly, there are a number 

                 of points raised which will require the co-operation of the health boards if they are to be 

                 implemented.  Finally,  we  feel  that  it  would  be  very  desirable  and  necessary  to  have 

                 officers of the health boards involved in the discussions. You will appreciate that they are 

                 playing an ever increasing role in child care and the decisions which may emerge from 

                 our discussions are likely to affect them very much in the future. 



4.339      A meeting between the various parties was arranged for 5th September 1978, and arising from 

           that meeting, Mr O’Dwyer reported: 



                 The group have made very little progress in tackling the issues arising from my letter of 

                 28 February 1978 and the meeting which took place on 28 July. They had only briefly and 

                 loosely discussed their ideas about the training of managers and about the role of social 

                 workers  within  and    without  the  homes.  There      is  very  little  prospect  of their  making 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         369 


----------------------- Page 2410-----------------------

                 progress  unless  they  get  a  lot  of  help  or some  additional  element  is  injected  into  their 

                 deliberations. 



4.340      In relation to the role of social workers, Mr O’Dwyer reported that: 



                 A very confused discussion took place with regard to social workers. The managers seem 

                 to feel, not all of them for reasons that were clear to us, that they should have a social 

                 worker attached to each home. In the event, it was suggested to them that they should 

                 prepare a document setting out what is wrong with the present arrangements, what would 

                 be  the  role  and  function  of  the  social  worker  attached  to  the  home  and  what  changes 

                 need to be made in the present position if they are to receive a resident social worker. 

                 The officers representing the Departments and the health boards indicated that they would 

                 be  opposed  to  the  introduction  of  residential  social  workers.  A  lot  of  dissatisfaction  is 

                 apparently arising because of the turnover of social workers under health boards. 



4.341      In  November  1979,  guidelines  on  the  recruitment  of  child  care  workers  were  issued  by  the 

           Resident managers Association, the Department of Health and the Department of Education. The 

           guidelines outlined that: 



                 Those working in Residential Care must realize that the children they are caring for are 

                 not their own. They often are rejected, deprived, disturbed and insecure children. These 

                 children need all the parental care they can get but they also need professional, skilled 

                 people    to  help  them    work   through    insecurity   towards    full personal   development. 

                 Residential work needs people with tremendous physical, mental and spiritual vitality. The 

                 person who is to become a residential care worker must be able to work with people in 

                 an intimate way. He or she should have a deep understanding of human nature and the 

                 needs  of  individuals,  together  with  a  genuine  affection  for  deprived  children.  The  work 

                 demands the highest level of training available. A child care worker is expected to use 

                 every  opportunity  to  improve  his  or  her  skills  in  working  with  deprived  children.  Those 

                 wishing to train for a career in residential child care must work for at least a year in a 

                 residential home. Following successful completion of this year, the child care worker will 

                 be required to undertake formal training, which may involve attendance at day release or 

                 full-time courses at a training centre. 



4.342      The qualities required by a childcare worker were also outlined and stated that: 



                 Those wishing to work with deprived children must be mature, stable and warm hearted 

                 adults, with a good and stable background. The worker must be able to communicate with 

                 others and must operate as a member of the team. He/she must understand and accept 

                 the philosophy of the establishment as a whole and be prepared to play his/her role as a 

                 fully responsible member. One of the most obvious skills in residential care is to be able 

                 to offer a warm and secure relationship to children. The child care worker must be able 

                 to organise the activities of a group of children, and show creativity in making the most 

                 constructive use of childrens’ leisure time. Skills in sewing, cooking, crafts and music are 

                 very useful as much of the day-to-day routine is taken up with looking after the physical 

                 needs  of  the  children,  washing  clothes,  cooking  dinner  and  playing  with  the  children. 

                 Applicants must have a good standard of education and a sound religious set of values. 



4.343      As of December 1979, 474 staff were employed in residential care centres for deprived children. 

           Half were under the age of 30 and while 31 percent had a diploma in childcare or other childcare 

           qualification, nearly half had no relevant qualification. At this time, childcare training was provided 

           in the School of Education, Kilkenny which opened in 1972, and provided a full-time year-long 

           course for 20 students, but closed in 1981. The Dublin College of Catering at Cathal Brugha St 

           offered a child care course from 1974 for 20 students per annum and Sligo Regional Technical 

           College  offered  a  course  in  childcare  from  1979,  primarily  to  train  prison  officers  working  in 



           370                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2411-----------------------

           Loughan     House.   The   ratio  of staff  to  the  number    of  children  in  the  various   homes    varied 

           considerably shown in figure 22. 



                                              Figure 22: Staff – child ratio, 1979 



           Secure accommodation 



4.344      The   aforementioned      memorandum       for  Government      to outline   the  proposed    implementation 

           programme arising from the Interim Report of the Task Force on Child Care Services, in relation 

           to St Joseph’s Clonmel, stated that ‘planning should proceed on the basis that the school may 

           ultimately provide for 90 to 100 boys’. On the issue of the provision of facilities for children who 

           were classified as ‘severely disturbed’, the memo noted: 



                 there  is  ample  evidence  that  not  enough  of  the  right  kind  of  residential  facilities  are 

                 available  for  the  care  of  boys  and  girls  who  are  severely  emotionally  disturbed.  Such 

                 children  require  a  high  level  of  treatment  and  care.  They  have  a  very  distressing  and 

                 disturbing influence on other members of their families and on other children with whom 

                 they  come  into  contact.  The  Task  Force  suggested  the  provision  of  special  residential 

                 centres of the hostel type. It is not considered, however, that the provision of hostel type 

                 accommodation       would,   in itself, be  sufficient  to  alleviate  the  problem.   A  number     of 

                 recommendations  made  by  the  Henchy  Committee,  which  considered  the  provision  of 

                 treatment    for juvenile   offenders   and   potential  juvenile  offenders,    would   need   to  be 

                 implemented  in  order  to  provide  enhanced  residential  assessment  facilities,  a  secure 

                 centre   for  aggressive    sociopaths,    and    facilities for  treatment   of  acute    psychiatric 

                 conditions. Until these or similar facilities are provided, the extent and need for special 

                 hostel type accommodation for the severely disturbed will not be clear. 



4.345      On 17th May 1977, the Taoiseach, Mr Cosgrave, received a letter from the priests of the parish 

           of Sean McDermott St.272  They outlined that: 



           272 They were Morgan Costello, ADM; Gerard McGuire, CC; Paul Lavelle, CC and Peter McVerry, SJ. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          371 


----------------------- Page 2412-----------------------

                   The    inner   city  has    many     problems,     such    as   inadequate       housing,    high    levels   of 

                   unemployment and the need for special and remedial classes in our schools and extra 

                   youth facilities. These must be tackled but we accept that all of them cannot be solved 

                   immediately.      We    are    encouraged       by   the   efforts   of  Tenants      Associations,     Dublin 

                   Corporation  and  voluntary  bodies  to  help  our  young  people.  The  immediate  danger, 

                   however, is the uncontrollable lawlessness of youths under sixteen years of age, who rob, 

                   terrorise and destroy property with complete disregard for human life.273  These gangs are 



                   small  in  number,  for  most  of  the  parents  of  this  parish  rear  responsible,  law-abiding 

                   families, often against extraordinary difficulties. The ultimate sanction for their contempt 

                   of the law at present is a lecture from a District Justice, after which the offenders must be 

                   realised to continue their law breaking. Most of them will not remain voluntarily in open 

                   children, or youth, centres. As you know, there is no custodial care for such law-breakers. 

                   We understand that  Ireland is the only country in  the E.E.C. in this unique  position. In 

                   extreme cases where parental control has irretrievably broken down, it is unfortunately, 

                   at times, the only solution. Many of them have serious personal problems and for the sake 

                   of their own development, they urgently need – and have the right to expect – enlightened 

                   custodial care...Immediate emergency legislation introducing enlightened custodial care 

                   for young offenders under 16 years of age is urgently required to allay the fears of our 

                   parishioners,  to  cater  for  the  needs  of  the  youths  concerned  and  to  restore  law  and 

                   order.274 



4.346       A reply was received on 14th June 1977, which outlined that arrangements for the provision of 

            secure accommodation for both boys and girls was receiving urgent attention from the Department 

            of Education. A background note on the issue of secure accommodation, prepared for the Minister 

            for Justice, outlined that: 



                   When the new special school at Lusk for boys referred by the Courts was being planned 

                   in  1972  in  replacement  of  the  reformatory  at  Daingean,  the  Department  of  Education 

                   envisaged the inclusion of a measure of secure provision in one of the units being built. 

                   This proposal was opposed both by members of the Oblate Order (who conducted the 

                   school at Daingean and now conducts that at Lusk) and by outside elements associated 

                   with the CARE organisation. It was stated that the religious did not wish to find themselves 

                   cast  in  the  role  of  gaolers...The  School  as  planned,  therefore,  incorporated  minimal 

                   provisions in the way of physical security and it became evident, soon after the school 

                   opened in early 1974, that it was incapable of catering for the disruptive type of boy in 



                                   275 

                   many cases. 



4.347       On 8th September 1977, Mr Tunney, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, 

            announced that ‘A specialised project team has now been set up to plan the new secure special 

            schools for young offenders in the under 16 groups as recommended by the Henchy Committee 



            273 These children were colloquially known as the Bugsy Malones. The origins of the name are described in an interview 



               conducted by Farrelly in late 1980s. ‘I wasn’t a Bugsy myself but the people I used to hang around with were like 

               C.N. he was the main man because he was one of the first from the area to go up town and do bank snatches. He 

               used get hundreds and he was looked on as a big man – the Bugsy Malone. One summer eight or nine of them 

               were heading off to Spain bringing their mothers and all with them. The cops got a hold of the story and the Press 

               printed it. ‘These are the Bugsy Malone’s Heading off to Spain’. The name Bugsy Malone came about because of 

               the film that was going on in town at the time. It happened to clash with what was going on in the Inner City and the 

               crime that was happening. If the media hadn’t of interfered I think things would probably have slackened off much 

               quicker. But with the media hype every night in the papers everyone began thinking that they were heroes and that 

               they could do anything. C.N would still be mentioned 10 years later as a Bugsy Malone. People began to live in fear 

               of the Bugsey’s because of the name they had in the media. But when I look back at it now people shouldn’t have 

               been afraid. They lived there and they weren’t going to harm anybody.’ Farrelly, J (1989) Crime, Custody and 

                Community: Juvenile Justice and Crime with particular relevance to Sean McDermott Street. Dublin: Voluntary and 

               Statutory Bodies. p 120. 

            274 D/Justice – 2007/116/617. 

            275 D/Justice – 2007/116/617. 



            372                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2413-----------------------

            on  the  Mentally  Ill  and  Maladjusted  and  the  Task  Force  on  Child  Care  Services.’276                     The  first 



            meeting of the Project Team on Secure Units was held in the Department of Education on 9th 

            September 1977. The chairman 



                   referred to the Government’s gave concern about the lack of facilities for coping with a 

                   small  group  of  unmanageable  young  offenders.  The  matter  had  already  been  reported 

                   upon by the Henchy Committee and by the Task Force on Child Care Services and the 

                   decision to provide special units was in accordance with the recommendations of these 

                   bodies. (The Chairman also reminded members of the team of the requirements in regard 

                   to confidentiality in relation to the operation of the team.) 



4.348       The team agreed that secure accommodation was required for between 25-30 boys and 15 for 

            girls. The options laid before the project team were to construct a new building that would provide 

            the  secure  accommodation  required,  convert  an  existing  building  or  use  a  temporary  building 

            pending the availability of either the first or second option. It was agreed members of the team 

            would  visit  secure  units  in  Northern  Ireland;  to  contact  the  Rev  Fr  Comiskey,  Secretary  of  the 

            Conference  of  Major  Religious  Superiors,  to  see  if  any  religious  Congregation  had  a  suitable 

            building available and to acquire from the Office of Public Works a list of possible buildings. 



4.349       The second meeting of the team took place at Scoil Ard Mhuire on 13th September. The possibility 

            of   locating    the   proposed      secure    unit   in  Dundrum,       where,    the   meeting      was    informed,     the 

            Department of Health were proposing to open a secure unit for 15 sociopaths between the ages 

            of 12-15 was discussed as was the possibility reopening Daingean. At the third meeting of the 

            team held on 29th September 1977, a report was given on the visit to Northern Ireland and: 



                    It was mentioned confidentially that as a result of intensification of after care activities in 

                   the near future the Department of Justice might be able to supply vacant accommodation 

                   for, say, 15 boys in St. Patrick’s if the laws were altered to allow children in the 14-16 age 

                   group to be placed there. By and large the team was against placing children of such a 

                   young age in such an environment. 



4.350        In relation to reopening the former reformatory in Daingean, Fr MacGonagle, the former Manager, 

            stated, ‘that while he would not favour it he felt that the newer part of the building there could be 

            made reasonably suitable for such a unit provided the older part was demolished’. At the fourth 

            meeting of the group, held on 12th October 1977, it was reported ‘to make it usable would be 

            expensive; that the renovations would probably take more time than could be considered for a 

            short-term solution, and that it could not be considered for a long term solution’. The committee 

            agreed that while they ‘would not be very happy with using Daingean as a secure unit, it might be 

                                                                                                                    ´ 

            as well to keep it in mind in case nothing better was found’. The chairman, Mr O Maitiu, who had 

                                                                                                                             ´ 

            excused himself at the beginning of the meeting as he was meeting the Minister for Justice, Mr 

            Collins and Mr Tunney, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, returned to the 

            meeting after the discussion on Daingean had concluded. The minutes record that: 



                    He was accompanied by R. Mac Conchradha, P.O. in the Department of Justice, who is 

                    now to serve on the Team at the request of the Minister for Justice and the Parliamentary 

                   Secretary to the Minister for Education. Both Mr. Collins and Mr. Tunney want the whole 

                   question of the Secure Unit for Boys treated as one of the utmost urgency – in fact, the 



            276 

                                             ´ 

                The team were Mr Padraig O Maitiu, Principal Officer, Department of Education, Chairman; Mr Michael O Mordha, 

                                                     ´ 

                                                                         ´ 

                Chief Inspector, Department of Education, Mr Tomas O Gilin, Assistant Principal Officer, Department of Education; 

                                                                              ´ 

                Mr Noel Montayne, Senior Architect, Department of Education; Mr Graham Granville, Child Care Advisor, 

                Department of Education; Mr Patrick Hastings, Assistant Principal Officer, Department of Finance; Mr Michael 

                Curran, Assistant Principal Architect, Office of Public Works; Mr John Hurley, Assistant Principal Officer, Department 

                of Health; Ms Kay Kinsella, Senior Welfare Officer, Department of Justice; Rev William McGonagle, OMI, Director 

                Scoil Ard Mhuire; Rev Br Austin, FSC, Director, Finglas Children’s Centre; Rev Senan Pierce IC, Resident manager, 

                St Joseph’s School, Ferryhouse, Clonmel, Sr Lucy Bruton, Convent of Our Lady of Charity. Sean McDermott St, Dr 

                Brian O’Connell, Medical Director, Northgate Clinic, Hendon, London. 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                        373 


----------------------- Page 2414-----------------------

                  Team is asked to take a decision within a fortnight so that an appropriate memorandum 

                   may be submitted to the Government. 



4.351       The chairman then asked Mr Mac Conchradha to address the meeting, who, the minutes record: 



                  explained that his Department  was recruiting a cadre of welfare  officers who would be 

                   used to give intensive supervision to certain delinquents between 16 and 21 who could 

                  thus be released from custody. It was proposed to use, as an interim measure, the space 

                   made available in St. Patrick’s Institution or in an adjoining building in the North Circular 

                   Road  complex to  house intractable  delinquents in  the 12-16  years range.  Until a  long- 

                  term solution is finalised, those children will have to endure a prison regime. There is no 

                  alternative. His Minister proposes to paint a realistic picture to the public but can only do 

                  so  if  at  the  same  time  he  shows  that  the  long-term  solution  is  being  actively  pursued. 

                   Hence the urgency. As no other site was available and as the acquisition of a site would 

                  take  a  considerable  time,  the  Ministers  were  strongly  of  the  view  that  the  new  school 

                  should be built on an unused portion of the present Oberstown Site. 



4.352       In response with which Sr Bruton agreed, Fr McGonagle outlined that: 



                  while  he  appreciated  the  convenience  of  using  the  land  at  Lusk,  he  was  completely 

                  against the Committee’s making a ‘crisis’ decision. A new building would interfere with the 

                   present site and with the continued development of Ard Scoil Mhuire as envisaged by its 

                   Board  of  management.  A  fortnight  was  much  to  short  a  time  to  make  a  decision,  the 

                   results of which would stay with us for many years. 



4.353       At the fifth meeting of the team on 20th October 1977, Mac Conchradha gave a progress report 

            and informed the meting that rather than using St Patrick’s Institution, it was now proposed to use 

            the  old  infirmary,  which  would  require  extensive  renovation.  The  minutes  record  that  that  after 

            this briefing: 



                  G. Granville, expressing his worry at what was being proposed, said that securing children 

                   in  a  place  like  St.  Patrick’s  had  little  to  offer  in  terms  of  child  care  and  could  cause 

                  considerable damage; Fr. Pierce also expressed his opposition to what had been done 

                  and said it was not the purpose for which the Team had been set up. 



4.354       At the sixth meeting of the team on 2nd November 1977, 



                   R.  MacConchradha  stated  that  he  had  since  reported  to  the  Minister  for  Justice  on 

                  difficulties attached to the proposal to use St. Patrick’s Institution as an interim measure. 

                  As a result it was now proposed that Loughan House, Co. Cavan, an open institution for 

                  juvenile offenders aged 16-21 could be used...The distance was a problem to be met and 

                  this  would    be   against   its  use   as  a  permanent      solution.   The   project   team    generally 

                  welcomed the revised proposal. 



                                                                                                   ´ 

4.355       At the seventh meeting of the team held on 16th November 1977, Mr O Gilin reported on his trip 

                                                                                                         ´ 

            to the  secure unit  at Redbanks  in Lancashire  and informed  the team  that the  authorities there 

            considered 30 children the ideal number for a secure unit. The team also discussed an item which 

            had appeared in the Sunday Independent reported a ‘bitter row behind the scenes’ in relation to 

                                                        ´ 

            the  deliberations of  the  team. Mr  O  Maitiu stated, ‘that  such  a report  was  inaccurate, must  be 

                                                                ´ 

            treated as conjecture but it did emphasise the need for care in discussing the affairs of the Team’. 

            At the next meeting on 30th November 1977: 



                   Reference  was  made  to  various  letters  and  press  reports  concerning  the  Committee’s 

                  activities. The letters seem to cast doubt on the qualification of the members, and a letter 

                  was sent to the Daily Independent pointing out what their qualifications were but this had 

                   not  been    published.     In  reference    to  the   letter  from    Mrs.   M.   Harding    P.R.O,    Irish 



            374                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2415-----------------------

                  Association of Social Workers, Sister Lucey said that its contents could not be regarded 

                  as I.A.S.W. policy because I.A.S.W. policy had not yet been defined. 



4.356      The  meeting  also  noted  that  the  Department  of  Justice  were  in  the  process  of  recruiting  320 

           additional prison officers and that the staff of Loughan House would be drawn primarily from this 

                         ´ 

           group. Mr O  Maitiu reported, that on the instruction of the Minister for Education, sanction had 

                                  ´ 

            been sought from the Department of Finance to fund the construction of a unit for 40 boys. At the 

            ninth meeting of the team on 10th January 1978 the members were informed that Loughan House 

            had ceased operating for 16-21-year-olds and that staff training for the new function commenced. 

           At the next meeting on 13th February 1978: 



                  The question of adverse publicity about the Loughan House Project was then discussed 

                  and it was agreed that various organisations who had indulged in criticism (CARE, IASW 

                  etc.) had been given a great deal of information about the project and that there was no 

                  excuse for the inaccuracies in their statements. 



4.357      The remaining meetings were then largely concerned with outlining the detailed requirements for 

           the new secure unit to be built adjacent to Scoil Ard Mhuire and discussing whether the unit could 

           cater   for  both   boys    and   girls.  At  a  meeting     of  a  sub-committee      of  the   team    to  discuss 

           accommodation for girls on 24th April 1978, it was agreed that: 



                    (1)   at present it would be well not to press ahead with a two-sex secure school but that 

                          options should be left open for the future; 



                    (2)   what was required was a secure unit for 15 girls and an assessment unit for eight with 

                          provision for assessment on a daily basis as well as on a residential basis. The school 

                          could  be  planned  in  such  a  way  that  a  further  secure  unit  for  10  could  be  added 

                          if necessary; 



                    (3)   it would be as well not to use the site at Lusk for the girls school as it might turn the 

                          area into a delinquent ghetto; 



                    (4)   the school should be as near as possible to the city. To this end it was decided to 

                          explore the possibilities of obtaining land at St Loman’s, Blanchardstown Hospital, or 

                          St John of God’s Stillorgan. Mr O Mordha undertook to have the Dublin Corporation 

                          contacted to see if they might have 5-10 acres of land available. It was also agreed 

                          that the Conference of Major Religious Superiors should be written to on the matter. 



4.358       Despite substantial criticisms from a range of childcare organisations, pending the opening of a 

            purpose-built unit in Oberstown, it was agreed that Loughan House, in Blacklion, County Cavan, 

           would  be  certified  as  a  Reformatory  School  for  12-  to  16-year-old  males  and  be  managed  by 

           the  Department  of  Justice  and  staffed  by  prison  officers.  Critics  included  the  Prisoners  Rights 

           Organisation,  who  conducted  a  survey  of  50  12–16-year-olds  in  the  North  Inner  City  which 

           concluded that: 



                  92 percent have or have had a brother or father in prison and 94 per cent believe that 

                  they themselves will end up in prison. The threat of prison is always present for these 

                  youngsters. Yet it does not deter them. When the morale of a community is broken and it 

                  has become unstable through lack of financial opportunities and social security the internal 

                  sanctions in the community which are largely manifested through parental control cease 

                  to operate. External sanctions, largely manifested in the criminal justice system, will not 

                  substitute. When people live in such disadvantaged circumstances the deterrent effect of 

                  prison exists only in the mind of the penologist. Loughan House can have no deterrent 

                  effect for these youngsters.277 



           277 Prisoners Rights Organisation (1978) A Survey of Fifty 12-16 year old Male Offenders from the Sean McDemott 



               Street-Summerhill area of Dublin’s Inner City. Dublin: PRO. p 2. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               375 


----------------------- Page 2416-----------------------

4.359        Others such as Fr Fergal O’Connor who operated a hostel for homeless girls in the North Inner 

             City  of  Dublin  were  reported  as  arguing  ‘if  Loughan  House  was  considered  part  of  an  overall 

             system for children in trouble, and if boys were only sent there for a short time and on the advice 

             of people who worked with them, it would be a useful institution’.278                       However, the majority of child 



             welfare     organisations       issued    a   statement      outlining    their   opposition      to  the   proposal      to  open 

             Loughan  House  and  for  the  Government  ‘to  review  their  plans  and  adopt  a  more  enlightened 

             approach to the treatment of young offenders’.279                    Loughan House opened in October 1978 and 

             the first pupil admitted on 27th October 1978, a 14-year-old from Dublin,280                             and closed in March 



                                                           281 

             1983 when Trinity House opened. 



             Division of responsibility for childcare services 



4.360        In  early  1978  the  issue  of  administrative  responsibility  for  childcare  services  was  raised  in  the 

                                                       ´                                                                      ´ 

             Department of Education. Mr O Gilin, on 9th February, in a detailed memo to Mr O Maitiu, noted 

                                                             ´                                                                         ´ 

             the  Task  Force  on  Child  Care  Services  had  effectively  stopped  meeting  in  January  1977.  The 

             Minister for Health, Mr Haughey TD, decided to ask it to complete its work and appointed Judge 

             Sean Butler of the High Court as Chairman in December 1977, replacing Mr Flor O’Mahony who 

                                                                ´ 

             had stepped down in April 1977. Mr O Gilin noted that: 

                                                                      ´ 



                    The task force has therefore now resumed work and, as a first objective, has set itself to 

                    produce  a  draft  report  on  the  question  of  administrative  responsibility.  It  is  considered 

                    that, at the present juncture, this will be a matter on which a decision can be made fairly 

                    quickly. As, in addition, it is one of the main issues on which the Task Force has to report, 

                    a  decision  on  this  matter  is  of  major  importance.  For  this  reason,  it  is  sought  in  this 

                    memorandum  to  confirm  if  earlier  Departmental  policy  is  unchanged  in  this  regard.  In 

                    particular, it is desired to establish the relevance to this matter of proposal no. 5 in the 

                    section of the Fianna Fail manifesto on ‘youth and youth employment’. The proposal is to 

                    the   effect    that  a   ‘Children’s     Service     Authority’     be   established      ‘with   responsibility     for 

                    deprived      children     or  those     at  risk   by   the    provision     of  the   necessary       medical      and 

                    education services. 



                  ´ 

4.361        Mr O Gilin outlined that in relation to administrative responsibility for childcare services: 

                         ´ 



                    The modus operandi adopted under the new chairman is to assign topics, which will form 

                    sections  of  the  final  report,  to  individual  members  to prepare  memoranda  on  drafts.  In 



             278 Irish Times, 25th February 1978. 

             279 Irish Times, 18th April 1978. The child welfare agencies that signed the statement were: CARE; Children First; the 



                 Irish Association of Democratic Lawyers; The Irish Association of Social Workers; the Irish Council of Civil Liberties; 

                 the Labour Women’s National Council; the Political Social Workers Group; the Prisoners Rights’ Organisation; the 

                 Psychological Society of Ireland; the Royal College of Psychiatrists (Child Psychiatry Section); the Social Work 

                 Education Consultative Council; Simon; the Women’s Political Association; the Irish Association for the Prevention of 

                 Cruelty to Children; Women’s Aid; Contact; the National Federation of Youth Clubs; Hope; the Mental Health 

                 Association of Ireland; Cherish; Voluntary Service International and the Union of Students in Ireland. See also for 

                 example, CARE (1978) Who Wants a Children’s Prison in Ireland. Dublin: Care; Burke, H, Carney, C and Cook, G 

                 (1981) Youth and Justice: Young Offenders in Ireland. Dublin: Turoe Press and Cook, G and Richardson, V (eds) 

                 (1981) Juvenile Justice at the Crossroads. Dublin: Department of Social Administration, UCD. 

             280 Brennock, in an article in Magill Magazine on 21st March 1985 provided a description of the initial inmates of 



                 Loughan House, noting that ‘all of them had large numbers of criminal convictions. All had experienced other reform 

                 schools and had absconded from them time and time again. All were socially deprived, most of them were described 

                 as emotionally immature. Some came in having been living rough around Dublin and were infested with lice and skin 

                 diseases. Some had contracted venereal disease.’ Having tracked down the initial 20 inmates of Loughan house, 

                 Brennock showed that ‘all of the first twenty inmates of Loughan house served further prison sentences. Several are 

                 addicted to heroin. One was shot dead by a detective during an attempted armed raid on the B&I terminal on North 

                 Wall. One was killed crashing a stolen care.’ Brennock, M (1985) Temporary Solutions. Magill, 21st March 1984. pp 

                 35-7. 

             281 Stewart, G and Tutt, N (1987) Children in Custody. Aldershot: Avebury. p 74. This book was the outcome from a 



                 ‘Study Group on Children in Custody’ funded by the Carnegie UK and Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trusts which 

                 explored the situation in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The members 

                 of the study group from the Republic of Ireland were Professor Mary McAleese from Trinity College Dublin and Mr 

                           ´ 

                 Seamus O Cinneide from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. 

                                   ´ 



             376                                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2417-----------------------

                  accordance  with this  arrangement, a  memorandum on  administrative  responsibility has 

                  been    submitted     by  one   of  the   non-civil  servant    members      and   is  at  present    under 

                  discussion. The memorandum assumes that responsibility for child care services will in 

                  general  be  assigned,  under  the  Department  of  Health,  to  the  health  boards  and  the 

                  memorandum is mainly concerned with how this assignment should be discharged within 

                  the health board structure. 



4.362       The memo prepared on administrative reform proposed four alternatives: 



                    (1)   existing directors of Community Care, advised by child care advisors attached to the 

                          programme manager’s office; or 



                    (2)   two kinds of director of community care, one having responsibility for health services, 

                          the other for social services and the latter being assigned the child care responsibility 

                          as part of his remit; or 



                    (3)   three  kinds  of  director  of  community  care,  having  responsibilities  respectively  for 

                          health services, social services and child care services; or 



                    (4)   a (fourth) programme manager, for child care exclusively. There is a simple logic to 

                          this,  namely,  beginning  in  (1)  with  minimal  interference  with  the  present  structures 

                          and moving, via (2) and (3), to a major addition, in (4), to the existing structures. In 

                          fact, logically, there is another possibility between (3) and (4), that of a programme 

                          manager  for  social  services  including  child  care  and  something  on  these  lines  has 

                          now been suggested in an amendment by two members. 



                             ´ 

4.363       However, Mr O Gilin reported that: 

                                   ´ 



                  The   Department      of  Health    representative     on   the  Task    Force   has   opposed     specific 

                  administrative structures for child care on the grounds that such would run counter to the 

                  direction of the present development of our health services....If, alone of all social services, 

                  child  care  were  to  have  a  separate  administration,  there  would  quickly  come  similar 

                  demands from other areas (e.g. community services for the old, the mentally-handicapped 

                  etc.). This would flatly contradict the integrated structure of health boards as set up under 

                  the 1970 Health Act. The advocates on the Task Force of some kind of specific child care 

                  administration fully realise the weight of the foregoing objection to their position. However, 

                  they argue as follows. Firstly and basically, they believe a separate structure is the only 

                  way  of  ensuring  that  child  care  will  receive  the  attention  it  needs.  Even  the  old  and 

                  mentally-handicapped have votes and they are represented by powerful lobbies of friends 

                  and of parents. Deprived children, with generally inadequate parents and no friends, are 

                  the  most  defenceless  group  in  the  community.  Secondly,  it  is  claimed  that  community 

                  care, in the health board context, has, historically meant health care in the first instance 

                  and that the personal social service component is the junior, and fairly youthful, partner. 



                 ´ 

4.364       Mr O Gilin then asked what effect the proposal in the Fianna Fail manifesto would have on the 

                      ´ 

            deliberations of the Task Force, noting that ‘if the advocates of a specific child care authority in 

            the Task Force were aware of the manifesto proposal, they would make good use of it, to the 

            chagrin  of  the  Department  of  Health’.  In  relation  to  residential  childcare,  he  highlighted  two 

            substantial changes in the nature of such provision since the publication of the Kennedy Report 

            in 1970: 



                  The first of these (already underway at the time of the report but now virtually complete) 

                  arises out of the change from the traditional industrial school (where the school was on 

                  the premises) to the present residential home, where the children go outside to schools 

                  in the local community. Applying the Kennedy Report recommendations to this situation, 

                  the Department of Health (or the health boards) should take over the homes completely, 

                  as   they  are   now    child  care,  and    not  educational     (except   in  a  very   general   sense) 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                377 


----------------------- Page 2418-----------------------

                   institutions. The residual  education function should be discharged through  advising the 

                   Inspectors (as it is now about to be done) on paying particular attention to the educational 

                   needs  of  children  from  the  homes  where  they  are  found  on  the  rolls  of  local  national 

                  schools. The second development has been that, while at the time of the Kennedy Report 

                  the great majority of the children were committed through the courts (and were thus this 

                   Department’s responsibility under existing legislation), the position now is that the majority 

                  of the present population of the homes is placed there, and paid for by the health boards. 

                   In a few short years, this will be the case with almost all the residential home population. 

                  The    two   factors   above    are,  together,    almost    unanswerable       grounds     for transferring 

                  administrative responsibility for the homes to the Department of Health. This has been 

                  our policy and it is presumed no change is contemplated. 



4.365       However, he went on to argue that ‘the position of the special schools is different’. The proposal 

            from the Kennedy Report that the Department of Education provide the educational input to the 

                                                                                                           ´ 

            schools and the Department of Health manage the residential element in Mr O Gilin’s view ‘would 

                                                                                                                 ´ 

            be  detrimental  to  the  achievement  of  the  school’s  objectives  and  thus  of  the  welfare  of  the 

            children’. However, he noted that he thought that proposals would be put forward to transfer the 

            Special Schools to the Department of Health, the grounds being that: 



                   if there is to be a children’s authority in any form, then this authority should have control 

                  over the full range of facilities (which would include special schools) for deprived children. 

                  Thus a child may, for a time need family support (home help) or social worker supervision. 

                  At a later time he may need placement in residential care (residential home or special 

                  school),  following  which  there  may  be  a  further  period  of  after-care  under  supervision. 

                  This kind of continuity of care, it will be argued, can only be effectively achieved if the 

                  care authority itself is responsible for the full range of services. 



                                                           ´ 

4.366       The alternative view, according to Mr O Gilin was that: 

                                                                 ´ 



                  special schools are principally schools, albeit of a particular kind. It is not simply the case 

                  the  education  happens  (for  convenience,  as  it  were,  or for  other  fortuitous  reasons)  to 

                  take place on the premises. Rather is the educational programme part of the essential 

                   basic  purpose  of  the  institution.  There  is  a  danger  here  that  some  people  may  see  a 

                  degree of antipathy between education and care here. These children (young offenders) 

                  are generally educational failures to date and some see an education-oriented programme 

                  as an effort to administer further doses of medicine which has proved ineffective hitherto. 

                  Thus they would wish to make care basic, with education a secondary function. However, 

                  the  mere  existence  of  schools  of  this  sort  has  been  brought  into  question  elsewhere, 

                   notably in Britain (though also on the Continent and in the U.S.A.). Research has shown 

                  that the schools are not effective in ‘curing’ delinquency and that they often succeed in 

                  further labelling children to the detriment of both children and society. If such schools are 

                  to be justified at all, it is only by taking the view that (1) there are certain children whose 

                  actions lead to society to refuse further tolerance to their being left in the community, (2) 

                  these children are either a danger to themselves or to others or have not got an effective 

                  family to control them, (3) the special schools can provide them with a degree of (a) care 

                  and (b) education, through specially designed programmes, which they would otherwise 

                   not get and which, while not in all cases succeeding in ‘curing’ their delinquency entirely, 

                  can effect major improvements in their educational levels and personality structure and 

                  thus future social behaviour, this conception of the role of the special school has seemed 

                  to  pint  in  the  direction    of its  being   primarily   a  residential   school    with   a  specialised 

                   programme. As such, it should come under the administrative aegis of the Department of 

                   Education....It has been the intention therefore to press, at the Task Force, to have the 

                  special schools excluded from any proposed unification of services under the Department 



            378                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2419-----------------------

                  of Health. A direction is sought if this is to continue to be our policy. It is recommended 

                  that, for the reasons set out above, our policy should remain unchanged. 



                                          ´ 

4.367      Following this memo, Mr O Maitiu drafted a note for the Minister on 15th February 1978. In relation 

                                                  ´ 

           to residential care, he noted: 



                  as  far  as  non-delinquent  children  are  concerned,  the  position  is  that  the  vast  majority 

                  are now being taken into care via the Health Boards. This Department’s involvement in 

                  administering these homes is a complete anachronism. I agree therefore that the policy 

                  position already taken up by this Department should be maintained i.e. that administrative 

                  responsibility   should    be   transferred   to  the   Department      of  Health.   The   question    of 

                  administrative responsibility for the special schools for young offenders is not so simple. 



4.368      He was of the view that: 



                  the CARE representatives on the Task Force will undoubtedly press very hard to have 

                  the service transferred to the Department of Health. That Department may not be all that 

                  anxious  to  take  it  on  –  our  experience  is  that  none  of  the  health  boards  or  voluntary 

                  organisations  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  young  delinquents.  The  Department  of 

                  Justice  has  never  been  anxious  to  take  over  the  service  and  has  only  agreed  to  run 

                  Loughan House as a temporary expedient.’ 



4.369      However, he was of the view: 



                  that this service should be located in the Department of Education, even though the task 

                  is a thankless one and liable to misrepresentation in the media and elsewhere. I consider 

                  that this approach is consistent with the Department’s general policy that the Department 

                  or one of its agencies should administer all educational services, no matter where they 

                  are located. Similar arguments apply to the Youth Encounter Projects which provide the 

                  same type of programme as in the special schools with the children continuing to live at 

                  home. Furthermore, the Youth Service is actively involved in these projects at local level 

                  and at central level participates in the control of the projects and gives financial support. 

                  In this area  of intermediate treatment there is scope  for many more projects and  for a 

                  multiplicity  of  approaches. There  is  no  reason therefore  why  the  Department of  Health 

                  Neighbourhood Youth projects with their strong emphasis on social and community work 

                  – should not also proceed. (Incidentally the initiative for this type of project came from this 

                  Department, long before the Task Force was ever thought of). 



           International Year of the Child 



4.370       1979 was designated International Year of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly and 

           a  national  steering  committee  was  established  in  June  1978.  The  Association  of  Workers  with 

           Children  in  Care  (AWCC)  organised  a  conference  in  Trinity  College  Dublin  to  mark  the  event. 

           Organised by the AWCC and FICE – the International Federation of Educative Communities and 

           chaired by Br DE Drohan, the conference was entitled ‘The Right to be Brought Up in a Spirit of 

           Peace and Universal Brotherhood’. On 24th June 1978, Br TL Furlong, the National Chair of the 

           AWCC wrote to the Taoiseach, Mr Lynch, inviting him to both open and close the conference. He 

           outlined that 1979 was designated International Year of the Child and stated: 



                  The Irish Association of Workers with Children in Care, to mark this historic occasion are 

                  organising,    in  conjunction     with   the  international    child   care   organisation    FICE     an 

                  international conference in Dublin from 2nd July to 6th July 1979. The fact that Dublin has 

                  been chosen for this unique conference is a tribute to the high standard of child care in 

                  Ireland and is also a great honour. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            379 


----------------------- Page 2420-----------------------

4.371         Mr Haughey, as Minister for Health at that time, wrote to Mr Lynch on 20th October 1979 stating, 

              ‘given  the  association’s  relatively  minor  status  when  compared  to  other  organisations  in  this 

              country, I would like to advise that an Uachtarain and yourself should decline the invitation to the 

              conference’.282       Mr Haughey himself opened the conference in July 1979. 



              Task Force on Child Care Services 



4.372         The  Final  Report  of  the  Task  Force  on  Child  Care  Services was  published  on  7th  April  1981, 

              having been presented to the Minister for Health the previous September. In the middle of 1980, 

              when all hope of an agreed report disappeared, the then Taoiseach (Mr Haughey) directed the 

              Task  Force  to  submit  its  final  report  forthwith  without  proceeding  to  prepare  a  Children  Bill  as 

              required  by their  terms  of  reference.283               In  September  1980, the  Task  Force  submitted its  Final 

              Report284     which ran to nearly 450 pages, contained a main report, a supplemental report and a 

              number of reservations by members.285  The Task Force acknowledged ‘the tremendous work done 

              for children over the years by voluntary bodies’286                      and argued that: 



                      the most striking feature of the child care scene in Ireland was the alarming complacency 

                      and  indifference  of  both  the  general  public  and  various  government  departments  and 

                      statutory  bodies  responsible  for  the  welfare  of  children.  This  state  of  affairs  illustrated 

                      clearly the use by a society of residential establishments to divest itself of responsibility 

                      for deprived children and delinquent children.287 



4.373         In reviewing the administration of childcare services in Ireland, the Report reflected on the division 

              of responsibility between the Departments of Health, Education and Justice and observed that the 



              282 D/Taoiseach 2008-148-585. International Year of the Child. 

              283 The Department of Education had signalled its unhappiness at its representation on the Task Force, with Mr 



                  Donnchadh F O Ceallachain, the Runai Cunta in the Department of Education writing to Dr JA Robins, Assistant 

                                                                                                                                                  ´ 

                  Secretary in the Department of Health on 20th August 1980. In the letter, Mr O’Ceallachain noted that ‘Mr T O Gilin 

                                                                                                                                                        ´ 

                  was, as you are aware, this Department’s representative on the Task Force from 1974. Following his promotion to 

                  the position of Principal officer in charge of the Post-Primary Building Unit proposals for his replacement on the Task 

                  Force by his successors in the Special Education Section, Mr M O Failbhe and Mr S O Droighneain respectively 

                  were notified to you on 20th September 1979 and 4th December 1979. I understand that, nevertheless, 

                                                                                                                      ´ 

                  documentation concerning the work of the Task Force has continued to come to Mr O Gilin and that this Department 

                                                                                                                           ´ 

                  has been represented at meetings of the Task Force since Mr O Gilin’s withdrawal. Mr O Droighneain has now 

                  retired from the service as indicated to you in our letter of 1st July, 1980 and the question of nominating a 

                                                                                                                                                          ´ 

                  replacement has been left in abeyance pending clarification of the position of your Department. On 11th August Mr O 

                  Gilin received notification of an all day meeting of the Task Force for Friday, 15th August and an intimation that a 

                     ´ 

                  draft of the final report was scheduled to be placed before the Minister for Health by the end of August. Copies of 

                  various chapters of Draft No 3 of the final report of the Task Force were appended. You will appreciate that this 

                  position which has developed regarding representation has caused this Department considerable difficulty in 

                                                                                                                                                      ´ 

                  considering the final stages of the report and it raises the question as to whether it would be appropriate for Mr O 

                  Gilin or any other representative of the Department to be a signatory to the final draft of the report, even with 

                     ´ 

                  expressed reservations. In connection with such reservations the position of the Department regarding the transfer of 

                  administrative responsibility for special schools and for school attendance services has already been conveyed to 

                  you and the Task Force.’ 

              284 At the meeting of the Task Force on 15th August which discussed the 3rd Draft of the Final Report, it was agreed 



                  that if ‘the report was to be submitted to the Minister in its present form, it should be accompanied by a letter to the 

                  effect that it was not considered suitable for publication.’ 

              285 Keenan has argued that: ‘By the time the Task Force was published in 1981, a number of factors had come into play 



                  which were to seriously restrict progress on the updating of the child care system for a decade. They included three 

                  governments within a period of 18 months and, of greater significance, the fact that by the early 1980s the Irish 

                  economy was in serious difficulty. The development and expansion of the child care system was not considered 

                  viable at this time although it should be acknowledged that it was recognised as a priority which should be planned 

                  for in the expectation that the economy would eventually improve. The fact that the Task Force Report itself 

                  presented difficulties should also be acknowledged. Undoubtedly a most important report, which continues to be 

                  largely relevant, in the seven years it took from beginning to end much of the momentum which led to its 

                  establishment in the first place was dissipated. Furthermore it consisted of both a majority and a supplementary 

                  report, the latter written by those members of the Task Force who were not civil servants.’ Keenan, O (1997) Child 

                  Welfare in Robins, J (ed) Reflections on Health: Commemorating Fifty Years of the Department of Health, 1947- 

                  1997. Dublin: Department of Health. pp 65-6. 

              286 Task Force on Child Care Services (1980) Final Report. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 4. 

              287 Ibid p 182. 



              380                                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2421-----------------------

            ‘division did not, in the main, result from any allocation or rationalisation of child care functions 

            but rather evolved haphazardly in the sense that the services tended to come within the general 

            control of the government department which succeeded the original agency in which the particular 

            service  originated’.288    The  Report  acknowledged  that  this  division  ‘resulted  in  an  unsatisfactory 

            situation from the point of view of effective planning and co-ordination of resources’289                       and that 



            ‘the absence of co-ordinated planning at departmental level in turn is reflected in the manner of 

            delivery of services at a local level’.290 



4.374       Following a review of earlier recommendations in relation to administrative responsibility for child 

            welfare    services,    the   Task    Force    concluded:     ‘We    are   satisfied   that  what    is  needed     as   a 

            prerequisite  to  the  most  effective  planning,  development  and  delivery  of  services  for  deprived 

            children  is  that  these  services  should  be  unified  under  one  government  department  as  far  as 

            possible and that child care services should be integrated with family support services.’ The Report 

            then  recommended  that  the  Department  of  Health  should  be that  Department  that  would  have 

            responsibility for: 



                   The implementation of the statutory provisions contained in a Children Act concerned with 

                   the welfare and protection of children, including the making of regulations, orders or rules 

                   to  be  provided  in  that  Act;  The  development  of  the  child  care  expertise  necessary  for 

                   formulation of policy, based on practical experience, professional knowledge and relevant 

                   research  and  information;  The  identification  of  children’s  needs  and  the  provision  of 

                   services, including preventative services, designed to meet these needs in consultation, 

                   as  necessary      and   appropriate,     with   other   Government       Departments,       with  child   care 

                   authorities and other bodies providing services at local level’ The making of organisational 

                   arrangements for the delivery at local level of the services for which it is responsible in 

                   accordance      with   statutory   provisions     and   in  line  with   defined    policy  guidelines;     The 

                   monitoring and evaluation of the services for which it has responsibility.291 



4.375       Responsibility  for  the  delivery  of  childcare  services  at  a  local  level,  the  Report  recommended, 

            should be provided by an authority to be known as the Child Care Authority (CCA) and functions 

            of  the CCA  would  include  establishing the  need  for services,  providing  services  to meet  these 

            needs, preventative work, liaising with other public bodies to ensure that the interests of children 

            and  families  are  adequately  reflected  in  their  policies,  implementing  policy  on  family  welfare 

            services, including childcare services, and drawing together and developing all available resources 

            concerned with the welfare of children in its area to ensure that these resources are maximised. 

            The Task Force recommended that health boards be designated as child care authorities and that 

            the boards perform the functions of the CCA. However, in doing this, the Report recommended 

            that  the  CCA  be  a  separate  legal  entity  with  specific  statutory  functions  and  that  child  care 

            services, alongside family support services be a separate body of services, in particular separate 

            from more general health services. 



                                                                                                   ´ 

4.376                                                                                                       ´ 

            The  authors  of  the  supplementary  report  to  the  Task  Force,  Mr  O  Cinneide  and  Ms  O’Daly, 

            however, although agreeing with the other members of the Task Force that the Department of 

            Health and the health boards should be given responsibility for the provision of childcare, went on 

            to state that ‘We are not in agreement with our colleagues views that the existing administrative 

            structures are adequate’(emphasis in original).292  At Departmental level, they recommended that 



            the   existing    childcare    division    be   strengthened       by   providing     the   division   with    additional 

            administrative and professional resources, but otherwise they saw no substantial problem with the 

            existing  structure.  However,  in  terms  of  allocating  responsibility  to  the  regional  health  boards, 



            288 Ibid p 85. 

            289 Ibid. p 85. 

            290 Ibid. p 87. 

            291 Ibid. p 88. 

            292 Ibid. p 382. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                     381 


----------------------- Page 2422-----------------------

            they argued that ‘the allocation to them of entirely new responsibilities, does in our view present 

            considerable problems’. They went on to claim that: 



                   In short we believe that the health boards as they are at present organised could not carry 

                  out  these  responsibilities.  We  have  concluded  that  the  health  boards,  if  they  are  to 

                   become  Child Care  Authorities,  would  need to  be  reorganised to  some  extent.  It is  on 

                  this basis that  we have supported the  recommendation that they should  become Child 

                  Care Authorities. 



4.377       The rationale for this was that: 



                   Firstly, if the health boards become Child Care Authorities they will have greatly expanded 

                   responsibilities,  most  of  which  have  not  previously  been  carried  out  within  the  public 

                  service. Secondly, the assumption of these responsibilities will require a new orientation 

                  or  strategy  of  service;  the  development  and  recruitment  of  highly  motivated  specialist 

                   personnel;  additional  funds  and  good  planning  and  management.  Thirdly,  the  present 

                  administrative      structures     of  the   boards,     and    in   particular   the    Community       care 

                   programmes, were designed in conditions which were entirely different from those that 

                  exist today, not to talk of those which will exist if the Task Force recommendations are 

                  accepted; the Community Care Programme’s structure is seen to be ill-adapted for welfare 

                  services even in present conditions. When we relate these three sets of considerations 

                  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  certain  new  structures  are  necessary  within  the 

                   health boards.293 



                                                                                                                          ´ 

4.378       The Report was scrutinised in the Department of Education prior to publication and Mr O Maitiu 

                                                                                                                                   ´ 

            drafted a lengthy response to the report dated 12th November 1980. He commented initially on 

            the lack of agreement between the members and observed: 



                  Given the diverse composition of the Task Force, one could hardly expect unanimity of 

                  view on all aspects of the subject studied. Nevertheless, the extent of disagreement is 

                  somewhat surprising. There is one main report, one minority report (claimed by its authors, 

                                    ´ 

                   Mr. S. O Cinneide and Miss N.O’Daly, of CARE, as a supplemental Report), and four sets 

                  of reservations from (a) Mr. K. O’Grady, Department of Justice, (b) Mr. Tomas O Gilin, 

                                                                                                                              ´ 

                   Department  of  Education,  (c)  Mr.  John  Hurley,  Department  of  Health  and  (d)  Mr.  M. 

                   Russell, Office of the Attorney General. It is obvious, therefore, that in reforming the Child 

                  Care system in this country, the Government will have to choose between a number of 

                  different solutions. Since the Department of Health will have the lead role in this reform, 

                   it is very likely to push the alternatives which best suit its own interests, and great vigilance 

                  will be needed to ensure that the interests of this Department do not suffer. 



4.379       On the recommendation that child welfare services should be unified under one Department and 

            this should be the Department of Health, he commented that: 



                  This recommendation is unanimous and is in accord with this Department’s thinking. It is 

                   in the implementation of the proposal that disagreement occurs. A majority of the Task 

                   Force recommends that, in addition to the services for which it is already responsible, the 

                   Department of Health should take over (a) school attendance services; (b) advisory and 

                  some     supervisory     services    for  the   Courts;   (c)  Community       Youth    Services     and   (d) 

                   residential services, including existing residential homes, special schools and hostels. In 

                   his reservations, this Department’s representative opposed (c), partially opposed (d) and 

                   reserved  his  position  on  (a).  He  was  supported  on  (d)  by  the  Department  of  Justice 

                   representative. 



            293 Ibid. pp 382-3. 



            382                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2423-----------------------

4.380       He went on to state: 



                  We have long ago agreed that the residential homes at present administered by us should 

                  go to the Department of Health, this Department retaining responsibility for the education 

                  of children. On the other hand, we have held the view that the Special Schools at Lusk, 

                  Finglas and Clonmel are educational establishments and should remain under the control 

                  of this Department. The arguments for and against are given in (i) the Report, and (ii) Mr. 

                  O Gilin’s and Mr O’Grady’s reservations. I must say that, if a Child Care Authority is set 

                  up, I can see some validity in the administration of the schools going to them, although 

                  this  Department  should  retain  responsibility  for  the  educational  programme,  as  in  the 

                  Residential Schools for the handicapped. 



4.381       One  of  the  reasons  for  the  departure  from  the  view  held  over  the  previous  decade  that  the 

            responsibility for the Special Schools be maintained by the Department of Education was that: 



                  At the moment, the Health Boards tend to repudiate all responsibility for delinquents and 

                  from discussions with them, I gather they would not be at all averse to leaving delinquents 

                  with us. I’m not too sure that we should let them off the hook in this way. The operation 

                  of the schools for delinquents has given many headaches and there have been problems 

                  with children, with staff, with the Religious Orders and with local residents. While a fair 

                  degree of success has been achieved with the younger boys in Finglas and Clonmel, the 

                  outcome in the case of the older boys at Lusk has been very dubious. Apart from the high 

                  rate of absconding, all too often we hear of past-pupils finishing up in Loughan House or 

                  St. Patrick’s. The new secure school at Lusk will replace Loughan House and will involve 

                  the Department in running what is, in effect, a juvenile prison, without a religious Order to 

                  cushion it from day-to-day problems. 



                     ´ 

4.382       For Mr O Maitiu, the consequences of the Department of Education retaining the Special Schools 

                              ´ 

           would be to ‘saddle itself, of course, with the very worst children – particularly the very violent and 

            difficult  14-16-year-olds  who  are  not  amendable  to  any  discipline.  They  will  be  a  place  of  last 

            resort for children which the Child Care Authority cannot handle or does not want to handle.’ He 

            argued that: 



                  The Health Boards have considerable expertise in running residential institutions. I feel 

                  that a solution on Kennedy lines would enable them to exercise this expertise in the case 

                  of special schools, while, at the same time, this Department would bring the benefit of its 

                  own expertise to the educational programme. It would be a better solution than the system 

                  in Britain where both the care and educational programme are under the Department of 

                  Health and Social Security, with not too satisfactory results. I would suggest, therefore, 

                  that the Department should now consider a compromise on Kennedy lines. If we adamant 

                  about retaining the Youth Service) as I think we should be, we might perhaps concede 

                  that  the  Health  Boards  should  have  School  Attendance  and  that  there  should  be  a 

                  compromise as suggested in regard to the special schools. 



                ´ 

4.383       Mr O Maitiu was of the view that: 

                         ´ 



                  certain members of the Task Force are convinced that ‘there is no such thing as a bad 

                  boy’, that very few are really delinquent, and that most of their problems with the law are 

                  the fault of their families and society rather than of the children themselves. The effect of 

                  the  Task  Force  recommendations  would  be  to  cut  down  drastically  on  the  number  of 

                  residential placements for delinquents. This is the argument that the CARE people have 

                  persisted in since the early 1970’s, in spite of all the evidence of their senses. At the same 

                  time,  the  Courts  and  the  Gardai  have  kept  up  a  constant  agitation  for  more  places  to 

                                                          ´ 

                  which children coming before them can be sent. It was because the situation had become 

                  so desperate that the Minister for Justice had to open Loughan House. The number of 

                  residential places has, in fact, been drastically reduced over the past 10 years – Daingean 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              383 


----------------------- Page 2424-----------------------

                  has been closed, together with Letterfrack and Marlboro’ House – and, in my opinion, the 

                  number of places remaining – less than 200 for the entire country – is barely adequate to 

                  cater for the needs of the Courts. Youth Encounter and Neighbourhood Youth projects 

                  are doing a lot for the less serious offenders. However, for the more serious offenders 

                  and for those who live in impossible home conditions, residential care is still necessary. 

                  Community residential centres are no answer since they are conducted in a social work 

                  milieu, the children need a great deal more than care, and anyway the children will not 

                  stay in them. 



4.384       He concluded that: 



                  In the circumstances, I recommend that the Department support the minority view of Mr. 

                  O Gilin, i.e. that this Department cannot agree to any reduction in the number of residential 

                  places for delinquent children until alternative services on the lines envisaged in the report 

                  have  been  provided  and  are  seen  to  be  at  least  as  effective  as  the  present  Special 

                  Schools. 



4.385       On the issue of residential facilities for girls, he noted that: 



                  The  Task  Force  recommends  that  facilities  for  girls  should  be  provided  for  within  the 

                  mainstream of residential provision recommended by them, but that the existing units for 

                  teenage  girls  should  continue  their  work  in  the  interim  period.  The  existing  voluntary 

                  training units are conducted by two religious Orders and the absence of controversy in 

                  regard  to  facilities  for  girls  shows  that  they  are  doing  a  good  job,  which  I  doubt  if  the 

                  Health Boards could better. 



4.386       In dealing with this issue, he recommended that: 



                  reform in this aspect of child-care should consist in giving the existing centres sufficient 

                  resources  to  enable  them  to  carry  out  their  very  dedicated  work  more  effectively.  The 

                  Task Force has changed its mind on a closed school for girls, and now states that the 

                  school  recommended  in  its  interim  report  should  not  be  proceeded  with.  There  was  a 

                  certain problem, a few years ago with a number of very difficult girls who could not be 

                  contained in the existing centres. This problem seems to have subsided somewhat. There 

                  will be the odd girl who will not stay in an open centre and who needs containment – for 

                  her own protection, as much as anything else. While a separate closed school may not 

                  be necessary (and would be extremely expensive to run) – some provision for containment 

                  may be required – preferably by special arrangement in one of the existing centres, or in 

                  association with it. 



                ´ 

4.387       Mr O Maitiu concluded by observing that: 

                         ´ 



                  The  general  effect  of  the  implementation  of  the  Task  Force  Report  will  be  to  increase 

                  State involvement in all aspects of child-care and to regionalise this involvement in the 

                  Health Boards. Up to now, child-care has been seen as the responsibility of the parents 

                  themselves, supported by their various Church Authorities who have operated residential 

                  establishments  of  various  kinds  for  children  who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  had  no 

                  parents to look after them. The State’s role has been limited to providing financial support 

                  and a certain degree of supervision. In the past, a change such as is now proposed, would 

                  have been looked upon with suspicion by the Churches. However, the fall in vocations has 

                  meant that for some years now, the work at the coal face is being done by lay people as 



            384                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2425-----------------------

                    much  as  by  religious,  so  that  the  position  of  the  Churches  is  not  as  strong  as  it  used 

                    to be.294 



4.388        On     the   issue     of   juvenile     justice,    the    Task     Force     was     fundamentally         split.295   Although 



             oversimplifying the debate, the issue of the age of criminal responsibility in part encapsulates the 

             split. The majority of the Task Force recommended that the age of criminal responsibility be left 

             at 7, on the basis that they saw ‘an advantage in retaining a low age of criminal responsibility on 

             the  grounds  inter  alia  that  the  commission  of  offences  will  lead  in  many  instances  to  helpful 

             intervention in the case of young children who might not otherwise receive it’.296                              More generally, 



             the majority were of the view that when a child admitted an offence or the offence was proven, 

             the principles that should inform the court should aim to: 



                    (a)  Secure  for  the  child  such  care,  guidance,  education,  training  and  correction  as  will 

                    conduce       to  the    welfare    of   the   child   and    the   public    interest,    (b)   retain   or   promote 

                    relationships between the child and his parents and his family as far as possible, (c) avoid 

                    sending the child to a custodial institution unless there is no acceptable alternative that 

                    will satisfy his needs or afford society a reasonable protection.297 



                                                                                ´ 

4.389                                                                                     ´ 

             The    supplementary          report    produced       by   Mr    O    Cinneide      and    Ms    O’Daly      argued     that    the 

             recommendations by the majority of the Task Force did not involve any significant change on the 

             existing system of juvenile justice and on the basis that it ‘was laid down over seventy years ago 

             and, given the developments in knowledge and in public attitudes since then, it is retrograde to 

             retain it’.298  They argued that the age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 15, and that 



             interventions by the State should be based on a number of assumptions. They were: 



                    that by and large parents want to look after their children well, to provide them with the 

                    care and education and discipline that they need; that if parents are unable to do this they 

                    are likely to avail of any helpful services which are provided to facilitate them; that the 

                    need for the state to intervene in a coercive way into the ordinary family will, and should, 

                    arise only in exceptional cases; that the state’s intervention should in general be a helpful 

                    one,  concerned  only  with  the  welfare  of  the  child  and  the  family;  that  compulsory  or 

                    coercive measures in respect of a child which are not solely helpful and concerned with 

                    his  welfare  should  be  clearly  seen  as  such  and  should  be  invoked  only  in  even  more 

                    exceptional cases.299 



             294 

                                                                                             ´ 

                 The Inspectorate within the Department of Education concurred with O Maitiu stating that they ‘share his frustration 

                                                                                                     ´ 

                 at the lack of clarity in many of the issues raised and the extent of disagreement on many of the recommendations. 

                 These point to the complexity of the situation and the virtually total lack of empirical evidence on the efficacy of the 

                 various approaches to child care. The recommendation that one Department (Health) should have a lead role in the 

                 administration of child care services is sensible. That Department, however, would need to establish a system for 

                 monitoring the quality of the services it will administer. Its record in monitoring caring services for the mentally 

                 handicapped leaves a lot to be desired.’ 

             295 This was acknowledged in the supplementary report which outlined that ‘Of all the issues which fell within the Task 



                 Force’s terms of reference and which are covered in our Main Report, the most contentious, and one which took up 

                 most of our time in discussion, was the issue of how child offenders should be dealt with by the law. Very 

                 comprehensive papers on this and related topics were prepared by members of the Task Force in 1975 and 1976 

                 and they were discussed in detail at the time. From then on there were repeated and extensive discussions covering 

                 everything from basic principles to practical details of how a new system of juvenile justice would operate. Some of 

                 these renewed discussions were necessitated by the changes in the membership of the Task Force. At no time was 

                 there general agreement on what the Task Force’s recommendations should be. In the end the discussion and 

                 recommendations which appear in chapter 18 of the Main Report were decided on in the last week before a 

                 complete draft of that report was approved.’ Task Force on Child Care Services (1981) Final Report. Dublin: 

                 Stationery Office. p 240. 

             296 Task Force on Child Care Services (1981) Final Report. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 232. 

             297 Ibid. p 252. 

             298 Ibid. p 341. 

             299 Ibid. p 370. 



             CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                             385 


----------------------- Page 2426-----------------------

4.390       In  the  same  year  that  the  Task  Force  submitted  its  final  report  to  the  Minister  for  Health,  the 

            Report of the Commission of Enquiry into the Irish Penal System300  was published. In relation to 



            juvenile justice they argued that: 



                   Our  low  minimum  age  of  criminal  responsibility  i.e.,  seven,  the  lowest  incidentally  in 

                   Europe, ensures that the trivial activities of little children come under censorious scrutiny 

                   of the criminal justice system. For many offenders, whether male or female, their criminal 

                   careers begin with early experience of reformatories or industrial schools precipitated by 

                   truancy  from  school  or  home,  or  family  breakdown.  Here  again  factors  like  differential 

                   police   deployment      can   seriously   affect   the  likelihood    of  a  particular   child  becoming 

                   identified  as  deviant.  The  child  in  the  bleak  inner  city,  lacking  private  amenities,  like 

                   gardens or playrooms or simply space, carries his activities onto the streets where he is 

                   in full public view. His scope for ‘safe’ deviancy is limited. Parents may not have money 

                   to steal or property to deface. His controls are few and he is highly visible particularly if, 

                   as there tends to be, there is a high level of police deployment in the area. There was an 

                   incredible pathos about the submission which began ‘When I was seven I was sent to 

                   Clonmel by Justice Kennedy. I was in it for nine years’.301 



4.391       Despite these critical observations on the juvenile justice system, some commentators highlighted 

            that significant changes were occurring within the system. Osborough, for example, contrasted 

            ‘the  casual  approach,  displays  of  judicial  independence  and  a  lack  of  guidelines  on  important 

            subsidiary    issues’   as   evidence     of  a  lack   of  formalism     and   an   absence     of  a  ‘system’    that 

            characterised criminal justice practice in Ireland for a considerable period after independence. By 

            the late 1970s, however, he argued: 



                   the characteristic mark of the Irish criminal justice system is the growth of system and the 

                   growth  of  formalism.  Nowhere  is  this  more  obvious  than  in  the  procedures  for  dealing 

                  with  juvenile  offenders.  At  every  level  there  has  in  recent  years  occurred  some  critical 

                   development      which    can   certainly    be  regarded     as   the   antithesis   of  the   casual,    the 

                   haphazard  and  the  informal.  More  care  is  taken,  more  officials  are  involved,  there  are 

                   more standards, more procedure; there is both more ‘system’ and more ‘law’.302 



4.392       The debate that took place in relation to juvenile justice during the 1970s in Ireland, culminating 

            in the Final Report of the Task Force, was essentially between two competing models of juvenile 

            justice, a ‘welfare model’ which was the one broadly supported by the NGOs and the members of 

            CARE  on  the  Task  Force,  and  a  ‘justice  model’  which  was  the  one  broadly  supported  by  the 

            majority of the members of the Task Force. 



            Response to Task Force by the Department of Health 



4.393       In September 1981, a memo was circulated which outlined the response of the Department of 

            Health to the Task Force on Child Care Services. The memo stated: 



                   The Minister for Health accepts the general principles of the Report and is anxious that 

                   the  initial  steps  should  now  be  taken  in  regard  to  the  implementation  of  these  specific 

                   aspects of the Report and its supplementary recommendations that are acceptable to her. 

                   Some of the recommendations relate to areas of responsibility, which are already those 

                   of the Minister for Health. These are now being considered in association with the health 



            300 Chaired by Sean Mac Bride, other members included Michael D Higgins, Gemma Hussey, Michael Keating, Dr Mary 



               McAleese, Patrick Mc Entee, Dr Michael Mac Greil, Muireann O’Briain and Una O’Higgins O’Malley. The self-stated 

               rationale for the enquiry was the ‘failure to date on the part of the State to have instituted such an enquiry’. The 

               report stated that ‘it was as a result of such neglect that the PRO (Prisoners Rights Organisation) invited the 

               members, selected from a wide range of social, political, legal and academic backgrounds, to constitute themselves 

               as a Commission for the purpose stated. 

            301 Report of the Commission of Enquiry into the Irish Penal System (1980) Report. Dublin: Report of the Commission of 



               Enquiry into the Irish Penal System. p 30. 

            302 Osborough, WN (1979) Irish Juvenile Justice: System and Formalism. Administration, 27, 4, p 497. 



            386                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2427-----------------------

                 boards and voluntary agencies concerned. Where the improvement of existing services 

                 is necessary this is a matter that will be considered by the Minister in the light of available 

                 financial resources if additional funding is involved. In so far as changes in the law will be 

                 necessary appropriate provision will be made in the Heads of the Children Bill, now being 

                 drafted,  which  will  come  before  the  Government  at  a  later  date.  However,  there  is  a 

                 number of important functions now the responsibility of either the Department of Justice 

                 or the Department of Education which in the light of the Report and the earlier Government 

                 decision of October 1973 should, in the Minister for Health’s view now be transferred to 

                 her  department.  The  Minister  is  seeking  approval  in  principle  to  their  transfer  to  her 

                 Department     so  that  necessary    discussions  about    transfer  can   be  instituted  with the 

                 Departments  concerned  (including the  important  issue  of  implications  for existing  staff) 

                 and also to enable appropriate provisions to be made in the Heads of the Bill. 



4.394      The rationale for many of these changes was that: 



                 In  recent  years,  there  has  been  a  major  swing  away  from  the  practice  of  compulsory 

                 placement  in  residential  care  through  court  committal  in  favour  of  voluntary  placement 

                 through  the  health  boards.  This  has  resulted  in  the  present  situation  where  the  great 

                 majority  of  the  children  in  residential  homes  are  now  the  responsibility  of  the  health 

                 boards, although the Minister for Education retains responsibility for most of the homes 

                 themselves. In 1976, the Department of Education formally recorded its agreement with 

                 the Kennedy Report recommendation and since then, the Department of Health has taken 

                 the lead role in developing overall policy and programmes in residential care, including 

                 questions  of  finance  and  staffing.  However  the  formal  transfer  of  responsibilities  for 

                 residential homes to the Department of Health has not yet taken place and the Minister 

                 for Health now seeks government approval to this being done so that her Department’s 

                 role  in  relation  to  these  homes  will  be  clarified  and  in  order  that  necessary  statutory 

                 provisions can be included in the Heads of Bill. 



4.395      In relation to the Special Schools, while noting the objection of the Department of Education of 

           their transfer, nonetheless, 



                 The Minister for Health considers that unification of responsibility is particularly desirable 

                 in the area of residential care. In accordance with the main tenor of the Task Force Report, 

                 the special schools should be seen as being mainly concerned with child care rather than 

                 with education as they are at present... The Minister for Health accepts the majority view 

                 of the Task Force that special schools are appropriate for integration into the general body 

                 of child care services under her Department. These would include the new secure unit at 

                 Lusk to replace Loughan House. 



4.396      The  Task  Force  also  recommended  that  the  existing  school  attendance  committees  should  be 

           discontinued and that school attendance officers should be transferred to the health boards and 

           the memo noted that: 



                 The  Minister  for  Health  is  in  agreement  with  the  proposed  transfer  of  functions  and  of 

                 personnel as recommended and seeks the agreement of the Government to the inclusion 

                 of the necessary legislative provisions in the Heads of the Children Bill now being drafted. 



4.397      In relation to adoption, the majority of the Task Force recommended that this be the subject of a 

           separate   study.  But   the  ‘health  representative    recommended      that  adoption   should   form   an 

           essential part of the amalgam of child and family care services and that responsibility should be 

           transferred to the Minister for Health’. The memo also claimed that this proposal had the support 

           of a  range   of  voluntary   agencies    and  that  as  such   ‘the  Minister  for  Health   proposes    that 

           responsibility  for  the  Adoption  Board  and  other  aspects  of  the  adoption  machinery  should  be 

           transferred to her Department from the Department of Justice. In relation to the Probation and 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       387 


----------------------- Page 2428-----------------------

            Welfare Service, the memo noted that the members of the Task Force were divided on the role 

            of the service in relation to young offenders. However, the memo concluded that: 



                   While appreciating that the service has developed very rapidly over the past few years 

                   and now has an administrative structure and favourable career prospects, the Minister is 

                   of the opinion that a supervisory role such as is envisaged for the health boards would 

                   be seen as a progressive measure and would be  more compatible with the underlying 

                   philosophies of the Task Force Report which calls for community-based services, with a 

                   reduction in emphasis on specialised services and direct involvement with the courts for 

                   some categories of children. While it is accepted that the proposed transfer of functions 

                   will present problems in terms of maintaining existing conditions of work for existing staff, 

                   these    problems     are   not   insurmountable        and   will,  of  course,     require   considerable 

                   discussion     between     the   Departments       of  Health    and   Justice    and   the   staff  interests 

                   concerned before any transfers take place. 



4.398       Finally the memo noted that: 



                   a particularly important section of the report relates to the juvenile justice system. In view 

                   of the Minister for Health’s overall responsibility for the well-being of deprived children she 

                   would  be  anxious  that  both  Departments  would  be  seen  to  act  simultaneously  and  in 

                   harmony in the matter of desirable legislative and administrative changes in this area. The 

                   Department of Justice has already indicated its view that legislative changes relating to 

                   the juvenile courts might be provided for in the proposed Children Bill thus making the Bill 

                   a  comprehensive  one  in  relation  to  child  welfare.  The  Minister  for  Health  accepts  this 

                   suggestion and assumes that the assistance of officers of the Department of Justice will 

                   be available in regard to the preliminary and subsequent processing of the Bill. 



4.399       The Resident Managers Association (RMA) responded to the Task Force by broadly endorsing 

            their recommendations in relation to residential care. A key issue for them was that: 



                   Staff turn-over is at a totally unacceptable level in child care. Finding the causes of this 

                   and remedying them is regarded as one the primary tasks of child care policy makers. It 

                   is felt that inadequate salary and the absence of career structures are major causes but 

                   not so clearly evident is the lack of training and development of skills to cope with stressful 

                   and conflict situations. 



4.400       The RMA also noted: 



                   references in the report to the services provided in the past and at present by religious 

                   orders   tend    to  be   both   complimentary       and   confusing.     For   example,     15.7.6.303   This 



                   paragraph,  as  written, implies  that  religious  are cloistered,  naive  people  whose lack  of 

                                                                                                  ¨ 

                   personal development precludes their being able to contribute to the development of the 

                   child. We think (and hope!) that this is a misinformed view. In terms of past experience 

                   and the present demands and expectations of religious in child care, it is unrealistic to 

                   think  that   they  would    or   could   continue    to  be   responsible     and   accountable,      if their 

                   involvement is to be as peripheral as the statement would seem to suggest. 



            303 Equally, for children with no permanent family relationships, the continuity of relationships with staff is so vital that 



               the work should not be undertaken unless this continuity can be provided. The religious orders who, at present, run 

               such centres appear to be in a particularly good position to ensure this necessary continuity. While the lay staff 

               working in the centres can be expected to change, this is much less likely where members of religious orders are 

               concerned. It would not be necessary for them to undertake all the work with the children, or even to take the 

               primary responsibility for running the centre. Indeed, this would probably be neither feasible from the Orders’ point of 

               view nor desirable from the children’s. Children in such centres need to relate to care staff of both sexes and with 

               varied outside interests while the members of staff most competent to run the centre need not necessarily be a 

               member of the religious order involved. Members of he Orders could, however, take part in the children’s lives and 

               care, either as full members of staff or otherwise, to the degree necessary to provide permanence and stability and 

               to protect the children from the most damaging effects of the loss of stability. (1980: 191-2). 



            388                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2429-----------------------

4.401       The Association of Workers with Children in Care (AWCC) also responded stating that the report 

            ‘must be welcomed by all working with children, particularly those nearest the most deprived in 

            our  society.’304   The   AWCC       looked    specifically   at  four  areas;    the  philosophy     of  the   report; 



            assessment and other concurrent needs; the organisational structures needed to administer the 

            services and residential care. On the issue of administration, that stated that: 



                  Those  of  us  involved  in  child  care,  would  wholeheartedly  agree  with  the  Task  Force 

                  statement, emphasising that residential child care evolved haphazardly, and did not result 

                  from any rationalisation of child care functions or the direct allocation of resources. This 

                   resulted   in  separate    administration     systems     having    evolved    in a   piecemeal     fashion, 

                   leading to an unsatisfactory situation from the pint of view of effective planning and the 

                  co-ordination  of  resources.  We  feel  that  residential  care  has  been  particularly  isolated, 

                  and  is  in  a  vulnerable  position  as  new  but  not  necessarily  more  effective  services  are 

                  developed, again independently rather than in an inter-related fashion.305 



4.402       The Association also expressed concern with the proposed new administrative structure proposed 

            by  the  Task  Force  and  the  increased  bureaucracy  that  could  stem  from  this.  The  submission 

            noted that: 



                  A unique position exists where so much of residential care is provided by voluntary homes. 

                  With  increased  financial  aid  the  voluntary  nature  of  such  homes  is  being  increasingly 

                  eroded and the service becoming bureaucratic in nature. The challenge to all concerned 

                   is to develop a situation where accountability exists alongside humanistic caring service, 

                   meeting needs as they emerge. Our loudest cry would be to retain Our Autonomy in a 

                   responsible fashion so as to be able to pioneer and innovate as the Task Force suggests. 

                  A lessoning of bureaucratic structure enables services to re-evaluate and act more easily 

                  than that of large services with a top heavy administrative set up which is forced to simply 

                   behave with the rules.306 



4.403       On the specific recommendations in relation to residential care, the Association stated that while 

            they had some slight reservations, ‘the chapter on Residential Care is a commendable one’ and 

            went on the outline that: 



                  We would agree with the Report that as a result of Kennedy Report of 1970, significant 

                   innovations    in  terms    of  the   physical   structure    of  homes,     training   courses    and    the 

                   introduction  of  lay  staff,  had  come  about.  That  such  changes  evolved  from  this  report 

                   reflects once again the pragmatism of our work and sense of responsibility of our workers, 

                   however  the  fact  that  the  work  developed  during  this  period  independent  of  all  other 

                  services was a major limiting factor. As outlined in our comments on administration we 

                   plead loudly for our inclusion within a comprehensive plan, otherwise, even at present if 

                  we  develop  our  service,  it  would  result  in  us  fighting  a  system  which  had  not  adapted 

                  appropriately. No service is capable of such a challenge because it absorbs the energies 

                  of the workers.307 



4.404       In May 1981, a document was prepared by the Department of Health in relation to the implications 

            of the Task Force Report on the training and deployment of child care workers. The document 

            observed that: 



                  the   majority    report   of  the  Task    Force    on   Child   Care    Services    makes     no   specific 

                   recommendations        on   the   training   of  child  care    workers    apart   from    saying   that   its 

                   recommendations  will  require  a  considerable  increase  in  the  number  of  professional 



            304 The Association of Workers with Children in Care (1982)  The Task Force on Child Care Services – A Response. 



               Dublin: Association of Workers with Children in Care. p 1. 

            305 Ibid. p 12. 

            306 Ibid. p 17. 

            307 Ibid. p 18. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                389 


----------------------- Page 2430-----------------------

                  trained   child  care    workers.    However,     the   recommendations        concerning     increased 

                  specialisation and expertise in residential care and the employment of significant numbers 

                  of child care workers in the community have major implications for the training of child 

                  care workers. The supplementary report attached to the main report does consider the 

                  question of training in a little more depth. The supplementary report considers that child 

                  care workers in residential and day care and working with children in their own homes will 

                  constitute   one    of  the   most    important    resources     of  the   child  care    system.    The 

                  supplementary report places a major emphasis on the training of child care workers to 

                  work not only with children with serious problems but also with their families and in most 

                  residential and day centres, with the local community. The same report argues strongly 

                  that there is no valid reason for maintaining different levels of training for different forms 

                  of social work. It recommends that training for child care workers should be of an equal 

                  standard and an equal status of that of other social workers. They also suggest that the 

                  forms of training be brought together and the same qualifications be awarded. 



4.405      Later  that  month,  on  26th  May  1981,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  Department  of  Education  to 

           discuss the Task Force Recommendations. At the meeting it was agreed that the Department of 

           Health  would  be  responsible  for  the  introduction  of  a  new  Children  Act  and  for  setting  up  a 

           statutory   body    for the   registration   of child   care  workers,    but   only  in  consultation    with  the 

           Department of Education. The meeting had no objection to the transfer of Industrial Schools to the 

           Department of Health, but not the Special Schools for ‘deviant children’. Specifically, the meeting, 



                  acknowledged that these schools cater for the most difficult sector of the child population 

                  and  great  expertise  and  financial  resources  are  needed  to  provide  proper  services  for 

                  them.   The   importance     of education     in the  treatment    programme      was    stressed.   The 

                  possibility of agreeing to the transfer of responsibility for the residential care of the children 

                  to  the  Dept.   of  Health    was   discussed.    Experience     has   shown,     however,    that  two 

                  authorities  looking  after  a  problem  area  could  lead  to  conflict.  It  was  agreed  that  the 

                  children’s interests would best be served if these schools were retained by the Dept. of 

                  Education i.e. both the care and education element. 



                                               ´ 

4.406      On 18th September 1981, Mr O Ceallachain in a memo to the Minister for Education observed that 

           the Department of Health were proposing the transfer of various functions from the Department of 

           Education to Health and recommended that the Department agree to the transfer of the Industrial 

           Schools, but in relation to the Special Schools (Reformatories): 



                  the position recommended is that this Department enter a most serious reservation on 

                  the grounds that these establishments, providing as they do a structural programme of 

                  education, training and recreation with a view to rehabilitation belong more properly in the 

                  sphere of education and that moving them into the ‘care’ area would not be in the best 

                  interests of the pupils. While care functions do exist in these establishments and a caring 

                  atmosphere      is  cultivated   this  can    be   catered    for  adequately     within   the   present 

                  responsibility   structure    through    the  format    of  management       and    services    and   the 

                  willingness  to  consult  and  co-ordinate  as  necessary  with  care  authorities.  Should  the 

                  Government decide, however, to transfer this responsibility to the Minister for Health, the 

                  responsibility   of  the  Minister   for  Education     for  all aspects    of  education    within   the 

                  establishment should be maintained. 



4.407      With regard to school attendance services: 



                  it is acknowledged that the present operation of the School Attendance Act is in need of 

                  radical  modification  but  it  could  be  contended  that  such  a  modified  service  is  more 

                  appropriate to the Minister for Education who prescribes a minimum period of education 

                  for all children and should therefore have the authority and the means to ensure that this 



           390                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2431-----------------------

                  prescription is met. It would therefore appear appropriate to enter a reservation on this 

                  matter as well. 



4.408       The functions of the Special Schools were further elaborated on by the Deputy Chief Inspector 

           who argued that: 



                  The main thrust of the work in the Special Schools should be to rehabilitate the pupils and 

                  provide access to work as recreational outlets which will allow students to accommodate 

                  themselves  to  the  current  demands  of  society.  While  care  and  a  caring  attitude  are 

                  important components in the regime in these schools, the underlying philosophy of the 

                  Department of Education is that children’s attitudes can be changed by intervention and 

                  that  there   is  little hope   for their  survival   in  the  community      unless    they  acquire    the 

                  intellectual, emotional and social skills which a particular society demands. Our view is 

                  that such skills are best acquired through a highly structured, carefully sequenced and 

                  integrated programme of  school and out-of-school experiences. We recognise  that this 

                  conflicts with the underlying philosophy of many of the members of the Task Force, and 

                  we put it to the Government that the thinking of the Task Force in this regard is unsound. 

                  It would be the view of the Department of Education that any shortcomings in the Special 

                  School  system  to  date  were  caused  not  because  of  the  choice  of  Department  which 

                  administered it but rather through lack of funding and lack of awareness in the public in 

                  relation to the quality and quantity of professional staff required in these establishments. 



            Replacing the Children Act 1908 (as amended) 



4.409       The   Department      of  Health   in  a  memorandum         to  Government       in  relation  to  ‘Proposals     for 

            comprehensive legislation to Extend and Up-date the Law in Relation to the Protection of Children’ 

            in December 1982, stated that the Task Force: 



                  supported     the   earlier  government      decision    of  October     1974    that  the   main   central 

                  responsibility  for  child  care  should  rest  with  the  Minister  for  Health.  Dealing  with  the 

                  problem of children in need of care, the report stressed the importance and integrity of 

                  the  family  and  insisted  that  there  should  be  minimal  intervention  in  it  by  the  State.  It 

                  rejected the notion of placing the child in institutional care and removing it from the family 

                  setting unless this was absolutely unavoidable.308 



4.410       However, it went on to observe that: 



                  notwithstanding the Government decision of 1974, the main responsibility for child care 

                  services has not yet been translated into legislation and the present legal responsibilities 

                  of the Minister for Health and the health boards in this area are quite limited. At present, 

                  there is no single statutory body with specific responsibility for meeting children’s needs. 

                  To remedy this situation, it is proposed to give health boards new statutory powers and 

                  obligations to identify families with children in need and to provide whatever services are 

                  required to meet these needs.309 



4.411       The broad changes proposed by the Children Bill 1982 were: 



                   •     the  imposition  on  the  health  boards  of  clear  cut  responsibility  for  a  wide  range  of 

                         childcare services; 



                                                                                     ` 

                   •     the creation of powers to regulate play groups, creches, nursery schools etc.; 

                   •      the  taking   over   of  full responsibility    for  children’s   homes     (formerly    orphanages, 

                         Industrial Schools); 



                   •     the taking over of responsibility for children’s special centres (formerly Reformatories); 



            308 Department of Health. C.1.01.03.6. 

            309 Ibid. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              391 


----------------------- Page 2432-----------------------

                    •    the taking over of responsibility for the supervision of school attendance; 

                    •     increasing  the  age  of  criminal  responsibility  from  7  to  12  years  with  consequently 

                          greater responsibility falling on social work staff; 



                    •    the creation of special children’s courts with greater participation by health boards; 

                    •    strengthening the powers of intervention where children are at risk; and 

                    •    control of sale of solvents.310 



4.412       In relation to school attendance, the memo argued that: 



                   The Task Force was of the opinion that, since early and intransigent truancy has often 

                   been found to be associated with severe family and social problems, it is inappropriate 

                   that  emphasis      on  such    cases    should    rest  primarily    on  school    attendance.      In many 

                   instances  frequent  absence  from  school  might  indicate,  not  just a  problem  child,  but  a 

                   family with a variety of problems to be solved. The members of the Task Force agreed 

                   accordingly that certain functions at present performed by School Attendance Officers in 

                   relation  to  the  problem  of  school-children  should  be  integrated  with  the  child  welfare 

                   service. This would envisage the abolition of the existing school attendance officers to the 

                   health boards. The Minister for Health is in agreement with the proposed transfer of certain 

                   functions and of personnel as recommended and seeks the agreement of Government to 

                   the necessary legislative provisions which are included in the scheme of the Bill.311 



4.413       The memo did also note that: 



                   The Minister for Education has expressed reservations regarding the proposed transfer 

                   of  responsibility  for  School  Attendance  Services,  and  considers  these  services  more 

                   appropriate to his responsibility as Minister for Education. As it rests with him to prescribe 

                   a minimum period of education for all children he feels that he should continue to have 

                   authority and have the means to ensure that this prescription is met. As the prescription 

                   of a minimum period of education for children is clearly the responsibility of the Minister 

                   for Education, the Minister for Health agrees that enforcement of the Acts by means of 

                   statutory warnings or prosecution of parents would remain the responsibility of the Minister 

                   for Education. The transfer of personnel is proposed as a means of developing the social 

                   work functions referred to in paragraph 12 and of ensuring close links between all schools 

                   and the health boards so that children experiencing difficulties which become identified at 

                   school can immediately receive attention.312 



4.414       In relation to residential care, the memo outlined that: 



                   The Scheme of the Bill provides for a new system of residential care for deprived children, 

                   to be administered under the aegis of the Minister for Health and the Health Boards. This 

                   system will replace the reformatory and industrial schools system for which the Minister 

                   for Education is responsible at present. A government decision of 25th August 1982 gave 

                   approval  in  principle  to  the  transfer  from  the  Minister  for  Education  to  the  Minister  for 

                   Health of functions in relation to children’s residential homes (formerly known as industrial 

                   schools) and the Scheme of the Bill provides for a similar transfer of responsibility for a 

                   number of special schools (formerly known as reformatories). 313 



4.415       The memo acknowledged the reservations of the Department of Education in his regard stating: 



                   The Department of Education has been consulted and has expressed serious reservations 

                   regarding the proposed transfer of responsibility in respect of special schools. It regards 



            310 Ibid. 

            311 Ibid. 

            312 Ibid. 

            313 Ibid. 



            392                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2433-----------------------

                   these as establishments the prime purpose of which is educational and suggests that this 

                   purpose  is reflected  in the  preponderance of  the activity  in the  institutions arising  from 

                   their programmes of rehabilitation and reform. It considers that any measures which would 

                   have the effect of removing these schools from the mainstream of education would not 

                   be in the interests of the children. In the Department’s view, the care elements involved 

                   are   being    and   can    continue    to   be   adequately     catered     for  through    the   format    of 

                   management and services available and through arrangements for consultation and co- 

                   ordination with care authorities.314 



4.416       Having duly acknowledged these reservations, the memo nonetheless argued: 



                   the Minister for Health considers that unification of responsibility is particularly desirable 

                   in the area of residential care. In accordance with the general tenor of the Task Force 

                   Report, the special schools  should be seen as being mainly  concerned with child care 

                   rather than with education at present. There is no doubt that education must be a major 

                   element no matter which Minister is responsible for these centres, but the major factor in 

                   deciding on responsibility for the schools must be the fact that they cater for those children 

                   who are probably the most seriously deprived, both emotionally and socially and should, 

                   therefore,  be  the  concern  of  the  Department  which  will  have  the  main  responsibility  in 

                   relation to the general welfare of deprived children. It is hardly necessary to point out that 

                   if one   Minister    has   authority    for  all centres    for  deprived    children,    the  organization, 

                   operation and effectiveness of the system as a whole will be facilitated. Such a transfer 

                   would also be desirable for the purposes of facilitating continuity of services to the child 

                   and its family, with particular reference to the input of social work in relation to the child 

                   while  in  the  centre  and  the  provision  of  continuing  care  which  would  be  required  after 

                   discharge.315 



4.417       In relation to St Joseph’s Special School in Clonmel the memo stated: 



                   The Department is not seeking a transfer of responsibility for St. Joseph’s Special School, 

                   Clonmel but he considers that discussions might be held between his Department, the 

                   Department of Education and the authorities of the School before a final decision is taken 

                   regarding its future roles. The Minister now seeks government approval to the transfer of 

                   special schools to the Department of Health, as is provided for in the Scheme of the Bill.316 



4.418       On the issue of juvenile justice, the memo outlines the broad principles that informed thinking on 

            the  issue,  claiming  that  the  proposed  new  system  contained  ‘elements  of  both  the  main  Task 

            Force Report and the Supplementary Report’. The memo went on to state: 



                   the proposed system is based on the principle that arrangements made for children must 

                   be consistent with their dependent status, the principle that intervention in a child’s life 

                   should be limited to what is necessary to ensure that the child’s interests or the interests 

                   of  others  and  the  principle  that  children  who  need  special  help  should  also,  as  far  as 

                   possible,  have  the  same  experience  of  growing  up  as  is  normal  in  their  society  (all  of 

                   which principles were implicit in both the Main Report and the Supplementary Report).317 



4.419       The broad scheme for a new juvenile justice system was as follows: 



                           (a)   If the state is to intervene in the life of a child on a compulsory basis, and interfere 

                                 with the responsibility of his parent or guardian it should usually be with a view 

                                 to helping the child; this intervention should be by order of a court to be made 

                                 following care proceedings. 



            314 Ibid. 

            315 Ibid. 

            316 Ibid. 

            317 Ibid. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  393 


----------------------- Page 2434-----------------------

                           (b)   Care  proceedings  should  be  conducted  by  a  newly  constituted  juvenile  court, 

                                 consisting of a specially trained district justice and two lay assessors. 



                           (c)   The age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 12; persons under that age 

                                 should not be subject to the criminal law i.e. they should not be prosecuted. 



                           (d)   A  new  type  of  control  proceedings  should  be  instituted,  under  which  children 

                                 under  12  who  are  a threat  to  the  public  can  be  made  the subject  of  a  control 

                                 order;  control  proceedings  should  be  conducted  before  the  juvenile  court,  in 

                                 separate hearings. 



                                                                                               ´ 

                           (e)   In  regard  to  children  under  12  the  Garda  Siochana  should  be  responsible  for 

                                                                                          ´ 

                                 initiating Control Proceedings. 



                           (f)   In the case of a child between 12 and 15, prosecution should continue to be an 

                                 option, although no child in this age range should be convicted unless the justice 

                                 is satisfied as to his criminal capacity. 



                           (g)   Young persons between 15 and 17 years should be dealt with separately under 

                                 the criminal law, as they are at present, with additional provisions to take account 

                                 of their youth.318 



4.420       On the issue of the age of criminal responsibility, the Bill proposed the age be raised from 7 to 12 

            on the basis that: 



                   the Minister considers that this represents a more reasonable level at which to draw the 

                   line between children who might be regarded as lacking in understanding of the criminality 

                   of their acts and those who might be regarded as having reached a sufficient degree of 

                   maturity to understand substantially the nature of their wrong doing. The Minister accepts 

                   that  in  view  of  the  present  extent  of  juvenile  delinquency  any  extension  in  age  may 

                   provoke a certain amount of controversy. He feels, however, that public indignation at the 

                   extent of crime should not be allowed to prevent a non-retributive approach to troublesome 

                   children whose background in many instances will be one of considerable psychological 

                   or physical deprivation.319 



4.421       For  those  children  under  the  proposed  age  of  criminal  responsibility,  the  legislation  included 

            provision 



                   for a new form of ‘control proceedings’ which will enable the State to intervene in the lives 

                   of such children, with the express purpose of affording necessary protection to others. In 

                   such extreme cases it would have to be a serious offence if committed by an adult, or 

                   that the child had committed an act or acts which caused (or were likely to cause) serious 

                   loss or damage to persons or property. The court would be empowered to make an order 

                   to  ensure  such  minimal  restraint  or  control  as  was  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the 

                   community.’320 



4.422       The background to the drafting of the Children Bill 1982 by the Department of Health lay in the 

            Government decision of October 1974 to transfer the ‘main responsibility’ for childcare services 

            to the Department of Health. In a memo to the Minister for Health in 1987, the background was 

            outlined.  Having  outlined  the  recommendations  of  the  Task  Force on  Child  Care  Services,  the 

            memo observed that: 



                   The question of who was to take over responsibility for the new juvenile justice legislation 

                   was not settled at that time nor has it been since. This Department was prepared to co- 

                   ordinate the preparation of a comprehensive Children Bill with the juvenile justice aspects 



            318 Ibid. 

            319 Ibid. 

            320 Department of Health. C.1.01.03.5. 



            394                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2435-----------------------

                  being drafted by the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice, on the other hand, 

                  held that it was up to the Department of Health to formulate the proposed bill in its entirety. 

                  Justice offered to comment on the proposals once they had been prepared but would take 

                  no part in their preparation. Faced with this attitude and under strong political pressure, 

                  the Department of Health attempted to prepare the outline of a comprehensive Children 

                  Bill, which would include provisions on the treatment of juvenile offenders, reform of the 

                  Children’s  Courts  and  the  age  of  criminal  responsibility.  Without  the  assistance  and 

                  expertise of the Department of Justice it proved an almost impossible task. However, just 

                  before the change in Government in December 1982, the Minister (Dr. Woods) directed 

                  the Department to circulate for comment to the other Departments involved the (as yet 

                  incomplete) Heads of a Children Bill.321 



4.423      With the change in Government, in February 1983, the new Minister directed that the heads of 

            Bill were to be reviewed, particularly those aspects relating to juvenile justice. At this stage the 

            Department of Justice had submitted its observations on the Bill, particularly in relation to juvenile 

           justice, which ran to 38 pages and ‘identified a number of serious flaws and weaknesses in the 

            proposals’. The Department of Justice firstly observed: 



                  In the context of juvenile justice, the Bill apparently provides for a ‘welfare model’. In this 

                  model  juvenile  justice  forms  part  of  a  more  encompassing  child  care  and  protection 

                  system  and  it  is  interwoven  with  other  more  general  services  which  the  Heads  would 

                  make available to children and young people. It also involves a high level of interference 

                  by the State’s Social Services. Furthermore, it emphasises in the first place the needs of 

                  the child irrespective of the act committed or its seriousness; much attention is given to 

                  social and psychological conditions surrounding the offence and decisions are aimed at 

                  the individual needs and interests of the juvenile. What is generally accepted as the main 

                  alternative to this ‘welfare model’ in this area, namely, the ‘justice model’ emphasises the 

                  committed  act,  the  responsibility  of  the  juvenile  himself,  the  punishment  related  to  the 

                  offence and the guarantees of due process. The Minister for Justice, in responding to the 

                  proposals from the Department of Health, is not advocating one or other of those models 

                  as being preferable to the other but, he considers that it would be useful for Government 

                  to be aware of the international experiences in this area. As far as the Minister for Justice 

                  is aware, it has been the experience in Europe – particularly in Holland and in Britain – 

                  that  where     ‘welfare   models’    of  criminal   justice   have    been    operating    the  countries 

                  concerned are reverting in varying degrees to the ‘justice model’.322 



4.424       On the issue of Departmental responsibility for certain children, the Department of Justice noted 

            that the memorandum: 



                  stated, ‘under the new legislation, it is proposed that committal to prison should not be an 

                  option in dealing with young persons (15-17 years old) although committals to other forms 

                  of  institutional  care  will  be  possible’.  The  Minister  would  be  concerned  about  where 

                  members of this age group are to be detained when charged or convicted of what in the 

                  case  of  an  adult  at  any  rate  would  be  a  criminal  offence.  The  cumulative  effect  of  the 

                  Heads seem to be that (a) ‘unruly’ children or young persons (12 to 17 years) on remand 

                  or convicted of particular serious offences and (b) convicted persons between the ages 

                  of  15  and  17  should  be  detained  in  such  institutions  (other  than  prisons)  as  may  be 

                  ‘designated’  or  ‘directed’  by  the  Minister  for  Justice.  The  Minister  is  assuming  that  the 

                  words ‘designate’ and ‘direct’ is intended to mean that the Minister for Justice should have 

                  responsibility for the actual day-to-day running of the institutions. The Minister for Justice, 

                  however, has the strongest objection (now that a fundamental revision of the whole area 

                  of juvenile justice is being undertaken) to the proposal that young person under 17 should 



            321 Department of Health, Child Care Bill 1988 – Consultation with Govt Depts – C1.03.03. 

            322 Ibid. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              395 


----------------------- Page 2436-----------------------

                   be committed to institutions under his control. The Government will be aware of the outcry 

                  from certain groups (some of whose views are reflected in the Task Force Report) when 

                   the Government, in 1978, decided that 12 to 16 year old boys should be held in Loughan 

                   House under the control of the Department of Justice. At that time the Minister for Justice 

                   agreed to make Loughan House available for that age group as a temporary arrangement 

                   until such  time as the  Department of Education  would have the  secure school at  Lusk 

                   (Trinity House) ready. Trinity House is now almost ready and on transfer of the boys to it 

                  from Loughan House the latter will revert to general prison usage – for which, it is badly 

                   needed -around April, 1983. In the circumstances it is strange, to say the least, that a Bill 

                  whose guiding concern is for the care and welfare of the child should now be providing 

                   that children as young as 12 years of age should be committed to institutions (presumably 

                   similar to Loughan House) under the control of the Minister for Justice. Indeed, over 40 

                   years ago – in the Children Act, 1941 – the age at which a youthful offender could be 

                   committed to a certified reformatory school under the control of the Minister for Education 

                  was raised from sixteen years to 17 years.323 



4.425       The Department of Justice then outlined: 



                   In  the   Minister’s   view,   the   appropriate     age   at  which    youthful    offenders    should     be 

                   committed     to   institutions   under    his   control   should    be    17   years.   However,      if  the 

                   Government consider that 17 years is too high in this context, the Minister would hope 

                   that, at least, there would be general acceptance that it would be unthinkable that a new 

                   ‘Children’s Charter’ should provide for the detention of anybody under 16 years of age in 

                   institutions under the control of the Minister for Justice. The proposal whereby a child or 

                   young person of unruly character could be committed to such an institution should, in the 

                   Minister’s view, be rejected. Apart from the objections already stated which apply to all 

                   children and young persons, such a provision could easily develop into a means whereby 

                   agencies who would hold primary responsibility for the care of children and young people 

                   could opt out of their responsibility to these young people where they proved difficult to 

                   control. To summarise on this point, it is the Minister’s view that nobody below 17 years 

                   should be detained in institutions under his control but that if the Government considers 

                   17  too  high,  he  would  urge  that  the  age  should  not  be  set  as  less  than  16  years. 

                   Furthermore, he is of the view that persons under 17 or 16 years (as may be decided) 

                   should  not  be  committed  to  such  institutions  on  the  ground  that  they  are  unruly.  They 

                   should be detained in institutions run by caring agencies operating under the control of 

                   the Minister for Health or the Minister for Education and those agencies should be required 

                   to receive them and provide proper custodial facilities for them.324 



4.426       When  the  Department  of  Justice  was  contacted  by  the  Department  of  Health  in  relation  to 

            redrafting the section on juvenile justice, the Minister for Justice replied that: 



                   his  Department  would  continue  to  give  whatever  assistance  was  possible  by  way  of 

                   commenting on texts and by participating at occasional meetings but made it clear that 

                   Justice was not prepared to take over the preparation of the juvenile justice aspects of 

                   the bill.325 



4.427       The Department of Health, however, were of the view, that: 



                   The preparation of new juvenile justice legislation is essentially a matter of refining and 

                   modifying criminal law and procedure as it affects children. Changes in the criminal law 

                   are  entirely   a  matter  for  the    Minister  for  Justice;    similarly,  changes  in  the      role  and 

                   procedures of the Gardai and the Courts in relation to children are unlikely to take place 

                                                  ´ 



            323 Ibid. 

            324 Ibid. 

            325 Ibid. 



            396                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2437-----------------------

                  without the active support and involvement of the Minister for Justice and his Department. 

                   Having examined the matter over the last few months I am convinced that the input which 

                  this Department is skilled to make in reforming the juvenile justice system and the role 

                  which health boards could be expected to play in any new system is limited to: — 



                                (i)   ensuring that the correct balance is maintained in the legislation between the 

                                      protection of the public and the provision of care, support and rehabilitation 

                                      to the young offender; 



                                (ii)  identifying  children  at  risk  of  getting  into  trouble  with  the  law  and  making 

                                      available services and facilities which would seek to stem the drift towards 

                                      crime and vandalism; 



                               (iii)  extending the range of options available to the courts by equipping health 

                                      boards to provide counselling and remedial treatment programmes for young 

                                      offenders who do not require custodial care.326 



4.428       At this stage, the Department of Health concluded that any attempt to introduce a comprehensive 

            bill to  replace   the   Children  Act    1908    and  the    various   Health  Acts     would   face  considerable 

            difficulties and instead it was agreed that separate legislation would deal with the core substantive 

            areas of child welfare and protection, adoption and juvenile justice. This series of reforms were 

            agreed by Government and in 1984 a formal announcement of this decision was outlined by the 

            Government in its national plan, Building on Reality, 1985-1987. Building on Reality stated: 



                   It  is  intended  to  introduce  three  Bills  in  relation  to  the  care  and  protection  of  children. 

                   Much of the existing legislation in this area is now outdated and not sufficiently in keeping 

                  with current concepts in regard to the well-being of the child. The first of the new Bills is 

                  at an advanced stage of preparation and will provide a wide range of new measures as 

                  well as considerable up-dating of the Children Act, 1908, which is the basis of much of 

                  the existing law in regard to child care. This Bill will impose a clear obligation on health 

                   boards  to  promote  the  care  and  protection  of  children.  It  will  inter  alia;  provide  for  the 

                   registration and control of day care services for children; make amendments to the present 

                   provision in relation to foster care and give greater protection to children; provide for the 

                   registration   and    supervision     of  children’s   homes;     provide    better   and    more    flexible 

                  arrangements for taking children into care; include a range of new provisions aimed at 

                   protecting   the   child  in  regard    to  such    matters    as  volatile   substances;     and    provide 

                   protection  for  children  in  relation  to  pornography.  The  emphasis  in  the  Bill  will  be  on 

                   keeping the child in a family setting rather than in residential care....The Government is 

                  also committed to bringing forward revised measures in regard to juvenile justice. This 

                  will be the subject of a third Bill which is under examination at the moment.327 



4.429       However, the Department of Health noted that: 



                  The plan gave no indication as to which Minister or Department would prepare the third 

                   Bill. The Department understood from the Minister that it would be done by Justice while 

                  Justice  apparently believed  that Health  were to  do it.  In the  event, neither  Department 

                   has taken any initiatives in relation to the juvenile justice bill. There the matter rests. There 

                   have  been  no  further  contacts  between  the  two  Departments in  the  matter,  apart  from 

                  occasional skirmishes about responsibility for answering Parliamentary Questions on the 

                  subject. The Department of Justice have availed of every possible opportunity to promote 

                  the  idea  that  this  Department  is  responsible  for  new  juvenile  justice  legislation.  Their 

                   repeated  attempts  to  have  inserted  in  the  Child  Care  Bill  a  provision  prohibiting  the 

                   hanging of persons under 18 is a typical example of this campaign. 



            326 Ibid. 

            327 Government of Ireland (1984) Building on Reality, 1985-1987. Dublin: Stationery Office. pp 98-100. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  397 


----------------------- Page 2438-----------------------

4.430       As noted earlier in the paper, legislation was prepared on this basis and the Child Care Bill 1988 

            was enacted into law by President Mary Robinson on 10th July 1991, as the Child Care Act 1991. 

            The Act superseded the Child (Care and Protection) Bill 1985, which was designed to update and 

            extend the law relating to the care and protection of children.328  The second stage of the Bill was 



             passed  in  the  Dail  on  23rd  January  1987  but  had  not  progressed  further  by  the  time  of  the 

                                   ´ 

                                       ´ 

            dissolution  of  the Dail  in  January  1987. The  Bill  had  also ran  into  difficulties  when a  Supreme 

                                                                                                      ´ 

            Court judgement, in a case known as KC and AC v An Bord Uchtala, cast serious doubts over 

            the constitutionality of two of the key elements; firstly, proposals to make it easier for children to 

             be placed in health board care and, secondly, provisions which would have enabled the courts to 

            grant custody rights to foster parents. A number of non-profit agencies in the area of child welfare 

            were also critical of the Bill arguing that: 



                    in the context of the debate on children’s issues  over the past two decades this Bill is 

                    seriously    lacking    and    fails  to   address     itself  to   some     of  the    central   issues     which 

                    practitioners, policy makers and legislators have considered.329 



4.431        In  preparing  new  legislation  to  replace  the  Child  (Care  and  Protection)  Bill,  it  was  noted  that 

             initially: 



                   the   Bill  as   welcomed      by  all   the   major    groups  involved       in  child  care.    Subsequently, 

                    however, it was subjected to severe criticism on two main fronts. On the one side were 

                   those  who  felt  it  did  not  go  far  enough  to  promote  the  welfare  of  children  and,  on  the 

                    other, were those who felt that it posed a threat to parental rights and family autonomy.330 



4.432        In drafting the replacement legislation, the Department of Health outlined that: 



                    The main differences between the General Scheme and the Bill published by the previous 

                    Government are: 



                                  (i)   the distinction between ‘children’ (those up to 15 years) and ‘young persons’ 

                                        (those from 15-17 years) has been dropped; all persons under 18 years are 

                                        now defined as children 



                                  (ii)  the   provisions     regarding     the   supervision     of  child   minding     and   children’s 

                                        residential homes have been revised so as to avoid unnecessary intervention 

                                        inthe    operation      of   these     services     and     to   simplify    the    bureaucratic 

                                        procedures involved. 



                                 (iii)  The provisions in regard to placing children in health board care have been 

                                        reformulated primarily in the light of the constitutional considerations already 

                                        referred to; 



            328 In his memoirs, Mr Barry Desmond, the Minister for Health at that time recalled: ‘When I introduced the Children’s 



                (Care and Protection) Bill 1985, no less than 15 years had lapsed since the recommendation of the Committee on 

                Reformatory and Industrial School Systems (the Kennedy Report) of 1970. From February 1983 to April 1985 I had 

                worked unceasingly within the Department of Health in consultation with the departments of Finance, Justice, 

                Education and Labour to have a comprehensive bill drafted. The observations of Justice alone ran to 35 pages. 

                Between September and December 1984 we had innumerable consultations with Matt Russell of the Attorney 

                General’s office. It was an uphill battle every week. Matt used to admonish me: “Minister, your bill is like a ball of 

                string. Pull a thread and it keeps on coming!”. Without the intense efforts of Liam Flanagan, Dr Joe Robins, assistant 

                secretary and Donal Devitt, principal officer, I doubt if the bill would have seen the light of day in 1985. The work of 

                Augusta McCabe, the social work advisor to the childcare division of the department, was of enormous assistance.’ 

                Desmond, B (2000) Finally and in Conclusion: A Political Memoir. Dublin: New Island Books. p 276. 

            329 Barnardos, Campaign for the Care of Deprived Children, Campaign for the Development of Social Services, Cherish, 



                Focus-Point, Federation of Services for the Unmarried Mother and their Children, Irish Association of Care Workers, 

                Irish Pre-School Playgroup Association, Irish Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children, Local Government and 

                Public Service Union, World organisation for Early Childhood Education, Probation and Welfare Officers’ Branch, 

                Voluntary and Statutory Workers of the North Inner City, Irish Foster Care Association (1986) Response to Children 

                (Care and Protection) Bill 1985. Dublin. 

            330 Department of Health, Child Care Bill 1988 – Consultation with Govt Depts – C1.03.03. 



            398                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2439-----------------------

                                (iv)  Proposals which would have enabled foster parents to seek the custody of 

                                      children  in  certain  circumstances  have  been  dropped  because  of  doubts 

                                      about    their   constitutionality    and   because      child  care    interests   were,    on 

                                       balance, opposed to them. 



                   The    introduction    of   new    legislation    in  relation    to  child   care    services    has    been 

                   recommended by various official reports in recent years...Not all the proposals in these 

                   reports have been accepted but they have been nevertheless, a major influence in the 

                   preparation of the Scheme. Many of the recommendations in the reports were in the area 

                   of juvenile justice and the Minister considers that these should be dealt with in a separate 

                  juvenile justice bill which would, more appropriately, be the responsibility of the Minister 

                   for Justice.331 



4.433       On  the  matter  of  juvenile  justice,  the  explanation  given  by  the  Department  of  Health  for  the 

            approach of the Department of Justice to the issue was: 



                   it was the Minister for Health who established the Task Force 



                                 (i)   it was the Minister for Health who asked the Task Force to prepare a new 

                                       Children Bill which was, inter alia, to deal with young offenders; 



                                (ii)   it was the Minister for Health that the Task Force submitted its report; 



                                (iii)  following the disbandment of the Task Force, the task of preparing a new 

                                       Children Bill, involving measures in relation to young offenders, devolved on 

                                       the Minister for Health.332 



4.434       However, the Department of Health took the view that the decision of October 1974 was not as 

            unambiguous as the Department of Justice were indicating. The Department of Health took the 

            view that: 



                   The Government decision of October, 1974, allocated to the Minister for Health the main 

                   responsibility  in  relation  to  child  care.  It  did  not  assign  him  the  main  responsibility  in 

                   relation to children. It was never intended that Health should take over responsibility for 

                   each and every service and piece of legislation that affects children. (If that were the case, 

                   the  Department  of  Education  should  by  now,  have  been  subsumed  into  Health).  The 

                   contention  that  juvenile  justice  legislation  ‘belongs’  to  Health  simply  because  it  affects 

                   children defies any reasonable interpretation of the Government decision. (emphasis in 

                   original)333 



4.435       The    justification  by   the   Department      of   Health    for  allocating   to   the  Department       of  Justice 

            responsibility for preparing new juvenile justice legislation was that firstly that the public mood for 

            a welfarist approach had dissipated since the mid-1970s and secondly that since in its essence, 

            the  legislation was  in the  criminal justice  domain, it  was not  appropriate for  the Department  of 

            Health to be the lead Department. On the first point, the memo stated: 



                   In 1974 the demand was for a shift to a welfare-oriented approach to juvenile offenders 

                   in which the health boards and social workers would play a lead role. Thirteen years later 

                   the social climate has changed dramatically. There has been an increase in crime and 

                   vandalism, much of it attributed to juveniles. In addition, the involvement of juveniles in 

                   such  horrific  cases  as  the  Fairview  Park  murder  and  the  killing  of  two  youngsters  in 

                   Ballyfermot in a so called ‘joy-riding’ incident has dampened enthusiasm for any relaxation 

                   of the law. The campaign for the raising of the age of criminal responsibility has lost much 

                   of  its  edge.  In  the  situation  in  which  we  now  find  ourselves,  the  involvement  of  the 



            331 Ibid. 

            332 Ibid. 

            333 Ibid. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                    399 


----------------------- Page 2440-----------------------

                   Department of Heath in the preparation of new juvenile justice legislation is, to say the 

                   least, questionable, if not entirely inappropriate.334 



4.436       On the second point, it stated that: 



                   The  preparation  of  a  new  juvenile  justice  bill  is  essentially  a  matter  of  refining  and 

                   modifying criminal law and procedure as it affects children and bringing about changes in 

                   the methods and approaches of the Gardai and the Courts in relation to young offenders. 

                                                                         ´ 

                   Can it seriously be argued that this does not fall fairly and squarely within the remit of the 

                   Minister for Justice and his Department?335 



4.437       It was not until the early 1990s that responsibility was primarily allocated to the Department of 

            Justice to prepare new juvenile justice legislation. At this stage, debates on formulating juvenile 

            justice legislation on either ‘welfare’ or ‘justice’ principles were to a degree superseded by attempts 

            to devise legislation on ‘restorative’ grounds.336           In December 1996, a Children Bill was published 



            and the second stage was completed in the Dail in February 1997. However, the Bill fell on the 

                                                                         ´ 

                                            ´ 

            dissolution of the 27th Dail, but in September 1997 it was restored to the order paper. In excess 

            of 150 amendments to the Bill were put forward and, on this basis, it was agreed that a new Bill 

            be  prepared, the  Children Bill  1999. This  was eventually  enacted as  the Children  Act 2001  as 

            highlighted earlier in the paper. 



            Transfer of responsibility for children’s residential homes from the Minister for 

            Education to the Minister for Health and Funding Homes 



4.438       In August 1982, a memorandum for Government was prepared on the transfer of responsibility for 

            children’s residential homes from the Minister for Education to the Minister for Health. In addition to 

            seeking to transfer the homes, the decision also sought ‘the allocation of the necessary funds to 

            wipe  out  the  accumulated  deficits  of  these  homes  and  to  place  them  on  a  proper  budgetary 

            system’.  The  justification  for  the  transfer  to  the  Department  of  Health  from  the  Department  of 

            Education was that: 



                            (i)  the  homes  should  now  be  regarded  as  child  care  establishments  rather  than 

                                 educational. This is particularly so at present in the situation where, in all but two 

                                 of the homes, the children attend outside schools, thereby reducing significantly 

                                 the involvement of the Department of Education with the homes; 



                           (ii)  the vast majority of the children in these homes are now the responsibility of the 

                                 various health boards. The health boards pay for the children in the homes at the 

                                 approved capitation rate and have the responsibility of providing supportive social 

                                 work services for the children and their families as well as being responsible for 

                                 the after-care of the children; 



                          (iii)  the   transfer   of  ministerial    responsibility    to  the   Minister    for  Health    would    be 

                                 consistent with the objective of unifying, as far as possible, responsibility for the 

                                 child care services under one Minister. 



4.439       In addition, the memo noted: 



                   The report of the Committee on Reformatory and Industrial Schools System (the Kennedy 

                   Report) recommended in 1970 that responsibility for children’s residential homes should 

                   be transferred to the Minister for Health. In 1976 the Department of Education formally 



            334 Ibid. 

            335 Ibid. 

            336 A number of statutory reports including the National Youth Policy Committee (1984) Final Report. Dublin: Stationery 



                                                                                                                        ´ 

                Office; the Committee of Inquiry into the Penal System (1985) Report. Dublin: Stationery Office and Dail Eireann 

                (1992) First Report of the Select Committee on Crime – Juvenile Crime – Its Causes and Its Remedies. Dublin: 

                Government of Ireland had all broadly endorsed a welfarist approach to juvenile justice. 



            400                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2441-----------------------

                 recorded   its agreement    with  the  Kennedy    Report   recommendations.      Since  then   the 

                 Department  of  Health  has  in  fact  taken  the  lead role  in  negotiating  with  the  homes  on 

                 matters of overall policy in the field of residential child care. More recently the Final Report 

                of  the   Task   Force   on  Child   Care   Services   recommended       the  formal   transfer  of 

                 responsibility for these homes to the Minister for Health. The Department of Education, 

                 Finance and the Public Service  have been consulted and they are in favour  of such a 

                transfer taking place. 



4.440      However, before the transfers could take place, the memo highlighted the financial position of the 

           homes and the necessity of solving that issue. 



                At present the homes are financed by way of a weekly capitation payment in respect of 

                each child. The payment is made by the authority responsible for the placement of the 

                child which, as already stated, means the health board in the vast majority of cases, the 

                capitation rate is revised on an annual basis and fixed by order of he Minister for Education 

                after consultation with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Finance. The Managers 

                of the homes claim that in recent years capitation has tended to lag behind real increases 

                 in the cost of looking after children and that, as a result, a number of homes have accrued 

                considerable    deficits. The   Minister   for Health   made    funds   available  in  last year’s 

                 Supplementary Estimates to help clear these deficits. Notwithstanding this, and despite 

                an increase since January 1982 from £54 to £68 in the weekly capitation rate, a number 

                of homes have already this year indicated that they are in serious financial difficulty and 

                anticipate considerable deficits by the end of the current year. The Managers of the homes 

                 have  persistently  expressed  dissatisfaction  with  the  capitation  method  of  financing  the 

                 homes and have requested that there should be an immediate transfer to a budget system 

                of financing. 



4.441     The justification for moving from a capitation system to a budget system was that it would give 

           ‘health boards greater control as regards the overall policies and afford the homes the benefit of 

          the board’s expertise in the management of resources with particular reference to staffing, their 

           major cost factor’. It was estimated by the Department of Health that £1.5 million would be needed 

          to wipe out the accumulated deficits of the residential homes as at 31st December 1982 and to 

          achieve the objectives of clearing the deficits and transferring the homes: 



                The  Minister   for  Health  proposes  that   as  a  preliminary  step  to  a  formal  transfer  of 

                 responsibility  for  these  homes  a  group  of  officers  of  the  Departments  of  Education, 

                 Finance and Health should analyse the statements of accounts and estimates submitted 

                 by the homes, with a view to arriving at a firm figures for the wiping out of the accumulated 

                deficits of the homes and of transferring from capitation to a budget system of financing. 

                This proposal has the support of the Departments of Finance and Education. He further 

                seeks a commitment from the Government that the necessary funds be made available 

                to him by way of a special allocation to allow him act on the findings of the group. In that 

                connection the Minister would also look critically, in association with the health boards, at 

                the  present  manner  of  operation  of  each  residential  centre  particularly  with  a  view  to 

                ensuring that children suitable for fosterage or other community based types of care are 

                 not institutionalised. Department of Finance consider that it would be inappropriate for the 

                 Government to make any decisions on the future financing of these homes and liquidating 

                their  deficits  until  the  proposed    inter-departmental    committee     has   completed    its 

                examination of the homes financial position. However, the Minister for Health would not 

                 be  prepared  to  take  over  responsibility  in  a  situation  where  he  would  be  faced  with 

                demands for additional funds necessary to put the homes  on a sound financial footing 

                and where such funds were not made available to him. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                    401 


----------------------- Page 2442-----------------------

4.442      On 25th August 1982 the Government: 



                    (1)   agreed, in principle, that the functions in relation to children’s residential homes should 

                          be transferred from the Minister for Education to the Minister for Health; and 



                    (2)   decided that an Interdepartmental Committee comprising officials of the Department 

                          of  Education,    Finance,    Health    and   Justice   should    be  established     to  review   the 

                          operation and financing of the homes. 



4.443       In December 1983, following receipt of the report of the interdepartmental committee, a memo 

           was sent to Government formally seeking to transfer children’s  homes from the Department of 

            Education to the Department of Health. 



           Difficulties in implementation – transfer and finance 



4.444      The decision to establish an interdepartmental committee and the deliberations that gave rise to 

            it  provide a  useful  example of  the  difficulty  of implementation  in  the area  of  child welfare.  The 

            Kennedy Committee had recommended that the system of funding residential care move from a 

           capitation system to a budget system and that responsibility for the administration of childcare be 

           given to the Department of Health. However, this would not be finally agreed on and implemented 

            until 1984 and involved the commissioning of a number of further reports, and the establishment 

           of an inter-departmental committee, before formal agreement could be reached. The transfer of 

           functions relating to Industrial Schools from the Minister for Education to the Minister for Health 

           on 1st January 1984337       effectively centralised all statutory responsibilities for children’s homes to 



           the   Department      of  Health.    From    that   date   the  Department       of  Health   assumed      statutory 

            responsibility for 24 Industrial Schools in addition to the 17 approved homes for which it already 

            had  responsibility  under  the  Health  Act  1953.  The  only  residential  facilities  for  children  in  care 

           operating outside the aegis of the Minister for Health were the four Special Schools, which were 

           controlled and funded by the Minister for Education. January 1984 also marked a major change 

            in the funding of children’s homes. Homes in the past were financed from a combination of public 

           and  private  funds.  Grants  payable  jointly  by  the  State  and  local  authorities  in  respect  of  the 

            maintenance of children committed to certified Industrial Schools were provided for in the Children 

           Act 1908. Grants took the form of a fixed sum per child per week – a capitation rate, with half the 

            rate paid  by the Minister  for Education  and half by  the local authority.  A school’s  income from 

           these sources was supplemented by fund-raising. As the number of children committed by the 

           courts  to  the  homes  declined,  the  number  of  children  placed  by  the  health  boards  increased. 

            Health boards paid the full capitation rate for these children and also for children placed by them 

            in Approved Homes. This system of payment ceased from 1st January 1984 and children’s homes 

           from that point were now funded directly on a budget basis by their local health board, following 

            recommendations by a special inter-departmental committee established by the Minister for Health 

           to examine the financing of all children’s homes. 



           Financing residential childcare 



4.445      On 23rd October 1974, Mr O Maitiu wrote to Mr Hensey in the Department of Health informing 

                                                       ´ 

            him that the Department of Education was studying the question of the financing of the residential 

            homes  and  that  discussions  had  taken  place  with  the Association  of  Workers  in  Child  Care  in 

            relation to recommendation 11 of the Kennedy Report. In his letter he stated that ‘because an 

            increasing proportion of the children in the homes are the responsibility of the health authorities 

           and particularly in view of the recent Government decision on the role of the Minister for Health 

            in regard to child care, we think we should not go further with the matter at this stage until we 

                                                            ´ 

            have consulted with your Department’. O Maitiu enclosed a detailed memorandum on the issue 

                                                                     ´ 

           which reflected the Department’s thinking at that time. The memo highlighted that: 



           337 SI No 358/1983: Education (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order1983. 



           402                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2443-----------------------

                 One of the points basic to the Kennedy Report recommendations was that children should 

                 be placed in, and retained in, residential care only when there was no suitable alternative. 

                 In  this  context,  it  was  felt  that  a  system  of  financing  homes  by  capitation  grant  could 

                 encourage homes to try to retain children who should suitably be returned home or placed 

                 elsewhere under supervision. 



4.446      In addition: 



                 A  further  recommendation  in  the  Kennedy  Report  in  relation  to  the  need  to  provide 

                 separately  for  works  of  a  capital  nature  has  been  accepted  and  in  the  provision  since 

                 1971/72  of  a  capital  sub-head  for  new  buildings  and  since  1973/74  of  a  sub-head  for 

                 grants towards the modernisation and adaptation of existing buildings (sub-heads E & H 

                 in Vote 32). 



4.447      In relation to the system of capitation funding, the memo highlighted: 



                 The capitation grant for children committed through the courts is paid in approximately 

                 equal shares by the Department of Education and the Co. Council or Co. Borough (except 

                 for children over 17 years of age, where the entire grant is paid by the Department). In 

                 recent  years,  to  avoid  the  stigma  of  committal  proceedings,  the  tendency  has  been  to 

                 have the child referred to the home wherever possible by the Health Authority, under the 

                 provisions of section 55 of the Health Act, 1953. Health Authorities pay a capitation grant 

                 for the children for whom they are responsible equal to the total of the State grant plus 

                 local authority grant in the case of committed children. Voluntary cases are paid by their 

                 parents or relatives – the amounts contributed are usually nominal. 



4.448      He highlighted that not only was the Department concerned with the method of payment, but that 

           the homes themselves were unhappy with the system of financing as: 



                 the money comes from so many sources and there is often delay in payment. From the 

                 administrative  point  of  view  the  system  is  anomalous,  wasteful  and  archaic.  As  the 

                 Government has decided that health charges will be transferred from the local rates to 

                 the central exchequer, the Health Authority grants will in future be borne directly by the 

                 Department of Health, whereas the grants for committed children will continue to be borne 

                 jointly by the Department of Education and the Co./Co. Borough Councils. There is much 

                 to be said for making all the grants a charge on central funds: this would involve releasing 

                 the councils from the obligations laid upon them by the Children Acts. 



4.449      The Department was also under pressure to deal with the financing of the homes. 



                 This   pressure    has  come     from   two  related   sources.    Firstly, it was    also  a  major 

                 recommendation of the Kennedy Report that large institutional buildings should be sub- 

                 divided into small self-contained units or, where new buildings were needed, these should 

                 be  in  the  form   of small   group   homes.    This  recommendation       was   accepted    by  the 

                 Department and funds for the conversion of old buildings and the erection of new ones 

                 have been made available by the Department of Finance since 1971. It was in fact already 

                 being implemented independently, so far as their sources would allow, by some of the 

                 homes. The effect of a move to small groups is, obviously, some sacrifice of the more 

                 economical functioning of the larger institutional structures, particularly as concerns staff 

                 numbers. The second source of pressure on the Department has been the decline in the 

                 number of religious available to staff the homes and the consequent employment by the 

                 conductors of lay people as staff in much greater numbers than before. Such lay people 

                 are  not  prepared  to  work  for  the  salary  rates  which  the  capitation  grant  permits  the 

                 conductors  to  offer  them,  nor  are  they  prepared  to  enter  a  type  of  employment  where 

                 salary rates and other conditions are not agreed on a general basis. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        403 


----------------------- Page 2444-----------------------

4.450      What made the situation particularly problematic was that: 



                 The  present  rates  of  grant  are  not  based  on  any  rationally  worked-out  norms...grant 

                 increases since 1969 have aimed solely at maintaining the position attained at that time 

                 when the grant was somewhat arbitrarily doubled in face of growing public awareness of 

                 its hopeless inadequacy. The grant in most cases appears more than adequate to cover 

                 the cost of maintaining the children, but it is not adequate to cover as well the salaries of 

                 care staff and wages of domestic staff. Some homes show a small surplus on the year’s 

                 working,  but  closer  examination  reveals  that  they  have  allowed  no  salaries  (or  only 

                 notional  salaries)  for  religious  staff  engaged  in  full-time  care  work.  On  the  other  hand 

                 homes employing a majority of lay staff show heavy deficits, especially where male staff 

                 have to be employed to care for senior boys in homes conducted by nuns. 



4.451      As a consequence, he argued: 



                 there would be a great deal of difficulty, from an administrative point of view in converting 

                 entirely to a budget system, as recommended by the Kennedy Report. The information to 

                 hand suggests that it would be largely a futile exercise to have homes present estimates 

                 of expenditure in the absence of parameters which could be applied to the items in such 

                 expenditures. In these circumstances, the Department believes that there is no alternative 

                 for  the  present  to  continuing  to  pay  grants  in  respect  of  non-pay  expenditure  on  a 

                 capitation basis. 



4.452      On the issue of staffing, he noted: 



                 there are wide variations in levels of staffing. However, in this case, the Department does 

                 consider that some rational basis of staffing can be worked out. Moreover, it is relation to 

                 the setting up of a recognised framework of staff salaries that the most insistent pressure 

                 is  coming  on  the  implementation  of  the  Kennedy  recommendation  about  financing.  In 

                 regard to staffing, it may be said that the information supplied by homes is not a reliable 

                 guide to appropriate levels of staffing in that a low staff cost is more likely to indicate an 

                 inadequate service than to reflect prudent economy. In very few cases could staffing be 

                 regarded as adequate by present day standards in other countries. 



4.453      He further elaborated that: 



                 In fact, the question of staffing could be regarded as the major weakness of the system 

                 as it is at present. New buildings and reconstruction grants are gradually bringing matters 

                 to  a  point  where   it will not  be   possible  to  allege   that children   are  housed    in  poor 

                 accommodation.  The  authorities  of  the  homes  are  solicitous  in  relation  to  the  material 

                 well-being of the children in their care and it could not be denied that the children in these 

                 homes  to-day  are  well-fed  and  adequately  clothed  and  that  they  have  proper  medical 

                 services  available.  These  are  relatively  tangible  and  measurable  things,  however.  The 

                 real test of the quality of service provided by the homes lies in their success in fostering 

                 the  personal  development  of  the  children.  Many  of  these  children  come  from  broken 

                 homes  and  the  painful  experience  of  home  life  in  these  situations  means  that  most  of 

                 them carry some measure of emotional disturbance. The care of these children requires 

                 trained staff but, more importantly, adequate numbers of staff. 



4.454      What was now required, he argued, was: 



                 to determine appropriate pay rates. It is perhaps the most persistent source of complaint 

                 in regard to financing that recognised rates of pay do not exist and that religious engaged 

                 in  the  work  are  not  paid.  The  modern  concept  of  residential  child  care  is  that  it  is  a 

                 professional task, calling for certain qualities and skills. The idea of substitute parenthood 

                 is outdated. Formerly many of the children in the homes were illegitimate or orphans and 

                 came into the home as babies. With the development of adoption and fosterage this is no 



           404                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2445-----------------------

                  longer the case. Most children now coming into care have parents of their own and are 

                  in care because of a break-down in the natural home or of relationships within the home. 

                  Not  only do  they require  the ‘nurturing’  care which  parents normally  provide; they  also 

                  require  remedial  care  relating  in  various  degrees  to  the  physical  and  mental  damage 

                  which they have suffered in the home environment. 



4.455      He further elaborated on the nature of children in residential care and the implications for child 

           care workers. 



                  Some of these children express their disturbance in many forms of antisocial behaviour, 

                  ranging   from   violent   aggression     to  complete    withdrawal.    The    remedial   task   of  the 

                  residential care worker is to assist such children to overcome the trauma of their home 

                  experience, to adjust to the residential situation and, in spite of its inherent disadvantages, 

                  to attain therein their full potential as human beings. He must always have in mind that 

                  the child should be returned to his natural home as soon as it is feasible to do so – this 

                  involves close liaison with the Health Boards and other agencies working to rehabilitate 

                  the  entire  family.   Residential    child  care,  therefore    is now    developing     as  a  distinct 

                  discipline,  with  different  levels  of  expertise.  It  has  some of  the  elements  of  the  task  of 

                  social worker, the teachers and the nurse, together with separate qualities of its own. 



4.456      In  1975,  the  Department  of  Education  commissioned  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  financing  of 

           residential homes, which was completed in February.338  The report concluded that 



                  the present system of payments to homes from a variety of sources is administratively 

                  wasteful and places unnecessary burdens on the homes. Payments should be made, in 

                  present circumstances, only by the Department of Education which would subsequently 

                  recover the appropriate payments from the local authorities and the Department of Health.’ 



4.457      The report recommended that a budget system be put in place on the following grounds 



                         (a)   It is administratively less expensive than direct payment of careworkers’ salaries. 



                         (b)   It  gives  the  Department  greater       control  over   expenditure  in  the    homes  and 

                               consequently over policy-making in the homes - capitation grants give the homes 

                               greater freedom to develop and implement their own policies. 



                         (c)   Capitation    grants   are   being   phased     out  as   a  system    of  financing    by  the 

                               Department  of  Health.  If  residential  homes  are  made  the  responsibility  of  the 

                               Department  of  Health,  the  transfer  of  responsibility  would  be  facilitated  by  the 

                               introduction of budget financing as soon as possible. 



                         (d)   It can be operated to facilitate homes in providing a satisfactory superannuation 

                               scheme. 



4.458      However, the Department of Education continued to favour the capitation scheme on the grounds 

           that  it  gave  the  homes  greater  freedom  to  manage  their  own  affairs  and  to  decide  their  own 

           priorities. The Department of Finance on the other hand, in correspondence with the Department 

           of Education on 20th February 1976, favoured another option outlined in the report, a capitation 

           grant,  but  the  salaries  paid  directly  by  the  Department  of  Education,  with  the  proviso  that  no 

           additional  staff  could  be  employed  in  the  homes  and  that  contributions  by  local  authorities  be 

           maintained in the same proportion as the currently paid. The Department of Education were in 

           broad agreement with the report, but noted that salaries should take cognisance of the fact that 

           staff did not work a rigid 40-hour week and would have to work anti-social hours. On the issue of 

           the  Department  of  Education  paying  the  staff  salaries  directly,  the  Department  replied  to  the 

           Department of Finance stating they were: 



           338 DE1P0118-097. McDonagh, K (1975) The Financing of Residential Group Homes. An Roinn Oideachais. McDonagh 



              was a systems analyst in the Department of Education. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              405 


----------------------- Page 2446-----------------------

                  very doubtful about this. It would mean creating what would be to all intents a new cadre 

                  of public servants, paid directly by the State. Would your proposal that we pay these staff 

                  at  their  existing  rates  be  workable?  Some  are  paid  nothing  at  all,  some  take  notional 

                  salaries out of the grant, some are paid varying amounts, depending on what the particular 

                  home can afford. A few are being paid the rates for Lusk and Finglas, which we consider 

                  too  high  for  the  residential  homes.  If  the  State  takes  over,  a  claim  for  uniformity  of 

                  remuneration will be irresistible and it will go for the highest level rather than the lowest. 

                  All the staff basically are doing the same job. With the State as paymaster these staffs 

                  would immediately become unionised and thereby gain immediate access to the Labour 

                  Court. We have been very disappointed at the rigid Union attitudes which have developed 

                  in  Lusk    and   Finglas    and   which    have   led   to  demands      which    we   consider    grossly 

                  excessive....The  Department  is  of  the  view  that  nothing  should  be  done  which  would 

                  detract  from  the  voluntary  character  of  all  these  homes  –  whether  they  are  financially 

                  supported  by  this  Department,  the  Department  of  Health  or  a  mixture  of  the  two.  The 

                  State should not interfere in this sensitive area any more than is necessary. 



4.459       In  addition  to  recommending  a  budget  method  of  financing,  the  report  recommended  that  the 

            system  of  parental  contributions,  which  applied  to  some  children  committed  to  the  homes,  be 

            discontinued. The basis for this was that: 



                  it is clear that contributions from parents make at best a trivial contribution to the financing 

                  of the homes and indeed it is quite likely that the contribution is a negative one. There is 

                  no  financial  justification  for  these  contributions  and  on  the  other  hand  it  involves  the 

                  Department of Education and the Gardai in debt collection which does little to enhance 

                                                                    ´ 

                  the public image of either party. 



4.460       The Report envisaged two categories of Residential Homes – Category 1 homes to include Lusk, 

            Finglas and Clonmel that functioned as Residential Special Schools. These homes were to cater 

           for young offenders in need of special education as well as specialised psychological treatment. 

            Category  2  homes  were  to  include  all  other  Residential  Homes  for  which  the  Department  of 

            Education  had  responsibility.  As  a  rule,  the  report  envisaged  that  these  children  would  attend 

            primary   or  post   primary    schools    outside   the   home.    For   the  Category     2  homes,    the   report 

            recommended that care staff be sanctioned for each home on the basis of a staff/ child ratio of 

            1:4 with the following grades of care staff recognised. Resident Manager with overall responsibility 

           for the homes; senior House parent with responsibility for the group; house parent providing care 

            expertise  and  ensuring  that  trained  staff  is  present  with  the  children  at  all  times  and  assistant 

            house  parent  to  co-operate  with  the  house  parents.  The  report  further  recommended  that  an 

            incremental salary scale should be provided for each rank of careworker. 



4.461       In  addition  to  the  report  commissioned  by  the  Department  of  Education,  the  Association  of 

           Workers      for  Children    in  Care    (AWCC)      commissioned        Robert    J  Kidney    &   Co    Chartered 

           Accountants in 1976 to identify  the costs of maintaining children in care in  1975.339                   The report 



            concluded that the appropriate capitation rate was £40.90 per week, with the salaries for childcare 

           workers  equivalent  to  those  paid  to  the  childcare  workers  at  the  special  schools  for  young 

            offenders at Finglas and Lusk, and recommended a staffing ratio of 1:4. The AWCC in commenting 

            on the report argued: 



                  This capitation system was designed for a situation in which large numbers of children 

                  were being cared for in ‘institutional’ settings, mainly by religious workers for whom no 

                  salary provision was made. It is quite unsuited to present circumstances in which children 

                  are   cared   for  in  small,  family   type   groups,   within   one   complex,     requiring   inevitable 

                  duplication of some facilities and much greater staffing ratios. The considerable intake of 



            339 Kidney, RJ & Co (1976) ‘Cost of Maintaining Children in Care’. 



           406                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2447-----------------------

                 staff  in  recent  years  has  been  almost  entirely  lay  and  these  workers  are  entitled  to  a 

                 proper salary and career structure. 



4.462      It went on to outline that: 



                 Lengthy negotiations over two years have apparently failed to convince the Department 

                 of Education of the validity of our case. Increases in the capitation grant have been made 

                 from time to time, but little progress has been made on the basic issue of a salary scale 

                 for  child care   workers.   In  the  meanwhile,     these   workers   have   become     increasingly 

                 frustrated, and the religious managers of the homes are in the position where they cannot 

                 pay the most experienced of their workers even the minimum levels obtaining at Lusk and 

                 Finglas.  Dedicated  and  trained  staff,  realising  their  prior  obligation  to  the  children,  and 

                 unwilling to engage in industrial action, will be forced to leave the field for which the State 

                 has expended money in training them. 



4.463      In response to both reports, the Department of Education noted its role in relation to residential 

           childcare was very much in decline with the majority of children entering residential care via the 

           regional health boards rather than the courts. As a consequence, while retaining administrative 

           responsibility for the homes, they asserted that they had ‘no control of input and no responsibility 

           for many of the children in them. Planning, estimating etc. have been made extremely difficult and 

           the whole thing is now an administrative nightmare.’ On this basis, it was argued that 



                 the difficulties which arise when administration is divided between Departments cannot 

                 be solved simply by co-operation between Departments and result in waste of both time 

                 and money...At working level the correct line would appear to be that residential homes 

                 should go to the Department of Health, but that, because of their specific educational role, 

                 the  special   residential  schools   for  offenders   should   remain    the  responsibility  of  this 

                 Department. 



4.464      On  23rd  September  1976,  the  Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the  Minister  for  Education,  Mr  John 

           Bruton, in correspondence to the Taoiseach, Mr Liam Cosgrave, summarised the discussions that 

           had taken place in relation to the financing of the homes and crucially stated that: 



                 I should refer to the fact that the Kennedy Report, in 1970, recommends that, in effect, 

                 the residential homes be transferred to the Department of Health. While this issue forms 

                 part of the remit of the Task Force on Child Care, I wish to state, at this point, that the 

                 Department of Education now wishes to formally record its agreement with the Kennedy 

                 Report recommendation particularly as the Government has since allocated the lead role 

                 in child care to the Minister for Health. 



4.465      He also went on to say that: 



                 my Department is reviewing the position of he residential child care course in Kilkenny. It 

                 may be that some of the pressure for salary scales – and particularly for what we would 

                 regard as unreasonable levels of salary – arises from the expectations generated among 

                 graduates  of  a  professional  training  course.  The  question  is  whether  the  course,  in  its 

                 aims  and  content,  is  pitched  at  too  high  a  level  and  whether  a  course  of  that  level  is 

                 required by our needs. Since the course caters for personnel in homes administered by 

                 the Department of Health as well as in those administered by this Department, we propose 

                 to consult with the Department of Health before arriving at any policy lie in this matter. 



4.466      On  11th  October  1976,  the  Taoiseach,  Mr  Cosgrave,  received  a  letter  from  Sr  M.  Josephine, 

           Superior  General,  Convent  of  the  Mother  of  Mercy,  Carysfort  Park,  Blackrock,  County  Dublin, 

           where  she  sought  an  increase  in  the  salaries  to  be  paid  to  residential  childcare  workers,  and 

           stating that ‘we respectfully remind you that we who belong to your own constituency in which 

           one of our residential homes is situated (St Anne’s, Booterstown), have a special claim on your 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          407 


----------------------- Page 2448-----------------------

           consideration and support’. The Taoiseach contacted Mr Bruton at the Department of Education 

           who, in outlining the situation to the Taoiseach, stated: 



                  The claim recently submitted by the Association of Workers for Children in Care would 

                  involve more than double the State expenditure on the homes, in real terms, in the first 

                  year alone. The whole trust of the claim is related to staff salaries rather than the cost of 

                  maintaining the children. About 65 percent of the State expenditure under the A.W.C.C. 

                  proposals  would  be  in  respect  of  staff  salaries.  Frankly,  I  think  these  expectations  are 

                  unrealistic, especially in the present circumstances. One point I must emphasise is that 

                  we are totally opposed to any question of salary scales for child care workers in these 

                  homes  being  the  same  as  those  of  housemasters  in  Lusk  and  Finglas.  The  A.W.C.C. 

                  claims that both groups are doing substantially the same work. We disagree. The boys in 

                  Lusk  and  Finglas,  referred  for  persistent  delinquency,  are  significantly  more  difficult  to 

                  manage  than  the  vast  majority  in  the  homes.  However,  apart  from  this,  the  Lusk  and 

                  Finglas scales were deliberately designed to relate the housemasters with the teachers 

                  with whom they have to work closely. The staff in the homes, on the other hand, are similar 

                  to other staff in institutions for children who work alongside nurses. The implications for 

                  the cost of health services of paying child care staff in homes higher salaries than nurses 

                  could be enormous. 



4.467      On 2nd November 1976, the Department of Finance, in response to a series of representations 

           to the Taoiseach seeking the provision of a salary scale for childcare workers and the general 

           financing of the homes, outlined its position in a letter which stated: 



                  ..before any radical changes are made in the current arrangements for providing State 

                  aid for these homes, every effort must be made to rationalise the child care system by 

                  reducing the number of homes to reflect fully the dramatic fall in the number of children 

                  in care from about 2,900 to 1,200 over the past 10 years. While it is appreciated that this 

                  fall in  numbers      resulted    in  the   closure   of   some    homes     and    enabled     desirable 

                  improvements to be brought about in the standard of care of those remaining, it seems 

                  clear that there is still scope for rationalisation to produce economies in staff numbers and 

                  administration generally which would help to ensure that the system as a whole operates 

                  at a minimum cost in terms of public funds. The Minister is not convinced that the small 

                  group  concept  would  suffer  from  phasing  out  smaller  homes  in  favour  of  utilising  the 

                  capacity of the larger homes. In this context the analogy of high-density social housing 

                  may be cited to refute the view, put forward by the Department of Education, that only 

                  small buildings are suited to family-type units for children in care. As in the case of social 

                  housing, economic and budgetary factors must play a significant role in determining our 

                  system of child care. 



4.468      On  19th  November  1976,  a  further  meeting  took  place  between  the  Departments  of  Finance, 

           Education  and  Health  to  discuss  the  funding  of  the  homes.  One  of  the  issues  raised  was  the 

           disbursement of £150,000, a savings made in 1976, on the basis that additional expenditure was 

           sought on the expectation that advances would have been made during the years in the financing 

           of homes. However, on 14th December 1976, the Department of Finance wrote to the Department 

           of  Education  stating  that  ‘the  making  of  special  grants  as  proposed  at  this  stage  would  be 

           premature....and in the circumstances it is regretted that sanction as sought must be refused’. 



4.469      On 4th March 1977, the Tanaiste and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Department of Education 

           met with representatives from the Conference of Major Religious Superiors (CMRS)340                       to further 



           discuss the financing of the homes. At the meeting the Tanaiste informed the delegation that the 

           capitation fee was to increase from £18 to £22 with effect from 1st January 1977 and that he had 



           340 They were Rev Fr B Comiskey; Sr Josephine, Sisters of Mercy; Br D Drohan, Christian Brothers; and Mr Doorley, of 



               RJ Kidney and Co, Chartered Accountants. 



           408                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2449-----------------------

           established  an  inter-departmental  group  to  examine  the  issue.  The  delegation  from  the  CMRS 

           outlined their disappointment at the level of the increase and highlighted that the report they had 

           commissioned indicated that a rate of £40 was needed. On this basis, they felt they would have 

           no  option  but  to  close  a  number  of  the  homes  and  restrict  further  entries  to  the  homes.  The 

           delegation highlighted: 



                 the problem they faced in relation to the salaries of staff: they also mentioned a number 

                 of  subsidiary  matters  which  needed  attention  including  the  arrangements  for  making 

                  payments and the provision of medical care for the children in the homes. They saw it as 

                 a  State  responsibility  to  ensure  that  children  in  care  were  properly  looked  after.  They 

                 accepted that there was necessarily a lot of delicacy about the relationship between the 

                 State  and  the  Religious  Organisations  involved  in  the  provision  of  care.  It  could  be 

                 assumed,  however,  that  if  the  present  difficulties  were  overcome  the  Religious  Orders 

                 would wish to continue to make the same contribution as they are now making. 



4.470      The inter-departmental working group mentioned by the Tanaiste, was established by the Minister 

           for Health in February 1977 with the following terms of reference: 



                  Having regard to the analysis and recommendations made in the McDonagh and Kidney 

                  Reports, and to the decision in principle to adhere to the capitation system of financing, 

                 to (a) calculate a reasonable level of capitation payment at current prices; (b) recommend 

                  how such a rate, in real terms, might be introduced on a phased basis; (c) consider the 

                  implications of leaving salary determination for individual workers with the management 

                 of the homes; (d) make recommendations on the suggested next steps. 



4.471      At  a  meeting  of  the  inter-departmental  group  on  4th  February,  1977  it  was  reported  that  the 

           group accepted 



                 that the major problem facing the residential homes was one of finance. Reference was 

                  made    to  the  various    representations     which   had    been   received    in  recent   months 

                 expressing  dissatisfaction  with  the  level  of  financing  of  residential  homes.  The  main 

                 contention    in  these   representations     was   that  the  existing   capitation   grants   are  not 

                 sufficient to enable the payment of adequate remuneration to the staff employment in the 

                  homes. Mr. Matthews said that the salaries were as low as £16 per week and that persons 

                  in  receipt  of  such  low  salaries  had  a  legitimate  grievance.  The  policy  of  group  homes 

                  necessitated    more    staff  notwithstanding     that   the  overall   number     of  children   was 

                 decreasing. Another problem is that some of the religious orders are threatening to pull 

                 out of such work, and in any event the number of vocations had declined significantly in 

                 the last twenty years. 



4.472      On the same day, the Tanaiste and Minister for Health held a meeting with representatives from 

           the Council for Social Welfare341  regarding the financing of Residential Homes. At the meeting the 



           Council’s representatives explained that there was considerable urgency attached to the provision 

           of increased financial aid for the homes which otherwise, in many instances, would have to close 

           because of the level of indebtedness. There was particular difficulty about the very low level of 

           salaries that the homes were now paying to many of their staffs and the managements could no 

           longer  stand  over  this.  The  Tanaiste  told  the  deputation  that  the  capitation  rate  was  being 

           increased  from  £18  to  £22  with  effect  from  1st  January  1977  and  that  an  inter-departmental 

           working group was looking urgently at what further steps needed to be taken to overcome the 

           immediate  difficulties  and  that  this  group  would  report  by  31st  March,  1977.  Members  of  the 

           deputation also assured the Tanaiste that from the Hierarchy’s point of view there would be no 

           problem about such matters as staffing being more rigidly controlled than had hitherto been the 

           case.  The  briefing  note  prepared  by  the  Department  of  Health  for  this  meeting  provides  an 



           341 These were Drs Kavanagh and Birch, Sr Stanislaus and Miss Pauline Berwick. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            409 


----------------------- Page 2450-----------------------

           overview of the thinking of key officials in the Department of Health at this time. The note firstly 

           outlined the reasons for the request to meet. It outlined 



                        (a)  The    Council   for  Social  Welfare    is  a  Committee     of  the  Catholic   Bishops 

                             Conference. At its meeting in October last the Committee received a request from 

                             the Conference of Major Religious Superiors that the Hierarchy should approach 

                             the  Government  regarding  the  serious  situation  that  is  emerging  in  residential 

                             child care centres as a result of the lack of any salary structure for the child care 

                             staffs in those centres. 



                        (b)  The Conference of Major Religious Superiors represents the Orders which are, 

                             inter alia, involved in the running of residential child care centres. Notwithstanding 

                             their approach through the Council for Social Welfare they wish to put their case 

                             direct to the effect that 



                             (i)  they have exhausted all options known to them in trying to keep the homes 

                                  in operation and 



                             (ii) the  present  capitation  grant  system  in  quite  ineffective  and  that  they  are 

                                  seeking a system of financing as outlined in the Kidney Report.’ 



4.473      The note then went on to highlight ‘key points which may arise during discussions’ and they were 

           identified as: 



                        (i)  What is the State’s position in relation to these children? What role do the Orders 

                             (existing managements) see themselves playing in the future? The State must, 

                             ultimately,  where  the  parents  fail  ensure  that  the  children  receive  proper  care. 

                             The Orders may wish (although there is not much evidence at present to suggest 

                             this) to make a significant contribution in this area as part of their vocational work: 

                             in order to retain autonomy and flexibility they may, if possible, wish to share the 

                             burden  of  financing  at  least  part  of  the  costs.  At  a  minimum,  they  presumably 

                             intend to remain in the management of the homes, if the States support is seen 

                             in their terms to be reasonable. These are issues which might be explored during 

                             the meeting. 



                        (ii) Why  are  the  Departments  adhering  to  a  capitation  system  of  financing  at  this 

                             stage? After all nearly all ‘Health Institutions’ are now financed on a budget basis! 



                        (a)  it would probably be better, in the interests of the children involved, if the essential 

                             vocational nature of child care were retained and emphasised. This can best be 

                             done  where  there  is  a  flexible  approach  between  management  and  staff  on 

                             conditions  of  work,  leave  arrangements,  recruitment  etc.  and  ‘a  code  of  best 

                             practice’,   rather  than   formally   negotiated   minimum      national  standards,    is 

                             generally applied. 



                        (b)  A   capitation   system    enables    the   managements       to   retain  a   reasonably 

                             autonomous and flexible approach to the running of their homes. 



                        (c)  Once a budget system is introduced, statutory involvement must occur on a wide 

                             range of management issues e.g. numbers and types of staff, salary levels, leave 

                             arrangements, recruitment and removal from office. 



                        (d)  A budget system will be considerably more expensive to the State, certainly in 

                             the long term. It could, within a relatively short time, lead to a doubling in real 

                             terms of existing costs. 



                        (e)  A longer term decision about a change in the method of financing could be better 

                             made when a number of possible alternative approaches to child care have been 

                             developed  and  explored.  For  example,  a  widening  of  the  scope  and  level  of 

                             support for fostering; the establishment of small domestic type homes with two 

                             house  parents:  or  the  wider  use  of  homemakers  could  reduce  the  number  of 



           410                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2451-----------------------

                               children  in  residential  care  and  make  alternative  systems  of  financing  more 

                               attractive. These are the types of options that the Departments would hope to 

                               discuss with the managements when the immediate ‘crisis’ has been overcome. 



4.474      The 15-page report of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Financing of Children’s Residential 

           Homes was completed on 24th March 1977 and suggested that a reasonable rate of capitation 

           should be in the region of £28-30 per week. The Group also considered it prudent and desirable 

           to examine alternative forms of care for children: 



                  (a) with a view to developing more effective, efficient and acceptable forms of care; (b) in 

                  order to identify issues which may need to be agreed with the staffs concerned and could 

                  possibly be very significant in negotiations on future pay and conditions; (c) before the 

                  future  staffing   and   structures    in  residential   homes    are   examined      in  more    detail. 

                 Alternatives to residential care might include use of homemakers and full-time helps to 

                  keep  families  together  or  support  ‘inadequate’  parents;  development  of  boarding  out 

                  arrangements, with special training for foster parents of difficult or disturbed children; and 

                  development of small group homes in residential areas which could be run with part-time 

                  domestic help.342 



4.475      The report recommended an early meeting with the Conference of Major Religious Superiors to 

           acquaint them with their thinking and how best to resolve the pay issues in relation to residential 

           care. The report also noted that ‘in this connection, it is significant to note that the members of 

           the  hierarchy  who  met  the  Tanaiste  on  4th  March  emphasised  that  increased  controls  on  the 

           homes would be acceptable to the Hierarchy’. 



4.476      In a memorandum to Government from the Department of Health, dated 18th April 1977, it was 

           noted that the CMRS was seeking a substantial increase in the capitation rate and ‘in the absence 

           of  a  favourable  response,  eight  homes  will  be  closed  and  further  seventeen  will  refuse  new 

           admissions’. It noted that the Inter Departmental Group found that a capitation rate of between 

           £28 and £30 per week was necessary and sought agreement to negotiate an increased capitation 

           rate   of not   more    than  £30    per  week.    The   Minister   for  Finance    in  his  comments      on  the 

           memorandum  noted  that  State  support  for  the  homes  increased  from  £0.8m  in  1972-73  to  an 

           estimated £1.6m in 1977 and that he considered: 



                  that £30 per child per week should be the absolute limit of the Government grant in the 

                  current circumstances and that the Conference of Major Religious Superiors should be 

                  firmly informed accordingly. In his view the Government should not in any circumstances 

                  concede  to  unreasonable  demands  from  any  quarter  whether  it  be  the  Conference  of 

                  Major Religious Superiors or a more humbly titled organisation. It should be quite feasible 

                  to place most, if not all, of the children concerned in good homes within the community, 

                  to the advantage of the children, if an allowance of a lesser amount that £30 was payable 

                  to each child. In this connection it is relevant to point out that the highest weekly allowance 

                  currently payable to foster parents by Health Boards is understood to be of the order of 

                  £10 per child. 



4.477      The Minister for Health in response to the comments made by the Department of Finance noted 

           that ‘it would always be necessary to have some children in residential care and that this form of 

           care will be relatively expensive’. 



4.478      On   20th   April  and   11th   May   1977    a  series   of  meetings    took   place   between    the  relevant 

           Departments and the CMRS on the issue of financing the home and on 18th May 1977, a meeting 

           took   place  between     the  CMRS  and      the  Local   Government      and  Public    Services    Union  with 

           representatives  of  the  Departments  of  Health  and  Education  in  attendance.  Following  these 



           342 Report of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Financing of Children’s Residential Homes (1977). 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                             411 


----------------------- Page 2452-----------------------

           meetings it was agreed that the capitation rate would be increased to £30 per child per week and 

           that scales of pay and other conditions for child care staff would be recommended by the Union 

           to their members. The Department of Health noted: 



                  Notwithstanding the recommendation for a budget system, the Department of Education 

                  (which  has  administrative  responsibility  for  the  majority  of  the  residential  homes)  still 

                  strongly  favours  the  straight  capitation  system  on  the  grounds  that  it  gives  the  homes 

                  greater  freedom  to  manage  their  own  affairs  and  to  decide  their  own  priorities.  They 

                  accept, however, the necessity to have the capitation rate adjusted regularly to allow for 

                  the effects of inflation and to provide reasonable remuneration for the staff, having regard 

                  to the nature of their work. 



4.479       In September 1979, a further review of the financing of residential homes was undertaken, with 

           terms of reference to: 



                  carry out a study of the organisation, staffing and financing of homes providing residential 

                  care for children under the Ministers for Education and Health to establish: the existing 

                  financial  position    in each    home,    including    the  extent   of  the   deficit,  and   to  make 

                  recommendations on the appropriate arrangements to be made in event of a decision to 

                  finance the homes on a budget basis, including the appropriate level of staffing and other 

                  costs involved, procedures for the agreement of an annual budget through Health Boards 

                  and the phasing in of a budget system; and a realistic interim capitation made for 1980. 



4.480      To   aid  their  deliberations,    the  committee     undertook    a  survey    of  the  financing,   staffing  and 

           organisation of the homes and replies were received from 38 homes catering for approximately 

            1,200 children. The committee found that the average cost of maintaining a child in residential 

           care averaged £51.13 per child per week, albeit that wide variation was evident. The report also 

           found  that  the  estimated  cumulative  deficit  in  the  homes  was  expected  to  be  in  the  region  of 

           £1.5m. The committee agreed in principle that the financing of homes would transfer to a budget 

           system when the resources permitted. To deal with the deficits, a system of capitation (deficiency 

           payments)  was  established,  totalling  payments  to  the  homes  of  £54,000  in  1980,  £402,300  in 

            1981 and £777,700 in 1982. The cumbersome nature of payment was also highlighted. 



                  Three Ministers are involved in the making of the necessary regulations. Adjustments in 

                  the level of payment are justified on historic costs e.g. increases in the cost of living index 

                  in the previous year and pay awards under National wage Agreements. Given the high 

                  level of inflation, this means that the homes are continuously in debt, and a number have 

                  considerable  overdrafts.  In  addition,  the  present  system  where  the  home  may  receive 

                  payment from four different sources – the Departments of Education and Justice, local 

                  authorities and the health boards also lead to delay. 



4.481      The  Final  Report  of  the  Task  Force  on  Child Care  Services  also  contributed  to  the  discussion 

           stating: 



                  The present capitation system of contributing to the financing of residential centres has 

                  been found unsatisfactory, particularly in the case of centres having relatively few children. 

                  We understand that consideration is already being given to the making of arrangements 

                  to have residential homes placed on a budget basis and we recommend that this system 

                  be extended to all centres as soon as possible.343 



4.482      The Task Force concluded, in relation to the homes, that because responsibility rested with two 

           Government       Departments,      while   almost    all the   facilities are   provided    by  voluntary    bodies 

           supported  by  State  grants,  no  coherent  systematic  planning  procedures  existed  for  children  in 

           residential  care.  Accordingly they  recommended  that  responsibility  for  all children’s  Residential 



           343 Task Force on Child Care Services (1980) Final Report. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 201. 



           412                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2453-----------------------

            Homes should be vested in the Minister for Health. The Task Force also recommended that, as 

           far as possible, residential facilities should be situated near the homes of children who will require 

            such care. They considered that different kinds of residential facilities were required to meet the 

            differing needs of children and recommended that: 



                  [each] area of the country, roughly coinciding with existing community care areas of the 

                  health  boards,  should  have  access  to  one  identified  residential  centre  located  in  or 

                  adjacent to the area. These centres, should be multi-purpose in nature in the sense that 

                  they should cater for the ordinary needs of the area through the provision of short-tem or 

                  medium-care for children of all ages from the area.344 



4.483       In addition the Task Force recommended that ‘small community centres for about 4 or 6 children 

           would  be  required’  to  cater  for  children  with  delinquent  tendencies  and  for  other  children  with 

            serious personal problems who require intensive, personalised care. This was accepted by the 

            Department of Health who stated they were: 



                  examining,  in  consultation  with  the  health  boards,  the  feasibility  of  existing  residential 

                  facilities  adapting     their  structures    and    revising    roles   and    objectives    to  facilitate 

                  development       along   these    lines.  The   Minister’s    aim   is  to  have    under   his   aegis   a 

                  comprehensive  and  inter-locking  locally  based  child  care  system  serving  the  needs  of 

                  identified communities. Residential homes would be only one of the elements within this 

                  system with a very specifically defined, though complementary, role to play. Homes will 

                  fall into one of the categories..., each category being given clear objectives for the service 

                  they  are  providing.  Homes  will,  it  appears,  tend  to  be  small  units,  providing  a  defined 

                  service for a clearly identified client group. Indeed, the process of changing to the smaller 

                  family style residential unit is now well advanced although there remains a small number 

                  of homes still operating along old institutional lines. Plans are almost complete to replace 

                  three of these institutions with purpose built group homes in the immediate future. 



4.484       Following the aforementioned Government decision of 13th August 1982, an inter-departmental 

            committee comprising officials of the Department of Education, Finance, Health and Justice was 

            established  to  review  the  operation  and  financing  of  the  homes.  The  inaugural  meeting  of  the 

            Committee took place in the Department of Health on 17th December 1982 and subsequently met 

            on 12 occasions. Following a detailed discussion at the inaugural meeting, the Committee adopted 

            the following terms of reference: 



                    (1)   to determine the financial system most appropriate to children’s Residential Homes, 

                          based  on  an  examination  of  their  financial  records  and  their  perspective  financial 

                          position; 



                    (2)   to   recommend        appropriate     transitional   financial    arrangements       on   transfer    of 

                          responsibility    for the   24  Residential     Homes     (former   Industrial   Schools)    from   the 

                          Minister for Education to the Department of Health; 



                    (3)   to  identify   acceptable     cost   and   other   guidelines    appropriate     to  monitoring    and 

                          financing children’s residential homes in the future. 345 



4.485       The  final  report  of  the  Committee  was  completed  in  September  1983.  It  explored  in  detail  the 

            emergence of the capitation system of fund and the pros and cons of that system of funding. The 

            increase in the capitation fee from the early 1970s is shown in Table 1. 



            344 Ibid. p 188 

            345 Inter-Departmental Committee on the Operation and Financing of Children’s Residential Homes – Report to the 



               Minister for Health, September 1983. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                413 


----------------------- Page 2454-----------------------

                              Table 1: Capitation Fee for Residential Homes, 1972-1982 



                                          Central authority           Local authority                 Total 



                  01/07/1972 

                  01/04/1973                    £5.70                      £5.30                     £11.00 

                  01/04/1974                    £6.50                      £6.00                     £12.50 

                  01/01/1975                    £7.80                      £7.20                     £15.00 

                  01/01/1976                    £9.00                      £9.00                     £18.00 

                  01/01/1977                   £11.00                      £5.70                     £16.70 

                  01/02/1977                   £15.00                     £15.00                     £30.00 

                  01/02/1978                   £16.25                     £16.25                     £32.50 

                  01/03/1978                   £17.00                     £17.00                     £34.00 

                  01/03/1979                   £19.25                     £19.25                     £38.50 

                  01/06/1979                   £20.50                     £20.50                     £41.00 

                  01/03/1980                   £23.25                     £23.25                     £46.50 

                  01/01/1981                   £27.00                     £27.00                     £54.00 

                  01/01/1982                   £34.00                     £34.00                     £68.00 



4.486     The report also commented that: 



                The  homes’  current  financial  position  under  capitation  is  also  a  consequence  of  the 

                 manner in which the service is organised. Each home is independent and privately run 

                and could  have children maintained  in it  by any one  of the eight  health boards,  or the 

                 local authorities and the Department of Education. The former industrial schools constitute 

                the  major  element  of  residential  capacity  and  statutory  overall  responsibility  for  their 

                operations at present rests with the Minister for Education. However some 70 percent of 

                children in them have been placed by the health boards. This has inevitably created a 

                grey area as to which authority controls budgets, ultimately decides care standards and 

                determines the client group to be served by the homes. It would appear that this, coupled 

                with the development of the capitation deficiency payments system has given individual 

                 homes freedom to design their own care programmes without regard to any concept of 

                overall care policy, standards or clear definition of the type of child to be served. 



4.487      Ultimately,  the  Committee  rejected  the  capitation  method  of  financing  Residential  Homes  and 

           recommended ‘the funding of residential homes by way of annual allocation, based on budgets 

          agreed with the local health board for projected expenditure, and paid monthly in advance’. The 

           Committee also noted that while the proposed transfer of responsibility for the homes from the 

           Department    of  Education    to the  Department     of  Health   was   a  welcome    step   in clarifying 

           responsibility, this by itself would not be sufficient. It argued that: 



                 It must be coupled with a clear statement of overall policy in elation to residential care 

                services setting out the rationale for care of each client group intended to be served by 

                the  homes,  standards  of  care  to  be  provided,  both  in  relation  to  accommodation  and 

                 maintenance, and to the quality of the care input from staff. We have found no evidence 

                of the existence of such a statement without which in our opinion the monitoring process 

                cannot function. 



4.488      On 25th October 1984, the Department of Finance wrote to the Department of Health agreeing 

          with recommendations of the Committee. 



4.489     A  key  recommendation  of  the  Committee  was  that  the  Department  of  Health,  ‘as  a  matter  of 

           urgency formulate and promulgate service objectives in relation to the care of children to guide 

           health board policy’. In late 1984, the Department of Health produced a detailed memo on the 

          operation of residential care in Ireland as well as outlining a philosophy for the future operation of 



          414                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2455-----------------------

            residential  care  in  Ireland.346    In  relation  to  the  operationalisation  of  the  recently  agreed  budget 



            system of funding, the memo reported that: 



                   Responsibility for financial control of individual homes rests with an officer designated by 

                   the local health board’s Finance Officer. They have reported coming up against a number 

                   of problems in implementing the budget system one being with homes’ accountants and 

                   auditors. In the case of some homes Officers had serious doubts abut their objectivity and 

                   hence  the  impartiality  of  the  accounts  submitted.  Also,  officers  found  that  the  homes’ 

                   accountants were over-estimating pay and non-pay expenditure for ‘bargaining’ purposes. 

                   Discrepancies also appeared in the number of staff actually employed in the homes as 

                   against  alleged  complements          returned  at  various  stages  to  the        Department.  All  this 

                   resulted in long delays before homes could be told of their budgets for 1984. Hopefully, 

                   most of this can be put down to teething problems and the mutual understanding arising 

                   out of this year’s exercise should facilitate speedy agreement to budgets next year.347 



4.490       The memo went to outline that within the 41 Residential Homes managed by the Department of 

            Health,    some    1,200    places   were    available,    but  that  they   were    rarely   full to  capacity.    More 

            significantly, the memo noted the ongoing decline in the number of children in residential care, 

            the primary reason for this being ‘the Department’s policy of trying to maintain children in their 

            own family setting as long as possible or placing them in foster care instead of in a residential 

            home’. The memo acknowledged that there would always be a need for residential care for certain 

            categories of children, but that: 



                   Based on past trends expansion in the number of residential places available in children’s 

                   homes  appears  unwarranted. In  fact,  our  view is  that  residential  provision in  children’s 

                   homes should stabilise at something below 1000 places by the end of this decade. This 

                   will  require  a  reduction  in  the  size  of  some  homes,  which  we  hope  can  be  achieved 

                   through  our  capital  programme,  and  through  the  possible  closure  of  some  individual 

                   units.348 



4.491       On the registration and mechanisms of entry to residential care, the memo reported that: 



                   The  new  Child  (Care  and  Protection)  Bill  will  contain  proposals  to  repeal  the  sections 

                   relating to industrial schools in the 1908 Children Act and those relating to the approval 

                   of  homes  in  the  Health  Act  1953.  These  provisions  will  be  replaced  by  a  registration 

                   procedure, which will apply to all children’s homes including homes, which are not subject 

                   to controls at present. (It should be mentioned that the only homes whose operations are 

                   currently  subject  to  statutory  regulation  are  the  certified  industrial  schools.  The  1953 

                   Health Act simply requires the approving of homes for the bringing of children into care; it 

                   does not specify any requirements as to operations, standards etc). They will also contain 

                   provision for a new admissions to care procedure, and for the removal of the power of 

                   the courts to commit children directly to residential care. In future it is intended that all 

                   children  in  residential  care  be  placed  only  after  full  assessment  by  the  health  boards’ 

                   social work service. Mainly because of the recent decline in religious vocations, the bill 

                   will enable    health    boards    to  directly  provide    residential    care   for  children.   Generally 

                   speaking  the  provisions  in  the  bill  are  broad  and  enabling.  The  important  regulatory 

                   provisions and controls on the homes, their procedures, practices and inter-face with the 

                   health boards, will have to be dealt with in regulations under the new Act.349 



4.492       The memo went to outline a philosophy for the use of residential care for children, which was to 

            be issued to the regional health boards. The objective of residential care was: 



            346 Department of Health – Review of Children’s residential homes, 1984-C.14.12.04. 

            347 Ibid. 

            348 Ibid. 

            349 Ibid. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  415 


----------------------- Page 2456-----------------------

                  to meet, in co-operation with other elements of the child care system (e.g. family support 

                  services,  day  care,  fostering  and  adoption,)  clearly  defined  deficiencies  in  the  lives  of 

                  certain children, for whom placement in a residential centre for a given period of time, is 

                  considered by professional opinion to be the best means of achieving their well being and 

                  security. These children will include those who: have been rejected; are being neglected 

                  or   ill-treated;  lack  parental    control;   are   sleeping    rough    or   are   involved    in  minor 

                  delinquencies; have a short-term crisis in their home e.g. illness of a parent. Residential 

                  care programmes should be designed to enable such children to return to family life as 

                  soon as possible given their needs, their family situation and other circumstances. 



4.493       Children should only be given a long-term placement in residential care where: 



                  it has been definitely established that the child has no effective family to which he can 

                  return  and  substitute  family  care  such  as  adoption  and  foster-care  is  inappropriate  or 

                  cannot be made available. The latter cases could include children who are in need of care 

                  and control, additional to that available within their own homes, which cannot be provided 

                  in  the  community      or  have  problems      such    as  acute   emotional     deprivation  or   severe 

                  disturbance.  It  might  be  emphasised,  however,  that  your  Board’s  child  care  services 

                  should be based on the principle that the family setting is the best one unless it is clear 

                  that the child’s well-being demands otherwise. (emphasis in original).350 



4.494      When admitted to residential care, the memo outlined that it: 



                  should create the least amount of disruption in a child’s life, consistent with his total needs. 

                  A  facility  should  be  as  accessible  as  possible  to  the  child’s  home.  Where  appropriate, 

                  every  effort  should  be  made  to  enable  the  child  to  retain  a  relationship  with  is  family, 

                  especially  where  it  is  envisaged  that  he  will  return  home  in  the  short  to  medium  term. 

                  Residential  homes  should  provide  for  the  child  a  stable,  secure  environment  with  a 

                  standard of living equivalent to the national average. The home’s environment should be 

                  enriching  and  stimulating  and  compensate  for  whatever  deprivation  the  child  may  be 

                  experiencing. 



4.495       In April 1986, the Department of Health published a Report on Health Services covering the period 

            1983-86. On the funding of child care services, the report outlined that: 



                  A  new  system  whereby  the  local  health  board  funds  children’s  homes  directly  on  the 

                  basis of agreed budgets was introduced on the 1st January, 1984 to replace the highly 

                  unsatisfactory capitation system in operation for over a hundred years. Homes had found 

                  that despite regular revisions, capitation rates tended to lag behind real increases in the 

                  cost of looking after children and did not take account of differing cost structures in the 

                  homes. As a result, by the end of 1983 some homes had accrued considerable deficits. 

                  These  deficits,  totalling  almost  £1  million  were  cleared  in  1984  in  conjunction  with  the 

                  introduction of the budget system. The new funding arrangement is sufficiently flexible to 

                  enable health boards to respond to the particular needs of each individual home having 

                  regard to its staffing and clientele. It also brings homes and boards into a much closer 

                  working  relationship  than  before.  This  gives  boards  a  useful  opportunity  to  re-organise 

                  the residential sector on a regional basis, broadly on the lines recommended by the Task 

                  Force on Child care Services. Each health board is now considering residential provision 

                  for child care in its area and hopes to agree future roles and functions with each of the 

                  homes in the near future.351 



            350 Department of Health – Review of Children’s residential homes, 1984-C.14.12.04. 

            351 Department of Health (1986) Health Services, 1983-1986. Dublin: Stationery Office. pp 70-1. 



           416                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2457-----------------------

4.496       However, a short number of years later in 1989 the Report of the Commission on Health Funding 

            concluded352  that: 



                  An  issue  of  importance  to  child  care  services  in  recent  years  has  been  the  role  of 

                  residential homes, most of whom are operated by voluntary organisations. A small number 

                  are  owned  and  operated  by  health  boards.  The  homes  have  been  funded  directly  by 

                  health boards on the basis of agreed budgets since 1984; this replaced an unsatisfactory 

                  capitation  system.  It  has  been  submitted  to  us  that  some  homes  are  over-selective  in 

                  accepting  placements,  making  it  difficult  to  find  accommodation  for  the  more  difficult 

                  cases. On the other hand, some of the voluntary organisations involved have submitted 

                  to us that they could not cope with children who would seriously disrupt the running of the 

                  home and cause strain to those already cared for there. It would therefore seem that the 

                  relationship between the homes and their funders should be changed. Both parties should 

                  negotiate    to  supply   care   for  children   who    need    it; the  homes    would    become     more 

                  accountable for the services they provide and the funders would make reasonably long- 

                  term  contracts  to  ensure  cover  for  the  difficult  as  well  as  easier  cases.  We  therefore 

                  recommend that Area General Managers should enter into formal contractual agreements 

                  with homes to ensure that the required range of care is available in each area. The homes 

                  would then be funded on the basis of an agreed level and type of service described in 

                  paragraph 17.37.353 



4.497       In a review of the Special Schools operating under the auspices of the Department of Education, 

            a review by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 1990 highlighted a number of areas of concern. 

            The report noted that the capitation system of funding the schools had ceased in 1981 and the 

            schools were now funded on the basis of an annual grant. The report observed: 



                  It would be reasonable to suggest that the changeover to full financing by the State in 

                  1981 should have led to greater involvement by the Department in the management and 

                  control of the schools but this is not the case. Specifically the Department did not:- (a) 

                  ensure that as full a service as the available resources were capable of providing was 

                  being provided; the schools were being funded on the basis that such a service would be 

                  provided. (b) take steps to ensure the introduction of procedures for the efficient running 

                  of the schools. (c) Regulate the schools or have an effective input into their admission 

                  and management policies. At the Finglas Children’s Centre, the Board of Management on 

                  which the Department of Education and Justice are represented acts only in an advisory 

                  capacity while, in contrast, Trinity House Board of management has executive powers. At 

                  St.  Joseph’s  there  is  no  Board  of  Management  as  the  religious  order  was  unwilling  to 

                  agree to the Department’s request to have a Board of management appointed when the 

                  new funding arrangements were introduced in 1981. (d) Establish a coherent policy on 

                  manning levels  in the schools  and consider the  impact on school  staffing of the  public 

                  service embargo on recruitment. Indeed, the Department itself broke the public service 

                  embargo     on   some    occasions     by  approving     new    posts   in the   schools    and   on  other 

                  occasions by retrospectively sanctioning appointments already made in the schools. (e) 

                  operate a budgetary system which would ensure that the annual financial needs of the 

                  schools were being properly assessed. (f) Monitor the schools’ finances on an ongoing 

                  and regular basis. The absence of monitoring may have been a contributory factor to the 

                  scale of the Supplementary Estimate needed in 1990 to cover expenditure overruns by 

                  the schools. (g) ensure that adequate financial details were being provided in the monthly 



            352 Report of the Commission on Health Funding. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 358. 

            353 Paragraph 17.27 stated: ‘Those responsible for the management of services in each region should, with the 



               involvement of the voluntary organizations, determine the services required to meet these guidelines both in respect 

               of the needs in their area and the most effective provision of these services, through the use of the available 

               voluntary and statutory services. The grant-aid to each voluntary organization in each area should be related to the 

               provision of a specific agreed level and type of service; the inter-relationship in the field between statutory and 

               voluntary workers (and between voluntary workers of different organizations) should be clearly set out; and there 

               should be an agreed basis for the evaluation of each agency’s contribution.’ 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                              417 


----------------------- Page 2458-----------------------

                  school  returns.  The  returns  submitted  to  the  Department  give  a  detailed  breakdown  of 

                  non-pay  costs  but  the  information  provided  in  relation  to  pay  costs  (approximately  70 

                  percent of total costs) is totally inadequate e.g. additional costs relating to weekend duties 

                  and for relief work involving the engagement of temporary staff are not revealed in the 

                  returns. (h) finalise the execution of a Deed of Trust for St. Joseph’s although it is aware 

                  since 1978 that such a deed is essential since the State has invested some £5 million in 

                  buildings and facilities. (The land at Clonmel is owned by the religious order). (i) carry out 

                  regular audits of systems and procedures in the schools.354 



4.498       The Department of Education in their response to the Comptroller and Auditor General noted that 

            such schools were traditionally managed by religious Congregations and that: 



                  The system operated in a climate of trust necessary for the support of the difficult work 

                  involved and the Department, having regard to this feature, did not unduly interfere in the 

                  day to day running of the schools. 



4.499      While  acknowledging  that  an  improved  policy  and  budgetary  framework  was  required  for  the 

            schools, the Department stated that in their discussions with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s 

            office prior to the finalisation of the report, they had drawn attention to: 



                  the complex nature of the child care area, the many factors which impact on the operation 

                  of the special schools, the delicacy of many aspects of our dealings with Orders which 

                  operate the schools on our behalf and our concern that the report constituted an over- 

                  simplification of the overall situation. 



4.500       By mid-1980s, the majority of a declining number of children in residential care were in homes 

           funded on a budget basis by the Department of Health and with the health boards having a role 

            in the day-to-day operation of the service. The Department of Education had responsibility for a 

            small number of schools for young people who entered care, primarily through the juvenile justice 

            system, but also a small number who were placed in secure accommodation by the health boards. 

            The Department of Education were reviewing their role in relation to the provision of secure care 

            and by the end of the decade had concluded that they were not the appropriate Department to 

            have  this  responsibility,  but  it  was  a  further  decade  and  a  half  before  they  finally  relinquished 

            responsibility for such centres. At the end of the 1980s, one experienced childcare worker gave 

            his overview of the changes that had occurred in residential care in the previous 20 years: 



                  Dramatic and sweeping changes have taken place in residential care over the past twenty 

                  years. Large institutions have been broken up, staffing ratios increased and staff training 

                  commenced.        Residential    care    has   become      more    child   orientated    with   a   greater 

                  understanding  of  children  and  their  problems.  Yet  the  old  stigma  remains.  Residential 

                  care is often blamed for causing the very ills of society for which it is trying to treat.355 



4.501       In addition, he highlighted that: 



                  Increasingly allegations have been malpractice and abuse have been made against care 

                  workers. Recent experience of how these cases are investigated leave a lot to be desired. 

                  Both care workers and agencies are isolated, shunned and made to feel guilty until proven 

                  innocent.    Many    care   workers    are   feeling   very  vulnerable     and   on  a  daily   basis   are 

                  analysing situations to reduce the risk factor. This is no way to work and it can only have 

                  an adverse effect on the children.356 



            354 Government of Ireland (1991) Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Dublin: Stationery Office. pp 97-8. 

            355 Mahony, P (1989) Residential Care Now. Irish Social Worker, 8, 1, p 13. 

            356 Ibid. p 13. 



           418                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2459-----------------------

            Secure accommodation for females 



4.502       In the early 1990s, the Department of Education argued that the centres operated by them did 

            not ‘have the capacity, nor should they be expected to cater for the following situations: (a) youths 

            whose  primary  difficulty  stems  from  serious  psychiatric  problems  which  require  intensive  and 

            ongoing     attention.   (b)   youths    whose     behaviour     is  such    as  to  place    them    in  the   category 

            unruly/depraved. (c) youths in need of intensive therapy on foot of sexual problems.’ In the case 

            of categories (a) and (c), they argued that: 



                   It is the firm view of the Department of Education that referral of serious psychiatric and 

                   sexually    disturbed    cases     to  centres    for  young    offenders     constitutes    a   serious    and 

                   potentially  very  dangerous  failing  within  the  present  system.  What  is  required  in  such 

                   cases is the provision of a suitable dedicated and resourced facility which would focus on 

                   addressing the real needs of such people. It is the view of the Department of Education 

                   that responsibility for the provision of such facilities rests with the Department of Health. 

                   However,  repeated  attempts  by  the  Department  of  Education  to  secure  acceptance  of 

                   responsibility for this area by the Department of Health, have proved unsuccessful. 



4.503       The National Youth Policy Committee recommended that: 



                   There has been a considerable improvement in recent years in the quality of the special 

                   residential schools for boys, but this has not been matched by any corresponding facilities 

                   for girls. We recommend early assessment of needs in this area to see whether, as has 

                   been suggested to us, a small secure facility for girls is required.357 



4.504       The response by the Government to the Report was that ‘a study will be undertaken by the Minister 

            for  Justice  in  consultation  with  the  Minister  for  Education  to  determine  the  scope  and  type  of 

            facility necessary to deal adequately with the problem of young female offenders.358                      In September 



            1986, a study group was established with terms of reference ‘to determine the scope and type of 

            facility necessary to deal adequately with the problem of young female offenders and to furnish a 

            report.’359  The  Group,  which  reported  in  February  1988,  noted  that  the  only  residential  facility 



            within  the  juvenile  justice  system  for  females  was  Cuan  Mhuire  Assessment  Unit  in  Collins 

            Avenue, Whitehall, Dublin 9, which was opened in 1984 to cater for young females between the 

            ages  of  10-16.  The  function  of  the  centre  was  to  allow  the  courts  to  remand  young  girls  for  a 

            period of up to three weeks to facilitate an assessment of their needs. To assist the Group with 

            their task, the Probation and Welfare Service and the Department of Education surveyed young 

            female offenders under the age of 16 known to them between January 1985 and June 1986 in 

            order to ascertain the need for residential care. The report stated that 



                   from the information gathered it was clear that, in addition to an assessment unit, there 

                   was need for a facility that could provide adequate long-term care for a small group of 

                   young female offenders who were particularly difficult or troublesome and for whom none 

                   of the community based facilities, residential homes or hostels currently in existence would 

                   be able to provide the necessary service. 



4.505       In relation to the girls entering Cuan Mhuire, the report noted that: 



                   the majority of girls admitted....were referred by health boards because they appeared to 

                   be out of control or were at risk due to drug taking, solvent abuse, promiscuity or sleeping 



            357 National Youth Policy Committee (1984) Final Report. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 182. 

            358 Government of Ireland (1985) ‘In Partnership with Youth’... the National Youth Strategy. Dublin: Stationery Office. p 



               41. 

            359 The Scope and Type of Facility Necessary to Deal Adequately with the Problem of Young Female Offenders. The 



               report group was chaired by Mr J Kirby from the Department of Justice, along with the principal probation and 

               welfare officer, Mr M Tansey. Representing the Department of Education were Mr S MacGlennain and Miss M Ni 

                                                      ´ 

               Fhearghail and from the Garda Siochana, Inspector P Nolan. The secretary to the group was Mr D McCarthy from 

                                                 ´ 

               the Department of Justice. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                     419 


----------------------- Page 2460-----------------------

                  rough. In about 10 to 12 of these cases, the assessment report on the girls recommended 

                 that  they  receive  residential  care  in  a  well-structured,  secure  facility  which  staffed  and 

                 equipped  to  deal  with  difficult  and  disruptive  girls.  At  present,  there  is  no  such  facility 

                 available to the health boards. 



4.506      The Group contemplated the establishment of a separate facility for such females, but ultimately 

           argued: 



                 on economic grounds alone...it would appear that the best solution would be to have one 

                 facility which would cater for any girl who required special care, whether she be referred 

                  by the courts or by a health board. We are strengthened in this view by the fact that the 

                  needs of the girls for care and support would not differ significantly regardless of whether 

                 they  were  offenders  or  not  and  that  their  treatment  and  management  would  be  very 

                 similar. 



4.507      The Group concluded that there was a need for a facility which would incorporate a remand and 

           assessment unit,  a long-term unit  and a secure  unit, to collectively  accommodate 25 girls  with 

           responsibility for the facility resting with the Department of Education. The year after the Study 

           Group  on  Young  Female  Offenders  reported,  an  Interdepartmental  Committee  on  Crime  was 

           established, which reported in December 1989. The Department of Education, in their submission 

           to the Interdepartmental Committee, argued: 



                  ..as it would be considered that children and young people committed by the Courts are 

                  primarily  in  need  of  care  and  education,  places  of  detention,  industrial  schools  and 

                  reformatory    schools    have   come     under    the  Minister   for  Education     (Ministers   and 

                 Secretaries Act 1924, fourth part of schedule). The Minister for Education considers that 

                 this situation should now be changed in relation to secure centres and that responsibility 

                 for such centres should be transferred to the Minister for Justice. There are a number of 

                  reasons for the Ministers view 



                     (1) The fact that the Department of Education is not directly involved with the Courts, 

                     Gardai or Probation and Welfare Service impedes its ability to respond to needs. 



                     (2) The Department of Education is not otherwise involved in the provision of security 

                     and does not have expertise in this area. 



                     (3) Many    of  the  difficulties the  Department      has  experienced     in  operating   centres 

                     involving an element of security derive from the basic and unavoidable orientation of 

                     staff towards care and education rather than custody. 



                     (4)  Because    of  their  near-adult   physique    combined     with   unpredictable,    explosive 

                     behaviour, young offenders in the 15/16 age group are among the most difficult of all 

                     offenders to handle; it is odd for the Department of Justice freed from responsibility for 

                     such a group. 



                     (5)  It  is  exceptional  in  European  terms  to  find  responsibility  for  secure  provision  for 

                     young offenders with an education Ministry. The reason in our circumstances appears 

                     to have been the fact that the earlier industrial and reformatory schools were conducted 

                     by religious orders. 



4.508      This  viewpoint  marked  a  significant  shift  in  official  thinking  in  the  Department  of  Education, 

           signalling  that  their  direct  involvement  in  the  managing  and  administration  of  Reformatory  and 

           Industrial Schools should cease and be transferred to Justice. However, as noted earlier, it was 

           not until 2007 that the transfer suggested by Education formally took place. The Inter-departmental 

           report outlined that: 



                 The Group considers that the main problems in this area are, firstly, the fact that, other 

                 than the remand and assessment facilities at Cuan Mhuire, there are no residential places 

                 at all provided for young female offenders. Secondly, as regards male offenders, there 



           420                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2461-----------------------

                 are insufficient number of residential places for the 14-16 years age bracket. Apart from 

                 being  a  problem  in  its  own  right,  this  also  causes  difficulties  in  that  less  troublesome 

                 offenders must be housed with the more disruptive type of offenders. In addition, there is 

                 the problem of male offenders, who have been placed in a secure centre, returning when 

                 they   have   served   their term,   direct  to their  communities     without   any  opportunity    of 

                 preparing in advance to adjust to normal life. 



4.509      On this basis: 



                 The  Group  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a  need  for  (i)  of  the  order  of  70 

                 additional places for young male offenders, principally in the 14-16 age bracket and (ii) of 

                 the order of 15 additional places for young female offenders (I.e. exclusive of the provision 

                 for girls at Cuan Mhuire); 3-5 of these places should be secure. In considering the question 

                 of the need for secure places for both male and female offenders, the Group is conscious 

                 of  the  fact  that  a  secure  centre,  as  well  as  providing  places  for  particularly  disruptive 

                 offenders, enables other schools in the system to operate under a less restricted regimes. 

                 Accordingly, the Group makes the following recommendations. 



                    (a) Scoil Ard Mhuire, Lusk, should be re-opened as soon as possible as a Centre for 

                    40 older [14-16 (17) years age group] male offenders – (legally as a reformatory) 



                    (b) A half-way house hostel should be provided to cater for boys who have been in 

                    secure accommodation in Trinity House School before they return to their communities 



                    (c) A facility is provided to cater for 23-25 young female offenders. (the Department of 

                    Education     have   indicated   that  such   a   facility should   ideally  be   located   on  the 

                    Departments  lands  at  Finglas  Children’s  Centre-this  would  allow  use  to  be  made  of 

                    existing assessment, dining and recreational facilities and of teaching staff already in 

                    place at the complex. 



                    (d) Temporary facilities be provided as a matter of urgency for young female offenders 

                    pending  the  construction  of  the  new  accommodation  at  Finglas  Children’s  Centre 

                    proposed at (c) above. (i.e. Lusk) 



                    (e) The making available for young offenders of up to 40 additional (non-secure) places 

                    in Department of Education Centres as a result of the phasing out of the use of such 

                    places  by  ‘Health’  clients.  ...The  Department  of  Health  accepts  that  use  by  Health 

                    Boards of these 40 places could be phased out over a period of time, thus freeing them 

                    for Court referrals. However, they emphasise that this can only be done in the context 

                    of the implementation of proposals to: 



                    (1) provide an additional 42 residential specialised places for adolescents 



                    (2) maintain and extend the development of a number of initiatives targeted at groups 

                    identified as being particularly at risk, viz. young homeless, young travellers and young 

                    substance abusers. 



                    (3) Develop services for mentally ill adolescents. 



4.510      Arising from the recommendations of this Group, the Oberstown Girls School, on the site of the 

           now disused Scoil Ard Mhuire, was opened in March 1990 as a place of detention by the Minister 

           of  Justice,  Equality  and  Law  Reform  to  accommodate  up  to  eight  young  persons  on  remand, 

           replacing Cuan Mhuire. In September 1991 a second unit was opened which was certified as a 

           Reformatory School by the Minister for Education and Science under the Children Act 1908 to 

           accommodate up to seven young persons. However, this was only to be a temporary arrangement 

           as it was intended to construct a new and larger facility for young females on the grounds adjoining 

           the Finglas Children’s Centre. The rationale for this expansion was in response to ‘major public 

           disquiet  over  the  level  of  delinquency  among  young  females  and  the  apparent  inadequacy  of 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         421 


----------------------- Page 2462-----------------------

            custodial facilities to deal with the situation’.360         In this context, the Finglas site was selected as an 



            urgent  response  was  deemed  to  be  required  and  ‘the  ready  availability  of  a  State  owned  site 

            which was deemed suitable on the basis of expert advice, provided the best solution available in 

            the  time  allowed’.      However,  it  transpired  that        the  demand  for  places  at         Oberstown  did  not 

            materialise and as a consequence, the decision to develop the Finglas site was reviewed and in 

            July 1992, the Department decided to drop the plan. The Oberstown Boys School was established 

            in  1991  as  recommended  by  the  Inter-Departmental  Group  and  is  certified  as  a  Reformatory 

            School  by  the  Department  of  Education  and  Science  under  the  Children  Act  1908.  Ten  of  the 

            beds are certified as places of detention by the Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. 



            Conclusion 



4.511       In the early 1990s, the Resident Managers Association and the Streetwise National Coalition361 



            commissioned a report in respect of the dimensions, organisation and funding of residential child 

            care  in  Ireland.362    The  report  explored  the  key  recommendations  of  the  Kennedy  Report  and 



            reported  on  the  progress  made.  In  relation  to  funding,  the  report,  while  noting  the  shift  from  a 

            capitation system of funding to a budget system, nonetheless argued that: 



                   The  current  system  of  funding  for  residential  care  varies  enormously  both  within  and 

                   between the residential sectors. There is evidence of little rationale in the current system 

                   of budgeting, which appears to be determined by tradition, individual negotiation by each 

                   home with the relevant government departments and agency, and the strength of the trade 

                   union. Funding has immense significance in determining the levels of staffing available to 

                   children, the quality of care and the necessary resources each individual child and young 

                   person requires.363 



4.512       In relation to funding, the report noted that a ratio of level of one member of staff to every four 

            children in residence was established as the norm following the publication of the Kennedy Report. 

            However, the research reported noted: 



                   this  level  of  staffing  is  anomalous  and  is  not  adhered  to  within  the  services.  Great 

                   variations have developed in the past twenty years both within and between the different 

                   residential     sectors.    These     variations    have    been     determined      by   tradition,   individual 

                   negotiation, trade union negotiation and political expediency.364 



4.513       On the issue of the integration and planning of services, the research noted that three Government 

            Departments remained responsible for different aspects of the residential child care system and 

            that this division: 



                   causes  confusion  and  a  lack  of  cohesion  and  planning  in  residential  care  services.  In 

                   consequence, residential care services have developed haphazardly, with certain sectors 

                   contracting and  others expanding. It is  also apparent from  the research that there  is a 



            360 Review of Custodial Provisions for Young Offenders. 

            361 In March 1987, to mark the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless, a conference entitled ‘Streetwise’ was 



                organised by Focus Point (Focus Point was established in 1985 in order to provide a range of innovative services to 

                homeless households and operates today under the rubric of Focus Ireland) and UNICEF to highlight the situation of 

                young homeless people both in Ireland and internationally Following the conference, an umbrella body called the 

                Streetwise National Coalition was established. Streetwise aimed to identify and draw attention to the needs of out-of- 

                home young people for the purpose of improving policies and practice leading to the alleviation and elimination of 

                youth homelessness in Ireland. Streetwise aimed to achieve these objectives by co-ordinating the efforts of 

                individuals and agencies working with out-of-home young people, instigating relevant research projects, and collating 

                relevant information. Streetwise operated until the mid-1990s. 

            362 Streetwise National Coalition in collaboration with the Resident Managers Association. (1991) At What Cost?: A 



                Research Study on Residential Care for Children and Adolescents in Ireland. Dublin: Focus Point. The author of this 

                present report contributed to the drafting of this report. 

            363 Ibid. p 18. 

            364 Ibid. p 19. 



            422                                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2463-----------------------

                   lack of integration between the four separate residential categories -group homes, special 

                  schools,  residential psychiatric  units, adolescent  units -in  terms of  policy, planning  and 

                  service delivery.365 



4.514       In 1993, Gilligan in a paper prepared for the Conference of Major Religious Superiors, the Catholic 

            Social Service Conference and the Sacred Heart Home Trust identified a malaise among religious 

            providers of child care services. He identified a number of contributory factors, including: 



                  the low prestige of the field inside and outside the Church; the hurt and anxiety felt in the 

                  face of adverse publicity about past services; the scandals in this field which have publicly 

                   broken over the heads of religious in various places; the increasing complexity of the task 

                  and  what  seems  to  be  experienced  as  the  ever  widening  gulf  between  the  level  of 

                  competence available and that required by the task; the rising cost of providing services 

                  to the necessary standards and the shrinkage of financial and human resources available; 

                  the prospect of the erosion of the traditional autonomy of services provided by religious 

                  orders as the state system exacts greater accountability, partly as the prices of greater 

                  aid; unremitting pessimism about the value of residential care in many professional circles 

                  and the absence of a sufficiently well argued and influential counter view; the absence of 

                  a structure for independent and sympathetic professional advice to congregations or their 

                   representatives     on   negotiating    with   statutory   authorities   and    researching     needs    and 

                   planning responses within their particular set of resources.366 



4.515       A  short  number  of  years  later,  a  further  report  on  the  organisation  and  structure  of  residential 

            childcare in Ireland was published. Reflecting on the 25th anniversary of the publication of the 

            Committee of Enquiry into Reformatory and Industrial Schools’ Systems, the authors concluded 

            that: 



                  There have been major changes in child care since the publication in 1970 of the Kennedy 

                   Report...There is a new sense of professionalism about the service on the ground, new 

                  services have been developed and some other services have contracted. It is a matter of 

                  great concern, nevertheless, that many of the concerns highlighted in this research were 

                   identified in the Kennedy Report 25 years ago, and although substantial and far reaching 

                  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  system,  many  of the  recommendations  of  that  report 

                  since remain to be implemented.367 



4.516       As noted in the introduction to this paper, it was not until 2007 that the policy recommendations 

            articulated in a series of reports and other documents, particularly the Kennedy Report and the 

            Task Force on Child Care Services were by and large, fully implemented. Of course, over that 

            period new areas of concern have emerged that neither report fully engaged with or discussed. 

            Nonetheless, in quantitative terms, less than 10 percent of children in care are now in residential 

            care, and this is in spite of an increase in children entering care in recent years. This paper has 

            not aimed to evaluate the system as it currently operates nor does it offer an explanation for the 

            current  configuration  of  services.  Rather,  it  has  attempted  to  outline  and  describe  a  selective 

            series of events that have contributed to the current organisation of child welfare in Ireland. It is 

            not  comprehensive  in  its  treatment  of  the  child  welfare  system;  rather  it  focused  primarily  on 

            residential care. In doing so it hopes that by allowing the disparate viewpoints of civil servants, 

            lobby groups, Church organisations and other commentators on the residential child care system 

            to be outlined, it can form the basis for a more comprehensive understanding of this crucial area 

            of intervention by the State and others in the lives of children and their families. 



            365 Ibid. p 20. 

            366 Gilligan, R (1989) Child Care and Family Support: Choices for the Church. Dublin: Conference of Major Religious 



               Superiors. pp 3-4. 

            367 McCarthy, P, Kennedy, S and Matthews, C (1996) Focus on Residential Child care in Ireland: 25 Years since the 



               Kennedy Report. Dublin: Focus Ireland. pp120-1. 



            CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                                  423 


----------------------- Page 2464-----------------------

Appendix 1: Department of Health. Children in Care of Health 

Authorities Circular No 23/70 15 July 1970 



I am directed by the Minister for Health to state that he has had under review the services provided 

by Health Authorities for certain classes of children under Sections 55 and 56 of the Health Act, 

1953 and the Children Acts, 1908-1957. The existing legislation relating to these children needs 

codification and extension to simplify it and bring into line with modern concepts of the help which 

a  local  authority  should  provide  for  children  in  need  of  care.  A  committee  established  by  the 

Minister for Education, whose Report is expected to be available soon, is reviewing the institutional 

aspects   of  he  services;   examination    of  other  aspects   and   the  possible   introduction   of new 

legislation will be considered after publication of the Report. 



In the interim, health authorities should review carefully the present services which they provide 

for deprived children and consider, in consultation with the staff concerned, what can be done to 

remedy any defects which may exist in these in these services. In deciding on the nature of care 

to be made available in any particular case, health authorities should be guided primarily by what 

is best for the child and financial considerations alone should not be the deciding factor as to the 

services to be provided. In cases where it is necessary to arrange for the placement of a child for 

adoption or in a foster home or in an approved school or institution, the parent (s) should be fully 

advised,  impartially  and  objectively,  of  the  implications  and  relative  advantage  of  each  such 

system. 



Eligible classes of children 



The classes of children eligible for boarding-out or maintenance in approved schools are set out 

in Section 55 of the Health Act, 1953. The Minister is aware that cases sometimes arise where 

assistance is required for children who do not come within the scope of that section, e.g. children 

whose  mothers  have  gone  into  hospital  or  who  have  left  home.  In  some  such  cases,  health 

authorities have solved the temporary problems arising by making a contribution towards the cost 

of  maintaining  children  in  an  appropriate  home.  In  other  cases  it  has  been  found  desirable  to 

afford assistance from public assistance funds, e.g. to supplement a family’s income to enable 

them to provide a home help and thus avoid the admission of the children to an institution. The 

solution  of  problems  of  this  nature  will  be  much  easier  when  the  statutory  power  to  provide  a 

home  help  service  under  the  Health  Act,  1970  is  implemented  after  the  establishment  of  the 

Health Boards. 



Voluntary Organisations 



Throughout the country there are a number of voluntary institutions and organisations concerned 

with the care of children, e.g. orphanages, children’s homes, and societies such as the ISPCC; 

local community councils also may become involved in problems relating to children. There should 

be close co-operation between health authorities and all these bodies, and to that end voluntary 

organisations  should  be  made  aware  of  the  services  which  the  health  authority  provides  and 

encouraged  to  use  them.  Each  health  authority  should  arrange  with  the  Irish  Society  for  the 

Prevention of Cruelty to Children to consult with the health authority before initiating steps to have 

children committed to an Industrial School. 



Children Placed in Approved Schools 



Since the introduction of legal adoption there has been an appreciable decrease in the number of 

children who are boarded-out under the Health Acts but there has been an increase in the number 

of children accommodated in approved institutions. The Minister especially directs the attention of 

health authorities to Article 4 of the Boarding-Out of Children Regulations, 1954, which provides 

that  the  health  authority  shall  not  send  a  child  to  an  approved  school  unless  the  child  cannot 

suitably and adequately be assisted by being boarded-out. In some areas children are accepted 



424                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2465-----------------------

privately   into  institutions   by   authorities   of  those    institutions  and    the   health   authority   are 

subsequently      requested     to  accept    liability for  their  maintenance.      This   practice   should    be 

discouraged     and    health   authorities   should   make    it clear   that  only   in the   most   exceptional 

circumstances will they accept liability for such children and only then on satisfying themselves 

that the child is not suitable for being boarded out or placed for adoption. The authorities of the 

institutions concerned should be advised to get in touch with the health authority before accepting 

a child directly into  care, if application is made, or  is likely to be made, at a  later stage to the 

health authority for the maintenance of the child. 



In Circular No 37/54 of 8 Iuil 1954 health authorities were requested to provide that where a child 

                                ´ 

is placed in a school in pursuance of Section 55 of the Health Act, 1953 the arrangement between 

the health authority and the manager of the school should include provision that the child may be 

visited at any reasonable time by an authorised officer of the health authority or of the Minister. 

Authorised  officers  of the  health  authority  should visit  children  maintained  in approved  schools 

and institutions at regular intervals to ascertain if any of them are suitable for transfer to relatives 

or to foster homes. 



Finding of Suitable Foster Homes 



It is important to ensure that there are sufficient suitable foster homes in each health authority 

area  to  cater  for  all  children  who  are  suitable  for  boarding  out  and  that  no  child  is  kept  in  a 

residential school or other approved institution because of a lack of suitable foster homes. Health 

authorities should therefore advertise regularly for persons who would be prepared to act as foster 

parents for boarded-out children and they might also ask staff engaged on district duties – e.g. 

public  health  nurses  –  to  keep  them  informed  of  any  persons  in  their  district  who  might  be 

interested    in maintaining     a  board-out    child.  In  the  course    of selecting    foster  homes     health 

authorities   might   become     aware    of  homes     where    the  foster  mother    would    have   training  or 

experience which would make her suitable for a child suffering from a defect which would normally 

preclude him from being boarded-out. In such cases, the Minister would have no objection to the 

payment of a maintenance rate in excess of the normal one to the foster parent concerned. 



Maintenance Rates 



The   maintenance      rate   for  children   maintained    in  approved     Industrial   Schools    was   recently 

increased  to  £8.5s.0d.  per  week.  The  rate  payable  for  the  maintenance  of  board-out  children 

(including the clothing allowance) has not been increased for some time in a number of health 

authorities.  While  rates  should  not  be  so  high  that  they  would  encourage  persons  to  accept 

boarded-out  children  purely  for  financial  reasons,  neither  should  they  be  so  low  as  to  inhibit 

prospective  foster-parents  from  accepting  children  because  it  would  impose  a  financial  burden 

on them. 



Unmarried Mothers 



The facilities provided for unmarried mothers have been subject to criticism from time to time and 

it is clear that the public are not fully aware of the services provided by health authorities for such 

mothers. Accordingly, health authorities should make it known that they have staff who will deal 

in strictest confidence with any enquires relating to unmarried mothers and they will make any 

necessary  arrangements.  This  information,  together  with  the  name  and  addresses  of  the  staff 

concerned, should be brought to the notice of the public by such means as the health authority 

may decide and in particular to the notice of the clergy, doctors and nurses working in their area 

and organisations or persons concerned with her problem. Health authorities should keep in touch 

with the unmarried mother who has been admitted at their request to a special home and she 

should  be  made  aware  that  their  services  are  at  her  disposal  after  discharge  from  the  special 

home. Should she decide to retain her child she should be given all appropriate assistance by the 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                               425 


----------------------- Page 2466-----------------------

health  authority.  Correspondence  with  unmarried  mothers  should  be  kept  to  a  minimum  and 

should be addressed to them in handwriting in plain stamped envelopes. 



Appendix 2: Response by the Association of Resident Managers of 

Reformatory and Industrial Schools to the Kennedy Report. 



Substitute Care 4.8 



Residential care should be regarded in itself as a particular service. For children who require this 

service residential care is essential in many areas, and is often superior to broken family life, it 

should  not  be  regarded  as  a  last  resort.  However,  the  Association  stresses  that  it  should  be 

resorted to when nothing more can be done for the family at home. 



Buildings 4.7 



The  Association  feels  that  there  is  a  disproportionate  emphasis  on  buildings  in  the  Kennedy 

Report. In the case of existing buildings it is untrue to say that many of them were originally built 

for child care purposes. Some of these buildings have been very well adapted, and care should 

be taken to avoid wasteful building. In the case of new buildings and further adaptations of old 

ones the Association stresses that a thoroughly realistic approach must immediately be adopted. 

For  all  further  building  100  percent  State  grants  are  required.  A  Department  architect  should 

be employed to recommend alteration or replacement of buildings. However, he should work in 

conjunction  with  the  school’s  own  architect  and  school  manager.  This  is  recommended  in  the 

interests of the best results being obtained. The resident manager and local architect can relate 

the plans to local needs and environment, while the architect appointed by the Department will 

have greater experience of modern trends in such buildings. The Department should refund for 

recently altered buildings. 



Keeping Families Together 4.8 



Since  it  is  highly  desirable  that  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  same  family  be  kept  together  the 

Government and Local Authorities should make more provision for this. With adequate facilities 

boys and girls over 14 years of age could share homes. In the case of a problem child special 

facilities should be available. 



Group Homes 4.9 



Before embarking totally on this new system it should be carefully examined, and the Government 

should speak clearly on its future. A testing scheme should be provided in pilot areas. While most 

schools approve of this system basically, especially since some schools have been working on 

this approach for some time, the Association wishes to draw attention to some of its more obvious 

disadvantages. The conversion of all existing buildings would cost £4 million. The time element 

involved would also have to be considered. The system will present great problems of continuity 

of  staff  and  finance.  It  may  not  always  allow  for  emergency  accommodation;  reception  areas 

would  be required.  Some emotionally  disturbed children  are unable  to adjust  within a  confined 

area and it would seem that this small unit system would tend to ignore the vital factor of space. 

Reformatory     and   industrial schools    should   have   individual  house   names     and  street  names 

where possible. 



Contact with Parents 3.4. 



Children are encouraged to visit their children. Contact with parents is essential. 



426                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2467-----------------------

Clothing and Private Property 4.14-15 



Children in homes all wear ordinary clothes and are given private property so that they will learn 

to appreciate and respect the property of others. 



Bedroom Accommodation 4.10 



It is not necessary for children to have a bedroom of their own. Most of these children come from 

homes where they were used to sharing bedrooms. For senior children in pre-release units the 

one child per bedroom idea could be good. 



Houseparents 4.9 



The provision of House parents will present great problems. House parents would not always be 

acceptable  to  the  child’s  real  parents  as  they  do  not  want  their  place  in  the  child’s  affection 

usurped.    However,    proper   training  would    enable   House    parents   to  become     involved   while 

remaining objective. 



Continuity of Staff 4.9 



Religious could contribute towards the alleviation of the problem of continuity of staff. In order to 

achieve continuity of staff in this field, the work will have to have a better status in the future. 



Closed Psychiatric Unit for Girls 6.21 



There is a similar need for one for boys. The period of stay here should be one year at a minimum 

and preferably two years. 



High Security Unit for Girls and Boys 



There is an urgent need for high security units for boys and girls within the reformatory school 

system. In the administration of these units, religious Orders do not wish to be directly involved. 



Staff Suitability 4.6 



Many of the religious personnel involved in this work have been specially chosen and are fully 

trained.  The  British  survey  –  ‘New  Thinking  on  Institutional  Care’  1967  would  show  that  our 

situation compares favourably with that in England. For people involved in this work suitability of 

personality is very important. This should be considered before candidates are admitted to training. 

All staff cannot be adequately trained until State salaries and grants are introduced. 



Institutional Approach 4.7 



The references here to an ‘institutional approach’ in these schools are unjustified and therefore 

misleading. 



Training 4.1 



Full  time  specialised  courses  are  urgently  needed  in  Ireland.  A  Child  Care  Centre  must  be 

established immediately so as to give professional status to those involved in the work. It could 

take  the  form  of  a  consortium  or  centre  for  training  with  outside  lecturers  from  the  laity  and 

religious. All students in Child Care should have a good basic education was well as suitability of 

personality. For those already involved in Child Care work, courses of one month should be run 

for  at  least  three  years.  In  this  way,  experience  gained  by  these  people  would  be  considered 

and acknowledged. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                          427 


----------------------- Page 2468-----------------------

Training and Finance 5.11 



The State must finance staff training. A proper salary structure for all those involved in Child Care 

must  be  established.  This  salary  structure  should  include  superannuation  allowances.  There 

should be a clear definition of functions of all staff involved in this work, with appropriate salary 

deductions. 



Inadequate Staffing 4.6 



There should never  be a situation where  staff are compelled to  hold two posts and  work a 24 

hour day. 



Residential Assessment Centre 4.25-26 



A Residential Assessment Centre independent of all schools is of prime importance. This would 

facilitate a deep and comprehensive assessment of each child. It would entail the child’s living in 

for a required period. The establishment of an assessment Centre will involve the introduction of 

new legislation on reception into care. However, an Assessment Centre will be of little value until 

schools are more specialised. At the end of assessment a child’s report should be sent to the 

preferred school manager who should reserve the right to refuse admissions. This report should 

contain recommendations for treatment, to avoid the child being reassessed on admission. 



Personal Record Files 4.27 



These are essential and prove and invaluable help when supplied. At present, personal files are 

being  kept to  some degree.  A report  on children’s  social background  is very  necessary and  is 

often  difficult  to  obtain.  Provision  must  be  made  to  supply  a  social  background  report  for  all 

children being admitted into care in future. 



Admittance 6.27 



The manager of each school should reserve the right to refuse the admittance of a child in the 

interest of the child’s own well-being and the well-being of the other children in the school. No 

authority  should  over-ride  the  power  of  the  manager  on  a  question  of  admittance.  The  School 

Manager must have a greater say than at present in the matter of releasing a child. 



Special Education 7.4 



Special education facilities are urgently required as many children admitted to these schools are 

educationally  backward  or  retarded.  To  facilitate  this  need,  schools  catering  for  children  from 

reformatory    and   industrial   schools   should    be   given   grants   for  remedial    education    and 

psychological services pro rata. The Department should give preference to teachers from such 

schools for admittance to their courses in remedial education. Surveys have shown how retarded 

many  of  our  15  year  olds  are.  Special  education  is  therefore  required  at  post-primary  level  in 

some schools. 



Counselling 7.5 



All schools should be provided with counselling and career guidance services. 



School Attendance 7.6 



Local school attendance is highly recommended. In the case of delinquents the home school is 

probably more suitable as there they should be able to receive the special education they require. 

The discretion of the manager would obviously play a prominent part in this decision. 



428                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2469-----------------------

Local Activities and Social Integration 4.16–4.18 



Children  in  homes  generally  mix  a  lot  locally.  Local  children  play  in  the  home.  Home  children 

attend local birthday parties. In rural areas, many schools entertain local children. But perhaps 

the best form of social integration is that of holidays with normal families in foster homes or in 

their own homes. 



Aftercare 8.6 



Aftercare is in dire need of attention. The lack of proper aftercare is perhaps responsible for the 

many failures in our system to-date. This matter deserves strong government financial support. A 

trained aftercare officer paid by the Department should be attached to each school and should 

work  in  conjunction  with  the  child’s  family  or  with  the  local  social  worker  attached  to  the  area 

where  the  child  is  placed  after  leaving  the  home.  Where  possible  a  child’s  parents  should  be 

involved in his aftercare. They can be prepared for their child’s return by the social worker. More 

hostels, youth clubs and night classes are needed. It is desirable that local people should become 

more involved in this problem. 



Further Education 5.13, 10.11 



State aid for pupils should continue up to the age of 18 years or after depending on education or 

training requirements, allowances for third level education should also be available. This would 

be in keeping with the Commission’s theory of overcompensation. To date, many children have 

been    given  further  education    at  the  expense    of  Religious   Orders    in  nursing   and  domestic 

economy. 



Administrative Responsibility 5.14 



The Commission’s suggestion that child care should be transferred to the Department of Health 

and that responsibility for the education of children in care should remain with the Department of 

Education is thought a good one. This development should be regarded as a step towards the 

establishment     of a  family   welfare   department.    Important    also  is  the  quality  of Government 

personnel involved in this field. 



Legislation 2.9 



The Association feels that, since new legislation takes so long to introduce, we should first amend 

the 1908 Children’s Act and have it allow for greater flexibility within the system. 



Children in Court 10.13 



The  whole  body  of  legislation  regarding  the  committal  of  children  to  care,  must  be  reviewed. 

Children, orphaned or neglected, should never have to appear in court. It is highly undesirable for 

a child to have to share a courtroom with adults as happens in provincial areas. A child responsible 

for  a  criminal  act  who  must  appear  in  court  should  be  assessed  beforehand  ad  his  full  report 

presented in court. 



Offenders and Non-Offenders 8.4. 



Serious and non-serious offenders should not be mixed in one school. However, petty offenders 

and non-offenders could indeed be mixed. While these terms ‘offenders’ and non-offenders’ are 

used here for convenience, there is a pressing need to redefine them. 



Babies 4.12 



It is felt that if babies are liable to be adopted, they should be sent to special reception areas so 

that their departure will not unsettle the other children in the home. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           429 


----------------------- Page 2470-----------------------

Age of Criminal Responsibility, 2.10 



The age of criminal responsibility should certainly be raised to 12 years. The time has come to 

eliminate entirely this term ‘criminal responsibility’ in regard to youth. Our schools should be so 

treatment oriented as to meet the individual needs of each child and thereby eliminate the element 

of punishment. 



System of Payment 5.8, 5.9 



The proposed new system of payment by budget would be very welcome. This should cater for 

all expenses with the exception of extensions and renovations on buildings separate grants should 

be made available for these. 



Free Medical Care 5.7 



Free medical treatment is essential for all these schools. 



Increased Family Allowances 5.2 



This is essential since every effort should be made to avoid a family break up. That a full family 

support system be introduced is very desirable. Financial benefits do not always suffice. A proper 

system will, of course, entail social services, nurseries and other facilities. 



Watch Dog Committee 4.5 



An advisory body is thought to be essential but not a watch dog committee. This advisory body 

should have fair representation from the schools themselves and the Government Departments 

involved as well as other independent personnel. This advisory body would supervise research 

and visit schools, thus replacing an inspectorate. 



Research 2.13 



This is very necessary but it should be related and specific so that it can be fed back into schools. 

It could be placed under the supervision of the advisory body. Research should be approved by 

the  schools  managers  who  will  be  prepared  to  put  personal  files  and  accommodation  at  the 

disposal of the researchers. 



430                                                                               CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2471-----------------------

           Chapter 5 



           Interviews 



5.01      A  total  of  493  witnesses  were  interviewed  by  members  of  the  Investigation  Committee’s  legal 

          team.  These  interviews  covered  over  150  Industrial  Schools,  Reformatories,  special  schools, 

           residential  homes,  national  schools,  secondary  schools,  hospital  and  other  childcare  facilities. 

          Some of the institutions were cited by only one or two witnesses. The material catalogued here 

          consisted of uncorroborated allegations that were unchallenged and unproven and therefore did 

           not  have  probative  value  in  yielding  conclusions  about  any  institution  or  event.  The  interviews 

          do,  nevertheless,  demonstrate  the  range  of  abuse  complained  of  in  such  institutions  and  the 

          circumstances in which it can arise and are a reference for identifying weaknesses in the systems 

          and indicating areas needing diligence and possibly reform. 



5.02       Interviews are summarised in the following categories: 



                 •    Boys Industrial Schools and Reformatories 

                 •    Girls Industrial Schools and Reformatories 

                 •    Orphanages 

                 •     Hospitals 

                 •    Special schools and schools for the deaf 

                 •    National schools 

                 •    Other childcare facilities. 



           Boys’ Industrial and Reformatory Schools 



5.03       Interviews were conducted in respect of 10 schools that admitted boys only. Nine of these were 

          the subject of Investigation Committee reports. Over 250 ex-residents attended for interview many 

          of whom proceeded to oral hearing. 



          Physical abuse 



5.04      The principal complaint of male interviewees was of physical  abuse. The persons identified as 

           being responsible for harsh physical abuse were almost exclusively religious Brothers, priests or 

           nuns. Lay teachers did not feature prominently in the accounts of physical punishment given by 

           interviewees although a small number described lay teachers and lay staff who were employed 

          as night-watchmen, or farm workers as cruel and severe. 



5.05      Almost all of those interviewed described a regime of punishment. Although the 10 schools that 

          were  covered  under  this  category  were  in  different  parts  of  the  country  and  run  by  different 

           religious orders, the accounts of physical abuse from all of them were strikingly similar. 



5.06      There was a constant threat of punishment that left the boys fearful all the time. The pervasiveness 

          of punishment derived from the fact that even slight or small misdemeanours attracted blows with 

          the leather strap and most Brothers carried leather straps with them at all times. Boys were beaten 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     431 


----------------------- Page 2472-----------------------

          if their beds were not made properly or if they were last out of the showers. Boys were also beaten 

          in the classroom for failure at lessons. Many ex-residents stated they were beaten for bed-wetting 

          and this was a practice across all of the schools in this category. 



 5.07     Severe beatings were often associated with allegations of impurity or masturbation, which was 

          also common across all of the schools. 



 5.08     In addition to punishment for offences either trivial or grave, there was the added fear created by 

          punishments administered for no apparent reason. Interviewees recalled being called out of the 

          classroom  or being  taken  out  of the  dormitory  and being  beaten  without  any explanation.  This 

          made it impossible to avoid punishment and many recalled a sense of constant fear. As one man 

          stated ‘You got hit for nothing’. 



 5.09     Religious staff members were described as volatile and unpredictable by some complainants: ‘He 

          would fly off the handle a lot’; ‘he was a bully’; ‘he was a vicious man’ and some were described 

          as being obsessed with immorality and sex. One or two Brothers were described as smelling of 

          alcohol when they beat the boys. 



 5.10     There were some differences in the way in which physical punishment was administered across 

          the  different  schools.  In  some  schools  boys  were  stripped  and  beaten  across  the  back  and 

          buttocks with leather straps for fairly trivial offences. In other schools such punishments were rarer 

          although there were instances of severe, almost ritualistic beatings in almost all schools. 



 5.11     Absconding was treated as a very serious offence in all schools and usually attracted the most 

          severe punishment. In all cases, boys who absconded were punished and in almost all cases this 

          punishment took the form of severe physical beatings with a leather or a cane. Head shaving was 

          reported by some interviewees in some schools. 



 5.12     Punishments were usually administered either in the presence of or within the hearing of other 

          boys. One interviewee recalled a boy being taken out of the classroom and being savagely kicked 

          and beaten by a Brother. He said that he could actually hear the punches and kicks and the boy 

          crying for the Brother to stop. 



 5.13     There was no evidence from the interviews that any attempt was made to hide or disguise the 

          fact that severe beatings were administered. On the contrary, many recalled the fear and terror 

          of  seeing  and  hearing  these  beatings:  ‘the  whole  class  went  silent  and  could  hear  what  was 

          going on’. 



 5.14     Boys who were in these schools in the late 1970s reported less systemic abuse but could still 

          recall incidents of severe corporal punishment either directed at them or other boys. 



 5.15     The most common implement reported for inflicting punishment was the leather strap. In nine out 

          of the 10 schools covered by this category, it was the norm to receive blows with the leather on 

          the hands or the buttocks. A number of interviewees stated that there were coins stitched into 

          these straps and some recalled a larger heavier strap as well as a smaller one. One teacher was 

          described as having a special stick made. There was no consistency as to the number of strokes 

          and it appeared to depend on the individual teacher. 



 5.16     Other implements, such as hurleys, canes, chair legs and dowels, were mentioned as well as fists 

          and feet. 



          432                                                                                CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           Sexual abuse 



5.17       Sexual abuse by members of staff was alleged in respect of all the schools in this category. The 

           number of persons alleging abuse varied from over 50 percent of complainants in some schools 

           to 10   percent   in others.   In most   schools    the  range   was   between    30  and   40   percent   of 

           complainants interviewed. 



5.18       Sexual abuse, where it was perpetrated by staff members, followed similar patterns. The boy was 

           usually alone with the perpetrator, and the abuse, which ranged from inappropriate touching to 

           rape, was usually conducted in a way that made the boy fearful of a beating if he resisted. Boys 

           were instructed to tell no-one about what occurred and they felt they had no option but to stay 

           silent. There were some reports of staff offering kinder treatment to boys they had singled out for 

           sexual abuse. One interviewee said that although he knew that what the Brother who abused him 

           was doing was wrong, he tolerated it because it made him feel special and loved in the school. 

           He said the Brother would give him treats and watch out for him and he never blamed the Brother 

           for what he did to him. It was a matter of survival for him. 



5.19       In  general,  however,  witnesses  alleged  that  sexual  abuse  was  conducted  in  a  random  and 

           impersonal manner. The boy did not appear to matter a great deal and there appeared to be no 

           communication or affection shown to him by the perpetrator. This was one of the more striking 

           aspects of sexual abuse in boys’ institutions. In most cases, even where boys alleged that they 

           were assaulted over a long period by a particular Brother, there was no evidence that any kind of 

           ‘relationship’ built up. 



5.20       Boys who were sexually abused felt ashamed and did not discuss what had occurred with their 

           fellow pupils. Interviewees reported seeing boys coming out of Brothers’ rooms looking distressed, 

           but they did not discuss what had happened even though they, the onlookers, were aware that 

           the boys had been abused. The secrecy enforced by threats by the perpetrator was reinforced by 

           shame and humiliation on the part of the victim and the boys themselves. 



5.21       In  a  handful  of  cases,  the  victims  reported  abuse  to  the  management  of  the  school.  These 

           complaints  usually  resulted  in  a  beating  and  nothing  was  done  to  prevent  the  abuse.  In  some 

           cases  the  interviewees  said  that  the  alleged  perpetrator  was  transferred  although  they  did  not 

           know if there was any connection with their complaint and the transfer. 



5.22       In a small number of cases, boys reported being sexually abused by female carers. They were 

           fondled and taken into bed with the carer. They were generally young children of five or six when 

           this occurred. 



5.23       Many interviewees stated that they were aware of sexual abuse of other boys by staff members. 

           In particular, interviewees recalled boys being removed from their beds at night and being taken 

           to a Brothers’ room. Interviewees also stated that some night-watchmen in three schools abused 

           boys during the night. Interviewees alleged sexual abuse by visitors and lay staff, but the incidence 

           was far less than that perpetrated by religious staff.. 



5.24       In all schools abuse by other boys was a problem but in some schools it was endemic and there 

           appeared to be little done to control the bullying that younger, weaker boys were subjected to. 

           One interviewee described peer abuse as ‘rampant’ in his school and another said that he was 

           raped by a gang that operated in the school. Boys who lived in schools where supervision was 

           weak   and   peer  sexual   activity and   abuse    were   common     described   the   constant   fear  and 

           helplessness they felt. They could not report what was happening to them for fear of reprisals and 

           they had to suffer in silence. 



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 5.25      Many of the men who alleged experiences of sexual abuse reported feelings of shame and deep 

           anger. For some it left them sexually confused for many years after leaving the institution and led 

          to lifelong psychological problems as well as problems with relationships and friendships. 



           Emotional abuse and neglect 



 5.26      General  physical  conditions  were  not  a  particular  feature  of  boys’  complaints  apart  from  food, 

          which was generally described as poor and inadequate with many recalling hunger during their 

           childhood in the schools. They alleged that food, even where it was adequate, was often almost 

           inedible. In one school the food was described as quite good but there was not enough of it. 



 5.27      Issues  such  as  overcrowding,  poor  clothing  and  bad  hygiene  were  not  regarded  as  being  as 

           significant  as  the  physical  and  sexual  abuse  and  bullying  that  were  described  by  most  of  the 

           complainants. Fear, loneliness, and isolation were, however, dominant themes. 



 5.28     These 10 schools were the bigger residential schools and therefore large numbers of residents 

          were a feature. Many described their fear at seeing the huge number of boys older and bigger 

          than they were and for many of them being bullied became part of their lives.. 



 5.29      Lack of family contact was a significant factor. Many of the pupils had one or both parents alive, 

           but contact was minimal. 



 5.30      Interviewees were asked for positive memories of their time in the schools and, for most of them, 

          these revolved around sport and recreation. Where games were organised for the boys, they were 

           generally enjoyed and appreciated. Films, music and games were mentioned. A significant number 

           of interviewees had no positive memories. 



           Girls’ Industrial Schools and Reformatories 



 5.31     Twenty-two girls’ Industrial Schools and Reformatories were mentioned by complainants in the 

           course  of  interviews  with  the  Commission.  Of  these,  one  school  was  also  the  subject  of  a  full 

           Investigation Committee report. The other 21 schools were each the subject of a small number of 

           complaints. They were small schools run by religious orders of nuns and were generally in rural 

           locations throughout Ireland. 



           Physical abuse 



 5.32     Twenty  of  the  22  girls’  Industrial  Schools  were  cited  by  interviews  for  administering  physical 

           punishment that in their view amounted to abuse. Although most of the complaints were in respect 

           of  pervasive,  arbitrary  and  unpredictable  punishments,  a  significant  number  of  complainants 

           described incidents of extreme abuse and cruelty. The accounts given at interview disclosed a 

          wide  divergence  between  different  schools  and  there  was  less  evidence  of  a  policy  of  abuse 

           across the system. 



 5.33     There  was  variation  from  school  to  school  and  the  level  and  severity  of  physical  punishment 

           appeared  to  depend  to  a  very  large  extent  on  the  Resident  Manager.  In  all  schools  in  which 

           physical  punishment  was  alleged,  the  complainants  spoke  about  the  pervasiveness  of  such 

           punishments and said that even minor misdemeanours would be punished by a slap or a ‘clatter’. 



 5.34      In some schools, the Resident Manager was described as being extremely abusive. Girls were 

           punished by being beaten with leather straps, canes, and other implements. They said they were 

           beaten on all parts of their bodies, with or without clothing on. 



          434                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2475-----------------------

5.35       Complaints of physical punishment in girls’ Industrial Schools mentioned as a particular feature 

           lay  workers  who  were  alleged  by  a  large  number  of  interviewees  to  have  perpetrated  severe 

           punishment  and  abuse  without  any  accountability  to  the  nuns  who  managed  the  schools.  In 

           addition, older girls were often left in charge of younger children and were permitted to use such 

           physical punishment as they deemed appropriate without any supervision or control. 



5.36       Other punishments were cited, such as being locked into a dark room for a long period of time, 

           being deprived of food and privileges, and in one or two cases girls having their hair shaved or 

           cut tightly. 



5.37       Even  in  schools  in  which  corporal  punishment  was  described  as  fairly  mild,  there  was  still  an 

           atmosphere      of  fear  and    uncertainty    amongst     the  children   because     of  the   arbitrary  and 

           unpredictable  nature  of  the  punishment.  Children  who  were  engaged  in  ordinary  day-to-day 

           activities could be smacked, slapped or beaten for little or no reason. This made children distrustful 

           of adults and they felt isolated and undermined throughout their childhood. 



5.38       Complainants  spoke  of  beatings  that  were  so  severe  that  they  ended  up  in  the  infirmary  for  a 

           number of days and even weeks. Some said that the doctor or a nurse would have been aware 

           of their condition but would not have been told how it had happened. In one case an interviewee 

           said that she had marks all over her body from a beating with a whip and the doctor was told that 

           it had   been    caused    by  an   older  girl. Another    interviewee    recalled   Dr  Anna    McCabe,     the 

           Department  of  Education  Inspector,  seeing  her.  She  believed  Dr  McCabe  did  not  accept  the 

           explanation by the Resident Manager and insisted on speaking to the Resident Manager about 

           the  condition   she   found   the  child  in. The    interviewee   believed    that  the  particular  nun   who 

           administered the beating did not beat the children as much after that event. 



5.39       Interviewees  reported  beatings  mainly  for  misbehaviour  consisting  of  answering  back  or  being 

           careless or inadvertent in their chores or daily activities. They also reported physical punishment 

           in school and many reported being fearful whilst in the classroom. Most of the children in these 

           smaller Industrial Schools were educated in external schools and many reported feeling singled 

           out and ‘picked on’ by nuns and teachers in the external school. 



           Sexual abuse 



5.40       Sexual abuse did not feature regularly in the complaints of interviewees who were pupils of girls’ 

           Industrial Schools. No school was described of having an endemic or systemic problem of sexual 

           abuse.  However,  individual  serious  incidents  of  sexual  abuse  were  reported  by  interviewees 

           against priests, lay workers, godparents, and men in families to whom the children had been sent 

           on work placements. The sexual abuse alleged ranged from inappropriate touching to rape, and 

           in  all  cases  where  children  were  sexually  abused  by  men  there  was  a  fear  and  reluctance  in 

           reporting the abuse to the management of the schools. 



5.41       Where a priest was alleged to have abused girls, a number of interviewees said that they believed 

           his activities were known to the management of the school but were not addressed by them. Even 

           if girls stated that they were uncomfortable about being with the priest in many cases no notice 

           was  taken.  This  was  not  universally  the  case:  one  or  two  examples  were  cited  where  girls 

           complained about the behaviour of a priest and they were never again placed in the position of 

           being alone with that priest. 



5.42       A number of interviewees spoke of being sexually abused by older girls in the Industrial School. 

           This abuse, which was often in the context of physical bullying as well as sexual bullying, occurred 

           in two or three schools that were mentioned by interviewees. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                            435 


----------------------- Page 2476-----------------------

5.43       The majority of interviewees spoke about being completely ignorant about the facts of life and of 

           not being properly prepared for, or provided for, when menstruation occurred. Many girls reported 

           being terrified when they got their first period and having to depend on older girls to tell them how 

           to deal with it. 



5.44       In general, the attitude to sexuality was repressive and humiliating. Many interviewees reported 

           feeling ashamed of their own bodies and embarrassed and overly modest even in the company 

           of other girls. 



           Emotional abuse and neglect 



5.45       Some  interviewees  recalled  that  food  was  generally  fair  and  they  had  no  recollection  of  being 

           hungry in the institution. Others said that the food was very bad. All of the accounts of the food 

           would indicate that it was meagre or basic in most institutions although one interviewee stated 

           that she never felt any hunger while she was in the convent, that there was lots of food served 

           there and that the only time they were hungry was if they were deprived of food as a punishment. 



5.46       In  general  interviewees  did  not  complain  about  clothing,  although  some  did  say  that  they  felt 

           marked out by their clothes when they attended external national schools. Accommodation and 

           standards of cleanliness varied from school to school and depended on the Resident Manager 

           who was in charge. In general, however, the school was kept to a very high standard and girls 

           were required to polish and scrub and clean the premises on a daily basis. There was a very big 

           emphasis  on  chores  and  work  and  many  interviewees  described  drudgery  and  hard  physical 

           labour as being their predominant memory of life during their childhoods. 



5.47       Very many of the interviewees from girls’ Industrial Schools  had been in care all of their lives. 

           Those  who  came  later  into  the  institutions  tended  to  come  as  a  result  of  family  breakdown  or 

           illness or death. The children in girls’ Industrial Schools tended to be there for a longer period of 

           time and their memories of their childhood were compressed over a 10- or even 14-year period. 

           However, the  predominant and most  commonly cited memory  of girls who  had been placed  in 

           Industrial Schools was the humiliation and degradation that they were subjected to by the religious 

           and lay staff. Girls, particularly those born out of wedlock, reported being denigrated because of 

           their birth. One interviewee stated that a feature of the school was the fact that no-one ever felt 

           that  you  were  part  of  any  family  or  had  any  real  identity.  She  said  there  were  no  birthday 

           celebrations, no toys and no real recreation. 



5.48       Many of the interviewees reported very low self-esteem. One interviewee said that she felt the 

           biggest   complaint   that  she  had   was   that  there  was   no   emotional   support   for  the  children 

           whatsoever. She said birthdays were not celebrated and that children had very little to look forward 

           to in their day-to-day lives. 



5.49       Many interviewees reported that their education was affected by having to work in the institution. 

           They said that they were taken out of classes early in order to care for children or to wash and 

           clean or to do work in the farms or gardens. They also claimed that their education stopped before 

           the Primary Certificate because they were moved full time into working in the institution. Very few 

           interviewees    proceeded     beyond    national   school    level  and   this  was    a  source    of  great 

           disappointment and frustration to many of them who felt that had they been given a chance in 

           their childhood they could have had better careers and better standards of living in their adult lives. 



5.50       Most interviewees said they had very little contact with the Industrial School once they had left at 

           16 years of age even though they had lived most, if not all, of their childhood in the care of the 

           school. Very few reported any emotional attachment to the people who had cared for them or to 

           the school itself. When asked whether they had positive memories interviewees would sometimes 

           identify a particular nun or a particular care worker as having been kind. Some interviewees said 



           436                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


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          that their most positive memory of their time in their school were the friendships they made. They 

          said that although there was a degree of bullying from older girls, by and large the girls looked 

          out for each other and this created strong bonds between some of them that they had to this day. 



5.51      Many of the interviewees were concerned at the impact their experiences in Industrial Schools 

          had had on their own parenting skills. Some of them felt that they had to struggle very hard to be 

          good parents to their own children and many of them felt they had failed in this regard. 



5.52      In general, the interviewees stated that they were not prepared properly for life after the institution 

          and were not properly supported by the institution once they left. Many of these women suffered 

          life-long problems with addictions and depression and they stated that the damage done in these 

          early years stayed with them throughout their lives. 



          Orphanages 



5.53      The Committee’s legal team heard complaints about a total of 12 orphanages that operated in the 

          state during the relevant period. Nine of these institutions had fewer than four complainants, one 

          had six complainants, and two others had 13 and 14 complainants respectively. Unlike Industrial 

          Schools, orphanages did not take children that were committed by the courts but instead children 

          were sent to orphanages by families who had either broken down irretrievably or who were going 

          through a temporary traumatic event or had suffered bereavement. Children usually stayed in the 

          orphanage until they were 12 and then they either went back to their family or extended family or 

          they  were  placed  in  an  Industrial  School  if  there  was  no  family  available  to  care  for  them. 

          Orphanages  were  run  by  Religious  Orders  of  nuns,  Brothers  and  by  lay  people.  They  did  not 

          have internal national schools and children from orphanages attended outside national schools. 

          Orphanages did not provide industrial training of any sort although children were required to do 

          quite an extensive round of chores and maintenance in the school. 



5.54      Where a parent was still alive at the time of a child’s committal to an orphanage, there tended to 

          be more contact between the child and the parent and in many cases the stay in the orphanage 

          was terminated by the child’s return to the family. 



          Physical abuse 



5.55      The 12 orphanages whose residents were interviewed by the Commission varied greatly in terms 

          of physical punishment and abuse reported by interviewees. In cases where the interviewee was 

          also  attending  to  discuss  an  Industrial  School,  the  orphanage  was  sometimes  contrasted  very 

          favourably with the school that the child subsequently attended. For example, one complainant 

          said that he had been placed in the orphanage because of abuse by his father. He stated that he 

          and  his  brother  were  sexually  and  physically  abused  whilst  he  was  at  home  and  that  he  was 

          removed to a children’s home in Dublin. He said that he had great memories of the home that 

          they ‘looked after the children 100 percent’. He said that a lot of love was felt and shown to the 

          children  in  that  home.  He  was  subsequently  sent  to  another  institution  that  he  experienced  as 

          extremely abusive and about which he had come specifically to the Commission to complain. 



5.56      There  was  a  wide  range  of  different  experiences  across  different  institutions  and  whilst  some 

          orphanages were described as well equipped with good food and clothing, others were described 

          as grim, frightening places. In these institutions physical punishment was the first response to any 

          misdemeanour      or  wrong   doing.   Institutions varied  as   to the  level  of  physical  punishment 

          administered. In orphanages that catered exclusively for boys, the level of physical punishment 

          was quite high and children were beaten with canes, leathers and other implements by religious 

          and lay staff. 



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5.57       Bed-wetting was a problem for many of the interviewees as they were in these institutions as very 

           young children. The standard response to an incident of bed-wetting was to be punished physically 

           and humiliated in front of other children. 



           Emotional abuse 



5.58       Interviewees who were in orphanages during their childhood were often there for short periods 

           during traumatic times in the family. For these children the experience of being committed to an 

           orphanage was one of extreme isolation and loneliness. They spoke of how badly they missed 

           their  parents  and  their  family  and  they  found  it  very  difficult  to  settle  into  the  regime  of  the 

           institution. 



5.59       Other children were committed to the orphanage because they were born out of wedlock and for 

           these children a lifetime in care was usually the norm. All of the interviewees who experienced 

           childcare in the orphanage system prior to going in to the Industrial School system described the 

           orphanage system as being kinder and more benign than that experienced in the Industrial School 

           system. Although the regime could be harsh and discipline severe, it was not as cruel as their 

           experiences in subsequent institutions. 



5.60       Where orphanages were described as cruel, it was usually because of one or two staff members 

           who were particularly harsh. There was no evidence that there was a systemic policy of cruelty 

           throughout the institutions and there was some evidence that, where staff members were abusive 

           towards children, management intervened and eventually the perpetrator was removed. 



           Hospitals 



5.61       Nine  hospitals  were  mentioned  by  interviewees  to  the  Investigation  Committee’s  team.  Each 

           institution  was  subject  to  one  complaint  except  one  hospital,  which  was  the  subject  of  five 

           complaints. 



           Physical abuse 



5.62       Six  hospitals  were  described  by  complainants  as  being  physically  abusive,  some  to  a  greater 

           extent than others. 



5.63       In terms of hospital treatments two complainants in two separate institutions complained about 

           the  lack  of  pain  relief  they  were  given  following  medical  treatments  or  during  illnesses.  One 

           complainant     stated  that  they  were    in great  pain   when    attending   the  physiotherapist    in one 

           particular  hospital,  and  another  recalled  the  immense  pain  of  the  physical  exercises  he  would 

           have to perform in his callipers. This was exacerbated in both cases by the lack of any explanation 

           given to the children as to the procedures they were undergoing, or the details regarding their 

           specific illnesses. One complainant recalled how she genuinely believed she was going to die and 

           was not given any reassurance or shown any compassion by those in charge. 



5.64       Three complainants complained about being slapped for wetting the bed and wetting the floor. 

           One complainant described how she wet the bed as her calls for the bedpan to be brought to her 

           were ignored by those in charge. She stated that once the bed was wet she was left sitting in it for 

           hours and slapped as a punishment. Another complainant, who was a patient in another hospital, 

           described a similar situation were she wet the bed because she wore a restraint in bed and was 

           therefore  unable  to  get  up  to  go  to  the  toilet.  As  punishment  she  was  made  to  wear  the  wet 

           bed sheets. 



5.65       Nearly   all the   complainants    described    an   oppressive    atmosphere     within   the  hospitals,  with 

           punishments  often  meted  out  for  simple  indiscretions  or  accidents  such  as  spilling  milk  on  the 



           438                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           floor or dropping a Bible. Complainants described the generally very rough nature in which they 

           were treated on a daily basis; one complainant particularly recalled the rough, uncaring way in 

           which  her  hair  was  brushed  by  a  nun.  Other  complainants  remember  generally  the  feelings  of 

           dislike shown to them by the nuns and nurses and were often called names such as ‘nuisance’ 

           and ‘pest’ while being slapped. 



5.66       A few complainants recalled being slapped and beaten about the head, while one described being 

           beaten with a number of implements including keys and plastic tennis rackets. Furthermore, some 

           recall being stripped before receiving their punishment. 



5.67       One interviewee described the teacher who taught within the hospital as particularly severe. He 

           recalled  the  teaching  nun  as  a  ‘brute’  and  a  ‘savage’  and  described  how  she  beat  him  during 

           lessons  even though  he was  still confined  to his  bed at  this point.  The complainant  eventually 

           became well enough to receive schooling whilst sitting at his desk, but states that the beatings 

           became even worse at this point and he was beaten with a stick. 



5.68       Two complainants complained about being beaten for not eating the food served to them, which 

           they found extremely distasteful. One complainant recalled hiding food she could not eat under 

           her pillow as she was scared about the reaction of the nuns. However, she was caught and beaten 

           as a result. 



           Sexual abuse 



5.69       Two individuals made complaints to the Commission regarding sexual abuse. These complaints 

           involved two hospitals. One complainant described being abused by a visiting priest on a number 

           of occasions. She stated that the nurses did not seem to know about the abuse, as they would 

           call her out of the ward to do odd jobs or fetch things for the priest, and it was during this time 

           that the abuse took place. She stated that she did not blame the nurses, as she believed they 

           were genuinely oblivious to the abuse. She remembered being upset when her mother came to 

           visit,  but  did  not  reveal  the  abuse  at  this  stage.  She  did  reveal  the  abuse  some  time  later  to 

           her sister. 



5.70       A  male   complainant     stated  that  he   was   abused    by  the  doctor   who   has   treating  him.   He 

           remembered that he was moved into a private room, and it was here during the evening times 

           when there was only one nurse on duty that the abuse took place. The complainant recalled that 

           the abuse occurred on two separate occasions, but after that the doctor ‘never came near him’ 

           again. He also recalled that his father paid the doctor in cash for the procedure and that the doctor 

           gave his father a small amount back, stating that his son was ‘a great patient’. The complainant 

           described this as a ‘door closing’ for him and he felt as if he were trapped. He never disclosed 

           the abuse to his father or anyone else until he undertook counselling as an adult. 



           Neglect and emotional abuse 



5.71       The main complaint made in this respect was the fact that the children were often confined to 

           bed, suffering from intense boredom and fear. Many described the oppressive draconian regime 

           as one that instilled fear within them, and the nuns and nurses who cared for them as ‘cold, rude 

           and  unpleasant’.  Nearly  all  complainants,  covering  all  institutions  made  a  similar  complaint  to 

           some degree. A few stated that they were provided with recreation time, albeit for a limited period. 

           One  complainant  recalled  being  allowed  out  in  the  yard  for  half  an  hour  daily,  while  another 

           recalled being allowed to play with other children in the gymnasium for a short time. 



5.72       A number of the complainants recalled being given very little information about why they were in 

           the  hospital  or  what  procedures  they  were  undergoing..  This  extended  to  the  belief  that  their 

           parents were not given sufficient information about procedures and treatment their children were 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                         439 


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          undergoing. One complainant also mentioned that the nurses would tell the children what to say 

          to the doctors when they were being examined, and enforced this through fear of punishment. 



5.73      In  relation to  visits by  parents,  circumstances    differed  between    individual complainants    in 

          individual hospitals. Some complainants recalled their parents visiting at regular intervals, often 

          every week. However a few complainants recalled that their parents were often turned away from 

          visiting  them  or  encouraged  to cut  down  on  the  number  of  visits  they made.  One  complainant 

          recalled that her parents were only allowed to wave at her through a window. 



5.74      One  complainant  highlighted  the  fact  that  although  her  mother  visited  her  every  second  week 

          there was always staff around and so she was unable to tell her mother about any difficulties she 

          may have been experiencing. Furthermore, those complainants whose parents were able to visit 

          them recalled that often gifts or treats given to them by their parent were taken away by the nuns. 



5.75      Food was another major complaint registered to the Commission. Several complainants recalled 

          being made to eat distasteful food and a small number stated that they were often hungry. As 

          punishment, one complainant recalled being beaten for not eating, while another remembers being 

          jeered at and called names for being sick after eating the porridge. One resident stated that while 

          they received a good breakfast, their dinners were ‘terrible’ and stated that the older children were 

          fed better than the younger ones. 



5.76      Within  the  hospitals,  the  standard  of  education  appears  to  have  ranged  quite  significantly.  A 

          number of complainants spoke in complimentary terms as regards the education they received 

          during their stay in hospital. One complainant stated that she was given the opportunity to attend 

          classes when she started to recover and that she enjoyed these classes. Another complainant 

          recalled completing her Primary Certificate while resident in the hospital and a further complainant 

          stated that she was well educated during her stay in one particular institution. 



5.77      In contrast, one complainant recalled there being no designated part of the hospital for education 

          and stated that she only saw the teacher once a month and only learned a song during her time 

          in hospital. Another complainant experienced severe physical punishment during class, not only 

          from  the  teacher  in  charge,  but  also  his  fellow  pupils  who  were  encouraged  to  hit  him  for 

          misdemeanours and threatened with beatings themselves if they did not hit him hard enough. 



5.78      Two   complaints   were   made    as  regards  physical   neglect  in two   separate   institutions. One 

          complainant alleged that she received only two bed baths during her six-month stay in the hospital 

          and never had her hair washed at all during this period. 



          Positive experiences 



5.79      A few complainants recalled instances of kindness during their stays in the hospitals and could 

          pick out one or two more kind and compassionate nuns and nurses. 



5.80      One complainant described how, while he was resident in one hospital, the regime changed for 

          the better with the arrival of a new nun. He described the nun as ‘progressive with great vision’. 

          She got rid of the old staff and improved the education of the children by introducing new teachers 

          from the training college. He described the improvement of the food and how they were brought 

          on trips to Croke Park and Butlins. This same complainant also stated that Christmas was a good 

          time in the hospital and that birthdays were marked. 



          Adult life experiences 



5.81      Nearly all complainants have suffered ongoing negative results stemming from their time in these 

          hospitals. Many described frequent nightmares and many continue to suffer from depression often 



          440                                                                                CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           accompanied by a social phobia and a sense of separation from their family members, particularly 

          their parents and their own children. 



5.82       One complainant was also treated for eating disorders, while another has received treatment for 

           obsessive–compulsive disorder. 



           Deaf and special schools 



5.83       Nine  deaf  and   special  schools  were    named  by    complainants    in  the interview   process.  The 

           Investigation  Committee  interviewed 81  individuals  in  relation to  these  schools.  Three of  these 

           schools were the subject of a report by the Investigation Committee. 



           Physical abuse 



5.84       Of the 81 complainants heard in the deaf and special schools, the vast majority complained of 

           some  form  of  physical  abuse.  Physical  abuse  seemed  to  permeate  every  aspect  of  their  daily 

           lives in these schools. Almost all the complainants described beatings, which were often severe 

           and capricious. 



5.85       Physical abuse was described as being used as a method of control and many complainants felt 

          they were hit for no reason most of the time. Others described how they were unaware of the 

           offence  they   had  committed    and   did  not  understand    why   they   were   struck. A   number    of 

           complainants  described  incidents  for  which  they  were  punished  including:  not  eating  quickly, 

           signing,  poor  performance  in  class,  bed-wetting,  refusal  to  eat  food  and  failure  to  comply  with 

          the regimented toilet regime. Complainants referred to numerous implements being used during 

           incidents of physical abuse. The most commonly cited was a leather strap, along with bamboo 

           canes, keys, blackboard dusters, a bicycle pump, electrical flex and wooden spoons. 



5.86       During   the  interview  process,   many    incidents   of  extreme   violence   were   described.   Some 

           complainants  talked  about  specific  individuals  being  particularly  violent  and  recalled  incidents 

          where they were punched and kicked in the face and abdomen. Others recalled having their hair 

           pulled and being beaten on the bare buttocks. The children in the deaf schools described being 

           slapped around the ears, which was particularly painful because they had hearing aids. 



5.87       In relation to education, individuals reported being fearful in the classroom. They described being 

           physically  punished  for  bad  handwriting,  writing  with  their  left  hand,  poor  speech  and  use  of 

           signing. 



5.88       Complaints   described    being  beaten   if they  made    an  accusation    of sexual   abuse   against  a 

           religious,  lay  staff  or  fellow  student.  They  stated  that  on  many  occasions  they  were  unjustly 

           accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour, for which they were severely beaten. 



5.89       Peer   abuse   was   also  described    as  a  regular  occurrence    in  some    schools.  A   number    of 

           complainants described how they were beaten by other boys in the schools and how the religious 

           and lay staff was unaware or indifferent to it. 



           Sexual abuse 



5.90      Although  it  appears  from  the  interview  process  that  sexual  abuse  was  not  as  widespread  as 

           physical abuse, the majority of interviewees recounted some form of sexual abuse. These included 

           sexual abuse by lay staff, members of the religious and their peers. Descriptions of these incidents 

           include  fondling,  groping,  attempted  rape,  oral  rape  and  inappropriate  discussions  of  a  sexual 

           nature. 



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5.91      A large number of the interviewees noted being touched inappropriately whilst in various locations 

           in the schools. A number of interviewees recalled the abuse occurring in the dormitories, showers 

           and  classrooms.  In  relation  to  the  dormitories,  a  number  of  complainants  recalled  incidents  of 

           being fondled in their beds. Other noted that the abuse occurred when they were ill and had been 

           sent to the infirmary. Numerous complainants described being fondled in the showers and others 

           noted being watched while showering. Another form of sexual abuse that witnesses recalled was 

           inappropriate conversations. Such conversations were graphic in nature and left the complainants 

          feeling uncomfortable. 



5.92      A small number of complainants described how visitors to the school, in particular other religious 

           persons, abused them. This abuse was largely described as fondling. 



5.93       Complaints involving lay staff were also recalled. A number of complainants stated that they had 

           been sexually abused by night-watchmen. A number of complaints also talked about peer abuse 

           in this context. They described such abuse as being rampant, with the older boys often sexually 

           abusing the younger ones. 



           Emotional abuse and neglect 



           Education 



5.94      The biggest complaint with regard to the deaf and special schools was the poor level of education 

           received.  That  said,  opinions  differed  and  some  individuals  felt  institutions  offered  them  great 

           educational opportunities they would otherwise have been denied. 



5.95      The overriding feeling from the interviews, however, was that these institutions had let them down 

           in terms of their education and many felt lasting effects on their adult lives. 



5.96      There were a number of issues unique to the deaf schools. A lot of these complainants took issue 

          with the prevalence of ‘oralism’ as the method of teaching. Most of the children were taught in 

          this way but a large number of the complainants described how they struggled to get to grips with 

          this method of teaching and fell behind in their education as a result. ‘Signing’ was forbidden and 

           children could be physically punished if they were caught ‘signing’. The strapping of hands was 

           another method used to prevent children from ‘signing’. 



5.97      The deaf and dumb children were allowed to use ‘signing’. However, as they were in the minority 

          they felt stigmatised by this. Further to this, the partially deaf students were segregated from the 

           profoundly deaf students and a number of these complainants described being looked upon as 

           stupid and felt that the other children were favoured. 



5.98       Some of the children in the special schools felt that they had been misdiagnosed and sent to the 

          wrong  type  of  institution.  As  a  consequence  they  complained  that  they  struggled  to  fulfil  their 

           potential while in these schools. 



5.99       In general, the majority of interviewees were very unhappy with the standard of education. Many 

           complainants recalled being called stupid and being terrified of making a mistake in school for 

          fear of punishment. The environment of fear and punishment in these schools stifled their ability 

          to learn. As a result, many stated that they struggled finding employment and had difficulty with 

           some of basic tasks in their every day lives such as reading and writing. 



           Food 



5.100     Another major issue arising from the interview process was the standard of food in the schools. 

           Many complainants noted that the food lacked variety and described it as being very bad, smelly, 



          442                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


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           salty and stale. Some used the term ‘prison food’ and others felt it was served in a prison-like 

           fashion, with bars on the windows and a military style of serving food. 



  5.101    Some complainants stated that there was never enough food and thus they were always hungry. 

           This resulted in them having to steal food from the kitchen or eat things such as raw onions from 

           the garden to supplement their diet. 



  5.102    Interviewees recalled that when they returned home on holidays, or if relatives came to visit them, 

           their thin appearance would be noted. Many described being ravenous and would devour their 

           food when they returned home. Complainants stated that they used their home visits as a way of 

           gaining weight that they had lost while in these schools. 



  5.103    Incidents of force feeding were also recorded. Complainants felt coerced into finishing their meals 

           through threats of physical punishment. This regime of force feeding coupled with the poor quality 

           of food as described above left many of the complainants feeling ill after meals. 



           Toilet regime 



  5.104    A strictly regimented toilet regime was recounted to the Investigation Committee in the interview 

           process. Many noted that they were forced to go to the toilet every morning and failure to perform 

           resulted in physical punishment. One individual spoke of being given laxatives to enable him to 

           follow the routine. Many described how they suffered fear and anxiety as a result of this. Some 

           complainants now believe that this toilet regime has caused them long-term side effects such as 

           bowel problems. 



  5.105    Interviewees also talked about being humiliated and slapped for bed-wetting. This was a common 

           theme throughout many of the interviews. 



  5.106    Many complainants felt that the general atmosphere of fear that pervaded these schools resulted 

           in them being fearful even of teachers and religious staff whom they described as being good and 

           caring. This resulted in complainants being fearful of reporting various incidents of physical, sexual 

           and emotional abuse to these members of staff. 



           National schools 

  5.107                                                                                                              1 

           The Investigation Committee examined in detail the career of one teacher, Mr John Brander , who 

           had physically and sexually abused children in national and secondary schools for over 40 years. 

           The report into Mr John Brander is outlined in full in Volume II of this Report and covers many of 

           the circumstances of abuse outlined by interviewees to the Commission. 



  5.108    Interviews were conducted in respect of 63 national schools that were situated all over the country. 

           These schools were owned and managed by the diocese in which they were located or by religious 

           congregations. They were operated by lay teachers or religious or both. Interviewees spoke of 

           experiences  of  physical, sexual  and  emotional  abuse whilst  attending  school,  principally at  the 

           hands of teachers. 



  5.109    Of the 63 national schools mentioned by complainants, 52 were each the subject of one allegation. 

           Nine   were  the   subject  of  two   allegations.  Two    schools  were    the   subject  of  more  than    two 

           allegations of abuse; one had five past pupils who made allegations of abuse and one had 10 

           past pupils making such allegations. 



  5.110    Sixty-nine interviewees were male and 16 were female. 



           1 This is a pseudonym. 



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           Physical abuse – male interviewees 



5.111      Over  95  percent  of  the  adult  male  interviewees  complained of  physical  abuse  by  one  or  more 

           teachers during their school days. These complainants acknowledged that corporal punishment 

           was the practice at the time in national schools and were quite clear on the difference between 

           ordinary physical chastisement and abusive and excessive beatings. Although there were some 

           allegations against lay teachers and nuns, the overwhelming majority of complaints were against 

           religious teaching Brothers. 



5.112      Complainants appeared to have been most frightened and most damaged by teachers who lost 

           control  of their  tempers.   One   Brother   was   described    as  beating  ‘in a  frenzy’.  Another   was 

           described  as  ‘losing  it  completely’  and  yet  another  as  ‘frothing  at  the  mouth’  during  a  beating. 

           Where teachers lost control in this way, the children were subjected to extreme and excessive 

           punishments. Beatings were administered with leathers, sticks and other such implements and 

           were on all parts of the bodies. Boys were punched and kicked and terrorised for long periods. In 

           some schools boys were required to drop their trousers and receive strokes of the leather or cane 

           on  the  bare  buttocks.  These  beatings  were  most  frequently  a  response  to  a  failure  at  lessons 

           rather than any misbehaviour on the part of the child. 



5.113      Interviewees reported seeing children bleeding and bruised after such beatings. Actual physical 

           harm was also reported, such as the loss of teeth or being knocked unconscious, although doctors 

           or parents were usually not told the real cause of the injury. 



5.114      Extreme and excessive beatings administered regularly in the classroom had a negative impact, 

           not just on the child who was the victim of the beating but on all the children in the classroom and 

           those within earshot. Interviewees said that the pain, anger and humiliation caused by excessive 

           beatings prevented  them from  learning properly  at school.  Many reported  leaving school  at 13 

           years of age with a very low standard of education. 



5.115      It  was  frequently  observed  by  complainants  that  not  all  pupils  were  treated  the  same  way  by 

           violent teachers. This indicated that although there was a lack of control there was also awareness 

           on the part of the teacher that beating some children would cause more trouble and they were 

           able to control their violence in respect of these children. 



5.116      Brothers or teachers who were violent were known within the school system .Interviewees often 

           singled out two or even three Brothers in the same school who were excessively harsh on pupils 

           and could often name other Brothers who were kind and good. It was regarded by interviewees 

           as  significant  that  Brothers  who  themselves  did  not  operate  a  violent  regime,  tolerated  and/or 

           ignored violence in their fellow teachers. This was particularly marked where the principal of a 

           school had a violent disposition. In those instances the children felt hopeless and isolated in the 

           face of the cruelty they experienced whilst in school. 



5.117      The majority of interviewees said that they did not speak to their parents about what was occurring 

           in the classroom. They believed that their parents would not support them and that it would make 

           matters worse when they returned to class. Some parents did appear to regard severe beatings 

           as a normal part of school life; as one said: ‘sure we all got beaten’. 



5.118      Some children did speak to their parents and where parents intervened there was some evidence 

           that  this  reduced  the  violence  the  child  was  subsequently  subjected  to.  In  general,  however, 

           parents  appeared  to  be  as  helpless  and  intimidated  by  the  teachers  as  the  child  was.  Many 

           witnesses  indicated  an  awareness  of  the  helplessness  of  their  parents  and  said  they  kept  the 

           suffering to themselves rather than worry and upset their parents who they believed could have 

           done nothing about it anyway. 



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5.119      In addition to information about excessive and violent teachers, interviewees also spoke of the 

           constant and pervasive presence of high levels of physical punishment in classrooms. The strap 

           or  the   cane   was   used    extensively    and   was   the  response     to  even   minor    infractions.  Many 

           complainants      identified   this  as   a   significant   factor   in  preventing     them    from   succeeding 

           academically. They said they were paralysed with fear and incapable of absorbing information or 

           of learning school work. 



5.120      Interviewees were able to distinguish teachers who used excessive punishment from those who 

           did not. Teachers who behaved in a moderate, controlled non-threatening manner were singled 

           out  as  being  better  teachers  and  interviewees  reported  learning  much  more  in  classes  where 

           violence was not a feature. Even if a child encountered only one or two benign and kindly teachers 

           in  the  course  of  their  national  school  education,  this  was  often  enough  to  give  them  a  basic 

           foundation in education and they recalled those teachers with gratitude. 



5.121      A number of male interviewees were in national schools run by female Religious Orders until the 

           ages of six or seven after which they moved to boys-only schools. Although in general experiences 

           in  very  young  classes  were  better  than  in  older  classes,  a  significant  number  of  interviewees 

           described extremely harsh and excessive physical punishment on very young children. Nuns and 

           teachers  were described  as  using  leathers, canes,  sally  rods2          and  heavy  rulers  on children  as 



           young  as  three  and  four.  Where  children  were  treated  with  cruelty  at  such  an  early  age,  their 

           ability to advance in school was greatly impaired. 



5.122      Because physical punishment was accepted as the norm in all national schools until the 1980s, it 

           was difficult for children to be heard and listened to when they tried to identify cruel or excessive 

           violence. Very often violent teachers were seen as good teachers and parents tolerated excessive 

           punishments in the belief that their children would benefit in the long term. The opposite was more 

           often the case. 



5.123      There  was  no  evidence  of  school  principals,  school  inspectors,  fellow  teachers  or  boards  of 

           management taking the initiative to curb excesses in teachers. Occasionally, where parents made 

           complaints, the child would see that the violence was reduced, but there was no sanction taken 

           against  the  offending  teacher.  Some  interviewees  described  how  the  teacher  was  very  well 

           respected in the local community and had the support of local clergy and was therefore regarded 

           as ‘untouchable’ by the ordinary people in the parish. 



5.124      Interviewees who had been subjected to excessive, extreme or constant physical punishment in 

           their national schools were angry and damaged even into late adulthood by the experience. Many 

           of them said that it resulted in loss of religion, dependence on alcohol and drugs, depression and 

           psychological  illness,  and  an  inability  to  trust  or  form  relationships.  Many  also  said  that  they 

           themselves responded with violence to situations in their own lives, as it had become a learned 

           response for them. 



5.125      It is impossible to calculate the impact of a culture of severe physical punishment in some primary 

           schools  that  permeated  the  education  system  in  Ireland  until  the  mid  1980s.  What  was  clear 

           however  was  that  although  some  adults  survived  and  even  thrived  in  primary  education  many 

           suffered greatly as a result of their experience. 



           Sexual abuse – male interviewees 



5.126      Forty male interviewees reported being sexually abused whilst in national school. Thirty four of 

           these reported that their abuser was a male religious. Two reported a female religious and four 

           stated they were abused by male lay teachers. 



           2  Sally rod – a long, thin wooden stick, generally made from willow, used mostly in Ireland as a disciplinary implement. 



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5.127     Although two  or three  interviewees reported  a ‘benign  and kindly’  relationship with  the teacher 

          who sexually abused them, in general sexual abuse was accompanied by violence and the threat 

          of  violence.  Children  were  brought  to  the  front  of  the  classroom  and  fumbled  and  touched 

           inappropriately by teachers in front of other school pupils. This led to humiliation and jeering and 

          for many interviewees was the most enduring and painful part of the experience of sexual abuse. 

           Much abuse went further than fondling and some interviewees reported been kept back after class 

          or brought to isolated areas of the school where they were subject to a much more serious level 

          of sexual assault, amounting for some of them to full rape. In almost all cases where teachers 

          sexually assaulted pupils, interviewees reported that the abuse was on-going for the duration of 

          the  child’s  time  in  the  teacher’s  classroom.  Interviewees  reported  being  sickened,  terrified  and 

           humiliated by sexual abuse in the classroom and feeling isolated and hopeless in the face of the 

          teacher’s apparent power. 



5.128      In general interviewees did not speak to their parents about what was happening. Most of them 

          said that they thought their parents would not believe them. In some cases where the child did 

          tell the parents what happened they were disbelieved and punished for speaking ill of the teacher. 



5.129     There  were  some  assertions  that  the  activities  of  some  Brothers  and  some  visiting  clergymen 

          were known to the management and teachers in particular schools. Evasive action was taken to 

          try  to prevent   children  being   alone  with  particular  priests  or Brothers.   In  one  instance   an 

           interviewee reported that schools would be rung ahead to warn them that a particular priest was 

          coming and the children would be prevented from being alone with them. 



5.130     Where sexual abuse went beyond touching and inappropriate fondling, it was conducted in secret 

          and with the threat of violence if the activity was disclosed. 



5.131     What  was  the  most  significant  element  of  the  reports  of  sexual  abuse  of  children  who  were 

          attending day schools was the helplessness and powerlessness and isolation they felt. Children 

          were not listened to and not believed. Adults who saw what was happening ignored it and instead 

          of  confronting  the  abuser  they  sought  to  minimise  the  contact  with  children.  This  was  totally 

           ineffectual as the abuser was usually able to devise means of singling children out and accessing 

          them alone. 



5.132     The impact of sexual abuse on the adult lives of victims varied with the individual, but a number 

          of significant responses did emerge. In general, men who had experienced sexual abuse at the 

           hands of religious Brothers or priests reported that they had no religion or no respect for religion. 

           Interviewees were in general extremely damaged by what had occurred. Many of them reported 

          feelings  of  great  anger  and  hurt,  depression  and  other  psychological  illnesses,  drug  and  drink 

          addiction and an inability to form relationships in adult life. Many wanted to see the abuser named 

          and punished for what had occurred and were anxious to establish whether other children had 

          suffered in the same way that they had. Many victims carried the humiliation, embarrassment and 

          fear throughout adulthood. 



          Physical abuse – female interviewees 



5.133      Female interviewees reported physical abuse by nuns, female lay teachers and male lay teachers. 

          Although  there  were  individual  reports  of  extreme  and  excessive  violence,  in  general  female 

           interviewees spoke of physical punishment as being more pervasive than extreme. Complainants 

          recalled an atmosphere of constant fear in some classrooms with leathers, canes, rulers and other 

           implements such as chair legs being used. 



5.134      Punishment was administered for failure at lessons and for minor infractions and was reported as 

          being disproportionate and unpredictable. 



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5.135      A small number of interviewees reported physical abuse at the hands of male teachers, which 

           was excessive and dangerous. Very small children were subjected to kicks and punches by male 

           teachers, which could have caused serious injury. 



5.136      Boys who attended girls’ schools up to the age of seven or eight reported a less harsh regime 

           than that which operated in boys’ national schools, although individual teachers, lay and religious, 

           were identified as being cruel and vindictive. 



5.137      Where girls reported physical abuse to their parents, there tended to be a more positive reaction. 

           One interviewee recalled that her  father confronted a nun who had beaten her  with a bamboo 

           cane and she was not beaten again. She said that she would have told her father sooner if she 

           had known what the outcome would have been. 



5.138      Many  interviewees  recalled  the  intense  fear  they  felt  whilst  in  an  abusive  class  situation.  One 

           recalled feeling sick every morning at the prospect of the day ahead and another recalled begging 

           her  mother  not  to  send  her  to  school.  The  fear  was  not  just  of  the  prospect  of  being  beaten 

           themselves but the horror of watching other children being beaten. What was striking in the case 

           of female interviewees was how many of them were subjected to severe punishments with sticks 

           and straps when they were little more than babies. 



5.139      Interviewees reported that the impact of the physical abuse experienced in national schools stayed 

           with  them  into  adulthood.  It  impacted  on  their  ability  to  learn  and  on  their  attitude  to  school 

           generally. It gave them low self-esteem and poor self-confidence and many felt that it impaired 

           their ability to succeed in later life. 



           Sexual abuse – female interviewees 



5.140      Three female interviewees reported sexual abuse by male teachers whilst in national school. They 

           were aged between five and eight when the abuse began and it involved invasive touching and 

           kissing. All three complainants reported feeling embarrassed and ashamed but they did not tell 

           their  parents  at  the  time.  They  suffered  severe  after  effects  of  the  abuse,  including  nervous 

           breakdown, eating disorders, nightmares and low self-esteem. 



           Emotional abuse 



5.141      Although   interviewees    reported   psychological   and   emotional    effects from   physical   or sexual 

           abuse,   children  in  national  schools   were   less  vulnerable   to  emotional   abuse    than  those   in 

           institutional care. Three interviewees specifically complained of emotional abuse whilst in national 

           school,  although    many   did  refer  to  emotionally   abusive    attitudes  and   practices   in schools 

           generally. In particular, children were mocked or jeered because of their family backgrounds, or 

           because of poverty. Many reported being humiliated or verbally abused in the course of physical 

           punishment. For most interviewees, the emotional scars they carried into adulthood were because 

           of the frightening atmosphere in classrooms, the feeling of anger and helplessness in the face of 

           abusive teachers and the apparent indifference of adults to the plight of children left at the mercy 

           of harsh and irrational teachers. Some interviewees mentioned feeling let down by parents who 

           knew what was happening but did not try to prevent it. 



5.142      Not all schools were abusive and the people who came to the Commission were those who had 

           had particularly unhappy experiences. Many were anxious to point out that not all nuns, Brothers 

           or lay teachers were bad, and that many were good and kind teachers. 



5.143      All interviewees were asked whether they were interested in reconciliation but the vast majority 

           said they were not. For many the hatred they felt for the teacher who had mistreated them was 

           still quite real and they did not think they would be able to forgive the perpetrator. 



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           Children’s home 



5.144      Three complainants were interviewed in relation to a children’s home and each had distinct and 

           individual experiences. One alleged corporal punishment was used regularly, two alleged serious 

           sexual abuse by different lay staff and one of these also alleged lack of supervision by care staff 

           which led to him being sexually abused by a relative who visited him. The complainant implied 

           that his abuser had easy access to him, stating that there were no gates or cameras in the home. 

           This complainant notified staff of the abuse but they did not take any action. 



           Mother and baby homes 



5.145      There were two complainants from mother and baby homes, who had given birth to children there 

           whilst under 18 years of age. They both described a regimented ‘prison-like’ atmosphere, where 

           they were made to wear uniforms and punished for talking and laughing. They further described 

           how both pre- and post-natal care was non-existent. They described suffering humiliation at the 

           hands  of  the  nuns  who  were  both  verbally  and  physically  abusive;  one  interviewee  described 

           being hit on the back of the legs with a leather strap. They described how they were emotionally 

           traumatised during their time in the home. 



5.146      A third complainant recalled her time spent in the home as a young child. She was neglected and 

           claimed   she   was   left for  long  periods    alone  in  a  cot  and   consequently     suffered   delayed 

           development. 



           Private schools 



5.147      In relation to the complaints against private schools there were two interviewees. Both complained 

           of sexual abuse; one complainant described ongoing sexual abuse by a priest on staff for a period 

           of four years. This complainant further stated that other boys were victims of this priest. The sexual 

           abuse  was  primarily  fondling.  The  complainant  stated  that  this  priest  would,  following  football 

           matches, pick different boys for ‘inspection’ and bring them to his room to make sure that they 

           had  washed  themselves  properly.  In  response  to  this  allegation  the  Congregation  in  question 

           stated that they did not intend to dispute the complainant’s statement and apologised. 



5.148      A  lay  member  of  staff  was  alleged  to  have  sexually  abused  the  second  complainant  on  one 

           occasion.  He  detailed  how  approximately  six  years  later  he  informed  his  family  but  was  not 

           believed. A number of years later he made a statement to the Gardai. He also described how he 

                                                                                          ´ 

           was the victim of peer abuse as the older boys in the school bullied him. He described the food 

           as extremely bad. 



5.149      Neither complainant reported the abuse while in school. 



           Conclusions 



5.150      Many of the children in these institutions were particularly vulnerable because they were 

           ill, or were suffering from some disability or were orphans without adults to protect them. 

           The  guiding  principle  that  the  more  vulnerable  the  person,  the  greater  the  duty  of  care, 

           should  have  ensured  the  institutions  provided  the  kind  of  care  commensurate  with  the 

           children’s needs. The complainants not merely claimed that their needs were not met but 

           alleged that some adults exploited their vulnerability by abusing them and by not according 

           them the respect due to all human beings. Children must be respected and consulted, and 

           their interests must always be paramount in the way in which care is provided. 



           448                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2489-----------------------

5.151     In national schools, the assumption that children are being educated in a professional way 

          should not be taken for granted. The Department of Education and Science, the diocese, 

          the board of management and parents need to assess the quality of the school by looking 

          beyond its academic proficiency. The developmental and psychological needs of the child 

          are   equally   important.    Children   must    be  facilitated   in  making    complaints     and   their 

          complaints must be listened to. 



5.152     It  must  never  be  assumed  that  any  particular  teacher  or  carer  ‘would  never  behave  like 

          that’. There are no recognisable or common traits that mark people out as abusers. People 

          who are otherwise respectable, law-abiding pillars of the community can be child abusers 

          and  it  is  the  responsibility  of  all  adults  in  society  to  listen  to  and  protect  children  from 

          such people. 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     449 


----------------------- Page 2490-----------------------

450                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2491-----------------------

          Chapter 6 



          Conclusions 



6.01      Physical and emotional abuse and neglect were features of the institutions. Sexual abuse 

          occurred  in  many  of  them,  particularly  boys’  institutions.  Schools  were  run  in  a  severe, 

          regimented manner that imposed unreasonable and oppressive discipline on children and 

          even on staff. 



6.02      The system of large-scale institutionalisation was a response to a nineteenth century social 

          problem, which was outdated and incapable of meeting the needs of individual children. 

          The   defects   of  the   system    were   exacerbated     by   the  way   it was    operated    by  the 

          Congregations that owned and managed the schools. This failure led to the institutional 

          abuse of children where their developmental, emotional and educational needs were not 

          met. 



6.03      The   deferential   and  submissive     attitude  of  the  Department     of Education     towards   the 

          Congregations  compromised  its  ability  to  carry  out  its  statutory  duty  of  inspection  and 

          monitoring     of the   schools.   The   Reformatory     and   Industrial   Schools    Section   of  the 

          Department was accorded a low status within the Department and generally saw itself as 

          facilitating the Congregations and the Resident Managers. 



6.04      The capital and financial commitment made by the religious Congregations was a major 

          factor in prolonging the system of institutional care of children in the State. From the mid 

          1920s in England, smaller more family-like settings were established and they were seen 

          as  providing    a better  standard    of  care  for  children   in need.   In Ireland,  however,    the 

          Industrial School system thrived. 



6.05      The system of funding through capitation grants led to demands by Managers for children 

          to be committed to Industrial Schools for reasons of economic viability of the institutions. 



6.06      The system of inspection by the Department of Education was fundamentally flawed and 

          incapable of being effective. 



          The Inspector was not supported by a regulatory authority with the power to insist on changes 

          being made. 



          There  were  no  uniform,  objective  standards  of  care  applicable  to  all  institutions  on  which  the 

          inspections could be based. 



          The Inspector’s position was compromised by lack of independence from the Department. 



          Inspections were limited to the standard of physical care of the children and did not extend to their 

          emotional needs. The type of inspection carried out made it difficult to ascertain the emotional 

          state of the children. 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                   451 


----------------------- Page 2492-----------------------

           The statutory obligation to inspect more than 50 residential schools was too much for one person. 



           Inspections were not random or unannounced: School Managers were alerted in advance that an 

           inspection  was  due.  As  a  result,  the  Inspector  did  not  get  an  accurate  picture  of  conditions  in 

           the schools. 



           The Inspector did not ensure that punishment books were kept and made available for inspection 

           even though they were required by the regulations. 



           The Inspector rarely spoke to the children in the institutions. 



6.07       Many    witnesses     who     complained      of  abuse    nevertheless      expressed      some    positive 

           memories:  small  gestures  of  kindness  were  vividly  recalled.  A  word  of  consideration  or 

           encouragement,  or  an  act  of  sympathy  or  understanding  had  a  profound  effect.  Adults  in  their 

           sixties and seventies recalled seemingly insignificant events that had remained with them all their 

           lives. Often the act of kindness recalled in such a positive light arose from the simple fact that the 

           staff member had not given a beating when one was expected. 



6.08       More kindness and humanity would have gone far to make up for poor standards of care. 



           Physical abuse 



6.09       The Rules and Regulations governing the use of corporal punishment were disregarded 

           with the knowledge of the Department of Education. 



           The legislation and the Department of Education guidelines were unambiguous in the restrictions 

           placed on corporal punishment. These limits however, were not observed in any of the schools 

           investigated. Complaints of physical abuse were frequent enough for the Department of Education 

           to be aware that they referred to more than acts of sporadic violence by some individuals. The 

           Department knew that violence and beatings were endemic within the system itself. 



6.10       The  Reformatory  and  Industrial  Schools  depended  on  rigid  control  by  means  of  severe 

           corporal punishment and the fear of such punishment. 



           The  harshness  of    the  regime  was  inculcated     into  the  culture  of  the schools  by  successive 

           generations of Brothers, priests and nuns. It was systemic and not the result of individual breaches 

           by  persons  who  operated  outside  lawful  and  acceptable  boundaries.  Excesses  of  punishment 

           generated  the  fear  that  the  school  authorities  believed  to  be  essential  for  the  maintenance  of 

           order. In many schools, staff considered themselves to be custodians rather than carers. 



6.11       A  climate  of  fear,  created  by  pervasive,  excessive  and  arbitrary  punishment,  permeated 

           most of the institutions and all those run for boys. Children lived with the daily terror of 

           not knowing where the next beating was coming from. 



           Seeing or hearing other children being beaten was a frightening experience that stayed with many 

           complainants all their lives. 



6.12       Children who ran away were subjected to extremely severe punishment. 



           Absconders  were  severely  beaten,  at  times  publicly.  Some  had  their  heads  shaved  and  were 

           humiliated.   Details  were   not  reported   to  the  Department,    which   did  not  insist on   receiving 

           information about the causes of absconding. Neither the Department nor the school management 

           investigated the reasons why children absconded even when schools had a particularly high rate 



           452                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2493-----------------------

          of absconding. Cases of absconding associated with chronic sexual or physical abuse therefore 

          remained undiscovered. In some instances all the children in a school were punished because a 

          child ran away which meant that the child was then a target for mistreatment by other children as 

          well as the staff. 



6.13      Complaints by parents and others made to the Department were not properly investigated. 



          Punishments     outside   the  permitted    guidelines  were    ignored   and  even    condoned    by   the 

          Department of Education. The Department did not apply the standards in the rules and their own 

          guidelines   when    investigating  complaints    but  sought   to  protect  and   defend    the  religious 

          Congregations and the schools. 



6.14      The boys’ schools investigated revealed a pervasive use of severe corporal punishment. 



          Corporal punishment was the option of first resort for breaches of discipline. Extreme punishment 

          was a feature of the boys’ schools. Prolonged, excessive beatings with implements intended to 

          cause maximum pain occurred with the knowledge of staff management. 



6.15      There was little variation in the use of physical beating from region to region, from decade 

          to decade, or from Congregation to Congregation. 



          This would indicate a cultural understanding within the system that beating boys was acceptable 

          and appropriate. Individual Brothers, priests or lay staff who were extreme in their punishments 

          were tolerated by management and their behaviour was rarely challenged. 



6.16      Corporal punishment in girls’ schools was pervasive, severe, arbitrary and unpredictable 

          and this led to a climate of fear amongst the children. 



          The regulations imposed greater restrictions on the use of corporal punishment for girls. Schools 

          varied as to the level of corporal punishment that was tolerated on a day-to-day basis. In some 

          schools a high level of ritualised beating was routine whilst in other schools lower levels of corporal 

          punishment were used. The degree of reliance on corporal punishment depended on the Resident 

          Manager,  who  could  be  a  force  for  good  or  ill,  but  almost  all  institutions  employed  fear  of 

          punishment     as  a means    of  discipline. Some    Managers    administered    excessive   punishment 

          themselves or permitted excesses by religious and lay staff. Girls were struck with implements 

          designed to maximise pain and were struck on all parts of the body. The prohibition on corporal 

          punishment for girls over 15 years was generally not observed. 



6.17      Corporal punishment was often administered in a way calculated to increase anguish and 

          humiliation for girls. 



          One way of doing this was for children to be left waiting for long periods to be beaten. Another 

          was when it was accompanied by denigrating or humiliating language. Some beatings were more 

          distressing when administered in front of other children and staff. 



          Sexual abuse 



6.18      Sexual  abuse  was  endemic  in  boys’  institutions.  The  situation  in  girls’  institutions  was 

          different. Although girls were subjected to predatory sexual abuse by male employees or 

          visitors or in outside placements, sexual abuse was not systemic in girls’ schools. 



6.19      It is impossible to determine the full extent of sexual abuse committed in boys’ schools. 

          The schools investigated revealed a substantial level of sexual abuse of boys in care that 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                     453 


----------------------- Page 2494-----------------------

           extended     over   a  range    from    improper     touching    and    fondling   to   rape   with   violence. 

           Perpetrators  of  abuse  were  able  to  operate  undetected  for  long  periods  at  the  core  of 

           institutions. 



6.20       Cases    of  sexual    abuse    were    managed      with   a  view   to  minimising     the   risk  of  public 

           disclosure  and  consequent  damage  to  the  institution  and  the  Congregation.  This  policy 

           resulted  in  the  protection  of  the  perpetrator.  When  lay  people  were  discovered  to  have 

           sexually    abused,    they   were    generally    reported    to  the   Gardai.    When    a  member      of  a 

           Congregation was found to be abusing, it was dealt with internally and was not reported 

           to the Gardai. 

                           ´ 



           The damage to the children affected and the danger to others were disregarded. The difference 

           in treatment of lay and religious abusers points to an awareness on the part of Congregational 

           authorities of the seriousness of the offence, yet there was a reluctance to confront religious who 

           offended in this way. The desire to protect the reputation of the Congregation and institution was 

           paramount. Congregations asserted that knowledge of sexual abuse was not available in society 

           at  the  time  and  that  it  was  seen  as  a  moral  failing  on  the  part  of  the  Brother  or  priest.  This 

           assertion, however, ignores the fact that sexual abuse of children was a criminal offence. 



6.21       The recidivist nature of sexual abuse was known to religious authorities. 



           The  documents  revealed  that  sexual  abusers  were  often  long-term  offenders  who  repeatedly 

           abused  children  wherever  they  were  working.  Contrary  to  the  Congregations’  claims  that  the 

           recidivist nature of sexual offending was not understood, it is clear from the documented cases 

           that they were aware of the propensity for abusers to re-abuse. The risk, however, was seen by 

           the  Congregations  in  terms  of the  potential  for  scandal  and  bad  publicity  should the  abuse  be 

           disclosed. The danger to children was not taken into account. 



6.22       When confronted with evidence of sexual abuse, the response of the religious authorities 

           was to transfer the offender to another location where, in many instances, he was free to 

           abuse again. Permitting an offender to obtain dispensation from vows often enabled him 

           to continue working as a lay teacher. 



           Men who were discovered to be sexual abusers were allowed to take dispensation rather than 

           incur  the  opprobrium  of  dismissal  from  the  Order.  There was  evidence  that  such  men  took  up 

           teaching    positions   sometimes     within   days   of  receiving    dispensations     because    of  serious 

           allegations   or  admissions     of  sexual   abuse.    The   safety   of  children  in  general    was   not  a 

           consideration. 



6.23       Sexual    abuse  was     known     to  religious   authorities  to    be  a  persistent    problem     in  male 

           religious organisations throughout the relevant period. 



           Nevertheless,  each  instance  of  sexual  abuse  was  treated  in  isolation  and  in  secrecy  by  the 

           authorities and there was no attempt to address the underlying systemic nature of the problem. 

           There  were  no  protocols  or  guidelines  put  in  place  that  would  have  protected  children  from 

           predatory behaviour. The management did not listen to or believe children when they complained 

           of the activities  of some of the  men who had responsibility  for their care. At  best, the abusers 

           were  moved,  but  nothing  was  done  about  the  harm  done  to  the  child.  At  worst,  the  child  was 

           blamed and seen as corrupted by the sexual activity, and was punished severely. 



6.24       In  the  exceptional  circumstances  where  opportunities  for  disclosing  abuse  arose,  the 

           number of sexual abusers identified increased significantly. 



           454                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2495-----------------------

           For a brief period in the 1940s, boys felt able to speak about sexual abuse in confidence at a 

           sodality that met in one school. Brothers were identified by the boys as sexual abusers and were 

           removed as a result. The sodality was discontinued. In another school, one Brother embarked on 

           a campaign to uncover sexual activity in the school and identified a number of religious who were 

           sexual abusers. This indicated that the level of sexual abuse in boys’ institutions was much higher 

           than  was  revealed  by  the  records  or  could  be  discovered  by  this  investigation.  Authoritarian 

           management systems prevented disclosures by staff and served to perpetuate abuse. 



6.25       The Congregational authorities did not listen to or believe people who complained of sexual 

           abuse that occurred in the past, notwithstanding the extensive evidence that emerged from 

           Garda investigations, criminal convictions and witness accounts. 



           Some Congregations remained defensive and disbelieving of much of the evidence heard by the 

           Investigation Committee in respect of sexual abuse in institutions, even in cases where men had 

           been convicted in court and admitted to such behaviour at the hearings. 



6.26       In general, male religious Congregations were not prepared to accept their responsibility 

           for the sexual abuse that their members perpetrated. 



           Congregational loyalty enjoyed priority over other considerations including safety and protection 

           of children. 



6.27       Older  boys sexually  abused younger  boys and  the system  did not  offer protection  from 

           bullying of this kind. 



           There  was  evidence  that  boys  who  were  victims  of  sexual  abuse  were  physically  punished  as 

           severely as the perpetrator when the abuse was reported or discovered. Inevitably, boys learned 

           to suffer in silence rather than report the abuse and face punishment. 



6.28       Sexual abuse of girls was generally taken seriously by the Sisters in charge and lay staff 

           were dismissed when their activities were discovered. However, nuns’ attitudes and mores 

           made it difficult for them to deal with such cases candidly and openly and victims of sexual 

           assault felt shame and fear of reporting sexual abuse. 



           Girls who were abused reported that it happened most often when they were sent to host families 

           for weekend, work or holiday placements. They did not feel able to report abusive behaviour to 

           the Sisters in charge of the schools for fear of disbelief and punishment if they did. 



6.29       Sexual abuse by members of religious Orders was seldom brought to the attention of the 

           Department  of  Education  by  religious  authorities  because  of  a  culture  of  silence  about 

           the issue. 



           When    religious   staff abused,    the  matter   tended   to  be   dealt  with  using   internal  disciplinary 

           procedures  and  Canon  Law.  The  Gardai were  not  informed.  On  the  rare  occasions  when  the 

                                                           ´ 

           Department was informed, it colluded in the silence. There was a lack of transparency in how the 

           matter of sexual abuse was dealt with between the Congregations, dioceses and the Department. 

           Men with histories of sexual abuse when they were members of religious Orders continued their 

           teaching careers as lay teachers in State schools. 



6.30       The  Department  of  Education  dealt  inadequately  with  complaints  about  sexual  abuse. 

           These complaints were generally dismissed or ignored. A full investigation of the extent of 

           the abuse should have been carried out in all cases. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           455 


----------------------- Page 2496-----------------------

           All such complaints should have been directed to the Gardai for investigation. 



           The Department, however, gave the impression that it had a function in relation to investigating 

           allegations  of  abuse  but  actually  failed  to  do  so  and  delayed  the  involvement  of  the  proper 

           authority.  The  Department  neglected  to  advise  parents  and  complainants  appropriately  of  the 

           limitations of their role in respect of these complaints. 



           Neglect 



6.31       Poor standards of physical care were reported by most male and female complainants. 



           Schools varied as to the standard of physical care provided to the children and while there was 

           evidence from many complainants that conditions improved in the late 1960s, in general no school 

           provided an adequate standard of care across all the categories. 



6.32       Children were frequently hungry and food was inadequate, inedible and badly prepared in 

           many schools. 



           Witnesses spoke of scavenging for food from waste bins and animal feed. 



           In boys’ schools there was so little supervision at meal times that bullying was widespread and 

           smaller, weaker boys were often deprived of food. 



           The Inspector found that malnourishment was a serious problem in schools run by nuns in the 

           1940s  and,  although  improvements  were  made,  the  food  provided  in  many  of  these  schools 

           continued to be meagre and basic. 



6.33       Witnesses recalled being cold because of inadequate clothing, particularly when engaged 

           in outdoor activities. 



           Clothing was a particular problem in boys’ schools where children often worked for long hours 

           outdoors on farms. In addition, boys were often left in their soiled and wet work clothes throughout 

           the day and wore them for long periods. 



           Clothing  was  better  in  girls’  schools  and  some  individual  Resident  Managers  made  particular 

           efforts  in  this  regard  but  in  general  girls  were obliged  to  wear  inadequate  ill-fitting  clothes  that 

           were often threadbare and worn. 



           In all schools up until the 1960s clothes stigmatised the children as Industrial School residents. 



6.34       Accommodation  was  cold,  spartan  and  bleak.  Sanitary  provision  was  primitive  in  most 

           boys’ schools and general hygiene facilities were poor. 



           Children  slept  in  large  unheated  dormitories  with  inadequate  bedding,  which  was  a  particular 

           problem for children with enuresis. 



           Sanitary protection for menstruation was generally inadequate for girls. 



6.35       The   Cussen     Report    recommended        in  1936   that   Industrial   School    children    should    be 

           integrated into the community and be educated in outside national schools. Until the late 

           1960s, this was not done in any of the boys’ schools investigated and in only in a small 

           number of girls’ schools. 



           456                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


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6.36       Where Industrial School children were educated in internal national schools, the standard 

           was consistently poorer than that in outside schools. 



           National school education was available to all children in the State and those in Industrial Schools 

           were  entitled  to  at  least  the  same  standard  as  that  available  in  the  country  generally.  Internal 

           national schools were funded by a national school grant and teachers were paid in the same way 

           as in ordinary national schools. The evidence was however that the standard of education in these 

           schools was poor. 



           There was evidence particularly in girls’ schools that children were removed from their classes in 

           order  to  perform  domestic  chores  or  work  in  the  institution  during  the  school  day.  In  general, 

           Industrial School children did not receive the same standard of national school education as would 

           have   been   available   to them    in the  local  community.     This  lack  of  educational   opportunity 

           condemned  many  of  them  to  a  life  of  low-paying  jobs  and  was  a  commonly  expressed  loss 

           among witnesses. 



6.37       Academic education was not seen as a priority for industrial school children. 



           When discharged, boys were generally placed in manual or unskilled jobs and girls in positions 

           as domestic servants. There were exceptions, and particularly in girls’ schools in the later years, 

           some  girls  received  the  opportunity  of  a  secretarial  or  nursing  qualification.  Education  usually 

           ceased in 6th class, after which children were involved in industrial trades, farming and domestic 

           work   with  very  limited  education    thereafter.  Even    where   religious  Congregations      operated 

           secondary schools beside industrial schools, children from the Industrial Schools were very rarely 

           given the opportunity of pursuing secondary school education. 



6.38       Industrial Schools  were intended to  provide basic industrial  training to young  people to 

           enable them to take up positions of employment as young adults. In reality, the industrial 

           training  afforded  by  all  schools  was  of  a  nature that  served  the  needs  of  the  institution 

           rather than the needs of the child. 



           This was a problem that had been pointed out by the Cussen Commission in 1936 and continued 

           to be a feature of industrial training in these schools throughout the relevant period. Child labour 

           on farms and in workshops was used to reduce the costs of running the Industrial Schools and in 

           many  cases  to  produce  a  profit.  Clothing  and  footwear  were  often  made  on  the  premises  and 

           bakeries and laundries provided facilities to the school and in some cases to the general public. 

           The cleaning and upkeep of girls’ Industrial Schools was largely done by the girls themselves. 

           Some of these chores were heavy and arduous and exacting standards were imposed that were 

           difficult for young children to meet. In girls’ schools also, older residents were expected to care 

           for young children and babies on a 24-hour basis. Large nurseries were supervised and staffed 

           by older residents with only minimal supervision by adults. 



           Emotional abuse 



6.39       A disturbing element of the evidence before the Commission was the level of emotional 

           abuse that disadvantaged, neglected and abandoned children were subjected to generally 

           by religious and lay staff in institutions. 



           Witnesses spoke of being belittled and ridiculed on a daily basis. Humiliating practices such as 

           underwear    inspections    and  displaying   soiled  or  wet  sheets   were   conducted     throughout   the 

           Industrial  School  system.  Private  matters  such  as  bodily  functions  and  personal  hygiene  were 

           used   as  opportunities   for degradation  and     humiliation.  Personal    and  family  denigration   was 

           widespread,  particularly  in  girls’  schools.  There  was  constant  criticism  and  verbal  abuse  and 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                        457 


----------------------- Page 2498-----------------------

          children were told they were worthless. The pervasiveness of emotional abuse of children in care 

          throughout the relevant period points to damaging cultural attitudes of many who taught in and 

          operated these schools. 



6.40      The system as managed by the Congregations made it difficult for individual religious who 

          tried to respond to the emotional needs of the children in their care. 



          Witnesses  from  the  religious  Congregations  described  the  conflict  they  experienced  in  fulfilling 

          their religious vows, whilst at the same time providing care and affection to children. Authoritarian 

          management  in  all  schools  meant  that  staff  members  were  afraid  to  question  the  practices  of 

          managers and disciplinarians. 



6.41      Witnessing abuse of co-residents, including seeing other children being beaten or hearing 

          their cries, witnessing the humiliation of siblings and others and being forced to participate 

          in beatings, had a powerful and distressing impact. 



          Many  witnesses  spoke  of  being  constantly  fearful  or  terrified,  which  impeded  their  emotional 

          development  and  impacted  on  every  aspect  of  their  life  in  the  institution.  The  psychological 

          damage caused by these experiences continued into adulthood for many witnesses. 



6.42      Separating siblings and restrictions on family contact were profoundly damaging for family 

          relationships.  Some  children  lost  their  sense  of  identity  and  kinship,  which  was  never 

          recovered. 



          Sending children to isolated locations increased the sense of loss and made it almost impossible 

          for family contact to be maintained. Management did not recognise the rights of children to have 

          contact with family members and failed to acknowledge the value of family relationships. 



6.43      The Confidential Committee heard evidence in relation to 161 settings other than Industrial 

          and Reformatory Schools, including primary and second-level schools, Children’s Homes, 

          foster  care,  hospitals  and  services  for  children  with  special  needs,  hostels,  and  other 

          residential   settings.   The   majority   of  witnesses    reported   abuse    and   neglect,   in some 

          instances up to the year 2000. Many common features emerged about failures of care and 

          protection of children in all of these institutions and services. 



          Witnesses reported severe physical abuse in primary schools, foster care, Children’s Homes and 

          other residential settings where those responsible neglected their duty of care to children. 



          The   predatory    nature  of  sexual   abuse    including  the  selection   and   grooming    of  socially 

          disadvantaged and vulnerable children was a feature of the witness reports in relation to special 

          needs services, Children’s homes, hospitals and primary and second-level schools. Children with 

          impairments of sight, hearing and learning were particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse. 



          Witnesses reported neglect of their education, health and aftercare in all residential settings and 

          foster care. No priority was given to the special care needs of children who were placed away 

          from their families. 



          Children in isolated foster care placements were abused in the absence of supervision by external 

          authorities. They were placed with foster parents who had no training, support or supervision. The 

          suitability of those selected as foster parents was repeatedly questioned by witnesses who were 

          physically and sexually abused. 



          458                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2499-----------------------

Many witnesses described losing their sense of family and identity when placed in out-of-home 

care, they reported that separation from siblings and deprivation of family contact was abusive 

and contributed to difficulties reintegrating with their family of origin when they left care. Witnesses 

reported  emotional  abuse  in  institutions,  foster  care  and  schools  when  they  were  deprived  of 

affection, secure relationships and were exposed to personal denigration, fear and threats of harm. 



When witnesses left care the failure to provide them with personal and family records contributed 

to disadvantage in later life. Many witnesses spent years searching for information to establish 

their identity. 



The failure of authorities to inspect and supervise the care provided to children in hospitals and 

special needs services was noted as contributing to abuse which occurred in those facilities. The 

absence of structures for making complaints or investigating abuse allowed abuse to continue. 



When opportunities were provided for children to disclose abuse they did so. 



Witnesses reported that the power of the abuser, the culture of secrecy, isolation and the fear of 

physical punishment inhibited them in disclosing abuse. 



CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                           459 


----------------------- Page 2500-----------------------

460                                                                   CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2501-----------------------

           Chapter 7 



           Recommendations 



7.01       Arising  from  the   findings  of its  investigations  and   the  conclusions    that  were   reached,   the 

           Commission was required to make recommendations under two headings: 



                   (i)  To alleviate or otherwise address the effects of the abuse on those who suffered 



                   (ii) To prevent where possible and reduce the incidence of abuse of children in institutions 

                        and to protect children from such abuse 



           (i) To alleviate or otherwise address the effects of the abuse on 

                those who suffered 



7.02       A memorial should be erected. 



           The  following  words  of  the  special  statement  made  by  the  Taoiseach  in  May  1999  should  be 

           inscribed on a memorial to victims of abuse in institutions as a permanent public acknowledgement 

           of their experiences. It is important for the alleviation of the effects of childhood abuse that the 

           State’s formal recognition of the abuse that occurred and the suffering of the victims should be 

           preserved in a permanent place: 



                 On behalf of the State and of all citizens of the State, the Government wishes to make a 

                 sincere  and  long  overdue  apology  to  the  victims  of  childhood  abuse,  for  our  collective 

                 failure to intervene, to detect their pain, to come to their rescue. 



7.03       The lessons of the past should be learned. 



           For  the  State,  it  is  important  to  admit  that  abuse  of  children  occurred  because  of  failures  of 

           systems and policy, of management and administration, as well as of senior personnel who were 

           concerned with Industrial and Reformatory Schools. This admission is, however, the beginning of 

           a process. Further steps require internal departmental analysis and understanding of how these 

           failures came about so that steps can be taken to reduce the risk of repeating them. 



           The Congregations need to examine how their ideals became debased by systemic abuse. They 

           must ask themselves how they came to tolerate breaches of their own rules and, when sexual 

           and physical abuse was discovered, how they responded to it, and to those who perpetrated it. 

           They must examine their attitude to neglect and emotional abuse and, more generally, how the 

           interests of the institutions and the Congregations came to be placed ahead those of the children 

           who were in their care. 



           An important aspect of this process of exploration, acceptance and understanding by the State 

           and the Congregations is the acknowledgement of the fact that the system failed the children, not 

          just that children were abused because occasional individual lapses occurred. 



7.04       Counselling and educational services should be available. 



           Counselling and mental health services have a significant role in alleviating the effects of childhood 

           abuse and its legacy on following generations. These services should continue to be provided to 

           ex-residents   and   their  families.  Educational    services   to  help   alleviate  the   disadvantages 

           experienced by children in care are also essential. 



           CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                       461 


----------------------- Page 2502-----------------------

7.05       Family tracing services should be continued. 



           Family  tracing  services  to  assist  individuals  who  were  deprived  of  their  family  identities  in  the 

           process of being placed in care should be continued. The right of access to personal documents 

           and information must be recognised and afforded to ex-residents of institutions. 



           (ii) To prevent where possible and reduce the incidence of abuse of 

                children in institutions and to protect children from such abuse 



7.06       Childcare policy should be child-centred. The needs of the child should be paramount. 



           The overall policy of childcare should respect the rights and dignity of the child and have as its 

           primary  focus  their  safe  care  and  welfare.  Services  should  be  tailored  to  the  developmental, 

           educational  and  health  needs  of  the  particular  child.  Adults  entrusted  with  the  care  of  children 

           must  prioritise  the  well-being  and  protection  of  those  children  above  personal,  professional  or 

           institutional loyalty. 



7.07       National childcare policy should be clearly articulated and reviewed on a regular basis. 



           It  is  essential  that  the aims  and  objectives  of  national  childcare  policy  and planning  should  be 

           stated as clearly and simply as possible. The State and Congregations lost sight of the purpose 

           for which the institutions were established, which was to provide children with a safe and secure 

           environment     and  an   opportunity   of  acquiring   education    and  training.  In  the  absence    of  an 

           articulated, coherent policy, organisational interests became prioritised over those of the children 

           in care. In order to prevent this happening again childcare services must have focused objectives 

           that  are  centred  on  the  needs  of  the  child  rather  than  the  systems  or  organisations  providing 

           those services. 



7.08       A method of evaluating the extent to which services meet the aims and objectives of the 

           national childcare policy should be devised. 



           Evaluating the success or failure of childcare services in the context of a clearly articulated national 

           childcare policy will  ensure that the evolving needs of  children will remain the focus  of service 

           providers. 



7.09       The provision of childcare services should be reviewed on a regular basis. 



           Out-of-home     care   services   should   be   reviewed    on  a  regular   basis  with   reference   to  best 

           international practice and evidence-based research. This review should be the responsibility of 

           the  Department  of  Health  and  Children  and  should  be  co-ordinated  to  ensure  that  consistent 

           standards  are  maintained  nationally.  The  Department  should  also  maintain  a  central  database 

           containing information relevant to childcare in the State while protecting anonymity. Included in 

           such a database should be the social and demographic profile of children in care, their health and 

           educational    needs,   the  range   of  preventative    services   available   and   interventions   used.   In 

           addition, there should be a record of what happens to children when they leave care in order to 

           inform future policy and planning of services. A review  of legislation, policies and programmes 

           relating to children in care should be carried out at regular intervals. 



7.10       It is  important     that   rules   and   regulations     be   enforced,     breaches     be   reported    and 

           sanctions applied. 



           The failures that occurred in all the schools cannot be explained by the absence of rules or any 

           difficulty in interpreting what they meant. The problem lay in the implementation of the regulatory 

           framework.    The   rules  were   ignored   and   treated   as  though    they  set  some    aspirational  and 

           unachievable  standard  that  had  no  application  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  running  the 

           institution. Not only did the individual carers disregard the rules and precepts about punishment, 



           462                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2503-----------------------

          but their superiors did not enforce the rules or impose any disciplinary measures for breaches. 

          Neither did the Department of Education 



7.11      A culture of respecting and implementing rules and regulations and of observing codes of 

          conduct should be developed. 



          Managers and those supervising and inspecting the services must ensure regularly that standards 

          are observed. 



7.12      Independent inspections are essential. 



          All services for children should be subject to regular inspections in respect of all aspects of their 

          care. The requirements of a system of inspection include the following: 



                 •    There is a sufficient number of inspectors. 

                 •    The inspectors must be independent. 

                 •    The inspectors should talk with and listen to the children. 

                 •    There  should  be  objective  national  standards  for  inspection  of  all  settings  where 

                      children are placed. 



                 •    Unannounced inspection should take place. 

                 •    Complaints to an inspector should be recorded and followed up. 

                 •    Inspectors  should  have  power  to  ensure  that  inadequate  standards  are  addressed 

                      without delay. 



7.13      Management at all levels should be accountable for the quality of services and care. 



          Performance should be assessed by the quality of care delivered. The manager of an institution 

          should be responsible for: 



                 •    Making the best use of the available resources 

                 •    Vetting of staff and volunteers 

                 •    Ensuring that staff are well trained, matched to the nature of the work to be undertaken 

                      and progressively trained so as to be kept up to date 



                 •    Ensuring on-going supervision, support and advice for all staff 

                 •    Regularly reviewing the system to identify problem areas for both staff and children 

                 •    Ensuring rules and regulations are adhered to 

                 •    Establishing whether system failures caused or contributed to instances of abuse 

                 •    Putting procedures in place to enable staff and others to make complaints and raise 

                      matters of concern without fear of adverse consequences. 



7.14      Children in care should be able to communicate concerns without fear. 



          Children in care are often isolated with their concerns, without an adult to whom they can talk. 

          Children communicate best when they feel they have a protective figure in whom they can confide. 



          The Department of Health and Children must examine international best practice to establish the 

          most appropriate method of giving effect to this recommendation. 



7.15      Childcare services depend on good communication. 



          Every childcare facility depends for its efficient functioning on good communication between all 

          the departments and agencies responsible. It requires more than meetings and case conferences. 

          It should involve professionals and others communicating concerns and suspicions so that they 

          can act in the best interests of the child. Overall responsibility for this process should rest with a 

          designated official. 



          CICA Report Vol. IV                                                                                  463 


----------------------- Page 2504-----------------------

7.16       Children in care need a consistent care figure. 



           Continuity  of  care  should  be  an  objective  wherever  possible.  Children  in  care  should  have  a 

           consistent professional figure with overall responsibility. 



           The  supervising  social  worker  should  have  a  detailed  care  plan  the  implementation  of  which 

           should be regularly reviewed, and there should be the power to direct that changes be made to 

           ensure  standards  are  met.  The  child,  and  where  possible  the  family,  should  be  involved  in 

           developing and reviewing the care plan. 



7.17       Children who have been in State care should have access to support services. 



           Aftercare services should be provided to give young adults a support structure they can rely on. 

           In a similar way to families, childcare services should continue contact with young people after 

           they have left care as minors. 



7.18       Children who have been in childcare facilities are in a good position to identify failings and 

           deficiencies in the system, and should be consulted. 



           Continued contact makes it possible to evaluate whether the needs of children are being met and 

           to identify positive and negative aspects of experience of care. 



7.19       Children  in  care  should  not,  save  in  exceptional  circumstances,  be  cut  off  from  their 

           families. 



           Priority  should  be  given  to  supporting  ongoing  contact  with  family  members  for  the  benefit  of 

           the child. 



7.20       The full personal records of children in care must be maintained. 



           Reports,  files  and  records  essential  to  validate  the  child’s  identity  and  their  social,  family  and 

           educational  history  must  be  retained.  These  records  need  to  be  kept  secure  and  up  to  date. 

           Details should be kept of all children who go missing from care. The privacy of such records must 

           be respected. 



7.21       ‘Children First: The National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children’ should 

           be uniformly and consistently implemented throughout the State in dealing with allegations 

           of abuse. 



           464                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. IV 


----------------------- Page 2505-----------------------

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 



                     ADDITIONAL MATERIAL 



                                      ISPCC • Gateways 

       Institutional Abuse Survey • Health Records 

                 Context • England • Personnel • Acts 



                                                 VOL. V 



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                                                            i 


----------------------- Page 2506-----------------------

                                                 (C) Government of Ireland 2009 



                                                     ISBN 978-1-4064-2277-1 



Wt.—. 2500. 05/09. Cahill. (M107634). G.Spl. 



                                                                       ii 


----------------------- Page 2507-----------------------

                 Contents 



                                                                                                Page 



Chapter 1 

      The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC)                            1 

         Foundation of the Society                                                                   1 

         Purposes of the Society                                                                     1 

        The limitations of the ISPCC records                                                         2 

        The role of the inspector                                                                    2 

        The role of the Society in the committal of children to Industrial Schools                   4 

        Alternatives to sending children to Industrial Schools                                       7 

         Finance                                                                                     8 

         Conclusions                                                                                 9 



Chapter 2 

      Gateways to the institutions                                                                  11 

        Section 1: Introduction                                                                     11 

           Many routes                                                                              11 

        Section 2 ‘Needy’ children                                                                  12 

           Part I: The legislative framework                                                        12 

        Section 3: Offenders                                                                        15 

           Part 1: Reformatory or Industrial School?                                                15 

           Part 2: Alternative sanctions                                                            17 

           The Gardai                                                                               22 

                        ´ 

        Section 4: Non-attendance at school                                                         22 

           A largely Dublin phenomenon?                                                             27 

           Concluding comment                                                                       29 

        Section 5: A court                                                                          30 

           The involvement of a court                                                               30 

           Concluding comment                                                                       32 

        Section 6: The hearing                                                                      33 

           Part 1 Children’s Court                                                                  33 

           Part 2: Procedure                                                                        33 

           Part 3: The Justices and the schools                                                     36 

           Part 4: Committal rates relative to applications                                         39 

        Section 7: The period of detention in the school                                            40 

           Part I: Fixing the period in the committal order                                         40 

           Part 2: The length of time for which children were committed                             42 

        Section 8: Early discharge                                                                  43 

           Part I: Early discharge by exercise of the minister’s power                              43 

           Part 2: Grounds for early discharge and case studies                                     46 

           Part 3: Figures on early release                                                         47 



                                                  iii 


----------------------- Page 2508-----------------------

        Section 9: Residents placed voluntarily or sent by health authorities:                  48 

           Residents placed voluntarily                                                         48 

        Section    10:  Population     and   entry   figures,  including   geographical 

        distribution                                                                            51 

           Part 1: Population                                                                   51 

           Part 2: Inflow through the courts                                                    53 

           Part 3: Committals analysed by three sub-categories                                  58 

        Note on sources and methodology                                                         67 

        Appendix 1: Period of committal                                                         69 

           (I) Average periods of committal in Dublin Metropolitan District Court, 

           1934-75                                                                              69 

           (II) National figures, 1951-60                                                       70 

           (III) National figures in 1940s                                                      71 

        Appendix 3: Figures on early release                                                    72 

           Average reduction in committal period: reduction in length of sentence               74 

           Reformatories                                                                        75 

           Numerical tables and comments                                                        76 



Chapter 3 

     The psychological adjustment of adult survivors of institutional abuse 

     in Ireland — Report submitted to the Commission to Inquire into Child 

     Abuse                                                                                      77 

        Executive summary                                                                       77 

        Acknowledgments                                                                         78 

        Acknowledgment to participants from the interviewing team                               79 

        Part 1 Introduction                                                                     80 

           Summary of Part 1                                                                    80 

           Opening comments                                                                     80 

           What   is  known    about   the  long  term   impact   of  child  abuse   and 

           institutional living?                                                                81 

           Conclusions                                                                          84 

        Part 2 Methodology                                                                      84 

           Summary of Part 2                                                                    84 

           Aims of the study                                                                    85 

           Time frame                                                                           85 

           Research team                                                                        86 

           Participants                                                                         87 

           Assessment interview                                                                 88 

           Procedure                                                                            92 

           Data management                                                                      95 

           Conclusions                                                                          95 

        Part 3 Characteristics of the sample                                                    96 

           Summary of Part 3                                                                    96 

           Introduction                                                                         98 

           Historical characteristics                                                           98 

           Demographic characteristics                                                          98 

           History of abuse                                                                     99 

           Life problems                                                                       101 

           Strengths                                                                           102 

           Psychological disorders                                                             102 

           Trauma symptoms on the trauma symptom inventory                                     103 



                                                iv 


----------------------- Page 2509-----------------------

   Adult attachment styles                                                           103 

   Reliability of multi-item scales                                                  103 

   Correlations between indices of abuse and adjustment                              104 

   Factors associated with age, gender and CICA committee attended                   105 

   Conclusions                                                                       107 

Part 4 Profiles of groups with different histories                                   140 

   Summary of Part 4                                                                 140 

   Questions addressed                                                               141 

   Statistical analysis strategy                                                     142 

   History of institutional living                                                   142 

   History of child abuse                                                            145 

   Conclusions                                                                       148 

Part 5 Profiles of groups with different patterns of psychological disorders         176 

   Summary of Part 5                                                                 176 

   Introduction                                                                      177 

   Statistical analysis strategy                                                     178 

   Multiple co-morbid psychological diagnoses                                        178 

   Mood disorders                                                                    179 

   Substance abuse                                                                   181 

   Personality disorders                                                             182 

   Conclusions                                                                       185 

Part  6  Psychological  processes  and  coping  strategies  associated  with 

institutional abuse                                                                  211 

   Summary of Part 6                                                                 211 

   Introduction                                                                      212 

   Theoretical   basis  for  development     of  scales   to  measure    abuse 

   processes and coping strategies                                                   212 

   Rational  subscales  included  in  the  Institutional  Abuse  Processes  and 

   Coping Inventory (IAPCI)                                                          212 

   Development of IAPCI factor scales                                                213 

   Confirmatory factor analyses                                                      214 

   Reliability analyses                                                              215 

   Questions investigated with the IAPCI                                             215 

   The IAPCI scales and institutional and family abuse                               215 

   The IAPCI scales and adult adjustment                                             216 

   IAPCI profiles of groups of participants who had spent different amounts 

   of time in institutions and entered under different circumstances                 217 

   IAPCI profiles of groups of participants who reported different types of 

   worst abusive experiences in institutions                                         218 

   IAPCI profiles of groups of participants who groups of participants who 

   had different numbers of psychological diagnoses                                  219 

   Model  of  childhood  institutional  abuse,  psychological  processes,  and 

   adult adjustment                                                                  220 

   Conclusions                                                                       220 

Part 7 Conclusions                                                                   239 

   Aims of the current study                                                         240 

   Methodology                                                                       240 

   Summary of main results                                                           240 

   Strengths and limitations                                                         247 

   Recommendations                                                                   249 

References                                                                           250 

Appendix 1. Interview Protocol                                                       255 



                                       v 


----------------------- Page 2510-----------------------

   Appendix 2. Scripts and Information Sheets                                             336 

   Summary of the institutional abuse survey                                              338 

      Past research                                                                       338 

     Aims of the current study                                                            339 

      Methodology                                                                         339 

      Profile of overall sample                                                           339 

      Male and female survivors                                                           343 

      Older and younger survivors                                                         343 

      Participants from the CICA confidential and investigation committees                344 

      Subgroups     defined    by  duration    of  time   in   an   institution  and 

      circumstances of entry                                                              344 

      Subgroups defined by worst form of institutional abuse                              345 

      Profiles associated with patterns of adult psychological disorders                  346 

      Institutional abuse processes and coping strategies                                 348 

     A   model   of  institutional abuse,   psychological   processes    and   adult 

      adjustment                                                                          348 

      Strengths and limitations                                                           348 

      Recommendations                                                                     349 

   Other documents arising from the project                                               350 



Staines Submissions:                                                                      351 

   Assessment of the Health Status of Children Detained at Irish Industrial 

   Schools 1940-1983                                                                      351 

   Christian Brothers Congregation (St. Helen’s Province)                                 351 

   Christian Brothers Congregation (St. Mary’s Province)                                  351 

   Presentation Brothers                                                                  351 

   Religious Sisters of Charity                                                           351 

   Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of St. Clare                                              351 



Ferriter Report:                                                                          353 

   Report by Dr Diarmaid Ferriter, St. Patrick’s College, DCU                             353 



Rollinson Report:                                                                         355 

   Residential Child Care in England, 1945-1975: A History and Report                     355 



Commission Personnel 2004-2009                                                            357 

   Chairperson                                                                            357 

   Commissioners                                                                          357 

   Legal Team                                                                             357 

   Paralegals                                                                             357 

   Administration                                                                         358 

   Investigation Committee                                                                358 

   Confidential Committee                                                                 359 



Acts:                                                                                     361 

   Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000                                        361 

   Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005                            361 



                                           vi 


----------------------- Page 2511-----------------------

Chapter 1 



The Irish Society for the Prevention 

of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) 



Foundation of the Society 



In 1875, the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was formed. It aimed to 

combat squalor, neglect and abuse in relation to children. An equivalent society, which was to 

become the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), was established 

in Britain in 1884 and within five years it had 31 branches. The first Irish branch of the NSPCC 

was formed in Dublin in 1889. For a period of 67 years, from 1889 to 1956, the Society within 

Ireland operated under the auspices of the NSPCC despite the establishment of the Irish Free 

State in 1922. It was not until 1956 that the Irish branches ceded from the NSPCC and formed 

an  independent  Society  known  as,  the  Irish  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children 

(ISPCC).  The  initiative  for  the  severance  came  from  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the 

NSPCC,  on  the  grounds  that  it  was  ‘not  practicable  to  go  on  with  the  work  in  the  Republic  of 

Ireland’. The question of finance was a very important consideration in this decision to sever links 

with Ireland. In particular, it was pointed out that substantial subsidies produced by the NSPCC 

in England should ‘rightfully be employed in aiding children in England and that this was a serious 

drain on financial resources’. 



The  ISPCC  was  registered  as  a  company,  which  came  into  being  on  18th          January  1956.  It 

assumed responsibility from the 1st     March 1956 for all the duties and work previously performed 



by the NSPCC. To facilitate the smooth and efficient continuation of the work in protecting the 

welfare of the children in Ireland, the NSPCC made a grant to the ISPCC in the sum of £13,432.99, 

which was the total sum of money collected in Ireland between June 1955 and February 1956. 

The Patrons of the ISPCC  at its inception included the President of Ireland,  the Archbishop of 

Dublin   and  the  Church    of  Ireland  and  Catholic   Primates   of  All Ireland.  This  newly   formed 

independent society continued to operate along the same lines as the NSPCC and it adopted the 

same aims. 



The Society employed inspectors to carry out its functions of protecting the welfare of children. In 

1968, social workers were appointed to undertake the work previously carried out by inspectors 

with the emphasis on social casework. And in 1970, with the formation of the health boards, the 

functions which had been carried out by the Society were taken over by these boards. 



Purposes of the Society 



The NSPCC was granted a Royal Charter in 1895, conferring on it the following duties: 



       •    To prevent the public and private wrongs of children and the corruption of their morals 

       •    To take action for the enforcement of laws for their protection 

       •    To provide and maintain an organisation for the above objects 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                          1 


----------------------- Page 2512-----------------------

       •     To do all such other lawful things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of 

             the above objects. 



These  functions  of  the  Society  were  adopted  by  the  ISPCC  when  it  was  founded  and  were 

consistently re-stated in its annual reports up to the 1970s. In essence, the primary purpose of 

the Society was the welfare and protection of children. 



The limitations of the ISPCC records 



The documentation in the possession of the ISPCC is very limited. One explanation given by the 

Society is that a fire occurred in 1961 at their head office in Molesworth Street, and another was 

that some files could have been lost in the changeover in 1956. At the Phase III hearing, Mr Paul 

Gilligan, Chief Executive Officer of the ISPCC, admitted that: 



      there are significant limitations in the amount of material available to us. Unfortunately, 

      we don’t have an explanation as to where the other material has gone, there was a fire 

      in our head office in 1961, perhaps material was destroyed in that. 



The records that do exist consist of the annual reports of the various branches of the Society from 

1930–55, national annual reports from 1956, NSPCC inspectors’ handbooks and directory, index 

books and inspectors’ notebooks and administration files. In addition, there are some 8,000 case 

files,  but  these  are  confined  to  three  specific  areas  –  Wexford,  Mayo  and  Cork  –  and  only  a 

fraction of these files relate to the pre-1970 period. 



In the year 2000, the ISPCC employed an archivist to archive their existing records. However, the 

administration files have not been archived, according to the ISPCC, owing to lack of resources. 

They also engaged consultants to review the case files. An unpublished report was prepared by 

Seamus O Cinneide and Moira Maguire of NUI, Maynooth in 2000 entitled ‘Findings from NSPCC 

Records’. Their report was based on a random sampling of pre-1970 case files, with a particular 

emphasis on cases resulting in committal to Industrial Schools. They examined 250 case files that 

involved 750 children, of which 50 cases resulted in committal to Industrial Schools of 62 children. 

The authors of this report also pointed out another limitation with the cases files, which was that 

their content and quality were uneven: some files recorded the barest of details while others were 

quite extensive. 



The role of the inspector 



As stated previously, the first Irish branch of the NSPCC was established in Dublin in May 1889, 

with two further branches in Cork and Belfast in 1891 and subsequently branches throughout the 

country. In total, there were approximately 14 branches within the country. Each of these branches 

was  staffed  by  an  inspector  who  was  paid  a  salary  and  was  provided  with  a  house  that  was 

intended to double up as a local office. Dublin was divided into five areas with an inspector for 

each area. The inspector was known colloquially as ‘the cruelty man’. 



Each inspector was answerable to a local committee of interested persons, who gave their service 

on a voluntary basis. The inspectors were generally recruited from the ranks of retired police and 

army personnel. They wore a brown uniform and, with one or two exceptions, they were all men. 

Up to the 1960s the inspectors mainly dealt with social and environmental deprivation. Dealing 

with  problems  such  as  scurvy,  rickets,  malnutrition,  and  high  infant  mortality  were  part  of  their 

routine and they often provided material assistance to the families with whom they were working. 

The Society also intervened when charges of cruelty or neglect of children were made against 

families, whether poor or better off. 



2                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2513-----------------------

The  inspectors  operated  very  much  on  an  independent  basis  as  there  was  no  monitoring  or 

supervision of them by the branch committee. They did, however, have to report to the honorary 

secretary of each branch. The honorary secretary of each branch was the local representative of 

the Society who was entrusted with the responsibility for overseeing that the rules of the Society 

were complied with. The inspector was under the direct control of the local honorary secretary 

and, according to the  Inspector’s Directory, an inspector had to take instructions on cases and 

reports from the honorary secretary or from some person appointed by the local committee for 

that purpose. In particular, the inspector could not take action on a case without the consent of 

the honorary secretary. 



At the Phase III hearing, however, Mr Gilligan confirmed that ‘there was no evidence that there 

was any structured supervision or monitoring of their role’. The reporting structure consisted of 

the  inspector  reporting  to  the  honorary  secretary  by  means of  record  keeping.  The  Inspector’s 

Directory stipulated that ‘all books and records in an Inspector’s charge must be kept up to date’ 

and that ‘all branch records are subject to examination by a representative of the Central Office 

at any time’. An inspector was also required to maintain a daily diary of all the duties in which he 

had been engaged. The Inspector’s Directory stipulated that: 



       The Diary must be regularly kept, and produced for the Hon. Secretary’s examination and 

       signature at least once a week. The best time for this is when the Inspector gets his pay- 

       sheet signed, but this must be according to the convenience of the Hon. Secretary. 



Primarily, the onus was on the inspector to communicate with his superiors rather than the other 

way around. Mr Gilligan spoke about the management structure governing the inspectors: 



       we  didn’t  come  across  any  evidence  of  a  sort  of  structured  sit  down  and  supervise 

       situation. It would appear that it was through recordkeeping and through very clear distinct 

       reporting  responsibility  seeking      permission  to  warn  a  family,  to      seek  procedures,  to 

       instigate procedures for committal or prosecution. So there was a management structure. 

       They weren’t on their own, per se, but how structured that was in terms of sitting down 

       and managing as we would know today... 



The duties of inspectors were set out in the  Inspector’s Handbook of 1947 and the  Inspector’s 

Directory of 1960. The 1960 Inspector’s Directory defined the role of the inspector as follows: 



       An Inspector’s aim – first and last – is to be a force for the welfare of children. He must 

       always do all in his power for the good of the child who is suffering, and if no other means 

       are available, provide what is necessary at the expense of the Society. An Inspector who 

       seeks merely the prosecution of an offender is liable for instant dismissal. Any neglect in 

       doing  for  a  child  what  is  necessary  and  possible  is  shameful,  and,  most  naturally  and 

       most justly, risks the good name of the Society, and interferes with the success of its work. 



Their function was to investigate complaints of child neglect and abuse. These complaints came 

from a variety of sources such as the general public, the Gardai, school officials and the parents 

                                                                              ´ 

themselves. From the research conducted by O Cinneide and Maguire, 60 percent of the cases 

that  were  reviewed  by  them  were  people  who  had  approached  the  inspector  themselves.  The 

categories  of  referrals  related  directly  to  the  Children  Act  1908,  and  it  was  this  legislation  that 

drove the work of the Society. Neglect was one of the main categories of referrals, which arose 

primarily  from  poverty,  poor  housing  conditions,  absence  of  a  parent  or  illegitimacy.  The  living 

conditions of many in the 1930s and 1940s were very difficult. Housing conditions were described 

as filthy and squalid, with no proper sanitary facilities. There were large numbers of people living 

in very small accommodation, possibly one room, and living on very low incomes with not enough 

money to feed them all. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                   3 


----------------------- Page 2514-----------------------

The reports of the NSPCC from the 1940s and 1950s are revealing as to living conditions. In the 

year 1944-45, the Society dealt with 1,103 cases, the overwhelming majority classed under the 

heading ‘neglect’. No cases were listed under the headings ‘criminal and indecent assault’. Only 

18 people were prosecuted, and the report indicated that ‘of real and deliberate cruelty to children 

there had been practically none’. 



The general tenor of the Society’s reports from the 1930s to the 1950s was to describe in graphic 

terms cases of neglect, squalor and parental irresponsibility, as well as calling for legal adoption, 

and  strongly criticising  the  excessive  use of  Industrial  Schools as  an  alternative  to providing  a 

new family life for victims. ‘It must be recognised’ they reported in 1948-49, ‘that children are to a 

large extent deprived of home influences and it would be much better if we could avoid sending 

them to such institutions’. Their pleas went unheard and in 1956, when the Archbishop of Dublin, 

Dr John Charles McQuaid, became one of the patrons of the Society, the challenging and graphic 

case  studies  were  gone;  the  awkward  questions  posed  about  adoption  and  Industrial  Schools 

were jettisoned. The exposure of the underbelly had ground to a halt. 



The role of the inspectors was, according to Mr Gilligan, ‘to ensure that change occurs for the 

child, that the parents are either supported or warned to make changes for the child so that the 

child is adequately cared for and protected’. This was emphasised in the annual reports. To that 

end the inspectors pursued a focused practical approach. 



Mr Gilligan, at the Phase III hearing, said that the inspectors ‘were obliged to make every attempt 

to support the family, to persuade either through information support or warnings, the parents to 

take their responsibilities to care for their children seriously’. He provided examples of practical 

support  such  as  ‘...trying  to  organise  clothes,  perhaps  in  some  cases  organise  a  job,  certainly 

medical  care  for  children,  in  some  cases  housing.  But  it  is  clearly  practical  support  and  also 

providing  the  parents  with  clear  indication  of  what  would  be  expected’.  The  inspectors  also 

conducted supervision visits of the homes of children who were under threat to ensure a change 

for the better in the circumstances of the child. If no change was forthcoming, the inspectors had 

to look at the option of providing alternative care for the child, which could involve committal to an 

Industrial School. 



The role of the Society in the committal of children to Industrial 

Schools 



The Society had a role in committing children to Industrial Schools. The extent and significance 

of this role cannot be accurately ascertained as there are no definitive statistics in respect of the 

actual  numbers  of  children  who  were  committed  by  the  Society.  This  is  due  to  the  paucity  of 

records available. However, the Maynooth research indicated that out of a sample of 250 case 

files,  62  children  out  of  750  were  committed  to  Industrial  Schools.  But  this  sample  of  cases 

consisted  of those  who  had been  sent  to  Industrial Schools  and,  as Mr  Gilligan  pointed out  in 

evidence,  ‘it would certainly be a skewed sample’. Therefore, this figure is not indicative of the 

numbers generally. The research also found from the sample taken, that 41 children or 66 percent 

of children committed to Industrial Schools were committed at the request of their parents. The 

1956 Annual Report of the ISPCC indicated that 1.3 percent of referrals to the Society resulted in 

court proceedings.  These court  proceedings would  include both  the prosecution  of a  parent or 

parents for neglect and also a committal to an Industrial School. 



Of  note,  is  the  fact  that  many  of  the  witnesses  who  testified  to  the  Investigation  Committee 

concerning their time in Industrials Schools were committed by the NSPCC /ISPCC. A total of 15 

Industrial Schools were investigated by the Investigation Committee. A total of 226 complainants 

testified about their time in these Industrial Schools. 84 of the 226 witnesses had been referred 



4                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2515-----------------------

to these Industrial Schools by the NSPCC/ISPCC, which equates to 37 per cent or over one-third 

of the total number of complainants heard in respect of the 15 Industrial Schools. 



At the Phase III hearing, Mr Gilligan conceded that the ISPCC had played a prominent role in the 

committal of children to Industrial Schools as they were the only child protection agency in the 

country at that time. He said: 



      I think if we were the only child protection – child protective organisation then I think it is 

      reasonable to suspect that we certainly would have committed a significant number to the 

      industrial schools. But I really have no idea about the overall percentage. 



Moreover, the general public perception at the time was that the Society was heavily involved in 

committing  children  to  Industrial  Schools,  hence  the  apprehension  in  the  minds  of  the  public 

associated with the ‘cruelty man’. Even the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr McQuaid, had reservations 

about the role of the Society in committing children to Industrial Schools. On 4th        June 1941, soon 



after  his  appointment  as  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Dr  McQuaid  wrote  to  Frank  Duff,  an  active  lay 

Catholic with a social conscience, who was the mainspring of the lay Catholic social work society, 

the Legion of Mary. He was also the one of the few contemporary voices critical of the Industrial 

Schools.  The  Archbishop  enclosed  the  report  of  the  NSPCC  (Dublin  Branch)  for  1939–40  and 

requested the following of Mr Duff: 



      Will you kindly have a look through the specimen cases in the enclosed booklet? Anyone 

      who  reads  the  six  specimen  cases  encountered  by  the  Society  that  year  would  be 

      appalled  by  the  poverty  and  suffering  described.  To  take  just  one  example  from  the 

      Report: 



      A man and his wife charged with the neglect of their daughters, aged six, four and three. 

      The man was absent from home at work from six in the morning until six in the evening; 

      but  he  said   his only  interest  was   his  children.  He  was   sentenced    to  a  few  hours’ 

      imprisonment, and was released on the rising of the Court. 



Mr Duff replied on 12th   June 1941. He expressed grave disquiet about the actions of the NSPCC 



and continued: 



      I have read the Specimen Cases set out in the 1939/40 Report. The details given seem 

      bad enough, but they might be made to prove too much. The culling of six special cases 

      from a poor city like Dublin could easily create a false impression. Moreover, I would not 

      be satisfied that there is no exaggeration at work. I profoundly distrust every word and 

      action of one of the Society’s Inspectors, Mrs XX. I go further and I say that I regard her 

      as  a  danger.  She  is  quite  capable  (by  which  I  mean  that  she  has  already  done  it)  of 

      distorting  facts  to suit  any  point  of  view  she   is trying  to make.    She   exercised   an 

      ascendancy over ex-Justice YY, and between them they simply shovelled children into 

      Industrial Schools. I consider that no proper attempt is made by the Society to restore a 

      home or keep a home together. This was the view held by Fr. Tom Ryan, SJ who before 

      his transfer to Hong Kong took a keen interest in juvenile delinquency and practically lived 

      in the Courts. He gave it to me as his considered judgment based on his long and detailed 

      observation  that  the  Charter  of  the  Society  for  the  PCC  should  be  withdrawn,  that  the 

      Society   constituted   a  public  menace.     Mr  Charles    J  Joyce,   who   has   considerable 

      acquaintance with the courts, has raised something similar with me. 



The ISPCC counteracted these criticisms of exaggeration of cases and wilfully committing children 

to Industrial Schools by saying in its statement that ‘In reviewing the information available in this 

case, it is difficult to comprehend how any allegation of exaggeration could be upheld’. With regard 

to the allegation that the inspector’s behaviour was bringing about the committal of children: 



      It is certainly not possible for us to comment on his allegation except to say that our review 

      of  material  verifies  the  Society’s  ongoing  philosophy  of  keeping  families  together  and 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                          5 


----------------------- Page 2516-----------------------

      rigorous  attempts  to  support    the  preservation  of  family  integrity  as  illustrated  in  the 

      numerous examples quoted throughout this statement and borne out by the statistics. The 

      extent of referrals by a range of other agencies and the numerous approaches by families 

      themselves seeking assistance from the Society demonstrates a high level of public and 

      professional confidence in the organisation. 



Furthermore, in 1952 there was an allegation that NSPCC inspectors were taking bribes as an 

inducement  to  send  children  to  Industrial  Schools.  This  was  revealed  in  a  Visitation  Report  of 

1952 in respect of St Joseph’s Industrial School, Tralee. The Congregational Visitor had expressed 

concern about the payment of expenses to two NSPCC inspectors, but he was informed by the 

Superior of the school that the payment was a subscription to the Society’s funds. 



The Society throughout the 1940s and 1950s was at pains to rebut this image of being overly 

eager to commit children to Industrial Schools. They pointed out again and again in their reports 

that committal was seen very much as a last rather than a first resort. The annual reports of the 

Society down through the years reiterated that the home rather than an Industrial School was the 

best place for children to be brought up in, no matter how good the institution was. The 1948–49 

Annual Report of the Dublin Branch of the Society stated: 



      During the year we have had to arrange for the placing of a large number of children in 

      Industrial  Schools,  chiefly  because  their  parents  were  unable  to  maintain  them,  but  in 

      some cases because their home conditions were so undesirable as to make it necessary 

      to remove them. There is no doubt that in these schools they receive care and attention 

      and  a  sound  education,  and  are  brought  up  to  be  useful  members  of  the  community. 

      Nevertheless,  however  grateful  we  may  be  for  the  devoted  work  of  the  Orders  which 

      conduct  these  schools,  it  must  be  recognised  that  the  children  are  to  a  large  extent 

      deprived of home influences, and that it would be much better if we could avoid sending 

      them to such institutions. If their own homes are impossible, good foster homes would 

      give them a healthier and happier introduction to life. It is, however, seldom possible to 

      find such homes, in the cases presented to the Society. 



In their 1951–52, Annual Report they stated: 



      It is a clear working rule in all our cases that where the question of committal arises, that 

      every effort must be made to find some other solution and committal is only sought or 

      advised when there is no other way out. 



Again in its 1953–54 Annual Report, the Society defended itself against growing criticism that they 

were overly zealous in committing children to Industrial Schools: 



      But  in  spite  of  what  we  have  written  in  former  reports,  there  seems  to  be  a  mistaken 

      impression  in  the  minds  of  many  people  that  we  regard  the  committal  of  children  to 

      Industrial Schools as a sovereign remedy for unhappiness or unsuitable conditions in the 

      home. A poor home, they say, is better than no home. Now it is a clear working rule in all 

      our cases where the question of committal arises, that every effort must be made to find 

      some  other  solution,  and  committal  is  only  sought  or  advised  where  there  is  no  other 

      way out. 



The ISPCC in its Statement pointed out: 



      There does not appear to be records of the actual numbers of applications/ committals of 

      children by ISPCC to industrial schools in each year. However annual reports do indicate 

      that this was a small element of the work carried out by Inspectors. What is clear is that 

      the Society’s philosophy was to work alongside parents whenever possible... 



6                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2517-----------------------

However, according to one of the social workers recruited by the ISPCC in the late 1960s, some 

of the cruelty men were too quick to seek committal and not sufficiently flexible and imaginative 

in seeking alternatives to the schools: they took the view that the schools were safe places, which 

turned out well-behaved citizens and that this was all that needed to be done. 



An inspector had to follow set guidelines laid down in the Inspector’s Directory before committing 

a child to an Industrial School. The inspector would have to inform the honorary secretary of his 

respective  branch  of  his  intention  to  bring  committal  proceedings  and  the  central  office  of  the 

branch would also have to be informed and give their consent to the application. 



From the records available, the ISPCC do not have any information to indicate that inspectors 

visited these schools or were familiar with them. It was not the policy of the Society to follow up 

on children who had been placed in Industrial Schools. The Society was aware of the stigma that 

attached  to  children  who  were  put  into  these  institutions  and  the  view  society  had  of  them, 

particularly when they would leave the schools in search of employment. The Society, however, 

did not provide any form of after care for these children, nor was it engaged in thinking about it. 



Alternatives to sending children to Industrial Schools 



During the time period under consideration, primarily the 1930s to the 1960s there were very few 

alternatives to sending a child to an Industrial School if the problem could not be solved within 

the family. Foster care was not widely available and it appeared to be primarily for babies and 

young infants. 



In its annual reports in the 1940s, the Society was aware that if financial assistance was directed 

towards helping families rather than paying a capitation grant to the schools, the children could 

be maintained at home and the cost to the taxpayer would be lessened. The annual reports spoke 

about the inadequacies of the social welfare provisions for families which hindered families from 

caring properly for their children’s needs. The 1947–48 Annual Report of the Dublin Branch made 

specific reference to this problem: 



       In previous reports we have drawn attention to the large number of cases where we have 

       had to intervene to rescue children from the squalor and undernourishment directly due 

       to poverty. No authority seems to have worked out for Dublin what should be considered 

       as  the  poverty    line, though    there   have   been    a  number     of  private  sample     inquiries 

       conducted in past years. In our Report for 1945-46 we indicated that a collation of such 

       figures as were available showed that for the ordinary family to provide proper nutrition 

       on a sum of 8/- a head should be made available for food alone. Even with the increases 

       recently made in some of the allowances the amount available leaves many families well 

       below  the  poverty  line,  on  any  calculation.  A  peculiar  feature  of  the  Unemployment 

       Assistance Scale, which has brought a number of families to us, is the application of the 

       maximum  rate  of  allowance,  viz.  38/-  a  week,  even  where  there  are  more  than  five 

       children. Even giving a man and wife and 5 children the allowances, plus 7/6 children’s 

       allowances, this is clearly inadequate. Allowing for a moderate rent of, say, 5/- per week, 

       the amount available per head, viz., 5/9 1  is well below the minimum necessary to provide 

                                                       2 



       food  alone. In  the  case  of widow’s  pensions  the gap  is  still  wider. It  is  true  that in  the 

       worst cases the home assistance authorities sometimes intervene with an allowance for 

       rent; but say nothing of clothing or bedding, much less for any less necessary amenities. 

       It  is  small  wonder  that  some  parents  give  up  the  unequal  contest  and  apply  for  the 

       committal of their children to industrial schools on the grounds of inability to support them, 

       when,  as  we  have  so  often  pointed  out,  they  cost  the  public  funds  15/-  a  head.  If  the 

       parents were given, say, 10/0 a head, they could keep their children, who then would not 

       be deprived of home influences, and the taxpayer would save 5/- a head. Possibly the 

       worst feature of this short-sighted system is that the resultant under-nourishment is certain 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                  7 


----------------------- Page 2518-----------------------

      to  produce  a  large  crop  of  unemployable  weeds,  themselves  in  time  to  multiply  and 

      increase the dead weight round the neck of the taxpayer. 



Again, in the 1948–49 Annual Report, the same point was emphasised: 



      In  last  year’s  report  attention  was  drawn  to  the  undernourishment  of  large  numbers  of 

      children owing to the fact that the allowances provided under the various Social Services, 

      Unemployment       Assistance,    Home    Assistance,    Widows’    Pensions    and   the  like, were 

      insufficient to allow the parents to keep their children properly fed. The cases dealt with 

      during  the  year  disclose  quite  a  number  of  instances  in  which  there  has  been  definite 

      under-nourishment, owing to the fact that the parents or guardians of the children have 

      been  dependent  on  such  allowances,  and  have  been  simply  unable  to  support  their 

      children.   There   is  a  wide   difference   between    the  methods     of  administering    Home 

      Assistance in various areas, and a number of particularly glaring cases of inadequacy will 

      be found below. Last year we drew attention to two aspects of this system. The first was 

      that the family must often be broken up if the children are to be properly fed and clothed, 

      so  that  they  may  grow  up  useful  citizens.  The  second  was  that  the  resultant  cost  of 

      providing for children removed from their parents on the ground of inability to maintain 

      them is much greater than the amount which, if given in Home Assistance, or some other 

      form of allowance, would enable the family to be kept together. We went on to point out 

      the danger that the persistent under-nourishment of families dependent on various forms 

      of public relief must result in the creation of whole families of unemployables. There is, 

      however, a third aspect which has not been emphasised in the past, and that is the moral 

      effect of dealing with these families under the methods pursued hitherto. The position of 

      the  family  as  the  foundation  of  the  State  has  been  written  into  the  Constitution  of  this 

      country, and anything that tends to break it up should evoke the efforts of all the Social 

      Services against such conditions; and these inadequate allowances are a constant cause 

      of disruption of family life. It is to be hoped that this point of view will be appreciated in 

      the future. 



These pleas by the Society fell on deaf ears for the next three decades, and it was not until the 

1970s that State assistance was finally given to families to help keep them together. The 1973 

Annual Report of the ISPCC made reference to this: 



      it is a source of satisfaction to us that the comparatively recent recognition of the State’s 

      responsibility to deserted wives and families and other changes contemplated to assist 

      families in need are being brought about by the submissions and representations made 

      by the ISPCC with the support of kindred bodies. 



Finance 



In 1963, the Government for the first time granted financial support to the Society and continues 

to do so to the present day. However, the ISPCC pointed out in their statement to the Investigation 

Committee that ‘The Society has always been dependent for survival on fundraising’. 



Whilst fundraising was the main source of income for the Society, inspectors were prohibited from 

collecting money. The Inspector’s Directory stated: 



      Only under special circumstances and under instructions is an Inspector allowed to collect 

      money, except collections under maintenance orders. 



      In the event of a contribution being made to an Inspector for the relief of a case he must 

      remit the amount at once to the central office and await instructions as to its application. 

      A receipt will be furnished to the contributor whose names and addresses should be sent 

      with the remittance. 



8                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2519-----------------------

However in documentation discovered to the Commission from the Christian Brothers in respect 

of  one  of  their  Industrial  Schools,  St  Joseph’s  Industrial  School,  Tralee,  there  is  a  record  of 

payments being made to two NSPCC inspectors in 1952. The Congregational Visitor to the school 

expressed  concerns  in  his  Visitation  Report  of  1952  that  a  payment  of  £9  was  sought  by  one 

NSPCC inspector in respect of expenses. Reference was made to the bursar considering it to be 

more like a bribe to induce the inspector to bring boys to the school. The Superior was questioned 

about this payment and he stated that it was a subscription to the Society’s funds and this was 

the explanation that was given to the Visitor at the time. Reference was also made to another 

NSPCC inspector also seeking expenses and he was considered by the Visitor as ‘a well-known 

sponger’. The 1952 Visitation Report stated the situation as follows: 



      That Mr. X, local Inspector of the N.S.P.C.C., was having boys committed as exactly one 

      year under their true age. When this complaint was made to me I enquired what interest 

      this gentleman had in this falsification of documents and found that the Bursar had asked 

      himself the same question earlier in the year, especially when he was asked to sign a 

      cheque for £9 for X’s ‘expenses’. On being asked a third time for the cheque, the Bursar 

      told him he felt compelled to protest against this payment as it seemed to him to be a 

      bribe, or like a bribe, to induce X to bring boys to the school. The Superior then stated 

      that it was a subscription to the Society’s funds. 



The Superior of Tralee Industrial School had sought the advice of the Provincial in respect of the 

payment of expenses to NSPCC inspectors. He was told by the Provincial that a payment of £1 

was to be paid to the inspectors as they incurred extra expense in bringing boys to the school as 

they travelled by car. However, one of the inspectors claimed that his expenses were in excess 

of  £1  and   so  the  Superior   again   sought   clarification from   the  Provincial   and  only   with  his 

permission  was  any  payment  made.  It  is  clear  from  documentation  furnished  by  the  Christian 

Brothers that the NSPCC inspectors in the early 1950s were accustomed to receiving payment 

for expenses. This clearly was in contravention of the rules laid down in the Inspector’s Directory 

quoted above. 



Conclusions 

       •    The NSPCC/ISPCC played an important role in committing children to Industrial 

             Schools.    The   extent    of  this  involvement      cannot    be  accurately     ascertained 

             because of a lack of documentation, but it can be stated as being significant. 



       •     It has been established by this Report and elsewhere that the main reason for 

             children being committed to residential care was the poverty of their families. 

             The  obvious  solution  of  giving  direct  aid  to  impoverished  families  in  order  to 

             allow them to stay together was articulated by the Society as early as 1951. This 

             would have meant a substantial saving to the taxpayer when compared with the 

             cost of institutionalisation. The question should be asked why this debate did 

             not   receive   wider    attention   throughout      the   relevant   period    and   was    only 

             acknowledged in the 1970s. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                            9 


----------------------- Page 2520-----------------------

10                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2521-----------------------

Chapter 2 



Gateways to the institutions 



By Professor David Gwynn Morgan 



Section 1: Introduction 



Many routes 



In all, there were five bases on which a child or young person1  could be sent to a certified school. 



The first three of these, dealt with in this section, were: being ‘needy or destitute’, (though this 

was very much an umbrella term embracing further sub-categories), committing a criminal offence; 

and  non-attendance  at  school.  Each  of  these  involved  committal  by  the  District  Court.  The 

remaining two categories, where no court was involved, are dealt with in later sections. They were: 

being sent by a local health authority; or, voluntary committal. 



At the outset, three general points should be made. First, the statutory provision under which any 

particular resident might be committed could be quite random. For instance, in the case of a child, 

from a broken home, the most likely route would be by way of the court making a committal order 

on the basis of one of the many sub-heads of the ‘needy’ category. Thus, for example, if the child 

was  breaking  windows  throughout  the  neighbourhood,  one  judge  might  say  that  the  child  was 

‘unruly’; whilst another would blame the parents for ‘inadequate supervision’. 



Another possible route arises from the fact that destitute children would be unlikely to see any 

advantage in attending school faithfully and, as the Kennedy Report para 11.4 sagely observed, 

‘Truancy is often the earliest sign of family break-down.’ In addition, naturally, the court and the 

agencies bringing children before it tended to prefer the non-school attendance category to the 

offences category, in order to avoid stigmatising the child. 



In short, in the case of many residents, the formal entry category to which they were assigned in 

the Department of Education annual reports numerical sections might seem more clear-cut than 

reality warranted, and this is something which should be taken into account in reading the figures 

that are set out in the various graphs and tables below. 2 



Secondly, a significant part of the machinery by which children were sent to the schools lay in the 

agencies by which a child was brought before the court. For this purpose, a miscellany of persons 

and agencies, often part-time or unpaid and seldom trained, had grown up. These included: the 

Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), Gardai, school attendance officers, 

                                                                                  ´ 

and also  Vincent de Paul  Society members, parish  priests; or children’s  officers from the  local 

health authority, possibly with guidance from Department of Health Inspectors. One of the flaws 



1 Section 31 of the Children Act 1908 (as amended by s 29 of the Children Act) gives these meaning: ‘child’ (under the 



  age of 15, originally 14); a ‘young person’ (between the ages of 15 and 17, originally 14 and 16). The umbrella term 

  ‘young offenders’ comprehends any offenders between the ages of seven and 21 years. 

2 Similarly, after 1970 to avoid the stigma of committal proceedings, the tendency has been to have the child referred to 



  the home wherever possible by the health board, under the provisions of s 55 of the Health Act 1953. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                11 


----------------------- Page 2522-----------------------

in  the  system  was  that  the  different  elements  seldom  liaised  effectively;  for  instance,  health 

authorities hardly ever exercised their right of audience before the court.3 



Thirdly,  in  respect  of  each  ground  of  entry  covered  in  the  next  three  sections,  the  available 

alternatives to sending a child to an Industrial School are considered and consideration will be 

later given to the extent to which these were taken into account. 



Section 2 ‘Needy’ children 



Part I: The legislative framework 



For the entire period under consideration, the governing law was section 58(1) of the Children Act 

1908 (as amended by the Children Acts 1929 and 1941), by which a child could be committed to 

an industrial school if he: 



           (1)  (a)    is found begging or receiving alms...; 



                (b)   is  found  not  having  any  home,  or  visible  means  of  subsistence,  or  is  [found] 

                      having  no  parent  or  guardian,  or  a  parent  or  guardian  who  does  not  exercise 

                      proper guardianship; or 



                (c)   is found destitute, not being an orphan and having both parents or his surviving 

                      parent,  or  in  the  case  of  an  illegitimate  child,  his  mother,  undergoing  penal 

                      servitude or imprisonment; or 



                (d)   is under the care of a parent or guardian who, by reason of reputed criminal or 

                      drunken habits, is unfit to have the care of the child; or 



                (e)   is the daughter...of a father who has been convicted of an offence of [sexually 

                      abusing his daughters]; or 



                (f)   frequents     the   company       of  any    reputed     thief  or  of   any   common       or   reputed 

                      prostitute(other than the child’s mother); or 



                (g)   is lodging or residing in a house used for prostitution... 



By section 58(4) of the 1908 Act: 



       Where the parent ... of a child proves to a [District Court] that he is unable to control the 

       child, and that he desires the child to be sent to an industrial school ... the court, if satisfied 

       on inquiry that it is expedient so to deal with the child, and that the parent understands 

       the results which will follow, may order him to be sent to a certified industrial school.4 



3 District Justice Sean Forde commented in 1930 that the county councils did not live up to their responsibility in regard 



  to attendance in court: ‘This charge [of neglect and cruelty against parents] is a very serious one and I am adjourning 

  it. I hope that the county council will be represented on the next occasion. In only one application of this kind in the 

  past seven years has the county council appeared.’ The Department of Health inspector on boarded-out children also 

  accused the county councils of neglecting their responsibility; even when they were present in court, they rarely 

  opposed requests for committal: ‘This appears to be an extremely casual manner to treat the question of disposal of 

  whether a child’s interests will best be secured by committal to an institution, by boarding-out if the family of which the 

  child is a unit cannot be kept together by means of home assistance.’: Connacht Tribune, 4th January 1930, quoted in 

  Department of Local Government and Public Health, Annual Report 1935-36, p 390. 

      On the other hand, a survey of ISPCC records (O’Cinneide and Maguire, ‘Findings from the ISPCC Records’ 

  Sisters of Mercy Industrial Schools in Context, Report II, p 27) shows the ISPCC: ‘Interacting with a variety of 

   individuals and agencies, including parish priests, local branches of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and local 

  authorities, to secure the resources necessary for parents to keep their children rather than have them committed.’ 

4 Section 58(4) also stated that, as an alternative to committal, the out-of-control child might be placed under the 



  supervision of a probation officer. Also omitted from the text, as being seldom used, is sub s (5) by which: 

      Where the guardians of a poor law union or the managers of a district poor law school satisfy a petty sessional 

      court that any child maintained in a workhouse or district poor law school is refractory or is the child of parents 

      either of whom has been convicted of an offence punishable with penal servitude or imprisonment, and that it is 

      desirable that the child be sent to an industrial school under this Part of this Act, the court may if satisfied that it is 

      expedient so to deal with the child, order him to be sent to a certified industrial school. 

[This was repealed by Child Care Act 1991]. 



12                                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2523-----------------------

       One  can  summarise  this  intricate  legislation  by  saying  that:  some  of  these  grounds 

       focused  on  diverse  forms  of  poverty  and  need;  some  on  a  parent  (or  another  person) 

       being a bad influence on or abusing or neglecting the child; and some on a mixture of the 

       two. Yet there was inevitably a good deal of overlap: poverty begat parental neglect and 

       the reverse was inevitable too. 



       Subsequent legislation expanded the 1908 Act in two main respects.5  First, sub-paragraph 



       (c) (‘is found destitute’) was in fact rather narrow in that it required the child’s parents to 

       be in prison. The Children Act 1929 (later re-enacted in the Children Act 1941, s 10(1)(d)) 

       in effect widened this category by providing that a child could be committed, provided that 

       two further conditions were both satisfied: first the child ‘is found destitute and is not an 

       orphan and his parents are or his surviving parent or, in the case of an illegitimate child, 

       his mother is unable to support him’. And secondly, if ‘both parents consent or the court 

       is  satisfied  that  a  parent’s  consent  may  be  dispensed  with  owing  to  mental  incapacity 

       or desertion’.6 



       The need for this change arose from the nineteenth century assumption reflected in the 

        1908  Act  that  the  Industrial  School  system  was  meant  primarily  to  deal  with  offenders 

       whereas children suffering from parental neglect or poverty cases were to be dealt with 

       under the ordinary Poor Law, which usually meant that the child went to the workhouse. 

       With the development of what was by the standards of those days, a more liberal social 

       outlook,  committals  on  the  grounds  of  poverty  alone  grew.  At  first,  this  change  was 

       effected covertly. For example, in the late nineteenth century when it was desired to have 

       a child whose parents were too poor to rear it committed to an Industrial School, it became 

       the practice for a social worker to give the child a penny outside the court and then have 

       it  committed  for  ‘receiving  alms’  (under  s  58(1)(a)  of  the  Children  Act  1908).  Thus  the 

        1929 Act theoretically had the effect of removing the stigma that a child, whose only crime 

       was poverty, had to be found guilty of an offence, before he could be sent to a school. It 

       did this by allowing the committal of a child for ‘destitution’.7                    This provision of the 1929 



       Act was struck down in 1956, in Re Doyle. 



5 However Kennedy, at (paras 10.5-6) suggested a more radical extension which was never implemented: 



      There could be numbers of recommended neglected children and young persons never brought before the Court 

      because their cases do not fall within the limited provisions of Section 58... 

      This section should be amended to give the courts the widest possible jurisdiction to deal with a child or young 

      person up to the age of 17 years who: 

      a) is not receiving such care, protection or guidance as a good parent might reasonably be expected to give, or 

      b) who is beyond the control of his parent or guardian and the lack of care, protection or guidance is likely to 

      cause him unnecessary suffering, seriously to affect his health or physical development, or, 

      c) if he is falling into bad associations or is exposed to moral danger. 

      This would ensure that the complainant would no longer be faced with proving that the parent or guardian is unfit 

      or unable to exercise, or is not exercising proper guardianship, but only with the tasks of showing that the child or 

      young person is in fact not receiving such care. 

6 The full wording of s 10 of the 1941 Act was as follows: 



      Provided also that the Court shall not make an order that a child be sent to a certified industrial school on the 

      grounds stated in paragraph (h) unless – 

      the child’s parents consent or his surviving parent or, in the case of an illegitimate child, his mother consents to 

      such order being made, or 

      the Court is satisfied that owing to mental incapacity or desertion on the part of the child’s parents or his surviving 

      parent or, in the case of an illegitimate child, his mother, the consent of such parents or parent may be dispensed 

      with, or 

      one of the child’s parents consents to such order being made and the Court being satisfied that, owing to mental 

      incapacity or desertion on the part of the other parent or to the fact that the other parent is undergoing 

      imprisonment or penal servitude, the consent of that parent may be dispensed with. 

7 Commenting on the significances of the new legislation, the Department of Education Annual Report for 1929-30, p 



  105 stated that: 

      in 1929-30, there were 377 (out of a total of 996) committals under the 1929 Act. However this represents an 

      increase of only 53 on the previous year’s figures under the narrower heads in the 1908 Act (and there was 

      anyway a rising trend’). So ‘it is but natural to assume that the majority of committals under that Act would have 

      been made under the Principal Act...even had not the more recent Act been in existence. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                               13 


----------------------- Page 2524-----------------------

       The facts of this case may be briefly summarised as follows. Evelyn Doyle was born in 

       1946. In 1953, whilst her father, Desmond Doyle, was unemployed, his wife left the family. 

       In 1954, her father consented8  to an order being made under section 10 of the 1941 Act 



       for  the  committal  of  Evelyn  to  a  school.  His  wife’s  consent  was  dispensed  with  by  the 

       District Court and Evelyn Doyle was committed until her 16th birthday. 



       Later in 1954, Desmond Doyle obtained permanent employment as a painter. Accordingly, 

       he  applied  to  the  Minister  for  Education  to  have  his  daughter  discharged  from  care. 

       Section 10 also provided that where the parents of a child were able to satisfy the Minister 

       of Education that they were able to support that child, the Minister was obliged to order 

       its  discharge.  The  Minister  refused  to  order  the  child’s  release.9          Mr  Doyle  brought  an 



       application for judicial review in the High Court against the Minister’s refusal ([1956] IR 

       217).  This  case  turned  only  on  the  wording  of  the  1941  Act.  The  claim  failed  on  the 

       basis that, according to the wording, the Minister’s power to discharge depended on the 

       application being made by both parents, unreasonable as this might seem in the present 

       case. 



       Mr Doyle tried again in a second set of proceedings, this time involving the Constitution, 

       and  succeeded  in  both  the  High  and  Supreme  Court.  The  case  was  decided  in  1956; 

       though  reported  only  at  [1989]  ILRM  277.  Mr  Doyle  claimed  that  the  detention  of  his 

       daughter under section 10 was invalid as being repugnant to Articles 41 (The Family) and 

       42  (Education)  of  the  Constitution,  the  distinction  between  which  is  not  significant.  He 

       made  this  claim  because  the  section  seemed  to  enable  a  parent  to  deprive  himself  of 

       what by Article 42.1 is declared to be his ‘inalienable right and duty’ namely to provide 

       according to his means for the...education of [his] children’. The court put a good deal of 

       weight on the notion that the parents’ right could not be alienated. 



       However,  it  is  important  to  emphasise  that  up  to  Re  Doyle,  a  great  number  of  those 

       committed were committed under the destitution coupled with parental consent ground. 

       Speaking  on  this  point,  in  the  Seanad  debate10           the  Minister  for  Education,  T  Derrig, 



       emphasised that he, at any rate, saw this consent requirement as an important point of 

       principle and resisted an opposition amendment, which would have infringed it. 



       A further extension (also made by s 10(1)(d) of the 1941 Act) was that a child could be 

       committed if under the care of a parent or guardian who had been convicted of an offence 

       under Part II of, or mentioned in the First Schedule to, the 1908 Act in relation to any of 

       his  children.  Cruelty  was  widely  defined  so  that  this  head  could  have  been,  though  in 

       practice, was not, used to commit children whose parents were not positively cruel but 

       were feckless or irresponsible or otherwise not looking after their children properly. 



8 Perhaps the circumstances in which Mr Doyle consented to the making of the order of detention were significant. He 



  was not at that time professionally represented. He was under the impression that such detention was not for a fixed 

  period, but that he could obtain the child’s discharge at any time on making application therefore. This impression was 

  contributed to by a remark made by the District Justice advising Mr Doyle ‘not to leave the child in the School too 

  long.’: [1956] IR at 218. O’Mahoney, ‘Legal Aspects of Residential Child Care’ (1971) VI Irish Jurist 217. 

9 Desmond Doyle, who had moved to England after his daughter was committed, soon returned to Ireland found a job 



  and set about having his daughter released from St Joseph’s Industrial School in Whitehall in Dublin. The Minister 

  refused the application. An internal Departmental memo stated that the sources of information on which the 

  Department based its refusal of the application were as follows: 

      • Garda Siochana report that recommended the refusal of the application ‘in view of the limited accommodation in 

      the house and the absence of a responsible woman on the premises’. 

      • The NSPCC report which recommended refusal on the grounds that there was a danger that the housekeeper 

      employed by Mr Doyle (who was to look after the little girls) might find better employment and leave her position. 

      • A parental money collector reported that he failed to make contact with the housekeeper in his efforts to make 

      discreet enquiries as to the nature of the relationship between herself and Mr Doyle. 

10 SD vol 25, col 922, 22nd April 1941. 



14                                                                                                CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2525-----------------------

       Yet the precise scope of these legislative categories11  probably did not make a significant 



       difference  in  the numbers  of  children  committed. The  reason  is  that  on one  side  there 

       were the circumstances of dire poverty and often few alternatives to the schools and on 

       the other side the schools were willing and sometimes eager to take the children. In this 

       type of situation, the drafting of the legislation could make little difference. Moreover, the 

       legislation  had  to be  couched  in  broad subjective  terms,  and  was  never the  subject  of 

       High Court, or even Circuit Court interpretation. As a result it was open to being interpreted 

       in many different ways.12         Finally, as between the different sub-categories, there was no 



       reason to draw nice distinctions when the consequences were the same. Thus it would 

       seem precious to attempt a legalistic exegesis of the legislation. 



       And    so  throughout      this  report,   including    the   later  statistical   section,    a  single   united 

       category of ‘needy’ is used which embraces all the sub-heads of section 58, outlined here, 

       including where the child was out of control. 



Section 3: Offenders 



Part 1: Reformatory or Industrial School? 



The second largest category of those committed were children or young persons who had been 

involved  in  an  offence.  The  first  issue  here  is  on  what  basis  was  it  decided  to  send  a  young 

offender to an Industrial School or a Reformatory. The main answer is age. The practice in this 

area can best be explained by considering the cases in three categories, according to age. 



         (1)    A child under the age of 12 could not be sent to a Reformatory School, only to an 

                Industrial School, and indeed the records show few children below the age of 12 being 

                committed for offences, even to an Industrial School. 



         (2)    A child of 12 or 13 (or after 1941, 14) could be sent to an Industrial School provided 

               that the child was a first offender, there were ‘special circumstances’ as to why the 

                child should not be sent to a Reformatory, and the child would not ‘exercise an evil 



11 These formal shifts in classification were faithfully observed in the Education annual reports. The statutory categories 



   for committal to Industrial Schools were naturally followed by the court and its records and, likewise until 1959-60, the 

   Department annual reports gave the figures for those committed under every head of the statutory catalogue. There 

   were in fact eight categories drawn from s 58(2), (4); plus three categories of ‘charged with an offence punishable in 

   the case of an adult with penal servitude’ (division into three was made according to whether the child was under 12 

   and 14 or over 14 and under 15); plus non-school attendance. Thereafter there were some minor reductions in the 

   Education reports but the big change came in 1959-60, when there were only four categories: destitute; 

   uncontrollable; offender; non-school attendance: Barnes, Irish Industrial Schools, 1868-1908 (Irish Academic Press, 

   1989). 

12 Barnes, Irish Industrial Schools, 1868-1908 (Irish Academic Press, 1989), p 62 states: 



      This industrial school legislation proved difficult to implement and in the early years of its operation many errors 

      were made in the committal of children, resulting either in dismissals from schools or in the necessity of repeating 

      the committal process. In some cases the error was slight as when, for example, a magistrate failed to complete 

      the necessary order form correctly. Invalid order forms were a nuisance for the administration, and the Inspector of 

      Schools, Lentaigne was driven to complain bitterly’ ... these invalid orders are so frequent that I believe a circular 

      to magistrates is necessary – magistrates especially in the West of Ireland are so ignorant of the statute that 

      frequent blunders are committed’. In 1873 a circular to magistrates at petty sessions was drawn up giving a clear 

      summary of the grounds upon which committal could be made and indicating how the order form should be filled 

      in. Each subsequent year copies of this circular were sent to magistrates throughout the country. Despite these 

      efforts illegal committals due to simple errors remained a feature of the industrial schools throughout the 

      Nineteenth Century.’ We have discovered no similar errors in post-Independence committals. This may be 

      because District Justices, in contrast to Magistrates were legally qualified. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                         15 


----------------------- Page 2526-----------------------

                influence over the other children’. In fact despite these conditions, children under 15 

                years were usually sent to Industrial Schools.13 



         (3)    It was not open to the court, under the Act, to send the offender aged (after 1941) 15 

                or above to an Industrial School. Thus if a custodial sanction were to be selected, for 

                offenders between the age of 15-17, the only option (apart from very serious crimes) 

                was a Reformatory (1908 Act, s 57(1), as amended by 1941 Act). 



Thus the Reformatory School was reserved for the tougher type of boy, who became eligible for 

committal between the ages of 12 and 17 (or 16, before the Children Act 1941, s 9). After the 

1941 Act took effect, the legal period of detention was between two and four years. Before 1941, 

the equivalent was three to five years. However, the period of actual detention was usually no 

more than one or two years, provided that the offender’s behaviour and home circumstances were 

satisfactory. By contrast, children committed to Industrial School were invariably sent until they 

were 16. 



As indicated in Table A below, the practice was that offenders were committed to a Reformatory 

only following a straightforward conviction.14             By contrast, those sent to an Industrial School were 



committed when they had been charged ‘with an offence punishable in the case of an adult by 

penal servitude or a less punishment and the court is satisfied that the child should be sent to a 

certified school’ with no conviction being recorded (1908 Act, ss 57 and 58(3)). 



The position here is complicated by the fact that several ways of treating the offender were open 

to  the  District  Court.  In  practice  prosecutions  against  children  or  young  persons  heard  by  any 

court other than the District court were negligible, especially in the context of committal to a school. 

Committal to a Reformatory or Industrial School were just two among several possible sanctions 

and the range of sanctions was available irrespective of the particular offence committed15  since, 



in the case of young offenders, the law is more concerned with the offender than the offence. 



13 Kennedy, Table 25 shows out of a 1969 population of 105 boys at (Daingean) Reformatory, 6 at 13+ years and 11 at 



   14+ with the remainder aged 15+. (For girls the equivalent figures were: a total of 38 with three and five girls aged 

   13+ or 14+, with the remainder aged 15+.) The 1908 Act, s.58(3) as amended by the 1941 Act, s 10(2) states: 

      Where a child, apparently of the age of twelve or thirteen [or fourteen] years, who has not previously been 

      convicted, is charged before a petty sessional court with an offence punishable in the case of an adult by penal 

      servitude or a less punishment, and the court is satisfied that the child should be sent to a certified school but, 

      having regard to the special circumstances of the case, should not be sent to a certified reformatory school, and is 

      also satisfied that the character and antecedents of the child are such that he will not exercise an evil influence 

      over the other children in a certified Industrial School, the court may order the child to be sent to a certified 

      Industrial School, having previously ascertained that the mangers are willing to receive the child: Provided that the 

      [Minister for Education] may, on the application of the managers of the Industrial School, by order, transfer the 

      child to a certified reformatory school. 

Before the 1941 Act the unamended 1908 Act referred to children of the age of ‘twelve or thirteen’ only. 

14 IPA, 2005, Table 5.3 The most numerous offences for which juveniles were sent to Reformatories were larceny; 



   subsequently house-breaking overtook larceny in the share of the committals. 

15 What follows is a paraphrase of s 107 of the 1908 Act where the available sanctions are summarised. Section 107 



   states: 

      Where a child or young person charged with any offence is tried by any court, and the court is satisfied of his guilt, 

      the court shall take into consideration the manner in which, under the provisions of this or any other Act enabling 

      the court to deal with the case, the case should be dealt with, namely, whether – 

      by dismissing the charge; or 

      by discharging the offender on his entering into a recongisance; or 

      by so discharging the offender and placing him under the supervision of a probation officer; or 

      by committing the offender to the care of a relative or other fit person; or 

      by sending the offender to an industrial school; or 

      by sending the offender to a reformatory school; or 

      by ordering the offender to be whipped; or 

      by ordering the offender to pay a fine, damages, or costs; or 

      by ordering the parent or guardian of the offender to pay a fine, damages, or costs; or 

      by ordering the parent or guardian of the offender to give security for his good behaviour. 



16                                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2527-----------------------

Part 2: Alternative sanctions 



The figures 



The  issue  that  is  under  examination  here  concerns  one  criticism  which  has  been  made  of  the 

schools  system,  namely  that  greater  use  ought  to  have  been  made,  of  the  alternatives  to  the 

schools. To test this claim, the figures that show the use which actually was made of the various 

sanctions are presented below, in order to show the committal orders in their numerical context. 

Unfortunately only figures for a relatively brief period are available. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                       17 


----------------------- Page 2528-----------------------

 1 

 8 



                                                                                  Table A: Juvenile offenders 



         Year     Persons proceeded against        Charge proved, and order made but without conviction                                 Convicted                              Not       Misc 

                                                                                                                                                                               con- 

                                                                                                                                                                             victed 



                 Total      Male       Female    1) Dis-    2)                 3) Pro-    4) Committal to      1) Imprison-   2) Place   4) Fine   5) 

                                                 missal     Recognisances      bation     Industrial Schools   ment           of                   Reformatory 

                                                                                                                              detention            Schools 



                                                                                          No    % of                                               No.            % of 

                                                                                                ‘Charges                                                          persons 

                                                                                                proved                                                            convicted 

                                                                                                without 

                                                                                                Conviction’ 



           1948      2,630     2,379        251     1,428                 239        230    94            4.7            102        66        154            141         30       174          2 



           1950      2,453     2,293        160     1,490                 167        116    68            3.6            108        59        141            114       26.8       187          3 



           1951      2,702     2,493        209     1,676                 136        114    93            4.4             89        66        223             93       19.7       211          1 



           1952      2,341     2,157        184     1,426                 102         60    93            5.5             93        63        251             88       17.6       161          4 



           1953      2,474     2,281        193     1,417                 140         70    88            5.1             96       104        293            105       17.4       158          3 



           1954      2,057     1,918        139     1,216                 101         65    71            4.8             80        79        246             80       15.8        98         21 



           1955      2,138     1,973        165     1,249                 101         51    66            4.4             66        74        302             78       14.4       132         19 



           1956      2,467     2,294        173     1,283                  85         51    75              5            100       174        405            124       14.9       142         28 



           1957      2,356     2,188        168     1,323                  85         34    53            3.5             73        92        394             93       13.4       165         44 



          Total    21,618     19,976       1642    12,508                1156        791   701             41            807       777       2409            916        170      1428        125 



       Average       2,402  2,219.50     182.44     1389.7             128.44       87.8  77.8            4.5           89.6      86.3      267.6          101.7       18.8     158.6       12.5 

 C 

 I 

 C 

 A 

 R 

 e 

p 

 o 

 r 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2529-----------------------

Note: The key  information here is in  column 4 of ‘charge  proved ...’. This gives  the figures for 

those committed and the percentages that this constitutes of the total numbers for those against 

whom  the  ‘charge  was  proved  and  the  order  made  but  without  conviction’.  The  equivalent  for 

Reformatories is column 5 of ‘Convicted’. 



Table A was compiled from the Gardai annual reports. Minor categories have been omitted, for 

                                               ´ 

instance figures for those who were committed to custody of a relative; convicted and entered into 

recognisances, or whipped. 



The table shows that for the years it covers, there were more than 21,000 charges against juvenile 

offenders. The main feature of the table is the division between those convicted and those against 

whom the ‘charge [was] proved and the Order made without conviction’, with a small category of 

‘not convicted’. The division in principle between the first two categories was that in the second 

no   conviction   was   recorded.    In  practice,  the   division  between     the  two   categories    was   very 

subjective and imprecise. However a reasonable generalisation would be to say that it was thought 

appropriate    to  send    the  more    serious   offenders,    perhaps    those   who    had   committed     more 

numerous or more serious offences, to Reformatories and, to achieve this result, the law required 

the offenders to be ‘convicted’ though here one should bear in mind the difference between the 

two types of school being only one of degree. For present purposes, the importance of the table 

is the indication it gives as to what fraction of those who come before the court were sent to one 

or other of the Schools. 



As can be seen, in the first category of ‘Charge proved but no conviction’, the largest group was 

simply ‘dismissed’. In the next most numerous class, the offender or more usually their parents 

entered    into  recognisances.     Thirdly,   the  child  or  young    person   might    be  put  on   probation. 

Committal to an Industrial School came only in fourth place, being imposed on an average of 4.5 

percent of those in this category. 



Among the other category – those convicted – the most numerous group was fined, with those 

committed to Reformatories in the second most numerous group, constituting an average of 18.8 

percent of those convicted 



In reading these figures one should note that the age groups involved for the two types of schools 

are different. Broadly speaking, Industrial Schools were for the 7-15 age group and Reformatories 

usually for the 15-17 age group. However, whichever of the groups is considered, only a small 

fraction was sent to a Reformatory or Industrial School. The conclusion to be drawn is that, in 

general,  District  Justices  did  exercise  some  judgment  and  discrimination  before  they  sent  an 

offender to a school: they sent them only in relatively few cases. 



In line with this conclusion, Tuairim 15 remarked: 



       Though proportionately more boys were detained or remanded in Ireland than in England, 

      fewer  (1:25)  were  committed  to  residential  schools  for  indictable  offences.  This  could 

       mean that either boys committed fewer offences in Ireland, or that Irish magistrates are 

       much more reluctant than English magistrates to commit boys to residential schools. The 

       general  impression  we have  gained  from  conversations  with  people directly  concerned 

      with juvenile offenders in Ireland is that the latter is the case. 



Alternatives to the schools 



The significant point for present purposes, however, is that a substantial minority were committed 

to the schools and the question remains whether, given the circumstances of a particular case, it 

would have been practicable to make greater use of the alternative sanctions. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                19 


----------------------- Page 2530-----------------------

It  is  worth  giving  the  full  list  of  the  alternatives  with  brief  comments  (in  italics),  directed  to  the 

question     of  whether     the  District   Justices    could   realistically   have    made     greater   use    of  the 

alternatives so as to commit fewer children or young persons? 



         (a)    Dismissing the charge: this option was commonly adopted for first, second or third 

                offenders. However as the offences committed by a particular offender built up, this 

                was usually regarded as not practicable. 

         (b)    Whipping  in  the  case  of  a  male  (not  a  female)16:  this  punishment  was  probably 



               never, ordered. 



         (c)   Committing the offender to custody ‘in a place of detention provided under this part 

               of   this  Act’17   or  an    approved     Industrial    School     (the   ‘place   of  detention’     was 



               Marlborough       House).     This   course    was  not    satisfactory.    Marlborough      House     was 

               purely a home of detention and was not equipped for training or educating boys. The 

               recreational facilities were so limited as to be practically non-existent. More important, 

               no proper segregation existed, to separate boys of tender years from youths, some 

               of whom had serious criminal records. 



         (d)    Dismissing the offender on his entering into a recognisance; ordering the offender’s 

                parent or guardian to give security for his good behaviour; or ordering the offender or 

                his  parent  or  guardian  to  pay  a  fine,  damages  or  costs:  each  of  these  financial 

               penalties  usually  did  not  offer  viable  alternatives  simply  because  the  children  who 

                went to certified schools came from an impoverished family. 



         (e)    The  District  Court  also  had  a  frequently  used  discretion  (under  the  Probation  of 

               Offenders Act 1907, s 1) simply to adjourn the case on the basis that if the accused 

               committed no further offence, nothing further would be said. As with option A, when 

                the offences of a particular offender built up, this ceased to be practicable. 



          (f)  Discharging the offender and placing him under the supervision of a probation officer; 

               or committing the offender to the care of a relative or other fit person (1908 Act, ss 

               58(7), 21(2)). 



What emerges from this brief analysis is that the only viable alternatives, which might have been 

used  to  reduce  the  numbers  of  juvenile  offenders  sent  to  the  Schools  were  the  two  options 

mentioned at point F. Accordingly, we turn now to consider these two possibilities in more detail. 



(1) Probation 



The Probation of Offenders Act 1907, sections 1 and 2 (see also 1908 Act, s 60) was directed at 

a situation in which, although ‘the Court thinks a charge is proved, it is of the opinion that, having 

regard  to  [a  number  of  specified  factors,  among  them  “age”],  it  is  expedient  not  to  inflict  any 

punishment’. No conviction was to be recorded and, the court could either dismiss the charge or 

discharge the offender ‘conditionally’. The first of the two possible ‘conditions’ would be to dismiss 

the  charge  on  condition  that  the  child  promised  to  behave  himself  and  agreed  to  come  up  for 

conviction and sentence if called upon to do so. Alternatively, the District Justice could put the 



16 Summary Jurisdiction over Children (lreland) Act 1884, Children Act 1908, ss 128(1), 133(7) (under 14s); Larceny Act 



   1916, Offences Against the Person Act, 188? (under 16s). 

      There are involved arguments (founded on possible inadvertence by the legislature) to the effect that it remained 

  lawful for a court to order the whipping of male children, though not probably young persons. But the fact remains that 

  whipping was not ordered, at any rate after independence, and there were no arrangements for carrying it out. 

17 1908 Act, s 106 states: 



      Where a child or young person is convicted of an offence punishable, in the case of an adult, with penal servitude 

      or imprisonment, or would, if he were an adult, be liable to be imprisoned in default of payment of any fine, 

      damages, or costs, and the court considers that none of the other methods in which the case may legally be dealt 

      with is suitable, the court may, in lieu of sentencing him to imprisonment or committing him to prison, order that he 

      be committed to custody in a place of detention provided under this Part of this Act and named in the order for 

      such term as may be specified in the order, not exceeding the term for which he might, but this Part of this Act, be 

      sentenced to imprisonment or committed to prison, not in any case exceeding one month. 



20                                                                                                CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2531-----------------------

offender under the care of a probation officer for a specified period, usually not less than a year. 

Where  a  District  Justice  had  no  probation  officer  attached  to  his  court,  he  obviously  could  not 

invoke this supervision. This is why, in many country districts, justices used the first alternative, 

in the form of a six-month adjournment, to see how the offender behaved. 



The major problem with a greater use of probation, as an alternative to committal to a school, was 

simply  that  there  were  so  few  probation  officers.  Between  1936  and  1945,  the  number  was 

gradually increased to eight – but during the 1960s until 1969, there were only six, compared with, 

for  instance,  50  in  Glasgow.  Furthermore,  the  time  of  these  officers  had  to  be  divided  among 

children  and  adults.  Each  handled  a  case-load  of,  at  any  particular  time,  of  40  plus  juveniles, 

which included visits to homes, plus preparing reports in advance of sentence. Another significant 

limitation  is  that,  up  to  1969,  all  the  professional  officers  were  in  the  Dublin  County  Borough, 

although  in  Limerick  City,  District  Justice  Gleeson  had  secured  the  appointment  as  probation 

officers of some staff from the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Legion of Mary, for boys and 

girls respectively.18    In 1969, there was a significant increase in the number of probation officers 



and, for the first time, probation officers were assigned to provincial centres. By 1974, there was 

a total nationally of 80 probation officers. 



The result of this lack of probation officers was that, for instance in 1957, of 1,444 children given 

‘the benefit of the Probation Act’, only 34 could be put under supervision by a probation officer. 

By contrast, in England and (to a lesser extent) Northern Ireland, probation even by the inter-war 

period, was extensively used and proved successful in preventing re-offending.19 



Given  the  lack  of  resources  in  Ireland  at  the  time,  money  spent  on  the  salaries  of  additional 

probation officers would have been well spent in terms of reducing the number of young offenders 

who had to be committed to a School. 



(2) Fit person order 



Where a court was empowered to send a child to an Industrial School, it could if satisfied that it 

was expedient so to deal with him, instead of sending him to a school, make a ‘fit person order’: 

section 58(7) of the 1908 Act. The effect of this would be to commit the child ‘to the care of a 

relative  or  other  fit  person  named  by  the  court’  who  would  exercise  the  same  powers  and 

responsibility towards the child as a school would have done. However, up to the 1970s, this was 

effectively never used. The Kennedy Committee wrote:20 



       From our enquiries this Committee is aware that no “fit person” orders have been made 

       by the Children’s Court for many years and the Committee think the failure to make use 

       of the ‘fit person’ procedure was probably due to the unwillingness of friends or relatives 

       to undertake responsibility especially where there is no financial assistance. 



The last phrase seems to suggest that if official funding had been available, persons willing and 

able to act as fit persons might have been found. However, as is clear from other examples, there 

was little thought going on in the field of childcare; so that no such experiments were tried. 21 



18 In addition there was an Honorary Probation Officer, a Major in the Salvation Army, who had responsibility for 10 



   Protestant probationers, throughout the State: see The Irish Times, 2nd February 1950 ‘Child Delinquency – I’ Report 

   on the Probation and Welfare Service for 1980. 

19 The Protection and Welfare of the Young and the Treatment of Young Offenders (Cmd 187) (Belfast, HMSO, 1938), 



   paras 95-104; Report on Social Services Committee (Cmd 1601) (HMSO,) para 53. 

20 At para 10.10. 

21 In the mid-1970s, health boards began to take children into care following orders made under this power, though 



   these were of doubtful legality. By this time, there were very few cases of destitution but there remained a relatively 

   large number of cases of lack of guardianship. These were dealt with not by committal but by making a fit person 

   order in which the fit person was a relation, or neighbour following a change brought in by the Health Act 1970?? But 

   it was not until emergency legislation – The Children Act 1989 – that these orders were (retrospectively) legally 

   sanctioned by designating the health board as ‘a fit person’ for the purposes of such applications. The 1989 Act was 

   enacted because it was held in The State (D and D) v G 1990 IRLM 136 that health boards were not ‘a fit person’ 

   within the meaning of the 1908 Act. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                        21 


----------------------- Page 2532-----------------------

The Gardai 

                 ´ 



In the ‘needy’ or school attendance categories, the agencies by which the children were brought 

before the court were specialists, in the sense that their primary concern was the problem that 

had brought the children before the court. By contrast, where committal was on foot of an offence, 

the equivalent agency was the Gardai. The Gardai were generalists who also had to deal with a 

                                                  ´                ´ 

large number of other problems that were regarded as more important. 



This  would  mean  that  the  focus  on  what  today  would  be  called  ‘juvenile  justice’  would  vary, 

depending on what other calls there were on Garda attention. Coupled with this, there was a good 

deal of discretion, with no consistent thought or policy22  as to when a juvenile should be prosecuted 



and when he should be let off with a caution or a cuff. In practice, most of this discretion resided 

in the investigating or arresting officer, usually at the relatively low level of garda or sergeant who 

would know most about the child’s background. As to prosecution in Dublin, this was mainly done 

by the arresting officer, usually at garda or sergeant level; in the provinces it was done usually by 

a superintendent. Thus in Dublin whether a child was brought to court depended a good deal on 

the ‘feel’ and possibly ambition of the particular garda who happened to make the arrest or deal 

with the offence. This may have been one of the reasons why the rate of prosecutions per head 

of population was so much higher in Dublin than the provinces. Outside Dublin, committal to a 

school for an offence was by no means common and retired officers could recall, 40 years later, 

individually, starkly and often regretfully, the few cases, leading to committals, for which they had 

had responsibility. 



Some improvement was effected by the introduction of the Juvenile Liaison Scheme23                                   in 1963. 



The  juvenile  liaison  officer  –  or  ‘the  caution  man’ as  many  young  offenders  called  him  –  was 

introduced to Dublin in the Autumn of 1963 and subsequently in Cork, Limerick and Waterford. In 

essence,      ‘the  caution     man’    was    a  young     garda    who     steered    the   first  offender    away     from 

prosecution and court appearance and then kept an eye on his behaviour. Put simply, the JLO 

was  a  sieve,  as  a  result  of  which  many  young  offenders  did  not  come  before  the  court  at  all. 

Instead,  they  and  their  parents  were  brought  before  a  superintendent  and,  in  effect,  ‘told  off’. 

Several thousand youths were cautioned under this scheme.24 



Section 4: Non-attendance at school 



22 For instance, in the case of Seamus Dalton (hearing 23rd June 2005) in March 1962, aged 10, he was committed to 



   Letterfrack for six years, for stealing a purse. The Brothers regarded this as an ‘extraordinary’ length of time. The 

   cause seems to have been that the Gardai considered that, (possibly because his mother had received a suspended 

   sentence for the same offence), he should be sent away for a long time. And, in 1966, when an application was 

   made to the Minister for his release, the Gardai still recommended against it; whilst Letterfrack advised (in September 

   1966) that he should be released. He was not released until July 1967, an unusually long time after the school’s 

   recommendation. 

23 In 1964, some 2,800 children in the age group between 7 and 17 (including 195 girls) were found guilty of indictable 



   offences. This was the lowest total in six year and undoubtedly reflected the siphoning off of young offenders by the 

   junior liaison officers. 

      Since they began operating, in 1963 up to 1969, a total of 5,000 juveniles were cautioned and supervised by the 

  Gardai. The comparison between a probation officer and the JLO was that the JLO made an impact at a significantly 

  earlier stage in the ‘delinquent machine.’: see P Shanley, ‘The Formal Cautioning of Juvenile Offenders’ (1970) V Irish 

  Jurist, 267. 

      There were preconditions for entry to the scheme: the offence had to be minor; the parents had to allow the JLO 

  to make visits to their house; the juvenile had to submit to a talking-to from the superintendent for the district. The 

  JLO himself was a comparatively junior officer (with no authority to restrain a fellow garda who had arrested a young 

  offender from bringing him before the court. 

24 Annual figures for the JLO for 1968-2003 are given in O’Donnell, O’Sullivan and Healy (eds), Crime and Punishment 



   in Ireland 1922 to 2003: A statistical Sourcebook (IPA, 2005), Table 5.3 and 4. 



22                                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2533-----------------------

For the period under review, and in fact up until the Education Welfare Act 2000, the governing 

statute was the School Attendance Act 1926.25  This Act26                   made it an offence for a parent to fail to 

send  to  school  any  child,  below  the  age  of  14  (from  1972,  1527).  Moreover  –  and  here  is  the 



significant point – if the parent was convicted of a second offence within three months of conviction 

for the first, the court could ‘if it thinks fit’ either send the child to an Industrial School or make a 

fit  person  order’.28    (For  reasons  explained  earlier,  the  ‘fit  person  order’  was  not  regarded  as  a 



practicable alternative.) The thinking seems to have been that this would be a way of ensuring 

education for such children. 



There were two different systems for enforcement. In the four big towns (Dublin (five areas, each 

with a Committee), Cork and Waterford county boroughs and Dun Laoghaire non-county borough) 

the enforcing authority was the school attendance committee. The committees had a membership 

of 10 or 12, some appointed by the Minister and the remainder by the local council; some of the 

members had to be chosen from among local school managers or teachers. More important, the 

committee       functioned     through     full-time    school    attendance       officers.   Secondly,      outside     these 

centres of population, there were no committees or full-time SAOs. Instead the SAO was a local 

garda (sometimes the same officer who was also JLO; see para 00), who took on this duty, as 

one among many other tasks. 



While the mode of operation was in principle the same, between the area in which there was a 

the full-time SAO and the area in which the work was carried out by a garda, in practice there 



25 See Fahey, ‘State, Family and Compulsory Schooling in Ireland’ Economic and Social Review, Vol 23, No 4, July 



   1992, p 369; D H Akenson, The Irish Education Experiment (London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970), pp 344-9. 

   The Education (Ireland) Act 1892 first made school attendance compulsory; though only in a number of urban 

   boroughs and about 40 rural districts. 

26 Section 17 of the 1926 Act states: 



      (1) Whenever a parent fails or neglects to cause his child to whom this Act applies to attend school in accordance 

  with this Act and, so far as is known to the enforcing authority of the school attendance area in which the child 

   resides, there is no reasonable excuse for such failure or neglect, such enforcing authority shall serve on such parent 

  a warning in the prescribed form – 

   requiring him within one week after such service either to cause his child named in the warning to attend school in 

  accordance with this Act or to give to the enforcing authority a reasonable excuse for not so doing, and 

   informing him that in the event of his failing to comply with the warning, proceedings will be instituted against him 

   under this Act in the District Court, and 

   informing him that if within three months after such proceedings he again fails to comply with the Act, further 

   proceedings may be instituted against him without previous warning. 

      (2) If a parent does not comply with a warning duly served on him under this section, he shall, unless he satisfies 

  the Court that he has used all reasonable efforts to cause the child to attend school in accordance with the Act, be 

  guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable in the case of a first offence to a fine not exceeding twenty 

  shillings and in the case of a second or subsequent offence (whether in relation to the same or another child) to a fine 

   not exceeding forty shillings. 

      (3) Whenever a parent within three months after being convicted of an offence under this section, fails without 

   reasonable excuse to cause his child in respect of whom he was so convicted to attend school in accordance with this 

  Act, such parent shall, unless the child has ceased to be a child to whom this Act applies, be guilty of an offence 

   under this section (which shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be a second offence under this section) 

  and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding forty shillings. 

      (4) If in any proceedings against a parent under this section the parent satisfies the court that he has used all 

   reasonable efforts to cause the child to whom the proceedings relate to attend school in accordance with this Act or 

  the parent is convicted of a second or subsequent offence under this section in respect of the same child, the court if 

  it thinks fit may: (a) order the child to be sent to a certified industrial school, in which case the provisions of Part IV of 

  the Children Act 1908 so far as applicable shall apply as if the order had been made under that Part of that Act, or (b) 

   in accordance with the provisions of Part II of the said Children Act 1908 order the committal of the child to the care 

  of a relative or other fit person named by the court, and in such case the provisions of that Part of that Act shall, so 

  far as applicable, apply as if the order were an order made there under. 

The court minute books in relation to committals to Industrial Schools always display the dates on which the parent has 

been convicted of the requisite two offences. 

27 The School Attendance Act 1926 (Extension of Application) Order 1972, SI 105 of 1972 raised the school leaving age 



   from 14 to 15. 

28 There was an alternative possibility: if in the first proceedings ‘the parent satisfies the court that he has used all 



   reasonable efforts to cause the child to attend school’, then by s 17(4), the child may be sent away, even though 

   there is no second conviction. In fact, our survey of the Dublin Metropolitan Court records show that this possibility 

   occurred very seldom. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                             23 


----------------------- Page 2534-----------------------

were significant differences, since the SAO naturally had more time to spend on the work. Much 

of the SAO’s work consisted of visiting schools on a regular basis, it might be twice a week or 

once a month, depending on the particular school. The SAO inspected the school register. Where 

there was absence from school, this led to home visits, possibly over a period of months. This 

might also have prompted visits to doctors or clinics to check the reason given for the absence. 



The school attendance officer was often the first State agent to get a glimpse of a family situation 

that later could involve the other support agencies. He (and it usually was a male) might find: a 

working mother who had to leave the children to get themselves off to school; a widow struggling 

on  welfare pittance  who was  driven to  putting a  13-year-old boy  out to  work; or  a  large family 

which was forced to keep the oldest girl at home to help with the babies – or any other of the 

multiplicity of problems disruptive of family life. 



It was the school attendance officer’s job to give a warning to the parents (often again and again). 

If this failed then the parents and the child might be brought before the committee (in the parts of 

the country where there was a committee) for further warnings. If there was still no improvement, 

the parents were summoned before the court and usually fined. And if and when this happened 

twice and still the child had not attended school regularly, the SAO office might make application 

for the child to be committed to an Industrial School. 



While information on how this enforcement process worked in practice is not plentiful, the available 

data suggests that it was widely applied from 1927 onwards, that this application intensified in the 

1940s and continued at a fairly high level until well into the 1950s. It also suggests that the initial 

stages of the process – visits to parents and the issuing of formal warnings by school attendance 

officers  –  reached  very  large  numbers  of  children  and  parents.  The  numbers  experiencing  the 

intermediate stages – court summonses and fines, which were typically of 5 or 10 shillings – were 

much smaller, while the third and final stage – committal to an Industrial School – was applied to 

an even smaller fraction of those who appeared in court.29 



The  numerical  information  available  is  best  presented  in  two  parts.  First,  as  to  national  data 

relating to court prosecutions of parents, Graph 1 shows the trend in court prosecutions under the 

School    Attendance     Act,   from   1930-80.    The   annual    number     of national   prosecutions     ranged 

between 6,000 and 7,000 for most of the 1930s before shooting up in the early 1940s to peak 

just below 13,000 in 1944. Subsequently, the numbers fell back to the level of the 1930s before 

beginning a steep drop in early the 1950s. 



29 A lot of the information in the previous three paragraphs is taken from Fahey, State, Family and Compulsory 



   Schooling in Ireland at 379-81. 



24                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2535-----------------------

                                                Graph 1 



Source: Statistical Abstracts, 1930-80 (Fahey) 



Table 1 gives the figures for actual committals, again nationwide. The table shows that, compared 

to the numbers of convictions of parents in Graph 1, recourse to committal was relatively rare but 

was still significant and followed the same trend as overall prosecutions. In 1928-29 (not shown 

in the Table), 68 children were committed to Industrial Schools for non-attendance at school. Such 

committals tended to be fewer during the 1930s but they surged again by 1938 exceeding 100 

and reaching 139 in 1939 and 129 in 1944 before falling back again in the late 1940s and 1950s. 



                        Year                                                  SA 



  1937                                                82 



  1938                                                 105 



  1939                                                 139 



  1940                                                 110 



  1941                                                 122 



  1942                                                 111 



  1943                                                 126 



  1944                                                 129 



  1945                                                91 



  1946                                                91 



  1947                                                53 



  1948                                                84 



  1949                                                60 



  1950                                                59 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                      25 


----------------------- Page 2536-----------------------

                        Year                                                SA 



  1951                                               61 



  1952                                               55 



  1953                                               47 



  1954                                               34 



  1955                                               37 



  1956                                               61 



  1957                                               37 



  1958                                               56 



  1959                                               62 



  1960                                               69 



  1961                                               62 



  1962                                               44 



  1963                                               45 



  1964                                               37 



  1965                                               34 



  1966                                               39 



  1967                                               29 



  1968                                               2 



  1969                                               15 



  1970                                               23 



  1971                                               17 



  1972                                               21 



  1973                                               32 



  1974                                               31 



  1975                                               21 



  1976                                               18 



  1977                                               32 



  1978                                               24 



 TOTAL                                               2407 



 AVE                                                 57 



Source: Annual Department of Education reports 



More comprehensive data on this system are available for the Dublin County Borough than for 

the country as a whole since annual reports of the Dublin city school attendance committees are 

readily available at Pearse Street Library as part of the Dublin County Borough’s archives. This 

information, which is presented in Table 2, shows that in some years the number of home visits 

by SAOs actually exceeded the number of 6-14-year-olds on the rolls; so, no doubt many of the 

visits were repeat calls to the same families. 



26                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2537-----------------------

                 Table 2: School Attendance Enforcement in Dublin CB, 1927-80 



      Year            No of           No of        No of visits        No of        No of court         No of 

                     school        children on      To parents         formal       convictions        children 

                   attendance          rolls                         warnings        of parents      committed 

                     officers                                          issued 



   1927           18              52,967           49,429          1,592            na               na 



   1930           18              53,626           50,083          940              na               na 



   1935           24              81,120           68,699          669              na              na 



   1940           26              63,169           73,835          879              na               67 



   1945           26              66,295           74,298          2,524            1,095            74 



   1950           27              68,135           63,322          3,059            1,218            46 



   1956           27              73,277           64,343          4,086            na               75 



   1960           29              74,956           55,324          3,165            956              47 



   1965           29              80,637           49,720          1,691            na               25 



   1971           28              na               38,417          1,754            na               23 



   1975           28              95,212           32,890          1,029            na               21 



   1980           29              na               31,221          1,102            na              na 



Sources: Fahy (notes omitted). We have added the committal figures in the final column. 



It seems reasonable to infer from the tables, for both the nation as a whole and Dublin, that the 

children committed under the 1926 Act were not arbitrarily chosen. Rather there was a process 

with some flexibility, from visits to parents to formal warnings, through prosecution and conviction 

of parents twice, before one reached committal. 30  When it came to actual committal by the court, 



the number of adjournments was higher than for any of the other grounds of committal. 



Yet, while not arbitrary, the system was severe and far-reaching: a striking point of contrast here 

is that the Tuarim Report shows that those admitted to approved schools (equivalent of Industrial 

Schools or Reformatories) in England in 1964 for ‘truancy’ numbered 45, compared with 66 in the 

same year in Ireland; although England had 16 times the relevant age cohort. 



A largely Dublin phenomenon? 



The overwhelming number of those committed for non-attendance at school came from the Dublin 

County Borough, out of all proportion to its population. (For the period 1949-68, the total figure 

was 901 (from Kennedy) of which the CICA survey showed that 781 came from the Dublin CB.) 

In other words, the Dublin CB, with approximately 24 percent of the national age cohort, yielded 

86  percent  of  the  committals  under  this  head.  Indeed,  in  1941-42,  14  counties  committed  no 

children for non-attendance and T Derrig, Minister for Education, stated that non-attendance was 

almost entirely a Dublin problem.31 



All this is so despite two striking points. The first is that Dublin County Borough non-attendance 

rates in primary schools appear from the recorded figures to have been steadily slightly below the 

national average. Take the period 1940-68, since it is the period for which there are sets of figures 

for both Dublin CB and the nation as a whole (though not for all years). For this period the average 

daily  attendance  rate  in  primary  schools  for  6-14  (the  years  for  which  school  attendance  was 



30 The annual reports for Dublin School Attendance Committee record that in 1965-66, 40 children were committed with 



   10 appeals, 5 of which were allowed; 1966-67: 41, 7 appealed, all allowed; 1967-68: 25 appealed, 8 allowed,1. 1965- 

   66 was the first year for which there was any mention of appeals. It seems reasonable to infer that this was the first 

   year when any appeals were taken to the Circuit Court against committal by the District Court. 

31 DD, 17th February 1942, cols 2533-4. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                27 


----------------------- Page 2538-----------------------

compulsorily) was 87 percent; whereas the equivalent Dublin CB figure was 88 percent. In almost 

every individual year too, the Dublin CB figure is higher than for the provinces.32 



The second striking contrast is that throughout the country the internal Gardai records for 1942- 

                                                                                                        ´ 

62   (excluding     1952     and   1956     that  were    not   available)33     show    a   relatively   large   number      of 



prosecutions  and  convictions  of  parents,  under  the  School  Attendance  Act.  Up  to  the  1950s, 

prosecutions of parents were even more common in the provinces than in Dublin County Borough. 

Thus in the mid-1940s, for example, when Dublin schools accounted for about one-sixth of 6-14- 

year-olds on the rolls nationally, court summonses for school attendance offences in Dublin were 

less than one-tenth of the national total. It remains something of a puzzle why up to the 1950s 

the  Gardai     in  rural  areas  chose  to  prosecute  so  many  parents.  Subsequently,  however,  the 

              ´ 

balance became reversed. During the 1950s, the Gardai began to develop a resistance to school 

                                                                          ´ 

attendance work, leading to a sharp decline in court prosecutions of parents; whereas there was 

a rise in Dublin. By the 1970s, the great majority of prosecution of parents were brought by the 

school attendance committees in Dublin (and the other boroughs with such committees), rather 

than by Gardai in the rest of the country. 

                   ´ 



The  most  significant  question  then  is:  why  were  more  children  brought  before  the  court  for 

committal, in the Dublin County Borough. The following four reasons are worth considering: 



         (1)    The most obvious and probably the major factor is that in Dublin the school attendance 

                officers were full-time; whereas in the country the SAO was34                      typically one particular 



                garda,  in  each  station,  acting  on  a  part-time  basis,  who  may  have  assigned  the 

                function less importance than other more urgent duties. According to a post-Kennedy 

                Dublin County Borough SAO, some of his predecessors took ‘a callous attitude and 

                did not hesitate and search for alternatives, sufficiently, before reaching for the drastic 

                option of committal’. One retired District Justice said disapprovingly: ‘The SAO would 

                say – “He was a great man for statistics – They’ve had fifteen warnings.”’ At the same 

                time it is true that there were full-time SAOs in towns other than Dublin,. For instance 

                in  Cork  City,  in  1970,  six  SAOs  were  employed  but  in  a  response  to  the  Kennedy 

                Report, Cork County Borough noted that during the entire decade 1960-70 only three 

                children had been sent to Industrial Schools. 



         (2)    It may be that in a rural and (for the era under discussion) largely crime-free society, 

                convicting the parents made a stronger impact than would be the case in Dublin and 



32 Compiled from City of Dublin School Attendance Committee Annual Reports for 1940-41 to 1967-68, (though with 



   1943-44, 1945-46, 1948-49, 1952-53, 1961-62 missing) national figures from Department of Education. And from 

   Fahey op cit, which states: 

      National school attendance rates remained in the range 83-85 per cent from early 1930 through to the mid-1950s. 

      In the second half of the 1950s it began to edge towards 87-88 per cent and it was only in the mid 1960s that it 

      broke the 90 per cent barrier. 

33 Source: ‘Return of Prosecutions under the Education and School Attendance Acts – by Counties’, available in 



   National Archives. 

34 CICA received a letter from a retired Gardai superintendent who at the start of his career in the 1950s acted as a 



   SAO in County Dublin and County Clare. He states that over this five-year period, he did not once apply for a 

   committal order. He continues: 

      I would deal informally with the parents, usually the mother, of the offender, without resorting to summoning. 

      Where this was not effective I would have a parent and child summons issued directing both defendants to attend 

      at a special sitting of the District Court known as a Children’s Court to which members of the general public would 

      not be admitted. Resultant fines would be levied on the parent. In the case of truancy or mitching I always 

      searched out the child no matter if this involved crossing District or Divisional boundaries. When located I either 

      walked the child or conveyed him (usually a male) on my bicycle (my only transport was a bicycle), to his home or 

      back to school. If a District car were available I would request its use. It was not unknown for School Attendance 

      Officers to visit the home of an absentee and alert whatever social service might be available, if conditions were 

      bad. My predecessor, Garda ...had a reputation for strictness but I found that he had arranged for weekly supply of 

      bare essentials like tea, sugar bread and milk where a lone or deserted parent was destitute or simply ineffectual. 

      He later became a Chief Superintendent and is deceased. He had enjoined me not to mention my discovery to 

      anyone during his lifetime. 



28                                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2539-----------------------

               more  often  had  the  desired  effect  of  causing  the  children  to  be  sent  to  school.  An 

               alternative explanation could be that, in rural areas, both Garda knowledge and social 

               pressure  reinforced  by  the  Church  in  favour  of  obeying  the  rules  would,  in  the  era 

               under discussion, be significant. Thus the Gardai would find it easier to encourage 

                                                                           ´ 

               attendance  without  involving  the  courts.  One  feature  of  inner  city  Dublin  emerged 

               when  a  retired  Dublin  SAO  was  asked  whether  there  was  any  pressure  from  the 

               schools (meaning Industrial Schools who were looking for residents). To the question, 

               as  it  was    intended    to  be   understood,     he   replied:   ‘none    whatever’.    However, 

               significantly, initially, he had misunderstood the question as referring to the national 

               school, which the youth was failing to attend. On that basis, his answer was to the 

               effect  that  such  a  youth  might  be  a  potential  delinquent,  disrupting  the  school  and 

               sometimes the school principal would encourage the SAO to get him sent away. 



         (3)   There was probably some element of the courts making a committal under the guise 

               of the School Attendance Act, although the real or main reason was that the child had 

               committed  an  offence  or  offences.  The  reason  for  this  subterfuge  was  in  order  to 

               protect his reputation. There were more young offenders in Dublin so this effect might 

               have inflated the Dublin figures. 



         (4)   Another difference in conditions concerns a pupil’s difficulty in travelling to school in 

               a rural area. Take, for instance, the response from a rural Garda station to a circular 

               minute from the Commissioner. The query related to non-school attendance figures 

               for the local national school. The response from the local Garda station put forward 

               fairly strongly mitigating factors such as: pupils residing more than three miles from 

               the school (so putting the pupils outside the scope of the Act); need to attend to farm 

               tasks, like harvesting;  the journey having to  be made over the fields  and marshes; 

               bad weather or wet paths, making clothes damp so that the children contracted colds 

               (in the pre-antibiotic or even in some cases pre-electricity era), at a time when a child 

               might have no protective clothing. The memo concludes:35 



                 Taking all the circumstances into account, I suggest that the average attendance 

                 in  the  Division  [figures  given  at  about  85  percent]  was  satisfactory  during  the 

                 period   and   that  the   enforcing    authorities   are   carrying   out  their  duties   in  a 

                 satisfactory manner. 



              Significantly, the assumption underlying the letter is that the purpose of the Act and 

              the enforcement mechanism was to maintain a satisfactory general school attendance 

              level, rather than being directed at particular individuals. 



Concluding comment 



In a way, non-attendance was the most extreme of the three major grounds for committal. Need 

was a ground with a complex of difficult causes and, thus, hard to resolve. As regards offences, 

it  could  be  argued  that  there  needed  to  be  some  sharp  sanction  to  pull  up  multiple  juvenile 

offenders. Non-attendance, however, was not such an extreme problem that it called out for an 

extreme sanction. 



The  enormity  of  committing  a  child  for  several  years,  simply  for  failure  to  attend  school,  was 

appreciated even at the time. For instance, the 1931-32 Department of Education Report noted 

an    increase    in   the   numbers      committed      on    this   ground     and    ‘again    urged    that   the 

procedure....should be adopted only after every effort has been made to arouse both in parents 

and in truants a sense of the importance of complying with the provision of the Act’. One finds at 

the stage of the exercise of the Minister’s power of early discharge, strong advice by Managers, 



35 Commissioners Minute 20.33/S/40R of 18/10/40. The response is Document 2627/40.R.For a brief protest at the 



   harshness of a committal in these circumstances, DD, vol 14, col 8321 (12th February 1926). 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                  29 


----------------------- Page 2540-----------------------

against the discharge of residents detained under the truancy ground, even in the conditions of 

almost total occupancy of school places in 1943. Though by the 1960s an increasing proportion 

of  children  committed  for  minor  offences  or  offences  under  the  School  Attendance  Act  were 

committed for short periods. This change probably reflects the greater leverage of the Department 

on the schools, because of falling numbers. 



It is striking too that if thought had been given to the problem, it would have been noticed that 

there was available a possible alternative, namely the ‘day industrial school’, as was suggested 

by the Cussen Committee. Yet, so far we can ascertain, it did not figure in any official or Order 

thinking. It was well-known concept that had been provided for, as a reform to earlier legislation, 

in the 1908 Act, and had been road-tested successfully in Scotland. 



Perhaps the most staggering aspect of all this is the discrepancy between the rates of committals 

from Dublin County Borough and elsewhere. Four factors have just been considered as reasons 

for  this  discrepancy.  It  seems  probable  that  the  most  influential  single  factor  was  the  different 

attitude of the Dublin school attendance officers, compared with the Gardai, in deciding whether 

                                                                                              ´ 

to seek a committal. This is an arbitrary basis on which to determine the institutionalisation of so 

many children. 



Section 5: A court 



The involvement of a court 



The question remains whether a court should have been the instrument through which children 

and young persons were directed to a Reformatory or Industrial School. 



The original reason for this procedure goes back to the historical fact that the magistrates courts 

rather than local authorities were initially chosen as the agency that decided whether to make a 

committal, in the original (pre-Independence) 1858 Act. At that time it was local authorities that 

provided     such   rudiments     of  the   welfare    state  as   there   were.    For   instance,    the  Poor    Law 

Commissioners, acting through local bodies, administered the workhouses. So it would not have 

been  off  the  map  of  official  thinking  if  the  function  of  committing  children  had  been  vested  in 

local authorities. 



However, there was a strong reason why it would have seemed essential that the children could 

be  sent  away  only  on  the  basis  of  a  court  order:  it  was  an  aspect  of  the  rule  of  law  (a  later 

generation would speak of ‘human rights’) that when such an important issue as individual liberty 

was hanging in the balance, each case should be decided by a court.36                     More especially was this 



so,  when,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  Industrial  Schools  were  originally  intended  for  offenders, 

whilst destitute children were to be dealt with under the ordinary Poor Law and, accordingly, many 

of the grounds of committal were cast as criminal offences. 



The involvement of the courts in this field has been widely criticised37  and calls for three comments. 



         (1)   In common with similar systems in other jurisdictions, committal may be regarded as 

               the product of two distinct policies: on the one hand, to discover and strengthen the 

               good  in  the  youth’s  character,  on  the  other,  to  control  an  offender  or  anti-social 

               element for the protection of the rest of society. 



36 This was the view expressed for instance at the time of the (original) Irish Industrial Act, 1868 (modelled on earlier 



   legislation for England). Presbyterian MPs from North Ireland pointed out that it was ‘a considerable infringement of 

   personal liberty’ to take up children merely for vagrancy and send them to prison for a long time – ‘although the 

   prison be called an industrial school’: Hansard Debates (3rd series) 191, 1867–68, 221-22. 

37 Eg Cussen Committee, para 49-52; commented unfavourably on the fact that children’s cases were heard within the 



   precincts of the ordinary courts. 



30                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2541-----------------------

               Whichever policy view was adopted, one result was common: namely that zeal for the 

               civil or human  rights of the person, the deprival  of whose liberty was at  issue, took 

               second place to the priority of improving or controlling the youth. 



               Thus most of the usual safeguards that are the hallmark of the adult criminal justice 

               system were denied to those whom a court was considering sending to an Industrial 

               School.  There  was  next  to  no  legal  representation  and  the  facts  relied  on  by  the 

               Garda/ISPCC Inspector/SAO were seldom controverted so that the issue of whether 

               they had to be proved beyond reasonable doubt scarcely arose. Although there was 

               an appeal, it was seldom used. 



         (2)    Realistically, one must accept that the  fine distinctions just mentioned between the 

                District  Court’s  criminal  and  protective  jurisdictions  was  understood  by  few  people, 

               whereas  the  entire  virtue  of  law  is  that  it  should  be  clear  and  accessible  to  the 

                layperson.     Many     former    school    residents    have    complained       about   being    dragged 

                through what they see as criminal proceedings (‘I have a criminal record and cannot 

                be  called  for  jury  duty’  said  one  former  resident)  and  condemned  to  detention  for 

                several  years,  despite  the  fact  they  had  not  been  convicted  of  any  offence.  The 

                features of the process that struck most people were that it was administered through 

                a  court,  most  of  whose  other  business  consisted  of  minor  crime;38               and  resulted  in 

                detention for several years in institutions.39 



Likewise, Dennis O’Sullivan40          reports: 



           The residents regarded themselves as having been convicted of an offence in a court. 

           As might be expected, not one pupil in the Interview Sample could list the official reason 

           for  his  committal.     They     repeatedly     defined    the   location    of  their   prosecution     and 

           committal as a ‘court of law’ – the fact that it was held in a special building or a special 



38 The more radical terms of reference of the abortive Commission of Inquiry of 1929 (Misc/56) included: 



      Committals: 

      The method of Committal and the question of substituting civil for criminal procedure; 

      The grounds of committal; 

      The number and character of committals; and 

      The use of probation as an alternative. 

39 Cussen, para 51 and Deputy T O’Connell and Hayes in debate in the Children (Amendment) Bill 1941: DD, vol 76, 



   col 543. 

      As one of many case-studies on this topic, consider Mary who was committed to an Industrial School on 13th April 

   1935 by order of the District Court pursuant to the Children Act 1908. The reason given was that she was destitute. 

  The District Court directed that she remain within the Industrial School system until she reached the age of 16. Since 

  her age at the time the order was made was 23 months, she spent 14 years of her life in Industrial Schools. In 

  relation to the manner in which she was placed within the Industrial School system her major complaint is that in so 

  doing the State criminalised her. She is of the view that she was charged, tried and convicted by a criminal court, 

  which sentenced her to 14 years in prison (she was aged 23 months at the time of her committal). The words she 

  uses in her various letters are that she was ‘charged,’ with being destitute, ‘found guilty’ and ‘sentenced to 14 years in 

  one of Ireland’s penal institutions’. She has consulted the court records and they have reinforced her in this view. The 

  Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has stated that she was not convicted of any offence and 

  furthermore that she could not have been in view of her age and the fact that she was involved in care proceedings. 

      At this point, one might comment that the selection by someone in the courts, system, of criminal (rather than say 

  civil forms) suggested that even officials were not clear about the difference between committal orders and criminal 

  proceedings. They did admit however that the court forms used at the time might have contributed to her view that 

  she was involved in to criminal rather than care proceedings. The Department also pointed out that s 35 of the 

  Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 removes any doubt that a person who was detained in an Industrial School 

  pursuant to the Children Act 1908, other than a person who was so detained as a consequence of a conviction for an 

  offence, shall not be subject to any disqualification or any other restriction that is a consequence of a conviction. Ms 

  Henderson is not persuaded by this provision and wants her criminal record expunged. She is also dissatisfied by the 

  fact that no evidence survives to support the courts’ view that she was destitute. She feels that she was ‘stigmatised 

  as a criminal as surely as if [she] had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in Mountjoy Prison,’ and points out 

  that as a result she has been deprived of employment opportunities in many spheres. 

   Finally she points out that the State made no effort to keep her family together in that it deliberately withheld 

  correspondence from her family while in school and also in so far as it did not tell her how many siblings she had. 

40 Dennis O’Sullivan, ‘An Irish Industrial School viewed as a socialising agent with particular reference to its social 



   organisation’ (UCG PhD, 1976) (study of Letterfrack, based on interviews with 40 of the residents). 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                          31 


----------------------- Page 2542-----------------------

           room, on a different day or at a different time from the regular court sessions had no 

           significance for them. One pupil summed up this interpretation quite vividly when he 

           suggested  to  the  researcher  that  when  the  “book”  was  finished,  it  should  be  called 

           ‘Jailbirds’. 



               Members of the Letterfrack School staff, also stated that they did not like this method 

               of committal. They said that even very young children remember appearing in court 

               and talked about it among themselves. The general view was that committal through 

               the courts was logical only if the schools were regarded as places of detention.41                            In 



               England,  the  Children  and  Young  Persons  Act  1933  had  established  a  significant 

               distinction. It confined the courts’ involvement with children or juveniles to those who 

               were accused of an offence. 



         (3)    Given  the wider  range  of circumstances,  which may  underlie  the child’s  behaviour, 

                ranging from their character to the environment of their upbringing – a more leisurely 

                and informal examination of these causes was necessary than could be afforded at a 

                court   hearing.    Thus     it was    one   of  the   central    recommendations          of  the   Cussen 

                Commission42       that  before  a  Justice  should  make  any  order,  the  child  should  be 



                examined by a doctor: 



                  And if the doctor is unable to form a definite opinion, the Justice should, if the 

                  case was one calling for detention in a School, order the child to be sent to an 

                  Institution specially certified for such cases which we recommend in our Report 

                  should  be  established,  where  the  opinion  of  the  Chief  Medical  Officer  whose 

                  appointment we also recommend, would be available. 



                                                                              43 

In fact, this seldom happened at any rate before the 1970s. 



Concluding comment 



In  summary,       this  discussion      shows     that   whatever     the   theoretical     objective,    in  practice    the 

involvement  of a  court  meant  that the  committed  child or  young  person  incurred the  inevitable 

disadvantages of identification with criminals, and having no thorough investigation of his or her 

circumstances. All this was without the usual advantage of due process. 



41 Interviewees also stated (Dennis O’Sullivan, PhD, 157): 



      The judge tried me and said I wasn’t able to read and didn’t know anything. So she sent me down here and 

      thought I’d be getting a better education and get more things learned. 

      I was sent down here by Justice Kennedy – She said I was giving my mother a lot of trouble and she wasn’t well 

      and in hospital with her nerves. She said it would do me good and would teach me a lesson. 

42 At para 53. Yet when this proposal was brought up in the Dail by the opposition deputy, James Dillon, it was rejected 



   at the report Stage of the 1941 Bill (DD, vol 81, col 2219 (19th February 1941)), by the Minister for Education on the 

   basis that such ‘psychological disease’ did not exist in Dublin: 

43 While their main task is supervision, probation officer are officers of the court and they could also be and, in the 



   Dublin Metropolitian District Court were asked, in advance of sentence, to supply authoritative information on an 

   offender’s background. However, there were until the 1970s (para 00) no probation officers outside the Dublin MDC 

   and even there, they were hard pressed with their other duties. Thus the probation officers did not meet the need. In 

   the 1970s, something like the recommendations of the Cussen Committee were adopted: in that where a School 

   Attendance Officer considered that he ought to go to Court to seek a committal order he had first to have the child 

   assessed (psychologically, medically and educationally) over a three week period at St Michael’s assessment unit in 

   Finglas. During the final week the assessments would be reviewed at a case conference by agencies – for instance 

   the ISPCC, health board, as well as SAO – who knew the child and his family. It would then be the case conference’s 

   decision – which might be not to seek committal but, for instance, to seek a fit person order or to move the child to 

   another external school or to shift the child to a special class, within the same school – which would be implemented. 



32                                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2543-----------------------

Section 6: The hearing 



Part 1 Children’s Court 

The 1908 Act, 44     established for the first time, in Britain and Ireland, ‘Juvenile Courts’ to hear any 



indictable offence other than homicide against children and young persons (anyone under 17). 



Post-independence, this jurisdiction was transferred to the District Court. In Ireland, the Courts of 

Justice  Act  1924,  went  a  step  further.  It  retitled  the  court  as  the  Children’s  Court  and  made 

provision for the setting up of courts in separate buildings, in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. 

However, only one such court has ever come into being. It was part of the Dublin Metropolitan 

District  Court  and  was  established  in  1923  and  situated  in  Dublin  Castle,  until  it  moved  to 

Smithfield. 



When the schools were in being, the Dublin Children Court sat every day (except Monday) and 

heard  applications  for  committals  to  the  schools  on  Wednesday  mornings.  In  general,  in  the 

provinces, the Children’s Court sat weekly or less frequently. All cases involving applications for 

committal  to  Industrial  Schools  or  Reformatories,  school  attendances  (including  convictions  of 

parents and crimes committed by children) were heard on the same day though usually a different 

day or at a different time from the proceedings for adults. Such cases were also held in a private 

room separate from the ordinary court. 



Then, as now, in order to reduce the formal trappings of the law and to try to create a less formal 

atmosphere, in the Children’s Court there was no dock and the Justice sat at a table instead of a 

dais and wore no robes. The police did not wear uniform. After their appointment (at first in Dublin), 

probation officers sat with the Justice and advised him on individual cases. 



Only  those  directly  involved  in  the  case  could  attend  the  hearing.  The  only  two  exceptions 

permitted by the 1908 Act were anyone given specific leave by the court to attend, and the news 

media. By a generally respected convention, media reports of the Dublin MDC did not identify the 

child or young person; though this is not true of the provincial courts.45 



Part 2: Procedure46 



The hearing 



The following impressions are based, in part, on several interviews with people who were District 

Court Justices or clerks during the 1960s as well as a study of the court records. 



A  hearing  might  last  5-15  minutes,  though  one  should  recall  that  for  each  application,  even  if 

ultimately unsuccessful, there would usually be more than one hearing. 



The  case  in  favour  of  committal  was  presented  by  the  applicant.  The  applicant  would  be  the 

ISPCC ‘cruelty man’ (or less often the Catholic Protection and Rescue Society) or SAO/garda. It 



44 Section 111, as amended by Children (Amendment) Act 1941, s 26. 



     The Dublin MDC was held at Dublin Castle from its establishment in the late 1930s to the early 1980’s when it 

  moved to the Four Courts (Morgan Place entrance) for approximately one year and then onto Smithfield in 1986. It 

  moved from its original building to the building next door in 1987, where it is at present. 

45 After a survey of the regional and national newspapers M Maguire states that outside Dublin both categories of 



   newspaper did publish names and/or addresses of children who came before courts: ‘Briefing paper: Newspaper 

   Research on former residents of Mercy Industrial Schools’; Sisters of Mercy Industrial Schools in context, 1. 

46 Application is generally made by summons specifying the ground on which the order is sought and naming the child 



   and parent or guardians as defendant. However a Justice may hear an application in a case where it is inexpedient 

   or impracticable to take out a summons: James V Woods, District Court Guide (1977) , vol 1, pp 186-90; Summary 

   Jurisdiction Rules 1909, r 16. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                      33 


----------------------- Page 2544-----------------------

depended on which ground was being relied on. The child was also present, but the big factor 

shaping the procedure was that the child was almost always unrepresented.47                            Even by the late 



1960s or early 1970s when larger social changes had reduced both the numbers committed and 

the period for which they were committed, there was not very much legal representation. What 

there   was    of  it  came    more     from   students     or  young     lawyers    accessed      through     the  newly- 

established (in 1969) Free Legal Advice Centre rather than under the criminal legal aid scheme.48 



A  parent  (or  guardian)  was  also  required  by  law  to  be  present  and  the  mother  frequently  was 

before  the  court.  The  parent  was  usually  uneducated  and,  in  an  age  of  deference,  they  were 

unlikely to be able to make the best of any case against committal. 



In  any  case, as  regards  the  facts,  there  was usually  no  reason  to  contest the  evidence  of  the 

                                 49.  Sometimes,  the  District  Justice  would  ask  sharp  questions  of  the 

ISPCC  Inspector  or  SAO 

applicant. But in most cases, the only evidence was that of the applicant giving sworn testimony 

who would explain the circumstances of the case including family background to the court. There 

would seldom be any other evidence: in the nature of things a neighbour, for example, who had 

provided the initial information about cruelty or abuse, would not want this disclosed and the judge 

would usually accept the testimony of the applicant. 



However, while the Justice would usually have no reason to doubt the basic facts adduced by the 

applicant, there would often be more to be said. This might be because the Justice considered 

that  the circumstances,  appreciation  of  which would  involve  a deal  of  subjectivity,  were not  as 

severe as  the applicant  believed, or  because the  Justice considered  that some  recourse other 

than the desperate remedy of committal, perhaps probation or, in the 1970s, intensive work on 

the   family   by   a  social   worker,    was    possible,    but   there   was    a  lack   of  relevant    background 

information available to the court.50  There were, it is true, probation officers and part of their duty 



47 The introduction of legal aid in criminal cases in 1964 (by the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962) was slow to 



   catch on perhaps because some people’s pride would be wounded if they had to disclose that their means were 

   sufficiently low to qualify for legal aid. Next to no children were represented under the Legal Aid Scheme, at least 

   until 1971. Its impact is shown by the following figures: 

                                                    Applications                Granted 

1967                                                14                          1 

1968                                                18                          4 

1969                                                6                           2 

1970                                                9                           1 

1971(up to 13th May)                                40                          13 



[Figures from M Robinson’s speech in debate in Kennedy Report: SD, vol 76, col 109 (15th November 1973); DD, vol 

254, cols 1968-69 (17th June 1971)] 



48 Section 98(1) of the 1908 Act provides that: 



      The parent or guardian may in any case and shall if he can be found and resides within a reasonable distance, 

      and the person so charged or brought before the court is a child, be required to attend at the court before which 

      the case is heard at all stages of the proceedings unless the court is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to 

      require his attendance. 

   It is the parent ‘having actual control’ of the child or young person who is required to attend: s 98 (4). When a child or 

  young person is arrested it was the duty of the garda in charge of the Garda station to which he was brought, to warn 

  the parents to attend the court when the child or young person appears: s 98(2) 



  49 The legislation stated ‘that no order for the detention of a child in an Industrial School shall be made unless the 



     [health board] for the region in which the child resides has been given an opportunity to be heard’: Children Act 

     1908, s 74, as amended by Children Act 1941, s 40. This was because the health authority had to contribute to the 

     capitation grant. However, the health authority was not usually represented. 

  50 J O’Connor BL, ‘A paper on Juvenile Delinquency’ read to Tuairim, 6th March 1959), p 25: 



      There is an almost complete lack of co-operation between Probation Officers, School Attendance Officers and 

      other such persons on the one hand, and youth organisations on the other. In four years from 1950 to 1954, over 

      1,000 boys regularly attended the Civics Institute Playground at Cabra, and they came into close contact with the 

      playleaders, who developed an intimate knowledge of their background. Some of these boys came before the 

      Children’s’ Court for a variety of reasons, yet at no time during that period was the co-operation of the playground 

      staff sought by the Probation or School Attendance Officers. 



34                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2545-----------------------

was to advise the court as to the home background of the child or young person before the court. 

However,  for  most  of  the  period  under  examination  there  was  a  grave  shortage  of  probation 

officers in Dublin and none in the provinces. 



A recurring theme from many former Justices was that to commit to an Industrial School was a 

last resort. According to a former District Justice: ‘One didn’t commit if the home was in any way 

right.’ Few District Justices would make a committal without trying hard to find an alternative. 



Frequently, a court would be used, probably knowingly, to put pressure on the parents to reach a 

satisfactory    solution,    without   a  committal     order.    Particularly   common       examples      of  the  latter 

situation occurred in the school attendance category: the child and mother would be presented 

with a stark choice: the child must go to national school or Industrial School. This often had the 

desired effect. But also in the case of an offence, if a trivial or first offence were involved, there 

would be a summons and a lot of adjournments. 



Selecting the school 



By section 62(1) of the 1908 Act the Manager’s permission was necessary before a child could 

be sent to his or her school. Thus a suitable school, or if necessary, schools would be phoned or 

written to (in advance of the hearing) to inquire whether, if the child were committed, they had 

room for, and would accept, the child?51            Practice seemed to vary as to whether it was the District 



Court clerk or Gardai/ISPCC man/SAO who actually made communication. 

                           ´ 



Equally,  we  know  very  little  about  the  extent  to  which  a  Justice  might  favour  one  school  over 

another. For instance would a Justice prefer a local school? What level of knowledge of the school 

had they? Were efforts made to keep children of the same family together? 



When a school had been found for the child (who in some cases would have had no prior warning 

that they were to be sent away) they were taken there in a police car or under police escort. In 

addition the NSPCC (as it then was) stated, in 1941, that a woman would accompany all girls and 

boys under seven years.52 



Although  the  court  sent  basic  particulars  of  the  child  to  the  school  –  name,  age,  reason  for 

committal  –  the  school  received  no  information  of  the  child’s  previous  medical,  educational  or 

social history. 



The Children (Amendment) Act 1957, section 5 provided for an appeal to the Circuit Court against 

a District Court committal order. The appeals were by way of re-trial (though the special provisions 

regarding the Children’s Court did not apply to the appeal53). It has not been possible to find court 



records     indicating   how    frequently     an   appeal    was    taken    or  succeeded.      However       anecdotal 

evidence suggest that there were few if any appeals in the needy category; but there were some 

appeals, especially in the 1960s, in the case of offences, some of them successful. For school 



51 For protest against refusal by Managers to accept children, see for example District Justice McCarthy (at p 51): 



      On frequent occasions the Managers of these Institutions – particularly in the case of the Girls Reformatory School 

      – have refused admittance to a child on the ground that they did not consider him or her a fit subject for treatment 

      in their Institutions. Within the past 12 months the Sisters in charge of the Reformatory School at Limerick have 

      refused to accept girls for no other reason than that they were likely, as they thought, to prove troublesome – and 

      this, although, they had little or no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the girls’ delinquencies, and had 

      not the advantage, shared by the Court and its advisers, of contact with the girls and their relations, sometimes 

      over a period of weeks... 



  On a Manager’s discretion to refuse admission to a child. 

52 When children were committed in the Dublin Children’s Court to schools outside Dublin it was sometimes necessary 



   to keep them overnight in a ‘safe place’, also called a ‘place of detention’. The Industrial School at High Park served 

   as a place of detention for girls, whilst boys were held at Summerhill, later Marlborough House. 

53 Kennedy, para 10.14. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                        35 


----------------------- Page 2546-----------------------

attendance committals, the annual reports for the Dublin County Borough area show that there 

were a few successful appeals in the late 1960s; but otherwise none. 



Given the lack of legal representation, it is not surprising that, despite the complexity of the area, 

there have been no post-independence judicial review High Court cases discovered seeking to 

have    a   committal     set   aside   on   technical     or  jurisdictional    grounds.     There     were,    however,     a 

significant number in the nineteenth century.54               (Possibly one reason for the difference is that the 



District Justices were lawyers and the magistrates were not.) 



Part 3: The Justices and the schools 



In  determining  whether  to  commit  a  child  much  depended  on  the  Justice’s  appreciation  of  the 

particular child and his or her circumstances. This was accepted on all sides, as can be seen for 

instance from the schools’ reaction to refusals to commit. Summarised here are some of the flash 

points between the schools and the District Justices. 



The  Justices  of  the  Dublin  Metropolitan  District  Court55             figured  largely  in  these  disputes.  The 



schools deplored the reluctance of many District Justices to make committals or alternatively, to 

do  so  only  after  an  offender  had  committed  so  many  crimes  that  a  school  would  have  no 

rehabilative effect on him.56        In the 1960s, they complained, too, that committals were for too short 

a period for any good to be done.57 



There were fundamentally different understandings of the objectives and potentials of the school. 

Some  District  Justices  seem  to  have  disapproved  of  the  schools,  regarding  them  as  places  of 



54 Lunney, MA 1995, p 87 writes: 



      Invalid court committal orders were so frequent by 1871, particularly in the West of Ireland that a circular was 

      issued from the Chief Secretary’s Office to the Magistrates of Ireland informing them that such ‘blunders’ were a 

      great injustice to the managers of the Industrial Schools who were put to much trouble and expense. There was 

      no recompense to the schools for the period of detention served under these invalid committal orders since 

      retrospective payments were not made. Dr John Lentaigne [the earliest Inspector of Schools: para 00] tried in vain 

      to have this matter rectified so that a child would not have to be discharged pending the provision of a correct 

      court order. Secretary Thomas Burke insisted that such children ought to be discharged, and if at a later date they 

      were considered suitable subjects for an Industrial School a new committal order had to be issued, repeating the 

      procedure of bringing them before the justices in Petty Sessions. The sisters in these schools were reluctant to 

      discharge such children for the intervening period, preferring to keep them unofficially at their own expense. 

  What jumps out of this passage is the absence of any suggestion that if the committal order was invalid, the detention 

  was unlawful and could theoretically have resulted in a habeas corpus order and/or damages for false imprisonment. 

      At the stage of exit, too, difficulties might arise. For instance, in one nineteenth century case, through a mistake, 

  the order specified committal only until the age of 13. The Chief Secretary refused to allow the manager to retain her 

  any longer. In the converse case, where the committal order set a date later than the 16th birthday, the Chief 

  Secretary directed her release at her 16th birthday. In each case, a longer detention would have been unlawful. Both 

  cases from Lunney TCD MA, 88. 

55 Cussen (1934-37), Little (1937-40), McCarthy (1941-57), O’Riain (1957-62), O’Hagan (1963), Carr (1964-66), Mixed 



   (Carr, O’hUadhaigh, Kennedy) (1967-68); Kennedy (1968-83). 

56 Note of interview given by Minister to Fr Ryan, Superior General of Oblate Order, and Fr Reidy, Headmaster of 



   Daingean (noted by TOR on 16th March 1950: DEDANO – 276-018/1) Fr Ryan stated that the chances of a boy’s 

   reform are in inverse ratio to the number of chances given to the boy by the District Justice: 

      For the District Justice to give too many chances causes lack of respect for the law and also every new offence 

      contributes to habit. Some boys are now under the impression that they have a right to be let off three times under 

      the First Offenders Act. (sic) 

  The Department’s comment on this is contained in a memo from MO’S to Mr Hackett of 29th April 1950 (DEDA No 

  276-020/1): 

      There is something to be said for Fr Ryan’s point of view on the number of chances given to boys by the District 

      Justice but that is a matter about which we will have to be very careful, if any action is taken. A District Justice 

      would probably resent even a suggestion from a Department: he might consider it undue interference in his work. 

57 Memo of Report of Department of Education of August 1971 states: 



      In this connection a further point arises for mention from our discussion with Fr. Kennedy of Clonmel. He is 

      altogether opposed to committals to the school for short periods i.e. 3 to 9 months or one year and he has now let 

      it be known to the courts that Clonmel is not available except for children committed, in general, up to 16 years. 

      He said that, in his view, the course of training in the school cannot achieve its purpose unless the boy remains for 

      a sufficiently long period to benefit from it. Furthermore, the departure of boys who have spent shorter periods 

      than the normal in the school has an unsettling effect on the other boys. 



36                                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2547-----------------------

‘containment’  to  which  children  were  to  be  sent  only  as  a  last  resort.  By  contrast,  the  schools 

themselves would claim that the schools were primarily educational not penal, institutions, which 

could be successful in educating a child and saving him or her from a life of crime or misery. The 

Managers  claimed  too  that  the  District  Justices’  view  had  the  potential  to  be  a  self-fulfilling 

prophecy  since  it  meant  that  only  ‘incorrigibles’  would  be  sent  to  the  schools.  The  schools’ 

resentment occasionally led to protests to the Department of Education or Justice through their 

representative  organisations.  However  because  of  the              independence  of  the  courts  from  the 

executive organ of government (an arrangement which the schools seem not to have understood 

or to have overlooked), these protests appear to have been batted away. 



As early as 17th April 1936, the Christian Brothers Managers Meeting complained (because there 

had been a dip in numbers in the mid 1930s): 



       The general view of the Managers is that the numbers in the Institutions will decrease, 

       and that as a result of this decrease, one or two of our Schools will have to be closed. 

       While  it  is  probable  that  the  passage  into  Law  of  the  Widows  and  Orphans  Act  is  a 

       contributory cause of the decrease in the numbers the belief is that Government Policy is 

       the main cause. The Guards and the Justices have received instructions to be slow in 

       committing children to Industrial Schools, and this policy of the Government is evidently 

       directed by financial considerations. 



Again, on 16th March 1950, Fr Ryan, Superior of the Oblate Order, wrote to the Department a 

letter  complaining  against  the  decline  of  committals.  In  response,  MO’S  wrote  a  private  memo 

headed Scoil Ceartucain, Daingean on 29th April 1950: 



       Justices are very slow to commit boys to either Industrial or Reformatory Schools if they 

       think there is any hope of improving them at home. They feel that these Schools do not 

       fulfil the purpose for which they were established. They feel, like ourselves, that there is 

       something wrong, in the system though they cannot suggest a remedy. 



       A  prominent  legal  man  who  has  considerable  experiences  of  boys  committed  to  these 

       schools said recently (but not in public) that these schools were only ‘forming criminals’. 

       If that is the experience it is no wonder that justices are slow to commit the boys. 



A Departmental memo of 13th September 1955 referred to a complaint from Fr Reidy that no boys 

were being committed by Justice McCarthy58               to the Reformatory until the boy had been before 



the court for the fourth time. The memo continues: 



       As a result of this allegation to the Minister, together with the allegation that the District 

       Justices  generally  were  not  carrying  out  the  law  sufficiently  strictly  in  this  regard,  the 

       Department  instituted  an inquiry  into  committals  during the  years  1953  and 1954.  This 

       inquiry   found   that   in  the  Dublin    Children’s    Court    during   that   period,   of  the   total 

       commitments of boys to the Reformatory, 23.33% were made on their first offence, 24% 

       on their second, 29.33% on their third, 13.33% on their fourth, 2.67% on their fifth and 

       5.34% on the sixth or more than sixth offence. 



On 18th May 1965, the Resident Managers Association took the unusual course of writing to the 

Minister for Justice to express their disquiet at ‘the set-up in the Children’s Court’. They said that 

they would ‘welcome an investigation into the present system under which the School Attendance 

Act  is  being  applied  ‘and  asked  the  Minister  to  review  a  deputation  to  discuss  the  matters 

concerning them. The reply dated 25th May1965 from the Minister (Brian Lenihan BL) declined to 



58 District Justice McCarthy presided over the Dublin Children’s Court between 1941 and 1957. See also Raftery and 



   O’Sullivan, Suffer the Little Children, pp 195-7 for an account of a suggestion by Gerry Boland, Minister for Justice, 

   that a committee be established the real purpose of which would be to establish that DJ McCarthy was too lenient. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                  37 


----------------------- Page 2548-----------------------

meet a deputation because the subject of discussion would have been the exercise of a judge’s 

function. The reply continued: 



      On the other hand, it seems to me that it would be open to you to write to the District 

      Justice  [Carr]  and  ask  him  if  he  would  meet  you  for  a  general  discussion.  But  may  I 

      suggest that your letter should make it quite clear that what you wish to do, is to bring to 

      his notice certain problems that arise in the Schools and knowledge of which would, you 

      think, be valuable to him in exercising his discretion in the committal of children. And if I 

      might offer (in confidence and with the intention of being helpful to you) a further word of 

      advice, it would be to say nothing whatsoever that might seem to mean that you thought 

      the School Attendance Officers in Dublin are not being treated fairly by the Courts. In the 

      disputes that have arisen between them and the Court, I myself have no doubt that the 

      District Justice has been fully justified and indeed has shown more forbearance than could 

      reasonably have been expected of him. 



(Unfortunately we have no information with which to explain the loose threads left hanging in this 

extract; in particular, we do not know whether there was a meeting with the District Justice.) 



At a time of skirmishing around a claimed fee increase, a Department of Education official wrote 

a memo for the Minister in June 1964, which stated: 



      Managers constantly bemoan the fact that there are insufficient committals to make their 

      schools  economical,  and      this  they  attribute  to the  abuse,  by  District  Justice,   of  the 

      Probation  Act.  Many  Managers  feel  that  the  Department  should  use  its  position  to  do 

      something about this. But the Minister could hardly be expected to do anything that could 

      be construed as interfering with the Justiciary (sic) and there is no way to compel courts 

      to resort to committal in preference to the Probation Act. 



      Moreover, the view of the Department is that thinking both here and abroad is against 

      long term detention in institutions which are situated in rural areas and are not equipped 

      for psychiatric treatment, or the training of children from urban areas. In general, with the 

      exception  of  Artane,  they  lack  any  kind  of  after-care  or  organisation.  It  is  because  the 

      courts  feel  that  the  industrial  schools  do  not  achieve  their  object  that  as  a  result  of 

      pressure from  the Department for  Justice a new  place of detention  on modern lines  is 

      being set up to deal with youthful offenders committed for short periods. In any event it 

      would be well to bear in mind that the Schools exist for the children and not vice–versa.’ 



It is significant that District Justices McCarthy (1941-57), and Kennedy (1968-83), who were the 

Dublin  Children  Court  Justices  for  most  of  the  period  1943-83,  had  expressed  what  might  be 

characterised as somewhat critical views of the schools, while finding it unavoidable to commit 

many children to them. District Justices O’Riain and Eileen Kennedy were also known for the fact 

that they paid visits to the schools so that they knew something about conditions in the schools 

to which they were making committals. In particular, we have been told by her court clerk that 

District Justice Kennedy spent two or three days each year making personal visits to schools. 



Attitude of the schools 



At this point, we ought to make explicit a feature that is implicit at several points of this report. It 

is simply that, in general, the Orders encouraged the sending of children to the schools. It perhaps 

could  be  said  that  this  was  natural:  over  more  than  a  century,  the  Orders  and,  in  particular, 

Managers had invested a good deal of labour and idealism – as well as capital – in the schools. 

They wished to keep the schools going, mainly because they considered them a force of good, at 

any rate compared with the alternative fate to which a child would have been left. The inevitable 

result  was  that,  irrespective  of  individual  circumstances  that  might  have  seemed  to  tell  in  the 

opposite direction, the Orders exercised their influence in favour of sending children to schools 



38                                                                                       CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2549-----------------------

and for a lengthy period. This is evidenced for instance in: private comments of the Department 

of  Education;   opposition    to children   being   sent  to  the  schools   for  a  short  period;  private 

deliberations  of  the  schools  and  their  representative  bodies  including  the  schools’  reaction  to 

District Justices’ occasional reluctance to commit. 



The family backgrounds of many of the complainants to the Investigation Committee are set out 

in the sections dealing with the individual schools. 



Part 4: Committal rates relative to applications 



A rather straightforward way of testing the care taken by District Justices in deciding whether to 

make a committal order is to count the average number of applications compared to the number 

of children actually committed. One can then calculate the percentage of applications in which, 

despite  the  fact  that  the  child  was  unrepresented,  the  court  decided  to  refuse  the  application. 

These figures were not published in the Department’s annual reports but were collected in the 

survey done for this report. This has been done for each of the three grounds of committal by the 

court:  need;  offences;  failure  to  attend  school.  However  because  of  the  fact  that  some  of  the 

court  records were  not available,  figures mainly  for the  Dublin Metropolitan  District Court  have 

been collected. 



In  addition,  interviews   with those   involved,   contemporary     District Court  Justices   and   clerks, 

showed they were unanimous that a committal was by no means automatic. This bears out the 

impression which emerges from the statistics. 



Committal rates in Dublin MDC for all three categories of committal 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                          39 


----------------------- Page 2550-----------------------

The rates are shown by reference to the three categories of committal (needy children, offenders 

and non-School attenders). Although the ratio started out in 1935 as very high for all categories, 

between 80-100 percent, there was a decline over the years. But there is marked difference in 

the rate of decline for the three groups. There was a rapid decline in the committal ratio for both 

the offences and school attendance offences group (down to about 35 percent by 1950). However, 

within seven or eight years, there was an increase in the committal rate for offences. This may 

have been a judicial reaction to the increase in the juvenile crime rate in the Dublin of the 1950s. 

The rate of decline in respect of committals on the ground of need was much slower: by 1950 the 

rate was still as high as 80 percent for this category and this was only slightly lower by 1970. 



Why  was  there  this  discrepancy  in  committal  rates  between  the  three  categories?  One  can 

suggest the following explanations. First, the rate of needy committals were high because, once 

need  and  destitution  had  been  established,  there  was  often  little  the  Justice  could  do  except 

commit and, unfortunately, no amount of procrastination would alter this situation. Secondly, with 

offenders, there were, as shown already, a large number of alternatives to committal to a school, 

much more so than with the other two categories. 



Moreover there is a further point, namely that in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court, there was 

a particularly high number of adjournments in school attendance order committals, whether the 

child  was  ultimately  committed  or  the  case  was  dismissed.  The  exact  number  has  not  been 

determined,  but  it  would  not  have  been  uncommon  for  there  to  be  as  many  as  five  to  eight 

appearances before a decision either way was finally taken. When one couples this with the fact 

already discussed of the low rate of committals to applications this means that, in reality, for every 

committal under this head, there might have been 20 court appearances. Probably, the District 

Justice, and perhaps the SAO, wished to give the child a fright so as to encourage him or her to 

go to school, without imposing the draconian sanction of a committal. 



Provincial committal rates 



The number of committals per head of relevant population was significantly lower in the provincial 

courts  surveyed  than      in  Dublin  Metropolitan  District  Court.  However,          though  with  significant 

variations often from year to year and between different courts, the average rate of committals 

per application was higher than in the Dublin CB; though admittedly often this was with a mere 

handful of committals. 



Section 7: The period of detention in the school 



The basic question in this section is how long did a child who was committed to a school spend 

there? Part I, therefore, deals with the law and practice as to the period fixed by the court. Part 2 

(on which see also Appendix 2) surveys the figures in order to determine the average length of 

time  for  which  a  child  was  committed.  However  it  is  a  significant  point  that  the  Minister  had 

discretion  to  release  a  child  before  the  date  fixed  by  the  committal  order.  This  subject  –  early 

discharge – is the subject of the following section. 



Part I: Fixing the period in the committal order 



For Reformatories, the ‘period of detention’ (the term used in legislation) was laid down as not 

less than two or more than four years or in any case not beyond the age of 19.59                    In practice, the 



59 Originally (under the 1908 Act) this was three to five years. However the 1941 Act reduced this period from two to 



   four years. It also raised the upper limit of committal to a reformatory from 16 to 17 and reduced period of detention 

   after which managers could release on licence from 18 to six months. 



40                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2551-----------------------

period of actual detention was usually between one and two years, provided that the offender’s 

behaviour and home circumstances were satisfactory.60 



The position in regard to Industrial Schools was more complicated. Those committed by the courts, 

in practice the great majority of the residents, were committed until the age of 16.61 



Thus the period for which any child or young person was committed by a court depended on their 

age at the time of committal. It is significant here that those who were committed for the category 

of ‘need’, the great majority, were often committed at very tender years indeed. Consequently, 

they had to reside for many years in both a junior and a senior Industrial School. 



The  fixing  of  the  date of  release  in  the  committal  order  under  the legislation  appeared,  clearly 

enough, to allow the court a discretion (‘...not in any case extending beyond...the age of sixteen 

years’)  Nevertheless,  up  to  the  1960s  in  the  thousands  of  cases  checked,  in  both  the  Dublin 

Metropolitan District Court and provincial courts, the Justice always did make the order apply right 

up to the time when the child would be 16 or, in the case of those committed for non-attendance 

at school, 14: the District Court judges and clerks who operated the legislation indicated that they 

believed that the order had to specify the period as running to the child’s 16th birthday. 



It was not until late 1962 (rather suddenly) that, at any rate, the Dublin Metropolitan District Court 

switched to  committing, in  school attendance  cases, until  the child’s  14th birthday.62                         About the 



same time, there were changes in respect of the other two categories. Offenders were committed 

for one or two years and in poverty cases, where children were young, they might be committed 

for a shorter period, presumably in the hope that their family circumstances could have changed 

in  the  meantime  (a  hope  which  earlier  courts  had  not  entertained  in  the  apparently  perpetual 

economic gloom). 



This  sea-change  was  reported  approvingly  in  this  extract  from  a  Departmental  memo  of  15th 

November 1964, in anticipation of a meeting with Resident Managers Association: 



       District Justices are lately resorting to committals for short terms varying from a month to 

       a year in the case of young offenders. Normally a young offender of say 10 or 11 years 

       of age would be committed to age 16 which does seem a long period of detention whereas 

       an  18  year  old,  for  a  similar  offence,  would  be  sent  to  prison  for  a  month  or  two  less 

       remission. 



60 In The Irish Press 27th June 1967, Joseph O’Malley gives the eventual average length of stay in Daingean 



   Reformatory as about 15 months. 

61 The 1908 Act, s 65(b) states: 



      The detention order shall specify the time for which the youthful offender or child is to be detained...being... in the 

      case of a child sent to an industrial school, such time as to the court may seem proper for the teaching and 

      training of the child, but not in any case extending beyond the time when the child will, in the opinion of court, 

      attain the age of sixteen years. 

      One legal argument that has been suggested is that the phrase ‘such time as ... may seem proper for the teaching 

  and training of the child’ assumes that the child will remain on in school in order to take the leaving certificate 

  examination. To do this, it was necessary to stay in school until at least the 16th birthday. In the result, the order 

  committing the child to the Industrial School would have to acquire to remain there until the 16th birthday. But this 

   reasoning proceeds from a somewhat unlikely assumption, namely that a child who in most cases would have shown 

   no academic aptitude (especially the SAO entrants) was going to be one of the, what until the late 1960s and the 

  coming of free secondary education was a considerable minority, namely students attempting the Leaving Certificate. 

  This unlikely eventuality was made to bear the weight of a considerable deprivation of liberty. For a view that a District 

  Judge could not commit for less than two years, see DD, vol 164 (31st October 1957) (J Lynch). But see also DD, vol 

  88, col 2535 (10th October 1937): Minister for Education, Tom Derrig, spells it out that the District Justice does have 

  discretion. 

  62 Kennedy (1970) at para 10.18 writes: 



      The period for which a child may be legally detained in an Industrial School under the School Attendance Act, 

      1926, appears to be the same as under Section 65(b) of the Children Act 1908, but, in practice, the Courts appear 

      to hold that detention may not extend beyond the date when the child will, in the opinion of the Court, attain the 

      age of 14 years. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                             41 


----------------------- Page 2552-----------------------

       Thinking  both  here  and  abroad  is  against  long  term  detention  in  institutions  which  are 

       situated  in  rural  areas  and  are  not  properly  equipped  for  psychiatric  treatment,  or  the 

       training of children from urban areas and in general with the exception of Artane lack any 

       kind of after-care organisation. It is because the courts feel that the industrial schools do 

       not achieve their object that as a result of pressure from Department of Justice a new 

       place   of  detention    on   modern     lines  is  being   set   up  to  deal   with   youthful   offenders 

       committed for short periods. In any event it would be well to bear in mind that the Schools 

       exist for the children and not vice-versa. 



       By  contrast  the  Schools  took  the  view  that  a  child  had  to  remain  in  a  School  for  a 

       reasonably  long  period  of  time  in  order  to  gain  from  the  education  and  training.  The 

       following is from a complainant who was sent to Letterfrack in January 1971 and remained 

       there until January 1973: 



       The Justice said ‘I will give him three months in an industrial school. The Garda Sergeant 

       said, no, they won’t take him for that. He says, I will give him 6 months, and he said they 

       won’t take him for that. He said, how long will they take him for? At least two years. Right, 

       he says, I will give him 2 years and that was it’. 



Thus, up until the early 1960s, the net result was striking. In the case of a Reformatory School, 

an offender was sent away usually for one to two years, which was in line with a normal criminal 

sanction. By contrast, for committal to an Industrial School, the age of release was fixed at 16 

and the length of the committal period varied depending upon the random factor of the age of the 

child at the date of committal. The justification offered for this variation is that committal was seen 

not as a punishment but as a period for which the child or young person needed protection or 

education  until  they  were  old  enough  to  fend  for  themselves.  In  any  case,  the  reality  comes 

                                 ´               63 

through in the following Dail exchange: 



       Deputy Dillon: May I bespeak the good offices of the Minister with special reference to 

       this category of children so that they will not be left permanently in industrial schools....? 



       J Lynch: ...the word ‘permanently’ might create a wrong impression. They would all be 

       entitled to be released at 14 years of age. 



       Deputy Dillon: For the purposes of childhood, that is surely permanently. 



There was a possibility of an extension so that a child could remain in the schools up to the age 

of 17 to complete their education or training.64          In practice, this was seldom invoked. 



Part 2: The length of time for which children were committed 



There are three distinct and rather different sources for the actual period for which residents were 

committed  by  the  courts  to  Industrial  and  Reformatory  schools.  Basically  each  tells  the  same 

story. Accordingly only a summary is presented at this point. 



Comparison of the three sources 



The comparison between the three sets of figures are these. First those in Table B1 cover only 

residents sent from the Dublin Metropolitan District; whereas Tables B2 and B3 were compiled 

from  schools  throughout  the  country.  Secondly,  Table  B1  covers  all  the  Dublin  MD  residents; 

whereas, as explained, Table B2 was compiled for a sample only of the national population and 

then only for the 1951-60 period. The position regarding Table B3 is a little more complicated: it 

is confined to the 1940s and in one case is based on a 19 percent sample. 



63 DD vol 166, col 779 (25th March 1958). 

64 A child could not be kept in an Industrial School beyond 16 unless the Minister for Education, with the consent of 



   their parents or guardians, directed that he stay on for one further year only for the purpose of completing his 

   education or training. See s 65(b) of the 1908 Act as extended by s 12 of the 1941 Act, and for St Anne’s 

   Reformatory see s 6 of the Children (Amendment) Act 1949. 



42                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2553-----------------------

The figures in Table B1 are for a different period from those in Table B2. Accordingly, in order to 

compare them properly, the average period of committal according to the Table B1 figures for the 

1951-60 period has been calculated, since this is the only period covered by the Table B2 figures. 

The average figures are: 



 1951-60                                     Needy                SA                    Offences 



 Table B1              Dublin MD             6.5                  4.8                   3.5 



 Table B2              National              8.8                  4.2                   4.1 



Similarly, in comparing the figures from Tables B1 and B3, only the B1 figures for the 1942-51 

period have been used, which is approximately the period covered by B3. The average figures are: 



 1942-51                                     Needy                SA                    Offences 



 Table B1              Dublin MD             8.7                  4.4                   3.8 



 Table B3              National              8.4                  4.43                  3.6 



In fact, for each time period, the national and Dublin County Borough figures are very similar to 

each other. The only exception is that during 1951-60 the figures for the needy category in Dublin 

MD are shorter than the national figures. But, generally, the figures from the three sources are a 

consistent  story:  committal  for  the  needy  category  of  about  8  years;  school  attendance  of  4-5 

years; and offences 3-4 years. 



Section 8: Early discharge 



Part I: Early discharge by exercise of the minister’s power 



Removal of children without consent 



Children occasionally  left their school  without the consent  of the Minister  or the school:  strictly 

speaking, this was illegal. Examples from the files include failure to return from holidays; removal 

of the children from the jurisdiction; and absconding. Examples of this kind of exit from the schools 

are dealt with in the individual sections on the schools. 



The main subject of this section is early discharge by virtue of the Minister’s statutory power. A 

resident’s need to remain in a school depended very much on circumstances. For instance in the 

case of the needy category, the prosperity of the resident’s family might change over the relatively 

long  periods  involved,  most  obviously  by  the  father  obtaining  employment  or  securing  better 

accommodation. 



In such circumstances a parent or guardian of a child detained in an Industrial School had the 

right to apply to the Minister for Education for the release of the child. The relevant legislation 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                        43 


----------------------- Page 2554-----------------------

was,  in  the  first  place,  section  69(1)  of  the  1908  Act65,  which  gave  the  Minister  discretion  to 



release any child or young person committed. Secondly, in contrast to the 1908 Act, the Children 

(Amendment)  Act  1957,  section  5  was  mandatory,  though  it  applied  only  in  the  case  of  those 

committed under section 58 of the 1908 Act, in other words, not offenders or those committed for 

non-attendance at school. It provided that where the Minister was satisfied that the circumstances 

that led to the making of the committal order had ceased and were not likely to recur, and further 

that  the  parents  are  able  to  support  the  child,  the  Minister  was  obliged  to  order  the  child’s 

discharge. 



The 1957 Act was enacted by virtue of the Department’s understanding of the Doyle decision. A 

second consequence of Doyle was that the Minister was bound to discharge the child where a 

child   who     had    been     committed       to  an   Industrial     School     under     the   provisions      of  the   School 

Attendance Act 1926, had attained the age of 14 years of age, and the parents applied for the 

discharge of the child.66 



65 1908 Act, s 69(1) as amended by s 29 of 1941 Act states: ‘The [Minister] may at any time order a youthful offender or 



   a child to be discharged from a certified school, either absolutely or on such conditions as the [Minister] approves....’ 

   The Children (Amendment) Act 1957, s 5, which superseded the 1908 Act, in the case of children committed under s 

   58 of 1908 Act stated: 

      ‘(1) Where 

      (a) a child has been committed to an industrial school under section 58 of the Principal Act and, 

      (b) an application is made to the Minister for Education by a parent or guardian for the release of the child, and 

      (c) the minister is satisfied that the circumstances which led to the making of the committal order have ceased and 

      are not likely to recur if the child is released, and that the parent or guardian is able to support the child, the 

      Minister shall order the discharge of the child. 

      (2) The Minister may, if he so thinks proper, refer the application to the court. 

      (3) If the Minister refuses the application, the parent or guardian may refer it to court. 

      (4) The Court if satisfied in regard to the matters referred to in paragraph ( c) of subsection (1), shall have 

      jurisdiction to order the discharge of the child. 

      (5) A reference to the court under this section shall be made to the District Court in the District in which the 

      committal order was made or, if the applicant resides in another District, in that District. 

      (6) The order for the discharge of the child, whether made by the Minister or the court, shall operate to revoke the 

      detention order. 

      (7) (a) Where the District Court or, on appeal, the Circuit Court, orders the discharge of a child, the court may 

      award costs and expenses to the successful applicant. 

      We came across no instance of recourse to a court, under sub-ss (2)-(7) and so this possibly is not mentioned in 

   the text. 

      This provision was introduced in response to the Doyle case discussed at Appendix, par (iii). 

66 The general obligation on parents in accordance with the SA Act 1926 was to arrange for the elementary education of 



   their children, between the ages of 6 and 14 years. Outside this range, the Department believed (as a result of Doyle) 

   that the parents rights under Art 42 of the Constitution, which makes the family the primary educator of the child 

   meant that their preference to send the child to school or not must be supreme and the State could not interfere. 

   Accordingly s 17(4) of the SA Act, 1926 in so far as it empowered the courts to commit a child to an Industrial School 

   for a period extending beyond the child’s 14th birthday was repugnant to the Constitution. 

      The Department’s view was challenged by Dublin CB District Justice O’Riain (Children’s Court Justice during 

   1957-62) who made vigorous representations to the Department (note of 9th September 1960) to the effect that 

   almost all of those committed were over 10 years of age, chronic non or bad school attenders and hence well-nigh 

   illiterate or wholly so and therefore sorely in need of at least a few years education. He felt strongly therefore that the 

   Minister should exercise the powers he believed him to possess to retain those children committed under SA Act until 

   the expiry of the period fixed by the courts, even if this was 16. He sought to sustain this view legally, by invoking ss 

   58, 65 and 133(20) of the 1908 Act. 

      Following these representations, the Department referred the issue to the Attorney General who in effect upheld 

   the Department’s view. The gist of his opinion was that: 

      Throughout both the Doyle Judgments, therefore, there is a common thread. Legislation authorising the State to 

      take the place of the parent cannot be regarded as appropriate within the terms of Article 42(5) unless there is 

      provision by which the State’s intervention is limited in time to the duration of the parental need or the parental 

      default. 

      The, second stage in the reasoning was that once the child passed their 14th birthday, a parent could not be in 

   default just because, under the 1926 Act, the general obligation (irrespective of anything to do with the Industrial 

   Schools) was to ensure only that the child attended school up to the age of 14. The conclusion was that the State 

   cannot interfere further, after that age has been reached, with the natural, primary and fundamental unit group of the 

   family or with the unalienable and imprescriptible rights of the parents. 

      Rather significantly, though, the Department took the view that if no request was made by the parents, the young 

   person did not have to be released: Memorandum from Mr Justice O’Riain, 13th September 1960; Attorney General’s 

   Opinion of 23rd September 1960, 2780/60. 



44                                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2555-----------------------

Procedure for exercise of minister’s discretion 



One might have expected that if where there was a change in family circumstances there would 

have been an official, self-activating system to bring up and determine the question of whether a 

child should have been released from a school. In fact, there was no such mechanism and the 

statutory arrangements that did exist, had to be triggered usually by the parents. 



Typically the process would go through the following stages: 

         (1)    Parent sends letter either directly to Minister or to local deputy67                 who relays it to the 



                Department. 



         (2)    Department completes form and sends it on with child’s details to Resident Manager 

                and    (as    appropriate)      SAO      /  ISPCC      /   Gardai,68     for   their   observations       and 

                                                                                   ´ 

                recommendation. 



         (3)    Department receives report and makes judgement on whether the family situation is 

                favourable for the child’s release. 



         (4)    Release or continued detention. 



Up to the Doyle case in 1956, it was usual for the head of the RISB (Reformatory and Industrial 

School Branch of the Department) to take what was, in effect, the final decision on applications 

for  release. From  1956  on,  however, the  matter  was submitted  to  the  Minister personally.  The 

                                                            ´ 

head  of  the  RISB  made  a  complete  resume  for  the  information  of  the  Minister  including  the 

information on file, expanded by means of reports from the Gardai, Managers and the ISPCC. 

                                                                                         ´ 

However the parents were not shown any of the comments for their response to them, something 

which, by today’s standards, would certainly be required by fair procedure. 



Attitudes of Department and of Minister 

As regards the attitude to the question of discharge, put simply the Department leaned in favour;69 



the School Manager was, more often, against. To amplify, especially after 1956, the Department 

strengthened this position, taking the view that it had to be very careful about the matter, since 

the constitutional rights of parents were in question. Thus, the Minister for Education, Jack Lynch 

remarked that any Minister would be inclined ‘in favour of the application, since the home is in the 

strongest force for good in a young person’s life’.70 



This trend was intensified following the Kennedy Report after 1970, which stated: 



       The  whole  aim  of  the  Child  Care  System  should  be  geared  towards  the  prevention  of 

       family  breakdown  and  the  problems  consequent  on  it.  The  committal  or  admission  of 



67 As public representatives, TDs often contacted the Department or the Minister of the day, supporting the parent 



   applications or requesting that a particular case be investigated. However, as will be seen from the various examples 

   to be cited, there is no particular evidence to suggest that such representations had any real influence on the 

   decision or that cases supported by TDs were treated more favourably than others. Two individual applications by 

   parents to have their children released from St Patrick’s Industrial School for Boys in Kilkenny illustrates the point. An 

   application by the parents of David Purcell supported by Sean Tracey TD was refused. The ISPCC was against the 

   release of the boy on the grounds that the financial position of his parents was insufficient. In contrast, the politically 

   unsupported application of the parents of Gerard Myles Conlan was granted due to the favourable reports received 

   from both the ISPCC and the school. 

68 Sometimes it was also necessary to write to British children’s social workers for a view as to the condition of parents 



   residing in Britain who wished to recover children. 

69 Departmental memo of 15th and 21st June 1944 stated: 



      It is a legal obligation imposed on the Minister to release such children when their parents are able to support 

      them and apply for their release; moreover; even when such an application, is not received, the Minister consider 

      that maintenance at the public expense of children whose parents are able to support them, is an abuse of the 

      industrial schools system. 

   In anticipation of a meeting with the Association of Managers Department, memo of 18th November 1964 stated that 

  ‘three sore points will certainly come up: (i) Lack of committals; (ii) Short term committal; (iii) Discharges.’ 

70 At DD, vol 164 (31st October1957). 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                           45 


----------------------- Page 2556-----------------------

       children  to  Residential  Care  should  be  considered  only  when  there  is  no  satisfactory 

       alternative. 



One  of  the  persons  whom  the  Department  consulted  was  the  Manager  of  the  relevant  school. 

Their counsel was usually against early discharge. (No case of the school authorities taking the 

initiative to secure a release has been discovered). Leaving aside any financial disincentive, the 

Resident Manager would probably have considered that the best was being done for a child in 

the school and would have been inherently unlikely to draw back and determine dispassionately 

that any particular child would be better off outside. Generally speaking, the reasons advanced 

by the schools against early release were as follows: 



         (1)   Too  short  a  stay  in  the  school  would  mean  that  the  resident  would  not  be  able  to 

               acquire self-control or to benefit from any course of study or training. 



         (2)   Early release would have an unsettling effect on discipline among the other residents 

               in the school. 



         (3)   The children  might well  be returning  to a home  in which  the neglect  or deprivation 

               from which they had been rescued would be resumed. The consequence could be 

               that they would deteriorate and would be sent to a reformatory or eventually prison. 



These factors are elaborated in the following quote from the minutes of a General Meeting of the 

Resident Managers’ Association of 30th June 1944:71 



       Specified cases were mentioned where parents of discharged children came begging for 

       monetary assistance from the school a few months after the children’s discharge... Many 

       of the children whose friends are most persistent in seeking their release have been taken 

       from homes in which their parents either neglected them or showed themselves unable 

       to exercise proper control over them. To send these children back to the same conditions 

       from which they had to be removed, before they have acquired any sense of self-discipline 

       or  self-control,  is  to  expose  them  to  temptations  and  dangers  which  they  cannot  be 

       expected to overcome or avoid. Many examples could be given of children, released in 

       this  manner,  who  very  soon  got  into  trouble  with  the  law.  At  the  present  time  a  not 

       inconsiderable number of these children are under detention in the Reformatory Schools. 



Part 2: Grounds for early discharge and case studies 



Grounds 



No list of criteria for or against early discharge was stipulated in legislation or any circular or other 

official document. Nor were reasons given to the applicant for a refusal; nor was there any system 

of informal precedent used in taking the decision. However, a survey of some of the applications 

on file in the Department shows that the following factors were taken into account. 



71 See to same effect a letter from Artane Residential Manager to (Inspector) J McLoughlin of 29th March 1943. One 



   telling case concerned Carriglea Park School in County Dublin. In 1943, when both of the senior boys schools in 

   County Dublin were consistently full to capacity, the Minister wrote to the Manager. He proposed that, where the boys 

   had been committed under the School Attendance Act, they should be released at the age of 14 years on the ground 

   that they would, if they had not been committed to a school, in all probability have ceased education at that age. The 

   Carriglea Park Manager’s response was: 

                   ´ 

      To give a precis of the record of each boy committed under the 1926 Act whose period of detention was due to 

      end in 1943, 1944 and 1945 setting out the reasons why these boys were either suitable (1 case) or not suitable 

      (6 cases) for discharge. The reason given was generally backwardness or the unsuitability of family 

      circumstances. The Departmental record continues: ‘Those boys whose periods of detention were drawing to a 

      close because they were due to leave in 1943, fare better. 10 out of the 22 boys in this group were deemed 

      suitable for early release.’ 

      In 1955, Fr Reidy of Daingean, and therefore chairman of the Association of Resident Manager's received large 

  headlines in the Evening Herald for his statement to Justice McCarthy’s Children’s Court in Dublin that boys were 

  being released from the Reformatory through political influence (from File G:001E 13th September 1955). 



46                                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2557-----------------------

Reasons for early discharge 



       •    Formerly unemployed parent securing a job. 

       •    Child  needed  to  support  family  and  being  offered  a  job.  This  seems  to  be  a  highly 

             significant  factor.  There  are  numerous  documents  from  businesses  (eg  Waterford 

             Glass) supporting the release of a child, to whom they had offered employment. 



       •    Improvement of housing. 

       •    Garda good character reference. 

       •    Time of release coming closer. 



Reasons for continued detention 



       •    ‘Get into trouble if returned to family’. This might be because there other family member 

            were a bad influence or even ‘circumstances favouring her seduction’. 



       •    Unsatisfactory behaviour at the Industrial School or making progress in the school and 

             unlikely to do so if returned to his home environment. 



       •    Absconding or not returning after the holidays. 

       •    Poor financial circumstances, character or home condition of the parents. 

       •    ‘Parents not having proper control over children’. 

       •    Requirement of six months good behaviour, set by some schools before the resident 

            was being let out. 



Part 3: Figures on early release 



The figures to be given in Appendix 3 show both a fairly small number of applications, an average 

of  16  percent  in  relation  to  the  schools’  population,  and  a  reasonable  success  rate,  with  an 

average of 72 percent. The average reduction, varying from one category to another, was about 

five years. Moreover, broadly speaking, these increased through the 1950s, despite the fact that, 

at the  same time, the  populations of  the schools was  decreasing. It can  be deduced  from this 

that the system seems to have responded faithfully to improvements in the circumstances of the 

residents’ families. 



However,  what  is  inevitably  missing  is  any  reference  to  residents  whose  parents  or  guardians 

never applied for early discharge in the first place. It is a significant feature of the machinery that 

it  had  to  be  initiated  by  the  parents  who  would  often  have  been  uninformed:  there  was,  for 

instance, no official agency charged with the duty of reviewing each case, either periodically or 

where there were signs of a change in the child or in their family circumstances. Thus, one can 

never know how many of what would have been successful applications for discharge were never 

brought to the Department’s attention. The most that one can do is to point to the perhaps small 

numbers who did apply (6.1 percent of the average population). This may mean that the system 

of early discharge was not very well-known. No doubt, too, some applications failed that should 

have succeeded. Some of the case studies show that the parents had to be prepared to repeat 

their  applications  and  it  seems  likely  that  there  would  have  been  some  (not  shown  here)  who 

perhaps out of deference or ignorance would not have been prepared to try again. Among other 

flaws in the system, the parents were not given the opportunity of commenting on unfavourable 

recommendations from the authorities; and even when a parent was given the right to a ‘reference’ 

to the District Court, from a refusal by the Minster in the Children (Amendment) Act 1957, section 

5, it seems to have been seldom, if ever, used. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                        47 


----------------------- Page 2558-----------------------

Section 9: Residents placed voluntarily or sent by health authorities: 



Residents placed voluntarily 



As mentioned, there were five paths of entry to the schools, of which the first three that involved 

committal via the District Court were by far the most numerous. The other categories were those 

who entered voluntarily or who entered at the behest and expense of the health authorities. 



Children entering voluntarily 



The smallest group were those children entering voluntarily because their parents or guardians 

were – whether temporarily or permanently – not in a position to look after them, yet were prepared 

to pay the cost of their maintenance. At the time of the Kennedy Report72  there were 97 percent 



(or 4 percent) of the Industrial Schools’ population in this category with 80 percent and 16 percent 

in the court and health authority categories, respectively. However in an earlier period, when those 

committed by the court would have been more numerous, children maintained voluntarily were 

even less significant. For the period 1949-50 to 1968-69, the average ‘voluntary’ population figure 

was 101, or 2.2 percent, of the entire schools’ population. The full figures are given below. 



O’Cinneide and Maguire73  write about this admittedly small group: 



       The interviews with some of the Sisters provide stark insights into the conditions under 

       which some children were taken into care. Many of the Sisters of Mercy recalled parents 

       simply appearing on the school’s doorstep asking that their children be taken in, and in 

       other  cases  children  were  simply  abandoned  on  the  convent  steps.  One  of  the  more 

       poignant    recollections    was    that  of  Sr  Anne    Tubridy,    who   worked     in  the  Cappoquin 

       Industrial School. She recalled one incident in which a father brought his children to the 

       school  asked  the  Sisters  to  take  the  children  in,  which  they  did.  The  man  then  went 

       home and killed his wife and himself. Sr. Goretti, who worked in the industrial school in 

       Newtownforbes,  remembered  two  girls  who  were  brought  to  the  school  by  their  father 

       after their mother died drowned in the bog. 



       Invariably some of the parents who voluntarily placed their children in industrial schools 

       defaulted  on  their  payments.  This  was  also  true  in  the  case  of  children  committed  by 

       the  courts,  whose  parents  were  ordered  by  the  courts  to  contribute  to  their  children’s 

       maintenance. However, when the parents defaulted on court-ordered payments, the local 

       authorities had the authority to prosecute them. There is no evidence that religious orders 

       had the same access to court proceedings to force defaulting parents to pay. Their only 

       option,   when     the   parents    of  voluntarily-placed      children   failed   to  make     scheduled 

       payments,  was  to  take  the  children  to  court  and  have  them  formally  committed  to  the 

       school. This seems to have been a rarity. 



Residents sent by health authorities 



The remaining major category was children placed in certified schools by the health authorities. 

As with children placed voluntarily and directly in the schools, by parents, such children entered 

without the involvement of a court and could be withdrawn without legal formality;74                     if and when 



family circumstances permitted. As regards the number of residents in this category, these figures 

rose steadily from 212 in 1946 to 500 in 1970, while those sent by the courts fell and the total 



72 Appendix E, Table 8. 

73 O’Cinneide and Maguire, ‘Childcare in Ireland: State Policy and Administration 1920s to 1960s; The Sisters of Mercy 



   ‘Industrial Schools in context’, pp 53-54. 

74 Section 56(2) of the 1953 Act states that 



      Where a health authority have sent a child to a school approved of by the Minister, the authority – 

May at any time, with the consent of the Minister, remove the child from the school, and 

Shall remove the child from the school if and when required so to do by the Minister or by the managers of the school, 

or upon the school ceasing to be approved of by the Minister. 



48                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2559-----------------------

was reducing from 6,800 to 1,740. In other words they represented a much higher proportion in 

1970 than 1946 (30 percent compared to 3 percent). 



Until it was repealed in 1991 the law that authorised a health authority or board to place a child 

in an Industrial School was section 55 of the Health Act 195375                        (or its precursors), by which a 



health authority was empowered to provide for the assistance of a child by: boarding the child out; 

sending him to an Industrial School approved by the Minister for Health; or where the child was 

not less than 14 years of age, by arranging for his employment. 



These powers applied only if two conditions were satisfied. The first was a means test. The second 

was that the child had to be an orphan or illegitimate and deserted by the mother or, alternatively, 

that the parent/guardian had to consent. The result was that cases occasionally arose that should 

reasonably have been sent to a school, yet which did not come within the scope of the law, for 

instance children whose mothers had gone into hospital or who had left home. Mary E Murray of 

the Department of Health wrote on 12th November 1968: 



       Section 55 is still reminiscent of the Poor Law. At present children are being dealt with 

       under this section who are not legally entitled to the services but who nevertheless are 

       greatly  in  need  of  assistance,  and  the  regulations  have  to  be  ‘stretched’  to  allow  this 

       assistance to be provided. 



Prior to the establishment of health boards (Health Act 1970), social services dealing with children 

in care were provided through boards of public assistance which, though with a locally defined 

jurisdiction, were usually distinct from local authorities.76 



In  the  early  1950s,  the  number  of  children  sent  to  the  schools  by  boards  of  health  increased, 

probably because of the need to find somewhere to house children who would earlier have lived 

in  county  homes.  Whatever  the  causes,  a  pattern  developed  in  late  1940s  by  which  health 

authorities wanted to put children in Industrial Schools despite the preference of the Department 

of Health for boarding out. Accordingly, they got the schools to apply to Department of Health for 

‘approval’. Following a visit to the country home in Cashel, the Department of Health’s inspector 

noted resignedly on 7th April 1948: 



75 Section 55 (1) stated: 



      A health authority may provide, in accordance with regulations, for the assistance of a child to whom this 

      subsection applies in any of the following ways (whether in or outside their functional area), that is to say, by 

      boarding the child out, or by sending him to a school approved of by the Minister, under Sect 55 (8) of the Health 

      Act 1953, or, where the child is not less than fourteen years of age, by arranging for his employment or by placing 

      him in any suitable trade, calling, or business. 

      (2) Subsection (1) of this section applies to any child who is eligible for institutional assistance under section 54 of 

      this Act and who is –(a) a legitimate child whose father and mother are dead or who is deserted by his father and 

      mother or (where one of them s dead) by the survivor, or an illegitimate child whose mother is dead or who is 

      deserted by his mother. 

      (3) A health authority may, with the approval of the Minister, assist any person eligible for general assistance 

      within the meaning of the Public Assistance Act, 1939, by doing, with the consent of such person and in 

      accordance with regulations, any of the following things in respect of any child whom such person is liable under 

      the Public Assistance Act, 1939 to maintain, that is to say, boarding the child out, or sending him to a school 

      approved of by the Minister or, where the child is not less than fourteen years of age, placing him in any suitable 

      trade, calling, or business. 

   Section 55 was repealed by the Child Care Act 1991. Section 4(4) of the Children Act 1989, which provided that 

   where a child or young person was dealt with under s 55 (1)(a) (ie placed in foster care) he should be deemed to be 

   boarded out under s 55. The Act of 1989 seems to have been a response to a decision of the Supreme Court in The 

   State (D and D) v Groarke [1990] 1 IR 305, which held that a health board has no statutory authority to act as a ‘fit 

   person’ under the Act of 1908. 

76 These had various relationships with general local authorities. For instance, in County Cork, there existed the South 



   Cork Board of Public Assistance, the North Cork and West Cork Boards; whereas Cork Corporation administered 

   services within its own area. In 1961 the Cork Health Authority was established and took over the health and social 

   services functions from the local authorities for both Cork City and County. In Kerry, the country council administered 

   each function until 1970. Then throughout the State eight health boards were established taking responsibility for both 

   health and social services for children. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                            49 


----------------------- Page 2560-----------------------

       Some 20 boys and girls appear to have been sent to Industrial Schools from the County 

       Home during the past few months. It is now the considered policy of the County Manager 

       to have children committed to Industrial Schools. There is therefore no point in asking that 

       any of the children mentioned in this report should be boarded-out with suitable foster- 

       parents.77 



On  the  other  hand,  because  of  the  falling  numbers  of  residents,  some  schools  notified  local 

authorities  that  they  were  looking  for  residents.  Thus,  the  Sisters  of  the  Poor  Clares  in  1959 

requested the Department of Health that St Joseph’s Industrial School, Cavan should be approved 

for the purposes of the reception of children under the Health Acts. They stated that their request 

had  been  prompted  by  the  fact  that  their  numbers  had  now  fallen  to  about  45  children  in  the 

Cavan  School  while  the  accommodation  was  for  100.  Following  approval,  the  Mother  Abbess 

wrote to various county councils explaining their new status: 



       You will I trust forgive my trespassing on your valuable time, but I feel you would like to 

       be informed of the progress of our orphanage attached to our convent, in which there are 

       a number of children from the county. Recently we have modernised the whole school. 

       On our staff we have now three sisters who are trained nurses. You will be interested to 

       know that we have expanded the scope of our social services. Our children, if they have 

       the ability, may now attend our secondary school as far as leaving certificate. We now 

       have the orphanage registered not only as an Industrial School, but also under the Health 

       Act. As a result we are able to accept children of any age. We can keep little boys from 

       infancy till about seven years and little girls from infancy till 16 or 18 years as the case 

       may be. I feel you will be interested particularly in the fact of our registration under the 

       Health Act. NA A122/75Section 47: Approval of St Clare’s Orphanage, Co Cavan. 



The judgment of Cussen78          in 1936, on the health authorities’ performance was that: 



       as a whole [they] would appear not to have sufficiently appreciated their responsibilities 

       under law in regard either to the schools or the children, and the evidence which we have 

       adduced indicated that they still display little interest in the work of the schools beyond 

       the payment of a weekly capitation grant. 



However,  O’Cinneide  and  Maguire’s  impression  is  more  favourable  (admittedly  in  respect  of 

particular areas). After examining the board of health and public assistance minutes for Birr and 

Offaly and Dublin for 1922-43, they write:79 



       These    children    were    sent   to  industrial   schools,    seemingly      as  a   last  resort,   when 

       accommodation in county homes and mother and baby homes became overcrowded and 

       suitable foster homes could not be found, or if a child was deemed unsuitable for boarding 

       out. These committals were usually effected at the behest of public assistance officers, 

       or at the request of the matrons of county or mother and baby homes. All requests for the 

       committal  of  children  had  to  be  approved  by  the  Board  of  Health  (later  the  County 

       Council), and often the Board sought the approval of the Minister for Local Government 

       and Public Health, particularly if they were unsure whether the proposed school was in 

       fact an ‘approved’ school. 



77 ‘There are over 80 children at present in the Children’s Home, Tuam. This is an increase of 33 1/3 per cent over last 



   year’s figures. The maintenance of this large number of children in the Home is a considerable drain on the resources 

   of the country and steps should be taken to reduce it by boarding out at an earlier age. This will not only cost less but 

   will be better for the children. When the agreement between the Health Board and the Children’s Home is due for 

   renewal, the age for boarding out should be fixed at not later than 3 years of age. F23, 506/40 (ab) 28 October, 

   1940.’ 

78 At para 27. 

79 ‘Childcare in Ireland: State Policy and Administration 1920s to 1960s’ The Sisters of Mercy Industrial Schools in 



   context, p 53. 



50                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2561-----------------------

      The procedures that prevailed in Dublin seem to have been unique in that when a relieving 

      officer, foster parent, or matron wished to have a child sent to an industrial school the 

      child was first brought into the workhouse for examination and assessment, and then sent 

      to the approved school. Although on the surface it seems to have been an onerous and 

      unwieldy process, this step was taken to ensure that children were fully inspected before 

      being sent to an approved school, and also that all other options for providing outside of 

      the industrial school had been explored. 



Before  the  establishment  of  social  workers  in  1970,  the  grades  of  staff  employed  in  placing 

children in care in a school or to board them out were: children officers, public health nurses or, 

in some cases superintendent assistance officers. None of these were trained in the specialised 

and difficult work of trying to bind up the wounds of a fractured family. From 1970, when the health 

boards were established and they employed social workers to deal with children in care, policy 

towards these children in care changed, and the social workers saw it as their duty to try to avoid 

breaking  up  the  family,  unless  there  was  no  alternative.  Where  there  was  no  alternative,  then 

boarding out was the preferred option. If social workers were driven to placing the children in an 

Industrial  School,  sometimes  because  there  were  next  to  no  short-term  refuges  for  children  in 

care, then they tried to ensure that it was a local school and visited him or her generally more 

often than the annual visit paid by Department of Education Inspectors. In some cases, they took 

a  closer  interest,  for  instance  encouraging  the  School  to  send  the  child  to  be  educated  at  an 

outside national school; or to allow them to go home at weekends, if home conditions permitted. 



Section 10: Population and entry figures, including geographical 

distribution 



Part 1: Population 



There  were  three  ways  by  which  a  child  might  enter  an  Industrial  School:  by  far  the  largest 

category  was  committals  through  the  court  (this  embraced  the  three  sub-categories:  needy, 

offenders; or School Attendance Act). The other two categories were sending by the local health 

authority or voluntary admission. In the case of Reformatories, effectively all the residents were 

committed by the courts. The figures presented in Table 1 cover the total population, that is the 

total number of residents, from all parts of the country in Industrial Schools at a particular time. 

(The time when schools filled up forms for transmission to the Department was originally 31st July 

and, after 1959, 30th June). 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                          51 


----------------------- Page 2562-----------------------

                    Table 1: Population of Reformatories and Industrial Schools 



      Year                                Industrial Schools                           Reformatory       Total 

                                                                                                         (Industrial 

                  Courts            Health           Voluntary        Total                              and Ref 

                  committals        authority                         Industrial                         Schools) 

                                                                      School 



  1937             6074             Not available    Not available    [6074]            122               6196 



  1938             6131                                               [6131]            150               6281 



  1939             6226                                               [6226]            201               6427 



  1940             6434                                               [6434]            226               6660 



  1941             6593                                               [6593]            248               6841 



  1942             6627                                               [6627]            262               6889 



  1943             6699                                               [6699]            280               6979 



  1944             6525                                               [6525]            288               6813 



  1945             6565                                               [6565]            273               6838 



  1946             6510             212              77                6799             237               7036 



  1947             6357             289              66                6712             232               6944 



  1948             6208             338              78                6624             251               6875 



  1949             6069             334              70                6473             233               6706 



  1950             5859             324              76                6259             222               6481 



  1951             5764             342              89                6195             218               6413 



  1952             5572             386              86                6044             206               6250 



  1953             5316             390               103              5809             192               6001 



  1954             4975             428               110              5513             167               5680 



  1955             4728             469              92                5289             179               5468 



  1956             4443             474               111              5028             209               5237 



  1957             4193             470               118              4781             222               5003 



  1958             4118             510               106              4734             216               4950 



  1959             3869             484              99                4452             221               4673 



  1960             3734             493               114              4341             234               4575 



  1961             3686             388              99                4173             218               4391 



  1962             3361             465               100              3926             162               4088 



  1963             3100             410               108              3618             157               3775 



  1964             2832             394               113              3339             149               3488 



  1965             2522             369               124              3015             131               3146 



  1966             2209             402               101              2712             158               2870 



  1967             1948             412              88                2448             160               2608 



  1968             1667             498              73                2238             128               2366 



  1969             1351             462              81                1894             110               2004 



  1970             1137             500               103              1740            86                 1826 



Sources: 1936-45: Figures were sourced from Department of Education annual reports. They do not give the 

numbers of those sent in by health authorities or the voluntary cases because these figures are not available 

from the Department of Health or anywhere else, for the 1937-45 period. Thus for these years the total figures 

given in the table have been put in square brackets. It should be noted that the numbers for the missing 

categories were always small compared to those committed by the courts, even after the sharp increase in the 

early 1950s. Thus it seems likely, so far as one can say, that, for the years in question, the total figures given 

only underestimate the correct figure by around 50. 



For the post-1945 period, figures were sourced from Department of Education files. 



Most of the same information may be presented in the form of a graph, as follows. 



52                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2563-----------------------

                                                  Graph 1 



For Industrial Schools, there was an increase to a peak of 6,800 in 1946 and then fairly steady 

decline in population from 6,000 to 1,500 during 1950-70, an average reduction of approximately 

250 per year. 



In case of Reformatories, with much lower figures, there is a reduction in the mid 1950s and then 

an increase during 1955-60 even above the original figures. Thereafter there was a steady decline. 



Part 2: Inflow through the courts 



The sets of figures just given show the ‘total population’ in the Industrial Schools. By contrast, the 

remainder of this section treats figures that are different in two respects. First, they deal only with 

those  committed  by  the  courts  (since  the  figures  for the  other  two  categories,  which  are  small 

anyway). Secondly, this measures not population, but the annual inflow of those committed to the 

Industrial Schools by the courts. The comparison between the population and inflow is as follows. 

The population of the schools for any particular year is the product of two distinct elements. 



        (1)   The inflow figures over the preceding years. 



        (2)   The length of time each child spent in a school. 



In the remainder of this section, we concentrate on the inflow figures. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                         53 


----------------------- Page 2564-----------------------

                      Table 2: Inflow into Industrial Schools and Reformatories 



                 Year                              Industrial School                        Reformatories 



  1937                                   1000                                     45 



  1938                                    985                                     71 



  1939                                   1040                                     126 



  1940                                   1125                                     125 



  1941                                   1066                                     99 



  1942                                   1004                                     105 



  1943                                   1032                                     154 



  1944                                    941                                     121 



  1945 



  1946                                    946                                     108 



  1947                                    883                                     98 



  1948                                    991                                     144 



  1949                                    779                                     92 



  1950                                    833                                     97 



  1951                                    770                                     104 



  1952                                    732                                     82 



  1953                                    626                                     82 



  1954                                    551                                     89 



  1955                                    542                                     66 



  1956                                    596                                     93 



  1957                                    572                                     110 



  1958                                    592                                     105 



  1959                                    623                                     125 



  1960                                    608                                     128 



  1961                                    671                                     131 



  1962                                    647                                     103 



  1963                                    611                                     84 



  1964                                    446                                     110 



  1965                                    439                                     85 



  1966                                    407                                     89 



  1967                                    275                                     104 



  1968                                    211                                     120 



  1969                                    162                                     103 



  1970                                    154                                     136 



  1971                                    241                                     63 



  1972                                    219                                     52 



  1973                                    165                                     29 



  1974                                    136                                     25 



  1975                                    139 



  1976                                    105 



Sources: Annual reports, Table N80 



80 Note: after the post-Kennedy reorganisation of 1970 Letterfrack, Clonmel and St Laurence’s, Finglas were included, 

   with Daingean, St Joseph’s and Kilmacud, as ‘special schools’; and distinguished from other former Industrial Schools 

   (which were shifted from the aegis of the Department of Education to Health. This was because these ‘Special 

   Schools’ received all offenders. However despite this shift, in order to be consistent we have, throughout, treated all 

   the residents in Letterfrack, Clonmel and St Laurence’s as Industrial School residents. 



54                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2565-----------------------

                        Graph 2: Inflow into Industrial Schools 



Source: Annual reports, Table N 



The total number of committals peaked during the 1937-43 period. During that period there were 

over 1,000 committals each year, except for 1938 when there were only 985. A fairly steep decline 

started in 1950 with an average committal of 644 per annum in the 1950s. Thereafter there was 

a rise until 1963 when they again started a steep decline reaching 191 by 1968 and averaging 

160, during the 1968-78 period. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                        55 


----------------------- Page 2566-----------------------

            Graph 3: Regional comparisons for inflow to Industrial Schools, 1936-59 



Here the data is presented not to show the raw figures, but the number of those committed, for 

every 100,000 of the 0-15 age cohort. The other feature here is that, the figures are related to the 

parts of the country from which the residents came. 



                                                     Graph 3 



Source: Annual reports of the Department, Table N. 



The annual reports gave regional data according to the location (county or county boroughs) in 

which a resident had their permanent home. 81  The county boroughs were Cork, Dublin, Limerick 



and Waterford (since Galway did not become a county borough until 1985). Unfortunately, as part 

of the ‘streamlining’ of the annual report, Table N ceased to be published and so our plot ceases 

in 1959. (The graphs appear to show an upward trend, as of 1959, for Dublin County Borough 

and the national figures. However we know, from the CICA survey (in the case of Dublin CB) and 

the annual reports, Table N, that what appears as an upward trend because the graphs end in 

1959, in fact was reversed as from 1963 (Dublin) and 1962 (National). 



Graph 3 shows a comparison of the annual committal rate (standarised in each county per 100,000 

of relevant age population) for: Dublin CB; the three other county boroughs (aggregate); the State 



81 The annual report Table O gives a regional breakdown for population (so too does Table 26 of Kennedy, which even 



   refers to Great Britain). 



56                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2567-----------------------

overall and finally, ‘rural areas’ (a broad term used, to embrace the State outside Dublin, Cork, 

Limerick and Waterford County Boroughs). 



It can be seen that the committal rate did decline for each of these groups over the period 1936- 

59. The rate for Dublin was consistently the highest in the country throughout the period. Indeed 

for the period 1937-78 there was a grand total of 25,000 committals nationally, of which 9,500 or 

38 percent came from the Dublin CB. To put this in context, the average census figure shows 24 

percent82  of the national age cohort living in the Dublin CB. The rate for the rural areas was less 



than  half this  rate.  The national  committal  rate  falls in  between  these two  rates,  as one  would 

expect, but closer to that of the rural areas. The committal rate in the three other county boroughs 

is closer to that of Dublin than the rest of the State. The rates for Dublin and the other county 

boroughs     are  more    variable   than  the   national  (or  other   counties)   rates  because     the  base 

population is smaller for these two groups. 



Graph 4 (below) is more detailed in that it shows the committal rates, for individual counties and 

county boroughs per head of population. The figures for the children committed are the percentage 

of the age cohort for each area. 



                                   Graph 4: Percentage of age cohort 



Graph 4 shows that with a few exceptions, for each county or county borough there was in most 

cases a steady reduction from 1936 to 1960. This is shown by the fact that the point for (say) 

County Roscommon for 1936 is above that for County Cork in1936 and so on down to 1961. 



One significant feature of the graph is that it shows whether a county or county borough held the 

same ranking (that is its relative position, in terms of committal per head of population) from one 

census to the other. The significance of this is that the counties and county boroughs have been 

ranked in descending order of the number of committals for each member of the age cohort, as 

one moves from left to right. Thus if, as occurs occasionally, the graphs were to cross, this would 

indicate that the county that had ‘risen’ against the next county had increased its ranking; in other 

words, it was committing more children per head of population, relative to the other county than 



82 This represents an average over the five years in which a census was taken (1936 22%, 1946 24%, 1951 23%, 1961 



   26%). 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              57 


----------------------- Page 2568-----------------------

had been the case in the earlier census. The main example of this is that the rate for 1946 for a 

number  of  counties  running  from  Kildare  to  Offaly  is  higher  than  that  for  the  same  counties  in 

1936-37.  Finally,  in  line  with  Graph  3,  Dublin  County  Borough  has  the  highest  rate  and  that 

Limerick, Waterford and (a few places later) Cork County Boroughs also have high rates. 



It was harder to see any other pattern in this graph. One may however, regard it as significant 

that there were no senior boys schools north of the Dublin–Galway line and only 11 out of about 

50 in any category. Bearing this in mind, one might expect to find some correlation between the 

average rank of a county and proximity to a school. The graph does give some support for the 

view that proximity to a school means that a child is more likely to be sent to a school. For instance 

Kerry (two girls and one senior boys) come in several positions above Donegal, Sligo (two girls) 

or Mayo (one girls); though otherwise the counties have a good deal in common, each being rural, 

impoverished and remote from Dublin. 



Part 3: Committals analysed by three sub-categories 



As mentioned already, there were three grounds on which the District Court could commit a child 

to a school: needy, offences, school attendance (truancy); and in this part, we present the annual 

figures for each of these three grounds. 



                                Table 3: National committal figures 



    Year        Needy      % of total       Off      % of total     School     % of total      Total 

                                                                  attendance 



  1937         841         84%          77           8%           82           8%           1000 



  1938         812         82%          68           7%           105          11%          985 



  1939         834         80%          67           6%           139          13%          1040 



  1940         868         77%          147          13%          110          10%          1125 



  1941         832         78%          112          11%          122          11%          1066 



  1942         769         77%          124          12%          111          11%          1004 



  1943         806         78%          100          10%          126          12%          1032 



  1944         732         78%          80           9%           129          14%          941 



  1945         778         82%          77           8%           91           10%          946 



  1946         788         83%          67           7%           91           10%          946 



  1947         762         86%          68           8%           53           6%           883 



  1948         809         82%          98           10%          84           8%           991 



  1949         653         84%          66           8%           60           8%           779 



  1950         718         86%          56           7%           59           7%           833 



  1951         636         83%          73           9%           61           8%           770 



  1952         607         83%          70           10%          55           8%           732 



  1953         511         82%          68           11%          47           8%           626 



  1954         462         84%          55           10%          34           6%           551 



  1955         451         83%          54           10%          37           7%           542 



  1956         488         82%          47           8%           61           10%          596 



  1957         478         84%          57           10%          37           6%           572 



  1958         473         80%          63           11%          56           9%           592 



58                                                                                 CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2569-----------------------

    Year       Needy      % of total      Off      % of total    School     % of total    Total 

                                                               attendance 



  1959        489         78%         72          12%          62          10%          623 



  1960        489         80%         50          8%           69          11%          608 



  1961        540         80%         69          10%          62          9%           671 



  1962        524         81%         79          12%          44          7%           647 



  1963        498         82%         68          11%          45          7%           611 



  1964        339         76%         70          16%          37          8%           446 



  1965        305         69%         100         23%          34          8%           439 



  1966        276         68%         93          23%          39          10%          408 



  1967        166         61%         78           29%         29          11%          273 



  1968        120         63%         69           36%         2           1%           191 



  1969        82          51%         65          40%          15          9%           162 



  1970        77          50%         54          35%          23          15%          154 



  1971        68          28%         156         65%          17          7%           241 



  1972        111         51%         87           40%         21          10%          219 



  1973        59          36%         74          45%          32          19%          165 



  1974        33          24%         72          53%          31          23%          136 



  1975        19          14%         99           71%         21          15%          139 



  1976        13          12%         74           70%         18          17%          105 



  1977        32          23%         77          55%          32          23%          141 



  1978       5            5%          80          73%          24          22%          109 



 Total       19353        77%         3280        13%          2407        10%         25040 



 Ave          461         67%         78          22%          57          11%          596 



Sources, Annual reports, 1937-40 (Table 35); 1941-59 (Table D); 1960-68 (Table C(ii)); 1969-70 (Table 3(ii)); 1971 



(Table 6); 1972-78 (Table 2) 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                              59 


----------------------- Page 2570-----------------------

                        Graph 5: National commitals: three sub-categories 



(1) Needy 



The great majority of those committed were from the category of needy children: as Cussen noted, 

in  1934  the  figure  was  as  high  as  90  percent.  Graph  5  and  Table  3  illustrate  that  the  needy 

category  continued  to  account  for  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  total  committals.  Between 

1937-64, the figure averaged 81 percent. Thereafter, during the 1964-78 period, it fell steadily to 

5 percent in 1978, with an average throughout this period of 40 percent 



60                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2571-----------------------

Regional comparisons: comparison between county borough and national figures 



                                Table 4: Needy committals 



       Year               CB             National          CB/NAT%         Ave CB/Nat % 



 1937              201               841               24% 



 1938              231               812               28% 



 1939              238               834               29% 



 1940              389               868               45% 



 1941              218               832               26% 



 1942              189               769               25% 



 1943              217               806               27% 



 1944              265               732               36% 



 1945              213               778               27% 



 1946              209               788               27%               1937-46: 29% 



 1947              261               762               34% 



 1948              240               809               30% 



 1949              198               653               30% 



 1950              170               718               24% 



 1951              171               655               26% 



 1952              207               607               34% 



 1953              140               511               27% 



 1954              125               462               27% 



 1955              156               462               34% 



 1956              141               488               29%               1947-56: 30% 



 1957              107               478               22% 



 1958              272               473               58% 



 1959              186               489               38% 



 1960              206               489               42% 



 1961              198               540               37% 



 1962              248               524               47% 



 1963              149               498               30% 



 1964              133               339               39% 



 1965              150               305               49% 



 1966              71                276               26%               1957-66: 39% 



 1967              20                168               12% 



 1968              9                 118               8% 



 1969              3                 82                4% 



 1970              2                 77                3% 



 1971              1                 68                1% 



 1972              3                 111               3% 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                      61 


----------------------- Page 2572-----------------------

        Year                  CB                 National            CB/NAT%            Ave CB/Nat % 



  1973                3                     59                   5% 



  1974                0                     33                   0% 



  1975                0                     19                   0% 



  1976                2                     13                   15%                  1967-76: 6% 



  1977                0                     32                   0% 



  1978                0                    5                     0% 



 Total                5942                 19383                 31% 



 Ave                  141                  462                   31% 



Sources: Annual reports, Table D (National Figures); CICA survey (Dublin County Borough) 



Table 4 shows that for the period 1937-56, the average committals, in the needy category, for the 

Dublin County Borough, were 204 or 29 percent of the national average of 697. Then during 1958- 

65,  there   was   a  significant increase   in  the  number    of  committals   from   the  Dublin   CB, 

complemented by a levelling off of the national figures. The increase for Dublin CB committals is 

odd considering that, at this time, the prosperity level was improving. In any case, the result was 

that the Dublin CB proportion for 1958-65 increased to 42 percent of the national average. But 

from 1966 on, there was an even steeper reduction in the Dublin than the national figures. 



                                     Graph 6: Needy commitals 



Graph 6 shows the population-adjusted committal rates for children in the needy category. 



62                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2573-----------------------

Provincial figures 



How do the provincial figures compare with Dublin County Borough trends? The overall picture 

(taking the total figures for all three sub-categories) provided by Graph 3 shows that, during 1936- 

58, those committed per head of relevant population from the rural areas were less than half those 

from Dublin CB. The Cork, Limerick and Waterford County Boroughs aggregate falls in between 

the two extremes but closer to Dublin CB. In an attempt to ascertain the position in regard to each 

of the three sub-categories (information not given in the annual reports), a survey of the following 

District  Court    areas:   Cork    County    Borough,     Rural   Galway,     Rural   Limerick,    Limerick    County 

Borough and County Carlow, was carried out. 



However, the records at the National Archives are incomplete83                  and it seemed to us, accordingly 



that it would not be helpful to publish all the figures we have collected. 



The following tentative observation can be made. Within Cork County Borough, approximately 2.5 

percent of the age cohort lived. During the period 1940-66 (the only period for which Cork County 

Borough figures were available) there was an annual average of 19 committals overall and 13 

committals on needy grounds compared with a national average for the same period, of 817 and 

664, respectively: in other words 2.3 percent and 2 percent, respectively. This is in line with the 

national trend, and thus rather below that for the county boroughs, though as noted at para 00, 

Cork County Borough was the lowest of the county boroughs. However, following the usual trend, 

the Cork figures were significantly reduced from 1958 onwards. 



Turning  to  the  rural  areas,  in  County  Limerick,  which  had  approximately  the  same  under  15 

population as Cork CB from 1933-62, there was an average of seven in the needy category; 0.3 

for school attendance and just 0.1 for offences. 



There were very few committals in County Carlow. In most of the years, indeed, there were none 

in any of the three categories, though quite suddenly one finds in 1948 24 committals ‘in the needy 

category’, presumably because of a change of District Justice. 



In short, in some of the provincial rates there may be an air of unreality because the concrete 

figures are so low. However, these figures are in line with what one would expect, namely in the 

rural areas, there seemed to have been relatively fewer in the needy category than in Dublin, and 

next to none in the other two categories. 



(2) Offenders 



The national figures for those committed because of an offence, having peaked in 1940 at 147, 

declined to 47 in 1956: see Table 3. After 1956 there was a slightly increasing trend for those 

committed because of an offence. During the period 1937-41, the average was 94 or 10 percent 

of the total committed. Then during the period 1942-55, the figures were 75 or 9 percent. Finally 

during the period, 1956-78 the figures increased to an average of 76. Because of the decline in 

total  figures  mentioned  earlier,  these  increases  meant  that  the  numbers  of  children  committed 

because of offences constituted an average of 33 percent of all committals, for the 1956-78 period. 



83 While the extant court records are supposed, by now, to have reached the National Archives we found that quite a 



   few of the annual minute books (for different court areas or districts) were missing from the Archives. Furthermore it 

   was difficult to calculate the varying age cohorts from which those committed would be drawn, in view of the fact that 

   this fluctuated depending on which record books were missing for which year. Again, with frequently sparse 

   populations, the raw figures are so low it would be difficult to see anything in the way of a trend. While the Cork 

   Borough material covered the 1940-66 period, four books were unavailable/missing and as a result we have no 

   figures for the years 1953,1954, 1955 and 1957. The Rural Galway material covers the entire period 1933-69 but only 

   in respect of five Court Areas. 

      Of the 10 district areas examined from the Rural Limerick area only five of them has books covering the entire 

  period 1933-69 and, as such, the analysis of the Rural Limerick figures should not extend beyond 1960. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                     63 


----------------------- Page 2574-----------------------

The next point is to compare the national committals and Dublin County Borough committals for 

offences. As can be seen from Graph 7, throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s the Dublin CB 

accounted for a majority of children committed to Industrial Schools. During 1937-78, 3200 were 

committed nationally for committing offences. Of this 1835, or 57 percent, came from Dublin CB, 

despite the fact that only approx 24 percent of the national age cohort lived in Dublin CB. A more 

precise version of this comparison is given in Graph 7 in which the annual figures are related to 

the under – 15 age populations of the Dublin CB and, of the nation. 



                                                 Graph 7 



Graph 7 shows that national committal rate in the offences group appears to be broadly constant 

(between  10  to  15  per  100,000  population  per  year).  On  the  other  hand,  the  Dublin  County 

Borough rates appear to have a cyclical trend, with peaks around 1940 and the mid 1960’s. 



Provincial figures 



Of the provincial courts that were surveyed, only Cork CB sent or committed on the grounds of 

offences a number of children that was in any way proportionate to the number to be expected, 

in  the  light of  the  national  figures. In  Rural  Limerick,  Rural Galway  and  County  Cavan, for  the 

several  of  the  years  we  surveyed,  there  were  no  committals  for  offences.  In  Limerick  County 

Borough (admittedly only for the period 1945-53 and 1959-62), the total was six. For Cork County 

Borough,  on  the  other  hand,  the  total  was  95  for  the  period  1940-66.  These  figures,  should 

however, be treated with caution because of the great likelihood that a rural court would prefer to 

categorise the child as needy rather than an offender. However they do tend to confirm what is 

anyway not controversial, namely that fewer children per head of population, were committed for 

offences, in the rural areas. 



64                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2575-----------------------

Reformatories and Industrial Schools 



The figures set out below are for Reformatories together with those for Industrial Schools (offender 

sub-category only) since those committed to Reformatories were all offenders. 



           Graph 8: Industrial Schools (offences) and Reformatories: national figures 



Source: Annual Department reports 



Taking  the  period  1939–51,  an  average  of  114  young  offenders  were  committed  each  year  to 

Reformatories.  During  1952-56,  there  was  a  reduced  number  of  82.  Thereafter  the  numbers 

increased to an average, for the 1964-70 period, of 110. 



The trajectory of Reformatory committals very approximately tracks that of the figures for those 

committed  to  Industrial  Schools  under  the  offences  sub-category.  The  plot  shows  that  each  is 

cyclical; though the number of committals to Reformatories is higher. The numbers for Industrial 

Schools peak at around 1940 and 1970, while committal numbers to Reformatory School appear 

to peak around 1943 and also around 1960 and 1970. One should not compare the sizes of the 

groups sent to Reformatories and Industrial Schools (offences category) directly since they are 

drawn from largely different, though adjacent, elements of the population: roughly speaking the 

Reformatory residents were usually above 15 at the time of conviction and the Industrial School 

residents were usually below.84         However the similarity in trajectory noted earlier is to be expected 



84 In practice there was only slight overlap between the categories of offender who could be committed to a Reformatory 



   or Industrial School, in view of the fact that by law it was not open to courts to send an offender above 14 to an 

   Industrial School. And in practice, save for the most hardened offender, those aged 15 or below were invariably sent 

   to an Industrial School. Moreover at the upper level an offender could be sent to a Reformatory up to the age of 17. 

   Nevertheless, the trends were likely to be similar. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                      65 


----------------------- Page 2576-----------------------

since any increase in juvenile crime would naturally affect those in adjacent or overlapping age 



          85 

groups. 



As for geographic origin of residents in Reformatories, only figures for 196886  are available. These 



show that out of a population of boys (in Daingean) of 103, 46 were from Dublin County Corough 

or  County.  For  girls  (at  St  Josephs  in  Limerick  and  St  Anne’s  in  Kilmacud)  the  corresponding 

figures  were  11  out  of  38.  In  other  words,  44  percent  of  the  boys  and  29  percent  of  the  girls 

respectively were from Dublin; whereas on the basis of the population the figures should have 

been 27 percent. A less substantial fraction – 28 percent and 13 percent of the boys and girls, 

respectively – came from Cork, Limerick or Waterford county boroughs or counties; in comparison, 

the general under-15 population for these county boroughs and counties was 19 percent. 



(3) School attendance 



The remaining category is school attendance offences (SAO). The following plot shows that here, 

too, there was a disproportionate number of committals from Dublin County Borough. 



                                  Graph 9: School attendance committals 



Sources: Annual reports, Table D (National Figures); CICA survey (Dublin CB) 



85 To take another comparison, one might also expect juvenile crime to be moving in the same direction and at the 



   same pace as adult crime. However the salient feature of adult crime figures for indictable offences show that a crime 

   wave did not really start until the second half of the 1960s, moving from 15,000 to 30,000 between 1960-70. This 

   increase is to some extent reflected in both the Industrial School (offences) and Reformatory committal figures 

86 Kennedy Report, Table 26, which aggregates the county and county borough figures. 



66                                                                                                CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2577-----------------------

The figures for SAO declined from an average annual figure of 66 during 1937-69 to 24, during 

1970-78. The proportion for those committed under this head, during 1937-69 averaged 9 percent 

of total committals. During 1970-78 because the total figures were declining so steeply during this 

period, the proportion of school attendance committals increased to 17 percent. 



The regional feature, which jumps  out of Graph 9, is that, as with  offences, a disproportionate 

number of committals came from Dublin County Borough. National committal rates start around 

15 per 100,000 per year in 1937 and show a slow decline over the years. By contrast Dublin CB 

figures start around 75 per 100,000 per year in 1937, which is about five times the national rate. 

The Dublin CB figures show a steady decline over the years to about 15 per 100000 per year in 

1978, by which time, the figure is much closer to the national rate, but still higher. For the entire 

period, 1937-78, 76 percent of the committals were from the Dublin Metropolitan Court, despite the 

fact that to take an average over the period, 24 percent of the age cohort lived within its jurisdiction. 



This conclusion is confirmed from the opposite direction, by our findings from the limited number 

of provincial courts whose figures we have surveyed: for instance, for the period 1933–69 there 

were only 11 SA committals in rural Limerick. 



Note on sources and methodology 



In the first place, the figures and information in the Department of Education annual reports and 

also the Kennedy Report have been drawn on. The information available from these sources is 

limited. Some interviews were conducted with retired District Court Justices or clerks who held 

office in the 1970s or earlier; but again there are not all that many such interviewees still available. 



A comprehensive survey of the minute books of the Dublin Metropolitan Court,87  which are still to 



be found in the Court House was made. However, the facts given for each committal are extremely 

bare; usually only the name and address of the child and the statutory provision under which they 

were committed. 



At  some  points  in  the  present  section,  figures  taken  from  the  CICA  survey  on  Dublin  were 

compared with the national figures taken from the Department of Education annual reports. This 

cannot be an exact comparison because the under-mentioned differences between the two sets 

of figures needs to be taken into account. However, once these possibilities are borne in mind, it 

is useful to publish these figures since the errors are likely to be small scale; and the figures do 

illustrate trends over time. 



         (1)   The CICA figures were based on the Dublin Metropolitan Police District; whereas the 

               population figures, taken at each census, were based on the Dublin County Borough. 

              The difficulty is that while there was a very large overlap between the two in terms of 

              the  territory  and  population  embraced,  some  areas  of  the  DMD  were  outside  the 

              corporation borders and (to a much less extent) vice versa. Moreover while there was 

               no change in the physical boundaries of the two, until 198288, there was significant 



               population movement. The Central Statistics Office have advised that, for instance in 

               1946,  the  net  difference  was  that  the  general  population  (the  under-15  age  cohort 

               reflects this) of the DMD was larger than the CB by about 10 percent: 550,000 in DMD 

              and 506,000 in Dublin CB,. Now Dun Laoghaire would account for 48,000, but there 

              are other smaller areas which would affect the issue. 



              The suggestion simply to increase by 10 percent the population out of which came the 

              children sent to the schools is too simple, because the socio-economic groups living 



87 Most of this work was done with great care by Ms Kate Earley, solicitor. 

88 Compare map establishing the jurisdiction of the Police District in SI No 279 of 1945 with SI Nos 5 and 6 of 1971 and 



   SI No 300 of 1982. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                 67 


----------------------- Page 2578-----------------------

              in  the  areas  outside  the  County  Borough  but  in  the  DMD  (such  as  Dun  Laoghaire; 

              population     =   48,000)     would    be   much     higher.    Consequently,       we    assume      that 

              disproportionately fewer of the offspring would have been committed to the schools: it 

              was not possible because of resources to check the address of each child sent from 

              the  DMD  area  to  an  Industrial  School.  However,  the  addresses  of  those  committed 

              came overwhelmingly from inner city addresses. 



              In the light of this, the correct adjustment would be to keep population figure at that of 

              the County Borough, but to make a small adjustment (much less than 10 percent) in 

              the   numbers      of  children    committed.     Without     a  way    of  knowing     how    much     the 

              adjustment would be, the figures were left as they are, at the inevitable loss of making 

              the figures for Dublin MD committals very slightly greater than they ought to be. 



         (2)   The Dublin County Borough figures were measured at a different stage of the cycle 

               from  the  national  figures.  Specifically,  they  were  collected  from  the  minute  books 

               compiled by District Court clerks immediately after the case. By contrast, the annual 

               report figures were taken from returns made to the Department, by each school at the 

               end of the year, that is every 30th June or, later, 31st July. 



              During  this  ‘gap’,  there  would  be  some  danger  of leakage  in  the  sense  that  a  child 

              could be the subject of a committal order, yet no longer be in school at the time when 

              the annual return was taken. One way in which this might happen would be if there 

              were  a  successful  Circuit  Court  appeal  against  committal.  The  figures  used  were 

              collected from the District Court record books and the Circuit Courts records were not 

              available.  Thus,  the  figures  do  not  allow  for  the  fact  that  there  may  have  been  a 

              successful appeal to the Circuit Court so that at the end of the day, the juvenile offender 

              against  whom  a committal  order  was  made did  not  in  fact go  to  a  school. Such  an 

              appeal would be more likely in the case of a child or young person committed for an 

              offence  or  SAO  and  least  likely  in  the  case where  a  child  was  committed  for  being 

              ‘needy’. An appeal would probably be less unlikely in Dublin than the provinces and 

              definitely  more  likely  later  than  earlier  in  our  period.  However  even  during  the  later 

              (1960s) period this was a time when lawyers and legal knowledge was slight. There is 

              no evidence to suggest that there were sufficient successful appeals to invalidate our 

              broad conclusion.89 



              A second way in which a child, the subject of a committal order, might not be in the 

              school by the time of the annual return would be if the Minister had exercised his power 

              of early discharge. Again, there would be only a small number in this category. 



89 According to a solicitor who started a criminal practice in 1959, there was, starting in the 1960s, a possibility of 



   appeals but only from criminal offences and truancy. Also, in criminal cases there was a culture of being legally 

   represented with, free legal aid, a fee of 3 or 4 guineas; by a very inexperienced lawyer. Even if unrepresented, 

   parents would ask the District Court clerk, and would be informed of the possibility of appeal to Circuit Court. A 

   reasonable number would appeal and perhaps the success rate might be of the order of a half. These appeals were 

   taken seriously by the Circuit Court as a period of two years’ committal was regarded as serious. The Circuit Court 

   would often have made numerous adjournments and, then if the circumstances had changed or no further crimes 

   committed, the order might be changed to the Probation Act. But this would only affect the figures for the 1960s. 



68                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2579-----------------------

Appendix 1: Period of committal 



(I) Average periods of committal in Dublin Metropolitan District Court, 1934-75 



The figures in Table B1 are for the Dublin Metropolitan District only. 



                                             Table B1 



          Year                    Needy                      Sa                       Off 



  1934                    6.8                      3.4                      3.1 



  1935                    7.8                      1.6                      3.1 



  1936                    8.3                      1.9                      3.9 



  1937                    8.4                      3.8                      4.6 



  1938                    7.1                      4.3                      4.2 



  1939                    8.3                      4.5                      4.2 



  1940                    8.2                      4.5                      4 



  1941                    8.9                      3.9                      4.3 



  1942                    8                        4.3                      4.3 



  1943                    8.3                      4.4                      3.2 



  1944                    8                        4.5                      4 



  1945                    8.4                      4.2                      4.2 



  1946                    8.4                      4.6                      3.7 



  1947                    9.5                      4                        3.5 



  1948                    9.2                      4.5                      4.8 



  1949                    9.8                      3.9                      3.5 



  1950                    9.4                      4.8                      3.3 



  1951                    8.1                      5                        3.7 



  1952                    7.7                      5.2                      4 



  1953                    8                        5.3                      3.8 



  1954                    8.4                      4.5                      3.2 



  1955                    6.8                      4.2                      3 



  1956                    6                        6.3                      4.3 



  1957                    5.7                      4.5                      2.4 



  1958                    5.3                      4.2                      3.7 



  1959                    5.7                      4.7                      3.5 



  1960                    3.2                      3.5                      3.3 



  1961                    6.8                      3                        3 



  1962                    5.5                      3.7                      3 



  1963                    6.5                      2                        2.9 



  1964                    4.2                      2                        1.5 



  1965                    5.5                      1.1                      1.5 



  1966                    4                        1.7                      1.5 



  1967                    4.8                      2.5                      1.8 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                               69 


----------------------- Page 2580-----------------------

            Year                        Needy                           Sa                           Off 



 1968                         3.6                           1.8                          1.3 



 1969                          1                            2.1                          1.4 



 1970                         3.5                           1.9                          1.7 



 1971                         3                             2.5                          2 



 1972                          1                            1.9                          2.5 



 1973                         N/A                           1                            1 



 1974                         N/A                           1                            1.5 



 1975                          1                            1                            1.5 



 AVE                          6                             3                            3 



The table shows that, since the age of those who were committed for the offences category was 

the highest, the average period for which they were committed was shorter. At the other extreme. 

In the needy category some of those committed were mere infants and the average age, at the 

time of committal, was much lower than for offences. The ages of the children committed for non- 

school  attendance  fell  between  those  for  the  other  categories.  At  a  certain  point,  there  was  a 

watershed – decline in the period for which the children were committed. The date of this decline 

varied  according  to  the  different  categories.  The  date  was  1955  (in  the  case  of  the  needy 

category); 1964 (offences); and 1960 (school attendance). In the needy category, there appears 

to be an increase in sentence in 1970 but the 1970–75 figures are less significant,because the 

actual number of cases were so very few. 



(II) National figures, 1951-60 



These figures were compiled by a survey undertaken in December 2005 – January 2006, by Mr 

Jimmy  Maloney  a  HEO  in  the  Department  of  Education.  The  statistical  information  was  drawn 

primarily  from  the 4,102  entries  contained  in the  Departmental  journal  entitled ‘Applications  for 

Early  Discharge  1951-60  –  DJ11’.90        The  primary  purpose  of  the  survey  was  to  examine  the 



operation of the Minister’s power of early discharge. However this survey also collected the dates 

of committal for each resident and this data has been used to deduce the period for which these 

children were committed. Necessarily, many of these particular children were in fact released early 

by the Minister; but here we focus on the earlier stage of computing the period for which the child 

was initially committed not that which was actually served. The use of these figures is predicated 

on the assumption that those who applied for early discharge represented a fair sample of the 

entire population. 



90 The grounds for committal statistical information and the age profile statistical information is also sourced from the 



   Department’s electronic access database of former residents, which provides, where available, details of the grounds 

   by which a child was committed to a school, dates of birth and dates of committal of the 4,102 residents detailed in 

   the journal DJ11. 



70                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2581-----------------------

                  Table B2: Industrial Schools – average period of committal 



           Year                     Needy                       SA                     Offences 



  1951                     8.3                       4.5                        4.1 



  1952                     8.7                       4.3                        4.5 



  1953                     9.2                       4.3                        3.9 



  1954                     8.9                       4.4                        3.6 



  1955                     9.2                       4.6                        4.3 



  1956                     9.5                       3.6                        4.3 



  1957                     9.3                       4.6                        4.3 



  1958                     9.1                       4.7                        4.4 



  1959                     8.3                       3.6                        4.2 



  1960                     7.6                       4.2                        3.8 



 Total                     88.1                      42.8                       41.4 



 Average                   8.8                       4.2                        4.1 



(The average figures are weighted by reference to the fact that the great majority of the committals 

was in the needy category) 



(III) National figures in 1940s 



A  similar  though  not  identical  survey  was  carried  out  by  Mr  Maloney  (of  the  Department  of 

Education) of the school populations in 1940s. Specifically, he surveyed the figures for 19 percent 

of the Industrial School residents and 25 percent of Reformatory School residents, as of 31st July 

1945 (the date for which the Department’s annual report was compiled). This survey then was 

drawn from the entire population as of this date. In addition the unit carried out an analysis of all 

residents admitted to Industrial and Reformatory Schools who were committed by a court order 

made during the period August 1942 – July 1943, August 1946 – July 1947 and August 1950 – 

July 1951. The average age results for all four of these analyses are detailed in Table B3. 



                              Table B3: Average period of committal 



                                    Overall average            Needy            SA          Offences 

                                        period 



 All admissions between 1st   7                            7.8             4.3            3.5 

 Aug 1942 & 31st July 1943 



 19% sample of children in    7.8                          8.3             4.5            3.8 

 residence on 31st July 

  1945 



 All admissions between 1st   7.8                          8.4             4              3.3 

 Aug 1946 & 31st July 1947 



 All admissions between 1st   8.4                          9.1             4.8            3.7 

 Aug 1950 & 31st July 1951 



 Average                      7.75                         8.4             4.43           3.6 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                     71 


----------------------- Page 2582-----------------------

Appendix 3: Figures on early release 



Unless the contrary is stated, the figures in this Part are drawn from information compiled for a 

survey, undertaken for CICA in December 2005 – January 2006, by Mr Jimmy Maloney of the 

Department     of  Education.    The   statistical information   was   primarily  from   the  4,102   entries 

contained in the departmental journal entitled ‘Applications for Discharge 1951–60 – DJ11’. (The 

grounds  for  committal  statistical  information  and  the  age  profile  statistical  information  is  also 

sourced from the Department’s electronic access database of former residents which provides, 

where available, details of the grounds by which a child was committed to a school, dates of birth 

and dates of committal of the 4,102 residents detailed in the journal DJ11.) The Department of 

Education has also supplied figures for those applications which were withdrawn and for which 

there  was  no  record  of  decision.  But  we  have  thought  it  best  to  ignore  these  relatively  small 

categories and not to count them among the figures for either application or detention. 



     Table C1: Length of time by which the committal period to Industrial Schools was 

                                                  reduced 



        Year              Total schools       Number applying            Number          Success rate 

                           population                                  successful 



  1951                  6195                  259                   145                  56% 



  1952                  6044                  322                   170                  53% 



  1953                  5809                  386                   219                  57% 



  1954                  5513                  366                   234                  64% 



  1955                  5289                  332                   233                  70% 



  1956                  5028                  336                   274                  82% 



  1957                  4781                  338                   299                  88% 



  1958                  4734                  315                   236                  75% 



  1959                  4452                  344                   289                  84% 



  1960                  4341                  180                   158                  88% 



 Total                 51996                 3178                  2257                  71% 



 Ave                    5200                 317.8                 225.7                 71.7 



Note: These figures do not distinguish according to the ground of committal of the residents who 

applied for early discharge. 



(From another source, we know that for the earlier period 1943-50, the number of applications 

averaged 439 which was an equivalent of 7 percent of the then population.) 



Table C1, which gives a single figure for all categories shows that there were a significant number 

of successful applications (the breakdown by category is given at Table C2) an average of 226. 

This represented 72 percent of those who applied and was the equivalent of 4.3 percent of the 

entire population. One should also relate the numbers of applicants to the school population for 

that year; though when this  is done, one can see that the percentage  of application increased 

fairly steadily through the 1950s 



Of the total of 3,178 applications 2,257 were approved and 921 refused. Applications were at a 

peak  in  1957.  This  feature  is  brought  out  by  the  column  showing  the  increasing  fraction  of 

successful  applications  compared  to  the  schools  population.  The  shows  the  full  impact  of  the 

Doyle judgement in December 1955 (regarding early discharge of residents committed for SAO. 



72                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2583-----------------------

also apparent in terms of the numbers approved, during 1957, when there were 338 applications 

of which 299 were approved with just 39 refusals). 



Throughout the 1950s, the number of applications approved increased despite the fact that the 

Industrial  School  population  was  falling  steadily.  This  was  presumably  in  line  with  the  general 

improvement  in  economic  and  social  conditions  in  the  country  over  the  course  of  the  decade. 

There  were,  however,  notable  exceptions.  Figures  not  presented  here  but  as  supplied  by  Mr 

Maloney show Artane and Letterfrack for boys and Goldenbridge for girls standing out, in terms 

of  the  high  percentage  of  refusals.  This  is  perhaps  because  of  the  influence  of  the  Resident 

Manager’s recommendation on the Department’s decision. 



The  following  tables  show  the  figures  for  early  discharge  related  to  each  particular  ground  for 

entry to the schools. 



                 Table C2: Early discharge by reference to individual categories 



    Industrial Schools 



 School attendance                                          Offences 



 Year         Approved     Detained     Ratio approved      Year         Approved     Detained     Ratio 

                                                                                                   approved 



  1951        11           9            55%                 1951         11           13           46% 



  1952        5            15           25%                 1952         6            25           19% 



  1953        11           13           46%                 1953         8            14           36% 



  1954        13           15           46%                 1954         15           20           43% 



  1955        17           9            65%                 1955         14           15           48% 



  1956        19           4            83%                 1956         15           9            63% 



  1957        26           3            90%                 1957         19           9            68% 



  1958        21           8            72%                 1958         20           17           54% 



  1959        30           6            83%                 1959         26           21           55% 



  1960        11           3            79%                 1960         9            8            53% 



 Total         164         85           66%                 Total        143          151          49% 



 Needy                                                      No Grounds stated 



 Year         Approved     Detained     Ratio approved      Year         Approved     Detained     Ratio 

                                                                                                   approved 



  1951         117         79           60%                 1951         6            13           32% 



  1952         140         105          57%                 1952         19           7            73% 



  1953         177         131          57%                 1953         23           9            72% 



  1954         192         87           69%                 1954         14           10           58% 



  1955         183         73           71%                 1955         19           2            90% 



  1956         230         43           84%                 1956         10           2            83% 



  1957         226         25           90%                 1957         28           2            93% 



  1958         171         50           77%                 1958         24           4            86% 



  1959         207         26           89%                 1959         26           2            93% 



  1960         119         11           92%                 1960         19           0            100% 



 Total        1762         630          74%                 Total        188          51           79% 



Sources: Records from DJ11, commencing in July 1951 and ending July 1960 



These tables show that, even when related to the population in each category of entry, there were 

more  applications  on  the  needy  ground  than  either  of  the  other  two  categories.  Moreover,  the 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                           73 


----------------------- Page 2584-----------------------

success rate was also higher on the needy ground. This is to be expected given the fact that a 

change in family circumstances would be likely to have more impact. 



Average reduction in committal period: reduction in length of sentence 



For   those   who    were   successful,    by  how    much    did  early   discharge    reduce    their  stay  in  an 

Industrial School? 



                                        Period by which the committal period was reduced. 



 Year                    All categories         SA                      Offences               Needy 



   1951                  5                       2.4                    1.8                     5.6 



   1952                  3.9                     1.6                    1.3                     4.1 



   1953                  4.6                     1.7                    1                       4.9 



   1954                  4.8                     1.3                    1.5                     5.3 



   1955                  5                       1.8                    1.9                     5.5 



   1956                  5                       1.6                    1.9                     5.5 



   1957                  5.5                     1.8                    1.3                     6.1 



   1958                  5.3                     1.6                    1.4                     6.2 



   1959                  4.9                     1.6                    0.9                     5.8 



   1960                  5.3                     1.5                    1.4                    6 



 Total                   49.3                   16.9                    14.4                   55 



                         4.9                     1.6                    1.4                     5.5 



The table shows that for those applicants who were successful, the periods by which the committal 

period was reduced averaged nearly five years (this being an average across the sub-categories 

SA,  offences  and  needy,  which  is  weighted  to  reflect  the  fact  that  the  majority  of  successful 

applications were from the needy category91). 



One may see these figures in the perspective of two others. First, the average period for which 

children were committed during the 1950s was about seven years (depending on the category); 

secondly, only 4.3 percent of the population was successful in securing this reduction. 



91 We have also figures for the unsuccessful ones and these show that those residents whose applications for early 



   discharge was approved, had, on average, a few months longer in their committal periods than the unsuccessful 

   applicants. Thus it cannot be contended that the Minister preferred to release applicants who were closer to the end 

   of their committal period. 



74                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2585-----------------------

Reformatories 



The above statistics concern Industrial Schools. The position regarding Reformatories was very 

different. Not only was their population much smaller. In addition, young offenders were committed 

by the courts for a relatively short period, compared to other categories of offender so the vast 

majority of applications were turned down. There were relatively few applications, and the success 

rate, for Reformatories at an average of 24 percent was much lower than for Industrial Schools. 



          Year                  Approved                 Detained              Ratio approved 



  1951                    4                        19                      17% 



  1952                    3                        26                      10% 



  1953                    7                        22                      24% 



  1954                    6                        33                      15% 



  1955                    10                       23                      30% 



  1956                    6                        27                      18% 



  1957                    17                       32                      35% 



  1958                    13                       34                      28% 



  1959                    13                       36                      27% 



  1960                    7                        23                      23% 



 Total                    86                      275                      24% 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                               75 


----------------------- Page 2586-----------------------

Numerical tables and comments 



76                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2587-----------------------

          Chapter 3 



          The psychological adjustment of 

          adult survivors of institutional abuse 

          in Ireland Report submitted to the 

          Commission to Inquire into Child 

          Abuse1 



          Executive summary 



3.01      The present report describes a research project which was commissioned by the Commission to 

          Inquire into Child Abuse (hereafter referred to as CICA). 



3.02      In 2005 and 2006, 247 adult survivors of institutional abuse in industrial and reformatory schools 

          recruited  through  CICA  were  interviewed.  Other  witnesses  to  the  Commission  who  reported 

          institutional  abuse  in  other  institutions  and  out-of-home  care  settings  were  not  included  in  this 

          study. There were approximately equal numbers of men and women who were about 60 years of 

          age, and who had entered institutions run by nuns or religious brothers due to family adversity or 

          petty criminality. 



3.03      Participants  had  spent,  on  average,  about   5  years  living with  their families before  entering 

          institutions and about 10 years living in institutions. More than 90% had experienced institutional 

          physical and emotional child abuse and about half, institutional child sexual abuse. Just over a 

          third of those who had memories of having lived with their families reported family-based child 

          abuse or neglect. 



3.04      All participants had experienced one or more significant life problems with mental health problems, 

          unemployment and substance use being the most common. More than four fifths of participants 

          had  an  insecure  adult  attachment  style,  indicative  of  having  problems  making  and  maintaining 

          satisfying intimate relationships. 



3.05      About four fifths of participants at some point in their life had had a psychological disorder including 

          anxiety,  mood,   substance   use  and   personality  disorders. The   overall rates  of psychological 

          disorders among survivors of institutional living, for most disorders, were double those found in 

          normal community populations in Europe and North America. 



3.06      Participants  with  multiple  co-morbid  psychological  disorders  had  experienced  more  institutional 

          abuse and showed poorer adult psychological adjustment than those with fewer disorders. Those 

          with no diagnoses were the best adjusted as adults.  Subgroups selected by specific diagnosis 

          showed an intermediate level of adult psychological adjustment between these extremes. 



3.07      In the analysis of groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions 

          and  entered  under  different  circumstances,  the  most  poorly  adjusted  as  adults  were  not  those 



          1 Professor Alan Carr, PhD, Professor Alan Carr, PhD. June 2006 (revised for minor inaccuracies in December 2008). 



          CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                    77 


----------------------- Page 2588-----------------------

          who had spent longest living in institutions (more than 12 years), but rather, those who had spent 

           less  time  in  institutions  (under  11  years),  entered  institutions  through  the  courts  and  reported 

           institutional sexual abuse, in addition to physical abuse within their families. 



3.08      The psychological processes of traumatization and re-enactment of abuse on self and others were 

           associated with multiple difficulties in adult life and a history of institutional abuse, but not family- 

           based child abuse. 



3.09       Having  spent  more  time  living  within  a  family  context  in  childhood  and  using  positive  coping 

           strategies  such   as  planning,   developing   skills and   developing    a  social  support   network   in 

           adulthood were associated with a good quality of life. 



3.10      This study  had three main  limitations: (1)  there was a  high exclusion rate  and a  low response 

           rate; (2) there was no control group; and (3) the study used a crossectional, not a longitudinal 

           design. There were also three strengths: (1) it was the largest study of its kind conducted to date; 

           (2) an extensive reliable and valid interview protocol was used; (3) interviews were conducted by 

           qualified psychologists. These  strengths and weaknesses allow  confidence to be placed  in the 

           associations   found   between    indices  of  childhood   institutional  abuse   and   adult  adjustment. 

           However, they limit the strength with which causal statements may be made about institutional 

           abuse and adult adjustment. They also limit the confidence with which statements may be made 

           about the generalizability of the findings. Our informed judgement, in which we have a moderate 

           degree of confidence, is that the abusive experiences caused the adult adjustment problems. But 

           of course, we are cautious about making a definitive statement in this regard. 



3.11      The  first  recommendation      is  that  legislation,  policies,  practices  and procedures  be  regularly 

           reviewed and revised to maximize protection of children and adolescents in institutional care in 

           Ireland from all forms of abuse and neglect. 



3.12      The second recommendation is that evidence-based psychological treatment continue to be made 

           available to adult survivors of Irish institutional abuse. 



3.13      The third recommendation is that staff at centres which provide psychological treatment for adult 

           survivors of Irish institutional abuse have regular continuing professional education and training 

          to keep  them abreast of developments  in the field  of evidence-based treatment of  survivors of 

           childhood trauma. 



3.14      The   fourth  recommendation      is that  research   be  conducted    to  evaluate   the  effectiveness   of 

           psychological treatment for adult survivors of institutional abuse. 



          Acknowledgments 



3.15      This project involved the co-operation of a large number of people. Thanks to all who contributed. 

           Some deserve special mention. 



3.16      Thanks to Christine Buckley at Aisling in Dublin for her advice and support. Thanks to colleagues 

           at interview venues in Ireland and the UK for generously offering their premises as interview sites: 

           Mr. Philip Moore, Director of Counselling, Harbour Counselling Service, Penrose Quay, Cork; Mr. 

           Noel Barry, Right of Place, Lower Glanmire Road, Cork; the London-Irish Centre, Camden Square, 

           London;  Professor  Peter  McGeorge,  School  of  Psychology,  University  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland; 

           Professor Penny Renwick, Director of School of Health, Psychology and Social Care, Manchester 

           Metropolitan University, UK; Professor David Shanks Department of Psychology, UCL, London, 

           UK. 



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3.17       Thanks  to  directors  of  counselling  services  in  Ireland  and  the  UK  for  provision  of  support  for 

           participants  requiring  counselling: Ms.  Isolde  Blau,  Director  of  Counselling, Laragh  Counselling 

           Service,   Dublin;  Ms.   Rachel    Mooney,    Director   of Counselling,    AVOCA      Counselling    Service, 

           Dublin; Ms. Marion Rackard, Director of Counselling, Alba Counselling Service, Newbridge, Co. 

           Kildare;  Ms.  Theresa  Flacke,  Director  of  Counselling,  Woodquay  Centre  Counselling  Service, 

           Galway; Ms. Noreen Harrington, Director of Counselling, Limerick; Mr. Philip Moore, Director of 

           Counselling, Harbour Counselling Service, Cork; Ms. Fiona Ward, Director of Counselling, Rian 

           Counselling    Service,   Meath.    Mr.  Gerard    O'Neill,  Director   of  Counselling,    COMHAR,       Adult 

           Counselling  Service,  Waterford;  Mr.  Tom  McGrath,  Director  of  Counselling,  Sligo;  and  ICAP 

           Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy, London and Birmingham. 



3.18       Thanks  to  the  interviewing  team  for  the  ethical  and  sensitive  way  in  which  they  conducted 

           demanding      interviews:   Carmel    Howard,    HDipPsych;      Susan    Gavin,   BA;   Philomena     Crotty, 

           HDipPsych; Anne Donnelan, HDipPsych; Tara Davis, MLitt; Aongus McGrane, HDipPsych; Mimi 

           Tatlow,   HDipPsych;     Dervalla    Mannion,    HDipPsych;      Barbara    Hernon,    BA;   Maria   Mannion, 

           HDipPsych;  Su  Yin  Yap,  BA;  Eimear  McMahon,  HDipPsych;  Aoife  McCann,  HDipPsych;  Evita 

           O’Malley, HDipPsych; Mairead Dowling, HDipPsych; Marie McGrath, BA; Mary Keating, BA; Eoin 

           O’Connell, MLitt; Faye Scanlan, BA; Lynsey O’Keeffe, BA; Elaine Smith, PhD; Lucy Smith, MA; 

           Brid O’Donoghue, BA; and Julie Grace, BA. 



3.19       Thanks to the interview co-odinating team for careful scheduling of all interviews in Ireland and 

           the  UK:  Megan  White,  BA  and  Kevin  Tierney,  BA.  Thanks  to  the  data  analysis  team  Roisin 

                                                                                                                         ´ 

           Flanagan, MSc; Mark Fitzpatrick, MSc; Edel Flanagan, MSc; and also to Dr Mark Shevlin and Dr 

           Barbara Dooley for their expert input on data analysis. Thanks to Dr Jonathon Egan for liaison 

           with  the  national  Counselling  Centre  network  and  to  Margaret  Daly,  MPsychSc  for  providing 

           interviewer support. 



3.20       Special thanks to Muriel Keegan, MA, for project co-ordination and administration. 



3.21       Thanks to colleagues at CICA especially Fred Lowe for their support throughout the project. 



3.22       Finally our gratitude goes to all 247 participants who contributed generously to the project and 

           without whose co-operation it could not have been conducted. 



           Alan Carr 



           June 2006 



           Acknowledgment to participants from the interviewing team 



3.23       We, the interviewers, would like to thank the many courageous individuals who took part in this 

           study. 



3.24       We were deeply moved, inspired and humbled by our contact with you. 



3.25       We recognise the personal cost to so many of you in taking part in this project. In coming forward 

           to tell your stories, you knew you ran the risk of re-awakening emotional pain. However your desire 

           that your experiences be heard and recorded was stronger. We acknowledge the generosity in 

           your decision to take part in this project so that future generations of children might be protected 

           from the horrors you had endured. 



3.26       Although we spent only a few hours with you, meeting with you and listening to your stories was 

           a moving and enriching experience for all of us. We felt privileged and honoured that you trusted 

           us with such intensely personal and private experiences. You told us of the isolation and loneliness 



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----------------------- Page 2590-----------------------

           you experienced as young children, of the hardships you endured, of abuse and violence – often 

           sadistic and brutal- at emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual levels. 



3.27       At times it was heartbreaking to listen to the stories you told. We grieved for your childhoods and 

           we  grieved  that,  for  many  of  you,  the  legacy  of  your  early  experiences  continue  to  affect  your 

           relationships, your work and your social lives. 



3.28       But  more  than  anything  we  were  moved  and  inspired  by  the  power  of  the  human  spirit  you 

           demonstrated in the face of the terrible adversities you suffered. Alongside your pain, anger and 

           sadness was an inner strength and resilience that clearly sustained you and that allowed many 

           of you to move on beyond your suffering. 



3.29       We offer you our gratitude, respect and admiration. 



           The Interviewing Team 



           June 2006 



           Part 1 Introduction 



           Summary of Part 1 



3.30       A  number  of  tentative  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  the  cursory  literature  review  in  Part  1. 

           Negative childhood experiences may lead to significant adult adjustment problems. These include 

           psychological and personality disorders, relationship and parenting problems, occupational and 

           health difficulties, self-harm and an impoverished quality of life. The negative effects of such early 

           adversity is probably strongly related to the variety, severity, frequency, and duration of negative 

           experiences.  The  long-term  outcomes  of  negative  childhood  experiences  may  be  mediated  by 

           critical psychological    processes    including   traumatization,   betrayal,  disrespect    for authority, 

           stigmatization, powerlessness, avoidance of reminders of trauma and re-enactment of negative 

           experiences on self or others. If the negative childhood experiences occur within the context of a 

           religious  institution,  religious  disengagement  may  also  occur.  The  negative  effects  of  adversity 

           may be attenuated by the use of functional coping strategies such as developing social support, 

           mastering skills, and effectively planning escape from adversity. In contrast, the adverse effects 

           of negative experiences may be exacerbated by the use of dysfunctional coping strategies such 

           as overcompliance, excessive opposition, or substance abuse. 



           Opening comments 



3.31       This report presents the results of a research study which investigated the adult adjustment of 

           people who had negative childhood experiences while living in institutions in Ireland. A key aim of 

           the study was to profile subgroups of adult survivors of institutional child abuse on historical and 

           psychological variables with a view to detecting associations between recollections of institutional 

           living and current adjustment. 



3.32       In Part 2 the methodology used in the study is described. The overall characteristics of the sample 

           are presented in Part 3. In Part 4 profiles of subgroups of participants with different histories of 

           institutional living and institutional abuse are presented. Part 5 contains a description of profiles 

           of participants   with  different patterns   of psychological    disorders.   In Part  6  the  focus   is on 

           psychological    processes    associated    with  institutional abuse    and   related  coping   strategies. 

           Conclusions and recommendations are given in Part 7. In this, the first Part, a summary of relevant 

           national and international literature in the field is given. 



           80                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. V 


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           What is known about the long term impact of child abuse and institutional 

           living? 



3.33       Within an Irish context no major studies of the effects of living in an institution in childhood on 

           adult adjustment have been conducted. Only one major study of the characteristics of children 

           and adolescents living in institutions in Ireland in the 60s has been completed. In Appendix F of 

           Justice Eileen Kennedy’s (1970) Reformatory and Industrial School System’s Report, Professor 

           Fechin O’Doherty concluded from a survey of over 300 participants aged 6-15 years that rates of 

                 ´ 

           learning difficulties and intellectual disability were higher in reformatories and industrial schools 

           than in the normal population. 



3.34       A number of areas of the international and national scientific literature are relevant to the research 

           project described in the present report. These include the 



                   •   Long-term effects of child abuse 

                   •   Differential effects of the extent of abuse 

                   •   Effects of institutional rearing 

                   •   Processes mediating the long-term effects of child abuse 

                   •   Clerical abuse 

                   •   Functional and dysfunctional coping strategies. 



           What follows is a summary of key findings in each of these areas. 



           Long-term effect of child abuse 



3.35       The international research literature on the long-term effects of child abuse and neglect indicates 

           that it affects functioning in a wide range of areas (Berliner & Elliott, 2002; Carr, 2006a; Carr & 

           O’Reilly, 2004; Kolko, 2002; NCCANI & NAIC, 2004; Wekerle & Wolfe, 2003). These include: 



                   •   Psychological  adjustment  –  as  indexed  by  the  presence  of  psychological  disorders 

                         notably  anxiety  disorders  (including  PTSD),  depression,  and  alcohol  and  substance 

                         abuse (e.g. McMillan et al., 2001; Wolfe et al, 2006) 



                   •   Personality functioning – as indexed by the presence of antisocial, borderline and other 

                         personality disorders. People with antisocial personality disorder typically have been 

                         involved in criminality (e.g. Battle et al., 2004; Bierer et al., 2003) 



                   •   Self-harming – as indexed by self-injury and parasuicidal behaviour (e.g. Brodsky et al., 

                         2001). People with borderline personality disorder typically have a history of self-harm 

                         (e.g. Soloff et al., 2002) 



                   •   Intimate relationships – as indexed by problems with marital or co-habiting relationships, 

                         sexuality  and  domestic  violence  (e.g.,  Colman  &  Widom,  2004;  Davis  &  Petretic- 

                         Jackson, 2000; White & Widom, 2003) 



                   •   Parenting relationships – as indexed by inability to adequately parent, having children 

                         in  care,  and  victimization  of  children  (e.g.,  DiLillo  &  Damashek,  2003;  Newcomb  & 

                         Locke, 2001; Quinton & Rutter, 1988) 



                   •   Educational     and    occupational    functioning    –   as  indexed    by   low   educational     and 

                         occupational performance (e.g., Perez & Wodom, 1994) 



                   •   Health  –  as  indexed  by  a  history  of  frequent  illness,  health  service  usage  and  risky 

                         health behaviour (Kendall-Tackett, 2002). 



3.36       The Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (SAVI) report on a nationally representative survey of 

           over  3,000  adults  in  2002  confirmed  that  in  Ireland,  for  a  sizeable  minority  of  survivors,  child 

           sexual abuse leads to significant mental health problems including post-traumatic stress disorder 

           (McGee, Garavan, deBarra, Byrne, and Conroy, 2002). 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                81 


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           Differential effects of the extent of abuse 



3.37      Attempts to identify the unique effects of different types of maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual 

          abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect) have not yielded a clear pattern. 

           In contrast the investigation of the effects of the extent of abuse clearly indicates that the variety, 

          severity, frequency, and duration of abuse affects adjustment (Berliner & Elliott, 2002; Carr, 2006a; 

           Kolko, 2002; NCCANI & NAIC, 2004; Wekerle & Wolfe, 2003). Poorer adjustment is associated 

          with 



                 •    Multiple forms of abuse and neglect 

                 •    Severe abuse and neglect 

                 •    Frequent abuse and neglect 

                 •    Abuse and neglect carried out over longer time periods, and 

                 •    Abuse and neglect occurring with multiple perpetrators in multiple contexts. 



           Effects of institutional rearing 



3.38      The scientific literature on the effects of institutional living, abuse and neglect is sparse (Gallagher, 

           1999;  Gilligan, 2000;  Powers et  al., 1990;  Rutter et  al., 1990;  Rutter et  al., 2001;  Wolfe  et al., 

          2006).   In  the  short-term,  institutional rearing  has   profound   effects  on  cognitive   and  social 

          development  and  some  of  these  difficulties  do  not  resolve  when  youngsters  are  placed  for 

          adoption. Children reared in institutions from birth until 2 years and then adopted, at 4 and 6 years 

          showed impaired cognitive development, attachment problems, inattention and overactivity, and 

          quasi-autistic features (Rutter et al., 2001). Wolfe et al. (2006) found that 88% of a group of 76 

          Canadian  adult  survivors  of  institutional  abuse,  at  some  point  in  their  lives,  suffered  from  a 

           psychological disorder (as defined in the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association 

           Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM IV, American Psychiatric Association, 2000). PTSD, other 

          anxiety   disorders,   depression   and   alcohol   abuse   were   the   most   common     disorders.   The 

           international literature on the long-term effects of being reared in an institution has shown that 

          compared  with  children  reared  in  families,  those  reared  in  institutions  had  poorer  adjustment 

          (Rutter et al., 1990; Rutter, 2002). This was shown by 



                 •    Personality disorder 

                 •    Criminality (especially in men) 

                 •    Marked marital problems 

                 •    Multiple broken co-habitations 

                 •    Teenage pregnancy (in women), and 

                 •    Having one’s children taken into care (for women). 



           Processes mediating the long-term effects of child abuse 



3.39      The long-term outcomes of child abuse are probably mediated by psychological processes (Wolfe 

          et al., 2003), particularly the following: 



                 •    Traumatization  and  humiliation  –  as  indexed  by  accounts  of  having  been  strongly 

                       negatively affected by physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect 



                 •    Betrayal and loss of trust in others – as indexed by accounts of loss of trust in others, 

                       and an insecure adult attachment style 



                 •    Fear of, and disrespect for authority – as indexed by accounts of being anxious or angry 

                       about authority figures 



                 •    Stigmatization, shame and guilt – as indexed by low self-esteem, a sense of being ‘dirty’ 

                       or ‘used goods’ and self-blaming 



          82                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


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                 •    Powerlessness – as indexed by accounts of feeling one has no influence in the world, 

                       an external locus of control, and low self-efficacy 



                 •    Avoidance of reminders of abuse – as indexed by accounts of avoiding abuse-related 

                       situations 



                 •    Re-enactment of abuse on self or others – as indexed by accounts of urges or actions 

                       involving harming the self or others in ways similar to the abuse suffered. 



          Clerical abuse 



3.40      The  small  international   research  literature  on  clerical abuse  indicates  that  this  may    have  a 

          detrimental effect on spirituality and lead to a disengagement from religious and spiritual beliefs 

          and practices. This includes a loss of faith in God and organized religion; abandonment of the 

           practice of private prayer; and withdrawal from public religious rituals such as mass attendance 

          (e.g.  Bottoms  et  al.,  1995;  Farrell  &  Taylor,  2000;  Fater  &  Mullaney,  2000;  McLaughlin,  1994, 

           Rossetti, 1997; Wolfe et al., 2006). This may be conceptualized as an aspect of disrespect for 

          authority (mentioned above) uniquely associated with clerical abuse. 



3.41       In Ireland, a small qualitative study of 22 survivors of clerical abuse is contained in the Time to 

          Listen Report on Confronting Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy (Goode, McGee & O’Boyle, 

          2003). Some but not all, survivors in this study experienced anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, 

           intimacy difficulties, family relationship problems, a decline in confidence in the Church and loss 

          of faith. These findings are consistent with those from international studies. 



           Functional and dysfunctional coping strategies 



3.42      The international scientific literature on stress, coping, risk and resilience in children exposed to 

          early  childhood  adversity  suggests  that  children  may  engage  in  functional  and  dysfunctional 

          coping   strategies   to  deal  with  adversity   including  the  process   of  institutional rearing   and 

           institutional  abuse  (Luthar,  2003;  Rutter  et  al.,  1990).  Functional  coping  strategies,  which  may 

           protect children from the negative impact of abuse, include 



                 •    Social support 

                 •    Skill mastery 

                 •    Planning, and 

                 •    Spiritual support. 



3.43      Social support refers to developing socially supportive relationships which make enduring abuse 

           more tolerable. Skill mastery involves having positive experiences in which academic, sporting, 

           musical  or  technical  skills  are  developed  and  refined,  usually  within  the  context  of  mentoring 

           relationships with teachers who foster such achievement. Planning skills refer to short and long- 

          term  planning  to  avoid  abuse  and  escape  from  adversity.  In  the  short-term  this  may  mean 

          organizing each day to keep away from abusers and have basic needs met. In the long-term it 

           involves making an active and reasoned vocational choice, and choice of marital or co-habiting 

           partner.  Active vocational  choice means  deciding what  sort of  work one  might be  good at  and 

          then trying to find such work rather than drifting into various jobs opportunistically. Active choice 

          of partner means knowing a partner for more than 6 months before deciding that they are suitable 

          for a long-term relationship, rather than impulsively entering a long-term relationship. A supportive 

           marital relationship refers to developing a relationship with a non-deviant, marital partner in whom 

          the  person  can  confide.  Spiritual  support  involves  deriving  a  sense  of  support  from  religious 

           practices such as praying or talking with priests. 



3.44       Dysfunctional  coping  strategies  may  include  either  fully  complying  with  the  abusive  regime  or 

          aggressively opposing it without due regard to the risks of further abuse entailed by this. Excessive 

          consumption of alcohol, drugs and food are other potentially dysfunctional coping strategies. 



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           Conclusions 



3.45      From this cursory review, a number of tentative conclusions may be drawn. Negative childhood 

          experiences may lead to significant adult adjustment problems including psychological disorders 

          and  an  impoverished  quality  of  life.  The  negative  effects  of  such  early  adversity  is  probably 

          strongly  related  to  the  variety,  severity,  frequency,  and  duration  of  negative  experiences.  The 

          long-term outcomes of negative childhood experiences may be mediated by critical psychological 

          processes for example, traumatization and re-enactment of negative experiences on self or others. 

          If the negative childhood experiences occur within the context of a religious institution, religious 

          disengagement may also occur. The negative effects of adversity may be attenuated by the use 

          of functional coping strategies such as developing social support or mastering skills. In contrast, 

          the  adverse  effects  of  negative  experiences  may  be  exacerbated  by  the  use  of  dysfunctional 

          coping strategies such as overcompliance or avoidance. These conclusions are summarized in 

          the model presented in Figure 1.1. 



          Figure 1.1. A model of the effects of childhood institutional abuse on adult adjustment. 



          Part 2 Methodology 



          Summary of Part 2 



3.46      The overarching aim of the present study was to profile subgroups of adult survivors of institutional 

          child  abuse  on  demographic,  historical  and  psychological  variables  with  a  view  to  detecting 

          associations between recollections of institutional living and current adjustment. In particular the 

          aim was to profile subgroups of survivors defined by (1) the number of years spent in an institution 

          and the circumstances under which admission occurred; (2) the worst type of institutional abuse 

          experienced; and (3) the number and type of psychological disorders displayed. An additional aim 

          was to develop a way to assess psychological processes and coping strategies associated with 

          institutional abuse, and establish the correlates of these processes and coping strategies. 



3.47      Between    May  2005    and   February  2006    just  under  250  adult  survivors  of  institutional  living 

          recruited  through  CICA  were  interviewed  in  Ireland  and  the  UK  by  a  team  which  included  29 

          trained interviewers, all of whom had degrees in psychology. The overall exclusion rate was 26% 

          (326 of 1267); the participation rate was 20% (246 of 1267); and the response rate for the study 

          was 26% (246 of 941). (This low response is not unusual. A response rate of 9% was obtained in 

          the  Time   to  Listen  Report   on  Confronting   Child  Sexual   Abuse   by  Catholic   Clergy  (Goode, 

          McGee & O’Boyle, 2003)). 



3.48      The sample of participants interviewed was not representative of all CICA attenders, or indeed of 

          adult survivors of institutional living. It is probable that participants were better adjusted than CICA 

          attenders who did not take part because the old and the ill were excluded. The interview protocol 

          covered demographic characteristics, history of family and institutional living, recollections of child 

          abuse within the family and institutions, psychological processes associated with institutional life, 

          coping strategies used to deal with institutional life, current trauma symptoms, current and past 

          diagnoses  of  psychological  and  personality  disorders,  relationships  with  partners  and  children, 

          adult attachment style, main life problems, current quality of life, and global level of functioning. 

          Interviews were conducted in an ethical way that safeguarded participants’ wellbeing. Data were 

          managed in a way to safeguard participants’ anonymity. 



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          Aims of the study 



3.49       Survivors of institutional living who have attended CICA are by no means a homogeneous group. 

          They may  be classified  in a  variety of ways.  For example,  they may  be classified  by historical 

          factors such as the number of years they have spent in an institution, the circumstances under 

          which they were admitted and the type of institutional abuse they experienced. They may also be 

           classified  by  their current   psychological    status,  for example,    by  the  number     and  type   of 

           psychological disorders they display. The overarching aim of the present study was to investigate 

          this variability shown by groups of adult survivors of institutional living with a view to profiling these 

           groups and detecting associations between recollections of child abuse and current adjustment. 



3.50       In the first instance we set out to profile subgroups of participants with different histories 

           of institutional living, specifically: 



                  •   People raised in institutions from birth 

                  •   People  who  entered  institutions  in  childhood  or  early  adolescence  because  parents 

                       could no longer care for them 



                  •   People who entered institutions in childhood or adolescence through the courts 

                  •   People who spent only a brief period in institutions in childhood or adolescence. 



3.51       In profiling subgroups our interest was in the status of these groups on historical and demographic 

          factors,  recollections  of  child  abuse,  psychological  disorders,  trauma  symptoms,  life  problems, 

           quality  of  life,  global  functioning,  current  family  relationships,  and  attachment  style.  The  main 

           hypothesis suggested by the literature review was that people who had spent more time living in 

           an institution would show poorer adjustment that those who had spent only a brief period living in 

           an institution. 



3.52       Next, we aimed to profile subgroups of participants with different histories of institutional abuse, 

           specifically those whose worst abusive experience was multiple forms of severe abuse, versus 

          those who identified their worst experience as involving a single form of abuse: physical, sexual 

           or emotional. 



3.53      The   third  aim  was   to  profile subgroups    of  participants with  different  numbers    and  types  of 

           psychological disorders. 



3.54      The fourth aim of the study was to develop a way to assess psychological processes and coping 

           strategies  associated  with  institutional  abuse,  and  investigate  the  relationships  between  these 

           processes  and  coping  strategies  on  the  one  hand,  and  past  abuse  and  current  adjustment  on 

          the other. 



3.55      To  achieve these  aims, the  methodology described  in this  Part was  used. A  project team  was 

           established. An assessment protocol was developed. Participants were recruited into the study 

           by  CICA   and   the  research   team.   Interviewers   engaged    participants  in interviews   using  the 

           assessment     protocol.  Data   from  the  protocol   were   analysed    by  computer    using   statistical 

           procedures appropriate to address the aims of the study outlined above. Procedures were built 

           into the  methodology     to  safeguarded     the  welfare   of participants.   These   procedures     were 

           consistent with the ethics code of the Psychological Society of Ireland and the research plan was 

           approved by the UCD human research ethics committee. This Part contains a detailed description 

           of these research methods. Data analysis and results are presented in subsequent Parts. 



           Time frame 



3.56      This research project was planned between January and April 2005. Data were collected between 

           May 2005 and February 2006, and the report was produced between March and June 2006. 



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           Research team 



3.57       The research team included 



                  •   A project director and administrator 

                  •   Three postgraduate clinical psychology doctoral candidates 

                  •   A panel of 29 interviewers, all of whom had degrees in psychology 

                  •   Two appointment organizers 

                  •    Four project consultants. 



           Project director and administrator 



3.58       Professor Alan Carr, PhD, Director of the Doctoral programme in Clinical psychology UCD, was 

           the Principal Investigator and Project Director. Muriel Keegan, MA, Administrator for the Doctoral 

           Programme in Clinical Psychology was the Project administrator. She managed communication 

           within  the  project  team  and  between  the  team,  CICA  and  participants.  She  also  administered 

           project finances and arranged document production. 



           Three clinical psychology postgraduates 



3.59       Mark Fitzpatrick, BA, MSc, DipCounsPsych; Edel Flanagan, BA, MSc, and Roisin Flanagan, BA, 

                                                                                                       ´ 

           MSc, all of whom were doctoral postgraduates in clinical psychology at UCD trained, supervised 

           and   supported  a    team   of  interviewers   (mentioned  below).     They   conducted  a    portion   of  the 

           interviews.  They  also  checked  all  interview  protocols  for  completeness,  conducted  data  entry, 

           managed  data  analysis,  and  tabulated  statistical  results.  In  addition,  at  the  time  of  writing  this 

           report, each of these three postgraduates are in the process of writing doctoral theses and articles 

           for publication in peer reviewed journals based on analyses of specific aspects of the data set 

           arising form the project. All three postgraduates are members of cohorts of 10 candidates selected 

           bi-annually from over 150 applicants to the UCD doctoral programme in clinical psychology. They 

           are highly qualified, having masters degrees in psychology, and a significant amount of clinical 

           experienced and training. 



           Interview organizers 



3.60       Kevin Tierney, BA (Hons Psych) and Megan White BA (Hons Psych) organized and scheduled 

           interviews linking with participants, the interview team, and contact people at the various regional 

           interview   sites. They    also  offered  back-up    support   to  interviewers   in  meeting    and   greeting 

           participants at UCD where this was appropriate. 



           Panel of interviewers 



3.61       Interviews   were   conducted     by  a  panel   of  29  interviewers   which   included    the  three  clinical 

           psychology  postgraduates,  the  two  interview  organizers  and  the  following  24  interviewers:  1. 

           Carmel  Howard,  HDipPsych;  2.  Susan  Gavin,  BA  ;  3.  Philomena  Crotty,  HDipPsych;  4.  Anne 

           Donnelan,  HDipPsych;  5.  Tara  Davis,  MLitt;  6.  Aongus  McGrane,  HDipPsych;  7.  Mimi  Tatlow, 

           HDipPsych;     8.  Dervalla   Mannion,    HDipPsych;     9.  Barbara    Hernon,   BA;   10.  Maria   Mannion, 

           HDipPsych;     11.   Su   Yin  Yap,   BA;   12.  Eimear    McMahon,      HDipPsych;      13.  Aoife   McCann, 

           HDipPsych; 14. Evita O’Malley, HDipPsych; 15. Mairead Dowling, HDipPsych; 16. Marie McGrath, 

           BA; 17. Mary Keating, BA; 18. Eoin O’Connell, MLitt; 19. Faye Scanlan, BA; 20. Lynsey O’Keeffe, 

           BA; 21. Elaine Smith, PhD; 22. Lucy Smith, MA; 23. Brid O’Donoghue, BA; and 24. Julie Grace, 

           BA. All interviewers had an honours degree in psychology or a higher diploma in psychology and 

           were  eligible  for  graduate  membership  of  the  Psychological  Society  of  Ireland.  All  interviewers 

           were trained in administering the interview protocol by the clinical psychology postgraduates, who 

           in turn were trained by the project director. 



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          Project consultants 



3.62      Dr   Barbara   Dooley,   PhD,   Director  of  Postgraduate    Research    and   Head   of  the  School   of 

          Psychology at UCD and Dr Mark Shevlin, PhD, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, University 

          of Ulster provided statistical consultancy to the project. Dr Jonathon Egan, M Psych Sc, PsyD, 

          Director  of  NCS  Arches  Counselling  Service,  National  Health  Executive,  liaised  between  the 

          project team and the directors of the network of National Counselling Service centres around the 

          country. He advised on how best to arrange counselling for those participants who required referral 

          to the NCS following participation in the study. He also advised on how to make the interviewing 

          process    as  user-friendly  and   minimally  distressing   as  possible.  Margaret   Daly,   MPsychSc, 

          Lecturer in Psychology UCD, provided interviewer support consultancy to the project. 



          Participants 



3.63      247 adult survivors of institutional abuse in industrial and reformatory schools participated in this 

          study. All but one had attended the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA). The one non- 

          CICA attender, was the sibling of a person who attended CICA. Both siblings came to the interview 

          centre together and asked that each be interviewed and that data from both be included in the 

          study. For ethical reasons, an exception was made in this one case and the data from this non- 

          CICA attender has been included in the analysis. 



3.64      Of the 246 CICA attenders, 175 were recruited from the confidential committee and 71 from the 

          investigation   committee.   126   were   living  and  interviewed   in  Ireland.  120   were   living and 

          interviewed in the UK. 



3.65      The  path  of  recruitment  and  attrition  for  both  the  confidential  and  investigation  committees  is 

          presented in Figure 2.1. The 175 confidential committee attenders were recruited in the following 

          way.  1086 people  had  attended the  confidential  committee when  recruitment  into the  research 

          study began in 2005. Of these 1086, 775 reported abuse in industrial and reformatory schools 

          and 311 reported abuse in  other institutional and out of home care settings  such as children’s 

          homes, residential institutions for children with special needs, hospitals, national and secondary 

          schools and foster care. Of the 775 who reported institutional abuse in industrial and reformatory 

          schools, 571 were invited to  participate in the research study. Invitations were not  sent to 204 

          cases  who  met  at  least  one  of  the  following  criteria:  whereabouts  unknown;  resident  outside 

          Ireland and UK; previously stated they did not want to participate in research project; previously 

          stated they did not want to be contacted by CICA; known to be deceased; or known to be in poor 

          health or to have a significant disability. Of the 571 cases invited, 347 replied, and 224 did not. 

          Of those that did not, 9 invitations were returned as unknown at address and 2 were returned 

          without any identifying details. Of the 347 who replied, 225 agreed to participate and 122 declined 

          the invitation. Of the 225 who agree to participate, 175 attended interviews and 50 did not. 



3.66      The 71 investigation committee attenders were recruited in the following way. The investigation 

          committee had heard, or had scheduled to hear, or had interviewed, or had scheduled for interview 

          492 complainants prior to December 2005. Of these 492 complainants, invitations were sent to 

          370  between  July  and  November  2005.  These  370  complainants  were  within  the  remit  of  the 

          research project; were resident in Ireland or UK or contactable through a solicitor; had decided to 

          remain with the investigation committee; and were not likely to submit additional evidence to the 

          investigation committee hearings after December 2005. Of the 370 complainants, the investigation 

          committee received 110 positive replies. Of the 110 replies, 11 were not forwarded to the research 

          team because they were not resident in Ireland or UK; were not proceeding with the investigation 

          committee; or had indicated they did not wish to take part in the research project. Of the 99 who 

          agreed to participate, 71 attended interviews and 28 did not. The path of recruitment and attrition 

          for the combined confidential and investigation committees is presented in Figure 2.2. 



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----------------------- Page 2598-----------------------

3.67      The overall exclusion rate was 26%. 326 of 1267 potential participants who attended CICA and 

          reported abuse were excluded from the study for various reasons such as living outside Ireland 

          and the UK, being untraceable, being too ill or disabled to participate, and not wishing to take part 

          in the study. 



3.68      Approximately 20% of CICA attenders participated in this study. Out of a total pool of 1267 people 

          who   attended   either  of CICAs    committees    and   reported  institutional abuse,   246  completed 

          interviews. This group were clearly not a representative sample of CICA attenders, or of the total 

          population of adult survivors of institutional living of whom CICA attenders form a subgroup. Our 

          sample is not representative of the very ill, those who live outside Ireland and the UK, those who 

          were untraceable, and those who did not wish to participate in the study. It is probable that the 

          group who participated in the study were better adjusted than those who did not take part. 



3.69      The response rate for the study was 26%. Out of a pool of 941 people invited for interview, 246 

          were actually interviewed. 



          Assessment interview 



3.70      Participants were interviewed with a standard assessment protocol which is contained in appendix 

           1. This protocol covered the following domains 



                 •    Demographic profile 

                 •    History of family and institutional life 

                 •    Recollections of negative experiences 

                 •    Personal strengths 

                 •    Psychological processes associated with institutional abuse 

                 •   Coping strategies used to deal with institutional abuse 

                 •   Current and past diagnoses of psychological and personality disorders 

                 •   Current trauma symptoms 

                 •    Main life problems 

                 •   Current quality of life. 

                 •   Global functioning 

                 •    Relationships with partners and children, and 

                 •   Adult attachment style 



3.71      The protocol included the following instruments: 



                 •    Demographic and historical questionnaire (DHQ) 

                 •    Institutional Abuse Scale (IAS) 

                 •   Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink,1998) 

                 •    Most Severe forms of Physical and Sexual Abuse (SPSA) 

                 •    Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory (IAPCI) 

                 •    Personal strengths (PS) 

                 •   Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders of DSM IV 41(SCID I, First et al., 1996) 

                 •   Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV Personality Disorders 41(SCID II, First et al., 

                       1997) 



                 •   Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI, Briere, 1996). 

                 •    Life problem checklist (LPC) 



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                  •    World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (WHOQOL, Skevington, 2005). 

                  •    Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF, Luborsky, 1962). 

                  •    Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMS, Schumm et al, 1986) 

                  •    Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (KPS, James et al, 1985) 

                  •    Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECRI, Brennan, et al., 1998) 



           A description of each of these instruments is given below. 



           Demographic and historical questionnaire 



3.72       The DHQ was used to obtain information on age, gender, education, occupational status, marital 

           status, parental status, children, socioeconomic status, and dates and circumstances of entering 

           and leaving institutional care. 



           Institutional abuse scale 



3.73       The   13  item   IAS  covered    items   unique   to  institutional settings   and   predominantly     involving 

           emotional abuse. The items were identified during pilot testing of the original interview protocol, 

           when participants indicated that the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire did not cover areas unique 

           to the institutional setting. These items cover fear of unpredictable punishment; being told that the 

           self and parents are bad; that the parents no longer love the child; separation from siblings; having 

           clothes and treasured possessions taken away; and the experience of having hope taken away. 

           The  reliability  of  the  instrument  was  confirmed  in  the  present  study  and  reliability  data  are 

           contained in Table 3.11. 



           Childhood Trauma Questionnaire 



3.74       The CTQ is a 28-item self-report inventory that provides a reliable and valid assessment of current 

           recollection of the overall pattern of childhood abuse and neglect (Bernstein & Fink,1998). It yields 

           scores for five maltreatment scales: (1) physical abuse, (2) sexual abuse, (3) emotional abuse, 

           (4) physical neglect, and (5) emotional neglect. Also included is a 3 item minimization and denial 

           scale for detecting false-negative trauma reports. CTQ scores for any case can be compared to 

           norms  from  more  than  2,200  males  and  females  from  seven  different  clinical  and  community 

           samples, representing a broad range of ages, socioeconomic status and different racial and ethnic 

           groups. In the present study cut-off scores for the CTQ were based on norms developed in a large 

           community study of 1007 18-65 year old men and women in Memphis, USA (Scher et al., 2001). 

           The CTQ has good test-retest reliability and scores from it are very stable over time. It has good 

           convergent and divergent validity with trauma histories from other measures. It is highly sensitive 

           to  identifying  individuals   with  verified  histories   of  abuse.   In  the  present    study  participants 

           completed  two  versions  of  the  CTQ,  one  to  evaluate  their  recollections  of  abuse  within  their 

           families (if they spent any time in their families as children) and one to evaluate their recollections 

           of abuse while living in an institution. 



           Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse 



3.75       For  the  SPSA  participants  were  asked  to  recall  the  most  severe  forms  of  physical  and  sexual 

           abuse to which they were subjected in both their families and institutions and these were rated 

           on scales derived from Slep and Heyman’s severity rating system (2004). In each instance they 

           were asked to indicate the frequency and duration of this most severe form of physical and sexual 

           abuse and the age at which it began. Retrospective reports of such events tend to be more valid 

           than  those  of  events  open  to  greater  interpretation.  In  a  review  of  8  studies  of  the  validity  of 

           retrospective reports of abuse, Hardt and Rutter (2004) found a substantial rate of false negatives 

           among    adult   reports  of  major   adverse    experiences    in  childhood    that  allowed   a  reasonable 

           operationalisation (such as most severe events). Thus, retrospective reports of clearly describable 

           episodes of child abuse are a conservative index of abuse in adult survivors. In the studies Hardt 



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           and  Rutter  reviewed,  validity  was  assessed  by  means  of  comparisons  with  contemporaneous, 

           prospectively obtained, court or clinic or research records; by agreement between retrospective 

           reports of two siblings; and by the examination of possible bias with respect to differences between 

           retrospective  and  prospective  reports  in  their  correlates  and  consequences.  Hardt  and  Rutter 

           (2004)  in  a  further  review  of  6  studies  found  that  over  periods  of  at  least  6  months,  adult 

           retrospective reports of child abuse showed good test-retest reliability. These results justify the 

           use retrospective reports of abuse in the current study. The reliability of the institution version of 

           the  SPSA  was  confirmed  in  the  present  study,  but  the  family  version  of  the  SPSA  had  low 

           reliability, so  cautious   interpretation   of  the  family   version   is  warranted.    Reliability data   are 

           contained in Table 3.11. 



           Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory 



3.76       The 58 item IAPCI was designed specifically for this study to evaluate psychological processes 

           and coping strategies associated with the experience of institutional abuse and later life difficulties. 

           The  following  processes  were  covered  in  a  series  of  rational  scales:  (1)  traumatization,  (2) 

           betrayal,   (3)   disrespect    of  authority,   (4)  religious   disengagement,       (5)  stigmatization,    (6) 

           powerlessness, (7) avoidance, and (8) re-enactment. The following functional coping strategies 

           were  covered:  (1)  social  support,  (2)  skill  mastery,  (3)  planning;  and  (4)  spiritual  support.  The 

           inventory also assessed these dysfunctional coping strategies: (1) overcomplying; (2) aggressively 

           opposing, and (3) substance abuse. Five point response formats were used for all items ranging 

           from 1=never true to 5=very often true. In the present study two versions the IACPI were used. 

           The first inquired about processes and coping strategies used while living in an institution and the 

           second inquired about the same processes and coping strategies in the person’s present life. 



3.77       The factorial structure and reliability of the IAPCI were evaluated in the present study and this is 

           described  in  Part  6.  Six  factors  scales  with  moderate  to  good  reliability  were  developed.  The 

           scales  were  (1)  traumatization  which  assesses  negative  emotions  arising  from  abuse,  betrayal 

           and loss of trust, stigmatization, shame, guilt, and disrespect of authority; (2) re-enactment which 

           assesses re-enactment of abuse, powerlessness, coping by opposing and coping by using alcohol 

           and  drugs;  (3)  spiritual  disengagement  which  assesses  disengagement  from  religious  practice 

           and  not  using  spiritual  coping  strategies;  (4)  positive  coping  which  assesses  coping  through 

           planning,  skill  mastery  and  social  support;  (5)  coping  by  complying  which  assesses  coping  by 

           complying with the wishes of people in authority; and (6) avoidant coping which assesses coping 

           by avoiding thoughts and situations associated with abuse. 



           Personal strengths 



3.78       Participants’ views of their personal strengths and resources that have helped them to cope with 

           life’s challenges were evaluated with three items. These were included at the end of the interview 

           so  that  participants  closed  the  interview  with  an  awareness  of  their  strengths  rather  than  their 

           deficits. 



           Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders of DSM IV 



3.79       The  SCID  I  (First  et  al.,  1996)  is  a  reliable  and  valid  semistructured  interview  for  assessing 

           psychological  disorders  listed  in  the  text  revision  of  the  fourth  edition  of  the  Diagnostic  and 

           Statistical Manual of  Mental Disorders (DSM IV TR, APA,  2000). In this study the  modules for 

           assessing anxiety, mood and substance use disorders were used, since previous studies suggest 

           that  these  are  the  main  psychological  disorders  shown  by  adult  survivors  of  child  abuse.  The 

           anxiety disorders module yields diagnoses for posttraumatic stress disorder, panic disorder with 

           and  without  agoraphobia,  agoraphobia,  social  phobia,  specific  phobias,  obsessive  compulsive 

           disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. The mood disorders module yields diagnoses for major 

           depression  and  dysthymia.  The  substance  use  module  yields  diagnoses  for  alcohol  and  other 

           substance dependence and abuse disorders. The presence of both current disorders and past (or 



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           lifetime) disorders  were    assessed.    Diagnoses  were     reliably  made    with  inter-rater reliabilities 

           between .77 and 1.00 as shown in Table 3.7. 



           Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV Personality Disorders 



3.80       The SCID II is a reliable and valid semistructured interview for assessing all DSM-IV-TR axis II 

           personality  disorders  (First  et  al.,  1997).  In  this  study  the  modules  for  antisocial,  borderline, 

           avoidant  and  dependent  personality  disorders  were  used,  since  previous  studies  suggest  that 

           these are the main personality disorders associated with adult survival of child abuse. With the 

           SCID II, only current (but not past) personality disorders were assessed. Diagnoses were reliably 

           made with inter-rater reliabilities between .96 and 1.00 as shown in Table 3.7. 



           Trauma symptom Inventory 



3.81       The 100 item TSI is a reliable and valid instrument which evaluates posttraumatic symptomatology 

           (Briere,1996). A four point response format was used for all items from 0 =  never to 3 =  often. 

           The TSI yields scores for three validity scales and ten clinical scales. The three validity scales 

           are: (1) response level which assesses a tendency toward defensiveness or a need to appear 

           unusually   symptom-free;      (2)  atypical  response     which   assesses     attempts   to  appear    very 

           dysfunctional;  and  (3)  inconsistent  response  which  reflects  a  random  response  set  or  difficulty 

           understanding items. The clinical scales are (1) anxious arousal; (2) depression; (3) anger and 

           irritability; (4) intrusive experiences     which   assesses    PTSD     symptoms     such   as  flashbacks, 

           nightmares,  and  intrusive  thoughts;  (5)  defensive  avoidance  of  cues that  remind  the  person  of 

           trauma ; (6) dissociation which covers depersonalization, out-of-body experiences, and psychic 

           numbing; (7) sexual concerns which covers distress associated with sexual dissatisfaction, sexual 

           dysfunction, and unwanted sexual thoughts or feelings; (8) dysfunctional sexual behaviour ; (9) 

           impaired  self-reference  which  covers  identity  confusion;  and  (10)  tension  reduction  behaviour 

           which covers self-harm, and anger control problems. Sex- and age-normed T scores are provided 

           for all 13 scales. These allow statements to be made about the percentage of cases that scored 

           outside the normal range compared with specific reference groups. 



           Life problem checklist 



3.82       The  LPC  is  a  14  item  list  constructed  for  the  present  study.  It  provided  a  rapid  survey  of  key 

           problem areas including unemployment, homelessness, frequent illness, frequent hospitalization 

           for physical and mental health problems, psychological disorders, substance use, self-harm, anger 

           control in close relationships and criminality. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed in the 

           present study and reliability data are contained in Table 3.11. 



           World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK Version 



3.83       The WHOQOL is a reliable and valid instrument which yields an overall quality of life score along 

           with scores for 6 domains  and 24 facets (Skevington, 2005). Four items are  included for each 

           facet, as well as four general items covering overall QOL and health, and there are 2 items unique 

           to the UK version of the instrument, producing a total of 102 items. All items were rated on five 

           point   scales.   The   domains     are   physical    well-being;   psychological     well-being;   level   of 

           independence; quality of social relationships; quality of the environment; and quality of spiritual 

           life. The 24 facets are classified by domain. The following facets fall within the physical well-being 

           domain:  (1) pain  and discomfort,  (2) energy  and fatigue,  and (3)  sleep and  rest. The  following 

           facets fall within the psychological well-being domain: (4) positive feelings, (5) thinking, learning, 

           memory and concentration, (6) self-esteem, (7) bodily image and appearance, and (8) negative 

           feelings. These facets fall within the level of independence domain: (9) mobility, (10) activities of 

           daily living, (11) dependence on medication or treatments, and (12) work capacity. The domain of 

           social relationships contains the following facets: (13) personal relationships, (14) social support, 

           and (15) sexual activity. The environment domain contains these facets: (16) physical safety and 

           security, (17) home environment, (18) financial resources, (19) accessibility and quality of health 



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           and social care, (20) opportunities for acquiring new information and skills, (21) participation in 

           and     opportunities     for    recreation/    leisure     activities,   (22)    physical     environment 

           (pollution/noise/traffic/climate), and (23) transport. The spiritual domain contains the single facet 

           of spirituality. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed in the present study and reliability 

           data are contained in Table 3.11. 



           Global assessment of functioning 



3.84       The GAF is a reliable and valid rating scale for recording a global judgement about a person’s 

           overall psychological, social, and occupational functioning, excluding impairment due to physical 

           or environmental factors following a semi-structured interview (Luborsky, 1962). It is included in 

           DSM-IV-TR     as  the  Axis   V  assessment     and   forms   part of  the  SCID.   In  the  present   study 

           interviewers gave a single rating from 1–100. The scale was divided into ten ranges of functioning, 

           but intermediate scores were given when applicable. 



           Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale 



3.85       The   3  item  KMS     assesses    perceptions    of the   quality  of  marital  or  long-term   cohabiting 

           relationships (Schumm et al., 1986). Seven point response formats were used for the three items 

           ranging from 1=extremely dissatisfied to 7=extremely satisfied. The items assess satisfaction with 

           one’s partner and the relationship as a whole. Despite its brevity, the KMS has been shown to 

           correlate highly with other more extensive measures of marital satisfaction. 



           Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale 



3.86       The 3 item KPS assesses parents' perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their children 

           (James et al., 1985). Seven point response formats were used for the three items ranging from 

           1=extremely    dissatisfied  to  7=extremely    satisfied.  The  items   assess    satisfaction  with  one’s 

           children, the parenting process and overall parent-child relationships. Despite its brevity, the KPS 

           has been shown to correlate highly with other more extensive measures of parenting satisfaction. 



           Experiences in Close Relationships scale 



3.87       The 36-item ECRI is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing adult romantic attachment style 

           and yields scores on interpersonal anxiety and interpersonal avoidance dimensions (Brennan et 

           al.,  1998).  On  the  basis  of  scores  on  these  two  dimensions,  using  an  SPSS  algorithm,  cases 

           may be assigned to one of four adult attachment style categories: secure, fearful, dismissive and 

           preoccupied.  Cases  with  low  anxiety  and  avoidance  scores  are  classified  as  having  a  secure 

           attachment style. People with this attachment style tend to make and maintain stable relationships 

           with  adult  romantic  partners,  while  those  with  the  other  three  styles  typically  have  relationship 

           difficulties. Cases with both high anxiety and avoidance scores are classified as having a fearful 

           attachment style. Cases with high interpersonal anxiety and low avoidance scores are classified 

           as having a preoccupied attachment style. Interpersonal anxiety leads these people to consistently 

           demand  excessive  proximity  and  closeness  from  their  partners.  Cases  with  high  interpersonal 

           avoidance and low anxiety scores are classified as having a dismissive attachment style. Such 

           people insist on excessive emotional distance without experiencing interpersonal anxiety. Seven 

           point  response  formats  are  used  for  all  items  ranging  from  1=disagree  strongly  to  7=agree 

           strongly. The ECRI was developed from a pool of over 600 items identified in a review of 14 self- 

           report measures of adult attachment. The avoidance and anxiety factors were identified by factor 

           analyses, so there is evidence for the construct validity of the scale. 



           Procedure 



3.88       Specific procedures were used for 



                  •   Recruiting participants into the study 

                  •   Pilot testing the interview protocol 



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----------------------- Page 2603-----------------------

                  •   Interviewer training, supervision and support 

                  •   Interviewing process 

                  •   Conducting conjoint interrater reliability interviews 

                  •   Managing ethical issues 



           Recruiting participants 



3.89       The CICA confidential and investigation committees invited all those who had reported institutional 

           abuse and attended these committees prior to December 2005 to participate in the study, with 

           some exceptions. Those resident outside Ireland or the UK, those too ill to participate, and those 

           who indicated that they did not wish to participate were excluded (along with a small number of 

           cases   deemed     unsuitable   for other   reasons   specified   in  the  ‘Participants’  section  above). 

           Confidential   committee     attenders   were    contacted    personally   and   investigation   committee 

           attenders  were  contacted  through  their  solicitors.  Between  June  and  December  2005,  CICA 

           provided  the  research  team  at  UCD  with  lists  of  participants,  who  had  agreed  in  writing  to  be 

           contacted by the research team. 



3.90       The  interview  organizer  contacted  each  participant,  described  what  participating  in  a  research 

           interview would involve and offered an interview, using the recruitment script in Appendix 2. 



           Pilot testing the interview protocol 



3.91       The 3 clinical psychology postgraduates pilot-tested and fine-tuned the optimal way for conducting 

           interviews with 3 participants prior to interviewer training. The pilot testing informed the way in 

           which the panel of interviewers were trained. 



           Interviewer training, supervision and support 



3.92       The   three  clinical psychology     postgraduates    under   the   supervision   of  the  project  director 

           developed  and  delivered  an  interviewer  training  programme  to  the  panel  of  interviewers.  The 

           programme involved coaching interviewers in meeting participants; taking them to the interview 

           room;  explaining  the  rationale  for  the  study;  obtaining  informed  consent;  developing  rapport; 

           conducting   interviews;   offering  breaks   and  refreshments;    adhering   to  the  interview  protocol; 

           checking  interviews  for  completeness;  managing  client  distress;  informing  clients  about  how  to 

           contact NCS or ICAP counsellors; and parting from clients in an appropriate way with the reminder 

           that a  follow-up   contact   would   be  made.    Part  of the  training  programme      involved  viewing 

           videotapes  about  how  to  rate  the  SCID  I  and  II  when  making  DSM  IV  diagnoses.  The  three 

           postgraduates also met as required with members of the panel of interviewers during the data 

           collection period to offer supervision and support. 



           Interviewing process 



3.93       Interviews were conducted by the team of 29 interviewers who each conducted between 1 and 

           30 interviews. Interviews were conducted at 35 sites, 12 in Ireland and 23 in the UK. The sites 

           included university psychology departments, counselling and survivor support centres, and hotels. 

           In  addition  14  cases  were  interviewed  in  their  homes,  2  in  Ireland  and  12  in  the  UK.  For  all 

           interviews  (excluding  home  visits),  participants  met  interviewers  at  designated  meeting  points 

           arranged with the interview organizer. Interviewers identified themselves by carrying a white card 

           with  INTERVIEWER  written  on  it,  so  that  participants  did  not  have  to  identify  themselves  to 

           reception staff. This preserved the anonymity of participants. Participants were greeted warmly 

           and  escorted  to  interview  rooms.  Interviewers  again  explained  the  way  the  interview  would  be 

           conducted  and  the  overall  context  of  the  study.  It  was  mentioned  that  the  study  was  being 

           conducted by a team from University College Dublin at the invitation of the Commission to Inquire 

           into Child Abuse; that it would involve an interview of about 2 hours duration; that participation 

           was voluntary; that the interview would be fully confidential; that participants could withdraw from 



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           the  study  at  any  time;  and  that  they  might  be  invited  to  participate  in  a  follow-up  interview. 

           Participants then were invited to sign the consent form at the top of the interview protocol. The 

           interviewer then worked through the interview questions in the sequence specified in the protocol. 



3.94       Where  participants  wanted  to  deviate  from  the  protocol  and  discuss  specific  issues  in  details, 

           interviewers said the following script: ‘ I understand that this is something you need to discuss. 

           However, for this study we both have to follow the questions in this questionnaire. But, if you need 

           to talk further about this issues, we can advise you how to contact a counsellor in your area who 

           specializes in helping survivors of institutional living address these sorts of issues.’ 



3.95       Where participants became distressed or tired, interviewers said this script: ‘I can see that you 

           are distressed/tired. Would you like to take a break for a few minutes?’ Clients were offered water, 

           soft drinks, tea or coffee during these breaks and during interviews. 



3.96       The  final  set  of  questions  in  the  interview  were  about  personal  strengths  and  resources.  This 

           allowed  clients  to  focus  on  positive  aspects  of  their lives  and  contributed  to  eliciting  a  positive 

           mood    as   the  interviews    ended.   At  the   conclusion    of  each   interview,   interviewers    thanked 

           participants, informed them that the independent report of the results of the study of survivors of 

           institutional living would be submitted to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and referred 

           to in the final Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse, to which they would have 

           access. They were also informed that as a routine procedure all participants would be given a 

           leaflet on how to contact a counsellor as described below under ethical issues. Participants were 

           also given an opportunity to add further comments or ask questions. In addition they were offered 

           the option of receiving a call in a few days to check that they were ok and that there was nothing 

           further  that  they  wish  to  add  or  ask  at  that  point.  This  provided  a  way  of  maintaining  contact 

           with participants who may have found the interview distressing. Almost all participants availed of 

           this offer. 



           Interrater reliability interviews 



3.97       Inter-rater reliability of all scales was evaluated by conducting interviews with 52 participants in 

           which 2 interviewers were present and each completed independent protocols for the same set 

           of  52 cases.  Data from  pairs of  independently completed  interview protocols  were analysed  to 

           evaluate    the  inter-rater  reliability of  the  scales    and   items   in  the  protocols.   When     inviting 

           participants  to  engage  in  the  inter-rater  reliability  study,  interviewers  said  at  the  outset  of  the 

           interview   ‘There   will be   three  of  us   in this  meeting    (indicating  the   2  interviewers   and   the 

           participant). Each of us will be keeping a record of the interview, but only I will be talking with you.’ 

           The 52 cases involved in the reliability study constituted part of the overall sample of 247 cases. 



           Ethical issues 



3.98       The study was designed to comply with the code of ethics of the Psychological Society of Ireland. 

           In  addition,  ethical  approval  for  the  study  was  obtained  through  the  Human  Research  Ethics 

           Committee at University College Dublin. 



3.99       Every effort was made to insure that the research interviews were carried out in a way that was 

           minimally distressing for participants. However, for some candidates answering questions about 

           traumatic events and life problems was distressing. All candidates were informed at the outset of 

           the  interview  that  they  could  take  breaks  during  the  interview  to  reduce  distress,  or  leave  the 

           interview altogether at any time if it became too distressing. All participants were given the leaflet 

           in  Appendix  2  containing  the  addresses  and  telephone  numbers  of  the  National  Counselling 

           Service  (NCS)  national  network  of  counselling  centres  and  contact  details  for  the  Immigrant 

           Counselling  and  Psychotherapy  service  (ICAP)  in  the  UK.  They  were  advised  to  contact  their 

           regional office at any time if they required counselling  for abuse-related issues including those 

           arising from the research interview. Dr Jonathon Egan, Director of the NCS Midland Office, was 



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----------------------- Page 2605-----------------------

           a consultant to the proposed research project. He briefed colleagues in all NCS centres about the 

           study, and  was available to provide  information on its  possible impact on participants,  and the 

           appropriate NCS response to study participants who contacted the NCS following participation in 

          the study. In the UK Teresa Gallagher, Director of ICAP was contacted for advice on referrals to 

           ICAP  centres  in  the  UK.  Over  the  6  months  of  data  collection  fewer  than  5%  of  participants 

           required referral for counselling. 



           Data management 



3.100      Hardcopies of interview protocols were stored in locked filing cabinets in the School of Psychology 

           at  UCD.  Each  protocol  contained  a  case  number.  Data  from  each  protocol  identified  by  case 

           number,  but  not  the  participants  name  were  entered  into  an  SPSS  data  file  by  the  team  of  3 

           postgraduates  and  interview  organizer.  This  master  SPSS  data  file  was  held  on  three  laptop 

           computers and each of the three Postgraduates had responsibility for these laptops. They each 

           undertook specific data analysis tasks. 



3.101     The entries in the data file followed the order in the assessment protocol. The variable names 

          were those specified in the left column (e.g. D1, D2, D3....KMS1, KMS2, KMS3, E1, E2 etc.). The 

          variable values for each case were the numbers associated with the responses to each question, 

           marked in ink on the protocol. When the data file was complete, the ranges of all variables were 

           checked to detect errors such as double keying. Missing data points were identified and a rational 

           approach to manual mean substitution was used for missing data, where possible. For ‘reverse 

           scored’ items from multi-item scales, ‘recode’ SPSS commands were used to reverse the direction 

           of scoring. ‘Compute’ SPSS commands were used to calculate multi-item scale scores. 



           Conclusions 



3.102     The  aim  of  the  present  study  was  to  profile  subgroups  of  adult  survivors  of  institutional  child 

           abuse on demographic, historical and psychological variables with a view to detecting associations 

           between recollections of institutional living and current adjustment. In particular the aim was to 

           profile subgroups of survivors defined by (1) the number of years spent in an institution and the 

           circumstances    under   which    admission    occurred;   (2)  the  worst  type   of  institutional abuse 

           experienced; and (3) the number and type of psychological disorders they displayed. An additional 

           aim was to develop a way to assess psychological processes and coping strategies associated 

          with institutional abuse,  and establish the correlates  of these processes and  coping strategies. 

           Between    May  2005    and  February  2006     just  under  250   adult  survivors  of institutional  living 

           recruited  through  CICA  were  interviewed  in  Ireland  and  the  UK  by  a  team  which  included  29 

          trained interviewers, all of whom had degrees in psychology. The overall exclusion rate was 26% 

           (326 of 1267). The participation rate was 20% (246 of 1267). The response rate was 26% (246 of 

           941).  The  sample  of  participants  interviewed  was  not  representative  of  all  CICA  attenders,  or 

           indeed of adult survivors of institutional living. It is probable that participants were better adjusted 

          than CICA attenders who did not take part because the old and the ill were excluded. The interview 

           protocol covered a range of areas related to current adjustment and past history. Interviews were 

           conducted in an ethical way that safeguarded participants’ wellbeing. Data were managed in a 

          way to safeguard participants’ anonymity. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                        95 


----------------------- Page 2606-----------------------

           Figure 2.1. The path of recruitment and attrition for participants from the CICA confidential 

           and investigation committees 



           Part 3 Characteristics of the sample 



           Summary of Part 3 



3.103      The 247 participants in this study included roughly equal numbers of men and women of about 

           60  years  of  age,  who  had  entered  institutions  run  by  nuns  or  religious  brothers  due  to  family 

           adversity or petty criminality. The majority were of lower socioeconomic status and low educational 

           attainment. The majority had been or were currently married or in long-term relationships, with a 

           high rate of relationship stability. Most married participants had children, with three children being 

           the average, and most brought up their own children. 



3.104      On the institutional version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, more than 90% of participants 

           were classified as having experienced institutional physical and emotional child abuse and about 

           half  as  having  experienced  institutional  child  sexual  abuse.  More  than  90%  were  classified  as 

           having experienced physical and emotional neglect within institutions. 



3.105      For about 40% of participants, severe physical abuse was the worst thing that happened to them 

           in  an  institution.  For  a  further  third  it  was  humiliation  and  degradation.  For  16%  it  was  sexual 

           abuse  and  for  about  a  tenth  it  was  combined  physical  and  sexual  abuse.  On  average,  worst 

           institutional abusive experiences began at about 9 years and lasted for 5 about years. 



3.106      On the family version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire just over a third of those who had 

           memories of having lived with their families reported family-based child abuse or neglect. 



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3.107     All participants had experienced one or more significant life problems. Mental health problems, 

           unemployment and substance use were the three most common difficulties. 



3.108      Self-reliance,  optimism,  work  and  skills  were  the  most  frequently  reported  sources  of  personal 

           strength and factors that helped participants face life challenges. 



3.109     About four fifths of participants at some point in their life had had a psychological disorder and 

           only a fifth had never had any psychological disorder. Anxiety disorders were the most common, 

          followed by mood disorders, followed by substance use disorders. Personality disorders were the 

           least common. The overall rates of psychological disorders among survivors of institutional living 

           in the present study, were far higher, and in most cases double those found in normal community 

           populations in major international epidemiological studies 



3.110     The  majority  of  participants  showed  clinically  significant  posttraumatic  symptomatology  on  the 

          Trauma Symptom Inventory, indicative of continuing posttraumatic adjustment difficulties. 



3.111      On the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory more than  four fifths of participants were 

           classified  as  having  an  insecure  adult  attachment  style,  indicative  of  having  problems  making 

           and maintaining satisfying intimate relationships. A fearful attachment style characterized by high 

           interpersonal anxiety and avoidance was by far the most common. Less than a fifth of cases were 

           classified as having a secure adult attachment style, 



3.112      Institutional sexual abuse was found to be associated with current post-traumatic symptomatology 

           and major life problems. 



3.113      Male and female participants had different profiles. Male participants spent longer living with their 

          families before entering institutions and fewer years in institutions. More entered institutions run 

           by religious brothers or priests for petty crime and left because their sentence was over, while 

           more  females  lived  in  institutions  run  by  nuns.  Male  participants  achieved  a  higher  SES  than 

          females and more had children who spent time living separately form them with the child’s other 

           parent. While their worst abusive experiences began at an older age for male participants, they 

           reported more institutional sexual abuse. While significantly more female participants had lifetime 

           diagnoses  of  panic  disorder  with  agoraphobia,  significantly  more  male  participants  had  lifetime 

           diagnoses    of  alcohol  and   substance    use   disorders,   especially  alcohol   dependence.     Male 

           participants  had  significantly  higher  numbers  of  life  problems,  but  also  higher  levels  of  global 

          functioning and marital satisfaction than females. 



3.114      Participants under and over 59 years of age (the median age for the sample) had distinct profiles. 

           More older participants left their institutions because they were too old to stay on and more were 

           now retired. They had longer relationships with their current partners and were older when their 

          first children were born. Younger participants reported greater institutional, physical, sexual and 

           emotional  abuse.  More  had  current  anxiety,  mood  and  personality  disorders,  especially  PTSD, 

           generalized  anxiety  disorder  and  avoidant  personality  disorder.  Younger  participants  had  more 

          trauma symptoms, adult life problems, a lower quality of life and lower level of global functioning 

           compared with older participants. 



3.115      Participants from the confidential and investigation committees had distinct profiles. Participants 

          from  the  confidential  committee  had  spent  fewer  years  with  their  families  before  entering  an 

           institution and more years in institutions run by nuns. More entered because they were illegitimate 

           and left because they were too old to stay on. They were younger when their worst experiences 

           began. More had maintained stable long-term relationships with their partners and provided their 

           own children with  a stable family in which to  grow up. More participants from  the investigation 

           committee entered intuitions run by religious brothers or priests through the courts for petty crime 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                        97 


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           and left because their sentences were over. They reported greater institutional sexual abuse than 

           participants from the confidential committee. More participants from the investigation committee 

           had a current diagnosis of major depression. 



           Introduction 



3.116     The overall characteristics of the sample of 247 participants is presented in this Part under the 

          following headings: 



                  •   Historical characteristics 

                  •   Demographic characteristics 

                  •   History of abuse 

                  •   Life problems 

                  •   Strengths 

                  •   Psychological disorders 

                  •   Trauma symptoms on the Trauma Symptom Inventory 

                  •   Adult attachment styles 

                  •   Reliability of multi-item scales 

                  •   Correlations between indices of abuse and adjustment 

                  •   Factors associated with age, gender and CICA committee attended 



           Historical characteristics 



3.117      Historical characteristics are summarized in Table 3.1. Participants had spent an average of 5.4 

          years living with their families before entering an institution and on average spent 10 years living 

           in  an  institution.  Participants  reported  entering  institutions  for  various  reasons  including  their 

           parents being unable to look after them (42.1%), petty crime (23.5%), illegitimacy (19.43%), and 

           parental death (14.17%). Participants gave the following reasons for leaving institutions: I was too 

           old to stay on (71.25%), my family wanted to take me home (13.76%), my sentence was over 

           (7.69%),  I  ran  away  (3.23%),  and  the  institution  closed  down  (1.61%).  About  half  (49%)  of 

           participants had lived in institutions managed by nuns. Just under at third (31.17%) had lived in 

           institutions managed by religious brothers or priests. About a fifth (19.83%) had lived in both types 

           of institutions. The majority of participants were happy to leave institutions (61.5%) or had mixed 

          feelings (34%). 



           Demographic characteristics 



3.118      Demographic  characteristics  are  summarized  in  Table  3.2.  The  sample  included  almost  equal 

           numbers of males (54.7%) and females (45.3%), with a mean age of 60 years. 



           Current Socio-economic Status 



3.119      Participants  were  predominantly  of  lower  socio-economic  status  (SES)  with  24%  unemployed; 

           15.4%  unskilled  manual  workers;  28%  semiskilled  manual  workers;  and  12%  skilled  manual 

          worker.   Only   3.2%   were   non-manual     workers.   Only  3.65%    were   in lower   professional   and 

           managerial  posts, and  only  0.4% had  higher  professional or  managerial  appointments. 34%  of 

           participants were retired. 



           Highest Socio-economic Status 



3.120      Since leaving school the highest socio-economic status achieved by most participants was at the 

           lower end of the spectrum. For 42% the highest status achieved was unskilled manual work; for 

           25.1% is was semiskilled manual work; and for 12.6% it was skilled manual work. Since leaving 

           school a far smaller proportion had achieved high socio-economic status. Only 8.5% had worked 



           98                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2609-----------------------

           in non-manual jobs. Only 6.1% had worked in lower professional and managerial posts and only 

          0.8% had achieved higher professional or managerial appointments. 



           Education 



3.121     With respect to education, 49% had never passed any state, college or university examination. 

          25% had passed the Primary Certificate Examination which is usually taken at about 12 years of 

          age   at the  end   of primary   school   education.   6.1%   had  passed    the Intermediate    Certificate 

           Examination, which it usually taken at about 15 or 16 years of age, midway through secondary 

          school. Only 5.3% had passed the Leaving Certificate Examination, which it usually taken at about 

           18  years  of  age,  and  marks  the  completion  of  secondary  school  education.  Only  3.2%  had  a 

           bachelors level university degree. 



           Marital status 



3.122     With respect to marital status, 39.7% were married in their first relationship. 9.3% were married 

           in their second relationship. 8.9% were widowed and 11.3% had never married. 19% were single 

          and  separated  or  divorced  from  their  first  marital  or  cohabiting  partner.  4.5%  were  single  and 

          separated or divorced from second or later partner. 



          Stability of long term relationships 



3.123     With  respect  to  the  stability  of  long-term  romantic  or  marital  relationships,  34.6%  of  the  217 

           participants who had long term relationships were still in these relationships. 36.4% reported that 

          they  had  been  in  one  long-term  relationship  that  had  ended.  17.1%  had  ended  two  long-term 

           relationships.  12%  reported  that  they  had  been  in  3  or  more  long-term  relationships  that  had 

          ended. For the 134 participants who were currently in long-term relationships or marriages, the 

          average duration of these relationships was 31.1 years. 



          Children’s living arrangements 



3.124      For the 212 participants with children, the average number of children was 3.38, and the average 

          age when these participants had their first child was 25.53 years. For 76.8% of these participants, 

          their  children  had  lived  with  them  while  they  were  growing  up.  For  13%,  the  children  spent 

          sometime living with the other parent. For 2.8% the children spent some time living with relatives. 

          Only 4.7% of parents reported that their children spent some time living in care and only 2.4% 

           had put a child up for adoption. 



          History of abuse 



3.125      Participants’ history of child abuse within institutions and families is summarized in Table 3.3. 



           Institution version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire 



3.126     On the total scale of the institution version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) 99.2% 

          of cases were classified as having experienced child abuse, with most cases experiencing multiple 

          forms of child abuse and neglect. On the CTQ subscales, 97.2% were classified as having been 

           physically  abused;  47%  as  having  been  sexually  abused;  94.7%  as  having  been  emotionally 

          abused;  97.6%  as  having  been  physically  neglected  and  95.1%  as  having  been  emotionally 

           neglected.  For  the  CTQ  scales,  the  following  cut-off  scores  were  used  in  classifying  cases  as 

          abused: emotional abuse 13, emotional neglect 14, physical abuse 11, physical neglect 10, sexual 

          abuse 9, and overall CTQ child abuse score 52. These cut-off scores were two standard deviations 

          above  the  mean  for  combined  male  and  female  normative  community  samples  (Scher,  Stein, 

          Asmundson, McCreary & Forde, 2001). 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                       99 


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           Institutional Abuse Scale 



3.127      On  the institutional  abuse scale  cases were  classified as  having experienced  specific forms  of 

           abuse, particular to living in an institution, if participants rated items as often true or very true. 

           92.3% reported that they were punished unfairly by their carers. 88.7% reported that they were 

          terrified of their carers. 88.3% reported that they could never predict when they would be punished 

           by their carers. 85% noted that their carers tried to break them. 80.1% noted that their carers tried 

          to take away their hope. 75.7% said that their carers told them that they were bad . 64.7% said 

          that their carers took away their own clothes. 47% mentioned that their carers separated them 

          from their siblings. 43% noted that their carers said their mothers were bad. 38% said that their 

           carers  destroyed  their  treasured  possessions  such  as  pictures,  teddy  bears,  and  mementoes. 

           30.4% reported that their carers told them that their mothers did not love them. 26.4% mentioned 

          that their carers said that their fathers were bad and 21% reported that their carers told them that 

          their fathers did not love them. 



           Most severe form of physical institutional abuse 



3.128     All participants reported that they had experienced physical abuse, serious enough to mention in 

           answer   to  questions   about   the  most   severe   form   of physical   institutional abuse   they   had 

           experienced. (This is close to the 97.2% rate of physical abuse obtained on the institution version 

           of the CTQ, a normed psychometric instrument.) 42.1% reported that being assaulted to lead to 

           medical attention was the most severe form of physical institutional abuse to which they had been 

           exposed. For 30% it was being hit to leave bruises; for 20.6 % it was being assaulted to lead to 

           cuts; and for 5.7% it was being hit without being bruised. 46.6% reported that the most severe 

          form of physical institutional abuse occurred more than 100 times. 23.9% mentioned that the most 

           severe  form  of  physical  institutional  abuse  occurred  11-100  times.  For  19.6%  it  occurred  2-10 

          times and for 9.7% it occurred only once. The average age when the most severe form of physical 

           institutional abuse began was 8.5 years and the average duration was 6.7 years. 



           Most severe form of sexual institutional abuse 



3.129      50.6% of participants reported that they had experienced sexual abuse, serious enough to mention 

           in answer   to  questions   about   the  most   severe   form  of  sexual  institutional abuse    they  had 

           experienced. (This is close to the 47% rate of sexual abuse obtained on the institution version of 

          the CTQ, a normed psychometric instrument.) 21.5% reported that fondling and masturbation was 

          the most severe form of sexual institutional abuse they had experienced. For 18.6% it was oral, 

           anal or vaginal penetration. For 6.9% it was attempted oral, anal or vaginal penetration. For 3.2% 

           it was non-contact sex, for example, exposure. 16.6% reported that the most severe form of sexual 

           institutional abuse occurred more than 2-10 times. 14.2 % mentioned that the most severe form 

           of sexual institutional abuse occurred 11-100 times. For 10.5% it occurred only once and for 9.3% 

           it occurred  more    than  100   times.  The  average    age   when   the  most   severe   form  of  sexual 

           institutional abuse began was 10.73 years and the average duration was 2.83 years. 



          Worst thing that ever happened in an institution 



3.130     Answers  to  the  open-ended  question  ‘What  was  the  worst  thing  that  happened  to  you  in  the 

           institution?’ were classified into four thematically salient groups, with inter-rater agreement of over 

           90%  for  the  classification  of  a  sample  of  10%  of  all  statements.  The  statements  from  247 

           participants,  classified  into  four  thematic  categories,  are  presented  in  Table  3.4.  For  40.1%  of 

           participants, severe physical abuse was the worst thing that happened to them in an institution. 

           For 34.4% it was humiliation and degradation. For 16.2%, it was sexual abuse and for 9.3%, the 

          worst  thing  that  happened  in  an  institution  was  severe  combined  physical  and  sexual  abuse. 

           Participants reported that their worst experiences began, on average, at 9.1 years and lasted, on 

           average, for 5.3 years. 



           100                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2611-----------------------

           Family version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire 



3.131      121 participants had lived with their family and had sufficient memories of that time to complete 

          the family version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). On the total scale of the family 

          version of the CTQ 38% of these 121 cases were classified as having experienced child abuse. 

           On the CTQ subscales, 26.4% were classified as having been physically abused; 8.3% as having 

           been   sexually  abused;    20.7%   as  having   been   emotionally   abused;    47.9%   as  having   been 

           physically  neglected;   and   28.9%    as  having   been    emotionally   neglected.   These    rates  are 

           considerably lower  than the rates of  institutional abuse given  by the institutional version  of the 

           CTQ reported above, most of which were above 90%. 



           Most severe form of physical abuse in the family 



3.132     44 participants reported that they had experienced physical abuse, serious enough to mention in 

           answer to questions about the most severe from of physical abuse they had experienced within 

          the family. 44 is 36%, or just over a third, of the group of 121 who had sufficient memory of living 

          with  their  families  to  answer  detailed  questions  about  this  period  of  their  lives.  Expressed  as 

           percentages of 121, 18.18% reported that being hit to leave bruises was the most severe form of 

           physical abuse to which they had been exposed within the family. For 9% it was being assaulted 

          to lead to medical attention; for 5.78% it was being hit without being bruised; and for 3.3% it was 

           being assaulted to lead to cuts. Expressed as percentages of 121, 14.05% reported that the most 

           severe form of physical abuse within the family occurred 11-100 times. 11.57 % mentioned that 

          the most severe form of physical abuse within the family occurred 2-10 times, and for 10.74% it 

           occurred more than 100 times. The average age when the most severe form of physical abuse 

          within the family began was 7.29 years and the average duration was 5.2 years. 



           Most severe form of sexual abuse within the family 



3.133      14 participants reported that they had experienced sexual abuse, serious enough to mention in 

           answer to questions about the most severe form of sexual abuse they had experienced within the 

          family. 14 is 11.57%, or just over a tenth, of the group of 121 who had sufficient memory of living 

          with  their  families  to  answer  detailed  questions  about  this  period  of  their  lives.  Expressed  as 

           percentages of 121, 5.78% reported that fondling and masturbation was the most severe sexual 

           abuse they had experienced within the family. For 4.13% it was oral, anal or vaginal penetration. 

           For 1.65% it was attempted oral, anal or vaginal penetration. 4.13% reported that the most severe 

          form of sexual abuse within the family occurred only once. 3.3 % mentioned that the most severe 

          form of sexual abuse within the family occurred more than 100 times. For a further 3.3% it occurred 

           11-100  times.  The  average  age  when  the  most  severe  form  of  sexual  abuse  within  the  family 

           began was 8.55 years and the average duration was 4.48 years. 



           Life problems 



3.134     All  participants  had  experienced  one  or  more  significant  life  problems.  Mental  health  problems 

           (74.1%),  unemployment      (51.8%)    and  substance    use  (38.1%)    were  the  three  most   common 

           difficulties occurring in a third to three quarters of cases. Less common problems included frequent 

           illness  (29.6%),  frequent  hospitalisation  for  physical  health  problems  (28.3%),  anger  control  in 

           intimate relationships (25.9%), non-violent crime (22.3%) and homelessness (21.1%). Less than 

           a fifth of cases had problems in the following areas: self-harm (17.8%), anger control with children 

           (13.4%), incarceration for non-violent crime (13.4%), hospitalisation for mental health problems 

           (13%), violent crime (10.1%), and incarceration for violent crime (7.3%). The inter-rater reliability 

           kappa coefficient for each of the life problems was above .7 indicating that the problems were 

           reliably measured. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                       101 


----------------------- Page 2612-----------------------

           Strengths 



3.135     To  assess  participants  perception  of  their  own  strengths  they  were  asked  -  where  does  your 

           strength come from?; what has helped you most in facing life challenges?; and what is the thing 

          that means most to you in your life? A summary of responses to these questions is given in Table 

           3.6.  Participants’  self-reliance,  optimism,  work  and  skills  collectively  were  the  most  frequently 

           reported  sources  of  personal  strength  (59.3%)  and  factors  that  helped  participants  face  life 

           challenges (58%). Their relationships with their partners and / or family were the most commonly 

           cited things that meant most to participants in their lives (70.2%). This was also the second most 

           common source  of strength (16.19%)  along with their  relationship with God  or a spiritual  force 

           (16.19%). Their relationships with their partners and /or family was also the second most common 

          factor that helped them face life challenges (25.5%). Relationship with God or a spiritual force and 

           relationship with a friend including other survivors were cited by less than 11% of participants as 

          factors that helped them face life challenges and things that meant most to them in their lives. 



           Psychological disorders 



3.136     Anxiety, mood and alcohol or substance use disorders were assessed with the Clinical version of 

          the  Structured  Clinical  Interview  for  DSM-IV  Axis  I  Disorders  (SCID  I,  First,  Spitzer,  Gibbon  & 

          Williams,   1996).   Avoidant,   antisocial,  borderline  and   dependent     personality  disorders   were 

           assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SCID-II, First, 

           Spitzer,  Gibbon  &  Williams,  1997).  The  inter-rater  reliability  kappa  coefficient  for  each  of  the 

           diagnostic categories assessed was above .7 indicating that the diagnoses were reliably made 

           (Cohen, 1960). 



           Overall rates of psychological disorders in survivors of institutional living 



3.137      81.78% of participants at some point in their life had met the diagnostic criteria for an anxiety, 

           mood, alcohol or substance use, or personality disorder. 18.21% (or 45 participants) had never 

           had any psychological disorder. 



3.138     With respect to DSM IV Axis I disorders, 64.8% of participants had at some point in their lifetime 

           met the diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis of an anxiety, mood, alcohol or substance use disorder. 

           51.4% met the diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis of an anxiety, mood, or alcohol or substance use 

           disorder  when  they  were  interviewed.  With  respect  to  DSM  IV  Axis  II  disorders,  30.4%  had  a 

           personality disorder when interviewed. 



3.139      From Table 3.7 it may be seen that for combined current and lifetime diagnoses, anxiety disorders 

          were the most common (current: 44.9%, lifetime: 34.4%); followed by mood disorders (current: 

           26.7%, lifetime: 36%); followed by substance use disorders (current: 4.9%, lifetime: 35.2%); with 

          the rate of personality disorders being the lowest of all broad categories of diagnoses (30.4%). 

           (Only current and not lifetime diagnoses of personality disorders may be made.) 



           Comparison with rates of psychological disorders in the community 



3.140     The overall rates of psychological disorders among survivors of institutional living in the present 

           study, were far higher than those found in major international epidemiological studies of normal 

           community  populations  conducted  in  Europe,  the  USA  and  the  UK,  summarized  in  Table  3.8 

           (Alonso et al., 2004; Grant et al., 2004; Kessler, Berglund et al., 2005; Kessler, Chiu et al., 2005; 

           Singleton  et  al.,  2001;  Torgersen  et  al.,  2001).  The  prevalence  of  current  anxiety,  mood  and 

           personality  disorders  among  survivors  of  institutional  living  was  more  than  twice  that  found  in 

           normal European, North American or British populations. The prevalence of lifetime diagnoses of 

           anxiety, mood, and substance use among survivors of institutional living exceeded those found in 

           normal European, North American or British populations by between 5 and 30%. 



           102                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2613-----------------------

          Anxiety disorders 



3.141     From Table 3.7 it may be seen that for anxiety disorders the three most common conditions were 

          social  phobia   (current: 19.8%,   lifetime: 10.9%);   generalized   anxiety  disorder  (current: 17%, 

          lifetime: 6.9%); and posttraumatic stress disorder (current: 16.6%, lifetime: 8.5%). Other anxiety 

          disorders were less prevalent. 



          Mood disorders 



3.142     From Table 3.7 it may be seen that for mood disorders the current (26.7%) and lifetime (36%) 

          prevalence rates for major depression were higher than the rate of current dysthymia (11.3%). 

          (Only current and not lifetime diagnoses of dysthymia may be made.) 



          Alcohol or substance use disorders 



3.143     From Table 3.7 it may be seen that for alcohol or substance use disorders 27.1% had a lifetime 

          diagnosis of alcohol dependence and 7.7% for a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol abuse. Prevalence 

          rates for all other current and lifetime substance use diagnoses were below 5%. 



          Personality disorders 



3.144     From Table 3.7 it may be seen that 21% of participants had avoidant personality disorder. 6.9% 

          had antisocial personality disorder. 5.7% had borderline personality disorder and only 1.6% had 

          dependent personality disorder. 



          Trauma symptoms on the trauma symptom inventory 



3.145     Cases  were  classified  as  showing  clinically  significant  trauma  symptoms  if  they  scored  two 

          standard deviations above the mean for the normative sample described in Briere’s (1996) manual 

          for  the  Trauma  Symptom  Inventory  (TSI).  A  summary  of  the  rates  of  cases  showing  clinically 

          significant trauma symptoms on the TSI is given in Table 3.9. More than half of all participants 

          showed clinically significant levels of avoidance of reminders of early trauma (59.9%) and intrusive 

          experiences    such  as  flashbacks   (55.9%).   Between   a  third and   almost  a  half had   clinically 

          significant  problems   with  impaired   self-reference  (46.2%),   dissociation  (44.1%),   depression 

          (41.7%),  anxious  arousal  (38.5%)  and  maladaptive  tension  reduction  (35.2%).  For  less  than  a 

          third,  anger  (32%),  sexual  concerns  (23.9%)  and  sexual  dysfunction  (12.6%)  were  clinically 

          significant problems. 



          Adult attachment styles 



3.146     Cases were classified as falling into four adult attachment style categories using the Experiences 

          in Close Relationships Inventory, SPSS algorithm described in Brennan, Clark, & Shaver’s (1998) 

          chapter:  Self-report  measures  of  adult  attachment:  An  integrative  overview.  A  summary  of  the 

          numbers of cases falling into the four categories is given in Table 3.10. Using this system, only 

          16.59% of cases were classified as having a secure adult attachment style, with the remaining 

          83.41%  of  cases  having  an  insecure  adult  attachment  style.  A  fearful  adult  attachment  style, 

          characterized by high interpersonal anxiety and avoidance was by far the most common insecure 

          style, with 44.12% of participants being classified in this way. 26.72% had dismissive, and 12.55% 

          had preoccupied adult attachment styles. A dismissive style is characterized by low interpersonal 

          anxiety, but a high level of interpersonal avoidance, whereas a preoccupied style is characterized 

          by high interpersonal anxiety and a low level of interpersonal avoidance. 



          Reliability of multi-item scales 



3.147     Multi-item scales were used to assess participants’ recollections of abuse and a number of aspects 

          of current functioning. These scales were used in correlational analyses reported below, and in 

          other analyses reported in the next Part. Before these analyses were conducted, the reliability of 

          the scales was evaluated. Internal consistency reliability was evaluated with Cronbach’s (1951) 



          CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                    103 


----------------------- Page 2614-----------------------

           alpha and inter-rater reliability was assessed using the split-half method, treating ratings by each 

           rater  as  two  halves  of  the  same  scale.  The  ranges,  means,  standard  deviations  and  reliability 

           coefficients for the scales used in the correlational and later analyses are summarized in Table 

           3.11. 



3.148      With three exceptions, internal consistency and inter-rater reliability co-efficients close to or greater 

           than .7 were obtained, indicating that scales had acceptable levels of reliability. The exceptional 

           scales deserve mention. The total and severe physical abuse scales of the family version of the 

           Severe Physical and Sexual abuse yielded internal consistency reliability co-efficients of .27 and 

           .26 respectively; and the severe sexual abuse scale of the family version of the Severe Physical 

           and Sexual abuse yielded an inter-rater reliability co-efficient of .53. These co-efficients indicate 

           that  these  scales  were  relatively  unreliable,  and  so  results  from  them  should  be  interpreted 

           cautiously. 



           Correlations between indices of abuse and adjustment 



3.149      Pearson product-moment correlations were computed between indices of institutional living and 

           institutional and family-based child abuse on the one hand, and indices of adjustment on the other. 

           These analyses are summarized in Table 3.12. In these analyses, the indices of institutional living 

           and  abuse    were:  the  number    of  years  spent   living  in an  institution; the total score   on  the 

           Institutional Abuse Scale (IAS); the total, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical 

           neglect and emotional neglect scale scores of the institution and family versions of the Childhood 

           Trauma  Questionnaire  (CTQ);  and  the  total,  severe  physical  and  severe  sexual  abuse  scale 

           scores  of  the  institution  and  family  versions  of  the  Severe  Physical  and  Sexual  Abuse  scale 

           (SPSA). In these analyses the indices of adjustment were: total number of current and lifetime 

           psychological disorders; the total score on the Life Problems Checklist (LPC); the score on the 

           Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale; the total score on the Trauma Symptom Inventory 

           (TSI); Socio economic status (SES); the number of failed marital or cohabiting relationships in a 

           participants  life;  the  total  score  on  the  Kansas  Marital  Satisfaction  scale  (KMS);  scores  on  the 

           interpersonal anxiety and avoidance scales of the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory 

           (ECRI); the total score on the Kansas Parent Satisfaction scale; and the total score on the World 

           health Organization Quality of Life Scale. 



3.150      To avoid type 1 error (accepting spurious correlations as significant) and to identify correlations 

           in which variables shared at least 9% of the variance, only correlations with an absolute value of 

           .3 or greater and significant at p<.01 were interpreted as significant and meaningful. 



3.151      There were two important sets of findings. First, correlations larger than .3 and significant at p<.01 

           occurred between the total trauma symptoms score on the TSI on the one hand and the following 

           indices of abuse on the other: the total (r=.38), sexual (r=.35), and emotional abuse (r=.32) scales 

           of the institution version of the CTQ; and the total (r=.34) and severe sexual institutional abuse 

           (r=32)  scales  of  the  institution  version  of  the  SPSA.  These  correlations  show  that  participants 

           who reported greater numbers of trauma symptoms also reported greater institutional sexual and 

           emotional abuse. 



3.152      The second set of findings was that correlations larger than .3 and significant at p<.01 occurred 

           between the total problems score on the LPC on the one hand and the following indices of abuse 

           on the other: the sexual abuse scale of the institutional version of the CTQ (r=.39); the severe 

           institutional sexual abuse scale of the institution version of the SPSA (r=.36); and the total (r=.32) 

           and  severe  family  physical  abuse  (r=.34)  scales  of  the  family  version  of  the  SPSA.  However, 

           correlations  between  the  LPC  and  the  scales  from  the  family  version  of  the  SPSA  must  be 

           interpreted cautiously because of the low reliability of the total and severe physical abuse scales 

           of the family version of the SPSA. These correlations show that participants who reported greater 



           104                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2615-----------------------

           numbers of life problems in adulthood also reported greater institutional sexual abuse, and severe 

           family-based physical abuse (although this finding is tentative). 



           Factors associated with age, gender and CICA committee attended 



3.153      To  identify  factors  associated  with  age,  gender  and  CICA  committee  attended,  three  sets  of 

           analyses were conducted. In the first of these, 135 males participants were compared with 112 

           female participants on all main variables. In the second analysis, 134 older participants whose age 

           fell above the median age for all 247 participants were compared with 113 younger participants. In 

           the third analysis, 175 participants who had attended the confidential committee were compared 

           with 71 who attended the investigative committee. In each of these sets of analyses, to evaluate 

           the  statistical significance   of  intergroup   differences,   chi  square    tests  were   conducted     for 

           categorical variables and t-test were used for continuous variables. In all of these tests, p values 

           were set conservatively at p<.01 to reduce the probability of type 1 error (misinterpreting spurious 

           group differences as significant). In  a further attempt to control for type 1  error, for continuous 

           variables,  where  possible  multivariate  analyses  of  variance  (MANOVAs)  were  conducted  on 

           groups of conceptually related variables, and only if the results of MANOVAs were significant were 

           t-tests  on  individual  variables  conducted.  For  the  TSI  and  the  WHOQOL,  which  are  multiscale 

           instruments, unless the pattern of subscale scores differed greatly from that of total scores, for 

           brevity, only analyses of total scores are reported. To facilitate interpretation of profiles of tabulated 

           means,  all  psychological  variables  on  continuous  scales  were  transformed  to  T-scores  (with 

           means of 50 and standard deviations of 10) before analyses were conducted. T-score for variable 

           X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases 

           on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. In the interests of brevity 

           only statistically significant results from these three sets of analyses are tabulated and reported. 



           Comparison of male and female participants 



3.154      135 males participants were compared with 112 female participants on all main variables. From 

           Table 3.13 it may be seen that there were statistically significant differences between male and 

           female participants on the following historical and demographic variables: years spent living with 

           the  family  before  entering  an  institution,  years  spent  in  an  institution,  reason  for  entering  and 

           leaving  an   institution, institution management,      age   when   worst   experiences    began,    highest 

           socioeconomic     status   (SES)   attained   since  leaving   school,   and   their own    children’s  living 

           arrangements. Male participants spent longer living with their families before entering institutions; 

           they spent fewer years in institutions; more entered institutions for petty crime; more left because 

           their sentences were over; more lived in institutions managed by religious brothers and priests 

           (not nuns); their worst experiences began at an older age; they achieved a higher SES; and more 

           had children who spent time living separately from them with the child’s other parent. 



3.155      From Table 3.14 it may be seen that that there were statistically significant differences between 

           male and female participants in their recollections of child abuse on the following variables: the 

           sexual and emotional abuse subscales of the institution version of the CTQ; the severe physical 

           and sexual abuse scales of the institutional version of the SPSA. These results show that male 

           participants  reported  more  institutional  sexual  abuse  than  female  participants,  while  females 

           reported more emotional and physical abuse. 



3.156      From  Table  3.15  it  may  be  seen  that  while  significantly  more  female  participants  had  lifetime 

           diagnoses  of  panic  disorder  with  agoraphobia,  significantly  more  male  participants  had  lifetime 

           diagnoses of alcohol and substance use disorders, especially alcohol dependence. 



3.157      From Table 3.16  it may be seen that male  participants had significantly higher numbers  of life 

           problems, but also higher levels of global functioning and marital satisfaction than females. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                         105 


----------------------- Page 2616-----------------------

           Comparison of younger and older participants 



3.158      134 older participants whose age fell at or above the median age of 59 for all 247 participants 

           were compared with 113 younger participants on all main variables. From Table 3.17 it may be 

           seen that there were statistically significant differences between older and younger participants 

           on the following historical and demographic variables: reason for leaving the institution, current 

           socio-economic status, duration of relationship with current partner, and age when first child was 

           born.  More  older  participants  left  their  institutions  because  they  were  too  old  to  stay  on;  more 

           were retired; they had longer relationships with their current partners; and were older when their 

           first children were born. 



3.159      From Table 3.18 it may be seen that there were statistically significant differences between older 

           and younger participants in their recollections of child abuse on the following variables: the total 

           score on the IAS; the emotional abuse scale of the institutional version of the CTQ; and the total, 

           severe physical and severe sexual abuse scales of the institution version of the SPSA. Younger 

           participants  reported  greater  institutional,  physical,  sexual  and  emotional  abuse.  Younger  and 

           older participants did not differ in their recollections of family-based abuse. 



3.160      From Table 3.19 it may be seen that significantly more younger participants had current anxiety, 

           mood  and  personality  disorders.  With  regard  to  specific  disorders,  rates  of  PTSD,  generalized 

           anxiety  disorder   and   avoidant   personality   disorder  were   significantly  higher  among     younger 

           participants. 



3.161      From Table 3.20 it may be seen that younger participants had significantly more trauma symptoms 

           on the TSI, and more life problems in adulthood on the LPC. They also had a significantly lower 

           quality of life on the WHOQOL 100 UK and a lower level of global functioning on the GAF. 



           Comparison of participants from the confidential and investigative committees 



3.162      175  participants  who  had     attended  the  confidential  committee  were  compared         with  71  who 

           attended the investigative committee. From Table 3.21 it may be seen that there were statistically 

           significant differences between participants from the confidential and investigation committees on 

           the following historical and demographic variables: number of years spent living with the family 

           before entering an institution; years spent in an institution; reasons for entering and leaving an 

           institution;  institution  management;  age  when  worst  experiences  began;  number  of  long  term 

           relationships   or  marriages   that  have   ended;    and   participants’  own   children’s   current  living 

           arrangements.  Participants  from  the  confidential  committee  had  spent  fewer  years  with  their 

           families  before  entering  an  institution;  they  spent  more  years  in  an  institution;  more  entered 

           because  they  were  illegitimate  and  left  because  they  were  too  old  to  stay  on;  more  lived  in 

           institutions managed by nuns; they were younger when their worst experiences began; more had 

           maintained stable long term relationships with their partners; and more had provided their own 

           children with care when they were growing up. More participants from the investigative committee 

           entered institutions through the courts for petty crime and left because their sentences were over, 

           and more lived in institutions run by religious brothers or priests. 



3.163      From  Table  3.22  it  may  be  seen  that  there  were  statistically  significant  differences  between 

           participants from the confidential and investigative committees in their recollections of child abuse 

           on the following variables: the total and sexual abuse scale of the institution version of the CTQ, 

           and the severe sexual abuse scale of the institution version of the SPSA. Participants from the 

           investigative  committee  reported  greater  institutional  sexual  abuse  than  participants  from  the 

           confidential committee. 



3.164      Significantly more participants from the investigative committee had a current diagnosis of major 

           depression (Investigative Committee=25.4%, Confidential Committee=11.4%, Chi Square (df=1, 

           N=247)=7.5, p<.01). 



           106                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2617-----------------------

            Conclusions 



3.165       The 247 participants in this study included roughly equal numbers of men and women of about 

            60  years  of  age,  who  had  entered  institutions  run  by  nuns  or  religious  brothers  due  to  family 

            adversity or petty criminality. The majority were married with children and of lower socioeconomic 

            status and low educational attainment. More than 90% of participants were classified as having 

            experienced institutional physical and emotional child abuse and about half as having experienced 

            institutional child sexual abuse. Just over a third of those who had memories of having lived with 

            their families reported family-based child abuse or neglect. All participants had experienced one 

            or more significant life problems. About four fifths of participants at some point in their lives had 

            had a psychological disorder and this rate of psychological disorders was far higher than in normal 

            community  populations.  The  majority  of  participants  showed  post-traumatic  symptoms  and  an 

            insecure adult attachment style. Institutional sexual abuse was found to be associated with current 

            post-traumatic symptomatology and major life problems. Male and female, and younger and older 

            participants  had  different  profiles  as  had         participants  from  the  confidential  and  investigation 

            committees. 

                                                   Table 3.1. Historical characteristics 



                    Variable          Categories                                                                       Values 



             Years with family before entering an institution (N=246)                                      M                5.40 

                                                                                                         SD                 4.55 



             Years in an institution (N=247)                                                               M               10.03 

                                                                                                         SD                 5.21 

             Reason for entering an institution (N=247) 

                                      Parents could not provide care                                        f             104.00 

                                                                                                           %               42.10 

                                      Petty crime                                                           f              58.00 

                                                                                                           %               23.50 

                                      Illegitimate                                                          f              48.00 

                                                                                                           %               19.43 

                                      Parent died                                                           f              35.00 

                                                                                                           %               14.17 

                                      Unknown or other                                                      f               2.00 

                                                                                                           %                0.80 

             Reason for leaving the institution (N=247) 

                                      Too old to stay on                                                    f             176.00 

                                                                                                           %               71.25 

                                      Family wanted to take him / her home                                  f              34.00 

                                                                                                           %               13.76 

                                      Sentence was over                                                     f              19.00 

                                                                                                           %                7.69 

                                      Ran away                                                              f               8.00 

                                                                                                           %                3.23 

                                      The institution closed down                                           f               4.00 

                                                                                                           %                1.61 

                                      Unknown or other                                                      f               6.00 

                                                                                                           %                2.42 

             Institution management (N=247) 

                                      Nuns                                                                  f             121.00 

                                                                                                           %               49.00 

                                      Religious brothers or priests                                         f              77.00 

                                                                                                           %               31.17 

                                      Nuns and religious brothers or priests                                f              49.00 

                                                                                                           %               19.83 

             Were you happy to leave the institution? (N=247) 

                                      Yes                                                                   f             152.00 

                                                                                                           %               61.50 

                                      Mixed feelings                                                        f              84.00 

                                                                                                           %               34.00 

                                      No                                                                    f              11.00 

                                                                                                           %                4.50 



            Note: For each variable with multiple categories, the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 

            are due to rounding of decimals to two places. 



            CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                      107 


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                                 Table 3.2. Demographic characteristics 



 Variable              Categories                                                              Values 



 Gender (N=247)        Male                                                           f          135.00 

                                                                                    %             54.70 

                       Female                                                         f          112.00 

                                                                                    %             45.30 



 Age (N=247)                                                                         M            60.05 

                                                                                   SD              8.33 



 Current socio-economic status (SES) (N=241) 

                       Unemployed                                                     f           60.00 

                                                                                    %             24.30 

                       Unskilled manual                                               f           38.00 

                                                                                    %             15.40 

                       Semi-skilled manual and farmers owning less                    f           28.00 

                       than 30 acres 

                                                                                    %             11.30 

                       Skilled manual and farmers owning 30-49 acres                  f           12.00 

                                                                                    %              4.90 

                       Other non-manual and farmers owning 50-99                      f            8.00 

                       acres 

                                                                                    %              3.20 

                       Lower professional and l managerial; farmers                   f            9.00 

                       owning 100-199 acres 

                                                                                    %              3.65 

                       Higher professional and managerial; farmers                    f            1.00 

                       owning 200 acres 

                                                                                    %              0.40 

                       Retired                                                        f           85.00 

                                                                                    %             34.40 

 Highest SES attained since leaving school (N=235) 

                       Unskilled manual                                               f          104.00 

                                                                                    %             42.10 

                       Semi-skilled manual and farmers owning less                    f           62.00 

                       than 30 acres 

                                                                                    %             25.10 

                       Skilled manual and farmers owning 30-49 acres                  f           31.00 

                                                                                    %             12.60 

                       Other non-manual and farmers owning 50-99                      f           21.00 

                       acres 

                                                                                    %              8.50 

                       Lower professional and managerial; farmers                     f           15.00 

                       owning 100-199 acres 

                                                                                    %              6.10 

                       Higher professional and managerial; farmers                    f            2.00 

                       owning 200 acres 

                                                                                    %              0.80 



 Education: Highest exam passed (N=244) 

                       None                                                           f          121.00 

                                                                                    %             49.00 

                       Junior school exam in 5th  or 6th class (e.g.                  f           62.00 



                       primary cert) 

                                                                                    %             25.10 

                       Mid high school exam (e.g. Inter or junior cert)               f           15.00 

                                                                                    %              6.10 

                       Leaving cert                                                   f           13.00 

                                                                                    %              5.30 

                       Certificate or diploma or apprenticeship exam                  f           25.00 

                                                                                    %             10.10 

                       Primary degree (e.g. BA)                                       f            8.00 

                                                                                    %              3.20 



108                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2619-----------------------

 Variable                Categories                                                                   Values 



 Marital status (N=245) 

                         Married in first long term relationship                            f             98.00 

                                                                                           %              39.70 

                         Married in second or later marriage                                f             23.00 

                                                                                           %               9.30 

                         Cohabiting in first long term relationship                         f              2.00 

                                                                                           %               0.80 

                         Cohabiting in second or later long term                            f             14.00 

                         relationship 

                                                                                           %               5.70 

                         Single and widowed                                                 f             22.00 

                                                                                           %               8.90 

                         Single and never married or cohabited                              f             28.00 

                                                                                           %              11.30 

                         Single and divorced from first married partner                     f             24.00 

                                                                                           %               9.70 

                         Single and separated from first cohabiting partner                 f              6.00 

                                                                                           %               2.40 

                         Single and separated from first marital partner                    f             17.00 

                                                                                           %               6.90 

                         Single and separated or divorced from second or                    f             11.00 

                         later partner 

                                                                                           %               4.50 

 Number of long term relationships or marriages that have ended (N=217) 

                         No relationship has ended                                          f             75.00 

                                                                                           %              34.60 

                         1 relationship                                                     f             79.00 

                                                                                           %              36.40 

                         2 relationships                                                    f             37.00 

                                                                                           %              17.10 

                         3 relationships                                                    f             13.00 

                                                                                           %               6.00 

                         4 or more relationships                                            f             13.00 

                                                                                           %               6.00 



 Duration of relationship with current partner (N=134)                                     M              31.10 

                                                                                         SD               10.73 



 Number of children (N=212)                                                                M               3.38 

                                                                                         SD                1.92 



 Age when had first Child (N=207)                                                          M              25.53 

                                                                                         SD                5.56 

 Children’s living arrangements (N=211) 

                         Always lived with respondent                                       f            162.00 

                                                                                           %              76.80 

                         Spent some time living with their other parent                     f             28.00 

                                                                                           %              13.30 

                         Spent some time living with their relatives                        f              6.00 

                                                                                           %               2.80 

                         Spent some time living in care                                     f             10.00 

                                                                                           %               4.70 

                         Children put up for adoption                                       f              5.00 

                                                                                           %               2.40 



Note: For each variable with multiple categories, the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 

are  due  to  rounding  of  decimals  to  two  places.  Socio-economic  status  (SES)  was  assessed  with  O’Hare,  A.,  Whelan, 

C.T., &  Commins, P. (1991).  The development  of an Irish  census-based social class  scale.  The Economic  and Social 

Review, 22, 135-156. The percentages in long term relationships or marriages that have ended was based on the number 

of cases who had had any marriages or long-term relationships (N=217). The mean duration of relationship with current 

partner was based on the number of participants who were married or cohabiting (N=134). The mean number of children 

(N=212), mean age when had first child (N=207) and percentage of children in each of the children’s living arrangements 

(N=211) categories were based on cases with children only for whom relevant data were reported. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                               109 


----------------------- Page 2620-----------------------

                                           Table 3.3. History of abuse 



        Variable           Scales, items or categories                                         f             % 



 INSTITUTIONAL CHILD ABUSE (N=247) 

 CTQ-Institution           Total child abuse                                                    245.00       99.20 

                           Physical abuse                                                       240.00       97.20 

                           Sexual abuse                                                         116.00       47.00 

                           Emotional abuse                                                      234.00       94.70 

                           Physical neglect                                                     241.00       97.60 

                           Emotional neglect                                                    235.00       95.10 



 Institutional abuse scale (N=247) 

                           I was punished unfairly by my carers                                 228.00       92.30 

                           I was terrified of my carers                                         219.00       88.70 

                           I could never predict when I would be punished by my                 218.00       88.30 

                           carers 

                           My carers tried to break me                                          210.00       85.00 

                           My carers tried to take away my hope                                 198.00       80.10 

                           My carers told me I was bad                                          187.00       75.70 

                           My carers took away my own clothes                                   160.00       64.70 

                           My carers separated me from my brother(s) or                         116.00       47.00 

                           sister(s) 

                           My carers said my mother was bad                                     106.00       43.00 

                           My carers destroyed my treasured possessions                          94.00       38.00 

                           (pictures, teddy bears, mementoes etc) 

                           My carers told me my mother did not love me                           75.00       30.40 

                           My carers said my father was bad                                      65.00       26.40 

                           My carers told me my father did not love me                           54.00       21.00 



 Most severe physical institutional abuse (N=247) 

                           Being assaulted to lead to medical attention                         104.00       42.10 

                           Being hit to leave bruises                                            74.00       30.00 

                           Being assaulted to lead to cuts                                       51.00       20.60 

                           Being hit without being bruised                                       15.00        6.00 

                           None                                                                   3.00        1.30 



 Frequency of most severe form of physical institutional abuse (N=247) 

                           More than 100 times                                                  115.00       46.60 

                           11-100 times                                                          59.00       23.90 

                           2-10 times                                                            46.00       18.60 

                           Once                                                                  24.00        9.70 

                           Never                                                                  3.00        1.20 



 Age when most severe form of physical institutional abuse began (N=233) 

                                                                                     M            8.50 

                                                                                    SD            3.72 



 Duration of most severe form of physical institutional abuse (N=229) 

                                                                                     M            6.74 

                                                                                    SD            4.42 



110                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2621-----------------------

       Variable          Scales, items or categories                                   f           % 



 Most severe form of sexual institutional abuse (N=246) 

                         None                                                          122.00      49.40 

                         Contact (fondling and masturbation)                            53.00      21.50 

                         Penetration (oral, anal or vaginal sex)                        46.00      18.60 

                         Attempted penetration (oral, anal or vaginal sex)              17.00       6.90 

                         Non-Contact (flashing, exposure)                                8.00       3.20 



 Frequency of most severe form of sexual institutional abuse (N=247) 

                         Never                                                         122.00      49.40 

                         2-10 times                                                     41.00      16.60 

                         11-100 times                                                   35.00      14.20 

                         Once                                                           26.00      10.50 

                         More than 100 times                                            23.00       9.72 



 Age when most severe form of sexual institutional abuse began (N=122) 

                                                                              M         10.73 

                                                                             SD          2.87 



 Duration of most severe form of sexual institutional abuse (N=111) 

                                                                              M          2.83 

                                                                             SD          2.99 



 Worst thing that ever happened to you in an institution (N=247) 

                         Severe physical abuse                                          99.00      40.10 

                         Severe humiliation and degradation                             85.00      34.40 

                         Severe sexual abuse                                            40.00      16.20 

                         Severe physical and sexual abuse                               23.00       9.30 



 Age when worst thing in an institution began (N=237) 

                                                                              M          9.18 

                                                                             SD          3.65 



 Duration of worst thing in an institution (N=225) 

                                                                              M          5.33 

                                                                             SD          4.66 



 CHILD ABUSE IN THE FAMILY 

 CTQ-family (N=121)      Total child abuse                                              46.00      38.00 

                         Physical abuse                                                 32.00      26.40 

                         Sexual abuse                                                   10.00       8.30 

                         Emotional abuse                                                25.00      20.70 

                         Physical neglect                                               58.00      47.90 

                         Emotional neglect                                              35.00      28.90 



 Most severe physical abuse in the family (N=121) 

                         Being hit to leave bruises                                     22.00      18.18 

                         Being assaulted to lead to medical attention                   11.00       9.00 

                         Being hit without being bruised                                 7.00       5.78 

                         Being assaulted to lead to cuts                                 4.00       3.30 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                     111 


----------------------- Page 2622-----------------------

         Variable            Scales, items or categories                                             f             % 



 Frequency of most severe form of physical abuse in the family (N=121) 

                             11-100 times                                                              17.00       14.05 

                             2-10 times                                                                14.00       11.57 

                             More than 100 times                                                       13.00       10.74 



 Age when most severe form of physical abuse in the family began (N=41) 

                                                                                           M            7.29 

                                                                                         SD             2.80 



 Duration of most severe form of physical abuse in the family (N=42) 

                                                                                           M            5.20 

                                                                                         SD             4.13 



 Most severe sexual abuse in the family (N=121) 

                             Contact (fondling and masturbation)                                        7.00        5.78 

                             Penetration (oral, anal or vaginal sex)                                    5.00        4.13 

                             Attempted penetration (oral, anal or vaginal sex)                          2.00        1.65 



 Frequency of most severe form of sexual abuse in the family (N=121) 

                             Once                                                                       5.00        4.13 

                             More than 100 times                                                        4.00        3.30 

                             11-100 times                                                               4.00        3.30 



 Age when most severe form of sexual abuse in the family began (N=11) 

                                                                                           M            8.55 

                                                                                         SD             2.46 



 Duration of most sever form of sexual abuse in the family (N=11) 

                                                                                           M            4.48 

                                                                                         SD             4.08 



Note:  CTQ=Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire  (Bernstein,  D.  &  Fink,  L.  (1998).   Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire:  A 

retrospective self-report.  Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). For the CTQ scales, the following 

cut-off scores were used in classifying cases as abused: emotional abuse: 13; emotional neglect: 14; physical abuse: 11; 

physical  neglect:  10;  sexual  abuse:  9;  and  overall  CTQ  child  abuse  score:  52.  These  cut-off  scores  are  two  standard 

deviations above the mean for combined male and female normative samples reported in Scher, C., Stein, M., Asmundson, 

G.,  McCreary,  D.  &  Forde,  D.  (2001).  The  Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire  in  a  Community  Sample:  Psychometric 

properties and normative data. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14 (4), 843- 857. On the institutional abuse scale items, cases 

were classified as having experienced the abuse specified in the item if they were rated as often true or very true. For 

both institutional and family versions of the CTQ, categories and for the items on the institutional abuse scale, percentages 

sum to more than 100%. For ‘most severe form of physical abuse’ and ‘frequency of most severe form of physical abuse,’ 

percentages in 5 categories for each question sum to about 100. For ‘most severe form of sexual abuse’ and ‘frequency 

of most severe form of sexual abuse’ percentages in 5 categories for each question sum to about 100. Minor deviations 

from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. For the ‘worst thing that ever happened’, verbatim responses 

were classified into 4 categories and percentages in these 4 categories sum to about 100. 



112                                                                                                CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2623-----------------------

  Table 3.4. Statements of ‘worst thing’ that happened to participants while living in an institution 



 Severe physical and sexual abuse 

        Abused sexually by older boys (but not by brothers). Emotional and physical abuse by the 

             brothers 



        Stripped naked by a nun and beaten with a stick and given no supper and humiliated 



        After running away having my hair cut off to a very short length and was made to stand naked to 

             be beaten by nun in front of other people 



         I was raped and severely beaten by a male carer 



        Sexual abuse and beatings 



        At 6 I was raped by nun and at 10 I was hit with a poker on head by nun 



        When I told nuns about being molested by ambulance driver, I was stripped naked and whipped 

             by four nuns to "get the devil out of you". 



        Sexual abuse, beatings, and no treatment for illness 



        Beatings, brutality, sexual abuse, starvation and the general abuse 



        Sexual abuse and physical abuse combined 



        Sexual and physical abuse, no education, and not enough food. 



        Sexually abuse and being beaten 



        Sexual and physical abuse and living in fear 



        Sexual abuse and the physical beatings 



        Forced oral sex and beatings 



        Being beaten and anally raped 



        A brother tried to rape me but did not succeed, so I was beaten instead 



        Taken from bed and made to walk around naked with other boys whilst brothers used their canes 

             and flicked at their penis' 



        Scalded by accident and sexually interfered with 



        Oral sex and being beaten if I refused 



        Tied to a cross and raped whilst others masturbated at the side 



        Sexual abuse, beatings and living in fear 



        Beatings and sexual abuse 



 Severe physical abuse 

         I was polishing the floor and a nun placed her foot on my back so I was pushed to the floor. I was 

             locked in a dark room. 



        Being beaten by nuns when I tried to protect sister from beating 



        When my carers believed me and 3 others were leaving the institution, they gave me severe 

             physical punishment and took activities away from 200 other boys for 10 weeks, but blamed 

             this on me. The boys were allowed to abuse me often for this. 



        Having to empty the toilets and being lifted off the ground by my sideburns 



        Put in bath of Jays fluid with 3 others 



        They used to make my sisters beat me 



        Badly physically beaten and humiliated 



        Having my head submerged in dirty water in the laundry repeatedly by a nun 



        Being beaten regularly 



        Burst eardrum because of a beatings and loneliness 



        Physical abuse and segregation from other children for no reason 



        A severe beating by two nuns for a trivial misdemeanour until I was bleeding 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              113 


----------------------- Page 2624-----------------------

 Severe physical abuse 



         Being beaten for wetting the bed and allocated to do worst work like cleaning potties and minding 

              children 



         Tied to a bed and physically abused by three carers 



         Being physically beaten by a paid employee and left unconscious 



         I was beaten and hospitalised by the head brother and not allowed to go to my fathers funeral in 

              case my bruises were seen; also the head brother threatened to killed me 



         Being accused of sexually interfering with other boys and being beaten until made to write down 

              the names of boys I had touched. In the end I wrote down two names to stop the torture 



         They made me change my surname and beat me until I accepted it. They took my identity from 

              me. The put me through mental torture which is still with me now. They separated me from 

              my sister and sent her to another institution. 



         Being physically beaten by nuns and referred to as a number. My head was pushed under water 

              in the bath. The nuns threw food into a group of children and I would have to struggle to get 

              some food. 



         Beatings not getting a proper education 



         Being told at 6.30pm on way to bed that would be beaten next morning at 6.30am. It was torture 

              waiting for it. 



         Beatings with shoe horn 



         Being beaten 



         One brutal beating at 12 or13 years old; and being left for long periods of time facing the wall 



         A very severe beating with wooden curtain pole, the hunger and the cold 



         Being stripped and thrown into nettles and sleeping with pigs for a week 



         Beatings 



         Constant physical abuse which made me terrified all the time 



         A violent physical beating 



         I was left hanging out of a window for hours with finger stuck in it, and was guaranteed to be 

              beaten everyday 



         Beatings 



         Beaten for wetting bed and humiliated in front of others. I was forced to stand in dormitory for 

              hours at a time 



         Everything was the worst: physical abuse and mental torture 



         Not being fed one day and then being beaten on the table in the dining hall 



         Beatings 



         Being beaten with wooden clothes hangers by the nuns 



         Beatings and name-calling 



         Having my hair cut off in spite and being beaten on the floor 



         I got beaten twice because I stole a sandwich, 



         Beatings and verbal abuse 



         Being locked in a furnace room and left, bitten by rats, found by coal delivery man, removed, 

              washed in cold water, bites cleaned and them put back there 



         Being punished when tired and no-one listening to me about the abuse 



         I was punished a lot for running away, beaten with strap, and had my head shaved a few times 



         Being beaten in my underwear in the large washroom by prefects 



         Starving and beatings like a concentration camp. There were so many worst things. Everyday was 

              a nightmare. 



         Severe beatings and taking away of our dignity "scamping" . 



         The hidings and the appalling hygiene 



         The beatings, the lack of education and not being fed properly 



114                                                                                                CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2625-----------------------

 Severe physical abuse 



        Having my neck sliced in an attempt to treat a growth on neck> This was not medical treatment, it 

             was cruel. 



        My hair was cut short as punishment and I was beaten very badly in front of everyone when I 

             came home late 



        Being beaten by an older girl who was in charge. I was hit all over mainly on the legs, and this 

             caused welts 



        We were all lined up naked and slapped in the face a lot. We all had to drink water from toilets 

             and were all washed in same dirty bath water 



        Receiving a severe beatings and witnessing my younger brother returning from a severe beating 



        Being beaten with a cane and strap; being separated me from my family 



        Being beaten naked and flogged so hard that marks remained for months afterwards 



        Extreme physical abuse leading to a burst ear drum and receiving no medical attention for days 



        Severe physical abuse and feelings of helplessness 



        Lashing; name calling (the name ‘good for nothing’ is still with me today); starving while watching 

             pets being fed 



        Being beaten by a lay night-watchman 60 times until I wet myself because I was awake and being 

             beaten by a brother on the bare backside. He bruised and battered me. 



        Physical abuse by the brothers and the lay night-watchman 



        Physical abuse and eating from the rabbit huts 



        Punished for stealing apples by being hit with a belt and having my hair cut 



        Physical and mental abuse. Being beaten every day by brothers and older boys. 



        The physical beatings, the emotional abuse, and no opportunity for learning or education. 



        The brothers tied to flog me to death 



        Physical abuse, my trousers were taken down and I was beaten on bare skin 



        Being beaten until knocked out and my head split. Having my finger placed in boiling water until 

             all feeling was lost; the finger swelled up, skin wore away, and the nail fell off 



        Emotional and physical abuse; being placed there for no reason; the removal of all emotion from 

             me 



        Beatings and starvations 



        Being thrown and ducked in scalding hot baths; being taken to hospital and anaesthetised with 

             ether when getting my tonsils out. I have awful memories of feeling like being smothered with 

             ether, similar to being ducked in the bath; I came as near death as you can imagine 



        On my second day I was badly kicked, and beaten with fists and belts 



        Physical abuse 



        Being whipped and humiliated in front of the other children 



        Kicked and beaten after running away 



        Beatings 



        Beaten severely 



        Being abused; once my tongue was almost cut out 



        Constant beatings; I was forced to sit on potty until my rectal muscle popped out 



        Beaten by nuns with cat-o-nine-tails that left deep cuts 



        Beaten and scared with hurley 



        Kicked down the stairs 



        I was badly beaten and witnessed extreme beatings 



        Beaten till my hands bled 



        Beatings 



        I was beaten whilst naked, pushed down stairs and broke my foot 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                           115 


----------------------- Page 2626-----------------------

 Severe physical abuse 



        Being beaten and ridiculed 



        Being beaten with hosepipe and fear of further beatings 



        Beaten so bad that I had to stay in bed for a week 



        Being strangled by a brother 



        Hunger and being slapped 



        Badly beaten after running away 



        Bad beatings 



        Being hit on my back by a brother and sustaining a life long injury 



        I was beaten in the shower naked, and not allowed to say goodbye when leaving 



        Whipping 



        Beaten until I had bones broken 



        Being stripped and flogged and locked in room for 2-3 weeks 



        Beaten 



 Severe sexual abuse 

        Sexual abuse — molested at night 



        Sexual abuse 



        Oral and anal sexual abuse on one occasion 



        Molested and masturbation 



        Rape 



        Sexual abuse and made to feel so insecure 



        Sexual abuse, starvation and secrecy in an institution that wasn't fit for habitation 



        Gang-rape 



        Sexual assault 



        Sexually molested by a priest visiting the institution on 6-8 occasions 



        The day I entered the institution another boy tried to sexually assault me 



        Sexual abuse perpetrated by gardeners, a social worker and other male convent employees 



        Sexual abuse 



        Being left out in the cold one winter and staying out near the boiler where older boys who had 

             been sent by the courts tried to molest him and I had to fight them off 



        A brother sexually abused me 



        Child sexual abuse by older boys (not the brothers) 



        Sexual abuse 



        Sexual abuse 



        Raped by a brother 



        Sexually abused in a toilet twice, and mental abuse, shown horror movies. 



        Sexual abuse and witnessing violence. I had a rubber hoses stuck up me and I had to watch my 

             carers beating the youngest most vulnerable children. 



        Sexual abuse 



        Being raped by the director of the school 



        Rape 



        Being raped by Christian Brothers 



        Being asked by other students to abuse younger child sexually as an initiation right 



        Touched in a sexual way in bed at night by a Brother 



        Raped 



116                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2627-----------------------

 Severe sexual abuse 



        Molested every week by brothers and older boys 



        Anal penetration by a Christian Brother 



        Sexual abuse 



         I was raped 



        Sexual abuse and rape 



        Raped by a brother 



        Rape 



        Sexually assaulted 



        Sexual abuse 



        Rape 



        Rape 



        Sexual Abuse 



 Severe emotional abuse 

        When my mother first came to visit after 6 months, she cried lots at how much weight I and all the 

             kids had lost. She cried lots saying ‘I didn't put ye here’ 



        Watching other boys who had just been beaten for wetting the bed coming out of the office in 

             pain, hearing the crying and seeing other boys trying to help 



        Having to go into church and kiss a dead man in his coffin 



        Father prevented from seeing me 



        They told my brothers I had died. I was hit for crying in response and told to stop 



        Not being loved 



        Neglect. Craving love but getting none 



        After a disagreement with a nun, my long hair was cut off in my sleep as they knew I loved it 



        Living in fear 



        Being painted with a paint brush 



        The night I entered the institution, my clothes and teddy thrown away 



        Getting chilblains frostbite, and sores so deep I could see my bones on my hand from working in 

             the fields was worse than the beatings 



        The fear, starvation and hard labour 



        Deprived of chance to go to my grandmother’s funeral 



        The first day I was told my mother didn't want me 



        Humiliation of being sent to school with wet sheets wrapped around me after bed wetting incident 



        Being force fed and held down 



        Seeing a young boy die. He was 12 years old, beaten by brothers on landing and fell over 

        banister 



        Told to say I was the devil and had to wear a "devil's tongue" hat 



        Unfair way I and the others were treated. The fear – I was always afraid 



         I had my identity taken away. I was known by a number only. 



        Having pubic hair shaved off and a nun telling people about it at dinner . She said "I shaved the 

             monkey". 



         I can take any abuse, but the worst thing was having no one. Seeing other kids going out with 

             their families and not knowing why I had no one. I was lied to: told that my parents were 

             dead. I only found out in my 50's that they were alive 



         I could stand the beating, The worst thing was the mental abuse: being put in there in the first 

             place and not understanding why 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              117 


----------------------- Page 2628-----------------------

 Severe emotional abuse 



         Put in a bath of cold water 



         I was humiliated when the teacher of sixth class insulted me because of my father arguing with 

              the head of industrial school 



         At age nine I was sent to pluck turkeys in a coal shed in the cold and had freezing fingers 



         The worst thing was the emotional removal of self: it still has a huge effect on my life 



         Lack of education: Not being taught how to read or write. That's the most hurtful thing 



         Having soiled sheets put over my head for one hour when I wet the bed at night 



         It was threatened that my father would lock me in a mental institution if I didn't stop causing 

              trouble 



         Punishment was meted out repeatedly for the same misdemeanour. Constantly being threatened 

              with punishment. 



         Getting an artificial limb without my or my mother's consent. I was the only child in the institution 

              with a physical disability and I felt marked out. 



         Nightmares due to living with constant uncertainty and unpredictability 



         Listening to them talking badly about my mother and being taunted about my physical 

              appearance. I was called "four eyes" 



         Loneliness at Christmas time 



         Public humiliation about my mother being unmarried 



         Loss of finger through gangrene due to lack of medical attention. She loved to play the piano and 

              this meant loss of hope to become a music teacher 



         Poor hygiene and not being informed or provided with information or sanitation 



         Looking at younger kids being beaten 



         We were children and we did so much hard work. We were up at six o'clock in the morning. We 

              have no childhood memories. We knew no better 



         Just being there was the worst thing and the humiliation especially 



         Being a celiac was never detected, because the nuns were not educated enough to know about 

              the disease 



         The worst thing was the overall effect of breaking my spirit; the violence; and the constant blanket 

              of terror 



         The constant fear. I was called into the office and told my mother had died. I actually felt relief 

              that it wasn't a punishment 



         The leg of a chair was pressed against my temple for interrupting the teacher at the blackboard 

              when I asked to go to the toilet 



         Feeling alone and unloved 



         I was afraid to tell the nuns I had a sore on my leg. They found out and cut my hair off. 



         Witnessed my sister being whipped until she bled, then made to kneel in refectory for 3 months 



         Being locked in a cupboard in the attic 



         The emotional abuse was worse than the physical abuse and its effects have stuck since then 



         My leg was badly burnt and I was kept hidden in a room for 5 weeks without any medical 

              treatment. I was ill with mumps and not allowed stay in bed. I had to get up for Holy 

              Communion. Witnessing physical abuse of other children. Watching their heads being 

              shaved. Being hungry. 



         Psychological trauma of living in fear most of the time 



         The worst thing was the sense of being an orphan and being incarcerated and criminalised: the 

              monotony; the ball-aching mind-aching hopelessness 



         Being locked in a coal-shed three times 



         I hated being in the band and hated the priest in charge 



118                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2629-----------------------

 Severe emotional abuse 



          I found a little girl dead in her bed after they'd gone for a walk and the girl hadn't been feeling up 

               to it. The lack of sex-education was terrible, I didn't know what was happening when period 

               started. The coldness at night. 



          Feeling like a 'nobody' and that everyone was better. Always feeling insecure. 



          Constantly being told I was worthless and shouldn't have been born. Being called a 'dying cat'. 



          Seeing a woman with intellectual disabilities having her baby taken away from her 



          Fear of every thing. Fear of God. Fear of the Christian Bros. Fear that I would go to hell. 



          I overheard someone say that my mother had died the night before. When I asked about it I was 

               ignored and dismissed. My friend was beaten so badly for wetting the bed that I watched her 

               die. I was constantly starving. I had to bribe my carers with bread so I wasn't beaten. 



          Emotional abuse. I was never allowed to show my feelings 



          Being put in a lower streamed class 



          Having cold baths in the morning 



          Being taken away from my friends and moved around between four institutions 



          Being locked in a cattle shed in the dark 



          I was put naked into a coffin as punishment 



          Chained in front of whole convent 26 times for marking paintwork 



          Not being able to go home at Christmas when the other boys did 



          Feeling of being alone and having no one 



          Being made to use a bucket for toilet and having no toilet paper 



          I was put in a cellar to peel potatoes for three days after wetting myself 



          Seeing my brother being beaten 



          It was all bad 



          Witnessing another boy drown and no one showing concern for him or the dead boy 



          Being taken into the office and told my foster mother had died and then immediately sent away 

            again 



          Fear of being punished 



          Getting BCG injection 3 times. I had a very bad pain in my arm and was on a bed trolley 



          I was left all night on landing, It was a very frightening experience 



          The worst thing was going into and institution and leaving my family 



          I was left alone in the school yard for up to 10 hours 



          The worst thing was, they took away my dignity 



          The lack of food. The feeling of being unsafe and de-valued 



          The worst thing was when they got me to hold out brothers hand whilst they slapped it 



Note:  N=247.  There  were  23  cases  where  the  worst  thing  reported  was  severe  physical  and  sexual  abuse;  99  cases 

where it  was severe  physical abuse;  40 cases  where it was  severe sexual  abuse; and  85 cases where  it was  severe 

emotional abuse. Statements were classified as severe physical abuse if the person reported physical violence, beating, 

slapping,  or  being  physically  injured,  but  not  having  medical  attention  withheld.  Statements  were  classified  as  severe 

sexual abuse if the person reported the words sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or 

other coercive sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical and 

sexual  abuse  if  they  involved  both  severe  physical  abuse  and  severe  sexual  abuse  as  defined  earlier.  Statements  of 

actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding medical treatment, witnessing the traumatization 

of  other  pupils  and  adverse  experiences  that  were  not  clearly  classifiable  as  severe  sexual  or  physical  abuse  were 

classified  as  severe  emotional  abuse.  Inter-rater  agreement  greater  than  90%  was  achieved  for  a  sample  of  10%  of 

statements. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                               119 


----------------------- Page 2630-----------------------

                                             Table 3.5. Life problems 



               Life problems                        Frequency                    %                  Inter-rater 

                                                                                                     reliability 

                                                                                                      Kappa 



 Mental health problems                                 183                     74.10                   1.00 



 Unemployment                                           128                     51.80                   1.00 



 Substance use                                           94                     38.10                   1.00 



 Frequent illness                                        73                     29.60                   0.95 



 Frequent hospitalisation for physical                   70                     28.30                   0.95 

 health 



 Anger control in intimate                               64                     25.90                   1.00 

 relationships 



 Non-violent crime                                       55                     22.30                   1.00 



 Homelessness                                            52                     21.10                   1.00 



 Self-harm                                               44                     17.80                   0.81 



 Anger control with children                             33                     13.40                   1.00 



 Incarceration for non-violent crime                     33                     13.40                   1.00 



 Hospitalisation for mental health                       32                     13.00                   1.00 

 problems 



 Violent crime                                           25                     10.10                   1.00 



 Incarceration for violent crime                         18                      7.30                   1.00 



Note:  N=247.  Life  problems  do  not  represent  mutually  exclusive  categories  and  so  percentages  sum  to  more  than 

100%. Inter-rater reliability was assessed on 52 cases with Kappa (Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal 

scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37-46). The inter-rater reliability kappa coefficient for each of 

the life problems was above .7 indicating that the problems were reliably measured. 



120                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2631-----------------------

                                               Table 3.6. Strengths 



                                                 Where does your        What has helped         What is the thing 

                                                  strength come            you most in          that means most 

                                                       from?                 facing life          to you in your 

                                                                           challenges?                  life? 



                                                       (N=243)                 (N=243)                (N=242) 



 Self-reliance, my optimism,            f               144.00                  141.00                   53.00 

 my work, and my skills 

                                        %                 59.30                   58.00                  21.80 



 Relationship with current              f                 40.00                  63.00                  170.00 

 partner / family 

                                        %                 16.50                  25.90                   70.20 



 Relationship with God or               f                 40.00                  25.00                    7.00 

 spiritual force 

                                        %                 16.50                   10.30                   2.90 



 Relationship with a friend             f                 19.00                  14.00                   12.00 

 including other survivors 

                                        %                  7.80                    5.80                   5.00 



                                      Table 3.7. Psychological disorders 



                                                             Frequency                %               Inter-rater 

                                                                                                      reliability 

                                                                                                        Kappa 



 Any current or lifetime anxiety, mood,                           202                81.78                  — 

 substance use or personality disorders 



 Any anxiety, mood or substance use disorder 

 Any lifetime disorder                                            160                64.80                0.95 

 Any current disorder                                             127                51.40                0.84 



 Anxiety disorders 

 Any lifetime anxiety disorder                                     85                34.40                0.95 

 Any current anxiety disorder                                     111                44.90                0.88 

 Social phobia, lifetime                                           27                10.90                1.00 

 Social phobia , current                                           49                19.80                1.00 

 Generalized anxiety disorder, lifetime                            17                 6.90                1.00 

 Generalized anxiety disorder , current                            42                17.00                0.77 

 Posttraumatic stress disorder, lifetime                           21                 8.50                0.85 

 Posttraumatic stress disorder, current                            41                16.60                0.86 

 Panic disorder without agoraphobia, lifetime                      22                 8.90                1.00 

 Panic disorder without agoraphobia, current                       16                 6.50                1.00 

 Panic disorder with agoraphobia, lifetime                         16                 6.50                1.00 

 Panic disorder with agoraphobia, current                          18                 7.30                1.00 

 Agoraphobia without panic disorder, lifetime                       1                 0.40                1.00 

 Agoraphobia without panic disorder, current                        8                 3.20                1.00 



 Specific phobia, lifetime                                         10                 4.00                1.00 

 Specific phobia, current                                          25                10.10                0.91 

 Obsessive compulsive disorder, lifetime                            9                 3.60                1.00 

 Obsessive compulsive disorder, current                             8                 3.20                1.00 



 Mood Disorders 

 Any lifetime mood disorder                                        89                36.00                1.00 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                               121 


----------------------- Page 2632-----------------------

                                                                 Frequency                  %                Inter-rater 

                                                                                                             reliability 

                                                                                                               Kappa 



 Any current mood disorder                                              66                 26.70                  1.00 

 Major depression, lifetime                                             89                 36.00                  1.00 

 Major depression, current                                              38                 15.40                  1.00 

 Dysthymia                                                              28                 11.30                  1.00 



 Alcohol or substance use disorders 

 Any lifetime alcohol and substance use disorder                        87                 35.20                  1.00 

 Any current alcohol or substance use disorder                          12                   4.9                  1.00 

 Alcohol dependence, lifetime                                           67                 27.10                  1.00 

 Alcohol dependence, current                                             9                  3.60                  1.00 

 Alcohol abuse, lifetime                                                19                  7.70                  1.00 

 Alcohol abuse, current                                                  1                  0.40                  1.00 

 Other substance dependence, lifetime                                    8                  3.20                  1.00 

 Other substance dependence, current                                     3                  1.20                  1.00 

 Other substance abuse, lifetime                                         2                  0.80                  1.00 

 Other substance abuse, current                                          0                  0.00                  1.00 



 Personality disorders 

 Any personality disorder                                               75                 30.40                  0.96 

 Avoidant personality disorder                                          52                 21.10                  0.96 

 Antisocial personality disorder                                        17                  6.90                  1.00 

 Borderline personality disorder                                        14                  5.70                  1.00 

 Dependent personality disorder                                          4                  1.60                  1.00 



Note: N=247. Mood, anxiety and substance use disorders were assessed with the SCID-I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, 

M.,  and  Williams,  J.  (1996).  Structured  Clinical  Interview  for  DSM-IV  Axis  I  Disorders,  Clinician  Version  (SCID-CV). 

Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Personality disorders were assessed with the SCID-II (First, M., Spitzer, 

R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, 

DC:   American   Psychiatric  Press). Psychological   disorders  do  not  represent  mutually  exclusive  categories  and  so 

percentages  sum to  more than  100%.  With N=52,  the inter-rater  reliability  kappa coefficient  for each  of the  diagnostic 

categories assessed was above .7 indicating that the diagnoses were reliably made (Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of 

agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37-46). 



122                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2633-----------------------

  Table 3.8. Rates of psychological disorders among survivors of institutional living compared with 

                           rates in normal community samples in Europe, UK and USA. 



                                                   CICA                 Europe                   USA                    UK 



 Anxiety disorders 

 Any lifetime Anxiety disorder                      34.40                    13.60               28.80                      — 

 Any current anxiety disorder                       44.90                     6.00               18.10                    7.97 



 Mood Disorders 

 Any lifetime mood disorder                         36.00                    14.00               20.80                      — 

 Any current mood disorder                          26.70                     4.20                 9.50                  2.58 



 Substance induced disorders 

 Any lifetime alcohol and                           35.20                     5.20               14.60                      — 

 substance use disorder 

 Any current alcohol or                                4.9                    1.00                 3.80                     — 

 substance use disorder 



 Personality disorders 

 Any personality disorder                           30.40                    13.10               14.79                   4.00 



Note. European current (1 year) and lifetime prevalence rates for anxiety mood and substance use disorders are from 

Alonso,   J., Angermeyer,    M.,  Bernert,  S.,  Bruffaerts,  R., Brugha,   T.S.,  Bryson,   H., de  Girolamo,   G.,  de  Graaf,  R., 

                                                                                        ´ 

Demyttenaere, K., Gasquet, I., Haro, J.M., Katz, S., Kessler, R.C., Kovess, V., Lepine, J.P., Ormel, J., Polidori, G., Vilagut, 

G.  (2004).  Prevalence  of  Mental  Disorders  in  Europe:  Results  from  the  European  Study  of  Epidemiology  of  Mental 

Disorders (ESEMeD) Project. Acta Psychiatrica Scandninavica, 109 (suppl 420), 21-27. USA current (1 year) prevalence 

rates are from Kessler, R., Chiu, W., Demler, O. & Walters, E.E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve- 

month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 

617-627.  USA  lifetime  prevalence  rates  are  from  Kessler,  R.,  Berglund,  P.,  Demler,  O.,  Jin,  R.  &  Walters,  E.  (2005). 

Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication 

(NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593-602. USA prevalence rates of personality disorders are from Grant, 

B.,  Hasin, D.,  Stinson,  F., Dawson,  D., Chou,  S.  & Ruan,  W.  J. et  al.  (2004). Prevalence,  correlates,  and disability  of 

personality  disorders  in  the  United  States:  results  from  the  National  Epidemiologic  Survey  on  Alcohol  and  Related 

Conditions.  Journal  of  Clinical  Psychiatry,  65,  948-58.  UK  current  (1  week  )  prevalence  rates  are  from  Singleton,  N., 

Bumpstead, R., O’Brien, M., Lee, A. & Meltzer, H. (2001). Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults Living in Private Households, 

2000.  London,  UK:  Stationary  Office.  The  European  prevalence  rate  for  personality  disorders  is  based  on  a  study  in 

Norway: Torgersen, S., Kringlen, E. & Cramer, V. (2001). The prevalence of personality disorders in a community sample. 

Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 590-596. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                                 123 


----------------------- Page 2634-----------------------

                     Table 3.9. Trauma symptoms on the Trauma Symptom Inventory 



                        Trauma symptoms                                       Frequency                     % 



 Avoidance                                                                          148                    59.90 



 Intrusive experiences                                                              138                    55.90 



 Impaired self-reference                                                            114                    46.20 



 Dissociation                                                                       109                    44.10 



 Depression                                                                         103                    41.70 



 Anxious arousal                                                                     95                    38.50 



 Maladaptive tension reduction                                                       87                    35.20 



 Anger                                                                               79                    32.00 



 Sexual concerns                                                                     59                    23.90 



 Sexual dysfunction                                                                  31                    12.60 



Note: N=247. Cases were classified as showing trauma symptoms if they scored 2 standard deviations above the mean 

for the normative sample. The following cut-offs were derived from the normative sample described in Briere, J. (1996). 

Trauma  Symptom  Inventory.  Odessa,  FL:  Psychological  Assessment  Resources:  Anxious  arousal:  15;  Depression:14; 

Anger: 16; Intrusive experiences: 14; Avoidance: 16; Dissociation: 12; Sexual concerns: 9; Sexual dysfunction: 5; Impaired 

self-reference: 12; and Maladaptive tension reduction behaviour: 5. Trauma symptoms do not represent mutually exclusive 

categories and so percentages within and across groups sum to more than 100%. 



124                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2635-----------------------

          Table 3.10. Attachment patterns on the Experiences in close relationships inventory 



                       Adult Attachment style                                    Frequency                      % 



 Fearful                                                                              109                       44.12 



 Dismissive                                                                            66                       26.72 



 Secure                                                                                41                       16.59 



 Preoccupied                                                                           31                       12.55 



Note: N=247. Cases were classified as falling into the four attachment style categories using the Experiences in Close 

Relationships  Inventory,  SPSS  algorithm  in  Brennan,  K.,  Clark,  C.,  &  Shaver,  P.  (1998).  Self-report  measure  of  adult 

attachment: An integrative overview. In J. Simpson & W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close Relationships (pp. 

46-76).  New   York:  Guilford  Press. The  four  attachment   categories  are  mutually exclusive,  so  percentages   sum  to 

approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                          125 


----------------------- Page 2636-----------------------

  1 

  2                                                                                    Table 3.11. Reliability of scales 

  6 



         Domain Instrument                                          Constructs and variables              No. of       Possible         Actual           M             SD           Internal      Interrater 

                                                                                                         items in        range          range                                     consistency     reliability 

                                                                                                        the scale                                                                  Reliability 



       Institutional abuse 

                                   IAS (N=247)                 Specific Institutional abuse                 13            13-65          17-65          44.46          10.82            .99            .98 



                                   CTQ-Institution (N=247)     Total abuse score                            25           25-125         50-124          90.81          14.81            .98            .97 

                                                               Physical abuse                                5             5-25           5-25          19.26           4.12            .98            .96 

                                                               Sexual abuse                                  5             5-25           5-25          11.26           7.42            .99            .98 

                                                               Emotional abuse                               5             5-25           5-25          44.86           4.55            .97            .94 

                                                               Physical neglect                              5             5-25           8-25          17.26           3.57            .98            .97 

                                                               Emotional neglect                             5             5-25           9-25          19.23           3.49            .98            .98 



                                   SPSA-Institution (N=       Total severe institutional abuse               8             0-32           0-29          14.59           5.73            .69            .98 

                                   247) 

                                                               Severe institutional physical abuse           4             0-16           0-16          10.43           3.11            .66            .97 

                                                               Severe institutional sexual abuse             4             0-16           0-14           4.17           4.40            .88            .98 



       Family-based child 

       abuse 

                                   CTQ-Family (N=121)          Total CTQ-F score                            25           25-125         32-128          54.12          19.07            .99            .99 

                                                               CTQ-F Physical abuse                          5             5-25           5-25           8.43           5.36            .98            .97 

                                                               CTQ-F Sexual abuse                            5             5-25           5-25           6.26           4.27            .99            .99 

                                                               CTQ-F Emotional abuse                         5             5-25           5-25           6.87           5.81            .99            .99 

                                                               CTQ-F Physical neglect                        5             5-25           5-25          10.48          10.40            .99            .99 

                                                               CTQ-F Emotional neglect                       5             5-25           5-25          10.83           6.16            .99            .99 



                                   SPSA-family (N=121)         Total severe family abuse                     8             0-32           0-26           4.27           6.02            .27            .90 

                                                               Severe family physical abuse                  4             0-16           0-14           3.49           4.82            .26            .98 

                                                               Severe family sexual abuse                    4             0-16           0-13           0.79           2.61            .92            .53 

       Trauma symptoms 

 C 

                                   TSI (N=247)                Total trauma symptoms                         95            0-255          1-241          94.95          50.03            .99            .99 

 I 

 C 

 A     Life Problems 

 R                                 LPC (N=247)                Total number of life problems                 14             0-14           0-12           3.66           2.80            .99            .98 

 e 

p 

 o 

 r     Quality of Life 

 t 

 V 

                                   WHOQOL (N=247)              Total WHOQOL 100 score                      102              1-5            1-5          91.53          16.95            .99            .99 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2637-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C       Domain Instrument                                     Constructs and variables           No. of       Possible       Actual          M             SD         Internal     Interrater 

 A                                                                                               items in        range        range                                  consistency    reliability 

 R                                                                                               the scale                                                            Reliability 

 e 

p 

 o 

       Global functioning 

 r 

 t                              GAF (N=235)               Global functioning                        10            1-91          1-91         61.00         16.77            —            .90 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 .     Relationships 

 V                               KMS (N=136)              Marital satisfaction                       3            0-21          3-21         17.00          4.39          1.00         1.00 



                                 KPS (N=212)              Parental satisfaction                      3            0-21          0-21         15.98          4.70           .99           .99 



                                 ECRI (N=247)             Anxiety                                   18           0-122       18-122          66.86         25.26           .99           .99 

                                                          Avoidance                                 18           0-126       20-126          74.76         27.15           .99           .99 



      Note.  CTQ=Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire  (Bernstein,  D.  &  Fink,  L.  (1998).  Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire:  A  Retrospective  Self-report.  Manual.  San  Antonio,  TX:  The  Psychological 

      Cooperation.) IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse. IAPCI=Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory . TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory 

      (Briere, J. (1996).  Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life problems chceklist. WHOQOL 100 UK=  World Health Organization Quality of Life 

      100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005). World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAF=Global assessment of 

      functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, 

      L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the 

      Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the 

      Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale among two samples of married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). ECRI=Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (Brennan, K., Clark, C., & 

      Shaver,  P.  (1998).  Self-report  measure  of  adult  attachment:  An  integrative  overview.  In  J.  Simpson  &  W.  Rholes  (Eds.), Attachment  Theory  and  Close  Relationships  (pp.  46-76).  New  York: 

      Guilford Press). 



 1 

 2 

 7 


----------------------- Page 2638-----------------------

  1 

  2                                                                 Table 3.12. Correlations between indices of abuse and adjustment 

  8 



          Instru-               Abuse Scales                   Total         LPC           GAF           Total          SES        Number of        KMS           ECRI          ECRI           KPS        WHOQOL 

           ment                                             number of      Total no.      Global        trauma                       failed        Marital       Anxiety        Avoid-       Parental       100 UK 

                                                              current        of life       Func-      symptoms                      relation-       satis-                      ance          satis-      Total QoL 

                                                               and         problems       tioning        on TSI                       ships        faction                                   faction 

                                                              lifetime 

                                                             psycho- 

                                                              logical 

                                                            disorders 



                      Number of years in institution            .00           -.23           .01           .01          -.01           -.05          -.05          -.01           .02          -.13          -.02 



            IAS       Specific Institutional abuse             . .12          .19           -.11           .29          -.05           .01            .03           .21           .15           .15          -.14 

         (N=247) 

          CTQ-I       Total institutional abuse score           .15           .28           -.22           .38          -.05           .06           .00            .29           .16           .09          -.25 

         (N=247)      Physical abuse                            .07           .12           -.02           .24           .04           .04            .08           .19           .06           .12          -.15 

                      Sexual abuse                              .11           .39           -.15           .35          -.11           .08           -.02           .22           .10          -.06          -.19 

                      Emotional abuse                           .21           .14           -.25           .32          -.07           .02           -.03           .26           .10           .13          -.20 

                      Physical neglect                         -.01           .04           -.07           .15           .02           .04           .05            .18           .05           .08          -.12 

                      Emotional neglect                         .07           -.02          -.19           .02           .03           -.03          -.05           .03           .19           .16          -.11 



          SPSA-I      Total severe institutional abuse          .16           .25           -.07           .34          -.16          -.01           -.02           .21           .16           .03          -.18 

         (N=247)      Severe institutional physical ab.         .13           -.06          -.01           .17          -.14           -.06           .01           .16           .16           .09          -.13 

                      Severe institutional sexual ab.           .11           .36           -.08           .32          -.11           .03           -.03           .16           .09          -.03          -.15 



          CTQ-F       Total family abuse score                  .04           .24           -.11           .09          -.01           .06            .04           .04           .00           .09          -.03 

         (N=121)      Physical abuse                            .06           .29           -.13           .11           .01           .09            .07           .05          -.04           .06          -.02 

                      Sexual abuse                              .04           .18           -.06           .04          -.04           .16            .00           .00           .03           .09          -.00 

                      Emotional abuse                           .09           .22           -.14           .13          -.03           .07           -.01           .07           .04           .05          -.08 

                      Physical neglect                         -.02           .12           -.05           .05           .00          -.01           .07            .02           .00           .14          -.01 

                      Emotional neglect                         .02           .22           -.12           .09           .01           .01            .03           .04           .02           .09          -.03 



         SPSA-F       Total severe family abuse                 .11           .32           -.18           .17          -.08           .17           -.08           .12           .04          -.02          -.11 

         (N=121)      Severe family physical abuse              .10           .34           -.19           .18          -.04           .12           -.06           .12           .01          -.02          -.09 

                      Severe family sexual abuse                .08           .16           -.08           .08          -.12           .19           -.09           .06           .06          -.01          -.11 



      Note: N=247. Pearson correlations significant at p<.01 and greater than .3 are in bold. IAS=Institutional abuse scale. CTQ-I=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Institutional version and CTQ-F is 

 C    the family version (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A Retrospective Self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). SPSA-I =Most severe 

 I 

 C    forms of physical and sexual abuse, institution version and SPSA-F is the family version. LPC=Life problems checklist. GAF=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' 

 A    Judgements of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417).TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment 

 R    Resources). SES=Socio Economic Status (O’Hare, A., Whelan, C.T., & Commins, P. (1991). The development of an Irish census-based social class scale.  The Economic and Social Review, 22, 

 e 

p 

       135-156). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant 

 o    validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). ECRI=Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (Brennan, K., Clark, C., & Shaver, P. (1998). 

 r 

 t    Self-report measure of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. Simpson & W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close Relationships  (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press). KPS= 

 V 

 o 

      Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction 

 l 

 .    Scale among two samples of married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). WHOQOL 100 UK= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World Health 

 V     Organization Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). 


----------------------- Page 2639-----------------------

     Table 3.13. Historical and demographic characteristics on which males and females differed 

                                                        significantly 



                                                                                                Group      Group        Chi 

                  Variable                                                                         1          2       square 

                                                                                                 Males     Females       or 

                                                                                                                          t 

                                                                                                 N=135      N=112 



 Years with family before entering an                                                   M          6.90       3.61     6.23*** 

 institution (N=246)                                                                   SD          4.78       3.50 



 Years spent in an institution                                                          M          8.58      11.80     5.08*** 

 (N=247) 

                                                                                       SD          5.08       4.80 

 Reason for entering an institution 

 (N=247) 

                                               Illegitimate                             f         16.00      32.00    56.45*** 

                                                                                        %         11.90      28.80 



                                               Petty crime                              f         56.00       2.00 

                                                                                        %         41.50       1.80 



                                               Parents could not provide care            f        41.00      58.00 

                                                                                        %         32.60      53.60 



                                               Parents died                             f         18.00      17.00 

                                                                                        %         13.30      15.20 



                                               Unknown/Other                            f          1.00       1.00 

                                                                                        %          0.70       0.90 

 Reason for Leaving (N=237) 

                                               Too old to stay on                       f         93.00      83.00    16.96*** 

                                                                                        %         71.00      80.30 



                                               Sentence was over                        f         18.00       1.00 

                                                                                        %         13.70       0.90 



                                               Family wanted him/her home                f        13.00      21.00 

                                                                                        %          9.90      15.50 



                                               Ran away                                 f          4.00       4.00 

                                                                                        %          3.10       3.70 

 Institution management (N=247) 

                                               Nuns                                     f         12.00     109.00    192.02*** 

                                                                                        %          8.90      97.30 



                                               Religious brothers or priests             f        77.00       0.00 

                                                                                        %         57.00       0.00 



                                               Nuns and religious brothers or            f        46.00       3.00 

                                               priests 

                                                                                        %         34.10       2.70 



 Age when Worst Experiences Began                                                       M         10.32       7.85     5.44*** 

 (N=237) 

                                                                                       SD          3.17       3.74 

 Highest SES attained since leaving 

 school (N=235) 

                                               Unskilled manual                         f         49.00      55.00     16.34** 

                                                                                        %         38.28      51.40 



                                               Semi-skilled manual and farmers          f         44.00      18.00 

                                               owning < 30 acres                        %         34.37      16.82 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                         129 


----------------------- Page 2640-----------------------

                                                                                                     Group       Group        Chi 

                   Variable                                                                             1           2       square 

                                                                                                     Males      Females        or 

                                                                                                                               t 

                                                                                                     N=135       N=112 



                                                 Skilled manual and farmers                  f        21.00       10.00 

                                                 owning 30-49 acres                         %         16.40        9.34 



                                                  Non-manual, professional,                  f        14.00       24.00 

                                                  managerial, and farmers with 

                                                  more than 50 acres 

                                                                                            %         10.93       22.42 

 Children’s living arrangements 

 (N=211) 

                                                 Spent some time living with their           f        26.00        2.00    25.09*** 

                                                 other parent                               %         23.20        2.00 



                                                 Spent some time living with their           f         8.00        8.00 

                                                  relatives or in care 

                                                                                            %          7.10        8.10 



                                                 Always lived with respondent                f        78.00       84.00 

                                                                                            %         69.60       84.80 



                                                  Children put up for adoption               f         0.00        5.00 

                                                                                            %          0.00        5.10 



Note: Group 1 contained all male participants. Group 2 contained all female participants. For each variable with multiple 

categories, within each group the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding 

of decimals to two places. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Socio-economic status (SES) was assessed with 

O’Hare,  A.,  Whelan,  C.T.,  &  Commins,  P.  (1991).  The  development  of  an  Irish  census-based  social  class  scale.  The 

Economic and Social Review, 22, 135-156. For continuous variables t-values are from independent t-tests. For categorical 

variables chi square tests were used. **p<0.01. ***p<0.001. 



130                                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2641-----------------------

                        Table 3.14. Recollections of child abuse by males and females 



                                                                                         Group 1      Group 2         t 

            Variable                                                                      Males      Females 



                                                                                          N=135        N=112 



 INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

 IAS                              Specific institutional abuse                   M          49.06        51.13     1.62 

 (N=247)                                                                        SD           9.61        10.38 



 CTQ-Institution                  Total institutional abuse                      M          50.96        48.84     1.67 

 (N=247)                                                                        SD          10.41         9.40 



                                  Physical abuse                                 M          51.11        48.65     1.94 

                                                                                SD           9.77        10.15 



                                  Sexual abuse                                   M          53.01        46.38     5.60*** 

                                                                                SD          10.35         8.24 



                                  Emotional abuse                                M          47.93        52.50     3.73*** 

                                                                                SD          10.70         8.50 



                                  Physical neglect                               M          50.08        49.87     0.16 

                                                                                SD           9.85        10.24 



                                  Emotional neglect                              M          48.94        51.29     1.84 

                                                                                SD           9.45        10.55 



 SPSA-Institution (N=247)         Total severe institutional abuse               M          50.74        49.11     2.19 

                                                                                SD           5.32         6.42 



                                  Severe institutional physical abuse            M          48.50        51.75    2.53** 

                                                                                SD           8.60        11.22 



                                  Severe institutional sexual abuse              M          52.67        46.76     4.84*** 

                                                                                SD           9.28         9.88 



Note:  Group  1  contained  all  male  participants.  Group  2  contained  all  female  participants.  CTQ=Childhood  Trauma 

Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report. Manual. San 

Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of physical and 

sexual abuse. To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard 

deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a 

case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable 

X. t-values are from independent samples t-tests. For the MANOVA on total subscale of the family versions of the CTQ 

and SPSA, F (2, 118) = 2.85, NS. For the MANOVA on the total subscale of the institution version of the CTQ, SPSA & 

the IAS, F (3, 243) = 4.75, p<0.01. **p<0.01; ***p<0.001. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                        131 


----------------------- Page 2642-----------------------

                           Table 3.15. Psychological disorders in males and females 



                                                                                 Group 1         Group 2        Chi square 

                         Variable                                                 Males          Females 



                                                                                  N=135            N=112 



 Anxiety disorders 

 Panic disorder with agoraphobia, lifetime                          f               2.00           14.00           12.27*** 

                                                                    %               1.50           12.50 

 Alcohol and substance use disorders 

 Any alcohol & substance use disorder, lifetime                     f              64.00           24.00           18.01*** 

                                                                    %              47.40           21.40 



 Alcohol dependence, lifetime                                       f              50.00           16.00           16.18*** 

                                                                    %              37.00           14.30 



Note: N=247. Group 1 contained all male participants. Group 2 contained all female participants. Diagnoses were made 

using the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis 

I  Disorders,  Clinician  Version  (SCID-I). Washington,  DC:  American  Psychiatric  Press).  Psychological  disorders  do  not 

represent mutually exclusive categories and so percentages within and across groups sum to more than 100%. 



                              Table 3.16. Current adjustment of males and females 



                                                                            Group 1            Group 2             t-value 

                                                                             Males             Females 



                                                                              N=135              N=112 



 Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=247)                         M                  49.59              50.50               0.71 

                                                            SD                  10.06               9.94 



 Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=247)                     M                  51.98              47.61            3.58*** 

                                                            SD                  10.81               8.34 



 Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=247)                      M                  51.01              48.78               1.76 

                                                            SD                   9.96               9.97 



 Global functioning (GAF) (N=235)                            M                  51.82              47.83             3.10** 

                                                            SD                   9.69               9.98 



 Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=136)                          M                  55.23              46.80            4.76*** 

                                                            SD                   8.01              11.52 



 Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=212)                         M                  47.89              50.85               1.93 

                                                            SD                  12.12               9.94 



Note: Group 1 contained all male participants. Group 2 contained all female participants. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory 

(Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems 

Checklist. WHOQOL= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005). World Health Organization 

Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAS=Global 

assessment  of  functioning  scale  (Luborsky,  L.  (1962).  Clinicians'  Judgements  of  Mental  Health.  Archives  of  General 

Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, 

F.C.,  Copeland,  J.M.,  Meens,  L.D.,  Bugaighis,  M.A.  (1986)  Concurrent  and  discriminant  validity  of  the  Kansas  Marital 

Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. 

E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas 

Parental Satisfaction Scale among two samples of married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling 

across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests 

were conducted. T-score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the 

mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t values are from t-tests for 

independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. 



132                                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2643-----------------------

   Table 3.17. Historical and demographic characteristics on which older and younger participants 

                                                    differed significantly 



                                                                                             Group 1      Group 2        Chi 

            Variable                                                                         Younger       Older       square 

                                                                                                                          or 

                                                                                                                           t 

                                                                                               N=113        N=134 



 Reason for leaving 

 institution (N=247) 

                                   Too old to stay on                               f            68.00      108.00     19.93** 

                                                                                    %            60.20       80.60 



                                   Sentence was over                                f             9.00       10.00 

                                                                                    %             8.50        7.50 



                                   Family wanted him/her home                       f            24.00       10.00 

                                                                                    %            21.20        7.50 



                                   Ran away                                         f             6.00        2.00 

                                                                                    %             5.30        1.50 



                                   Institution closed                               f             4.00        0.00 

                                                                                    %             3.50        0.00 



                                   Unknown/Other                                    f             2.00        4.00 

                                                                                    %             1.80        3.00 

 Current socio-economic 

 status (SES) (N=241) 

                                   Unemployed                                       f            41.00       19.00      70.43*** 

                                                                                    %            36.00       14.30 



                                   Unskilled manual                                 f            24.00       14.00 

                                                                                    %            22.00       10.60 



                                   Semi-skilled manual / farmers owning             f            20.00        8.00 

                                   less than 30 acres                               %            18.30        6.10 



                                   Skilled manual, non-manual                       f            16.00       14.00 

                                   professional, managerial and farmers             %            14.70       10.60 

                                   owning more than 30 acres 



                                   Retired                                          f             8.00       77.00 

                                                                                    %             7.30       58.30 



 Duration of relationship 

 with current partner 

 (N=134) 



                                                                                    M            26.02       34.97       5.24*** 

                                                                                   SD             9.01       10.36 



 Age when had first child                                                           M            24.38       26.52       2.82** 

 (N=207)                                                                           SD             5.47        5.46 



Note: Group 1 contained all participants all participants aged 58 years and younger (below median age). Group 2 contained 

all participants aged 59 or more years (above median age). For each variable with multiple categories, within each group 

the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. 

Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Socio-economic status (SES) was assessed with O’Hare, A., Whelan, C.T., & 

Commins, P. (1991). The development of an Irish census-based social class scale. The Economic and Social Review, 22, 

135-156. For continuous variables t-values are from independent t-tests. For categorical variables chi square tests were 

used. **p<0.01. ***p<0.001. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                           133 


----------------------- Page 2644-----------------------

                 Table 3.18. Recollections of child abuse in younger and older participants 



                                                                                      Group 1        Group 2            t 

         Variable                                                                    Younger          Older 



                                                                                       N=113          N=134 



 INSTITUTIONAL 

 ABUSE 

 IAS                         Specific institutional abuse                 M              52.80          47.64        4.17*** 

 (N=247)                                                                  SD              9.37           9.93 



 CTQ-Institution             Total institutional abuse                    M              51.69          48.57        2.47 

 (N=247)                                                                  SD              9.58          10.16 



                             Physical abuse                               M              50.85          49.28        1.23 

                                                                          SD              9.69          10.24 



                             Sexual abuse                                 M              51.54          48.71        2.22 

                                                                          SD             10.54           9.36 



                             Emotional abuse                              M              52.05          48.27         3.08** 

                                                                          SD              8.25          11.01 



                             Physical neglect                             M              50.14          49.86        0.22 

                                                                          SD             10.18           9.89 



                             Emotional neglect                            M              50.18          49.85        0.25 

                                                                          SD              9.95          10.10 



 SPSA-Institution            Total severe institutional abuse             M              51.48          48.76        3.71*** 

 (N=247)                                                                  SD              6.20           5.32 



                             Severe institutional physical abuse          M              51.86          48.40        2.75** 

                                                                          SD             10.22           9.55 



                             Severe institutional sexual abuse            M              51.92          48.36         2.80** 

                                                                          SD             10.56           9.19 



Note: Group 1 contained all participants all participants aged 58 years and younger (below median age). Group 2 contained 

all participants aged 59 or more years (above median age). CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, 

L.  (1998).  Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire:  A  retrospective  self-report.  Manual.  San  Antonio,  TX:  The  Psychological 

Cooperation).  IAS=Institutional  abuse  scale.  SPSA=Most  severe  forms  of  physical  and  sexual  abuse.  To  aid  profiling 

across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests 

were conducted. T-score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the 

mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t-values are from independent 

samples t-tests. For the MANOVA on total subscale of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F (2, 118) = 4.06, p= 

0.02, but all t-tests were NS. For the MANOVA on the total subscale of the institution version of the CTQ, SPSA & the 

IAS, F(3, 243) = 8.90, p<0.0001. **p<0.01; ***p<0.0001. 



134                                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2645-----------------------

                  Table 3.19. Psychological disorders in younger and older participants 



                                                                 Group 1          Group 2 Older          Chi square 

               Variable                                          Younger 



                                                                  N=113                N=134 



 Any anxiety, mood or                            f                  71.00                57.00             10.90*** 

 substance use disorder 

                                                %                   62.80                42.50 

 Anxiety disorders 

 Any anxiety disorder, current                   f                  63.00                50.00              8.40** 

                                                %                   55.80                37.50 



 Posttraumatic stress disorder,                  f                  27.00                14.00              8.01** 

 current 

                                                %                   23.90                10.40 



 Generalized anxiety disorder,                   f                  27.00                15.00              7.01** 

 current 

                                                %                   23.90                11.20 

 Mood disorders 

 Any mood disorder, current                      f                  44.00                22.00             15.88*** 

                                                %                   38.90                16.40 



 Personality disorders 

 Any Personality Disorder                        f                  46.00                28.00             11.47** 

                                                %                   40.70                20.90 



 Avoidant Personality Disorder                   f                  33.00                19.00              8.33** 

                                                %                   29.20                14.20 



Note: N=247. Group 1 contained all participants aged 58 years and younger (below median age). Group 2 contained all 

participants aged  59 or  more years  (above median  age). Anxiety and  mood disorders  were assessed  with the SCID  I 

(First,  M.,  Spitzer,  R.,  Gibbon,  M.,  and  Williams,  J.  (1996).  Structured  Clinical  Interview  for  DSM-IV  Axis  I  Disorders, 

Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Personality disorders were assessed with the 

SCID-II  (First,  M.,  Spitzer,  R.,  Gibbon  M.,  &  Williams,  J.  (1997).  Structured  Clinical  Interview  for  DSM-IV  Personality 

Disorders,  (SCID-II). Washington,  DC: American  Psychiatric  Press). Psychological  disorders do  not  represent mutually 

exclusive categories and so percentages within and across groups sum to more than 100%. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                   135 


----------------------- Page 2646-----------------------

                      Table 3.20. Current adjustment of older and younger participants 



                                                                               Group 1          Group 2              t 

                                                                               Younger           Older 



                                                                                 N=113            N=134 



 Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=247)                               M                53.54           47.02        5.38*** 

                                                                  SD                 9.61            9.36 



 Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=247)                           M                52.51           47.88        3.72*** 

                                                                  SD                10.20            9.33 



 Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=247)                            M                47.07           52.47         4.38*** 

                                                                  SD                10.21            9.16 



 Global functioning (GAF) (N=235)                                  M                47.60           52.00        3.44** 

                                                                  SD                10.09            9.50 



 Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=136)                                M                51.65           51.73         0.04 

                                                                  SD                 9.73           11.06 



 Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=212)                               M                49.63           48.98         0.42 

                                                                  SD                10.57           11.79 



Note: Group 1 contained all participants all participants aged 58 years and younger (below median age). Group 2 contained 

all participants aged 59 or more years (above median age). TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996).  Trauma 

Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL= World 

Health  Organization  Quality  of  Life  100  UK  (Skevington,  S.  (2005).  World  Health  Organization  Quality  of  Life  100  UK 

Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAF=Global assessment of functioning 

scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS= 

Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, 

L.D.,  Bugaighis,  M.A.  (1986)  Concurrent  and  discriminant  validity  of  the  Kansas  Marital  Satisfaction  Scale. Journal  of 

Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., 

Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale among two samples of married parents. 

Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling across variables,  all variables were transformed to T-scores with 

means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), 

where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation 

for all cases on variable X. t values are from t-tests for independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. 



136                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2647-----------------------

 Table 3.21. Historical and demographic characteristics on which participants from the confidential 

                               and investigation committees differed significantly 



                                                                                         Group 1       Group 2         Chi 

             Variable                           Categories                                  CC            IC         square 

                                                                                                                        or 

                                                                                                                        t 

                                                                                          N=175         N=71 



 Number of years with family                                                   M             4.60          7.38      4.11*** 

 before entering an institution                                               SD             4.10          5.03 

 (N=246) 



 Years spent in an institution                                                 M            10.94          7.84      4.38*** 

 (N=246)                                                                      SD             4.86          5.41 



 Reason for entering an 

 institution (N=245) 

                                      Illegitimate                             f            40.00          8.00     22.60*** 

                                                                               %            23.10         11.30 



                                      Petty crime                              f            27.00         31.00 

                                                                               %            15.60         43.70 



                                      Parents could not provide care           f            80.00         24.00 

                                                                               %            46.20         33.80 



                                      Parent died                              f            26.00          9.00 

                                                                               %            15.00         11.30 

 Reason for leaving (N=236) 

                                     Too old to stay on                        f           139.00         36.00     26.82*** 

                                                                               %            82.73         52.90 



                                      Sentence was over                        f             7.00         12.00 

                                                                               %             4.16         17.60 



                                      Family wanted him/her home               f            19.00         15.00 

                                                                               %            11.30         22.10 



                                      Ran away                                 f             3.00          5.00 

                                                                               %             1.78          7.40 

 Institution management 

 (N=246) 

                                      Nuns                                     f           105.00         16.00     31.76*** 

                                                                               %            60.00         22.50 



                                      Religious brothers or priests            f            38.00         38.00 

                                                                               %            21.70         53.50 



                                      Nuns and religious brothers or           f            32.00         17.00 

                                      priests                                  %            18.30         23.90 



 Age when worst experiences                                                    M             8.75         10.19      2.77*** 

 began (N=246)                                                                SD             3.68          3.37 



 Number of long term 

 relationships or marriages 

 that have ended (N=216) 

                                      No relationship has ended                f            61.00        164.00     10.77 

                                                                               %            40.10         21.90 



                                      1 relationship                           f            50.00         29.00 

                                                                               %            32.90         45.30 



                                     2 relationships                           f            28.00          9.00 

                                                                               %            18.40         15.50 



                                      3 or more relationships                  f            13.00         12.00 

                                                                               %             8.60         18.80 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                         137 


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                                                                                              Group 1       Group 2           Chi 

              Variable                             Categories                                    CC             IC         square 

                                                                                                                              or 

                                                                                                                               t 

                                                                                               N=175          N=71 



 Children’s living 

 arrangements (N=210) 

                                        Spent some time living with                 f             12.00         16.00      16.99** 

                                        their other parent 

                                                                                   %               8.00         26.70 



                                        Spent some time living with                 f              8.00          7.00 

                                        their relatives or in care 

                                                                                   %               5.30         11.70 



                                        Always lived with respondent                f            126.00         36.00 

                                                                                   %              84.00         60.00 



                                        Children put up for adoption                f              4.00          1.00 

                                                                                   %               2.70          1.70 



Note: Group 1 contained all participants from the Confidential Committee (CC). Group 2 contained all participants from 

the Investigative Committee (IC). For each variable with multiple categories, within each group the percentages sum to 

approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. Percentages across rows 

do not sum to 100. Socio-economic status (SES) was assessed with O’Hare, A., Whelan, C.T., & Commins, P. (1991). 

The  development  of  an  Irish  census-based  social  class  scale.      The  Economic  and  Social  Review,  22,  135-156.  For 

continuous  variables  t-values  are  from  independent  t-tests.  For  categorical  variables  chi  square  tests  were  used.  ** 

p<0.01. ***p<0.001. 



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   Table 3.22. Recollections of child abuse among participants who attended the confidential and 

                                               investigation committees 



         Variable                                                                   Group 1        Group 2            t 

                                                                                       CC              IC 

                                                                                       N=175           N=71 



 INSTITUTIONAL 

 ABUSE 

 IAS                        Specific institutional abuse                 M              50.01          50.11        0.07 

 (N=246)                                                                 SD             10.28           9.32 



 CTQ-Institution            Total institutional abuse                    M              49.01          52.57        2.56** 

 (N=246)                                                                 SD              9.55          10.69 



                            Physical abuse                               M              49.62          50.91        0.91 

                                                                         SD              9.77          10.62 



                            Sexual abuse                                 M              48.33          54.26        4.08*** 

                                                                         SD              9.17          10.75 



                            Emotional abuse                              M              50.17          49.71        0.33 

                                                                         SD             10.09           9.88 



                            Physical neglect                             M              49.34          51.76        1.72 

                                                                         SD             10.07           9.68 



                            Emotional neglect                            M              50.18          49.58        0.42 

                                                                         SD             10.40           9.11 



 SPSA-Institution           Total severe institutional abuse             M              49.70          50.78        1.31 

 (N=246)                                                                 SD              5.78           6.16 



                            Severe institutional physical abuse          M              50.80          47.89        2.08 

                                                                         SD              9.99           9.80 



                            Severe institutional sexual abuse            M              48.75          53.19        3.23*** 

                                                                         SD              9.92           9.48 



Note: Group 1 contained all participants from the Confidential Committee (CC). Group 2 contained all participants from the 

Investigative Committee (IC). CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma 

Questionnaire:  A retrospective  self-report. Manual.  San Antonio,  TX:  The Psychological  Cooperation).  IAS=Institutional 

abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse. To aid profiling across variables, all variables were 

transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable 

X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD 

is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t-values are from independent samples t-tests. For the MANOVA on 

total subscale of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F (2, 118) =  4.05, p=0.02, but all t-tests were NS. For the 

MANOVA on the total subscale of the institution version of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (3, 242) = 3.12, p<0.05. 



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           Part 4 Profiles of groups with different histories 



           Summary of Part 4 



3.166     The adult survivors of institutional living who participated in this study were not a homogenous 

          group. Four subgroups with varying histories of institutional living had distinct profiles. What follows 

           is a summary of the profiles of the four groups from this analysis. 



3.167     Group 1 included those who had spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered 

           before 5 years of age. They had spent the least time with their families (under one and a half 

          years) and the longest time living in institutions (about fifteen years) of any of the four groups. 

          Compared to groups 3 and 4, more were girls placed in orphanages run by nuns because they 

          were illegitimate, or because their parents had died or could not look after them. More left because 

          they were too old to stay on, and more had mixed feelings about leaving. More had experienced 

           physical  abuse  which  began  at  a  younger  age  and  persisted  longer  than  in  group  4.  Severe 

          emotional abuse was most commonly cited as the worst thing that happened to this group and it 

           began at an earlier age and lasted longer than worst experiences of other groups. Compared with 

          groups  3  and  4,  this  group  reported  fewer  psychological  disorders  and  life  problems.  They 

           identified  relationships  with  friends,  self-reliance,  optimism,  and  their  work  and  skills  as  the 

          sources of their strength. 



3.168     Group 2 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institutions because of family 

           problems. Participants in this group entered institutions run predominantly by nuns because their 

           parents could not cope or died, and left when they were too old to stay. Compared with groups 3 

          and 4, more members of group 2 were female, younger when their most severe form of sexual 

          abuse began, and more identified severe emotional abuse as the worst thing that had happened 

          to them. Compared with group 4 more identified self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

          as the source of their strength. 



3.169     Group 3 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institution and entered through 

          the  courts.  Compared  with  groups  1  and  2,  more  members  of  this  group  were  male,  lived  in 

           institutions run by religious brothers or priests, and were survivors of institutional sexual abuse. 

          Compared  to  the  other  three  groups  they  identified  sexual  abuse  as  the  worst  thing  that  had 

           happened  to  them,  and  more  had  experienced  physical  abuse  within  their  families.  Compared 

          with  groups  1  and  2,  this  group  had  more  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders,  antisocial 

           personality  disorders,  violent  and  non-violent  crime,  imprisonment  for  violent  and  non-violent 

          crime, and unemployment. For this group, their self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

          were identified as the main sources of their strength in adulthood, compared with group 4. 



3.170     Group 4 included participants who had spent 4 or fewer years in institution. Participants in 

          this group spent the most time with their families (more than ten and a half years) and the shortest 

          time living in an institution (just under three years) compared with the other three groups. Most 

          were boys placed in institutions run by religious brothers or priests because of petty crime and 

           left because their short sentences were over, or because their families wanted them back, and 

          few  had mixed  feelings about  leaving. Institutional  sexual abuse  was the  form of  maltreatment 

          that distinguished this group, and compared with groups 1 and 2, they showed more alcohol and 

          substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders, non-violent crime, imprisonment for non- 

          violent crime and unemployment. Their relationships with their partners was identified as the main 

          source of their strength in adulthood. 



3.171     A second analysis was conducted in which cases were classified into 4 groups defined by the 

          type of worst abusive experiences they had suffered in institutions. What follows is a summary of 

          the profiles of the four groups from this analysis. 



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3.172      Group 1 included participants for whom severe sexual and physical abuse was the worst 

           thing they had experienced. Participants in this group had experienced more physical and sexual 

           institutional abuse than at least two of the other 3 groups (in this analysis). They had spent less 

           time with their families before entering an institution than group 3. Like members of group 3, more 

           had children who spent some time living separately with the child’s other parent. Compared with 

           groups 2 and 4, more had a current diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and multiple 

           trauma symptoms. 



3.173      Group 2 included participants for whom severe physical abuse was the worst thing they 

           had experienced. Participants in this group had the lowest educational achievement, were older 

           than  groups  1  and  3  (in  this  analysis),  and  more  had  put  their  own  children  up  for  adoption. 

           Compared with group 3, their worst abusive experience had lasted longer. Like group 4, fewer 

           had PTSD than groups 1 and 3, and they had fewer life problems than group 3. 



3.174      Group 3 included participants for whom severe sexual abuse was the worst thing they had 

           experienced. Compared with group 4 (in this analysis), more participants in group 3 were male 

           and were admitted through the courts to institutions run by religious brothers for petty crime. Like 

           group 1, more had children who spent time with their other parent who lived separately compared 

           to  group  4.  Also,  compared  to  group  4,  more  had  PTSD,  multiple  trauma  symptoms,  lifetime 

           alcohol and substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders and multiple life problems. 



3.175      Group 4 included participants for whom severe emotional abuse was the worst thing they 

           had experienced. Compared to group 3 (in this analysis), more participants in this group were 

           female  and  on  average  had  spent  the  longer  living  in  institutions  run  by  nuns.  Their  worst 

           experiences began at an earlier age than any other group and more had mixed feelings about 

           leaving. 



3.176      In the analysis of groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions 

           and  entered  under  different  circumstances,  the  most  poorly  adjusted  as  adults  were  not  those 

           who had spent longest living in institutions, but rather those who had spent a moderate amount 

           of time in institutions and who had suffered institutional sexual abuse. In the analysis of groups of 

           participants who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive experiences in institutions, the 

           most poorly adjusted included those who pinpointed severe sexual abuse as the worst thing that 

           had happened to them while living in an institution. Thus institutional sexual abuse, was associated 

           in both analyses with a particularly poor outcome. 



           Questions addressed 



3.177      Profiles of groups with different histories of institutional living and differing histories of institutional 

           abuse  are  the  main  focus  of  this  Part.  Survivors  of  institutional  living  who  attended  CICA  fell 

           into  a  number  of  discrete  groups,  with  respect  to  their  different  histories  of  institutional  living. 

           There include 



                   •   People raised in institutions from birth 

                   •   People  who  entered  institutions  in  childhood  or  early  adolescence  because  parents 

                        could no longer care for them 



                   •   People who entered institutions in childhood or adolescence through the courts 

                   •   People who spent only a brief period in institutions in childhood or adolescence. 



3.178      The  main  question  addressed  in  this  Part  is:  What  are  the  profiles  of  these  four  subgroups  of 

           cases with varying histories of institutional living with respect to historical and demographic factors, 

           recollections of child abuse, psychological disorders, trauma symptoms, life problems, quality of 

           life, global functioning, current family relationships, attachment style and personal strengths. The 



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           main  hypothesis suggested  by  the  literature review  was  that people  who  had  spent more  time 

           living in an institution would show poorer adjustment than those who had spent only a brief period 

           living in an institution. 



3.179      A  subsidiary  question  was:  What  are  the  profiles  of  subgroups  of  participants  with  different 

           histories of institutional abuse? 



           Statistical analysis strategy 



3.180      The results of analyses conducted to address these questions will be presented in two sections, 

           corresponding  to  the  two  questions.  In  answering  the  questions  addressed  in  this  Part,  the 

           following strategy was used in all statistical analyses. For categorical variables, chi square tests 

           were conducted with p values set conservatively at p<.01 to reduce the probability of type 1 error 

           (misinterpreting spurious group differences as significant). Where chi square tests were significant 

           at p<.01, group differences were interpreted as significant if standardised residuals in table cells 

           exceeded  an  absolute  value  of  2.  For  continuous  variables,  to  control  for  type  1  error,  where 

           possible multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) were conducted on groups of conceptually 

           related variables. Where MANOVAs were significant at p<.05, specific variables on which groups 

           differed at a significance level of p<.01 were identified by conducting one-way analyses of variance 

           (ANOVAs). Scheffe post-hoc comparison tests for designs with unequal cell sizes were conducted 

           to identify significant intergroup differences in those instances where ANOVAs yielded significant 

           F values. Dunnett’s test was used instead of Scheffe’s, where the assumption of homogeneity of 

           variance was violated. In addition to these parametric analyses of continuous variables, in those 

           instances    where  dependent      variables   were  not    normally   distributed,  non-parametric      Kruskall 

           Wallace tests were conducted as well as ANOVAs. If these non-parametric tests yielded results 

           that  differed  from  those  of  the  ANOVAs  these  were  reported.  For  continuous  variables  where 

           MANOVAs       were    not  conducted,    because     there  were   no   grounds    for  conceptually    grouping 

           variables, to control for type 1 error, t-tests or ANOVAs were interpreted as statistically significant 

           if p<.01. For the TSI and the WHOQOL, which are multiscale instruments, unless the pattern of 

           subscale scores differed greatly from that of total scores, for brevity, only analyses of total scores 

           are reported. To facilitate interpretation of profiles of tabulated means, all psychological variables 

           on continuous scales were transformed to T-scores (with means of 50 and standard deviations of 

           10) before analyses were conducted. T-score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the 

           score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard 

           deviation  for  all  cases  on  variable  X.  A  full  tabulation  of  both  statistically  significant  and  non- 

           significant results is presented for analyses conducted to address the main question concerning 

           cases    with  differing  histories  of  institutional  living. In  the  interests   of  brevity,  for analyses 

           conducted     to  address    the  subsidiary    question   concerning     cases    with  differing  histories   of 

           institutional living, many non-significant results were not tabulated. 



           History of institutional living 



3.181      In this section results are presented of analyses which address the question: What are the profiles 

           of four subgroups of cases with varying histories of institutional living with respect to historical and 

           demographic factors , recollections of child abuse, psychological disorders, trauma symptoms, life 

           problems,  quality  of  life,  global  functioning,  current  family  relationships,  attachment  style  and 

           personal strengths. To address this question cases were classified into these four groups. Group 

           1 contained participants who spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before 5 year 

           of age. Participants in Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because 

           parents   couldn’t  cope    or  died.  Group  3    contained    participants  who    spent  5-11    years  in  an 

           institution and placement occurred through the courts. Those in group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in 

           institutions. There were 110 participants in group 1 (44.5%); 67 in group 2 (27.1%); 22 in group 3 

           (8.9%); and 48 in group 4 (19.4%). 



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           Historical factors 



3.182      From Table 4.1 it may be seen that the four groups differed significantly on a range of historical 

           factors including length of time spent with their families before entering an institution; the number 

           of years   spent   in  an  institution; their  reasons    for entering   and   leaving   an  institution; the 

           management of the institution in which they lived; and their reaction to leaving the institution. 



3.183      Participants in group 1 (defined as those who had spent more than 12 years in an institution and 

           entered before five years of age) had spent the least time with their families (under one and a half 

           years) and the longest time living in institutions (on average about fifteen years). More were placed 

           in orphanages run by nuns because they were illegitimate, or because their parents could not look 

           after them, or because their parents died. More left because they were too old to stay on, and 

           more had mixed feelings about leaving. Participants in group 4 (defined as having spent four or 

           fewer years in institution) had spent the most time with their families (on average more than ten 

           and a half years) and the shortest time living in an institution (on average, just under three years). 

           Most were placed in institutions run by religious brothers or priests because of petty crime and 

           left because their short sentences were over, or because their families wanted them back and few 

           had mixed feelings about leaving. Members of groups 2 and 3, on historical factors, had profiles 

           which fell between those of groups 1 and 4, with group 2 being more like group 1 and group 3 

           being more like group 4. 



           Demographic characteristics 



3.184      From Table 4.2 it may be seen that gender was the only demographic factor on which the four 

           groups  differed  significantly.  Significantly  more  members  of  groups  1  and  2  were  female,  and 

           significantly more members of groups 3 and 4 were male. The four groups did not differ on past 

           or present socio-economic status, education, marital status, marital relationship stability, number 

           of children, age at birth of first child, and children’s living arrangements. 



           Institutional abuse 



3.185      From  Table  4.3  it  may  be  seen  that  the  four  groups  differed  significantly  on  the  sexual  abuse 

           scale of the institutional version of the CTQ and the total and severe physical abuse scales of the 

           institutional  version  of  the  SPSA.  On  the  sexual  abuse  scale  of  the  institutional  version  of  the 

           CTQ, the mean score for group 3 was significantly greater than that for group 4, which in turn was 

           significantly greater than that of group 1, which in turn was significantly greater than that of group 

           2. On the total and severe abuse scale of the institution version of the SPSA, the mean scores of 

           for group 1 were significantly greater than those of group 4 with those of groups 2 and 3 occupying 

           intermediate positions. 



3.186      From table 4.4 it may be seen that the four groups differed significantly on the ages when the 

           most severe form of physical and sexual abuse began; the duration of the most severe form of 

           physical abuse; the worst thing that happened to participants while living in an institution; and the 

           age of onset and duration of the worst thing that had happened to them. 



3.187      From  Table  4.4    it  may  be  seen   that  compared  with  group     4,  participants  in  group   1  were 

           significantly  younger  when  their  most  severe  form  of  physical  abuse  and  the  worst  thing  that 

           happened to them in an institution began, and the duration of these was significantly longer. On 

           these variables the profiles of the other groups fell between those of groups 1 and 4. 



3.188      From Table 4.4 it may be seen that compared with groups 3 and 4 participants in groups 1 and 2 

           were significantly younger when their most severe form of sexual abuse began. 



3.189      From Table 4.4 it may be seen that compared with groups 1 and 2, significantly more members 

           of group 3 reported that severe sexual abuse was the worst thing that happened to them in an 



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           institution. Compared to groups 3 and 4, significantly more members of groups 1 and 2 reported 

           that severe emotional abuse was the worst thing that happened to them in an institution. 



           Family-based child abuse 



3.190      For family-based child abuse, only data from 121 members of the 137 in groups 2, 3 and 4 were 

           available,  since  all  members  of  group  1  and  some  members  of  groups  2,  3  and  4  had  little 

           recollection of the brief period of time they had spent with their parents during their early years. 

           From Table 4.3 it may be seen that groups 2 ,3 and 4 differed significantly on the physical abuse 

           scale of the family version of the CTQ. The mean score for group 3 was greater than that of group 

           2, with group 4 occupying an intermediate position between these extremes. 



           Psychological disorders 



3.191      From  Table  4.5  it  may  be  seen  that  the  four  groups  differed  significantly  in  the  proportions  of 

           members  who  had  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders  and  personality  disorders.  Compared 

           with groups 1 and 2, significantly more members of groups 3 and 4 had a lifetime diagnoses of 

           alcohol   dependence      or  a  lifetime  classification  of  any   alcohol  or  substance     use   disorder. 

           Compared  with  groups  1  and  2  significantly  more  members  of  3  had  an  antisocial  personality 

           disorder. The four groups did not differ in rates of anxiety or mood disorders. 



           Current adjustment 



3.192      From Table 4.6 it may be seen that compared with groups 1 and 2, the average numbers of life 

           problems were significantly higher in groups 3 and 4. Table 4.7 provides details of the specific life 

           problems on which groups differed. From Table 4.7 it may be seen that compared with groups 1 

           and  2,  groups  3  and  4  had  significantly  higher  rates  of  substance  use,  non-violent  crime,  and 

           incarceration  for  non-violent  crime,  while  group  3  also  had  significantly  higher  rates  of  violent 

           crime, incarceration for violent crime and unemployment. From Table 4.6 it may be seen that the 

           four  groups  did  not  differ  total  number  of  trauma  symptoms  on  the  TSI,  quality  of  life  on  the 

           WHOQOL, global functioning on the GAF, marital satisfaction on the KMS or parenting satisfaction 

           on the KPS. From Table 4.8 it may be seen that the four groups did not differ in the rates of four 

           different adult attachment styles assessed by the ECRI. 



           Strengths 



3.193      From  Table  4.9  it  may  be  seen  that  the  four  groups  differed  significantly  in  the  factors  they 

           identified  as  the  source  of  their  strength.  Compared  with  groups  1  and  2,  significantly  more 

           members of group 4 identified their relationships with their partners as the source of their strength. 

           Compared with groups 2, 3 and 4, significantly more members of group 1 identified as the source 

           of their strength relationships with friends. Compared with group 4, significantly more members of 

           groups  1,  2  and  3  identified  self-reliance,  optimism,  and  their  work  and  skills  as  the  source  of 

           their strength. 



           Summary of profiles of groups with varying histories of institutional living 



3.194      Profiles of four subgroups of cases with varying histories of institutional living are summarized in 

           Table 4.10. 



3.195      Group 1 included those who had spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered 

           before 5 years of age. They had spent the least time with their families (under one and a half 

           years) and the longest time living in institutions (about fifteen years) on any of the four groups. 

           Compared to groups 3 and 4, more were girls placed in orphanages run by nuns because they 

           were illegitimate, or because their parents had died or could not look after them. More left because 

           they were too old to stay on, and more had mixed feelings about leaving. More had experienced 

           physical  abuse  which  began  at  a  younger  age  and  persisted  longer  than  in  group  4.  Severe 



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          emotional abuse was most commonly cited as the worst thing that happened to this group and it 

           began at an earlier age and lasted longer than worst experiences of other groups. Compared with 

          groups  3  and  4,  this  group  reported  fewer  psychological  disorders  and  life  problems.  They 

           identified  relationships  with  friends,  self-reliance,  optimism,  and  their  work  and  skills  as  the 

          sources of their strength. 



3.196     Group 2 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institutions because of family 

           problems. Participants in this group entered institutions run predominantly by nuns because their 

           parents could not cope or died, and left when they were too old to stay. Compared with groups 3 

          and 4, more members of group 2 were female, younger when their most severe form of sexual 

          abuse began, and more identified severe emotional abuse as the worst thing that had happened 

          to them. Compared with group 4 more identified self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

          as the source of their strength. 



3.197     Group 3 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institution and entered through 

          the  courts.  Compared  with  groups  1  and  2,  more  members  of  this  group  were  male,  lived  in 

           institutions run by religious brothers or priests, and were survivors of institutional sexual abuse. 

          Compared  to  the  other  three  groups  they  identified  sexual  abuse  as  the  worst  thing  that  had 

           happened  to  them,  and  more  had  experienced  physical  abuse  within  their  families.  Compared 

          with  groups  1  and  2,  this  group  had  more  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders,  antisocial 

           personality  disorders,  violent  and  non-violent  crime,  imprisonment  for  violent  and  non-violent 

          crime, and unemployment. For this group, their self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

          were identified as the main sources of their strength in adulthood, compared with group 4. 



3.198     Group 4 included participants who had spent 4 or fewer years in institution. Participants in 

          this group spent the most time with their families (more than ten and a half years) and the shortest 

          time living in an institution (just under three years) compared with the other three groups. Most 

          were boys placed in institutions run by religious brothers or priests because of petty crime and 

           left because their short sentences were over, or because their families wanted them back, and 

          few  had mixed  feelings about  leaving. Institutional  sexual abuse  was the  form of  maltreatment 

          that distinguished this group, and compared with groups 1 and 2, they showed more alcohol and 

          substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders, non-violent crime, imprisonment for non- 

          violent crime and unemployment. Their relationships with their partners was identified as the main 

          source of their strength in adulthood. 



          History of child abuse 



3.199      In this section results are presented of analyses which address the question: What are the profiles 

          of subgroups of participants with different histories of institutional abuse with respect to historical 

          and demographic factors , recollections of child abuse, psychological disorders, trauma symptoms, 

           life problems, quality of life, global functioning, current family relationships, attachment style and 

           personal strengths. To address this question cases were classified into four groups on the basis 

          of  their  responses  to  the  question:  What  was  the  worst  thing  that  happened  to  you  in  the 

           institution? Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe physical and 

          sexual abuse. Group 2 contained 99 cases where it was severe physical abuse. Group 3 contained 

          40 cases where it was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where it was severe 

          emotional    abuse.   Participants’  statements   were   classified  as  severe   physical  abuse   if they 

           reported physical violence, beating, slapping, or being physically injured, but not having medical 

          attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe sexual abuse if the person reported the 

          words sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or other coercive 

          sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical 

          and sexual abuse if they involved both severe physical abuse and severe sexual abuse as defined 

          earlier. Statements of actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding 



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           medical  treatment,  witnessing  the  traumatization  of  other  pupils  and  adverse  experiences  that 

          were   not  clearly  classifiable as  severe   sexual   or physical   abuse   were   classified as  severe 

          emotional abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of 

          statements.  Details  of  statements  are  in  Table  3.4  in  Part  3.  For  brevity  many  non-significant 

           results  have not  been  included in  the  tables  of results  arising  from the  comparison  of the  four 

          groups who reported suffering differing types of worst types of abusive experiences in institutions. 



           Historical and demographic characteristics 



3.200      From Table 4.11 it may be seen that the four groups differed significantly on the following historical 

          and demographic variables: gender, age, length of time with family before entering an institution, 

          years spent in an institution, reason for entering an institution, institution management, feelings 

          about leaving the institution, education and children’s’ living arrangements. 



3.201      From Table 4.11 it may be seen that participants in group 1, for whom severe physical and sexual 

          abuse was the worst thing that happened to them in institutions, differed significantly from those 

           in one or more of the other groups in the following respects. They were younger (being in their 

          50s, not their 60s) than participants in group 2 and had spent less time with their families before 

          entering an institution than group 3. More of them had passed the primary certificate (indicating 

          that they had achieved a higher educational level) than groups 2 and 3. Also, like members of 

          group 3, more had children who spent some time living separately with the child’s other parent 

          than members of group 4. 



3.202      From Table 4.11 it may be seen that participants in group 2, for whom severe physical abuse was 

          the worst thing that happened to them in institutions, differed significantly from those in one or 

           more of the other groups in the following respects. They were older than members of groups 1 

          and 3 (being in their 60s, not their 50s). They had a lower level of educational attainment than 

           members of groups 1 and 4. Finally, 5.7% of participants in group 2 had put a child up for adoption 

          whereas no members of the other three groups had done this. 



3.203      From Table 4.11 it may be seen that participants in group 3, for whom severe sexual abuse was 

          the worst thing that happened to them in institutions, differed significantly from those in one or 

           more of the other groups in the following respects. More were male compared with group 4. They 

          were younger than group 2 (being in their 50s, not their 60s). They had spent more time with their 

          families before entering an institution than members of the other 3 groups. Compared with group 

          4, they had spent fewer years in an institution; more had entered institutions through the courts 

          for petty crime; more had been in institutions run by religious brothers and priests (but not nuns); 

          and more were happy to leave and fewer had mixed feelings. Like members of group 2, fewer 

           had passed their primary certificate compared with group 1. Also, like members of group 1, more 

           had children who spent some time living separately with the child’s other parent than members of 

          group 4. 



3.204      From Table 4.11 it may be seen that participants in group 4, for whom severe emotional abuse 

          was the worst thing that happened to them in institutions, differed significantly from those in one 

          or more of the other groups in the following respects. Compared with members of group 3, more 

          were female; they spent more years living in institutions; fewer entered through the courts for petty 

          crime;   more   lived in  institutions run  by  nuns;  and   more   had   mixed   feelings  about  leaving. 

          Compared  with  group  2  more  had  achieved  a  higher  educational  qualification.  Compared  with 

          groups 1 and 3, fewer had children who spent some time living separately with the child’s other 

           parent. 



           146                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2657-----------------------

           Recollections of child abuse 



3.205      From Table 4.12 it may be seen that the four groups differed significantly on the IAS; the total, 

           physical and sexual abuse scales of the institutional version of the CTQ; and the total and severe 

           sexual abuse scales of the institution version of the SPSA. 



3.206      From Table 4.12 it may be seen that for the IAS, and the total and physical abuse scales of the 

           institutional version of the CTQ, mean scores for group 1 were significantly higher than those of 

           the other three groups. Those for group 4 were significantly lower than those of the other three 

           groups.    Mean    scores    for groups    2  and    3  occupied    intermediate    positions    between    these 

           extremes. 



3.207      From Table 4.12 it may also be seen that for the sexual abuse scale of the institution version of 

           the  CTQ  and  the  total  and  severe  sexual  abuse  scales  of  the  institution  version  of  the  SPSA, 

           means scores for groups 1 and 3 were significantly higher than those of groups 2 and 4. 



3.208      From Table 4.13 it may be seen that the four groups differed on the age when the worst thing 

           that happened to them in an institution began and the duration of these worst experiences. The 

           mean age at which worst experiences began was significantly lower for group 4 than for the other 

           three groups,  and significantly higher for  group 3, with  groups 1 and 2  occupying intermediate 

           positions  between  these  extremes.  The  average  duration  of  the  worst  thing  that  happened  to 

           participants in institutions was significantly longer for groups 2 and 4 than for group 3. 



           Psychological disorders 



3.209      From table 4.14 it may be seen that the groups differed significantly in the proportion of participants 

           with current PTSD, any lifetime alcohol and substance use disorder, a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol 

           dependence,  and  antisocial  personality  disorder.  More  members  of  group  3  than  group  4  had 

           each of these disorders. In addition, more members of group 1 had current PTSD compared with 

           groups 2 and 4. 



           Current adjustment 



3.210      From table 4.15 it may be seen that the groups differed significantly in their total number of trauma 

           symptoms on the TSI and total number of life problems on the LPC. In both areas, group 4 showed 

           significantly  better   adjustment    than   two   of the   other  three   groups.   Groups    1  and   3  had   a 

           significantly higher mean level of trauma symptoms than group 4. Group 3 had significantly more 

           life problems than group 2, who in turn has significantly more life problems than group 4. The four 

           groups  did  not  differ  significantly  on  indices  of  quality  of  life,  global  functioning,  current  family 

           relationships, adult attachment style and personal strengths. 



           Summary of profiles of groups who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive 

           experiences in institutions 



3.211      Profiles of these four subgroups of cases who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive 

           experiences in institutions are summarized in Table 4.16. 



3.212      Summary  profile  of  group  1  for  whom  severe  sexual  and  physical  abuse  was  the  worst 

           thing they had experienced in an institution. Participants in this group had spent less time with 

           their  families  before  entering  an  institution  than  the  other  3  groups.  Like  members  of  group  3, 

           more had children who spent some time living separately with the child’s other parent. Participants 

           in group 1 had experienced more physical and sexual institutional abuse than at least two of the 

           other  3  groups.  Compared  with  groups  2  and  4,  more  had  a  current  diagnosis  of  PTSD  and 

           multiple trauma symptoms. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              147 


----------------------- Page 2658-----------------------

3.213      Summary profile of group 2 for whom severe physical abuse was the worst thing they had 

           experienced in an institution. Participants in this group had the lowest educational achievement, 

           were  older  than  the  other  three  groups,  and  more  had  put  their  own  children  up  for  adoption. 

           Compared with the groups 1 and 3, their worst abusive experience had lasted longer. Like group 

           4, they showed fewer adjustment problems in adulthood compared to the other two groups. 



3.214      Summary profile of group 3 for whom severe sexual abuse was the worst thing they had 

           experienced in an institution. Compared with the other three groups, more participants in group 

           3  were  male  and  admitted  through  the  courts  to  institutions  run  by  religious  brothers  for  petty 

           crime. Like group 1, more had children who spent time with their other parent who lived separately. 

           This group for whom severe institutional sexual abuse was their worst experience, showed the 

           poorest  adjustment  as  adults  of all  four  groups.  Like  group  1  they  showed PTSD  and  multiple 

           trauma  symptoms.  They  also  had  lifetime  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders  and  antisocial 

           personality disorders along with multiple life problems. 



3.215      Summary profile of group 4 for whom severe emotional abuse was the worst thing they 

           had experienced in an institution. Compared to the other three groups, more participants in this 

           group were female; more had spent the longest time living in institutions; more lived in institutions 

           run  by  nuns;  more  reported  that  their  worst  experiences  began  at  an  earlier  age  and  lasted  a 

           longer time; and more had mixed feelings about leaving. Of the four groups, this group showed 

           the best psychological adjustment in adulthood. 



           Conclusions 



3.216      The  main  question  addressed  in  this  Part  concerned  the  profiles  of  subgroups  of  cases  with 

           varying histories of institutional living. Summary profiles of four groups of participants who had 

           spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different circumstances are given 

           in  Table  4.10.  A  subsidiary  question  concerned  the  profiles  of  subgroups  of  participants  with 

           different  histories  of  institutional  abuse.  Summary  profiles  of  four  groups  of  participants  who 

           reported  suffering  differing  types  of  worst  abusive  experiences  in  institutions  are  presented  in 

           Table 4.16. A number of broad conclusions may be drawn from the analyses reported in this Part. 

           Adult  survivors  of  institutional  living  are  not  a  homogenous  group.  Subgroups,  defined  by  (1) 

           duration  of time  in an  institution and  circumstances of  entry, and  (2) worst  form of  institutional 

           abuse have distinctive profiles. In the analysis of groups of participants who had spent different 

           amounts of time in institutions and entered under different circumstances, the most poorly adjusted 

           as adults were not those who had spent longest living in institutions, but rather those who had 

           spent a moderate amount of time in institutions and who had suffered institutional sexual abuse. 

           In the analysis of groups of participants who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive 

           experiences in institutions, the most poorly adjusted included those who pinpointed severe sexual 

           abuse as the worst thing that had happened to them while living in an institution. Thus institutional 

           sexual abuse, was associated in both analyses with a particularly poor outcome. 



           148                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


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C 

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             Table 4.1. Historical characteristics of 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different 

A                                                                                circumstances. 

R 

e                     Variable                                                                        Group 1     Group 2     Group 3     Group 4       Chi       Group 

p 

o                                                                                                                                                     Square       Diffs 

r 

t                                                                                                                                                        or 

V 

o 

                                                                                                                                                     ANOVA F 

l 

.                                                                                                      N=110        N=67       N=22        N=48 

V 



      Years with family before                                                                M           1.41        6.57       10.05      10.71    208.35***     4>2>1 

      entering an institution (N=246)                                                        SD           1.66        2.76        2.24       3.30 



      Years spent in an institution (N=247)                                                   M          15.05        8.34        5.89       2.84    567.22***   1>2>3>4 

                                                                                             SD           2.09        1.92        1.37       1.25 

      Reason for entering an institution 

      (N=245) 

                                                Illegitimate                                  f          44.00        4.00        0.00       0.00    199.30***    1>2,3,4 

                                                                                              %          40.70        6.00        0.00       0.00 



                                                Petty crime                                   f           3.00        1.00       21.00      33.00                 3,4>1,2 

                                                                                              %           2.80        1.50       95.50      68.80 



                                                Parents could not provide care                f          47.00       45.00        1.00      11.00                 1,2>3,4 

                                                                                              %          43.50       67.20        4.50      22.90 



                                                Parent died                                   f          14.00       17.00        0.00       4.00                  1,2>3 

                                                                                              %          13.00       25.40        0.00       8.30 

      Reason for leaving the institution 

      (N=247) 

                                                I was too old to stay on                      f          97.00       51.00       15.00      13.00     18.32***    1,2,3>4 

                                                                                              %          88.20       76.10       68.20      27.10 



                                                The institution closed down                   f           1.00        1.00        2.00       0.00                 3>1,2,4 

                                                                                              %           0.90        1.50        9.10       0.00 



                                                My short sentence was over                    f           1.00        2.00        3.00      13.00                  4>1,2 

                                                                                              %           0.90        3.00       13.60      27.10 



                                                My family wanted to take me home              f           6.00       11.00        1.00      16.00                  4>1,3 

                                                                                              %           5.50       16.40        4.50      33.30 



 1 

                                                I ran away                                    f           4.00        0.00        1.00       3.00                   NS 

 4                                                                                            %           3.60        0.00        4.50       6.30 

 9 


----------------------- Page 2660-----------------------

 1 

 5                      Variable                                                                                 Group 1      Group 2      Group 3      Group 4         Chi        Group 

 0                                                                                                                                                                   Square         Diffs 



                                                                                                                                                                        or 

                                                                                                                                                                    ANOVA F 

                                                                                                                  N=110         N=67        N=22         N=48 



                                                     Others                                             f            1.00         2.00         0.00         3.00                     NS 

                                                                                                       %             0.90         3.00         0.00         6.30 

       Institution management (N=247) 

                                                     Nuns                                               f           70.00        42.00         0.00         9.00    144.96***     1,2>3,4 

                                                                                                       %            63.60        62.70         0.00        18.80 



                                                     Religious brothers and priests                     f            1.00        19.00        22.00        35.00                   1,2<3,4 

                                                                                                       %             0.90        28.40       100.00        72.90 



                                                     Priests, religious brothers and nuns               f           39.00         6.00         0.00         4.00                   1>2,3,4 

                                                                                                       %            35.50          9.0         0.00         8.30 

       Were you happy to leave the 

       institution (N=247) 

                                                     Yes                                                f           53.00        44.00        16.00        39.00     19.14**         NS 

                                                                                                       %            48.20        65.70        72.70        81.20 



                                                     Mixed feelings                                     f           51.00        19.00         6.00         8.00                     1>4 

                                                                                                       %            46.40        28.40        27.30        16.70 



                                                     No                                                 f            6.00         4.00         0.00         1.00                     NS 

                                                                                                       %             5.50         6.00         0.00         2.10 



      Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

      Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in an institution. For each variable with multiple categories, within each group 

      the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. For continuous variables F 

      values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. For categorical 

C     variables, where chi square tests were significant at p<.05, group differences were interpreted as significant if standardised residuals exceeded an absolute value of 2. **p<.01. ***p<.001 

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----------------------- Page 2661-----------------------

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          Table 4.2. Demographic characteristics of 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different 

A                                                                              circumstances. 

R 

e 

p 

                   Variable                                                                                Group    Group 2    Group 3   Group 4      Chi      Group 

o 

r                                                                                                            1                                      Square      Diffs 

t 

V 

                                                                                                           N=110      N=67      N=22       N=48 

o 

l 

.     Gender (N=247) 

V                                         Male                                                     f        45.00     28.00      22.00     39.00    43.83***   3,4>1,2 



                                                                                                   %        40.90     42.00     100.00     81.25 



                                          Female                                                   f        65.00     39.00       0.00      9.00               1,2>3,4 

                                                                                                   %        59.18     58.20       0.00     18.75 



      Age in years (N=247)                                                                         M        58.59     61.11      61.82     61.27      2.32       NS 

                                                                                                  SD         7.65      8.64       9.92      8.31 



      Current socio-economic status 

      (SES) (N=241) 

                                          Unemployed                                               f        23.00     13.00       5.00     19.00     17.54       NS 

                                                                                                   %        21.50     19.70      23.80     40.40 



                                          Unskilled manual                                         f        20.00     13.00       3.00      2.00 

                                                                                                   %        18.70     19.70      14.30      4.30 



                                          Semi-skilled manual and farmers owning less than         f        14.00      6.00       3.00      5.00 

                                          30 acres                                                 %        13.10      9.10      14.30     10.60 



                                          Skilled & other non manual, farmers owning 30-200        f        16.00      7.00       0.00      7.00 

                                          acres, lower & higher managerial & professional          %        15.00     10.60       0.00     14.90 



                                          Retired                                                  f        34.00     27.00      10.00     14.00 

                                                                                                   %        31.80     40.90      47.60     29.80 



      Highest SES attained since 

      leaving school (N=235) 

                                          Unskilled manual                                         f        49.00     32.00       8.00     15.00     22.95       NS 

                                                                                                   %         46.2     50.00      42.10     32.60 

 1 

 5 

 1 


----------------------- Page 2662-----------------------

 1 

 5                   Variable                                                                                           Group      Group 2     Group 3    Group 4        Chi       Group 

 2 

                                                                                                                           1                                           Square       Diffs 

                                                                                                                        N=110        N=67       N=22        N=48 



                                               Semi-skilled manual and farmers owning less than                 f         21.00       14.00       7.00       20.00 

                                               30 acres                                                        %           19.8       21.90      36.80       43.50 



                                               Skilled & other non manual, farmers owning 30-200                f         36.00       18.00       4.00       11.00 

                                               acres, lower & higher managerial & professional                 %          34.00       28.10      21.10       23.90 



       Education: Highest exam passed 

       (N=244) 

                                               None                                                             f         49.00       27.00      14.00       31.00      17.21        NS 

                                                                                                               %          45.40       40.30      63.60       66.00 



                                               Junior school exam in 5th  or 6th class                          f         27.00       25.00       5.00        5.00 



                                               (e.g. primary cert)                                             %          25.00       37.30      22.70       10.60 



                                               Intermediate or Leaving Cert.                                    f         13.00        8.00       1.00        7.00 

                                                                                                               %          12.00       11.90       4.50       14.90 



                                               Certificate or diploma or apprenticeship exam, or                f         19.00        7.00       2.00        4.00 

                                               primary degree                                                  %          17.60       10.40       9.10        8.50 



       Marital status (N=245) 

                                               Single and never married or cohabited                            f         18.00        5.00       2.00        3.00      13.45        NS 

                                                                                                               %          16.70        7.50       9.10        6.30 



                                               Single & separated/ divorced from first                          f         20.00       14.00       3.00       10.00 

                                               marital/cohabiting partner                                      %          18.50       20.90      13.60       20.80 

C 

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                                               Single & separated/ divorced from 2nd/later partner              f          3.00        2.00       3.00        3.00 

 R                                                                                                             %           2.80        3.00      13.60        6.30 

e 

p 

o 

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t                                              Single and widowed                                               f         11.00        7.00       2.00        2.00 

 V 

o                                                                                                              %          10.20       10.40       9.10        4.20 

 l 

 . 

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----------------------- Page 2663-----------------------

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                     Variable                                                                                         Group      Group 2    Group 3     Group 4       Chi       Group 

 A                                                                                                                       1                                          Square       Diffs 

 R                                                                                                                    N=110        N=67       N=22        N=48 

e 

p 

o 

                                               Married/ cohabiting in 2nd  or later marriage or               f         16.00       11.00       3.00        7.00 

 r 

t 

 V 

                                               long term relationship                                        %          14.80       16.40      13.60       14.60 

o 

 l 

 . 

 V                                             Married/cohabiting in first long term relationship             f         40.00       28.00       9.00       23.00 

                                                                                                             %          37.00       41.80      40.90       47.90 

       Number of long term 

       relationships or 

       marriages that have ended 

       (N=217) 

                                               No relationship has ended                                      f         29.00       19.00       7.00       20.00      6.90        NS 

                                                                                                             %          32.20       30.60      35.00       44.40 



                                               1 relationship                                                 f         32.00       26.00       5.00       16.00 

                                                                                                             %          35.60       41.90      25.00       35.60 



                                               2 relationships                                                f         19.00       10.00       4.00        4.00 

                                                                                                             %          21.10       16.10      20.00        8.90 



                                               3 relationships                                                f         10.00        7.00       4.00        5.00 

                                                                                                             %          11.10       11.30      20.00       11.10 



       Duration of relationship with                                                                         M          28.68       30.68      33.64       35.35      2.79        NS 

       current partner? (N=134)                                                                              SD         10.48       12.31      10.52        7.66 



       Number of children (N=212)                                                                            M           3.23        3.03       3.80        3.95      2.55        NS 

                                                                                                             SD          1.93        1.40       1.80        2.39 



      Age when had first child (N=207)                                                                       M          25.38       25.61      25.86       25.52      0.05        NS 

                                                                                                             SD          5.63        5.66       6.13        5.15 



       Children’s living arrangements 

       (N=211) 

                                               Spent some time living with their other parent                 f          9.00        5.00       8.00        6.00     17.08        NS 

                                                                                                             %          10.30        8.30      38.10       14.00 

 1 

 5 

 3 


----------------------- Page 2664-----------------------

 1 

 5                    Variable                                                                                             Group      Group 2     Group 3     Group 4        Chi       Group 

 4 

                                                                                                                              1                                            Square       Diffs 

                                                                                                                           N=110        N=67        N=22        N=48 



                                                Spent some time living with their relatives or in care            f          8.00        3.00        0.00        5.00 

                                                                                                                  %          9.20        5.00         0.00      11.60 



                                                Always lived with respondent                                      f         67.00       51.00       13.00       31.00 

                                                                                                                  %         77.00       85.00       61.90       72.10 



                                                Children put up for adoption                                      f          3.00        1.00        0.00        1.00 

                                                                                                                  %          3.40        1.70         0.00        1.70 



      Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

      Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in an institution. The percentages in long-term relationships or marriages that 

      have ended were based on number of cases who had had any marriages or long-term relationships. The number in each group were: Group 1=90; Group 2=62; Group 3=20; Group 4=45. The 

      mean duration of relationship with current partner was based on the number of participants who were married or cohabiting. The number in each group were: Group 1=56; Group 2=38; Group 3= 

      11; Group 4=29. The mean number of children, mean age when had first child and percentage of children in each of the children’s living arrangements categories were based on cases with children 

      only. The number in each group were: Group 1=87; Group 2=60; Group 3=21; Group 4=43. Socio-economic status (SES) was assessed with O’Hare, A., Whelan, C.T., & Commins, P. (1991). The 

      development of an Irish census-based social class scale.  The Economic and Social Review, 22, 135-156. For each variable with multiple categories, within each group the percentages sum to 

      approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. For continuous variables F values are from one-way 

      analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. For categorical variables, where chi 

      square tests were significant at p<.05, group differences were interpreted as significant if standardised residuals exceeded an absolute value of 2. ***p<.001. 



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            Table 4.3. Recollections of child abuse in 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different 

 A                                                                                    circumstances. 

 R 

e 

p                     Variable                                                                                   Group 1      Group 2     Group 3     Group 4     ANOVA        Group 

o 

 r                                                                                                                                                                    F         Diffs 

t 

 V                                                                                                                 N=110       N=67        N=22        N=48 

o 

 l 

 . 

 V 

       INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

       IAS (N=247)                               Specific institutional Abuse                            M          48.31        58.39       50.84       50.13      2.41         NS 

                                                                                                        SD           9.63        10.35       11.36        9.23 



       CTQ-Institution (N=247)                   Total institutional abuse score                         M          49.88        48.48       52.68       51.18      1.28         NS 

                                                                                                        SD           9.48         9.40       12.09       10.82 



                                                 Physical abuse                                          M          49.72        49.73       53.12       49.57      0.79         NS 

                                                                                                        SD           9.17        10.40       11.62       10.54 



                                                 Sexual abuse                                            M          49.34        47.28       56.01       52.57     5.85***    3>4>1>2 

                                                                                                        SD           9.40         8.36       11.37       11.27 



                                                 Emotional abuse                                         M          50.89        48.85       47.85       50.58      0.98         NS 

                                                                                                        SD           9.16        11.23       13.02        8.39 



                                                 Physical neglect                                        M          51.34        48.94       48.38       49.10      1.23         NS 

                                                                                                        SD          10.00         9.93       10.98        9.59 



                                                 Emotional neglect                                       M          48.59        52.12       49.73       50.42      1.78         NS 

                                                                                                                    10,84         9.54        9.54        8.53 



       SPSA-Institution (N=247)                  Total severe institutional abuse                        M          51.58        48.69       50.09       48.17     5.59***      1>4 

                                                                                                        SD           5.86         5.87        5.45        5.35 



                                                 Severe institutional physical abuse                     M          54.26        48.91       46.72       43.19    18.37***      1>4 

                                                                                                        SD           9.37         9.54        8.80        7.71 



                                                 Severe institutional sexual abuse                       M          50.46        47.85       52.50       50.75      1.67         NS 

 1 

 5                                                                                                      SD          10.58         9.81        9.16        8.86 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2666-----------------------

 1 

 5                    Variable                                                                                   Group 1     Group 2     Group 3     Group 4     ANOVA        Group 

 6 

                                                                                                                                                                    F          Diffs 

                                                                                                                  N=110       N=67        N=22        N=48 



      CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 

      CTQ-family (N=121)                        Total family abuse Score                                M            0.00       49.07       52.11       50.14      0.68        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00        9.99        8.56       10.51 



                                                Physical abuse                                          M            0.00       46.84       54.27       51.70     5.56**      3>4>2 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00        7.56       11.96       10.58 



                                                Sexual abuse                                            M            0.00       50.98       47.05       50.12      1.13        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00       11.19        0.00       10.59 



                                                Emotional abuse                                         M            0.00       49.74       50.31       50.12      0.03        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00       10.24       10.09        9.90 



                                                Physical neglect                                        M            0.00       48.45       54.94       49.65      3.23        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00        9.82        9.49        9.94 



                                                Emotional neglect                                       M            0.00       49.51       53.12       49.23      1.18        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00        9.91       11.01        9.63 



      SPSA-family (N=121)                       Total severe family abuse                               M            0.00       48.93       49.50       48.17      0.43        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00        6.35        5.23        5.35 



      (N=121)                                   Severe family physical abuse                            M            0.00       48.13       46.21       43.19      3.94        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00        9.72        9.03        7.71 



      (N=121)                                   Severe family sexual abuse                              M            0.00       48.93       51.54       50.74      0.75        NS 

                                                                                                       SD            0.00       10.21        8.87        8.86 



C     Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

 I 

C    Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, 

 A    L. (1998).  Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of 

 R   physical and sexual abuse. Cautious interpretation of scores from the family version of the SPSA is warranted because of the low reliability of scores from this instrument, mentioned in Part 3 and 

e    documented in Table 3.11. To aid profiling, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before ANOVAs were conducted. T-score for variable X = 

p 

o    ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. F values are from one- 

 r 

t    way analyses of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. For the MANOVA on all subscales 

 V   of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (24, 685) = 6.16, p<.001. For the MANOVA on all subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F (14, 224) = 2.66, p<.001. * 

o 

 l 

 .   p<0.05 **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2667-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

A     Table 4.4. Timing of severe abuse and worst form of abuse experienced in 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and 

R 

e 

                                                                  entered under different circumstances. 

p 

o 

r 

t                      Variable                                                                           Group    Group 2    Group 3   Group 4    For Chi    Group 

V 

o 

                                                                                                            1                                      Square      Diffs 

l 

.                                                                                                         N=110      N=67      N=22       N=48 

V 



      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 



      Age when most severe form of physical 

      abuse began (N=233)                                                                         M         6.51      8.56      11.05     11.80    36.61***   1<2<4 

                                                                                                 SD         3.46      2.87       2.66      2.51 

      Duration of most severe form of 

      physical abuse (N=229)                                                                      M         9.26      5.98       4.86      2.68    36.90***   1>2>4 

                                                                                                 SD         4.41      3.40       3.31      1.32 



      Age when most severe form of sexual                                                         M         9.85      9.76      12.13     12.43    8.55***   1,2<3,4 

      abuse began (N=122)                                                                        SD         3.05      2.45       1.46      2.41 



      Duration of most severe form of sexual                                                      M         3.13      3.65       2.32      1.70      2.09      NS 

      abuse (N=111)                                                                              SD         3.06      4.22       1.42      1.42 



      Worst thing that ever happened to you 

      in an institution (N=247) 

                                                  Severe physical and sexual abuse (N=23)         f        10.00      9.00       2.00      2.00    38.20***    NS 

                                                                                                  %         9.10     13.40       9.10      4.20 



                                                  Severe physical abuse (N=99)                    f        45.00     18.00       9.00     25.00                NS 

                                                                                                  %        40.90     29.90      40.90     52.10 



                                                  Severe sexual abuse (N=40)                      f        11.00      6.00       9.00     14.00               3>1,2 

                                                                                                  %        10.00      9.00      40.90     29.20 



                                                  Severe emotional abuse (N= 85)                  f        44.00     32.00       2.00      7.00               1,2>3,4 

                                                                                                  %        40.00     47.80       9.10     14.60 

 1 

 5 

 7 


----------------------- Page 2668-----------------------

 1 

 5                       Variable                                                                                    Group      Group 2    Group 3     Group 4     For Chi     Group 

 8 

                                                                                                                        1                                          Square       Diffs 

                                                                                                                      N=110       N=67       N=22        N=48 



      Age when worst thing began (N=237)                                                                     M          7.74        9.11      11.69       11.70    19.40***     1<4 

                                                                                                            SD          3.60        3.17       1.63        3.22 



       Duration of worst thing (N=225)                                                                       M          7.19        4.73       4.33        2.14    15.27***   1>2,3>4 

                                                                                                            SD          5.13        4.19       3.37        1.51 



       CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 



      Age when most severe form of physical                                                                  M          0.00        7.00       6.91        7.65      0.31        NS 

      abuse began (N=41)                                                                                    SD          0.00        2.16       1.92        3.48 



       Duration of most severe form of                                                                       M          0.00        2.91       5.16        6.44      2.57        NS 

       physical abuse (N=42)                                                                                SD          0.00        2.72       3.75        4.61 



      Age when most severe form of sexual                                                                    M          8.00        8.40       0.00        8.80      0.05        NS 

      abuse began (N=11)                                                                                    SD          0.00        2.30       0.00        3.11 



       Duration of most severe form of sexual                                                                M         12.00        3.42       0.00        4.04      2.45        NS 

      Abuse (N=11)                                                                                          SD          0.00        2.94       0.00        4.14 



      Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

     Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. For the ‘worst thing that ever happened’ , verbatim responses 

     were classified into 4 categories (as shown in table 3.4) and percentages in these 4 categories sum to about 100 for each group. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. For continuous 

     variables F values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. For 

     categorical variables, where chi square tests were significant at p<.05, group differences were interpreted as significant if standardised residuals exceeded an absolute value of 2. ***p<.001 

C 

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C 

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 R 

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 . 

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              Table 4.5. Psychological disorders in 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different 

A                                                                                  circumstances. 

R 

e 

p 

                              Disorder                                              Group 1         Group 2         Group 3         Group 4            Chi         Group Diffs 

o 

r                                                                                                                                                    Square 

t 

V 

                                                                                     N=110            N=67            N=22            N=48 

o 

l 

.     Anxiety disorders 

V     Any anxiety disorder, current                                     f             51.00           30.00            11.00           20.00            0.26           NS 



                                                                       %              46.40           44.80            50.00           41.70 



      Any anxiety disorder, lifetime                                    f             32.00           29.00             8.00           17.00           2.29            NS 

                                                                       %              29.10           43.30            36.40           35.40 

      Mood Disorders 

      Any mood disorder, current                                        f             29.00           17.00             9.00           11.00           2.69            NS 

                                                                       %              26.40           25.40            40.90           22.90 



      Any mood disorder, lifetime                                       f             40.00           25.00             6.00           18.00            0.83           NS 

                                                                       %              36.40           37.30            27.30           37.50 

      Alcohol & substance use disorders 

      Any alcohol or substance use disorder, current                    f              6.00            4.00             1.00            1.00            1.07           NS 

                                                                       %               5.50            6.00             4.50            2.10 



      Any alcohol and substance use disorder, lifetime                  f             27.00           20.00            13.00           28.00           23.61***      3,4,>1,2 

                                                                       %              24.50           29.90            59.10           58.30 



      Alcohol dependence, lifetime                                      f             16.00           17.00            10.00           23.00           23.35***      3,4,>1.2 

                                                                       %              14.50           25.40            45.50           47.90 

      Personality disorders 

      Antisocial personality disorder, current                          f              2.00            3.00             5.00            7.00           18.07***       3>1,2 

                                                                       %               1.80            4.50            22.70           14.60 



     Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

     Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. Diagnoses were made using the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., 

     Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996).  Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press) and SCID II (First, M., 

     Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Psychological disorders do 

     not  represent  mutually  exclusive categories  and  so  percentages  within  and across  groups  sum  to  more  than  100%. Where  chi  square  tests  were  significant at  p<.01,  group  differences  were 

 1 

     interpreted as significant if standardised residuals exceeded an absolute value of 2. ***p<.001. 

 5 

 9 


----------------------- Page 2670-----------------------

  1 

  6      Table 4.6. Current adjustment of participants in 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different 

  0 

                                                                                                circumstances. 



                                                                              Group                 Group                 Group                 Group                 ANOVA              Group Diffs 

                                                                                 1                     2                     3                      4                     F 



                                                                              N=110                  N=67                  N=22                  N=48 



       Total trauma symptoms (TSI)                        M                     49.92                  48.85                 50.78                 51.41                 0.66                  NS 

       (N=247)                                            SD                    10.00                   9.99                 10.80                  9.74 



       Total No of life problems (LPC)                    M                     48.19                  47.38                 57.06                 54.56                10.90***             3,4>1,2 

       (N=247)                                            SD                     8.78                   8.64                 11.85                 10.69 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL)                     M                     50.01                  50.41                 49.61                 49.60                 0.08                  NS 

       (N=247)                                            SD                     9.57                   9.44                  9.44                 12.08 



       Global functioning (GAF)                           M                     49.39                  49.63                 50.60                 51.76                 0.64                  NS 

       (N=235)                                            SD                     9.55                  10.51                  9.46                 10.65 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS)                         M                     51.07                  49.81                 53.21                 54.72                 1.40                  NS 

       (N=136)                                            SD                    10.52                  10.85                 10.31                  9.69 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS)                        M                     48.81                  51.62                 46.01                 48.55                 1.58                  NS 

       (N=212)                                            SD                    11.65                   8.37                 10.11                 13.77 



      Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

      Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996).  Trauma 

      Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World 

      Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAF=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). 

      Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., 

 C    Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KMS means 

 I 

 C    and SDs are based on the number of participants who lived with partners (N=136). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., 

 A    Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale among two samples of married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). KPS means and 

 R    SDs are based on the number of participants with children (N=212). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 

 e 

p     before ANOVAs were conducted. T-score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard 

 o    deviation for all cases on variable X. F values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that 

 r 

 t    were significant at p<.05. ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 V 

 o 

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 . 

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           Table 4.7. Life problems in 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different circumstances. 

 A 

 R                        Variable                                            Group 1            Group 2           Group 3           Group 4         Chi Square        Group Diffs 

e 

p 

                                                                                N=110             N=67               N=22              N=48 

o 

 r 

t     Substance use                                             f               32.00              20.00             13.00             29.00             19.94***         3,4>1,2 

 V 

o                                                               %               29.10              29.90             59.10             60.40 

 l 

 . 

 V 

      Violent crime                                             f                8.00               2.00              7.00              8.00             18.38***          3>1,2 

                                                                %                7.30               3.00             31.80             16.70 



       Incarceration for violent crime                          f                6.00               1.00              4.00              7.00             11.52***          3>1.2 

                                                                %                5.50               1.50             18.20             14.60 



       Non-violent crime                                        f               16.00               7.00             12.00             20.00             32.88***         3,4>1,2 

                                                                %               14.50              10.40             54.50             41.70 



       Incarceration for non-violent crime                      f                8.00               3.00              7.00             15.00             27.84***         3,4>1,2 

                                                                %                7.30               4.50             31.80             31.30 



       Unemployment                                             f               53.00              27.00             16.00             32.00              12.24**          3,4>2 

                                                                %               48.20              40.30             72.20             66.70 



       Homelessness                                             f               24.00               8.00              9.00             11.00             8.70               NS 

                                                                %               21.80              11.90             40.90             22.90 



       Frequent illness                                         f               31.00              18.00              9.00             15.00             1.76               NS 

                                                                %               28.20              26.90             40.90             31.30 



       Frequent hospitalization for physical                    f               29.00              15.00              8.00             18.00             4.06               NS 

       Health                                                   %               26.40              22.40             36.40             37.50 



       Mental health                                            f               84.00              47.00             16.00             36.00             0.88               NS 

                                                                %               76.40              70.10             72.70             75.00 



      Self-harm                                                 f               15.00              12.00              4.00             13.00             4.13               NS 

                                                                %               13.60              17.90             18.20             27.10 

 1 

 6 

 1 


----------------------- Page 2672-----------------------

 1 

 6                        Variable                                             Group 1           Group 2            Group 3           Group 4         Chi Square         Group Diffs 

 2 

                                                                                N=110              N=67              N=22               N=48 



       Hospitalization for mental health                         f              12.00               7.00              4.00              9.00               2.74              NS 

                                                                %               10.90              10.40             18.20             18.80 



      Anger control in intimate relationships                    f              21.00             18.00               9.00             16.00               6.65              NS 

                                                                %               19.10             26.90              40.90             33.30 



      Anger control with children                                f               8.00             11.00               6.00              8.00               8.20              NS 

                                                                %                 7.30             16.40             27.30             16.70 



      Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

     Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. Life problems do not represent mutually exclusive categories 

     and so percentages within and across groups sum to more than 100%. Where chi square tests were significant at p<.05, group differences were interpreted as significant if standardised residuals 

     exceeded an absolute value of 2. **p<.01. ***p<.001. 



C 

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----------------------- Page 2673-----------------------

 Table 4.8. Adult attachment style on the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory in 4 groups 

 of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different 

                                                    circumstances. 



                                         Group 1       Group 2       Group 3       Group4           Chi         Group 

  Adult Attachment                                                                               Square          Diffs 

          Style 

                                           N=108         N=67          N=22          N=48 



 Secure                         f           18.00         13.00        4.00          6.00          7.29           NS 

                               %            16.70         19.40        18.20          12.50 



 Fearful                        f           52.00         27.00        9.00           19.00 

                               %            48.10         40.30        40.90          39.60 



 Preoccupied                    f           10.00         7.00         3.00           11.00 

                               %            9.30          10.40        13.60          22.90 



 Dismissive                     f           28.00         20.00        6.00           12.00 

                               %            25.90         29.90        27.30          25.00 



Note: Group 1  spent more  than  12 years  in an  institution  and entered  before age  5. Group  2  spent 5-11  years in  an 

institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and 

placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. Cases were classified as falling 

into  the  four  attachment  style  categories  using  the  Experiences  in  Close  Relationships  Inventory,  SPSS  algorithm  in 

Brennan,  K.,  Clark,  C.,  &  Shaver,  P.  (1998).  Self-report  measure  of  adult  attachment:  An  integrative  overview.  In  J. 

Simpson & W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close Relationships  (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press. Within 

each group the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two 

places. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. NS=Not significant. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                      163 


----------------------- Page 2674-----------------------

 1 

 6            Table 4.9. Strengths in 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different circumstances. 

 4 



                       Variable                                                                                       Group 1     Group 2      Group 3      Group4        Chi        Group 

                                                                                                                                                                        Square        Diffs 

                                                                                                                       N=110        N=67        N=22         N=48 



       Where does your strength come from? 

                                                   Relationship with current partner                         f           8.00         8.00        7.00        17.00      37.72***     4>1,2 

                                                                                                             %           7.50        12.10       31.80        35.40 



                                                   Relationship with a friend including other                f          15.00         3.00        0.00         1.00                  1>2,3,4 

                                                  survivors 

                                                                                                             %          14.00         4.50        0.00         2.10 



                                                   Relationship with God or spiritual force                  f          15.00        11.00        2.00        12.00                    NS 

                                                                                                             %          14.00        16.70        9.10        25.00 



                                                  Self-reliance, my optimism, my work, my skills             f          69.00        44.00       13.00        18.00                  1,2,3>4 

                                                                                                             %          64.50        66.70       59.10        37.50 



       What has helped you most in facing 

       life challenges? 



                                                   Relationship with current partner                         f          22.00        19.00        7.00        15.00      13.84         NS 

                                                                                                             %          20.60        28.40       31.80        31.90 



                                                   Relationship with a friend including other                f          11.00         1.00        0.00         2.00 

                                                  Survivors                                                  %          10.30         1.50        0.00         4.30 



                                                   Relationship with God or spiritual force                  f           9.00        11.00        1.00         4.00 

C 

 I                                                                                                           %           8.40        16.40        4.50         8.50 

C 

 A 

 R                                                Self-reliance, my optimism, my work, my skills             f          65.00        36.00       14.00        26.00 

e 

p 

o 

                                                                                                             %          60.70        53.70       63.60        55.30 

 r 

 t 

 V 

o      What is the thing that means most to 

 l 

 . 

 V 

       You in your life? 


----------------------- Page 2675-----------------------

 C 

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                       Variable                                                                                       Group 1      Group 2     Group 3      Group4         Chi        Group 

 A                                                                                                                                                                       Square        Diffs 

 R                                                                                                                     N=110         N=67        N=22         N=48 

 e 

p 

 o                                                 Relationship with partner                                  f          12.00        9.00         4.00        8.00        9.57         NS 

 r 

 t 

 V 

                                                                                                             %           11.10       13.40        20.00       17.00 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V                                                 Relationship with a friend including other                 f           7.00        4.00         0.00        1.00 

                                                   Survivors                                                 %            6.50        6.00         0.00        2.10 



                                                   Relationship with God or spiritual force                   f           3.00        2.00         1.00        1.00 

                                                                                                             %            2.80        3.00         5.00        2.10 



                                                   Self-reliance, my optimism, my work, my skills             f          31.00       11.00         3.00        8.00 

                                                                                                             %           28.70       16.40        15.00       17.00 



                                                   Relationship with Children / Family                        f          55.00       41.00        12.00       29.00 

                                                                                                             %           50.90       61.20        60.00       61.70 



      Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

      Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. Within each group the percentages sum to approximately 100. 

      Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Group differences were interpreted as significant if standardised residuals 

      exceeded an absolute value of 2. ***p<.001. 



 1 

 6 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2676-----------------------

      Table 4.10. Profiles of 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in 

                          institutions and entered under different circumstances. 



                                                    Group 1          Group 2           Group 3          Group 4 

                                                    12 years        5-11 years        5-11 years         Under 4 

                                                    Entered        Entered due         Entered            years 

                                                    before 5        to parental        through 

                                                     years           problems           courts 



 PAST HISTORY & DEMOGRAPHICS 

 Few years with family before entry                     +                 -                -                 0 

 Many years in institution                              +                 -                -                 0 

 Entry reason 

 Illegitimate                                           +                 -                -                 - 

 Parents unable to care                                 +                 +                -                 - 

 Parental death                                         +                 +                -                 - 

 Through courts for petty crime                         -                 -                +                 + 

 Leaving reason 

 Too old                                                +                 +                +                 - 

 Institution closed                                     -                 -                +                 - 

 Sentence over                                          -                 -                -                 + 

 Family wanted person back                              -                 -                -                 + 

 Institution management 

 Nuns                                                   +                 +                -                 - 

 Religious brothers & priests                           -                 -                +                 + 

 Both                                                   +                 -                -                 - 

 Mixed feelings leaving                                 +                 -                -                 0 

 Gender 

 Male                                                   -                 -                +                 + 

 Female                                                 +                 +                -                 - 



 INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

 Physical institutional abuse                           +                 -                -                 0 

 Physical abuse began at an early age                   +                 -                -                 0 

 Physical abuse lasted many years                       +                 -                -                 0 

 Sexual institutional abuse                             -                 -                +                 + 

 Sexual abuse began at an early age                     +                 +                -                 - 

 Worst thing in institution was severe                  0                 0                +                 - 

 sexual abuse 

 Worst thing in institution was severe                  +                 +                -                 - 

 emotional abuse 

 Worst thing began at an early age                      +                 -                -                 0 

 Worst thing lasted a long time                         +                 -                -                 0 



 FAMILY-BASED CHILD ABUSE 

 Physical abuse                                         0                 0                +                 - 



 ADULT PSYCHOLOGICAL 

 ADJUSTMENT 

 Psychological disorders 

 Alcohol & Substance use disorder,                      -                 -                +                 + 

 lifetime 

 Antisocial personality disorder                        -                 -                +                 + 

 Multiple life problems                                 -                 -                +                 + 

 (substance use, crime, unemployment) 

 Strengths 

 Relationship with partner                              0                 0                -                 + 

 Relationship with friends                              +                 -                -                 - 

 Self-reliance, optimism, work, skills                  +                 +                +                 - 



Note: +=the feature was a significant feature of the group profile. 0=the feature was not a significant element of the group 

profile. – a moderate level of the feature characterized the groups profile. 



166                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2677-----------------------

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       Table 4.11. Historical and demographic characteristics on which four groups who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive experiences in institutions 

 A                                                                                         differed significantly 

 R 

 e                                                                                                            Group 1         Group 2         Group 3        Group 4            Chi        Group Diffs 

p 

 o                     Variable                                 Categories                                      S&P              P               S               E           Square 

 r 

 t                                                                                                             abuse           abuse           abuse          Abuse             or 

 V 

 o 

                                                                                                                                                                            ANOVA F 

 l 

 . 

 V                                                                                                              N=23            N=99           N=40            N=85 



       Gender (N=247) 

                                                  Male                                             f              15.00          55.00           35.00           30.00       31.34***          3>4 

                                                                                                  %               65.20          55.60           87.50           35.30 



                                                  Female                                           f               8.00          44.00            5.00           55.00                         4>3 

                                                                                                  %               34.80          44.40           12.50           64.70 



       Age in years (N=247)                                                                       M               56.74          62.22           57.55           59.60         4.96**         2>3,1 

                                                                                                 SD                8.57           8.34            7.36            8.13 



       Years with family before                                                                   M                4.75           5.71            7.78            4.09        6.74***         3>4,1 

       entering an institution (N=246)                                                           SD                3.82           4.76            4.96            3.78 



       Years in an institution (N=247)                                                            M               10.96           9.74            7.75           11.21         4.57**          4>3 

                                                                                                 SD                4.98           5.34            5.46            4.63 

       Reason for entering an institution 

       (N=245) 

                                                  Illegitimate                                     f               2.00          18.00            4.00           24.00       32.70*** 

                                                                                                  %                8.70          18.20           10.00           28.90 



                                                  Petty crime                                      f               5.00          29.00           19.00            5.00                         3>4 

                                                                                                  %               21.70          29.30           47.50            6.00 



                                                  Parents could not provide care                   f              12.00          40.00           13.00           39.00 

                                                                                                  %               52.20          40.40           32.50           47.00 



                                                  Parent died                                      f               4.00          12.00            4.00           15.00 

                                                                                                  %               17.40          12.10           10.00           18.10 

       Institution management (N=247) 

                                                  Nuns                                             f               9.00          46.00            8.00           58.00       35.64***          4>3 

  1 

                                                                                                  %               39.10          46.50           20.00           68.20 

  6 

  7 


----------------------- Page 2678-----------------------

  1 

  6                                                                                                           Group 1         Group 2        Group 3         Group 4           Chi         Group Diffs 

  8 

                       Variable                                 Categories                                      S&P              P               S               E           Square 

                                                                                                               abuse           abuse           abuse          Abuse             or 

                                                                                                                                                                            ANOVA F 



                                                                                                                N=23           N=99            N=40            N=85 



                                                  Religious brothers and priests                  f               7.00           35.00           24.00          11.00                          3>4 

                                                                                                  %              30.40           35.40           60.00          12.90 



                                                  Priests, religious brothers and Nuns            f               7.00           18.00            8.00          16.00 

                                                                                                  %              30.40           18.20           20.00          18.80 



       Were you happy to leave the 

       institution? (N=247) 

                                                  Yes                                             f              12.00           62.00           35.00          43.00         17.75**          3>4 

                                                                                                  %              52.20           62.60           87.50          50.60 



                                                  Mixed feelings                                  f               9.00           32.00            5.00          38.00                          4>3 

                                                                                                  %              39.10           32.30           12.50          44.70 



                                                  No                                              f               2.00            5.00            0.00           4.00 

                                                                                                  %               8.70            5.10            0.00           4.70 

       Education - highest exam (N=244) 

                                                  None                                            f               8.00           64.00           18.00          31.00         33.30**         2>1,4 

                                                                                                  %              34.80           66.00           45.00          36.90 



                                                  Junior school exam in 5th or 6th class          f              12.00           19.00            8.00          23.00                         1>2,3 



                                                  (e.g. primary cert)                             %              52.20           19.60           20.00          27.40 



                                                  Inter/Leaving Cert.                             f               1.00            8.00            9.00          11.00 

                                                                                                  %               4.30            8.20           22.50          13.10 



                                                  Certificate, diploma, apprenticeship            f               2.00            6.00            5.00          19.00                          4>2 

 C 

 I                                                exam, or primary degree                         %               8.70            6.20           12.50          22.60 

 C 

 A 

 R 

 e 

p 

       Children’s living arrangements 

 o     (N=211) 

 r 

 t 

 V 

                                                  Spent some time living with their other          f              5.00           11.00            9.00           3.00         22.63**         1,3>4 

 o                                                parent                                          %              25.00           12.60           26.50           4.30 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2679-----------------------

C 

 I 

C                                                                                                      Group 1       Group 2        Group 3       Group 4          Chi        Group Diffs 

 A                   Variable                              Categories                                   S&P             P              S              E          Square 

 R                                                                                                      abuse         abuse          abuse         Abuse            or 

e 

p 

                                                                                                                                                                ANOVA F 

o 

 r 

t                                                                                                       N=23           N=99          N=40           N=85 

 V 

o 

 l 

 .                                            Spent some time living with their             f             0.00           7.00           1.00          8.00 

 V                                            relatives or in Care                         %              0.00           8.00          2.90          11.40 



                                              Always lived with respondent                  f            15.00          64.00         24.00          59.00 

                                                                                           %             75.00          73.60         70.60          84.30 



                                              Children put up for adoption                  f             0.00           5.00          0.00           0.00                      2>1,3,4 

                                                                                           %              0.00           5.70          0.00           0.00 



      Note: Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe physical and sexual abuse. Group 2 contained 99 cases where it was severe physical abuse. Group 3 contained 40 

      cases where it was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where it was severe emotional abuse. Participants’ statements were classified as severe physical abuse if they reported 

      physical violence, beating, slapping, or being physically injured, but not having medical attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe sexual abuse if the person reported the words 

      sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or other coercive sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical and 

      sexual abuse if they involved both severe physical abuse and severe sexual abuse as defined earlier. Statements of actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding 

      medical treatment, witnessing the traumatization of other pupils and adverse experiences that were not clearly classifiable as severe sexual or physical abuse were classified as severe emotional 

      abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of statements. Details of statements are in Table 3.4. For each variable with multiple categories, within each 

      group the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. For continuous variables 

      F values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. For categorical 

     variables, where chi square tests were significant at p<.05, group differences were interpreted as significant if standardised residuals exceeded an absolute value of 2. **p<.01. ***p<.001 



 1 

 6 

 9 


----------------------- Page 2680-----------------------

 1 

 7                Table 4.12. Recollections of child abuse in four groups who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive experiences in institutions 

 0 



                                                                                                 Group 1       Group 2       Group 3       Group 4        ANOVA         Group 

                    Variable                                                                        S&P            P             S             E             F           Diffs 

                                                                                                  Abuse         abuse         abuse         Abuse 

                                                                                                   N=23          N=99          N=40          N=85 



      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

      IAS (N=247)                           Specific institutional abuse               M            55.56         49.50         52.02         48.12         4.16**     1>3>2,4 

                                                                                      SD             8.94          9.29          9.64         10.66 

      CTQ-Institution (N=247) 

                                            Total institutional abuse score            M            58.47         49.22         56.41         45.60        20.65***    1>3>2>4 

                                                                                      SD             7.94          8.23          9.92          9.59 



                                            Physical abuse                             M            54.75         51.70         51.55         45.99          8.20***   1>2,3>4 

                                                                                      SD             6.98          8.96          9.29         10.92 



                                            Sexual abuse                               M            59.13         47.20         61.66         45.31        55.55***     1,3>2,4 

                                                                                      SD             9.61          8.52          7.51          6.21 



                                            Emotional abuse                            M            53.91         50.12         51.00         48.33         2.12          NS 

                                                                                      SD             7.60          9.91          9.37         10.73 



                                            Physical neglect                           M            54.99         50.71         49.13         48.18         3.20          NS 

                                                                                      SD             8.63          9.50         10.11         10.47 



                                            Emotional neglect                          M            50.46         49.75         50.49         49.95         0.07          NS 

                                                                                      SD            10.81          8.57         10.83         11.07 



C 

I 

C 

A 

R 

e 

p 

o 

r 

t 

V 

o 

l 

. 

V 


----------------------- Page 2681-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C 

                                                                                                             Group 1         Group 2        Group 3         Group 4         ANOVA           Group 

 A                    Variable                                                                                  S&P              P              S               E               F            Diffs 

 R                                                                                                            Abuse           abuse           abuse          Abuse 

 e 

p                                                                                                              N=23            N=99           N=40            N=85 

 o 

 r 

 t 

 V 

       SPSA-Institution (N=247)                  Total severe institutional abuse                M             55.34           48.40          54.30           48.40           22.70***      1,3>2,4 

 o                                                                                               SD              4.81           4.79            5.13           5.85 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                 Severe institutional physical abuse             M             54.07           49.59          49.90           49.37            1.45           NS 

                                                                                                 SD              7.54           9.45            9.87          11.08 



                                                 Severe institutional sexual abuse               M             58.88           46.73          59.54           46.89           34.57***      1,3>2,4 

                                                                                                 SD              7.55           8.64            5.78           9.33 



      Note: Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe physical and sexual abuse. Group 2 contained 99 cases where it was severe physical abuse. Group 3 contained 40 

      cases where it was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where it was severe emotional abuse. Participants’ statements were classified as severe physical abuse if they reported 

      physical violence, beating, slapping, or being physically injured, but not having medical attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe sexual abuse if the person reported the words 

      sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or other coercive sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical and 

      sexual abuse if they involved both severe physical abuse and severe sexual abuse as defined earlier. Statements of actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding 

      medical treatment, witnessing the traumatization of other pupils and adverse experiences that were not clearly classifiable as severe sexual or physical abuse were classified as severe emotional 

      abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of statements. Details of statements are in Table 3.4. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & 

      Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms 

      of physical and sexual abuse. To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before ANOVAs were conducted . T- 

      score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. F 

      values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. For the MANOVA 

      on all subscales of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (24, 685) = 7.30, p<.001. For the MANOVA on all subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F (21, 319) = 

      1.31, p=NS. **p<.01. ***p<.001. 



  1 

  7 

  1 


----------------------- Page 2682-----------------------

 1 

 7          Table 4.13. Timing of severe abuse and worst abuse in four groups who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive experiences in institutions 

 2 



                                                                                   Group 1            Group 2            Group 3            Group 4               Chi            Group Diffs 

                            Variable                                                 S&P                  P                  S                  E               Square 

                                                                                    abuse              abuse              abuse              Abuse 

                                                                                     N=23               N=99               N=40               N=85 



       Age when most severe form of                                 M                  8.06               8.91                9.50               7.60              3.00               NS 

       physical abuse began (N=233)                                SD                  3.02               3.49                4.24               3.56 



       Duration of most severe form of                              M                  6.67               6.49                5.94               7.45              1.18               NS 

       physical abuse (N=229)                                      SD                  3.66               4.58                4.71               4.26 



       Age when most severe form of                                 M                 10.28              11.06               11.36               9.79              2.02               NS 

       sexual abuse began (N=122)                                  SD                  2.63               2.64                2.76               3.27 



       Duration of most severe form of                              M                  3.04               2.75                2.09               3.34              1.01               NS 

       sexual abuse (N=111)                                        SD                  2.46               3.12                2.15               3.99 



       Age when worst thing began                                   M                  9.20               9.02               11.48               8.24               7.72***        3>1,2>4 

       (N=237)                                                     SD                  2.92               3.65                2.95               3.71 



       Duration of worst thing (N=225)                              M                  4.49               5.86                2.63               5.92               5.70***         2,4>3 

                                                                   SD                  3.67               4.49                2.82               5.40 



      Note: Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe physical and sexual abuse. Group 2 contained 99 cases where it was severe physical abuse. Group 3 contained 40 

      cases where it was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where it was severe emotional abuse. Participants’ statements were classified as severe physical abuse if they reported 

 C 

      physical violence, beating, slapping, or being physically injured, but not having medical attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe sexual abuse if the person reported the words 

 I    sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or other coercive sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical and 

 C 

 A 

      sexual abuse if they involved both severe physical abuse and severe sexual abuse as defined earlier. Statements of actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding 

 R 

      medical treatment, witnessing the traumatization of other pupils and adverse experiences that were not clearly classifiable as severe sexual or physical abuse were classified as severe emotional 

 e    abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of statements. Details of statements are in Table 3.4. 

p 

 o 

 r 

 t    F values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. ***p<.001 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2683-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

                    Table 4.14. Psychological disorders in four groups who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive experiences in institutions 

A 

R                                                                                    Group 1          Group 2         Group 3         Group 4            Chi         Group Diffs 

e 

p 

                               Variable                                                S&P               P                S               E            Square 

o 

r 

                                                                                      abuse            abuse           abuse           Abuse 

t 

V 

                                                                                       N=23            N=99             N=40            N=85 

o 

l 

.     Anxiety disorders 

V     Posttraumatic stress disorder, current                             f              8.00           10.00           14.00             9.00            20.51***      1,3>2,4 



                                                                        %              34.80           10.10           35.00            10.60 



      Alcohol and substance use disorders 

      Any alcohol and substance use disorder, lifetime                   f             12.00           33.00            23.00           20.00            16.74***          3>4 

                                                                        %              52.20           33.30           57.50            23.50 



      Alcohol dependence, lifetime                                       f              7.00           27.00            20.00           12.00            18.14***          3>4 

                                                                        %              30.40           27.30           50.00            14.10 



      Personality disorders 

      Antisocial personality disorder                                    f              2.00            4.00             9.00            2.00            19.31***          3>4 

                                                                        %               8.70            4.00           22.50             2.40 



     Note: Note: Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe physical and sexual abuse. Group 2 contained 99 cases where it was severe physical abuse. Group 3 contained 

     40 cases where it was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where it was severe emotional abuse. Participants’ statements were classified as severe physical abuse if they reported 

     physical violence, beating, slapping, or being physically injured, but not having medical attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe sexual abuse if the person reported the words 

     sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or other coercive sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical and 

     sexual abuse if they involved both severe physical abuse and severe sexual abuse as defined earlier. Statements of actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding 

     medical treatment, witnessing the traumatization of other pupils and adverse experiences that were not clearly classifiable as severe sexual or physical abuse were classified as severe emotional 

     abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of statements. Details of statements are in Table 3.4. Diagnoses were made using the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, 

     R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press) and SCID II (First, M., 

     Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Psychological disorders do 

     not  represent  mutually  exclusive categories  and  so  percentages  within  and across  groups  sum  to  more  than  100%. Where  chi  square  tests  were  significant at  p<.01,  group  differences  were 

     interpreted as significant if standardised residuals exceeded an absolute value of 2. ***p<.001. 



 1 

 7 

 3 


----------------------- Page 2684-----------------------

  1 

  7             Table 4.15. Current adjustment of participants in four groups who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive experiences in institutions 

  4 



                                                                                               Group 1           Group 2            Group 3           Group 4            ANOVA           Group Diffs 

                                                                                                 S&P                 P                  S                 E                 F 

                                                                                                abuse              abuse             Abuse             Abuse 

                                                                                                 N=23              N=99               N=40              N=85 



       Total trauma symptoms (TSI)                                               M                54.74             49.14              53.24             48.20              4.46**          1,3>4 

       (N=247)                                                                  SD                 8.32             10.76               9.44              9.11 



       Total No of life problems (LPC)                                           M                51.06             49.66              57.46             46.59            12.37***          3>2>4 

       (N=247)                                                                  SD                10.79              8.35              11.99              8.66 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL)                                            M                47.44             50.57              49.43             50.30             0.68                NS 

       (N=247)                                                                  SD                 9.90              9.92              10.42              9.98 



       Global functioning (GAF)                                                  M                47.67             50.26              49.22             50.73             0.66                NS 

       (N=235)                                                                  SD                 7.99             10.46              10.93              9.57 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS)                                                M                24.16             30.38              32.49             25.72             0.89                NS 

       (N=136)                                                                  SD                20.89             21.33              23.57             19.46 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS)                                               M                48.35             49.15              48.96             49.85             0.12                NS 

       (N=212)                                                                  SD                11.91             11.20              11.04             11.36 



      Note: Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe physical and sexual abuse. Group 2 contained 99 cases where it was severe physical abuse. Group 3 contained 40 

      cases where it was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where it was severe emotional abuse. Participants’ statements were classified as severe physical abuse if they reported 

      physical violence, beating, slapping, or being physically injured, but not having medical attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe sexual abuse if the person reported the words 

      sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or other coercive sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical and 

      sexual abuse if they involved both severe physical abuse and severe sexual abuse as defined earlier. Statements of actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding 

      medical treatment, witnessing the traumatization of other pupils and adverse experiences that were not clearly classifiable as severe sexual or physical abuse were classified as severe emotional 

      abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of statements. Details of statements are in Table 3.4. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996). Trauma 

      Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World 

      Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAF=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). 

 C 

 I    Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., 

 C 

 A 

      Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KMS means 

      and SDs are based on the number of participants who lived with partners (N=136). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., 

 R 

 e 

      Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale among two samples of married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). KPS means and 

p     SDs are based on the number of participants with children (N=212). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 

 o 

 r    before ANOVAs were conducted. T-score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard 

 t 

 V    deviation for all cases on variable X. F values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that 

 o    were significant at p<.05. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2685-----------------------

   Table 4.16. Profiles of 4 groups of participants who reported suffering differing types of worst 

                                     abusive experiences in institutions 



                                                   Group 1          Group 2          Group 3          Group 4 

                                                   Severe           Severe           Severe           Severe 

                                                 Sexual and        Physical          Sexual         Emotional 

                                                  Physical           Abuse            Abuse            Abuse 

                                                   Abuse 



 PAST HISTORY & DEMOGRAPHICS 

 Few years with family before entry                    +                -                0                + 

 Many years in institution                             -                -                0                + 

 Entry reason 

 Through courts for petty crime                        -                -                +                0 

 Institution management 

 Nuns                                                  -                -                0                + 

 Religious brothers & priests                          -                -                +                0 

 Mixed feelings leaving                                -                -                0                + 

 Gender 

 Male                                                  -                -                +                0 

 Female                                                -                -                0                + 

 AGE 

 Older (60s)                                           0                +                0                - 

 Lower educational achievement                         0                +                -                0 

 Parent-child living arrangements 

 Children spent time living with other                 +                -                +                0 

 parent 

 Children put up for adoption                          -                +                -                - 



 INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

 Physical institutional abuse                          +                -                -                0 

 Sexual institutional abuse                            +                -                +                - 

 Worst thing began at an early age                     -                -                0                + 

 Worst thing lasted a long time                        -                +                0                + 



 ADULT PSYCHOLOGICAL 

 ADJUSTMENT 

 Psychological disorders 

 Posttraumatic stress disorder, current                +                -                +                - 

 Alcohol & Substance use, lifetime                     -                -                +                0 

 Antisocial personality disorder                       -                -                +                0 

 Multiple trauma symptoms                              +                -                +                0 

 Multiple life problems                                -                0                +                0 



Note: +=the feature was a significant feature of the group profile. 0=the feature was not a significant element of the group 

profile. – a moderate level of the feature characterized the groups profile. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                             175 


----------------------- Page 2686-----------------------

           Part 5 Profiles of groups with different patterns of psychological 

           disorders 



           Summary of Part 5 



3.217      There was an association between having psychological disorders and reporting both institutional 

           and  family-based  child  abuse  and  neglect.  Certain  patterns  of  psychological  disorders  were 

           associated  with  institutional  abuse  alone,  and  other  patterns  were  associated  with  institutional 

           family-based child abuse and neglect. For participants with multiple co-morbid diagnoses, and for 

           those   with  mood    disorders,   greater   institutional, but  not  family-based     physical,  sexual   and 

           emotional  abuse  was  reported.  Participants  with  PTSD,  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders, 

           avoidant and antisocial personality disorder reported both institutional and family-based abuse or 

           neglect. Participants with multiple diagnoses had the poorest adult psychological adjustment and 

           those with  no diagnoses  were the  best adjusted.  Subgroups selected  by diagnosis  showed an 

           intermediate level of adult psychological adjustment between these extremes. What follows are 

           brief profiles of groups with different patterns or types of psychological disorders. 



3.218      Multiple    comorbid     diagnoses.      Participants   with   4  or   more   diagnoses     reported    greater 

           institutional sexual and emotional abuse (but not more family-based abuse) than participants with 

           fewer  diagnoses.  Participants  with  4  or  more  diagnoses  had  more  trauma  symptoms  and  life 

           problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning,  than  participants  with  1-3 

           diagnoses,    who   in  turn  were   less  well  adjusted   than   participants  with   no  diagnoses.    More 

           participants with 4 or more diagnoses had a fearful adult attachment style, and fewer had secure 

           or dismissive adult attachment styles. On average more participants  with 4 or more diagnoses 

           were in their 50s compared with those with no diagnoses who where were in their 60s. Also, more 

           participants with 4 or more diagnoses were unemployed and of lower SES than participants with 

           fewer diagnoses. 



3.219      Mood disorders. Participants with mood disorders, more than half of whom had co-morbid anxiety 

           disorders,  reported  greater  institutional  sexual  and  emotional  abuse  and  greater  institutional 

           severe  physical  and  sexual  abuse  (but  not  family-based  child abuse)  than  participants  with  no 

           diagnoses. Participants with mood disorders had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and 

           a lower quality of life and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. More 

           participants  with  mood  disorders  had  a  fearful  adult  attachment  style,  and  fewer  had  a  secure 

           adult attachment style. On average participants with mood disorders were in their late 50s while 

           those with no diagnoses were in their 60s. Also, on average, participants with mood disorders had 

           had their first child in their mid-20s, while those with no diagnoses had their first children a couple 

           of years later. 



3.220      Posttraumatic stress disorder. Participants with PTSD, more than half of whom had other co- 

           morbid  anxiety  disorders  and  alcohol  or  substance  use  disorders,  reported  greater  institutional 

           physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and greater institutional severe physical and sexual abuse 

           than participants with no diagnoses. They also reported having experienced greater family-based 

           emotional abuse. Participants with PTSD had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a 

           lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning,  than  participants  with  no  diagnoses.  Fewer 

           participants  with  PTSD  had  a  dismissive  adult  attachment  style.  On  average  participants  with 

           PTSD were in their 50s while those with no disorders were in their 60s. 



3.221      Alcohol and substance use disorders.  Participants with alcohol and substance use disorders, 

           more than half of whom had a co-morbid anxiety  disorder, reported greater institutional sexual 

           and  emotional  abuse,  and  greater  institutional  severe  sexual  abuse  than  participants  with  no 

           diagnoses. They also reported having experienced greater family-based physical and emotional 

           abuse. Participants with alcohol and substance use disorders had more trauma symptoms and 



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           life problems, and a lower quality of life and global level of functioning than participants with no 

           diagnoses. Compared with those with no diagnoses, participants with alcohol and substance use 

           disorders were younger (in their 50s not their 60s); had had their first children at a younger age 

           (in early, not their late 20s); were of lower SES; and fewer had entered an institution because 

           their parents had died. 



3.222      Avoidant personality disorder. Participants with avoidant personality disorders reported greater 

           institutional and   family-based     emotional   abuse    than   those   with  no   diagnoses.    Almost   all 

           participants with an avoidant personality disorder had a co-morbid anxiety, mood or substance 

           use disorder. Participants with avoidant personality disorder had more trauma symptoms and life 

           problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning,  than  participants  with  no 

           diagnoses. Compared to those with no diagnoses, more participants with an avoidant personality 

           disorder  had  a  fearful  adult  attachment  style  and  fewer  had  a  secure  adult  attachment  style. 

           Compared to participants with no diagnoses, participants with avoidant personality disorder were 

           younger (in their 50s, not their 60s) and more had been placed in institutions run by nuns because 

           their parents could not care for them. 



3.223      Antisocial personality disorder. Participants with antisocial personality disorder reported greater 

           institutional  sexual  abuse  than  participants  with  no  diagnoses.  All  participants  with  antisocial 

           personality disorder had co-morbid anxiety, mood or substance use disorders. Participants with 

           antisocial personality disorder had more trauma symptoms, more life problems, a lower quality of 

           life, a lower global level of functioning, and lower parental satisfaction than participants with no 

           diagnoses. Compared to those with no diagnoses, participants with antisocial personality disorder 

           were younger (in their 50s, not their 60s); had spent fewer years in institutions (5 1/2 not nearly 

           10 years); more were unemployed; and more were of low SES. 



3.224      Borderline personality disorder. Participants with borderline personality disorder and those with 

           no  diagnoses, did  not  differ  in their  reported  levels of  institutional  or  family-based child  abuse, 

           although  both  reported  a  high  level  of  child  abuse.  All  participants  with  borderline  personality 

           disorder  had  co-morbid  anxiety,  mood  or  substance  use  disorders.  Participants  with  borderline 

           personality disorders had more trauma symptoms, more life problems, a lower quality of life, a 

           lower global level of functioning, and more had a fearful adult attachment style than participants 

           with no diagnoses. Compared to those with no diagnoses, participants with borderline personality 

           disorder were younger (in their 50s, not 60s), more were unemployed, and on average reported 

           being abused from an earlier age. 



           Introduction 



3.225      Recollections of both institutional and family-based child abuse by adult survivors of institutional 

           living with varying patterns of psychological disorders are the main focus of this Part. In addition, 

           profiles of subgroups of cases with varying patterns of psychological disorders are presented with 

           respect to their trauma symptoms, life problems, quality of life, global functioning, relationships, 

           adult  attachment  styles  and  demographic  characteristics.  A  number  of  specific  questions  were 

           addressed: 



                   1.  Do  adult survivors  of  institutional living  with many  co-morbid  diagnoses report  more 

                       institutional and family-based child abuse compared to those with few or no diagnoses 

                       and what are the profiles of groups with many, few and no diagnoses? 



                   2.  Do adult survivors of institutional living with mood disorders report more institutional 

                       and family-based child abuse compared to those with no diagnoses and what is the 

                       profile of participants with mood disorders? 



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                  3.  Do adult survivors of institutional living with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) report 

                      more institutional and family-based child abuse compared to those with no diagnoses 

                      and what is the profile of participants with PTSD? 



                  4.  Do adult survivors of institutional living with alcohol and substance use disorders report 

                      more institutional and family-based child abuse compared to those with no diagnoses 

                      and what is the profile of participants with alcohol and substance use disorders? 



                  5.  Do   adult  survivors   of institutional living  with  personality  disorders   report  more 

                      institutional and family-based child abuse compared to those with no diagnoses and 

                      what is the profile of participants with personality disorders? 



          Statistical analysis strategy 



3.226     The results of analyses conducted to address these questions will be presented in five sections, 

          corresponding to the  five questions. There are  sections on multiple disorders,  mood disorders, 

          PTSD, substance use disorders and personality disorders. In answering the questions addressed 

          in this Part, the following strategy was used in all statistical analyses. For categorical variables, 

          chi square tests were conducted with p values set conservatively at p<.01 to reduce the probability 

          of type 1 error (misinterpreting spurious group differences as significant). Where chi square tests 

          were   significant at  p<.01,  group   differences   were  interpreted   as  significant if standardised 

          residuals in table cells exceeded an absolute value of 2. For continuous variables, to control for 

          type 1 error, where possible multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) were conducted on 

          groups  of  conceptually  related  variables.  Where  MANOVAs  were  significant  at  p<.05,  specific 

          variables on which groups differed at a significance level of p<.01 were identified by conducting 

          one-way analyses or variance (ANOVAs) or t-tests. t-tests were used where only two groups were 

          compared and ANOVAs were used where comparisons involved more than two groups. Scheffe 

          post-hoc comparison tests for designs with unequal cell sizes were conducted to identify significant 

          intergroup differences in those instances where ANOVAs yielded significant F values. Dunnett’s 

          test  was  used  instead  of  Scheffe’s,  where  the  assumption  of  homogeneity  of  variance  was 

          violated.  In  addition  to  these  parametric  analyses  of  continuous  variables,  in  those  instances 

          where dependent variables were not normally distributed, non-parametric Kruskall Wallace (for 3 

          groups) or Mann Whitney (for two groups) tests were conducted as well as ANOVAs. If these non- 

          parametric tests yielded results that differed from those of the ANOVAs, these were reported. For 

          continuous variables where MANOVAs were not conducted, because there were no grounds for 

          conceptually grouping variables, to control for type 1 error, t-tests or ANOVAs were interpreted as 

          statistically significant if p<.01. For the TSI and the WHOQOL, which are multiscale instruments, 

          unless the pattern of subscale scores differed greatly from that of total scores, for brevity, only 

          analyses of total scores are reported. To facilitate interpretation of profiles of tabulated means, all 

          psychological  variables  on  continuous  scales  were  transformed  to  T-scores  (with  means  of  50 

          and  standard  deviations  of  10)  before  analyses  were  conducted.  T-score  for  variable  X =  ((X- 

          M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on 

          variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. 



          Multiple co-morbid psychological diagnoses 



3.227     In this section results are presented of analyses which address the question: Do adult survivors 

          of institutional living, with many co-morbid diagnoses report more institutional and family-based 

          child abuse compared to those with few or no diagnoses and what are the profiles of groups with 

          many, few and no diagnoses? To address this question cases were classified into three groups. 

          Group 1 contained 83 cases with four or more current or lifetime diagnoses as assessed with the 

          SCID I and SCID II, while none of the 45 cases in group 3 had any current or lifetime diagnoses. 

          119 participants with 1 to 3 current or lifetime diagnoses were assigned to group 2. 



3.228     From Table 5.1. it may be seen that compared with groups 2 and 3, group 1 obtained significantly 

          higher mean scores on the IAS; the total, sexual and emotional abuse scales of the institutional 



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          version of the CTQ; and on the total and sexual severe abuse scales of the institutional version 

          of the SPSA. 



3.229     The MANOVA for the scales and subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA was not 

          significant, so it was concluded that there were no significant differences between scores of the 

          three groups on family versions of the CTQ or SPSA. 



3.230     From Table 5.2 it may be seen that for the total number of Trauma symptoms on the TSI and the 

          total number of life problems on the LPC, the mean scores for group 1 were significantly higher 

          than those of group 2, which in turn were significantly higher than those of group 3. For the total 

          score on the WHOQOL and the GAF, the mean scores for group 1 were significantly lower than 

          those of group 2, which in turn were significantly lower than those of group 3. These results show 

          that, participants with 4 or more diagnoses had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a 

          lower quality of life and global level of functioning, than participants with 1-3 diagnoses, who in 

          turn were less well adjusted than participants with no diagnoses. 



3.231     From Table 5.3 it may be seen that on the ECRI compared with groups 2 and 3, significantly more 

          members of group 1 had a fearful adult attachment style, and significantly fewer had secure or 

          dismissive adult attachment styles. 



3.232     On  demographic  variables,  significant  group  differences  occurred  for  age  (Group  1:  M=  57.64; 

          Group 2: M =  60.37; Group 3: =  63.67; F (2, 244) =  8.26, p<.001; Group 3>Group 1); currently 

          unemployed (Group 1: 36.4%; Group 2: 22.7%; Group 3: 11.10%; Chi Square (8, N=247) = 20.62, 

          p<.01;  Group  1>Group  2  &  Group  3);  achieving  a  skilled  manual  SES  level  (Group  1:  7.79%; 

          Group 2: 12.39%; Group 3: 24.44%; Chi Square (8, N=247) = 20.37, p<.01; Group 3>Group 1 & 

          Group 2); and achieving a lower professional or managerial SES level (Group 1: 6.49%; Group 2: 

          19.47%; Group 3: 24.44%; Chi Square (8, N=247) = 20.37, p<.01; Group 1< Group 2 & Group 3). 

          These  results  show  that  group  1  was  younger  than  group  3;  more  members  of  group  1  were 

          unemployed; and their highest achieved SES level was lower than that of the other two groups. 



3.233     Summary.     Participants  with 4  or  more  diagnoses,   reported  greater  institutional sexual  and 

          emotional abuse than participants with fewer diagnoses. However, those with 4 or more diagnoses 

          did not report experiencing more family-based child abuse or neglect. Participants with 4 or more 

          diagnoses had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a lower quality of life and global 

          level of functioning, than participants with 1-3 diagnoses, who in turn were less well adjusted than 

          participants with no diagnoses. More participants with 4 or more diagnoses had a fearful adult 

          attachment style, and fewer had secure or dismissive adult attachment styles. On average more 

          participants with 4 or more diagnoses were in their 50s compared with those with no diagnoses 

          who where were in their 60s. Also, more participants with 4 or more diagnoses were unemployed 

          and of lower SES than participants with fewer diagnoses. 



          Mood disorders 



3.234     In this section results are presented of analyses which address the question: Do adult survivors 

          of institutional living with mood disorders report more institutional and family-based child abuse 

          compared to those with no diagnoses and what is the profile of participants with mood disorders? 

          To address this question 142 cases with a diagnosis of lifetime or current major depression or 

          current dysthymia were compared with those with no current or lifetime anxiety, mood, substance 

          use or personality disorders. Among the142 participants with mood disorders, comorbid disorders 

          were common. More than half (57%) had a current anxiety disorder; 44% had a current or lifetime 

          alcohol and substance use disorder; and 38% had a personality disorder. 



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3.235     From Table 5.4 it may be seen that compared with group 2, group 1 obtained significantly higher 

          mean scores on the total, sexual and emotional abuse scales of the institution version of the CTQ, 

          and on the total, physical and sexual severe abuse scales of the institutional version of the SPSA. 

          The MANOVA for the scales and subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA was not 

          significant, so it was concluded that there were no significant differences between scores of the 

          three groups on family versions of the CTQ or SPSA. 



3.236     From Table 5.5 it may be seen that for the total number of Trauma symptoms on the TSI and the 

          total number of life problems on the LPC, the mean scores for group 1 were significantly higher 

          than those of group 2. For the total score on the WHOQOL and the GAF, the mean scores for 

          group 1 were significantly lower than those of group 2. These results show that participants with 

          mood  disorders  had  more  trauma  symptoms  and  life  problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and 

          global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. 



3.237     From  Table  5.6  it  may  be  seen  that  on  the  ECRI  compared  with  group  2,  significantly  more 

          members of group 1 had a fearful adult attachment style, and significantly fewer had a secure 

          adult attachment style. 



3.238     On  demographic  variables,  significant  group  differences  occurred  for  age  (Group  1  M=  59.18, 

          Group 2 M = 63.67, t(245) = 3.19, p<.01), and age when first child was born (Group 1 M= 24.90, 

          Group 2 M = 27.71, t(159) = 2.69, p<.01). These results show that on average participants in group 

          1 were in their late 50s, while those in group 2 were in their 60s. Also, on average participants in 

          group 1 had their first child in their mid-20s, while those in group 2 had their first children a couple 

          of years later. 



3.239     Summary.  Participants  with  mood  disorders,  more  than  half  of  whom  had  co-morbid  anxiety 

          disorders,  reported  greater  institutional  sexual  and  emotional  abuse;  and  greater  institutional 

          severe physical and sexual abuse than participants with no diagnoses. However, those with mood 

          disorders did not report experiencing more family-based child abuse or neglect. Participants with 

          mood  disorders  had  more  trauma  symptoms  and  life  problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and 

          global  level  of  functioning  than  participants  with  no  diagnoses.  More  participants  with  mood 

          disorders had a fearful adult attachment style, and fewer had a secure adult attachment style. On 

          average participants  with mood disorders  were in their  late 50s while  those with no  diagnoses 

          were in their 60s. Also, on average participants with mood disorders had had their first child in 

          their mid-20s, while those with no diagnoses had their first children a couple of years later. 



          Posttraumatic stress disorder 



3.240     In this section results are presented of analyses which address the question: Do adult survivors 

          of institutional living with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) report more institutional and family- 

          based child abuse compared to those with no diagnoses and what is the profile of participants 

          with PTSD? To address this question 63 cases with a diagnosis of lifetime or current PTSD were 

          compared with 45 cases with no current or lifetime mood, anxiety, substance use or personality 

          disorders. Among the 63 participants with PTSD comorbid disorders were common. More than 

          three quarters (77%) had another current anxiety disorder; 55% had a lifetime diagnosis of any 

          anxiety disorder; 50% had a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol and substance use disorder; 47% had a 

          lifetime diagnosis of a mood disorder; and 41% had a personality disorder. 



3.241     From Table 5.7 it may be seen that compared with group 2, group 1 obtained significantly higher 

          mean scores on the IAS; the total, physical, sexual and emotional abuse scales of the institution 

          version of the CTQ; and on the total, physical and sexual severe abuse scales of the institutional 

          version of the SPSA. Compared with group 2, group 1 also obtained significantly higher mean 

          scores on the emotional abuse scale of the family version of the CTQ and the total scale of the 



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           family version of the SPSA. However, cautious interpretation of scores from the family version of 

           the SPSA is warranted because of the low reliability of the total and physical severe abuse scores 

           from this instrument, mentioned in Part 3 and documented in Table 3.11. 



3.242      From Table 5.8 it may be seen that for the total number of Trauma symptoms on the TSI and the 

           total number of life problems on the LPC, the mean scores for group 1 were significantly higher 

           than those of group 2. For the total score on the WHOQOL and the GAF, the mean scores for 

           group 1 were significantly lower than those of group 2. These results show that participants with 

           PTSD disorders had  more trauma symptoms and life problems,  and a lower quality of  life and 

           global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. 



3.243      From  Table  5.9  it  may  be  seen  that  on  the  ECRI  compared  with  group  2,  significantly  fewer 

           members of group 1 had a dismissive adult attachment style. 



3.244      The only demographic variable on which the groups differed significantly was age (Group 1 M = 

           57.49, Group 2 M = 63.67, t(106) = 3.97, p<.01). On average participants with PTSD were in their 

           50s, while those with no diagnoses were in their 60s. 



3.245      Summary. Participants with PTSD, more than half of whom had other co-morbid anxiety disorders 

           and  alcohol   or  substance    use  disorders,   reported   greater  institutional physical,   sexual   and 

           emotional  abuse;  and  greater  institutional  severe  physical  and  sexual  abuse  than  participants 

           with no diagnoses. They also reported having experienced greater family-based emotional abuse. 

           Participants with PTSD had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a lower quality of life 

           and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. Fewer participants with PTSD 

           had  a  dismissive  adult  attachment  style.  On  average  participants  with  PTSD  were  in  their  50s 

           while those with no disorders were in their 60s. 



           Substance abuse 



3.246      In this section, results are presented of analyses which address the question: Do adult survivors 

           of institutional living with alcohol and substance use disorders report more institutional and family- 

           based child abuse compared to those with no diagnoses and what is the profile of participants 

           with alcohol and substance use disorders? To address this question 99 cases with a current or 

           lifetime diagnosis of an alcohol or substance use disorder were compared with 45 cases with no 

           diagnosis. Among the 99 participants with alcohol or substance use disorders, comorbid disorders 

           were common. More than half (54%) had a current anxiety disorder, 48% had a lifetime diagnosis 

           of any anxiety disorder, 39% had a current or lifetime diagnosis of a mood disorder, and 39% had 

           a personality disorder. 



3.247      From Table 5.10 it may be seen that compared with group 2, group 1 obtained significantly higher 

           mean scores on the IAS; the total, sexual and emotional abuse scales of the institution version of 

           the CTQ; and the total and sexual severe abuse scales of the institutional version of the SPSA. 

           Compared with group 2, group 1 obtained significantly higher mean scores on the physical and 

           emotional  abuse  scales  of  the  family  version  of  the  CTQ,  and  on  the  total  scale  of  the  family 

           version of  the SPSA. However,  cautious interpretation of  scores from the  family version of  the 

           SPSA is warranted because of the low reliability of the total and physical severe abuse scores 

           from this instrument, mentioned in Part 3 and documented in Table 3.11. 



3.248      From Table 5.11 it may be seen that for the total number of Trauma symptoms on the TSI and 

           the  total  number  of  life  problems  on  the  LPC,  the  mean  scores  for  group  1  were  significantly 

           higher than those of group 2. For the total score on the WHOQOL and the GAF, the mean scores 

           for group 1 were significantly lower than those of group 2. These results show that participants 



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           with alcohol and substance use disorders had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a 

           lower quality of life and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. 



3.249      With  respect  to  demographic  and  historical  variables  the  groups  differed  significantly  on  age 

           (Group 1: M =  58.25, Group 2: M =  63.67, t(106) =  3.94, p<.01); age when first child was born 

           (Group 1 M=  24.73, Group 2 M =  27.71, t(142) =  2.80, p<.01); current membership of an SES 

           group of skilled manual work or higher (Group 1: 6.30%, Group 2: 22.20%, Chi Square (4, N= 

           144) = 15.37, p<.001); membership of an SES group higher than skilled manual work since leaving 

           school (Group 1: 4.40%, Group 2: 24.40%, Chi Square (4, N=144) = 22.80, p<.0001); and entering 

           an institution because their parents died (Group 1: 8.20%, Group 2: 25.60%, Chi Square (3, N= 

           144) =  15.01,  p<.01).  These  results  show  that  compared  with  group  2,  participants  in  group  1 

           were in their 50s (not their 60s); had had their first children in their early 20s (not their late 20s); 

           were of lower SES; and fewer had entered an institution because their parents had died. 



3.250      Summary. Participants with alcohol and substance use disorders, more than half of whom had a 

           co-morbid anxiety disorder, reported greater institutional sexual and emotional abuse; and greater 

           institutional severe sexual abuse than participants with no diagnoses. They also reported having 

           experienced  greater  family-based  physical  and  emotional  abuse.  Participants  with  alcohol  and 

           substance use disorders had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a lower quality of life 

           and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. Compared with those with no 

           diagnoses, participants with alcohol and substance use disorders were younger (in their 50s not 

           their 60s); had had their first children in their earlier (in early, not their late 20s); were of lower 

           SES; and fewer had entered an institution because their parents had died. 



           Personality disorders 



3.251      In this section results are presented of analyses which address the question: Do adult survivors 

           of  institutional  living  with  personality  disorders  report  more  institutional  and  family-based  child 

           abuse compared to those with no diagnoses and what is the profile of participants with personality 

           disorders?  A  series  of  analyses  were  conducted  to  address  this  question  in  which  cases  with 

           personality  disorders   were   compared     with  cases   with  no  diagnoses.    75  participants   had  a 

           personality disorder; 52 had avoidant personality disorder; 17 had antisocial personality disorder; 

           14 had borderline personality disorder; and 4 had dependent personality disorder. 9 cases had 

           two or more comorbid personality disorders. In the three larger groups, there were 48 with avoidant 

           personality  disorder  only;  10  with  antisocial  personality  disorder  only;  and  6  with  borderline 

           personality  disorder  only.  In  view  of  this  pattern  of  single  and  co-morbid  personality  disorder 

           diagnoses, it was decided that cell sizes would be too small to validly compare profiles of three 

           largest  groups    with  distinct  personality   disorders.   Instead,  three   separate    analyses   were 

           conducted. In the first of these, 52 cases with avoidant personality disorder were compared with 

           45  cases  with  no  diagnosis.  In  the  second,  17  cases  with  antisocial  personality  disorder  were 

           compared  with  45  cases  with  no  diagnosis.  In  the  third,  14  cases  with  borderline  personality 

           disorder were compared with 45 cases with no diagnosis. 



           Avoidant personality disorder 



3.252      From Table 5.12 it may be seen that compared with group 2, group 1 obtained significantly higher 

           mean scores on the emotional abuse scale of the institution and family versions of the CTQ. 



3.253      Among the 52 cases with avoidant personality disorder, comorbid disorders were common. Almost 

           all cases (98%) had a co-morbid anxiety, mood or substance use disorder. Just over three quarters 

           (78.8%) had a current anxiety disorder. Just over half had a current mood disorder (53.8%). And 

          just over a third (36.5%) had a lifetime diagnosis of a substance use disorder. 



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3.254      From Table 5.13 it may be seen that for the total number of Trauma symptoms on the TSI and 

          the  total  number  of  life  problems  on  the  LPC,  the  mean  scores  for  group  1  were  significantly 

           higher than those of group 2. For the total score on the WHOQOL and the GAF, the mean scores 

          for group 1 were significantly lower than those of group 2. These results show that participants 

          with  avoidant  personality  disorder  had  more  trauma  symptoms  and  life  problems,  and  a  lower 

          quality of life and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. 



3.255      From  Table  5.14  it  may  be  seen  that  on  the  ECRI  compared  with  group  2,  significantly  more 

           members of group 1 had a fearful adult attachment style and significantly fewer members of group 

           1 had a secure adult attachment style. 



3.256     With  respect  to  demographic  and  historical  variables,  the  groups  differed  significantly  on  age 

          (Group  1:  M =  57.90,  Group  2:  M =  63.67,  t(95) =  2.31,  p<.01);  being  placed  in  an  institution 

           because their parents could not provide care (Group 1: 64.00%, Group 2: 20.93%, Chi Square (3, 

           N=97) =  18.08, p<.0001); and placement in an institution run by nuns (Group 1: 61.5%, Group 2: 

          42.2%, Chi Square (2, N=97) =  11.41, p<.01). These results show that compared with group 2, 

           participants in group 1 were in their 50s (not their 60s); more had been placed in an institution 

           because their parents could not care for them; and more were placed in an institution run by nuns. 



3.257     Summary. Participants with avoidant personality disorders reported greater institutional and family- 

           based  emotional  abuse  than  those  with  no  diagnoses.  Almost all  participants  with  an  avoidant 

           personality disorder had a co-morbid anxiety, mood or substance use disorder. Participants with 

          avoidant personality disorder had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a lower quality 

          of life and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. Compared to those with 

           no  diagnoses,   more    participants  with  an  avoidant   personality   disorder  had   a  fearful adult 

          attachment style and fewer had a secure adult attachment style. Compared to participants with 

           no diagnoses, participants with avoidant personality disorder were younger (in their 50s, not their 

          60s) and more had been placed in institutions run by nuns because their parents could not care 

          for them. 



          Antisocial personality disorder 



3.258      From Table 5.15 it may be seen that compared with group 2, group 1 obtained significantly higher 

           mean scores on the total and sexual abuse scales of the institution version of the CTQ, and on 

          the severe sexual abuse scale of the institution version of the SPSA. 



3.259     All 17 participants with antisocial personality disorder had co-morbid anxiety, mood or substance 

           use disorders. Just over three quarters (76.5%) had a lifetime diagnosis of substance use disorder. 

          70% had a current anxiety disorder and 64% had a lifetime diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. 41% 

           had  had  a  mood  disorder  at  some  point  in  their  life.  Just  over  a  third  (35.3%)  had  comorbid 

           borderline personality disorder. 



3.260      From Table 5.16 it may be seen that for the total number of Trauma symptoms on the TSI and 

          the  total  number  of  life  problems  on  the  LPC,  the  mean  scores  for  group  1  were  significantly 

           higher than those of group 2. For the total score on the WHOQOL, the GAF, and the KPS the 

           mean scores for group 1 were significantly lower than those of group 2. These results show that 

           participants  with  antisocial  personality  disorder  had  more  trauma  symptoms  and  life  problems; 

          and a lower quality of life, global level of functioning, and parental satisfaction than participants 

          with no diagnoses. 



3.261     With respect to demographic variables, the groups differed on age (Group 1: M = 57.24, Group 2: 

           M = 63.67, t(60) = 2.98, p<.01); number of years spent in an institution (Group 1: M = 5.56, Group 

          2: M = 9.86, t(60) = 3.28, p<.01); currently unemployed (Group 1: 56.30%, Group 2: 11.10%, Chi 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                      183 


----------------------- Page 2694-----------------------

           Square (4, N=62) =  15.17, p<.01); and membership of a higher SES group than skilled workers 

           since  leaving  school  (Group  1:  0%,  Group  2:  24.44%,  Chi  Square  (3,  N=62)  =      11.45,  p<.01). 

           These   results  show   that  compared     to those   with  no  diagnoses,    participants  with  antisocial 

           personality disorder were younger (in their 50s, not their 60s); had spent fewer years in institutions 

           (five and a half, not nearly 10 years); more were unemployed; and more were of low SES. 



3.262      Summary.  Participants  with  antisocial  personality  disorder  reported  greater  institutional  sexual 

           abuse than participants with no diagnoses. All participants with antisocial personality disorder had 

           co-morbid  anxiety,  mood  or  substance  use  disorders.  Participants  with  antisocial  personality 

           disorder had more trauma symptoms, more life problems, a lower quality of life, a lower global 

           level of functioning, and lower parental satisfaction than participants with no diagnoses. Compared 

           to those with no diagnoses, participants with antisocial personality disorder were younger (in their 

           50s, not their 60s); had spent fewer years in institutions (5 1/2 not nearly 10 years); more were 

           unemployed; and more were of low SES. 



           Borderline personality disorder 



3.263      When the significance of differences between scores of participants with borderline personality 

           disorder and no diagnoses was evaluated with MANOVA on indices of both institutional and family- 

           based  child  abuse,  the  two  groups  were  found  not  to  differ  significantly.  The  MANOVA  on  all 

           subscales of the institution versions of the IAS, CTQ, and SPSA was not significant nor was the 

           MANOVA on all subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA. These results showed 

           that  participants  with  borderline  personality  disorder  and  those  with  no  diagnoses,  did  differ  in 

           their reported levels of institutional or family-based child abuse. 



3.264      All  14  cases  of  borderline  personality  disorder  had  co-morbid  anxiety,  mood  or  substance  use 

           disorders. Just over three quarters (78.6%) had a current diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. Just 

           over three quarters (78.0%) had a current diagnosis of a mood disorder and half had a lifetime 

           diagnosis of a substance use disorder. 42.9% had comorbid antisocial personality disorder. 



3.265      From Table 5.17 it may be seen that for the total number of trauma symptoms on the TSI and the 

           total number of life problems on the LPC, the mean scores for group 1 were significantly higher 

           than those of group 2. For the total score on the WHOQOL and the GAF, the mean scores for 

           group 1 were significantly lower than those of group 2. These results show that participants with 

           borderline personality disorders had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a lower quality 

           of life and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. 



3.266      From  Table  5.18  it  may  be  seen  that  on  the  ECRI  compared  with  group  2,  significantly  more 

           members of group 1 had a fearful adult attachment style. 



3.267      With respect to demographic and historical variables, the groups differed on age (Group 1: M = 

           54.54,  Group  2:  M  =  63.67,  t(57) =  3.93,  p<.0001);  current  unemployment  (Group  1:  53.80%, 

           Group  2:  11.10%, Chi  Square  (4,  N=59) =      19.22,  p<.01);  and the  age  when  the worst  form  of 

           abuse began (Group 1: M =  7.04, Group 2: M =  10.42, t(57) =  3.06, p<.01). Compared to those 

           with no diagnoses, participants with borderline personality disorder were younger (in their 50s, not 

           60s), more were unemployed, and on average reported being abused from an earlier age (from 

           about 7, not 10 years). 



3.268      Summary. Participants with borderline personality disorder and those with no diagnoses, did not 

           differ in their reported levels of institutional or family-based child abuse, although both reported a 

           high  level  of  child  abuse.  All  participants  with  borderline  personality  disorder  had  co-morbid 

           anxiety, mood or substance use disorders. Participants with borderline personality disorders had 

           more  trauma    symptoms,  more  life  problems,      a  lower  quality  of  life,  a  lower global  level  of 



           184                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2695-----------------------

           functioning, and more had a fearful adult attachment style than participants with no diagnoses. 

           Compared  to  those  with  no  diagnoses,  participants  with  borderline  personality  disorder  were 

           younger (in their 50s, not 60s), more were unemployed, and on average reported being abused 

           from an earlier age. 



           Conclusions 



3.269      Table 5.19 summarizes patterns of institutional and family-based child abuse and neglect reported 

           by  participants   with  multiple  co-morbid    diagnoses,    mood    disorders,   PTSD,    substance    use 

           disorders, and personality disorders. The table also profiles the adult psychological adjustment of 

           participants in each of these groups. 



3.270      The  first  main  conclusion  that  can  be  drawn  from  the  table  is  that  there  was  an  association 

           between  having  psychological  disorders  and  reporting  both  institutional  and  family-based  child 

           abuse and neglect. 



3.271      The second conclusion is that certain patterns of psychological disorders were associated with 

           institutional abuse alone, and other patterns were associated with institutional and family-based 

           child abuse and neglect. For participants with multiple co-morbid diagnoses and mood disorders, 

           greater  institutional,  but  not  family-based  physical,  sexual  and  emotional  abuse  was  reported. 

           Participants with PTSD, alcohol and substance use disorders, avoidant and antisocial personality 

           disorder reported both institutional and family-based abuse or neglect. 



3.272      A  remarkable  finding,  in  this  context,  was  that  participants  with  borderline  personality  disorder 

           reported  similar  levels  of  abuse  to  participants  with  no  diagnosis,  since  the  link  between  child 

           abuse and personality disorder is well established. It should be emphasized that normatively the 

           group  with  no  diagnosis  had  experienced  significant  abuse,  and  the  profile  of  the  borderline 

           personality disorder group (along with all other profiles in Table 5.19) is relative to the group with 

           no diagnosis, not to a normal control group. 



3.273      The  third  main   finding  was   that participants   with  multiple  diagnoses    had  the  poorest   adult 

           psychological   adjustment    and   those  with  no   diagnoses    were   the  best  adjusted.   Subgroups 

           selected by diagnosis showed an intermediate level of adult psychological adjustment between 

           these extremes. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                        185 


----------------------- Page 2696-----------------------

 1 

 8                           Table 5.1. Recollections of child abuse among participants with 4 or more diagnoses, 1-3 diagnoses and no diagnoses 

 6 



                Variable                                                                               Group 1         Group 2          Group 3          ANOVA         Group Diffs 

                                                                                                          4+              1-3               0               F 

                                                                                                      Diagnoses       Diagnoses        Diagnoses 

                                                                                                         N=83           N=119             N=45 



      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

      IAS (N=247)                     Specific institutional abuse                        M               52.89           49.01            47.28          5.96**           1>2,3 

                                                                                         SD                9.65            9.91             9.80 



      CTQ-Institution (N=247)         Total institutional abuse                           M               54.04           48.38            46.83        11.51***           1>2,3 

                                                                                         SD                9.37            9.37            10.58 



                                      Physical abuse                                      M               52.06           49.06            48.67            2.73            NS 

                                                                                         SD                9.66           10.21             9.66 



                                      Sexual abuse                                        M               53.69           48.23            47.92         9.06***           1>2,3 

                                                                                         SD               11.25            8.92             8.42 



                                      Emotional abuse                                     M               53.46           49.32            45.43        10.73***           1>2,3 

                                                                                         SD                7.46            9.75            12.48 



                                      Physical neglect                                    M               51.23           49.06            50.14            1.16            NS 

                                                                                         SD                9.07           10.40            10.55 



                                      Emotional neglect                                   M               51.21           49.73            48.51            1.14            NS 

                                                                                         SD                9.90           10.09             9.98 



      SPSA-Institution (N=247)        Total severe institutional abuse                    M               51.87           49.43            48.07          7.55**           1>2,3 

C 

                                                                                         SD                6.50            5.41             5.03 

 I 

C 

 A                                    Severe institutional physical abuse                 M               51.87           49.81            46.97            3.62            NS 

 R 

e 

                                                                                         SD               10.74            9.69             8.66 

p 

o 

 r 

t                                     Severe institutional sexual abuse                   M               52.78           48.85            47.85          5.23**           1>2,3 

 V 

o                                                                                        SD               10.48            9.74             8.66 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2697-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C 

                  Variable                                                                                    Group 1          Group 2           Group 3           ANOVA          Group Diffs 

 A                                                                                                               4+               1-3                0                 F 

 R                                                                                                          Diagnoses         Diagnoses         Diagnoses 

 e 

p                                                                                                              N=83             N=119              N=45 

 o 

 r 

 t 

 V 

       CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 

 o     CTQ-family (N=121)               Total family abuse score                                M                50.46             51.31            46.31                              NS 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                                                               SD                 9.66             11.56             5.52 



                                        Physical abuse                                          M                51.20             50.63            46.37                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                10.49             10.80             5.88 



                                        Sexual abuse                                            M                48.58             52.47            47.44                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                 5.48             14.15             1.91 



                                        Emotional abuse                                         M                50.90             51.30            45.49                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                10.55             10.95             4.10 



                                        Physical neglect                                        M                50.60             49.66            49.57                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                10.32             10.17             9.34 



                                        Emotional neglect                                       M                50.28             50.72            47.91                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                10.72             10.24             7.97 



       SPSA-family (N=121)              Total severe family abuse                               M                50.82             50.99            46.37                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                 8.78             11.94             6.64 



                                        Severe family physical abuse                            M                51.87             49.88            46.65                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                10.37             10.18             8.24 



                                        Severe family sexual abuse                              M                48.39             52.46            47.77                              NS 

                                                                                               SD                 5.44             13.99             3.91 



      Note: Group1 had four or more current or lifetime diagnoses as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis 

      I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press) and SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV 

      Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had 1-3 current or lifetime diagnoses. Group 3 had no diagnoses. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire 

      (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998).  Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA= 

      Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse. To aid profiling, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before ANOVAs were conducted. T- 

      score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. F 

      values are from one-way analyses of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. For the MANOVA 

 1 

 8    on all subscales of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (14, 476) = 2.89, p<0.0001. For the MANOVA on all subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F (12, 226) = 

 7    1.30, NS. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 


----------------------- Page 2698-----------------------

  1 

  8                                      Table 5.2. Current adjustment of participants with 4 or more diagnoses, 1-3 diagnoses and no diagnoses 

  8 



                                                                                                  Group 1                Group 2               Group 3                ANOVA               Group Diffs 

                                                                                                      4+                    1-3                     0                     F 

                                                                                                 Diagnoses             Diagnoses              Diagnoses 

                                                                                                    N=83                  N=119                  N=45 



       Total trauma symptoms (TSI)                                              M                     57.74                 48.51                  39.66                 84.28***             1>2>3 

       (N=247)                                                                 SD                      7.89                  8.21                   5.83 



       Total No of life problems (LPC)                                          M                     55.73                 48.27                  43.99                 28.92***             1>2>3 

       (N=247)                                                                 SD                     10.30                  8.93                   6.30 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL)                                           M                     42.74                 52.12                  57.79                 54.86***             1<2<3 

       (N=247)                                                                 SD                      8.69                  8.45                   7.32 



       Global functioning (GAF)                                                 M                     42.98                 51.40                  58.87                 56.43***             1<2<3 

       (N=235)                                                                 SD                      9.39                  8.00                   6.44 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS)                                               M                     50.56                 51.62                  53.51                 0.68                    NS 

       (N=136)                                                                 SD                      9.98                 10.90                  10.26 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS)                                              M                     47.33                 50.70                  49.43                 1.93                    NS 

       (N=212)                                                                 SD                     11.61                 10.21                  12.59 



      Note: Group1 had four or more current or lifetime diagnoses as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis 

      I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press) and SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV 

      Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had 1-3 current or lifetime diagnoses. Group 3 had no diagnoses. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, 

      J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, 

      S. (2005).  World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAF=Global assessment of functioning scale 

 C    (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, 

 I 

 C    R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381- 

 A    387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental 

 R    Satisfaction Scale among two samples of married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and 

 e 

p     standard deviations of 10 before ANOVAs were conducted. T-score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X 

 o    and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. F values are from one-way analysis of variance and inter-group differences are based on Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups 

 r 

 t    with unequal Ns that were significant at p<.05. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2699-----------------------

 Table 5.3. Adult attachment styles of participants with 4 or more diagnoses, 1-3 diagnoses and no 

      diagnoses Table 5.3. Adult attachment styles of participants with 4 or more diagnoses, 1-3 

                                            diagnoses and no diagnoses 



       Adult                                   Group 1             Group 2              Group 3               Group 

   Attachment                                     4+                  1-3                   0             Differences 

       Style                                 Diagnoses            Diagnoses           Diagnoses 



                                                N= 83               N=  119               N=45 



 Secure                        f                 6.00                  22.00              13.00 

                              %                  7.20                  18.50              28.90               1<2<3 



 Dismissive                    f                  10.00                39.00              17.00               1<2,3 

                              %                   12.00                32.80              37.80 



 Fearful                       f                  54.00                43.00              12.00 

                              %                   65.10                36.10              26.70               1>2,3 



 Preoccupied                   f                  13.00                15.00              3.00                  NS 

                              %                   15.70                12.60              6.70 



Note: Group1 had four or more current or lifetime diagnoses as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, 

M.,  and  Williams, J. (1996).  Structured  Clinical Interview for DSM-IV   Axis  I Disorders,  Clinician Version  (SCID-I). 

Washington,  DC:  American  Psychiatric  Press)  and  SCID  II  (First,  M.,  Spitzer,  R.,  Gibbon  M.,  &  Williams,  J.  (1997). 

Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). 

Group  2  had  1-3  current  or  lifetime  diagnoses.  Group  3  had  no  diagnoses.  Cases  were  classified  into  the  four  adult 

attachment styles using the SPSS algorithm for the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory in Brennan, K., Clark, 

C., & Shaver, P. (1998). Self-report measure of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. Simpson & W. Rholes 

(Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close Relationships (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press. Chi Square (6, N=247) =34.07, 

p<.001. Within each group the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of 

decimals to two places. Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Group differences were interpreted as significant 

where cell standardised residuals equalled or exceeded an absolute value of 2.00. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                       189 


----------------------- Page 2700-----------------------

 1 

 9                                      Table 5.4. Recollections of child abuse among participants with mood disorders and no diagnoses 

 0 



                      Variable                                                                                             Group 1        Group 2             t        Group Diffs 

                                                                                                                            Mood             No 

                                                                                                                           Disorder      Diagnosis 



                                                                                                                            N=142           N=45 



      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

      IAS (N=187)                                Specific institutional abuse                                  M             51.49          47.28           2.50            NS 

                                                                                                              SD             9.87           9.80 



      CTQ- Institution (N=187)                   Total institutional abuse                                     M             52.01          46.83          3.00**           1>2 

                                                                                                              SD             9.95           10.58 



                                                 Physical abuse                                                M             51.04          48.67           1.37            NS 

                                                                                                              SD             10.32          9.66 



                                                 Sexual abuse                                                  M             52.07          47.92          2.71**           1>2 

                                                                                                              SD             10.45          8.42 



                                                 Emotional abuse                                               M             51.64          45.43          3.10**           1>2 

                                                                                                              SD             8.97           12.48 



                                                 Physical neglect                                              M             50.59          50.14           0.26            NS 

                                                                                                              SD             10.16          10.55 



                                                 Emotional neglect                                             M             50.23          48.51           0.99            NS 

                                                                                                              SD             10.18          9.98 



      SPSA-Institution (N=187)                   Total severe institutional abuse                              M             51.21          48.07          3.16**           1>2 

C                                                                                                             SD             6.03           5.03 

 I 

C 

 A                                               Severe institutional physical abuse                           M             50.72          46.97          2.28**           1>2 

 R 

e                                                                                                             SD             9.91           8.06 

p 

o 

 r 

t                                                Severe institutional sexual abuse                             M             52.14          47.85          2.77**           1>2 

 V 

o                                                                                                             SD             10.22          8.66 

 l 

 . 

 V 

      CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 


----------------------- Page 2701-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                       Variable                                                                                               Group 1         Group 2              t        Group Diffs 

 A                                                                                                                              Mood             No 

 R                                                                                                                            Disorder       Diagnosis 

e 

p 

o 

 r 

t 

                                                                                                                                N=142           N=45 

 V 

o      CTQ-family (N=92)                          Total family abuse score                                        M              51.88          46.31                            NS 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                                                                                 SD              11.60           5.52 



                                                  Physical abuse                                                  M              51.63          46.37                            NS 

                                                                                                                 SD              11.43           5.88 



                                                  Sexual abuse                                                    M              50.70          47.44                            NS 

                                                                                                                 SD              11.19           1.91 



                                                  Emotional abuse                                                 M              52.05          45.49                            NS 

                                                                                                                 SD              11.39           4.10 



                                                  Physical neglect                                                M              51.18          49.57                            NS 

                                                                                                                 SD              10.97           9.34 



                                                  Emotional neglect                                               M              51.28          47.91                            NS 

                                                                                                                 SD              11.06           7.97 



       SPSA-family (N=92)                         Total severe family abuse                                       M              51.41          46.37                            NS 

                                                                                                                 SD              11.32           6.64 



                                                  Severe family physical abuse                                    M              51.64          46.65                            NS 

                                                                                                                 SD              10.77           8.24 



                                                  Severe family sexual abuse                                      M              50.19          47.77                            NS 

                                                                                                                                 10.95           3.91 



      Note: Group1 had current or lifetime mood disorder diagnoses as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis 

      I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood 

      Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse. 

      To aid profiling, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is 

      the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t values are from t-tests for independent samples. For the 

      MANOVA on the total scores of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (3, 183) = 4.22, p<0.01. For the MANOVA on total scores of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F 

      (2, 89) = 2.65, NS. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 1 

 9 

 1 


----------------------- Page 2702-----------------------

  1 

  9                                                 Table 5.5. Current adjustment of participants with mood disorders and no diagnoses 

  2 



                                                                                                            Group 1                  Group 2                   t-value              Group Diffs 

                                                                                                              Mood                      No 

                                                                                                            Disorder                Diagnosis 



                                                                                                             N=142                     N=45 



       Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=187)                                             M                       53.77                    39.66                   12.19***                 1>2 

                                                                                       SD                       9.09                     5.83 



       Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=187)                                         M                       52.37                    43.99                    6.71***                 1>2 

                                                                                       SD                       9.80                     6.60 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=187)                                          M                       46.21                    57.79                    8.61***                 1<2 

                                                                                       SD                       9.35                     7.32 



       Global functioning (GAF) (N=180)                                                M                       46.78                    58.88                    7.76***                 1<2 

                                                                                       SD                       9.77                     6.44 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=99)                                               M                       50.09                    53.51                    1.47                     NS 

                                                                                       SD                      10.64                    10.26 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=159)                                             M                       48.49                    51.50                    1.58                     NS 

                                                                                       SD                      10.45                     9.03 



      Note: Group1  had  current  or  lifetime  mood  disorders  as  assessed  with  the  SCID  I  (First,  M.,  Spitzer,  R.,  Gibbon,  M.,  and  Williams,  J.  (1996).  Structured  Clinical  Interview  for  DSM-IV  Axis  I 

      Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996).  Trauma Symptom Inventory. 

      Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World Health Organization 

      Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAS=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements 

      of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, 

 C    L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction 

 I 

 C    Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale among two samples of 

 A    married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests 

 R    were conducted. T-score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases 

 e 

p     on variable X.t values are from t-tests for independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 o 

 r 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2703-----------------------

 Table 5.6. Adult attachment styles of participants with mood disorders and no diagnoses Table 5.6. 

             Adult attachment styles of participants with mood disorders and no diagnoses 



         Adult                                          Group 1                 Group 2                Group Diffs 

  Attachment Style                                        Mood                      No 

                                                        Disorder               Diagnosis 



                                                         N=142                    N=45 



 Secure                             f                       14.00                    13.00                 1<2 

                                    %                        9.90                    28.90 



 Fearful                            f                       76.00                    12.00                 1>2 

                                    %                       53.50                    26.70 



 Preoccupied                        f                       19.00                     3.00                  NS 

                                    %                       13.40                     6.70 



 Dismissive                         f                       33.00                    17.00                  NS 

                                    %                       23.20                    37.80 



Note: Group1 had current or lifetime mood disorders as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and 

Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: 

American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. Cases were classified into the four adult attachment styles using 

the SPSS algorithm for the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory in Brennan, K., Clark, C., & Shaver, P. (1998). 

Self-report measure of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. Simpson & W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory 

and Close Relationships (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press. Chi Square (3, N=187) =17.82, p<.001. Within each group 

the percentages sum to approximately 100. Minor deviations from 100 are due to rounding of decimals to two places. 

Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Group differences were interpreted as significant where cell standardised 

residuals equalled or exceeded an absolute value of 2.00. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                     193 


----------------------- Page 2704-----------------------

 1 

 9                                          Table 5.7. Recollections of child abuse among participants with PTSD and no diagnoses 

 4 



                       Variable                                                                                     Group 1         Group 2               t        Group Diffs 

                                                                                                                     PTSD              No 

                                                                                                                                   Diagnosis 



                                                                                                                     N=63             N=45 



      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

      IAS (N=108)                                  Specific institutional abuse                        M             52.23           47.28             2.74***         1>2 

                                                                                                      SD              8.88            9.80 



      CTQ-Institution (N=108)                      Total institutional abuse                           M             55.47           46.83             4.59***         1>2 

                                                                                                      SD              8.92           10.58 



                                                   Physical abuse                                      M             54.46           48.67              3.47**         1>2 

                                                                                                      SD              7.86            9.66 



                                                   Sexual abuse                                        M             54.61           47.92            3.55**           1>2 

                                                                                                      SD             11.18            8.42 



                                                   Emotional abuse                                     M             53.46           45.43             3.91***         1>2 

                                                                                                      SD              6.95           12.48 



                                                   Physical neglect                                    M             51.58           50.14            0.72             NS 

                                                                                                      SD              9.97           10.55 



                                                   Emotional neglect                                   M             52.12           48.51            1.83             NS 

                                                                                                      SD             10.14            9.98 



C 

      SPSA-Institution (N=108)                     Total severe institutional abuse                    M             52.87           48.07          4.32***            1>2 

I 

C 

                                                                                                      SD              6.12            5.03 

A 

R 

e 

                                                   Severe institutional physical abuse                 M             52.80           46.97           3.25**            1>2 

p 

o 

                                                                                                      SD              9.54            8.06 

r 

t 

V 

o                                                  Severe institutional sexual abuse                   M             54.33           47.85           3.42**            1>2 

l 

. 

V 

                                                                                                      SD             10.40            8.66 


----------------------- Page 2705-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                         Variable                                                                                          Group 1          Group 2                t         Group Diffs 

 A                                                                                                                          PTSD               No 

 R                                                                                                                                         Diagnosis 

e 

p 

o 

 r 

t 

                                                                                                                            N=63              N=45 

 V 

o      CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 

 l 

 . 

 V 

       CTQ-family (N=57)                              Total family abuse score                               M              51.53             46.31            2.56               NS 

                                                                                                                             9.75              5.52 



                                                       Physical abuse                                        M              51.93             46.37            2.62               NS 

                                                                                                            SD              10.06              5.88 



                                                      Sexual abuse                                           M              50.31             47.44            1.61               NS 

                                                                                                            SD              10.02              1.91 



                                                       Emotional abuse                                       M              51.48             45.49            2.97**            1>2 

                                                                                                            SD              10.54              4.10 



                                                       Physical neglect                                      M              51.02             49.57            0.51               NS 

                                                                                                            SD              11.47              9.34 



                                                       Emotional neglect                                     M              51.46             47.91            1.39               NS 

                                                                                                            SD              11.31              7.97 



       SPSA-family (N=57)                             Total severe family abuse                              M              52.67             46.37            2.85**            1>2 

                                                                                                            SD              10.03              6.64 



                                                      Severe family physical abuse                           M              53.32             46.65            2.65               NS 

                                                                                                            SD              10.74              8.24 



                                                      Severe family sexual abuse                             M              49.99             47.77            1.30               NS 

                                                                                                            SD               8.71              3.91 



      Note: Group1 had current or lifetime PTSD diagnoses as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996).  Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I 

      Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood 

      Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse. 

      To aid profiling, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is 

      the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t values are from t-tests for independent samples. For the 

      MANOVA on the total scores of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (3, 104) = 8.04, p<0.001. For the MANOVA on total scores of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F 

 1 

 9    (2, 54) = 3.84, p<0.05. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2706-----------------------

  1 

  9                                                       Table 5.8. Current adjustment of participants with PTSD and no diagnoses 

  6 



                                                                                                            Group 1                  Group 2                   t-value              Group Diffs 

                                                                                                              PTSD                      No 

                                                                                                                                    Diagnosis 



                                                                                                              N=63                     N=45 



       Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=108)                                             M                       55.32                    39.66                   11.37***                 1>2 

                                                                                       SD                       8.48                     5.83 



       Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=108)                                         M                       52.63                    43.99                    5.28***                 1>2 

                                                                                       SD                       5.28                     6.30 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=108)                                          M                       45.25                    57.79                    7.66***                 1<2 

                                                                                       SD                       9.06                     7.32 



       Global functioning (GAF) (N=103)                                                M                       45.27                    58.88                    8.07***                 1<2 

                                                                                       SD                       9.79                     6.44 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=66)                                               M                       53.05                    53.51                    0.18                     NS 

                                                                                       SD                       9.78                    10.26 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=90)                                              M                       48.72                    51.50                    1.27                     NS 

                                                                                       SD                      10.99                     9.03 



      Note: Group1 had current or lifetime PTSD as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996).  Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, 

      Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: 

      Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World Health Organization Quality of 

      Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAS=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements of Mental 

      Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, 

 C    M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., 

 I 

 C    Schumm,  W.  R.,  Kennedy,  C.  E.,  Grigsby,  C.  C.,  Shectman,  K.  L.,  Nichols,  C.  W.  (1985).  Characteristics  of  the  Kansas  Parental  Satisfaction  Scale  among  two  samples  of  married  parents. 

 A    Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T- 

 R    score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t 

 e 

p     values are from t-tests for independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 o 

 r 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2707-----------------------

   Table 5.9. Adult attachment styles of participants with PTSD and no diagnoses Table 5.9. Adult 

                      attachment styles of participants with PTSD and no diagnoses 



         Adult                                          Group 1                 Group 2                Group Diffs 

  Attachment Style                                        PTSD                      No 

                                                                               Diagnosis 



                                                          N=63                    N=45 



 Secure                             f                        9.00                    13.00                  NS 

                                   %                        14.30                    28.90 



 Fearful                            f                       36.00                    12.00                  NS 

                                   %                        57.10                    26.70 



 Preoccupied                        f                       10.00                     3.00                  NS 

                                   %                        15.90                     6.70 



 Dismissive                         f                        8.00                    17.00                 1<2 

                                   %                        12.70                    37.80 



Note: Group1 had current or lifetime PTSD as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, 

J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American 

Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. Cases were classified into the four adult attachment styles using the SPSS 

algorithm for the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory in Brennan, K., Clark, C., & Shaver, P. (1998). Self-report 

measure of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. Simpson & W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close 

Relationships  (pp.  46-76).  New  York:  Guilford  Press.  Chi  Square  (3,  N=108) =17.22,  p<.001.  Within  each  group  the 

percentages  sum  to  approximately  100.  Minor  deviations  from  100  are  due  to  rounding  of  decimals  to  two  places. 

Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Group differences were interpreted as significant where cell standardised 

residuals equalled or exceeded an absolute value of 2.00. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                     197 


----------------------- Page 2708-----------------------

 1 

 9                         Table 5.10. Recollections of child abuse among participants with alcohol and substance use disorders and no diagnoses 

 8 



                        Variable                                                                                      Group 1         Group 2 

                                                                                                                   Alcohol and           No                 t        Group Diffs 

                                                                                                                    Substance        Diagnosis 

                                                                                                                        use 

                                                                                                                     Disorders 



                                                                                                                       N=99             N=45 



      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

      IAS (N=144)                                   Specific institutional abuse                        M              51.83            47.28          2.65**             1>2 

                                                                                                        SD              9.49             9.80 



      CTQ-Institution (N=144)                       Total institutional abuse                           M              52.71            46.83          3.21**             1>2 

                                                                                                        SD             10.03            10.58 



                                                    Physical abuse                                      M              51.43            48.67            1.55             NS 

                                                                                                        SD             10.00             9.66 



                                                    Sexual abuse                                        M              53.53            47.92          3.39**             1>2 

                                                                                                        SD             10.69             8.42 



                                                    Emotional abuse                                     M              51.15            45.43          2.76**             1>2 

                                                                                                        SD              9.10            12.48 



                                                    Physical neglect                                    M              50.80            50.14            0.38             NS 

                                                                                                        SD              9.40            10.55 



                                                    Emotional neglect                                   M              49.89            48.51            0.77             NS 

                                                                                                        SD             10.00             9.98 



      SPSA-Institution (N=144)                      Total severe institutional abuse                    M              51.66            48.07          3.40**             1>2 

C                                                                                                       SD              6.22             5.03 

I 

C 

A 

R 

                                                    Severe institutional physical abuse                 M              49.62            46.97            1.50             NS 

e                                                                                                       SD             10.29             8.06 

p 

o 

r 

t                                                   Severe institutional sexual abuse                   M              53.90            47.85          3.57***            1>2 

V 

o                                                                                                       SD              9.75             8.66 

l 

. 

V 


----------------------- Page 2709-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C                       Variable                                                                                             Group 1           Group 2 

 A                                                                                                                          Alcohol and            No                  t         Group Diffs 

 R                                                                                                                          Substance          Diagnosis 

 e 

p 

                                                                                                                                 use 

 o                                                                                                                           Disorders 

 r 

 t 

 V 

 o                                                                                                                              N=99             N=45 

 l 

 . 

 V     CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 



       CTQ-family                                       Total family abuse score† (N=87)                        M               50.80             46.31           2.70** 

                                                                                                               SD                9.70              5.52           Z=1.8               NS 



                                                        Physical abuse                                          M               52.18             46.37           3.15**              1>2 

                                                                                                               SD               11.15              5.88 



                                                        Sexual abuse                                            M               50.10             47.44             2.10              NS 

                                                                                                               SD                9.58              1.91 



                                                        Emotional abuse                                         M               50.39             45.49           3.27**              1>2 

                                                                                                               SD                9.84              4.10 



                                                        Physical neglect                                        M               50.20             49.57             0.28              NS 

                                                                                                               SD                9.48              9.34 



                                                        Emotional neglect                                       M               50.59             47.91             1.15              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               10.26              7.97 



       SPSA-family (N=87)                               Total severe family abuse                               M               51.80             46.37           2.91**              1>2 

                                                                                                               SD               10.18              6.64 



                                                        Severe family physical abuse                            M               52.18             46.65             2.57              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               10.70              8.24 



                                                        Severe family sexual abuse                              M               50.08             47.77             1.62              NS 

                                                                                                               SD                9.31              3.91 



      Note: Group1 had current or lifetime diagnoses of alcohol or substance use disorders as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical 

      Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, 

      D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe 

      forms of physical and sexual abuse. To aid profiling, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable 

      X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t values are from t- 

      tests for independent samples. For the MANOVA on the total scores of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (3, 140) = 4.63, p<0.01. For the MANOVA on total scores of the 

      family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, , F (2, 141) =3.77, p<0.05. †Scores on the family version of the CTQ total scale violated the t-test assumption of normality and a Mann Whitney indicated 

 1    that the intergroup differences on this variable were not statistically significant (Z=1.8, p>.05), so the significant t-test result may be disregarded. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 9 

 9 


----------------------- Page 2710-----------------------

  2 

  0                                         Table 5.11. Current adjustment of participants with alcohol and substance use and no diagnoses 

  0 



                                                                                                            Group 1                 Group 2                   t-value               Group Diffs 

                                                                                                         Alcohol and                    No 

                                                                                                        Substance use              Diagnosis 

                                                                                                           Disorders 



                                                                                                              N=99                    N=45 



       Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=144)                                             M                      54.93                    39.66                   12.23***                  1>2 

                                                                                      SD                       8.93                     5.83 



       Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=144)                                         M                      56.41                    43.99                    8.95***                  1>2 

                                                                                      SD                      10.17                     6.30 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=144)                                          M                      46.64                    57.79                 7.48***                    1<2 

                                                                                      SD                      10.09                     7.32 



       Global functioning (GAF) (N=136)                                                M                      46.59                    58.88                    8.73***                 1<2 

                                                                                      SD                       9.82                     6.44 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=83)                                               M                      52.31                    53.51                    0.52                     NS 

                                                                                      SD                       9.75                    10.26 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=123)                                             M                      47.92                    51.50                    1.73                     NS 

                                                                                      SD                      11.09                     9.03 



      Note: Group1 had current or lifetime alcohol or substance use disorders as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for 

      DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom 

      Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World Health 

      Organization Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAS=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' 

 C 

 I    Judgements of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., 

 C    Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction 

 A    Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale among two samples of 

 R 

 e 

      married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169).To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests 

p     were conducted. T-score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases 

 o 

 r    on variable X. t values are from t-tests for independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2711-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

                               Table 5.12. Recollections of child abuse among participants with avoidant personality disorder and no diagnoses 

A 

R 

                        Variable 

e                                                                                                                    Group 1         Group 2              t          Group Diffs 

p 

o                                                                                                                   Avoidant            No 

r 

t                                                                                                                  Personality      Diagnosis 

V 

o 

                                                                                                                     Disorder 

l 

. 

V                                                                                                                      N=52            N=45 



      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

      IAS (N=97)                                    Specific institutional abuse                        M             51.76            47.28            2.28             NS 

                                                                                                       SD              9.58             9.80 



      CTQ-Institution (N=97)                        Total institutional abuse                           M             50.41            46.83            1.89             NS 

                                                                                                       SD              8.12            10.58 



                                                    Physical abuse                                      M             50.86            48.67            1.15             NS 

                                                                                                       SD              9.13             9.66 



                                                    Sexual abuse                                        M             49.50            47.92            0.83             NS 

                                                                                                       SD             10.05             8.42 



                                                    Emotional abuse                                     M             51.58            45.43             2.84**          1>2 

                                                                                                       SD              7.96            12.48 



                                                    Physical neglect                                    M             48.25            50.14            0.99             NS 

                                                                                                       SD              8.36            10.55 



                                                    Emotional neglect                                   M             51.38            48.51            1.42             NS 

                                                                                                       SD              9.93             9.98 



      SPSA-Institution (N=97)                       Total severe institutional abuse                    M             49.95            48.07            1.71             NS 

                                                                                                       SD              5.67             5.03 



                                                    Severe institutional physical abuse                 M             51.40            46.97            2.40             NS 

                                                                                                       SD              9.38             8.66 



                                                    Severe institutional sexual abuse                   M             48.87            47.85            0.52             NS 

 2 

                                                                                                       SD             10.35             8.66 

 0 

 1 


----------------------- Page 2712-----------------------

 2 

 0                        Variable 

 2                                                                                                                             Group 1           Group 2               t           Group Diffs 



                                                                                                                               Avoidant             No 

                                                                                                                             Personality        Diagnosis 

                                                                                                                               Disorder 



                                                                                                                                 N=52              N=45 



       CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 

       CTQ-family (N=45)                                Total family abuse score                                 M               53.36             46.31             2.66               NS 

                                                                                                                SD               46.31              5.52 



                                                         Physical abuse                                          M               50.63             46.37             1.67               NS 

                                                                                                                SD               10.31              5.88 



                                                        Sexual abuse                                             M               50.06             47.44             1.49               NS 

                                                                                                                SD                7.88              1.91 



                                                         Emotional abuse                                         M               54.32             45.49              3.33**            1>2 

                                                                                                                SD               11.53              4.10 



                                                         Physical neglect                                        M               52.90             49.57             1.02               NS 

                                                                                                                SD               12.46              9.34 



                                                         Emotional neglect                                       M               55.61             47.91             2.51               NS 

                                                                                                                SD               11.91              7.97 



       SPSA-family (N=45)                               Total severe family abuse                                M               49.87             46.37             1.49               NS 

                                                                                                                SD                8.78              6.64 



                                                        Severe family physical abuse                             M               50.37             46.65             1.34               NS 

                                                                                                                SD               10.13              8.24 



                                                        Severe family sexual abuse                               M               48.98             47.77             0.78               NS 

                                                                                                                SD                6.37              3.91 



 C 

 I 

 C    Note: Group1 had avoidant personality disorder as assessed with the SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, 

 A    (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A 

 R    retrospective self-report.  Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse. To aid profiling, all 

 e    variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case 

p 

 o    on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t values are from t-tests for independent samples. For the MANOVA on all 

 r 

 t    subscales of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (7, 89) =  2.63, p<0.05. For the MANOVA on all subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, F (6, 38) =  3.83, 

 V    p<0.01. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2713-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C 

                                          Table 5.13. Current adjustment of participants with avoidant personality disorder and no diagnoses 

 A 

 R                                                                                                 Group 1 Avoidant              Group 2                  t-value              Group Diffs 

 e 

p 

                                                                                                       Personality                  No 

 o 

 r                                                                                                       Disorder               Diagnosis 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

                                                                                                           N=52                    N=45 

 . 

 V     Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=97)                                            M                      56.29                   39.66                  11.37***                 1>2 



                                                                                    SD                       8.48                    5.83 



       Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=97)                                        M                      50.25                   43.99                   4.01***                 1>2 

                                                                                    SD                       8.67                    6.30 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=97)                                         M                      44.19                   57.79                   8.60***                 1<2 

                                                                                    SD                       8.13                    7.32 



       Global functioning (GAF) (N=93)                                               M                      43.17                   58.87                  10.42***                 1>2 

                                                                                    SD                       7.97                    6.44 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=55)                                             M                      49.12                   53.51                   1.10                    NS 

                                                                                    SD                       8.88                   10.26 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=80)                                            M                      49.03                   51.50                   1.10                    NS 

                                                                                    SD                      10.82                    9.03 



      Note: Group1 had avoidant personality disorder as assessed with the SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, 

      (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996).  Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological 

      Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL=  World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK 

      Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAS=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. 

      Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. 

      (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., 

      Schumm,  W.  R.,  Kennedy,  C.  E.,  Grigsby,  C.  C.,  Shectman,  K.  L.,  Nichols,  C.  W.  (1985).  Characteristics  of  the  Kansas  Parental  Satisfaction  Scale  among  two  samples  of  married  parents. 

      Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T- 

      score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t 

      values are from t-tests for independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 



 2 

 0 

 3 


----------------------- Page 2714-----------------------

    Table 5.14. Adult attachment styles of participants with avoidant personality disorder and no 

  diagnoses Table 5.14. Adult attachment styles of participants with avoidant personality disorder 

                                                 and no diagnoses 



         Adult 

  Attachment Style                                     Group 1                  Group 2               Group Diffs 

                                                       Avoidant                    No 

                                                      Personality              Diagnosis 

                                                       Disorder 



                                                          N=52                    N=45 



 Secure                             f                         3.00                    13.00                1<2 

                                   %                          5.80                    28.90 



 Fearful                            f                        35.00                    12.00                1>2 

                                   %                         67.30                    26.70 



 Preoccupied                        f                         4.00                     3.00                NS 

                                   %                          7.70                     6.70 



 Dismissive                         f                        10.00                    17.00                NS 

                                   %                         19.20                    37.80 



Note: Group1 had avoidant personality disorder as assessed with the SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, 

J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric 

Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. Cases were classified into the four adult attachment styles using the SPSS algorithm 

for the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory in Brennan, K., Clark, C., & Shaver, P. (1998). Self-report measure 

of adult  attachment:  An  integrative overview. In J.  Simpson   &  W.  Rholes  (Eds.), Attachment   Theory  and  Close 

Relationships  (pp.  46-76).  New  York:  Guilford  Press.  Chi  Square  (3,  N=97)  =19.06,  p<.001.  Within  each  group  the 

percentages  sum  to  approximately  100.  Minor  deviations  from  100  are  due  to  rounding  of  decimals  to  two  places. 

Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Group differences were interpreted as significant where cell standardised 

residuals equalled or exceeded an absolute value of 2.00. 



204                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2715-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

                            Table 5.15. Recollections of child abuse among participants with antisocial personality disorder and no diagnoses 

A 

R 

                     Variable                                                                             Group 1       >Group 2           t         Group Diffs 

e                                                                                                        Antisocial        No 

p 

o                                                                                                       Personality     Diagnosis 

r 

t                                                                                                        Disorder 

V 

o 

l 

.                                                                                                          N=17           N=45 

V 

      INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE 

      IAS                                      Specific institutional abuse (N=62)            M           52.08          47.28           1.72            NS 

                                                                                             SD            9.86           9.80 



      CTQ-Institution                          Total institutional abuse (N=62)               M           55.17          46.83            2.87**         1>2 

                                                                                             SD            9.10          10.58 



                                               Physical abuse                                 M           50.94          48.67           0.85            NS 

                                                                                             SD            8.62           9.66 



                                               Sexual abuse                                   M           59.23          47.92            4.63***        1>2 

                                                                                             SD            9.00           8.42 



                                               Emotional abuse                                M           51.72          45.43           1.93            NS 

                                                                                             SD            8.00          12.48 



                                               Physical neglect                               M           49.11          50.14           0.37            NS 

                                                                                             SD            9.07          10.55 



                                               Emotional neglect                              M           50.18          48.51           0.58            NS 

                                                                                             SD           10.52           9.98 



      SPSA-Institution (N=62)                  Total severe institutional abuse               M           51.15          48.07           1.98            NS 

                                                                                             SD            6.53           5.03 



                                               Severe institutional physical abuse            M           44.27          46.97           1.03            NS 

                                                                                             SD           10.54           8.66 



                                               Severe institutional sexual abuse              M           56.55          47.85            3.80**         1>2 

                                                                                             SD            7.79           8.66 



 2 

 0 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2716-----------------------

 2 

 0                       Variable                                                                                             Group 1          >Group 2               t          Group Diffs 

 6                                                                                                                           Antisocial            No 



                                                                                                                            Personality        Diagnosis 

                                                                                                                              Disorder 



                                                                                                                                N=17              N=45 



       CHILD ABUSE IN FAMILY 

       CTQ-family (N=38)                                Total family abuse score                                M               52.97             46.31             2.18              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               10.64              5.52 



                                                        Physical abuse                                          M               55.38             46.37             2.57              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               12.33              5.88 



                                                        Sexual abuse                                            M               50.73             47.44             1.23              NS 

                                                                                                               SD                9.88              1.91 



                                                        Emotional abuse                                         M               54.28             45.49             2.91              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               10.86              4.10 



                                                        Physical neglect                                        M               49.38             49.57             0.06              NS 

                                                                                                               SD                9.49              9.34 



                                                        Emotional neglect                                       M               52.25             47.91             1.21              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               11.93              7.97 



       SPSA-family (N=38)                               Total severe family abuse                               M               54.54             46.37             2.85              NS 

                                                                                                               SD                9.44              6.64 



                                                        Severe family physical abuse                            M               54.47             46.65             2.30              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               11.09              8.24 



                                                        Severe family sexual abuse                              M               52.17             47.77             1.50              NS 

                                                                                                               SD               10.59              3.91 

 C 

 I 

 C 

 A    Note: Group1 had antisocial personality disorder as assessed with the SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, 

 R 

      (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. CTQ=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A 

 e    retrospective self-report.  Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). IAS=Institutional abuse scale. SPSA=Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse. To aid profiling, all 

p 

 o 

      variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T-score for variable X = ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case 

 r 

 t    on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t values are from t-tests for independent samples. For the MANOVA on all 

 V    subscales of the institution versions of the CTQ, SPSA & the IAS, F (10,51) =  10.98, p<0.0001. For the MANOVA on all subscales of the family versions of the CTQ and SPSA, , F (6, 31) = 3.00, 

 o 

 l    p<0.05. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2717-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C 

                                         Table 5.16. Current adjustment of participants with antisocial personality disorder and no diagnoses 

 A 

 R                                                                                                 Group 1 Antisocial            Group 2                     t                 Group Diffs 

 e 

p 

                                                                                                       Personality                  No 

 o 

 r                                                                                                       Disorder               Diagnosis 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

                                                                                                           N=17                    N=45 

 . 

 V     Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=62)                                            M                      56.62                   39.66                   6.00***                 1>2 



                                                                                    SD                      11.09                    5.83 



       Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=62)                                        M                      69.28                   43.99                  14.06***                 1>2 

                                                                                    SD                       6.37                    6.30 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=62)                                         M                      44.25                   57.79                   5.54***                 1<2 

                                                                                    SD                      11.36                    7.32 



       Global functioning (GAF) (N=60)                                               M                      42.45                   58.87                   5.32***                 1<2 

                                                                                    SD                      11.37                    6.44 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=36)                                             M                      53.74                   53.51                   0.06                    NS 

                                                                                    SD                       9.59                   10.26 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=51)                                            M                      35.84                   51.50                   5.07***                 1<2 

                                                                                    SD                      11.83                    9.03 



      Note: Group1 had antisocial personality disorder as assessed with the SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, 

      (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996).  Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological 

      Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL=  World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK 

      Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAS=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. 

      Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. 

      (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., 

      Schumm,  W.  R.,  Kennedy,  C.  E.,  Grigsby,  C.  C.,  Shectman,  K.  L.,  Nichols,  C.  W.  (1985).  Characteristics  of  the  Kansas  Parental  Satisfaction  Scale  among  two  samples  of  married  parents. 

      Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T- 

      score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t 

      values are from t-tests for independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 



 2 

 0 

 7 


----------------------- Page 2718-----------------------

  2 

  0                                       Table 5.17. Current adjustment of participants with borderline personality disorder and no diagnoses 

  8 



                                                                                                            Group 1                 Group 2                      t                  Group Diffs 

                                                                                                          Borderline                    No 

                                                                                                          Personality              Diagnosis 

                                                                                                           Disorder 



                                                                                                              N=14                    N=45 



       Total trauma symptoms (TSI) (N=59)                                              M                      61.79                    39.66                   11.12***                  1>2 

                                                                                      SD                       8.38                     5.83 



       Total No of life problems (LPC) (N=59)                                          M                      61.16                    43.99                    5.50***                  1>2 

                                                                                      SD                      11.13                     6.30 



       Total quality of life (WHOQOL) (N=59)                                           M                      41.27                    57.79                    6.85***                 1<2 

                                                                                      SD                       9.53                     7.32 



       Global functioning (GAF) (N=59)                                                 M                      38.07                    58.87                    6.04***                 1<2 

                                                                                      SD                      12.38                     6.44 



       Marital satisfaction (KMS) (N=34)                                               M                      48.12                    53.51                    0.93                     NS 

                                                                                      SD                      15.16                    10.26 



       Parental satisfaction (KPS) (N=47)                                              M                      46.21                    51.50                    1.50                     NS 

                                                                                      SD                      12.93                     9.03 



      Note: Group1 had borderline personality disorder as assessed with the SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, 

      (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996).  Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological 

      Assessment Resources). LPC=Life Problems Checklist. WHOQOL=  World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005).  World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK 

      Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). GAS=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements of Mental Health. 

 C 

 I    Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417). KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. 

 C    (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). KPS=Kansas Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., 

 A    Schumm,  W.  R.,  Kennedy,  C.  E.,  Grigsby,  C.  C.,  Shectman,  K.  L.,  Nichols,  C.  W.  (1985).  Characteristics  of  the  Kansas  Parental  Satisfaction  Scale  among  two  samples  of  married  parents. 

 R 

 e 

      Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169). To aid profiling across variables, all variables were transformed to T-scores with means of 50 and standard deviations of 10 before t-tests were conducted. T- 

p     score for variable X =  ((X-M)/SD)X10)+50), where X is the score of a case on variable X; M is the mean for all cases on variable X and SD is the standard deviation for all cases on variable X. t 

 o 

 r    values are from t-tests for independent samples. **p<0.01 ***p<0.001. NS=Not significant. 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2719-----------------------

   Table 5.18. Adult attachment styles of participants with borderline personality disorder and no 

 diagnoses Table 5.18. Adult attachment styles of participants with borderline personality disorder 

                                                  and no diagnoses 



 Adult                                                        Group 1                  Group 2 

 Attachment Style                                          Borderline                        No        Group Diffs 

                                                          Personality          Diagnosis 

                                                              Disorder 



                                                             N=14                    N=45 



 Secure                             f                          1.00                   13.00                 NS 

                                    %                          7.10                   28.90 



 Fearful                            f                         11.00                   12.00                1>2 

                                    %                         78.60                   26.70 



 Preoccupied                        f                          1.00                    3.00                 NS 

                                    %                          7.10                    6.70 



 Dismissive                         f                          1.00                   17.00                 NS 

                                    %                          7.10                   37.80 



Note:  Group1  had  borderline  personality  disorder  as  assessed  with  the  SCID  II  (First,  M.,  Spitzer,  R.,  Gibbon  M.,  & 

Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American 

Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had no diagnoses. Cases were classified into the four adult attachment styles using the SPSS 

algorithm for the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory in Brennan, K., Clark, C., & Shaver, P. (1998). Self-report 

measure of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. Simpson & W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close 

Relationships  (pp.  46-76).  New  York:  Guilford  Press.  Chi  Square  (3,  N=59)  =12.80,  p<.01.  Within  each  group  the 

percentages  sum  to  approximately  100.  Minor  deviations  from  100  are  due  to  rounding  of  decimals  to  two  places. 

Percentages across rows do not sum to 100. Group differences were interpreted as significant where cell standardised 

residuals equalled or exceeded an absolute value of 2.00. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                     209 


----------------------- Page 2720-----------------------

  2 

  1    Table 5.19. Institutional and family child abuse and neglect reported by participants with multiple co-morbid diagnoses, mood disorders, PTSD, substance use 

  0 

                                                   disorders, and personality disorders; and profiles of adult psychological adjustment 



                                                           Multiple           Mood              PTSD          Alcohol and        Avoidant         Antisocial        Borderline            No 

                                                         Co-morbid          Disorders                         Substance         Personality       Personality      Personality        Diagnosis 

                                                         Diagnoses                                                 Use           Disorder          Disorder          disorder 

                                                             (4+)                                              Disorders 



       Institutional child abuse & neglect 

       Physical institutional abuse                            +                 +                +                 -                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Sexual institutional abuse                              +                 +                +                 +                 -                 +                -                 - 

       Emotional institutional abuse                           +                 +                +                 +                 +                 -                -                 - 

       Physical institutional neglect                          -                 -                -                 -                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Emotional institutional neglect                         -                 -                -                 -                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Family-based child abuse & neglect 

       Physical family abuse                                   -                 -                -                 +                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Sexual family abuse                                     -                 -                -                 -                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Emotional family abuse                                  -                 -                +                 +                 +                 -                -                 - 

       Physical family neglect                                 -                 -                -                 -                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Emotional family neglect                                -                 -                -                 -                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Adult psychological adjustment 

       >50% comorbid anxiety disorder                          +                 +                +                 +                 +                 +                +                 - 

       >50% co-morbid mood disorder                            +                 +                -                 -                 +                 -                +                 - 

       >50% comorbid substance use disorder                    +                 -                +                 -                 -                 +                +                 - 

       >50% comorbid personality disorder                      +                 -                -                 -                 -                 -                -                 - 

       Multiple trauma symptoms                                +                 +                +                 +                 +                 +                +                 - 

       Multiple life problems                                  +                 +                +                 +                 +                 +                +                 - 

       Low quality of life                                     +                 +                +                 +                 +                 +                +                 - 

       Low parenting satisfaction                              -                 -                -                 -                 -                 +                -                 - 

       Fearful adult attachment style                          +                 +                -                 -                 +                 -                +                 - 

 C 

 I     Low socio economic status                               +                 -                -                 +                 -                 +                -                 - 

 C 

 A 

 R 

 e 

p     Note: +=the feature was a significant element of the group profile. - the feature was not a significant element of the group profile. 

 o 

 r 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2721-----------------------

           Part 6 Psychological processes and coping strategies associated 

          with institutional abuse 



           Summary of Part 6 



3.274     Six  scales  were  developed  to  measure  past  and  present  psychological  processes  theoretically 

           purported  to  arise  from  the  experience  of  institutional  abuse,  and  associated  functional  and 

          dysfunctional  coping  strategies.  The  scales  were  (1)  traumatization  which  assesses  negative 

          emotions arising from abuse, betrayal and loss of trust, stigmatization, shame, guilt, and disrespect 

          of authority; (2) re-enactment which assesses re-enactment of abuse, powerlessness, coping by 

          opposing and coping by using alcohol and drugs; (3) spiritual disengagement which assesses 

          disengagement  from  religious  practice  and  not  using  spiritual  coping  strategies;  (4)  positive 

          coping which assesses coping through planning, skill mastery and social support; (5) coping by 

          complying which assesses coping by complying with the wishes of people in authority; and (6) 

          avoidant  coping  which  assesses  coping  by  avoiding  thoughts  and  situations  associated  with 

          abuse. 



3.275     All participants reported a reduction in traumatization and re-enactment and an increase in spiritual 

          disengagement from childhood to adult life. They also reported an increase in the use of positive 

          coping strategies and a reduction in the use of coping by complying and avoidant coping. 



3.276     The   psychological    processes    of  traumatization   and   re-enactment     as  experienced    now    or 

           remembered from childhood were associated multiple indices of institutional abuse, but not family- 

           based child abuse. 



3.277     Time spent living with one’s family in childhood was a protective factor and was associated with 

           reduced traumatization in adulthood, whereas severe family-based child abuse was associated 

          with avoidant coping in adulthood. 



3.278      Participants for whom severe physical and sexual abuse, or severe sexual abuse alone were the 

          worst things that happened to them in institutions, reported greater past re-enactment of abusive 

          experiences,  than  those  for  whom  worst  experiences  involved  severe  physical  or  emotional 

          abuse. 



3.279     Traumatization    and   re-enactment    as  experienced    now   or  remembered     from  childhood   were 

          associated    multiple  indices  of  adult  adjustment    including  the  presence    of  multiple  trauma 

          symptoms, multiple adult life problems, global functioning, quality of life, interpersonal anxiety and 

           interpersonal avoidance. 



3.280      Participants  with  four  or  more   psychological   disorders   reported   greatest   past  and   present 

          traumatization and re-enactment; greatest current use of avoidant coping; and least current use 

          of  positive  coping.  Participants  with  no  diagnoses,  reported  least  present  traumatization,  re- 

          enactment and use of avoidant coping; and the greatest reduction in traumatization from past to 

           present. However, they showed a negligible increase in the use of positive coping strategies from 

           past to present. 



3.281      Positive coping was associated with marital satisfaction and quality of life. Participants who spent 

          5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts reported greater use of 

           positive  coping  strategies  in  the  past,  than  those  who  spent  5-11  years  in  an  institution  and 

           placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. These in turn reported greater use of 

          these  strategies  than  participants  who  spent  more  than  12  years  in  an  institution  and  entered 

           before age 5. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                      211 


----------------------- Page 2722-----------------------

3.282      Participants who reported that severe physical abuse was the worst thing that happened to them 

           in institutions, reported greatest coping by complying, and lowest levels of coping by complying 

           occurred among those that reported that severe sexual abuse was the worst thing that happened 

           to them in institutions. For present coping by complying, intermediated between these extremes 

           was the group that reported that severe emotional abuse was the worst thing that happened to 

           them in institutions. 



3.283      A  model  was  developed  which  shows  how  childhood  institutional  abuse  is  associated  with  the 

           processes    of  traumatization,   re-enactment     and   spiritual disengagement,      which   in  turn  are 

           associated with adult mental health and quality of life. The model also shows how childhood years 

           within the family and current use of positive coping strategies are associated with quality of life. 



           Introduction 



3.284      In  this  Part  an  account  is  given  of  the  development  of  a  set  of  6  scales  to  measure  past  and 

           present   psychological    processes     theoretically   purported   to  arise   from   the  experience     of 

           institutional abuse, and associated functional and dysfunctional coping strategies. These scales 

           are  then  used   to  address   a  series  of  five questions    about   the  association   between    abuse 

           processes and coping strategies on the one hand and the following variables (1) recollections of 

           institutional abuse and family-based child abuse; (2) adult adjustment; (3) duration of time spent 

           in institutions and circumstances of entry to institutions; (4) types of worst abusive experiences in 

           institutions (5) number of psychological disorders. The Part closes with the presentation of a model 

           which links childhood experiences of institutional abuse with adult adjustment, via psychological 

           processes and coping strategies. 



           Theoretical basis for development of scales to measure abuse processes and 

           coping strategies 



3.285      Professor  David  Wolfe  has  argued  that  the  long-term  outcomes  of  child  abuse  are  probably 

           mediated  by  distinctive  psychological  processes  (Wolfe  et  al.,  2003)  including  traumatization, 

           betrayal  ,  disrespect  for  authority,  stigmatization,  powerlessness,  avoidance       of  reminders    of 

           abuse,  and  re-enactment  of  abuse  on  self  or  others.  The  research  literature  on  clerical  abuse 

           indicates that in addition to the processes identified by Wolfe, survivors of clerical abuse may also 

           disengage  from religious  and  spiritual  beliefs and  practices  (e.g. Bottoms  et  al.,  1995; Fater  & 

           Mullaney,  2000;  Farrell  &  Taylor,  2000;  McLaughlin,  1994,  Wolfe  et  al.,  2006).  The  research 

           literature  on  stress  and  coping  in  children  exposed  to  early  childhood  adversity  suggests  that 

           children  may  use  both  functional  and  dysfunctional  coping  strategies  to  deal  with  institutional 

           abuse (Luthar, 2003; Rutter et al., 1990). Functional coping strategies include social support, skill 

           mastery, planning and spiritual support. Dysfunctional coping strategies may include either fully 

           complying with the abusive regime or aggressively opposing it without due regard to the risks of 

           further  abuse  entailed  by  this.  Excessive  consumption  of  alcohol,  drugs  and  food  are  other 

           potentially dysfunctional coping strategies. 



           Rational subscales included in the Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping 

           Inventory (IAPCI) 



3.286      In  light  of  these  insights  from  the  broad  literature  on  child  abuse  and  coping,  the  Institutional 

           Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory (IAPCI) was developed for the present study, to facilitate 

           investigation of psychological processes and coping strategies in survivors of institutional abuse. 

           The IAPCI contained rational subscales to assess the following processes: (1) traumatization, (2) 

           betrayal,   (3)  disrespect   of  authority,   (4)  religious  disengagement,      (5)   stigmatization,   (6) 

           powerlessness, (7) avoidance, and (8) re-enactment. The following functional coping strategies 

           were assessed with the IAPCI: (1) social support, (2) skill mastery, (3) planning, and (4) spiritual 

           support. The inventory also assessed these dysfunctional coping strategies: (1) overcomplying, 



           212                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2723-----------------------

          (2) aggressively opposing, and (3) substance abuse. Two versions the IACPI were developed for 

          the present study. The first inquired about processes and coping strategies used while living in 

          an  institution  and  the  second  inquired  about  the  same  processes  and  coping  strategies  in  the 

          person’s  present  life.  The  IAPCI  is  part  of  the  protocol  contained  in  Appendix  1,  which  was 

          completed by the 247 participants in this study. 



          Development of IAPCI factor scales 



 3.287    A series of analyses were conducted on the IAPCI with the aim of developing a set of factorially 

          valid  and  psychometrically  reliable  factor  scales  which  contained  the  same  items  for  past  and 

          present versions. 



 3.288    Initially,  principal  component  analyses  (PCA)  of  total  scores  from  rational  scales  for  past  and 

          present versions of the IAPCI were conducted. These PCAs each yielded similar, although not 

          identical, five factor solutions. The five factors were named traumatization; re-enactment; spiritual 

          disengagement; positive coping; and coping by complying. 



 3.289    The next step involved conducting factor analyses on items from past and present versions of the 

          IAPCI. These each yielded very similar (though not identical) 5 factor solutions The five factors 

          were very similar to those identified through principal components analysis of total scores from 

          rational  scales.  The   five factors  were   named    in  a  similar manner,    i.e., traumatizaiton,  re- 

          enactment, spiritual disengagement, positive coping, and coping by complying. 



 3.290    Internal  consistency  alpha  reliability  co-efficients  were  obtained  for  rational  scales  and  factor 

          scales from the factor analyses of items. The reliability analyses pointed to a number of significant 

          problems. Few of the narrowband rational scales were reliable for both past and present versions. 

          Not   all of  the  factor  scales  were   reliable.  Past  and   present   versions   had   different item 

          compositions, so past and present scores could not be compared. Also avoidant coping, which is 

          a clinically and theoretically important coping strategy did not emerge in a coherent way in the 

          PCA or factor analysis solutions. 



 3.291    To design the final 6 IAPCI factor scales, in 4 instances rational scales were combined in coherent 

          ways consistent with  the results of PCAs of rational  scale totals, factor analyses of  items, and 

          trauma theory. Items were dropped if they keyed differently for past and present versions of the 

          IAPCI or detracted from scale internal consistency reliability in alpha reliability analyses. The four 

          scales constructed in this way were named traumatization, re-enactment, spiritual disengagement, 

          and positive coping. The remaining two scales were each rational scales: coping by complying 

          and avoidant coping. What follows are brief descriptions of the six IAPCI factor scales. 



 3.292    Traumatization  is  a  14  item  scale  which  assesses  truamatization;  betrayal  and  loss  of  trust; 

          stigmatization, shame and guilt; and disrespect of authority. 



 3.293    Re-enactment is an 9 item scale which assesses re-enactment of abuse, powerlessness, coping 

          by opposing and coping by using alcohol and drugs. 



 3.294    Spiritual disengagement is a 5 item scale which assesses disengagement from religious practice 

          and not using spiritual coping strategies. 



 3.295    Positive  coping  is  a  9  item  scale  which  assesses  coping  through  planning,  skill  mastery  and 

          social support. 



 3.296    Coping by complying is a 3 item scale which assesses coping by complying with the wishes of 

          people in authority. 



          CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                      213 


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3.297      Avoidant coping  is a 3 item scale which assesses coping by avoiding thoughts and situations 

           associated with abuse. 



            Confirmatory factor analyses 



3.298      The item composition of past and present versions of the 6 IAPCI factor scales is presented in 

           Table 6.1. Two confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to evaluate the factorial validity of 

           past and present versions of the 6 IAPCI factor scales. Two confirmatory factor models, using the 

           structure  in  Table  6.1,  were  specified  and  estimated  using  LISREL  8.72  (Joreskog  &  Sorbom, 

                                                                                                         ¨               ¨ 

           2005a). Model 1 was the Present IAPCI and Model 2 was the Past IAPCI. Analyses were based 

           on a covariance matrix and an asymptotic weight matrix (the distribution of all IAPCI items deviated 

           significantly  from  normality  in  terms  of  skewness  and  kurtosis)  computed  using  PRELIS  2.72 

           (Joreskog & Sorbom, 2005b) and the parameters estimated using maximum likelihood. The use 

              ¨              ¨ 

           of  an asymptotic  weight matrix  allows for  weaker assumptions  regarding the  distribution of  the 

           observed variables and results in improved fit and test statistics (Satorra, 1992; Curran, West, & 

            Finch,  1996).  All  models  were  specified  to  allow  the  factors  to  correlate,  have  no  cross-factor 

           loadings, and initially have no correlated errors. 



3.299       Following the guidelines suggested by Hoyle and Panter (1995) the goodness of fit for each model 

           was assessed using the Sattora–Bentler scaled chi-square (S-B?2), the Incremental Fit Index (IFI: 



            Bollen, 1989), and the Comparative Fit Index (CFI: Bentler, 1990). A non-significant chi-square, 

           and values greater than .90 for the IFI and CFI are considered to reflect acceptable model fit. In 

           addition,   the   Root   Mean    Square    Error   of  Approximation      (RMSEA:      Steiger,   1990)   with  90% 

           confidence intervals (90%CI) were reported, where a value less than .05 indicates close fit and 

           values  up  to  .08  indicating  reasonable  errors  of  approximation  in  the  population  (Joreskog  & 

                                                                                                                    ¨ 

           Sorbom, 1993). The standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR: Joreskog & Sorbom, 1981) 

              ¨                                                                                   ¨              ¨ 

            has been shown to be sensitive to model mis-specification and its use recommended by Hu and 

            Bentler (1999). Values less than .08 are considered to be indicative of acceptable model fit (Hu & 

            Bentler, 1998). 



3.300       Model 1 was considered to be an reasonable description of the sample data (S-B?2=1767, df= 



           845,  p=.00;  RMSEA=.07  (90%CI  .06-.07);  CFI=.86;  IFI=.86;  SRMR=.08)  although  the  residuals 

           indicated that the Institutional Traumatization factor was not adequately explaining the covariation 

           between  two  item  pairs  (DC2  &DC3  and  SC2  &SC3),  and  the  Positive  Coping  factor  was  not 

           adequately  explaining  the  covariation  between  items  CTC1  and  CTC2.  The  inclusion  of  three 

           correlated errors improved the fit of the model (S-B?2=1544, df=842, p=.00; RMSEA=.06 (90%CI 



            .05-.06); CFI=.90; IFI=.90; SRMR=.08). The improvement in model fit was statistically significant 

           (S-B?2=223,  df=3,  p=.00).  The  standardized  factor  loading  are  reported  in  Table  6.2.  All  factor 



           loading are statistically significant (p<.05). The factor correlations are reported below in Table 6.3. 



3.301       Model 2 was considered to be an reasonable description of the sample data (S-B?2=1383, df= 



           845,  p=.00;  RMSEA=.05  (90%CI  .05-.06);  CFI=.86;  IFI=.86;  SRMR=.08)  although  the  residuals 

           indicated that the Powerless Re-enactment factor was not adequately explaining the covariation 

           between  two  item  pairs  (XP1  &  XP2  and  XP3  &  XP4).  The  inclusion  of  two  correlated  errors 

           improved the fit of the model (S-B?2=1292, df=843, p=.00; RMSEA=.05 (90%CI .04-.05); CFI=.90; 

            IFI=.90; SRMR=.08). The improvement in model fit was statistically significant (S-B?2=223, df=2, 



           p=.00). The standardized factor loading are reported in Table 6.2. With the exception of two items 

           (BP1 and PP3) all factor loading are statistically significant (p<.05). The factor correlations are 

           reported in Table 6.3. 



3.302      Thus, the confirmatory factor analyses supported the factorial validity of the six factor scales of 

           the past and present versions of the IAPCI shown in Table 6.1 



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           Reliability analyses 



3.303      Internal consistency alpha reliability coefficients were calculated for past and present versions of 

           each of the 6 IACPI factor scales. Also, for 52 cases inter-rater reliability was evaluated using the 

           split-half method, treating ratings by each rater as two halves of the same scale. From Table 6.4 

           it may be seen that alpha reliabilities ranged from .51 to .87 (with 7 of the 12 alpha coefficients 

           close  to,  or  above  .7)  indicating  moderate  to  good  internal  consistency  reliability  for  all  IAPCI 

           scales.  11  of  the  12  inter-rater  reliability  coefficients  were  above  .7  indicating  good  inter-rater 

           reliability for  11  scales   and   moderate     inter-rater  reliability for one    scale  (past   coping   by 

           complying). 



           Questions investigated with the IAPCI 



3.304      Having  developed  a  set      of  IAPCI  factor  scales  to  measure     past  and  present  psychological 

           processes    theoretically   purported    to  arise  from   the  experience     of institutional  abuse,    and 

           associated functional and dysfunctional coping strategies, a series of analyses were conducted to 

           answer the questions listed below. 



3.305      The first question was: Are past and present institutional abuse processes and coping strategies 

           (as evaluated by the IAPCI factor scales) associated with recollections of institutional abuse but 

           not family-based child abuse? 



3.306      The   second    question   was:   Are  past   and   present   institutional abuse    processes    and   coping 

           strategies (as evaluated by the IAPCI factor scales) associated with indices of adult adjustment? 



3.307      The third question was: Do participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions 

           and   entered   under    different  circumstances     differ  in their  experience     of  past  and   present 

           institutional abuse processes and coping strategies as evaluated by the IAPCI factor scales? 



3.308      The fourth question was: Do participants who had different types of worst abusive experiences in 

           institutions differ in their experience of past and present institutional abuse processes and coping 

           strategies as evaluated by the IAPCI factor scales? 



3.309      The fifth question was: Do participants who with multiple co-morbid psychological disorders, fewer 

           disorders  and  no  disorders  differ  in  their  experience  of  past  and  present  institutional  abuse 

           processes and coping strategies as evaluated by the IAPCI factor scales? 



           The IAPCI scales and institutional and family abuse 



3.310      The following analyses were carried out to address the first question which was: Are past and 

           present  institutional  abuse  processes  and  coping  strategies  (as  evaluated  by  the  IAPCI  factor 

           scales) associated with recollections of institutional abuse but not family-based child abuse? First, 

           Pearson product moment correlations were conducted between IAPCI scales on the one hand, 

           and indices of institutional abuse on the other. These analyses are summarized in Table 6.5. Next, 

           Pearson product moment correlations were conducted between IAPCI scales on the one hand, 

           and indices of family-based child abuse on the other. These analyses are summarized in Table 

           6.6. In these analyses, the indices of institutional and family-based abuse were: the number of 

           years spent living in an institution; the total, severe physical and severe sexual abuse scale scores 

           of the institution and family versions of the Severe Physical and Sexual Abuse scale (SPSA); the 

           total score on the Institutional Abuse Scale (IAS); and the total, physical abuse, sexual abuse, 

           emotional abuse, physical neglect and emotional neglect scale scores of the institution and family 

           versions  of  the  Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire  (CTQ).  Correlations  with  an  absolute  value 

           above .3 and significant at p<.01 were interpreted as indicating a moderate association between 

           variables. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                           215 


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3.311      From Table 6.5 it may be seen that 16 correlations with an absolute value above .3 and significant 

           at  p<.01  occurred  when  IAPCI  scales  were  correlated  with  indices  of  institutional  abuse  and 

           neglect. In contrast only two such correlation occurred between IAPCI scales and indices of family- 

           based child abuse and neglect. Thus, IAPCI scale scores were far more strongly associated with 

           recollections of institutional abuse than family-based child abuse. 



3.312      From Table 6.5, it may be seen that both past and present versions of the traumatization scale, 

           and  the  past  version  of  the  re-enactment  scale  had  large  significant  correlations  with  multiple 

           indices of institutional abuse. Specifically, the past and present version of the IAPCI traumatization 

           scale correlated with the total, physical and emotional abuse scales of the institution version of 

           the CTQ. The past version of the IAPCI traumatization scale also correlated with the SPSA severe 

           institutional  physical  abuse  scale,  the  IAS  total  scale,  and  the  physical  neglect  scale  of  the 

           institution version   of the  CTQ.    The   present   version   of the  IAPCI   traumatization    scale  also 

           correlated with the SPSA total severe institutional abuse scale. The past version of the IAPCI re- 

           enactment  scale  correlated  with  the  SPSA  total  and  severe  institutional  sexual  abuse  scales; 

           the IAS total scale; and the total, physical and sexual abuse scales of the institution version of 

           the CTQ. 



3.313      From Table 6.6 it may be seen that the present IAPCI traumatization scale correlated negatively 

           with the number of years spent living with the family before 16. The present IAPCI avoidant coping 

           scale correlated with SPSA total severe family-based abuse scale. Thus children who lived longer 

           with  their  families  as  children  reported  less  current  traumatization  as  adults;  and  children  who 

           experienced severe child abuse within the family used greater avoidant coping as adults. 



3.314      The analysis reported in this section provided an answer to the question about the association 

           between    past  and   present   abuse    processes    and   coping   strategies   on  the  one   hand    and 

           recollections of institutional abuse but not family-based child abuse on the other. Collectively the 

           results show that the psychological processes of traumatization and re-enactment as experienced 

           now or remembered from childhood were associated multiple indices of institutional abuse, but 

           not family-based child abuse. Time spent living with one’s family in childhood was a protective 

           factor and was associated with reduced traumatization in adulthood, whereas severe family-based 

           child abuse was associated with avoidant coping in adulthood. 



           The IAPCI scales and adult adjustment 



3.315      The following analyses were carried out to address the second question which was: Are past and 

           present  institutional  abuse  processes  and  coping  strategies  (as  evaluated  by  the  IAPCI  factor 

           scales) associated with indices of adult adjustment? Pearson product moment correlations were 

           conducted between IAPCI scales on the one hand and indices of adult adjustment on the other. 

           These analyses are summarized in Table 6.7. In these analyses the indices of adjustment were: 

           total number of current and lifetime psychological disorders; the total score on the Life Problems 

           Checklist (LPC); the score on the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale; the total score 

           on  the  Trauma  Symptom  Inventory  (TSI);  Socio  economic  status  (SES);  the  number  of  failed 

           marital  or  cohabiting  relationships  in  a  participants  life;  the  total  score  on  the  Kansas  Marital 

           Satisfaction  scale   (KMS);   scores   on  the  interpersonal    anxiety  and   avoidance    scales   of the 

           Experiences  in  Close  Relationships  Inventory  (ECRI);  the  total  score  on  the  Kansas  Parent 

           Satisfaction  scale;  and  the  total  score  on  the  World  health  Organization  Quality  of  Life  Scale. 

           Correlations with an absolute value above .3 and significant at p<.01 were interpreted as indicating 

           a moderate association between variables. 



3.316      From table 6.7 it may be seen that 17 correlations with an absolute value above .3 and significant 

           at p<.01 occurred and 15 of these involved the traumatization and re-enactment scales. 



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3.317      Past and present versions of the traumatization and re-enactment scales correlated with the total 

           number of  trauma symptoms on the  TSI. Past and  present versions of the  re-enactment scale 

          correlated   with  the  total number    of life problems    on  the  LPC.   The   present  version   of the 

          traumatization and  re-enactment scales  correlated positively  with the  total number  of disorders 

          and  negatively  with  global  functioning  on  the  GAF  and  the  total  quality  of  life  score  of  the 

          WHOQOL  100  UK.  The  present  version  of  the  traumatization  scale  correlated  with  the  ECRI 

           interpersonal  anxiety   and  avoidance    scales.  The   present  version   of the  re-enactment    scale 

          correlated with the ECRI interpersonal anxiety scale. The present version of the positive coping 

          scale correlated with the KMS marital satisfaction score and the total quality of life score of the 

          WHOQOL 100 UK. 



3.318     The analysis reported in this section provided an answer to the question about the association 

           between  past  and  present  abuse  processes  and  coping  strategies  on  the  one  hand  and  adult 

          adjustment    on  the  other.  Collectively  the  results  show   that  the  psychological   processes    of 

          traumatization    and  re-enactment    as  experienced    now    or remembered      from  childhood   were 

          associated  multiple  indices  of  adult  adjustment  including  the  presence  of  multiple  co-morbid 

           psychological    disorders,  multiple   trauma    symptoms,     multiple   adult  life problems,    global 

          functioning, quality of life, interpersonal anxiety and interpersonal avoidance. Positive coping was 

          associated with marital satisfaction and quality of life. 



          IAPCI profiles of groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time 

          in institutions and entered under different circumstances 



3.319     The following analyses were carried out to address the third question which was: Do participants 

          who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered under different circumstances 

          differ in their experience of past and present institutional abuse processes and coping strategies 

          as evaluated by the IAPCI factor scales? The four groups included in this set of analyses, were 

          those referred to in the main analysis in Part 4. Group 1 contained 110 participants who spent 

           more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 contained 67 participants 

          who spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or 

          died.  Group  3  contained  22  participants  who  spent  5-11  years  in  an  institution  and  placement 

          occurred through the courts, in most instances for petty crime. Group 4 contained 48 participants 

          who spent 4 or fewer years in institution. To aid profiling, all IAPCI scales were scored so they 

          each had a range of 1-5. This was obtained for each scale by summing items and dividing by the 

           number of items. A series of twelve one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to test 

          for significant (p<.05) variation between groups on either past or present versions of each IAPCI 

          scales, and Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns were used to identify 

          significant  (p<.05)   intergroup   differences.  Dunnett’s    post  hoc   tests  were   used   where   the 

          assumption of homogeneity was violated. In addition to the one-way ANOVAs, a series of six 4X2, 

          Groups X Time repeated measures ANOVAs were used to identify significant changes from past 

          to present on each IAPCI scale. 



3.320      From Table 6.8 it may be seen that in the one-way ANOVAs, past positive coping was the only 

           IAPCI scale on which the four groups differed significantly, with group 3 obtaining higher scores 

          than group 2, who in turn obtained higher scores than group 1. There were no significant Group 

          X Time interactions in the repeated measures ANOVAs, indicating that there were no significant 

           intergroup differences in the pattern of past and present scores. All four of the groups showed the 

          same pattern of change. In all of the repeated measures ANOVAs significant time effects occurred. 

           For traumatization and re-enactment, mean scores decreased from the past to the present, but 

          for spiritual disengagement, they increased. Positive coping mean scores increased from past to 

           present, but coping by complying and avoidant coping mean scores decreased. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                      217 


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3.321      The  analysis  reported  in  this  section  provided  an  answer  to  the  question  about  differences  in 

           IAPCI profiles of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and entered 

           under different circumstances. Participants who spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement 

           occurred through the courts reported greater use of positive coping strategies in the past, than 

           those who spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t 

           cope or died. These in turn reported greater use of these strategies than participants who spent 

           more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Participants from all four groups 

           reported    a  reduction    in   traumatization    and    re-enactment     and    an   increase    in  spiritual 

           disengagement from childhood to adult life. They also reported an increase in the use of positive 

           coping strategies and a reduction in the use of coping by complying and avoidant coping. 



           IAPCI profiles of groups of participants who reported different types of worst 

           abusive experiences in institutions 



3.322      The following analyses were carried out to address the fourth question which was: Do participants 

           who reported different types of worst abusive experiences in institutions differ in their experience 

           of past and present institutional abuse processes and coping strategies as evaluated by the IAPCI 

           factor  scales?  The  four  groups  included  in  this  set  of  analyses,  were  those  referred  to  in  the 

           second analysis in Part 4. Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe 

           physical   and   sexual   abuse.   Group    2  contained    99  cases   where    the  worst   thing  they   had 

           experienced was severe physical abuse. Group 3 contained 40 cases where the worst thing they 

           had experienced was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where the worst thing 

           they had experienced was severe emotional abuse. Participant’s statements were classified as 

           severe   physical   abuse   if the  person    reported   physical   violence,  beating,   slapping,   or being 

           physically injured, but not having medical attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe 

           sexual abuse if the person reported the words sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or 

           oral  sex;  masturbation;  or  other  coercive  sexual  activities  involving  either  staff  or  older  pupils. 

           Statements  were  classified  as  severe  physical  and  sexual  abuse  if  they  involved  both  severe 

           physical  abuse  and  severe  sexual  abuse  as  defined  earlier.  Statements  of  actions  involving 

           humiliation,   degradation,   severe    lack  of care,   withholding   medical    treatment,   witnessing   the 

           traumatization of other pupils and adverse experiences that were not clearly classifiable as severe 

           sexual or physical abuse were classified as severe emotional abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater 

           than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of statements. To aid profiling, all IAPCI scales were 

           scored so they each had a range of 1-5. This was obtained for each scale by summing items and 

           dividing by the number of items. A series of twelve one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were 

           used to test for significant (p<.05) variation between groups on either past or present versions of 

           each IAPCI scales, and Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns were used 

           to identify significant (p<.05) intergroup differences. Dunnett’s post hoc tests were used where the 

           assumption of homogeneity was violated. In addition to the one-way ANOVAs, a series of six 4X2, 

           Groups X Time repeated measures ANOVAs were used to identify significant changes from past 

           to present on each IAPCI scale. 



3.323      From Table 6.9 it may be seen that in the one-way ANOVAs, past re-enactment and both past 

           and present coping by complying were the only IAPCI scales on which the four groups differed 

           significantly. Mean past re-enactment scores for groups 1 and 3 were significantly greater than 

           those for groups 2 and 4. Group 2’s mean past and present coping by complying scores were 

           significantly greater that those of group 3, with group 4 obtaining a mean score between these 

           extremes for present, but not past, coping by complying. 



3.324      There   were   no   significant  Group    X  Time   interactions   in  the  repeated    measures     ANOVAs, 

           indicating that there were no significant intergroup differences in the pattern of past and present 

           scores. 



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3.325      The analysis reported in this section provided an answer to the question about differences in IAPCI 

           profiles of participants who reported different types of worst abusive experiences in institutions. 

           Participants for whom severe physical and sexual abuse, or severe sexual abuse alone were the 

           worst things that happened to them in institutions, reported greater past re-enactment of abusive 

           experiences, than those for whom worst experiences involved severe physical or emotional abuse. 

           Participants who reported that severe physical abuse was the worst thing that happened to them 

           in institutions, reported greatest past and present coping by complying, and lowest levels of coping 

           by complying occurred among those that reported that severe sexual abuse was the worst thing 

           that  happened  to  them  in  institutions.  For  present  coping  by  complying,  intermediate  between 

           these extremes was the group that reported that severe emotional abuse was the worst thing that 

           happened to them in institutions. 



           IAPCI profiles of groups of participants who groups of participants who had 

           different numbers of psychological diagnoses 



3.326      The following analyses were carried out to address the fifth question which was: Do participants 

           who  had  different  numbers  of  psychological  diagnoses  differ  in  their  experience  of  past  and 

           present  institutional  abuse  processes  and  coping  strategies  as  evaluated  by  the  IAPCI  factor 

           scales?  The  three  groups  included  in  this  set  of  analyses,  were  those  referred  to  in  the  first 

           analysis  in  Part 5.  Group  1  contained 83  participants  who  had four  or  more  current or  lifetime 

           diagnoses as assessed with the SCID I and SCID II. Group 2 contained 119 participants who had 

           1-3 current or lifetime diagnoses. Group 3 contained 45 participants who had no diagnoses. To 

           aid profiling, all IAPCI scales were scored so they each had a range of 1-5. This was obtained for 

           each scale by summing items and dividing by the number of items. A series of twelve one-way 

           analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to test for significant (p<.05) variation between groups 

           on either past or present versions of each IAPCI scales, and Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing 

           groups with unequal Ns were used to identify significant (p<.05) intergroup differences. Dunnett’s 

           post hoc tests were used where the assumption of homogeneity was violated. In addition to the 

           one-way ANOVAs, a series of six 4X2, Groups X Time repeated measures ANOVAs were used 

           to identify significant changes from past to present on each IAPCI scale. 



3.327      From   Table   6.10  it may   be   seen   that in  the  one-way    ANOVAs,     the  three  groups    differed 

           significantly in their mean scores on the past and present versions of the traumatization and re- 

           enactment scales, and on the present versions of the positive and avoidant coping scales. On the 

           past  and  present  versions  of  the  traumatization  and  re-enactment  scales,  group  1  obtained  a 

           significantly higher   mean    scores   than   groups    2  and   3.  On   the  present   versions   of  the 

           traumatization and re-enactment scales, group 2 obtained a significantly higher mean score than 

           groups 3. On the present  version of the positive coping scale, group 1  obtained a significantly 

           lower mean score than group 2. On the present version of the avoidant coping scale, group 1 

           obtained a significantly higher mean score than group 3. 



3.328      On   the  repeated   measures     ANOVAs     there   were   significant Group    X  Time   interactions   for 

           traumatization and positive coping. From the first panel in Figure 6.1 it may be seen that group 3 

           with  no  disorders  showed  a  greater  reduction  in  traumatization  from  past  to  present,  than  the 

           other two groups, who had multiple co-morbid psychological disorders. From the second panel in 

           Figure 6.1 it may be seen that for positive coping, group 3 with no disorders showed a negligible 

           increase in the use of positive coping strategies from past to present, compared with the other 

           two groups who showed a marked increase in positive coping from past to present. 



3.329      The  analysis  reported  in  this  section  provided  an  answer  to  the  question  about  differences  in 

           IAPCI profiles of participants who had different numbers of psychological diagnoses. Participants 

           with four or more disorders reported greatest past and present traumatization and re-enactment; 

           greatest current use of avoidant coping and least current use of positive coping. Participants with 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                        219 


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           no diagnoses, reported least present traumatization, re-enactment and use of avoidant coping; 

           and  the  greatest  reduction  in  traumatization  from  past  to  present.  However,  they  showed  a 

           negligible increase in the use of positive coping strategies from past to present. 



           Model of childhood institutional abuse, psychological processes, and adult 

           adjustment 



3.330      A   theoretical    model    of  childhood     institutional   abuse,    psychological     processes,     and    adult 

           adjustment  is  presented  in  Figure  6.2.  The  model  shows  how  childhood  institutional  abuse  is 

           associated with the processes of truamatization, re-enactment and spiritual disengagement, which 

           in turn are associated with mental health and quality of life. The model also shows how childhood 

           years within the family and current use of positive coping strategies are associated with quality of 

           life. The reliabilities of the composite scores used in the model were incorporated using the method 

           suggested by Joreskog and Sorbom (1993).The model presented in Figure 6.2 was specified and 

                              ¨                 ¨ 

           estimated using LISREL8.52 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 2002). A covariance matrix and an asymptotic 

                                                 ¨              ¨ 

           weight matrix were computed using PRELIS2.3 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1999) and the parameters 

                                                                         ¨              ¨ 

           estimated  using  maximum  likelihood.  Following  the  guidelines  suggested  by  Hoyle  and  Panter 

           (1995) the goodness of fit for each model was assessed using the chi-square, the Goodness of 

            Fit Index (GFI: Joreskog & Sorbom, 1981), the Incremental Fit Index (IFI: Bollen, 1989), and the 

                                ¨              ¨ 

           Comparative Fit Index (CFI: Bentler, 1990). A non-significant chi-square, and values greater than 

           0.90 for the GFI, IFI and CFI, are considered to reflect acceptable model fit. In addition, the Root 

            Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA: Steiger, 1990) with 90% confidence intervals (90% 

           CI) were reported, where a value less than 0.05 indicates close fit and values up to 0.08 indicating 

            reasonable     errors   of  approximation       in  the   population    (Joreskog     &   Sorbom,     1993).    The 

                                                                                       ¨                ¨ 

           standardised root-mean-square residual (SRMR: Joreskog & Sorbom, 1981) has been shown to 

                                                                         ¨              ¨ 

            be  sensitive  to  model  mis-specification  and  its  use  recommended  by  Hu  and  Bentler  (1999). 

           Values less than .08 are considered to be indicative of acceptable model fit. The fit indices are 

            reported in Table 6.11. On the basis of the RMSEA, IFI, CFI, SRMR and the GFI the model is 

           judged to be an acceptable description of the sample data. Although the chi-square for this model 

            is large relative to the degrees of freedom, and statistically significant, this should not lead to the 

            rejection of the model as the large sample size increases the power of the test (Tanaka, 1987). 

           The standardized model parameters are presented in Table 6.12. 



            Conclusions 



3.331      Six  scales  were  developed  to  measure  past  and  present  psychological  processes  theoretically 

           purported  to  arise  from  the  experience  of  institutional  abuse,  and  associated  functional  and 

           dysfunctional coping strategies. The scales were (1) traumatization, (2) re-enactment, (3) spiritual 

           disengagement, (4) positive coping, (5) coping by complying, and (6) avoidant coping. 



3.332      All participants reported a reduction in traumatization and re-enactment and an increase in spiritual 

           disengagement from childhood to adult life. They also reported an increase in the use of positive 

           coping strategies and a reduction in the use of coping by complying and avoidant coping. 



3.333      The    psychological     processes     of   traumatization     and   re-enactment      as   experienced     now    or 

           remembered from childhood were associated multiple indices of institutional abuse, but not family- 

           based child abuse. 



3.334      Time spent living with one’s family in childhood was a protective factor and was associated with 

           reduced traumatization in adulthood, whereas severe family-based child abuse was associated 

           with avoidant coping in adulthood. 



3.335       Participants for whom severe physical and sexual abuse, or severe sexual abuse alone were the 

           worst things that happened to them in institutions, reported greater past re-enactment of abusive 



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----------------------- Page 2731-----------------------

          experiences,  than  those  for  whom  worst  experiences  involved  severe  physical  or  emotional 

          abuse. 



3.336     Traumatization    and   re-enactment    as  experienced    now   or  remembered     from  childhood   were 

          associated    multiple  indices  of  adult  adjustment    including  the  presence    of  multiple  trauma 

          symptoms, multiple adult life problems, global functioning, quality of life, interpersonal anxiety and 

           interpersonal avoidance. 



3.337      Participants  with  four  or  more   psychological   disorders   reported   greatest   past  and   present 

          traumatization and re-enactment; greatest current use of avoidant coping; and least current use 

          of  positive  coping.  Participants  with  no  diagnoses,  reported  least  present  traumatization,  re- 

          enactment and use of avoidant coping; and the greatest reduction in traumatization from past to 

           present. However, they showed a negligible increase in the use of positive coping strategies from 

           past to present. 



3.338      Positive coping was associated with marital satisfaction and quality of life. Participants who spent 

          5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts reported greater use of 

           positive  coping  strategies  in  the  past,  than  those  who  spent  5-11  years  in  an  institution  and 

           placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. These in turn reported greater use of 

          these  strategies  than  participants  who  spent  more  than  12  years  in  an  institution  and  entered 

           before age 5. 



3.339      Participants who reported that severe physical abuse was the worst thing that happened to them 

           in institutions, reported greatest coping by complying, and lowest levels of coping by complying 

          occurred among those that reported that severe sexual abuse was the worst thing that happened 

          to them in institutions. For present coping by complying, intermediated between these extremes 

          was the group that reported that severe emotional abuse was the worst thing that happened to 

          them in institutions. 



3.340     A  model  was  developed  which  shows  how  childhood  institutional  abuse  is  associated  with  the 

           processes   of  traumatization,   re-enactment     and  spiritual  disengagement,     which   in turn  are 

          associated with adult mental health and quality of life. The model also shows how childhood years 

          within the family and current use of positive coping strategies are associated with quality of life. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                      221 


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  2 

  2                                 Table 6.1. Item composition of the 6 factor scales from the Institutional Abuse Process and Coping Inventory. 

  2 



           ITEM CODE                                     PAST VERSION                                     ITEM CODE                                  PRESENT VERSION 



                                PAST TRAUMATIZATION                                                                            PRESENT TRAUMATIZATION 

                                Traumatization                                                                                 Traumatization 

       1TP1                     I felt hurt then                                                      2TC1                     I feel hurt now 

       3TP2                     I felt frightened then                                                4TC2                     I feel frightened now 

       5TP3                     I felt sad then                                                       6TC3                     I feel sad now 

       7TP4                     I felt humiliated then                                                8TC4                     I feel humiliated now 

                                Betrayal and loss of trust                                                                     Betrayal and loss of trust 

       9BP1                     I trusted everyone then (-)                                           10BC1                    I trust everyone now (-) 

       11BP2                    I felt betrayed then                                                  12BC2                    I feel betrayed now 

       13BP3                    I cut myself off from other people then                               14BC3                    I cut myself off from other people now 

                                Stigmatization shame and guilt                                                                 Stigmatization shame and guilt 

       29SP1                    I felt I was worthless then                                           30SC1                    I feel I am worthless now 

       31SP2                    I felt I was dirty then                                               32SC2                    I feel I am dirty now 

       33SP3                    I felt ashamed then                                                   34SC3                    I feel ashamed now 

       35SP4                    I felt guilty and believed the abuse was my fault then                36SC4                    I feel guilty and believe the abuse was my fault now 

                                Disrespect of authority                                                                        Disrespect of authority 

       15DP1                    I was angry at everyone in authority then                             16DC1                    I am angry with everyone in authority now 

       17DP2                    I liked people in authority then (-)                                  18DC2                    I like people in authority now (-) 

       19DP3                    I respected everyone in authority then (-)                            20DC3                    I respect everyone in authority now (-) 



                                PAST RE-ENACTMENT                                                                              PRESENT RE-ENACTMENT 

                                Re-enactment                                                                                   Re-enactment 

       49XP1                    I felt the urge to attack or abuse other people then                  50XC1                    I feel the urge to attack or abuse other people now 

       51XP2                    I hurt other people then                                              52XC2                    I hurt other people now 

       53XP3                    I felt the urge to harm or injure myself then                         54XC3                    I feel the urge to harm or injure myself now 

       55XP4                    I harmed or injured myself then                                       56XC4                    I harm or injure myself now 

                                Powerlessness                                                                                  Powerlessness 

 C     39PP2                    I believed that my life was controlled by others then                 40PC2                    I believe that my life is controlled by others now 

 I 

 C     41PP3                    I thought I could do nothing to change my situation then              42PC3                    I think I can do nothing to change my situation now 

 A                              Coping by opposing                                                                             Coping by opposing 

 R 

 e     71COP3                   I planned revenge on my abusers then                                  72COC3                   I am planning revenge on my abusers now 

p 

 o                              Coping by alcohol, drugs and food                                                              Coping by alcohol, drugs and food 

 r 

 t     91CDP1                   I drank alcohol to cope then                                          92CDC1                   I drink alcohol to cope now 

 V 

 o     93CDP2                   I took other drugs to cope then                                       94CDC2                   I take other drugs to cope now 

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 . 

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           ITEM CODE                                     PAST VERSION                                      ITEM CODE                                  PRESENT VERSION 

 A 

 R 

                                PAST SPIRITUAL DISENGAGEMENT.                                                                  PRESENT SPIRITUAL DISENGAGEMENT. 

 e                              Religious Disengagement                                                                        Religious Disengagement 

p 

 o     21RP1                    I had faith in God then (-)                                           22PC1                    I have faith in God now (-) 

 r 

 t 

 V 

       23RP2                    I had faith in the church then (-)                                    24RC2                    I have faith in the church now (-) 

 o     25RP3                    I stopped praying then                                                26RC3                     I do not pray now 

 l 

 . 

 V     27RP4                    I only went mass then because I would be punished if I did             28RC4                   I do not go to mass now 

                                not to 

                                Coping through spiritual support                                                               Coping through spiritual support 

       57CSP1                   I prayed to God then, and that made the abuse bearable (-)             58CSPC1                 I pray to God now, and that makes the abuse bearable (-) 



                                PAST POSITIVE COPING.                                                                          PRESENT POSITIVE COPING 

                                Coping through planning                                                                        Coping through planning 

       85CLP1                   Then I planned each day very carefully to avoid abuse and             86CLC1                   Now I plan each day very carefully to avoid bad feelings and 

                                make good things happen (like having a laugh, getting well                                     make good things happen (like having a laugh, getting well 

                                fed, and keeping warm)                                                                         fed, and keeping warm) 

       87CLP2                   When I was leaving school I followed a plan to get a job that         88CLC2                   Now I still follow a plan to make sure my job suits me and 

                                would suit me and make my situation better                                                     makes my situation better 

       89CLP3                   When I was settling down with my partner, I waited for at             90CLC3                   When my partner and I are planning something important we 

                                least 6 months to make sure we were well suited to live                                        take time to plan it very carefully 

                                together 

                                Coping though skill mastery                                                                    Coping though skill mastery 

       79CMP1                   I put my energy into my school work and that made me feel              80CMC1                  I put my energy into my work and that makes me feel better 

                                better then                                                                                    now 

       81CMP2                   I put my energy into sports or music and that made me feel             82CMC2                  I put my energy into sport or music and that makes me feel 

                                better then                                                                                    better now 

       83CMP3                   I put my energy into a skill that I could do well that made me         84CMC3                  I put my energy into a skill that I can do well that makes me 

                                feel better then                                                                               feel better now 

                                Coping through social support                                                                  Coping through social support 

       73CTP1                   I had a good friendship with a close friend I could trust and          74CTC1                  I have a good friendship with a close friend I can trust and 

                                this made the abuse bearable then                                                              this made the abuse bearable now (This friend is not my 

                                                                                                                               partner, husband or wife) 

       75CTP2                   I had a good friendship with an adult I could trust and this           76CTC2                  I have a good friendship with a person I trust and look up to 

                                made the abuse bearable then                                                                   and this makes the abuse bearable now (this could be doctor 

                                                                                                                               or counsellor but not a partner) 

       77CTP3                   I reminded my self that my mother or father was still alive,           78CTC3                  I have a good relationship with my partner who I know cares 

                                cared about me, and this made the abuse bearable then                                          about me and who I can tell my troubles to now and this 

  2 

  2                                                                                                                            makes the abuse bearable ( A partner is a wife /husband/ 

  3                                                                                                                            cohabitee /lover) 


----------------------- Page 2734-----------------------

 2 

 2         ITEM CODE                                 PAST VERSION                                  ITEM CODE                               PRESENT VERSION 

 4 



                              PAST COPING BY COMPLYING                                                                 PRESENT COPING BY COMPLYING 

                              Coping by complying                                                                     Coping by complying 

      61CCP1                  I tried to behave well for the teachers /nuns /brothers /priests 62CCC1                  I try to behave well and fit in with people at work and in my 

                              so I would not be punished then                                                         family now to avoid conflict and arguments 

      63CCP2                  I was careful never to break a rule then                         64CCC2                  I am careful never to break a rule now 

      65CCP3                  I was careful always to show respect to the brothers, priests,   66CCC3                  I am careful always to show respect to people in authority 

                              nuns and teachers then (even if I didn’t feel respect)                                  now (even if I do not feel respect) 



                              PAST AVOIDANT COPING                                                                     PRESENT AVOIDANT COPING 

                              Avoidance of reminders of abuse                                                         Avoidance of reminders of abuse 

      43AP1                   I avoided thinking about the abuse then                          44AC1                   I avoid thinking about the abuse now 

      45AP2                   I avoided situations that reminded me of abuse then              46AC2                   I avoid situations that reminded me of abuse now 

      47AP3                   I avoided people who reminded me of the abuse then               48AC3                   I avoid people who remind me of the abuse now 



      Note: Headings in bold lowercase are the names of IAPCI rational scales containing the items beneath them. Headings in bold uppercase are the name of the six factor scales supported by 

     confirmatory factor analyses. 



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            Table 6.2. Factor loadings for confirmatory factor analysis of the past and present forms of the Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory 

A 

R 

                                         Past version                                                                      Present version 

e 

p 

o 

         Item      Trauma      Reinact    Disengag    PosCope     ComCope      AvCope        Item      Trauma      Reinact    Disengag    PosCope     ComCope      AvCope 

r 

t 

V 

         TP1         0.62                                                                    TC1         0.56 

o 

l        TP2         0.52                                                                    TC2         0.70 

. 

V        TP3         0.62                                                                    TC3         0.72 



         TP4         0.73                                                                    TC4         0.77 

         BP1         0.04                                                                    BC1         0.41 

         BP2         0.56                                                                    BC2         0.65 

         BP3         0.43                                                                    BC3         0.52 

         SP1         0.60                                                                    SC1         0.65 

         SP2         0.56                                                                    SC2         0.52 

         SP3         0.65                                                                    SC3         0.61 

         SP4         0.37                                                                    SC4         0.37 

         DP1         0.46                                                                    DC1         0.60 

         DP2         0.19                                                                    DC2         0.42 

         DP3         0.14                                                                    DC3         0.30 

         XP1                     0.55                                                        XC1                     0.42 

         XP2                     0.31                                                        XC2                     0.47 

         XP3                     0.46                                                        XC3                     0.79 

         XP4                     0.33                                                        XC4                     0.71 

         PP2                     0.19                                                        PC2                     0.46 

         PP3                     0.09                                                        PC3                     0.35 

        COP3                     0.59                                                       COC3                     0.28 

        CDP1                     0.57                                                       CDC1                     0.34 

        CDP2                     0.41                                                       CDC2                     0.40 

         RP1                                 0.83                                            RC1                                 0.42 

         RP2                                 0.77                                            RC2                                 0.47 

         RP3                                 0.35                                            RC3                                 0.79 

         TP4                                 0.33                                            TC4                                 0.71 

        CSP1                                 0.51                                          CSPC1                                 0.46 

        CLP1                                             0.38                               CLC1                                             0.35 

        CLP2                                             0.53                               CLC2                                             0.49 

        CLP3                                             0.32                               CLC3                                             0.49 

        CMP1                                             0.43                               CMC1                                             0.61 

        CMP2                                             0.51                               CMC2                                             0.51 

2 

2       CMP3                                             0.52                               CMC3                                             0.60 

5 


----------------------- Page 2736-----------------------

 2 

 2                                        Past version                                                                         Present version 

 6 



         Item       Trauma      Reinact     Disengag    PosCope     ComCope      AvCope         Item      Trauma       Reinact    Disengag    PosCope     ComCope       AvCope 



         CTP1                                              0.16                                CTC1                                              0.21 

         CTP2                                              0.30                                CTC2                                              0.17 

         CTP3                                              0.39                                CTC3                                              0.32 

        CCP1                                                           0.68                    CCC1                                                          0.67 

        CCP2                                                           0.78                    CCC2                                                          0.60 

        CCP3                                                           0.57                    CCC3                                                          0.41 

         AP1                                                                       0.45         AC1                                                                       0.34 

         AP2                                                                       0.73         AC2                                                                       0.77 

         AP3                                                                       0.74         AC3                                                                       0.68 



     Note. N=247. Trauma=Traumatization; Reinact=  Re-enactment; Disengag= Spititual Disengagement; PosCope=Positive Coping; ComCope=Coping by Complying; AvCope=Avoidant Coping. 



           Table 6.3. Factor correlations for confirmatory factor analysis of the past and present forms of the Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory 



                                          Past version                                                                         Present version 



         Scale     Trauma       Reinact    Disengag     PosCope     ComCope      AvCope        Scale      Trauma      Reinact     Disengag    PosCope     ComCope      AvCope 



      Reinact         .39         1.00                                                       Reinact         .58         1.00 

      Disengag        .05          .07        1.00                                           Disengag        .17         .11         1.00 

      PosCope         .05          .33         -.30        1.00                              PosCope        -.28         -.29        -.27        1.00 

      ComCope         .24         -.06         -.21        .09         1.00                  ComCope         .19         .04         -.13         .32         1.00 

      AvCope          .35          .33         .02         .30          .07        1.00      AvCope          .38         .17         .02          .12         .25         1.00 



     Note.  N=247.  Trauma=Traumatization;  Reinact=Re-enactment;  Disengag= Spiritual  Disengagement;  PosCope=Positive  Coping;  ComCope=Coping  by  Complying;  AvCope=Avoidant  Coping. 

     Correlations significant at p<.01 and greater than an absolute value of .3 are in bold. 



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                       Table 6.4. Reliability of 6 factor scales from past and present versions of the Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory 

 A 

 R         Instrument          Constructs and         No. of items in       Possible range                M                     SD                  Internal             Inter-rater 

e 

p 

                                  variables              the scale                                                                               consistency             reliability 

o 

 r                                                                                                                                                Reliability 

t 

 V                                                                                                                                                   Alpha 

o 

 l 

 . 

 V     IAPCI-Past            Traumatization                  14                    1-5                   4.19                   0.65                   .75                   .97 



      version 

                             Re-enactment                    9                     1-5                   2.50                   0.70                   .62                   .95 

                             Spiritual                       5                     1-5                   2.93                   0.78                   .69                   .80 

                             disengagement 

                             Positive coping                 9                     1-5                   2.43                   0.82                   .62                   .99 

                             Coping by                       3                     1-5                   4.58                   0.78                   .71                   .51 

                             complying 

                             Avoidant coping                 3                     1-5                   3.90                   1.24                   .59                   .91 



       IAPCI-Present         Traumatization                  14                    1-5                   3.23                   0.89                   .87                   .90 

      version 

                             Re-enactment                    9                     1-5                   1.69                   0.67                   .70                   .94 

                             Spiritual                       5                     1-5                   3.22                   0.80                   .78                   .85 

                             disengagement 

                             Positive coping                 9                     1-5                   3.11                   0.89                   .68                   .96 

                             Coping by                       3                     1-5                   3.66                   1.06                   .56                   .98 

                             complying 

                             Avoidant coping                 3                     1-5                   3.65                   1.15                   .51                   .98 



      Note. N=247. 



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  2                                              Table 6.5. Correlations between IAPCI scales and adverse institutional living experiences 

  8 



                          IAPCI Scales           Years in      SPSA-I        SPSA-I        SPSA-I          IAS          CTQ-I         CTQ-I         CTQ-I         CTQ-I         CTQ-I         CTQ-I 

                                                Institution     Total        Severe        Severe        Specific       Total       Physical       Sexual      Emotional      Physical     Emotional 

                                                               severe      institutional institutional Institutional                 abuse         abuse         abuse         neglect       neglect 

                                                             institutional  physical       sexual         abuse 

                                                               abuse         abuse         abuse 



       Past          Traumatization                 .05          .26           .32           .11           .42           .47           .45           .12           .59           .38           .09 

                     Re-enactment                  -.06          .40           .19           .39           .37           .39           .31           .35           .28           .15           .06 

                     Spiritual                     -.08          .21           .19           .14           .23           .21           .24           .10           .17           .16           .02 

                     disengagement 

                     Positive coping               -.24          -.13          -.23          .00           .12           -.07          .02           .04           -.03          -.09          -.26 

                     Coping by complying           -.09          -.16          -.06          -.17          -.02          -.09          -.01          -.14          -.01          -.04          -.03 

                     Avoidant coping               -.05          .09           .01           .11           .18           .14           .13           .10           .15           .03           .00 



       Present       Traumatization                 .11          .30           .27           .20           .29           .41           .32           .23           .38           .23           .13 

                     Re-enactment                   .04          .24           .10           .24           .10           .27           .13           .28           .15           .13           .04 

                     Spiritual                     -.03          .15           .04           .17           .15           .22           .15           .15           .16           .21           .01 

                     disengagement 

                     Positive coping               -.09          -.08          -.11          -.03          .13           -.04          -.01          .00           .03           .04           -.21 

                     Coping by complying           -.10          -.17          -.12          -.14          -.00          -.10          -.11          -.14          -.02          -.01          -.05 

                     Avoidant coping                .01          .08           .06           .06           .19           .13           .12           .07           .22           .04           -.08 



      Note: N=247. Pearson correlations significant at p<.01 and greater than an absolute value of .3 are in bold. CTQ-I=Childhood Trauma Questionnaire , institutional version (Bernstein, D. & Fink, L. 

      (1998).  Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire:  A  Retrospective  Self-report. Manual.  San  Antonio, TX:  The  Psychological  Cooperation).  IAS=Institutional  abuse  scale  .  SPSA=Most  severe  forms  of 

      physical and sexual abuse, intuition version. IAPCI=Institutional Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory. 



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                                             Table 6.6. Correlations between IAPCI scales and child abuse and neglect within the family 

 A 

 R 

                                                          Years       SPSA-F        SPSA-F       SPSA-F        CTQ-F        CTQ-F        CTQ-F         CTQ-F        CTQ-F        CTQ-F 

e 

p 

                              IAPCI Scales                living        Total       Severe       Severe         Total      Physical      Sexual      Emotional     Physical     Emotional 

o 

 r                                                         with        severe       family        family                    abuse         abuse        abuse        neglect      neglect 

t 

 V                                                        family       family      physical       sexual 

o 

 l 

                                                          before       abuse         abuse        abuse 

 . 

 V                                                         16y 



                                                          N=246        N=121         N=121        N=121        N=121         N=121        N=121        N=121        N=121         N=121 



       Past         Traumatization                         -.15          .04          .01           .07          .05          .01          .07           .13          .02          -.08 

                    Re-enactment                            .02          .01          .06          -.10          .01          .07          -.07          -.12         .01          -.00 

                    Spiritual disengagement                 .06          -.02         -.03          .01          -.05         -.01          .00          -.08         -.12         -.02 

                    Positive coping                         .17          -.14         -.14         -.06          -.15         -.23         -.03          -.13         -.10         -.18 

                    Coping by complying                    -.04          -.22         -.14         -.25         -.13          -.22         -.19         -.14          -.01         -.10 

                    Avoidant coping                        -.22          -.13         -.20          .07          .05          -.02         .10           .05          .02          .04 



       Present      Traumatization                         -.33          .14          .09           .16          .27          .17           .18          .29          .18           .21 

                    Re-enactment                           -.22          .11          .10           .07          .16          .16          .06           .14          .13          .10 

                    Spiritual disengagement                -.12          .07          .10          -.04          .08          .13          -.06          .10          .03          .01 

                    Positive coping                         .04          -.14         -.16         -.03          -.07         -.08         -.03          -.01         -.09         -.07 

                    Coping by complying                    -.09          -.04         -.09          .08          .10          .04          .11           .13          .13          .02 

                    Avoidant coping                        -.26          .40          .02           .05          .13          .11           .09          .13          .08           .08 



      Note:  Pearson  correlations  significant  at  p<.01  and  greater  than  .3  are  in  bold.  CTQ-F=Childhood  Trauma  Questionnaire,  family  version  (Bernstein,  D.  &  Fink,  L.  (1998).  Childhood  Trauma 

      Questionnaire: A Retrospective Self-report. Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Cooperation). SPSA-F=Most severe forms of physical and sexual abuse, family version. IAPCI=Institutional 

     Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory. 



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  3                                                          Table 6.7. Correlations between IAPCI scales and indices of adult adjustment 

  0 



                                                       Total          LPC            GAF            Total           SES         Number of         KMS            ECRI           ECRI            KPS         WHOQOL 

                             IAPCI Scales           number of         Total         Global         trauma                         failed         Marital       Anxiety       Avoidance       Parental        100 UK 

                                                   current and      number       Functioning     symptoms                      relationships  satisfaction                                  satisfaction    Total QoL 

                                                     lifetime         of life                      on TSI 

                                                   psychological    problems 

                                                    disorders 

                                                      N=247          N=247          N=235           N=247          N=241          N=217          N=136          N=247          N=247           N=212          N=247 



        Past           Traumatization                   .19            .10            -.15           .32            -.08            .04            .01            .24            .12            .04            -.21 

                       Re-enactment                     .19            .50            -.18           .40            -.13           -.02            .05            .20            .19            .12            -.23 

                       Spiritual disengagement          .01            .10            -.03           .10            -.02            .04            .05            .06            .01            .05            -.05 

                       Positive coping                 -.05            .03            .15           -.03            .13            -.05            .14           -.03           -.19            .16            .19 

                       Coping by complying             -.01           -.03            -.10           .07            .01             .03           -.09            .07           -.02           -.05            -.01 

                       Avoidant coping                  .14           -.08            -.09           .09            -.08           -.06            .07            .11            .06            .08             .03 



        Present        Traumatization                   .32            .18            -.38           .64            -.06            .09           -.20            .44            .30           -.07            -.57 

                       Re-enactment                     .32            .39            -.44           .63            -.09            .15           -.10            .34            .16           -.17            -.57 

                       Spiritual disengagement          .09            .11            -.25           .20            -.11            .07           -.08            .06            .14           -.02            -.19 

                       Positive coping                  .03           -.04            .14           -.07            .14            -.16            .30            .04           -.26            .08             .36 

                       Coping by complying             -.01           -.17            .01            .01            .16            -.08           -.01            .09           -.09            .10            -.03 

                       Avoidant coping                  .17            .09            -.19           .23            .02            -.02           -.07            .16            .12            .00            -.15 



       Note: Pearson correlations significant at p<.01 and greater than .3 are in bold. LPC=Life problems checklist. GAF=Global assessment of functioning scale (Luborsky, L. (1962). Clinicians' Judgements 

      of Mental Health. Archives of General Psychiatry, 7, 407–417).TSI=Trauma Symptom Inventory (Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources). 

      SES=Socio Economic Status (O’Hare, A., Whelan, C.T., & Commins, P. (1991). The development of an Irish census-based social class scale.  The Economic and Social Review, 22, 135-156). 

       KMS=Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (Schumm, W.R., Paff-Bergen, L.A., Hatch, R.C., Obiorah, F.C., Copeland, J.M., Meens, L.D., Bugaighis, M.A. (1986) Concurrent and discriminant validity 

      of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 48, 381-387). ECRI=Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (Brennan, K., Clark, C., & Shaver, P. (1998). Self- 

      report measure of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In J. Simpson & W. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close Relationships (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press). KPS=Kansas 

       Parenting Satisfaction Scale (James, D. E., Schumm, W. R., Kennedy, C. E., Grigsby, C. C., Shectman, K. L., Nichols, C. W. (1985). Characteristics of the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale 

      among two samples of married parents. Psychological Reports, 57, 163-169. WHOQOL 100 UK= World Health Organization Quality of Life 100 UK (Skevington, S. (2005). World Health Organization 

       Quality of Life 100 UK Version. Bath, UK: WHO Centre for the Study of Quality of Life, University of Bath). 



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        Table 6.8. Scale scores from past and present versions of the IAPCI of 4 groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions and 

A                                                                entered under different circumstances. 

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o 

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                                                                                                             ANOVA                          ANOVA 

t 

V 

o                                                     Group       Group        Group       Group          F         Group       Groups        Time       Groups 

l 

.                                                        1           2           3            4                      Diffs         X 

V                                                      12+y        5-11y       5-11y         <4y                                 Time 



                                                                   Fam         Court 



                                                      N=110        N=67        N=22         N=48 



      Past traumatization                   M          4.23         4.17        3.86        4.19         2.26         NS          2.07      213.60***     1.49 

                                           SD          0.59         0.70        0.92        0.49 



      Present traumatization                M          3.30         3.29        3.10        3.02         1.36         NS 

                                           SD          0.90         0.91        0.76        0.90 



      Past re-enactment                     M          2.42         2.50        2.76        2.56         1.62         NS          0.81      187.41***     1.07 

                                           SD          0.62         0.78        0.76        0.70 



      Present re-enactment                  M          1.70         1.65        1.80        1.67         0.27         NS 

                                           SD          0.65         0.62        0.70        0.75 



      Past spiritual disengagement          M          2.88         2.91        2.89        3.09         0.85         NS          0.74      17.59***      0.38 

                                           SD          0.76         0.86        0.63        0.78 



      Present spiritual disengagement       M          3.19         3.20        3.37        3.22         0.31         NS 

                                           SD          0.84         0.77        0.78        0.78 



      Past positive coping                  M          2.22         2.53        2.89        2.59        5.79***     3>2>1         3.41      79.91***      2.88* 

                                           SD          0.72         0.75        0.99        0.93 



      Present positive coping               M          3.03         3.15        3.07        3.26         0.79         NS 

                                           SD          0.90         0.77        1.15        0.90 



      Past coping by complying              M          4.53         4.61        4.56        4.63         0.19         NS          0.40      120.86***     0.81 

                                           SD          0.85         0.74        0.68        0.76 

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 3                                                                                                                       One way                              4X2 

 2 

                                                                                                                         ANOVA                              ANOVA 



                                                            Group         Group         Group         Group           F          Group        Groups         Time         Groups 

                                                               1             2             3            4                         Diffs           X 

                                                             12+y         5-11y         5-11y          <4y                                      Time 

                                                                           Fam          Court 



                                                            N=110          N=67         N=22          N=48 



      Present coping by complying                M           3.58          3.78          3.48          3.78          0.92          NS 

                                                SD           1.09          1.03          0.99          1.06 



      Past avoidant coping                       M           3.82          4.18          3.52          3.90          2.11          NS           0.43         7.81**         2.08 

                                                SD           1.28          1.02          1.51          1.18 



      Present avoidant coping                    M           3.61          3.78          3.29          3.71          1.08          NS 

                                                SD           1.11          1.14          1.34          1.16 



     Note: Group 1 spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered before age 5. Group 2 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred because parents couldn’t cope or died. 

     Group 3 spent 5-11 years in an institution and placement occurred through the courts. Group 4 spent 4 or fewer years in institutions. To aid profiling all scales have a possible range of 1-5 which 

     was obtained for each scale by summing items and dividing by the number of items. One-way ANOVAs were used to compare groups on either past or present versions of each scale and Scheffe 

     post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns were used to identify significant (p<.05) intergroup differences. 4X2, Groups X Time repeated measures ANOVAs were used to test the 

     significance of changes from past to present on each scale. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. 



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       Table 6.9. Scale scores from past and present versions of the IAPCI of 4 groups of participants who reported different types of worst abusive experiences in 

A                                                                            institutions. 

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o 

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                                                                                                             ANOVA                          ANOVA 

t 

V 

o                                                     Group       Group        Group       Group          F         Group       Groups       Time       Groups 

l 

.                                                       1            2           3            4                      Diffs         X 

V                                                      P+S           P           S           E                                   Time 



                                                       N=23        N=99        N=40         N=85 



      Past traumatisation                   M          4.45        4.19         4.19        4.11        1.68         NS          0.45      209.81***      2.74* 

                                           SD          0.52        0.65         0.78        0.60 



      Present traumatisation                M          3.58        3.29         3.21        3.07        2.20         NS 

                                           SD          0.80        0.88         0.88        0.92 



      Past re-enactment                     M          2.93        2.43         2.76        2.34       7.07***     1,3>2,4       1.70      199.26***     5.81** 

                                           SD          0.70        0.62         0.80        0.66 



      Present re-enactment                  M          1.91        1.67         1.76        1.62        1.33         NS 

                                           SD          0.60        0.66         0.81        0.60 



      Past spiritual disengagement          M          3.17        2.95         3.02        2.80        1.75         NS          0.19       15.70***      2.38 

                                           SD          0.68        0.80         0.77        0.78 



      Present spiritual disengagement       M          3.41        3.19         3.37        3.12        1.37         NS 

                                           SD          0.78        0.78         0.77        0.85 



      Past positive coping                  M          2.24        2.42         2.66        2.40        1.47         NS          0.37      111.99***      1.85 

                                           SD          0.74        0.78         1.04        0.76 



      Present positive coping               M          2.99        3.13         3.34        3.01        1.45         NS 

                                           SD          0.83        0.81         1.01        0.93 



      Past coping by complying              M          4.39        4.74         4.38        4.54        2.83*        2>3         1.30      116.27***     5.86** 

                                           SD          1.07        0.47         0.95        0.87 

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 4 

                                                                                                                              ANOVA                               ANOVA 



                                                              Group          Group         Group         Group             F          Group         Groups          Time        Groups 

                                                                 1              2             3             4                          Diffs           X 

                                                                P+S            P              S             E                                        Time 



                                                               N=23          N=99           N=40          N=85 



       Present coping by complying                 M            3.61          3.96          3.38           3.46         4.89**        2>4>3 

                                                  SD            0.76          0.89          1.15           1.18 



       Past avoidant coping                        M            4.46          3.91          3.87           3.78          1.94           NS            0.44         8.88**         2.45 

                                                  SD            0.84          1,30          1.32           1.16 



       Present avoidant coping                     M            4.03          3.69          3.74           3.45          1.85           NS 

                                                  SD            1.02          1.17          1.11           1.16 



      Note: Group 1 contained 23 cases where the worst thing reported was severe physical and sexual abuse. Group 2 contained 99 cases where the worst thing they had experienced was severe 

      physical abuse. Group 3 contained 40 cases where the worst thing they had experienced was severe sexual abuse. Group 4 contained 85 cases where the worst thing they had experienced was 

      severe emotional abuse. Participant’s statements were classified as severe physical abuse if the person reported physical violence, beating, slapping, or being physically injured, but not having 

      medical attention withheld. Statements were classified as severe sexual abuse if the person reported the words sexual abuse or mentioned rape; genital, anal or oral sex; masturbation; or other 

      coercive sexual activities involving either staff or older pupils. Statements were classified as severe physical and sexual abuse if they involved both severe physical abuse and severe sexual abuse 

      as defined earlier. Statements of actions involving humiliation, degradation, severe lack of care, withholding medical treatment, witnessing the traumatization of other pupils and adverse experiences 

      that were not clearly classifiable as severe sexual or physical abuse were classified as severe emotional abuse. Inter-rater agreement greater than 90% was achieved for a sample of 10% of 

      statements. To aid profiling all scales have a possible range of 1-5 which was obtained for each scale by summing items and dividing by the number of items. One-way ANOVAs were used to 

      compare groups on either past or present versions of each scale and Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns were used to identify significant (p<.05) intergroup differences. 

      4X2, Groups X Time repeated measures ANOVAs were used to test the significance of changes from past to present on each scale. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. 



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         Table 6.10. Scale scores from past and present versions of the IAPCI of 3 groups of participants who had different numbers of psychological diagnoses. 

A 

R                                                                                                         One way                              3X2 

e 

p 

                                                                                                           ANOVA                             ANOVA 

o 

r 

t                                                          Group 1      Group 2       Group 3          F       Group Diffs     Groups         Time        Groups 

V 

o 

                                                             4+            1-3           0                                        X 

l 

.                                                        Diagnoses     Diagnoses     Diagnoses                                  Time 

V                                                           N=83         N=119          N=45 



      Past traumatization                       M            4.39         4.16          3.90        9.39***        1>2,3        9.19***     297.35***     29.82*** 

                                                SD           0.52         0.63          0.78 



      Present traumatization                    M            3.73         3.12          2.60        30.91***      1>2>3 

                                                SD           0.68         0.83          0.91 



      Past re-enactment                         M            2.87         2.35          2.21        21.74***       1>2,3         1.58       214.63***     61.31*** 

                                                SD           0.78         0.57          0.57 



      Present re-enactment                      M            2.16         1.53          1.23        48.90***      1>2>3 

                                                SD           0.75         0.49          0.32 



      Past spiritual disengagement              M            3.01         2.86          2.95          0.87          NS           1.12        14.16***       1.05 

                                                SD           0.77         0.78          0.80 



      Present spiritual disengagement           M            3.29         3.22          3.06          1.28          NS 

                                                SD           0.75         0.78          0.95 



      Past positive coping                      M            2.31         2.49          2.52          1.57          NS          3.10*       113.41***       4.31* 

                                                SD           0.90         0.76          0.81 



      Present positive coping                   M            2.88         3.31          3.01         6.14**         1<2 

                                                SD           0.89         0.85          0.91 



      Past coping by complying                  M            4.64         4.54          4.56          0.38          NS           2.49       140.28***       0.31 

                                                SD           0.73         0.80          0.84 



      Present coping by complying               M            3.50         3.73          3.78          1.48          NS 

 2 

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 6 

                                                                                                                      ANOVA                                 ANOVA 



                                                                 Group 1        Group 2        Group 3            F         Group Diffs      Groups           Time         Groups 

                                                                    4+             1-3             0                                            X 

                                                                Diagnoses      Diagnoses      Diagnoses                                       Time 

                                                                   N=83          N=119           N=45 



       Past avoidant coping                          M             3.94           3.99            3.62           1.52           NS             1.11          11.43**         3.97* 

                                                     SD            1.32           1.15           1.22 



       Present avoidant coping                       M             3.82           3.70            3.17          5.14**          1>3 

                                                     SD            1.10           1.06           1.35 



      Note: Group 1 had four or more current or lifetime diagnoses as assessed with the SCID I (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon, M., and Williams, J. (1996). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis 

     I Disorders, Clinician Version (SCID-I). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press) and SCID II (First, M., Spitzer, R., Gibbon M., & Williams, J. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV 

     Personality Disorders, (SCID-II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press). Group 2 had 1-3 current or lifetime diagnoses. Group 3 had no diagnoses. To aid profiling all scales have a possible 

     range of 1-5, which was obtained for each scale by summing items and dividing by the number of items. One-way ANOVAs were used to compare groups on either past or present versions of 

     each scale and Scheffe post hoc tests for comparing groups with unequal Ns were used (except where otherwise stated) to identify significant (p<.05) inter-group differences except for 3X2, Groups 

     X Time repeated measures ANOVAs were used to test the significance of changes from past to present on each scale. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. 



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                                                     Table 6.11. Fit indices for the model of institutional abuse 

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o 

r 

t 

V                                          2 

o                                         ?                                                                         31.25 

l 

.                                         df                                                                         11 

V                                         p                                                                          .00 



                  RMSEA - Root Mean Square Error of Approximation                                                    .08 

                               90% Confidence Interval                                                             (.05-.12) 

                               IFI - Incremental Fit Index                                                           .96 

                              CFI - Comparative Fit Index                                                            .97 

                   SRMR - Standardized Root-Mean-Square Residual                                                     .07 

                              GFI – Goodness of fit index                                                            .97 



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 3                                            Table 6.12. Standardised regression coefficients from the model of institutional abuse. 

 8 



                                              Total CTQ-I         Years living         Present           Present re-           Present            Present          Total current 

                                                                  with family       traumatization       enactment            spiritual       positive coping       and lifetime 

                                                                   before 16                                               disengagement                            diagnoses 



      Traumatization                              .38*                -.22* 

      Re-enactment                                 .11                                    .63* 

      Spiritual Disengagement                     -.07 

      Positive Coping                             -.07                .15 

      Total Current and Present                   .15*                                    .00                .59* 

      Diagnoses 

      Total WHO-QoL 100                                               -.02               -.19*               -.34*               .03                .31*                -.26* 



     Note: *p<.05 



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            Figure 6.1. Changes in traumatization and positive coping from past to present in three groups of 

                    survivors of institutional living with differing numbers of psychological disorders. 



                               Figure 6.2. A path diagram of the model of institutional abuse 



          Part 7 Conclusions 



3.341     Past research on child abuse, institutional living, institutional abuse and clerical abuse suggests 

          that children brought up in institutions and abused as children may show a range of problems as 

          adults. These include anxiety, mood, substance use and personality disorders, relationship and 

          parenting problems, occupational and health difficulties, self-harm and an impoverished quality of 

          life, as detailed in Part 1. The negative effects of such early adversity is probably related to the 

          variety,  severity,  frequency,  and  duration  of  abusive  experiences.  The  long-term  outcomes  of 

          child abuse may be mediated by critical psychological processes such as traumatization, betrayal, 

          disrespect for authority, stigmatization, powerlessness, avoidance of reminders of trauma and re- 

          enactment of negative experiences on self or others. If the negative childhood experiences occur 

          within the context of a religious institution, religious disengagement may also occur. The negative 

          effects  of adversity   may   be  attenuated   by  the use   of functional  coping   strategies  such  as 

          developing  social  support,  mastering  skills,  and  effectively  planning  escape  from  adversity.  In 



          CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                     239 


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          contrast,  the  adverse   effects  of  negative  experiences    may   be  exacerbated    by  the  use   of 

          dysfunctional   coping  strategies  such   as  overcompliance.    However,    in Ireland  no  large-scale 

          studies  have  been  conducted  to  investigate  whether  or  not  these  tentative  findings  from  the 

          international literature reflect the experiences of survivors of institutional living in Ireland. 



          Aims of the current study 



3.342     The overarching aim of the present study was to profile subgroups of adult survivors of institutional 

          child  abuse  on  demographic,  historical  and  psychological  variables  with  a  view  to  detecting 

          associations between recollections of institutional living and current adjustment. In particular the 

          aim was to profile subgroups of survivors defined by: (1) the number of years spent in institutions 

          and the circumstances under which admission occurred; (2) the worst type of institutional abuse 

          experienced; and (3) the number and type of psychological disorders displayed. An additional aim 

          was to develop a way to assess psychological processes and coping strategies associated with 

          institutional abuse, and establish the correlates of these processes and coping strategies. 



          Methodology 



3.343     Between    May  2005    and  February  2006    just  under  250   adult  survivors of  institutional  living 

          recruited  through  CICA  were  interviewed  in  Ireland  and  the  UK  by  a  team  which  included  29 

          trained interviewers, all of whom had degrees in psychology. The overall exclusion rate was 26% 

          (326 of 1267). The participation rate was 20% (246 of 1267). The response rate for the study was 

          26% (246 of 941). (This low response rate is not unusual. A response rate of 9% was obtained in 

          the  Time   to  Listen Report   on  Confronting   Child  Sexual   Abuse    by  Catholic  Clergy  (Goode, 

          McGee & O’Boyle, 2003)). 



3.344     The sample of participants interviewed was not representative of all CICA attenders, or indeed of 

          adult survivors of institutional living. It is probable that participants were better adjusted than CICA 

          attenders who did not take part, because the old and the ill were excluded from the study. The 

          interview protocol covered demographic characteristics, history of family and institutional living, 

          recollections of child abuse within the family and institutions, psychological processes associated 

          with institutional life, coping strategies used to deal with institutional life, current trauma symptoms, 

          current and past diagnoses of psychological and personality disorders, relationships with partners 

          and children, adult attachment style, main life problems, current quality of life, and global level of 

          functioning. Interviews were conducted in an ethical way that safeguarded participants’ wellbeing. 

          Data were managed in a way to safeguard participants’ anonymity. 



          Summary of main results 



          Profile of overall sample 



3.345     Demographic characteristics. The 247 participants in this study included roughly equal numbers 

          of men and women of about 60 years of age, who had entered institutions run by nuns or religious 

          brothers due to family adversity or petty criminality. Participants had spent an average of 5.4 years 

          living with their families before entering an institution and on average spent 10 years living in an 

          institution. The majority were of lower socioeconomic status and low educational attainment. The 

          majority had been, or were currently married or in a long-term relationships, with a high rate of 

          relationship stability. Most married participants had children, with three children being the average, 

          and most had brought up their own children. 



3.346     Institutional abuse. On the institutional version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, more 

          than 90% of participants were classified as having experienced institutional physical and emotional 

          child abuse and about half as having experienced institutional child sexual abuse. More than 90% 

          were classified as having experienced physical and emotional neglect within institutions. For about 

          40%  of  participants,  severe  physical  abuse  was  the  worst  thing  that  happened  to  them  in  an 



          240                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2751-----------------------

           institution. For a further third it was humiliation and degradation. For 16% it was sexual abuse and 

           for about   a  tenth  it was   combined     physical   and  sexual   abuse.   Worst    institutional abusive 

           experiences began at about 9 years and lasted for 5 about years. 



 3.347     Family-based child abuse. On the family version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire just 

           over a third of those who had memories of having lived with their families reported family-based 

           child abuse or neglect. 



 3.348     Life  problems.  All  participants  had  experienced  one  or  more  significant  life  problems.  Mental 

           health problems, unemployment and substance use were the three most common difficulties and 

           were reported by a third to three quarters of participants. 



 3.349     Strengths. Self-reliance, optimism, work and skills were the most frequently reported sources of 

           personal strength and factors that helped participants face life challenges. 



 3.350     Psychological disorders. About four fifths of participants at some point in their life had had a 

           psychological disorder and only a fifth had never had any psychological disorder. Anxiety disorders 

           were the most common, followed by mood disorders, followed by substance use disorders, and 

           personality disorders were the least common. 



 3.351     Trauma    symptoms.      The   majority   of participants   showed    clinically significant  post-traumatic 

           symptomatology      on  the  Trauma     Symptom     Inventory,   indicative  of  continuing   post-traumatic 

           adjustment difficulties. 



 3.352     Adult attachment styles. On the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory more than four 

           fifths  of  participants  were  classified  as  having  an  insecure  adult  attachment  style,  indicative  of 

           having  problems making  and  maintaining satisfying  intimate  relationships.  A fearful  attachment 

           style characterized by high interpersonal anxiety and avoidance was  by far the most common. 

           Less than a fifth of cases were classified as having a secure adult attachment style. 



           Comparison of CICA survivors and normal populations 



 3.353     The overall rates of psychological disorders among survivors of institutional living in the present 

           study, were far higher, and in most cases double those found in normal community populations 

           in major international epidemiological studies. 



           Correlates of institutional abuse 



 3.354     Institutional sexual abuse was associated with current post-traumatic symptomatology and major 

           life problems. 



           Heterogeneity among survivors 



 3.355     Adult  survivors   of  institutional living  were   not  a   homogenous      group,   and   subgroups    had 

           distinctive profiles. 



           Males and females 



 3.356     Male and female participants had different profiles. Male participants spent longer living with their 

           families before entering institutions and fewer years in institutions. More entered institutions run 

           by religious brothers or priests for petty crime and left because their sentence was over, while 

           more  females  lived  in  institutions  run  by  nuns.  Male  participants  achieved  a  higher  SES  than 

           females and more had children who spent time living separately from them with the child’s other 

           parent.  While  worst  abusive  experiences  began  at  an  older  age,  for  male  participants,  they 

           reported more institutional sexual abuse. While female participants had significantly more current 

           panic  disorder  with  agoraphobia,  significantly  more  male  participants  had  lifetime  diagnoses  of 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                         241 


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           alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders,  especially      alcohol  dependence.  Male  participants  had 

           significantly  higher  numbers  of  life  problems,  but  also  higher  levels  of  global  functioning  and 

           marital satisfaction than females. 



           Older and younger participants 



3.357      Older  participants  in  their  60s  and  younger  participants  in  their  50s  had  distinct  profiles.  More 

           older participants left their institutions because they were too old to stay on and more were now 

           retired. They had longer relationships with their current partners and were older when their first 

           children  were   born.  Younger    participants  reported   greater   institutional, physical,  sexual   and 

           emotional  abuse.  More  had  current  anxiety,  mood  and  personality  disorders,  especially  PTSD, 

           generalized  anxiety  disorder  and  avoidant  personality  disorder.  Younger  participants  had  more 

           trauma symptoms, adult life problems, a lower quality of life and lower level of global functioning 

           compared with older participants. 



           Participants from the CICA confidential and investigation committees 



3.358      Participants from the confidential and investigation committees had distinct profiles. Participants 

           from  the  confidential  committee  had  spent  fewer  years  with  their  families  before  entering  an 

           institution and more years in institutions run by nuns. More entered because they were illegitimate 

           and left because they were too old to stay on. They were younger when their worst experiences 

           began. More had maintained stable long-term relationships with their partners and provided their 

           own children with  a stable family in which to  grow up. More participants from  the investigation 

           committee entered intuitions run by religious brothers or priests through the courts for petty crime 

           and left because their sentences were over. They reported greater institutional sexual abuse than 

           participants from the confidential committee. More participants from the investigation committee 

           had a current diagnosis of major depression. 



           Subgroups defined by duration of time in an institution and circumstances of entry 



3.359      In the analysis of four groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions 

           and  entered  under  different  circumstances,  the  most  poorly  adjusted  as  adults  were  not  those 

           who had spent longest living in institutions (more than 12 years), but rather those who had spent 

           less  time  in  institutions  (under  11  years),  entered  institutions  through  the  courts  and  reported 

           institutional sexual abuse, in addition to physical abuse within their families. These had more anti- 

           social personality disorders, substance use disorders and life problems such as unemployment 

           and criminality. What follows is a summary of the profiles of the four groups from this analysis. 



3.360      Group 1 included those who had spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered 

           before 5 years of age. They had spent the least time with their families (under one and a half 

           years) and the longest time living in institutions (about fifteen years) of any of the four groups. 

           Compared to groups 3 and 4, more were girls placed in orphanages run by nuns because they 

           were illegitimate, or because their parents had died or could not look after them. More left because 

           they were too old to stay on, and more had mixed feelings about leaving. More had experienced 

           physical  abuse  which  began  at  a  younger  age  and  persisted  longer  than  in  group  4.  Severe 

           emotional abuse was most commonly cited as the worst thing that happened to this group and it 

           began at an earlier age and lasted longer than worst experiences of other groups. Compared with 

           groups  3  and  4,  this  group  reported  fewer  psychological  disorders  and  life  problems.  They 

           identified  relationships  with  friends,  self-reliance,  optimism,  and  their  work  and  skills  as  the 

           sources of their strength. 



3.361      Group 2 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institutions because of family 

           problems. Participants in this group entered institutions run predominantly by nuns because their 

           parents could not cope or died, and left when they were too old to stay. Compared with groups 3 

           and 4, more members of group 2 were female, younger when their most severe form of sexual 



           242                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


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           abuse began, and more identified severe emotional abuse as the worst thing that had happened 

          to them. Compared with group 4 more identified self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

           as the source of their strength. 



3.362      Group 3 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institution and entered through 

          the  courts.  Compared  with  groups  1  and  2,  more  members  of  this  group  were  male,  lived  in 

           institutions run by religious brothers or priests, and were survivors of institutional sexual abuse. 

           Compared  to  the  other  three  groups  they  identified  sexual  abuse  as  the  worst  thing  that  had 

           happened  to  them,  and  more  had  experienced  physical  abuse  within  their  families.  Compared 

          with  groups  1  and  2,  this  group  had  more  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders,  antisocial 

           personality  disorders,  violent  and  non-violent  crime,  imprisonment  for  violent  and  non-violent 

           crime, and unemployment. For this group, their self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

          were identified as the main sources of their strength in adulthood, compared with group 4. 



3.363      Group 4 included participants who had spent 4 or fewer years in institution. Participants in 

          this group spent the most time with their families (more than ten and a half years) and the shortest 

          time living in an institution (just under three years) compared with the other three groups. Most 

          were boys placed in institutions run by religious brothers or priests because of petty crime and 

           left because their short sentences were over, or because their families wanted them back, and 

          few  had mixed  feelings about  leaving. Institutional  sexual abuse  was the  form of  maltreatment 

          that distinguished this group, and compared with groups 1 and 2, they showed more alcohol and 

           substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders, non-violent crime, imprisonment for non- 

          violent crime and unemployment. Their relationships with their partners was identified as the main 

           source of their strength in adulthood. 



           Subgroups defined by worst form of institutional abuse 



3.364      In the analysis of groups of participants who reported suffering differing types of worst abusive 

           experiences in institutions, the most poorly adjusted as adults were not those who reported severe 

           combined physical and sexual abuse, but rather, those who pinpointed severe sexual abuse as 

          the worst thing that had happened to them while living in an institution. In this analysis, the best 

           adjusted were those who had suffered severe emotional abuse. What follows is a summary of the 

           profiles of the four groups from this analysis. 



3.365      Group 1 included participants for whom severe sexual and physical abuse was the worst 

          thing they had experienced. Participants in this group had experienced more physical and sexual 

           institutional abuse than at least two of the other 3 groups (in this analysis). They had spent less 

          time with their families before entering an institution than group 3. Like members of group 3, more 

           had children who spent some time living separately with the child’s other parent. Compared with 

           groups  2  and  4,  more  had  a  current  diagnosis  of  post-traumatic  stress  disorder  (PTSD)  and 

           multiple trauma symptoms. 



3.366      Group 2 included participants for whom severe physical abuse was the worst thing they 

           had experienced. Participants in this group had the lowest educational achievement, were older 

          than  groups  1  and  3  (in  this  analysis),  and  more  had  put  their  own  children  up  for  adoption. 

           Compared with group 3, their worst abusive experience had lasted longer. Like group 4, fewer 

           had PTSD than groups 1 and 3, and they had fewer life problems than group 3. 



3.367      Group 3 included participants for whom severe sexual abuse was the worst thing they had 

           experienced. Compared with group 4 (in this analysis), more participants in group 3 were male 

           and were admitted through the courts to institutions run by religious brothers for petty crime. Like 

           group 1, more had children who spent time with their other parent who lived separately compared 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                       243 


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           to  group  4.  Also,  compared  to  group  4,  more  had  PTSD,  multiple  trauma  symptoms,  lifetime 

           alcohol and substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders and multiple life problems. 



3.368      Group 4 included participants for whom severe emotional abuse was the worst thing they 

           had experienced. Compared to group 3 (in this analysis), more participants in this group were 

           female  and  on  average  had  spent  the  longer  living  in  institutions  run  by  nuns.  Their  worst 

           experiences began at an earlier age than any other group and more had mixed feelings about 

           leaving. 



           The association between sexual abuse and outcome 



3.369      In the analysis of groups of participants who had spent different amounts of time in institutions 

           and entered under different circumstances, the most poorly adjusted as adults were those who 

           had  spent  a  moderate  amount  of  time  in  institutions  and  who  had  suffered  institutional  sexual 

           abuse.  In  the  analysis  of  groups  of  participants  who  reported  suffering  differing  types  of  worst 

           abusive experiences in institutions, the most poorly adjusted included those who pinpointed severe 

           sexual abuse as the worst thing that had happened to them while living in an institution. Thus, 

           institutional sexual abuse was associated in both analyses with a particularly poor outcome. 



           Profiles associated with patterns of adult psychological disorders 



3.370      There was an association between having psychological disorders and reporting both institutional 

           and  family-based  child  abuse  and  neglect.  Certain  patterns  of  psychological  disorders  were 

           associated  with  institutional  abuse  alone,  and  other  patterns  were  associated  with  institutional 

           family-based child abuse and neglect. For participants with multiple co-morbid diagnoses, and for 

           those   with  mood    disorders,   greater   institutional, but  not  family-based     physical,  sexual   and 

           emotional  abuse  was  reported.  Participants  with  PTSD,  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders, 

           avoidant and antisocial personality disorder reported both institutional and family-based abuse or 

           neglect. Participants with multiple diagnoses had the poorest adult psychological adjustment and 

           those with  no diagnoses  were the  best adjusted.  Subgroups selected  by diagnosis  showed an 

           intermediate level of adult psychological adjustment between these extremes. What follows are 

           brief profiles of groups with different patterns or types of psychological disorders. 



3.371      Multiple    comorbid     diagnoses.      Participants   with   4  or   more   diagnoses     reported    greater 

           institutional sexual and emotional abuse (but not more family-based abuse) than participants with 

           fewer  diagnoses.  Participants  with  4  or  more  diagnoses  had  more  trauma  symptoms  and  life 

           problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning,  than  participants  with  1-3 

           diagnoses,    who   in  turn  were   less  well  adjusted   than   participants  with   no  diagnoses.    More 

           participants with 4 or more diagnoses had a fearful adult attachment style, and fewer had secure 

           or dismissive adult attachment styles. On average more participants  with 4 or more diagnoses 

           were in their 50s compared with those with no diagnoses who where were in their 60s. Also, more 

           participants with 4 or more diagnoses were unemployed and of lower SES than participants with 

           fewer diagnoses. 



3.372      Mood disorders. Participants with mood disorders, more than half of whom had co-morbid anxiety 

           disorders,  reported  greater  institutional  sexual  and  emotional  abuse  and  greater  institutional 

           severe  physical  and  sexual  abuse  (but  not  family-based  child abuse)  than  participants  with  no 

           diagnoses. Participants with mood disorders had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and 

           a lower quality of life and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. More 

           participants  with  mood  disorders  had  a  fearful  adult  attachment  style,  and  fewer  had  a  secure 

           adult attachment style. On average participants with mood disorders were in their late 50s while 

           those with no diagnoses were in their 60s. Also, on average, participants with mood disorders had 

           had their first child in their mid-20s, while those with no diagnoses had their first children a couple 

           of years later. 



           244                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2755-----------------------

3.373      Posttraumatic stress disorder. Participants with PTSD, more than half of whom had other co- 

           morbid  anxiety  disorders  and  alcohol  or  substance  use  disorders,  reported  greater  institutional 

           physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and greater institutional severe physical and sexual abuse 

           than participants with no diagnoses. They also reported having experienced greater family-based 

           emotional abuse. Participants with PTSD had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a 

           lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning,  than  participants  with  no  diagnoses.  Fewer 

           participants  with  PTSD  had  a  dismissive  adult  attachment  style.  On  average  participants  with 

           PTSD were in their 50s while those with no disorders were in their 60s. 



3.374      Alcohol and substance use disorders.  Participants with alcohol and substance use disorders, 

           more than half of whom had a co-morbid anxiety  disorder, reported greater institutional sexual 

           and  emotional  abuse,  and  greater  institutional  severe  sexual  abuse  than  participants  with  no 

           diagnoses. They also reported having experienced greater family-based physical and emotional 

           abuse. Participants with alcohol and substance use disorders had more trauma symptoms and 

           life problems, and a lower quality of life and global level of functioning than participants with no 

           diagnoses. Compared with those with no diagnoses, participants with alcohol and substance use 

           disorders were younger (in their 50s not their 60s); had had their first children at a younger age 

           (in early, not their late 20s); were of lower SES; and fewer had entered an institution because 

           their parents had died. 



3.375      Avoidant personality disorder. Participants with avoidant personality disorders reported greater 

           institutional and   family-based     emotional   abuse    than   those   with  no   diagnoses.    Almost   all 

           participants with an avoidant personality disorder had a co-morbid anxiety, mood or substance 

           use disorder. Participants with avoidant personality disorder had more trauma symptoms and life 

           problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning,  than  participants  with  no 

           diagnoses. Compared to those with no diagnoses, more participants with an avoidant personality 

           disorder  had  a  fearful  adult  attachment  style  and  fewer  had  a  secure  adult  attachment  style. 

           Compared to participants with no diagnoses, participants with avoidant personality disorder were 

           younger (in their 50s, not their 60s) and more had been placed in institutions run by nuns because 

           their parents could not care for them. 



3.376      Antisocial personality disorder. Participants with antisocial personality disorder reported greater 

           institutional  sexual  abuse  than  participants  with  no  diagnoses.  All  participants  with  antisocial 

           personality disorder had co-morbid anxiety, mood or substance use disorders. Participants with 

           antisocial personality disorder had more trauma symptoms, more life problems, a lower quality of 

           life, a lower global level of functioning, and lower parental satisfaction than participants with no 

           diagnoses. Compared to those with no diagnoses, participants with antisocial personality disorder 

           were younger (in their 50s, not their 60s); had spent fewer years in institutions (5 1/2 not nearly 

           10 years); more were unemployed; and more were of low SES. 



3.377      Borderline personality disorder. Participants with borderline personality disorder and those with 

           no  diagnoses, did  not  differ  in their  reported  levels of  institutional  or  family-based child  abuse, 

           although  both  reported  a  high  level  of  child  abuse.  All  participants  with  borderline  personality 

           disorder  had  co-morbid  anxiety,  mood  or  substance  use  disorders.  Participants  with  borderline 

           personality disorders had more trauma symptoms, more life problems, a lower quality of life, a 

           lower global level of functioning, and more had a fearful adult attachment style than participants 

           with no diagnoses. Compared to those with no diagnoses, participants with borderline personality 

           disorder were younger (in their 50s, not 60s), more were unemployed, and on average reported 

           being abused from an earlier age. 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                         245 


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          Changes in institutional abuse processes from childhood to adult hood 



3.378     All  participants  reported  a  reduction  in  the  psychological  processes  of  traumatization  and  re- 

          enactment and an increase in spiritual disengagement from childhood to adult life. The three multi- 

           item  scales  developed  in  this  study  to  measure  these  constructs  were:  (1)  the traumatization 

          scale   which   assessed    negative   emotions    arising  from   abuse,   betrayal   and  loss   of trust, 

          stigmatization,   shame,   guilt, and   disrespect   of authority;  (2) the  re-enactment  scale     which 

          assessed re-enactment of abuse, powerlessness, coping by opposing and coping by using alcohol 

          and  drugs;  and  (3)  the  spiritual  disengagement  scale  which  assessed  disengagement  from 

           religious  practice  and  not  using  spiritual  coping  strategies.  Two  versions  of  these  scales  were 

          developed.  The  first  assessed  participants’  memories  of  these  processes  from  childhood.  The 

          second assessed the current experience of these processes in adulthood. 



          Changes in coping strategies from childhood to adulthood 



3.379      Participants reported an increase in the use of positive coping strategies and a reduction in the 

           use of coping by complying and avoidant coping strategies from childhood to adulthood. The three 

           multi-item  scales  developed  in  this  study  to  measure  these  constructs  were:  (1)  the  positive 

          coping scale which assessed coping through planning, skill mastery and social support; (2) the 

          coping by complying scale which assessed coping by complying with the wishes of people in 

          authority; and (3) the avoidant coping scale which assessed coping by avoiding thoughts and 

          situations  associated    with  abuse.   Two   versions   of these   scales  were   developed.    The   first 

          assessed  participants’  memories  of  using  these  coping  strategies  in  childhood.  The  second 

          assessed their current use of these coping strategies in adulthood. 



           Institutional abuse and the processes of traumatization and re-enactment 



3.380     The psychological processes of traumatization and re-enactment as experienced in adulthood or 

           remembered from childhood were associated with multiple indices of institutional abuse, but not 

          family-based  child  abuse.  Participants  for  whom  severe  physical  and  sexual  abuse,  or  severe 

          sexual abuse alone were the worst things that happened to them in institutions, reported greater 

           past  re-enactment  of  abusive  experiences,  than  those  for  whom  worst  experiences  involved 

          severe physical or emotional abuse. 



          Adult adjustment, abuse processes and coping strategies 



3.381     Traumatization  and  re-enactment  as  experienced  in  adulthood  or  remembered  from  childhood 

          were associated multiple  indices of adult adjustment  including the presence of  multiple trauma 

          symptoms, multiple adult life problems, global functioning, quality of life, interpersonal anxiety and 

           interpersonal avoidance. Participants with four or more psychological disorders reported greatest 

           past and present traumatization and re-enactment; greatest current use of avoidant coping; and 

           least current use of positive coping. Participants with no psychological disorders, reported least 

          current traumatization, re-enactment  and use of avoidant  coping, and the greatest  reduction in 

          traumatization from childhood to adulthood. However, they showed a negligible increase in the 

           use of positive coping strategies from childhood to adulthood, probably because they were using 

          these strategies throughout their lives. 



          Correlates of positive coping and time spent living with family 



3.382      Positive coping in adulthood was associated with marital satisfaction and a good quality of life. 

           Participants  who  spent  5-11  years  in  an  institution  and placement  occurred  through  the  courts 

           reported greater use of positive coping strategies in childhood, than those who spent 5-11 years 

           in  an institution  and  placement  occurred because  parents  couldn’t cope  or  died.  These in  turn 

           reported greater use of these strategies than participants who spent more than 12 years in an 

           institution  and  entered  before  age  5.  Time  spent  living  with  one’s  family  in  childhood  was  a 



          246                                                                                   CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2757-----------------------

           protective factor and was associated with reduced traumatization in adulthood, whereas severe 

           family-based child abuse was associated with avoidant coping in adulthood. 



           Correlates of dysfunctional coping 



3.383      Participants who reported that severe physical abuse was the worst thing that happened to them 

           in  institutions  reported  greatest  coping  by  complying.  Lowest  levels  of  coping  by  complying 

           occurred among those that reported that severe sexual abuse was the worst thing that happened 

           to them in institutions. For present coping by complying, intermediate between these extremes 

           was the group that reported that severe emotional abuse was the worst thing that happened to 

           them in institutions. 



           A model of institutional abuse, psychological processes and adult adjustment 



3.384      A  model  was  developed  which  shows  how  childhood  institutional  abuse  is  associated  with  the 

           processes    of  traumatization,    re-enactment     and  spiritual  disengagement,      which   in  turn  are 

           associated with adult mental health and quality of life. The model also shows how childhood years 

           within the family and current use of positive coping strategies are associated with quality of life 



           Strengths and limitations 



3.385      This study  had three main  limitations: (1)  there was a  high exclusion rate  and a  low response 

           rate;  (2)  there  was  no  control  group;  and  (3)  the  study  used  a  crossectional  not  a  longitudinal 

           design. There were also four main strengths: (1) it was the largest study of its kind conducted to 

           date; (2) an extensive reliable and valid interview protocol was used; (3) data were collected by 

           psychologists trained in using the interview protocol and (4) in the statistical analyses, steps were 

           taken to reduce type 1 error (interpreting non-significant results as significant) 



           High exclusion rate and low response rate 



3.386      About a quarter of all potential participants were excluded for various practical reasons, and only 

           about a quarter of the remaining survivors participated in the study. Because of these two factors, 

           the group of participants was not a representative sample of either typical CICA attenders or the 

           broader population of adult survivors of institutional living. This  limits the generalizability of the 

           results. We cannot say that an identical pattern of results would occur if all CICA attenders, or all 

           survivors of institutional living were interviewed. 



3.387      However, we can make an informed judgment. Those, too old, or too ill, or too disabled or without 

           fixed addresses were excluded. Thus, on balance, it is probable that the participants in the study 

           may have been slightly better adjusted than those excluded. We have no basis on which to make 

           a similar judgement about non-responders or survivors who did not attend CICA. They may be 

           better or more poorly adjusted. 



3.388      It is worth commenting on the response rate within the context of other studies. The response 

           rate  for  the  study  of  adult  survivors  of  clerical  child  abuse  in  the Time  to  Listen  Report  on 

           Confronting  Child  Sexual  Abuse  by  Catholic  Clergy was  only  9%,  and  only  7  survivors  were 

           interviewed face to face (Goode, McGee & O’Boyle, 2003). The response rate in our study was 

           almost three times this, and 240 more survivors were interviewed. Within this context, although 

           the  exclusion  and  response  rates  were  limitations,  the  current  study  has  made  a  significant 

           contribution to our knowledge about institutional abuse in Ireland. 



           No control group 



3.389      The aim of the study was to determine if there were associations between adult adjustment and 

           recollections   of institutional  abuse,   an  aim   that  could   be  achieved    by  exploring   profiles  of 

           subgroups and correlations between variables within a single group cross-sectional design. 



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3.390      However, a more powerful design involving a demographically matched control group, members 

           of which had grown up in families (not institutions), would have allowed other important questions 

           to be answered. For example, a control group design would have allowed us to answer questions 

           about whether rates of psychological disorders and levels of life problems, quality of life and so 

           forth  were  different  in  survivors  and  matched  normal  controls.  Such  a  study  would  have  been 

           beyond the resources available for the investigation, and no such studies have been published in 

           the Irish or international scientific literature. 



3.391      In  an  attempt  to  overcome  some  of  the  limitations  of  a  single  group  study,  we  included  some 

           standardized  assessment  instruments  for  which  normative  data  were  available,  such  as  the 

           Childhood    Trauma     Questionnaire     and    the   Trauma     Symptom      Checklist   and    data   from 

           epidemiological studies of normal populations. Using the norms for standardized instruments we 

           could conclude that across a range of trauma symptom scales 12-59% of cases scored above 

           clinical cut-off scores of a normative group; over 90% of cases scored above cut-off scores of a 

           normative group for physical and emotional child abuse; and just under 50% scored above the 

           cut-off score   of  a  normative    group   for  child  sexual   abuse.   Data   from   major   international 

           epidemiological studies allowed us to conclude that the prevalence of current anxiety, mood and 

           personality disorders among participants in our study was more than twice that found in normal 

           European,  North  American  or  British  populations;  and  the  prevalence  of  lifetime  diagnoses  of 

           anxiety,  mood,  and  substance  use  among  our  participants  exceeded  those  found  in  normal 

           European, North American or British populations by between 5 and 30%. 



           Cross-sectional design 



3.392      We used a cross-sectional design, with all variables being assessed at one point in time. This 

           design has major limitations. Where two variables are found to correlate significantly or where two 

           groups are found to differ significantly on a variable, the strongest inference that can validly be 

           made    is that  variables  in  these  statistical analyses    are  associated.   We   cannot   validly  infer 

           causality. That is, we cannot say, for example, that institutional abuse caused adult adjustment 

           problems. To make such an inference, a longitudinal design is required, in which cases abused 

           in institutions and a normal control group are assessed before the onset of the abuse, and later 

           in  life.  Such  a  design  was  clearly  not  viable.  From  our  cross-sectional  design,  all  that  can  be 

           concluded  is  that  some  of  the  variables  that  assessed  abuse  and  some  of  the  variables  that 

           assessed    adult  adjustment    were   associated.   Furthermore,    there   are  at least  three  possible 

           explanations that could account for this association. The abusive experiences may have caused 

           the adjustment problems. Another possibility is that adults with adjustment problems selectively 

           and inadvertently over-reported abusive experiences. A third possibility, is that some other factor 

           of which we are unaware, caused both the reporting of abusive experiences and the reporting of 

           adult adjustment problems. 



3.393      Our informed judgement, in which we have a moderate degree of confidence, is that the abusive 

           experiences caused the adult adjustment problems. But of course, we are cautious about making 

           a definitive statement in this regard. Our confidence is based partly on the similarity between our 

           findings  and  those  from  the  large  international  literature  on  child  abuse  referred  to  in  Part  1 

           (Berliner & Elliott, 2002; Carr, 2006; Carr & O’Reilly, 2004; Kolko, 2002; NCCANI & NAIC, 2004; 

           Wekerle & Wolfe, 2003). 



           Largest study of its kind 



3.394      A major strength of this study is that it is the largest study of its kind ever to be conducted. The 

           only comparable study, conducted in Canada, included 76 men aged 23-54 years (Wolfe et al. 

           2006). Our study involved 247 males and females ranging in age from 40-83 years. 



           248                                                                                     CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2759-----------------------

           Extensive reliable and valid interview protocol 



3.395      An extensive reliable and valid interview protocol was used, which allowed data on a range of 

           important  constructs  to  be  collected.  The  protocol  included  multiple  indices  of  institutional  and 

           family-based child abuse  and neglect, along with  multiple indices of adult  adjustment including 

           psychological  diagnoses,  trauma  symptoms,  life  problems,  adult  attachment  style,  marital  and 

           parenting relationships, quality of life and global functioning. 



           Qualified interviewers 



3.396      Data were collected in face-to-face interviews, not by questionnaire, and these interviews were 

           conducted by a team of psychologists all of whom had been trained in using the interview protocol. 

           Interviews were conducted in an ethical and sensitive manner. Furthermore, a subsidiary study of 

           52 cases confirmed that good inter-rater reliability was achieved for all variables. The interviewer 

           training, they style of the interviews, the and the fact that a reliable and valid protocol was used, 

           allows us to place a high level of confidence in the quality of the data collected. 



           Reduction of type 1 error 



3.397      In the statistical analyses in Parts 3-5, steps were taken to reduce type 1 error (interpreting non- 

           significant results as significant). In any set of statistical analyses where a p value is set at .05 for 

           each single test, and if 100 tests are conducted, it may be expected that 5 significant results will 

           be obtained by chance, through type 1 error. To avoid such spurious results, for single items or 

           variables,  p-values  for  t-tests,  analyses  of  variance  (ANOVAs)  and  Chi  Square  tests  were  set 

           conservatively at p<.01 (not p<.05). For continuous variables assessing child abuse multivariate 

           analyses of variance (MANOVAs) were conducted, before proceeding to ANOVAs or t-tests, since 

           this also controls for type 1 error. In MANOVAs an overall test is conducted to check if groups 

           differ  significantly  on  all  variables,  before  checking  whether  they  differ  significantly  on  each 

           individual variable (using ANOVA or t-tests). 



           Recommendations 



3.398      Recommendations arising from this research fall into four broad categories: prevention, treatment, 

           training and research. 



           Prevention 



3.399      The  first  recommendation     is  that  legislation,  policies,  practices  and  procedures  be  regularly 

           reviewed and revised to maximize protection of children and adolescents in institutional care in 

           Ireland from all forms of abuse and neglect. Specifically the Children First: National Guidelines for 

           the Protection and Welfare of Children (Department of Health and Children, 1999) require regular 

           review  and  revision  to  insure  that  they  are  being  properly  implemented  and  that  children  and 

           adolescents    in institutional  care,  and   other  forms   of  substitutive  care   in Ireland  are   being 

           adequately protected. 



           Treatment 



3.400      The second recommendation is that evidence-based psychological treatment continue to be made 

           available to adult survivors of Irish institutional abuse. Specifically the National Counselling Service 

           for  adult  survivors  of  child  abuse  in  Ireland  and  similar  appropriate  services  in  the  UK  should 

           continue to be accessible to Irish survivors of institutional abuse. Staff in such services should be 

           appropriately  qualified  and  trained  to  offer  services  to  clients with  complex  difficulties,  such  as 

           multiple co-morbid disorders including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance use disorders 

           and personality disorders. It is important the these services be evidence-based (Carr, 2006). 



           CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                         249 


----------------------- Page 2760-----------------------

           Staff training 



3.401      The third recommendation is that staff at centres which provide psychological treatment for adult 

           survivors of Irish institutional abuse have regular continuing professional education and training 

           to keep  them abreast of developments  in the field  of evidence-based treatment of  survivors of 

           childhood trauma. 



           Research 



3.402      The   fourth  recommendation        is that  research    be  conducted     to  evaluate   the   effectiveness    of 

           psychological     treatment    for  adult  survivors    of  institutional  abuse.   The    report  of  Survivors' 

           Experiences of  the National  Counselling Service  for Adults  who Experienced  Childhood Abuse 

           (Leigh et al., 2003) was an important first step in evaluating client satisfaction with the National 

           Counselling  Service.  However,  it  did  not  address  the  critical  issue  of  the  effectiveness  of  the 

           service provided. Such research is urgently required. Research is also required on levels of child 

           abuse among looked after children (including all categories of children in care and children living 

           in a variety of health, educational, correctional and social services institutions). 



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Appendix 1. Interview Protocol 



I consent to participate in this study which is being conducted by Professor Alan Carr, University 

College Dublin at the invitation of the Child Abuse Commission. 



I  understand  that  the  study  will  involve  an  interview;  that  participation  is  voluntary;  that  the 

interview will be fully confidential, that I may withdraw at any time; and that I may be invited to 

participate in a follow-up interview. 



       Signature of participant              Witnessed by interviewer                           Date 



                                           Demographic Questionnaire 



    Thank you for agreeing to do this interview. We will start with some fairly straightforward questions. 



 D1                Name                             Put case number in box 



                   Address 



                   Phone Number 



 D2                Gender                           Male 0 

                                                    Female 1 



 D3                What age are you now?            Record in years 



 D4                In what year were your           Record year 

                   born? 



 D5                How long did you live with       Record in years with 0 if never lived in 

                   your family before you lived     family 

                   in an institution? 



 D6                What institution did you 

                   enter?                           Name———————————— 

                                                    1. Orphanage 

                                                    2. Reformatory 

                                                    3. Industrial school 

                                                    4. Children’s home 

                                                    5. Boarding school 

                                                    6. Hospital 



 D7                Who ran the institution?         1. Nuns 

                                                    2. Brothers 

                                                    3. Priests 

                                                    4. Other 



 D8                Now long did you live in an      Record in years 

                   institution? 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                               255 


----------------------- Page 2766-----------------------

                                         Demographic Questionnaire 



 D9               Why did you enter an            1. I was illegitimate and given to the 

                  institution?                       orphanage 

                                                  2. My mother died in childbirth 

                                                  3. Put in by authorities for petty crime 

                                                     (theft, truancy or misdemeanour) 

                                                  4. Put in by parents because they could 

                                                     not look after me 

                                                  5. Put in by parent because other parent 

                                                     died 

                                                  6. I was sick or disabled 



 D10              Why did you leave the           1. I was too old to stay on 

                  institution?                    2. The institution closed down 

                                                  3. My short sentence was over 

                                                  4. My family wanted to take me home 

                                                  5. I ran away 

                                                  7. Other specify 



 D11              Were you happy to leave         2. Yes 

                  the institution?                 1. Mixed feelings 

                                                  0. No 



 D12              Code group                      Group 1. Raised in institution from birth 

                                                  and left when too old to stay 

                                                  Group 2. Raised by parents and put in 

                                                  institution because parents couldn’t cope 

                                                  or died and left when too old to stay 

                                                  Group 3. Raised by parents and put in 

                                                  institution by authorities because of petty 

                                                  crime and left when too old to stay 

                                                  Group 4. Raised by parents, put in 

                                                  institution and escaped or taken out within 

                                                   1-4 years 

                                                  Other: specify. 



 D13              What is your current job ?      Name of job and put SES rating in box 



 D14              What was the best job you       Name of job and put SES rating in box 

                  had since leaving school? 



                  SES Rating scale                 Unemployed                                     0 



                                                   Unskilled manual                               1 



                                                  Semi-skilled manual and farmers owning          2 

                                                  less than 30 acres 



                                                  Skilled manual and farmers owning 30-49         3 

                                                  acres 



                                                  Other non-manual and farmers owning             4 

                                                  50-99 acres 



                                                   Lower professional and lower managerial;       4 

                                                  farmers owning 100-199 acres 



                                                   Higher professional and higher                 6 

                                                  managerial; farmers owning 200 or more 

                                                  acres 



256                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2767-----------------------

                                           Demographic Questionnaire 



 D15               What was the highest              None                                              0 

                   exam 

                   you passed? (circle               Junior school exam in 5th   or 6th class (e.g.    1 



                   number)                           primary cert) 



                                                     Mid high school exam (e.g. Inter or junior        2 

                                                     cert) 



                                                     Leaving cert                                      3 



                                                     Certificate or diploma or apprenticeship          4 

                                                     exam 



                                                     Primary degree (e.g. BA)                          5 



                                                     Higher degree (e.g. MA)                           6 



 D16               Are you single or married?        Single and never married of cohabited             1 



                   (Probe and Circle number)         Single and separated from first cohabiting        2 

                                                     partner 



                                                     Single and separated from first marital           3 

                                                     partner 



                                                     Single and divorced from first married            4 

                                                     partner 



                                                     Single and separated or divorced from             5 

                                                     second or later partner 



                                                     Single and widowed                                6 



                                                     Cohabiting in second or later long term           7 

                                                     relationship 



                                                     Married in second or later marriage               8 



                                                     Cohabiting in first long term relationship        9 



                                                     Married in first long term relationship          10 



 D17               How many long term                Record number in box 

                   relationships or marriages 

                   have you had that have 

                   ended/ 



 D18               How long have you lived           Record number in box or give 0 if not in 

                   with your current partner?        relationship 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                257 


----------------------- Page 2768-----------------------

 2 

 5 

 8 



                                                                   Marital satisfaction (KMS, Schumm et al., 1986) 



        The next three questions are about your current marriage or long-term relationship. Give your answers on a 7 point scale from 1=  Extremely dissatisfied to 7=extremely 

                                               satisfied. SHOW 7 POINT SCALE (Circle 0 if the person is not in a relationship at present) 



          KMS1       How satisfied are you with your              Not         Extremely         Very       Somewhat         Mixed        Some what         Very        Extremely 

                     marriage or main relationship?            applicable    dissatisfied   dissatisfied   dissatisfied                   satisfied      satisfied      satisfied 

                                                                   0              1              2              3              4              5             6              7 



          KMS2       How satisfied are you with your              Not         Extremely         Very       Somewhat         Mixed        Some what         Very        Extremely 

                     partner as a spouse?                      applicable    dissatisfied   dissatisfied   dissatisfied                   satisfied      satisfied      satisfied 

                                                                   0              1              2              3              4              5             6              7 



          KMS3       How satisfied are you with your              Not         Extremely         Very       Somewhat         Mixed        Some what         Very        Extremely 

                     relationship with your partner?           applicable    dissatisfied   dissatisfied   dissatisfied                   satisfied      satisfied      satisfied 

                                                                   0              1              2              3              4              5             6              7 



C 

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 e 

p 

 o     The following statements concern how you feel in romantic relationships. We are interested in how you generally experience relationships, not just in what is happening in 

 r 

 t      a current relationship. Respond to each statement by indicating how much you agree or disagree with it on a 7 point scale from 1=Disagree strongly to 7=Agree strongly. 

 V 

 o                                               SHOW 7 POINT SCALE. Complete this section even if the person is not in a relationship now. 

 l 

 . 

 V           E1          I prefer not to show a partner how I feel          Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 



                         deep down.                                          strongly                            a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E2          I worry about being abandoned.                     Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                                                                             strongly                            a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E3          I am very comfortable being close to               Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                         romantic partners.                                  strongly                             a little                           a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E4          I worry a lot about my relationships.              Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                                                                             strongly                            a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E5          Just when my partner starts to get close           Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                         to me I find myself pulling away.                   strongly                            a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E6          I worry that romantic partners won't care          Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                         about me as much as I care about them.              strongly                            a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E7          I get uncomfortable when a romantic                Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                         partner wants to be very close.                     strongly                             a little                           a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E8          I worry a fair amount about losing my              Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                         partner.                                            strongly                             a little                           a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E9          I don't feel comfortable opening up to             Disagree          Disagree          Disagree           Neutral           Agree             Agree             Agree 

                         romantic partners.                                  strongly                             a little                           a little                          strongly 

  2 

  5                                                                              1                 2                3                 4                 5                6                 7 

  9 


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  2 

  6                                                Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR, Brennan, Clark, & Shaver (1998) 

  0 



       The following statements concern how you feel in romantic relationships. We are interested in how you generally experience relationships, not just in what is happening in 

        a current relationship. Respond to each statement by indicating how much you agree or disagree with it on a 7 point scale from 1=Disagree strongly to 7=Agree strongly. 

                                                 SHOW 7 POINT SCALE. Complete this section even if the person is not in a relationship now. 



             E10         I often wish that my partner's feelings for         Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

                         me were as strong as my feelings for                strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

                         him/her.                                                1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E11         I want to get close to my partner, but I            Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

                         keep pulling back.                                  strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E12         I often want to merge completely with               Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

                         romantic partners, and this sometimes               strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

                         scares them away.                                       1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E13         I am nervous when partners get too close            Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

                         to me.                                              strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E14         I worry about being alone.                          Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

                                                                             strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E15         I feel comfortable sharing my private               Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

                         thoughts and feelings with my partner.              strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 



             E16         My desire to be very close sometimes                Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

                         scares people away.                                 strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

                                                                                 1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 

 C 

 I           E17         I try to avoid getting too close to my              Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

 C 

 A                       partner.                                            strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

 R                                                                               1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 

 e 

p 

 o           E18         I need a lot of reassurance that I am               Disagree          Disagree         Disagree           Neutral            Agree             Agree            Agree 

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 V                       loved by my partner.                                strongly                             a little                            a little                          strongly 

 o 

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                                                                                 1                 2                 3                 4                 5                6                 7 

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                                              Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR, Brennan, Clark, & Shaver (1998) 

A 

R 

       The following statements concern how you feel in romantic relationships. We are interested in how you generally experience relationships, not just in what is happening in 

e      a current relationship. Respond to each statement by indicating how much you agree or disagree with it on a 7 point scale from 1=Disagree strongly to 7=Agree strongly. 

p 

o                                           SHOW 7 POINT SCALE. Complete this section even if the person is not in a relationship now. 

r 

t 

V 

o 

           E19        I find it relatively easy to get close to my   Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

l 

.                     partner.                                       strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

V                                                                        1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E20        Sometimes I feel that I force my partners      Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                      to show more feeling, more commitment.         strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E21        I find it difficult to allow myself to depend  Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                      on romantic partners.                          strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E22        I do not often worry about being               Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                      abandoned.                                     strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E23        I prefer not to be too close to romantic       Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                      partners.                                      strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E24        If I can't get my partner to show interest     Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                      in me, I get upset or angry.                   strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E25        I tell my partner just about everything.       Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                                                                     strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E26        I find that my partner(s) don't want to get    Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                      as close as I would like.                      strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 



           E27        I usually discuss my problems and              Disagree        Disagree        Disagree         Neutral          Agree           Agree           Agree 

                      concerns with my partner.                      strongly                         a little                        a little                        strongly 

 2 

                                                                         1               2               3               4               5               6               7 

 6 

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 2 

 6                                                Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR, Brennan, Clark, & Shaver (1998) 

 2 



       The following statements concern how you feel in romantic relationships. We are interested in how you generally experience relationships, not just in what is happening in 

        a current relationship. Respond to each statement by indicating how much you agree or disagree with it on a 7 point scale from 1=Disagree strongly to 7=Agree strongly. 

                                               SHOW 7 POINT SCALE. Complete this section even if the person is not in a relationship now. 



            E28         When I'm not involved in a relationship, I        Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

                        feel somewhat anxious and insecure.                strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 



            E29         I feel comfortable depending on romantic          Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

                        partners.                                          strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 



            E30         I get frustrated when my partner is not           Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

                        around as much as I would like.                    strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 



            E31         I don't mind asking romantic partners for         Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

                        comfort, advice, or help.                          strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 



            E32         I get frustrated if romantic partners are         Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

                        not available when I need them.                    strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 



            E33         It helps to turn to my romantic partner in        Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

                        times of need.                                     strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 



            E34         When romantic partners disapprove of              Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

                        me, I feel really bad about myself.                strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 



C 

            E35         I turn to my partner for many things,             Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

 I 

C 

                        including comfort and reassurance.                 strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

 A                                                                             1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 

 R 

e 

p 

            E36         I resent it when my partner spends time           Disagree          Disagree         Disagree          Neutral           Agree             Agree            Agree 

o 

 r                      away from me.                                      strongly                            a little                          a little                          strongly 

 t 

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                                                                               1                2                3                 4                5                6                7 

o 

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C 

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 R     D19                     How many children have you?                                        Record number in box and score 0 if none 

e 

p 

o 

 r     D20                    At what age did you have your first child?                          Record age in years in box and 0 if none 

t 

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o      D21                     Have your children always lived with you ?                         I have none                                                                   0 

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                                                                                                  No they have spent some time living with their other parent                   1 



                                                                                                  No they have spent some time living with their relatives                      2 



                                                                                                  No they have spent some time living in care                                   3 



                                                                      Parenting satisfaction KPS, (James et al., 1985) 



          The next three questions are about your relationship with your children. Give your answers on a 7 point scale from 1=  Extremely dissatisfied to 7=extremely satisfied. 

                                                                 SHOW 7 POINT SCALE. Circle 0 if person has no children. 



          KPS1        How satisfied are you with your                 Not         Extremely         Very         Somewhat          Mixed        Some what          Very        Extremely 

                      children's behaviour?                       applicable     dissatisfied    dissatisfied   dissatisfied                     satisfied       satisfied      satisfied 

                                                                       0              1               2               3              4               5              6               7 



          KPS2        How satisfied are you with yourself as          Not         Extremely         Very         Somewhat          Mixed        Some what          Very        Extremely 

                      a parent?                                   applicable     dissatisfied    dissatisfied   dissatisfied                     satisfied       satisfied      satisfied 

                                                                       0              1               2               3              4               5              6               7 



          KPS3        How satisfied are you with your                 Not         Extremely         Very         Somewhat          Mixed        Some what          Very        Extremely 

                      relationship(s) with your children?         applicable     dissatisfied    dissatisfied    dissatisfied                    satisfied       satisfied      satisfied 

                                                                       0              1               2               3              4               5              6               7 



 2 

 6 

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----------------------- Page 2774-----------------------

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 6 

 4                                                                        WHOQOL-100-UK (Skevington, 2005) 



      This set of questions asks how you feel about your quality of life in the last two weeks. There are no right or wrong answers. Please keep in mind your standards, hopes, 

       pleasures and concerns. The following questions ask about how much you have experienced certain things in the last two weeks, for example, positive feelings such as 

        happiness or contentment. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Not at all to 5=An extreme amount). Questions refer 

                                                                                   to the last two weeks. 



              1                F1.2        How much do you worry about pain or                   Not at all        Not much         A moderate         Very much         An extreme 

                                           discomfort?                                                                                amount                               amount 

                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 



              2                F1.3        How difficult is it for you to handle pain or         Not at all        Not much          Moderately         Very well         Extremely 

                                           discomfort?                                               1                  2                 3                 4                 5 



              3                F1.4        How much do you feel that pain prevents you           Not at all        Not much         A moderate         Very much         An extreme 

                                           from doing what you need to do?                                                            amount                               amount 

                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 



              4                F2.2        How easily do you get tired?                          Not at all        Not much          Moderately         Very well         Extremely 

                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 



              5                F2.4        How much are you bothered by fatigue?                 Not at all        Not much         A moderate         Very much         An extreme 

                                                                                                                                      amount                               amount 

                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 



              6                F3.2        To what extent do you have difficulty sleeping?       Not at all        Not much         A moderate         Very much         An extreme 

                                                                                                                                      amount                               amount 

                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 



              7                F3.4        How much do sleep problems worry you?                 Not at all        Not much         A moderate         Very much         An extreme 

                                                                                                                                      amount                               amount 

                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 



              8                F4.1        How much do you enjoy life?                           Not at all        Not much         A moderate         Very much         An extreme 

C 

                                                                                                                                      amount                               amount 

 I 

C                                                                                                    1                  2                 3                 4                 5 

 A 

 R            9                F4.3        How positive do you feel about the future?            Not at all        Not much          Moderately         Very well         Extremely 

e 

p 

                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 

o 

 r 

t            10                F4.4        How much do you feel positive about your life?        Not at all        Not much         A moderate         Very much         An extreme 

 V 

o                                                                                                                                     amount                               amount 

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 . 

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                                                                                                     1                  2                 3                 4                 5 


----------------------- Page 2775-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

                                                                    WHOQOL-100-UK (Skevington, 2005) 

A 

R 

      This set of questions asks how you feel about your quality of life in the last two weeks. There are no right or wrong answers. Please keep in mind your standards, hopes, 

e     pleasures and concerns. The following questions ask about how much you have experienced certain things in the last two weeks, for example, positive feelings such as 

p 

o      happiness or contentment. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Not at all to 5=An extreme amount). Questions refer 

r 

t 

V 

                                                                            to the last two weeks. 

o 

l 

.           11              F5.3        How well are you able to concentrate?            Not at all       Not much        Moderately       Very well        Extremely 

V                                                                                            1                2                3               4                5 



            12              F6.1        How much do you value yourself?                  Not at all       Not much        A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                                                                                                           amount                            amount 

                                                                                             1                2                3               4                5 



            13              F6.2        How much confidence do you have in               Not at all       Not much        A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                       yourself?                                                                           amount                            amount 

                                                                                             1                2                3               4                5 



            14              F7.2        How much do you feel inhibited by your looks?    Not at all       Not much        Moderately       Very well        Extremely 

                                                                                             1                2                3               4                5 



            15              F 7.3       Is there any part of your appearance which       Not at all       Not much        A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                        makes you feel uncomfortable?                                                      amount                            amount 

                                                                                             1                2                3               4                5 



            16              F8.2        How worried do you feel?                         Not at all       Not much        Moderately       Very well        Extremely 

                                                                                             1                2                3               4                5 



            17              F8.3        How much do feelings of sadness or               Not at all       Not much        A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                       depression interfere with your everyday                                             amount                            amount 

                                       functioning?                                          1                2                3               4                5 



            18              F 8.4       How much do feelings of depression bother        Not at all       Not much        A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                       you?                                                                                amount                            amount 

                                                                                             1                2                3               4                5 



            19              F10.2       To what extent do you have difficulty in         Not at all       Not much        A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                        performing your routine activities?                                                amount                            amount 

                                                                                             1                2                3               4                5 



            20              F10.4       How much are you bothered by limitations in      Not at all       Not much        A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                        performing everyday living activities?                                             amount                            amount 

 2 

 6                                                                                           1                2                3               4                5 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2776-----------------------

 2 

 6                                                                           WHOQOL-100-UK (Skevington, 2005) 

 6 



       This set of questions asks how you feel about your quality of life in the last two weeks. There are no right or wrong answers. Please keep in mind your standards, hopes, 

       pleasures and concerns. The following questions ask about how much you have experienced certain things in the last two weeks, for example, positive feelings such as 

        happiness or contentment. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Not at all to 5=An extreme amount). Questions refer 

                                                                                     to the last two weeks. 



              21               F11.2         How much do you need medication to function            Not at all         Not much          A moderate         Very much          An extreme 

                                            in your daily life?                                                                            amount                                amount 

                                                                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              22               F11.3         How much do you need medical treatment to              Not at all         Not much          A moderate         Very much          An extreme 

                                            function in your daily life?                                                                   amount                                amount 

                                                                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              23               F 11.4        How much does your quality of life depend on           Not at all         Not much          A moderate         Very much          An extreme 

                                            the use of medical substances or medical                                                       amount                                amount 

                                            aids?                                                        1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              24               F13.1         How alone do you feel?                                 Not at all         Not much          Moderately          Very well         Extremely 

                                                                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              25               F15.2         How well are your sexual needs fulfilled?              Not at all         Not much          Moderately          Very well         Extremely 

                                                                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              26               F15.4         How bothered are you by difficulties in your           Not at all         Not much          Moderately          Very well         Extremely 

                                            sex life?                                                    1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              27               F16.1         How safe do you feel in your daily life?               Not at all         Not much          Moderately          Very well         Extremely 

                                                                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              28               F16.2         To what extent do you feel you are living in a         Not at all         Not much          Moderately          Very well         Extremely 

                                            safe and secure environment?                                 1                  2                  3                  4                 5 



              29               F16.3         How much do you worry about safety and                 Not at all         Not much          A moderate         Very much          An extreme 

C                                           security?                                                                                      amount                                amount 

 I 

C                                                                                                        1                  2                  3                  4                 5 

 A 

 R            30               F17.1         How comfortable is the place where you live?           Not at all         Not much          Moderately          Very well         Extremely 

e 

p 

                                                                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                 5 

o 

 r 

 t            31               F17.4         How much do you like where you live?                   Not at all         Not much          A moderate         Very much          An extreme 

 V 

o                                                                                                                                          amount                                amount 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                                                                         1                  2                  3                  4                 5 


----------------------- Page 2777-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

                                                                   WHOQOL-100-UK (Skevington, 2005) 

A 

R 

      This set of questions asks how you feel about your quality of life in the last two weeks. There are no right or wrong answers. Please keep in mind your standards, hopes, 

e     pleasures and concerns. The following questions ask about how much you have experienced certain things in the last two weeks, for example, positive feelings such as 

p 

o      happiness or contentment. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Not at all to 5=An extreme amount). Questions refer 

r 

t 

V 

                                                                          to the last two weeks. 

o 

l 

.           32             F18.2       To what extent do you have financial             Not at all      Not much       A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

V                                      difficulties?                                                                     amount                           amount 



                                                                                           1                2               3                4               5 



            33             F18.4       How much do you worry about money?               Not at all      Not much       A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                                                                                                         amount                           amount 

                                                                                           1                2               3                4               5 



            34             F19.1       How easily are you able to get good medical      Not at all      Not much        Moderately       Very well       Extremely 

                                       care?                                               1                2               3                4               5 



            35             F21.3       How much do you enjoy your free time?            Not at all      Not much       A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                                                                                                         amount                           amount 

                                                                                           1                2               3                4               5 



            36             F22.1       How healthy is your physical environment?        Not at all      Not much        Moderately       Very well       Extremely 

                                                                                           1                2               3                4               5 



            37             F22.2       How concerned are you with the noise in the      Not at all      Not much        Moderately       Very well       Extremely 

                                       area where you live?                                1                2               3                4               5 



            38             F23.2       To what extent do you have problems with         Not at all      Not much       A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                       transport?                                                                        amount                           amount 

                                                                                           1                2               3                4               5 



            39             F23.4       How much do difficulties with transport restrict Not at all      Not much       A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                       your life?                                                                        amount                           amount 

                                                                                           1                2               3                4               5 



            40              F8N        How fed up do you feel?                          Not at all      Not much       A moderate       Very much       An extreme 

                                                                                                                         amount                           amount 

                                                                                           1                2               3                4               5 



 2 

 6 

 7 


----------------------- Page 2778-----------------------

 2 

 6 

 8        The following questions ask about how completely you experienced, or were able to do certain things in the last two weeks, for example activities of daily living like 



        washing, dressing or eating. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Not at all to 5=Completely). Questions refer to the 

                                                                                           last two weeks 



               41               F2.1         Do you have enough energy for everyday life?             Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                                                                                          1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               42               F7.1         How much are you able to accept your bodily              Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             appearance?                                                  1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               43              F10.1         To what extent are you able to carry out your            Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             daily activities?                                            1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               44              F11.1         How dependent are you on medications?                    Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                                                                                          1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               45              F14.1         To what extent do you get the kind of support            Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             from others that you need?                                   1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               46              F14.2         How much can you count on your friends                   Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             when you need them?                                          1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               47              F17.2         To what degree does the quality of your home             Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             meet your needs?                                             1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               48              F18.1         To what extent do you have enough money to               Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             meet your needs?                                             1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               49              F20.1         How available to you is the information that             Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             you need in your day-to-day life?                            1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               50              F20.2         To what extent do you have the opportunities             Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

                                             for acquiring the information that you need?                 1                  2                   3                  4                  5 



               51              F21.1         To what extent do you have the opportunity for           Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

 C                                           leisure activities?                                          1                  2                   3                  4                  5 

 I 

 C 

 A             52              F21.2         How much are you able to relax and enjoy                 Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

 R 

 e 

                                             yourself?                                                    1                  2                   3                  4                  5 

p 

 o 

 r             53              F23.1         To what extent do you have adequate means                Not at all        Not much           Moderately        A great deal        Completely 

 t 

 V                                           of transport?                                                1                  2                   3                  4                  5 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2779-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C 

 A 

 R      The following questions ask you to say how satisfied, happy or good you have felt about various aspects of your life over the last two weeks, for example, about your 

 e 

p       family life or your energy level. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Very dissatisfied to 5=Very satisfied). Questions 

 o 

 r 

                                                                                      refer to the last two weeks. 

 t 

 V 

 o            54                  G2          How satisfied are you with the quality of your               Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                              life?                                                    dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

                                                                                                             1                   2                  3                   4                   5 



              55                  G3          In general, how satisfied are you with your                  Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                              life?                                                    dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

                                                                                                             1                   2                  3                   4                   5 



              56                  G4          How satisfied are you with your health?                      Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                                                                                       dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

                                                                                                             1                   2                  3                   4                   5 



              57                 F2.3         How satisfied are you with your energy?                      Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                                                                                       dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

                                                                                                             1                   2                  3                   4                   5 



              58                 F3.3         How satisfied are you with your sleep?                       Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                                                                                       dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

                                                                                                             1                   2                  3                   4                   5 



              59                 F5.2         How satisfied are you with your ability to learn             Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                              new information?                                         dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

                                                                                                             1                   2                  3                   4                   5 



              60                 F5.4         How satisfied are you with your ability to make              Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                              decisions?                                               dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

  2 

                                                                                                             1                   2                  3                   4                   5 

  6 

  9 


----------------------- Page 2780-----------------------

  2 

  7     The following questions ask you to say how satisfied, happy or good you have felt about various aspects of your life over the last two weeks, for example, about your 

  0 

         family life or your energy level. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Very dissatisfied to 5=Very satisfied). Questions 

                                                                                       refer to the last two weeks. 



              61                 F6.3          How satisfied are you with yourself?                         Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                                                                                         dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                dissatisfied 

                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



              62                 F6.4          How satisfied are you with your abilities?                   Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                                                                                         dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                dissatisfied 

                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



              63                 F7.4          How satisfied are you with the way your body                 Very            Dissatisfied           Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                               looks?                                                    dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                dissatisfied 

                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



              64                 F10.3         How satisfied are you with your ability to                   Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               perform daily living activities?                          dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                dissatisfied 

                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



              65                 F13.3         How satisfied are you with your personal                     Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               relationships?                                            dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                dissatisfied 

                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



              66                 F15.3         How satisfied are you with your sex life?                    Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                                                                                         dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

 C 

 I 

                                                                                                                                                dissatisfied 

 C 

 A 

                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 

 R 

 e 

p             67                 F14.3         How satisfied are you with the support you get               Very            Dissatisfied           Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

 o 

 r                                             from your family?                                         dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

 t 

 V                                                                                                                                              dissatisfied 

 o 

 l 

 . 

                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2781-----------------------

 C 

 I 

 C 

        The following questions ask you to say how satisfied, happy or good you have felt about various aspects of your life over the last two weeks, for example, about your 

 A       family life or your energy level. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Very dissatisfied to 5=Very satisfied). Questions 

 R                                                                                     refer to the last two weeks. 

 e 

p 

 o             68                F14.4         How satisfied are you with the support you get                Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

 r 

 t 

 V 

                                               from your friends?                                        dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

 o                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               69                F13.4         How satisfied are you with your ability to                    Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                               provide for, or support others?                           dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               70                F16.4         How satisfied are you with your physical safety               Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               and security?                                             dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               71                F17.3         How satisfied are you with the conditions of                  Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               your living place?                                        dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               72                F18.3         How satisfied are you with your financial                     Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                               situation?                                                dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               73                F19.3         How satisfied are you with your access to                     Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                               health services?                                          dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               74                F19.4         How satisfied are you with the social care                    Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                               services?                                                 dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

  2                                                                                                            1                   2                   3                   4                   5 

  7 

  1 


----------------------- Page 2782-----------------------

  2 

  7     The following questions ask you to say how satisfied, happy or good you have felt about various aspects of your life over the last two weeks, for example, about your 

  2 

         family life or your energy level. Please use this 5 point scale to give your answer (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Very dissatisfied to 5=Very satisfied). Questions 

                                                                                       refer to the last two weeks. 



               75                F20.3         How satisfied are you with your opportunities                 Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               for acquiring new skills?                                 dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               76                F20.4         How satisfied are you with your opportunities                 Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               to learn new information?                                 dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               77                F21.4         How satisfied are you with the way you spend                  Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               your spare time?                                          dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               78                F22.3         How satisfied are you with your physical                      Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                               environment e.g. pollution, climate, noise,               dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                               attractiveness?                                                                                   dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               79                F22.4         How satisfied are you with the climate of the                 Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied         Very satisfied 

                                               place where you live?                                     dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 



               80                F23.3         How satisfied are you with your transport?                    Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

                                                                                                         dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                                 dissatisfied 

                                                                                                               1                   2                   3                   4                   5 

 C 

 I 

 C             81                F13.2         How happy do you feel about your                              Very            Dissatisfied          Neither            Satisfied        Very satisfied 

 A                                             relationships with your family?                           dissatisfied                           satisfied nor 

 R                                                                                                                                               dissatisfied 

 e 

p                                                                                                              1                   2                   3                   4                   5 

 o 

 r 

 t 

 V 

 o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2783-----------------------

C 

I 

C       For the next set of questions use this 5 point scale to rate how good things have been in the past 2 weeks. (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=very poor to 5=Very 

A 

R 

                                                                                    good). 

e 

p           82               G1        How would you rate your quality of life?         Very poor          Poor         Neither poor        Good           Very good 

o 

r 

t                                                                                                                         nor good 

V 

o 

                                                                                             1                                3 

l 

.                                                                                                            2                                4                5 

V 



            83             F15.1       How would you rate your sex life?                Very poor          Poor         Neither poor        Good           Very good 

                                                                                                                          nor good 

                                                                                             1                                3 

                                                                                                             2                                4                5 



            84              F3.1       How well do you sleep?                           Very poor          Poor         Neither poor        Good           Very good 

                                                                                                                          nor good 

                                                                                             1                                3 

                                                                                                             2                                4                5 



            85              F5.1       How would you rate your memory?                  Very poor          Poor         Neither poor        Good           Very good 

                                                                                                                          nor good 

                                                                                             1                                3 

                                                                                                             2                                4                5 



            86             F19.2       How would you rate the quality of social         Very poor          Poor         Neither poor        Good           Very good 

                                       services available to you?                                                         nor good 

                                                                                             1                                3 

                                                                                                             2                                4                5 



            87              F4N        How satisfied are you with your level of            Very         Dissatisfied       Neither         Satisfied     Very satisfied 

                                       happiness?                                       dissatisfied                     satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                         dissatisfied 

                                                                                             1               2                3                4               5 



 2 

 7 

 3 


----------------------- Page 2784-----------------------

 2 

 7      The following questions refer to how often you have felt or experienced certain things, for example the support of your family or friends, or negative experiences such as 

 4 

       feeling unsafe. Use the 5 point scale to who how often they have occurred in the last 2 weeks (SHOW A 5 POINT SCALE FROM 1=Never to 5-=Always). So for example 

                                                 if you have experienced pain all the time in the last two weeks, use the answer 5=always". 



              88               F1.1         How often do you suffer pain?                            Never            Seldom           Quite often        Very often          Always 

                                                                                                       1                  2                 3                  4                  5 



              89               F4.2         Do you generally feel content?                           Never            Seldom           Quite often        Very often          Always 

                                                                                                       1                  2                 3                  4                  5 



              90               F8.1         How often do you have negative feelings, such            Never            Seldom           Quite often        Very often          Always 

                                            as blue mood, despair, anxiety, depression?                1                  2                 3                  4                  5 



       The following questions refer to any work that you do. Work here means any major activity that you do. This includes voluntary work, studying full-time, taking care of the 

            home, taking care of children, paid work, or unpaid work. So work, as it is used here, means the activities you feel take up a major part of your time and energy. 

                                                                           Questions refer to the last two weeks. 



              91               F12.1        How much are you able to work?                         Not at all        Not much          Moderately        A great deal       Completely 

                                                                                                       1                  2                 3                  4                  5 



              92               F12.2        To what extent do you feel able to carry out           Not at all        Not much          Moderately        A great deal       Completely 

                                            your duties?                                               1                  2                 3                  4                  5 



              93               F12.4        How satisfied are you with your capacity for             Very           Dissatisfied         Neither           Satisfied       Very satisfied 

                                            work?                                                 dissatisfied                        satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                                       dissatisfied 

                                                                                                       1                  2                 3                  4                  5 



              94               F12.3        How would you rate your ability to work?              Very poor             Poor          Neither poor          Good             Very good 

                                                                                                                                        nor good 

                                                                                                       1                  2                 3                  4                  5 

C 

 I 

C 

 A 

 R 

e 

p 

o 

 r 

t 

 V 

o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2785-----------------------

C 

I 

C     The next few questions ask about how well you were able to move around in the last two weeks. This refers to your physical ability to move your body in such a way as to 

A                allow you to move about and do the things you would like to do, as well as the things that you need to do. Questions refer to the last two weeks. 

R 

e 

p            95              F9.1        How well are you able to get around?              Very poor           Poor         Neither poor         Good          Very good 

o 

r                                                                                                                             nor good 

t 

V 

                                                                                               1                 2                3                4                5 

o 

l 

.            96              F9.3        How much do any difficulties in mobility bother   Not at all       Not much         A moderate       Very much        An extreme 

V 

                                        you?                                                                                   amount                            amount 

                                                                                               1                 2                3                4                5 



             97              F9.4        To what extent do difficulties in movement        Not at all       Not much         A moderate       Very much        An extreme 

                                        affect your way of life?                                                               amount                            amount 

                                                                                               1                 2                3                4                5 



             98              F9.2        How satisfied are you with your ability to move      Very          Dissatisfied       Neither         Satisfied      Very satisfied 

                                        around?                                           dissatisfied                      satisfied nor 

                                                                                                                             dissatisfied 

                                                                                               1                 2                3                4                5 



        The following questions are concerned with your personal beliefs and how these affect your quality of life. These questions refer to religion, spirituality and any other 

                                              personal beliefs you may hold. Once again these questions refer to the last two weeks. 



             99             F24.1        How much do personal beliefs give meaning to      Not at all       Not much         A moderate       Very much        An extreme 

                                        your life?                                                                             amount                            amount 

                                                                                               1                 2                3                4                5 



            100             F24.2        To what extent do you feel life to be             Not at all       Not much         Moderately        Very well        Extremely 

                                         meaningful?                                                                              3                                 5 

                                                                                               1                 2                                 4 



            101             F24.3        How much do your personal beliefs give you        Not at all       Not much         A moderate       Very much        An extreme 

                                        the strength to face difficulties?                                                     amount                            amount 

                                                                                               1                 2                3                4                5 



            102             F24.4        To what extent do your personal beliefs help      Not at all       Not much         A moderate       Very much        An extreme 

                                        you to understand the difficulties in life?                                            amount                            amount 

                                                                                               1                 2                3                4                5 

 2 

 7 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2786-----------------------

 2 

 7 

 6 

                                                              Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 



                             Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in your family . 

                                                                                     SHOW 5 POINT SCALE 



                                                     Score the next 36 questions as 0 if the respondent did not live with his or her family                                         0 



            CTQF1           I didn’t have enough to eat                                   Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF2           I knew that there was someone to take care of me              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            and protect me                                                      1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF3           People in my family called me things like “stupid”,           Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            “lazy”, or “ugly”.                                                  1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF4           My parents were too drunk or high to take care of             Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            the family                                                          1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF5           There was someone in my family who helped me                  Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            feel that I was important or special                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF6           I had to wear dirty clothes                                   Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF7           I felt loved                                                  Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF8           I thought that my parents wished I had never been             Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            born                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



C           CTQF9           I got hit so hard by someone in my family that I had          Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 I 

C                           to see a doctor or go to the hospital                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

 A 

 R 

e           CTQF10          There was nothing I wanted to change about my                 Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

p 

o                           family                                                              1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

 r 

 t 

 V 

o           CTQF11          People in my family hit me so hard that it left me            Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                            with bruises or marks                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 


----------------------- Page 2787-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                             Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 

 A 

 R 

                             Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in your family . 

e                                                                                    SHOW 5 POINT SCALE 

p 

o 

 r 

 t                                                   Score the next 36 questions as 0 if the respondent did not live with his or her family                                        0 

 V 

o 

 l          CTQF12          I was punished with a belt (a strap), a board (a              Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 . 

 V                          stick), a chord, or some other hard object                         1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF13          People in my family looked out for each other                 Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF14          People in my family said hurtful or insulting things to       Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            me                                                                 1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF15          I believe that I was physically abused                        Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF16          I had the perfect childhood                                   Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF17          I got hit or beaten so badly that it was noticed by           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            someone like a teacher, neighbour or doctor                        1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF18          I felt that someone in my family hated me                     Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF19          People in my family felt close to each other                  Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF20          Someone tried to touch me in a sexual way                     Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF21          Someone threatened to hurt me or tell lies about me           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            unless I did something sexual with them                            1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF22          I had the best family in the world                            Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF23          Someone tried to make me do sexual things or                  Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            watch sexual things                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQF24          Someone molested me                                           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 2 

 7                                                                                             1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

 7 


----------------------- Page 2788-----------------------

 2 

 7                                                       Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 

 8 



                           Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in your family . 

                                                                               SHOW 5 POINT SCALE 



                                                  Score the next 36 questions as 0 if the respondent did not live with his or her family                               0 



           CTQF25         I believe that I was emotionally abused                   Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                                                                                         1                  2                   3                  4                   5 



           CTQF26         There was someone to take me to the doctor if I           Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                          needed it                                                      1                  2                   3                  4                   5 



           CTQF27         I believe that I was sexually abused                      Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                                                                                         1                  2                   3                  4                   5 



           CTQF28         My family was a source of strength and support.           Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                                                                                         1                  2                   3                  4                   5 



             AF1          What was the most severe form of physical abuse              None         Being hit without   Being hit to leave  Being assaulted    Being assaulted 

                          you experienced in your family?                                             being bruised          bruises         to lead to cuts       to lead to 

                                                                                                                                                               medical attention 

                                                                                         0                  1                   2                  3                   4 



             AF2          How often did this severe form happen?                      Never               Once             2-10 times        11-100 times       More than 100 

                                                                                                                                                                     times 

                                                                                         0                  1                   2                  3                   4 



             AF3          How young were you when this first began? 



             AF4          How many years did it last? 



             AF5          What was the most severe form of sexual abuse that           None           Non-Contact           Contact            Attempted          Penetration 

C                         you experienced in your family?                                                Flashing         Fondling and        penetration        (oral, anal or 

I 

C                                                                                                       Exposure          masturbation        (oral, anal or      vaginal sex) 

A                                                                                                                                             vaginal sex) 

R 

e                                                                                        0                  1                   2                  3                   4 

p 

o 

r 

t            AF6          How often did this severe form happen?                      Never               Once             2-10 times        11-100 times       More than 100 

V                                                                                                                                                                    times 

o 

l 

.                                                                                        0                  1                   2                  3                   4 

V 


----------------------- Page 2789-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                              Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 

 A 

 R 

                             Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in your family . 

e                                                                                    SHOW 5 POINT SCALE 

p 

o 

 r 

 t                                                   Score the next 36 questions as 0 if the respondent did not live with his or her family                                         0 

 V 

o 

 l            AF7           How young were you when this first began? 

 . 

 V 

              AF8           How many years did it last? 



                                                              Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 



                  Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in institutional care. SHOW SCALE. 



             CTQI1          I didn’t have enough to eat                                   Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI2          I knew that there was someone to take care of me              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            and protect me                                                     1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI3          My carers called me things like “stupid”, “lazy”, or          Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            “ugly”.                                                            1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI4          My carers were too drunk or high to take care of us           Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI5          There was someone in my institution who helped me             Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            feel that I was important or special                               1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI6          I had to wear dirty clothes                                   Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI7          I felt loved (by the carers)                                  Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI8          I thought that my carers wished I had never been              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            born                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                     5 



             CTQI9          I got hit so hard by a carer in my institution that I         Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 2 

 7                          had to see a doctor or go to the hospital                          1                    2                    3                    4                     5 

 9 


----------------------- Page 2790-----------------------

 2 

 8                                                             Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 

 0 



                   Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in institutional care. SHOW SCALE. 



            CTQI10          There was nothing I wanted to change about my                   Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                            institution                                                           1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI11          Carers in my institution hit me so hard that it left me         Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                            with bruises or marks                                                 1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI12          I was punished with a belt (a strap), a board (a                Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                            stick), a chord, or some other hard object                            1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI13          Carers and others in my institution looked out for              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                            each other                                                            1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI14          Carers in my institution said hurtful or insulting              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                            things to me                                                          1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI15          I believe that I was physically abused                          Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                  1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI16          I had the perfect childhood                                     Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                  1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI17          I got hit or beaten so badly that it was noticed by             Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                            someone like a teacher, neighbour or doctor                           1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI18          I felt that carers in my institution hated me                   Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                  1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI19          People in my institution felt close to each other               Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                  1                    2                     3                    4                     5 



            CTQI20          A carer tried to touch me in a sexual way                       Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                  1                    2                     3                    4                     5 

 C 

 I 

 C          CTQI21          A carer threatened to hurt me or tell lies about me             Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

 A                          unless I did something sexual with them                               1                    2                     3                    4                     5 

 R 

 e 

p           CTQI22          I was reared in the best institution in the world               Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

 o 

 r                                                                                                1                    2                     3                    4                     5 

 t 

 V 

 o          CTQI23          A carer tried to make me do sexual things or watch              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true           Often true         Very often true 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                            sexual things                                                         1                    2                     3                    4                     5 


----------------------- Page 2791-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                              Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 

 A 

 R 

                  Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in institutional care. SHOW SCALE. 

e 

p           CTQI24          A carer molested me                                           Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

o 

 r 

 t                                                                                              1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

 V 

o 

 l          CTQI25          I believe that I was emotionally abused in the                Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 . 

 V                          institution                                                         1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQI26          There was someone to take me to the doctor if I               Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            needed it                                                           1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQI27          I believe that I was sexually abused in the institution       Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            CTQI28          My institution was a source of strength and support.          Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H1           I was terrified of my carers                                  Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H2           I was punished unfairly by my carers                          Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H3           I could never predict when I would be punished by             Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            my carers                                                           1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H4           My carers separated me from my brother(s) or                  Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            sister(s)                                                           1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H5           My carers took away my own clothes                            Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H6           My carers destroyed my treasured possessions                  Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            (pictures, teddy bears, mementoes etc)                              1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H7           My carers told me I was bad                                   Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H8           My carers said my mother was bad                              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



               H9           My carers said my father was bad                              Never true           Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 2 

 8                                                                                              1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

 1 


----------------------- Page 2792-----------------------

 2 

 8                                                            Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 

 2 



                  Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in institutional care. SHOW SCALE. 



              H10           My carers told me my mother did not love me                    Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



              H11           My carers told me my father did not love me                    Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



              H12           My carers tried to take away my hope                           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



              H13           My carers tried to break me                                    Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true         Very often true 

                                                                                                1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



              H14           What was the worst thing that happened to you in the institution? 



              H15           How young were you when this first began? 



              H16           How many years did it last? 



              AI1           What was the most severe form of physical abuse                  None           Being hit without    Being hit to leave    Being assaulted      Being assaulted 

                            you experienced in your institution?                                              being bruised            bruises          to lead to cuts         to lead to 

                                                                                                                                                                            medical attention 

                                                                                                0                    1                    2                    3                    4 



              AI2           How often did this severe form happen?                           Never                 Once              2-10 times          11-100 times        More than 100 

                                                                                                                                                                                  times 

                                                                                                0                    1                    2                    3                    4 



              AI3           How young were you when this first began? 



              AI4           How many years did it last? 



              AI5           What was the most severe form of sexual abuse that               None             Non-Contact             Contact             Attempted            Penetration 

C 

 I                          you experienced in your institution?                                                 Flashing           Fondling and          penetration         (oral, anal or 

C 

 A                                                                                                               Exposure           masturbation         (oral, anal or       vaginal sex) 

 R                                                                                                                                                       vaginal sex) 

e 

p 

                                                                                                0                    1                    2                    3                    4 

o 

 r 

 t            AI6           How often did this severe form happen?                           Never                 Once              2-10 times          11-100 times        More than 100 

 V 

o                                                                                                                                                                                 times 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                                                                0                    1                    2                    3                    4 


----------------------- Page 2793-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                           Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ, Bernstein & Fink, 1998) 

 A 

 R 

                 Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements were about living in institutional care. SHOW SCALE. 

e 

p 

o 

              AI7         How young were you when this first began? 

 r 

t 

 V            AI8         How many years did it last? 

o 

 l 

 . 

 V 



                                                                 Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 



                                                 Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

                                                    AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

                       Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 



                           Traumatization 



             1TP1          I felt hurt then                                            Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 



             2TC1          I feel hurt now                                             Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 



             3TP2          I felt frightened then                                      Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 



             4TC2         I feel frightened now                                        Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 



             5TP3          I felt sad then                                             Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 



             6TC3          I feel sad now                                              Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 



             7TP4          I felt humiliated then                                      Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 



             8TC4          I feel humiliated now                                       Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

 2 

                                                                                           1                   2                    3                   4                   5 

 8 

 3 


----------------------- Page 2794-----------------------

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 8                                                                 Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

 4 



                                                   Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

                                                      AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

                        Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 



                            Betrayal and loss of trust 



             9BP1          I trusted everyone then (-)                                   Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



             10BC1          I trust everyone now (-)                                     Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



             11BP2          I felt betrayed then                                         Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



             12BC2          I feel betrayed now                                          Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



             13BP3          I cut myself off from other people then                      Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



             14BC3          I cut myself off from other people now                       Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



                            Disrespect of authority 



             15DP1          I was angry at everyone in authority then                    Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



            16DC1           I am angry with everyone in authority now                    Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 



             17DP2          I liked people in authority then (-)                         Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 

C 

 I 

C           18DC2           I like people in authority now (-)                           Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 A                                                                                             1                    2                   3                    4                    5 

 R 

e 

p            19DP3          I respected everyone in authority then (-)                   Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

o 

 r                                                                                             1                    2                   3                    4                    5 

t 

 V 

o           20DC3          I respect everyone in authority now (-)                       Never true           Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                                                               1                    2                   3                    4                    5 


----------------------- Page 2795-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                                  Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

 A 

 R 

                                                  Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

e                                                    AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

p 

o                      Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 

 r 

t 

 V 

o 

                           Religious Disengagement 

 l 

 . 

 V          21RP1          I had faith in God then (-)                                  Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 



                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            22PC1          I have faith in God now (-)                                  Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            23RP2          I had faith in the church then (-)                           Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            24RC2          I have faith in the church now (-)                           Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            25RP3          I stopped praying then                                       Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            26RC3          I do not pray now                                            Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            27RP4          I only went to mass then because I would be                  Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                           punished if I did not to                                          1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            28RC4          I do not go to mass now                                      Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



                           Stigmatization shame and guilt 



            29SP1          I felt I was worthless then                                  Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            30SC1          I feel I am worthless now                                    Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            31SP2          I felt I was dirty then                                      Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                             1                   2                   3                    4                   5 



            32SC2          I feel I am dirty now                                        Never true         Rarely True       Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

 2 

 8                                                                                           1                   2                   3                    4                   5 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2796-----------------------

 2 

 8                                                                 Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

 6 



                                                  Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

                                                     AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

                        Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 



            33SP3          I felt ashamed then                                          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            34SC3          I feel ashamed now                                           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            35SP4          I felt guilty and believed the abuse was my fault then       Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            36SC4          I feel guilty and believe the abuse is my fault now          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



                           Powerlessness 



            37PP1          I believed I had full control over my life then (-)          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            38PC1          I believe I have full control over my life now (-)           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            39PP2          I believed that my life was controlled by others then        Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            40PC2          I believe that my life is controlled by others now           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            41PP3          I thought I could do nothing to change my situation          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

                           then                                                               1                   2                    3                   4                    5 



            42PC3          I think I can do nothing to change my situation now          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

C                                                                                             1                   2                    3                   4                    5 

 I 

C 

 A                         Avoidance of reminders of abuse 

 R 

e 

p           43AP1          I avoid thinking about the abuse then                        Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

o 

 r                                                                                            1                   2                    3                   4                    5 

t 

 V 

o           44AC1          I avoid thinking about the abuse now                         Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true         Often true        Very often true 

 l 

 . 

 V 

                                                                                              1                   2                    3                   4                    5 


----------------------- Page 2797-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

                                                           Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

A 

R 

                                             Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

e                                               AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

p 

o                    Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 

r 

t 

V 

o 

           45AP2        I avoided situations that reminded me of abuse then    Never true       Rarely True      Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

l 

.                                                                                  1                  2                 3                 4                  5 

V 



           46AC2        I avoid situations that remind me of abuse now         Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           47AP3        I avoided people who reminded me of the abuse          Never true       Rarely True      Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                        then                                                       1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           48AC3        I avoid people who remind me of the abuse now          Never true       Rarely True      Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



                        Re-enactment 



           49XP1        I felt the urge to attack or abuse other people then   Never true       Rarely True      Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           50XC1        I feel the urge to attack or abuse other people now    Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           51XP2        I hurt other people then                               Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           52XC2        I hurt other people now                                Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           53XP3        I felt the urge to harm or injure myself then          Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           54XC3        I feel the urge to harm or injure myself now           Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           55XP4        I harmed or injured myself then                        Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



           56XC4        I harm or injure myself now                            Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

 2 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 

 8 

 7 


----------------------- Page 2798-----------------------

 2 

 8                                                             Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

 8 



                                               Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

                                                  AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

                      Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 



                          Coping through spiritual support 



           57CSP1         I prayed to God then, and that made the abuse             Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                          bearable                                                       1                  2                  3                   4                  5 



          58CSPC1         I pray to God now, and that makes the abuse               Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                          bearable                                                       1                  2                  3                   4                  5 



           59CSP2         I talked to a priest then and that made the abuse         Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                          bearable                                                       1                  2                  3                   4                  5 



           60CSC2         I talk to a priest now and that makes the abuse           Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                          bearable                                                       1                  2                  3                   4                  5 



                          Coping by complying 



           61CCP1         I tried to behave well for the teachers /nuns             Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                          /brothers /priests so I would not be punished then             1                  2                  3                   4                  5 



           62CCC1         I try to behave well and fit in with people at work       Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                          and in my family now to avoid conflict and                     1                  2                  3                   4                  5 

                          arguments 



           63CCP2         I was careful never to break a rule then                  Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

                                                                                         1                  2                  3                   4                  5 



           64CCC2         I am careful never to break a rule now                    Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

C 

                                                                                         1                  2                  3                   4                  5 

I 

C 

A          65CCP3         I was careful always to show respect to the brothers,     Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

R                         priests, nuns and teachers then (even if I didn’t feel         1                  2                  3                   4                  5 

e 

p                         respect) 

o 

r 

t 

V          66CCC3         I am careful always to show respect to people in          Never true        Rarely True       Sometimes true        Often true       Very often true 

o 

l 

.                         authority now (even if I do not feel respect)                  1                  2                  3                   4                  5 

V 


----------------------- Page 2799-----------------------

C 

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C 

                                                                    Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

 A 

 R 

                                                   Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

e                                                     AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

p 

o                       Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 

 r 

 t 

 V                          Coping by opposing 

o 

 l 

 . 

 V          67COP1          I stood up to my abusers then                                 Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



           68COC1           I am standing up to my abusers and anyone in                  Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            authority who tries to hurt me now                                 1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            69COP2          I ran away from the institution then                          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



           70COC2           I leave situations where people in authority hurt me          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            or take advantage of me                                            1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            71COP3          I planned revenge on my abusers then                          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



           72COC3           I am planning revenge on my abusers now                       Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                                                                                               1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



                            Coping through social support 



            73CTP1          I had a good friendship with a close friend I could           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            trust and this made the abuse bearable then                        1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            74CTC1          I have a good friendship with a close friend I can            Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            trust and this makes the abuse bearable now (This                  1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

                            friend is not my partner, husband or wife) 



            75CTP2          I had a good friendship with an adult I could trust           Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            and this made the abuse bearable then                              1                    2                    3                    4                    5 



            76CTC2          I have a good friendship with a person I trust and            Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            look up to and this makes the abuse bearable now                   1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

                            (this could be doctor or counsellor but not a partner) 



            77CTP3          I reminded myself that my mother or father was still          Never true          Rarely True        Sometimes true          Often true        Very often true 

                            alive, cared about me, and this made the abuse                     1                    2                    3                    4                    5 

 2 

                            bearable then 

 8 

 9 


----------------------- Page 2800-----------------------

 2 

 9                                                              Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

 0 



                                                Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

                                                   AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

                       Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 



           78CTC3         I have a good relationship with my partner who I           Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          know cares about me and who I can tell my troubles              1                  2                   3                   4                  5 

                          to now and this makes the abuse bearable ( A 

                          partner is a wife /husband /cohabitee/lover) 



                          Coping though skill mastery 



           79CMP1         I put my energy into my school work and that made          Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          me feel better then                                             1                  2                   3                   4                  5 



           80CMC1         I put my energy into my work and that makes me             Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          feel better now                                                 1                  2                   3                   4                  5 



           81CMP2         I put my energy into sports or music and that made         Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          me feel better then                                             1                  2                   3                   4                  5 



           82CMC2         I put my energy into sport or music and that makes         Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          me feel better now                                              1                  2                   3                   4                  5 



           83CMP3         I put my energy into a skill that I could do well that     Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          made me feel better then                                        1                  2                   3                   4                  5 



           84CMC3         I put my energy into a skill that I can do well that       Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          makes me feel better now                                        1                  2                   3                   4                  5 



                          Coping through planning 



           85CLP1         Then I planned each day very carefully to avoid            Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

                          abuse and make good things happen (like having a                1                  2                   3                   4                  5 

C                         laugh, getting well fed, and keeping warm) 

I 

C 

A          86CLC1         Now I plan each day very carefully to avoid bad            Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

R 

e 

                          feelings and make good things happen (like having               1                  2                   3                   4                  5 

p 

o 

                          a laugh, getting well fed, and keeping warm) 

r 

t 

V          87CLP2         When I was leaving school I followed a plan to get a       Never true         Rarely True      Sometimes true         Often true       Very often true 

o 

l 

.                         job that would suit me and make my situation better             1                  2                   3                   4                  5 

V 


----------------------- Page 2801-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

                                                           Institutional Abuse Processes And Coping Inventory 

A 

R 

                                             Lets talk now about your immediate reaction to the abuse and neglect you experienced 

e                                               AS A CHILD OR YOUNGSTER and also YOUR CURRENT REACTIONS TO IT. 

p 

o                    Use a five point scale from1=never true to 5=very often true to show how true these statements are about your reactions. (SHOW SCALE) 

r 

t 

V 

o 

          88CLC2        Now I still follow a plan to make sure my job suits    Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

l 

.                       me and makes my situation better                           1                  2                 3                 4                  5 

V 



          89CLP3        When I was settling down with my partner, I waited     Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                        for at least 6 months to make sure we were well            1                  2                 3                 4                  5 

                        suited to live together 



          90CLC3        When my partner and I are planning something           Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                        important we take time to plan it very carefully           1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



                        Coping by alcohol, drugs and food 



          91CDP1        I drank alcohol to cope then                           Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



          92CDC1        I drink alcohol to cope now                            Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



          93CDP2        I took other drugs to cope then                        Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



          94CDC2        I take other drugs to cope now                         Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



          95CDP3        I comforted myself by eating a lot then                Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



          96CDC3        I comfort myself by overeating now                     Never true        Rarely True     Sometimes true       Often true      Very often true 

                                                                                   1                  2                 3                 4                  5 



 2 

 9 

 1 


----------------------- Page 2802-----------------------

 2 

 9 

 2                                                                                    Life Problem List 



                                      I am going to ask you if any of a series of major life problems have happened to you. Please answer yes or no 



                P1            Unemployment: Have there been periods as long as a year since you left school where you have not                      Yes                     No 

                              worked?                                                                                                                 1                      0 



                P2            Homelessness: Have you ever had periods as long as a year where you were homeless?                                    Yes                     No 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 



                P3            Frequent illness: Have you had frequent physical illness throughout your life? (seriously ill more than               Yes                     No 

                              5 times)                                                                                                                1                      0 



                P4            Frequent hospitalization for physical health: Have you been frequently hospitalized for physical                      Yes                     No 

                              illness throughout your life? (more than 5 times)                                                                       1                      0 



                P5            Mental health: Have you had periods of very bad anxiety or depression during your life?                               Yes                     No 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 



                P6            Substance use: Have you had had problems with drinking or taking drugs during your life?                              Yes                     No 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 



                P7            Self-harm: Have you been hospitalized because you tried to harm yourself?                                             Yes                     No 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 



                P8            Hospitalization for mental health: Have you been hospitalized more than twice for mental health                       Yes                     No 

                              problems (including anxiety depression, substance use, self harm etc)?                                                  1                      0 



                P9            Anger control in intimate relationships: Have you ever hit your partner and bruised him or her?                       Yes                     No 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 



               P10            Anger control with children: Have you ever hit your children and bruised them?                                        Yes                     No 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 



               P11            Violent crime: Have you been charged with violent offences?                                                           Yes                     No 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 



               P12            Incarceration for violent crime: Have you been imprisoned for violent offences?                                       Yes                     No 

C 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 

 I 

C 

 A 

               P13            Non-violent crime: Have you been charged with non-violent offences?                                                   Yes                     No 

 R 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 

e 

p              P14            Incarceration for non-violent crime: Have you been imprisoned for non-violent offences?                               Yes                     No 

o 

 r 

t 

                                                                                                                                                      1                      0 

 V 

o 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2803-----------------------

C 

I 

C 

A 

                                                                          Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

R 

e     This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

p 

o                                               in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 

r 

t 

V            TSI1         Nightmares or bad dreams                                                        Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

o 

l 

. 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 

V 

             TS!2         Trying to forget about a bad time in your life                                  Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



             TS!3         Irritability                                                                    Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



             TSI4         Stopping yourself from thinking about the past                                  Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



             TSI5         Getting angry about something that wasn’t very important                        Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



             TSI6         Feeling empty inside                                                            Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



             TSI7         Sadness                                                                         Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



             TSI8         Flashbacks (sudden memories or images of upsetting things)                      Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



             TSI9         Not being satisfied with your sex life                                          Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI10         Feeling like you were outside of your body                                      Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI11         Lower back pain                                                                 Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



            TS!12         Sudden disturbing memories when you were not expecting them                     Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 



            TS!13         Wanting to cry                                                                  Never               Rarely            Sometimes             Often 

 2 

 9 

                                                                                                             0                   1                   2                   3 

 3 


----------------------- Page 2804-----------------------

 2 

 9                                                                          Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

 4 



       This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

                                                  in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 



             TSI14         Not feeling happy                                                                 Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI15         Becoming angry for little or no reason                                            Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI16         Feeling like you don’t know who you really are                                    Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI17         Feeling depressed                                                                 Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI18         Having sex with someone you hardly knew                                           Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI19         Thoughts or fantasies about hurting someone                                       Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI20         Your mind going blank                                                             Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI21         Fainting                                                                          Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TS!22         Periods of trembling or shaking                                                   Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



             TS!23         Pushing painful memories out of your mind                                         Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 



C            TSI24         Not understanding why you did something                                           Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 I 

C 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 

 A 

 R           TSI25         Threatening or attempting suicide                                                 Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

e 

p 

                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 

o 

 r 

t            TSI26         Feeling like you were watching yourself from far away                             Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 V 

o                                                                                                              0                    1                   2                    3 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2805-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                                            Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

 A 

 R 

      This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

e                                                in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 

p 

o 

 r 

t           TSI27          Feeling tense or ‘on edge’                                                       Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 V 

o 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 

 l 

 . 

 V          TSI28          Getting into trouble because of sex                                              Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 



                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI29          Not feeling like your real self                                                  Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI30          Wishing you were dead                                                            Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI31          Worrying about things                                                            Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TS!32          Not being sure of what you want in life                                          Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TS!33          Bad thoughts or feelings during sex                                              Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI34          Being easily annoyed by other people                                             Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI35          Starting arguments or picking fights to get your anger out                       Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI36          Having sex or being sexual to keep from being lonely or sad                      Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI37          Getting angry when you didn’t want to                                            Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI38          Not being able to feel your emotions                                             Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI39          Confusion about your sexual feelings                                             Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 2 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 

 9 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2806-----------------------

 2 

 9                                                                          Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

 6 



       This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

                                                  in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 



             TSI40         Using drugs other than marijuana                                                  Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI41         Feeling jumpy                                                                     Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TS!42         Absent-mindedness                                                                 Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TS!43         Feeling paralysed for minutes at a time                                           Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI44         Needing other people to tell you what to do                                       Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI45         Yelling or telling people off when you felt you shouldn’t have                    Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI46         Flirting or ‘coming on’ to someone to get attention                               Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI47         Sexual thoughts or feelings when you thought you shouldn’t have them              Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI48         Intentionally hurting yourself ( for example by scratching, cutting, or           Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                           burning) even though you weren’t trying to commit suicide                            0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI49         Aches and pains                                                                   Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



C            TSI50         Sexual fantasies about being dominated or overpowered                             Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 I 

C 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 

 A 

 R           TSI51         High anxiety                                                                      Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

e 

p 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 

o 

 r 

t            TS!52         Problems in your sexual relations with another person                             Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 V 

o                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2807-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                                           Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

 A 

 R 

      This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

e                                                in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 

p 

o 

 r 

t           TS!53          Wishing you had more money                                                       Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 V 

o 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 

 l 

 . 

 V          TSI54          Nervousness                                                                      Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 



                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI55          Getting confused about what you thought or believed                              Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI56          Feeling tired                                                                    Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI57          Feeling mad or angry inside                                                      Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI58          Getting into trouble because of your drinking                                    Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI59          Staying away form certain people or places because they remind you              Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                           of something                                                                       0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI60          One side of your body going numb                                                 Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI61          Wishing you could stop thinking about sex                                        Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TS!62          Suddenly remembering something upsetting from your past                          Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TS!63          Wanting to hit someone or something                                              Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI64          Feeling hopeless                                                                 Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 



            TSI65          Hearing someone talk to you who wasn’t really there                              Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 2 

                                                                                                              0                   1                    2                   3 

 9 

 7 


----------------------- Page 2808-----------------------

 2 

 9                                                                          Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

 8 



       This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

                                                  in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 



             TSI66         Suddenly being reminded of something bad                                          Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI67         Trying to block out certain memories                                              Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI68         Sexual problems                                                                   Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI69         Using sex to feel powerful or important                                           Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI70         Violent dreams                                                                    Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI71         Acting ‘sexy’ even though you didn’t really want sex                              Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TS!72         Just for a moment seeing or hearing something upsetting that                      Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                           happened earlier in your life                                                        0                    1                   2                    3 



             TS!73         Using sex to get love or attention                                                Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI74         Frightening or upsetting thoughts popping into your mind                          Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



             TSI75         Getting your own feelings mixed up with someone else’s                            Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 



C            TSI76         Wanting to have sex with someone who you knew was bad for you                     Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 I 

C 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 

 A 

 R           TSI77         Feeling ashamed about your sexual feelings or behaviour                           Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

e 

p 

                                                                                                                0                    1                   2                    3 

o 

 r 

t            TSI78         Trying to keep from being alone                                                   Never                Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 V 

o                                                                                                               0                    1                   2                    3 

 l 

 . 

 V 


----------------------- Page 2809-----------------------

C 

 I 

C 

                                                                            Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

 A 

 R 

      This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

e                                                in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 

p 

o 

 r 

t           TSI79          Losing your sense of taste                                                       Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 V 

o 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 

 l 

 . 

 V          TSI80          Your feelings or thoughts changing when you were with other people               Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 



                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI81          Having sex that had to be kept secret from other people                          Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TS!82          Worrying that someone is trying to steal your ideas                              Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TS!83          Not letting yourself feel bad about the past                                     Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI84          Feeling like things weren’t real                                                 Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI85          Feeling like you were in a dream                                                 Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI86          Not eating or sleeping for 2 or more days                                        Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI87          Trying not to have any feelings about something that once hurt you               Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI88          Daydreaming                                                                      Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI89          Trying not to think or talk about things in your life that were painful          Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI90          Feeling like life wasn’t worth living                                            Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 



            TSI91          Being startled or frightened by sudden noises                                    Never               Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

 2 

                                                                                                               0                   1                   2                    3 

 9 

 9 


----------------------- Page 2810-----------------------

 3 

 0                                                                        Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) 

 0 



      This next set of items describes experiences that may or may not have happened to you. Please indicate how often each of the following experience has happened to you 

                                                in the last 6 months on a 4 point scale where 0=Never and 3= Often. (SHOW SCALE) 



            TS!92         Seeing people form the spirit world                                             Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TS!93         Trouble controlling your temper                                                 Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI94         Being easily influenced by others                                               Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI95         Wishing you didn’t have any sexual feelings                                     Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI96         Wanting to set fire to a public building                                        Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI97         Feeling afraid you might die or be injured                                      Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI98         Feeling so depressed that you avoided people                                    Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI99         Thinking that someone was reading your mind                                     Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



            TSI100        Feeling worthless                                                               Never              Rarely            Sometimes              Often 

                                                                                                            0                   1                   2                   3 



C 

I 

C 

A 

R 

e 

p 

o 

r 

t 

V 

o 

l 

. 

V 


----------------------- Page 2811-----------------------

                                              SCID I for DSM IV-TR 



                                        Follow these rules for all disorders 



   If the first criterion is not met in the past month then there is no current disorder, check for lifetime 

           disorder by asking the first criterion questions again beginning with Has there ever ... 



  If the first criterion is not met for a current or lifetime disorder, code the current and lifetime disorders as 

                                          absent and go to next disorder. 



 If the first criterion is met for a current or lifetime disorder, for each criterion, always ask the first question 

   and then ask probes as required until you have enough information to rate the criterion as 3= true; 1= 

                                        absent or false; or 2=subthreshold. 



 After completing ratings for all criteria for a disorder, if the criteria for a current disorder in the past month 

                    are met, code the current disorder as present and go to next disorder. 



 After completing ratings for all criteria for a disorder, if the criteria for a lifetime disorder (but not a current 

                  disorder) are met, code ‘disorder ever’ as present and go to next disorder. 



                          Do not code both a current and lifetime disorder as present. 



                       Summarize the final list of diagnoses on the summary SCID grid. 



            Major Depression Questions                  Major Depression Criteria 



   A      Now I am going to ask you some           5 or more of the following 

          more questions about your mood.          symptoms have been present 

                                                   during the same 2 week period and 

                                                   represent a change from previous 

                                                   functioning: 

                                                   At least one of the symptoms is 

                                                   either 

                                                   1. depressed mood or 

                                                   2. loss of interest or pleasure 



   A1     In the last month has there been a       1. Depressed mood most of the               1        2        3 

          period of time when you were             day, nearly every day as indicated 

          feeling depressed or down most of        either by subjective report (e.g., 

          the day nearly every day?                feels sad or empty) or observation 

          What was it like?                        made by others (e.g., appears 

          (If yes) how long did it last? As        tearful). 

          long as 2 weeks? 



   A2     What about losing interest or            2. Markedly diminished interest or          1        2        3 

          pleasure in things you usually           pleasure in all, or almost all 

          enjoyed?                                 activities most of the day, nearly 

          (If yes) Was it nearly every day?        everyday (as indicated by either 

          How long did it last? As long as         subjective account or observation 

          two weeks?                               made by others) 



          If Neither A1 nor A2 is present, 

          check for lifetime episodes by 

          asking questions A1 and A2 again 

          beginning with 

          Has there ever ... 

          If Neither A1 nor A2 was ever 

          present, skip this section and go to 

          next disorder. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                               301 


----------------------- Page 2812-----------------------

            Major Depression Questions                Major Depression Criteria 



          When rating the following items 

          code 1 if clearly due to a general 

         medical condition or to mood- 

         incongruent delusions or 

         hallucinations. 

         For the following questions focus 

         on the worst 2 weeks in the past 

         month (or else the past 2 weeks if 

          equally depressed for entire month) 

         For a lifetime disorder, focus on the 

          worst two weeks ever. 



   A3    During this two week period how         3. Significant weight loss when not        1       2        3 

          was your appetite?                      dieting or weight gain (e.g., a 

          What about compared to your             change of more than 5% of body 

          usual appetite?                         weight in a month) or decrease or 

         Did you have to force yourself to        increase in appetite nearly every 

          eat?                                    day. 

         Did you eat less/more than usual 

          Was that nearly every day? 

         Did you loose or gain any weight? 

         How much? 

          Were you trying to loose or gain 

          weight? 



   A4    During this two week period how         4. Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly          1       2        3 

          were you sleeping?                      every day 

          Trouble falling asleep, waking 

         frequently, troubles staying asleep, 

          waking too early or sleeping too 

         much? 

         How many hours per night 

          compared to usual? 

          Was that nearly every night? 



   A5    During this two week period were        5. Psychomotor agitation or                1        2       3 

         you so fidgety and restless that you    retardation nearly every day 

          were unable to sit still?               (observable by others, not merely 

          Was it so bad that other people         subjective feelings of restlessness 

         noticed it?                              or being slowed down). 

          What did they notice? 

          Was that nearly every day? 

          (If no) what about the 

         opposite...talking or moving more 

         slowly than is normal for you? 

          Was it so bad that other people 

         noticed it? 

          What did they notice? 

          Was that nearly every day? 



   A6    During this two week period what        6. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly        1       2        3 

          was your energy like?                   every day 

          Tired all the time?Nearly every 

          day? 



   A7    During this two week period how         7. Feelings of worthlessness or            1       2        3 

          did you feel about yourself?            excessive or inappropriate guilt 

          Worthless?                              (which may be delusional) nearly 

         Nearly every day?                        every day (not merely self-reproach 

          What about feeling guilty about         or guilt about being sick) 

          things you had done or not done? 

         Nearly every day? 



302                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2813-----------------------

            Major Depression Questions                   Major Depression Criteria 



   A8     During this two week period did           8.Diminished ability to think or              1        2        3 

          you have trouble thinking or              concentrate, or indecisiveness, 

          concentrating?                             nearly every day (either by 

          What kinds of things did it interfere      subjective account or as observed 

          with?                                      by others) 

          Nearly every day? 

          (If no) Was it hard to make 

          decisions about everyday things? 

          Nearly every day? 



   A9     During this two week period were          9. Recurrent thoughts of death (not           1        2        3 

          things so bad you were thinking a          just fear of dying), recurrent 

          lot about death or that you would          suicidal ideation without a specific 

          be better off dead?                        plan, or a suicide attempt or a 

          What about thinking of hurting             specific plan for committing suicide 

          yourself? 

          (If yes) Did you do anything to hurt 

          yourself? 



   B      Criterion B – Does not meet criteria 

          for a mixed episode) is omitted 

          from SCID 



    C     Has (your depression/use own               C. The symptoms cause clinically             1        2        3 

          words) made it hard for you to do          significant distress or impairment in 

          your work, take care of things at         social, occupational or other 

          home or get along with people?             important areas of functioning. 



          If the current symptoms are not 

          clinically significant ask: 

          Have there been any other times 

          when you have been depressed 

          and it had more of an effect on 

          your life? 

          If – Yes – go back to A1 and ask 

          about this lifetime episode. 



   D      Just before (your depression/use           D. The symptoms are not due to               1                 3 

          own words) began were you                  the direct physiological effect of a 

          physically ill?                            substance. 

          (if yes) What did the doctor say? 

          Just before this began were you 

          taking any medications? 

          Just before this began, were you 

          drinking or using any street drugs? 



    E     Did (your depression/use own               E. The symptoms are not better               1                 3 

          words) begin soon after someone            accounted for by simple 

          close to you died?                         bereavement. After loss of a loved 

                                                     one, depression is diagnosed if the 

                                                     symptoms persist longer than two 

                                                     months or are characterised by 

                                                     marked functional impairment, 

                                                     morbid preoccupation with 

                                                     worthlessness, suicidal ideation, 

                                                    psychotic symptoms or 

                                                    psychomotor retardation. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                  303 


----------------------- Page 2814-----------------------

            Major Depression Questions                Major Depression Criteria 



                                                  For a major depressive episode            1                3 

                                                  (MDE) criteria A,C,D and E must 

                                                  be met. 



          Screening for Manic or hypomanic        There has never been a manic              1                3 

          episode                                 episode, a mixed episode, a 

         Have you ever had a period of time       hypomanic episode 

          when you were feeling so good, 

         high, excited, or hyper that other       For a manic episode there must be 

         people thought you were not your        a distinct period of a least a week 

         normal self or you were so hyper         of abnormally and persistently 

          that you got in trouble?                elevated, expansive or irritable 

         Did anyone else say you were             mood. 

         manic? 

          Was that more than you feeling 

         good? 

          (If no) What about a period of time 

          where you were so irritable that 

         you found yourself shouting at 

         people or starting fights or 

         arguments ? 

         Did you find yourself shouting at 

         people you really didn’t know? 

          When was that? 

          What was it like? 

         How long did that last? At least a 

          week? 



                                                  For a current diagnosis of Major          1                3 

                                                  Depressive Disorder 

                                                  The participant must meet the 

                                                  criteria for MDE in the past month, 

                                                  have no history of a manic episode, 

                                                  a mixed episode, or a hypomanic 

                                                  episode and the MDE is not better 

                                                  accounted for by a psychotic 

                                                  disorder. 



                                                  For a lifetime diagnosis of Major         1                3 

                                                  Depressive Disorder 

                                                  The participant must meet the 

                                                  criteria for Lifetime MDE, have no 

                                                  history of a manic episode, a mixed 

                                                  episode, or a hypomanic episode 

                                                  and the MDE is not better 

                                                  accounted for by a psychotic 

                                                  disorder. 



304                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2815-----------------------

                 Dysthymia Questions                         Dysthymia Criteria 



   A      (If participant has no major              Depressed mood for most of the              1        2        3 

          depressive episode now, check for         day, for more days than not, as 

          dysthymia)                                indicated by either subjective 

          For the past couple of years have         account or observation made by 

          you been bothered by depressed            others, for a least two years. 

          mood most of the day, more days 

          than not? 

          More than half the time? 

          (If yes) What was it like? 



          If criterion A is not met, skip this 

          section and go to the next 

          disorder. 

          Do not check for lifetime episodes 

          of dysthymia because this 

          diagnosis cannot reliably be made. 



   B                                                Presence while depressed of 2 or 

                                                    more of the following symptoms 

                                                    B1-B6 



   B1     During these periods of (use own          B1. Poor appetite or overeating             1        2        3 

          words for chronic depression) do 

          you also 

          Loose your appetite? 

          What about overeating? 



   B2     During these periods of (use own          B2. Insomnia or hypersomnia                 1        2        3 

          words for chronic depression) do 

          you also 

          Have trouble sleeping or sleep too 

          much? 



   B3     During these periods of (use own          B3. Low energy or fatigue                    1       2        3 

          words for chronic depression) do 

          you also have little energy to do 

          things or feel tired a lot? 



   B4     During these periods of (use own          B4. Low self-esteem                          1       2        3 

          words for chronic depression) do 

          you also 

          Feel down on yourself? 

          Feel worthless or a failure? 



   B5     During these periods of (use own          B5. Poor concentration or difficulty        1        2        3 

          words for chronic depression) do          making decisions 

          you also have trouble concentrating 

          or making decisions? 



   B6     During these periods of (use own          B6. Feelings of hopelessness                1        2        3 

          words for chronic depression) do 

          you also 

          Feel hopeless? 



   C      What is the longest period of time        C. During the 2 year period of the 

          during this period of long lasting        disturbance the person has never 

          depression that you felt OK (No           been without the symptoms in 

          dysthymic symptoms)?                      criteria A and B for more than 2 

                                                    months at a time. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                305 


----------------------- Page 2816-----------------------

                Dysthymia Questions                       Dysthymia Criteria 



   D     How long have you been feeling           D. No major depressive episode            1        2       3 

          this way?                               has been present during the first 2 

         Did it begin gradually or did it start   years of the dysthymia. 

          with a bad period of depression? 

          (If a major depressive episode 

         occurred in the past) Now I want to 

         know whether you got completely 

         back to your usual self after that 

          (major depressive episode/ use 

         own words) before this long period 

         of being mildly depressed? 

          Were you back to yourself for at 

         least two months? 



   E     Have you ever had a period of time       E. There has never been a manic           1        2       3 

          when you were feeling so good,          episode, a mixed episode, a 

         high, excited, or hyper that other       hypomanic episode and the criteria 

         people thought you were not your        have never been met for 

         normal self or you were so hyper         cyclothymic disorder. 

          that you got in trouble? 

         Did anyone else say you were             For a manic episode there must be 

         manic?                                   a distinct period of a least a week 

          Was that more than you feeling          of abnormally and persistently 

         good?                                    elevated, expansive or irritable 

          (If no) What about a period of time     mood. 

          where you were so irritable that 

         you found yourself shouting at 

         people or starting fights or 

         arguments ? 

         Did you find yourself shouting at 

         people you really didn’t know? 

          When was that? 

          What was it like? 

         How long did that last? At least a 

          week? 



   F     Did this begin soon after someone        F. The disorder does not occur            1                3 

          close to you died?                      exclusively during the course of 

                                                  chronic psychotic disorders such as 

                                                  schizophrenia or delusional 

                                                  disorder. 



   G      Just before (your depression/use        G. The symptoms are not due to            1        2       3 

         own words) began were you                the direct physiological effect of a 

         physically ill?                         substance. 

          (If yes) What did the doctor say? 

         Just before this began were you 

          taking any medications? 

          (If yes) any change in the amounts 

         you were using? 

         Just before this began, were you 

          drinking or using any street drugs? 



   H     How much do your depressed               H. The symptoms cause clinically          1        2       3 

         feelings interfere with your life?       significant distress or impairment in 

                                                  social, occupational or other 

                                                  important areas of functioning. 



                                                  For a current diagnosis of                1                3 

                                                  Dysthymia criteria A, B,C,D, E, F, 

                                                  G, & H must be coded 3 and 

                                                  cover the past 2 year period. 



                                                 A lifetime diagnosis of 

                                                  Dysthymia cannot reliably be 

                                                  made so do not try to make one. 



306                                                                                        CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2817-----------------------

                Panic disorder without                   Panic Disorder without 

                agoraphobia Question                       agoraphobia Criteria 



   A1     Have you ever had a panic attack         A. 1. Recurrent unexpected panic            1        2        3 

          when you suddenly felt frightened,       attacks 

          or anxious or suddenly developed 

          a lot of physical symptoms? 

          (If yes) Have these attacks ever 

          come on completely out of the blue 

          in situations where you didn’t 

          expect to feel nervous or 

          uncomfortable? 

          How many of these kinds of attacks 

          have you had? 

          At least two? 



          If criterion A1 is not met, skip this 

          section and go to next disorder. 



   A2     After any of these attacks did you       A 2. At least one of the attacks has        1        2        3 

          worry that there might be                been followed by a month or more 

          something terrible wrong with you,       of one of the following: 

          like you were having a heart attack      a. Persistent concern about having 

          or were going crazy?                     additional attacks 

          How long did you worry?                  b. Worry about the implications of 

          At least a month?                        the attack or its consequences 

          (If no) Did you worry lot about          (losing control, having a heart 

          having another one?                      attack, going crazy) 

          How long did you worry?                  c. A significant change in behaviour 

          At least a month?                        is related to the attacks 

          (If no) Did you do anything 

          differently because of the attacks 

          like avoiding certain places or not 

          going out alone ? 

          What about avoiding certain types 

          of activities like exercise? 

          What about things like always 

          making sure you were near a 

          bathroom or exit? 



          When was the last bad one?               Four or more of the 13 panic attack          1       2        3 

          What was the first thing you             symptoms listed below developed 

          noticed? Then what?                      abruptly and reached a peak within 

          Did the symptoms come on all of a        ten minutes 

          sudden? 

          (If yes) How long did it take from 

          when it began to when it got really 

          bad? 

          Less than 10 minutes? 



    1     During the attack did your heart          1.Palpitations, pounding heart,             1       2        3 

          race, pound or skip?                     accelerated heart rate 



    2     During the attack did you sweat?         2. Sweating                                  1       2        3 



    3     During the attack did you tremble        3. Trembling or shaking                      1       2        3 

          or shake? 



    4     During the attack were you short of      4.Sensations of shortness of breath         1        2        3 

          breath?                                  or smothering 

          Did you have trouble catching your 

          breath? 



    5     During the attack did you feel as if     5. Feeling of choking                        1       2        3 

          you were choking? 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                               307 


----------------------- Page 2818-----------------------

                Panic disorder without                  Panic Disorder without 

                agoraphobia Question                      agoraphobia Criteria 



    6     During the attack did you have           6.Chest pain or discomfort 

          chest pain or pressure? 



    7     During the attack did you have           7. Nausea or abdominal distress            1        2       3 

          nausea or upset stomach or the 

          feeling that you were going to have 

          diarrhoea? 



    8     During the attack did you feel dizzy    8. Feeling dizzy, unsteady, light-          1       2        3 

          or unsteady or like you might faint?    headed or faint 



    9     During the attack did things around     9.Derealization (feelings of                1                3 

          you seem unreal or did you feel         unreality) or depersonalisation 

          detached from things around you         (being detached from oneself) 

          or detached from part of your 

          body? 



   10     During the attack were you afraid        10. Fear of losing control, going          1        2       3 

          you were going crazy or might lose      crazy 

          control? 



   11     During the attack were you afraid        11.Fear of dying                           1        2       3 

          that you might die? 



   12     During the attack did you have           12. Paresthesias (numbness or 

          tingling or numbness in parts of        tingling sensations) 

          your body? 



   13     During the attack did you have hot       13. Chills or hot flushes.                 1        2       3 

          flushes (flashes) or chills? 



   B      Agoraphobia questions are asked         B. Absence of agoraphobia                   1        2       3 

          in next section 



    C     Just before you began having             C. Not due to the direct                   1                3 

          panic attacks, were you taking any      physiological effect of a substance 

          drugs, caffeine, diet pills or other    (e.g., a drug of abuse or 

          medicines?                              medication) or to a general medical 

          How much coffee, tea or                 condition. 

          caffeinated soda do you drink per 

          day? 

          Just before the panic attacks were 

          you physically ill? 

          (If yes) what did the doctor say? 



   D      Social phobia, specific phobia,         D. Panic attacks not better                 1                3 

          OCD, PTSD questions are asked in         accounted for by another disorder 

          later sections.                         such as social phobia, specific 

                                                  phobia, OCD, PTSD or separation 

                                                  anxiety. 



          Have you had panic attacks in the       For a current diagnosis of panic            1                3 

          past month?                             disorder 4 or the 13 panic attack 

                                                  symptoms must be coded 3 and 

                                                  criteria A, B, C & D must be met 

                                                  in the past month 



                                                  For a lifetime diagnosis of panic           1                3 

                                                  disorder 4 or the 13 panic attack 

                                                  symptoms must be coded 3 and 

                                                  criteria A, B , C & D must be met 

                                                  prior to the last month 



308                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2819-----------------------

               Agoraphobia Questions                      Agoraphobia Criteria 



   A     Are there situations that make you        A. Anxiety about being in places or        1        2        3 

          nervous because you are afraid           situations from which escape might 

          that you might have a panic attack?      be difficult(or embarrassing) or in 

          If yes -Tell me about that?              which help may not be available in 

          What about being uncomfortable if        the event of having an unexpected 

          you are more than a certain              or situationally predisposed panic 

          distance from home?                      attack or panic like symptoms. 

          What about being in a crowded            Agoraphobic fears typically involve 

         place like a busy store, movie            characteristic clusters of situations 

          theatre or restaurant?                   that include being outside the 

          What about standing in a queue?          home alone: being in a crowd or 

          What about being on a bridge?            standing in line; being on a bridge; 

          What about using public                  and travelling in a bus, train or 

          transportation like a bus, train or      automobile. 

          driving a car? 



          If criterion A is not met – go back 

          and code panic disorder without 

          agoraphobia if appropriate and skip 

          this section. 



   B      Do you avoid these situations?           B. Agoraphobic situations are               1       2        3 

          (If no) When you are in one of           avoided (e.g. travel is restricted) or 

          these situations, do you feel very       else endured with marked distress 

          uncomfortable or like you might          or with anxiety about having a 

          have a panic attack?                     panic attack or panic like 

          Can you go into one of these             symptoms or require the presence 

          situations only if you are with          of a companion 

          someone you know? 



   C      Social phobia, specific phobia,          C. The anxiety disorder is not              1                3 

          OCD, PTSD questions are asked in         better accounted for by another 

          later sections.                          disorder such as social phobia, 

                                                   specific phobia, OCD, PTSD or 

                                                   separation anxiety. 



          Have you had these problems              For a current diagnosis of panic            1                3 

          (AGORAPHOBIA) in the past                disorder with agoraphobia, a 

          month?                                   diagnosis of panic disorder must 

                                                   first be made and them criteria 

                                                   A, B & C above must be met in 

                                                   the past month 



                                                   For a lifetime diagnosis of panic           1                3 

                                                   disorder with agoraphobia, a 

                                                   diagnosis of panic disorder must 

                                                   first be made and them criteria 

                                                   A, B & C above must be before 

                                                   the past month 



                                                   For a current diagnosis of                  1                3 

                                                   agoraphobia (without panic 

                                                   disorder), there must be no 

                                                   history of panic disorder and 

                                                   criteria A, B & C above must be 

                                                   met in the past month 



                                                   For a lifetime diagnosis of                 1                3 

                                                   agoraphobia (without panic 

                                                   disorder) there must be no 

                                                   history of panic disorder and 

                                                   criteria A, B & C above must be 

                                                   before the past month 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              309 


----------------------- Page 2820-----------------------

               Social Phobia Questions                     Social Phobia Criteria 



   A      Was there anything that you have          A. Marked and persistent fear of             1        2        3 

          been afraid to do or felt                 one or more social or performance 

          uncomfortable doing in front of           situations in which the person is 

          other people, like speaking, eating       exposed to unfamiliar people or to 

          or writing?                               possible scrutiny by others. The 

          Tell me about it?                         individual fears that he or she will 

          What were you afraid would                act in a way (or show anxiety 

          happen when ...(feared action)?           symptoms) that will be humiliating 

          (If public speaking only) Do you          or embarrassing. 

          think that your are more 

          uncomfortable than most other 

          people in that situation? 



          If criterion A is not met – skip this 

          section and go to next disorder. 



    B     Have you always felt anxious when         B. Exposure to the feared social             1        2        3 

          you ..(confronted phobic                  situation almost invariably provokes 

          stimulus)?                                anxiety which may take the form of 

                                                    situationally bound or situationally 

                                                    predisposed panic attack 



    C     Did you think that you were more          C. The person recognises that the            1                 3 

          afraid of ....(phobic activity) than      fear is excessive or unreasonable 

          you should have been or than 

          made sense? 



    D     Did you go out of your way to avoid       D. The feared social or                      1        2        3 

          ..(phobic activity)?                      performance situations are avoided 

          (If no) How hard was is it for you to     or else endured with intense 

          (do feared activity)?                     anxiety or distress 



    E     How much did (feared activity)            E. The avoidance, anxious                    1        2        3 

          interfere with your life?                 anticipation or distress in the 

          How much has the fact that you            feared social or performance 

          have this fear bothered you?              situations interferes significantly 

                                                    with the persons normal routine 

                                                    occupational (academic) 

                                                    functioning or social activities or 

                                                    relationships, or there is marked 

                                                    distress about having the phobia. 



    F     (If under 18 years) For how long          F. In individuals under 18 years the         1        2        3 

          have you had these fears?                 duration is at least 6 months 



    G     Just before you began having              G. The fear or avoidance is not due          1                 3 

          these fears, were you taking any          to the direct physiological effect of 

          drugs, caffeine, diet pills or other      a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse 

          medicines?                                or medication) or to a general 

          How much coffee, tea or                   medical condition, and is not better 

          caffeinated soda do you drink per         accounted for by another disorder 

          day?                                      (e.g., panic disorder without 

          Just before the panic attacks were        agoraphobia, separation anxiety 

          you physically ill?                       disorder, body dysmorphic 

          (If yes) what did the doctor say?         disorder, PDD, or schizoid 

                                                    personality disorder) 



    H                                               If a general medical condition or            1                 3 

                                                    other mental disorder is present, 

                                                    the fear in A. is unrelated to it. 



          Have you had these problems in            For a current diagnosis of Social            1                 3 

          the past month?                           Phobia criteria A, B,C,D, E, F, 

                                                    G, & H must be coded 3 in the 

                                                    past month 



310                                                                                             CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2821-----------------------

               Social Phobia Questions                    Social Phobia Criteria 



                                                   For a lifetime diagnosis of Social          1                 3 

                                                   Phobia criteria A, B,C,D, E, F, 

                                                   G, & H must be coded 3 prior to 

                                                   the past month 



              Specific Phobia Questions                  Specific Phobia Criteria 



   A      Are there any other things that you      A. Marked and persistent fear that          1        2        3 

          have been especially afraid of like      is excessive and unreasonable 

          flying, seeing blood, getting an         cued by the presence or 

          injection, heights, closed places or     anticipation of a specific object or 

          certain kinks of animals or insects      situation (e.g., flying, heights, 

          Tell me about it?                        animals, receiving an injection, 

          What were you afraid would               seeing blood). 

          happen when ...(confronted with 

          phobic stimulus)? 



          If criterion A is not met – skip this 

          section and go to next disorder. 



   B      Did you always feel frightened           B. Exposure to the feared stimulus          1        2        3 

          when you ..(confronted with phobic       almost invariably provokes an 

          stimulus)?                               immediate anxiety response which 

                                                   may take the form of situationally 

                                                   bound or situationally predisposed 

                                                   panic attack 



   C      Did you think that you were more         C. The person recognises that the            1                3 

          afraid of ....(phobic stimulus) than     fear is excessive or unreasonable 

          you should have been or than 

          made sense? 



   D      Did you go out of your way to avoid      D. The phobic situation(s) is                1       2        3 

          ..(phobic stimulus)?                     avoided or else endured with 

          (If no) How hard was is it for you to    intense anxiety or distress 

          (\confront phobic stimulus)? 



   E      How much did (phobia) interfere          E. The avoidance, anxious                    1       2        3 

          with your life?                          anticipation or distress in the 

          Is there anything you’ve avoided         feared situation(s) interferes 

          because of being afraid of the           significantly with the person’s 

          (phobic stimulus)?                       normal routine occupational 

          How much has the fact that you           (academic) functioning or social 

          have this fear bothered you?             activities or relationships, or there 

                                                   is marked distress about having the 

                                                   phobia. 



   F      (If under 18 years) For how long         F. In individuals under 18 years the        1        2        3 

          have you had these fears?                duration is at least 6 months 



   G      Questions for OCD, PTSD, Social          G. The anxiety, panic attacks or             1                3 

          Phobia, Panic disorder with or           phobic avoidance associated with 

          without agoraphobia, or                  the specific object or situation are 

          agoraphobia with or without panic        not better accounted for by another 

          disorder are else where in this part     disorder (e.g., OCD, PTSD, Social 

          of the interviews                        Phobia, Panic disorder with or 

                                                   without agoraphobia, or 

                                                   agoraphobia with or without panic 

                                                   disorder) 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                               311 


----------------------- Page 2822-----------------------

              Specific Phobia Questions                  Specific Phobia Criteria 



          Have you had these problem in the        For a current diagnosis of                  1                 3 

          past month?                              Specific Phobia criteria A, B,C,D, 

                                                   E, F, G, & H must be coded 3 in 

                                                   the past month 



                                                   For a lifetime diagnosis of                  1                3 

                                                   Specific Phobia criteria A, B,C,D, 

                                                   E, F, G, & H must be coded 3 

                                                   prior to the last month 



           Obsessive Compulsive Disorder                        OCD Criteria 

                    (OCD) Questions 



   A      Now I would like to ask you if you       A. Either obsessions or                      1       2        3 

          have ever been bothered by               compulsions. 

          thoughts that didn’t make any 

          sense and kept coming back to you        Obsessions are defined by 1, 2, 

          even when you tried not to have          3, & 4. 

          them? 

          What were they?                          1. Recurrent or persistent thoughts          1       2        3 

          (If participant is not sure what is      impulses or images that are 

          meant) Thoughts like hurting             experienced as intrusive or 

          someone even though you really           inappropriate and cause marked 

          didn’t want to or being                  anxiety or distress. 

          contaminated by germs or dirt? 

                                                   2. The thoughts, images or impulse           1       2        3 

                                                   are not excessive worries about 

                                                   real life problems. 



          When you had these thoughts did          3. The person attempts to ignore or          1       2        3 

          you try hard to get them out of your     suppress these thoughts, impulses 

          head?                                    or images or to neutralize them 

          What would you try to do?                with some other thought or action. 



          Where did you think these thoughts       4. The person recognises that the            1       2        3 

          were coming from?                        thoughts images or impulses are 

                                                   the product of his or her own mind 

                                                   (and not imposed from without as 

                                                   in thought insertion). 



                                                   Compulsions are defined by 1 & 2. 



          Was there ever anything that you         1. Repetitive behaviours (e.g. hand          1       2        3 

          had to do over and over again and        washing, ordering, checking) or 

          couldn’t resist doing like washing       mental acts (e.g. praying, counting, 

          your hands again and again,              repeating words silently) that the 

          counting up to a certain number, or      person feels driven to performing in 

          checking something several times         response to an obsession or 

          to make sure that you’d done it          according to rules that must be 

          right?                                   applied rigidly. 

          What did you have to do? 



312                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2823-----------------------

           Obsessive Compulsive Disorder                         OCD Criteria 

                    (OCD) Questions 



                                                    2. The behaviours or mental acts             1        2        3 

          Why did you have to do                    are aimed at preventing or 

          (COMPULSIVE ACT)?                         reducing distress or preventing 

          What would happen if you did not          some dreaded event or situation. 

          do it?                                    However, these behaviours or 

          How many times would you do               mental acts either are not 

          (Compulsive Act)?                         connected in a realistic way with 

          How much time a day would you             what they are designed to 

          spend doing it?                           neutralise or prevent or are clearly 

                                                    excessive. 



          If criterion A is not met, skip this 

          section and go to next disorder. 



   B      Have you thought about                    B. The person has at one time                1                 3 

          (OBSESSIVE THOUGHTS) or                   recognised that the obsessions or 

          done (COMPULSIVE ACTS) more               compulsions are unreasonable but 

          than you should have or more than         this condition does not apply to 

          made sense?                               children 

          (If no) How about when you first 

          started having this problem? 



    C     What effect did this (OBSESSIVE           C. The obsessions or compulsions             1        2        3 

          THOUGHTS AND/OR                           cause considerable distress, are 

          COMPULSIVE ACTS) have on                  time consuming (more than 1 hour 

          your life?                                a day), and impair social and 

          Did it bother you a lot?                  academic functioning 

          How much time do you spend on 

          (Obsessive Thoughts And/Or 

          Compulsive Acts) ? 



   D                                                D. If another Axis 1 disorder is             1        2        3 

                                                    present the content of the 

                                                    obsessions or compulsions is not 

                                                    restricted to it (e.g. food and eating 

                                                    disorder or drugs and substance 

                                                    abuse disorder? 



   E      Just before you began having              E. The disorder is not due to the            1        2        3 

          (OBSESSIONS OR                            direct physiological effect of a 

          COMPULSIONS) were you taking              substance or to a general medical 

          any drugs or medicines?                   condition. 

          Just before the (OBSESSIONS OR 

          COMPULSIONS) started, were you 

          physically ill? 



          Have you had these                        For a current diagnosis of OCD               1                 3 

          (OBSESSIONS OR                            criteria A, B,C,D, & E must be 

          COMPULSIONS) in the past                  coded 3 for the past month 

          month? 



                                                    For a lifetime diagnosis of OCD              1                 3 

                                                    criteria A, B,C,D, & E must be 

                                                    coded 3 before the past month 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                 313 


----------------------- Page 2824-----------------------

           Post Traumatic Stress Disorder                      PTSD Criteria 

                   (PTSD) Questions 



   A      Sometimes things happen to                A. The person has been exposed              1        2        3 

          people that are extremely                 to a traumatic event in which both 

          upsetting, things like being in a life    of the following were present: 

          threatening situation like a major 

          disaster, every serious accident or       1. The person experienced, 

          fire; being physically assaulted or       witnessed, or was confronted with 

          raped, seeing another person killed       an event that involved actual or 

          or dead, or badly hurt, or hearing        threatened death or serious injury 

          about some thing horrible that has        of self or others 

          happened to someone you are 

          close to. At any time during your 

          life, have any of these kinds of 

          things happened to you?                   2. The person's response involved 

          (If any events are mentioned, list        intense fear, helplessness or horror 

          them and ask) Sometimes these             or in the case of children 

          things keep coming back in                disorganised behaviour 

          nightmares, flashbacks, or thoughts 

          that you cant get rid of. Has that 

          ever happened to you? 

          (If no) What about being very upset 

          when you were in a situation that 

          reminded you of one of these 

          terrible things? 

          Which (traumatic event if there was 

          more than one) of these do you 

          think affected you most? 

          How did you react when (the 

          trauma) happened? 

          Were you afraid or did you feel 

          terrified or helpless? 



          If criterion A is not met, skip this 

          section and go to next disorder 



    B     Now I’d like to ask about specific        B. The traumatic event is                   1        2        3 

          ways it may have affected you, for        persistently re-experienced in one 

          example...                                or more of the following ways 

                                                    1.Recurrent and intrusive 

          Did you think about (TRAUMA)              distressing recollections of the 

          when you didn’t want to or did            event including thoughts, images, 

          thoughts about (TRAUMA) come to           or in children repetitive play in 

          you suddenly when you didn’t want         which the themes of the trauma are 

          them to?                                  re-enacted 



                                                    2. Recurrent distressing dreams of 

                                                    the event or in children the dreams 

          What about having dreams about            may have unrecognizable fearful 

          (TRAUMA)?                                 content 



                                                    3. Acting or feeling as if the 

                                                    traumatic event were recurring 

          What about finding yourself acting        (including, hallucinations, illusions 

          or feeling as if you were back in         and dissociative flashbacks, or in 

          the situation?                            children re-enactments) 

          What about getting very upset 

          when something reminded you of            4. Intense psychological distress to 

          (TRAUMA)?                                 exposure to internal or external 

                                                    cues that symbolize the traumatic 

                                                    event 

          What about having physical 



314                                                                                            CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2825-----------------------

           Post Traumatic Stress Disorder                    PTSD Criteria 

                  (PTSD) Questions 



                                                  5. Physiological reactivity to 

         symptoms like breaking out in a          exposure to internal or external 

         sweat, breathing heavily, or             cues that symbolize the traumatic 

         irregularly, or your heart pounding      event 

         or racing? 



   C      Since the TRAUMA have you               C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli         1        2       3 

         made a special effort to avoid           associated with the trauma and 

         thinking or talking about what           numbing of general responsiveness 

         happened?                                as indicated by 3 of the following: 



                                                  1. Avoidance of thought feelings or 

                                                  conversations associated with the 

         Have you stayed away from things         trauma 

         or people that reminded you of 

          (TRAUMA)?                               2. Avoidance of activities, places or 

                                                  people that arouse recollection of 

         Have you been unable to                  the trauma 

         remember some important part of 

          what happened?                          3. Inability to recall an important 

                                                  aspect of the trauma 

         Have you been much less 

         interested in doing things that used     4. Markedly diminished interest or 

         to be important to you, like seeing      participation in significant activities 

         friends, reading books or watching 

          TV?                                     5. Restricted range of affect 

         Have you felt distant or cut off from 

         others?                                  6. Sense of foreshortened future 



         Have you felt “numb” or like you no 

         longer had strong feelings about 

         anything or loving feelings for 

         anyone? 

         Did you notice a change in the way 

         you think about or plan for the 

         future? 



   D                                              D. Persistent symptoms of                  1        2       3 

          Since the trauma have you had           increased arousal as indicated by 2 

         trouble sleeping?                        of the following: 

          What kind of trouble?                   1. Sleep difficulties 

         Have you been unusually irritable? 

          What about outbursts of anger?          2. Irritability or outbursts of anger 

         Have you had trouble 

         concentrating?                           3. Difficulty concentrating 



         Have you been watchful or on             4. Hypervigilance 

         guard even though there was no 

         reason to be?                            5. Exaggerated startle response 

         Have you been jumpy or easily 

         startled. Like by sudden noises? 



   E     About how long did these problems        E. Duration of disturbance longer          1        2       3 

          (SUCH AS PTSD SYMPTOMS)                 than 1 month 

         last? 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                             315 


----------------------- Page 2826-----------------------

           Post Traumatic Stress Disorder                         PTSD Criteria 

                    (PTSD) Questions 



    F                                                F. The disturbance causes clinically          1        2         3 

                                                     significant distress and impairment 

                                                     of social or academic functioning. 



          Have you had these (PTSD                   For a current diagnosis of PTSD               1                  3 

          SYMPTOMS) in the past month?                criteria A, B,C,D, E, & F must be 

                                                      coded 3 for the past month 



                                                     For a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD              1                  3 

                                                      criteria A, B,C,D, E, & F must be 

                                                      coded 3 before the past month 



             Generalised Anxiety Disorder                         GAD Criteria 

                    (GAD) Questions 



    A     In the last 6 months have you been         A. Excessive anxiety and worry                1        2        3 

          particularly nervous or anxious?           (apprehensive expectation), 

          Do you worry a lot about bad               occurring more days than not for 6 

          things that might happen?                  months about a number of events 

          What do you worry about?                   or activities (such as school or 

          How much do you worry about                work performance). 

          (Events or activities)? 

          During the past 6 months would 

          you say that you have been 

          worrying more days than not? 



          If criterion A is not met, check for 

          lifetime disorder by asking 

          Was there ever a period of about 6 

          months when ..... 

          If criterion A is not met for a 

          lifetime disorder, skip the section 

          and go to next disorder 



    B     When you are worrying this way do           B. The person finds it difficult to           1        2        3 

          you find it hard to stop yourself?         control the worry. 



    C     Now I’m going to ask you some              C. The anxiety or worry is                     1                 3 

          questions that often go along with         associated with 3 of the following in 

          being nervous.                             adults or 1 of the following in 

          Thinking about those periods in the        children for more days than not in 

          past six months when you’re                the past 6 months. 

          feeling nervous or anxious 

                                                      1. Restlessness or feeling keyed 

          Do you often feel physically                up or on edge 

          restless –can’t sit still? 

          Do you often feel keyed up or on           2. Being easily fatigued 

          edge? 

                                                     3. Difficulty concentrating or mind 

          Do you often tire easily?                  going blank. 



          Do you have trouble concentrating          4. Irritability 

          or does your mind go blank? 

                                                     5. Muscle tension 

          Are you often irritable? 

                                                     6. Sleep disturbance 



316                                                                                               CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2827-----------------------

            Generalised Anxiety Disorder                       GAD Criteria 

                   (GAD) Questions 



         Are your muscles often tense? 



          Do you often have trouble falling or 

          staying asleep? 



   D                                              D. The focus of the anxiety or              1       2        3 

                                                  worry is not confined to features of 

                                                  an Axis 1 disorder (panic disorder, 

                                                   OCD, PTSD, social phobia, eating 

                                                  disorders) 



   E      What effect has the anxiety, worry      E. The anxiety or physical                  1        2       3 

          or (physical symptoms) had on           symptoms cause clinically 

         your life?                               significant distress or impairment in 

          Has it made it hard to do your work     social, occupational, school and 

          or be with your friends?                other important area of functioning 



   F      When did this worrying start?           F. The disturbance is not due to            1       2        3 

                                                  the direct physiological effect of a 

                                                  substance or to a general medical 

                                                  condition. 

                                                  Does not occur exclusively during 

                                                  the course of a mood disorder, 

                                                  psychotic disorder or pervasive 

                                                  developmental disorder 



                                                  For a current diagnosis of GAS              1                3 

                                                  criteria A, B,C,D, E, & F must be 

                                                  coded 3 for the past 6 months 



                                                  For a lifetime diagnosis of GAS             1                3 

                                                  criteria A, B,C,D, E, & F must be 

                                                  coded 3 for a period before the 

                                                  past 6 months 



               Alcohol Abuse Question                   Alcohol Abuse Criteria 



   A     What are your drinking habits like       A. A maladaptive pattern of alcohol         1       2        3 

          How much do you drink?                  use leading to clinically significant 

          How often?                              impairment or distress as 

          What do you drink?                      manifested by one or more of A1- 

                                                  A4 occurring within a 12 month 

                                                  period: 



          If not currently drinking heavily to 

          check for lifetime disorder ask... 

          Was there ever a time in your life 

          when you were drinking a lot 

          more? 

          How often were your drinking? 

          What were you drinking? 

          How much? 

          How long did that period last? 



          If there is no evidence of past or 

          current heavy drinking skip this 

          section and the alcohol 

          dependence section and got the 

          substance abuse section. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              317 


----------------------- Page 2828-----------------------

              Alcohol Abuse Question                   Alcohol Abuse Criteria 



         Currently (or during the time when 

         you were drinking heavily did...) 

         does your drinking cause problems 

         for you? 

         Does/did anyone object to your 

         drinking? 

         Let me ask you a few more 

         questions about the time when you 

         were drinking most or had most 

         drink-related problems. 



   A1    Did you miss work or school             A1. Recurrent alcohol use resulting      1        2       3 

         because you were intoxicated, high      in a failure to fulfil major role 

         or very hung over?                      obligations at work, school, or 

         How Often?                              home (e.g., repeated absences or 

          What about doing a bad job at          poor work performance related to 

         work or failing courses at school       alcohol use; alcohol related 

         because of your drinking?               absences, suspensions, or 

         (If appropriate) What about not         expulsions from school; neglect of 

         keeping your house clean or not         children or household) 

         taking proper care of your children 

         because of your drinking? 

         How often? 



   A2    Did you ever drink in a situation in    A2. Recurrent alcohol use in              1       2       3 

         which it was dangerous to drink at      situations in which it is physically 

         all?                                    hazardous (e.g., driving an 

         Did you ever drive while you were       automobile or operating a machine 

         really too drunk to drive?              when impaired by alcohol use). 

         How many times? 



   A3    Did your drinking get you into          A.3. Recurrent alcohol related legal     1        2       3 

         trouble with the law?                   problems (e.g., arrests for alcohol- 

          Tell me more about that?               related disorderly conduct) 

         How many times? 



   A4    Did your drinking cause problems        A4. Continued alcohol use despite        1        2       3 

         with other people, such as with         having persistent or recurrent 

         family members, friends, or people      social or interpersonal problems 

         at work?                                caused or exacerbated by the 

         Did you ever get into physical fights   effects of alcohol (e.g., arguments 

         when you were drinking?                 with spouse about consequences 

          What about having bad arguments        of intoxication, physical fights) 

         about your drinking? 

         Did you keep on drinking anyway? 



   B                                             B. Symptoms have never met the 

                                                 criteria for alcohol dependence. 



                                                 For a current diagnosis of                1               3 

                                                 Alcohol Abuse, criteria A and B 

                                                 are met for the past month 



                                                 For a lifetime diagnosis of               1               3 

                                                 Alcohol Abuse, criteria A and B 

                                                 are met before the past month 



318                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2829-----------------------

         Alcohol Dependence Question              Alcohol Dependence Criteria 



   A     Now I would like to ask you some         A. A maladaptive pattern of alcohol         1       2        3 

          more questions about the time           use leading to clinically significant 

          when you were drinking most or          impairment or distress as 

          had most drink-related problems.        manifested by three or more of 

                                                  the following occurring at any 

                                                  time in the same 12 month 

                                                  period 



   A3    During that time did you often find      3. Alcohol is often taken in larger         1       2        3 

          that when you started drinking you      amounts or over a longer period 

          ended up drinking much more than        than was intended 

         you were planning to? 

          If No – What about drinking over a 

          much longer period of time than 

         you were planning to? 



   A4    Did you try to cut down or try to        4. There is a persistent desire or          1       2        3 

          stop drinking alcohol?                  unsuccessful efforts to cut down or 

          If yes – Did you ever actually stop     control alcohol use 

          drinking altogether? 

          How many times did your try to cut 

          down or stop altogether? 

          If no – Did you want to stop or cut 

          down? 

          Is this something you kept worrying 

          about? 



   A5    Did you spend a lot of time drinking     5. A great deal of time is spent in         1       2        3 

          being high, or hung over?               activities necessary to obtain 

                                                  alcohol, use alcohol or recover 

                                                  from its effects 



   A6    Did you often have times when you        6. Important social, occupational, or       1       2        3 

          would drink so often that you           recreational activities are given up 

          started to drink instead of working,    or reduced because of alcohol use 

          spending time with your family, or 

          friends or engaging in other 

          important activities such as sports, 

         gardening or playing music? 



   A7    Did your drinking cause any              7. Alcohol use is continued despite         1       2        3 

         psychological problems such as           knowledge of having a persistent or 

          making you depressed or anxious,        recurrent physical or psychological 

          making it hard to sleep, or causing     problem that is likely to have been 

          blackouts?                              caused or exacerbated by alcohol 

          Did your drinking cause significant     (e.g., continued drinking despite 

         physical problems or make a              recognition than an ulcer was 

         physical problem worse?                  made worse by alcohol 

          Did you keep on drinking anyway?        consumption). 



   A1    Did you find that you needed to          1. Tolerance, as defined by either          1       2        3 

          drink a lot more in order to get the    or the following: 

          feeling you wanted than you did         A. A need for markedly increased 

          when you first started drinking?        amounts of alcohol to achieve 

          If yes - How much more?                 intoxication or desired effect 

          If no – What about finding that         B. Markedly diminished effect with 

          when you drank the same amount,         continued use of the same amount 

          it had much less effect than            of alcohol 

          before? 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              319 


----------------------- Page 2830-----------------------

          Alcohol Dependence Question              Alcohol Dependence Criteria 



   A2     Did you ever have any withdrawal         2. Withdrawal as manifested by              1        2        3 

          symptoms when you cut down or            either A or B. 

          stopped drinking such as                 A. At least two of the following 

          Sweating or racing heart                 developing within several hours to 

          hand shakes                              a few days after cessation of (or 

          trouble sleeping                         reduction in) heavy and prolonged 

          feeling nauseated or vomiting            alcohol use 

          Feeling agitated                         Sweating or pulse rate over 

          Feeling anxious                          100bpm 

          How about having a seizure or            Increased hand tremor 

          seeing, feeling, or hearing things       Insomnia 

          that weren’t really there?               Nausea or vomiting 

          If no- Did you ever start the day        Psychomotor agitation 

          with a drink, or did you often drink     Anxiety 

          or take some other drug or               Grand mal seizures 

          medication to keep yourself from         Transient visual, tactile or auditory 

          getting the shakes or becoming           hallucinations or illusions 

          sick?                                    B. alcohol or tranquillizers taken to 

                                                   relieve or avoid withdrawal 

                                                   symptom 



                                                   For a current diagnosis of                   1                3 

                                                   alcohol dependence 3 of the 7 

                                                   criteria were present in past 

                                                   month 



                                                   For a lifetime diagnosis of                  1                3 

                                                   alcohol dependence 3 of the 7 

                                                   criteria were present prior to the 

                                                   past month 



             Substance Abuse Question                   Substance Abuse Criteria 



          Have you ever taken any of these         Downers - Sedative-Hypnotics- 

          drugs to get high, to sleep better,      Anxiolytics 

          or lose weight, or the change you        Quaalude (ludes) 

          mood.                                    Seconol (reds) 

          Which one caused you the most            Valium (roche 5) 

          problems? (Circle)                       Xanex, librium, barbiturates, 

          Which one did you use the most?          Miltown, Ativan, Dalmane, Halcion, 

          (Circle)                                 Restoril 

                                                   Cannabis 

          If no significant drug use occurred      Marijuana, hashish (Hash), THC, 

          – skip substance use and                 pot, grass, weed, reefer 

          substance dependence sections            Uppers – Stimulants 

          and go the personality disorder          Amphetamine, speed, crystal meth, 

          section                                  dexadrine, Ritalin, diet pills, ice 

                                                   Opiods 

                                                   Heroin, morphine, opium, 

                                                   Methadone, Darvon, codine, 

                                                   Percodan, Demerol, Dilaudid 

                                                   Cocaine 

                                                   Snorting, IV, freebase, crack, 

                                                   speedball 

                                                   Hallucinogens- Psychedelics 



320                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2831-----------------------

             Substance Abuse Question                 Substance Abuse Criteria 



                                                  LSD (Acid), mescaline, peyote, 

                                                  psilocybin, STP, mushrooms, 

                                                  Extacy, MDMA 

                                                  PCP – Phencyclidine 

                                                  Angel dust, Special K, ketamine 

                                                  Other 

                                                  Steroids, glue, ethyl chloride, paint, 

                                                  inhalants, nitrous oxide (laughing 

                                                  gas), amyl or butyl nitrate 

                                                  (poppers), sleep or diet pills 



   A     Now I’d like to ask you some             A. A maladaptive pattern of                1        2       3 

         questions about your use of              substance use leading to clinically 

          (DRUG USED THE MOST OR                  significant impairment or distress 

          CASUSED MOST PROBLEMS).                 as manifested by one or more of 

         During that time..                       A1-A4 occurring within a 12 

                                                  month period: 



   A1    Did you miss work or school              A1. Recurrent substance use                1       2        3 

         because you were intoxicated, high       resulting in a failure to fulfil major 

         or very hung over?                       role obligations at work, school, or 

         How Often?                               home (e.g., repeated absences or 

          What about doing a bad job at           poor work performance related to 

          work or failing courses at school       substance use; substance related 

         because you used DRUG?                   absences, suspensions, or 

          (If appropriate) What about not         expulsions from school; neglect of 

         keeping your house clean or not          children or household) 

         taking proper care of your children 

         because of DRUG? 

         How often? 



   A2    Did you ever use DRUG in a               A2. Recurrent substance use in             1       2        3 

         situation in which it might have         situations in which it is physically 

         been dangerous?                          hazardous (e.g., driving an 

         How often?                               automobile or operating a machine 

                                                  when impaired by substance use). 



   A3    Did your use of DRUG get you into        A.3. Recurrent substance related           1       2        3 

         trouble with the law?                    legal problems (e.g., arrests for 

         How often and when?                      substance-related disorderly 

                                                  conduct) 



   A4    Did your use of DRUG cause               A4. Continued substance use                1       2        3 

         problems with other people, such         despite having persistent or 

         as with family members, friends, or      recurrent social or interpersonal 

         people at work?                          problems caused or exacerbated 

         Did you ever get into physical fights    by the effects of substance (e.g., 

          when you were using DRUG?               arguments with spouse about 

          What about having bad arguments         consequences of intoxication, 

         about your drug use?                     physical fights) 

         Did you keep on using DRUG 

         anyway? 



   B                                              B. Symptoms have never met the 

                                                  criteria for substance dependence. 



                                                  For a current diagnosis of                 1                3 

                                                  Substance Abuse, criteria A and 

                                                  B are met for the past month 



                                                  For a lifetime diagnosis of                1                3 

                                                  Substance Abuse, criteria A and 

                                                  B are met prior to the past 

                                                  month 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                             321 


----------------------- Page 2832-----------------------

          Substance Dependence Question               Substance Dependence Criteria 



   A      I would like to ask you some more         A. A maladaptive pattern of                   1        2        3 

          questions about (TIME WHEN                 substance use leading to clinically 

          USING THE MOST DRUGS/TIME                  significant impairment or distress 

          WHEN DRUGS CAUSED THE                      as manifested by three or more of 

          MOST PROBLEMS).                            the following occurring at any 

                                                     time in the same 12 month 

                                                    period 



   A3     During that time did you often find       3. Substance is often taken in                1        2        3 

          that when you started using DRUG           larger amounts or over a longer 

          you ended up using much more              period than was intended 

          than you were planning to? 

          If No – What about using it over a 

          much longer period of time than 

          you were planning to? 



   A4     Did you try to cut down or stop           4. There is a persistent desire or            1        2        3 

          using DRUG?                                unsuccessful efforts to cut down or 

          If yes – Did you ever actually stop        control substance use 

          using DRUG altogether? 

          How many times did your try to cut 

          down or stop altogether? 

          If no – Did you want to stop or cut 

          down? 

          Is this something you kept worrying 

          about? 



   A5     Did you spend a lot of time using         5. A great deal of time is spent in           1        2        3 

          DRUG or doing what ever you had            activities necessary to obtain the 

          to get to it?                              substance (e.g., visiting multiple 

          Did it take you a long time to get         doctors or driving long distances) 

          back to normal?                            use the substance or recover from 

                                                     its effects 



   A6     Did you often have times when you         6. Important social, occupational, or         1        2        3 

          would use DRUG so often that you           recreational activities are given up 

          started to use DRUG instead of             or reduced because of substance 

          working, spending time with your           use 

          family, or friends or engaging in 

          other important activities such as 

          sports, gardening or playing 

          music? 



   A7     Did your drug use cause any               7. Substance use is continued                 1        2        3 

          psychological problems such as            despite knowledge of having a 

          making you depressed or anxious,           persistent or recurrent physical or 

          making it hard to sleep, or causing        psychological problem that is likely 

          blackouts?                                 to have been caused or 

          Did your drug use cause significant        exacerbated by substance(e.g., 

          physical problems or make a               current cocaine use despite 

          physical problem worse?                   recognition of cocaine induced 

          If yes - Did you keep on using             depression). 

          anyway? 



322                                                                                              CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2833-----------------------

          Substance Dependence Question            Substance Dependence Criteria 



   A1    Did you find that you needed to          1. Tolerance, as defined by either         1       2        3 

          use a lot more DRUG in order to         or the following: 

         get the feeling you wanted than          A. A need for markedly increased 

         you did when you first started using     amounts of the substance to 

         it?                                      achieve intoxication or desired 

         If yes - How much more?                  effect 

         If no – What about finding that          B. Markedly diminished effect with 

          when you used the same amount,          continued use of the same amount 

         it had much less effect than             of the substance 

         before? 



   A2    Did you ever have any withdrawal         2. Withdrawal as manifested by             1       2        3 

         symptoms when you cut down or            either A or B 

         stopped suing DRUG?                      A. A characteristic withdrawal 

         If yes- what symptoms did you            syndrome for the substance 

         have?                                    B. the same or a closely related 

         If withdrawal symptoms occurred -        substance is taken to relieve or 

         After not using DRUG for a few           avoid withdrawal symptoms 

         hours or more, did you often use it 

         to keep yourself from getting sick       Sedatives 

          with WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS?               2 or more of the following: 

          What about using NAME                   sweating, high pulse rate, 

         ANOTHER DRUG IN THE SAME                 increased hand tremor, insomnia, 

          CLASS when you were feeling sick        nausea and vomiting, transient 

          with WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS                hallucinations or illusions, 

         so that you would feel better?           psychomotor agitation, anxiety, 

                                                  grand mal seizures. 

                                                  Stimulants & Cocaine 

                                                  Dysphoric mood and 2 of the 

                                                  following: fatigue, vivid unpleasant 

                                                  dreams, insomnia, hypersomnia, 

                                                  increased appetite, psychomotor 

                                                  retardation or agitation. 

                                                  Opiods 

                                                  3 or more of the following: 

                                                  dysphoric mood, nausea and 

                                                  vomiting, muscle aches, 

                                                  lacrimation, rhinorrhea, pupillary 

                                                  dilation, piloerection, sweating, 

                                                  diarrhoea, yawning, fever, 

                                                  insomnia. 

                                                  Cannabis, Hallucinogens and 

                                                  PCP 

                                                  No withdrawal syndrome occurs 



                                                  For a current diagnosis of                 1                3 

                                                  substance dependence 3 of the 7 

                                                  criteria were present in past 

                                                  month 



                                                  For a lifetime diagnosis of                1                3 

                                                  substance dependence 3 of the 7 

                                                  criteria were present within a 1 

                                                  year period excluding the past 

                                                  month 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                             323 


----------------------- Page 2834-----------------------

                                              SCID II for DSM IV-TR 



                            Follow these rules for all rating all 4 personality disorders 



  For each criterion, always ask the first question and then ask probes as required until you have enough 

               information to rate the criterion as 3= true; 1=absent or false; or 2=subthreshold. 



   After completing ratings for all criteria for a personality disorder, if the criteria for a current personality 

             disorder are met, code the personality disorder as present and go to next disorder. 



  Do not rate lifetime personality disorders which are no longer current (as you did for mood, anxiety and 

                                            substance use disorders). 



                       Summarize the final list of diagnoses on the summary SCID grid. 



                Avoidant PD Questions                      Avoidant PD Criteria 



                                                   A pervasive pattern of social 

                                                   inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, 

                                                   and hypersensitivity to negative 

                                                   evaluation, beginning by early 

                                                   adulthood and present in a variety 

                                                   of contexts, as indicated by four (or 

                                                   more) of the following 



    1     Have you avoided jobs or tasks           (1) avoids occupational activities           1       2        3 

          that involved having to deal with a      that involve significant interpersonal 

          lot of people?                           contact, because of fears of 

          Give me some examples?                   criticism, disapproval, or rejection. 

          What was the reason that you             To score 3- must give 2 examples. 

          avoided these? 

          Have you ever refused a promotion 

          because it would involve dealing 

          with more people than you would 

          be comfortable with? 



    2     Do you avoid getting involved with       (2) is unwilling to get involved with        1       2        3 

          people unless you are certain they       people unless certain of being 

          will like you?                           liked 

          If you don’t know someone likes          To score 3 – almost never takes 

          you would you ever make the first        initiative in a social relationship 

          move? 



    3     Do you find it hard to be open even      (3) shows restraint within intimate          1       2        3 

          with people your are close to?           relationships because of the fear of 

          Why is this?                             being shamed or ridiculed 

          Are you afraid of being made fun of      To score 3 – true for almost all 

          or embarrassed?                          relationships 



   4      Do you often worry about being           (4) is preoccupied with being                1       2        3 

          criticized or rejected in social         criticized or rejected in social 

          situations?                              situations 

          Give me some examples.                   To score 3 – a lot of time is spent 

          Do you spend a lot of time worrying      worrying about social situations 

          about this? 



324                                                                                           CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2835-----------------------

               Avoidant PD Questions                     Avoidant PD Criteria 



   5     Are you usually quiet when you           (5) is inhibited in new interpersonal     1        2       3 

         meet new people?                         situations because of feelings of 

          Why is that?                            inadequacy 

         Is it because you feel in some way      To score 3 – Acknowledges trait 

         inadequate or not good enough?           and gives many (3) examples 



    6    Do you believe that you are not as       (6) views self as socially inept,         1        2       3 

         good, as smart, or as attractive as      personally unappealing, or inferior 

         most other people?                      to others 

          Tell me about that?                    To score 3 – acknowledges belief. 



    7     Are you afraid to try new things?       (7) is usually reluctant to take          1        2       3 

         Is that because you are afraid of        personal risks or to engage in any 

         being embarrassed?                       new activities because they may 

          Give me some examples                   prove embarrassing 

                                                 To score 3 – several examples (3) 

                                                  of avoiding activities because of 

                                                 fear of embarrassment 



                                                 Avoidant PD - 4 items or more              1                3 

                                                  are coded 3. 



              Dependent PD Questions                    Dependent PD Criteria 



                                                 A pervasive and excessive need to 

                                                  be taken care of that leads to 

                                                  submissive and clinging behaviour 

                                                  and fears of separation, beginning 

                                                  by early adulthood and present in a 

                                                 variety of contexts, as indicated by 

                                                 five (or more) of the following: 



    1     Do you need a lot of advice or          (1) has difficulty making everyday        1        2       3 

         reassurance from others before           decisions without an excessive 

         you can make everyday decisions          amount of advice and reassurance 

         – like what to wear or what to order    from others 

         in a restaurant?                        To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         Can you give me some example of 

         the kinds of decision you would ask 

         for advice or reassurance about? 

         Does this happen most of the time? 



   2     Do you depend on other people to         (2) needs others to assume                1        2       3 

         handle important areas in your life      responsibility for most major areas 

         such as finances, child care, or         of his or her life 

         living arrangements?                     Do not include just getting advice 

          Give me some examples.                 from others or sub culturally 

         Is this more than just getting advice    expected behaviour 

         from people?                            To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         Has this happened with most 

         important areas of your life? 



   3     Do you find it hard to disagree with     (3) has difficulty expressing             1        2       3 

         people even when you think they          disagreement with others because 

         are wrong?                               of fear of loss of support or 

          Give me some examples of when           approval. 

         you found it hard to disagree.           Do not include realistic fears of 

          What are you afraid will happen if      retribution. 

         you disagree‘?                          To score 3 – acknowledges trait or 

                                                  several (3) examples 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                            325 


----------------------- Page 2836-----------------------

              Dependent PD Questions                    Dependent PD Criteria 



    4     Do you find it hard to start work on    (4) has difficulty initiating projects     1        2       3 

          tasks when there is no one to help      or doing things on his or her own 

         you?                                     (because of lack of self-confidence 

          Give me some examples.                  in judgement or abilities rather than 

          Why is that?                            a lack of motivation or energy) 

          Is this because you are not sure        To score 3 – acknowledges trait 

         you can do it right? 



    5     Have you often volunteered to do        (5) goes to excessive lengths to           1        2       3 

          things that are unpleasant?             obtain nurturance and support from 

          Give me some examples of these          others, to the point of volunteering 

          types of things.                        to do things that are unpleasant 

          Why is that?                            Do not include behaviour intended 

                                                  to achieve goals other than being 

                                                  liked, such as job advancement. 

                                                  To score 3 – acknowledges trait or 

                                                  gives one example 



    6     Do you usually feel uncomfortable       (6) feels uncomfortable or helpless        1        2       3 

          when you are by yourself. Why is        when alone because of 

          that?                                   exaggerated fears of being unable 

          Is it because you need someone to       to care for himself or herself 

          take care of you?                       To score 3 – acknowledges trait 



    7     When a close relationship ends do       (7) urgently seeks another                 1        2       3 

         you feel you immediately have to         relationship as a source of care 

          find someone else to take care of       and support when a close 

         you?                                     relationship ends 

          Tell me about that.                     To score 3 – happens when most 

          Have you reacted this way almost        close relationships end. 

          always when close relationships 

          have ended? 



    8     Do you worry a lot about being left     (8) is unrealistically preoccupied         1        2       3 

          alone to take care of yourself?         with fears of being left to take care 

         Are there often times when you           of himself or herself. 

          keep worrying about this?               To score 3 –persistent unrealistic 

          Do you have period when you             worry. 

          worry about this all the time? 



                                                  Dependent PD – 5 or more items             1                3 

                                                  are coded as 3 



          Borderline PD Questions                 Borderline PD Criteria 



                                                  A pervasive pattern of instability of 

                                                  interpersonal relationships, self- 

                                                  image, and affects, and marked 

                                                  impulsivity beginning by early 

                                                  adulthood and present in a variety 

                                                  of contexts, as indicated by five (or 

                                                  more) of the following: 



    1     Have you often become frantic           (1) frantic efforts to avoid real or       1        2       3 

          when you thought that someone           imagined abandonment. 

         you really cared about was going to      Do not include suicidal or self- 

          leave you.                              mutilating behaviour covered in 

          What have you done?                     Criterion 5 

          Have you threatened or pleaded          To score 3 – several (3) examples 

          with him or her? 



326                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2837-----------------------

         Borderline PD Questions                 Borderline PD Criteria 



   2     Do your relationships with people       (2) a pattern of unstable and              1       2       3 

         you really care about have lots of      intense interpersonal relationships 

         extreme ups and downs?                  characterized by alternating 

         Tell me about them.                     between extremes of idealization 

         Were there times you thought they       and devaluation 

         were everything you wanted and          To score 3 – either one prolonged 

         other times you thought they were       relationship or several briefer 

         terrible?                               relationships in which the 

         How many relationships were like        alternating pattern occurs at least 

         this?                                   twice. 



   3     Have you all of a sudden changed        (3) identity disturbance: markedly         1       2       3 

         your sense of who you are and           and persistently unstable self- 

         where you are headed?                   image or sense of self 

         Give me some examples of this.          Do not include normal adolescent 

         Does your sense of who you are          uncertainty 

         often change dramatically?              To score 3 – acknowledges trait 

         Tell me more about that? 

         Are you different with different 

         people or in different situations so 

         that you sometimes don’t know 

         who you really are? 

         Give me some examples of this? 

         Do you feel this way a lot? 

         Have there been lots of sudden 

         changes in your goals, career 

         plans. Religious beliefs, and so on? 



   4     Have you often done things              (4) impulsivity in at least two areas      1       2       3 

         impulsively?                            that are potentially self-damaging 

         What kind of things?                    (for example, spending, sex, 

         What about buying things you            substance abuse, reckless driving, 

         really couldn’t afford?                 binge eating.) 

         What about having sex with people       Do not include suicidal or self- 

         you hardly know or unsafe sex?          mutilating behaviour covered in 

         What about drinking too much or         Criterion 5. 

         taking drugs?                           To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         What about driving recklessly? 

         What about uncontrollable eating? 

         If yes to any of these - Tell me 

         about that. 

         How often does it happen 

         What kinds of problems has it 

         caused? 



   5     Have you tried to hurt or kill          (5) recurrent suicidal behaviour,          1       2       3 

         yourself or threatened to do so?        gestures, or threats, or self- 

         Have you ever cut, burned or            mutilating behaviour 

         scratched yourself on purpose?          To score 3 – 2 or more events 

         Tell me about that                      when not in a major depressive 

                                                 episode 



   6     Do you have a lot of sudden mood        (6) affective instability due to a         1       2       3 

         changes?                                marked reactivity of mood (for 

         Tell me about that.                     example, intense episodic 

         How long do your bad moods last?        dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety 

         How often do these mood changes         usually lasting a few hours and 

         happen?                                 only rarely more than a few days) 

         How suddenly do your moods              To score 3 – acknowledges trait 

         change? 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                           327 


----------------------- Page 2838-----------------------

          Borderline PD Questions                  Borderline PD Criteria 



    7     Do you often feel empty inside?          (7) chronic feelings of emptiness           1       2        3 

          Tell me more about this.                 To score 3 – acknowledges trait 



    8     Do you often have temper                 (8) inappropriate intense anger or          1       2        3 

          outbursts or get so angry that you       difficulty controlling anger (for 

          lose control?                            example, frequent displays of 

          Tell me about this. Do you hit           temper, constant anger, recurrent 

          people or throw things when you          physical fights) 

          get angry?                               To score 3 – acknowledges trait 

          Tell me about this.                      and gives one example 

          Do even little things get you very 

          angry? When does this happen? 

          Does this happen often? 



    9     When you are under a lot of stress       (9) transient, stress-related 

          do you get suspicious of other           paranoid ideation or severe 

          people or feel especially spaced         dissociative symptoms 

          out?                                     To score 3 – several (3) examples 

          Tell me about that.                      that do not occur during a 

                                                   psychotic disorder or a mood 

                                                   disorder with psychotic features. 



                                                   Borderline PD – 5 or more items             1                3 

                                                   are coded as 3 



          Antisocial PD Questions                  Antisocial PD Criteria                      1                3 



    B     Are you currently over 18?               B. The individual is at least age 18        1       2        3 

                                                   years. 



   D                                               D. The occurrence of antisocial             1       2        3 

                                                   behaviour is not exclusively during 

                                                   the course of schizophrenia or a 

                                                   manic episode. 



          If the person meets criterion B 

          (over 18 years) and criterion D 

          (antisocial behaviour not due to 

          mania or schizophrenia) proceed to 

          ask about conduct problems before 

          age 15 (criterion C – items C1-C15 

          below) until at least 2 of the 15 

          criteria are met. 



    C                                              C. There is evidence of Conduct             1       2        3 

                                                   Disorder with onset before age 15 

                                                   years. 



   C1     Before you were 15 would you             (1) Before the age of 15 often 

          bully or threaten other kids?            bullied threatened or intimidated 

          Tell me about that.                      others 



   C2     Before you were 15 would you start       (2) Before the age of 15 often 

          fights?                                  initiated physical fights 

          How often? 



   C3     Before you were 15 did you hurt or       (3) Before the age of 15 used a 

          threaten someone with a weapon           weapon that can cause serious 

          like a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife  physical harm to others (e.g., bat, 

          or gun?                                  brick, broken bottle, knife, gun) 

          Tell me about that? 



328                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2839-----------------------

         Antisocial PD Questions                  Antisocial PD Criteria                      1                3 



   C4     Before you were15 did you               (4) Before the age of 15 was 

          deliberately torture someone or         physically cruel to people 

          cause someone physical pain and 

          suffering? 

          What did you do? 



   C5     Before you were 15 did you torture      (5) Before the age of 15 was 

          or hurt animals on purpose?             physically cruel to animals 

          What did you do? 



   C6     Before you were 15 did you rob,         (6) Before the age of 15 stole while 

          mug or forcibly take something          confronting a victim (e.g., mugging, 

          from someone by threatening him         purse snatching, extortion, armed 

          or her?                                 robbery) 

          Tell me about that. 



   C7     Before you were 15 did you force        (7) Before the age of 15 forced 

          someone to have sex with you, to        someone into sexual activity 

         get undressed in front of your, or to 

          touch you sexually? 

          Tell me about that. 



   C8     Before you were 15 did you set          (8) Before the age of 15 

          fires?                                  deliberately engaged in fire setting 

          Tell me about that.                     with the intention of causing 

                                                  serious damage 



   C9     Before you were 15 did you              (9) Before the age of 15 

          deliberately destroy things that        deliberately destroyed others’ 

          weren’t yours?                          property (other than by fire setting) 

          What did you do? 



  C10     Before you were 15 did you break        (10) Before the age of 15 broke 

          into houses, other buildings, or        into someone else’s house, 

          cars?                                   building or car 

          Tell me about that. 



  C11     Before you were 15 did you lie a lot    (11) Before the age of 15 often lied 

          or con other people?                    to obtain goods or favours or to 

          Want would you lie about?               avoid obligations (i.e., cons others) 



  C12     Before you were 15 did you              (12) Before the age of 15 stole 

          sometimes steal or shoplift things      items of nontrivial value without 

          or forge someone’s signature?           confronting the victim (e.g., 

          Tell me about it.                       shoplifting, stealing but without 

                                                  breaking and entering, forgery) 



  C13     Before you were 15 did you run          (13) Before the age of 15 ran away 

          away and stay away overnight?           from home overnight at least twice 

          Was that more than once?                while living in parental or parental 

          With whom were you living at the        surrogate home ( or once without 

          time?                                   returning for a lengthy period) 



  C13     Before you were 13 did you often        (14) Before the age of 13 often 

          stay out very late, long after the      stayed out at night despite parental 

          time you were supposed to be            prohibitions 

          home? 

          How often? 



  C15     Before you were 13 did you often        (15) Before the age of 13 often 

          skip school or mitch?                   truanted from school 

          How often? 



          If two items from C1-C15 are 

         present criterion C is met, so 

         proceed to questions about 

          criterion A 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              329 


----------------------- Page 2840-----------------------

         Antisocial PD Questions                 Antisocial PD Criteria                    1               3 



   A                                             A. There is a pervasive pattern of 

                                                 disregard for and violation of the 

                                                 rights of others occurring since age 

                                                 15 years, as indicated by three (or 

                                                 more) of the following: 



   A1    Now, since you were 15 have you         (1) Failure to conform to social          1       2       3 

         done things that are against the        norms with respect to lawful 

         law – even if you weren’t caught –      behaviours as indicated by 

         like stealing, using or selling drugs,  repeatedly performing acts that are 

         writing bad checks, or having sex       grounds for arrest 

         for money ?                             To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         If no – Have you ever been 

         arrested for anything? 



   A2    Since you were 15, do you often         (2) Deceitfulness, as indicated by        1       2       3 

         find you have to lie to get what you    repeated lying, use of aliases, or 

         want?                                   conning others for personal profit 

         Have you ever used an alias or          or pleasure 

         pretended you were someone              To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         else? 

         Have you ever conned others to 

         get what you want? 



   A3    Since you were 15, do you often do      (3) Impulsivity or failure to plan        1       2       3 

         things on the spur of the moment        ahead 

         without thinking how it will affect     To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         you or other people? 

          What kind of things? 

          Was there ever a time when you 

         had no regular place to live? 

         For how long? 



   A4    Since you were 15, have you been        (4) Irritability and aggressiveness,      1       2       3 

         in many fights?                         as indicated by repeated physical 

         How often?                              fights or assaults 

         Have you ever hit or thrown things      To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         at your spouse or partner? 

         How often? 

         Have you ever hit a child, yours or 

         someone else’s – so hard that he 

         or she had bruises or had to stay in 

         bed or see a doctor? 

          Tell me about that. 

         Have you physically threatened or 

         hurt someone? 

          Tell me about that. 



   A5    Since you were 15, did you ever         (5) Reckless disregard for safety of      1       2       3 

         drive a car when you were drunk or      self or others 

         high?                                   To score 3 – several (3) examples 

         How many speeding tickets or 

         penalty points for speeding have 

         you gotten or car accidents have 

         you been in? 

         Do you always use protection if you 

         have sex with someone you don’t 

         know well? 

         Has anyone ever said that you 

         allowed a child that you were 

         taking care of to be in a dangerous 

         situation? 



330                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2841-----------------------

         Antisocial PD Questions                   Antisocial PD Criteria                      1                3 



   A6    How much of the time in the last 5        (6) Consistent irresponsibility, as         1        2       3 

          years were you not working?              indicated by repeated failure to 

          If for a prolonged period – Why?         sustain consistent work behaviour 

          Was there work available?                or honour financial obligations 

          When you were working did you            To score 3 – several (3) examples 

          miss a lot of work? 

          If yes- Why? 

          Did you ever walk off a job without 

          having another one to go to? 

          If yes –How many times did this 

          happen? 

          Have you ever owed people money 

          and not paid them back? 

          How often? 

          What about not paying child 

          support, or not giving money to 

          children or someone else who 

          depended on you? 



   A7    How do you feel about (LIST               (7) Lack of remorse, as indicated           1        2       3 

          SOME ANTSOCIAL ACTS THAT                 by being indifferent to or 

          THE PERSON DID)?                         rationalizing having hurt, 

          Do you think what you did was            mistreated, or stolen from another 

          wrong in any way?                        To score 3 –lacks remorse about 

                                                   several (3) antisocial acts 



                                                   Antisocial PD – 3 or more items             1                3 

                                                   from A1-A7 are coded as 3 and 

                                                   criterion B (over 18) criterion C 

                                                   (conduct disorder before 15) and 

                                                   criterion D (absence of current 

                                                   mania or schizophrenia) are 

                                                   met. 



                                  Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) 

     Base your GAF rating on all available information and put GAF rating below and on the SCID grid 



     Consider psychological, social and occupational functioning on a hypothetical continuum of mental 

    health-illness. Do not include impairment in functioning due to physical or environmental limitations. 



          100             Superior functioning in a wide rage of activities, life's problems never seem to get 

            |             out of hand, is sought out by others because of his or her many qualities. No 

           91             symptoms. 



           90             Absent or minimal symptoms, good functioning in all areas, interested and 

            |             involved in a wide range or activities, socially effective, generally satisfied with life, 

           81             no more than everyday problems or concerns. 



           80             If symptoms are present they are transient and expectable reactions to 

            |             psychosocial stresses; no more than slight impairment in social, occupational, or 

           71             school functioning 



           70             Some mild symptoms OR some difficulty in social, occupational, or school 

            |             functioning, but generally functioning pretty well, has some meaningful 

           61             interpersonal relationships. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                              331 


----------------------- Page 2842-----------------------

                                  Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) 

     Base your GAF rating on all available information and put GAF rating below and on the SCID grid 



     Consider psychological, social and occupational functioning on a hypothetical continuum of mental 

    health-illness. Do not include impairment in functioning due to physical or environmental limitations. 



           60            Moderate symptoms OR any moderate difficulty in social, occupational, or school 

            |            functioning. 

           51 



           50            Serious symptoms OR any serious impairment in social, occupational, or school 

            |            functioning. 

           41 



           40            Some impairment in reality testing or communication OR major impairment in 

            |            several areas, such as work or school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or 

           31            mood. 



           30            Behaviour is considered influenced by delusions or hallucinations OR serious 

            |            impairment in communications or judgment OR inability to function in all areas. 

           21 



           20            Some danger or hurting self or others OR occasionally fails to maintain minimal 

            |            personal hygiene OR gross impairment in communication. 

           11 



           10            Persistent danger of severely hurting self or others OR persistent inability to 

            |            maintain minimum personal hygiene OR serious suicidal act with clear expectation 

           0             of death 



                                                   SCID GRID 



  Summarize the results of the SCID I and SCID II and the Global Assessment of Functioning on this Grid 



                  Any DSM IV Axis 1 psychological Disorder 



 ANYC             Any axis 1 disorder current                                          Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



 ANYE             Any axis 1 disorder ever                                             Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



                  Mood Disorders 



 MC               Any mood disorder current                                            Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



 ME               Any mood disorder ever                                               Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



 MDC              Major depression current                                             Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



 MDE              Major depression ever                                                Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



 DC               Dysthymia current                                                    Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



                  Anxiety disorders 



 AC               Any anxiety disorder current                                         Yes               No 

                                                                                        1                 0 



332                                                                                         CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2843-----------------------

                                              SCID GRID 



 Summarize the results of the SCID I and SCID II and the Global Assessment of Functioning on this Grid 



 AE             Any Anxiety disorder ever                                     Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PDC            Panic disorder without agoraphobia current                    Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PDE            Panic disorder without agoraphobia ever                       Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PDAC           Panic disorder with agoraphobia current                       Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PDAE           Panic disorder with agoraphobia ever                          Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 AGC            Agoraphobia without panic disorder current                    Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 AGE            Agoraphobia without panic disorder ever                       Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 SPC            Social phobia current                                         Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 SP             Social phobia ever                                            Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PC             Specific phobia current                                       Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PE             Specific phobia ever                                          Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 OCDC           Obsessive compulsive disorder current                         Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 OCDE           Obsessive compulsive disorder ever                            Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PTSDC          Posttraumatic stress disorder current                         Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 PTSDE          Posttraumatic stress disorder ever                            Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 GADC           Generalized anxiety disorder current                          Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 GADE           Generalized anxiety disorder ever.                            Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



                Substance induced disorders 



 ASDC           Any alcohol or substance use disorder current                 Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 ASDE           Any alcohol and substance use disorder ever                   Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 ALCC           Alcohol abuse current                                         Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 ALCE           Alcohol abuse ever                                            Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



 ALCDC          Alcohol dependence current                                    Yes             No 

                                                                               1               0 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                 333 


----------------------- Page 2844-----------------------

                                              SCID GRID 



 Summarize the results of the SCID I and SCID II and the Global Assessment of Functioning on this Grid 



 ALCDE           Alcohol dependence ever                                      Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 SAC             Other substance abuse current                                Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 SAE             Other substance abuse ever                                   Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 SDC             Other substance dependence current                           Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 SDE             Other substance dependence ever                              Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



                 Personality disorders 



 ANYPDC          Any personality disorder                                     Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 AVPD            Avoidant current                                             Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 DPPD            Dependent current                                            Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 BPD             Borderline current                                           Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 ANPD            Antisocial current                                           Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



                 Overall functioning                                          Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



 GAF             Global assessment of functioning                             Yes              No 

                                                                                1               0 



334                                                                                CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2845-----------------------

C 

 I                                                                                   Personal Strengths 

C 

 A     We are coming to the end of the interview now. There are three final questions. These are about your own strengths and people or things that have given you strength in 

 R 

e                                                                                          your life. 

p 

o 

 r             S1              You have shown        Relationship with    Relationship with a     Relationship with      Relationship with        Self-reliance             Other 

t 

 V                             great strength in      current partner        friend including        therapist or         god or spiritual          My work                Specify 

o 

 l 

 .                           your life facing very                           other survivors          counsellor               force                My skills 

 V                            difficult situations.                                                                                              My character 



                                Have you any                                                                                                     strengths like 

                              ideas about where                                                                                                    Optimism 

                             this strength comes                                                                                                      Etc 

                                    from?                    1                      2                      3                     4                      5                     6 



               S2              You have faced        Relationship with    Relationship with a     Relationship with      Relationship with        Self-reliance             Other 

                                 very difficult       current partner       friend including         therapist or         god or spiritual          My work                Specify 

                              challenges in your                             other survivors          counsellor               force                My skills 

                                     life.                                                                                                       My character 

                              What has helped                                                                                                    strengths like 

                              you most in facing                                                                                                   Optimism 

                                    these?                                                                                                            Etc 

                                                             1                      2                     3                      4                      5                     6 



               S3             What is the thing      Relationship with    Relationship with a     Relationship with      Relationship with        Self-reliance             Other 

                             that means most to       current partner       friend including         therapist or         god or spiritual          My work                Specify 

                               you in your life?                             other survivors          counsellor               force                My skills 

                                                                                                                                                 My character 

                                                                                                                                                 strengths like 

                                                                                                                                                   Optimism 

                                                                                                                                                      Etc 

                                                             1                      2                     3                      4                      5                     6 



                                                                       Thank you for your help with this interview. 

        By Christmas we will be giving our independent report of the results of this study of 400 survivors of institutional living to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and 

                                                                this will be referred to in the final Report of the Commission. 

            As a routine procedure we give all participants in the study this leaflet on how to contact a counsellor, just in case this is something you want to do it the future. 

                                                            Is there anything you would like to add or ask before I show you out? 

                       Would you like me to call you in a few days to check that you are OK and that there is nothing further you wish to add or ask at that point? 

                                                                              Thank you again for your help. 

 3 

 3 

 5 


----------------------- Page 2846-----------------------

Appendix 2. Scripts and Information Sheets 



Telephone recruitment script 



 TELEPHONE RECRUITMENT SCRIPT 



 Hello, this is X from UCD. I am contacting you in connection with the Child Abuse Commission. 

 We are conducting an independent study of the adjustment of adult survivors of institutional living. 

 The commission said that you would be interested in taking part in a study like this. 

 Can I just check with you if you would like to take part in a study? 



 Pause for answer. If the participant declines the invitation, say: 

 That is fine. Thank you for taking our call. Goodbye. 



 If the participant says that they would like more information or would like to take part in the study, say: 

 Let me tell you a little bit about the study. It involves taking part in a confidential interview at INTERVIEW 

 SITE. 

 We will meet you at INTERVIEW SITE 

 We will then bring you to the interviewing room. 

 The interview will involved talking to a researcher for about 2 hours. 

 There will be opportunities to take breaks during the interview if you wish, and you may end the interview 

 at any time you wish. You will not be asked to read any material or write any answers down during the 

 interview. 

 We are only interested in what you have to say about your past and present situation. 

 Your travelling expenses will be paid. 

 Do you think that you would like to participate in the study, or would you like more information about the 

 study at this point? 



 If the participant says they would like to participate, then set up a time. 

 Give directions to the INTERVIEW SITE. 

 Give and take a contact number in case the participant is late or gets lost. 

 Tell them the name of their interviewer and that the interviewer will carry a large white card saying 

 INTERVIEWER. 



 If the participant requires more information, say the following: 

 About 400 people who attended the Child Abuse Commission will be taking part in this study or survey. 

 The study aims to find out the effects of living in an institution during childhood on adult life. 

 It will be the first study of its kind in Ireland. 

 Your name will not be mentioned in the report of the study. 

 Rather the results will state how the overall group of 400 participants were affected by institutional living. 

 How it affected their psychological adjustment, their quality of life and how survivors coped with the 

 challenges they faced. 

 The independent report of the study will submitted to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and 

 reference will be made to it in the final report of the Commission. This will be published in a couple of 

 years and have a major impact on how children in institutions in the future are protected from harm. 

 Do you think that you would like to participate in the study? 



 Pause for answer. If the participant declines the invitation, say: 

 That is fine. Thank you for taking our call. Goodbye. 



 If the participant says they would like to participate, then set up a time. 

 Give directions to the INTERVIEW SITE. 

 Give and take a contact number in case the participant is late or gets lost. 

 Tell them the name of their interviewer and that the interviewer will carry a large white card saying 

 INTERVIEWER. 



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Follow-up phone call script 



 FOLLOW-UP PHONE CALL SCRIPT 



 Hello this is NAME from the research study. We met the other day in LOCATION. 

 When you were leaving there was an arrangement that I would call you, just to check in and see how 

 you are doing? 

 Is that still OK with you? 

 I was wondering how you are right now? 

 REFLECT BACK WHAT IS SAID IN SUMMARY, BUT NOT PARROT FORM. 

 I also wanted to check how you have been since we spoke a few days ago, if that’s OK with you? 

 REFLECT BACK WHAT IS SAID IN SUMMARY, BUT NOT PARROT FORM. 

 IF THE PERSON IS DOING OK SAY, 

 Anything you want to add or ask now? 

 Can we leave it there then? 

 Thank you again for your help. Goodbye NAME. 

 IF THE PERSON IS DISTRESSED SAY 

 I’m wondering if you would like to talk to someone about this? Maybe a counsellor? 

 IF THE PERSON SAYS YES, OFFER A COUNSELLOR NUMBER THEY CAN CALL. 



Information leaflet on contacting the National Counselling Service 



 HOW DO I TO CONTACT A COUNLELLOR? 



 Thank you for participating in this research project. If you require counselling for abuse-related issues 

 including any issues arising from the research interview you may contact the National Counselling 

 Service (NCS) in Ireland or the Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy service (ICAP) in England and 

 request an appointment. The National Counselling Service, which is free and confidential, has been set 

 up as part of the Government Strategy for victims of institutional abuse. If you are in England you can 

 contact the Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy service (ICAP). Here is a list of NCS centres in 

 Ireland and ICAP centres in the UK. 



 Ms. Isolde Blau, Director of Counselling, Laragh Counselling Service, NHE, Prospect House, Prospect 

 Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Phone 1800 234 110 or 01-8824100. Covers Dublin - North of the Liffey 



 Ms. Rachel Mooney, Director of Counselling, AVOCA Counselling Service, NHE, Baggot Street Hospital, 

 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 4. Phone: 1800 234 111 or 01 6681740. Covers Dublin - South of the Liffey 

 (Ringsend-Crumlin), Dun Laoghaire etc., Wicklow 



 Ms. Marion Rackard, Director of Counselling, Alba Counselling Service, NHE, 2 McElwain Terrace, 

 Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Phone 1800 234 112 or 045 448176. Covers Kildare, South West Dublin 

 (Tallaght, Walkinstown, Drimnagh, Crumlin, Clondalkin, Lucan), Parts of Wicklow (e.g. Blessington, 

 Baltinglass) 

 Mr. Jonathan Egan, Director of Counselling, The Arches, NHE, 21 Church Street, Tullamore, Co. Offaly. 

 Phone: 1800 234 113 or 0506- 27141. Covers Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath 



 Ms. Theresa Flacke, Director of Counselling, NHE, Woodquay Centre Counselling Service, 7 Daly's 

 Lane, Woodquay, Galway. Phone 1800 234 114 or 091 561336. Covers Galway, Roscommon, Mayo. 



 Ms. Noreen Harrington, Director of Counselling, NHE, 106 O'Connell Street, Limerick. Phone 1800 234 

 115 or 061 411900. Covers Clare, Limerick, North Tipperary. 



 Mr. Philip Moore, Director of Counselling, Harbour Counselling Service, NHE, Penrose Wharf, Penrose 

 Quay, Cork. Phone 1800 234 116 or 021 4861360. Covers Cork, Kerry 



 Ms. Fiona Ward, Director of Counselling, Rian Counselling Service, NHE, 34 Brew's Hill, Navan, Co. 

 Meath. Phone 1800 234 117 or 046 9067010. Covers Cavan, Monaghan, Meath. Louth 



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 Mr. Gerard O'Neill, Director of Counselling, COMHAR, Adult Counselling Service, South Eastern Health 

 Board, 49 O'Connell Street, Waterford. Phone 1800 234 118 or 051 852122. Covers Waterford, Kilkenny, 

 Wexford, South TipperaryMr. Tom McGrath, Director of Counselling, NHE, 68 John Street, Sligo. Phone 

 1800 234 119 or 071 9142161. Covers Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim. 



 London. ICAP Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy, 79 1/2 Tollington Park, London N4 3AG , UK 

 Phone 0207-272-7906 



 Birmingham. ICAP: Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy, 72 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DH, UK, 

 Phone 0121-666-7707 



Briefing for directors of NCS centres 



 BRIEFING FOR DIRECTORS OF NCS CENTRES 



 Dear Colleagues 

 From May to September 2005, a study of adult survivors of institutional living commissioned by the Child 

 Abuse Commission will be conducted at UCD, under the direction of Professor Alan Carr. I have been 

 appointed as a consultant to the project. The study will provide important information on the impact of 

 institutional living on adult adjustment and quality of life. This will be the first large scale study of its kind 

 to be conducted in Ireland, and one of the first of its kind to be conducted in the English speaking world. 

 The study will be conducted with ethical approval of the Child Abuse Commission and UCD, and 

 informed consent of all participants. For this project about 400 adult survivors will be interviewed over 

 about 4 months in the Summer of 2005. This time scale for data collection has been requested by the 

 Child Abuse Commission. Interviews will be carried out in UCD by trained and supervised interviewers. 

 The structured interview protocol will cover demographic and historical information, experiences of 

 institutional living, mental health, and quality of life. Recalling abusive experiences and giving accounts of 

 current life problems may be distressing for some participants. In view of this, all participants will be 

 informed about the National Counselling service using the leaflet below. It is anticipated that some 

 participants in the study will refer themselves to the NCS to address the issues raised by the research 

 interview through counselling. Please contact Alan Carr at 01-716-8740 if you require more information 

 on the study. If you have specific inquires about responding to self-referrals arising form the study, 

 please contact Jonathon Egan at 0506- 27141. 



 Jonathan Egan, M Psych Sc 



 Director of Counselling, 

 The Arches, 21 Church Street, 

 Tullamore, Co. Offaly. 

 Phone: 0506- 27141 



Summary of the institutional abuse survey 



What follows  is a summary  of key  findings from the  survey contained in  chapter 1,  which was 

commissioned       by   CICA    and   conducted     by   Professor    Alan   Carr,   from   the  UCD     School    of 

Psychology. 



Past research 



Past international research on child abuse, institutional living, institutional abuse and clerical abuse 

suggests  that  children  brought  up  in  institutions  and  abused  as  children  may  show  a  range  of 

problems as adults. However, no large-scale studies have been conducted to investigate whether 

or not these tentative findings from the international literature reflect the experiences of survivors 

of institutional living in Ireland. 



338                                                                                          CICA Report Vol. V 


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Aims of the current study 



The aim of the present study was to profile survivors of institutional child abuse in industrial and 

reformatory schools on demographic, historical and psychological variables. 



Methodology 



Between     May  2005    and   February  2006     just  under   250  adult  survivors   of  institutional  living 

recruited  through  CICA  were  interviewed  in  Ireland  and  the  UK  by  a  team  which  included  29 

trained interviewers, all of whom had degrees in psychology. The overall exclusion rate was 26% 

(326 of 1267). The participation rate was 20% (246 of 1267). The response rate for the study was 

26% (246 of 941). (This low response rate is not unusual. A response rate of 9% was obtained in 

the  Time    to Listen   Report   on  Confronting    Child   Sexual   Abuse    by  Catholic   Clergy  (Goode, 

McGee & O’Boyle, 2003)). 



The sample of participants interviewed was not representative of all CICA attenders, or indeed of 

adult survivors of institutional living. It is probable that participants were better adjusted than CICA 

attenders who did not take part, because the old and the ill were excluded from the study. The 

interview protocol covered demographic characteristics, history of family and institutional living, 

recollections of child abuse within the family and institutions, psychological processes associated 

with institutional life, coping strategies used to deal with institutional life, current trauma symptoms, 

current and past diagnoses of psychological and personality disorders, relationships with partners 

and children, adult attachment style, main life problems, current quality of life, and global level of 

functioning. Interviews were conducted in an ethical way that safeguarded participants’ wellbeing. 

Data were managed in a way to safeguard participants’ anonymity. 



Profile of overall sample 



Demographic characteristics 



The 247 participants in this study included roughly equal numbers of men and women of about 

60 years of age, who had entered institutions run by nuns, religious brothers or priests due to 

family adversity or petty criminality. Participants had spent an average of 5.4 years living with their 

families before entering an institution and on average spent 10 years living in an institution. The 

majority were of lower socioeconomic status and low educational attainment. The majority had 

been, or were  currently married or in a long-term  relationships, with a high rate  of relationship 

stability. Most married participants had children, with three children being the average, and most 

had brought up their own children. 



Institutional abuse 



From    Figure   1  it may   be   seen   that  on  the  institutional  version   of  the  Childhood    Trauma 

Questionnaire,  more  than  90%  of  participants  were  classified  as  having  experienced  physical 

and emotional child abuse and neglect within institutions, and about half as having experienced 

institutional  child  sexual  abuse.  For  about  40%  of  participants,  severe  physical  abuse  was  the 

worst  thing  that  happened  to  them  in  an  institution.  For  a  further  third  it  was  humiliation  and 

degradation. For 16% it was sexual abuse and for about a tenth it was combined physical and 

sexual abuse. Worst institutional abusive experiences began at about 9 years and lasted for 5 

about years. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                           339 


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Figure   1.  Rates   of  institutional   child  maltreatment     on   the  institutional   version   of  the 

childhood trauma scale among all 247 participants 



Family-based child abuse 

From Figure 2 it may be seen that on the family version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire 

almost  half  of  the  121  participants  who  had  memories  of  having  lived  with  their  families  were 

classified as having experienced physical neglect; about a quarter as having suffered emotional 

neglect or physical abuse; about a fifth as having suffered emotional abuse; and under a tenth as 

having suffered sexual abuse. 



Figure 2. Rates of family-based child maltreatment on the family version of the childhood 

trauma  scale  among  the  121  participants  who  had  memories  of  having  lived  with  their 

families. 



340                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2851-----------------------

Life problems 

All participants had experienced one or more significant life problems. From Figure 3 it may be 

seen  that  mental  health problems,   unemployment    and   substance  use  were   the three  most 

common difficulties and were reported by a third to three quarters of participants. 



Figure 3. Rates of life problems among all 247 participants. 



Strengths 

From figure 4 it may be seen that self-reliance, optimism, work and skills were the most frequently 

reported resources that helped participants most in facing life challenges. 



Figure 4. Factors that helped participants most in facing life challenges 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                               341 


----------------------- Page 2852-----------------------

Psychological disorders 



81.78% of participants at some point in their life had had a psychological disorder and only under 

a  fifth  had  never  had  any  psychological  disorder.  Anxiety  disorders  were  the  most  common, 

followed by mood disorders. From Figure 5 it may be seen that rates of current anxiety, mood 

and substance use disorders were more than double those found in community surveys in Europe 

and the USA. 



Figure 5. Rates of current psychological disorders among survivors of institutional living 

compared with rates in normal community samples in Europe and the USA. 



Trauma symptoms 



From  Figure  6  it  may  be  seen  that  the  majority  of  participants  showed  clinically  significant 

posttraumatic    symptomatology     on  the   Trauma    Symptom     Inventory,  indicative  of  continuing 

posttraumatic adjustment difficulties. 



342                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


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Figure 6. Rates of trauma symptoms on the Trauma Symptom Inventory 



Adult attachment styles 



On the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory more than four fifths (93.41%) of participants 

were classified as having an insecure adult attachment style, indicative of having problems making 

and maintaining satisfying intimate relationships. A fearful attachment style characterized by high 

interpersonal  anxiety  and  avoidance  was  by  far  the  most  common.  Less  than  a  fifth  of  cases 

(16.59%) were classified as having a secure adult attachment style. 



Male and female survivors 



Male  (N=135)  and  female  (N=112)  participants  had  different  profiles.  Male  participants  spent 

longer living with their families before entering institutions and fewer years in institutions. More 

entered  institutions  run  by  religious  brothers  or  priests  for  petty  crime  and  left  because  their 

sentence    was   over,  while  more    females   lived  in institutions  run  by  nuns.   Male   participants 

achieved a higher socio-economic status than females, and more had children who spent time 

living separately from them with the child’s other parent. While worst abusive experiences began 

at an older age, for male participants, they reported more institutional sexual abuse. While female 

participants  had  significantly  more  current  panic  disorder  with  agoraphobia,  significantly  more 

male  participants  had  lifetime  diagnoses  of  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders,  especially 

alcohol dependence. Male participants had significantly higher numbers of life problems, but also 

higher levels of global functioning and marital satisfaction than females. 



Older and younger survivors 



Older participants (N=134) in their 60s and younger participants in their 50s (N=113) had distinct 

profiles. More older participants left their institutions because they were too old to stay on and 

more were now retired. They had longer relationships with their current partners and were older 

when their first children were born. Younger participants reported greater institutional, physical, 

sexual and emotional abuse. More had current anxiety, mood and personality disorders, especially 

PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder and avoidant personality disorder. Younger participants had 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                          343 


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more  trauma  symptoms,  adult  life  problems,  a  lower  quality  of  life  and  lower  level  of  global 

functioning compared with older participants. 



Participants from the CICA confidential and investigation committees 



Participants   from  the  confidential  (N=175)    and   investigation  (N=71)   committees    had   distinct 

profiles.  Participants  from  the  confidential  committee  had  spent  fewer  years  with  their  families 

before entering an institution and more years in institutions run by nuns. More entered because 

they were illegitimate and left because they were too old to stay on. They were younger when 

their  worst  experiences  began.  More  had  maintained  stable  long-term  relationships  with  their 

partners and provided their own children with a stable family in which to grow up. More participants 

from the investigation committee entered intuitions run by religious brothers or priests through the 

courts  for  petty  crime   and  left because    their  sentences    were   over.  They   reported   greater 

institutional sexual abuse than participants from the confidential committee. More participants from 

the investigation committee had a current diagnosis of major depression. 



Subgroups defined by duration of time in an institution and circumstances of 

entry 



The following four subgroups, defined by duration of time in an institution and circumstances of 

entry, were compared: 



       •   Group 1 included those who had spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered 

             before 5 years of age (N=110). 



       •   Group 2 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institutions because of family 

             problems (N=67). 



       •   Group  3  included  participants  who  had  spent  5-11  years  in  institution  and  entered 

             through the courts (N=22). 



       •   Group 4 included participants who had spent 4 or fewer years in institution (N=48). 



In the analysis of these four groups the most poorly adjusted as adults were not those who had 

spent longest living in institutions (more than 12 years), but rather those who had spent less time 

in institutions (under 11 years), entered institutions through the courts, and reported institutional 

sexual  abuse,  in  addition  to  physical  abuse  within  their  families.  These  had  more  antisocial 

personality  disorders,  substance  use  disorders  and  life  problems  such  as  unemployment  and 

criminality. What follows is a summary of the profiles of the four groups from this analysis. 



Group 1 included those who had spent more than 12 years in an institution and entered 

before 5 years of age They had spent the least time with their families (under one and a half 

years) and the longest time living in institutions (about fifteen years) of any of the four groups. 

Compared to groups 3 and 4, more were girls placed in orphanages run by nuns because they 

were illegitimate, or because their parents had died or could not look after them. More left because 

they were too old to stay on, and more had mixed feelings about leaving. More had experienced 

physical  abuse  which  began  at  a  younger  age  and  persisted  longer  than  in  group  4.  Severe 

emotional abuse was most commonly cited as the worst thing that happened to this group and it 

began at an earlier age and lasted longer than worst experiences of other groups. Compared with 

groups  3  and  4,  this  group  reported  fewer  psychological  disorders  and  life  problems.  They 

identified  relationships  with  friends,  self-reliance,  optimism,  and  their  work  and  skills  as  the 

sources of their strength. 



Group 2 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institutions because of family 

problems Participants in this group entered institutions run predominantly by nuns because their 

parents could not cope or died, and left when they were too old to stay. Compared with groups 3 

and 4, more members of group 2 were female, younger when their most severe form of sexual 



344                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


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abuse began, and more identified severe emotional abuse as the worst thing that had happened 

to them. Compared with group 4 more identified self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

as the source of their strength. 



Group 3 included participants who had spent 5-11 years in institution and entered through 

the  courts  Compared  with  groups  1  and  2,  more  members  of  this  group  were  male,  lived  in 

institutions run by religious brothers or priests, and were survivors of institutional sexual abuse. 

Compared  to  the  other  three  groups  they  identified  sexual  abuse  as  the  worst  thing  that  had 

happened  to  them,  and  more  had  experienced  physical  abuse  within  their  families.  Compared 

with  groups  1  and  2,  this  group  had  more  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders,  antisocial 

personality  disorders,  violent  and  non-violent  crime,  imprisonment  for  violent  and  non-violent 

crime, and unemployment. For this group, their self-reliance, optimism, and their work and skills 

were identified as the main sources of their strength in adulthood, compared with group 4. 



Group 4 included participants who had spent 4 or fewer years in institution Participants in 

this group spent the most time with their families (more than ten and a half years) and the shortest 

time living in an institution (just under three years) compared with the other three groups. Most 

were boys placed in institutions run by religious brothers or priests because of petty crime and 

left because their short sentences were over, or because their families wanted them back, and 

few  had mixed  feelings about  leaving. Institutional  sexual abuse  was the  form of  maltreatment 

that distinguished this group, and compared with groups 1 and 2, they showed more alcohol and 

substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders, non-violent crime, imprisonment for non- 

violent crime and unemployment. Their relationships with their partners was identified as the main 

source of their strength in adulthood. 



Subgroups defined by worst form of institutional abuse 



The following subgroups, defined by worst form of institutional abuse, were compared: 



        •   Group 1 included participants for whom severe sexual and physical abuse was the worst 

             thing they had experienced (N=23). 



        •   Group 2 included participants for whom severe physical abuse was the worst thing they 

             had experienced (N=99). 



        •   Group 3 included participants for whom severe sexual abuse was the worst thing they 

             had experienced (N=40). 



        •   Group 4 included participants for whom severe emotional abuse was the worst thing 

             they had experienced (N=85). 



In this analysis the most poorly adjusted as adults were not those who reported severe combined 

physical and sexual abuse, but rather, those who pinpointed severe sexual abuse as the worst 

thing that had happened to them while living in an institution. In this analysis, the best adjusted 

were those who had suffered severe emotional abuse. What follows is a summary of the profiles 

of the four groups from this analysis. 



Group 1 included participants for whom severe sexual and physical abuse was the worst 

thing they had experienced 



Participants in this group had experienced more physical and sexual institutional abuse than at 

least  two  of  the  other  3  groups  (in  this  analysis).  They  had  spent  less  time  with  their  families 

before  entering  an  institution  than  group  3.  Like  members  of  group  3,  more  had  children  who 

spent some time living separately with the child’s other parent. Compared with groups 2 and 4, 

more    had  a  current   diagnosis  of   posttraumatic     stress  disorder   (PTSD)    and  multiple    trauma 

symptoms. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                             345 


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Group 2 included participants for whom severe physical abuse was the worst thing they 

had experienced 



Participants in this group had the lowest educational achievement, were older than groups 1 and 

3 (in this analysis), and more had put their own children up for adoption. Compared with group 3, 

their worst abusive experience had lasted longer. Like group 4, fewer had PTSD than groups 1 

and 3, and they had fewer life problems than group 3. 



Group 3 included participants for whom severe sexual abuse was the worst thing they 

had experienced 



Compared  with  group  4  (in  this  analysis),  more  participants  in  group  3  were  male  and  were 

admitted through the courts to institutions run by religious brothers for petty crime. Like group 1, 

more had children who spent time with their other parent who lived separately compared to group 

4. Also, compared to group 4, more had PTSD, multiple trauma symptoms, lifetime alcohol and 

substance use disorders, antisocial personality disorders and multiple life problems. 



Group 4 included participants for whom severe emotional abuse was the worst thing they 

had experienced 



Compared to group 3 (in this analysis), more participants in this group were female and on average 

had spent the longer living in institutions run by nuns. Their worst experiences began at an earlier 

age than any other group and more had mixed feelings about leaving. 



Profiles associated with patterns of adult psychological disorders 



There was an association between having psychological disorders and reporting both institutional 

and  family-based  child  abuse  and  neglect.  Certain  patterns  of  psychological  disorders  were 

associated  with  institutional  abuse  alone,  and  other  patterns  were  associated  with  institutional 

family-based child abuse and neglect. For participants with 4 or more co-existing diagnoses, and 

for  those  with  mood  disorders,  greater  institutional,  but  not  family-based  physical,  sexual  and 

emotional  abuse  was  reported.  Participants  with  PTSD,  alcohol  and  substance  use  disorders, 

avoidant and antisocial personality disorder reported both institutional and family-based abuse or 

neglect. Participants with multiple diagnoses had the poorest adult psychological adjustment and 

those with  no diagnoses  were the  best adjusted.  Subgroups selected  by diagnosis  showed an 

intermediate level of adult psychological adjustment between these extremes. What follows are 

brief profiles of groups with different patterns or types of psychological disorders. 



Multiple diagnoses 



Participants with 4 or more diagnoses (N=83), were compared with those who had 1-3 diagnoses 

(N=119), and with those who had no diagnoses (N=45). Those with 4 or more diagnoses reported 

greater   institutional sexual   and   emotional   abuse    (but  not  more    family-based    abuse)   than 

participants  with  fewer   diagnoses.   Participants  with   4  or  more  diagnoses    had  more    trauma 

symptoms  and  life  problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning,  than 

participants  with  1-3  diagnoses,  who  in  turn  were  less  well  adjusted  than  participants  with  no 

diagnoses. More participants with 4 or more diagnoses had a fearful adult attachment style, and 

fewer had secure or dismissive adult attachment styles. On average more participants with 4 or 

more  diagnoses were  in their  50s compared  with those  with no  diagnoses who  where were  in 

their 60s. Also, more participants with 4 or more diagnoses were unemployed and of lower socio- 

economic status than participants with fewer diagnoses. 



Mood disorders 



Participants   with  mood   disorders   (N=142),   more    than  half of  whom    had   co-existing  anxiety 

disorders,  reported  greater  institutional  sexual  and  emotional  abuse  and  greater  institutional 

severe  physical  and  sexual  abuse  (but  not  family-based  child abuse)  than  participants  with  no 



346                                                                                    CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2857-----------------------

diagnoses     (N=45).    Participants    with  mood     disorders    had   more    trauma    symptoms      and   life 

problems,  and  a  lower  quality  of  life  and  global  level  of  functioning  than  participants  with  no 

diagnoses. More participants with mood disorders had a fearful adult attachment style, and fewer 

had a secure adult attachment style. On average participants with mood disorders were in their 

late 50s while those with no diagnoses were in their 60s. Also, on average, participants with mood 

disorders had had their first child in their mid-20s, while those with no diagnoses had their first 

children a couple of years later. 



Posttraumatic stress disorder 



Participants with PTSD (N=63), more than half of whom had other co-existing anxiety disorders 

and   alcohol   or  substance     use   disorders,    reported   greater    institutional  physical,   sexual   and 

emotional abuse, and greater institutional severe physical and sexual abuse than participants with 

no  diagnoses  (N=45).  They  also  reported  having  experienced  greater  family-based  emotional 

abuse. Participants with PTSD had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a lower quality 

of life and global level of functioning, than participants with no diagnoses. Fewer participants with 

PTSD had a dismissive adult attachment style. On average participants with PTSD were in their 

50s while those with no disorders were in their 60s. 



Alcohol and substance use disorders 



Participants with alcohol and substance use disorders (N=99), more than half of whom had a co- 

existing anxiety disorder, reported greater institutional sexual and emotional abuse, and greater 

institutional severe sexual abuse than participants with no diagnoses (N=45). They also reported 

having experienced greater family-based physical and emotional abuse. Participants with alcohol 

and substance use disorders had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and a lower quality 

of life and global level of functioning than participants with no diagnoses. Compared with those 

with no diagnoses, participants with alcohol and substance use disorders were younger (in their 

50s  not  their  60s);  had  had  their  first  children  at  a  younger  age  (in  early,  not  their  late  20s); 

were of lower socio-economic status; and fewer had entered an institution because their parents 

had died. 



Avoidant personality disorder 



Participants with avoidant personality disorders (N=52) reported greater institutional and family- 

based  emotional  abuse  than  those  with  no  diagnoses  (N=45).  Almost  all  participants  with  an 

avoidant    personality    disorder   had    a  co-existing   anxiety,   mood     or  substance     use   disorder. 

Participants with avoidant personality disorder had more trauma symptoms and life problems, and 

a  lower   quality   of life and   global   level  of  functioning,    than  participants    with  no   diagnoses. 

Compared  to  those with  no  diagnoses,  more participants  with  an  avoidant personality  disorder 

had a fearful adult attachment style and fewer had a secure adult attachment style. Compared to 

participants with no diagnoses, participants with avoidant personality disorder were younger (in 

their  50s,  not  their  60s)  and  more  had  been  placed  in  institutions  run  by  nuns  because  their 

parents could not care for them. 



Antisocial personality disorder 



Participants with antisocial personality disorder (N=17) reported greater institutional sexual abuse 

than  participants  with  no  diagnoses  (N=45).  All  participants  with  antisocial  personality  disorder 

had co-existing anxiety, mood or substance use disorders. Participants with antisocial personality 

disorder had more trauma symptoms, more life problems, a lower quality of life, a lower global 

level of functioning, and lower parental satisfaction than participants with no diagnoses. Compared 

to those with no diagnoses, participants with antisocial personality disorder were younger (in their 

50s,  not  their  60s);  had  spent  fewer  years  in  institutions  (5  1   not  nearly  10  years);  more  were 

                                                                           2 



unemployed; and more were of low socio-economic status. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                                347 


----------------------- Page 2858-----------------------

Borderline personality disorder 



Participants with borderline personality disorder (N=14) and those with no diagnoses (N=45), did 

not differ in their reported levels of institutional or family-based child abuse, although both reported 

a  high  level  of  child  abuse.  All  participants  with borderline  personality  disorder  had  co-existing 

anxiety, mood or substance use disorders. Participants with borderline personality disorders had 

more  trauma     symptoms,  more  life  problems,      a  lower  quality  of  life,  a  lower global  level  of 

functioning, and more had a fearful adult attachment style than participants with no diagnoses. 

Compared  to  those  with  no  diagnoses,  participants  with  borderline  personality  disorder  were 

younger (in their 50s, not 60s), more were unemployed, and on average reported being abused 

from an earlier age. 



Institutional abuse processes and coping strategies 



Scales were developed to assess the psychological processes of traumatization, re-enactment of 

abuse    and   spiritual  disengagement;      as  well   as  positive   and   negative    coping   strategies. 

Participants  completed  versions  of  these  scales  to  reflect  their  current  experience  and  their 

recollection  of  their  experiences  when  living  in  institutions  as  children.  Participants  reported  a 

reduction in the psychological processes of traumatization, re-enactment of abuse and an increase 

in spiritual disengagement from childhood to adult life. Participants also reported an increase in 

the  use  of  positive  coping  strategies  and  a  reduction  in  the  use  of  coping  by  complying  and 

avoidant coping strategies from childhood to adulthood. 



A model of institutional abuse, psychological processes and adult adjustment 



Figure  7  represents  a  model  which  shows  that  a  history  of  childhood  institutional  abuse  is 

associated  with  current  psychological  processes  of  traumatization,  re-enactment  and  spiritual 

disengagement, which in turn are associated with current adult mental health and quality of life. 

The model also shows that a history of having spent more childhood years within the family and 

current use of positive coping strategies are positively associated with quality of life and low levels 

of  present  traumatization.  This  model  was  developed  by  first  correlating  all  factors  within  the 

model, and then testing the fit of the proposed model to the pattern of correlations between its 

constituent factors using structural equation modelling. 



Figure 7. A path diagram of the model of institutional abuse 



348                                                                                      CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2859-----------------------

Strengths and limitations 



This study  had three main  limitations: (1)  there was a  high exclusion rate  and a  low response 

rate;  (2)  there  was  no  control  group;  and  (3)  the  study  used  a  crossectional  not  a  longitudinal 

design. There were also four main strengths: (1) it was the largest study of its kind conducted to 

date; (2) an extensive reliable and valid interview protocol was used; (3) data were collected by 

psychologists  trained  in  using  the  interview  protocol;  (4)  in  the  statistical  analyses,  steps  were 

taken to reduce type 1 error (interpreting non-significant results as significant) 



Recommendations 



Recommendations arising from this research fall into four broad categories: prevention, treatment, 

training and research. 



Prevention 



The  first  recommendation      is  that  legislation,  policies,  practices  and  procedures  be  regularly 

reviewed and revised to maximize protection of children and adolescents in institutional care in 

Ireland from all forms of abuse and neglect. Specifically the Children First: National Guidelines for 

the Protection and Welfare of Children (Department of Health and Children, 1999) require regular 

review  and  revision  to  insure  that  they  are  being  properly  implemented  and  that  children  and 

adolescents    in  institutional  care,  and   other  forms   of  substitutive   care  in  Ireland  are   being 

adequately protected. 



Treatment 



The second recommendation is that evidence-based psychological treatment continue to be made 

available to adult survivors of Irish institutional abuse. Specifically the National Counselling Service 

for  adult  survivors  of  child  abuse  in  Ireland  and  similar  appropriate  services  in  the  UK  should 

continue to be accessible to Irish survivors of institutional abuse. Staff in such services should be 

appropriately  qualified  and  trained  to  offer  services  to  clients with  complex  difficulties,  such  as 

multiple   co-existing   disorders    including   anxiety   disorders,   mood    disorders,   substance     use 

disorders and personality disorders. It is important the these services be evidence-based (Carr, 

2006). 



Staff training 



The third recommendation is that staff at centres which provide psychological treatment for adult 

survivors of Irish institutional abuse have regular continuing professional education and training 

to keep  them abreast of developments  in the field  of evidence-based treatment of  survivors of 

childhood trauma. 



Research 



The   fourth  recommendation       is that  research   be   conducted    to  evaluate   the  effectiveness    of 

psychological    treatment    for  adult  survivors   of  institutional  abuse.   The   report   of  Survivors’ 

Experiences of  the National  Counselling Service  for Adults  who Experienced  Childhood Abuse 

(Leigh et al., 2003) was an important first step in evaluating client satisfaction with the National 

Counselling  Service.  However,  it  did  not  address  the  critical  issue  of  the  effectiveness  of  the 

service provided. Such research is urgently required. Research is also required on levels of child 

abuse among looked after children (including all categories of children in care and children living 

in a variety of health, educational, correctional and social services institutions). 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                                           349 


----------------------- Page 2860-----------------------

Other documents arising from the project 



Three theses and a series of academic papers have been written based on this study. 



        Flanagan, E. (2006). Psychological disorders in adult survivors of institutional living. Thesis 

               for the degree of Doctor of Psychological Science in Clinical Psychology, UCD, Dublin. 

               In  this  thesis    the   profiles   of  subgroups      of   survivors    with   different    psychological 

               disorders are presented. 



        Fitzpatrick, M. (2007) Psychological profiles of adult survivors of childhood institutional living 

               in  Ireland.   Thesis    for   the  degree     of  Doctor     of  Psychological      Science      in  Clinical 

               Psychology, UCD, Dublin. In this thesis the profiles of subgroups of survivors who had 

               spent different amounts of time in institutions and experienced different types of abuse 

               are presented. 



        Flanagan-Howard, R. (2007). Psychometric Properties of the Institutional Abuse Processes 

               and  Coping  Inventory.  Thesis  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Psychological  Science  in 

               Clinical Psychology, UCD, Dublin. In this thesis the development of scales to measure 

               psychological processes associated with institutional abuse and coping strategies is 

               presented. 



                             , 

        Carr, A., Dooley B., Fitzpatrick, M, Flanagan, E.,. Flanagan-Howard, R., Tierney, K., White, 

               M., Daly, M. & Egan, J. (2007). Adult adjustment of survivors of institutional child abuse 

               in  Ireland.   This   paper    documents       the   adult   adjustment      of  survivors    of  childhood 

               institutional abuse. 



                                                    , 

        Fitzpatrick,    M.,   Carr,   A.,  Dooley  B.,     Flanagan-Howard,          R.,  Flanagan,      E.,  Shevlin,    K., 

               Tierney, K., White, M., Daly, M. & Egan J. (2007). Profiles of adult survivors of severe 

               sexual, physical and  emotional institutional abuse in Ireland. This  paper establishes 

               the  unique  profiles  Irish  adult  survivors  of  severe  sexual,  physical  and  emotional 

               institutional abuse. 



        Flanagan-Howard,          R.,  Carr,   A.,   Shevlin,    M.,  Dooley,     B.,  Fitzpatrick,    M.   Flanagan,     E., 

               Tierney, K., White, M., Daly, M. & Egan, J. (2007). Development and Initial validation 

               of the Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory among a sample of 

               Irish adult survivors of institutional abuse. This paper documents the development a 

               psychometric       instrument      to   evaluate      psychological       processes      associated       with 

               institutional abuse and coping strategies used to deal with such abuse. 



        Flanagan,      E.,  Carr,   A.,   Dooley,    B.,  Fitzpatrick,    M.   Flanagan-Howard,          R.,  Shevlin,    M., 

               Tierney,  K.,  White,  M.,  Daly,  M.  &  Egan,  J.  (2007).  Profiles  of  resilient  survivors  of 

               institutional abuse in Ireland. This paper documents the profiles of resilient survivors 

               of institutional abuse, who had no psychological disorders. 



        Carr,   A.,   Flanagan,     E.,  Dooley,     B.,  Fitzpatrick,    M.   Flanagan-Howard,         R.,   Shevlin,    M., 

               Tierney,  K.,  White,  M.,  Daly,  M.  &  Egan,  J.  (2007).  Profiles  of  Irish  survivors  of 

               institutional  abuse  with  different  adult  attachment  styles.  This  paper  documents  the 

               profiles of Irish survivors of institutional abuse with different adult attachment styles 



350                                                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 2861-----------------------

Staines Submissions: 



                                                                         Page 



Assessment of the Health Status of Children Detained at Irish 



Industrial Schools 1940-1983                                             (1-89) 



Christian Brothers Congregation (St. Helen’s Province)                    (1-5) 



Christian Brothers Congregation (St. Mary’s Province)                    (1-18) 



Presentation Brothers                                                    (1-11) 



Religious Sisters of Charity                                             (1-32) 



Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of St. Clare                                (1-10) 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                          351 


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352                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


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Ferriter Report: 



                                                                         Page 



Report by Dr Diarmaid Ferriter, St. Patrick’s College, DCU              (1-37) 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                         353 


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354                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


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Rollinson Report: 



                                                                         Page 



Residential Child Care in England, 1945-1975: 



A History and Report                                                    (1-51) 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                         355 


----------------------- Page 3072-----------------------

356                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 3073-----------------------

 Residential Child 

Care in England, 

  1948 – 1975: 

           A History 

        And Report 



Richard Rollinson 

Bath Consultancy 

Bath 

England 


----------------------- Page 3074-----------------------

                            Table of Contents 



Introduction                                                             4 



I Brief History                                                           5 



Things Known and Unknown                                                  5 



Research: Focus, Findings and Gaps                                        6 



Residential Care: Facts and Figures                                      8 



Reflections                                                              10 



Wider Context and Influences                                             11 



Metaphors                                                                20 



II Abuse                                                                22 



Existence, Nature, Extent                                               22 



Children’s Voices                                                       25 



III Major Residential Child Care Initiatives                            30 



Reports, Inquiries, Commissions                                        30 



Changes                                                                 31 



IV Education and Vocational Training for Children 32 



Education                                                             32 



                                             2 


----------------------- Page 3075-----------------------

Training                                                                   33 



V Staffing                                                                35 



Recruitment, Vetting and Conditions of Employment                        35 



Training and Qualifications                                              35 



VI The Irish Situation                                                    38 



Comparisons with England                                                   38 



Contacts between Irish and English Institutions                            41 



Portugal and Elsewhere                                                    41 



VII Summary and Reflections                                                43 



VIII Recommendations                                                       46 



Postscript                                                                 48 



Bibliography                                                              49 



                                                3 


----------------------- Page 3076-----------------------

                                    Introduction 



In response to a request from the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 

(CICA) I set out below a brief history of residential child care in England 

during the period 1948 – 1975. This covers the time in Ireland with which, 

as I understand it, the current Inquiry is most greatly concerned. I have also 

attended to a number of associated matters as set out in the Table of 

Contents and addressed in the text. 



The period in England under review herein represents an interesting and 

rather discrete phase in itself. It begins with the passage of the Children Act 

1948, a major piece of post war legislation. It ends with what can be 

characterised as the unwinding in largest part of that general post war 

“consensus” that had put in place key elements of the Welfare State. While 

almost always under strain from the start this consensus reached its point of 

irretrievable and rapid political fragmentation by 1975. 



During this time residential care was a central, if far from entirely 

uncomplicated and valued, part of State provision for children in England. 

Almost immediately after this period its importance, especially in terms of 

numbers, diminished dramatically in the face both of fostering and efforts to 

prevent many children being removed from their natural parents in the first 

place – due to a combination of not unrelated economic and 

professional/political reasons. 



While the Report does not dwell upon this larger picture, it is important to 

note that the history of residential child care in England over this period – 

even in its human detail of day to day living – is never wholly disconnected 

from this broader canvas. Indeed it is often greatly influenced by it, if only 

in the sense that when the larger body politic “sneezed” (e.g. over economic 

issues or those relating to welfare and justice) residential child care it was 

that often caught the cold. [Please note – throughout the text when I say 

children/child I mean to include all those 0 – 18 unless stated otherwise] 



                                                4 


----------------------- Page 3077-----------------------

I Brief History 



Things Known and Unknown 



1.1 Immediately, and not for the only time in this history, a paradox 

emerges. That is, in some ways there is a great deal of information available 

regarding this period, gathered contemporaneously or soon thereafter; yet at 

the same time very little is known (Clough, 1999). Remarked one pair of 

reviewers in their survey of child care, including residential, in the 18 years 

between 1948 and 1966 “it is disappointing not more is known” as a result 

of all the research or indeed by any other ways (Dinnage and Pringle, 1967). 

Kahan points out that even basic information such as which children and 

how many lived away from home in residential care over this entire period 

offers an “incomplete” picture. Statistics were either not collected or 

collected in different formats and at different times, often by different 

Departments spanning Health, Education and Welfare right up until the early 

1990s (Kahan, 1993). There are also gaps with regard to “throughput”. 

Certainly toward the end of this period there were 6 times as many 

admissions to residential care over a year as there were children resident on 

any one day. Despite longstanding belief to the contrary, nothing suggests 

that this “throughput” was hugely less in earlier years. In the mid to late 

1950s 60% of children placed in residential care (and in some Homes 80%) 

were no longer there after 6 months (Dinnage and Pringle, o.c.). 



1.2 Even less is known about the lived experiences of children in residential 

care across the period. Their own communications and observations were 

rarely sought directly, save via occasional anecdotes and a few surveys 

towards the end of the period. However, these were given retrospectively 

mainly by those already adult and quite long out of care. Otherwise except 

on extremely rare occasions children in residential care do not emerge as 

individuals, certainly not as individuals with their own views about their 

care, treatment, hopes, fears, or expectations. For those who had them there 

was little if any opportunity to voice them, or, when voiced, for those views 

to be heard. To those responsible or interested in residential care such a 

perspective simply did not appear as significant. It seems less that people 

didn’t care and more that they didn’t know – that the children themselves 

were not only a rich but an essential source of data regarding residential 



                                               5 


----------------------- Page 3078-----------------------

care, particularly regarding the varying quality of the experience it offered 

and the impact it had upon those in the State’s Care. 



 [Note: for the purposes of this Report I focus entirely on those in state Care 

placed residentially; I do not include another not small population placed by 

parents in private (“Public”) boarding schools - another story entirely, 

however interesting.] 



Research: Focus, Findings and Gaps 



1.3 Overall therefore in terms of both statistical data and the lived 

experiences of children no comprehensive picture is available on which to 

base a full and accurate history of residential child care. The evidence is 

“limited and partial” (Clough, o.c.).  Nevertheless what we do know about 

some things is important in itself and for the inferences we can carefully 

draw from what was looked at and what was not looked at or considered 

sufficiently relevant during the time in question. 



 1.4 Thus, in terms of empirical studies on residential child care and 

education 26 were completed by 1975, representing most of the major 

published work (Bullock et al, 1993). For the most part the aim of the 

studies was either to inform some wider social or psychological theory (such 

as deprivation or delinquency) or to inquire into the residential institutions 

themselves – their organisational structures and systems for planning and 

providing care. Mainly these research inquiries sought to consider the 

consequences of care upon children’s development and social adjustment 

when it was provided in highly institutionalised ways (Dinnage and Pringle, 

o.c.; see below) in order to reform or improve the organisation of 

institutions. To these ends researchers explored various aspects of residential 

care: 

     • Its history in the context of care services more widely 

     • Characteristics of “entrants” 

     • Reasons for admission and “routes of entry” 

     • Declared goals and institutional regimes, as well as what we would 

         call now the enacted, as opposed to the declared, goals and regime 

         style, cultures and ethos. (Bullock et al, o.c.) 



                                               6 


----------------------- Page 3079-----------------------

A very few studies latterly addressed the effects of different regimes upon 

the same category of resident, most notably Cornish and Clarke in their 

evaluation of a controlled trial in a boys’ Approved School. All boys deemed 

suitable for a “therapeutic regime” were allocated randomly either to an 

“orthodox” training regime or one of “therapeutic treatment” (Cornish and 

Clarke, 1975) 



1.5 Within this wide ranging exploratory research framework certain aspects 

of residential care nevertheless received greater attention than others. 

Facilities for children with physical and mental disabilities and for the” 

seriously delinquent” in Approved Schools and Probation Hostels received 

copious coverage, whereas ordinary residential homes, even when in 1971 

they sheltered over 31,000 children, were “virtually ignored”. (Bullock et al, 

o.c.) So too were Special Boarding Schools, in which under an Educational 

rubric the “deprived” and the “delinquent” overlapped considerably in 

individual residents and often in the entire group. Neither the details of 

residents’ experiences of services prior to entering residential care nor 

“outcome” evidence post placement is considered at all, apart from interest 

in reconviction rates amongst young offenders. 



 1.6 Whatever was studied, attention was concentrated on long stays, 

residential care for acute or brief placement being rarely noticed and never 

studied. “In short, before 1975 residential approaches tended to be viewed 

by researchers [and this author would add, anyone else 

concerned/responsible for children placed residentially] as isolated 

interventions, a perspective in tune with the treatment and client focus 

fashionable at the time” (Bullock et al. o.c.) – a not surprising perspective 

since from immediately after the war into the 1970s there was a firm belief 

in residential care as a treatment approach and a determination, or dream 

more accurately, that a universally effective regime to treat deprivation and 

delinquency could be found. 



1.7 It was this belief that focussed the interest of researchers and most policy 

makers, which in turn decided what received attention and at what “Level of 

Resolution”. Continuing this microscope analogy, most often the level of 

research and inquiry (not Inquiry) was pitched at too “low” a level, i.e. upon 

the more general effects of institutionalisation. A “higher” resolution might 

have brought into focus the actual personal experiences of individual 

children and groups as well as their impact on them. It would be too much to 

suggest that Children Homes in particular were assumed to be safe havens 



                                               7 


----------------------- Page 3080-----------------------

across the period. It is, however, fair to say that they were regarded in the 

main as places that did no active harm. When harm of any kind did occur it 

was certainly not regarded as visited intentionally upon residents either by 

the system or by any individuals apart from an odd “bad apple”, who would 

be dealt with as such, if at all. Abuse, covered more directly and fully below, 

was neither a term nor a category that would have been used or even known. 

As a phenomenon it did not appear as a subject for concern or investigation, 

however much it might have been occurring as inquiring minds looked 

elsewhere in good faith and with the uncertain and incomplete knowledge 

they possessed then. 



1.8 Before moving on, it is worth drawing attention to the fact that while 

abuse wasn’t “on the screen” and the “dream” of effective treatment was, 

Professor Roy Parker, from his position on the Wagner Committee in 1988, 

clarifies helpfully where the attention of staff on a day to day basis was 

really focussed. That is, however interest was articulated, in fact “the desire 

to control or alter behaviour was the salient feature of most [residential] 

institutional provision” (Parker, 1988). He asserts that this is how children 

will often have experienced daily living while in residential care, however 

long or short. This dimension returns more fully below. 



Residential Care: Facts and Figures 



1.9 Allowing for the caveats above about data, there remains information 

available and relevant to a history and to patterns, however shifting, that can 

be discerned and that will afford further realisations and reflections. 



1.10 Children were accommodated in a constantly changing variety of 

settings: 

     • Children Homes, ranging from large establishments not uncommonly 

         housing well over 100 residents even beyond the 1950s to smaller 

         ones of 12, though rarely fewer 

     • Approved Schools -         mainly for those convicted of offences, which 

         arose out of Industrial Schools in 1933 before themselves being 

         superseded by Community Homes with Education (CHEs) in 1970 

     • Observation and Assessment Centres 

     • Residential Special Schools for children with emotional and 

         behavioural problems, mental handicap (now learning difficulty) and 

         physical handicap (now disability) 



                                              8 


----------------------- Page 3081-----------------------

In fact until 1979 nearly 2,000 children under 5 were still placed in 

residential nurseries despite longstanding recognition of the potentially 

serious harm this could pose to children’s emotional and intellectual 

development. At least this was well down from 1956 when almost 5,000 

were so placed. 



1.11 There is diversity, and not infrequently confusion, due for example to 

the lack of fully agreed definitions of residential care (e.g. before 1971 those 

in Approved Schools, approximately 9,000 in 1966,                were exclude from the 

“in care” figures) and to the fact that until 1970 the figures available related 

to England and Wales combined. Nevertheless it is still possible to identify 

numbers and trends across the period. Between 1948 and 1975 there are two 

distinct phases (Cliffe and Berridge, 1991). First, from 1948 to 1966 actual 

numbers in residential care fell from 32,000 to c. 24 – 27,000 (and 36,600 

when those in approved Schools are classed “in care”). If not quite the 25% 

fall cited by some, the decline was still significant. In foster care over the 

same time numbers grew by nearly 30%, from 25,000 to c. 32,000, 

exceeding on the available figures for the first time the numbers in 

residential care by the mid 50s (Parker, 1990). 



1.12 From 1966 to 1975 the trends become very different. Yes, 

discontinuities were introduced by changes in the statistical base – now only 

England, and the incorporation of those in Approved Schools (Cliffe and 

Berridge, o.c.). Yet, even after allowing for these changes, numbers in foster 

care fell slightly (c. 3,000, or 10%), while residential care experienced an 

underlying increase of 20%. At a time which also saw a 20% increase in the 

total number of children in care, residential care received a larger proportion 

than did fostering, allowing for all adjustments. This differential remained 

until the late 1970s when residential numbers plummeted and have remained 

low ever since. 



1.13 On figures alone what can be said is that numbers in residential care 

were not small, however they were calculated, and remained high over the 

entire period, apart from a dip in the early 1960s. In fact when attention 

turns from static numbers (i.e. those in residential care on a particular day, 

the basis of government figures) to the “flow” (i.e. the numbers that moved 

in and out of residential care over an entire year) numbers in residential care 

are even higher and all the more significant in terms of the overall 

percentage of the population in State Care. 



                                                9 


----------------------- Page 3082-----------------------

1.14 Regarding size of residential homes, the expressed desire was for 

children to live in homes of less than 12. In reality by 1954 only 1 in 10 

residents lived in homes of that size. Even by 1975 less than 1 in 4 did so. 

Only by the early 1990s did the largest majority so live. In fact already in 

our period it had become something of a misnomer to call any Home a 

Children’s Home. A gradual but steady shift had been happening – from a 

population that had been fairly evenly distributed across the age range 0 – 18 

to one increasingly adolescent and predominantly male. 



1.15 Remaining largely the same throughout the period and beyond was the 

pre care profile of the population.      Of all those entering care the largest 

majority came from severely disadvantaged families and circumstances. 

Energy had been focussed on staying afloat but ultimately failing. Not for 

nothing were these children characterised by one study as “Born to Fail” 

(Wedge and Prosser, 1973) in school and in life. Dinnage and Pringle cite a 

study of the grounds for admission to care: 

     • No one else to care 

     • One or both parents deserted 

     • Child “ maladjustment” 

     • Parental neglect 

     • Mother unable to provide a home 



1.16 The bias towards children of lower social and economic class families 

is clear. Wealthier parents largely purchased residential care via private 

boarding schools or nannies at home. The issue of the value or otherwise of 

public provided residential care was prominent from the start and continued 

throughout this period. Without pre – empting later considerations of value, 

it’s not hard to see which “option” would be regarded (and hence suffer to 

some degree) as “inferior” despite not small bits of purchased residential 

care being of decidedly patchy quality. 



Reflections 



1.17 Until now what has been offered as statistical data and information will 

say or represent much, little or nothing, depending not so much on one’s 

point of view as on the purpose for which such numbers and population 

profiles are presented. It is certainly a picture incomplete, mixed, ambiguous 

and yet dynamic (in terms of change and the movement of children in and 

out of care). Moreover, despite continuing belief and sentiment that 



                                             10 


----------------------- Page 3083-----------------------

envisaged residential care becoming ever smaller and less important within 

the overall provision of State Care, it remained always of at least equal 

importance with fostering. Perhaps most indisputably apparent was the 

reality that no one government Department was or felt responsible for 

collecting and analysing annual returns and data, or for the children 

themselves in residential settings. Nor does there appear to have been a 

widespread recognition of the importance of establishing a unified returns 

system with any sense of urgency. This raises the question of how important 

were these children, and residential care itself, to government and to society. 



1.18 To continue simply looking at facts and figures divorced from their 

wider context will not address this question, just as plunging a collection 

tube into a river in three places will do little to give a genuine picture of that 

river’s depth, breadth, flow, character and life along its entire course. That 

requires more, just as any history of residential child care requires more than 

facts and figures. It needs its story, or stories, of context, themes, metaphors 

– told in a way that will offer something other than a tale smoothed of its 

diversity and confusion by broad generalisations. It needs stories that seek 

not to establish a single Truth but to represent a truthful effort to make sense 

of the period in its own right first and then as a guide for a future for 

residential care different from one that merely will reproduce its chequered 

past. This history must encompass the “his – stories” and “her – stories” of 

those that lived in residential care.      That is what I shall proceed to do. 



Wider Context and Influences 



1.19 In England before World War II the conditions and circumstances of 

residential care can be put very simply. Apart from very occasional 

exceptions, whether in Children’s Homes – to which children were sent via 

the welfare route – or in Approved Schools – at which children arrived via 

the justice route of a Court Order, having committed a crime, residential care 

was an unrelenting daily experience of dull, drab, regimented and miserable 

routine.   Punishments for bedwetting or even slight transgressions of a 

myriad of rigid rules were common, as was “brutish insensitivity” (Parker, 

1990). Sustained cruelty was far from uncommon. While legislation earlier 

in the century had sought to mitigate its most damaging impact on children, 

the Poor Law continued to loom large over the residential scene and 

penetrate almost all its aspects, from entry through residence to discharge 

and beyond, serving in effect as a stark message of deterrence to society at 



                                              11 


----------------------- Page 3084-----------------------

large. Efforts to change further this oppressive mentality and reality had 

little effect. 



1.20 It is no exaggeration to state therefore that the arrival of war and its 

massive impact on the entire English people opened up first the opportunity 

and then the imperative for fundamental changes in attitudes to the care of 

children in general and the provision of residential care in particular. The 

war brought the nation together in a way never before experienced. People 

felt a nation united and many encountered directly for the very first time 

through the bombing of the cities and the mobilisation for total war the 

enduring and immense poverty suffered by no small part of the population 

now working and fighting side by side with those more fortunate and 

comfortable. This experience did much to truly democratise citizenship 

beyond the state of “passive subject” and to lay the foundations of a Welfare 

State which would seek in the aftermath of war to protect, ameliorate and 

enhance the lives of all equally and as of right and entitlement. 



1.21 Yet for those in residential care in this post war era right up to 1975, 



even more decisive for change than the emerging welfare sentiment was the 



experience of the national wartime evacuation programme. To demonstrate 



this I quote at length from Christopher Reeves: 



It needed a war for a national evacuation programme to happen.                  This isn't quite 



as trite a remark as it sounds.       What I mean is that it is quite conceivable for the 



British   Government   in   mid   1939,   faced   with   the   imminent   prospect   of   war   and 



large-scale aerial bombing, to have nevertheless decided against carrying out a 



mass evacuation programme.            It could easily have concluded that on balance it 



was     not  feasible   or  ultimately   worthwhile     to  set  about   organising    such    an 



unprecedented large-scale transport of children, with all the administrative detail 



required to ensure the programme worked and could be sustained, that adequate 



social work and psychological supports were provided for the host families, and 



the    necessary     back-up     given   to   bereft   parents    at  home.     What    is  quite 



                                                12 


----------------------- Page 3085-----------------------

inconceivable is that without such a huge crisis, any British Government in 1939 



or   before    would    even    have    begun    to  consider     how    to  meet    the  social   and 



psychological needs of (to borrow the current term) 'looked after children'. Which 



is of course, what the evacuee children became. 



Nowadays,   we   take   for   granted   that   the   Government   of   the   day   has   a   duty 



towards young children who cannot or aren't properly looked after by their own 



parents.     Indeed, that the Government does, and must have a responsibility for 



ensuring that objective, as well as having  a vital say in how parents look after 



their charges and exercise their parental responsibilities when they are not being 



looked after by others.        However, in 1939 before the evacuation began, no such 



presumption on   the   part   of   Government   existed… Child   care,   if   it   existed,   was 



private   and   independent   of   the   State   in   its   origins,   outlook,   organisation.   The 



State simply had no role in their running save in terms of general regulation. 



What the evacuation programme unwittingly achieved was to confront the British 



Government for the first time with its 'duty of care' (to use another current term) 



to   the   country's   young   in   the   matter   of   their   psychological   and   developmental 



well-being.     It   was   as   if   the   1939   British   Government   through   the   evacuation 



programme   became   like   a   foster   couple   or   billet   family   on   a   national   scale; 



suddenly discovering the unsuspected dimensions of the task it had taken on… 



Nevertheless,        as   novel    problems      began     to   present     themselves,      however 



unwelcomely, to the Government, solutions, some of them unexpected, began to 



emerge.     The overriding presumption was that, as evacuee children 'belonged' to 



families, substitute families   were what needed   to   be found and   provided.                  And 



this indeed, for the most part, proved the ideal solution.               However, a recognition 



also grew among the providers and organisers of evacuation billets that certain 



                                                   13 


----------------------- Page 3086-----------------------

children,    among     them   the   most   disturbed,    actually   seemed     to  benefit  when 



placed     in  slightly  larger  residential   establishments,      as  long   as   the  persons 



running   such   establishments,   usually  called   wardens,   possessed   the   capacity 



and   stamina   to   deal   with   the   emotional   and   management   problems   that   might 



arise, and that ready access was available to outside professional support… 



However, all this enterprise might have come to nothing at the end of the war, 



were it not for another sad, but in the end, fortuitous event.              During the war, a 



child   called   Denis   O'Neill   was   removed   from   his   home   because   of   abuse   and 



neglect suffered at the hands of his parents.          Placed with a foster family, he died 



of   comparable   neglect   in   1945.    There   was   a   popular   outcry   once   this   event 



became widely known.         It wasn't just the distressing individual details of the case: 



with   so   many   parents   up   and   down   the   land   having   their   children   looked   after 



away from home, the neglect of this child seemed to focus the anxieties, not to 



say, the paranoia, of a nation. (Reeves, 2001) 



1.22 In fact even before war’s end and the tragic untimely death of Denis 

O’Neil a national outcry over the appalling conditions found in most 

residential settings had been underway (Holman, 1998). In response to all 

this concern the government established a Committee of Inquiry chaired by 

Dame Myra Curtis to examine in relation to children “deprived of a normal 

home life” – 

    • The extent of the gaps and failures in the provision nationwide 

    • What had gone wrong in the system of care and supervision and 

    • What must be done – in the new climate of social corporatism – to 

        ensure that never again should the care of children be fragmented, 

        lacking in any coherence and subject solely to the haphazard 

        arrangements of voluntary bodies (the overwhelming majority 

        religious in origin) in which the government played no part. A long 

        prevailing harshness was giving way to a recognition of children in 

        State Care needing not only reliable hygienic care but sensitive, 

        sympathetic treatment as well. 



                                                 14 


----------------------- Page 3087-----------------------

1.23 When visiting residential settings what the Curtis Committee found was 

largely what had been known already, although this did not greatly ease the 

“shocking” nature of the chronic lack of care, “cruel mistreatment” and rigid 

regimes they often encountered. Seeing far more indifference and neglect 

than overt cruelty, and declaring that a large percentage of children were 

reared adequately by the austere standards of the day, the Committee chose 

to reassure a concerned public that conditions were not so bad as to be 

irretrievable. They therefore focussed their recommendations on things that 

could improve. 



1.24 They proposed that: 

     • One Government Department held central responsibility for 

         “deprived children” (this being the Home Office until 1971) 

     • In each Local Authority there be one Children’s Committee for all 

         deprived children 

     • Children’s Officers be appointed to oversee and ensure reception into 

         care and subsequent care 

     • Boarding Out, i.e. fostering, be the desired option for most children 

         “ as the nearest approximation to family life” 

     • For those for whom fostering was not possible - due in their view 

        mainly to the temporary scarcity of foster carers – residential care 

        would be necessary “for the time being”; but the size of the large and 

        highly disfavoured Children Homes were to be greatly reduced. New 

         Family Group Homes would have no more than 12 residents being 

         cared for by a couple with support, again as the closest possible 

         approximation of family life. (Holman, o.c.) 



1.25 An enormous climate of belief and hope held sway that these changes 

would make a difference. They were duly enshrined in the Children Act 

1948 and then implemented nationwide. By any standards these changes 

represented a major turning point, “a dramatic transformation” even, that 

offered a solid legal basis for the delivery of high quality residential care 

(Frost et al, 1999) 



1.26 Nevertheless right from the beginning it was clear that residential care 

was (and hence remained) the least preferred option in this new era. 

However much improved it was to be, it was effectively regarded as what 

we might call now “the default option”: if not at home with natural family or 



                                              15 


----------------------- Page 3088-----------------------

placed with a substitute one, then residential it must be as there is nothing 

else. This position, however dressed up, played a major part in the 

movement between 1948 and 1975 from predominantly belief and hope for a 

transformed residential care through slowly growing doubts to explicit 

disapproval, not least because contrary to Curtis’ expectations that 

residential care would shrink until it disappeared naturally it stubbornly 

refused to do so. 



1.27 For some children “received or taken into care” across this period their 

experience was far better than it would have been in earlier decades, and 

good enough to see them into an independent and functioning adult life. We 

simply cannot and will never be able to state with any conviction for how 

many or what percentage this was the case. On balance, while much 

provision remained “rough and ready” as life often was in society at large, a 

considered estimate from the information available suggests that for up to 

60%    this experience was good enough or better by the prevailing standards 

of the day (Berry, 1975;Triseliotis, 1973; Kahan, 1994). 



 1.28 Of course that leaves 40% with an experience of residential care 

ranging from inadequate to actively damaging, a substantial proportion by 

any criteria. For many of these for most of the time (and in fact for those in 

good enough/better care for some of the time) pain and unhappiness was 

“chronic”. And that experience went largely unheard and unnoticed, at least 

consciously, by residential staff or Child Care Officers (later social 

workers). Even when it was recognised on occasion it was rarely understood 

as the expression of the child’s entire care experience. Instead it was 

regarded as a passing problem of the moment. 



1.29 Curtis’ hoped for personalised, individualised care rarely emerged. 

What remained too often was “care” so highly regimented that most 

naturalness, informality and spontaneity (all features of genuine good care) 

was entirely absent or confusingly episodic. This left for many an 

impersonal warehousing or worse (see below). The Large Homes clung on 

with particularly resistant attitudes to change despite the post war assault on 

their “Mouldering Bastions” (Packman, o.c.). Those who entered them early 

and stayed long were highly susceptible to the consequences of such 

“treatment”. In these cases being “taken into care” was a contradiction if not 

a downright lie. Reviewing this period Parker declares “the predominant 

picture [was of] establishments that failed to meet the physical, social and 



                                              16 


----------------------- Page 3089-----------------------

psychological needs of their residents. The best estimate was that 

institutional care would be a wretched, sad experience” (in Wolmar, 2000). 



 1.30 A study of leisure time in (small) children’s homes undertaken in the 

early 1970s demonstrated starkly that there were few toys or resources 

available and even less of a recognition by staff of a need to engage 

playfully with their charges and offer activities. Present then were inactivity 

and emotional flatness; apparently not even active misbehaviour occurred 

very often to fill the void, especially as most residential units had few if any 

contacts with the wider social world, even when the much anticipated 

Family Group Homes were located in the midst of neighbourhoods (Brown 

and Solomon, 1974). While Approved Schools were somewhat different in 

this respect (see Education below) overall the picture of “ineffective and 

unwholesome regimes” (Milham et al, 1980) held true there too. Instead of 

effectively diverting residents from re-offending after discharge these 

schools had become “expensive antechambers to the penal system” with re- 

offending rates commonly as high as 76% (Milham et al, 1978). 



1.31 Prosser (1980) commented that by 1966 far too little had changed in the 

nature of residential care in the years since the 1948 Act. She acknowledged 

the findings by Wolkind and Rutter (1973) that the pre care experiences 

more than the residential in care experiences influenced the care and 

subsequent lives of many, while highlighting at the same time other research 

which contradicted this finding (Yule and Raines, 1972). Looking at 

residential care in its own right, she concludes that for far too many care did 

little or nothing to mitigate or compensate for those earlier experiences and 

much to compound them. Dinnage and Pringle cite three real and damaging 

aspects of this kind of care: 

      • Continuity and consistency of care was poor. Staff changed rapidly, 

         in numbers and in mood; recognition of residents’ earlier lives was 

         grossly limited – birthday cards and letters were often not given, the 

         day itself easily forgotten. Contact with family could be patchy or 

         absent. 

      • Children’s knowledge of their backgrounds and prospects were 

         equally ignored. Records were inadequate or absent; residents 

         histories, life stories were muted, discarded. Residential care was a 

         Limbo between two entirely disconnected parts of their lives – 

         before and after care – in which most links were actively broken or 

         casually left to wither away. 



                                              17 


----------------------- Page 3090-----------------------

      • Coordination/cooperation between agencies was poor to nonexistent. 

         Child Care officers on whom so much hopeful expectation had been 

         placed lost sight of the children as they became bogged down in 

         routine and bureaucratic tasks (with a few notable exceptions as 

         always). 



1.32 Altogether children in residential care were vulnerable to a highly 

restrictive and impoverished substitute environment and to the risk of a 

damaged sense of personal identity. For those with no coherent picture of 

“who I am and who I belong to”, it was not simply an absence of things that 

so affected them; it was their experience of a powerful presence that most 

put them at risk – the presence of that gaping, bleak emptiness of a far from 

neutral absence that stood at the centre of their daily living or that lingered 

darkly on the horizon on those occasions when a brief good experience 

might have come their way. Of course we know sufficiently now that what 

goes before and comes after one’s experience in residential care counts 

greatly towards any outcome. But so does the care experience itself. Some 

had already realised this then, but even by bringing it to people’s attention 

little was changed in relation to the frequency, intensity and duration of 

these negative experiences, however much it was a minority ( and a 

substantial one) being described at these extremes. 



1.33 This reality of residential care was very different from what had been 

intended and sought by many with energy, passion and commitment. Joan 

Cooper remembered herself and other Child Care Officers in the early 50s 

thus, “we had a mission to rescue, relieve and restore the deprived child who 

hitherto had been merely batch processed” (Packman, o.c.). If batch 

processing had been broken, what remained throughout may not have been a 

“minefield” as claimed by one commentator. Even if discounting this 

dramatic term, what existed was neither the dream nor Cooper’s mission 

realised. At best it was a picture and provision mixed and not infrequently 

“messed” as in confused and confusing for everyone involved. This was 

especially so with regard to issues of care and control. Knowing very little 

about the actual population in residence, the assumed model for residential 

care pre 1975 was that of a soft, caring, nurturing, feminine even, 

environment – hence heavily populated by young, female staff who could 

offer warm, loving relationships and help to bloom and grow (Berry, 1975). 

This “rescue model” quickly met the ever growing reality of very troubled 

and increasingly older children whose behaviour was regularly anything but 

warmly appreciative in return, given their circumstances past and present. 



                                             18 


----------------------- Page 3091-----------------------

1.34 Almost immediately this drew a controlling reaction from individual 

and ill prepared staff and much of the entire system. The dynamic interaction 

between an altruistic, benign care and a moral, political control – forever an 

issue in any form of care, but especially residential – took powerful hold 

with predictable consequences. The intention to use residential care as an 

opportunity to enrich and enhance the lives of residents in the long term 

yielded rapidly to short term, arbitrary actions to enforce behavioural 

control, the enduring feature and predicament of English welfare services. 

Nurture in largest part deferred to punishment and deterrence wherever there 

was residential provision. 



1.35 Towards 1975 brief interest was shown in identifying the effects of 

different regimes, traditional and therapeutic, in Approved Schools 

especially. Cornish and Clarke (1975) determined that regime made no 

difference, but they only decided on the basis of post discharge reconviction 

rates which were similar whatever the regime. Yet as Milham et al (1978) 

pointed out they neither looked at external circumstances post discharge nor 

scrutinised the detail of behaviours and cultures in the respective regimes 

themselves. Milham did look at the latter and identified several aspects of 

the therapeutic regime that made a positive difference during residency. This 

wasn’t enough; further experimentation ceased. 



1.36 Paradoxically in Approved Schools, despite internal preoccupations 

with control and public alarm about rising juvenile delinquency from the 

mid 50s to the mid 60s, a sudden and dramatic change was about to take 

place, however briefly. Through the 1960s concern and disaffection with 

these schools had been growing slowly, over matters of cost and 

effectiveness mainly but not exclusively. More widely in society the 

emphasis on the individual and individual expression came more to the fore, 

supplanting notions of regimentation and uncomplaining compliance. By the 

late 60s there was an “irresistible tide” against a punitive led justice model 

and a belief (not for the first time in history) that a child was delinquent as a 

consequence of pre existing deprivation. To treat the delinquency, treat its 

source in deprivation (Hyland, 1993). 



1.37 Events at Court Leas Approved School in 1967 provided the public and 

policy tipping point. A staff member leaked details of a highly punitive 

regime to the press. A government Inquiry found the complaint proven and 



                                              19 


----------------------- Page 3092-----------------------

closed it. Very quickly it was determined that all other Approved Schools 

would be transformed into Community Homes with Education (CHEs) and 

overseen by Local Authorities. Residents would be “in care” and no longer 

“in training”. The 1969 Children and Young People Act set out these 

changes, which happened in 1970. Immediately after this “highpoint in the 

desegregation of the deprived and delinquent” (Hyland, ibid.) a change of 

government from Labour to Conservative retreated on several key clauses of 

the Act. This left new CHes betwixt and between two states with no firm 

guidance from any direction and much antipathy from many still immersed 

in the Approved School traditions. By 1975 CHEs were already closing and 

continued to do so steadily thereafter in the face of a range of more punitive 

alternatives that have been tried by all successive governments. 



Metaphors 



1.38 When reflecting upon what has been presented until now, two major 

metaphors come to mind: “Last Resort” and “Poor Relations”. Exploring 

these briefly may assist in understanding how reality came to differ so 

greatly from genuine and loudly proclaimed aspiration. 



1.39Last Resort – From 1948 the fact is, “new era” notwithstanding, 

government and society saw residential care as not simply a temporary 

“default” provision but even more and evermore a “faulty” Last Resort. 

Certainly it was no Butlin’s like “resort” that anyone would have wanted for 

themselves or their loved ones. As such from day one it suffered from a 

chronic tendency to be overlooked, given low priority or almost no attention 

at all (and denied sufficient, “costly” resources). In the main the value it was 

accorded was “negative value” (Dinnage and Pringle, o.c.) in contrast to the 

high positive valuation of family care through both fostering and in reaction 

to the profile of the population admitted to residential care (see above). 

Therefore, only when no other option was available would children be 

placed there – with barely any effort to match child and needs with a setting. 

Children were primarily just fitted in to whatever and wherever was 

available, a real “warehousing” (Kahan, 1993) Thereafter children were 

often forgotten, lost in the last resort unless or until they became a problem, 

usually behavioural. 



1.40 Poor Relations – Packman had used this phrase to represent the unequal 

and unhappy relationship between residential workers and Child Care 

Officers (i.e. field social workers, post 1970) over this period - “there were 



                                             20 


----------------------- Page 3093-----------------------

poor relations between the two groups”.           Immediately striking was its 

relevance as a term to describe the fundamental position and predicament of 

the whole of residential care, its residents and its residential workers 

together in relation to society, to other non residential forms of care and to 

those professionals responsible in law for the child. Often in ordinary life 

just as much as in films large extended families rarely feel able entirely to 

cut off and ignore or deny those they may regard as their “poor relations” for 

whatever mix of family, social and economic reasons. The desire and effort, 

however, is directed in more or less conscious ways towards minimising any 

contact in terms of frequency and duration. During any times of contact that 

could not be avoided there is an undercurrent of unease or worse never far 

below the surface of cordial, “relaxed” association. The relief, therefore, is 

palpable when these “poor relations” finally depart, the sooner the better. 

They then can drop quickly out of mind for as long as possible until they 

next cannot be avoided. Until then, however, they are rendered out of 

existence, invisible to sight or memory, mute to the ear and conscience – 

dismembered and discarded from the mind, not remembered. 



 1.41 In the family of the English nation consider then those in residential 

care, there with little choice, as these poor relations, and the professionals 

and society as the extended family. We can readily recognise the 

consequences and impact that was too often created, however 

“unintentionally”. Rendered invisible, silent and out of the public mind in 

many cases, they were left hopelessly trapped in a bleak, depressing “grey 

hinterland”. Even when geographically sometimes in the midst of local 

neighbourhoods, residents were nevertheless disconnected from others and 

from themselves, any sense of “belonging” draining steadily from them or at 

times haemorrhaging. They were left barely “being” in any bright, warm 

hopeful sense, and more likely “longing” or pining for live connections with 

others in an interested caring world. These poor relations suffered from an 

acute form of “relative isolation” in all levels of their lives. 



 1.42 Too dramatic, too persistently bleak a metaphor? Perhaps; but we all 

live and confer meaning on our lives by metaphors and by actually 

belonging or seeking belonging, unless we are powerfully prevented. Not 

being seen, not being heard, not being recognised – these don’t just drain 

one of life. They may well fit the person up for more active misuse – to be 

consumed and then disposed. And save in notable exceptions “Poor 

Relations” rather accurately captures a significant part of the experiences of 

those that were in residential care then. 



                                              21 


----------------------- Page 3094-----------------------

II Abuse 



 Existence, Nature, Extent 



2.1 There are two key points to keep in mind here. First, “abuse” as a word 

and a term with the particular significance it has for us today was not 

recognised or used at any time in this period. “Cruelty”, “mistreatment” or 

even “malpractice” were used, but not as often as “harsh discipline” early 

on, although Curtis and others were more concerned with disheartening 

levels of neglect. Prior to the mid 1980s there was little professional or adult 

sensitisation either to the word or to the possibility of abuse (Corby et al, 

2001). Care must be taken therefore as to how the term is used 

retrospectively, and especially as more recently constructed. 



2.2 Thus the second point: namely, it is essential to avoid the trap and 

potential excesses of judging this period, now past, by today’s standards, 

although this doesn’t prevent looking for lessons about matters that arise 

continually anew across all periods. The task is more to name than to blame 

from afar. Of course beyond a certain point actions and regimes were 

dangerous and wrong, and adults over that time did encounter and 

sometimes record “shocking” individual incidents of both a physical and 

sexual nature or called them such when they later came to light, usually by 

chance. Otherwise attitudes to control and punishment particularly, as well 

as prevailing experiences, practices and conditions were very different 

across the 50s, 60s and 70s, compared to today. Little effort was made to 

monitor for what we call standards. 



2.3 These two factors alone make it difficult, even impossible, to state with 

any authority how much abuse went on. And unlike in some countries, like 

Ireland, where voices claiming large scale and longstanding abuse are loud 

and plentiful, in England there are some individual declarations today, but in 

largest part there is silence.    Now that doesn’t mean that there was no, little 

or much abuse; it means we don’t know the scale and will likely never do 

with anything approximating precision. Certainly from today some see abuse 

as having been endemic (Wolmar,o.c.), the system hopelessly and painfully 

riddled with all its forms. Others, like Webster (2005) contend such 

estimates are hugely overstated. In fact when one gets down to considered 

estimates, two “antagonists” like Wolmar and Webster would actually not 



                                              22 


----------------------- Page 3095-----------------------

disagree too much with the estimate that between 2 to 3% of those in 

residential care across the period were abused in the sense understood today. 



 2.4 The difference is one of perception about the significance of such 

numbers. These percentages represent harm that is unacceptable at any 

figure; but it is very different from any contention that abuse was either 

pervasive or almost nonexistent. As Wolmar points out himself, many 

thousands went through residential care unscathed by physical or sexual 

abuse. Nevertheless for some the old saying “no smoke without fire” 

remains enticing and sometimes true. Yet it is worth remembering that there 

isn’t a lot that can be genuinely called smoke for these purposes. There’s 

more a Cloud of Unknowing, and the Italians have a saying “tanto fumo, 

poco arrosta” which translate loosely as “a lot of smoke means a little bit of 

heat and flame”. In all then speculation is best kept to a minimum. 



2.5 These caveats made, some things are clear via partial information and 

clusters of anecdotes. Already we know residential care was rarely an easy 

life, suffused with caring concern and stimulation. In any official, or indeed 

semi – official, sense no general concern was raised about standards, safety, 

welfare or “abuse” in the residential sector in the period. This is less 

surprising once we remember that the public awareness and professional 

concern for abuse in families was almost as limited then. In residential care 

the possibility of abuse simply did not register. Any of the few cases that 

arose, including the celebrated Court Leas case, were therefore seen, and 

dealt with if at all, as isolated incidents restricted to an individual’s personal 

deviation from practice in an otherwise at least good enough sector. These 

individuals were then regarded as “malign” or “bad apples”, which 

syndrome readily removed any focus on the possibility of more widespread 

malign deviancy. 



2.6 It is still interesting and somewhat perplexing that so often people had 

such difficulties in seeing, naming and acting upon harmful practices and 

regimes. At one point in the 1950s the NSPCC in its Annual Report 

highlighted unacceptable incidents of cruelty to children in residential care, 

but it roused only marginal interest and no action (Holman, o.c.). Even more 

tellingly, as early as 1952 the Home Office distributed a Circular for all 

Correspondents and Heads of Approved Schools. It drew their attention in 

precise detail to what should be done when “indecent practices” were 

committed on boys either by other boys or by staff. At times it reads very 

much like best advice today when it instructs that if there is knowledge or 



                                              23 


----------------------- Page 3096-----------------------

suspicion of serious indecent acts which if proven would constitute a crime, 

then the police are to be called in to investigate and nothing else was to be 

done that might possibly compromise their activity and any prosecution. 

Once circulated this Guidance seems to have sunk without trace, only to be 

“discovered” over 40 years later by David Berridge during his own research 

into abuse in residential care (personal communication with a copy). 



2.7 The reasons for its “disappearance” can never really be known. 

However, its tone and the language employed suggest to us today that Home 

Office officials and others could well have been struggling at the extremities 

of their capacities to regard such acts, or even their possibility, as anything 

other than unthinkable and unspeakable. To my knowledge no other 

document across this entire period addresses such matters so directly and in 

a way that suggests “abuse” might sometimes be something other than an 

isolated incident carried out by a very rare, sick individual. Only with the 

Pindown and Frank Beck scandals, in 1989 and 1991 respectively, do such 

direct and explicit declarations re - emerge. If discomfort, embarrassment, 

shame and guilt could silence government Departments so fully it’s perhaps 

understandable that very few “poor relations” who suffered had felt able to 

speak out at the time or afterwards. Of the few who did, not many would 

have been believed in the circumstances, as they well knew. 



2.8 Berridge challenges himself and other researcher as to “how we missed 

the physical and sexual abuse that was occurring…” He honestly declares 

that abuse “simply did not resonate with my experiences and observations in 

residential care” as they hadn’t with many others either. He concludes that 

those who abused were very evasive and able to work behind veils of silence 

and secrecy. However, he remains impressively uncomfortable about having 

missed any signs (Berridge, 2005).         Most times it would have been risky for 

someone to have adduced from a range of separate and often “small” 

incidents that there was systematic abuse of children in institutions. At the 

same time there is a sense that sometimes things did start small only to grow 

into regimes of brutality and abuse. Parker declares that “well documented 

accounts of ill treatment, victimisation, humiliation and appalling living 

conditions are to be found in all periods, even though views of what is 

excessive and intolerable have changed…these extremes are never part of 

deliberate policy; indeed Central Government sought fair and reasonable 

treatment for children in residential care but couldn’t control what happened 

locally” (Parker, 1988). Adults often lacked the knowledge, skills and 

language to notice; children often reaped the consequences. 



                                              24 


----------------------- Page 3097-----------------------

Children’s Voices 



2.9 Until now these voices have been present only indirectly. In fact 

“consumer surveys” about residential care only began to emerge in the late 

1970s, apart from occasional anecdotal, and almost “accidental”, comments 

such as this from a 15 year old girl “No matter what they do to it, even if it 

was made of marble, it’s still a bloody children’s home” (Dinnage and 

Pringle) 



2.10 In his book, Hard To Place, Triseliotis interviewed nearly 100 former 

residents of various settings, now adult, about their perceptions of their 

experiences of growing up in residential care. On average respondents had 

lived in Homes for 11 years between 1958 and 1972. From their responses 

Triseliotis found that 60% rated their experiences as positive or fairly 

positive. More precisely they remembered and valued: 

    • The continuity of care when staff (and residents) stayed for a long 

        time 

    • Individual attention 

    • Staff caring attitudes 

    • Opportunities for closeness with staff 

    • Flexible rules 

    • Relaxed atmosphere 

    • Freedom to play and the companionship of others 

    • The Home interested in offering them opportunities to make 

        something of themselves 



2.11 They remembered and appreciated individual staff who tried with 

patience to look after them. In all very few experienced all these elements 

together, but most of the 60% experienced a sufficient cluster of them to 

have been exposed to “psychological good enough parenting” in an 

atmosphere, however large the setting, akin to a family type upbringing with 

emotional closeness - familiar and familial. Even some of these, however, 

still felt the Hurt of being “separated unnecessarily” from siblings, a not 

uncommon event; they recounted this with a harsh and bitter judgement, but 

not against the Home itself. 



                                             25 


----------------------- Page 3098-----------------------

 2.12 Amongst the larger proportion of the 60% who found it at least “fairly 

 good” a more positive perspective was undermined by memories of 

 sometimes harsh punishments (no detail offered), rigid rules and too little 

 mixing outside the Home. There was both explicit and implicit sense in their 

 reporting of “having missed a lot of childhood” and feeling alone without 

 enough love. 



 [Being brought up in a Home meant] a home, a place to stay, all the things a 

 home gives, love, care etc. and I genuinely treated it as a home…but I still 

 would have liked to have known what it is like to have parents and to live in 

 a family 



Being young when I was taken away, it sort of came natural and it was not 

 too bad… being there created more friends for me. It became my way of life. 

Mr and Mrs G seemed like parents, sort of. I have pretty good memories 



Naturally I would prefer to have been home with my mum and dad. But the 

Home was good, a good upbringing. There was always plenty of people 

 around… there was nothing unhappy in the home. I don’t regret it 



 [re trained staff] they were all for small groups, more discussion, more open 

 instead of ‘you do this’. I was happy, I was unhappy. I have looked back 

 with resentment but not now 



I was quite happy. I enjoyed life there, but it could have been much better 



I think you felt you were all alone. You wanted an awful lot of love, but there 

 wasn’t any like parents give their children…overall it was fairly good 



 2.13 Amongst the 7% who held entirely negative perceptions their memories 

 were of unrelenting harsh regimes, rigid rules, routinised activities, regular 

 beating and punishments even for bedwetting, feeling always alone, lonely, 

 lost. In effect it was again this presence of an absence - of those elements 

 encountered by those with positive memories: 



I think I can remember when I used to cry myself and nobody cared…when 

you are in a Home you have a lot more difficulty in bringing up your own 

family… I have nobody to turn to 



                                              26 


----------------------- Page 3099-----------------------

[overall] we were just like cattle in a field, watered and fed at the same 

time…I can’t honestly say I was cared for…I was unhappy…missing 

something…didn’t know why I was there 



 You were terrified…it’s terrible…no place for a kid. It’s mental cruelty if 

you ask me… no home, just a jail…no escape… they never talked to 

you…you were just one of the furniture… I hated them, they never did 

anything for you 



Being in a home was very bad. I really mean that… I would have liked to 

have been mothered 



All these negative accounts are not only troubling and distressing in 

themselves; they also almost always reinforced, accurately mirrored, 

children’s pre care harmful experiences. 



2.14 The group (33%) who held a mix of positive and negative memories 

tended to reflect upon them with a notable and curious absence of affect, 

many classifying their perceptions as “neither good nor bad”: 



It was more frightening than bad… the atmosphere was completely different 

than what I was used to. When I first entered the Home having to get my hair 

cut and getting clothes too big for me… all this was frightening and 

impersonal… people didn’t seem to understand 



I was there for 9 years. I used to count the years until I was getting out. 

Overall you were just a nobody…I think I’m a better person for it, but I 

would have liked to have been a normal kid 



I have learned a lot but I have never lived in normal circumstances… I don’t 

know what I missed 



There were always different people looking after you.. they never got very 

involved with you… they didn’t have enough interest… we were moved to D, 

the couple there cared a lot for us 



 What made it difficult for me was the absence of a permanent figure… I 

learned very quickly not to feel too close… they came and went so often 



I just feel institutionalised 



                                              27 


----------------------- Page 3100-----------------------

2.15 These comments are regarded by Triseliotis (and me) as sincere and 

real. They are echoed precisely by those recorded by Loveday (1985) and 

Kahan (1979), right down to the absence of affect in a significant percentage 

of respondents. It’s as if the only way to cope on their own with such 

experiences and present memories was to disconnect from their feelings and 

emotions:  “My life is so vague, possibly because I had no interest in it at all; 

it wasn’t a good life so maybe I’ve blanked  it out because it’s not worth 

remembering.” 



2.16 This is a worrying caesura, however effective a strategy in the 

circumstances. Given what is known about the importance of a fully 

connected emotional life to the overall health of the human personality, it is 

likely that for the majority of these respondents to have disconnected has 

represented a significant challenge to maintain the split, alongside all the 

other common social and economic challenges to be faced. In these 

circumstances then it is noteworthy how carefully respondents, even when 

voicing hugely negative perceptions, avoided being extravagant in their 

criticisms or appearing vindictive, summing things up as at most “a waste” 

of their childhoods and a “stigmatising” period: 



I’m glad I went through my experiences. I hated parts but I don’t think you 

can come through life without some unhappiness… you hear people blaming 

everything on the Home but I don’t feel like that. 



 On the whole a good upbringing…they learnt you to respect 

people…Personally I don’t think living in a Home is a handicap. In fact 

being in one was better than it would have been if I was living with my mum 

and dad rowing all the time [this latter point an observation made not 

infrequently by children over this period (Corby et al, o.c.)] 



 Thinking back now they taught you right from wrong but when you were 

there you wished they wouldn’t keep telling you what to do all the time 



2.17 Despite these measured responses all the researchers and commentators 

at that time expressed discomfort and “disquiet” about the persistently poor 

quality of some residential care. What doesn’t emerge is any greater concern 

for the more fundamental safety and protection of children from wilful harm. 

When harm was there it wasn’t seen for what it really was but was regarded 



                                              28 


----------------------- Page 3101-----------------------

as a continuing flaw in a system still more “staff oriented” than “child 

oriented”. 



2.18 [I do not consider separately “child on child” abuse – physical or 

emotional bullying or sexual abuse. It is a complete subject in itself and is 

also in my view most often in residential care a reflection of poor care and 

supervision by adults] 



                                                 29 


----------------------- Page 3102-----------------------

III Major Residential Child Care Initiatives in England 



Reports, Inquiries, Commissions 



3.1 It was a period of constant dynamic change and developments in child 

care. Yet after the Curtis Committee reported in 1946 no further National 

Commission on Residential Care met nor overall review occurred until the 

Wagner Committee which reported in 1988. 



3.2 Public Inquiries were equally rare; of six Public Inquiries in total 

between 1948 and 1975, only one related to residential care, the 

aforementioned Court Leas Approved School Inquiry. That only changed in 

the 1990s. Public Inquiries into abuse in residential care and Reports for its 

prevention dominated that period until early in the current decade. (Corby et 

al) Copies of three landmark Reports for England from this period are 

furnished: 

    • Utting, Sir William (1991), Children in the Public Care; A Review of 

        Residential Child Care 

    • Warner, Norman (1992), Choosing With Care, The Report of the 

        Committee of Inquiry into the Selection, Development and 

        Management of Staff in Children’s Homes 

    • Utting, Sir William (1997), People Like Us:            The Report of the 

        Review of Safeguards for Children Living Away from Home 

While outside this review time frame, the issues addressed are highly 

relevant even if come to belatedly. They offer recommendations worthy of 

consideration now and for residential care in the future. 



3.3 Two other Committees germane to residential care did meet and report 

over this report’s period of interest. The first, the Ingleby Report (1960), 

focussed on Court related matters for juvenile offenders. Its views about the 

overlap between delinquency and deprivation made a contribution towards 

the changes in the Children and Young People Act 1969 with its ending of 

Approved Schools and greater attention to diversion of children from justice 

routes and preventative work with families. The Williams Committee, set up 

by the National Council of Social Services, reported in 1967 on the staffing 

of residential homes of several kinds. 



                                             30 


----------------------- Page 3103-----------------------

 3.4 Neither however directly addressed the life and experiences of the 

children, although the latter report did contribute to changes in staffing terms 

and conditions from soon after 1975, and in ways for better or worse that are 

still debated today. 



Changes 



3.5 In no small consequence therefore very few changes in residential child 

care emerged from an official, formal reviewing or inquiry route. Changes 

such as reduced numbers of children in Homes where possible and efforts to 

identify and meet needs beyond the physical did happen as reported above. 

But these were patchy and often non sustainable since they arose through the 

direct experiences and efforts of individuals. More fundamental root and 

branch change occurred much later, only when the residential sector was 

hugely reduced in size. 



                                              31 


----------------------- Page 3104-----------------------

IV Education and Vocational Training for Children 



Education 



4.1 “School is a central experience of our childhoods. It has enormous power 

to make us happy or miserable and to shape our views of ourselves…What 

happens to us in school has consequences which usually shape the rest of our 

lives.” Thus Sonia Jackson opens her report on the Education of Children in 

Care. She then proceeds to note with concern that only one title out of 142 

abstracted as having to do with children in care, including residential, 

between 1948 and 1976 focussed on their education. “The conclusion is 

inescapable; researchers and practitioners did not see education as a 

particularly interesting or important aspect of care for separated children” 

(Jackson, 1987). Or indeed as a key to their futures. Jackson continues, “It 

doesn’t seem to matter if it is 1930 or 1975, if the child is black or white, 

lives in Bradford or Wandsworth, their experiences are all the same.” 



4.2 Children in residential care were “educationally handicapped” by factors 

internal and external to their placements: 

        • Constant placement moves often disrupted schooling and learning 

        • Specific educational planning was extremely rare 

        • Behaviour was a focus more than cognitive development (with 

           disruptive behaviour always being seen as a cause of educational 

           difficulties and not a consequence of disrupted educational 

           opportunities 

        • Attitudes of most professionals regularly meant that expectations 

           and concerns for educational progress were low or nonexistent, 

           mirroring many residential and field workers’ own educational 

           experiences, which did frequently then complicate staffs’ own 

           relationships with schools and teachers. 



4.3 Adults whom Kahan had interviewed about their residential care from 

1942 to 1969 expressed “deep feelings of regret” that school and their 

education was “a largely unsatisfactory experience”. “They didn’t really 

impress on you how important your education was until your last year in 



                                             32 


----------------------- Page 3105-----------------------

school – and by then it was too late” (Kahan, 1979). And while not wanting 

to be treated differently from other children (which they often were) many 

remembered with touching gratitude the occasional small kindness and 

sympathetic responses of individual teachers. More often many were told by 

words or actions that they were worthless and would not get anywhere in 

life. Said one, “At this point I began to give up. I just regressed.” Rarely, it 

appears, did Homes give thought to stimulating the cognitive and intellectual 

development of residents through the environment or activities. Hence 

attempts in Homes to redress massive educational disadvantage, both pre 

existing and current, were at best half hearted. 



 4.4 Where it happened it was almost always dependent upon the presence of 

an unusual individual adult who took a special interest and acted fully in 

loco parentis. Mainly children’s earlier “learning” was reinforced - “Finding 

out is discouraged, adults will rarely listen or answer questions, adult 

behaviour is often quite inconsistent and unhelpful, no one notices or cares 

about trying something new or different, toys invariably get lost or broken 

and go unrepaired” (Holmes in Jackson).Children were often given a special 

good push down that path to failure. 



4.5 From the limited firm evidence available about education, if the 

residential picture is “mixed” again, the mix contains large quantities of poor 

quality provision producing limited progress/attainment. The National Child 

Development longitudinal study of all children born on a particular date in 

1958 identified 3.4% (N=414) of the cohort as having been in care (c. 50% 

residential). By the age of 11 in 1969 this residential population, where 

admitted early and staying longer than 6 months, was a full two years behind 

age appropriate English and Maths attainment levels. 



Training 



4.6 Clearly the “welfare arm” of care casts a very poor light in this respect. 

Approved Schools and somewhat less their CHE successors offer something 

more positive in places. Aspects of these regimes mirrored or surpassed the 

negative features in Homes, and “trainees” themselves saw the purpose of 

staff was to control their delinquency for the time being and not help them 

change and grow longer term. Nevertheless young people and parents 

regularly reported that they valued the trade training offered above all else 

(Milham et al, 1975). Some Schools had high quality engineering, 

painting/decorating, carpentry and gardening programmes, linked to later 



                                              33 


----------------------- Page 3106-----------------------

apprenticeships and employment. These programmes lifted the experience 

for many above the historical focus on dull tasks as an exercise in discipline 

or for turning a profit for the institution. Boys sometimes built extensions 

like admin blocks or pools. Along with these skills, students reported the 

benefits of being given real opportunities to be responsible and to mature. 



 4.7 David Lane (personal communication) highlighted two well regarded 

Approved Schools run as proper Nautical Colleges and two as in effect 

Grammar Schools. More generous staffing, especially in the Training 

section, made a difference compared to Homes. In the late 1950s and early 

1960s employment rates through Approved School Training were as high as 

90%. Yet this was not uniformly the case. Dull routine continued in places, 

with agricultural training a cover for cheap labouring and some bricklaying 

being taught without cement and with the same bricks being re used over 

and over again. 



4.8 Formal education was more patchy still. Small classes, more resources 

and better facilities conferred some advantages over mainstream school, but 

this was rarely translated into higher attainments (Hyland). Outdated 

methods of instruction and a tendency to concentrate on whatever kept 

students busy saw to this. Only when as in some Approved Schools 

genuinely involved staff led pupils through a range of activities and 

consciously linked with training/workshop colleagues was there an effective 

programme of integrated teaching and learning across vocational and 

academic studies. 



4.9 Absconding rates from these Approved Schools were never terribly high 

but were always regarded as significant because of what they seemed to 

represent. It was less disaffection with training and education that prompted 

absconding; it was more the continual tensions between the emphasis on 

traditional supervision and order imposition on the one hand and 

encouraging trusting relationships to develop on the other. Whenever the 

pendulum swung too far towards the former, students ran, or tried to, as a 

rejection of the regime and their resistance to compulsion. Absconding’s 

greatest impact seemed to be through unsettling others regularly, particularly 

those who really did not want to be there, having been placed on a Court 

Order (Hyland) 



                                             34 


----------------------- Page 3107-----------------------

V Staffing 



 Recruitment, Vetting and Conditions of Employment 



5.1 Any way of looking at this subject and presenting findings will 

ultimately confirm several stark features that were pervasive and enduring at 

all times across the period. Altogether they form an unhappy picture: 

         • Staff turnover was always very high, even in the 1950s despite 

             popular beliefs to the contrary – over 33% a year (Dinnage and 

             Pringle) 

         • Staff were predominantly inexperience, as well as female (80%) 

             and young (under 22, and 65% single) on entry with few if any 

             other life experiences (Packman) 

         • Training was almost universally poor or absent 

         • Relevant qualifications of any kind were uncommon 

         • Resources to support staff were limited and determined by larger 

             financial pressures, not task and needs 

         • Pay was low, adding to the poor self esteem. Accommodation 

             was ordinarily basic and cramped; being often “tied” to the post it 

             could inadvertently trap workers in their jobs, however unsuitable 

             they might be 



5.2 There was barely even informal vetting of applicants for residential 

posts. “Bodies” were needed, and the ones available were often unable to 

find work elsewhere, even at times of high employment and opportunities. 

Recruitment became nearly everywhere an unthinking reaching out and 

grabbing. This picture does a disservice to many who had entered and 

remained in residential work. But it must be acknowledged that their 

numbers, and not infrequently their own passion and dedication, were often 

dwarfed by the overall staffing profile and difficulties. 



Training and Qualifications 



5.3 “It is an understatement to say that training is in confusion” (Dinnage 

and Pringle) Insufficient places were available, and most training was not 



                                             35 


----------------------- Page 3108-----------------------

tailored to meet the needs of staff doing such demanding work. Williams 

calls it “embarrassing” when over 70% and sometimes more than 80% of 

staff were unqualified and inadequately trained. Following the 1948 Act 

thirteen basic Certificate courses for training residential workers developed. 

Eight were for general care; five specifically for work with difficult 

adolescents. From 1959 two highly regarded courses for senior staff 

emerged, and by 1964 there were four special programmes for Approved 

School staff. All Certificate courses lasted 14 months, covering 48 weeks of 

teaching and study. The Home Office also supported 40 refresher and short 

courses lasting between one and eighteen days (RCCA, 1966). 



5.4 In truth the total numbers passing through these quality courses were 

small compared to those doing the work and the need. With staffing turnover 

at high levels too, even amongst recently trained staff, these measures were 

barely enabling numbers to stand still at unacceptable levels. By 1966 far 

less than 25% of the workforce was qualified even at the most elementary 

levels. Worse was to come; in 1976 only 14% of residential staff were 

qualified. In effect most residential child care was populated at best by 

“dedicated amateurs”, some of them highly gifted and perhaps full of 

sensitivity, compassion and love, but working with residents possessing high 

degrees of disturbance and need (Milham et al, 1980). Instincts alone could 

sometimes be just right, other times very wrong, as a basis for practice. 



5.5 That reliable management and supervision were often highlighted as 

absent too meant that staff cultures of survival and control became 

embedded. In these residents were regarded as “problems” to be controlled 

before they got out of control, not as children with problems that made them 

feel out of control of themselves and probably of everyone else too, even if 

they didn’t express it in uncontrollable behaviours as often as happens today. 

Interestingly Berry (1975) found that in Homes she had rated as               offering 

clearly negative experiences of care to residents staff on average stayed 

longer  than in more positive environments, as if they felt more able to “drift 

with the tide [of staff culture]” and “merge with the negative regime”. 



5.6 It would be easy to blame such untrained and uncaring people 

completely for the entire 40% of “not good enough” and outright “bad” 

residential care Berry and others identified.  It pays then to bear in mind that 

many of these people suffered too while they struggled ineffectively or 

drifted without guidance, management, training and resources. Actual 

investment in residential care was slim from the start and regularly starved 



                                              36 


----------------------- Page 3109-----------------------

of funds or even “raided” for what little sums it had. As early as 1952 a 

government finance committee saw it as an expensive and wasteful option 

(Berridge, o.c.). Following Oscar Wilde, whenever cost as opposed to value 

was considered as the most important factor in regard to the residential care 

of children, cynicism prevailed and yet again the children paid the highest 

price. 



                                                 37 


----------------------- Page 3110-----------------------

VI The Irish Situation 



Comparisons with England 



6.1 To the Irish reader some differences between the two countries over this 

time will be very apparent. At the same time some parts of the English 

picture will be all too, and depressingly, familiar. In either case very often 

differences are ultimately those of degree rather than kind. On the matter of 

the role of the State there are perhaps the biggest differences. The English 

(and the whole British) experiences in war and immediately post war led to 

the striking “adoption” of a direct responsibility for children in care, whether 

boarded out or placed residentially. Lord Monckton who chaired the inquiry 

into the death of Denis O’Neil threw down the challenge, “the local 

authority or individual must care for the children as his own; the relation is a 

personal one. The duty must be neither evaded nor scamped.” Whatever the 

shortcomings, there was a wider degree of state and public interest in the “in 

care” population, and Children’s Departments did offer a basis for oversight 

and commitment. 



 6.2 This appears not to have been the case in Ireland. In reality if not 

entirely in law the role of religion and religious orders/organisations 

remained central and dominant to the almost full exclusion of any other 

bodies. This structural dimension whereby the Catholic Church and its 

orders were deeply involved in directly providing large residential centres 

for care and education could well be an important reason that far smaller 

percentages of children were placed with foster carers than in England. 



6.3 This is not to suggest that religion and religious organisations played no 

or only a very marginal role in residential provision in England; quite the 

opposite. Hyland (1993) confirmed that the majority of Children’s Homes, 

large and small, were run by religious organisations or orders. In them 

children were often grouped for administrative convenience and had staff 

“inexperienced and insensitive or even brutishly inhumane”. In Approved 

Schools too the majority were owned by voluntary organisations which had 

been founded by people with a definite religious commitment. Some were 

run by the Church of England; others by Non Conformist organisations like 



                                             38 


----------------------- Page 3111-----------------------

National Children Homes (Methodists), Barnardo’s and the Salvation Army. 

Jewish philanthropic groups ran two. Roman Catholics were most insistent 

that children of their faith were sent only to their Schools. In 1967 religious 

independent/national voluntary organisations oversaw 93 of 123 approved 

Schools; Local Authorities only 30. 



6.4 While the Home Office endorsed the large role of religious 

organisations, it also insisted that Children’s Departments’ writ extended to 

voluntary homes and that all School management boards, Approved or 

otherwise, had at least one local authority representative. In addition schools 

for girls had to have at least two male managers and those for boys at least 

two female. This made a more than symbolic dent in an otherwise 

potentially monolithic and often male or female dominated religious hold. 

Contributing further to this “dilution”, the largest majority of the actual 

work, including management, was carried out by lay people. 



 6.5 The direct influence of religious orders in day to day care was therefore 

much more limited in England, although its hand, especially within Roman 

Catholic establishments – many with direct ties to the extensive and closed 

Irish orders – was not entirely absent. In Merseyside and the Midlands 

several Homes about which complaints had been lodged were run by these 

Orders (Wolmar). In all, given their minority role in daily care members of 

these orders could not exercise control entirely free of external interest at 

management and board level. Thus the religious dichotomy between body 

and soul, which at its worst could “justify” the punishment of the mortal 

body in order to save the immortal soul, was active but peripheral and 

weaker in England. 



6.6 A stronger influence on child care in England over this period was the 

interest professionals developed in the theories and observations of John 

Bowlby and of Erving Goffman and their associates. Bowlby (1951) pressed 

for the recognition of the importance of loving “maternal” care and of 

relationships for children’s growth and development. Goffman (1961) 

warned of the risks of “total institutions”, tightly closed off from external 

influences. A full explanation of their mixed influences on English 

residential care exceeds the scope of this Report. Suffice it to say that each 

helped to “keep open the eyes” of policy makers and practitioners to the 

dangers and the opportunities in and beyond residential care more than 

seems to have been the case in Ireland except for a few individuals. 



                                              39 


----------------------- Page 3112-----------------------

6.7 Moreover, in England “openness” was strengthened further by an 

already existing pioneering tradition towards the care, education and 

treatment of deprived and delinquent children. This found expression in the 

development of progressive models of Therapeutic Child Care and 

Therapeutic Communities. Always a minority, even marginal, approach and 

rarely part of State run provision save as an experiment, these settings, like 

the Mulberry Bush, the Caldecott and Cotswold Communities and Peper 

Harow, sought to place treatment centrally by providing it through integrated 

programmes of good quality care and appropriate education mediated always 

through: 

    • Developing healthy individual relationships between all, residents and 

        adults together, that would identify and meet needs 

    • Emphasising communication/dialogue as a key feature of learning 

        how to live with oneself and with others first in the Community and 

        then outside it 

    • A psychodynamic perspective that regarded disruptive behaviour as 

        an expression of feelings as yet too difficult to express in thoughtful 

        words and that could be understood (not excused) through the use of 

        psychodynamic concepts, especially projection and transference, in 

        order to help change those thoughtless acts into actless thoughts and 

        age appropriate behaviours 

    • Utilising the “group as a group”, not just a collection of individuals 

        housed together for administrative convenience but as a medium for 

        essential learning, changing and growing. 

     [As a start from amongst substantial literature see first: Dockar – 

    Drysdale (1993), Rose (1990) and more recently Ward et al (2003)] 



    6.8 Even so on either side of the Irish Sea, regardless of who or what 

    group or approach ran Homes or Schools, any genuinely independent and 

    adequately enacted Regulation or Inspection barely existed. In England 

    there was rudimentary “internal monitoring” by Local Authority 

    residential management teams. These depended on and regularly deferred 

    to Heads of Homes and other senior managers. And it was the “authority” 

    of the personal influence of senior staff that represented “management” 

    in the regular absence either of more structured management 

    approaches/techniques or of specialist staff support and supervision. In 

    all the picture of internal and external oversight in both countries is best 

    described as “woefully inadequate” (Corby et al) 



                                             40 


----------------------- Page 3113-----------------------

Contact between Irish and English institutions 



6.9 Given this shared “woefulness”, one could reasonably assume that 

links in residential care between the two countries were plentiful and 

strongly reinforcing one another. In fact the opposite appears true. They 

were few and far between and where they existed they were brief and/or 

the product of contacts between individuals (Irish) and individual 

organisations (England), usually initiated by the former. While perhaps a 

slightly crude characterisation there is clearly very little interchange that 

made a positive difference in either country to the separate residential 

care “rows” each was “hoe – ing” 



6.10 The history and complicated relationships between the two nations, 

even up until this period, makes it understandable if one of the key 

reasons for such limits to potentially useful contacts was the 

simultaneous “turning of its back” by England on its former “subject 

territory” and the strong lingering Irish suspicion of anything non Irish 

and especially English, including ideas and theories about residential 

care. That said, students from the School of Education Child Care Course 

near Kilkenny run by Pat Brennan undertook regular placements at 

Cotswold, Caldecott and the Mulberry Bush until the course closed in the 

1980s. Otherwise the only “formal” link I have uncovered, via David 

Lane (personal communication), is that of a Senior Residential Child 

Care Course in Dublin set up in the 1960s by one Sister “Stan” Kennedy. 

It was validated by the Home Office and linked to the courses in Bristol 

and Newcastle. It is telling that I can find no written reference to this, 

even in Hyland’s otherwise comprehensive study of Approved Schools 

and training. 



Portugal and elsewhere 



6.11 Portugal, another officially Catholic nation, has a long history of 

residential institutions predominantly or exclusively run by religious 

orders and organisations. Over the last four years it has also experienced 

a crisis in the largest of these organisations and in the nation. Allegations 

are currently being tried, of extensive sexual abuse of residents over 

many years by people in or closely linked with the facilities across all 



                                          41 


----------------------- Page 3114-----------------------

    levels of Portuguese society. At first therefore it is tempting to suggest 

    that there will be many illuminating and instructive parallels with the 

    Irish situation. However, any similarities are likely to be partial and 

    superficial, while the differences in the circumstances as well as in 

    culture and history make each nation’s experience unique. Such 

    differences must not be obscured with regard either to what has happened 

    in residential care or to what is being done to inquire into and remedy 

    past hurts. 



    6.12 Perhaps the few things one can observe about the experiences of 

    both nations (and England) are that: 

         • Closed and “unaccountable” systems in any kind of care spell 

            DANGER 

         • The past and any past experiences in residential care are likely to 

            become known only in small part and will remain unknown or 

            uncertain in large part 

         • There is therefore no simple template for seeing and 

            understanding that history or for planning the future. 



6.13 Canada and Australia have also experienced a flood of complaints of 

abuse in residential and foster care from before the War up to the 1980s. 

Quite a few of the complainants have been those moved there from Britain 

under the auspices of religious based voluntary organisations. The majority 

of these “migrations” were carried out with little advice to and informed 

consent from the children and their parents. Recent British inquiries into 

these practices were hampered especially because of lack of records. Even 

the numbers who were so moved remain contested as some voluntary 

organisations were not required or chose not to submit annual returns to the 

government about who and how many they sent on what can fairly be called 

“enforced migration”. As a consequence government figures are always far 

smaller than those calculated to include this “non return” population. Here 

too, given its history of emigration, there is little new to add to the Irish 

situation, however many variations on a theme there may be. 



                                             42 


----------------------- Page 3115-----------------------

VII Summary and Reflections 



7.1 Considering the history of residential child care in England, any simple 

picture gives way to complexity and uncertainty at its heart. David Lane’s 

comment to me is a helpful summation, “Despite all that was done to 

improve residential child care and all the interest shown over the period, our 

failure to develop an effective, reliable and safe service for these children is 

a most serious shortcoming.” Many children were inappropriately placed, 

too often damaged and even more often not helped by the process. This 

doesn’t deny the many for whom it was good enough in what were rough 

and ready times compared to today. 



7.2 In no small part it was the “Ghost” of earlier forms of inadequate 

concern and low standards in practice that continued, uninterrupted, to 

insinuate itself into and “infect” much residential care to 1975 and beyond 

(Davis, 1981). This ghost helped keep residents out of sight and mind, which 

did so much to strain their identities and stretch them out of healthy shape. 

Nor did the ever - present and growing privileging of families and of 

fostering as the best and indeed only appropriate alternative to living with 

natural parents do anything for residential care except put it in a difficult and 

helpless position. Yet professionals always recognised that for various 

reasons several thousands of children could never live with their natural 

families and would be unable or unwilling to live in a foster family as well. 

Sadly nobody acted on this awareness sufficiently. 



7.3 The question remains; how was the “scandal” in residential child care 

allowed to occur wherever it happened? Clough usefully groups the various 

explanations for its source under nine headings, which will sound familiar 

by now: 

     • Failure of different groups to agree about the purpose and task of 

         residential child care 

     • Failure to manage life in a home/facility in an appropriate way 

     • Resources – buildings, materials, staffing complement – inadequate 

         and not fit for purpose 

     • Confusion, lack of knowledge about (and possibly lack of agreement 

         with) guidelines for practice that might exist 



                                              43 


----------------------- Page 3116-----------------------

     • Attitude and Behaviours of staff – not child but adult centred 

     • Staff capacity and training –often poor, deficient on both counts 

     • Low staff morale 

     • Low status of work 

     • Failure to see events/incidents for what they were and to notice any 

        patterns in these (Clough) 



7.4 Together these categories cover the structural, environmental and 

individual characteristics that predisposed children in residential care to risk 

of hurt and abuse not only as we would see it today but by any standards at 

any time in modern history. Children’s vulnerability became even more 

pronounced when “work style” was added to the mix – the reaction of 

workers and management to these nine internal and external factors affecting 

residential child care. Either staff consciously engaged with them and with 

residents to reduce their influence, or they became overwhelmed by them in 

every aspect of daily living. 



7.5 When these factors dominated it represented the “abuse of care” 

(Clough). Yet as I see it there was also a Line between 1948 and 1975 as 

much as at any time. Many things may not have been quite right then, but 

they did not therefore become completely wrong, when allowance is made 

for limitations in understanding and practices. However, as human beings 

we know that in any era some things were and are simply and completely 

wrong. By that definition of a boundary some of the things here reported 

stand unquestionably on the wrong side of that Line – as what I call the 

abuse of a person(s) through actual, active and direct behaviour by 

individuals or groups or by unconscionable neglect. We are unlikely to “pin 

the blame” on many individuals now, but it is not too late to name what 

happened in these cases as abuse. An overall picture with its many proper 

caveats must not keep invisible the damaging impact on any individual 

person who as a child suffered such degrees of harm. 



7.6 Good and safe residential child care is defined not simply by the absence 

of the bad and the hurtful, but more fundamentally by the presence of 

positive elements linked together. For example, good training is much less 

useful if people return to settings where the culture is not child centred and 

management is poor. Nor are we ignorant of what these necessary elements 

are, even if people were before now (although I suspect less so than we are 



                                             44 


----------------------- Page 3117-----------------------

sometimes invited to believe). Former residents have reminded us already 

about all that is needed for residential care to make a positive difference. 



7.7 Finally, Holman sums up this vexing question of the existence of abuse: 

“‘Child Abuse’ was ‘unknown’ in the days of the Children’s Departments 

(48 – 70)… [yet] child abuse, physical emotional, sexual – by houseparents 

as by parents and foster parents certainly did occur over this period. 

However, although it is impossible to be certain of its extent, my judgement 

is that it occurred less than now [1998]. It is clear it drew less media 

attention when uncovered and was dealt with mainly by internal action, but 

even occasional prosecutions drew little public or media attention” (Holman, 

1998) 



7.8 I concur. 



                                              45 


----------------------- Page 3118-----------------------

VIII Recommendations 



8.1 This section could be very long were it to try to tell people what to do 

now to judge the past or make things better. However, it is my experience 

especially in this field that if you tell people what to do either they refuse 

outright or they soon forget. The messages are not owned, but remain 

fundamentally alien and needing to be got rid of. 



 8.2 Therefore, in brief: 

        • First of all, read and digest this Report. Then, reflecting on your 

            own and together, notice what it seems to be saying to you and 

            indeed, just as important, not saying. Think about what is emerging 

            as important for this Inquiry process and for the Commission’s 

            deliberations and decision making. Listen, discuss, and respond to 

            one another. This will help you build your own perspective on the 

            similar time frame in England and how it might cast the Irish 

            situation in a different or clearer frame. 

        • That leads to the second point – no other countries’ experiences 

            will either condemn or excuse practices and failures in Ireland. Nor 

            will they offer a “sure-fire” prescription for a different future with 

            or without residential care. That can, and should, only come from 

            an Irish understanding of and response to what has happened in 

            Ireland and what could happen. 



8.3 Otherwise 

    • I observe more than recommend that all prior beliefs, whether benign 

        or hostile, that residential care would not long be needed as part of a 

        nation’s provision of care for some of its children, usually those 

        highly troubled and needy, have failed to be realised. Yet in the 

        process these beliefs have compounded, not eased the difficulties with 

        which residential child care has had to deal. Even following the 

        exposure of circumstances as transparently inadequate or harmful as 

        they often seem to have been in Ireland, is it likely that a 

        comprehensive State strategy for caring for vulnerable children and 

        keeping them safe will not include residential care? Almost certainly 



                                              46 


----------------------- Page 3119-----------------------

    not. In England Utting has called it an “indispensable service” in both 

    his Inquiries. 

• Therefore rather than continue to regard it with ambivalence, fear or 

    repugnance, embrace it. Grow what is needed and support it as 

    valuable in its own right. The role of the family is unlikely to collapse 

    if this is done. The Family occupies a very large stage in every nation. 

    Surely there is room on that stage for a hitherto unloved, unwanted 

    “poor relation” who could now be warmly welcomed and respected. 

• Remember the risks of trying to get all the facts and of finding a 

    scapegoat. Beyond a certain point each is ultimately an enticing 

    distraction. Construct a judgement of the time that will help lessons be 

    learned and not ignored or forgotten this time. 

• Good quality leadership, management and professional consultation to 

    the residential task are not sufficient in themselves. However, much 

    else will remain insufficient without them being available from senior 

    staff well trained and well supervised themselves so they in turn can 

    offer this to colleagues in their practice. 

• Residential Child Care as a positive option needs a guiding 

    philosophy that is known, understood and agreed by all involved in 

    the task and that is connected to this world, not the next. Without it 

    people cannot reflect on provision and their practices; nor can they 

    even with help measure honestly the extent to which declared 

    intentions match actual practices. Confusion, omnipotence or 

    “anything goes” will again take hold if it is absent. 

• Continue to reach out to others, professionals and nations, not only to 

    learn from them but also to share your knowledge and learning with 

    them. We all need the contact and dialogue. 

• The model of Therapeutic Communities is not yet universally 

    accepted. Its history and its principles do, however, offer much food 

    for thought and energy for wise actions. Crucially in these current 

    circumstances its embrace of open communication between and 

    amongst everyone, and the shared involvement in living and learning 

    together actually offers one of the most developed systems for staff 

    and residents alike to voice concerns that will likely be heard long 

    before whistleblowing signals the exposure of severe and often 

    pervasive abuse and harmful practices. 



                                          47 


----------------------- Page 3120-----------------------

                          Postscript 



This history and review where it clearly communicates a live, coherent 

picture of the issues of the period between 1948 and 1975 is entirely due to 

the research and reviews of many other people who have preceded me over 

the years. They are represented in the bibliography but deserve direct 

acknowledgement as I offer it here. In those areas where the picture grows 

unclear or confusing to the readers the fault is entirely my own. 



 I wish the Commission and all those interested in these matters my very 

best in these continuing processes. I hope my Report offers some assistance, 

if not much solace, to you all. 



Richard Rollinson 



Bath Consultancy 



25 July 2006 



                                              48 


----------------------- Page 3121-----------------------

                        Bibliography 



Bebbington, A and Miles, J (1989) The Background of children who enter 

local authority care, British Journal of Social Work, 19, V, 349 – 368. 



Berridge, D (2005) Child Protection: Research and Researchers, in N. 

Axford et al. (2005) Forty Years of Research, Policy and Practice in 

Children’s Services, John Wiley and Son, London 



Berry, J (1975) Daily Experiences in Residential Life, RKP, London. 



Bowlby, J (1953) Child Care and the Growth of Love, Penguin, London. 



Brown, J and Solomon, D (1974) Leisure Time Interests of Children in 

Residential Care, Residential Social Work, 14, 8, 246 – 249. 



Bullock, R, Little, M and Milham, S (1993) Residential Care for Children, 

A Review of Research, HMSO, London. 



Cliffe, D and Berridge, D (1991) Closing Children’s Homes: An End to 

Residential Child Care?, NCB, London. 



Clough, R (1999) Scandalous Care: Interpreting Public Inquiry Reports 

of Scandals in Residential Care, Haworth Press, Binghampton, New York. 



Corby, B, Doig, A and Roberts, V (2001) Public Inquiries into Abuse of 

Children in Residential Care, Jessica Kingsley, London. 



Cornish, D and Clarke, R (1975) Residential Care and its Effects on 

Juvenile Delinquency, HMSO, London. 



Davis, A (1981) The Residential Solution, Tavistock, London. 



                                           49 


----------------------- Page 3122-----------------------

Dinnage, R and Pringle, M (1967) Residential Care: Facts and Fallacies, 

NCB, London. 



Dockar – Drysdale, B (1993) Therapy and Consultation In Child Care, 

Free Association Books, London. 



Frost, N, Mills, S and Stein, M (1999) Understanding Residential Child 

Care, Ashgate, Aldershot. 



Goffman, E (1968) Asylums, Penguin, London. 



Holman, B (1998) Child Care Revisited: Children’s Departments, 1948 – 

1971, ICSE, London. 



Hyland, J (1993) Yesterday’s Offenders, Wiley and Birch, London. 



Jackson, S (1987) The Education Of Children In Care, Bristol Papers in 

Applied Social Studies No.1, University of Bristol. 



Kahan, B (1979) Growing Up in Group Care, Blackwell, Oxford. 



           (1993) Children Living Away from Home, Children and Society, 

7, 1, 95 – 108. 



           (1994) Growing Up in Groups, HMSO, London. 



Loveday, S (1985) Reflections on Care, Children’s Society, London. 



Milham, S, Bullock, R and Hosie, K (1978) Locking Up Children, Saxon 

House, London. 

                                         (1980) Learning to Care, Gower, 

London. 



Packman, J (1981) The Child’s Generation, 2nd Edition, Basil Blackwell, 



Oxford. 



Parker, R (1988) Children, in I Sinclair (1988) Residential Care: The 

Research Revisited, HMSO, London. 



                                           50 


----------------------- Page 3123-----------------------

           (1990) Away From Home: A History of Child Care, Barnardo’s, 

Ilford. 



Prosser, H (1976) Perspectives on Residential Child Care, NFER, 

Windsor. 



RCCA (1965) Annual Review of the Residential Child Care Association: 

Change and the Child in Care, RCCA, London. 



Reeves, C (2001) Minding the Child: The Legacy of Barbara Dockar – 

Drysdale, unpublished lecture. 



Rose, M (1991) Healing Hurt Minds, Tavistock/Routledge, London. 



Ward, A, Kasinski, K et al (2003) Therapeutic Communities for Children 

and Young People, Jessica Kingsley, London. 



Webster, R (2005) The Secret of Bryn Estyn, The Making of a Modern 

Witch Hunt, Orwell Press. 



Wedge, P and Prosser, H (1973) Born To Fail, NCB, London. 



Williams Committee (1967) Caring for People: A Report on Staffing 

Residential Homes, Allen and Unwin, London. 



Winnicott, D (1965) The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating 

Environment, Hogarth Press, London. 



Wolkin, S and Rutter, M (1973) Children Who Have Been in Care, Journal 

of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 14, 2, London. 



Wolmar, C (2000) Forgotten Children, Vision, London. 



Yule, W and Raynes, N (1972) Behavioural Characteristics of Children in 

Residential Care, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 13, 4, 

London. 



                                           51 


----------------------- Page 3124-----------------------


----------------------- Page 3125-----------------------

Commission Personnel 2004-2009 



Chairperson 



The Honourable Mr. Justice Sean Ryan 



Commissioners 



Ms. Mary Fennessy 

Ms. Norah Gibbons 

Mr. Fred Lowe 

Ms. Anne McLoughlin 

Dr. Imelda Ryan 

Ms. Marian Shanley 

Professor Edward Tempany 



Legal Team 



Ms. Feena Robinson Solicitor 

Ms. Elisa McHugh Solicitor 

Mr. Frank Clarke S.C. 

Mr. Noel MacMahon S.C. 

Ms. Mary Ellen Ring S.C. 

Mr. Brian McGovern S.C. 

Ms. Karen Fergus S.C. 

Ms. Roisin Lacey Barrister 

Ms. Anne Reilly Barrister 

Mr. Darren Lehane Barrister 

Ms. Ciara McGoldrick Barrister 

Ms. Laura Rattigan Barrister 

Mr. Paul Ward Barrister 



Paralegals 



Mr. Morgan Beirne 

Ms. Saoirse Brady 

Ms. Louise Bright 

Mr. Wayne Butler 

Ms. Breda Connolly 

Ms. Brenda Caulfield 

Ms. Kate Ferguson 

Ms. Mary Foley 

Ms. Elizabeth Fitzgerald 

Ms. Aine Grogan 

Ms. Philomena Lyons 

Mr. Robert McDermott 

Ms. Janice McGann 

Ms. Fina Murphy 

Ms. Diana Stafford 

Ms. Elizabeth Roth 

Ms. Maureen Synott 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                           357 


----------------------- Page 3126-----------------------

Administration 



Ms. Brenda McVeigh (Commission Secretary) 

Mr. Michael Stapleton 

Ms. Deirdre Kenny 

Ms. Deirdre Finnegan 

Ms. Deirdre Kellet 

Mr. Paul Boland 

Ms. Clare O’Driscoll 

Mr. Conor Ryan 

Mr. Carthage Minnock 

Mr. Patrick Malone 

Ms. Ciara Peters 

Ms. Laura Cavanagh 

Ms. Finola Colley 

Ms. Susan Cummins 

Mr. John Diver 

Ms. Siobhan Farrelly 

Ms. Cliona Foley 

Ms. Maeve Kelleher 

Ms. Aoife Keegan 

Ms. Grace Kiely 

Ms. Kathy Langley 

Mr. Gerard Matthews 

Ms. Rita McGuigan 

Ms. Sarah O’Connor 

Ms. Amy Paris 

Ms. Katie Steel 

Ms. Jennifer Wylie 



Investigation Committee 



Ms. Caitriona Kennan 

Ms. Louise O’Connor 

Ms. Darra Power Mooney 

Mr. Noel Barry (Usher) 

Mr. Barry O’Brien 

Mr. Brendan Reedy 

Mr. James Behan 

Ms. Catherine Buckley 

Ms. Mary Caulfield 

Ms. Kate Earlie 

Ms. Silvia Gallagher 

Ms. Stefania Giangregorio 

Ms. Nicola Hannigan 

Ms. Nicole Harrington 

Ms. Cliona Hickey 

Ms. Sinead Holly 

Ms. Natalie Holster 

Ms. Kasia Koper 

Ms. Helene Lewis 

Ms. Helen Lynch 

Ms. Sile Mannion 

Ms. Erina Mako 



358                                                                          CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 3127-----------------------

Ms. Emma Murphy 

Ms. Tara Murphy 

Ms. Anna Nelson 

Ms. Niamh O’Hehir 

Ms. Aisling Roche 

Ms. Karen Ryan 

Ms. Breda Ryan 

Ms. Caitriona Tumulty 



Confidential Committee 



Ms. Norella Broderick 

Ms. Mary Durack 

Ms. Danielle Griffin 

Ms. Melanie Hall 

Ms. Sandra Hoswell 

Ms. Catherine Mulligan 



Notes 



       1.   Personnel before 2004 are listed in the Third Interim Report. 



       2.  This list includes persons who worked for some significant period of time during 

           these years. 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                                               359 


----------------------- Page 3128-----------------------

360                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 3129-----------------------

Acts: 



                                                                         Page 



Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000                         (1-22) 



Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005             (1-28) 



CICA Report Vol. V                                                         361 


----------------------- Page 3130-----------------------

362                                                                  CICA Report Vol. V 


----------------------- Page 3131-----------------------

                            ———————— 



                             Number 7 of 2000 



                            ———————— 



COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE ACT, 2000 



                            ———————— 



                  ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 



Section 



    1.  Interpretation. 



    2.  Establishment day. 



    3.  Establishment of Commission. 



    4.  Functions of Commission. 



    5.  Report of Commission. 



    6.  Membership of Commission. 



    7.  Meetings and procedure of Commission. 



    8.  Seal of Commission. 



    9.  Staff of Commission. 



   10.  Committees of Commission. 



   11.  Meetings and procedure of Committees. 



   12.  Functions of Investigation Committee. 



   13.  Report of Investigation Committee. 



   14.  Powers of Investigation Committee. 



   15.  Functions of Confidential Committee. 



   16.  Report of Confidential Committee. 



   17.  Privilege. 



   18.  Privileges and immunities of witnesses, etc. 



   19.  Option    for  certain   persons   in  relation  to  evidence    to  a 

                Committee. 



                                      1 


----------------------- Page 3132-----------------------

[No. 7.]         Commission          to  Inquire     into    Child      [2000.] 

                              Abuse Act, 2000. 



Section 

   20.   Expenses of witnesses, etc. 



   21.   Admissibility of certain evidence. 



   22.   Evidence on oath. 



   23.   Inquiry officers. 



   24.   Advice and research. 



   25.   Directions, etc., of High Court. 



   26.   Power of High Court to order disclosure of information. 



   27.   Prohibition  of  disclosure  of  information  provided  to  Confi- 

                dential Committee. 



   28.   Non-disclosure of information. 



   29.   Obstruction. 



   30.   Preservation of documents, etc. 



   31.   Provisions in relation to discovery. 



   32.   Restriction of Official Secrets Act, 1963. 



   33.   Restriction of Data Protection Act, 1988. 



   34.   Application of Freedom of Information Act, 1997, to certain 

                records. 



   35.   Penalties. 



   36.   Expenses. 



   37.   Short title. 



                              ———————— 



                                Acts Referred to 



Data Protection Act, 1988                                             1988, No. 25 



Freedom of Information Act, 1997                                      1997, No. 13 



Local Government Act, 1941                                            1941, No. 23 



National Archives Act, 1986                                           1986, No. 11 



Official Secrets Act, 1963                                            1963, No.  1 



Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act, 1998               1998, No. 49 



Vocational Education Act, 1930                                        1930, No. 29 



                                        2 


----------------------- Page 3133-----------------------

                         ———————— 



                         Number 7 of 2000 



                         ———————— 



COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE ACT, 2000 



                         ———————— 



AN  ACT  TO  ESTABLISH  A  COMMISSION,  TO  BE  KNOWN 

                        ´                      ´  ´             ´ 

     AS  AN   COIMISIUN      CHUN    DROCHUSAID        LEANAI     A 

              ´ 

     FHIOSRU,     OR,  IN   THE   ENGLISH      LANGUAGE,       THE 

     COMMISSION       TO  INQUIRE     INTO   CHILD     ABUSE,    TO 

     INVESTIGATE CHILD ABUSE IN INSTITUTIONS IN THE 

     STATE, TO ENABLE PERSONS WHO HAVE SUFFERED 

     SUCH  ABUSE  TO  GIVE  EVIDENCE  TO  COMMITTEES 

     OF  THE  COMMISSION,  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE  PREP- 

     ARATION AND PUBLICATION OF A REPORT BY THE 

     COMMISSION       CONTAINING        THE    RESULTS     OF   ITS 

     INVESTIGATION       AND    ANY    RECOMMENDATIONS            IT 

     CONSIDERS APPROPRIATE FOR THE PREVENTION OF 

     CHILD    ABUSE,     THE    PROTECTION        OF   CHILDREN 

     FROM    IT   AND    THE    ACTIONS     TO   BE   TAKEN      TO 

     ADDRESS      ANY    CONTINUING        EFFECTS     OF   CHILD 

     ABUSE ON THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED IT AND TO 

     PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [26th April, 2000] 



  BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS: 



     1.—(1)  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—     Interpretation. 



‘‘abuse’’, in relation to a child, means— 



     (a)  the wilful, reckless or negligent infliction of physical injury 

           on, or failure to prevent such injury to, the child, 



     (b)  the use of the child by a person for sexual arousal or sexual 

           gratification of that person or another person, 



     (c)  failure to care for the child which results in serious impair- 

           ment of the physical or mental health or development of 

           the child or serious adverse effects on his or her behav- 

           iour or welfare, or 



     (d)  any other act or omission towards the child which results in 

           serious  impairment  of  the  physical  or  mental  health  or 

           development of the child or serious adverse effects on his 

           or her behaviour or welfare, 



and cognate words shall be construed accordingly; 



                                 3 


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                     [No. 7.]        Commission         to  Inquire     into   Child       [2000.] 

                                                  Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.1                  ‘‘adviser’’ means a person appointed under section 24; 



                     ‘‘Chairperson’’ shall be construed in accordance with section 6; 



                     ‘‘child’’  means  a  person  who  has  not  attained  the  age  of  18  years, 

                     and ‘‘childhood’’ shall be construed accordingly; 



                     ‘‘Commission’’ means the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 

                     established by section 3; 



                     ‘‘Committee’’  means,  as  the  context  may  require,  the  Confidential 

                     Committee or the Investigation Committee or both of them; 



                     ‘‘Confidential Committee’’ means the committee of the Commission 

                     established by section 10(1)(a); 



                     ‘‘direction’’  means  a  direction  under section  14,  and  cognate  words 

                     shall be construed accordingly; 



                     ‘‘document’’ includes any class or description of document or record, 

                     or  data  stored   electronically   or  in  any   other   manner    and   also 

                     includes thing; 



                     ‘‘establishment day’’ means the day appointed under section 2 to be 

                     the establishment day; 



                     ‘‘evidence’’ includes the expression of a belief, opinion or intention; 



                     ‘‘inquiry officer’’ shall be construed in accordance with section 23; 



                     ‘‘institution’’  includes  a  school,  an  industrial  school,  a  reformatory 

                     school,  an  orphanage,  a  hospital,  a  children’s  home  and  any  other 

                     place  where  children  are  cared  for  other  than  as  members  of  their 

                     families; 



                     ‘‘Investigation Committee’’ means the committee of the Commission 

                     established by section 10(1)(b); 



                     ‘‘meeting’’ includes a sitting and a hearing; 



                     ‘‘Minister’’ means the Minister for Education and Science; 



                     ‘‘relevant period’’ means the period from and including the year 1940 

                     or such earlier year as the Commission may determine to and includ- 

                     ing the year 1999 and such later period (if any) as the Commission 

                     may determine; 



                     ‘‘serious  offence’’  means  an  offence  for  which  a  person  of  full  age 

                     and  capacity   and   not  previously    convicted   may    be  punished    by 

                     imprisonment for a term of 5 years or by a more severe penalty. 



                       (2)  References  in  this  Act  to  abuse  of  children  in  institutions  or 

                     which occurred in institutions include references to any case in which 

                     abuse of a child took place, not in an institution, but while the child 

                     was  residing  or  being  cared  for  in,  or  attending,  an  institution  and 

                     the abuse was committed or aided, abetted, counselled or procured 

                     by,  or  otherwise  contributed  to  by  an  act  or  omission  of,  a  person 

                     engaged  in  the  management,  administration,  operation,  supervision 

                     or regulation of the institution or a person otherwise employed in or 

                     associated with the institution. 



                                                           4 


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[2000.]       Commission          to   Inquire     into    Child         [No. 7.] 

                            Abuse Act, 2000. 



   (3)  References     in  this  Act  to  the   management,      administration,     S.1 

operation,  supervision  and  regulation  of  institutions  include  refer- 

ences to such management, administration, operation, supervision or 

regulation effected, supervised,  funded or regulated, in  whole or in 

part,  by  a  Department  of  State,  a  vocational  education  committee 

established by the Vocational Education Act, 1930, a health board, 

a  local  authority  for  the  purposes  of  the  Local  Government  Act, 

1941, or any other public body. 



   (4)  In this Act— 



      (a)  a  reference  to  a  section  is  a  reference  to  a  section  of  this 

              Act,  unless  it  is  indicated  that  reference  to  some  other 

              provision is intended, 



      (b)  a  reference  to  a  subsection  or  paragraph  is  a  reference  to 

              a  subsection  or  paragraph  of  the  provision  in  which  the 

              reference  occurs,  unless  it  is  indicated  that  reference  to 

              some other provision is intended, and 



      (c)  a  reference  to  any  enactment  is  a  reference  to  that  enact- 

              ment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any 

              subsequent enactment. 



   2.—The Minister shall by order appoint a day to be the establish-                 Establishment day. 

ment day for the purposes of this Act. 



   3.—(1)  On  the  establishment  day  there  shall  stand  established  a          Establishment of 

                                                  ´                  ´ ´           ´ Commission. 

commission, to be known as An Coimisiun chun Drochusaid Leanai 

           ´ 

a  Fhiosru,  or,  in  the  English  Language,  the  Commission  to  Inquire 

into  Child  Abuse,  to  perform  the  functions  conferred  on  it  by  or 

under this Act. 



   (2)  The Commission shall be a body corporate with perpetual suc- 

cession and it shall have power to sue and may be sued in its corpor- 

ate name. 



   (3)  The Commission and its members shall be independent in the 

performance of their functions. 



   (4)  When     the  Minister    is satisfied,  after   consultation    with   the 

Chairperson,  that  the  Commission  and  the  Committees  have  com- 

pleted  the  performance  of  their  functions,  he  or  she  may  by  order 

dissolve  the  Commission  and  the  Committees  and  may,  subject  to 

the provisions of this Act, include in the order such incidental, ancil- 

lary or consequential provisions as the Minister considers necessary 

or expedient. 



   (5) When the order under subsection (4) is proposed to be made, 

a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas 

and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the 

draft has been passed by each such House. 



   4.—(1)  The principal functions of the Commission are, subject to                 Functions of 

the provisions of this Act—                                                          Commission. 



      (a)  to  provide,  for  persons  who  have  suffered  abuse  in  child- 

              hood in institutions during the relevant period, an oppor- 

              tunity  to  recount  the  abuse,  and  make  submissions,  to 

              a Committee, 



                                         5 


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                     [No. 7.]        Commission          to  Inquire     into   Child       [2000.] 

                                                  Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.4                       (b)  through a Committee— 



                                  (i)  to  inquire  into  the  abuse  of  children  in  institutions 

                                       during the relevant period, 



                                  (ii)  where  it  is  satisfied  that  such  abuse  has  occured,  to 

                                       determine     the   causes,   nature,   circumstances     and 

                                       extent of such abuse, and 



                                 (iii) without prejudice to the generality of any of the fore- 

                                       going, to determine the extent to which— 



                                        (I)  the  institutions  themselves  in  which  such  abuse 

                                             occurred, 



                                      (II)  the   systems    of  management,       administration, 

                                             operation,    supervision,    inspection   and    regu- 

                                             lation of such institutions, and 



                                     (III)  the manner in which those functions were perfor- 

                                             med   by  the  persons    or  bodies   in whom     they 

                                             were vested, 



                                       contributed  to  the  occurrence  or  incidence  of  such 

                                       abuse, 



                                  and 



                          (c)  to prepare and publish reports pursuant to section 5. 



                        (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the inquiry under subsec- 

                     tion (1) shall be conducted in such manner and by such means as the 

                     Commission considers appropriate. 



                        (3) The  Commission  shall  have  all  such  powers  as  are  necessary 

                     or expedient for the performance of its functions. 



                        (4) (a)  The  Government  may,  if  they  so  think  fit,  after  consul- 

                                  tation with the Commission, by order confer on the Com- 

                                  mission and the Committees such additional functions or 

                                  powers connected with their functions and powers for the 

                                  time being as they consider appropriate. 



                            (b)  The  Government  may,  if  they  so  think  fit,  after  consul- 

                                  tation  with  the  Commission,  amend  or  revoke  an  order 

                                  under this subsection. 



                            (c)  Where an order is proposed to be made under this subsec- 

                                  tion, a draft of the order shall be laid before each House 

                                  of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made unless 

                                  a  resolution  approving  of  the  draft  has  been  passed  by 

                                  each such House. 



                        (5) The  Commission  may  invite  and  receive  oral  or  written  sub- 

                     missions. 



                        (6) In  performing  their  functions  the  Commission  and  the  Com- 

                     mittees  shall  bear  in  mind  the  need  of  persons  who  have  suffered 

                     abuse in childhood to recount to others such abuse, their difficulties 

                     in  so  doing  and  the  potential  beneficial  effect  on  them  of  so  doing 

                     and, accordingly, the Commission and the Committees shall endeav- 

                     our to ensure that meetings of the Committees at which evidence is 

                     being given are conducted— 



                                                            6 


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[2000.]      Commission         to  Inquire     into   Child        [No. 7.] 

                          Abuse Act, 2000. 



     (a)  so as to afford to persons who have suffered such abuse in            S.4 

             institutions during the relevant period an opportunity to 

             recount  in  full  the  abuse  suffered  by  them  in  an  atmos- 

             phere that is as sympathetic to, and as understanding of, 

             them  as  is  compatible  with  the  rights  of  others  and  the 

             requirements of justice, and 



     (b)  as informally as is possible in the circumstances. 



   5.—(1)  The  Commission  shall,  having  had  regard  to  the  reports       Report of 

under sections  13  and 16,  prepare  a  report  in  writing  in  relation  to  Commission. 



the  matters  referred  to  in  section  4(1)(b)  (‘‘the  report’’)  and  shall 

specify  in  it  the  determinations  made  by  the  Commission  pursuant 

to that provision. 



   (2)  The  Commission  may  include  in  the  report  any  recommend- 

ations  that  it  considers  appropriate  including  recommendations  in 

relation to the action that it considers should be taken— 



     (a)  to  alleviate  or  otherwise  address  the  effects  of  the  abuse 

             referred to in section 4 on those who suffered it, and 



     (b)  to prevent where possible and reduce the incidence of abuse 

             of  children  in  institutions  and  to  protect  children  from 

             such abuse. 



   (3)  The report— 



     (a)  may,  if  the  Commission  is  satisfied  that  abuse  of  children, 

             or abuse of children during a particular period, occurred 

             in  a  particular institution,  contain  findings  to that  effect 

             and   may   identify  the  institution  and   the  persons   who 

             committed the abuse, 



     (b)  may contain findings in relation to the management, admin- 

             istration, operation, supervision and regulation, direct or 

             indirect, of an institution referred to in paragraph (a) and, 

             as  respects  those  functions,  the  persons  in  whom  they 

             were vested and may identify those persons, 



     (c)  shall not identify, or contain information that could lead to 

             the identification of, persons the subject of abuse in child- 

             hood, and 



     (d)  shall not contain findings in relation to particular instances 

             of alleged abuse of children. 



   (4)  If  the  report  contains  findings  that  are  based  on  findings  in 

a  report  of  the  Confidential  Committee,  the  report  shall  include  a 

statement  to  the  effect  that  the  first-mentioned  findings  are  based, 

solely  or partly,  as the  case may  be, on  the latter  findings and  that 

the  evidence  on  which  the  latter  findings  are  based  could  not  be 

tested or challenged by any person and (if it be the case) was not cor- 

roborated. 



   (5) (a) The report shall be published to the general public by the 

             Commission in such manner and at such time during the 

             specified period as the Commission may determine. 



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                    [No. 7.]        Commission         to  Inquire     into   Child      [2000.] 

                                                 Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.5                        (b) In paragraph  (a)   ‘‘the  specified  period’’  means  the  period 

                                 of  2 years   from  the  establishment    day   or such   longer 

                                 period  as  the  Government,  after  consultation  with  the 

                                 Commission, may specify by order. 



                           (c) When  an  order  is  proposed  to  be  made  under paragraph 

                                 (b), a draft of the order shall be laid before each House 

                                 of the Oireachtas and the order  shall not be made until 

                                 a  resolution  approving  of  the  draft  has  been  passed  by 

                                 each such House. 



                       (6) The Commission— 



                         (a)  shall,  not  more  than  one  year  after  the  establishment  day, 

                                 prepare an interim report on such matters relating to the 

                                 inquiry aforesaid or otherwise relating to its functions as 

                                 it may determine, and 



                         (b)  may,  if  and  whenever  it  considers  it  appropriate  to  do  so, 

                                 prepare other such interim reports, 



                    and subsections (2), (3) and (4) shall apply to such interim reports as 

                    they apply to the report referred to in those subsections. 



                       (7)  A  report  under paragraph  (a)  of subsection  (6)  shall  be  pub- 

                    lished to the general public by the Commission in such manner dur- 

                    ing  the  year  after  the  establishment  day  as  the  Commission  may 

                    determine and a report under paragraph (b)  of that subsection shall 

                    be so published in such manner and at such time as the Commission 

                    may determine. 



Membership of          6.—(1)  The    Commission      shall consist   of  a  chairperson    (‘‘the 

Commission.         Chairperson’’)     and   such  number     of  ordinary    members     as  the 

                    Government may determine. 



                       (2) The Government shall appoint a person to be the Chairperson 

                    and, after consultation with the Chairperson, persons to be the ordi- 

                    nary members of the Commission. 



                       (3) Members of the Commission (other than a member who is the 

                    holder of a judicial office) shall be paid such remuneration (if any) 

                    as may be determined by the Minister with the consent of the Mini- 

                    ster for Finance and members of the Commission shall be paid such 

                    allowances for expenses as may be so determined. 



Meetings and           7.—(1)  The Commission shall hold such and so many meetings as 

procedure of        may be necessary for the performance of its functions. 

Commission. 



                       (2) The Chairperson shall fix the date, time and place of the first 

                    meeting of the Commission. 



                       (3) A meeting of the Commission or a part of such a meeting may, 

                    if the Commission considers it appropriate, having had regard to the 

                    desirability  of  holding  such  meetings  in  public,  be  held  otherwise 

                    than in public. 



                       (4) Subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  the  Commission  shall 

                    regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business 

                    of the Commission. 



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[2000.]      Commission         to  Inquire     into   Child        [No. 7.] 

                          Abuse Act, 2000. 



   (5)  The  Commission  may  act  notwithstanding  one  or  more  vac-         S.7 

ancies among its members. 



   (6)  The Commission shall make such arrangements as it considers 

appropriate for the making of as complete a record as is practicable 

of  the  proceedings  of  the  Commission  and  the  Committees  and,  in 

relation to the custody, and the disposal (otherwise than in a manner 

that  would  contravene  the  National  Archives  Act,  1986),  after  the 

dissolution of those bodies, of the documents of the Commission or 

a  Committee  and  of  copies  of  any  documents  given  in  evidence  to 

the Commission or a Committee. 



   8.—(1)  The Commission shall, as soon as may be after the estab-            Seal of 

lishment day, provide itself with a seal.                                       Commission. 



   (2)  The seal of the Commission shall be authenticated by the sig- 

nature  of  the  Chairperson  or  another  member  of  the  Commission 

authorised by the Commission in that behalf. 



   (3)  Judicial  notice  shall  be  taken  of  the  seal  of  the  Commission 

and an instrument purporting to be an instrument made by the Com- 

mission and to be sealed with its seal (purporting to be authenticated 

in accordance with subsection (2)) shall be received in evidence and 

shall be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the con- 

trary is shown. 



   9.—(1)  The  Commission  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Minister        Staff of 

and  the  Minister  for  Finance,  appoint  such  and  so  many  persons        Commission. 

as  the  Commission  may  determine  to  be  members  of  the  staff  of 

the Commission. 



   (2)  The Minister may, with the consent of the Commission and the 

Minister for Finance, second to the Commission such and so many of 

his or her officers as he or she may determine and the Minister for 

Health and Children may, with the like consents, second to the Com- 

mission  such  and  so  many  of  his  or  her  officers  as  he  or  she  may 

determine, and a person so seconded shall be deemed, for the pur- 

poses  of  this  Act,  to  be,  during  the  period  of  the  secondment,  a 

member of the staff of the Commission. 



   (3)  A person appointed or seconded under this section to a posi- 

tion shall hold the position upon and subject to such terms and con- 

ditions  as the  Minister,  or the  Minister for  Health  and Children  (if 

the  person  was  seconded  by  him  or  her)  may,  with  the  consent  of 

the  Minister  for  Finance,  determine,  being,  in  the  case  of  a  person 

so seconded, terms and conditions not less favourable to the person 

than those applicable to him or her as an officer of the Minister or 

the Minister for Health and Children, as the case may be. 



   10.—(1)  On the establishment day there shall stand established—             Committees of 

                                                                                Commission. 



     (a)  a committee of the Commission which shall be known as the 

             Confidential Committee, and 



     (b)  a  committee  of  the  Commission  which  shall  be  known  as 

             the Investigation Committee. 



   (2)  A Committee shall consist of a chairperson and such number 

of ordinary members as the Chairperson may determine. 



                                      9 


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                    [No. 7.]        Commission        to   Inquire    into   Child      [2000.] 

                                                Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.10                   (3) The chairperson and the ordinary members of each Commit- 

                    tee shall be appointed by the Chairperson. 



                       (4) Each   member     of  a Committee     shall  be  a  member     of the 

                    Commission. 



                       (5) The Chairperson shall be the chairperson of the Investigation 

                    Committee. 



                       (6) A person may not be a member of both Committees. 



                       (7) A meeting of a Committee may, if the Committee considers it 

                    appropriate,  be  held,  and  evidence  may  be  received  by  it,  outside 

                    the State. 



                       (8) A Committee may act notwithstanding one or more vacancies 

                    among its members. 



Meetings and           11.—(1)  A  Committee  shall  hold  such  and  so  many  meetings  as 

procedure of        may be necessary for the performance of its functions. 

Committees. 



                       (2) A meeting of the Confidential Committee shall be held other- 

                    wise than in public. 



                       (3)  (a) A  meeting  of  the  Investigation  Committee,  or  a  part  of 

                                 such  a  meeting,  at  which  evidence  relating  to  particular 

                                 instances of alleged abuse of children is being given shall 

                                 be held otherwise than in public. 



                          (b) Other   meetings  of   the  Investigation  Committee  or     other 

                                 parts  of  such  meetings  may,  if  the  Committee  considers 

                                 it  appropriate,  having  had  regard  to  the  desirability  of 

                                 holding  such  meetings in  public,  be  held otherwise  than 

                                 in public. 



                       (4) Subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  the  Commission  shall 

                    regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business 

                    of a Committee. 



                       (5) A   Committee     may   invite and   receive  oral  or  written  sub- 

                    missions. 



                       (6)  (a)  A  Committee  may,  if  and  whenever  the  Chairperson  so 

                                 determines,  act  in  divisions  each  of  which  shall  consist 

                                 of such members  of that Committee as  the Chairperson 

                                 may determine. 



                           (b)  There shall be a chairperson of a division of a Committee 

                                 who  shall  be  such  member  of  the  division  as  the  Chair- 

                                 person may determine. 



                           (c)  A division of a Committee shall perform, in relation to such 

                                 matters  as  the  Chairperson  may  determine,  such  func- 

                                 tions of the committee as may be so determined and shall 

                                 prepare and furnish to the Committee a report in writing 

                                 of the results of such performance. 



                           (d)  A division of a Committee and its chairperson shall have, 

                                 for  the  purposes  of  the  performance  of  the  functions  of 

                                 the division, the powers of the Committee and its chair- 

                                 person, respectively. 



                                                         10 


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[2000.]       Commission         to  Inquire     into   Child         [No. 7.] 

                           Abuse Act, 2000. 



   12.—(1)  The  principal  functions  of  the  Investigation  Committee          Functions of 

are, subject to the provisions of this Act—                                       Investigation 

                                                                                  Committee. 



     (a)  to  provide,  for  persons  who  have  suffered  abuse  in  child- 

             hood in institutions during the relevant period, an oppor- 

             tunity to recount the abuse and make submissions to the 

             Committee, 



     (b)  to  inquire  into  the  abuse  of  children  in  institutions  during 

             the relevant period, 



     (c)  to determine the causes, nature, circumstances and extent of 

             such abuse, and 



     (d)  without prejudice to the generality of any of the foregoing, 

             to determine the extent to which— 



              (i)  the institutions   themselves     in   which   such    abuse 

                   occurred, 



             (ii)  the systems    of  management,      administration,    oper- 

                   ation,  supervision     and   regulation    of  such    insti- 

                   tutions, and 



            (iii) the manner in which those functions were performed 

                   by the persons or bodies in whom they were vested, 



             contributed to the occurrence or incidence of such abuse, 



           and 



     (e)  to prepare and furnish reports pursuant to section 13. 



   (2)  The Investigation Committee shall have all such powers as are 

necessary or expedient for the performance of its functions. 



   13.—(1)  The  Investigation      Committee  (‘‘the     Committee’’)  shall     Report of 

prepare  a  report  in  writing  of the  results  of  the  inquiry  referred  to  Investigation 

                                                                                  Committee. 

in section 12 (‘‘the report’’) and shall specify in it the determinations 

made by it pursuant to that section. 



   (2)  The report— 



     (a)  may, if the Committee is satisfied that abuse of children, or 

             abuse of children during a particular period, occurred in 

             a particular institution, contain findings to that effect and 

             may identify the institution and the person who commit- 

             ted the abuse, 



     (b)  may contain findings in relation to the management, admin- 

             istration, operation, supervision and regulation, direct or 

             indirect, of an institution identified in the report pursuant 

             to  paragraph    (a)  and,   as respects   those   functions,   the 

             persons in whom they were vested and may identify those 

             persons, and 



     (c)  shall not contain findings in relation to particular instances 

             of alleged abuse of children. 



   (3)  The Committee shall furnish the report to the Commission. 



                                       11 


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                    [No. 7.]        Commission         to  Inquire     into   Child      [2000.] 

                                                 Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.13                   (4) The Committee— 



                         (a)  shall,  not  more  than  one  year  after  the  establishment  day, 

                                 prepare and furnish to the Commission an interim report 

                                 on such matters relating to the inquiry aforesaid or other- 

                                 wise relating to its functions as it may determine, and 



                         (b)  may,  if  and  whenever  it  considers  it  appropriate  to  do  so, 

                                 prepare    and   furnish  to   the  Commission      other   such 

                                 interim reports. 



Powers of              14.—(1)  Subject to the provisions of this Act, the chairperson of 

Investigation       the  Investigation  Committee  (‘‘the  Committee’’)  may  for  the  pur- 

Committee. 

                    poses of the functions of the Committee— 



                         (a)  direct in writing any person whose evidence is required by 

                                 the  Committee  to  attend  before  it  on  a  date  and  at  a 

                                 time and place specified in the direction and there to give 

                                 evidence  and  to  produce  any  document  specified  in  the 

                                 direction in the possession or control of the person, 



                         (b)  direct a person in attendance before the Committee pursu- 

                                 ant  to paragraph  (a)   to  produce  to  the  Committee  any 

                                 document  specified in  the direction  in the  possession or 

                                 control of the person, 



                         (c)  direct  in writing  any  person to  send  to  the Committee  any 

                                 document specified  in the direction  in the  possession or 

                                 control of the person, 



                         (d)  direct  in  writing  any  person  to  make  discovery  on  oath  of 

                                 any documents that are or have been in the possession or 

                                 control  of  the  person  relating  to  any  matter  relevant  to 

                                 the functions of the Committee and to specify in the affi- 

                                 davit of documents concerned any documents mentioned 

                                 therein which the person objects to produce to the Com- 

                                 mittee  and  the  grounds  for  the  objection;  and  the  rules 

                                 of  court  relating  to  the  discovery  of  documents  in  pro- 

                                 ceedings in the High Court shall apply in relation to the 

                                 discovery  of  documents  pursuant  to  this  paragraph  with 

                                 any necessary modifications, 



                         (e)  give  any  other  directions  that  appear  to  the  Committee  to 

                                 be reasonable, just and necessary. 



                       (2) A  direction  in  writing  shall  be  signed  by  the  chairperson  of 

                    the Committee. 



                       (3) Where a person fails or refuses to comply with or disobeys a 

                    direction,  the  High  Court  may,  on  application  to  it  in  a  summary 

                    manner in that behalf by the Committee, order the person to comply 

                    with the direction and make such other (if any) order as it considers 

                    necessary and just to enable the direction to have full effect. 



                       (4) A person who— 



                         (a)  having been directed under paragraph (a)  of subsection (1) 

                                 to attend before the Committee and having had tendered 

                                 to him or her an amount determined in accordance with 

                                 a  scheme  under section  20  in  respect  of  the expenses  of 

                                 his or her attendance before the Committee, without just 



                                                          12 


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                          Abuse Act, 2000. 



             cause  or  excuse,  fails  or  refuses  to  comply  with  or  dis-  S.14 

             obeys the direction, 



     (b)  being  in  attendance  before  the  Committee  pursuant  to  a 

             direction  under  the  said paragraph  (a) ,  refuses  to  take 

             the  oath  on  being  required  by  the  Committee  pursuant 

             to section 22  to do so or refuses to answer any question 

             to which the Committee may legally require an answer, 



     (c)  without   just cause   or  excuse,   disobeys   a  direction  under 

             paragraph (b) , (c), (d) or  (e) of subsection (1), 



     (d)  in relation to the discovery of documents pursuant to para- 

             graph  (d)  of subsection  (1),  contravenes  a  rule  of  court 

             referred to in that paragraph, or 



     (e)  does  any  other  thing  in  relation  to  the  matters  before  the 

             Committee      which,   if done   in  relation  to  proceedings 

             before a court by a witness in the court or any other per- 

             son, would be contempt of that court, 



shall be guilty of an offence. 



   (5)  The  Committee  may,  for  sufficient  reason  if  it  considers  it 

appropriate to do so, arrange for the examination of a person at any 

place  in  or  outside  the  State  by   a  member    of  the  Committee,     a 

member of the staff of the Commission or any other person and may 

receive, in such form as it may determine, the evidence of the person 

taken at the examination; and the relevant rules of court relating to 

evidence in proceedings in the High Court shall apply in relation to 

the matters aforesaid with any necessary modifications. 



   (6)  In relation to the matters specified in subsection (1) and, in so 

far  as  they  relate  to  the  Committee, subsection  (5),  the  Committee 

shall have all such powers, rights and privileges as are vested in the 

High  Court  or  a  judge  of  that  Court  on  the  occasion  of  an  action 

and, in relation to the matters specified in subsection (5), in so far as 

they relate to a person conducting an examination pursuant to that 

subsection,  that  person  shall  have  all  the  powers,  rights  and  privil- 

eges aforesaid. 



   (7)  If  a  person  gives  false  evidence  before  the  Committee  or  to 

a  person  examining  him  or  her  pursuant  to  subsection  (5)  in  such 

circumstances  that,  if  the  person  had  given  the  evidence  before  a 

court,  the  person  would  be  guilty  of  perjury,  the  person  shall  be 

guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictment 

thereof to the penalties applying to perjury. 



   15.—(1)  The  principal  functions  of  the  Confidential  Committee         Functions of 

(‘‘the Committee’’) are, subject to the provisions of this Act—                  Confidential 

                                                                                 Committee. 



     (a)  to  provide,  for  persons  who  have  suffered  abuse  in  child- 

             hood  in  institutions  during  the  relevant  period  and  who 

             do not wish to have that abuse inquired into by the Inves- 

             tigation Committee, an opportunity to recount the abuse, 

             and make submissions, in confidence to the Committee, 



     (b)  to receive evidence of such abuse, 



     (c)  to make findings of a general nature, based on the evidence 

             aforesaid,  in  relation  to  the  matters  specified  in section 

             4(1)(b), and 



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                                                   Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.15                       (d)  to prepare and furnish reports pursuant to section 16. 



                        (2)  The Committee shall have all such powers as are necessary for 

                     the performance of its functions. 



Report of                16.—(1)    Subject  to  subsection  (2),  the  Confidential  Committee 

Confidential         (‘‘the Committee’’) shall prepare a report in writing (‘‘the report’’), 

Committee. 

                     based on the evidence received by it pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of 

                     section 15, setting out in general terms the findings made by it pursu- 

                     ant to subsection (1)(c) of that section. 



                        (2)  The report— 



                           (a)  shall not identify, or contain information that could lead to 

                                  the   identification   of, persons    alleged  to  have   suffered 

                                   abuse in childhood or persons alleged to have committed 

                                   such abuse or any institutions or any other persons, 



                           (b)  shall not contain findings in relation to particular instances 

                                   of alleged abuse of children. 



                        (3)  The Committee shall furnish the report to the Commission. 



                        (4) The Committee— 



                           (a)  shall,  not  more  than  one  year  after  the  establishment  day, 

                                  prepare and furnish to the Commission an interim report 

                                   on  such   matters   relating  to  the  evidence    and   findings 

                                   aforesaid or otherwise relating to its functions as it may 

                                   determine, and 



                           (b)  may,  if  and  whenever  it  considers  it  appropriate  to  do  so, 

                                  prepare     and   furnish   to  the   Commission      other    such 

                                  interim reports. 



Privilege.              17.—(1)    Utterances  made  by  a  member  of  the  Commission  or  a 

                     Committee, a member of the staff of the Commission, a person con- 

                     ducting an examination pursuant to section 14(5), an inquiry officer 

                     or an adviser to the Commission or a Committee, for the purposes 

                     of the performance of the functions of the Commission or a Commit- 

                     tee, shall be absolutely privileged and such utterances and documents 

                     prepared  by  the  Commission  or  a  Committee  or  any  of  the  other 

                     persons aforesaid for the purposes of such performance and reports 

                     of  the  Commission  or  a  Committee,  shall  be  absolutely  privileged 

                     wherever and however published. 



                        (2)  In subsection (1) references to the Commission include refer- 

                     ences to the commission to inquire into child abuse established pur- 

                     suant to a decision of the Government made on 11 May, 1999. 



Privileges and          18.—(1) (a) A  person  whose  evidence  has  been,  is  being  or  is  to 

immunities of                           be given before the Commission or a Committee, or 

witnesses, etc. 

                                        who   produces    or  sends   a  document     to  the  Com- 

                                        mission or a Committee or who is requested by the 

                                        Commission or a Committee or directed to give evi- 

                                        dence   or  produce    a  document     to  it or  to  attend 

                                        before  it  and  there  to  give  evidence  or  produce  a 

                                        document  or  who  makes  a  submission  to  the  Com- 

                                        mission or a Committee shall be entitled to the same 

                                        privileges and immunities in respect of those matters 



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                           Abuse Act, 2000. 



                   as  a  witness  before   the   High   Court   in  respect  of  S.18 

                   evidence. 



             (b) In   paragraph     (a)   references    to  the   Commission 

                   include references to the commission to inquire into 

                   child abuse established pursuant to a decision of the 

                   Government made on 11 May, 1999. 



   (2)  A person whose evidence has been, is being or is to be given 

to an inquiry officer or who produces or sends a document to him or 

her  or  who  is  requested  by  an  inquiry  officer  to  give  evidence  or 

produce  a  document  to  him  or  her  or  to  attend  before  him  or  her 

and there to give evidence or produce a document shall be entitled 

to the same privileges and immunities in respect of those matters as 

a witness before the High Court in respect of evidence. 



   (3) A person whose evidence has been, is being or is to be given 

to a person for the purposes of an examination by him or her pursu- 

ant to section 14(5) or who produces or sends a document to him or 

her or who is requested for such purposes by such a person to give 

evidence or produce a document to him or her or to attend before 

him or her and there to give evidence or produce a document shall 

be entitled to the same privileges and immunities in respect of those 

matters as a witness before the High Court in respect of evidence. 



   19.—(1)  Notwithstanding section 14(4), a person who is giving, or             Option for certain 

is to give, evidence to a Committee of alleged abuse suffered by the              persons in relation 

                                                                                  to evidence to a 

person in childhood may at any time cease giving, or decline to give,             Committee. 

evidence to that Committee and, if he or she does so, may give evi- 

dence to the other Committee of the alleged abuse. 



   (2)  Where  a  person  has  ceased  giving,  or  declined  to  give,  evi- 

dence to a Committee pursuant to subsection (1), the evidence given 

or any statement or outline of the evidence proposed to be given by 

the person shall be disregarded for all purposes other than the pur- 

poses of proceedings in relation to an offence under section 14(7) or 

29, and section 18(1) shall be construed and have effect accordingly. 



   20.—(1)  The  Minister  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Minister  for       Expenses of 

Finance and after consultation with the Commission, make a scheme                 witnesses, etc. 

providing for the payment by the Commission to a person who— 



      (a)  pursuant to a request of a Committee or a direction attends 

              before a Committee, or 



      (b)  makes an oral submission to the Commission or a Commit- 

              tee in person or through a legal representative, 



of  such  reasonable  amount  in  respect  of  the  expenses  incurred  by 

the  person  in  relation  to  such  attendance  or  submission  as  may  be 

determined by the Commission in accordance with the scheme. 



   (2)  The Minister may, with the consent and after the consultation 

aforesaid,  make  a  scheme  amending  or  revoking  a  scheme  under 

this section. 



   (3)  The  Commission  shall  carry  out  a  scheme  under  this  section 

in accordance with its terms. 



   (4)  The  Commission  may  pay  to  a  person  who  makes  discovery 

of  documents  pursuant  to  a  direction  under  section  14(1)(d)         such 



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                                                   Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.20                 reasonable amount in respect of the expenses incurred by the person 

                     in relation to the discovery as, in default of agreement between the 

                     Commission and the person, may be determined by a Taxing Master 

                     of the High Court. 



Admissibility of        21.—(1)  Notwithstanding section 18— 

certain evidence. 



                           (a)  a person who gives evidence before the Investigation Com- 

                                  mittee or to a person for the purposes of an examination 

                                  by   him   or  her  pursuant    to  section  14(5)   shall  not  be 

                                   entitled  to  refuse  to  answer  any  question  put  to  him  or 

                                  her, and 



                           (b)  a person shall not be entitled to refuse to produce or send 

                                   a document pursuant to a direction, 



                     on the ground that his or her answer or the document might incrimi- 

                     nate him or her. 



                        (2)  A statement or admission made by a person— 



                           (a)  before the Commission or a Committee, 



                           (b)  to a person conducting an examination of him or her pursu- 

                                   ant to section 14(5), 



                           (c)  to an inquiry officer, or 



                           (d)  in a document prepared for and sent by a person to a person 

                                   specified in paragraph (a) , (b) or  (c), or to a member of 

                                  the  Commission  or  a  Committee,  or  a  member  of  the 

                                   staff of the Commission, for the purposes of the functions 

                                   of the Commission, 



                     shall not be admissible as evidence against the person, or any person 

                     who  may  be  liable  for  the  acts  or  omissions  of  the  person,  in  any 

                     criminal   proceedings     (other   than   proceedings     in  relation   to  an 

                     offence under subsection (4) or  (7) of section 14 or section 29), or in 

                     any civil proceedings in a court or other tribunal. 



Evidence on oath.       22.—(1)   A   witness   before   the  Commission  or      a  Committee     or 

                     before a person examining him or her pursuant to section 14(5) may 

                     be required by it or by the person, as the case may be, to give his or 

                     her evidence on oath. 



                        (2)  Where    a   requirement     under   subsection    (1)  is  made,    the 

                     Chairperson  or  the  chairperson  of  the  Committee  concerned  or  a 

                     member of the staff of the Commission authorised in that behalf by 

                     the Commission or the person conducting the examination aforesaid, 

                     as  the   case   may   be,   may    administer    the  oath    to  the  witness 

                     concerned. 



Inquiry officers.       23.—(1)   The    Commission       may   authorise    such    and   so  many 

                     members  of  its  staff  as  it  may  determine  (referred  to  in  this  Act 

                     as ‘‘inquiry officers’’) to perform the functions conferred on inquiry 

                     officers by this section. 



                        (2)  Whenever  so  requested  by  the  Investigation  Committee,  an 

                     inquiry  officer  shall,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  it  and  the  Com- 

                     mission in the performance of their functions, carry out a preliminary 



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                          Abuse Act, 2000. 



inquiry into an allegation by a person that he or she suffered abuse            S.23 

in childhood in an institution during the relevant period by— 



     (a)  requesting the person, at the option of the person, to— 



             (i)  provide him or her with a statement in writing of the 

                  evidence    that  the  person   proposes    to give  to  the 

                  Investigation Committee in relation to the matter, or 



             (ii)  make a statement of the evidence aforesaid at a meet- 

                  ing  with   him  or  her  which   the  officer  shall  write 

                  down, 



             within   such  reasonable    period   as may   be  specified   by 

             the officer, 



     (b)  furnishing the  person against whom  the allegation  is made 

             with  copies  of  the  statement  or  statements  under para- 

             graph (a) and with copies of any relevant documents and 

             requesting the person, at the option of the person, to— 



             (i)  provide him or her with a statement in writing of the 

                  evidence    that  the  person   proposes    to give  to  the 

                  Investigation Committee in relation to the matter, or 



             (ii)  make a statement of the evidence aforesaid at a meet- 

                  ing  with   him  or  her  which   the  officer  shall  write 

                  down, 



             within such reasonable period as may be specified by the 

             officer, and 



     (c)  where  appropriate,  conducting  interviews  with  the  persons 

             referred  to  in paragraphs  (a)    and   (b),  and  questioning 

             them,  for  the  purpose  of  the  making  of  the  statements 

             aforesaid. 



   (3)  Following  an  inquiry  pursuant  to subsection  (2),  the  inquiry 

officer  concerned  shall  prepare  a  report in  writing  of  the  results  of 

the inquiry  and shall furnish  the report  and the statement  or state- 

ments under subsection (2) and any relevant documents to the Inves- 

tigation  Committee;  and  the  report  shall  not  contain  any  determi- 

nations or findings. 



   (4)  A  statement  under subsection  (2)  shall  be  signed  (or,  where 

necessary, otherwise identified) by the person by whom it was made 

and,  if the  statement    was  made    pursuant   to  paragraph    (a)(ii) or 

(b)(ii) of that subsection, the signing shall be effected in the presence 

of the inquiry officer concerned who shall then sign the statement. 



   (5) An inquiry officer may request the production by a person of 

any  document  in  the  possession  or  control  of  the  person  that  the 

officer considers relevant to his or her inquiry. 



   (6) Where    a  document     is produced    by  a  person   to an   inquiry 

officer  pursuant  to  a  request  under subsection  (5),  the  officer  may, 

with  the  consent  of  the  person,  retain  the  document  in  his  or  her 

possession for a reasonable period for the purpose of examining and 

copying it. 



   (7) A  person  being  interviewed  pursuant  to  subsection  (2)  may 

decline to answer any question asked, or refuse a request to produce 



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                                                    Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.23                  a document made, by the inquiry officer concerned and may termin- 

                      ate the interview at any time and a person to whom a request is made 

                      under subsection  (2)  or  (5) may  refuse  to  comply  with  the  request. 



                         (8) An  inquiry  officer  shall  be  furnished  with  the  authorisation 

                      under  subsection  (1)  relating  to  him  or  her  and  when  exercising  a 

                      power under this section, shall, if so requested by a person affected, 

                      produce the authorisation or a copy of it to the person. 



Advice and              24.—(1)  If  the  Commission  considers  that it,  or  a  Committee,  in 

research.             the  performance  of  its  functions  requires  the  advice,  guidance  or 

                      assistance  of  experts  in  respect  of  any  matter,  it  may,  upon  such 

                      terms and conditions as it may determine, appoint such and so many 

                      advisers having expertise in relation to that matter as it may deter- 

                      mine to provide it or the Committee, as the case may be, with such 

                      advice, guidance or assistance. 



                         (2) The Commission may, for the purpose of the performance of 

                      its functions, conduct, or commission the conduct of, research. 



Directions, etc., of    25.—(1)  The Commission may, whenever it considers appropriate 

High Court.           to do so, apply in a summary manner to the High Court sitting other- 

                      wise  than  in  public  for  directions in  relation  to  the  performance  of 

                      any  of  the  functions  of  the  Commission  or  a  Committee  or  for  its 

                      approval of an act or omission proposed to be done or made by the 

                      Commission or a Committee for the purposes of such performance. 



                         (2) On an application to the High Court for the purposes of sub- 

                      section (1), that Court may— 



                           (a)  give such directions as it considers appropriate (including a 

                                    direction  that  the  Commission  or  a  Committee  should 

                                   make a report and, if that Court considers it appropriate, 

                                    an interim report, to it at or before such times as it may 

                                    specify in relation to the matter the subject of the appli- 

                                    cation or any related matter), 



                           (b)  make any order that it considers appropriate, 



                           (c)  refuse to approve of an act or omission referred to in subsec- 

                                    tion (1). 



                         (3) The  Commission  or  a  Committee,  as  the  case  may  be,  shall 

                      comply with a direction or order of the High Court under this section 

                      and shall not do any such act as aforesaid or make any such omission 

                      as aforesaid if the High Court has refused to approve of it. 



                         (4) The  High  Court  shall  give  such  priority  as  it  reasonably  can, 

                      having regard to all the circumstances, to the disposal of proceedings 

                      in that Court under this Act. 



                         (5) The  Superior  Court  Rules  Committee  may,  with  the  concur- 

                      rence  of  the  Minister  for  Justice,  Equality  and  Law  Reform,  make 

                      rules to facilitate the giving of effect to subsection (4). 



Power of High           26.—(1) Where the High Court is satisfied that— 

Court to order 

disclosure of 

information.               (a)  for the purposes of the exercise of its jurisdiction in relation 

                                   to the Commission or the Investigation Committee, or 



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      (b)  on application to it in that behalf in a summary manner by                 S.26 

              the Commission or the Investigation Committee, for the 

              purposes of its functions, 



it is necessary that information to which this section applies should, 

having regard to the public interest, the interests of justice and the 

rights  of  persons  to  whom  the  information  relates,  be  disclosed  to 

that Court or to either such body, it may order such disclosure. 



   (2)  Subject  to subsection  (3),  this  section  applies  to  information 

the  disclosure  of  which  is  prohibited  by  a  statute  or  an  instrument 

made under a statute, or any other rule of law, or is so prohibited in 

certain  circumstances  and  the  case  concerned  is  one  to  which  the 

prohibition applies. 



   (3)  This  section  does  not  apply  to  information  the  disclosure  of 

which,  or  the  disclosure  of  which  in  certain  circumstances,  is  pro- 

hibited by, or in pursuance of, an act of an institution of the Euro- 

pean Union. 



   27.—(1)  Subject to the provisions of this section but notwithstand-               Prohibition of 

ing  any  provision  of,  or  of  an  instrument  made  under,  a  statute  or        disclosure of 

                                                                                      information 

any  rule  of  law,  a  person  (including  the  Confidential  Committee)             provided to 

shall not disclose information provided to the Confidential Commit-                   Confidential 

tee and obtained by the person in the course of the performance of                    Committee. 



the functions of the person under this Act. 



   (2)  A  person  referred  to  in  subsection  (1)       (‘‘the  person’’)  shall 

disclose information so referred to— 



      (a)  for the purpose of the performance of the functions of the 

              person under this Act, 



      (b)  to the legal representatives of the parties to any proceedings 

              referred to in subsection (3), 



                                               ´    ´ 

      (c)  to a member of the Garda Siochana if the person is acting 

              in good faith and reasonably believes that such disclosure 

              is necessary in order to prevent the continuance of an act 

              or omission constituting a serious offence, and 



      (d)  to an appropriate person (within the meaning of the Protec- 

              tions for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act, 1998) if the 

              person is acting in good faith and reasonably believes that 

              such disclosure is necessary to prevent, reduce or remove 

              a substantial risk to life or to prevent the continuance of 

              abuse of a child. 



   (3)  Information  referred  to  in subsection  (1)  shall,  if  so  ordered 

by  a  court in  connection  with  proceedings  before  it for  the  judicial 

review of a decision of the Confidential Committee, be disclosed by 

a  person  referred  to  in  that  subsection  to  the  court  if,  and  to  the 

extent only, that the court is satisfied that such disclosure is necessary 

in the interests of justice; and any disclosure pursuant to this subsec- 

tion shall not identify, or contain information that could lead to the 

identification of, persons the subject of abuse in childhood. 



   (4)  Proceedings referred to in subsection (3) shall be heard other- 

wise than in public. 



   (5)  Documents  provided  to  the  Confidential  Committee  or  pre- 

pared by it (other than a report under section 16), or prepared by a 



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                                                    Abuse Act, 2000. 



S.27                  person for it in the course of the performance of his or her functions 

                      as a member of that Committee, a member of the staff of the Com- 

                      mission,   or  an  adviser,   shall  not  constitute  Departmental        records 

                      within  the  meaning  of  section  2(2)  of  the  National  Archives  Act, 

                      1986. 



                         (6) A  person  who  contravenes  subsection  (1)          shall  be  guilty  of 

                      an offence. 



Non-disclosure of       28.—(1)  Subject to subsection (2)  but, notwithstanding any other 

information.          provision of, or of an instrument made under, a statute or any other 

                      rule  of  law,  a  person  (including  the  Commission  and  the  Investi- 

                      gation Committee) shall not be required to disclose information pro- 

                      vided   to  the   Commission       or   the  Investigation     Committee      and 

                      obtained by the person in the course of the performance of the func- 

                      tions of the person under this Act. 



                         (2) A   person    referred   to  in  subsection   (1)  shall  disclose   infor- 

                      mation so referred to— 



                                                                    ´    ´ 

                           (a)  to a member of the Garda Siochana if the person is acting 

                                   in good faith and reasonably believes that such disclosure 

                                   is necessary in order to prevent an act or omission consti- 

                                   tuting a serious offence, and 



                           (b)  to an appropriate person (within the meaning of the Protec- 

                                   tions for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act, 1998) if the 

                                   person is acting in good faith and reasonably believes that 

                                    such disclosure is necessary to prevent, reduce or remove 

                                    a substantial risk to life or to prevent the continuance of 

                                    abuse of a child. 



Obstruction.            29.—A  person  who  by  act  or  omission  obstructs  or  hinders  the 

                      Commission or a Committee or a person carrying out an examination 

                      pursuant to section 14(5) in the performance of the functions of the 

                      Commission  or  that  Committee  or  person  under  this  Act  shall  be 

                      guilty of an offence. 



Preservation of         30.—(1)  A  person  who  has  in  his  or  her  possession  or  control  a 

documents, etc.       document or information in any form that is relevant to the functions 

                      of  the  Commission  or  a  Committee  shall  preserve  the  document, 

                      data or information until the Commission is dissolved. 



                         (2) A  person  who  contravenes  subsection  (1)  shall  be  guilty  of 

                      an offence. 



Provisions in           31.—(1)  A court shall not make an order against the Commission 

relation to           or a Committee in proceedings to which the Commission or a Com- 

discovery. 

                      mittee  is  not  a  party  for  the  discovery,  inspection,  production  or 

                      copying of— 



                           (a)  a document created by the Commission, a Committee, a per- 

                                    son conducting an examination pursuant to section 14(5) 

                                    or an inquiry officer, or 



                           (b)  a  document  given  or  sent  to  a  person  referred  to  in para- 

                                   graph (a)  and in the possession or control of any person 

                                    so referred to. 



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                           Abuse Act, 2000. 



   (2)  Where  a  document is  in  the  custody  of  a person  pursuant  to         S.31 

section  7(6),  other  than  the  person  who  produced  or  sent  it  to  the 

Commission or a Committee, a court shall not make an order for the 

discovery, inspection, production or copying of the document against 

the first-mentioned person. 



   (3)  Where— 



      (a)  a document is produced or sent by a person (‘‘the sender’’) 

              to  a  person  referred  to  in subsection  (1)(a)  for  the  pur- 

              poses of the functions of the Commission, and 



      (b)  an  order  for  the  discovery  of  the  document  is  made  by  a 

              court against the sender at a time when it is in the pos- 

              session or  control of the  person to  whom it was  so pro- 

              duced or sent, 



the document shall be deemed to be in the control or procurement 

of  the  sender  and  the  Commission  shall  make  it  available  to  him 

or her. 



   32.—Sections  4  and  5  of  the  Official  Secrets  Act,  1963,  do  not        Restriction of 

apply  to  evidence  given  to  the  Commission  or  a  Committee  or  a            Official Secrets Act, 

                                                                                    1963. 

person conducting an examination pursuant to section 14(5)  or to a 

document  produced  or  sent  to  the  Commission  or  a  Committee  or 

such a person as aforesaid. 



   33.—Section 4 of the Data Protection Act, 1988, does not apply to                Restriction of Data 

personal data provided to the Commission or a Committee while the                   Protection Act, 

                                                                                    1988. 

data is in the custody of the Commission or a Committee, or in the 

case of such data provided to the Confidential Committee, of a body 

to which it is transferred by the Commission upon the dissolution of 

the Commission. 



   34.—(1)  A head may refuse to grant a request (including a request               Application of 

made before the passing of this Act) under section 7 of the Freedom                 Freedom of 

                                                                                    Information Act, 

of Information Act, 1997 (‘‘a request’’), if access to the record con-              1997, to certain 

cerned could, in the opinion of the head, reasonably be expected to                 records. 

prejudice the effectiveness of the performance of its functions by the 

Commission or a Committee or the procedures or methods employed 

for such performance. 



   (2)  Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a case in which in 

the opinion of the head concerned the public interest would, on bal- 

ance,  be  better  served  by  granting      than   by  refusing  to  grant  the 

request concerned. 



   (3)  Before forming the opinion referred to in subsection (1) or (2), 

a head shall consult with the Chairperson. 



   (4)  A head shall refuse to grant a request in relation to a record 

held by the Confidential Committee and transferred to a public body 

by the Commission upon the dissolution of the Commission. 



   (5)  In this section ‘‘head’’, ‘‘public body’’ and ‘‘record’’ have the 

meanings  assigned  to  them  by  section  2  of  the  Freedom  of  Infor- 

mation Act, 1997. 



                                        21 


----------------------- Page 3152-----------------------

                    [No. 7.]       Commission        to  Inquire    into  Child      [2000.] 

                                               Abuse Act, 2000. 



Penalties.            35.—A person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable— 



                        (a)  on  summary  conviction,  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  £1,500  or 

                                imprisonment    for  a  term  not  exceeding   6  months   or 

                                both, or 



                        (b)  on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £20,000 

                                or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both. 



Expenses.             36.—(1)  The expenses incurred by the Minister for Finance in the 

                   administration of this Act shall be paid out of moneys provided by 

                   the Oireachtas. 



                      (2) The  expenses  incurred  by  the  Minister  in  the  administration 

                   of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister 

                   for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. 



Short title.          37.—This  Act  may  be  cited  as  the  Commission  to  Inquire  into 

                   Child Abuse Act, 2000. 



                                                       22 


----------------------- Page 3153-----------------------

                            ———————— 



                            Number  17 of 2005 



                            ———————— 



       COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

                      (AMENDMENT) ACT 2005 



                            ———————— 



                  ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 



                                  PART 1 



                       Preliminary and General 



Section 



    1.   Short title, construction and collective citation. 



    2.   Interpretation generally. 



                                  PART 2 



                     Amendments of Principal Act 



    3.   Amendment of section 1 (interpretation) of Principal Act. 



    4.   Amendment of section 4 (functions of Commission) of Prin- 

                cipal Act. 



    5.   Amendment of section 5 (reports of Commission) of Princi- 

                pal Act. 



    6.   Amendment       of  section  11   (meetings    and  procedures     of 

                Committees) of Principal Act. 



    7.   Amendment       of   section   12   (functions    of  Investigation 

                Committee) of Principal Act. 



    8.   Amendment        of   section    13   (report    of   Investigation 

                Committee) of Principal Act. 



    9.   Amendment        of   section   14    (powers    of   Investigation 

                Committee) of Principal Act. 



   10.   Amendment        of  section   15   (functions    of   Confidential 

                Committee) of Principal Act. 



   11.   Amendment        of   section    16    (report    of   Confidential 

                Committee) of Principal Act. 


----------------------- Page 3154-----------------------

[No. 17.]        Commission to Inquire Into Child                    [2005.] 

                   Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



Section 

   12.   Amendment of section 17 (privilege) of Principal Act. 



   13.   Amendment       of section   18  (privileges  and   immunities    for 

               witnesses) of Principal Act. 



   14.   Amendment  of      section  19  (option   for  certain  persons)  of 

                Principal Act. 



   15.   Amendment of section 21 (admissibility of certain evidence) 

                of Principal Act. 



   16.   Amendment of section 23 (inquiry officers) of Principal Act. 



   17.   Amendment of section 25 (directions of High Court) of Prin- 

                cipal Act. 



   18.   Periods   in relation  to  which   Confidential    Committee     and 

                Investigation Committee perform their functions. 



   19.   Judicial review. 



   20.   Amendment       of   section   31   (provisions    in  relation   to 

                discovery) of Principal Act. 



   21.   Transitional. 



                                  PART 3 



    Education (Former Residents of Certain Institutions for 

                       Children) Finance Board 



   22.   Interpretation (Part 3). 



   23.   Establishment day. 



   24.   Establishment  of  Education  (Former  Residents  of  Certain 

                Institutions for Children) Finance Board. 



   25.   Principal functions of Board. 



   26.   Management of moneys relating to Board. 



   27.   Educational    grants  to  former   residents  of  institutions  and 

                their relatives. 



   28.   Application for grants and consequential matters. 



   29.   Membership of Board. 



   30.   Employees. 



   31.   Accounts and audits. 



   32.   Annual report and information. 



   33.   Removal of members of Board from office. 



                                  PART 4 



                              Miscellaneous 



   34.   Amendment of Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002. 



                                      2 


----------------------- Page 3155-----------------------

[2005.]        Commission to Inquire Into Child                   [No. 17.] 

                 Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



Section 

   35.   Regulations and orders. 



                               SCHEDULE 



                 Membership and Meetings of Board 



                             ———————— 



                                      3 


----------------------- Page 3156-----------------------

[No. 17.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [2005.] 

                    Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                                Acts Referred to 



Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000                      2000, No.  7 



Ombudsman Act 1980                                                   1980, No. 26 



Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002                            2002, No. 13 



                                        4 


----------------------- Page 3157-----------------------

                          ———————— 



                         Number  17 of 2005 



                          ———————— 



      COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO CHILD ABUSE 

                    (AMENDMENT) ACT 2005 



                          ———————— 



AN ACT TO AMEND THE COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO 

     CHILD     ABUSE     ACT    2000   AND    THE    RESIDENTIAL 

     INSTITUTIONS  REDRESS  ACT  2002,  TO  ESTABLISH  A 

     BODY     TO   BE   KNOWN      AS   AN   BORD     AIRGEADAIS 

                                   ´               ´ 

     OIDEACHAIS         (IAR-CHONAITHEOIRI             DE     CHUID 

               ´                         ´ 

     FORAS  AIRITHE  DO  LEANAI)  OR,  IN  THE  ENGLISH 

     LANGUAGE,  THE  EDUCATION (FORMER  RESIDENTS 

     OF   CERTAIN      INSTITUTIONS        FOR    CHILDREN)       FIN- 

     ANCE  BOARD  AND  TO  DEFINE  ITS  FUNCTIONS  AND 

     TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. 

                                                       [9th July, 2005] 



BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS: 



                               PART 1 



                     Preliminary and General 



  1.—(1)   This Act may be cited as the Commission to Inquire into      Short title, 

Child Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005.                                       construction and 

                                                                        collective citation. 



  (2)  The  Principal  Act,  section  32  of  the  Residential  Institutions 

Redress Act 2002 and Part 2 of this Act may be cited together as the 

Commission  to  Inquire  into  Child  Abuse  Acts  2000  and  2005  and 

shall be construed together as one. 



  (3)  The Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 and section 34 

may  be  cited  together  as  the  Residential  Institutions  Redress  Acts 

2002 and 2005. 



  2.—(1)   In this  Act, “Principal Act”  means   the  Commission   to  Interpretation 

Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000.                                      generally. 



                                   5 


----------------------- Page 3158-----------------------

Pt.1 S.2             [No. 17.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [2005.] 

                                         Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                        (2)  In this Act— 



                            (a)  a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this 

                                  Act  unless  it  is  indicated  that  reference  to  some  other 

                                   enactment is intended, 



                            (b)  a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is 

                                   a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph 

                                   of  the  provision  in  which  the  reference  occurs,  unless  it 

                                  is  indicated   that  reference   to  some    other   provision   is 

                                  intended, and 



                            (c)  a reference to  any other enactment shall,  unless the con- 

                                  text  otherwise  requires,  be  construed  as  a  reference  to 

                                  that enactment as amended or adapted by or under any 

                                   other enactment. 



                                                        PART 2 



                                           Amendments of Principal Act 



Amendment of            3.—Section 1(1) of the Principal Act is amended— 

section 1 

(interpretation) of 

Principal Act.              (a)  in the definition of “abuse”, by inserting in paragraphs (c) 

                                   and   (d),  after   “results”,  “,  or   could   reasonably     be 

                                   expected to result,”, 



                            (b)  by  inserting  the  following  definition  after  the  definition 

                                   of “abuse”: 



                                 “ ‘admit’, in relation to a document, means— 



                                        (a)  if the document is an original document, admit 

                                               that it was written, signed or executed as it pur- 

                                               ports to have been, and 



                                        (b)  if the document is a copy of another document, 

                                               admit   that   it is  a  true  copy    of  the   other 

                                               document, 



                                 and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;”, 



                            (c)  by inserting the following after the definition of “advisor”: 



                                 “ ‘authorised officer’ shall be construed in accordance with 

                                 section 23;”, 



                            (d)  by deleting the definition of “inquiry officer”, and 



                            (e)  by  substituting  the  following  definition  for  the  definition 

                                   of “serious offence”: 



                                 “ ‘serious offence’ means an offence for which a person of 

                                 full age and capacity and not previously convicted may be 

                                 punished by imprisonment for a term of one year or by a 

                                 more severe penalty;”. 



                                                             6 


----------------------- Page 3159-----------------------

[2005.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [No. 17.]                Pt.2 S.3 

                  Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



   4.—Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended—                                    Amendment of 

                                                                                    section 4 (functions 

       (a)  in subsection (1)(b)—                                                   of Commission) of 

                                                                                    Principal Act. 



             (i)  by inserting the following subparagraph after subpar- 

                   agraph (i): 



                            “(ia)   to  inquire   into  the  manner     in which 

                                     children  were  placed  in,  and  the  cir- 

                                     cumstances  in  which  they  continued 

                                     to  be  resident  in,  institutions  during 

                                     the relevant period,”, 



                   and 



            (ii)  by deleting, in subparagraph (ii), “where it is satisfied 

                   that such abuse has occurred,”, 



              and 



       (b)  by substituting the following subsection for subsection (6): 



               “(6)   In  performing  its  functions  the  Commission  shall 

            bear in mind the need of persons who have suffered abuse 

            in  childhood  to  recount  to  others  such  abuse,  their  diffi- 

            culties  in  so  doing  and  the  potential  beneficial  effect  on 

            them  of  so  doing  and,  accordingly,  the  Commission  and 

            the   Confidential    Committee      shall  endeavour      to  ensure 

            that meetings of the Confidential Committee at which evi- 

            dence is being given are conducted— 



                    (a)  so  as  to  afford  to  persons  who  have  suffered 

                          such  abuse  in  institutions  during  the  relevant 

                          period   an  opportunity     to  recount    in  full the 

                          abuse suffered by them in an atmosphere that 

                          is sympathetic to, and understanding of, them, 

                          and 



                   (b)   as   informally     as   is   possible    in   the    cir- 

                          cumstances.”. 



   5.—Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended—                                    Amendment of 

                                                                                    section 5 (reports of 

       (a)  in subsection (3)—                                                      Commission) of 

                                                                                    Principal Act. 



             (i)  by   substituting   the   following    paragraph     for  para- 

                   graph (a): 



                        “(a)  may contain findings that abuse of children, 

                                or  abuse   of  children  during    a  particular 

                               period, occurred in a particular institution 

                                and may identify— 



                               (i)  the  institution   where   the   abuse   took 

                                     place, and 



                              (ii)  the person or, as the case may be, each 

                                     person who committed the abuse but 

                                     only  if  he  or  she  has  been  convicted 

                                     of an offence in respect of abuse,”, 



                                        7 


----------------------- Page 3160-----------------------

Pt.2 S.5             [No. 17.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [2005.] 

                                         Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                                        and 



                                 (ii)  by  substituting    the  following    paragraph     for  para- 

                                        graph (b): 



                                            “(b)   may contain findings in relation to the man- 

                                                    agement, administration, operation, super- 

                                                    vision and regulation, direct or indirect, of 

                                                    an   institution  referred    to  in  paragraph 

                                                    (a),”, 



                                   and 



                            (b)  by substituting the following subsection for subsection (4): 



                                    “(4)  In preparing its report, the Commission shall, in so 

                                 far as any part of the report is based on evidence recorded 

                                 by  the  Confidential  Committee,  have  regard  to  the  fact 

                                 that  that  evidence  received  by  that  Committee  could  not 

                                 be  tested  or  challenged  by  any  person  and  (if  it  be  the 

                                 case) was not corroborated.”. 



Amendment of            6.—Section 11 of the Principal Act is amended— 

section 11 (meetings 

and procedures of           (a)  in subsection (3)— 

Committees) of 

Principal Act. 

                                  (i)  by  substituting    the  following    paragraph     for  para- 

                                        graph (a): 



                                            “(a)   A meeting of the Investigation Committee, 

                                                    or a part of such a meeting, at which evi- 

                                                    dence   relating   to  particular  instances   of 

                                                    alleged   abuse   of  children  is  being   given 

                                                    may, if the Committee considers it appro- 

                                                    priate,  having    had   regard   to  the  desir- 

                                                    ability of holding such meetings otherwise 

                                                    than in public, be held in public.”, 



                                        and 



                                 (ii)  by  inserting  the  following paragraph  after  paragraph 

                                        (b): 



                                            “(c)   A meeting of the Investigation Committee, 

                                                    or a part of such a meeting, at which evi- 

                                                    dence   relating   to  particular  instances   of 

                                                    alleged   abuse   of  children  is  being   given 

                                                    may, if the Committee considers it appro- 

                                                    priate,  be  held   otherwise   than   in  public 

                                                    but  with   such  access   thereto   as  may   be 

                                                    determined     by   the  Committee      by   such 

                                                    persons as are deemed by the Committee 

                                                    to   have    a   sufficient   interest   in   the 

                                                    meeting.”, 



                                   and 



                            (b)  in subsection (6), by substituting the following paragraph 

                                  for paragraph (a): 



                                       “(a)  A Committee may, if and whenever the Chair- 

                                               person  so  determines,  act  in  divisions  each  of 



                                                             8 


----------------------- Page 3161-----------------------

[2005.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                     [No. 17.]                Pt.2 S.6 

                 Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                          which    shall   consist    of   such    member      or 

                          members     of   that  Committee      as  the   Chair- 

                          person may determine.”. 



   7.—Section 12 of the Principal Act is amended, in subsection (1)—               Amendment of 

                                                                                   section 12 

       (a)  by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (a):             (functions of 

                                                                                   Investigation 

                                                                                   Committee) of 

                  “(a)  to  provide,  as  far  as  is  reasonably  practicable,    Principal Act. 

                          for  persons  who  have suffered  abuse  in  child- 

                          hood in institutions during the relevant period, 

                          an opportunity to recount the abuse and other 

                          relevant   experiences     undergone     by   them   in 

                          institutions,”, 



       (b)  by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (a): 



                 “(aa)  to  inquire   into  the  manner     in  which   children 

                          were placed in, and the circumstances in which 

                          they  continued  to  be  resident  in,  institutions 

                          during the relevant period,”, 



             and 



       (c)  by  substituting,  in  paragraph  (d),  the  following  subpara- 

             graph for subparagraph (iii): 



                       “(iii) the  manner     in  which    any   of  the   things 

                               referred    to   in   subparagraph      (ii)  was 

                               done,”. 



   8.—Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended—                                  Amendment of 

                                                                                   section 13 (report 

       (a)  in subsection (2), by substituting the following paragraphs            of Investigation 

                                                                                   Committee) of 

             for paragraphs (a) and (b):                                           Principal Act. 



                  “(a)  may  contain findings  that abuse  of children,  or 

                          abuse  of  children  during  a  particular  period, 

                          occurred    in a  particular   institution   and   may 

                          identify— 



                         (i)  the institution where the abuse took place, 

                               and 



                         (ii) the person or, as the case may be, each per- 

                               son  who  committed  the  abuse  but  only  if 

                               he or she has been convicted of an offence 

                               in respect of abuse, 



                   (b)  may contain findings in relation to the manage- 

                          ment,   administration,     operation,    supervision 

                          and  regulation,  direct  or  indirect,  of  an  insti- 

                          tution referred to in paragraph (a), and”, 



             and 



       (b)  in subsection (4)(b), by inserting, after “interim reports”, 

              “(which  may  specify  the  determinations  standing  made, 

             at the date of the preparation of the interim report con- 

             cerned, by the Committee pursuant to section 12)”. 



                                        9 


----------------------- Page 3162-----------------------

Pt.2                 [No. 17.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [2005.] 

                                         Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



Amendment of            9.—Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended by adding the fol- 

section 14 (powers   lowing subsections after subsection (7): 

of Investigation 

Committee) of 

Principal Act.               “(8)   The chairperson of the Committee may direct in writing 

                           a person whom the Committee considers to be in possession or 

                           control   of  evidence    or  a  document     that  is  required    by  the 

                           Committee— 



                                  (a)  to make an affidavit setting out or exhibiting the evi- 

                                        dence or  document and to  furnish the  affidavit and 

                                        any  exhibits  referred  to  in  it  to  the  Committee  not 

                                        later than such date as may be specified in the direc- 

                                        tion for that purpose, or 



                                  (b)  to give, by notice in writing furnished to the Commit- 

                                        tee not later than 6 days after the date of the direc- 

                                        tion or such later date, notified to the person in writ- 

                                        ing   by   the  chairperson,     as  the   Committee      may 

                                        determine,  the  particulars  specified  in  the  direction 

                                        in relation to the evidence or document. 



                             (9)   The chairperson of the Committee may, in relation to evi- 

                           dence or a document that is required by the Committee— 



                                  (a)  deliver interrogatories in writing, signed by the chair- 

                                        person, to a person whom the Committee considers 

                                        to  be  in  possession  or    control  of  the  evidence  or 

                                        document for the examination of the person, and 



                                  (b)  direct  the   person   in  writing   to  make    an   affidavit 

                                        answering the interrogatories and to furnish it to the 

                                        Committee  not  later  than  the  date  specified  in  the 

                                        direction for that purpose. 



                             (10)   The evidence contained, and, as appropriate, any exhibit 

                           referred to, in a document or affidavit furnished to the Commit- 

                           tee pursuant to subsection (1), (8) or (9) or in a notice furnished 

                           to it pursuant to subsection (8) may be received by the Commit- 

                           tee as prima facie  evidence of the matters to which it relates. 



                             (11)   The chairperson of the Committee may direct in writing 

                           a person whom the Committee considers to be in possession or 

                           control of a document required by the Committee to admit— 



                                  (a)  the document, or 



                                  (b)  the contents of the document, 



                           or both, saving all just exceptions, by notice in writing furnished 

                           to the Committee not later than such date as may be specified 

                           in  the  direction  for  that  purpose,  and,  if  a  person  admits  the 

                           contents of a document pursuant to a direction under this para- 

                           graph, those contents may, in relation to the person, be received 

                           by  the  Committee  as  prima  facie      evidence  of  the  matters  to 

                           which they relate. 



                             (12)   Where a person, without just cause or excuse, does not 

                           comply with a direction under subsection (1), (8), (9) or (11) the 

                           chairperson of the Committee may direct that the whole or part 

                           of the costs, as taxed by a Taxing Master of the High Court, of— 



                                                             10 


----------------------- Page 3163-----------------------

[2005.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                       [No. 17.]               Pt.2 S.9 

                  Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



             (a)  a person appearing before the Committee (including 

                   the   person   to  whom     the  first-mentioned     direction 

                   was given), or 



             (b)  the Committee, 



      in  relation  to  proof  of  the  matters  specified  in  that  direction 

      shall be borne by the person to whom it was given. 



        (13)   Subsection (12) is in addition to, and not in substitution 

      for,  section    20A    (inserted    by   the   Residential     Institutions 

      Redress Act 2002). 



        (14)   Evidence of a conviction of a person of an offence whose 

      ingredients consist of or include abuse of a child in an institution 

      during the relevant period in relation to the Committee shall be 

      received by the Committee as evidence of abuse of the child in 

      the institution during the relevant period aforesaid.”. 



   10.—Section 15 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1)                  Amendment of 

by substituting the following paragraph for paragraph (c):                           section 15 

                                                                                     (functions of 

                                                                                     Confidential 

            “(c)  to make proposals of a general nature with a view to               Committee) of 

                   their being considered by the Commission in decid-                Principal Act. 



                   ing  what  recommendations  to  make  under  section 

                   5(2), and”. 



   11.—Section 16 of the Principal Act is amended—                                   Amendment of 

                                                                                     section 16 (report 

                                                                                     of Confidential 

       (a)   by substituting the following subsection for subsection (1):            Committee) of 

                                                                                     Principal Act. 



               “(1)   Subject  to  subsection  (2),  the  Confidential  Com- 

            mittee (‘the Committee’) shall prepare a report in writing 

             (‘the report’), based on the evidence received by it pursu- 

             ant to subsection (1)(b) of section 15, setting out the pro- 

            posals  made  by  it  pursuant  to  subsection  (1)(c)  of  that 

             section.”, 



              and 



       (b)   in  subsection  (4)  by  substituting  the  following  paragraph 

              for paragraph (a): 



                  “(a)   shall, not more than one year after the establish- 

                          ment    day,  prepare    and   furnish   to  the   Com- 

                          mission    an   interim    report   on   such   matters 

                          relating  to  the  evidence  and  proposals  afore- 

                          said or otherwise relating to its functions as it 

                          may determine, and”. 



   12.—Section 17(1) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting                 Amendment of 

“authorised officer” for “inquiry officer”.                                          section 17 

                                                                                     (privilege) of 

                                                                                     Principal Act. 



                                        11 


----------------------- Page 3164-----------------------

Pt.2                   [No. 17.]          Commission to Inquire Into Child                          [2005.] 

                                            Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



Amendment of              13.—Section 18(2) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting 

section 18             “authorised     officer”   for   “inquiry    officer”   in  each    place   where    it 

(privileges and 

                       occurs. 

immunities for 

witnesses) of 

Principal Act. 



Amendment of              14.—Section  19  of  the  Principal  Act  is  amended  by  substituting 

section 19 (option     the following subsection for subsection (1): 

for certain persons) 

of Principal Act. 

                               “(1)   Notwithstanding  section  14(4),  a  person  who  is  giving, 

                             or is to give, evidence to the Investigation Committee of alleged 

                             abuse suffered by the person in childhood may at any time, with 

                            the consent of that Committee and subject to the rights of others 

                             and the requirements of justice, cease giving, or decline to give, 

                             evidence to that Committee and, if he or she does so, may, with 

                            the consent of the Confidential Committee, give evidence to the 

                             Confidential Committee of the alleged abuse.”. 



Amendment of              15.—Section 21(2) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting 

section 21             “authorised officer” for “inquiry officer”. 

(admissibility of 

certain evidence) of 

Principal Act. 



Amendment of              16.—Section 23 of the Principal Act is amended— 

section 23 (inquiry 

officers) of                  (a)   by substituting the following subsection for subsection (1): 

Principal Act. 



                                       “(1)   The Commission may authorise such and so many 

                                    members  of  its  staff  or  such  and  so  many  consultants  or 

                                    members of their staffs as it may determine (referred to in 

                                    this Act as ‘authorised officers’) to perform the functions 

                                    conferred on authorised officers by this section.”, 



                              (b)   in subsections (2) to (8) by substituting ‘authorised officer’ 

                                     for ‘inquiry officer’, in each place where it occurs, and 



                               (c)  by adding the following subsection after subsection (8): 



                                       “(9)   In addition to the functions specified in the preced- 

                                    ing subsections, an authorised officer shall, for the purpose 

                                    of  assisting   the  Investigation     Committee       and   the   Com- 

                                    mission    in  the  performance       of  their   functions,   perform 

                                    such other functions as the Investigation Committee may 

                                    determine  and  specify  in  writing  for  the  purposes  of  this 

                                    subsection.”. 



Amendment of              17.—Section 25 of the Principal Act is amended— 

section 25 

(directions of High 

Court) of Principal           (a)   in  subsection  (1),  by  deleting  “sitting  otherwise  than  in 

Act.                                 public”, and 



                              (b)   by adding the following subsection after subsection (5): 



                                       “(6)   The High Court shall, if it considers it appropriate 

                                    to  do  so, hear  an  application  under subsection  (1)  other- 

                                    wise than in public.”. 



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   18.—(1)    Notwithstanding anything in the Principal Act, the Com-              Periods in relation 

mission may direct a Committee to perform its functions in relation                to which 

to  a  specified  period  (“a  specified  period”)  that  is  longer  than  the    Confidential 

                                                                                   Committee and 

relevant period and, if it does so—                                                Investigation 



                                                                                   Committee perform 

       (a)  that Committee shall comply with the direction, and                    their functions. 



       (b)  references in the Principal Act, in relation to that Commit- 

              tee,  to  the  relevant  period  shall  be  construed  as  refer- 

              ences to the specified period. 



   (2)  If  the  Commission  gives  a  direction  to  a  Committee  under 

subsection (1), the Commission shall, in performing its functions and 

notwithstanding      anything    contained     in  the   Principal    Act,   take 

account of reports of that Committee in respect of the whole or any 

part of the specified period in relation to that Committee. 



   19.—The     Principal   Act   is  amended     by   inserting   the  following   Judicial review. 

section after section 26: 



        “26A.—(1)      A  person  shall  not  question  in  a  court  or  other 

      tribunal  a  decision  or  determination  of  the  Commission  or  a 

      Committee otherwise than by way of an application to the High 

      Court  for  judicial  review  under  Order  84  of  the  Rules  of  the 

      Superior Courts (S.I. No. 15 of 1986) (‘the Order’). 



        (2)  Subject    to  subsection    (3), an   application    to  the  High 

      Court for leave to apply for judicial review under the Order in 

      respect of such a decision or determination as aforesaid— 



             (a)  shall be made not later than 2 months from the date 

                   of the decision or determination, and 



             (b)  shall be made by motion on notice (grounded in the 

                   manner specified in the Order in respect of a motion 

                   ex parte applying for such leave) to the Commission 

                   or, as the case may be, the Committee that made the 

                   decision or determination, 



      and  such  leave  shall  not  be  granted  unless  the  High  Court  is 

      satisfied  that  there  are  substantial  grounds  for  contending  that 

      the decision or determination is invalid or ought to be quashed. 



        (3)  The High Court may extend the period specified in sub- 

     section (2) if it considers that there is good and sufficient reason 

      for doing so. 



        (4)  (a)  The decision of the High Court on an application for 

                   leave  to  apply  for  judicial  review,  or  on  an  appli- 

                   cation for judicial review, of such a decision or deter- 

                   mination  as  aforesaid  shall  be  final  and  no  appeal 

                   shall lie from the decision to the Supreme Court in 

                   either case except with the leave of the High Court, 

                   which leave shall be granted only where that Court 

                   certifies  that  its  decision  involves  a  point  of  law  of 

                   exceptional public importance and that it is desirable 

                   in the public interest that an appeal should be taken 

                   to the Supreme Court. 



             (b)  Paragraph (a) shall not apply to a decision of the High 

                   Court  in  so  far  as  it  involves  a  question  as  to  the 



                                        13 


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                                          Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                                         validity of any law having regard to the provisions of 

                                         the Constitution. 



                              (5)  References in this section to the Order shall be construed 

                           as  including  references  to  the  Order  as  amended  or  replaced 

                           (with or without modification) by rules of court.”. 



Amendment of            20.—Section 31(1) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting 

section 31            “authorised officer” for “inquiry officer”. 

(provisions in 

relation to 

discovery) of 

Principal Act. 



Transitional.           21.—(1)     Nothing  in  this  Part  shall  affect  the  operation  after  the 

                      passing   of  this Act   of  a  direction   given   under    the  Principal   Act 

                      before  such  passing  (including  a  direction  given  before  the  resig- 

                      nation on 12 December 2003 from the office of Chairperson of the 

                      person  who  held  that  office  before  that  day)  and  such  a  direction 

                      shall continue to have full force and effect after such passing. 



                         (2)  As respects— 



                             (a)  evidence (whether in documentary or any other form) or 

                                    a submission or statement given or made to or produced 

                                   before the Commission or a Committee before the pass- 

                                   ing  of  this  Act  (whether  before  or  after  the  resignation 

                                   referred to in subsection (1)), or 



                             (b)  evidence  given  to  or  produced  before  the  Investigation 

                                    Committee after such passing pursuant to discovery made 

                                   before such passing, 



                      the  Commission  or  the  Committee,  as  the  case  may  be,  may,  for 

                      the purpose of the performance of its functions, take account of the 

                      evidence, submission or statement to the extent (if any) that it would 

                      have taken account of it, and attach to it the weight (if any) that it 

                      would  have  attached  to  it,  if  it  had  been  given,  made  or  produced 

                      after such passing or (in the case of evidence referred to inparagraph 

                      (b)) if the discovery had been made after such passing. 



                                                          PART 3 



                          Education (Former Residents of Certain Institutions for 

                                               Children) Finance Board 



Interpretation          22.—In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires— 

(Part 3). 

                      “Act of 2002” means the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002; 



                      “Board”  means  the  Education  (Former  Residents  of  Certain  Insti- 

                      tutions for Children) Finance Board; 



                      “childhood” in relation to a person, means the period of the person’s 

                      life before he or she attained the age of 18 years; 



                      “establishment day” means the day appointed by the Minister under 

                      section 23; 



                      “grant” shall, other than in section 26(7), be construed in accordance 

                      with section 27(1); 



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                  Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



“institution” means an institution that is specified in the Schedule to 

the Act of 2002; 



“Minister” means the Minister for Education and Science; 



“relative”  means  the  spouse,  son,  daughter,  grandson,  granddaugh- 

ter, stepson or stepdaughter of a former resident of an institution. 



   23.—The  Minister  shall  not  later  than  one  year  from  the  date  of       Establishment day. 

the passing of this Act by order appoint a day to be the establishment 

day for the purposes of this Part. 



   24.—(1)    There shall stand established on the establishment day a              Establishment of 

body which shall be known as An Bord Airgeadais Oideachais (Iar-                    Education (Former 

    ´           ´                     ´                   ´                         Residents of 

Chonaitheoiri  de chuid Foras Airithe do Leanai) or, in the English                 Certain Institutions 

language,  the  Education  (Former  Residents  of  Certain  Institutions            for Children) 

for  Children)  Finance  Board  and  is  referred  to  in  this  Act  as  “the      Finance Board. 

Board”,  to  perform  the  functions  conferred  on  it  by  or  under  this 

Act. 



   (2)  The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession 

and a seal and shall have power to sue and may be sued in its corpor- 

ate  name  and  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Minister  for  Finance, 

acquire,  hold  and  dispose  of  land  or  an  interest  in  land  and  may 

acquire, hold and dispose of any other property. 



   (3)  The Schedule to this Act applies to the Board. 



   (4)  The Board and its members shall be independent in the per- 

formance of their functions. 



   (5)  When     the  Minister    is satisfied,  after  consultation    with   the 

chairperson of the Board, that the Board has completed the perform- 

ance of its functions, the Minister may by order dissolve the Board 

and may, subject to the provisions of this Part, include in the order 

such incidental, ancillary or consequential provisions as the Minister 

considers necessary or expedient. 



   (6)  Where an order under subsection (5) is proposed to be made, 

a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas 

and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the 

draft has been passed by each such House. 



   25.—(1)    The principal functions of the Board are—                             Principal functions 

                                                                                    of Board. 



       (a)  to pay grants in accordance with the provisions of this Part 

              to former residents in institutions and their relatives, 



       (b)  to determine and publish the criteria by reference to which 

              it  will  make  decisions  on  applications  to  it  for  the  pay- 

              ment of such grants, and 



        (c) to make available to the persons aforesaid information in 

              relation  to  the  educational  services  in  respect  of  which 

              such grants are payable. 



   (2)  The   Board    shall  have   all such   powers    as  are  necessary    or 

expedient for the purposes of its functions. 



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Pt.3                 [No. 17.]        Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [2005.] 

                                        Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



Management of          26.—(1)     The  Minister  for  Finance  shall  pay  to  the  Agency  the 

moneys relating to   appropriate amount. 

Board. 



                        (2)  In  subsection  (1)  “appropriate  amount”  means  the  amount 

                     obtained by adding— 



                            (a)  the first relevant amount, 



                            (b)  the second relevant amount, and 



                            (c)  the third relevant amount, 



                     and subtracting from that total the fourth relevant amount. 



                        (3)  The   Agency     shall  establish    an  investment     account    (the 

                     “account”)  into  which  the  amount  paid  to  it  under  subsection  (1) 

                     shall be deposited. 



                        (4)  Moneys in the account that are not required for the purposes 

                     of subsection (6) shall be invested and the investments shall, with the 

                     consent of the Minister for Finance, be realised or varied as occasion 

                     requires and the proceeds of any such realisation, and any dividends 

                     or other payments received in respect of moneys invested under this 

                     subsection,   shall  be  paid  into  the  account    or  invested  under    this 

                     subsection. 



                        (5)  The  investment  under subsection  (4)  shall  be  in  securities  in 

                     which trustees are for the time being authorised by law to invest trust 

                     funds or in any of the stocks, funds or securities in which moneys of 

                     the  Post  Office  Savings  Bank  are  for  the  time  being  authorised  to 

                     be invested. 



                        (6)  The Agency may, in each financial year of the Board, pay to 

                     the Board out of  the account a grant of such  amount as the Board 

                     specifies  in  relation  to  that  year  towards    the  expenditure    of  the 

                     Board in the performance of its functions. 



                        (7)  In this section— 



                     “Agency” means the National Treasury Management Agency; 



                     “first relevant amount” means \12,700,000, being the amount that is 

                     equal  to  the  amount  secondly-mentioned  in  Clause  7(i)  of  the  rel- 

                     evant  deed  and  paid  to  the  Minister  for  Finance,  pursuant  to  that 

                     deed, by the persons listed in the First Schedule to that deed; 



                     “fourth  relevant  amount”  means  the  amount  that  is  equal  to  the 

                     aggregate  of  any  sums  that  have  been  paid  by  the  Minister  before 

                     the  passing  of  this  Act  as  grants  to  former  residents  in  institutions 

                     and the relatives of such persons to assist those persons or relatives 

                     to avail of educational services; 



                     “relevant deed” means the deed made on 5 June 2002 between the 

                     Minister for Finance and the Minister of the one part and the persons 

                     listed in the First Schedule to that deed of the other part; 



                     “second relevant amount” means \240,000, being the amount that is 

                     equal  to  the  aggregate  of  the  interest  on  the  first  relevant  amount 

                     that has been earned since the making of the payment to the Minister 

                     for  Finance  referred  to  in  the  definition  of  “first  relevant  amount” 

                     in this subsection; 



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                  Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



“third relevant amount” means \510,000, being the amount which is 

deemed     by   the  Minister    for  Finance    to  have   arisen   by   way   of 

accretion    to  the   first relevant   amount     and   the   second    relevant 

amount  and  which  is  to  be  paid  out  of  moneys  provided  by  the 

Oireachtas. 



   27.—(1)    The  Board  may,  on application  to  it  and  subject  to this       Educational grants 

Part, pay a grant (a “grant”) to or in respect of a person who was a                to former residents 

                                                                                    of institutions and 

resident in an institution during any part of his or her childhood or               their relatives. 

a relative of such a person to assist the person or the relative to avail 

of such educational services as the Board may determine. 



   (2)  A  grant  shall  be  of  such  amount,  be  in  respect  of  such  edu- 

cational service, be paid at such time or times, and be subject to such 

conditions, as the Board may determine and communicate in writing 

to the person who made the application in respect of it. 



   (3)  The Board shall determine the criteria by reference to which 

it will make decisions under this section as to the payment of grants 

under it and the Board shall make any such decision by reference to 

those criteria accordingly. 



   (4)  Criteria determined under subsection (3)  shall be recorded in 

writing and published by the Board in such manner as it thinks fit. 



   28.—(1)    The procedures to be followed with respect to—                        Application for 

                                                                                    grants and 

                                                                                    consequential 

       (a)   the making of an application under section 27(1),                      matters. 



       (b)   the consideration by the Board of such an application, and 



        (c)  the making of a communication by the Board to the appli- 

              cant, or by the applicant to  the Board, for the purposes 

              of the application or any matter consequent on it, 



shall be determined by the Board and be made available in writing, 

free of charge, by it to any person on request therefor. 



   (2)  Without  limiting  the  generality  of subsection  (1),  procedures 

under  that  subsection  may  include  provision  for  the  making  of  a 

request by the Board of the applicant to supply to it such information 

or documents  as the Board may  determine for the  purpose of con- 

sidering the applicant’s application and enabling the Board to refuse 

to consider further the application if the request is not complied with. 



   (3)  A grant paid to or in respect of a person shall be used solely 

to  defray  or  contribute  to  the  defrayal  of  the  cost  to  the  person  of 

availing of the educational service specified by the Board in its com- 

munication, under section 27(2), to the person who made the appli- 

cation  in  respect  of  it  unless  the  Board  authorises  it  or  a  specified 

part of it to be used for such defrayal or contribution as aforesaid in 

respect of another specified educational service. 



   (4)  Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  the  Ombudsman  Act 

1980,  that  Act  shall  apply  to  a  decision  of  the  Board  under section 

27(1) with the following and any other necessary modifications as if 

it were an action taken by a Department of State— 



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                                        Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                            (a)  in section 4, in subsection (2), the words from and includ- 

                                  ing “(being an action taken in the performance of admin- 

                                  istrative  functions)”  to  the  end  of  the  subsection  shall 

                                  be deleted, 



                            (b)  in  section  5,  in  subsection  (1)(a),  subparagraph  (iii)  shall 

                                  be deleted, and 



                            (c)  in  section  6, the  following  subsection  shall be  substituted 

                                  for subsection (3): 



                                   “(3)  Where,  following  an  investigation  under  this  Act 

                                into  an   action,  it appears   to  the  Ombudsman       that  the 

                                 action adversely affected a person by whom or on whose 

                                behalf  an  application  was  made  under  section  27       of  the 

                                 Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Act 

                                2005 and the Ombudsman considers that in all the circum- 

                                 stances he should do so, he may recommend to the Edu- 

                                cation    (Former    Residents    of   Certain   Institutions   for 

                                 Children) Finance Board— 



                                        (a) that  its  decision  on  foot  of  that  application  be 

                                              further considered, 



                                       (b)  that measures or specified measures be taken to 

                                              remedy, mitigate or alter the adverse effect of 

                                              the action, or 



                                        (c) that  the  reasons  for  taking  the  action  be  given 

                                              to the Ombudsman, 



                                 and, if the Ombudsman thinks fit to do so, he may request 

                                that  Board  to    notify  him  within  a   specified  time  of  its 

                                response to the recommendation.”. 



Membership of          29.—(1)    The Board shall consist of a chairperson and 8 ordinary 

Board.               members who shall be appointed by the Minister. 



                       (2)  Four  of  the  members  shall  be  persons  who  are  each  former 

                     residents of one or more of the institutions. 



                       (3)  The  members  may  be  paid  by  the  Minister  such  allowances 

                     for  expenses  as  the  Minister,  with  the  consent  of  the  Minister  for 

                     Finance, may determine. 



Employees.             30.—(1)    The Board shall have such and so many employees as it 

                     may  determine  with  the  consent  of  the  Minister  and  the  Minister 

                     for Finance. 



                       (2)  The employees of the Board shall be paid by it such remuner- 

                     ation (including superannuation) and allowances for expenses as the 

                     Board  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Minister  and  the  Minister  for 

                     Finance, determine. 



                       (3)  Employees of the Board shall be subject to such other terms 

                     and  conditions  of  employment  as  the  Board  may,  with  the  consent 

                     of the Minister and the Minister for Finance determine. 



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[2005.]        Commission to Inquire Into Child                    [No. 17.]                  Pt.3 

                 Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



   31.—(1)    The Board shall keep in such form as may be approved              Accounts and 

by  the  Minister,  with  the  consent  of  the  Minister  for  Finance,  all   audits. 

proper   and   usual   accounts   and   records   of  moneys     received   or 

expended by it. 



   (2)  Accounts kept in pursuance of this section shall be submitted 

not  later  than  3  months  after  the  end  of  the  accounting  period  to 

which they relate by the Board to the Comptroller and Auditor Gen- 

eral  for  audit  and,  immediately  after  the  audit,  a  copy  of  such  of 

the accounts as the Minister directs, together with the report of the 

Comptroller and Auditor General thereon, shall be presented by the 

Board to the Minister. 



   (3)  The Minister shall cause copies of the accounts and the report 

presented to him or her under subsection (2) to be laid before each 

House  of  the  Oireachtas  not  later  than  3  months  after  his  or  her 

receipt of them. 



   32.—(1)    The  Board  shall  not  later  than  31  March  in  each  year    Annual report and 

prepare and publish, in such form and manner as it considers appro-             information. 

priate,  a  report  of  its  activities  and  proceedings  during  the  preced- 

ing year. 



   (2)  If the establishment day falls in the period from 1 October to 

the following 31 December, the first report under subsection (1) shall 

be prepared and published not later than the 31 March in the second 

year  following  that  in  which  the  establishment  day  falls  and  shall 

relate to that year and the following year. 



   (3)  The Board shall furnish a copy of a report under this section 

to the Minister and he or she shall cause a copy of it to be laid before 

each House of the Oireachtas. 



   (4)  The  Board  shall  provide  the  Minister  with  such  information 

(if any) as he or she may request in relation to the performance of its 

functions and may provide such other (if any) persons as it considers 

appropriate with such (if any) information as it considers appropriate 

in  relation  to  applications  under  section  27(1)   and  its  decisions  in 

relation to them and the reasons for the decisions. 



   (5)  No  information  shall  be  provided  under  subsection  (4)  that 

could reasonably lead to the disclosure of the identity of any appli- 

cant for a grant under section 27(1) or any payee of such a grant. 



   33.—(1)    Where    the  Minister   is of opinion    that the  Board    has  Removal of 

failed,  neglected  or  refused  to  perform  any  of  its  functions  or  has  members of Board 

failed  to  perform  effectively  any  of  its  functions  or  otherwise  has   from office. 

contravened this Act, the Minister may, after first advising the Board 

of  his  or  her  opinion   and   considering   any   explanation    given  in 

response, appoint a person to inquire into any matter giving rise to 

that opinion. 



   (2)  A person appointed under subsection (1) shall— 



       (a)  inquire   into  the  matters    giving  rise  to  the  Minister’s 

             opinion  and  any  related  matter  and  make  and  submit  a 

             report  in  writing  to  the  Minister  on  the  findings  of  the 

             inquiry. 



       (b)  for the purposes of this section, be entitled at all reason- 

             able times to enter the premises of the Board to inquire 



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Pt.3 S.33            [No. 17.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [2005.] 

                                         Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                                   into the affairs of the Board or to conduct an inspection 

                                   of the premises, equipment and records where the inspec- 

                                   tion is, in his or her opinion, relevant to the inquiry. 



                             (c) be afforded all reasonable co-operation and assistance by 

                                   the  Board  and  its  employees,  including  access  to  such 

                                   premises,    equipment     and   records   as   the  person    may 

                                   require,  for  the  purposes  of  his  or  her  functions  under 

                                   this section. 



                        (3)  Where  the  Minister,  after  considering  the  report  referred  to 

                     in  subsection  (2)(a),  remains  of  opinion  that  the  Board  has  failed, 

                     neglected or refused to perform any of its functions or has failed to 

                     perform effectively any of its functions or otherwise has contravened 

                     this  Act,  the  Minister  shall,  by  notice  in  writing,  inform  the  chair- 

                     person    of the   Board    and  shall  give  a  copy   of  the  report   to  the 

                     chairperson. 



                        (4)  The    Board    may   make    representations     to   the  Minister    in 

                     respect  of  the  report  within  14  days  after  the  date  of  its  receipt  of 

                     the report. 



                        (5)  After the end of the period referred to in subsection (4)  and 

                     after considering the representations, if any, of the Board in respect 

                     of the report, the Minister may by order remove the members of the 

                     Board from office and terminate their membership if— 



                            (a)  the Minister remains of opinion that the Board has failed, 

                                   neglected  or  refused  to  perform  any  of  its  functions  or 

                                   has  failed  to  perform  effectively  any  of  its  functions  or 

                                   otherwise has contravened this Act, and 



                            (b)  the Minister is of opinion that the members of the Board 

                                   should be removed from office. 



                        (6)  Where  an  order  is  made  under  subsection  (5),  the  Minister 

                     shall appoint such person as he or she thinks fit to perform the func- 

                     tions  of  the  Board  and  that  person  shall  perform  those  functions 

                     until the commencement of the first meeting of the Board after the 

                     appointment of its members under subsection (8). 



                        (7)  Where an order is proposed to be made under subsection (5), 

                     a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas 

                     and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the 

                     draft has been passed by each such House. 



                        (8)  The Minister shall, within 12 months from the removal of the 

                     members  of  the  Board,  appoint,  in  replacement  of  those  members, 

                     members       of    the    Board      in   accordance      with     section     29 

                     and the Schedule to this Act. 



                        (9)  The remuneration, if any, of a person appointed under subsec- 

                     tion (1) or of a person appointed under subsection (6) shall be deter- 

                     mined by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance 

                     and be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. 



                                                             20 


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[2005.]         Commission to Inquire Into Child                      [No. 17.] 

                 Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                                    PART 4 



                               Miscellaneous 



   34.—The Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 is amended—                    Amendment of 

                                                                                    Residential 

                                                                                    Institutions Redress 

       (a)  in section 7, by deleting, in subsection (6), “who makes an             Act 2002. 

              application under this Act and”, 



       (b)  in  section  9,  by  inserting  the  following  subsection  after 

              subsection (2): 



               “(2A)    Where  an  award  is  made  by  the  Board  or  the 

            Review Committee but the applicant dies before deciding 

            whether to accept or reject it or (in case the award is made 

            by the Board) submit it to the Review Committee— 



                   (a)   if the applicant is survived by a spouse or a child 

                          of  his  or  hers,  he  or  she  or  (if  there  is  more 

                          than one of them) such one of them as is deter- 

                          mined    by  the   Board    may   proceed     with  the 

                          matter as if he or she were the applicant, and 



                   (b)   if  the  applicant  is  survived  by  neither  a  spouse 

                          nor a child of his or hers, the applicant shall be 

                          deemed, for  the purposes of  this Act,  to have 

                          accepted the award, and the Board shall direct 

                          that it be paid  to the personal representatives 

                          of  the  applicant  and  that  they  shall  treat  it  as 

                          if it has been paid to the applicant immediately 

                          prior to his or her death.”, 



       (c)  in section 10— 



             (i)  in  subsection  (11),  by  substituting  “The  Board  may” 

                   for “The Board shall”, 



            (ii)  in subsection (13), by substituting “may appear in per- 

                   son  and  may  be  represented  by  counsel”  for  “shall 

                   appear  in  person  and  may  be  represented  by  coun- 

                   sel”, and 



            (iii) in subsection (15), by substituting “may” for “shall”, 



       (d)  in section 11— 



             (i)  in subsection (1), by inserting “, if so requested by the 

                   Board,” before “prepare a report”, and 



            (ii)  by  substituting  the  following  subsection  for  subsec- 

                   tion (3): 



                  “(3)   (a)  The  Board  may  establish  a  committee,  to 

                               regulate,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this 

                               Act,  by  standing  orders  or  otherwise,  the 

                               procedure and business of the Board. 



                         (b)  The   members      of  the  committee     shall  be 

                               appointed  by  the  Board  and  shall  consist 

                               of   the    chairman     and    three    ordinary 

                               members of the Board.”, 



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                            (e)  in section 13— 



                                  (i) in  subsection  (1),  by  substituting  the  following  para- 

                                       graph for paragraph (c): 



                                            “(c)  any   relevant   report  under    section  10(12) 

                                                   or 11(11),”, 



                                 (ii) by inserting the following subsection after subsection 

                                        (4): 



                                         “(4A)   Where an applicant submits an award made 

                                      to him or her by the Board to the Review Committee 

                                      pursuant to subsection (4)(b), he or she may, not later 

                                      than two weeks from the date of the submission, with- 

                                      draw the award from the Review Committee by noti- 

                                      fying it  of his or  her intention to do  so and, if  he or 

                                      she withdraws the award as aforesaid, he or she shall 

                                      be  deemed,     for  the  purposes    of this  Act,  to  have 

                                      accepted it.”, 



                                (iii) in subsection (8), by inserting after “Review Commit- 

                                       tee”, “, within one month from the date on which it 

                                       was given,” and 



                                (iv)  by adding the following subsections: 



                                         “(14)   Where the Board directs— 



                                             (a)  under paragraph (a) of subsection (8), that 

                                                    an  award  shall   be  paid  to  the  applicant 

                                                   concerned in instalments, or 



                                             (b)  under paragraph (b) of that subsection, that 

                                                    an  award  shall   be  paid  to  the  applicant 

                                                   concerned in instalments or that it shall be 

                                                   so paid in another manner (otherwise than 

                                                   in  a  single  payment)  that  is  appropriate 

                                                   having regard to the circumstances of the 

                                                    applicant and— 



                                                   (i)  the  applicant    does   not   submit    the 

                                                         direction  to  the  Review  Committee, 

                                                         in accordance with subsection (8), for 

                                                         a review of the direction, or 



                                                  (ii)  under section 15(12), the Review Com- 

                                                         mittee    upholds     the   direction    or 

                                                         directs the award be paid to the appli- 

                                                         cant  concerned     otherwise   than   in a 

                                                         single payment, 



                                      the High Court may, on application to it in that behalf 

                                      in  a  summary  manner  by  the  Board,  order  that  the 

                                      amount of the award or (if part of the amount of the 

                                      award  has  been  paid  to  the  applicant)  the  amount 

                                      thereof  then  remaining  be  paid  into  the  High  Court 

                                      and  dealt  with  by  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  applicant 

                                      in  accordance  with  the  direction  of  the  Board  or,  if 

                                      appropriate,  the  Review  Committee  and  with  rules 

                                      of court. 



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                    (15)   Where funds are held in the High Court pur- 

                 suant  to  subsection  (14),  that  Court  may,  on  appli- 

                 cation to it in that behalf in a summary manner by the 

                 applicant  concerned,  by  order  vary  the  terms  upon 

                 which  the  funds  are  held  in,  or  dealt  with  by,  that 

                 Court, if it considers it appropriate, having regard to 

                 the circumstances of the applicant at the time of the 

                 application, to do so.”, 



       (f)  in  section  14,  by  inserting,  in  subsection  (13),  after  “it”, 

             “and  any  such  division  shall  consist  of  at  least  a  person 

             to act as chairperson of the division (and that person may 

             be    a   person    other    than    the   Review      Committee 

             Chairperson)      and   one   other   member     of   the  Review 

             Committee”, 



       (g)  in section 21, by substituting “applicant” for “claimant”, 



       (h)  in  section  28,  by  inserting  the  following  subsections  after 

             subsection (5): 



               “(5A)   Nothing  in  subsection  (1)  operates  to  prohibit 

            the  production  of  a  document  prepared  for  the  purposes 

            or  in  contemplation  of  an  application  to  the  Board  or  a 

            submission    for  a  review   by   the  Review    Committee,     or 

            given in evidence in such application or review, to— 



                   (a)  a  body  or  other  person  when  it,  or  he  or  she, 

                         is  performing  functions  under  any  enactment 

                         consisting    of  the   conducting     of  a  hearing, 

                         inquiry    or   investigation    in  relation   to,  or 

                          adjudicating on, any matter, or 



                   (b)  such body or other person as may be prescribed 

                         by order made by the Minister, when the body 

                          or person    concerned    is  performing    functions 

                         consisting    of  the   conducting     of  a  hearing, 

                         inquiry    or   investigation    in  relation   to,  or 

                          adjudicating    on,  any   matter    as  may    be  so 

                         prescribed. 



               (5B)   Nothing in subsection (1) operates to prohibit the 

            giving of information or evidence provided or given to the 

            Board or the Review Committee to— 



                   (a)  a  body  or  other  person  when  it,  or  he  or  she, 

                         is  performing  functions  under  any  enactment 

                         consisting    of  the   conducting     of  a  hearing, 

                         inquiry    or   investigation    in  relation   to,  or 

                          adjudicating on, any matter, or 



                   (b)  such body or other person as may be prescribed 

                         by order made by the Minister, when the body 

                          or person    concerned    is  performing    functions 

                         consisting    of  the   conducting     of  a  hearing, 

                         inquiry    or   investigation    in  relation   to,  or 

                          adjudicating    on,  any   matter    as  may    be  so 

                         prescribed.”, 



        (i) in  section  34,  by  substituting  “section  7(6)  or  28(9)”  for 

             “sections 7(6) and 28(9)”, and 



        (j) in the Schedule— 



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                                       Abuse (Amendment) Act 2005. 



                                 (i) by substituting “Glensilva, 95 Monkstown Road, Dun 

                                       Laoghaire,  Co.  Dublin”  for  “Our  Boy’s  Home,  95 

                                       Monkstown Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin”, 



                                (ii)  by deleting— 



                                      (I)  “St.  Mary’s    Orthopaedic      Hospital,   Baldoyle, 

                                            Dublin 13”, where those words firstly occur, 



                                     (II)  “St.  Mary’s    Orthopaedic      Hospital,   Cappagh, 

                                            Dublin 11”, 



                                    (III)  “St.  Clare’s  Orphanage,  Harold’s  Cross,  Dublin 

                                            6”, where those words secondly occur, 



                                    (IV)   “St.  Joseph’s    Orphanage,     Tivoli   Road,    Dun 

                                            Laoghaire”, where those words secondly occur, 

                                            and 



                                     (V)   “St.  Joseph’s   School   for   the  Visually   Handi- 

                                            capped, Drumcondra, Dublin 9”. 



Regulations and        35.—(1)    The  Minister  may  make  regulations  for  the  purpose  of 

orders.             giving full effect to the provisions of this Act. 



                       (2)  An  order  or  regulation  under  this  Act  (other  than  an  order 

                    under  section  23, 24  or 33)  shall  be  laid  before  each  House  of  the 

                    Oireachtas  as  soon  as  may  be  after  it  is  made  and,  if  a  resolution 

                    annulling  the  order  or  regulation  is  passed  by  either  such  House 

                    within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order or 

                    regulation is laid before it, the order or regulation shall be annulled 

                    accordingly,  but  without  prejudice  to  the  validity  of  anything  pre- 

                    viously done thereunder. 



                       (3)  The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under 

                    this Act (other than an order under section 23 but including an order 

                    under this section). 



                       (4)  An order under subsection (3) shall be made in the like man- 

                    ner and its making shall be subject to the like (if any) consents and 

                    conditions as the order that it is amending or revoking. 



                       (5)  The  Government  has,  and  shall  be  deemed  always  to  have 

                    had, power to amend or revoke, by order, an order under paragraph 

                     (b)  of  section  5(5)  of  the  Principal  Act  and  the  provisions  of  that 

                    section 5(5) as to the manner in which, and the conditions subject to 

                    which, an order under that paragraph (b) may be made shall apply, 

                    and  be  deemed  always  to  have  applied,  to  an  order  amending  or 

                    revoking such an order. 



Section 24.                                         SCHEDULE 



                                      Membership and Meetings of Board 



                       1.  In  this  Schedule,    unless    the  context    otherwise    requires, 

                    “member” means a member of the Board. 



                       2.  (1) Upon its establishment the Board shall provide itself with 

                    and retain in its possession a seal. 



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[2005.]        Commission to Inquire Into Child                  [No. 17.]                  Sch. 

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   (2)  The seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature 

of— 



       (a)  the chairperson of the Board or another member author- 

             ised by the Board in that behalf, and 



       (b)  an  employee    of the  Board    authorised   by  the  Board   in 

             that behalf. 



   (3)  Judicial  notice  shall  be  taken  of  the  seal  of  the  Board  and 

every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Board 

and to be sealed with the seal of the Board (purporting to be auth- 

enticated in accordance with subparagraph (2)) shall be received in 

evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof 

unless the contrary is shown. 



   3. (1)  The Minister may at any time, for stated reasons, remove 

a member from office. 



   (2)  A  member     (other  than   the  chairperson)   may   at  any  time 

resign  from  office  as  a  member  by  notice  in  writing  to  the  chair- 

person and the resignation shall take effect on the date of the meet- 

ing  of  the  Board  next  held  after  the  receipt  by  the  Board  of  the 

notice. 



   (3)  The  chairperson    may   at  any  time  resign   from  office  as  a 

member by notice in writing to the Minister and the resignation shall 

take effect on the date of the meeting of the Board next held after 

the receipt by the Minister of the notice. 



   (4)  A member who is absent from all meetings of the Board for 

12 consecutive months shall, unless the absence was due to illness or 

was approved of by the Board, cease to be a member at the expir- 

ation of that period. 



   (5)  Subject to this Schedule, a member shall hold office for a term 

of such duration, not exceeding 4 years, as the Minister may deter- 

mine at the time of his or her appointment. 



   (6)  A member shall not hold office as a member for more than 2 

terms of office that are consecutive. 



   (7)  Where    a casual   vacancy   occurs   among    the  members,     the 

Board shall notify the Minister and he or she shall appoint a person 

to fill the vacancy. A person so appointed shall, subject to this Sched- 

ule, hold office as a member for the remainder of the term of office 

of  the  member    whose  death,    resignation,  removal   from   office  or 

otherwise ceasing to hold office occasioned the vacancy. 



   (8)  If the person who occasioned the vacancy among the members 

had  been  appointed  to  the  Board  for  the  purposes  of section  29(2) 

being  complied  with,  the  person  who  is  appointed  under  subpara- 

graph   (7)  to  fill the vacancy    shall  be  a  former   resident  of  an 

institution. 



   4. (1)  There shall be a deputy chairperson of the Board. 



   (2)  The  Board    shall, from  time   to time,  elect  from   among    its 

members a person to be appointed by it to be deputy chairperson of 

the Board (“deputy chairperson”). 



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                        (3)  Subject   to  this Schedule    the  deputy   chairperson  shall    hold 

                     office for such term as may be determined by the Board at the time 

                     of his or her appointment. 



                        (4)  The Board may, by a resolution passed by it, of which not less 

                     than  7  days  prior  notice  of  the  intention  to  propose  it  is  given  to 

                     each member and for which not less than two thirds of the members 

                     vote, remove the person who is deputy chairperson from that office. 



                        (5)  The  person  who  holds  the  office  of  deputy  chairperson  may 

                     at any time resign from the office by notice in writing to the Board 

                     and  the  resignation  shall  take  effect  on  the  date  of  the  meeting  of 

                     the Board next held after the receipt by the Board of the notice. 



                        (6)  Where, at an election for the appointment of a deputy chair- 

                     person, 2 or more persons receive an equal number of votes, it shall 

                     be determined by lot by the chairperson which of those persons shall 

                     be appointed by the Board to be deputy chairperson. 



                       5.  (1)  The Minister shall fix the date, time and place of the first 

                     meeting of the Board. 



                        (2)  The Board shall hold at least 2 meetings in each year at such 

                     times as the chairperson may determine and such and so many other 

                     meetings as the chairperson may determine. 



                        (3)  The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be 4. 



                        (4)  At least 3  days before a meeting  of the Board, notice  of the 

                     time and place of the meeting shall be sent to each member of the 

                     Board signed— 



                            (a)  by the chairperson, or 



                            (b)  if the meeting is convened by members, by those members. 



                        (5)  If the meeting is convened by members, the notice convening 

                     the meeting shall specify the business to be transacted at the meeting. 



                        (6)  At a meeting of the Board— 



                            (a)  the chairperson shall, if present, be the chairperson of the 

                                  meeting, or 



                            (b)  if  and so  long as  the  chairperson is  not present,  or  if the 

                                  office  of  chairperson  is  vacant,  the  deputy  chairperson 

                                  shall, if present, be the chairperson of the meeting, or 



                            (c)  if and so long as the chairperson is not present or the office 

                                  of  chairperson  is  vacant,  and  the  deputy  chairperson  is 

                                  not present or the office of deputy chairperson is vacant, 

                                  the  members  who  are  present  shall  choose  one  of  their 

                                  number to be the chairperson of that meeting. 



                       6.  (1)  Minutes of the proceedings of meetings of the Board shall 

                     be drawn up and entered in a book kept for that purpose and such 

                     minutes  shall  be  signed  by  the  chairperson  of  the  next  subsequent 

                     meeting of the Board. 



                        (2)  The names of the members present at a meeting of the Board 

                     shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting. 



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   (3)  Subject toparagraph 4(4) , at a meeting of the Board every act 

of the  Board and every question  coming before the  Board shall be 

determined by  a majority of the  votes of the  members present and 

voting in relation to the act or question and, in the case of an equal 

division of votes, the chairperson of that meeting shall have a second 

or casting vote. 



   7. Subject to paragraph 5(3) , the Board may act notwithstanding 

one or more than one vacancy among its members or any deficiency 

in  the  appointment      of  a  member     which    may   subsequently     be 

discovered. 



   8. (1)  Where    at  a meeting    of the  Board    any  of  the  following 

matters arise, namely— 



       (a)  an  arrangement  to  which  the  Board  is  a  party  or  a  pro- 

             posed such arrangement, or 



       (b)  a  contract  or  other  agreement  with  the  Board  or  a  pro- 

             posed such contract or other agreement, 



             then, any such member of the Board present at the meet- 

             ing  who  otherwise  than  in  his  or  her  capacity  as  such  a 

             member has an interest in the matter shall— 



             (i) at the meeting disclose to the Board the fact of such 

                  interest and the nature thereof, 



            (ii) neither  influence  nor  seek  to  influence  a  decision  to 

                  be made in relation to the matter, 



           (iii) absent himself or herself from the meeting or that part 

                  of the meeting during which the matter is discussed, 



            (iv) take no part in any deliberation of the Board relating 

                  to the matter, and 



            (v)  not vote on a decision relating to the matter. 



   (2)  Where an interest is disclosed pursuant to this paragraph, the 

disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting concerned 

and, for so long as the matter to which the disclosure relates is being 

dealt  with  by  the  meeting,  the  member  by  whom  the  disclosure  is 

made shall not be counted in the quorum for the meeting. 



   (3)  Where    at a  meeting    of the  Board    a  question   arises  as to 

whether or not a course of conduct, if pursued by a member of the 

Board, would constitute a failure by him or her to comply with the 

requirements of subparagraph (1), the question may be determined 

by the chairperson of the meeting, whose decision shall be final, and 

where such a question is so determined, particulars of the determi- 

nation shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. 



   (4)  Where  the  Minister  is  satisfied  that  a  member  of  the  Board 

has  contravened  subparagraph  (1),  the  Minister  may,  if  he  or  she 

thinks fit, remove that member from office and, in case a person is 

removed from office pursuant to this subparagraph, he or she shall 

thenceforth be disqualified for membership of the Board. 



   9. (1)  Where a member of the staff of the Board has an interest, 

otherwise than in his or her capacity as such a member, in any con- 

tract,  agreement  or  arrangement,  or  proposed  contract,  agreement 

or arrangement, to which the Board is a party, that person shall— 



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                           (a)  disclose  to  the  Board  his  or  her  interest  and  the  nature 

                                 thereof, 



                           (b)  take no part in the negotiation of the contract, agreement 

                                 or  arrangement  or  in  any  deliberation  by  the  Board  or 

                                 members of the staff of the Board in relation thereto, and 



                           (c)  neither  influence  nor  seek  to  influence  a  decision  to  be 

                                 made in relation to the matter nor make any recommend- 

                                 ation   in   relation   to   the   contract,   agreement     or 

                                 arrangement. 



                       (2) Subparagraph (1) shall not apply to contracts or proposed con- 

                    tracts of employment of members of the staff of the Board with the 

                    Board. 



                       (3) Where  a  person  contravenes  this  paragraph  the  Board  may 

                    make    such  alterations   to  the  person’s   terms   and  conditions   of 

                    employment  as  it  considers  appropriate  or  terminate  the  person’s 

                    contract of employment. 



                       10. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board may regulate 

                    by  standing  orders  or  otherwise  the  procedure  of  meetings  of  the 

                    Board. 



                                                         28 

